South Africa: Suspects nabbed for R55 000 stokvel theft

Limpopo Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant, General Thembi Hadebe, has applauded the prompt arrest of suspects responsible for the alleged robbery of R55 000 in stokvel money in Madibong, outside Jane Furse, on Friday.

Limpopo SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, said members of the Limpopo Highway Patrol (LHP) in Sekhukhune were performing normal patrol duties when they received a backup call from the police in Jane Furse about a robbery.

They immediately went to the scene and upon arrival, they established that about 10 suspects, armed with pistols, allegedly robbed stokvel ladies an amount of cash estimated to be around R55 000. One of the suspects was allegedly caught by members of the community and was stoned to death.

It was further revealed that the community members continued to chase another suspect, who then entered Jane Furse hospital and held security personnel hostage at gunpoint. Members of the Highway Patrol, together with Operational Respond Services (ORS), joined forces to rescue the security guard and the 26-year-old suspect was arrested on the spot, Mojapelo said.

Other suspects fled the scene using a bakkie, which was later found abandoned at Mamone village. The hunt for the remaining suspects continues.

"The speedy reaction by the members, which led to the arrest of the suspect, is highly commendable. The remaining suspects must be hunted down and be brought to book. We, however, strongly warn community members to desist from taking the law into their own hands and must instead work with the police to fight crime," said Hadebe.

Mojapelo urged stokvel members to refrain from withdrawing and handling large amounts of cash for the purposes of dividing it amongst themselves but must, wherever possible, resort to bank transactions.

Cases of murder, armed robbery and possession of illegal firearm and ammunition were opened. The suspect is expected to appear in the Sekhukhune Magistrate's Court on Monday, 11 July 2022, facing charges of armed robbery and possession of illegal firearm and ammunition.

Anyone with information, which can lead to the arrest of the suspects involved in both incidents, should contact Detective Warrant Officer Enoch Mashilo on 082 319 9526 or the Crime Stop number 08600 10111 or the nearest police station.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-07-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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Cybersecurity experts argued on Tuesday that the U.S. is falling behind the European Union when it comes to being a leader in the realm of cyber security.

Experts called the blocs General Data Protection Regulation, a law governing data privacy and security rules, the global standard. The law, adopted in 2018, renewed how businesses handle personal data in Europe, with large fines for companies that fail to comply.

Panelists at a virtual Council on Foreign Relations event echoed recommendations made in a new cybersecurity report by the foreign policy think tank.

The experts, including former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), said the U.S. needs to build cyber coalitions with allied nations, create a digital trade agreement and create an international cybercrime center, among other policy suggestions.

At the event, moderated by New York Times technology reporter Cecilia King, experts detailed a multitude of cyber threats, including ransomware, sewing social discord on social media, interfering in elections and vital infrastructure attacks.

The new reality of cyberspace, they argued, proliferates threats against individuals and nations and policymakers need to address these issues to bolster national defense.

Hurd said Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers.

He pointed to a 2021 incident in Florida, where a hacker gained access to a water treatment facility and adjusted the amount of sodium hydroxide to dangerous levels but was thwarted by an employee.

The hack of the water treatment plants in south Florida. Someone tried to poison the water, Hurd said. That made it real to people.

The current prospects for congressional action, though, seem bleak, with King noting there has been little to no movement on legislation. Panelists said the issue is clearly not a policy priority in the U.S. at the moment.

Hurd said the House and Senate need to step up and legislate in the space where the European Union has been leading.

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Experts said the U.S. has failed to adapt to a cyberspace that is fragmented, with countries like China and Iran harnessing their own version of the internet. They said the reality is a far cry from the open and free vision for the internet that U.S. policymakers hoped for, with change in the space coming fast and furious over the past two decades.

While efforts from lawmakers have been dormant, it has left private companies to adopt their own rules for handling data.

Niloofar Razi Howe, a senior operating partner at the global investment platform Energy Impact Partners, said government leadership is needed to steer privacy and security norms.

Cyber is no longer a domain where the private sector sits on one side and the government sides on the other, Howe said. There is a role that only the government can play when it comes to policy. The private sector has to have a seat at the table.

Hurd left lawmakers with a warning, saying that should Congress act now, the best case scenario is were tied with the Chinese.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Jessica Simpson is facing criticism online after her three-year-old daughter was pictured using a pacifier during a family vacation. Now, fans are hitting back at the mom-shamers.

On 10 July, the 42-year-old mom shared a series of snaps from her familys vacation in Lake Austin, Texas, where she spent time with her husband Eric Johnson and their three children  Maxwell, 10, Ace, nine, and Birdie, three.

In the Instagram post, Simpson is seen lounging on a boat with her children as they celebrated the July Fourth weekend. The lake life, she captioned the post.

However, in one image that seemed to draw attention from fans and critics alike, Simpsons three-year-old daughter Birdie is seen using a pacifier while sitting with her father on the boat. The image sparked much criticism from users who believed Birdie was too old to be using a pacifier, with many claiming it could cause major dental issues in the future.

Birdies a little old for a binkie dont you think, one person commented.

Passy needs to be gone. It messes up their teeth so bad, another user wrote. My friend is finding that out, his kid has major dental issues.

That is just lazy parenting, said a third critic. Isnt Birdie like 4? And she still has a pacifier? Not good.

For many children, pacifiers are used as soothing tools for babies. They can help relieve stress, assist in bedtime, and even reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). But if a child continues to use a pacifier past a certain age, it can lead to a few issues down the line  including increased dependency. However, it is unlikely that a pacifier will cause permanent damage while a child still has their baby teeth, according to the Mayo Clinic.

It didnt take long for fans to rush to the comments and defend Jessica Simpson from all the mom-shamers.

So many snarky comments. You and your family seem so sweet and amazing, said one defender. Please dont let these comments get to you. Love seeing you live your beautiful life with your family.

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Your kids are so cute, another person wrote. So many judgy comments about Birdies paci, I know the struggle. My youngest was so hard to break from hers & then she switched to her thumb.

Please stop mom shaming, a third user said. Jessica has gone through so much in her personal life. Read her book. She is in a better place than where she was. Jessica, God love you and keep shining your bright light in the world. You are loved.

Simpson isnt the only celebrity to have faced criticism for their childs use of a pacifier. Back in 2015, David Beckham hit back at The Daily Mail after an article claimed his then four-year-old daughter Harper was well beyond the age that health experts would recommend the use of a pacifier.

The soccer star issued a rare response to the article with an Instagram screenshot accompanied by the caption: Why do people feel they have the right to criticise a parent about their own children without having any facts?

Everybody who has children knows that when they arent feeling well or have a fever you do what comforts them best and most of the time its a pacifier, he wrote. So those who criticise think twice about what you say about other peoples children because actually you have no right to criticise me as a parent.
The Florida Department of Transportation said it plans to install more signs along a new interchange in Osceola County.

The diverging diamond interchange puts drivers on the left side of the road at ChampionsGate.

It is supposed to cut down on crashes and congestion.

On Monday, we saw about a dozen wrong-way drivers on the interchange.

READ: An accident waiting to happen: Wrong-way drivers spotted on new diverging diamond interchange

FDOT said the new signs will show drivers where to stop.

The agency will continue to have troopers monitor the area as needed.

Leaders said that drivers really need to pay attention in the area.

READ: Diverging diamond: What you need to know about the new interchange in Osceola County

The Florida Department of Transportation said that 68,000 people pass through the intersection daily.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Last year, there were 33 homicides in Raleigh. There have been 24 so far this year, including a 23-month-old boy fatally shot last week.

Michael Easley, the U.S. Attorney for the states Eastern District, said Tuesday that the violence must stop.

We are here today to announce firm and concrete actions as part of a new federal strategy designed to deliver justice and hold accountable those who sow fear in our communities, Easley said.

Easley was joined at a news conference by Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson and three federal agents to announce a new coordinated effort to address violent crime in the city. They also announced 27 people have been indicted by grand juries in the past three weeks for allegations involving drugs and weapons.

Easley said the effort to combat gun violence is not going to be addressed overnight.

And we will not address it with prosecution alone, he said. There is no short-term fix or short-term solution.

The initiative, known as the Violent Crime Action Plan, seeks to identify, investigate and prosecute people contributing to crime in Raleigh and in the surrounding areas. The effort will take cooperation between law enforcement, the government, the community and mental health professionals, Easley said.

Patterson did not release any specific data about crime in the city and said there will be a follow-up press conference Wednesday at 3 p.m. to share recent crime statistics. Five people were fatally shot last week.

Patterson, who became the citys police chief last August, said the initiative is what Raleigh needs.

This is what we need in our community, she said. Im happy to know Mr. Easley shares my desire to make Raleigh the safest city in the country and has fully committed the resources to move us in that direction.

Numerous indictments

As part of the joint initiative, 27 people have been indicted by grand juries. Twenty-six of the accused are currently in custody.

Between them, there are 50 federal and 25 state charges. Twelve of the defendants are facing individual federal cases involving firearms. Eight people are part of an independent organized crime investigation.

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The 27 defendants range in age from 21 to 69. All are from Raleigh or the surrounding areas.

Easley said he could not share specific information about the cases. But, he said, law enforcement seized six kilograms of cocaine, more than 296 grams of crack, 600 bindles of heroin, and 15 grams of fentanyl, which is enough to provide over 7,000 deadly doses of this drug.

In addition, more than $41,000, 26 firearms and more than 200 rounds of ammunition were seized. In the firearm possession, a polymer 80 ghost gun, or an untraceable gun, was taken. The ghost gun, which has no serial number and can be bought and sold online, has been a rising concern for officials in the state.

In total, charges involve possession of a firearm by a felon, unlicensed dealing of firearms and possession with an intent to distribute drugs such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine or a heroin and fentanyl mixture.

There are also charges of maintaining dwellings for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing and storing the drugs.

Easley highlighted two examples of the multi-defendant cases.

The eight people accused in the organized crime allegations are part of narcotics trafficking organization allegedly led by Akeem Holder Evans, known as King.

Easley said the organization has members affiliated with street gangs, including the Gangster Killing Bloods, the Six Deuce Blood Brims, and the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods. The groups are all linked to the Kingwood neighborhood in Southeast Raleigh.

Many of the members have prior convictions, Easley said.

In another example, Easley said one of the defendants allegedly made false statements on gun purchase forms. The guns they bought were for another accused person who was prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.

Violent Crime Action Plan, abbreviated as VCAP, also will include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Wake County District Attorneys Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the United States Marshals Service.

Why violence is rising

Easley attributed the rise in gun violence in part to the proliferation of guns.

You combine that with a period of time during the pandemic where people were increasingly vulnerable, they had decreased access to housing and employment and mental health services, health care, drug and substance abuse treatment, Easley said. Many, many people who were on the brink were pushed over the edge, and I believe were going to be feeling the repercussions of that for some time.

Easley gave a nod to Patterson, who he said has worked to renew trust with law enforcement through community engagement.

For those considering trafficking and violence in North Carolina, be warned, Easley said. You are on notice. You will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We will do all we can to seek justice for victims and for communities.
An F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet fell into the waters of the Mediterranean from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman on Friday, the Navy announced in a statement released Sunday.

The Super Hornet, which was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 1, was blown overboard "due to unexpected heavy weather" as the ship was conducting an at-sea resupply, the statement added. Navy planes have been known to crash into the water during takeoff or landing; losing a plane to rough seas is unusual.

Typically, there is a procedure to tie down aircraft to the deck with chains during heavy weather. And the carrier has a number of aerographer's mates -- sailors trained in analyzing and predicting weather conditions -- stationed aboard the ship.

Read Next: Investigation Finds Pilot Error Cause for 2021 Crash That Killed the Real Maverick

The Navy said the "details and the cause of the incident are under investigation."

One of the last known incidents of a plane being blown off a flight deck happened in 1995, but it was not due to rough seas. In April of that year, an F-14 Tomcat fighter aboard the USS Independence blew another Tomcat into the water with its jet engine exhaust.

A spokesman for the sea service said that the Navy is weighing whether to salvage the Super Hornet from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, though it certainly possesses the capability.

In March, the Navy recovered from 12,000 feet of water an F-35C Lightning II fighter that crashed into the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in January, before sliding off and sinking into the South China Sea. The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 4,900 feet.

Friday's incident did not appear to cause any injuries, though the Navy did say one sailor received minor injuries while "conducting operations during the unexpected heavy weather." They are in stable condition and expected to fully recover.

The Navy stressed that the Truman "and embarked aircraft remain full [sic] mission capable" despite the loss of an aircraft.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: Navy Recovers Sunken F-35 Jet That Crashed Off the Deck of a Carrier into the South China Sea
Jul. 12Fire destroyed a home in the 300 block of Ethridge Drive in the Waverly Pines community before dawn Tuesday morning, Glynn County Fire-Rescue Division Chief Wendel Knighten said.

No one was home at the time of the fire at 314 Ethridge Drive, which emergency dispatchers reported to firefighters at 1:29 a.m. Tuesday, Knighten said. On Tuesday afternoon, firefighters were still trying to determine who lived at the home, he said.

Firefighters brought the flames under control within a short time of arrival, but the home was declared a complete loss, Knighten said. It is likely that the fire started inside the home's garage, based on the significant degree of damage on that side of the structure, said Knighten.

Knighten said a young man on scene told responding firefighters that his uncle lives at the home, but the young man left before firefighters could get more information. Flames destroyed a vehicle inside the garage.

"In my experience, it probably started in the garage area," said Knighten, who also is a fire marshal with the county fire-rescue department. "We do not know at present who was living there, but no one seems to have been around last night. It destroyed the whole house. I'm thinking when the homeowner or tenants come forward, they will have a whole lot of question for us. It's unfortunate."

Firefighters did a walk-through of the home in the fire's aftermath and saw no signs that anyone was inside.

It is the second time a house has caught fire in Glynn County by fire this month. A man died in a house fire on the night of July 3 at 310 Kingland Ave., located off U.S. 341 in Glynn County.

Neighbors called 911 at 8:42 p.m. July 3 after hearing an explosion at the home, Knighten said. The 51-year-old man was found dead inside the home after firefighters extinguished the fire. The victim still had not been positively identified, Glynn County Coroner Marc Neu said.
The Telegraph

Dustin Johnson held off a final-day charge from fellow American Bryson DeChambeau to claim the spoils and secure his first win of the season, emerging triumphant from a dramatic final round as the worlds best went toe-to-toe on the grandest course of all. As we know, this is not what happened at the 150th Open Championship. This is what happened at the LIV Golf Open Championship.
The Food and Drug Administration facility in Silver Spring, Maryland. HRA Pharma is seeking FDA approval for its over-the-counter birth control pill. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

HRA Pharma, a Paris-based pharmaceutical company, is seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell an over-the-counter birth control pill in the US.



It would be the first of its kind, since the US currently requires a prescription to get birth control pills.

"This historic application marks a groundbreaking moment in contraceptive access and reproductive equity in the US," Frederique Welgryn, Chief Strategic Operations and Innovation Officer at HRA Pharma, said in an announcement on Monday.

HRA Pharma is hoping to get approved a progestin-only daily birth control, named Opill, also known as a mini pill or non-estrogen pill. Opill was first approved by the FDA in 1973.

Company officials said they expect a decision from the US agency in about 10 months, according to The New York Times.

HRA Pharma did not immediately respond to a request for comments from Insider.



The move to make an oral contraceptive available without a prescription comes just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe V. Wade decision that granted women the constitutional right to an abortion.



Birth control remains legal in the US, but the recent SCOTUS decision has sparked concerns from experts that access to contraceptives could be next.

In his concurring opinion to the Dobbs V. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overruled Roe, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court should also use the same approach to overrule, among other cases, Griswold v. Connecticut, which protected access to contraceptives. Welgryn, the HRA Pharma official, told The Times that the timing of the company's application was "a really sad coincidence."



In March, House Democrats signed a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, hoping to apply pressure on the agency to review applications for any over-the-counter birth control pills "without delay."

Cadence Health, another company that makes oral contraceptives, is also hoping to submit an application for an over-the-counter pill to the FDA later this year, according to The Times.

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More than 100 countries sell oral contraceptives without prescriptions, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation. This includes China, India, South Korea, Egypt, and Sudan, among other countries.

If HRA Pharma's pill is approved, it would be the first to be available in the US without a prescription since oral contraceptives were approved in the country in 1960.

Read the original article on Insider
Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce President Christine Michaels, Oak Ridge City Council member Ellen Smith and Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson talk after an Oak Ridge City Council meeting.

Oak Ridge City Council has approved a new contract for accessible parking spaces for people living with disabilities and repaving at Blankenship Field's parking lot.

The contract is for up to $141,800 and is with Rogers Group Inc. The city has published a memo and the resolution itself as part of the agenda for the special June 21 meeting at which it passed. Funding for the project, the memo stated, will be from both the city of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools' budgets, with each giving about $72,000 each. But, the memo stated, the actual cost may depend on drainage issues.

The new plan adds five new spaces into an existing parking area which already has five accessible spaces near the ticket booth on Kentucky Avenue. This parking area is on the hill above most of the parking at the site.

Two other parking spaces reserved for people with disabilities exist, at the bottom of the hill near the front gate and near the now closed accessible for people with disabilities restroom. The memo stated while the current parking meets Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, the public has asked for additional accessible spaces.

Jim Dodson

Gooch

Oak Ridge City Council member Jim Dodson made the motion and Kelly Callison seconded. The two of them, Mayor Warren Gooch and Council member Derrick Hammond voted for the contract, while Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn and Kelly Callison were not present. City Council member Ellen Smith cast the only vote against the contract. During the meeting, she said that re-paving streets should be a higher priority than paving the Blankenship Field parking lot.

"I'm concerned about diverting money from paving streets to paving a parking area that's used once a week for part of a year," she said.

Gooch argued in favor of the project at the meeting.

"I think this is a really good project, and I want to see it done," he said.

Ben Pounds is a staff reporter for The Oak Ridger. Call him at (865) 441-2317, follow him on Twitter @Bpoundsjournal.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: 5 new spaces for people with disabilities for Blankenship Field
Reuters

The findings indicate that measurement of blood viscosity, or blood thickness, should be a regular part of these patients' medical work-up, the researchers said. High blood viscosity impairs flow to small vessels and increases the risk of blood clots, the researchers noted in the study published on Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109722051105. Data on 5,621 COVID-19 patients treated at six New York City-area hospitals between February 2020 and November 2021 showed that patients with high viscosity had death rates 38% to 60% higher than those with low blood viscosity.
A Florida man who avoided an arrest earlier this year by diving into a swamp was not so lucky when deputies returned for him Saturday  and he tried using a riding lawn mower as a getaway vehicle, authorities said.

Dusty Mobley evaded sheriff's deputies on Jan. 3 by diving into a swamp along the Yellow River after they tried to talk to him in reference to a $40,000 stolen boat. (Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office)

Dusty Mobley, 40, of Holt, kicked a John Deere riding lawn mower into high gear while he attempted to lose pursuing deputies with the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office, according to a department statement on its Facebook page.The chase ended when deputies shot Mobley with stun guns, the sheriffs office said.

When taken into custody Mobley had a revolver and a handcuff key in his possession, along with a pipe with methamphetamine residue, according to the sheriffs office.

Mobleys hometown, Holt, is about 40 miles northeast of Pensacola, in Floridas panhandle.

County jail records for Mobley on Monday showed he faces more than a dozen potential charges, including resisting an officer, obstructing police, possession of a weapon or ammo by a convicted felon, drug equipment possession, and grand theft of a motor vehicle.

He was being held on no bond, according to the sheriffs office.

It was not clear Monday afternoon if Mobley had retained an attorney.

His relatives could not immediately be reached.

Michele Nicholson, spokesperson for the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office, said Mobley had about a dozen outstanding warrants for his arrest when deputies got word of his whereabouts on Saturday.

Upon arrival, deputies saw him mowing the property's lawn. Chasing Mobley at the wheel of the riding lawn mower, Nicholson said, lasted about 17 seconds.

"This is the first that I can recall of someone attempting to get away on a lawn mower," Nicholson said.

Deputies tried to arrest Mobley on Jan. 3 on suspicion of stealing a $40,000 boat, the sheriffs office said.

Two days earlier, Mobley used heavy machinery, cutting a hole in a metal building, to steal the vessel from a business, officials said.

When deputies reached Mobley about the stolen boat on Jan. 3, he was on the boat, but dove off the side and disappeared into the swamp to avoid going to jail, according to the sheriff office's statement.
A Florida man could be facing charges of aggrevated assault with a firearm after pulling an assault rifle on a Black man who partially blocked his driveway with a trailer ramp in the town of Clearwater.

David Berry, 44, walked down his driveway with rifle in hand screaming at Jeremy Lee, 46, for blocking his driveway. Mr Lees daugther, Carrie, began filming the incident  which appeared to further enrage Mr Berry.

This is my property! Mr Berry can be heard yelling at Mr Lee at the beginning of the video. Youre not allowed to block my driveway! Dont be a prick!

Please post/share . This man pulled a gun out on my cousin and her father while they were working in his neighbors yard. This is in Clearwater, Fl. The police department took my families ID but didnt take the guys. Hes a convicted felon and cops did nothing ! pic.twitter.com/SA2zcZ6W3u  A$IA (@CvshAsiaa) July 8, 2022

Mr Berry then turns his attention to the recording being made by Mr Lees daugther, threatening her with a lawsuit.

Your daughter better take record of how stupid her father is, Mr Berry said. Keep recording! If it goes online, your a** will be sued too.

Mr Lee, who was working with J&S Outdoor Maintenance on a neighbouring property, told WFLA that he had already moved his trailer and apologised to Mr Berry when Mr Berry returned to his house to get the rifle and began threatening him.

I immediately moved, Mr Lee told the television station. I stopped what I was doing and I moved up, and like I said, just wasnt good enough for him and I apologised to him.

Mr Berry, clearly not satisfied by the apology, told Mr Lee that he would blast your f***ing head off because youre a dumba***.

Mr Berry has had run-ins with the law previously. The Daily Mail reported that construction company owner has in the past been charged with battery, burglary and petit theft and plead guilty to misdemenours. He is now facing another possible set of charges from the Clearwater Police Department.

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In a statement, Clearwater Police Chief Dan Slaughter expressed his disappointment and frustration with Mr Berrys handling of the situation.

The bottom line is a dispute over parking should never have escalated to something like this, Mr Slaughter said. If you have a problem with someone partially blocking the driveway, you call the police. You dont grab a gun like some vigilante.

We are actively investigating this incident and will be presenting the case to the Office of the State Attorney, the officer said.

Ultimately, it was Mr Lee and his daughter who summoned the police and said that they feared for their lives when Mr Berry returned with the rifle.

I was really worried about her, Mr Lee told the television station. I was stunned. I think I said youre going to kill me in front of my daughter?
Khiara Bridges had a stern warning to anti-abortion witnesses and members of Congress listening to her biting testimony in a Senate committee studying the impact of the US Supreme Courts decision to strike down the constitutional right to an abortion.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton asked panelists testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on 12 July whether they condemn violence against so-called crisis pregnancy centres, nonmedical facilities intended to deter people from seeking an abortion.

I condemn violence, said Ms Bridges, a professor of law at University of California Berkeley School of Law and reproductive health scholar. And I would like to note that forced birth is an act of violence.

She pointed to an increase in the number of assaults, barricades and suspicious packages outside abortion clinics, as abortion rights advocates face escalating threats to abortion care following the Supreme Courts decision to overturn the landmark, half-century precedent in Roe v Wade.

Heidi Matzke, executive director of the Alternatives Pregnancy Center in California, said crisis pregnancy centres like hers  nonmedical facilities intended to dissuade people from seeking an abortion  have been targeted for violent assaults of vandalism, and hateful attacks online and in the media.

Dr Colleen P McNicholas, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of the St Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, also condemned violence  then read the names of nine abortion providers and clinic workers who were killed for providing abortion care.

I absolutely condemn violence against everyone, including abortion providers, she said.

The hearing is one of four this week to study the healthcare and legal landscapes following the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization on 24 June.

I cannot overstate the level of harm and chaos that the Dobbs decision has already caused people seeking abortion care, Ms Bridges said.

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She stressed that people of color, specifically Black people, will feel the impact of the courts decision in Dobbs more than any other racial group, pointing to reporting from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that finds that Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related causes than white women.

Illinois Lt Governor Juliana Stratton said abortion clinics in her state have seen the number of out-of-state patients double within the two weeks after the Supreme Court decision, a figure she expects to increase, as Midwestern states enact more restrictive laws.

Ms Stratton, who is Black, said a post-Roe America will be devastating for Black women, echoing the CDCs maternal mortality rates.

Texas Republican John Cornyn asked Ms Bridges whether she believes there ought to be more Black babies aborted.

[Black people] have agency, they have intelligence, they know what is best for themselves and I would love to create the conditions under which they can live lives that are filled with dignity and humanity, Ms Bridges said.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey chastised GOP senators who he said have made it sound like safe, legal abortion access is somehow racist against African Americans.

Ms Stratton said having that care is liberating for Black women.

To be able to have bodily autonomy and the ability to decide whats best for their bodies for their lives and their futures, she said.

Ms Bridges also fired back at Senator Josh Hawley after the Republican senator from Missouri appeared to dismiss that transgender people could become pregnant, underscoring the myriad, far-reaching impacts of dissolving legal abortion care that the committee sought to uncover, from the legal ramifications to what committee chair Dick Durbin called a looming health crisis.

In his opening remarks, Senator Durbin derided the high courts ruling and the wave of state-level anti-abortion laws now taking effect without constitutional protections for abortion care, leaving only insufficient and confusing exceptions for the life of the mother.

Many do not even provide exceptions for rape or incest. When they do, theyre unwieldy and inadequate, he said.

He warned that providers and doctors with patients in their care who need an abortion must weigh the the risk of jailtime against making the best decision for the health of the patient, while providers and people assisting others to access abortion care, including companies providing travel aid to their employees, could face legal liability in states where it is outlawed.

The Dobbs decision raises many questions with no answers, leaving healthcare providers and patients to navigate new restrictions that will likely and rightfully face constitutional challenge, he said.

In overturning Roe, the Supreme Court has unleashed a healthcare crisis across America, he said. Make no mistake, womens health, and in some cases their lives, are at risk.

Anti-abortion advocates on the panel argued that the Supreme Court merely returned the decision whether abortion should be legal back to individual states.

But Ms Bridges said that states with anti-abortion laws also have some of the most restrictive election laws that undermine the right to vote and the idea of a representative democracy in states where abortion is outlaws.

She pointed to Senate Bill 8 in Texas, which became law late last year, that outlaws abortion at roughly six weeks of pregnancy, before many people know they are pregnant, or about two weeks after a missed period.

States weighing whether people can battle it out in these laboratories of democracy as to whether they want to protect fetal life over the interests of the pregnant person are the same states passing restrictive voting laws, Ms Bridges said.

Texas has the most restrictive voting laws on the books. Texas SB 8 doesnt represent the will of the majority of Texas. Texas SB 8 represents the will of the majority of Texans that were able to vote, she said. So in order for this to be a democracy, we have to protect voting rights.

After Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee mentioned a letter that Mr Durbin wrote in 1989 in which he supported efforts to reverse Roe v Wade, Mr Durbin said he owed his evolving views on abortion rights to a meeting with two young women who were about to turn 18  one a victim of incest, one a victim of rape  and they told me their stories.

I left that meeting with a kind of understanding that I had never had before about the complexity of the decision behind the abortion procedure, he said. I thought to myself, As an individual member of Congress, are you ready to pass a law that applies to every woman in America? No. It really has to be her decision.
By John Irish and Arshad Mohammed

PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -France's new foreign minister said on Tuesday there were only a few weeks to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, although a senior U.S. official made clear Washington had set no such deadline.

Catherine Colonna told lawmakers the situation was no longer tenable. She accused Iran of using delaying tactics and, during talks in Doha two weeks ago, of going back on previously agreed positions while forging ahead with its uranium enrichment programme.

"There is still a window of opportunity ... for Iran to finally decide to accept an accord which it worked to build, but time is passing," Colonna said, warning that if Iran kept on its current trajectory it would be a threshold nuclear arms state.

"Time is passing. Tehran must realise this," she said, adding that the U.S. mid-term elections would make it even harder to seal a deal.

"The window of opportunity will close in a few weeks. There will not be a better accord to the one which is on the table."

Asked if the United States concurred with Colonna's view, a senior U.S. official pointed to Monday's comment by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan to reporters that "we have not marked a date on the calendar."

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the senior U.S. official acknowledged that the chances of reaching a deal were dwindling and said Washington had not heard anything new from Tehran since the indirect talks in Doha.

"Every day that goes by without a deal makes reaching a deal less likely," the official said. "We have not heard anything since Doha that is a change from Doha."

Last week, the U.S. envoy for the talks said Iran had added unrelated demands during the latest indirect discussions and had made alarming progress on enriching uranium.

Under the 2015 nuclear pact, Iran limited its uranium enrichment programme, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, though Tehran says it seeks only civilian atomic energy, in return for a lifting of international sanctions.

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In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the deal, calling it too soft on Iran, and reimposed harsh U.S. sanctions, prompting Tehran to breach the nuclear limits in the pact about a year later.

Western officials have repeatedly said that the talks between world powers and Iran only had a few weeks to conclude a deal, with Colonna's predecessor Jean-Yves Le Drian saying in February it was a question of days.

(Reporting by John Irish in Paris and by Arshad Mohammed in Washington;Editing by Mark Heinrich and Stephen Coates)
The Hill

Former Secretary of Education Betsy Devos believes that the department she once led should be abolished. Devos, who spent four years as the Education secretary during the Trump administration, made the remarks at the inaugural Moms for Liberty summit on Saturday, according to the Florida Phoenix. I personally think the Department of Education should not exist,
"Halloween," starring Jamie Lee Curtis, will screen Friday at the Ohio Theatre, with prerecorded comments throughout from Fritz the Nite Owl.

Fritz the Nite Owl would like to spend Halloween with you  not the holiday, of course, but a viewing of the classic 1978 horror film.

On Friday at the Ohio Theatre, the CAPA Summer Movie Series will present the classic chiller starring Jamie Lee Curtis. The screening is part of the Fright Nite Friday With Fritz! series in which select films are threaded with prerecorded video segments with Fritz the Nite Owl  known in daily life as Columbus resident Frederick Fritz Peerenboom.

From 1974 to 1991, Peerenboom hosted Nite Owl Theatre  in which he provided introductions and commentary on countless classic flicks  on WBNS-TV (Channel 10).

Although Peerenboom, 87, wont be present in-person on Friday, fans of the ongoing Halloween franchise  and those nostalgic for Nite Owl Theatre  wont want to miss the screening.

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In a recent phone interview with The Dispatch, the beloved on-air personality ruminated on Halloween, horror movies and the longevity of his career.

Question: Do you remember when you first saw the original "Halloween"?

Peerenboom: I saw it originally when we showed it on Nite Owl (Theatre). I thought, for one of the newer horror movies, it was one of the best.

Q: What about the movie was so effective?

Peerenboom: In terms of sets and plot and so forth, its more timeless. There just arent that many references to the time that it was made. That movie could have been made this year and it would still hold up  the plot and the suspense and the wondering, OK, whos who to whom and whats going to happen next and whos going to be the next body on the floor?

Many Columbus residents will remember Fritz the Night Owl from his days hosting "Nite Owl Theatre."

Q: You referred to Halloween as one of the newer horror films. Are you partial to the older Universal monster movies, for example?

Peerenboom: I do prefer the older ones. . . . I was born in 1934, so in 40, 41, when I first saw Dracula and Frankenstein, at that age, and as unsophisticated as we were as kids in that age  no television, no internet  that was completely scary to us then. We had never seen anything like that before. There was killing and brutality and terror in those (films), but they werent as graphic, and so your mind had to fill in what was happening. It goes back to the Hitchcock shower scene (in Psycho): You never see that knife go into flesh, and yet people didnt take a shower for about two months after they saw that!

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Columbus Symphony: The Columbus Symphony has renamed its 'Russian Winter Festival' program

Q: Janet Leigh starred in Psycho, and her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, stars in Halloween. Can we now say that Jaime Lee Curtis has lived up to her scream-queen family heritage?

Peerenboom: Oh, absolutely. Thats the thing that was so good about both her and Janet Leigh in Psycho: They werent over-the-top characters. They were people you could believe that you could have met or known or gone to high school with or worked in an office with.

Q: CAPA could book Halloween without your introductions. Why has the Nite Owl format lived on?

Peerenboom: When I was doing it, television-hosted movies were kind of a national thing. Every city had its Svengoolie or Fritz the Nite Owl or Count So-and-So. Every city had a movie host, whereas now I dont think that theres a live, local movie host thats on over-the-air television, or even on cable. I think its sort of a Tyrannosaurus rex of the television business. . . .

Theres a novelty for people to see a horror host on television or in the movies. . . . I think that a lot of people go to the Ohio (Theatre) for a nostalgic thing. A lot of the people would come to me and say, I remember when I was growing up, I was a teenager, and it was always a big thing to stay up on Friday night and watch you.

tonguetteauthor2@aol.com

At a glance

As part of the CAPA Summer Movie Series, Halloween will be shown in a Fright Nite Friday With Fritz! presentation at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St. Tickets cost $6, or $5 for senior citizens. For more information, visit www.capa.com.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Fritz the Nite Owl to participate in CAPA showing of 'Halloween Friday
ROCK ISLAND  A Galesburg father and son, Gilbert Dean Bicknell, 53, and Michael Gilbert Dean Bicknell, 28, were sentenced to federal prison on July 7 for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Michael Bicknell was sentenced to 168 months imprisonment and his father, Gilbert Bicknell, was sentenced to 156 months imprisonment, both to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release.

At the sentencing hearing in front of Chief U.S. District Judge Sara L. Darrow, the government presented evidence that demonstrated that Michael Bicknell and Gilbert Bicknell were working together in early 2020 to procure kilograms of methamphetamine for distribution in the Galesburg area.

Also at the hearing, Chief Judge Darrow commented on the devastating impact that methamphetamine has had on communities within the Central District of Illinois.

Michael Bicknell entered a plea of guilty to the offense on Feb. 2, 2022. Gilbert Bicknell entered a plea of guilty to the offense on Aug. 10, 2021. The statutory penalties for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine are 10 years to life imprisonment and a maximum lifetime term of supervised release.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Office; Galesburg Police Department; and Knox County Sheriffs Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Mathew represented the government in the prosecution.

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Galesburg father and son sentenced to federal prison for meth charges
By Harold Isaac and Brian Ellsworth

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -Gun battles between rival Haitian gangs near the capital Port-au-Prince have left thousands trapped in a small coastal town without access to water, food or medical care, a local pastor and a foreign aid group said on Tuesday.

More than 50 people have been killed since Friday in the town of Cite Soleil, the mayor said. The United Nations said on Tuesday that violence is forcing it to move food aid and workers by air and ship from Port-au-Prince to other parts of the country.

Residents have not been able to leave the Cite Soleil neighborhood of Brooklyn since fighting broke out, said Pastor Jean Enock Joseph. The town has a population of 250,000.

"People can't get through. Food can't get through," Joseph said in a telephone interview. "We are in a serious situation from a humanitarian standpoint."

Doctors Without Borders in a statement said that the road leading to the neighborhood was littered with burning or decomposing bodies.

"They could be people killed during the clashes or people trying to leave who were shot -- it is a real battlefield," said Mumuza Muhindo, head of the Haiti mission for Doctors Without Borders.

Gang violence has soared since the assassination last year of President Jovenel Moise. Bloody turf wars have become more frequent, with rights activists in May saying one protracted confrontation killed nearly 150 people.

"The security situation is an important problem in Haiti. (Prime Minister) Ariel Henry is working for a quick solution," a spokesman for the prime minister's office said in response to a request for comment.

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday said that in response to gang violence, it set up a ferry service that carries food aid from Port-au-Prince to other parts of the country and is also using short flights for its workers.

The agency has already shipped 2,000 tonnes of assistance that way, Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP country director in Haiti, told journalists by video link.

"This violence has had impact on markets, on trade, on livelihoods, and it has cut off the city from the rest of Haiti," he said.

(Additional reporting by Brian Ellsworth in Miami; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Cynthia Osterman)
MUNICH (Reuters) - Digital insurance startup Wefox said on Tuesday it had raised $400 million from investors, valuing the "insurtech" business at $4.5 billion.

Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala Investment Company led the investment in the Series D round, which will be used to expand into more countries and to develop its platform, Wefox said.

A year ago Wefox was valued at $3 billion.

The increase in its valuation comes as investors are becoming a lot more discerning about investing in tech startups and listed tech stocks have seen a sell-off this year.

Swedish payments firm Klarna Bank AB said on Monday it had raised $800 million of funds at a valuation of $6.7 billion, down around 85% from the $46 billion price-tag it attracted last year.

Wefox, which is present in countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Poland, plans to expand in the Netherlands, Wefox founder and CEO Julian Teicke told Reuters.

The latest financing round brings total investment to more than $1.3 billion since Wefox began raising money in 2016.

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner; Writing by Tom Sims; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Canadian Club, neat, was the whiskey of choice for Mad Mens Don Draper (Frank Ockenfels/AMC)

Whiskey, according to folk songs, is either the devil leading us astray or the life of man. But whichever way you look at it, its as thoroughly reminiscent of Ireland as Guinness and St Patricks Day.

I take mine with ice. Yes, I know youre rolling your eyes. But I subscribe to the Anthony Bourdain view that there is no wrong way to drink whiskey. Incidentally, he also took it with ice. What matters is the taste, the feeling it gives you when youre drinking it, and, well, the joy of it.

At 18 I thought drinking whiskey was the height of sophistication. Id seen Don Draper drinking it in Mad Men and I thought that there had never been anyone cooler than Frank Sinatra  who also took it with ice... so I determined to become a whiskey drinker myself.

I started with Jack Daniels. Its as good an entry point as any, and its light taste is a welcome introduction to the drink. But I hated it. Of course I did. I was used to drinking flavoured vodkas and terrible ciders at this point. But I stuck with it and as Ive matured Ive come to love it.

By the time I was 21, I had moved on to scotch and when I went to Las Vegas for the first time, I sat at the slot machines and ordered Glenfiddich and thought I was the coolest guy in the casino  although I categorically was not, unless acne and an ill-fitting suit pass for cool these days.

The Scots have cornered the fine whiskey market for many years now, so it was perhaps no surprise that I moved onto Scottish whiskey. But Irish whiskey is now having something of a renaissance.

Last week I had a glass of Sliabh Liag Distillers Legendary Dark Silkie whiskey. Im not going to lie, a bottle was sent to me  I get a lot of free stuff in this job  but this one really made an impression. Im no whiskey expert, but I know the difference between a good whiskey and a bad one, and this is definitely a good one. Its easy and light, almost like a bourbon, with a smokey blanket lying over sweet caramel popcorn. It is, quite frankly, lovely.

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I spoke to James Doherty, the founder of the Donegal-based distillers, and he told me it reminds him of being 11 years old  of running around the house with his grandfathers smoking pipe. Forgive me, he said, getting goosebumps, this is just the pure nostalgia of an old man. Theres nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia when it comes to whiskey.

Irelands Legendary Dark Silkie is easy and light, almost like a bourbon, with a smokey blanket lying over sweet caramel popcorn (Sliabh Liag)

The first known documented record of Irish whiskey dates as far back as 1405. In the Annals of Clonmacnoise, Richard Magrannell, chieftain of the Moyntyreolas clan, is said to have died at Christmas, by taking a surfeit of aqua vitae. Aqua vitae is whiskey, by the way, literally translated as water of life  the word whiskey comes from the Gaelic usquebaugh, meaning the same thing.

But it was in the early 20th century that Irish whiskey was at its zenith, comprising 70 per cent of whiskey sold worldwide, with the industry making up as much as 40 per cent of all employment in Dublin. This market was helped no doubt by the huge Irish diaspora, especially in the US where places like Boston, Philadelphia and New York were full of Irish-Americans.

That all changed, however, when the US implemented prohibition in 1920. The Irish whiskey industry all but collapsed as clandestine distilleries popped up and many of the traditional producers went extinct. Meanwhile, with the formation of the Irish Free State, Ireland lost access to the British empire, which the Scottish took full advantage of.

After prohibition in the US was overturned in 1933, Irish whiskey struggled to return to its former glory. By 1980, there were only two operational distilleries in Ireland. Other spirits such as vodka had taken over, and when whiskey saw a resurgence of popularity in the 2010s on the coattails of the craft beer and food movement, it was scotch that tickled our taste buds and was ready to meet demand. This all led, ultimately, to a 21-year-old me drinking Glenfiddich in the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas in 2014.

Now the barrels are moving again and the US, in particular, is investing heavily in Irish whiskey  with sales set to overtake Scotch in the US by 2030. There are now more than 32 distilleries in Ireland, including Sliabh Liag which was founded in 2014  making Ireland a paradigm where it is simultaneously one of the oldest distilling nations in the world and the youngest. This, Doherty believes, is why Irish whiskey is on the way back and also why giant US companies such as Sazerac are looking to tie themselves to a piece of land in Ireland. A story, a culture, a nostalgia.

One big question then raises its head: whats the difference between scotch and Irish whiskey? Doherty thinks its a matter of Irish whiskey being more approachable while Scotch is more robust. Irish whiskey has a smokey character, he says, while scotch is more spirit-led and Irish wood-led.

Whatever the differences, I know a good whiskey when I drink it. So now, when I sit with a glass of Legendary Dark Silkie on ice after a hard days work, I feel content, I feel sophisticated, I feel like the drink in my hand is the life of man. It seems a good time to be a whiskey lover.
GREEN BAY - Two Rivers resident Salvador Galaviz first turned to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College for help learning English.

He graduated with a bilingual welding certificate in June, when NWTC asked if he'd be interested in a scholarship that would qualify him for an even better-paying, in-demand manufacturing job. The scholarship in industrial maintenance covers tuition, supplies and housing, and he's already thinking about how the support will help him and his wife get by until he completes his courses.

"I really appreciate that you guys are doing this for us, for the people that I know that are going to do this scholarship and study," Galaviz said Monday at an event announcing new scholarship opportunities at NWTC. "It's a great opportunity for people like me."

Two Rivers resident Salvador Galaviz will study industrial maintenance this fall at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College after Xometry announced it would fund 50 scholarships for students learning advanced manufacturing careers.

Galaviz will receive one of more than 50 full scholarships funded by Xometry and the Greater Green Bay Chamber for the school year beginning this fall. Schreiber Foods separately will support another two scholarships for manufacturing students.

All 52 scholarships will be available to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College students enrolled in manufacturing programs this fall. NWTC has set up scholarship and grant request forms for the new scholarships, as well as for its existing programs that provide students more than $800,000 in tuition assistance each year.

"We have students within the community that wouldnt be able to make higher education possible without these partnerships," said Erin DeGrand, NWTC's manager of Recruitment, Admissions & Enrollment. "Seeing a student's excitement when they can come to school is just amazing. The more support we can get from the community, the more students we can help get the education of their dreams."

Xometry, based in Derwood, Maryland, will provide the 50 scholarships to NWTC students this year and next year under a national program focused on five regions of the country. Students must be accepted into one of 27 qualifying programs which include data analytics, electro-mechanical technology, manufacturing operations management, mechanical design technology, supply chain management, machine tool operation, welding and electrical engineering technology.

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Xometry runs a digital marketplace focused on advanced manufacturing services. Co-founder Laurence Zuriff said the company set aside shares in the publicly-traded company in a donor-advised fund to support initiatives like scholarships to equip the next generation of manufacturing workers with the technical skills for the job, without the burden of student debt.

The scholarships will be available on a "first come, first served" basis to students accepted to NWTC. College officials encouraged students to apply now as the fall semester begins Aug. 15.

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Manufacturers locally and nationally have a lot of jobs to fill. The National Association of Manufacturers estimates there were 1 million manufacturing job openings in April and projections from The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte estimate unfilled jobs will grow to 2.1 million by 2030.

Colleen Simpson

Dr. Colleen Simpson, NWTC vice president of student services, said the new scholarships exemplify how industry, employers and colleges can collaborate to provide more education, mentorship and access to high-wage jobs to the region's increasingly-diverse population.

"I really applaud Schreiber and Xometry for being innovative in their thinking to partner with NWTC," Simpson said. "I encourage more companies in our region to think about how they can create strong partnerships with the technical community colleges."

Schreiber scholarships focus on supporting a diverse workforce

Schreiber's two annual scholarships are specifically for students of color as the company seeks to close the racial wealth gap and make sure its workforce reflects the communities where Schreiber is based and the customers it serves. The deadline to apply is Aug. 5.

Jenene Calloway, Schreiber Foods' vice president of talent development and chief diversity officer, said the company has long made it a priority to partner with local colleges to scale up and train workers.

The idea to offer a scholarship emerged from discussions with the company's employees of color about how Schreiber could create opportunities for more people of color to qualify for higher-paying, in-demand careers. Calloway said the genesis of the idea exemplifies why diversity, equity and inclusion, together, make an impact.

"It really comes down to equity: All people having access to opportunities to develop and enhance their skills," Calloway said. "One thing that often gets in the way for people of color is the lack of access and funding. This is an opportunity to provide funding to those members of our community so they have just as good a chance to be selected for those roles."

Simpson said the cost of tuition is a "huge barrier" for many students, but not the only hurdle they encounter. She said the scholarships give NWTC a chance to intentionally support students of color from recruitment through the start of their professional careers. She said Schreiber's scholarships, for example, includes an internship opportunity with the food manufacturer. The impact, Simpson said, will go far beyond the classroom.

"If we look at our community, we see our community is changing, but we have educational equity gaps and in the workforce," Simpson said. "(Schreiber is) looking to change representation. Theyre investing early into students of color who can turn into professionals of color. It will enrich the environment for us at NWTC and at each of these organizations."

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College's Advanced Manufacturing Center on the west side of Green Bay.

There are currently more than 24,000 students enrolled in training, certification and degree programs across more than 200 career fields. NWTC serves a region that includes Door, Florence, Kewaunee, Marinette and Oconto counties along with most of Brown County and small parts of Outagamie and Manitowoc counties.

In Wisconsin, the average Wisconsin manufacturing worker earns $74,252 in salary and benefits, said Ann Franz, executive director of the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance.

The alliance surveys its members annually to gauge their expectations for growth, hiring, skill needs, facility expansion and other metrics. This year, among 150 members that responded, 56% expected to expand their workforce this year while 91% expect difficulty recruiting employees. Machinists, welders, industrial maintenance and skilled trades are among the most difficult positions to fill, per the survey.

Those needs align with some of Schreiber's, Calloway said.

"When we think about the skills needed for our company to be successful, they're skills like technical skills, project management skills, lean (manufacturing) coordination skills," Calloway said. "Its about helping our operations run more efficiently and effectively. These three programs provide students with relevant skills to be successful in those roles."

The alliance offers six, $1,000 scholarships to NWTC, part of the $55,000 in scholarships it awards every year. More funding for manufacturing and technical education will help workers get better jobs and companies grow, Franz said.

"The more investment in manufacturing scholarships, the better," Franz said. "There's such a great need."

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay business community announces 52 manufacturing scholarships
Law enforcement vehicles on the scene of a murder-suicide Monday at SK Food Group on Toy Road in Groveport that police say resulted from a domestic altercation between a woman and a man who worked there. Police have been unable to identify the woman who was fatally shot and the man who died by suicide electrocution because they gave fake names to the company when hired.

Groveport police have been unable to identify the woman fatally shot at a SK Food Group facility on Monday and the alleged gunman who died by suicide electrocution afterwards because they were not in the U.S. legally.

Groveport police Lt. Josh Short told The Dispatch on Tuesday that the female and male involved in the incident at SK Food Group, located at 3301 Toy Road, both worked there and did not give their employer their real names when they were hired.

"The names that were provided to the employer are fraudulent," Short said in an email.

Active shooter reported: Woman, suspect dead after domestic dispute leads to shooting at Groveport food facility

Detectives from Groveport met with representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at the Franklin County Coroner's office on Tuesday. Attempts were made to identify the woman and the man through their fingerprints, Short said, but those results have been inconclusive.

"According to Homeland Security, both were here under 'non-lawful status,'" Short said.

The murder-suicide is believed to have been the result of a domestic dispute, he said.

Groveport police, the Franklin County Sheriff's office and other law enforcement agencies responded around 5:20 a.m. Monday on a report of an active shooter at SK Food.

The woman, who had been shot in a locker area in the facility, was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where she died.

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Short said the alleged gunman fled the building after unsuccessfully trying to shoot himself, ran a short distance and climbed a utility pole. Once high on the pole, the man apparently intentionally contacted live high power lines, leading to his electrocution, he said.

The firearm used to fatally shoot the woman has not yet been recovered, Short said.

Detectives have been trying to interview coworkers and those who were believed to be acquaintances of the man and woman, Short said, but witnesses have been "reluctant" to speak with police.

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Short said police are working to confirm the identities of the man and woman through other means.

The Dispatch has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to see if they are conducting any follow-up investigation with SK Food Group about how the two dead workers were hired and whether any other employees were being reviewed.

About 500 employees evacuated from the facility during the shooting, following an active shooter plan the company had in place, police said.

Anyone with information regarding Monday's shooting is asked to call Groveport police at 614-830-2060.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Identities of victim, suspect in Groveport factory shooting unknown
BOCA RATON  A woman and a man were found dead in Boca Raton Sunday afternoon following a murder and a suicide that followed an apparent dispute between family members over access to a vacation home, city police said Monday.

Investigators say the man shot and killed a female relative, then turned the gun and killed himself. Before taking his life, the gunman also struck another female relative on the head with the gun and fired at least one shot at a male relative but did not hit that person, police said.

Police did not identify the victims, citing a 2018 state constitutional amendment that allows either crime victims or their family members to invoke their right to privacy and withhold their names from public reports.

Investigators also did not disclose the gunman's name, with a department spokesperson saying that doing so would identify his relatives. Police did not say how they are related.

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Officers responded shortly before 3:30 p.m. Sunday to a residence along the 5000 block of Northwest Third Terrace, near Interstate 95 and Yamato Road, after a neighbor reported a domestic disturbance. A woman and a man told officers they fled the home after a relative had attacked them.

They also told police that another relative was believed to be inside with their attacker.

SWAT and crisis negotiation team called on scene

Officers from the city's SWAT and crisis negotiation teams came to the one-story house. After failed attempts to contact either the suspect gunman or the other relative, SWAT officers breached the front door and found a man and a woman dead inside, investigators say.

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A preliminary investigation showed that several family members were traveling to Florida to spend a vacation at the house. The police statement did disclose the family's primary place of residence.

Days prior to the arrival of other relatives, the suspected gunman was found inside the home but did not have permission to be there, police said. It was not known how long he had been staying there.

The woman who would later be killed was the first of the other family members to arrive and she asked her uninvited relative to leave. At some point during her stay, she was killed inside the residence, police said.

The other relatives arrived Sunday and tried to make contact with the woman. They tried reaching her by text and by phone, and one received a text message back from her phone saying the home's side door was open.

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However, the gunman attacked them when they entered with their luggage, according to city police. One was able to flee and seek help. The other fled when the gunman became distracted by his firearm, police report.

The homicide is the first reported in Boca Raton in 2022 and is the 57th of the year in Palm Beach County, according to a Palm Beach Post online database. Boca Raton recorded two homicides in 2021.

The motive for the Northwest Third Terrace killing remains under investigation, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective George Reilly at (561) 544-8660.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dispute at Boca Raton vacation home led to murder-suicide, police say
Donald Trump. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

About half of Republican voters said they would prefer someone other than former President Donald Trump as the presidential nominee in 2024, a new poll from The New York Times and Siena College has found.

In a hypothetical contest against five other possible Republican nominees, just under half  49 percent  of GOP voters said they'd support Trump's third presidential nomination. At 25 percent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) otherwise saw the second-most support.

Notably, 64 percent of primary voters under 35 years old said they would vote against Trump in a presidential primary, the poll found. Such results suggest that Trump "would not necessarily enter a primary with an insurmountable advantage over rivals like [DeSantis]," the Times writes.

What's more, Trump "trailed President Biden, 44 percent to 41 percent, in a hypothetical rematch of the 2020 contest," despite Biden's plummeting approval ratings, the Times reports.

But it doesn't look like Americans are hungry for another Biden-Trump ticket anyway. Per a Politico/Morning Consult survey released Tuesday, just 29 percent and 35 percent of Americans believe Biden or Trump, respectively, should run again.

Politico/Morning Consult surveyed 2005 voters betweeen July 8-10, 2022. Results have a margin of error of  two percentage points. The New York Times and Siena College surveyed 849 voters from July 5-7, 2022. Results have a margin of error of  four percentage points.

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Protestors in Zhengzhou on Sunday morning

Authorities in China's Henan province say they will start releasing money to customers who have had their funds frozen by several rural banks.

The announcement came just a day after a rare protest in Henan's capital, Zhengzhou, turned violent.

Payments will be made in batches from this Friday, local regulators say.

The four banks that were the focus of the protests are believed to have frozen a total of 39bn yuan ($5.8bn; 4.9bn) of deposits.

In a statement on Monday, the Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau and the Henan Provincial Local Financial Supervision Bureau outlined the plans to make payments to customers through a local association supervised by China's central bank.

"Advance payment will be released to customers with a combined amount of less than 50,000 yuan savings in one institution," it said.

"If the combined amount of a single institution is more than 50,000 yuan, the advance payment will be made successively, and the advance payment arrangement will be announced separately."

The regulators asked customers to contact the association from 09:00 local time (02:00 BST) this Friday.

However, the announcement has been criticised by some Chinese social media users.

One person posted on Weibo: "I'm shocked by shameless Henan government. That's our saving. Why [do we] need your advance payment? We want the right of freedom to save and withdraw our money!"

"The statement gives no clear clue [of how they are planning to release our savings]. They just don't want to return our money," another said.

Clashes turn violent

On Sunday, a protest over the frozen deposits - which was attended by hundreds of people - in Henan's capital, Zhengzhou, turned violent after a clash with a group of unidentified men.

The demonstrators said the banks had frozen their deposits because of supposed upgrades to their internal systems in April, but had not communicated with them since then.

Story continues

Local media reports said police were present at the demonstration and had told protesters to leave.

Videos on social media showed a group of unidentified men - believed to be security personnel but dressed in plain-clothes - shoving the protesters and throwing water bottles at them.

One protester, who had travelled to Henan for the demonstration, told BBC Chinese about the protestors being attacked.

"A group of people without police uniforms [on] rushed towards us. They hit us hard, especially [the] men," said the protester, who wanted to be identified only as Ms Wang.

Separately on Sunday, local police said that they had arrested "a number of suspects" linked to the case and were making progress in their investigations into the banks, without mentioning the protests.

The police said the suspects were believed to have controlled a number of banks in the province through a parent company.

In April, the New Oriental Country Bank of Kaifeng, Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank, Shangcai Huimin County Bank, and Yuzhou Xin Min Sheng Village Bank froze their customers' deposits.

Since then, thousands of customers have been travelling to Zhengzhou to attempt to withdraw their money.

Small protests have erupted, culminating in a large demonstration on 23 May where thousands took to the streets, before police shut it down.

Some bank customers who had visited Zhengzhou later said they had experienced issues with their Covid-19 tracing app, which is necessary in many Chinese cities for residents to enter buildings and shops, use public transport or leave the city.
The Washburn fire burns in Yosemite National Park's Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias on Friday. Mariposa Grove and the Wawona area are closed because of the fire. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)

With the summer season in full swing, thousands of reservation holders are making their long-awaited trips to Yosemite National Park to see the iconic giant sequoias and picturesque landscapes.

But a fire that began last week has already consumed more than 2,300 acres within the park and threatens hundreds of giant sequoias while making conditions in some areas smoky and unhealthy for visitors.

If you and your family or friends have a trip planned to Yosemite, here is what you need to know about how the fire may affect your visit.

Evacuation orders

The Washburn fire was first reported Thursday in the southern portion of the Mariposa Grove, home to 500 giant sequoias that are estimated to be up to 3,000 years old.

By Monday, the fire had grown to over 2,300 acres with 25% containment.

The fire prompted the mandatory evacuation of the community of Wawona and the Wawona Hotel and campgrounds, in the park's southernmost region. Around 1,600 residents and visitors evacuated the area as of Saturday.

Closures

The Mariposa Grove, Yosemite's largest grove of giant sequoias, is closed, along with the Wawona area. Highway 41, also known as Wawona Road, is closed from the park's south entrance to Henness Ridge Road.

Because of the road closure, park officials advised visitors to enter Yosemite via Highways 140 and 120, to the north.

The rest of the park, including iconic areas such as Yosemite Falls, remains open, the National Park Service said, adding that reservations are still required.

The wilderness hiking area north of Wawona is under a fire advisory.

Reservations in Wawona

Aramark, which serves as an authorized concessioner for Yosemite and operates the Wawona Hotel booking website, said reservations were being canceled through Monday, and reservation holders would be contacted.

People with reservations for the affected dates will be refunded and offered the chance to rebook for a later date, Aramark representatives said.

Rooms could still be booked online for as soon as July 18.

Story continues

Yosemite Hospitality would like to sincerely thank the firefighters and support teams for their dedicated work and efforts to suppress the Washburn fire," Aramark officials said in an emailed statement.

The Wawona Campground is also closed, according to the official Yosemite website, but there was no information available regarding reopening or refunds.

Park conditions

While the park is open, visitors may encounter smoky and unhealthy conditions.

"The Washburn fire is causing smoky conditions and poor air quality throughout Yosemite," the park said on its website. "Visitors to Yosemite should reduce or avoid physical activity outdoors."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
To view past editions of The Hills 12:30 Report, click here: https://bit.ly/30ARS1U

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> A midday take on whats happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Habreaks down crying hysterically.

TALK OF THE MORNING

Space is THE COOLEST:

NASA just unveiled spectacular, full-color images of the universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Watch NASAs livestream where the new images were unveiled: The announcement started around 10:30 a.m.

 THE NEW PHOTOS:

Whoa: Check out two images of a dying star.

An image showing five galaxies: Four of those galaxies interact, according to NASA.

This is such a cool image, it almost looks fake: Behind the curtain of dust and gas in these Cosmic Cliffs are previously hidden baby stars, now uncovered by Webb. Photo of the cosmic cliffs.

Photo of galaxies colliding: The colors are spectacular.

President Biden unveiled the first image on Monday. Heres the image if you havent seen it:

^ By the way: Here is an image of the same spot in the sky, taken with an older telescope. Photo from 2017

 SOME CONTEXT TO THE IMAGES:

The part that baffles me: The image released by President Biden on Monday shows the universe as it appeared 13 billion years ago. Yes, you read that right: 13 billion years ago.

This is wild  I cant even comprehend this: NASAs Twitter account for the telescope tweeted, If you held a grain of sand up to the sky at arms length, that tiny speck is the size of Webbs view in this image. Imagine  galaxies galore within a grain, including light from galaxies that traveled billions of years to us!

Curious what a telescope of this magnitude actually looks like?: Heres a photo of the telescope under construction, via Vox

Heres a side-by-side comparison of the new telescopes images vs. an older telescopes images: From Business Insider

Story continues

What even?: This isnt the farthest back weve observed. Non-infrared missions like COBE & WMAP saw the universe closer to the Big Bang (~380,000 years after), when there was only microwave background radiation, but no stars or galaxies. Webb sees a few 100 million years after the Big Bang. Image from NASA

ITS TUESDAY. Im Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and whats coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

 Jan. 6

Happening at 1 pm  lets turn our attention to the extremist groups:



The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, is starting its seventh hearing this afternoon.

The focus of todays testimony: The right-wing extremist groups tied to the attack

More on what to expect during todays session

Todays hearing livestream

Slide this to the right, bring that forward, now shuffle it, spin the one on the right and swap it with the left:



Bloombergs Billy House reports that Thursdays primetime Jan. 6 hearing will be postponed until next week.

Why?: We dont know. The hearing had never been formally announced  and an explanation for the delay was also not given.

The focus of this hearing: Former President Trumps actions between the start of the attack and when he told his supporters to go home.

Keep in mind: Its not the first time the committee has rescheduled hearings in its series of public sessions this summer. The panel did so once last month, citing a need to give its production crew more time to assemble video and exhibits. What we know about the delayed hearing

 News this morning

Rest in peace, Shinzo Abe:



The funeral for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was held in Tokyo earlier today after he was assassinated during a campaign speech last week.

If you missed this news: Millions around the world have reacted with shock and anguish at how Abe was gunned down in broad daylight during a campaign speech in the central city of Nara on Friday  The suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested at the scene but has not been formally charged.

Photos from the funeral service  and more on Abes assassination, via CNNs Rhea Mogul and Jessie Yeung

 In the Democratic Party

Get on our level!:

Democrats say they are angry, and they want President Biden to be angry, too.

Why Dems are furious: In recent weeks, theyve watched the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade and at least one conservative justice hint that same-sex marriage and contraception could be next. Then they saw the high court restrict the Environmental Protection Agencys ability to effectively tackle climate change. Theyve also witnessed the escalation of gun violence despite a small-scale legislative success on gun safety that fell well below what Democrats want to do on that issue.

Why Bidens comments about abortion and guns havent been deemed as enough for his party, via The Hills Amie Parnes and Morgan Chalfant

 DOOMSDAY POLITICAL SCENARIO TAKES SHAPE FOR DEMOCRATS:

Via The Hills Mychael Schnell and Hanna Trudo

 The abortion fight

To give some clarity to doctors  federal law trumps state law:



The Biden administration on Monday told hospitals that they must provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk, saying federal law on emergency treatment guidelines preempts state laws in jurisdictions that now ban the procedure without any exceptions following the Supreme Courts decision to end a constitutional right to abortion.

What this means for abortion access, via The Associated Presss Zeke Miller

 Latest with COVID

 BY THE NUMBERS

Cases to date: 88.4 million

Death toll: 1,016,293

Current hospitalizations: 17,783

Shots administered: 597 million

Fully vaccinated: 67 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

 Notable tweets

Ah ha! We knew it:



Law 360s Kellie Mejdrich retweeted a clip from CNBCs Squawk Box discussing the number of chips in a bag.

The Squawk Box clip, from PepsiCos Hugh Johnston: There are times well take chips out of the bag instead of taking pricing up. Theres other times well actually increase the number of chips in the bag, and we may take pricing up a little bit along with thatwe move them around all the time. Watch the clip

Mejdrich commented: Doritos man admits number of chips in the bag is changing constantly.

 On tap

The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. Biden is leaving for Israel tonight.

9 a.m. : Harris hosted Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for breakfast at her residence.

9:30 a.m. : Biden received the Presidents Daily Brief.

11:15 a.m. : Biden held a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to discuss global challenges such as food security and migration. Photo of his arrival to the White House

11:30 a.m. : Two Senate roll call votes. Todays Senate agenda

2:30 p.m. : Two more Senate votes.

5:30 p.m. : Harris participates virtually in an annual leaders meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum.

6:30 p.m. : First and last votes in the House. Todays House agenda

9:30 p.m. : Biden leaves for Jerusalem, Israel.

Wednesday : The Hill is hosting an event, Securing Americas Retirement. Featured speakers : Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), BPC chief economist Jason Fichtner and Ohio School Employees Retirement Systems Farouki Majeed. Details and RSVPs

July 19: The Hill is hosting an event, Americas Unfinished Business: The Hills Future of Health Care 2022. Featured speakers: Anthony Fauci, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, AMA president Jack Resneck and Mark McClellan. Details and RSVPs

All times Eastern.

 What to watch

9:30 a.m. : The White House COVID-19 Response Team held a press briefing. Video

10 a.m. : The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the legal concerns after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Watch

4:30 p.m. : Biden and first lady Jill Biden host the White House Congressional Picnic. Harris also attends. Livestream

Tonight : White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and national security advisor Jake Sullivan speak with reporters aboard Air Force One.



 In lighter news

Today is National Jell-O Day and National Pecan Pie Day!

And to leave you on a happy note, heres a mama bear trying to get her cubs across the street.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
UKRAINSKA PRAVDA  TUESDAY, 12 JULY 2022, 18:31

After hitting ammunition depots in Nova Kakhovka on 11 July, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have launched another attack on a Russian ammunition depot in the village of Charivne in Kherson Oblast.

Source: "Pivden" (South) Operational Command on Facebook

Quote: "Right after a successful attack on an ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka, an artillery subdivision hit another ammunition depot in Charivne."

Details: "Pivden" Operational Command also states that the Russian ship grouping has been extended to five missile ships and a submarine has also been added. In total there are 44 "Caliber" [cruise missiles] on call. At the moment there are 3 large landing ships ready for operation.

The threat of missile attacks from the sea remains high. A strategic aviation attack is also likely.

Background:
Police are investigating a suspected domestic assault after hospital staff found signs that a Blue Springs woman with dementia might have been strangled, court records show.

Officers with the Blue Springs Police Department responded about 3 a.m. July 5 to St. Marys Medical Center in Blue Springs after hospital staff reported they had a 53-year-old patient they believed had been strangled, according to an affidavit filed for a search warrant in Jackson County Circuit Court.

A doctor told police that the patients husband had called the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District saying his wife was having a possible stroke. The woman has dementia and her husband was her only caretaker, according to the search warrant application.

The husband said he had been feeding his wife when she started to jolt her body, the doctor told police. The husband gave her four or five spoons of fruit and then called 911.

While at the hospital, medical staff did a CT scan which revealed constrictive trauma to the neck. The doctor told police she also had a bruise to the left side of her neck, according to the court document.

The patient was non-verbal and was intubated and sedated, the doctor said. She was also on a ventilator and at the time of the application for the search warrant it was unknown if she would recover.

A paramedic told police that the wife and husband were the only people in the apartment when they responded to the possible stroke. The wife was slumped over on the couch and was not responding to pain, the paramedic said.

Police requested the search warrant of the couples apartment in the 800 block of N.E. Sunnyside School Road in Blue Springs so that they could get photographs and video of the inside of the apartment.
Benton County Sheriff's Department and Benton County Jail, 105 S Lincoln ave., Wednesday, July 31, 2019 in Fowler.

FOWLER, Ind.  Edward A. Bagwell cut off the legs of his girlfriend, Rita Spigner, and stuffed her torso in one trash bag and her legs in another after Spigner died around July 3, according to an Indiana State Police probable cause affidavit filed with Benton County prosecutors.

Benton County deputies arrived the night of July 3 at Bagwell's home in the 100 block of Oak Street in Ambia, which is in the southwest part of the county and within sight of the Illinois border.

Earlier that day, Bagwell called a friend and told her he'd dismembered 61-year-old Spigner after she died, according to the affidavit. That friend then called police, according to the affidavit.

MORE IN CRIME: Ex-West Lafayette pastor on list of sex abusers maintained by church officials

Suspect says he and girlfriend smoked meth

During an interview with state police detectives, Bagwell said he and Spigner smoked meth inside his house on June 18. He claimed he was still high when police interviewed him in the wee hours of July 4, according to the affidavit.

Bagwell said Spigner began acting erratically and scratching at his leg, so he slapped Spigner in the head to get her to stop, according to the affidavit.

Spigner fell and started convulsing after Bagwell slapped her, and he got up to get his phone, he told police. When he returned to the room, Spigner was not breathing and not moving, according to the affidavit.

Bagwell told detectives he did not call 911 because Spigner was dead, and there was nothing that could be done for her, according to the affidavit.

FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Ex-trustee's brief filed two hours after deadline, endangering the appeal

Bagwell got his electric chain saw, cut off Spigner's legs and stuffed them in a trash bag, and stuffed Spigner's torso in another trash bag, according to the affidavit.

Police found the two trash bags inside Bagwell's home.

Bagwell charged with abuse of corpse

An autopsy indicated that Spigner died from heart troubles, according to the affidavit.

Story continues

Prosecutors charged Bagwell on July 8, indicating that they suspected Spigner died July 1.

Bagwell, 60, is charged with abuse of a corpse and failure to report human remains.

He remains incarcerated at the Benton County Jail in lieu of $300,000 bond.

His case is pending in Benton Circuit Court.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Indiana man accused of cutting off his girlfriend's legs with chainsaw
An 18-year-old involved in a multicounty chase is believed to have killed his father before opening fire on deputies and crashing into a Mount Dora synagogue.

On Tuesday afternoon, the sheriff said the teenage son and his dad were heard arguing on the phone before a shot went off and the line went dead.

The suspect was identified as 18-year-old Jonny Santiago. Deputies said he was spotted in three different counties before running from law enforcement before he ended up in a shootout with officers in Lake County.

The investigation began in Deltona Sunday night at a home at East Lehigh Drive and Normandy Boulevard.

READ: Deputies ID man, 18, who allegedly got into shootout with police, crashed into synagogue

Deputies said around 5 p.m. Monday, the suspect was spotted in Mount Dora and chased before he drove a Ford F-150 truck into a synagogue while firing at law enforcement.

Santiago was shot seven times in that shootout. Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Santiago is not saying anything to them about what happened or where his father might be.

Deputies said the teens father, Juan Santiago, flew down from New York to the familys Deltona home Sunday night because the family was concerned about the son acting strange, running from police and crashing a car.

PHOTOS: Fleeing homicide suspect crashed into building, shot by police multiple times in Lake County

At the home, investigators said the dad was on the phone with his wife while arguing with the son to turn over the keys to his dads white pickup. Theres then a shot heard and the line goes dead.

The mother called police in New York and they called the sheriffs office, who went to the home.

However, Chitwood said there is roughly a 15-minute window to piece did and where the father went.

READ: Fleeing homicide suspect crashed into building, shot by police multiple times in Lake County

Because of that short window, deputies are really concentrating their search in a small area around the home, where they believe the dad to be.

Story continues

Investigators are using different pieces of technology to try to track him, but the sheriff said neither the teen or his mom are working with them to help find the dad.

See more of our in-depth coverage in the video above.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Isolated Vladimir Putin is set to travel to Iran in a bid to shore up support following the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian president will visit Tehran next Tuesday to attend a meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the Kremlin said.

On Tuesday Western sources said Putin had become "increasingly isolated" over the war in Ukraine and was desperate to build up world allies.

Iran has in recent weeks been forced to slash the price of its crude oil to compete with Moscow's steep discounts to China.

Western sources suggested it was within Mr Putins interests for oil prices to be very high and this could form a basis for talks while he is in the Tehran.

They added that Putin will be prepared to continue with his devastating invasion despite the huge cost to Russia and Ukraine.

The trip comes after US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that Iran could supply hundreds of surveillance drones, including weapons-capable ones, to Russia.

Mr Sullivan added that intelligence shows Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use the drones.

It comes as Mr Putin was accused of targeting the poorest areas of Russia to recruit soldiers for his battered army, amid speculation he could even be using prisoners to fight in Ukraine.

The Russian leaders private army is having difficulty replacing killed or wounded troops, British defence chiefs said on Tuesday.

They believe that at least 20,000 of the Russian presidents military personnel have died since he launched his invasion on February 24.

Three to four times as many Russian soldiers are estimated to have been wounded or incapacitated, with Ukrainian forces also suffering heavy losses.

To make up a shortfall of soldiers, Mr Putin has raised the maximum age of recruitment and is trying to expand the pool in all sorts of different ways to avoid a widespread call to arms, Western sources said.

They added: "What they have done is focus on active recruitment, particularly in the poorer regions. They have stayed away from the big cities.
By Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Tuesday he would leave office if the 5-Star Movement pulls out of his coalition, and called on parties supporting him to stop launching "ultimatums" to his government.

5-Star leader and former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte last week tabled a list of policy demands to continue backing the government and threatened to quit if Draghi failed to enact a series of measures.

A crucial vote of confidence on a stimulus package to help families and firms cope with the energy crisis will take place in the Senate this week, and it is still unclear whether the 5-Star will participate in the vote or leave the coalition.

On Monday, the party raised the stakes, deciding not to vote in favour of the decree at the lower house of parliament.

Looking to ease tensions, after a meeting with trade unions Draghi said that many of the policy priorities of the 5-Star Movement overlapped with those of the government, but warned against continuous demands from coalition partners.

"A government does not work with ultimatums, it loses the point of its existence," Draghi told a news conference, adding he will not be willing to carry on as prime minister if 5-Star pulls out.

Rightist League leader Matteo Salvini, whose party is the biggest in Draghi's coalition, last June also said he will decide in September whether to remain in or not.

Draghi said his cabinet would move to implement a minimum wage, one of the 5-Star's key demands, and also said he would cut taxes on wages.

5-Star leader Conte summoned a gathering of the party's senior figures for Wednesday at 8.30 a.m. (0630 GMT) to outline his position on the measures the government discussed with the unions, a statement said.

The government has approved measures worth around 33 billion euros ($33.22 billion) since January to shield the economy from rising prices and surging energy costs. Another decree with fresh help will be passed at the end of July, Draghi said.

Story continues

"We must take action to support employment and address inequalities that are worsening at this time, and we must defend pensions and wages", Draghi said.

($1 = 0.9932 euros)

(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte; editing by Gavin Jones and David Evans)
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Defense is nearing an agreement with Lockheed Martin Corp for around 375 F-35 fighter jets over three years, three sources said on Monday, amid expectations of a price increase for the most common version of the jet due to lower quantities and inflation. Since then, production quantities and know-how have increased, helping the price of the stealthy fifth-generation fighter fall to $79 million as it gained buyers. The handshake agreement would come as the aviation industry gathered for the return of the Farnborough Airshow, aiming for a display of confidence after the devastation of COVID-19, even though the only records likely to be broken at the event in southeastern England are for sweltering temperatures.
REUTERS/Harrison McClary/File Photo

As the Jan. 6 committees explosive string of televised hearings resumed Tuesday, the panel focused on three rings of the insurrection: Former President Donald Trumps inside pressure campaign to persuade his vice president to overturn the electoral votes, the coordination between right-wing extremist groups to violently sack the Capitol, and the force of a MAGA crowd willing to march alongside them.

All of these efforts would converge and explode on January 6th, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a member of the congressional panel, said Tuesday.

Raskin added that the problem of politicians whipping up crowds was the oldest domestic enemy of constitutional democracy in America.

But Trumps decision to order his angry followers to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 wasnt spontaneous. The committee on Tuesday afternoon revealed a draft tweet that Trump wrote but never sent telling people, Please arrive early, massive crowds expected, March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal!!

The committee also disclosed White House call logs that showed Trump twice spoke to right-wing provocateur Steve Bannon twice on the morning of Jan. 5 shortly before Bannon took to his podcast to announce, All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. It's all converging, and we're on the point of attack.

But the biggest bombshell of the hearing came in its final seconds, when Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), the committees co-chair, revealed that Trump recently tried to reach an undisclosed witness who has yet to testify. The matter, Cheney said, was referred to the Department of Justice.

The revelation is an obvious warning to stop Trump and his associates from further intimidating insiders who are willing to speak to investigatorsand is a shot across the bow with the threat of criminal charges for witness tampering. A Trump spokeswoman and his attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

So far, the Republican Partyvery much still under the spell of Trumphas lambasted these congressional hearings as a proxy attack on the former president. But the committees seventh hearing is already showing something that goes well beyond politics: the direct connection between a president who refused to leave office and armed insurrectionists who played a pivotal role in his attempt to interrupt the transfer of power.

Story continues

Jan. 6 Committee: Cipollones Testimony Corroborates All the Big Bombshells

At least three groups with ties to fascists and white supremaciststhe Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters, and the Proud Boysserved as bodyguards to Trump associates in the run-up to the insurrection. They also played pivotal roles in pushing past police lines on Jan. 6, 2021.

The chairman of the congressional panel, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), started the hearing by criticizing Trumps refusal to concede in the weeks after the 2020 election and his role in the nations capital that day. He seized on the anger he had already stoked among his  supporters. He didnt wave them off. He urged them on.

Donald Trump summoned a mob to Washington, D.C., and ultimately spurred that mob to wage a violent attack on our democracy.

On Tuesday, the committee also revealed that Trump went out of his way to insert menacing references to Mike Pence, the vice president who he felt betrayed him.

An initial draft of his speech at the Ellipse park south of the White House on Jan. 6 made no reference to Pence. White House records show that an angry reference to Pence was added after a chat that morning between Trump and his hardline rightwing political adviser, Stephen Miller.

That reference was quickly cut by speechwriters who knew better. But then Pence told Trump one final time that he was not willing to break with traditionand violate the lawby abusing his role as president of the Senate and refusing to officially count electoral ballots. Shortly thereafter, special assistant to the president Robert Gabriel Jr. wrote an email to staff: REINSERT THE MIKE PENCE LINES.

By sorting through White House records, the committee also spotted how Trump ad-libbed and turned that single Pence reference into a total of eight. He took one reference to marching on the Capitol and repeated it three more times. His additions included, Let's walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, and, We fight like hell, and if you dont fight like hell, you're not gonna have a country anymore.

Cheney, the top Republican on the committee, noted that Trump should have known better than to continue to espouse conspiracy theories about the election results.

"Donald Trump is a 76-year-old man, she said. He is not an impressionable child.

Providing further proof that the ex-commander in chief should have called it quits before the day of the insurrection, the panel played clips of interviews with Trumps labor secretary, Eugene Scalia, and his former White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, in which they both stated that Trump should have conceded when presented with the overwhelming evidence that he lost to Joe Biden in 2020.

Even Trumps own digital guru, Brad Parscale, laid the blame for the violence at his bosss feet. He and spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, who both worked on Trumps 2016 presidential campaign together, texted each other while the pepper spray was still being aired out of the Capitol building the evening of the assault.

This is about Trump pushing for uncertainty in our country. A sitting president asking for civil war. This week I feel guilty for helping him win, Parscale wrote to Pierson, according to texts acquired by the committee.

You did what you felt right at the time and therefore it was right, Pierson responded.

Yeah. But a woman is dead, Parscale said, referring to Ashli Babbitt, who was shot to death by a police officer as she and other protestors tried to break into the Speakers Lobby on their way to the House of Representatives Chamber.

At Tuesdays hearing, the committee more closely explored the odd, middle-of-the-night Trump tweet that called his loyal followers to Washington in the first place.

Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on january 6th. Be there, will be wild! Trump tweeted at 1:42 a.m. on December 19, 2020.

Its now clear why the nations top politician was up so late that Friday night. He was fired up after having an hours-long impromptu meeting in which conspiracy theorists Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn, and Patrick Byrne tried to convince him to take illegal action to seize voting machineswhile White House lawyers desperately tried to shut it all down before it got out of hand.

At one point, White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson texted Trumps deputy chief of staff Anthony Ornato, The west wing is UNHINGED.

On Tuesday, the committee played clips of interviews with several of the people in the Oval Office that day who recounted the constant shouting matches that nearly came to blows between White House lawyer Eric Herschmann and Flynn, a retired Army general who lost his post as Trumps national security adviser for lying to the FBI.

Is Sidney Powell Secretly Funding the Oath Keepers Lawyers? The Feds Want to Know.

At one point, Powell asserted that corrupt judges were to blame for the utter failure of her campaign of deranged Kraken lawsuits that attempted to overturn the election in several states.

They said judges are corrupt. I said, Everyone? Every single case that you've done? Even the ones that we've appointed? Herschmann recalled during his recorded interview.

During her taped interview with the committee, Powell remembered Trump appointing her as special counsel with a security clearance and the power to seize voting machines across the country pursuant to a draft executive order she had helped devisean idea unilaterally opposed by White House lawyers and then-Attorney General Bill Barr.

"I was vehemently opposed. I didn't think she should be appointed to anything," ex-White House counsel Pat Cipollone told the committee during a videotaped interview last week. He and other White House lawyers put up a fight and never went through with the proposed plan.

Trumps response was that of a frustrated king. According to Powell, the president lamented, You see what I deal with? I deal with this all the time.

Although the committees previous six hearings have largely relied on its own work, via recorded depositions conducted by the panel and its investigators, this time around, the committee has gotten quite a bit of help from the massive assortment of criminal investigations currently underway by the Department of Justice.

As federal agents have been hunting down those who attacked cops, trespassed into the building, and wreaked havoc that day, federal prosecutors have been building complex criminal cases that allege certain groups were engaged in a violent plot to potentially kill people to keep Trump in power.

The Sleeper Wire Fraud Scheme That Could Nail Trumpworld

More than a dozen members of MAGA-loyal militias face an extremely rare and serious criminal charge of seditious conspiracy. That includes Oath Keepers leader Elmer Stewart Rhodes, and the one-time head of the Proud Boys street gang, Enrique Tarrio. Law enforcement working on these cases have revealed that militants stored caches of weapons and survival gear just outside the nations gun-free capital, with plans to ferry them across the Potomac River if a large-scale battle ensued. These criminal cases are slowly making their way to trial.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia and the FBIs Washington field office have essentially been transformed in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack. According to numbers updated last week, the feds have arrested more than 855 people in every state of the country. So far, 166 of them have been sentenced to prison or home confinement. But the increasingly Trump-loyal Republican Party has oddly rallied around these jailed insurrectionists, with politicians like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) fundraising on the idea that these attackers are being prosecuted improperly.

On Tuesday before the hearing, George Washington University political science professor Lara Brown told The Daily Beast that understanding the role of paramilitaries on Jan. 6, 2021 deserves a closer look at the infamous Brooks Brothers Riot in Miami two decades ago.

Mike Pence Deserves It: Jan. 6 Panel Reveals Trumps Dark Desire

Back then, Trump-loyal associate and Republican operative Roger Stone staged an organized protest that interrupted the counting of ballots in Miami-Dade County following the contested presidential election in Florida. Brown said the 2021 insurrection was the same thing on a much larger scale. And once again, Stone was involved, walking the streets of the capital and calling for an assault on the democratic process.

This was just the next level of the Brooks Brothers Riot, Brown said. It suggests that the ultimate motive was always to stop the count and the only way all of the other plans could have worked is if they stopped the count. It was a very ambitious plan.

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A swath of Donald Trumps top advisers and Cabinet officials began urging him to concede defeat by mid-December 2020, after the Electoral College's official vote to make Joe Biden president, according to testimony the Jan. 6 panel aired Tuesday.

The select committee at its Tuesday hearing revealed video of former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, former White House spokesperson Judd Deere, former Attorney General William Barr and former Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia all testifying that they knew Trump had lost the election after that vote.

Most told Trump so directly, and Barr said he asked White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner how long Trump would keep up his crusade. Both Meadows and Kushner said they were working to convince him to relent.

December 14 was the day that the states certified their votes and sent them to Congress. And in my opinion that was the end of the matter. I thought this would lead inexorably to a new administration, Barr said in video showed by the panel.

Instead, Trump pursued a set of startling and draconian plans to remain in power  from using the military to seize voting machines to appointing fringe attorney Sidney Powell to pursue baseless claims of fraud.

I didnt think she should be appointed to anything, said Cipollone in his first publicly aired remarks after interviewing with the select committee for eight hours last week. The plan to seize voting machines was a a terrible idea for the country. Thats not how we do things in the United States, he said.



Powell, in a clip of her own testimony to the panel, recalled that Cipollone set a land-speed record to intervene in a crucial Dec. 18 meeting between Trump, Powell and former national security adviser Mike Flynn, where they pressed Trump to sign an executive order seizing voting machines and appointing Powell to an investigative role.

"I was not happy to see the people who were in the Oval Office," Cipollone recalled.

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Committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters after the hearing that investigators expected to hear from one of the other Dec. 18 meeting attendees, former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, on Friday.

The select committee spent its seventh hearing underscoring the increasingly extreme ideas Trump embraced as his even semi-legitimate options for challenging the 2020 election results evaporated. Trumps staunchest defenders were telling him it was over, but Trump refused to hear them, according to witness testimony aired Tuesday.

As Trump embraced those desperate strategies, his efforts increasingly began to connect with extremist groups who shared his goal to remain in power  and they began to mobilize.

Investigators made their most complex case yet at their seventh public hearing: that Donald Trumps intensifying effort to seize a second term resonated with extremist groups and brought them to the steps of the Capitol. He then egged them on, the committee argued, as they began to breach the building.

Be there. Will be wild, Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, 2020, barely two weeks before a mob seeded with members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers besieged the Capitol and threatened the transfer of power to Biden. Committee members focused on that tweet in the hearing, as they aimed to show that the former president's most extreme supporters were intently listening  and quickly began preparing for potential violence in support of Trump's goal to stay in power.

The tweet was a clarion call to the groups, said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) in an interview before the hearing. She led Tuesdays proceedings along with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).



The committee also disclosed new evidence that raised concerns about potential witness tampering by Trump himself. Trump, according to panel vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), called an unnamed witness for the panel, who did not respond to Trump's call. The witness, according to Cheney, informed their lawyer, who then told the committee. The committee then passed the matter on to the Department of Justice, she said.

A Trump spokesperson denied her account.

"Liz Cheney continues to traffic in innuendos and lies that go unchallenged, unconfirmed, but repeated as fact because the narrative is more important than the truth," Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich wrote on Twitter.

Former Oath Keepers spokesperson Jason Van Tatenhove and Jan. 6 defendant Stephen Ayres also testified in person to the panel about the extremist groups who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 and the actions of rioters during the attack, respectively.

The panel highlighted how adherents to the antisemitic, fringe conspiracy theories of QAnon latched onto Trumps stolen-election claims, as well as how the extremist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers used Trumps crusade to fundraise for a violent effort to keep Biden from office. The extremists used social media platforms to mobilize and prepare as Trumps Dec. 19 tweet reverberated online, the panel said.

Committee members also showed how the White House pushed forward with plans for a march on the Capitol  one witnesses say Trump desperately tried to join  even as warnings about the likelihood of brutality grew.

A series of witnesses testified about last-minute changes to the script of Trumps Jan. 6 speech, which evolved to include references to fighting to overturn the election results and harsh language about Pence. The select panel also showed an unsent and undated draft tweet from Trump that would have promoted his Jan. 6 Ellipse rally and added: March to the Capitol after.

Several other message exchanges featured by the committee  including one from Stop the Steal founder Ali Alexander and one from Women for America Firsts Kylie Kremer, both of whom organized Jan. 6 events  suggested that Trumps plan for a march was known among activists but had been intentionally kept secret until Jan. 6.

Investigators also showed messages from the chaotic aftermath of the attack that showed intense emotional anguish among some of the most senior figures in the former presidents orbit.

On the evening of Jan. 6, former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale texted former Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson: This week I feel guilty for helping him win. He also voiced concerns that Trumps rhetoric was ultimately responsible for the death of a woman, Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a Capitol Police officer outside the House chamber.



A source familiar with the situation said the texts displayed by the committee omitted some interceding messages about Parscales personal struggles at the time. Parscale did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pierson declined to comment.
The Daily Beast

Kelly Wilkinson/USA Today Network via ReutersFour people are dead and several injured after a man with a rifle walked into a food court at Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana and began shooting, local authorities said Sunday evening.One of the dead is the suspected shooter, according to Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers. The gunman, an adult male, has not been identified. Police said he had been carrying a long rifle and several ammunition magazines.This tragedy hits at the core of our community, the mayo
First Lady Jill Biden, shown at a health facility in Richmond, Va., on July 1, compared Latinos to breakfast tacos during an address at the annual conference of Latino civil rights group UnidosUS. (Steve Helber / Associated Press)

Jill Biden apologized Tuesday for saying Latinos are as "unique" as San Antonio breakfast tacos during a speech to the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization.

The first lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community, tweeted Jill Biden's spokesperson, Michael LaRosa.

The first lady flew to San Antonio on Monday to address the annual conference of UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group formerly known as the National Council of La Raza.

But her attempt to compliment Latino diversity didn't go over very well when she said that the community is as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio.

She also badly mispronounced bodegas, small stores in urban areas typically specializing in Latino groceries.

The National Assn. of Hispanic Journalists and others registered their offense on social media, with the journalists organization tweeting that: We are not tacos.

Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of Latinos in San Antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of Latinos in the region," NAHJ said.

The association said the first lady and her speechwriters should take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities.

Last week, President Biden awarded the former longtime leader of UnidosUS, Raul Yzaguirre, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest honor for a civilian.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
(AP)

Jill Biden was mocked by her right-wing critics after she told a group of Hispanic voters in Texas they were as unique as breakfast tacos.

The First Lady made the remark as she spoke to the UnidosUS Annual Conference in San Antonio on Monday.

And observers also criticised Ms Biden for mispronouncing the word bodega in her speech as bogeda.

(Raul Yzaguirre) helped build this organisation with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as distinct as the bogedas of The Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength, Ms Biden said, according to video of the event.

Jill Biden just said Hispanics are as unique as tacos. This isnt Veep. Which White House speechwriter just won a bet for getting the First Lady to say something like this? tweeted Steve Guest, Ted Cruzs special communications adviser.

Another Twitter user added: Dems have no idea how to talk to Hispanics...we will lose our democracy on their watch because they are so tone deaf!!!

Once again, Dr. Jill Biden butchers the Spanish language in furtherance of pandering to a client constituency (the org FKA National Council of La Raza). I hereby bless your timelines with Dr. Jill's rendering of "bodega". pic.twitter.com/Z4FSXtlUMe  Jorge Bonilla, Bowgedah Bro (@BonillaJL) July 11, 2022

Its going to be wild watching the same people who criticized Trump for tweeting a picture of himself with a taco bowl defending Jill Bidens taco remarks, added another.

Around six out of 10 Latinos voted for Joe Biden in 2020, but there was a roughly eight per cent swing towards Donald Trump compared to the 2016 election, according to data firm Catalist.

Ms Bidens speech came just four months before the 2022 midterms, and she said that Latinos who backed her husband in 2020 were right to put your faith in him, but she added, we need to do much more.
Former national security adviser John Bolton admitted to planning coups detat against foreign governments during a CNN appearance on Tuesday, telling host Jake Tapper that it takes a lot of work.

Bolton appeared on the network as part of its analysis of Tuesdays hearing in front of the Jan. 6 House select committee, which is investigating former President Donald Trumps efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election and remain in power.

One doesnt have to be brilliant to attempt a coup, Tapper said to Bolton.

I disagree with that, Bolton replied. As somebody who has helped plan coups detat  not here but, you know, other places  it takes a lot of work. And thats not what [Trump] did. It was just stumbling around from one idea to another. Ultimately, he did unleash the rioters at the Capitol. As to that, there is no doubt.

Tapper asked Bolton which particular coups he had helped plan. The only specific example Bolton provided was the Trump administrations efforts to support Venezuelan opposition as it tried to dislodge President Nicolas Maduro from power  a plot Bolton noted turned out not to be successful.

Not that we had all that much to do with it, but I saw what it took for an opposition to try to overturn an illegally elected president, and they failed, Bolton said. The notion that Donald Trump was half as competent as the Venezuelan opposition is laughable.

I feel like theres other stuff youre not telling me, though, Tapper said.

Im sure there is, Bolton replied with a chuckle.

Jake Tapper: "One doesnt have to be brilliant to attempt a coup."



John Bolton: "I disagree with that. As somebody who has helped plan coup detat, not here, but other places, it takes a lot of work." pic.twitter.com/REyqh3KtHi  Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 12, 2022

A spokesperson for Bolton did not immediately respond to a request for comment about which coups he helped orchestrate.

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Bolton served as the White House national security adviser under Trump from 2018 to 2019. But he has held various governmental positions during Republican presidencies for decades, dating back to his initial roles in the Department of Justice under Ronald Reagan.

Under Trump, the United States  along with the European Union and numerous other countries and international organizations  regarded Maduros 2018 reelection in Venezuela as fraudulent and illegitimate. The U.S. and dozens of other nations ultimately recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the countrys legitimate president and supported the oppositions efforts to remove Maduro from power.

Bolton was photographed during a White House press briefing holding notes that suggested the U.S. could send troops to Venezuela early in the dispute. Maduro is still in power.

The United States has explicitly or implicitly supported and aided numerous coups and other regime change plots across the world  and has faced allegations that it has supported even more.

In 2004, while Bolton was serving in the State Department, the U.S. faced allegations of backing the overthrow of Haitis president. A former French ambassador told The New York Times this year that the U.S. and France had effectively orchestrated the coup.

Bolton has a long history of advocating for coups and supporting regime change plots. He advocated for regime change in Iraq ahead of a war he helped orchestrate and said in 2018 that the United States should overthrow the government of Iran.

The declared policy of the United States should be the overthrow of the mullahs regime in Tehran, Bolton said in a speech.

In 2007, he lamented the United States apparent inability to orchestrate coups during an appearance on NPRs The Diane Rehm Show.

We once had a capacity for clandestine efforts to overthrow governments, Bolton said. I wish we could get those back.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
CNN

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday afternoon just casually claimed that he has helped plan coups in other countries.

It takes a lot of work to overthrow a foreign government and seize power, the lifelong foreign-policy hawk declared.

Moments after Tuesdays explosive Jan. 6 hearing detailed former President Donald Trumps coordination with far-right extremist groups in the lead-up to the violent Capitol attack, Bolton appeared on CNN to provide analysis of the committees latest revelations.

According to the ex-Trump official, though, it would be a mistake to describe the ex-presidents efforts to overturn the 2020 election as a carefully planned coup detat to retain office.

Thats not the way Donald Trump does things, Bolton told anchor Jake Tapper. Its rambling from one half-assed idea to another. One plan that falls through and another comes up. Thats what he was doing. As I say, none of it is defensible. But you have to understand the nature of what the problem of Donald Trump is.

Disagreeing with the former ambassador to the United Nations, Tapper noted that one doesnt have to be brilliant to attempt a coup, prompting the architect of the Iraq War to humblebrag about his past coup-planning efforts.

I disagree with that, Bolton declared. As somebody who has helped plan coup detatnot here, but other placesit takes a lot of work. And thats not what he did. It was just stumbling around from one idea to another.

The former Trump adviser continued: Ultimately, he did unleash the rioters at the Capitol, as to that, theres no doubt. But not overthrow the Constitution, to buy more time to throw the matter back to the states to try to redo the issue. And if you dont believe that, youre going to overreact.

A few minutes later, Tapper circled back to Boltons casual admission that hes been involved in international coups. When we were talking about what is capable, what you need to do to plan a coup, and you cited your expertise in having planned coups, the CNN anchor began.

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Im not going to get into the specifics, but, Bolton laughed, before Tapper asked: Successful coups?

The unapologetic war hawk went on to note that he wrote about Venezuela in his latest book, adding that it turned out not to be successful. During his time as Trumps national security adviser, Bolton backed an unsuccessful attempt to oust Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in 2019, which featured a ridiculous failed coup that was quickly foiled.

Not that we had all that much to do with it, but I saw what it took for an opposition to try to overturn an illegally elected president. And they failed. The notion that Donald Trump was half as competent as the Venezuelan opposition is laughable, Bolton continued.

I feel like theres other stuff youre not telling me, Tapper shot back.

Im sure there is, Bolton chuckled before pivoting back to Tuesdays hearing.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Johnny Depp settled a 2018 lawsuit brought against him by "City of Lies" location manager Greg "Rocky" Brooks just weeks before the case was set to go to trial, according to a notice filed with the court on Monday.

"The settlement agreement conditions dismissal of this matter on the satisfactory completion of specified terms that are not to be performed within 45 days of the date of the settlement," the filing reads.

"A request for dismissal will be filed no later than 1/5/2023."

Terms of the deal were not specified, and if Depp does not comply, the case will be reopened.

Brooks' filed the lawsuit in July 2018, claiming Depp flew into a fit of rage while drunk and punched him twice on the left side of his rib cage in front of the crew while on set of the Los Angeles film. In the movie, Depp plays a retired LAPD detective investigating the deaths of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.

JOHNNY DEPP APPEARS TO ADDRESS AMBER HEARD DEFAMATION TRIAL IN SONGS ON NEW JEFF BECK ALBUM

A witness list identifies a familiar cast of characters  Depp, his sister Christi Debrowski, his bodyguard Sean Bett, Waldman and business manager Ed White  all of whom testified at the Amber Heard defamation trial in Fairfax, Virginia, last month.

The altercation with Brooks occurred in April 2017 after Depp was told the crew had to stop filming a scene by 11 p.m. due to permit restrictions. Brooks, as location manager, was tasked with ensuring production shut down at the appropriate time.

The complaint alleges that Depp went ballistic and berated Brooks, screaming in his face, "Who the f--k are you? You have no right to tell me what to do!"

Brooks said he calmly tried to explain the permit issue but to no avail, according to the filing.

"I dont give a f--k who you are, and you cant tell me what to do!" Depp allegedly railed before striking the location manager.

The "Black Mass" actor allegedly told Brooks hed give him $100,000 if he hit him in the face, according to the suit. Brooks refused and Depps security guard allegedly pulled the actor away.

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Brooks said the movie was severely over budget and the atmosphere on set was "toxic" and strained.

The Monday following the alleged battery, Brooks said he was terminated after he declined to sign a document stating he wouldnt sue the production company. He also accused Depp of blackballing him from the industry.

Depps attorney, Camille Vasquez, who acquired her own fan base following the Heard trial, was listed as his lawyer, in addition to her colleague Ben Chew.

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During a deposition, Depp admitted he chastised Brooks for allegedly shouting at an elderly homeless woman who got in his way on the shoot outside the Barclays Hotel in Los Angeles but denied ever hitting him.

"His words to her were with great anger and bitterness and  you know, there was a lot of poison in it.," Depp said of Brooks. "I don't tolerate injustice."

Brooks admitted that later that night he and Depp "bro-hugged it out," then the actor posed for a selfie with him. The location manager posted the picture of the pair smiling to his Facebook page and only took it down after filing the suit, he said in a deposition.

Brooks was asking for an unspecified sum in damages in the personal injury suit that also names the films producer, Miriam Segal, director Brad Furman, Depps production company, Infinitum Nihil and Good Film Productions. Brooks alleges assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and other claims.

Actress Amber Heard, right, and her sister Whitney Heard, second left, depart the Fairfax County Courthouse on June 1, 2022 in Fairfax, Virginia. The jury in the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard case awarded Depp $10.35 million in damages Rod Lamkey/Consolidated News Pictures

Depp was awarded $10.35 million in damages after a jury declared Heard defamed Depp on all counts following a six-week trial in Virginia amid allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault. Heard lost the defamation case, but was awarded $2 million in her countersuit as jurors found that Depp defamed her through his attorney.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star initially sought a $50 million payout over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she wrote that didnt specifically name him, but discussed her experiences with domestic abuse at the hands of a former partner. Heard counter sued for $100 million in damages.

In a unique twist, Heard's legal team filed for a mistrial on Friday alleging that the wrong juror was seated on the jury throughout the trial.

His attorney, Ben Chew, revealed that the two men are father and son. The middle-aged son was seated as Juror No. 15.

Chew argued that these were not "new facts," as Bredehoft contended, but a discrepancy her team should have noticed at the outset when they received detailed information on the jurors.

"Ms Heard waived her right to challenge the accuracy of the information listed in the jury panel by failing to raise this objection contemporaneously," Chew wrote in a motion filed Monday.

Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
Johnny Depp's lawyers say it doesn't matter if one of the jurors who helped decide his defamation case against Amber Heard was never actually summoned for jury duty  the verdict should stand regardless.

In a court filing Monday, obtained by EW, the actor's attorneys responded to Heard's request for a retrial, asking the court to deny her "frivolous motion in its entirety and reject her outlandish requests to set aside the jury verdict."

The scathing reply came after Heard's lawyers claimed in a motion Friday that they recently discovered a member of the jury was not called to serve. Her team argued that the discrepancy went unnoticed in part because the juror who did show up to court shares a name and address with the person who was meant to receive the summons. (There is, however, a 27-year age gap between the two.)

"Ms. Heard's desperate, after-the-fact demand for an investigation of Juror 15 based on a purported error in his birth date is misplaced," Depp's lawyers said in the filing. "As a threshold matter, Ms. Heard waived her right to challenge the accuracy of the information listed in the jury panel by failing to raise this objection contemporaneously."

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard during their defamation trial in Fairfax, Va.

STEVE HELBER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images; JIM LO SCALZO / POOL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Johnny Depp and Amber Heard during their defamation trial in Fairfax, Va.

According to Depp's lawyers, Heard's team was given a pre-panel jury list on April 6, "five days before the jury was empaneled," which they said "gave Ms. Heard ample time to verify the accuracy of the information contained therein."

Furthermore, Depp's team argued that Heard's lawyers failed to prove that the alleged juror mix-up compromised her right to due process. Assuming for the sake of argument "Ms. Heard's latest thesis, that a son served instead of his father, there would be no prejudice, as Juror 15 was qualified to serve as a juror in Fairfax County and was vetted during voir dire by the Court and the parties' counsel, just as all of the other jurors were."

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The high-profile trial began back in April and concluded last month in Depp's favor, with a sympathetic jury ruling that Heard defamed him when she wrote a Washington Post op-ed in 2018 detailing what she characterized as her experiences as a domestic violence survivor. While the piece never mentioned Depp by name, his lawyers argued that references to him were clear and damaging to his career and reputation.

A jury in Fairfax County, Va., agreed, awarding the actor $15 million in damages (which the judge reduced to $10.35 million in accordance with state law). Heard scored a small victory in her countersuit, receiving $2 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages.

"The disappointment I feel today is beyond words," Heard said in a statement following the verdict. "I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband."

Depp, meanwhile, said he was "humbled" by the favorable verdict. "Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me," he said. "I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that."

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Ronny Jackson/TwitterIn the latest addition to the pantheon of tough-guy gun-toting GOP grandstanding videos, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) spoke up in defense of gun rights on Monday in a clip of him wielding two assault riflesone of which was aimed at his own right foot.I have a message for the Biden administration, Jackson, the former physician to President Donald Trump, said in his video shared on Twitter, which racked up over a million views in under 24 hours. If youre thinking about takin
Labour leader Keir Starmer, as his party is set to launch a motion of no confidence against Boris Johnson's government. (PA)

Labour is set to table a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson's government in an attempt to oust him from Downing Street immediately, Yahoo News UK understands.

Johnson resigned as Conservative leader on Thursday but said he would remain in power until a replacement is found, a move that has divided Tory MPs.

Labours bid - which is expected today - would force Johnsons colleagues to either back the Government or vote against it, in a move that could trigger a general election.

The next prime minister is not expected to be announced until 5 September after the Tory party set out its timetable for the battle to replace Johnson in No 10.

Sir Keir Starmer had previously threatened to bring the confidence vote to prevent this nonsense about clinging on for a few months.

Hes inflicted lies, fraud and chaos in the country, the Labour leader said last week.

Read more: Who could the next Tory leader be? Runners and riders to replace Boris Johnson and latest odds

Boris Johnson resigned as PM on Thursday, but will remain until a replacement is found. (PA)

If they dont get rid of him then Labour will step up, in the national interest, and bring a vote of no confidence, because we cant go on with this Prime Minister clinging on for months and months to come.

Despite a number of Tory MPs signalling they were keen for Johnson to leave immediately, he has promised to remain until the Conservative leadership election has concluded.

Tory MPs will be wary that opposing the Government could trigger a general election at a time they are selecting a new leader, and risk losing the large Commons majority Johnson won in 2019.

Authority rapidly drained away from the PM last week as Cabinet ministers and junior colleagues resigned from Government and Tory MPs publicly called for his resignation.

The confidence vote, which would require a simple majority to pass, will put on record where leadership contenders and their colleagues in the Commons stand on Johnson staying in office over the next two months.

Watch: Starmer says Tory leadership candidates are 'behaving as if they've just arrived from the moon'

But now the Conservative Party has set out its timetable for a replacement to be announced on September 5, the clamour for Johnsons immediate exit has been dampened.

That the motion is in Labours name makes Tory support even less likely.
A Louisiana appeals court has rejected a Larose man's request to overturn his conviction and life prison sentence for sexually assaulting a pre-teen girl.

Timothy Falgout, 38, was convicted April 23, 2021, of first-degree rape of a victim under 13. State District Judge Steven Miller of Thibodaux handed down the mandatory life sentence without parole, probation or early release.

Local courts: Terrebonne murder trial of Sherman Ruffin postponed until September

In his appeal, Falgout argued the trial court made a mistake when it denied his requests for a mistrial because prosecutors introduced inadmissible evidence of other crimes during a video of the victims interview with investigators.

The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, however, ruled the statements introduced in court were vague and brief, noting that the trial judge had instructed the jury to disregard them.

"We are convinced that the verdict actually rendered in this case was surely

unattributable to any error in the admission of the above referenced statements," the appeals judges wrote. "We further conclude that the drastic remedy of a mistrial was not warranted in this case and that the trial court did not err in denying the subsequent motion for new trial."

Juvenile detectives began investigating Falgout in late July 2018 after learning he had abused a female child, the Lafourche Parish Sheriffs Office said. Further investigation led detectives to believe he had allegedly forcefully sexually assaulted the victim on more than one occasion.

He was also convicted in 2004 for carnal knowledge of a juvenile and had been a registered sex offender, authorities said.

Falgout is incarcerated in the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.

 Courier and Daily Comet Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @CourierEditor.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Life sentence for Larose man for child rape stands after appeal fails
Lauren Boebert poses for a portrait at Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado on April 24, 2018 EMILY KASK/AFP via Getty Images

Rep. Lauren Boebert tells her version of her husband's 2004 arrest in her new memoir.

He "acted like he was going to unzip his pants" in a bowling alley, but didn't expose himself, she wrote.

He took a plea deal "instead of fighting for his innocence in court," she wrote.

Rep. Lauren Boebert stands by her "hunky" husband in her new memoir, writing that Jayson Boebert never exposed his penis in a bowling alley bar in 2004, despite being arrested, pleading guilty, and serving jail time for public indecency and lewd exposure.

The gun-toting Republican firebrand from Colorado denies the allegations in "My American Life," released on Tuesday. And she blames a 17-year-old bartender at the Fireside Lane bowling alley in Rifle, CO, who "wouldn't stop" asking to see Jayson's private tattoo.

She and Jayson weren't officially married yet and he had been trying to "bond" that night with her stepfather, Boebert writes. They "got to chatting over drinks" and the female bartender had heard "what a catch he'd be."

Jayson Boebert's friends "even teased her by saying he'd gotten a great tattoo in a private area, which made her curious, so she pressed Jayson to show it to her right there at the bar," Boebert wrote.

After first ignoring her, he "acted like he was going to unzip his pants" after having too much to drink, she wrote. The bowling alley owner tried to kick him out, but he didn't want to leave.

"The two argued, and Jayson threw a basket of fries at the owner," she wrote. "The police were called."

The New York Post last year reported that Jayson Boebert exposed himself to two women at the bowling alley and that Lauren Boebert, whose last name was then Roberts, was there. Two women gave statements in the police report that Jayson said he had a tattoo on his penis and then exposed his penis to them. They told the owner of the bowling alley, who called law enforcement.

In her book, Boebert doesn't explain where she was when the incident happened. But she acknowledges Jayson was arrested for "indecent exposure to a minor" because the bartender was 17. He took a plea deal "instead of fighting for his innocence in court."

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"He knew the truth and the truth was, he didn't do what he was accused of," she wrote. "But the entire experience opened Jayson's eyes to the reality that he needed the alcohol and anger management classes that came with the plea deal."

She blames "the Left" for not applauding him for learning from his mistakes.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Jul. 11Oregon lawmakers last year gave every public school district in Oregon the option to ban all guns from their premises  including those carried by concealed handgun license holders  but so far none of the school boards in Jackson County have acted on it.

The Mail Tribune asked board members, superintendents and other officials from each district what their districts intended to do in light of Senate Bill 554, which gives public entities, including school boards, the ability to ban all guns. Violation could result in a year in jail, a $6,250 fine, or both.

After review of its own policy governing personal conduct on school property, officials with the Medford School District said they did not believe its policy needed to be amended in light of the new law.

"We feel like our policy is very clear, that weapons are not allowed on campus," said Natalie Hurd, communications and community engagement director of the Medford School District. "We feel very strongly about that  weapons are not tolerated on the Medford School District campuses, and if we become aware of a weapon on property, we handle the situation urgently and carefully."

A recent analysis by the Oregon Public Broadcasting showed just 13% of the state's school districts had voted to ban CHL holders from bringing a weapon on school property since SB 554 went into effect.

Two others, West Linn and Portland, joined that small list within the last two weeks. West Linn approved policy KGGB, extending the district's firearms ban to include visitors on school grounds, even those with concealed weapon permits. Portland, meanwhile, voted to "uphold" the district's current ban of weapons on school grounds and "further restrict" anyone with a concealed firearm license from carrying a gun anywhere on district property.

As for why Jackson County school districts have not acted on the new law, answers officials have given vary, but many of them cited existing policy, including one that says "no person" shall "bring, possess or use a weapon as prohibited by state and federal law" on school property, including the parking lot. Many iterations by each Jackson County school district of that policy include the word "concealed" in that prohibition of weapons, but Phoenix-Talent, Rogue River and Medford policies do not.

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One of SB 554's sponsors, Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, said school districts "must take affirmative action" to prohibit concealed handgun license holders from carrying a weapon on school campuses, because current state law does not prohibit those holders from carrying concealed on school property.

"SB 554 did not outright prohibit CHL holders from doing so. It's a decision to be made at the local level by each school district," the senator wrote in an email to the newspaper.

Rogue River School District

The district does not allow anyone to bring, possess or use a weapon on school property, including its parking lots.

School board Chairman Bruce Sund could not be reached for comment, despite multiple attempts. Superintendent Patrick Lee said via email, "I am not aware of the board seeking to make any changes to our weapons policy at this time."

Lee made the board aware several months ago about a "sample policy" the Oregon School Board Association has on banning concealed weapons.

"At that time, there was no interest in changing our board policy on this," Lee wrote in an email. "We have not had the opportunity to readdress the issue since the shooting in Texas, so I don't know if those events have changed sentiment."

Phoenix-Talent School District

The district has policies going back to 1993 on weapons that cover students, employees and district property, according to board policies found online.

The policies state that students "shall not ... conceal or use a weapon on or at district property," and it says the same about employees, district contractors and/or their employees and district volunteers. The adult policy is even more explicit, saying, "those who may otherwise be permitted by law to carry such weapons" are not allowed to.

Board Chair Dawn Watson said the board is currently re-examining safety protocols, which have already been beefed up thanks to a bond measure passed by the voters a few years ago.

"That's what we've been discussing. The questions you're asking, I don't have an answer for because we have not discussed them as a board," Watson said. "We do (examine policies) by letter (in which they're categorized) and we're not at those policies yet. I'm sure we'll eventually review (the weapons policy)."

Eagle Point School District

The district prohibits people from bringing or using weapons, including concealed ones, on school property.

Superintendent Andy Kovach had no comment about policies regarding concealed weapons in light of SB 554, and a spokesperson referred the newspaper's inquiry to Eagle Point School Board Chair Emily McIntire.

She said a lot of her members have "thought about" safety since the shooting at Robb Elementary, and after graduation and other festivities, "we probably will" be revisiting policies.

"Our kids and being safe in schools  it really should be an inalienable right," McIntire said, adding that most of the district's schools already have a single point of entry, except the high school. "The policy is listed; it covers bases in our best effort to protect kids against an attack."

Speaking for herself, McIntire  who is running for a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives  said she believes those licensed to carry a concealed handgun should be able to do so on school property.

"I personally don't believe concealed carry would be an issue  most people have followed the law to become that way," McIntire said. "Most people ... that come on (school property) with malicious intent  to cause harm  are not people that follow the law. So I see that truly as only a positive for a school and a school district to have concealed carry in our day and age."

She noted that she's heard of people who don't bring their concealed weapons onto Eagle Point grounds out of respect for the policy.

Central Point School District

The district prohibits people from bringing or using weapons, including concealed ones, on school property and says students cannot bring them, either.

Members of the school board for Central Point School District 6 referred all questions to Superintendent Walt Davenport, who said what happened in Uvalde has caused the district to "think about potential actions" that can be taken to protect students.

"While policy most certainly has a role to play in maintaining order and safety, I think the debate on the impact of having more or less policy on gun possession on school grounds will arguably be a highly debated topic with many viewpoints," Davenport wrote. "With that said, we will always remain open to reviewing our policies with care and attention to school safety, state and federal law, and individual rights."

Ashland School Board

The district has two policies, one prohibiting students from concealed carry of a firearm and other pertaining to all people on school grounds, including parking lot areas.

Victor Chang, a member of the Ashland School Board, said review of weapons policies got lost in the shuffle of other priorities, but the Uvalde tragedy would be a good reason to initiate a discussion on them.

"Everything else going on, it really didn't cross our radar, policy-wise, through the school year," Chang said. "Then, certainly, with some of the most recent really tragic shootings, it's on our radar now. It hasn't been brought (up) as a policy recommendation, but I'm sure it's going to come before us pretty soon."

Chang declined to comment about how he would vote on such a measure.

Butte Falls

Butte Falls Charter School has no current policy on staff or visitors carrying concealed weapons, but students cannot. In fact, the school has expelled students for bringing weapons in the past, according to Katie Misfeldt, chair of the school board.

"Policies that will require more discussion by the board like concealed carry were saved for a later date," she wrote in an email. "In a rural community this topic is one that community members have strong opinions about."

The board started reviewing safety policies even before what happened in Uvalde, Misfeldt said, adding, "We haven't actually gotten to the school grounds policies yet, but that is a conversation we are going to be having."

She noted that the board discussed whether concealed carry should apply to board meetings, which are held on campus but outside business hours.

"When we've had police officers in town, we've been able to have them show up at school board meetings where there were tense topics," Misfeldt said. "I guess there's just a couple board members that feel adamant that if we don't have police present, they'd feel better if somebody did have an option to have a weapon on them."

Reach reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or kopsahl@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correctly attribute a quote about the Uvalde school shooting and a statement about critical race theory to Dan Severson.

Four candidates are vying for the Lee County School Board District 4 seat as incumbent Debbie Jordan faces off against three newcomers.

District 1 encompasses central and north Fort Myers as well as eastern Cape Coral.

The Aug. 23 nonpartisan primary will see the top two vote-getters move on to the general election in November if no one gets more than 50% of the vote.

Other school board election coverage:

Most of the candidates have made school safety and budget concerns top priorities with a number also calling for Lee County Schools to prioritize meeting students' needs.

Jason "Big Mama" Jones

Jason "Big Mama" Jones is running for Lee County School Board 4.

Jones, a local radio jockey, says he's running for school board because he believes it's important to have a parent on the board. He has two children currently in Lee County's public school system and a 23-year-old who went through the same school system.

"The current members of the school board are not working in the best interest of our children nor are they listening to parents," Jones said.

Jones said the three most-pressing issues in Lee County Schools are

school safety

nutrition

budget transparency

On safety, Jones said he would like to see the Guardian Program implemented in Lee County Schools. The Guardian Program, enacted after the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, empowers schools to employ and train teachers and other employees to carry guns in schools as well as hire school safety officers.

Jones also advocated for hardening school buildings and modifying entrances so doors only swing outward.

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According to Jones, his dedication to school safety is why Sheriff Carmine Marceno endorses him. Friends of Carmine Marceno, Marceno's PAC, donated $1,000 to Jones shortly after Jones registered as a candidate for school board. Jones said he has also donated money to Marceno.

In a video posted April 7 to Jones' campaign Facebook page, Marceno called Jones a "brother" and told him he loves him.

"Folks, do everything in your power. This is the man, the right man for the job," Marceno said in the video.

Additionally, Jones called for transparency in the school budget. He said he would prioritize a line-item budget that showed where money is "being wasted within our district" so it could be redirected to teacher and bus driver salaries.

"I will not let our school system be robbed for political favors and dishonest vendors," Jones said. "If youre scamming or stealing from our district it will stop when I am installed on the school board in January."

Read more about Jones at www.electbigmamajones.com.

Debbie Jordan

Debbie Jordan is the incumbent in the Lee County School Board 4 race.

Jordan, the incumbent in the race, said she served on the board during the pandemic, one of the most difficult times to do so, but believes there is still more work for her to do.

Jordan believes the top-three issues facing Lee County Schools are:

teacher retention and recruitment

expansion of educational opportunities for students

advocating for resources to deal with the explosive growth of the student population

She added that she wanted to see Lee County Schools look for outside-the-box ways to attract staff, faculty and leadership as well as provide opportunities for students to familiarize themselves with different educational pathways.

"We want a CommUNITY [emphasis hers] that provides a quality education," Jordan said.

Referring to herself as a "servant leader," Jordan pointed to her time on the board as an example of how she would continue in the position if reelected. She noted that two schools were built during her time on the board, security was upgraded across the district and she collaborated with the Success Academy to create and implement a series of mentoring speakers. She also cited her advocacy of community partnerships.

"I have been present and available for those that speak up and those that feel they do not have a voice," she wrote. "I am always available to listen and provide our community members with support."

According to her website, Jordan has lived in the community for 40 years. She has served as the president for the Lee/Charlotte Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, cofounded the annual River & Blues Festival and was a co-chair of the NAACP Youth Group and Mentor-ACT-SO program.

Read more about Jordan at www.electdebbiejordan.com.

Dan "Doc" Severson

Dan "Doc" Severson is running for School Board in Lee County.

A former Minnesota state representative and Navy pilot, Severson is making a bid for the District 4 seat as well. In Minnesota, Severson co-founded a nonprofit called the Minority Liberty Alliance that worked to spread the Republican Party's message to immigrants new to the U.S.

Severson ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House District 19 but lost the seat to Rep. Byron Donalds, earning 3.1% of the vote.

Severson said he "felt like I had the tools. I was conservative; I felt like that was something I felt called to do."

Despite the earlier loss to Donalds, he said he stands a good chance of taking home the District 4 school board seat this year.

"This election is much more local, grassroots," he said. He said his connections in the faith community and the wider local community will help him win.

Severson said his top-three priorities this election cycle are:

stopping school violence

removing critical race theory from curriculum

ending "gender grooming or sexualizing" of children

"After the Ulva [sic] school shooting, it is apparent that we must do ALL [emphasis his] that we can to make sure our children are safe in our schools," Severson wrote in an email. He, too, called for the Guardian Program to be implemented.

Severson added that removing all references to critical race theory, a method of teaching that examines how racism permeates institutions, from Lee County Schools curriculum is a top priority for him.

There is no evidence that critical race theory is present in Lee County Schools' curriculum; it isn't traditionally taught in public schools.

Severson also asserted that "gender grooming and sexualizing our children" is taking place in Lee County Public Schools. He did not cite specific examples.

Lee County Schools Superintendent Chris Bernier could not be reached for comment. In an emailed response to a request for comment, Director of Strategic Communications Irma Lancaster said, "The School District of Lee County follows all state standards and laws."

"We have a very weak Board with very little executive background running a 2 billion dollar operation," Severson continued. "There is constant infighting, and the professional appearance to the public and the parents is dysfunction at the highest level."

For more information on Severson, visit www.danseverson.org.

Geraldine (Gerri) Ware

Gerri Ware is running for School Board 4.

Ware, as she puts it, "has a history" with Lee County School Board. She's run for a seat on the board twice before, and although she hasn't won yet, at 80, she's giving it another try.

"Some might say Im a slow learner, but Im not. Im very persistent," Ware said. "I have an interest in improving the quality of our school system, and I believe I can be influential in influencing the quality of the basics."

Ware, who has spent more than 20 years registering people to vote, also wants to see an increase in parental involvement and focus on addressing the needs of students after such significant growth in the population, including diverse populations.

"I think we can do better (in meeting the needs of students), she said.

Ware said she hoped to sit down with legislators and find a way to free up more funds for students, not to mention teachers and bus drivers. "You've got an increase in the population so if youve got more kids, youve got to have more funds available," she said.

Furthermore, Ware said her background as a Realtor made her aware that teachers and other district employees could not afford housing in the district anymore. She said she'd like to see housing earmarked for teachers through local partnerships.

Ware also wanted to make school safety a focus of her time on the board, should she win election.

"With all the killings in the schools, safety is going to have to take precedence. If children dont feel safe, how can they learn?" she asked. "Lets curtail some availability of guns to schools. I would love to see more cameras around the schools and someone monitoring the perimeters of the schools."

Ware said she hoped people get out and vote this election cycle. "I really want us to elect somebody whos going to get out into the community and listen to us. It dont matter what race people are or if theyre a Republican or a Democrat. We need good people to represent us."

Ware does not have a website available.

Education reporter Nikki Ross contributed to this story.

Kate Cimini is an investigative journalist covering Florida. Share your story at (239) 207-9369 or email kcimini@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lee County School Board District 4: Jordan, Jones, Severson, Ware
The Lexington Police Department is searching for two suspects wanted in connection to a severe assault that allegedly took place in downtown Lexington last month.

According to police, officers responded to the corner of Main Street and North Limestone at roughly 2:47 a.m. June 19 for a report of an unconscious subject. Two men were found hurt when officers arrived, police said. Both were taken to a local hospital with injuries that were reported to be non-life-threatening at the time, according to Lexington police.

The suspects were not named, and police said they wanted the publics help to identify the individuals because they were wanted for questioning.

The photos released by police appeared to be from a security camera and showed the two suspects running.

One of the victims was later determined to be Logan Parsons. A GoFundMe page setup for Parsons said he and two friends were walking home from a wedding early in the morning when they were assaulted by three people. The GoFundMe page said Parsons had life-threatening injuries and required brain surgery.

We were told we were not sure he would make it, Kirstin Spillman, Parsons fiance, said to WKYT, the Herald-Leaders reporting partner.

The GoFundMe page has since raised nearly $30,000 with the goal of collecting $40,000. The donations will pay for the hospital bills for victims.

Investigators have asked anyone with information about this case to call Lexington police at (859) 258-3600. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Bluegrass Crime Stoppers by calling (859) 253-2020, online at www.bluegrasscrimestoppers.com, or through the P3 tips app available at www.p3tips.com.

Fundraiser started to cover medical bills for Lexington assault victims
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) (R) listens to U.S. President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on November 14, 2018 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Sen. Lindsey Graham once said Trump is "entertaining as hell," Mark Leibovich wrote in his new book.

"Any tweet he sends is like crack cocaine for this guy," Graham said, according to the book.

Graham is now fighting a subpoena from a grand jury impaneled to investigate 2020 election interference.

Before his relationship with former President Donald Trump involved grand jury subpoenas, Sen. Lindsey Graham was enjoying the ride.

"He's entertaining as hell," Graham said of Trump, according to Mark Leibovich's new book "Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission," which comes out on Tuesday.

Graham, a staunch supporter of Trump's since the 2016 election, took on a "Trump-explainer mode" during a 2019 interview with Leibovich, saying Trump is "good for business."

"And he knows he's good for business. What's going to happen next? Stay tuned. Any tweet he sends is like crack cocaine for this guy," Graham said.

Graham is now fighting a subpoena from a Fulton County Grand Jury impaneled to investigate 2020 election interference after Trump called on Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger at the time to "find" more than 11,000 votes for him.

The subpoena alleged Graham also called Raffensperger to encourage him to question absentee ballots. Graham has called it a "fishing expedition."

Leibovich's book describes how Graham became a staunch ally of Trump's, even though Graham "had minimal regard for Trump as a serious thinker and moral human being."

Leibovich wrote that Graham "reserved a certain awe" for Trump and "He couldn't believe how Trump could endure the crises he did or got away with what he got away with."

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Reuters) - Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp said on Tuesday it had handed over the first model of its newest mobile rocket launcher to the U.S. Army.

The United States and its allies have recently supplied weapons worth billions of dollars to Ukraine to help it repel an invasion by Russia, which Moscow claims is a "special operation".

Lockheed said the new multiple launch rocket system, named M270A2, can be transported by large military transport aircraft C-17 and C-5. (https://lmt.co/3bWXFV8)

Britain, an M270A2 customer, said last month it will supply Ukraine with some of its older multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80 km (50 miles) away. (https://reut.rs/3yA4eVl)

(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
UKRAINSKA PRAVDA  TUESDAY, 12 JULY 2022, 19:08

Aleksandr Lukashenko, self-proclaimed President of the Republic of Belarus, has fired Major General Alexander Shkirenko from the position of Head of the Main Organisational and Mobilisation Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus.

Source: Belarusian news agency Belta, which quotes a post on Lukashenko's website

Quote: "Major General Aleksandr Shkirenko has been dismissed from the position of Head of the Main Organisational and Mobilisation Department Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and has been left at the defence minister's disposal."

Background: In Belarus, military exercises have been going on for more than a month, which, in particular, include the checking of mobilisation mechanisms.

At the end of June, the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported that the military commissariats of the Brest and Gomel oblasts of Belarus were considering different ways of covertly mobilising the population.
A majority of Democrats  53 percent  support abolishing the Supreme Court in favor of a democratically elected court, according to a new poll.

However, 53 percent of all likely voters oppose abolishing the high court, the poll by the Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports found.

While 64 percent of Democrats also supported expanding the Supreme Court from nine seats to 13 seats, 51 percent of all likely voters opposed such an expansion.

Thirty-nine percent of Democrats supported a proposal for a constitutional amendment that would give the United Nations the authority to reverse U.S. Supreme Court decisions that U.N. members believe violate human rights. Just 29 percent of all likely voters and 17 percent of Republicans supported the proposal.

The survey of 1,025 likely voters was performed between July 6 and 7 comes just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The Courts decision to overturn Roe has renewed Democrats calls to pack the Court.

Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison claimed the Supreme Court is illegitimate after the ruling was handed down. While Harrison did not explain what makes the Court illegitimate, progressives have leveled the charge against the Court since Republicans refused to hold a confirmation hearing for former President Obamas nominee Merrick Garland in 2016. GOP leaders argued then that it would not be in the interest of Americans to appoint a justice in an election year.

Democrats grew particularly incensed in 2020, when Republicans chose to move forward with confirmation hearings for Justice Amy Coney Barrett just weeks before the presidential election.

However, despite Democratic assertions that the decision to overturn Roe would erode trust in Court as an institution, the new poll found that 52 percent of all likely voters had either a very favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of the Court.

By contrast, just 33 percent of Democrats had a very or somewhat favorable view of the Court. Fifty-six percent of Democrats agreed that the Court is fundamentally racist, while 67 percent of Democrats said the Court is fundamentally sexist.

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A clear majority of likely voters holds a favorable opinion of our highest legal body, rejects the notion that it is inherently racist or sexist, and supports its current institutional characteristics that favor impartiality and independence, Jack McPherrin, research editor at the Heartland Institute, said in a press release announcing the poll results.

The poll results come months after a commission formed by President Biden to study potential reforms to the U.S. Supreme Court sent a nearly 300-page report to the president taking no position on Court-packing. The report offered arguments for and against Court-packing, judicial term limits and other matters related to the high Court, but does not provide any recommendations.

Given the size and nature of the Commission and the complexity of the issues addressed, individual members of the Commission would have written the Report with different emphases and approaches, the reports summary said. But the Commission submits this Report today in the belief that it represents a fair and constructive treatment of the complex and often highly controversial issues it was charged with examining.

The report noted that no serious person, in either major political party, suggests court packing as a means of overturning disliked Supreme Court decisions, whether the decision in question is Roe v. Wade or Citizens United.

More from National Review
Robert Lanoue of Reno was charged in the 1982 killing of 5-year-old Anne Pham. Her remains were found outside Ft. Ord, a now-closed Army base where Lanoue had been stationed. (Washoe County Sheriff's Office)

Forty years after a 5-year-old girl was raped and killed in a small city on the Monterey Peninsula, authorities have charged a former soldier with her murder.

Robert Lanoue, 70, of Reno was charged last week with one count of first-degree murder with special circumstance allegations that he killed Anne Pham while committing kidnapping and a lewd act on a child younger than 14, according to the Monterey County district attorneys office.

Anne was kidnapped Jan. 21, 1982, while walking to her kindergarten class at Highland Elementary School in Seaside, near Monterey Bay. Two days later, her remains were found outside Ft. Ord, a now-closed U.S. Army post east of the town.

The Seaside Police Department, FBI and U.S. Armys Criminal Investigation Division investigated the killing before the case went cold for nearly 40 years.

Anne was the child of refugees from Vietnam who fled the country after the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975, the Mercury News reported. Anne's father, Tuong Pham, moved to Seaside to make a living as a fisherman, according to the Mercury News. She was killed four years after the family moved to the Monterey Peninsula.

Lanoue was 29 at the time of Anne's killing and lived in Seaside, according to the district attorneys office. He was a soldier stationed at Ft. Ord.

The case was reopened in 2020 by the Monterey County district attorney's office's newly formed cold case task force.

Investigators used a new type of DNA testing not previously available to earlier investigators to identify Lanoue as a suspect, the district attorney's office said.

A $535,000 federal grant that the cold case task force received includes provisions that allow investigators to use private laboratories that trace family genealogical data, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. A similar method was used in 2018 to track down the Golden State Killer, one of the country's most notorious cold cases.

Lanoue is a registered sex offender and was convicted in 1998 of lewdness with a minor as well as possession of child pornography, according to Nevada prison records. He spent about 20 years in prison in Nevada.

He is being held in a Washoe County, Nev., jail, and authorities are awaiting his extradition to California.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Jul. 11A Frederick man died in a crash Sunday morning after veering off the road and hitting a tree head-on, police said.

William Francis Carter, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene, a press release from the Frederick County Sheriff's Office said.

The Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services took Carter to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy, the release said.

Sheriff's office spokesman Todd Wivell said the autopsy is to see if there were any substances in his system.

According to the release, Carter was driving his 2015 Hyundai Sonata at 6:50 a.m. south on Md. 85, around Md. 28, near the Montgomery County line. The car left the roadway and hit a tree.

Wivell said the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Follow Clara Niel on Twitter: @clarasniel
MOUNT DORA  The man involved in a Monday car chase and alleged shootout with law enforcement officers has been charged with three counts of attempted murder of law enforcement officers, fleeing and eluding and firing a weapon from a vehicle.

Eighteen-year-old Jonny Ze Guiseppe Santiago, a domestic violence suspect, was charged after law enforcement officers say he fled from Volusia County, crashed into a synagogue and engaged in a gun battle with police.

He was shot, too, and was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center where he was listed in stable condition.

Read our initial report: Domestic violence suspect arrested after shooting, crash into Mount Dora synagogue

Officers: Father of domestic violence suspect involved in Monday police shootout is missing

More: 17-year-old arrested, charged with vehicular homicide in Clermont rollover crash

The Volusia County Sheriffs Office received a call just after 11 p.m. Sunday from New York, according to VCSO spokesman Andrew Gant. The caller said her husband was with their son, Jonny Santiago, in Deltona.

Earlier in the day, she had been on the phone with her husband, Juan Santiago, 52, when she heard them arguing and then heard a loud noise. The call ended, and she didn't hear back from her husband.

Now, Juan Santiago is missing.

Volusia County investigators went to 899 Lehigh Drive in Deltona, Gant said, but no one was home and a 2021 Ford F-150 pickup that Jonny liked to drive was missing.

The truck was spotted in DeBary, but the driver fled from deputies, Gant said. Deputies sent out regional and national bulletins. The truck was also seen in Sanford, but the driver sped away.

According to Herrell, Santiago was also in the Groveland, Howey-In-The-Hills and Tavares areas Monday before the pursuit. Anyone who recalls seeing the white Ford F-150 in a suspicious location or under suspicious circumstances, are encouraged to call the sheriffs office at 352-343-2101.

Eventually, the Lake County Sheriffs Office helicopter spotted the pickup truck in the area of U.S. Highway 441 and First Avenue, said LCSO Lt. John Herrell. Deputies tried to stop the pickup on Eudora Road near Walmart but the driver took off at a high rate of speed.

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 Santiago, displayed a firearm out the drivers side window, aiming and discharging several rounds from a handgun at pursuing law enforcement near the 1800 block of N. Donnelly, according to the arrest affidavit.

He lost control of the vehicle near Ninth Avenue and crashed into the side of the Traditional Congregation synagogue, the affidavit said.

Thank God, no one was in the building, Rabbi Geoff Solomon said Tuesday.

Santiago kept firing at Lake deputies and Mount Dora police, who returned fire, wounding him, the affidavit says.

He then crawled out of the passenger side window, the report said. He dropped his weapon and was treated by law enforcement officers until paramedics arrived, and he was airlifted to the hospital, where he is in custody.

Some law enforcement officers were taken to local hospitals where they were treated for injuries sustained in the collision.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the law enforcement officers shooting.

Two deputies were placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure.

The status of the Mount Dora officer who fired his weapon is unclear.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Police charge man involved in alleged shootout, car chase in Mount Dora
A man hopped a fence during an elementary schools summer recess and caused panic when he said he was being shot at, South Carolina police said.

Officers were called to Legacy Early College for a reported shooting on the morning of July 11, but found there was no active shooter and no shooting had taken place at the school, according to a statement from the Greenville Police Department.

Students and faculty members told officers that during recess, they saw a man jump over the fence. He said he had been shot at before running toward the school doors, police said.

Everyone who was outside ran toward the school, and during the chaos, the man entered the school, the statement says.

Faculty members found him inside and separated him from the students. Officers interviewed him and arrested him on charges of disturbing school and filing a false police report, the statement says.

Legacy Early College, a kindergarten through 12th grade public charter school, said in a statement that no one was harmed during the incident.

...our primary concern is keeping our scholars safe, so that they can experience an exceptional educational environment and fulfill their academic potential, the statement says. With this focus in mind, today we followed our lockdown procedures with integrity and ensured each scholar was accounted for and safe after this incident.

School staff called families once every student was accounted for, the statement says.

Many school districts around the country have been on edge since the May 24 shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

On June 9, officers in Alabama shot and killed a man who reached for a school resource officers gun outside an elementary school, officials said.





Legacy Early College said that summer classes would resume with their normal schedule on July 12, but that the elementary school would have an increased police presence.

Along with addressing this safety concern, we will also be providing onsite counseling services to all of our scholars, the statement says.

Story continues

Greenville is about 104 miles northwest of Columbia.

Man trying to enter school shot after reaching for officers gun, Alabama officials say

Student threatens to aim machine gun at LGBTQ+ demonstrators at WA school, cops say

Proud Boys enter library during LGBTQ story time, NC parents say. I felt unsafe.
Jadon Sancho is congratulated by Marcus Rashford (EPA)

If the low points for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick last season may have come in harrowing hammerings against Liverpool, Erik ten Hag at least marked a break with the recent past on his bow as Manchester United manager. Solskjaer lost 5-0 and Rangnick 4-0 and, in the context of that, United could savour a scoreline that brought a 4-0 win, even if a pre-season friendly scarcely carries the same weight. Liverpool finished 34 points ahead of United last season, and in a game when Jurgen Klopp fielded 32 players and Ten Hags first-half side was a plausible starting 11 for the opening day, these were two clubs at different stages of planning.

Nevertheless, Uniteds first look at Ten Hags ideas offered some encouragement. There was a restorative element for a bright, quick front three, who looked lively in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. Jadon Sancho scored the first unofficial goal of Ten Hags reign and Anthony Martial added a sleek strike that offered a reminder of his speed. Marcus Rashford was wasteful when a couple of chances presented themselves but showed his sharpness to hint at a revival after his form collapsed last season. Given the versatility of many a United forward, perhaps it was instructive that Rashford started on the left, Sancho on the right and Martial in the middle, in a role that may revert to Ronaldo.

Ten Hag did not use the quintessential Ajax 4-3-3 system, but a 4-2-3-1, which he had also deployed at times in Amsterdam. It meant Bruno Fernandes, who captained United in a game Harry Maguire sat out, was reinstalled as the No 10; it was more Solskjaers system than Rangnicks, with the Portuguese sometimes deployed as a No 8 in a 4-3-3 last season or as a wide 10 in the Germans unsuccessful attempts to import a 4-2-2-2 formation.

There were glimpses of the cohesion coaching has brought. United pressed well at times  though whether they could with Ronaldo is another matter  and broke with pace and intent. Their goals stemmed from getting forward quickly, even if the first three owed something to an inexperienced Liverpool defence. The first two came when they failed to clear, the third when Rhys Williams was dispossessed by Martial.

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Nevertheless, the finishing offered indications of ability. Sancho began on the right but popped up on the left to steer in a shot. Fred chipped Alisson delightfully: if the Brazilian, a rare beneficiary of Rangnicks regime, could lose his place if either or both of Christian Eriksen and Frenkie de Jong sign, it was a sign a workhorse can offer craft as well as graft.

Liverpools Fabio Carvalho on the ball against Bruno Fernandes (Getty Images)

Martial has returned from loan at Sevilla. His 2021-22 campaign only produced one official goal for United. His pre-season was brought as many, the Frenchman lifting the ball over Alisson with a deft finish. That devastating speed on the break offered echoes of the best of Solskjaers reign but it came against a barely recognisable team. While Ten Hag began with arguably his strongest available side, Klopp mixed, matched and ended with what looked a more familiar line-up.

He swapped all 10 outfield players after half an hour and then again after 60 minutes and finished with his Champions League final back four plus Fabinho, Mohamed Salah and the summer signing Darwin Nunez. That rearguard of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson was nevertheless breached by a clinical counter-attack, begun by Eric Bailly and completed by Facundo Pellestri after a one-two with Amad Diallo.

Yet while United conceded nine times to Liverpool last season and none in a pre-season reunion, there were indications the defensive difficulties that were all too evident when they let in 57 league goals last season are not necessarily consigned to the past. David de Gea was overworked again and made a series of saves. Liverpool hit the woodwork three times: through the newcomer Fabio Carvalho and Luis Diaz, who troubled Diogo Dalot in a manner to explain why Ten Hag may want a right-back, and then Salah in the final minutes. The rebound fell to Darwin Nunez and he ballooned it over: the Uruguayan is a United target and it would have been in keeping with their fortunes last season if a player they had wanted had scored against them.

He faced Ten Hags second-string side: the Dutchman may have made it easy to guess players places in his pecking order. He made 10 changes at half-time. With Tyrell Malacia making his debut, it was notable Alex Telles operated in the centre of defence, suggesting he is now the third-choice left-back. But Bailly excelled alongside him. As a new era started at Old Trafford, it was another clue there could be new beginnings for some of those who have regressed of late.
The Grub Spouse and I experienced an amazing turn of good fortune last week. I had intended to review Azul Tequila Mexican Grill in Farragut, but for some bizarre reason, I navigated us to Dos Agaves in Turkey Creek (I was confused by my memory of the old Agave Azul restaurant in Western Plaza). Upon our arrival at Dos Agaves, however, I realized I had already checked that place off my list. Then when I tried to reroute us to Azul Tequila, I learned it was permanently closed.

Fortunately, on our way to Dos Agaves, The Spouse had noticed a new place called CAVA, also in Turkey Creek, in the former Zoes Kitchen space, just a minute or two away from our location at that moment. Even better, we found out that CAVA serves Mediterranean cuisine, one of our faves. Things couldnt have worked out better.

Inside, the facility looks very similar to the way it did when Zoes was in the house, but the concept and menu are different (although both chains offer/offered fresh and healthy food thats customizable).

One option is to go with one of CAVAs curated pitas or bowls. For example, the crispy falafel pita includes the deep-fried chickpeas in a bread pocket, plus roasted eggplant, pickles, cabbage slaw, tomato, onion, and skhug and garlic dressings. The harissa avocado bowl features harissa-honey chicken, Crazy Feta (description below), hummus, feta, avocado, fire-roasted corn, Persian cucumber, pickled onions, basmati rice, SuperGreens and hot harissa vinaigrette dressing.

You can also create your own pita or bowl entree. Start with a base, which can be any number of greens, grains or RightRice (for a bowl) or a pita or mini pita shell for a pocket meal. From there, you may add as many as three of their six dips and spreads, a protein (falafel, grilled chicken, braised lamb and more), toppings like avocado, kalamata olives and lentil tabbouleh, and one of eight dressings (Greek vinaigrette, tahini Caesar, yogurt dill and more).

The Spouse and I both went with signature dishes. I ordered the spicy lamb meatball pita ($12.17), made with meatballs plus hummus, tomato, cucumber, pickled onions, cabbage slaw, salt-brined pickles, and skhug and garlic dressings. The Spouse got the chicken & RightRice bowl ($10.77), consisting of grilled chicken, tzatziki, hummus, tomato, onion, Persian cucumber, pickled onions, arugula, Greek vinaigrette and RightRice (a rice alternative made from a blend of lentils, chickpeas, green peas and traditional rice).

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CAVA restaurant in Turkey Creek offers a variety of Mediterranean cuisine. July 2022.

We also decided to get a side order of pita chips and Crazy Feta ($3.95), a proprietary creation made from imported Greek feta cheese infused with extra-virgin olive oil, jalapeno peppers and onion. Although we passed on all of their unique drink choices, CAVA does carry a variety of fresh, seasonal juices, teas and sodas (including Maine Root brand), available both in bottles and at the beverage fountain.

Our order was prepared while we stood in the queue. CAVA had opened recently, so the employees were still assembling orders based on recipe cards, but the staffers we interacted with did a great job of answering our product questions and whipping up our orders in a timely manner.

I have to admit that based on the menu descriptions alone, I was cautiously optimistic about CAVAs cuisine, but the meal itself confirmed my hunch and then some. Everything was fantastic, beginning with the pita chips and Crazy Feta. The bread was warm and soft in the middle and slightly crispy on the outside. The dip had that signature feta twang to it plus a subtle fieriness from the jalapeno.

My lamb-meatball pita was phenomenal. The warm and savory flavor of the lamb remained a constant, though it was complemented by a diverse contingent of tastily healthful ingredients, including the many chopped vegetables, and the distinctive kick of the skhug sauce (traditionally made with chili peppers, cilantro and spices). The sauce tended to drain slowly from the bottom of my pita, but its outer wrapper helped me maintain some control over that tasty mess.

More Grub Scout: Bahia Bowls Acai Cafe finds sweet spot for fruit bowls, avocado toast

The Spouses chicken and RightRice bowl was equally pleasing. This was a case of protein, vegetables, greens, sauces and grains working together in concert to deliver a satisfying meal in every sense.

We had often eaten at Zoes Kitchen because it served deliciously healthy meals at a reasonable price. CAVA checks those same boxes and takes things a step further. I will always be a regular customer of Yassins Falafel House, and I have even worked Naf Naf Grill into my regular rotation, but in my opinion, CAVA offers a much wider selection of ingredients and dishes.

The bottom line: If you enjoy that style of cuisine, definitely give CAVA a shot. If youre like me, you may wind up having to juggle more Mediterranean-food restaurants than your schedule could possibly allow.

CAVA

Food: 4.5

Service: 4

Atmosphere: 3.75

Overall: 4.25

Address: 11378 Parkside Drive, Suite 2510

Phone: 865-288-9905

No alcohol service

Hours: 10:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Sundays

This new Turkey Creek purveyor of Mediterranean cuisine checks all the boxes when it comes to serving delicious and healthy food at very accessible price points.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: CAVA in Turkey Creek review: Mediterranean food hits the spot
A 15-year-old boy died of smoke inhalation during a SWAT raid in New Mexico, police have said.

A preliminary autopsy report revealed the cause of death for Brett Rosenau, the Albuquerque Police Department announced on Sunday.

Brett was in a home in the southeastern parts of the city when the SWAT raid took place on Wednesday evening.

In our effort to track down and arrest a violent criminal, a young person tragically lost his life, APD Chief Harold Medina said in a statement.

I know many people in our community are hurting right now, and [we] appreciate everyones patience while the incident is thoroughly investigated, he added. If any of our actions inadvertently contributed to his death, we will take steps to ensure this never happens again.

Police were attempting to detain Qiaunt Kelley, 27, after he violated probation on charges of armed carjacking and vehicle theft.

Police also wanted to question Kelley in connection to a shooting on 26 June that led to a death, and another shooting involving an officer that took place on 5 May, as well as another case of armed robbery that was being investigated by local police and federal authorities, the department said in its statement.

Following a standoff that lasted hours, officers noticed that smoke was coming from inside the home. The SWAT team had previously used a drone to drop powder irritants into the building to get Mr Kelley and Brett to come outside.

Brett Rosenau, 15, died of smoke inhalation during a SWAT raid, police have said (Go Get Funding / Brett Rosenau Funeral Expenses)

Kelley exited the home as firefighters got to the scene. The 27-year-old had burn injuries and was taken to hospital where he was treated and later arrested and sent to jail.

Brett was found dead inside the home, police said.

The Albuquerque Journal reported that residents protested the polices use of force on Thursday, holding signs saying Black Lives Matter.

Mayor Tim Keller said in the statement on Sunday that no matter what the circumstances were, a boys life was tragically cut short, something no person or parent should experience.

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Every single life is valuable and the loss of anyone is devastating to the family and the community. We share our condolences to all who know him and loved him, he added.

Chief Medina said the devices deployed to send irritants into the home could have led to the fire.

APD uses devices that are designed for indoor use to minimize the likelihood of igniting a fire, and no fires have been reported over the many years they have been used in Albuquerque, the press release stated.

The Albuquerque Journal reported that the fire destroyed the home, displaced the owners, and also led to the death of a dog.

Several agencies will take part in a criminal investigation into the raid to discover if any policies were violated. The police department said that the results of the probe will be sent to the office of the District Attorney.

Police body camera footage and images captured by drone will be released to the public.

Though all facts and circumstances have not come out, I do know that Brett was not involved in the SWAT situation where he succumbed to his injuries of severe burns and smoke inhalation, Amanda Lopez wrote on a fundraising page.

I was not mentally, physically, emotionally, [or] financially prepared for the phone call I received this morning. As a mother, you never imagine that you would be attending your childs funeral, she added.
WASHINGTON  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had one key message to President Joe Biden during a face-to-face bilateral meeting: Let Mexico do its own thing.

Biden and Lopez Obrador held their second in-person meeting at the White House on Tuesday. The items on the agenda were curbing migration, inflation and the illegal flow of fentanyl into the United States from Mexico.

But Lopez Obrador, who spoke for over 30 minutes in the Oval Office, reminded Biden of former President Franklin D. Roosevelts Good Neighbor policy, which avoided interference in domestic affairs in Latin America, while also engaging in reciprocal exchanges with that region, such as trade.

The comment was a subtle dig on United States president's current strategy with Mexico.

Have his cake and eat it too: Mexican president's leverage over Biden stunts progress on migration, drugs

US President Joe Biden meets with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the Oval Office of the White House on July 12, 2022, in Washington, DC.

The latest

Why are they meeting?: Bidens meeting with AMLO comes a month after the Mexican president snubbed Biden by not attending the Ninth Summit of the Americas in June.

Mexico's leverage: Biden needs the Mexican president to stop the influx of migrants. Lopez Obrador wants to see more temporary visas for jobs beyond agriculture. Biden praised Lopez Obrador for making more visas available to Central Americans in Mexico.

Wheres the veep?: Vice President Kamala Harris, who was put in charge of addressing root causes of migration from Central America, met with Lopez Obrador over breakfast on Tuesday morning.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador meets with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House on July 12, 2022, in Washington, DC.

Will there be results from this meeting?

While Biden's meeting with Lopez Obrador resulted in announcements to improve cooperation around trade and border security, whether or not these measures are successful  or get implemented at all  is another question, former diplomats say.

Lopez Obrador unfortunately has realized that he's got a great deal of leverage, because of how important the issue of migration is for the United States administration at this stage, said Arturo Sarukhan, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico. In many ways, Lopez Obrador feels that he can have his cake and eat it too.

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What they are saying

We have much agreementwe'll have a chance to talk about what the disagreement is. But the thrust of what you were saying, we agree with. We need to work closely together, Biden told AMLO.

Authenticity of this policy had as its best example, respect for the sovereignty of Mexico, Lopez Obrador said of the Good Neighbor policy. This policy of respect for the sovereignty of our country, of nations in general, gave us very good fruit.

Lopez Obrador also hit Biden on gas prices. Although there has been some relief at the gas pump for Americans, AMLO encouraged Americans near the southern border to go to Mexico to buy gas  bragging that the prices are about one dollar less than in the United States.

We decided that while we're waiting for the prices to go down in the U.S, we've decided that it was necessary for us to allow Americans who live close to the border to go and get their gasoline on the Mexican side at lower prices, AMLO said.

Want to know more? Here's what you missed

After 53 migrants died in a human smuggling case in San Antonio, Texas, Bidens migration policy with Central America and Mexico might need some changes, diplomats say. Read more here.

Groups of violent, white-majority vigilante groups are increasingly patrolling areas along the U.S.-Mexican border, posing a risk to migrants and people of color, according to watchdog groups. Read more here.

Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Migration, gas prices: Here's what Biden and AMLO discussed in meeting
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexico plans to purchase up to 20,000 tons of milk powder and up to one million tons of ammonium sulfate fertilizer from the United States, the presidents of Mexico and the United States announced on Tuesday.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced the planned purchases in a joint statement following a meeting at the White House.

(Reporting by Eric Beech; editing by Costas Pitas)
A Miami businessman who had been a fugitive for 10 years while facing charges of illegally importing large amounts of air-conditioning refrigerant from China was finally arrested this spring and admitted to his crime on Monday in federal court.

Jorge G. Murrillo, 69, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act by importing more than 680,000 pounds of hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22 that was worth about $1.5 million, according to court records. His plan was to sell the refrigerant on the black market for residential use, prosecutors said. HCFC-22 was widely used for air-conditioning and heat-pump systems but was being restricted for environmental reasons.

Murrillo, who had been living for a decade outside the country before his arrest in late May, faces up to five years in prison at his Sept. 20 sentencing in Miami federal court before U.S. District Judge Donald Graham.

The Clean Air Act regulates air pollutants, including ozone-depleting greenhouse gases such as HCFC-22, which are now being phased out. Under an international treaty to reduce consumption, the United States issued limited allowances for the production and importation of HCFC-22. To legally import the compound gas coolant, a person or company had to obtain an unexpended consumption allowance from the Environmental Protection Agency.

A decade-old indictment alleges that Murrillo and his Miami Beach company, JP Money Inc., did not have permission from the federal government when the businessman imported HCFC-22 from China to South Florida in 2007.

According to court records, Murrillo and a co-conspirator negotiated with a Chinese manufacturer and bought large quantities of HCFC-22, importing the refrigerant through South Florida ports. At no point were Murrillo and his company allowed to import HCFC-22 from China, according to federal prosecutor Thomas Watts-Fitzgerald.

Murrillos co-defendant, Norberto Guada, pleaded guilty in 2012 to illegally importing HCFC-22, and he served six months in prison and another six months of home confinement, court records show.
WASHINGTONThe special committee investigating the violent Capitol attacks on Jan. 6, 2021, revealed testimony and evidence Tuesday indicating former President Donald Trump used his huge social media following to summon an armed mob to Washington, D.C. as part of an "unhinged" effort to stay in power.

Trump proceeded with his plan despite White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Cabinet officials and other top aides advising him to concede his presidential election loss to Joe Biden, according to witnesses and other evidence presented Tuesday.

But committee members said he continued to use his bully pulpit online, where he had millions of followers, to make unproven claims  even after losing 60 lawsuits  that the 2020 election had been stolen.

"Trump's purpose was to mobilize a crowd," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., one of the panel members. "He knew the crowd was angry. He knew the crowd was armed. He sent them anyway."

It was a hearing punctuated with several big reveals, including in committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney's final words of the hearing when she said Trump personally called an unidentified witness who has not yet testified. The committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice, she said.

"Let me say one more time, we will take any efforts to influence witnesses testimony very, very seriously," she said.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), center, opens a public hearing before the House committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on July 12, 2022 in Washington DC.

March to Capitol was planned: The special committee revealed evidence that showed the march to the Capitol was planned  and not spontaneous. Never-before-seen text messages on Tuesday showed those who were behind the rally ahead of the Jan. 6 riot knew Trump would call for the march. A never-before-seen draft tweet was also revealed that showed Trump was going to say he would be making a speech at 10 a.m. Jan. 6 at the Ellipse. "Please arrive early, massive crowds expected. March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal!!"

'Unhinged' meeting: The committee focused heavily on a Dec. 18, 2020, meeting in the Oval Office, where Trump advisers Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn met to discuss overturning the election. The meeting broke into a screaming match, according to testimony, with White House counsel challenging ideas of Powell, Giuliani and Flynn and saying they lacked evidence of widespread voter fraud.

A call to arms: Trump assembled a crowd on Jan. 6, 2021, to "serve his goal," said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., a committee member. Some of the members in that crowd had "specific plans," she said. A tweet from the former president on Dec. 19, 2020, in which he urged people to go to Washington on Jan. 6 and said it "will be wild," was a "call to action" and a "call to arms," she said.

The day it ended: Cipollone and other top Trump officials testified that they saw Dec. 14, 2020, as the end of the former president's legal election challenges. That was the day state electors met to cast votes in line with the popular votes in their states. Former White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere testified that he told Trump "the means for him to pursue litigation was probably closed" after the state electors voted. Trump said he disagreed, according to Deere's testimony.

'Trump's last stand': Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, 2020: "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!" The next day, right-wing personalities shared messages with their followers that said Trump was calling on them to assemble. "This could be Trump's last stand," Tim Pool said. "Trump supporters need to say this is it. It's now or never." A pro-Trump YouTuber that goes by the name "Salty Cracker" said "a red wedding" would be "going down Jan. 6. There going to be a million-plus, geeked-up, armed Americans." Raskin explained that "red wedding" is a phrase, taken from the show "Game of Thrones," that means "mass slaughter." "The point is that Trump's call to Washington reverberated powerfully and pervasively online."

Early warnings: One of the warnings ahead of Jan. 6 came from John Ratcliffe, Trumps director of national intelligence. He told former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson he thought the former presidents challenges to the election could "spiral out of control" and become potentially "dangerous," according to her testimony. A former Twitter employee who testified before the committee anonymously said he became concerned after Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" during a 2020 presidential debate. "My concern was that the former president for seemingly the first time was speaking directly to extremist organizations and giving them directives," the employee said in recorded testimony. "We had not seen that sort of direct communication before, and that concerned me."

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Hearing recap: Jan. 6 rioter blames his participation on Trump, false claims of election fraud: Day 7 recap

Filling in the gaps: On Jan. 6, Trump was out of public view as aides urged him to act. A breakdown of those 187 minutes.

Jan. 6 panel reveals march to Capitol was planned

Through a series of never-before-seen text messages and documents from the National Archives, the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack showed the march to the Capitol was planned ahead of time.

The panel obtained a series of text messages between Kyle Kremer, the organizer of the 'Stop the Steal' rally, and Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and a Trump confidante.

Two days before the riot, Kremer said in the text messages how Trump is "going to have us march there," meaning the Capitol. He then told Lindell to keep that information to himself because the president, during his rally speech, would "unexpectedly" instruct his supporters to go to the Capitol.

"The evidence confirms that this was not a spontaneous call to action, but rather was a deliberate strategy decided upon in advance by the president," said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., a member of the committee.

A never-before-seen draft tweet was also revealed that showed Trump was going to say he would be making a speech at 10 a.m. Jan. 6 at the Ellipse. "Please arrive early, massive crowds expected. March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal!!"

Bannon denied: Steve Bannon's request to delay contempt trial denied after he offered to testify before Jan. 6 panel

Summoning protesters to the Capitol

Stephen Ayres (right) testifies during a public hearing before the House committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Ayres was criminally charged for his actions during the Capitol insurrection. Right is Jason Van Tatenhove is a former spokesperson for the Oath Keepers.

A Jan. 6 rioter testified that he went to the Capitol because the president directed his supporters there.

Stephen Ayres said he didn't go to Washington that day with the intention of going to the Capitol. But he decided to go once "the president got everybody riled up and told everybody to head down, so we basically were following what he said."

"Everybody thought" the former president was going to march with them down Pennsylvania Avenue, Ayres said.

In a further testament to the weight of Trump's words, Ayres said he and fellow rioters left "right after" Trump shared a tweet asking people to leave. That tweet was shared after about three hours of violence at the Capitol.

"I was hanging on every word he was saying," Ayres said.

'Asking for a civil war'

A former Trump campaign manager believed Trump's rhetoric led to the violence on Jan. 6, according to correspondence between former Trump staffers.

Brad Parscale, Trump's 2016 campaign manager, said wrote in text messages after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that he felt guilty for his role in getting Trump elected and that it was Trumps rhetoric that led to death of a rioter that day.

A sitting president asking for civil war, Parscale said in text messages to former White House press secretary Katrina Pierson revealed Tuesday by the committee investigating the attack. This week I feel guilty for helping him win.

Parscale said in another message: Yeah if I was Trump and I knew my rhetoric killed someone,

Pierson tried to comfort Parscale in the exchange, saying it wasnt the rhetoric that led to a woman dying at the Capitol.

Yes it was, Parscale said.

Former GOP speaker cried on Jan. 6: Paul Ryan was 'sobbing' while watching Jan. 6 attack on Capitol, upcoming book says

'Craziest meeting' in the Oval Office

An interview with Pat Cipollone, former White House counsel is projected on a large screen during a public hearing of the House committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on July 12, 2022.

Testimony revealed an "unhinged" Oval Office meeting on Dec. 18, 2020, that was also described as the "craziest meeting."

"At times there were people shouting at each other, hurling insults at each other. It wasnt sort of people sitting around on the couch just chit-chatting," said Derek Lyons, a former White House staff secretary.

The committee focused heavily on the Dec. 18 meeting, where Powell, Giuliani and Flynn met with the former president to discuss overturning the election.

The meeting broke into a screaming match, according to testimony, with the White House counsel challenging ideas of Powell, Giuliani and Flynn and saying they lacked evidence of widespread voter fraud.

Giuliani accused Cipollone and former Trump adviser Eric Herschmann of not acting aggressively enough, even once calling them the P-word.

"Excuse the expression, but that's almost certain what the word was," Giuliani said.

Herschmann, who said hed had it with Giuliani after the former New York City mayor screamed insults at him, and told the Giuliani "either come over or sit your effin ass back down."

Hutchinson sent a text to deputy White House chief of staff Anthony M. Ornato during the scrum to sum up the meeting: "The west wing is UNHINGED."

GOP lawmakers met with Trump about overturning election results

Several Republican members of Congress met with Trump, Giuliani and former chief of staff Mark Meadows in the Oval Office to discuss what role Vice President Mike Pence could play in overturning election results.

According to White House visitor logs, members in attendance included: Brian Babin, R-Texas; Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.; Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.; Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; Andy Harris, R-Md.; Jody Hice, R-Ga.; Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Scott Perry, R-Pa.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who at the time had been elected to Congress from Georgia but not sworn in, was also in attendance.

Several of the representatives in attendance later requested pardons, according to the committee.

Contributing: Phillip Bailey, Richard Rouan, Chelsey Cox and Katherine Swartz

Candy Woodall is a Congress reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.

This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jan. 6 hearing: Committee shows march to Capitol was planned
Many historians have come up with answers about whom they believed the Mona Lisa was in real life. The most common answer is that the Mona Lisa is a portrait of the real-life Lisa Gherardini who was born on June 15, 1479, in Via Maggio, Republic of Florence and died July 15, 1542. Gherardini was the wife of a Florentine merchant named Francesco del Giocondo. Some historians though have different thoughts about who the famous artwork represents. Some believe that the Mona Lisa isn't a real person at all, rather a figment of Leonardo da Vinci's imagination or a portrait representing many women. Others believe that it is a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci himself. Even though there are theories about who the the person in the painting with the famous subtle smile is, Lisa Gherardini leads the way as the most-popular theory. The artwork, which has become one of the most famous paintings in the world can be found at Louvre Museum in Paris and has been there since 1804.

The Mona Lisa actually does (or did) have eyebrows that are no longer visible in the painting. According to a Parisian engineer named Pascal Cotte, who did a deep study of the painting, said that the woman in the painting at one point had both eyelashes and eyebrows but over time, they have become no longer visible. Cotte said that 240 megapixel scans performed on the painting show traces of what used to be her left eyebrow.

Millions of people visit the Louvre Museum in Paris, France every year. The Mona Lisa, pictured here, is one of many famous paintings housed in the Louvre. Marc Piasecki/Getty Images

The same engineer who discovered the eyebrows of the Mona Lisa also discovered an interesting finding underneath the popular painting. Cotte created a Lumiere technology camera that was able to identify charcoal lines in areas of the painting. The Louvre Museum allowed Cotte to take photographic scans of the Mona Lisa and he published his findings in the Journal of Cultural Heritage in August 2020. His camera used the layer amplification method (LAM) to detect light that was reflected on 13 wavelengths. In simpler terms, this method allowed him to see tiny details hidden beneath the painting that were not visible to the naked eye.

LEONARDO DA VINCI'S CLAW HAND INJURY MAY SOLVE MONA LISA MYSTERY

Cotte discovered that Leonardo da Vinci used the "splovero" technique when creating the painting which means transferring early sketches of the paining onto a canvas by making holes along the outside of the sketch. He found that the under drawing of the painting shows a different silhouette then what is showcased in the painting. Lastly, he discovered a small hairpin placed just above the Mona Lisa's head, which he found particularly interesting because at the time, it wasn't a typical hairstyle for woman in Florence, which he believes alludes to the idea that the painting wasn't a portrait as many believe, but rather a painting of an "unreal woman, like a goddess."

The Mona Lisa has been vandalized five times with the first known-time dating all the way back to 1956 and the most recent being in 2022.

Millions make their way to the Louvre every year to catch a glimpse of the famous painting. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/Getty Images

In 1956, the Mona Lisa was attacked not once, but twice. First, someone threw acid at it and hit the lower portions of the painting. That same year, a rock was thrown at the Mona Lisa. Luckily, the painting had been put behind glass.

MONA LISA'S SMILE WAS NOT GENUINE WHEN LEONARDO DA VINCI PAINTED HER, SCIENTISTS SAY

In 1974, the Mona Lisa hit the road. While at the Tokyo National Museum, a woman sprayed the top of Mona Lisa with red paint.

In 2009, the Mona Lisa painting was hit again, this time not by a rock, but by a teacup and in 2022, the Mona Lisa got caked in protest of climate change. A 36-year-old man, who was dressed as a woman in a wheelchair threw cake at the Mona Lisa while shouting in French about climate change.

In 1911, before all of these incidents occurred, the Mona Lisa was stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia who hid in a closet of the Louvre and stole it upon its closing. He tried to sell the artwork two years later, but was caught.

The Mona Lisa is showcased at the Lourve in Paris, France. Kristy Sparow/Getty Images For David Yurman

Acid thrown at the Mona Lisa was one of the five times the painting has been vandalized. It is not known who threw the acid at the famous painting. The painting was put behind glass for extra protection in 1956 after this incident.
Tuesday, NASA released "the deepest and sharpest" images of the distant universe from the James Webb Space Telescope.

The size of a tennis court and three stories high, the Webb is the largest telescope sent into space, according to NASA.

The first full-color image released Monday marked the official beginning of Webbs general science operations. Using infrared wavelengths, the Webb telescope shows thousands of stars and galaxies that formed about 13 billion years ago, about 1 billion years after the Big Bang.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured an image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723.

First image from the James Webb Space Telescope released: It shows thousands of galaxies

Stephans Quintet is a grouping of five galaxies.

NASAs Webb telescope observed the Southern Ring Nebula in near-infrared light, left, and mid-infrared light. Details from the late stages of a stars life help astronomers understand how stars evolve and transform their environments. Most of the multicolored points of light in the background are galaxies, not stars.

In one image of the Southern Ring planetary nebula, the shells of gas and dust ejected from dying stars like our sun, provide detail from the late stages of a stars life.

Most of the multicolored points of light seen here are galaxies.

Called the Cosmic Cliffs, this region is the edge of a gigantic, gaseous cavity roughly 7,600 light-years away. The steam that appears to rise from the celestial mountains is hot, ionized gas and dust streaming away from the nebula because of intense, ultraviolet radiation.

Technicians use a crane to lift the mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., on April 13, 2017. The telescope is designed to peer back so far that scientists will get a glimpse of the dawn of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with sharper focus.

Webb chronicled the Cosmic Cliffs, a region roughly 7,600 light-years away. This period of very early star formation is rare and difficult to capture, according to NASA.

Contributing: Doyle Rice

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA releases James Webb Space Telescope photos of the universe
The James Webb Space Telescope's first deep field infrared image, released July 11, 2022. NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

President Joe Biden revealed the first full-color image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on Monday.

The long-awaited image is a "deep field," revealing galaxies from more than 13 billion years ago.

NASA expects JWST to revolutionize astronomy, peering back in time to the beginning of the universe.

NASA made history, forever changing deep-space astronomy, when it released the first full-color image from its James Webb Space Telescope on Monday.

It's the highest-resolution infrared image ever captured. The new picture is a "deep field" image  a long-exposure observation of a region of the sky, which allows the telescope to capture the light of extremely faint, distant objects.

Because it takes time for light to travel, some of the light in the new image is more than 13 billion years old. That's less than 1 billion years after the Big Bang. The telescope has successfully looked back in time.

"Today's a historic day," said President Joe Biden, as he waited to see the image in a White House briefing on Monday evening. "These images are going to remind the world that America can do big things and remind the American people, especially our children, that there's nothing beyond our capacity. We can see possibilities no one has ever seen before. We can go places no one has ever gone before."

If you held a grain of sand at arm's length, that would represent the speck of universe you see in this image, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told Biden in the briefing. Nelson added that the image is just the first: "We're going back to about 13 and a half billion years. Since we know the universe is 13.8 billion years old, we're going back almost to the beginning. "

For this deep field, Webb pointed its powerful infrared camera to SMACS 0723, a massive group of galaxy clusters that act as a magnifying glass for the objects behind them. The streaks of light are galaxies stretched out by the powerful gravitational pull of SMACS 0723, a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. The image took less than a day to capture, according to NASA.

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This is just an early peek at a collection of full-color images from the fledgling telescope. NASA plans to release the rest on Tuesday, one by one, starting at 10:30 a.m. ET.

They'll include images of stellar nurseries known as nebula and the spectra, which contains information on the chemical composition, of an atmosphere on a faraway planet.

The James Webb Space Telescope deploys its primary mirror in a cleanroom at Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Redondo Beach, California, on March 4, 2020. NASA/Chris Gunn

With these new pictures, NASA is finally beginning to reap the rewards of two decades and $10 billion spent building the giant space observatory. The last seven months have been a grueling test of that investment.

After a nail-biting launch on Christmas Day, the new telescope fell into orbit around the sun, 1 million miles from Earth, and meticulously executed a delicate unfolding process with 344 opportunities for failure. Despite engineers' fears, the nearly 7-ton observatory made it through the ordeal unscathed, bringing all its scientific instruments online.

In the coming years, astronomers expect JWST to fill a mysterious gap in the historical record of our universe  the first 400 million years after the Big Bang  and to identify distant worlds that could host alien life.

The James Webb Space Telescope drifts away from the rocket's last stage, on December 25, 2021. This is the last time a camera will capture Webb up close. NASA TV

To accomplish those cosmic feats, engineers built JWST six times larger and 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been NASA's prime orbiting observatory since it launched in 1990.

Hubble's first image, below, was a big deal when it was released 32 years ago. The new JWST picture reflects three decades of technological progress.

Hubble's "first light" image (right) compared to a similar image from a contemporary ground-based telescope. E. Persson (Las Campanas Observatory, Chile)/Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington; NASA, ESA, and STScI

"This telescope is one of humanity's great engineering achievements," Vice President Kamala Harris said on Monday. "From the beginning of history, humans have looked up to the night sky with wonder, and thanks to dedicated people who have been working for decades in engineering and on scientific marvels, we can look to the sky with new understanding."

The new space observatory should be able to see much further into the cosmos, in much greater detail, than Hubble ever could.

Read the original article on Business Insider
He has plenty of time to get ready to move.

Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin's 23XI Racing announced Tuesday that the team has signed Tyler Reddick to drive for it starting in 2024.

"Announcing a driver over a year before he will be racing with 23XI is a little unprecedented, but Tyler was the driver we wanted and we did not want to miss the opportunity to bring him to our team," 23XI Racing president Steve Laluta said.

Laluta added that the early announcement will provide additional opportunities to develop business partnerships and sponsorships around Reddick before he arrives at the team.

Two-time Xfinity Series champion Reddick, 26, picked up his first Cup Series win this year at Road America for Richard Childress racing and is currently 14th in the season points standings.

"23XI has accomplished a lot in the less than two full seasons they've been in the garage, and I can't wait to be a part of their continued success," Reddick said.

MORE NASCAR NEWS FROM FOX NEWS AUTOS

"Until then my focus remains on my current team, winning races and being competitive."

DENNY HAMLIN HAS REACHED HIS PEAK' WITH ROSS CHASTAIN AFTER ANOTHER WRECK

Richard Childress Racing posted a statement to Twitter saying, "we're proud of the success Tyler has found at Richard Childress Racing. We're focused on winning a championship in 2022 and 2023, although the timing of this announcement could not be any worse."

The 23XI team currently fields cars for Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch. The team told Fox News Autos there will be no driver changes in 2023, but did not confirm how many cars it plans to run in 2024.

NASCAR CLASH RETURNING TO THE L.A. COLISEUM IN 2023

Busch has one win in 2022 and is 16th in points, putting him in a playoff position, while Wallace is in 24th with no wins.

Wallace's lone career Cup Series victory came at Talladega last year, which was also the first for the 23XI team that launched in 2023.
Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation Monday for the second time in four years that would demand North Carolina sheriffs learn the immigration status of their jails inmates and make an effort to hold those whom federal agents want to pick up.

The Democratic governor vetoed a similar Republican measure in 2019, which came on the heels of newly elected sheriffs in several urban counties deciding against working closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who are seeking suspects they believe are in the country unlawfully.

Cooper on Monday vetoed four of the final seven bills remaining on his desk from over three dozen the General Assembly sent him in the last days of its work session, which ended July 1. Two bills were signed into law, including state budget adjustments for the coming fiscal year. And the legislatures annual regulatory reform bill also will become law because he said he wont act on it before a midnight deadline.

READ MORE: Gov. Cooper signs North Carolina budget; COVID-19 emergency to end Aug. 15

While the immigration bill given final General Assembly approval last week removed some provisions from the 2019 measure, Cooper said the legislation was still unconstitutional and designed to supersede the ability of sheriffs to manage the safety of constituents, weakening law enforcement.

The legislation is only about scoring political points and using fear to divide North Carolinians, Cooper said in his written veto message, adding that as the former attorney general, I know that current law already allows the state to incarcerate and prosecute dangerous criminals regardless of immigration status.

The legislature could attempt a veto override, as when lawmakers planned to reconvene briefly starting July 26.

As with the 2019 veto, the GOPs chances to override this Cooper veto seem small. Not a single Democrat voted for the final bill and Republicans lack veto-proof majorities in either chamber. A Cooper veto has not been overridden since December 2018.

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Republican supporters of the bill argue people who are in the country unlawfully and committing crimes are turning up as repeat offenders, instead of being returned to their original country.

RELATED: Man at center of debate between ICE, sheriff sentenced to 20 years for 2019 kidnapping

With the stroke of his pen, Gov. Cooper just gave sanctuary sheriffs permission to shield an illegal immigrant who rapes or murders a North Carolinian, Sen. Chuck Edwards, a Henderson County Republican, congressional candidate and chief bill sponsor, said in a news release.

The immigration bill would require sheriffs to check whether someone in their jails charged with felony drug or violent crimes is a legal U.S. resident. A sheriff may find out that ICE has issued a detainer, which says the agency wants to pick up someone they believe is in in the country unlawfully.

If a detainer is listed, deputies would have to take the inmate to a local magistrate or judge, who will decide whether to issue an order holding them. The additional hold would give ICE agents 48 hours to pick up the inmate.

Groups representing immigrants and the poor argued the change would make it less likely for immigrants to report crimes, leading to more dangerous communities. They also said voters elected these urban sheriffs because they campaigned on easing aggressive postures against immigrants.

ALSO READ: War of words rages on in fight between Meck sheriff, ICE

The bill was an effort to rally anti-immigrant sentiments ahead of the upcoming elections. Were glad the governor did right by his immigrant constituents and vetoed the measure, El Pueblo Executive Director Iliana Santillian said in a news release.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden released the following statement responding to Coopers veto:

Once again, I applaud Governor Cooper on the veto of Senate Bill 101. Like its predecessor, House Bill 370; SB101 is unconstitutional and only encourages distrust. It would remove the authority of Sheriffs in North Carolina to make discretionary decisions that all Sheriffs are elected to make on behalf of their constituents.

It is not the responsibility of local law enforcement to do Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) job. There are however federal laws in place such as 8 U.S.C.  1325 and 8 U.S.C.  1326 that can be utilized instead of forcing duly elected Sheriffs to honor voluntary ICE detainers. We are already cooperating and mandated by North Carolina General Statute  162- 62 to make a query and notify ICE regarding undocumented persons. It remains my belief that Mecklenburg County is a safer community when all members of our community are able to assist law enforcement with investigations and report criminal activity without fear of repercussions so severe as deportation. Contrary to what some may believe, policies do not conceal or shelter undocumented residents from detection. Nor do policies shield undocumented persons from deportation or prosecution for criminal activities. As a law enforcement agency, we will continue to enforce and uphold the law.

I look forward to the opportunity when all law enforcement agencies, state and federal prosecutors, and the judiciary can come to the table as a collective to establish effective measures and programs that will keep the community safe.

ALSO READ: Meck County making significant progress on concealed carry and pistol permits, sheriff says

Cooper also vetoed a measure that would shift governance of the states two residential schools for the deaf and one for the blind away from the State Board of Education and toward new trustee boards. Legislative leaders would pick four voting members and the governor just one.

That imbalance would make the measure unconstitutional, according to Cooper, and continues this legislatures push to give more control of education to boards of trustees made up of partisan political appointees.

He also vetoed a bill that would allow gun owners seeking to renew their concealed weapons permits to avoid taking another firearms safety and training course if the previous permit had expired up to six months earlier. Cooper called it yet another way Republicans are working to chip away at commonsense gun safety measures.

And another vetoed bill would address how child advocacy centers  designed to help provide services to child abuse victims  can receive state funding. Cooper said the bill was well-intentioned but contains critical flaws he hoped lawmakers would fix.

And the governor said he remained concerned with a provision in the regulatory reform measure hell let become law because it contained a provision addressing consumer finance companies that could harm borrowers. He said he believed legislators have promised to eliminate the language in the future.

(WATCH BELOW: Meck sheriff: Fingerprinting for gun permits now first come, first served after judges order)
What began as three unhappy owners of 2021 Ford Expedition and 2021 Lincoln Navigator vehicles has ballooned to 22 plaintiffs including one from the automaker's home state of Michigan in a lawsuit filed this month against Ford Motor Co.

The plaintiffs say the Dearborn automaker failed to disclose a defect causing spontaneous under-hood fires in at least 66,000 vehicles when parked or running and that asking customers to drive defective vehicles while waiting for a fix is unreasonable.

The Seattle-based Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro law firm amended the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to add 19 plaintiffs to the original three and also respond to Ford's expanded recall.

Ford has said it is not aware of injuries related to the problem.

A 2021 Ford Expedition.

The latest filing includes photos and video of a fire provided by Paul Rich of Canby, Oregon, who purchased a 2021 Ford Expedition XLT in March 2022 and says it caught fire while parked in front of his home in June. The vehicle was built in December 2021, falling outside the original or expanded recall dates.

The amended lawsuit says Rich never received a recall notice or warning from Ford, apparently because Ford has yet to expand the safety recall regarding the spontaneous fire defect to include 2021 models, like his, that were built in December of that year.

And it still isn't covered by the expanded recall.

Vehicles in question were built between July 27, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021. The original recall covered vehicles built between Dec. 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021.

This photo was submitted as part of a legal exhibit in a lawsuit filed July 2022 against Ford Motor Co. on behalf of Expedition and Lincoln Navigator owners involving defective parts that may cause spontaneous combustion, as occurred with customer Paul Rich of Oregon case in June 2022.

Fortunately, a passerby saw the fire and called the local fire department, which extinguished the blaze before it spread to Richs home. The pictures taken immediately after the fire show where the fire burned the battery junction box and spread to the cars exterior.

Ford spokesman Said Deep declined to comment to the Free Press on pending litigation Tuesday, citing company policy.

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A 2021 Ford Expedition owned by Paul Rich of Oregon is pictured in this photo as part of a lawsuit against Ford Motor Co., amended on July 12, 2022. The vehicle, built in December 2021 and purchased in March 2022, spontaneously ignited in June 2022 and a passerby called the local fire department to come extinguish the flames before they spread to the home.

While it is positive news that Ford believes it has found its manufacturing defect that is behind at least 21 dangerous spontaneous fires in its luxury vehicles, at the same time, Ford has now admitted that this defect affects at least 66,000 vehicles still covered under warranty, Steve Berman, Hagens Berman co-founder and managing partner, said in a news release Tuesday. Ford claims to have designed a fix, yet admits it only has parts for a small subset of the affected vehicles, and the timeline Ford presents is at best several months in the future for most vehicles to be repaired.

He added, Ford has also failed to provide any substitute vehicles or compensation for those who choose not to assume the risk of fire to continue using their vehicle."

Ford has acknowledged that fires are caused by a manufacturing defect in a battery junction box, and has advised customers to park away from structures while waiting for the part, the law firm noted.

What is safe?

The implication of Fords response is outrageous, essentially telling its own customers, Yes, your car may catch fire in the middle of the night or while youre away, so park it somewhere that will be a good place to have it engulfed in flames. How far from ones home is a safe distance to have a vehicle fire, exactly? Berman said.

Fords investigation of this defect appears inadequate," he said, noting customers have paid more than $50,000 for these SUVs.

While they wait for Ford to actually install a fix, affected owners are stuck with expensive vehicles that they can only use if they assume a risk of fire, and cant park at their homes or work or near anything flammable, Berman said.

The 2021 Navigator Black Label Edition.

The lawsuit began with these 2021 model owners and lessees:

Jessica Stahlman of Mount Dora, Florida (Expedition)

Jeremy Sessler of Seaford, New York (Navigator)

Ronald "RJ" Smith of Raleigh, North Carolina (Navigator)

The amended lawsuit now includes Michael Mehling of Rockford, Michigan, an Expedition owner, as well as:

Julie Huntley of Texarkana, Arkansas (Expedition)

Lewis Hampton of El Dorado Hills, California (Expedition)

Jeff Swanson of Berthoud, Colorado (Navigator)

Scott Barber of Bozrah, Connecticut (Expedition)

Anthony Caito of Naples, Florida (Expedition)

Miranda Hanley of Stone Mountain, Georgia (Expedition)

William A. Head III of Bremen, Georgia (Expedition)

Clifford "Greg Mason of Decatur, Illinois (Navigator)

Richard Rezko of Westmont, Illinois (Expedition)

Kathleen Holm of Big Fork, Montana (Expedition)

Kelly Ernest of Belgrade, Montana (Expedition)

Nancy Mammel of Santa Fe, New Mexico (Navigator)

Kuya Machanja of Powell, Ohio (Expedition)

Lisa Kuhn of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (Expedition)

Amber Sulligan of Broomall, Pennsylvania (Expedition)

Jorge Romo of The Woodlands, Texas (Navigator)

Manuel Amores of Spring, Texas (Expedition)

Ford CEO Jim Farley has said consistently since taking the helm in October 2020 that product quality and reducing recall and warranty costs were top priorities. He hired quality czar Josh Halliburton earlier this year.

More: Ford's 'self-inflicted' recalls, warranty costs put automaker at competitive disadvantage

More: Ford CEO says automaker needs 'totally different talent' to meet goals. Here's why

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lawsuit over fire defect in 2021 Expedition, Lincoln Navigator expands
"UKRAINSKA PRAVDA" TUESDAY, 12 JULY 2022, 13:49

On Tuesday, 12 July, the Russian occupiers have once again blocked the road from the occupied city of Melitopol to Zaporizhzhia.

Source: Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, on Telegram

Details: At the moment, the occupiers wont let people pass through the Vasylivka checkpoint in the direction of Zaporizhzhia.

Quote: "The Ruscists are so afraid of the counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine that theyre using thousands of civilians as a human shield. The whole city is being held hostage. It is unknown how long the blockade will continue, but were doing everything we can to lift it".

Background:
Jul. 11Over 1,100 Ohio doctors are calling on Gov. Mike DeWine and representatives across the state to advocate for abortion access in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

The newly formed Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights penned a letter Thursday that said Ohio's Heartbeat Bill was "an intrusion of government on personal autonomy and will directly lead to oppression, illness, and death of countless women." The group said the law will have a disproportionate affect on people in poverty and women of color in Ohio.

"A government that takes away the freedom of women to access critical medical care and threatens physicians with criminal penalties for upholding their oath is un-American," the group wrote in the letter.

The doctors took their advocacy to the streets of Cleveland to join the July Fourth Women's March over the holiday weekend. They're hoping to take the conversation to the governor's desk next, according to Stephanie Pope, a Cleveland-based psychiatrist. They will be requesting to meet with DeWine to share their concerns for reproductive healthcare under Ohio's new abortion laws.

DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said Friday that the governor had no formal statement in response to the doctors group, but added, "The governor believes Ohio has an obligation to protect all life, and that includes the unborn."

In DeWine's statement the night of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, he called for civility and respect for people on both sides of the abortion debate. He emphasized Ohio's need to lower maternal and infant mortality rates and increase awareness for adoption resources. The governor also championed the "Bold Beginning" initiative that has invested over $1 billion to connect expecting mothers with parenting resources, mentoring and prenatal care.

Pope was invited to join Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights by two doctors, Lauren Bean and Marcela Azevedo, who formed a Facebook group for physicians in reaction to the Supreme Court's June 24 ruling. In just under a week, the group grew from dozens to hundreds and the signature campaign began.

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Pope said one of the motivations behind the group was making sure patients know their physicians respect the "sanctity of doctor-patient relationships" and are advocating for them.

"We know how important it is to have the trust of our patients in our medical knowledge, and there is no place for a politician in that discussion," Pope said.

The Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights called on the governor and state officials to repeal the Heartbeat bill. The letter also asked Ohio physicians to "uphold their duty to their patients" and for patients to be vocal about advocating for their own bodily autonomy.

Dayton Right to Life, a local pro-life nonprofit, believes the letter to be misleading. Executive Director Margie Christie said the letter "only causes fear and confusion among mothers."

"These medical professionals are purposely misleading mothers to abortion," Christie said. "Clearly, if a doctor is trying to save the mother and the baby passes, that is not an abortion. A doctor must 'do no harm' to both patients."

Christie also defended the Heartbeat Bill by citing the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an anti-abortion research group, and said that state abortion laws have exemptions to save the mother in life-threatening circumstances.

"The Heartbeat law does not prevent healthcare for a woman with an ectopic pregnancy," Christie said. "It does not prevent any type of healthcare for the mother."

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday to help safeguard abortion access and mitigate the legal consequences of mothers seeking abortion. The order is limited in its ability to protect reproductive rights, which the president acknowledged. He encouraged people to go out and vote in the November midterm elections to "reclaim the rights that were taken from them by the court." Shifting the congressional majority in the Senate might allow for the codifying of Roe, according to Biden.

"The fastest way to restore Roe is to pass a national law codifying Roe, which I will sign immediately upon its passage," Biden said.

In his speech on the executive order, Biden discussed a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio who had to travel to Indiana to get an abortion after she was denied one under Ohio law. Indiana law currently bans abortion after 22 weeks with some exceptions.

"I can't think of anything more extreme," Biden said of the situation.

Other neighboring states have varying levels of abortion legislation in place after the fall of Roe v. Wade. Similar to Indiana, Pennsylvania bans abortion up to late in the second trimester at 24 weeks. Kentucky's total abortion ban has been temporarily suspended by a judge, and an injunction is preventing a 1931 Michigan ban from being enforced. In West Virginia, abortion is banned with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights is working with like-minded groups from within Ohio and neighboring states to further the conversation on reproductive healthcare and collaborate on future advocacy work. Some of those conversations began at the Women's March and through publicizing the letter, Pope said.

"Our primary goal is to help our patients get access to reproductive healthcare," Pope said. "With that goal, that means advocacy, that means communicating with (patients) on how to get that care and connecting them to those resources."
Every Democratic politician with a speck of ambition right now is asking himself, or herself, the same question in the mirror this week: If 79-year-old Joe Biden drops dead or drops out, how prepared will I be to run for president?

Well, not every Democrat. Kamala Harris, by virtue of her status as vice president, asked herself and answered that question in the affirmative when Biden put her on the ticket in August 2020. Like all veeps, shes unashamed about wanting to inherit the presidency. But for the dozen or so leading Democrats, manners require them to be coy about responding. Bidens age, his infirmities, his poor pallor and his declining political appeal  64 percent of Democratic voters want somebody other than Biden to run in 2024  make the question less than rhetorical.

Still, political etiquette prohibits A-list politicians from challenging an incumbent president from their own party. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, such as when longshot Sen. Eugene McCarthy weakened President Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 New Hampshire primary, thereby encouraging Sen. Robert Kennedy to join him in the race and drive Johnson out. In 1980, Sen. Edward Kennedy could take on President Jimmy Carter without much drama because Kennedys can do whatever they want.

By signaling his intention to run once more, Biden has blocked anybody but a C-lister from going up against him. But the partys most ambitious players want an insurance plan in case fate or Joe himself deletes him from the race. And a host of Democratic aspirants know this very well.

The key to not running while really running (NRWRR) requires these aspirants to do most of the things a declared candidate does  raise campaign funds; tickle the media eye; stump for other candidates and put them in your political debt; prospect potential campaign staffers; and travel and give speeches. Theres also a list of things such an aspirant cant do, and those reside in a politically negative space. He cant criticize the president and must go out of his way to demonstrate his support. He cant make multiple trips to Iowa or New Hampshire. He cant be blatant about building a campaign staff, even a shadow one. And he must vociferously and repeatedly deny that hes running.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently raised his national profile by buying ad time on Florida TV to criticize the states restrictive abortion laws and then sent out fundraising letters pegged to the stunt, stands as our leading NRWRR presidential candidate. I have sub-zero interest, he recently told the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board about running for president, using the negative to imply the positive in time-honored NRWRR tradition. Its not even on my radar.

A NRWRR candidate must also pretend the veep is the rightful heir if he belongs to her party. Newsom has spread a healthy schmear of cream cheese on this bagel, explicitly saying Harris should succeed Biden. The deceit runs both ways as nobody, including Harris, believes him. Hes also put himself in the NRWRR front ranks by leading the party on its signature issues, trumpeting his states new gun regulation and abortion rights legislation, and going out of his way to rip the Supreme Courts abortion decision.

A shoo-in to win reelection as governor in November, Newsom will be term-limited out after that, leaving only one office suitable for his ambition. (Going from governor of California to U.S. senator is a demotion.) Newsom has about $25 million in his campaign war chest right now. He neednt spend it all on his coast to reelection. What a starter fund for a presidential run in 2024.

Lets stipulate that theres no political shame in NRWRR. Just ask Biden, whose motto could be Always Be Not Running. Granted, he ran three all-out campaigns for president (1988, 2008 and 2020), but most of his career has been governed by the NRWRR playbook. Like Newsom, he kept his name out there by broadcasting the Democratic Partys gospel, scouting the field, campaigning for other politicians and plotting his own rise with his kitchen cabinet. Hes not the only one to ride that strategy to the White House. Nixon was NRWRR between 1960 and 1968; Ronald Reagans pre-presidential political career was one NRWRR act after another. The only shame in NRWRR is to deny it too sincerely. Newsom, whose default setting is insincerity, has aced this part of the dance.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is almost Newsoms equal when it comes to NRWRR. Unlike Newsom, Buttigieg cant say he has sub-zero interest in running for president, as he already ran in 2020. He, too, denies any immediate presidential plans, saying We are squarely focused on the job at hand. Unlike the other aspirants, he doesnt need an excuse to travel the country for exposure. As the nations de facto infrastructure czar, he has dispensed more pork around the country than Smithfield Foods, and that will work to his eventual political advantage. As my colleague Adam Wren reported last fall, dozens of Buttigiegs 2020 campaign staffers moved into jobs with the Biden administration and Capitol Hill. He even has campaign vets in Harris office, giving him his own mini-deep state of experienced hands ready to rise when he next runs. (And there may be a lot of next runs: Buttigieg is young enough  just 40!  and ambitious enough to break Harold Stassens record for the most times anybody has run for president. Using Biden as his model, he could still be running in 2064 as he turns 80.)

Harris isnt running for president in 2024, of course, she is just walking: assuming that Biden will repeat, but gathering her grit for a run should he not. As already noted, Harris complicates the NRWRR equation. But theres no political rule that vaults the veep to the nomination, and especially not the presidency, after his or her president exits. Politics owes nobody nuthin. Just ask Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Dan Quayle and Al Gore, who were all foiled. Harris has had two years to establish herself as a viable presidential candidate, and to her credit she currently leads the Biden-less field in polls. But that advantage could dissolve in a moment if a C-list candidate opened a wound on her in the primaries the way McCarthy did to Johnson.

Harris obvious vulnerabilities she embodies ambitious coastal liberalism and was a flat candidate in 2020, dropping out two months before the first primary  give her fellow Democrats ample incentive to oppose her. Who might serve as the C-list candidate to spoil Harris candidacy in the early primaries and give Newsom, Buttigieg or Elizabeth Warren a pretext motive to enter the race? Sen. Cory Booker? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Billionaire Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who was spotted in the early primary state of New Hampshire recently, NRWRR as he spoke to its Democrats? Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo? Gov. Gretchen Whitmer? Stacey Abrams? Mitch Landrieu?

Theyre all not running while running, and looking deeply into their morning mirrors.

******

My favorite is Elizabeth Warren because she blew Mike Bloomberg out of the race in 2020 with her debate performance. Nominate your Biden replacement in an email to Shafer.Politico@gmail.com. No new email alert subscriptions are being honored at this time. My Twitter feed is pulling for Al Gore, who, at press time, is only 74. My RSS feed notes that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is 89, but refuses to make the joke.
Vietnam-era barracks to be renovated with $73 funding award.

Fort Campbell barracks dating back to the Vietnam era are set to be reconditioned using a portion of $73 million in defense funds included as part of a government bill.

The project is one of several secured in this years congressional funding bill aimed at helping to improve quality of life for soldiers stationed at Fort Campbell.

The barracks set for renovation house the 1st Brigade Combat Team and are the last of the VOLAR style barracks on the installation, according to a news release from Fort Campbell Strong Defense Alliance.

VOLAR barracks are Volunteer Army barracks that were originally built in the mid-1970s.

"This is exciting news, and we are thrilled to know that this additional funding will allow for the acceleration of renovations of these barracks, Kelli Pendleton, president and CEO of the Campbell Strong Defense Alliance, said in a release.

We are grateful to our lawmakers from both Tennessee and Kentucky who understand the critical role that Fort Campbell plays in global defense and who work hard to ensure that our soldiers have the resources they need to be successful.

Funding for these upgrades was a priority this year for the Campbell Strong Defense Alliance.

Deployment: Russian immigrant among hundreds of Fort Campbell soldiers deployed to Europe

Pendleton said in the release legislatures serve in important roles on committees.

When it comes to Fort Campbell, the state line can often prove to be beneficial, she explained.

Senators representing Kentucky are Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul. Senators representing Tennessee are Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty. Fort Campbell is also included in the House Districts for Representative Mark Green, TN-7th District, and Representative James Comer, KY- 1st District.

Campbell Strong Defense Alliance is a regional nonprofit of local business, community and retired military leaders with a shared vision to support Fort Campbell and strengthen regional economy. The goal is to serve the military population of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on Twitter @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to TheLeafChronicle.com.

This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Fort Campbell Vietnam-era barracks to be renovated as part of funding bill
The Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office tells 11 Investigates it has sent a letter of concern to the United States Trustee in Georgia handling the bankruptcy of Home Decor Outlets.

The attorney generals Spokesperson Molly Stieber says, in the letter, that the attorney general expressed concern over the continued invoicing of PA consumers for layaway plans which likely will not be fulfilled, and which invoices give the impression that the Pittsburgh store is still open.

11 Investigates first told you in June about Pittsburgh customers upset that the store closed without warning, leaving them without their down-payment money or merchandise.

Since then, we learned Home Decors parent company filed for bankruptcy in its home state of Georgia.

At the same time, 11 Investigates has documented multiple examples of Home Decor continuing to represent that its Pittsburgh location is still open and trying to get customers to continue paying. Weve forwarded multiple examples like this to the AGs office:

Thank you for being a valued customer. Unfortunately, due to staff shortages, we will

now be closed on Wednesday and Thursday during the summer months. We ask all

customers to confirm their pickup order and schedule their delivery on either Monday

or Tuesday to ensure a weekend delivery. We apologize for any inconvenience this

may cause. Excerpt from Home Decor Email

That email, sent to Pittsburgh customer Stacey Dorsey, goes on to ask customers to continue making payments, saying, Customers can also make payments on their in-store account online at Make a Payment.

11 Investigates forwarded that email to the attorney generals office last week. They called it troubling. Now, one week later, the AG has sent the letter of concern to the bankruptcy trustee.

Customers, like Dorsey, are frustrated that more cannot be done to stop the company from giving the impression that the store is still open to try and get more money from them.

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Dorsey tells channel 11 the emails are starting to feel like harassment.

The AGs office tells Channel 11 they can only take limited action, because when a bankruptcy case is filed, they lose jurisdiction to the bankruptcy court, which is in Georgia, in this case.

Meantime, the attorney general is advising Pennsylvania customers not to send the company any more payments.

Any consumers who are still being invoiced for items on layaway should not make any additional payments, Stieber said.

In addition, the attorney general says Pennsylvania consumers who have paid for services not received should file proofs of claim with the bankruptcy court.

Repeated attempts to contact Home Decor Outlets and its corporate office have gone unanswered.

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Jul. 11SIOUX FALLS  An Arizona man will spend the next 25 years in prison after he attempted to sell drugs to an undercover agent during a meth distribution campaign and later assaulted his co-conspirator in jail.

William Stevenson, 56, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced July 5 for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and obstructing justice by retaliating against a witness. As part of his conviction, Stevenson will serve 25 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release and make a special assessment of $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Beginning on an unknown date and continuing until sometime in January 2021, Stevenson and multiple others came to an agreement to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in South Dakota and elsewhere.

Stevenson and his co-conspirators brought eight kilograms, or roughly 17.5 pounds, of methamphetamine from Arizona to South Dakota with the intent to distribute it. On Dec. 13, 2020, the group was arrested while attempting to sell the drugs to an undercover agent.

After the group had been booked into jail, Stevenson physically assaulted one of his co-conspirators in retaliation for the co-conspirator providing information about the group's activity to law enforcement.

After being indicted on the charges by a federal grand jury on Jan. 4, and pleading not guilty to the indictment, Stevenson was convicted on both counts in a jury trial at the U.S. District Courthouse in Sioux Falls on April 14.

Stevenson's co-conspirators each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, and have each already been sentenced.

Edwin Donis-Melgar, 36, of Guatemala, and Luis Hernandez Parra, 35, of Mexico, were sentenced in October 2021 to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Manuel Obregon-Robin, 20, of Sioux Falls, was sentenced on Feb. 28 to 37 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Sioux Falls Police Department, Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Following his sentence, Stevenson was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland and Israel have taken a step toward normalizing diplomatic ties, the Polish president said Tuesday, as the Israeli ambassador officially presented his credentials in Warsaw.

President Andrzej Duda tweeted that he and Israeli President Issac Herzog have agreed that it's time to return to normal relations.

He said the first step was taken when Israeli Ambassador Yacov Livne officially presented his credentials on Tuesday.

Israel expects Poland to appoint an ambassador too, and Duda said he hopes it would happen soon.

Herzog thanked Duda on Twitter for receiving Livne's credentials, calling it an important first step to advancing Israeli-Polish relations" and added he expects to receive formal documentation from Poland's ambassador soon.

Livne noted on Poland's private TVN24 that the warming of relations comes at a time of many challenges around the world, including instability in the Middle East and Russia's war in Ukraine, which borders Poland.

"We believe (that) friendly countries such as Poland and Israel can and should work together to counter the challenges" that appear in security and economic spheres, Livne said.

The Jewish people and the Polish people, we have a huge richness of historical ties, historical contacts, this is also something we need to work on, he said.

One of the issues requiring to be solved urgently is the program of annual educational trips to Poland by thousands of young Israelis. Israel suspended the Holocaust study visits during the pandemic and said this year they wouldn't be resumed because Poland's right-wing government was trying to control the curriculum.

Poland is objecting to the presence of armed guards on such visits, saying that creates an unnecessary impression of danger. Warsaw would also like the visitors to meet with their Polish peers and jointly debate the history of both nations that spans many centuries, and to establish personal ties.

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Relations between the two nations soured in recent years amid spats over Poland's laws that were seen as whitewashing the deeds of some Poles during the Holocaust and banning claims for restitution of seized property by Holocaust victims and their relatives.

Israel recalled its ambassador in the autumn of 2020 and Polands ambassador to Israel was instructed to end his mission prematurely last summer.

Ties have since improved in the wake of Israel-Polish cooperation on the Ukrainian refugee crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, whose late father was a Holocaust survivor, thanked Poland for its help in rescuing Jewish refugees from Ukraine.
A teenager has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a man in Westwood earlier this month, according to Cincinnati police.

Police said the 17-year-old male was wanted on a murder warrant and he turned himself in at the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Youth Center on Monday.

The Enquirer is not naming the teen as he has yet to be officially charged as an adult.

Officers responded to reports of a person shot in the 2800 block of Harrison Avenue around 10 p.m. on July 3, officials said in a news release.

Police arrived to find Jamar Higgs, 35, suffering from a gunshot wound, officials said. The Cincinnati Fire Department also responded to the scene and determined Higgs had died.

Amy Clausing, a spokesperson for the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, said prosecutors have filed a motion to have the teen's case transferred to adult court. However, that process could potentially take months, Clausing said.

Anyone with information about this fatal shooting should call the Cincinnati Police Department's homicide unit at 513-352-3542.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Police: 17-year-old turns himself in after fatal shooting in Westwood
Seattle police arrested an armed man suspected of a hate crime for appearing outside the house of U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-07) and threatening to kill her.

The 56-year-old congresswoman called the police at 11:25 p.m. to report individuals in a vehicle yelling obscenities outside her home.

People are outside [my] house in their [vehicle] who have been [using] very obscene language, Jayapal reported. [My] husband thinks they may have shot a pellet gun, but unsure.

Police responded to Jayapals West Seattle home and found a man in the middle of the street with his hands in the air. The man also had a .40-caliber handgun holstered on his waist, according to the police report. The firearm was secured, and the 48-year-old man has been arrested.

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Police noted that the man knew who lived at the residence and wanted to pitch a tent on their property [and that] the victim that he was targeting was of Indian descent.

A neighbor told police she heard the man yell, Go back to India, Im going to kill you. She said she also saw the suspect drive by Jayapals house at least three times while yelling profanities.

Congresswoman Jayapal confirms that incidents occurred at her Seattle home on Saturday night when she was present, spokesperson Siham Zniber wrote in a statement. The Congresswoman and her family are safe and appreciate the many calls and good wishes she is receiving from constituents.

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She is very grateful for the swift and professional response from the Seattle Police Department, the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI investigators who are working together diligently on the investigation and ensuring that she and her family stay safe, Zniber added.

Jayapal provided no further comments due to the ongoing police investigation, according to the statement.

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The man, who reportedly lives about half a mile from Jayapal, was ordered by a judge on Monday to be jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail. The King County Prosecutors called the suspect a danger to the community.

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He is currently detained in the King County Jail awaiting the prosecutors criminal charges on Wednesday. There is probable cause for the man to be charged with a hate crime.

Jayapal, who was born in Chennai, India, has served as the U.S. representative from Washingtons 7th congressional district since 2017. The congresswoman was a former state senator who became the first Indian American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Featured Image via Washington Post

More from NextShark: San Francisco Declares State of Emergency to Fight Spread of COVID-19
Toronto police have identified the woman who died in a hospital weeks after she was set on fire on a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus last month.

Nyima Dolma, 28, was onboard a TTC bus at Kipling Station at about 12:25 a.m. on June 17 when Tenzin Norbu, 33, allegedly poured a flammable liquid substance on her and set her ablaze.

Dolma was rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital after emergency crews extinguished the fire. She sustained life-threatening injuries and later died in the hospital on July 5 after more than two weeks on life support.

The suspect was arrested nearby after the incident and initially charged with attempted murder.

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Police previously suspected the attack to be motivated by hate. Authorities confirmed there was no relationship between Dolma and Norbu in a news release on Monday.

Norbus charge has been upgraded to first-degree murder. He is also facing charges of assault with a weapon, common nuisance endangering the lives, safety or health of the public and mischief over $5,000 interfering with property.

My sister lived a life of service to others and cared for many people, Dawa, Dolmas sister, wrote in a statement posted to a GoFundMe page initially intended to raise money for her treatment.

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Dolmas family has since updated the now-frozen fundraiser to say that the donations will be used for her funeral expenses.

We will be using the donations for upcoming funeral expenses and healthcare costs to date, the family wrote. At this time, we ask everyone to kindly please respect our privacy. Thank you for understanding and again, for your generosity. Well never forget your kindness. To my sister, we love you and we miss you. We wish her soul to rest in peace.

More from NextShark: Jeremy Lin opens basketball school in Toronto to empower Asian youth

Featured Image via @TorontoPolice

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Torrance Karen Will NOT Face Hate Crime Charges Over Racist Rants, City Attorney Says
OLIVE TWP.  A 32-year-old Olive Township woman was stabbed to death in her home Monday evening, according to police.

At about 6:45 p.m. July 11, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office responded to the 6200 block of 120th Avenue in Olive Township on a report of an assault.

After arriving on scene, police said the woman, whom police identified Tuesday as Quinn Hallacy, was found dead from apparent knife wounds.

After a forensic autopsy by Ottawa County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. David Start, police said they were classifying the incident as a homicide.

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The suspected assailant, a 45-year-old Olive Township man whom police said was in a domestic relationship with the victim, fled the scene in a vehicle, but was later apprehended in the city of Holland.

The suspect was treated for minor injuries and will be lodged at the Ottawa County Jail pending his release from the hospital. His name was not released pending the man's arraignment in court.

Police said three children were at home at the time of the assault; none were injured. Investigators were working with Child Protective Services regarding the well-being of the children.

Anyone with information should contact the Ottawa County Sheriffs Office at 616-738-4000 or Silent Observer at 877-887-4536 or visit mosotips.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Police: Olive Township woman stabbed to death by partner in home
Jul. 12MORGANTOWN  Preston Memorial Hospital will receive $580, 000 through a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Community Funded Project Award, Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin recently announced.

Both senators are members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and said the funding was made available through a Congressionally Directed Spending request.

The money will support the hospital's Oncology Infusion Center, Capito said.

Melissa Lockwood, Mon Health Preston Memorial chief administrative officer, said, "With cancer being one of the leading causes of death in West Virginia, the ability to offer a full service infusion center in Preston County will be life-changing for those who receive a cancer diagnosis."

David Goldberg, Mon Health System, president and CEO, said, "The dedication of Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito on this investment is unapparelled and most importantly, their understanding of the importance in providing chemotherapy close to home. No one should have to travel far when needing such services that can be provided where people live with the superior care Mon Health Oncology and Mon Preston Memorial Hospital are known for by the communities we serve."

Capito and Manchin also commented.

Capito said, "West Virginians living in rural counties often face logistical challenges accessing the health services they desperately need. By bolstering community health facilities in West Virginia, we can improve the health outcomes for our residents, providing accessible care to those who need it most. Leaders from Mon Health and Preston Memorial stressed the importance of this project to me, and I'm pleased to have secured the funding they need."

Manchin said, "Mon Health Preston Memorial Hospital provides affordable, quality healthcare for many West Virginians. ... [The ] announcement is great news for the Kingwood community and the entire region, and I look forward to seeing the positive impacts of the investment.
The search for a 20-year-old Ole Miss student continues after police say his car was found on Monday afternoon.

Jimmie Lee, also called Jay, hasnt been seen or heard from since early Friday morning, according to both University of Mississippi and Oxford Police.

SEE MORE: Car of missing Ole Miss student found, police say

Lee was last seen leaving his apartment wearing a silver robe, gold cap, and gray slippers.

What happened next is still a mystery at this point for investigators.

Its pretty unsettling because its Oxford, said Ole Miss senior Tyler Butler.

PHOTOS: Police searching for missing Ole Miss student, officials say

Lee was last seen leaving Campus Walk Apartments at 5:58 a.m. on July 8.

As a new week begins in Oxford, Mississippi, students who are still on and around campus for the summer said the disappearance of one of their own has left them shocked.

Its kind of scary actually because now you have to be aware until you know whats really going on, said neighbor and Ole Miss senior Lakiowa Milan.

Butler said, Worry probably because I didnt know if it was a good night gone bad or somebody with more hostile intentions.

University and Oxford Police said Lee was last seen leaving his apartment complex, the Campus Walk Apartments, early Friday morning.

And, by Monday afternoon, police said his Black Ford Fusion was found at a towing lot after it was towed from the Molly Barr Trails complex Friday afternoon.

For Milan, finding the car brings more questions than answers.

Definitely sketchy for sure but hopefully theres a good explanation, I feel like thats out of character from what I know about him, she said.

If you have any information on where Lee may be, you can call Oxford Police at 662-232-2400, the University of Mississippi Police at 662-915-7234, and CrimeStoppers at 662-234-8477.

Oxford Police say theres currently a $1,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to Lee.

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CHICAGO  Mayor Nancy Rotering had just started walking in Highland Parks Independence Day parade when the music from the high schools marching band ended abruptly, replaced by an ominous cadence.

I didnt realize it at the time, but what I was hearing was the gunshots, she said.

An instant later, spectators and marchers bolted from the noise and first responders ran toward it as the terrible realization struck that the North Shore town was under attack. Rotering and others screamed at the crowd to leave as a rooftop sniper fired dozens of shots, killing seven people and wounding more than 20.

Rotering, a near-lifelong resident of Highland Park and its mayor since 2011, was immediately thrust into a global spotlight while trying to lead her town through an unimaginable crisis and pressing for changes to Americas gun laws.

Nine years ago, Rotering signed a city ordinance banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, and on Monday she and Gov. J.B. Pritzker joined President Joe Biden at the White House to commemorate the passage of new restrictions.

Highland Park has 30,000 residents but a small town vibe, so perhaps its no surprise Rotering has a connection with the suspect, 21-year-old Robert Crimo III: She was his Cub Scout leader years ago, recalling him only as a quiet little boy, and she defeated his father Bob in the 2019 mayoral election.

Speaking with the Tribune hours after attending three funerals Friday, Rotering described how her job and her town have changed in the wake of the shooting.

Theres so much need right now in our community that I am just working hard to make sure that people who need comforting are being comforted, people who need resources know how to get them and people who are in pain know that theyre not alone, she said.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: How are the people of Highland Park doing at this point?

A: Theyre really still working through an unbelievably traumatic and violent experience. I went to the funerals of Jacki Sundheim, Stephen Straus and Mr. (Nicolas) Toledo-Zaragoza today and people cant process how this has happened to their loved ones.

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The grief and the agony is profound. A few of the folks at one of the funerals are recovering from gunshot wounds. They just went to celebrate the Fourth of July with their families and now, for all of us, we will be changed forever. We will heal as a community but we will never be exactly who we were before the Fourth of July.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge in leading the city through this?

A: Getting information to people who need it. Weve worked really hard, but people who are so shellshocked are also having a hard time being able to use their usual abilities to get information. I think the biggest challenge is the magnitude of pain. Its indescribable. Its just indescribable  the pain, the fury, the frustration, the anger, the sense of disbelief, the sense of how did this happen and trying to find somebody to hold accountable.

Yesterday I felt we were moving a little bit forward. Today feels like were just deep in our pain. I drove by the high school twice and the parking lot was overflowing where people are going for counseling. Every person Ive come across, Im saying to them, Have you gone for counseling? Virtually all of them have but I know thousands have not.

So this is going to take us a long time to recover from. We will absolutely recover, but one person said, I dont think Highland Park will ever be the same. Thats got to be true. You cant come through something like this and be unchanged. But that being said, were a strong community. We care deeply about one another. The generosity of people from across the country has been tremendous, and we will continue to take one step at a time.

Q: Other than the shooter, where does accountability lie?

A: Weve been having conversations about, Are the laws strong enough? My stance, obviously, is that I feel very deeply that theres no place for combat weapons in everyday society. I went to look at the site just now where the shooter was and where the victims were, and the fact that he had a weapon that could create such violence in such a short period of time makes no sense. It makes no sense.

Were a civilized nation. These guns need to go. Were not in a battle zone. I was at Stephen Straus funeral and his grandson Toby read (the war poem) In Flanders Fields. He said, My grandfather was in a war zone at the end of his life. And that really sunk into the group because his grandfather was in a zone where somebody was using a combat weapon to kill people.

Q: Is there anything else Highland Park can do in terms of gun control measures?

A: Weve got to figure this out in terms of what is strategically appropriate within the law, what we can do as a municipality versus the state government versus the federal government. An interesting concept people have brought up is that just as the opiate manufacturers were held liable for the deaths of so many people who died from opiate overdoses, maybe we can look at manufacturers liability for civilian deaths at the hands of these guns. But I think thats probably more of a federal-level effort.

As far as the city is concerned, we did the maximum that we could within the constraints of the law as it existed  A statewide ban (on assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines) is better, a federal ban is better than that.

Q: How do you think the citys police force handled the incident?

A: They did a fantastic job. Our first responders were equipped, they were on the scene, they took action, they did everything they should have done and went way above and beyond. They were exemplary, and weve been really privileged to have additional services provided by the regions police agencies, the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, the FBI and the ATF  It really went unbelievably well.

Q: What do you think the lasting effect of this is going to be on Highland Park?

A: I think given the broad range of humanity that lives here, its going to manifest itself in a broad range of ways. People have approached me and said, Were going to have the biggest blowout ever next year. And other people have said, Im never going to a parade again.

We know that we need to memorialize and commemorate the one-year anniversary of this horror in an appropriate way and not a celebratory way. So we will be doing that, but every single person Ive come across has a different reaction and is having a different way of working through it. Some people havent slept since it occurred. Its heartbreaking. It is absolutely heartbreaking what this has done to our community.

And again, you know, we are strong, we support each other, weve always been there for each other and will come out of this as strong as ever. But we will be changed and that breaks my heart.

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JERUSALEM  Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has announced plans to unveil this month a new air-launched missile that can operate at a standoff range of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles).

The Ice Breaker, which the Israeli company said will make its public debut at the July 18-22 Farnborough Airshow, is part of a missile family that includes the Sea Breaker, unveiled last year.

The program is a multiservice, long-range-type missile. A year ago we were under a security embargo and we could only release [details of] the Sea Breaker derivative. Now we can show the whole ballgame. Its a multiservice missile, [an] air, ground and naval solution [that] can attack targets at land and sea, a Rafael official told Defense News on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The Ice Breaker missile is said to be capable of low trajectories, feature low-observable qualities  or stealth technology  and can function autonomously or in a man-in-the-loop mode. The official said the fifth-generation weapon can launch from a variety of aircraft and helicopters, specifically citing the Puma helo as well as the Gripen, FA-50, M-346 and F-16 jets. The Gripen can carry six Ice Breaker missiles, and the F-16 can carry seven, he added.

The missile can also launch from the ground with a booster and cannister.

Another couple of key parameters is that it is GPS-independent, for single or salvo attack. Its a kind of low-observable type of configuration with full compatibility [with other Rafael systems]. For instance, if you use Spice 1000, then you can use Ice Breaker. Its unique to get this range and 350-kilogram [overall weight] and low trajectory, the official said.

The company said in a statement that the missile uses artificial intelligence, deep-learning technology, and big data based scene-matching, enabling Automatic Target Acquisition (ATA) and Automatic Target Recognition (ATR).

The Rafael official said the missile is nearing full-scale development and that the company has spoke with customers on three different continents regarding potential contracts, though he would not provide a cost for the weapon. The company would also not identify potential customers but did note the system is optimized for deep-strike arenas. With the war in Ukraine overshadowing recent defense confabs, and security threats still an issue in the Middle East, Rafael said its seeing interest from Europe and elsewhere.

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The company unveiled a sixth-generation, non-line-of-sight weapon at Eurosatory earlier this year. In contrast the official noted, the Ice Breaker is a different type of capability. Its a different size of warhead and CONOPS [concept of operations], its special ops-type CONOPs to penetrate deep arenas in ways the other side cant stop it or identify when you attack.

He added that the Ice Breaker can operate in denied environments, resisting jamming attempts to hit stationary or moving targets, and features independent navigation and guidance technology. It has directional multi-target and data link and man-in-the-loop abilities, even though it is autonomous.

A company statement said the missile flies at high subsonic speeds with a multi-directional, synchronized full sphere attack capability, based on predefined attack plans, according to waypoints, azimuth, impact angle and aim-point selection.

The missiles unveiling comes as U.S. President Joe Biden visits Israel and Saudi Arabia, where he will observe several Israeli-developed systems such as Iron Dome, Davids Sling, Arrow and the new Iron Beam laser weapon. Rafael developed Iron Dome and Iron Beam.

Israels defense minister recently highlighted the countrys increasing defense industry sales in the Middle East in a speech earlier this month. However, when asked about potential contracts with Gulf nations, Rafael would not comment.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, said on Monday that people such as former President Trump can plant booby traps in the U.S. electoral system to skew the results their way.

Speaking ahead of the Jan. 6 panels next public hearing on Tuesday, Raskin said that the Electoral College is an actual danger to the American people when someone like Trump is in power and refuses to concede.

A bad faith actor like Donald Trump can plant booby traps in all of the nooks and crannies, he told The Baltimore Sun.

Raskin said that the full evidence collected by the committee, which has been holding publicly televised hearings for the past few weeks, will be undeniable even to supporters of the former president.

I think the cumulative effect of this will be devastating for those who wanted to try to dismiss the meaning of Jan. 6 and sweep it under the rug, said Raskin, who was also involved in the Houses efforts to impeach Trump in the aftermath of the Capitol breach.

Raskin said that Tuesdays hearing will deal with a tweet from Trump on Dec. 19, 2020, that read, Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!

The Maryland representative said he believes that tweet was the pivotal moment for the mobilizing of the domestic violent extremist groups.

People dismiss that its just a tweet, but it was a tweet that went to 70 million people, calling on them to come join a wild protest against the government, said Raskin.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A Georgia woman was left paralyzed after a visit to her chiropractor last month, according to her family.

Caitlin Jensen, 28, graduated from Georgia Southern University in May with a masters degree in chemistry and biology.

On June 16, she visited a chiropractor in Savannah for an adjustment to her neck. Soon afterwards, she got sick and was rushed to the emergency room, WJCL reported.

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That morning we were up and talking to her before work. Youre talking to her and then 30 minutes later, shes in the hospital and now in the ICU, her brother, Caleb Johnson, told WJCL.

Tests revealed four dissected arteries in Jensens neck. The damage led to cardiac arrest and traumatic brain injury. Its unclear if Jensens injury occurred before or during the appointment with her chiropractor.

Channel 2 Action News spoke with Darlene Jensen, Caitlins mother, who said her daughters doctors believe the injury was a direct result of the neck adjustment.

The surgeon that performed the surgeon on her that saved her life, and every other doctor that has looked at her, have all agreed that this happened as a direct result of the neck manipulation, Jensen said. The chiropractor called 911 and then called me and told me that she was having a reaction to the treatment.

WJCL reached out to the chiropractor for comment, but they cited HIPAA privacy laws. The cause of Caitlyns injury has not been officially determined. The family has retained legal counsel on Caitlins behalf.

Doctors were able to revive Jensen and she was rushed into surgery, where doctors repaired some of the tears and placed a stent in one of her arteries.

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Caitlin is currently conscious and able to respond to verbal commands by blinking her eyes, as well as wiggling her the toes of her left foot, family members said on a GoFundMe set up to help with her medical expenses. However, the rest of her body sits in a state of paralysis due to the injury.

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WJCL talked to Dr. Steve Ranicki, a chiropractor, who said Jensens injury is extremely rare.

Those dissections will often produce symptoms of headache and neck pain, which then drive people to a doctors office, Ranicki said. Once theyve gone to the medical doctor or chiropractor, the likelihood is, unfortunately, a stroke will occur.

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Ranicki said that similar injuries can happen to people who go to a salon, though it is extremely rare.

Jensen can now squeeze peoples hands, wiggle her toes and nod her head, according to her family.

Its truly remarkable that she is alive. I am shaken to the depth of my being by this experience, Jensens mother, Darlene, wrote on the GoFundMe. When I look at my baby girl laying there, and she has the ability to look back at me, to see life in her eyes, to touch her and talk to her. Shes ALIVE. Hallelujah.

The family hopes to get Jensen admitted to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta to further her rehabilitation.

Shes going to need a lot of help and we appreciate everyones generosity, Darlene Jensen told Channel 2 Action News. The world is full of good people.

So far, the community has raised more than $31,000 to help with Jensens medical bills via the GoFundMe account.
Residents of the Lone Star State are used to blazing temperatures, but even the hardiest Texans found themselves sweating during the latest record-breaking heat wave to impact the United States, which has been challenging the state's power grid and setting numerous records.

Most of Texas has had above-normal heat since the start of June, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Houk, but the worst of the heat thus far has been reserved for the past few days.

"There have been periods where a dome of high pressure that has been a mostly permanent fixture across the South Central states strengthens near Texas causing a few days of record-challenging heat in a row across the state," Houk said, adding the high pressure was at its strongest over the last several days.

Paramedics in Fort Worth, Texas, responded to a dramatic surge in heat-related 911 calls as the heat intensified, with people suffering from homelessness, elderly, young children, and outdoor workers at the highest risk for illnesses caused by the searing heat.

"We're experiencing about double the heat-related call volume that we did last year," MedStar operations supervisor John Hamilton told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell.

As the heat continues, so does the enhanced risk of heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Forecasters say residents in the affected areas should continue to take care to remain well-hydrated and limit time spent outdoors during the hottest part of the day if possible.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is hardly the only part of Texas experiencing extreme heat, though. In Abilene, which is located 180 miles west of Dallas, temperatures climbed above the century mark for 17 straight days, a streak that finally came to an end on June 26. However, Abilene started a new streak of triple-digit heat on July 4.

According to the National Weather Service, Austin and San Antonio are experiencing their hottest meteorological summers on record. From June 1 to July 8, the average temperature in both Austin and San Antonio was 88 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the former records of 87.3 and 87.1 respectively, both of which were set during the summer of 2011. And it's been especially hot in both of those places in recent days.

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On July 11, the mercury hit 107 F in San Antonio, smashing the old daily temperature record by 3 degrees and tying the record for the warmest July day ever in the city. The only other day this month with a high of 107 was July 13, 2020. Tuesday, despite dropping two degrees, San Antonio's high of 105 F still broke a daily record of 103 set in 1998.

On Monday in Austin, the temperature rose to 106 F for the third day in a row. Austin has been above 100 F every day since July 6.

In College Station, about 180 miles to the south of Dallas, the temperature climbed to 111 on Sunday, which was the hottest July temperature ever recorded in the city. Only on a couple of days in Sept. 2000, did the temperature reach or top the 111-degree mark. On Tuesday, College Station's high of 109 challenged Monday's 111, and tied a daily record set in 1954.

Wednesday was yet another record-breaking day in College Station, with a high of 105 breaking a record of 103 set in 2013. Another daily record was broken Wednesday in Tyler (106, smashing 2011's 104 reading)

Near the Mexican border in Laredo, the temperature rose to 110 degrees on Monday, while Galveston set or tied a new daily record high minimum temperature for the ninth day in a row, meaning that temperatures are remaining dangerously hot even during the overnight hours.

A man dives into the cool waters of the Comal River, Tuesday, June 14, 2022, in New Braunfels, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The intense and prolonged heat is challenging Texas's state-run power grid, ERCOT. As temperatures rose to record levels across the state on Monday, leading people to turn up their air conditioning, the agency sent a push alert to Texans' phones urging them to conserve electricity.

"The heat wave that has settled on Texas and much of the central United States is driving increased electric use," ERCOT said in a press release. "While solar power is generally reaching near-full generation capacity, wind generation is currently generating significantly less than what it historically generated in this time period."

After a new July peak was set Monday, another record-breaking power demand day for ERCOT took place Tuesday. ERCOT told AccuWeather's Bill Waddell that no conservation alerts were sent out Tuesday, due in part to "much better" wind power generation.

According to Reuters, ERCOT has thus far been able to avoid much-feared blackouts by asking both residents and businesses to curb their power usage, something that grid operators have been forced to do more and more as summers continue to warm. On Tuesday evening, 23,000 customers were without power in the state, including almost 1,000 outages in the central state Concho County.

Texas has also had an abnormally dry summer so far, with over 97% of the state experiencing abnormal dryness, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. More than 66% of the state is in the midst of worsening severe drought, with no significant rainfall in sight.

"The heat we are seeing across the state is tied into the drought that is also affecting most of the state. Dry ground allows more of the energy from the sun to heat the air," Houk explained, adding that Dallas has not received any rain in 40 days.

Experts at Climate Central say that summers in Texas are becoming warmer and drier. In the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area alone, summers have trended significantly warmer in the last 50 years. Compared to a typical summer in 1970, a summer today in the twin cities will bring seven more days above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Additional reporting by Bill Wadell.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated when Abilene's streak of 17 consecutive 100-degree days ended. The streak was snapped on June 26, not on July 11.

Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
From what we can see, insiders were net buyers in Residential Secure Income plc's (LON:RESI ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders acquired the stock in greater numbers than they sold it.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Residential Secure Income

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Residential Secure Income

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Senior Independent Director of ReSI Capital Management Limited Robert Gray bought UK55k worth of shares at a price of UK1.11 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK1.03. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Robert Gray was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership of Residential Secure Income

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Our information indicates that Residential Secure Income insiders own about UK434k worth of shares. It's always possible we are missing something but from our data, it looks like insider ownership is minimal.

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So What Do The Residential Secure Income Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Residential Secure Income shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. While we have no worries about the insider transactions, we'd be more comfortable if they owned more Residential Secure Income stock. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Residential Secure Income. For example, Residential Secure Income has 4 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Abortion rights activists Carrie McDonald (L) and Soraya Bata react to the Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization ruling which overturns the landmark abortion Roe v. Wade case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 in Washington, DC

As a crowd assembled outside the United States Supreme Court, waiting for its landmark abortion ruling last month, Kristan Hawkins stood front and centre.

She held a microphone in her left hand and a sign in her right. "I am the post-Roe generation," it said, a signature of her group Students for Life of America - one of the largest anti-abortion organisations in the country.

Ms Hawkins read the court's decision in real time, shouting the words into her microphone: "The Constitution does not confer the right to abortion."

It was a generational victory for the anti-abortion movement - but for Ms Hawkins it was just a start.

"Our organisation was established as a post-Roe organisation," she told the BBC, referring to the 1973 Supreme Court decision overturned in June, which had guaranteed women's right to abortion nationwide.

The court's reversal has returned the decision over abortion to individual US states, paving the way for Ms Hawkins' ultimate goal.

"We want to see the states across America move to make abortion unavailable and unthinkable," she said.

Ms Hawkins and her allies already have a new target in their sights: abortion pills.

In the days since Roe was repealed, demand for the medication has exploded, setting the stage for the abortion war's new front.

Doses of Mifepristone, the abortion pill, and Misoprostol, which is taken the day after to cause cramping and bleeding to empty the uterus, are pictured at Dr. Franz Theards Womens Reproductive Clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico on May 7, 2022

The two-pill regimen was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000, for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Medication-induced abortions are now the most common method of ending pregnancies in the US.

The first drug, mifepristone, ends a pregnancy and the second, misoprostol, empties the uterus. Mifepristone is also used to treat women who have suffered miscarriages and Cushing syndrome, a hormone-related condition. Misoprostol has been available by prescription for decades as a treatment for stomach ulcers and to manage postpartum haemorrhaging.

Less expensive and less invasive than the surgical option, medication abortion, as it is known, has long been championed by pro-choice groups.

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Throughout two decades of use, the FDA, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists (ACOG) and other mainstream medical organisations have maintained that both mifepristone and misoprostol are safe for use. US studies say medication abortion is about 95% effective in ending pregnancy and requires further medical follow-up less than 1% of the time.

But increasingly, anti-abortion campaigners have promoted claims that abortion medication - cast as "chemical abortion" - is ineffective and dangerous.

"These drugs have caused injury, infertility, death," Ms Hawkins said. "Every single abortion ends one life, but chemical abortion is going to start ending two lives and they [pro-choice campaigners] are going to be responsible for it."

The FDA has reported a total of 26 deaths associated with mifepristone since it was approved - a rate of about 0.65 deaths per 100,000 medication abortions. For comparison, the death rate associated with aspirin is about 15.3 deaths per 100,000 aspirin users.

When mifepristone was first approved by the FDA, it was placed in a programme for risky drugs because most of the safety data came from outside the US. And for years, mifepristone remained among the most heavily regulated drugs in the country, despite growing evidence demonstrating the drug was safe.

In April 2021, the FDA announced it would lift the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic. In December, the FDA permanently lifted that requirement, allowing the medication to be sent by mail. A spokeswoman at the time said the agency had conducted a "comprehensive review" of published safety data before making the change.

The decision, lauded by pro-choice activists and mainstream medical organisations, expanded access to those unable to travel to a clinic, often people of colour, low-income individuals and those in rural areas.

Anti-abortion activists participate in a "#BanChemicalAbortions" protest outside of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) June 28, 2022 in Washington, DC

Even before the Supreme Court Roe reversal, anti-abortion groups targeted abortion pills with force. In the first five months of 2022, lawmakers proposed 117 restrictions across 22 states specifically on medication abortion, including outright bans.

"Abortion opponents are keenly aware that a pregnant person could access medication through an online provider," said Elizabeth Nash, a policy analyst with the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group. "They've seen this method grow, and be used more and more and so they're saying: 'OK, we need to limit access'".

Without federal abortion protection, more restrictions will follow.

In recent days, abortion - including medication abortion - has been prohibited in at least 10 states, sometimes with exceptions for rape or incest. Nearly a dozen states are expected to follow. Some anti-abortion advocates have targeted the pills specifically, barring the use of telemedicine or the delivery of medication by mail.

"Our hands have been untied," said Carol Tobias, president of anti-abortion group National Right to Life, to the BBC. "Now we really get a chance to defend these babies."

But as bans have rolled in and abortion clinics have shuttered, demand for abortion pills has surged.

In the hours after the Supreme Court's decision, patient numbers doubled at telemedicine abortion clinic Hey Jane over the month before, while its website traffic grew tenfold. The organisation is now seeing four times as many patients than this time last year.

Plan C, an abortion pill advocacy group, had 311,000 visitors on its website in the single weekend after Roe was repealed, founder Amy Merrill told the BBC - well above its previous monthly average of 50,000.

"It was like a dam had broken," she said.

Indeed, pro-choice advocates say abortion medication will be a lifeline to women in states where the procedure is prohibited.

Abortion pills must be prescribed by providers where the procedure is legal, to a patient in that state. But pro-choice groups have already developed workarounds for states where it is banned.

Some are sending fleets of mobile clinics to the borders of abortion-restricted states. Others are developing plans for mailing pills to women in states with abortion bans anyway. One of these groups, Shout Your Abortion, sold out a line of T-shirts that say: "I will aid and abet an abortion."

"We believe abortion pills by mail will continue to be a reality in all 50 states, no matter what bans exist," said Ms Merrill.

Most anti-abortion activists have long said they want to see abortion providers punished, but not the mothers themselves.

"We would certainly go after abortion providers," said National Right to Life's Carol Tobias. "I would want to know who provided the pills."

But if a person receives abortion medication from outside her state - or the country - who is there to punish?

Democratic-led states have already started to help. California, New York and Connecticut have moved to shield doctors from penalties from other states for helping women in restrictive states obtain an abortion. And one major abortion pill provider - Aid Access - is based in Europe, falling outside the jurisdiction of law enforcement within the US.

In a world without Roe, Kristan Hawkins wants to make abortion "unthinkable"

Still, pro-choice advocates warned that anti-abortion campaigners will enforce their bans broadly.

"They talk about criminalising anybody who, quote unquote 'aids and abets' somebody seeking abortion care," said Dina Montemarano, research director at NARAL Pro-Choice America. "Is that the Uber driver who drives them to the airport to seek an abortion out of state? Is that their friend who helps them pay for that flight?"

"They have been dodging this question," she said.

State bans on abortion pills may also face legal hurdles. On Friday, President Joe Biden issued an executive order, directing his health secretary to "protect access to medication abortion". And last month, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said states could not ban the FDA-approved medication "based on disagreement with the FDA's expert judgement about its safety and efficacy".

Ms Hawkins called the FDA and Biden administration's support of mifepristone "absolutely hypocritical", repeating her claims that abortion pills were dangerous.

"This is what the abortion industry is trying to do, this is their post-Roe plan," she said.

GenBioPro Inc, a company that sells mifepristone, has already challenged Mississippi's restriction on the medication, saying they are "pre-empted" by the FDA - meaning federal law overrides state bans.

"This is not the end," Ms Merrill said. "If I have hope, it's that this is a situation in flux."
Sarina Wiegmans England hammered Norway (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

England boss Sarina Wiegman hailed her players efforts on an incredible evening after they secured their place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2022 with a record-breaking 8-0 hammering of Norway at the Amex Stadium.

The tournament hosts scored six times in a rampant first-half display, with Georgia Stanways 12th-minute penalty and a finish from Lauren Hemp three minutes later being followed by a brace apiece from Ellen White and Beth Mead.

That equalled the most amount of goals scored by one team in a Womens Euros match, and England went on to register the competitions biggest ever victory, surpassing their 6-0 win over Scotland in 2017, following a 66th-minute effort from substitute Alessia Russo and Mead completing her hat-trick late on.

Asked to describe her sides display, Wiegman said: Just a great performance.

We kept just playing the game, also in the second half, and sometimes when you are 6-0 up players try to do different things, but we didnt  we kept playing together and doing our task.

An incredible evening, very nice  (but) stay grounded, because we dont have anything yet.

With the remarkable win in front of a crowd of 28,847  from which cries of footballs coming home rang out at various stages  seeing them seal top spot in Group A, the Lionesses will be returning to Brighton a week on Wednesday to play a quarter-final against the runners-up in Group B, which features Germany and Spain.

Their group fixtures conclude with Fridays meeting at St Marys with now-eliminated Northern Ireland, who had lost 2-0 to Austria earlier on Monday.

England had opened their campaign with last Wednesdays 1-0 win over Austria at Old Trafford, with a competition-record attendance of just under 69,000.

And when it was put to Wiegman that if people did not know there was a Womens Euros on, they did now, she said: I dont know, I think they already knew last Wednesday, because that was nice too.

I just hope they enjoy, and that is what we hope to do  make the nation proud.

Weve had two games now, were trying to play our best game, and today we did. But its just three points  if you win 1-0 or 8-0, it doesnt make a difference  we didnt win anything yet.
Nadhim Zahawi has released his Tory leadership campaign video, after launching a bid to become prime minister.

The chancellor outlines his plan to seize the opportunity of Brexit and reform education, to give the next generation the tools they need to succeed.

Mr Zahawi also pledged to increase defence spending, in the face of Russias war in Ukraine.

This is my vision of Britain, a vision people across the United Kingdom can buy into now and in the future, he said, concluding his video.

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Democratic candidates for Senate are posting massive second-quarter fundraising hauls as the race for the upper chambers majority heats up.

On Tuesday, Rep. Val Demingss (D-Fla.) Senate campaign announced it raked in more than $12.2 million between April and June, bringing her cash-on-hand total to more than $12.5 million. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fettermans (D) campaign reported raising a record $11 million in the second quarter, leaving him with nearly $5.5 million cash on hand.

In North Carolina, Democratic Senate candidate Cheri Beasley said her campaign raked in more than $7.42 million during the period, marking a strong uptick from her first-quarter haul of $3.6 million. Beasley reported having $4.2 million in the bank.

On Monday, Rep. Tim Ryans (D-Ohio) Senate campaign said it raised $9.1 million in the second quarter, also marking a major increase from his first-quarter haul of $4.1 million. Ryans campaign said it has $3.6 million cash on hand.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee Mehmet Oz, North Carolina GOP Senate nominee Rep. Ted Budd, and Ohio GOP Senate nominee J.D. Vance have yet to release their campaigns second-quarter fundraising numbers.

And last week, incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said she raised more than $5 million during the second quarter, bringing her cash on hand total to more than $7 million.

Democratic Senate candidates across the battlegrounds are smashing fundraising records  and theyre powered by energized, grassroots supporters who are committed to protecting and expanding our Senate Majority that is fighting to address working families most pressing priorities, said Eli Cousin, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Senate races in Ohio, Florida and North Carolina as lean Republican, while Pennsylvania is considered a toss-up. New Hampshire is rated as lean Democratic.

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While Democrats are expressing optimism over their latest fundraising hauls, the battle for the Senate will still be hard-fought. President Bidens worsening approval ratings and the state of the economy could end up working against Democrats.

And Republicans appear to be gearing up for a fight. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has raised $9 million for GOP Senate candidates running in 2022. The Texas senator has transferred between $290,000 and $400,000 each to campaigns of incumbent GOP senators up for reelection in November.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Tetsuya Yamagami, the man arrested for the assassination of Japans former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told police he held "a grudge" against a religious group that he believed the leader had promoted.

Yamagami, 41, reportedly told the authorities that his mother went bankrupt after making a huge donation to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church.

Nara Prefectural Police said the suspect blamed his mothers financial issues on the religious group and intended to kill Abe based on the assumption that the former prime minister was affiliated with the Unification Church.

My mother got wrapped up in a religious group and I resented it, Yamagami was quoted as saying.

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Tomihiro Tanaka, the president of the Japanese branch of the Unification Church, confirmed on Monday that Yamagamis mother is one of its members. He also noted that Yamagami and Abe were not members.

The suspects mother reportedly became a member of the church in 1998 before going bankrupt in 2002. She stopped attending from 2009 to 2017 but reconnected with other church members around two to three years ago. According to Tanaka, she has been attending church meetings and events around once a month for the past six months

Tanaka reportedly refused to comment on how much the suspects mother donated, and he denied that she was forced by the church to donate money.

More from NextShark: Chinese ambassador calls on Chinese Americans to improve China-US relations: 'No egg stays unbroken when the nest is overturned'

On Monday, Nara police said they discovered bullet holes at a facility run by the church. Yamagami reportedly admitted to firing practice rounds the day before Abe was fatally shot in the chest and neck while delivering a speech at a campaign event in the Japanese city of Nara on Friday.

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Several improvised guns were seized from Yamagamis apartment, the police said on Friday. The firearm he reportedly shot Abe with was a double-barreled, homemade gun that measured approximately 16 inches long and 7 inches wide.

While the Unification Church said it did not have a direct relationship with the former Japanese leader, Tanaka admitted that Abe expressed support for its global peace movement.

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Abe previously spoke at an event hosted by a Unification Church-affiliated organization last September. Politicians from other countries, including the U.S., were also reportedly involved in the event. Abe delivered a speech in which he praised the organization for its focus and emphasis on family values. Meanwhile, other affiliates of the church reportedly continue to draw in various Japanese lawmakers to their events.

In 1954, the Unification Church was founded in South Korea by Sun Myung Moon, who was allegedly an anti-communist and self-declared messiah.

The church established other branches overseas, including its Japanese branch in the late 1950s. The church found common cause with right-wing politicians in Japan, such as Abes grandfather Nobusuke Kishi.

More from NextShark: Malaysian Woman With No Hands Sews PPE for Front Line Workers

Around 600,000 people in Japan are members of the church and have reportedly helped it generate billions of dollars in income. Moon helped to create a multi-billion-dollar corporate empire with ventures such as the Washington Times, United Press International and the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, before his death in 2012.

Critics and former members have identified the church as a cult; however, the church has denied previous accusations and claims to be legitimate.

An investigation of Yamagamis background and motives is currently ongoing.

Featured Images via TODAY
With prayers, flowers and flags draped in black ribbons, thousands of mourners gathered today in the streets of Tokyo to bid their final goodbye to Japans former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

A family funeral was held at a temple days after Mr Abe was killed by a gunman who opened fire as he was delivering a campaign speech in Nara in southern Japan.

Although the funeral rites were attended by only close family members, prime minister Fumio Kishida and senior party leaders, the pavements outside the Zojoji temples were packed with crowds of people, some dressed in black, wanting to pay their final respect to the longest-serving prime minister.

In the attack that stunned the nation, the 67-year-old collapsed bleeding last Friday after being shot by a gunman. Though Mr Abe was airlifted to a nearby hospital, he was pronounced dead, as doctors shared that he suffered major damage to his heart, along with two neck wounds that damaged an artery.

Police at the shooting scene in Nara arrested Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, a former member of Japans navy on suspicion of murder.

There was a sense of security when he was the prime minister in charge of the country, said Keiko Noumi, a 58-year-old teacher, one of many who came to offer prayers and flowers to a large photograph of Mr Abe set up inside the temple grounds showing him in a simple white shirt, laughing with his hands on his hips. "I really supported him, so this is very unfortunate."

A vehicle carrying the body of the late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot while campaigning for a parliamentary election, leaves after his funeral at Zojoji Temple in Tokyo (Reuters)

Others queued in front of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party headquarters to pay their tributes.

People shouted, clapped and waved as a motorcade including a hearse carrying his body departed from a Tokyo temple early afternoon on a procession through the city before reaching the crematorium.

Thank you very much for your work for our country! a man shouted.

People wait in line before their prayers to pay respect for former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at Zojoji temple before his funeral in Tokyo (AP)

"He was my favourite prime minister," said Akihito Sakaki, 58 and self-employed. "So I came here to say goodbye."

The procession passed through Tokyos political heart of Nagatacho and landmarks such as the parliament building that the slain leader first entered as a young lawmaker in 1993.

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Japans prime minister Fumio Kishida, officials and employees offer prayers towards a hearse carrying the body of late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe (Reuters)

Prime minister Kishida quietly waited along with a group of cabinet ministers in front of the office from which Mr Abe led the nation as the countrys longest-serving prime minister from 2012 to 2020.

Mr Kishida bowed his head with a set of Buddhist rosary beads around his hands as the hearse slowly passed. Mr Abes widow, Akie, bowed back from the front seat.

Tributes poured in from international leaders, with US secretary of state Antony Blinken making a brief stop en route to the United States from Southeast Asia on Monday morning to pay his respects. US treasury secretary Janet Yellen and Taiwan vice president William Lai, on a private visit as a family friend, also joined mourners.

Taiwans vice president William Lai leaves after a funeral of the late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe (REUTERS)

French leader Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences in footage posted on the countrys official presidential Twitter account. I remember all our meetings and work together, especially during my visit [to Japan] in 2019, he said. Ive lost a friend. He served his country with great courage and audacity.

According to Kyodo news agency, nearly 2,000 condolence messages arrived from nations around the world.

Additional reporting from the wires
On Tuesday, Japan said farewell to Shinzo Abe, the countrys longest-serving Prime Minister, who was assassinated on last week.

Funeral processions for Abe, 67, started at Tokyos Zojoji Temple, where hundreds of mourners dressed in black gathered to pay their respects.

Following a funeral ceremony that included only family members and close friends, a hearse took Abes body through downtown Tokyo, the countrys capital.

TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 28: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a press conference at the prime minister official residence on August 28, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Franck Robichon - Pool/Getty Images) Photo by Franck Robichon - Pool/Getty Images

The procession passed near the federal parliament building, where Abe was first elected in 1993. He later served as the parliamentary leader, or prime minister, twice, including a lengthy service from 2012 to 2020.

TRUMP MOURNS JAPAN'S SHINZO ABE, 'A UNIFIER LIKE NO OTHER' WHO 'CHERISHED HIS MAGNIFICENT COUNTRY'

Abes death shook the world as he was a titanic political figure and gun violence in Japan is rare.

After the death was announced on Friday, President Joe Biden said he was "stunned, outraged and deeply saddened."

"This is a tragedy for Japan and for all who knew him," Biden said.

JAPAN'S SHINZO ABE DEAD: BIDEN 'STUNNED, OUTRAGED' OVER ASSASSINATION

"He was a champion of the Alliance between our nations and the friendship between our people," the president added.

Former President Donald Trump similarly said the death was "really bad news for the world."

"His killer was captured and will hopefully be dealt with swiftly and harshly," he wrote.

JAPAN'S SHINZO ABE SHOT AND KILLED: WORLD LEADERS PAY TRIBUTE TO FORMER PRIME MINISTER

"Few people know what a great man and leader Shinzo Abe was, but history will teach them and be kind," Trump added.

"He was a unifier like no other, but above all, he was a man who loved and cherished his magnificent country, Japan. Shinzo Abe will be greatly missed. There will never be another like him!"

Abe was killed during a campaign rally Friday when Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, shot him in broad daylight with a homemade firearm, officials said.
Mourners pay their respects to former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe

Huge crowds have lined the streets of Tokyo to pay their last respects to ex-Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated last week.

The 67-year-old was shot dead on Friday while speaking at a campaign event in the southern city of Nara.

On Tuesday, a hearse carried the body of the country's longest-serving prime minister through the capital to the funeral hall where he was cremated.

A private funeral had been held earlier at the Zojoji temple.

Across Tokyo, flags flew at half mast and outside the temple, a long line of mourners stretched over two blocks, many carrying bouquets.

The hearse travelled past the headquarters of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) before making its way to the prime minister's residence, where current PM Fumio Kishida and other lawmakers received the motorcade.

After that it passed the parliament building, where Abe first entered as a lawmaker in 1993, before arriving at the Kirigaya Funeral Hall.

'Abe-San, thank you so much'

Shinzo Abe's funeral was supposed to be a private affair, closed to all but family and friends. But Japan's public had decided otherwise.

From early on Tuesday morning, they began lining up outside the giant Zojoji temple in central Tokyo to lay flowers at the small table set out to one side of the main complex.

The weather forecast was heavy thunder showers, but as the funeral service began inside the crowds on the streets outside only grew larger.

By 14:30 local time (06:30 GMT) there were tens of thousands of people lining the streets all the way from the Zojoji to the parliament building at Nagatacho.

Many in the crowds lining up Tokyo streets were seen praying and crying

Outside the prime minister's office, as the funeral cortege approached, a hush fell across the crowds and all you could hear was the news helicopters circling above.

Mourners bowed to Mrs Abe, sitting in the front of the hearse, holding her husband's funeral tablet. People began to sob loudly. Then some shouted out. "Abe-San, thank you so much."

A few seconds later the hearse was gone. A middle-aged woman in the crowd dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.

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"We will never have another politician like him," she said.

Who was Shinzo Abe?

Abe was undoubtedly a divisive and controversial figure. His views on the history of World War Two were often troubling.

But to the crowds of Japanese who turned out to say goodbye to him, "Abe-San" was just the best prime minister they'd known.

Abe was one of Japan's most influential politicians. And his death has sent shockwaves through a nation where incidences of gun violence are extremely rare.

Police said the gunman targeted Abe due to grievances he had with a religious group that he believed Abe was a part of. But they are still investigating what the gunman's motives were and whether he acted alone.

Akie Abe carrying her husband's tablet after the funeral

A vigil held on Monday evening drew hundreds of dignitaries as well as thousands of ordinary Japanese citizens who came to lay flowers.

"I came here to offer flowers because I think he gave the Japanese something to be proud about," said Emi Osa.

Abe's death drew an outpouring of shock from prominent world leaders, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemning the shooting as a "despicable attack".

US President Joe Biden called Prime Minister Kishida to express his "outrage, sadness and deep condolences", and called the assassination "a tragedy for Japan".

Read more on our coverage of Shinzo Abe's death
Clouds fill the sky at Marina Bay in Singapore December 20, 2019. (PHOTO: REUTERS)

SINGAPORE  A new programme costing $23.5 million to study the long-term impact of climate change on Singapore was announced by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on Tuesday (12 July).

The Climate Impact Science Research (CISR) Programme under the the National Environment Agency's (NEA) Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS) will focus on five areas: sea level rise, water resource and flood management, biodiversity and food security, human health and energy, and bridging science-policy translation.

The programme will be funded under Singapores Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan.

"Climate impacts will manifest differently in each region, and their magnitudes will differ based on each regions circumstances and capabilities in adapting to them," said Fu in her opening remarks at the World Climate Research Programmes (WCRP) Sea Level Conference held in Singapore.

"We must study climate impacts comprehensively to ensure that countries are adequately prepared to cope," she said.

In her speech, Fu noted that Singapore is experiencing more episodes of higher rainfall and temperatures, and that the low-lying island state faces an existential threat from sea level rise. The region is also highly vulnerable to climate change.

"Yet climate scientists have found the climate of this region  especially its precipitation  particularly challenging to model," she said.

"By downscaling global climate projections and producing localised, high resolution models of wind, rainfall, and temperature, we can better assess the impacts of climate change on local crop and aquaculture yields. We could also evaluate the indirect impact of higher temperatures through the increased prevalence of pests and diseases," Fu said.

"This would in turn allow us to strengthen our food resilience, be it through the development of climate-resilient crop varieties or choosing sea spaces with more suitable habitat conditions for aquaculture," she added.

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In a press release, NEA elaborated on the five areas of study under the CISR:

Assessments of sea level rise will help evaluate the risks of coastal floods and inform the adequacy of protection measures.

On water resource and flood management, studies on the impact of water runoff from increased precipitation, for example, can help in planning Singapore's flood mitigation measures, such as local detention tanks and rightsizing the drainage network.

Biodiversity and food security will also be impacted by more extreme weather events, affecting crop yields and supply chains. Studies in this area can help with Singapore's food diversification strategy.

On human health and energy, future warming may exacerbate the urban heat island effect, causing energy demand surges, which will impact supply and grid transmission, while a rise in the threat of vector-borne diseases will also impact health. Studies in this area will help enhance public sector planning and decision-making under future warming scenarios.

Science-policy translation is needed to allow agencies to make sense of projected climate change risks, in order to plan effective interventions.

"Climate change is a multi-faceted and interdisciplinary problem, with far-reaching implications on Singapore, the region, and the world. By adopting a multi-pronged research approach and addressing different facets of climate change, Singapore can better understand our imminent challenges and formulate effective adaptation measures," said NEA in its statement.

Professor Dale Barker, who is CCRS director, said, "We hope that research outcomes from the CISR Programme will help to provide a more accurate understanding of climate impact science to provide a firm foundation for downstream policy and infrastructure implementation. For example, allowing policymakers to make more informed decisions on optimising adaptation infrastructure costs.

Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com.

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By Soo-hyang Choi

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea is beefing up security for high-profile figures in light of the assassination of Japan's former premier Shinzo Abe, officials said on Tuesday, including for an LGBTQ pride parade that the new U.S. ambassador is expected to attend this weekend.

Small groups of protesters demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy last weekend when Philip Goldberg, newly appointed as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, arrived in the country, accusing the United States of "homosexual cultural imperialism".

Seoul's Presidential Security Service said it will strengthen security measures for President Yoon Suk-yeol, and the National Police Agency has ordered regional branches to step up monitoring to guard key figures.

"We are reviewing our security system for the president following the Abe shooting and will take necessary measures to strengthen our security posture," an official at the presidential agency told Reuters.

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, was gunned down on Friday during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara in a killing that stunned a country where political violence and gun crime are extremely rare.

Police are also gearing up for the Seoul Queer Culture Festival on Saturday. As well as U.S. Ambassador Goldberg, other envoys to the country are expected to attend.

"We are planning to tighten security as there are a number of risk factors with opposition groups also set to hold a rally at the same time," a police officer said.

Homosexuality is not illegal in South Korea and there is growing public acceptance of LGBTQ relations. But rights activists say many LGBTQ people still suffer hate crimes and face discrimination, including job loss and hate speech.

Security for U.S. ambassadors in Seoul has been a source of controversy.

In 2015, a South Korean man slashed then U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert in the face with a fruit knife at a forum, leaving a deep gash to his face that required 80 stitches.

And in 2019 as many as 20 protesters climbed the wall into the U.S. ambassador's residential compound, the second illegal entry there in just over a year. Police boosted security at the site after the U.S. State Department publicly complained.

(Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
The Fiscal Times

President Joe Biden and Senate Democratic leaders are prepared to take whatever win they can get and move on. When Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) pulled the plug on Democrats Build Back Better package late last year, the White House responded with fury. The tone this time has been much different  in fact, the statement released by Biden last week after talks between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer fell apart did not mention the West Virginia senator at all. Instead, the White House a
Sheree and Steve Burton married in 1999 (Getty Images)

Steve Burton has reportedly filed for divorce from his estranged wife Sheree after 23 years of marriage.

The former General Hospital actor has listed 1 March as the date of their separation and cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, according to US media reports citng court documents.

The news comes just over two months after Burton revealed that Sheree is expecting a child with another man.

Taking to his Instagram story in May, Burton said he wanted to make it clear that the pair are separated.

[Shiree] recently announced that she is expecting a fourth child. The child is not mine, he wrote.

We are still co-parenting our three beautiful kids. We would appreciate privacy at this time. Much luv, Steve [sic].

Burton and Shiree married in January 1999 and share three children; a son named Jack, 16, and daughters Makena, 18, and Brooklyn, eight.

Burton played Jason Morgan in General Hospital (Abc-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock)

The US-born actor, who portrayed Jason Morgan in General Hospital, was dismissed from the series in November last year after showrunners rejected his request for a vaccine exemption on medical and religious grounds.

I wanted you to hear it from me personally. he said in a statement at the time. Unfortunately, General Hospital has let me go because of the vaccine mandate. I did apply for my medical and religious exemptions, and both of those were denied. Which, you know, hurts. But this is also about personal freedom to me.

Burton played Morgan for a total of almost 25 years after first joining the show in 1991.

He held the role until 2012 when he left to join the cast of The Young and the Restless as Dylan McAvoy. He later returned to General Hospital in 2017.

Burton opened up about his departure from General Hospital in an interview with Deadline, published on Friday 8 July.

Look, the circumstance was tough and you know, thats just the way it is, he said.

Ill always be grateful for my time there. It was my family for so long. I grew up there and the fans have always been awesome to me.

Burton is currently appearing in the Days Of Our Lives spinoff, Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem, in which he plays Harris Michaels.
The second round of Abkhazias de facto parliamentary elections took place on March 26. Although the Abkhaz parliament and the political parties enjoy little influence in the local power vertical, this years elections could significantly affect the further development of the political situation in the region. A likely constitutional majority of pro-president MPs in the parliament does not only complete the concentration of power in the hands of the de facto president Aslan Bzhania, but also allows for constitutional changes. At the same time, it can make Abkhazia more vulnerable to pressure from Russia.

BACKGROUND: Abkhazias party system is characterized by a rivalry between the two established power blocs, which began to form at the beginning of the 21st century. The first opposition movement established in the early 2000s was Aytayra, later joined by Amtsakhara, representing the interests of the war veterans, and United Abkhazia. All of these movements later transformed into political parties. During the de facto presidency of Sergey Bagapsh, which followed a serious political crisis in 2004-2005, they all turned into pro-government parties.

In this situation, a new opposition began to form, representing the interests of groups competing with Bagapsh. During his tenure (2005-2011) and the tenure of his successor Alexander Ankvab (2011-2014), the opposition was led by the Forum of Abkhazian National Unity (FNEA). After Raul Khajimba became its leader in 2013, he managed to organize all significant political forces in Abkhazia in opposition against Ankvab. Only Amtsakhara reminded loyal to Ankvab. This fact enabled Khajimba to mobilize enough people on the streets to oust Ankvab in 2014. Subsequently, Amtsakhara turned into a leading opposition force and FNEA into the leader of the pro-government parties and movements.

After Khajimba himself had to resign in 2020 due to mass demonstrations, Amtsakhara has once again become the leader of the pro-government parties supporting the current de facto president, Aslan Bzhania. This block also includes United Abkhazia and the revived Aytayra. Meanwhile, the loose opposition to the current de facto president is represented by FNEA, Aruaa and Apsny. Despite the existence of well-established power blocks, Abkhazias parliament continues to face several problems.

Several factors decrease the parliaments influence. First, the de facto president is a figure with significant powers as the de facto head of state. In Abkhaz clan society, the Council of Elders also plays a significant yet slowly diminishing role.

Second, the attitude towards political parties is more skeptical than towards socio-political movements, although these are not much different. Therefore, the voter is often guided by personal sympathies or family ties. This phenomenon is further strengthened by the fact that MPs are elected through the majoritarian system.

Third, the conduct of the elections were marred by gross violations of human rights on ethnic grounds. In the previous elections held in 2017, 131,523 voters were registered. This was 22,787 fewer than during the previous so-called presidential elections in 2011 and the parliamentary elections in 2012. This is the result of a discriminatory policy of the Abkhazian de facto government, which excludes the majority of ethnic Georgians living in the Gali region from the voter list. This is a consequence of the war in Abkhazia between Georgia and Russia (which actively supported the separatists in 1992-1993 and 2008), and the complete occupation of this region of Georgia, resulting in the expulsion of over 250,000 ethnic Georgians who are still deprived of the opportunity to return home and take part in elections.

However, despite the limited political influence of Abkhazias parliament, the recent parliamentary elections could significantly affect the further development of the political situation in the region.

IMPLICATIONS: With all 35 deputies elected, the new de facto parliament was chiefly formed after the second round of elections, cementing the position of de facto president Bzhania. There are three deputies in the parliament, who can conditionally be termed opposition and six deputies who do not have any political preferences. The rest of the deputies support the de facto government.

After Saida Butba was appointed the Chairwoman of the Supreme Court on March 21, the electoral result allows Bzhania to concentrate the control of all three branches of the government in his hands. Prior to her appointment, Butba was Bzhanias representative in the parliament and was previously his long-time associate in the State Security Service.

The fact that Bzhania can secure a constitutional majority in the parliament with only three opposition deputies can also have serious consequences. During the meeting of the Commission on Constitutional Reform in November 2021, its members presented the concept of constitutional amendments to Chapters 3 and 4 of Abkhazias so-called Constitution.

Most members support a model in which the president is directly connected to the ministers; that is, the posts of prime minister and vice-premier are not present in this design. The president nominates ministers in the parliament and interacts directly with the executive branch.

The commission argues that the purpose of these changes to the constitution is to eliminate the dualism caused by the duplication of powers between the presidential administration and the government office. On the other hand, the commission also recommended that the de facto president designate ministers in consultation with the so-called Peoples Assembly, which is now under his sole jurisdiction.

According to the members of the constitutional commission, such a redistribution of powers between the executive and legislative branches gives parliament additional instruments of influence on the political process.

However, the commission chairperson, Natella Akaba, warned that this model places additional responsibility on the de facto presidents shoulders, adding that these amendments can further aggravate the political situation in Abkhazia. Along with some other local experts, she proposed a movement in the opposite direction by delegating part of the presidents powers to the so-called Peoples Assembly, thus establishing at least a partial balance of power among the two branches of government.

Moreover, some local observers warn that the presidents unprecedented control over parliament may decrease Abkhazias resilience against pressure from Russia. Over the last decade, Moscow has repeatedly lobbied for a whole volume of concessions from Sukhumi, such as lifting the ban on purchases of real estate in Abkhazia by Russians or denationalization of its energy system. Leonid Kalashnikov, chairperson of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, recently pushed Sukhumi to speed up the implementation of its common socio-economic space agreement with Moscow through harmonizing Abkhaz legislation.

In the past, when Abkhaz de facto presidents have explained to Moscow why this and other integrative initiatives do not get off the ground, they could always point to the presence of an obstinate parliament. With all power concentrated in the hands of the de facto president, it will likely be more difficult for Bzhania to explain to the Kremlin who and what is preventing the resolution of these issues. At the same time, considering the mounting problems caused by Abkhazias collapsing electricity supply infrastructure, Russian financial leverage in the region will likely grow even larger than it is today.

CONCLUSIONS: Although Abkhazia's de facto parliament is a relatively weak body, the results of the recent elections allow Bzhania to transform the political system and further consolidate his power. However, it should be recalled that the constitutional majority does not necessarily reflect the actual support for the pro-government parties among the local population. To a large extent, the outcome probably resulted from the misuse of administrative resources in combination with a highly ineffective strategy of the opposition parties. Therefore, a possible attempt by Bzhania to concentrate even more power in his hands could lead to a mobilization of opposition-minded people in the region. At the same time, an unprecedented concentration of power with the de facto president could paradoxically lead to a decreased ability to resist Moscows demands, some of which are extremely unpopular in local society.

Authors note: Under the conditions of Russias occupation of the region, local de facto authorities continue to carry out so-called elections. Georgia and the international community do not consider the de facto parliament or other de facto organs of occupied Abkhazia as legitimate. The de jure parliament and government of the Autonomous Republic Abkhazia are in exile in Tbilisi.

AUTHORS BIO: Tomas Baranec is a Research Fellow and Head of the Caucasus Program of the Slovak think tank Strategic Analysis. He currently works as a field-researcher on the Georgian-Ossetian ABL. Tomas studied Balkan, Central European and Eurasian Studies at Charles University in Prague. Tengiz Gasviani wis a historian and Head of the division of Public Relations and Protocol of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia in exile.


Subway tuna sandwich. Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Image

A federal judge ruled that Subway can be sued over the contents of its tuna products.

An original class-action lawsuit was filed in January 2021.

The lawsuit alleged that the company's tuna products were made from "a mixture of various concoctions."

A lawsuit claiming that Subway misled customers about the contents of its tuna products can proceed, a federal judge has ruled.

California judge, Jon Tigar, partially rejected Subway's motion to dismiss an ongoing lawsuit on July 7, opening the door for the plaintiff, Nilima Amin, to try to prove her claims in court.

The original class-action lawsuit, filed in January 2021, included a claim that the company's tuna products were made from "a mixture of various concoctions," including other fish species, chicken, pork, and cattle.

The class-action lawsuit claimed that independent testing had "repeatedly" shown that Subway made its tuna product with no tuna fish, but the plaintiffs amended their claims in June 2021 to focus instead on whether Subway served "100% sustainably caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna."

Subway's lawyers argued that any traces of other ingredients found in its tuna products might result from cross-contact when making sandwiches or from eggs in mayonnaise, the court filings show.

Subway has vigorously defended its tuna, saying it only buys wild-caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna. It added that its suppliers for US stores require statements on the species, catch method, and traceability information for each delivery of fish.

Subway has also launched a webpage to counter what it describes as "myths" about its tuna, as well as "misinformation generated in the media."

A spokesperson for Subway told Insider: "We are disappointed the Court felt it couldn't dismiss the plaintiffs' reckless and improper lawsuit at this stage. However, we are confident that Subway will prevail when the Court has an opportunity to consider all the evidence."

US District Judge Jon Tigar dismissed one of the two plaintiffs from the lawsuit, saying that she had no evidence that she herself had bought sandwiches from Subway. The judge, however, granted plaintiff, Nilima Amin, permission to attempt to prove her claim that Subway's tuna salads, wraps, and sandwiches "partially or wholly lack" tuna.

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In February 2021, Inside Edition sent samples from tuna sandwiches in Queens for testing and found that they were made from tuna. But four months later, The New York Times sent some of Subway's tuna to a commercial lab, which told the publication that "no amplifiable tuna DNA was present in the sample," leaving it unable to identify the species.

Subway says that the NYT investigation didn't prove that Subway's tuna wasn't actually tuna, arguing that the lack of DNA found "was a problem with the test, not the tuna."

The sandwich chain revamped its menu last summer, rolling out new ingredients, as well as changing existing ones but CEO John Chidsey said that "the one thing we did not touch was our tuna."

Read the original article on Business Insider
NextShark

A Chinese man accused of exploiting Malawian children for racist videos to be sold in China has been extradited to Malawi, according to reports. Lu Ke, known to the children as Susu, fled to neighboring Zambia last month after a BBC Africa Eye documentary exposed his alleged money-making scheme. Lu Ke allegedly paid each child half a dollar to perform in his videos, which he sold for up to $70 each on Chinese social media.
Students in Tennessee have rebounded from the pandemics setbacks in reading, according to recently released results of 2021-22 statewide assessments. With gains in every tested grade, the number of children meeting or exceeding English language arts standards rose from 29% in 2020-21 to 36.4%.

Overall, that number is far from satisfactory, but Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn said the new results suggest a handful of strategies implemented over the last two years to accelerate learning are working. These include a $200 million statewide program to deliver intensive, high-quality tutoring to struggling students and $100 million in grants to help schools to pay for literacy materials aligned with the science of reading, training for thousands of teachers on their use and frequent student screenings, she says.

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According to a new analysis, 77% of Tennessee districts posted reading scores that exceeded their pre-pandemic levels, and several saw double-digit increases. Math scores, while not as high as before the pandemic, rose in virtually every district from a statewide average 25% in 2020-21 to 30%.

In 2019, 36% of elementary students passed the state reading test, a figure that dipped to 32% in 2021 and then rose to 38% last year. Among middle schoolers, 32% passed the reading test in 2019, 26% in 2021 and 32% this year. High school reading proficiency was 37% in 2019, 33% in 2021 and 40% in 2022.

Related: Despite Urgency, New National Tutoring Effort Could Take 6 Months to Ramp Up

In 2019, 37% of all students passed state math tests, a number that dipped to 25% in 2021 and rebounded to 30% in 2022. With 98% of pupils in tested grades participating in the assessments, state education officials said they were confident that the results were a meaningful reflection of student growth.

We are seeing this broadly across the state, and across district types  urban, rural and suburban, says Schwinn. We are really, really proud of what our districts have done.

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In January 2021, the Tennessee General Assembly passed several bills aimed at addressing pandemic learning losses, teacher pay and literacy. The new laws require all districts to teach phonics skills and to screen students reading levels frequently, and mandates the teaching of evidence-based literacy instruction in educator training programs. State officials used $60 million in pandemic relief funds and an additional $40 million in federal grants to pay for local reading programs.

Some 12,000 educators participated in a first, paid round of literacy training last year, and an additional 10,000 are being trained now, says Schwinn. In addition, some 22% of the states elementary students and 10% of middle schoolers attended four to six weeks of summer school last year.

Schwinn also credits the new Tennessee Accelerating Literacy and Learning Corps (TN ALL Corps), which matches groups of no more than three elementary pupils or four middle schoolers with the same tutor for two or three 30- or 45-minute sessions a week. The tutoring takes place during the school day and ideally is conducted by experienced educators.

Related: Tennessee Goes All in on Tutoring with $200M Statewide Program for 150,000 Kids Who Are Just Below Grade Level in English, Math

The quality of the tutor is massive, says Schwinn. The students who are receiving this high-dosage tutoring, they tend to be students who are not yet on grade level. And that does require a different level of skill and ability to move them from where they are to where they need to be.

A number of districts that were among the first to offer intensive tutoring saw double-digit gains in reading. Trousdale County Schools 1,400 students posted a 15-point jump in proficiency, for example. Metro Nashville Public Schools and Memphis-Shelby County Schools each had an 8% increase.

The state splits the $700-per-pupil cost of the tutoring with participating districts, with a goal of providing up to 500 extra hours of instruction to some 150,000 students over three years.

The idea, says Schwinn, is to spend a significant amount of money on a few very targeted efforts. Do the things that work and do them really well, she says. Figure out what your strategy is, commit to it and just go really deep in implementation.
Trans Man Brutally Assaulted For Using Womens Restroom at Campground

This article first appeared in The Advocate.

A transgender man camping in Ohio was arrested for disorderly conduct after he claims he was assaulted by a group of men for using the womens restroom on July 3.

Noah Ruiz, 20, told local Fox affiliate WXIX he was using the womens restroom at the Crosss Campground in Camden at the direction of the camp owner, Rick Cross, when a woman camper became very upset.

She was like, No man should be in this bathroom. Like, if youre a man you need to use a mans bathroom, Ruiz told the outlet. And I was like, Im transgender. Like, I have woman body parts, and I was told to use this bathroom.

As he and his girlfriend left the bathroom, Ruiz said he was jumped by three large men who lifted him off the ground and choked him out, all the while using anti-LGBTQ+ slurs and threatening to kill him.

They said, Ill kill you, you [expletive], Noah recalled. And I said, Dude, Im not, Im using the right bathroom. Rick Cross, the owner of this establishment, told me to use the bathroom. Im following the rules.

Ruiz said the attack left him bruised with multiple cuts and gashes to his face, head, and body.

Trans Man Brutally Assaulted For Using Womens Restroom at Campground

But when deputies from the Preble County Sheriff arrived on the scene, they arrested Ruiz rather than his alleged assailants.

When they arrived, deputies werent aware of an assault, Preble County Sheriff Michael Simpson told WXIX. There was a large crowd gathering and Ruiz was highly intoxicated and was becoming belligerent.

Jennifer Ruiz, Noahs mother, admitted her son was upset when police arrived on the scene, but said he went into defense mode after the assault.

No one was listening to him, she told WXIX. So Noah did then get out of hand, and he admits to his part of getting out of hand, from screaming, yelling,

Ruiz was later able to file an official assault report with the Preble County Sheriff, who is investigating the case to determine if charges will be filed against the three men Ruiz claimed attacked him. Their first order of business is identifying the men allegedly responsible for the assault.

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Both mother and son made clear they expect justice to be served in this case.

I feel like something does need to be done to the people who hit him, and the police need to take charges against them for hitting him, Jennifer Ruiz said.

Follow More Out Traveler News on Pride Today Below
In private texts after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Brad Parscale  a man central to Donald Trumps rise  expressed remorse for his role in ever getting Trump elected.

A sitting president asking for civil war, Parscale texted Katrina Pierson, a former Trump spokesperson. This week I feel guilty for helping him win.

The texts were revealed in a hearing Tuesday held by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack and provided a rare, unfiltered insight into two of the Trump worlds more notable personalities. Parscale was Trumps campaign manager from February 2018 to July 2020 and the social media adviser who helped hone the former presidents internet image.

Texting each other early in the evening of Jan. 6, after the attackers had left the Capitol, Parscale sounded regretful while Pierson appeared ummoved.

Pierson appeared to try to console Parscale, texting back, You did what you felt was right at the time and therefore it was right.

Yeah. But a woman is dead, Parscale answered, an apparent reference to Ashli Babbitt, the attacker who was fatally shot while trying to enter the Speakers Lobby adjacent to the House floor through a broken window.

Yeah. But a woman is deadtext message from Brad Parscale, former Trump campaign manager

You do realize this was going to happen, Pierson replied.

Parscale then imagined how Trump felt if he knew his rhetoric killed someone.

It wasnt the rhetoric, Pierson texted.

Katrina. Parscale replied within the same minute, according to time stamps in the committees presentation.

Yes it was, he continued.

Thirty-five-year-old Babbitts death has become something of a cause celebre in some right-wing circles, even as the officer who shot her was cleared of any wrongdoing after an investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Specifically, the investigation revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber, the office said in April 2021.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
Conservative Festival In Hungary Features U.S. TV Host Tucker Carlson - Credit: Janos Kummer/Getty Images

Days after a 4chan user claimed to have hacked Hunter Bidens iCloud backup account, Tucker Carlson took to the airwaves Monday evening to bestow subtle praise upon the notorious online forum  which has long been a breeding ground for hate speech and has inspired (and lavished praised upon) several mass shootings.

Bemoaning the tech companies who, in previous years, have removed contents of Hunter Bidens 2020 laptop leak from the internet, Carlson informed his users that the newest leak spread quickly on 4chan, calling the anonymous forum some sort of website thats basically not very moderated, and its kinda the website of last resort for people who want to get information out there but cant, because everything is so completely censored at this point. (4chan moderators did eventually delete the Biden iCloud leak data  but not before it was archived and disseminated on torrent sites.)

More from Rolling Stone

Tucker Carlson lavishes praise on extremist hate site 4chan pic.twitter.com/raJmgVeFxW  Kat Abu (@abughazalehkat) July 12, 2022

While the Fox News host only briefly touched upon 4chans existence, labeling it as a website of last resort for people who want to get information out there but cant is exactly the sort of right-wing dogwhistle intended to funnel the networks viewers into 4chans murky depths. With a namedrop of this magnitude, its only a matter of time before your Boomer-aged aunt who still shares anti-Hillary Clinton memes on Facebook wanders into the shitposting cesspool that is /pol/, 4chans political forum.

And exactly what kind of information flourishes on 4chan? On /pol/, users are regularly known to spread baseless, hate-fueled misinformation  like the recent deliberate misidentification of the Uvalde shooter as a transgender woman. Its also where conspiracy theories like Pizzagate and QAnon flourished. The self-described politically incorrect subforum is also a hotbed of white supremacist activity and hate speech, which purportedly radicalized the gunman behind the racially motivated May 2022 mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York supermarket. Sexism and incel-driven ideology also flourish on the site. 4chans /b/ subforum, intended to host random images, is regularly flooded with images of pornography and gore  and, until the content was banned by 4chan moderators, child pornography was regularly disseminated across the site.

Carlsons 4chan quip aired during a segment about (you guessed it) President Joe Bidens tenuous connections to Hunter Bidens laptop and the contents therein. The younger Bidens laptop has developed into a certain conservative firebrand in recent years  a but her emails! for the post-2016 election era. Incensed by the Biden administrations apparent support of the Chinese government  he cites the federal government declining to pursue the ban on Chinese-owned social media apps Donald Trump proposed in late 2020 and a climate pledge the U.S. and China signed late last year  Carlson seized upon the latest Hunter Biden leak to push viewers to seek out the new data.

Whatever helps the Chinese government, Joe Biden has dutifully done, Carlson said. How did the Chinese government wind up with so much control over the united States president, over Joe Bidens behavior? Weve been mulling that for more than a year  and thats why since, October of 2020, weve been on the Hunter Biden laptop story, because that seems like the key to this question. (Carlson notes the only other media outlet to doggedly pursue the Hunter Biden laptop story is the U.K. tabloid The Daily Mail, an outlet definitely noted for its dogged pursuit of journalistic integrity and not for its long history of just blatantly making shit up. Carlson, it seems, is in good company.)

Ever the consummate journalist, however, Carlson told viewers he would not reveal the supposedly incriminating contents of this latest leak. Now, it is real? We have no reason to believe any of these data are fabricated. We have not independently verified them. Were not putting some of this stuff on the air  its salacious, Carlson noted, suddenly revealing hes developed a conscience. But, its pretty obvious that the materials that weve looked at are real.

This wouldnt be the first time Carlson used his platform to subtly promote agents of hate speech and push bogus ideologies in the name of patriotism  in fact, far from it. Hes been known to push the so-called great replacement theory and doubled down on his connections to the racist conspiracy theory on-air shortly after the Buffalo shooting. His documentary Patriot Purge called the Jan. 6 Capitol riot a false flag operation and was co-written by an individual with ties to Pizzagate. Carlson is also a favorite figure of Russian state television, and hes been caught on tape defending child rape.

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By Yesim Dikmen and Michelle Nichols

ISTANBUL/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey will meet U.N. officials in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar announced the meeting on Tuesday. Turkey has been working with the United Nations to broker a deal after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine stoked global prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizer.

According to diplomats, elements of the plan being discussed include Ukrainian vessels guiding grain ships in and out through mined port waters; Russia agreeing to a truce while shipments move; and Turkey - supported by the United Nations - inspecting ships to allay Russian fears of weapons smuggling.

"We are working hard indeed but there is still a way to go," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Tuesday. "Many people are talking about it. We prefer to try and do it."

Ukraine and Russia are key global wheat suppliers, while Russia is also a large fertilizer exporter and Ukraine a significant producer of corn and sunflower oil.

Russia's invasion and sea blockade of Ukraine has stalled exports, leaving dozens of ships stranded and more than 20 million tonnes of grain stuck in silos at Odesa.

The coming harvest is also at risk as Ukraine is now short of storage space due to the halt in exports.

Even if a deal is struck to resume Ukrainian exports, diplomats say shipping and insurance companies will then require assurances to restart trade given the risks in navigating mined waters. Ukraine fears that de-mining its ports would leave it far more vulnerable to Russian attack from the Black Sea.

Ukraine's foreign ministry on Tuesday stressed the role of the United Nations in the talks and the need for "a solution that will guarantee the security of the southern regions of our country," spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko told Reuters.

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Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said last month that Moscow can "provide safe passage" for Ukraine grain shipments, but was not responsible for establishing the corridors.

The United Nations is also working to try and facilitate Russian grain and fertilizer exports, which Moscow says have been hindered by Western sanctions.

The United States says Russian grain and fertilizer are not sanctioned and has offered to give written assurances to shipping companies and importing countries.

(Reporting by Yesim Dikmen and Michelle Nichols; writing by Michelle Nichols; editing by Jason Neely and Mark Heinrich)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 8, 2022. Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Canada decided to return a key part of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, allowing it to resume operations.

The repaired turbine was stuck in Canada due to sanctions imposed by the Canadian government.

Zelenskyy said Russia would see Canada's move as a "manifestation of weakness."

Ukraine is furious at Canada for waiving sanctions on a crucial pipeline part that Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to sell gas to Europe.

In his nightly address on Monday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Canada's decision to send a repaired turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline back to Germany was "absolutely unacceptable."

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline carries natural gas from Russia to Germany. Last month, Russia cut 40% of its natural gas supplies to Germany because the turbine sent to Canada for repairs was stuck there due to sanctions imposed by the Canadian government over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Germany, which relies heavily on Russian energy, had asked Canada to waive the sanctions and return the turbine. Over the weekend, Canada announced that the turbine would be sent back to Germany in a "time-limited and revocable" exemption to the sanctions, the Canadian Broadcasting Company reported.

Zelenskyy heavily criticized the move, saying in his Monday speech: "If a terrorist state can squeeze out such an exception to sanctions, what exceptions will it want tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"

"This question is very dangerous ... not only for Ukraine, but also for all countries of the democratic world."

"The decision on the exception to sanctions will be perceived in Moscow exclusively as a manifestation of weakness," he said, adding that he had summoned Canada's ambassador over the decision.

Summoning a country's ambassador is a diplomatic move by a host country to signal its anger.

Zelenskyy also said there was "no doubt" that Russia would completely shut down its gas supply to Europe, echoing the French economic minister Bruno Le Maire's Sunday warning.

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Germany's economy minister Robert Habeck has also said he fears Nord Stream 1 may not go back online after it closes for routine maintenance works from July 11 to July 21.

The US government has backed Canada's decision to return the turbine, saying it "will allow Germany and other European countries to replenish their gas reserves, increasing their energy security and resiliency and countering Russia's efforts to weaponize energy," Bloomberg reported.

Ukraine and Canada have an otherwise close relationship, with Canada sending weapons to Ukraine to help fight Russia and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meeting Zelenskyy in Kyiv this May.

A spokesperson for the Canadian government did not immaturely respond to Insider's request for comment.

Germany  Europe's largest economy  is heavily dependent on natural gas from Russia, though it plans to wean itself off the imports by 2024. European countries are scrambling to reduce their reliance on Russian energy in light of the Ukraine war.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Some officials are concerned that pulling too many Ukrainian artillery specialists off the front lines for training could weaken Ukrainian defenses. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)

WASHINGTON  The Ukrainians say they need faster shipments of long-range artillery and other sophisticated weapons to blunt Russias steady advance. The United States and the Europeans insist more are on the way but are wary of sending too much equipment before Ukrainian soldiers can be trained. The Pentagon is concerned about potentially depleting its stockpiles in the coming months.

The Biden administration and its allies are struggling to balance their priorities against Kyivs demands as Russian forces intensify their bombardment of cities and villages across eastern Ukraine, according to American and other Western diplomats, military officials and lawmakers.

U.S. officials say Ukraine could mount a counterattack and claw back some  though not all  of the territory it has lost if it can continue to exact a bloody toll on Russia until new weapons can flow in from the West. But some officials are concerned that pulling too many Ukrainian artillery specialists off the front lines for weeks of training on the new weapons could weaken Ukrainian defenses, accelerate Russian gains and make any future counterattacks more difficult to carry out.

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There are no good choices in a situation like this, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., head of the Armed Services Committee. You have to take your best artillery officers and enlisted personnel and send them back for a week or two of training. But in the long run, I think thats probably the smarter move.

In addition, Pentagon officials have expressed concerns about hurting U.S. combat readiness if the war continues for months or longer. After two decades of mostly supporting counterterrorism missions, Americas defense industry largely stopped making the kinds of weapons Ukraine will need to survive a long war of attrition. The United States has authorized $54 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid for Ukraine and has sent more than $7 billion in weapons drawn from existing Pentagon stockpiles.

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Ukraines urgent requests come at a time when the United States appears to have reached the high end of the type of sophisticated arms it is providing. The next shipments are to include truck-mounted, multiple-rocket launchers called HIMARS, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and precision-guided Excalibur howitzer shells. But the fighter jets and advanced armed drones on Ukraines wish list have been shelved for now as either overly provocative to Moscow or too time-consuming for the Ukrainians to learn how to use.

The nearly five-month war is at a critical moment, U.S. officials and others familiar with the intelligence assessments say. As many as 100 to 200 Ukrainian soldiers have died every day since Russia shifted its military campaign in the spring to focus on eastern Ukraine. But overall, about 20,000 Russians have been killed. Injuries have taken about 60,000 more off the battlefield. Nearly a third of Russias equipment has been destroyed in the war, according to Western officials, including several who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

To replenish its military, Russia would have to mobilize more of its population, by making a declaration of war  officially the conflict remains a special military operation  or by moving troops and equipment from Russias Far North or Far East to Ukraine.

That President Vladimir Putin has been reluctant to undertake either move is a sign that he believes time is on his side, officials say. Instead, the Kremlin is trying to fill its manpower shortfall with a motley mix of Ukrainians from the separatist territories, mercenaries and militarized National Guard units, and by promising large cash bonuses for volunteers.

Putin might also think that Western support for Ukraine will soon reach its limit as Americans and Europeans grow more anxious about energy prices, which have spiked since the war began.

One sign of Putins current approach, according to people briefed on the assessments of the campaign, is that the Kremlin is no longer pressing for quick battlefield gains as it did in the early push to seize Kyiv, Ukraines capital. Putin has reshuffled his top battlefield commanders in Ukraine once again in recent weeks, and American officials say the Russians have switched to slow, grinding tactics that the Kremlin appears content to let play out.

The Russian military has relied heavily on its immense advantage in long-range artillery in eastern Ukraines Donbas region, pounding Ukrainian soldiers  as well as cities and towns  from a distance, before trying to move in.

In recent days, some Russian forces have reportedly taken a strategic pause, according to an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, while others have started shelling towns in Donetsk, a territory in the Donbas.

Many of these Russian troops are slowing to rearm and reorganize after the brutal artillery duels in the Luhansk portion of the Donbas, while the Kremlin scrambles to fill its manpower shortages to continue the war.

The Russians are literally scraping the bottom of the barrel for troops and replacement equipment, said Frederick B. Hodges, a former top U.S. Army commander in Europe who is now with the Center for European Policy Analysis.

American officials say it will be difficult for Ukraine to mount a counteroffensive in the near term, but that it still has advantages. Throughout the war, the fight has largely favored the defenders, who can inflict heavy casualties from well-protected positions. The Ukrainians have used modern American and European-designed weaponry, including the HIMARS and anti-tank missiles like Javelins and NLAWs, with deadly effectiveness against the Russians. But Russias superior firepower has allowed its battered forces to inch forward.

Key to Ukrainian survival and the further slowing of the Russian advance will be additional Western training and hardware.

The first group of Ukrainian soldiers arrived in Britain last week to attend a new program that officials there say will ultimately train as many as 10,000 Ukrainian troops in weaponry, patrol tactics, first aid and other skills, the Britains defense secretary, Ben Wallace, recently said.

The U.K.s response to evolving Ukrainian requirements considers both the equipment needed to mount and maintain an effective response to Russian aggression and the training required to use the respective capability, said Air Vice Marshal Mick Smeath, the British defense attache in Washington.

U.S. intelligence agencies have struggled to assess how quickly Ukrainian forces can absorb and employ sophisticated equipment. The HIMARS  for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System  are the centerpiece of a raft of new Western long-range weapons that the Ukrainian military is switching over to as its arsenal of Soviet-era howitzer and rocket ammunition dwindles.

The truck-mounted, multiple-rocket launchers fire satellite-guided rockets that have a range of more than 40 miles, greater than anything Ukraine had possessed. The first two batches are destroying Russian ammunition depots, air defenses and command posts deep behind the front lines, American and Ukrainian officials said.

HIMARS have already made a HUUUGE difference on the battlefield, Ukraines defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said in a Twitter message over the weekend.

The White House said on Friday that it would send four more HIMARS from Pentagon stocks, joining the eight already on the ground in Ukraine with their American-trained crews of about 100 Ukrainian soldiers. Administration officials privately indicate that more will be sent. Britain and Germany have each pledged to supply three similar launchers.

Ukrainian officials, however, say they need as many as 300 multiple-rocket launchers to combat Russia, and some former Pentagon officials say at least 60 to 100 of the launchers are needed to disrupt the Russian offensive.

A report released last week by the Royal United Services Institute, a research organization in London, warned that the well-intentioned delivery of various artillery systems to Ukraine was creating unforeseen consequences.

The current approach by which each country donates a battery of guns in a piecemeal way is rapidly turning into a logistical nightmare for Ukrainian forces, with each battery requiring a separate training, maintenance and logistics pipeline, the report said.

The reports authors, Jack Watling and Nick Reynolds, also concluded that Ukraine needs electronic warfare equipment, like jamming devices, to combat advanced Russian systems. Ukrainian surveillance drones, which help target Russian troops, survive only about a week before Russian defenses force them to crash or shoot them down, the report said.

Ukraine has the will to achieve the operational defeat of the Russian military, the report said. At present, however, several Russian advantages and Ukrainian weaknesses are leading to an attritional conflict that risks a protracted war, eventually favoring Russia.

 2022 The New York Times Company
The Ukrainian military repelled several enemy assaults

Read also: No change to front line in Kharkiv Oblast, enemy fails to capture new territories

The Russian invading forces also opened fire from artillery and multiple launch rocket systems near the city of Kharkiv and seven nearby settlements, the General Staff said.

Read also: Russian attempt at reconnaissance in force thwarted near Slovyansk

On the Slovyansk axis, enemy units continued their assault operations with the objective of improving their tactical situation in the areas of the villages of Mazanivka, Ivanivka, and Dolyna. All their actions were unsuccessful, as the Armed Forces of Ukraine drove the invaders back, the General Staff said.

Near seven settlements on the same axis, enemy shelling from artillery and multiple rocket launchers was recorded.

Help NV continue reporting on the Russian invasion


The University of Michigan Board of Regents and executive officers meet on Thursday, June 16 in Ann Arbor.

The University of Michigan's Board of Regents will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday to hire the school's next president.

The name of the president has yet to be announced. That typically happens at the board meeting. State law allows the board to conduct the entire search in private, without public input. The university does not have to release names of finalists or anyone who has applied.

More: U-M interim President Mary Sue Coleman to be paid same salary as Mark Schlissel

More: University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel fired by board after investigation

The new president will take over from interim President Mary Sue Coleman, who served as president from 2002 to 2014. She was brought back to campus in January to replace Mark Schlissel, who was fired by the board for having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate employee. Schlissel remains a faculty member at the school.

When a new president is named, Coleman will stick around for two months as a special adviser to the university to help with the transition. She will then revert back to her president emerita status.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj. Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: University of Michigan to announce new president
By Brenda Goh and Jason Xue

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Shanghai residents queued up in sweltering heat for compulsory mass testing for COVID-19 on Tuesday, as persistent small outbreaks fuelled anxiety in a city that is still recovering from the painful two-month lockdown lifted a few weeks ago.

The nagging daily case tolls in the commercial hub of 25 million and other outbreaks scattered across China have also unnerved global financial markets in recent days, with investors wary of disruptive COVID restrictions.

China's "dynamic zero-COVID" policy aims to eradicate all outbreaks promptly, against a global trend of co-existing with the virus. The world's No.2 economy already suffered severe damage from sweeping COVID restrictions in the second quarter, affecting global supply chains and international trade.

Shanghai authorities have repeatedly dismissed talk of broader curbs, relying on targeted lockdowns and relentless testing to contain outbreaks, which have included infections with the highly-transmissible Omicron BA.5.2.1 subvariant.

But online chat groups used by residents to organise group purchases of basic necessities during the April-May lockdown have livened up again, with people swapping advice over what items were selling out in supermarkets.

"A building nearby was sealed up and I'm thinking of stocking up on some food," said Shanghai resident Wang Jie. "Once my boss allows work from home, I will pack up my luggage overnight and leave Shanghai."

The prolonged isolation has left many mental scars on Shanghai residents, who lost income and struggled with access to basic goods. At times, the frustration led to rare bursts of public anger, with residents banging pots and pans out of their windows in protest.

"When they said last time that we would only be locked down for four days that didn't happen," said another Shanghai resident, declining to give their name. "When they come out and deny rumours we don't believe them now."

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More than 200 buildings have been placed under lockdown across Shanghai, which reported 59 new cases for July 11, down from 69 the day before. All but three cases were already under isolation orders.

Residents in some compounds which are not on the official list of targeted lockdowns say they have also been told not to leave their homes for at least two days because close contacts of an infected person lived in those buildings.

The latest testing campaign involves more than half of the city's 16 districts and will take place from Tuesday to Wednesday, with residents asked to test twice over the period.

The inconvenience for those getting their nostrils swabbed on Tuesday was compounded by temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius (102F) as parts of China were hit by a heatwave.

The increased demand for goods is causing delays of several hours on online supermarket deliveries, residents in different areas of Shanghai said.

'RISK OF FALLING GROWTH'

Overall, mainland China reported 347 new domestically-transmitted COVID infections on July 11, versus 352 the previous day - numbers that other countries would largely ignore.

Nomura analysts estimate 31 cities were implementing various COVID restrictions as of Monday, up from 11 a week earlier, highlighting "the risk of falling growth."

Second-quarter gross domestic product data on Friday and other economic indicators this week are likely to show a sharp economic slowdown from last year. Chinese shares weakened further on Tuesday.

The central province of Henan, where two towns with a combined population of roughly 1 million are under lockdown, reported 73 local infections for July 11.

In the southern province of Guangdong, which reported 42 local cases, the city of Zhuhai said on Tuesday schools must suspend in-person classes, after one kindergarten teacher was confirmed with COVID.

Infections have also been detected in the eastern provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi, and elsewhere in China.

(Additional reporting by Roxanne Liu, Jing Wang, Winni Zhou, Zhang Yan and the Shanghai and Beijing bureaus ; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
Uvalde mom who rescued sons from school shooting reacts to police response: Turn in your badge

Texas officials from Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin to state Rep. Dustin Burrows, who is the chairman of the committee investigating the Robb Elementary School shooting, are pushing for surveillance footage from inside the school to be released to the public.

"This video would be of the hallway footage from Robb Elementary School. It would contain no graphic images or depictions of violence," Rep. Burrows, whose committee is aiming to release a preliminary report on the shooting soon, said at the Texas State Capitol on Monday morning.

"I can tell people all day long what it is I saw. The committee can tell people all day long what we saw, but its very different to see it for yourself, and we think thats very important."

Mayor McLaughlin is also in favor of releasing video that shows the law enforcement response inside the school, Burrows said.

UVALDE POLICE OFFICER HAD GUNMAN IN HIS SIGHTS BEFORE HE ENTERED SCHOOL BUT DIDN'T FIRE, REPORT SAYS

The Texas Department of Public Safety also wants to release the footage, noting last week that the video would likely "bring clarity to the public regarding the tragic events in Uvalde."

"We do not believe its public release would harm our investigative efforts," Freeman Martin, the deputy director of Texas DPS, wrote in a letter on Friday to Rep. Burrows. "In fact, releasing this video would assist us in providing as much transparency as possible to the public without interfering with the investigation in the manner that an immediate public release of all evidence would."

While officials broadly support the release of some surveillance footage, the decision ultimately lies with Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell-Busbee, who has "objected to releasing the video and has instructed" law enforcement not to do so, Freeman wrote in the letter.

UVALDE, TEXAS, MAYOR ALLEGES SHOOTING INVESTIGATION 'COVER-UP'

Mitchell-Busbee did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Rep. Burrows tweeted on Monday afternoon after wrapping up the special committee's hearing that he intends "to show the hallway video to the people of Uvalde, regardless of any agreement."

Law enforcement officials from the state to local level have been scrutinized for their response to the shooting on May 24, which left 19 children and two adults dead.
(Reuters) - Victoria's Secret & Co said on Tuesday it had cut about 160 management roles, or 5% of its home office staff, and hired a former Amazon executive as part of a reorganization following its separation from L Brands Inc last year.

The company also named executives to three key leadership roles reporting to Chief Executive Officer Martin Waters.

Amy Hauk, who has been heading the company's PINK brand since 2018, will take on the additional role of chief executive of the Victoria's Secret division, the company said.

The lingerie brand's Beauty business will be integrated into Hauk's organization, the company said in an emailed statement.

Greg Unis has been named chief growth officer after leading the Victoria's Secret and PINK Beauty businesses since 2016.

The company also appointed Christine Rupp as chief customer officer. She joins from Albertsons Cos Inc and has previously worked at Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc, where she led Fulfillment by Amazon and launched Amazon Prime Day, Victoria's Secret said.

The company said it expected to record a charge of about $30 million in the second quarter as part of the initiative, and estimated $40 million in cost reductions on an annualized basis from the third quarter.

Through Tuesday's close, Victoria Secret's shares have tumbled 34% since the start of trading in July 2021.

As part of the reorganization, L Brands changed its name to Bath & Body Works.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
What3words Trafalgar Square address. Photo: What3words

British startup What3words has launched a crowdfunding campaign that will allow its users to have a stake in the company.

The geolocation app had a target of 1m ($1.19m) but only hours after the campaign went live, it had already hit over 4m. The company said it will use the funds to replicate our UK strategy around the world as it looks to become a global standard for location.

It said it already secured tens of thousands of pre-registrations ahead of the campaign.

What3words has divided the globe into a grid of 3m x 3m squares, and given each one a unique combination of three words. Its navigation system can pinpoint your location within a single address, or a place with no address.

Through the "always-on" technology, which works without the need for mobile connectivity, new and existing customers are able to navigate to any precise location in the world using just three words.

Read more: Black-led tech UK startups secure Google funding

A square on the street in front of Buckingham Palace, for example, is called options.learns.shock. In Edinburgh, where St Giles Cathedral sits, one of the squares reads as regard.grabs.skips. UK houses of parliament is note.slides.forced and Trafalgar Square is powder.logs.evenly.

The fundraising is happening under a convertible structure  the share price and valuation are not set and will be determined by future major investors.

When that future investment takes place, everyone who invested will get shares at a discount of up to 20% off the share price paid by the new investors.

Crowdcube, Europes largest crowdfunding platform, is targeted at investors who are sufficiently sophisticated to understand risk and make their own investment decisions.

Investment starts at 10, with no maximum limit, according to the conditions. There will also be a cooling-off period once the round closes  usually seven days  for those who want to change their mind about the investment.

Read more: UK tech overtakes China with 12.4bn in startup investment

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What3words does not make any money through its app or website, making it free for users. Its business model relies on licensing the technology by charging companies to turn What3words addresses into GPS coordinates.

It claims the annual geocoding market is estimated to be worth several billion pounds.

The startup has already raised over 100m in capital from investors including Mercedes-Benz (MBG.DE), Times of India, Sony Innovation Fund (SONY), Subaru (7270.T), Intel Capital, ITV AdVentures (ITV.L) and Channel 4 Ventures.

What3words has been approached for comment.

Watch: Despite IPO slowdown, the pipeline is still particularly strong: LSEG Director
Turns out "Where the Crawdads Sing" star Taylor John Smith is a Swiftie  which is convenient, considering that Swift wrote an original song for the film, first heard in the movie's trailer.

The 27-year-old actor, previously in "Sharp Objects" and "Wolves," told TODAY that the first concert he ever went to was a Swift performance at the Delaware State Fair. He was 12.

"Thank you Aunt Lisa for taking me," Smith, 27, told TODAY at the World Premiere Screening of "Where the Crawdads Sing" in New York City.

Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith) and Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) in

In the film, out July 15, Smith plays Tate Walker, a boy from a small town who falls in love with Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a girl who raised herself in the marshlands of North Carolina after her father abandoned her as a child.

When Smith learned that Swift wrote an original song for the film entitled "Carolina," he could barely contain his joy.

"That was the best-kept secret on this entire film. I think I asked like, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift?"And they were like, 'Is there another one?' And I'm like, 'I don't know.' But it was incredible," he said.

Taylor Swift performs onstage during the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 30, 2021, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images)

"Where the Crawdads Sing" is a best-selling 2018 novel by Delia Owens. The South Carolina-set novel was adapted into a screenplay after Reese Witherspoon picked it for her book club in September of that year.

Once Swift learned that her favorite book was going to be turned into a movie, she immediately reached out to Witherspoon to see if she could be a part of the project.

"I found out that she read the book and wrote a letter to Reese and to Livi (director Olivia Newman) saying how much she loved it with the link to the song," Smith said. "They didn't ask her to do it. She was just so impacted by the book like we all were that she wanted to create a piece of art to accompany it. She's super cool."

Swift released "Carolina" on June 24, telling fans on Instagram that her intentions were to "create something haunting and ethereal to match this mesmerizing story."

Harris Dickinson, who plays Chase Andrews in Where the Crawdads Sing, said that he loved the final song. Its a lovely tune, he told TODAY at the World Premiere Screening.

"Where the Crawdads Sing" is set to hit theaters on Friday, July 15.
Reuters

The moment he laid eyes on Shinzo Abe's ashen face, Shingo Nakaoka knew that any attempt to revive the former Japanese premier was likely to be in vain. By the time the 64-year-old doctor had rushed to the scene from his nearby clinic within minutes of Abe's shooting on July 8, the stricken lawmaker's face was bloodless from deep gunshot wounds to the neck. "What struck me immediately was just how pallid his face was," Nakaoka told Reuters by phone days after the assassination.
"Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah entered a guilty plea Monday to wire fraud charges stemming from a nationwide telemarketing scheme, which allegedly targeted elderly individuals.

She pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing. In turn, count two, conspiracy to commit money laundering, was dropped.

The mother-of-two, who is married to University of Utah special teams coordinator Sharrieff "Coach" Shah, faces anywhere from 11 to 14 years in prison.

Shah spent more than one year professing her innocence after being arrested while cameras were rolling on the second season of "RHOSLC."

"Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah entered a guilty plea on Monday to "put this ordeal behind her," according to her lawyer

JEN SHAH PLEADS GUILTY IN FRAUD CASE

Her lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, confirmed to Fox News Digital that Jen's guilty plea came at time when the reality television star simply wants to move forward with her life and "put this ordeal behind her."

"Ms. Shah is a good woman who crossed a line. She accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed," Chaudry said. "Ms. Shah is also sorry for disappointing her husband, children, family, friends, and supporters.

"Jen pled guilty because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family."

Her case will not go to trial, and her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 28.

Jen Shah pleaded guilty on Monday to fraud. The "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star is reportedly still filming the Bravo show amid her court case Gabe Ginsberg/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank

REAL HOUSEWIVES JEN SHAH NEEDS TO FIND HUMILITY' DURING TRIAL, TERESA GIUDICE'S ATTORNEY SAYS

The Bravo star originally insisted she had not taken a plea deal because she was "innocent."

"Im fighting this. I am innocent," she told host Andy Cohen and her cast mates after Cohen pointed out the "success rate" of the New York State Attorney during the second season "Housewives" reunion.

"And I will fight for every person out there that cant fight for themselves because they dont have the resources or the means, so they dont fight."

Sources told People that despite Shah's appearance at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in New York on Monday and the fact that filming for season three began nearly six months ago in January, cameras are going to continue rolling in Utah.

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Shah professed her innocence during the "RHOSLC" season two reunion Heidi Gutman/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

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"She's had Meredith [Marks] and Heather [Gay] by her side, who have been very supportive of their friend during a difficult time," a source said. "Obviously her legal troubles have not been easy for Jen, let alone making this decision to plead not guilty."

This case is "a very big part of Jen's story," the insider added.

"Producers don't want us to stop following it now. They'll keep filming with her as long as they can, just like they did with Teresa [Giudice]."

Giudice, from the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" franchise, served one year in federal prison after striking a deal with prosecutors and pleading guilty to 41 counts of fraud with her ex-husband Joe Giudice. Upon completion of Joe's 41-month sentence, he was deported to his native country, Italy, as he was never a US citizen.

Fox News' Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report
Will Wilson (b. 1969), Nakotah LaRance, Citizen of the Hopi Nation, 6-Time World Champion HoopDancer, Member, Dancing Earth, Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations, 2012, printed 2018, archival pigment print from wet plate collodion scan, 22 x 17 in. Photography by BradFlowers. (Photo/Courtesy Art Bridges)

There is a perception of Native people still widely held in the United States: Google Image search Native American and at the top of the search will likely be archaic photos of Native Americans taken by Edward Curtistin types and sepia toned. These outdated images continue to inform a style that over a century later dominates museum exhibitions and the tops of Google searches: the Indian in a headdress, bareback on a horse, etc. Dine photographer Will Wilson uses the very tin type and sepia that froze Native Americans in the past to shatter the myth and bring Natives very much into contemporary, modern art.

Wilsons latest exhibition, In Conversation: Will Wilson, investigates the legacy of historical photographs on the representation of Native peoples in North America. It opened on July 9 at the Delaware Art Museum.

People dont want to deal with the traumatic reality of history, of genocide, of attempted ethnic cleansing, Wilson told Native News Online. Theyd rather see these noble, beautiful images of a better time. I want to make the case that were still here doing interesting and important things.

Wilsons work strikingly portrays contemporary Indigenous people, using a similar photo process to those used historically. The resulting contradiction  contemporary Native people photographed historically  demands onlookers examine how they imagine Native people, what myths they hold on to, and why those myths exist.

Alongside portraits previously taken by Wilson, In Conversation debuts new images he created from a May visit with citizens of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware and the Nanticoke Indian Association.

I didnt know much about that cultural history, but its always amazing to go as a photographer with an open mind and engage a community and see how people want to represent themselves, Wilson said. Something thats happened recently, and its part of this whole reckoning around race and acknowledgment and land acknowledgments with museums in particular  thinking about who the original stewards of space are  people have seen this project as an opportunity to do a little bit more than just put a statement on a gallery entrance. To use [my photography] as a vehicle to reach out to a community, establish a relationship, and also acknowledge through photography the relationship of the Indigenous people who are still very much around and have a stake in how land is managed and how representation happens.

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Wilsons images of the Lenape and Nanticoke will be used by the Delaware Art Museum moving forward to increase representation of Indigenous people within its walls. The museum hosted a powwow and storytelling event to coincide with the exhibition opening to further demonstrate its increased commitment to acknowledging and promoting Indigenous culture.

In Conversation: Will Wilson is on view through September 8, 2022. Wilson has another solo exhibition through December 11, 2022, at the Southeast Center for Contemporary Art in Greensboro, North Carolina. His work is also displayed in an upcoming group show at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City, and in the recently reopened permanent exhibition at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe.











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New Yorks top judge is stepping down next month after six years presiding over the Court of Appeals and running the states vast court system.

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, 66, could have stayed on until 2025, when she would have reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. But she decided it was time to move on to the next chapter of my professional life," opening the door for Gov. Kathy Hochul to choose her successor.

In published reports, a lawyer for DiFiore and a court spokesman said the chief judge's decision to step down had nothing to do with an ongoing probe of DiFiore by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.

That probe, first reported Monday night by Law360.com, arose from DiFiore writing last year to the hearing officer in a disciplinary matter against the president of the court officers' union who was accused of trying to intimidate DiFiore when he threatened to post information about her personal life on the walls of state courthouses.

DiFiore's departure comes three months after she wrote the decision in a 4-3 ruling finding that the state Senate and Congressional district maps drawn up by Democrats in the state legislature were unconstitutional and citing impermissible partisan purpose in the creation of the new Congressional maps.

DiFiore was Westchester District Attorney when then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed her chief judge in late 2015 and she was confirmed by the state Senate in early 2016.

In a letter to her colleagues in the court system on Monday, DiFiore said she would step down Aug. 31 deeply proud of what we have been able to accomplish together, and forever grateful to each of you for your commitment to excellence.

Related: Court strikes down Democratic maps as unconstitutional

Excellence is a mindset, one that is now fully integrated into the fabric of the New York State courts, she wrote, leaving us well prepared to meet the future justice needs of every lawyer, litigant and court user who comes to our courthouses seeking fair, timely and effective justice services.

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Her letter did not mention any Court of Appeals rulings but instead focused on the administrative work of eliminating case backlogs, making the court system more equitable and expanding and fully funding judicial services.

She did not say what her next job might be.

Janet DiFiore answers a question during a Jan. 20 Senate judiciary hearing on her nomination as chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals at the Capitol. She was confirmed as New York's top judge.

Hochul praised DiFiore for her years of dedicated service to New Yorkers.

Chief Judge DiFiore's leadership of our state court system  especially during the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic  has been a critical asset, the governor said in a statement. I thank Judge DiFiore for her years of service and look forward to reviewing the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Nomination as we work to appoint new leadership to the Court."

That commission will screen initial candidates before presenting a list for the governor to consider.

The remaining six judges on the Court of Appeals will select an interim chief judge until the state Senate confirms a permanent successor. Hochul, who took office last year following Cuomos resignation, has already appointed one judge, Shirley Troutman, to the Court of Appeals. All the others were appointed by Cuomo but critics have complained of a shift to the right in recent years.

Vincent Bonventre, an Albany Law School professor who has studied the state's highest court for years, said he was shocked by DiFiore's decision to step down. He said her legacy would likely be favorable considering the strides she made administratively. And there has been a right-leaning shift  pro-management in civil cases, pro-prosecution in criminal cases  but no one should confuse it with the conservatism of the U.S. Supreme Court, Bonventre said.

"I don't mean (the Court of Appeals) is reactionary or doesn't care about civil liberties," he said. "Nothing outlandish... but under Chief Judge DiFiore it has certainly been more law-and-order and prosecution-oriented than the court has traditionally been."

State Senator Brad Hoylman, chair of the judiciary committee, commended DiFiore for leading the court system through the Covid pandemic and for a commissioning a study of racial bias in the court system and implementing the Excellence Initiative that strove to review and improve court processes.

Unfortunately, however, over the last several years, the Court of Appeals has become increasingly out of step with the needs and desires of New Yorkers on issues such as workers rights, criminal justice, and tenants rights, Hoylman said in a statement.

He said a new direction was needed for the state judicial branch and insisted that DiFiores replacement must be a jurist who will lead our Court of Appeals in a much-needed course correction that uplifts the vulnerable and ensures equity and justice for all.

The judicial ethics probe of DiFiore stems from an ongoing battle with Dennis Quirk, the president of the New York State Court Officers Association, that intensified amid efforts to reopen courts during the pandemic.

In June 2020, after a New York Post report on DiFiore launching an investigation into Quirk's treatment of black court officers, Quirk sent her an email calling the allegations false and that she knew they were.

"You want to spread false rumors let's see have (sic) you like the online articles about your relationship with a police officer with ties to organized crime while you were married posted all over every court building in NYS," Quirk wrote.

The cop was not named in his email but it was a retired White Plains police captain and longtime friend of DiFiore's who she appointed as her chief of investigations when she became District Attorney but who stepped down two weeks later citing unspecified conflicts.

According to court documents, DiFiore referred Quirk's email for internal investigation as an act of intimidation and in August 2020 disciplinary charges were filed against Quirk.

Then in August 2021, Law360.com reported, she wrote to the hearing officer, Phyllis Flug, on official court letterhead urging punishment for Quirk, who she said "exhibits no remorse."

"These patent realities require that you use every means at your disposal to address this incident and deter future misconduct by respondent," DiFiore wrote. "I implore you to use your authority wisely to uphold the values of our entire court system."

According to the rules of the unified court system, judges in New York "shall not lend the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge or others".

Commission officials did not respond to a request for comment

More:NY's chief judge may have been target of suspect in separate killing

DiFiore, who grew up in Mount Vernon and has lived in Bronxville for the past three decades, spent 10 years as a Westchester prosecutor and seven years at a law firm before becoming a judge. She was elected a county judge in 1998 and a state Supreme Court judge five years later before leaving the bench in 2005 to run successfully for District Attorney.

Throughout those years she was a Republican. But she changed her party affiliation during that first term as Westchesters shift to a heavily-Democratic county took shape. She was easily re-elected twice as a Democrat but left midway through her third term when Cuomo tapped her to be chief judge.

Her daughter, Alexandra Murphy, has followed her career path, working as a prosecutor before getting elected state Supreme Court justice in 2020.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Chief Judge Janet DiFiore stepping down as head of NY court system
Try to identify a different piece of Lynchburg-area history every week. If you have any mystery pictures of your own (or any old photos of Lyn
A Danville-based nonprofit that also serves the Lynchburg area, focusing on childhood services, has rebranded to reflect a new regional reach.

When the calendar flipped to July, Smart Beginnings Danville Pittsylvania became the Center for Early Success. Its mission of caring for and educating children from birth to age 5 remains the same, but it now has a broader geographic stamp.

While based in Danville, the center has expanded to serve 16 localities in Central and Southern Virginia. Earlier this year, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation announced the creation of Ready Regions, a network designed for coordination and accountability to early education programs in every community across the commonwealth.

It was launched in wake of the coronavirus pandemic and divides the state into nine regions. The leading facilities in those areas will help to coordinate programs for the youngest of learners.

Locally, Regions Ready Southside has a grant to provide more than $1 million in annual funding. In addition to Danville, the Center for Early Success serves Lynchburg and the counties of Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Brunswick, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania and Prince Edward.

The regional leadership role makes the center responsible for implementing new quality standards and collection of data across all publicly funded early education providers, including Head Start, public schools, private centers and family day homes, a news release reported.

Ready Regions will help communities be accountable for their programs and systems to prepare children for success, as well as enabling families to choose the early childhood education options they want and need, Kathy Glazer, president of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, said.

In an effort to boost resources and services for families with young children, the Center for Early Success will partner with parents, school divisions, social and human services agencies, quality improvement networks, early childhood education programs and businesses, the release stated.

Were thrilled to unveil our new name and logo to the community, Angela Wells, executive director of the Center for Early Success, said in a news release.

Wells said Smart Beginnings Danville Pittsylvania spent 10 years constructing a foundation around school readiness.

As the Center for Early Success, we will have a broader reach, more financial resources and a regional leadership role. We are honored and excited for this opportunity to play a pivotal part in Virginias effort to transform early childhood education, she said.

We are grateful for the support of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Virginia Department of Education and excited about the promise of the Ready Regions network, Julie Brown, board chair for the Center for Early Success, said.
The Independence Day mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, has not swayed U.S. Rep. Don Bacons opposition to gun control legislation.

At a campaign stop on Thursday at Gretnas American Legion Hall, the Nebraska Republican lawmaker told reporters while every loss of life is tragic, gun owners should not face weapon restrictions. Seven people died and more than 30 injured by a gunman with a semi-automatic rifle in the community 30 miles north of Chicago.

The real issue is the majority of Americans are law abiding people, so what we are talking about is restricting the 99% when its the half percent or whatever it is -- the fringe -- that are breaking the law, Bacon said.

I would rather focus on the law-breakers and the violent people versus law-abiding people. Thats where I am at, he said.

Bacon said the people attending the Gretna rally don't want their Second Amendment rights taken away -- even small changes like limiting the size of magazines for semi-automatic weapons.

We can have that debate, Bacon said. I dont know if the majority of the American people are there.

The congressman said he supports increased funding of mental health initiatives in public schools, childrens hospitals, community health centers and the expansion of services in Medicaid.

He said the Highland Park shooter "had red flags" that he might be violent.

Illinois has red flag laws," Bacon said. "Those laws were not enforced in that case. He should not have been able to buy a gun.

Bacon joined Nebraskas delegation in voting against the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in June in part, he said, because of its red flag provisions.

The law makes $750 million available to create and administer state laws keeping weapons from those who pose a danger to themselves or others. It also adds convicted domestic violence abusers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

The $13 billion measure also strengthens background checks for buyers under 21, creates federal penalties for straw purchasers and increases funding for mental health programs and school security.

Bacon's campaign stop, a Vets for Bacon Rally, was hosted by VFW Post 10725 in Gretna. The congressman was joined by Tommy Hicks, national co-chair of the Republican National Committee, as well as Republican Party Chairman Dan Welch, who was voted out of his position over the weekend at the state GOP convention in Kearney. Gretna Mayor Mike Evans and legislative candidate Rick Holdcroft, as well as Iowa congressional candidate Zach Nunn, also attended.
Two days after President Biden signed an executive order to protect womens right to an abortion, more than 60 people gathered in Bayliss Park to affirm their commitment to the fight for reproductive autonomy.

People are needing answers, said Lisa Lima, one of the rallys organizers. Were here to provide hope and next steps.

Lima said she was glad to see action being taken on the federal level, but cautioned that theres a lot more work to do.

(The executive order) helps take some of the fear out of what people are feeling right now but it doesnt eliminate it, Lima said in an interview.

The pro-choice rally began at noon on Sunday, next to the dome at Bayliss Park. As supporters gathered in the shade beneath the parks trees, speakers shared their own stories or informed the crowd of ways they can help, with ideas ranging from volunteering for pro-choice candidates to boycotts to sit-ins.

They need to talk to their elected officials, Lima said. We have to keep this a public health issue to be effective and thats the only thing people are going to respond to. If we create the message that its for public health, I think they will respond.

First to speak was Dr. Glenn Hurst, a family physician in Minden, Iowa for whom the Supreme Courts decision to strike down Roe v. Wade affected both professionally and personally.

I was invited here as a physician because abortion is a question of medical procedure, and who belongs in your exam room with you, Hurst said in an interview before the rally. Its not the government. Its not even your spouse. Its you and your provider. And then, personally, I have a wife and daughters, and this is about their citizenship. If you dont have body autonomy, then youre not a full citizen of this country.

In his speech, Hurst also warned that while the Supreme Court is starting with the right to abortion, this is only the beginning of a concentrated, purposeful attack on Americans rights.

Clarence Thomas made it clear, there is more stripping of rights to come, Hurst said. Theyre coming after marriage equality, theyre coming after access to birth control, theyre coming after LGBTQ rights.

Lorene Bliss, 77, spoke about how, when she became pregnant as a sophomore at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she didnt have any choice. She married the father of her child and, when she became pregnant with her second child, she dropped out of school. After Roe was decided in 1973, she was relieved that her daughter would have the options she never had.

But now I have a granddaughter, and theres going to be no Roe for her, Bliss said. I used to love the phrase on the coffee cup that said, I refuse to be judged by the shape of my body. Now were being punished for it.

During the rally, many in attendance, including a number of teenage girls, held homemade signs with various pro-choice slogans on them, such as, If a uterus fired bullets they wouldnt regulate it, Abort the Court and Not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate.

After the rally, they lined the sidewalk along Sixth Street, holding their signs as motorists honked their car horns in support.

The rally in Bayliss Park was part of a larger, nationwide protest over the weekend for abortion rights. About 50 people went to a similar rally later that day in Red Oak, Iowa, according to Hurst, who spoke at that rally as well.
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The fight against slavery in Mauritania is a constant and irreversible priority of the authorities, said Wednesday in Nouakchott a senior Mauritanian state official, during a rare authorized meeting on this topic in the country.

The hand of the government is extended to all forums and tribunes, in the legality and the rejection of extremism in order to eliminate, as soon as possible, slavery and its aftermath, said the Commissioner for Human Rights of Mauritania, Cheikh Ahmedou Ould Sidi.

The commissioner represented the Mauritanian state at the opening of the first meeting on slavery authorized for years in Mauritania where the phenomenon persists, according to NGOs, despite its official prohibition. Slavery is considered a crime against humanity in the Mauritanian constitution.

The two-day meeting, which opened Wednesday in Nouakchott, is organized at the initiative of NGOs from member countries of the G5 Sahel, which includes five states: Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso.

It is held under the theme: making the fight against slavery a common and consensual fight in the G5 Sahel.

In addition to representatives of G5 Sahel NGOs, the Nouakchott meeting brought together others from Senegal, the Gambia, and European countries including France and Belgium.

President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, who succeeded President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, has made the fight against social disparities one of his priorities.
The African Union, AU, intends to hold an inclusive Libyan reconciliation conference whose agenda will be determined by the Libyans themselves under African auspices, Head of the AU Liaison Office in Libya (AUlol) Wahida Ayari has told Saudi media Asharq al-Awsat.

The conference will be a complementary path if the current path fails, the AU official said.

The African Union is focusing on national reconciliation and support for the existing political path adopted by the international community in Berlin 1, Ayari added.

The AU has been pressing for an African solution for the Libyan crisis. The organization wants the UN to appoint an African diplomat to mediate between Libyan rivals.

The oil-rich African country has slid into chaos since 2011 after the removal and assassination of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising.

Libya currently has two competing administrations backed by foreign countries vying for influence.
Rachid Ghannouchi, head of Tunisias leading Islamist party Ennahdha, has revealed that he is expecting to be arrested on July 19 when he will appear before the countrys counter-terrorism prosecutor, in connection with investigations about Namaa Tounes that authorities accuse of financing terrorism.

Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, leader of the National Salvation Front, on Monday made revelations at a press conference after meeting with the veteran politician and Speaker of the dissolved parliament.

I was born on this earth and I will die on it, and from the preliminary evidence, it looks like I will be arrested, Chebbi said, quoting Ghannouchi.

The Islamist leader is expected to appear before Tunisias counter-terrorism prosecutor in line with investigation about Namaa Tounes charity association, accused by authorities of financing terrorism.

Ghannouchi is among dozens of people targeted by the investigation which was launched following the arrest of former Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali late last month in connection with the case. Jebali was later on released as his health deteriorated following his hunger strike.

The Interior ministry accused Jebali of involvement in a money laundering scheme in connection with the charity organization. The former Premier denied any wrongdoing and is also expected to appear for questioning on July 20 before the counter-terrorism prosecutor.

Chebbi also revealed that Ghannouchi is among several political figures targeted by the administration of President Kais Saied. Both Chebbi and Ghannouchi are opposed to Saied whom they accuse of hijacking democratic dividends gained following the 2011 revolution.
The United States has become Spains main gas supplier after it reduced substantially gas imports from Algeria following the unilateral Algerian decision of shutting down the Maghreb Europe gas pipeline (GME), the failure of Algerian regime to honor its commitment and attempts to weaponize gas supplies for geopolitical gains.

Latest data published by Enagas, Spanish company which owns & operates the countrys gas grid, showed that 34.4 % of all gas purchases (78,078 gigawatt hours), made during first half of 2022, were delivered by the U.S.

Spanish gas imports from the United States soared from 18,184 GWh in the first half of 2021 to 78,078 GWh purchased during the past six month.

In June 2022, American gas imports by Spain surged to 10,618 GWh against 1,228 GWh made during the same month last year, while Spanish gas purchases from Algeria dropped by 41.11% in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period of last year.

In the first semester of 2022, Spain received from Algeria 55,962 GWh including 51,484 GWh (92%) supplied through Medgaz pipeline, while the rest was shipped by LNG tankers.

In addition to the United States, Russia and Nigeria are also supplying Spain with gas as Madrid is replacing Algeria by other gas suppliers following the flare-up of tension between the two countries over the Sahara issue.

The Algerian rulers have been extremely irked by Spains firm support of Moroccos autonomy offered for the Sahara under its sovereignty. They used gas supplies as a pressure tool against Spain but to no avail.

After the failure of its blackmailing tactics, the Algerian regime has suspended trade in products and services with Spain. The EU voiced concern over Algerias unilateral decision of halting transactions with Madrid saying it is a violation of the EU-Algeria Association Agreement, in particular in the area of trade and investment.

The European Union has also warned that the Algerian vindictive measures would lead to a discriminatory treatment of an EU Member State and adversely affect the exercise of the Unions rights under the Agreement.

The EU will stand up against any type of coercive measures applied against an EU Member State, affirmed the European bloc.
A 42-year-old North Platte man was sentenced Monday to 3 years in state prison for a domestic violence case that stems from a June 2020 incident.

In Lincoln County District Court, Ronald A. Dennis Jr. received 24 months in prison for third-degree domestic assault with a prior conviction and 12 months for negligent child abuse with no injury.

Those sentences will run at the same time. Dennis also received 18 months of post-release supervision.

In addition, Dennis received 18 months in prison for tampering with a witness in a separate case that is connected to the initial assault and abuse charges.

The terms for the two cases will run one after the other, and Dennis also received 12 months of PRS for the tampering charge.

In other cases Monday (defendants are from North Platte unless otherwise noted):

 Amy Becenti, 39, was sentenced to 360 days in jail for criminal impersonation in a Feb. 14, 2021, incident.

Becentis sentence was initially deferred as she was accepted into the problem-solving court, a program that she did not successfully complete.

Becenti was credited with 91 days served.

 Mya Roubideaux, 19, pleaded no contest to an amended charge of theft by shoplifting with a value of $500 or less, second offense, and being a minor in possession.

Roubideaux received 180 days for each count, and the sentences will run at the same time.

She was credited with 94 days served.

 Shayne A. Cotton, 48, was sentenced to 180 days in jail and credited for two days served.

Cotton pleaded no contest to two counts of possession of a controlled substance on May 23. Two other counts were dismissed in the plea agreement in connection to the Sept. 2, 2020, incident.

 Derek L. Bissonette, 36, pleaded no contest to possession of a controlled substance as well as an amended felony count of tampering with a witness in two separate cases.

Bissonette was sentenced to 180 days in jail on each count and the terms will run at the same time. A third case was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Bissonette was credited with 98 days served.

 Cris M. Perez, 43, pleaded guilty to a felony count of possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person. A charge of possession of a controlled substance was dismissed in the plea agreement.

Perez was sentenced to 180 days in jail and nine months of post-release supervision.

He was credited with 95 days served.

 Brad J. Leeper, 45, pleaded no contest to operating a vehicle to avoid arrest in a Feb. 19 incident. Two other charges were dismissed in the plea agreement.

Leeper was sentenced to 120 days in jail and credited with 45 days served. His license was also revoked for two years.

 Shantoya I. Charging Elk, 35, pleaded no contest to an amended charge of third-degree assault that stems from a March 13 incident.

Charging Elk was sentenced to 118 days in jail and credited with the same amount of time served.

 Andy M. Dike, 47, pleaded no contest to an amended charge of third-degree domestic assault  threatening a partner.

He was sentenced to 71 days in jail for the misdemeanor charge and credited with the same amount of time served.

 Brett E. Avila, 41, of Glendale, Colorado, pleaded no contest to an amended charge of attempted possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute that stems from an April 17 incident.

Avila received 36 months of specialized substance abuse supervision.

 Joseph T. Fischer, 21, of Omaha pleaded no contest to a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intention to distribute.

Two possession charges in a separate case were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Fischer was placed on 36 months of SSAS.

 Shae L. Lumadue, 24, pleaded no contest to an amended count of attempted distribution of a controlled substance that stems from a Feb. 9, 2021, incident.

Lumadue received a 36 months of SSAS.

 Rickey E. Frederick, 21, of Sutherland, received a 24-month probation term for theft by unlawful taking with a value of $5,000 or more, theft by unlawful taking, $1,500-$4,999, and criminal mischief, $1,500-$4,999.

 Richard H. Heglin Jr. received 20 months of probation for a methamphetamine possession charge that stems from a Feb. 11. 2020, incident.

 Mason C. Amweg, 25, received 12 months of probation for charges of leaving the scene of an accident and false reporting.

The terms will run at the same time. Amweg pleaded no contest Feb. 28.

 Timothy D. Shannon, 21, pleaded guilty of possession of a controlled substance and driving under the influence with a prior conviction.

Three other charges in the case were dismissed under the plea agreement.

Shannon received 24 months of SSAS, was fined $1,000 and will have his license revoked for 18 months.

 Johnathon A. Wilson, 37, received 24 months of probation for possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person.

Wilson pleaded no contest to the amended charge April 25.

 Tionna M. Bouback, 35, pleaded no contest to intentional child abuse with no injury. A second charge of the same felony was dismissed.

Bouback also pleaded no contest to one of two counts of failure to stop and render aid in a traffic crash in a separate case. The other charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement

Boubacks sentence will be deferred as she has been accepted into the problem-solving court program.

 Colbey A. Flaming, 29, pleaded no contest to a charge of theft by deception with a value of $5,000 or more. Two other charges were dismissed in the case under the plea agreement along with a count of second-degree forgery in a separate case.

Flaming is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 26.

 Barry J. Allen, 31, pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and possession of burglars tools in a March 24 incident.

Charges in two separate cases were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

 Marcus C. Bailey, 29, pleaded guilty of felony theft with a value of $5,000 or more. He also pleaded guilty of aiding and abetting a robbery in a separate case.

Bailey also admitted violating the conditions of a probation term he received in February 2020.

Charges in two additional cases were dismissed in the plea agreement.

Bailey is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 12.

 Marcelles L. Sanchez, 20, pleaded no contest to an amended charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

He was fined $250 for the misdemeanor.

 Clark O. Brown, 41, pleaded not guilty to felony charges of assault by strangulation or suffocation, first-degree assault and intentional child abuse with no injury.

A Sept. 26 status hearing was scheduled.

 Chase D. Mauer, 31, of Brady, pleaded not guilty of a felony charge of driving under the influence, causing serious bodily injury.

A Sept. 26 status hearing was scheduled.

 Richard B. Valentine, 54, of Ogallala, pleaded not guilty to a felony burglary charge.

A status hearing was scheduled for Aug. 8 for the case and another one.

 Juan F. Martinez, 29, pleaded not guilty to a felony charged of violating the Sex Offender Registration Act.

An Aug. 8 status hearing was scheduled.

 Donald McDonald, 61, pleaded not guilty to charges of making terroristic threats and using a deadly weapon to commit a felony.

A Sept. 12 status hearing was scheduled.

 Brandon L. Decent, 21, pleaded not guilty to a felony count of intentional child abuse with no injury.

An Oct. 17 status hearing was scheduled.

 Mindi L. Schiley, 37, of Ansley pleaded not guilty to a charge of possession of a controlled substance and two counts of theft by receiving stolen property with a value of $500 or less.

A Sept. 19 status hearing was scheduled.

 David P. Rowe, 59, pleaded not guilty to a felony count of driving under the influence with two prior convictions and misdemeanor charges of leaving the scene of a crash and having no operators license.

A Sept. 19 status hearing was scheduled.

 Sean Morrissey, 26, pleaded not guilty to charges of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, two counts of possession of a controlled substance and a misdemeanor of driving under the influence.

A Sept. 12 status hearing was scheduled.
A vital step toward finalizing the industrial rail park outside Hershey fell into place Monday.

Lincoln County commissioners donated $250,000 from the countys federal COVID-19 aid to the North Platte Area Chamber & Development Corp. to extend to Sept. 1 an exclusive purchase option for the former Greenbrier Rail Services factory. The commissioners discussed details of the action in an executive session before approving it in open session, 5-0.

The County Board agreed June 27 to create an inland port authority for the rail park  a step requiring state approval  and declared its intent to use $4.6 million of the countys share of American Rescue Plan Act funds to buy the Greenbrier site.

Commissioners July 5 tabled a resolution that would have donated all $4.6 million right away to the chamber for that purchase. That amount would be counted as part of $7.5 million in locally raised funds under the North Platte-inspired Legislative Bill 40, which was passed in 2021 and modified this spring.

Gary Person, chamber president and CEO, said after Mondays meeting that the County Board resolution was critical to making the Greenbrier purchase possible.

This is a huge step, absolutely the best thing that could ever happen to the rail park other than getting the initial (construction) money from the state, Person said.

The county commissioners should be applauded for the way that theyre looking toward the future.

Person said commissioners are looking after the long-term gain and long-term benefit of whats really good for Lincoln County.

Thats more business, more industry, more jobs  good jobs, he said. The rail park will be very agriculture processing center-related also, so in turn its going to help all the agriculture neighbors.

It just fits so well with what Lincoln County is and what the future holds and where were going to go get it done.

Person called the Greenbrier property, which closed early in the pandemic in 2020, a significant linchpin for both the rail park and the planned inland port authority to move rail traffic in and out of the park.

Greenbrier was actively marketing its closed property, Person said, but they worked extremely well with us in understanding the importance of this.

Talks with Greenbrier had started even before COVID-19 hit and the world changed, he added. Now all the pieces of the puzzle are coming back together.

Mondays action, Person said, gives rail-park organizers time to finalize a contract for $30 million in state matching funds for construction and receive a finished Phase I environmental impact study for the 34-acre Greenbrier site.

If all proceeds as planned, the county will proceed further with its part of clearing the way for rail park construction, Person said.

State officials need to clarify a few things, and then well be able to get things in motion going forward, he said.

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development approved the Hershey rail park for $30 million in LB 40 matching funds last month.

But Person said the updated laws language requires the chamber, which launched the project and applied for state matching funds, to be the developer of the rail park for those funds to be awarded.

The chamber eventually will sell rail park lots to their respective tenants, with state approval, he added. LB 40 allows for such sales at some point in the future.

Telegraph reporter Todd von Kampen contributed to this report.
Sutherlands village and rural fire districts will merge to form Sutherland EMS after Lincoln County commissioners approved the move Monday.

Roric Paulman, chairman of the rural fire districts board, presented the proposal to the commissioners.

He said later that Sutherland had had three entities involved in fire services in and around the village, including a volunteer firefighters association.

We have distinct (fire) districts. Were political subdivisions, the village and the rural, Paulman said. Under that scenario, trying to maintain and keep a viable, trained and safe volunteer force, it got to a point where people didnt understand that.

A disconnect developed about each districts respective responsibilities and the services each was responsible for, he said.

Requirements also have become extremely difficult for rural firefighters to maintain their certifications as emergency medical technicians, Paulman said.

In our changing times, the understanding of how that whole system works got a bit cloudy, he said. With cloudiness comes uncertainty. It comes with questions. You see tax dollars, you see equipment, you see investments that dont make sense.

But Sutherland-area residents came together to sort it all out, Paulman said.

It was on all of us as community members, all of us, to be able to convene and say How do we kind of see it through each others eyes? Paulman said.

How do we meet each other where we are and be able to articulate that and whats best, what is best for that patient (or) that person whose house is on fire and what else do you get?

The first step was building a facility to house the equipment for all three entities. Their equipment was scattered all over, Paulman said.

We were renting a hall for rural fire district needs, and we had some relationship with the city and then we had something scattered over here, he said.

Sutherland built a new fire hall prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Paulman said. Because it was finished under budget, the three firefighting entities were able to pay for the building without issuing bonds.

He said the project is helping Sutherland to both recruit and retain volunteer firefighters.

People needed to understand that Casper the ghost doesnt drive a fire truck, Casper the ghost does not run an ambulance, Paulman said.

How do you convey that? How do you make sure that what happens in that ambulance or in that wreck so that patient has the best chance of success?

It takes care, understanding and the ability to reach interlocal agreements for the common good, he said.

Sutherlands rural and village fire departments agreed to combine after studying other Nebraska towns that had done likewise, Paulman said.

With Mondays County Board approval, the districts will now work out an operating agreement, he said. Now it gets down to the nuts and bolts of simply what it takes to operate it.

He said the process is very precise as the entities work through the details.

Were understanding what it is, but we want to make sure that as we go forward, that everybody is in the loop, that were very transparent and transparency, to the general public, is the right thing to do.

In other action, commissioners:

 Ratified renewal of the countys joint fuel-purchase agreement with the city of North Platte.

The City Council July 5 approved the deal, under which the city buys fuel for both entities and sells fuel to the county for its actual cost plus 1 cent per gallon.

 Approved a letter of understanding with the McChesney Martin Sagehorn accounting firm to help prepare the countys 2022-23 budget. The countys new fiscal year started July 1.

 Authorized Bruns to sign documents related to Lyle and Chrystal Minshulls donation of a temporary construction easement as the county builds a successor to the historic Sutherland State Aid Bridge. The original North Platte River bridge north of Sutherland will stay in place.
The Opelika Police Department confirmed the vehicle crash that occurred Monday afternoon involved two construction workers and that the case will eventually go before a grand jury.

At approximately 3:37 p.m. on Monday, Opelika Police and Fire first responders arrived on the scene on Marvyn Parkway near Gateway Drive in Opelika and located two individuals who appeared to have been struck by a vehicle, the police report said.

Allison Duke, community relations specialist for the OPD, said the two construction workers were working on a project to pave the roadway.

Police said the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene.

A 45-year-old male was transported by helicopter and a 63-year-old male was transported by ambulance to Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Ga., for treatment of what police initially believed were non-life-threatening injuries.

At approximately 6:22 p.m. on Monday, the OPD released an update stating Opelika Traffic Homicide Detectives were notified that the 63-year-old victim took a turn for the worse and has died.

Tuesday afternoon Duke said the 45-year-old is in stable condition.

The OPD Traffic Homicide Investigators, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Alabama Department of Transportation are continuing to investigate this case, and Duke said the case will eventually be presented to a grand jury.

The OPD asks citizens to be mindful of areas where there is construction and to slow down when driving through construction zones.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the OPD at 334-705-5200 or the Secret Witness Hotline at 334-745-8665. Anonymous tips also can be submitted through the Opelika Police Mobile App.
The Auburn Police Department arrested a Georgia woman on a felony warrant charging her with second-degree theft of property.

On Monday, the APD, with the assistance from the Opelika Police Department arrested 23-year-old Sky Naja Griffith from Atlanta, Ga.

Police said the arrest stems from a call the APD received on Monday in reference to a theft at a business located in the 1600 block of Opelika Road.

An employee notified police that the suspect stole merchandise and drove off fleeing the scene, according to the police report.

Griffith was located by the OPD in Opelika, and after further investigation, she was arrested and charged with theft of property second degree, police said.

Griffith was transported to the Lee County Jail and held on a $3,500 bond.
okay now die

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I choked on my sandwich! Lmao

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ty for putting this energy into the world <3

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*sigh* this is so dissapointing, that man deserves to rot. i feel for the crew member who sued him, we all know that his fanbase is relentless and would have harassed him.

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they already were harassing him. depp's fanbase is as toxic as depp himself.

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So if the incident never happened, why did he settle? 

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hE IS A VIctim AND HE wants tO tEll his STOry

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As expected. He literally admitted to hitting him in a British GQ interview and his people had it scrubbed from the online version.



Meanwhile his lawyer was telling the press that it was another "hoax" and that they had witnesses who were willing to testify that it never happened and he leaked that witness statement where the woman claimed that he was defending a black homeless woman's honor and there was no physical contact despite the set being closed and there not actually being any homeless people there. But of course it's crazy to suggest that the rich, powerful actor has people willing to lie in court for him.

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and this is why we still buy HARD COPIES! (or screenshot immediately)

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[ Cut for relevant article bit and his dumb tattoos. ]



I think at this point his lawyers know Depp hasn't got a shot because of this article and so do the other entities Brooks is suing. Their best bet is the opening salvo with the leaked witness statement and a quiet settlement so that stays the narrative for most people. You're absolutely right, he had to settle because he can't shut the fuck up about being violent.I think at this point his lawyers know Depp hasn't got a shot because of this article and so do the other entities Brooks is suing. Their best bet is the opening salvo with the leaked witness statement and a quiet settlement so that stays the narrative for most people.

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It's wild to me that there are several stories of this man being violent in some way and yet his supporters/fans cannot possibly believe he was abusive toward Amber. Like?????

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The number of enablers around this man is truly something else. The script supervisor that perjured herself, whoever at GQ scrubbed the online version, the list goes on. Vile people.

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DAMN IT

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Yes, coming to the defense of women, especially one who is unhoused and also Black DEFINITELY sounds like something this guy would do.



Absolutely yes.



Definitely yes.



Everything we've known about him for decades indicates this sounds like him.



Uh uh.



...Yeah.

















*sigh... ya know, this much sarcasm and eye rolling starts to hurt my face*







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Please if Depp saw a woman being beat up by another man hed joinin!

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Am I crazy to think Depp paid Emma for that testimony

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I mean why not?

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He absolutely did. Or threatened her career. The set was closed. There were no homeless people there for anyone to berate.

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Considering everyone who testified for him on the stand was/is on his payroll, no. No you are not.

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He himself said she was an extra. Either he is lying or she is. Under oath.

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He probably wouldn't have had to; Depp wasn't the only person on the suit. Brooks alleges the production studio fired him because he wouldn't agree not to sue over the assault and he says he's been blacklisted after his wrongful dismissal iirc. He was suing the production company and director as well, so it's not surprising they had someone come up with some bullshit to cover their asses.

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This. It might not have been Depp, but it was likely someone.

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I think the director was defending him, too, so I was shocked that him and the script supervisor were defending him and said he was defending a homeless Black woman.



After he supposedly paid his fist ex-wife off to not revealed his n-word filled voice message? Nah, I don't believe here suddenly became chivalrous and heroic. He's the villain, not the hero.

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the absolute opposite tbqh

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I sure do believe that he would come to the aid of a homeless Black woman. I mean, hes a Southern Gentleman and all.

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Ah yes the way innocent people do.

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"pile of musty piss soaked scarves" fixed that for ya



I can't blame Brooks for not wanting to be harassed.

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Not surprising, I hope the crew member got a satisfying deal

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yes because all innocent people settle. idiot.



that picture. he's so fucking UGLY. this leather purse-esque douche bag.

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Depp is an ass and deserves to be publicly raked across hot coals, but I'm concerned by the replies saying innocent people don't settle. They absolutely do. That isn't what happened here, but it happens.

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True but of the people most likely to settle who are actually innocent, the person who ostensibly can afford the time/lawyers for a lengthy court case usually isn't one of them



Edited at 2022-07-12 04:01 am (UTC)

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I mean I agree that Depp is guilty and settled to protect his image but plenty of rich people opt to settle because it's easier & cheaper to just do a payout than a long legal case. It's worrying to see people equate settling to being guilty in all cases.



Edited at 2022-07-12 05:18 am (UTC)

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Most people, whether guilty or not, settle out of practicality for one reason or another, but it doesn't mean they're not guilty, either. I'm not sure I understand your concern, though. People who choose to settle also choose the outcome of people thinking it is an admission of guilt, and like most things people make judgements not just based on settlements but also on whatever else they know about a person/company.

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I think the majorty is saying that in contrast to his statements about the AH trial, where he was so insistent that he couldn't stop ABUSING HER THROUGH THE COURT because he needed to tell his truth that had already been proven to be false multiple times.



That being said, I appreciate you saying something because some people don't get that and some people don't even think that, so it's definitely worth pointing out and making clear to not be the case!

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He probably needs Amber's money to pay for this settlement.

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This fucking STONKING piece of shit. I hate him and everyone like him.



How much to do you want to bet that if the victim was a woman, he would have taken her to court, called her crazy or some shit?



I wonder how much evidence this guy had to make JD settle out of court?

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Use it or lose it  this principle might apply to Saudi Arabias oil production capacity that is now eyed by the Western world to fill the Russia-sized gap in supply left behind by embargoes. However, as Statista's Katharina Buchholz details below, Saudi Arabia in the past three years only approached its declared maximum production capacity of 12 million barrels per day in one month, casting doubts on the kingdoms ability to quickly up its production to stabilize world markets. According to Bloomberg, such predictions have come from UAE leadership, who together with the Saudis are the only OPEC members who have spare production capacity  at least on paper.

Joe Biden is traveling to Saudi Arabia this week and the increase of the global oil supply will be on the top of the agenda for the U.S. president. Up until now, the Gulf kingdom and its OPEC allies have been reluctant to make major changes as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. OPEC stuck to its slow production increases that were scheduled to reverse Covid-era cuts between March and June, and only recently agreed to up production quotas faster in the coming months in the light of the dramatic world market developments. Saudi Arabias OPEC production quota for August 2022 stands at 11 million barrels a day  more than it has been in a long time and still a whole million barrels a day below the countrys elusive maximum quota.

Related: Solving The Energy Transition Conundrum

As seen in data by the organization, Saudi Arabia has remained below its production quota prior to the Covid-19 epidemic and only once approached its declared maximum production capacity in April 2020 amidst a row with Russia that saw production quotas go out the window. The following months, the kingdom stood down, accepting lower production quotas than its rival on a voluntary basis.

If the Saudis can in fact produce more, they might also not want to.

Driving oil production to the edge of what is possible globally holds an inherent risk should another disruption, like it happened recently in Libya due to political unrest, should occur. Since that disruption can then not be compensated at all, it could cause an even more drastic jump in oil prices.

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The global energy crunch might worsen further, the head of the International Energy Agency has warned, noting that winter in Europe will be difficult.

The world has never witnessed such a major energy crisis in terms of its depth and its complexity, Fatih Birol said on Tuesday at an industry event in Australia, as quoted by Bloomberg. We might not have seen the worst of it yet -- this is affecting the entire world.

The top man of the IEA noted the whole global energy system was in turmoil following Russias invasion of Ukraine, with prices of energy commodities skyrocketing across the board because of Russias size as an oil and gas exporter.

The situation is particularly bad in Europe, where, Birol said, This winter [...] will be very, very difficult. This is a major concern, and this may have serious implications for the global economy.

Indeed, Europe is already worrying about the winter after Russia reduced the flow of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in June, blaming a delay in receiving a turbine from Canada, which had just imposed fresh sanctions on Moscow.

Earlier this week, Canada agreed to return the turbine after Germany asked it to make an exception, but Gazprom stopped the gas flow via Nord Stream 1 completely for regularly scheduled maintenance, sparking fears that it might not restart the flow after maintenance is completed.

Europe has been snapping up LNG cargos from all over the world to fill its gas storage ahead of the next heating seasonand to fuel its economies as it seeks to reduce imports of Russian gasbut it has still a way to go before it reaches the goal of 80 percent by end-October.

Birol compared the current situation to the oil crisis of the 1970s, noting how that crisis spurred major progress in fuel efficiency and saying this one could lend additional momentum to the transition to low-carbon energy.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Failure to agree on a price cap for Russian oil will push international prices higher, a U.S. government official has warned, adding that the cap would need to be accompanied by sanction exemptions.

In a report quoting the unnamed official, Reuters wrote that the idea of the price cap was to set a price for Russian oil that covers the marginal costs of its production as a way of motivating Russia to continue exporting that oil, even at much lower than international prices.

Failure to do so means that sanctions on Russian crude oil will significantly curb its exports, which would in turn lead to a price spike, the official said, foreseeing prices of $140 per barrel.

G7 leaders discussed the price cap at its meeting in June, where it concluded that for the idea to be successful, its authors would need to get big importers such as China and India on board. So far, there has been little indication that either India or China would be willing to join the price cap.

Meanwhile, discussions are ongoing about the actual level of the cap. According to the U.S. official that Reuters spoke to this week, Japan had been concerned about setting the cap too low but had agreed to consider a range between $40 and $60 per barrel.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is traveling to Asia this week, where she will try to garner support for the price cap idea among local importers. China is notably absent from her itinerary.

Analysts have warned that the oil price cap idea is not the most brilliant one because there is no guarantee Russia will accept the cap and continue business as usual. On the contrary, there is concern it would retaliate by slashing oil exports, which would push international prices much higher.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Up until Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022, it was accepted wisdom that China would not overtly challenge the U.S.s authority across the world for around 10 years or so, given the perceived technological, economic, and military deficit between the two countries. Then again, up until Russia invaded Ukraine, few believed that the longstanding rhetoric of Russias leadership about Ukraine just being one part of Russia rather than a sovereign independent state would turn into the reality of war. As of now, there are just three months or so before Chinas President, Xi Jinping, attempts to secure an unprecedented third term as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party at the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in November. This will be the basis upon which he can secure his premiership for many more years to come and, to achieve this, he will have to make various changes to Chinas constitution, and this will require the unwavering support of all elements of Chinas military and of the most nationalist politicians in the country. And one thing that both groups agree on is that Taiwan is just a part of China rather than being a sovereign independent state, and always has been. It will come as no surprise to anyone that China has been watching and analyzing every angle at play since Russia invaded Ukraine, particularly the military and economic responses to it of the West. Militarily, many countries in the West  especially those from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) security alliance  have supported Ukraines fight against Russia through the provision of weapons, intelligence, and broader logistical resources. However, as far as China is concerned, there has been no direct on-the-ground military support of Ukraine, in Ukraine, by NATO military forces. Indeed, NATO has not even sought to enforce a no-fly zone across Ukraine, partly because there is only a fuzzy legal justification to do so  as Ukraine is not a member of NATO  but more appositely because it fears escalation into a nuclear war with a major nuclear power. Both reasons would also apply to the Wests likely response to an invasion of Taiwan by China, First, Taiwan is not a member of NATO or any similar Asia-Pacific version of it; and second, the risk of escalation into a nuclear war with major nuclear power China is real. China knows all of this and is almost certain to have been strategizing a scenario for launching a special operation- as Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine  against Taiwan.

One key factor that Russia had  and still has  going for it in its invasion of Ukraine that China would not have if and when it invades Taiwan is that Russia possesses all of the energy supplies that it needs to keep its critical infrastructure running, regardless of any and all sanctions brought against it by any country. In fact, for Russia, there has been a positive financial benefit from its invasion, with a report in June from the independent Centre For Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), showing that Russia earned just under US$1 billion per day from oil and gas exports during the first 100 days of the war in Ukraine  so around US$97 billion in total  whilst the cost to it of fighting the war over that first 100 day period was just under US$88 billion. Moreover, despite the European Unions (E.U.) current and intended bans on various of Russias energy exports, as of the end of May, the E.U. accounted for the biggest share of Russias oil and gas exports.

Turning a profit is unlikely to be top of President Xis agenda in invading Taiwan, but ensuring Chinas energy security in such an event will be. However, as analyzed in-depth in my new book on the global oil markets, China has long been strengthening its energy security both through its expanded activities in the Middle East connected to its One Belt, One Road program and through its broadening and deepening of its energy links to Russia. Direct infrastructure links between China and Russia have been extremely extensive in recent years, with recent notable examples of this being, in the oil sector, Rosneft signing an US$80 billion 10-year deal to supply the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) with 100 million metric tonnes of oil over the period (slightly over 200,000 barrels per day). In the gas sector, at almost the same time, Gazprom signed a 10 billion cubic meters per year (bcm/y) deal to supply gas to CNPC, adding to another supply contract between the two companies signed in 2014  a 30-year deal for 38 bcm/y to go from Russia to China. This, in turn, is part of, and augments, the Power of Siberia pipeline project  managed on the Russian side by Gazprom and on the China side by CNPC  that was launched in December 2019. In recent weeks, though, China has been buying massive extra quantities of Russian oil, on top of the levels previously required in its regular usage pattern. According to industry data, China bought a record quantity of Russian crude oil in May, increasing purchases by around US$1 billion more than in April, to just under US$7.5 billion, which is more than double the amount China bought from Russia in the same period last year, making Russia Chinas largest supplier of crude oil.

Crucially as well, for both China and Russia, China has long seen increased internationalization of its renminbi currency as a fitting reflection of its growing status in the world, and trading between the two countries in their local currencies has increased dramatically in the past few years. Back in September 2018, the chief executive officer of Russias Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson, said that Russia had been discussing switching way from US$-centric trading with its largest trading partners such as India and China, and that even Arab countries were thinking about it. If they [the U.S.] do create difficulties for our Russian banks then all we have to do is replace dollars, he added. At around the same time, China launched its now extremely successful Shanghai Futures Exchange with oil contracts denominated in yuan (the trading unit of the renminbi currency). Such a strategy was tested initially at scale in 2014 when Gazpromneft tried trading cargoes of crude oil in Chinese yuan and roubles with China and Europe.

Related: Natural Gas Will Play A Vital Role In Australias Energy Transition

Although Chinas initial official response to Russias invasion of Ukraine was quite guarded, an early indicator of Beijings true feelings on it came at the beginning of April when Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, laid the blame for Russias invasion of Ukraine squarely at the feet of the U.S. As the culprit and leading instigator of the Ukraine crisis, the U.S. has led NATO to engage in five rounds of eastward expansion in the last two decades after 1999, he said during a virtual summit call with leaders of the European Union. China later warned the U.S. against any moves that adds fuel to the flames in Ukraine and its Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, called again on the West to take account of Moscows concerns about NATO expansion. This rhetoric was echoed again on Xis birthday  the 15th of June  when he had a lengthy telephone conversation with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, as reported and analysed by OilPrice.com. During this talk, according to Russian news sources in the first instance: Xi had pledged Chinas ongoing support for Russia... [and] President Xi had noted the legitimacy of actions taken by Russia to protect itself in the face of challenges to its security created by external forces.

Concomitant with all these developments has been a noticeable surge in the number and seriousness of Chinese security threats against Western powers at domestic levels. This was specifically noted in the last week by both the director of the U.S.s principal domestic security intelligence service, the FBI - Chris Wray  and his opposite number in the U.K., the director-general of MI5, Ken McCallum. On the first ever occasion that the two most senior figures in the U.S.s and U.K.s domestic security intelligence services had shared a public platform together, Wray warned that China was drawing lessons from whats happening with Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. McCallum said that MI5 was now running seven times as many investigations into Chinese activity of concern than it was as recently as 2018. The FBIs Wray added that: [were China] to forcibly take over Taiwan  it would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen. He added: Weve seen China looking for ways to insulate their economy against potential sanctions trying to cushion themselves from harm if they do anything to draw the ire of the international community. In our world, we call that kind of behaviour a clue.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The G7 idea to place a price cap on Russian oil should include a cap on the prices of gasoline and diesel, too, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told Reuters in an interview published on Tuesday.

My hope is that the proposal, which is important to minimise the effect on the economies around the world, gets buy-in from several countries, Birol told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy forum in Australia.

And if it is pursued, it is not only focused on crude oil, as refined products are also an important challenge for the economies and will be more of a challenge in the next months to come, the IEAs chief added.

After their summit in Germany last month, the leaders of the G7 group of the worlds leading industrial nations invited all importing countries to consider a cap on the price of Russian oil.

We will consider a range of approaches, including options for a possible comprehensive prohibition of all services, which enable transportation of Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products globally, unless the oil is purchased at or below a price to be agreed in consultation with international partners, the G7 leaders said in their final communique.

We invite all likeminded countries to consider joining us in our actions, they added.

The countries are still considering the possibility of a price cap on Russias oil, but they face a difficult balancing act between trying to limit the Kremlins oil revenues, the most significant contribution to Vladimir Putins war chest, and not driving international crude prices higher still.

Its not certain how this could be achieved without disrupting the market further, which could send oil prices even higher.

This week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is heading to Asia to seek support for the U.S. idea of capping Russian export crude oil prices.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Libyas government in Tripoli has reportedly appointed a new board to govern the National Oil Company (NOC), with interim Government of National Unity prime minister dismissing long-time chairman Mustafa Sanalla in a leaked government decree reported by LibyaUpdate.

According to the leaked decree, Sanalla will be replaced with Farhat Omar Bengdara, a former Central Bank Governor from 2007 to 2011.

The move comes as Libyan oil remains shut-in and protests over blackouts and a political stalemate intensify.

Interim prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who signed the alleged decree, has been at loggerheads with the NOC leadership for some time. This is not the first attempt to remove Sanallawho has led the NOC for eight yearsand regain control of the national oil company in recent times.

Oil Minister Mohamed Aoun has been embroiled in a political battle with Sanalla, which has most recently led to a refusal to share information among the two agencies as to the actual state of oil production and exports in the country.

Bloomberg has also cited several sources familiar with the matter as saying that the GNU government has called for the dissolution of the NOC board and the resignation of Sanalla, though the report notes that it is unclear at this time whether Sanalla will comply.



Earlier attempts to dismiss Sanalla have failed.

In the meantime, protests are engulfing Libya, some of them calling for the resignation of Dbeibah as interim prime minister.

The country is now plagued with rolling blackouts as an energy crisis takes hold.

Libya is now believed to be producing only half of what it was prior to April this year, when the NOC declared force majeure on several oilfields and export facilities due to protests.

Related: Will A Gas Tax Holiday Help Ease Prices At The Pump?

Earlier in July, the NOCs Sanalla said Libyas exports had recently ranged from 365,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 409,000 bpd, which is a decrease of 865,000 bpd compared to normal production rates under normal circumstances.

Dbeibahs rival, Fathi Bashagha, who was appointed prime minister in February by the eastern-backed parliament, has now set up a government in Sirte, the gateway to Libyas oil crescent.

Now, with the political crisis taken directly to the NOC, there is renewed cause for concern of a civil war.

By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Crude oil prices rallied in the afternoon after a rocky start to the trading day, with Brent crude finishing out the day at $106.57.

Earlier in the trading day, Brent fell to $103.88 as the market weighed the opposing forces of China's lockdowns and recession fears against tight global oil supplies.

The bearish case has focused on covid disruptions in China, which just identified over the weekend its first Omicron subvariant BA.5.21 in Shanghai. The zero-covid policy in the world's largest crude oil importer sparked fears of decreased oil demand. Further limiting oil's gains are fears of a recession in the United States.

But oil prices have remained elevated on tight supplies, waning crude inventories, and concerns that OPECspecifically Saudi Arabiadoesn't have the spare capacity that some think it has. The fear that sanctions against Russia, which is set to go into effect at the end of this year, could take too many oil barrels out of the market is compounding those fears, with no real plan in place to replace lost Russian oil barrels.

The price of WTI clawed back some gains as well as Monday. After sinking to just over $101 per barrel earlier on Monday, the price of WTI rose to $103.57 at the close of the trading day.

WTI is still trading down nearly $17 per barrel from a month ago, with Brent trading down $!6 per barrel in that timeframe. Gasoline prices in the United States have fallen as well, with the recession fears lending significant weight and providing relief to the Biden Administration, which has been desperate to lower gasoline prices ahead of mid-term elections this fall.

U.S. average gasoline prices fell to $4.678 per gallon on Monday, down from $5.004 a month ago.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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The ten OPEC producers in the OPEC+ pact pumped 24.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in June, OPEC data showed on Tuesday, with production falling 1 million bpd short of the target levels.

All 13 OPEC members produced 28.716 million bpd in June, up by 234,000 bpd from May, according to secondary sources used by OPEC to track production in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR).

The 10 producers in the OPEC+ pact, however, produced 24.8 million bpd, which was 1 million bpd below OPECs own target of 25.864 million bpd for the ten members for June.

Iran, Libya, and Venezuela are exempted from the production pact.

Libya saw the biggest decline in output in June, as its production fell to below 1 million bpd in each of the months in the second quarter due to continued unrest, protests, and port blockades.

Top OPEC producer Saudi Arabia naturally raised its crude oil production by the most in June compared to May. Yet, per OPECs secondary sources, even the Saudis were lagging behind their quota for June. Saudi Arabias oil production rose by 159,000 bpd to 10.585 million bpd, OPEC said.

To compare, the Saudi target was 10.663 million bpd, so the Kingdom was 78,000 bpd below its quota last month using secondary source figures. But Saudi Arabia self-reported to OPEC that its production figures were indeed in line with its target10.646 million bpd.

The UAE, the only other OPEC producer apart from Saudi Arabia believed to have spare capacity to boost productionslightly exceeded its target as it produced 3.083 million bpd, versus a 3.075 million bpd quota.

Iraq, OPECs second-largest oil producer, was 75,000 bpd below its target, according to OPECs secondary sources.

The biggest laggard for several months has been Nigeria. Its oil production averaged 1.238 million bpd in June, while its quota was 1.772 million bpd.

This month and next, the targets for the OPEC-10 are even higher as OPEC+ decided to accelerate the rollback of the cuts and have those completely unwound by the end of August. Saudi Arabia has a 10.833 million bpd target for July, and 11 million bpd for August.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The European Union is already working on the seventh package of sanctions against Russia as it continues to try to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions, according to a Bloomberg update, should be agreed upon over the next few weeks.

So far, the European Union has targeted Russias financial and energy sector most pointedly with the sanctions, cutting much of Russias banking system from the global SWIFT system and scheduling an oil and fuels embargo for the end of the year. Coal imports have also been targeted.

The EU has also banned Russian vessels from entering EU ports; Russian imports of wood, cement, and seafood; and EU investments in Russias energy industry.

However, the bloc remains highly reliant on Russian hydrocarbons, which has made European buyers stock up on both coal and oil ahead of the embargo. Gas remains Europes weak spot in its attempts to make Russia suffer for its invasion of Ukraine.

Because of its overwhelming dependence on cheap Russian gas, the European Union is currently scrambling to secure reliable alternatives as it seeks to reduce its intake of Russian gas.

LNG has emerged as the primary alternative despite the fact it is much costlier than pipeline gas. However, LNG supply is also tight globally, which has resulted in the redirection of cargos from Asia to Europe, pushing prices across markets higher and forcing less wealthy importers such as Pakistan to resort to blackouts because of insufficient LNG supply for power generation.

Sanctions, however, are affecting the European Union as well. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the European Commission had prepared a document detailing an aid program for EU companies negatively affected by the anti-Russian sanctions, under which they could apply for up to half a million euros in financial support from the EU.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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OPEC has the capacity to raise crude oil production, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said days before U.S. President Joe Biden is set to visit the Middle East, where he will hold talks with leaders of the top OPEC oil producers.

We do believe there is a capacity for further steps that could be taken, Sullivan said during a press briefing on Monday.

President Biden and his team will make the case for higher OPEC oil production during meetings with leaders from the Gulf states in Saudi Arabia, Sullivan said at the briefing.

We will convey our general viewthat we believe that there needs to be adequate supply in the global market to protect the global economy and to protect the American consumer at the pump, Sullivan said, as carried by Reuters.

President Biden will visit later this week Saudi Arabia, the worlds top crude oil exporter, which he had previously said he would treat as a pariah state during his presidency.

However, the market turmoil following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the highest gasoline prices in America on record ahead of the mid-term elections in November have had the President call on OPEC multiple times in recent months, with suggestions that the group needs to increase production more than the monthly rollback of their production cuts.

Analysts say that OPECs actual spare capacity could be less than official figures suggest and that, in fact, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)two producers believed to hold most of the worlds spare capacitycannot pump too much crude oil above current levels for a sustainable period.

Most analysts dont expect major production hikes from OPEC following President Bidens visit as they see the Gulf producers not rushing to tap their already very low spare capacity.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discussed Ukrainian grain exports in separate phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.



Ukraine and its allies have pushed for the reopening of Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which Kyiv says are shut because of a Russian blockade.

Western countries have increased their demands for the reopening of the ports to allow shipments of grain, especially to countries in the Middle East and Africa that depend on Ukrainian grain to feed their populations.

Erdogan told Putin that it is time to take action regarding a UN plan to establish safe corridors in the Black Sea for grain exports. He also reiterated that a lasting and just peace should be negotiated to end the war, according to a statement from the government communications office quoted by the state news agency Anadolu.

Zelenskiy said on Twitter that he appreciated Erdogan's help on resuming grain exports and added that Russia also must be stopped from taking Ukrainian grain from occupied territories.

Erdogan, who has offered to mediate on the grain issue, also discussed the situation with Putin.

The Kremlin said that the two leaders also discussed economic cooperation and a planned "Russian-Turkish meeting at the highest level" in the near future. No further details were provided.

The Ukrainian Navy, meanwhile, said it had begun helping to facilitate the export of Ukrainian agricultural products. The navy said in a statement that eight foreign ships had arrived at Ukrainian ports.

Related: IEA Chief Warns The Energy Crisis Could Get Worse

It said the assistance was possible because Ukraine managed to retake Snake Island, a strategic outpost in the Black Sea. The statement, which was posted on Facebook, also notes that currently most Ukrainian ports remain blocked, and some are occupied.

Moscow said it would allow Ukrainian ships loaded with food products to leave if Ukraine's military demined the waters off Odesa and other ports.

But Ukraine says it cannot demine the coast because Russia would "use grain corridors to attack southern Ukraine."

The war and the blockade of Ukrainian ports have meant most of Ukraine's grain is not getting out, causing food shortages in some of the world's poorest countries. Russia and Ukraine jointly account for nearly a third of global wheat exports.

Many Western countries blame Moscow for food insecurity around the world, but Russia has repeatedly denied it is responsible for the problem.

By RFE/RL

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Japan, the worlds second-largest LNG importer, urged the United States and Australia on Tuesday to boost production and deliveries to ensure enough supply of the hottest energy commodity.

I will once again firmly request the United States, a major global LNG producer, and Australia, the largest LNG supplier to Japan, to step up production and ensure a stable supply of the fuel as the global LNG market is tightening in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Japans Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda said at a news conference as carried by Reuters.

Hagiuda will attend an energy forum in Sydney, Australia, where he is set to meet officials from the top LNG exporting nations. The U.S., Australia, and Qatar are the three biggest LNG exporters in the world. Australia is the largest LNG supplier to Japan, which was the top LNG importer for decades until last year when China became the worlds largest LNG importer.

Japan will need to buy more non-Russian LNG until 2025 and seek to buy cargoes Chinese players are re-selling, according to Hiroshi Hashimoto, head of gas group at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ).



Related: IEA Director: Price Cap On Russian Oil Should Extend To Fuels

For LNG supply in the longer term, Japanese buyers will need long-term supply deals with new projects in Australia, the U.S., and Qatar, Hashimoto said on Tuesday, quoted by Reuters.

Resource-poor Japan and other major energy consumers are struggling with a global crunch in LNG, which is being soaked up by Europe as the EU looks to replace as much Russian pipeline gas as soon as possible. Europes race to procure LNG supply has sent spot prices so high that developing economies in Asia can no longer afford it.

Meanwhile, LNG buyers are returning to long-term contracts in order to secure the long-term supply of non-Russian gas and to insulate themselves from spiking volatile spot prices.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  A small, largely rural county west of Floridas capital experienced an unheard-of spike in deadly drug overdoses believed to be caused by fentanyl over the July 4 weekend, with nine people dying in the latest sign that a national crisis is becoming even more far-reaching.

In all of 2021, Gadsden County had just 10 overdoses, Sheriff Morris Young said. He couldnt recall any being fatal. The state even rejected a grant application to treat fentanyl overdoses because the county of about 43,700 people couldnt definitively identify any cases involving the powerful synthetic opioid.

Then on July 1, calls to emergency services began flooding in. In addition to the nine deaths over the holiday weekend, another nine people were treated for suspected fentanyl overdoses.

Its shaken the entire community. I feel their pain, Young said. Im really treating this like we had a hurricane coming into town. It means that much to me that we could lose people in such a short period of time.

Gadsden County is largely known for its vegetable and livestock farms, historic Southern buildings and antique shops. Many families have known each other for generations. County Commission Chairman Ron Green said among the families of victims he knew were the children of a woman in her 60s who died over the weekend.

They didnt even realize their mother was using again, Green said. This brought an alarming notice to them. Unfortunately, its too late.

While the victims were 34 or older, Green worries younger people could be endangered, if we cant hurry up and get it off the streets.

Fentanyl can be 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin, and dealers lace it in with other illegal drugs to boost their addictiveness. Law enforcement officials say most people affected dont know its in the illegal drugs theyre buying  in amounts that otherwise wouldnt necessarily be deadly.

The problem has become so acute that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning three months ago about what it called mass-overdose events. It cited dozens of deaths in more than a half-dozen clusters in recent months in locations ranging from the small town of Cortez, Colorado, with fewer than 9,000 residents, to major cities such as Washington, D.C.

DISC Village is a nonprofit drug treatment center with services throughout Floridas Big Bend, the cluster of counties where the Panhandle meets the states peninsula. It includes Gadsden County as well as Tallahassee, the state capital.

In these last six months Ive seen the most overdoses that Ive ever seen since Ive been working here, said Jennifer Travieso, who has worked at DISC for 17 years. Its definitely fentanyl and its in drugs we wouldnt expect it to be in, for example cocaine or marijuana or methamphetamines.

For the dealers, with fentanyl and other opioids, they want to make sure people get hooked to keep their sales up, Young said.

He gave an example of just how powerful the addiction can be. One of the men treated for an overdose on July 1 was released from a hospital two day later, only to return after a second overdose on Tuesday. Young said he helped the same man get a job about a month ago.

This is the scary part, Young said. These people, even with the fear of the fentanyl and that they could die, theyre still going to take a chance going out there and getting these drugs.

He said investigators are trying to trace the source of the drugs laced with fentanyl. He believes it arrived in the county prepackaged, so its possible local dealers werent aware they were selling fentanyl. Either way, he wants severe punishment for those involved.

Were hoping to push these cases to murder cases, Young said.

Young said EMTs have access to overdose treatments like naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, but deputies do not. He said he wants to immediately get supplies in the hands of his officers and have them trained on their use.

Fentanyl was not even on my radar, and that changed about 9 oclock (that) Friday night, Young said.
Deadly Listeria outbreak linked to ice cream

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked a recent Listeria outbreak to ice cream made by Florida-based Big Olaf Creamery.

One person has died in the outbreak involving 10 states, while 22 have been hospitalized. The agency said that health officials interviewed 17 of those who got sick and 14 reported eating ice cream. Among the 13 who remembered the type of ice cream they ate, six identified the brand as Big Olaf Creamery or a location that served that type of ice cream.

On Friday, the company voluntarily began contacting retail locations to recommend against selling their ice cream products, the CDC said. On Sunday, the company issued its own statement on social media about the outbreak.

Read more here:

What drives doctors to take their own lives

Doctor burnout and suicide are a growing concern, a new study finds.

We often overlook the physical health of our health care workers, but poor health can lead to difficulty performing tasks at work, which then leads to job stress and mental health issues, said corresponding author Dr. Kristen Kim, a resident in psychiatry at UC San Diego Health.

About 1 in 15 doctors experience suicidal thoughts, according to the study. It reviewed death investigation information from 200 physician suicides nationwide between 2003 and 2018.

Read more here:

Many Gen Z Americans have sun safety all wrong

You might think everyone knows by now to protect against the sun's rays, but many Gen Zers apparently haven't gotten the message.

In a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by the American Academy of Dermatology, many of these 18- to 25-year-olds were unaware of the risks from tanning.

About 60% of Gen Z respondents said they got a tan in 2021. About 27% said they thought having a base tan decreased the risk of developing skin cancer (it doesn't). Another 38% said tanning was safe as long as they didn't burn -- another fallacy.

Read more here:

You CAN take too much Vitamin D

Vitamin D supplements are often touted for their health benefits, from boosting the immune system to guarding against cancer. But as one British man found out, it is possible to get too much of a good thing.

Vitamin D overdosing -- clinically called hypervitaminosis D -- is linked to a range of potentially serious health issues, say doctors reporting a recent case study about a man hospitalized for the condition.

"Globally, there is a growing trend of hypervitaminosis D, a clinical condition characterized by elevated serum vitamin D3 levels," the authors wrote. Women, children and surgical patients are most likely to be affected.

Read more here:

***

Get more recent health news here:
BERLIN (AP)  German lawmakers on Thursday approved a major package of reforms aimed at boosting the production of renewable power, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that the country has for too long relied on energy supplies from Russia.

The government unveiled its 600-page Easter package in April, less than two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine escalated the simmering energy crisis between Moscow and western European neighbors, many of which were buyers of Russian fossil fuels.

Germany has sharply reduced its energy imports from Russia in recent months. The government aims to end the purchase of Russian coal and oil this year, and of natural gas by 2024.

Scholz said late Wednesday that the war was another reason for Europe's biggest economy to double down on its efforts to expand the use of renewable energy.

Germany has relied for too long and too unilaterally on energy supplies from Russia, he said at a renewable energy industry event in Berlin.

Referring to Moscow's recent moves to reduce the flow of natural gas to Europe, Scholz that that we have to realize that Russia is using energy as a weapon.

After all, no one believes that Russia is reducing its gas supplies for technical reasons alone, he added.

Energy Minister Robert Habeck told lawmakers that the sheer number and extent of laws now being hurried through the Bundestag reflected both the scale of the challenge and the governments ambition.

It recently pledged to rapidly accelerate the installation of sun and wind power facilities, setting a target of generating 80% of Germany's gross electricity use from renewable energy by 2030  almost double the share it had last year  and cutting greenhouse gas emissions from all sources to net zero by 2045.

To achieve this, the government proposed setting aside more land for onshore wind park s and lowering bureaucratic hurdles that have slowed construction in recent years.

Still, economists questioned this week whether the government's ambitious goals were achievable even with the new measures.

Opposition lawmaker Andreas Jung of the Christian Democrats criticized the government for keeping heavily polluting coal-fired power plants on stand-by to replace gas-fired facilities that have to shut down due to lack of supply. Instead, he suggested, Germany could expand the use of domestic biogas from agricultural waste.

Consumers in Germany, like elsewhere in Europe, have been warned to expect significantly higher energy bills this year mainly due to the surge in prices of fossil fuels.

If we want to keep energy affordable in the long term, if we want to reconcile supply security and climate protection, then this is only possible with renewable energies, said Scholz. Thats why we need to kick the expansion of renewables into high gear now.

While independence from Russian energy is one of the government's stated goals, a new report Thursday by the International Energy Agency warned that the supply of solar panels  key to Germany's green energy transition  is increasingly concentrated in China.

The Paris-based agency said China currently has a share of more than 80% in all the key manufacturing stages of solar panels. For some photovoltaic components the share coming from China is set to rise to 95% in the coming years, it said.

China has been instrumental in bringing down costs worldwide for solar PV, with multiple benefits for clean energy transitions, the IEA's executive director, Fatih Birol, said. At the same time, the level of geographical concentration in global supply chains also poses potential challenges that governments need to address.

Follow AP's coverage of climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/climate
ATLANTA (AP)  Not all the political money in Georgia is flowing to the marquee governor's showdown between incumbent Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams, or the U.S. Senate race where Republican challenger Herschel Walker is trying to unseat incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock. But some of the downballot candidates are operating on many fewer dollars, as they reported results Friday for the two months ended June 30.

Democratic challenger for attorney general Jen Jordan outraised Republican incumbent Chris Carr. Also, Democratic secretary of state challenger Bee Nguyen outraised Republican incumbent Brad Raffensperger in part because she had a runoff and Raffensperger did not.

Here's a look at fundraising for Georgia statewide races:

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Jones, a state senator from Jackson, raised $657,000 for the period and $4.7 million so far for the campaign. That excludes a $2 million loan Jones took out from a bank and used to repay a previous $2 million loan from himself. Endorsed by former President Donald Trump, Jones spent heavily in beating state Senate President Pro Tem Butch Miller and two other candidates in the May 24 primary, leaving himself $452,000 in cash.

Democrat Charlie Bailey, his party's nominee for attorney general in 2018, beat Kwanza Hall in the June 21 runoff, raising $388,000 over the two months and $915,000 overall. Bailey, endorsed by Abrams, had $116,000 as of June 30.

Libertarian Ryan Graham reported $1,390 in donations and had $1,383 on hand.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

The matchup between Jordan and Carr could become the fall's most expensive down-ballot race.

Jordan's campaign said the Sandy Springs state senator raised $601,000 in the two months, bringing the Democrat's campaign total to more than $2.1 million, with $756,000 in the bank. Jordan easily beat Christian Wise Smith on May 24.

Carr was close behind, raising $577,000 for the period and bringing his total for the campaign to $3.2 million. The Republican had $556,000 in the bank on June 30 after blowing out Trump-endorsed GOP challenger John Gordon in the May 24 primary.

Libertarian Martin Cowen raised no money and had $632 in cash.

SECRETARY OF STATE

Nguyen, an Atlanta state representative who won a Democratic runoff on June 21 with Abrams backing, raised $874,000 before and after the runoff, for a total of $2.17 million so far. She had $400,000 in the bank on June 30.

Raffensperger raised $305,000 in May and June as he won the Republican nomination on May 24 despite Trump's opposition. He's raised $2 million so far, including a previous $850,000 loan to himself, and had $104,000 in cash.

Libertarian Ted Metz raised $1,381 and had $363 in cash.

AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER

Republican state Sen. Tyler Harper of Ocilla, who was unopposed for his party's nomination, raised $250,000 during the period and reported having $938,000 in cash on June 30. Democrat Nakita Hemingway of Dacula, who won a three-way primary on May 24, reported raising no money and having $49,000 on hand.

Libertarian David Raudabaugh raised no money and had $1,600 in cash. No filing was available Saturday for independent Mollie Beavers.

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

John King, the Republican incumbent appointed by Kemp, raised $169,000, bringing his total for the campaign to more than $900,000. King reported $90,000 in cash as of June 30 in his first statewide race, having handily beat two other Republicans in the May 24 primary including Trump-endorsed Patrick Witt.

Democrat Janice Laws Robinson, also her party's nominee in 2018, reported raising $19,000 in the period, for a total of $61,000 so far. Robinson said she has spent nearly $69,000, leaving her with a negative balance of nearly $8,000.

LABOR COMMISSIONER

Republican state Sen. Bruce Thompson of White, seeking an open seat being vacated by Mark Butler, raised $327,000 including $177,000 in loans. That brought his campaign total to $663,000, including $327,000 in loans. Thompson, who bested two other Republicans on May 24, had $121,000 in the bank.

State Rep. William Boddie of East Point, who won a Democratic runoff with Abrams' endorsement, raised $210,000 in May and June, driving his overall total to $528,000. He had $14,000 in cash

Libertarian Emily Anderson reported raising and spending no money.

STATE SUPERINTENDENT

Republican incumbent Richard Woods continued his low-dollar ways as he cruised to victory in the GOP primary on May 24, raising $24,000 for the period to bring his campaign total to $55,000. Woods had $37,000 in cash on June 30.

Alisha Thomas Searcy, who won a four-way Democratic primary on May 24, raised a little more, bringing in $36,000 during the period for a campaign total of $98,000. She had $13,000 on hand.

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

Two sets of Public Service Commission candidates are running statewide, although they must live in particular districts.

Incumbent Republican Tim Echols raised $42,000 in District 2, giving him $281,000 for the campaign so far. Echols had $132,000 in cash on June 30. Numbers were not available Saturday for Democratic challenger Patty Durand, who faces a legal challenge to her residency.

Libertarian Colin McKinney raised $150 and had $1,142 on hand.

In District 3, Republican Fitz Johnson, appointed to the post by Kemp, raised $52,000 for the period and $364,000 overall, including an earlier $150,000 loan to himself. Johnson had $311,000 in cash on June 30. Democrat Shelia Edwards raised $530, bringing her total to $20,000. She had a negative campaign balance of more than $3,000.
Rusted chemical barrels and other debris still litter the shell of the burned-out Nox-Crete warehouse in central Omaha, weeks after a three-alarm fire.

Cleanup of the site has been delayed by an insurance-related investigation of the fire, according to documents filed with state environmental regulators.

The fiery blaze sent black smoke and noxious fumes roiling across central Omaha on May 30, prompting a voluntary evacuation of some of the nearby neighborhoods. After the fire, milky white and bluish runoff could be seen flowing from the site, those documents indicate.

State documents indicate that a July 26 meeting on the private investigation could clear the way for cleanup  assuming Nox-Crete has a plan ready to go.

As of Tuesday midafternoon, the company had not filed a cleanup plan with the state.

Owen Lasswell, spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, said state environmental regulations require that Nox-Crete clean up the site, and the state has been in communication with the company toward that end.

The department advised Nox-Crete in a July 7 phone call that cleanup should occur as soon as possible, according to documents on the agencys website.

Additionally, on June 23, the state advised the company to figure out what remained on-site so that it would have a cleanup plan ready for when the insurance review is complete.

Nox-Crete did not respond to a World-Herald request for information, so neither the status of the insurance investigation nor the cleanup plan was available.

The Omaha Fire Department completed its physical investigation of the fire on June 2 and turned the property over to Nox-Crete at that time, said Battalion Chief Scott Fitzpatrick. A cause of the fire could not be determined, he said.

Fitzpatrick said it is standard practice for an insurance company to hire a private company to investigate the fire.

On the civil side, there may be several entities that need to be put on notice and given access to examine the site, he said. There is always potential for large, complicated civil litigation in these types of cases.

The importance of an expeditious cleanup was made clear on June 14, when nearly 2 inches of rain fell in Omaha. Runoff overwhelmed the berm that Nox-Crete had installed, allowing contaminated water to escape the premises, according to documents on file with the state. The warehouse is located near 20th Street and Woolworth Avenue.

Samples of the runoff, which was described as foul-smelling and a translucent milky color, were tested by Nox-Crete and Midwest Laboratories on behalf of the company. While its not clear how expansive the testing was, Midwest Laboratories found that the runoff contained petroleum products.

Nox-Crete has since shored up the berm with landscape fabric and rock, according to state documents.

Jim Theiler, assistant director of Omaha Public Works, said the city is satisfied with Nox-Cretes updated storm runoff plan.

In addition to the berm, he said Nox-Crete has laid an absorbent sock on the ground (a long roll of absorbent) to filter oils and other petroleum-based products from runoff.

The runoff ... has passed through a containment system that helps trap and remove the pollutants before it leaves the site, he said.

The city has concluded that Omahas sewer treatment plant can process runoff that is entering Omahas sewers, Theiler said.

That conclusion, he said, is based on the fact that the city has a better understanding of what was stored in the warehouse, the city was able to provide input into Nox-Cretes storm runoff plan and Nox-Crete has washed down the site, collecting water from cleanup in containers.

Washing down the site helped remove some of the contaminants from what was running off into the system, he said.

According to documents on file with the state, Nox-Crete has said the bluish and whitish tint to past runoff is from the pigment and resin used to seal the edges of plywood.

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy is in charge of monitoring the Nox-Crete site for problems; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said it has no role, unless its help is requested by the state.

According to state documents, Nox-Crete has hired the Paul Davis company to oversee the cleanup, and it, in turn, has subcontracted with Peitzmeier Demolition to clean up the burned-out warehouse and B2Environmental to do environmental work. B2Environmental has begun sampling waste inside the warehouse to inform the disposal plan, according to state documents.

Its not clear whether Nox-Crete has submitted its cleanup plan to the state; a plan is not included among the documents publicly available.

Once cleanup of the warehouse is complete, Nox-Crete will test surrounding property for contamination to determine if further cleanup is needed. That said, testing conducted June 1-3 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found no actionable amounts of contaminants on property near the site, with one exception. A yard tested high for lead and that contamination is believed to be due to historical industrial processes in the area.

Characterizing the nature of the materials contained within the burn scar is important because Nox-Crete will have to take it to the proper type of landfill. Uncontaminated building materials can be taken to a construction landfill while contaminated materials may have to be taken to a hazardous waste landfill.
A proposed change to Omahas City Charter would allow the citys mayors to remain in charge when traveling outside city limits.

The proposal from Mayor Jean Stothert has prompted a debate on the capabilities and limits of new technology, as well as whether Omaha needs a clear line of mayoral responsibility in times of emergency.

Currently, the city charter requires the City Council president to serve as acting mayor whenever the mayor leaves Omaha. Its largely a caretaker position, including signing documents on behalf of the city. But an emergency situation  a major fire, a police shooting or a significant weather event  could require the fill-in mayor to take on a more active role.

Supporters of the change say the current wording is an outdated policy. They note that modern technology allows near-constant communication between an out-of-town mayor and other city officials.

In 2022, there is now the ability for the mayor  as there is any type of government official  to conduct business away from the city of Omaha, said City Attorney Matt Kuhse when he introduced the proposal earlier this year. The city also is considering a new document signing system that would allow the mayor to sign time-critical documents while traveling outside the city.

But City Council President Pete Festersen and Vice President Vinny Palermo have concerns about the proposal to have the mayor run the city remotely, especially if a crisis arises.

Stotherts proposal was one of the first brought before the citys Charter Convention for consideration in May.

The convention, formed about every 10 years, is made up of members appointed by the mayor and Omaha City Council to review and suggest changes to the citys charter, the document that establishes the organization and procedures of Omahas government.

Originally, the Mayors Office proposed that an acting mayor would not be required unless the mayor was out of town for more than 10 days or left the continental United States.

On Monday, the convention members voted on a revision to the proposal that would allow the mayor to remain in power while traveling for up to five days. In cases of an emergency, an acting mayor could step in  but only when the mayor is unavailable by phone for two hours or more.

Festersen said hed be unlikely to support a change to the citys current system, even with the emergency amendment.

I think its important to have continuity and clear decision-making authority in case of an emergency, or in case someone is unreachable in a time of crisis, Festersen said. Anything can happen in a city at any time.

Through a records request, The World-Herald found that Stothert was out of town 39 days in the first six months of 2022, meaning she was outside the city for about 21% of that time.

For many of those days, Festersen was acting mayor. On a few occasions, Palermo stepped into the role when both Festersen and Stothert were out of Omaha.

While acting mayors usually do not rock the boat, that wasnt the case in 1998 when then-Mayor Hal Daub attended a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Reno, Nevada.

City Council President Lormong Lo used his temporary mayoral power to broker a deal with the citys firefighters union, attempting to end a 10-month impasse. An angry Daub said Lo had overstepped his authority. In the end, Daubs administration worked out a different contract settlement.

Palermo said that although he feels the City Council and Mayors Office currently have strong communication and work well together for the betterment of the city, he is hesitant to support a change.

I think there should always be somebody there, ready and working with the staff thats in place in times of emergency, Palermo said. I think its necessary we have somebody in place at all times.

Amendments to the charter passed by the convention, like the one approved Monday, are sent to the City Council for approval, and would then appear on the ballot in November.
A new nonprofit organization is working to create an LGBTQ+ community center in metropolitan Omaha with programming to meet the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals and families of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

The organization, Omaha ForUs, has a mission to build intentional community and create equitable space, according to a press release announcing its creation and launch of a fundraising campaign. The organization aims to grow LGBTQ+ focused, culturally responsive programming in an Omaha-based center.

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert supports the effort to create the center. It would co-locate and coordinate existing and new LGBTQ+ focused organizations. Its programs and services would include LGBTQ+ affirming clinical counseling and facilitated support groups. Mental health services, which are difficult for many LGBTQ+ people to access, will be a top priority, the group said.

We are channeling the collective power of Nebraskas existing LGBTQ+ led organizations and programming to improve support systems for our community, said JohnCarl Denkovich, director of programs for the new nonprofit. By co-locating and coordinating efforts we strengthen proven work and begin bridging gaps in essential services.

Proponents see such a center as a community gathering space, where we can celebrate, where we can mourn, where we can receive services, where we can dialogue, Denkovich said. It would fill a need that has existed in this community for a really long time.

Omaha is one of only seven of the nations 50 largest cities that does not have a metro-area LGBTQ+ center, Denkovich said. It could address needs identified in assessments of Omahas LGBTQ+ community, and help with talented workforce recruitment and retention, especially among people 18 to 34 years old, Denkovich said.

It elevates our (Omahas) rankings when we can have an environment that serves more types of people, Denkovich said. And so youre serving the need on the human side. But if that doesnt move you as somebody who is who is looking at this critically, I think that the economic benefit is abundantly clear.

The City of Omahas LGBTQ+ Advisory Board had made it a priority to establish an LGBTQ+ center. Stothert contributed $15,000 from the Mayors Office budget in 2021 toward the organizations community support campaign, and has approached philanthropic donors for support.

This is one more way Omaha is growing and changing for the better, Stothert said in a prepared statement included in the Omaha ForUs press release. As a former nurse, I want all of us to get the care we need, and the support we deserve. Im excited for LGBTQ+ people to have more opportunity to do just that.

Omaha ForUs launched a community support campaign at the end of June that is aimed at raising $75,000 in 75 days. Thats a fraction of whats needed, but will activate our community and demonstrate a commitment to sustaining Omaha ForUs efforts, said Amanda (Ryan) Crichlow Silva, first board president of Omaha ForUs.

The organization is depending on philanthropic leaders to invest in the project, said Crichlow Silva, a former member of the Omaha Public Schools board.

The group estimates it will need $800,000 for a first year of a full center, with startup costs. They project operating costs of about $500,000 a year after that, some of which the center would raise in revenue from training, consulting and other services.

Heartland Family Service is acting as the groups fiscal agent. People can donate to the community support campaign via the Omaha ForUs website.

Omaha ForUs does not have a timetable for opening a full-fledged center. That will depend on fundraising. The group hopes to initially open temporary office space by the end of this year with at least one staff member, co-locating with a couple of organizations that serve LGBTQ+ people, Denkovich said. They hope to expand to two or three staff members by mid-2023.

A longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ communities, Denkovich has worked in human services and served for more than a decade on the local and national boards of GLSEN. In addition to Crichlow Silva, the initial Omaha ForUs board of directors includes Eli Rigatuso, Tena Hahn Rodriguez, Cameron Koenig and Alexander Foreman. More board members will be chosen, and advisory boards will be named, Denkovich said.

Other organizations and volunteers have been providing services and programs in Omaha for decades and still are, Denkovich acknowledged.

Theres no need to reinvent the wheel and fix something thats not broken, Denkovich said. But we can certainly make something thats awesome even better, by working together and resourcing those things that we know are already working and do it together, and give those people an office to call their own, give them a programming space where they can do the work thats already making a difference.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Lame-duck Republican Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin has given a big pay boost to an administrative assistant who is also a top Idaho Republican Party official in a move that could hinder the ability of the next lieutenant governor by significantly depleting the offices budget before January's power transition.

McGeachin in an email Monday informed the Idaho Division of Financial Management that Machele Hamilton would go from part-time to full-time and jump from $20,000 to $77,000 annually. Her hourly pay is an increase from $20 an hour to about $37 an hour. Her title in the new role is Director of Strategy and Constituent Services. She is also the first vice-chair of the Idaho Republican Party.

Hamilton is making about $30,000 more than McGeachins former chief of staff, Jordan Watters, who resigned in March when McGeachin couldnt stay within last years budget. It's not clear why Hamilton is being paid so much more than Watters, whose chief of staff duties would likely have included everything in the title Hamilton was given.

Hamilton answered the phone for McGeachins office on Tuesday afternoon but said McGeachin wasnt available. Hamilton declined to comment about her employment in the office, and McGeachin didnt respond to a message left with Hamilton by The Associated Press concerning Hamiltons employment.

Its not exactly clear when Hamilton started her new position. The Idaho controllers office lists June 17 as her last day as an administrative assistant in McGeachins office.

Lawmakers each year consider raises for state workers, this year approving raises of more than 7%. Raises beyond that for state agency workers must go through an administrative process with the Idaho Division of Human Resources that considers reasons and merits before possible approval. Hamilton's raise from what Watters was making is about a 64% increase.

Lori Wolff, administrator of the Idaho Division of Human Resources, said that increase wouldn't make it through her agency.

I just can't imagine (Hamilton) would have enough additional duties to warrant (that) increase in pay, she said.

But McGeachin is a statewide-elected constitutional officer, meaning she can simply approve such raises within her office. She can also hire contract work, as she has done in the past. She could, potentially, use the offices entire budget of $205,000 while she is in office for the next six months, the first half of the state's fiscal year.

Hamiltons salary is over $90,000 when adding in benefits, using up nearly a fourth of the offices budget before a new lieutenant governor takes office in January. McGeachin, who is considered part-time, is making about $53,000 annually.

Hamilton, as first vice-chair of the Idaho Republican Party, is in the second most powerful position of the party behind Chairman Tom Luna. Those posts are up for election when the party meets this weekend in Twin Falls. Hamilton, on Facebook earlier this month, said she was running for a second term to defend the Republican brand.

In May, Hamilton ran in the Republican primary in a three-person race for a state representative seat in southwestern Idaho but lost.

McGeachin, who challenged Republican Gov. Brad Little for his job in the May primary but lost by a wide margin, has had budget problems since losing a lawsuit involving a public records request that she fought unsuccessfully in court. She ended up carrying over about $1,700 to this year's fiscal budget, which started July 1. That money also has to come out of this fiscal year's budget.

Midway through the state's fiscal budget year, the state will have a new lieutenant governor in early January. Republican House Speaker Scott Bedke faces Democratic candidate Terri Pickens Manweiler in the November election.

Bedke, the heavy favorite to win the office that hasn't been occupied by a Democrat since the late 1970s, through a spokesman declined to comment.

Notably, McGeachin in September 2020 skipped a meeting of Littles Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee and an important vote on restoring $100 million of school funding to attend a campaign fundraiser with Donald Trump Jr. in Stanley in central Idaho. McGeachin on that day tweeted a photo of herself and Hamilton in a convertible driving to Stanley.

Jim Jones, a former chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court as well as a former state attorney general, said McGeachin's raise for Hamilton didn't pass the smell test.

(McGeachin) is obviously aware that she is going to draw down the budget, making it impossible for her replacement to adequately fund staffing, Jones said. Government positions are not there to help your friends make a living. They're there to adequately staff a position within the means available.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Pentagon said Tuesday that it killed a leader of the Islamic State group in Syria in a drone strike.

U.S. Central Command said in a news release that Maher al-Agal was killed Tuesday and an unidentified senior official in the Islamic State group was seriously injured. The Pentagon said there were no civilian casualties, though it wasn't possible to immediately confirm that information.

The U.S. carried out the strike outside Jindaris, a town in northwest Syria close to the Turkish border.

The attack "takes a key terrorist off the field and significantly degrades the ability of (IS) to plan, resource, and conduct their operations in the region, said President Joe Biden in a statement. And, like the U.S. operation in February that eliminated (IS's) overall leader, it sends a powerful message to all terrorists who threaten our homeland and our interests around the world.

The Islamic State group at the height of its power controlled more than 40,000 square miles (103,600 square kilometers) stretching from Syria to Iraq and ruled more than 8 million people. While the group's territorial state collapsed in 2019, its leaders have turned to guerilla tactics and have been able to efficiently restructure themselves organizationally, according to the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonpartisan think tank.

The strike on al-Agal comes months after the head of the group, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, killed himself during a raid on his hideout by American special forces. The U.S. said Al-Qurayshi blew himself up along with members of his family.

According to a war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, al-Agal was a former prominent commander of the Islamic State group during its control of Raqqa and had since moved farther north to Afrin in 2020 under Turkish-backed factions. He was most recently a commander in a Turkish-backed faction called Jaysh Al-Sharqiyyah.

U.S.-led coalition forces have also targeted al-Qaeda-linked militants in Syria over the years. Last month, a U.S. drone strike killed a senior leader of the Horas al-Din group, Abu Hamzah al Yemeni.

CENTCOM has said that violent extremist organizations continue to present a threat to America and our allies, and ... al-Qaeda-affiliated groups have used the rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria as a safe haven."
LINCOLN  Saturdays turmoil at the Nebraska Republican Party convention produced differing reactions from state political leaders, with Republicans claiming to be unfazed and Democrats suggesting that the GOP discord offers them an opportunity.

At the GOP convention, delegates fired party Chairman Dan Welch by majority vote. A wave of resignations immediately followed his termination, including Executive Director Taylor Gage and National Committeewoman Lydia Brasch.

Explanations for the upheaval differed. Some local Republicans, for example, felt they have been excluded by the party establishment led by Gov. Pete Ricketts. Some also complained that the state party leadership unfairly picked sides in the Republican gubernatorial primary to favor the eventual victor, Jim Pillen.

Ricketts, who had endorsed Pillen in the primary, offered a much simpler explanation when asked Monday about the convention: That a group of new people entered the party and wanted a change in leadership. He said the group went through the proper procedure to make those changes, and he looks forward to see what the new chairman, Lancaster County GOP Chairman Eric Underwood, is going to do.

Thats how the Republican Party is run, Ricketts said. Its run by the people who show up.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb said Ricketts and other Republicans may try to downplay Saturdays events, but she believes Ricketts was a big reason for the unrest.

Division has been growing within the Nebraska GOP for at least a year, Kleeb said, with frustration rising among rural counties against the party establishment. Tensions increased after Ricketts donated over $1 million in the primary to Conservative Nebraska, a group that ran attack ads against Pillens top Republican opponents, Charles Herbster and State Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha.

Herbster declined to comment on the convention Monday. Several other Republicans did not return requests for comment, including Pillen, Underwood, Gage, newly elected U.S. Rep. Mike Flood and former Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.

Ricketts has traditionally been the Nebraska GOPs biggest donor. In the last year alone, Ricketts and his family contributed $560,000 to the Nebraska Republican Party, according to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

Kleeb said she expects Ricketts to shift to independent expenditures to political action committees or individual candidates moving forward, rather than directly to the party. Ricketts, however, claimed he will support Underwood as the new chairman.

Kleeb also said the GOP leadership changes will destabilize the party in ways that could weaken Republicans chances in the November general election. She said Republicans will need to spend the summer reorganizing rather than supporting the partys candidates.

Theyve lost their footing, Kleeb said.

And she suggested that moderate Republicans and independent voters may see the party as becoming too extreme. Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, a Democrat who is running against Flood for the congressional seat, said she has heard from multiple GOP voters who no longer feel included in the party and plan on changing their registration.

Sometimes, the party leaves you, said Pansing Brooks, a former Republican herself.

Despite those Democratic hopes, Republicans still hold a dominant position in Nebraska politics. They have a 49% to 28% voter registration lead over Democrats and hold many federal, state and local offices. For example, Republicans havent lost a race for Nebraska governor since 1994 and account for all five Nebraska members of Congress.

Welch, as he was leaving the convention center Saturday just before his official termination, expressed confidence that the Nebraska Republican Party would remain strong through the restructuring. However, he said he suspects the recovery will take a little bit of time.

I hope the party doesnt suffer as a result of this, Welch said.
BLOOMINGTON  A man is charged in McLean County court with what authorities said would be his third driving under the influence offense after a truck he was driving crashed on Interstate 55.

Dylin Knight, 29, is charged with aggravated DUI (a Class 2 felony) and three counts of obstruction of justice (a Class 4 felony). Court documents include a Bloomington address but he also has ties to Maine, where he has past DUIs from 2012 and 2017.

Court documents say that Knight was driving a truck on I-55 in McLean County when it crashed on July 9. Officers who responded to the scene said they could smell alcohol on his breath and that he seemed intoxicated.

He refused to provide breath, blood and urine samples, leading to the obstruction charges, according to court documents. He is charged with aggravated DUI as, if convicted, it would be his third DUI offense.

Knight is being held on a $10,000 bond, meaning he needs to post $1,000 to be released. His next court appearance is an arraignment on Aug. 5.
BLOOMINGTON  A divided Bloomington City Council ultimately approved a contract for repairs to the Market Street parking garage, though several members favored demolishing it altogether.

Four council members approved a $223,687 contract with Western Specialty Contractors to make repairs that would add an estimated three years of life to the structure, which operates in the block surrounded by Center, Market, Madison and Monroe Streets.

Several council members, however, said they felt it might be time to demolish the structure instead of approving continued repairs.

My issue, in my heart and in my gut, is this is a can that has been kicked down the road over and over and over again, said Ward 6 Alderwoman De Urban. I am not kicking this can.

The discussion comes as Connect Transit has signaled interest in the space. General Manager David Braun confirmed earlier this year the agency and city officials were exploring possible use of the space that would be similar to Uptown Station in Normal.

Urban was among three council members who voted against the measure, along with Grant Walch (Ward 1) and Mollie Ward (Ward 7). Alderman Jeff Crabill (Ward 8) was not present at the meeting, along with Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe.

Facilities Manager Russ Waller compared the repairs to an "insurance policy."

"That work needs to be done to keep the garage safe," he said. "Weve got a few more years, guessing on how long its going to take to get through the study to determine if Connect Transit is truly going to be there."

Because the parking deck is a concrete structure, he said, there could be risks caused by moisture and salt creeping into the fine cracks and expanding the concrete to a severe point.

Alderman Tom Crumpler (Ward 9) questioned the lifespan of the repairs and asked Waller if it would be reasonable to demolish the structure instead of continuing the repairs.

He noted that city officials are evaluating possible replacements, but demolition would cost over $2 million. Because of the ongoing repairs, the city is not charging any fees for parking.

The thing is nearly 50 years old, its way beyond the life of a garage, said Ward 2 Alderwoman Donna Boelen. I understand that you need to do this Band-Aid now, but I do think ... we need to bite the bullet or at least address these issues so that you can begin to move forward with the actual big fix.

Redistricting Maps

Council members previewed redistricting map options proposed by city staff and residents that reflect recent population changes based on 2020 Census data.

Illinois law requires that wards be balanced, with no more than a 10% difference in population between districts, said Deputy City Manager Billy Tyus.

Based on the 2020 Census data, each ward should have approximately 8,742 people. Out of the nine wards, two show more than a 10% deviation: Ward 7 with 7,711 people (-11.79%); and Ward 8, with 10,973 people (+25.52%), Tyus said.

The goal tonight is just to introduce the maps openly as part of a meeting. We will have a more in-depth description and discussion at next week's Committee of the Whole meeting with a hopeful vote here in the near future, Tyus said.

Although only two wards have more than a 10% deviation, it was anticipated the boundaries of several wards will need to be modified to achieve balance. Residents were encouraged to create and propose map options.

City Clerk Leslie Yocum said city staff has developed newly proposed ward maps using GIS redistricting software that allows the proposals to factor in all the legally required factors of compactness, contiguousness, and population deviation.

The citys proposed maps include:

Map 1 which shows minimal movement but places fourth in the GIS redistricting software;

Map 2 which places first in the software and accomplishes the best deviation in Wards 3, 5 and 9 while accounting for future growth;

Map 3 which ranks third in the software and changes boundaries in Ward 1 and 2;

Map 4 which ranks second and also reutilizes Wards 3, 5, and 9.

Yocum said the public map that was submitted also meets all the qualifications as the state requires.

The next municipal election is April 4, 2023, and candidates for municipal office can begin circulating petitions around Aug. 30. Ideally, the council should have a new ward map adopted prior to the start of petition circulation.

A formal discussion of the redistricting maps will take place at the July 17. Individuals can view the maps and data at bit.ly/Bloomingtonmap.
100 years ago

July 12, 1922: The commission form of government adopted by the city of Bloomington eight years ago was voted down yesterday, the plurality in favor of the aldermanic form being 697. The vote polled was unusually light, there being a total of 4,995 votes cast out of about 11,755 who registered.

75 years ago

July 12, 1947: Normal university scholarships were awarded to 21 Bloomington-Normal and McLean County students who graduated this spring from high schools. The scholarships, for $80 annually, are paid for by the state and are good in any state normal school. Those accepting the scholarships must agree to enter the teaching profession.

50 years ago

July 12, 1972: The beehive of commercial construction in Bloomington is centered on the Illinois 9-U.S. 66 intersection. Foundation and caissons are in for the new multimillion-dollar Bergner's Department Store. The mall extension to connect it with Eastland Shopping Center is being built. Across the street from Eastland, a Firestone Sales and Service building is under construction.

25 years ago

July 12, 1997: A Normal woman who produced a video about domestic violence was honored as the first recipient of Awareness to Action's Dove Award. Sally Zuhn, manager of audio-visual services for Country Companies, was recognized for the video work, which will be used by Awareness in Action in presentations to civic and corporate groups.
In late March, at a luncheon for the citys political and business elite, Chicago transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi announced the city would be giving away 5,000 bicycles.

Free bikes. And a helmet. And a bike lock, Biagi said in her City Club speech.

For months since, the Chicago Department of Transportation has held back key details of the program, but on Monday it released a timeline showing the bicycle giveaway will roll out slowly. The 5,000 bikes and accessories will be released over the next four years and at least one-tenth of them will go out in the first year, city officials said.

Participants in a youth green job training program and CDOT mobility programs will get first dibs, then other qualifying residents, according to the city.

City officials initially did not answer Tribune questions about how many bicycles the city had bought, but after the Tribune filed a Freedom of Information Act request they said the Department of Transportation has 680 bikes for the program. So far, the city estimates the program has cost $231,068.

The city bought 350 bikes this spring through environmental company WRD, according to invoices released by the city. Another 330 bikes the city is putting toward the program were initially ordered for the Greencorps Youth Program, a green job training program for high school students whose participants are now among those set to get bikes under the giveaway, the city said.

CDOT said it will gradually increase distribution of the bikes in the coming years, until all 5,000 single-speed, commuter-model bikes have been provided. The city did not have an estimate of the total cost of the program, and spokeswoman Amanda Bolton said officials hope this year to seek competitive bids to provide bikes for the programs later years.

CDOT is committed to making biking a more popular and practical option for all residents  and Bike Chicago will do just that, Biagi said in a statement.

The program comes as the city recently released a climate action plan that called for prioritizing walking, biking and transit use to lower emissions.

Every resident in our city deserves equitable access to safe, reliable and affordable clean transportation options, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. Bike Chicago accelerates both the citys climate and equity goals by providing new workforce pathways, bikes and supportive resources that promote safe biking and a healthy low-carbon transportation ecosystem for all Chicagoans.

Among those set to receive bikes in the first year of the giveaway are participants in CDOT mobility programs like Chicago SAFE Ambassadors and Open Boulevards events, along with the Greencorps Youth Program, where high school students learn how to assemble and maintain bikes among other skills. Bikes will then be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to qualifying applicants.

The city estimates about 250 bikes will be available to those who apply via mail or online.

Applicants for the program must be Chicago residents at least 14 years old and have a household income at or below the area median income for the city. They must not already own a bicycle, and either face a higher mobility hardship or participate in one of the CDOT mobility programs.

Applications will open July 18, and distribution is expected to begin in August.

The Lightfoot administration is making its moves as Lightfoot gears up for what is expected to be a challenging reelection fight in February 2023. So far, the mayor has announced gas card giveaways, reversed her previous opposition to a basic income program first floated by an alderman, and is also giving rebates to homeowners and businesses so they can buy security cameras.

Even as the city prepares to give away free bikes, a series of recent cyclist and pedestrian traffic deaths have led to renewed calls by advocates for citywide infrastructure that prioritizes pedestrian and cyclist safety, like more bike lanes and more protected lanes. The city has about 400 miles of bikeways on and off city streets, and has recently undertaken work that will protect about 45 miles with concrete curbs.
HIGHLAND PARK  One week after a shooting at a Fourth of July parade that left seven dead, the Chicago suburb of Highland Park held a moment of silence Monday morning to mark the exact time police say the first shot was fired.

More than 100 people gathered and hugged each other in a downtown plaza for a tribute that began at 10:14 a.m. and lasted longer than the planned two minutes. Churches in the community along Lake Michigan north of Chicago tolled their bells seven times.

The event was held not far from the building where a gunman fired dozens of shots from the roof along the parade route. A huge memorial of flowers along with chairs holding photographs of the seven victims is now there.

The tribute came a day after restaurants and small shops in the business district where the shooting occurred and had been blocked off with crime scene tape since the shooting reopened.

Robert E. Crimo III, 21, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder and, according to prosecutors, will face several counts of attempted murder and other charges. More than 30 people were wounded in the attack. Authorities have said that Crimo, of neighboring Highwood, legally purchased five weapons and planned the attack for weeks.
The fighting in court over abortion is far from over.

For the half century that Roe v. Wade guaranteed reproduction rights nationwide, abortion advocates had to go to court to fight the hundreds of unnecessary or unconstitutional state restrictions designed to chip away at that right.

Now that Roe is overturned and states in half the country have banned abortion or are about to ban it, advocates are back  this time in state courts, attempting to block abortion bans.

As well they should be. State bans on abortion may be more legally vulnerable than they seem with Roe overturned and the Supreme Court handing states the power to prohibit abortion. For example, some bans may be susceptible to being overturned because they conflict with state constitutions that have been interpreted by courts to guarantee a right to abortion.

These are uphill battles, but theyre worth fighting  especially in the short term. Clinics are closing and patients desperate for abortion care sometimes have to travel hundreds of miles to another state.

Total bans or bans at six weeks gestation  when women generally dont even know theyre pregnant  are in effect in 10 states currently, according to officials at the Guttmacher Institute, which researches abortion policy and supports abortion rights. Florida currently bans abortions at 15 weeks of gestation. In three other states  Arizona, West Virginia and Wisconsin  clinics have stopped providing abortions because the laws are unclear on whether its outlawed. Each of those states has a pre-Roe ban. But it is legally unclear if and when those bans can go into effect.

In some states with multiple abortion bans on the books, advocates are arguing there is confusion about which laws to follow and that all must be blocked until clarified. In Louisiana, for example, officials issued conflicting statements about which of three bans were in effect, and lawyers argued that the laws were unconstitutionally vague because they failed to explain when one or all would go into effect and what exceptions were permitted and what penalties there would be.

Lawyers successfully got courts to temporarily block abortion trigger bans in Utah and in Kentucky.

These are all good if perhaps short-lived measures. Keeping clinics open for a few weeks or months longer means more patients get care.

The more promising cases are the ones in which advocates contend that the bans conflict with state constitutions where privacy rights have been interpreted to include the right to an abortion. Thats the argument in lawsuits filed in Kentucky and Idaho, for example.

Of course, even if the abortion rights advocates win in court, an antiabortion state legislature could amend its constitution to explicitly ban abortion. But a state legislature cant do that overnight and almost all states require voter approval to amend the constitution. Kentucky already qualified a November ballot to amend its constitution to say it confers no right to abortion. Kansas has a similar constitutional amendment on an August ballot. Advocates are already working in that state to get that amendment voted down.

Meanwhile, there are efforts in other states such as Michigan to get measures on state ballots that will enshrine a right to abortion. The California Legislature has placed a constitutional amendment to protect abortion on the November ballot.

These ballot measures will provide an opportunity for voters who support abortion rights as the majority of the country does  to speak up and be heard through their votes.

All these legal efforts are worth pursuing though they are no substitute for a national right to abortion and contraception  as the legal advocates have all stressed. Congress could do that by passing the Womens Health Protection Act codifying Roe into law. But so far, even without the filibuster, the Senate is a few votes shy of the majority needed to pass the law. The Biden administration must find a way to step up and aggressively protect abortion rights, at the very least ensuring access to medication abortion pills through the mail everywhere.

As Alexis McGill Johnson, the president of Planned Parenthood, noted grimly, clinics in half the country where abortion is legal cannot handle the needs of an entire country.

Los Angeles Times
Indigenous lender, OmniBSIC Bank has recapitalised to about GH516 million  above the regulatory requirement of GH400 million.



The large capital gives comfort to customers and the general public, strengthens the banks buffers and its balance sheet as well as enhances its capacity to fund big-ticket transactions in an economy where businesses are recovering from the global twin challenges.



The bank has also consolidated its turnaround story after recording significant profit in the second quarter of this year.

Its second quarter 2022 financial statement showed that the bank posted a profit-before-tax of GH25.04 million compared to a loss of GH11.72 million in the same quarter last year.



The bank posted its maiden gross profit of GH8.69 million in the first quarter of this year after recording losses since it was outdoored from the merger in 2019.



Rights issue



The unaudited financial statement showed that OmniBSIC Bank, which is the outcome of a merger of Omni Bank and Sahel Sahara Bank Ghana, raised its capital from about GH268.2 million in the second quarter of 2021 to GH516 million in the same period this year.



It followed the injection of about GH247 million by shareholders.



The Managing Director of the bank, Daniel Asiedu, explained in an interview that the recapitalisation followed a successful rights issue that was fully underwritten by the shareholders.



The successful recapitalisation of the bank above the regulatory limit and the consolidation of its turnaround now means that the banks profitability and resilience are on firmer footing.



With capital in excess of GH500 million, OmniBSIC, a wholly-indigenous bank, now joins the league of lenders with large capital and deep buffers, capable of supporting businesses to expand and improve upon their bottom lines.



Liquidity position



The banks second-quarter results showed that beyond the strong profit, its balance sheet and liquidity position were strong.



While deposits, and loans and advances enjoyed strong growth, cash and balances with other banks almost doubled.

Cash and balances rose from GH261.7 million in the second quarter of 2021 to GH497.23 million in the period under review  indicating the depth of the banks liquidity.



OmniBSICs investments also shot up to about GH1.13 billion in the second quarter of this year from the GH805.43 million recorded in the same period in 2021.



Implications



Mr Asiedu, who is leading the revitalisation of the bank, said the successful recapitalisation and the consolidation of the turnaround represented key milestones to customers and the bank in its nascent history.



For the recapitalisation, it means that we are solid and it also gives comfort to our customers and the general public that we are fully paid up.



Now that we have in excess of GH500 million in capital, it means that the public and our corresponding banks should be confident dealing with us, he said.



He added that the strong capital also increased the banks capacity to support businesses and thus called on the general public and entrepreneurs in particular to take advantage of the situation to grow.



Unparalleled customer service



The result of the refreshed OmniBSIC Bank is a combination of solid talent acquisition, capital injection and the infusion of new ideas and products and services into its operations by the board and management over the last year.

In May 2020, Mr Asiedu, an astute banker with more than three decades of management experience in multinational and state-owned banks, took over as MD with a vision to revitalise the bank and reposition it on the path of profitability.



With the support of the board, the chartered accountant and economic policy analyst has revamped and rejuvenated the staff, restructured the operations and introduced new products and services tailored at the needs of customers.

A new banking application is also underway to help strengthen the banks operations and improve its delivery to customers, the former MD of Zenith Bank Ghana and the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) said.



He explained that customer service was also prioritised and revamped, making it unparalleled at the moment.



So, generally, we are on the right path with the support of the board and of course, God, he added.



Experienced hands



Beyond leveraging his goodwill and experience, the Reverend Minister and Chairman of the International Presbytery of the Fountain Gate Chapel (FGC) said he had recruited experienced hands to man key positions as part of the plan to strengthen the banks structures.



He was hopeful that these and the improved product line and customer service would endear the bank more to customers, leading to increased business.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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UMB, a leading commercial bank in Ghana, today announced its full support for the government's education agenda by providing students the flexibility to pay admission and all other fees in any of their 35 branches.



Speaking to this reporter here in Accra, Mr. Samuel Sakyi Hyde, General Manager for Consumer Banking for the Bank, noted that "at UMB, we are constantly looking for how to create convenience for our customers. That is why we have partnered with a number of educational institutions to ensure that their students can pay for all their fees anywhere they are in Ghana at any of our branches".



The full list of the schools that are currently served by the UMB Smartfees product include University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Pentecost University, Takoradi Technical University, Koforidua Technical University, Kumasi Technical University, Christ Apostolic University, Institiute of Distance Learning, Labone Senior High School, The HillTop International British School, etc.



"This means that customers do not have to travel all the way to the school to pay their fees but can pay their fees at any of our branches. Very soon, we are working very hard and customers can indeed pay for these fees through our online platforms that will soon be made available to these schools."



Admissions have begun for public schools and are expected to continue to the end of July and it is anticipated that school with start for students by late August.



About UMB



Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) is a full-service financial institution specializing in customized banking products and services.



UMB opened on March 15, 1972, and is a leading Ghanaian indigenous bank with considerable financial expertise.



UMB is recognized for its entrepreneurial approach, innovative use of technology and distinctive banking solutions.



UMB currently has thirty-six (36) branches, three (3) UMB Centres for Businesses, 1 UMB PPP Incubator Centre and a vast network of ATMs. UMB is also ISO 27001 and PCI DSS certified.



UMB is active on key media platforms. For more information about UMB and its products and services, please visit: www.myumbbank.com



Facebook: (www.facebook.com/myumbbank)



Twitter: (www.twitter.com/myumbbank)



Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/myumbbank/)



YouTube: (https://www.youtube.com/myumbbank)



LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/company/myumbbank/)

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
The Executive Director of African Education Watch (Eduwatch), Mr Kofi Asare, has advised Ghanaians not to blame the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, for the seeming food shortages in some Senior High Schools (SHS) in the country.



According to him, the current food shortage challenges were a result of the Ministry of Finance refusing to release enough cash to pay suppliers of food to the schools.



Responding to questions on the AM SHOW on JoyNews on Monday via Zoom, Mr Kofi Asare said, the Education Ministry and the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) had put in place prudent policies and cash flow projections to ensure that the SHS keep running without challenges.



He explained that the Finance Ministrys refusal to release the right amount of funds to pay the food suppliers made it difficult for them to have enough cash to buy and supply to the schools.



Look until the Finance Ministry makes it a point of releasing funds to the suppliers regularly and on time, it would be difficult for this shortage issue to end since they cannot continue borrowing money to buy food stocks at huge sums for supply in the schools. The Ex. Director said.



Mr Asare suggested that the feeding component of the Free Senior High School should be looked at critically and make parents who can afford to pay.



The Ex. Directors call follows recent media reports of food shortages in some SHS in the country leading to many parents getting worried about how their children and wards would be fed while in school.



But the Spokesperson for the Education Ministry, Mr Kwasi Kwarteng, in a Facebook post over the weekend said the government has met the leadership of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) to find a lasting solution to the issue.



He said the Ministry and the leadership of CHASS have resolved the issue and food would be supplied to the affected schools by Tuesday.





Source: GNA









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The Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) on Friday released a total of GH12 million cedis as loans to students in tertiary institutions across the country.



A total of 10,000 students from 148 tertiary institutions in the country benefitted from this release which is the first payment being made after the official launching of the No Guarantor Loan Scheme on 9th June 2022.



The Chief Executive Officer of SLTF, Nana Kwaku Agyei Yeboah, who disclosed this to the media in Accra on Friday said, the amount covers payment to only first-time applicants for the first semester of the year.



First-time applicants from the University of Education, Winneba recorded 1523 as the highest recipients, followed by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) which had 787, the University of Ghana had 511, with Koforidua Technical University recording 488 students and Takoradi Technical University with 371 respectively.



He stated that the lowest amount received by each student ranged from GH1500 being the lowest and GH3000 as the highest depending on the needs of the students after a means-testing assessment by the SLTF before disbursement to the students.



Nana Agyei Yeboah said the payment would go a long way to ease the burden of students as they continue their education on various campuses across the country.



The CEO explained that all continuing students who are beneficiaries of the Students Loan Scheme in the country were paid in March this year.



He stated that everything possible would be done to ensure that payment of funds to students would be made timeously to the beneficiaries to ensure that the students do not have challenges with funding.



Nana Agyei Yeboah appealed to beneficiaries of the scheme to ensure that they voluntarily pay back their loans to ensure that the government gets enough funds at all times to run the scheme for the benefit of others.



The CEO said the only people who have so far not been paid were those who have applied but have not completed the submission of the required information to the scheme and urged them to expedite action in the completion of their documentation and take their biometrics so they could be paid.



He appealed to those who have not yet applied to the scheme to do so since they could also benefit from the loan which was readily available to all qualified students irrespective of political, social, religious and ethnic orientation.



Background



The difficulties involved in getting people to guarantee for students loans applicants used to be a major challenge to many students in tertiary institutions in the country.



This prompted the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government to introduce the No Guarantor scheme to ensure that tertiary students are able to secure loans to support their education without much difficulty.



Many Ghanaians have commended the government for the successful rolling out of the no guarantor scheme which had brought about much relief to students, parents and the institutions of study.



To ensure that beneficiaries received their funds without much challenges, they are required to have E-zwich cards (a smartcard issued by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System Limited (GhIPSS) for easy payment.









Source: GNA









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Officers of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and other state security agencies have heightened security at Mognori in the Bawku municipality and Bansi in the Binduri district of the Upper East Region following attacks by some unknown gunmen.



The attack on Sunday night is said to have left two including a local Imam killed.



The Imam was from Benliyanli, a community in Burkina Faso.



According to residents of Bansi, they had SOS calls from their relatives residing in Benliyanli about an attack around 11:00 pm by some gunmen.



The gunmen were said to have shot sporadically when the town was sleeping.



The attack left two persons dead while several others sustained various degrees of injury. One person is missing.



The Ghanaians in Bansi say the incident saw most Burkinabe flying to their community for refuge.



Most of them, women and children, flocked into Bansi, Jentiga No. 1 and 2 and Mognori in order to escape the attacks.



They are thus calling for deployment of Ghana security officers for protection.

Source: 3news









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After being absent from politics for nearly four years, the former Progressive People's Party flagbearer, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, has made his first public appearance.



The Progressive People's Party (PPP) founder was heavily involved in Ghanaian politics, but he has remained obscure due to his decision not to run again for president.



The business tycoon reaffirmed his commitment to developing the Elmina area into a business hub while he was in his hometown for the renowned Bakatue festival.



He also interacted with locals and stakeholders.



Dr. Nduom noted during the event that he had stayed out of the spotlight in order to concentrate on his health and other ventures in the United States.



"You'd know that I haven't appeared in public for almost four years. I have been attending to my business and health as well in the United States. However, as you can see, I can say that everything is fine now."



Business hub



He stated that he was still fully committed to continuing to offer Elmina residents commercial options and that he would shortly start construction of an ultramodern shopping centre.



According to him, the shopping centre will have a strategic location and be built to draw customers from all over Ghana.



He urged those who had begun intruding on the space designated for the shopping centre to stop doing so.



"I just learned that certain individuals have started some unwanted activities on the property intended for the cutting-edge shopping centre. Without any doubt, I want to make it clear that the decision to build the shopping centre is still in place and that it will soon take place, so anyone abusing the land should cease."



He added: "We will continue to look for support from all of the local government entities, such as the Municipal Assembly and the Traditional Council."

Source: graphic.com.gh









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The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has directed all its regional and sector commanders to institute stringent measures at all points of entry into the country and intensify patrols following another jailbreak in Nigeria.



Nigeria, on the night of Wednesday, July 6, recorded a jailbreak at the Kuje Maximum Security Prison in Abuja, with official reports indicating at least 443 out of 879 inmates that escaped as a result of the jailbreak still on the run.



A statement issued in Accra by the GIS said it was believed that the jihadist group, Boko Haram, were behind the attack which saw the use of high-end explosives and guns that freed all 64 Boko Haram-linked inmates at the prison and were among the escapees still on the run.



It said considering the current migration trends of Nigerians within the sub-region, it was likely most of the escapees would attempt to enter Ghana through both approved and unapproved routes.



The stringent measures, it explained, was meant to deter and intercept all escapees who would attempt to infiltrate the country.



Jailbreaks in Nigeria



A BBC report said Jailbreaks were common in Nigeria as it continued to struggle with multiple security crises from kidnapping syndicates to an Islamist insurgency in the north-east.



It said more than 5,000 inmates had escaped during prison breaks in Nigeria since 2020.



In April last year, the BBC reported that more than 1,800 inmates were freed by gunmen who ambushed Owerri police headquarters, in south-eastern Nigeria.



In September, 240 prisoners escaped after unidentified gunmen attacked a facility in Nigeria's Kogi state.



The BBC reported that Nigeria's interior minister, Rauf Aregbesola, incensed by the developments, in January this year ordered prison guards to "shoot to kill" those involved in jailbreaks.



In an address to prison staff in the southern city of Ibadan, he said anyone who attempted to breach security "must not live to tell the tale".



"Any effort to breach our facility is not acceptable. Don't shoot to injure, shoot to kill. Don't shoot to disable, shoot to kill," he is reported to have said.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) will tomorrow commence moves to avert a looming nationwide strike by organised labour.



The Commission will begin negotiations with the 23 labour unions and associations on their demands.



The meeting, which will be held at the Ministry of Health conference room in Accra, follows the emergency meeting held between the government team and organised labour on Friday, July 8, to discuss the Cost of Living Allowance (CoLA)



A statement issued and signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the FWSC, Benjamin Arthur, in Accra, named the government team that was expected to be at the meeting to be representatives from the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, the FWSC, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Ministry of National Security, Controller and Accountant General's Department and the Ghana Education Service.



For organised labour, the unions and associations that are expected to be at the meeting are the Ghana Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Ghana Federation of Labour, Forum of Public Sector Associations/Unions, the Public Services Workers Union, the Health Services Workers Union, the Construction and Building Materials Workers Union and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU).



The others are Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana, Colleges of Education Non-Teaching Staff Association of Ghana, Ghana National Association of Teachers, Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana, National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana Federation of Disabled Workers Union Accra Rehabilitation Centre and the Ghana Registered Nurses Association.



The rest are the Ghana Medical Association, Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association, the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG), University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana, the Senior Staff Association - Universities of Ghana, Ghana Association of University Administrators, Technical University Administrators Association of Ghana and the Technical University Senior Administrators Association of Ghana.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of IMANI Africa has put up four suggestions that government should implement for taking Ghana back to the International Monetary Fund, IMF, for an economic rescue programme.



Cudjoe in adding his voice to calls for an increase in austerity measures in the government machinery said government should bear in mind recent incidents in Sri Lanka.



His four suggestions include a refund of three years salary, an over 50% salary cut going forward, suspension of ex-gratia payments and cessation of the usage of private jets - by the president.



"For going to the IMF, the President and ministers should refund 50% of all salaries earned in the past 3 years. Also reduce current salaries by 60% & STOP ex-gratia payments No more private jets! Remember Sri Lanka!" his post read.



In an earlier post, the IMANI boss had averred that with events in Sri Lanka, any leader overseeing a failed economy needed to quake in his boots.



Government of Ghana on July 1 opted to turn to the International Monetary Fund, IMF, for an economic rescue programme, after it emerged that the main revenue measure by way of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) had failed to meet expected revenue inflows.



An IMF team arrived in Accra last week and has been holding talks with government representatives.



Over in Sri Lanka, the President and Premier announced their resignations following a mass revolution that saw protesters occupy their official residences refusing to abandon the palaces they have occupied since last weekend.



The resignations mark a major win for protesters, but the future of the country's 22 million people is uncertain as they struggle to buy basic goods, fuel and medicine, a CNN report noted.



Thousands of locals protesting general high cost of living amid a deteriorating economy stormed the official residences President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.



The images from the mass action has been beamed across the world as locals treated themselves to the presidential swimming pool, slept in the President's bed and ate from his kitchen whiles others also worked out in his gym.











Source: ghanaweb.com









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Sri Lanka, the island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of India has been in the news following a Peoples Revolution that ousted the President and Prime Minister of the country.



Thousands of locals protesting general high cost of living amid a deteriorating economy stormed the official residences President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over the weekend.



The images from the mass action has been beamed across the world as locals treated themselves to the presidential swimming pool, slept in the President's bed and ate from his kitchen whiles others also worked out in the gym.



The lessons from the Sri Lankan revolution especially on social media has been that any government that pushes its people too far will have to bear their wrath be it through the polls or via a revolution.



Founding President of policy think tank, IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe commenting on the incident via a July 11 social media post said, events in Sri Lanka should concern any leader overseeing a failed economy.



"Events in Sri Lanka should make any leader overseeing a failed economy quake in his boots," he posted.



In another Sri Lanka-related post, he zoomed in on the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government, tasking the government among others to refunds salaries of three years and take an over 50% pay cut in light of economic downturn.



"For going to the IMF, the President and ministers should refund 50% of all salaries earned in the past 3 years. Also reduce current salaries by 60% & STOP ex-gratia payments No more private jets! Remember Sri Lanka!" his post read.



Government on July 1 opted to turn to the International Monetary Fund, IMF, for an economic rescue programme, after it emerged that the main revenue measure by way of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) had failed to meet expected revenue inflows.



An IMF team arrived in Accra last week and has been holding talks with government representatives.



Over in Sri Lanka, the President and Premier have since announced their resignations following the upheaval and even as protesters refuse to abandon the residences that they have occupied since last weekend.



The resignations mark a major win for protesters, but the future of the country's 22 million people is uncertain as they struggle to buy basic goods, fuel and medicine, a CNN report noted.

















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Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party, NPP, has commented on political developments in Rwanda, where the President recently announced that he could contest for a fourth term in office.



Commenting on an Asaase Radio story titled: "Paul Kagame to seek fourth term as president of Rwanda," Gabby outlined four conditions for which Kagame could run or four more decades.



He cited Kagame delivering, free and fair elections, the people wanting him to continue in office and the rules allowing for him to carry on.



"If he is delivering and the elections are free and fair and the people want him to rule for 40 years and the rules allow" his tweet read.



Kagame, in an interview with French broadcaster, France 24, disclosed that he is looking at running again in 2024. The 64-year-old has been in power for more than 20 years, but he said he would consider remaining in office for another 20 years.



I consider running for another 20 years. I have no problem with that, Kagame told the France 24 when asked about seeking re-election. Elections are about people choosing, he added.



In 2015, Kagame changed the constitution, allowing him to stay until 2034. During the last presidential elections held five years ago, he won 99% of the vote.



Other African leaders have been altering the term limits in the face of sweeping resistance. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled his nation since 1986, removed term limits in 2005. Kagame also fought in Musevenis rebel army in helping the leader come to rule in Uganda.



Kagames rule came into being after his predecessor, Pasteur Bizimungu, stepped down. Kagame served as the countrys vice president and minister of defense from 1994 to 2000 until Bizimungus resignation moved him to president.



Kagame also was the leader of the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front forces, which helped to overthrow the extremist Hutu government responsible for the 1994 genocide that killed a reported one million Tutsi and Hutu people.



From the deep tropical forests of Uganda to the State House of Rwanda, Kagame is indeed a true representation of the struggles that most African leaders have to go through to reach their political climax.



Kagame, whose leadership is often celebrated as an African success story, is accused by critics of being intolerant to dissent. A media law that was passed in the countrys parliament in 2017 essentially criminalized defamation of any official, including religious groups or their symbols.







Source: ghanaweb.com









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Ghana and its neighbouring countries on the African continent have been urged to review their agriculture and food security strategies to reduce the dependency on other countries around the world.



The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES & Africa) said this had become necessary after the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict exposed some significant gaps in the continents agriculture and food security strategies.



Dr Tidiane Ouattara, the Coordinator of GMES said that: The Ukraine crisis showed Africa that food security is an issue because we depend on Ukraine for several things and on Europe also for several things. It means that Africa now has to rethink its agriculture and food security strategy.



He noted that data acquisition and processing had become more than critical because it was a pillar for decision makers to develop good policies, and had appropriate interventions, which was being provided by space science and technology.



Dr Ouattara said this at workshop in Accra on best practices in data acquisition and data processing as an enabler for addressing daily needs of scientists and citizens as well as national development issues.



We have to talk together to share best practices and to look at how to complement each other. Together we are stronger and Africa should speak one language, he said.



Dr Kwame Agyekum, Marine Remote Sensing Scientist, added that data was important for Africa in utilising its resources for the benefit of the citizenry, and national development.



He said that: You realise that Africa is endowed with a lot of resources. We have vast oceans and very fertile lands. We have realised that we need to manage these resources, but we need to collect information about these resources first.



That, Dr Agyekum said, was being done through partnership between the African Union (AU) and European Union, adding that the meeting was to enable stakeholders strategise and take advantage of data to make good use of our resources.



The maiden Continental Service Workshop on Coastal and Marine Services of GMES & Africa was convened by the African Union Commission and attended by leading implementers and partners.



They include University of Ghana (UG), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Regional Economic Communities and European Technical Institutions.



The GMES & Africa phase II is a continuity of phase I of the programme that is looking at building on the achievements of the first phase.



Representatives of the five Regional Economic Communities in Africa, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA, GMES & Africa Project Management Unit and African Union Commission Departments were at the meeting.



Others were European Partners, including European Commission's Directorate for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs (DG-GROW), European Space Agency, European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and the Joint Research Centre.





Source: GNA









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Managing Director of the Inter-City State Transport Corporation (STC), Nana Akomea, has appealed to the striking teacher unions to call off their industrial action.



On Monday, 4th July 2022, four (4) Unions in Education, namely; Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), TEWU and Coalition of Concerned Teachers - Ghana withdrew their services to demand for an increment in their Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).



The unions seek a 20 percent increase in their allowances.



Contributing to Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo" programme, Nana Akomea pleaded with the unions to heed the call by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who has pledged to address their grievances.



Nana Akomea noted that Ghana is currently saddled with huge economic challenges, therefore asked the teacher unions to be patient and wait on the government to finish her negotiation with the International Monetary Fund to release the "balance of payment" support that the government is requesting to beef up her economic program.



He was strongly optimistic that the government will meet their needs after the IMF negotiation.



"We're currently negotiating with the IMF. The President, himself, has added his voice to it that he has listened to the workers' grievances but he pleads with them to call off the strike, particularly the teachers, because the children are now going to write their exams.



"So, it will be very disturbing to them and it will also affect the school calendar. The government has heeded their calls, so they should remain patient for the government to finish its negotiation with the IMF. The President is pleading with the workers. We are also pleading with them to listen to what the President is saying," he stated.



NAGRAT, GNAT walk out of negotiations



Representatives of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Graduate Association of Teachers (NAGRAT) have walked out of the negotiation with the government over their demand for Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).



The two associations accused government of betrayal of trust for asking them to call off their strike before negotiations.



By indicating and asking us to call off our strike before negotiations begin, what it means is that the government side is not ready to continue negotiations unless the teacher unions call off the strike. They have held all organised labour hostage, this is a betrayal of trust.



Right now since we are undesirable, before they even walk us out of the meeting, we are walking out of the meeting ourselves, NAGRAT President, Angel Carbonu told the media on Tuesday.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Police on Monday arrested two young men with a fresh male human head.



The two, suspected to be ritual murderers, were arrested at Kasoa in the Ga South Municipality.



They were arrested after their vehicle had a crash and sent to the Weija District Command.



A police source told the Ghana News Agency that one of the suspects was a Taxi Driver.



The source said the suspects were three, however, one fled as soon as the police opened the vehicle and saw the human head.



It said the suspects were being interrogated by the police.



The source said they had denied knowledge of the origin of the head, which had blood oozing from it.



It said the head had been deposited at the morgue.









Source: GNA









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The Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has underscored the need to preserve Ghanas protected forests.



Prof Rita Akosua Dickson hinted that forest reserves are constantly being depleted because people do not know their benefits.



She was speaking at a tree planting exercise organized by the KNUST alumni association as part of the 70th Anniversary celebrations of the University at Akuapem Mamfe in the Eastern Region.



The tree planting will boost the setting up of an arboretum on the Akuapem Ridge.



According to her, apart from providing the needed oxygen for human and animal survival, forests also serve as the habitat of most animal species and a learning grounds for research work.



The Chief of Akuapem Mamfe who is also the Kyidomhene of Akuapem, Osabarima Ansah Sasraku donated a 7-acre land for the commencement of the Arboretum.



In his address, he stated that the project, when completed will explore herbal medicinal opportunities and recreation.



Nana Ansah Sasraku, an alumini explained that the economic, social and cultural benefits of the forest could not be overruled because of the potential it has in attracting tourists and conserving the climate.



One of the disturbing conditions, I mean climate change which causes rainfall shortages, tidal waves, flooding among others, can be checked when we protect our forest by planting more trees, he stated.



The Global President of the KNUST alumni, Kwaku Agbesi explained that the alumni will play a key role in the setting up of the arboretum.



He called on the association members who are mostly technocrats and successful businessmen and women to commit themselves to the cause of the project.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Diaspora Former Youth Organisers have officially endorsed Henry Nana Boakye to be the next national organizer of the Elephant party.



The group in a statement copied to Peacefmonline.com said Nana B as affectionately called in politics has achieved a lot for the party, hence, very fit to occupy the position of a national organizer in their quest to break the 8.



These records include thirty-five accomplishments under his remarkable leadership while serving as the partys National Youth Organiser. A portion of the statement read



Below is the full statement



ENDORSEMENT OF LAWYER HENRY NANA BOAKYE ESQ. (NANA B) AS THE NEXT NATIONAL ORGANISER



As Diaspora Former Youth Organisers, we concluded that together we support Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye Esq (Nana B) based on his track records. These records include thirty-five accomplishments under his remarkable leadership while serving as the partys National Youth Organiser.



We will like to mention a few of his achievements in this statement.





Provision of motorbikes to every constituency youth wing and the regional youth wings for outreach and campaigning programs.

He strengthened the national youth wings database collection by providing several laptops and gadgets to all the regional youth wing secretariats.

First-Time Voter Project: An in-depth examination of the data on first-time voters revealed that most were students in senior high schools and tertiary institutions.

International Exchange Programs  The national youth wing secured several international exchange programs for dozens of NPP youth.

The countries where such exchange programs went on include India, the US, the UK, Spain, Finland, German, Belgium, Morocco, Ethiopia, Cote dIvoire, and Belgium, amongst many others.

NPP Youth Wing social media team and diaspora youth caucus engagement.

He assigned Diaspora Former Youth Organisers to supply 100 smartphones to the social media team for the 2020 election campaign, which they did effectively.

He was Vice-Chairman for two terms of the International Young Democratic Union, a global alliance for centre-right political youth organisations, the young wing of the International Democrat Union, and many more.

We choose to support him above other candidates because of his accomplishments and strong personality to victory. The New Patriotic Party needs an experienced organiser skilled and determined as the perfect replacement for Sammi Awuku (Capo) to lead the party to victory in the 2024 elections.



Winning the 2024 elections will allow the party to continue assisting in developing and moulding Ghana.



The most liberal ideology political party in Ghana prioritises the countrys people and their progress.



Last but not least, the Diaspora Former Youth Organisers are happy to announce that all eligible voters should keep Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye Esq. (Nana B) in mind when they cast their ballots for the next National Organiser. The Diaspora Former Youth Organisers wish Henry Nana Boakye Esq. (Nana B) the best of luck.



We hope you will emerge victorious when all the valid votes count at the NPPs National Annual Delegates Conference - Accra. We also wish to continue working with you to win the 2024 election.



Signed

Emmanuel Oppong Boakye-Yiadom

(Chairman)

Akosua Kyeremateng

(Secretary)

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.

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Mr. Stephen Ayesu Ntim has assured the partys Members of Parliament that if elected as the National Chairman, he will ensure that the party wins more seats than it did in the 2020 elections.



According to him, the partys inability to win more seats or maintain the number of seats it had prior to the 2020 elections has cost the party in Parliament.



I am making this promise to you that if I am given the mantle of leadership of the party, we shall regain our list seats and add a few ones to them he stated.



He further entreated them to support his bid to become the National Chairman so as to deliver an overwhelming majority of seats in Parliament for the NPP.



I am appealing to you to support my bid for the National Chairman. I will work hand-in-hand with you and together, we shall retain your seats and reclaim the lost ones. I will deliver an overwhelming majority of MPs in 2024 if you elect me as Chairman on Saturday.



Stephen Ntim met with the Members of Parliament on the side of the New Patriotic Party on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, ahead of the partys National Executive elections slated for Saturday.



Surveys conducted by several research bodies put Ntim far ahead of his competitors in the National Chairmanship race of the NPP.

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.

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A seven-member Supreme Court panel presided over by the Chief Justice, Anin Yeboah, has set 9 November 2022, as date for judgement in the case seeking interpretation of Article 71 of the 1992 constitution on the payment of Ex Gratia to member of Parliament among others.



Private legal practitioner, Elikplim Agbemava, filed the application at the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of Ex Gratia payments, particularly, to members of Parliament.



Ex Gratia law



Article 71 of the 1992 constitution states that; The salaries and allowances payable, and the facilities and privileges available, to the Speaker and Deputy Speakers and members of Parliament, the Chief Justice and the other Justices of the Superior Court of Judicature, the Auditor-General, the Chairman and Deputy Chairmen of the Electoral Commission, the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice and his Deputies and the District Assemblies Common Fund Administrator, among others;



Being expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund, shall be determined by the President on the recommendations of a committee of not more than five persons appointed by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Council of State.



Reliefs sought



The reliefs being sought by Elikplim Agbemava, from the Supreme Court are; first, a declaration that on the true and proper interpretation of article 71 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, and by the combined effect of sections 30 and 31 of the National Pensions Act, 2008 as amended, members of Parliament and other office holders mentioned in article 71 of the Constitution are exempted and are not obliged by law to contribute to tier 1 basic national social security scheme operated by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust.



Second, a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of article 71 of the Constitution, 1992 and by the combined effect of section 30 and 31 of the national Pensions Act, 2008 as amended, any contribution by Members of Parliament and other public office holders mentioned in article 71 to the Tier 1 basic national social security scheme operated and managed by the Social Security and national Insurance Trust is contrary to the National Pensions Act, 2008 as amended and article 71 of the 1992 Constitution and therefore unconstitutional.



Third, a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of articles 98 (1), 114, 95 (6), 44 (2) and (3),155 (1), 68 (4), 194 (5), 187 (14), 199, 203 (3) (0), 208 (9) (), 223 (1), 235 (1) and 71 of the 1992 Constitution, the approval by the President (on recommendation of the Committee set up under article 71 of the Constitution) of the payment and receipt, every 4 years, by members of Parliament ( who are still serving or continue or intend to continue in Parliament for more than one 4 year term) of gratuity in the form of Ex Gratia and Pension is indefensible, excessive, unconscionable and inconsistent with the real spirit and intendment of the 1992 Constitution and therefore unconstitutional.



Fourth, a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of articles 98 (1), 95 (6), 44 (2) and (3),155 (1), 68 (4), 194 (5), 187 (14), 199, 203 (3) (c), 208 (3) (), 223 (1), 235 (1) and 71 of the 1992 Constitution, gratuity and Pension is payable under the 1992 Constitution after and full and final retirement of a public servant from public service and not intermittently while he /she is still in public service.



Fifth, a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of articles 17, 98 (1) and 71 of the 1992 Constitution, the approval by the President (on recommendation of the Committee set up under article 71) for the enjoyment of retiring benefits or awards by members of Parliament on the basis of a model that DOES NOT oblige Members of Parliament to contribute to any Pension Insurance Scheme, during their years of service in Parliament before drawing on public funds for the payment of their pension is discriminatory against all other public sector workers or employees in Ghana, unfair, unconscionable and contrary to article 17 of the Constitution and therefore unconstitutional.



Sixth, a declaration that section 6 of the Presidential Office Act, 1993 (Act 463) that provides that presidential staffers (whose Offices are not mentioned in article 71 of the 1992 Constitution) shall be entitled to such salaries, allowances, facilities and privileges as shall be determined under article &! of the constitution, is inconsistent with article 71 and therefore unconstitutional.





Seventh, a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of section 20 (6) of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936) that provides that the emoluments of a District Chief Executive shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund and shall be determined by Parliament in accordance with article 71 of the Constitution is inconsistent with article 71 of the 1992 Constitution and therefore unconstitutional.



Issues set down



Flowing from the reliefs sought by the applicant, the parties (The Attorney General and the applicant) agreed on 6 issues which have been set-down for determination by the Supreme Court.



They are; one, whether on a true and proper interpretation of article 71 of the 1992 Constitution and sections 30 and 31 of the National Pensions Act, 2008 as amended, members of parliament and other office holders mentioned in article 71 of the constitution can contribute to the Tier 1 basic national social security scheme operated by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT)?



Two, whether on a true and proper interpretation of Articles 98(1), 114, 95(6), 44(2) and (3), 155(1), 68(4), 194(5), 187(14), 199, 203 (3)(c), 208(3) (c) 223(1), 235(1) and 71 of the 1992 Constitution the practice by the Ministry of Finance of paying gratuity or ex gratia every 4 years to persons who have not yet ceased to be members of parliament is contrary to article 114 of the 1992 constitution and therefore unconstitutional?



Three, whether on a true and proper interpretation of Articles 98(1), 95(6), 44(2) and (3), 155(1), 68(4), 194(5), 187(14), 199, 203(3)(c), 223(1), 235(1) and 71 of the 1992 constitution, gratuity, ex gratia or pension is payable only after a full and final retirement of a public officer/ servant from public service or intermittently while he/she continues to serve as a public officer?



Four, whether on a true and proper interpretation of Article 17, 98(1) and 71 of the 1992 constitution the practice of paying pension or retiring benefits to members of parliament without any contribution from such members to any pension insurance scheme is discriminatory against all other public servants, contrary to article 17 of the 1992 constitution and therefore unconstitutional?



Five, whether section 6 of the Presidential Office Act, 1993 (Act 463) that provides that presidential staffers shall be entitled to such salaries, allowances, facilities and privileges as shall be determined under article 71 of the 1992 constitution is inconsistent with article 71 and therefore unconstitutional?



Lastly, whether section 20(6) of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936) that provides that the emoluments of a District Chief Executive shall be charged on the consolidated fund and shall be determined by parliament in accordance with article 71 of the 1992 constitution is inconsistent with article 71 of the 1992 constitution and therefore unconstitutional?





Source: asaaseradio.com









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A security analyst, Dr Adam Bonaa, has warned of a possible uprising if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo fails to, with immediate effect, sack non-performing ministers and reshuffle his cabinet.



He also wants the president to cut down on the size of the government while taking urgent steps to address the ongoing economic protests by organized labour.



According to Dr Bonaa, the country is likely to face the Sri Lanka kind of situation where hundreds of angry youth besieged the Presidential Palace over the mismanagement of the economy should this advice not be heeded.



The angry protestors blamed the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for an unprecedented economic meltdown that has been catastrophic for the nations 22 million people.



Speaking to Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV and monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr Adam Bonaa argued that a reshuffle, plus the dismissal of some non-performing ministers, will force citizens to give the new entrants some time to ascertain what they will bring on board.



Yes, it can happen in Ghana but what the president can do is to sack all non-performing ministers and pave way for some who can do the job. He must also cut down the size of government because some of the ministers are not doing anything.



"Most of them (Ministers) are not working but they receive fuel allowances, provision of state security (Police) and also receive ex gratia at the end of their term. He must also reshuffle some of the ministers. The president must also act quickly in dealing with the labour agitation while reducing fuel prices, he admonished.



He also added that the move will give the people hope and ensure the stability. Because where the people live in a state of hopelessness as it happened in Sri Lanka where there was no hope, people begin to challenge those who are not giving them hope.



Dr Bonaa, however, observed that the president has demonstrated little capacity in dismissing some of his appointees, citing the absentee Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, as an example.



In the view of Adam Bonaa, some of the labour agitations stem from President Akufo-Addos inability to sack the MP, who is also the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, being aware too that she is still being paid for no work done.



I dont believe the president has demonstrated that he will reshuffle his ministers because a president who cannot sack Sarah Adwoa Safo cannot sack anybody; a president who cannot sack the agric minister cannot sack anybody. Adwoa Safo has been appointed to occupy a very sensitive position but has been away for almost a year whilst drawing her salaries. I will only have confidence in the president when he begins to sack people like Adwoa Safo. Some of these things are annoying everybody including organized labour.



He will be the one we will hold responsible if this country goes into the drain, he said.







Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be meeting the Finance Committee of Parliament today, Tuesday, July 12.



This follows the arrival of the IMF team in the country led by Carlo Sdralevich, mission chief for Ghana on July 7, after government announced engagement with the latter for a rescue program amidst the financial crisis in the country. The engagement is expected to extend through to July 13.



The meeting is scheduled to take place in Committee Room 7W (West Wing 7th Floor, Job 600) at 4 PM.



The engagement is to ensure stakeholder input and support ahead of an imminent financial bailout programme.



The Government of Ghana on Friday, July 1 announced that it was seeking support from the IMF.



This followed a telephone conversation between the President and the IMF Managing Director, Miss Kristalina Georgieva, conveying Ghanas decision to engage with the Fund, a statement by the Ministry of Information said.









Source: ghanaweb.com









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" " Rahab helps the Israelite spies escape in this 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld. Wikipedia

It's one of the best-known tales in the Hebrew Bible (known to Christians as the Old Testament)  when Joshua and his Israelite army surrounded the great walled city of Jericho, sounded their mighty ram's-horn trumpets and "the walls came tumbling down."

And central to this action-packed story is a fascinating character named Rahab. Not only is Rahab a woman  rare enough in the Bible  but she's also a foreigner and a prostitute, not exactly the resume for a biblical hero.

Yet this Canaanite "woman of ill-repute" demonstrated so much faith in the God of Israel that she and her family were the only citizens of Jericho spared by Joshua's army when the city was razed to the ground. And despite her notorious profession, Rahab is one of only four women named in the New Testament as ancestors of Jesus.

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A Twist on the 'Temptress' Trope

Let's set the scene. In the Old Testament, when Moses died, the Lord chose Joshua as the new leader of the Israelites, who were commanded to take possession of the promised land of Canaan. Before marching across the Jordan River, Joshua sent two spies ahead to check out the situation in Jericho, the largest Canaanite city.

The Book of Joshua in the Old Testament says that the Israelite spies lodged in the home of Rahab, who in the original Hebrew text is identified as a zonah or prostitute. There is some speculation that she might have been an innkeeper instead because the consonants are the same for both occupations: "znh." However, "zonah" is the same Hebrew word used by Israelite prophets like Hosiah and Ezekial to admonish the people for "prostituting" themselves to other gods.

Rahab recognized the foreign spies immediately, but instead of turning them over to the authorities, she hid them on her roof underneath sheaves of flax. When the king of Jericho asked Rahab about the spies, she told him they had already left, but that the king's men could catch them outside the city if they hurried.

Rahab not only saved the lives of the Israelite spies, but she professed her faith in their God, which went against everything that the Old Testament typically warned about the dangers of foreign women.

"Foreign women are the ones who sexually tempt you and lure you to give up your own god," says Hanna Tervanotko, a religion professor at McMaster University. "Rahab is quite remarkable."

The Book of Joshua says that Rahab "lived in the wall" of the city and she lowered the spies down from her window with a rope. In return, the spies kept their promise, and told Joshua to spare Rahab and her family from the terrible destruction of Jericho, in which every living inhabitant  "both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys"  were put to the sword. Rahab and her family were spared and she went on to live in Israel "to this day."

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Rahab in the New Testament

Rahab was such a well-established and beloved figure in Judaism that the authors of the New Testament repeatedly invoked her name as a model of Christian faith. In Hebrews, a letter to a community of Jewish Christians, the author (Paul or one of his assistants) includes a stirring treatise on faith, described as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

To drive home his point, the author of Hebrews created a "Faith Hall of Fame," a list of Old Testament prophets and notable figures also known as "Heroes of the Faith." And included among the likes of Noah, Abraham, Sarah, and Moses was none other than Rahab. "By faith," it says in Hebrews, "Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies."

" " Rahab is depicted in this detail from the altar of women by Sieger Koder in St. Stephen's Church in Wasseralfingen, Germany. Zvonimir Atletic/Shutterstock

Rahab is also invoked in the Book of James as a model of faith coupled with action. "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?" says James 2:14. "Can that faith save him?" James cites just two examples of such faithful action: Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac and Rahab. "[W]as not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?"

But perhaps the most striking mention of Rahab in the New Testament is her inclusion in the genealogy of Jesus recorded in the first chapter of Matthew. Rahab is one of only four women named in the genealogy, the others being Tamar (wife of Judah), Ruth (who married Rahab's son Boaz), and Mary, the mother of Jesus. King David's mother Bathsheba isn't mentioned by name but referred to as "the wife of Uriah."

"The fact that Rahab is mentioned in the genealogy in Matthew makes her an exemplary figure despite her not-so-exemplary profession," says Tervanotko.

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Could Rahab Have Been a Real Person?

According to biblical scholars, historians and archeologists who have studied the ruins at Jericho (also known as Tell es-Sultan), there is very little chance that the events described in the book of Joshua actually happened.

For starters, Jericho was far from a great and powerful city when the Israelites entered the Jordan River Valley. Jericho reached its peak as a walled settlement between 8,000 B.C.E. and 6,000 B.C.E., and the first archeological evidence of Israelites in the region wasn't until around 1,200 B.C.E., many thousands of years later. By that point, the famed walls of Jericho had long since been reduced to a massive pile of rubble.

"There was no settlement at Jericho at the time when the people we call the Israelites made their presence known," says Robert Ruby, a journalist and author of "Jericho: Dreams, Ruins, Phantoms." "It was deserted, and all they would have seen was a very high mound about 70 feet high."

Ruby's theory is that the authors of the Old Testament stumbled upon these massive ruins and concluded that it must have once been a great city. While decades of modern archeological excavations have failed to uncover evidence of a military conquest of Jericho, it probably looked that way to ancient travelers.

"If they created that story  of the miraculous destruction of Jericho  it would really inspire people to believe in the greatness of their ancestors and in the power of the God who led them," says Ruby. "That story of a conquest is much more about faith than events that occurred at the time."

Where does that leave Rahab?

"There is nothing in Rahab's story that would prove that it's historically accurate," says Tervanotko, "but it represents some interesting views that this community had about foreigners. Here's this pagan prostitute who became a hero. Since then, figures like Rahab have become quite a strong trope in books and film, the person at the margins of society who is actually the morally superior character. Doesn't that make it a really good story?"

Now That's Interesting People assume that Jericho's ancient walls were erected to keep out enemy armies, but there are other theories for how the walls functioned, including as a bulwark against periodic floods that washed sediment down from the surrounding highlands. "The real enemies were water and mud," says Ruby.
SOME residents in Cebu City have expressed support to the divorce bills filed by some lawmakers in Congress.



Gladys Cortez, 23, said that at some point, divorce bill can help give a relationship a chance to mature.



"At some point, divorce bill helps, because when you married someone and you think youll end up happily but there's a time that you're not both committed to each other, nga mabastos na ninyo inyong respeto sa usag-usa, divorce helps to save what you have for your children who suffer every day by experiencing the situation," Cortez said.



Ariet Dela Cruz, 38, agreed, saying it will help protect children mentally.



"Para sa ako, favor ra ko since at some point in life, kung di na gyud madalag resolve ang mga difficulties in your marriage, I think it's better to file a divorce kaysa na man mupuyo mog usa ka balay nga puro kasakit. You're not just saving yourselves but also your kids. They will understand in the long run," Dela Cruz said.



But Cortez said that if divorce becomes a law, she is hoping it will not destroy the essence of marriage.



"Dakog impact ang makasal. For me, marriage is not about on paper but it's a blessing. I hope nga kung makaimplement og divorce, unta dili maguba ang essence sa kasal," she said.



Senator Robin Padilla, whose pet bills include the divorce bill, said Monday, July 11, that the divorce bill aims to protect, not destroy, Filipino families.



He said they are not against forever, noting that those who stayed in marriages, although the situation is no longer working for the both of them, should be given a second chance.



Ar-Ar Lumayag, 38, a hair stylist, told SunStar Cebu that he agreed with Padillas statement as long as the reason for having divorce is valid.



"Ako, favor ra ko sa divorce as long as na process siya in a legal way and valid siya nga reason. For example, nangaliwa ang usa sa managti-ayon. Naa gyud rason nganong mu take og divorce ang tao pero kung disidido man sila, then I hope nga mu grant ang balaod sa ilahang wish....everybody deserves a second chance," Lumayag said.



Dixther Obas, 37, said he also supports the divorce bill, but it only applies to couples who have qualified reasons and those who can avail themselves of the cost.



"Depende ra na sa rason if di na gyud ma resolba, okay ra ang divorce, pero ang kaso, ang uban ra man sad ang maka afford og file ana kay mahal man jud ang pag process ana. Para sa ako, okay ra gyud ang divorce pero dapat muhatag og mga condition usa pa mu grant ana nga balaod," Obas said.



Under Padillas proposed divorce measure, either the husband or wife can file a petition to dissolve their marriage under the following conditions:



* When either of the spouses has no capacity to perform the essential marital obligations of the marriage and the incapacity continues and appears to be incurable;



* When there is an existing irreconcilable marital difference;



* When a spouse obtained a divorce abroad;



* When a spouse is presumed dead under Articles 390 and 391 of the Civil Code of the Philippines;



* Upon conviction of an offense under Republic Act 9262, otherwise "Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004";



* Attempt by the respondent against the life of a common child or a child of the petitioner;



* Having a child with another person other than ones spouse during the marriage, except when upon the mutual agreement of the spouses, a child is born to them in vitro or through a similar procedure or when the wife bears a child after being a victim of rape;



* When any of the grounds for annulment of marriage under Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines, filed by the persons and within the periods provided in Article 47 of said Code are present;



* Except when circumstance is present under Article 56 of the Family Code of the Philippines when any of the grounds for legal separation under Article 55 of the said Code are present;



* When the spouses are separated in fact for at least two consecutive years at the time of the filing of the petition for divorce;



* When the spouses have been legally separated by judicial decree under Article 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines.



The bill also mandates a six-month mandatory cooling-off period after the filing of the petition and it will be observed before a competent court. During that period, the court shall exercise all efforts to reunite and reconcile the parties.



If the divorce petition is granted, the husband and wife will be able to enter into a marriage contract.



The children of the estranged parties will continue to be considered legitimate while the court determines custody, particularly of minors.



Aside from Padilla, the divorce bill is also among the priority bills of Senators Risa Hontiveros and Raffy Tulfo. (Irish Delima and Ryan Megabon, CNU interns/SunStar Philippines)




Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Members of the Network Contagion Lab at Rutgers University-New Brunswick (NC Lab) have found evidence of a sharp rise and evolving patterns of hate speech directed toward the Hindu community across numerous social media platforms, according to a new report.

"Anti-Hindu Disinformation: A Case Study of Hinduphobia on Social Media" details how white supremacist and 4chan genocidal Pepe memes about Hindus are being shared prolifically within extremist Islamist web networks on messaging service Telegram and elsewhere.

Researchers at the Rutgers NC Lab used artificial intelligence to better understand the development of a disguised and coded language pattern shared on social networks. According to their analysis of 1 million tweets, Iranian trolls disseminated anti-Hindu stereotypes to fuel division as part of an influence campaign to accuse Hindus of perpetrating a genocide against minorities in India.

Student analysts like Prasiddha Sudhakar worked with high school students from the New Jersey Governors' STEM Scholars program to assemble and analyze the data. They taught them about cyber-social threat detection through machine learning, open-source intelligence gathering and the dimensions of anti-Hindu disinformation.

"I appreciate the opportunity to bring awareness to this underrepresented subject matter," said Sudhakar, who graduated from Rutgers in May with a double major in computer science and economics and minor in critical intelligence studies.

"Educating young people on how to detect open-source hate messaging is a vital first step in helping vulnerable communities prepare for and respond to emerging threats," said Joel Finkelstein, chief data scientist at the NCRI and a senior research fellow at the Miller Center, who directed the student research.

In July the signal on the Hinduphobic code words and memes reached record highs that could inflame a spill-out to real world violence, especially in light of escalating religious tensions in India and the recent beheading of an Indian shopkeeper. Social media platforms largely are unaware of the code words, key images, and structured nature of this hatred even as it is surging.

"There is, unfortunately, nothing new to the bigotry and violence faced by the Hindu population," said John J. Farmer Jr., director of both the Miller Center and the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "What is new is the social media context in which hate messages are being shared. Our prior work has shown a correlation between the intensity of hate messaging over social media and the eruption of real-world acts of violence."

"Our hope is that the report serves as a timely warning before the hate messaging leads to real-world violence," said Denver Riggleman, former U.S. congressman and Miller Center Research fellow and visiting scholar.

The analysis follows a series of reports that NCRI and Rutgers Centers have released since 2020 that examine the use of conspiracy theories and social media networks to instigate widespread, real-world violence. The NC Lab is a cyber-social threat identification and forecasting center developed through a partnership between the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), the Rutgers Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience and the Rutgers Center for Critical Intelligence Studies. The NC Lab's next report, expected in August, will focus on reciprocal radicalization. All reports are available here.

Explore further Hate speech in social media: How platforms can do better
Schematic diagram of 10 kW heat pipe fast reactor and power supply of thermoelectric generation space reactor. Credit: SciEngine/Yu, Goubin et al. (2022)

One look at the Planetary Decadal Survey for 20232032, and you will see some bold and cutting-edge mission proposals for the coming decade. Examples include a Uranus orbiter and probe (UOP) that would study Uranus' interior, atmosphere, magnetosphere, satellites, and rings; and an Enceladus orbiter and surface lander to study the active plumes emanating from Enceladus' southern polar region. Not to be outdone, China is also considering a nuclear-powered Neptune Explorer to explore the ice giant, its largest moon (Triton), and its other satellites and rings.

The mission was the subject of a study conducted by researchers from the China National Space Agency (CNSA), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the China Atomic Energy Authority, the China Academy of Space Technology, and multiple universities and institutes. The paper that describes their findings (published in the journal SCIENTIA SINICA Technologica) was led by Guobin Yu, a researcher with the School of Astronautics at Beihang University and the Department of Science and Technology and Quality at the CNSA.

As they indicate in their paper, ice giants like Neptune are a potential treasure trove of scientific discoveries. In addition to its fascinating interior structure (which includes diamond rain!), Neptune is believed to have played an important role in the formation of the solar system. In short, its composition includes large amounts of gas that were part of the protostellar nebula from which our system formed. At the same time, its position indicates where the planets formed (and since migrated to their current orbits).

There are also the enduring mysteries of Neptune's largest moon Triton, which astronomers suspect is a planetoid flung from the outer solar system and captured by Neptune's gravity. The arrival of this planetoid is also thought to have caused a shakeup with Neptune's natural satellites, causing them to break up and coalesce to form new moons. It's also theorized that Triton will eventually break up and form a halo around Neptune or collide with it. Basically, the study of Neptune, its satellites, and its orbital dynamics could provide answers to how the solar system formed, evolved, and how life began.

Unfortunately, due to the difficulties of sending missions to deep space (which includes launch windows, power supply, and communications), only one mission has visited Neptune. This was the Voyager 2 probe, which flew past the system in 1989 and obtained most of what we now know about this ice giant and its system. What's more, the nature of Voyager 2's scientific instruments imposed certain limitations on the amount of data it could acquire. In recent years, NASA has proposed sending a mission to explore Neptune and Triton (the Trident spacecraft).

However, this mission was not assigned priority by the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 20232032 and was passed over for a Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP). But given the potential and immense improvements that have been made in spacecraft instruments since Neptune was visited last, Yu and his colleagues recommend another mission to Neptune. (Note: all information and quotations translated from the original paper, written in Mandarin).

The flight path for a possible Neptune Explorer, based on the locations of the planets before 2040. Credit: SciEngine/Yu, Guobin et al. (2022)

Design considerations

Of course, the challenges mentioned above remain, which were used to inform the design of the spacecraft and its mission architecture. Looking at the power supply issue, Yu and his colleagues needed a source that could safely and reliably provide electricity for no less than fifteen years. They determined that a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) with a 10-kilowatt energy (kWe) capacity would suffice. This nuclear battery, similar to what the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers use, converts heat energy from the decay of radioactive material into electricity. As they state in their paper:

"Considering the technical maturity of the space reactor power supply of different power levels, the power requirements of detectors and electric propulsion, the launch capability of the launch vehicle, and the funding, the output power of the space reactor power supply for the Neptune exploration mission is determined to be 10 kWe."

They further recommend that the power supply system be based on a scheme of using one heat pipe, one set of thermoelectric conversion units, and one set of heat sinks as a single power generation unit. Multiple power generation units, where the heat energy is converted into electrical energy, can then be connected in parallel to supply power to the spacecraft. This system, they write, will be able to supply the mission with "8 years of 10 kWe full power operation and 7 years of 2 kWe low power operation, which can effectively ensure the reliability and safety of the system during the entire mission."

The team also identified several key processes essential for this system's safe and reliable operation. Among them, the generator must ensure continuous and controllable heat generation from nuclear fission, reliable heat transfer in the reactor, efficient thermoelectric conversion, and waste heat removal. To achieve this, the design for their reactor calls for uranium-235 rods, monolithic uranium-molybdenum alloys, and rod-shaped ceramic elements that allow for efficient high transfer with a lightweight, compact core.

The spacecraft would also carry several instruments to study the planet, its system, and objects along the way. This includes a Neptune atmospheric probe (NAP) for studying the planet's interior and a Triton penetration probe (TPP) that would examine the moon's crust. A complement of smaller satellites (CubeSats or nanosatellites) would also be deployed along the way to explore a Main Belt asteroid and a Centaur asteroid.

Mission profile

To start, the team explored several possible methods for exploring Neptune (remote sensing, flybys, orbital observation, soft landing, etc.). Remote sensing and flybys were ruled out immediately because these would not allow the mission to effectively measure Neptune's deep composition and internal structure. "The requirements are high, and the task scale, technical difficulty, and funding requirements are extremely large," they state. "Based on the scientific objectives, technical level, and funding scale, the detection method is determined to be polar orbiting detection."

Another consideration was that given the distances involved (an average of 30 AUs from the sun) and the carrying capacity of a mission to deep space, the probe's flight speed should be increased as much as possible during the early stage. They further concluded that the best way to do this (and decelerate to achieve an orbit around Neptune) was to conduct a launch around 2030, which would allow for a gravity assist with Jupiter and an arrival date of 2036. Other launch opportunities include 2028, 2031, and 2034, but any flights would need to arrive at Neptune before 2040.

After completing a few orbits, the spacecraft would release a series of small satellites and two probes to explore Neptune's atmosphere and Triton's surface (respectively).

Scientific objectives

According to Yu and his colleagues, there are four major scientific objectives that a Neptune Explorer should investigate. These include Neptune's internal structure and composition, its magnetosphere and ionosphere, its moons and rings, and its populations of Trojans and Centaurs (small asteroid families that share its orbit). In terms of its structure/composition, astronomers hope to shed light on Neptune's strange thermal properties, which are believed to be the result of its "weather patterns." As they write:

"The internal heat sources of Neptune (gravity collapse, tidal force, isotope decay heat, etc.) are considered to be one of the important sources to maintain the surface temperature of Neptune. There is a deviation between the calculated infrared detection result 57K and the actual result 47K, so the infrared radiation measurement in a wider frequency band is helpful to understand the operation mechanism of the heat release rate inside Neptune."

This composite image of the KBO 2014 MU69 (aka. Arrokoth) compiled from data obtained by NASAs New Horizons spacecraft during its flyby. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Roman Tkachenko

Examining Neptune's interior would also explain why the planet is much smaller than Saturn but has more than twice the average mass density. Knowing more about Neptune's atmospheric composition will also reveal how it differs from Uranus's atmosphere (similarly blue but lighter). This research will also reveal new information on the composition of the protostellar clouds from which the ice giant formed and the formation of the solar system by extension.

The study of Neptune's magnetosphere and ionosphere could help resolve the mystery of Neptune's magnetic vs. rotational axis. Like Uranus, Neptune's magnetic axis is strongly tilted relative to its rotational axis (47) and offset by 0.55 radii (13,500 km; 8388.5 mi) from the planet's center. Before Voyager 2's flyby, this was hypothesized to be the result of Neptune's sideways rotation but is now thought to be due to a dynamo effect in the interior. Other objectives include the cause of the planet's powerful hurricanes and the reason for the formation and long-term presence of Neptune's great dark spot.

As for Neptune's moons and rings, the potential for scientific discoveries includes the retrograde orbit, revolution, and dynamic migration of Triton (Neptune's largest moon). The fact that Triton orbits in the opposite direction of Neptune's rotation is one of the main arguments for how Triton could be a dwarf planet that formed in the Kuiper Beltthe other being its composition, which is similar to that of Pluto. Per this theory, Triton was ejected from the Kuiper Belt and captured by Neptune's gravity, which caused the breakup of Neptune's existing satellites and the formation of new, smaller ones.

In essence, studying Triton's orbital dynamics could shed light on the early solar system's history, where ejected objects and planetoids were still settling into their current orbits. This could be supplemented by a comparative analysis of 2014 MU69 (aka. Arrakoth), the KBO that the New Horizons probe studied during its close flyby in July 2015, and other KBOs to learn more about the origin of Triton.

There's also Triton's cryovolcanic activity, resulting from tidal flexing in its interior caused by Neptune's gravitational pull. However, this activity increases when Triton is closest to the sun (perihelion), resulting in greater eruptions from the interior. This will leave higher concentrations of nitrogen and other gases in the moon's tenuous atmosphere, which could be studied to learn more about its interior composition and structure. As for the rings, the team noted several objectives there:

"Establish a complete list of planetary rings and their inner Shepherd satellites, study the characteristics, formation mechanism, material exchange, and gas transport of planetary rings of different orbital types, analyze the origin of different celestial bodies, and detect possible organic matter The multiple planetary rings of Neptune are not uniformly distributed in longitude. Instead, it presents an arc-block-like discrete structure. Why these arc-block structures can exist, and whether they exist stably without spreading out, are all interesting dynamical problems."

China's space agency has made some rather impressive moves in recent years that illustrate how the nation has become a major power in space. These include the development of heavy launch rockets like the Long March 9, the deployment of space stations (the Tiangong program), and their success with the Chang'e and Tianwen programs that have sent robotic explorers to the moon and Mars. A mission like this, which would fly to the outer solar system and one of the least-studied bodies, indicates how China hopes to expand its space program in the coming years.

It would also complement NASA's plan to send a robotic probe to Uranus, another of the solar system's least-studied bodies. Like the proposed Neptune Explorer, this mission would study Uranus' atmosphere, interior structure, and moons and rings using an orbiting spacecraft and a deployable probe. The resulting data would keep astronomers and planetary scientists busy for decades and could reveal some truly groundbreaking things about the outer solar systemnot the least of which would be its history and how this allowed for the emergence of life here on Earth.

Explore further The rings of Uranus and Neptune could help map their interiors

More information: GuoBin Yu et al, Mission analysis of a Neptune detector with a 10 kWe nuclear reactor power generator, SCIENTIA SINICA Technologica (2021). GuoBin Yu et al, Mission analysis of a Neptune detector with a 10 kWe nuclear reactor power generator,(2021). DOI: 10.1360/SST-2020-0399
An image of dunes on Mars, taken by the Zhurong rover of the Tianwen-1 probe shortly before it entered dormancy in May 2022. Credit: CNSA

After exploring Mars for more than a year, China's Tianwen-1 space probe has successfully taken images covering the entire Red Planet, China's National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on June 29. Tianwen-1, which translates to "quest for heavenly truth," consists of six separate spacecraft: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, lander, remote camera, and Zhurong rover. The images in question were taken by the orbiter while circling Mars 1,344 times, capturing images of the Red Planet from every angle while Zhurong explored the surface. in the statement, CNSA said the probe has now completed all of its tasks, which included taking medium-resolution images covering the entire planet.

Tianwen-1 was launched on July 23, 2020, amidst the turmoil of the COVID-19 global pandemic. What's unique about this mission is China was attempting to become the first nation to successfully send an orbiter and rover to Mars on the first try. Upon successful orbital insertion and landing, Tianwen-1 became a historic victory for both the CNSA and space exploration. Before Tianwen-1, the only two successful missions to send both an orbiter and lander to Mars were NASA's Viking 1 and 2 missions in 1975. Prior to that, the Soviet Union had attempted this feat with their Mars 2 and 3 missions in 1971, and Mars 6 in 1973. Mars 2 was an outright failure with the lander being destroyed and the orbiter sending back no data. On Mars 3, the orbiter obtained approximately eight months of data and while the lander touched down safely, it only returned 20 seconds of data. On Mars 6, the orbiter produced data from an occultation experiment, but the lander failed on descent.

During its time exploring the red planet, Tianwen-1 showed a Mars we've come to both love and admire: dusty dunes, shield volcanoes, impact craters, and even the north pole. While the orbiter was taking these amazing images, Zhurong was gathering data and information about Mars' geological structure, atmosphere, environment, and soil. Overall, the probe has collected 1,040 gigabytes of raw scientific data, which the CNSA said has been processed by scientists back on Earth and handed over to researchers for further study.

An image of a mountain on Mars taken by Chinas Tianwen-1 probe. Credit: CNSA

While the probe entered Mars' orbit on February 10, 2021, the Zhurong rover didn't touch down on Mars until May 14 of that same year. It landed in Utopia Planitia, current home of NASA's Viking 2 spacecraft which landed in the vast Martian plain in 1975. In June 2022, Zhurong successfully found hydrated minerals in sediment dating to Mars' most recent geologic period which are likely associated with groundwater. Hydrated minerals include substances such as olivine, pyroxene, and feldspar that were likely altered as they integrated water into their chemical structures. Unfortunately, Zhurong had to enter its dormant mode starting on May 18, 2022, due to dropping temperatures during the Martian winter, along with poor sand and dust conditions. This dormant mode ensures the long-term survivability of the rover, which will reawaken sometime in December.

While Tianwen-1 makes China only the third nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the surface of Mars, the European Space Agency (ESA), India, and the United Arab Emirates have successfully sent their respective spacecraft to orbit the Red Planet. Tianwen-1 also demonstrates China's strong aspiration to explore Mars, as it recently announced plans to return Mars samples to Earth in 2031, a full two years earlier than NASA and the ESA.

Black-and-white picture of Mars taken by Tianwen 1. Credit: CNSA

Along with their ambitious robotic missions, the CNSA announced last year that they plan to send its first crewed mission to the Red Planet in 2033 with goal to send regular missions to Mars and eventually build a base there. This 2033 timeframe is in stark contrast to NASA, who announced earlier this year that they plan to launch astronauts to Mars in the late 2030s or early 2040s. China seems very serious about human space exploration, as their Tiangong space station currently houses three astronauts on six-months stays, with the most recent crew arriving just last month.

Explore further A one-way phone call from Mars
Credit: Shutterstock

"Climate change is racist." So reads the title of a recent book by British journalist Jeremy Williams. While this title might seem provocative, it's long been recognized that people of color suffer disproportionate harm under climate changeand this is likely to worsen in the coming decades.

However, most rich white countries, including Australia, are doing precious little to properly address this inequity. For the most part, they refuse to accept the climate debt they owe to poorer countries and communities.

In so doing, they sentence millions of people to premature death, disability or unnecessary hardship. This includes in Australia, where climate change compounds historical wrongs against First Nations communities in many ways.

This injusticea type of "atmospheric colonization"is a form of deeply entrenched colonial racism that arguably represents the most pressing global equity issue of our time. Several upcoming global talks, including the Pacific Islands Forum this week, offer a chance to urgently elevate climate justice on the global agenda.

'Not borne equally'

The effects of climate change are not borne equally between everyone on the planet, and this problem will only worsen. Black people, people of color and Indigenous people often face the most dire consequences in a warming world.

For example, research suggests global warming of 2 would leave more than half of Africa's population at risk of undernourishment, due to reduced agricultural production. This is despite Africa having contributed relatively little to greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate injustice also manifests closer to home. The Lowitja Institute, Australia's national body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research, says climate change: "disrupts cultural and spiritual connections to Country that are central to health and well-being. Health services are struggling to operate in extreme weather with increasing demands and a reduced workforce. "

All these forces combine to exacerbate already unacceptable levels of ill-health within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations.

Failure at Bonn

Last month, the continued failure on the part of rich white countries to take responsibility for this injustice was on full display at the United Nations climate meetings in Bonn, Germany.

There, governments failed to make any significant progress towards compensation for "loss and damage." According to Oxfam, loss and damage collectively refers to: "the consequences and harm caused by climate change where adaptation efforts are either overwhelmed or absent."

At Bonn, the G77 (a coalition of 134 developing countries) and China wanted financing for a so-called "loss and damage facility" put on the official agenda at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt in November this year. This facility would comprise a formal body to deliver funding to developing nations to cope with the consequences of climate change.

But the United States and the European Union opposed the move, fearing they would become liable for billions of dollars in damages.

Concerns around "loss and damage" have been long plagued global climate negotiations.

In 2013, the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage was established at COP19. Climate activists hoped it would usher in a new era of climate justice. But almost a decade on, there's still no clear path to the financing required.

And rich white countries continue to distance themselves from all language of compensation or reparation for both historic and contemporary emissions.

This refusal continues long histories of European racism, including the deeply racialised processes of large-scale extraction that fuelled and sustained the Industrial Revolution from the outset.

Sugar plantations throughout the Caribbean were worked for generations by Africans who were enslaved, generating massive profits for Europeans that were then invested and reinvested in energy-intensive industrial infrastructure. This infrastructure helped fuel the global emissions that remain in the atmosphere today.

British industrialization would simply not have been possible without the stolen land and uncompensated labor acquired through colonization and slavery. Compensation for this plunder was never provided.

And today, the emissions it initiated are doubling back on those whose land and labor made them possible.

Climate change at the center of reparations

Calls for reparations for colonialism and slavery have grown rapidly over the past few yearsparticularly as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. and U.K.

Some European states have begun to take responsibility and provide redress for colonial theft, violence and displacement.

These efforts are laudable. But there's an urgent need to focus this sentiment on climate changeand in particular, to supercharge demands for climate reparations.

The Pacific Islands forum this week provides an opportunity for Australia to undertake climate reparation, by committing new finance for the loss and damage incurred by poorer Pacific nations under climate change.

UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston recently said the world risks a new era of "climate apartheid." In this scenario, tens of millions of people will be impoverished, displaced and hungry, while the rich buy their way out of hardship.

Going into COP27 in November, negotiators from the U.S., the EU and Australia must prioritize loss and damage finance. Failing to do so will only further solidify climate injustice.

Explore further Vanuatu declares climate emergency

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
An abandoned road and brine Transitional Pool at the margin of the Salar de Atacama Halite Nucleus. Credit: UMass Amherst

A groundbreaking new study recently published in the journal Earth's Future and led by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in collaboration with the University of Alaska Anchorage, is the first to comprehensively account for the hydrological impact of lithium mining. Since lithium is the key component of the lithium-ion batteries that are crucial for the transition away from fossil fuels and towards green energy, it is critical to fully understand how to responsibly obtain the precious element.

Previous studies have not addressed two of the most important factors in determining whether lithium is obtained responsibly: the age and source of the water the lithium is found in. This first-of-its-kind study is the result of more than a decade of research, and it suggests that total water usage in the Salar de Atacama is exceeding its resupplythough, as the team also points out, the impact of lithium mining itself is comparatively small. Lithium mining accounts for less than 10% of freshwater usage and its brine extraction does not correlate with changes in either surface-water features or basin-water storage.

Lithium, says David Boutt, professor of geosciences at UMass Amherst and one of the paper's co-authors, is a strange element. It's the lightest of the metals, but it doesn't like to be in a solid form. Lithium tends to occur in layers of volcanic ash, but it reacts quickly with water. When rain or snowmelt moves through the ash layers, lithium leaches into the groundwater, moving downhill until it settles in a flat basin where it remains in solution as a briny mix of water and lithium. Because this brine is very dense, it often settles beneath pockets of fresh surface water, which float on top of the lithium-rich fluid below. These fresh-water lagoons often become havens for unique and fragile ecosystems and iconic species such as flamingos.

More than 40 percent of the world's proven lithium deposits are located in the Salar de Atacama, a massive, arid Chilean salt flat encompassing approximately 850 square miles, and the site of the research. The Salar de Atacama is host to a number of ecologically unique wildlife preserves and is also the ancestral home of several Atacameno indigenous communities, with whom the UMass team worked. Because the salt flats are so ecologically sensitive and depend on scarce supplies of fresh water, the use of water in the Salar de Atacama runs the risk of disturbing both the ecological health of the region and the indigenous ways of life.

And yet, up until now, there has been no comprehensive approach to gauging water use or lithium mining's impact in the Salar de Atacama.

Complex Hydrology in Chilean salt flat

"To understand the environmental effect of lithium mining," says Brendan Moran, a postdoctoral research associate in geosciences at UMass Amherst and the lead author of the paper, "we need to understand the hydrology in the region the lithium is found. That hydrology is much more complex than previous researchers have given it credit for."

To illustrate the complexity, and the previous misconception about the Salar de Atacama's hydrology, Moran and Boutt draw on the metaphor of a bank account. Imagine that you get a paycheck every month; when you go to balance your checkbook, as long as your monthly expenditures don't exceed your monthly income, you are financially sustainable. Previous studies of the Salar de Atacama have assumed that the infrequent rainfall and seasonal runoff from the mountain ranges that ring it were solely responsible for the water levels in the salt flats, but it turns out that assumption is incorrect.

Using a variety of water tracers that can track the path that water takes on its way to the Salar de Atacama as well as the average age of water within different water bodies, including surface waters and sub-surface aquifers, Moran and his colleagues discovered that though localized, recent rainfall is critically important, more than half of the freshwater feeding the wetlands and lagoons is at least 60 years old. "Because these regions are so dry, and the groundwater so old," says Moran, "the overall hydrological system responds very slowly to changes in climate, hydrology and water usage." At the same time, short-term climate changes, such as the recent major drought and extreme precipitation events, can cause substantial and rapid changes to the surface water and the fragile habitats they sustain. Given that climate change is likely to cause more severe droughts over the region, it could further stress the area's water budget.

To return to the accounting metaphor, the paycheck is likely getting smaller and isn't coming monthly, but over a period of at least 60 years, which means that researchers need to be monitoring water usage on a much longer time scale than they currently do, while also paying attention to major events, like droughts, in the region.

Complete hydrological monitoring requires additional tools paired with these geochemical tracers. The UMass and UAA teams used water usage data from the Chilean government, and satellite imagery, which allowed them to assess the changing extent of wetlands over the past 40 years, rain gauges, and satellite measurements to determine changes in precipitation over the same period.

Given how long it takes for groundwater to move within the basin, "The effects of water over-use may still be making their way through the system and need to be closely monitored," says Moran, "potential impacts could last decades into the future."

Ultimately, this comprehensive framework, which was funded by BMW Group and BASF, is applicable far beyond the Salar de Atacama. "It's a modern approach to water management," says Boutt.

Explore further Climate change and lithium mining negatively influence flamingos

More information: Relic Groundwater and Prolonged Drought Confound Interpretations of Water Sustainability and Lithium Extraction in Arid Lands, Earth s Future (2022). Journal information: Earth's Future Relic Groundwater and Prolonged Drought Confound Interpretations of Water Sustainability and Lithium Extraction in Arid Lands,(2022). DOI: 10.1029/2021EF002555
Study 3 stimuli example. Google image search results for the search term "peruker" in the high-inequality condition (90% men, 10% women; Left) and the low-inequality condition (50% men, 50% women; Right). Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2204529119

Gender-neutral internet searches yield results that nonetheless produce male-dominated output, finds a new study by a team of psychology researchers. Moreover, these search results have an effect on users by promoting gender bias and potentially influencing hiring decisions.

The work, which appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is among the latest to uncover how artificial intelligence (AI) can alter our perceptions and actions.

"There is increasing concern that algorithms used by modern AI systems produce discriminatory outputs, presumably because they are trained on data in which societal biases are embedded," says Madalina Vlasceanu, a postdoctoral fellow in New York University's Department of Psychology and the paper's lead author. "As a consequence, their use by humans may result in the propagation, rather than reduction, of existing disparities."

"These findings call for a model of ethical AI that combines human psychology with computational and sociological approaches to illuminate the formation, operation, and mitigation of algorithmic bias," adds author David Amodio, a professor in NYU's Department of Psychology and the University of Amsterdam.

Technology experts have expressed concern that algorithms used by modern AI systems produce discriminatory outputs, presumably because they are trained on data in which societal biases are ingrained.

"Certain 1950s ideas about gender are actually still embedded in our database systems," Meredith Broussard, author of "Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World" and a professor at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, told the Markup earlier this year.

The use of AI by human decision makers may result in the propagation, rather than reduction, of existing disparities, Vlasceanu and Amodio say.

To address this possibility, they conducted studies that sought to determine whether the degree of inequality within a society relates to patterns of bias in algorithmic output and, if so, whether exposure to such output could influence human decision makers to act in accordance with these biases.

First, they drew from the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI), which contains rankings of gender inequality for more than 150 countries. The GGGI represents the magnitude of gender inequality in economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment in 153 nations, thereby providing societal-level gender inequality scores for each country.

Next, to assess possible gender bias in search results, or algorithmic output, they examined whether words that should refer with equal probability to a man or a woman, such as "person," "student," or "human," are more often assumed to be a man. Here, they conducted Google image searches for "person" within a nation (in its dominant local language) across 37 countries. The results showed that the proportion of male images yielded from these searches was higher in nations with greater gender inequality, revealing that algorithmic gender bias tracks with societal gender inequality.

The researchers repeated the study three months later with a sample of 52 countries, including 31 from the first study. The results were consistent with those from the initial study, reaffirming societal-level gender disparities are reflected in algorithmic output (i.e. internet searches).

Vlasceanu and Amodio then sought to determine whether exposure to such algorithmic outputssearch-engine resultscan shape people's perceptions and decisions in ways consistent with pre-existing societal inequalities.

To do so, they conducted a series of experiments involving a total of nearly 400 female and male U.S. participants.

In these experiments, the participants were told they were viewing Google image search results of four professions they were likely to be unfamiliar with: chandler, draper, peruker, and lapidary. The gender composition of each profession's image set was selected to represent the Google image search results for the keyword "person" for nations with high global gender inequality scores (roughly 90% men to 10% women in Hungary or Turkey) as well as those with low global gender inequality scores (roughly 50% men to 50% women in Iceland or Finland) from the 52-nation study above. This allowed the researchers to mimic the results of internet searches in different countries.

Prior to viewing the search results, the participants provided prototypicality judgements regarding each profession (e.g., "Who is more likely to be a peruker, a man or a woman?"), which served as a baseline assessment of their perceptions. Here, the participants, both female and male, judged members of these professions as more likely to be a man than a woman.

However, when asked these same questions after viewing the image search results, the participants in the low-inequality conditions reversed their male-biased prototypes relative to the baseline assessment. By contrast, those in the high-inequality condition maintained their male-biased perceptions, thereby reinforcing their perceptions of these prototypes.

The researchers then assessed how biases driven by internet searches could potentially influence hiring decisions. To do so, they asked participants to judge the likelihood that a man or woman would be hired in each profession ("What type of person is most likely to be hired as a peruker?") and, when presented with images of two job candidates (one woman and one man) for a position in that profession, to make their own hiring choice (e.g., "Choose one of these applicants for a job as a peruker.").

Consistent with the other experimental results, exposure to images in the low-inequality condition produced more egalitarian judgments of male vs. female hiring tendencies within a profession and a higher likelihood of choosing a woman job candidate compared with exposure to image sets in the high-inequality condition.

"These results suggest a cycle of bias propagation between society, AI, and users," Vlasceanu and Amodio write, adding that the "findings demonstrate that societal levels of inequality are evident in internet search algorithms and that exposure to this algorithmic output can lead human users to think and potentially act in ways that reinforce the societal inequality."

Explore further People less outraged by gender discrimination caused by algorithms

More information: Madalina Vlasceanu et al, Propagation of societal gender inequality by internet search algorithms, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Madalina Vlasceanu et al, Propagation of societal gender inequality by internet search algorithms,(2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2204529119
Scan of butterfly brain. Credit: Benito Wainwright

Habitat differences help determine changes in the nervous system of tropical butterflies, scientists at the University of Bristol have found.

By analyzing a tribe of Neotropical butterflies called Ithomiini, found in the Amazonian rainforests of eastern Ecuador, the researchers were able to show that habitat shiftsindicated by mimicry patternaccurately predict changes in brain structure, particularly in areas of the butterfly brain which process visual information.

The findings, published today in Evolution, provides strong evidence that these shifts in investment are adaptive and that local adaptation to distinct light environments can occur at very small ecological scales.

Lead author Benito Wainwright of Bristol's School of Biological Sciences explained: "It was known that niche partitioning in complex habitats, like tropical rainforests, might pose perceptual challenges for the animals living in them.

"Work on fish in freshwater ecosystems had previously shown that dramatic changes in light availability with depth can result in impressive visual adaptations, but little was known whether evolution could select for such adaptations in a terrestrial environment like a tropical forest."

Ithomiine butterfly. Credit: Stephen Montgomery

Around 160 samples across 16 species were used making this one of the largest neuroanatomical comparisons undertaken in any insect.

Now the scientists are aiming to investigate sensory evolution across the entire community of butterflies to rigorously test whether convergence in habitat, predicts convergence in brain structure.

Mr. Wainwright explained: "In other words, we want to know when faced with the same perceptual challenges, do species evolve sensory adaptations via similar mechanisms.

"We also wish to quantify the light environment within these forests to investigate to what degree small changes in forest structure affect the sensory environment."

Their study cuts across the disciplines of evolutionary biology, ecology and neurobiology and on a broad scale highlights the importance of visual ecology in adaptively shaping entire communities of closely related species in complex terrestrial environments.

He added: "Ithomiine butterflies play a crucial role in many tropical ecosystems and so understanding these evolutionary responses will allow us to make more accurate predictions on how sudden changes in the sensory environment might affect the composition of entire rainforests.

"Our work shows that the way species' have evolved to process the world around them plays an important role in the way entire animal communities are structured. Natural selection can lead to adaptive change in brain structure over relatively short periods of evolutionary time."

Explore further All in the head? Brains adapt to support new species

More information: J. Benito Wainwright et al, Neuroanatomical shifts mirror patterns of ecological divergence in three diverse clades of mimetic butterflies, Evolution (2022). Journal information: Evolution J. Benito Wainwright et al, Neuroanatomical shifts mirror patterns of ecological divergence in three diverse clades of mimetic butterflies,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/evo.14547
Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis). Credit: Temptation Sailing, S Australia

The first widespread census of the genetic diversity of common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) populations living along 3000km of Australia's southern coastline has raised key pointers for future conservation efforts.

The comprehensive Flinders University study calls for more conservation and policy efforts to preserve adaptive DNA diversity and assist connectivity between these dolphin groups. This will support long-term gene flow and adaptation during ongoing habitat changesincluding oceanic conditions affected by climate change and human enterprises.

Flinders University researcher Dr. Andrea Barcelofirst author in the study just published in BMC Ecology and Evolutionsays high levels of genomic variation can play an important part in the long-term survival of these wide-ranging marine mammals and other species.

"Information about how the environment affects DNA diversity of marine populations can assist with the population management and in forecasting how they may cope with climate change and other anthropogenic impacts," says Dr. Barcelo.

Five populations of common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) were studied by Flinders University marine biologists. Credit: CEBEL, Flinders University

As well, Flinders and Macquarie University researchers say maintaining connectivity can promote long-term genomic variation, which in turn will enhance population viability under anthropogenic impacts, including unfavorable climatic events.

"While so many breeding and feeding conditions are still unknown, it's important for managers of our coastal environments to consider the importance of DNA diversity, particularly in the event of changes in key environmental conditions such as water temperatures, salinity, and food sources," adds co-author marine biologist Associate Professor Luciana Moller, from at Flinders University's College of Science and Engineering.

The adaptive divergence from more than 200 dolphins showed five dolphin populations from Western Australia to Victoria and compared this with the key environmental conditions and available fish food supplies fuelled by oceanic upwellings and local seasonal circulations.

Genomic variation in dolphins of the southern coast of Western Australia was associated to local currents, while genomic differentiation of common dolphins from sites along the continental shelf break was impacted by fluctuations of primary productivity and sea surface temperatures.

I contrast, genomic differentiation of common dolphins from protected coastal habitats and more enclosed embayment areas was associated mainly with fluctuations in salinity and local environment temperatures.

Such seascape genomic assessment identified candidate genes for future comparative studies of common dolphins and potentially other delphinid species that share similar dynamic environments around the world.

The article"Seascape genomics of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) reveals adaptive diversity linked to regional and local oceanography" (2022) by Andrea Barcelo, Jonathan SandovalCastillo, Chris Brauer, Kerstin Bilgmann, Guido J Parra, Luciano B Beheregary and Luciana M Mollerhas been published in the journal BMC Ecology and Evolution .

Explore further Trans-Tasman study finds populations of common dolphin at risk

More information: Andrea Barcelo et al, Seascape genomics of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) reveals adaptive diversity linked to regional and local oceanography, BMC Ecology and Evolution (2022). Journal information: BMC Ecology and Evolution Andrea Barcelo et al, Seascape genomics of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) reveals adaptive diversity linked to regional and local oceanography,(2022). DOI: 10.1186/s12862-022-02038-1
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Think only professional astronomers will have access to the James Webb Space Telescope? Think again!

Three citizen scientistsmembers of the publichave discovered new astronomical objects that Webb will soon view. One of these volunteers is a co-investigator on a winning Webb proposal.

Later today, NASA, in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, will release the first full-color images and spectroscopic data from the James Webb Space Telescope. But long before then, citizen scientists at Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 were working hard to find new nearby objects that Webb could follow-up. The citizen scientists who discovered Webb targets all work on this citizen science project.

"Even though the process was occasionally painstaking, it was worth it," said Arttu Sainio, who discovered a new object that Webb will examine. Sainio's discovery is a "brown dwarf," a ball of gas too cool to be considered a star, a key to understanding exoplanets. "I end up discovering hundreds of brown dwarf candidates and many of them have been followed up and researched." Citizen scientists Melina Thevenot and Dan Caselden also discovered brown dwarfs Webb will study.

The moving red dot is one of the brown dwarfs Webb will target, discovered by citizen scientist Arttu Sainio. Credit: NASA

Citizen scientist Dan Caselden took his involvement in Webb one step further, and became a co-investigator on a winning Webb observing proposal. The proposal called "Explaining the Diversity of Cold Worlds" will study a group of twelve brown dwarfs that all appear to have the same temperature, but still have different infrared brightness. "We will soon see our discoveries in ways never before seen by mankind," said Caselden. "These are special moments that we will remember forever."

The Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project continues to search for brown dwarfs and other astronomical objects near the sun. To join the fun and maybe even discover your own James Webb Space Telescope target, go to backyardworlds.org. Everyone is welcome.

Explore further Three of the four instruments on NASA's Webb telescope ready for science

Provided by NASA
Credit: University College London

Fossils discovered in Scotland represent some of the world's oldest salamanders, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.

The research team analyzed 166-million-year-old fossils of a type of animal called Marmorerpeton, found in Middle Jurassic rocks on the Isle of Skye.

They found that it has several key salamander traits, but is not part of the modern group of salamanders. Their results are reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The specimen is believed to be the oldest salamander fossil found in Europe.

Marmorerpeton was first described over 30 years ago, but only a few isolated fossil vertebrae and partial jaw bones were found, making it somewhat enigmatic. The new Scottish material adds a wealth of new data, and it also represents a new species: Marmorerpeton wakei, named after the late Professor David Wake, a leading American authority on salamander evolution.

Lead-author Dr. Marc Jones (UCL Cell & Developmental Biology) says that "the fossil is definitely a salamander but unlike anything alive today. It highlights the importance of the fossil record for preserving combinations of anatomical features that do not exist in any living animal."

Salamanders, which include newts, are a type of amphibian. Unlike frogs they have a tail and are more variable in size and shape. There are over 700 species found across the northern hemisphere in various freshwater and woodland habitats. They are renowned for their ability to regrow limbs and organs.

This new Scottish fossil salamander had a wide, shallow frog-like head but powerful jaws and distinctive, prominent projections behind the eyes. The skull roof bones show that it was ornamented like that of a crocodile, setting it apart from modern salamanders. The limb bones and deep tail of Marmorerpeton wakei suggest this salamander was aquatic, perhaps using its wide jaws to catch prey by suction feeding, similar to the lifestyle seen in the modern hellbender of North America.

Commenting on the appearance of Marmorerpeton wakei, Dr. Jones says that "the big bony projections behind the eye were a bit unexpected but smaller projections do exist in fossil salamanders from slightly younger rocks. Their purpose remains unknown."

Modern salamanders have been extensively studied to understand development, regeneration, and toxins. However, their early evolution is still very poorly understood. The study included a detailed survey of modern salamander anatomy which informed the subsequent analyses.

Many previous studies of fossil salamanders have relied heavily on fossils from the Late Jurassic period, found in Kazakhstan, belonging to the genus Karaurus. As new fossils are found that predate thissuch as Marmorerpetonthey provide a more complete understanding of how early salamanders evolved.

Senior-author Professor Susan Evans (UCL Cell & Developmental Biology) who first described Marmorerpeton in 1988 says that "the origin and early history of modern amphibian groups remains mysterious and new fossils like this one are key to developing a better understanding of amphibian evolution."

"In theory, the Skye salamander should give us a clue as to what the ancestors of modern salamanders looked like. However, it could be that they are a highly specialized off-shoot."

Senior co-author Professor Roger Benson (University of Oxford) says that "the fossil site on Skye is proving to be a treasure trove for our understanding of the Middle Jurassic fauna and ecosystems, and is helping to fill gaps in the fossil record of many animal lineages including mammals, reptiles and amphibians."

Dr. Jones added that "several fossil salamanders are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of China. These were thought to represent early members of modern groups, but our new analyses suggest they might not be part of specific groups as some of their characteristics are found more widely than previously thought."

The details of the new Scottish fossils of Marmorerpeton wakei were only revealed thanks to microCT scanning, which was used to digitize the bones embedded within in the rock. This technology provides a powerful tool in revealing bones hidden for millions of years. One specimen, collected in 2016, was found to be part of a specimen collected in 1971 but left undescribed until now. The digital models are now freely available for others to examine or 3D print.

Explore further A Jurassic world of salamanders

More information: Marc E. H. Jones et al, Middle Jurassic fossils document an early stage in salamander evolution, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Marc E. H. Jones et al, Middle Jurassic fossils document an early stage in salamander evolution,(2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2114100119
Insight-HXMT's discovery of the fundamental electron cyclotron absorption line near 146 keV for the first Galactic ultraluminous X-ray pulsar Swift J 0243.6+6124. Credit: IHEP

Neutron stars have the strongest magnetic fields in the universe, and the only way to measure their surface magnetic field directly is to observe the cyclotron absorption lines in their X-ray energy spectra. The Insight-HXMT team has recently discovered a cyclotron absorption line with an energy of 146 keV in the neutron star X-ray binary Swift J0243.6+6124, corresponding to a surface magnetic field of more than 1.6 billion Tesla. After direct measurement of the strongest magnetic field in the universe at about 1 billion Tesla in 2020, the world records for the highest energy cyclotron absorption line and direct measurement of the strongest magnetic field in the universe have been broken.

The findings, obtained jointly by the Key Laboratory for Particle Astrophysics at the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Kepler Center for Astro and Particle Physics, University of Tubingen (IAAT), were published on June 28 in Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJL). Dr. Kong Lingda, Prof. Zhang Shu, and Prof. Zhang Shuangnan from IHEP are the corresponding authors of the paper. Dr. Victor Doroshenko and Prof. Andrea Santangelo from the University of Tubingen significantly contributed to the discovery.

A neutron star X-ray binary system consists of a neutron star and its companion star. Under the strong gravitational force of the neutron star, the gas of the companion star falls towards the neutron star, forming an accretion disk. The plasma in the accretion disk will fall along magnetic lines to the neutron star's surface, where powerful X-ray radiation is released. Along with the rotation of the neutron star, such emissions result in periodic X-ray pulse signals, hence the name "X-ray accretion pulsar" for these objects.

Many observations have revealed that these types of objects have absorption structures in their X-ray radiation spectra, namely cyclotron absorption lines, which are thought to be caused by resonant scattering and thus absorption of X-rays by electrons moving along the strong magnetic fields. The energy of the absorption structure corresponds to the strength of the surface magnetic field of a neutron star; therefore, this phenomenon can be used to directly measure the strength of the magnetic field near the surface of the neutron star.

Ultraluminous X-ray pulsars are a class of objects whose X-ray luminosity far exceeds that of canonical X-ray accreting pulsars. They have previously been discovered in several galaxies far from the Milky Way. Astronomers have speculated that their pulsars have high magnetic field strengths even though direct measurement evidence is still lacking.

Insight-HXMT made detailed and broadband observations of the outburst of Swift J0243.6+6124, the Milky Way's first ultraluminous X-ray pulsar, and unambiguously discovered its cyclotron absorption line. This line revealed energy up to 146 keV (with detection significance of about 10 times the standard deviation), which corresponds to a surface magnetic field of more than 1.6 billion Tesla. This is not only the strongest magnetic field directly measured in the universe to date but also the first detection of an electron cyclotron absorption line in an ultraluminous X-ray source, thus providing direct measurement of the neutron star's surface magnetic field.

It is believed that the surface magnetic fields of neutron stars have complex structures, ranging from dipole fields very far from the neutron star to multipole fields only influencing the area close to the neutron star. However, most earlier indirect estimates of the magnetic fields of neutron stars have probed only the dipole fields.

This time, the direct magnetic field measurement by Insight-HXMT based on the cyclotron absorption line is about an order of magnitude greater than that estimated using indirect means. This serves as the first concrete evidence that a neutron star's magnetic field structure is more complex than that of a traditional symmetric dipole field, and it also provides the first measurement of the nonsymmetric component of a neutron star's magnetic field.

Insight-HXMT is the first Chinese X-ray astronomy satellite. It comprises scientific payloads including a high-energy telescope, medium-energy telescope, low-energy telescope, and a space environment monitor. Insight-HXMT has advantages over other X-ray satellites in terms of broadband (1-250 keV) spectral coverage, large effective area at high energies, high time resolution, low dead-time, and no pile-up effects for bright sources, thus opening up a new window for observing black holes, neutron stars with hard X-ray fast transitions, and energy spectrum studies.

In 2020, the Insight-HXMT team reported the detection of a 90 keV cyclotron absorption line from a neutron star in the X-ray binary system GRO J1008-57, corresponding to a surface magnetic field of 1 billion Tesla, which set a world record for direct measurement of the universe's strongest magnetic field at the time. Later, a new record for a cyclotron absorption linewith its highest energy around 100 keVwas detected by Insight-HXMT from another neutron star in 1A 0535+262. Insight-HXMT has demonstrated its exceptional capacity to explore the energy spectrum by breaking its own records for cyclotron absorption line discoveries.

Explore further Strongest magnetic field in universe directly detected by X-ray space observatory

More information: Ling-Da Kong et al, Insight-HXMT Discovery of the Highest-energy CRSF from the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2022). Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Letters Ling-Da Kong et al, Insight-HXMT Discovery of the Highest-energy CRSF from the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124,(2022). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac7711
This illustration explains how the SWIM concept works. A lander sits on Europas surface, and a cryobot tunnels its way through the ice while remaining data-tethered to the lander. The cryobot gathers data as it tunnels its way through the ice. Once into the ocean, the cryobot releases about four dozen small SWIM-bots to gather data. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

When Galileo pointed his telescope at Jupiter 400 years ago, he saw three blobs of light around the giant planet, which he at first thought were fixed stars. He kept looking, and eventually, he spotted a fourth blob and noticed the blobs were moving. Galileo's discovery of objects orbiting something other than Earthwhich we call the Galilean moons in his honorstruck a blow to the Ptolemaic (geocentric) worldview of the time.

Galileo couldn't have foreseen the age of space exploration that we're living in now. Fast forward 400 years, and here we are. We know the Earth doesn't occupy any central point. We've discovered thousands of other planets, and many of them will have their own moons. Galileo would be amazed at this.

What would he think about robotic missions to explore one of the blobs of light he spotted?

Jupiter's moon Europa is the most compelling target in the search for life in our Solar System. Europa is covered in an ice shell between 15 to 25 kilometers (9 to 15 miles) thick. Under the ice is an ocean between 75 and 85 kilometers (46 to 53 miles) thick.

That means that this moon, the smallest of the four Galilean moons, could have three times more water than Earth. The water is warm and salty, and that means Europa could be harboring simple life.

NASA is sending the highly-anticipated Europa Clipper to the frozen moon in 2024 (scheduled) to explore its life-supporting potential. It won't send a probe to the surface, and in fact, it won't actually orbit Europa itself; instead, it'll orbit Jupiter and perform a series of flybys of Europa.

But one day, we will send a robotic explorer to Europa's surface. And the only thing better than sending one robot to explore Europa is sending a swarm of robots to do it. That's the idea behind the Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers (SWIM) concept.

A robotics engineer at NASA's JPL received $600,000 in funding from a NASA program to develop the concept. The engineer is Ethan Schaler, and this is the second round of funding that NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) has awarded him. In phase 1 of the NIAC program, he received $125,000.

The basic idea behind the SWIM concept is to extend a Europa mission's data-gathering reach and collect a larger sample size.

Schaler's SWIM concept describes how a spacecraft sent to Europa or another similar destination like Saturn's moon Enceladus could use a swarm of robots for greater effectiveness. A lander would reach the surface and deploy a cryobot designed to travel through the ice shell to the ocean. Once there, the cryobot would deploy about four dozen tiny robots about the size of a mobile phone. The cryobot would have room for these independent robots, plus enough volume to host its own instruments, which would gather data during the long descent through the ice and while in the ocean.

The cryobot would be connected to the lander via a communications tether, and the stationary surface lander would be the communication point for Earth-based mission controllers. But the smaller SWIM-bots would be independent.

According to Schaler, the independent bots solve some of the problems associated with a mission to Europa by gathering more robust data.

"My idea is, where can we take miniaturized robotics and apply them in interesting new ways for exploring our solar system?" Schaler said. "With a swarm of small swimming robots, we are able to explore a much larger volume of ocean water and improve our measurements by having multiple robots collecting data in the same area."

The group of independent SWIM-bots would solve another problem associated with exploring ice-covered ocean worlds. The only feasible way to get through Europa's 15 to 25 km ice shell is with heat. The cryobot would tunnel its way through all that ice with a hot nuclear power source. Due to design and mission constraints, the cryobot would likely not travel beyond the point where it breached the bottom of the ice and reached the ocean. The cryobot's nuclear heat source would heat up the water in the vicinity of the cryobot, and chemical reactions would change the nature of the water, polluting the data and degrading its value. The independent SWIM-bots could escape this bubble of heat and gather a more accurate picture of Europa's ocean.

Samuel Howell is a NASA/JPL scientist involved in the Europa Clipper mission. He's also part of the team developing the SWIM concept. "What if, after all those years it took to get into an ocean, you come through the ice shell in the wrong place? What if there are signs of life over there but not where you entered the ocean?" said Howell. "By bringing these swarms of robots with us, we'd be able to look 'over there' to explore much more of our environment than a single cryobot would allow."

Howell pointed out the similarities between SWIM and Ingenuity, the little helicopter that traveled to Mars with the Perseverance Rover.

"The helicopter extends the reach of the rover, and the images it is sending back are context to help the rover understand how to explore its environment," he said. "If instead of one helicopter, you had a bunch, you would know a lot more about your environment. That's the idea behind SWIM."

Schaler says that the individual bots could also act together in a swarm if desired, much like flocks of fish do. This maneuver could play a critical role in the search for life by identifying gradients in energy or salinity. Energy gradients are deemed critical to life's development because life basically feeds off of them. Life exploits energy gradients to make better and better copies of itself that spread through the environment, looking for other energy gradients to exploit. (In fact, in one way of looking at it, life exists to flatten energy gradients and spread entropy until no order exists in the universe, but that's a little off-topic. Read this if you're curious: "Physics, Life, and Everything Nice.")

"If there are energy gradients or chemical gradients, that's how life can start to arise. We would need to get upstream from the cryobot to sense those," Schaler said.

The SWIM-bots would each have instruments to measure temperature and salinity. They'll also measure acidity and pressure, and each one will have its own propulsion and communication systems.

The SWIM concept is a fascinating step in the effort to explore Europa. It deals with some of the problems inherent in exploring an ocean buried under ice, whether on Europa or on one of the Solar System's other icy-shelled ocean moons. But there are other obstacles to exploring these moons, and some of them may be extraordinarily difficult to overcome.

Europa only has an ocean because of its proximity to Jupiter. As the moon orbits the gas planet, tidal flexing heats Europa enough to keep water in its liquid state. But that proximity and tidal flexing come at a cost: Jupiter emits powerful radiation. So powerful, in fact, that NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter keeps its sensitive instruments inside a titanium vault for protection. It also follows a polar orbit which helps it avoid the worst of the radiation. But with each orbit, the titanium vault is degraded by radiation until the instruments are so damaged the mission will effectively end.

Any mission to Europa will have to contend with that radiation somehow, though the ice barrier would provide some protection for the cryobot and the SWIM-bots.

Another problem is getting a spacecraft safely onto Europa's surface. Images show a fractured surface covered in blocky chunks of ice in some locations. Other areas are riven with crevasses. Europa's equatorial region may be dominated by penitentes, icy spikes up to 15 meters (49 ft) high. Maneuvering to a landing spot could be very difficult. Unlike Mars, where rovers study the surface in detail and can help mission planners find safe and scientifically valuable landing spots, Europa's surface is not well-mapped. It's also not that well-understood. The surface could be so hard or so soft that it's difficult to design a spacecraft that can successfully touch down on the icy surface.

But while the SWIM concept is just a concept at this point, the Europa Clipper isn't. Scientists hope that the Clipper will be able to map Europa's surface much as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has done for Mars. Data from the Clipper should help a lander contend with Europa's surface.

Hopefully, all the intellectual capital being spent on exploring Europa will pay dividends. The Europa Clipper itself won't even reach orbit around Jupiter until 2030. So we'll have to wait a long time before a mission ever reaches Europa's surface. And the first surface mission might not even have a cryobot to pierce the ice and study the ocean.

But one day, barring societal collapse or something else apocalyptic, we'll get a spacecraft there, and we'll explore. If you're young enough when you're reading this, maybe you'll be alive to hear the shouts of "Eureka!" as excited scientists announce the discovery of microbes in Europa's vast ocean.

Explore further Swarm of tiny swimming robots could look for life on distant worlds
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A Johns Hopkins University researcher can continue medical experiments on barn owls after a lengthy battle with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals over animal cruelty and permit complaints.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources last month issued Hopkins a new permit to conduct what PETA calls "cruel" and "worthless" experiments on barn owls.

The animal rights group has campaigned for years to end the experiments, saying researchers cut into the owls' skulls, implant electrodes in their brains and run sensory tests before killing the birds.

Hopkins has been staunch in its support for associate professor Shreesh Mysore's research, which focuses on deconstructing neural circuits in the brain and understanding how they shape behavior.

The study could yield critical insight into medical conditions, including ADHD, autism and schizophrenia so that scientists can develop better interventions and treatments, the university says.

Experimenters place electrodes into the brains of barn owls. They then conduct sensory tests on the birds and record what the brain does as the owls react to their environment. The owls are restrained during the tests.

While the implanted electrodes do not hurt or damage the birds, the owls are ultimately euthanized, said Eric Hutchinson, director of Research Animal Resources, which oversees animal care at JHU.

"Unfortunately, for neuroscience research, when you're studying the brain, the tissue you need at the end of the experiment is the brain," Hutchinson said. "There's no way to collect that tissue in a way that would preserve the life of the animal. And so, in order to collect that tissue, the animals undergo humane euthanasia prior to collection."

Mysore's research appeared on PETA's radar in 2018 when NPR published an article about his work with barn owls.

Initially, PETA tried to convince Hopkins that its experiments were brutal to the birds and that there were better methods.

"Looking at brain activity in barn owls with invasive procedures in the brain doesn't give any insight into human attention deficit disorder because of the inapplicable differences across species," Shalin Gala, PETA's vice president of international laboratory methods, told The Baltimore Sun in 2020. "Superior, more relevant research methods can be used to scan people's brains during certain tasks and with consent. That's a better way to spare the animals and get the data we need."

When that didn't work, PETA shifted its focus to a permit needed for using animals in scientific experiments.

The group repeatedly contacted the DNR, which issues the permits, and the National Institutes of Health, which funds JHU's owl research, to contest the legality of Hopkins' testing practices.

Last month, PETA declared victory, though prematurely, after the DNR issued Hopkins a revised permit with language that prohibited Mysore from killing the owls.

Maryland state Sen. Benjamin F. Kramer soon after sent letters to Hopkins, the DNR and the NIH, calling on them to ensure that the experiments end permanently and to sanction the researcher.

The DNR had issued Hopkins a revised permit because PETA had filed complaints to the agency that Hopkins was killing the owls, which violated the conditions of the permit the university possessed.

The DNR issued a scientific collection permit to Mysore in 2014 that allows for the collection of wildlife for scientific or educational purposes but becomes void with proof that the permittee killed any wildlife.

When Hopkins first applied for a permit in 2014, the DNR issued Mysore "the most applicable permit that they had," Hutchinson said. The agency knewand Hopkins was clear during the application processthat Mysore was using captive birds, he said.

Mysore brought the barn owls from a research facility at Stanford University before setting up a breeding colony on campus. He should have never been issued that permit, Hutchinson said.

"When we were issued (the revised) permit, we of course, immediately put a stop on any euthanasia so that we would be in compliance with that new permit," Hutchinson said. "Meanwhile, (we) contacted DNR, and we were working with DNR to basically say the statutethat this permit is issued underis for collections, and, in fact, there's an existing statute that he should have been issued a permit under that covers possession."

The DNR on June 10 issued the university a "Permit to Possess Protected Species of Wild Birds." This enabled Mysore to continue its owl research as before, which includes euthanizing the birds.

"The university has applied for and received a permit to possess barn owls for scientific purposes, which is the appropriate permit for their captive-bred animals," Gregg Bortz, the DNR'S media relations manager, said last month. He noted that the agency is not the oversight body for this research.

Gala, who oversees PETA's campaign against Hopkins' owl experiments, says there is a troubling lack of oversight in the regulation of animal experimentation.

For example, PETA learned through a public records request that Mysore conducted his experiments from 2015 to 2018 even though his old permit had lapsed. The permits must be renewed annually.

"When we raised this issue with NIH, NIH actually blamed DNR, saying that was their fault for not reminding him. But then DNR, when we raised it with them, (said) that they did send a reminder to him and that Mysore is the one who didn't renew," Gala said. "So everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else, and no one's taking responsibility."

This back-and-forth between the agencies is indicative of a larger system breakdown, he said. Had PETA not repeatedly raised these concerns with each agency, it would presumably have been business as usual, he said.

Hopkins acknowledges that there was a lapse during those years. However, the stakeholders, including Hopkins, the NIH and the DNR, reviewed how that happened and "concluded that it was essentially a clerical error," Hutchinson said.

Mysore's work gets reviewed thoroughly every three years and annually on a cursory basis, Hutchinson said. The NIH also reviews Mysore's research regularly to determine whether it's worthy of funding, he added.

Emma Wojtowicz, public affairs specialist at NIH, said last month that the grant remains active. The agency has awarded more than $1.9 million to the project. The NIH is the final arbiter of Mysore's research, Hutchinson said.

"Only 10% of NIH applications are funded," Hutchinson said. "And so the fact that he's getting funded for this means that his peers and the NIH believe that what he's doing is important."

Explore further Owls help scientists unlock secret of how the brain pays attention

2022 The Baltimore Sun.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Highs of up to 44C were expected around Seville in southern Spain.

France suffered soaring temperatures Wednesday, edging closer to the blistering heat already engulfing Spain and Portugal as wildfires destroyed vast stretches of Western European forestland.

Large parts of the Iberian Peninsula have seen temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) this week.

In southwestern France a wildfire raging since Tuesday had ripped through 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of pine trees just south of Bordeaux by Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of 150 people from their homes.

Near the Dune of PilatEurope's tallest sand duneanother fire consumed about 700 hectares of old pine trees, authorities said.

Regional prefect Fabienne Buccio told reporters the fires were spread out over five kilometres (three miles), fuelled by dried-out vegetation.

About 6,000 campers near the dune were evacuated overnight.

"I've worked here since 1988 and I've never seen anything like it," said Corinne Hardoin who manages the "Flots Bleus" campsite next to the Pilat dune.

Further inland, 500 people were evacuated around the French village of Guillos as their homes came under threat from advancing fire.

'It was scary'

"There were flames in the top of the trees 30 metres high," mayor Mylene Doreau told AFP. "We could see them moving towards the village, it was scary."

Heat-related illnesses.

Some 600 firefighters have been battling the blazes in the region, aided by waterbomber aircraft.

Some cities, including Toulouse and Lourdes, have made changes to Thursday's Bastille Day celebrations to limit the risk of accidental fire. Nimes simply cancelled the traditional fireworks altogether.

The prefect of the Paris region, meanwhile, cut the speed limit on motorways and expressways to limit air pollution.

Spectators at the annual Tour de France, which is currently crossing the French Alps, put on a brave face as they watched the competitors negotiate some of the bike race's most difficult climbs in the blazing sunshine.

"It's absolutely worth it," said Frances Carr, a 48-year old Australian. "We've come a long way to see this, it's marvellous."

French student Jean Gosselin, 18, felt mostly for the Tour riders: "They really feel the heat. I'm just standing here watching."

'Expect it to worsen'

Heatwaves have become more frequent due to climate change, scientists say.

The last one to hit France, Portugal and Spain happened only last month.

Wildfires have been raging in parts of Portugal for several days.

"We do expect it to worsen," World Meteorological Organization spokeswoman Clare Nullis said Tuesday.

Last week an avalanche triggered by the collapse of the largest glacier in the Italian Alpsdue to unusually warm temperatureskilled 11 people.

The high temperatures are expected to spread to other parts of western and central Europe in the coming days.

Britain issued an "amber" alertthe second highest of three levelswhich indicates that the extreme heat will have a "high impact" on daily life and people.

A UK climate official said there was a growing chance of a new UK record, beating Britain's highest temperature recorded on July 25, 2019 at 38.7C at Cambridge Botanic Garden, in eastern England.

In Spain highs of up to 44C are expected in Guadalquivir valley in Seville in the south in coming days.

Spain's health ministry said people should drink plenty of fluids, wear light clothes and stay in the shade or air-conditioned rooms to avoid their "vital functions" being affected.

'A bit oppressive'

The Aemet meteorological agency said parts of Spain were "suffocating", especially Andalusia in the south, Extremadura in the southwest and Galicia in the northwest.

Britain issued an extreme heat warning, with temperatures forecast to hit 35C in the southeast.

Those areas were placed on high alert, and travel was not advised "unless strictly necessary".

Between January 1 and July 3, more than 70,300 hectares of forest went up in smoke in Spain, the government saidalmost double the average of the last ten years.

Authorities in Portugal said one person had died in forest fires, after a body was found in a burned area in the northern region of Aveiro.

The whole country is under a "situation of alert" for wildfires that have raged for days and are forecast to go on until at least Friday.

Portugal was expecting two water-dropping planes from Italy Wednesday, and two more from France later to help battle the flames, the civil protection agency said.

"Portugal is experiencing a period of maximum risk of fires, and unfortunately on many fronts," tweeted Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

The situation is stirring memories of devastating wildfires in 2017, which claimed the lives of over 100 people in Portugal.

In Greece meanwhile, a firefighting helicopter helping to fight a forest blaze on the island of Samos Wednesday crashed into the Aegean Sea with at least three people on board, said the fire service.

A rescue operation was underway, they added.

Explore further Heatwave grips Spain as UK readies for soaring temperatures

 2022 AFP
Saratoga County will open a temporary clinic that will administer a new vaccine, JYNNEOS, to eligible people who may have had recent exposure to the monkeypox virus.

Held at the Saratoga County Department of Health offices at 6012 County Farm Road in Ballston Spa, the clinic will be open on Tuesday, July 12, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; and Wednesday, July 13, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The state Department of Health recently rolled out the new vaccine to select New York county clinics.

Warren County spokesperson Don Lehman said Monday that at this time, there is no indication that Warren County will receive any from the state in the near future.

There are currently no known cases of monkeypox in Saratoga and Warren counties, and the Saratoga clinic is a preemptive attempt to stop a potential outbreak ahead of its busy tourism season.

Of the 56,000 available doses nationwide, 8,195 have been allocated to New York, while 5,989 doses have been sent to New York City, where the outbreak is most focused.

The remaining 2,206 went to Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester, Nassau, Sullivan and Saratoga counties, according to a news release from the state Department of Health.

Saratoga County received 300 doses.

There is a limited supply of JYNNEOS, although state officials said Friday that more will be available in the coming weeks and months, in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In tandem with the new vaccine rollout, the state Department of Health has launched a public education campaign on the latest information regarding monkeypox.

Monkeypox is a rare, viral infection that usually does not lead to serious illness, although the current strain found in the U.S. can be cause painful symptoms and permanent scarring from the rash, according to state officials.

Anyone can get monkeypox, which is primarily spread through physical contact with people who have the infection, state officials said.

More information on monkeypox can be found here: health.ny.gov/monkeypox.

Those in need of a vaccine must make an appointment here: Saratoga County Department of Health Monkeypox Resource Center.
ABSECON  The citys deputy fire chief has agreed to step down for at least one year following an investigation into racist and anti-LGBTQ posts he made on social media.

A hearing for that matter was originally scheduled to take place June 29 between the city attorney and Dale Conovers attorney, but both sides agreed to terms.

In the agreement, which was approved through a resolution by City Council Thursday, Conover will plead guilty to the charges and accept the demotion to firefighter for a year, City Solicitor William Blaney said during the meeting.

During the June 2 council meeting, the governing body passed a resolution handing down personnel charges on Conover tied to social media policy and insubordination, Blaney said.

Conover did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

Conover has also agreed not to make similar comments or posts on social media as a representative of the city, Blaney said.

City Council approved the resolution in a 6-0 vote, with Councilman Nick LaRotonda abstaining.

Conover is eligible for the post again when the volunteer fire department has elections in 2023, Blaney said.

The agreement does not include restrictions against Conovers family, Blaney said in response to a question from City Council.

Additionally, should Conover disobey rules again, new personnel charges can be handed down, with the current matter being used as evidence, having been already on his record, Blaney explained when questioned by Council.

Conover agreed to have the matter discussed in an open session at the Thursday meeting. Typically, personnel matters are done in closed session amongst City Council, Blaney said Thursday before discussing the resolution.

Attempts to reach officials with the Fire Department for comment on Monday were unsuccessful.

In response to a question from council about the differences in federal and state law, Blaney explained that New Jersey discrimination law covers a wider range than federal statutes.

It covers race, sex, nationality, sexual orientation, gender issues, disability  theres probably 20 of them that are in there, Blaney said. Its really an extensive list.
The Maple Branch forest fire in Wharton State Forest was fully contained by Wednesday morning.

Ninety-eight acres have burned in the area of Tylertown, Washington Township, Burlington County. That grew from 40 acres Tuesday afternoon.

Firefighters were performing a backfiring maneuver to help contain the flames, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.

Batsto Village and its surrounding hiking trails were closed Tuesday morning but has since reopened, the Forest Fire Service said.

Buttonwood Campground was also shut down Tuesday, the Fire Service said. However, Bulltown Road reopened late Tuesday, according to the Fire Service's Twitter account.

A backfiring is done by Forest Fire Service staff, who intentionally set a separate fire to consume fuel in the larger blaze's path. This is done to stop the fire from spreading or to change its direction, the Fire Service said.

Structures are no longer threatened by the blaze, the Fire Service said.

No injuries were reported, and the fire remains under investigation. Firefighters will remain in the area to continue strengthening containment lines, the Fire Service said.

The combination of a dry forest floor and gusty winds helped spark the fire. Winds gusted in the 20s while the 10-hour fuel moisture, the amount of water in 0.25 inch to 1 inch in diameter objects such as tree branches, was low as well. Relative humidity values over 50% likely prevented the fire from spreading further.

The forest is still recovering from a wildfire that burned nearly 15,000 acres in the Pine Barrens last month. Officials declared the wildfire New Jersey's largest since 2007.

That fire threatened areas near Batsto Village as well.

Firefighters believe that blaze was set accidentally as a result of illegal campfire activity.
ATLANTIC CITY  Without fanfare or much discussion, the Planning Board on Tuesday memorialized a vote approving a waterfront maintenance and operations facility for a wind project in the Bungalow Park neighborhood.

The work is part of a much larger effort to build wind turbines off the coast, which project developer rsted North America has said will mean hundreds of jobs for New Jersey.

The board had discussed the plans in much greater detail at a June meeting. This is the first of two phases, to include the construction of bulkheads at the site and docks to accommodate six boats.

A second phase will include the construction of a building at the site, which is currently a vacant area at the end of Delaware Avenue, adjacent to Delta Basin.

While the plans for offshore wind turbines have proven controversial in the area, this proposal also has detractors.

According to Planning Board member Anthony Vraim, rsted plans to host a meet-and-greet to discuss the plans at the Community Baptist Church on New Jersey Avenue at 6 p.m. Thursday. He said this is the second such event to reach out to the neighborhood, with a chance for neighbors to speak with rsted representatives.

Atlantic City Planning Board OKs phase 1 of rsted maintenance facility ATLANTIC CITY  The Planning Board on Tuesday gave site plan approval for Phase 1 of a maint

It was pretty interesting the last time. Vraim said at the meeting. Of course, its a heated debate in the neighborhood.

rsted representatives say the plan is to inform neighbors about the proposal in an informal setting.

One of the conditions imposed by the board was for the applicant to install four-way stop signs with solar-powered lights along New Jersey Avenue from Route 30 to the site. Some neighbors have expressed concerns about increased traffic through the area.

Boats launched from the docks will take engineers and technicians out to build two offshore wind farms and then maintain and operate the completed turbines.

About 50 to 70 workers will use New Jersey Avenue each day at about 6 a.m. as they arrive to start their 12-hour shifts and catch a boat to the worksite, according to information presented to the board in June. The same number of workers will finish their shift about 6 p.m. and will exit by the same route, according to rsted.

The site had been an oil depot. rsted was named the redeveloper of the site in 2020.

rsted offshore wind hub could give new life to old marine terminal ATLANTIC CITY  An overgrown waterfront lot with decrepit remains of old piers may soon beco

City Councilman Kaleem Shabazz, who is also a member of the Planning Board, attended the Tuesday meeting but did not vote on the resolution. He said he was ineligible to vote because he did not attend the June Planning Board meeting where the site plan was discussed and approved.

The second phase will also require Planning Board approval.

Energy company rsted has state approval to build two large wind farms off the Atlantic City coast, and promises to provide hundreds of jobs for local and state residents.

The first is expected to power half a million homes but has encountered resistance from some shore communities over its potential impact on ocean views. Critics also cite environmental concerns, including the potential impact on marine mammals and other sea life.
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  Police are searching for a man they say shot at his ex-girlfriends car after she left work Saturday afternoon.

Police were called to Pennsylvania Avenue in the townships Whitesboro section at 4:04 p.m. The woman told officers her ex-boyfriend, 22-year-old Malik Brogden, of Maryland, fired one shot at her car, police said.

Neither the woman or her car were struck by the bullet, police said.

The woman said Brogden first approached her at her job. He then followed the woman and fired the gun at her car on Pennsylvania Avenue, police said.

Three charged in Middle Township drug bust MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  Three township residents were arrested Monday in a drug investigation.

A warrant has been issued for Brogdens arrest. Hes charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of a handgun without a permit and stalking.

Brogden was last seen driving a black, two-door 2013 Mercedes-Benz 350 with a Maryland temporary registration.

Anyone who knows Brogdens whereabouts or has possibly seen his car can call police at 609-465-8700 or the Cape May County Prosecutors Office at 609-465-1135.
The kids eagerly boarded a yellow school bus for a sightseeing trip into the past  to retrace the history of the Underground Railroad in Lawnside, Camden County, where enslaved runaways found shelter in the 1800s.

More than a dozen young people spent a week visiting historic sites and getting lessons about crucial figures, including Harriet Tubman, in the first-of-its-kind free camp sponsored by the Lawnside Historical Society, which seeks to preserve the storied past of the borough of about 3,000. It was offered primarily to fifth through seventh graders.

I hope students will gain an understanding of how this clandestine network of abolitionists  some of whom were formerly enslaved  risked their lives to help freedom seekers escape bondage, said Jacqueline Miller Bentley, a retired educator and the camps administrator.

The campers arrived daily shortly after 10 a.m. at the Peter Mott House, built around 1845 by Mott, a free man and a preacher who provided refuge for enslaved people who escaped, for touring or two hours of lectures under white tents set up on the lawn.

Some campers said they were learning Black history that has not been taught in school  including the story of Henry Box Brown, an enslaved man who escaped to freedom by having himself shipped in a box to Philadelphia.

Our school has glossed over the Underground Railroad, said Katherine Gries, 11, of Haddon Heights. Its important to remember the history of people who have been forgotten.

Located 13 miles southeast of Philadelphia, Lawnside was settled before the Civil War as Snow Hill, a haven for free Black people and runaways on land purchased by abolitionists. It later became Lawnside and was incorporated as the first all-Black municipality north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Last Tuesday, the campers visited two other sites in the 1.5-square-mile, historically African American Camden County community listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The also toured the Mott House, a popular museum. The five-day camp ended Friday with a closing ceremony.

I think its educational and fun at the same time, said Arianna Hernandez, 9, of Lawnside. I made new friends, and this keeps me occupied and not just in the house watching TV.

The first stop was Mount Peace Cemetery, established in 1900 as a private, nonsectarian resting place for Black Civil War veterans, former enslaved people and those who could not be buried in white-only cemeteries.

It is believed that as many as 125 Civil War veterans are buried at Mount Peace, where families sent their remains because they were not permitted in white cemeteries. But not all of their graves have been located.

Tour guide Yolanda Romero led the group to the grave of John H. Lawson, a Medal of Honor recipient recognized for his bravery during the Civil War. Lawson refused to give up his station aboard the USS Hartford during a fierce battle.

The campers peppered Romero with questions. One commented that the white granite headstone on Lawsons grave resembled Styrofoam. Romero allowed them to gently press their hands against the stone.

During the brief tour, Romero identified other graves along what is called Soldiers Row. Veterans of the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War and Vietnam also are buried in Mount Peace.

Whos that person? wondered Brian Lawrence, 7, of Pennsauken, pointing to a grave with a toppled-over headstone.

The campers gasped when Romero explained the cemeterys former owners went bankrupt years ago, leaving volunteers to tend to the 11-acre site. They cut the grass, pick up debris and clean up after passersby who walk their dogs there, she said. New burials are no longer accepted.

Thats just disrespectful, said London Artis, 10, of Blackwood, a rising fifth grader.

The campers boarded the bus and made a short trip to their second stop, Mount Pisgah AME Church, which began in 1782. Ellen Benson, 87, who joined the church as a teenager, met them outside because the church has not resumed in-person services.

Its nice to see that you still want to learn, she told the campers.

The church is where the Rev. Jarena Lee, the wife of the churchs current pastor, became the first woman in the AME domination allowed to preach, Benson said. Bishop Richard Allen, founder of Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia, had denied her requests for years.

The campers and bus driver Jaconda Kearse were impressed by what they learned about the oldest church in Lawnside and the second-oldest AME church in New Jersey. It still has an active congregation.

I learned something today, too. They should have had trips like this for us, said Kearse, 46, of Camden.

Said Artis: I feel like its an adventure. Its an experience I needed to learn.

Audrey Klein, 11, of Haddon Heights, attended the camp with three classmates from the neighboring town. She usually attends art camp.

Its very different from what I usually do, but Im enjoying it a lot, Klein said. Im learning about history I didnt know.

Only Hernandez lives in Lawnside, while other campers have close ties to the borough. The historical society, which funded the camp with a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, hopes to expand the camp next year, said President Linda Shockley.

Bentley said she wanted the campers to know about the states painful past, too, so for the last stop, the campers visited one of three former slave auction block sites in Camden where historians say more than 800 people were sold. New Jersey was the last Northern state to abolish slavery.

This is history, and its important for you to know it so that we can respect it and the resilience of the enslaved people who were brought here against their will, she told them.

The campers spent another day learning about how freedom seekers used code words in hymns to plan their escape. The Rev. Renee McKenzie-Hayward, interim priest of Calvary St. Augustine Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, helped them analyze hidden messages in the Negro spiritual, Steal Away to Jesus.

Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!

Steal away, steal away home,

I aint got long to stay here.

The lyrics refrain steal away home was code for escaping to Canada, while I aint got long to stay here meant it would be soon time to flee.

The campers also tried their hands at writing messages that enslaved people could have used to secretly communicate.

Rebel Simpkins-Hayward wrote: That wagon is carrying a load of potatoes. Translated, the wagon is transporting enslaved people to freedom.

Its really cool, said Ajaiya Quashie, 11, of Somerdale, a rising sixth grader. Ive always been passionate about spirituality.

With McKenzie-Hayward leading them and clapping her hands, the campers stood and sang Steal Away to Jesus, prompting Kayden Metzger, 11, of Haddon Heights to quip, Wheres the remix? The rising sixth grader said he enjoyed the history lessons.

Asked how the song made him feel, Aasir Redd said: from the soul.
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CAMBRIDGE, Ill.  A Cambridge man has been charged with sexual-related crimes in Henry County Circuit Court.

William A. Keller, 21, was charged with two counts of Class 2 felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse on Monday. One of the charges states the victim was under 18 and the other states the victim was under 13. The victim has the same initials in both charges.

According to the charges, Keller is alleged to have committed an act of sexual conduct with the minor on or about July 9.

Keller was arraigned on charges and penalties by Judge Dana McReynolds, who set bond at $75,000. a preliminary hearing was set for July 18. The public defender's office was appointed to the case.
Shaun Taylor has been appointed as a commissioner on the Rock Island County Metropolitan Airport Authority Board by East Moline Mayor Reggie Freeman to represent the city.

Taylor will complete the term of Jim Jannes, who died in February at the age of 85.

Eight commissioners serve on the Airport Authority Board, representing Rock Island County and the cities of Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, Milan and Silvis. Commissioners are appointed and serve 5-year terms.

"Shaun is a great example of someone who was born and raised in the Quad Cities, left, but came back because he believed this was the best place to raise his family," said Benjamin Leischner, executive director of the Quad Cities International Airport. "He not only appreciates the value of the Quad Cities having lived elsewhere for several years, he is also invested in helping our region flourish.

"I have no doubt he will be an enthusiastic and engaged board member, which is exactly what we need as we embark on historic updates at the airport and look toward our future," Leischner said.

Taylor works as a marketing and recruiting coordinator for Community Health Care Inc., where he oversees provider recruitment, public communication and marketing efforts. He previously served as the director of special projects for the National Bar Association, area sales manager for the General Motors Corporation and national marketing consultant for FTD, Inc.

Taylor also serves as a member of the East Moline Community Fund Committee, Quad City Health Initiative Promotion Committee and the Illinois Primary Health Care Association Community Development Committee. He received his bachelor's degree in organizational communication from McKendree University.

Taylor said he was honored to "follow in the footsteps" of Jannes.

"As a recruiter seeking to bring physicians across the country to the Quad Cities, I understand the critical role that our airport plays in the overall growth of our region," he said. "I hope to contribute to the development and accessibility of one of our communitys essential assets."
A new exhibit in the Putnam Museum showcases items and information on communities and cultures that have made their way from across the world to the Quad-Cities.

The Putnam Museum and Science Center has opened an exhibit within its World Culture Gallery focused on West Africa, called "Akwaaba: West African Cultures." It will be on display through the fall until it is rotated out to feature a different international exhibit within the World Culture Gallery.

After the Putnam was renovated to better connect its theater annex and vault section in 2021, Putnam President and CEO Rachael Mullins said they felt it was time to create a dedicated space for showing artifacts from world cultures found in the Quad-Cities.

"There was always a passion to get back to some of the international connection, and especially with the growing international community here in the Quad-Cities," Mullins said. "It was time to have a dedicated space for that work."

Eleven West African cultures are represented in the exhibit, Mullins said, and they are not separated by country. Everything from contemporary clothing to instruments to art pieces is on display, a majority coming from the Putnam's permanent collection. West African immigrants and refugees living in the Quad-Cities have also loaned some items to the exhibit.

Former ambassador Richard Kauzlarich and Anne Kauzlarich donated their collection to the Putnam after living in Togo, a West African Country bordered by Ghana and Benin, in the 1960s and '70s.

Nana Ouro-Agoro, vice president of the Quad Cities Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees, co-curated the exhibit with the Putnam, helping to place artifacts and provide interpretive text that were appropriate and culturally sensitive. As an immigrant from Togo, Mullins said Ouro-Agoro was excited to see her culture represented at the museum.

"Last year, I got a chance to visit Putnam Museum with my children and was amazed, delighted and in awe to see the display of West African artifacts," Ouro-Agoro said in a statement. "I was overwhelmed and joyful to get to show them to my children."

She was the one to name the exhibit, with Akwaaba meaning "welcome" in the Akan languages, calling back to her feeling of being welcomed by the community.

Mullins said part of the Putnam's mission was to inspire people to learn and care about the world, and all the people in it. "Akwaaba: West African Cultures" offers the opportunity for people to explore cultures they haven't before, that's living closer by than they think.

"This is an integral part of that mission, to make sure that we're not only exposing Quad-Citizens to new cultures that they may not be aware of, but also to introduce them to cultures that may be living right next door," Mullins said. "These are our friends and neighbors that are a part of our community. And yet, very often not much is known of their heritage, and the culture that they bring with them from far away."
Wyoming law enforcement arrested a Deadwood man and a woman from Rapid City on Friday after a high speed chase.

According to a Wyoming Highway Patrol press release, troopers tried to stop a Dodge Ram on U.S. Highway 85 in Hawk Springs, Wyoming for speeding. The vehicle reached speeds over 100 miles per hour while running from law enforcement.

The driver of the Dodge, Levi Anderson, 27, of Deadwood, fled north on U.S. 85 towards Torrington, Wyoming. As the trooper pursued the truck, he observed items being tossed out of the vehicle, Wyoming Highway Patrol stated.

Goshen County, Wyoming sheriffs deputies and the Torrington Police Department deployed tire deflation devices around milepost 92 on US 85. The truck stopped around milepost 93 on US 85, and law enforcement arrested Anderson and Alice Oldson, 27, of Rapid City.

Both Anderson and Olson have previous charges in Pennington County related to methamphetamine use.

Andersons criminal history in Pennington County Court includes a conviction for unauthorized ingestion of a controlled substance for consuming methamphetamine. He was sentenced to three years in prison for the 2020 case. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to unauthorized ingestion of a schedule one or two controlled substance and was sentenced to a five-year suspended sentence and five years of probation. He was discharged from probation on March 3.

Oldson failed to appear at a Pennington County court hearing on Dec. 17, 2020 for six different counts: possession of a schedule one or two controlled substance for methamphetamine, unauthorized ingestion of a controlled drug for ingesting methamphetamine, possession of two ounces of marijuana or less, driving under the influence, ingesting an intoxicant other than an alcoholic beverage, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia. In 2016, she pleaded guilty to identity theft and served a two-year sentence for that charge.

Anderson was booked into the Goshen County Detention Center in Wyoming on charges of driving while under the influence, controlled substance, fleeing/eluding, speed, no proof of insurance, driving without a license, two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance, and interference with a peace officer.

Oldson was charged with interference with a peace officer and two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance. Both Oldson and Anderson were also booked on outstanding warrants for their arrest.
One fallen soldier was recognized Monday morning with military funeral honors at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis.

Veterans and representatives of South Dakota's federal delegation watched and listened as Private First Class William Yoor's name was called and "Taps" was played.

Monday's service was a part of the national cemetery's unaccompanied veterans program. The honors are given to those veterans who are buried without family present to request an military interment ceremony.

Yoor was the sole soldier honored Monday, which cemetery director Terry Corkins said happens occasionally.

"That means that all veterans that came to use have received honors," he said.

Not much is known about PFC Yoor's life. William Charles Yoor was born June 27, 1933. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served during the Korean War in the early 1950s. Yoor died at age 88 on Jan. 30 and was buried without family present at Black Hills National Cemetery.

"Any time a veteran serves their country, they deserve honors at the time of their passing, so I believe that it's very important," Corkins said.

The cemetery hosts the unaccompanied veterans service every quarter with the next one scheduled for October. Corkins said the ceremony honors all veterans from the quarter who have been interred without funeral honors.
Rapid City Vision Funds have not yet been dispersed to the He Sapa Otipi/Indigenous Community Center, but city officials said the group has not submitted project designs, business plans or invoices.

He Sapa Otipi said in a press release Thursday that it had not received any of the $9 million funds allocated from the Rapid City Council due to a contingency stating the Department of the Interior needed to approve.

Our community needs a place to revitalize our language and culture," He Sapa Otipi President Cante Heart said in the news release. "A safe place where our relatives can gather, young and old alike. This contingency only causes the project to not move forward, and continues to demonstrate the lack of relationship between the city and Native community.

In January, the council approved a $2 million allocation in 2022 and $7 million in 2023 for the group to go toward the Native American Community Center/Community Development Corporation in partnership with the Indian Boarding School Lands group.

The project represents a solution to a 1948 act stating three parcels of land within the city could revert to the Department of the Interior, and a November 2020 resolution passed by the council that calls for a land substitution valued at $20 million.

In the release, the organization called for the contingency to be removed and the Vision Funds be awarded.

Mayor Steve Allender said Monday that no design work has been completed, the city is unaware of formal relationships with contractors and designers, and has not received a business plan.

"There's some allegation that they're being treated differently from other people, which is false and it can be demonstrated by our past Vision Fund awards and the multitude of recipients over the years," Allender said.

He said the payments from Vision Funds are made after verification that the contractors are paid and a structure in place. Allender said the money typically comes quarterly in the form of a reimbursement, and the city does not front the money for anyone's project.

Allender said there must be protections in place for the funds, which come from taxpayers. He said it would be inappropriate for the city to simply send a check with the money, and that is true for all projects.

"I support the Native American Community Center, I always have. I'm on record, I've given speeches about this, urging the City Council to fund this," he said. "This is something that we should be doing for the Native American population in Rapid City and in the whole Black Hills area, but I can't support what would appear to be a haphazard or high-risk scenario where we're delivering millions of dollars of taxpayer money without some assurance that the project is going to be completed."

Allender said the contingency is meant to make the award part of the settlement of the land issues. He said that's why the money was awarded in the first place.

Allender said he has not yet spoken with the group but was out with COVID-19 last week and came back to work Monday. He said the city has primarily spoken with the Indian Boarding School Lands group, but is working on contacting He Sapa Otipi this week.

He said if the money is not spent this year, the money will be held. Allender said the city has held funds for other projects before.

"This is a policy decision on how to deal with this allocation, and it's also a process question that everyone who submits for Vision Funds is held to," he said.

He Sapa Otipi did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
A federal judge sentenced a Rapid City man on Friday to seven years in prison for attempted receipt of child pornography.

Law enforcement arrested Travis McDonald, 28, of Rapid City, during a 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally sex sting operation where law enforcement went undercover as minors online and had conversations with men who agreed to meet with personas they thought to be minors.

McDonald had a sexually explicit conversation with a special agent posing as a 13-year-old girl during the sting. He agreed to meet with her under the pretense of having sex.

McDonald pleaded guilty to the charge as part of a plea deal in which the government agreed to drop a charge of attempted enticement of a minor using the internet.

U.S. District Court Judge Karen Schreier sentenced McDonald to two years above the minimum sentence of five years. Both the defense and prosecution agreed to the seven-year sentence because McDonalds original charge held a minimum of 10 years and was reduced because of the lesser charges.

In addition to his prison sentence, Schreier ruled McDonald will spend five years on supervised release  the minimum requirement. Sentencing guidelines required McDonald to pay restitution ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, but since no parties requested restitution, Schreier waived it. She also waived the $250,000 fine because McDonald is quote indigent, meaning he does not have the financial ability to pay the fine. McDonald will have to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.

Court documents show McDonald sent lewd photos of himself to an undercover agent in August 2020 during the multi-agency sex sting. After conversations with the persona, McDonald agreed to meet at a location in Rapid City. Law enforcement met him and arrested him there.

Court documents say law enforcement found multiple images of pornography as well as artifacts referencing young pornography on McDonalds phone after his arrest.

McDonalds defense attorney, Alecia Fuller, said he is more remorseful for his actions than most clients she sees and consistently reflects on his choices and actions to do better and be better.

She referenced seven letters of support submitted by McDonalds family and friends describing him as a good father, husband and son who stands up for others. Fuller said there is so much more to McDonald, and he isnt defined by his poor decisions.

McDonald spoke for himself before Schreier delivered his sentence. Through tears he said he truly regrets everything he did and what he put the community and his family through.

My actions let them down more than I thought I was at the time, McDonald said.

Schreier accepted McDonalds remorse.

I can tell you have regret and remorse, Schreier said. More than I usually see.

U.S. Assistant Attorney Heather Sazama said having strong relationships with friends and family and a positive work life is what makes offenders like McDonald dangerous because they are able to live two lives at the same time. She also said it is likely McDonald would have engaged in the discussed acts had the person he was speaking with been a child and not an agent.

Schreier made her statement to McDonald before delivering his sentence. She noted his family ties, his compliance while on pretrial release, and his lack of any prior criminal actions, but she emphasized the crimes significance.

The crime that happened is really a significant crime that can impact young girls in the community, Schreier said.

Law enforcement arrested a total of eight men during the sting. Six were local to the Rapid City area.

South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce conducted the investigation. Other agencies that contributed to the investigation included Homeland Security Investigations, the South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigation, Pennington County Sheriff's Office and the Rapid City Police Department.
Ex-mayor of Vladivostok ordered to 5year imprisonment for abuse of power

MOSCOW, July 12 (RAPSI)  The Leninsky District Court of Russias Vladivostok has sentenced the former citys mayor Igor Pushkarev to 5 years of imprisonment for abuse of office, the Primorsky Krai prosecutors office reports.

The former official has been also banned from holding public authority positions in state and municipal bodies for 2 years.

According to the investigation, from 2009 to 2017, Pushkarev ignoring anti-corruption legislative bans and restrictions transferred his share in a commercial firms authorized capital to his close relatives. Moreover, he also used his job position to restrict operation of several passenger shipping companies. As a result of his actions, two municipal transport enterprises received a renewed bus fleet and illegally took the passenger traffic market dominance.

During the probe, the defendant pleaded guilty and compensated material damage to the Vladivostok City District estimated at more than 33 million rubles (about $540,000).

In April 2019, Moscows Tverskoy District Court sentenced Pushkarev to 15 years in high security prison for commercial bribery, abuse of office and taking bribes on a large scale. Additionally, he was fined 500 million rubles ($8 million). The court also prohibited him from holding public posts for 10 years.

Moreover, the court collected 143 million rubles in favor Roads of Vladivostok granting the companys suit.

The court also sentenced Andrey Lushnikov, head of Roads of Vladivostok, to 10 years behind bars. Pushkarevs brother Andrey Pushkarev, head of Vostokcement group, received an 8-year suspended term. They also were fined 500 million rubles each.

Prosecutors earlier asked the court to give Pushkarev 17 years in high security prison with a 500-million-ruble fine. The court was also asked to sentence Pushkerevs brother and Lushnikov to 8 and 14 years respectively.
Navalnys ally fined for breach of operation order for foreign agent media

MOSCOW, July 12 (RAPSI)  Moscows Simonovsky District Court on Tuesday fined Lyubov Sobol, an ally of convicted blogger Alexey Navalny, 10,000 rubles ($163) for violating the order of operation set for mass media labeled as foreign agent, the courts press service told RAPSI.

Sobol was found guilty of the administrative offense. She failed to appear in court.

Earlier, Russias Justice Ministry added her to the foreign agent list of mass media. Her appeal against the decision was dismissed.

Last August, the Preobrazhensky District Court restricted Sobol of liberty for 1.5 years. The woman was prohibited from leaving home at night, from 10 pm to 6 am, changing permanent place of living without notifying a specialized state body, participating in mass and other events and travelling outside Moscow and Moscow Region.

In October, she was put on a wanted list. In April, a court replaced her sentence with the real prison term of 5 months and 26 days.

According to the Moscow police, coronavirus-positive persons ordered to isolation were identified among participants of the rally held in Russias capital on January 23, 2021. A criminal case over violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules was opened over this fact.




Russian court fines Apple $32.5K for data storage violation

MOSCOW, July 12 (RAPSI)  Apple Inc was fined 2 million rubles (over $32,500) on Tuesday for refusal to store Russian users data on the territory of Russia, RAPSI was told in the press service of Moscows Tagansky District Court.

The company was found guilty of breaching the Russian personal data legislation, the court held.

Also, on Tuesday, several other companies were fined for similar violations, including videoconference service Zoom (1 million rubles).

Earlier on Tuesday, fines were imposed on Google, UPS, Twitch and several other companies for similar violations.

Previously, Russias communications watchdog Roskomnadzor reminded of the fact that the operator must ensure recording, systematization, keeping, updating, changing and recovery of data of Russian users with the use of databases locating within the country. These rules provide the sufficient level of data security, the watchdog states.




Five get long jail terms in case on illegal withdrawal of over $2B to Moldovan bank

MOSCOW, July 12 (RAPSI)  The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow has sentenced five people to prison terms ranging from 15 to 19 years for illegal currency transfers amounting to more than 126 billion rubles (about $2.15 billion at the time of writing) with the use of falsified documents to BC Moldindconbank S.A.

Alexander Korkin, Alexey Sobolev, Lev Pakhomov, Rinat Yusupov and Vinera Sharipova have been convicted of committing such crimes as performing large-scale foreign currency transfers to non-resident accounts with the use of forged documents as part of a criminal organization, the courts press service has told RAPSI.

In addition, the court has turned over 1.4 billion rubles worth of property belonging to Korkin, Sobolev, Pakhomov and Elena Platon, a Moldindkonbank top manager, including 36 real estate objects in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

According to court documents and evidence presented at the trial, the Moldovan bank was used by the aforesaid persons to illegally withdraw funds from Russia.

From June 2013 to May 2014, the co-conspirators carried out illegal foreign exchange operations to transfer funds denominated in foreign currency from the accounts of these Russian credit institutions to the bank accounts of non-resident CB Moldindconbank on the base of deliberately forged documents.

Previously, Elena Platon, Alexander Grigoriev and Oleg Kuzmin have already been sentenced to various terms of punishment, the Prosecutor Generals Office notes.
A Helena man who reportedly feared he was about to be removed from his residence was arrested after allegedly killing a child and injuring a woman in a shooting Sunday evening at his home in the 800 block of Orange Street, police said.

Tony Louis Valez, 65, was booked into the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center and charged with one count of deliberate homicide, two counts of attempted deliberate homicide and one count of criminal endangerment, all felonies.

Police were called to the home around 5 p.m. after Valez called 911 to report that he had shot at people who he thought were going to assault him, the Helena Police Department reported in a press release.

Valez told authorities he shot the woman until she fell to the ground and then began shooting at a man, who was not hit. Both of these victims were well-known to Valez and one of them had a lawful right to be in the residence, police said in an arrest affidavit, adding that neither victim had made a threat or gesture to Valez.

Valez told authorities he believed they were going to remove him from the residence. He said he snapped, retrieved a firearm from his bedroom and began shooting at the two adults, police said.

Valez told police he intended to kill the woman, who was taken to the hospital by a private vehicle and is expected to survive her injuries.

Two children were sitting a short distance away, police said, and one of them who posed no threat to Valez was shot. Police immediately attended to the 8-year-old girl, and she was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Two more children were in the basement at the time of the shooting, the affidavit says.

This shooting was an isolated incident and occurred at the residence, police said in the press release. Police were able to locate the male responsible for the shooting quickly as he was still at the residence, and we do not believe there was any threat to the Community.

The name of the deceased will be released after the family has been notified, the release says.

Valez's bond was set at $1 million Monday. His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 2.

During his initial appearance Monday, the only question Valez had for Justice of the Peace Mark Piskolich was about accessing his funds and credit cards. The judge told him he could not help with that.

The investigation continued Monday with detectives at the scene taking photos and drone footage of the house, Helena Police Chief Brett Petty said.
The average price for a gallon of fuel has finally dropped in Virginia after months of record-setting highs.

As of Monday, the national average per gallon of gas is $4.67, 12 cents less than last week and 32 cents less than last month, according to AAA records.

In Virginia, the average price is $4.46, 14 cents less compared to last week and 38 cents less than a month ago.

Bond revoked for man accused in Richmond mass shooting plot Court records filed so far in the case makes no mention that Dogwood Dell was the intended target of the mass shooting, as police announced last week.

Virginia set a record high for prices several times this year starting in March, back when gas prices around $4.16 shattered the previous record set in 2008 during the Great Recession.

Prices would continue to surge through June, as local gas stations reached highs up to an average of $4.84.

Despite the steep prices, demand for fuel continued as travels began to return to pre-pandemic routines. For instance, AAA estimates that 42 million Americans hit the roads during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, setting a new record.

Domestic gasoline demand dipped recently, which took some of the pressure off of pump prices. About 80% of stations are now selling regular for under $5 a gallon, said Andrew Gross, a spokesman with AAA, in a statement last week.

The trend may not last, according to Gross, as July is typically the most demanding month for the U.S. However, if the price for oil continues to decline, theres hope fuel prices will keep dropping.

Usually, more people buying gas would lead to higher pump prices, Gross said. But the price for oil, the main ingredient in gasoline, has fallen and is hovering around $100 a barrel. Less expensive oil usually means less expensive gas.
Two teens are being held at the Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Home and accused by police of being involved in a fatal shooting in the 6600 block of Iron Bridge Parkway.

A 16-year-old male and 17-year-old male face juvenile petitions of second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. A juvenile petition for malicious bodily injury also was obtained for the 16-year-old.

Police at 10:30 p.m. on July 2 were called to a report of a shooting at a party. A juvenile male found shot in a bathroom was pronounced dead at the scene, police said in a statement.

The deputy fired and hit the person, who was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

At this point, the investigation indicates that the person shot by the deputy was not involved in the fatal shooting, police said.

Police said two males, age 17 and 15, also are suspects in the shooting. Detectives obtained juvenile petitions for second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony for both suspects. Both were arrested Sunday.

Police said the investigation indicates the deceased victim and the four juvenile suspects are known to each other.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described LaTonya Benton's relationship to Williams. This version has been corrected.

A special grand jury has indicted a Richmond police officer on involuntary manslaughter and other charges related to a fatal April 7 crash that killed an 18-year-old man and his 19-year-old girlfriend.

Police said Tuesday that the officer, Richard D. Johnson, has been placed on unpaid leave.

Johnson and Officer Dquan Walker were responding to a burglary call in the 1500 block of Clarkson Road at 10:42 p.m. when their sport-utility vehicle slammed into a Buick at Bells and Castlewood roads, a block west of Richmond Highway in South Side.

Driver Jeremiah Ruffin and Tracey Williams were ejected from the vehicle. Neither was wearing a seatbelt.

Family members and friends raised concerns about what led to the collision and how police described the circumstances. Williams mother Tiara Williams-Hill on Tuesday said that the commonwealths attorney called her personally to share the news about the indictment.

It was a good day, said Williams-Hill. I feel like something is being accomplished, and I think were going to go further with it.

Steven Hill, the father of Williams, said that the indictment brings some closure.

Im just happy we got answers now, said Hill. We [were] left in the dark.

A day after the crash, Richmond police Chief Gerald Smith said the Buick and the officers marked Ford Explorer entered the intersection at the same time and collided.

The two officers suffered serious head injuries. Their SUV was knocked off the road into two poles and came to rest by a fence.

In a news conference April 8, Smith said the officers had permission to run with their blue emergency lights and siren, but he didnt know at the time whether they had been activated.

The police department denied a Freedom of Information Act request from The Times-Dispatch for body-worn camera footage of the crash.

Hill, however, said he saw what happened on video. He said the family was shown surveillance footage from a warehouse overlooking the intersection.

Hill described seeing a police vehicle traveling down Bells Road and, eight to 10 seconds later, another vehicle emerges.

Thats when Jeremiah and Tracy was coming this way, Hill said pointing toward Castlewood Road. And then they collided right here.

Hill said sirens were on at the time, but in the footage, officers did not yield to oncoming traffic and ran a red light.

Weve been trying hard just to even get to this point, Williams-Hill said. Somebody just has to be held accountable.

Richmond police issued a statement following the news of the grand jurys indictment: The circumstances surrounding this accident are unfortunate and our hearts go out to all those involved in this tragic accident. We continue to pray for the families and their healing.

Williams father said Tuesday theyve yet to hear from police.

They sent flowers to the house back when it happened, and that was back in April, Hill said.

Johnson will go through a separate administrative process within the police department after the criminal proceedings have finished.

In the special jurys decision Monday, Johnson faces two felony indictments for the involuntary manslaughter of Ruffin and Williams, a misdemeanor indictment for reckless driving and a misdemeanor indictment for failure to yield right of way.

Arraignment is expected in Richmond Circuit Court. Johnson was not immediately available to comment about the charges Tuesday.

Williams-Hill, her husband and family and friends spoke to the media Tuesday at the intersection where the collision happened.

Fixed to one of the traffic light post are hand-written messages, candles, flowers and tokens of love left by the community in memory of Ruffin and Williams.

Williams mother said she and her husband routinely come there to remember their daughter, whose 20th birthday would have been July 29.

We come out here and fix it up every [so] often, Williams-Hill said.

Everybody knew Tracey, Williams-Hill said. Nobody had anything bad to say about her at all. She had no enemies.

LaTonya Benton, a friend of the Williams family, said the police department needs to improve.

Theyre not being transparent at all to grieving parents of two kids, Benton said. Be transparent ... Thats the main thing.
The University of Virginias medical school has been unlisted in last years ranking of best graduate schools, according to U.S. News & World Report, because the university submitted inflated statistical information.

UVA was one of more than 50 colleges removed from one of the publications influential rankings, U.S. News said last week.

A spokesperson for UVA said employees for the medical school accidentally reported an absolute number instead of a percentage. When they realized a mistake had been made, they provided correct information in December.

Originally, UVA reported the three-year average for medical school graduates entering primary care specialties was 59% from 2018-2020. The school has since informed U.S. News that the correct percentage is 38%.

In March, U.S. News released its 2023 ranking of top graduate schools, and UVAs correct information was included. The university placed 35th for best medical schools for primary care and 30th for best medical schools for research.

Last week, U.S. News announced Columbia University had lost its No. 2 ranking for best colleges after questions arose regarding the accuracy of its data.

Eastern Virginia Medical School was also among the schools removed from a previous ranking. EVMS was removed from the 2019 list of top graduate schools for originally reporting the percentage of graduates entering primary care residences from 2015-17 at 54%. The school later informed U.S. News the actual percentage was 40%.

UVA has set a goal of becoming the No. 1 public university in the country by 2030. Currently, U.S. News ranks UVA fourth, behind the University of California-Los Angeles, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Michigan.
A Newport News woman served during World War I, but no one played Taps or folded and presented the American flag at her funeral. She was buried without military honors, a wrong that a group of people wanted to make right.

Marie Garrow Moss was born in Newport News and later moved to New York, where she became one of 223 women recruited to the U.S. Army Signal Corps to operate the militarys telephone switchboards during World War I. The women swore the Army oath and, many years later, became recognized as the first female members of the U.S. Army.

After the war ended in 1918, the women were sent home without veterans benefits. It wasnt until 60 years later that legislation recognized them as veterans.

Moss died July 7, 1987  about nine years after the legal recognition  at 93 years old, but she was buried at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Newport News without any military honors.

Newport News Historic Services partnered with The Virginia War Museum Foundation and American Legion Braxton-Perkins Post 25 and held a ceremony Saturday to present Moss relatives with the honors she didnt receive at her funeral. A plaque honoring her service will also be installed next to her headstone .

Particularly here in Hampton Roads and coastal Virginia, were very aware of the role of the military and the sacrifices that military members make, said Anne E. Miller, superintendent of historic services for Newport News Parks and Recreation Department. Its quite shocking to hear at the end of the war that a group of people who served were just dismissed without any recognition. Its quite shocking to hear that a veteran would be buried without the proper funeral and recognition.

Moss was living in Brooklyn when ads recruiting women for the U.S. Army Signal Corps were running in the paper, Miller said. Thousands of women applied, but only 223 were selected.

They asked women to do this because they realized they likely had some of the particular skills that they needed: Either they would be able to speak French or that they would be able to operate the telephone switchboards, Miller said. If they could do one of those two things, then they could be trained to do the other.

Its unclear what led to Moss getting the job, though Miller said its likely she spoke French because she was sent to Philadelphia for training on how to operate the switchboard.

She was the only woman from Virginia to serve in the Signal Corps and the only woman from a southern state.

What really struck me about Maries story was how different it was from what I would imagine a womans life in the early 20th century to be, Miller said.

Moss traveled with her husband. She divorced and remarried. She never had any children, Miller said. She moved back to Virginia and was very active with the Red Cross.

Moss had siblings, nieces and nephews in Hampton Roads. One of her nieces donated Moss military papers, photos, uniform and footlocker to The Virginia War Museum.
As a child, Sarah-Beth Evans said she was trafficked in plain sight.

She went to school, took part in extracurricular activities and lived in a small rural town where many people knew her name. But she said no one realized she was a victim of sex trafficking by a family member.

Evans, who now resides in Hampton Roads, said she broke free of her abuser in her mid-20s. But that wasnt the end of her struggles.

I didnt know anything other than being an object, a possession, Evans, 26, wrote in an email. I had so much to relearn. It has taken an immense amount of time and support for me to even begin to rebuild my life.

Evans is now among those pushing for more support for survivors. Human trafficking prevention advocates already saw some victories during the recent legislative session; Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed several bills into law intended to help law enforcement and others recognize and report signs of trafficking. But some advocates hoping to build on that momentum will seek more measures to help survivors rebuild their lives.

Its good progress, but we need to continue to push this issue every year in session, said Del. Shelly Simonds, D-Newport News. There is so much more work to be done its almost overwhelming.

Trafficking thrives in transient areas, meaning Hampton Roads is especially vulnerable. With a major interstate, seaport and airport, as well as a large tourism industry and military presence, the community is at high risk.

One of the new laws, a bill from Simonds, requires hotel employees to undergo human trafficking awareness training.

She said a handful of Christopher Newport University students are helping her prepare more anti-human trafficking legislation for the next session. Theyre in CNUs Bonner Program, a four-year service scholarship that requires students to complete 1,200 hours of service work in their communities.

We are in research mode right now, Simonds said. They are researching what has been done in other states  my goal is to have a bill that they help me write by the next session.

One of the issues theyre examining: how to help survivors successfully integrate back into society.

I think reentry can be really complicated for victims, Simonds said.

Del. Karrie Delaney, D-Fairfax, also plans to put forth a bill intended to help victims get back on their feet.

State law allows human trafficking victims to expunge criminal records for prostitution-related offences, she said. But Delaney would like this expanded to include other crimes, such as drug possession, that occurred while the individual was being trafficked.

Drug use is often used in pimp control to manipulate the trafficking victims; getting them addicted to drugs is a known tactic to keep their victims dependent on them, she said. Continuing to have [a drug charge] on your record makes it very difficult for these women to reenter society and get a fresh start.

A previous attempt to pass the bill failed because of concerns that non-victims would try to game the system, Delaney said. But she believes there are safeguards in place that would prevent misuse.

You would have to be able to demonstrate to the court that you were a victim of trafficking  you have to convince a judge, she said.

Patrick McKenna, director of the Virginia Coalition Against Human Trafficking, said the nonprofit sees many victims with a range of convictions, such as theft or drug possession, while they were being trafficked.

McKenna said it can make finding housing and employment challenging, and prevents some victims from accessing resources that would otherwise be available through the Virginia Victims Fund, a state program created to help victims of violent crime with out-of-pocket expenses.

[Expunging records] would send the message that we believe you, we are behind you, and that is huge for a survivor, said McKenna, who plans to push for this measure during the next legislative session.

Other advocates have their eye on Washington.

Brittany Dunn, chief operations officer for the Safe House Project, an anti-sex trafficking organization, is urging Congress to renew a measure that would fund a range of anti-trafficking efforts for the next five years and includes $35 million in housing support for victims.

If the bill isnt passed, Dunn said there will be a ripple effect felt at the state and local levels.

Although Evans said she is still taking her own recovery one day at a time, she, too, is trying to speak out for others.

She is a survivor consultant for Safe House Project and was recently appointed to a new state commission created by the governor to advise him on human trafficking matters.

The commission, which meets monthly to discuss how to help survivors and improve education and enforcement efforts, will provide the governor with an interim report this fall.
There are two Sierra was here stickers at Colonial Avenues Cafe Stella, a bistro frequented by Sierra Jenkins before the young journalist was fatally shot in March outside a downtown Norfolk bar.

One can be found on the back of a parking sign outside  the stickers bright orange background makes it easy to spot, even from a distance. The second sticker is on a shelf inside the restaurant, tucked away in a corner where Drew Ferebee first gathered with Jenkins family and friends following her death.

It is like her spirit is still here, said Ferebee, who was Jenkins best friend. She came here a lot to do interviews. She kind of made Cafe Stella her home.

Following Jenkins death, Ferebee used a logo created for Jenkins website to make stickers.

I wanted to leave people with a piece of her that they could carry with them, Ferebee said.

What started as a project to keep Jenkins memory alive among friends has taken on a new message as thousands of orange stickers have been passed out to strangers. Family and friends created an Instagram account to chronicle the sticker placements and now use it to raise awareness about gun violence, Ferebee said.

Roughly 50,000 stickers have been given out in the less than six months since Jenkins death. To date, the farthest-reaching sticker was placed in Dubai. The plan is to eventually sell the stickers and funnel proceeds into a scholarship project in her honor.

The idea was to see how far she could go, Ferebee said. In 25 years, Sierra accomplished more than people do in 65 years. Sierra would have gone so much farther in life.

Jenkins, an education reporter for The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, was one of three people killed in a shooting early on March 19 at Chichos Pizza Backstage in downtown Norfolk. The gunfire, then-police chief Larry Boone said, started after an argument over a spilled drink. Antoine Legrande Jr., 24, was arrested on May 17, about two months after the shooting, and charged with three counts of second-degree murder.

Prior to joining The Pilot in December 2020, Jenkins interned at Atlanta Magazine and CNN, and worked as a news assistant for CNN Health. She was particularly interested in social issues, always looking for stories that could create change.

Ferebee said the stickers initially were placed by Jenkins family and friends, but quickly expanded to friends of friends and strangers.

I was so excited for when I would find a sticker that I did not place, said Ferebee, who placed 30 stickers around Norfolk and 40 around Washington.

As the stickers have become more widespread, Ferebee said the messaging behind them has shifted to focus on gun violence prevention and awareness through the Sierra Jenkins Project.

The project is working to launch a website, from which sticker packs can be purchased. Moniquekia Thompson, Jenkins mother, crafted the mission statement, stating that the purpose of the stickers is to get people outside, to encourage purposeful traveling, spark gun violence awareness and assist in the restoration of humanity.

More and more people are losing the regard for human life. This must stop, Thompson said.

All proceeds from the website will go toward a scholarship fund to be awarded to college-bound high school students at Granby High School, Jenkins alma mater.

Sierra Jenkins was passionate about education, reading, and writing. She intended to go back to school to obtain her masters degree but that dream was cut short due to senseless gun violence. Its only right that we carry out her desire for others to succeed as well, Thompson said in her mission statement.

The orange squares with a Jenkins-inspired avatar had traveled the world just two weeks after the young journalists death, with one making it all the way to Hawaii  placed by a person who had never even met Jenkins. The placement was shared with Ferebee on the Sierra Project Instagram page.

They placed it on a pole overlooking a beach in Hawaii, Ferebee said. They did not even know her. They were talking about how her impact was felt and they wanted to be a part of the project.

The post, which was shared on Instagram, reads: Sierra, I hope you enjoy your view of the ocean, the island of Molokai growing and the humpback whales lazily breaching the water. I hope people who notice this little square of orange here wonder who you are and learn more about your too brief but extraordinary life.

During a recent afternoon visit to Cafe Stella, another customer approached Ferebee to show her a Sierra was here sticker that she keeps in her wallet.

Sierra was  no, she is  so loved. She would have never thought that her impact was this big, Ferebee said. She was just passionately doing what she loves.
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Richmond dodged a bullet when Richmond police foiled what they say was a plot to carry out a mass shooting on the Fourth of July.

Unfortunately, as we should know all too well in this region, you dont need a mass shooting to set off a body count. During a celebration of independence, Americas addiction to gun violence was on full display.

During the wee hours of July 4, six people  four men, two women  were shot near The 4 Cyber Cafe in downtown Richmond.

Less than an hour earlier, a 30-year-old Richmond man driving a Honda Civic was shot on Interstate 95. He managed to make his way to Commerce Road with serious but non-life threatening injuries, according to police.

The previous night, Kyle Stoner, of Richmond, described as a regular at City Dogs on Main Street in Shockoe Slip, was shot to death. An Alexandria man was arrested in the shooting.

On July 2, a retired Henrico police officer was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and stepdaughter. And Chesterfield police have charged four teens in the shooting death of another juvenile at a birthday party.

Its easy to feel relieved that Richmond did not suffer a fate similar to that of Highland Park, Ill., where seven people were slain and dozens of others were injured by a rooftop shooter during a Fourth of July parade. But its hard to feel good about ourselves when so many locals were victimized by gun violence over the holiday weekend.

This tension was also evident in the city of Chicago, an hour south of Highland Park, where the relatively impoverished West and South sides saw at least eight people fatally shot and 68 people injured by gun violence over the Fourth of July weekend, according to CNN.

The relative lack of attention to this everyday violence is a byproduct of race, poverty and distance, but runs deeper than that. Theres plenty of blame to go around: The news media. News consumers. The poverty, inequity and trauma that breed hopelessness, dysfunction and violence. The easy availability of guns in communities with a paucity of life-sustaining essentials. And, of course, perpetrators who make a mockery of Black Lives Matter  in the process providing a cache of ammunition for those who argue that our gun problem is really a Black problem.

Its just got to stop, Richmond police Chief Gerald Smith said of the violence during a news conference praising the hero citizen who tipped police off. You know, I may be the police chief, but Im also a citizen. Its ridiculous. At some point in time, this has got to stop.

But the numbing, metronome-like quality of everyday gun violence struggled to compete with a mass shooting at a July 4 parade in Americas heartland.

In Richmond, the idea that we averted similar carnage was an attention grabber  though authorities, it must be said, performed a disservice in initially stating without equivocation that Dogwood Dell was the target when the facts were not so clear-cut.

But, hey, Im among the myriad folks whove enjoyed Dogwood Dell. Our concern about gun violence is tied to both proximity and possibility. If violence is so random that it can follow us anywhere  a grocery store, a house of worship, a holiday celebration  who can breathe easy?

Whether youre at home in your cul-de-sac or in your neighborhood or in a park or at a parade, out dining  you have to keep your head on a swivel, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said. And thats not the country that I know I desire to live in ... but those are the facts of the matter at this moment.

Whatever collective trauma we felt at this near-miss was fleeting, compared to what folks in crime-ravaged Richmond communities experience every day. But anyone who deems this the price of normalized violence is missing the point: Whether in a Black enclave of Buffalo, N.Y., a Latino schoolhouse in Texas or a leafy suburb of Chicago, theres plenty of bloodshed and trauma to go around.

Mass shootings make it harder to compartmentalize a national bloodlust intent on expanding its boundaries. To stem the tide, the affluent folks of Highland Park must develop common cause with the poor people on the South and West sides of Chicago. The denizens of Glen Allen, Midlothian and Mechanicsville must resolve the same regarding their urban brethren.

We need more empathy and fewer firearms, from Highland Park, Ill., to Highland Park, Richmond. Until we reach that consensus, were all in the crosshairs.
Its that time of year when its hot outside, youre often on the go and you might just be eating outside. Whether its grabbing lunch on the 
Roanoke County Public Schools found the land where it wants to build the countys largest capital project in its history  a new career and technical education facility.

The four parcels of land where the new center will be built are adjacent to Peters Creek Road between Airport Road and Burlington Elementary School.

It will eventually replace the existing CTE facility that houses the Burton Center for Arts & Technology in Salem. The school system has outgrown the current facility and it has seen minimal improvements since being built in 1962, according to school officials.

The announcement was made at a joint meeting between the school board and board of supervisors Tuesday evening.

School officials have noted the major problems with the current building, including its size and the fact that it is located in a floodplain, the latter being one of the main reasons renovation of the building is not a viable option.

The 23-acre site is being purchased by the school system for approximately $3.4 million, with the county also looking to secure a fifth parcel connected to the land, with the deal close to being finalized, according to school Superintendent Ken Nicely.

The owners of the land who have been negotiating with the county include two parcels owned by Mapsico Limited Company, one owned by Trent Harold Jr. and one owned by F C Land LLC, according to online county records.

Nicely said the school system is using the approximately $4.3 million in funds it will receive for capital improvements from the state this year to purchase the properties.

The total cost for building a new facility currently exceeds $80 million, according to the school systems capital improvement plan, but the figure may change depending on the size of the facility.

It is the largest capital project the school system or county has ever undertaken, both in size and cost, according to RCPS and county officials.

The area was chosen considering a number of factors, and with the help of the 10-member Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee formed in a joint effort by the board of supervisors and the school board in August 2021.

For nearly a year, the committee worked to identify the future needs for a new CTE center in Roanoke County and to locate potential sites for the new center, according to the release.

They have also toured other CTE centers in Virginia in an effort to see how other centers operate and what facilities are needed to provide learning opportunities for students.

The committee evaluated the proposed scope of the project, and the majority of members voted to recommended the facility be 238,000 square feet, a little more than three times the size of the Burton center.

This has been an exciting experience to be part of, said Mike Altizer, chairman of the committee, in the release. I want to thank the members of the committee for their hard work and their careful and thoughtful deliberations as together we searched for the right place to locate this new CTE center.

The breakdown is 178,000 square feet for program space, 34,000 for a mechanical and common area and 26,000 feet for outdoor covered storage.

The committee came to that consensus after touring facilities in Loudoun County and the Massanutten Tech Center in Harrisonburg, while also considering the future growth of the county and the addition of new programs for students.

The main takeaways when figuring out the size it should be was increased space for programs, increasing the number of programs offered, inclusion of more students, collaboration among students and flexibility in working with industry, according to the committee.

Though not all members of the citizens committee agreed, and expressed the facility was too big and not in line with what the school systems plan, cost was not a factor in the committees recommendation, according to a few members.

Last year there were approximately 900 students who attended Burton, but the CTE school also had to turn down 300, partially due to the limited space of the facility, according to the committees presentation.

High schoolers grades 9-12 from across Roanoke County dual-enroll at the Burton Center, traveling from their base schools to attend in blocks that amount to a few hours and days a week.

The center offers a wide range of programs, including cosmetology, game design, culinary arts, mass communication and automotive technology, among others.

Nicely said more programs will be added when the new center is built. When exactly that will be is still up in the air, according to both county and school officials.

A concrete date for when construction would begin or be completed has yet to be determined, though some officials have expressed a hope to break ground in the next few years.

The county and school system are hoping to use a mix of funds including state grants, carryover funds from the end of the next few fiscal years and capital improvement funds, which the county is willing to give the school system in advance in the next year or two.

The county has a system for capital improvements that runs on a three-year cycle, with $17 million going to the county one year and the other two years it goes to the school system, as it has more infrastructure to maintain.

Deputy County Administrator Rebecca Owens said the county could front the school system for four of its years, or $68 million, potentially as soon as July 1, 2023.

She said the timetable depends on how the school system chooses to use the funds, as it has other capital needs at W.E. Cundiff Elementary and Glen Cove Elementary.

It also depends on when a site plan is ready to be submitted to the Virginia Public School Authority, which is required before funding is approved by the state organization, Owens said.

Under that funding method, the school system would take out a 20-year bond, and the county would take another $4 million, with the remaining funding coming from the aforementioned revenue sources.

Supervisors Chairman Paul Mahoney said the county will also continue to collaborate with the school system on alternative funding sources, including potentially leasing the building from the eventual developer until it is paid off.

The committee has also been tasked with looking into the viability of using solar panels as a means to generate electricity it could potentially sell back to Appalachian Power, Mahoney said.

A grant program launched by the state this year would also potentially allow the school to receive funding for the project, but would be capped at 20% of the total cost, he said.

This is a major project for the school system and the overall community, Mahoney said. We are committed to funding this, and will look at all the options and collaborate with the school system over the next several months to determine how to best do that.

Mahoney and Nicely have both stressed the collaboration with local business and industries in the region as a necessity for designing programs which meet the needs of employers and have students ready to join the workforce upon graduating from high school.

There is a lot of good money to be made in certain trade programs right out of school, Mahoney said, noting that college is not the only option for students. It also makes our area more attractive to different businesses and industries.

Mahoney noted before Tuesdays meeting that the project would be more collaborative between the two governing bodies than is typical for school construction due to the size and scope.

We will be working on a lot of the details over the next several months, he said. We have one chance to get this right.
ROCKY MOUNT  A captain with the Franklin County Sheriffs Office will take over as chief of the Rocky Mount Police Department in August.

Near the end of the Rocky Mount Town Councils Monday evening meeting, Town Manager Robert Wood announced that Phillip Young will be filling the police chief position.

Right now the plan is that he will start on or about Aug. 15, Wood said.

Young, who will be paid $104,624 in his new position, is a lifelong Franklin County resident and has been with the sheriffs office for 24 years. Before joining the sheriffs office as a patrol deputy, Young served as a police officer  and later police chief  for the Ferrum College Police Department.

He has held several roles at the sheriffs office, including field training officer, school resource officer, professional standards sergeant and administrative lieutenant.

He [Young] spent 12 years on the Emergency Response Team with much of that time spent as a designated marksman. Most of his leadership experience has been in dealing with hiring, budget, internal affairs and FOIA, a Tuesday statement from the sheriffs office said. Captain Young has served as the accreditation manager for the office, overseeing the initial accreditation of the department as well as the first and second re-accreditations through the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission.

Young has a bachelors degree in management and leadership from Bluefield College, where he graduated with honors, and a criminal justice graduate certificate from the University of Virginia.

He is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy, Session 262, as well as the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Leadership Associations Supervisor, Command and Executive Leadership Institutes, the sheriffs office statement said.

Franklin County Sheriff Bill Overton Jr. mentioned Young at Mondays school board meeting.

Im thankful that well have a wonderful relationship with him, Overton said.

Mondays announcement marks the end of a 10-month search for a new Rocky Mount police chief.

Weve been searching for a new police chief for some time, Wood said. We had over 20 applications come into the Berkley Group who helped us with that process.

Young will take over the chief duties from Capt. Mark Lovern, who has served as the departments interim police chief since the early September retirement of former chief Ken Criner.

Criner retired in 2021 after more than 30 years in law enforcement, roughly a decade of which was spent at the Rocky Mount Police Department. Criner became police chief in 2014.

In 2020, four police department employees filed federal discrimination complaints against the town. Three of those same employees also filed complaints with the town about Criner, alleging a hostile work environment and disparaging, profane comments made about subordinates.

Criner was placed on administrative leave for five weeks in spring 2020 in response to the complaints filed with the town. Criner spent two of those weeks on unpaid leave.

A month after Criners retirement in 2021, a former Rocky Mount police officer filed a lawsuit claiming he was forced out of his job after defending and trying to help employees who Criner allegedly harassed.

That lawsuit was settled in May, but another filed in February by a person claiming harassment, Regina Stanley, is slated for a jury trial in the U.S. District Court in Roanoke starting May 1, 2023.
According to their page on the Inter-Fraternity Council of the University of Virginia, the local chapter of Phi Gamma Delta prides itself on friendship, knowledge, service, morality, and excellence.

According to UVas spring Hazing Misconduct report, the fraternity also cajoled new members into a binge-eating race of food crates filled with milk, bananas, soda, mayonnaise, and broccoli until at least one new member vomited.

The fraternitys pledge educator also instructed new members to put on blindfolds and sit against the basement wall while several brothers threw eggs around them and loud music played. One pledge was struck in the eye by an egg but no medical assistance was offered even though he complained of pain.

Phi Gamma Delta, also known as FIJI, is one of two fraternities that are being tossed off Grounds for hazing incidents and one of five fraternities and sororities written up in the schools hazing report for violating university regulations.

Those incidents and violations were detailed in the hazing report, which is required under a new state law.

Kappa Alpha Order was the other fraternity removed from Grounds.

As a result of these findings, the chapters operating agreement with the university was terminated, the misconduct report announced. The chapters national organization may petition to re-colonize at the university after four years.

In FIJIs case, the agreement was not only terminated but five members were also referred to the University Judiciary Committee for other punishments.

Following UVas decision in June, FIJIs national organization moved to close the chapter for violating its laws and policies, said Rob Caudill, executive director of Phi Gamma Delta.

Kappa Alpha Order is disappointed by UVas decision, according to a statement provided by the national office, which is based in Lexington.

Our chapter at the University of Virginia has enjoyed an impeccable reputation and has not had any known conduct violation in recent memory, the statement read. This unfortunate outcome could have been avoided and instead resulted in a positive collaborative and educational effort.

Established in 1873, UVas Kappa Alpha chapter is one of the oldest fraternities at UVa.

National office staff said they worked with the UVa administration during the investigation process.

The chapter leadership has been forthcoming and has confirmed the accuracy of some of the published claims, officials said. KA staff and alumni were denied access to decision-makers to offer alternative educational and restorative sanctions. At this time, while we hope to work with the university, we are required to consider all options for the future of the chapter.

According to the report, Kappa Alphas transgressions included requiring new members to carry cigarettes, lighters, condoms, beef jerky, chewing tobacco and smokeless nicotine patches on their person at all times. New members were banned from using the frat house bathroom or furniture.

One incident included new members confined in a bathroom and smoking all the cigarettes included in pledge packs and a team race to drink 30 cans of beer.

UVa spokesman Brian Coy said the UVas dean of students made the decision to remove the two fraternities from Grounds.

Upon receiving reports of these particular incidents, UVa Student Affairs immediately opened an investigation to determine the facts and evaluate the need for disciplinary actions, he said. University officials also moved quickly to offer the affected students supportive resources.

University officials declined to comment further on the cases in order to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

The university is strongly committed to keeping our students safe and to acting swiftly in response to reported incidents of hazing, which is a violation of university policy and, if it results in bodily harm, a violation of Virginia law, according to the statement.

Earlier this year, Virginia lawmakers adopted an anti-hazing bill known as Adams Law following the death of 19-year-old Adam Oakes, a freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University. Oakes died of alcohol poisoning and nearly a dozen men connected to VCUs Delta Chi chapter were charged in connection with his death.

The law requires hazing prevention training for all current, new and potential members of student organizations. The training should include extensive, current, and in-person education about hazing, the dangers of hazing, including alcohol intoxication, and hazing laws and institution policies, according to the bill summary.

Additionally, the bill requires universities to provide immunity from disciplinary action for students who report an incident of hazing that causes injury to a person.

Per state code, UVa will update its hazing misconduct report 10 days before the start of the fall and spring semesters and maintain the information for 10 years.

According to UVa records, only one Greek organization had its operating agreement terminated in the last five years. The Sigma Phi Society was removed in fall 2017 after the chapter failed to comply with university standards regarding alcohol and new member education, according to UVa. The chapter was conditionally reinstated the following spring.

Fraternity Theta Tau and sorority Delta Delta Delta will face university judicial action in the fall for their actions during spring, according to the report.

Theta Tau required its new members to perform favors such as picking up food or coffee, attending a brothers intramural game, following/liking content on social media, and swiping a brother into a dining hall. Failure to do so resulted in a variety of punishments, including collecting signatures in a public setting for a fake petition.

Delta Delta Delta sisters held a pledge mixer in February during which alcohol was served and a slideshow shown.

During the slideshow, a Tri-Delta sister ran into the room and said someone in the pledge class reported them for an alcohol violation. She then announced she was going to take a picture of the pledge class, and that someone needed to disclose who had reported them, the report states.

After time passed, the Tri-Delta sister returned to the room to explain the situation was a joke. The events purpose was to scare the pledges.

Fraternity Phi Kappa Psi received an abbreviated 10-day new member education period and a mandatory hazing prevention program for all members of the chapter. The report indicates that university investigators doubted the veracity of chapter members interviewed during the investigation.

They did not believe new members were fully truthful, transparent, or forthright in the investigative process, the report states. Investigators based this concern on the multitude of inconsistencies in statements provided by new members and the chapter president that go beyond what a reasonable person would consider to be normal variances in memory or experience of a shared event.
Del. Dave LaRock, R-Loudoun, for example, is urging Youngkin to consider conditioning some funding for state-funded universities like Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia on those institutions halting the procedure at their medical facilities.

LaRock said Youngkin could also examine funding controlled by the administration, like the allocation of funding for contraceptives, to medical providers that dont perform abortions.

The conversation is focused on extremes like an outright ban and what the governor has proposed, LaRock said in an interview. Theres just so much more to this issue.

LaRock said Youngkin is paying close attention to those suggestions.

The delegate was among a few conservative lawmakers who spoke at an antiabortion rally at the state Capitol on Saturday. The rally underscored conservatives pressure on Youngkin to advance antiabortion policies in the state.

Del. Marie March, R-Floyd, said she would introduce an outright ban on abortions at conception  a measure that almost surely will be defeated.

Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell, has said he will introduce a similar measure in the Senate.

In a Sunday interview on CBS Face the Nation, Youngkin did not directly answer a question about whether he would ever pursue a full abortion ban. I believe, as a pro-life governor, that life begins at conception. But, he said, he is focused on getting a bill he can sign.

Well, the reality is that as a pro-life governor in a state like Virginia where I have a Senate thats controlled by Democrats and a House thats controlled by Republicans, we have to find a way to get things done, the governor said.

Republicans hold a 52-48 edge in the House of Delegates, while Democrats hold a 21-19 edge in the Senate.

On June 24, the day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Youngkin said he will seek legislation to bar most abortions after 15 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest or when a womans life is in jeopardy. Both Youngkin and Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, one of four Republicans Youngkin has tasked to pursue abortion legislation, say they prefer a 15-week bill, but that a 20-week standard could be a fallback position.

Traditionally, abortion legislation goes through the Senate Education and Health Committee on which Democrats hold a 9-6 advantage. Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, who leads the panel, told CNN over the weekend that if the governor is trying to push a 15-week ban, its not going to get through my committee. I can guarantee you that.

LaRock said other alternatives that could hook more moderate Senate Democrats include measures that provide additional services and care for mothers and families in the strained situations when a woman is making her choice.

He said that could include more funding for crisis pregnancy centers, which engage with pregnant women but dont provide abortions, and often try to sway women against the procedure. LaRock said the state could also move to make adoption as affordable as possible.

We could be focusing short-term on things that would make it more viable for a woman to choose life and take some difficulty out of a pregnancy that is unplanned and sometimes unwanted, he said.

March, a freshman lawmaker, said she would propose a stricter stance. This will be the most pro-life legislation ever carried in Virginia, she said of her bill.

Without naming names, March criticized Republicans who she said are willing to cut deals with Democrats on abortion.

There is no compromise. There can be no compromise, March said. To cut deals with those who would kill the unborn is immoral and it is unloving.

LaRock said that while his opinion on abortions is uncompromising, he would qualify as a victory any policy that led to fewer women seeking or receiving the procedure.

I believe that human life begins at conception. No compromise means that we can never justify taking an innocent human life, but at this moment, I doubt anything like a ban will move forward. Its not enough to have control of one of the chambers in the legislature, LaRock said.

I think anything that would make women want fewer abortions is a win in the next few years.
 
CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters. Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
" " The carbon in sargassum seaweed is eventually released in the form of methane, a much more dangerous and potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Zen Rial/Getty Images

Climate change, driven primarily by human activity that pumps large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, already is having observable effects all over the planet, and scientists fear it will have catastrophic impacts by the end of this century, from increasingly violent storms and brutal heat waves to rising sea levels that will inundate coastlines.

But as climate activists and politicians grapple over how aggressively carbon emissions need to be reduced to stave off what many see as an existential threat, a group of volunteer visionaries called Pull to Refresh is proposing an ingenious alternative solution. They want to use seaweed  specifically, the vast quantities of macroscopic algae such as kelp and sargassum which occur naturally in our oceans  to absorb carbon emissions from the atmosphere and store the carbon.

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The Pull to Refresh Plan

Pull to Refresh  which cleverly takes its name from a familiar touch-screen gesture  would do this by deploying a fleet of robotic, solar-powered vessels to roam the oceans. In the Caribbean, the autonomous craft would sink the existing, plentiful masses of sargassum, so that the carbon would be stored on the ocean bottom, explains Arin Crumley, filmmaker, entrepreneur and CEO of Pull to Refresh. In the Pacific, similar robots could cultivate kelp forests in remote areas, growing the carbon-absorbing algae on trellises and eventually sinking it in the deep ocean, as this 2021 Technology Review article describes.

Crumley, who in addition to directing and producing films has imported parts for electric skateboards, says that Pull to Refresh grew out of a discussion group on Clubhouse, a social media app, which brought together a bunch of climate-minded talent from a variety of fields, ranging from creative media types to engineers.

"All of the people who came together have been wanting to do something about climate change for a long time, but weren't sure what that could be," Crumley explains via Zoom. They coalesced around a goal of entering in the XPrize Carbon Removal competition, which offers $100 million in funding for the competitor with the best idea for fighting climate change.

" " The Pull to Refresh solar-powered vessel can collect and sink macroalgae such as kelp and sargassum into the deep seas for effective carbon sequestration. Pull to Refresh

Initially, Crumley and the others looked at finding a way to capture carbon directly from the air, until they hit upon the idea of seaweed as a carbon storage medium. "It just turned out that you can get so much farther by utilizing photosynthesis and the open ocean," Crumley says. Eventually, the team realized that "we just need a thing that floats around and can go out to do the stuff that needs to be done."

For Crumley, it all clicked. "It's basically a giant electric skateboard," he says. Relatively giant, that is  Crumley says the robotic vessels might start in size at 8 meters (26 feet) in length by 6.6 feet (2 meters) across. "It has all the same components. You've got a main battery pack, the main electronic components, a couple of different motors. And it's just a kind of blown-up enlarged version of what I was pretty familiar with already."

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Unmanned Vessels Are Key

"My background is not in electronics or mechanical engineering, or any of these specific realms of expertise, but just in understanding how it all works," he continues. "What all the components are, what different talents are involved, what kind of teams get certain things done. It became clear that there was no reason we couldn't design an unmanned vessel that would do the work."

Using unmanned vessels is key, Crumley says, because they eliminate the need to have "huge crews out really far from the coastline. Because you need to get to where there's enough depth. So you can't operate anywhere near the coast. So now you're talking danger, you're talking very high salaries, you're talking about people missing their loved ones for months and months."

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From Growing Kelp to Harvesting Sargassum

Initially, Pull to Refresh focused upon the idea of growing kelp in the Pacific. "So that was kind of our initial prototyping and development that we did," explains Laurel Tincher, another of the organization's leaders. But the focus recently has shifted from kelp to Caribbean sargassum, in part because it provids an opportunity to have an impact not just on climate change, but upon another environmental problem as well.

"We also came across this really massive issue of invasive sargassum in the Caribbean," Tincher says. "Really, in the past 10 years it has become a huge problem. And we thought, well, there's already all of this seaweed out there, this is already carbon that's been captured. Let's do something with this. And so we kind of pivoted to create this stepping stone where we have a vessel that can drive around and gather up that sargassum and sink that. So that can really help us to prove out a lot of different aspects of our technology that will ultimately be used in both systems but can also help solve this forgotten problem."

If the sargassum is allowed to wash up on beaches, it not only is an eyesore, but the carbon in the sargassum eventually can be released in the form of methane, a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Instead, by lowering the sargassum into the water, the algae eventually becomes compressed and loses its buoyancy, so that it can sink to the bottom, according to Crumley.

To actually make a serious dent in the Earth's atmospheric carbon, Pull to Refresh would have to put a lot of robotic vessels out in the world's oceans  perhaps as many as a billion. "I understand that's a crazy number," Crumley says. But he also notes that it's the equivalent of a decade's worth of production in the global automobile industry. With a sufficiently broad base of support, "it's doable," he insists.

But before Pull to Refresh can attract funders to scale up to that size, it has to prove that its technology works and that it can reduce atmospheric carbon. In the meantime, the organization is operating on a shoestring, dependent upon pro bono labor and donations from its members. Pull to Refresh recently rented a house on the water in Panama, where it plans to conduct research on prototypes.

"We're crowdsourcing to a group of over 50 volunteers and growing," notes Crumley, who also says that a major industrial design software firm has helped out by providing "seats," i.e., user access, to some of its products. Eventually, Pull to Refresh hopes to attract backing from companies who want to offset their own carbon output, as well as individual contributors.

Crumley says that Pull to Refresh is aware of potential downsides to sequestering carbon on the ocean floor, such as possibly changing the content of the "Marine snow" that life in the oceans depends upon for nutrients. For that reason, Pull to Refresh would "follow it down and carefully monitor it," and look for ways to mitigate any negative effects.

In the meantime, as Pull to Refresh develops its technology, it's also working to find creative ways to get the word out about its alternative method for reducing atmospheric carbon.

"There's such a big storytelling element to what we're trying to do, because it's such a large scale that we need to get to, and we really need to get everybody on board and people don't even really know about carbon removal that much yet," Tincher says. "So we're trying to figure out ways of how do we show, how do we tell the story in a visual way, or what audio are we using? How do we simplify it down, so that people really get it?"

Now That's Interesting Others have proposed massive geoengineering projects for fighting climate change, such as using aircraft disperse reflective particles into the atmosphere to block a portion of the sun's radiation. That would simulate the effect of a major volcanic eruption such as Mount Pinatubo in 1991, or Krakatau in 1883, as this article from the U.S. Geological Survey notes.
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 Seventh Circuit panel refuses to reconsider its extra-textual limit on compassionate release in light of Supreme Court's Concepcion decision | Main | Some news and notes regarding new director of the federal Bureau of Prisons 

July 12, 2022

Amnesty International releases "The Power of Example: Whither the Biden Death Penalty Promise?"

Via this Death Penalty Information Center posting, I just saw that a few weeks ago Amnesty International issued this big new report, titled The Power of Example: Whither the Biden Death Penalty Promise?," which advocates for Prez Biden to fulfil his campaign pledge to work to "eliminate the death penalty." Here are a few passages from the start of this 100+ page report:

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; questions of guilt, innocence, or other aspects of the case; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.... Amnesty International submits that the 50th anniversary of Furman is an opportune moment for the US administration and members of Congress to be reminded that the world is waiting for the USA to do what almost 100 countries have achieved during this past half century  total abolition of the death penalty. Abolition of the federal death penalty would be consistent with US obligations under international human rights law. It would bolster the position of those states in the USA that have already got rid of the death penalty or are moving towards doing so. It would set a positive example to individual state governments that continue to use this cruel, unnecessary, and flawed policy, as well as to the diminishing list of retentionist countries.... This report, then, stems from Amnesty International's concern that the clock is running on the Biden pledge with little to show for it. It is not a study of the federal death penalty as such or an examination of the cases of the more than 40 individuals currently on federal death row, or of those federal defendants facing death penalty trials. The report revisits the six-month federal execution spree in a bid to jog the collective governmental memory of that shameful episode and to reboot the political commitment to abolition. It also seeks to remind the US authorities of their general and specific obligations under international human rights law in relation to the death penalty, including as provided in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

July 12, 2022 at 10:20 AM | Permalink

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Interesting stuff! From the attorneys at https://dyaljenkins.com/

Posted by: Dyal Jenkins | Jul 12, 2022 4:04:04 PM

"Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime..."

Those first 20 words assure you that the rest is not worth reading. The DP is constitutional, is supported by a clear majority of the public, and has a long historical pedigree in this country dating back to George Washington. Against that background, to say that you're against it no matter what the circumstances of the crime is merely to say that you're a closed-minded ideologue uninterested in evidence. That forecloses your being listened to by any reasonably curious, fair-minded person.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 12, 2022 11:51:32 PM

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 "FAMM challenges policymakers nationwide to #VisitAPrison" | Main | Colette Peters selected to lead federal Bureau of Prisons 

July 11, 2022

Furman at 50: some recent notable coverage

As noted in this recent post, the US Supreme Court's remarkable death penalty opinion in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), is now a half century and I have not decided to create a series of "Furman at 50" posts. Unsurprisingly, I am not the only one to note the Furman milestone, and here is a round-up of some recent coverage and commentary I have seen from various sources:

From the Dalton Daily Citizen, "50 years after SCOTUS ruled death penalty cruel and unusual, race factors heavily in executions"

From the Death Penalty Information Center, "DPIC Analysis Finds Prosecutorial Misconduct Implicated in More than 550 Death Penalty Reversals or Exonerations"

From The Marshall Project, "The Supreme Court Let The Death Penalty Flourish. Now Americans are Ending It Themselves."

From Slate, "Fifty Years Ago, the Supreme Court Tried to Reduce Racial Bias in the Death Penalty. Did It Work?"

From UPI, "50 years after Furman ruling, death penalty may come down to states, experts say"

From The Washington Post, "Death penaltys 50-year rise and fall since Supreme Court struck it down"

Related prior posts:

July 11, 2022 at 05:53 PM | Permalink

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Hopefully more states abolish the death penalty in the coming years. Perhaps the death penalty will be outlawed nationwide in 20 years. The next step is reducing the number of people sentenced to LWOP.

Posted by: Anon | Jul 11, 2022 9:35:08 PM

Anon --

One might think that the next step would be reducing the number of people who get murdered, but better that we gush for the killers than care about the killed.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 11, 2022 10:47:32 PM

There is a way to reduce homicides in the US: Gun control. If America implemented strict gun control laws, gun deaths would significantly decline.

Posted by: Anon | Jul 13, 2022 5:00:51 PM

Anon,

70% of US counties have no more than one murder a year. 54% have zero. Murder is greatly concentrated in very small areas with 2% of counties having more than half of the murders.

Do those 70% of counties not have guns?

The problem is cultural. I point you to the viral video from Monday of the little child in his underwear swearing at and hitting police officers. Bastardy and lack of male role models are the issues, not guns.

Posted by: TarlsQtr | Jul 14, 2022 8:46:21 AM

Anon --

"There is a way to reduce homicides in the US: Gun control. If America implemented strict gun control laws, gun deaths would significantly decline."

That proposition has been studied extensively and found to be false.



https://ringsideatthereckoning.substack.com/p/is-more-gun-control-the-answer

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 15, 2022 4:59:40 PM

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 Colette Peters selected to lead federal Bureau of Prisons | Main | Amnesty International releases "The Power of Example: Whither the Biden Death Penalty Promise?" 

July 11, 2022

Seventh Circuit panel refuses to reconsider its extra-textual limit on compassionate release in light of Supreme Court's Concepcion decision

In this post a few weeks ago, I highlighted key language from the Supreme Court's work in Concepcion v. US, No. 20-1650 (S. Ct. June 27, 2022) (available here), that should help resolve a circuit split surrounding what factors can serve as the basis for compassionate release. As explained in that post, I believe non-retroactive changes in sentencing law can potentially provide the basis for compassion release because nothing in the text of  3582(c)(1)(a) supports the contention that non-retroactive changes cannot ever constitute "extraordinary and compelling reasons" to allow a sentence reduction. Though the Third, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Circuits have held otherwise, language from Concepcion would seem to undercut extra-textual limits on sentencing or sentence-modification considerations. Here is one of a number of passages from Concepcion stressing that all relevant sentencing information is to be part of all sentencing determinations unless expressly excluded by statute (with my emphasis added):

Federal courts historically have exercised this broad discretion to consider all relevant information at an initial sentencing hearing, consistent with their responsibility to sentence the whole person before them. That discretion also carries forward to later proceedings that may modify an original sentence. Such discretion is bounded only when Congress or the Constitution expressly limits the type of information a district court may consider in modifying a sentence.

Disappointingly, it seems the first circuit panel to consider Concepcion expressly has decided to double-down on its extra-textual limit on what may be compassionate release considerations. The Seventh Circuit today in a short opinion in US v. King, No. 21-3196 (7th Cir. July 11, 2022) (available here), refuses to engage with the key language of Concepcion but says this:

When deciding whether extraordinary and compelling reasons, 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), justify a prisoners compassionate release, judges must not rely on non-retroactive statutory changes or new judicial decisions. Thats the holding of United States v Thacker, 4 F.4th 569 (7th Cir. 2021).... Theres nothing extraordinary about new statutes or caselaw, or a contention that the sentencing judge erred in applying the Guidelines; these are the ordinary business of the legal system, and their consequences should be addressed by direct appeal or collateral review under 28 U.S.C.  2255. William King, who was sentenced to 216 months imprisonment following his guilty plea to three heroin charges, contends that Concepcion v. United States, No. 201650 (U.S. June 27, 2022), requires us to abandon these decisions and hold that anything at all  factual or legal, personal or systemic, routine or unique  may be treated as extraordinary and compelling. That would be hard to reconcile with the language of the statute. Routine is the opposite of extraordinary.... Concepcion ... held that, when substantive changes made by the First Step Act (principally reductions in the authorized ranges for crack-cocaine crimes) entitle a prisoner to be resentenced, the judge may consider everything that would have been pertinent at an original sentencing. We may assume that the same would be true if a district judge were to vacate a sentence on application for compassionate release and hold a full resentencing proceeding. But decisions such as Thacker concern the threshold question: whether the prisoner is entitled to a reduction under  3582(c)(1)(A).... The First Step Act did not create or modify the extraordinary and compelling reasons threshold for eligibility; it just added prisoners to the list of persons who may file motions. We take the Supreme Court at its word that Concepcion is about the matters that district judges may consider when they resentence defendants. So understood, Concepcion is irrelevant to the threshold question whether any given prisoner has established an extraordinary and compelling reason for release.

As I have explained in prior posts, Congress via statute expressly stated that just one factor could never alone serve as the basis for sentence reduction under  3582(c)(1)(a): "Rehabilitation of the defendant alone shall not be considered an extraordinary and compelling reason." 28 USC  994(t). That textual exclusion reveals Congress can and did, through express statutory text, seek to exclude one and only one particular reason from alone serving as the basis for qualifying for a sentence reduction. The expresio unius canon of construction  "the expression of one is the exclusion of others"  counsels that courts should not be inventing additional extra-textual categorical exclusions that Congress did not expressly state. And Concepcion should serve as another reminder to circuit courts to stop inventing categorical limits on relevant considerations not set forth by Congress or the Constitution.

Of course, not every change in law could or should be considered extraordinary and compelling to provide the basis for compassionate release. The alleged change in law cited by the defendant in King seems quite week, and I would not be so troubled if circuits were just indicating that they suspect only in rare cases might a change in law alone amount to an extraordinary and compelling reason. But this new King decision reiterates the misguided notion that district judges are categorically excluded from ever considering "non-retroactive statutory changes or new judicial decisions" even though Concepcion stressed that the "only limitations on a courts discretion to consider any relevant materials at an initial sentencing or in modifying that sentence are those set forth by Congress in a statute or by the Constitution." Sigh.

Prior recent related posts:

July 11, 2022 at 10:38 PM | Permalink

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SIOUX CITY  On Aug. 6, residents will have a chance to freely celebrate the cultures of Africa that are a part of Siouxland.

According to a press release, the seventh annual Siouxland African Festival will run from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Riverside Park on Aug. 6 and will include: "a parade of African nations, exhibition of African artifacts, serving of various African cuisines, drumming and dancing, a fashion parade, and more."

Per the release, three specific countries are being highlighted this year: North Sudan, South Sudan and Benin.

"This event embraces and celebrates all Africans regardless of their religious, geographical and ethnic background," Vice president of the Siouxland African Association Dr. Annie Kinwa-Muzinga said. We also seek to educate and build a bridge for partnership and service with our non-African community members."

The release concludes by noting: The event is open to the public and free will donations are accepted.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Democratic National Committee is launching a digital ad campaign to energize its voters after last months Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, warning that Republicans ultimate goal is to outlaw abortion nationwide.

The committee is sponsoring an at least $10,000 ad buy beginning Tuesday on the websites of more than 20 lifestyle publications, including Teen Vogue, Refinery29, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Essence, GQ, Mens Health and Esquire.

The ads feature a picture of Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell alongside pink, white and blue text that says: Republicans are pushing to ban abortion nationally. Join us in fighting back."

The DNC says it also plans to launch a separate, six-figure television ad campaign encouraging activism to defend abortion rights later this week across a dozen media markets in battleground areas.

Many top Republicans, meanwhile, are eager to lean into the fight against abortion rights, seeing the overturning of Roe as a promise they kept to voters.

Since the Supreme Court nullified Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized the right to an abortion, in a ruling June 24, many Republican-led states have rushed to enact broad restrictions on the procedure. No federal legislation outlawing it exists, and getting such a bill through Congress would likely be difficult  but McConnell suggested even before the Supreme Court's ruling that a future nationwide ban was possible."

Former Vice President Mike Pence said after the ruling that "we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land.

The DNC's digital ads are promoting what it is calling a week of action devoted to defending abortion rights.

With this Defend Choice Week of Action, were giving people across the country a chance to turn their anger into action by holding anti-choice Republicans accountable and helping to elect Democrats," DNC chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.

The digital ads, and the television campaign beginning later this week, are also helping publicize DefendChoice.org, a website the various Democratic campaign arms created after the Supreme Court ruling.

The DNC says the site connects grassroots activists with the party's existing national infrastructure, and it notes that its volunteers made 23,000-plus calls in the weekend following the ruling  its most active weekend since last November's election. The committee says even before the ruling, it held briefings for state parties, elected officials and campaign staff to share research and messaging ideas compiled on the national level.

Tuesdays digital ad buy and the upcoming TV buy follow a five-figure digital campaign launched June 29 in which the DNC proclaimed that Republicans want to go further and ban abortion. Believe them.

Follow AP's coverage of abortion at https://apnews.com/hub/abortion.
LE MARS, Iowa -- Lawyers for a Merrill, Iowa, man charged with murder are seeking to have firearms evidence and certain statements he made to police disallowed at his upcoming trial.

Thomas Knapp also acted in self-defense when he shot Kevin Juzek in the abdomen and chest with a 20-gauge shotgun at the rural Merrill home on May 11, 2020, new court filings say.

In a motion to suppress filed Monday, Wendy Samuelson, of the Iowa State Public Defender's Special Defense Unit, said that before he had been read his Miranda rights against self-incrimination, Knapp told an officer that Juzek wouldn't be giving him any more problems.

"I don't give a s--- anymore. He's been bugging me forever. He attacked me and I shot him," Knapp said before also telling former Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo that he'd shot Juzek. At that point, Van Otterloo read Knapp his rights and continued questioning him.

All statements made prior to receiving his Miranda warning should not be allowed at trial, Samuelson said, and neither should a shotgun and shells recovered from Knapp's bedroom because the two search warrants issued during the investigation did not authorize the search of the bedroom and the applications for the warrants did not establish probable cause to search it.

A hearing on the motion has yet to be scheduled.

Knapp, 84, has pleaded not guilty of first-degree murder and willful injury in the shooting death of Juzek, 51, during a disturbance at the rural Merrill home. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 6 in Plymouth County District Court.

Samuelson on Monday filed a notice that Knapp intends to rely on a defense of self-defense and/or defense of another at trial.

The case has been delayed numerous times because of Knapp's mental condition. In August, he was declared incompetent to stand trial, and Knapp underwent months of treatment at the Iowa Department of Corrections' Forensic Psychiatric Hospital.

In February, a psychiatrist determined that Knapp had been exaggerating his mental limitations and was mentally competent to go to trial.

The case has been further complicated by Knapp's hearing loss, which has made it hard for him to communicate with his attorneys and follow along with court proceedings, even after being fitted with hearing aids.

Knapp has pleaded not guilty in a separate case of willful injury causing bodily injury, domestic abuse assault while using or displaying a dangerous weapon and two counts of first-offense domestic abuse. He is charged with striking his wife in the head with a stick and breaking bones in her hand during the same disturbance in which Juzek was killed.

Both cases will be tried at the same time.
SIOUX CITY -- The parents of a former East Middle School seventh-grader who was injured in class have dropped a negligence lawsuit they had filed against the school district.

Anthony and Yvon Fitch sued the Sioux City Community School District in December 2020, alleging their son suffered a traumatic injury while he and other students were left unsupervised in a gym class on Dec. 20, 2018, at the school.

Their attorneys filed a dismissal on June 28 in Woodbury County District Court. No reason for the dismissal was given, and the family's lawyers did not return messages.

The Fitches had said in their lawsuit that while unsupervised, several students began "various forms of horseplay" and another student put their son in a choke hold until he lost consciousness. The student then dropped their son onto the floor, and he landed on his head, causing a brain injury.

The Fitches said their son's injuries were the result of the school's negligence for failing to provide adequate supervision, and damages exceeded $10,000 for their boy's permanent injuries and continued medical expenses.

They had asked for a judgment awarding them an unspecified amount of damages to compensate them for past and future medical expenses and pain and suffering.
ComEd will deliver $434 million in tax refunds to its customers over three years beginning in January.

The refund represents excess deferred income taxes collected by ComEd as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.

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The utility, which serves more than 4 million residential and business customers across northern Illinois, wanted to distribute the refund over 39 years, but state regulators favored an accelerated schedule backed by consumer advocates and the Illinois attorney generals office.

Theres no reason that we should wait 39 years, said David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, a nonprofit watchdog group. It makes way more sense just to get money back to consumers faster.

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Over the course of three years, the average ComEd customer will receive about $3 per month through the tax refund, Kolata said.

The Illinois Commerce Commission approved the plan last week to credit nearly $485 million in tax refunds to the states electric customers beginning in 2023, including $434 million from ComEd and nearly $51 million from Ameren. The refunds will show up as a line item on customer bills through 2025.

A ComEd headquarters building, July 17, 2020, in the 3400 block of North California Avenue in Chicago. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

ComEd will distribute $65 million in 2023, between $195 million and $282 million in 2024, and the remaining amount in 2025, according to ComEd spokesman David ODowd. The credit will vary by customer, based on distribution charges, and will increase in the second year to reflect the larger amount refunded.

ComEd forecasts that the average monthly residential bill for distribution charges will be $35 in January of 2023, resulting in a benefit of more than 80 cents, ODowd said. Larger (commercial and industrial) customers could realize a benefit in the hundreds of dollars.

The Republican-backed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law by then-President Donald Trump in December 2017, lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, and creating a windfall for companies large and small. It also reduced the tax rate for utilities, which had already collected the federal income tax from consumers at the higher rate, built into the monthly bills.

The Illinois utilities wanted to give the excess income tax collected to consumers over decades, while the attorney generals office pushed for a quicker timetable. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in September, added a provision requiring the electric utilities to issue the refunds by the end of 2025.

ComEd customers began receiving a carbon mitigation credit in June, which was also provided for through the states climate act. The average customer is getting a $20 monthly credit generated through profits at the states nuclear plants. The carbon mitigation credit appears as a new line item on ComEd bills through May 2023.

When the tax refund shows up on customer bills, it may be more than offset by ComEds proposed $199 million increase in electricity delivery charges. If approved by state regulators, the utilitys largest rate hike in nearly a decade would add $2.20 per month to the average residential customer bill beginning in January 2023.

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rchannick@chicagotribune.com
STORM LAKE, Iowa -- A Storm Lake man was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison for attacking his live-in girlfriend with a meat cleaver-type knife.

Edgardo Ruedas, 30, pleaded guilty in May in Buena Vista County District Court to attempted murder as part of a plea agreement, which spelled out his prison sentence. He must serve 17.5 years before he's eligible for parole. Charges of willful injury resulting in serious injury, going armed with intent, assault while participating in a felony, domestic abuse assault and child endangerment were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea.

Police were called to 1 Marks Court on March 3 for a domestic assault. Ruedas had cut the woman with a knife while she was in bed, cutting her on the left side of her neck near her carotid artery and on the back of her head. She was bleeding significantly from a 6-8-inch cut across the bridge of her nose when police arrived.

The couple's 2-year-old child was present at the time but was unharmed, police said.
SIOUX CITY  J.D. Scholten will be pulling political double duty this election season.

This week: Sioux City's Mike Franken, the former three-star Navy admiral running for U.S. Senate, announced that Scholten, a fellow Democrat and Sioux City resident, will be joining his campaign to unseat seven-term Republican incumbent Sen. Chuck Grassley. According to a press release, Scholten, who's already running unopposed in Iowa House District 1, is coming on as a political director.

"Having known Admiral Franken the past few years, its an honor for me to work on his campaign," Scholten said. "Hes such a unique candidate. I wouldnt have signed up for just any campaign, but his work ethic, authenticity and his integrity are inspiring. He will be an amazing representative of our state in the Senate."

The news comes just days after a poll commissioned by Frankens campaign shows him within 5 percentage points of Grassley in the 2022 election.

The poll was conducted by Change Research, which surveyed 1,488 likely Iowa voters from June 30 to July 4. Grassley was the pick of 49% of the poll respondents, to 44% for Franken. Seven percent said they remain undecided. The polls margin of error is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. Grassleys six re-election campaign victories in Iowa have come by an average of 35 percentage points. (An April poll showed Franken trailing Grassley by 3% with 13% of respondents being "undecided.")

In mid-May, a Change Research poll showed Franken statistically tied with Abby Finkenauer in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary campaign. Roughly three weeks later, Franken won that election by nearly 15 percentage points.

Scholten spoke to the most-recent poll in the release from Franken's campaign, saying: "This race reminds me so much of our 2018 campaign. The big difference is that the numbers statewide are way more favorable to Democrats than the old 4th district, where we moved the needle 24 points that year. Last weeks poll showing Admiral Franken down just five points with a lot of room to grow for name recognition is very encouraging. I am looking forward to turning a lot of heads come November."

During his 2018 Congressional run, Scholten, a paralegal, lost to then-Rep. Steve King of Kiron by about 3% in the 4th District (the most Republican of Iowa's four districts). Scholten crisscrossed the 39-county district in an RV he referred to as "Sioux City Sue" and received contributions from donors across the United States who wanted to see King defeated because of his past controversial statements on race and immigration.

Scholten squared off against Randy Feenstra, then a Republican state senator from Hull, Iowa, in the November 2020 general election, but didn't make it as competitive as the 2018 race against King. Feenstra won 62% of the vote to Scholten's 37% in the state's most Republican congressional district.

While state legislators in Iowa will sometimes work for federal officials from the state, it is somewhat rare for candidate to work for another candidate at the same time. However, the Franken release noted: "J.D. is seeking to follow in the footsteps of Representative Chris Hall, who successfully served in a similar role for Fred Hubbells gubernatorial campaign."

The state legislative district Scholten is running to represent, House District 1, shares some similarities to the current district (District 13) represented by Hall, who decided not to seek another term after more than a decade in office, but is most similar to the district Rep. Steve Hansen (D-Sioux City) currently serves (District 14). No Republican filed for District 1 by the March deadline, but local GOP leaders have until next month to nominate a candidate to fill the ballot spot.
ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- Sioux County Sheriff Dan Altena knew he'd be turning in his badge by the end of the year.

But a new interpretation of state retirement pay rules forced him to bump up his retirement by four months.

Altena, who has served nearly 18 years as sheriff and is midway through his fifth term, turned in his resignation at Tuesday morning's Sioux County Board of Supervisors meeting. He will step down Aug. 31.

Making the formal announcement brought a few tears to his eyes, realizing his 43-year law enforcement career, 39 of them with the sheriff's office, is nearly over.

"The hard thing is leaving this line of work and the people you work with. Law enforcement becomes like a family," Altena said.

In all likelihood, Altena will be able to remain in close contact with them.

Altena, who lives in Sioux Center, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination for the District 3 county board seat in June. His Democratic opponent in the November general election received a single write-in vote.

Altena had planned to retire at the end of the year, but learned recently that in order to begin collecting pay from the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System if he were elected to the county board, he had to have a four-month gap between holding the elected positions, leading to his earlier-than-expected retirement announcement.

Sioux County Auditor Ryan Dokter said the county board plans to appoint a replacement to complete Altena's term. The position will be on the ballot in 2024.

Altena said he'll be leaving "a really, really good bunch of people," and he believes the sheriff's office has qualified candidates to fill his position.

Altena said he was proud that during his service the sheriff's office created its first school resource unit, enhanced its emergency response unit and K-9 program, reorganized its dive team and provided a real-time public notification system that also offers a confidential reporting system.
Jan. 6 probe: Trump sets rally after 'unhinged' WH meeting

WASHINGTON (AP)  In a heated, unhinged dispute, Donald Trump fought objections from his White House lawyers to a plan, eventually discarded, to seize states' voting machines, the House Jan. 6 committee has revealed. Then, in a last ditch effort to salvage his presidency, Trump summoned supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol for what turned into the deadly riot. In another revelation Tuesday, committee co-chair Liz Cheney said the panel had notified the Justice Department that Trump himself had contacted a potential witness who was talking with the committee. The panel also presented evidence that Trump aides secretly planned for a second rally stage across from the Capitol on the day of the attack.

Jan. 6 takeaways: 'Screaming' and a Trump tweet never sent

WASHINGTON (AP)  At its seventh hearing, the House Jan. 6 panel on Tuesday showed further evidence that President Donald Trump was told, repeatedly, that his claims of election fraud were false  but that he continued to push them anyway. And at the same time, he turned to the widest possible audience on Twitter, calling his supporters, some of them violent, to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, to not only protest but be wild as Congress certified President Joe Bidens victory. Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy says the tweet served as a call to action and in some cases as a call to arms.

Sri Lankan president flees the country amid economic crisis

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  The president of Sri Lanka has fled the country, days after protesters stormed his home and office and the official residence of his prime minister. That's according to an immigration official. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left amid a three-month economic crisis that triggered severe shortages of food and fuel. The official said the president, his wife and two bodyguards departed aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane bound for for the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives. Rajapaksa had agreed to step down under pressure. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would leave once a new government was in place.

Twitter sues to force Musk to complete his $44B acquisition

Twitter sued Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday to force him to complete the $44 billion acquisition of the social media company. Musk and Twitter have been bracing for a legal fight since the billionaire said Friday he was backing off of his April agreement to buy the company. In a fiery filing, Twitter accuses Musk of violating the merger agreement because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests. Twitter filed its lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery, which frequently handles business disputes among the many corporations, including Twitter, that are incorporated there.

Uvalde's new anguish: Video shows police waiting in school

UVALDE, Texas (AP)  Surveillance footage captured the gunman in the Uvalde school shooting enter the building with an AR-15 style rifle and later shows officers in body armor milling in the hallway outside the fourth-grade classrooms where 19 children and two teachers were killed. The video was published Tuesday by the Austin American-Statesman. It shows parts of the nearly 80 minutes that passed between the gunman walking into Robb Elementary through an unlocked door and the time when his death put an stop to Americas deadliest shooting in decades. The edited footage was published as Texas lawmakers investigating the massacre are preparing to release their findings.

Baby stars, dancing galaxies: NASA shows new cosmic views

GREENBELT, Md. (AP)  NASA has unveiled a new batch of images from its new powerful space telescope. Views released Tuesday included a foamy blue and orange shot of a dying star, five galaxies in a cosmic dance and a sparkling landscape of baby stars. The first image from the James Webb Space Telescope unveiled Monday was a jumble of distant galaxies that went deeper into the cosmos than humanity has ever seen. The latest images were released at an event at NASAs Goddard Space Center in Maryland.

Jan. 6 rioter apologizes to officers after House testimony

A man who joined the pro-Trump mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol has apologized to officers who protected the building on Jan. 6, 2021. Stephen Ayres' apology came after he testified Tuesday before the House committee that's investigating the insurrection. Ayres told lawmakers he felt called by former President Donald Trump to come to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. He described being swept up by Trumps bogus claims and believing as he marched to the Capitol that Trump would join them. After the hearing, Ayres approached officers in the committee room who have testified about being verbally and physically attacked by the angry mob and apologized for his actions.

State judge blocks Louisiana from enforcing abortion ban

NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Louisiana authorities have once again been blocked from enforcing the states near total ban on abortion. A state court in Baton Rouge released a judge's order Tuesday blocking enforcement while lawyers for a north Louisiana clinic and other supporters of abortion rights pursue a lawsuit. The suit originated in New Orleans but was shifted to Baton Rouge by a judge who said it belonged in the states capital. Louisianas law includes trigger language that made it effective when the Supreme Court reversed national abortion rights on June 24. The suit claims the state law is unclear on when the ban takes effect and on medical exceptions to it.

Harris vows US will strengthen its Pacific islands relations

SUVA, Fiji (AP)  U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris assured Pacific island leaders of more U.S. engagement after acknowledging the United States may not have previously provided the diplomatic attention the region deserved. Harriss virtual address to the Pacific Islands Forum comes as China vies for more influence in the Indo-Pacific region. She proposed new embassies in Tonga and in Kiribati, a Micronesian state that split this week from the 18-nation forum in a major blow to regional harmony. Harris also proposed requesting that the U.S. Congress triple funding for fisheries assistance to $60 million a year and the appointment of the first U.S. envoy to the forum.

Emmy surprises: 'Squid Game,' Dave Chappelle, 'This Is Us'

NEW YORK (AP)  The Emmy Award nominations announced Tuesday included some snubs and surprises, like This Is Us and black-ish walking away forever limply and Nathan Lane making history as the most-nominated best comedy guest actor in Emmy history. Dave Chappelles special The Closer was nominated for best variety special and best directing for a variety special despite criticism over its anti-transgender comments. And Hulus buzzy true crime satire Only Murders in the Building was eligible for the first time this year and slayed with 17 nominations, including writing, outstanding comedy and stars Martin Short and Steve Martin.
Neither hambone nor underplayer, Lesley Manville gives tremendous value for the money. Her classical chops, coupled with a shrewd improvisers wiles honed in the films of Mike Leigh, have elevated so many projects, among them Paul Thomas Andersons Phantom Thread, in which Manville played the impeccably coifed gatekeeper to Daniel Day-Lewiss meticulous Pygmalion fantasies of what the well-dressed woman should wear.

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris allows Manville to be the one outside of the haute couture, looking in, and then striding right through the looking glass. This is the latest screen adaptation of the 1958 Paul Gallico novel, about a humble London war widow getting by as a charwoman (though I dont believe the new film calls her that). Ada Harris dreams of luxury, for once, before its too late. Her story is a daydream made real, about traveling to the home of the House of Dior and coming home with something nice.

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Manville and her fellow actors ensure that the film certainly is that. Its niceness is all, even when director and co-writer Anthony Fabian foists a vaguely bullying charm onto the storytelling. The adaptation stays pretty faithful to Gallicos original, though Harris herself has evolved in different directions.

No longer is she the sort of postwar British specimen whod say something like dirty, them foreigners, the way Angela Lansbury put it in the 1992 TV movie. This time, her corner of mid-1950s London is progressive enough for a wider, less paranoid vision of this womans world, before and after she goes to Paris.

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The inciting plot incident remains the same. When Harris spies one of her regular cleaning clients Dior dress, the sight takes her breath away. Her life immediately transforms into a single, pricey long shot: Saving enough money to fund a quick flight to Paris, where she will buy a single Dior dress and return home in a dreamy Cinderella state of mind.

The lives she transforms en route, by way of compassion and beguiling effrontery, are many and grateful. Initially the formidable Mme. Colbert (Isabelle Huppert, who really is a hambone here) sees this working-class interloper in the House of Dior as a pest to be waved away. But Harris persists, aided by the discreetly dashing assistance of a wealthy nobleman and Dior regular (Lambert Wilson). She wants that dress!

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris tick-tocks between setback and advance, dashed hopes and fortuitous kindnesses. Primarily, our hero, a warm, earthbound Mary Poppins, plays matchmaker to a restless Dior model (Alba Baptista) and a shy Dior accountant (Lucas Bravo). The idea with the new Mrs. Harris is to make her more of an engine and less of a passenger in her own story. The screenwriters (four in all) yield mixed results, as Harris foments a workers strike, among other late-breaking developments.

Manville in interviews has described the material as a musical without the music, though Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris has, in fact, already been turned into a British musical. If director Fabians touch is a little heavy and coy, the actors lighten it every preordained step of the way. A lot of folks will enjoy the wish-fulfillment. We need it: Not a lot in the real world right now is fully cooperating in that regard.

A House of Dior fashion model (Alba Baptista) befriends a visiting London woman (Lesley Manville) on the trip of a lifetime in "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris." (Courtesy of FOCUS FEATURES / HANDOUT)

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris  2.5 stars

MPAA rating: PG (for language, suggestive material and smoking)

Running time: 1:55

How to watch: Premieres in theaters July 14

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Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

mjphillips@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @phillipstribune

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WASHINGTON (AP)  In a heated, unhinged dispute, Donald Trump fought objections from his White House lawyers to a plan, eventually discarded, to seize states' voting machines and then, in a last ditch effort to salvage his presidency, summoned supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol for what turned into the deadly riot, the House Jan. 6 committee revealed Tuesday.

In another disclosure, raising the question of witness tampering, the panels vice-chair said Trump himself had tried to contact a person who was talking to the committee about potential testimony. And still more new information revealed that Trump was so intent on making a showing at the Capitol that his aides secretly planned for a second rally stage there on the day of the attack.

Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel's vice chair, said it had notified the Justice Department that Trump had contacted the witness who has yet to appear in public.

We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously, said Cheney, a Wyoming Republican.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley declined to comment when asked if the department was investigating the call.

The hearing Tuesday was the seventh for the Jan. 6 committee, which is portraying the defeated Trump as detached from reality, clinging to false claims of voter fraud and working feverishly to reverse his election defeat. It all led to his be there, will be wild tweet summoning supporters to Washington.

The panel delved into a critical three weeks of secret planning in the run-up to the Capitol attack and heard remorseful testimony from an Ohio father who believed Trumps election lies and answered the defeated presidents tweet to come to Washington. The panel also heard form a former spokesman for the extremist Oath Keepers who warned of the far-right groups ability for violence.

I think we need to quit mincing words about just talk. ... What it was going to be was an armed revolution, said Jason Van Tatenhove. I mean, people died that day.

Tuesday's session focused in part on December 2020, a time when many Republicans were moving on from the November election Trump lost to Joe Biden. Testimony brought out details of a late night Dec. 18 meeting at the White House with Trump's private lawyers suggesting he order the U.S. military to seize state voting machines in an unprecedented effort to pursue his false claims of voter fraud .

The panel featured new video testimony from Pat Cipollone, Trump's White House counsel at the time, recalling the explosive meeting when Trump's outside legal team brought a draft executive order to seize the states' voting machines  a terrible idea, Cipollone said.

That's not how we do things in the United States, he testified.

Another former White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, called the meeting unhinged in separate video testimony.

Cipollone and other White House officials scrambled to intervene as Trump met late into the night with attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, retired national security aide Michael Flynn and the former head of the online retail company Overstock. It erupted in shouting and screaming, another aide testified.

Where is the evidence?" Cipollone demanded of the claims of voter fraud.

"What they were proposing, I thought, was nuts," testified another official, Eric Herschmann.

But Trump was intrigued and essentially told his White House lawyers that at least Powell and outside allies were trying to do something.

As night turned to morning, Trump tweeted his call for supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6, when Congress would be tallying the Electoral College results. Be there. Will be wild, Trump wrote.

Instantly, the extremists reacted.

The panel showed graphic and violent text messages and played videos of right-wing figures, including Alex Jones, and others vowing that Jan. 6 would be the day they would fight for the president.

Messages beaming across the far-right forums laid out plans for the big day that they said Trump was asking for in Washington. It would be a red wedding, said one, a reference to a mass killing in Game of Thrones. Bring handcuffs.

Several members of the U.S. Capitol Police who fought the mob that day sat stone-faced in the front row of the committee room.

Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups are now facing rare sedition charges over the siege. Nine people died the day of the attack and in its aftermath.

This tweet served as a call to action -- and in some cases a call to arms, said one panel member, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.

The committee revealed new details about what happened next, as planning was underway for Trump's big rally on the Ellipse outside the White House, and aides scrambled to secretly set up a second stage outside the Capitol complex across the street from the Supreme Court.

In a Jan. 4 text message from rally organizer Kylie Kremer to Trump ally Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO, Kremer explains: This stays only between us, we are having a second stage at the Supreme Court again after the Ellipse. POTUS is going to have us march there/the Capitol.

Kremer warns that if the information gets out, others will try to sabotage the plans and the organizer will be in trouble with the National Park Service and other federal agencies.

But POTUS is going to just call for it unexpectedly, Kremer wrote.

On the morning of Jan. 5, Trump ally Ali Alexander sent a similar text to a conservative journalist saying: Ellipse then US capitol. Trump is supposed to order us to capitol at the end of his speech but we will see.

And the panel showed a draft tweet from Trump, which was obtained from the National Archives and never sent, calling on supporters to arrive early for the rally and expect crowds.

March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal! the draft Trump tweet said.

Committee member Murphy said, This was not a spontaneous call to action, but rather was a deliberate strategy.

Tuesday's was the only hearing this week, as new details emerge. An expected prime-time hearing has been rescheduled for July 21.

Cheney said the Trump team is shifting its strategy in dealings with the committee, and is now trying to shield the former president from blame, suggesting he received bad advice from crazy advisers or was otherwise incapable of understanding some of the details of the situation.

Trump is not an impressionable child, Cheney said. Just like everyone else in our country he is responsible for his own actions.

The panel also heard from a sorrowful Stephen Ayres, the Ohio father who said he got caught up in social media after the election, but has since lost his job and his house after joining the mob at the Capitol. He pleaded guilty last month to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.

When Trump summoned supporters to Washington, I felt like I needed to be down here, he testified.

Ayers hugged and apologized to the police officers after the hearing.

The problem of politicians whipping up mob violence to destroy fair elections is the oldest domestic enemy of constitutional democracy, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md..

___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Nomaan Merchant and Michael Balsamo in Washington and Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland, contributed to this report.
SEATTLE (AP)  A Seattle man was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, prosecutors said.

According to King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney, a judge on Monday ordered the 48-year-old man to remain jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail, but denied prosecutors request for an anti-harassment order protecting Jayapal, The Seattle Times reported.

In 2016, Jayapal became the first Indian American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a Democrat who heads the Congressional Progressive Caucus. A spokesperson for Jayapal didn't immediately respond to an email from The Seattle Times requesting comment Monday.

Seattle police arrested the man outside Jayapals house at 11:25 p.m. Saturday after she called 911 and reported an unknown person or people were in a vehicle using obscene language, a probable cause statement said. She told a dispatcher her husband thought someone may have fired a pellet gun, the statement says.

Officers arrested a man who was standing in the middle of the street with his hands in the air and a .40-caliber handgun holstered on his waist, the probable cause statement says.

A neighbor told police she heard the man yell something to the effect of, Go back to India, Im going to kill you, the statement says. The neighbor also said the man drove by Jayapals residence at least three times, yelling profanities, according to the statement.

The man told officers that he knew who lives in the house and that he wanted to pitch a tent on their property, the statement says.

Prosecutors said they expect to file criminal charges Wednesday.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  The president of Sri Lanka fled the country early Wednesday, slipping away in the middle of the night only hours before he was to step down amid a devastating economic crisis that has triggered severe shortages of food and fuel.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane bound for the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives, according to an immigration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Rajapaksa had agreed to resign under pressure. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would leave once a new government was in place.

The president's departure followed months of demonstrations that culminated Saturday in protesters storming his home and office and the official residence of his prime minister. The protests have all but dismantled his family's political dynasty, which ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.

On Wednesday morning, Sri Lankans continued to stream into the presidential palace. A growing line of people waited to enter the residence, many of whom had traveled from outside Colombo on public transport.

What Rajapaksa did  flee the country  is a timid act," said Bhasura Wickremesinghe, a 24-year-old student of maritime electrical engineering, who came with friends. "Im not celebrating. Theres no point celebrating. We have nothing in this country at the moment.

He complained that Sri Lankan politics have been dominated for years by old politicians who all need to go. Politics needs to be treated like a job  you need to have qualifications that get you hired, not because of what your last name is, he said, referring to the Rajapaksa family.

There was no end to the crisis in sight, and protesters vowed to occupy the official buildings until the top leaders are gone. For days, people have flocked to the presidential palace almost as if it were a tourist attraction  swimming in the pool, marveling at the paintings and lounging on the beds piled high with pillows. At one point, they also burned the prime minister's private home.

At dawn, the protesters took a break from chanting as the Sri Lankan national anthem blared from speakers. A few waved the flag.

Malik D Silva, a 25-year-old demonstrator occupying the presidents office, said Rajapaksa "ruined this country and stole our money. He said he voted for Rajapaksa in 2019 believing his military background would keep the country safe after Islamic State-inspired bomb attacks earlier that year killed more than 260 people.

Nearby, 28-year-old Sithara Sedaraliyanage and her 49-year-old mother wore black banners around their foreheads that read Gota Go Home, the rallying cry of the demonstrations.

We expected him to be behind bars  not escape to a tropical island! What kind of justice is that? Sithara said. This is the first time people in Sri Lanka have risen like this against a president. We want some accountability.

The air force said in a statement that it provided an aircraft for the president and his wife to travel to the Maldives with the defense ministrys approval. It said all immigration and customs laws were followed.

This shows what befalls a leader who uses his power to the extreme, said lawmaker Ranjith Madduma Bandara, a senior official of the main opposition party in Parliament, United Peoples Force.

Sri Lankan lawmakers agreed to elect a new president next week but have struggled to decide on the makeup of a new government to lift the bankrupt country out of economic and political collapse.

The new president will serve the remainder of Rajapaksas term, which ends in 2024, and could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament.

The current prime minister is to serve as president until a replacement is chosen  an arrangement that was sure to inflame protesters who want Wickremesinghe out immediately.

Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power, and it is likely Rajapaksa planned his escape while he still had constitutional immunity. A corruption lawsuit against him in his former role as a defense official was withdrawn when he was elected president in 2019.

Corruption and mismanagement have left the island nation laden with debt and unable to pay for imports of basic necessities. The shortages have sown despair among the country's 22 million people. Sri Lankans are skipping meals and lining up for hours to try to buy scarce fuel.

Until the latest crisis deepened, the Sri Lankan economy had been expanding and growing a comfortable middle class.

Sithara said the people want new leaders who are young, educated and capable of running the economy.

We dont know who will come next, but we have hope they will do a better job of fixing the problems," she said. Sri Lanka used to be a prosperous country.

As a restaurant manager in a hotel in Colombo, she once had a steady income. But with no tourists coming in, the hotel closed, she said. Her mother, Manjula Sedaraliyanage, used to work in Kuwait but came back to Sri Lanka a few years ago after she suffered a stroke. Now the daily medication she needs has become harder to find and more expensive, Sithara said.

The political impasse added fuel to the economic crisis since the absence of an alternative unity government threatened to delay a hoped-for bailout from the International Monetary Fund. In the meantime, the country is relying on aid from neighboring India and from China.

Protesters accuse the president and his relatives of siphoning money from government coffers for years and Rajapaksas administration of hastening the countrys collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged some of his policies contributed to the meltdown.

Associated Press Business Writer Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed to this report.
MANILA, Philippines (AP)  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing's vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and warned that Washington is obligated to defend treaty ally Philippines if its forces, vessels or aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters.

Blinkens statement, issued by the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Tuesday, was released on the sixth anniversary of the 2016 decision by an arbitration tribunal set up in The Hague under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea after the Philippine government complained in 2013 about Chinas increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

China did not participate in the arbitration, rejected its ruling as a sham and continues to defy it, bringing it into territorial spats with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian claimant states in recent years.

We call again on the PRC to abide by its obligations under international law and cease its provocative behavior, Blinken said, using the acronym for Chinas formal name, the People's Republic of China.

We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, Blinken said.

There was no immediate reaction from Beijing. But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference in Malaysias administrative capital of Putrajaya that China is speeding up talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines and three other claimant states, to come up with a nonaggression pact called a code of conduct to turn the South China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation.

We will oppose bloc confrontation and Cold War mentality, Wang told journalists after meeting his counterpart in Malaysia, the last stop in his five-nation swing through Southeast Asia. He did not take any questions.

In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have had overlapping claims in the busy waterway, where an estimated $5 trillion in goods passes each year and which is believed to be rich in undersea gas and oil deposits.

The potential flashpoint has become a key front of U.S.-China rivalry.

Washington lays no claim to the disputed waters but has deployed Navy ships and Air Force jets to patrol the waterway for decades and says freedom of navigation and overflight is in the U.S. national interest. That has provoked angry reactions from China, which has accused the U.S. of meddling in a purely Asian dispute and warned it to stay away.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said Tuesday that the arbitration ruling will be a pillar of his new government's policy and actions in the disputed region and rejected attempts to undermine the indisputable decision.

These findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal and are conclusive as they are indisputable. The award is final, Manalo said in a statement.

We firmly reject attempts to undermine it  even erase it from law, history and our collective memories, said Manalo, who did not directly name China.

New Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office June 30 after a landslide electoral victory.

Marcos Jr.s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, put the arbitration ruling on the backburner for years after taking office in 2016 and nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping while criticizing U.S. security policies.

In 2019, Duterte said he finally asked Xi to comply with the ruling but was flatly told, We will not budge.

Marcos Jr. has upheld the arbitration ruling and said he would not allow even one square millimeter of Philippine waters to be trampled upon.

But he said in January before winning the presidency that since China has refused to recognize the ruling, Dutertes policy of diplomatic engagement is really our only option.

Dozens of left-wing activists and workers protested in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manilas Makati financial district on Tuesday, asking Beijing to respect the arbitration ruling and for Marcos Jr. to defend the countrys territory and sovereign rights in the South China Sea.

Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
An Omaha man who took part in a 2008 robbery spree in which two people were killed and a third was injured was resentenced Friday to 128 to 180 years in prison.

Eric Ramirez, now 30, was 17 at the time of the slayings of 22-year-old Luis Fernando-Silva and 27-year-old Tari Glinsmann. A third person, Charles Denton, was wounded during a failed robbery attempt near an ATM in Dundee.

Ramirez, then-15-year-old Juan Castaneda and then-18-year-old Edgar Cervantes took part in the Nov. 12, 2008, spree, during which people were indiscriminately shot at in eastern and central Omaha. Prosecutors said Ramirez fired the shots. Cervantes, who testified for the prosecution, said in court that he hatched the plan and drove his fellow gang members around from one killing to the next. He pleaded guilty to robbery and gun charges.

All three were convicted in 2010. Ramirez was sentenced to two life terms in prison after he was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, one count of attempted second-degree murder, one count of attempted robbery and one count of criminal conspiracy.

Castaneda was sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

In 2014, the Nebraska Supreme Court struck down the life prison terms of Ramirez and Castaneda. The state high court cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said automatically sentencing juveniles to life without parole violates the Constitution.

The convictions of the two were upheld, but the state high court ordered the cases sent back to Douglas County District Court for resentencing.

Under a law passed by the Nebraska Legislature in 2013, judges were required to consider terms ranging from 40 years to life for the men.

In 2016, Castaneda was resentenced to 105 to 125 years in prison.

Cervantes had been sentenced to 96 to 115 years in prison. His sentence has not been changed because he was 18 at the time of the spree.

Under the resentencing decision handed down Friday, Ramirez will be eligible for parole in 64 years, with mandatory release in 90 years, said Brenda Beadle, chief deputy Douglas County attorney. The time Ramirez already has served  nearly 14 years  will be factored in, Beadle said.

Beadle said Friday that prosecutors argued for Ramirez to get more time than his co-defendants because he was the shooter.

It was a horrific crime, she said.

The delay in Ramirezs resentencing stems from a series of attorney changes, Beadle said.

At Castanedas resentencing in 2016, Glinsmanns father, Gene Glinsmann, characterized the robbery spree as more about killing for sport.

Ramirez shot Fernando-Silva  a new father who worked at Kona Grill  as Fernando-Silva sat in his driveway near 14th and Martha Streets.

Fernando-Silva had returned home but had yet to go inside. He was texting his girlfriend Good night when he was shot in the head. Castaneda then stole Fernando-Silvas wallet. The three gang members left him dead in the driveway.

Minutes later, the three drove through Dundee, where Ramirez shot at Denton and Hillary Nelsen at an ATM. Nelsen wasnt hit, but Denton was struck in the shoulder. He survived.

Then, about 20 minutes later, Castaneda pulled Tari Glinsmann out of her vehicle after she had just finished her shift and closed a convenience store at 52nd and Leavenworth Streets. Ramirez then shot her as Castaneda stood by. They didnt bother to take her cash.

Beadle said Fridays decision is just a relief for the family, she said. Theyve been through so much, and having to come back to resentencings and having to relive it all is traumatic and frustrating. Were glad this ends that for them.
A Norfolk woman who was sent to prison while six weeks pregnant and miscarried is suing the state and three prison nurses, including one who she says flushed her 13-week fetus down the toilet in her cell.

In the lawsuit initially filed in York County District Court and later transferred to U.S. District Court in Lincoln, attorney Maren Chaloupka alleged the state was negligent for the miscarriage.

She said the state had a duty of care to her client, Haleigh Gerard, to perform appropriate evaluations, request consultations and give orders for maternity patients, "rather than sending a miscarrying mother back to her prison cell to miscarry her baby alone."

On Jan. 28, 2020, less than a week after Gerard arrived at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York to serve a 3- to 4-year term on an attempted drug delivery charge, she reported to a nurse at the infirmary that she was experiencing bleeding and cramping.

Chaloupka said Gerard was given a maxi pad and told to return to her housing unit and keep an eye on the bleeding.

Over the course of the next seven weeks, Gerard, then 24, reported concerns multiple times about continued spotting and asked to see a doctor because she was nervous about the pregnancy, her first.

It prompted an appointment at the York Medical Clinic on Feb. 20, where a follow-up appointment was scheduled March 19.

Chaloupka said a week before the appointment, infirmary staff learned Gerard had been cramping for two days and documented an abnormal fetal heart rate. Twice that night, she was taken to the infirmary for persistent bleeding.

Staff contacted the York Medical Clinic, which scheduled an ultrasound.

But on the night of March 13, Gerard returned to the infirmary in a wheelchair, still bleeding, with abdominal cramps and nausea. And nurses sent her back to her cell, the attorney said.

"It was evident that she was experiencing a miscarriage. Still, defendants provided neither medical nor emotional support for Haleigh in this extremely upsetting event, which was the traumatic end of her first pregnancy," she said.

Chaloupka said early March 14, 2020, one of the nurses went to Gerard's cell and found her physically and emotionally exhausted, her skin yellow and her underwear saturated with blood. She'd been vomiting and told the nurse to look in the toilet.

Chaloupka said Gerard had delivered the baby in the toilet overnight.

She said the nurse then flushed the baby down the toilet, which the state denied in its answer.

Chaloupka said Gerard said she didn't want to go to a hospital, though it was obvious she needed outside medical evaluation.

About 12 hours later, she went to the infirmary with continuing cramps and vaginal bleeding. She was emotional and weeping because of the trauma of her miscarriage, Chaloupka said. Her abdomen was painful to touch. She was given ibuprofen and sent back to her cell.

The state claims board denied her tort claim in January.

In the lawsuit, Chaloupka is seeking compensation for pain and suffering and punitive damages against the nurse who allegedly flushed the baby for her alleged reckless and callous indifference to Gerard's constitutional rights.

The nurse was a contract employee for the Department of Correctional Services, according to a state prison spokeswoman.

In an answer, Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Jennifer Huxoll said Gerard was provided with reasonable care and any damages were the result of "unrelated, preexisting, or subsequent conditions" unrelated to employees' conduct.

Huxoll also said immunity prevents the state and the nurses from being sued.
Former Republican Rep. Doug Bereuter, who represented Lincoln and much of eastern Nebraska in the U.S. House of Representatives for 25 years, believes the country is in a dangerous place today.

"I am more worried about the health and status of American democracy than ever before in my lifetime," he says.

The nation is "more fundamentally divided" than it has been since Abraham Lincoln was first elected president at the advent of the Civil War, Bereuter said during a telephone interview following his appearance as the grand marshal of Seward's traditional Fourth of July parade.

Bereuter grew up in Utica in Seward County.

The Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the nation's Capitol by "a cadre of organized and violent insurrectionists" represented an attempt to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in the nation's history, Bereuter said.

"It was a shock to see this happen," he said.

And now the House Jan. 6 committee is doing the important work of uncovering and detailing what happened, Bereuter said.

"I did not vote for (Donald) Trump in 2016" when he was elected president, Bereuter said, instead choosing to write in the name of another Republican who he would not identify.

"It is important that Trump never gets close to the White House again," he said.

"It is clear that he was not qualified to be president in terms of knowledge, temperament, judgment and the lack of a moral compass," Bereuter said.

Part of the problem that led to Trump's Republican nomination is that "the way we nominate a presidential candidate is deeply flawed," he said, "with a few states playing too large of a role at the beginning of the process and a jumbled system of primaries and caucuses."

This scrambled system is "not a rational process for choosing a presidential nominee (and represents) a basic flaw in our political system today."

On another topic, the former 13-term congressman who served a single term in the Nebraska Legislature prior to his election to the House in 1978 welcomed the recent and sudden elevation of three members of the Legislature to seats in Nebraska's five-member congressional delegation.

Very few state senators in Nebraska's nonpartisan Legislature had moved on to Washington until now.

"Service in the Legislature provides a good base of experience to serve in the Congress," Bereuter said.

And, although the Legislature may have recently become more partisan in its behavior, he said, it's still the least-partisan state legislature in the country and a legislative body in which members are "more likely to form coalitions across the aisle."

Prior legislative service also sends former state senators to Congress with a wealth of "experience in dealing with constituents," particularly since a one-house body is "more accessible to constituents."

Former Nebraska state senators are "more likely to be results-oriented," Bereuter said, "rather than partisan warriors."

Congress, he said, "sadly has become very dysfunctional, increasingly filled with partisan, ideological warriors who are not focused on legislative achievement.

"I would not feel comfortable in the House today," Bereuter said. "I would not be able to tolerate extreme positions that people are pushed to take by leadership or supporters."

That's not all that has changed: "I never picked up the phone and called a single person for a campaign contribution," Bereuter said.

"I was accessible and responsible to my constituents, and they trusted me to make the right decisions," he said.

"I held 950 town hall meetings.

"I believe in representative democracy."

Bereuter became a leading member of the House International Relations Committee while he was in Congress before resigning his House seat in 2004 to become president and CEO of the Asia Foundation.

Before his resignation, he had been in line to become chairman of the committee in 2001, but Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois played his seniority card when he was not granted a waiver to continue as chairman of the Judiciary Committee and he was handed chairmanship of International Relations.

"Most Asian governments would have been happy if Rep. Doug Bereuter of Nebraska  a moderate, averse to controversy but schooled in the complexities of the region  had won," the Wall Street Journal wrote at the time.

Bereuter visited with 1st District Republican Congressman-elect Mike Flood of Norfolk during a reception at St. John Lutheran Church while he was in Seward last week.

They had met before.

"He said he got my autograph when he was an eighth grader who came to my town hall meeting in Norfolk," Bereuter said.

Flood was in the midst of his third term in the Legislature when he won a special election last month that pitted him against another state senator, Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, for the right to serve the remaining six months of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's ninth term in the 1st District House seat.

Fortenberry resigned from the House when he was convicted on charges that he lied to federal officials about an illegal foreign contribution to his 2016 reelection campaign.

Flood and Pansing Brooks, the Democratic nominee, will meet again in the Nov. 8 general election in a contest to determine who will serve a new two-year term beginning in January.

Flood will be sworn in as a member of the House when it returns from a recess Tuesday and he will join Sen. Deb Fischer and Rep. Adrian Smith as a trio of former state senators who serve in Nebraska's congressional delegation.
Marc Franke usually charges his 2013 Nissan Leaf  the first globally mass-produced fully electric vehicle  in his garage in Ely.

But during the winter, when the Leaf's range of 72 miles between charges is reduced by one-third or more by the cold, Franke plans his outings based on where he can get a charge before returning home.

"Suddenly in the winter, that infrastructure is important to me," said Franke, 71, a retired engineer and project manager.

The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program will provide $5 billion nationally through 2026 for new charging stations at least every 50 miles and within 1 mile of interstates.

"We're expecting these sites at convenience stores, maybe shopping malls, movie theaters," said Stuart Anderson, Iowa DOT director of the transportation development division. "Some nice publicly available spots with some of those amenities are already in place."

Iowa already has 276 public charging stations, including 71 that offer fast charging, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy. There are three types of charging stations:

 Level 1 uses a common household 120-volt outlet and adds between three to five miles per hour of charging, Forbes reported.

 Level 2 is most common for residential charging, providing 208 to 240 volts and adding 12 to 80 miles per hour of charging.

 Level 3 fast charging uses between 400 to 800 volts to charge at a rate of two to 30 miles per minute of charging. These stations cost tens of thousands of dollars to create, Forbes reported, so are found only at public charging sites.

Level 2 charging often is free at convenience stores, grocery stores and other businesses, which likely expect customers will spend money while waiting for their electric vehicle to charge.

In Iowa, Des Moines has the highest number of charging locations at 39, with Iowa City and Coralville combined having 33. Cedar Rapids has 16, Ames 12 and Davenport 11. Another 86 Iowa cities and towns have at least one charging station. Many of these sites have more than one charging port.

Iowa had more than 8,300 electric vehicles registered as of Dec. 31. Johnson County has the highest adoption rate, with 5.7 EV's per 1,000 residents. The other top 10 counties are:

 Dallas: 5.53 EV's per 1,000

 Jefferson: 5.49

 Cerro Gordo: 4.47

 Winneshiek: 4.07

 Story: 3.85

 Polk: 3.8

 Linn: 3.53

 Scott: 3.39

 Warren: 3.03

Iowa requires an additional registration fee for battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. In May 2019, Iowa had 1,200 battery EV's and 2,100 plug-ins, but less than three years later, there are 5,000 battery EV's and 4,400 plug-ins.

"The growth is definitely faster on the pure EV side," Anderson said. "Four times the number in less than three years."

With 276 public charging stations, Iowa has one charging station for every 30 electric vehicles registered in the state.

"Based on anecdotal information I hear, the system we have in Iowa right now meets the needs of EV owners in Iowa and those who travel through the state of Iowa," Anderson said. "The challenge is we're seeing accelerating growth in Iowa and across the country. There is a need to continue investment with public support. We are seeing some reluctance for folks to make longer trips  range anxiety."

Range anxiety

Franke was 23 in 1973, when Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries imposed an embargo on oil to the United States that caused gas prices to skyrocket amid shortages.

"You couldn't even get gas," said Franke, who was working as an engineer at General Motors in Michigan. "After a couple of hours, you'd finally get to the pump and it would run out. It got to the point where range became a big deal. Everybody wanted to buy cars that would go 400-500 miles on a single tank."

Franke was appalled by the toll the embargo took on the U.S. economy. He sees many similarities between 1973 and 2022, when Russia's war against Ukraine is part of the reason gas prices have spiked.

"We need to get off of petroleum as our primary fuel," Franke said.

He moved to Iowa in 1985 and later joined the board for five year of the Iowa Renewable Energy Association, a Hiawatha-based nonprofit that seeks to expand use of renewable energy.

Franke and his wife, Cheri, bought the Leaf in 2013, the same year they added solar panels to their roof in Ely.

"It took about eight years for the payoff," he said of the solar panels, which charge his car. "Now I'm driving around on free electricity from the sun."

Franke is hoping this fall to upgrade his EV to a Chevrolet Bolt, which has a range of 259 miles per charge.

Location, location, location

Franke knows where all the EV charging stations are around the Corridor. He knows he can meet his son for lunch at the North Dodge Hy-Vee in Iowa City and charge the car's battery while they eat. Or if he drives into Cedar Rapids, the NewBo City Market or Cedar Rapids Public Library are good places to charge.

"The biggest places where there haven't been many chargers is north of town, up in Hiawatha," he said. "There is no public charger up there. Same things at Westdale Mall, no public chargers."

Hiawatha could benefit from the new federal infrastructure funding for charging stations, which have to be within a mile of the interstate.

But Alliant Energy, an investor-owned utility that serves customers in Iowa and Wisconsin, also is looking at EV registrations and existing infrastructure to see where they can help install more charging stations, said Melissa McCarville, a spokesperson for the company's electrification team.

"We have been looking at that same data and looking at our service area and seeing which areas might be willing to partner with us," she said.

Last year Alliant joined the National Electric Highway Coalition, a group of 50 utility companies that commit to providing enough Level 3 fast charging stations to "allow the public to drive EVs with confidence along all major U.S. travel corridors by the end of 2023."

Alliant is collaborating to help install a new charging station in Decorah and is looking for other sites, McCarville said.

Money for roads

Electric vehicle use is expected to increase tenfold by 2030, pushing Iowa and other states to prepare for a loss in revenue from gas tax, which brought in about $675 million in fiscal 2021.

The Iowa Legislature in 2019 approved an EV registration fee on top of regular vehicle registration. For battery EV's the fee is $130 a year; plug-in hybrid EVs cost an extra $65.

The fee was designed to generate the same amount of revenue as what is lost from the fuel tax, Anderson said.

"That covers Iowa registered passenger vehicles," he said. "What we don't have captured are out-of-state EVs and we're not capturing any user fees from large battery-powered semi trucks."

Starting July 1, 2023, Iowa will start charging 2.6 cents per kilowatt-hour for charging at non-residential locations, such as convenience stores, truck stops and private trucking terminals.

The system isn't perfect, Anderson said. The EV fee is the same no matter how many miles you drive, unlike the gas tax, which brings in more revenue from people who drive more. And the state's charging infrastructure isn't yet adapted to charging electric semis or buses.

"There are a lot more challenges to the ability to install that charging infrastructure and handle those heavy loads," he said. "That will be an interesting transition."
The state agreed Monday to a $7.5 million medical malpractice settlement after a 41-year-old Davenport man suffered severe life-limiting impairments following care at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for a bleeding brain tumor.

The State Appeal Board approved the settlement, the first of the new budget year that began July 1. Although Iowa's Attorney General Offices assigned 75 percent of the payment to UI Physicians  a UI-based medical and surgical practice  the group has a $5 million cap per claim. Thus, the state is paying $2.5 million from its general fund toward the $7.5 million approved to cover injuries to Christopher Dolan and his wife, Wendy Dolan.

In lawsuit-related settlements for the budget year that just ended, the state paid a total $22.3 million  including $6.1 million involving Iowa Board of Regents institutions, like the UIHC.

According to the new settlement, Dolan  now 47  is in a wheelchair and requires 24-hour care. "His speech, motor, bowel and bladder functions are compromised, and his right leg and arm are spastic and paralyzed," the settlement reported.

His family has incurred bills for care, medications and life-supporting equipment. His wife, an oncology nurse, has had to cut her work hours to care for her husband, according to a lawsuit she filed in August 2020.

'Major neurological deficits'

According to that lawsuit against the state for its governance of the UIHC, Christopher Dolan went to the emergency room at Trinity Medical Center in Bettendorf on Dec. 26, 2016 with a monthlong temporal headache, nausea, vomiting, right eye pain, weeks of visual blurring and light sensitivity.

A CT scan showed a probable tumor, and Trinity arranged a transfer to the UIHC. It offered an ambulance, but the couple opted to drive and Dolan was admitted to the UIHC emergency room that afternoon. Labs indicated a pituitary tumor, and an MRI revealed a mass. UIHC discharged Dolan with instructions to follow up with UIHC neurosurgery in two weeks. But the next day, according to the lawsuit, Dolan was back at the Bettendorf emergency room with a worsening headache and vomiting.

Trinity discharged him with prescriptions and directed him to UIHC if symptoms worsened. They did, according to the lawsuit, and he returned to UIHC the night of Dec. 27, 2016, with a severe headache, vomiting, double and blurred vision and eye pain.

Another CT scan reconfirmed the large pituitary mass, "with a concern of elevated intracranial pressure and a rapid expansion of the tumor to bleeding," according to the lawsuit.

But UIHC discharged Dolan early Dec. 28, 2016, and told him to follow up with neurosurgery.

The next day, after calling UIHC about worsening symptoms, Dolan went to again to the UIHC emergency room with a "temporal headache rated 10/10 directly behind his eyes and extremely sharp," according to his lawsuit. He couldn't keep food or medicine down, and an MRI showed the tumor had grown and begun to hemorrhage. Dolan was admitted to UIHC, which scheduled surgery to remove it for the next morning, according to the lawsuit.

Dolan went into surgery the morning of Dec. 30, 2016, and four doctors performed a "transsphenoidal resection of the pituitary tumor." While removing the tumor, physicians determined it had destroyed Dolan's sellar region bone and filled his left sinus.

"The tumor was removed in piecemeal fashion," the lawsuit said.

Dolan was nonresponsive in recovery, and an MRI of his brain demonstrated damage. "Christopher thereafter had a stormy postoperative course with altered consciousness and gross neurological deficits," the lawsuit said. "He required a tracheostomy, feeding tube, and suffered multiple complications due to his severe neurological injury."

He ultimately was discharged from the UIHC more than a year later, on Jan. 17, 2018, "with ongoing major neurological deficits," including speech disturbance, paralysis, and other limitations.

Responding to the lawsuit, UI and state attorneys in court filings called the allegations an "incomplete summary of the extensive and detailed medical records"; suggested the Dolans failed to exhaust administrative remedies; and said something else could have contributed to Dolan's problems.

"Plaintiff may have failed to mitigate damages," according to the state's answer. "And any recovery by plaintiff should not include any loss which could have been prevented by reasonable care and diligence."

The state suggested Dolan's injuries "may have been caused by forces, acts, omissions, events, preexisting conditions, or causes outside the control of defendant."

By agreeing to pay $7.5 million, the state did not admit liability and settled the suit before it went to a jury.

'We did not defend her'

The State Appeal Board also approved Monday a settlement involving a pair of lawsuits over allegations that a neonatologist working in pediatrics at the UIHC "impermissibly and repeatedly" viewed another employee's medical records "with no legitimate medical purpose."

Brenda Heddens, who was working as a UIHC neonatal nurse practitioner, in May 2019 sued UIHC neonatologist Erica LeClair for accessing her medical records from 2014 to 2018 without permission. She also sued the state for negligence.

LeClair in August 2019 asked the state to seek to dismiss the case and asked a judge to find she was acting within the scope of her employment.

The Iowa Board of Medicine in October 2020 alleged 42-year-old LeClair "inappropriately accessed the medical records of patients who were not under her care while practicing medicine in Iowa City" and issued a citation, warning and $5,000 civil penalty. LeClair fulfilled the terms of her order in 2021 and has been cleared to practice medicine in Iowa.

This week's approved settlement totals $90,000  but the state agreed to pay only $32,250 to Heddens for negligent supervision. LeClair must pay the remaining $57,750, the settlement said.

"We did not defend her or her conduct," a state attorney said during the Appeal Board meeting.
NEW YORK  Pushing 76 years old, not that he looks remotely like it, Elton John is finally coming off the road.

Johns epic, worldwide, farewell stadium tour (which includes a goodbye Chicago stand on Aug. 5 at Soldier Field) became an even longer goodbye due to the pandemic and hes said, many times now, that he now wants now to be home with his kids. I dont want to play live again, he says over a Zoom call, because it means I would have to travel.

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Hes also scored several Broadway musicals in the past  Aida, The Lion King, Billy Elliot  so he knows that they have to be wrestled into fruition, require much on-location tinkering and revision, take years to come together (or not) and are, generally, a pain in the neck for someone well past retirement age who has been so busy he couldnt even make the queens Platinum Jubilee in person.

But when your husband is coproducing a Broadway musical with the title The Devil Wears Prada, a musical based on a movie where Meryl Streep, playing a thinly veiled version of fashion guru Anna Wintour, eats a dismissive underling played by Anne Hathaway, herself a thinly veiled version of the writer Lauren Weisberger, for breakfast before spitting her remains out for lunch, whats a happily domesticated pop star gonna say?

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I almost immediately said yes, John says, grinning. Music and fashion go hand in hand and its a great story.

But The Devil Wears Prada, widely seen as an escapist fairy tale that went well with popcorn, comes from the halcyon early aughts, when the world was a different place.

Principal cast members of "The Devil Wears Prada" (left to right), Christian Thompson, Michael Tacconi, Tiffany Mann, Christiana Cole, Megan Masako Haley, Javier Munoz, Taylor Iman Jones and Beth Leavel at the Nederlander Theatre on July 12, 2022 in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Glossy fashion magazines like Vogue still had colossal influence, the fashion world not yet catering to instant influencers with iPhone 13s but to prestige publications with long lead times. Powerful editors still exhibited outsized power and a frisson of awe, even excitement, still attached itself to the scary, tyrannical, artistic boss. Interns and receptionists still huddled and swapped survival skills. And, of course, the industry itself still trafficked in their consumers shrewdly nurtured aspirations when it came to body size and type, not anything approaching everyday reality.

And social consciousness? Wrong industry, darling. Move on downtown.

John nods at that history.

We sat down and approached the fact that the movie was 20 years ago and a lot has changed. Social media, #MeToo, Black Lives Matter. We thought, we just cant put in this scenario from 20 years ago. We have to make it modern. We have to bring it up to date. And that appealed to me as well because I wanted to make the music modern. And its a womans story. So I said Id like to have a woman as the lyric writer. .... I was sent three brilliant female lyricists and I picked Shaina Taub. It was a good choice. Weve hit it off so well.

John started, aptly enough, with a song called I Mean Business and then wrote some of the score in London, some of it in Toronto, some of it in Milan. Pretty much wherever he was on tour: I just finished the last song last week, funnily enough, he says.

Theres a song about Paris, a title number, a lot of up-tempo numbers in a variety of styles. Ive got very catholic tastes, John says. I can write all kinds of songs.

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Incontrovertibly. But if you exclude Dont Trust That Woman, written in 1986 with a lyricist known as Cher, a number Johns own spouse and in-house critic, David Furnish, describes as forgettable, this collaboration with Taub actually is the first time one of the greatest pop songwriters in history has worked with a female lyricist. Thats especially notable, Furnish says, because John always has composed to preexisting lyrics.

When I see the written word on a page, Im off, John says, agreeing with his husband.

Anna Shapiro, director of the new musical "The Devil Wears Prada" at the Nederlander Theatre on July 12, 2022 in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

But on the morning of June 24, the cast members of The Devil Wears Prada, which is being helmed by the former Steppenwolf Theatre artistic director Anna D. Shapiro, are in a less exuberant mood than their famous composer.

In a rehearsal room in midtown Manhattan, a group of artists are trying to carry on in the face of the just-announced Supreme Court decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling and allow the states to set their own rules when it comes to abortion rights, or the lack thereof.

Taub, who created the musical Suffs, had been expected in the room that morning but she was nowhere to be seen. Too upset, someone says. Shapiro, shaking her head at the news, is trying to pull together a cast finding it difficult to focus on fashion or musicals or anything, really, but on a court hardly known for its fashion sense.

One of the stars, Javier Munoz, formerly of Hamilton, starts speaking to everyone there. He says the morning reminds him of the time Vice President Mike Pence came to see Hamilton (Pence found himself addressed from the stage). We didnt have a choice, Munoz says. We were full of rage and frustration. But I remember feeling that he was coming to my house.

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Munoz starts to speak louder: We need to tell this story of inclusivity and humanity, he says, standing in the middle of the room, we just need to be so goddamn excellent and right in their faces.

There is applause. A few tears get wiped away and the rehearsal resumes.

The first scene to be rehearsed is the most famous in the movie.

Any fan of The Devil Wears Prada, which cost some $41 million to film in 2006 but grossed $326 million worldwide, can pretty much recite every word. The fearsome Miranda Priestly, deliciously encapsulated by Streep at her peak, finally has had enough of Hathaways annoying Andy Sachs, a mousy, doe-eyed intellectual snob who looks down on the world of fashion as so much frivolity and triviality. Priestly launches into an eloquent tirade that defends her profession, her employees and her own creative class, and that explains to Andy that the blue sweater she is wearing, and that she no doubt fished out of a clearance bin in some tragic Casual Corner, was first sent out into the universe by the very trendsetters surround her.

You are wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room, Priestly says in the movie, causing theaters full of people (who still saw movies in theaters back then) to cheer at most of the showings.

The monologue does for the fashion industry what the climax of the movie Ratatouille does for food critics. It concisely and deliciously explains the importance of what they do.

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Taylor Iman Jones and cast in New York rehearsals for "The Devil Wears Prada." The new musical will have its pre-Broadway debut at the Nederlander Theatre in Chicago. (Avery Brunkus)

In the musical, which has a book credited to Kate Wetherhead, that monologue is now a musical number, replete with designers interjecting, kvetching and responding as a kind of high-toned Greek chorus, albeit removed to Madison Avenue. But Beth Leavel, a much-loved Broadway star who says she is playing Miranda on her own terms (apparently I have a very accessible inner bitch) still takes down Taylor Iman Jones, who is playing the Hathaway role of Andy and who has been hanging onto this role through a series of pandemic delays and who said she feels both lucky and special to have the part.

The cast soon climbs its way into Act 2. Its not unusual at Broadway rehearsals to use skeleton versions of the costumes the actors will be wearing, but the ones in play in Devil Wears Prada (designed by Arianne Phillips) are strikingly elaborate. Thats because everyone here clearly figured out that you couldnt do Devil Wears Prada as a show without real fashion and that, with all due respect to costume designers, real fashion and theatrical design are not the same thing.

There is caginess over letting on which fashion houses the show will be showcasing  single-barrel names come up (there is one in the title, after all) and are then retracted as fast as they are uttered  but its obvious that the clothes will have to look very good indeed, needing as they must to fulfill not just the dramatic imperative of the story, but also the vicarious desires of the target audience that loves and remembers the movie and expects to gawk at attire worthy of a runway, not the clearance bins at Nordstrom Rack. Leavel dryly remarks that when a costume costs $30,000, it behooves an actress, even the star, to be willing to hang it up.

The idea is that the choreography, too, needs to have one foot in the world of fashion shows, and hence the selection of James Alsop, an enigmatic L.A.-based choreographer whose work for Beyonce and others has spanned worlds far beyond Broadway. I want to do Broadway choreography thats not Broadway choreography, Alsop says, a tad mysteriously. Something fresh. Something new to Broadway.

Taylor Iman Jones, left, and Beth Leavel star in "The Devil Wears Prada" at the Nederlander Theatre. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Although all producers always say to reporters that their shows are for everyone, the reality is that women between about age 30 and 60 are the most crucial sector of the Broadway demographic when it comes to actually buying tickets, even if they bring men and younger women along. The Devil Wears Prada plans to knock em out like theyre in Milan, or, at least, fashion week in Tribeca.

The shows lead producer, Kevin McCollum, picked out this film from the 20th Century Fox library after he signed a deal with the studio to comb through its backlist for a small number of projects that he thought could sing. Like many shows at this moment, the gestation of Prada has been profoundly interrupted by the pandemic and, as yet, the show does not have a confirmed Broadway theater, given all the comings and oft-unscheduled goings on the Rialto. Despite all the usual were-just-doing-it-for-here pronouncements, though, rest assured that its going to New York next season, barring some unforeseen disaster.

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McCollum says that Prada cost somewhere around $20 million, pretty typical for a large musical that needs upscale production values and its part of a busy schedule for the highly experienced producer (whose career first blew up with Rent) that is strikingly centered on Chicago. After Prada gets it legs, McCollum will move over to Navy Pier, where he is working on The Notebook, another premiering movie-to-musical project, this one in collaboration with Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Most producers struggle to manage one huge show; McCollum is coming out of the pandemic by shepherding two at once.

Hes taking a number of other risks. Although she has worked on Broadway several times (most famously with August: Osage County), Shapiro has never before helmed a major musical like Prada. Clearly, she is having a good time, out of the crucible of the artistic directorship at a theater like Steppenwolf, which like some other ensemble theaters in Chicago has been beset by internal strife in the pandemic era. She is able instead to immerse herself in one high-profile show, the kind of project that, if it hits and sees multiple international companies, could make her wealthy and sought-after.

I didnt think there was anything new under the sun in a rehearsal room, she says. But look. She also has a positive spin on the pandemic delay: Weve been able to go so much deeper, she says, because we have had so much more time.

All that said, Shapiro also clearly has recalibrated her famously intense ambition. Like Elton John, she speaks now of slowing down some, of spending more time with her kids, of choosing projects based on the quality of the collaborators and the pleasure afforded, of having a life over a career. All I want, she says, waving off the pressure of working on such a boffo title, is for this show to be really great. Thats all.

Some people would say I am Miranda, Shapiro adds, dryly. But I also once was an Andy. I am interested in how we bridge the gap between them.

And there, as close as any other sentence, you have what the show is trying to bring to the table, its intended deviation from the movie.

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John and Furnish both say that the farewell stand at Soldier Field was picked deliberately, coming as it does just two days before the opening of Prada, allowing John to come to Chicago early and maybe attend previews, maybe tinker with a few songs, should he have the inclination, or knock out another in his hotel room in the old-fashioned, out-of-town-tryout tradition. One last time. Or never say never.

McCollum says he already decided there would be no performance that Friday night. The cast all is going to Soldier Field to hear Elton John say goodbye.

The Devil Wears Prada runs July 19 to Aug. 21 at the Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St.; 800-775-2000 and www.broadwayinchicago.com

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Everyone connected to the opioid industry is to blame, yet its getting harder and harder to hold anyone accountable for the nations ongoing addiction crisis. A federal judge has ruled that the nations three largest drug distributors, which flooded a small West Virginia county with 81 million painkillers, were not responsible for the addiction and overdose cases that predictably resulted.

The crisis developed after drug makers like Purdue Pharma began marketing opioid painkillers as supposedly safe and non-addictive when they clearly were not. Sales personnel aggressively marketed the painkillers to doctors, who prescribed the pills believing they were safe. Orders for the pills skyrocketed with addiction rates, and distributors worked with drug makers to fill the growing (and highly profitable) demand.

Purdue raked in billions of dollars for its owners, the Sackler family. They have won court approval to limit their financial liability for predatory sales tactics, while theyve socked away billions more in offshore accounts that cant be touched.

Now its the drug distributors turn to evade accountability for having dumped millions of pills on unsuspecting towns like Huntington, West Virginia, and surrounding Cabell County, even when it was obvious that the pills were causing an explosion in addictions. Overdose deaths skyrocketed, yet the nations biggest distributors  AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson  kept flooding the zone.

The lawsuit wasnt merely for a punitive judgment but also to force the companies to help cover the massive expenses the city and county incurred cleaning up the mess  a mess that St. Louis also continues to grapple with.

Federal Judge David Faber, nominated in 1991 by Republican President George H.W. Bush, could hardly have missed the addiction headlines. He was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and has presided over his West Virginia district since confirmation. His blue-collar, coal-mining state was rife with the kinds of workplace injuries that gave rise to opioid prescriptions to address workers chronic pain.

Nevertheless, Faber decided to let the defendants off the hook and throw responsibility to individual doctors and pharmacists. At best, distributors can detect upticks in dispensers orders that may be traceable to doctors who may be intentionally or unintentionally violating medical standards, he said. Distributors also are not pharmacists with expertise in assessing red flags that may be present in a prescription.

To make this ruling, Faber chose to ignore the sales charts and statistics reflecting an absurdly steep uptick in distributors deliveries  tens of millions of pills over an eight-year period  to an area with only 100,000 population. Nor could he have missed the ridiculous profits they generated. Certainly, pharmacists and doctors deserve their share of the responsibility. But to ignore the greed and predatory practices of distributors serves only to ensure theyll do it again if given the chance, no matter how many lives they have to destroy to fill their bank accounts.
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 mom to a headstrong teenage girl, and the past few weeks have been challenging to say the least. She is a self-described social justice warrior and a leader in student government and in our small community.

When Roe v. Wade was overturned, everything changed for her. We live in Michigan, and she will not stop talking about moving to Canada or another country. She even typed a ten-page proposal on why we need to leave, which was quite impressive. Our family has the money to move, and my husband said he will strongly consider it depending on the outcome of the midterm elections. Personally, it doesnt sit well with me to leave when things get rough, but things are really rough in America at the moment, so I almost dont blame her for feeling this way. Any suggestions on how I should talk to her?

Miffed in Michigan

Dear Miffed,

Your daughters pain is understandable and expected for anyone who holds any empathy for people of marginalized groups in this country. Between the rise of overt racism, womens rights being under attack, police brutality, and a ridiculous amount of gun violence, just to name a few thingsI dont think its hyperbolic to say that America is a complete dumpster fire right now.

As incredibly flawed as America is, I still love this placeand as is the case with anything or anyone we love, we have to keep it real and call it as it is. That said, I feel similarly to you in terms of not running away when the going gets tough.

I dont think its any secret that being a Black person in America is challenging to say the least, and there are times when I feel like crawling into my bed and not moving for hours on end. However, then I think about my ancestors who lived on this land and were beaten, raped, tortured, and killed by their savage captors for centuries. It would be a disgrace to them to sit back and do nothing. Thats why I work as an anti-racism facilitator and speaker for corporations and schools because I know I have the superpower to change the hearts and minds of people. Granted, Im only one person, but I believe that if enough people stick around and do something meaningful, then we can move mountains.

What could that look like for your daughter? You mentioned shes in student government, but maybe you can suggest she branch out and volunteer for the political campaigns of candidates who share her ideals. She can mobilize people using social media, rally her community, or speak to her schools administration to raise awareness about the issues shes passionate about. The possibilities are endless, but I dont think throwing in the towel and moving to another country is the best move.

Your daughters proposal is likely coming from a place of fear, which is a normal response to the current state of things (for adults and kids alike). It might be helpful to talk to her about times when this country has managed to enact positive changes because people stuck around and fought for them.

The people proposing laws that your daughter is against are hoping people like her pack up her stuff and move away without a fight. I would advise her not to give them what they want.

Doyin

More Advice From Slate

Ive been dating this guy long-distance for four months. Recently, I noticed some odd activity of his on Instagram, and this has devolved into a teenager-esque drama that I loathe.
Two weeks after the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, three months after a draft of that opinion leaked to the press, and nearly two years after a Ruth Bader Ginsburgs death made the elimination of that right more likely than not, President Joe Biden entered the chat.

Describing the Dobbs decision as an exercise in raw political power from an out of control court, Biden on Friday signed an executive order that would safeguard certain reproductive health services, protect patients private medical records, form an interagency reproductive health care task force, and more. The administration is said to be considering declaring lack of abortion access a public health emergency, too, in a mostly symbolic move.

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It was Bidens first appearance since the Dobbs decision where he showed some of the fire that a change of this magnitude merited.

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But that it took him weeks to at least begin with the rhetorical pushback and policy tinkeringweeks to assert himself in the fray following an abrupt yet widely signaled, massive policy changebaffled both Democratic lawmakers and voters alike. What was he doing? And what, really, does he want to do?

As Biden noted, theres nothing he can personally do to restore abortion access to anything resembling the pre-Dobbs status quo. Conservatives won. It will take a couple of additional Senate seatsand retention of the House of Representativesto pass a federal law protecting abortion rights.

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And yet, the fumbling about for a spell before he awakens to the fire is a recurring pattern.

Consider early in his 2020 presidential campaign, when Biden stood by his support of the Hyde Amendment, an annually renewed budget provision that since the 1970s has prohibited federal funding for abortions. After a week or so of criticism and talking-tos from his staff, Biden reversed his position. (As with most presidential election policy debates, this was all academic, as there arent the votes in Congressfilibuster or no filibusterto pass a government funding bill without the Hyde Amendment.) He arrived at a popular position with Democratic primary voters, but not convincingly, a week later.

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In March 2020after hed assumed a dominating position in the presidential primary and was negotiating the support of Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth WarrenBidens campaign tweeted out: We should forgive a minimum of $10,000/person of federal student loans.

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That he came around to this position just when he was trying to coalesce the progressive wing of the party and its leading contenders behind his candidacy was not a strong indication he loved the idea. And clearly, it wasnt something he was dying to do. In the first year of Bidens presidency, the White House tried to kick student debt forgiveness to Congress, which kicked it right back to him. If he does eventually cancel $10,000 in student debt through executive action, opponents of the idea will have him for lunch, while supporters will ask what took him so long, and why he didnt forgive more.

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Another example: During the omicron wave of COVID, the administration was pressed on the distribution of more at-home rapid tests. In an infamous exchange for which shes been kicking herself ever since, White House press secretary Jen Psaki snapped, sarcastically, at a reporter: Should we just send one to every American? Precisely two weeks later, the administration announced a program to do just that.

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Finally, theres the issue of the Senate filibuster. Biden has not said hed support eliminating it entirelynot that he gets a vote on it, anyway. But every time a new, pressing issue is stymied by the 60-vote rule, hes coaxed into supporting a new exception, months after most Democratic members of the Senate have. He did so in the final push for voting rights legislation over the winter, as civil rights groups were imploring him to show a little urgency. He did so on abortion rights a week after the Dobbs decision.

Being the president of the United States is hardthe second-hardest job in the world, probably, behind leading the Democratic Party coalition. Biden has both of these jobs, and not every decision is going to be perfectly timed.

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But his characteristic lateness to the party, and his seeming absence from the great debates of the dayuntil the public clamor grows loud enough to drag him out to a microphoneis not something hes incapable of overcoming. When he has a goal he truly cares about, he is able to be proactive rather than reactive.

For example, Biden cares deeply about the preservation of NATO and thwarting the imperialist ambitions of Vladimir Putin. He was not caught off guard by Russias decision to invade Ukraine, and had spent months working behind the scenes to maintain unity among NATO countries and to share information about Russias plans. That work significantly raised the cost of Putins action.

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Also, since the beginning of the Obama administration, Biden has believed it necessary to cut bait and remove Americans from Afghanistan. It was one of those campaign pledges that he meant. He followed through on it, despite overwhelming criticism from allies both at home and abroad. That is not to say that the withdrawal didnt come with severe costs. The human costs to Afghans have been immense, but the move also precipitated an approval rating collapse thats been running nearly a year strong now. It was an incredible difficult decision to make in the short term that Biden believed would be the right one in the long term. He made it happen.

The Biden administration has clearly concludedwell, for now!that there are abortion policies it cant make happen post-Dobbs. Some have suggested, for example, that the administration should set up abortion clinics on federal land. The administration considered the option but determined it could not protect other women or providers once they stepped off federal land, according to the Washington Post.

Those things Biden determined he could do last Friday through executive order, though, and those things he may yet decide he can do after all, should have been done five seconds after the Dobbs decision droppedor at least before the first Democratic fundraising email went out. If it takes weeks of cajoling to match the sense of urgency that Democratic voters feel following something so monumental as the elimination of a constitutional right, Democratic voters might just look elsewhere for support.
Paul is a macho dude. Fabio, Saturday Night FeverThats the hair I grew up around, the 63-year-old told me on a recent call. So when Paul began to lose his hair in his 30s, he felt like he was losing everything. Hair represented power, he says. Hair represented masculinity and virilitywhich it still does, by the way.

Men have been fighting against their receding hairlines for thousands of years. Yet hair loss persists, affecting men roughly in proportion to their age: 25 percent of men have lost some hair by 25, half by age 50, 70 percent by their 70s. So-called androgenetic alopecia, also known as male/female pattern baldness, is progressive. It eventually leaves many men (and a significant number of women) with thinning hair on the crown of the head and a voluminous wreath of healthy hair just below the earsyou know the look. Despite its near-inevitability, such hair loss can come with feelings of immense shame, self-consciousness, anger, and even thoughts of suicide.

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Thats what led Paul (his middle name, used here to maintain anonymity) to the offices of Los Angelesbased physician William Rassman several decades ago. In the 1990s, Rassman pioneered a method of hair transplant surgery called follicular unit extraction, or FUE. Most physicians at the time were still cutting whole swaths of skin and hair from the back of the head and transplanting the plug to the top of the head. But Rassman was harvesting each donor folliclethe shaft, the one or two hairs inside it, and ideally the fatty casing that sustains itone by one, and then rehoming it individually along the forehead.

While Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Roger Stone, President Joe Biden, and other victims of the old pluggers, as Rassman called them, were left with strips of hair like on a dolls head, Paul walked out of Rassmans office with a bespoke new hairline. Years later, hes still got it. Ill be honest with you, its worth 10,000 hours and a therapist with a couch, Paul says of FUE. There are just not enough hours you can spend with a therapist saying, Love yourself. Adore yourself. As you are. And then you go out and look in a mirror, and its all gone to shit.

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In the U.S. today, mens beauty is a rapidly expanding industry. While skin care, makeup, and cosmetic surgery have often been treated as an exclusively feminine domain, old standbys like hair transplant surgery show that men have always participated in beauty culturebut often with radically different goals, risks, and psychological baggage. As a journalist chronicling the rise of such procedures, and how they intersect with and even fuel our cultural ideals, I wanted to know: What could I learn from a veteran participant in the mens beauty industry like Paul? Before finally finding Rassman, Paul searched high and low for a hardier hairline. And then, he fashioned himself into a hair transplant evangelist.

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Where Hippocrates was rubbing opium, horseradish, and pigeon shit on his scalp in 460 B.C., patients today have more effective hair loss treatments at their disposal. Drugs like finasteride (Donald Trumps Rx of choice) can stop men from losing hair while they still have it. And a topical form of minoxidil, or Rogaine, can help a fraction of users regrow hair on the top of the head. But when nothing else works, many people turn to FUEtoday the most popular form of hair transplantation.

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Modern hair transplantation dates back only to the 1950s, when New York celebrity dermatologist Norman Orentreich began to wonder if he could punch out small circles of skin and hair from the back of patients heads and graft it onto balding areas elsewhere on the scalp. He tried it on a few people, and the hair plug worked; the follicles kept growing indefinitely in their new position. It was a eureka moment, according to Orentreichs 2019 New York Times obituary. But the punch-out method made it difficult to craft an aesthetically pleasing, natural-looking hairline upon transplantation. Even as the donor grafts shrunk over time, newer procedures like the so-called strip method often left visible scars at the donor site.

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For men suffering from their hair loss, Rassmans FUE seemed like a godsend. Its considered safe and permanent (donor hair will grow foreverthough the hair around it will likely continue to recede without a drug like finasteride), and the recovery time is short: While recipients will walk around with pimplelike scabs on their head for about three days, their scalps will begin to heal and sprout early hairs within a few months of the procedure. But not every balding person is a good candidate for FUE. People may be turned away for being too early in their hair loss journey, as the surgeon needs to be able to predict how an individuals hairline will evolve so as not to leave transplanted follicles awkwardly stranded as the hair around them further recedes. Conversely, people may be turned away for being too far gone; if even your donor hair has been reduced to whiskers, its probably too late.

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Even for good FUE candidates, the procedure is expensive and, like most cosmetic procedures in the United States, usually paid for out of pocket. Stateside, the typical cost for one FUE procedure is between $4,000 and $20,000, depending on the physician (or robot). While a skilled technician can transplant 2,000 follicles (or about 4,000 individual hairs) in a single six- to eight-hour procedure, some men will require multiple surgeries to maintain their new hairline over time.

Thats why many patients end up in medical tourism destinations like Istanbul, widely considered the hair transplant capital of the world. There, they can find world-renowned surgeonsand unlicensed, unregulated charlatans. No one knows how many hair transplant clinics operate within city limits, or how many procedures are performed behind closed doors, but the best guesses place it at more than 2,000 procedures a day, according to a 2021 Bloomberg documentary on the Turkish industry. Each procedure ranges from $500 to $10,000, depending on the clinic; the most popular packages include not just new hair, but plane tickets and hotel accommodations.

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Turkeys lack of regulation elevates hair surgerys attendant risks, which range from infection of the scalp to a botched hairline. Whatever country theyre in, a patients choice of clinic can make the difference between a healthy new mane and a halo of shame (not to mention thousands more dollars to be spent on corrective surgeries). The industry is governed by money. They prey on peoples desperation vulnerability, isolation, says hair loss consultant Spencer Stevenson, better known as Spex Hair. And they essentially tell people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

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Before Paul found Rassman, hed considered other procedures but never found a surgeon he could entrust his scalp with. But after his FUE transplant surgery, Paul made it his personal mission to direct his balding peers to Rassman. He organized conferences and traveled the country to vouch for the surgeons work to other men. These guys were suicidalabsolutely suicidal, Paul remembers. We had a guy who lived in his car for four years, showered in the YMCA to save enough money so he could have a hair transplant, so [that] for his band, when they had a cover shot, he had a full head of hair. Eventually, Paul set his own father up for a transplant and it transformed him into the man he always thought he was. Later, when Pauls father was dying of pancreatic cancer, the only question his father had was, Is the hair still on top of my head?

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This level of beauty obsession is something typically associated with women. In rom-coms, its the girlfriends who rise before their boyfriends to do their makeup, crawling back into bed and pretending they woke up like this. In tabloids, women are the ones scrutinized for altering their faces and bodies with injectables, shapewear, and surgery. But Paul and his fellow FUE advocates are proof positive that the same desire and desperation exist within men. They just get away with it more easily.

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While women are often portrayed as deeply vain, it pains me to say its much harder for my brain to see Paul that way. Its partly the sheer noveltyand implied vulnerabilityof hearing a man speak openly about fears that every woman I know has been parsing out since middle school. Theres some visceral pity; as a woman who will probably make it through this life with her hairline more or less intact, I can only take Paul at his word for how hard it is to go bald. And, though I know on a rational level this is textbook internalized misogyny, he just sounds kind of  rational? Youre on a very short trip on this earth, Paul tells me. His thinking is: Why spend it worrying about your looks, when the quick fix is right in front of you? Yeah, why!

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In the hair transplant world, these storiesof mens anguish over their appearance, and the almost-mythological emphasis placed on FUE as a cureare everywhere. They leak out of surgeons WhatsApp messages and loiter on Turkish street corners. (Recently visited Istanbul and had no idea of this industry whatsoever, one YouTube commenter posted on Bloombergs documentary. Yet my hotel was PACKED with guys having diapers on their heads and weird hairlines. This explains everything lol.) Thanks to the small percentage of patients who are comfortable disclosing their decision publicly, these FUE fables are even hashtag-searchable on Instagram. This is a really important journey for them, says Dr. Ozlem Bicer, an internationally renowned hair transplant surgeon in Istanbul. We touch their lives. I know how serious the procedure is. And, in case its not good enough to just have a good head of hair, more FUE applications are cropping up all the time, including for the chest, eyebrows, and beard.

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Stories about womens beauty often end with a word of warning; that must apply here, too. Theres the medical risk: Surgery is a serious undertaking, no matter whats on the operation table. And the financial burden: As they say, measure twice, cut once, Paul says. Because once you start playing with it, you are now owned by the doctors. Theres a moral admonition as well: You dont need to look like a Marvel superhero to live a fulfilling lifeand whats more, looking like a Marvel superhero isnt really possible. But Paul and his peers know all thatjust as the women pursuing Botox or breast implants do. Yet they soldier on, into surgical suites and CVS pharmacies, indefatigable in their pursuit of the thing we all want: a little bit of beauty.
What is the emergency phone number in Spain?



This is the phone number to call if you are in Spain and need the police or an ambulance

The emergency number in Spain is 112. Call 112 for police, ambulance, fire services or coastguard if you find yourself in an emergency situation in Spain.

The equivalent of 999 in the UK or 911 in the USA, 112 is the general emergency telephone contact number to call if you have an emergency in Spain and anywhere in Europe.

It is free to call 112. You dont have to use the Spanish country code +34 or 0034. You can also send an SMS text message to 112 to receive assistance.

Does 112 in Spain speak English?

Emergency operators in Spain can speak English as well as Spanish. Dont worry if cant speak Spanish because the operators will be able to take your call in English. Language worries should not stop you calling the police or other emergency services if you have to.

Are ambulances free in Spain?

Spains social security system ensures that public services like ambulances and police callouts are free. Of course, there are private ambulances and hospitals that have an extra cost that can be covered by your health insurance or travel insurance, but if there is an emergency the best option is to call the public 112 number.

What is the non-emergency phone number for police in Spain?

There are 3 non-emergency phone number in Spain for different police forces, depending on what your problem is:

Local Police: The phone number to call for the local police if it is not an emergency is 092. The local police in Spain (Policia Local) can help you with traffic issues, lost property, minor thefts, and other minor issues in your local area. Civil Guard: The Guardia Civil police force in Spain is mostly responsible for more serious crimes, including drug infractions, robberies, murders and fatal car accidents. The phone number for the Civil Guard is 062. National Police: Finally, the National Police (Policia Nacional) deal with issues on a national level, such as terrorism, national security, and high-level crime. The phone number for the National Police is 091, or you can contact them via their website www.policia.es.

Other important phone numbers in Spain

Maritime Sea Rescue: +34 900 202 202

Red Cross (Cruz Roja): +34 900 100 333

Tourist Helpline: +34 902 102 112

Road Traffic and Accidents: 011

Crime Victim Support Service: +34 900 150 909

Support for Women: +34 900 100 009 / +34 900 580 888

Phone gender violence: 016 / +34 900 116 016

Health and pharmacy information: +34 900 161 161

Anti-poison and drugs helpline: +34 915 620 420

Suicide, crisis and support line: +34 902 500 002

Drug addiction support: +34 900 161 515

Emergency vet: +34 963 744 731

Emergency dentist: +34 961 496 199

Elderly helpline: +34 900 222 223

Its also worth searching online for the phone number of your countrys Embassy or Consulate in Spain.

Image: Archive
Op-ed on the occasion of the Media Freedom Coalition Anniversary, July 9.

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The world has been able to witness Russias atrocities in neighbouring Ukraine these past months through the eyes of courageous journalists, reporters and photographers. They have kept us informed at the expense of their own safety and, in some instances, their own lives. Likewise, journalists have been playing a critical role in providing objective and unbiased information to the public throughout the global pandemic. These examples remind us of the value of journalists and media workers and of the need to protect and promote their safety.

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As proud members of the Media Freedom Coalition, the Netherlands, Canada (the Coalitions co-chairs for 2022) and Slovakia (member since 2019) mark the Coalitions third anniversary by reiterating our enduring commitment to defending media freedom worldwide, online and offline. We pay tribute to all journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty. And we honour the courage of every journalist and media worker, especially those who report from conflict and war zones, and who uncover and expose government and corporate abuse as well as corruption.

Founded three years ago after the first Global Conference for Media Freedom, the Media Freedom Coalition enables countries like Slovakia, Canada and the Netherlands to work more effectively with practitioners around the world to support media freedom and the safety of journalists. This is not always an easy task, but raising our voices together is clearly more powerful than fighting the uphill battle on our own. In the past three years, the Coalition has grown to over 50 countries that form a worldwide net of support for journalists and independent media under threat. We are absolutely committed to maintaining honest and open dialogue with journalists and media workers, as it is essential that their voices guide our work.

As staunch defenders of media freedom, we are deeply concerned by recent trends. The number of countries where journalists can work safely and freely continues to decline, while authoritarian regimes tighten their grip on the media. Reporters Without Borders reports that journalism is obstructed or impeded through government censorship or control in 73 percent of the 180 countries they studied. In addition, journalists are increasingly subject to countless threats, including imprisonment, kidnapping, torture and other physical attacks, as well as harassment, particularly in the digital sphere. The escalation of online violence and harassment targeted disproportionately at women journalists is an urgent concern and a serious threat to an inclusive and diverse media landscape. Finally, far too many journalists have paid the ultimate price  according to UNESCO, 400 journalists have been killed for their work over the past five years, and a disturbing 87 percent of such cases have gone unpunished.

We are also profoundly alarmed by the threat that orchestrated disinformation campaigns pose to the publics trust in bona fide journalism. Disinformation continues to be created, spread and amplified by those who seek to divide society, stoke fear and hatred, as well s intimidate and silence critical voices, often using misogyny, racism and other forms of hate speech. It is ever more difficult to distinguish manipulative content from authentic information in an increasingly crowded information space, especially as tactics for spreading disinformation become more sophisticated. Disinformation has thrived in the context of Covid-19 and proliferated after Russias unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

These are not just threats to media freedom. They are threats to democracy itself. They are also threats to human life. The media, whose work serves to defend and advance the truth, must be allowed to report facts freely and independently. A free press keeps societies informed and calls out false or misleading information. It allows people to recognize problems and hold their governments to account.

This is why the Netherlands, Canada and Slovakia will continue to stand together in denouncing fundamental threats to media freedom.

As countries that value human rights, freedom and the rule of law, we cannot and will not be deterred in our fight to protect media freedom around the world. Media freedom is a cornerstone of democratic, inclusive and informed societies, and we will continue to work together tirelessly in its defense.

Ingrid Brockova, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs

Gabriella Sancisi, Netherlands Ambassador in Slovakia

Cheryl Cruz, Charge daffaires of Canada in Slovakia
He was the mayor who basked in the glory of hosting the 2012 London Olympics, and the man who led the Conservatives to a thumping election victory on the back of his promise to get Brexit done.

But Boris Johnsons time as prime minister was marred by his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and a steady stream of ethics allegations, from alcohol-fueled government parties that broke lockdown rules to how he handled a sexual misconduct scandal involving a senior party lawmaker.

Here is a timeline of events relating to Johnsons political career:

2001-2008: Serves as a member of Parliament in the House of Commons representing the constituency of Henley.

2008-2016: Serves as London mayor, overseeing 2012 London Olympics.

2016: Co-leader of the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, in opposition to then-Prime Minister David Cameron, a fellow Conservative. Cameron resigns after voters approve Brexit in a national referendum on June 23, 2016.

British MP Boris Johnson and his wife Marina are photographed as they leave after voting in the EU referendum in London, Thursday, June 23, 2016. (Matt Dunham/AP)

2016-2018: Serves as Foreign Secretary under Camerons successor, Prime Minister Theresa May. Johnson resigns in July 2018 in opposition to Mays strategy for a soft Brexit that would maintain close ties with the EU.

June 7, 2019: Theresa May resigns as Conservative Party leader over her failure to persuade Parliament to back the Brexit agreement she negotiated with the EU. The party is split between those who back May and hard-liners, led by Johnson, who are willing to risk a no-deal Brexit in order to wring concessions from the EU.

July 23, 2019: Johnson is elected Conservative Party leader in a vote by party members. He takes office as prime minister the next day, inheriting a minority government that relies on votes from Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party to pass legislation. Johnson insists Britain will leave the EU on Oct. 31, with or without a deal.

Aug. 28, 2019: Johnson announces he will shut down Parliament until mid-October, giving opponents less time to thwart a no-deal Brexit.

Sept. 3, 2019: Twenty-one rebel Conservative Party lawmakers support legislation requiring the government to seek an extension of Brexit negotiations if it cant negotiate an agreement with the EU. The measure passes and the rebels are expelled from the party.

Sept. 5, 2019: Johnson asserts he would rather be dead in a ditch than ask the EU for another extension.

Sept. 24, 2019: U.K. Supreme Court rules governments suspension of Parliament was unlawful.

Oct. 19, 2019: Johnson asks the EU to delay Brexit again. New deadline set for Jan. 31.

Nov. 6, 2019: Parliament is dissolved and early elections are set for mid-December as Johnson seeks a mandate for his Brexit strategy.

Dec. 12, 2019: Johnson wins an 80-seat majority in the general election, giving him the backing to push through Brexit legislation. The victory makes Johnson the most electorally successful Conservative leader since Margaret Thatcher.

Jan. 23, 2020: The Brexit deal becomes law after approval by U.K. Parliament. European Parliament approves the deal six days later.

March 23, 2020: Johnson places U.K. in first lockdown due to COVID-19.

April 5, 2020: Johnson hospitalized and later moved to intensive care with COVID-19. He is released from the hospital on April 12, thanking the nurses who sat with him through the night to make sure he kept breathing.

Nov. 3-4, 2021: Johnsons government orders Conservative lawmakers to support a change in ethics rules to delay the suspension of Owen Paterson, a Johnson supporter who had been censured for breaching lobbying rules. The measure passes. A day later, facing an angry backlash from lawmakers of all parties, Johnson reverses course and allows lawmakers to vote on Patersons suspension. Paterson resigns.

Nov. 30, 2021: Allegations surface that government officials attended parties in government offices during November and December 2020 in violation of COVID-19 lockdown rules. The scandal grows to reports of more than a dozen parties. Johnson denies the allegations, but opposition leaders criticize the government for breaking the law as people across the country made sacrifices to combat the pandemic.

Dec. 8, 2021: Johnson authorizes investigation into the scandal, dubbed Partygate. Pressure builds for a leadership challenge, but fizzles.

Feb. 3: Johnsons longtime aide, Munira Mirza, quits Downing Street, followed by three other top aides.

March 23: The government announces a mid-year spending plan thats criticized for doing too little to help people struggling with the soaring cost of living. Treasury chief Rishi Sunak refuses to delay a planned income tax increase or impose a windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies benefiting from rising energy prices.

In this image provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, and Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center left, walk in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 9, 2022. (AP)

April 9: Johnson meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, pledging a new package of military and economic support. The move helps bolster Johnson and his supporters, who argue the government should not focus on domestic political squabbles.

April 12: Johnson is fined 50 pounds ($63) for attending one of the lockdown parties. Opposition parties characterize him as the first U.K. prime minister in history shown to have broken the law while in office. Johnson apologizes but insists he didnt know he was breaking the rules.

May 22: Findings of the Partygate investigation are published, detailing 16 gatherings at Johnsons home and office and other government offices between May 2020 and April 2021. The report details excessive drinking among some of Johnsons staff, at a time when millions of people were unable to see friends and family.

May 26: The government reverses course on its tax decision on oil and gas companies and announces plans for a 25% windfall profits levy.

June 6: Johnson narrowly wins a vote of no confidence, with Conservative lawmakers voting 211 to 148 to back him. But the scale of the revolt  some 41% voted against him  shakes his grip on power.

June 15: Christopher Geidt quits as ethics adviser to Johnson, accusing the Conservative government of planning to flout conduct rules.

June 24: Johnsons Conservatives lose two former strongholds to opposition parties in special elections.

June 29: Parliaments cross-party Privileges Committee issues a call for evidence for a probe into whether Johnson misled Parliament over lockdown parties.

June 30: Chris Pincher resigns as Conservative deputy chief whip amid allegations he assaulted two guests at a private members club in London. Previous sexual misconduct allegations emerge about Pincher. Questions swirl about whether Johnson knew about the claims when Pincher was given the job.

July 5: Johnson apologizes for his handling of the Pincher scandal and says he had forgotten about being told of the allegations. Two of Johnsons most senior Cabinet ministers, Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, quit the government.

July 6: Some three dozen junior ministers resign from the government, attacking Johnsons leadership.

July 7: Johnson resigns as Conservative Party leader, but plans to remain as prime minister while the leadership contest is held.
Vietnam strengthens international cooperation to realise COP26 commitments

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha on July 11 had an online meeting with Alok Kumar Sharma, Minister for the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom (UK) and President for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), discussing cooperation in response to climate change.













Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha had an online meeting with Alok Kumar Sharma, Minister for the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom and President for COP26. (Photo: VNA)

At the meeting, both sides exchanged views on the implementation of commitments at COP26, the National Strategy on Climate Change by 2050, the update plan for the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), and the content of Vietnam's Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).



Ha said Vietnam has drastically realised its commitments at COP26 and reaped significant progress. Notably, the National Strategy on Climate Change by 2050 has shown cross-cutting views on the position, role, priorities, responsibility, methods, and resources to respond to climate change; and set out specific and general goals on climate change adaptation and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions with the target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.



He proposed relevant parties and the Group of Seven (G7) to soon define financial support commitments to help Vietnam actively carry out its transition process.



Regarding preparations for COP27, the minister said that his ministry is building Vietnams participation project to be submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval in the coming time.



Appreciating Vietnams actions and results achieved after COP26, Alok Kumar Sharma stated the British Government will accompany and assist Vietnam to fulfil the commitments at the conference and towards COP27.



The two sides agreed to have face-to-face meetings to promote actions to implement commitments and respond to climate change.
An image of Pat Cipollone, former White House counsel, is seen on a screen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, July 12, 2022. (Doug Mills/AP)

WASHINGTON  Abruptly raising the question of witness tampering, the Jan. 6 committee revealed Tuesday that Donald Trump had attempted to contact a person who was talking to the panel about its investigation of the former president and the 2021 attack on the Capitol.

We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously, said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. She said the committee had notified the Justice Department.

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The person Trump tried to contact declined to answer or respond to his call, Cheney said. Instead the person alerted their lawyer who contacted the committee.

The disclosure by Cheney was not the first time the panel has raised concerns about witnesses being contacted by Trumps team in ways that could reflect or at least create the appearance of inappropriate influence. It divulged examples last week of other times witnesses have received outreach from Trump allies, some suggesting he was aware they were talking to the committee, ahead of testimony before the panel.

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A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The hearing Tuesday was the seventh for the Jan. 6 committee. Over the past month, the panel has created a narrative of a defeated Trump detached from reality, clinging to false claims of voter fraud and working feverishly to reverse his election defeat. It all culminated with the attack on the Capitol, the committee says.

Tuesdays session revealed details of an unhinged late night meeting at the White House with Donald Trumps outside lawyers suggesting the military seize state voting machines in a last-ditch effort to pursue his false claims of voter fraud before the defeated president summoned a mob to the U.S. Capitol.

The committee investigating last years attack at the Capitol is working to show how far-right extremists answered Trumps call to come for a big rally in Washington. As dozens of lawsuits and his claims of voter fraud fizzled, Trump met late into the night of Dec. 18 with attorneys at the White House before tweeting the rally invitation  Be there, will be wild! Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups are now facing rare sedition charges over the siege.

This tweet served as a call to action -- and in some cases a call to arms. said one panel member, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.

The panel featured new video testimony from Pat Cipollone, Trumps former White House counsel, recalling the explosive meeting at the White House when Trumps outside legal team brought a draft executive order to seize states voting machines  a terrible idea, he said.

Thats not how we do things in the United States, Cipollone testified.

Another aide called the meeting unhinged.

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Cipollone and other White House officials scrambled to intervene in the late-night meeting Trump was having with attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, retired national security aide Michael Flynn and the head of the online retail company Overstock. It erupted in shouting and screaming, another aide testified.

Where is the evidence? Cipollone demanded of the false claims of voter fraud.

What they were proposing, I thought, was nuts, testified another White House official, Eric Herschmann.

But Trump was intrigued and essentially told his White House lawyers that at least Powell and outside allies were trying to do something.

You guys are not tough enough, Giuliani in video testimony recalled the president telling the White House attorneys. You guys are p-, he said, using crass language.

As night turned to morning, Trump tweeted the call for supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6, when Congress would be tallying the Electoral College results. Be there. Will be wild, Trump wrote.

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Immediately, the extremists reacted.

The panel showed graphic and violent text messages and played videos of right-wing figures, including Alex Jones, and others laying out that Jan. 6 would be the day they fight for the president.

In vulgar and often racist language the messages beaming across the far-right forums planned for the big day that they said Trump was asking for in Washington. It would be a red wedding, said one, a reference to mass killing. Bring handcuffs.

Several members of the U.S. Capitol Police who fought the mob that day sat stone-faced in the front row of the committee room.

The problem of politicians whipping up mob violence to destroy fair elections is the oldest domestic enemy of constitutional democracy, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in opening remarks.

At the witness table to testify in person was Jason Van Tatenhove, an ally of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes. Another witness was Stephen Ayres, who pleaded guilty last month to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building. He has said that on Jan. 2, 2021, he posted an image stating that Trump was calling on us to come back to Washington on January 6th for a big protest.

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The committee is probing whether the extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and QAnon adherents who had rallied for Trump before, coordinated with White House allies for Jan. 6. The Oath Keepers have denied there was any plan to storm the Capitol.

The committee began the second half of the hearing making connections between Trump allies Flynn and Roger Stone and the extremist groups who were preparing to come to Washington.

It showed showing a picture of Rhodes, the Oath Keeper leader, walking with Flynn, the former national security aide to Trump, outside the Capitol at some point.

This was the only hearing this week, as new details emerge. An expected prime-time hearing Thursday has been shelved for now.

This weeks session comes after former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided stunning accounts under oath of an angry Trump who knowingly sent armed supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then refused to quickly call them off as violence erupted, siding with the rioters as they searched menacingly for Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump has said Cassidys account is not true. But Cipollone at Fridays private session did not contradict earlier testimony. Raskin said the panel planned to use a lot of Cipollones testimony.

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The Proud Boys have said their membership grew after Trump, during his first debate with Biden, refused to outright condemn the group but instead told them to stand back and stand by.

The Oath Keepers had also been organizing for Jan. 6 and established a quick response force at a nearby hotel in Virginia, according to court filings.

The panel also noted that many of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol appeared to be QAnon believers. Federal authorities have explicitly linked at least 38 rioters to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory, according to an Associated Press review of court records.

One of the most recognizable figures from the attack was a shirtless Arizona man who called himself the QAnon Shaman, carried a spear and wore face paint and a Viking hat with fur and horns.

The panel has shown, over the course of fast-paced hearings and with eyewitness accounts from the former presidents inner circle, that Trump was told over and over, as Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said, that he had lost the election and his claims of voter fraud were just not true. Nevertheless, Trump summoned his supporters to Washington and then sent them to the Capitol in what panel Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has called an attempted coup.

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Michael Balsamo in Washington and Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland, contributed to this report.
If you could draw up a dream debut for your colt, it probably would look a lot like the race Crantini recoded in his first start. In a $35,000 Pennsylvania All Stars split at Pocono, the two-year-old trotter left alertly from post eight, found the pocket, then rolled to victory in a stellar 1:56.4.

Now, the son of International Moni-Peach Martini will try to build on his impressive debut in Wednesdays Hickory Pride, a $142,430 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. The program also features a $60,000 PA Stallion Series event for freshman colt and gelding trotters. First post is 12:45 p.m.

A $35,000 yearling purchase, Crantini prepared for his debut with a pair of qualifiers at Woodbine Mohawk Park that displayed the joys and frustrations of racing two-year-old trotters; he cruised to victory in one, broke stride in the other. That, says his trainer, Megan Scran, shows his state of development.

He can be a typical two-year-old  pretty silly  but for the most part hes pretty professional on the racetrack, said Scran. He knows how to win on the front, hes won off a helmet. My job is to keep him happy, healthy and sound.

Scrans own path to harness racing was circuitous.

None of my family is into Standardbreds, she said. I grew up riding and showing horses. I met a friend in the business and I was looking for a change of pace.

She cut her teeth working for trainer Trond Smedshammer before opening her own stable. Now, she conditions 14 head at her base at the Mark Ford Training Center in Middletown, New York. She trains Crantini for Thestable Crantini Group, one of Anthony MacDonalds fractional ownership groups.

Scran indicates she isnt looking for any particular trip for Crantini, who goes in Race 9, Post 4, with Scott Zeron.

Scott knows the best way to race a horse, she said. I never like to see them doing all the hard work, but it depends on the other horses in the race. In this day and age, you have to send them out as ready as can be because they just go so fast now.

The Hickory Pride kicks off three straight days of sire stakes racing at The Meadows.

(With files from MSOA)
A Culpeper man died Monday in a single-vehicle crash in Fauquier County after police say he may have suffered a medical emergency. Four passengers in the truck were seriously injured.

Virginia State Police is investigating the wreck that occurred at 2:50 p.m. July 11 along Route 215 (Vint Hill Rd) just east of Route 600 (Broad Run Church Rd), north of Warrenton, according to a news release Tuesday from VSP spokesman Sgt. Brent Coffey.

A 2000 Ford F-350 was traveling east on Route 215 when it crossed a double solid centerline, ran off the left side of the roadway, and collided with a tree.

The driver of the Ford, David E. Kirby, 41, died at the crash scene as a result of his injuries. Kirby was not wearing a seatbelt, Coffey said.

Three passengers in the Ford, a 36-year-old woman, 19-year-old male, and a 12-year-old male, all suffered serious injuries and were flown to INOVA Fairfax Hospital for treatment.

A fourth passenger, a 17-year-old male suffered serious injuries and was transported to Fauquier Health for treatment. None of the passengers were wearing seatbelts.

A medical emergency is considered a factor in the crash that remains under investigation, Coffey said.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Virginia Department of Transportation crews will close the low-water bridge on State Route 628 (Butler Store Road) from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m, VDOT announced Tuesday afternoon.

The bridge is about 0.2 miles east of State Route 640 (Monumental Mills Road) in Culpeper County. Butler Store Road will close between Endless View Lane and Monumental Mills Road.

Weekend storms uprooted a huge tree along the Hazel River, and it lodged under the bridge, VDOT said in a statement. VDOT needs to remove the tree and other storm debris to avoid damage to the bridge.

Local traffic can get around the road work by heading south on State Route 611 (Waterford Road), east on State Route 229 (Rixeyville Road), and north on Monumental Mills Road.
LINCOLN  With the swoosh of a pen and eager applause, Gov. Pete Ricketts proclaims July 11-15, 2022, as NRD Week in Nebraska to celebrate Nebraskas Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) 50th anniversary.

We are proud to celebrate five decades of protecting, conserving and improving Nebraskas nature resources, Orval Gigstad, Nebraska Association of Resources Districts president, said. Its amazing to see the conservation progress that has been made these last 50 years and NRD directors and staff know the work we do today  planting trees, water management, soil health  will directly impact our future.

After the devastation of the Dust Bowl, special purpose districts were developed to solve local soil and water-related problems. But the puzzle of overlapping authorities and responsibilities provided confusion at best. In 1969, Senator Maurice Kremer introduced legislative bill 1357 to combine Nebraskas 154 special purpose entities into 24 Natural Resources Districts by July 1972. In 1989, The Middle Missouri Tributaries NRD and the Papio NRD merged to become the Papio-Missouri River NRD resulting in todays 23 Natural Resources Districts.

Today, Nebraskas unique system of locally controlled, watershed-based conservation is widely admired throughout the nation. NRDs deliver several state and federal programs including many projects with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE), Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (NeDNR) and the University of Nebraska. These partnerships equate into real dollars for Nebraska agriculture and communities.

Nebraska policymakers had incredible foresight when creating the NRDs realizing that our strength lies in collaboration with partners to champion conservation, Gigstad said. Our partnerships with local, state and federal agencies have helped deliver conservation to millions of acres reducing soil loss and improving water quality and quantity.

Across the state, Natural Resources Districts construct projects, implement programs and aid landowners in conservation and natural resources management. When necessary, they enact regulations to protect our resources. While all NRDs share the 12 main responsibilities, each district sets its own priorities and develops its own programs to best serve and protect Nebraskas natural resources.

Often the most recognizable NRD responsibilities include groundwater management, flood protection and conservation trees.

To join in the 50th anniversary celebration and follow the Natural Resources Districts special activities throughout 2022, visit www.nrdnet.org and follow #Since1972 on social media.
The head of a nonprofit in Columbus is facing felony theft charges, according to police.

The Platte County Sheriffs Office media log stated that Mary Wiegand was arrested July 8 on a warrant.

According to the Justice court system, Wiegand, 51, of Columbus is facing a charge of theft by unlawful taking of over $5,000, a class IIA felony. The offense date is July 19, 2019.

Columbus Capt. Douglas Molczyk confirmed that the Mary Wiegand of this case is the same Mary Wiegand who is the executive director of the Platte Valley Literacy Association. The association is a nonprofit that provides education opportunities including citizenship classes and employability workshops.

Molczyk said the alleged theft from the nonprofit happened over a number of years. He was unable to provide additional information because its an ongoing case.
Michigans largest district court and bail reform advocates have agreed to settle a federal class-action lawsuit over cash bail practices, which activists say routinely and unconstitutionally jail poor and working class defendants despite evidence of their inability to pay.

Both sides say the reforms, to be announced Tuesday, strike at racial inequality in the criminal legal system. On any given day in Detroit, the nations Blackest city, nearly three-quarters of those jailed are Black, a proportion much higher than their share of the population.

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If the reforms narrow that disparity, it could be a model for court systems nationwide, where race and wealth are significant factors in the administration of justice, advocates say.

Detroits 36th District Court, the American Civil Liberties Union and The Bail Project, a nonprofit that pays bail for people in need, said in interviews ahead of Tuesdays announcement that the status quo wreaks unnecessary havoc on defendants jobs, homes and families.

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This is a historic agreement that we believe can and should be a template for how courts around the country can adapt their bail practices to what is lawful, constitutional and sensible, said Phil Mayor, senior staff attorney for the Michigan ACLU.

Chief Judge William McConico of the 36th District Court said settling the class-action lawsuit, filed in 2019 just before he became the chief, presented an opportunity to show that law enforcement and activists can work together to change the criminal legal system.

Other African American cities will be able to point to what one of the largest district courts in the country is doing to address this issue, said McConico, who is Black. Thats why it is so important that this is starting in a major Black city, that it is not being rolled out in a suburban city or a small court.

The reforms do not bar judges from imposing cash bail, especially if defendants are deemed a flight risk or a danger to the public. However, all Detroit judges and magistrates must say on the record how imposing bail would protect the community or prevent a failure to appear. Judges must also make an on-the-record determination as to how much a defendant can afford to pay.

The parties also agreed that any defendant who is at 200% of the federal poverty level or less is to be assumed unable to post cash bond. According to the 2022 federal guidelines, 200% of the poverty level is annual earnings of roughly $27,000 for an individual and $55,000 for a family of four.

This should largely eliminate the practice of imposing what may seem to some like small amounts of cash bail, which effectively serve as a jail sentence for somebody who hasnt yet been convicted of a crime, Mayor said.

The sides also agreed to new rules stipulating when and what triggers a bail redetermination hearing, if a defendants bail has been set but goes unpaid. The hearing would allow for a bail amount to be reduced or withdrawn altogether if it is later deemed unaffordable.

The reforms in Detroit come as some states and local jurisdictions across the U.S. have either rolled back or are considering rollbacks of bail reforms in response to a pandemic-era increase in crime. From San Francisco to New York City and cities in between, rhetoric around the uptick in violence and nuisance crimes has slowed political momentum despite bipartisan agreement that mass incarceration is expensive and has no proven positive effect on public safety.

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We are still moving forward in a very thoughtful way, to say that the presumption of innocence matters, that mass incarceration of pretrial people needs to be reversed, and that racial disparities at the pretrial stage need to be addressed in a very real way, said Twyla Carter, The Bail Projects outgoing national legal and policy director.

The ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, The Bail Project and the law firm Covington & Burling LLP sued the chief judge, court magistrates and the Wayne County sheriff in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 2019, on behalf of seven Black plaintiffs. The plaintiffs alleged the only reason they remained in jail was because they couldnt afford bail.

At the time of her incarceration in April 2019, one plaintiff, Starmanie Jackson, an impoverished single mother of 2- and 4-year-old children, had her bail set at $700 over outstanding traffic tickets and a charge alleging domestic violence. Because she could not afford to pay, Jackson, who had never been arrested before, was separated from her children for the first time in their lives.

I was devastated, said Jackson, 27. It was nerve wracking, scary and disappointing, because we depend on our justice system to keep us safe and on track.

She said her family couldnt locate her for two days, as jail officials struggled to confirm where she was being held. As a result of her incarceration, Jackson, a certified nurses assistant, said she lost a new nursing home job when she didnt show up for her first shift and was evicted from her apartment after she used her rent money to help pay her bond. The domestic violence charge was ultimately dropped and Jackson never served another day in jail.

The settlement makes for a happy ending to what ended up being a nightmare, said Jackson, now a mother of four children.

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Im ecstatic because Im able to help people to overcome some of the difficulties in our justice system, which is already jacked up, she said.

As part of the settlement, Jackson and the other plaintiffs will split a payment of $14,000. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the amount was agreed to with the knowledge that the court would also spend money to track bail and pretrial detention. The court did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

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According to a 2020 report of the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, between 2016 and 2018, Black men made up 29% of the jail admissions in the counties the task force sampled, even though they were just 6% of the resident population in those counties. Between 2018 and 2019 in Wayne County, Black people represented 70% of those detained in the local jail on any given day, even though they were only 39% of the resident population.

Nationwide, recent studies show Black defendants make up a majority of people in pretrial detention. However, the jail incarceration rate for Black people had been on the decline between 2008 and 2019, according to the latest federal data.

Former U.S. Attorney Gen. Eric Holder, who is senior counsel at Covington & Burling, commended the Detroit district court for reaching the agreement on reforms. This is how our criminal justice system should work, he said. It can, and should be, a model for other jurisdictions across the country.

Ezekiel Edwards, vice president of pretrial criminal justice at Arnold Ventures, a philanthropic organization supporting research and policy work on justice issues, said bail systems in the U.S. have become more reform-minded over the last decade. But the policy landscape is still a patchwork, he said.

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Cash bail is still used in most jurisdictions around the country and without the necessary regulations or limitations, Edwards said.

As for achieving racial justice in Detroit, McConico said there will be a racially diverse bar association and a majority Black bench of judges and magistrates working together under the new administrative policies to ensure they have a chance of succeeding.

It wont just be symbolic, the chief judge said. There will be African Americans making a change on the criminal justice system that disproportionately impacts African Americans.
The current interim superintendent of the Rowan-Salisbury Schools has been selected as the new leader of the Mooresville Graded School District.

The MGSD Board of Education announced that Dr. Jason Gardner will begin as the superintendent as soon as he is released from his current district.

During the search process, the board carefully reviewed applications from a diverse field of 22 candidates from 10 different states. Although many qualified candidates applied, the board felt that Gardners experience, leadership and dedication to students and staff would best serve MGSD students, employees and the community for years to come. The board is confident Gardner will lead the school system to even higher achievement.

Gardner has enjoyed a long and very successful career in public education spanning more than 20 years in North Carolina. He currently serves as the interim superintendent of the Rowan-Salisbury Schools, where he has also worked as chief academic officer and executive director of elementary education. Over the last six years, Gardner has played a pivotal role in helping RSS substantially improve the number of schools meeting or exceeding growth.

Prior to joining RSS, Gardner spent a total of four years as a principal and assistant principal in MGSD. In addition, he previously served as a teacher and assistant principal in the Iredell-Statesville Schools (2003-2012). Gardner began his career in 2002 as a teacher in the Gaston County Schools. In addition to his K-12 experience, he has also worked as an adjunct professor at Catawba College and Wingate University.

Gardner has an impressive academic background as well. He received his bachelors degree in elementary education from Concord University. He went on to earn a masters degree in school administration from Appalachian State University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Wingate University.

Gardner is married to Meghan McGrath and has three children, Abigail, Taveon and Jaxson, and two stepchildren, Nolan and Ellie. He is excited to have the opportunity to serve the community in which he lives and where his children attend school. Gardner issued the following statement about accepting the position:

I am honored with the opportunity to serve as the next leader of Mooresville Graded School District, and I look forward to engaging with the community to ensure that we are providing an excellent education for every child, every day.

Dr. Stephen Mauney retired as the MGSD superintendent recently.
Shaly Farmer caught the theatre bug early in life. While the Marion native has worked in multiple playhouses, one holds her heart and its where shes working this summer to help introduce the next generation to the wonder of live theatre.

Later this month, Farmer will help Marions Lincoln Theatre present a weeklong youth theatre workshop, Summer Creatives.

The free workshop is open to youngsters who are in the first grade to high school seniors. Summer Creatives will explore the range of theatre work necessary to stage a play, including story writing, model set building, choreography, costuming, prop creation, improv, accents, and theatrical makeup.

Farmer wants the participants to gain an understanding of how the shows you see become what you see.

Farmer, a 2022 Radford University grad, knows firsthand about the different facets of staging a play. Three days after earning her degree this May, she went to work at Flat Rock Playhouse, North Carolinas state theatre, working in set design. She frequently finishes her work day covered in paint, dust and sweat. She also is trained in lighting, and shes no stranger to acting.

Farmer hopes Summer Creatives members get an easier introduction to acting than she did. Now, she laughs as she remembers that in middle school a friend, who didnt want to try out alone, bullied her into taking part in play. The bug bit.

Farmer continued taking part in theatre productions throughout high school. When it came time to think about college, the young woman couldnt imagine doing anything else, but she heard numerous negative voices telling her that a youngster from Southwest Virginia and Appalachia couldnt pursue a stage career.

Farmer refused to listen to those voices and now she wants to make sure that current students dont believe them either.

She went to RU, declaring a major in theatre and minors in Appalachian Studies, sociology, and tourism.

As a kid, Farmer acknowledges that the regions stereotypes influenced her and she was ashamed to be from this area. Today, she professes a love for her hometown and Appalachia.

She can change her accent when roles require it, but Farmer is proud of her native yall and the drawn out syllables of her native inflections.

This week, Farmer said, I really want to stay in the Appalachian area I want to bring [theatre] opportunities to the area, especially for kids.

Arts are very important in this area, and Appalachia is known for amazing artwork, Farmer said. That truth often just gets lost in the stereotypes.

For Farmer, theatre is the culmination of all arts. From writing to painting to acting to fabric work to dance and more, she said, Its like all the arts come together.

Last year, Farmer, who has worked on and off at The Lincoln since 2016, shared the idea of Summer Creatives with Tracy Thompson, the theatres executive director.

Thompsons response delighted Farmer, who quoted her as saying, Lets do this.

Ive always wanted to do programs for kids here, Farmer said. I hope to pave the way for and get more of the next generation involved in the theatre.

She remembers her own excitement and frustration when her class took a field trip to downtown Marion and couldnt go inside The Lincoln because renovations were under way.

The workshop, Farmer believes, will be beneficial for all youth, even those who dont intend a career in theatre. The skills, she said, will benefit a person in all realms of life and its a really fun opportunity.

Thompson agrees with Farmer. The theatre director said youngsters gain confidence and the skills to react to varying situations in a positive way.

Then, Thompson said, theres team building. In live theatre, she said, youre part of a team, in which all roles are equally important.

Thompson, who believes The Lincoln should be used as a creative outlet, said shes thrilled to offer this program and thrilled that it can be offered for free.

This year, the number of participants is capped at 40. The program will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, July 18-22.

A new Lincoln staffer, Kate Aanerud, who holds a degree in journalism and just moved to Marion from Chicago, will help teach storytelling.

All who participate, Thompson said, should dress for a mess.

While Farmer is moving back and forth between Marion and Flat Rock now, shed love to start a performing arts group for The Lincoln. She loves to imagine far more live theatre on its stage. She also believes a touring group could help introduce youngsters to theatre.

This area has the talent and the need, Farmer said.

In Smyth County, she noted that Student Government Day is the first introduction many youth get to The Lincoln when they gather there before being sent out.

At RU, Farmer took a class that included touring and loved it.

Also at the university, Farmer served as president of the Improv Club. For several years, she was also part of Marions Royal Oak Players and the Waverly Players.

The daughter of Chris Farmer and Tina Farmer, Shaly loves Marions small town vibe and that in her 25 years of life shes witnessed Main Street transform from abandoned to bustling.

A key component of that downtown is The Lincoln, and Shaly declares, that even should she work on Broadway, The Lincoln will always be my heart.

And, these mountains will always be her home. She plans to continue advocating for Appalachian and the people in it.

Thompson celebrated Shalys passions and that after growing up in Marion shes now giving back to the community and The Lincoln.

For more information and to register, contact The Lincoln Theatre at 276-783-6092 or director@thelincoln.org.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Northwest power company Pacific Power have hosted Merwin Special Kids Day for 20 years at Merwin Fish Hatchery near Woodland, but had to pause for two years due to the pandemic. Saturday, kids who suffer from spina bifida, cerebral palsy, cancer or other serious illnesses were able to take a break from hospitals and doctor visits to try their hands at fishing, many for the first time, according to organizers.
A local business that started as a section within the clothing retailer Posh on Commerce around 2017 is now housed in the owners own brick-and-mortar site which recently expanded.

The home goods store Niche opened on Commerce Avenue in 2018 and expanded by 500 square feet in the fall to make room for baby clothes under the boutique name Kait & Stella and specialty home goods like hand-crafted Bisou tea and earthy blends of Vetiver sage lotion.

Owner Kaitlyn Senn said she dipped her toe into retail about five years ago when she started sourcing baby clothes to sell at Posh on Commerce under the boutique name Kait & Stella  a nod to herself and her then toddler niece. She opened her own store in Posh on Commerces previous location at 1314 Commerce Ave. with the help of owner Michelle Philbrook as a mentor, she said.

She was a big role model, Senn said. She helped me do all of this.

Now, home goods and baby clothes are available in one shop.

Its nice to have one business under one roof, Senn said, adding customers still venture to Posh to find the Kait & Stella collection and are directed to go down the street.

Senn studied hospitality at Central Washington University and then worked in childcare in Bellevue until she moved back to Longview.

In November, Senn said she added 500 square feet to her now total 1,400 square-foot space because business was up, and can now house more home goods like indoor plants, tasseled Mud Pie pillows and floral plastic-wrap dispensers to hide store-bought containers.

The Longview native said she picks items that speak to her and stays loyal to brands that work, whether thats Milkbarn for organic kids clothes or SlumberKins for stuffed animal and book packages for early learners from a Vancouver-based company.

Senn aims to find fashionable items that you wont find on the shelves of big box chains, like the Itzy Ritzy leopard print diaper bags and stroller organizers on shelves Friday.

Niche started as a home goods store, but Senn said customers gravitate to the shop for speciality gifts they cant find at other local retailers. Senn said downtown events like Shop Small Saturday help bring foot traffic, and she sees about 15 customers a week. She said she likely will expand hours in the fall in preparation for Niches busy holiday season.

Senn said shes happy to see businesses fill Commerce Avenue since she opened in 2018. That year, a city report states of the 158 licensed businesses on Commerce Avenue between Vandercook Way and Florida Street, nearly 54 percent of those businesses opened between 2013 and 2018.

Senn said customers back local ventures.

If you have a good product, the community will support you, she said.
Longview leaders are deciding Tuesday whether to enact shorter hours for free on-street parking downtown, and fewer warning tickets for those who stay past the limit.

The set of changes up for consideration by the Longview City Council at this weeks meeting would lower the street parking time limit from three hours to two hours and end the practice of issuing warning tickets for drivers who overstay the time limit.

Councilmembers gave initial support for this set of phased changes during the June 23 council meeting. If approved, the changes would be rolled out through the end of the year.

The parking changes are the result of months of consideration by the downtown advisory committee over how to address the citys declining downtown parking fund balance, which covers the maintenance for downtown lots. At a council workshop in early June, councilmembers supported a phased approach that would let them make a few immediate changes.

Charging hourly paid parking along Commerce has been previously proposed, but is not part of the current approach.

A two-hour time limit for street parking was how downtown operated for years until 2011, when the city changed parking rules to draw more visitors to the downtown corridor. City Planning Manager Adam Trimble said the goal of the two-hour limit was to discourage employees and downtown residents from parking on Commerce Avenue to free up spaces for short-term customers.

Under the current city rules, drivers who overstay parking times downtown receive one warning per quarter before having to pay a ticket. In practice, the city said that has meant the Longview Police Departments one part-time parking officer is spending more time issuing warnings than tickets.

Last year, there were 1,369 warnings issued in the downtown core compared to 943 parking tickets. Parking tickets and permits for city-owned lots are the two sources of revenue for the downtown parking maintenance fund.

In addition to the new rules about parking, the proposed ordinance shifts the role of selling parking permits to city staff from the Longview police.

Longview is considering the future of downtown parking lots in a different item on Tuesday nights agenda. Councilors Spencer Boudreau and Hillary Strobel will ask the council to start the process of identifying city-owned parking lots that could be sold to create more housing or mixed-use developments to address the citys housing shortage.

Trimble said the second phase of paid parking changes would likely be centered on the city parking lots along 12th Avenue, but the city would wait to see the effect of the initial changes, if passed Tuesday, before moving ahead.
Cowlitz Countys COVID-19 hospitalization rate has decreased and may be leveling off after a spike in late June, but is still above the state average.

The county recorded 20.8 per 100,000 hospitalizations from June 18 to 24, more than double the state average at the time. That rate dropped to 11.8 hospitalizations per 100,000 from June 26 to July 2.

Quote "We strongly recommend that patients needing care for minor medical issues contact their primary care provider or consider visiting an urgent care center."  Debra Carnes, PeaceHealth spokesperson.

PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center had 12 COVID-19 patients as of Monday afternoon. That number has held fairly steady over the last several weeks, rising and dropping back to the same level, said Debra Carnes, PeaceHealth spokesperson. The hospital has not seen an increase in COVID-19 patients in the ICU, she said.

The overall number of patients in the hospital, including the emergency department, has remained high for the last several months, Carnes said.

We recognize that no one wants a long wait time when coming to the emergency department, but we must prioritize those with the most emergent and urgent medical needs, Carnes wrote in an email. We strongly recommend that patients needing care for minor medical issues contact their primary care provider or consider visiting an urgent care center.

Statewide, the COVID-19 hospitalization rate has risen over the past month but may be leveling out, with new admissions slightly higher than the countys rate at about 10 per 100,000 from June 26 to July 2.

COVID-19 boosters now available to Cowlitz County children Cowlitz County children who received a COVID-19 vaccine late last fall are now eligible for a booster dose, after federal and state health off

The states seven-day death rate has increased since this spring, but remains below an average of 1 per 100,000 as of early June.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in Cowlitz County increased from three in April to six in May, with two in June, according to the county health department. The county has recorded 354 confirmed COVID-19 deaths as of July 5.

Cowlitz Countys COVID-19 cases may be flattening out after rising slowly over the last month, with 176.5 new cases per 100,000 people from June 26 to July 2. Thats up from 122.2 cases per 100,000 from May 26 to June 1.

Statewide, case rates have remained fairly flat for the past month at about 246 per 100,000 people. Early this month, state health officials said the recorded case counts likely only represent about 10% of actual infections because many people are not getting tested or are using at-home tests.

Cowlitz County is one of 19 Washington counties in the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions medium risk level. Seven counties, including Clark, are classified as high risk and the remaining 13 are low risk.

The CDCs risk levels are updated weekly and based on the seven-day case rate, the new COVID-19 hospitalization rate and the share of staffed hospital beds occupied by virus patients. The agency recommends everyone in high-risk counties wear a mask indoors and people at high risk of severe disease should do so while in medium risk counties.
People stand outside the Donnellan Family Funeral Services on July 18, 2022, after attending a funeral for Kevin McCarthy, 37, who was killed in a mass shooting along with wife Irina McCarthy, 35, in Highland Park during a Fourth of July parade. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Mourners at the funeral service Tuesday for Irina McCarthy, who was killed in the Highland Park parade shooting along with her husband, Kevin, recalled she was a wonderful mom and vowed to care for the 2-year-old son the couple left behind.

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Our hearts are shattered. The pain is unbearable. There are rivers of tears. We dont want to be here, nor should we be here today, Rabbi Dovid Flinkenstein said at the service, held at a Wilmette funeral home eight days after the Fourth of July gunfire killed the couple and five others.

The McCarthys were the youngest among the seven people who were fatally shot that morning; Irina was 35 and Kevin 37. Their toddler son, Aiden, was scooped up by a stranger during the shooting and reunited with his grandfather after the boys photo was widely circulated on social media.

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A close friend who spoke at Irinas funeral said the couple loved their child like no parents he had seen before. Every time he looks at the toddler, he sees Irina in his blue eyes and smile, he said.

You have been left behind as an orphan and you will be cared for by all of us. You have a family, a home, and you will thrive and grow with all of us, the friend said.

Another friend recalled meeting McCarthy as a second grader at Highland Parks Sherwood Elementary School.

Irina flourished and blossomed as a mother, the friend said. Its no surprise that Aidens fine personality is already shining through. Irina was always laughing and cracking jokes.

Another friend also remembered McCarthys great sense of humor, calmness and sensitivity.

She had an air of being above anything petty or mean-spirited, always thoughtful, the friend said. Her world was her family. And she was her familys world.

McCarthys work manager said shell miss the jokes and questions about family that Irina would start meetings with.

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Aiden will become well aware of what a wonderful mom he was blessed with and will feel the love from the solid tracks she laid, another co-worker said.

[ These are the victims of the Highland Park July 4th shooting ]

A GoFundMe fundraiser established for Aiden McCarthy, and verified by the platform, had topped $3.2 million in donations as of Tuesday morning.

In the aftermath of the Highland Park, IL shootings on July 4, the North Shore community rallied to help a boy who we knew nothing about. We took him to safety under tragic circumstances, came together to locate his grandparents, and prayed for the safety of his family, the organizer of the site wrote.

Organizers later wrote that theyve received support from all over the world.

Mourners including Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering were among those in attendance at Irina McCarthys funeral. She was due to be buried in Skokie after the service. No funeral arrangements for Kevin McCarthy have been publicly announced.

Irina and Kevin McCarthy are depicted, along with the other victims, at a memorial, July 7, 2022, in Highland Park. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Irina McCarthys father, Michael Levberg, told the Tribune last week his daughter was born in Moscow and that the family moved to Chicago a couple of years later. They later relocated to Highland Park, where Irina grew up and returned to raise her own family, Levberg said.

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She earned a bachelors degree in finance from DePaul University in 2009, as did her future husband in 2011, a university spokesman said.

Irina and Kevin met while working together at Physicians Interactive in the northern suburbs, Levberg said, and had been married for about five years.

Irina McCarthy worked at the North Chicago-based pharmaceutical company Abbvie, where she was a manager in oncology, according to LinkedIn.

Levberg said that after the shooting, he was eventually reunited with his grandson later that day at the local police station.

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When I picked him up, he said, Are Mommy and Daddy coming soon? Levberg said. He doesnt understand.

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At Irinas funeral, Flinkenstein called on mourners to meet the darkness of McCarthys death with a double measure of light.

Because in the presence of light, darkness vanishes, he said.

The soul never dies, Flinkenstein said. While Irina once lived amongst us, she will now live within us.

A gunman has been charged with murder in the shooting and is being held without bail by lake County authorities.

The others who were killed were Katherine Goldstein, 64; Stephen Straus, 88; Jacquelyn Jacki Sundheim, 63, all of Highland Park; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan.

Funerals for other victims began Friday and continued over the weekend.
A prospective renewable diesel facility got approval from several Washington- and Oregon-based unions.

NEXT Renewable Fuels is awaiting state and federal permits so it can start building a $2 billion site at the Port Westward in Columbia County, with garnered approval from local unions and government officials. Its also faced criticism from local farmers and environmental activists who say more development will hurt the nearby landscape.

Longview-Kelso Building Trades Council, Columbia Pacific and Northwest Oregon make up some of the unions who have said they approve the project, which proposes to create more than 3,000 short- and long-term jobs during its construction.

NEXT in a news release said it signed a letter of understanding with Columbia Pacific, the Construction Trades Council and the Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters to ensure local and union hiring are prioritized.

This is a priority green project for the state, said Willy Myers, executive secretary-treasurer for Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council. These arent just jobs, these are career opportunities in the growing green fuels industry, something our union members are eager and proud to be at the forefront of here in Oregon.

NEXT hopes to build a renewable diesel facility at the port near Clatskanie in what it says will serve as a more eco-friendly option to other plants that rely on fossil fuels.

The project will cost about $2 billion and has seen stalled starts in part because of the extensive permit process. The project is currently undergoing a federal environmental impact study and is waiting approval from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Other unions who have joined in support of NEXT include Oregon State Building Trades Council, Northwest Council of Carpenters, UFCW Local 555, Oregon AFL-CIO, Salem BTC, Southern and Central BTC, Northwest Oregon Labor Council and Pendleton BTC, according to NEXTs news release.

The benefits of prioritizing local hiring and using skilled union labor to build this cornerstone project goes beyond jobs, said Chris Efird, CEO & Chairperson of NEXT Renewable Fuels. Its about building a sustainable community and economy that is also environmentally sound.

Opponents to the project have said they are worried it will continue to pollute the air and nearby wetlands, which have a valuable impact on the environment. NEXT also got a permit to build a conditional rail track along some farmland, which farmers say will affect how and when they harvest much-needed crops.
BATTLE GROUND  A former southwestern Washington bank manager is accused of stealing more than $1 million from vulnerable customers.

The Columbian reports Brian Davie, 43, was arrested Friday in Yakima on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to a U.S. Attorneys Office statement.

The Department of Justice said while Davie was a branch manager at a Wells Fargo in Battle Ground, Washington, he made unauthorized cash withdrawals and money transfers and forged cashiers checks. Investigators said eight victims include one woman who had over $546,000 stolen from her retirement accounts, according to the statement.

Davie worked at the Battle Ground bank from 2014 until he was fired in 2019, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

It wasnt immediately known if he has a lawyer to comment for him.

He allegedly used his access to customer files to forge signatures on cashiers checks, withdrawal slips and other bank forms, the criminal complaint states.

Davie's alleged theft went undetected because investigators say he targeted elderly customers who were less likely to check their accounts frequently. Some of the people he allegedly stole from had dementia or limited English skills, according to the DOJ. He's also accused of failing to file the paperwork making one of the victims relatives a co-signer on their accounts, which prevented the relative from seeing the victims accounts and the fraud.

Wells Fargo reimbursed the victims for their loss, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.
Google confirmed its plans to launch the Pixel Buds Pro in India. Know when you will be able to order.

Google Pixel Buds Pro are coming to India! Back in May during Google I/O 2022, the company had officially announced that it would be launching the Google Pixel Buds Pro. Now, the company has finally confirmed the launch in India along with several other countries, which will take on Apples AirPods Pro. Made by Google's official Twitter handle shared the news along with an image of the Pixel Buds Pro, With just  weeks until #PixelBuds Pro are available to pre-order, heres an early look at these small buds built for big music. 

The date of Googles Pixel Buds Pro India launch announcement came from a response to a user's query on Facebook who showed his excitement about Pixel Buds Pro. The official handle of Made by Google responded by confirming the launch and pre-order details, "We love the excitement, Eric. Pre-order opens on July 21 and will be available on July 28, 2022 in United States (US), Canada (CA), United Kingdom (UK), Australia (AU), Singapore (SG), India (IN), Japan (JP), Taiwan (TW), Ireland (IE), Germany (DE), France (FR), Italy (IT), and Spain (ES).

This comes as a surprise for Indian users, as at the time of their Global event of I/O 2022, Google did not reveal its plans to launch the Pixel Buds Pro in India. However, the company also unveiled Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, 7a, Pixel Watch, and Pixel tablet during the global event. Now that Google Pixel Buds Pro has been confirmed, you can pre-order starting from July 21.

But how much will it cost you? Globally, Pixel Buds Pro are priced at $199.99, but its price in India is still a mystery.

Google Buds Pro specs and features

The Google Pixel Buds Pro comes with active noise cancellation (ANC) and Transparency mode to make you aware of your surroundings. Usual features available on standard Pixel Buds such as fast pair, and Volume EQ are also available on the Pro model. And just like Apple's AirPods Pro, the Pixel Buds Pro can seamlessly switch between devices and can translate 40 languages in real-time. Google promises to deliver 11 hours of battery backup, while with ANC on, it will be up to 7 hours.
Today, Huawei Malaysia just announced that the nova Y90 will be arriving soon in the Malaysian market. It's scheduled to arrive on 15 July 2022 so that's quite soon. Not only that, the price has been revealed as well at RM999.

From its official Facebook post, the nova Y90 features a rather large 6.7-inch FHD+ FullView display with a punch-hole front camera. The primary rear camera is 50MP and is part of a triple rear camera setup. Other than that, there's also a 5000mAh battery supporting a 40W SuperCharge technology.

However, the full specs are revealed if you visit the official Huawei online store. The nova Y90 also features a Snapdragon 680 chipset, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. The front camera is revealed to be an 8MP sensor, whereas the other two cameras on the back are the 2MP macro and depth lens. It's also noted that there's no 5G support on this phone.

Should you be interested, the nova Y90 will be bundled with RM200 worth of freebies. This includes a mystery Huawei Gift Box, 2 months of 50GB Cloud Storage, 6 months of VIU Premium Subscription and 6 months of extended warranty. The nova Y90 will be available in every Huawei Experience Store.

What do you think of the phone? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.
Uber has become a symbol of the 'gig economy' of odd-jobs.

Lobbyist Mark MacGann on Monday came out as the whistleblower who leaked thousands of compromising documents on US ride-hailing firm Uber to British newspaper The Guardian.

MacGann led Uber's lobbying efforts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East between 2014 and 2016. He told the British daily he decided to speak out because he believed Uber broke the law in dozens of countries and misled people about the company's business model.

"I was the one talking to governments, I was the one pushing this with the media, I was the one telling people that they should change the rules because drivers were going to benefit and people were going to get so much economic opportunity," the 52-year-old said in an interview with The Guardian.

"When that turned out not to be the casewe had actually sold people a liehow can you have a clear conscience if you don't stand up and own your contribution to how people are being treated today?"

Uber, which has become a symbol of the "gig economy" of odd-jobs enabled by tech giants, has had the mechanics of its rapid expansion laid bare since Sunday following the leak of a vast trove of documents.

Journalists supplied with the sensitive information have accused the company of having "broken the law" and using aggressive tactics to establish itself in the face of opposition from politicians and taxi companies.

Uber said MacGann was "in no position to speak credibly" about the company now.

The firm added that it was "noteworthy" that MacGann only blew the whistle after he received 585,000 euros ($588,000) following a lawsuit over a bonus he said Uber owed him.

The Guardian has shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) some 124,000 documents, dating from 2013 to 2017, including emails and messages from Uber executives at the time, as well as presentations, notes and invoices.

Former Uber boss Travis Kalanick was accused of creating a toxic workplace culture.

On Sunday, several news organisations, including the Washington Post, Le Monde and the BBC, published their first articles from the Uber Files.

Uber denied all the accusations against it, including obstructing justice, saying it had changed since the departure of former boss Travis Kalanick, who was accused of creating a toxic workplace culture.

'Deeply unfair'

The firm has been embroiled in scandals involving harassment, piracy, industrial spying and legal battles since its creation in 2010.

Le Monde focused particularly on the links between Uber and French President Emmanuel Macron, who is accused of negotiating with the firm a "secret deal" on regulation when he was economy minister between 2014 and 2016.

Macron allegedly held undeclared meetings with Uber executives and helped it consolidate its position in France at a time when it was upending the traditional taxi market.

Irish-born MacGann told The Guardian that the ease with which Uber gained access to the powerful in countries including Britain, France and Russia was "intoxicating" but also "deeply unfair" and "anti-democratic".

MacGann has also accused Uber of adopting a confrontational strategy towards the taxi industry under Kalanick that personally exposed him in France and Spain.

He said he received death threats and Uber provided him with a bodyguard, adding that the experience had consequences on his mental health and contributed to a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

 2022 AFP
Ald. Ed Burke, 14th, departs Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on June 4, 2019 after being arraigned on multiple federal corruption charges. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

After years of delay, Ald. Edward Burke finally has a trial date in his blockbuster federal racketeering case. But dont hold your breath.

During a status hearing in the case on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Dow set the date for jury selection for Nov. 6, 2023, nearly five years after Burkes City Hall offices were raided by the FBI and months after the next citywide election, where Burke could potentially be vying for a record 14th full term.

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The trial is expected to last about six weeks.

Burke, 78, was originally charged in a criminal complaint in January 2019. He was indicted four months later on 14 counts including racketeering, federal program bribery, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.

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The 59-page indictment outlined a series of schemes in which Burke allegedly tried to muscle developers into hiring his law firm, Klafter & Burke, to appeal their property taxes. Among the projects Burke tried to capitalize on was the massive $800 million renovation of the Old Post Office in the West Loop, according to the charges.

Also charged was Burkes longtime aide, Peter Andrews, who was accused of assisting the alderman in attempting to shake down two business owners seeking to renovate a Burger King restaurant in the 14th Ward.

The indictment also accused developer Charles Cui of hiring Burkes law firm in exchange for the aldermans help with a sign permit and financing deal for a project in the Portage Park neighborhood.

All three have pleaded not guilty.

Ald. Edward Burke walks the floor during a Chicago City Council meeting at City Hall on June 22, 2022. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Dow set the trial date in the first hearing since he denied a slew of pretrial motions by the defense team seeking to suppress evidence and toss certain charges the racketeering indictment.

Afternoon Briefing Daily Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. >

Burkes attorneys argued in a motion filed in August 2020 that evidence gleaned from the wiretaps on Burkes cellphone and City Hall offices, which allowed the FBI to monitor thousands of conversations the alderman had over the course of nearly a year, should be suppressed.

They accused prosecutors of directing then-Ald. Daniel Solis, who was secretly cooperating in the investigation, to have scripted interactions with Burke and to lie to curry favor with the government. At the time, Solis himself had been recorded committing a number of different crimes, the motion stated.

But Dow said in his ruling that Burkes arguments largely go to the strength of the evidence, not the sufficiency of the indictment and wiretap application. It will be up to the jury to assess whether the government has proved the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt at trial, Dow said.

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Dow also said prosecutors had sufficiently charged Burke under the federal bribery statute, and that numerous statements Burke allegedly made on the recorded calls  such as threatening to withhold assistance to a developer because the cash register has not rung yet  could be construed as a quid pro quo.

The setting of a trial date has been delayed for years by both the ongoing pandemic and the complexity of the charges.

Meanwhile, Burkes current term on the City Council seat ends in May. He will have to announce by later this year whether hes seeking reelection to the 14th Ward seat hes held since 1969.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
I sure could use a vacation about now  but I have no plans to take one this summer.

Thats the breaks for self-employed people like me who do not enjoy paid-vacation benefits. When I do not work, I do not get paid.

However, nearly one in four American workers are not taking a summer vacation, either  in part because were the only advanced economy in the world that doesnt mandate employer-paid vacations for them.

This is the time each year when I envy my friends in vacation-rich countries around the world.

In Kuwait, according to Far and Wide, employees receive 30 days of paid vacation. When including days off for religious holidays, employees can enjoy up to 64 days of paid leave  13 weeks off a year.

In France, the government mandates every employee get at least five weeks of paid vacation. French workers average 37 days of vacation a year  and 22 paid holidays on top of that.

Austria requires employers to give their workers 25 days off and 30 days off to those who have worked 25 years or more.

The Austrians also require one of the great job perks of all time: Employees can clock out at 3 p.m. on Fridays rather than suffer on until 5 or 5:30 as we Americans do.

Compare these generous time-off policies to America, where employees average about 15 vacation days a year.

We Americans really cant complain. Were world famous for being a nation of workaholics, even in good times.

In tough economic times such as now, when costs are soaring and the buying power of our paychecks is shrinking, we have to work even harder to keep revenues coming in.

We dont like our government telling us or our employers how we ought to conduct our business or how many vacation days employers must provide.

Our style has been, for the most part, to favor freedom over mandates of any kind.

Goodness knows our government has been so busy handing out goodies to citizens, its just a matter of time before the freedom lovers are overrun by the benefit lovers.

It will be a sad day if that ever happens. Well have a perpetually anemic economy, and all of us will have to struggle more to find the job opportunities thatll bring us happiness and wealth.

That said, we Americans could learn a thing or two from our vacationing friends around the world.

Vacating from the stresses, responsibilities and worries of our daily lives is great for our health.

We know we should take off work and go somewhere with our loved ones or friends and completely get lost for a week at a beach or lake.

We know we should find more time to sit at an outdoor restaurant as the sun goes down, enjoying good wine, conversation and the delicious foods we never have time to prepare.

We know we should step off the earth just for a little while, laugh heartily and sleep until we are fully rested.

Vacating, or vacation, is good for each of us  and America. It restores our equilibrium and helps us become more productive, civil and poised when we return to our daily lives.

Ah, heck, Ive talked myself into it.

Im going to plan a trip to the ocean this summer and let its powerful waves wash my daily worries away  for a day or two, anyway.
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Popular video-sharing platform TikTok on Tuesday agreed to pause a controversial privacy policy update that could have allowed it to serve targeted ads based on users' activity on the social video platform without their permission to do so.

The reversal, reported by TechCrunch, comes a day after the Italian data protection authority  the Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali  warned the company against the change, citing violations of data protection laws.

"The personal data stored in users' devices may not be used to profile those users and send personalized ads without their explicit consent," the Garante said.

The formal warning was in response to a privacy policy revision that noted the service had historically asked users' "consent" to their on-TikTok activity and off-TikTok activity to serve personalized ads and that, therefore, it intends to stop asking users for their permission to profile their behavior and process personal data.

"From 13 July, 2022, TikTok will rely on its 'legitimate interests' as its legal basis to use on-TikTok activity to personalize the ads of users who are 18 or over," the ByteDance-owned company said in a notice announcing the changes.

The update to its personalized advertising settings covers users who reside in the European Economic Area (EEA), the U.K., and Switzerland.

The Garante, which said it launched a fact-finding exercise, noted that the proposed policy modifications are incompatible with the Italian personal data protection law as well as the E.U. ePrivacy Directive, which regulates cookie usage, email marketing, data minimization, and other aspects of data privacy by mandating a user's consent before processing such information.

"Both legal instruments set out explicitly that the data subjects' consent is the only legal basis for 'the storing of information, or the gaining of access to information already stored, in the terminal equipment of a subscriber or user,'" the watchdog pointed out.

It further added that "processing data on the basis of its 'legitimate interest' would be in conflict with the current regulatory framework, at least with regard to the information stored in users' devices, and would entail all the relevant consequences also in terms of corrective measures and fines."

The latest intervention from the Garante also arrives less than two weeks after TikTok attracted scrutiny in the U.S. over worries that U.S. users' data had been accessed by its engineers in China, prompting the company to establish new guardrails.
Monday was the first day for counties to begin accepting early voting ballot requests for the Nov. 8 general election.

Early voting begins on Oct. 11, confirmed Hall County Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet in an email to The Independent.

This means that the request can be made now and the ballot will be send out later this year.

Their application will be retained by the county clerk or county election commissioner until the time when early ballots are sent out, which will be 35 days before the election date, Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen told The Independent. They can begin sending in these requests now and theyll be held until the ballots are sent out.

Ballots for the 2022 general election have not been completed.

Friday is the last day for incumbents not on the primary election ballot to file, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State Elections Division website. Aug. 1 is the last day for non-incumbents to file for office.

It is not known yet how many of Nebraskas 1.23 million active registered voters will apply for a ballot.

I dont really have a good estimate or prediction for how many of these requests we will have, said Evnen.

Applications for an early voting ballot can be made on the Election Commission page on the Hall County website at www.hallcountyne.gov/content.lasso?page=6102 . Registered voters have until Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. to request an early voting ballot to be mailed.

For more information, visit the Election Office on the first floor of Hall County Administration Building, 121 S. Pine St., or call 308-385-5085.

A total of 9,788 ballots were cast by Hall County voters in Mays primary election.

In response to a growing population and increasing voter turnout, Hall County Commissioners on July 5 approved hiring a full-time deputy commissioner for the Election Office.

This will restore the office to its 1983 staffing level of two full-time employees.

The office has since been running with a staff of one full-time and one part-time persons, and voter registration numbers have increased 47% from 40 years ago, said Overstreet.

We really need to have a full-time backup to myself, she said. Were the only county in the state of Nebraska that does not have a full-time backup to the election staff.

Overstreet stressed the urgency of hiring someone as, for the office, election duties start on Thursday for the 2022 general election.

Thats when the petitions come in to the Secretary of State. By next week well have early voting applications out. Well start doing signature verification. Were taking filings. Were getting ballots laid out, she explained.

The first ballots for the Nov. 8 election are due out Sept. 23.
THE Journal Insider

Why Student Data Breaches Are Dangerous & How They May Alter the Ed Tech Marketplace

New K12 Ed Tech Podcast Launches with Discussion of Student Data Privacy, Its Potential Impact on School Procurement

Since January, two reported cyberattacks targeting ed tech providers have resulted in the breach of private information of more than 3.5 million U.S. K12 students  and likely millions more. No one knows for certain how many students had their personal data compromised, and its probable that we will never know.

Such data breaches  even if they dont include a Social Security number  are very dangerous for students and can impact their financial futures for many years to come, explains podcast guest Doug Levin, national director of K12 Security Information Exchange, the leading nonprofit advocate for K12 cybersecurity resources in the United States. Levin discusses the expanding impact of recent ed tech data breaches, what it means for public school leaders and parents, and what policy changes K12SIX is advocating for to protect students.

Data privacy is also an important consideration in school district procurement, and podcast guest Dr. Tim Clark, Vice President of K12 Programs at 1EdTech, explains how their ed tech marketplace for school districts might soon see some changes to address growing concerns about student data privacy.

Resource links:

Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay
President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States generally imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5% of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8% of U.S. imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia. Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline soared 45 cents a gallon in the past week and topped $4.06 on Monday, according to auto club AAA. Should the US ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine war?

You voted:
Paris, TX (75460)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 107F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph..

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BENTON  The Longbranch Cafe in Carbondale will be paying some of its workers for overtime violations as determined Monday by U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle.

In her ruling, Yandle said that Longbranch management owes five of the 32 servers and baristas who worked more than 40 hours during some workweeks of the investigation period in early 2020 a total of $126.01.

Moreover, she concurred with U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Martin Walsh that the employer is not only liable for unpaid overtime, but is also liable under the Fair Labor Standards Act for an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, also in the amount of $126.01.

Scott Allen, spokesman for the Department of Labor, explained that the total payout for Longbranch is $252.02, but that it would not be distributed equally. The payout would vary based on hours worked by the employee, he said.

Altogether, the Department of Labor filed suit on behalf of 32 current and former employees against Dayemi Organization, Inc., d/b/a Longbranch Cafe and Bakery and Elaine Ramseyer Greenberg (Longbranch general manager), alleging violations of the FLSA.

Longbranch is composed of a full-service cafe/restaurant located at 100 E. Jackson St. in Carbondale and an off-site bakery located at 218 N. Illinois Ave. The cafe serves baked goods, coffee, and vegetarian/vegan fare and employs servers, baristas, cooks, and dishwashers, among others.

The bakery prepares baked goods for the cafe and offers catering for weddings. Longbranchs gross annual dollar volume of sales for calendar years 2018 and 2019 were $809,303 and $766,884 respectively. It had an annual gross volume of sales approximately $211,000 in 2020.

Greenberg has held the position of general manager for approximately 18 years. She is responsible for overseeing the general day-to-day operations of the cafe, including supervising employees, and hiring and firing employees. She also oversees operations of the bakery, procures supplies, hires employees, and provides guidance regarding employee discipline.

Lindsey Corona, an employee of the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage, and Hour Division, was assigned to investigate Longbranch in February 2020. The initial investigation was opened on Feb. 3, 2020 and covered the cafe and bakery for the period of Feb. 6, 2018 through Feb. 5, 2020.

During the course of the case, Corona conducted an unannounced visit to the cafe, interviewed nine current and former employees, and reviewed Longbranchs pay records. Greenberg testified that she knew nothing about the FLSA prior to the initiation of the investigation.

Longbranch did not review the Wage & Hour Divisions guidance or website, or consult with any lawyer, financial advisor, or government official about whether their pay practices complied with the FLSA compensation practices.

Longbranch paid servers and baristas either $5 or $5.50 per hour and took a tip credit for the remainder of their minimum wage obligation. Greenberg testified that servers and baristas were only notified of the tip credit when they saw it on their paychecks. There was no other notification to employees regarding the tip credit to her knowledge.

Longbranch computed the overtime premium rate for servers and baristas who worked more than 40 hours per workweek based on their hourly cash wage rate of $5 or $5.50.

Longbranch employed Wilbur Davis as the barista manager at the cafe. Davis was paid a salary of $471.15 per workweek during the entire investigation period. He worked more than 40 hours during several workweeks from Jan. 1, 2020 to Feb. 5, 2020.

Longbranch paid the cafes cooks and dishwashers at the hourly state minimum wage or higher during the investigation period and did not take a tip credit for them. Dishwashers and cooks performed their work in the kitchen, which diners could not access, and did not receive tips from customers. Cooks and dishwashers did not hold any other positions at the cafe.
A convicted bank robber once dubbed the Stringer Bell Bandit because of his likeness to the character from the hit show The Wire is under arrest again for a string of similar heists in downtown Chicago over the past few months.

When FBI agents arrested Kenneth Anderson on South State Street on July 1, he had a note scrawled on a paper towel that read, Give me all the money in drawer Now! hurry up, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

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The affidavit stated that Anderson, 55, is suspected in as many as nine hold-ups since May 2, most recently on June 27. He has been ordered held without bond for allegedly violating the terms of his supervised release in his previous bank robbery convictions, records show.

Surveillance images allegedly show Kenneth Anderson, 55, holding up a bank at 515 N. LaSalle St., on June 27, 2022. (U.S. District Court records)

U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman, who had sentenced Anderson to nine years in prison in 2014, is scheduled to hold a hearing on the violation petition on July 26, records show.

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The recent sting of robberies began on May 2 with the hold-up of a U.S. Bank Branch at 25 E. Washington St.. According to the affidavit, the robber approached a teller and handed a note reading Give me all the money in your drawer and hurry your (expletive) up! The robber got away with about $1,300 in cash.

A strikingly similar method was used in other bank robberies that occurred nearby in the following weeks, including at banks at 71 S. Wacker Dr., 2 N. LaSalle St., 33 N. Dearborn St., 20 N. Clark St., 29 E. Madison St., and 515 N. LaSalle St., according to the affidavit.

In each of the heists, the robber was suspected of making his getaway via nearby CTA train stations, according to the affidavit. Surveillance footage included in the document showed a man alleged to be Anderson swiping his Ventra card at stations nearby the bank locations shortly after the robberies.

That same transit card was found on Anderson when he was arrested last week, according to the affidavit.

Anderson was previously convicted of three separate bank robberies in 2007 and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison, records show. His supervised release in that case was revoked after his was charged in 2012 with a number of other heists, earning him the Stringer Bell Bandit moniker.

Records show Anderson was released to a halfway house on those cases earlier this year after serving about 10 years in prison.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
EVANSTON  Rebecca Blank, who was named last fall the first female president of Northwestern University, announced Monday she is stepping down after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

In a news release, the school said that Blank, who concluded her eight-year tenure as chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May, will return to the Madison area for cancer treatment.

"I do not have the words to express to you how disappointed and sad I am to be telling you this," Blank said in a statement. "I was excited to be joining you at Northwestern, a world-class institution that is near and dear to my heart."

According the school, President Morton Schapiro will remain at Northwestern until a successor is named.

Being named as Northwestern's 17th president was to be a homecoming of sorts. An internationally known economist who served as deputy secretary and acting commerce secretary during the Obama administration, Blank was on the faculty in the economics department at the school in Evanston, Illinois, from 1989 until 1999 and as director of its Joint Center for Poverty Research.

At the time of her appointment, Blank said how excited she was to return to a university and community that was such a big part of the life of her family's life.

"I served on the Northwestern faculty and was married in Chicago," she said in a statement at the time. "My daughter was born at Evanston Hospital and returned 18 years later to attend Northwestern as a student."
The University of South Carolina board of trustees announced a new phase in a growing public-private partnership between the universitys College of Nursing and Lexington Medical Center.

A 50,000-square-foot state-of-the-art nursing simulation center and teaching space will be built on the hospitals campus to provide clinical training for the universitys growing nursing student population. The project, funded by Lexington Medical Center, will be completed by 2024 and is estimated to cost $20 million.

The board also announced that the partnership will include a new graduate medical education affiliation to address the local and statewide needs for primary care physicians, a goal that aligns with the universitys School of Medicine Columbias mission to increase the number of primary care physicians in the state. The hospitals first GME program will be in family medicine and will accept 13 residents per year beginning in summer 2023.

Todays announcements mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the relationship between the University of South Carolina and the Lexington Medical Center, said Michael Amiridis, USC president. The state-of the-art facility for the use of our nursing program on the hospitals campus and the creation of 13 new residencies in family practice make a strong statement of our shared commitment to building the future of health care in the Midlands and across South Carolina.

Tod Augsburger, Lexingtons Medical Centers president and CEO, said the partnership will address the states mounting health care provider needs.

Lexington Medical Center is excited to expand our relationship with the University of South Carolina to creatively solve two challenges  the nursing shortage and the growing need for primary care physicians, Augsburger said. These endeavors mark the beginning of a strong partnership that will improve the health of our communities for generations.

With the new space, the university will be able to graduate 400 nurses per year annually in the Midlands, an 80% increase over the 220 nurses who graduated from the nursing program earlier this year.

The new building will be used primarily for clinical training of the universitys third- and fourth-year nursing bachelors students as well as masters program students. The universitys interprofessional education program all will use classroom space.

The facility is expected to open for the first cohort of nursing students in fall 2025 with a groundbreaking expected this fall. Lexington Medical Center will build the new nursing facility and provide clinical instructors while the university will fund equipment needed for the simulation center as well as equipment and furnishings for classroom spaces.
An Orangeburg County grand jury indicted a now 15-year-old for allegedly shooting three students at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School.

First Circuit Deputy Solicitor Tommy Scott announced the indictments before Circuit Judge Roger Young on Monday afternoon.

Kemondre Altroy Glover, who was 14 at the time of the incident, didnt appear in court. He will turn 16 in November.

Glovers attorney, Joshua Koger Jr., waived the teens court appearance and requested his bond hearing take place at a later date.

Glover is facing three counts of attempted murder and one count each of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and carrying a weapon on school campus.

In April, Family Court Judge Anne Gue Jones waived Glovers charges to General Sessions Court, where hes facing them as an adult.

First Circuit Assistant Solicitor Taylor Wise initiated the waiver process last fall.

First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe stated previously that he believes the shooting was a gang-related incident between rival groups: the Bloods and Folk Nation.

After announcing in April that Glover will face the charges as an adult, Pascoe noted, Today is a wakeup call for our state. Every society gets the criminal it deserves. And in South Carolina, we have 14-year-olds shooting at each other, children going to gang meetings instead of school and repeat offenders out on bond.

If convicted, Glover faces up to 30 years in prison, without parole, on each attempted murder count.

The shooting took place on Aug. 18, 2021, around 4 p.m. on the back of the schools campus, located at 601 Bruin Parkway in Orangeburg.

Glover has been held at the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice since the incident.

From the outset of the case, Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell has pushed to have the suspect charged as an adult.

Following the shooting, O-W added security measures including a revised bell schedule to ensure students at Orangeburg County School Districts largest high school would be able to leave their last period class directly to available school bus transportation, metal detectors, clear backpacks, thorough bag checks and private security officers to work together with the school resource officer.
A 21-year-old Aiken man is facing four counts of attempted murder in June 15 shooting in Denmark.

S.C. Law Enforcement Division warrants accuse Keith Nathaniel Sharpe, of 356 Morgan Street, of physically injuring three men  ages 20, 21 and 24  and firing at a 25-year-old man.

SLED spokesperson Renee Wunderlich announced on Monday that the agency took Sharpe into custody on July 6.

Denmark Police Chief Leroy Grimes previously said the shooting occurred on Plum Alley around 5:14 p.m.

Warrants allege Sharpe was armed at the side of a residence while a second unnamed gunman knocked on the door.

When someone in the house opened the door, Sharpe and the unnamed gunman allegedly opened fire, striking the three men and nearly striking another.

The incident was recorded on video surveillance, warrants say.

Witnesses also provided information to law enforcement about the suspected shooters.

SLED redacted the portion of the warrants containing the name of the other suspected shooter.

Sharpe was booked into the Bamberg County Detention Center.

The 2nd Circuit Solicitors Office will prosecute the case.

If Sharpe is convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison on each count of attempted murder.
The last of four suspects in the fatal shooting of 6-year-old Winston Hunter has been returned to South Carolina, Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell announced Monday

We have been able to extradite from New York this last subject in Winstons case, the sheriff said. He was brought back to this state over this past weekend to face charges in this utterly senseless murder of a child.

Ravenell said now 18-year-old Jeremiah Harley of Canandaigua, New York, is charged with murder, three counts of attempted murder and four counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Harley was 17 at the time of the fatal shooting.

South Carolina law automatically charges a 17-year-old facing a Class D or higher felony as an adult. Murder is a Class A felony with a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Three others have also been charged and returned from New York after their apprehension in the weeks following the childs death.

Michael Thomas Lloyd, 20, of Chillicothe, Illinois; Ethan Thorne Anderson, 19, of West Columbia; Seth James Phillips of Farmington, New York, are each facing the same charges.

The four are facing the charge of murder and other charges after the May 13 shooting that left Hunter dead.

The 6-year-old child had spent the evening at a gathering with family and friends before a light-colored sedan drove past his Woodford home firing into the residence.

Ravenell said it remains important to remember the name of the child rather than that of his assailants.

We were blessed to have had Winston in our community for six years, Ravenell said. Now Heaven will take care of this little angel.
Walt and Jennifer Turner, parents of Bowen Gray Turner, are now part of the restraining order prohibiting them from contacting the families of his assault victim and two accusers.

Michael Culler, who represents Walt and Jennifer Turner in the matter, addressed the court during the Monday morning hearing via telephone, saying, They have no problem with the no-contact order.

Mr. Turner did call, or tried to contact Mr. (Karl) Stoller, he admitted that. It was not at the behest of anyone, but a father very concerned about his son. It was inappropriate and we understand that and we certainly agree with the restraining order, Culler said.

Circuit Judge Roger Young signed the amended permanent restraining order.

Bowen Turner, 19, pleaded guilty on April 8 to first-degree assault and battery instead of his original charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Circuit Judge R. Markley Dennis sentenced him under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed six years, suspended to five years of probation.

He was 16 when he assaulted Chloe Bess at a party in Orangeburg County on June 2, 2019.

Sarah Ford, of the S.C. Victim Assistance Network, asked the court in late April to include Walt and Jennifer Turner in the restraining order after Karl and Michelle Stoller allegedly received three phone calls from one of Bowen Turners parents or some persons who claimed to call on his behalf following the April 8 sentencing hearing.

The order prohibits the Turners from contacting the 19-year-old Orangeburg mans victim, Chloe Bess and her parents. It also prohibits the Turners from contacting an unnamed Calhoun County accuser and her family and Karl and Michelle Stoller and their family.

Dallas Hayes Stoller, 20, died of a self-inflicted wound on Nov. 14, 2021. Shed accused Bowen Turner of raping her on Oct. 7, 2018, in Bamberg County. The 2nd Circuit Solicitors Office dropped his first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge following Dallas Stollers death.

A third accuser claimed Bowen Turner raped her in Calhoun County in 2018, but the S.C. Law Enforcement Division did not file any charges in that case.

Bowen Turner is expected to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon for his probation-revocation hearing. He is represented by public defender Jason Turnblad.

According to S.C. Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole certified hearing officer Toyya Williams, Bowen Turner violated his probation on May 8 by consuming alcohol and not paying court fees.

Hes also been charged with public disorderly conduct in the May 8 incident, when officers claim to have found him staggering in North Road.

If the court revokes Bowen Turners probation, he will likely serve the remainder of his sentence in jail.
Orangeburg

Department

of Public Safety

A 26-year-old Eutawville woman is facing the charge of unlawful conduct towards a child after she allegedly drove recklessly while her 2-year-old was an unrestrained passenger.

A warrant accuses Vanessa Murray of driving her Nissan Maxima recklessly, striking a curb and performing dangerous evasive maneuvers placing her child at unreasonable risk of harm affecting the childs physical, mental health and safety.

The incident occurred on Sunday just before 6:30 p.m. on Chestnut Street.

The woman claimed the childs father was following her.

The childs father told officers he pursued the Maxima because he didnt like that the toddler wasnt restrained.

Both Murray and the childs father were issued a summons for third-degree domestic violence stemming from an incident that occurred just prior to the one involving vehicles.

If Murray is convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison and a court fine.

In an unrelated report, a woman reported that two unknown males robbed her boyfriend at gunpoint on Monday night.

She claimed her boyfriend was standing in the driveway when a greenish/blue newer model Honda pulled up in an adjacent field just before 7:30 p.m.

She said the unknown males exited the Honda, walked up to her boyfriend and said, You know what it is before making him strip down to his underwear.

She said the males were armed with guns.

She said the males then drove away and her boyfriend walked from the scene.

Officers attempted to locate the womans boyfriend, but werent successful.

Orangeburg County

Sheriffs Office

Two homes were burglarized on Shadow Lawn Drive in Orangeburg on Monday night.

At one home, someone stole a 50-inch Vizio television and some clothes. The value of the stolen items from that home is $900.

At the other home, a burglar stole tattoo equipment, a change purse containing $30, a Taurus G2C 9mm handgun, a fully loaded firearm magazine and a box of ammunition.

The value of the stolen items from that home is $1,006.

In an unrelated incident, an Orangeburg business owner accused two employees of printing out lottery tickets and pocketing them. He also claims the acquaintance of one of the employees stole soft drinks and cigars.

The owner of Quick Pantry #37, located at 1093 Five Chop Road, reported the incidents on Monday.

He said one of the employees printed two lottery tickets worth $150 each on Saturday and two additional lottery tickets worth $150 on Sunday.

The business owner claimed the tickets ended up with winnings of $350 and the employee allegedly cashed the ticket in at another store he owns in Orangeburg.

He said once he reviewed the surveillance video at that store, he noticed an employee there allegedly printed four lottery tickets worth $150 and pocketed them.

The value of the stolen lottery tickets, the cash winnings, soft drinks and cigars is $1,225.
South Carolina public health and livestock officials have recently identified a large population of Asian longhorned ticks infesting a pasture at a cattle farm in York County.

The invasive species of tick is not commonly found in the United States, and bites from these ticks have caused severe illnesses in people, animals and livestock in other countries.

As of June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports Asian longhorned ticks were first identified in the United States in 2010 and have since been found in 17 states. In South Carolina, a small number of these ticks were identified in 2020 on shelter dogs in Lancaster and Pickens counties.

The Asian longhorned ticks in South Carolina have been identified through the states tick surveillance program  a collaborative effort between DHEC, the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health and Clemson University Livestock Poultry Health.

While no documented cases of diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, or anaplasmosis have been reported in the United States due to bites from Asian longhorned ticks, the ability of this tick species to spread diseases that can make people and animals ill is a concern, said Dr. Chris Evans, state public health entomologist with DHEC's Bureau of Environmental Health Services. However, more research is needed in the United States to better understand what diseases the Asian longhorned tick can spread and to what degree they are a health risk to people, livestock, and other animals. The ability of this tick species to increase its populations very quickly, leading to large infestations in a short amount of time, is also concerning.

Unlike other ticks, a single female Asian longhorned tick can produce 1,000 to 2,000 eggs at a time without mating. This means a single animal could host hundreds or thousands of ticks.

Dr. Michael Neault, S.C. state veterinarian and director of Clemson Universitys Livestock Poultry Health Department, advises that animal owners consult with their veterinarian about the use of products approved in the United States for other tick species that are found to be effective in treating animals with the Asian longhorned tick.

Companion animal and livestock owners should discuss with their veterinarians about using appropriate tick preventatives for their animals," Neault said. "Livestock owners especially should be aware that these ticks can carry the parasite Theileria. In Virginia, they already have spread this infection in sheep, and it also may spread to cattle. In other countries, the Asian longhorned tick has spread anaplasmosis among livestock, so producers may want to take preventative measures for their herds.

Asian longhorned ticks are light brown in color and tiny. Because of their small size and quick movement, they are difficult to detect. These ticks can feed on any animal but are most commonly found on livestock, dogs and humans.

The establishment of the Asian longhorned tick has real animal and human health concerns, said Dr. Melissa Nolan, assistant professor of epidemiology in the Arnold School of Public Health and director for the UofSC Laboratory of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. We are asking the public to send us any ticks they encounter in their everyday lives to help us track and monitor its spread. With local help, I believe we can slow the spread of this tick in our state.

A recent $585,000 grant awarded to Dr. Nolan by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will enable the South Carolina tick surveillance program to expand its efforts. The five-year project will convene experts from nearly a dozen locations in nine key states to form the CDC Southeastern Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases  a collective effort that will enhance the identification and monitoring of tick migration and hotspots, including invasive species such as the Asian longhorned tick.

To help state officials learn more about the prevalence of Asian longhorned ticks in South Carolina, residents are asked to carefully submit ticks suspected to be Asian longhorned ticks for confirmatory identification. This surveillance will help determine tick species presence, distribution, seasonality, and potential tick-borne disease risks.

To participate in the tick surveillance project, carefully collect a tick by using gloved hands, tweezers or another tool and send collected ticks, alive or dead, in a puncture-resistant sealable vial or zippered storage bag to Laboratory of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 921 Assembly Street #417A Columbia, SC 29201. Please include:

Your name and phone number

Address of where the tick was collected (if not a street address, provide directions and distances from nearby road intersections)

Date of collection

Indicate if the tick was found on a human or animal and specify the type of animal

State health officials ask all South Carolinians to be mindful of ticks when enjoying time outdoors. To help prevent tick bites and possible exposure to tick-borne illnesses:

Use U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol, or 2-undecanone.

Treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks, and tents with products containing 0.5% permethrin. Follow all label directions.

Wear protective clothing tucked in around the ankles and waist.

Shower with soap and shampoo soon after being outdoors.

Keep weeds and tall grass cut and avoid tick-infested places such as grassy and marshy woodland areas when possible.

Stay in the center of paths when hiking or walking through woods.

Check for ticks daily, especially under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the waist, and on the hairline.

Check pets for ticks daily and treat pets for ticks as recommended by a veterinarian.

Clemson University recommends that livestock owners work with their veterinarian and extension agent to develop a comprehensive tick- management plan that includes using approved tick preventatives that can be applied to horses and livestock and following procedures that reduce ticks in pastures.

It's important to note that the Asian longhorned tick has no relation to the Asian longhorned beetle that was identified in South Carolina two years ago and prompted a 73-square-mile quarantine zone in Charleston and Dorchester counties.

For additional information about Asian longhorned ticks, visit Clemson Universitys South Carolina Ticks and Animal Health webpage. To more learn about tick-borne illnesses in South Carolina and the University of South Carolinas Arnold School of Public Health tick identification program, visit scdhec.gov/ticks.
ST. MATTHEWS -- Residents of Sandy Run filled Calhoun County Council Chambers Monday to voice concerns about a rezoning plan that would allow the development of 304 houses on 88 acres in their community.

Gateway Land Development initially put forward the request to rezone the approximately 130-acre Old Sandy Run Road from rural neighborhood, industrial and community commercial to a planned-use district for the residential project known as the Sandy Run Crossing Development.

The proposed development would have been over a five years.

Due to public outcry and the Calhoun County's Planning Commission's unanimously striking down the proposal last month, the developer has come back with a proposal to build 170 housing units over the next two years.

The new proposal, which will come before the planning commission Thursday, July 21, at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers, is still unacceptable to several residents.

"This new proposal ... is still going to be above and beyond the ordinance ... and the Sandy Run plan which was designed on our wishes," Sandy Run resident Amy Hill said.

Following the meeting, residents vowed to continue fighting the proposal.

Sandy Run resident Ida Culler echoed Hill's concerns.

"We have a zoning plan in place that was designed to protect all of us from the very situation which we are now facing," Culler said. "A plan to protect the rural life which we enjoy, a plan to protect the environment, the resources and everything in our community."

A rural neighborhood is defined as one dwelling unit per 2 acres.

Culler said building more than 30 houses would negatively impact traffic at Exit 125.

"Do we really want Exit 125 to turn into a traffic nightmare," Culler said, noting she already sees traffic backed up on the exit ramp. "There are already enough wrecks on 26 without traffic backing up on I-26 because they can't exit on Old Sandy Run Road."

"Another church shooting, another apartment complex shooting, another housing development shooting: See a theme here?" Culler said. "I hope so because it is pretty obvious that most shootings occur in crowded areas including housing developments. Anywhere there is a crowd there is crime."

Culler said if rezoning is approved, violence, drugs and gangs will come. And the county is already stretched with emergency services and law enforcement coverage.

"More deputies mean a bigger payroll that will happen with a tax increase in addition to the tax increase that was just approved," Culler said, citing council's OK of the 2022-23 budget that took effect July 1.

"Would you want this project built in your back yard?" Culler asked council. "If you want it and vote yes, than I encourage you to get in touch with the developer and sell him 75 acres in your back yard."

The matter of the Sandy Run development was initially placed on council's agenda in closed session. Hill said she called the county to have the matter placed in open session.

"Sandy Run Crossing should never have been in executive session on the agenda," she said. "Had I not called, we would not be hearing what was going to be said today. Things like that give an appearance, and I am not accusing anybody, but it gives the appearance of trying to hide information from citizens."

Hill also asked county administration why the planning commission had not seen the 730 signatures opposed to the rezoning.

"These people matter in Sandy Run and across Calhoun County signatures were collected from across the county, not just our area," Hill said.

County Administrator John McLauchlin said the planning commission had seen the petitions.

Hill asked if council has seen the petition book with the signatures.

Council Chairman James Haigler said, "I haven't seen it."

McLauchlin said council has not seen the petitions because the matter has just been brought to their attention.

"It still has to go to the planning commission," McLauchlin said, noting there is no effort to hide anything from anybody.
Shock waves of the continuing Ukraine conflict are reaching the previously improbable victim of the Republic of Ireland, prompting this neutral nation to arrange closer ties with NATO.

Premier (Taoiseach) Micheal Martin has acknowledged Russia is using cyberattacks far beyond the regional war zone so that even distant Ireland on the continents Atlantic flank is vulnerable to electronic sabotage.

Indeed, highly so. The government has repeatedly warned institutions and businesses that they must improve their precautions against Russian cyberattacks and disinformation efforts.

The threat level has increased, the defense minister, Simon Coveney, recently assessed. In advocating a considerable boost to military spending, Coveney said. We need to know what is going on in Irish maritime and airspace.

Historically Ireland has always been a backwater in the continents military infrastructure and security. It was a non-combatant during World War II. Apart from participating in peacekeeping efforts, it has been more or less off-stage, although it is the host of a U.N. training school.

Now, however, a rethink is underway. In part, this is prompted by lurid Russian threats against Britain that would affect tranquil Ireland. Moscow is thought to have caused the recent massive cyberattack that disrupted the Irish health service. The Irish government is keen to stress such events is not to reopen old arguments over whether the country should ditch neutrality in favor of alliance membership, though in some quarters it almost certainly will. Still, it remains the case that as between a fireman and a fire theres no neutrality.

The issue is how President Joe Bidens favorite European nation can get closer to NATO (and co-operate with it) yet not join up. These days distance from war zones offers little protection.

At this point, a weird and certainly little-known bureaucratic beast heaves into partial view.

It is the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats with headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. It is a sort of hybrid in its own right in that it is uniquely sponsored jointly by NATO and the European Union and works for both groupings.

This Push-Me, Pull-You body was founded only five years ago with nine members when it dawned that the distinction between war and peace was being blurred by cyber technology.

The centers network, promoting research and exercises against every brand of hostility up to  but not including  traditional warfare now has 31 members in the Euro-Atlantic community sharing 1,500 experts from government, private businesses and universities.

The Irish snubbed an original invitation to join but now have second thoughts. The government is preparing to join what were bidden to call the Hybrid CoE.

Irish membership will add to Vladimir Putins collection of unintended consequences in his war against Ukraine. More significant still is that, after many decades of ostentatious neutrality, Sweden and Finland are poised to join NATOs ranks, making the whole of the Baltic Sea on Russias doorstep an allies enclave.

In central Europe, just the two Alpine republics, Switzerland and Austria, remain outside NATO as both are bound by constitutions not to do so. Ireland is different: it is a matter only of public opinion.

As Martin says: Ive consistently said we need to reflect on military non-alignment in Ireland. We are not politically neutral, and Ireland will be part of Europes defense process.

Participating in the electronic conflict between East and West will not, therefore, violate Irelands military non-alignment, but it will be better able to defend itself in the stealthy turmoil that is cyberspace.
Mayor Nancy Rotering had just started walking in Highland Parks Independence Day parade when the music from the high schools marching band ended abruptly, replaced by an ominous cadence.

I didnt realize it at the time, but what I was hearing was the gunshots, she said.

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An instant later, spectators and marchers bolted from the noise and first responders ran toward it as the terrible realization struck that the North Shore town was under attack. Rotering and others screamed at the crowd to leave as a rooftop sniper fired dozens of shots, killing seven people and wounding more than 20.

Rotering, a near-lifelong resident of Highland Park and its mayor since 2011, was immediately thrust into a global spotlight while trying to lead her town through an unimaginable crisis and pressing for changes to Americas gun laws. Nine years ago, Rotering signed a city ordinance banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, and on Monday she and Gov. J.B. Pritzker joined President Joe Biden at the White House to commemorate the passage of new restrictions.

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Highland Park has 30,000 residents but a small town vibe, so perhaps its no surprise Rotering has a connection with the suspect, 21-year-old Robert Crimo III: She was his Cub Scout leader years ago, recalling him only as a quiet little boy, and she defeated his father Bob in the 2019 mayoral election.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, left, Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, center, and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton depart after attending the wake for Eduardo Uvaldo at Memorial Chapel Funeral Home on July 9, 2022, in Waukegan. Uvaldo, 69, was one of the seven people killed at the Highland Park Independence Day parade mass shooting. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Speaking with the Tribune hours after attending three funerals Friday, Rotering described how her job and her town have changed in the wake of the shooting.

Theres so much need right now in our community that I am just working hard to make sure that people who need comforting are being comforted, people who need resources know how to get them and people who are in pain know that theyre not alone, she said.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: How are the people of Highland Park doing at this point?

A: Theyre really still working through an unbelievably traumatic and violent experience. I went to the funerals of Jacki Sundheim, Stephen Straus and Mr. (Nicolas) Toledo-Zaragoza today and people cant process how this has happened to their loved ones.

The grief and the agony is profound. A few of the folks at one of the funerals are recovering from gunshot wounds. They just went to celebrate the Fourth of July with their families and now, for all of us, we will be changed forever. We will heal as a community but we will never be exactly who we were before the Fourth of July.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering hugs Vice President Kamala Harris on July 5, 2022, as she visits the Central Avenue scene of the Independence Day mass shooting. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Q: What has been the biggest challenge in leading the city through this?

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A: Getting information to people who need it. Weve worked really hard, but people who are so shellshocked are also having a hard time being able to use their usual abilities to get information. I think the biggest challenge is the magnitude of pain. Its indescribable. Its just indescribable  the pain, the fury, the frustration, the anger, the sense of disbelief, the sense of how did this happen and trying to find somebody to hold accountable.

Yesterday I felt we were moving a little bit forward. Today feels like were just deep in our pain. I drove by the high school twice and the parking lot was overflowing where people are going for counseling. Every person Ive come across, Im saying to them, Have you gone for counseling? Virtually all of them have but I know thousands have not.

So this is going to take us a long time to recover from. We will absolutely recover, but one person said, I dont think Highland Park will ever be the same. Thats got to be true. You cant come through something like this and be unchanged. But that being said, were a strong community. We care deeply about one another. The generosity of people from across the country has been tremendous, and we will continue to take one step at a time.

Q: Other than the shooter, where does accountability lie?

A: Weve been having conversations about, Are the laws strong enough? My stance, obviously, is that I feel very deeply that theres no place for combat weapons in everyday society. I went to look at the site just now where the shooter was and where the victims were, and the fact that he had a weapon that could create such violence in such a short period of time makes no sense. It makes no sense.

Were a civilized nation. These guns need to go. Were not in a battle zone. I was at Stephen Straus funeral and his grandson Toby read (the war poem) In Flanders Fields. He said, My grandfather was in a war zone at the end of his life. And that really sunk into the group because his grandfather was in a zone where somebody was using a combat weapon to kill people.

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Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering speaks with the media on July 5, 2022. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

Q: Is there anything else Highland Park can do in terms of gun control measures?

A: Weve got to figure this out in terms of what is strategically appropriate within the law, what we can do as a municipality versus the state government versus the federal government. An interesting concept people have brought up is that just as the opiate manufacturers were held liable for the deaths of so many people who died from opiate overdoses, maybe we can look at manufacturers liability for civilian deaths at the hands of these guns. But I think thats probably more of a federal-level effort.

As far as the city is concerned, we did the maximum that we could within the constraints of the law as it existed  A statewide ban (on assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines) is better, a federal ban is better than that.

Q: How do you think the citys police force handled the incident?

Afternoon Briefing Daily Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. >

A: They did a fantastic job. Our first responders were equipped, they were on the scene, they took action, they did everything they should have done and went way above and beyond. They were exemplary, and weve been really privileged to have additional services provided by the regions police agencies, the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, the FBI and the ATF  It really went unbelievably well.

Q: What do you think the lasting effect of this is going to be on Highland Park?

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A: I think given the broad range of humanity that lives here, its going to manifest itself in a broad range of ways. People have approached me and said, Were going to have the biggest blowout ever next year. And other people have said, Im never going to a parade again.

We know that we need to memorialize and commemorate the one-year anniversary of this horror in an appropriate way and not a celebratory way. So we will be doing that, but every single person Ive come across has a different reaction and is having a different way of working through it. Some people havent slept since it occurred. Its heartbreaking. It is absolutely heartbreaking what this has done to our community.

And again, you know, we are strong, we support each other, weve always been there for each other and will come out of this as strong as ever. But we will be changed and that breaks my heart.

jkeilman@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @JohnKeilman
Following a EU directive, the sale of vehicles emitting CO2 will be prohibited in all member states as of 2035, which will mean the end for traditional combustion engines.

The question of what that means for vehicles driving with synthetic ecological fuel remains open, but is now being addressed by the EU Commission. Although there are no commercially available cars driving with e-fuels yet, the practice is being tested.

Our colleagues from RTL spoke to Anna Krajinska from Transport & Environment, Europe's "leading clean transport campaign group", about the implications of the decision for alternative fuels. She explained: "E-fuels are produced through a complex chemical reaction between electricity, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide. They have the potential of being completely renewable and CO2 neutral if the electricity used in the production is green and if the carbon dioxide is removed from the air."

The end product is able to fuel every type of combustion engine, which would mean that current petrol-station infrastructure could remain intact.

Guido Savi from the Belgian-Luxembourgish automobile federation FEBIAC explained that investments into research are still being increased: "There is a lot of demand from manufacturers. Porsche, for instance, recently announced that they want to focus on investing into e-fuels for the better of their cars."

A number of studies point out that the alternative fuel is not green enough, arguing that the large amount of electricity needed to get to the end product would better be invested into electric transportation.

Krajinska elaborated: "A car with a conventional petrol-based engine driving with e-fuel produces about 200 grammes of CO2 per kilometre. This includes production as well as emissions. We can compare that to electric cars driving with European electricity, which produce about 50 grammes of CO2 per kilometre."

The elevated prices of the alternative fuel also make it less attractive for clients, but manufacturers expect them to drop.

One billion cars with traditional combustion engines are estimated to drive around the globe at the moment, which Savi believes to be difficult to replace altogether.

The EU directive will also mean that by 2030, 2% of kerosene used in air traffic has to be produced synthetically.

Video report in Luxembourgish
The state auditor has released its special report on the financing of the LUXEOSys military satellite, finding that costs were mismanaged from the beginning of the project.

The report was presented and discussed in the Chamber's bugetary control commission.

It concluded that the project was still in a draft stage when then-Minister of Defence Etienne Schneider presented it to the Chamber of Deputies in March 2018.

The report alleges that there were mistakes in the planning of the project, such as foregoing a feasibility analysis to determine whether the satellite can actually be operated from Herrenberg. Other elements have been completely forgotten, the report further notes.

All these factors have contributed to the need for a second vote on a new budget for the project, which took place in December 2020 and added 139 million. The project now amounts to 309 million, an increase of 82%.

The state auditor further concludes that then-Minister Schneider misled the public about the satellite, stating that imagery could eventually be used to generate revenue.

The government council approved the LUXEOSys project without providing details to MPs in the Chamber, citing reasons of confidentiality. This means that the members of concerned commissions were forced to discuss the satellite without knowing the full scope of costs.

The purchase of the military equipment was approved by the Chamber in 2018, with only the Left voting against the project. The special report further noted that the Ministry of Defence knew as far back as May 2018 that the initial costs for the project would be exceeded.

The first doubts about the costs of the project arose in 2020. Although opposition politicians intended to create an enquiry commission, this never happened, and the government instead tasked the state auditor with creating a special report.

The state auditor recommended that it should regularly analyse large investments made by the Ministry of Defence and inform the budgetary control commission about any progress.
75% of Luxembourg's final-year students passed their final exams this year.

Around 9% of the 3,500 pupils taking their final-year exams failed and will be forced to repeat the year, while the rest will be able to retake certain exams.

This year's results represent a slight drop on 2021, which saw 77% pass their final exams, while the average of the last ten years was 78%.

Minister of Education Claude Meisch expressed satisfaction over the results of this year's final exams in secondary education: "These are impressive results in light of three school years marked by pandemic restrictions."

Across the 'classical' high schools, 83% of pupils passed their exams, 2% less than last year. The passing rate in 'general' high schools was 68%.

Women generally record better passing rates than men: 84% versus 82% in classical high schools, and 71% versus 64% in general high schools.

A total of 116 students passed their exams with distinction - 105 in classical high schools and eleven in general high schools.
In his response to a parliamentary enquiry, Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot has confirmed that steel giant ArcelorMittal has resumed deliveries to Russia.

MPs Sven Clement and Marc Goergen from the Pirate Party recently filed an urgent parliamentary enquiry concerned with ArcelorMittal's alleged decision to continue providing the Russian market with steel despite sanctions.

Read also: ArcelorMittal allegedly resumes Russia steel deliveries

In his response, Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot confirmed that Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal continues to make use of its operations in Kazakhstan to deliver steel to Russia.

Minister Fayot underlined that every company is responsible for adhering to the sanctions issued against Russia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The LSAP politician further conveyed that the steel giant states that its subsidiary in Kazakhstan respects all due diligence directives.

Minister Fayot also explained that as a member of the Luxembourg government, he is not allowed to pass judgement on the business. Despite investments, the government is also not represented on the administrative board of the group.

Nevertheless, Minister Fayot explained that he insisted that all necessary precautions have to be taken so that steel deliveries to Russia are not appropriated for military purposes.

PDF: Parliamentary enquiry and response (LUX)
Former President Donald Trump attempted to contact a witness in the House Jan. 6 committee investigation following the panels last hearing, which featured explosive testimony from a former White House aide, Rep. Liz Cheney said Tuesday.

Cheney made the remarks at the end of the committees seventh hearing. She said the witness, who has not testified yet, did not answer Trump, but informed the persons attorney instead. The attorney, in turn, told the committee, which passed along that information to the Department of Justice.

Let me say one more time that we will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously, Cheney said.

Cheney ended the previous hearing with a similar warning against pressuring witnesses.

Wyomings lone representative began Tuesdays hearing by batting away assertions that Trump was not responsible for his unfounded claims of a stolen election.

President Trump is a 76-year-old man, he is not an impressionable child, Cheney said. Just like everyone else in our country, he is responsible for his own actions and his own choices.

The House committee has spent more than a year studying the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The panel conducted over 1,000 interviews, obtained never-before-seen footage of the mob breaching the Capitol and heard in-person testimony from a number of people in Trumps orbit. The seventh hearing focused on the link between Trump and the extremist groups who stormed the Capitol and helped make the initial breach.

As our investigation has shown, Donald Trump had access to more detailed and specific information showing that the election was not actually stolen than almost any other American, Cheney said. And he was told this over and over again. No rational or sane man in his position could disregard that information and reach the opposite conclusion. And Donald Trump cannot escape responsibility by being willfully blind.

Cheneys blistering statements referenced an idea that Cheney noted in her opening remarks: the Trump camp has shifted its legal strategy since the hearings started.

Now, the argument seems to be that President Trump was manipulated by others outside the Administration. That he was persuaded to ignore his closest advisors, and that he was incapable of telling right from wrong, Cheney said. This new strategy is to try to blame only John Eastman, or Sidney Powell, or Congressman Scott Perry, or others, and not President Trump.

Cheney is one of two Republicans on the nine-person House select committee.

Her statements Tuesday come on the heels of arguably the most dramatic hearing yet. In the June 28 hearing, Cheney led an in-person interview of Cassidy Hutchinson, former assistant to Mark Meadows, Trumps chief of staff at the time of the attack.

Hutchinsons testimony alleged that Trump knew some of his supporters at a rally on Jan. 6 were armed, that he was adamant about joining them as they marched to the Capitol building and that White House counsel was worried that Trumps conduct could lead to criminal charges.

Cheneys role on the committee has resulted in serious backlash among some Republicans in her home state, with critics inside and outside of politics arguing that shes become so distracted by her War on Trump that shes unable to serve the people of Wyoming.

The congresswoman is facing a tough reelection challenge from Trumps pick to unseat her, attorney Harriet Hageman.

Despite months of backlash, Cheney has given no indication of backing down.
Dr. Sameer Vohra, a pediatrician and professor from the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, will lead the state Department of Public Health, taking over for Dr. Ngozi Ezike. (Southern Illinois University School Of Medicine)

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday appointed a professor from the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine to lead the state Department of Public Health as highly contagious coronavirus variants have emerged and made clear the pandemic is far from over.

Dr. Sameer Vohra, a pediatrician and founding chair of the SIU medical schools Department of Population Science and Policy, will join the public health department on Aug. 1, the governors office said.

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Vohra, who earned both medical and law degrees from SIU and a masters in public policy from the University of Chicago, oversees a department at SIUs Springfield medical school that works to improve health outcomes in central and southern Illinois.

In a statement, Vohra said he is humbled by his appointment to lead the states public health department, a job where hell make $185,673 a year

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Governor Pritzker, along with the dedicated staff of IDPH, have served our state admirably during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Vohras appointment is subject to approval from the state Senate.

Vohra takes over the permanent directors role from Dr. Ngozi Ezike, who became a fixture for many Illinois residents during the early days of the pandemic and left the post in March.

The public health department under her leadership was the subject of a scathing audit of the states response to a deadly COVID-19 outbreak in November 2020 that killed 36 veterans at a state-run home in LaSalle.

Reporting by the Better Government Association also raised questions about whether Ezike violated the states revolving-door law by taking a job as president and CEO of Sinai Hospital hospital system, a safety-net health care provider that receives state grants. An attorney for Ezike told the BGA that she sought legal counsel before accepting the new job.

Amaal Tokars, the departments assistant director, has led the agency on an interim basis since Ezikes departure and will remain as second in command.

Vohra steps into his new role as doctors are warning that two new strains of the coronavirus appear to be able more easily to evade antibody protection from prior infections.

As of last week, 28 of the states 102 counties, including suburban DuPage and Lake counties, met the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions definition for high community levels of COVID-19, reflecting both the prevalence of cases and the strain on the local health care system. In places with a high community level, the CDC recommends masking in indoor public spaces, regardless of vaccination status.

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Over the past week, the state has averaged nearly 5,000 new cases per day, the highest level in more than a month. At the height of the omicron surge in January, the state was averaging more than 32,000 daily cases.

Due to the proliferation of home testing, case counts are no longer the most reliable indicator of the prevalence of the virus, but the number of severe cases also has been rising of late. During the week ending Monday, the state averaged 145 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units per day, the highest level since early March.

The state Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday reported a recent rise in COVID-19 cases at the state-run veterans home in Quincy, where 16 residents and 10 staff members have come down with the virus. All the residents had received at least two vaccine doses and 11 of them had received all recommended boosters, according to the department.

Most are experiencing mild symptoms, though four residents were taken to the emergency room, the department said, with two remaining hospitalized Tuesday for unrelated conditions.

Since the start of the pandemic, 35 veterans at Quincy have died from COVID-19, with the most recent death recorded in mid-March, according to the department.

Last month, the state reported an outbreak at the veterans home in Manteno.

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Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution is experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19.

One in four people incarcerated at the state prison in Torrington, 162 in total, tested positive last week, according to Wyoming Department of Corrections spokesperson Paul Martin.

Another 20 staff members were also found with the virus.

Every person in the facility was tested on July 5, Martin said.

As of this week, there are 645 people incarcerated in Torrington, at the states most populous prison. Through the first two years of the pandemic, the facility bore the brunt of the states cases among incarcerated people.

There are 308 people working at the prison, 205 of them uniformed staff. Martin said facility staffing changes daily in an email Monday, and the prison also has 17 vacant positions.

The vast majority of people testing positive in the Torrington prison have not shown symptoms of COVID-19, according to Martin.

The facility hasnt conducted routine COVID testing, as it did for the first two years of the pandemic, for a couple months now, Martin said. WMCI Warden Michael Pacheco was not available for comment Monday.

Martin said last weeks round of 100% testing in Torrington was likely spurred by a wave of incarcerated residents testing positive in the days before.

The 162 inmate cases found at WMCI represent one of the highest positivity rates at any Wyoming prison since the start of the pandemic. In January, when the DOC reported its highest number of cases in a single week, the most found at a single facility was 130 at the state penitentiary in Rawlins.

They come as cases are on the rise around Wyoming and the country, thanks to newer, more transmissible variants of the coronavirus.

WMCI is now in the red transmission zone on the DOCs updated COVID response plan, released in March as cases declined across the state.

That means that the facility is locked down  no recreation, meals are taken in units rather than dining halls and in-person visitation is on hold. All prison services, besides medical care, are limited. The 162 people in isolation have their movements restricted even further. Anyone inside the prison must wear a mask until the facilitys transmission status drops to yellow, according to the plan.

Torrington, and most other Wyoming prisons, are already struggling with staffing. Having 20 employees out with COVID at once has put a stress on the remaining uniformed staff, Martin said, requiring them to fill in with overtime. Employees that test positive have to stay away from work for at least five days, according to policy.

Its a sizable chunk, the spokesperson said Monday. Especially when youre also wrestling with a high number of vacancies  Vacancies are becoming a problem everywhere besides (the Wyoming Honor Farm in) Riverton.

The other four state prison facilities in Wyoming are still at the lowest (green) transmission level, Martin said Monday. Staff in the DOCs central office in Cheyenne have also recently returned to wearing masks at work.

In an email Tuesday, Martin said the department will return to 20% surveillance-level testing or 100% testing if the other prisons' surrounding communities begin to see higher case numbers.

It is important to remember that an individual can test positive for up to 90 days following exposure, Martin said in an email. As we have not tested before last week for a couple months it is very possible that many/most of these (in Torrington) were exposed in the past 90 days.

The DOC again tested the entire population at WMCI, save for those who tested positive last week, on Monday.

The results of this weeks test will give us a much better picture of an actual outbreak, and if so, how big it may be, Martin said.

To date, nine people have died from COVID-19 while incarcerated in Wyoming prisons. The last death reported by the Department of Corrections came in March.
Last week, Massy Financea subsidiary of T&Ts second-largest conglomerate, Massy Grouplaunched its first fintech offering, an online loan platform called InstaLoan.

Massys model, according to executive vice-president and group chief financial officer of Massy Holdings Ltd Ian Chinapoo, is to be disruptive, especially to local banks.

While its Massys first foray into fintech, online loans have been on the market from three separate companies for the past three years.

InstaLoan can be accessed by anyone wanting a loanbe it for a vacation, home repair or for a Carnival costume.
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Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, second from left, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker listen as President Joe Biden speaks July 11, 2022, during an event to celebrate the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a law meant to reduce gun violence, on the White House South Lawn. (Evan Vucci / AP)

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering urged President Joe Biden to press for a federal ban on certain semi-automatic weapons during a visit to the White House on Monday, one week after a gunman killed seven and wounded dozens more in the North Shore suburb.

Pritzker and Rotering were among guests at an event to mark the passage of a bipartisan gun safety law approved in the aftermath of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, in May. The new law includes federal funding to help states implement so-called red-flag laws, like the one Illinois enacted in 2019, that allow courts to confiscate weapons temporarily from those deemed dangerous to themselves or others.

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Speaking with Biden before the event, Pritzker and Rotering emphasized that action on gun restrictions should not be left to the states.

We expressed to the president our desire to see more done at the federal level, particularly a ban on assault weapons, a ban on high-capacity magazines, Pritzker told reporters after the event. He agrees that more needs to be done, and he is passionate about that.

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Despite deep partisan and regional divisions on guns, Rotering said she thinks Biden can build support for a federal ban  which the president has said he supports  by speaking to the values that we all share as Americans.

We all share a love of freedom. We also share a love of helping our children grow up in a clean and safe society, Rotering said. We also share a love and appreciation for our first responders. Our first responders are outgunned by the combat weapons.

During his remarks to hundreds of guests on the South Lawn, Biden acknowledged Rotering and Pritkzer and thanked them for their response to the July 4 shooting, which authorities say was carried out with a legally purchased semi-automatic rifle.

We had a number of conversations immediately after the attack in Highland Park, and Ive been impressed with the way theyve handled things, Biden said. Its been extraordinary. And as the three of us have discussed, we have more to do.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 115 A woman pauses to visit a memorial in Port Clinton Square in Highland Park on July 11, 2022. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Later in his speech, Biden recounted his role as a senator in passing a 1994 ban on certain semi-automatic weapons and how mass shootings increased after it lapsed in 2004.

Im determined to ban these weapons again and high-capacity magazines that hold 30 rounds that let mass shooters fire hundreds of bullets in a matter of minutes, Biden said. Im not going to stop until we do it.

The prospects for achieving such an agenda remain murky at best in an election year when Democrats hold a narrow House majority and rely on Vice President Kamala Harris to break ties in an evenly divided Senate.

The effectiveness of such a ban also is a subject of debate, though some research suggests banning high-capacity magazines could be effective at preventing mass casualties.

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In heavily Democratic Illinois, however, an effort to restrict semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines statewide may be gaining momentum.

A proposal state Rep. Maura Hirschauer of Batavia filed in the Illinois House earlier this year, which has yet to have even a committee hearing, had 52 sponsors as of Monday. Nearly all of them signed on after the Highland Park shooting.

There are many, many people that have approached me, that have approached  other people in leadership (to say) that its time we pass this bill, state Rep. Robyn Gabel of Evanston, an assistant majority leader in the House, said last week. When it happens in your own state, I think it hits people a little harder and people recognize the need to do something.

A special legislative session is planned for the coming months on abortion access, but taking a vote on strict gun safety measures before the November election could put the dwindling number of downstate Democrats in a politically perilous position.

Pritzker, who supports a statewide ban, told reporters at the White House on Monday that a federal ban would be most effective.

Banning assault weapons just in the city of Highland Park or just in the state of Illinois wont effectively keep assault weapons from coming into the streets of Illinois, Pritzker said. And so we need this to be national. Look at every state around us. There are very few restrictions in Indiana and Missouri and Wisconsin and Iowa and Kentucky.

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Pritzkers Washington stop came as a New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday showed nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters said theyd prefer someone other than Biden at the top of the ticket in 2024.

Pritzker, who has positioned himself as a national leader on abortion and now gun control, is seen as a possible alternative and spurred that speculation with a visit to New Hampshire, a key Democratic presidential primary state, in June.

Pritzker told reporters he and Biden did not discuss politics Monday, and previously has said he supports a second term for Biden and is running for reelection in November to serve another four years as governor.

Pritzkers rival in that election, Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, issued a statement Monday criticizing the governor for being in D.C. hobnobbing with his elite friends when he should be home answering for his soft on crime bills.

This morning six men were in a shootout in the South Loop, which is starting to look like the O.K. Corral, Bailey said. Families and jobs are fleeing daily due to rising crime and taxes. This is all on your watch, Pritzker. Stop running for president, J.B., and do your job. Its time to provide relief, catch criminals and keep families safe. Lives depend on it.

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Also at the White House event Monday was Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who said she hopes that future legislative efforts aimed at preventing gun violence focus not only on mass shootings but the sort of drip drip drip of homicides and victims in places like Chicago, which doesnt get the attention it needs and deserves  partly because of who the victims are, but partly because they arent mass events.

Its a tragedy when comfortable people in Highland Park are victims of a mass shooting like this, but its not a tragedy when nine people were killed that same weekend and 54 shot that same weekend in the streets of Chicago in Black and brown neighborhoods? Preckwinkle asked.

Chicago Tribunes A.D. Quig contributed.
Belkin, Richard

born June 5, 1933, Hartford, Connecticut, died July 7, 2022, Tucson, Arizona Dick Belkin was perhaps the most positive and inspirational person you will ever meet, a man of great integrity, creativity, and infinite kindness. In his younger days a television personality, he became a highly successful broadcast executive, business ....

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A federal judge has blocked Arizona from using a year-old law requiring state laws to be interpreted to grant personhood rights to an unborn child, at least as it applies to abortion.

In a 17-page order, Judge Douglas Rayes said the statute is so vague that even he cannot tell exactly what it means  or how prosecutors might interpret it to bring charges against doctors who perform otherwise legal abortions.

And at least some forms of abortion remain legal in Arizona  and possibly most forms in Pima County, at least for the time being  despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

The interpretation policy either does absolutely nothing, or it does something, Rayes wrote in the ruling released late Monday.

What that something might be is a mystery, or as (attorneys for the state) put it, anyones guess,  he said. And that is the problem.

He said the abortion doctors who brought the lawsuit as well as the Arizona Medical Association should not have to guess whether their actions will end up putting them in legal trouble.

Rayes specifically lashed out at a suggestion that Assistant Attorney General Kate Sawyer made during a court hearing Friday, that if doctors are unsure what the law means they should just hire a lawyer and seek a ruling by a state court judge.

A law which requires such extraordinary effort to decipher fails to give ordinary people fair notice of the conduct it permits and proscribes, Rayes said.

Jennifer Sklarsky, an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, who argued the case for the doctors, praised Rayes in a statement for blocking this law from being used to create an unthinkably extreme abortion ban.

But the Arizona Attorney Generals Office does not agree with the judges interpretation, said Brittni Thomason, press aide to Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

We are carefully considering our next steps, she said in a prepared statement. Our focus remains on bringing clarity to the law for Arizonans.

It is that lack of clarity in the provision that resulted in the ruling.

Approved last year as part of a larger abortion restriction, the law says that state laws shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge that an unborn child at every stage of development has the same rights, privileges and immunities available to other citizens and residents of Arizona.

What makes that relevant is that Brnovich contends the U.S. Supreme Court ruling means the state can now enforce the law first passed in 1901  before Arizona became a state  outlawing all abortions except to save the life of the mother. At the very least, that exception permits doctors to terminate a pregnancy in those situations.

Rayes said state laws make it crystal clear that someone performing an abortion is not committing murder.

The problem, he said, is that there is no such exception for other laws, such as assault, child endangerment and child abuse, leaving abortion providers left to guess whether their conduct could be criminalized under a maximalist application of the interpretation policy.

As a result, Rayes said, two abortion providers named in the lawsuit said they have stopped performing the procedure altogether  including to save a patients life  because they cant tell if they would be punished.

In turn, this harms their patients, who are denied time-sensitive medical treatment, the judge continued.

Moreover, Rayes pointed out that state law defines unborn child as the offspring of human beings from conception until birth, and then defines conception as the fusion of human sperm and egg.

He said standard medical texts equate conception with the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus, something that occurs about six days after fertilization. But he said the states definition of conception doesnt mention implantation and therefore includes fertilized eggs that have not implanted  and may never implant  in the uterus.

An unborn child, it seems, can exist as a legal entity in Arizona even before a woman is considered pregnant from a medical standpoint, Rayes wrote.

That definition also could have implications for legally acceptable forms of birth control.

The issue of abortion to save the life of the mother aside, theres also the fact that the state Court of Appeals issued an injunction in 1973 blocking the attorney general and the Pima County Attorneys Office from prosecuting anyone under the 1901 law. Brnovich has yet to ask for that injunction be dissolved.

The judge was unmoved by claims by Sawyer that the state is somehow harmed by his order.

Defendants stand only to lose the ability to enforce an intolerably vague rule of statutory construction, he said.

More to the point, Rayes said his injunction does not stop Arizona lawmakers from expanding the protection of the law to those not yet born.

If Arizona wants to extend legal protections to the unborn  including, it seems, before medically recognized conception  nothing in this order precludes it from doing so clearly and explicitly, he wrote.

That means amending existing laws of who is a person into each statute where lawmakers want that to be used and by clearly and explicitly stating whether those applications exempt otherwise lawful abortion care.

During oral arguments on Friday, Sawyer said the interpretation clause might even be applied to probate law, which governs things like who is entitled to a share of an estate.
A Reid Park Zoo squirrel monkey that tested positive for COVID-19 has died, but zoo officials say it is unclear what role the virus played in her death.

Glitter, 8, died due to an intestinal bacterial infection and had a history of intestinal concerns, said a news release Tuesday from Reid Park Zoo. The median life expectancy for squirrel monkeys in human care is 14.1 years.

The necropsy results showed Glitter tested positive for COVID-19.

The virus was likely transmitted from exposure to a person with COVID-19, potentially from a staff member, the news release said. All masking, gloving and eye protection protocols were in place for animal care staff caring for the squirrel monkeys and will continue to be followed by zoo staff when working with all susceptible animals.

Zoo veterinary and animal care teams continue to monitor the squirrel monkeys behavior and continue screening for COVID, Sue Tygielski, director of zoo operations, said in the news release. Glitter was an active and curious individual always interested in troop members as well as her care staff. She will be deeply missed.

The zoo has two remaining squirrel monkeys in its troop. Both monkeys as well as other primates have been tested and are not affected at this time, the news release said.

The zoo had been in the process of providing a veterinary COVID-19 vaccine to animals that are most susceptible to virus, including big cats and primates, the news release said. The squirrel monkey troop had not been vaccinated since one of the members is pregnant and set to deliver this summer.
Famed Ukrainian medic describes 'hell' of Russian captivity

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A celebrated Ukrainian medic who was held captive by Russian forces says she thinks about the prisoners she left behind constantly. Yuliia Paievska, who is better known as Taira, was freed on June 17. She was captured on March 16 in the besieged city of Mariupol, a day after a team of Associated Press journalists smuggled out a data card on which she'd recorded 256 gigabytes of bodycam footage showing her medical team's desperate efforts to save wounded civilians and troops, including Russian soldiers. Taira credits the release of the video by AP with helping win her freedom. But she left behind a cell full of Ukrainian women she's hoping will also be released. Now Taira's trying now to regain her health and plans to write a sort of self-help book about enduring captivity.

Far out: NASA space telescope's 1st cosmic view goes deep

The first image from NASA's new space telescope is the deepest view of the universe ever captured. The image from the James Webb Space Telescope was unveiled at the White House on Monday. The picture is the farthest humanity has ever seen in both time and distance, closer to the dawn of time and the edge of the universe. The worlds biggest and most powerful space telescope launched last December. It reached its lookout point 1 million miles from Earth in January. On Tuesday, four more galactic beauty shots will be released from the telescopes initial outward gazes.

Judges rule on state abortion restrictions, shape Roe impact

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The implications of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade are reverberating nationwide as states reemerge as the new battlefields for abortion rights. A Utah judge on Monday granted a request from Planned Parenthood to delay implementing the states trigger law banning most abortions. The decision keeps them legal up to 18 weeks until the court rules on a lawsuit challenging a stricter ban. Meanwhile, a Minnesota judge has declared most of the states restrictions on abortion unconstitutional. And in Michigan, an abortion rights campaign turned in a record-breaking number of signatures so voters can be asked on the November ballot whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

Biden admin: Docs must offer abortion if mom's life at risk

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Biden administration is telling hospitals that they must provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk. It says federal law on emergency treatment guidelines preempts state laws in jurisdictions that now ban the procedure without any exceptions following the Supreme Courts decision to end a constitutional right to abortion last month. The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday cites the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. It requires medical facilities to determine whether a person seeking treatment may be in labor or whether they face an emergency health situation  or one that could develop into an emergency  and to provide treatment.

Abe's party vows to finish his work after win in Japan vote

TOKYO (AP)  Days after former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes assassination, his party vowed to use its victory in a parliamentary election to achieve his unfinished goals. That includes strengthening the military and revising the countrys pacifist, postwar constitution. The comfortable majority secured Sunday by the governing Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito could allow Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to rule uninterrupted until a scheduled election in 2025. But the loss of Abe also opened up a period of uncertainly for his party. The promised constitutional amendment, for one, faces an uphill battle. Abes shooting shook the nation, and Japanese flocked to a Buddhist temple Monday to mourn their former leader.

White House: Iran set to deliver armed drones to Russia

WASHINGTON (AP)  The White House says it believes Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, including weapons-capable drones, for use in its ongoing war in Ukraine. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the unmanned systems to Russia, but said the U.S. has information that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month. Sullivans revelation comes on the eve of President Joe Bidens trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, where Irans activities will be a key subject of discussion.

New coronavirus mutant raises concerns in India and beyond

The quickly changing coronavirus has spawned yet another super contagious omicron mutant thats worrying scientists as it gains ground in India and pops up in numerous other countries, including the United States. Scientists say the variant, which is called BA.2.75, may be able to spread rapidly and get around immunity from vaccines and previous infection. Its unclear whether it could cause more serious disease than the globally dominant omicron variant BA.5. But scientists are concerned about the fact that it's geographically widespread. It's been detected in distant states in India as well as about 10 other nations.

Judge won't delay trial for Trump ex-adviser Steve Bannon

WASHINGTON (AP)  A federal judge has declined to delay the upcoming trial of Steve Bannon, an adviser to former President Donald Trump who faces contempt of Congress charges after refusing for months to cooperate with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Bannon is still scheduled to go on trial next week. That's despite telling the House committee late Saturday that he is now prepared to testify. Its unclear whether Bannon will again refuse to appear before the committee with the trial pending. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols also ruled against several requests by Bannons attorneys to seek the testimony of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or the committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi.

Taking selfies, Sri Lankans converge on presidential palace

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  The takeover of Sri Lanka's presidential residence and other official buildings was a dramatic turning point in monthslong protests that have shaken the country, and the ultimate push that forced the president to say he will resign. For months, demonstrators have camped outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office in the capital, demanding he quit for severely mismanaging the economy. Many have accused Rajapaksa and his powerful, dynastic family of corruption and policy blunders that tipped the island nation into its worst economic crisis. Peoples patience has grown increasingly thin in recent months, with the crisis sparking shortages of fuel, medicine, food and cooking gas.

Mo Farah says he was taken to UK using another child's name

LONDON (AP)  Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah has disclosed he was brought into Britain illegally from Djibouti under the name of another child. The British athlete made the revelation in a BBC documentary. Farah says he was born in Somaliland as Hussein Abdi Kahin. Farah says his father was killed in the civil war and he was separated from his mother. Farah says he thought he was going to Europe to live with relatives and recalled going through a British passport check under the guise of Mohamed at the age of nine after traveling with a woman he didnt previously know.
HOUSTON (AP)  An appeals court on Monday stayed this weeks execution of a death row inmate who had raised questions about whether prosecutors had presented false and inaccurate testimony from an expert on whether he would commit more crimes in the future.

Ramiro Gonzales, 39, had been set to receive a lethal injection for fatally shooting Bridget Townsend. Gonzales kidnapped Townsend, who was the girlfriend of his drug dealer, from a Bandera County home in January 2001 after stealing drugs and money. He later took her to his familys ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted the 18-year-old before killing her. Her remains werent found until nearly two years later.

Gonzales attorneys had asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stay his execution, arguing prosecutors presented false testimony that wrongly claimed he would be a future danger, a legal finding needed to impose a death sentence.

His attorneys had argued that a prosecution expert, psychiatrist Edward Gripon, had falsely testified that people who commit sexual assault have an extremely high rate of  recidivism, as high as 80%.

Gonzales attorneys argued subsequent reviews by experts and reporters found that no reliable statistical study had ever supported such a high recidivism rate.

In its three-page order on Monday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said Gonzales attorneys had made sufficient claim showing that testimony of recidivism rates Gripon gave at trial were false and ... that false testimony could have affected the jurys answer to the future dangerousness question at punishment.

The appeals court ordered Gonzales case to be sent to his trial court for further review.

It was not immediately known if the Texas Attorney Generals Office would appeal the execution stay. An agency spokesman didnt immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

After re-evaluating Gonzales earlier this year, Gripon says his prediction the inmate would be a future danger was wrong, adding Gonzales has taken responsibility for what he did and has expressed remorse.

The appeals courts order came about a couple of hours after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied a request by Gonzales attorneys to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty or delay his execution for 180 days so he could donate a kidney to someone who may need it.

Gonzales had also asked Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to delay his execution, for 30 days, so he could donate a kidney.

Gonzales attorneys say the kidney donation is part of his effort to atone for his crimes.

I am sorry, deeply sorry, that I took what was so precious to you and I know theres nothing I can do or say to make it better.

I have absolutely no excuse for what I have done and theres absolutely no one to blame but me, Gonzales wrote in a letter to Townsends family.

If his execution had proceeded, Gonzales had asked that his spiritual adviser be allowed in the death chamber so she can pray aloud, hold his hand and place her other hand on his chest.

Texas prison officials objected to the hand holding request, citing security concerns, but a federal judge in Houston said in a temporary order the execution could only go forward if all of Gonzales religious accommodations were granted.

Prosecutors described Gonzales as a sexual predator who told police he ignored her pleas to spare her life.

Townsends body wasnt found until October 2002, when Gonzales led authorities to her remains after receiving two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman.

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A comfort dog eases the pain for Shelley McGregor of Wilmette who remembers coming to the July 4 parade as a child. (Steve Sadin / Lake County News-Sun)

As businesses reopened in a four-square-block area of downtown Highland Park  which had been closed as a crime scene since the July 4 parade mass shooting until the wee hours of Sunday morning  hugs were as plentiful as purchases.

Merchants and shoppers exchanged greetings, shared stories, commiserated about their experiences and offered comfort to each other Monday along Central Avenue as residents began to sense what the new normal will be like.

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When Arden Edelcup, one of the owners of Ross Cosmetics, was walking back to her store at Central Avenue and Second Street, where the shooting took place, she saw a longtime customer Stephanie Mines, a Highland Park resident since 1972. They immediately embraced.

Arden Edelcup, left, and Stephanie Mines embrace in downtown Highland Park Monday. (Steve Sadin / Lake County News-Sun)

Weve been three times as busy as we usually are, Edelcup said. Weve all been hugging, kissing, crying, sharing. Everyones crying for the children.

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Mines wore a Highland Park Strong T-shirt she bought Saturday night at a reunion. She made the purchase as soon as she learned the money was going to benefit Cooper Roberts, the 8-year-old who was paralyzed by one of the bullets fired by the gunman.

Im going to start a GoFundMe page to raise money for the first responders, she said. They saved 17 lives because they were able to make tourniquets.

Customers crowd Ross Cosmetics as the store reopened Monday after being closed for a week because it was part of the crime scene in downtown Highland Park. (Steve Sadin / Lake County News-Sun)

A Highland Park High School classmate of Robert Crimo Jr., the father of the alleged shooter charged with killing seven people on July 4, Mines said she is having trouble processing it.

It creeps me out, she said. Im starting a prayer chain praying for our community, keeping in mind those whose lives were lost and those who were wounded.

At Central and Second where Robert Crimo III allegedly camped on the roof firing his high-powered rifle at the Fourth of July Parade crowd, the entire northeast corner was covered with colorful chalk designs created by two young girls Monday.

Helping is art, the chalk message said. It takes time, it takes patience, it takes love.

The corner beneath the perch of the Fourth of July shooter in Highland Park is now covered with messages in chalk. (Steve Sadin / Lake County News-Sun)

Karen Weiss, the owner of Loris Shoes on Central Avenue between First and Second streets, said the girls were going store to store with parents asking permission to decorate the sidewalks in front.

You can just feel the support of the community, Weiss said. Everyone is supporting each other.

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Twin sisters Iris Morgan and Linda Wallace, who grew up in Highland Park, were sitting on a bench at the southeast corner of Central and Second. As adults they moved to New Orleans, but returned as refugees from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They felt the warmth of the community then, helping them resettle. They are making an effort to support the merchants.

This is so sad for Highland Park, Morgan said. We love it so much.

Wallace said she spent five days before being rescued from a rooftop in New Orleans trying to save others. She started to tear up as she compared the devastation of the hurricane and the savagery of the shooting.

This is much worse because it hurt the children, Wallace said. This was manmade. At least a hurricane is natural.

People share refreshments at a table outside Madame Zuzus after the tea shop reopened. (Steve Sadin / Lake County News-Sun)

Another person eager to support the local business community was Judy Bendoff of Highland Park. She was sitting outside Madame Zuzus on First Street, which opened Sunday for the first time since July 4. She and her husband are making it a point to spend money in town.

Im happy to see people out and about, Bendoff said. We need to be with each other.

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Chloe Mendel, the co-owner of Madame Zuzus, said business has been steady as the community comes together. A city with a history of welcoming people who were not always wanted elsewhere, she is confident things will be all right.

This is a welcoming community, Mendel said. Its where people come to raise their children. We will be back.
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP)  California firefighters gained ground Monday in the battle against a wildfire that poses a threat to a grove of giant sequoias and a small community in Yosemite National Park.

The Washburn Fire on the western flank of the Sierra Nevada had scorched about 4.2 square miles (10.9 square kilometers) but was 22% contained as of Monday night, according to an incident update.

The fire was a threat to more than 500 mature sequoias in the park's Mariposa Grove and the nearby community of Wawona, which has been evacuated.

The area in the southern portion of Yosemite was closed to visitors but the rest of the national park remained open.

Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley have been protected since President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation in 1864.

A sprinkler system was set up within the grove to maintain moisture, and there were no reports of severe damage to any named trees, including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant.

Fortunately, the Mariposa Grove has a long history of prescribed burning and studies have shown that these efforts reduce the impacts of high-severity unwanted fire, a National Park Service statement said.

A heat advisory was issued for the Central Valley sprawling below the Sierra while up in the fire area, a high temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) was recorded for the village of Wawona, where hundreds tourists and residents were forced to evacuate last Friday.

Fortunately there has not been any erratic winds that have affected fire behavior, fire information officer Marc Peebles said earlier in the day. We do have the high pressure that's over the top of the fire which is causing the increase in temperatures. However, we do get a decent amount of humidity at night which moderates fire behavior which allows our night shift firefighters to do good work.

The giant sequoias, native in only about 70 groves spread along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, were once considered impervious to flames but have become increasingly vulnerable as wildfires, fueled by a buildup of undergrowth from a century of fire suppression and the impact of drought exacerbated by climate change, have become more intense and destructive.

Lightning-sparked wildfires over the past two years have killed up to a fifth of the estimated 75,000 large sequoias, which are the biggest trees by volume and a major draw for tourists.

There was no obvious natural spark for the fire that broke out Thursday next to the park's Washburn Trail. Smoke was reported by visitors walking in the grove.

A fierce windstorm ripped through the grove more than a year ago and toppled 15 giant sequoias, along with countless other trees.

The downed trees, along with massive numbers of pines killed by bark beetles, provided ample fuel for the flames.

In Utah, smoke and ash emanating from a growing wildfire in rural Tooele County blew into Salt Lake City on Saturday. By Monday night, the Jacob City Fire had grown to 6.4 square miles (16.6 square kilometers), with 19% containment, officials said.

Elsewhere in Utah, firefighters contending with heavy winds battled the 15.9 square-mile (41-square-kilometer) Halfway Hill Fire in Filmore. Law enforcement on Saturday arrested four men who investigators said abandoned a campfire that ignited the blaze.
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP)  Lawyers for Johnny Depp are urging a Virginia judge to leave his $10 million defamation judgment intact after attorneys for his ex-wife, Amber Heard, asked the judge to set aside the verdict on multiple grounds, including an apparent case of mistaken identity with one of the jurors.

In court papers filed Monday, Depp's lawyers dispute arguments from Heard's team that the jury's verdict was nonsensical and unfounded. They also say that the Heard team's complaints about the juror's identity are irrelevant.

Last month, a civil jury in Fairfax awarded $10.35 million to Depp after they found he was defamed by Heard when she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post about domestic violence.

The jury also awarded $2 million to Heard on her counterclaim that she was defamed by one of Depp's attorneys after he called her allegations a hoax.

Heard's lawyers filed motions earlier this month asking the judge to toss out the verdicts on a variety of legal theories.

On Monday, Depp's lawyers filed their response. They argue that there was nothing inconsistent in the fact that the jury awarded judgments in favor of both Depp and Heard. They said the jury verdict form allowed jurors to be very specific about which statements were libelous, and that the verdict makes sense when you look at the specific statements cited by the jury.

As for the confusion over the juror's identity, Depp's lawyers say it's too late for Heard's team to object. According to court papers, a summons went out to a 77-year-old man. But the man who responded in his place was his 52-year-old son, who has the same name and lives at the same address.

Depp's lawyers argue that if Heard's team had concerns, they should have spoken up at the time because it was apparent that the man who served was not 77 years old, even though court paperwork described him as such.

Judge Penney Azcarate has not yet indicated if she plans to hold a hearing to hear arguments on the motions to set aside the verdict.

The verdict in Depp's favor in Virginia came about two years after a similar trial in the United Kingdom in which Depp sued a British tabloid after he was described as a wife beater. The judge in that case ruled in the newspapers favor in 2020 after finding that Heard was telling the truth in her descriptions of abuse.

Jurors in the Virginia case were not told that the judge in the British case had ruled against Depp.
Ivana Trump, the first wife of former President Donald Trump and mother to his oldest children, has died in New York City. She was 73. People familiar with the matter tell The Associated Press that police are investigating whether she fell accidentally down the stairs at her home. The people spoke Thursday on the condition of anonymity. Ivana Trump was a Czech-born ski racer and businesswoman who with Donald Trump formed half of a publicity power couple in the 1980s. They had a messy, public divorce after he met his next wife, Marla Maples. But Ivana had recently been on good terms with her former husband.
DOVER, Del. (AP)  A Delaware Superior Court judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the state's Democratic attorney general against agricultural giant Monsanto Co. over environmental damage from now-banned toxic chemicals known as PCBs.

In recent years, PCBs have been at the center of multimillion-dollar settlements reached between Monsanto and multiple states whose waterways had been contaminated, but Delaware Judge Mary Johnston rejected public nuisance, trespass and unjust enrichment claims asserted by Attorney General Kathy Jennings.

Citing her own 2019 ruling in a lawsuit filed by Jennings against opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma, and an earlier lawsuit by the city of Wilmington against gun manufacturers, Judge Mary Johnston noted that Delaware courts do not recognize product-based public nuisance claims.

Johnston also said the state has no standing to bring trespass claims regarding PCB contamination of lands and waterways. The judge noted that while the state may have regulatory control of land and water, there is no basis to support the notion that it has exclusive possession of water. She also pointed out that the state had not alleged that Monsanto had control of the PCBs at the time of the alleged trespass.

The state also argued that its use of taxpayer money to address PCB contamination reduced the environmental costs that Monsanto would have incurred or will incur. But Johnston ruled that the unjust enrichment claim is outside the courts jurisdiction and also fails as a matter of law.

Monsanto, an agricultural chemical and biotechnology company, was acquired by German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate Bayer AG in 2018. The company began manufacturing PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, in the 1930s and continued to do until the 1970s.

The compounds, with their chemical stability, high boiling point and electrical insulating properties, were used in hundreds of industrial and commercial applications, ranging from electrical and hydraulic equipment to plastics, rubber products and pigments.

They are insoluble in water and accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals, working their way up the food chain and causing a variety of adverse health effects. The EPA has said they are probable human carcinogens.

The lawsuit alleged that Monsanto was aware for decades that PCBs were toxic to humans and other animals, and that they were polluting the environment.

Congress banned the manufacture of PCBs in 1979, but PCB contamination persists in the Delaware River, Delaware Bay and several inland waterways in Delaware.

Officials have identified Amtrak rail facilities in northern Delaware as the states largest chronic source of PCB contamination in the Delaware River.

In February, Monsanto agreed to pay $25 million over PCB contamination in the state of New Hampshire. That came two years after a $95 million settlement between the company and the state of Washington. Also, Monsanto in 2020 announced a $650 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by several California cities along with communities in Washington, Maryland and Oregon. The lawsuit resulted in a nationwide class-action settlement involving more than 2,500 local government entities.
LEESBURG, Va. (AP)  A judge on Monday rejected an effort by the Loudoun County School Board to shut down a special grand jury investigating the school system's handling of two sexual assaults.

The school board says the special grand jury empaneled by Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares is politically motivated and illegally usurps the mandate in the Virginia constitution giving local school boards authority over educational affairs.

Miyares argues that the special grand jury he empaneled is needed to uncover why the school system allowed a boy who had been accused of sexually assaulting a girl in one high school to transfer to another high school, where he was convicted of sexually assaulting a second girl.

Miyares launched the grand jury after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, on his first day in office, issued an executive order requesting an investigation by the attorney general's office.

Both Youngkin and Miyares had criticized the Loudoun County board in their successful 2021 political campaigns. They argued the board was not forthcoming in how it handled the case as it revised its guidelines over policies governing transgender students. The assaults attracted national attention in part because the boy  who was convicted of the assaults in juvenile court  was wearing a skirt when he committed at least one of the attacks.

At a hearing Monday in Loudoun County Circuit Court, Judge James Plowman  who previously served as the county's elected Republican commonwealth's attorney  said the school board essentially lacks standing to try to halt the work of the grand jury. He noted that even if the grand jury issues a report critical of the school system's policies, the school board is under no obligation to respond to the report or change its policies.

Steven Popps, a deputy attorney general in Miyares' office, said the school board is making assumptions about the work of the grand jury without all the facts.

The school board does not get to decide the scope of the grand jury investigation, he said. The school board is not above the law.

In a written statement, Miyares called Plowman's decision a win for parents and students across the Commonwealth.

Theo Stamos, the special counsel overseeing the special grand jury, declined comment after Monday's hearing.

In a statement issued after the hearing, the school system said it's considering all its legal options, but that no decision has been made on whether to appeal. In court, though, the school board's lawyer, Steven Webster, said one rationale for seeking the injunction to block the grand jury's work was because it provided an avenue to appeal Plowman's ruling.
PRESTONSBURG, Ky. (AP)  A Kentucky man charged with killing three officers in an ambush while police were serving a protective order has been indicted on 20 charges.

Lance Storz, 49, was indicted by a grand jury Monday on three counts of murder of a police officer and six counts of attempted murder of an officer, according to media reports. Storz opened fire on a group of officers on June 30 at his home in Floyd County, a rural hilly county in Appalachia, according to police.

Storz was also indicted on seven counts of wanton endangerment against a police officer, three counts of assault and one count of assaulting a service animal. A police dog was also killed in the ambush.

The slaying of three officers was the deadliest for law enforcement in a single incident in Kentucky since a prison riot left three guards dead in 1923.

Storz's wife had sought to get away from him, according to an emergency protective order, and he became irate and wouldn't let her leave, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

She was able to sneak out when officers went to check on her, but when police returned with a protective order, Storz allegedly opened fire.

Storz is charged with killing Floyd County sheriff's Deputy William Petry, Prestonsburg police Capt. Ralph Frasure and Officer Jacob Chaffins. The officers were laid to rest last week.

Officials said Storz fired on officers with a .308-caliber rifle and AR-15 assault rifles. Chaffins was hit by a shot fired from more than 200 yards (180 meters) away and died the next evening at a hospital. Storz later surrendered.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  New Mexico regulators on Monday said several horses that were feared dead by animal advocates following a weekend of racing at one of the state's premiere horse tracks are alive and well.

Officials with the New Mexico Racing Commission said only one animal died after being injured during recent trials at Ruidoso Downs and that photographs and veterinary reports submitted to the state show the other seven were in their stalls and were fine.

The Washington, D.C.-based group Animal Wellness Action had raised concerns about the horses welfare.

Apparently it was so brutally hot the horses had to be vanned back to the stables after they ran, which of course to us means they shouldnt have been running in the first place, said Marty Irby, the lobbying group's executive director.

Irby leveled his criticisms as advocates push for track owners and regulators nationwide to be more vigilant now that new federal safety mandates took effect this month and as the industry prepares to adopt more uniform anti-doping rules.

Irby was among those who testified before Congress in support of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, which was signed into law in 2020. It is being implemented in stages, with the racetrack safety program starting first. The anti-doping and medication rules are expected in early 2023, leaving the 38 states where horse racing occurs in charge for now.

The sports lack of uniform rules across the U.S. came into focus after Medina Spirit tested positive for a banned substance following the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

California, New Mexico and other states also have received black eyes over the years for catastrophic injuries among race horses.

An investigation in 2012 found that five of the seven tracks with the nations highest incident rates were in New Mexico and that four of the states five tracks had incident rates double the national average. While all five tracks saw declines in their fatality rates over recent years, legislative analysts found that 112 horses died as a result of race-related injuries between 2018 and 2020.

There were 13 catastrophic injuries in 2021, according to records provided by the New Mexico Racing Commission.

Ismael Izzy Trejo, the commissions executive director, said the rate per 1,000 race starts is below the national average and there have been no complaints from jockeys or horse owners about conditions at Ruidoso Downs.

The track started its season in late May and is preparing for the Rainbow Futurity later this month. It's best known for hosting what is described as the richest quarter horse race in the world  the All American Futurity.

Of course losing one horse out of 330 starters this weekend is never a good thing, Trejo said. But if there was a method to prohibit horses from experience catastrophic injuries on the racetrack, wed be the first  as long as Im in this chair  to implement it.

Trejo and others have said one hurdle to enforcing anti-doping rules and other regulations going forward will be the shortage of licensed veterinarians nationwide.

Irby added that ensuring compliance from state racing authorities also will be key.

I am convinced the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act is the American horse racing industrys last chance to clean up their act and bring legitimacy back to the sport, as well as breed confidence with the betting public, but there are so many groups and people already working to undermine the law at every turn, he said.

Ruidoso Downs general manager Ethan Linder said he spent the morning at the track barn, checking on the horses that were on Irby's list. He wanted to put his hands on each one, talk to each trainer and confirm the status before reporting back to state regulators.

Linder said it's too early to make predictions as the horse racing law is implemented, but he expects some pressure from activists. He added that many things called for by the act are already in place at Ruidoso Downs.

Our job is to comply and when we do that and if anything were to happen we will let everyone know that by no means did we cut any corners, he said. We are following the regulations to a T and thats the best we can do.
DALLAS (AP)  When an officer pulled Brandy Bottone over for driving by herself in a high occupancy vehicle lane in Texas just days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, she pointed to her pregnant belly and told him her unborn daughter now counts as a person.

I said, 'Well, not trying to throw a political mix here, but with everything going on, this counts as a baby, said Bottone, who was eight months pregnant when she was pulled over June 29.

Bottone, who lives in the Dallas suburb of Plano, plans to fight the ticket in court next week. Her story was first reported by The Dallas Morning News.

I was driving to pick up my son. I knew I couldnt be a minute late, so I took the HOV lane, she said.

Bottone's ticket came five days after the Supreme Court stripped away womens constitutional protections for abortion. The ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. In Texas, the fall of Roe put in motion a trigger law that will ban virtually all abortions in the coming weeks, and defines an unborn child as a living human from fertilization to birth. And in the meantime, a ruling by the Texas Supreme Court led to clinics halting abortion services.

Last year in Texas, a law banning most abortions after about six weeks  before many women know they are pregnant  took effect.

Bottone said the stand shes taking on the ticket isnt for or against abortion, but that the law should be uniform. If theres a pro-women category, thats my stance, she said.

One law is saying that this is a baby and now hes telling me this baby thats jabbing my ribs is not a baby," said Bottone, 32. "Why cant it all make sense?

Dallas attorney Chad Ruback said different judges might have different takes on her argument.

I find her argument creative, but I dont believe based on the current itineration of Texas Transportation Code that her argument would likely succeed in front of an appellate court, Ruback told the Washington Post. That being said, its entirely possible she could find a trial court judge who would award her for her creativity.

An Arizona woman tried to argue in 2006 that her unborn child counted as a passenger after she was fined for driving alone in a carpool lane, but a judge rejected the claim, saying the rules were designed to fill empty seats in a vehicle.

Meanwhile in Texas, Republican state Rep. Brian Harrison, wrote on Twitter that he plans to introduce legislation to clarify that unborn babies should be treated as passengers. He said: Unborn babies are persons (meaning theyre also passengers), and should be treated accordingly under Texas laws.
CHARLOTTE, Mich. (AP)  A woman accused in the 2002 fatal bludgeoning of her husband in Michigan was ordered held on a $10 million bond following her return to the U.S. from Italy.

Beverly McCallum was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder and disinterment/mutilation of a body, the Eaton County sheriff's office said Monday.

McCallum had been in custody in Rome since February 2020. She was turned over Friday to sheriff's deputies at an airport in Grand Rapids.

Caraballo, 37, was suffocated and beaten in the basement of a house in Charlotte, about 105 miles (169 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. His badly burned remains were found in a metal footlocker near a blueberry field in western Michigan's Ottawa County, but the remains were not identified as those of Caraballo until 2015.

McMillan, of Grand Rapids, agreed to testify against Ducharme and McCallum. He told investigators that the slaying was planned and a test run was performed, Eaton County sheriffs Detective James Maltby testified at a 2019 hearing.

Maltby said McMillan told investigators that McCallum pushed Caraballo down the basement stairs, then beat him with at least one hammer, lodging it in Caraballos skull. McCallum wrapped a plastic bag around the head of the still-breathing Caraballo, Maltby testified.

Ducharme, who was 21 at the time, told police her mother killed Caraballo and that she helped dispose of her stepfathers body, according to Maltby.

Rome police arrested McCallum two years ago after she and her teenage son checked into a hotel on the northwest outskirts of the Italian capital. Italian hotels are required to register guests in an online system linked to a police database that showed she had an Interpol arrest warrant. U.S. authorities had been seeking to extradite McCallum from Pakistan, where she was believed to be living.

She's due back in court on July 22. The Associated Press was unable Monday to determine if McCallum has an attorney in Michigan who could comment on the charges against her.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  The administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf asked the state's high court Monday to weigh in on a legal battle over Pennsylvania's plan to charge power plants for their emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection appealed lower court rulings that temporarily block the Wolf administration from implementing its carbon pricing policy, under which power plants fueled by coal, oil and natural gas are required to buy a credit for every ton of carbon dioxide they emit.

The Wolf administration estimates that the initiative  the centerpiece of Wolfs plan to fight global warming  will reduce Pennsylvanias carbon dioxide emissions by up to 225 million tons through 2030. Power plant operators say the regulation will dramatically raise their costs and consumers electricity bills.

Fossil-fuel interests and Republican leaders of the state Senate have been waging a legal battle against Pennsylvanias entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate consortium that sets a price and declining limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants run by coal, oil and natural gas.

On Friday, Commonwealth Court granted a preliminary injunction that prohibits the state from implementing, administering, or enforcing the new regulation while a lawsuit by power plants, labor unions and coal mine owners is ongoing. The lower court granted a second injunction to GOP lawmakers in a related case.

The Wolf administration asked the state Supreme Court to set aside both injunctions, saying the lower court erred in its concluding plaintiffs had raised a substantial legal question about whether the carbon-pricing program imposes an unlawful tax.

Under the cap-and-trade program, roughly four dozen power plants in Pennsylvania must buy hundreds of millions of dollars in credits annually that the state could then spend on clean-energy or energy-efficiency programs. That gives fossil fuel plants an incentive to lower their emissions, and makes non-emitting plants  such as nuclear plants, wind turbines and solar installations  more cost competitive in power markets.
A "Do Not Occupy" sign adorns a beaten-up door without a lock at the back of the apartment building at 215 East St. in Hobart. The city issued the order after a wellness check Monday afternoon revealed deplorable conditions. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)

At least 24 people were left homeless Monday night after a wellness check called into the Hobart Fire Department earlier in the day revealed horrific conditions in their apartment building.

Firefighters conducted the wellness check on an elderly woman who lived in a basement apartment at a 100-year-old, 11-unit apartment building at 215 East St., just east of downtown, sometime after noon July 11, city officials said at the scene. Firefighters first discovered that the windows to the basement had been boarded and sealed shut.

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Firefighters later learned that the woman had been moved out of the dwelling, officials said, but further investigation showed that the building had, among other problems, standing water in the basement, water leaking into the main electrical box and out of electrical outlets, and sewage from one unit bubbling up into another units bathtub. City officials then posted bright yellow Do Not Occupy signs on the doors Monday afternoon but stopped short of telling residents they had to leave because while the building is unsafe, as the city hasnt officially condemned it yet.

That may come in the next few days as the firefighters finish investigating and present their reports, Hobart Building Official Karen Hansen said.

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Samantha Brant, of Hobart sobs as her dad, Don Brant, of Hammond, comforts her Monday night. Samantha Brant was one of at least 24 people left homeless Monday night. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)

Dazed and scared, residents congregated in its parking lot Monday evening as city officials scrambled to find them shelter. A local plumbing company left after temporarily stopping the water as family members and friends brought over boxes so the residents could take at least some of their belongings to wherever they ended up staying.

Building residents said theyd been living in the nasty conditions because their rent was relatively cheap compared with other places. Several, like Angela Ruiz, said they had contacted property owner Joseph D. Gore and building manager Hailee Stover numerous times over issues to scant or no response.

Angela Ruiz and her husband moved into the building in January after his job was transferred to Northwest Indiana from Virginia Beach, Virginia, she said. Pictures Ruiz took and showed the Post-Tribune Monday and texts shes sent to Gore illustrate that the apartment they moved into  for which theyre paying $975  was filthy and riddled with hypodermic needles, as well as rug and floor burns, from the previous tenant, for whom Hobart Police have since come looking.

A month after theyd moved in, Ruiz said she started having problems breathing, so she asked Stover for new furnace filters. Stover initially said she would get them but never did, Angela Ruiz said.

The 10-unit building had an illegal 11th unit in the basement of the building. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)

Since February, Ruiz said shes been hospitalized twice; doctors told her she has nodules in her lungs likely caused by black mold or other contaminants, which Hobart Firefighters found in the building.

In a June 24 text message to Gore, of Valparaiso  who owns Pinnacle Realty LLC on Lincolnway and lists himself as a licensed contractor one social media profile  Ruiz spelled out her frustration.

Joe (We Pay our Rent On time)  Ive been trying to get the filter changed since Feb. I feel this is ridiculous, she wrote. I feel we have been very patient and now there are ants in the hall coming in (through) our door along w/ centipedes we have seen several large ones in our apt.

Ruiz went on to say that not only did they have to order and replace the mailbox lock for their mailbox themselves, but Stover  who also works as a real estate agent for Gore at Pinnacle  told them they were responsible for cleaning their own vents, which Ruiz said she did. Ruiz also told Gore that the closest doors that lead to the back stairwell are still not fixed; she told the Post-Tribune that shes heard and smelled people partying in that stairwell.

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All this & im only asking for the filter size so we can buy it & someone can replace it. We have No access to it, Ruiz wrote. No response is unacceptable.

Gore didnt respond to that text, either, Ruiz said.

Hobart Mayor Brian Snedecor, second from left, discusses the condition of the apartment building at 215 East St. with Hobart Fire Chief Randy Smith, left; Hobart Deputy Prosecutor Alex Rosillas, second from right; and Building Official Karen Hansen Monday evening. At least 24 residents were displaced. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)

Ruiz and her husband paid nearly $4,000 to move into 215 East, including first months rent, and had to dip into their savings to do so. She doesnt know how theyre going to move again.

I take care of my granddaughter who has special needs, and shes already upset because of the commotion, Ruiz said. All I was asking for was a filter.

Don Brant, of Hammond, attempted to console his daughter, Samantha, who also moved into the building in January. Shell stay with him until she figures out where to go next, he said.

Twenty years ago, I had a house fire and lost everything. That was bad, Don Brant said. These people have nowhere to go, and I know how that feels.

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Windows of a basement apartment at 215 East St. are boarded up even though an elderly woman lived there. The woman has been living somewhere else, city officials said Monday night. (Michelle L. Quinn / Post-Tribune)

The residents will have a place to sleep at least until Thursday through Joe Clemmons of the Hobart Township Board, who secured rooms at a local hotel for them. Hobart Councilman Chris Wells, R-5, planned to purchase gift cards with donations he was getting through his campaign page for the families to buy food while a local church was coordinating a meal train to take to the hotel, he said. As of Monday evening, he said people had donated close to $300 toward the cause.

Building Official Hansen said Gore agreed to meet with her, Mayor Brian Snedecor and other officials at 10 a.m. Tuesday to discuss the buildings condition and what steps, if any, he plans to take to remedy the situation.

Gore didnt return a request from the Post-Tribune for comment.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
For decades, environmental activists along with some government officials and scientists have argued that rich countries should pay the most to address climate change, and even pay poor countries reparations, because industrialized nations have historically emitted the most greenhouse gases.

A new study by two Dartmouth scientists aims to calculate just how much economic impact larger emitters have caused other nations. Published Tuesday in the journal Climatic Change, the study says the figures could be used in courtrooms and in international climate negotiations about payments from rich nations that burn more coal, oil and gas, to poor countries damaged by emissions.

For example, the data shows that the top carbon emitter over time, the United States, has caused more than $1.9 trillion in climate damage to other countries from 1990 to 2014, including $310 billion in damage to Brazil, $257 billion in damage to India, $124 billion to Indonesia, $104 billion to Venezuela and $74 billion to Nigeria. But at the same time, the United States own carbon pollution has benefited the U.S. by more than $183 billion.

Do all countries look to the United States for restitution? Maybe, said study co-author Justin Mankin, a Dartmouth College climate scientist. The U.S. has caused a huge amount of economic harm by its emissions, and thats something that we have the data to show.

Developing nations have convinced rich nations to promise to financially help them reduce carbon emissions for the future, but havent been able to get restitution for damage already caused, a term called loss and damage in global climate talks. In those negotiations, the biggest carbon emitters, like the United States and China have had a veil of deniability that their actions caused specific damages, said study lead author Christopher Callahan, a climate impacts researcher at Dartmouth. This lifts that veil, he said.

Scientific studies such as this groundbreaking piece show that high emitters no longer have a leg to stand on in avoiding their obligations to address loss and damage, said Bahamian climate scientist Adelle Thomas of Climate Analytics, who wasn't part of the study. She said recent studies increasingly and overwhelmingly show that loss and damage is already crippling developing countries.

While carbon emissions have been tracked for decades on the national levels and damages have been calculated, Callahan and Mankin said this is the first study to connect all the dots from the countries producing the emissions to countries affected by it. The studies also tallies benefits, which are mainly seen in northern countries like Canada and Russia, and rich nations like the U.S. and Germany.

"Its the countries that have emitted the least that are also the ones that tend to be harmed by increases in global warming. So that double inequity to me is kind of a central finding that I want to emphasize, Callahan said.

To do the study, first Callahan looked at how much carbon each nation emitted and what it means for global temperatures, using large climate models and simulating a world with that countrys carbon emissions, a version of the scientifically accepted attribution technique used for extreme weather events. He then connected that to economic studies that looked at the relationship between temperature rise and damage in each country.

We can actually fingerprint U.S. culpability on Angolas economic outcomes, Mankin said.

After the U.S. the countries that caused most damage since 1990  a date researchers chose because thats when they say a scientific consensus formed and nations no longer had an excuse to say they didnt know about global warming  are China ($1.8 trillion), Russia ($986 billion), India ($809 billion) and Brazil ($528 billion), study authors figured. Just the United States and China together caused about one-third of the worlds climate damage.

The five nations that were hit the most in overall dollars were Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia, but thats because they had the biggest economies of nations in the most vulnerable hot zone. But the countries that took the biggest hit based on GDP are the UAE, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Mali, Callahan said. Brazil and India are also among the countries that produce the most emissions and damage and haven't filed lawsuits to try to get repaid for climate damages.

The question of fairness over which countries make sacrifices and how to prepare for and repair climate impacts as the global community tries to slow warming has become more significant in recent international climate talks. Some nations, local communities and climate activists have called for the largest historical carbon emitters to pay  climate reparations  for the damage their economic gain has caused countries and communities that have already been negatively affected by systems of oppression, like colonialism and slavery. This study adds momentum to this idea, some in the climate in the community told The Associated Press.

In this sense, the study reinforces arguments regarding loss and damage that are gaining traction" in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Nikki Reisch, director of the climate and energy program for the Center for International Environmental Law, told the AP.

There has been push back at the international level from high-emissions countries about paying for loss and damages who worry that poor countries are not going to use climate finance as intended.

Still, Mankin said he hopes the study empowers the powerless and in the face of global climate change. But others in the climate community who have read the study said that more than information is needed to ensure that those most affected by climate change are compensated for their losses. The information and data in the study are valuable, they said, but it will take pressuring those responsible for shaping climate policy to actually get the richer nations to pay for the damage they've caused poorer nations.

Basav Sen, climate justice project director for the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tanks, saw the study and said demonstrating the link of causation is very helpful."

But, he added, it is only one piece in the popular pressure campaign needed to translate this information into actual financial flows from wealthier, higher-emitting countries to compensate lower-income countries experiencing more adverse climate impacts.

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.
A Denver-based investment firm has expanded its portfolio in Tulsa by purchasing an apartment complex for $12.6 million.

Meliorem Capital this month purchased The Averys from SB174, LLC, of Oklahoma City. The 6.79-acre property, built in the 1960s, encompasses Avery Square (72 units) and Avery Park (102) at 3377 E. Skelly Drive and 4111 E. 51st St., respectively.

Meliorem Capital also purchased a Tulsa commercial property (Cornerstone Apartments) in late 2021, and it owns multi-family assets in Oklahoma City, as well.

"We love Tulsa and we are ecstatic about the opportunity to increase our footprint in a wonderful city that is experiencing growth in many respects," Toby Imah, chief marketing and investment officer, wrote in an email. "We are currently looking at several other acquisition opportunities in Tulsa, and we plan to invest here for many years to come.

"It is such an honor to be in a position to serve this community."

Meliorem Capital was founded in 2020.
Sand Springs Public Schools will comply with a recent executive order by Gov. Kevin Stitt to begin using the Rave Panic Button at its school sites, but the STOPit app  already familiar to students, faculty and staff  wont be going away.

Among other directives, Stitts executive order, filed June 24 with the Oklahoma Secretary of States Office, requires public schools in the state to begin using the Rave smartphone mobile app by Sept. 1.

The app allows users to instantly communicate emergencies to 911, as well as to on-site personnel and other first responders, for an integrated and immediate response.

Superintendent Sherry Durkee said the school district has been using STOPit, a similar product, for about five years now and has no plans to shelve it, despite a degree of overlap between the two apps.

OSIG, the Oklahoma Schools Insurance Group, which provides insurance coverage for the district, partnered with STOPit to provide the app for free to member school districts.

Durkee said the app has worked well and that students have been responsive to it.

People  parents and students alike  can report things, even anonymously if they want, she said. Honestly, kids are pretty good about informing and keeping us aware.

STOPit allows users to report on a host of concerns, including active shooter or other safety situations; bullying or dating violence; or suicide and other mental health concerns.

Durkee said the district had tried a different app several years ago but that it didnt work out as well.

It was similar in that when things happen, you can notify pretty instantaneously, she said, but we struggled with some connectivity issues.

Other complaints involved how much space the app took up on teachers and administrators phones and frequent updates that often made the app ineffective.

Im glad the state is providing some free services we can take advantage of, Durkee said about the Rave app. I just dont think thats the only thing we should use.

The Oklahoma Legislature first approved funding for the Rave Panic Button in 2019, but implementation in the states public schools was voluntary.

About 60% of Oklahoma public schools have fully deployed the system, said Shawn Hime, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association.

Hime added that the OSSBAs legal team is reviewing Stitts order.

There are potential concerns about whether the governor has the authority to mandate schools adopt a security system and further whether districts could use a system from another vendor with similar capabilities that better meets a districts needs, he said.

Durkee said she understands that Himes concerns are not about whether the products are good or bad; its about autonomy.

I hate to be too critical of someone whos trying to do something helpful (to stop) something thats preventable, she said. I think we can all agree that we want our kids to be safe. I appreciate that perspective.

I also like the fact that its free to districts. I never want to look a gift horse in the mouth, she said.

But I also like the idea of local control and that we decide what we use, Durkee said. Not everyone is the same.

We will have multiple tools in our toolbox, she said, adding that I think everyone has an authentic goal of preventing school shootings.

The governors executive order also directs all state troopers to complete law enforcement active shooter emergency response training by Jan. 1.

It also directs the Oklahoma School Security Institute to make a risk and vulnerability assessment available to schools and gives the OSSI a deadline of July 1 to offer training in behavioral threat assessment and management to every education professional in the state.

Hime said the institute already offers free risk and vulnerability assessments to schools.

The OSSI was formed in the wake of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

It was established to evaluate school safety and provide a report to the Oklahoma Legislature with recommendations to enhance school security.

Tulsa World Capitol Bureau reporter Barbara Hoberock contributed to this story.
The U.S. is getting another COVID-19 vaccine choice. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday cleared Novavax shots for adults. It's a more traditional type of vaccine than the Pfizer and Moderna shots already used to protect most Americans. Still, millions of adults haven't yet gotten vaccinated even this late in the pandemic. Experts expect at least some of them to roll up their sleeves for the more conventional technology. The Centers for Disease Control still must recommend how to use the Novavax vaccine before shots begin. The U.S. has bought 3.2 million doses.
TUESDAY, July 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Pediatricians may become the trusted middle men between gun owners and non-gun owners when it comes to talks about gun safety, a new study shows.

University of Pennsylvania researchers found parents were more open to politically sensitive discussions about gun locks and other gun safety measures when a child's doctor was involved.

The study offers a possible pathway for reducing the number of firearm injuries and deaths in children across the United States, the researchers said.

"Parents appreciated a collaborative approach to decision-making and the emphasis on child safety," said study lead author Katelin Hoskins, a postdoctoral researcher in the Penn Center for Mental Health.

"Our findings add to a growing evidence base that a nonjudgmental, empathetic, and collaborative approach to firearm storage counseling enhances acceptability and potential effectiveness for behavior change," Hoskins said in a university news release.

The study follows decades of national frustration and congressional inaction on the issue.

Hoskins and her colleagues examined the effectiveness of a firearm safety program called Suicide and Accident prevention through Family Education (S.A.F.E.) Firearm. During an office visit, pediatricians discuss with parents the potential dangers of gun ownership with children in the house. Conversations include the secure storage of guns to keep them out of the hands of kids.

For the study, nearly 100 parents watched a short video of pediatricians in the program speaking to parents on gun safety during the summer of 2020, and answered survey questions afterward.

Overall, parents were very receptive to a pediatrician discussing firearm safety. The study used a 5-point scale to assess the "acceptability" of the concept; it scored an average of 4.35/5. There was little difference in scoring responses between parents who owned firearms (46%) and those who did not.

More than 80% of the participants said they would recommend the program, while 75% said they trusted their pediatrician's advice on gun safety.

Only one third of the gun-owning parents said that their firearms were locked and unloaded with the ammunition stored elsewhere. After going through the S.A.F.E. Firearm program, 64% of parents surveyed said they would change the way their firearms are stored.

Recent tragedies in Buffalo, N.Y., Uvalde, Texas, and Highland Park, Ill., "plus the devastating loss of life due to firearm injuries right here in Philadelphia, underscore the importance of mobilizing across multiple sectors to prevent firearm deaths," Hoskins said.

In addition, "recent data indicating that youth firearm suicide has reached its highest rate in more than 20 years adds additional urgency," she said.

The findings were published recently in the Journal of Applied Research on Children.

More information

Visit the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for more information on gun safety.

SOURCE: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, news release, July 7, 2022
As part of their Live and Work Anywhere initiative, Airbnb has created a list of 20 destinations all over the world that are most conducive to remote work. In addition to places such as Lisbon, Portugal and Bali, Indonesia, Tulsa has been chosen as one of the destinations most friendly to remote workers.

Airbnb selected each of the 20 destinations by researching which places are most appealing to remote workers and are creating policies to make it easier for remote workers to relocate.

According to a representative for Airbnb, Tulsa was chosen for the Live and Work Anywhere initiative due to its favorable mechanisms for remote workers to enter, stay, and commute around the destination; easy to work infrastructure including access to technology, space and amenities; and desire to foster connection and culture by helping remote workers connect with locals and immerse themselves in the destination.

The Tulsa Remote program played a role in Airbnbs decision to add Tulsa to its list, according to their website.

Tulsa is radiating with an energy that is attracting more remote workers than ever to come and experience the city for themselves, said Justin Harlan, managing director of Tulsa Remote. Through the Tulsa Remote program, weve built a dynamic community of more than 1,700 remote workers. Were proud that the worlds growing population of remote workers  including Airbnbs guests  can choose to experience what it is like to live, work and play in Tulsa.

Over the next few months, the company will work in tandem with each destination to create a hub where interested remote workers can source the best local long-term stay listings, as well as important information about tax and entry requirements where relevant. Airbnb will also create educational resources to inform folks about what it takes to be a responsible host, as well as best practices to advise remote workers on how to travel while working.

What the Ale, Beer of the Week: Driller Lite is an easy summertime beer by High Gravity
A Navy sailor from Broken Arrow died Sunday aboard an aircraft carrier at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, according to a Navy news release.

Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Darren Collins, 22, assigned to the USS Carl Vinson, was discovered unresponsive while pier side at the naval air station, the news release states, and the Navy Region Southwest Federal Fire Department pronounced Collins dead at the scene.

The Navy is still investigating the circumstances of Collins death but said there are no indications of suicide or foul play.

My deepest condolences go out to the Collins family in this time of tragic loss, said Capt. P. Scott Miller, commanding officer of the USS Carl Vinson.

As shipmates we grieve the untimely passing of a talented young man. We will continue to provide support to the Vinson crew and the Collins family. In addition to our shipboard resources, our sailors are receiving tremendous support from the base and regional mental health services.

Collins joined the Navy in 2019. After his initial recruit training, he attended information warfare training in Pensacola, Florida, before reporting aboard the Carl Vinson in October 2020.
Cherokee Nation Businesses will contribute another $10 million to the tribes effort to expand law enforcement capabilities in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Courts McGirt decision, officials announced Tuesday.

The money will help recruit, train and equip new Cherokee marshals in towns all across northeastern Oklahoma said Shannon Buhl, the tribes head law enforcement officer.

We are working diligently to meet the needs of our communities and respond to the increased demand resulting from our expanded jurisdiction, Buhl said.

The tribe has already invested $30 million in fiscal 2022 to expand its criminal justice system, upgrade criminal codes and improve public safety, officials said.

The Cherokee Marshal Service itself, for example, has already hired 13 new officers along with two additional staff members. And the Cherokee Nation Attorney Generals Office has hired two new investigators and two probation officers.

This is the spirit of gadugi, Cherokee for working together, said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., noting that tribal marshals will not only serve Cherokee citizens but our friends, family and neighbors throughout northeast Oklahoma.

With the increase in demand for their services following the McGirt ruling, Hoskin said, it is vital that we show them the appreciation and support they deserve.

Two years ago in a case known as McGirt v. Oklahoma, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Muscogee Nation had criminal jurisdiction over its historic reservation. And in 2021, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals applied the ruling to the Cherokee Nation.

As a result of these rulings, the Cherokee Nation and federal governments have jurisdiction over crimes involving tribal citizens throughout the whole Cherokee Nation, expanding the tribes criminal jurisdiction to the entire 7,000 square miles of the Cherokee Nation Reservation.

The one-time $10 million contribution will come on top of Cherokee Nation Businesses annual 37% dividend to the tribe supporting tribal programs such as housing, health care, education and social services.

This is a proud moment for CNB, and for me personally, said Chuck Garrett, chief executive officer of Cherokee Nation Businesses. This contribution is a prime example of how our growth and diversification enable us to give back.
Police say the homeowner noticed around 4 a.m. Thursday that a generator, a weed eater, and a chainsaw were missing from his garage. He filed a police report and later noticed that the generator appeared for sale on Facebook Marketplace. Officers worked with the home owner to set up a meet with the suspect and fictional buyer.
OKLAHOMA CITY  The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has launched a criminal probe into the Commissioners of the Land Office administration after reports of conflicts of interest and other issues.

The Tulsa World reported in June that Commissioners of the Land Office Secretary Elliot Chambers fired the agencys internal auditor after she questioned him about his personal investment relationship with Victorum Capital, which was being paid by the CLO as a consultant on investments.

The CLO oversees $2.7 billion in real estate and other investments to support public education.

The agency later settled with the internal auditor, giving her back pay in a lump sum payment of about $25,000 and paying her attorney $15,000.

Chambers announced earlier this month that he was resigning Aug. 3, saying he agreed to serve for only two years.

State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who is on the five-member board overseeing the agency, asked Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater to investigate and called for Chambers resignation.

In a June 29 letter to Prater, she asked for the probe to cover July 2020 to present.

Hofmeister is running against Gov. Kevin Stitt, who chairs the Commissioners of the Land Office and hired Chambers.

Stitts office did not respond to a request for comment on the probe or how the agency would deal with replacing Chambers.

In a July 1 letter to OSBI Director Ricky Adams, Prater said Hofmeister alleged misconduct within the administration of the agency related to the mismanagement and misappropriation of taxpayer funds, conflicts of interest and improper use of office by as state official.

I have reviewed the complaint and have concluded that a criminal investigation should be conducted, Prater wrote.

He wrote that because the investigation could result in criminal charges, it should be kept confidential until completed and released pursuant to state law.

Prater said in the letter that he was given documents of evidentiary value and proposed witness names, which he will disclose to the OSBI.

Capt. Beth Green, a spokeswoman for the OSBI, confirmed the agency had launched an investigation.

These billions of dollars are entrusted for the school children of Oklahoma, not for anyones personal gain, Hofmeister said. This matter needs to be thoroughly investigated and Im pleased the district attorney and OSBI are doing so.

The Frontier, an online news organization, first reported the OSBI was investigating.
Vingroup leader among top 500 billionaires worldwide

Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup (Vietnam), is one of the 500 richest people in the world, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index.









Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup, is among the top 500 billionaires worldwide.



As of July 11, 2022 Vuong was ranked 405th with a total net asset of US$5.82 billion, Bloomberg said in its Billionaire Index update.



Forbes first named the Vingroup leader as one of the 1,000 richest people in the world in 2013, with a total net asset of US$1.5 billion, ranking 974th globally. His fortune rose to US$1.6 billion in 2014 and US$2.1 billion in 2016.



2020 was also the eighth consecutive year that the Vietnamese executive made the list of billionaires honoured by Forbes.



According to Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Vuong is the chairman of Vingroup  the largest private multi-sectoral economic conglomerate in Vietnam. The Hanoi-based group has interests in property development, retail, car making and health care. Its also the producer of Vietnams first locally made smartphone.
On the southeast edge of the Tengger Desert in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region sits a new desert library, awakening the lonely land with an oasis of knowledge for book lovers, tourists, and architects.

With flowing dunes stretching spectacularly into the distance, the three-story, abstractionist-style library opened last month in Zhongwei City and is an architectural success, according to Jin Weiqi, a Beijing-based photographer.

The chocolate color building looks like an inclined box half-buried in the desert. Using rusty iron sheets on its exterior to keep out desert heat, the "Lost Treasure Box" library seems like a boat stranded on a beach.

"Small light yellow flowers grow along dry branches of tenacious desert plants, and there are also traces of desert beetles climbing over dunes," Jin said.

Being able to shelve 40,000 books, newspapers, and periodicals, the library is part of an ambitious desert culture and tourism project promoted by the local government and tourism agencies in Zhongwei City.

Sandwiched by the Tengger Desert, the fourth largest one in China, in the north and the Yellow River in the south, Zhongwei City has been making great efforts in recent years to promote its unique culture.

"This is the first modern library ever built in the desert in China, and it started serving the public last month, winning widespread praises for its modern design and various functions," said Liu Huiling, a manager at the library.

Zhongwei has been an important border fortress in northwestern China since being incorporated into the Chinese territory during the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.).

According to Liu, the name "Lost Treasure Box" was taken as the library situates at a place where numerous important historical events took place. "With rich 'memories,' it has a lot to be tapped and told," she said.

"The library brings about a dialogue between imagination and nature. It is like a fantasied edifice in a vast desert land," said Wu Yin, an official with the publicity department of Zhongwei City.

Located at the Shapotou desert resort, the library also aims to showcase reconciliation between the desert and human activities after decades of anti-desertification efforts since 1958.

The railways and highways built across the Tengger Desert have not only helped to stop the moving of the desert towards the city but also provided a solid infrastructure base for local tourism development.

Yang Fang, a visitor from east China's Fujian Province, brought her 8-year-old daughter to the library, where "with stars overhead at night, my daughter can appreciate sounds of the wind in the desert while reading."

"The word Tengger means 'sky' in Mongolian," said the 35-year-old primary school teacher, adding that children curious about or fond of the desert would visit Zhongwei City in the summer holidays.








HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  The wife of a former Connecticut state lawmaker pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with her role in the alleged theft of more than $600,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds from the city of West Haven.

Lauren DiMassa, one of several people including her husband who were arrested in the investigation, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Hartford. Sentencing has not been scheduled. She remains free on bail.

Federal prosecutors said West Haven paid DiMassa, formerly known as Lauren Knox, nearly $148,000 for services she never provided to the city. She and her husband were accused of submitting fraudulent invoices to the city for coronavirus-related services including youth violence prevention, but instead they used the money for their own benefit, prosecutors said.

DiMassas lawyer, Francis OReilly, said in court that it was important to note that DiMassa turned over most of the money she received from the city to her husband. O'Reilly declined to comment after the hearing.

DiMassa's husband is former state Rep. Michael DiMassa, a West Haven Democrat who also served as an aide to the West Haven City Council. He resigned from both positions after his arrest in October. He has pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges.

Prosecutors allege Michael DiMassa used his city position, which included approving the reimbursement of COVID-19 expenditures, to steal the money, in part to finance gambling at the Mohegan Sun Casino.

Last month, Michael DiMassa's former business partner, John Bernardo, who served as a housing specialist for the city, pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge for his role in the theft.

A fourth person charged in the case, business owner John Trasacco, has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say Trasacco is linked to fraudulent invoices submitted to the city for COVID-19 related services that were never provided.
A man was killed over the weekend during a fight with another man while they were noodling for catfish in the South Canadian River in Pontotoc County, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.

Larry Sanders told investigators that on Saturday he and Jimmy Knighten were noodling in the river  fishing for catfish with their bare hands  when a confrontation ensued and Sanders struck and strangled Knighten, according to the news release.

Sanders initially was arrested on an outstanding warrant in an unrelated case, and he was booked into the Pontotoc County jail.

Knightens body was found on Sunday during a search by Pontotoc and Seminole county deputies and OSBI agents. The river forms the border between the two counties.

The OSBI added a first-degree murder complaint to Sanders jail booking, according to the news release.
The recent Tulsa World editorial advocating a stronger Ethics Commission only scratches the surface (Boost Ethics rules, July 2).

Its current condition began when the politically appointed members executed a well-laid plan to oust long-time Executive Director Marilyn Hughes and replace her with the lawyer who represented the Senate in appearances before the commission.

Without notifying the commission until it was a fait accompli, he promptly created the position of deputy executive director and hired a legislative employee to fill it. Not coincidentally, the Legislature funded a raise for both. The die was cast.

After that, efforts to create rules that revealed all sources of money received by legislators failed, with the political appointees always voting in opposition. This included an innovative mechanism to side-step the strictures created by the Citizens United case mentioned in the editorial.

Adequate funding is a start, but only that. Given the legislative and political roots of the current commissioners and staff, a more fundamental, maybe constitutional, reform is necessary. With the cult of personality controlling the executive branch and the history of the legislative super-majority, the reforms suggested by the editorial are but a cry in the wilderness.

The fourth estate is our only hope. If Oklahoma newspapers pool their resources, they can create a groundswell of enlightenment that might carry the day. The World shed light on the Department of Public Safety. It can do the same for the Ethics Commission.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to tulsaworld.com/opinion/submitletter.
Although information technology (IT) firms offer many benefits to lure more employees, they are struggling to hire enough workers after the COVID-19 pandemic has been kept at bay in Vietnam.

FPT Software Central Region, located in Da Nang, is among the enterprises facing a dearth of human resources as the central region of Vietnam lacks qualified IT workers.

The company now plans to hire 8,000 more workers to meet the target of expanding its staff to 10,000 workers in 2024.

However, it is probably impossible, as universities in Da Nang are able to train 2,000 IT students every year while local tech firms need a much larger number of employees.

Lee Jong Wood, director of LG Vehicle Component Solutions Development Center, which is currently a workplace of 200 engineers in the central city, said the center has to recruit employees from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Therefore, local authorities should develop infrastructure and workforces to meet the needs of enterprises.

To become an IT-based city, it needs cooperation with global companies," Lee said.

"But the key is human communication.

We hope that the local government creates conditions for the firms to work with education centers to make training plans to meet labor demands.

Firms join hands in training

Talking to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Nguyen Tan Khoi, head of the IT department at the University of Da Nang - University of Science and Technology, said the IT labor recruitment demand is higher and higher while supply has not yet met demand.

This is a big problem for both local IT companies and foreign direct investment firms, especially those who are seeking highly qualified workers.

Thus, the university will scale up its enrollment, work with companies to offer training programs, and help students gain more experience, said Khoi.

We focus on new technology sectors such as data science, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and information security, Khoi said.

"These are key sectors leading to IT development trends in the future."

According to Nguyen Tam Tien, general director of Trung Nam Group, the company will inaugurate five electrical equipment processing facilities in Da Nang to catch up with the trend and develop new products.

We are willing to join hands with the local government in training skilled workers for Da Nang, Tien said.

Many IT companies in Da Nang find it hard to hire skilled employees in the context that the market is developing quickly while training schools do not meet the recruitment demand.

Nguyen Van Quang, deputy secretary of the Da Nang Party Committee, said the city would launch a project to develop and lure capable employees until 2030, while hosting more programs and activities to provide workers for enterprises.

Besides, Da Nang will have a mechanism for supporting enterprises, connecting them with local training centers and attracting skilled workers who meet their requirements.

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Dang Thai Tuan, a 21-year-old student of the University of Science and Education under the University of Da Nang in central Vietnam, came a long way to become a wildlife conservation volunteer.

Previously, he was a wildlife trader who had heavily invested in a facility to keep and take care of reptiles as a hobby.

When a wild animal collector becomes environmentally conscious

Seeing my family members keep monkeys in captivity since I was little, I thought that there were only two ways to see monkeys: keeping them in a cage and watching them on TV, Tuan started his story.

Tuan joined a club of reptile breeders in Da Nang when he was a middle school student.

After a while, he became a connoisseur of reptiles and switched to trading the reptiles with the members of the club.

Tuan began importing Asian water dragons, also known as green water dragons, to resell at VND150,000-200,000 (US$6.4-8.5) each.

The schoolboy even tried trading elongated tortoises which are classified as a critically endangered species and on the brink of extinction.

During his trips to the Dong Giang mountainous area in the central province of Quang Nam, Tuan hooked up with local wildlife traders and purchased tortoises offered by local people at high prices.

He brought home tens of precious tortoises from each trip to the mountains.

It wasnt until the local people could not supply enough tortoises to me that I realized the scarcity of the reptiles," Tuan recounted.

And this gave me pause for thought.

Back in the summer of 2017, during his trip to Son Tra Peninsula in Da Nang, Tuan stood still for a while when seeing brown shanked douc langurs in person, wondering why he had to keep wild animals in cages when they were obviously doing well in their natural habitats.

He began looking up more information on the Internet and realized wild animals should belong to the wild.

They are unlike domesticated animals such as dogs and cats that will be happy if people keep them in cages, feed them, and treat them as pets.

Tuan seemed more environmentally conscious and remorseful for the harm that he had done to nature.

He told himself that he had to do something to make amends.

The boy went to GreenViet Center, where there are many programs on researching and protecting Son Tra Peninsula, especially the brown-shanked douc langur.

Shortly after that, Tuan signed up to become a GreenViet volunteer, which offered him a chance to meet and get inspired by the community of environmental activists in Da Nang and other central provinces.

In 2018, he made up his mind to register to be a volunteer of ENV Da Nang, under the non-governmental organization Education for Nature  Vietnam, which focuses on wildlife conservation.

Among people behind wild animal rescues

Tuan said what marked his dramatic change is that he closed his room designated for breeding his favorite reptiles and released them back into the wild.

He also gave away those that lost their survival behaviors.

At ENV Da Nang, Tuan joined the survey team to go to locations where wild animals were allegedly kept in captivity.

Many times, he met his old friends who are members of the reptile club, which made him a bit confused, but he was determined to convince them to change their mindset about wild animal protection.

Tuan began sharing with the most influential members of the club about wildlife conservation so that these members could inspire the rest and encourage them to switch to collecting species that can be bred, instead of wild-collected endangered ones.

During his time at ENV Da Nang, thanks to the knowledge about breeding wild animals that he gained before, Tuan found it easy to role-play as various characters such as a collector asking to buy wild animals and a tourist or an event organizer in order to examine drinking establishments that allegedly traffick in rare animals.

Tuan and his ENV Da Nang associates have visited hundreds of restaurants and drinking places suspected of trafficking wild animals to get more information and report to his organization.

Approaching such places to find out information linked to illegal wildlife trade was tough and quite dangerous indeed, but to Tuan, having a chance to contribute to wildlife conservation efforts makes him happy.

Whenever the hotline of his organization receives information related to illegal wildlife trade, the survey team is notified and works to verify the report before keeping authorities informed for further investigation.

Tuan also took part in activities to rescue many rare species.

If he discovers anyone keeping wild animals in captivity, Tuan often advises them to voluntarily release the animals back into the wild.

For emergency cases, he rescues the animals by himself.

Tuan recalled that he had to ride his motorbike on a rainy night from Da Nang to a mountainous area in neighboring Quang Ngai Province to save a loris, a rare and endangered animal.

He added that there were several times his heart almost jumped out of the chest as he was at risk of being beaten when making efforts to rescue wild animals.

The failed rescues, however, gave him lots of invaluable experience.

Tuan said he could not remember how many animals he attempted to return them to their natural habitats.

He is now the chairman of the wildlife conservation club under ENV Da Nang.

Aside from his job at ENV Da Nang, Tuan is a familiar face at exhibitions and events raising public awareness about wildlife conservation.

Tackling root causes Besides his job at the club, Tuan has made enormous efforts to help address the livelihoods of mountainous residents. According to him, people of ethnic minority groups are closely culturally connected to forests, but they have had to search for rare animals to sell to make ends meet. Therefore, Tuan sought measures to help them earn money by recommending them to plant Ba ji tian, scientifically known as morinda officinalis, on tens of hectares of forest. He supplies the input materials and handles the consumption for ethnic minority people in the mountainous regions in Quang Nam and the Central Highlands to help them generate a long-term and stable income.

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U.S. President Joe Biden, pausing from political pressures to bask in the glow of the cosmos, on Monday released the debut photo from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope - an image of a galaxy cluster revealing the most detailed glimpse of the early universe ever seen.

The White House sneak peek of Webb's first high-resolution, full-color image came on the eve of a larger unveiling of photos and spectrographic data that NASA plans to showcase on Tuesday at the Goddard Space Flight Center in suburban Maryland.

The $9 billion Webb observatory, the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever launched, was designed to peer through the cosmos to the dawn of the known universe, ushering in a revolutionary era of astronomical discovery.

The image showcased by Biden and NASA chief Bill Nelson showed the 4.6 billion-year-old galaxy cluster named SMACS 0723, whose combined mass acts as a "gravitational lens," distorting space to greatly magnify the light coming from more distant galaxies behind it.

At least one of the faint, older specs of light appearing in the "background" of the photo - a composite of images of different wavelengths of light - dates back more than 13 billion years, Nelson said. That makes it just 800 million years younger than the Big Bang, the theoretical flashpoint that set the expansion of the known universe in motion some 13.8 billion years ago.

"It's a new window into the history of our universe," Biden said before the picture was unveiled. "And today we're going to get a glimpse of the first light to shine through that window: light from other worlds, orbiting stars far beyond our own. It's astounding to me."

He was joined at the Old Executive Office Building of the White House complex by Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the U.S. National Space Council.

U.S. President Joe Biden applauds upon seeing the first images from the Webb Space Telescope during a briefing from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officials at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 11, 2022. Photo: Reuters

From grain of sand in the sky

On Friday, the space agency posted a list of five celestial subjects chosen for its showcase debut of Webb. These include SMACS 0723, a bejeweled-like sliver of the distant cosmos that according to NASA offers "the most detailed view of the early universe to date." It also constitutes the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant cosmos ever taken.

The thousands of galaxies were captured in a tiny patch of the sky roughly the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length by someone standing on Earth, Nelson said.

Webb was constructed under contract by aerospace giant Northrop Grumman Corp. It was launched to space for NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts on Christmas Day 2021 from French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America.

The highly anticipated release of its first imagery follows six months of remotely unfurling Webb's various components, aligning its mirrors and calibrating instruments.

With Webb now finely tuned and fully focused, scientists will embark on a competitively selected list of missions exploring the evolution of galaxies, the life cycles of stars, the atmospheres of distant exoplanets and the moons of our outer solar system.

The James Webb Space Telescope is packed up for shipment to its launch site in Kourou, French Guiana in an undated photograph at Northrop Grumman's Space Park in Redondo Beach, California. Photo: NASA/Chris Gunn/Handout via Reuters

Built to view its subjects chiefly in the infrared spectrum, Webb is about 100 times more sensitive than its 30-year-old predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, which operates mainly at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths.

The much larger light-collecting surface of Webb's primary mirror - an array of 18 hexagonal segments of gold-coated beryllium metal - enables it to observe objects at greater distances, thus further back in time, than Hubble or any other telescope.

All five of Webb's introductory targets were previously known to scientists. Among them are two enormous clouds of gas and dust blasted into space by stellar explosions to form incubators for new stars - the Carina Nebula and the Southern Ring Nebula, each thousands of light years away from Earth.

The collection also includes a galaxy clusters known as Stephan's Quintet, which was first discovered in 1877 and encompasses several galaxies described by NASA as "locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters."

NASA will also present Webb's first spectrographic analysis of an exoplanet - one roughly half the mass of Jupiter that lies more than 1,100 light years away - revealing the molecular signatures of filtered light passing through its atmosphere.
Three people were killed and eight others injured after a truck crashed into a passenger bus in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam on Monday night.

The accident took place on the section of National Highway No. 1A in Van Phuoc Commune, Van Ninh District at around 11:00 pm on Monday, the district police unit confirmed on Tuesday morning.

A truck carrying fruits with four people on board was traveling on the route when it rear-ended a passenger bus.

The bus, which was carrying 41 passengers, two drivers, and a driver assistant, was on the journey to Hanoi.

The collision killed three people on the spot, including two men aged 26 and 27 on the truck and a 60-year-old woman on the passenger bus.

Officials talk to an injured victim following the crash in Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, July 11, 2022. Photo: National Steering Committee for Traffic Safety

Eight other victims were injured and taken to the hospital following the crash.

Preliminary information indicated that the truck drivers lack of observation and speed control had caused the accident.

A report from the Vietnam Register showed that both the truck and passenger bus have legitimate registration.

The chairman of the National Steering Committee for Traffic Safety has arrived in Khanh Hoa to coordinate with local authorities in dealing with the consequences of the accident and to provide support for the victims.

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Here are todays leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Santiago Andres Cafiero, Argentinean Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, in Hanoi on Monday as part of the latters visit to Vietnam from July 9 to 11, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

COVID-19 Updates

-- The Ministry of Health documented 568 COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the national tally to 10,755,381, with 9,771,021 recoveries and 43,089 deaths.

Society

-- A number of tourism services on Phu Quoc Island off southern Kien Giang Province such as scuba diving, sea walking, and speedboat tours have been suspended due to bad weather.

-- About 1.09 million workers in Ho Chi Minh City are expected to be provided with financial aid totaling VND1.7 trillion (US$72.7 million) in order to rent houses or return to the labor market.

-- Ho Chi Minh City recorded two more deaths by dengue fever between July 1 and 7, the citys Center for Disease Control confirmed on Monday.

-- The Hanoi Department of Information and Communications on Monday imposed a VND7.5 million ($321) fine on a 38-year-old man for spreading the false information that chairman of private conglomerate Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong was banned from leaving Vietnam.

-- A literature teacher at a high school in northern Hai Duong Province was accused of repeatedly groping a ninth grader, police officers confirmed on Monday.

-- A 46-year-old female factory worker in southern Dong Nai Province was praised by local authorities for returning VND158 million ($6,700) she had found on a street.

-- A crane collapse killed two workers and injured several others at the construction site of a building in central Da Nang City on Monday afternoon.

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A taxi driver in Hanoi has been fined and has her drivers license suspended for overcharging a Polish tourist by five times the normal fare for a six-kilometer trip.

Inspectors of the Hanoi Department of Transport on Friday last week levied a fine of VND13.5 million ($580) to Pham Thi Ngoc, a female cabby, for ripping off her foreign guest, Doi Song & Phap Luat (Life & Law) magazine reported on Monday.

Along with the fine, Ngoc had her drivers license revoked for two months.

On July 1, the municipal Department of Tourism received a report from Apricot Hotel in Hoan Kiem District that one of its guests, Dabrowska Malgorzata, a Pole, had had to pay VND400,000 ($17.1), or five times higher than the normal charge of VND80,000 ($3.4), for a six-kilometer trip from Hoan Kiem Lake to Hai Ba Trung District.

The report, which included the taxicabs number plate but did not mention the name of the taxi firm, was transferred to the inspectors of the citys transport department for handling.

After verification, the inspectors issued an administrative violation report to Ngoc and required her to apologize to Malgorzata and return the excess money.

However, as Malgorzata had returned to Poland, a representative of the hotel received the money from Ngoc and will transfer it to the foreign woman later.

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A man from Hanoi has been fined VND7.5 million (US$321) for spreading false information about the chairman of private conglomerate Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong, which affected the brand image and reputation of the enterprise.

The Hanoi Department of Information and Communications confirmed on Monday it had imposed the fine upon To Vi Hoan, 38, who resides in Nam Tu Liem District.

Hoan was also required to remove the untrue information.

The man admitted to his violation and agreed to pay the fine in accordance with regulations.

Earlier the same day, Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security stated that Hoan was identified as the person who spread the false information that chairman of Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong was banned from leaving Vietnam.

The rumor, which the Ministry of Public Security confirmed as inaccurate, affected the reputation and legitimate interests of the enterprise and adversely impacted the local stock market, Xo added.

Aside from Hoan, nine other people from seven provinces and cities in the country were also suspected to have popularized the misinformation, Xo stated, adding that competent authorities are verifying the case according to regulations.

A representative of the Hanoi communications department said that there has been a lot of unverified and untrue information on the Internet saying that authorities will prosecute individuals and businesses with enormous influence in the financial and securities markets.

The department demanded that people not post or share unverified information, as it can result in administrative or criminal charges.

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You are here: Arts

A flash mob themed on traditional Chinese culture was held at the Fengtai Railway Station in Beijing on Friday.

Chinese cultural essences like Peking Opera and folk music were performed during the event.

Peking Opera actors in costumes sang classical parts of Mount Dingjun and Mu Guiying Takes Command, winning applause from waiting passengers.

Then literary, art and railway workers in Fengtai District performed a series of songs that expressed people's expectations toward a better future.

"I came to the Fengtai Railway Station specially today. The 'Flash mob' activity is very interesting, and I can feel the charm of the century-old station," said a passenger.

Such an activity shows the exchange and collision between traditional humanities and modern traffic culture and highlights the beautiful image of the central urban area of Beijing in the new era, said a person in charge of the activity from Fengtai District, Beijing.

The Fengtai Railway Station reopened on June 20, 2022. The station building covers some 400,000 square meters. It can accommodate as many as 14,000 travelers in the waiting area and has 32 platforms to serve 32 lines.
Leaders of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper arrived at the residence of Nobuhiro Watanabe, Consul General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City, on Tuesday morning to pay tribute to former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

Tuoi Tre Editor-in-Chief Le The Chu and Deputy Editor-in-Chief Tran Xuan Toan extended their condolences to the family of former PM Abe and to the government and people of Japan.

I, like many other Vietnamese people, would like to express my respect and gratitude for Mr. Shinzo Abes contributions to the Vietnam-Japan relationship, Chu stated.

Abe had a special affection for the press and Tuoi Tre was fortunate to have interviewed the former prime minister before his visit to Vietnam in 2013 and 2017.

Leaders of Tuoi Tre newspaper show the interviews with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe taking place prior to his visits to Vietnam. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre

In 2013, Vietnam was the first country that Abe visited after assuming his prime minister post.

Answering Tuoi Tre, the former premier expressed his hope to promote bilateral relations, considering his visit an opportunity to create a leap forward in the cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Prior to his Vietnam visit in 2017, Abe told Tuoi Tre that he was determined to further develop the relationship between Japan and Vietnam.

His legacy has a profound impact on the relationship between Vietnam and Japan, Chu stated.

An interview with Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is published in Tuoi Tre Daily on January 16, 2017. File Photo: Tuoi Tre

We would like to express our gratitude and bid farewell to a good friend of Vietnam, the editor-in-chief continued.

We hope that Mr. Abes great legacy will continue to serve as a bridge between the two countries.

Consul General Watanabe thanked Tuoi Tre for the love for the late Japanese prime minister.

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, died on Friday last week at the age of 67.

He was shot in an apparent assassination attempt earlier the same day during a stump speech for Sunday's Upper House election.

The killing of the former leader shocked the nation and reverberated around the globe.

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Filming is underway in North Queensland on the upcoming Stan drama Black Snow, with star Travis Fimmel (Vikings).

The six-part murder mystery by Goalpost Pictures is set in a small town in North Queensland with deep ties to the Australian South Sea Islander community.

The cast also features newcomers Talijah Blackman-Corowa, Jemmason Power and Molly Fatnowna, alongside Brooke Satchwell (Mr Inbetween, The Twelve), Alexander England (Alien: Covenant, Secret Bridesmaids Business), Erik Thomson (Aftertaste, Packed to the Rafters), Kym Gyngell (Wakefield, Very Small Business) and Rob Carlton (Total Control). It will also feature the screen debut of rising music star, Ziggy Ramo.

Stan Chief Content Officer Cailah Scobie said: Featuring a phenomenal cast led by Vikings star Travis Fimmel, Black Snow promises to be a landmark addition to our growing slate of homegrown Stan Originals. Our thanks to the extraordinary team at Goalpost Television and our partners at Screen Australia, Screen Queensland and Screen NSW, alongside the Australian South Sea Islander community of North Queensland, without whom this outstanding series would not be possible.

Goalpost Televisions Rosemary Blight said: Its a privilege to be making this exceptionally crafted drama alongside the Australian South Sea Islander community of North Queensland. We have an incredibly talented creative team lead by creator Lucas Taylor and directors Sian Davies and Matthew Saville and a wonderful cast that combines the experience and stature of actors such as Travis Fimmel with exciting new discoveries such as Talijah Blackman-Corowa and Jemmason Power.

An airdate is yet to be announcd.

The series, produced by Goalpost Television, is created by Lucas Taylor (Harrow), writing alongside Boyd Quakawoot (Black Comedy) and Beatrix Christian (Jindabyne). Directed by Sian Davies (Stan Original Series The Gloaming) and Matthew Saville (Please Like Me) and shot by Murray Lui (Top End Wedding), the series is produced by Goalposts Rosemary Blight (The Invisible Man), alongside Lois Randall and Kaylene Butler.

The Stan Original Series Black Snow combines the character-driven storytelling of a coming-of-age drama with the gripping mystery of a classic whodunit to create a unique series that is deeply rooted in its North Queensland setting. In 1995, seventeen-year-old Isabel Baker was murdered. The crime shocked the small town of Ashford and devastated Isabels Australian South Sea Islander community. The case was never solved, the killer never found. But in 2020, the opening of a time capsule unearths a secret that puts cold-case Detective James Cormack (Travis Fimmel) on the trail of the killer.

Sundance Now VP of Programming Shannon Cooper said: Travis was meant to play Detective Cormack and lead this exceptionally strong cast as they help tell this gripping story. Were excited to work alongside our long-time partners at Stan as well as Goalpost Television and All3Media International as filming gets underway, and were thankful for everyones diligence in cultivating a trusting and fruitful relationship with the local communities as their support is invaluable.

Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich said: Were proud to support Black Snow through Screen Queenslands Screen Finance Program, and previously during its development through our Ideas Program in 2020. Screen Queensland is deeply committed to empowering and uplifting diverse voices, and we look forward to seeing this powerful series come to life, currently filming in North Queensland.

The Stan Original Series Black Snow has received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Stan, and is financed with support from Screen Queensland, Screen NSW and AMC Networks Sundance Now. Financed and produced in association with All3Media International. A Goalpost Television Production.

Black Snow acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which the series is being produced, including the Ngaro Gia and Juru people of the Birra Gubba Nation, and the Australian South Sea Islander community and their significant place in Queenslands history.
Missiles and drone aircrafts are seen on display at an exhibition at an unidentified location in Yemen (VIA REUTERS)

Iran is providing Russia with drones to use against the Ukrainian people in their ongoing invasion, the US has claimed.

US officials believe Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including weapons-capable drones.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the unmanned systems to Russia, but said the US has information that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline, he told reporters at the White House on Monday.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan talks to reporters (Getty Images)

Mr Sullivan said it was proof that Russias overwhelming bombardments in Ukraine, which have led it to consolidate gains in the countrys east in recent weeks, was coming at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons.

He added Iran has provided similar unmanned aerial vehicles to Yemens Houthi rebels to attack Saudi Arabia before a ceasefire was reached earlier this year.

Military analyst Samuel Bendett, of the CNA think tank, said Russias choice of Iran as a source for drones is logical because for the last 20 years or more Iran has been refining its drone combat force. Their drones have been in more combat than the Russians.

They are pioneers of so-called loitering munitions, the kamikaze drones like the Switchblade that the US has provided Ukraine.

Russia had previously licensed drone technology for its Forpost UAV from a proven supplier: Israel. The Jewish state has remained neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, so that source is no longer available to Moscow.

It came as the wives of Russian soldiers are appealing to them to be returned home, according to a video highlighted by British defence chiefs on Monday.

Troops of the 5th Separate Guards Tank Brigade, part of the Eastern Military District in Russia, were said to be mentally and physically exhausted from their role in the invasion of Ukraine which started nearly five months ago.

The British military chiefs stressed that the lack of scheduled breaks from intense fighting for Russian forces was a major issue facing Vladimir Putins army.
Credit: PA Images

New Zealand will be without prop Angus Taavao for their series decider against Ireland after he was given a three-week suspension.

Tighthead Taavao attended an independent disciplinary hearing via video link, having received a red card for an act of foul play in Dunedin last week.

The independent Judicial Committee, which was chaired by Wang Shao-Ing (Singapore) and joined by former player Leon Lloyd (England) and former coach Frank Hadden (Scotland), heard the case and considered all the available evidence, including hearing from the player and his legal representative.

Taavao, who came off the replacements bench for New Zealand in the loss to Ireland at Forsyth Barr Stadium, admitted that he committed an act of foul play but maintained that a red card was not warranted due to the presence of mitigating factors.

Could be reduced by one week

Having reviewed all the evidence, the committee applied the Head Contact Process and upheld the red card under Law 9.13, a statement has read.

On that basis, the committee deemed the act of foul play merited a mid-range entry point of six weeks given the direction by World Rugby that any act of foul play which results in contact with the head and/or the neck shall result in at least a mid-range sanction.

Taking into account the players excellent disciplinary record and the mitigating factors under Regulation 17, the Committee granted the player full mitigation of 50 per cent to three weeks, resulting in a sanction of three weeks. The committee also approved the players application under the Head Contact Process  Coaching Intervention Programme. If the coaching application is approved, the players sanction could be reduced by one week.

The player has the right of appeal within 48 hours of the issuing of the full written decision, which will appear here once published.

READ MORE: Sam Cane: It is do or die for the All Blacks with the series up for grabs

The article All Blacks: Angus Taavao given three-week ban after red card against Ireland appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
A Paris judge on Monday ordered the dismissal of a five-year rape investigation into French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, his lawyers said.

"The justice system has said for the fourth time in five years that Mr Darmanin has not committed any punishable act," Mathias Chichportich and Pierre-Olivier Sur said.

The decision in favour of Darmanin, a right-wing stalwart of President Emmanuel Macron's government, can still be appealed.

The complaint was brought by Sophie Patterson-Spatz, who accused Darmanin of rape, sexual harassment and abuse of trust dating back to 2009.

Denials

While Darmanin admits having had a sexual relationship with the plaintiff, he denies any coercion.

Patterson-Spatz first went to police in 2017, but her complaint was filed without action by the Paris prosecutor's office. She then lodged a new complaint with civil party in 2018, but the matter was not investigated because of insufficient evidence.

Finally, in June 2020, the Paris Court of Appeal had ordered an investigation into the accusations.

Prosecutors had asked in January for the case to be closed, and Darmanin has brought a defamation case of his own against his accuser.

The case has dogged him since he was named to the Interior Ministry in 2020, with feminists especially critical of his presence in one of France's major offices of state.

The closing of the probe into Darmanin comes a week after Macron sacked solidarity minister Damien Abad, who is being investigated for attempted rape.

(with AFP)
2022 WSOP Day 42: Audacious Bluff Puts Lococo Over 10M in the Main Event

July 12 2022 Will Shillibier Matthew Pitt Editor

July 11 was the 42nd day of the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas, and it was yet another day filled with high drama, intense poker action, and a some pretty ridiculous buffs.

Only one player got their hands, or should that be wrists, on a gold WSOP bracelet and Pei Li was that player. Li came out on top in Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha to become a WSOP champion for the first time in addition to reeling in a $190,219 top prize.

Former Final Tablist Lococo Bags Big After Six-Bet Bluff on WSOP Main Event Day 5

An eventful Day 5 of the 2022 World Series of Poker Main Event saw a field of 380 players whittled down to just 124. The remaining players are all guaranteed $62,500, with the pay jumps on Day 6 coming with 98 ($73,100) and then 89 ($86,000) players remaining.

One name that stands out towards the top of the counts is Alejandro 'PapoMC' Lococo who appears to have picked up where he left off last year, when he finished seventh for $1,225,000, and is safely through to Day 6 with a stack of over 10 million.

Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 James Hobbs United States 12,505,000 156 2 Efthymia Litsou United States 11,675,000 146 3 Aaron Mermelstein United States 10,680,000 134 4 Alejandro Lococo Argentina 10,020,000 125 5 Gerald Morrell United States 9,775,000 122 6 Jorge Jou Panama 9,500,000 119 7 Dingxiang Ong Singapore 9,500,000 119 8 Philippe Souki United Kingdom 9,425,000 118 9 Robert Minor United States 9,160,000 115

Since his deep run last November, Lococo has cashed for over $600,000 including two titles in the Czech Republic earlier this year. Here at the 2022 WSOP, the Argentinian has cashed in three events so far but nothing compared to his deep run in this year's Main Event.

The most eye-catching hand of the day came after the dinner break, after Lococo tangled with Karim Rebei who had led the remaining players going into dinner.

Alejandro \"Papo MC\" Lococo

You can read the full hand history here, but Lococo's six-bet shove got through against Rebei and he vaulted up the counts.

Lococo says the importance of this hand cannot be understated, calling it perhaps the most important hand he's played in his life so far.

"It's not my plan pre-flop to go all-in for 100 big blinds!" he told PokerNews. "But I was playing for many hours with this player and there were many factors that went into the decision. I could spend many hours discussing it!"

Did Alejandro Lococo Pull Off Best WSOP Main Event Bluff Since Moneymaker?

Some may think Lococo will be experiencing deja vu heading into Day 6 for the second year in a row, but with a different stack size compared to last year, the Argentinian says it will be all change.

"Last year I started Day 6 with a below-average stack, and this year I have much more, so clearly there will be different decisions and strategy, with different ranges and open raises."

Another notable making another deep run is, of course, defending champion Koray Aldemir. He spent most of Day 5 under the lights of the TV table, but took it in his stride eliminating multiple opponents over the course of the day to bag a healthy stack.

Aldemir and Lococo are joined in Day 6 by 2020 WSOP Main Event champion Damian Salas (2,435,000), along with 2018 WSOP final tablist Antoine Labat.

Dan Smith

Several players who won their first bracelets here at the 2022 WSOP are still in contention for a memorable second, including Espen Jorstad, Andrew Yeh and Dan Smith. Smith nursed his short stack through the day, but with the help of some timely doubles he remained alive to bag 2,030,000.

"You kind of just have to play every hand the way it needs to be played," Smith told PokerNews. "The structure of the tournament does mean there is a lot of play, and that does help. Having a short stack here is more valuable than in other tournaments.

"I am fully aware that the most likely result is that I'm not going to make the final table. But, I'm having a great time and I'm trying to enjoy the experience and do my best, and whatever happens, happens."

Other players through to Day 6 include the last remaining women in the tournament Shelby Wells (1,900,000) and Efthymia Litsou (11,675,000). They will be joined by bracelet winners Timur Margolin (1,095,000), Andrew Yeh (5,830,000) and Marco Johnson (2,820,000).

Players falling on Day 5 included Jake Schindler, Ali Imsirovic, five-time bracelet-winners Brian Rast and John Juanda, as well as former tenth-place WSOP Main Event finisher Gaelle Baumann.

Having played five-and-a-half levels on Day 5, play will resume halfway through Level 26 (40,000/80,000) at 1 p.m. local time. The tournament will take place in the Bally's Event Center right in the heart of Las Vegas.

Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the updates as they happen as we get that one step closer to crowning a new poker world champion.

All the 2022 WSOP Main Event updates are here

The One More for One Drop Dream is Still On For 41 Players; Barry Hutter Leads

Barry Hutter

Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop has reached Day 4 and only 41 players are still in the hunt for this event's bracelet and the $535,610 in prize money that accompanies the piece of poker jewelry.

Barry Hutter (14,075,000) goes into Day 4 with the chip lead and will fancy his chances of securing his second bracelet. However, Hutter must navigate his way past 40 opponents, all of whom have reached Day 4 on merit.

Christina Gollins (14,000,000) finished Day 3 only one small blind behind Hutter in the standings, so will fancy her chance of glory in this tournament, as will 2013 WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess (10,425,000) who finds himself in the top five chip counts when play resumes at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 12.

Joon Kim (7,575,000), who is tenth in chips, is the only other bracelet owner in the field.

Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Barry Hutter United States 14,075,000 94 2 Christina Gollins United States 14,000,000 93 3 Boris Akopov United States 12,600,000 84 4 Ryan Riess United States 10,425,000 70 5 Niklas Warlich Germany 10,075,000 67 6 Andrew Dubuque United States 9,575,000 64 7 Mathias Duarte Uruguay 8,650,000 58 8 Salah Nimer United States 8,475,000 58 9 Ronnie Ballantyne United Kingdom 7,800,000 52 10 Joon Kim United States 7,575,000 51

Will Hutter get the job done in the One More for One Drop?

Oulmekki Bags Up The $777 Lucky 7's Day 1b Chip Lead

Selim Oulmekki

Day 1b of Event #75: $777 Lucky 7's saw another 1,818 players buy-in but only 145 of those starters survived a frantic 22 levels of play. Frane's Selim Oulmekki (2,565,000) not only survived but thrived on Day 1b, bagging up the largest stack in the room and of the entire tournament so far.

Three other players ended Day 1b with at least two million chips. Kevin Oakes (2,125,000), Armando Figueroa (2,085,000), and Matthew Land (2,010,000) being that trio of big stacked players.

Bracelet winners Tom Franklin (1,150,000), Carlos Chang (675,000), Daniel Zack (655,000), and John Racener (640,000) are just a handful of well-known grinders to look out for on Day 2.

The third and final flight commences at 12:00 p.m. on July 12.

Event #75: $777 Lucky 7's Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Selim Oulmekki France 2,565,000 64 2 Kevin Oakes United States 2,125,000 53 3 Armando Figueroa United States 2,085,000 52 4 Matthew Land United States 2,010,000 50 5 Maxwell Young United States 1,980,000 50 6 Brett Murray United States 1,925,000 48 7 Tommy Kivela United States 1,920,000 48 8 Carlos Villamarin United States 1,830,000 46 9 Gary Armstrong United States 1,805,000 45 10 Adam Adler United States 1,800,000 45

Stay tuned to PokerNews for the $777 Lucky 7's event

Hong Takes a Solid Lead Into the Final Day of the Hall of Fame Bounty Event

Jinho Hong

Event #76: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty was meant to crown its champion on Day 42 of the 2022 WSOP but it became apparent that was never going to happen, so the decision was made to pause the tournament after the end of Level 30.

Only seven players remain in the hunt going into the unscheduled Day 3 and it is South Korean Jinho Hong who leads them back into battle, doing so with 7,785,000 chips.

The stacks are very shallow going into the final day's action, so this tournament's champion could be crowned within a couple of hours. Hong's stack is the equivalent of 39 big blinds, and second-placed Punnat Punsri (6,280,000) has 31 big blinds, but the other five finalists have between seven and 15 blinds in their stacks.

Rejoin the action from 2:00 p.m. local time on July 12.

Event #76: $1,979 Hall of Fame Bounty Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Jinho Hong South Korea 7,785,000 39 2 Punnat Punsri Thailand 6,280,000 31 3 Daniel Weinman United States 2,975,000 15 4 Jakob Miegel Germany 2,825,000 14 5 Yuri Dzivielevski Brazil 2,700,000 14 6 George Rotariu Romania 1,905,000 10 7 Pavel Spirins Latvia 1,430,000 7

Hold onto your hats: this is going to be explosive!

Drinan Shines Brightest on Day 1 of the $1,500 NLHE/PLO Mixed

Connor Drinan

Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Connor Drinan (1,200,000) is the man to catch going into Day 2 of Event #77: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha. Drinan was one of only two players to finish with a seven-figure stack, Vincent Lam (1,070,000) was the other.

Lam was involved in a monster-sized pot as the rest of the field were bagging up their chips. Lam called a three-way all-in with middle pair and a flush draw against an underpair and a superior flush draw. The river bricked and Lam soared towards the chip counts' summit.

Some 151 players return for Day 2 at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 12, including Daniel Negreanu (325,000), Anson Tsang (209,000), Scott Davies (207,000), and British grinder Barny Boatman (86,000)

Event #77: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Connor Drinan United States 1,200,000 200 2 Vincent Lam Canada 1,070,000 178 3 Zachary Grech United States 906,000 151 4 Carter Newhof United States 782,000 130 5 Leonard Sande United States 624,000 104 6 Vangelis Kaimakamis Greece 620,000 103 7 Millard Hale United States 614,000 102 8 Aden Salazar United States 606,000 101 9 Miltiadis Kyriakides Austria 569,000 95 10 Mohammad Affaneh United States 555,000 93

Discover if Drinan can build on his impressive start

Jones Takes an Early Lead in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Event

Ben Jones

The last tournament of Day 42 was a new addition to the schedule: Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em. A field of 1,364 bought in and created a $3,034,900 prize pool but only 257 of the players who sat down with high hopes will return for Day 2 on July 12.

British star Ben Jones (738,000) is in pole position going into Day 2 at 2:00 p.m. local time on July 12. Jones has several impressive live scores on his CV in addition to a glowing history in the online poker world. Jones holding a big stack spells bad news for anyone seated with him.

The controversial Bryn Kenney (484,000) bagged up a top five stack, while the likes of Christian Rudolph (381,000), David Miscikowski (296,000), Anatoly Filatov (288,000), David Peters (260,000), and Scott Seiver (223,000) all made it through Day 1 relatively unscathed.

Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Ben Jones United Kingdom 738,000 123 2 Ari Oxman United States 685,000 114 3 Leandro Vlastaris United States 586,000 98 4 Weiming Aaron Lim Singapore 518,000 86 5 Bryn Kenney United States 484,000 81 6 Georgios Kapalas Greece 464,000 78 7 Axel Hallay France 464,000 77 8 Sergey Sergeev Russia 457,000 76 9 Virgile Turchi France 452,000 75 10 Emmett Rutkowski United States 450,000 75

Get your fill of $2,500 NLHE updates here
Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha is in the books after 6 and a half hours of play on the final day. The new champion is Pei ''Jerry'' Li who wins $190,219 and his first bracelet. On top of first place prize money, he also acquired a $500 bounty for each player he knocked out during the tournament.

The event itself saw a field of 1,390 entrants, many of which were reentries by players that busted before late registration ended at Level 9 of Day 1. Many names came and fell through the course of Day 1, including: Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Dan Weinman. Player of the Year first place leader Dan Zack made the money, building on his lead in the POY standings as the WSOP reaches its final week.

Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha Results

Place Player Country Payout 1 Pei Li Canada $190,219 2 Nolan King USA $117,545 3 Raul Esquivel USA $85,739 4 Eemil Tuominen Finland $63,231 5 William Gross USA $47,153 6 Eric Lescot Belgium $35,561 7 Ryan Scully USA $27,125 8 Konstantin Angelov Bulgaria $20,930 9 Diogo Veiga Portugal $16,339

Day 2 saw 124 players return for their chance at gold, with many returning WSOP champions looking to book another bracelet. Some players that made Day 2 but fell just short were: Connor Drinan (24th), Ankush Mandavia (19th) and Day 1 chip leader, Tamel Kamel (17th). Kamel had a rough day after he had built on his chip lead before getting short and ultimately busting just before the final two table redraw.

Day 3

It took ten sixty-minute levels of play to get down to the final nine players before play was halted for the night. Those final nine didnt take long to get action going on Day 3 though. The short stacked bracelet winner Diogo Veiga finished ninth for $16,339 after he ran into the aces of Raul Esquivel.

Next to fall was Konstantin Angelov, who has been on fire lately after winning Event #64: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack ($199,466) just a couple of weeks ago. The Bulgarian has been running and playing great to navigate such big fields. He will have to wait for another shot at his second bracelet, however, since he finished eighth for $20,930.

The charismatic Ryan Scully was our seventh place finisher, taking $27,125 for his efforts after the runner-runner flush of Nolan King got there to bust his straight after they got it all in on the flop. Scully was upbeat the entire event, making sure everyone heard him if he won a big pot and cracking jokes with his tablemates.

In sixth place was Eric Lescot, who took $35,561 after a blind on blind duel with King when he ran a set of eights into a set of nines. The Belgium-based player finished with his best World Series of Poker result to date.

Out in fifth place was William Gross, after getting all in preflop and flopping the best hand, then King hit runner-runner on him. His fifth place finish was good for $47,153 plus bounties.

Runner-up Nolan King

The Finnish player, Emil Tuominen got it in good on a flop with pocket aces against the gut shot straight draw of King. King continued running good and binked his gutter on the turn to bust Tuominen in fourth for $63,231.

Esquivel was then eliminated in third Place for $85,739 after Li sent him to the rail with a flush. Esquivel was mostly quiet through the final table and laddered well during all the action.

When heads-up play began, Li had a nearly 2-to-1 chip lead over King, but it switched back again when King flopped a set and got action from Lis pocket aces, betting all in and getting called to double up King. The lead then switched twice more before the chip stacks evened out at 17,000,000 each. King then chipped away at Li, with Li getting chipped down to 8,000,000.

King, who had been enjoying beers with his rail (Kyle Julius, Ben Lamb, and others) had been potting it blind from the button, making the pots a little bigger than they would otherwise be. Li battled back to even once again with these inflated pots going his way before Li won a big one leaving King with 4,250,000. King then on doubled the next hand to stay in contention.

Both players agreed to skip two levels, making their stacks a lot more shallow. King ended up getting his last 3,900,000 in versus a 2,000,000 continuation bet from Li and being up against top pair. Li held up for the win and bracelet as King finished second.

Winner's Reaction

PokerNews caught up with Jerry Li after his win and asked him about his win and what he'd do with his prize and he responded saying ''No, nothing right now''. Perhaps he was a little speechless and tired after the grind to get the bracelet.

"The blind levels were raised at the request of King, by two levels near the end, and you agreed to it, why was that?"

He responded ''He's a very aggressive player, but so am I, so it made it a fun time heads up [to play for bigger pots]." It may have been a sign of both players wanting to get the tournament done after hours of heads-up play that saw the chip lead shift many, many times.

A fantastic win for Li who adds to his circuit ring victory, though you can be sure this one feels a lot more special. The Canadian player who is a pot-limit omaha specialist, will no doubt be back to playing on GGPoker, where he plays pot-limit omaha cash, as well as hold'em. This is the first bracelet for a player from Alberta, Canada, shockingly, where pot-limit omaha cash games run frequently. It's fitting that the first win for Alberta is in PLO.

That wraps up Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha. Congratulations to the winner Pei ''Jerry'' Li on his first World Series of Poker bracelet.

Stayed tuned for all the up to date action from the Main Event and all other events running as the last week of the 2022 WSOP continues, live from Ballys and Paris Las Vegas.
Day 2 of Event #79: $1,979 Poker Hall Of Fame Bounty No-Limit Holdem has ended. The day started with 139 players returning to continue the journey to the bracelet and the $276,067 top prize but only seven players are left to go into the third and final day. The schedule originally had planned for this to be a two-day event, but that was changed and, instead, play ended after 10 levels.

Leading the charge is Jinho Hong who bagged 7,000,000. Behind him are Punnat Punsri (6,280,000) and Daniel Weinman ( 2,975,000).

Final Table Seating Chart and Chip Counts

Seat Name Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Dan Weinman United States 2,975,000 15 2 Jakob Miegel Germany 2,825,000 14 3 Yuri Dzivielevski Brazil 2,700,000 14 4 George Rotariu Romania 1,905,000 10 5 Jinho Hong South Korea 7,785,000 39 6 Punnat Punsri Thailand 6,280,000 31 7 Pavel Spirins Latvia 1,430,000 7

Two of the Hall of Fame bounties were still in play at the start ofthe day: Barry Greenstein and Barbara Enright. However, both were eliminated early in the Day 2 action. Greensteins bounty was the last to fall and was awarded to Jakob Miegel when his ace-king bested Greensteins ace-ten.

Several notables who were lost today included potential Poker Hall of Famer Shaun Deeb, who was knocked out in 12th place when he ran his pocket nines into Yuri Dzivielevskis pocket queens. Another was two-time bracelet winner Georgios Sotiropoulos who exited in 13th after he also ran into pocket queens with his pocket jacks and the reigning champion Ole Schemion could not pull off the back-to-back titles as he was eliminated earlier in the evening.

Play will resume Tuesday at 2 p.m. local time in the Ballys Event Center and will start on Level 31 with blinds at 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 big blind ante.

Be sure to follow along with PokerNews as the Live Reporting Team brings you all of the final table action.
An eventful Day 5 of the 2022 World Series of Poker Main Event saw a field of 380 players whittled down to just 123. The remaining players are all guaranteed $62,500, with the pay jumps on Day 6 coming with 98 ($73,100) and then 89 ($86,000) players remaining.

One name that stands out towards the top of the counts is Alejandro "PapoMC" Lococo who appears to have picked up where he left off last year when he finished seventh for $1,225,000 and is safely through to Day 6 with a stack of more than 10 million.

Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 James Hobbs United States 12,505,000 156 2 Efthymia Litsou United States 11,675,000 146 3 Aaron Mermelstein United States 10,680,000 134 4 Alejandro Lococo Argentina 10,020,000 125 5 Gerald Morrell United States 9,775,000 122 6 Jorge Jou Panama 9,500,000 119 7 Dingxiang Ong Singapore 9,500,000 119 8 Philippe Souki United Kingdom 9,425,000 118 9 Robert Minor United States 9,160,000 115

Since his deep run last November, Lococo has cashed for over $600,000 including two titles in the Czech Republic earlier this year. Here at the 2022 WSOP, the Argentinian has cashed in three events so far but nothing compared to his deep run in this year's Main Event.

The most eye-catching hand of the day came after the dinner break, after Lococo tangled with Karim Rebei who had led the remaining players going into dinner.

Alejandro "Papo MC" Lococo

You can read the full hand history here, but Lococo's six-bet shove got through against Rebei and he vaulted up the counts. Lococo says the importance of this hand cannot be understated, calling it perhaps the most important hand he's played in his life so far.

"It's not my plan preflop to go all-in for 100 big blinds," he told PokerNews. "But I was playing for many hours with this player and there were many factors that went into the decision. I could spend many hours discussing it."

Did Alejandro Lococo Pull Off Best WSOP Main Event Bluff Since Moneymaker?

Some may think Lococo will be experiencing deja vu heading into Day 6 for the second year in a row, but with a different stack size compared to last year, the Argentinian says it will not be the same at all.

"Last year I started Day 6 with a below-average stack, and this year I have much more, so clearly there will be different decisions and strategy, with different ranges and open raises."

Another notable making another deep run is, of course, defending champion Koray Aldemir. He spent most of Day 5 under the lights of the TV table, but took it in stride eliminating multiple opponents over the course of the day to bag a healthy stack.

Aldemir and Lococo are joined in Day 6 by 2020 WSOP Main Event champion Damian Salas (2,435,000), along with 2018 WSOP Main Event ninth-place finisher Antoine Labat.

Dan Smith

Several players who won their first bracelets here at the 2022 WSOP are still in contention for a memorable second, including Espen Jorstad, Andrew Yeh and Dan Smith. Smith nursed his short stack through the day, but with the help of some timely doubles he remained alive to bag 2,030,000.

"You kind of just have to play every hand the way it needs to be played," Smith told PokerNews. "The structure of the tournament does mean there is a lot of play and that does help. Having a short stack here is more valuable than in other tournaments.

"I am fully aware that the most likely result is that I'm not going to make the final table. But, I'm having a great time and I'm trying to enjoy the experience and do my best, and whatever happens, happens."

Other players through to Day 6 include the last remaining women in the tournament Shelby Wells (1,900,000) and Efthymia Litsou (11,675,000). They will be joined by bracelet winners Timur Margolin (1,095,000), Andrew Yeh (5,830,000) and Marco Johnson (2,820,000).

Players falling on Day 5 included Jake Schindler, Ali Imsirovic, five-time bracelet-winners Brian Rast and John Juanda, as well as former tenth-place WSOP Main Event finisher Gaelle Baumann.

Having played five-and-a-half levels on Day 5, play will resume halfway through Level 26 (40,000/80,000/80,000) at 1 p.m. local time in Bally's Event Center.

Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the updates as they happen as we get that one step closer to crowning a new poker world champion.
Steady progress has been made in building China's island province of Hainan into a free trade port (FTP), according to a press conference of the Communist Party of China Hainan Provincial Committee on Monday.

As one of the country's major opening-up measures in the new era, China aims to build the whole of Hainan Island into a globally influential and high-level FTP by the middle of the century.

The wider opening-up push is delivering visible outcomes. The number of registered market entities in Hainan has increased from less than 310,000 in 2013 to more than 1.98 million, with the growth rate ranking first in the country for 28 consecutive months.

Shen Xiaoming, Party chief of Hainan, said at the press conference that over the past two years, over 180 policies and measures have taken effect in Hainan to facilitate trade and investment.

According to Shen, the average annual growth rate of new market entities in Hainan in recent years has reached 40 percent. Meanwhile, the actual utilization of foreign investment in Hainan grew at an average annual rate of 80 percent, and the number of foreign enterprises introduced in the island grew at an average annual rate of nearly 120 percent.

The favorable business environment brought about by deepening reform and opening-up has increased Hainan's attractiveness to talents and investment. Since 2018, Hainan has introduced more than 400,000 highly skilled personnel, an increase of nearly 10 times compared with the previous four years.

Hainan's economic transformation and upgrading have also achieved remarkable results over the past two years. Tourism, modern services, high-tech and high-efficiency agriculture with tropical characteristics have become the four leading industries in the island.

According to a plan on the Hainan FTP released by the central authorities in 2020, the Hainan FTP is set to initiate independent customs operations by 2025.




Wildfires sweeping across Portugal have injured 29 people and destroyed more than 1,500 hectares of vegetation as record temperatures threaten to fan the flames.

Temperatures are expected to reach 43 degrees on Tuesday which is expected to make the situation - most extreme in northern and central parts of the country - worse.

Twelve firefighters and 17 civilians required medical treatment for minor injuries, local media said on Sunday.

The EU on Sunday activated its firefighting air fleet assistance programme which will allow member states to aid Portuguese firefighters tackling the blaze.

An estimated 3,000 were at the scene (AFP via Getty Images)

More than 700 soldiers were dispatched to the area over the weekend. The Government has also banned people from areas said to be at special risk of wildfire.

Fires started burning in several areas last week and since the initial alarms were sounded 250 new blazes have sparked. At least 1,500 hectares of vegetation had been destroyed by Sunday night.

The government has announced a state of contingency lasting until Friday.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has cancelled a trip to New York and prime minister Antonio Costa cancel a planned trip to Mozambique as a result of the fires.

Preventing fires is the best help we can give our firefighters, Mr Costa wrote on Twitter - adding that no bonfires should be started outside.

The wildfires follow a period of drought, which affected 28 per cent of the country in June.
19-month-old German Shepherd Koba with owner William Herron after Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) were called to help rescue the dog from the river close to Magheramorne Presbyterian Church outside Larne, Co Antrim. (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Wire)

A young dog is getting some extra hugs from his owner after going missing close to a waterfall in Co Antrim.

The search for 19-month-old German shepherd Koba started at around 10pm on Sunday evening, close to Magheramorne Presbyterian Church outside Larne, Co Antrim.

Owner William Herron said he spent around 45 minutes trying to find and rescue his dog.

William Herron with Koba (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Wire)

The alarm was then raised with the emergency services at a waterfall close to Ballypollard Road.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said officers attended the scene at 11.49pm with two fire appliances from Larne as well as a rescue team from Central Fire Station in Belfast.

A spokesperson said rope was used to rescue the man and dog, with the incident dealt with by 1.55am on Monday.
By Victoria Klesty and Essi Lehto

STOCKHOLM/OSLO (Reuters) - Embattled Scandinavian airline SAS and unions representing pilots will resume negotiations on Wednesday to try and agree a new labour deal to end a one-week strike.

SAS has cancelled more than 1,200 flights since July 4 when talks with many of its pilots over a new collective bargaining agreement collapsed and they launched the crippling strike. "What has now happened is that we have asked the parties to gather in Stockholm from Wednesday," Swedish mediator Jan Sjolin said.

Henrik Thyregod, head of the Danish pilots union told Reuters he was certain an outcome would be reached but was unsure of how long the negotiations would take.

"I expect to discuss ... a collective bargaining agreement so we can get the pilots back in the cockpit and the passengers back in the air," he said.

Spokespeople for SAS and the Norwegian and Swedish pilot unions also confirmed the talks will resume but declined to elaborate on the content or expected outcome.

The airline said on Monday it had informed mediators that it wishes to resume negotiations with the aim of "reaching a new collective agreement".

"SAS understands that continued mediation requires concessions from both parties and SAS is willing to take its responsibility in that process," it said in a statement.

BIG BUMPS The loss-making carrier has estimated the strike, now in its ninth day, is costing $10 million to $13 million a day.

"There are some big bumps. But there are also a lot of things that have been agreed upon. If they can use that as a stepping stone to get the last things in order, then it doesn't have to take long before there is an agreement," Sydbank's chief analyst Jacob Pedersen told Reuters.

The striking unions have been angered by SAS' decision to hire new pilots through two relatively new subsidiaries instead of first rehiring former employees dismissed during the pandemic, when almost half of its pilots were let go.

Story continues

Pedersen, when asked about the biggest point of contention, pointed to the rehiring and said pilots want to ensure that SAS does not just create new subsidiaries after entering into an agreement.

Having struggled for years, the airline on July 5 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, a move it said was brought forward by the strike. Flight tracking website FlightAware showed that 190 SAS flights, or 61% of those scheduled, were cancelled on Tuesday.

Shares in SAS, whose biggest owners are Sweden and Denmark, were up 7.6% at 0925 GMT. Year-to-date, they have still lost more than half of their value.

(Reporting by Victoria Klesty in Oslo, Helena Soderpalm and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Essi Lehto in Helsinki, Nikolaj Skydsgaard in Copenhagen and Jamie Freed in Sydney; Writing by Anna Ringstrom and Stine Jacobsen; editing by Jason Neely and Kirsten Donovan)
FILE - In this photo provided by the US Embassy in Turkey, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, examines aid materials at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Turkey and Syria, June 3, 2021. Supporters of a one-year extension of humanitarian aid deliveries from Turkey to 4.1 million Syrians in the rebel-held northwest, which Russia vetoed, are calling on Monday, July 11, 2022 for a Security Council vote on Moscows proposal for a six-month extension. (US Embassy in Turkey via AP, File)

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Supporters of a one-year extension of humanitarian aid deliveries from Turkey to 4.1 million Syrians in the rebel-held northwest gave in to Russia's demand for a six-month extension, paving the way for quick approval of a new U.N. resolution Tuesday

Ireland and Norway, who sponsored the yearlong extension that Russia vetoed Friday, circulated a new draft resolution Monday for a six-month extension of deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing until Jan. 10, 2023. As Russia demanded, a new Security Council resolution will be required for a further six-month extension until July 10.

Brazil's U.N. Mission, which holds the council presidency this month, scheduled a vote for Tuesday morning.

The draft resolution is almost identical to the Russian draft resolution that failed to get council support last Friday.

At the heart of the apparent backdown by supporters of a year-long extension is Russias adamant refusal to consider any timetable beyond six months, and the fact that the Security Councils last mandate, for a year, ended Sunday stranding U.N. cross-border deliveries.

In Fridays votes, the Ireland-Norway draft resolution for a one-year extension was supported by 13 countries, with China abstaining and Russia using its veto to defeat the measure.

Council members then voted on the rival Russian resolution for a six-month extension which got only 2 yes votes, with China the only country to join its ally Russia in supporting the resolution. The three other veto-wielding permanent council members  the United States, Britain and France  voted against it and 10 countries abstained. The vetoes were not needed, however, because the resolution failed to get the minimum nine yes votes required for approval.

U.S. ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned after Fridays votes that I have long said this is a life-and-death issue and people will die because of this vote.

Thomas-Greenfield, who visited Bab al-Hawa in June, said aid workers told her that a six-month renewal would be a disaster for their supply lines. They told her it would mean lifesaving assistance would shut off in the dead of winter when needs are at their highest, which would be a nightmare scenario for a region where millions of people are still displaced.

Story continues

But Russias deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told reporters there was 99% agreement on a resolution and said Russia wouldnt support a nine-month extension, suggested as a compromise by Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.

Unless council members decide to go with the Russian six-month proposal, Polyansky said, he saw no possibility for an agreement. Asked whether that meant that Russia would veto any proposed resolution that didnt follow its draft with a six-month timeline, he replied: Obviously.

That left the rest of the council with no alternative but a six-month extension if they want to see the continuation of cross-border deliveries that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and more than 30 non-governmental organizations also consider crucial.

One addition to the new draft calls for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to provide a report on humanitarian needs in Syria by Dec. 10 to assess the impact of a possible border closing in January if the resolution isn't renewed.

The draft also calls for Guterres to brief the council monthly and issue reports at least every 60 days on the progress of cross-line deliveries, humanitarian assistance delivered from Turkey, and early recovery projects" in Syria that Russia has pushed for.

Northwest Idlib is the last rebel-held bastion in Syria and a region where an al-Qaida-linked militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is the strongest. The U.N. said recently that the first 10 years of the Syrian conflict, which started in 2011, killed more than 300,000 civilians, the highest official estimate of civilian casualties.

Russia, a close ally of Syrias government, has repeatedly called for stepped up humanitarian aid deliveries to the northwest from within Syria, across conflict lines. This would give Syrian President Bashar Assads government more control.

In early July 2020, China and Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution that would have maintained two border crossing points from Turkey for humanitarian aid to Idlib. Days later, the council authorized the delivery of aid through just one of those crossings, Bab al-Hawa.

In a compromise with Russia, that one-year mandate was extended on July 9, 2021, for six months, with an additional six months subject to a substantive report from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. This was effectively a year-long mandate because a second resolution wasnt needed.

Before last weeks vote, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric called cross-border aid critical for men, women and children in the northwest and stressed the importance of long-term planning, including costs, in supporting a year-long extension.
You are here: Business

China's auto exports sustained their growth momentum last month, hitting a record high and soaring 57.4 percent year on year, industry data showed on Monday.

In June, auto companies exported a total of 249,000 vehicles, climbing 1.8 percent from a month earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Some 198,000 passenger cars were exported last month, jumping 65.6 percent from the previous year, and exports of commercial vehicles stood at 51,000 units, an increase of 32.4 percent, the association said.

In the first half, China's auto exports rose 47.1 percent year on year to nearly 1.22 million units.

New energy vehicles have become a bright spot of China's auto exports, with some Chinese brands entering the markets of developed countries such as many in Europe, with growing global recognition and increasing competitiveness, the association noted.

Exports of new energy vehicles came in at 202,000 units in the first six months, skyrocketing 130 percent.
WWF-VIET NAM: CALLS FOR PROPOSAL

Development of Eco-tourism master plans for Bach Ma National Park, Phong Dien Nature Reserve, and Sao La Nature Reserve for the period of 2022-2030"

WWF - Viet Nam, USAID Biodiversity Conservation would like to invite consultants to submit their proposal for the Development of Eco-tourism master plans for Bach Ma National Park, Phong Dien Nature Reserve, and Sao La Nature Reserve for the period of 2022-2030."

Detailed information can be found here: vietnam.panda.org/en/get_involved/jobs/?uNewsID=374917

HOW TO APPLY:

Consultants are invited to submit electronic proposals via email. Consultants who intend to submit electronic proposals must observe the following instructions:

The proposal shall be separated in two files: one for the technical proposal and one for the financial proposal.

- The file for the financial proposal shall be protected by a password which shall be kept with the consultant. If the consultant passes the technical requirement threshold, WWF-Viet Nam would then request the password to open the financial proposal file. However, if the consultant loses the password or in case the file cannot be opened, WWF-Viet Nam will not assume responsibility.

- The electronic file shall be in the form of MS word or MS excel or PDF.

- Please send the electronic proposal to WWF-Viet Nams designated mailbox at procurement@wwf.org.vn .

- Your e-mail must have the subject heading Ref FY22-1441/BCA- [name of consultant]  Proposal Submission.

- Please be aware that bids or proposals emailed to WWF-Viet Nam will be rejected if they are received after the deadline. As an email may take some time to arrive after it is sent, especially if it contains a lot of information, we advise all consultants to send email submissions well before the deadline.

- The maximum size per email that WWF-Viet Nam can receive is 25MB.

The deadline for submission is June 13, 2022 at 5pm (ICT).
HA NOI  The EU has always been the most important partner of Viet Nam as the latter has always been an attractive investment destination for European firms, according to Pham Tan Cong, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at the Viet Nam-EU Agribusiness Forum on July 11.

Cong said the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has improved bilateral trade and kept Viet Nam afloat at a growth rate of 2.58 per cent during the pandemic. In 2021, Vietnamese exports to the EU hit US$40.6 billion and imports hit $16.89 billion, up over 14 per cent year-on-year.

The EU remains Viet Nams third-largest agricultural importer with an annual turnover of $5.5 billion. However, the figures account for just 4 per cent of the EUs total agricultural imports, indicating that room for trade growth is still ample for Vietnamese producers.

He recommended EU investors consider pouring money into four northern provinces  Hung Yen, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong and Hai Duong  since they are the most economically dynamic provinces in Viet Nam.

These provinces boast energic local governments, favourable conditions for investment, the best highways, international airports, deep-water ports, industrial parks and a population of seven million, well-suited for high-quality agricultural production that would bring more Vietnamese tropical produce to the EU market.

Phung uc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, remarked that EU and Vietnamese agricultural exports never compete but support each other.

Viet Nam exports coffee, nuts, pepper, seafood and wood products to the EU whereas trade includes agricultural equipment, machines and animal feed in the other direction.

Agro-forestry-fishery trade between the two partners rose from $4.3 billion in 2015 to $5.2 billion in 2021, and reached $2.7 billion in the first five months of 2022.

The deputy minister underscored the EU as a key partner and a large importer of Vietnamese farm produce. Bilateral commercial figures have been increasing steadily since the EVFTA came into effect.

He said his ministry is ready to closely cooperate with the EU in trade facilitation, to ensure technical requirements be applied in line with global norms and no trade barriers be established without adequate evidence.

He also said Viet Nam aims to leverage more EU foreign direct investments to develop agricultural knowledge and establish a circular and organic agriculture to help Vietnamese producers gain ground in global markets.

"We hope that Vietnamese and European firms join forces to build strong agricultural value chains that help bring the two markets closer," he added.

Janusz Wojciechowski, EU High Commissioner for Agriculture, asserted that Viet Nam has become an important partner of the EU in Southeast Asia since the EVFTA took effect in 2020.

Thanks to the agreement, EU customers have had a chance to get a taste of Vietnamese tea and coffee and get their hands on various other products including nuts, spices and fruit.

Some of these products were granted Protected geographical indication such as Luc Ngan seedless lychees and Bao Lam seedless persimmons. Others products benefited greatly from the preferential tariffs under EVFTA, entering the EU market duty-free.

However, the commissioner remarked that bilateral trade has been skewed in favour of Viet Nam by around 1 billion euros. He opined that both sides should create a more balanced trade pattern in the short term to maintain sound commercial relations.

He also expressed his wish to discuss with Vietnamese authorities on the abolishment of some existing trade barriers related to phytosanitary standards to further boost bilateral trade. Viet Nam's mounting excise tax on alcoholic beverages is also a matter of concern for EU exporters.

He revealed that the EU will support Vietnamese cacao through a project of around 1.6 million euros in the coming years. The project is part of a series of EU projects designed to help Viet Nam develop sustainable agriculture and deal with environmental problems.  VNS
HCM CITY  After a long lull due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HCM City is seeing increasing demand for MICE (meeting, incentive, convention, exhibition) tourism from both Vietnamese and foreign customers.

As Viet Nams economic hub, the city has many businesses with demand for MICE tourism as they seek to combine business and pleasure to thank employees, customers and partners after the difficult pandemic period.

Vietravel Company said since the start of this year it has served 300 MICE delegations with over 20,000 people.

Saigontourist Company has organized MICE tours for 14,000 people.

MICE business have boomed. After the Lunar New Year holiday in February Saigontourist has organised big tours for businesses to hold review meetings and ceremonies for awarding employees. In March we had a record 750 delegates on the a Nang-Hoi An tour, Hoang Thuy Linh, deputy director of marketing and IT at Saigontourist, said.

Vu Thi Thanh Hien, deputy director of the five-star Hotel Grand Saigon, said: [My] hotel has capitalised on this market. We will continue to improve services, products and accommodation. We also enhance marketing of the city  as MICE organisers.

The city Department of Tourism has organised training courses for tour guides, restaurants and hotels on food safety and hygiene and signed pacts with other sectors to better serve tourists.

It has also signed agreements with the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) and the Viet Nam Airport Ground Services Co Ltd (VIAGS) for boosting tourism.

It will work with EuroCham to promote MICE and cuisine tourism to the city in 2022-24.

They will strengthen market research and human resources training, and share experiences in tourism management and operation.

They will step up direct promotion to popularise the city among more European firms and citizens in the country and abroad.

EuroCham chairman Alain Cany said the tourism sector is recovering and EuroCham appreciated Viet Nams reopening to tourists and the visa exemption for Europeans.

EuroCham hopes to help the city strengthen its capacity to research, develop its website and train human resources, he added.

In 2022-27 the city and VIAGS will co-ordinate for market research and developing a tourism trademark for the city, thus attracting more MICE tourists.

Travel companies said the favourite destinations in the country for MICE tours are Phu Quoc Island and a Nang, Nha Trang, a Lat, Phan Thiet, Vung Tau, Sa Pa, and ien Bien cities.

Customers prefer destinations with natural scenic spots and good infrastructure and services to accommodate large delegations.  VNS
Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai.  VNA/VNS Photo

BEIJING  Thanks to efforts from both sides, friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Viet Nam and China has recorded many new positive developments recently, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai.

The diplomat recently granted an interview to Beijing-based correspondents of Vietnamese press agencies ahead of a visit to China on July 12-13 by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, chairman of the steering committee for Viet Nam-China cooperation, at the invitation of Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also chairman of the steering committee for China-Viet Nam cooperation. During the trip, Minh will co-chair the steering committees 14th meeting in Nanning city of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Assessing bilateral relations, the ambassador said high-level meetings have been maintained in flexible forms, which has greatly helped enhance political trust between the two Parties and countries. Cooperation via the Party-to-Party, defence, public security, and locality-to-locality channels has been sustained.

Economic and trade ties have developed stably, he said, noting that China remains the largest trading partner and the second-biggest export market of Viet Nam. At the same time, Viet Nam also continues to rank first in ASEAN and sixth globally among trading partners of China.

According to customs authorities of Viet Nam, bilateral trade reached US$165.8 billion in 2021 and $64.06 billion in the first five months of 2022, respectively rising 24.6 per cent and 13.3 per cent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, China ranks sixth among 139 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam with total registered capital of $22.31 billion as of June 2022.

In addition, substantive outcomes have been recorded in the two countries' cooperation against COVID-19, Mai said, adding that China is one of the largest suppliers of COVID-19 vaccines for Viet Nam, helping to effectively bring the pandemic under control.

Regarding border and territorial issues, the ambassador said the land border has stayed peaceful and stable, with both sides coordinating closely to properly settle issues emerging on the basis of the three legal documents on the land border. The situation at sea has seen some new complicated factors, but it is basically stable as the two sides have maintained dialogue and negotiation channels and made efforts to control disagreements on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Viet Nam and China have also actively worked with each other at multilateral forums, especially ASEAN and the UN, to promote peace, stability and cooperation in the region and the world. They have supported each other in international organisations, he said.

Highlighting the significance of the coming visit by Deputy PM Minh, Mai said the trip reflects both sides resolve to maintain close contact between the two Parties and countries so as to further strengthen political trust. It will help effectively implement Vietnamese and Chinese leaders common perceptions in order to develop friendship and win-win cooperation in a result-oriented manner. The two sides will review bilateral cooperation since the steering committees 13th meeting in September 2021 and discuss major orientations and concrete measures for promoting bilateral ties in all aspects.

He held that to further bring into play the potential and advantages of bilateral cooperation, Viet Nam and China should coordinate closely with each other to seriously and fully carry out their leaders common perceptions, as well as bilateral agreements, tackle difficulties and obstacles, and improve cooperation quality in all spheres.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam always attaches importance to its traditional friendship and comprehensive partnership with Argentina, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has said.

While receiving the Argentinean Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, Santiago Andres Cafiero, in Ha Noi on Monday, PM Chinh said Viet Nam had always treasured and remembered the solidarity and traditional friendship that the Argentinean people reserved for their Vietnamese counterparts in the past struggle for national liberation and the current cause of national construction, reflected by the Argentinean Governments donation of 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Viet Nam in November 2021.

He expressed his belief that Cafieros visit would contribute to strengthening and developing the Viet Nam  Argentina comprehensive partnership for the sake of their people and contributing to peace, stability and development in the two regions and the world as well.

The Prime Minister noted with pleasure the fruitful outcomes of the talks between the two foreign ministers on the same day and asked the two sides to closely coordinate with each other to promote high-level visits and meetings and build plans to organise celebrations for the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties (October 25, 1973  2023).

He requested the two sides enhance the efficiency of existing cooperation mechanisms such as the Inter-Government Committee for Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation and the Political Consultation between the two foreign ministries; and maintain bilateral coordination and mutual support at international organisations and multilateral forums, thereby contributing positively to dealing with regional and global issues.

PM Chinh spoke highly of the growth of two-way trade which reached US$4.5 billion in 2021, adding that Argentina continued to be the third biggest trade partner of Viet Nam in Latin America.

He proposed Argentina create favourable conditions for Viet Nams goods to enter the Argentinean market, especially agro-forestry-aquatic products, and agreed to Argentinas proposals on cooperation in energy development and hi-tech agriculture.

The government leader also suggested Argentina, which has advantages in science and technology, increase technical assistance, technology transfer and share its experience with Viet Nam in sustainable agricultural development, ensuring energy security, energy transition in response to climate change, and digital transformation.

The two countries should also step up cooperation in the fields of culture  sports, security  defence and people-to-people exchange, he added.

Cafiero congratulated Viet Nam on its great achievements in the renewal process and the fight against COVID-19, and expressed his belief in the countrys post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and development programme, thus maintaining macroeconomy and ensuring social security and sustainable development.

He affirmed that the Argentinean Government attached great importance to Viet Nams growing role and position in the region and the world, and wanted to bring the bilateral comprehensive partnership to a new height.

The minister also pledged to urge Argentinean ministries and sectors to coordinate with the Vietnamese side to concretise the Prime Ministers proposals, thereby making the bilateral friendship and multifaceted cooperation more practical and effective, towards building a strategic partnership in the spheres of energy and agriculture.  VNS
HA NOI  The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has assessed that the construction of a road through the ong Nai biosphere reserve, to connect Binh Phuoc and ong Nai provinces, should not go ahead as it would have a great impact on the ecosystem of the reserve.

The assessment featured in a report signed by Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan last week that was sent to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Authorities in ong Nai Province consulted with UNESCO over the construction of a bridge and road in the biosphere reserve.

The planned Ma a Bridge and National Highway 13C would have run through approximately 40km of the reserve, which is considered the green lungs of the southeast.

Officials were concerned over the possible effects it would have on the ecosystem and habitat of wildlife.

The National Committee for the Programme on Man and the Biosphere of Viet Nam (MABVN) recommended the bridge not be built, saying it would have a serious impact on the core area and the conservation of three national historical relic sites.

Over the years, the province has protected forest areas, planted new trees and rare animals have re-appeared.

If the bridge is given the green light, UNESCO could use their powers to revoke the title of World Biosphere Reserve.

After the province received feedback from UNESCO, it reported to the Government and the Prime Minister for further consideration.

Implementing the Prime Ministers request, after working with concerned ministries, localities and organisations, the MoT concluded that it was necessary to study the building of a road directly connecting the two provinces.

But the ong Nai biosphere reserve has been recognised by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve in 2011. It has many ecosystems, including many species of plants and animals on the list of endangered and rare precious species.

Since 1997, ong Nai Province has had a policy that prevents vehicles from passing through the core zone and preserves the existing natural forest areas.

The MoT, therefore, has concluded that the option to build a road going through the core area of the biosphere reserve was impossible.

It proposed the second option, which connects Binh Phuoc Province with Ring Road 4 and does not run through the Ma a Bridge.

The road will start in ong Xoai City, running towards ong Phu-Binh Duong and Bac Tan Uyen-Phu Giao-Bau Bang, then to the Ring Road 4 and HCM City.

It will be about 71km in length with a total investment of about VN530 billion (US$22.6 million).

The MoT assessed that this route was the shortest with the least investment. Travel time is shortened due to taking advantage of the Ring Road 4-HCM City. It reduces overloading on the existing routes connecting Binh Phuoc Province and the Central Highlands provinces.

The MoT has proposed provinces research building a road that does not run through the Ma a Bridge.  VNS
A Waco man pleaded guilty Monday assaulting a Waco police officer in December 2020.

Joe Clakely, 27, of Waco, entered a negotiated plea of guilty to to a second-degree felony charge of assaulting a police officer and third-degree felony charge of evading arrest in a vehicle. Police said an officer was attempting to arrest Clakely in connection to a criminal mischief incident when Clakely attempted to flee in his vehicle, hitting the officer with his side mirror. The officer was not seriously injured and assisted with Clakelys arrest on the evading arrest and assault charges.

Clakely had no prior felony or misdemeanor convictions.

His defense attorney, John Donahue, joined with prosecutor Kristen Duron of the McLennan County District Attorneys Office in recommending deferred adjudication probation for six years and a $500 fine for each charge.

Judge Susan Kelly of the 54th State District Court accepted Clakelys plea of guilty Monday on both charges, but she ordered a presentencing investigation instead of sentencing him. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled for Clakely after the results of the investigation and Judge Kelly may at that time abide by the recommended sentence, sentence him up to the maximum for each offense or add her own terms and conditions in addition to the recommended sentence.

The Texas criminal code allows a sentence for the first charge of two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The second charge would be punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The original criminal mischief incident took place on Dec. 19, 2020, the Tribune-Herald previously reported. Waco police were called just after 2 a.m. to the 2500 block of South 27th Street about Clakely kicking his cousins vehicle, police said at the time. When police arrived, Clakely was sitting in a nearby vehicle and attempted to flee.

As he was fleeing, the man accelerated towards the officers and struck one of the officers with his drivers side mirror, striking our officer in the elbow, a press release from that time stated. After this, the officers ran to their vehicle as the suspect continued to flee from them.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has urged young people across the Taiwan Strait to jointly strive for the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Xi made the remarks in a letter replying to young people from Taiwan who are attending the Straits Youth Forum held in Xiamen, Fujian Province, from Monday to Tuesday.

Xi said in the letter that he was glad to learn that the young people from Taiwan have found a stage on the mainland to realize their dreams, witnessed the rapid development and changes of the motherland, and felt the warm feelings between compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait who are all of the same family.

"We will, as always, create favorable conditions for young people across the Taiwan Strait to learn from each other and provide more convenience for young people from Taiwan to study, work, start businesses and live on the mainland," read the letter.

Xi expressed his hope that the young people from Taiwan can share more of their experiences on and feelings about the mainland with those in Taiwan so that more Taiwan youth will get to know the mainland and join hands with mainland youth to strive relentlessly for national rejuvenation.

Founded in 2003, the Straits Youth Forum is an important platform for youth exchanges across the Taiwan Strait. Fifty young people from Taiwan, who have been invited to attend this year's forum, wrote Xi a letter in which they stated their firm resolve to contribute to national rejuvenation and reunification.




The tally of McLennan County patients hospitalized for COVID-19 rebounded to a four-month high Monday after a weekend dip in admissions, while the BA.5 variant continued to gain prevalence across Texas and U.S.

The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District reported 26 hospital cases Monday, tying with July 5 as the highest number since early March. Hospitalizations had dropped from 18 to 8 between Friday and Sunday.

Generally people get discharged (from hospitals) by the end of the week then the new cases start (Monday), said Stephanie Alvey, assistant director at the health district.

McLennan County has seen a summertime upswing in hospitalizations and cases that mirrors statewide trends as new strains of the virus sweep Texas.

The omicron subvariant BA.5 is gaining prevalance over other subvariants, Texas Department of State Health Services spokesperson Douglas Loveday said in a Monday email reponse to questions.

This indicates that it may be more transmissible than the other omicron subvariants, Loveday said. Some early research suggests that BA.5 may also evade immunity a bit more than some other Omicron subvariants.

The state health department expects that the vaccines will continue to provide protection against omicron variants, especially against severe disease and death, Loveday said.

Anyone due for a COVID-19 vaccine booster should consider getting that booster as soon as possible, Loveday said.

There is still research ongoing to try to determine the severity of BA.5 cases, he said.

At this time, though, all of the omicron subvariants seem to be causing less severe disease than what occurred with earlier variants, Loveday said. And BA.5 does not appear to be causing more severe illness than what we have seen with previous omicron subvariants.

COVID-19 community levels in McLennan County continue to be assessed as "medium" in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tool.

Alvey said the health district follows the precaution recommendations from the CDC community levels.

At a medium community level, the CDC says people who are immunocompromised, or have another factor (or health condition) placing them at higher risk for severe disease, should wear masks in public, Alvey said.

Public health officials always assume there are more cases than they know about, Alvey said.

Thats why the CDC changed from transmission rates to community levels, which consider hospitalization rates and new hospitalizations as well as numbers of new cases, she said.

Public testing sites were discontinued this spring in McLennan County, and at-home tests are not reported, leading to an unknown undercount factor.

Daily new cases exceeded 120 on the health district dashboard three days in the past week, but only twice went that high in the three weeks before that.

With case rates increasing, Alvey said the chance of being exposed to COVID-19 is increased.

If you feel sick, dont assume its allergies," she said. "Get tested with a home kit, or at a doctors office."

The health department website shows that many commercial pharmacies and labs in the area provide lab testing as well, with insurance usually picking up any testing fees.

As the pandemic advances in its third year, the Associated Press recently reported, its easy to feel confused by the mixed picture: Repeat infections are increasingly likely, and a sizeable share of those infected will face the lingering symptoms of long COVID-19.

Still, the risk of death has diminished since the height of the pandemic.

And thats because were now at a point that everyones immune system has seen either the virus or the vaccine two or three times by now, Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the AP. Over time, the body learns not to overreact when it sees this virus.

What were seeing is that people are getting less and less ill on average, Dowdy said.
HOUSTON  While Texans on Monday avoided potentially dangerous emergency power conditions such as rolling blackouts amid sweltering temperatures, the state power grid will continue to teeter during similar days until it can line up more power generators, experts say.

The Electrical Reliability Council of Texas, the state grid manager, staved off emergency conditions despite record-breaking demand as the official temperature in Houston reached 101 degrees.

ERCOT officials credited Texans for heeding calls to conserve electricity between 2 and 8 p.m., as well as the production of reserve power. Nevertheless, Texas shattered the previous power consumption record at 4:25 p.m., with demand reaching 78,284 megawatts, and The Dallas Morning News reported ERCOTs grid and market dashboard showed demand reaching a peak of 78,379 megawatts at roughly 4:40 p.m. One megawatt is enough electricity to power about 200 homes.

Monday was yet another day, however, when officials were forced to warn of tight grid conditions. Demand for power has broken the all-time record eight times in the past few months. Before that, the previous record was 74,820 megawatts set in 2019.

While demand on the self-contained Texas grid, which provides about 90 percent of the state's power needs, continues to grow, supply has not kept up. It will continue to squeak by, says University of Houston energy fellow Ed Hirs, until the state can provide financial incentives for companies to provide additional power generation.

"Just because you get across Westheimer blindfolded and drunk one time doesn't mean you'll be able to do it again," Hirs said. "This is going to continue to be a crisis until we add real reserves to the market."

But providers are hesitant to build new power generation facilities in Texas until they have more certainty about the future of the state's deregulated power market. The Public Utility Commission, which oversees ERCOT, is in the midst of changing how power is priced and sold in Texas. The PUC has hired a third-party consultant to study several proposals for new market designs, but final plans aren't expected until later this year or possibly early next year.

"Until the PUC pulls their heads out of the sand and addresses the fact that nobody is going to invest in a grid that doesn't let them make money, this is going to keep happening," Hirs said.

Amanda Frazier, senior vice president of regulatory policy with power generation and retail behemoth Vistra, has said that the uncertainty, along with temporary, unilateral changes made by ERCOT and the PUC, have cooled plans for investment.

"We have no current plans to build a new gas generator," she told the state energy plan advisory committee in late June. "And we have existing gas plants that aren't recovering their costs and are at risk of retirement."

Even if the market was redesigned instantly, and it gave companies incentives to build dispatchable generation units like utility-scale batteries and peaker plants, it would take years for them to come online, said Michele Richmond, executive director of the Texas Competitive Power Advocates, a trade group that represents thermal generators. ERCOT's permitting process takes several years before crews can break ground, she said, and construction of a facility takes another two.

"This is not just a 'this summer' problem," she said. "It's a 2024 problem and a 2025 problem."

Wind debate

On Monday, however, ERCOT placed some of the blame for tight conditions on the state's fleet of wind turbines, which they said produced 8 percent of its capacity  or about 2,700 megawatts  when the margin between supply and demand was thinnest, between 2 and 3 p.m.

By 5 p.m., with power demand at its peak, wind power contributed 6,861 megawatts to the grid.

Onshore wind has always produced more energy in the evenings and nights, said Doug Lewin, president of the Stoic Energy consulting firm. Wind energy was forecast to produce more than 14,300 megawatts by 11:59 p.m. Monday, for example.

He said ERCOT officials also blamed wind for a conservation notice sent out in May, a day when 3,000 megawatts of thermal power tripped offline. Blaming wind for systemic issues has become a pattern for the state, Lewin said. He said the wind generated during peak demand hours on Monday was 120 percent more than ERCOT forecasters said they prepared for during low-wind summer day scenarios.

"If you can't operate the grid with 120 percent more wind than you expect on a low-wind day, that begs a lot of questions," he said. "Wind is their favorite thing to blame. It's easier than taking responsibility for things they haven't been doing that they should have been doing."

___

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One of the big films historic aviation enthusiasts are on the lookout for is the Korean War epic Devotion by director J.D. Dillard. The Jonathan Majors-starring film released its first trailer back in May, and originally had a release date set for October 28, but now Sony Pictures has moved the films wide release to November 23. This places the war film in the heart of the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The film is based on true events depicted in the best-selling novel by Adam Makos titled Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice, which follows two of the Navys most celebrated fighter pilots during a deadly struggle during the Korean War.

On December 4th, 1950, the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir was raging, a Marine Division was encircled, and legendary F4U Corsair pilots Tom Hudner and Jesse Brown flew into combat. Within hours, one of the duo would be shot down and the other would do something so remarkable it would lead the captain of his aircraft carrier, the USS Leyte, to say: There has never been a finer act of unselfish heroism in military history.

The movie will feature a significant number of vintage combat aircraft from the Korean War period, including at least four Corsairs, and the production company has gone to significant lengths to both ensure historical accuracy and hire the best aerial performers and filmmakers in the business. Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras, Oregon, took part in the flying for the winter sequences in the mountainous terrain around Pasco, Washington, and along the Snake River nearby. Erickson supplied its F4U-7 (dressed as Ens Browns F4U-4) and AD-4 Skyraider. Dan Friedkins F4U-4 and F8F also took part in the aerial scenes out West. The CAF Airbase Georgias FG-1D Corsair was also repainted to represent one of the picture planes for more distant scenes in the Savannah area as well. Planes of Fame supplied their F4U-1 Corsair painted as an F4U-4, MiG-15, and F8F for filming as well.

We too believe Devotion is a story which needs to reach a significant audience. It is a compelling story of deep humanity that reaches far beyond the bravery of heroic acts in wartime, and cant fail to resonate with any but the hardest of hearts.

It is worth mentioning that Top Gun: Maverick aerial DoP Michael FitzMaurice and Aerial Coordinator/Helicopter Camera Pilot Kevin LaRosa Jr are among the crew that coordinate the aerial cinematography for Devotion.
After a proposal to spend a round of CARES Act funding on playground equipment was turned down, the city will hold another hearing to try and give that funding to services agencies, the city and public and parochial schools.
WATERLOO  After Jeff Frost applied for a nursing apprenticeship grant, he thought it had had fallen through the cracks at Waterloo Community Schools.

But the districts executive director of professional technical education was happy to the report to the Board of Education Monday his concerns were misplaced.

Waterloo Schools recently learned that it was awarded a $176,762 Health Careers Registered Apprenticeship grant from the state. Frost originally applied for almost $300,000.

The board accepted the funds, giving the district the ability to put 30 certified nursing assistants on the job every year. The money will go toward offering job opportunities to students with area health care businesses.

The district is one of eight applicants to receive a total of $2.45 million. Other awardees include Bettendorf, Boone, Central Decatur, Hampton-Dumont, and Pella community schools. In addition, Grant Wood Area Education Agency, which applied on behalf of 12 school districts, and Scott Enterprises/Health Tech Associates, a consortium including four school districts, were awarded grants.

Through the registered apprenticeship program, the Waterloo Career Center will take students enrolled in nurses aide courses and help them become CNAs, which will qualify them for paid health care positions while in high school. Frost said the goal is to train at least 30 CNAs yearly, with hopes those students would pursue higher education degrees in the field.

Frost said the career center has articulation agreements with Hawkeye Community College, Allen College and UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital as part of the apprenticeship program. Students who complete the nurses aide courses would continue on to Hawkeye for one year and then to Allen College. Hopefully, officials say, this will directly lead to a position with UnityPoint Health.

Staffing levels (at hospitals) are really tight and the levels of beds open is not because beds are filled, its because they dont have nurses to keep ratios down, Frost said, noting there are 5,400 open nursing positions in the state. Us working with Allen, Hawkeye and Unity Point to incentivize them ... further will be a pathway created between the career center, Hawkeye, Allen  all while working in the UnityPoint system.

Another part of the grant Frost highlighted is how students will be compensated through the program. He said if they have at least 30 students pass the courses, the school can offer to pay half of the students salary if hired at local business partners such as NewAldaya, UnityPoint Health, Cedar Valley Medical Specialists, MercyOne, Care Initiatives and Western Homes. Frost talked about students being paid for everything from clinicals to student teaching, which they arent normally compensated for.

Students can also receive stipends to help with transportation to their new jobs.

The targeted types of employers students would work for include assisted living facilities, long-term care, home health care, acute care, hospice and skilled care units  which combined affect at least 250,000 people, according to board documents.

Frost also said the grant is not specifically tied to nursing careers  it can be for students pursuing different occupations, as long as they take the nurses aide program at the career center.

This is a huge win for students and for the Cedar Valley, he added. I would say the career center gives students a competitive advantage more than any other high school institution in the state and it affirms  were doing amazing things for our students and letting them get to where they need to go.
WATERLOO  In between great dance numbers and the angst of rebellious teenagers, Footloose conveys an important message.

Ultimately its about listening to each other, said Greg Holt, who is directing the Waterloo Community Playhouse production of Footloose  The Musical, opening Friday. Performances run through July 24.

Based on the 1984 movie classic, the stage musical revolves around Ren (Aaron DeSantiago), a Chicago teen who finds himself stuck in a small town in the middle of nowhere. His dad left and his mom is struggling to stay afloat, so his aunt and uncle have given them a place to stay.

Ren hears the Rev. Shaw Moore (Brian McCarty) railing in church against the evils of rock n roll music and, later at school, finds out dancing is banned in the town of Bomont. Ren makes friends with fellow student and cowboy Williard (Sam Schillinger), his girl Rusty (Olivia Reiter), and meets and falls for Ariel (Lily Jensen), Moores defiant daughter.

Its a fun show, a classic Americana kind of story everyone knows  a small town and a kid who doesnt fit in who wants to change things, Holt explained.

Cast members range in ages from 11 to adult. Holt not only wanted to cast performers who worked well together and looked like they could be high school students, but who also possessed the trifecta of talent: Singing, dancing and acting, he said. Its a talented bunch, and were debuting at least 22 performers who are new to WCP.

COVID-19 shut down rehearsal for a week earlier in the schedule, Holt said. We had a few challenges, but now everybody is healthy and putting a lot of energy into the show. This is a hard-working and dedicated cast.

DeSantiago likes his characters free-spirited nature and ability to see the best in people. Its charming the way Ren comes into town and tries to free everyone up a bit, he said.

At 26, the University of Northern Iowa student is the same age as Kevin Bacon when he played Ren in the movie. Playing a teenager has been a bit challenging simply because as an adult, Ive created more filters. So I also had to allow myself to be more free, to have this constant movement on stage.

There are scenes where Im doing flips and singing through it all. Im having a lot of fun  and making sure Im not running out of breath in the middle of a song, DeSantiago said, with a laugh.

The musical moves quickly through multiple locations on the set designed by Holt.

He wanted to recreate the ambiance and look from the 1980s, including costumes and makeup.

Some of the cast members are duplicating their parents looks from their high school yearbooks from the 80s, so that makes it fun, Holt said.

Cast members will perform to pre-recorded music soundtracks instead of a live band because its big orchestration, and we only have so much space to get everything on stage with 35 cast members singing and dancing, the director explained.

Music director is Mark Jurgenson and choreographer is Destiny (Tru) Cyrus.

The Tony Award-nominated musical features several Grammy and Academy Award-nominated songs. The audience will recognize Footloose, Almost Paradise, Lets Hear It For The Boy and Holding Out For A Hero. Other songs were written specifically for the 1998 musical.

The singing and dancing is amazing. I think the audience will be inspired and want to get up and dance, Holt added.
The cities of Iowa City and Coralville have reached a $390,000 civil settlement with a Coralville man who was wrongly accused of drunken driving even without any evidence of alcohol or drugs in his system  which caused him to lose his apartment and job and delayed treatment for a brain injury.

Anthony Watson sued the two cities and two police officers  Iowa City Officer Travis Graves and Coralville Officer Jeff Reinhard  for negligence resulting in personal injury, false arrest, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and malicious prosecution, according to the petition.

The settlement is on the agenda for the Iowa City Council to approve Tuesday. Iowa City will pay half  $195,000  and Coralville will pay the other half, according to the resolution approving the settlement.

Watson's lawyer, Marty Diaz, declined to comment last week.

On Dec. 16, 2017, Watson stopped at the Casey's store on the corner of Dubuque and Market streets to get gas and was approached by Graves, who was investigating a reckless driving incident. The officer hadn't witnessed it but was sent to that location by a dispatcher who had a report of a reckless driver.

Graves interviewed Watson and asked him to perform field sobriety tests, which he passed. Graves then asked him to take a preliminary breath test, which Watson did and it showed no alcohol use.

The officer was suspicious that Watson might be under the influence of a drug and requested assistance from Reinhard to perform a drug use evaluation at the Iowa City Police Department. Watson agreed to go there for the evaluation, according to the suit.

The evaluation, which is an unscientific and subjective assessment, the lawsuit noted, determined Watson was under the influence of marijuana despite the lack of drug testing.

Watson then agreed to provide a urine specimen, which also came back negative for marijuana or any other drug. But Reinhard and Graves still arrested him for OWI, first offense, a serious misdemeanor. However, Reinhard failed to disclose the results of the urine specimen test in his arrest report.

At the time of arrest, the officers knew they didn't have probable cause to make the arrest, and also knew Watson was on parole so he would face an additional charge for violating his parole and would likely remain in jail pending his trial, the lawsuit contends.

On Dec. 17, Graves filed his criminal complaint against Watson, which also failed to disclose the lack of breath and urine testing, according to the suit. One of the officers also contacted a parole officer about Watson's arrest and the parole officer filed a report against Watson for violating his parole.

A criminal charge against Watson was filed Jan. 9, 2018 by the Johnson County Attorney's Office.

The Coralville Police Department sent Watson's urine specimen taken on Dec. 16, 2017, for further testing, which came back Feb. 1, 2018. But there was no evidence of drug use, according to the suit.

Watson was finally released from the Johnson County Jail March 6, 2018, after being there since Dec. 16, 2017.

The Johnson County Attorney's office dismissed the charge against Watson April 9, 2018 for "anticipated problems of proof fatal to the prosecution  breath and toxicology came back negative for alcohol and/or controlled substances."

As a result of Watson being held in jail for months, he lost his apartment and job and he didn't get the medical care he needed for a brain injury, the suit contends. He had a seizure and wasn't immediately taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics where he was eventually admitted and treated for encephalopathy  damage or disease that affects the brain.

The arrest and delay in obtaining medical care resulted in a seizure and caused or contributed to the development of the brain damage, resulting in "immediate physical harm with potential long-term consequences," the suit stated.
DES MOINES  Gov. Kim Reynolds, with public health and law enforcement officials, detailed efforts to raise awareness of a dramatic rise in fentanyl seen in the state during a press conference Tuesday.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 100 times stronger than morphine, is often found in pills that have been pressed to look like prescription drugs such as OxyContin and Xanax. The amount of fentanyl can vary from pill to pill, leading someone to be unaware that theyre taking a lethal dose of the drug, Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Steve Bayens said at the conference.

The amount of fentanyl seized by law enforcement in Iowa has quadrupled since just last year, Bayens said. In the first six months of 2021, Iowa law enforcement analyzed around 17,000 pills containing fentanyl that were designed to look like prescription drugs. In the first half of 2022, that number was 70,000, Bayens said.

The volume of fentanyl seized by law enforcement throughout Iowa is shocking, even to the most veteran narcotics agents and drug chemists, he said.

Bayens described fentanyl as poison and said stopping drug trafficking in the state was a top priority of law enforcement.

Reynolds said the state Department of Health and Human Services will expand a public multimedia campaign targeted to preteens, teens and young adults to include messaging about the risks of fentanyl in counterfeit pills. The campaign was launched in May and currently focuses on suicide prevention.

She said the state is working to expand services for young adults who deal with substance abuse disorders, including an upcoming Ames-based youth recovery center being developed by YSS, a nonprofit that helps homeless youth. The project received $10 million in funding from Central Iowa Community Services, a state-sponsored organization, in 2021.

The earlier that young Iowans get treatment the higher the likelihood of long-term, successful sobriety, she said.

Deric and Kathy Kidd spoke at the press conference about the death of their 17-year-old son Sebastian, who died last year after they said he took half a pill that was sold as Percocet, but contained fentanyl.

Deric Kidd encouraged parents to talk to their children about drug use and the potential for overdose.

It doesnt matter what demographic you are from, it doesnt matter who your parents are, he said. Trust me when I tell you, you dont want to feel this pain. It never goes away.

Fentanyl deaths rising

Iowa has one of the lowest rates of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. at 14.3 per 100,000 in 2020, ranking 47th among the 50 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that number is going up, Reynolds said, and fentanyl was involved more than 80% of opioid-related deaths in recent years.

The rate of overdoses is increasing faster among young people. Iowa has seen a 120% increase in overdose deaths among people under the age of 25 since 2019, Reynolds said.

Its important that Iowans fully understand the deadly consequences of this drug, Reynolds said. So its my hope that by raising awareness well see a decrease in these overall deaths.  For too many people there are no second chances.

In June, five residents of Cass County were arrested on federal indictments and charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. The investigation came after five people overdosed on the drug and two died over three months in Cass and Shelby Counties, Bayens said.

Iowa State Medical Examiner Dennis Klein said during the press conference that the concentration of fentanyl found in autopsies after drug overdoses has been increasing recently. The presence of fentanyl in drug-related deaths examined by Kleins office has also doubled, from 23% to 46%.

This leads me to believe that the doses people are taking now have increased, and in many cases people are unaware of the doses that theyre actually taking, and in some cases may be unaware that theyre even taking fentanyl with deadly consequences, he said.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Steve Bayens name.
Bear Rant in a Therapy Session

I am not gonna talk about the power going out all afternoon two days ago and last night, yesterday, today and and and

Not gonna talk about reporting the fact the power was out (by multiple people and by my SweetPea online in the official help desk area) and no one showed up. Well once they showed up in the middle of the night and we had power for a few hours

Not gonna talk about people ignoring things. Like hey power is out and transformer is gonna blow up any day! Nah! It is all good and only a few people will die and maybe only half the village will burn down

Not gonna talk about the endless series of wild ass thunderstorms. Proceed like evil demons one after another, pounding our Tiny Russian Village into mush. Not gonna talk about it

Not gonna talk about all the food lost due to no power. Nope not gonna talk about it

Not gonna talk about losing a big plum tree and half a large Maple tree, due to winds from hell

There, now I feel so much better, not talking about it!

WtR

PS: But I will talk about: Moms home has power and this morning I just officially got moved and set up at her place

Not gonna talk about it
High-precision long-range sea-launched Kalibr missiles near Radushnoye in Dnepropetrovsk Region have destroyed ammunition depots for HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, M777 howitzers and 2S7 Pion self-propelled guns supplied to Ukraine by the US.

High-precision ground-based weapons near Chasov Yar in Donetsk Peoples Republic have destroyed temporary deployment point of 118th Brigade of Territorial Defence of AFU. The attack has resulted in the elimination of more than 300 nationalists.

As a result of surgical strikes by Russian Aerospace Forces against the positions of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries in Osnovyanskyi and Slobodskoye districts in Kharkov, about 250 militants and up to 25 armoured vehicles have been destroyed.

The enemy suffers significant losses in all directions.

Critical situation in 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of AFU operating near Seversk. Its combat losses amount over 70 per cent of its personnel. Brigade commanders deliberately mislead relatives of the dead soldiers by reporting them as missing or deserting.

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine.

High-precision weapons used of the Russian Aerospace Forces have neutralised command post of 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade near Artemovsk in Donetsk Peoples Republic, 10 areas of AFU manpower and military equipment concentration, including Aidar nationalist battalion near Kharkov, as well as armoury where over 200 tonnes of foreign-made anti-tank missile systems and missiles for them were stored.

Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery have neutralised 27 AFU command posts, 53 areas of Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, as well as 156 areas of manpower and military equipment concentration.

3 ammunition depots near Komsomolskoye and Partizanskoye in Nikolaev Region, as well as 1 Osa AKM anti-aircraft missile system near Seversk have been destroyed.

Su-35s fighter jet of the Russian Aerospace Forces has shot down 1 Su-25 aircraft of the Ukrainian air force near Bogatyr in Donetsk Peoples Republic.

In addition, Russian air defence means shot down 12 rockets of Uragan multiple-launch rocket system near Izyum in Kharkov Region, Novodachnoye, Yubileinoye, Slavyanoserbsk in Lugansk Peoples Republic, Novaya Kakhovka in Kherson Region and Kherson city.

In total, 243 Ukrainian airplanes and 137 helicopters, 1,506 unmanned aerial vehicles, 354 anti-aircraft missile systems, 4,020 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 741 multiple launch rocket systems, 3,132 field artillery and mortars, as well as 4,149 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation.

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WtR
The Russian Federations Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response continues to record the Kiev regimes criminal actions against civilians.

It has been reliably established that Ukrainian nationalists are preparing yet another cynical provocation with civilian deaths in Slavyansk in Donetsk Peoples Republic to accuse the Russian Armed Forces of carrying out indiscriminate strikes against civilian targets. For this purpose, residents of nearby residential quarters are being held in the building of the Vocational Agrarian Lyceum (Nauka Street) under the pretext of allegedly ensuring security. At the same time, the building is miined and the militants plan to blow it up when Russian troops launch artillery strikes on military targets in the city.

We warn the so-called civilised West in advance that this provocation about Russian atrocities is to be widely disseminated by the Kiev regime in the Ukrainian and Western media.

In addition, Ukrainian armed formations continue to use educational institutions and social facilities for military purposes:

in Kharkov, AFU units and Polish mercenaries are based in the premises of the National Technical University (Poltavskyi Shlyah Street), artillery and MLRS are deployed, and there has been no deliberate evacuation of residents from nearby houses;

in Nikolaev, AFU units and territorial defence are deployed in kindergarten No. 126 (Mira Avenue) and school No. 11 (Kitoboyev Street);

in Pevnichnoye in Donetsk Peoples Republic, a stronghold with barracks has been equipped in kindergarten No. 10 (Novaya Street) to house fighters of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries; the approaches to the building are mined, but the local population is deliberately not informed of this;

in Shirokolanovka, Nikolaev Region, nationalists placed heavy weapons and armoured vehicles on the territory of the vocational school (Tsentralnaya Street) and placed sniper positions and MANPADs on the roofs.

Such actions by Kiev once again demonstrate an inhuman attitude towards the fate of the Ukrainian citizens and show a complete disregard for all norms of morality and international humanitarian law.

We emphasize once again that in carrying out the tasks of the special military operation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation treat the local population extremely humanely and do not strike at civilian infrastructure facilities, unlike the Ukrainian armed formations.

Despite all the difficulties and obstacles imposed by the Ukrainian side, over the past day, without the participation of Kiev, 22,017 people were evacuated from dangerous areas, 3,479 of them children, and in total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 2,481,664 people have already been evacuated, of which 390,578 are children.

The state border of the Russian Federation was crossed by 392,367 personal vehicles including 4,433 per day.

More than 9,500 temporary accommodation centres continue to operate in the regions of the Russian Federation. The refugees are dealt with on an individual basis and are promptly assisted with various pressing issues relating to onward accommodation, employment assistance, places for children in kindergartens and educational institutions, and the provision of entitlements to social benefits.

Over the past 24 hours, the hotline of the Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response, federal executive authorities, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and various NGOs received 31 requests from foreign and Ukrainian citizens to evacuate to Russia, the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics, as well as to the Russian Armed Forces-controlled areas of Zaporozhye, Nikolaev, Kharkov and Kherson regions. In total there are 2,759,193 such appeals from 2,139 locations in Ukraine in the database.

In addition, 70 foreign vessels from 16 countries remain blocked in 6 Ukrainian ports (Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhniy). The threat of shelling and high mine danger posed by official Kiev prevents vessels from entering the high seas unhindered.

As a result of the measures taken by the Russian Navy, the mine threat in the waters of the port of Mariupol has been eliminated and measures are being taken to restore the port infrastructure.

The Russian Armed Forces have created conditions for the operation of two maritime humanitarian corridors, which are safe lanes for ships:

in the Black Sea  to leave Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhnyi ports in a south-westerly direction from Ukraines territorial sea, 139 miles long and 3 miles wide;

in the Sea of Azov, to leave Mariupol port 115 miles long and 2 miles wide towards the Black Sea.

Detailed information in English and Russian on the modus operandi of the maritime humanitarian corridor is broadcast daily every 15 minutes on VHF radio on 14 and 16 international channels in English and Russian.

At the same time, the Kiev authorities continue to avoid engaging with representatives of states and ship-owning companies to resolve the issue of ensuring the safe passage of foreign vessels to the assembly area.

The danger to navigation from Ukrainian mines drifting off their anchors along the coasts of Black Sea states remains.

The Russian Federation is taking a full range of comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of civilian navigation in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Demining detachments of the Russian Armed Forces and the EMERCOM of Russia are carrying out land and facility clearance tasks in the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics.

A total of 3,856.42 hectares were checked, 35 buildings (including 13 socially important facilities), 2 bridges and 9.64 km of roads. 54,690 explosive objects have been detected and deactivated.

Federal executive authorities, together with the subjects of the Russian Federation, various public organizations, patriotic movements, continue to accumulate humanitarian aid. The greatest contributors to the relief effort were:

Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, Federal Bailiff Service, Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography, Federal Agency of Nationalities;

republics of Bashkortostan, Dagestan, Crimea, Sakha (Yakutia), Tatarstan, as well as Kabardino-Balkarian and Chechen Republics, Krasnodar, Primorsky and Khabarovsk regions, Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh regions, Kaluga, Leningrad, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Rostov, Samara, Saratov, Sverdlovsk, Tula and Yaroslavl regions, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, as well as Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Sevastopol;

among political parties and non-profit organisations: United Russia, the All-Russian Public Movement Peoples Front, the All-Russian Public Organisation of Veterans Battle Brotherhood, the autonomous non-profit organisation to support humanitarian programmes Russian Humanitarian Mission, the Open Joint Stock Company Russian Railways, the State Corporation for Space Activities Roscosmos and the All-Russian Public and Public Organisation Russian Union of Women.

More than 45,000 tons of basic necessities, food and medicines have been prepared at the collection points. Since March 2, 2022, 42,450.9 tons of humanitarian cargo have already been delivered to Ukraine, 1,292 humanitarian actions have been carried out, including 3 actions in Zaporozhye region, as well as in Donetsk Peoples Republic, during which 215.2 tons of basic necessities, medicines and food were transferred to the civilian population of the liberated areas.

On July 11, 5 humanitarian actions have been planned and are currently being carried out in Kharkov region, in Donetsk Peoples Republics, during which 272 tons of basic necessities, medicine and food will be distributed.

Tags: Special Military Operation

WtR
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As we go about our errands and excursions, you might not realize youre toting along the 21st century version of Big Brother.

Your smartphone may not only be capturing your location data but also potentially harvesting it and sharing it with advertisers or law enforcement. If your account or a companys computers are hacked, crooks bent on stealing your identity could exploit the leaked data.

For sure, you can benefit when your phone knows where you are. Your phone can help you avoid traffic, discover a nearby eatery, get up-to-the minute local weather or recover a lost phone. But privacy advocates worry about darker outcomes.

One of the disturbing realities of modern technology is that increasingly, everywhere we go, our phones, cars and devices are logging our location, says lawyer Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the New York-based civil rights group Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP). It is a creepy way for companies to sell us their products, [and] increasingly, a way for the police, IRS and immigration authorities to track our movements.

They do this through court orders, digital dragnets known as geofencing, and sometimes by purchasing the data, Cahn says.

Not only is location data being used for the purposes of criminal prosecution or liability in legal cases, but also just for targeted advertising, which might be harmful to a particular person, says Bill Budington of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The staff technologist at the San Francisco advocacy group says someone visiting an alcoholic treatment center might receive embarrassing or unwanted ads for alcoholic products.

Health privacy rules dont extend to phones

Whats more, federal regulations that have sprung from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) generally do not protect the privacy or security of your health information when accessed through or stored on your personal cellphones or tablets, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For some, that prospect took on added urgency after the Supreme Courts recent ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, and the idea that people could be tracked crossing state lines to have a procedure deemed illegal in their home states.

Most folks want to protect their privacy under any circumstances. Almost 9 out of 10 people 55 and older are concerned about the safety and privacy of their personal data, compared with nearly 8 out of 10 people ages 18 to 34, according to an Ipsos poll of 4,000 U.S. adults conducted April 1 to 7.

In a July 1 blog post, a Google senior vice president, Jen Fitzpatrick, wrote that her company is taking some steps to make location data more private. If, in the coming weeks, Google detects that people visit some particularly personal medical facilities  including counseling centers, domestic violence shelters, abortion clinics, fertility centers, addiction treatment facilities, weight-loss clinics [and] cosmetic surgery clinics  it will delete their location history entries soon after they visit such places.



Location History is an account setting that the Alphabet-owned company says is turned off by default. But when its on and you sign in to your Google account, you can view the places where youve visited  for example, in a Google Maps Timeline. Through auto-delete controls, you can have Google automatically and continuously delete your location history  as well as search, voice and YouTube activity data  after three months or 18 months.

Some want expansion of privacy protections

Critics want Google to go further, given the sheer magnitude of search data it amasses on all of us.

Rather than simply labeling a few sites as sensitive  Google should be treating all of our movements as sensitive, Cahn says. We shouldnt make civil rights and democracy an opt-in exercise.

Fitzpatrick didnt specify how Googles systems will determine that a person has visited one of these health facilities. Nor did she say what might be done to protect location data captured in the general vicinity of the place or when the person is in transit.

Google has a long track record of pushing back on overly broad demands from law enforcement, including objecting to some demands entirely, Fitzpatrick blogged. We take into account the privacy and security expectations of people using our products. And we notify people when we comply with government demands, unless were prohibited from doing so or lives are at stake  such as in an emergency situation.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday met with visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to discuss financial and military support for Kiev, the presidential press service reported.

At the talks, Zelensky thanked Rutte for the Netherlands' allocation of 200 million euros (about 201.5 million U.S. dollars) of additional financial support for Ukraine, which will help ensure the financing of payments for Ukrainian teachers, doctors and pensioners.

The Ukrainian leader also appreciated the Netherlands for the pledge to provide heavy weapons for Kiev.

"In terms of the amount of defense support provided, the Netherlands is among the top ten partners of our country," Zelensky said.

For his part, Rutte said the Netherlands will continue to support Ukraine politically, and strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Besides, the Dutch Prime Minister pledged that his country will supply more military aid for Ukraine, including modern weapons and equipment.

Zelensky and Rutte also touched upon the situation on the frontline in Ukraine, sanctions against Russia and Ukraine's post-conflict reconstruction.

Rutte arrived in Kiev earlier in the day for his first visit since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February.


Drilling Program Revised to Focus on Near-Term Production

Brisbane, July 12, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Central Petroleum Limited ( ASX:CTP ) ( FRA:C9J ) ( OTCMKTS:CNPTF ) and its Palm Valley and Dingo Joint Venture partners New Zealand Oil & Gas Limited ("NZOG") ( ASX:NZO ) and Cue Energy Resources Limited ("Cue") ( ASX:CUE ), advise that the current drilling program at Palm Valley and Dingo will be revised to defer the Dingo well and evaluate the lower P2/P3 unit of the Pacoota Sandstone formation (P2/P3) (instead of the deep exploration target) at Palm Valley to prioritise near term production into a very strong East Coast gas market.Revised Drilling Program- The Palm Valley 12 well (PV12), will replace the original deep Arumbera Sandstone exploration target (PV Deep) at 3,560m with evaluation of the P2/P3 at 2,061m through a sidetracked lateral of the original well bore. In the event that the P2/P3 target is unsuccessful, the existing strategy to drill the Pacoota 1 (P1) formation with a lateral well remains unchanged.- The Dingo Deep exploration well, scheduled to follow the PV12 well, will be deferred so capital can be redeployed to invest in new near-term development to increase production capacity at Mereenie or Palm Valley. The Dingo Joint Venture will reassess the priority of the Dingo Deep prospect at a future date.- On current estimates, the revised drilling program will be funded under the carry transaction (within a $40m cap) with NZOG and Cue.Key Drivers Behind the Revised Drilling Program- PV12 has experienced very challenging drilling conditions due to natural fractures in its crestal location and extremely hard rock formations. Continued drilling to PV Deep would have exposed the Joint Venture to similar ongoing risks of slower progress and higher costs.- Recent tests of the lower P2 to P4 interval have demonstrated minor flows of gas to surface through a vertical intersection. This makes the P2/P3 an attractive target with reduced drilling risk (relative to drilling a further 1,225m to the deeper target at this crestal location), lower development costs in a success case, and a greater overall chance of success.- Palm Valley and Mereenie have existing pipeline connections to the very strong East Coast gas market that allows for much quicker development and sale of gas reserves.Palm ValleyThe PV12 well has been drilling since April and is currently at a depth of 2,335m in the P4 unit of the Pacoota Sandstone. Gas shows were recorded whilst drilling through both the currently productive P1 formation, as well as the P2/P3 formation located 90m below the P1. If evaluation of the P2/P3 is successful, any new production could be connected to existing facilities to increase production and extend the life of the Palm Valley gas field.The PV12 well has encountered challenging drilling conditions to date, with drilling progress behind schedule due to the natural fracturing and hard rock formations at this crestal location.A lateral P2/P3 well is anticipated to have a higher chance of success than continued drilling towards the deeper exploration target.The revised PV12 program will now include a side-track drilled for up to 1,000m into the P2/P3 unit, aiming to maximise intersections with natural vertical fractures.Alternatively, if the P2/P3 target is unsuccessful, a shallower gas appraisal lateral will be drilled in the currently producing P1 formation with the potential to become a production well.Dingo deferral to re-allocate capital The planned Dingo Deep exploration well will be deferred to prioritise near term production-enhancement activities at Mereenie or Palm Valley (with any future Dingo Deep exploration program subject to Joint Venture approval). The Dingo field is not currently connected to the East Coast market as it supplies gas directly to a single customer.Commercialisation options for success at Dingo Deep would have required construction of new surface infrastructure and modifications to the Amadeus Gas Pipeline and Alice Springs Pipeline to transport gas to the East Coast market.Palm Valley and Mereenie production enhancementsDeferral of the Dingo Deep well will allow the re-allocation of available capital to projects that are planned to deliver additional gas supplies to market within 12 months. The opportunities to increase near-term production include up to six recompletions and two new development / production wells at Mereenie, or additional wells at Palm Valley, with the increased production able to take advantage of strong gas markets. These activities remain subject to joint venture approvals.Message from the CEOLeon Devaney, Managing Director and CEO of Central said, "Deferring both the PV and Dingo Deep exploration targets is disappointing, but the right decision given how hard drilling has been to date, and will potentially continue to be at this location. Early indications from the P2/P3 vertical intersection have also been positive, opening up a potential new resource at Palm Valley that would be cheaper and easier to commercialise than deeper targets. With a strong demand for gas, the opportunity to redirect our capital from PV Deep to the P2/P3, and from Dingo to accelerated production at Mereenie or Palm Valley, is financially compelling, plus we still retain the ability to pursue the deeper targets at Palm Valley and Dingo in the future based on what we've learned in this program", he said.*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Central Petroleum Limited

Central Petroleum Limited ( ASX:CTP) is a well-established, and emerging ASX-listed Australian oil and gas producer. In our short history, Central has grown to become the largest onshore gas producer in the Northern Territory (NT), supplying industrial customers and senior gas distributors in NT and the wider Australian east coast market.

Central is positioned to become a significant domestic energy supplier, with exploration and development plans across 180,000 km2 of tenements in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including some of Australia's largest known onshore conventional gas prospects. Central has also completed an MoU with Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) to progress the proposed Amadeus to Moomba Gas Pipeline to a Final Investment Decision.

We are also seeking to develop the Range gas project, a new gas field located among proven CSG fields in the Surat Basin, Queensland with 135 PJ (net to Central) of development-pending 2C contingent resource.


New Jersey Fixed Odds Update

Sydney, July 12, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - BetMakers Technology Group Ltd ( ASX:BET ) ( OTCMKTS:TPBTF ) would like to provide an update on the roll out of Fixed Odds betting on Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey.The initial roll-out at Monmouth Park has been "softly" staged and controlled, with a maximum 8 teller windows operational, out of more than 300 in operation for tote betting. Initial turnover on course of US$370,000 which has been ~10% of the total betting handle on track.Monmouth Park continues to expand the on course offering with BetMakers' new Self Service Betting Terminals, expected to be live on course during this current quarter. MounmouthBet.com website and mobile applications are also expected to launch soon with Fixed Odds.The Company would like to address an online media article in the US with regards to betting by New Jersey residents on "Out of State" races or races conducted outside of New Jersey.As previously announced, BetMakers has an exclusive agreement with the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen Association ("NJTHA") to manage Fixed Odds betting conducted on Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey on its behalf.It is the position of BetMakers, the NJTHA and Monmouth Park that, under the Fixed Odds Wagering Act, it is a requirement that any fixed odds wagering licensee in New Jersey has an agreement in place with the Permit Holder of each code of racing to offer fixed odds wagering in New Jersey on races within that code, regardless of whether the race is conducted in or outside of New Jersey.The "Permit Holder" for Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey is the NJTHA.It is understood that, for the avoidance of doubt, the NJTHA and Monmouth Park have requested confirmation of this position from the Division of Gaming Enforcement in New Jersey.It is expected that BetMakers, as the exclusive representative for the NJTHA in respect of fixed odds wagering on Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey, will require any fixed odds wagering license holder to ensure it has all the agreements in place, including with the NJTHA/BetMakers and any rights holder of content for "Out of State" signals, to offer fixed odds wagering within New Jersey on Thoroughbred Racing.BetMakers will continue to work with Rights Holders and racetracks, to be granted rights on mutually beneficial terms to be granted access to their Thoroughbred Racing content for fixed odds betting to be conducted within New Jersey by those wagering license holders that have agreements in place with NJTHA/BetMakers.BetMakers $1mil BonanzaBetMakers and Monmouth Park will again launch the BetMakers Million Dollar bonanza for any horse that can complete the "Bonanza Triple" kicking off with winning the Grade 1 "The Haskell" on the 23rd July 2022.To complete this year's Bonanza and emulate the great Authentic who collected the Bonanza in 2020, the Haskell winner will need to head to Saratoga five weeks after to take out the Travers Stakes and then finish it off at Keeneland with the Breeders Cup Classic in the first week of November.Fixed Odds Betting on the Haskell will officially kick off on the Wednesday prior to the race.About Betmakers Technology Group Ltd

Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX:BET) (OTCMKTS:TPBTF) is an ASX-listed holding company and a global provider of online wagering products and services to both wholesale and retail markets through its various wholly owned subsidiaries. The Company operates a retail wagering business, offering consumers wagering, fantasy tournament and content products and services.
The horrific tragedy discovered in San Antonio, Texas, on the evening of June 27 that left 53 migrants dead is a direct result of egregious and unlawful deterrence policies that have effectively closed the border to Black, Indigenous and Brown asylum-seekers. We must welcome migrants and asylum-seekers with dignity  not only because it is our obligation under international law, but because it is a moral imperative that saves lives.

In a time when conservative politicians across the country are proclaiming and celebrating the sanctity of life, they continue to enact xenophobic policies which are directly responsible for the deaths and harm of thousands of asylum seekers. Conservative states such as Texas and Louisiana have successfully challenged the Biden administrations attempts to lift Title 42 expulsions, and while the Supreme Court ruling last week cleared the Biden administrations authority to end the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), conservatives continue to litigate and appeal decisions aimed at terrorizing and discriminating against migrants and asylum-seekers at the state and local levels.

These xenophobic policies have created numerous barriers for mostly Black, Indigenous and Brown migrants fleeing from danger from exercising their fundamental human right of seeking asylum in the United States. In turn, they are left to take desperate measures to protect themselves and their families, pushing them to seek dangerous alternatives to enter into U.S. territory. The semi truck tragedy that was discovered in San Antonio  is a prime example.

Unfortunately, the tragedy in Texas is only one in a long history of preventable tragedies caused by deterring asylum policies. This past May, 11 Haitian asylum-seekers lost their lives when their ship capsized while seeking safety on U.S. shores. Just in San Antonio alone, there have been several similar tragedies in recent years, like in July of 2017 when eight migrants were found dead in a trailer in a Walmart parking lot, with two more migrants dying later in hospitals. Almost a year later in June of 2018, 54 migrants were found in a similar-sized trailer, thankfully with no casualties but deeply traumatized.

These tragedies are preventable.

We call on the Biden administration to take immediate action to restore our countrys asylum system by following through with ending the notorious Remain in Mexico policy and terminating the use of Title 42. We must also call out the racist and xenophobic policies directly responsible for this tragedy and demand immediate action in the form of meaningful accountability, as well as support and reparations for the families of the victims of this accident. It was not the heat, lack of ventilation, or lack of water that killed 53 migrants and asylum seekers this past week  U.S. immigration law and unlawful deterrence policies killed 53 migrants and asylum seekers, amongst the thousands of others who have perished or been harmed over the past several years due to these policies.
An 11-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Hobbs early Sunday morning, and no arrests have been made.

The Lea County Sheriffs Office said in a news release Monday that deputies were called to a reported stabbing on the 3900 block of N. Dal Paso Street shortly before 1 a.m. on Sunday.

Bruce Johnson Jr., 11, and Mary Johnson, 49, each had been stabbed multiple times. Bruce Johnson Jr., was transported to Covenant Health Hospital in Hobbs, where he died. Mary Johnson was flown to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, where she remained in critical condition on Monday, according to the sheriffs office.

The office said the potential witnesses have been interviewed but no arrests have been made. Sheriffs office officials asked that anyone with information about the case call the offices Criminal Investigation Division at 575-396-3611.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Wilhelmina Yazzie, a mother of three whos lived most of her life on the Navajo Nation, said shes waited four years for New Mexico to make good on its duty to serve kids like hers.

She was the original Yazzie plaintiff in the Yazzie-Martinez consolidated lawsuit, which in 2018 yielded a landmark decision from a judge finding the state had violated the rights of at-risk students to a sufficient education.

Weve been patient this long, she said. Its been four years now since the ruling, and I think thats been enough time for our state to really start making these changes.

After promising to release a draft action plan last December, the Public Education Department released one for New Mexicans to review and comment on last month.

That feedback period closed June 17. The PED got a wide range of responses  at least 87 emails overall, according to spokeswoman Judy Robinson.

She said many centered on special education issues, including missing performance targets for teacher vacancies, as well as other general areas, like literacy, data collection, educator licensure, community schools, reducing classroom sizes and extended learning time.

The next step, Robinson said, will be for the PEDs Identity, Equity and Transformation Division to review all the written input the department received, and then address it in a public question-and-answer document.

Still, some people had their own thoughts and hopes for the plan  like Yazzie, who said many parents didnt even know it had been released.

As a parent, Im hoping that they keep our children a priority, Yazzie said. And when I say our children, I mean our Indigenous children, our English-language learners, and also our children with disabilities and those that come from low-income families.

Together, those four groups represent 70% of New Mexico students, according to the PED.

Those are mostly the children that are always put on the bottom pedestal of our education system, and are not equally provided or equally looked upon, Yazzie said. Our children  theyre sacred, and we have a sacred trust to prepare and protect them.

Plan for future

In the draft plan, which is more than 50 pages, education officials lay out a dizzying array of goals for the future, along with current and planned efforts aimed at making them happen.

For example, by the 2025-2026 school year, officials are shooting for English language arts and math achievement for students in all four groups discussed in the lawsuit to go up by 50%.

The draft aims to increase graduation rates for these students by 15 percentage points by 2025, with the exception of students with disabilities, who are expected to get there a year later.

Melissa Candelaria, whos on the legal team for the Yazzie group in the lawsuit, said the draft was a good first step but needs more work on certain critical elements to ensure the state can provide a sufficient education for students.

Since the court ruling in 2018  weve been calling for the state to develop a comprehensive plan, with timelines, with staffing needs, measurable goals, short- and long-term action plans that are aligned to achieve those goals, and multi-year financial investments, said Candelaria, who is also the education director for the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.

Candelaria wasnt the only attorney to zero in on the draft plans  well, plan  for the future.

We have a hard time seeing any sort of cohesive threads in the plan that would indicate a real vision for change, said Laurel Nesbitt, senior attorney with Disability Rights New Mexico. Those of us who are looking at the plan are just a little disappointed by the disconnected, scattershot approach.

And how will the draft action plan look on the ground?

That was on the minds of several education advocates, including American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Whitney Holland.

By the time it goes from the PED to the district to my classroom  what does this look like? And what are the ongoing supports that are going to make this successful? she asked. I dont want it to be one of those things thats rolled out and for six months looks really good, but then in two years, were having a conversation about how its kind of fizzled.

Indigenous voices

After the 2018 decision, sovereign nations and leaders of pueblos in New Mexico joined to develop the Tribal Remedy Framework, a set of priorities to address the unmet needs of Native American children.

That framework, which former Cochiti Pueblo governor and longtime education advocate Regis Pecos said produced tangible solutions that closely followed the decision in the lawsuit, would use collaboration between governments and agencies to accomplish its goals.

But in its current iteration, New Mexicos action plan isnt aligned with the framework, which by extension means the voices and needs of children and their families  as well as the aspirations of tribal leaders  are being left out, Pecos said.

I dont know how in good conscience we can look back (and say) that we maximized fully the effective investment of resources if theyre not fundamentally aligned with those people who know what is in their best interest, he said.

Critical components of the framework, Pecos said, include a need to invest in people who can help legitimize the essential ingredients to a childs education on the reservation, like Native language educators.

Another crucial area, he said, is investment in physical infrastructure at a tribal level where there otherwise may not be any. Those buildings may include libraries, education resource centers and early childhood development centers.

If theres not a tribal library in your community, then for the most part school has totally ended, he said. We dont necessarily have the luxury  that is available to the majority of children in public schools.

Lawmakers have recently questioned school districts near reservations for earmarking impact aid dollars for buildings and improvements.

Some argued those funds have historically been intended to go into classrooms.

At the same time, the draft action plan lays out over $10.5 million in capital outlay investments from the state Indian Affairs Department, which include brick-and-mortar projects.

The draft also references backing for several projects aimed at increasing the number of Native language educators, like the Bilingual, Indigenous Educator Pipeline Project, which has seen participation from over 130 Native language teachers over the last three years.

Pecos acknowledges that the plan is replete (with) investment in many of the areas that are part of the Tribal Remedy Framework, but said those funds are not in the hands of people  in the best positions to make sure theyre spent effectively.

English learners

English language learners, many of whom are first-generation citizens, have a tremendous hurdle to overcome in public schools, Polk Middle School teacher Abby Morehead said.

And because bilingual learning can be an important tool, one that can have a ripple effect that reaches all the way into their homes, Morehead said bilingual programs should be expanded.

That serves the English language learners really well, because theyre building that competency in both languages, and also it empowers their parents to be able to help them, she said.

Keeping kids in touch with their culture and their heritage is so crucial for both academics as well as social-emotional growth.

At some point in the future, the draft plan states, the PED will formalize required English learner programs into state law, in order to provide language development and sheltered instruction for English learners.

The idea, according to the draft plan, is to make sure all New Mexico students who need English learner programs get them. That will be the case even when they dont have access to bilingual programs, according to the draft.

Building capacity

But bilingual teachers arent the only kinds of educators the state needs.

Holland and Nesbitt each touched on a need to replenish the states faltering numbers of instructional support providers, like social workers, occupational therapists and counselors.

Those educators  or the lack thereof  embody how equipped the state is to meet the needs of students with disabilities, Nesbitt said.

Often, students dont receive those services  because the district cant find a speech therapist, the district cant find an occupational therapist, she said. Theres really a need for the state to  provide much more leadership and (do) whatever it needs to do to develop that workforce.

In the draft plan, officials say they aim to ensure each high school has at least one fully-certified school counselor along with other social-emotional supports. To bolster their ranks, officials also plan to fund licensure and certification programs for social workers and counselors.

The draft also says the state will lower New Mexicos average counselor-to-student ratio, which was 426-to-1 in the 2021-2022 school year, to 250-to-1 by 2026-2027.

Better support for behavioral needs of students with disabilities is another important area Nesbitt said the state needs to work on. That means more and better training for educators on how to handle behavioral issues, including for when students physically lash out in class.

The behavioral needs of students with disabilities  is a very critical part of (their) success, she said.

Seeing themselves in the teachers at the front of the classroom is important for students to have meaningful learning experiences, Holland said. One way education leaders seem poised to address that is by closing the states teacher-to-student diversity gaps.

By the 2025-2026 school year, according to the draft, Hispanic teacher representation will increase by 20 percentage points, Native American teacher representation by 7 percentage points, and African American teacher representation by 3 percentage points.

Holland said she also hopes that other things, like structured literacy  an umbrella term for approaches for helping students learn to read and write proficiently, according to the PED  can be made more culturally relevant. The draft plan discusses a partnership with Dual Language Education of New Mexico on providing guidance for teachers to integrate features of good instruction into literacy programs in English and Spanish.

District thoughts

Albuquerque Public Schools officials pointed out several areas they believe still need work in the draft  many of which centered around giving district voices a bigger seat at the table.

The draft plan is currently a collection of initiatives created by the New Mexico Legislature and NMPED, district officials wrote in their response. In its current form it reads like a prescriptive list, rather than a visionary roadmap for districts.

Some districts and their communities have resisted implementing remedies the state has held up to address the courts ruling, particularly when it comes to extended learning time programs. Those programs were listed in the decision as one of the reasonable programs the state has a duty to provide.

In early April, APS turned down a proposal to keep kids in school longer districtwide. In its response to the draft plan, the district asked lawmakers for more flexibility in extended learning time program funding for districts to add hours and more resources to school days.

Still, APS officials acknowledged the draft is a huge step forward for our state. Now, the state needs to work to gather more input from its districts, they said.

APS urges NMPED to consider this draft plan as a step in an ongoing conversation that integrates the voice of schools and districts, officials said.

Though the general Yazzie-Martinez conversation wont be over anytime soon, many are champing at the bit for New Mexico to turn its educational system around  or in Secretary of Education Kurt Steinhaus words, move the needle.

Yazzie, whos been in this fight longer than many, said she hopes things will change in time for her 6-year-old daughter, who will soon begin the first grade.

I still have yet another 12 years to advocate for my little one, she said. Were such a diverse state, were such a beautiful state, we have such beautiful cultures and backgrounds  and we could actually climb back up to the top, if we really work together.
Jacob Sherwood has been a barista at the Starbucks on Rio Grande and Interstate 40 since October, and he says its constantly busy.

Most days, he said, the coffee shop is understaffed and employees feel overworked.

Sherwood and five of his colleagues have launched the process to make his shop the first Starbucks in New Mexico to unionize  an effort aimed at getting employees better pay and more robust health care benefits.

The organizing group on Monday filed a petition with the help of the Workers United Western States Regional Joint Board.

Workers United Deputy Manager Evelyn Zepeda confirmed the petition was filed, though the filing has yet to appear on the National Labor Relations Boards docket.

I think its just trying to help our store and help our partners actually be able to achieve the life or the outcome they want from the job, the 21-year-old Sherwood said.

A Starbucks spokesperson said the company will follow the NLRB process.

We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores as we always do across the country, a Starbucks spokesman told the Journal. From the beginning, weve been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us, and that conviction has not changed.

The local Starbucks joins more than 300 Starbucks stores across the country that have either unionized or are in the process of unionization, according to Starbucks Workers United.

A union spokesperson said more than 4,000 Starbucks employees in 35 states have now joined the Starbucks Workers United, and more than 4,700 workers are in the process of organizing their store.

Unionization of Starbucks locations began last December when a store in Buffalo, New York, successfully voted to unionize.

At the heart of a potential unionization for the local Starbucks, Sherwood said, is the desire for an expansion of benefits and job security. A detailed list of demands has yet to be determined, however.

Sherwood said the local Starbucks, which is open from 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, is one of the busiest in the state with customers lined up nearly all hours of the day. He said it is a common practice for two employees to leave their shift only to be replaced by one, creating a strain on the workers at that location.

I can tell you that we all feel like were understaffed, he said.  Its really difficult and hard to manage that type of volume of people.

Sherwood said coworkers have remarked that the staffing levels of the Rio Grande location are similar to other Starbucks, despite having more traffic than many of the other locations in the city.

The local organizing group recently sent a letter to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, saying workers are faced with labor cuts, a lack of job security, understaffed shifts and unlivable pay at the same time yearly profits hit billions of dollars.

The starting wage is $12 an hour at the Starbucks near Old Town and workers have access to health care and dental benefits, paid time off accrual and free drinks, Sherwood said.

Starbucks said in May it plans to move all U.S. employees to $15 an hour beginning on Aug. 1, but Sherwood said that increase is not nearly enough when factoring in the rising cost of living in recent months.

We just want to be able to at least, like, make a decent living and actually get by without worrying about, Can I buy food this week? Its rent week, am I going to be able to pay for gas and all these other essential things that I need?,' he said.

Workers will vote on whether to unionize in a couple months, Sherwood said. Unionization happens if at least 70% of the stores 31 employees vote in favor, he added.

While workers wait to vote on unionization, Sherwood said he was told by other workers at unionized locations to expect visits from high-level Starbucks managers.

Its going to be a propaganda war between the corporation Starbucks and us trying to  inform our coworkers of what the union can do for us, he said.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

The shigella bacterial illness that took the lives of three siamangs and a western lowland gorilla within the last year has claimed another victim.

Thunder, a 22-year-old male chimpanzee, died on Saturday from complications of a shigella bacteria infection, zoo officials announced Monday.

Thunder began showing signs of gastrointestinal illness in early July, and fecal samples from the chimpanzee troop tested positive for shigella, said ABQ BioPark Associate Director Bob Lee. Thunder actively ate, drank and took medication during his illness, and he intermittently appeared to respond positively to the treatment. Even though staff was hopeful hed recover, Thunder suddenly declined on Saturday and died.

There are currently eight chimpanzees that are part of the BioPark Zoos chimpanzee troop. All are being monitored for shigella, but only Thunder exhibited symptoms, Lee said.

Why this came back with him, were not sure, but its the same shigella strain as before, so theres some thinking that one of the primates may have been carrying it asymptomatically, or that he (Thunder) may have been carrying it, Lee said.

There is no indication that Thunders death signals another shigella outbreak, he said.

Zoo staff continue to use the personal protective equipment and sanitizing protocols put in place when the first cases of shigella began to appear in August, Lee said. In addition, zoo staff working with the primates do not go from one primate enclosure to another as an added measure to prevent spread.

The shigella bacteria affects humans as well as primates. The bacteria is found in the fecal matter of infected individuals and transmission is via the fecal-oral route. It is commonly passed along in contaminated food or water, or by contact with contaminated surfaces.

Symptoms can include fever, bloody diarrhea, severe stomach cramping or tenderness and dehydration.

Thunder and his twin sister, Rainy, were born at a medical lab during a thunderstorm and came to the BioPark Zoo in March 2002, along with a separate family group of eight chimps from the same lab, zoo officials said in a news release.

Because they came without their mother, the twins were raised by BioPark staff. When they were old enough, they were integrated into the larger family group. The BioParks chimpanzee exhibit provided the group with access to grass, a pool and a large and stimulating outdoor space for the first time.

According to zoo manager Lynn Tupa, Thunder formed strong social relationships with the other chimpanzees.

We have been lucky to watch him grow from a youngster to a developing leader and protector of the troop. He was known among staff and guests for his curiosity and mischievous nature, she said.
As the constitutional dust from the COVID-19 pandemic settles, the picture of the governors powers during a public health emergency are increasingly clear.

New Mexico and federal courts have consistently backed Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams authority to impose broad public health orders. And we agree that in the early weeks of the pandemic such authority was essential, given all we did not know about COVID-19.

But that was, quite literally, years ago.

The initial order 30-day order was issued on March 11, 2020. And the court challenges followed.

The state Supreme Court in August 2020 affirmed the authority of the state health secretary to restrict or close businesses.

In June 2021, the states top court ruled there is no constitutional or statutory requirement to compensate businesses for financial losses caused by emergency public health orders.

The Supreme Court also ruled in the governors favor in November 2021 when it halted citizen-led grand juries to investigate her handling of the pandemic.

Most recently, a dozen New Mexico plaintiffs who claimed they endured constitutional rights violations under public health restrictions have abandoned a lawsuit against the governor and state health officials after a federal magistrate judge dismissed most of their allegations.

Three lawsuits against Lujan Grisham and her public health orders are still pending in federal courts, but the writing is on the wall regarding the impotence of our partisan-bent Legislature, which has largely opted not to assert its legislative powers since March 11, 2020.

Our Democratic governor is no doubt pleased with the court outcomes and having an acquiescent Democrat-controlled Legislature. Our state representatives and senators have done zero to strike a sensible balance between protecting public safety and safeguarding the freedoms, rights and interests of constituents through the pandemic.

They instead have left New Mexicans to fend for themselves  including the pet food business in Rio Rancho, martial arts studio in Bernalillo and restaurant in Silver City that were all forced to close, and the member of an Albuquerque-based megachurch who said she was denied religious expression and suffered depression from social isolation. Ultimately, their lawsuits were unsuccessful; meritorious or not, they deserved to be heard by duly elected representatives rather than being forced to file lawsuits.

So here we are, July 2022 and still under the governors initial 30-day public health emergency that shes reauthorized at least 30 times in two-plus years.

New Mexico has essentially been under single-person rule during this pandemic while the governor imposed some of the most restrictive and longest-running public health measures in the nation  halting in-person activity at private businesses deemed nonessential, forcing public and private schools to suspend in-person classroom teaching for about a year, shuttering businesses that reported multiple positive cases, mandating everyone wear face masks indoors and outdoors, and more.

While some measures were likely sound ideas based on the information available at the time, we are still left with the question why one person is still calling all the shots. This is supposed to be a representative democracy, and yet the governor has never had to justify her omnipresent public health orders because lawmakers have been too complacent/spineless to make her.

Yes, the states chief executive needs broad powers to act swiftly in response to a public health crisis. Erring on the side of caution in the early stages of the pandemic was prudent, and it could be again should new strains again threaten the states ability to deliver health care.

But at this point, its beyond time for the governor to explain why a public health emergency is still necessary. Just because the courts have upheld her emergency orders as legal doesnt mean they should continue on forever.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  No one boarded a Rail Runner train car for about a year after the pandemic reached New Mexico.

But ridership jumped sharply this spring and has kept climbing this summer, reaching its highest level since the first coronavirus infections surfaced 2 years ago.

Now executives overseeing the Rio Metro rail system stretching from Belen to Santa Fe are examining how to better serve passengers  especially people traveling for recreation or commuting during less-traditional hours  as high gas prices make the train more attractive.

The transit agency is evaluating whether to boost mid-day service and continue reduced fares. Its also refurbishing train cars, repainting trains and making improvements intended to trim three to five minutes from some travel times.

I think the Rio Metro system is in a position to really improve service, Albuquerque City Council President Isaac Benton, chairman of the Rio Metro board, said in an interview Monday. We want people back on that train.

The Rail Runner, of course, still faces substantial obstacles. Ridership hasnt bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, and  even before then  the number of passengers was in steady decline.

The trains limited schedule, frequency of service and long travel times are commonly cited as reasons people dont ride, according to analysis presented to the Legislative Finance Committee.

But the transit agency is looking to capitalize on high gas prices and an influx of federal funding to boost ridership.

Transit officials said customer surveys suggest the ridership bump this year was fueled by recreational riders, perhaps tourists or people looking to spend a day in Santa Fe.

An abrupt increase came in March, when ridership jumped 48% over the total from February. The uptick coincided with sharp growth in gas prices that month, but it was well before fares were slashed.

I think people were tired of COVID and were tired of being at home, said Robert Gonzales, operations manager for Rio Metro, the agency that operates the Rail Runner. I think a lot of the ridership was recreational, not commuters.

Potential changes

Whatever the reason, the growth represents momentum that transit officials want to capitalize on.

The improvements they say are underway or under consideration include:

 Increased frequency of trips. Theres now a gap of almost seven hours in northbound service from Downtown Albuquerque during the middle of the day, a schedule focused on getting commuters to and from Santa Fe to coincide with normal office hours.

Gonzales said Rio Metro has the funding necessary to offer more frequent mid-morning and -afternoon trips for the next year, in addition to increased Saturday service.

The new schedule, if granted final approval, would be intended to address the results of customer surveys showing people want more options that dont require spending a full day in Santa Fe.

People arent going back to that 9-to-5 commuter schedule, Rio Metro spokeswoman Augusta Meyers said. Were looking at making things more accessible and adjusting our schedule.

 Faster travel. Gonzales said signaling changes near Downtown Albuquerque and more double-tracking  which allows trains to pass each other  should save travelers three to five minutes in some areas.

It now takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get from Downtown Albuquerque to the South Capitol stop in Santa Fe on the express train.

 Cheaper fares. A 75% fare reduction went into effect in mid-April and is set to expire July 31. It now costs, for example, just $2.50 for a day pass between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

Rio Metro is in talks with state officials about whether to continue the fare reduction. Meyers said the agency is also evaluating other changes to the fare structure, partly to respond to commuters who want to travel only on certain days, not all week.

 $60 million in new safety technology, called positive train control, has been installed.

Outlook

The Rail Runner was launched in 2006 under the administration of then-Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat. It connects Belen, Albuquerque and Santa Fe over a roughly 100-mile line.

The trains popularity peaked in 2010 with ridership of about 1.2 million trips.

It had fallen to about 763,000 by the 2019 fiscal year, the last full year before the pandemic. Annual ridership bottomed out at roughly 41,000 trips in fiscal year 2021  a year that included some months in which the train was completely shut down.

Ridership has climbed every month in 2022 so far, reaching 319,635 riders for the 2022 fiscal year that ended June 30.

I think the trend is in the right direction, Meyers said, all things considered.

Lawmakers have sometimes expressed frustration at the long-term decline in ridership, and some have suggested shutting down the train altogether. A 2015 study said that selling the Rail Runner wasnt feasible.

Despite the challenges, supporters of the train are optimistic.

This is an appropriate time to get back on, said Benton, the Rio Metro board chairman.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

An Albuquerque Police Department detective alleges in a whistleblower lawsuit that investigators violated the constitutional rights of a man charged in the 2019 shooting death of Jacqueline Vigil.

The lawsuit alleges APD investigators who questioned Luis Talamantes-Romero in San Antonio, Texas, ignored his repeated requests for an attorney and failed to inform him of his constitutional rights.

APD detective Jessie Carter alleges in the lawsuit that APD retaliated against him after he reported the alleged violations to the District Attorneys Office and an APD supervisor.

Carter was suspended for four days in 2021 after an internal affairs investigation into a botched identification that resulted in an innocent 17-year-old girl being charged with murder and jailed for six days in 2019.

Talamantes-Romero, 34, was arrested in August 2020 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and later charged in Albuquerque with first-degree murder in Vigils killing. A trial has not been scheduled in the case.

Vigil, the 55-year-old mother of two New Mexico State Police officers, was shot to death Nov. 19, 2019, in the front seat of her car in the driveway of her West Side home. Vigil was on her way to the gym when she was fatally shot.

Three APD investigators traveled to San Antonio to interview Talamantes-Romero in August 2020, shortly after his arrest, according to the suit.

Carter alleges he listened to an audio recording of that interview in late 2020 at the request of the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office.

Talamantes-Romero asked five times for an attorney during the interrogation but each time was ignored by the officers, the suit alleges. The officers also failed to read Talamantes-Romero his Miranda rights, it alleges.

The suit also alleges APD sent the District Attorneys Office a final case report that excluded APDs interrogation of Talamantes-Romero in San Antonio.

APD failed to submit a truthful Final Police Case Report to the DAs Office which would include the potential, if not certain, exculpatory evidence, the suit states.

APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.

Talamantes-Romeros attorney, Kathleen Rhinehart, declined to comment Monday on the suit.

Carters attorneys, Donald Gilpin and Christopher Machin, did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.

After hearing the audio recording, Carter told the District Attorneys Office and an APD acting commander that APD officers may have violated Talamantes-Romeros constitutional rights.

Shortly afterward, Carter was removed as a homicide detective and reassigned to a U.S. Marshals Service task force, the suit alleges.

Carter also alleges APD sent him a target letter in connection with an investigation he had been involved in a year earlier. As a result of that investigation, Carter was notified in September 2021 that he would be suspended for 32 hours.

The lawsuit alleges APD took those action in retaliation against him in violation of the states Whistleblower Protection Act.

The suit, which identifies the city of Albuquerque as the defendant, seeks unspecified financial compensation for lost wages and emotional stress.

Documents obtained earlier this year by the Journal through an Inspection of Public Records Act request show Carter was suspended for 32 hours without pay for the mistaken identity arrest of Gisell Estrada as a murder suspect.

Estradas arrest followed the July 10, 2019, robbery and slaying of Calvin Kelly, 21. A suspect in the killing showed Carter the Facebook profile of Lexi, and identified her as the mastermind of the crime.

Carter sent two photos from the profile to an Albuquerque High School resource officer. A school administrator identified Lexi as Estrada, a student aide, who was arrested on Nov. 8, 2019, on an open count of murder, armed robbery and conspiracy. She was booked into the juvenile detention center.

Five days later, another suspect arrested in Kellys homicide told Carter he had arrested the wrong Lexi, resulting in Estradas release the following day.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico subsequently sued the city of Albuquerque over Estradas wrongful imprisonment.

Rick Ingram, a former APD homicide sergeant and Carters supervisor at the time, was given a letter of reprimand as a result of the investigation.

Both Carter and Ingram subsequently left the homicide unit. Ingram took a position at the Crime Lab and later as a sergeant in the Northeast Command. Carter, who joined APD in 2008, worked as a homicide detective for five years and was lead on a number of homicide cases involving teenagers.
 Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that China and the United States should engage in healthy interactions in Asia-Pacific.

Wang made the remarks when asked about the attempt by the United States and others to strengthen and expand their presence and influence in the region as he made a policy speech with Q&A at the ASEAN Secretariat.

Wang said that China has always been open to other nations' participation in Asia-Pacific affairs, adding that the key is whether their actions are conducive to maintaining regional peace and stability, or trying to instigate tensions and confrontation; conducive to promoting regional development and revitalization, or seeking to decouple and break connections; conducive to enhancing regional unity and cooperation, or trying to have their own way or even create divisions.

He said it is believed that people in all countries in the region will have their own judgement, and history will make a fair evaluation on this.

Wang said when he met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Bali the other day, he suggested that China and the United States explore establishing rules for healthy interactions between the two sides in Asia-Pacific in order to practice open regionalism.

The core element of the rules is to support ASEAN's central position and maintain the existing regional cooperation framework; to respect the legitimate rights and interests of China and the United States in Asia-Pacific, and do not take hostility or containing the other party as purpose; to play the role of a responsible major country, promote regional stability and development, and provide more public goods for all countries, he said.

Wang stressed that there is no greater good than for China and the United States to realize healthy interactions in the region, which will not only help to increase the positive expectations for China-U.S. ties, but also meet the general expectations of regional countries.

It remains to be seen how the U.S. side will respond, said Wang, adding that this will also test whether the United States can let go of its hegemonic mentality, overcome the Cold War mentality, abandon the zero-sum logic, and truly play a constructive role in peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Some dream of regular meals, some wish to help the homeless, others hope for an end to violence in their communities.

These are the aspirations of Albuquerque Public Schools kids whose own lives have not been easy  kids who dont have a permanent address to call home and who receive services through the APS Title I McKinney-Vento Homeless Program.

Fifteen of these students, ages 6-19, recently participated in the Pictures of Hope program founded and led by internationally known photographer Linda Solomon. The students were given free digital cameras, courtesy of Walgreens, along with a crash course in photography by Solomon. Accompanied by mentors, they went out into the community and took photos of things that represent their dreams and hopes.

The photos will be on display in a free Pictures of Hope exhibition from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain NW. The kids who took the photos will be on hand to speak with visitors.

Duplicates of the photos will be available in a silent auction, with the proceeds going to the participating kids.

It is so very important to show children that their dreams matter, Solomon said. It is especially important now, because theyve been on Zoom for two years and havent been interacting in person. We needed to give them an opportunity to share their feelings and open up, and we had wonderful mentors from the community who guided them as they photographed their dreams and helped the kids bring out those feelings.

Their photos, Solomon said, help these young people tell their life story.

Since its founding in 2005, the Pictures of Hope program has been to 54 cities. This is the ninth year Albuquerque kids have participated.

The program is funded by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
MANILA, Philippines  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijings vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and warned that Washington is obligated to defend treaty ally Philippines if its forces, vessels or aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters.

Blinkens statement, issued by the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Tuesday, was released on the sixth anniversary of the 2016 decision by an arbitration tribunal set up in The Hague under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea after the Philippine government complained in 2013 about Chinas increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

China did not participate in the arbitration, rejected its ruling as a sham and continues to defy it, bringing it into territorial spats with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian claimant states in recent years.

We call again on the PRC to abide by its obligations under international law and cease its provocative behavior, Blinken said, using the acronym for Chinas formal name, the Peoples Republic of China.

We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, Blinken said.

There was no immediate reaction from Beijing. But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference in Malaysias administrative capital of Putrajaya that China is speeding up talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines and three other claimant states, to come up with a nonaggression pact called a code of conduct to turn the South China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation.

We will oppose bloc confrontation and Cold War mentality, Wang told journalists after meeting his counterpart in Malaysia, the last stop in his five-nation swing through Southeast Asia. He did not take any questions.

In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have had overlapping claims in the busy waterway, where an estimated $5 trillion in goods passes each year and which is believed to be rich in undersea gas and oil deposits.

The potential flashpoint has become a key front of U.S.-China rivalry.

Washington lays no claim to the disputed waters but has deployed Navy ships and Air Force jets to patrol the waterway for decades and says freedom of navigation and overflight is in the U.S. national interest. That has provoked angry reactions from China, which has accused the U.S. of meddling in a purely Asian dispute and warned it to stay away.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said Tuesday that the arbitration ruling will be a pillar of his new governments policy and actions in the disputed region and rejected attempts to undermine the indisputable decision.

These findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal and are conclusive as they are indisputable. The award is final, Manalo said in a statement.

We firmly reject attempts to undermine it  even erase it from law, history and our collective memories, said Manalo, who did not directly name China.

New Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office June 30 after a landslide electoral victory.

Marcos Jr.s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, put the arbitration ruling on the backburner for years after taking office in 2016 and nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping while criticizing U.S. security policies.

In 2019, Duterte said he finally asked Xi to comply with the ruling but was flatly told, We will not budge.

Marcos Jr. has upheld the arbitration ruling and said he would not allow even one square millimeter of Philippine waters to be trampled upon.

But he said in January before winning the presidency that since China has refused to recognize the ruling, Dutertes policy of diplomatic engagement is really our only option.

Dozens of left-wing activists and workers protested in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manilas Makati financial district on Tuesday, asking Beijing to respect the arbitration ruling and for Marcos Jr. to defend the countrys territory and sovereign rights in the South China Sea.

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Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
MOSCOW  Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the U.S. warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine.

During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putins visit to Iran will follow U.S. President Joe Bidens trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, where Irans nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.

Peskov told reporters that on the visit to Tehran, Putin will also have a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In March, Erdogan helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, Turkey. Peskov said there was no discussion about a new round of such negotiations.

The White House said Monday that it believes that Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with hundreds of drones, including those capable of carrying weapons, for use in Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the vehicles to Russia, but said the U.S. has information that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline, Sullivan told reporters Monday, referring to drones by the acronym for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Nasser Kanaani did not deny the U.S. claim in comments on Tuesday.

Irans cooperation with Russia in some sophisticated technologies dates to before the Russia-Ukraine war, he said. There has not been any special development in this regard recently.

Iran long has worked on the development of drones, including so-called loitering munitions, the kamikaze drones like the Switchblade that the U.S. has delivered to Ukraine.

The U.S. decision to publicly reveal that the two countries chief regional rival was helping to rearm Russia comes as both Israel and Saudi Arabia have resisted joining global efforts to punish Russia for its action in Ukraine due to their domestic interests.

In Tehran, Mohammadrez Pourebrahimi, the head of the Iranian Parliaments economic committee, told state-run news agency IRNA that Putins trip would seek to improve economic relations between the two sanctions-hit nations.

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Zeke Miller and Josh Boak in Washington and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Jill Biden apologized Tuesday for saying Latinos are as unique as San Antonio breakfast tacos during a speech to the nations largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization.

The first lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community, tweeted Jill Bidens spokesperson, Michael LaRosa.

The first lady flew to San Antonio on Monday to address the annual conference of UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group formerly known as the National Council of La Raza. She also spoke at a Democratic Party fundraiser at a private home before she returned to Washington.

But Bidens attempt at a compliment floundered when she described Latino diversity as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio.

She also badly mispronounced bodegas, small stores in urban areas typically specializing in Hispanic groceries.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists and others registered their offense on social media, with the journalists organization tweeting that, We are not tacos.

Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of Latinos in San Antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of Latinos in the region, NAHJ said.

The association said the first lady and her speechwriters should take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities.

Hispanic voters generally favor Democrats, though the groups support patterns vary widely in different parts of the U.S., and Latino support for the Democratic presidential candidate softened in 2020 compared to 2016, according to Pew Research Center data.

Some Democrats have suggested that the party isnt working hard enough to maintain Hispanic support. In her speech, Jill Biden outlined how President Joe Biden has responded to the community, including by appointing Latinos to the Cabinet and other high government posts and helping them get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Separately, last month, Republican Mayra Flores won a special congressional election in a usually Democratic area of South Texas. Now completing a House term expiring in January, Flores is an avid Trump supporter and the first Mexican-born woman elected to Congress.

Jill Biden spent part of Tuesday showing Mexicos first lady, Beatriz Gutierrez Muller, around the Library of Congress while Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was at the White House meeting with President Biden.



Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES  Jumana Zakir knows who she is going to be for Halloween this year. Hint: Her new favorite superhero is a lot like her  female, teen, Muslim, American and totally awesome.

Kamala Khan is me, said the exuberant 13-year-old from Anaheim, California. She is just like me.

Khan is the Marvel Cinematic Universes first Muslim superhero to headline her own television show. Ms. Marvel, which launched on Disney+ June 8, has struck a chord with South Asian Muslims in the West because of its relatability and how it portrays Muslim families. Advocates for inclusion and representation hope the show will open the door to more nuanced on-screen portrayals of Muslims and their rich diversity.

The show tells the story of Khan, played by Pakistani Canadian actor Iman Vellani, getting her powers from a magical bangle that allows her to walk on air and conjure glowing light shields. But she is also a regular South Asian Muslim teen who goes to mosque, performs wudu or ritual ablution before praying, sometimes wears traditional attire called shalwar kameez, dances to Bollywood numbers at her brothers wedding, and breaks curfew to hang out with her buddy Bruno Carrelli at AvengerCon.

The final episode of the series is expected to drop Wednesday.

Munir Zamir, who is British Pakistani and grew up in East London, said seeing a brown, Pakistani Muslim girl from New Jersey in the comic books and, now, watching Ms. Marvel with his teenage children  has been powerful. Zamir, 50, has been a Marvel fan since he was 7 and has followed the evolution of Kamala Khan since Ms. Marvels inception in comic books in 2014.

For Muslims in particular, representation matters a lot because, for many years, misrepresentation has mattered too much, he said.

Zamir points out that there are other Muslim superheroes in the Marvel universe like Sooraya Qadir also known as Dust. She wears a flowing black outfit, covers her hair and face, and can transform her body into a cloud of dust.

Even in that description there are some classic tropes, Zamir said. But Kamala Khan is not some exotic woman from a Muslim country. That instantly sets her apart in the Marvel universe.

The diverse experiences of Muslim women in Ms. Marvel are among aspects that stand in contrast to findings of a report published last year examining Muslim representation across 200 top-grossing movies from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand that were released between 2017 and 2019.

The study found women were particularly underrepresented, with just 23.6% of Muslim characters in these movies being female. Conducted by the University of Southern Californias Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, with support from others, it also found that 90.5% of these films didnt feature Muslim speaking characters and yet 39% of primary and secondary Muslim characters were perpetrators of violence.

Making Ms. Marvel more relatable was intentional, said Sana Amanat, one of Kamala Khans creators and an executive producer on the show. She wanted to portray a Muslim character who feels like someone you know.

She is not put on a pedestal, she said. She is awkward. She is funny. She is a sweet person who ultimately wants to do better.

Amanat and her co-creators felt it was important to show Khans everyday life as a Muslim American teen.

That idea of normalcy resonated with Hiba Bhatty, a Pakistani American fan of the show. She particularly liked how Khans father, Yusuf, was portrayed as a loving dad, as opposed to a scary stereotype.

Bhatty, a Los Angeles-based architect, previously displayed Ms. Marvel comics on her desk at work as conversation starters. Now, she is getting ready to give co-workers a Ms. Marvel presentation. To her, it exemplifies how many in her community have moved beyond wanting to just be portrayed as normal Americans, to actually telling their own nuanced stories.

Ms. Marvel is also reclaiming language that has been weaponized against Muslims, said Arij Mikati, managing director of culture change for the Pillars Fund, which supports Muslim civic leaders and artists.

In one scene, Khan and her family joyously break into chants of Allahu akbar, or God is great, in celebration of her brothers wedding.

When you hear the call to prayer, thats usually a sign that youre somewhere unsafe on television, Mikati said. And all of these things are being reclaimed in this show. Thats really beautiful because those day-to-day, small moments of our faith have really been taken from us in the media.

Pillars Funds initiatives include a Muslim artist database, created in collaboration with and support from The Walt Disney Company, to bring more Muslims into the filmmaking process.

A superhero story is not a genre where you expect a Muslim to be, and I love that this story is changing that, Mikati said.

The show touches on issues from surveilling mosques to what wearing head scarves means for some. Khans friend, the hijab-wearing Nakia Bahadir, is played by Yasmeen Fletcher. One of the most important conversations between Khan and Bahadir happens in the girls restroom, where Bahadir talks about how she feels like herself, with a purpose, when she dons her hijab.

Jumana, the teen from Anaheim who plans to wear a hijab in a year or two, said she appreciated the shows portrayal of what the hijab means to some young girls like her.

My non-Muslim friends already know about my decision and respect it, she said. But if more people can realize that by watching this show, thats great.

Fletcher said she has been touched by such powerful responses.

The whole point of Nakias character is to break down the stereotypes around hijabi women, she said.

For the shows seven writers  four of whom are Pakistani  representing Muslims and South Asians realistically was crucial, said the shows head writer Bisha K. Ali, who is British Pakistani.

We felt a hunger for being seen in a way that was celebrated and beautiful, and comes from a place of love and compassion, she said.

While its impossible to capture the experience of nearly 2 billion Muslims, Ali said the writers leaned into telling the story of this one family in an authentic way.

The show takes a similar approach to talking about the Partition in 1947 when British India was divided along religious lines into India and Pakistan, triggering one of the largest mass migrations in history. The violence from tensions between Hindus and Muslims led to a refugee crisis, which the show weaves in as part of Khans family history.

Ali said the shows goal was not to point fingers in any direction, but to tell one familys story of the inter-generational trauma triggered by this chapter of history, and convey a sense of empathy for the amount of pain on all sides.

Ali described the mood in the writers room as incredibly emotional, as they talked about what their mosques were like growing up and contacted relatives on WhatsApp to gather more details.

Sitting in the belly of Marvel Studios in a windowless conference room, Ali said she had lost count of the number of times the writers looked at each other as if to ask: Are we really here? Are we really doing this?

___

Fam reported from Winter Park, Florida.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexico is already providing up to $1,500 in tax rebates to taxpayers this year with the state awash in revenue, but Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti said Tuesday he wants to make the rebates an annual occurrence.

A proposal released by Ronchetti would mean a $100 annual rebate for every New Mexican  including children  for every $1 billion the state collects in oil and natural gas revenue, which would likely mean less money flowing into an early childhood trust fund.

It could also mean less funding available for other state programs in cash-flush years, though Ronchettis plan would include a trigger mechanism to adjust the size of the rebates in the event of steep revenue downturns.

Fundamentally, Ronchetti said hed rather the money go directly to families than to state government spending.

New Mexicans deserve to benefit directly and regularly from oil and gas royalties, and choose for themselves how to spend and invest those funds, Ronchetti said in a release. This plan gives our families a direct stake in the industry, each and every year.

Unlike other states like Alaska, New Mexico does not routinely provide tax rebates or dividends to its residents in cash-flush years and at least one previous round of rebates had to be scaled back due to revenue volatility.

That occurred in 2008, when tax rebates proposed by then-Gov. Bill Richardson in a special session were trimmed to $50 per single taxpayer amid an economic downturn.

Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, the chairwoman of the Legislative Finance Committee, said Tuesday that mandating annual tax rebates would be an irresponsible approach to budgeting.

I would never agree to something like that until I knew what the revenue amounts were, Lundstrom told the Journal.

This years rebates are funded by the states oil-driven revenue bonanza. They were passed by lawmakers in two separate bills this year and signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who is seeking reelection this year.

The first round of $250 rebates  or $500 for married couples filing jointly  were sent out last month, though some eligible New Mexicans are still waiting for their rebate checks to arrive.

The second round of rebate checks are being sent out this month, with a final round scheduled for August.

While Lujan Grisham previously questioned whether rebates would help grow New Mexicos economy, the governor said this years financial relief payments will help New Mexico families pay for food and other basic supplies.

In addition, a Lujan Grisham campaign spokeswoman described Ronchettis proposal on Tuesday as a fiscally irresponsible socialist scheme and said it would eliminate funding for the state budget.

New Mexico political scientists have said state residents have been hit particularly hard by recent inflation related cost increases, since the state has one of the nations lowest per capita income levels at $49,320, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Meanwhile, New Mexico has one of the nations most volatile revenue streams, due largely to fluctuations in oil and gas prices and production levels.
Up to 14 companies could benefit from a new, $2 million venture fund focused on investments in New Mexico startups, and in local firms with high-growth potential.

The New Mexico Angels investor group created the newly launched Vintage Fund 2022 to broaden the availability of private equity in the local ecosystem, said NM Angels President Drew Tulchin.

The new fund will operate independently from the NM Angels, investing up to $150,000 in individual startups and established firms. But it will work in direct partnership with the NM Angels to scout out promising companies and assess potential deals.

Angel members will also be invited to participate in all Vintage funding commitments, providing new investment opportunities for them while increasing the pool of capital available for local businesses, said Tulchin, who helped create the fund and now serves as its managing partner.

The fund allows us to more rapidly respond to entrepreneurs seeking capital, Tulchin told the Journal.  It makes funds readily available for deals that can make a difference for local companies to develop and grow.

The NM Angels, which launched in 1999, pools the resources of individual investors to provide seed and early-stage capital to startups. The group built the Vintage Fund as an additional investment vehicle to advance the Angels mission as a nonprofit entity, Tulchin said.

Its modeled on similar funds established by angel groups in other states, particularly the Rockies Venture Club in Colorado, which the NM Angels began partnering with in 2020 to advance mutual networking, educational programs, and regional investment opportunities.

The Vintage Fund is now run by four general partners, all of them NM Angel members, including Tulchin. They raised $2 million for the fund over the past 60 days, and already invested from it in four different New Mexico startups, including:

 Build with Robots, which makes mobile machines for autonomous facility disinfection services

 BennuBio Inc., which created a superfast flow-through cytometer, or cell meter, for drug discovery and medical diagnostics

 Green Theme Technologies, which produces a clean waterproof coating for textiles without toxic chemicals

 Respect Wellness, which markets CBD and herbal extracts for women 45 and up

Up to 10 more companies could receive investments from the Vintage Fund, which may be just the first in a series of new Angel-connected funds going forward.

Our plan is to attract a new vintage of people and dollars each year, thus the name, Tulchin said. This is the first in what is planned to be a series of successive ventures and investment vehicles in support of New Mexico companies and entrepreneurs.

More local capital is critical for New Mexico, said Purvi Moody of funding recipient Green Theme Technologies.

(It) enables our companies  to better achieve growth plans without having to travel far and wide, Moody said in a statement. This is particularly important as the economic outlook becomes stormier.

Apart from the new fund, the NM Angels have greatly expanded their organizational and investment activities since fall 2020, when Tulchin became president. During the first two decades of operation, group membership traditionally hovered at about 70 investors, with an accumulated $20 million in local investments made as of 2020.

But since then, membership has nearly doubled. And last year alone, the group pumped $4.2 million into 11 startup companies.

We have 130 dues-paying members now, and more than 35 institutional sponsors committed to supporting a healthy startup ecosystem, Tulchin said. The sponsorships allow us to do a lot more events, educational programming and mentoring for companies.

Meanwhile, GOS Capital  another new investment platform separate from the Angels  is now also actively pumping seed and early-stage capital into local startups.

Scott Goodman of the Goodman Realty Group has raised a $250,000 fund with 16 individual investors since last fall. To date, its invested $150,000 in eight companies, including a $25,000 commitment to Build with Robots in late June.

Goodman, who serves as GOS Capitals general managing partner, expects to invest in another two or three companies in the coming months before raising a new fund.

Were investing small amounts, but were providing capital to a lot of companies, Goodman told the Journal. Were very active in the startup community.
 Flash

A Chinese spokesperson Monday urged Japan to draw lessons from history as the forces in favor of revising the Japanese constitution won a two-thirds majority in Japan's upper house after Sunday's election.

Japan's ruling bloc of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito scored a sweeping victory in Sunday's House of Councilors election, with the LDP alone securing a majority of contested seats, according to the election results published on Monday.

Responding to the election result, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stressed that China is willing to work with the Japanese side to continue developing a China-Japan relationship of good neighborliness, friendship and cooperation in accordance with the principles established in the four political documents between the two countries.

Because of historical reasons, the change of Constitution in Japan is followed closely by the international community, especially Japan's Asian neighbors, he noted.

Wang expressed the hope that Japan will stay committed to peaceful development and win back the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community by taking concrete actions.

Japan's current constitution was drawn up under the Allied occupation following World War II, and has never been revised since it went into effect in 1947.

To amend the constitution, more than two-thirds of lawmakers in both the upper house and the House of Representatives must vote in favor of the related proposals. The changes would then need approval from a majority of voters in a national referendum.

The constitution is best known for its Article 9, by which Japan renounces its right to wage war and promises that "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained".

Asia-Pacific countries are vigilant about Japan's attempt to amend its constitution, especially Article 9. If the constitutional amendment succeeds, Japan is likely to get rid of the constraint of Article 9, can participate in wars overseas and seek to develop into military power.

Revising the constitution has long been a goal of the ruling LDP. The LDP has been advocating constitutional revision since the party was founded in the 1950s, including changing the war-renouncing Article 9.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the promise that he will continue working on a constitutional amendment as he addressed the public on Monday. The election also ensured him three more years as leader.

According to a public survey conducted by Kyodo news agency in May, Japanese citizens remain polarized over the plan to revise the country's constitution. The survey showed that 50 percent said it is necessary to revise Article 9 while 48 percent said it was not, comparing with 51 percent in favor of an amendment and 45 percent against in a similar poll conducted last year.
During the Yemen War, the Emirati soldiers headquartered in Mocha, Yemen are dispatched on a mission. The Ambush is about how three of these soldiers are attacked in enemy territory, and their captain organises a daring rescue effort.

While discussing the spectacular SFX, stunts, and equipment used in the film, Derek Dauchy stated, We knew we needed to have some top-notch action - vehicles, people as well, so, we had a terrific team in from the UK that worked sort of hand-in-glove with the Emirati military. They all worked together to really make sure that the vehicles were kind of the star of the show in addition to our cast, but really those vehicles had to be real and believable. We had to be able to show damage to those vehicles in a real and believable way which is why we had some tremendous special effects team on board from France and George Demetrau, who is a genius as far as effects go. He was able to really create explosives, RPGs, bullet hits and any number of things that really show these vehicles really being attacked in a way that felt very realistic while still trying to minimise the damage done to the actual vehicle. So, those were really the keys to trying to pull this off and make that work.

Sharing his experience of working with Pierre Morel, director, Derek Dauchy said, We knew it was going to be a big action movie, you know, a war movie with things blowing up everywhere and guns firing pretty much from the jump. Pierres a terrific storyteller, and weve both really worked hard with the writers on the script as well just to really kind of dig down because originally, we spent more time setting up the antagonists in the story, and we kind of both came to the same conclusion that we need to tell the story about the men that were there.

Watch The Ambush premiering on the 15th of July exclusively on Lionsgate Play
myBillBook, the GST billing and accounting software developed by neobanking start-up FloBiz, has released an MSME anthem, Tum Kamaal Ho, as an ode to MSMEs contributions to Indias growth narrative and assisting the nation in moving forward with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat aim. Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee, myBillBooks brand ambassador, launched the song on the occasion of MSME Day 2022, which is widely observed on the 27th of June each year. It effectively highlights the obstacles that MSMEs confront on a daily basis, as well as the daring and inventiveness they demonstrate in creating unique solutions.

The four-minute anthem video captures the hopes, aspirations, struggles, and the indomitable spirit of Indias MSMEs  wholesalers, distributors, small-scale manufacturers, general stores, self-owned businesses, service providers, and retailers  and expresses confidence in them to shape the countrys economy. The lyrics for the video are relevant since the words are drawn from MSME owners everyday usage, and the pictures depict the typical business life operations and struggles of SMEs, as well as their rigour and unwavering resolve to keep going.

To know more about the concept and making of the MSME anthem, AdGully caught up with Pulkit Saboo, Director - Brand Marketing, Flobiz. Excerpts:

What was the thought behind the concept for Tum Kamal Ho? Who is your TG that you are targeting through the anthem?

We wanted to create something totally different, something which none of the brands or any of the institutes that have been working for the cause of MSMEs have ever tried. It was a first principle approach that we had. We contemplated a lot of ideas, ranging from something very simple, like doing a webinar or maybe doing an award ceremony, but then as a team, we felt that all these initiatives are typically very short-lived; they will not have a long-term shelf-life and they won't be really memorable. We wanted to do something that stays very close to our customers' hearts and speaks directly to their hearts.

After a lot of contemplation, suddenly one day this eureka moment came, and we thought that hey, lets do something called the MSME anthem, which no one has ever done. When small-scale business owners, or rather a large number of business owners, travel to their workplaces, they will typically tend to listen to something. The idea was to create something memorable, something that gets played repeatedly, gets communicated repeatedly, and then something that creates sort of conversations. And thats basically how the idea of doing an MSME anthem came up.

The reason we actually came up with the particular title of the track, Tum Kamaal Ho, is because, as an organisation, we always have a very deep-rooted feeling that this set of SMBs, who contribute to 30% of the countrys GDP, are mostly underplayed in terms of recognition. While there are a lot of government policies and initiatives, like the ECLG scheme or the Make in India initiative by the government, which have been promoting these businessmen, more often than not, they tend to get forgotten as long-lost heroes. They are the people who kept the economy running on wheels, when the entire nation was on lockdown, but they are not often celebrated properly. And that's the reason we wanted to champion the cause. We wanted to celebrate them, and thats how we came up with the title Tum Kamaal Ho.

What kind of impact do you expect the anthem to have on the MSME market? What strategies do you have in place going forward for MSMEs?

This piece of content was not a brand awareness campaign or an advertisement per se. This was very clear in our minds. We didnt want to use it as an advertising concept, but we wanted it to be a part of their lives. We wanted them to really relish this, enjoy this, talk about it, and even feel motivated at times when they hear the tune of Tum Kamaal Ho, and thats the clear-cut reason why we have decided to shift from our advertising approach to more of a collaborative approach.

When you look at the video or when you hear the song, you wont see that myBillBook is really promoting themselves, but its basically the cause of these people. Apart from doing press releases, Manoj Bajpayee, the brand ambassador for our brand, will be putting the video on all his social media handles. Very soon, hes going to tweet and put it on Instagram and various other social channels. This will be pretty incredible for the anthem, and after they send it, it will be available on various music streaming apps like Gaana, as well as Spotify.

What difficulties do kirana shops and small-town enterprises encounter, and how do digital platforms like FloBiz help them?

I would like to categorise the problems that are the pain points into two buckets  the first being the biggest pain point of being inefficient. This arises because of various situations. Since you are using pen and paper or maybe outdated, non-technical non-digitised methods of working your business operations, you probably would be creating invoices on pen and paper, which might lead to errors. You probably would be doing inventory management, manually counting it on your fingers and then noting down on a paper.

You probably would still be collecting payments in cash or physical means, you probably might be still falling off with your prospective payment parties to send you payments in time. All these business operations, which tend to be extremely manual in nature and hence also tend to be error-prone, are being totally digitised by myBillBook. When we say that we are a platform which is a billing and accounting software, we are not just providing the billing and accounting ease, we are also solving the problems of inventory management, problems of low stock reminders and problems of payment collection on time. Anything which used to lead to inefficiency of your business gets solved through myBillBook. This is the biggest pain point: that these small scale enterprises face of being inefficient and hence losing out on business productivity.

The second biggest pain point is the access to formal credit. They mostly will not have a proper banking record. Whenever they approach a formal credit institution for a loan, they mostly encounter problems like lack of credit score or well-maintained transaction statements. All these problems get reduced when we introduced the concept, called a neo-bank. We are a neo-bank for SMBs. Neo banks are basically going to be a virtual bank, which will not have physical locations but can do all those activities that a bank would be able to, be it your credit lending or your financing insurance transactions, everything that all could be done through the same platform, called myBillBook.

These are edited excerpts. For the complete interview, watch below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz6ilC4ao1o&feature=youtu.be
Netflix is looking for an executive to man the development of an ad-supported tier of its service and has interviewed applicants, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Among the contenders is Pooja Midha, chief growth officer of Comcast Corp.'s CMCSA advertising unit, who has had extensive interviews with Netflix in recent weeks, according to reports.

The executive chosen by Netflix for the position will have an uphill task in hand as the streamer attempts to introduce advertisements to its service for the first time. As it reported its first quarterly subscriber drop in more than a decade in April, the firm indicated it was considering introducing a lower-priced ad-supported version.

Netflix has been in talks with possible partners such as Comcast and its NBCUniversal subsidiary, as well as Alphabet Inc.'s Google, regarding the ad technology and sales force it requires.

According to sources familiar with the conversations, Netflix has contemplated developing an ad-supported alternative for each of its three tiers of service, which offers differing degrees of image quality and the number of screens that can be used concurrently. According to one of the sources, the corporation is willing to split advertising earnings with a partner who assists it in entering the ad sector.

"We are currently in the early stages of considering how to provide a lower cost, ad supported version," a Netflix representative said.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos stated last month that the firm desired a simple entry into the ad market and would grow its business from there. He also stated that Netflix is striving to provide a less disruptive ad experience than traditional television commercials.

According to sources with knowledge of internal conversations, executives want to develop an ad-supported tier that existing customers can opt for and that does not drive consumers to abandon Netflix. Because of the size of its subscriber base and the kind of engagement viewers have with the platform, the streamer intends to appeal to large marketers as a high-quality venue to buy commercials, according to one of the sources.
APEC business executives to meet in Vietnam later this month

As many as 130 business executives of all 21 APEC economies will meet in the Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh on July 26-27 for the third meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC III).









ABAC III to be held in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province on July 26-27, according to a press briefing on July 12. (Photo:baodautu.vn)





ABAC III is a big event of great economic and trade significance for the regional business community. The meeting will bring together many business executives of prestigious and influential investment and trade promotion organizations in the Asia-Pacific region.



Topics to be discussed are of particular interest to the regional business community, aiming for regional and global economic recovery and growth.



The meeting is an important event for the APEC Business Advisory Council to make recommendations to APEC ministers and bank governors to prepare their annual report to APEC leaders. In addition, it will examine issues to be tabled for discussions at the dialogue meeting between APEC leaders and ABAC to take place during the APEC Economic Leaders Week in Thailand in November 2022.



ABAC Vietnam has decided to host this third meeting, with the desire to popularize Vietnam as a safe and attractive investment destination among investors and leaders of large corporations, said Pham Tan Cong, president of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and President of ABAC Vietnam.



ABAC III was originally scheduled to take place in China in July 2022. However, Thailand, which is currently ABC 2022 Chair, requested Vietnam to host this meeting as China has yet to welcome international visitors due to its ongoing enforcement of the Zero COVID policy.



To date 130 leaders of ABAC member corporations and businesses have registered to participate in the meeting. Among them are executives of leading corporations such as NEC Group, Marubeni, UPS, and Acer.



According to Cong, though the meeting will be held both virtually and physically, more executive will register to attend the meeting, because regional executives expect to have face-to-face meetings to look for business opportunities after the recent COVID-19 challenging period.



On the sidelines of the meeting, Quang Ninh in collaboration with VCCI will organize the Quang Ninh Investment Promotion Conference 2022 on July 26, and an economic forum connecting four neighbouring localities of Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh on July 28.
Gurgaon-based rapidly growing fin-tech startup Vitto (powered by Microfinance AI) has roped in journalist-turned-renowned brand communication & PR strategist Vivek Satya Mitram as Senior Vice President - PR & Communications. As Sr Vice President  PR & Communications, Mitram will drive communications & public relations strategy for the startup that is simplifying micro credit business through its platform by adding AI powered technology innovations.

Vivek Satya Mitram is an award winning journalist turned Brand Communication Strategist & an independent PR Consultant who has helped 50+ organisations (MNCs, Startups & NGOs) in streamlining, designing & executing their Branding, Corporate Communication, PR, Content, Marketing, Advertising, Social Media strategies by adding creativity, innovation & right approach aligning the business interests, challenges & future plans of the company to its communication design, media outreach, branding & content initiatives. He has been associated with reputed media organisations like PTI, Star News, Sahara, India News etc in many roles including editor & channel head. His work has been recognised by scores of national/ international organisations including BBC & United Nations.

Commenting on his latest role Vivek Satya Mitram Sr VP - PR & Communications said, I am thrilled to be part of an extremely innovative company Vitto (Powered by Microfinance AI) which is on a mission to empower the millions of people from underprivileged section of society by making the microcredit solutions accessible adopting right kind of tech innovations which has potential to change the entire industry dynamics. Its a pleasure joining a company that is founded by London School Of Economics (LSE) alumnus Swati Sinha & Kapil Patil who are on a mission to make microfinance a transparent, more accessible and credible space as it has enormous potential to change the lives of millions! I wish them best for their journey.

Commenting on Vivek Satya Mitram appointment Vittos Co-founder & CEO Swati Sinha said, We are excited to have Mr Vivek Satya Mitram on board to lead our PR & Communications division who has been a renowned sector expert and a veteran in the same for more than 20 years. We are pretty confident that with his expertise and experience in communication business, Vitto will be able to reach its millions of local language speaking TG & empower them to access formal finance services like credit, savings and others offered on our AI powered tech platform. Viveks association with the company also reiterates our commitment to build a great team at Vitto that has potential and vision to translate our idea into reality to transform Microfinance sector with our innovative technology and the diverse offerings.

Vitto (powered by Microfinance AI) a fintech startup, had closed its Pre-Seed funding round led by We Founder Circle (WFC) a few months back. This round also witnessed the participation of some seasoned entrepreneurs like Saurabh Aggarwal, Co-founder Fitso, Ankit Prasad, Founder and CEO Bobble AI among others.
Today in history, the important fortress city of Acre fell back to Crusader hands, and in so doing ushered in the Third Crusade, arguably the most bloody and violent of all crusades.

Following the decisive battle of Hattin in 1187, Sultan Saladin went on to conquer Jerusalem and most other Christian kingdoms, including coastal Acre. Elated by his success, he vowed not only to eliminate all Crusaders from the Holy Land, but to invade Europe and pursue the Franks there, so as to free the earth of anyone who does not believe in Allah, or die in the attempt.

Before long, however, and due to its strategic location, Acre became the rallying point for the remaining Crusaders. If only they could reclaim it, they could reconsolidate their power base and spread out again, including to Jerusalem. So they laid it to siege in the summer of 1189. Famine, plague, and pestilence harried the Crusaders and countless thousands died while the Muslims continued to hold out in Acre.

The mood changed in the summer of 1191, when Philip II of France and especially Richard I of England -- the Lionheart, whom most Crusaders looked to as the natural leader -- arrived with their men to aid in the siege.

Richard immediately ordered the construction of more moveable war towers; more ditches around Acre were filled, thereby allowing these new engines of war to encroach upon and bombard the city; and defensive trenches were dug around the Crusaders camp, to prevent sorties from Saladins marauding troops.

Soon all the engines of war rained down death dealing destruction. Massive boulders -- some aflame and setting anything inside Acre not built of stone ablaze -- rocked the city. After the battle of Hattin, Saladin had ordered the ritual massacre of the military orders of the Knights Templars and Hospitallers. Now their brothers-in-arms made their presence felt: the Templars stonethrower wreaked impressive devastation, wrote a contemporary, while the Hospitallers also never ceased hurling, to the terror of the Turks.

In the words of Muslim chronicler Ibn al-Athir, after Richards arrival, The damage they did to the Muslims increased greatly. The king was the outstanding man of his time for bravery, cunning, steadfastness and endurance. In him the Muslims were tried by an unparalleled disaster.

Before long, however, Muslim spies reported the great fatigue they [the Crusaders] endured on account of all the various tasks they had constantly to put up with since the arrival of the accursed king of England. Then the latter fell seriously ill and was on the verge of death.

More robust than most men, even Richard had succumbed to the pestilent camp and contracted a form of scurvy which caused hair and fingernails to fall out, and in extreme cases, blindness. Even so, he continued inciting his men to war from the sickbed.

A contemporary chronicle offers a snapshot of these times:

King Richards stonethrowers hurled constantly by day and night [O]ne of them killed twelve men with a single stone. That stone was sent for Saladin to see, with messengers who said that the diabolical king of England had [come] to punish the Saracens. Nothing could withstand their blows; everything was crushed or reduced to dust. Yet the king was confined to bed suffering from a severe fever, completely wretched because he saw the Turks insolently challenging and attacking our people with increasing frequency but he could not engage them in battle because he was ill.

This, the chronicler adds, is what truly burned him up -- for Richard suffered more torture from the insolent Turkish raids than from the burning fever.

All this time Saladin had also been resorting to terror tactics, for he enrolled 300 robbers from amongst the thieving Bedouin to infiltrate the enemy. Baha al-Din explains how, after a day of exhaustive fighting, these cutthroats would slip into the Crusader camp during the thick of night. The common soldier would be rudely awoken by a dagger which was held at his throat. He and his belongings would then be spirited away or, if he resisted, slaughtered on the spot.

In time, Richard, though still sick, had become even more sick of his impotence. He ordered his moveable tower hauled into the ditch outside the city wall; he then had himself carried out on his sickbed and placed near his most skilled crossbowmen under the tower. The wounded warrior-king did this to discourage the Saracens with his presence and encourage his own people to fight. There he used his crossbow, with which he was skilled, and killed many.

Meanwhile, the Christians stonethrowers kept up a constant battering of the walls, day and night. Acre was holding on by a thread. Although the Christian chronicler praised the martial spirit of its Turkish garrison -- they were fit and ready for anything and certainly not inferior to our people -- by now many Muslims hurled themselves from the walls at night in a desperate attempt to escape. On being captured, a great many of them begged to be given the sacrament of the Christian baptism, though, as the chronicle observes, they asked for this more as a means of escape.

Finally, on July 12, 1191, and considering that large sections of Acres walls had by now collapsed into and filled the moat, the Franks -- Allah curse them! -- conquered the city of Acre, writes Ibn al-Athir, nearly two years since the siege first began.

Now that they had re-established themselves in the Holy Land, and the Third Crusade was off to a good start, would the Crusaders, under the Lionhearts leadership, be able to liberate Jerusalem from Islamic control? That is another, even more fascinating story.

This article was abstracted from Raymond Ibrahim's new book, Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood against Islam, which features a chapter on Richard Lionheart. Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

Image: Picryl
The murder of Seth Rich has been a topic of conspiracy theorists since the 2016 election. Rich was a young programmer working for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in D.C. Rich supported Bernie Sanders. The DNC was sandbagging Bernie Sanders in favor of Hillary Clinton. Unknown Assailants shot and killed Rich in July 2016. The robbers took nothing. Despite no theft, the DC Metro Police attributed this murder to a random street robbery gone wrong.

Seth Rich (Fox News screengrab cropped)

Wikileaks published damaging confidential DNC emails in June and July of 2016. Political pundits, campaign operatives, including major news media, elected officials, Big Tech, Deep State operatives, and others, said the DNC cyber-attack was a product of the Russian Collusion before and after the 2016 election.

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, denied his source was the Russians. Assange gave this intriguing statement implying Rich might be his source, "Im suggesting that our sources take risks . . . and they become concerned to see things occurring like that. Wikileaks offered a $20,000 reward for information related to Richs murder.

Crooks will lie and cant keep their stories straight . . . When more money is involved, the white-collar perps are more adept at concealing, covering up their sins, and hiding where the money went. In political corruption investigations, the rules are to follow the money, Honey, Cui Bono - who benefits, who is credible, and who makes provable false statements.

The way to get to the bottom of the crimes related to Seth Richs murder is to invoke the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

The Dem-media cabal gaslighted any who would question their DNC cyber-attack narrative, one of many lies that expose what Kash Patel called is a joint venture criminal conspiracy (a RICO offense). The conspiracy involved a group of people acting alone or in concert with others to commit crimes with a common purpose against the People of the United States, including a coup of sitting President. Using illegal usurpation of power, treason, mutiny, bribery, frauds, thefts of public funds, cover-ups, and obstruction of justice. . .

The Russian Collusion narrative was destroyed in the trial of DNC Attorney Michael Sussmann. It was a disinformation product paid for by the Clinton Campaign, released with a wink and nod to the FBI and the CIA. Robby Mook testified that Hillary Clinton personally approved the release of the disinformation. Charles Lipson wrote, "The Sussmann trial, like all modern political scandals, is part of a three-ring circus, showcasing sleazy political enablers, malfeasance by public officials, and biased reporting. In this circus of deceit, the public has to walk behind the elephants with a huge shovel.

If Trump was not the Manchurian candidate as alleged, why would the Russians release compromising information on the Clinton Campaign? What benefit would the Russians accrue from Trump's election? First, the Russians were in tight with the Clintons. And now, even more so with the Biden Administration  follow the money, Honey.

Establishing attribution of a cyber-attack to a foreign state actor or their operatives with any certainty is problematic at best. These actors have sophisticated tools that can spoof and shift attribution to another entity. Moreover, the Russians wouldn't be so careless as to leave digital fingerprints unless intended.

Yet, in the joint release on Oct. 7, by the Department of Homeland Security (Jeh Johnson) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (James Clapper) approved by and encouraged by Obama .". . . was confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of emails, according to The Epoch Times.

The DNC refused to give the FBI physical access to their servers. Why? Instead, CrowdStrike was hired by the DNC do the forensic investigation of the servers. The FBI did not have the DNC server disk images from CrowdStrike until two weeks after the DHS ODNI press release. How can attribution to the Russians be made with confidence before the FBI even had the disk images? NSA/CIA?

CrowdStrike installed counter-intrusion tools on the DNC servers on May 1, 2016. They said there were no intrusions after this date. Yet, Special Counsel Robert Mueller says the DNC emails were stolen around May 25 to June 1, 2016. Can they not keep their stories straight?

CrowdStrike sent a report to the FBI. The FBI agent who reviewed the report . . . called it 'heavily redacted,' . . . FBI Assistant Director James Trainor was so frustrated with the redactions that he doubted its completeness because he knew that outside counsel had reviewed it. The Epoch Times said, The 'outside counsel' . . . was all but certainly [Michael] Sussmann, who served as the DNCs point of contact for all intrusion-related matters." It is obvious from the trial Sussmann misled the FBI, albeit the FBI was probably a willing stooge.

CrowdStrike did not attribute the DNC cyber-attack to the Russians [It] didnt have concrete evidence that emails had been stolen from the DNC. . . We have indicators that data was exfiltrated. What does this mean? CrowdStrike found evidence that data was moved on the servers. However, they cannot say the data was removed from the server. It is then possible the data was moved and then removed from the server by someone with physical/credential access to a portable drive  in direct conflict with the DHS ODNI press release. Seth Rich?

The FBI disavowed any knowledge of Rich's murder. The FBI later admitted it had files on the murder after much teeth pulling by Judicial Watch and attorney Ty Clevenger. More importantly, the FBI admitted it had Richs laptop. Why? What is the FBI hiding?

Shades of the FBI deep-sixing Hunter Bidens hard drives and now Richs laptop?

The Rich family initially believed Seth Rich and his brother, Aaron, were involved with the emails. The Rich family made an abrupt 180 shortly after FOX News began to cover this story. See the reporting by Jack Cashill here and here. Witness tampering?

Victor Davis Hanson writes that the members of the cabal are blatant liars. CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper have both lied under oath to Congress. Former FBI Director James Comey and deputy director Andrew McCabe lied too. Both knowingly lied by omission and suborned perjury in signing the FBI FISA warrant applications.

The Intel community is hot to have Assange extradited to the US. Why? My speculation is another suicide ala Jeffrey Epstein. If Rich was Assanges source for the DNC leak, he was a direct threat to the cabal possibly leading to his murder. Rich could expose the Russian Collusion narrative as the hoax from the beginning. Glenn Greenwald said, "The Assange persecution is the greatest threat to Western press freedoms in years.

The cabal politically weaponized and subverted the DOJ, the DHS, the Department of State, and related agencies, including the FBI, the CIA, and the DNI. The FBI, as of late, has gone full Stasi against conservative critics, flagrantly violating their civil rights, according to Tucker Carlson, including the raid on Project Veritas (jurisdiction?) Why?

In my opinion, there is overwhelming probable cause, to begin an investigation into the Rich murder* and other serious felonies under the mandate of Special Prosecutor John Durham. Murder has no statute of limitations. The investigation of the Rich murder can be used to sweat the perps to come clean and rat out the others in the crimes they committed (RICO).

There must be accountability for those who aided or abetted this conspiracy. A two-tier system of justice makes a mockery of the principles of our justice system  equal justice for all, no one is above the law, and the rule of law and not men.

To do otherwise will continue the descent of our Constitutional Republic into a totalitarian Banana Republic and surrender to the agenda of the Marxist New World Order.

* Note: Murder is not generally a federal crime but can be used as an unindicted predicate offense in a RICO action.

Ron Wright is a retired detective from the Riverside PD, CA serving almost thirty-five years. He has a BA in political science CSUF & M. Adm. University of Cal, Riverside. Facebook at Ron T. Cop.
Recently, the Arizona Legislature passed a school choice bill that will grant students K12 eligibility to sign up for an Empowerment Scholarship Account. In addition, the bill allows for students, regardless of income brackets, to receive an annual education voucher of $6,000. These vouchers will cover educational tutoring, school supply costs, and private school tuition. Arizona governor Doug Ducey signed the legislation into law on July 7, saying, "Today, we're unlocking a whole new world of opportunity for them and their parents."

In a recent interview with the Washington Examiner, Governor Ducey laid out his vision for education in Arizona. As an advocate for school choice, he explained how important this new law would be for families. "[This bill] puts the parents in control. The parents have all the power. They are consumers now  and they're pretty good consumers," Ducey continued. "And what they're going to do is what's in the best interest of their child, and now they can take action when necessary."

HB2583 passed the Arizona House on a straight party-line vote as only Republican lawmakers backed the bill. The Empowerment Scholarship Accounts were established in 2013 by former governor Jan Brewer and gave access to around 12,000 Arizona students. The new law will expand access to over 1.1 million students. An analysis of the bill shows that about 25,000 Arizona students will now be able to use the expanded program. On average, an ESA will spend around $6,400 per family.

Although teachers' unions critique school choice programs as costly to taxpayers, Arizona's ESA program saves taxpayers money. A 2021 report produced by EdChoice, a non-profit school choice organization, shows that school choice programs have saved taxpayers between $12.4 billion and $27.7 billion from 2011 to 2018. That comes to about $7,500 per student in a school choice program. In addition, the Arizona Department of Education will receive $2.2 million, which will hire as many as 26 educators for the ESA expansion.

Liberal critics of the ESA claim that the money produced will primarily benefit students of wealthy families while families of poor students will pay the cost. The data show otherwise. A study from the Goldwater Institute found that students who use ESAs are proportionally represented across income levels. Furthermore, the study showed that eight out of ten districts with the most ESA students have high poverty. The study shows that students in failed communities get access to better schools with ESA, concluding that it is cheaper for students to leave bad schools than to keep them there.

Arizona's campaign for universal school choice has received national praise from school choice advocates across the country. Former secretary of Education Betsy DeVos praised the passage of the ESA bill as "groundbreaking." "I am very excited for what this can mean for families there, many of whom have continued to struggle and/or be frustrated following the last couple of years and their experiences in their assigned school." Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, now hails Arizona as the "gold standard" for education in the U.S. He went farther in an interview with Maine's leading free-enterprise think-tank, Maine Wire: "Every other state should follow Arizona's lead and fund students instead of systems. Education funding is meant for educating children, not for protecting a particular institution. School choice is the only way to truly secure parental rights in education."

Ducey is encouraging other states to follow the example set by the Grand Canyon State: "Arizona is proud to be a trendsetter in educational excellence and freedom." States including Iowa, Florida, and Texas continue to float the idea of universal choice programs in their legislatures. The late iconic conservative economist Milton Friedman saw school choice as a necessary step in educational freedom as he popularized school choice in his book Free to Choose. "Our goal is to have a system in which every family in the U.S. will be able to choose for itself the school to which its children go," said Friedman in a 2003 speech. With the expansion of ESA, Arizona is leading on educational equality for all Americans.

Image: Gage Skidmore.
In just a few days, Democrats from across the state of Florida will gather in Tampa for an annual leadership conference. Corporate sponsors include fundraising infrastructure giant for leftists ActBlue; the largest federation of unions, also known as the AFL-CIO; and Big Pharma profiteer Pfizer. With the help of sell-out politicians who span both sides of the aisle, a National Pulse article on Pfizer reported:

[D]espite obscuring results from its pharmaceutical trials and studies suggesting natural immunity confers better protection than COVID-19 vaccination, the company has continued to receive approval on its vaccines and boosters from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The editorial piece continued, acknowledging that the "vaccine"-maker "still enjoys government protection against legal challenges over its MRNA "therapies."

Per the same article, Pfizer "has spent a record-breaking amount on lobbyists throughout COVID-19," so it's no wonder that Democrats under Ron DeSantis chastised the governor for "failing to implement" compulsory experimental gene therapy  substantially affecting the pharmaceutical company's earnings in the third-most populous state.

There is a quote floating around the internet, often attributed to the late Robin Williams, which says, "Politicians should wear sponsor jackets like NASCAR drivers so we know who owns them." If that were the case, it would be completely expected to see the logos for massive conglomerates emblazoned across the wardrobes of all of Congress  however, what would be fairly unanticipated would be the presence of these corporations on the jackets of Republican Establishment bush-league state legislators.

According to campaign finance reports, Arizona Republican state senator Vince Leach received multiple donations from the Pfizer PAC, with one of the contributions appearing on October 29, 2019  two months before the debut of COVID-19. In 2021, during a campaign of intense medical tyranny, Leach voted to sine die  ending the legislative session  despite the fact the Legislature took no meaningful action to ensure protections against forced masking and jabs. Garret Lewis, a popular local radio host, devised the monikers "Vince 'Wear the Damn Mask' Leach" and "Chin Bra" after Leach chastised his constituents for requesting action against mandated facial coverings. Yet his cowardice (or perhaps complicity) regarding the Big Pharma machine wasn't his only shortcoming. Leach's tenure at the Legislature is so full of betrayal  involvement in bills to remove state sovereignty in favor of the National Popular Vote and the removal of precinct committeeman elections  that he's recently been the target of "RINO tags."

Leach's actions lend credence to the notion that he may very well be bought and sold. After all, it's not a far-fetched scenario  we can observe that money has completely corrupted politics, and just because someone has an "R" next to his name doesn't mean he's immune.
Eric Swalwell, the congenital liar and sucker in a Chinese honey pot scheme, believes we should vote for Democrats because they believe in freedom while Republicans don't. In a tweet from July 8, Swalwell said:

What's the Democrat's message? I hear this all the time. Simple. We are the party of freedom. Freedom to make your own health care choices. Freedom from your fear of gun violence. Freedom to have your vote counted. Our message is our values. Freedom for all.

However, reality would tell a different story. So let's see how well Swalwell's claim holds up to the lightest application of critical thought or fact.

Democrats have a free pass to challenge elections, as they did in 2004 and 2016. Republicans do not have that right, even when the election fraud is proven.

Democrats believe in a top-down dictatorship, while Republicans believe in the Tenth Amendment and the Constitution guaranteeing state sovereignty.

Democrats can lie with impunity, as shown by Comey and McCabe, while any hint of suspected dishonesty from a Republican ought to land them behind bars.

Democrats forced Americans to purchase health care plans under Obamacare, while Republicans believe in a free market.

Democrats believe that Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other countries should have the freedom to access natural energy resources, while Americans should be hogtied by the Green Agenda.

Democrats believe in the freedom afforded by energy independence, but only for everyone but Americans. Republicans believe in energy independence for all.

Democrats believe that Americans should be forced to participate in the "Green" revolution, while Republicans believe in the freedom of prosperity.

Democrats believe in compulsory experimental shots, while Republicans believe that everyone has the right to medical consent.

Democrats believe in censorship, and Republicans believe in the First Amendment.

Democrats believe that all states must provide abortion on demand (at the expense of the taxpayers), emulating China and North Korea. Republicans believe in the Constitution, which relegates that decision to the state governments.

Democrats believe that males have a place in female sports. Republicans believe in science and the freedom for women and girls to compete on a level playing field.

Democrats believe in exposing young girls to pedophilic adult males, all under the umbrella of "inclusivity" and "trans visibility." Republicans believe in a child's right to safety and privacy.

Democrats believe that children belong to the State. Republicans believe that parents should have the freedom to determine school curricula.

Democrats fight to keep minority children trapped in failing public schools. Republicans believe in the freedom of school choice.

Democrats claim they stand against racism, but they embrace Planned Parenthood. Republicans fought to abolish slavery and supported the Civil Rights movement.

Democrats believe in forcing hardworking Americans to pay off debt they didn't incur. Republicans believe in financial freedom.

Democrats encourage lawlessness, allowing sanctuary cities and states to pick and choose what laws they enforce. Republicans believe in the rule of law and the freedom from criminality.

Democrats advocate for a world where career criminals roam the streets to terrorize citizens. Republicans promote the freedom to self-defense.

Democrats believe that people from all over the world have the right to violate our laws and invade our country. Republicans believe in enforcing current immigration laws, while supporting legal, merit-based immigration.

It is an obvious choice which party promotes principles of liberty and freedom, and it's not the Democrats, as Swalwell proposes. Either choose leadership who work toward total government control over all aspects of our lives, making more people dependent on the ever-expanding welfare state, or choose people who believe in true freedom and power for the people.
This year on July 4, George Soros penned an editorial piece expressing his concern against the limited government principles of these United States, specifically the idea of state sovereignty as detailed by the Tenth Amendment. On a day when many Americans celebrate independence from a far-off and unrepresentative government, a foreign-born globalist castigated the supreme law and court of these United States. In the article, Soros wrote:

From abroad, the US is threatened by repressive regimes led by Xi Jinping in China and Vladimir Putin's Russia who want to impose an autocratic form of government on the world. But the threat to the US from the domestic enemies of democracy is even greater. They included the current Supreme Court, which is dominated by far-right extremists, and Donald Trump's Republican Party, which placed those extremists on the Court.

Recent decisions regarding abortion, the scope of the EPA, and God-given rights to self-defense have apparently struck a nerve. Soros kicks it off by denouncing Alito's line of reasoning in the reversal of Roe v. Wade, inferring that "logically," the Court might regress towards racial inequality  masterfully applying the Alinsky tactic of "rubbing raw the sores of discontent." He then gripes about the decision that "denied the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to issue regulations needed to combat climate change" before claiming the SCOTUS is beholden to the gun lobby, rather than the words of the Second Amendment.

Soros wasn't alone in his indignation or his constitutional illiteracy. Subsequently, just one week after the publication of Soros's critique, the Parliament of the European Union took a vote officially condemning the American High Court for returning to responsibly interpreting our supreme governing document.

eu parliament votes 324-155 to condemn us supreme court overturning roe v wade pic.twitter.com/27njiMkEVm  ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) July 7, 2022

What don't these European elites understand? In America, legislative bodies are tasked with lawmaking, not the Courts and not the Executive. The Constitution does not explicitly mention abortion, so at the moment, that decision legally belongs to each individual state. And aside from the obvious fact that the EPA has no right to exist, it certainly has no authority to dictate "regulations" to be followed as though they were federal or state law. Lastly, the Second Amendment is quite clear when it says "shall not be infringed." Interpreting that correctly does not hinge on the financial clout of the "gun lobby."

It's no secret that George Soros and the European Union embrace and encourage the erosion of American strength and sovereignty. This structure of government, founded upon Judeo-Christian principles, is antithetical to global tyranny and oppression, and their disdain for our Constitution cannot be concealed.
President Biden has several times this year spoken of the necessity of closing the so-called "boyfriend loophole," by which domestic partners who have been convicted of domestic relations law violations are nevertheless still able to buy and acquire firearms.

He spoke to this as recently as June 24, when he signed into law the so-called "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act," which is the latest federal act of Congress designed to curb gun violence.

In this short speech, which Biden gave on the (South?) lawn of the White House, almost literally as he was getting ready to dash out the door to get on board Air Force 1 to take him to Europe and the G7 and NATO conferences, Biden had this to say about the "boyfriend loophole."

And it finally closes what is known as the "boyfriend loophole." So if you assault your boyfriend or girlfriend, you can't buy a gun or own a gun.

All of this is a great surprise to me. Almost 30 years ago, I was involved in a bitter and savagely adversarial divorce proceeding. Naturally, I was accused of domestic violence. And immediately upon getting served with the resulting restraining order, I was ordered to surrender all my firearms forthwith. (It would be self-serving of me here to declare my innocence of the accusation, so I'll not venture to comment on that one way or another, save to note that upon expiration of the restraining order, my full rights to possess firearms in The People's Republic of Massachusetts were fully restored.)

As a result of my legal predicament, I imposed upon myself a crash course in the law, and among other things, I learned that in The People's Commonwealth, all persons who have ever been convicted of any domestic violence law violation  nationwide  are permanently barred from firearms possession. Massachusetts flatly will not license such persons.

This is all thanks to the Lautenberg Amendment of 1996  specifically Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(9). This amendment actually took an already old idea one step farther. According to this DoJ archive site, "[t]he 1968 Gun Control Act and subsequent amendments codified at 18 U.S.C.  921 et seq. prohibit anyone convicted of a felony and anyone subject to a domestic violence protective order from possessing a firearm" (emphasis added).

There is not much one  especially if you're a man  can do about it. Restraining orders are routinely given out upon request, and no probable cause is necessary to justify the request.

But the Lautenberg Amendment took the basic idea farther "by banning the possession of firearms by individuals convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence."

Furthermore, Lautenberg made the lifelong bans on firearms possession retroactive.

Date of Previous Conviction: The prohibition applies to persons convicted of such misdemeanors at any time, even if the conviction occurred prior to the new law's effective date, September 30, 1996.

I remember, at the time, that there were a number of police officers who discovered to their horror that they'd suddenly been disarmed. Before Lautenberg went into effect, they'd been accused of domestic violence, and rather than fight the case and maybe incur a felony conviction, they accepted an "easy" plea bargain down to a misdemeanor, just to get on with their careers and lives. Suddenly, they found they were out of jobs, because what is a police officer who cannot carry a firearm?

So what is Brandon talking about when he claims there is  or was  a "boyfriend loophole" which enables "boyfriends" convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to retain legal possession of firearms? I know that that has been flatly impossible in Massachusetts for many, many years.

Is he just lying again, as he so often does?

Well, yes and no. The answer is cloudy and complicated.

According to the Twyford Law Office site, "[d]espite prohibiting the possession of firearms, federal law does not actually ensure that such laws are enforced, with no policies in place for the relinquishment of guns[.] ... Although this direction is generally left to the states, just 16 states have laws that require the relinquishment of firearms and ammunition if the offender is convicted of a domestic violence crime."

In other words, while Lautenberg does define a national standard, by itself, Lautenberg is toothless, because it leaves enforcement up to the states, and each state defines domestic violence and domestic relations and how to police those things differently. For those who are interested, the Twyford Law site has a table giving the state of the law in all 50 states.

I don't know how Brandon's new law improves on the Lautenberg Amendment. It's hard to believe that it will use federal marshals or other law enforcement officers to enforce its law against those convicted of state-level domestic violence misdemeanors. But if it leaves enforcement to the states, as it has done for almost the past 30 years, how is it any kind of "improvement"?

Brandon's law changes nothing in many states. For that reason, and if I were Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post Fact-Checker, I'd give Brandon's claim two or three out of four possible Pinocchios.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
As some of you may recall, Rick Wilson  the neoconservative cofounder of the Lincoln Project  once referred to Trump-supporters as "credulous boomer rubes" during an appearance on CNN. To his credit, his sentiment is genuine. These snobbish pedantic cosmopolitans have utter contempt for the American working class. Rick Wilson, however, is just one of many pseudo-intellectual faux conservatives who often appear on CNN panels and write Washington Post op-eds. Others include George Will, Bill Kristol, David French, Jonah Goldberg, and Max Boot.

Conservatism, much to their dismay, has taken a populist turn in recent years. Conservative Americans are visiting sites like Breitbart, the Daily Caller, and American Thinker much more frequently than they are subscribing to David French's Substack. The fact of the matter is that Bush-era country club conservatism has been widely rejected. To that I say: thank God! George Will can take his nerdy frames and obnoxious bowtie somewhere else while we tune in to Tucker Carlson  who, by the way, no longer dons his bowtie.

We must leave left-leaning neoconservatives in the rearview mirror and embrace this new wave of America-First populism. Let the Rick Wilsons of the world slander us as "rubes"! We will retaliate by discontinuing our subscriptions to their globalist websites and newsletters and opt instead for real conservative publications. I suggest that we steal the term "rube" and wear it with pride! Let us stage a revenge of the rubes!

Image: Picryl.
"Bodega" is one of those places that we grew up going to. "El bodeguero," or the man who works at "la bodega," is one of those faces in the community that everybody knows and likes. When I was a kid in Cuba, my mother would call "la bodega" with an order, and "el bodeguero" would send someone on a motorcycle with bags of things. My mother would sign a note, and some kind of credit account was created. All I know is that my father would go by and pay the account and smoke a cigar. It all worked so well, and "la bodega" was in the middle of it all.

So what happened in New York? A "bodeguero" was arrested for defending himself? Here is the story:

The facts of that case as theyve been reported: After an argument between 61-year-old bodega worker Jose Alba and a woman customer, the womans boyfriend, Austin Simon, entered the bodega and attacked Alba behind the counter. During the struggle, Alba grabbed a knife and stabbed Simon. At some point Simons girlfriend also joined the fight, stabbing Alba several times in the arm. Simon died of his wounds. Alba was arrested by police and charged with intentional murder by the Manhattan District Attorneys Office. That the incident, and Albas apparent efforts at self-defense, were caught on video fueled instantaneous outrage over the arrest  which only grew as new facts emerged. For one, Alba is by all accounts a longtime pillar of his community, a mild-mannered Dominican immigrant with no criminal record who works long hours. Simon, a 35-year-old violent career criminal with numerous felony arrests, was out on parole for assaulting a police officer.

What's happening to the country, or more specifically to New York? Alba, age 61, stabs Simon, age 35, in self-defense, and he is the villain of the story? And Simon is a career criminal to go with it!

It's hard to tell what electoral impact this will have in New York City. I can guarantee that this story will flow from coast to coast and remind everyone that Democrats don't care about the people who work and pay taxes.

PS: Check out my videos and posts.

Image: Tyler A. McNeil.
The mainstream media loves having Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney on television every week, as long as they are trashing Trump.

They have been doing it for awhile.

Notice that these Trump-hating so-called Republicans never criticize any of Joe Biden's disastrous and unpopular policies, or the Biden family corruption.

That's because RINOs and the media don't care about the intentional destruction of America.

Kinzinger is mixed up, it is Biden's poll numbers that are headed towards zero, not Trump's.

Can anyone imagine how few people would show up at a Biden rally where he would read whatever is put on his teleprompter and still get mixed up?

Yet Kinzinger is still spewing tripe like this:

Cheney is no better.

The only people Cheney can get to donate to her re-election campaign, currently on the rock, are RINOs and Democrats.

If she would ever win the primary, which she won't, the media and other Democrats are as likely to support her in a general election as they would be to support Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, John McCain, her dad, and Mitt Romney.

The reason America wouldn't like Trump prosecuted is because there is no crime to challenging an election. If there were, a lot of Democrats would be in jail.

The Justice Department should spend its time prosecuting criminals like the Biden family.

They won't, of course, and on that, Kinzinger and Cheney are silent.

Image: Screen shot from JCH 007 video, via shareable YouTube
Hypocrisy is intrinsic in modern politics; there is usually a wide chasm between the utterances and actions of politicians.

Citizens no longer expect the elimination of these dual standards. At best, they hope their elected representatives are at least true believers and practitioners of the policies they advocate and the laws they pass.

We recently had a few instances of blatant hypocrisy.

Exhibit one is California governor Gavin Newsom.

Last week, the California governor's office released a statement that the governor was away from the office to spend time with his family. There was no mention of the destination or the duration of the holiday.

It was impossible to fathom the purpose of this obfuscation.

Finally, after prodding from some sections of the press, the mystery unraveled. It was revealed that Newsom was vacationing in Montana.

Why would he hide traveling to Montana?

Newsom previously banned taxpayer-funded trips to Montana and 21 other states for their "anti-LGBT" laws banning male athletes from competing in women's sports. Newsom's office also slammed Montana for restricting abortion access.

Newsom was unwilling to share particulars about his vacation because he knew it would make his dual standards obvious, which would be politically perilous  especially considering the rumors that he may be running for president in 2024.

Exhibit Two is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, AKA AOC.

AOC is the first female member of the Democratic Socialists of America elected to serve in Congress.

During an interview on 60 Minutes in 2019, AOC suggested that the top marginal income tax rate should be as high as 70 percent, which would facilitate the funding of her "Green New Deal" that aims to curb America's carbon emissions.

So does socialist AOC pay all her taxes and make generous donations to various charitable organizations to redistribute her personal wealth?

The Washington Examiner revealed the existence of a New York state tax warrant filed against AOC's defunct business.

On July 6, 2017, New York state filed a tax warrant against Brook Avenue Press, a children-focused publishing firm founded by AOC in 2012 to collect $1,618 in unpaid corporate taxes.

AOC hasn't paid any overdue corporate taxes, causing the current balance of the tax warrant to swell by 52% to $2,461 with interest charges.

AOC claimed that she learned of the tax warrant against her former business after she was sworn into Congress in January 2019.

AOC pledged to repay her delinquent corporate tax bill, but her office later claimed that the warrant was issued "in error" and that she was contesting the matter.

It's not clear whether AOC is still contesting the tax bill or if she intends to pay what her former business owes to the state.

AOC earns $174,000 before taxes from her congressional salary in the House of Representatives. Paying $2,461 wouldn't actually drain her savings. Yet she seems reluctant. Clearly, AOC doesn't believe in paying her fair share in taxes.

But that wasn't the only display of hypocrisy on AOC's part.

Socialists claim to despise ostentatious displays and discrimination against the downtrodden.

Yet AOC had no qualms posing at the MET Gala, where tickets are priced at $35,000 per head and the working-class staff is compelled to suffocate under masks. AOC wore a gown inscribed with "Tax the Rich" in bold red text. It was a laughable attempt to conceal her hypocrisy. The gala occurred mere yards from where the NYPD arrested protesters for "defunding the police"  a cause that AOC claims to support.

Back to the taxes.

The firm owned by AOC's MET Gala dress designer was hit with 15 state tax warrants since 2015, three of which were due to its failure to withhold income taxes totaling nearly $15,000 from its employees.

There are numerous other instances of blatant hypocrisy from contemporary Democrats.

When the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, the Democrats ordered stringent lockdowns that hurt small businesses and cause unemployment in working-class communities while they themselves continued to receive their salaries while working from home.

Governor Newsom was photographed dining maskless with friends at a fancy Napa Valley restaurant, flouting his own coronavirus safety protocols.

The Democrats ordered mask mandates for all, including schoolchildren, but were seen maskless in their personal lives. House speaker Pelosi attended the lavish wedding of billionaire oil heiress Ivy Getty without a mask. AOC was spotted maskless at a restaurant in Miami Beach in Florida.

Top Democrats advocate defunding of the police when a protest in Washington, D.C. goes overboard, yet they have 24/7 police protection for themselves.

When BLM "activists" or abortion "protesters" engage in property destruction, arson, looting, and rioting, the Democrats downplay the violence, claiming that this is how democracy functions. However, when protests by Trump-supporters for election integrity go overboard, it is branded a violent insurrection, and the might of the state is used to crush all involved.

They pledge to confiscate all guns from regular people but have armed bodyguards protecting them 24/7 both in their offices and their homes. Quite often, taxpayer money funds this security.

The Democrats are against border walls but barricade Washington, D.C. after the January 6 protests and their private homes.

The Democrats claim to feel the pain of illegal migrants who enter the U.S. illegally. But the resettlement of these migrants occurs only in working-class neighborhoods. The result is the citizen sees wage reduction, potential job loss, infrastructural facilities overrun, a rise in crime, and erosion of culture.

The Democrats claim to care for the environment. They pass environmental laws that make it difficult to run a small business and impose fines for environmental violations. But they travel in private jets to climate conferences, despite it being known that private jets generally produce significantly more emissions per passenger than commercial flights.

Since their party's founding in 1829, the Democrats opposed every civil rights initiative. They were proponents of slavery and segregation. They founded the Ku Klux Klan. Yet these Democrats brand Republicans as racists.

The Democrats claim to be feminists but support sexual predators such as Harvey Weinstein and Jeffery Epstein. They also engage in victim-shaming.

The Democrats claim to despise capitalism but are eager to enjoy its fruits upon leaving office via high speaking fees and other lucrative deals to bolster their wealth.

When the Democrat hypocrisy is exposed, they resort to irrationality, knowing that their P.R. wing  i.e., mainstream media  will never ever hold them accountable.

It is astounding that these charlatans with their dubious records have the audacity to cast aspersions on their political opponents and their supporters.

The GOP isn't immune to hypocrisy, but the dual standards aren't as blatant.

The Democrats spend all their waking hours pretending to be passionate about the liberal agenda. They link it to virtuousness and morality and claim their advocacy emanates from empathy.

When the political opponents challenge the rationale, the response is pejorative names ascribing bigotry and ignorance.

In their personal lives, their actions are always contrary to their words. The Democrats clearly don't believe even slightly in their own agenda; there is no reason the citizen should, either.
The Monday, July 11, 2022 edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight went where no other major media outlet will go, connecting the dots on President Joe Biden's financial enrichment from China and the policies and decisions he's made that benefit China, but not the American people. It was a remarkable act of bravery, and it lasted nearly the entire first half of the program without commercial interruption. Carlson also blasted social media and the mainstream media that have worked assiduously to censor this information.

This is truly must-see TV.

Photo credit: YouTube screen grab.
Samsung has updated dozens of Galaxy smartphones and tablets with Android 12 over the past few months. But the companys Android portfolio is so huge that it still has a few awaiting the big Android update. Now, as Android 13 nears the stable release, some of those devices have started picking up Android 12. The Galaxy M12 and the Galaxy A22 5G are the latest beneficiaries.

Launched with Android 11 in April last year, the Galaxy M12 is first receiving the Android 12-based One UI 4.1 update in Vietnam. Rolling out with firmware version M127FXXU3BVF8, the big Android update for the entry-level model should soon expand to other markets too. It comes with the June 2022 Android security patch.

The Galaxy A22 5G, which debuted a couple of months after the Galaxy M12 with Android 11 on board, is initially picking up Android 12 in Malaysia and Thailand. The update comes with firmware version A226BXXU4BVF7 and brings along One UI Core 4.1 and June security patch. A global rollout of the new Android version should follow soon. The 4G variant of the Galaxy A22 has already received Android 12 widely.

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One UI 4.1 brings plenty of goodies to Galaxy devices

One UI 4.1 is the latest iteration of Samsungs Android 12-based custom software. It contains all the goodies that Google offers with stock Android. From notification indicators that appear on the screen when an app uses the devices camera or microphone to the Privacy Dashboard, you get it all. On top of that, you get customizations and tweaks from Samsung.

Some highlights of One UI 4.1 include Color Palette for unique system colors, clipboard protection for sensitive information, Grammarly-integrated Samsung Keyboard, new and improved widgets, enhanced camera features, new editing tools, enhanced Dark Mode, simplified sharing menu, new accessibility tools, and improved stock apps.

The Galaxy M12 and the Galaxy A22 5G are joining the Android 12 party just days after the Galaxy A03s, Galaxy M11, Galaxy A02s, and Galaxy A21s. If youre using any of these affordable Samsung smartphones and are still on Android 11, fret not! Android 12 is already on your way. You should get a notification once the OTA 9over the air) update hits your phone. You can also manually check for updates from the Settings app, under the Software update menu.

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Android 12 will likely be the last major Android OS update for the last three of the aforementioned six Galaxy smartphones. The other three should also get Android 13. The new Android version will arrive with Samsungs One UI 5.0 custom skin later this year.
Bosnia:Germany participates again in the EU military mission Troop deployment was approved 10 years after withdrawal.

(ANSA) - BRUSSELS, 09 LUG - Germany will participate again in the European military mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eufor/Althea. The Bundestag made this decision, which gave the green light to the deployment of 50 units in the EU mission nearly ten years after their withdrawal in 2012.



However, Eufor/Althea's mandate risks not being renewed next November by the UN Security Council due to possible opposition from Russia.



The vote on the mission's mandate is likely to occur just weeks before the country's general elections. Moreover, it would coincide with the secessionist agenda of Republika Srpska (one of Bosnia-Herzegovina's two Serb-majority entities, ed.), already announced by the Bosnian Serb leader, Milorad Dodik.



Finally, the German parliament passed a resolution accusing Dodik and Dragan Covic, leader of the largest Bosnian-Croat political party (Hdz BiH, which is akin to the ruling party in Croatia, ed.), of aiming at the "destruction of Bosnia-Herzegovina." Another critical passage warns Serbia and Croatia to distance themselves from nationalist and separatist forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. (ANSA).





 Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved
BRUSSELS - The EU Council has adopted the last three legal acts necessary to enable Croatia to introduce the euro starting on January 1, 2023, setting the conversion rate between the euro and the Croatian kuna at 7.53450 kunas per 1 euro, the council announced in a statement.



This corresponds to the current central rate of the kuna in the exchange rate mechanism (ERM II).



Croatia on Tuesday realised a "national strategic objective" and starting on January 1, 2023 it will introduce the euro, Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic wrote on Twitter after in the early afternoon Ecofin adopted the final legal acts necessary to allow Croatia to enter the eurozone on January 1.



"The euro will make it possible for our economy," Plenkovic continued, "to be more resistant and over the long term to raise the living standards of our citizens." "Being a member of the eurozone ensures greater security for Croatia in crises," the prime minister noted.



Starting in September, all prices in Croatia will have to be displayed in kunas and euros.



The transition period will last from January 1 to 14, 2023, during which it will be possible to pay in cash in either kunas or euros.
PARIS - There will not be a second trial for the attacks that on November 13, 2015 led to the deaths of 130 people between the Stade de France, the Bataclan, and other locations in central Paris.



Following the handing down of a life sentence, the only survivor of the attackers that bloodied the French capital that night, Salah Abdeslam, has said that he will not file an appeal.



The other defendants of the trial said they would not either.



The 19 others sentenced for their role leading up to and following the attacks also declined to appeal, prosecutor Remy Heitz told AFP on Tuesday.



They had 10 days to lodge any appeal after their sentencing, a deadline that expired at midnight Monday and thus the decision of the special court handling the cases "has now acquired permanent status and there will not be an appeal trial", he said.



Abdeslam's choice "does not mean that he agrees with the verdict and the life sentence without chance of early release, but that he is resigned to it," commented his lawyers Olivia Ronen and Martin Vettes in a statement posted on Twitter.



On June 29, at the end of a large trial that began in September at Paris's Palace of Justice, Abdeslam became the fifth person in France to be sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole, the hardest sentence possible under the French criminal code.



The French national was born 32 years ago in Brussels to parents of Moroccan origins and has been deemed "co-author" of the attacks that left 130 dead and 350 injured.
Hezbollah's Nasrallah to make televised speech on Wednesday While US president is on Middle East tour

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, JULY 12 - While US president Joe Biden is on a mission in Israel and Saudi Arabia, the leader of Iran-linked Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah will on Wednesday be speaking live on television.



The broadcaster of his party, Al-Manar, made the announcement and said that the speech will start at 8:30 PM.



"Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah will address the issues relative to political developments," a statement issued by the Hezbollah-run media outlet said.



In recent days, tension has resumed rising between Hezbollah and Israel after the Iran-linked armed movement sent drones to near the maritime platform tasked by Israel with preparing for natural gas extraction from a site off the Israeli and Lebanese coasts in a part of the sea disputed between the two countries.



The US has long mediated between the two countries for the sharing of energy resources between Lebanon and Israel in the eastern Mediterranean.



Hezbollah has repeatedly threatened that it is able to spark an open war with Israel if gas extraction begins in this area in September.



Some regional analysts say that Biden's visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia aims to consolidate US-linked countries in the region in the face of what is perceived as threats from the Iran-led alliance that Hezbollah is part of.



(ANSAmed).




Johnny Depp has settled a US lawsuit brought against him by a former location manager.

The actor was accused of assaulting Greg Rocky Brooks during production for the film City of Lies in 2018.

According to documents obtained by the PA news agency the case is now due to be dismissed next year, after an agreement was reached two weeks before the start of the trial.

No further details of the settlement were disclosed.

The settlement agreement conditions dismissal of this matter on the satisfactory completion of specified terms that are not to be performed within 45 days of the date of the settlement, reads the notice of settlement.

The actor won a high-profile defamation case brought against ex-wife Amber Heard last month (Kirsty O Connor/PA)

A request for dismissal will be filed no later than 1/5/2023.

The original lawsuit alleged that Depp had assaulted Brooks after the location manager had told him that production had wrapped for the night.

It comes following the actors victory in the high-profile defamation case brought against ex-wife Amber Heard last month.

Depps lawyers said there is no legitimate basis for an appeal by the Aquaman star for a new trial in the multi-million dollar case.

The actors representatives said the verdict in their favour was well-supported by the overwhelming evidence (and) consistent with the law and that the appeal verge(s) into the frivolous.
Boris Johnsons successor will be announced on September 5 with Tory MPs to commence the process of voting for a new leader on Wednesday.

Here is a timetable for the leadership contest.

 Tuesday July 12: Nominations open and close. In order to stand, a candidate will need the support of at least 20 MPs  potentially making it harder for some of the less well-known contenders to make it onto the ballot paper.

As of Monday evening, 11 candidates have stated their intention to run for the top job.

 Wednesday July 13: First ballot. Any candidate who fails to get at least 30 votes is expected to drop out.

The previous Tory leadership contest in 2019, which had 10 candidates, saw a first ballot threshold of just 17 votes required, with the greater number this time around perhaps reflecting a desire to more quickly whittle down contenders.

 Thursday July 14: Second ballot. A second ballot will follow on Thursday with further ballots to be held next week until the list of candidates is reduced to a final two  who will then go forward into a postal ballot of party members.

Rishi Sunak is expected to be a leading candidate (Yui Mok/PA)

Bob Blackman, joint-executive secretary of the 1922 Committee, said the aim was to have the contest down to a final two before the start of MPs summer holidays.

He told Sky News: Weve got to slim down the list of candidates pretty quickly to two.

And the one thing that were committed to do is to achieve getting to two candidates by Thursday July 21.

That means that well hold a succession of ballots over the next few days in order to get to that position.

 Sunday July 17: First debate. ITV will hold the first Tory leadership debate at 7pm.

 Monday July 18: Second debate. Sky News is scheduled to host another debate the following night, hosted by Kay Burley.

 Friday July 22 onwards: Hustings are to take place around the country over the summer to help party members determine their choice for the new Conservative leader.

Mr Blackman said it is a condition of nomination for candidates to agree that they will contest the ballot of party members if they reach the final two.

This is to avoid a situation as in 2016, when Dame Andrea Leadsom dropped out, handing the leadership unchallenged to Theresa May before party members were given the opportunity to vote.

 Monday September 5: New Conservative leader announced. The new prime minister will be announced on September 5 when MPs return to Westminster from their summer break.
President Joe Bidens massive social safety net package known as Build Back Better sputtered out in December  but pieces of it have shown new signs of life this year.

The cheekily re-dubbed Build Back Manchin plan has come into greater focus in recent days after weeks of quiet discussions between the moderate bill-blocker Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Experts say a new package could include around $1 trillion in new spending  about half the size of what stalled last year  with a focus on health care costs and energy. These ideas would, of course, require a range of tax increases to fund them. Those taxes would mostly hit business owners and corporations, at least according to the current proposals lawmakers are considering.

The puzzle that they're trying to pull together here is how do they align tax provisions that will garner enough support to pass with hitting the revenue target that they're looking at, says Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation.

The relatively more modest-sized ambitions this time around give negotiators a little more options and flexibility in terms of what types of provisions move forward and which don't, he added.

Sam Runyon, Manchins communications director, told Yahoo Finance in a written statement that the West Virginia senator insists that any final deal address inflation, health care costs, and domestic energy production. He noted that part of paying for it would be to ensure everyone is paying their fair share of taxes.

Sen. Joe Manchin (L) talks with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer before a ceremony at the White House in March. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Washington got a peek last week at prescription drug provisions that could be just a first step towards a broader deal in the coming weeks. The effort would be a far cry from many Democrats' ambitions in 2021; nevertheless, it would represent a key Biden achievement if lawmakers can reach or pass a deal.

New efforts on pass-through businesses

The emerging plan, according to multiplereports, largely centers around new taxes on business owners.

The plan's backers pitch it as a way to close a tax loophole on the richest Americans who report income through so-called pass-through businesses  such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, or S-corporations  and avoid some taxes in the process.

The proposal would reportedly expand the current tax on these businesses to apply to active owners who make more than $400,000 annually, levying a 3.8% tax on currently untaxed earnings.

The budget watchdogs over at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimate that broadening this tax could raise over $200 billion over the next decade  substantially shoring up Medicares deficit.

The final bill, Watson says, could also include another provision impacting pass-through business: extending provisions expiring in 2025 that limit how many losses active pass-through participants can take.

The Tax Foundation estimates that those two changes together bring in north of $300 billion to the U.S. Treasury over the next decade, potentially paying for a sizable chunk of the total package.

Less likely: new individual taxes

Tax increases directly on rich Americans appear less likely to happen in a revived bill.Watson says taxes on pass-through business owners would hit many of the richest Americans anyway  and be much easier to implement.

Taxing business owners is more like extending existing tax that folks are familiar with and we already have rules on, Watson says.

Still, key voter Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) could block tax-hike proposals. Her vote is crucial for passage of any deal, and she has opposed proposals to raise taxes throughout the negotiations.

Representatives for Sinema didnt respond Monday to a request for comment.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema gets in an elevator at the U.S. Capitol in April. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

More money for the IRS

Another idea apparently on the table is new money for the Internal Revenue Service for increased tax enforcement. That effort has long been a Democratic priority but was dropped from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill last year amid Republican objections.

Republicans have been wary of boosting funding for the IRS, regarding the agency with suspicion after some conservative groups were aggressively scrutinized over their tax-exempt status in recent years. The recent news that two of Donald Trumps perceived political enemies were selected for a rare audit program has also generated widespread attention in recent days.

Experts have often noted that the U.S. would generate billions of dollars by funding the IRS more fully to catch tax cheats. Bidens top economic adviser, Brian Deese, called it a no-brainer during a Yahoo Finance interview last year.

Other areas of negotiation

Corporate taxes may also be in the spotlight if a deal is finalized.

An idea apparently being floated would change the minimum book tax that corporations pay. Lawmakers are also considering blanket minimum taxes on corporations, as part of a possible a global minimum tax.

Lawmakers are also reportedly discussing what to do about a contentious $10,000 cap on the State and Local Taxes (SALT), which has a disproportionate effect on residents of high-tax blue states.

The talks are expected to continue this week  in spite of a positive COVID test from Sen. Schumer  with Democrats hoping to unveil a complete package in a tight timeline before the end of the month.

Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

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Daniel Kaluuya was nominated for an Oscar in 2017 for his performance in Get Out. (Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Daniel Kaluuya had all but given up on acting when director Jordan Peele came calling about his 2017 movie Get Out.

"I've never told you this, but when you reached out to me and we had that Skype, I was really disillusioned with acting," the British-born actor revealed to Peele in a new conversation the two had for Essence magazine. "I had stopped acting for like a year and a half. I checked out, because I was just like, this isn't working. I wasn't getting roles, because racism and all this kind of stuff  so you reaching out was like, 'OK, I'm not crazy. It's proper. It's going to be all right.'"

Peele had spotted Kaluuya in the "Fifteen Million Merits" episode of Netflix's sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror.

It's a good thing  for all of us  that Kaluuya joined the movie, which ended up being a smash hit, both critically and commercially, netting an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Peele and a 98 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as grossing upwards of $255 million internationally. After that, Kaluuya was nominated for the best actor Oscar, and he didn't have as much trouble finding a job. In 2021, he won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah.

He and Peele teamed up again for the highly anticipated Nope, which hits theaters July 22, that Peele describes as "a Black UFO movie."

During their talk for Essence, Peele noted that Kaluuya seemed to have had a "real intention" with his career.

Daniel Kaluuya and Jordan Peele attend the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards, where Kaluuya was nominated for Best Male Lead for Get Out. (Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images)

"I did. I was just like, If it's not a F*** yeah,' it's a no. That kind of cleaned house. A 'F*** yeah' to me is when you're doing plays, you're doing it for 400 pound a week. That's pre-agent, pre-tax, pre-everything. So I was like, 'Would I do this for 400 pound a week?' And if the answer was yes, then all right, cool, I'll do it."

The main requirement for something that Kaluuya is excited about is a "three-dimensional character" with a true arc.

Kaluuya also explained that he's observed a difference in audiences at home and in the States.

"It's something I learned on the press run for Judas and the Black Messiah," he said. "A lot of times people think I'm guarded, but I'm just new. I'm in a new country. Then, when I was being more open, people were talking to me about the interviews  and I'm like, Why are you talking about the interviews? They weren't talking about the film."

He continued, "In England you don't root for people the same way. In America it's like, 'Oh, that's my guy. He's got my perspective. Or she's got my perspective. Cool, I'm rolling with them.' In England it's about talent, and I think in America it's about the character of a person."

Kaluuya won't have to worry about finding acting jobs as long as Peele is working.

As he told Empire magazine this month, he considers his relationship with the actor like that of frequent collaborators Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro.
His songs are fabulously popular, known for their furious dance beats, absurd lyrics and tongue-in-cheek videos that poke fun at Russian stereotypes, pop culture and trappings of wealth. But in just four months, Ilya Prusikins life has turned upside down  he is in self-imposed exile for expressing his horror at Russias invasion of Ukraine.

He lives in fear that he will never again see his home.

They are depriving me of a right to say that I dont agree with murder, said Prusikin, the lead singer for the Russian band Little Big, speaking via Zoom from an apartment in Los Angeles.

As Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in late February, Little Big posted a No War message on its social media channels in Russian and English. Less than a week later, Prusikin, 37, along with the bands female vocalist Sonya Tayurskaya, 31, left their home in Moscow for the U.S.

They faced the stark choice that many Russians opposing the war have confronted amid an unprecedented crackdown on free speech by President Vladimir Putins government. For most Russians who dont agree with the war, new draconian legislation threatening jail time for any criticism of the armed forces has meant a choice between speaking out and leaving their homeland, or staying put and facing probable arrest and imprisonment.

This intensifying repression, reminiscent of the Soviet era, clashes with the Western-influenced music scene that gave birth to Little Big, a self-described punk-pop-rave band. The four-person band viral hit Skibidi spawned a dance craze in Russia and around the world in 2018, and has nearly 620 million views on YouTube  numbers on par with world stars like Beyonce and Justin Bieber. The band was also Russias pick to go to Eurovision in 2020.

The band had not waded into Russian politics until after the war, when it released an anti-war manifesto  a new song and video that takes direct aim at the government. Called Generation Cancellation the video has been viewed more than 7 million times. In it, soldiers are moved like pawns on a chessboard, TV propaganda flows down sewage pipes into peoples brains, and a man in a power suit pushes a red button with the word cancel on it.

This was a scream from the heart for us, Prusikin, sporting his signature patch of black hair on a completely blonde-dyed head, said. We just wanted to speak out.

In a press release announcing the songs release, the band openly condemned the actions of the Russian government and said their disgust with war propaganda had led them to leave everything behind and start our lives from scratch.

Almost immediately, Prusikin said, they were accused of being traitors by pro-government media and what he calls pro-Kremlin bots on social media.

They have been particularly criticised for fleeing to the United States, a country that has started wars in the past, Prusikin said.

Every country starts wars, but in the U.S., I can be against the war. I can say it, he added. If they allowed me to say in Russia that I am against this, I would have stayed there.

Russias hawkish parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has also accused Russian elites like Little Bigs members, who run away to other countries and dont support their countrys armed forces, of being traitors.

Many Russian celebrities, including actors, athletes and singers, have publicly thrown their support behind the war, openly backing President Putin. Some of the most vocal include Oscar-winning Russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov, tenor Nikolai Baskov and actor Vladimir Mashkov, who appeared in a Mission: Impossible movie in 2011. That support was on full display at a televised star-studded rally concert, attended by the Russian president himself, in Moscows Luzhniki stadium on March 18.

But those who are against the war and can afford it, are increasingly choosing exile.

Comedian and TV celebrity Maxim Galkin, who before the war hosted several shows on Russias state TV channel and was considered part of the establishment, surprised many by his ardent anti-war stance, openly criticising the war on his social media channels and calling out Russian strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine.

Galkin, 46, has since performed several comedy gigs in Israel, where according to his social media he is currently based.

His anti-war statements have led pro-Kremlin media and its chief propagandists to lash out at Galkin, accusing him of being a traitor.

Galkins wife, Soviet-era singer Alla Pugacheva, has also been slammed for her husbands position despite her near-cult status in both former USSR and modern Russia.

Galkin declined to speak with NBC News, saying he was not granting interviews.

One of Russias top actresses, Chulpan Khamatova, has also been met with a wave of scathing criticism after she co-signed an open letter to Putin, pleading with him to stop the war. Despite her fame and popularity for having founded one of Russias biggest childrens charities, she has since left the country for Latvia.

Image: (Evgeniy Maloletka / AP)

I know that I am not a traitor, Khamatova, 46, said in an interview with a Russian journalist shortly after leaving. I love my motherland very much.

Khamatova declined to speak with NBC News, adding that she had said everything she wanted to say about her position.

Meanwhile, Russias top late-night talk show, Evening Urgant, has been off air since the invasion started and its host, Ivan Urgant, declared his opposition to the war.

The show was one of the rare media spaces in Russia that tried to walk a fine line between humor and ridicule of Russian society and Putins government.

Russian media reported that Urgant, 44, and his family left the country for Israel in the early days of the invasion, but have since come back. He did not return requests for comment. Russias Channel One has also not responded to questions on when the show might return to air.

Back in Los Angeles, Prusikin was pondering his bands new life in the U.S. and the way forward, unable to shake off the feeling that everything will be forever bad in Russia.

He said they feel at home in L.A. and have turned their frustration into writing new music and planning tours around the U.S. and Europe. They are also planning charitable concerts in support of Ukrainian refugees in August. The band had a tour planned in Russia this fall, but they have now cancelled it. Prusikin said their anti-war stance got them blacklisted as performers in Russia, and cost them advertising contracts. NBC News could not independently verify that claim.

They hope that the band's two other members, who have for now stayed in Russia, can join them in California soon.

Asked if they would consider returning to Russia, Prusikin looked doubtful.

Russia is my motherland. I love my motherland, he said. But for now, I dont see it happening.

If nothing changes, he said he sees Russia gradually slipping into a military dictatorship, where people will be forced to speak along the party lines and even remaining silent will qualify as treason.

Instead, he said he wants to see his country thriving, with Russians becoming trendsetters for good.

Anything but hate and war, Prusikin added.
In an emergency hearing Tuesday morning, a U.S. district court judge ruled bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital may not transfer or dispose its assets located in the U.S. as court-appointed liquidators seek to appraise those assets.

The ruling follows an emergency motion from Friday in which liquidators in the case accused the firms founders  Su Zhu and Kyle Davies  of not cooperating with legal proceedings.

Their whereabouts also remain unknown, raising concerns the founders could abscond with the firm's assets.

We dont know where theyre located today, Adam Goldberg, the attorney representing the team in charge of the Three Arrows liquidation, acknowledged during the hearing.

The firm filed Chapter 15 bankruptcy on July 1. How much it can offer creditors will in some cases determine how much those companies  such as the bankrupt Voyager Digital  can ultimately give back to their customers.

Voyager has proposed a plan to repay its own unsecured creditors in cash and cryptocurrencies. Given the firm has limited funds, their insolvency problems bode poorly for issuing a token or security as repayment. Some repayment of their more than $650 million loan to Three Arrows may represent their creditors' best chance for financial compensation.

A Voyager LED reader board is pictured before a match between the San Diego Wave and OL Reign at Lumen Field. Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports

In Tuesday's hearing, Glenn Martin, a judge for the Southern District of New York overseeing the firm's Chapter 15 bankruptcy, made a ruling that prevents the firm from transferring or disposing its assets located in the U.S.

Legal parties representing financially insolvent companies file Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the U.S. for legal entities based outside the country to reduce the risk their foreign status will jeopardize whether creditors and stakeholders can recover any of their funds.

Goldberg, a partner with the law firm Latham & Watkins, said his team is looking to subpoena the founders in addition to banks, crypto firms, and other institutions Three Arrows has done business with to appraise the firms remaining assets.

According to Goldberg, the only U.S. assets of Three Arrows found so far include a legal retainer with the New York law firm Dan Tan Law as well as "rights under a variety of New York law loan agreements."

"As our investigation continues, we will provide evidence to the court of any additional assets that we can locate and document for the court in the United States," Goldberg added.

Threats and pressure

Three Arrows managed $10 billion in assets as of March. By April 2022, the figure was estimated to have fallen to $3 billion according to numerous court documents filed since July 1.

Neither Zhu or Davies responded to request for comments.

Earlier this year, the firm invested over $200 million in Terras Luna tokens, Davies said in a June 17 interview with the Wall Street Journal. Over the first half of May, a bank run on Luna's sister coin, UST, which was designed as an "algorithmic stablecoin" pegged to the value of Luna, plunged from $85 to less than a penny in one week.

The implosion of Terra's ecosystem and the resulting collapse of Three Arrows continue to reverberate around the crypto world, in what some are comparing to the collapse of Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis.

A report from blockchain analytics platform Nansen found that the firm also took losses from an Ethereum derivative known as "staked ether."

After having borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars from crypto lenders including Genesis Trading, BlockFi, Blockchain.com, BitMEX, and the insolvent crypto broker Voyager Digital, both Three Arrows co-founders went silent starting the week of June 12.

Hours before Tuesday's hearing, Zhu broke his silence over Twitter, accusing the legal representation of Three Arrows lenders of baiting the firm.

Sadly, our good faith to cooperate with the Liquidators was met with baiting. Hope that they did exercise good faith wrt the StarkWare token warrants. pic.twitter.com/CF73xI8r6n  Zhu Su  (@zhusu) July 12, 2022

Along with the statement, Zhu attached a note from Advocatus Law, a Singapore firm representing Three Arrows, which agreed to hand over a spreadsheet disclosing some of its assets with the promise to offer more financial details on a rolling basis.

Citing scrutiny from the Monetary Authority of Singapore as well as threats of physical violence against their families, Christopher Daniel, a managing partner with Advocatus representing Three Arrows wrote: They have been working under a lot of time pressure."

Still, the question remains: where in the world are Zhu and Davies?



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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) is investing another $25 million into an affordable housing fund, adding to more than a decade and $630 million of such investments.

The company announced its new investments will be in Boston. Partners Conservation Law Foundation and Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation will finance mixed-use developments near public transportation. United Health benefits from such endeavors through wraparound health care services with partners, surveying of residents, and the return on investments.

Housing insecurity has been directly linked to poorer health and health outcomes in recent years, spurring health companies to invest in multiple pilots. But so far, nothing has yielded scalable solutions, with each investment unique to the project and neighborhood.

United Health Group took an early interest in championing such efforts nearly 12 years ago, creating positions to focus on housing and other social determinants of health  external factors that play a role in health outcomes.

United Health

Andy McMahon, UHG's vice president of Health and Human Services Policy, told Yahoo Finance the company tries to find the best way to serve tenants, whether they be low-income or seniors.

In 2016, United Health found measurable impacts from the housing program. That included reduction in Medicaid spend paired with a decrease in emergency room visits. In developments where there were health services provided, United Health saw a reduction in costs by $115 per member per month.

It's why the company has invested in 18,000 affordable homes and communities across the country to date, and intends to reach $800 million in investments by the end of the year.

United isn't alone, as other insurers like CVS (CVS) and Humana (HUM), and even some larger hospital systems, have also been investing. CVS invested $185 million in 2021 alone, but has invested more than $1 billion since 1997. Humana announced another $25 million investment in April.

So are health insurers and hospitals moonlighting as developers? No, but they are moonlighting as investors, thanks to federal and state low income housing tax credits.

How it works

The publicly traded health insurance behemoths have portfolios for investments. Housing has become a part of that diversified portfolio.

The federal government has allotted low income housing tax credits to states and local agencies since 1986, with an annual total of roughly $10.9 billion. But it is up to the developers to find investors to purchase and utilize them, and take the risk to fund the projects.

In some instances, states are unable to find willing investors and end up leaving money on the table. It's why 22 states have developed their own tax credit programs, in addition, to help spur interest.

Pennrose, a Philadelphia-based affordable housing developer, is one such company that utilizes the credits and is partnering with health care companies.

Tim Henkel, principal and president, told Yahoo Finance that it's still a work in progress as a strategy, but insurers understand they have the scale and resources to fund the projects. To that point, most hospitals and insurers that are interested in investing have hired affordable housing project managers.

"They're hiring people because they know there's something there and they want to explore it," Henkel said.

In some instances, state housing authorities agree to match funds for the developer if they can find investors  like the insurers  to put down a significant amount to move the projects forward.

With United Health's latest investment in Boston, the Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund II was able to close on three properties that will create 102 mixed-income homes, of which roughly half will be for low- and moderate income tenants, as a result of the $25 million infusion.

Business value

These efforts lie in stark contrast to the news of affordable housing shortages that exist for myriad reasons across the country.

But they could help improve health outcomes in addition to growing business for the health care companies.

They are either looking to increase their customer base in some way or find a way to help keep costs down.

In United Health's plans, the focus for new projects is largely determined by where the company knows there is a need based on the data it can track from Medicaid members, according to McMahon.

The company has never shied away from the fact that the program is profitable which McMahon termed "moderate"  from the effort, and it does so without catering solely to its own plan members. The program is plan-agnostic, according to the company, and even the wraparound health services aren't necessarily provided by United. It could be a federally qualified health care center, like one project in Mississippi, or it could be having a screening center on site for chronically ill patients.

"On the investment side, we're trying to go upstream," McMahon said.

"We're trying to...say how can we help build healthier and better communities with more affordable housing for the people who need it. So that we can improve their health outcomes in the community."

Beyond that, the projects continue to be experiments for the health players, even as they are able to track tangible results. But McMahon said the company continues to put its money where its mouth is, and hopes it will influence policy that can increase the amount of affordable housing in the country.

"From where we sit, when you think about the end game, I think we're going to continue to explore opportunities to expand and diversify our housing investments," he said.

"I'm not sure about the exact end game, but I would tell you that another part of this for us is ...civic stewardship. We know this is a challenge. We're going to learn a lot through these ....on the outcome side that we hope will continue to drive the kind of public policy discussion about the need for affordable housing and its linkages to health care," McMahon said.

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FLORENCE, Ala. (AP)  A prisoner who prompted a nationwide manhunt when he disappeared this spring from an Alabama jail has been charged with killing the corrections official authorities said helped him escape.

Casey White, 38, has been indicted on a murder charge for the shooting death of Vicky White, Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly announced Tuesday. The pair's disappearance from an Alabama jail in April sparked a national manhunt that came to a bloody end in Indiana where Casey White was captured and Vicky White died.

The indictment alleges that during the escape, White caused the death of Vicky White, who died from a gunshot to the head." The indictment does not specify who pulled the trigger. Authorities have said Vicky White died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

White will plead not guilty at an arraignment hearing, defense attorney Mark McDaniel said in a statement. The defense previously pointed blame at Vicky White for the escape, saying Casey White was in her care and custody the entire time of his disappearance from jail.

Casey White in April walked out of an Alabama jail in handcuffs in the custody of Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections at the facility, prompting a national manhunt for the pair. On the day of the escape, Vicky White, 56, told co-workers she was transporting the inmate to a mental health evaluation but authorities later learned no such appointment existed.

The two were eventually discovered in Indiana where Casey White was captured. Authorities said Vicky White shot herself in the head.

Alabama law allows a murder charge if someone, causes the death of any person while engaging in certain other felonies such as escape or if the person, recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person.

Friends and colleagues had said they were bewildered by the involvement of Vicky White, who had worked for the sheriffs office for 16 years, with the inmate who was already serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other crimes.
The Irish government will face a confidence vote later as main opposition party Sinn Fein presses to secure an early general election.

The administration in Dublin is confident it has the numbers to win this evenings vote in the Dail.

Sinn Fein tabled a motion of no confidence after the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Green Party coalition lost its parliamentary majority last week.

In response, the Government is set to table a motion of confidence in itself in the Dail later.

That move would supersede the Sinn Fein motion, with the debate and vote held on the Governments confidence motion instead.

Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh resigned the party whip last week (Brian Lawless/PA)

Fine Gael TD Joe McHughs decision to relinquish his party whip last week left the Government with 79 seats in the Dail  one short of a majority.

However, the coalition is confident that Mr McHugh and several other TDs outside of the Government will still back the coalition in the vote.

Sinn Fein has heavily criticised the Governments response to the cost-of-living crisis and claims it is also failing on longer term problems, such as Irelands chronic housing shortage.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald insists the time has come for a general election and a change of administration.

However, Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who leads Fianna Fail, has branded the vote a cynical exercise.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald wants an early general election (Brian Lawless/PA)

He has warned that an early general election would delay Septembers budget, which is set to focus on support measures for people struggling with soaring bills.

The Irish people do not want a general election, he told reporters in Dublin on Monday.

We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, we have a war on the continent of Europe.

Last week, Sinn Fein were looking for a cost-of-living package and an emergency budget, this week theyre looking for a general election.

A general election would mean no budgetary package over the next while, and would lead to paralysis.

In my view its just a cynical exercise.

The coalition has gradually seen its majority whittled down over the past few months  finally losing it when Mr McHugh resigned the whip over the Governments controversial plan to provide redress to homeowners in counties affected by defective building blocks.

The former education ministers home constituency of Donegal is one of the counties worst hit by the defective block scandal and he believes the redress package is not comprehensive enough.
Mindfulness training in secondary schools fails to prevent mental health problems and has no impact on wellbeing, according to the largest study of its kind.

The technique  where people pay attention to the present moment and their immediate thoughts and feelings  is widely regarded as an effective tool for managing wellbeing and has been shown to work in adults.

However, new research from UK schools found it was no better than what schools are already doing for mental health, and most children were not interested enough to practice mindfulness at home.

While mindfulness was found to improve the culture of a school, such as whether teachers were seen as approachable, mutual respect, views of leadership and relationships between staff, these effects waned after a year.

Mindfulness also left teachers less burnt out but these effects also disappeared after a year.

The study, from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Exeter, Kings College London, University College London and Pennsylvania State in the US, was published in the Evidence-Based Mental Health journal.

It involved more than 28,000 children aged 11 to 14 and 650 teachers from 100 schools.

Overall, experts analysed the effectiveness of schools-based mindfulness training on wellbeing, the risk of depression and its effects on social and emotional behaviour. Courses were delivered to students over 10 weeks, with 30 to 50 lessons in total.

One example of a session was meditation practice, where pupils relaxed and scanned their body to focus on how they felt.

Mindfulness was compared with the current standard social-emotional teaching in schools.

The overall study found that while some young people rated mindfulness highly, a slightly larger group viewed it more negatively. Some 80% of pupils also did not do the required mindfulness homework.

Data from the study suggests 29% of children aged 11 to 14 have significant difficulties and are either languishing or have mental health problems.

The study also found schools have a small but significant effect on childrens mental health and wellbeing, with the culture of the school being particularly important. However, other things such as poverty have far more of an impact on childrens mental health.

Researchers further found that some groups were more likely to report mental health problems.

These were girls, older teenagers and those living in areas of greatest poverty and deprivation.

Willem Kuyken, professor of mindfulness and psychological science at the University of Oxford and one of the lead authors, told a briefing that older children appeared to benefit more from mindfulness than younger children while those with existing mental health problems did not benefit.

He said: We found  that the schools-based training, delivered by school teachers in this developmental window of age 11 to 14, did not do better than what schools were already doing in terms of teenager mental health or wellbeing.

Professor Mark Williams, founding director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre and co-investigator at the University of Oxford, said that, on average, pupils only practised mindfulness once over the 10-week course.

Thats like going to the gym once and hoping youll get fit, he said. But why didnt they practise? Many of them found it boring  Those students who did engage, did improve.

Those who had the most skilled teachers enjoyed the sessions and practised mindfulness more, and showed more benefit afterwards.

So, what we are not saying is all mindfulness training has to stop. But schools do need to look and see how its being received in your school.

Students are often the best experts in what works for them in this area  do they get something from it? If so, you have something worth keeping.

Tamsin Ford, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Cambridge and co-investigator, said: Our work adds to the evidence that translating mental health treatments into classroom curricula is difficult and that teachers may not be best-placed to deliver them without considerable training and support.

Another approach would be for mindfulness practitioners to work with students at risk of poor mental health or who express a particular interest in attending mindfulness training.

Dr Dan OHare, from the British Psychological Society, said: The findings from this study certainly suggest there is a need to consider whether the mental health support we are providing to teenagers within schools is fit for purpose.

While mindfulness sessions can be hugely beneficial, its important to understand that it isnt a surface-level intervention and how children and teenagers respond to it will be affected by the context in which its being taught and the school environment.

In 2019, the Department for Education announced that up to 370 schools were taking part in research into mental health and wellbeing in schools, including mindfulness.
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP)  A family fight over the home of a woman who moved into an assisted living facility left two people dead, and another wounded, police said.

A preliminary investigation found that as several members of the family prepared to arrive in Florida for a vacation, a male relative who didn't have permission to be there was asked to leave, Boca Raton police said in a news release.

A female family member arrived first and was killed at some point thereafter, police said. Two other relatives  a man and a woman  then arrived on Sunday, and texted the woman's phone when they couldn't get inside. They got a text back saying the side door was unlocked, and were attacked as they entered the home, police said.

The woman was shot in the head but managed to flee to a neighbors house for help, police said. The man with her fled when the gunman appeared to be distracted by the firearm.

SWAT and crisis negotiation teams arrived, and found the bodies of the first man and woman inside. Investigators believe the man fatally shot the woman and fired at the other two relatives before taking his own life, police said.

The woman was being treated for her head wound. The other male relative was not injured, the news release said.

Police haven't released any identifying details, citing Marsy's Law, Florida's constitutional amendment designed to protect crime victims.

Neighbors say the house has often been unoccupied since the homeowner moved into an assisted living facility.

Her son has stayed there, fixing the house and cleaning it up, neighbor Daniel Cunningham told the South Florida SunSentinel. Her family comes and visits once in a while.
A man incarcerated at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas has died, according to a news release from the office of Gov. Laura Kelly.

Jamie Gaius Marshall, 43, died Monday after serving about nine years in prison.

His death is not thought to be related to COVID-19, according to David Thompson, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Corrections.

The 43-year-old was incarcerated at the prison on January 15, 2013 after two drug-related convictions in 2003 and a rape conviction in 2012.

Officials are awaiting an autopsy to determine his cause of death.

The Kansas Department of Corrections and Kansas Bureau of Investigation are investigating the incident, which they do with any resident that dies in custody.
A man walks underneath the marquee of the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The Food and Drug Administration has ordered up COVID-19 vaccines that target two Omicron subvariants for the fall booster campaign. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)

In a few short months, the weather will turn crisp, the holiday season will draw near, and the coronavirus may embark on its third consecutive winter of death and devastation.

That prospect has federal regulators and their scientific advisors engaged in a high-stakes guessing game.

The question: How should the COVID-19 vaccine change?

Certainly, the circumstances have changed. The coronavirus strains responsible for 97% of infections today  BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1  didn't exist in 2021, let alone in 2020. Yet all of the vaccines currently available in the U.S. are designed to recognize the version that left China in January 2020.

The shots have done an admirable job. Researchers credit them with saving 1.9 million U.S. lives in their first year of availability, and they continue to provide solid protection against severe illness and death from COVID-19. The ubiquitous Omicron subvariants, however, have several mutations on their crucial spike proteins that make them less recognizable to an immune system primed to fight the 2-year-old virus.

The result: A real-world study found that the protection from three doses of mRNA vaccine is half as strong against Omicron compared to the Delta variant that preceded it. Lab studies also have shown that exposure to Omicron prompts the vaccinated immune system to pump out far fewer antibodies.

On top of that, the immunity induced by vaccines and initial rounds of boosters has waned. The Biden administration has placed an order for 105 million doses for a fall booster campaign, with an option to buy millions more.

Determining which recipe should go into those doses to induce optimal protection  the vaccine's "composition"  is an exercise in educated guesswork.

Their challenge comes in multiple parts. First, experts need to predict which coronavirus variant  or variants  will dominate the U.S. landscape in late 2022 and into 2023.

Then they need to forecast whether altered versions of the mainstay vaccines will be effective, and whether they pose new challenges regarding safety, cost or timely distribution.

Getting a timely and accurate fix on all this "is truly a challenge, and it is science at its hardest, Dr. Peter Marks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's vaccine chief, told the agency's independent advisors last month.

If the FDA waits too long to act on the scant available data, Americans may have subpar protection when coronavirus surges again, Marks warned. But speed involves risk. If manufacturers roll out reformulated vaccines without first testing them in full clinical trials, the FDA will need to trust that existing surveillance systems can quickly detect any new safety problems, he said.

Were being asked, essentially, to have a crystal ball, fumed Dr. Arnold Monto, who chairs the FDAs vaccine advisory committee.

And if health officials make the wrong choice, a pandemic-weary nation could lose confidence in a vaccine that we're likely going to need for years to come.

In many ways, the task of updating COVID vaccines is a turbo-charged version of a dilemma vaccine experts have faced for decades with the influenza vaccine.

Each year, several strains of the wily flu virus circle the globe and infect new populations. In the process, the mix of circulating strains changes, as does their genetic makeup.

So in early fall and early spring, the World Health Organization gathers an international group of vaccine experts to assess which mix of viruses is most likely to circulate in the next six months. Their findings dictate the composition of the shots offered for the flu season ahead.

Sometimes their predictions are accurate, but not always. Between 2001 and 2010, annual flu vaccines protected against circulating influenza B strains just 50% of the time. In the 2014-15 flu season, a wrong guess about influenza A viruses led to 758,000 flu hospitalizations among older Americans and 148 flu deaths in children.

The preferred COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S.  Pfizer and BioNTech's Comirnaty and Moderna's Spikevax  have a key advantage over traditional flu vaccines: Their mRNA technology allows the composition to be altered with comparatively blinding speed. Millions of targeted doses of both vaccines will be available by September or October.

To stretch a booster shots protection across the widest possible expanse of variants, it would be ideal to know which of the Omicron subvariants is most genetically distinct from the original coronavirus strain. Pairing the two in a single shot would give the vaccine breadth, making it more likely to offer protection against a wide range of strains that continue to circulate.

It's easy to assume that because they cropped up most recently, BA.4 and BA.5 (which share the same spike protein) have the least in common with the ancestral strain.

But the fledgling field of genetic epidemiology isnt so sure. Dr. Kanta Subarrao of the University of Melbourne, who researches the immune system's response to emerging viral diseases, said the BA.1 subvariant of Omicron is actually the bigger outlier.

If it were up to her to decide which version of the coronavirus to target with a fall booster, "I would choose BA.1," Subarrao said at the recent meeting of FDA advisors.

The agency didn't agree. At the end of June, the FDA asked vaccine manufacturers to produce "bivalent" doses that combine the original vaccine with one designed to recognize BA.4 and BA.5. Who will be advised to get it has yet to be determined.

Dr. Paul Offit, a virologist and immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania, thinks both approaches are wrong. In his view, the original vaccine and boosters are doing a fine job of preventing serious illnesses and death, and the potential upside of targeting Omicron is too uncertain to justify the risks of releasing a shot that hasn't been subjected to a full clinical trial.

Sure, a bivalent vaccine booster might spur the immune system to generate more antibodies than a regular booster, but that doesn't necessarily mean recipients would be better off, Offit said in an interview.

"If they'd given me a choice of choice of voting 'no' or 'hell no,' I'd have voted 'hell no,'" he said.

To Offit and most other vaccine experts, the ideal response to a shape-shifting virus would be to develop a universal vaccine capable of neutralizing any and all variants that may emerge.

It is an approach that has been the holy grail of flu research, and despite years of work, it remains maddeningly elusive.

To withstand a virus' evolution, some scientists have tried to design vaccines that target a component that doesn't change  say, a protein that performs some housekeeping task that's crucial to its survival. Others have looked to animals such as llamas and alpacas, who produce very tiny antibodies capable of adapting to viruses when they change.

More recently, a team led by scientists at Caltech developed a multipronged vaccine that contains pieces of eight betacoronaviruses, including the one that causes COVID-19. When given to mice and monkeys, it trained their immune systems to recognize a wide range of viruses by showing them, in effect, a miniature family portrait.

The next step is a Phase 1 clinical trial in humans, where many promising universal vaccine candidates have foundered.

"It's not for want of money. Its not for want of desire or effort," Offit said. "Its just hard to make universal vaccines work."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Boss is returning to Happy Valley next year.

On Tuesday, Bruce Springsteen announced he and the E Street Band will perform at Penn States Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday, March 18, as part of their 31-stop 2023 U.S. tour. The upcoming performance slate, which precedes a trip to Europe, marks their first North American tour since late 2016.

Tickets sales for the general public will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 26. Springsteens tour will use Ticketmasters Verified Fan service, which asks interested buyers to register ahead of time, due to expected heavy demand. Verified Fan registration will close at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July 17.

Ticket prices will range from $67 to $371.50, according to the Bryce Jordan Centers website. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. ahead of the 7:30 p.m. concert.

Springsteens North American tour kicks off in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 1, 2023. Along their way across the country, he and the E Street Bands only other stop in Pennsylvania will be in Philadelphia on March 16.

Springsteen has rocked the Bryce Jordan Center six times over his storied career. He performed there most recently in 2016.

With Springsteens performance on tap, the Bryce Jordan Center now boasts a rich lineup of upcoming concerts. The Killers long-awaited concert will hit the stadium on Oct. 4, while country star Carrie Underwood will return to Penn States arena on Feb. 10, 2023, as part of her upcoming tour.

Springsteen, 72, is a 20-time Grammy Award-winner with 20 studio albums and 23 live albums under his belt. He and the E Street Band released Letter To You, Springsteens latest studio album, in October 2020. The records lead single of the same name has racked up nearly 15 million hits on Spotify.

Since beginning his career, Springsteen has sold more than 150 million records worldwide and more than 64 million albums in the U.S., landing him among the worlds best-selling artists. He was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
CASPER, Wyo.  At the moment that Liz Cheney walked into a hearing room in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, the woman who is trying to get her tossed out of Congress was shaking hands with voters in a midday parade attended by thousands.

Harriet Hageman, a natural resources lawyer in the state, strode up Yellowstone Highway in a black dress and black boots under a hot sun, ahead of a purple pickup truck towing a red and blue sign that said in big letters, Hageman for Congress.

At 11 a.m. local time, as the Jan. 6 committee was beginning its seventh hearing back in Washington, Hageman walked up to Sally OBrien, a local supporter, and shook her hand.

Republican congressional candidate Harriet Hageman at the Teton County Fair & Rodeo Grounds in Jackson, Wyo., on June 14. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

Im supporting [Hageman] because everything that I have read about her, she is a true Wyomingite, OBrien told Yahoo News. Shes a real conservative.

As for Cheney, OBrien said, She doesnt live here, for starters. She doesnt really represent us. She says shes a constitutionalist, but she doesnt believe in justice for all, only for the Jan. 6 people.

The methodical and compelling body of evidence produced by the Jan. 6 committee, showing former President Donald Trumps involvement in a plan to overturn the 2020 election, seems to have had little impact on Wyoming voters ahead of the Aug. 16 Republican primary here. Instead, some see Cheneys role on the committee as another reason not to support her.

She betrayed the voters of Wyoming with her Jan. 6 show trial, said one local businessman, Bob Ide, a candidate for state Senate who also took part in the rodeo parade on the back of a horse, wearing a cowboy hat and carrying a Wyoming flag.

Hageman, who has refused to acknowledge that the 2020 presidential election was legitimate, is one of several pro-Trump Republicans challenging Cheney in next months GOP primary. Buoyed by the former presidents endorsement, Hageman is Cheneys main opponent in the contest, and has led by large margins in several polls.

Hageman stood petting Ides horse before she began her roughly 90-minute march along the parade route. She sought to avoid questions from reporters, but when she was asked by Yahoo News if the Jan. 6 committee had helped her candidacy, she said, I believe so.

She then walked away from any further questions and would not acknowledge other reporters who attempted to speak with her.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., vice chair of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, at the committee's hearing on Tuesday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Even one of Cheneys supporters, state Sen. James Anderson, who marched with other Cheney backers in the parade, expressed displeasure with the direction the Jan. 6 committee has taken.

I thought the committee was supposed to be finding out if there was any un-American activities going on with the event that day, but I think its gotten clear off from that. I think its taken after Trump completely, and maybe its a little misguided now, Anderson told Yahoo News.

But he said he did not think Cheney, the committees vice chair, was responsible. I dont know if shes able to guide the work. They give them the assignment and she carries out whatever they tell her, he said.

Anderson said voters should support Cheney because shes an intelligent representative for us that can get things done in Washington, D.C., for us.

Thats a terrible, terrible chore for one person from Wyoming to go to Washington, D.C, and accomplish anything, and shes the person that can do it, he said.

Anderson was not concerned, however, by the message that will be sent if Cheney loses her seat in Congress because she stood up to Trumps attempts to undermine democracy.

But after Anderson downplayed the consequences of a Cheney loss, a man he had been chatting with moments beforehand interjected.

Hageman marches in a parade in Casper, Wyo., on Tuesday. (Jon Ward/Yahoo News)

I can answer that, said Eldad Vered, a retired physician who moved to the state from Colorado a few years ago.

I think that our country is in trouble if she loses, said Vered, wearing a T-shirt printed with Team Cheney as he marched in the parade. We have one honest person and lots of people who are brainwashed. I would love to see Wyoming stand for Liz Cheney for honesty, for the Constitution and for integrity.

Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has been resolute in her determination to hold the former president accountable for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. The attack was carried out by Trump supporters, who were attempting to stop the certification of the election by Congress.

As the top Republican on the Jan. 6 committee, Cheney has helped guide its efforts to uncover a concerted effort by Trump and his associates to undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 election by baselessly claiming Joe Biden won due to widespread fraud. Trump continues to insist he won the election, an idea that was refuted by many of his own top advisers, including then-Attorney General Bill Barr.

The committee has also shown that Trump was part of a plot to pressure state legislators to throw out the votes of the American people and to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the result.

Trump also knew that the crowd on Jan. 6 was armed and likely to be violent, the hearings have shown. Tuesdays hearing showed the extent to which Trump associates such as Roger Stone and Michael Flynn had connections with extremist militia groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who played key roles in fomenting violence that day.

Cheney also said Tuesday that Trump had called a witness who has yet to appear before the Jan. 6 committee. According to Cheney, the witness did not take Trumps call and instead referred the matter to their lawyer, who in turn told the committee what had happened.

Cheney said the committee had informed the Justice Department about Trumps phone call to the witness. "Let me say one more time, Cheney said during her closing remarks. We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously."

Despite her staunchly conservative voting record, Cheney is now the underdog in the race for Wyomings sole House seat. The deep-red state voted for Trump by over 40 points in 2020, and the winner of the GOP primary is all but assured of victory in Novembers general election.

Cheneys refusal to go along with Trumps election lies cost her a top post within the House GOP leadership last year. But she remained undaunted. I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office, she said at the time.

Former President Donald Trump addresses a rally in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 9. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Two weeks ago, Cheney reiterated her resolve in a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

We have to choose. The Republican Party cannot be both loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the Constitution," she said. "We stand at the edge of an abyss, and we must pull back. We must pull back.

Cheney said she has been motivated to stand against Trumps lies about the 2020 election in the hope that her children will continue to live in an America where the peaceful transfer of power is guaranteed ... [and] in an America that is a nation of laws, not of men.

As a result, unseating her has become one of Trumps most sought-after goals. He has campaigned for Hageman here in Casper and recently described Cheney as a despicable human being.

Hageman has made Trumps endorsement central to her candidacy, and along the parade route Tuesday she received several loud ovations from onlookers.

There was one man on a bicycle, however, who jeered at her. I hope you lose, he yelled.

He did not want to give his name to a reporter but said that although he usually voted for Democrats, he was switching over to the Republican primary to vote for Cheney this time, a move that Cheney has encouraged.

Im going to vote for someone who tells the truth, the man said. Not someone who is a lying traitor.
The News & Observer publishes a weekly round-up of restaurant sanitation scores to keep you up-to-date on the health grades at Triangle spots.

Sanitation scores and their corresponding letter grades are used in North Carolina to assess restaurants adherence to rules and standards intended to mitigate and prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses.

Youve likely seen sanitation grade cards at restaurants youve visited, and The N&O previously explained what those scores mean and how theyre calculated.

Here are sanitation scores in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties for the week of July 5-12.

Wake County sanitation scores

The Wake County sanitation grades database shows that 100 restaurants were inspected between July 5-12.

 Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.

 Three restaurants received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.

Bad Daddys Burger Bar (9402 Falls of Neuse Rd., Suite 103, Raleigh) received a score of 84% during an inspection on July 11.

The restaurant was in violation of 15 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to four points.

Violations included a food employee touching their hat and hair with gloved hands and not removing the gloves or washing their hands before continuing work; all of the soda nozzles at the bar having black residue accumulated on them; several foods being held or reheated to incorrect temperatures; and the walls in the kitchen having residue accumulation.

Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

The restaurant previously scored a 92.5% in November 2021, a 92% in March 2021 and a 93% in October 2020.

Popeyes (3699 New Bern Ave., Raleigh) received a score of 84.5% during an inspection on July 8.

The restaurant was in violation of 23 state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to 1.5 points.

Violations included several dishes with food debris on them being stored as clean; several foods being held at incorrect temperatures; several flies in the kitchen; and a food employee with a significant length beard not wearing a hair restraint.

Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

The restaurant previously scored a 97.5% in November 2021, a 99% in September 2021 and a 95% in March 2021.

Schianos Pizza (13220 Strickland Rd., Raleigh) received a score of 85% during an inspection on July 6.

The restaurant was in violation of 21 state state standards, with point deductions ranging from zero to three points.

Violations included black residue in the ice dispenser of the soda machine; several foods being stored without date markings; several foods being stored at incorrect temperatures; and several live cockroaches and gnats, as well as dead cockroaches, throughout the facility.

Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

The restaurant previously scored an 88.5% in November 2021, a 90% in April 2021 and a 95% in December 2020.

 No restaurants in Wake County received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but less than 80%.

 No restaurants received a failing grade, or a score below 70%.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Wake County by using the countys inspection grades database at wake-nc.healthinspections.us.

Durham County sanitation scores

The Durham County inspection management system shows that 20 restaurant inspections were completed between July 5-12.

 All restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Durham County using the countys inspections database at bit.ly/3pVQfpG.

Orange County sanitation scores

The Orange County inspection management system shows that no restaurants were inspected between July 5-12.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Orange County using the countys inspections database at bit.ly/3eQqpxc.

Johnston County sanitation scores

The Johnston County sanitation inspections database shows that five restaurants were inspected between July 5-12.

 All five restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Johnston County using the countys inspections database at johnston-nc.healthinspections.us.
The Utah-based cookie company Crumbl Cookies filed federal lawsuits against two competitors, accusing them of copyright infringement.

The lawsuits were both filed in Utah on May 10. One of the lawsuits is against the Arizona-based company Dirty Dough, and the other is against another Utah-based company, Crave Cookies, court documents show.

Crumbl Cookies, Crave Cookies and Dirty Dough did not immediately respond to requests for comment from McClatchy News.

The lawsuit against Dirty Dough alleges that a Crumbl insider left the company in 2019 and started the company afterward. Dirty Dough sells and promotes cookies using packaging, decor, and presentation that is confusingly similar to Crumbls established and successful trade dress and brand identity, the lawsuit says.

The use of similar packaging, decor and presentation occurs all to Crumbls harm and to Dirty Doughs unjust enrichment, the lawsuit says .

The lawsuit against Crave makes similar accusations. In court documents, Crumbl said it rejected an application from Crave to become a franchisee in November 2019. After that, Crave began using branding similar to Crumbl, a move that the latter company called an effort to ride the coattails of the valuable goodwill, reputation and brand identity associated with Crumbl.

In both lawsuits, Crumbl says it has a distinctive business model: In addition to its storefronts, the company also has a delivery service, sells ice cream and other bakery items, and packages its cookies in unique oblong pink boxes.

In its lawsuit against Dirty Dough, Crumbl accuses the company of using a logo featuring a drawing of a cookie with a bite taken out of it and says the drawing is too similar to Crumbls own logo. The lawsuit also says that Dirty Doughs presentation of its products on social media and in marketing materials is too similar to Crumbls.

The problem for Dirty Dough, however, is that at the time it began operating a cookie business substantially similar to Crumbls business, Crumbl had already been operating its gourmet cookie business, including under the Registered Marks and the Crumbl Trade Dress, for years, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit against Crave also accuses the company of using an image of a cookie with a bite taken out of it, but adds that Craves name and logo are also too similar to Crumbls. Crumbl also accused Crave of photographing, packaging and presenting its products in a way too similar to Crumbl.

Because the two companies were started by people who were no stranger to Crumbl, the company believes Crave and Dirty Dough could have misled customers into believing that they were affiliated with Crumbl in some way, court documents said.

Dirty Dough told KSL TV that the company was started in 2018, not 2019. It also told the outlet that the employee who was previously affiliated with Crumbl was not involved with the formation of Dirty Dough.

The lawsuits seek monetary relief and injunctions against both companies, court documents show.

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Terrifying, gruesome and inhumane. Thats how a Georgia mans criminal exploits have been described in a new Netflix documentary called Girl in the Picture.

The documentary tells the disturbing tale of Franklin Delano Floyd, a death row inmate who was convicted of several horrific crimes.

Floyd, born in Barnesville, Georgia, began his crime spree in the 1960s and continued for more than 30 years. Whether for murder, child molestation, kidnapping or robbing a bank, Floyd seemed impossible to pin down.

But, the Girl in the Picture shares the story of his longest victim, a woman kidnapped as a young child, then raped and abused into adulthood before being found on the side of the road.

Heres a rundown of just a few of the crimes:

According to the Daily Mail, several of Floyds early offenses occurred in Georgia beginning in 1962, as Floyd sexually assaulted and kidnapped a 4-year-old girl. The kidnapping took place at a bowling alley in Atlanta.

Floyd was convicted of these crimes and was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison. However, only one year later, he escaped from jail. Floyd was out on a medical errand, but fled and made it as far as Macon, Georgia before he was caught.

In Macon, a bank robbery led to Floyds capture. He robbed a local bank of $6,000; he was soon arrested for robbery and made his way back to prison until 1972.

The Daily Mail also reported that once freed from prison, Floyd continued his series of monstrous crimes; one of these including kidnapping another girl, raising her as his daughter, and then later forcing her to marry him. The investigation of her case ended up in the death row conviction involving her friend, while her murder continued to remain unsolved.

Floyd is currently on death row at the Union Correctional Institution in Florida.

The full story is now streaming on Netflix.
The U.S. Department of Transportation will cover an initial $3 million in emergency relief funds after spring flooding caused damage to roadways in two Idaho counties.

Gov. Brad Little declared a disaster last month, when excessive rainfall and runoff created significant damage in the states north central and northeast regions and caused dangerous traveling conditions, according to the Idaho Office of Emergency Management.

Little issued a disaster declaration on June 17, triggering the availability of emergency reimbursement funds to help with repairs, the Idaho Office of Emergency Management said at the time in a news release. The governors action marked Idahos first  and still its only  weather-related declaration this year, a state emergency management spokesperson told the Idaho Statesman.

The emergency funding were announcing today will help the people of Idaho recover from these devastating floods and safely reopen their roads and bridges as quickly as possible, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a Monday news release.

The infusion of federal disaster dollars, designated for the affected areas in Idaho and Nez Perce counties, should cover the majority  if not all  of the fixes to damaged roads and bridges, a Federal Highway Administration spokesperson told the Statesman by email. The funds also cover emergency repairs and work to maintain traffic flow throughout the disaster.

Total damages are expected to reach about $6 million, according to a preliminary estimate from the Idaho Transportation Department. The remainder of repair costs are also eligible for federal reimbursement.

ITD does not have any anticipated timeline for making the needed repairs, John Tomlinson, the departments communication manager, said in an email to the Statesman. But this money will allow us to proceed expeditiously with emergency repairs.

Flooding closed the northbound lane of U.S. 95 a few miles south of the city of Lapwai in Nez Perce County, the U.S. Department of Transportation release said. Road crews worked to reestablish a temporary asphalt surface to reopen two lanes, before beginning to plan to make more permanent repairs this summer, it added.

Other roads impacted in Nez Perce County included Gifford-Reubens Road, Southwick Road and Webb Road, the U.S. Department of Transportation news release said.

In Idaho County, Toll/Clear Creek Road was the affected area identified in the release. County engineers previously estimated the cost to make permanent repairs to three road systems damaged by the flooding at $1.5 million, the Statesman previously reported.

The flooding has interrupted daily life in communities in the region, and we hope that by restoring vital transportation links people can regain a sense of normalcy, Stephanie Pollack, the Federal Highway Administrations deputy administrator, said in the release. Todays funding represents a down payment on our federal commitment to ensuring roads and bridges in Idaho damaged by the flooding are repaired as quickly as possible.
Over the next six weeks, the N.C. Utilities Commission will travel across North Carolina, hearing public comments on a proposal that will guide how the state slashes emissions from the power sector.

Last years House Bill 951 required the Utilities Commission to approve a plan by the end of 2022 that will shape how Duke Energy reaches a 70% reduction in carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. The legislation offers some leniency if the commission decides deeper reductions can be achieved by certain projects that might take longer to complete.

Duke filed a draft version of the plan in May, effectively asking the commission to approve steps that leave available four paths that include various mixtures of renewable energy generation, gas-fired power plants and some new technologies like small modular nuclear reactors.

That initial plan has met opposition from environmental groups, which note that three of Dukes four pathways include measures that allow it to meet the 70% reduction after 2030 and are worried about emissions from new gas plants. Those and other concerns will likely be raised at the hearings, which began Monday evening in Durham.

Forest Bradley-Wright, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energys energy efficiency director, said Duke should focus its resources on renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts instead of gas-fired power plants.

Its quite simple: If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging, Bradley-Wright said.

Recent research, including a 2021 report from the United Nations Environment Programme, has found that cutting methane emissions could play a key role in slowing climate change. Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas that lasts in the environment for about a decade while carbon dioxide can last for hundreds of years.

House Bill 951 only requires Duke to cut carbon emissions. Environmental advocates would like to see the Utilities Commission further consider methane and other greenhouse gases as it crafts the reduction plan.

Lindsey Hallock, Vote Solars Southeast senior regional director, said she hopes the commission and Duke will take methane emissions into account.

We felt like this was an obvious loophole that was built into the law when it was passed and we were hopeful that Duke would do the right thing, Hallock said, but so far, in this plan, unfortunately, it looks like methanes not considered at all.

Duke officials argue that House Bill 951 requires them to consider reliability in addition to carbon reductions and affordability. The company sees natural gas plants as a key tool in achieving that.

Glen Snider, Dukes managing director of resource planning and analytics, said the company is moving from the Ford F-150 to a hybrid SUV and then ultimately well get to being Tesla down the road, but there is still room for gas on your trajectory as a vital transition tool to maintain reliability and affordability.

Snider added that Dukes proposed portfolios include either 3.2 or 3.5 gigawatts of natural gas while other new generation ranges from 8.9 to 13.1 gigawatts.

Duke has also committed to a net-zero methane emissions target from its natural gas business by 2030, which it plans to accomplish by monitoring for leaks and using plastic or coated steel pipes, among other measures. Earlier this year, Duke said it was targeting net-zero emissions by 2050 from the places it purchases the gas and the customers who use it.

New technology or unnecessary risk?

Snider also raised the possibility that natural gas infrastructure could eventually be used to transport a blend of gas and hydrogen. While the technology has not been used at scale in the United States, the U.S. Department of Energy made a $9.5 billion investment in hydrogen in last years infrastructure law.

We can further decarbonize those new plants as hydrogen becomes a more readily available fuel source in decades to come, Snider said.

But discussions about hydrogen and small modular nuclear reactors are alarming to some groups, who argue it is difficult to determine the prices of technology that isnt yet available and risky to view that as a key part of emissions reductions even as the window for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change narrows.

A small modular reactor, for example, is about a third the size of a traditional nuclear reactor and, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, can be built more cheaply and more quickly than their larger counterparts. But none are operating in the United States right now, and all four of Dukes portfolios include new small modular reactors by 2035.

Joel Porter, the policy manager for CleanAIRE NC, said, It does add unnecessary risk and I suspect that the prices of renewables will continue to decline in a steady manner that would probably contradict some of the numbers that Duke used in their modeling.

If models show the price for solar energy continuing to decline, Porter said, it would make more sense to model a plan around even more panels instead of small modular nuclear reactors or new gas infrastructure.

Bradley-Wright also expressed concern about Duke pushing the 70% reduction back to 2032 in one scenario and 2034 in two others. The 2032 instance allows for the construction or purchase of additional offshore wind energy while the 2034 delay allows the construction of a small modular nuclear reactor.

Environmental advocates like Bradley-Wright argue that solar panels, battery storage and other readily available technologies could meet the target by 2030.

Theres enough time between now and then that the focus should be on how do we reach the target, not moving the goalpost before weve even started, he said.

Another key concern is how the emissions reduction plan could impact low-income customers in North Carolina and those who live near potential new power plants.

I think there is a lot more they have to do with respect to energy affordability, energy equity, ensuring that the transition from fossil fuels is one thats just, Porter said.

Kendal Bowman, Dukes vice president of regulatory affairs and policy, acknowledged that no matter what path is chosen, the company will build a huge amount of new infrastructure over the next 30 years.

As the company decides where to put new solar farms and potentially new gas plants or small modular nuclear reactors, officials will use environmental justice screening tools from the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy to determine if proposed facilities are being built in places where they exacerbate social inequities. Duke, Bowman said, will also check with local staff to see if there are any concerns.

Youve got to look on a case-by-case basis: Is there mitigation required? Is there something that needs to change? Is there more analysis that needs to be done? But this is a new process that were still trying to figure out and implement in the company, Bowman said.

What comes next

After the Monday evening hearing in Durham, the N.C. Utilities Commission will host hearings at the following times and places:

July 12, 7 p.m., at the New Hanover County Courthouse, 317 Princess St., Wilmington

July 27, 7 p.m., at the Buncombe County Courthouse, 60 Court Plaza, Asheville

July 28, 7 p.m., at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, 832 E. 4th St., Charlotte

Aug. 23, 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. virtually. Only the first 20 speakers who register will be able to speak at these events. Those who would like to talk can register by calling 919-733-0837 or emailing ncucpublichearing@ncuc.net. Those who wish to speak will need to give their name, docket number E-100 Sub 179, the telephone number they will call from and the topic they will address.

The Utilities Commission must approve a carbon plan by the end of the year.

While Dukes proposal is one version the commission will consider, the Southern Environmental Law Center has said it will propose an alternative plan on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club. Friday is the deadline for organizations intervening in the case to file alternative plans or technical comments.

This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.

Local impact

Philanthropy plays an increasingly important role in local news  including at The N&O. Stay on top of community-supported journalism at The N&O with our monthly newsletter. Sign up here.
Foodies planning to attend this years Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts are in luck. From gourmet grilled cheese, to tacos, to funnel cakes, theres options to satisfy everyone.

The 2022 Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will take place July 14 to 17, with Children and Youth Day July 13.

The famed event will include a sidewalk sale and exhibition, indoor and outdoor performances and more. Some of the indoor shows will require a $15 wristband.

More than 15 food vendors are slated to attend the festival. Heres a spotlight on some of the offerings. Please note it is likely not all dishes will be available at each truck, as mobile restaurants often offer simplified menus at events.

The Funnel Cake Kings

Our new cinnamon bun funnel cake with cream cheese icing tastes even better than it looks !!! pic.twitter.com/yrM6RxSglr  The Funnel Cake Kings (@funnel_kings) December 6, 2021

This truck offers unique funnel cake flavors, including orange dreamsicle, cinnamon bun, peanut butter cinnamon and caramel apple.

It will be located at the Memorial Field Parking Lot at the arts festival and will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 13, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 14 to 16.

We Be Cheesin

We Be Cheesin offers fan-favorite grilled cheeses, like the three cheese with muenster, colby jack and mozzarella, as well as specials like the pizza grilled cheese and chocolate monkey.

The truck will be located at Allen and Nittany at the arts festival.

Maine Bay & Berry Co.

Maine Bay & Berry offers fresh crab clusters and king crab legs.

For crab cakes and lobster rolls, stop by Maine Bay & Berry Co. The State College-based business carries fresh and frozen fish, including clams, mussels, oysters, alligator filets and more. The shop also offers Maine lobster bisque, broccoli cheddar soup and creamy corn chowder.

Maine Bay & Berry will be located at Sidney Friedman Park.

Moody Culture

Moody Culture Kombucha will be available at this years Arts Fest.

Moody Culture will be located at Allen and Nittany to fill all your kombucha needs at this years Arts Fest.

Flavors consistently rotate, but the businesss website currently displays watermelon mint, lemon ginger, pomegranate rosemary and pineapple cayenne.

Hellenic Kouzina Mobile Kitchen

This Greek cafe on wheels offers treats like loaded fries (topped with sheeps milk feta and house creamy feta dressing), baklava ice cream and frappes. Gyro options include veggie, chargrilled chicken, and lamb and beef.

The truck will be located at the Memorial Field Parking Lot.

Bonnie Blues Smokeys and Sweets

Bonnie Blues features comfort food redefined, and you can check it out at the Memorial Field Parking Lot.

Its known for the shrimp po boy, with blackened shrimp, shredded cabbage, tomatoes, creamy Cajun sauce and green onions on a toasted French roll. The truck has also previously offered specialty nachos, with Cajun crawfish or buffalo chicken.

Other options

If none of these food trucks are up your alley, theres plenty more to be found at the festival.

Other available vendors will include Bees Knees Coffee, Everything About Crepes, Hansons Kettle Korn, Brazilian Munchies Food Truck, Millers Tropical Sno, The Tuckerbox, Chans Golden Gate, Backwoods Smoke Shack, Heeters Ice Cream Truck, Penn State Creamery and The Rolling Lion Food Truck.

Additionally, six regional vendors will sell food products at the intersection of Foster Avenue and South Allen Street. TorchBearer Sauces, Saint Roccos Treats, Bevvys Gourmet, Scentual Aroma Inc., Hillbillys Beef Jerky and Seven Barrels will be available.

Heres the organizers full list of festival food by location.
Kathy Jo Jones told family that she was leaving to go to the mountains on Friday, and they have not heard from her since, the Owyhee County Sheriffs Office said in a news release Monday.

The Sheriffs Office is asking the public for help locating the woman.

The release indicated that Jones often spends time in Silver City, Council, Riggins and areas along the Salmon River, meaning a wide swath of territory.

Jones left the Homedale area in her red 2017 Toyota RAV4 with Idaho license plate number DBA61, the release said. Jones is 5-foot-3 and weighs about 210 pounds. She has long, brown hair with bangs and has blue eyes, and was last seen wearing a flower print bikini top and black bicycle shorts, according to the release.

The Sheriffs Office said Jones has physical and mental disabilities requiring medications.

Anyone with information about Jones should contact sheriffs dispatch at 208-495-1154, extension 2.

Jones is the second person to have disappeared from the Treasure Valley in recent days. Meridian developer Matt Schultz went missing last week and his body was found Sunday by searchers in Owyhee County.

Body of Idaho developer who went missing in Owyhee County found in ravine
The hearse carrying the body of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe leaves the Zojoji temple after his funeral in Tokyo on Tuesday. (Hiro Komae / Associated Press)

Japan bid its final goodbye to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday at a family funeral held at a temple days after his assassination shocked the nation.

Abe, the country's longest-serving prime minister, who remained influential even after he stepped down two years ago, was gunned down Friday during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.

Hundreds of people, some in dark formal suits, filled pedestrian areas outside the Zojoji temple in downtown Tokyo to bid farewell to Abe, 67, whose nationalistic views drove the governing party's ultra-conservative policies.

Mourners took photos, and some called out, Abe-san! as the cortege, including a hearse carrying his body, accompanied by Akie Abe, his widow, slowly drove by the packed crowd.

About 1,000 people, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and senior party leaders as well as foreign officials, attended the funeral at the temple.

At the ceremony, Akie Abe said her husband's death still seemed unreal. I believe there were many things he left unfinished as a politician. But he had planted many seeds, and I'm sure they will sprout, she was quoted as by Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

Abe's longtime ally and mentor, Finance Minister Taro Aso, described Abe as "the most talented politician in postwar Japan, who raised Japan's international profile. Aso, 81, said he was supposed to be the one to ask Abe to make a condolence speech for him.

The hearse made a tour of Tokyo's main political headquarters of Nagata-cho, where Abe spent more than three decades since he was first elected in 1991. It then drove slowly by the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, where senior lawmakers in dark suits stood outside and prayed, before heading to the prime minister's office, where Abe served a total of nearly a decade.

Kishida and his Cabinet members pressed their hands before their chest as they prayed and bowed to Abe's body before the hearse headed to a crematorium.

On Sunday, two days after Abe's death, the ruling LDP and its coalition partner won a landslide victory in the upper house, the less powerful chamber of Japan's bicameral parliament.

That could allow Kishida to govern uninterrupted until a scheduled election in 2025, but the loss of Abe also opened up a period of uncertainly for his party. Experts say a power struggle within the party faction that Abe led is certain and could affect Kishida's grip on power.

Kishida has stressed the importance of party unity after Abe's death.

Abes shooting shook a nation known as one of the world's safest, with some of its strictest gun laws. Gun violence in Japan is extremely rare.

The alleged gunman, Tetsyua Yamagami, was arrested on the spot Friday and is being detained at a local prosecutors office for further investigation. They can detain him for up to three weeks while deciding whether to press charges.

Police said Yamagami cited a rumored link between Abe and an organization that Yamagami hated as the motive for the killing. Media reports said that the organization was the Unification Church and that Yamagami disliked it because donations by his mother to the religious group had bankrupted his family.

The head of the Japanese branch of the South Korean-based church, known for its anti-Communist stance and mass weddings, confirmed Monday that Yamagami's mother was a member. He said Abe was not, but may have spoken at groups affiliated with the church.

On Tuesday, public security chief Satoshi Ninoyu told reporters that he had instructed the National Police Agency to investigate security for political and business leaders.

Abe, the grandson of a previous prime minister, became Japan's youngest premier in 2006, at age 52. He left after a year in office because of health reasons but returned to power in 2012.

He vowed to revitalize the nation and get its economy out of its deflationary doldrums with his Abenomics formula, which combines fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms.

His long-cherished goals, held by other ultra-conservatives, were to revise Japan's pacifist constitution, which was drafted by the United States after World War II, and to transform Japan's Self Defense Force into a full-fledged military.

Abe became Japan's longest-serving leader before leaving office in 2020, citing a recurrence of the ulcerative colitis he'd had since he was a teenager.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A man was killed in Barren County Saturday after being shot by a sheriffs deputy, according to Kentucky State Police.

State police said the Barren County Sheriffs Office was conducting a welfare check on Paul Clark Road in the Cave City community when a suspect, 31-year-old Dillon Walker of Westmoreland, Tn., fled on foot from his vehicle. Deputies tracked down Walker in a field and he was carrying a firearm, state police said.

Deputies gave Walker multiple loud commands to drop his gun but he didnt follow the orders, according to state police. When he pointed his weapon at deputies, a deputy fired his agency-issued gun and struck Walker.

Walker was pronounced dead at the scene by the Barren County Coroners Office, according to state police

No other details about the shooting were released. The investigation by state police remains ongoing.
A loose beach umbrella shattered a womans nose  and a South Carolina resort is to blame, she said.

Berenice Kelly was relaxing on the coast last summer when the umbrella hit her face, leaving her with serious injuries that required extensive repair surgery, according to a court document.

Now, she and her husband, Theodore Kelly, are suing a hotel chain they say owned the unsecured umbrella. The chain  the Hyatt Hotels Corporation  didnt immediately respond to McClatchy News requests for comment on July 11.

The Kellys accuse the company of being negligent during their June 2021 visit to the Isle of Palms, near the Wild Dunes Resort. The resort property is roughly 15 miles northeast of the tourist hot spot of Charleston.

Berenice Kelly said she was in a beach chair when she was struck in the face by an unanchored beach umbrella. Her husband reportedly called for help and rushed to provide first aid, becoming injured himself.

As a result of the incident, Berenice Kelly suffered great physical harm and injury, underwent much physical pain, suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, permanent injuries, loss of activities, and incurred medical expenses, the lawsuit said.

Theodore Kelly also was hurt physically and emotionally, and he lost the companionship and services of his wife according to the court document.

Among their allegations, the couple said the resort didnt pay attention to the weather and failed to keep beachgoers safe because it didnt prevent umbrellas from blowing down the beach. The property is also accused of shortfalls in the ways it erected umbrellas and trained workers.

The couple is seeking damages in the lawsuit, which was filed in Charleston County on July 5.

Atheist worker fired after refusing to attend companys Christian prayer in NC, feds say

EMS workers gave her husband ketamine  and should have known the risks, SC wife says
A man needed rescuing after he found himself trapped inside an oven vent at an Atlanta-area Little Caesars, according to Georgia authorities.

His shouts for help led DeKalb County police and fire rescue officials to the pizza shop on Covington Highway in Lithonia just before 9:30 a.m. local time Tuesday, July 12, a police spokesperson told McClatchy News in a statement.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brittany Davis had just arrived to work at the recruitment office next door when she heard the screams and called 911, according to WGCL.

I definitely did not expect this, Davis told the news station. We actually stepped back to see if maybe someone was on top of the roof.

A Little Caesars employee was also looking around the area as they tried to find the source of the noise, Captain Jason Daniels with DeKalb County Fire told McClatchy News. They soon realized it was coming from inside the restaurant.

Someone was trapped in the exhaust vent of the pizza oven, which allows heat to escape through the roof of the restaurant.

The pipe couldnt have been hot while he was in there because he wouldnt have been able to make it all the way down, Daniels said. So between whatever time (Little Caesars) closed and 8 oclock in the morning, he decided to get himself down there.

Update: The man had friction burns from being stuck in the Little Caesars exhaust system. Had to be cut out as seen here in DeKalb County Fire Department photos. Now being taken to the hospital to be checked out. pic.twitter.com/nWf29eddLS  Joe Henke (@JoeHenke) July 12, 2022

Photos posted online show fire rescue crews cutting away part of the vent to help free the man. Authorities said its not clear how long he was trapped before help arrived.

The man, whose name wasnt released, was eventually extricated and taken to a hospital, according to police and fire rescue officials. He suffered some friction burns from sliding into the tight space and was a bit dehydrated, Daniels said.

His motive remains unclear, and police havent said what charges he could face, if any.

Davis, the Army sergeant, told WGCL shes just happy the man made it out OK.

Im just glad they didnt turn the oven on because he wouldve been toast, told the station.

The incident remains under investigation.

Lithonia is about 20 miles east of downtown Atlanta.

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After years of calls for reform, the Miami-Dade Police Department is set to make a landmark change in how it deals with many cases involving the mentally ill. Instead of dispatching just officers, the department expects to unveil sprinter trucks manned with mental health experts to respond to nonviolent emergencies calls.

Law enforcement and mental health professionals say the move to replace officers with clinicians for mental health calls will save lives, free up law enforcement to focus on major crime issues and  perhaps most important  cut down on low-level arrests and potentially volatile encounters with police.

Locally, police reform activists hailed the measure, expected to begin some time in the fall.

Police officers are not mental health experts. Theyll be the first to tell you that, said former state prosecutor and civil rights attorney Melba Pearson. A couple of hours at the academy training in the field is not the same as a masters degree in social work. Its time to let the experts do what they do best  help people struggling with mental illness and addiction.

Its an approach that many urged during the Black Lives Matter marches in the summer of 2020, when protesters demanded changes after a nationwide string of controversial and sometimes deadly arrests  mostly of Black men. Far too often, critics argued that confrontations between the mentally ill and police ended badly because of a lack of training.

A Washington Post investigation into police shootings determined that of the 5,000 that have taken place in agencies nationwide since 2015, more than one-fifth of them have involved someone with a mental illness. An NPR story in 2020 estimated that calls that could be classified as mental health-related or substance abuse account for as much as 20 percent of emergency calls to police nationwide.

Miami-Dade Police, the eighth-largest law enforcement agency in the country, said that between 2017 and 2021 they received an average of 8,627 emergency calls each year that could have been handled by behavioral specialists.

It reduces the risk of something bad happening, by far, said Miami-Dade County Judge Steve Leifman, who has invested much of his career in helping people with mental illness stay out of jail. Plus, cops have to handcuff them and they havent committed crimes. Its terrible.

EXPERT THOUGHTS

Though the Miami-Dade plan is still being pieced together, George Perez, assistant director for corrections and rehabilitation, said professionally trained and licensed health professionals will also work at the countys 911 call center and help determine when to send out the new crews.

Perez couldnt pinpoint exactly how many units would be activated at first, but he said the initial deployment would be to regions of the county with the highest number of calls. He said a behavior expert would accompany an officer on calls and that he hoped most of the costs would be covered through federal grants.

Officers will not be leading and it will be very specific to mental health calls, Perez said.

(Perez spoke to the Miami Herald about the initiative two weeks ago while he was interim police director. He has since been moved to corrections and former police director Alfredo Freddy Ramirez has returned to his old post.)

In the past few years, law enforcement agencies throughout South Florida have been involved in several shootings or violent encounters in which the suspects mental health came into question.

In one of the most high-profile incidents in South Florida in recent years, North Miami Police Officer Jonathon Aledda in 2016 shot behavior specialist Charles Kinsey  by accident, he said  while the health workers severely autistic client sat in the middle of a roadway playing with a toy truck after escaping from his home. Kinsey was shot while lying on his back, his hands up in the air, begging police not to shoot and saying repeatedly they were unarmed.

In August 2020, a Miami-Dade police officer shot Kendall resident Arcadia Hernandez, who a decade earlier suffered catastrophic brain damage when an aneurysm burst inside his head. Police said Hernandez charged toward officer Juan Calderon with a machete before he was shot. Hernandez survived, but video and a witness account didnt seem to bolster the police statement.

It appeared that Hernandez turned towards Calderon after being stunned with a Taser. And a neighbor, who said Hernandez was partially paralyzed and dragged his leg, said he only turned toward the officer after being blocked from going into his home. The video did appear to show Hernandez having a mental breakdown as he repeated God is with me each time Calderon told him to put the machete down.

Other cases are less clear cut, and likely would have required police to accompany a mental health worker.

Take the case of Richard Hollis, 21, who was killed by a Miami-Dade police officer last month after he threatened his mother with a knife in their Kendale Lakes home. Police said Hollis wouldnt put the knife down after they arrived.

Court records showed Hollis had a history of violence with family and neighbors. Once he pulled his mothers hair because he was unhappy about something she cooked. Another time, he was accused of knocking down and kicking an 88-year-old man who complained about Hollis dog. He also once slammed the door on a cop who came to arrest him. The officer said he had to deploy a stun gun to incapacitate him.

911 calls a key decision point

Law enforcement and behavioral specialists say its likely going to be up to the trained 911 operator to separate the thin line between a dangerous and possibly violent incident and one that is likely to end peacefully with a clinician.

Alex Piqueros, sociology chair at the University of Miami, said trained 911 operators are critical to the success of the program.

Police are operating with limited information. They only know what theyve been told, he said. Better information will allow them to make better decisions. You want to try and talk down a situation that could go bad.

Perez said the Miami-Dade startup is taking a page from the Denver Police Departments successful Support Team Assistance Response, or STAR program.

A recent study by the peer review journal Science Advances found that Denvers STAR program prevented about 1,400 low-level crimes in its first year, reducing that crime rate by 34 percent. Clinicians and paramedics who took part in the program said they responded to 748 calls and never once needed a police officers help.

Other cities like Dallas, Eugene, Oregon, and even Los Angeles have replaced police with mental health experts on some non-emergency calls. And so far, they say, their programs have been successful. The Dallas initiative was bolstered last year by a $175,000 grant from the U.S. Conference of Mayors Police Reform and Racial Justice Grant Program.

Only a few months ago, Miami doctor Armen Henderson and a few others unveiled a private program with the same goal  to save lives and unburden police.

Read more: Freedom House Mobile Crisis wants to offer a 911 alternative for Miami public safety

The Freedom House Mobile Crisis program involves doctors and mental health workers driving a van around areas of need in communities such as Overtown, Wynwood and parts of Liberty City, and trying to attract those who need medical care. The van comes equipped with a doctor, therapist and conflict resolution specialist. The crew operates with a $900,000 grant from the Dream Defenders Healing and Justice Center. The hope is that its presence will cut down on unnecessary calls to police that too often turn violent.

A few weeks ago a reporter followed Hendersons unit into the Shoppes at Liberty City, where with megaphone in hand, Henderson blared, Did you know if you call the police during a mental health crisis, you are 16 times more likely to be shot and killed?

Henderson told the Miami Herald last month that his model is far safer to those who need help, than crisis teams embedded with police, especially in Black communities where there is a lack of trust. Perez, while he was interim Miami-Dade director, said he was sending staff to take a look at Hendersons model and how effective it is.

The ultimate goal, is to have the person who is having a mental health crisis be in the best possible position to get the resources needed, said Perez. The uniform is not always the right answer. Officers come with a variety of tools and are forced to make split-second decisions, but sometimes a person just needs to talk.
Meridian and Boise fire departments responded to a structure fire at the Foothills Apartments in Meridian, according to city spokesperson Kelsey Johnston and a news release from the department.

At 11:15 a.m. a Meridian fire engine was leaving another call when firefighters noticed an unreported fire at the apartment complex, which is located at 2314 E. Franklin Road, the release said.

The release said the engine self-assigned to the call and began to fire vent the two-story apartment from the roof. Firefighters rescued one resident from a balcony of a second-floor apartment as smoke and fire billowed out, according to the news release.

No one was injured and two cats were also rescued. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

A total of six engines, one ladder truck and a battalion chief responded from both the Meridian and Boise fire departments.

The fire impacted two stories and four units within the apartment complex. Relief for any families that were displaced will be provided by the Meridian Firefighters Benevolent Fund, the release said. The Red Cross was called.

The Meridian Fire Department would like to thank the Meridian Police Department, Boise Fire Department, Ada County Paramedics, and Intermountain Gas for their assistance with todays fire, the Meridian Fire Department said.
A vaccine to prevent the spread of monkeypox is now available in Durham and Wake counties.

After three cases have been confirmed in North Carolina, the federal government has allocated to the state 444 doses of Jynneos, one of the two vaccines that can prevent monkeypox or lead to less severe symptoms if administered within 14 days of exposure.

Durham confirmed its first case of monkeypox on July 12.

The Durham County Department of Public Health and the Wake County Health and Human Services Department are now offering the vaccine by appointment. Buncombe, Forsyth, Mecklenburg, New Hanover and Pitt also have received initial doses from the state, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said last week.

However, due to the limited number of doses, there are some qualifications to get the vaccine.

The spread of monkeypox has been a rising concern amid new outbreaks of COVID-19. Health experts say the monkeypox is not as contagious as the coronavirus. But there are some preventative measures individuals can take, including looking for symptoms to prevent the spread.

Heres what to know about how to get the monkeypox vaccine and where to find one in the Triangle area:

Who can get the monkeypox vaccine?

In the current monkeypox outbreak, people with the viral infection have reported having close physical contact with other people who have it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Because of the limited number of vaccines at local health departments, they are only administering the Jynneos vaccine to individuals with known or suspected exposure to monkeypox.

For the available vaccines, eligible individuals include:

People who have had close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with monkeypox.

Men who have sex with other men or transgender people who have had multiple or anonymous partners in the last 14 days in either a venue where monkeypox was present or in an area where the virus is spreading.

Who can get a vaccine for monkeypox? Answers from NC health officials.

What are the symptoms of monkeypox?

Monkeypox is part of the same virus family as smallpox so the symptoms are similar but milder, according to the CDC. The infection is rarely fatal and typically lasts two to four weeks.

A rash is the most prevalent symptom of monkeypox. The rash resembles pimples or blisters that appear on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals or anus.

Most people get a rash first before showing other symptoms. Other people only get a rash.

Symptoms can also include:

fever

headache

muscle aches or backache

swollen lymph nodes

exhaustion

chills

The illness can be confused with a sexually transmitted infection like syphilis or herpes, or with the chickenpox virus.

Monkeypox case confirmed in Durham. What you should know about how the emerging virus spreads.

Durham County

Beginning July 12, the Durham County Department of Public Health is scheduling appointments for Jynneos, according to a press release.

The department has 62 doses of the Jynneos vaccine available with 7 appointments as of Tuesday afternoon. A spokesperson for the department said they expect to receive more.

Eligible individuals can call the countys department resource line at 919-560-9217 to request the vaccination if they meet one of the eligibility criteria.

Health officials are asking anyone who has an unexplained rash, sores or other symptoms to contact their health provider.

Individuals are also urged to keep rashes covered and to avoid sex or intimacy with anyone until they have been evaluated by a medical provider

The department is located in Durham at 414 E. Main St.

Wake County

Residents who meet the qualifying eligibility criteria for monkeypox can call the Wake County Public Health Department at 919-250-4462 for screening and to schedule an appointment for a vaccine.

As of July 12, Wake County has 20 available doses of Jynneos, according to a spokeswoman for the health department. So far, there have been 19 appointments made for the vaccine.

Information tables on the viral infection have been set up at the countys Sunnybrook Public Health Center; the Southern Regional Center in Fuquay-Varina; the Western Regional Center in Cary; the Eastern Regional Center in Zebulon; and at the Northern Regional Center in Wake Forest.
The fate of legislation that would restrict LGBTQ instruction in North Carolina elementary schools rests on the decisions voters make in this falls elections for state lawmakers.

The state House adjourned this month without taking action on the Parents Bill of Rights legislation that calls for new rules about discussing LGBTQ topics in public schools. Republican lawmakers didnt have the votes to override a veto promised by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, so they hope to gain a super-majority on Election Day in November.

If the Republicans have the votes to override a veto, this will be one of their top priorities, Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the N.C. Values Coalition, said in an interview. I encourage parents to go out and vote for people who believe they have the right to determine the education for their children and not the activists in schools.

Allison Scott, director of impact and innovation for the Campaign For Southern Equality, said she is worried about the impact the election could have on LGBTQ rights.

Im a trans woman living in North Carolina, living in the South, Scott said in an interview. Ive lived through previous iterations of bad bills. The real goal of all this is to make people like me not be full participants in society. Thats terrifying.

Tania Jimenez, 39, of Asheboro, center, participates in a march in downtown Raleigh, N.C., Saturday June 25, 2022, to protest House Bill 755, the Parents Bill of Rights, and bring awareness to the conditions trans immigrants face in detention.

Limits on LGBTQ discussion

House Bill 755 has been controversial since it was unveiled by GOP Senate leaders in May. Provisions include:

 Prohibit instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity as part of the curriculum in K-3 classrooms.

 Require schools to notify parents if their children are identified by different pronouns in school records, or by school employees. Critics said this could lead to LGBTQ students being outed, while supporters say parents need to know this information.

Other parts of the bill include guaranteeing parents have the right to access textbooks and other instructional material used in their childs school.

The sections regulating pronouns, gender identity and sexual orientation have drawn the most focus, including protests by LGBTQ rights supporters. Similar legislation has been filed in other states.

Alison Croop of Raleigh stands outside the N.C. Senate Rules Committee room after the committee voted on HB755, the Parents Bill of Rights, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 31, 2022.

When bills like this are brought up, it brings a visceral reaction because it makes people think its protecting children, Scott said. Its not truthful and not going to do that at all. The truth is LGBTQ people, especially transgender and non-binary students, are disproportionately affected by bullying and harassment in schools.

But Fitzgerald points to a WRAL poll that found that 58% of respondents would support a ban about teaching gender identity and sexual orientation in K-3 classrooms.

The vast majority of parents in North Carolina dont believe in teaching children in kindergarten or early grades about sexual orientation and gender identity, Fitzgerald said. That topic should be left to the parents.

Scott, though, blames the poll results on people thinking elementary schools want to teach about sexual acts rather than telling students that families can be two dads or two moms and not just a a mom and a dad.

Lack of Democratic support for bill

The Senate passed the bill with every Republican  but only one Democrat  in support. That wouldnt be enough to override a veto.

House Speaker Tim Moore said the House would only take up the bill this year if the GOP had enough Democratic votes to override Cooper.

State lawmakers plan to return once a month for the rest of the year. But Terry Stoops, director of the John Locke Foundations Center for Effective Education, said GOP lawmakers told the organization that they dont plan to bring back HB 755 until next year.

Stoops said the foundation was told there was too much disagreement between the House and the Senate to get the bill passed now. Stoops said some GOP lawmakers thought the bill went too far while others wanted to go further and ban instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity through the sixth grade.

House GOP lawmakers talked about dropping the K-3 ban to get Democratic support, according to Stoops, but he said it was uncertain if Senate Republicans would back the change. In the end, the decision was made to focus on getting the budget adopted.

Sex ed fight next year?

Waiting until next year will give GOP lawmakers a chance to see how the State Board of Education handles new health standards that are being developed, according to Stoops.

State Department of Public Instruction staff said at last weeks board meeting that it was too soon to say whether gender identity would be included in the new standards.

Were not giving up on it, and I dont think theyve given up on it either, Stoops said in an interview. We would have loved to see the bill reach the finish line this session, but we understand the reasons why it didnt.

The decision to apparently let the bill die this year was welcome news for opponents.

We would like to believe that lawmakers considered the trauma that HB 755 might have inflicted on LGBTQ students of color and decided that moving forward would undermine their constitutional duty to educate ALL of North Carolinas students, Jerry Wilson, policy and advocacy director for the Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED), said in an email.

GOP wants supermajority

The legislation is likely to be an issue in campaigns across North Carolina. The election will come at a time when conservative groups in North Carolina and nationwide have complained about what they feel are sexually explicit LGBTQ books being in school libraries.

Approximately 50 people attended a protest outside the Wake County school board meeting in Cary on April 5, 2022 to protest what they say is the distribution of obscene books in school libraries.

I hope that parents will hold the Governor and his Democratic Party responsible when they go to the polls in November for not having a Parents Bill of Rights in place, said Fitzgerald of the N.C. Values Coalition.

In order to override vetoes from Cooper, Republicans would need to pick up an additional three seats in the House and two seats in the Senate in this falls election.

Moore has said Republicans are very bullish about their prospects of achieving a supermajority, and said the bill was certainly the kind of issue that we can take up in next years session, The News & Observer previously reported.

As a trans woman, Im always concerned about this, said Scott of the Campaign For Southern Equality. As a mom with a child in school. I dont feel comfortable with any elected body having total control in my state.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, shown at a June news conference, said his family's Fourth of July trip to visit in-laws in Montana was not state-funded. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing back on criticism and news stories about his family vacation to visit his in-laws in Montana for the Fourth of July.

A law then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed in 2016 bans taxpayer-financed travel to Montana and other states with policies that discriminate on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. Among countless state and national headlines blasting the governor's visit to his in-law's ranch, FOX News dubbed it the latest example of Newsom "flouting his own state laws."

But some key details were overlooked, or dismissed, in the frenzy, Newsom said.

My frustration with the reporting was it was expressed as a violation, but in fact, it wasn't and I thought that was wrong and unfair, Newsom told The Times in an interview this week.

The family's travel was not paid for by the state, Newsom said. The law specifically allows state-funded travel for "the protection of public health, welfare or safety," an exemption that permits the state to pay for the California Highway Patrol security detail that joined the Newsoms and provides around-the-clock protection for governors and their families.

"It's a place you all know well because it's a place we go consistently," Newsom said. "It's the family home and it was on our dime. Now the security question, that's independent of me in every way, shape and form. But we paid for this trip and this is not a state-sponsored trip. That's the law. That's obvious and clear."

Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, married at her family's horse ranch in rural Montana in 2008 and named their first child after the state the following year. Before the pandemic, it wasn't uncommon for Newsom and his family to take annual trips to spend time with her parents.

The governors office discloses Newsoms destination to reporters when he leaves the state for official business. His aides have been more hesitant to share details on the record about his personal vacations. His office did not publicly disclose his whereabouts the last time he visited his in-laws in July 2019.

Newsom said he isn't naive and understands that Californians have a right to know when he leaves the state. But he attempts to keep "some semblance of privacy" when necessary to protect his family.

That is not an area where you walk around without consequences of being recognized in a world that's very divided, Newsom said about his in-laws' Montana community. Ive got four kids and a wife. I love them. I care about them. I want to protect them and some of the stuff that got ginned up made for a more uncomfortable experience in an area where we're going to take a little more caution perhaps than others.

Newsom said the story "took off in the ether that is our politics."

"He's right," said Steven Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant who worked for former Gov. Gray Davis. "In many instances the cover-up is worse than the crime, but there was no crime here. He visited his in-laws."

Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Rockin), who is running for Congress, was among the Republicans who criticized Newsom on Twitter and elsewhere for traveling to Montana, calling the governor a hypocrite.

"The reason Newsom tried to hide his whereabouts is that California bans state travel to Montana and 21 other red states deemed insufficiently woke for our 'enlightened' politicians. Its an absurd policy that Newsom himself refuses to live with," Kiley stated on his campaign website. "In general, our politicians think they dont have to live by the same rules as everyone else."

It's not the first time the governor's whereabouts have inspired social media interest.

Newsom's aides refuted claims in May 2020 that he was spotted in Montana in violation of California's stay-at-home order. Anti-vaccine activists spread false rumors that he suffered a reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine last fall when he took a two-week hiatus from the public eye after the recall election.

That kind of public fervor over elected officials is not unusual, particularly for a governor positioning himself as a leader of Democratic states and defender of rights that are under attack by conservatives.

Newsom repeatedly pushed back against the Trump administration during his first few two years in office. The governor and lawmakers pledged to pass new gun control legislation in response to Uvalde school shooting in Texas and make California a haven for women seeking abortions from other states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.

Frustrated by what he considers a lack of leadership from the national Democratic Party, Newsom has taken it upon himself to launch an offensive against the right. Perhaps most notably, the governor began airing a television ad in Florida over the Fourth of July to troll Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state's Republican leaders.

Newsom plans to continue that battle this week in Washington, where he was traveling Tuesday to accept an innovation award from the Education Commission of the States and meet with congressional leaders and the Biden administration.

Newsom said the award gives him an "opportunity to compare and contrast" California's education reforms with red states that are banning books and forbidding teachers from talking about sexual orientation and gender identity.

"This is more suppression of free speech, more cultural war, and I think you compare that to preschool for all, after-school for all, summer school for all, opportunity for free meals regardless of income," Newsom said. "To me, that's real choice and that's real reform compared to pure performative politics and an extension of the cultural wars."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The chances of a wallaby being spotted in North Carolina are low, but theyre not zero.

On Monday, the animal was spotted by Belmont resident Bryan Southers, who tweeted a video of the sighting. The video was then shared by WSOC reporter Jonathan Lowe that drew significant interest online.

The wallaby, a close cousin to the kangaroo native to Australia, was seen hopping through a neighborhood in Gastonia.

SPOTTED | Bryan Southers of Belmont captured this Wallaby in Gastonia today near the corner of E. Maple and Elizabeth Streets. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/ctnfK5V7Rw  Jonathan Lowe (@JonathanUpdates) July 12, 2022

Gaston County officials told the TV station that kangaroos and wallabies are illegal within city limits, Lowe wrote in a follow-up tweet.

Gaston County Animal Care and Enforcement found the person responsible for the animal and will transport it to another place to be cared for, WBTV reported.

There is no state law regulating the ownership of exotic animals, but most counties dont have an exotic animal ordinance. Like Gaston, Mecklenburg County has laws in place that prevent people from keeping wild animals as pets.

According to the Mecklenburg County Animal Control Ordinance, it is against the law for any person, firm or corporation to keep, maintain, possess or have under their control within the county, any venomous reptile or any other wild exotic animal.

The law defines an exotic animal as one that would normally be found in a zoo or in the wilderness, is not indigenous to the U.S. or North America, or could cause destruction of property or bodily harm.

Animals that are not allowed to be kept as pets in Mecklenburg County include:

Monkeys

Raccoons

Squirrels

Ocelots

Bobcats

Wolves

This law does not apply to lawfully operated pet shops, zoos, scientific research laboratories, circuses or veterinarians providing professional medical treatment.

If an animal is deemed to be dangerous to the public, it can be seized by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Animal Care & Control unit and euthanized in a humane manner, the ordinance says.
Paul Herrera has always wanted to serve others. He did so as a child when he dedicated much of his free time to volunteering as a Boy Scout. He did so as a 19-year-old when he enlisted in the military, ultimately spending 21 years in the Army.

That calling has not changed since he retired his uniform in 2011. Herrera, who lives in Puyallup and is now a Puyallup Tribal Police Officer, has dedicated much of his post-military career to the national nonprofit Veterans of Foreign Wars, a group that aims to support veterans after their time in the service. When members elected Herrera as the first Puyallup resident to lead the organizations Washington State chapter in June 2022, he saw it as an opportunity to better advocate for former soldiers.

Its all about the veterans, Herrera said in an interview with The News Tribune. Its a true love of veterans, boy, Im telling you.

Herrera, a local of North Bend, Washington, joined VFW while he was stationed at Fort Lewis shortly after returning from an Iraq tour in 2008 but did not attend organization meetings until his civilian life began. Once his wife and he started going to meetings, they felt a sense of kinship with the other military families part of the organization.

People that have walked the same walk and talked the same talk, Herrera said. Even if its a different conflict, theres some definitely paralleling experiences.

Paul Herrera poses in front of the Puyallup Tribal Veterans Memorial. Herrera is the first person from Puyallup to be elected Washington State commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization.

When the United States removed its military troops from Afghanistan in 2021, memories of his Iraq tour bubbled to the forefront of Herreras mind. He began asking himself questions like, Why were we even there? Why did we do this? Why was I gone all that time?

Although Herrera did not necessarily find answers to those questions, he found empathy from other VFW members. Talking to people like Jack Taylor, a Vietnam War Air Force veteran who has been involved with VFW since the 1990s, made him realize that Vietnam Veterans felt similarly at the end of that war.

The image of the McChord aircraft that was taking off and people were hanging on it ... go back and look at those images, Taylor said, referring to a 2021 video of Afghan citizens running alongside a U.S. Air Force plane and grasping at its body. Thats exactly the same image we had in 75.

Herreras involvement with VFW has grown with time. Starting as social media chair for the organizations local Puyallup Valley post, he proceeded to land higher positions at both the district and state levels; in the midst of his ascent, he was recognized as the 2016 Veteran of the Year by the organizations state chapter. Just before accepting his current state commander position, he lobbied the state Legislature to ensure that veterans kept their post-military benefits like VA medical care.

According to Taylor, members like Herrera have been important in rehabilitating the image of VFW. In the past, some posts have been at odds with their communities over members alcohol consumption within VFW walls. Taylor said that with Herreras help, Pierce County VFW posts have been committed to keeping their spaces wholesome.

Theres been this big transition from the image of the guys in the VFW being a bunch of old guys sitting at the bar, swapping war stories and smoking cigarettes, Taylor said. [Now], if it isnt a family friendly place, the place isnt going to survive.

As head of VFWs state chapter, Herrera sees his main responsibility as providing the resources Washington members need to find local veterans and learn about their needs.

Things are changing all the time, he said. Were reaching people left and right. Not just Facebook, but with other avenues like that.

Once those needs are identified, Herrera believes it is important for his team to make sure those needs are met. That includes connecting homeless veterans with medical benefits and advocating for the VA to cover more female-specific health procedures, like mammograms.

Women are on the gun line now, he said. They are in combat arms now. So its here to stay ... I want to mirror what the military looks like.

Herrera will continue working to commemorate Washingtons veterans. He is raising money for a state War on Terror memorial, a project approved by the Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year. The memorial, which is set to be built on Olympias Capitol Campus, would have the names of every Washington resident who died while fighting in the Global War on Terrorism.

All of Herreras VFW goals are reflective of the same mission hes been pursuing since his days as a Boy Scout: service. This time, that service is aimed toward the more than 540,000 veterans throughout the state, including nearly 100,000 who live in Pierce County.

America is defined by how we treat the ones who sacrifice to protect this nation, Herrera said. If theres doors that open for me to help veterans, I will definitely go through it.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, left, greets Pope Francis prior to the beatification ceremony for Pope Paul VI in St. Peter's Square in October 2014. (Gregorio Borgia / Associated Press)

Pope Francis said he would not live in the Vatican or return to his native Argentina if he ever retires, but would instead like to find a church in Rome where he could continue hearing confessions.

Im the bishop of Rome, in this case the emeritus bishop of Rome, Francis said in an interview segment with Spanish-language broadcaster TelevisaUnivision that aired Tuesday.

Francis, 85, denied that he was planning to retire anytime soon but repeated that the door is open after Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 became the first pope in 600 years to step down.

While having a retired pope on hand has gone well, the Vatican needs to better regulate the figure of an emeritus pope, Francis said in the interview.

Some cardinals and canon lawyers have long questioned Benedicts decisions in retirement, including his continuing to wear the white cassock of the papacy and keeping his papal name, Benedict, rather than reverting back to his birth name, Joseph Ratzinger.

They say those choices and Benedict's continued presence in the Vatican create confusion among the faithful and enable Francis traditionalist critics to use Benedict as a conservative point of reference, threatening the unity of the Roman Catholic Church.

The first experience went rather well because hes a saintly and discreet man, and he handled it well," Francis said of his predecessor in the interview. "But in the future, things should be delineated more, or things should be made more explicit. ...

I think for having taken the first step after so many centuries, he gets 10 points. Its a marvel, Francis added.

Francis said he would also step down if the time was right. Asked whether he would live in the Vatican as a retired pope or return to Argentina, he said, "Surely no," and gave maybe as an answer when it was suggested that he might take up residence in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the traditional seat of the bishop of Rome.

He recalled that he had planned to retire as archbishop of Buenos Aires at the time of the 2013 conclave that resulted in his becoming pope. Francis said he had prepared a nice apartment in Buenos Aires where he could continue hearing confessions at a nearby church and visiting the sick at a hospital.

This is what I thought for Buenos Aires. I think this scenario, if I survive until a resignation  its possible I might die before   Id like something like this, he said.

The interview covered other topics. On whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should continue receiving the sacraments, Francis repeated it was a matter of conscience for elected officials to work out for themselves. While the Catholic Church opposes abortion, Francis added that priests and bishops should remain pastors.

When a pastor loses the pastoral dimension, he creates a political problem, Francis said, referring to the polarized debate in the United States concerning President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both Catholics who support abortion rights.

U.S. bishops considered chastising Biden for his support of abortion rights but ultimately backed off a formal rebuke. Pelosis bishop, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, meanwhile, has barred her from receiving Communion in his archdiocese, though she recently received Communion during a papal mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

Asked what such a Catholic politician should do, Francis said: I leave it to his conscience and that he speaks to his bishop, his pastor, his parish priest, about that inconsistency.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Two-and-a-half years after North Carolina was placed under a state of emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said hell soon lift it.

It has been nearly a year since there were any restrictions on the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Cooper kept continuing the state of emergency via multiple executive orders. When he signed the state budget into law on Monday, he announced hell lift the emergency order on Aug. 15.

Heres a timeline of the state of emergency:

March 2020

Cooper declares a state of emergency on March 10, 2020, a week after the coronavirus pandemic is confirmed to have reached North Carolina. A few days later, Cooper issues an executive order closing K-12 public schools for two weeks and another order restricting businesses.

They are the first of many orders that restrict in-person activities, including schools, restaurant operations, bars, gyms, playgrounds, entertainment venues, sporting events, amusement parks, other businesses and social gatherings, aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. New executive orders imposing and lifting restrictions extend the declaration each time it is set to expire.

Summer 2020

Republican lawmakers send bill after bill to Cooper to lift restrictions and prevent new ones. Some of the bills propose requiring agreement from the rest of the Council of State, made up of 10 statewide elected officials including the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and labor commissioner. Cooper vetoes them all.

More executive orders and extensions of the emergency declaration continue through the fall, with vaccinations not yet available and COVID-19 cases continuing to send people to the hospital.

December 2020

The first vaccines arrive in North Carolina and are rolled out in phases through spring of 2021. While most restrictions are lifted, a mask mandate remains in place along with the state of emergency.

Gov. Roy Cooper speaks during a briefing on North Carolinas coronavirus pandemic response Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021 at the NC Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh.

May 2021

Cooper tells reporters in April that he expects to lift most COVID-19 restrictions by June  except for masks. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in May changes its guidance that everyone should wear masks. Instead it calls for only unvaccinated people to wear them. Cooper subsequently lifts the statewide mask mandate in most settings aside from places like schools and prisons.

The bottom line here: People should get vaccinated, Cooper tells The News & Observer.

Summer 2021

Cooper tells reporters that the state of emergency, now more than a year old, is still needed months after vaccinations are readily available because, its allowing us to waive state and local regulations to be able to get vaccines to these people faster, so its an important part of getting this pandemic behind us.

By the end of July, COVID-19 restrictions are lifted statewide and the power is shifted to local governments for mask mandates and any other rules. North Carolinas state of emergency remains.

September 2021

Republican lawmakers continue to propose legislation limiting Coopers emergency powers. A version of the bills ends up in the budget bill sent to Cooper later that fall, after months of closed-door negotiations between Cooper and Republican and Democratic legislative leaders.

Gov. Roy Cooper speaks to reporters during a COVID-19 press conference at the state Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, N.C. on Wednesday, July 21, 2021.

November 2021

In early November, Cooper vetoes the latest attempt by the legislature to limit his emergency powers. A few weeks later, though, Cooper signs the 2021 state budget into law, saying the good outweighs the bad. It includes a policy provision about emergency powers.

The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2023, limit states of emergency in the future to 30 days without a vote from the Council of State. The council currently has a 6-4 Republican majority. After 60 days, the General Assembly would also have to agree to an extension. When Cooper says hell sign the 2021 budget, he tells reporters that the 2023 timeline allows for time to prepare for the change.

March 2022

House Speaker Tim Moore, a Kings Mountain Republican, marks the two-year anniversary of the state of emergency declaration by showing reporters a letter signed by his caucus calling for an end to the declaration, along with a 2 balloon and cake. House Republicans also send the Cooper administration a letter, to which N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley responds with a list of how the declaration is still needed for things like liability protection for the state health director and waiving regulations for healthcare facilities.

On March 10, 2022, House Republicans signed a card that read 2 Years is 2 Long! Sign this letter if youre ready for Governor Cooper to end this state of emergency. House Speaker Tim Moore showed the card to reporters along with a 2 balloon and cake marking the two-year anniversary of Coopers state of emergency.

June 2022

COVID-19 vaccinations become available for the youngest group of people: children from 6 months old through age 5. Vaccinations have already been available to other age groups, with some encouraged to get one or two boosters.

July 2022

Cooper signs the 2022 state budget into law on July 11 and announces he will lift the state of emergency on Aug. 15.

The budget includes the changes in the law requested by the NC Department of Health and Human Services to ensure flexibility that is currently made possible by the Governors COVID-19 State of Emergency, Cooper says in a statement.

House Majority Leader John Bell, a Wayne County Republican, had repeatedly called for an end to the state of emergency. On July 11, Bell touts the change and the 2021 budget provision limiting future states of emergency.

Im glad its finally coming to an end and there are now safeguards in place to prevent a governor from having unlimited and unchecked emergency executive authority going forward, Bell says in an emailed statement to The N&O.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Taylor John Smith in "Where the Crawdads Sing." (Michele K. Short / Sony)

In 2018, retired zoologist Delia Owens, the author of the best-selling 1984 memoir Cry of the Kalahari, published her first novel at the age of 69. Where the Crawdads Sing is set on the North Carolina coast in the 1950s and 60s, threading romance and murder mystery through the life story of a young, isolated woman, Kya, who grows up abandoned in the marsh. The story is a bit far-fetched, the characterizations broad, but theres a beauty in Owens description of Kyas relationship to the natural world. Her derisive nickname, the Marsh Girl, ultimately becomes her strength.

Where the Crawdads Sing has become a legitimate publishing phenomenon, one of the best-selling books of all time, despite a controversy bubbling in Owens past  a connection to the killing of a suspected animal poacher in Zambia. Reese Witherspoon bestowed the book with her book club blessing, and as she has done with other titles from her club, like Big Little Lies, Witherspoon has produced the film adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing, written by Lucy Alibar, directed by Olivia Newman, and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as the heroine, Kya.

The film is easily slotted into the Southern gothic courtroom drama sub-genre  its like A Time to Kill with a feminine touch. While the nature of adaptation requires compression and elision, the film dutifully tells the story that fans of the book will turn out to see brought to life on the big screen. But in checking off all the plot points, the movie version loses what makes the book work, which is the time we spend with Kya.

Kya is a tricky protagonist whose life story requires a certain suspension of disbelief. Abandoned by her mother (Ahna OReilly) and siblings escaping the drunken abuse of her father (Garret Dillahunt), who later disappears, young Kya (Jojo Regina) survives on her own, selling mussels to the proprietor of the local bait and tackle shop, Jumpin (Sterling Macer Jr.). His wife, Mabel (Michael Hyatt), takes pity on Kya and offers her some clothes and food donations, but its an exceedingly tough existence, something that the film does not manage to fully convey.

As a teen, Kya forms a friendship with a local boy, Tate (Taylor John Smith), who teaches her to read, and though their relationship turns romantic, he ultimately leaves her for college. Abandoned once again, she seeks companionship with popular local cad Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson). Its his death, from a fall at the rickety fire tower, that sees Kya on trial in the town of Barkley Cove, which ultimately becomes a referendum on how shes been harshly judged over the years by the townspeople.

The only reason Kya works in the book is the amount of time the reader spends with her in the marsh, understanding the tactics she uses to get by, and getting to know the natural world in the way that she does, observing the patterns and life cycles of animals, insects, and plants. The deep knowledge of her environment and ad-hoc education from Tate helps Kya overcome poverty, as she publishes illustrated books of local shells, plants, and birds. But in the film, which sacrifices getting to know her in order to prioritize the more scandal-driven twists and turns, Kya comes off as somewhat silly, a bit easy to laugh at in her naivete and guilelessness.

Theres also the matter of plausibility, and the shininess with which this rough, wild world has been rendered by Newman and cinematographer Polly Morgan. The marsh (shot on location in Louisiana) is captured with a crisp, if perfunctory beauty, but its hard to buy English rose Edgar-Jones in her crisp blouses and clean jeans as the near-feral naturalist who has been brutally cast out by society. Everythings just too pretty, a Disneyland version of the marsh.

The whole world feels sanded-down and spit-shined within an inch of its life, lacking any grime or grit that might make this feel authentic, and that extends to the storytelling as well. It feels exceedingly rushed, as the actors hit their marks and deliver their monologues with a sense of obligation to moving the plot along rather than developing character. Hyatt, as Mabel, and David Strathairn, who plays Kyas lawyer, Tom Milton, are the only actors who deliver grounded performances that feel like real people  everyone else feels like a two-dimensional version of an archetype spouting the necessary backstory or subtext to keep the plot churning forward.

Though it is faithful, Where the Crawdads Sing is lacking the essential character and storytelling connective tissue that makes a story like this work  an adaptation such as this cannot survive on plot alone.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Wednesday will be your chance to see the biggest and brightest of 2022s moon phases, according to the Almanac.

The Buck Supermoon will be 222,089.3 miles away from Earth at its nearest, so it will appear about 7% larger than most full moons.

The definition of a supermoon varies, but NASA says its when the moon is within 90% perigee of the earth, or as close as it gets to home terrain. Some scientists disagree about the definition of perigee, since it varies depending on the orbit. The term supermoon was popularized in 1979 by astrologer Richard Nolle, according to NASA.

This weeks supermoon will appear brightest around 1:38 p.m. Central Standard Time Wednesday, though it will appear full for most viewers from Tuesday morning to Friday morning.

Heres what to know about Julys Buck Moon, plus what else you can see in the sky this month.

Why is it called the Buck Moon?

According to the Maine Farmers Almanac, Indigenous Algonquin peoples called this supermoon the Buck Moon because male deers antlers reached peak growth in early summer.

People of various cultures have historically celebrated this supermoon. According to NASA, Hindus, Buddhists and Jains mark this event as the Guru Full Moon. This is a time for clearing the mind and honoring the guru or spiritual master.

Theravada Buddhists designate this full moon as Asalha Puja, or Dharma Day, or Esala Poya. This festival honors the Buddahs first sermon, NASA says.

This moon is also known as the thunder moon due to early summers frequent thunderstorms. Europeans referred to the supermoon as the hay moon or mead moon.

NASA offered the following advice for the Buck Supermoon: As usual, the wearing of suitably celebratory celestial attire is encouraged in honor of the full moon. Be safe (especially during thunderstorms), avoid starting wars, and take a moment to clear your mind.

What else can you see in the sky this July?

Wednesday morning, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Venus will appear to align. The event wont be as rare as Junes lineup was as the planets are scattering, but you can look up around 3:43 a.m. to see this apparent lineup.

The new moon will occur July 28 around 12:55 p.m. The next day, you might get lucky enough to get a glimpse of Mercury below the waxing crescent moon, NASA says. You may need binoculars or a telescope, though.

July 20 is designated as International Moon Day, celebrating humans first landing on the moon in 1969. The moon will appear half-full around 9:19 a.m. that day.

You can check out the Night Sky Network for astronomy-related events in your area. St. Louis area astronomy groups regularly host skygazing gatherings, meetings and lectures.
A U.S. tourist taking selfies on Mount Vesuvius in Italy tumbled into the active volcanos crater trying to retrieve his phone, Italian authorities told news outlets.

The 23-year-old man from Baltimore, Maryland, suffered only scratches and cuts after managing to stop himself before plunging 300 feet to the craters bottom, authorities told NBC News. He could not get out of the crater and had to be rescued.

He was hiking with his family Saturday, July 9, on a closed trail, officials told CNN.

The volcano, which destroyed the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, last erupted in 1944.
People line up Tuesday to enter the presidential residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, three days after it was stormed by anti-government protesters. (Eranga Jayawardena / Associated Press)

Sri Lankas leaders agreed that lawmakers will elect a new president next week but struggled Tuesday to decide on the makeup of a new government to lift the bankrupt country out of economic and political collapse.

Desperate in the face of severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine, protesters Saturday stormed embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksas home, his seaside office and the official residence of his prime minister in the most dramatic day of a three-month crisis.

Both officials said they would concede to demands that they resign: Rajapaksa promised to step down Wednesday, while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would leave once a new government was in place. In a possible indication of the president's next move, immigration officials said Rajapaksa's brother, who was once his finance minster, tried to leave the country Monday night. Local media reported that he was not able to.

But negotiating a new government has stymied opposition leaders, and the protesters have said they will stay put in the official buildings until the top leaders are gone. For days, people have flocked to the presidential palace, turning it into almost a tourist attraction  swimming in the pool, marveling at the paintings and lounging on beds piled high with pillows. At one point, they also burned the prime minister's private home.

A partial solution came late Monday, with lawmakers agreeing to elect a new president from their ranks in the coming days. Nominations for the post will be submitted July 19, and a secret vote will follow in Parliament the next day.

The new president will serve the remainder of Rajapaksas term, which ends in 2024  and could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament.

Between Rajapaksas expected resignation Wednesday and the vote, the prime minster will serve as president, an arrangement that is sure to further anger protesters who want Wickremesinghe out immediately.

Corruption and mismanagement have left the island nation laden with debt, unable to pay for imports of food, fuel, medicine and other necessities, causing widespread shortages and despair among its 22 million people. Sri Lanka announced in April that it was suspending repayment of foreign loans because of a foreign currency crunch.

The political impasse is further fueling the economic crisis since the absence of an alternative unity government threatens to delay an agreement for aid from the International Monetary Fund. In the meantime, the country is relying on aid from neighboring India and from China.

Asked whether China was talking with Sri Lanka about possible loans, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official gave no indication whether such talks were happening.

China will continue to offer assistance as our capability allows for Sri Lankas social development and economic recovery, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. As to its debt to China, we support relevant financial institutions in finding a proper solution through consultation with Sri Lanka.

On Tuesday, Sri Lankas religious leaders urged protesters to leave government buildings if Rajapaksa steps down as promised Wednesday.

Months of demonstrations have all but dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty, which has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.

The protesters accuse the president and his relatives of siphoning money from government coffers for years and Rajapaksas administration of hastening the countrys collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajakpaksa acknowledged that some of his policies contributed to the meltdown.

The president has not been seen nor heard from since Saturday, though his office has issued statements that indicate he has continued to carry out his duties.

There is speculation that the president may try to flee the island, as apparently one of his brothers tried to.

S. Kanugala of Sri Lankas Immigration and Emigration Officers Assn. said that Basil Rajapaksas name was spotted on a list of departures from Colombo airport Monday and that his officers feared for their safety if they cleared him to leave.

Kanugala said that the officers withdrew from their posts and that he did not know what happened to the brother. Local media reported that he was prevented from leaving the country.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
State College Borough Council didnt need much time Monday night to debate the merits of protecting abortion rights, or womens access to health care.

Council quickly and unanimously approved a resolution that formally decried the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and called on Congress to swiftly pass legislation to codify an individuals right to choose. The resolution also pledged the borough to work with community groups to expand access to abortion, including transportation and sheltering services, as there are no such clinics in Centre County.

The resolution was largely symbolic, as it wont directly change such laws impacting women. But it served as a reminder that the borough supports womens rights, and the right to an abortion, and it adds to the chorus of other municipalities around the country passing similar resolutions, echoing supportive statements from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

I am very proud to introduce Resolution No. 1323  the official name is the Declaration of the Borough of State College to Protect Access to Health Care  and proud in the name of those who came before us and those who came after us, to do what we can here in State College to protect our full freedom, especially our freedom of choice, said Deanna Behring, one of three women on Borough Council.

The resolution was co-authored by Behring and Nalini Krishnankutty, who was appointed to council last month after the departure of Richard Biever, who moved to Kansas. Monday served as Krishnankuttys first official regular council meeting.

The two women both took turns reading from the 1,000-word resolution. Among the points and arguments made:

Reproductive health decisions ought to be made between a patient and their doctor without government interference. The Supreme Courts decision repealed an individuals constitutional right to choose health care without the influence of state government, a right afforded by the 14th Amendment.

Some 36 million individuals will be impacted by abortion bans and restrictions in about two dozen states, with many low-income and marginalized Americans disparately affected.

A majority of Pennsylvania and U.S. voters do not support anti-abortion laws, as evidenced by a 2020 Franklin & Marshall poll that showed 83% of Pennsylvania residents believe abortion should be legal in all or certain cases and by a 2022 Gallup poll that shows 85% of Americans believe the same.

Council President Jesse Barlow, who previously called the SCOTUS decision a shocking setback for womens rights, said Monday night he was enthusiastic about the resolution. Mayor Ezra Nanes, who does not have a vote on council, expressed a similar sentiment.

And I would say if I had a vote, I would be voting for this, he added.
Miamis Catholic Church has lost one of its venerable pillars.

Sister Hilda Alonso, a Cuban nun who founded the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul in Miami, dedicated to the care of the poor, and was principal of the Catholic school Colegio La Inmaculada in Havana, died July 5 in Miami. She was 101.

She died peacefully at Casa San Vicente de Paul, the convent in the Flagami area that works extensively with low-income families, providing them with spiritual support, food and other aid, said Sister Eva Perez-Puelles, the convents head.

With her love of Christ and a life of deep contemplation and prayer, Sister Hilda was a bearer of joy and hope to the most marginalized in society, not only in Miami and Cuba, but also in Puerto Rico and Haiti, where she founded the mission, Daughters of Charity.

She came to Miami, accompanied by a delegation of five Sisters, in the summer of 1971, accepting an invitation from then-Miami Archbishop Coleman Carroll. In the decade before, thousands of Catholic Cubans arrived in Miami after Fidel Castro rose to power; the Archdiocese sought the Sisters, among others, to provide pastoral care to the new parishioners.

Archbishop Carroll assigned the Daughters of Charity to the Gesu Church, the oldest Catholic parish in Miami, built in 1896 at 118 NE Second St. The church housed the Centro Hispano Catolico (Hispanic Catholic Center), providing services to the Cuban refugees, including medical and dental assistance, child care, psychological counseling, English classes and high school courses in Spanish.

In October 1971, Sister Hilda Alonso supervises the children as they play in the nursery at the Centro Hispano Catolico.

Help was given to look for work, clothes were donated, and Sister Hilda was involved in all that, recalled Father Eduardo Alvarez, current pastor of Gesu. She was a true saint, because she helped thousands of people, not only as a teacher, but also as a charitable nun.

A year later, Father Agustin Roman, rector of the Ermita de la Caridad  Our Lady of Charity shrine adjacent to Mercy Hospital  asked Sister Hilda for the Daughters to support him in providing services to pilgrims who visited the shrine yearning for consolation and strength.

Both Roman and the Cuban faithful already knew the vast social work that the Daughters of Charity had carried out on the island since their arrival in the mid-19th century, in health, education, and care for orphans, the sick and the elderly. Only the Sisters habit had changed, for they no longer sported, as part of their religious habit, the bright, starched flapping headdresses that covered their heads like a flock of white doves.

Sister Hilda Alonso taking her first vows in 1951. The Daughters of Charity wore exuberant headdresses of starched flaps to cover their heads.

Educational work in Cuba

Hilda Alonso Llevada was born on Feb. 10, 1921, in San Juan y Martinez, Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba, the daughter of Ramon and Catalina.

She studied at Colegio La Inmaculada until high school and, in 1946, she obtained a Ph.D. in education from the University of Havana. That year she entered the Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, and she made her first vows in 1951.

Until 1959, she was leader of La Inmaculada, where the Daughters of Charity in Cuba was also based. Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac founded the religious order in France in 1633 with the mission of serving the poor in their homes and, later, in hospitals. That missionary spirit spread through the centuries, and today the Daughters of Charity has a presence in 96 countries.

At La Inmaculada, one of Cubas iconic Catholic schools, Sister Hilda strongly advocated for the education of Cuban children and opened the doors to girls whose parents could not afford the tuition.

Sister Hilda Alonso, center, in the 1950s, during a graduation ceremony at the Colegio La Inmaculada in Havana.

Zizi Careaga, president of the Association of Former Students of Colegio de la Inmaculada in Miami, studied there when Sister Hilda was principal. They stayed in close contact over the decades.

She was a woman with a strong character who, being short and thin, looked at you when you did something wrong and you trembled. However, in all my life that I was by her side, I never heard her raise her voice, said Careaga, 75. She spoke softly, but in a powerful way, with sweetness and a great faith in God.

Between 1960 and 1961, Sister Hilda served as principal of Colegio de Belen in Santiago de Cuba, a job that was suddenly halted during the anti-religious campaign by the rising communist government, which confiscated Catholic schools and other Church institutions. Religious intolerance forced into exile 200 nuns who made up the order.

It was very painful, very tragic to leave what we had built with so much sacrifice, Sister Hilda recalled in a 2014 interview with el Nuevo Herald.

A choir of girls leaves the Colegio La Inmaculada, led by one of the Daughters of Charity.

An exile fruitful in charity

Her first decade of exile was spent in Puerto Rico, where she was principal of the Colegio La Milagrosa, in the city of Ponce, and superior of the Casa de Estudios, a residence for students at the Catholic University of Ponce. In 1965, she was appointed supervisor of the Head Star educational centers in the Diocese of Ponce and provincial administrator of the Province of the Daughters of Charity in Puerto Rico.

After planting the roots of the Daughters of Charity in the Archdiocese of Miami, she returned to Puerto Rico in 1972, where she was elevated to Provincial of the order in the Caribbean, supervising mother superiors across the region. One of her greatest contributions as Provincial was founding the Mission of the Daughters of Charity in Haiti, according to Perez-Puelles.

In 1981, Sister Hilda returned permanently to Miami and headed up the religious education program at Saint Vincent de Paul Parish. By then the apostolate of the Daughters of Charity had spread to the Saint John Bosco Church in Little Havana, where they cared for the elderly, children and Mariel refugees.

Sister Hilda Alonso, left, together with Sister Eva Perez-Puelles, Sister Adela de la Cruz (now deceased) and Sister Rafaela Gonzalez, in the chapel of St. Vincent de Paul House.

But it was at the Ermita where they tended to the exile flock with their missionary Catholicism and kind smiles. At the shrine, they comforted and encouraged the broken; assisted in the administrative office; performed manual labor; and participated in the prayers and in the festive song of the liturgy.

Currently, three Daughters of Charity serve in the Ermita and five in the Casa San Vicente de Paul, where Sister Hilda was active, supervising the collection and shipment of containers with food, medicine and other supplies to the missions in Haiti and Cuba, until retiring in 2014, at the age of 93, for health reasons. In 2016, she celebrated 70 years of religious life.

Sister Hilda Alonso continued to oversee the shipment of food, medicine and other aid to the Daughters of Charity missions in Cuba and Haiti until retiring in 2014 at the age of 93.

Rafael Penalver, a lay leader and lawyer close to Father Roman, said that the Daughters of Charity were instrumental in establishing the Cuban Catholic Church in South Florida.

Sister Hilda was an academically and morally brilliant woman, whose dedication to her neighbor had no limits, he said, recalling that the day his father, Dr. Rafael Penalver, died of cancer in 1988, the family had not done funeral arrangements in advance.

We were not prepared, he said. Sister Hilda, a friend of his father, had a special place reserved for her inside the chapel of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery. She called me and said, I want to give my space to your family so he can be buried there. 

The funeral Mass will be at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral, 11691 NW 25th St., followed by interment at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery. Viewing will be to 10 p.m. Tuesday in the shrine of Our Lady of Charity, 3609 S. Miami Ave. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Daughters of Charity are requested.
(Reuters) - Rescue workers pulled more bodies and some survivors from an apartment building destroyed by a missile strike that killed 24 people in eastern Ukraine, while a Russian bombardment killed at least three in the second largest city Kharkiv.

FIGHTING

* Russia's defence ministry said on Monday its missiles had struck ammunition depots in Ukraine's central Dnipro region used to supply rocket launchers and artillery weapons. Russian forces also struck two Ukrainian army hangars storing U.S.-manufactured artillery pieces near Kostantinovka in eastern Donetsk province, it said.

* Ukraine's general staff said Russia had launched a wave of bombardments as they seek to seize Donetsk, the other province in the eastern industrial Donbas region, after taking Luhansk to the north. It said the widespread shelling amounted to preparations for an intensification of hostilities.

* Reuters could not independently verify battlefield accounts.

ECONOMY/DIPLOMACY

* The biggest single pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany began annual maintenance on Monday, with flows expected to stop for 10 days, but governments, markets and companies are worried the shutdown might be extended because of the war in Ukraine.

* Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Russia's Vladimir Putin that it was time to act on a United Nations plan to set up a sea corridor for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported. Food prices have soared globally as conflict in Ukraine, the world's largest grain supplier, has fuelled fears for food security.

* Lithuania expanded curbs on trade through its territory to Kaliningrad, as phase-ins on earlier-announced European Union sanctions against Moscow took effect.

* Putin and his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally, discussed a possible response to Lithuania's actions during a phone call, their Telegram accounts said.

* The French government is preparing for a total cut-off of Russian gas supplies, which it regards as the most likely scenario in its forward planning.

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* The lower house of the Russian parliament will gather on July 15 for an extraordinary session, its council decided, just days after President Vladimir Putin warned that he had not had not even started to get serious in the war in Ukraine.

QUOTE

* "I was thrown into the bathroom, it was all chaos, I was in shock, all covered in blood. By the time I left the bathroom, the room was full up of rubble, three floors fell down. I never found the kittens." -Venera, a survivor of the Russian rocket strike in Chasiv Yar.

(Compiled by Stephen Coates and Mark Heinrich)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday that their forces targeted a Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine overnight, resulting in a massive explosion captured on social media.

The Ukrainian militarys southern command said a rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.

The precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used U.S-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, to hit the area. Ukraine indicated in recent days that it might launch a counteroffensive to reclaim territory in the countrys south as Russia devotes resources to capturing all of the eastern Donbas region.

Russias Tass news agency offered a different account of the blast in Nova Kakhovka, saying a mineral fertilizer storage facility exploded, and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged in the strike. Some of the ingredients in fertilizer can be used for ammunition.

A satellite photo taken Tuesday and analyzed by The Associated Press showed significant damage. A massive crater stood precisely where a large warehouse-like structure once stood in the city,

Ukraine now has eight of the HIMAR systems, a truck-mounted missile launcher with high accuracy, and Washington has promised to send another four.

Advisor to Head of Kherson administration Serhii Khlan confirmed that Ukrainian Army hit the ammunition warehouse that Russia had in Nova Kakhovka.



What a pretty sight. pic.twitter.com/AvFKeR15Zt  Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 11, 2022

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian shelling over the past 24 hours killed at least 16 civilians and wounded 48 more, Ukraines presidential office said in its Tuesday morning update. Cities and towns in five southeast regions came under Russian fire, the office said.

Nine civilians were killed and two more wounded in Donetsk province, which makes up half of the Donbas. Russian rocket attacks targeted the cities of Sloviansk and Toretsk, where a kindergarten was hit, the presidential office said.

The British military said Tuesday that Russia was continuing to make small, incremental gains in Donetsk, where heavy fighting led the provinces governor last week to urge its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine.

Yet many in the Donbas, a fertile industrial region in eastern Ukraine made of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, refuse  or are unable  to flee, despite scores of civilians being killed and wounded each week.

The death toll in a Russian rocket attack that struck an apartment building in Donetsk province on Saturday has risen to 34. The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, made the announcement on social media, saying nine wounded people had been rescued from the building in Chasiv Yar.

In Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, and its surrounding region, Russian strikes hit residential buildings, killing four civilians and wounding nine, Ukrainian officials said.

The Russians continue their tactics of intimidating the peaceful population of the Kharkiv region, Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote Tuesday on Telegram.

Ukrainian soldiers run after a missile strike hit a residential area, in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. (AP)

Ukrainian authorities also said that Russian fire struck the southern city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday morning, hitting residential buildings. Twelve people were wounded as the result of the Russian shelling, with some of the rockets hitting two medical facilities, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

Air raid sirens sounded Tuesday in the western city of Lviv  the first daytime sirens there in over a week  and in other areas of Ukraine as Russian forces continued to make advances.

In eastern Luhansk, fighting continues near the villages on the administrative border with neighboring Donetsk, Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

The Russian army burns down everything in its way. The artillery barrage doesnt stop and sometimes continues for four to six hours on end, Haidai said.

The British Defense Ministry's intelligence briefing said Russia had seized the Ukrainian town of Hryhorivka and continued to push toward the Donetsk province cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Russian forces are likely maintaining military pressure on Ukrainian forces whilst regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future, the intelligence briefing said.

However, Russia may be relying more heavily on private military contractors, like the Wagner Group, to avoid a general mobilization, the British ministry said. Western officials have accused Wagner of using mercenaries to fight in Africa and elsewhere.

In other developments:

 The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Iran next week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin will travel to Tehran next Tuesday to attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, a format for Syria-related talks. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday that Russia was seeking hundreds of surveillance drones from Iran, including weapons-capable ones, for use in Ukraine.

 Russian and Turkish military representatives plan to meet in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the transport of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said. Pyotr Ilyichyov, head of the ministrys department for international organizations, told Russian news agency Interfax that representatives of Ukraine, as well as U.N. (officials) in the role of observers are also expected to take part in the talks. Ilyichyov reiterated that Moscow was ready to assist in ensuring the navigation of foreign commercial ships for the export of Ukrainian grain.
A year ago, thousands of people in Cuba took to the streets in an unprecedented protest, calling for the end of dictatorship as they shouted Patria y Vida and Libertad.

For days, people gathered in the streets of South Florida too, with flags, signs and chants as thousands marched to Washington, D.C., to call on the Biden administration to pressure Cubas Communist government into meaningful reforms.

On Monday, hundreds gathered at events across South Florida to commemorate last years protests, the largest anti-government demonstration Cuba had seen in decades, and to show support for the Cuban people in their fight for freedom. A string of events was planned throughout the day, including a Monday evening mass. Many of Miamis Cuban-American political leaders also used the anniversary to express support for protesters, call for the release of political prisoners and to repeat complaints that Washington isnt doing enough to break the regimes stranglehold.

That desire for freedom remains in the heart of the Cuban people, said U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio during a press conference in Doral, where he was joined by Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez, Congressmen Carlos Gimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart and others. And we stand here today confident that we will not let down our guard, that we will continue to carry that banner for them here in this country and that ultimately they will be successful and that freedom will come to that enslaved island.

At the Brigade 2506 Bay of Pigs Museum and Library, a group of exiles, former political prisoners, relatives of current political prisoners, and others, including Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, gathered together to commemorate the protests.

We support you and we will never forget you, all those who demonstrated for freedom, said Rafael Montalvo, president of the Brigade, during his opening remarks. That freedom is coming, it is inevitable and no one is going to stop it.

People raise their Cuban flags as they react during a press conference at the Brigade 2506 Bay of Pigs Museum and Library on Monday, July 11, 2022, in Miami, Fla. The press conference was held on the one-year anniversary of the July 11 protests, which saw the largest anti-government demonstrations in Cuba in several decades.

During the Brigade event, a video was played with interviews of women who are mothers, sisters, and wives of men and young people who were captured for protesting last July. Many of them are still jailed, on sentences of up to 8 years in prison. Jose Luis Garcia Hernandez showed up with a poster to demand the release of two of the prisoners  his brother Lorente Hernandez and his wife, who were arrested after the demonstrations.

About 1,484 people were detained following the protests, including 57 teenagers under 18, as the Herald has reported. About 700 people remain in jail, another 622 were tried in proceedings lacking due process, according to a new report by Justicia 11J and Cubalex, two independent advocacy groups that have verified arrests and trials of protesters. Protesters have faced severe punishment.

READ MORE: Protests last July brought Cuba worldwide attention, but the human rights crisis continues

In Miami, officials raised the Cuban flag over Miami City Hall on Monday morning. During the ceremony, Bay of Pigs veteran Johnny Lopez de la Cruz said an important movement had grown out of the massive protests last summer.

The Cuban flag was raised over Miami City Hall on Monday morning, July 11, 2022, in a ceremony to commemorate the mass protests on the island last year.

The July 11 movement

The July 11 movement has grown into a popular civil resistance effort against the narco-communist dictatorship, and the number of street protests is increasing, Lopez de la Cruz said in Spanish.

Commissioners Joe Carollo and Manolo Reyes joined Suarez for the ceremony, where the mayor said the fight against communism should be a national security priority for the U.S.

Were frankly calling upon not only Cubans on the island to continue their heroic struggle but, frankly, the president of the United States and this country that has the means and the power and the ability to have a coherent policy to help those who are suffering in countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, hopefully not Colombia, potentially Brazil, Chile, Argentina and so many others across the world, Suarez said.

Congressman Carlos Gimenez speaks during a news conference in Doral on Monday, July 11, 2022 with other South Florida politicians, including Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio. The conference was to commemorate the protests Cuba saw in July 2021, when people went on the streets calling for freedom.

Political leaders at the Doral conference echoed support for the protesters and concerns that American policies had failed to ease the Cuban regimes grip.

The protests linked the traditional exile community, the community that came, my parents generation, with a generation of Cubans that dont know anything other than what that regime has offered them for the past 60 plus years, said Esteban Bovo, the mayor of Hialeah, the U.S. city with the largest population of Cubans. Make no mistake, these were the sons and daughters of the revolution that wanted freedom.

Displayed at the Doral conference was a board with pictures of some of Cubas political prisoners. A paper with pictures and names of political prisoners was also given out at the conference.

A poster with pictures of Cuban political prisoners was displayed during a Doral news conference on Monday, July 11, 2022, a year after Cuba saw mass protests for freedom.

People on the list included 17-year-old Emiyoslan Roman Rodriguez who was arrested on accusations that he shouted Homeland and Life during a protest last year. He was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison for sedition, but in May 2022 the regime announced that instead hell have to work on a forced labor camp for five years, according to a document that was given at the conference.

Other prisoners include Yoandi Montiel Hernandez, 36, a popular Youtuber in Cuba who was arrested in April 2021 for criticizing Cubas regime and reporting on social cases in Havana and Jose Diaz Silva, 61, the president of the Opposition Movement for a New Republic in Havana and husband of Lady in White Lourdes Esquivel Vyeto. He was arrested in March 2022 for a fabricated crime of threats just weeks after he had held meetings with parents and relatives of people who were arrested following the July 11 protests, according to the document.

In Doral, political leaders pointed to a sharp increase of Cubans fleeing to the U.S. as evidence of declining conditions on the island. The Coast Guard has stopped over 3,000 Florida-bound Cuban migrants at sea since October, more than the last five fiscal years combined, according to the agency. More than 140,000 Cubans have been detained at U.S. borders between October and May, surpassing the Mariel exodus of 1980 when 125,000 Cubans departed from the Port of Mariel near Havana between April and October of that year.

Other South Florida officials took to Twitter to show support for the thousands of Cubans who took part last year in the largest anti-government demonstrations in decades in the Caribbean nation.

U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, whose district includes Miami, said she will continue to back the Cuban people and advocate for them in Congress.

As a daughter of exiled parents and a representative of a district in which so many Cuban families live, I dont forget the brave people that took to the islands streets last year, she said in Spanish.

State Sen. Annette Taddeo, whose district includes portions of south Miami-Dade County, said that last year the Cuban people once again stood up against their tyrannical communist regime.

Lets remind ourselves of their bravery and the thousands of political dissidents imprisoned, she said. We must do more to help liberate the Cuban people.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the county stands fully united with the Cuban people on the island and across our community fighting for freedom, dignity, and basic human rights.

May their courageous actions continue to move us closer to the dream of libertad y dignidad in Cuba, she said.

Voice for the voiceless

In Westchester, while customers bought cafecito at La Carreta, protesters waved Cuban flags alongside Bird Road. Their chants of Libertad were amplified by honks in support.

One of the people showing their support for a free Cuba was Giselle Valdes, 40, who was part of the July 11 protests last year in Havana. Valdes, who now lives in Kendall, arrived in Miami in December.

Im doing this for the first time, she said in Spanish. I was waiting for this day so I can celebrate.

Cristina Maria Rodriguez Penton, 59, stood outside the restaurant dressed in all white; her dress, her cardigan, her shoes.

Cristina Maria Rodriguez Penton, 59, center, white dress, from Cuba on a church exchange program, waves a flag during a Cuban flag distribution along SW 40th Street on Monday, July 11, 2022 outside of La Carreta on Bird Road. The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance held a series of activities to commemorate the first anniversary of the July 11 mass protests in Cuba.

Her white outfit is in remembrance of Las Damas de Blanco (the Ladies in White), a group of women whose husbands are political prisoners.

We are celebrating the day of dignity, the day of justice, the day of the truth, she said.

A pastor, Rodriguez Penton came from Cuba a year ago through a pastoral training. And she has been active since because of the Cuban governments discrimination.

She said she wants all nations to stop ignoring the Cuban reality. When they do business with the government, they become complicit.

We say the dictatorship has fallen she said. What is staying by force isnt legitimate.

Through her work, she said she educates pastors in the U.S. so they can learn about Cuba and its system. She also informs them about the injustice in Nicaragua and Venezuela.

It has really been fruitful, she said. What we cant say there; here we are the voice for the voiceless.
A key piece to the city of Boises grand vision for a public space on South 8th Street by the Greenbelt and Boise Public Library is up for sale. And the citys urban renewal agency is making a push to buy it.

But the site is expensive. And a key City Hall decision 11 years ago could sharply restrict the completion of the grand vision for the next half century.

The piece of land at 703 S. 8th St. is just 0.18 acres with a small parking lot and two buildings on it. One building is occupied by an artist in residence, the other by an interior design studio. But sitting on the southwest corner of South 8th Street and West River Street, its a prime location surrounded by other city-owned land.

This photo shows the property at 703 S. 8th St. Boises urban renewal agency is considering buying the property that it classifies as underused. There are two one-story buildings and a parking lot on the 0.18-acre property.

Thats why the land thats up for sale holds the key to what could someday be a large-scale public project. The parcel is also directly west of the Boise Public Library, just across 8th Street.

Its not yet known what the land would be used for, but the possibilities are significant: Maybe a big library expansion. Maybe a cultural attraction. Or anything else that serves the public.





Immediately south of the 703 S. 8th St. property is a bigger piece of city-owned land with an old warehouse that was renovated more than a decade ago and is occupied by Biomark LLC, which makes electronic tags and monitoring devices for fish and wildlife.. South of that is the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, the Greenbelt and the Boise River.

A view to the southwest of the site at 703 S. 8th St. that Boises urban renewal district is considering buying. The site includes the two small buildings in the foreground. The large building behind them has been leased by a fish-tracking firm from the city since 2011. This block is on the southwest corner of South 8th and West River streets. Boises main library is at far left and The Afton condos at far right.

Capital City Development Corp., Boises urban renewal agency, is considering buying the property for $1.9 million. At Mondays Capital City Development Corp. board meeting, commissioners voted to buy the property, pending an appraisal that would be reviewed by the board next month.

The property is owned by the Lydia Merrill Trust. As soon as it went up for sale, Capital City Development Executive Director John Brunelle said agency staffers found it attractive. Project Manager Alexandra Monjar said the property is underused in a prime location and could help generate vibrancy in the area.

The staff began negotiating with the seller and reached a tentative agreement to buy it for $1.9 million.

We believe the acquisition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to assemble the parcels on this block for the city, Monjar said, and expand on the investment that the city has made in our public spaces.

But that could be an extremely long-term play, because Biomarks lease wont end for a long time. In 2011, the company signed a lease for the land and building from the city for 45 years. The lease allows three possible extensions, five years each, that allow Biomark to extend the lease to an extraordinary 60 years.

A logo at Biomark LLC, a Boise company that makes electronic tags and monitoring devices for fish and wildlife. Biomark has changed hands multiple times and is now owned by Intervet LLC, which does business as Merck Animal Health.

Before the 2011 lease, the site had been considered as a potential location for a library expansion. The city bought the site, previously a Shavers Inc. grocery warehouse, in 2002 for $1.5 million, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting. There were plans for a $42 million main library expansion, but those were put on hold until after other branch libraries were built.

A 2011 Statesman story reported questions then being raised about the Biomark lease, notably from developer Mark Rivers, who said the city was missing an opportunity to use the last developable site along the Greenbelt in the Downtown core. It is beachfront. Shouldnt it be used for a grand purpose?

Key aides to then-Mayor David Bieter  who included Brunelle, now the urban renewal agencys director  said that helping an innovative small business was worthwhile. The business is now owned by Intervet Inc. of Madison, New Jersey, doing business as Merck Animal Health.

The sign welcoming visitors at the main entrance to Biomarks headquarters at 705 S. 8th St. in downtown Boise.

Eight years later, Bieter promoted a plan for a new library, which city leaders pledged would cost no more than $85 million, on the site of the longstanding main library, an old warehouse converted to a library in the 1970s. Bieters plan didnt include any of the city property on the west side of 8th Street. That 60-year lease blocked its use.

Voters didnt care for the new librarys price tag. In November 2019, they approved a proposition saying any library improvements costing more than $25 million would need a citywide vote. That sank the proposal.

Bieter took a drubbing in that election, and the next month, he lost to Lauren McLean in a runoff. Theres been little talk of a new library since.

The smaller site now being considered for purchase is catty-corner from the warehouse that long served as home to the Foothills School of Arts and Sciences. A 12-story, 160-unit apartment building was proposed on that site in 2020 but has yet to be built.

Mondays board meeting discussion centered on the $1.9 million price tag and whether its prudent to spend that much for the 0.18-acre property.

Commissioner Rob Perez balked at the little parcels price. He said, $244 a foot seems higher than parcels Ive seen in the area.

The agencys original bid was $200 per square foot with an escalation clause, Monjar said.

The Capital City Development Corp. had not obtained an appraisal for the property. As part of the agreement, theres a 30-day due diligence period. The agency now plans to receive an appraisal within that window.

The appeal of the parcel is how it connects with the adjacent city-owned land. If the purchase happens, the city would own the land from Capitol Boulevard on the east to South 9th Street on the west and from the Boise River on the south to West River Street on the north.

Because of the site and the future possibilities, it scares me to think that a chain hotel or a generic building could go up there with a fast food restaurant on the first story, Capital City Development Corp. Chairwoman Dana Zuckerman said, and that could wreck any future plans for cultural development on South 8th Street that the city is going to need or at least want in the future.

This map shows the city-owned land (purple and shaded) and the 703 S. 8th St. property that Boises urban renewal agency is considering buying (yellow and outlined rectangle). If the site is purchased, the city would own the land from Capitol Boulevard to South 9th Street and from the Greenbelt to River Street.

The parcel lies in the River-Myrtle Old Boise urban renewal district, which sunsets in 2025. Capital City Development Corp.s plan would be to pass the land to the city of Boise. If the property is instead bought by a private company, the urban renewal agency and city would have significantly less control over what gets built there.

We did see this opportunity as a golden one to complete the picture of public ownership of the side by side lots for the future, not today but for the future generations of Boise, Brunelle said at Mondays meeting. So whether the future plan is library or otherwise on these locations, there will come a day where we look back on this and say, This was an intelligent move, in our opinion, to take this opportunity to assemble and complete the picture for the citizens.

McLean, a board commissioner, said its important to discuss the public purpose of the land once the appraisal is complete and the board prepares to make a decision on buying the property.

Zuckerman said she doesnt think real estate appraisers could find properties comparable to this one to judge its value, because of the sites unique potential. Shed prefer to buy the property now rather than looking back in the future and wishing the agency had done so when it had the chance.

Once its gone, its gone, Zuckerman said.
Warm overnight temperatures did little to help firefighters working to contain the Washburn Fire in Yosemite National Park, which grew to more than 3,200 acres by Tuesday morning  an increase of almost 900 acres, or 40%, from 24 hours earlier.

But fire crews expressed confidence on Monday night that they would save Mariposa Grove, an iconic stand of hundreds of mature giant sequoia trees, some of which are thousands of years old, near the southern entrance to the park.

About 650 personnel from the National Park Service and other firefighting agencies are now engaged in trying to gain containment of the fire. Tuesday mornings report from the National Interagency Fire Center indicates that containment is now estimated at about 22%  meaning that containment lines have been carved out around 22% of the fires perimeter.

Thats a slight decrease from the 25% containment reported Monday afternoon.

The fire was active last night and with the current warming trend, increased fire activity is expected for today as well, according to Tuesday mornings situation report.

An inter-agency effort of firefighters put out fire in the forest along the northern perimeter of the Washburn Fire along Wawona Road between Wawona and the south entrance Monday, July 11, 2022 in Yosemite National Park.

Matt Ahearn, deputy operations chief with the state interagency team that is managing the firefighting effort, said Monday was marked with more than a dozen small spot fires that cropped up west of Highway 41, the largest of which was about a half acre in size. All of those, he said, were quickly knocked down by fire crews.

Crews were employing backfires on Monday to create low-intensity burns and guide the fire westward from Mariposa Grove toward Wawona Road. Tuesdays plans called for using drone aircraft to monitor for more spot fires along the western edge of the fire. Thats a priority today, to hold the fire east of 41, Ahearn said.

At the northwest edge of the fire, Ahearn reported that flames had progressed to the Studhorse Trail near Wawona. By early Tuesday, he added, firefighters were able to nudge the fires progress to the south fork of the Merced River and bolster control lines around Wawona.

We still have structure defense in place (in Wawona); were going to keep that in place while we have fire backing off and burning out along the lines, Ahearn said.

In Mariposa Grove, in addition to crews working to build protective lines, a temporary sprinkler system was set up to help protect the giant sequoias. The sprinklers increase the humidity in the grove.

That system, along with previous prescribed burns and other projects to reduce the volume of fuel and debris on the ground within the grove, are helping to reduce the danger to the massive trees.

The Mariposa Grove remains closed until further notice, and the community of Wawona remains under an evacuation order. Wawona Road (Highway 41) is closed from the parks south entrance near Fish Camp to Henness Ridge Road.

A map of the Washburn Fire shows Highway 41 (Wawona Road) as well as the community of Wawona at upper left in relation to the wildfires perimeter on Tuesday morning, July 12, 2022. To the east, the fire has burned eastward beyond the park boundary into Madera County and the Sierra National Forest.

At the northern end of the fire, flames have burned down a slope to the Merced Rivers south fork, and a few spit fires had cropped up north of the river.

Hotshot crews were quickly sent hiking into those areas to throttle those outbreaks. We still have a major priority of holding fire in the south fork and will be checking that throughout the day, Ahearn said.

The area where the fire is burning does not offer many natural barriers that help firefighters gain ground for containment, such as bare rock outcroppings. That is requiring hand crews and bulldozers to carve out containment lines within the forest and prepare for potential spread of the fire.

The northeastern edge, where containment lines have not yet been built, has already crossed over beyond the park boundary into Madera County and the Sierra National Forest. That appears to represent the greatest opportunity for flames to spread.

Ahearn said contingency crews have been deployed to the Long Meadow area where we are wrapping the Biledo Cabin system this morning and connecting contingency lines and coming up with a backup plan if the fire continues to expand.

Hotshot crews are also being sent to the Star Mine area south of the Merced Rivers south fork. Theyre going to be looking out past Mount Raymond and figuring out a plan to bring containment lines back down to the South Fork of the Merced, Ahearn added.
The Queen is hoping to personally present the George Cross to the NHS during a ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Accompanied by the Prince of Wales, the monarch will welcome the chief executives of the National Health Services of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and a frontline worker from each of the home nations.

Buckingham Palace said the monarch, who has ongoing mobility problems, is planning to attend the audience, but a final decision will be made on the day.

The 96-year-old head of state, joined by Charles, is set to present the award and meet the key workers.

Staff working on a Covid intensive care unit at Kings College Hospital in south London (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Attending the event will be May Parsons, the nurse who delivered the worlds first Covid-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials to Maggie Keenan on December 8 2020.

The Queen awarded the NHS the prestigious bravery award a year ago for its courage, compassion and dedication during the pandemic and throughout the 70-plus years since its foundation.

The George Cross was instituted by her father George VI in September 1940 during the height of the Blitz.

It is granted in recognition of acts of the greatest heroism or of the most courage in circumstances of extreme danger and recognises actions by civilians and military personnel not in the face of the enemy.

The award of the George Cross by the Queen is made on the advice of the George Cross Committee and the Prime Minister, and this marks only the third occasion on which it has been awarded to a collective body, country or organisation, rather than an individual.

In her message, on Windsor Castle-headed paper last July on the 73rd anniversary of the NHSs foundation, the Queen wrote: It is with great pleasure, on behalf of a grateful nation, that I award the George Cross to the National Health Services of the United Kingdom.

This award recognises all NHS staff, past and present, across all disciplines and all four nations.

Over more than seven decades, and especially in recent times, you have supported the people of our country with courage, compassion and dedication, demonstrating the highest standards of public service.

You have our enduring thanks and heartfelt appreciation.

NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said she was honoured to attend on behalf of NHS workers.

Amanda Pritchard (Jacob King/PA)

Under the most difficult of circumstances during the pandemic, our staff responded magnificently, she said.

They cared for more than 750,000 people with Covid-19 in hospitals and many more in the community, and designed and delivered the biggest and most successful NHS vaccination programme in history, saving hundreds of thousands of lives, she added.

In 1942, the George Cross was conferred on Malta by George VI, in recognition of the fortitude displayed by the islands inhabitants during enemy bombardments in the Second World War.

And in 1999, the Queen awarded the George Cross to the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland, in recognition of the forces bravery, including the families of those serving.

The most recent recipient of the George Cross is Dominic Troulan, a retired British Army officer and former Royal Marine.

Mr Troulan was awarded the George Cross in June 2017 for his actions during the 2013 Westgate shopping centre attack in Nairobi, Kenya.
A man accused of being US fugitive Nicholas Rossi has told a court there is mass hysteria around his case, as he unsuccessfully tried to have reporting restrictions applied to it.

The man, who gave his name as Arthur Knight, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday as part of extradition proceedings against him.

US prosecutors accuse the 34-year-old of the rape of a woman in Utah, as well as attacks on other women in different states.

He is said to have faked his own death and fled to Scotland to escape the charges.

The suspect said there was a media circus surrounding the case (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Last week, he was charged with threatening two hospital medics at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow.

On Tuesday, Sheriff Alistair Noble considered a motion to adjourn the extradition proceedings against him until Thursday due to the criminal case in Glasgow.

The suspect was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, wearing a maroon pyjama top and trousers. He wore a breathing mask and medics accompanied him with an air bottle.

Sheriff Noble agreed to adjourn the notional hearing to Thursday.

The suspect was accompanied by medics into the court (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The man, representing himself, then sought to submit his own motion to the court in a bid to restrict press reporting.

He said there was mass hysteria around the case, claiming it had turned into a media circus.

He said the media had committed contempt of court by continually referring to me as Nicholas Rossi.

The man claiming to be Mr Knight told the court: I would submit that it is incredibly important that this case be adjudicated so as not to include the public humiliation I have faced.

However, Sheriff Noble said: I have not heard anything that would justify making any sort of order.

The sheriff said the matter would be considered by a judge rather than a jury so there was no risk of prejudice to the case.

The man alleged to be Rossi was apprehended in Glasgow earlier this year after being admitted to hospital with Covid-19.

Last month, Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told he was using every means possible to delay the extradition proceedings.
U.S. tribal elders recall painful boarding school memories: AP

Xinhua) 08:18, July 12, 2022

Photo taken on May 17, 2022 shows an exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"My ancestors endured the horrors of the Indian boarding school assimilation policies carried out by the same department that I now lead. This is the first time in history that a cabinet secretary comes to the table with this shared trauma," says Deb Haaland.

NEW YORK, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Native American tribal elders who were once students at government-backed Indian boarding schools have testified about the hardships they endured, including beatings, whippings, sexual assaults, forced haircuts and painful nicknames, reported The Associated Press (AP).

"They came from different states and different tribes, but they shared the common experience of having attended the schools that were designed to strip Indigenous people of their cultural identities," said the report last week.

"Federal Indian boarding school policies have touched every Indigenous person I know," said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, herself a Laguna Pueblo from New Mexico and the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history.

"My ancestors endured the horrors of the Indian boarding school assimilation policies carried out by the same department that I now lead. This is the first time in history that a cabinet secretary comes to the table with this shared trauma," she told the testification event.

Haaland's agency recently released a report that identified more than 400 of the schools, which sought to assimilate Native children into white society during a period that stretched from the late 18th century until the late 1960s, according to the report.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has confirmed he will not reveal who he is supporting in the Tory leadership race.

Widely seen as a close ally of Boris Johnson, Mr Jack told BBCs Reporting Scotland on Tuesday he will not declare who he is backing in the race to succeed the prime minister.

Im not going to declare who I am going to be supporting in the race, Mr Jack said.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack will not publicly back a candidate in the Tory leadership race (James Manning/PA)

Instead, he revealed he would be speaking to all the candidates about issues facing Scotland.

He said: I will be speaking to them to discuss matters relating to Scotland and what I believe is important and what I want to put on their radar.

Mr Jack said the key tests for leadership candidates were surrounding the issue of a possible second independence referendum.

He added: The key tests are around the situation facing Scotland with Nicola Sturgeons declaration a few weeks ago about holding a second independence referendum.

Mr Jack is not the only senior Scottish Tory holding their cards close to their chest. Most of the partys MPs and MSPs have not publicly announced their support for a candidate, including leader Douglas Ross.

Andrew Bowie, MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, has publicly backed Rishi Sunak in his bid to lead the Conservatives and Borders MP John Lamont has backed Penny Mordaunt.

Andrew Bowie is backing Rishi Sunak in the upcoming Tory leadership election (Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament/PA)

Writing in todays Scottish Daily Mail, Ms Mordaunt said she would overturn the SNPs yellow wall in Scotland, ending their electoral dominance.

She wrote: We are the only party that has ever shown the strength to stand up to the SNP.

Penny Mordaunt is one of the frontrunners to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative leader and Prime Minister (Aaron Chown/PA)

It will be a long road to get there but we must aspire to unite the pro-UK majority and form the Scottish Government.

We must be a party that seeks power everywhere in our United Kingdom.

Under the rules set out by Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, leadership candidates who fail to get 30 votes in the first ballot will be eliminated, with a second vote expected on Thursday.

The process is then likely to continue into next week, with candidate with the lowest vote dropping out, until the list of candidates is whittled down to just two.

They will have the summer recess to win the support of the Tory membership, which will ultimately chose the next Prime Minister, with the final result due on September 5.
British families are nearly 9,000 worse off than households in comparable countries due to a toxic combination of low growth and inequality, according to a new report.

A study published by the Resolution Foundation think tank and London School of Economics (LSE) estimates that the income of the typical low- and middle-earning family is a third less  or 8,800 worse off  than in comparable nations.

It found the poorest households are at an even greater disadvantage, with their incomes 40% behind in the comparison against five nations  Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Stagnation Nation, the interim report of the Economy 2030 Inquiry, blames the gap on a triple whammy of low growth, low productivity and high inequality that it says has had disastrous consequences for British families.

Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: Britain is a rich country, with huge economic and cultural strengths.

But those strengths are not being built on, with the recent record of low growth leaving Britain trailing behind its peers.

This forms a toxic combination with the UKs high inequality, leaving low- and middle-income households far poorer than their counterparts in similar countries.

The report reveals that UK pay growth has fallen below zero since the financial crisis and eight million young workers have never experienced a period of sustained rising real wages.

It says that the UKs productivity gap with France and Germany has almost tripled since 2008 from 6% to 16%  equivalent to an extra 3,700 in lost output per person.

The report shows that while the top 10% of households in Britain are richer than those in many other European countries, middle-income British households are woefully behind.

They are 9% poorer than their counterparts in France, while the poorest fifth of households in Britain are now over 20% worse off than their French and German equivalents.

Mr Bell warned: We must turn this around, but we are not on track to do so. We underestimate the scale of our relative decline and are far from serious about the nature of our economy or the scale of change required to make a difference. This has to change.

Alex Beer at the Nuffield Foundation, which is funding the Economy 2030 Inquiry, said the findings show households in Britain have little resilience in the face of the cost of living crisis.

To improve peoples lives, government must reconsider and reframe their approach to the UK economy, she said.
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YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS. The units of the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire from various, including large caliber firearms at the Armenian military positions located in the western section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the Defense Ministry of Armenia said in a statement.

The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan again spread disinformation, claiming that in the evening of July 11 the units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire at the Azerbaijani positions located in the eastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Moreover, during the same period, the units of the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire from various, including large caliber firearms at the Armenian combat positions located in the western section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The Azerbaijani military shooting was suppressed by the countermeasures of the Armenian side, the statement says.
YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will raise pensions, benefits and minimum salary next year, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan told reporters in the Parliament.

In 2023 we are planning to increase the pensions and benefits. The Prime Minister has also announced at the Cabinet meeting about raising the minimum wage, he said, adding that currently they are discussing the budget of 2023. Pensions are expected to rise by up to 6000 drams at two stages, he said, adding that the ministry is discussing other measures as well.
YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received Director General of the Russian state corporation Rosatom Alexey Likhachev, the PMs Office said.

During the meeting PM Pashinyan said that the Armenian-Russian cooperation in energy sector has a rich agenda, and Rosatom is the Armenian governments main partner in the field of nuclear energy.

Pashinyan highly valued the role of the corporation in the extension of the term of operation of the second energy unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant and expressed confidence that the mutual partnership will be effective also in the future.

Alexey Likhachev thanked for the close cooperation and said that Rosatom is interested in effectively cooperating with the Armenian government in coming years as well.

During the meeting the sides discussed issues relating to the further operation of the Armenian NPPs 2nd energy unit, the opportunities of building new nuclear power plant in Armenia, the development of nuclear energy, as well as the cooperation in renewable energy sector.
YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS. The fire in the warehouse of construction materials in the territory of the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri has been contained, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situation of Armenia told ARMENPRESS.

"The fire is currently contained. An investigation will be carried out to find out the cause of the fire," the press service of the Ministry said.

On July 12, at 3:55 p.m., the Shirak Regional Crisis Management Center received an alert that a grassy area was burning in the territory of the Russian 102nd military base in Gyumri.

It was found that the warehouse of construction materials is on fire.
YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the end of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is not near, ARMENPRESS reports, Interfax informs.

"The pandemic is far from being over," the head of the WHO said at the press conference held in Geneva.

The WHO Regional Office for Europe said countries should offer a second booster dose of vaccination to groups such as the elderly, healthcare workers and pregnant women.

In recent weeks, there has been an increase in cases of coronavirus infection in Europe.
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Rheinmetall has scored further contract successes in the field of 40mm ammunition. The South African subsidiary Rheinmetall Denel Munition has been awarded contracts for the supply of 40mm ammunition by two customers in Asia.

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Rheinmetall Denel Munition offers a comprehensive range of high-quality 40mm ammunition, including. 40x46mm Low Velocity (LV), 40x53mm High Velocity (HV) and 40x51mm Medium Velocity (MV) (Picture source: Rheinmetall)

In one case, this is a new customer who has ordered 400,000 40mm low-velocity grenades. These are to be delivered by December 2022. In the other case, an existing customer ordered 100,000 rounds of medium velocity grenades. These are to be delivered between December 2022 and February 2023. In total, the order is worth about 25 million euros. "With these two contracts, we are expanding our customer base in Asia," says Jan-Patrick Helmsen, CEO of Rheinmetall Denel Munition. Negotiations are already underway to increase the quantities.

Rheinmetall Denel Munition offers a comprehensive range of high-quality 40mm ammunition, including. 40x46mm Low Velocity (LV), 40x53mm High Velocity (HV) and 40x51mm Medium Velocity (MV).

The 40mm MV ammunition has a range of up to 800 metres  200 metres more than comparable products on the market. The 40mm LV ammunition has a range of up to 400 metres. Both types of ammunition use a High Explosive Dual Purpose projectile. This combines fragmentation and shaped charge, which has high penetrating power. It can be used against bunkers and armoured targets and can penetrate 50 mm rolled homogenous armour (RHA).

The ammunition is manufactured in accordance with international standards and is suitable for use with suitably qualified grenade launchers of the latest generation.
Last month, the ED had questioned her son and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for five days

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued fresh summons to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday to depose before it on July 21 for questioning in the National Herald newspaper linked money laundering case. Mrs Gandhi had sought the postponement of the agencys previous June 23 appearance notice on the grounds that the doctors had "strictly advised her to rest at home following her hospitalisation on account of Covid and lung infection."

The ED had accepted Mrs Gandhis request for a deferral of her questioning and had asked her to record her statement with the agency in the last week of July. The probe agency in its first summon to Mrs Gandhi had asked her to join the questioning on June 8 but she reported positive for Covid.

Interestingly, Mrs Gandhi, who is also a member of the Lok Sabha, will have to appear before the ED during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Last month, the ED had questioned her son and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for five days. Several Congress leaders and party workers had protested against the questioning and termed it a "political vendetta". Sources say that the ED is looking into the manner in which the Gandhis were made the directors of the new company, Young Indian Private Limited. Also, how the entire loan of Associated Journals Limited AJL worth Rs 90.21 crore was written off for a paltry Rs 50 lakh after Young India came into existence.

The Congress says that Young Indian Private Limited is a section 25 company, which means that no money can be taken out to benefit its shareholders. The party asked, "Which is the 'scheduled offence' under PMLA that has triggered an investigation by ED? Which police agency has registered an FIR in respect of the scheduled offence? Where is the FIR?"

Responding to several charges in the public domain regarding the National Herald case, Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that a law which the Supreme Court established in 1955 that a shareholder of a company does not own the assets of that company. If I am a shareholder in your company, I dont own the assets, which that company owns.
Today's headlines: Henan authorities will start releasing blocked funds from rural banks; torrential rains continue in Pakistan; dengue infections in the Philippines up by 90 per cent; in Uzbekistan up to ,000 paid for newborn babies.

INDIA

Next year India will be the most populous country in the world with 1.4 billion inhabitants, surpassing China. By November the planet will be home to 8 billion people, but growth will not be equal in all countries: 8 nations will contribute more than half of the growth: Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and Tanzania.

CHINA

Authorities in Henan will start releasing money to customers whose funds have been frozen by several rural banks. The news comes after protests in the city of Zhengzhou in recent days had turned violent. The payments will be made starting Friday through an association supervised by the Chinese Central Bank.

SRI LANKA

The Sri Lankan parliament will elect a new president on 20 July. Spokesman Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced this yesterday, while President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to step down tomorrow. Political instability could damage negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, the central bank governor said. During the protests of the past few days, protesters handed over to the police 50,000 dollars found in the presidential residence.

PAKISTAN

Torrential rains yesterday caused flooding in Pakistan's financial capital and largest city, Karachi, submerging even the business district. The Navy took part in rescue operations. In Belucistan a dozen villages were flooded. Last week, at least 64 people died as a result of the flooding of eight dams.

PHILIPPINES

Not just covid-19: dengue infections are also on the rise in the Philippines with a 90% increase on last year. In the first part of the year at least 65,000 people were infected, while new cases of coronavirus are around 1,500 per day. In the new administration of Ferdinand Marcos - who took office on 30 June and is now in isolation because of covid - the position of Health Minister is still vacant.

SYRIA - TURKEY - RUSSIA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to extend the authorisation for humanitarian aid to Syria. An agreement appeared to have been reached last night, after Putin had vetoed a UN resolution last week that would have extended the delivery of aid to northwest Syria by another year. The Turkish-Syrian border at Bab al-Hawa is the only way for the UN to reach the population without passing through areas controlled by Syrian government forces.

UKRAINE

The UN site dealing with sexual violence has so far ascertained 124 cases in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, 'but that is only the tip of the iceberg', according to UN representative in conflict zones Pramila Patten. Only reported individual cases are considered, not mass violence in conflict zones.

UZBEKISTAN

The security services of Uzbekistan reported several attempts to sell newborn children in Tashkent and the Syrdarynsk region. The price of a child born no earlier than 15 June is said to be at least USD 35,000. The baby trade has been stopped by blocking women who reject babies at birth at the hospital.
Uzbekistans foreign minister made the announcement yesterday. Iran will sign the memorandum of obligation at the SCO summit in the Central Asian country. Irans deputy foreign minister proposes a single currency for SCO members to facilitate economic integration. This is the first time Iran joins an international organisation since the Islamic Revolution.

Tehran (AsiaNews)  Iran will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) with the signing of the memorandum of obligation at a summit in Samarkand, on 15-16 September.

This year, within Uzbekistan's chairmanship, Iran, as an observer state will ... become a full-fledged member of the SCO, RIA Novosti quoted Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov as saying yesterday during a meeting in Moscow.

Iran took one step closer to full membership on 17 September last year when its application was accepted 15 years after it was made. On that date, SCO began the country's accession, which usually takes a fair amount of time, up to two years.

Last month, Iran's deputy foreign minister responsible for economic diplomacy, Mehdi Safari, proposed the bloc adopt a single currency to facilitate economic integration among members.

SCO came into being more than 20 years ago to solve territorial disputes in Central Asia among the six founding members: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Over time, it expanded into other areas, most notably security, economy, energy, culture and the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism.

It emerged out of the Shanghai Five, who later joined by Uzbekistan, and is led by the Council of Heads of State, which meets once a year. Russia and China dominate the organisation.

Amid growing tensions, Russia looks to Central Asia to extend its sphere of influence, while clashing with China behind the scenes because of the latters growing presence, at least economic.

Iran has long been an observer member along with Mongolia, India and Pakistan (the latter two now permanent members). Belarus and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners. Along with Afghanistan, Iran has been a dialogue partner on reconstruction since 2005.

This is the first time Iran has officially joined an international body since the 1979 revolution.
Afghanistan increased tariffs and imposed customs duties. Both countries lack foreign currency. Blackouts are becoming a regular feature in Pakistan, which recent floods made worse. Economic tensions are exacerbating pre-existing tensions.

Peshawar (AsiaNews/Agencies)  The Taliban have raised coal prices creating problems for neighbouring Pakistan which, lacking foreign currency, wanted to buy coal at low prices and in its own currency in an attempt to ease its ongoing energy crisis.

As the country was drifting towards a Sri Lanka style economic crisis, Pakistani authorities had announced plans to import coal from Afghanistan paying in Pakistani rupees rather than dollars.

For some time, blackouts have become a recurring problem in Pakistan, which recent floods aggravated.

The situation on the other side of the border is not much better. Strapped for cash because of international sanctions, the Taliban more than doubled the price of coal and imposed customs duties.

Pakistan imports 70 per cent of its coal from South Africa, where prices have reached an all-time high due to the war in Ukraine and domestic unrest.

In March, the price of coal reached US$ 425 per tonne. Since then, they have declined but the market remains unpredictable, which is why at the end of June Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the import of Afghan coal.

According to government sources, this would have saved Pakistan US$ 2.2 billion in import costs annually. Then came the Taliban who imposed a 30 per cent tariff and raised the price of coal from US$ 90 to US$ 200 dollars per tonne.

"The price of coal per ton in the global market is around 0 and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will exploit its coal reserves by selling it at international rates, imposing duties on export of coal abroad," said Mufti Esmatullah Burhan, a spokesperson for Afghanistan's Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, speaking to Nikkei Asia.

The Pakistani government has not yet reacted to the Taliban's decision, but in an interview with The News, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that his country is interested in importing coal from Afghanistan only if it is at affordable prices.

The dispute over coal is accentuating pre-existing tensions between the two countries.

The Taliban have not complied with Islamabads demand that they stop giving sanctuary to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (the Pakistani Taliban) in Afghanistan.

The security forces of both countries have also repeatedly clashed on the border, also known as the Durand Line. To secure it, Pakistan has set out to build a fence which Afghanistan is trying to stop.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Two more cases instigated by Hindu fundamentalists over simple prayer gatherings in Varanasi and Lakhimpur. Fr Pereira: "The ruling BJP party wants people's minds to be occupied by these things, so as not to see the rise in prices, corruption, lack of work".

Varanasi (AsiaNews) - There have been new arbitrary arrests of Christian pastors in Uttar Pradesh, on charges of "conversions" made by Hindu fundamentalists. In Varanasi, Pastor Santosh Kanojia was detained after police registered a complaint against his father Sabhajit Kanojia and a believer identified as Chhota.

In another case, in the Lakhimpur district of Uttar Pradesh, Pastor Mithlesh Kumar was visiting a family, when some villagers reported him and the police took him to the Phool Behad police station. Here he was also remanded in custody.

Fr. Vineet Vincent Pereira, a Catholic priest in Varanasi who is campaigning for his release, told AsiaNews: 'Many pastors are being persecuted in Uttar Pradesh, some have been stopped and arrested, there is a lot of disorder here. Christians are being blamed simply for leading prayers. For political reasons, to incite fanatics, fundamentalist groups behave like this. The ruling party BJP wants people's minds to be occupied by these things, so they do not raise the real problems such as rising prices, corruption and unemployment".
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A bus bound for Glenwood Springs waits for a car to pass by before pulling away from Rubey Park in Aspen on Monday. The Roaring Fork Transportation Authoritys ridership is up 50% year-to-date through May compared with the same period last year.
Share This: Two of southeast Michigans signature automotive events will join forces this September to promote their new formats and the beauty of fall in the Great Lakes.

From the riverfront to the Cultural Center, Detroit will be abuzz with everything from the latest electric vehicles and self-driving technology to million-dollar classics as the North American International Auto Show and Detroit Concours dElegance share a weekend.

The auto shows first weekend, including the ever-popular Charity Preview on Sept. 16, will overlap with the Detroit Concours on Sept. 16-18.

Other events will include the auto shows first public days showcasing dozens of new cars in Huntington Place convention center, car collectors gathering near Comerica Park on Sept. 17 and 140 classic cars of all eras on the grounds of the Detroit Institute of Arts on Sept. 18.

Downtown Detroit is going to be incredible, said NAIAS Executive Director Rod Alberts. After a 3.5-year hiatus, the auto show returns, with plans to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather. Details will be announced closer to the event, but expect everything from food trucks to outdoor test drives and tech demos.

Tickets to NAIAS, including the Charity Preview, went on sale July 11.

The auto show took place during winter for decades. Due to the pandemic, this will be the first full-blown show since January 2019, when the Detroit Auto Dealers Association decided more temperate weather would provide a better showcase for test drives, tech demos and new vehicles.

Topping it off, a handful of classic cars will caravan from LeMay-Americas Car Museum in Tacoma, WA, to Detroit, via some of Americas finest national parks and a stop at The Gilmore Car Museum near Kalamazoo, MI.

Called the Drive Home, the event has been part of the auto show since 2014.

Its about America and coming home to Detroit, Americas Car Museum CEO David Madeira said.

Some vehicles from the Drive Home will also shuttle auto show attendees from Huntington Place on the river to the concours in Midtown.

Previously called Americas Concours dElegance, the concours---a term for classic car shows---has been a summertime fixture in suburban settings for decades. New owner Hagerty, Traverse City-based automotive lifestyle brand and insurer of classic cars and wooden boats, decided to move it to Detroits Cultural Center because of the citys rich automotive history.

Were delighted to be in Detroit. We believe in the city and its automotive history," said Chris Brewer, Hagerty director of event communications. Longtime GM design chief Ed Welburn will be honored at the concours.

Having these two incredible automotive events at the same time is...
UNITED NATIONS, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations General Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution on strengthening connectivity between Central and South Asia.

The resolution recognizes the importance of cooperation in establishing safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport networks with a view to achieving transport connectivity across Central and South Asia.

It encourages the continuation and advancement of cooperation between Central and South Asia by expanding transport and information and communications technologies infrastructure and creating new international transport corridors that open convenient, sustainable, commercially viable, affordable, accessible, inclusive and safe routes to seaports.

It recognizes the importance of Afghanistan's potential role in connecting Central and South Asia, as well as its economic development and integration into interregional economic processes for lasting peace and stability.

The resolution emphasizes the importance of developing potential tourist routes covering the historical and cultural centers of the Central and South Asian states, and supports the efforts of Central and South Asia to further strengthen relationships between the regions and their people, including in the fields of education, science and technology, innovation, tourism, culture, art and sports.

It recognizes the importance of energy connectivity between Central and South Asia.

It recognizes the significant potential of regional economic integration and interconnectivity to promote inclusive growth and sustainable development, commits to strengthening regional cooperation and regional trade agreements, and encourages multilateral development banks, in collaboration with other stakeholders, to address gaps in trade, transport and transit-related regional infrastructure.

The resolution was drafted by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. 
NHTSA

Three days later, on May 9th, the Japanese automaker identified a second failure with the inability to start up the crosswagons boxer engine. Further investigation discovered an engine test harness with a bent pin. Subarus records indicated that this harness was introduced on the line on May 3rd.At the time the Japanese automaker decided to recall certain Outbacks produced for the 2022 model year, the company wasnt aware of any field reports, warranty claims, vehicle owner questionnaires, crashes, or injuries resulting from this condition. The recall covers no fewer than 15 vehicles, of which 2 percent are believed to exhibit the aforementioned condition.The deformed male terminal on the engine test harness may have damaged the female terminal of the engine wiring harness, resulting in poor contact with the male terminal of the engine control unit. In other words, customers may experience a complete loss of motive power without the ability to restart. For all these 15 vehicles, the Japanese automaker has instructed its dealers to replace the engine wiring harness and the engine control unit. Subaru replaced the engine test wiring harness on May 9th, which is why the remedy engine wiring harnesses dont feature deformed female terminals. Owner notification is due on August 30th as per the attached recall report.In the meantime, 2022 Subaru Outback owners may contact Subarus customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Alternatively, they can simply run the vehicle identification number through thes VIN look-up tool.The jacked-up wagon is currently listed on Subarus website at $27,645 excluding destination freight charge for the entry-level trim. At the other end of the spectrum, the Touring XT costs $40,645. New for model year 2022 , the off-roady Wilderness can be had from $37,695 sans delivery.
One year and five months ago, the Ford Motor Company made an interesting statement in the press release for the F-150 Raptor. More specifically, the second-largest automaker in the United States confirmed the Raptor R is coming next year. Originally believed to launch for model year 2022, the supercharged truck is actually going on sale for the 2023 model year.The attached teaser hypes up the newcomer like theres no tomorrow. Beyond fast and scary fast is the lyrical waxing used by the Ford Motor Company, which refers to the sheer fury hiding under the hood. Rather than a 5.0-liter Coyote augmented with a thumpin great blower, the Raptor R features the 5.2-liter Predator that was introduced into production by the Shelby GT500 . That Shelby GT500, indeed, the most powerful series-production Ford ever thanks to 760 ponies and 625 pound-feet (847 Nm).Recently leaked with black-and-orange decals on the superchargers housing, the Raptor R-specific Predator is a cross-plane crankshaft V8 thats connected to a torque-converter automatic. The Shelby GT500 flaunts a dual-clutch gearbox that sadly isnt compatible with four-wheel-drive setups.Nicknamed Carnivore by its makers, the supercharged truck is rocking a ten-speed automatic that builds on the 10R80. Differences include a heavy-duty rear output assembly with PTFE washers, a four-pinion gear carrier, a 260-millimeter torque converter with a heavy-duty turbine damper, as well as proprietary software specific to this overly brawny application.The Raptor R has only one rival to prove itself against, the Ram TRX.
She was fitted with new alfresco areas, a beach club, and a reconfigured fly-bridge, among other, not yet published interior work.The 51.21 meter (168 ft) long, 765 gross tonnage vessel, is powered by two Caterpillar diesel engines rated at 1000hp each, at 1600 rpm. She is capable of a top speed of 15 knots and a cruising speed of 12 knots with a range of 4200 nautical miles. The yacht is fitted with advanced innovations including, an environmentally safe bio-reactive waste sewage treatment plant. The hull is made of steel with an aluminum superstructure. She is manned by a crew of twelve and can accommodate up to 10 passengers.The original interior was decorated with woods including black walnut, sycamore, eucalyptus, and myrtle burl, in 18th and 19th century French and Italian styles.The yacht is a mainstay on Fort Lauderdale, Florida waterfront, distinguish by the three vertical windows located amidship, on her port and starboard sides. The yacht is still owned by the Moran family, but is thought to be for sale.Mr. Moran was instrumental in the design of the interior and exterior Gallant Lady along with designers John Munford and Richard Jordan.John Moran was an American billionaire businessman who at the age of 21, purchased a gas station for $360 that became the best-selling station in the area. After serving in WWII, he sold his first car for $275 and within ten years became the world's largest Ford dealer. His companies JM Pontiac and JM Lexus would become the largest dealers of those brands in the world and he managed to sell more than 6 million Toyotas. He ordered eight yachts from Feadship over the years; all named Gallant Lady. He passed away in 2007.
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That was only until early June when the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer SScrossover was revealed by Mary Barra . Alas, that was also a single-photo tease with promises of order banks soon to be opened and complete details scheduled to arrive on July 18th. Now, with just a few days until we will finally find out if we are dealing with a proper Tesla rival or just another mediocre Chevy crossover that doesn't fulfill the K5 legacy at all, heres something new to ruminate.It comes from an unofficial standpoint , though, as the first custom tuning job performed on the first-ever zero-emission GM vehicle sporting the legendary SS moniker (who knew before Tesla Plaids that Super Sport would bode well for EVs?). So, the virtual artist better known as c_zr1 on social media gives us CGI food for thought in the form of a 2024 Chevy Blazer SS EV discarding the official presentation color and adopting a nice set of larger Vossen aftermarket wheels.The pixel master has also taken the liberty to present the upcoming electric crossover in different shades  none of them are official but do present a better choice than a simple crimson paintjob that we saw on the singular 2024 Blazer SS EV presentation photo. There are a lot of different choices, and the good news is that most of them bode well for this battery-powered vehicle.Now, the only thing left to be seen is whether this mid-size crossover SUV  which has not impressed GM fans when featured as a traditionalmodel  will become a better match for Teslas best-selling Model Y and Model X competitors. All we know for sure is the EV standards are pretty high
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The oldwith its fourth name was presented at an event that ElectricBrands did not clarify enough. With the information available, it seems to be something private held in Gottingen just to introduce its new vehicles. The plural refers not only to new versions of the electric bubble car but also to what seems to be a full offensive on Micro-Mobility. Well get to that later: lets focus on Evetta right now.Evetta is more than just an EV: it is the name of a new brand from ElectricBrands. It will sell three versions of the bubble car. The Prima is the new Karo , with a closed body and a single door in front of the vehicle. It will start at 19,540 ($19,857 at the current exchange rate), way more than the Microlino 2.0 (14,990 in Germany, or $15,234).ElectricBrands will also sell the Openair, a roadster that seems to keep the front door (just without the handle to open it) and adds two side openings to enter the cabin. There is no soft top to protect the occupants, or ElectricBrands did not care to present it at this point. That would make it a proper bubble car.According to Evettas website, the Openair will start at 33,330 ($33,870), which is more than Volkswagen charges for the T-ROC Cabriolet in Germany (32,975, or $33,509). The ID.3 is slightly more expensive, at 38,060 ($38,677).At the mysterious event where ElectricBrands introduced these cars, it also showed an Evetta Cargo. We have no idea if it intends to sell this derivative, but it could be an interesting last-mile delivery vehicle. Ironically, it would compete with another ElectricBrands product, the XBUS. Its Camper version was also presented at the gathering.The other competitors to Micro-Mobilitys products come from NITO (Nuova Industria Torinese). Apparently, the brand does not belong to ElectricBrands, which is only the exclusive distributor of the e-scooters and e-bikes of the Italian brand NITO, founded by Cesar Mendoza.The company created the N1 and N1e (a kick scooter and its electric version). Micro-Mobility started its activities with kick scooters. The NES and the N4 could compete with the Microletta apart from the fact that they only have two wheels. The Microletta has three, two of them in the front axle, to offer more stability.Whether belonging to ElectricBrands or not, targeting the same market segments as Micro-Mobility is emblematic. Something else that calls our attention is that NITO Bikes already has a website (www.nitobikes.it), but ordering its products will demand another one (mynito.com). It is not online yet and should only start working by mid-July. We have no idea when deliveries of NITO products will begin.If ElectricBrands follows its current standard, it will be in 2023. Evetta will open pre-orders for its products on July 22, but deliveries are only expected to start in 2023. The XBUS is also promised for 2023. For a vehicle first presented as the eBussy in July 2020 and scheduled for 2021, the XBUS is already one year late. Development should have finished long ago.The Evetta website informs that the vehicles will be distributed by several European retailers, 115 of them only in Germany. They are the same ones available for the XBUS. For a company with no products to deliver so far, thats intriguing. Distribution networks only make sense when you have something to distribute.Pre-orders for the XBUS demand a 150 refundable deposit. Three months before production starts, the final configurator will open for the early reservation holders. Evetta should follow the same procedure when its pre-orders open. Considering previous promises and what ElectricBrands has delivered so far, being cautious would not hurt  even if you fell in love with any Evetta or the XBUS.
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Hyundai is looking for more production capacity with the recently revealed Ioniq 6 added to its full-electric lineup. The company is also working to bring the Ioniq 7 to the market in 2024 and desperately needs new production facilities. Although a U.S. factory is slated to break ground next year, Hyundai wants to appease its Korean unions with investments at home.Last May, Hyundai pledged to invest 63 trillion won ($48.1 billion) in South Korea through 2025. This came after Hyundai Motors unionized workers in South Korea expressed anger over managements decision to prioritize investment outside the country. Thats why Hyundai will build its first dedicatedfactory in Korea. In fact, the new factory announcement was made by the companys union, which confirmed that production will start by 2025.Sales of internal-combustion-engine vehicles are scheduled to be banned in certain markets so the new EV factory is vital to Hyundai Motors survival, Chang Moon-su, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, explained to Automotive News This would be the first new car factory to open in Korea in almost three decades. The companys last new car factory in the country (the Asan Plant) started operations in 1996. Currently, Hyundais electric vehicles are built at Ulsan Plant 1 in Korea (Ioniq 5), HMM Czech (Kona EV), and HMM Indonesia (Ioniq 5). The Asan plant will also start building the Ioniq 6 soon.Hyundai announced in May that it would invest $5.5 billion in the U.S. to build full EV and battery manufacturing facilities near Savannah, Georgia . The construction should begin next year, while commercial production is planned for the first half of 2025. If we take the union for granted, the Korean EV factory will start production even sooner. This makes it Hyundais first dedicated EV factory to become operational.
The Navy is still investigating one of the most baffling incidents that occurred this year. The U.S Naval Institute reports that there is no official confirmation of the attempt to recover the F/A-18 Super Hornet that got blown off the USS Harry S. Truman a few days ago. Apparently, the Navy hasnt yet decided whether it will make an effort to recover the fighter jet or not.The incident that was rightfully labeled as bizarre took place on Friday, according to the official statement released by the U.S. Navy on July 10. It was said that unexpected heavy weather literally blew the 32,000 lbs (14,500 kg) aircraft overboard. Nobody was hurt except one sailor who suffered minor injuries.The USS Truman was in the Mediterranean Sea when this happened, as the Truman Strike Group has been operating in the area since December.Although the U.S. 6th Fleet is still investigating what happened, experts suggest that unprecedented weather conditions in that area might have led to microbursts or highly violent winds.Citing several sources, the Washington Post speculated that these strong winds could have blown the Super Hornet overboard despite its weight if it had not been secured properly. But its still hard to believe that the stormy weather was unexpected, especially with the recent heat wave in Italy reaching unprecedented heights.Not too long ago, in March, the Navy managed to recover an F-35C Lightning II from the Pacific, where it had fallen due to a ramp strike on the USS Carl Vinson. Perhaps it will succeed in recovering this F/A-18 Super Hornet as well. It may be just as important, if not more important, to elucidate the mystery that turned bad weather into the greatest enemy.
Although blue-collar workers are the ones that get an industry going, white-collar folks are the ones that organize the business. That did not help them avoid being the targets of massive layoffs in the automotive industry. After Tesla said it would fire 10% of its employees, Rivian is wondering about letting 5% of them go.

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Well, thats the Italian companys loss, as it is indeed demanding work for Lamborghini to go out on its own and present the super-Urus alternative when the Brits have formed such a big ultra-luxury posse (think Bentley Bentayga but also Range Rover and Aston Martin DBX). Alas, this Cullinan Black Badge has long since departed its place of origin to embark on a one-of-one personalization journey.And it proudly ended up exhibiting its bespoke atmosphere in the inventory of San Diego-based Champion Motoring, a provider of exotics to athletes and affluent connoisseurs, which has now prepared yet another fashionable, ultra-luxury SUV for sale. As always, do not ask us about pricing  this aftermarket outlet does not dabble with such mundane aspects that need to be handled in DM (direct inquiry message) fashion.In turn, they also do not provide an extensive description of the ride  leaving us baffled at the sight of this black and yellow-accented Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge. The contrast is like a summer ray of light protruding through a dark cave. And it is certainly going to stand out in any posh crowd because this ultra-luxury SUV not only has yellow details on the badges or inside the luxurious, TV-equipped cockpit but also features a swanky aftermarket wheel setup consisting of matching yellow-accented 26-inch wheels.As for other choices, just in case this is not exactly your black and yellow cup of tea, fear not, as there are plenty. For example, Champion Motoring also has up for grabs a two-tone white and black 2022 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, or if you really want something with enough clearance to go over anything, there is also a Designo-crafted 97-mile (156 km) Mercedes-G 63 just waiting to find a new adventurous place to call home.
MSR

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are planning to return to Earth samples collected by Perseverance through a future mission called the Mars Sample Return Campaign . It will involve multiple spacecraft and robotic systems that will work together to bring select tubes to Earth. This will allow researchers to study them using cutting-edge lab equipment that would be far too large to be transported to Mars.So far, Perseverance has stored in its belly nine samples. On July 6, the rover managed to collect material from Jezero Craters ancient river delta . This region is thought to hold crucial clues about Mars wet past, so the samples collected from the delta might show signs of a previous life. For the Mars Sample Return () Campaign, Perseverance is expected to drop several sample tubes in strategic areas. Future spacecraft will come and collect the tubes and will take them back home for further investigation.Currently, the car-sized rover is searching for the ideal landing spots for MSR operations. Engineers are looking for landing sites that are close to one another, as well as spots that are close to the delta. Moreover, they prefer a flat terrain  this will ensure that the spacecraft can land safely without having to face any obstructions or rocky formations.Overall, the teams goal is to find a flat landing spot with a 200-ft (60-meter) radius. They call it the landing strip since, from space, it looks like a flat runway. While researchers have seen images from orbit that show which zones fit the criteria, looking through Perseverace s eyes can tell them exactly what they need to know.Now we have some up-close-and-personal shots of the landing strip that indicate we were right on the money. The landing strip will more than likely make our shortlist of potential landing and caching sites for MSR, said Al Chen, Mars Sample Return Systems Engineering & Integration manager at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL.
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The following is the full text of Xi Jinping's letter replying to young people from China's Taiwan who were attending the Straits Youth Forum.

Dear young friends from Taiwan at the Straits Youth Forum,

I have received your letter, and I am pleased to learn that through attending the forum, you have formed closer ties with the mainland where you have found the stage to realize your dreams and witnessed with your own eyes the rapid changes taking place in the motherland. I am also very glad to know that you have felt the deep attachment like family members between compatriots across the Taiwan Strait.

A nation will prosper only when its young people thrive, and a country will be strong only when its young people have strength. The future of the motherland and the nation lies with the youth. We will, as always, create favorable conditions for young people across the Strait to learn from each other, and provide more convenience for young people from Taiwan to study, find jobs, start businesses and live in the mainland.

I hope you will share your experiences and insights about the mainland with your peers in Taiwan so that Taiwan youth will know more about the mainland, and join hands with young people in the mainland to strive with tenacity and make their life blossom in the great process of realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Xi Jinping

July 11, 2022


BEV

Creating, improving, promoting, selling and retaining people with a product seems like an easy task if you do it on a small scale. But when you have to create, promote, and sell to people in the same way in more than 300 retailers around the world, then you definitely need standards.Standards get people used to the known, thus providing security and confidence, and Lexus customers have the certainty that they will receive the same treatment whenever they need it, with a sense of belonging to the family well impregnated. In fact, Lexus has been the leader in quality and customer care in Norway for 11 years in a row, as shown by the AutoIndex satisfaction survey.Set up around the idea of 'standards,' Lexus chose to stimulate its teams through the Kiwami Awards, founded in 2016, a competition focused on the entire experience that the customer has with the brand, and more specifically, based on hospitality at the highest level, as the name implies (Kiwami in Japanese means 'ultimate').This year, the Kiwami Awards ceremony took place in Madrid, where the ten winning dealers had the opportunity to experience live the all new RZ and RX and feel at ease with theSport concept, recently presented at Goodwood . They were joined by the winners from 2020 and 2021, since the awards were not held in recent years due to Covid restrictions.Without further ado, the winning countries of the Kiwami Awards 2022 are: France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, UK and Ukraine, with three special prizes offered for Lexus Padova (Italy), Lexus Sabadell (Spain) and Tbilisi (Georgia), winning this award for 3 years in a row.In 2021, Lexus received recognition for the most satisfactory Customer Service for New Vehicle (NCBS), as well as for the After Sales part (IACS), once again validating the Omentashi philosophy around which the brand is built.
Turkey is now a hotspot for Russian-owned superyachts, as is Dubai. In the months that passed since the start of the war, some of the most expensive, famous, and beautiful vessels ever built made a mad dash across the worlds seas and are now safely docked here, where sanctions dont apply. Elsewhere, vessels that werent able to get out in time were arrested or downright seized by local authorities Polaris is a very new superyacht explorer that was able to successfully evade sanctions . Launched in January 2021 in Viareggio, Italy, by Rossinavi , it is the shipyards biggest build to date, and a custom one, at it. Measuring 70 meters (230 feet), its an ice-class hull designed and tailored to the specific tastes of its multi-millionaire owner Maxim Shubarev, chairman of Setl Group. This was the second vessel built for Shubarev by Rossinavi after Polaris I, registered as Parillion after he sold it.Being an experienced seafarer and yacht-owner, Shubarev knew exactly what he wanted from his second, biggest, and better vessel, and Rossinavi delivered after 5 years on the job.With an exterior and interior design by Enrico Gobbis Team for Design, it stands out for its very elegant and modern silhouette and classic and sophisticated interiors. Offering accommodation for 12 guests and 17 crew, Polaris (initially codenamed Project King Shark) is decked with semi-precious stones, custom furniture, and hardwoods and features custom touches like a 6-meter (20-foot) infinity pool at the stern, a sizable gym that doubles as a yoga studio, and a private terrace to the owners vast suite.Because looks arent everything in life (or so we keep hearing), Polaris was designed for cruising just as easily through the choppy, icy waters of Antarctica as it does in the Caribbean. Top speed is 17 knots (19.5 mph / 31.5 kph), with a 6,000-nautical mile (6,905-miles / 11,112-km) range at a cruising speed of 15 knots (17.2 mph / 27.8 kph).Shubarev is worth an estimated $500 million, but, unlike countless Russian oligarchs, neither he nor his assets are on any current sanctions lists, superyacht vlogger eSysman notes (check out the video below, starting at the 2.15-minute mark). In March, when the first sanctions went into effect, Polaris was docked in Malta; Shubarev himself has a Maltese passport since 2018, and the superyacht was registered there, as well.However, Malta and other EU countries, specifically neighboring Italy, have arrested assets from Russian oligarchs without them being on the sanctions list  as a matter of principle if you will. As a preemptive measure, Polaris left Malta and headed to Fethiye, Turkey, where it laid low for several months.That last part isnt surprising behavior: as noted above, many owners have moved their floating palaces out of reach these past few months, and many of these stories are well documented in the media. But Polaris is a singular case because, after evading possible sanctions, its now back in the danger zone  in Italy , out of all places. Its now sailing under a different flag and a different name, and its docked at the Rossinavi shipyard in Viareggio.As eSysman reports, Polaris is now called Polestar and is sailing under a Cayman Islands flag. Re-registering a vessel is not uncommon and has become somewhat standard practice since sanctions went into effect. But changing a vessels name without it changing hands is highly uncommon, and its unlikely that an $80 million superyacht sold in an off-market deal in record time without a word getting out. Its probable that paper ownership has changed, which gives Shubarev confidence that his vessel isnt going to get into any trouble while in Italy.Call this a where theres a will, theres a way-type of story, or call it giving the finger to authorities with help from legal loopholes, but theres a feeling that the story of this elegant and highly-competent superyacht explorer is about to include some legal drama soon.
German eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft developer Volocopter will showcase its VoloCity air taxi in Singapore, in what is described as the companys first exhibition in Asia.

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The implications of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade are reverberating nationwide as states reemerge as the new battlefields for abortion rights
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You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has urged young people across the Taiwan Strait to jointly strive for the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Xi made the remarks in a letter replying to young people from Taiwan who are attending the Straits Youth Forum held in Xiamen, Fujian Province from Monday to Tuesday. 
HOUSTON (AP)  An appeals court on Monday stayed this weeks execution of a death row inmate who had raised questions about whether prosecutors had presented false and inaccurate testimony from an expert on whether he would commit more crimes in the future.

Ramiro Gonzales, 39, had been set to receive a lethal injection for fatally shooting Bridget Townsend. Gonzales kidnapped Townsend, who was the girlfriend of his drug dealer, from a Bandera County home in January 2001 after stealing drugs and money. He later took her to his familys ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted the 18-year-old before killing her. Her remains werent found until nearly two years later.

Gonzales attorneys had asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stay his execution, arguing prosecutors presented false testimony that wrongly claimed he would be a future danger, a legal finding needed to impose a death sentence.

His attorneys had argued that a prosecution expert, psychiatrist Edward Gripon, had falsely testified that people who commit sexual assault have an extremely high rate of  recidivism, as high as 80%.

Gonzales attorneys argued subsequent reviews by experts and reporters found that no reliable statistical study had ever supported such a high recidivism rate.

In its three-page order on Monday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said Gonzales attorneys had made sufficient claim showing that testimony of recidivism rates Gripon gave at trial were false and ... that false testimony could have affected the jurys answer to the future dangerousness question at punishment.

The appeals court ordered Gonzales case to be sent to his trial court for further review.

It was not immediately known if the Texas Attorney Generals Office would appeal the execution stay. An agency spokesman didnt immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

After re-evaluating Gonzales earlier this year, Gripon says his prediction the inmate would be a future danger was wrong, adding Gonzales has taken responsibility for what he did and has expressed remorse.

The appeals courts order came about a couple of hours after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied a request by Gonzales attorneys to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty or delay his execution for 180 days so he could donate a kidney to someone who may need it.

Gonzales had also asked Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to delay his execution, for 30 days, so he could donate a kidney.

Gonzales attorneys say the kidney donation is part of his effort to atone for his crimes.

I am sorry, deeply sorry, that I took what was so precious to you and I know theres nothing I can do or say to make it better.

I have absolutely no excuse for what I have done and theres absolutely no one to blame but me, Gonzales wrote in a letter to Townsends family.

If his execution had proceeded, Gonzales had asked that his spiritual adviser be allowed in the death chamber so she can pray aloud, hold his hand and place her other hand on his chest.

Texas prison officials objected to the hand holding request, citing security concerns, but a federal judge in Houston said in a temporary order the execution could only go forward if all of Gonzales religious accommodations were granted.

Prosecutors described Gonzales as a sexual predator who told police he ignored her pleas to spare her life.

Townsends body wasnt found until October 2002, when Gonzales led authorities to her remains after receiving two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman.

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Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
A reader demands to know when I'm going to stop writing about "this so-called phony racist (expletive) that Latinos are being discriminated against."

Maybe when we no longer have to put up with stories like that of 17-year-old Domonique Ramirez, a Mexican-American and ousted Miss San Antonio who was told by an Anglo pageant official to lose weight and "get off the tacos."

This story originated in the world of beauty pageants, but it's still as ugly as they come. It's either a case of racism or "sizeism." Or both. And if you need help seeing what's so offensive, imagine a Jewish girl being told to stay away from bagels, an African-American being warned to avoid fried chicken, or a Chinese-American advised to steer clear of egg rolls.

Not very appetizing, is it?

I prefer an amusing commercial featuring glamorous Mexican actress Salma Hayek in a restaurant kitchen devouring tacos while a group of movie executives wait for her at a table. When she joins them, she forgoes the menu and declares that she is watching her figure.

It's a great spot because it shows an attractive actress doing something we don't often see Hollywood starlets doing: eating and enjoying food. And Hayek is no less desirable for it.

In a country where many young women combat anorexia, I hope young Latinas - including the two cuties back home who call me "daddy" - grow up to see the world, and their bodies, more like the people who created the Hayek commercial and less like, to borrow from Charlie Sheen, the "trolls" who get their kicks coming up with creative and cruel ways to put down girls for not having what they consider perfect bodies.

People like Linda Woods, the socially impaired president of the Miss San Antonio pageant board who admitted on a local radio show that she made the tacos comment but claimed that it was only "because (Ramirez) is 17 and that's what these kids eat."

Really? Visit a fast-food joint during a high school's lunch hour, and you'll see that "these kids" also munch down pizza, hamburgers, milkshakes and fries. But for some reason, Woods didn't tell Ramirez to avoid those fatty foods. Why is that?

Ramirez - who weighs 129 pounds and wears a size 2 - was ultimately stripped of her title and the scholarship that goes with it. Both were awarded to 21-year-old Ashley Dixon, the first runner-up.

Woods claims that Ramirez violated her contract by showing up late to personal appearances and taking a modeling assignment not sanctioned by the organization.

Ramirez sued. But Texas District Judge Cathy Stryker rejected her request for a court order to keep her title.

Regardless of how this plays out in court, Woods should be dumped from the Miss San Antonio organization. Does this institution really want to see its image tarnished by continuing to be represented by someone who acts so boorishly?

Besides, given that San Antonio is more than 60 percent Latino, do the pageant's sponsors really want to associate themselves and their brands with such inappropriate comments?

Fearing that I might be making too much out of this story, I reached out to someone who is an expert on Latinas and their self-image. Screenwriter Josefina Lopez helped movie audiences understand that - as her film is titled - "Real Women Have Curves." But she still doesn't understand how thickheaded some people can be when it comes to weight.

"When are people going to get it that beauty comes in all sizes?" Lopez told me.

"It's ridiculous that they keep emphasizing that (Ramirez) ate too many tacos, almost making it a racial insult. I hope she gets her crown back and shows people that being a beauty queen isn't just about beauty but about standing on your throne and fighting injustice too!"

Woods insists that this story isn't about race and that, her comments about tacos not withstanding, Ramirez's weight "has nothing to do with why she is not Miss San Antonio anymore."

If you believe any of that, I've got a building in San Antonio to sell you. It needs a little work, but it's a classic. Go downtown and look for the Alamo.

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Ruben@RubenNavarrette.com
Kim Brent/The Enterprise

Student Julio Delgado needs an administrative break from Lamar University. Or some money. Possibly both. But as our story on Friday reported, this deserving young man should not be kept in the bureaucratic limbo that is preventing him from reaching his dreams  and helping the rest of this country as well with his education.

In some respects his story is unusual, but elements of it undoubtedly apply to many college students these days.

Delgado received a Gates Millennium Scholarship, which is a coveted award that covers tuition of up to five years undergraduate, two years of graduate and four years of a doctoral classes.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Port Arthur native struggled with the transition to virtual classes and considered taking time off  something that thousands of other students did as well.

But for him, that option took on new urgency when he and his two brothers got COVID-19. Tragically, his 16-year-old brother Isaias died due to virus complications on Aug. 31, 2021.

"At this point, it wasn't a decision of if I'm going to go back or not," Delgado said. "At that point, I knew for a fact that I had to take some time off. My mom was going to need some time to grieve. She was going to need some time to process the loss of a child."

Delgado had already completed five years of his undergraduate classes and has one year left. He wants to defer his scholarship until he's able to return to classes.

But now, a $7,500 overdue balance from his unfinished 2021 semester prevents him from receiving the transcript he needs to defer the scholarship. Then, he can later reinstate the funding as a graduate student.

But time is running out for him. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says he needs to have his transcript by July 14, next Thursday, or he could lose it and forfeit any future funding.

Delgado has asked Lamar to temporary forgive his balance so he can get his transcript, but it doesnt look promising at this point. Back in October 2021, he sent a letter and email to Lamar University President Jamie Taylor asking for help in gaining his transcript. Dr. Taylor replied that he would look into it and get back to Delgado, but over the past eight months he hasnt heard anything from the president.

The Enterprise reached out to Dr. Taylor on this issue and got a reply that he was out and would not return to the office until July 15  one day after Delgado needs an answer.

Delgado has also started a Go Fund Me to raise the money he needs and a change.org petition to persuade Lamar to give him his transcript. Hes frustrated, and understandably so.,

''Before Spring 2021, the university got $80,000 in my name through this scholarship provider," Delgado said. "So, to hold my transcript for $7,500 when they have the opportunity to continue getting more if I stay as a graduate ... seems like a short-sighted decision to make."

It is. In the short term, Lamar should give him the administrative leeway he needs to fix this situation. Delgado stress that he's not asking for the school to forgive the balance, just enough time to get it. In the mean time, he doesn't want to lose his valuable scholarship.

Its hard enough getting a college education these days. Many students have to take out loans that they struggle to repay. Many Lamar students have to get their education and work or take care of children at the same time. Many other Lamar students are the first person in their family to pursue higher education.

The students who try to overcome these barriers need all the help they can get. Frankly, not all of them can be helped all of the time. But Julio Delgado can be, right now.

Delgado even dreams of being the Lamar president some day. Given his intellect and ambition, that cant be ruled out. But that wont happen unless he can get his transcript and defer his scholarship. Lamar University or the Gates Foundation  or both  need to come through for him.
Jay Dickman/Getty Images

In 1776, we Americans were poor dirt farmers, roving merchants and indentured servants living hand to mouth. We were struggling peasants who dared to unite in defiance of formidable obstacles.



One was the British Empires supreme monarch, King George III, known for his vindictive, entitled power above any law. We yearned for a legal system holding ALL people accountable.



And royal power could exact compliance and divide us against each other. Loyalists stood behind their tyrant father. But the rest of us were unimpressed by wealth and power. We risked all for our fellow workers, who shared our hard labor, passion for freedom, and love for our hungry families, not some entitled elite who had never worked a day.



It was a big gamble: would our fellows sell us out or hold true? Could workers trust each other, and self-govern? Our revolution inspired workers around the world to throw off their chains and claim their future. Imperfect though it was, a new workers government was born.



The reptilian eyes of oligarchs are still focused on our democracy, their methods ever more sophisticated to make us cynical, apathetic and divided. Like our forefathers, we protect each others rights through unity. Americans have different cultures, but none of us bend a knee for any king.



By standing up for our co-worker, sister or friend, we secure the rights of every American to a decent life, equal participation, and freedom from persecution. We create an America of, by, and for the people.
Part of San Franciscos great charm is the fact that its a peninsula city, meaning no sprawl. Limited room for new development has its downsides, but it also inspires a high degree of creativity when it comes to working with whats already there. In the case of the citys newest park, Tunnel Tops, this meant making rather exciting use of the land above the Presidio Parkway tunnels, installed in 2015 to replace the seismically unsound Doyle Drive.

By reconnecting Crissy Field and the Main Parade, the Tunnel Tops knits back together the Presidio, which was split in two by [Doyle Drive] for almost a century, says Jean Fraser, CEO of the Presidio Trust.

When the park opens to the public on July 17, guests can walk between the two areas like the Presidio-based soldiers used to, enjoying the parks scenic overlooks, picnic spots and playful outpost along the way.

In honor of the parks 14-acre size, here are 14 facts about San Franciscos newest park.

1. Yes, its only 14 acres but

Tunnel Tops is the newest addition to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a collection of National Park Service properties including Alcatraz, Muir Woods and Ocean Beach and totaling 114 square miles. I like to think of these 14 acres as an incredible gateway to that 114 square miles, says Chris Lehnertz, president and CEO of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

2. The park is designed to be inclusive

From major art projects by local BIPOC artists to a welcome sign recognizing the original Ohlone residents, Tunnel Tops aims to be an inclusive national park space. Its important to recognize that national parks have historically not been welcoming places for people of color, largely due to systemic racism and environmental racism, says Oakland-based Favianna Rodriguez, an independent artist with the Presidio Activators, which was tasked with developing events and activities that will create a sense of connection to the new park.

3. It evokes nature found in the Presidio

From benches shaped like driftwood to climbing structures resembling the nests of the hooded oriole, every facet of Tunnel Tops has been inspired by the environment that surrounds it. The benches are actually made from cypress trees felled in the Presidio, an annual culling that keeps the forest healthy. And look out for the large oak tree that was found fallen in the Presidio that kids can play on in the outpost  now every child can know what it feels like to climb a tree.

4. Its totally free

Theres no cost to enter, nor any added cost to use any of the on-site facilities. Picnic benches, the campfire, barbecue pits, the outpost, the field station  all of it is free for everybody. Lehnertz explains that this was in part a response to community feedback about the challenges of life in an increasingly unaffordable San Francisco: We heard a lot from the community early in the process about how challenging it is to raise a family in San Francisco, how incredibly expensive everything is, and that there just arent that many wonderful things that you can come and spend the day doing.

5. It offers a classic national park experience

Not every city dweller can get to Yosemite or Yellowstone, which is why so much of Tunnel Tops emulates the traditional national park experience. The campfire circle is the most evocative example of this ethos, and a perfect place to enjoy San Franciscos classic summer fog. Up to 75 guests can share the firelight while a park ranger gives educational talks.

Bring your kids, bring your dogs or come for a solo stroll. Presido Tunnel Tops

6. Dogs are welcome

While many national parks expressly forbid dogs, Tunnel Tops welcomes leashed pups. There are even waste bags available at the Presidio Plaza entrance.

7. Four overlooks offer spectacular vantages on San Franciscos most notable sights

Theres much to see from Tunnel Tops beyond the features of the park. The parks 360-degree horizon captures the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Alcatraz and downtown San Francisco, says Richard Kennedy, the parks lead designer and senior principal at James Corner Field Operations. Its also fun to look out over the tunnels to see the cars passing underneath.

8. Public transportation access is actually not that bad

Transportation infrastructure is already in place for Tunnel Tops, meaning no pesky trial-and-error phase as the park gets underway. The free PresidiGo shuttle actively serves this area from downtown San Francisco, including the Transbay Terminal.

9. It shares a designer with the High Line in NYC

James Corner Field Operations designed the instantly iconic High Line in New York. In 2014, they landed the Tunnel Tops job. Their approach? Dont overdo it. The art of park-making in this incredible setting is to keep things simple, to practice restraint so as to not detract from or overwhelm the view, and to carefully choreograph paths and features so that the power and beauty of the site is revealed and heightened as one moves through the space, Kennedy says.

10. And 10,000 S.F. community members helped

The design professionals werent the only ones consulted on this park. Input from more than 10,000 community members helped shape Tunnel Tops, and children from the city tested it out in person prior to opening.

Campfires, barbecue pits, picnic benches  its all free for visitors. Presido Tunnel Tops

11. Presidio history can be found throughout

After coming into service as a military base in 1846, the Presidio was decommissioned in 1989 and handed to the National Park Service five years later. Several historic buildings remain, like a circa-1900 guardhouse that now houses the Presidio Visitor Center. Another beautiful historic building will become the Tunnel Tops restaurant.

12. There are 180 native plant species

Drought-resistance was the most important quality for plants at Tunnel Tops, which meant that many Mediterranean species found a new home in the park. As guests move from the Presidio Plaza down towards the waterfront, the plants become entirely species native to the Presidio  180 of them, to be exact.

13. Creating Tunnel Tops was a group effort

Two federal agencies managing the Presidio  the Presidio Trust and the National Park Service  and the nonprofit Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy shared one goal: to make national park experiences accessible to all in San Francisco. Tunnel Tops was able to give life to this dream after the GGNPC raised $98 million from many generous donors, including San Francisco families like the Benioffs and the Reillys.

14. The park has been in the works for nearly 30 years

In 1993, it became clear that Doyle Drive would not endure another 1989-level earthquake. Presidio Parkway replaced Doyle Drive in 2015, with tunnels beneath the Presidio replacing open highway  presenting city planners with the opportunity to unify the two previously separated pieces. Nearly 30 years later, Tunnel Tops makes good on that once-distant ambition.

This article was featured in the InsideHook SF newsletter. Sign up now for more from the Bay Area.

The post A Crash Course on SFs New 14-Acre Park: Presidio Tunnel Tops appeared first on InsideHook.
MOSCOW, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the development of bilateral economic cooperation, and the situation in Ukraine during a telephone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.

Both leaders "focused on tasks to further promote economic cooperation, including measures to improve the contractual legal framework, boost trade and use national currencies in transactions, as well as to ensure uninterrupted supplies of Russian energy," the Kremlin said.

"The two leaders agreed on close interaction in these areas at the level of the co-chairs of the bilateral intergovernmental commission and the leaders of relevant agencies," it added.

Putin and Erdogan also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, including ways in which both countries can coordinate efforts to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea, and the export of grain to global markets.

Erdogan noted it is time for the United Nations "to take action for the plan regarding the formation of secure corridors via the Black Sea for the grain export," according to Turkey's presidential office.

He added Turkey is ready "to provide all kinds of support for the revival of the negotiation process" between Russia and Ukraine. 
Myanmars junta is unlikely to sign off on an all-inclusive dialogue to resolve the countrys political crisis unless additional pressure is applied, observers said Monday, following calls by both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China to allow all stakeholders to the negotiating table.

But sources in Myanmar told Radio Free Asia (RFA), an online affiliate of BenarNews, that even if all sides of the political spectrum were represented at talks, compromise would be difficult because of how far apart their views are on how the country should be governed.

It could happen if more international and domestic pressure mounted, political analyst Than Soe Naing said of the likelihood of all-inclusive talks.

Under the present circumstances, when [the junta has] some control over the country, they do not seem interested.

Than Soe Naing noted that the junta is adamant about maintaining Myanmars 2008 Constitution, which grants the military 25 percent of parliamentary seats, giving it an effective veto on constitutional reform. The countrys shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and Peoples Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group said they will negotiate with the junta only if it completely withdraws from politics.

They would have to reconcile that and I dont think it will be easy. So I think [all-inclusive talks are] unlikely at the moment, he said.

Additionally, Than Soe Naing said, there is nobody who can represent the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) at negotiations with the junta because all of the partys top officials were arrested in the aftermath of the militarys Feb. 1, 2021 coup.

The military claims voter fraud led to a landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyis NLD in the countrys November 2020 election. The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide protests calling for a return to civilian rule, killing 2,076 people and arresting 14,544 over the last 17 months, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing agreed to pursue talks with all of Myanmars stakeholders following an emergency ASEAN meeting on the situation in the country in April 2021, but has yet to do so. Calls for such a dialogue were reiterated by ASEAN Special Envoy for Myanmar Prak Sokhonn during his June 29 to July 2 trip to Myanmar and again, days later, by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting with his junta counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Thailand along with ASEAN members and China to push the junta to end violence against its people and follow through on its pledge at last years ASEAN meeting, following a meeting in Bangkok with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha.

Protesters hold posters during a motorcycle rally demonstration against the military coup near the royal palace in Mandalay, Myanmar, Feb. 7, 2021. [AFP]

Up to the people

Nai Than Shwe, a spokesman for the Mon Unity Party (MUP) who met with Sokhonn during his visit, told RFA on Monday that the junta must have a desire for dialogue if all-inclusive talks are to take place.

If the junta takes the initiative, anything is possible. But its up to the junta whether or not a dialogue will happen, he said.

An abbot of the Mandalay Sangha Union of Buddhist monks told RFA that ASEAN and China are advocating for all-inclusive talks in the hopes of a return to the status quo in Myanmar.

The dialogue that both ASEAN and China are pushing for is, in short, nothing more than a return to quasi-military rule we used to have before the coup, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

However, the kind of negotiations called for by the NLD cannot end there. If they do, the people will not accept it.

He noted that the military, the NUG, and the PDF have all said they have no interest in negotiations, so it is up to the people to make it happen.

A spokesman for the anti-junta Peoples Defense Battalion No. 2 in Mon states Thaton township, who also declined to be named, echoed the abbots suggestion that the people of Myanmar must push for an all-inclusive dialogue.

Most of our PDF units  do not want discussions or negotiations with them, he said.

Given our military momentum and the participation of the people, as well as growing international pressure, we have no reason to discuss anything with them at this time. They are actually looking for a way out.  But if the people want us to do it, we will do it.

Junta deputy information minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun had earlier told RFA that the junta would not hold talks with those facing trial or with the NUG and PDF, who it has labeled terrorists. However, following the visits of the ASEAN and Chinese envoys, he told the BBC in an interview that nothing is politically impossible.

The NUG is adamant that it will not hold talks with the junta. Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the office of NUG President Duwa Lashi La, did not respond to requests for comment.
A protester holds a sign in the form of a paper boat cutout while taking part in a demonstration over Philippine territorial rights in the South China Sea, outside the Chinese consulate in Makati, the financial district in Metro Manila, July 12, 2022.

Filipino nationalists and activists pressed new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to actively assert their countrys territorial rights, as the Philippines marked the sixth anniversary on Tuesday of an arbitration courts ruling that invalidated Beijings sweeping claims in the South China Sea.

About 50 activists assembled outside Chinas consulate in Makati, the financial district of the Philippine capital, where they carried signs demanding that Chinese ships and boats stay out of the West Philippine Sea, Manilas name for its South China Sea territories.

The issue of the territorial dispute is not just an abstract question of sovereignty, of access to resources, Benjamin Miguel Alvero, a spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Coalition, the group that led the protest, told BenarNews.

Last month, officials reported that 100 Chinese ships were seen swarming in the Julian Filipe Reef alone  one of the areas inside the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ)  but they did not update those figures on Tuesday.

The militarization of the West Philippine Sea has concrete repercussions for thousands of ordinary Filipinos, of fisherfolk communities that are unable to work and pursue their livelihood because of the threat of harassment, especially from Chinese military forces, Alvero said.

The Philippines, he said, must confront what he called the expansionist ambitions of a rising China.

We challenge the newly elected administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to prove its commitment to serving the Filipino people (by) pursuing a principled foreign policy, unlike the last six years under the Duterte government, he said.

Enrique A. Manalo, the new Philippine secretary of foreign affairs, marked the occasion with a statement that did not hold back on the Marcos administrations stance on the landmark 2016 verdict by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

The findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal, and are conclusive as they are indisputable, he said. The award is final. We firmly reject attempts to undermine it; nay, even erase it from law, history and our collective memories.

The courts award on July 12, 2016, along with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), are the twin anchors of Philippine policy and action in the sea, Manalo said.

The court authoritatively ruled that the claim of historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the nine-dash line had no basis in law and is without legal effect, the foreign secretary added, referring to Chinas insistence that it historically owned much of the disputed sea.

Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos immediate predecessor who took office in mid-2016, was long criticized for being perceived as soft on Chinas military expansionism in the waterway.

Shortly after Duterte came to power, the arbitration court ruled in favor of Manila over Beijing after Chinese ships had refused since 2012 to leave Scarborough Shoal, a South China Sea territory within the Philippines 200-mile EEZ. Ever since the courts decision, Beijing has refused to leave the area and has carried on with its expansionist maritime activities.

During most of his time in office, Duterte engaged Chinese President Xi Jinping in friendlier ties while pulling the Philippines away from Chinas traditional rival, the United States. Washington, in the meantime, refused to buckle under pressure and frequently sailed its naval ships into the contested waters under the doctrine of freedom of navigation.

However, late into his term, Duterte declared in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly that the arbitration ruling was beyond compromise and that we firmly reject attempts to undermine it.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) and his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, cross paths at the Malacanang Palace grounds during the official handover ceremony, June 30, 2022. [BenarNews/FOCAP pool]

The protest in Makati was not as large as in previous years and came a week after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Marcos in Manila, during which he emphasized that the bilateral relationship had progressed during the Duterte years.

Also on Tuesday, Pamalakaya, a fishermens group, staged a colorful parade involving about 30 fishing boats on Laguna de Bay, near Manila. Participants called for Marcos to be forceful in pressing China to honor the ruling.

Six years after our landmark victory, China wont stop violating our fishing and sovereign rights in our traditional fishing grounds. Not less than 600,000 fisherfolks and fish workers are directly affected by Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea, said Ronnel Arambulo, the groups spokesman.

Arambulo said Marcos should strongly assert sovereign rights to China using the arbitral award and break free from mendicant foreign policies that give leeway to China to carry out more aggressive actions in our waters.

On the eve of Wangs arrival last week, Marcos, during his first press conference as president, said that his administration was looking to deepen its relations with the regional superpower.

The agenda Im sure will be to strengthen ties between China and the Philippines and of course to find ways to work, to resolve the conflicts that we have, Marcos told reporters at the Malacanang Palace on July 5.

A Philippine protester wears a headband in Tagalog that translates to will not be oppressed while joining others during a rally in front of the Chinese consulate in Manilas financial district, July 12, 2022. [Jojo Rinoza/BenarNews]

Washingtons support

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his governments backing of the Philippines by stating that Washington was committed to preserving a system where goods, ideas and people flow freely across land, sky, cyberspace and the open seas.

Preserving a free and open South China Sea governed by international law, as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, is part of this shared vision, Blinken said in a statement marking the anniversary of the court ruling.

He noted that the ruling firmly rejected Chinas expansive South China Sea maritime claims.

Blinken said the State Department this year had released what it calls the  Limits in the Seas No. 150  - a study examining coastal state maritime claims and their consistency with international law. In particular, it examined Beijings claims following the tribunals ruling.

This study concluded that these rearticulated maritime claims remain plainly inconsistent with international law, Blinken said, adding that any attacks of Philippine armed forces, ships or aircraft would automatically invoke defense commitments. The U.S. and the Philippines have a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

We call again on the PRC to abide by its obligations under international law and cease its provocative behavior, Blinken said using an acronym for Peoples Republic of China. We will continue to work with allies and partners, as well as regional institutions like ASEAN, to protect and preserve the rules-based order.

Apart from the Philippines, other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members who have claims running against China in the potentially rich sea region are Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province, has its own claims.

Beijing also claims historic rights to parts of the sea overlapping ASEAN member Indonesias EEZ.
Refugees who fled fighting between the Myanmar army and insurgent groups and temporarily settled on the banks of the Moei River along the Thai border receive aid in Mae Sot, Thailand, Jan. 7, 2022.

Updated at 10:25 a.m. ET on 2022-07-12

Thailand should allow delivery of cross-border humanitarian aid into Myanmar and not push back people seeking refuge from threats to their life and freedom in that country, a U.S.-based NGO is urging in a new report.

Thousands of Burmese have crossed into Thailand along the porous 2,400-km (1,500-mile) frontier to flee the conflict in the wake of a military coup that toppled an elected civilian-led government and installed a junta in Naypyidaw early last year.

The military junta has committed widespread atrocities and blocked international humanitarian groups from delivering aid to areas that desperately need it, Refugees International, a Washington-based group, said in its report released Tuesday.

In the meantime, delivery of international aid through Myanmars neighbors, particularly through local groups active along the Thai-Myanmar border, presents an underutilized path for getting assistance to those in need.

The report comes two days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a visit to Bangkok, urged Thailand, other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China to press the Burmese junta into ending violence against Myanmars people and moving that country back toward democracy.

Led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmars military toppled the democratically elected government in February 2021 and has thrown its civilian leaders in jail. Fighting between junta forces and opposition groups across the country has forced mass displacement amid growing humanitarian needs.

Thai authorities must also live up to their commitments to non-refoulement and refrain from pressuring people fleeing violence in Myanmar from returning before it is safe to do so, Refugees International said.

Thailand, long considered a linchpin in relations between ASEAN and member-state Myanmar, has been criticized as being relatively soft on the post-coup crisis that has divided the 10-member regional bloc.

Thailand is reluctant to do anything to incentivize more refugees coming into the country, but failure to allow cross-border aid  and thus allowing conditions for people across the border to deteriorate  could do just that, Refugees International said.

A Thai foreign ministry spokesman explained his governments assistance efforts.

Our policy is to give humanitarian assistance to displaced people who fled to Thailand.  From government to government, we never change our policy on the displaced people from Myanmar, spokesman Tanee Sangrat told BenarNews.

The media and a few countries have concerns lately perhaps due to the changes of the situation in Myanmar and along the border, he said.

Myanmar refugees walk across the river to enter Thailands Mae Sot district, Jan. 15, 2022. [AFP]

Myanmar crisis

During the fighting inside Myanmar, the juntas forces have detained more than 14,000 people, while more than 2,000 civilians have been killed, according to Thailands Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

About 1.1 million people have been displaced in Myanmar, including 758,500 forced to flee their homes as of June 20, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). An estimated 14.4 million people, or a quarter of the countrys population, need humanitarian assistance due to the conflict.

In recent months, the most intense fighting has occurred in Chin, Sagaing and Magway states in northwestern Myanmar and in Karen and Karenni states in the southeast that borders Thailand.

Junta forces have burned thousands of homes while fighting and airstrikes have caused more than 500,000 to flee their homes, said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

For its part, Thailand has restricted cross-border aid, Refugees International said in the report, adding that the Burmese junta controls main roads and has allegedly seized or destroyed aid while attacking humanitarian workers.

Similarly, Refugees International said, Myanmars rugged terrain limits informal aid for thousands who need humanitarian assistance in the interim and those living in areas not under junta control.

Thailand-linked cross-border organizations have been providing some aid to residents in Karen and Karenni states. These groups have been operating since the 1990s when ethnic armed groups were fighting the Myanmar military.

Myanmar refugees ride on a boat after receiving aid in Mae Sot, Thailand, Jan. 4, 2022. [Reuters]

Aid barrier

One of the Thai governments main challenges in delivering aid across the border is Bangkoks concern with its relationship with the junta, Refugees International said, alleging that officials are seeking to balance economic and security interests by refusing cross-border aid officially.

The NGO called on the Thai and other governments to get involved.

The largest and most consistent barrier to humanitarian assistance is the lack of funding, it said.

While a few governments are supporting local groups involved in aid efforts, donor countries should step up support for these underutilized and low-profile mechanisms, it said.

Refugees International also said Thailand should provide protection and rights to thousands of people who have crossed the border from Myanmar to seek temporary or long-term refuge since the coup.

Salai Bawi, a research fellow at Chiang Mai University, said the Thai government had not taken the call for aid seriously because Thai people do not see the need to help the refugees as urgent.

For decades, the Thai government left the burden and responsibility of Myanmar refugees to international organizations, while it remained just a facilitator, he told BenarNews.

In the past, Thai authorities stressed that they had not forced refugees to return, adding that many had chosen to go back to Myanmar. Local media, NGOs and human rights activists, on the other hand, have alleged that Thai authorities pressure displaced Myanmar people into returning to their country, Refugees International said.

As of February 2022, the Thai government estimated that 17,000 Myanmar refugees had crossed into Thailand since the coup, but according to a report published by UNHCR in June, only 246 refugees remain in two Thai military-controlled sites where conditions are reported to be deplorable.

Kunnawut Boonreak in Chiang Mai, Thailand, contributed to this report.
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- China reported significant recovery momentum in the number of air trips and volume of mail and cargo in the first half of 2022, the country's civil aviation authority said Tuesday.

Nearly 118 million passenger trips were made from January to June, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The number of passenger trips recorded in May and June jumped 53.2 percent and 82.2 percent, respectively, month on month, with the single-day passenger trips exceeding 1 million on June 29, CAAC data showed.

The number of trips in June was about 46.2 percent of the number recorded in the same period in 2019, indicating a steady recovery, the CAAC added.

The volume of mail and cargo stood at about 3.08 million tonnes in the first half of the year, with the volume in June recovering to 89.7 percent of the number recorded in the same period in 2019, according to the administration.

Last month, the volume of international air cargo increased by 1.8 percent year on year, said the CAAC, pointing out the high market demand for civil aviation international cargo. 
ANKARA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Military delegations of Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey, along with UN officials, will meet in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the safe shipment of grain waiting at Ukrainian ports, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Tuesday.

In a written statement, Akar said he had held talks with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts Sergey Shoigu and Oleksii Reznikov on the issue, as a Turkish military delegation visited Moscow earlier after a visit by a Ukrainian delegation to Ankara.

These meetings yielded positive results, he noted.

Turkey seeks to broker a grain corridor from Ukraine across the Black Sea as part of a UN-backed effort to avert a global food crisis.

Turkey controls maritime traffic to and from the Black Sea through its Bosphorus Strait.

Ankara, which has good relations with both Kiev and Moscow, has been acting as a mediator between them since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in late February.

Turkey has said it is ready to take on a role within an "observation mechanism" if a deal is reached. 
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NORTHAMPTON  A 24-year-old man was ordered held without the right to bail at his arraignment Monday on charges that he killed his roommate and stole her car because he was about to become homeless.

Devin R. Bryden, formerly of North Adams, appeared in Northampton District Court and denied stabbing Jana M. Abromowitz, 21, to death in an apartment at 11 Hatfield St., a supportive housing unit run by DIAL/SELF Youth & Community Services.

According to the Northwestern district attorneys office, police were called to the apartment at around 6 p.m. Sunday and found Abromowitz dead in the kitchen.

Investigators learned that the victims car was stolen, there were security cameras outdoors and Bryden had called the property manager twice shortly after the slaying on a recorded phone line. Police determined that the car was in the parking lot of the Applebees on Route 20 in Westfield and arrested Bryden after finding him in the drivers seat.

In 2018, Bryden was living in North Adams and working at a restaurant in Williamstown.

A reporter for The Eagle interviewed Bryden for a story about people who use Berkshire Regional Transit Authority buses to commute. Then 20, Bryden said he took a bus to get to his job at Papa Charlies Deli on Spring Street in Williamstown.

Bryden said hed had a hard time finding the job. Its not that easy, Bryden said at the time. Most of these jobs are occupied and have been for a long time.

Court appearance

In court Monday, Bryden wore a green jumpsuit and did not speak during his brief court appearance before Judge Jacklyn Connly. His attorney, public defender Jonah Goldsmith, waived the formal reading of the charges  murder and larceny of a motor vehicle  and said Bryden pleaded not guilty. He is due back in court Aug. 10, at which time his bail denial could be reviewed.

According to a police report included in court records, a friend discovered Abromowitzs body in a pool of blood in front of the refrigerator and called the police. Responding officers found she had stab wounds to her face and head and signs of blunt force trauma.

She was pronounced dead at the scene. The friend who found her inadvertently left footprints in the blood and he turned over his shoes to police as evidence.

After his arrest, according to investigators, Bryden gave police details of the crime.

Bryden told investigators that he had been planning on killing the victim in order to steal her vehicle as he knew he was going to be homeless soon, a police report reads. Bryden allegedly said that, before going to Westfield, he took the knife to a friends house in Whately where he disposed of the knife and his sweatshirt.

Absolutely heartbroken

DIAL/SELF is a support program for at-risk young people ages 18-24. According to its website, the nonprofit works to help young people increase their personal and community strengths and develop autonomy by connecting them with housing, income, education and civic opportunities.

In a statement, DIAL/SELF executive director Phillip Ringwood said the organization is absolutely heartbroken and is working with Northampton police during the investigation.

DIAL/SELF program staff are reaching out to other young people at that property to make sure they have access to counseling and crisis services and supports in processing the trauma of this event, Ringwood said. Until the investigation into the death proceeds further, DIAL/SELF does not plan to make any additional comments on the details of this tragic loss of life.

Quote Bryden told investigators that he had been planning on killing the victim in order to steal her vehicle as he knew he was going to be homeless soon." Police report

Ringwoods statement concluded that the organization does not want its clients to be forced to relive details of (the case) in their news feeds while they are still trying to heal and process their experiences.

The first homicide in Hampshire County this year, the stabbing remains under investigation by the Northampton Police Department and the state police detective unit assigned to the district attorneys office. Assistant District Attorney Joseph Webber handled the arraignment.

Joseph Lubold of Holyoke, a close friend who affectionately referred to Abromowitz as his stepdaughter, spoke to reporters outside the courtroom. He said Abromowitz was adopted from Bulgaria at age 14.

This little girl worked every day during the pandemic and became the manager of the Burger King restaurant on King Street, Lubold said. She was living the American dream.  She was smart enough to get farther.

He said they met in 2019 while attending programs at The Literacy Project and quickly bonded. Abromowitz went on vacations with him and his sons, he said, and they planned to take a trip to her native Bulgaria someday.

Rick Patenaude and Margaret Perry, a married couple who live near 11 Hatfield St., said the police activity lasted nearly 12 hours, until about 6 a.m. on Monday. They said police are called to the site a few times a year, but there were no serious problems or disturbances there before the killing.

Perry said the couple did not hear anything while the crime was being committed, but based on the law enforcement response and the presence of people who appeared to be grieving, we assumed that someone had been killed, and the couple kept their distance.

Its kind of shocking that it happened here, Patenaude said, standing in his driveway on Monday afternoon. It really is a quiet neighborhood.  You dont expect this to happen here.

Jodi Lyn Cutler, outreach director at North Star in Sunderland, said Abromowitz attended the program, an alternative to school for teenagers, from 2015-20.

In her years at North Star she went from being a shy 14-year-old who spoke almost no English and spent her days upstairs, to knowing everyone, singing lead vocals and playing guitar in the North Star Band, and being a community leader, North Star said in a statement. We were immensely proud of her successes, and we are grieving and reeling from this shock.

Abromowitz attended the programs 26th anniversary party on June 11, Cutler said.

Of course, she was her usual smiling self, and she brought ice cream to the party, Cutler said. She really was a bright light in this world, even when things were not easy, and they were never easy.

Loran Saito, North Stars program director, said Abromowitz became friends with her children and forged uncommonly strong bonds with the staff.

I want the world to know that she was loved by many, many people, Saito said. Having had some struggles as a young child, she was really sensitive to people in need and always looking out for people who are vulnerable.

When Abromowitz visited North Star last month, she said, It was great to see her beautiful smile. It felt like a party because she showed up.
Employees of the Williamstown Department of Public Works conduct repairs on Bridges Road on Monday. The union for the DPW employees wrote a letter to the Select Board asking for hazard pay of $4,000 for each member for the work they did during the pandemic.
Speaking in the State Library, Secretary of State William Galvin on Monday said "the presses are now rolling" to get mail-in ballot applications complete after the state's highest court rejected a challenge to a new voting law.
UK's new PM to be announced on Sept. 5, says Tory lawmaker

Xinhua) 08:19, July 12, 2022

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returns to 10 Downing Street after his statement in London, Britain, July 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

The final two contenders will then go through a postal ballot of all the Conservative members, numbering around 200,000, over the summer and the winner will become the new Tory leader and UK's next prime minister.

LONDON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The new prime minister of the United Kingdom (UK) replacing incumbent Boris Johnson will be announced on September 5, said Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative Party's backbench 1922 Committee, on Monday.

Brady said the 1922 Committee, which runs the Tory leadership contest, has decided that the candidates will have to get the backing of 20 members of Parliament (MPs) when nominations open and close on Tuesday. The threshold is markedly higher than the required backing of eight MPs seen in the party's usual rules.

The first round of voting among Tory MPs will be held on Wednesday, he said, adding that the contenders will need to receive 30 votes to enter the second ballot which is to be held on Thursday.

A man holds signs against British Prime Minister Boris Johnson outside 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, July 7, 2022. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)

The number of contenders will be whittled down to two before MPs break up for the summer recess on July 21, he said.

The final two contenders will then go through a postal ballot of all the Conservative members, numbering around 200,000, over the summer and the winner will become the new Tory leader and UK's next prime minister.

"I am very keen we get this concluded as smoothly, cleanly, and rapidly as possible," said Brady, calling it a "perfectly reasonable" timetable that would allow the postal ballot to take place around the country over the summer.

"We do need to make sure there is a decent amount of time before the result is announced on 5th September," he added.

Wife of Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Carrie Johnson (C), listens as Boris Johnson makes a statement in front of 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, July 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

So far, 11 candidates have launched their bids to become the Conservative Party's next leader, with International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid among the frontrunners. Most of the contenders have vowed to cut taxes, ranging from corporation tax to income tax, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite.

The Tory leadership race was triggered after Johnson was forced to resign on Thursday by an avalanche of resignations of cabinet ministers and other junior government officials in protest against his scandal-hit leadership. Johnson continues to serve as the caretaker prime minister until a new Tory leader succeeds him.

Johnson, who won a landslide victory in the general elections in 2019, lost support after he was caught in a string of scandals, including the Partygate scandal and Pincher scandal involving his appointment of a politician accused of sexual misconduct.

People line up outside a COVID-19 vaccination center near the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, Dec. 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
UNITED NATIONS, July 12 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Tuesday welcomed the UN Security Council's adoption of a resolution that re-authorizes cross-border aid deliveries into Syria.

Resolution 2642 provides the necessary flexibility to allow the Security Council to assess and adjust its mandate in a timely manner, said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

The resolution sets out clear demands for early-recovery programs and greater transparency in relief efforts. The bimonthly informal interactive dialogues of the Security Council, provided for in the resolution, are also conducive to concrete follow-ups on the resolution, he said in an explanation of vote after the vote.

"We expect all parties to strictly abide by the basic principles governing international humanitarian assistance, strictly comply with the requirements of the Security Council resolutions, ensure the neutrality and transparency of assistance, and make it more targeted and effective," said Dai.

The resolution, which re-authorizes the cross-border mechanism for six months, was adopted with 12 votes in favor, with three abstentions (Britain, France and the United States).

The current authorization expired on Sunday after the Security Council failed on Friday to adopt any resolution that would have renewed the mechanism. Russia vetoed a draft resolution prepared by Ireland and Norway that sought a 12-month re-authorization. A Russian draft resolution, which would have renewed the mechanism for six months, failed to gain the necessary votes for approval.

Facts have shown that it is normal for members of the council to have differences. It is only natural that sometimes divergences can be sharp. But as long as the members have the political will, persevere in patient consultations and accommodate each other's concerns, the council can still find effective solutions, he said.

Ramming through a vote while major differences still exist will only intensify contradictions and differences and will do a disservice to maintaining the unity of the Security Council and ensuring its effective discharging of its responsibilities, he said.

China's position on the humanitarian issue in Syria is consistent and clear. It has always maintained that humanitarian assistance to Syria should respect Syria's sovereignty and the ownership of the Syrian government. Cross-line delivery should become the main channel as cross-border delivery is a temporary arrangement made under specific circumstances. It is necessary to speed up the transition to cross-line relief, and establish a clear timetable for the eventual termination of cross-border relief, said Dai.

Unilateral sanctions severely restrict the operations of the international humanitarian agencies in Syria, and run counter to the efforts of the Security Council and the international community to improve humanitarian access and increase humanitarian resources in Syria. China urges the relevant countries to immediately and comprehensively lift unilateral sanctions against Syria, he said. 
A Boise woman was sentenced to life in prison Monday for first degree murder.

Josina Regan, 46, killed John K. Baker, 52, at his Boise residence in October 2020, according to a news release from the Ada County Prosecuting Attorneys Office.

According to the prosecuting attorney, Regan fatally shot Baker and then delayed calling 911. During that time she prepared false evidence by editing data on her cell phone and stole drugs and money from Bakers home, the news release said.

Later, she told police that she discovered Bakers body and that she was not involved in the murder.

Regan was also convicted of preparing false evidence, possession of a controlled substance, conspiracy to possess a controlled substance, grand theft, conspiracy to commit grand theft, and three misdemeanors, the news release stated.

Ada County District Judge Nancy Baskin said that drug activity is a dirty business.

This sentence is clearly meant to deter others from being involved both in drug activity and to taking matters into their own hands and killing another individual when other options are available for them, Baskin said in the release.

Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts thanked Boise police detectives for their work during the investigation.




First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain.





Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that.





And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details.





If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Advertisers have a new opportunity to target a sought-after audience with high impact and reach. Primedia Outdoor, the premier provider of Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising solutions, recently added a new roadside LED to its growing digital portfolio across Africa. With the launch of this new LED in Lagos, Nigeria - Primedia Outdoor provides supreme quality and brand exposure on 125 digital billboards across Africa, in all major environments and at key touchpoints along the consumer journey, ensuring impact and coverage where it matters most.

The captivating high-definition roadside LED measures at 3.0 x 12.0 meters and is strategically positioned on Ligali Ayorinde Avenue opposite Ajose Adeogun Road in Victoria Island - the main business and financial centre of Lagos. The LED screen is set to reach an affluent and upmarket audience being located in one of the most exclusive areas of Lagos. Primedia Outdoors data sources reveals that this LED delivers a unique audience reach of 2,078,443 over a four-week period and a staggering 6,048,270 potential audience views.

Digital Out-of-Home is the fastest growing traditional media channel globally and we are committed to continuously grow our digital footprint across Africa to deliver high quality advertising platforms to our valued clients, said Isaac Ikhide, managing director at Primedia Outdoor Nigeria. We are ecstatic to add another impactful LED billboard to our existing network in Nigeria, affirming we are the leaders in digital advertising solutions across Africa, he added.

In addition to the newly launched roadside LED, Primedia Outdoor currently offers another roadside digital billboard located along Oworonshoki Expressway by Ondo Filling Station, Alapere, Lagos reaching 1,234,145 unique audiences in a month as well as an iconic bulkhead LED display in Ikeja City Mall, with a unique reach of 1,092,720.

About Primedia Outdoor

Primedia Outdoor is the premier provider of out of home media solutions within Sub Saharan Africa. A Level 1 BBEEE contributor, Primedia Outdoor is currently the largest wholly South-African-owned outdoor advertising media specialist offering national outdoor exposure throughout South Africa and high reach in key markets in rest of Africa. Primedia Outdoor offers flexible coverage of the entire LSM/SEM spectrum, targeting cosmopolitan consumers in major urban areas through to those living in rural communities.

Primedia Outdoor delivers exposure across a mix of media opportunities and audience environments, including high-end digital signs, airport advertising, freeway and suburban spectaculars and street furniture, as well as static advertising and digital screens in malls. Since 2018, the Primedia Unlimited Malls business unit has been integrated into the Primedia Outdoor stable. With the integration, Primedia Outdoors total media offering makes major retail and brand platforms accessible to advertisers, offering media solutions that integrate shopper connections during the path to purchase journey.




Talkwalker launches its Forecasting capability, part of its predictive analytics advancement. It empowers brands to predict industry trends up to three months in advance - a revolution in the consumer intelligence space.

Powered by its Blue Silk Artificial Intelligence, Talkwalker continues being an innovation leader in the consumer intelligence space.

Brands can now be proactive and optimise their strategy and campaigns in real time based on consumer behavior predictions. This will ensure theyre always ahead of their competitors, and stay relevant to their consumers.

Talkwalker, the leading consumer intelligence platform, announced its launch of Forecasting, an industry first in predictable analytics that enables brands to foresee changes in consumer behaviour and identify new trends before they happen.

Forecasting allows brands to predict how topics, trends, and campaigns will change over 90 days, allowing them to quickly adapt their communications to be more impactful. This will enable brands to be less reactive and more proactive - ensuring their strategies are efficient and profitable.

Imagine how powerful your business would be if you already knew what will be trending next month, said Lokdeep Singh, Talkwalker chief product and technology officer. Youd be able to create more engaging campaigns, develop timely products that meet clients' needs, and deliver more personalised customer experiences. And thats just what Forecasting brings.

Its a game-changer that will help our clients when planning their business strategies, arming them with future insights based on past consumer trends. This is just the start of what we plan to do with predictive analytics. Our mission is to steer businesses toward making data-driven business decisions thatll drive sales and revenue, based on the data of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, powered by our Blue Silk AI technology.

Talkwalker has always been a leader in consumer intelligence innovation. It was the first to introduce visual analytics and AI-powered sentiment analysis, which have now become industry standards. Predictive consumer intelligence will be the next standard, enabling brands to build business strategies not just on current consumer trends, but the trends of the future. This will revolutionise businesses, as they deliver products that consumers want, before they know they want them.

This pioneering development is thanks to Talkwalkers continued focus on artificial intelligence innovation. With over 12 years of development, Blue Silk AI provides users with the latest consumer intelligence analytics, enabling cleaner data, and richer insights, with a solution tailored for each client.

This focus on artificial intelligence has already been recognised within the industry, as Talkwalker was named a Leader in The Forrester New Wave: AI-Enabled Consumer Intelligence Platforms, Q3 2021. The addition of predictive analytics will continue to provide all our clients with best-in-class AI.

Find out more about predictive analytics and other recent product innovations.




South Africa's largest food producer Tiger Brands has announced that it will extend operations at its deciduous fruit business Langeberg & Ashton Foods (L&AF) for a further season, retaining jobs while it holds discussions with new potential buyers.

The decision was taken after a compact was agreed upon with organised labour, L&AF employees and members of the Canning Fruit Producers Association that allows the company to undertake the risk required to operate the business for the forthcoming season.

Avoiding a socio-economic disaster

The fruit canning facility  one of the largest of its kind in Africa  has been at risk of imminent closure as Tiger Brands has struggled to secure a buyer for the plant. Agri SA recently voiced its concern about the impact the closure would have on the community's producers and agro-processing in the Western Cape. Nearly 300 farmers supplying fruit to the factory would be gravely impacted by the closure, and the jobs of 250 permanent factory workers and up to 4,300 seasonal workers are at risk.

"The factory is the life support of the Ashton community and without it, the community faces socio-economic disaster. The Langeberg and Ashton factory is also the biggest single source of income for the Langeberg Municipality," Agri SA said.

The Langeberg & Ashton Foods Division produces canned fruit (peaches, pears, apricots, apples and guavas) and fruit purees largely for the export market. It also supplies Tiger Brands Culinary division (canned fruit under the Koo brand, pulps for All Gold and Hugos jam, and Koo Baked Beans) and the Baby category (purees for Purity). Eighty-five percent of the canned fruit and puree products are exported to markets that include Europe, China, Australia and Japan.

Tiger Brands said in a statement today that it will "continue to engage with interested parties towards executing a transaction that could provide for the continuation of a sustainable deciduous fruit processing operation beyond the 2022/3 season".

In May 2020, Tiger Brands announced its intent to exit the deciduous fruit business. This decision, it said, followed a strategic review and formed part of efforts to better align its portfolio to the groups future growth aspirations on the African continent and focus on manufacturing, marketing and distributing everyday branded food and beverages. Over the past two years, Tiger Brands has sought to find a buyer for the L&AF business with a view to ensuring a controlled exit through a disposal of the business.

In June 2022, Tiger Brands commenced consultations and engagements on the future of the business in the absence of any reasonable prospects of a viable transaction at the end of an exhaustive two-year process.

In recent weeks, a significant number of parties have expressed an interest in further discussions on the possible acquisition of L&AF. However, Tiger Brands said the conclusion of any transaction would not have taken place in time for any successful buyer to put the required preparations in place to process the upcoming 2022/3 seasons crop. The company, therefore, engaged its key partners on an urgent basis.

Compact allows exploration of new proposals

The flexibility, open-mindedness and good faith shown by all parties in reaching this compact will allow for the rigorous exploration of any new proposals in respect of the companys deciduous fruit processing operations while securing the jobs of 250 permanent employees and 4,300 seasonal workers directly employed by L&AF for a further season, said Noel Doyle, Tiger Brands chief executive officer.

While the processing and marketing of deciduous fruit remain subject to the vagaries of weather, exchange rates and global pricing dynamics, the compact meaningfully contributes to mitigating the risk of significant operating losses in the forthcoming season.

Tiger Brands said it will explore all options while assessing the viability of current interest in the facility. It added that it will continue engagements with the relevant provincial and national government departments as well as talks with potential buyers who are able to meet the working capital requirements of the business and have a long-term commitment to ensure the sustainability of the South African deciduous fruit processing industry.
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed and two others were wounded on Tuesday after a shootout between police officers and alleged criminals in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second-largest city, police sources said.

The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police said the event took place in the favela of Manguinhos in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro Tuesday morning when a group of agents were shot at as they passed nearby.

When police reinforcements arrived at the scene, a fierce shootout ensued, with at least six dead and two wounded, which also caused the interruption of train service in the area.

The Manguinhos favela is very close to the headquarters of the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police. 
South Africa is well known for its creativity. It is how we tell our stories, and it often connects us to our past.

Image supplied: Artist at the Halls Breathing Space Masterclass

However, the arts are severely under-recognised, under-supported and underfunded. Halls aims to support the industry by partnering with one of SAs best illustrators and street artists, Karabo Poppy, through the #BreatheForIt campaign, to mentor South African artists.

Through mentorship and curating design works in Braamfontein, the campaign will help young creatives get their fifteen seconds of fame. The success of the campaign, which began in 2021, inspired Halls to take it to the next level. This year, the team is back with Poppy to expand the Halls Breathing Spaces in the popular arts and culture space, Braamfontein.

The Breathing Space Masterclasses will refresh creative minds, with the help of Poppy, content creator Deji Dada and legal expert David Feinburg to provide aspiring artists and creatives with the tools they need to fill the globe with South African originality.

Halls and Poppy will give nine promising artists the biggest canvas to showcase their talent. The selected artists will revitalize a blank space in Braam with their very own mural.

Nadia Mohamed, marketing director at Mondelez International, says, Mzansi has plenty of talent, but it often goes unnoticed or unappreciated. We will provide the arts and design community with a platform and resources to create, design, and imagine using the power of menthol and mentorship through our Breathe For It campaign.

Thembi Butelezi, head of equity and marketing strategy at Mondelez International, adds, We are giving artists a chance to be noticed, and not just in the traditional art gallery sense. Theyre going to take over the streets of Jozi, get a chance to make their mark in the art community and show the rest of the world that Africa is the home of creativity.
Charl van Blerk, aka Charlie Void, has immense talent and wears many creative hats. You could say he is skilled in the politics of dancing.

Image supplied: Charlie Void

On the one hand, he serves on the cultural commission in the Western Cape and on the other as the artist Charlie Void, who has a deep love for disco-influenced songs and is inspired by Diana Ross and Troye Sivan.

On one of his previous singles called Snort It he even poked fun at Lindsay Lohan.

His latest work, Downtown was released a few weeks ago.

I caught up with Charlie last week

What is your job description?

Thats not a straightforward answer. Im the CEO of a tech company, called ParkShare, I run a local charity called The Turn Around Project, and of course, I serve on the Cultural Commission for the Western Cape Government and sing as Charlie Void.

What does music mean to you?

Music was the first thing that felt I could emotionally lean on for support. I found purpose in creating and it remains the ultimate form of self-expression. Even if you arent a creator, you can find such personal meaning in music you never wrote.

My music is about

I grew up in the early 2000s and was raised on 80s hits. I think the music industry lacks that glam-pop and synth sound that music it used to have.

Where are the cheesy unforgettable melodies? Thats what I try to do with my music. I try to make straightforward dance hits.

What is your motto?

Value your time in the world. Money is replaceable, but time is finite.

Fame

Takes many different forms, but I can tell you what it personally means to me. Fame is recognition of your work. Its the industry marker for I mustve done something right!

Retirement will happen when

Ive always been a busy person and someone that enjoys working on projects, so I dont think Ill ever retire.

I don't do

Afrikaans music

I would love to co-write with

Stevie Nicks

Where do you go for inspiration to create?

Inspiration always strikes in the car for me. So, I guess I go anywhere four wheels will take me!

What is the most enjoyable aspect of your work?

I find it so striking when I meet a fan and get to see the impact, I made on them. I always feel so shocked that I was able to stir up those powerful emotions in someone.

The song you must do during every show?

You and Me

My heroes are

From a musical perspective, Id have to say Lady Gaga! No one else combines art, fashion, technology and music in quite the same way!

My style icon is

David Bowie

Which living person do you admire most and why?

Kris Jenner. Anyone who can turn nothing into a billion-dollar brand has my respect.

What is your most treasured possession?

My orthopedic pillow Im an old man, I know

It's your round; what are you drinking?

Anything with gin in it!

Dream gig to do?

One that doesnt pay in exposure!

What makes you stand out?

I have a unique sounding voice. It often has a metallic sheen to it!

Any nicknames?

Charlie or Cha Cha

Pick five words to describe yourself?

Edgy, fun, ambitious, funny, friendly

What are you streaming?

Stranger Things Season 4

Greatest movie ever made?

I dont watch movies really, but I would say my favourite series are The Crown and Family Guy.

What book are you reading?

Development as Freedom (Political Science Book)

What song changed your life?

Princess Die by Lady Gaga (Unreleased)

Who do you love?

My best friend, more than anything.

What is your favourite word?

Octogenarian

Top of your bucket list?

To travel on a sailboat off the coast of Sardinia

Your greatest achievement?

Being a part of the DA Young Leaders Programme

What do you complain about most often?

Being discriminated against because of my age.

What is your biggest fear?

Being mediocre

Happiness is

When Im staring down the bottom of my glass and I catch a glimpse of my best friend staring back at me through the bottom of her glass.

On stage, I tend to

Forget to make facial expressions.

The best life lesson you have learned?

Other people dont get to decide your worth or your validity. Only you get to decide.

What has been your favourite journey so far?

It might seem silly and childish. but I enjoy taking the train to nowhere just for fun.

Do you do charity work, and if you do  what do you do?

I run The Turn Around Project which aims to help communities in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town organize a network of accredited neighbourhood watches, creating a safer community, while empowering residents by educating them on how to fully utilise the resources, made available by the City of Cape Town, to serve the community.

Wishes and dreams?

I want to be happy and at peace. My dreams are to never be ordinary or have an ordinary life. To always have an adventure in life!

Social media

YouTube

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook
Tiger Wheel & Tyre George has been a mainstay of the surrounding community since opening its doors on 16 December 1998. Over nearly 25-years later, through the hard work and dedication of devoted owners, Sandra and Nico van Rensburg, the store has thrived to become one of the leading fitment centres in the province.

The Tiger Wheel & Tyre brand is so much more than just a tyre retailer and fitment centre. We genuinely care about the communities we are part of and call home. People choose us because they trust that theyre getting the best advice and service possible, said Farishta Singh, group marketing executive at TiAuto Investments.

Continuing: As the George fitment centre becomes a company owned store, customers can expect the same great family friendly offering  from premium products and service excellence to expert advice from a team of well-trained professionals.

New store manager, Angela van Vuuren, has been handed the reigns and brings with her nearly two decades of experience from a global leader in industrial equipment supplies, and the added proficiency of regional sales and marketing.

As we celebrate 55-years in South Africa, we are constantly reminded of how wonderful our customers are, and George is no exception. We are so grateful to this community for the love and support over the years. As the competitive landscape evolves, we look forward to an infusion of fresh ideas and perspective into the business, and promise to continue to bring you the same outstanding service that youve come to know and trust.

For current promotions that embrace the winter season, visit Tiger Wheel & Tyre George at 38 York Street, George South or call them on 044 884 1111.

Shop 4 tyres from 13-inches to 17-inches and receive either a flask or flask set-up to the value of R589. Additionally, if youre looking to replace your car battery, get R100 off any AtlasBX or Duracell brand using BATTERYPROMO100.

For more information visit www.twt.to or follow @TigerWheelnTyre on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram




Nine eminent University of Pretoria (UP) academics and researchers have been named as finalists in the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)/South32 Awards

Supported and endorsed by the national Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the awards honour outstanding contributions to science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation. Popularly known as the 'Science Oscars', the awards are the largest and most prestigious public SET and innovation accolades in South Africa.

UPs nine researchers have been nominated in eight of the 13 categories, including the Lifetime and Special Annual Theme categories.

Professor Tawana Kupe, vice-chancellor and principal of UP, said he is proud that the universitys contributions have been acknowledged on the national stage. At UP, we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of research that is aimed at changing the lives of our people for the better, he said. To receive external validation for the work we do is the cherry on top. I wish to celebrate and congratulate all our finalists  you are what makes UP the powerhouse that it is.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony held at a hybrid awards gala event with two gala dinners taking place simultaneously in Cape Town and Johannesburg while broadcasting live to an online audience from both cities. The broadcast of the event will be via the NSTF YouTube channel. The dinners and live broadcast are scheduled to take place on Thursday, 21 July 2022.

UPs finalists for the NSTF/South32 Awards are:

Lifetime Award:

For an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation over a lifetime (15 years or more). UP has two finalists in this category:

Professor Bob Pattison

Professor Bob Pattison (emeritus professor, UP Research Centre for Maternal, Fetal, Newborn and Child Health Care Strategies; director of the Maternal and Infant Health Care Strategies Unit at the SA Medical Research Council), who is also a finalist in the Management Award category.

Im delighted and honoured to have been nominated for these awards; however, none of the things that have been achieved could have been achieved without the excellent teams I have worked with. Gone are the days when individuals can change science  its all about collaboration and teamwork. These nominations are really for these teams and recognition of their groundbreaking work. They are the ones who should be and are being honoured.

Professor Brenda Wingfield

Professor Brenda Wingfield (DSI-National Research Foundation [NRF] South African Research Chairs Initiative [SARChI] chair: Fungal Genomics; professor in UPs Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, and at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute).

A nomination for an award such as this is always set against the background of many people having contributed to my research outputs. A nomination for the NSTF award is recognition of the fantastic work that has been done by my many collaborators and students over the years. It is also recognition of the support that I have received for more than two decades from UP and the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, which is the base for my research activities. I am hugely grateful to my colleagues for the nomination.

TW Kambule-NSTF Researcher Award:

For an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation through research and its outputs over a period of six to 15 years, from the commencement of the research career, predominantly in South Africa. UP has three finalists in this category:

Professor Michael Olawale Daramola

Professor Michael Olawale Daramola (head of UPs Department of Chemical Engineering), who is also a finalist in the Engineering Research Capacity Development category.

It is an honour to receive nominations from the NSTF, a prestigious organisation that recognises excellence as its primary criterion. It is evident that hard work pays off, whatever you do. I thank God Almighty for the strength and the gift of life to me. Also, I thank my students, colleagues and my family, to whom I dedicate these nominations. I am because they are. I am grateful to UP for supporting my nominations.

Professor Wanda Markotter

Professor Wanda Markotter (director of the Centre for Viral Zoonoses; DSI-NRF SARChI chair: Infectious Diseases of Animals [Zoonoses]; research chair: People, Health and Places, Future Africa Institute).

The current Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the effect of the spill-over of novel viruses from a potential animal source. My research investigates viral diversity in bats in Africa and drivers of spill-over. The programme is inter- and transdisciplinary, and includes expertise in several disciplines. I am pleased to have been nominated; this nomination highlights how important it is to follow a One Health approach to prevent future pandemics. This research recognises that the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants and the wider environment are closely linked and interdependent, and cannot be studied in silos.

Professor Theresa Rossouw

Professor Theresa Rossouw (professor in UPs Department of Immunology; president of the South African Immunology Society).

I am honoured and humbled by the nomination. What makes this award so special is that it recognises that research does not occur in a vacuum, and acknowledges the importance of the foundation laid by predecessors as well as the critical role of collaboration.

Management Award:

For an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation through the management of SET and innovation, and related activities over the past five to 10 years. UP has one finalist in this category:

Professor Bob Pattison (emeritus professor, UP Research Centre for Maternal, Fetal, Newborn and Child Health Care Strategies; director of the Maternal and Infant Health Care Strategies Unit at the SA Medical Research Council),who has also been nominated for the Lifetime Award.

Engineering Research Capacity Development Award:

For an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation by an individual over the past five to 10 years. UP has two finalists in this category:

Professor Evans Chirwa

Professor Evans Chirwa (Rand Water Research chair: Water Utilisation; professor in UPs Department of Chemical Engineering), who is also a finalist in the NSTF-Water Research Commission category.

I chose the field of water and environmental engineering to contribute towards solving the existing and emerging water and energy problems in sub-Saharan Africa. Being a semi-arid region, we need to find ways to better manage our limited water and energy resources. I am grateful that this work is being recognised by peers in the sector. I am especially thankful to my postgraduate students, research team and support staff for their tireless effort in making sure that the results we obtain in our research endeavour are unbiased and of unassailable quality. This award is encouraging  it gives us the motivation to lead the sector in training, research and technology development, and to redouble our efforts towards providing water security in the region.

Professor Michael Olawale Daramola (head of the Department of Chemical Engineering), who has also been nominated for the TW Kambule-NSTF Researcher Award.

NSTF-Water Research Commission Award:

For an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation by an individual or an organisation in South Africa towards sustainable water management, knowledge generation and solutions over the past five to 10 years. UP has one finalist in this category:

Professor Evans Chirwa (Rand Water Research chair: Water Utilisation; professor in UPs Department of Chemical Engineering), who has also been nominated for the Engineering Research Capacity Development Award.

Data for Research Award:

For an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation by an individual or a team for advancing the availability, management and reuse of research data. UP has two finalists in this category:

Professor Nigel C Bennett

Professor Nigel C Bennett (DSI-NRF SARChI chair: Mammal Behavioural Ecology and Physiology; Austin Roberts chair of Mammalogy, UP; scientist in UPs Department of Zoology and Entomology).

I was delighted to be nominated by Ms Veliswa Tshetsha and her colleagues at UP Library Services for a category that recognises scientists who are sharing data. It was a pleasant surprise to receive an email informing me of the finalist position. I am very happy, because in 2014/2015 I received the NSTF award for Research Capacity Development. Thank you to all at UP Library Services for believing in me and putting me forward for this prestigious award.

Professor Dr Yves van de Peer

Professor Dr Yves van de Peer (professor at Ghent University in Belgium, UPs Genomics Research Institute and at Nanjing Agricultural University in China).

Communication for Outreach and Creating Awareness of SET and Innovation Award:

For an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation by a team or individual over the past five years. UP has one finalist in this category:

Professor Ryan Blumenthal

Professor Ryan Blumenthal (senior specialist forensic pathologist and associate professor in UPs Department of Forensic Medicine), who is also a finalist in the Special Annual Theme category.

The dead have so much to teach the living. I have never turned down an opportunity to talk about forensics, which is why I was so thrilled to hear about my nomination in both the Communication and Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development award categories. I feel a moral obligation to serve my immediate community and the greater community of humankind. I hope that some of my ideas will contribute to the well-being of my fellow human beings. Communicating the basic sciences gives me a sense of self-satisfaction.

Special Annual Theme Award:

Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development:

For 2021/2022, this award is for an outstanding contribution to SET and innovation from research and development in the basic sciences for sustainable development in South Africa. UP has one finalist in this category.

Professor Ryan Blumenthal (senior specialist forensic pathologist and associate professor in UPs Department of Forensic Medicine), who has also been nominated for the Communication for Outreach and Creating Awareness of SET and Innovation Award.




African Bank has strengthened capacity in its business-banking division with the appointment of Gary Markson as divisional head: client coverage and business development and Lillian Keetse, head: ecosystems banking.

Source: Supplied.

Both Markson and Keetse will report to Zweli Manyathi, group executive: business banking.

This follows the announcement last month of African Banks R1,5bn acquisition of Grindrod Bank.

Markson, who was previously executive head: personal, business banking & fleet, at Bidvest Bank (and prior to that, executive head of coverage, Eastern Cape, at Standard Bank South Africa), is an entrepreneur at heart with a keen business sense and interest in business turnaround strategy.

His charismatic business leadership style, keen focus on empowering and developing people and proven success in business turnaround will be key in our new banking division, says Manyathi.

Markson is currently busy with his MBA dissertation from the Management College of SA.

Source: Supplied. Lillian Keetse. Source: Supplied. Gary Markson.

Keetse joins African Bank from Edge Growth.

An astute business professional with a decade of experience in the management consulting space, her vast technical experience ranges from business strategy development, portfolio management, client lifecycle management, market research and impact assessment.

Her experience working on multimillion rand projects within a cross section of industries including financial services, automotive, FMCG, petrochemicals, telecommunications as well as clothing and textiles will be an asset when growing our new business portfolio, notes Manyathi.

Keetse holds among others, a BCom in finance from the University of Johannesburg and a post-grad in business-incubation management.

Keetse and Markson will provide the required skill and expertise to help scale and build our new business banking division which is set on making meaningful inroads into this highly competitive business-banking space, specifically targeting small and medium-sized enterprises, concludes Manyathi.
SAS has announced the appointment of Essie Mokgonyana as the country manager and sales director for its brand in South Africa. The appointment comes in line with SAS's strategy towards investing in growing the organisation in South Africa, the company said.

Essie Mokgonyana | image supplied

Mokgonyana has 15+ years of experience in technical roles within the IT industry with a strong focus on sales and business development, working with clients in the public sector as well as telecommunications and banking sectors.

Additionally, having served as an executive, non-executive and Trustee board member before, Mokgonyana has a strong working knowledge of mapping local business governance practices to be in line with those of the multinational business and the state rules of the country.

I am delighted to join SAS  and at such a transformational time. Never before have we experienced such rapid rates of digital transformation in all tiers of society  from government to business and industry, and consumers. And Africa is no exception when it comes to witnessing the potential of digital transformation, particularly during the past two+ years. I am looking forward to working with our teams, partners and clients to realise the enormous potential we still have to further transform both public and private organisations through adoption of our advanced analytics, AI and cloud-based solutions, says Mokgonyana.

Mokgonyana is confident that SAS is moving into a new phase of growth locally.
The Prisa Prism Awards 2022 is taking place this Friday, 15 July. In the countdown to the Awards, we spoke to three Young Judges, Ziyando Ngobo, Ntombifuthi Ntanzi and Thando Xaba.

Source:  christina-wocintechchat-com Unsplash Young Judges get the opportunity to judge the Prism Awards

The Young Judges are a select group of young students and public relations practitioners of varying experience who judge the Prism Awards alongside industry experts.

Changing the perception of PR

Ngobo is 19 years old and a second-year Public Relations and Communication student at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Her primary motivation to enter the PR profession is to change the perception of PR, especially in rural areas. I would like to show how PR can build beautiful relationships and convey important messages to the public, she says.

Thando Xaba is an International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY)-Female Leadership 2022 co-programme manager. She is a 2021 Burson Cohn and Wolfe (BCW) Africa Starting Blocks Academy Alumni, a 2020 International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY)-Female Leadership Academy Alumni and a 2019 Young African Leadership Initiative Southern Africa (YALI SA) Alumni.

In 2020/21 She was the president/chairperson of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) Students Public Relations Associations (UJ SPRA).

Her interest in PR came about after she was awarded a leadership in 2017 from the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (Gauteng DID) to work at the Sedibeng District Municipality in their Disaster Management Unit, under their Community Services Cluster. The work inspired her so much that three months later she enrolled at UJ to study PR and communications.

Ntanzi is currently a PhD student at the University of Pretoria. Although she has a decade of experience under her belt, she is always looking for new tools, ideas and projects to work on.

For her, the overall storytelling aspect of PR is what drew her to the industry.

The numerous options for creativity, writing, media relations, and the fast-paced workplace piqued my interest, she says.

Tuned into audiences

For Ngobo, being part of the Prism Awards judging this year showed her just how fundamental a role storytelling is in PR. Storytelling promotes creativity while communicating important facts and messages to the public.

Ntanzi says she learned that there is an abundance of skill and innovation in the industry. The campaigns we judged demonstrated just how tuned into audiences PR agencies are.

Being a judge also affirmed how much she loves the business and values the job that agencies perform.

It provided me with an opportunity to recognise the effort that goes into PR, and I am pleased to see that the sector is highly conscious of the always-evolving field of communications, adds Ntanzi.

Importance of PR

Xaba says what hit home for her was how the pandemic period demonstrates the importance of PR during the pandemic. It also demonstrated just how agile the PR industry is and the impact it can make in society. I also learnt so much about various PR tactics, she says.

The opportunity has excited her for the future. I am excited to enter the world of PR and work with various stakeholders to make a positive impact."

Prisa is the professional body for public relations and communication practitioners in Southern Africa.
Airlink will launch daily direct return flights between Johannesburg and Victoria Falls from 15 August 2022. This follows approvals by Zimbabwe's and South Africa's aeronautical authorities for the extension of Airlink's services between the two markets.

Montague Smith via Wikimedia Commons

Airlinks flights will operate daily using a modern 98-seat Embraer E-190 jetliner and are scheduled to conveniently connect with its other services to and from its Johannesburg main base as well as to long-haul flights provided by Airlinks growing number of global partner airlines.

"Victoria Falls is a jewel in the regions tourism crown and Airlink is looking forward to re-establishing connectivity between the attraction and Johannesburg. This brand new Airlink route will be our second to Victoria Falls, which we already serve from Cape Town.

"In addition, we provide direct flights connecting Harare with Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and between Bulawayo and Johannesburg. With the recent introduction of long-haul flights from Europe directly to Victoria Falls, our services allow customers arriving on those flights to conveniently include South African destinations in their travel plans," explains Rodger Foster, Airlink CEO and managing director.

Flight schedule from 15 August:
During the Durban International Film Festival (Diff), the inaugural version of the Isiphethu International Student Film Festival (IISFF) will be presented as the first South African international film festival dedicated to student films.

Image supplied: A scene from Delville Wood

The festival aims to create a platform and gateway for students to the big festival by exposing them to the role players in the film industry and showcasing their work on big cinema screens. The festival will take place primarily online, with 37 films screening virtually and a selection of eight films that will also screen at CineCentre Suncoast Casino in Durban on 27 July.

The IISFF wants to encourage the development of new ideas and showcase to audiences that emerging filmmakers globally produce good quality work. The films include fiction, documentary and animation from all continents, so it is a true reflection of what is being created in the world, says festival manager, Sakhile Gumede.

The IISFF will also host two awards, during which it will award the Best South African Student Film and the Best International Student Film.

The award jury consists of Eman Hussein, an independent dancer, choreographer, and dance filmmaker based in Cairo; Guillem Almirall, a film director from Spain and the South African Tiny Mungwe, a filmmaker and arts manager. The annual Diff award ceremony will take place virtually on Saturday, 30 July.

Films in the competition

A Scorned Mother, a drama directed by Boitumelo te Vaarwerk, a student at Sae Institute in Rosebank, in which a young girl who is raped by a man gives birth nine months later in the same place where she was raped.

A Woman of No Importance, a drama directed by Gauri Aldekar from the USA, about an undocumented seamstress in New York City who finds herself at a crossroads of morality and self-interest.

An Island Drifts, a drama directed by Vivian Ip from Singapore, in which a young teacher presses for the truth from a maladjusted student.

Darker, a fantasy drama directed by Frank van den Bogaart from Belgium, a forest entity who whispers the stories of death to his trees.

Delville Wood, a drama directed by Afda student Lizette Blignaut tells the story of a brutal artillery barrage on the 17th of July 1916, after which the South African Army is forced into a tactical retreat.

Image supplied: A scene from A Woman of No Importance

Happy, a documentary directed by Ivan Rodin from Russia, tells the story of a son of an influential Guinean and a simple Russian woman who is one of the few black people born in the USSR.

Headfish, a drama directed by Jakub Prysak from Poland, is the story of two friends: a cow milker and a sex worker.

His Best Friend, a drama directed by Oz Zirlin from Israel, assembled his best friends family and close friends to re-enact the day his friend took his own life.

Hourglass House, a drama directed by Yinghai Hu from China in which a little boy wants to take an adventure in the desert.

How Small!, an animation directed by Charlene Xu from the USA, in which a young woman reminisces about her deceased grandmother.

Killing Bagheera, a drama directed by Muschirf Shekh Zeyn, in which two Kurdish brothers on the flee are confronted with hidden fears that will divide them deep inside.

Lebone, a drama directed by University of Witswatersrand student Pfeiffer Kenny, a young servant maid, has her son taken away from her at birth by the farm owners wife.

Mona & Parviz, a drama directed by Kevin Biele from Germany about an unannounced visit by the immigration office.

Nothing To See Here, an observational comedy directed by Victor Candeias from Portugal about the pleasure of looking in a place where there is seemingly nothing to look at.

Sort of Grown-Up, an observational documentary directed by Marlena Molitor from Germany, provides intimate insight into the world of three young women teetering on the edge of adulthood.

Triangle, a sci-fi pseudo-documentary drama directed by Peter Engelmann from Hungary, explores the human mind's dark realms.

Where is Mr Adams?, a short comedy-drama by Afda student Cameron Murray, in which An untalented and ill-prepared amateur theatre crew must perform the opening night of a mediocre stage production.

Image supplied: A scene from Happy

Programme and details

Diff 2022 will be presented in a hybrid edition with online screenings here and a diverse live programme offered at Suncoast CineCentre, Durban.

The live screening schedule is accessible here. Tickets for the live screenings are available directly at the Suncoast CineCentre. The entire festival programme can be viewed here.

The 43rd edition of the festival is produced by the University of KwaZulu-Natals Centre for Creative Arts, in partnership and with the support of KZN Film Commission, the National Film and Video Foundation, KZN Department of Arts and Culture, Avalon Group and other valued funders and partners.
Senior Digital Media Strategist and Planner SA

Location: Cape Town Job level: Senior Type: Permanent Company: Incubeta

Job description

Reports to the head of media strategy and Planning in the global ops team.

Works internally with the media managers, media consultants, commercial team and externally with clients and publishers/media owners.

Agency experience in a planner/buyer/strategist role

Develop and present digital media strategies & plans that maximize ROI for Incubeta clients.

Foster relationships with publishers (media owners) - remain up to date of latest offerings, ad formats etc. within the SA landscape

Mentor & help train new team members

Assist the manager to QA media plans and strategies

Manage negotiations and agreements between local Publishers (media owners) and Incubeta maximising the media investments for Incubeta clients.

Financial management of media bookings and performance on behalf of Incubeta clients. Ownership to deliver on booking vs. targets/forecast for the clients media plans.

Ensure the media budget is efficiently and effectively optimised ensuring timely delivery of campaigns against budget.

Work closely with the client lead consultant, to effectively deliver on client proposals, solutions and roadmaps to achieve the objectives.

Drive compliance and proactively makes improvements to Incubetas digital media strategy and planning processes, policies and procedures

Own implementation of best-practice and showcasing digital media strategy trends to the wider team

Provide strategic research including market insights and/or media landscape insights, market and channel mix recommendations.

Keep abreast of competitor activity/new market communication.

Foster relationships within Incubeta to strengthen relationships with other departments

Requirements

Must have agency experience in a planner/buyer/strategist rol e

Minimum four years experience in a media planning and strategy role

Expert understanding of the digital agency & performance marketing landscape, its challenges and opportunities

Experience in both media planning and buying along with a strong digital foundation is a requirement, with an ability to stay ahead of the ever-evolving media landscape

Strong understanding of all digital marketing channels, ad technologies and cross-media solutions

Passionate about (ad) technology and how technology can shape the online advertising industry and ecosystem for the benefit of our customers

Strong knowledge of and practical experience in Facebook Ads Manager, Twitter Ads Manager and premium publishers/other media networks.

A functional understanding of using and implementing one of the leading digital marketing solutions/tools - Google Marketing Platform including Campaign Manager, DV360, SA360, Google Analytics

Good technical communicator - be able to turn complexity into simplicity.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

Ability to understand the customer's key business & marketing challenges and translate this into how you can achieve these goals by working with the media buyers, media consultants and publishers.

Positive, friendly and approachable

Proactive and a stickler for details

Outstanding ability to think creatively & strategically within the digital marketing space.

A great communicator, with the ability to talk with clients and other partners.

A self-starter that seeks knowledge and expertise in digital media buying.

Tech Savvy: picks up new technology quickly and has intermediate knowledge and experience with programmatic media buying.

Experience in stabilizing high-pressure situations & tight deadlines.

Can work independently and prioritise multiple projects.

Thinks ahead and is able to identify areas of improvement and innovation for clients.

General: Intelligent, resourceful, analytical, persuasive, commercial and entrepreneurial

Decisiveness: Formulates a well-informed decision and takes appropriate action at the right moment in time

Integrity: Comply with generally accepted social and ethical standards in job-related activities

Client-Centric: Be aware of the customer's needs/demands. Use this proactively.

Team-work: Team-driven, with an emphasis on what is best for the company at large and able to cooperate.

Professionalism: Execute flawlessly and cost-efficiently. Desire to constantly optimise our business.

Inspirational: Leading by example to inspire & motivate. Enthusiastic and passionate for digital marketing, highly motivated individual with a serious and goal-oriented work ethic.

Planning / Action: Determine goals and priorities effectively and stipulating the time, activities and resources required to achieve the set goals.

Achievement Orientation: Set high standards and actively focus on achieving results and objectives. Show dissatisfaction with average performance.

Initiative: Independent self-starter, extremely proactive and organised. Attention to detail

The senior digital media strategist and planner will be responsible for ensuring the success of digital media planning & buying within Incubeta. The primary goal of this role is to help clients build their brands and generate leads across the most effective platforms/channels. This is achieved by developing in-depth and well-formulated media strategies, and media plans based on our clients business objectives.The ideal Media Strategist has a good operational understanding of all media channels and the way a media strategy is brought together. They have implemented campaigns on platforms like Facebook Ads Manager, Google Ads Manager and DV360 and they understand how campaigns roll-out. Great communication skills are a key requirement when liaising with various teams/departments, clients and negotiating with publishers.Tasks & ResponsibilitiesBuilding out Digital Media Strategy and Media plans as part of the Media Strategy and Planning team, including but not limited to:Imperative Skills:Key Qualities:Key Competencies & Work Ethic:Posted on 12 Jul 08:38, Closing date 10 Sep
YAOUNDE, July 12 (Xinhua) -- An explosion was heard in Cameroon's capital city of Yaounde at around 2:00 pm local time on Tuesday, witnesses and police told Xinhua.

The blast went off in one of the busy markets called Mokolo market, police confirmed.

"We heard a loud noise. We thought it was thunder and people were running in every direction for safety. It was very scary," Blaise Djeugue, a trader in the market told Xinhua.

It was not clear whether people were injured in the explosion.

It was the second time in a week that a bomb exploded in the market. Last week, the country's Minister of Communication and government spokesman, Rene Emmanuel Sadi urged the citizens to be vigilant after an improvised explosive device exploded in the market, leaving four people injured, two of them in critical condition. 
Freelance Senior Conceptual Art Director

Remuneration: market-related Location: Cape Town Job level: Senior Job policy: Employment Equity position Type: Temporary Reference: #FreeSConADMvRTM22 Company: ninety9cents

Job description

Requirements

Working in a team under the leadership of a Creative Director to conceptualise and execute campaigns based on both client and internal briefs.

Present work imaginatively and confidently to clients and senior creatives.

Be skilled in design and conceptualisation.

Maintain exceptionally high standards for execution and attention to detail.

Collaborate and communicate well with the team and other departments.

Have an eternally positive disposition especially when the going gets rough.

Relevant tertiary qualification.

At least 5 years experience as an Art Director/Conceptual Designer in a large/integrated Advertising Agency.

At least 5 years previous experience in a high-volume environment.

Experience with digital design across all channels; web design; designing of E-commerce websites; animations and social media design.

Experience in high-volume environments with fast turn-arounds preferred.

Great presentation skills.

Excellent communication skills (both verbal and written).

A powerful creative portfolio that demonstrates originality, innovation and problem-solving.

Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, set priorities, utilise resources, identify and address problems, meet deadlines, and stay within scope.

Strong interpersonal skills; a team player, persuasive negotiator, positive and innovative thinker.

Maintain high standards for execution and attention to detail.

Highly motivated and a high level of initiative; ability to work independently, in support of the agencys creative goals and the clients business objectives, be an active thinker.

Maintain high standards for execution and attention to detail.

Highly motivated and a high level of initiative; ability to work independently, in support of the agencys creative goals and the clients business objectives.

Experience in presenting campaigns to creative heads and clients.

Experience working on lower to middle income positioned brands advantageous.

App and Web Design

HTML

Figma

Art Direction - both Digital and ATL

Animation/GIF

Digital Design across all channels

Emailers

Social Media Posts

UX and UI Design

Web Banners

We are looking for a passionatewith retail client experience, someone with the skill set to capture promotional excitement and breakthrough campaigns for a national retail client. We are looking for someone who is multi-skilled in the Digital Realm to join our close-knit team.Become a part of delivering quality 360 digital campaigns to be proud of; delivering and encouraging award-winning work, from conceptualising integrated concepts through to execution, exceeding client expectations and creatively solve problems effectively. An eye for detail and the ability to work well under pressure, as well as being up-to-date with the latest digital marketing trends, techniques and technologies are essential requirements.Our ideal candidate will be a digital and conceptual creative all-star.Role includes but is not limited to:Minimum relevant experience and skills/attributes required:Technical skills/knowledge:Interested candidates must please submit a concise CV and portfolio as part of your application. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Should you not hear from us within three weeks after submitting your application, please assume that your application has been unsuccessful. We remain committed to the principles of employment equity. Posted on 12 Jul 10:43, Closing date 10 Aug
Johannesburg, R 500000 - R 600000 per year

Be part of a well-known consulting house that houses only the best developers and get the opportunity to be part of the development of bespoke solutions.
Aija Kalnaja, the newly appointed interim director, told reporters in Prague that the bloc was already prepared for refugees leaving Ukraine, but that the wider problem would likely be an influx of people from other areas of the world.

We have to prepare also for refugees coming from other areas because of food security, said Kalnaja. You probably know that grain transport from Ukraine is hampered and that will create waves of migration.

Her warning follows the release of a 27-page internal EU report last month which highlighted the threat of a catastrophic famine facing North Africa.

A global hunger crisis might trigger new waves of social protest, internal displacement and migration to neighboring regions and possibly towards the EU, the report said.

A similar warning was sent by Italian League party leader Matteo Salvini, who back in May said that up to 20 million Africans could try to enter Europe if the disruption to grain supplies continues.

Salvini cautioned that, Significant hunger is expected on the African continent, which will be a humanitarian, then a social, and finally an Italian problem.

Without peace there will be famine in the autumn and 20 million Africans will be ready to go, he added.

British TV presenter and celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson was also only half-joking when he quipped that global food shortages caused by the war in Ukraine could eventually lead to cannibalism.

In addition to the food crisis, there is already a massive pull of people wanting to leave Africa, with Europe their favored destination.

A survey of 15 African countries last month revealed that more than half of young people want to leave the continent in the coming years.

As we document in the video below, the food crisis is being exacerbated by globalist technocrats enforcing green agenda cuts that will devastate the agriculture industry.

Farmers in the Netherlands, one of the worlds largest meat exporters, have staged massive protests over a plan to slash nitrogen emissions that would put many of them out of business forever.



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Last years Tbilisi Pride event in the capital city of the Republic of Georgia descended into chaos and gained worldwide attention. The organizations offices were ransacked. A photographer sympathetic to the Pride agenda was beaten and later died.

The anti-Pride Georgian alliance is comprised of multiple factions  including, perhaps most importantly, the Orthodox Christian Church. This religious institution is still ubiquitous and highly influential in the East  much more so than in the secular West. Over 80% of the Georgian population is Orthodox Christian.

Western neoliberal critics have accused the Church of halting social progress (defined narrowly by them as whatever they say it is).

This years July 2nd Tbilisi Pride event was, like the previous year, met with fierce resistance from counter-protesters opposed to the LGBTQ agendas penetration into Georgia.

Protesters outside of the parliament burned a rainbow flag.

Far-right groups are tearing up and burning rainbow flags outside the Georgian parliament. They plan to march to the offices of Georgian Dream, the EU Delegation to Georgia, and then return to parliament. pic.twitter.com/biTewuKGUw  OC Media (@OCMediaorg) July 2, 2022

One attempted to set himself on fire in protest Vietnamese monk-style. It failed in Don Quixote fashion as onlookers shoved him into a nearby fountain.

In downtown Tbilisi, a right-wing activist set himself on fire to protest against Tbilisi Pride Fest. The crowd pushed the man into the fountain. Video from local media. pic.twitter.com/p9UCR7QTw9  Flash (@Flash43191300) July 2, 2022

On the surface, this seems like standard culture war clashes weve become accustomed to in the West. However, underlying sociocultural and political trends, unique to Georgia and worthy of exploration, drive the conflict.

The culture war creeps into new staging grounds

We recently chronicled the insidious, methodical manner in which corporate-funded and state-sponsored Western NGOs move into Africa to promote LGBTQ+++ ideology.

Its the new-age colonialism, and Eastern Europe is largely experiencing the same phenomenon. The same neoliberal, Western-oriented cartel (what can broadly be termed the multinational corporate state) has gone to work here as well.

The force at work in Africa and at work in Georgia is the same network of corporate state and state-sponsored, non-state actors. Its objective is to reshape Eastern European culture just as it is in the West and Africa and, indeed, worldwide.

Consider USAID, the US governments social engineering arm that doles out foreign civilian aid and development assistance and that has an enormous presence in Tbilisi.

In its guiding document, LGBTQI Vision for Action, USAID declares a fatwa of sorts against nations deemed insufficiently submissive to the LGBTQ+++ agenda:

USAID will map and analyze country conditions and cultural context and will seek windows of opportunity  for cultural and legal progress Achieving inclusive development programming will require increasing the integration of LGBT issues into USAIDs organizational processes, policies, and programming where windows of opportunity arise.

What that means in non-bureaucratic English is that USAID leverages its social and economic development programs to coerce states it is ostensibly helping (like Georgia) into adopting and prioritizing its LGBTQ+++ agenda items.

If a recipient state like Georgia wont comply, on religious or cultural grounds, then the spigot gets turned off. Thats how the West does human rights.

USAID absurdly calls these policies non-discriminatory:

USAID strongly encourages its implementing partners and their sub-awardees at all tiers to also develop and enforce comprehensive non-discrimination policies for their workplaces that address protection for all employees, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

USAID: Oh, you want some bread, little boy? Step into the office here for a quick chemical castration and well get you fed.

Making funding for nutrition programs for starving children dependent on transing them is liberal, and loving.

The struggle for Georgian independence and its confounding political implications

The foreign aid issue isnt Georgias only diplomatic problem in the culture war.

The conservative Georgian government is between a rock and a hard place on the geopolitical map. On one hand, it would like very much to fall under the NATO/EU security umbrella as a hedge against further Russian aggression.

Article V of the NATO treaty is a mutual security guarantee; an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. Similar security arrangements exist between EU member states. Joining either one would provide hitherto unimaginable security for Georgia, which is currently a sitting duck at the whim of the autocrats to the north.

In 2008, Russia flexed its post-Cold War military muscle and reasserted itself geopolitically by invading, occupying, and annexing a huge swathe of Georgian territory  not large by land mass but huge relative to the small geographical confines of Georgia.

Georgian nationalists are understandably still upset about the encroachment on their sovereignty.

Countering aggression by its much-larger regional neighbor (and historical oppressor) is a geo-strategic priority shared by Ukraine. From the streets of Tbilisi to the most rural villages, Ukrainian flags, Georgian flags, and EU flags are on full display side-by-side as a gesture of solidarity.

Private businesses frequently utilize anti-Russian phraseology (in English) adorned prominently on their storefronts.

With the above-described security aims in mind, Georgia has repeatedly applied to join both the EU and NATO. Demonstrators routinely stage public events in Tbilisi demanding ascension to one or both of these organizations.

But the United States and the EU have tied their foreign aid and ascension protocols to the promotion of the LGBTQ+++ agenda.

So, without consenting to the new colonizers social demands, in Georgias view, there will be no outside assistance to secure its borders.

In summary: on one side of the ledger Georgia is by and large not on board with the Western cultural agenda; just 27% of Georgians, according to polling, believe protecting queer rights is important. On the other side of the ledger, they view joining the West as strategically essential for their survival as an independent nation.

The dichotomy makes for a bipolar political culture, as evidenced by the chaos on Tbilisi streets.

From the LGBTQ+++ corporate states perspective, it has the Georgian population right where it wants them. Russian aggression, or the mere threat of aggression, is a Godsend for the West  the boogeyman to use to slip the trans agenda into Tbilisi schools.

Above: Drag Queen Story Hour, the dystopian future Tbilisis progeny have to look forward to in the name of progress

Ben Bartee is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. Follow his stuff via Armageddon Prose and/or Substack, Patreon, Gab, and Twitter.

Bitcoin public address: 14gU3aHBXkNq8bDqmibfnubV7kSJqfx5LX
Dinesh DSouzas film, 2000 Mules, documenting the 2020 U.S. presidential election, was released this spring and the response from Americas political swamp was predictable. Because of the significant promotion and interest in the video, the mainstream media (MSM) couldnt easily ignore the documentary, as they normally do with whatever contradicts the MSM and the Democrats narrative.

In this case, they addressed the matter as best as they could. They attacked and by attacking tried to cancel it.

Associated Press (AP), one of Americas leading news sources, launched its attack by wiring hundreds of news outlets across the country to announce officially its opinion. This encouraged others in the respected media to echo its views.

And they did it in true yellow-journalism style, dripping with disdain.

Fortunately, the MSMs attack wasnt as successful as they had hoped. The interest in the movie was too strong to cancel. Decent and thinking Americans had caught on to what was being done to the country, and they flocked to the theatre and/or bought the video in large numbers to collect the facts contributing to the wide-spread voter irregularities.

Producing this film wasnt easy. Members of the respected government agencies made this certain by concealing revealing information from both the public and the filmmakers. Despite this handicap, the film producers still pulled together enough data of a suspicious nature exposing mules in action stuffing boxes with their fraudulent ballots. This made it difficult for the author of the hit piece, APs Ali Swenson, from discouraging interest in the movie.

After a preliminary and an innocent opening to her article, she immediately mounts an attack. In her second paragraph she announces exactly where she is heading by releasing, for the benefit of her supporters, the magic word. Trump!

Praised by former President Donald Trump as exposing great election fraud, the movie, called 2000 Mules, paints an ominous picture suggesting Democrat-aligned ballot mules were supposedly paid to illegally collect and drop off ballots in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Ms. Swenson then adds emphatically for slow learners who might miss the point: the movie doesnt prove it.

After slipping Trumps name into her argument and emphatically denying the visual evidence seen in the movie, she then resorts to a popular journalistic technique; she provides the opinion of named and unnamed experts of no real consequence who support her position.

By Ms. Swenson using her superior knowledge to hammer her point, she hoped to disclaim the visual evidence (in the video) and side-track attention by focusing on an arguable position  claiming GPS cell phone information to identify the specific location of ballot stuffers is a flawed source. Those who have used such cell phone locators know differently. Many of them depend on GPS units to move them about cities quickly. Ms. Swensons argument against the reliability of such GPS locators  as well as her imagined behavior of the mules stuffing voter boxes  just doesnt seem to stick.

Although we dont know the political party of those stuffing the boxes (as filmed by government sources), what we do know from watching the video is that this activity was seriously irregular. No one drops ballots late at night, wearing latex gloves, then takes photos of their actions. The only sensible explanation is that they wore the gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints, and they had photographs taken  to provide evidence that they had dropped the ballots to qualify for any reimbursement due them for their efforts.

The only way to settle this matter (and it is a very important matter to settle) would be to do a thorough and impartial investigation of voter fraud. This must be done by a reliable government agency to avoid a repeat in the future, and the results of the investigation must lead to punishing those guilty of the crime. This needs to be done, not in a Kangaroo Court, but in a court of law by due process.

Political loyalty these days seems to supersede Constitution Law, and MSM and major government agencies are doing everything in their power to guarantee this. They are doing this by contributing to cheap headlines long before a thorough and honest investigation can be fairly conducted. It is exemplified by the Russia, Russia hoax against Trump and the political lynching of those attending the 2021 January 6th uprising at the Capitol.

Sadly, America has fallen from its perch, and it has cracked open. The vultures are circling her carcass and preparing to descend.

The question remains: Will America disappear into the sands of time like other great nations, or will she rise up like the mythical Phoenix triumphantly?

Those who want a balanced opinion of the documentary should read Politique Republic. Copies of the video can be purchased through Amazon and the Salemnow Store.

_____

Joe David is the author of six books, three of which are novels, Teacher of the Year (satire on modern educators), The Fire Within (the philosophical flaws in public education), and The Infidels (the genocide of Christians by radical Muslims), plus many articles and several other books. Read more at www.bfat.com.
Former Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 11, 2022. Former Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome has said that the China-proposed Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa (HOA) to support regional countries in addressing security, development and governance challenges is highly appreciated. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Former Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome has said that the China-proposed Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa (HOA) to support regional countries in addressing security, development and governance challenges is highly appreciated.

"The move and the initiative China has taken is highly appreciated," the former Ethiopian president told Xinhua in a recent interview, as he commended China's facilitating role to bring about lasting peace and stability in the region.

The First China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference was held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, from June 20 to 21. The high-level regional peace and development conference brought together ministers and senior government officials of HOA countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Djibouti, who were joined by Xue Bing, the special envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"It was a Chinese initiative to bring countries to talk about and discuss peace and security in our region. Of course, African countries, especially our region of IGAD member countries, have to own the agenda," Teshome said.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is an eight-member east African bloc, bringing together Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.

The former Ethiopian president emphasized that peace and stability are important for any country to develop, as he singled out China's peaceful development experience as a prime example.

"The success stories of China, the continuous economic development in China, was due to the fact that China was peaceful - peaceful with itself and peaceful with its neighbors," he said. "We need a peaceful and stable society. In the absence of peace and stability, we can not have any investment."

He said countries in the Horn of Africa "are convinced that we need peace and stability" in the region, in which China's efforts to facilitate and bring together the neighboring countries to discuss peace, security and development "is very important."

"I hope China will continue in encouraging our region to talk about peace and stability. If Ethiopia and its neighbors are peaceful, we benefit from that," he said.

Teshome emphasized that peaceful coexistence is a mainstay in order to have mutually beneficial development projects between countries in the region.

Participants attending the two-day conference in Addis Ababa last month concluded their engagement by issuing a 12-point joint statement stating that participants conducted in-depth discussions on regional peace, development and governance in an atmosphere of unity, candor, pragmatism, and mutual respect.

Teshome, who was the president of Ethiopia from October 2013 to 2018, has served the East African country in different high-level capacities, including as Ethiopia's Ambassador to China. 
Privateers have been much maligned in history, so much so that perhaps you didnt realize their important role in gaining America its independence from Great Britain.

If your first image of a privateer is a sinister, blood-thirsty madman with a knife in his teeth and a skull on his sails, youre probably thinking of a culturally exaggerated version of a pirate.

But if your next image of a privateer is a tanned and tattooed sailor with a sword and a ship full of stolen treasure  well, now youre getting closer to the reality of a privateers life.

REBELS AT SEA

Privateering in the American Revolution

Eric Jay Dolin

Liveright/WW Norton

There may be no better read for an American Revolution history lover this summer than Eric Jay Dolins latest Rebel At Sea, a look at the forgotten role of the privateer during Americas battle for independence.

Because of their similarity with pirates  criminals who scoured the sea to pillage for personal and malevolent gain  privateers are often ignored in the annals of history, especially in events that have been heavily sanitized of uncomfortable truths like the American Revolution.

As Dolin reveals, privateers were a bit like a shadow navy; indeed they existed in the colonies before there was an actual American naval force.

What set them apart was an authorized letter of marque, a license from the government to capture vessels from enemy nations and take their possessions. The haul would then be sold and, generally speaking, split between the crew and the letters issuer.

Dominic Serres; HMS Pearl Capturing the Esperance, 30 September 1780; National Maritime Museum

At first a tool for defense by individual colonies, the American Congress soon passed a resolution employing privateers  months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Privateers were free to capture any British vessel, Dolan writes, not just those that were delivering supplies to British forces in America. (Later, neutral ships carrying good bound for British use were also deemed acceptable targets).

Revolutionaries like John Adams were enthusiastic proponents of privateering. Thousands of schemes for privateering are afloat in American imaginations, he wrote his wife Abigail. Out of these speculations many fruitless and some profitable projects will grow.

Boarding of Triton by the privateer Hasard (ex British pilot ship Cartier), captained by Robert Surcouf (by Ambroise Louis Garneray, 17831857)

Dolin describes the life of the average privateer as far less glamorous than that which we might normally prescribe a swashbuckler. Rebels at Sea does highlight some of the privateering triumphs of the Revolution  from John Greenwood, a young privateer who later became George Washingtons dentist, to the many privateering whaleboats.

In a dark local angle, British-occupied New York launched their own counter privateering vessels with the most fervor and success and thousands of captured American privateers were imprisoned in the loathesome holds of Wallabout Bay prison ships.

There are men whose sacrifices should also be remembered during Independence Day celebrations this year. And Dolans Rebels at Sea presents a great introduction to this hidden corner of American history
SUVA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Fiji received 205,529 foreign tourists in the first six months of this year, a 50 percent recovery of arrivals over the same period of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Fiji broadcasting Corporation (FBC) on Tuesday, the Fiji Bureau of Statistics said that tourism arrival continued to rise in the country with visitors for June this year alone standing at 62,130.

According to the Fijian government, Fiji is expected to receive 447,000 tourists in 2022.

The strong performance of tourism is directly fueling the recovery of the Fijian economy, which is now expected to grow by 12.4 percent this year.

Minister for Tourism Faiyaz Koya said that they are now expecting visitor arrivals to reach 55 percent of 2019 levels with full recovery by 2024.

The ministry will continue to work with its key government and industry partners to ensure the full recovery of the industry, with the support provided in the upcoming 2022-2023 national budget.

The tourism industry is urged to maintain Fiji's image as a safe tourism destination and to continue advocating for COVID-19 safety practices.

In April, Fiji lifted all quarantine measures for foreign visitors as part of its efforts to revitalize the tourism industry, the backbone of the island nation's economy and the biggest foreign exchange earner, which was devastated by travel-related restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fiji closed its borders after it reported the first confirmed COVID-19 case in March 2020. On Dec. 1, 2021, Fiji reopened its borders to all fully vaccinated travellers from the "travel partner" countries, including New Zealand, Australia, Britain and the United States.

Located in the heart of the South Pacific region, Fiji has a population of around 900,000 people and 333 tropical islands.

The tourism industry, which accounts for about 35 percent of Fiji's gross domestic product, employs approximately 150,000 people directly and indirectly. Before the pandemic, Fiji received more than 800,000 visitors per year. 
TOKYO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition ally Komeito scored a sweeping victory in Sunday's upper house election, with the LDP alone securing the majority of contested seats, results confirmed Monday.

The LDP's sweeping win may open up the possibility of a revision to the country's pacifist constitution, but a number of issues, from political division to public opposition, remain in the way of changing the supreme law.

Voting was bolstered by a sympathetic public following the shocking and brutal assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was gunned down by an ex-Maritime Self-Defense Force worker while delivering a campaign speech in Nara, western Japan on Friday.

Abe's murder, according to experts on the matter, contributed to the ruling LDP's clear victory in Sunday's election, as the death of the party's revered former leader and head of its biggest faction, just days before the triennial election, likely swayed swing voters and drove disinclined voters to the polls out of sheer shock and sympathy.

"The brutal assassination of Shinzo Abe has shocked the nation on the eve of national elections," Jeff Kingston, professor of History and Asian Studies at Temple University Japan, told Xinhua. "The LDP's thumping victory was helped by a sympathy vote following the tragic assassination of Abe."

The LDP won 63 out of the 125 seats up for grabs, while its junior coalition partner Komeito landed 13 seats. In all, the LDP and Komeito secured a total of 76 seats, comfortably retaining a majority of the seats being contested.

The former prime minister's death will "leave a void in his party," Kingston said of Abe, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020 before stepping down due to health reasons, securing the place as Japan's longest serving prime minster.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday vowed to build on the legacy of the former prime minister and work to achieve Abe's career goal of revising the constitution.

Prior to Abe's death, there had been a notable lull in the former leader's concerted, yet unsuccessful campaign for the LDP to dominate the upper house and call for the constitution to be amended.

The issue had been largely sidelined as Japan had to contend with the coronavirus pandemic, ensuing economic tailspin and social inertia.

Though the result of Sunday's election has strengthened pro-constitutional amendment forces, which have retained the two-thirds majority needed in the upper house to re-heat a tepid push towards revising the constitution, there remains a far higher hurdle yet to be cleared.

Pro-constitutional amendment forces are not ironclad. There are differences among them on the specific content of the amendment. For example, Natsuo Yamaguchi, Komeito's leader, said on Sunday night it is not that the Self-Defense Forces cannot do their job without a constitutional amendment, and there is no need to amend the first and second items of Article 9 of the constitution.

Meanwhile, after Abe was shot dead, the cohesion within the LDP has come into question, thus affecting the party's agenda of constitutional amendment.

In addition, a significant number of Japanese people remain skeptical and opposed to constitutional amendment.

Some Japanese media pointed out that the amendment is a "huge gamble with one's political life" for the prime minister, as the national assembly will have to hold a referendum after passing the constitutional amendment motion. If the motion is vetoed, the cabinet will be forced to resign.

Atsushi Kouketsu, emeritus professor at Yamaguchi University, pointed out that the only way for Japan to restore trust in the Asia-pacific region is to abide by the spirit of the pacifist constitution and reflect on its history of aggression and colonial rule against Asian countries.

Takakage Fujita, director-general of a civil group dedicated to upholding and developing the well-known Murayama Statement, said Article 9 of the constitution was Japan's post-war public pledge to the international community to be reborn as a peaceful nation.

It is because of the existence of Article 9 that Japan can win the trust of other countries, and Japan should stick to it, he said. 
While most Manitobans enjoy the warmer weather and relaxed pace that summer brings, humane societies and cat rescue organizations in Westman are struggling.

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While most Manitobans enjoy the warmer weather and relaxed pace that summer brings, humane societies and cat rescue organizations in Westman are struggling.

Linda Desjardins, founder of Cats TNR and Rescue in Neepawa, said the problem of stray and feral cats has only grown worse in the small town, located approximately 74 kilometres northeast of Brandon.

SUBMITTED Westman animal shelters say they are struggling to provide care to the numerous cats that are coming into their facilities.

TNR stands for trap, neuter and return, a strategy that improves the lives of homeless cats and reduces their numbers. Cats are trapped, spayed or neutered so they can no longer reproduce, are vaccinated and then, if homes cannot be found for them, are released.

Cats TNR and Rescue was founded in 2012 after the discovery of a homeless cat population living at a nearby dump. Run strictly by volunteers but governed by a board of directors, it operates with foster homes and a small shelter. Foster families care for and socialize rescued cats while they receive veterinary care including shots, deworming and mandatory spay or neuter. The organization runs completely on donations and fundraising for their operating expenses, including veterinary bills, food and supplies.

In the last 50 years, Neepawa has nearly doubled its population, and is listed as one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada. As the population surges, Desjardins said, so does the homeless feline problem. The rescue currently has 100 cats in care, with many more up for adoption.

"The calls are continual. Every day we get messages from people asking us to take cats."

Often its not people discovering homeless cats, but those whose situations have changed and are looking to rehome their family pets. One woman phoned Desjardins a few days ago wanting to surrender her cat because she was moving to an apartment that didnt allow animals.

"I said, If you have an animal, why would you move to an apartment that doesnt allow them? And she said there are no apartments that are pet-friendly."

Others, Desjardins said, dont understand the type of care that cats need. They assume cats can be allowed to roam outside and that they can feed themselves by hunting mice and other rodents. Such animals can actually make cats quite sick, since they often carry worms and other diseases.

Then there are some cat owners who arent giving their cats a humane home. Recently, Desjardins had to rescue four kittens from a home where they were locked in a two-tiered cage with three adult and two teenage cats. A volunteer at Cats TNR and Rescue happened to be in the home doing some work and was appalled by the conditions the nine cats were living in.

"Its just unreal," Desjardins said. "Its cruelty."

Thankfully, the owner of the cats agreed to get the others fixed.

Sometimes, people can no longer care for their cats, but dont even try to find someone to take them and just turn them out on the street.

"Neepawa is just full of stray cats now."

The problem has become so widespread that some local residents have even taken to leaving cat traps out in their yards.

"They think its quite fine to trap a cat, take it out into the country and drop it off, but thats basically a death sentence for that cat  cats are dependent on people. Thats why theyre in towns and cities  they depend on people for their survival."

The issue isnt limited to the town. Desjardins said that while some people who live in the country are beginning to spay and neuter their cats, not all do.

When Cats TNR and Rescue first began, Desjardins said the town was spending around $7,000 a year on euthanasia. Once the rescue got up and running, that amount decreased to $1,000.

But the problem, she added, just keeps coming back. Beyond full capacity, the organization is now only taking what Desjardins calls "emergency cases."

"Were not alone. Every rescue, every shelter is just overrun, and I dont know what the solution is anymore. Its like were putting a Band-Aid on a cancer  were never going to adopt our way out of this problem, were never going to stop it."

The only way for things to get better, Desjardins said, is for people to spay and neuter their animals. When they dont, theyre contributing to the problem.

"Yes, its expensive, but you can go out and buy an $800 iPhone, you can spend $200 on a meal or a night out, but you cant spay or neuter your cats? That just makes no sense to me."

Tracy Munn, shelter manager and director at the Brandon Humane Society, said many cats are surrendered and become homeless because people value them less than dogs. She also cites the misconceptions people have about felines as contributing to the problem.

"People say, Oh, Im pregnant, I cant keep the cat. I say, Why cant you keep the cat? Cats love children."

Munn credits the foster families that work with the humane society in being an integral part of saving homeless cats and dogs.

"The people that foster are phenomenal  we couldnt have the amount of animals we do if it werent for the foster homes."

Summertime, however, is often a busy time, with some foster families going on vacation. Its not strictly a cat problem, though. Munn said some months the shelter is full of homeless dogs, and other months with cats. In the end, its all about being a good pet owner and being prepared for the responsibility of owning an animal.

"Think long and hard before you get an animal. Its kind of like a kid. Once you get it, then theres no putting them back."

 mleybourne@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @miraleybourne
A woman was sent to jail for more than four months after she used fake American cash at two Brandon stores.

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A woman was sent to jail for more than four months after she used fake American cash at two Brandon stores.

Tiffany Sullivan, 39, pleaded guilty to using counterfeit money and theft in incidents from May 2022.

On May 16, a loss prevention officer at Brandons Walmart received a report a woman came into the store and bought a microwave using three counterfeit American $100 bills, said Crown attorney Yaso Mathu. The microwave was worth approximately $313.

A few hours later, a different woman went to Walmarts customer service desk and tried to return it, she said. But staff already knew it was bought with counterfeit bills.

"It appears that the two women were working together," Mathu said.

Police initially couldnt identify Sullivan in the incident, but did so on May 30, she said.

Sullivan also pleaded guilty to using another fake $100 bill at the 7-Eleven location in Brandons west end.

Then, on May 27, police received a call from Jo-Brooks Outdoors that a woman rolled an electric bike out of the store without paying, Mathu said. The bike was later recovered.

Sullivan was ultimately arrested on May 30, according to the Crown. When police initially approached her after a traffic stop, she gave a fake name and date of birth, but they later confirmed her identity.

"Counterfeiting affects the whole economy. It affects the rest of society and the price of our dollar  the cost of items in the store will be driven up, so really it is a societal-wide problem," Mathu told the court.

She recommended a total sentence of five months in jail, including three months for using the counterfeit bills.

The crimes stem from addiction and trying to feed it, said defence lawyer Caleigh Glawson. In response, Sullivan has connected with a treatment program in another province and plans to get help once released from jail. She also has Gladue factors, Glawson said.

Glawson recommended a sentence of time already served in jail, saying Sullivan is remorseful and has a plan to deal with her substance-use issues.

Speaking to the court through tears, Sullivan said she is sorry and wants a second chance.

"This has opened my mind big time. Im just really sorry," she said.

Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said she was glad to see Sullivans plans for addictions treatment and appreciates her remorse. But she said Sullivan would likely end up back in jail for longer sentences if she doesnt get the issue under control.

Hewitt-Michta sentenced her to a total of approximately four and a half months in jail, minus 64 days time already served.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Prairie Mountain Health continues to roll back rural emergency department availability for the summer season, with the latest big change impacting the Municipality of Grandview.

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Prairie Mountain Health continues to roll back rural emergency department availability for the summer season, with the latest big change impacting the Municipality of Grandview.

As of last Friday, the Grandview Health Centres emergency department services are no longer available over the weekend, although the local ER will remain open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday to Friday.

These hours will stay in place throughout the rest of July and August, according to an update on PMHs official Facebook page.

Grandview residents requiring emergency care over the weekend are encouraged to call 911 or 204-546-2425 to determine the nearest open ER.

The change at the Grandview Health Centre is due to "staffing issues," according to PMH, which is the same rationale the health authority has used to reduce emergency department hours in rural communities such as Melita, Hamiota and Treherne.

Talking to the Sun on Monday, Grandview Mayor Dwayne Bomak said his local government has been working with PMH to make the transition as bearable as possible, striking a deal that ensures the emergency department located in nearby Roblin will remain open throughout the weekend.

However, Bomak admitted the closure of Grandviews ER over the upcoming summer weekends, and with no 24-hour ER services available throughout the rest of the week, will be a "hardship for the community," especially for those suffering from serious health issues.

"Now anybody, after hours, has to travel to the nearest hospital at Dauphin or Roblin, which is a 30- to 45-minute drive one way for them," he said. "And if you were suffering from a massive heart attack, thats a big distance to travel."

But the closure of the Grandview ER over the weekends didnt come as a surprise to Bomak, since the local hospital has been struggling to fill staffing vacancies for months now, causing emergency services to shutter periodically throughout the summer.

Even though Bomak insists the community offers an attractive incentive program to recruit health-care workers  which includes a signing bonus of $20,000 split over two years for any registered nurse who signs a two-year, full-time contract  recruitment and retention remains a massive problem.

"Ive personally called several of the universities and colleges that have nursing programs and tried to get information passed out to their graduating classes to say This is who we are and this is what were offering," he said. "Ive had a few phone calls, but not a lot has materialized from that."

This issue was also addressed during a July 5 town hall meeting in Melita, where staffing shortages in the area compelled PMH officials to close the towns emergency department in its entirety for summer.

During the meeting, PMH chief executive officer Brian Schoonbaert told the crowd that his organization is exploring several different solutions to help the Melita ER reopen.

"We may have to come up with a very different model than what we have now," he said on July 5. "What that is, Im not sure yet, and it wont be ready by September. We have to go back to government with our plans to see about funding and feasibility."

To Bomak, the ongoing staffing shortage can be laid directly at the feet of the provincial government, which hasnt made nursing, and many other related fields in health care, an attractive career prospect for a number of years now.

"You cant expect people to come to work and have a positive attitude when the government is freezing wages and rolling back wages and still expecting you to perform at your best."

The Municipality of Grandview has a population of around 1,500 residents and is located approximately 206 kilometres northwest of Brandon.

 kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @KyleDarbyson
Though Manitobas provincial nominee program was a pioneer in its field, that doesnt mean it doesnt need some tweaking.

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Though Manitobas provincial nominee program was a pioneer in its field, that doesnt mean it doesnt need some tweaking.

Thats what Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Minister Jon Reyes told a packed room at Brandons Victoria Inn on Monday to kick off a consultation meeting on Manitobas immigration policies.

MATT GOERZEN/THE BRANDON SUN Danielle Adriaansen, vice-president, international, gives a presentation on behalf of Assiniboine Community College during a consultation on immigration policies organized by the province at the Victoria Inn in Brandon.

Moderated by Labour Minister and Brandon West Progressive Conservative MLA Reg Helwer and attended by representatives from the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, City of Brandon and more, so many people turned out for the session that hotel employees had to bring in extra chairs to accommodate everyone.

It was part of a series of hearings being held across Manitoba with the aim of refining immigration policies as businesses and politicians wonder if foreign workers can help with labour shortages being experienced across many sectors throughout the country.

According to Reyes, the Canada-Manitoba Immigration Agreement expired in 2003, but both parties are currently at the table renegotiating a new deal. He expects it to be signed later this year.

A request to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for comment on the process was not returned by deadline.

Reyes said a few weeks ago he met with federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser and talked to him about paperwork and bureaucratic delays in receiving permanent residency. The problem is being worked on, but Reyes said it will take some time.

In response, Helwer added that the province receives a lot of questions about the federal government and though they have a good relationship with their federal partners, theres not much they can directly do to solve the issues outside of provincial programs.

Beyond the traditional streams available through the provincial nominee program, Reyes also discussed how refugees from Ukraine coming in with temporary visas and work permits fit into the current situation.

Representatives from organizations that work with immigrants also talked about their programs.

Hannah Holt and Joy Escalera from Westman Immigrant Services (WIS) outlined their work in helping immigrants and refugees and the importance of skilled workers moving to the area.

They said unemployment is a difficulty many newcomers face and WIS goal is to reduce barriers they experience.

To illustrate how they help newcomers, they played a video featuring WIS clients explaining what the organization has done for them. Many of the newcomers interviewed said they werent confident with speaking English and connecting with the larger community until they took classes with WIS.

Danielle Adriaansen, of Assiniboine Community College, discussed some of the challenges the institution has faced with immigration, including delays and roadblocks created by the COVID-19 pandemic, competing with other institutions in other countries and provinces and keeping graduates in Manitoba once theyve finished their schooling.

MATT GOERZEN/THE BRANDON SUN Emeka Egeson, who said he came to Canada through the provincial nominee program, asked if the ministers immigration council could have more than one representative from Brandon on the board given it is the provinces second-largest community.

Adriaansen said 75 per cent of international graduates in Canada expressed interest in receiving their permanent residency.

Addressing members of the immigration council present, Adriaansen said study permit denials are a large concern, especially since the given reason for many of these denials include a note that they believe the person in question wont leave Canada once their studies are done.

That, she said, is philosophically opposed to immigration-related goals.

She praised the provincial nominee program for having an in-demand professions list, but said she wishes these lists were updated more frequently to appropriately address market gaps.

As a positive example of unions, companies and government working together to improve immigration, she brought up the construction of facilities and hiring of staff to educate workers coming to Brandon to work at the Maple Leaf pork processing plant.

Eric Forster, the regional economic development officer for the Town of Melita and the Municipality of Two Borders, came to speak about the issues faced by smaller municipalities.

He said he believes rural Manitoba needs to be promoted as a desirable landing spot for foreign workers and even as a place where people can get their start before moving on.

"Were not everything for everybody, but we can be that first spot," he said.

Forster also said he thinks Manitoba needs to think outside of the box when coming up with incentives to move here, like paying for health care for international students or providing some kind of loan forgiveness program.

Up next, Brandon Chamber of Commerce president Tanya LaBuick explained what her organizations members are experiencing due to the ongoing labour shortage.

"Case in point at my own personal business, an employee needed a work review and doctors note to return to work," she said.

Because he couldnt access a psychiatrist and didnt have a family doctor, LaBuick said her company ultimately had to let him go. Local businesses are also having to shorten their hours and provide fewer services as a result of a lack of labour.

She requested the province distribute its real labour forecast number for the next two to five years, prioritize sectors most in need of labour, to expand licensed practical nursing seats at ACC and to eliminate roadblocks in the application, to work more closely on immigration with the federal government and monitoring system for workers, among other things.

Once the registered speakers concluded their thoughts, the floor opened to questions from the audience.

Someone who identified themselves as an immigration consultant asked if, on the health-care front, the province could meet with regulators to make it easier for people with health-care credentials to get certified to work in Canada.

She said while its easy for someone who comes from a country like the United Kingdom to transfer their credentials, its harder for health-care professionals from other countries to get certified.

Another audience member asked Reyes why qualified people coming to Canada must work at Walmart, for example, for four years while they wait to get the green light to work in a field desperate for labour.

In response, Reyes said the province needs to engage with the regulators for various professions to help with that process and he has a mandate to work on it.

"They dont always see things the way we do, but the goal is to have people working safely in those professions," Helwer said of regulators.

Emeka Egeson, who said he came to Canada through the provincial nominee program, asked if the ministers immigration council could have more than one representative from Brandon on the board given it is the provinces second-largest community.

He also spoke of the challenge of having been approved for the program four years after applying, with labour market and economic challenges shifting in the meantime.

A representative from Maple Leaf Foods said while the companys plant in Winnipeg is short by approximately 100 workers, the Brandon facility is missing 300.

Having travelled with the province for recruitment missions to the Philippines, she wanted to know if the government was open to more strategic opportunities and reducing immigration red tape.

After the Brandon meeting, another consultation was scheduled to take place in Neepawa on Monday afternoon.

Both Helwer and Reyes said a lot of recent efforts have been focused on bringing in Ukrainians fleeing the ongoing war. Helwer said as minister of labour, the first question he is often asked is how companies can recruit Ukrainians to work for them.

Someone who identified themselves as both an employee and international student at Assiniboine Community College said the way health care is set up for international students  where students dont get Manitoba Health cards and must get private insurance  is dissuading people from getting the checkups and tests they need.

A hog farmer named William said he was glad to hear from Maple Leaf and ACC given their roles in his sector, but said he hopes the province could institute a trusted employer program to help businesses like his streamline the hiring of foreign labour and reduce recruitment costs.

Reyes  who also handles the advanced education portfolio  said while students receive private health care when they enrol, there have been talks about changing the system.

No further consultations are scheduled for Westman, though sessions will be taking place in Altona, Steinbach, Winkler and Winnipeg in August.

According to Reyes, the Immigration Advisory Council will issue a report on its findings by the end of the year.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
It has been anything but blue skies for air travellers this summer.

It has been anything but blue skies for air travellers this summer.

Weve all seen the social media videos of checked-luggage purgatories, populated by hundreds of roller bags. Weve heard the stories about the cancelled flights. The delayed flights. The rebooked, delayed and then ultimately cancelled flights. The endless check-in and security lines. The hours spent on hold with customer service. The hour spent on the tarmac. The missed connections. The passengers who have been separated from their belongings for weeks.

Indeed, the late-pandemic return to air travel has been far more turbulent than triumphant over the past few weeks. Demand has been surging, with many people taking their first summer vacations in three years, and an industry rocked to its foundations during the depths of the pandemic isnt just struggling to keep up; it appears to be collapsing under the weight.

Canadian airlines and airports topped the global leaderboard for delays over the July long weekend, which included both a Canadian and U.S. holiday. On June 30, Air Canada president and CEO Michael Rousseau sent an email to customers alerting them to the fact the flag carrier would be making meaningful reductions to its schedule in July and August.

That amounts to about 154 flights per day, with flights to and from Toronto and Montreal being among the most affected. Both cities are popular connections to domestic and international destinations.

And as much as passengers are frustrated by delays and cancellations, we should also spare a thought for airline workers.

The aviation industry is grappling with worldwide staffing issues and crew shortages, both in the air and on the ground. This is partially owing to the aggressive cuts airlines made in 2020 when air travel was all but suspended, and now they are struggling with recruitment and retention.

Many workers who were laid off have found jobs in other industries, and those who remain find themselves doing more work with fewer resources. Advocates are already warning of more turbulence on the horizon, in the form of strikes and work actions as many employees report being overworked and underpaid.

Gate agents, customer service reps and flight attendants are on the frontlines of this crisis, having to endure angry tirades from irritated passengers about things over which they have little to no control. How long before even more aviation-sector employees decide its not worth it and leave the field for more stable  and less stressful  jobs?

Its a complicated, multi-system failure with no silver-bullet solution, and airlines will have to step up at both the employee and customer level, and better manage passengers expectations. Meaningful reductions in service, for example, should have happened months ago; at this point, what could have been a proactive move is now a reactive one.

It might also be worthwhile to explore the things that could be done right now to streamline the system and alleviate some of the security bottlenecks, such as getting rid of the cumbersome ArriveCan app, which has, by now, outlived its usefulness in the face of changing requirements and mandates.

Passengers will adapt, as they have before; flying, after all, has never returned to what it was pre-9/11. Rebuilding the industry will be slow, so its best one packs their patience if they are planning to fly.

To borrow a word from Mr. Rousseau, without meaningful strategies to tackle what is, chiefly, a labour issue, this will be the new normal for air travel for the foreseeable future.

 Winnipeg Free Press
Music industry figures and legal experts have criticised a proposal floated by NSW Police that would effectively censor certain forms of hip-hop music in Australia.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Monday, NSW Police acting assistant commissioner Jason Weinstein suggested police would contact streaming platforms and ask them to remove music police believe incites violence or criminal activity.

Drill music and songs (in some cases) are being weaponised to basically inflame a conflict with another side, Weinstein said.

Some members of Western Sydney crew OneFour: Jemz, top left, Spenny, bottom left, YP (Pio Misa), top right.

We dont have the power to stop anything such as concerts or songs or what people post. So it goes back to the moderators like YouTube, Snapchat and those social media platforms.
Byron Bays first Splendour in the Grass festival since 2019 has been thrown into a disarray less than two weeks before it is due to kick-off, thanks to a change to liquor licensing rules forcing all ticket holders under the age of 18 to be accompanied by an adult.

The change has caused chaos for many underage ticket holders, and a ticket re-sale facility has been set up on the festivals website, where hundreds of tickets are currently being off-loaded.

Splendour in the Grass. Credit:Dave Kan

Festival co-promoter Jessica Ducrou said she was devastated by the sudden blanket approach to licensing that could result in fines of more than $2000 for minors, up to $3300 for adults, and associated fines for event organisers of $5500 per individual fined by police.

As a result of the changes they [anyone under 18 who is unaccompanied by an adult] wont be able to get into the festival, Ducrou told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.
Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) attends a joint press conference with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah after their meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Tuesday that China and Malaysia have reached a five-point consensus on further developing their relations.

At a joint press conference with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah after their meeting, Wang said China-Malaysia ties are witnessing new opportunities for development.

China is ready to work with Malaysia to set new goals and priorities for bilateral relations so as to elevate their ties to a new high, he said, noting that both sides have reached a series of important consensuses.

First, the two countries have agreed to move toward building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future under the concept of "the world is one family." Both sides are working to enrich their comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era and open up broader prospects for the future development of bilateral cooperation.

Second, China and Malaysia have agreed to jointly build the Belt and Road with high quality and implement the Global Development Initiative. They will take the 10th anniversary of the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" initiative as an opportunity to establish a pioneer zone for trade and economic innovative development, and a demonstration zone for industrial capacity of the Belt and Road cooperation. Both countries will also foster new growth points such as digital economy and green development, and jointly enhance competitiveness and development level.

Third, the two sides have agreed to dovetail their blueprints for development, strive to push forward the East Coast Rail Link and development along the mega rail project, and maintain communication on the construction of the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed railway. They also discussed the long-term goal of the pan-Asia railway network.

Fourth, China and Malaysia have agreed on practical measures that benefit the two peoples. China is willing to import more quality agricultural products from Malaysia, and help international students from Malaysia return to China to resume their studies. It also plans to significantly increase direct flights between the two countries.

Fifth, the two sides have reached a political consensus on safeguarding regional peace and stability. They will jointly advocate true multilateralism, practice open regionalism, uphold the ASEAN centrality, reject bloc rivalry and the Cold War mentality, speed up consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and jointly build the South China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation.

China is ready to work with its ASEAN partners, including Malaysia, to deepen their strategic mutual trust and strengthen strategic coordination, so as to maintain regional stability and work for common development, Wang said.

Wang wrapped up his Asia tour Tuesday, which has taken him to Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. 
Apartment owners claim theyre under siege from telcos determined to install broadband services in their buildings  whether residents want them or not.

And they say theyre being forced to hire lawyers to try to stop them and protect their common property from potential damage caused by subcontractors when companies bully their way in.

Derek Graham is vowing to fight telcos seeking access to apartment buildings. Credit:Flavio Brancaleone

Its just like the movie The Castle all over again, said Derek Graham, the treasurer of a scheme at Cape Cabarita in Sydneys inner west.

Weve been told we are powerless to stop them if they want to come in and install a system, even though the NBN we already have is perfectly sufficient.

They apparently have the right to access our building, and we dont have any rights to stop them.

Private telcos or internet service providers have the right to enter apartment buildings under the Telecommunications Act 1997  reviewed and updated in 2021  and originally designed to ensure all apartment residents have internet access.

But even after the national rollout of the NBN, some telcos are still demanding the right to install their own infrastructure too.

Read more here.
Churchs ancient rules need an urgent update Your correspondent (Letters, July 12) says the church should be measured against principles that have stood the test of millennia. This is the problem  a refusal to question these ancient customs or mores. They have stood the test of time because of the churchs refusal to engage in a rational discussion of these issues. Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake for daring to propose a heliocentric universe, which the church claimed contradicted Joshua 10:13. Slavery was accepted because of Ephesians 6:5. Homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22. Over the centuries violations of these so-called principles have been construed as criminal behaviour within the secular legal system. There are still 71 countries where homosexuality is a criminal offence, with 11 imposing the death penalty. Michael Bright, Moss Vale Religion does have a problem with women. One only has to examine the opening pages of the Bible to see how that temptress Eve sowed the seeds of all the worlds problems by encouraging Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. From then on, women are viewed either as chattels of their husbands, treacherous vessels or as saintly virgins. Only two books of the Bible are named after women (Esther and Ruth) and 90 per cent of the females mentioned are denied a name and only referred to by their town of origin or as the property of a man. Grant Heaton, Port Macquarie Credit:Jean-Baptiste Santerre, Women in the Catholic Church are not after the dominant societal narrative or view to determine their place in the church. They are after what is rightly theirs and was theirs in apostolic times before the institution of the church existed: a place at the table in their own house. Megan Brock, Summer Hill

Your correspondent is wrong that discrimination against women is part of Christianitys original theology. The original church was inclusive, the key summary verse being Galatians 3:28: There is no male and female, we are all one in Christ. Jesus was radically inclusive of women. Women were the first witnesses of the resurrection, when a womans testimony was not acceptable in court. When you list all of Pauls co-workers greeted at the end of his letters, a quarter were women and they did all the available jobs. But then the men took over and all that was lost and you end up with the appalling situation we have now. Keith Binns, Goulburn Adam and Eves daughters-in-law are not named (Letters, July 12), but more importantly, where and who did they come from? Ann Babington, Lambton PM ushers in renewables era After more than a decade of the Coalition stalling in the field of renewable energy production, it is so refreshing to see our new PMs enthusiasm (Albanese aims for superpower status in energy, July 12). His proclamation that the numbers shouldnt daunt us, they should energise us is a new mantra for our younger population to embrace. May they now discard the negativity they were exposed to in their formative years, when they monotonously heard the misguided dialogue from a government who seemingly did not care for their future, or the condition of the Earth they will be raising their children on. We have all the necessary resources on our continent for a big renewables industry. All we need is for the rising generation to take up the challenge and work to fulfil this vision. James Allison, Vaucluse A recent report from the CSIRO indicates that renewables remain the cheapest new-build electricity generation in Australia (Old and costly, nuclear has loyal friends, June 6). Renewables are the cheapest and getting even cheaper the report says. The positive CSIRO costing information contained in its report relating to renewables is of prime importance, because if renewables will be the means of carrying Australia through to net-zero greenhouse emissions before or by 2050, acceptable pricing will be an essential ingredient. Reading the CSIRO report provides me with great confidence that renewables will provide Australia, and the world, with the means of reaching net-zero greenhouse emissions, at least by 2050. Brian Measday, Myrtle Bank (SA)

Fly the flag The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House precinct provide a recognisable image of Australia that is often broadcast internationally. One of the best things about permanently flying the Aboriginal flag on the bridge is the message it sends to the rest of the world: we are no longer some sort of little Britain but a mature, independent nation that embraces its Indigenous people and their rich and valuable cultural heritage. At home, the decision by the Albanese government to use the Aboriginal flag at press conferences and to give it the central position between the Australian flag and Torres Strait Islands flag is also appropriate and laudable. These important steps, at state and federal levels, help to advance the cause of reconciliation and pave the way for a Voice to Parliament and other long-overdue reforms. Pam Timms, Suffolk Park Curb the cash splash Your correspondent (Letters, July 12) has thrown out a challenge to readers to identify government projects that should be scrapped. Top of the list should be the plan to turn the Ultimo Powerhouse into a glorified function centre, with a few items of clothing scattered among the huge, early industrial innovations that are too big to move to Parramatta  at an estimated cost of $450-$500 million. This represents a huge opportunity cost to the people of NSW, who desperately need more funds invested in the health and educations systems, public housing and carbon emissions reduction strategies. The architect who gave us this prize-winning institution has estimated the existing structures could be brought back to life as a museum displaying old and new technological innovations, located in the heart of the governments much trumpeted Innovation Corridor, for an estimated $250 million. Sharing the top of the list of scrapped projects should be the plans to construct another function centre branded as a museum on the flood-affected site in Parramatta, while the former heritage Female Factory is crying out for refurbishment as a museum displaying items relevant to the people of western Sydney, who oppose the imposition of the relocated Powerhouse on this unsuitable riverside site. Elizabeth Elenius, Pyrmont The Female Factory Credit:Edwina Pickles

Send help to Sri Lanka Desperate, starving people will be considering boarding dangerous boats from Sri Lanka right now. We need to ship food such as rice to every village there now  a new Colombo plan. Andrew Taubman, Queens Park Speak the truth The assassination of the former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, has, unsurprisingly, produced many examples of the old axiom, Speak only good of the dead (or, preferably, very little that is uncomplimentary). Peter Hartcher (Japans warrior spirit rekindled, July 12) at least reminded us that Abe strove to allow Japan to be a normal nation with the ability to make war. Abes nature and disposition were far darker and compel me to believe that Malcolm Turnbulls declaration that the world will miss Abes wisdom is hyperbole. Abe stoutly denied Japanese atrocities in and before World War II; he was closely associated with the notorious Society for History Textbook Reform (i.e. he supported the sanitisation of Japanese history); and his several visits to the lamentable Yasukuni Shrine were notorious. In short, he was a right-wing militarist and we would be well advised to remember him in that way. John Carmody, Roseville Flaw show

The letters of July 12 highlight all the flaws in our society. Domestic violence, possible political corruption, religious misogyny and climate mismanagement head a list we should be ashamed of, one that tells us we are not the greatest country in the world, as many would have us believe. Tony Re, Georges Hall Creation negation Will the amazing images of the cosmos as it was 13.8 billion years ago from the James Webb telescope spell the end of the biblical myth of Genesis (First image from James Webb Space Telescope revealed, smh.com.au, July12)? Brian ODonnell, Burradoo Fall guy With advancing age and fast-vanishing further procreational prospects, count me in for the big population fall (Get ready: world population to decline, July 12). Never let it be said that I didnt do the least I could do. Adrian Connelly, Springwood

Flagpole cost sky-high Your correspondents assume the vexillological problem is fixed (Letters, July 12). But, as an engineer, Im still wondering how a flagpole costs $25 million. John Court, Denistone Parting words Perhaps, before Boris Johnson leaves the world stage (Letters, July 12) reporters can ask him the one question on everyones lips: Who is your barber? Pasquale Vartuli, Wahroonga Credit:Getty Images
A man has been taken to hospital with gunshot wounds after an incident involving police and a stolen vehicle being driven through Sydneys inner west on Tuesday morning.

NSW Police have launched a critical incident investigation after a vehicle stop in Erskineville allegedly turned violent.

A critical incident investigation has been launched after a firearm was discharged by police in Erskineville. Credit:Wolter Peeters

In a statement, police said officers from South Sydney area command stopped a bright green Ford Falcon, reportedly stolen earlier this month from West Pennant Hills, on Elliott Avenue just before 10am.

The front male passenger got out and fled, pursued by police. The Ford was driven at a police officer, and a firearm was discharged, police said in the statement.
Some of the United States deadliest bombers have arrived at Amberley, just west of Brisbane, in a not-so-stealthy show of force to the Indo-Pacific.

At least four nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers flew almost 14,000 kilometres from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to land at RAAF Base Amberley this week.

A United States Air Force B2 stealth bomber lands at Amberley RAAF base on Sunday. Credit:US Air Force

The bombers flying wing design, meaning it lacks a fuselage and a tail, allows it to evade enemy radar as it approaches its target.

Although designed to evade detection, the B-2s arrival in Brisbane was well publicised by both the US and Australian air forces.
Victorias workplace safety regulator has charged an aged care nurse with two breaches of occupational safety laws after she allegedly went to work at a nursing home in Melbournes south after testing positive for coronavirus.

It is believed to be the first time WorkSafe has charged an individual over pandemic-related workplace safety breaches in aged care and comes after the launch of legal action against two nursing homes at the centre of deadly COVID-19 outbreaks in 2020.

The nurse is alleged to have attended work after returning a positive PCR test. Credit:Fairfax

WorkSafe alleges the nurse reported for casual shifts at the aged care facility between July 26 and August 2, 2020, after being told not to attend work and receiving a positive COVID-19 test result.

In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, the regulator said there was no suggestion the nurses actions lead to the spread of the virus within the facility. The nursing home has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Politicians would have to declare political donations over $1000 in real time as part of a sweeping package of integrity measures Special Minister of State Don Farrell hopes to introduce by mid-2023.

Labor also wants to introduce truth in political advertising laws and potentially double the number of senators allocated to the Northern Territory and the ACT, from two each to four. The proposals would be examined in an inquiry by the joint standing committee on electoral matters.

Changes to political donations thresholds, disclosure rules and truth in political advertising laws are planned by Labor. Credit:Andrew Meares

Real-time disclosure would mean that, for example, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull would have had to declare the $1.75 million he donated to the Liberal Party in 2016, which under current laws he did not have to disclose for more than a year.

Similarly, some advertisements run on social media platforms during recent federal elections could have been pulled under truth in advertising laws.
The national carrier Qantas has become the first major company to confirm it will attend Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses upcoming jobs summit, as the federal government seeks to bring businesses and the union movement together to address the national skills crisis and workplace reform.

A Qantas spokesman confirmed the national carriers attendance at the September meeting, which will be limited to 100 participants. Retail giant Coles and transport giant Uber also expressed a desire to attend the event.

Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas, which will have a seat at the governments touted job summit. Credit:Michael Quelch

Along with addressing Australias 500,000 job vacancies, an overhaul of the enterprise bargaining system will be central to the summits agenda. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the ability of employers to apply to cancel workplace agreements was a reason behind slow wage growth.

I certainly think its an issue. I mean, the tearing up of agreements has been a problem in our industrial relations architecture for some time, Chalmers told ABC radio on Tuesday, after the Australian Council of Trade Unions called for the issue to be addressed.
Australians with health conditions are struggling to access crucial COVID-19 antiviral tablets despite widened eligibility, as pharmacists lobby the federal government to be able to prescribe the drugs without a GP.

Sydney grandmother Margaret Barnier, 74, tested positive on Friday night but could not find a doctor to prescribe her antiviral medication, even though she was eligible, and her GP had advised her to take it if she contracted COVID-19.

Margaret Barnier from Glenmore Park in western Sydney struggled to get COVID-19 antivirals. Credit:Wolter Peeters

The whole system is broken, she said. I tried every medical centre in the area, but they all knocked me back ... Im not pointing the blame at the doctors or the receptionist or anything  its the whole system.

Barnier, who has high blood pressure and was recently fitted with a pacemaker, spent the weekend trying to get a GP appointment as her regular doctor was closed, but was unable to get one despite phoning more than a dozen practices in her area.
Some supporters with no ties to extremist organisations also headed to Washington, incensed by Trumps claim that the election was stolen. Among them was Ohio man Stephen Ayres, who drove there after seeing Trumps message on social media. Loading Testifying under oath, Ayres described himself to the committee as basically just a family man who believed the presidents claim of widespread fraud and was very upset, as were most of his supporters. But he added that he only wanted to attend Trumps rally on the day and had no plan to march to the Capitol until Trump told supporters during his speech to fight like hell to stop Bidens victory from being certified by Congress. The president got everybody riled up, and told everybody head on down. So we basically just followed what he said, said Ayres, who has since pleaded guilty to illegally entering the building.

I lost my job since this all happened, pretty much sold my house It changed my life  and not for the good. Another key witness was former Oath Keepers spokesperson Jason Van Tatenhove, a former associate of the groups founder, Stewart Rhodes. Rhodes is now in jail awaiting trial on seditious conspiracy charges for his role in the Capitol attack. Thank the gods that things did not go any worse: Jason Van Tatenhove, an ally of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes. Credit:AP He gave the hearing an insight into the dangers of the militia group, which the committee also revealed had ties to Flynn and another Trump ally and conspiracy theorist, Roger Stone. I think we need to quit mincing words and just talk about truth, said Tatenhove of the Oath Keepers intentions for January 6.

What it was gonna be was an armed revolution. I mean, people died that day. Law enforcement officers died. There was a gallows set up in front of the Capitol. This could have been the spark that started the new civil war. All I can do is thank the gods that things did not go any worse. I do fear for this next election cycle because who knows what that might bring. Cassidy Hutchinson: As an American, I was disgusted. Credit:Washington Post In last months explosive testimony by former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson recounted how Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol despite knowing they were armed and threatening violence. Hutchinson worked for Trumps then chief of staff Mark Meadows and had direct access to the then president and his key advisers.

Among them was Cipollone, who finally agreed to be questioned by the committee on Friday about his concerns over the legality of Trumps attempts to stay in power. According to video testimony played on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), Cipollone was present at the six-hour White House meeting on December 18, when Powell, Giuliani, Flynn, and business executive Patrick Byrne tried to persuade Trump to use the US military to seize voting machines across different states and appoint Powell as a special counsel to oversee the election. But Cipollone thought this was a terrible idea for the country and kept asking: where is the evidence [that the election was stolen]? None could be provided. There was a real question in my mind and a real concern  particularly after the attorney-general had reached the conclusion that there wasnt sufficient election fraud to change the outcome of the election  when other people kept suggesting there was, Cipollone said. At some point you have to put up or shut up. The committee also played an audio interview from a former Twitter employee who explained the effects that Trump had on the social media platform.

The employee testified that they had been urging the company to consider adopting stricter content moderation after the presidential debate of September 29, 2020, in which Trump  while responding to a question about white supremacy  famously told the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by. Loading Asked about Trumps December 19 call to action tweet, the employee, whose face and voice was obscured, told the committee it elicited threatening responses from his followers who felt as if a mob was being organised. The committees next public hearing is likely to take place in prime-time next week, and will focus on the 187 minutes that the US Capitol was under siege and what Trump did  or failed to do  as the attack unfolded. In closing Tuesdays session, committee vice-chair Liz Cheney, a Republican, said that Trump had called a witness after the previous hearing on June 28. She did not name the witness but said they declined to answer the call, and instead notified their lawyer.
Suva/Washington: The United States will launch its biggest Pacific push since World War II by returning the Peace Corps to the region, releasing a Pacific-wide strategy and spending $900 million on economic development.

The announcement by US Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday is designed to head off Beijings increasingly assertive Pacific agenda, after the Chinese government signed a security deal with Solomon Islands in April and pushed for a regional economic bloc in May, splitting the Pacific Islands Forum as its leaders met for the first time in three years.

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks alongside President Joe Biden in March. Credit:AP

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will fly into the divided leaders meeting in Suva on Wednesday as the forum reels from the withdrawal of Kiribati  an increasingly important partner for China in the region  and Pacific leaders plead for unity.

In his speech to the Pacific leaders forum, Albanese is expected to re-commit to a new $6.5 million Australia Pacific Defence School  the location of which has yet to be confirmed. During the May election campaign Labor also promised an extra $525 million over four years in development assistance.
ISLAMABAD, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and four others injured in a firing incident in Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province on Tuesday, local reports said.

The incident happened when two rival groups opened fire on each other after an argument between them, the reports said.

One group allegedly accused the other of spying against them for the police, which led to the arrest of one of their family members.

The injured people were shifted to a nearby hospital where two of them are in critical condition.

Police reached the site following the firing incident and a search operation is underway to arrest the culprits from both groups, the reports added. 
The University of Bristol will be partnering with two universities in Vietnam to create new opportunities for students and research collaborations.

Professor Agnes Nairn, Bristol's Pro Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement, signed Memoranda of Understanding with Hanoi University of Mining & Geology and British University Vietnam (BUV) at the UK-Vietnam Education Collaboration Forum in London.

Both memoranda show Bristol's commitment to working with partners in Vietnam to facilitate future collaboration opportunities, following a University delegation to Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City in November 2019.

Bristol's partnership with British University Vietnam (BUV) will focus on education opportunities for students from both Universities, including options for studying abroad. Bristol students will be offered a free certificate in Vietnamese studies, to be taught remotely by academics in Vietnam.

Collaborations with the Hanoi University of Mining & Geology will cover both research and education in Science and Engineering, including welcoming postgraduate research students through the Project 89 scholarship programme.

Professor Nairn joined senior leaders from higher education institutes in Vietnam and the UK for the UK-Vietnam Education Collaboration Forum in London on 30 June 2022, organised by the British Council.

She said: "We are delighted to work with two prestigious Universities in Vietnam, a country with which we are actively seeking stronger research and education links. We held warm and collaborative meetings with HUMG and BUV in London this summer and very much look forward to many mutual visits in the months and years to come."

Professor Raymond Gordon, Vice-Chancellor and President of British University Vietnam, said: "BUV signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Bristol witnessed by senior British and Vietnamese government officials. The University of Bristol is ranked in the top 10 Universities in the United Kingdom and ranked 61st in the QS World University Ranking. Therefore, the partnership between BUV and the University of Bristol reinforces BUV's mission to bring high-quality British degrees and research to Vietnam and deliver a world-class learning experience for Vietnamese students in Vietnam."

Professor Tran Thanh Hai, President of Hanoi University of Mining & Geology, said: "The MOU between the University of Bristol and the Hanoi University of Mining and Geology would be a milestone to promote the cooperation relationship and offer excellent opportunities for our academic staff and postgraduates to pursue their success in research."
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A Sydney vehicle finance company has helped one of its clients secure a 2022 Porsche 992 GT3.

The striking red luxury car, with a current market price of $600,000+ due to huge demand, was financed with the assistance of Pure Capitals head of sales Sam Roby (pictured).

Roby said the client came from a word-of-mouth referral who he had worked with to secure financing on multiple occasions.

While it might seem that a purchase of a car of this price tag might go seamlessly, Roby said he did face some challenges.

Typically, most banks do not like to lend money for cars at this price point, so a little convincing is involved to help get the deal over the line, Roby said. It is important to gain advice from as many stakeholders as possible such as the clients accountant and financial adviser, rather than having the client sell assets to free up cash to complete the purchase.

Read more: Brokers, first home buyers enjoy updated scheme

Roby said he gained the confidence of the client and the banks by tailoring a unique strategy to ensure that all parties achieved the best outcome possible.

While most clients who are in a position to purchase assets this large are usually in a strong financial position to pay in cash, we wanted to make sure with this client the approval process was more about getting the money in a way that suits them, he said.

We worked with the clients accountant to get the financial statements, work out the ideal monthly repayment and the corresponding deal structure (term of loan, residual amount and deposit amount) and then looped the client back in for his approval before we submitted it to the bank.

Roby said he secured the loan on a term suitable for the clients needs so he could move forward with the purchase of his dream car.

Buying a car is always an emotional purchase, no matter how big or small the price tag is, so to be a part of the journey is the most rewarding part of my job, he said.

Roby said 14 months after the initial order, the client received his new set of wheels. However, the clients relationship did not stop after the loan for the Porsche was secured.

I would check in regularly throughout the manufacturing process to see how things were progressing from start to finish, he said.

Porsche allows its customers to view the production of their vehicle and then track it once it has been placed on the ship. When the car finally arrives, there is no better feeling than seeing your client picking up their dream car that they have waited so long for.

Read more: How can brokers find their brokerages identity?

While Pure Capital has become known for financing luxury cars, Roby said the team were also available to support everyday Australians in buying their dream cars.

We work with anyone and everyone, no matter how small a loan may be. The smallest loan we wrote last month was for $6,000 and it was no less special to help that client than it was to help this one, he said. Any time you can make a difference in someones life, it is a good day.
The union of Hyundai Motor said on Tuesday it has tentatively agreed with the company to build a dedicated electric vehicle (EV) plant in by 2025 amid a global electrification push.

Hyundai and its union reached an agreement on the domestic EV plant in the carmaker's main Ulsan plant, 414 kms southeast of Seoul, a union spokesperson told Yonhap news agency.

The tentative agreement is subject to a vote by unionized workers as early as this month, ahead of the one-week summer holidays, which begin on July 30, he said.

Hyundai and its union are in negotiations over wages for this year and the domestic EV plant, a company spokesperson said.

The planned EV plant is part of Hyundai Motor Group's plans announced in May to invest 63 trillion won ($49.8 billion) in its domestic businesses by 2025.

In May, Hyundai Motor Group also announced it will invest $5.54 billion to build a dedicated EV and car battery manufacturing plant in Georgia, the United States, with an aim to start production in the first half of 2025.

Hyundai has seven domestic plants in Korea and 11 overseas plants -- four in China, and one each in the U.S., the Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, India, Brazil and Indonesia. Their combined capacity reaches 5.65 million vehicles.

--IANS

na/

(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.)
and startup Ganit on Tuesday said it has raised funds from a clutch of investors and expects to double headcount to 500 by 2023-end.

The company did not divulge the quantum of funds raised, but said the funding round was led by Sangeet Kumar, co-founder and CEO of Addverb Technologies; Krishnan Vishwanathan, co-founder and CEO, Kissht; Anshul Gupta and Amit Raj, co-founders of EatClub Brands (formerly Box8), among others.

"Ganit...has raised an undisclosed amount as part of their pre-series A funding round," the company said in a statement adding it is also looking to double its headcount to 500 by the end of 2023.

Ganit was founded in 2017 by three veterans of the data science industry Shivaprasad KT, Ashok Harwani and Hariharan R.

"Observing organisational leaders struggle with the effective utilisation of their captured data as well as their reluctance across the board in adopting analytical solutions, Ganit aims to make data consumable more than ever before through practically built solutions, focusing on designing and deploying purpose-built AI/ML (Machine Learning) solutions to maximise decision-velocity and minimise decision-risk across industries," the company said.

The organisation works with Fortune 1000 clients across retail, pharma, consumer products and services, and BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) industries across several geographies.

The new infusion of capital is slated to be used to expand its product portfolio in various spaces including, voice of customer, forecasting, promotion planning, route optimisation, price optimisation as well as fast-growing emerging areas such as ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance).

According to estimates by the International Data Corporation (IDC), the AI (artificial intelligence) market in India is expected to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.2 per cent and reach USD 7.8 billion in total revenues by 2025.

Industry experts also suggest that data science and AI could contribute up to USD 15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030. This underlines the need for data-driven decision making for enterprises of all sizes.

(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.)
Amid concerns about trade effluent discharged into the Tapi estuary in Surat district from its steel plants at Hazira causing pollution beyond permissible limits, Arcelor-Mittal Nippon Steel India Ltd (AM/NS) has announced a Rs 273 crore for zero liquid discharge.

Recently, the Gujarat High Court (HC) had appointed the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn) as a court commissioner to find out if trade effluent discharged from AM/NS was causing pollution beyond permissible limits or not. The court had acted upon a public interest litigation filed by Surat-based environmental engineer Roshni Patel, who had alleged that the steel plant was discharging effluent into the river without properly treating it and causing damage to life in the estuary.

The institute was asked by the court to depute an environmental engineer to study the problem after the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), AM/NS and other concerned authorities failed to submit a timely response.

However, the and joint venture has announced that it was in the process of investing Rs 273 crore for zero liquid discharge and other environmental initiatives at its Hazira steel complex.

While the 14 km-long zero liquid discharge system is being set up at an of Rs 77 crore, another Rs 173 crore has been earmarked for the initial phase of an environment improvement roadmap plan, apart from Rs 12 crore for planting 360,000 trees in the Hazira plant complex.

The zero liquid discharge system will cover the entire Hazira plant, and is aimed at eliminating liquid waste by enabling reuse of the entire treated effluent with RO units. Contracts related to civil works and other contracts have already been awarded, and the system is expected to be completed by March 2023.

The plants covered in the first phase include Steel Making Plants 1 and 2, Hot Strip Mill, CRM-DSC, ASU, DRI-5-6, COREX 1-2, Plate mill, and INOX cryogenic Air Separation Unit (ASU).

"AMNS is committed to the best environmental norms and adopting green practices at our Hazira plant. We have undertaken various environmental improvement related projects which are in line with the global steel manufacturing standards," said Santosh Mundhada, Executive Director at AM/NS India in an official communique.

AM/NS India's environment improvement roadmap plan, on the other hand, includes measures to reduce the ambient dust level by installing various air pollution control measures in the plants, besides road strengthening, and deployment of more sweeping machines on the material handling roads, among other things.

"The plants greenbelt area will cross 33 per cent when the tree plantation campaign is completed by December. The increased greenbelt will also help in controlling the ambient dust level," Mundhada added.

Meanwhile, for mitigating sulphur emissions, AM/NS India is looking to make use of natural gas and coal with low sulphur content.

The company had earlier announced plans to increase its steelmaking capacity at Hazira from nine million tonnes per annum to 18 million tonnes with an of Rs 45,000 crore.
Geetank and his father run a family business in Delhi called MGM Garments, which deals in women's clothing. When broke out in 2020, their business got impacted due to the lockdown-related curbs. It was then that took his offline business online for the first time with the help of e-commerce firm Flipkart . The company also provided him insights about the products required for listing, the fabric types and colours in demand, while also promoting its own unique products that are popular at its offline store.

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SpiceJet's Dubai-Madurai flight was delayed on Monday after the Boeing B737 Max aircraft's nose wheel malfunctioned, Directorate General of Civil Aviation officials said.

Monday's incident is at least the ninth incident of technical malfunction in a aircraft in 24 days.

On July 6, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to following eight incidents of technical malfunction in its aircraft since June 19. The aviation regulator said the budget carrier had "failed" to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services.

On Monday, the Boeing B737 Max aircraft with registration number VT-SZK operated the Mangaluru-Dubai flight, DGCA officials noted. After the aircraft landed, an engineer did a walk around inspection and found the nose wheel strut was compressed more than usual, they said.

The engineer therefore decided to ground the aircraft, the officials noted.

The airline sent another aircraft from Mumbai to Dubai to operate the return Dubai-Madurai flight, they stated.

Asked about the matter, a spokesperson said, "On July 11, 2022, SpiceJet flight SG23 operating from Dubai to Madurai was delayed due to a last minute technical issue. Alternate aircraft was arranged immediately which brought passengers back to India."



"Flight delays can happen with any airline. There has been no incident or a safety scare on this flight," the spokesperson 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.)
SpiceJet's occupancy rate has remained high in July despite multiple technical malfunction incidents reported in its aircraft during the last 24 days.

The airline's occupancy rate, also called passenger load factor (PLF), was above 80 per cent between July 1 and July 11, said in statement.

"I am grateful for the faith and trust that our passengers have shown," Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, said.

The numbers speak for themselves and are a testimony to the fact that is and has been the most loved airline in India, he added.

The PLFs of other airlines have been around 70-80 per cent between July 1 and July 11, aviation industry sources said.

SpiceJet's statement said: "The airline's load factor for the last eleven days continues to be extremely impressive with a PLF of 83.1 per cent on July 1, 88.2 per cent on July 2, 90.1 per cent on July 3, 86.5 per cent on July 4, 86.2 per cent on July 5, 85.8 per cent on July 6, 84.1 per cent on July 7, 84.2 per cent on July 8, 86.6 per cent on July 9, 85.1 per cent on July 10 and 81.3 per cent on July 11."



planes have been involved in at least nine technical malfunction incidents during the last 24 days.

Aviation regulator DGCA had on July 6 issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet, saying the budget carrier has "failed" to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services.

In an interview to PTI on July 6, Ajay Singh had said a lot of these incidents that are being reported are relatively minor in nature and happen to every airline. "This is nothing unique," he had added.

Asked what changes SpiceJet will now undertake to deal with the safety concerns, Singh said, "We have to be doubly careful. We will rigorously inspect aircraft when they leave for a flight, which we already do, but we will strengthen the inspection."



SpiceJet's Dubai-Madurai flight was delayed on July 11 after the Boeing B737 Max aircraft's nose wheel malfunctioned.

On July 5, the airline's Delhi-Dubai flight was diverted to Karachi due to a malfunctioning fuel indicator and its Kandla-Mumbai flight had to make a priority landing in the western metropolis after cracks developed on its windshield at a height of 23,000 feet.

A SpiceJet freighter aircraft, which was heading to Chongqing in China, returned to Kolkata on July 5 as the pilots realised after take-off that its weather radar was not working.

On July 2, a SpiceJet flight heading to Jabalpur returned to Delhi after the crew members observed smoke in the cabin at an altitude of around 5,000 feet.

Fuselage door warnings lit up on two separate SpiceJet planes while taking off on June 24 and June 25, forcing the aircraft to abandon their journey and return.

On June 19, an engine on the carrier's Delhi-bound aircraft with 185 passengers onboard caught fire soon after it took off from the Patna airport and the plane made an emergency landing minutes later. The engine malfunctioned because of a bird hit.

In another incident the same day, a SpiceJet flight for Jabalpur had to return to Delhi due to cabin pressurisation issues.

(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.)
SYDNEY, July 12 (Xinhua) -- A large cruise ship, destined to arrive in Australia's most populous state of New South Wales (NSW), has been struck by a COVID-19 outbreak, leaving more than 2,000 guests affected on the ship.

More than 100 passengers and staff were infected on the cruise ship, Coral Princess, which traveled from the state of Queensland and is due to dock in NSW, the national broadcaster ABC reported on Tuesday.

The NSW health department said on Tuesday that the vast majority of COVID-19 cases on the ship are crew members. While a small number of passengers have been diagnosed with the virus on the ship, their infections were most likely acquired prior to boarding. All COVID-positive people are isolated and being cared for by the onboard medical team.

The health department assessed the risk level of this outbreak as "amber", which indicates a moderate impact on the vessel.

The ship is currently heading to the South Coast of NSW. No crew members will disembark and all passengers disembarking will be requested to return a negative RAT result first.

It is also scheduled to be docked in NSW's Sydney for one day on Wednesday before traveling to Queensland's capital, Brisbane.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath told local media on Monday that COVID-19 protocols were in place on the ship before the outbreak, and the outbreak on the cruise ship was expected.

"This was always going to happen just like the rest of the community," D'Ath said.

"The virus is everywhere and there's no escaping that, but I do want to acknowledge that the public health units, along with the cruise line, are doing all the right things and following the protocols in place."

Queensland reported 6,768 new COVID-19 cases and 860 hospitalizations on Tuesday, with the number of active cases now at 43,047.

NSW reported 10,806 new COVID-19 cases and 2,049 hospitalizations in the past 24 hours to 4:00 p.m. Monday. 
Telecom operator Vodafone Idea, which operates under Vi brand, has introduced course materials for Agniveer exams that will be conducted by this year, the company said on Tuesday.

Under the Agnipath scheme, those aged between 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted into the armed forces for a four-year tenure and 25 per cent of them will be inducted for regular service subsequently. Those exiting the armed forces after completing their tenure will be called Agniveer.

The government had, on June 16, increased the upper-age limit for recruitment under the scheme to 23 years from 21 for the year 2022 and subsequently announced a slew of placatory steps such as a preference for "Agniveers" in central paramilitary forces and defence public sector undertakings on their retirement.

"Vi aims to empower Bharat youth to prepare and excel in various government job exams, including Agniveer, by enabling access to well-researched course material which can be accessed through its platform, anywhere, anytime," Vodafone Idea said in a statement.

The company has partnered with firm Pariksha to launch the course on its app.

Vi said that it is providing free access to the test prep material for Agniveer along with many other government job exams on the Vi jobs and education platform for one month. After completion of the trial period, users will have to pay a Rs 249 subscription fee on the platform.

"The Agniveer test series on Vi app offers 5 test series comprising 15 tests each for Agniveer Airforce X Group, Agniveer Airforce Y Group, Agniveer Airforce X & Y Group, Agniveer Navy MR and Agniveer Navy SSR. The Army test series will be added by the end of this month," Vi 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 Supreme Court on Tuesday extended till further orders the interim bail of co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case lodged against him in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly outraging religious sentiments.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna was told by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the State government, that they wants to file a counter affidavit to Zubair's plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged in the case.

The bench then listed the plea for final hearing on September 7 and asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file its response in four weeks.

On July 8, a vacation bench of the top court had granted five-day interim bail to Zubair in the case.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union minister on Monday said that the Centre provided free ration to 80 crore people for eight months without any discrimination during the Covid pandemic.

Thakur stated this while dedicating a PSA oxygen plant and modern machines worth Rs 1.7 crore to Tounidevi Civil Hospital here.

The Union minister of information and broadcasting also said that under the Ujjwala scheme, gas cylinders have been made available to crores of women free of cost and thousands of crores of rupees have also been deposited in their Jan Dhan accounts.

Appealing to the people to take adequate precautions against Covid as it still exists, he told reporters in his parliamentary constituency that the people have been administered two doses free of cost.

Earlier, he launched an automatic sanitary pad production machine under the Swachh Bharat-Swasth Bharat Mission at Narsin village in Kakdiyar gram panchayat.

The BJP government always worked for the empowerment of women, the Union minister said, adding that former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had provided 50 per cent reservation to women in Panchayati Raj institutions.

At present, about 65 per cent of women are elected in Panchayati Raj institutions, he 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.)
A on Tuesday posted for July 14 hearing on a bail plea filed by co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case related to an objectionable tweet he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity.

Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala adjourned the hearing for Thursday after the prosecution sought time for a detailed argument in the matter.

SPP Atul Srivastava, appearing through video conference, urged the court to adjourn the matter, saying that a separate case against Zubair was scheduled for hearing before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

At this, advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the accused, urged the court to take up the matter on Wednesday.

The prosecutor, however, said he was in Bhopal and will not be available for appearance before the court tomorrow.

Grover then said that some other prosecutor may argue the matter in case Srivastava was not available.

He can appear via VC. This bail was filed. It is a man's liberty. Let it be taken up tomorrow. He may appear on VC, Grover said.

Srivastava then urged the court to post the matter for July 14, which was allowed by the judge.

During the brief hearing, the defence counsel opposed the police argument that the tweet posted by Zubair was highly provocative and more than sufficient to incite feeling of hatred amongst people which can be detrimental for maintenance of public tranquillity.

She said the image used in the tweet was from the Hrishikesh Mukherjee film, 'Kissi Se Na Kehna', released in 1983.

In over three decades, nobody had any objection. My tweet, other Twitter handles tweet the same thing, since 2018, no sentiment is hurt... After four years, what is so provocative that will create mayhem? Till date, none of these have been asked to be taken down. Fortunately, there is no disturbance in society, she said.

She sought the court's permission to play a video from the movie in question.

The judge, however, said the counsel could play the video later on.

This Twitter profile (the complainant in the case) is made in 2021. He has only one follower. No algorithm can lead him to this tweet. Delhi Police finds it. While doing social media monitoring they would have certainly seen all other tweets with Twitter image and words, but they did not find anyone else. There is malafide writ large, she submitted.

A magisterial court had on July 2 dismissed Zubair's bail plea and sent him to 14-day judicial custody (JC) in the case, citing the nature and gravity of the offences against the accused and observing that the matter was at an initial stage of investigation.

The court had sent him to JC after his five day custodial interrogation.

In its order, the court had noted the submission of the public prosecutor that investigation was at an initial stage and that there was every likelihood that police custody remand of accused would be required.

The judge also considered addition of new sections during the course of investigation while rejecting the bail application.

(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.)
NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu met lawmakers from on Tuesday to seek their support for the July 18 election.

state president Sukanta Majumdar and Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, along with central leaders of the party were present at the hour-long meeting held at a hotel.

According to sources of the state unit, the party lawmakers assured her of the support in the poll.

Murmu is visiting various states to garner support from lawmakers.

Earlier in the day, she visited the ancestral house of Swami Vivekananda in north Kolkata.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had recently said that Murmu, a tribal BJP leader from Odisha, could have been a consensus candidate had the saffron camp discussed with the opposition parties before fielding her.

Major non-BJP parties of the country, including the Congress and the TMC, have named former union minister Yashwant Sinha as the joint nominee for the presidential election.

The BJP presently has 17 Lok Sabha MPs from West Bengal. Of them, Arjun Singh has switched over to the TMC but is yet to resign as a parliamentarian.

In the 294-member West Bengal assembly, the saffron camp has 75 MLAs. However, five of them have joined the TMC without resigning as legislators.

(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 UN population expert has speculated that India becoming the world's most populous country could strengthen its claim to a permanent seat on the Security Council.

UN Population Division Director John Wilmoth said on Monday that India's emergence as the country with the largest population could lead to "certain claims on things".

According to the World Population Prospects report, India's population is projected to be 1.429 billion next year when China's would be 1.426 billion.

Wilmoth was asked about the significance of the change in global population rankings that he said would happen next year four years sooner than earlier projections.

He replied, "I wonder what will happen in terms of the discussion around roles at the UN and the roles of the Permanent Five members of the Security Council if India becomes the largest country (and) they may think that gives them a claim?"

"They've been claiming that they should be part of that group (of permanent members) anyway, but, you know, it may strengthen their claim," he added.

While the previous reports had expected India's population to overtake China's in 2027, the timeline changed to next year because of updates to the data about China, he said.

China had conducted its census in 2020, while India could not hold it as scheduled in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

November 15 will mark a milestone for the global population when the eight billionth baby is projected to be born.

Assistant Secretary-General Maria-Francesca Spatolisano said that on that day the world's population will cross the 8 billion-mark.

She said, "This historic moment calls for celebration: population growth is a tangible sign of our collective success in improving the living conditions of everyday people".

But it will also pose challenges for development as the needs of the growing population would have to be met.

Discussing the population dynamics of the two most populous countries, Wilmoth said that India's gradual approach of reducing population growth could be better in the long run.

China's population growth reduction slowed very rapidly because it was done in "a more drastic way" in the 1970s and 1980s and was "very effective", he said.

But "It also inverted the age distribution and now they're concerned in China about the top-heavy nature of the age distribution, more and more older people relative to the rest of the population", he said.A

On the other hand, he said, "India had a much smoother transition, it brought the fertility rate down more slowly".

"That means there aren't the same kind of discontinuities in the historical patterns and there hasn't been the same very rapid ageing of the population, although ageing will come there as well, but it's just it will be a more gradual process", he said.

He added, "And in some ways that may be better to manage a better circumstance in the long run, for the economy to have that kind of more gradual demographic change than the very rapid change that's happened in China".

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

--IANS

arul/dpb

(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 spirits group has put new Indian investments on hold due to long-running tax disputes with authorities on valuing liquor imports, according to two sources with direct knowledge and company letters seen by Reuters.

Its shares fell 1.8% on the news, underperforming peers.

The world's second-biggest spirits group said its legal wrangles have progressively worsened since they first started nearly 30 years ago, making it tough to do business in the country and raising the prospect of a major financial hit.

The maker of Chivas Regal, Glenlivet Scotch whisky and Absolut vodka is lobbying Indian authorities, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, to resolve the matter.

"This ever-lasting litigation has been a big strain on our ease of doing business and has inhibited fresh investment by our group headquartered in Paris (France) for expansion of business in India," Pernod wrote in a Nov. 24 letter to Modi's office.

"These disputes initially arose in 1994 in import valuation by the custom authority, have compounded year after year and is still ongoing."

Pernod's stance casts a shadow on future growth of the company in a region it says is among its "key strategic markets". It expects India and China, the world's two most populous nations, to drive most of the alcoholic industry's growth in the next decade.

India's $20 billion alcohol market is set to grow by 7% annually in the 2021-25 period, with whisky and spirits among favourites, IWSR Drinks Market Analysis says. Pernod accounts for 17% of the country's alcohol market by volume, while Diageo commands a 29% share.

In its letters, Pernod said there is disagreement with officials over how the company values its imported liquor bottles and raw material and pays tax on them. The first source said Indian authorities have often alleged Pernod suppresses costs of imports, which attract a 150% federal import tax.

Attaching the letter to Modi, Pernod wrote to India's Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on May 27 saying that the lack of certainty in import valuation was hitting its current business and had a "severe impact" on expansion plans.

The CBIC and Modi's office did not respond to requests for comment on the letters, which have not been reported previously.

Pernod, in a statement to Reuters, said it has been in "continual dialogue" with Indian authorities as it looks at finding "a swift resolution to this long-standing matter".

The company is collating all relevant information to aid in the correct reassessment by authorities and aims to preserve Pernod's rights while "avoiding any business disruption", the statement added.

"FINANCIAL BURDEN" RISK

Foreign companies in other industries too have had concerns about the tough regulatory regime in India, where Modi is seen promoting domestic businesses. Global automakers, including Tesla Inc, for example, have for years complained about high taxes on imported cars and electric vehicles.

In its November letter, Pernod shared its upcoming India business proposals that included a plan to set up new production lines to boost capacity by more than 40% a year by 2025, and increasing export earnings by a third to $126 million in the next five years.

The company's plans were going very slow in light of the legal disputes, and "everything is on hold", the first source said about the company's new investment plans.

Its written pleas to the Indian officials urge a settlement of the disputes in a reasonable manner, asking for a "sympathetic consideration".

The letters state two issues: disputes at various tribunals over valuation of concentrated alcohol Pernod brings in to manufacture liquor locally; and tussles related to "bottled-in-origin" products like Chivas that are imported in bottles.

In both type of imports, Pernod's costing methods and payment of taxes thereon has been questioned by authorities, which has often led to consignments being held up at various ports, according to the first source and the May 27 company letter.

In case of importing bottles like Chivas, specifically, authorities are proposing to add advertising and promotion expenses in the import value, and pay tax on that, a methodology Pernod disagrees with, the letters state.

Any increase of taxes to be recovered many years after products had been imported could "expose the company to huge financial burden," Pernod said in its May communication.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

(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.)
Secretary-General has expressed concern over the recruitment of children by armed groups in while saying that the UN has verified "54 grave violations against 49 children" in conflict situations in and the recruitment of 18 boys by terrorist groups in Kashmir in 2021.

A report on children and armed conflict released on Monday asserted that 33 boys were detained by security forces in Kashmir for alleged association with "armed groups" - a euphemism for terrorist organisations - or on national security grounds.

The report said that security forces killed five children and maimed 29, of whom 19 were injured by pellets used by the Central Reserve Police Force.

Four children became victims of "unidentified perpetrators", seven in crossfire between "armed groups, and unidentified perpetrators", and four in crossfire and shelling across the line of control.

The report said that two teachers were killed by terrorists in Srinagar.

Giving a global picture, Guterres's Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, said, "Over 19,100 child victims of grave violations during 2021 in the 21 country and regional situations we monitored".

Guterres said that he welcomed "the legal and administrative framework for the protection of children and improved access to child protection services in Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir, and progress in the creation of a Jammu and Kashmir commission for the protection of children's rights".

"But". he added, "I remain concerned about the risk of child recruitment by armed groups in affected districts".

Guterres said that may be removed from classification as a situation of concern in his report because of enhanced cooperation between India and the UN.

He cited the interaction between Gamba and the Indian government, including an inter-ministerial meeting in November and the appointment of a national focal point to enhance the protection of children.

He added that he also welcomed the agreement for technical-level meetings with the UN this year "to identify areas of enhanced cooperation for child protection".

The report listed Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the Palestinian Territory, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen as the areas where most of the grave violations took place.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

--IANS

arul/shs

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The on Tuesday took exception to the filing a one-page reply on "such an important issue" of on which a petition has been filed to declare it as a 'State' under the Constitution to ensure transparency in its functioning.

Observing that the issue concerning the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) is "not so simple" the high court asked the to file a detailed and exhaustive response in the matter.

"You have filed a reply. One page reply to such an important issue? Nothing beyond that? Such an important issue and one-page reply. There is not even a whisper of what the senior advocate (of petitioner) is arguing. You file a reply. The issue is not so simple. We want an extensive reply, said a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.

The high court was informed by the counsel for the that a detailed reply was already filed in a similar petition by the same petitioner.

Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said all these arguments raised by the petitioner are relevant to be decided.

The chief justice responded, learned SG let a proper exhaustive reply be filed because this matter will certainly travel to the apex court and we have to decide and give judgement and deal with all the issues raised.

The bench said, Let a detailed and exhaustive reply be filed in four weeks. Rejoinder, if any, be filed in two weeks thereafter. List on September 16.

Petitioner Samyak Gangwal, represented through senior advocate Shyam Divan, in the petition filed in 2021 has sought to declare a 'State' under Article 12 of the Constitution and to direct the fund to disclose its audit reports on the PM CARES website periodically.

The high court had earlier issued notice to the Centre on the petition.

Another petition filed by the same petitioner in 2020 seeking to declare PM CARES a 'public authority' under the Right to Information (RTI) Act is also pending in the court which had earlier sought the Centre's reply on it.

In the 2021 petition, he has also sought direction to disclose funds deposited every quarter, on the PM CARES website, and the details of the donations received by it which shall include each donor's name.

An affidavit filed by an Under-Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) who is discharging his functions in the PM Cares Trust on an honorary basis in response to the 2021 petition, has said the trust functions with transparency and its funds are audited by an auditor -- a chartered accountant drawn from the panel prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

It contended that irrespective of the status of the under the Constitution and the RTI Act, it is not permissible to disclose third-party information.

In support of his contention that the PM CARES Fund is a 'State', the petitioner said it was formed by the Prime Minister on March 27, 2020, for a noble purpose, that is, to extend assistance to the citizens of India in the wake of the public health emergency -- the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Trustees of the fund are the Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Home Minister, and the Finance Minister, and immediately after the formation of the fund, the Centre through its high government functionaries represented that the fund was set up and operated by the Government.

The Representations also included the use of government resources such as- use of '.HYPERLINK "http://gov.in"

gov.in' domain name, Emblem of India and the name 'Prime Minister' and its abbreviation on the PM Cares Fund website and in other official and unofficial communications.

Further, the official address of the PM CARES Fund was stated to be the Prime Minister's Office South Block, New Delh, it said.

Based on representations, huge donations were received by the PM CARES Fund and as per the information provided on its website during the financial year 2019-20, an amount of Rs 3076.62 crore was collected merely within four days, it said.

The petitioner is not attributing or even alleging any wrongdoing whatsoever on the part of the present Ex-Officio Trustees of the PM CARES Fund. However, since the PM CARES Fund's Trustees are high government functionaries, it is essential that checks and balances envisioned in Part III of the Constitution are put in the place on the functioning of the fund to extinguish any chance of an allegation of 'quid pro quo', it said.

In his alternative prayers, Gangwal has sought to direct the Centre to publicise that the PM CARES Fund is not a fund of the Government of India and to restrain PM CARES from using 'Prime Minister of India' or 'Prime Minister', including its abbreviations its name, on its website, Trust Deed and other official or unofficial communications and advertisements.

The Centre has said all donations received by the trust are received via online payments, cheques, or Demand Drafts, and the amount received is audited with the audited report and the expenditure of the trust fund displayed on the website.

The officer, who had filed the affidavit, has also said he was discharging his functions in the PM CARES Trust on an honorary basis which was a charitable trust not created by or under the Constitution or by any law made by Parliament or by any legislature.

(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.)
Twitter Inc. recently took the Indian government to court over what it views as arbitrary and disproportionate directions to take down content and block accounts. Last year, Meta Platforms Inc.s WhatsApp began legal proceedings in New Delhi against Indias new internet rules demanding traceability of chats. Such an obligation, the messaging service contends, will force it to break its promise of end-to-end encryption, posing a serious risk to journalists and political activists.



Beyond those high-profile cases, though, a bigger worry is the deteriorating operational environment for ordinary digital businesses in India. Their rapid growth is routinely applauded, but the minefields they navigate on a daily basis dont get enough attention.

That changed last week with Razorpay, an eight-year-old Bengaluru startup that acts as a payment gateway. The firm unwittingly kicked up a storm after it became known that it had been compelled to supply customer data in a police investigation against Alt News, a fact-checking website that annoys Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party no end.

On June 27, Mohammed Zubair, one of Alt News two co-founders, was arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. The original complaint was over a tweet referencing an old Bollywood movie he sent more than four years ago. Since then, however, the has widened the charges to include alleged violation of a law that prohibits non-profits from accessing foreign funds without registration. received money through from Pakistan, Syria, Australia, Singapore, and the UAE, which all require further investigation, a public prosecutor told the magistrate at the techie-turned-journalists bail hearing on July 2. Zubairs lawyer has denied all charges.

The website of clearly states it does not accept overseas payments; besides the fact checkers gateway only connects to Indian payment instruments such as bank accounts, digital wallets or credit and debit cards. So the police investigation, at least based on what the prosecutor has revealed thus far, is about the overseas location of devices used for payment  which doesnt prove that the donation itself was from foreigners. Therefore, users are quite right to ask why the firm gave donors data to the police so easily, potentially leaving customers vulnerable to harassment for their political views.

The answer is simple: Razorpay didnt have a choice. The police demanded information using the sweeping powers available to it under Section 91 of Indias criminal procedure code. So while the gateway didnt provide a data dump of everything it had on customers  such as donors tax identification numbers or their physical addresses  it had to share the phone numbers, IP addresses and the payment instruments used for transactions over a certain period. Specific demands are impossible for an intermediary to turn down without risking its license.

A digital service provider faces serious consequences for not complying with a Section 91 notice. In a blog post, Delhi-based lawyer Abhinav Sekhri explains how Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.s cloud business in the country got into serious trouble last year. Alibaba had earned less than $2,000 from hosting the website of an allegedly fraudulent enterprise. But because it hadnt adequately responded to the data demand of the police team investigating the website, its bank account was frozen. The cloud operations were virtually at a standstill before Alibaba got interim relief from Indias Supreme Court on a third hearing date in November, Sekhri writes. To think that Razorpay could gave gotten itself a quick court order against the Delhi Polices notice is wishful thinking, divorced from the reality of doing business in the country.

For companies like Razorpay, the only hope lies in a law, which has already been five years in the making. It may help them build trust if service providers are required to provide color codes indicating whether a particular piece of personal data obtained by them will be given to the police on demand; or if at least a court order will be required first. Regulated businesses like finance and banking deserve a further layer of protection. In the Razorpay fiasco, the polices Section 91 notice should ideally have been routed via the .

The RBI has to be satisfied the data wont be used for an unrelated purpose such as carrying out tax raids on Alt News donors. One cant over-emphasize the role of civil-society organizations in the countrys development, says Ameet Datta, a tech privacy lawyer in Delhi. The propensity of governments to do non-targeted surveillance has a chilling effect.

Its hard to be optimistic about any of this. No matter how stringent any Indian privacy law is on paper, the state is bound to seek a large exemption for itself on grounds of security. Such a carve-out, according to one internet security analyst, will mean that any firm could in theory obtain sensitive data on its business rivals by getting a police inquiry started on a competitors customer.

Digital startups in India arent asking for much more than the freedom to keep their operations running, their proprietary data secure, and their reputation with customers intact. Founders have an added concern about personal safety: They shouldnt be arrested for obstruction of justice in cases where the information thats being asked of them is disproportional to the scope of the states inquiry, or irrelevant to its stated purpose.

Big Tech in India gets the headlines for occasionally standing up to the states overreach. However, as the Razorpay episode has underscored, the bigger vulnerability  for both Indias digital economy and its democracy  may be the plight of its smaller firms.
ISLAMABAD, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Police have arrested two alleged drug dealers who sold drugs to university students in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, police said on Tuesday.

The drug dealers were arrested following an intelligence-based operation in the city, while another female suspect escaped, the police said in a statement.

The arrested admitted selling opium, ice and heroin in some private universities in Karachi, the police said, adding that the drug dealers focused on providing expensive drugs to the students.

The police confiscated 1.5 kg heroin and 0.5 kg opium and ice from the drug dealers, and the top-quality drugs seized from them had a street value of tens of millions of Pakistani rupees, according to the police.

A case has been registered against the arrested and efforts are underway to capture other members of the group, the police added. 
Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday said he has tested positive for covid-19 and has isolated himself.

"Today, I experienced mild fatigue. When tested, the result was positive for COVID-19. I have hence isolated myself," he said on his twitter handle.

Stalin appealed to the people to wear face masks, ensure appropriate vaccination and be safe.

(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.)
once again expressed deep concern over the situation in on Monday and called for a cessation of all hostilities while backing efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the people of especially encouraging talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

Speaking at the UNSC Arria-formula meeting on Ukraine, Counsellor in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Pratik Mathur said remains deeply concerned over the situation in .

"The conflict has resulted in the loss of lives and countless miseries for its people, particularly for women, children and the elderly, with millions becoming homeless and forced to shelter in neighbouring countries."

Counsellor Mathur said from the beginning of the conflict, has been consistently calling for a complete cessation of all hostilities and advocated the path of peace, dialogue and diplomacy.

"We support all efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the people of Ukraine especially encouraging talks between Ukraine and the Russian Federation," he said.

He said India believes that no solution can be arrived at the cost of innocent lives. "We continue to reiterate that the global order is anchored on international law, UN charter and respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of states."

This statement comes two days after Ukraine media reports said that Kyiv has suspended its envoy to New Delhi, along with several other countries.

More than four and half months since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, civilians have suffered from explosions and missile strikes, particularly in eastern cities including Donetsk, Sloviansk, Makiivka, Oleksandrivka and Yasynuvata, but also in southern oblasts, in Odessa and Mykolaiv.

According to OCHA's latest humanitarian update, while east Ukraine accounts for most of the active warfare, more missile attacks and casualties were reported in the last week in several other regions.

These include eastern Kharkiv and western Khmelnytski oblasts, where civilians and civilian infrastructure have been impacted heavily.

Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India has taken the "right course" on the Ukraine conflict and the most urgent issue is to prevent hostilities from escalating to a level where they only do harm.

While addressing an event on the book 'Modi@20: Dreams meet delivery' in New Delhi today, Jaishankar said that India has adopted the "right course" since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February.

"The most urgent issue...is to prevent hostilities from escalating to a level where it only does harm," Jaishankar 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.)
A 56-year-old police officer was killed and two personnel were injured when terrorists attacked a police team in the outskirts of the city on Tuesday, officials said.

The incident took place around 7:15 pm when the terrorists fired at a police checkpoint in the Lal Bazar area, the officials said.

They said Police assistant sub-inspector Mushtaq Ahmad was killed while head constable Fayaz Ahmad and SPO Abu Bakar were injured in the attack.

The injured cops were rushed to a hospital where their condition is stated to be stable. The officials said a search operation has been launched in the area to nab the attackers.

"ASI Mushtaq Ahmad #succumbed to his injuries & attained #martyrdom. We pay rich #tribute to the #martyr for his supreme #sacrifice made in the line of duty. Other two injured personnel are being treated. Further details shall follow," the Kashmir Zone police wrote on Twitter.

Additional Director General of Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar said the police are analysing the CCTV footage at the attack site.

Today was the third day of Eid, so there was huge rush in the market. In order to regulate the rush, a small naka of police was laid in the area, Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of a wreath-laying ceremony here.

The ADGP said the strength of the naka party was little and the terrorists took advantage of that and fired indiscriminately upon them in which ASI Mushtaq Ahmad was killed and two police personnel were injured.

He said those involved in the act will soon be neutralised.

Asked whether there were foreign militants involved in the attack, Kumar said the details will be shared after analysing the CCTV footage.

J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and political parties have condemned the attack.

My deepest condolences to the family of our braveheart JKP's ASI, Mushtaq Ahmad. I pray for the early recovery of the injured. Strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack on security personnel in Srinagar. Perpetrators of this heinous act shall be brought to justice soon, the LG wrote on Twitter.

"Deeply saddened to hear about the militant attack on @JmuKmrPolice personnel deployed in Srinagar in which ASI Mushtaq Ahmad lost his life in the line of duty & two others were injured. My condolences to the family of ASI Mushtaq & prayers for the swift recovery of the injured," Conference vice-president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti described the attack as gruesome.

"Deeply saddened about the gruesome attack on police personnel in Lal Bazar. My condolences to ASI Mushtaq Ahmad's family in this hour of grief & prayers for the two policemen critically injured," Mufti, also a former chief minister, tweeted.

People's Conference president Sajad Gani Lone condemned the militant attack.

"Yet again terror on the prowl. Distressing news of fatality of a brave police officer. My heartfelt sympathies with the family of the deceased. Praying for swift recovery of the injured police personnel, the PC chief said.

Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari described the attack as barbaric.

CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami said, "Deeply pained to hear about the killing of ASI Mushtaq Ahmad in a militant attack in Lal Bazar, Srinagar. My heart goes out to the family of slain official. I wish speedy recovery to injured cops.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The on Tuesday extended till further orders the interim bail of co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case lodged against him in the Sitapur district of for allegedly outraging religious sentiments.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna was told by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the government, that it wants to file a counter affidavit to Zubair's plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged in the case.

Raju said that since Zubair has already been granted bail in the matter, there should not be any objection from his side to grant time to file the affidavit.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Zubair, said he has already been granted interim bail till Tuesday by the vacation bench of this court and they would also like to file their reply to the counter affidavit to be filed by the state government.

The bench then asked the government to file its response in four weeks and listed the plea for a final hearing on September 7.

It said that rejoinder, if any needs to be filed by Zubair's side, then it should be filed in two weeks thereafter.

The relief granted by the top court for Zubair will not have any effect as he is in judicial custody as per the order of a Delhi court in another case.

Also on Tuesday, the Delhi court posted for July 14 hearing on a bail plea filed by Zubair in a case related to an "objectionable tweet" he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity.

Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through one of his tweets.

The Delhi Police has invoked new provisions -- sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act -- against Zubair.

On July 1, the Delhi High Court sought a response from Delhi Police on Zubair's plea challenging the legality of his police remand in a case related to an alleged objectionable tweet he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity. The matter is listed for hearing before the High Court on July 27.

On July 8, a vacation bench of the top court granted five-day interim bail to Zubair in the case lodged at Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh.

It had barred Zubair from posting anything on Twitter and said he shall not tamper with any evidence, electronic or otherwise.

It had also clarified that its interim bail order is with respect to the First Information Report (FIR) lodged in Sitapur and has nothing to do with a separate case registered against the journalist in Delhi.

The FIR was lodged against Zubair in Uttar Pradesh under Indian Penal Code section 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) and section 67 of the IT Act here on a complaint by Hindu Sher Sena Sitapur district president Bhagwan Sharan on June 1.

Sharan had filed the complaint for a tweet by Zubair in which he allegedly called 3 Hindutava leaders- Yati Narasinghanand Saraswati, Bajrang Muni and Anand Swaroop as "hate mongers".

Zubair while seeking bail from the top court has submitted in his plea that there is a "new police strategy for registering FIRs in hate crime cases against the criminals as well as those monitoring and protesting hate crimes."



He has alleged that the strategy is to "stifle" the freedom of speech of secular persons in society who stand up against communal elements.

He has sought quashing of the FIR and bail in a case registered against him in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly outraging religious feelings. He also alleged there is a threat to his life in UP.

The appeal of Zubair against the Allahabad High Court order of June 10 was filed through advocate Satya Mitra.

The appeal of the journalist from the fact-checking website has sought a further stay of the investigation in the Sitapur FIR and a direction to the UP government not to proceed, prosecute or arrest him.

"There is a new strategy afoot of the police in communal crime cases. That is to register FIRs against those engaging in hate speech and communal crimes, as well as to rope in all secular elements monitoring such crimes and protesting police inaction against the wrongdoers.

"This is done with the intention of stifling freedom of speech of secular persons in society who stand up against communal elements and to put fear into them so that they no longer protest," according to Zubair's petition.

The petition said it is therefore imperative that the top court understand this new strategy and nip it in the bud so that secular social activism continues on its path and plays the most necessary role in society to stand up to communalism.

Zubair submitted that the allegations in the impugned FIR (lodged in Sitapur) even if taken on its face value and if accepted in entirety do not prima facie disclose any offence, and that is a fit ground for quashing of FIR, as has been held in a catena of judgments of the apex court.

He has said those who engage in hate speech are numerous and many.

"They are well organised. They operate as a group identifying secular persons who speak out against hate speech and then contact one another to file multiple FIRs against innocent people who are speaking out bravely against hate speech," he 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.)
Prime Minister will inaugurate the Deoghar airport on Tuesday and lay the foundation stone for several projects, and will also inaugurate the new AIIMS, during his visit to .

PM Modi will lay the foundation stone for developmental projects worth more than Rs 16,000 crore during his visit to Deogarh. He will also lay the foundation stone for multiple road projects worth over Rs 10,000 crore.

The Deogarh airport, constructed across 657 acres at an estimated cost of around Rs 400 crore, will be the second international airport in after Ranchi. The first flight from Deoghar to Kolkata will depart on Tuesday, as Indigo will launch the Kolkata-Deoghar flight service on July 12.



Also Read | Jharkhand ready for grand welcome of PM Modi on July 12: BJP leader

Indigo will provide the Kolkata-Deoghar flight service will be available four days a week, the company said.

The airport has a 2,500-metre-long runway, which can handle the landing and takeoff of Airbus A320 planes. It also has a 5,130 square feet terminal building and six check-in counters that can cater to 200 passengers at a time.

Ahead of PM Modi's visit to Deogarh, security has been tightened in the holy city, as the Prime Minister will take part in an 11.5-km-long road show.

PM Modi, who laid the foundation of Deogarh in May 2018, will inaugurate the hospital on Tuesday. An official release stated, "The services at Deoghar will get a further boost as the Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the In-Patient Department (IPD) and Operation Theatre services at AIIMS, Deoghar."

(With agency inputs)
As the countdown for the upcoming Presidential elections starts, the has dropped broad hints that it may support NDA's candidate Draupadi Murmu and not the non-BJP Opposition's nominee, Yashwant Sinha, here on Tuesday.

MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut indicated this while interacting with the media, saying party President Uddhav Thackeray will announce his decision in a day or so.

"Backing Murmu does not mean supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party. The decision will be taken keeping in view the public sentiments," Raut made it clear, amid a clamour from its former saffron ally to toe its (BJP) line.

The Sena said Monday (July 11), Thackeray had discussed the Presidential polls issue and other matters in detail at a meeting of most Sena MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha besides some other top leaders.

"In the past even Balasaheb Thackeray used to hold such consultations with party leaders on major issues and the decisions were made on the basis of the view of the colleagues. At yesterday's meeting, the candidature of Murmu was also discussed," said Raut.

While emphasising that supporting Murmu doesn't imply backing the BJP, he said the Sena has all the goodwill for Sinha.

"Such decisions are based on peoples' sentiments and even in the past we had supported the candidature of Pratibha Patil (2007), Pranab Mukherjee (2012) when we were with the NDA," Raut pointed out, suggesting a repeat of its stance in 2022.

He also rubbished speculation in a section of the media that the Sena is on the verge of a split with even MPs preparing to revolt and join the group led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

"A majority of our MPs were present at yesterday's meeting barring Shinde's son, Dr. Shrikant Shinde and Bhavana Gawali. The party does not take any decisions under pressure and whatever is finally decided, would be binding on all MPs and MLAs," Raut said.

Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, the other Maha Vikas Aghadi -- of which the Sena is a part -- have not yet reacted to the developments.

Meanwhile, both Murmu and Sinha are expected to be in Mumbai this week to campaign for the President elections and are likely to meet the top leaders of all political parties.

--IANS

qn/dpb

(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.)
P Ravichandran, one of the convicts serving life imprisonment in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, on Monday approached the Supreme Court, seeking release from prison, similar to fellow convict AG Perarivalan.

Ravichandran, who has been in jail for 30 years now, sought interim bail until his case for formal release reaches a conclusion.

In June, the Madras High Court had dismissed his plea saying that High Courts do not have the special powers that the has under Article 142 of the Constitution and hence cannot order the release, like the top court did for AG Perarivalan in May 2022.

The High Court had said Ravichandran could approach the if his plea was based on Perarivalan's release.

On May 18, the had evoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to release AG Perarivalan, who was one of the seven convicts in the assassination case.

Following Perarivalan's release, Ravichandran had sent a letter to Chief Minister MK Stalin seeking the release of the remaining six convicts, including him and mentioned that the Governor has kept the files of release without consideration for over three years which he condemns as an anti-constitutional approach.

Deciding Perarivalan's plea for premature release from jail based on the recommendation made by the Tamil Nadu government in September 2018, the apex court ordered his release, while the six other convicts remain in jail.

Ravichandran in his appeal against the High Court order has cited Perarivalan's order of the apex court.

Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber, identified as Dhanu, at a poll rally.

(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 27-year-old man was arrested on an flight from as it landed at on suspicion of reported by cabin crew, London's Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday.

The unnamed individual was taken to a west police station last week and released under investigation.

According to reports, he had turned violent towards an air steward while in a drunken state on the flight bound from to on July 7.

"At approximately 18:20hrs [local time] on Thursday, 7 July, officers met a flight that had landed at after cabin crew had reported a disturbance on the flight, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

"A member of cabin crew reported they were assaulted during the incident. A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of . He was taken to a west police station and was subsequently released under investigation. Enquiries into the circumstances continue, the statement said.

is yet to officially comment on the incident.

(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 much-awaited expansion of the cabinet led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde may take place after the July 18 presidential polls, the Shinde-led camp of MLAs has indicated.

Currently, CM Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP are the only members of the cabinet. They had taken oath on June 30.

There is no difficulty in cabinet expansion," the Shinde faction's spokesperson, Deepak Kesarkar, told reporters here on Monday.

He was responding to a question on whether the was being delayed due to the ongoing legal battle between the Shinde camp and the Sena faction led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Kesarkar said there is an important meeting on July 13 in New Delhi related to the election of the next President and a representative from their group will be attending it.

On July 14, BJP-led NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu will visit Mumbai to seek support.

Preparations for the presidential polls will take place on July 16 and 17 before voting on July 18. Electors for the top constitutional post consist of Members of Parliament and MLAs.

The MLAs will be busy in the presidential polls...so who will have the time to prepare for taking oath? They are not in a hurry, Kesarkar said.

Shinde and Fadnavis last week visited New Delhi and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda.

Deliberations on in were believed to have taken place with the BJP's top brass during the visit.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As many as 114 new cases of have been detected in Maharashtra's district, taking the tally of infections to 7,31,578, a health official said on Tuesday.

These new cases were reported on Monday. The district currently has 2,037 active COVID-19 cases, he said.

One death was also reported on Monday, raising the toll in to 11,915, he said.

The recovery count in the district has reached 7,17,447, the official 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.)
Foreign companies eye opportunities in western China's green industries

Xinhua) 08:19, July 12, 2022

LANZHOU, July 11 (Xinhua) -- During the 28th China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair held in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, a new local energy automobile company signed a procurement and investment contract with a German car maker.

"This cooperation has paved our way to the EU new energy vehicle (NEV) market. I hope our NEVs will become known by more and more overseas customers and enhance the brand recognition worldwide," said Yang Jian, chairman of Lanzhou Guangtong New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd.

Bernd Tischler, mayor of Bottrop City in Germany, said that Chinese car makers have advanced technologies and rich experiences in electric bus production. In his online speech, Tischler noted a booming need for new energy buses in Germany and Europe.

Green industries, including hydrogen energy development, high-end copper foil manufacturing, and NEV production, strike a pose at this year's investment and trade fair.

Rich in solar power and wind resources, China's western region has become a pioneer in the country's new energy drive by turning its natural endowments into energy for a greener future. The green industries have become a growth point in foreign cooperation in the region.

Leckat Corporation Sdn Bhd in Malaysia has done business with Dayu Irrigation Group Co., Ltd. for more than five years. During the fair, the two companies signed key cooperation projects on integrated irrigation of water and fertilizer, intelligent automation and control, and solar energy conservation.

"The company has gained many customer resources in countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, showing surging foreign trade cooperation and huge potential," said Wang Chong, vice chairman of Dayu Irrigation Group Co., Ltd.

In recent years, Dayu Irrigation Group Co., Ltd. has made achievements in the research and development of digital and smart water-related affairs, Wang said.

Malaysia's agricultural planting has a massive demand for water and fertilizer integrated irrigation, intelligent automatic control, and solar energy conservation, Wang said. The company has relatively mature and advanced technologies in the industry, which can meet the needs of Malaysia to upgrade its level of agricultural modernization, according to Wang.

The new energy industry is greeting new opportunities toward China's "dual carbon" goals. Many business organizations and corporations attending the fair are blazing a green path through cooperation.

Chen Gang, deputy general manager with the northwest regional headquarters of China Energy Engineering Co., Ltd., said the price of green electricity in Gansu Province is relatively lower than in other places in China.

Given the cost-saving advantage in the province, the company plans to invest in constructing a hydrogen energy industrial park in Lanzhou New Area, building up a chain in terms of the production, storage, transportation, utilization of hydrogen energy, and manufacturing hydrogen fuel-cell and equipment research and development facilities.

The 28th China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair closed on Monday in Lanzhou. The fair serves as a window for the opening up of northwest China.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Romania's Foreign Minister Bodgan Aurescu (R) and visiting Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto attend a joint press conference in Bucharest, capital of Romania, July 12, 2022. The foreign affairs ministers of Romania and Hungary discussed here on Tuesday ways to increase the interconnection capacity of the two countries' gas distribution networks. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)

BUCHAREST, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The foreign affairs ministers of Romania and Hungary discussed here on Tuesday ways to increase the interconnection capacity of the two countries' gas distribution networks.

Access to energy is a major concern for both countries, Romania's Foreign Minister Bodgan Aurescu told a joint press conference with his visiting Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, emphasizing that "we must continue to increase our interconnection capacity ... we must strengthen our storage capacity."

Szijjarto said that Hungary's aim was to increase the interconnector's throughput capacity from 1.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year to over 3 billion cubic meters.

The interconnector can currently transport 2.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Romania and 1.7 billion cubic meters per year to Hungary.

According to Szijjarto, this increase in gas import capacity via Romania will strengthen Hungary's security of supply and provide a route for possible future imports from Azerbaijan.

The two ministers also highlighted the importance of finding alternative energy sources focusing on renewable and nuclear energy.

Romania is less dependent on Russian energy sources. Its share of imports from Russia is currently 15.5 percent for natural gas and 37 percent for crude oil. Hungary imports about 85 percent of its gas and 65 percent of the oil it needs from Russia. 

Romania's Foreign Minister Bodgan Aurescu (R) and visiting Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto attend a joint press conference in Bucharest, capital of Romania, July 12, 2022. The foreign affairs ministers of Romania and Hungary discussed here on Tuesday ways to increase the interconnection capacity of the two countries' gas distribution networks. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)
The Tuesday listed for hearing on August 18 the anticipatory bail plea by Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram in the alleged Chinese Visas scam being probed by .

Justice Poonam A Bamba deferred hearing on the plea after the counsel for (ED) informed that Additional Solicitor General SV Raju was not available.

The investigating agency also orally said that its earlier assurance concerning no coercive action against Karti would extend till the next date.

On July 12, ED had orally assured the high court that no coercive action would be taken against him till July 12.

Karti had approached the high court after his anticipatory bail plea and that of two others was dismissed by the trial court on June 3 on the ground that the offence was of a very serious nature.

ED has registered the money laundering case against Karti and others in the alleged scam about the issuance of a to 263 Chinese nationals in 2011 when his father P Chidambaram was the home minister.

ED has said that the actual magnitude or volume of the processed or laundered amount of money in the case was yet to be established during the investigation and the bribe amount of Rs 50 lakh in the CBl case cannot be taken or considered as the basis of the present case.

The agency has registered its case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of a recent first information report by the CBI in the same case.

When the case was heard by the court during vacation last month, the ED had opposed the anticipatory bail plea, saying Karti cannot file the application on a figment of imagination that does not show any genuine apprehension of his arrest.

The ED had said the application is premature as the investigation has not yet begun in the matter and even Karti has not been summoned yet.

(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 April 2017, Prime Minister flagged off Alliance Airs Delhi-Shimla flight heralding a new era in regional air connectivity. The flight, however, was suspended in March 2020 and Shimla virtually fell off the aviation map.

But there is good for travellers. The Delhi-Shimla route is among nine that airlines plan to launch in the next 50 days under the ministrys scheme. On Tuesday, IndiGo launched its service between Kolkata and Deoghar in Jharkhand after the PM inaugurated its new airport, built at a cost of Rs 401 crore.

We will receive our first new ATR 42-600 aircraft by July-end and another in September. We hope to start service between Delhi and Shimla, and Delhi and Kota from August 15 with the new aircraft. However, that depends upon the readiness of the airports, said Alliance Airs Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vineet Sood.

Shimla has a tabletop airport and a new runway end safety area is being built as an additional safety measure. According to an Airport Authority of India official, the work is expected to be completed by July 15 and would need approval from the Directorate General of .

Additionally, Alliance Air plans to deploy the new aircraft on existing routes between Delhi-Kullu and Delhi-Dharamshala. These routes are currently served with ATR 72 aircraft, which seats 70 passengers.

The ATR 42-600 route is more suitable than the ATR 72 for operations at airports with short runways or with high elevation. Its operating costs are lower. Also, at such airports, there are restrictions on maximum takeoff weight. So it is more profitable to deploy ATR 42 aircraft, Sood said.

Currently, we serve 52 destinations. Overall, our performance has been good and we will be adding new in northeastern states under the scheme. After the delivery of our second ATR 42 aircraft we will have more than 20 aircraft in the fleet and we will gradually commence operations to neighbouring countries, he said.

Odisha will get new under the scheme with the launch of new regional airline IndiaOne Air. We received an air operator certificate from the DGCA last month, and are awaiting a few final clearances.

We hope to start service between Bhubaneswar-Jeypore and Vizag-Jeypore later this month, said Arun Kumar Singh, the airlines CEO.

IndiaOne Air will use single-engine nine-seater Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft on the routes. Incidentally, it will be the first scheduled airline to use a single-engine aircraft for commercial . Our plan is to provide safe, on time, and reliable service, Singh said.

According to Singh, fuel price is not a big worry as the airline is using single-engine aircraft. Demand, too, is not a challenge as growth is expected to be driven by tier-II and -III towns. The main concern, Singh said, is maintaining schedule reliability as smaller airports are not equipped with modern navigation aids and have higher visibility requirements for landing. Also the DGCA has permitted IndiaOne Air to operate only during the day since the Grand Caravan is a single engine aircraft. This reduces aircraft utilisation, he said.

In fact, the delay in airport readiness is among the reasons for slow take-off of the scheme. Adverse weather and poor infrastructure contributed to the problem as it led to inconsistent operations. The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the scheme further with overall reduction in flights.

Moreover, airlines participating in the scheme shut down. These include Air Costa, Air Carnival, and Zoom Air. TruJet suspended operations in February and is yet to resume despite funding commitments from new investors.

44% of routes operationalised

Only around 44 per cent of the 948 routes awarded under the scheme have been operationalised so far.

The scheme provides airlines viability gap funding for 50 per cent of seats on a flight and puts a cap on fares on those seats to encourage air travel from towns that are not served. It is funded by a Rs 50 ticket levy on flight tickets on major routes.

Udan was meant to stimulate the market in addition to opening up new routes. The idea was to make routes market ready without subsidy. Clearly, that is not working well. Sustaining routes beyond three years is a challenge. It can only be partly blamed on Covid-19 pandemic, said Ameya Joshi, aviation expert and founder of aviation blog, Network Thoughts.
The central government might ask Facebook, Twitter, and other companies to explain their alleged poor compliance to legal notices served in India, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the is compiling reports of actions taken by significant intermediaries (SSMIs), both voluntarily and in response to official notices in India as well as other nations for a detailed review.



Companies with more than 5 million registered users are regarded as SSMIs, according to guidelines.



Also Read: Why is there a growing unease between the govt and Big Tech in India?

The ministry will likely discuss the issue with SSMIs in the next fortnightly meeting, sources told ET.

"The rate of compliance to legal demands is very low in India compared to the number of users that (SSMIs) have in the country," official sources told the paper.

As India has a large number of users, officials told ET, the number of objectionable and actionable content will also be higher.

According to Meta, India is its largest market with more than 400 million users. has nearly 24 million users in the nation, which is 10 per cent of the platform's global user base of 330 million active users.

However, when comparing the compliance rates, "SSMIs lag," an official told the paper.

While a spokesperson said the platform had 'no comment' to offer, a Meta representative said the company's "community standards outline what is and is not allowed on our platform. If the content violates our Community Standards, we remove it from our platform," quoted ET.

A representative for Meta, which owns Facebook, told the newspaper, "When we receive a valid legal order on taking down content that goes against local law, but might not go against out Community Standards, we restrict the content's availability in the country where it is alleged to be unlawful."

From July 2021 to December 2021, received 50,382 requests from various governments in India, of which 47,123 were legal. The company had complied with 64 per cent of these requests, Meta told ET.

In the US, Meta complied 88 per cent of legal requests in the same period, while in the UK, it complied with 89 per cent of such requests.

Twitter's overall compliance rate in India stood at 11 per cent, whereas in the US and the UK, it was at 13 per cent and 7 per cent, during January 2021-June 2021 period.
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The has nominated 29 non-official members from large and small enterprises and different sectors in the Board of Trade, which is a top advisory body on external trade. The inductees include chief executive officer of Rajesh Gopinathan, and Advisor Sanjay Nayyar.

The Board, chaired by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, advises the on policy measures to improve the country's foreign trade.

Other non-official members include Pasha Patel, former member of Maharashtra Legislative Council, Pankaj Mahindroo, Chairman India Cellular and Electronics Association, Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), Laghu Udyog Bharati Executive Member Om Prakash Mittal, GCMMF (Amul) Managing Director RS Sodhi, among others, according to notification issued by the Centre.

The official members will include secretaries of department of revenue, department of commerce, ministry of health, agriculture, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and chairman Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), among others.

The had in 2019 merged the Council of Trade Development and Promotion with the Board of Trade to bring greater coherence in the consultation process with all stakeholders for promoting exports and imports, according to an official notification.

The terms of reference for the non-official members of the Board of Trade includes providing a platform to states and union territories to articulate state oriented perspectives on trade policy, act as a facilitators in implementation of District Export Hub events including sensitization workshops, identification and promotion of identified products.

They would also help states to develop and pursue export strategies in line with the national foreign trade policy, facilitate a mechanism for discussion on operationalisation of the trade infrastructure, review procedure for imports and exports and suggest steps to rationalise use and advise the government of policy measures for preparation of shirt and long term measures to increase exports, the notification said.
The State Board of School (JKBOSE) will declare the class 10 board result by next week, according to media reports. As of now, no official date has been announced.

Also, the JK Board class 10 result 2022 will be released for the Summer Zone Jammu Division.

Students must check their thoroughly and in case of any changes, they are required to consult the authorities.

Once declared, the JKBOSE 10th result 2022 will be released online at jkbose.ac.in. Students can check their marks on the website by logging in to their registered accounts, by providing the name and roll number in the search box.

Over 70,000 students are expecting their . The JKBOSE class 12 result 2022 of the Jammu Division has already been released.
The State Bank of India is expected to release the notification for Clerk 2022 opening anytime this month. Millions of aspirants are waiting for the Clerk notification, which is most likely to release this month, and candidates are advised to keep checking the website of the State Bank of India  .co.in.

The dates for applications, exams, and other important updates will be released in the SBI Clerk 2022 notification this month. The SBI conducts the Clerk recruitment exam in two stages, first prelims and mains, which is followed by LPT, Language Proficiency Test.

Syllabus

The syllabus for SBI Clerk 2022 for Prelims exams comprises three subjects

Reasoning ability

Quantitative Aptitude

English

Meanwhile, the syllabus for SBI Clerk 2022 for Mains exams has four subjects

Reasoning Ability

Quantitative Aptitude

English

General Awareness

Eligibility

The educational eligibility for the SBI Clerk post is graduation as graduates of any discipline for any recognised institute can apply for the exam. Candidates who are in the final year or final semester of their graduation can also apply for the exam.

The minimum age limit for the SBI Clerk post is 21 years, while the maximum is 28 years. The relaxation on upper age would be given as per the government's norms, the details of which will be provided in the SBI Clerk notification.
A day Russian after the US government warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine, President is all set to pay a visit to next week, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

During the trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of and .

Ahead of Putin's visit to the country, to make a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, where Iran's nuclear programme and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.

In March, Erdogan helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, .

On Monday, the White House said that it believes that is turning to to provide it with hundreds of drones, including those capable of carrying weapons, for use in war.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the vehicles to Russia, but said the U.S. has information that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

Iran long has worked on the development of drones, including so-called loitering munitions, the kamikaze drones like the Switchblade that the US has delivered to .

The US decision to publicly reveal that the two countries' chief regional rival was helping to rearm comes as both Israel and Saudi Arabia have resisted joining global efforts to punish for its action in due to their domestic interests, the Associated Press reported.

In Tehran, Mohammadrez Pourebrahimi, the head of the Iranian Parliament's economic committee, told state-run news agency IRNA that Putin's trip would seek to improve economic relations between the two sanctions-hit nations.
Sri Lanka's former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is the youngest brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was stopped from boarding a flight to Dubai on Monday evening, local media reported.

Basil reportedly attempted to leave amid the ongoing in the country but airport immigration officials refused to let him leave the country following the protests by passengers, Daily Mirror reported.

Upon immigration officials' refusal, Basil had to return without being able to proceed, the report added.

This development comes a day after Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena clarified that Gotabaya is still in the country, soon after reports emerged that the President has left the island nation.

Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, who announced his resignation on Saturday, was earlier said to have fled and was in a third country.

"President of Gotabaya is still in the country, I made a mistake in the (BBC) interview," Speaker Abeywardena told ANI in a telephone call.

When asked further about the whereabouts of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lankan President, the speaker said that both of them are still in the country.

The development comes after thousands of people stormed into the President's House in Fort on Saturday. The dramatic visuals came from PM's official residence where they were seen playing carrom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying in park premises and preparing food for dinner.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also announced to step down from his posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts.

The worsening economic situation in the country has led to increasing tensions and over the last few weeks, there were reports of several confrontations between individuals and members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations where thousands of desperate members of the public have queued for hours and sometimes days.

is suffering its worst since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress.

The oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice. Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation, have fuelled the shortages.

The will push families into hunger and poverty - some for the first time - adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former UK Chancellor on Tuesday emerged as one of the early candidates to hit the threshold of 20 supporting Conservative Party members of Parliament for his nomination to compete for the post of leader and the next British prime minister, to be announced on September 5.

The 42-year-old British Indian MP for Richmond in Yorkshire maintains his lead in the race to replace Boris Johnson as nominations formally opened for the contest. The prime ministerial hopefuls have until 6 pm local time to get their nominations in, with Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat the others in the running to hit the requisite 20-MPs mark.

Others expected to run include: Indian-origin Attorney General Suella Braverman, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Nigerian-origin Kemi Badenoch, former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Foreign Office Minister Rehman Chishti and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

Priti Patel, the Indian-origin Home Secretary, is said to be still considering a bid and could be a late entry to the race with a considerable backing within the hardline Brexit wing of the Conservative Party.

On Monday, the 1922 Committee laid out the timetable for the leadership race and confirmed that the new prime minister will be elected on September 5 and address their first Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament on September 7. The first round of voting by Tory MPs is scheduled for Wednesday, when each candidate will require the backing of 30 colleagues or just under 10 per cent of Tory MPs in total to progress to round two.

A second ballot on Thursday will narrow down the field further as candidates with the least votes keep getting knocked out. There is provision for further ballots next week if the race to get to the final two candidates does not conclude by the end of this week.

The deadline to narrow down the shortlist to just two remaining candidates is July 21, when the 1922 Committee Chair Sir Graham Brady will also seek an assurance that both finalists will remain in the race to face the wider party membership ballot.

In 2019, the last-minute withdrawal of Andrea Leadsom from the race had meant that Theresa May was elected unopposed by MPs, without having to face the Tory membership base. The party is keen to avoid a repeat of such a scenario in this election.

After the field is whittled down to the final two candidates, they will tour the UK for hustings to campaign the estimated 200,000 Tory party members who will then cast postal ballots for the winner based on a one member, one vote system. The candidate who receives the most votes will win the race and be declared the new Tory leader and UK prime minister.

Meanwhile, a vote of Tory party members carried out by the Conservative Home website put Penny Mordaunt in the lead, indicating an appetite for change within the grassroots of the party. Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch emerges as the second favourite, followed by Sunak and Braverman at third and fourth.

Among the MPs, most Johnson loyalists are expected to endorse Truss, who will be seen as a continuity candidate. Many of the Conservative Party's 358 MPs are yet to openly throw their weight behind any of the candidates yet and there will be intense activity as the week progresses and the remaining candidates on the shortlist vie for the support of those previously backing unsuccessful hopefuls.

(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.)
NANJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The city of Liyang in east China's Jiangsu Province has donated a traditional Chinese-style pavilion to its sister city Fulda District in Germany, in celebration of Fulda's 200th anniversary.

The exquisite pavilion is located in the park of Schloss Fasanerie, a baroque palace in the south of the Fulda District, according to the foreign affairs department of Liyang.

Construction of the pavilion started in February this year and was completed in late March, said Song Chao, deputy director of the foreign affairs department, noting that parts of the pavilion were delivered to Germany by the China-Europe freight train and were assembled locally.

"The pavilion represents the friendship between Liyang and Fulda, and can help local people better understand Chinese culture," Song said.

Since forming an international sister city relationship in 2016, Liyang and the German district have deepened cooperation in trade, education and people-to-people exchanges, Song added. 
President will confront a kaleidoscope of challenges when he travels to the this week, his first trip there since taking office. With the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the rearview mirror, the is reassessing its role in the region at a time when its focus has shifted to Europe and Asia.

A look at some of the major issues that will be at play during Biden's travels.

Israeli-Arab Cooperation



Biden will become the first US president to travel directly from Israel, his first destination, to Saudi Arabia, his last stop before returning to Washington. The itinerary is a reflection of friendlier relationships between Israel and its Arab neighbours, a tectonic shift that is reshaping the region's politics.

Under President Donald Trump, Israel normalised relations with countries such as the United Arab Emirates through the Abraham Accords. Although no one expects Israel and Saudi Arabia to announce formal diplomatic ties during Biden's trip, more incremental steps could be taken, such as allowing Israeli commercial flights to cross over the kingdom en route to other countries nearby.

In addition, there's already a surge in security cooperation being presided over by the U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees operations in the region. John Kirby, a national security spokesman for the White House, said the nascent military partnership is intended to foster a regional air defense system that could protect against Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.

Iran nuclear deal



The threat of Iran is one of the primary incentives for Israel and Arab countries to work more closely together, and the issue will likely be a top focus for Biden's meetings. Israel views Iran as its greatest threat, and Sunni Arab countries consider Shiite Iran as a dangerous competitor for regional power.

A key question is finding the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, which it's believed to be closer than ever to achieving. Biden wants to rejuvenate the nuclear deal that was reached by President Barack Obama in 2015 and abandoned by Trump in 2018, but negotiations appear to have stalled.

Israel, which is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the region but does not acknowledge having such weapons, was opposed to the deal. It didn't like that the agreement limited Iran's nuclear enrichment for only a set period of time, nor did it address Iran's ballistic missile program or other military activities in the region. Now Israel is calling for increasing sanctions to pressure Tehran into agreeing to a more sweeping accord.

Biden is expected to visit one of Israel's missile defense installations as he tries to reassure Israelis that the US is committed to the country's protection.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict



Even though Israel is building closer ties to Arab countries, there's been no progress toward resolving its decades-long conflict with the Palestinians.

In fact, some Palestinians feel abandoned by Arab leaders who have reached their own deals with Israel through the Abraham Accords. That came without securing progress toward the Palestinians' goal of an independent state in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza, lands Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.

And there are increasing doubts that a two-state solution is even possible at this point because Israel has spent decades expanding settlements that are now home to hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers. Israel blames the continuing conflict on Palestinian violence and the refusal of Palestinian leaders to accept past proposals that it says would have given them a state.

Biden plans to visit with Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, in Bethlehem during his trip. But it's unlikely that there will be an opportunity to prod either him or Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid to reopen talks. The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank, has grown increasingly unpopular and autocratic in recent years. Lapid is a caretaker prime minister serving while Israel braces for another round of elections later this year.

Human Rights



Biden will likely be confronted with more fallout over the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed two months ago. An analysis overseen by the suggested that she was shot by Israeli soldiers who were conducting a raid nearby, but it stopped short of drawing a definitive conclusion. The murky outcome led to more anger than clarity.

The treatment of journalists will also be a focal point when Biden visits Saudi Arabia. US intelligence believes that the kingdom's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, likely approved the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based writer for the Washington Post who was critical of the regime. The murder was carried out by agents who worked for the crown prince, and it took place inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

Dozens of activists, writers, moderate clerics and economists remain imprisoned for their criticism of Mohammed bin Salman. The few who've been released, like blogger Raif Badawi and women's rights advocate Loujain al-Hathloul, face yearslong travel bans and cannot speak freely. Some senior members of the royal family have been arrested or had their assets seized, and were forced into exile.

Despite the crackdown, the crown prince has also been credited with reforms. Saudi Arabia looks and feels starkly different than just five years ago, when religious police still roamed the streets chastising women for wearing bright nail polish in malls, enforcing gender segregation in public places and ordering restaurants to turn off background music. Women can now drive, travel abroad without the permission of a male relative and attend sporting events in stadiums once reserved solely for men. Movie theaters and concerts, including one with pop star Justin Bieber, have government backing, a major change after decades of ultraconservative Wahhabi influence.

Oil production



Biden will likely face pressure to temper his criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record to persuade the kingdom and its neighbors to pump more oil and alleviate months of sky-high prices at the gas pump.

Energy analysts say drivers shouldn't get their hopes up. If the public is looking for lower gasoline prices after this trip, I think they're bound to be disappointed, said Samantha Gross, director of the energy security and climate initiative at the Brookings Institution.

The Saudis, among the biggest energy producers in the world, are already producing near their full capacity of 11 million barrels of oil per day. And members of OPEC+ nations, including the Saudis, are likely to be cautious when it comes to demands from the U.S.

In 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic severely scaled back travel, Trump urged OPEC+ to scale back production as the U.S. oil industry wobbled. Now, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has driven up prices, Biden wants OPEC+ to produce more even though there are fears of a global recession around the corner.

Elevated oil prices are simply good business for the Saudis, the de facto leader of OPEC+. The kingdom reported that the value of its crude exports were about a $1 billion per day in March and April, a 123% increase compared to the same period in 2021.

India



Another partnership is also taking shape while Biden is travelling in the . He'll be convening a virtual summit with the leaders of Israel, India and the United Arab Emirates under a new moniker the I2U2.

It might seem like an unlikely collection of countries, but there are hopes for productive collaboration. Navdeep Suri, a former Indian ambassador to the UAE, said the initiative is intended to bring together Israeli technology, UAE capital and Indian skills.

"We are seeing a churn in the region and for India, it is better to be on the table rather than off the table, he added.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, said there's a lot of opportunity for deepening relationships.

There are a number of areas where these countries can work together, whether it's technology, whether it's trade, whether it is climate, whether it's COVID, and potentially even security as well," he said.

Talmeez Ahmed, India's former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, suggested there would be limits to security cooperation, and he's skeptical about the new initiative.

Ahmed noted Israel has said it is against Iran. There is no way India will join an alliance against Iran.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russian President discussed the development of bilateral economic cooperation and the situation in Ukraine during a telephone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Both leaders "focused on tasks to further promote economic cooperation, including measures to improve the contractual legal framework, boost trade and use national currencies in transactions, as well as to ensure uninterrupted supplies of Russian energy," the Kremlin said on Monday.

"The two leaders agreed on close interaction in these areas at the level of the co-chairs of the bilateral intergovernmental commission and the leaders of relevant agencies," it added.

Putin and Erdogan also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, including ways in which both countries can coordinate efforts to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea, and the export of grain to global markets, Xinhua news agency reported,

The Turkish President said that it is time for the UN "to take action for the plan regarding the formation of secure corridors through the Black Sea for the grain export," according to Turkey's presidential office.

He added Turkey is ready "to provide all kinds of support for the revival of the negotiation process" between Russia and Ukraine.

--IANS

int/khz/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Chancellor and Attorney General Suella Braverman are the two Indian-origin members of Parliament to make the initial shortlist of eight candidates in the race to replace as Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister at the close of nominations on Tuesday evening.

The others to make it on the ballot paper include Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, former Cabinet ministers Kemi Badenoch and Jeremy Hunt and Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat.

Sunak, who formally launched his campaign earlier, remains the frontrunner in the race with reportedly the highest number of MPs behind him. I am running a positive campaign focused on what my leadership can offer our party and our country, the 42-year-old Conservative leader said at his campaign launch.

Earlier, Braverman, 42, said she has "got the numbers" to make the leadership race ballot.

Braverman, whose parents emigrated to Britain in the 1960s from Kenya and Mauritius respectively, has been Member of Parliament for Fareham since 2015.

The candidates needed the backing of at least 20 MPs to make the first cut and all eight will now face the first round of voting on Wednesday and only those with the backing of at least 30 MPs  or just under 10 per cent of Tory MPs  will progress to round two.

Just as the nominations closed, the two Pakistani-origin hopefuls  former Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Foreign Office Minister Rehman Chishti  had withdrawn from the race, not having met the 20-MP mark. There is an abundance of both ideas and talent in our party. One of the candidates will be given the honour of becoming Prime Minister, said Javid.

A second ballot on Thursday will narrow down the field further as candidates with the least votes keep getting knocked out.

There is provision for further ballots next week if the race to get to the final two candidates does not conclude by the end of this week.

The deadline to narrow down the shortlist to just two remaining candidates is July 21, when the 1922 Committee Chair Sir Graham Brady will also seek an assurance that both finalists will remain in the race to face the wider party membership ballot.

The 1922 Committee, in charge of the timetable for the leadership race, has said that the new Tory leader will be announced on September 5 and address their first Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament on September 7. After the field is whittled down to the final two candidates, the duo will tour parts of the UK for hustings to campaign the estimated 200,000 Tory party members who will then cast postal ballots for the winner based on a one member, one vote system.

The candidate who receives the most votes will win the race and be declared the new Tory leader and UK Prime Minister.

(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.)
is getting an additional USD 1.7 billion in assistance from the US government and the to pay the salaries of its beleaguered workers and provide other essential services.

The money coming Tuesday from the US Agency for Development, the Treasury Department and the is meant to alleviate the acute budget deficit caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin's brutal war of aggression, USAID said in a statement.

While many medical staffers have left Ukraine, some hospitals have shut down and other hospitals have been bombed. The health workers who remain in do their jobs under dire circumstances.

Viktor Liashko, Ukraine's minister of health, said paying health workers' salaries is becoming more difficult each month due to the overwhelming burden of war".

USD 1.7 billion is not just yet another financial support; it is an investment that makes us a step closer to victory," Liashko said in a statement.

To date, USAID has given USD 4 billion in budgetary support to the Ukrainian government. These funds have been used for keeping gas and electricity flowing to hospitals and schools, getting humanitarian supplies to citizens and paying the salaries of civil servants and teachers, the organisation said.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power said that as Putin's assault on Ukraine's public services continues, the is rushing in with financial support to help the government keep the lights on, provide essential services to innocent citizens and pay the workers who are providing lifesaving support on the frontlines".

Last week, the Biden administration said it will send another USD 400 million in military equipment to Ukraine, the 15th package of military weapons and equipment transferred to from Defense Department stocks since last August.

This new set of funds will be used for humanitarian purposes.

This aid will help Ukraine's democratic government provide essential services for the people of Ukraine," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a written statement.

Yellen said the money would "reach those who need it most at the front lines of Putin's brutal and illegal war."



Overall, the US has sent about USD 7.3 billion in aid to Ukraine since the war began in late February.

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The latest and most contagious versions of Omicron subvariants, known as BA.5 and BA.4, have accounted for more than 70 per cent of new Covid-19 infections in the US, leading to new surge in cases and hospitalisations nationwide.

BA.5 became the dominant variant in the US, making up about 54 per cent of new cases in the week ending July 2, according to data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Another highly transmissible subvariant, BA.4, made up about 17 per cent more, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two subvariants are more contagious than earlier variants of Omicron, and also appear to evade protection from vaccines and previous infections more easily than most of their predecessors, according to health experts.

"These new variants could indeed pose threats to existing protection from previous infections or vaccines. There are many uncertainties," Jeffrey Sachs, Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

David Montefiori, a professor at the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University Medical Center, estimated that BA.4 and BA.5 are about three times less sensitive to neutralising antibodies from existing Covid vaccines than the original version of the Omicron variant, BA.1.

Other research suggested that BA.4 and BA.5 are four times more resistant to antibodies from vaccines than BA.2, which replaced the Omicron variant as the dominant version of the in the US in April.

Bob Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said BA.5 manages to at least partially sidestep some of the immunity people may have from prior infections and vaccinations.

"Cases are already rising again in the US, and could rise substantially later this summer or in the fall, when there is a return to offices, schools and other indoor facilities," Sachs told Xinhua.

The country is now averaging about 106,000 new Covid-19 cases and 300 new deaths each day, according to CDC data.

But experts believe the CDC case counts tremendously underestimated the true numbers because some people are no longer getting tested, and some are testing at home and not reporting the results.

"I think that we will see increased BA.5 activity, hopefully without substantial increases in hospitalisation or death," Stanley Perlman, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, told Xinhua.

"We are still far from over this pandemic. We need intensified global cooperation, most importantly between the US, China and European Union, to ensure that all of the world takes appropriate control measures and has the necessary access to diagnostics, drugs, vaccines and other necessary control technologies," Sachs told Xinhua.

--IANS

int/khz/

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The domestic equity benchmarks traded with moderate losses in the morning trade.The Nifty traded above the 16,140 mark. Shares of PSU bank, oil & gas and healthcare were in the green while metal, financial services and FMCG stocks corrected.

At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 188.17 points or 0.35% to 54,207.06. The Nifty 50 index shed 62.70 points or 0.39% to 16,153.30.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.22% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.20%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,698 shares rose and 1,191 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 170.51 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 296.99 crore in the Indian equity market on 11 July, provisional data showed.

Earnings Today:

HCL Technologies (down 1.10%), Delta Corp (down 1.77%), Anand Rathi Wealth (up 0.96%), Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy (up 1.45%), Goa Carbon (up 0.08%) and Swiss Military Consumer Goods (up 6.72%) to report their financial results for Q1 FY23 later in the day.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index fell 1.47% to 4,822.15. The index rose 1.97% in the past trading session.

NMDC (down 4.36%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.86%), National Aluminium Company (down 1.9%), APL Apollo Tubes (down 1.72%), JSW Steel (down 1.37%), Welspun Corp (down 1.17%), Tata Steel (down 1.16%), Hindustan Copper (down 0.93%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.88%) and Steel Authority of India (down 0.83%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Borosil Renewables gained 1.55% after the company said that its board is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 14 July 2022, to consider fund raising by the company. The funds would be raised either via further public offer, issuance of American depository receipts or global depository receipts, issuance of foreign currency convertible bonds, qualified institutions placement or through a combination thereof.

Suryoday Small Finance Bank advanced 3.97% after the bank's gross advances increased by 28% YoY to Rs 5,136 crore in Q1 FY23. Gross advances in Q1 FY22 aggregated to Rs 4,004 crore. Total deposits for Q1 FY23 amounted to Rs 4,020 crore, which is higher by 21% as compared with Rs 3,317 crore in Q1 FY22. CASA was at 21% in Q1 FY23 as against 16.2% in Q1 FY22.

Mishtann Foods rose 0.87% after the company's standalone net profit surged 216% to Rs 11.03 crore in Q1 FY23 as against Rs 3.49 crore recorded in Q1 FY22. Revenue from operations soared by 118.7% to Rs 158.27 crore in Q1 FY23 from Rs 72.36 crore posted in Q1 FY22. Profit before tax jumped 235.6% to Rs 16.95 crore in Q1 FY23 from Rs 5.05 crore reported in Q1 FY22.

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Power stocks were trading with gains, with the S&P BSE Power index increasing 72.06 points or 1.65% at 4448.56 at 09:47 IST.

Among the components of the S&P BSE Power index, Adani Green Energy Ltd (up 5.17%), Adani Power Ltd (up 3.11%),NHPC Ltd (up 2.17%),JSW Energy Ltd (up 2.16%),Adani Transmission Ltd (up 1.28%), were the top gainers. Among the other gainers were NTPC Ltd (up 1.28%), Tata Power Company Ltd (up 0.88%), and Torrent Power Ltd (up 0.84%).

On the other hand, Siemens Ltd (down 0.88%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (down 0.53%), and ABB India Ltd (down 0.15%) turned lower.

At 09:47 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 231.18 or 0.43% at 54164.05.

The Nifty 50 index was down 84.9 points or 0.52% at 16131.1.

The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 26.89 points or 0.1% at 25943.3.

The S&P BSE 150 Midcap Index index was down 11.83 points or 0.15% at 8054.58.

On BSE,1518 shares were trading in green, 1117 were trading in red and 134 were unchanged.

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Ramco Systems announced that it has successfully gone live at Air Asia Company (AACL), Taiwan's first privately-owned aircraft maintenance company catering to aircraft maintenance of commercial aircraft, helicopters, military and a designated 'Government owned contractor operated facility' (GOCO), with its Aviation M&E MRO Suite V5.9, thereby automating and digitally transforming AACL's business processes.

With modules for Production Planning, Commercials, Maintenance Execution and Supply Chain Management, Ramco's one stop solution, Ramco Aviation Suite V5.9 replaced AACL's existing legacy system for proposal management, production Planning, heavy maintenance process for commercial aircraft, and interfaces with AACL's inventory management solution.

As a result, AACL has now recorded a 15% reduction in its production planning process. In addition, Ramco's next-gen innovations like its Mechanic Anywhere mobile app and real-time Dashboards together with the digital transformation initiatives for Task Card Management, Electronic Signoffs, enable the company to streamline communication between its departments, analyze manhour consumptions, track opportunity details, progress of work packages and report non-routine tasks on the go.

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Utilties stocks were trading in the positive zone, with the S&P BSE Utilities index rising 63.38 points or 1.75% at 3686.8 at 09:47 IST.

Among the components of the S&P BSE Utilities index, Adani Green Energy Ltd (up 5.17%), NLC India Ltd (up 4.76%),Rattanindia Power Ltd (up 4.5%),Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd (up 3.71%),Adani Power Ltd (up 3.11%), were the top gainers. Among the other gainers were Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd (up 2.5%), NHPC Ltd (up 2.17%), JSW Energy Ltd (up 2.16%), Reliance Power Ltd (up 1.8%), and SJVN Ltd (up 1.47%).

On the other hand, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (down 0.53%), Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (down 0.37%), and BF Utilities Ltd (down 0.03%) moved lower.

At 09:47 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 231.18 or 0.43% at 54164.05.

The Nifty 50 index was down 84.9 points or 0.52% at 16131.1.

The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 26.89 points or 0.1% at 25943.3.

The S&P BSE 150 Midcap Index index was down 11.83 points or 0.15% at 8054.58.

On BSE,1518 shares were trading in green, 1117 were trading in red and 134 were unchanged.

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on Tuesday accused the previous state governments of trying to play with the security of the state by hatching a conspiracy to end the PAC.

Addressing the passing-out parade of the recruits of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), Adityanath without taking any names, said "as a part of a conspiracy, there were efforts to end 54 companies. Today, when I see the splendid parade of the recruits, I myself am realising how a big conspiracy was hatched."



"A despicable effort was made to stop these talented youths from joining the police force of the state and become a part of it, so that they can be prevented from serving the state and the nation," Adityanath said.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi told PTI that in 2017 when the BJP government came to power, the police force had only 3 lakh personnel, and 53 companies of the PAC were virtually without any men.

Adityanath said that over 1.62 lakh youths have been recruited in the force and PAC in the past five years.

He said that the capacity of the centres charged with training these men too have been enhanced, and steps have been taken to modernize the police force.

"We all know that in 2017 after the new government was formed in the state, at that time, posts in large numbers in the police and PAC were lying vacant. In the past five years, over 1.62 lakh police personnel have been recruited, and the training programme has been taken forward," he said.

Adityanath said that his administration has facilitated infinite possibilities of job creation in the state, and the feeling of security among people is quite clear in his rule.

"Today, the youth of Uttar Pradesh can say with great pride that I am a resident of Uttar Pradesh -- the heartland of India. The way in which Uttar Pradesh has transformed its image through good law and order, it is being praised everywhere," he said.

In 1940 during the Second World War, 13 companies of UP Military Police were raised to deal with internal security and increased to 36 companies during the war period.

The reorganisation took place in September 1947 during which 11 battalions (86 companies) were raised.

In 1948, the UP Military Police and UP State Armed Constabulary were amalgamated into the Provincial Armed Constabulary.

The PAC was created to prevent frequent deployment of the Army in grave law and order situations which the local police could not handle on its own.

Even though it was meant serve only in Uttar Pradesh, the PAC has over the period been deployed across the length and breadth of the country.

The PAC was renamed as Pradeshik Armed Constabulary in 1956.

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MADRID, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Travelers in Spain could face yet more chaos as Ryanair's cabin crew began a new 12-day strike on Tuesday.

The labor action was called by the USO and Sitcpla unions, which argue that Ryanair does not respect Spanish labor law. The unions also want a "collective agreement and decent working conditions for all staff," which include paid holidays and sick leave as well as a wage hike.

Cabin crew will strike on July 12-15, 18-21 and 25-28 across the ten Spanish airports where Ryanair operates (Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante, Sevilla, Palma, Valencia, Girona, Santiago de Compostela and Ibiza).

On Tuesday morning, Ryanair canceled 11 flights and a further 50 flights are suffering significant delays.

This is the second round of strikes called by the unions in their attempt to force an agreement with the company. Ryanair staff already walked out on June 24-26 and June 30-July 2, causing the cancelation of 215 flights and delaying a further 1,225.

Meanwhile, easyJet workers are preparing to stage two sets of three-day strikes on July 15-17 and July 29-31. 
The Monday termed politically motivated the Opposition's criticism of Prime Minister unveiling a cast of the emblem atop the new Parliament building.

such as the Congress, CPI(M) and AIMIM have criticised the inauguration by Modi, saying this was a "violation" of the Constitution which envisages separation of power between the Executive and the Legislature.

Modi unveiled the emblem cast on the roof of the new Parliament building and also attended a religious ceremony at the site.

"It is unfortunate that the have come out with another set of unfounded allegations, which smacks of their political motive," chief spokesperson and media in-charge Anil Baluni said.

Once the construction work is complete, the building will be handed over to the parliament administration, he said.

" questioning the unveiling ceremony should understand the administrative process. Right from parliament's design to funds and constructions supervision, entire work comes under the ambit of the urban development ministry," he said.

"Even the foundation laying was done by the prime minister," Baluni added.

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External Affairs Minister on Tuesday hit back at Chief Minister for the Marxist veteran's dig at him for his three-day visit to the southern state, saying that "people should not be so insecure."



Hours after Vijayan criticised that the External Affairs Minister's visit was with an eye on the polls to be held in 2024, Jaishankar responded by saying that he undertook a tour to the southern state to get a good understanding on what is happening on the ground.

"If getting a good understanding on what is happening on the ground is politically motivated, then I think my political motivation and his may be different", Jaishankar said responding to a query in a meet-the-press programme organised by the press club and journalists' union here.

Earlier in the day, while speaking at a programme, Vijayan specially mentioned about the External Affairs Minister's recent inspection of the Kazhakuttom flyover on the National Highway-66 here, which is under construction, and said the "chethovikaram" (can be loosely translated as 'true intention') behind the visit was understandable.

"When it is said that a minister who is entrusted to have a look at world affairs went to inspect the flyover at Kazhakuttom, the people of the state can understand the real intention behind it. We should realise that it was not just to have a look at the flyover," Vijayan said.

After 10-18 months, elections would be held across the country and it was heard that the responsibility to ensure the victory of the BJP candidate in this seat was entrusted to Jaishankar, the CM said with a smile.

Asked about the CM's comment that his visit was a politically motivated one, Jaishankar said "People should not be so insecure".

The Union Minister said in a democracy everybody has a right to do and his engagements were also devoted to monitoring, to assessing and to learning from various initiatives Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken for the betterment of the country.

"Maybe you can read if some colony is connected with water. Maybe you can read because somebody's house is being made or electricity is being given or during COVID we provided food and resources to the people. We call it development, if other people want to call it politics, that is their privilege," said Jaishankar who was on a three-day visit to the southern state since Sunday.

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Top leaders will meet on Thursday here to deliberate on the party's "Bharat Jodo Yatra" slated to begin from October 2.

All AICC general secretaries, in-charges of various states and PCC presidents have been asked to attend the meeting by general secretary, Organisation, KC Venugopalat at the party headquarters on July 14, sources said.

The leaders will also discuss the upcoming organisational programs of the party, including organisational elections which are underway, sources said.

The Congress would also hold another meeting to discuss the party's strategy for the upcoming Parliament session starting July 18.

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Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) legislative party leader criticized the government in Karnataka and at the Centre, saying that the ' is pro-rich and is looting people's money in the name of development.

" government is looting people's tax money in the name of development. I am not running any predatory firms. These parties will create another Sri Lanka for you. So you decide do you want such parties," said Kumaraswamy.

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis at present, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He warned that if poor people are harassed, then Sri Lanka kind of response will be seen here too.

While inaugurating the Janata Mitra program held at Abbigere and Hosakerehalli in Dasarahalli, he said, "Some people are saying that JD(S) party has no base in Bengaluru. I will show whether our party has a base in the city or not in the next Assembly elections. If there is violence against the poor, the situation in Sri Lanka will also happen here. Do you want political parties to create another Sri Lanka."

According to him, Bharatiya Janata Party is for rich people.

"Don't trust BJP. Don't be fooled by PM Modi's words. Modi and BJP party is for the rich, they come to get votes by paying money during elections. They are having fun looting your money. He is on the side of the rich, not the poor."

Further speaking on the PSI recruitment scam in Karnataka, the former CM said, "Lakhs of money spent to get PSI post. There is a situation where bribery is required everywhere."

He said that common people's money is being looted in Kerala.

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Michael Lobo, who was removed by as Leader of Opposition for conspiring with to engineer defection in the party, on Monday denied any "hobnobbing" with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and asserted that he is still with the grand old party and mere not attending a press conference cannot be a ground for disqualification.

Amid claims and counterclaims over the spilt in the Congress, Michael Lobo said, "No, there is no hobnobbing (with BJP). I think somebody wants to become leader of the opposition and that's why they are doing it."

"This (meeting with Mukul Wasnik) was not a CLP meeting. The senior Rajya Sabha member of had come here to discuss the happenings in the state. I have told him that we are with the party," he added.

"Not attending a press conference cannot be a ground for disqualification," said Michael Lobo.

He was removed by Congress as LoP on Sunday on the accusation of conspiring with the on the disqualification petition against him.

"Deputy CLP Sankalp Amonkar mentioned in the House that all 11 MLAs (of Congress) are there inside. But out of them, 7 attended our meeting yesterday & today. We've called a CLP meeting again this evening, Let's see how many members come to that," said Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar

Congress leader Mukul Wasnik who is in Goa to oversee the latest political developments in the state said that he had a meeting with all the MLAs of the Congress party in Goa where they discussed how to strengthen the Congress party in the state.

"I had a meeting with all the MLAs of the Congress party in Goa. There were discussions on how to strengthen the Congress party in the state," said Mukul Wasnik.

According to him, the Congress MLAs have shown that they can't be broken.

"Some people want to break the MLAs of different political parties especially Congress. They tried to do the same with our party in Goa, but Congress MLAs have shown them they are going to fail here miserably," added Wasnik.

"Congress has the responsibility to look after its MLAs. We've not asked anyone to come. As state president, no one is in touch with me. It's their internal fighting. We have nothing to do with it," said Goa BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade.

Concerned over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conspiring to engineer defection in the party as five party MLAs go incommunicado, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has asked party MP Mukul Wasnik to rush to the coastal state to oversee the latest political developments.

Congress on Sunday also sacked Michael Lobo as the Leader of Opposition in the Goa Assembly for alleged conspiracy to engineer defections.

Congress said that the BJP trying for a 2/3rd split and offered huge amounts of money to party legislators.

Earlier, Congress MLA Sankalp Amonkar said, "It's a murder of democracy. BJP govt wants to finish opposition. They wanted 2/3 of our MLAs to merge with them but our MLAs didn't let it happen. We have a meeting now to choose a new CLP leader. As of now, all 11 MLAs are in Congress."

Congress alleged that Lobo along with Digambar Kamat hatched a conspiracy to engineer defections in "total coordination" with the BJP.

On Sunday, Congress MLA and wife of Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo was seen leaving the residence of CM and BJP leader Pramod Sawant.

On being asked if Congress MLAs came to meet him, Goa CM Pramod Sawant said, "As CM, many people come to meet me. Tomorrow is Assembly, people came to meet me regarding that. I am busy with my Assembly work...

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Congress MP has not signed the memorandum, seeking immediate withdrawal of the 'Agnipath' scheme, submitted by the Opposition MPs during a crucial meeting with the members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence on Monday, sources said.

In past also, Tewari has supported the 'Agnipath' scheme. Speaking to IANS, Tewari had said, "The process of Defence reforms including right sizing the military started in the US way back in 1975 when Donald Rumsfield was Defence Secretary in the Ford Administration and every successive administration has seen it through. Rumsfeld initiated the conceptual basis of preparing armed forces for future warfare as he could envision the changing nature of the battlefield. Even the Chinese started the process of right sizing the PLA way back 1985."

Apart from the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Secretary, the three chiefs of the Armed Forces and other senior officials of the Ministry of Defence were also present in the meeting.

Out of total 12 MPs in the meeting, six were from that included Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The Opposition leaders who attended the meeting included Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Saugata Roy from TMC; Supriya Sule from NCP; Rajni Patil, Shaktisinh Gohil and from Congress; and A.D. Singh from RJD.

The opposition MPs voiced their concerns over the new military recruitment scheme in the meeting, and said it should be rolled back.

As per a source, the Opposition members submitted a memorandum against the scheme to the Defence Minister.

"Number of applications coming in Agnipath scheme is not a proof of the success of the scheme but shows unemployment in the country. It is a failure of the scheme otherwise more people would have come," the memorandum reportedly underlined.

Along with the memorandum, the Opposition MPs asked Singh to hold wider consultations across the country, and also to send the scheme to the Standing Committee for Defence.

--IANS

miz/shs

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Opposition's presidential pick is scheduled to visit on July 15 to garner support for the July 18 poll.

The opposition parties, including RJD and Left, have pledge their support to him. The preparation for the July 15 event has already begun with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav directing all 80 MLAs and Rajya Sabha MPs to stay put in the state capital.

Sinha is contesting against NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu. Though the former's position is said to be weak, the opposition parties are supporting him to convey a strong message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the coming days, especially the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, will not be a cakewalk for him.

Earlier, NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu visited on July 5 for campaigning. She was welcomed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and many other top leaders of BJP.

The Congress also gave its support to but the leaders of Bihar unit were not present during the meeting of RJD and left parties headed by Tejashwi Yadav on Monday evening.

The NDA has selected a candidate which is turning out to be a trump card for it. Even opposition parties are saying that if the name of Draupadi Murmu was revealed earlier, leaders in the rank of Tejashwi Yadav and his party RJD would have supported her.

"If the name of Draupadi Murmu was announced before the opposition candidate, our decision could have been different. Now, we have decided to support and we cannot backtrack," Tejashwi Yadav said.

--IANS

ajk/shb/

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A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Patna, the on Monday asked Chief Minister to take the opportunity to demand special status of the state and central status for the Patna University from him.

national spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari said: "PM is coming in Patna on Tuesday. It is a good moment for us but our Chief Minister should demand special status for Bihar, which is a long standing demand for us."

"During the 2020 Assembly election, PM had made many promises and people of are eagerly waiting for those promises to get fulfilled. It will be great moment for every person of if Prime Minister will announce special status for from the premises of Vidhan Sabha," he said.

"Prime Minister and CM had promised about 19 lakh jobs in the run up to the 2020 Assembly election. He should reveal the number of jobs given in the last 2 years. The NDA has 39 out of 40 MPs... still long lists of promises are pending till now. PM Modi should speak on it," he added.

Citing a famous Hindi film song, Tiwari said: "Jo Wada Kiya Hai Wo Nibhana Padega, Nahi To Ye Bihar Ki Janata Hai, Aapko 2024 Me Satta Se Jana Padega (You will have to fulfil the promises you made, otherwise these are the people in Bihar, they will ensure you lose power in 2024)."

--IANS

ajk/vd

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Congress leader on Monday accused Union Minister Prahlad Joshi of conspiring against BS Yediyurappa and removing him from the Chief Minister's chair.

"BS Yediyurappa, who built the BJP in the state, was sent to jail and removed from the post of Chief Minister by whose conspiracy? Aren't you into it?", Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly questioned Union Minister .

Siddaramaiah, in a series of tweets, came down heavily against .

Joshi had criticised the birthday event which has been described by BJP as "Siddaramothsava" organized by Congress leaders.

tweeted, "BS Yediyurappa who built the party with blood and sweat for four decades. Who cornered Yadiyurappa? Whose conspiracy sent him to jail and removed him from the post of Chief Minister when the party was in power? Aren't you involved? BS Yediyurappa wanted to be the chief minister and who performed Operation Kamala on him? Who finally removed him from the post of Chief Minister?" Siddaramaiah attacked Prahald Joshi.

"MLA Basavanagowda Patil Yatnal is pouring accusations against former Chief Minister @BSYBJP and Vijayendra every day due to whose connivance? Whose hands are preventing action against MLAs who speak disparagingly against a senior party leader @JoshiPralhad?", he asked in tweets.

"Who is happy that the bench is standing tall to prevent former chief minister @BSYBJP's son Vijayendra from getting a ministerial position? Who is involved in that joy? Whose plot is leaking his name in scams @JoshiPralhad?" he added in another tweet.

Speaking about the Lingayats in Karnataka, he said, "By wooing the Lingayats and the lords of the Lingayat Math, who formed the party and now they are cornering each and every Lingayat in the party? Former Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar and MLA Arvind Bellada, who was dreaming of the post of Chief Minister, who poured water to his desire @JoshiPralhad?

"The BJP, which had three chief ministers in its first tenure, deposed the first and made a second chief minister by the end of the year of the second term. It is funny that you talk about Congress dissension when you are going to drop the second one and install the third one @JoshiPralhad," added Siddaramaiah.

"It is not written on your forehead to gain a majority and come to power by virtue of achievement. Whatever you say, Operation Kamal is a dirty business," tweeted the Congress leader.

Amid the ongoing crisis in the Goa unit, Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday alleged that the BJP is offering Rs 50 crores for each MLA.

The remarks of the Congress leader came a day after rumours of a split in Goa Congress surfaced. Congress removed party MLA Michael Lobo as the Leader of the Opposition in the Goa Assembly alleging that he along with Digambar Kamat hatched a conspiracy to engineer defections in "total coordination" with the BJP."

By offering Rs 50 Crores for each MLA...they (BJP) are not believing in democracy. Not only in Goa, everywhere they do Operation Kamala. They will offer money, they will purchase MLAs," said Siddaramaiah.

Congress MLA MB Patil said that the trading of MLAs has "spoiled the system" of the country.

"CT Ravi's statement is undemocratic...Buying MLAs for Rs 40 Crores. This has spoiled the system of our country, we're ashamed that such things happen in our country," Patil 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.)
London-based consumer technology start-up is set to launch its maiden smartphone on July 12. Officially called phone (1), the smartphone will launch at a live event in London that will livestream on companys website ( .tech) starting 8:30 pm (IST). In India, the smartphone is currently available for pre-booking on e-commerce platform Flipkart, which is the official channel partner for the Nothing phone (1) in the country.

As for the specifications, the Nothing phone (1) is confirmed to use an aluminium midframe made from recycled material and transparent cover on the back. It would be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+, which is a custom-made system-on-chip with support for wireless and reverse wireless charging. The phone would be based on 12 platform with a custom skin named NothingOS layered on top. Nothing recently released the NothingOS launcher in beta for select smartphone users to experience the interface.

Imaging would be handled by dual-camera system on the back, featuring a wide and ultra-wide sensor, and an in-display camera sensor on the front.

The phone is expected to be powered by a 4,500 mAh battery, which would be supported by a fast wired charging solution.

The phone (1) will be second device in Nothings product portfolio. The first was Nothing ear (1) wireless earbuds (review), launched last year. For the price, the ear (1) wireless earbuds had a lot to offer. They had transparent design on both the earbuds and case, revealing the product internals such as microphones, magnets and circuit board. The phone (1) is expected to feature the same transparent design language as that of the wireless earbuds. It is expected to be priced Rs 30,000 and less for one of the variants.
CAIRO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden is slated to kick off his first presidential trip to the Middle East this week, planning to visit Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to recalibrate U.S. ties with the region.

The White House said last month that Biden's visit demonstrates "the return of American leadership to bring countries together to address common threats and challenges" towards a "more secure, prosperous and stable Middle East region."

In fact, the Middle East has never been secure. It is where rivaling geopolitical interests compete and collide, and where a self-serving Washington plays its strategic chess board at the expense of regional countries, but under the cloak of human rights and democracy.

For decades, the region has been mired in a quagmire of grave danger, incessant instability and economic crisis, largely due to U.S.-led wars, intervention and sanctions.

MILITARY INTERVENTIONS

As Biden sought to reshape U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, as opposed to his predecessor, controversies mount over his real intent and sincerity, given the U.S. poor human rights record there.

The United States, since declaring independence in 1776, has been bent on expanding its territory and wielding its influence. The country has been at war for almost 93 percent of the time.

Statistics suggest that from the end of World War II to 2001, there were at least 248 armed conflicts in the world, of which 201 were initiated by the United States.

In Iraq, between 184,382 and 207,156 civilians have died from "direct war-related violence caused by the United States, its allies, the Iraqi military and police, and opposition forces" from the time of the invasion through October 2019, according to the Costs of War project at the U.S. Brown University.

Alaah Karim Ahmed, a 40-year-old former prisoner, remembered clearly the miseries he had gone through since being arrested by U.S. forces 19 years ago, as well as the shameful abuse and brutal torture by U.S. soldiers against detainees in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Ahmed, a freshman at the time who was heading for his campus life at Tikrit University, was abruptly arrested when a roadside bomb hit a U.S. patrol on the main road near his car. He was arrested simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I was severely beaten, handcuffed and shackled. They once hung me upside down for more than an hour," said Ahmed, who revealed to Xinhua his scars left till this day from his three-month imprisonment.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor, nearly 4,000 civilians in Syria have been killed by the U.S.-led coalition forces, over half of them women and children. Meanwhile, other human rights watchdogs have put the death toll of civilians in the Syrian war since 2014 at a much higher number.

In the northern Syrian province of Raqqa alone, the U.S.-led airstrikes "led to the almost complete destruction of the city and extermination of thousands of civilians between June and October 2017," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement in April, accusing Washington of committing war crimes in the Middle East country with airstrikes and shelling.

WANTON SANCTIONS

Besides wars, sanctions have been another major means of arm-twisting for the United States to ensure its own political and economic interests.

According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, about 30 countries and regions are under Washington's unilateral sanctions that cover almost every continent of the Earth except uninhabitable Antarctica.

In May 2018, the former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration pulled Washington out of a nuclear deal signed with Iran and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union's validation of Iran's commitment to the pact.

In its annual report on U.S. human rights published in June, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Washington uses its "unilateral coercive sanctions" as a tool of "economic terrorism" that have breached Iranians' right to life, health, development, self-determination and adequate standards of living, calling it "the biggest violator of human rights."

The U.S. military intervention in Syria in 2014, on the pretext of combating terrorism, had instead caused severe damage and loss of life in the country. However, besides civilian casualties and massive destruction to infrastructure, Syrians have seen their resources plundered and economic crisis aggravated with sweeping U.S. sanctions.

Osama Danura, a political expert and former member of the Syrian government delegation to the Syria peace talks in Geneva, said that the U.S. attempts to steal Syrian oil and burn wheat fields have badly impacted local people's revenue and livelihood. "I think these acts amount to war crimes," he said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. sanctions have seriously affected almost every aspect of life in Syria, such as the food supply, medical care, banking, housing and even charity work. According to the latest assessment by the World Food Programme, 12 million Syrians, or 55 percent of the total population of the country, are facing acute food insecurity and 1.9 million at risk of sliding into it.

The sanctions, aimed at pressuring the Syrian people, have hindered the reconstruction progress of Syria, Danura said.

PEACEMAKING OR TROUBLEMAKING?

Biden's Mideast trip has been clouded by debates across media and among pundits over its purpose, timing and sincerity.

An article published by CNN on Sunday said that Biden might not be traveling to the region at all if it were not for the global oil market that has been battered by the Russia-Ukraine military conflict.

"As far as oil is concerned, this trip is an investment in the future, specifically the hope that an improvement in U.S.-Saudi ties will facilitate the Saudis increasing production later this year and into the next," said the article.

Prior to his trip, Biden, amid criticism of the U.S. indelible human rights record in the Middle East, defended his decision to visit Saudi Arabia in a Washington Post opinion piece, insisting that he had long supported reforms and sought to "reorient but not rupture" relations with a longstanding strategic partner.

Biden's planned visit to Israel and the West Bank "also risks playing into the hands of critics, who have accused the United States of not pushing hard enough to end the decades-old Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories," The Washington Post argued in another piece.

According to a report of The New York Times published on Sunday, Biden will meet with Palestinian officials and may announce new economic support in the West Bank, noting that analysts and diplomats said that they did not expect major developments in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

"U.S. engagement, let alone presidential involvement, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no longer a priority," The New York Times quoted Alon Pinkas, an Israeli former consul general in New York, as saying.

"The U.S. has reverted or shifted to alliance management, which is why an Israeli-Gulf, counter-Iranian coalition is far more important to the U.S. than solving the conflict," he said. 
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 12 (ANI/PNN): While making business expansion and operation easy for cloud kitchens in India, Nucleus Kitchens has introduced Kolkata's renowned Edabba in Bangaluru. According to sources, Edabba is presently operating with two Nucleus Kitchens in Electronic City and Bellandur and will add another two in Indiranagar and Mahadevapura in the following weeks.

Founded in the year 2021, Nucleus Kitchens is known for its industry-leading 'plug-and-play kitchen' service for cloud brands. While minimizing the high CAPEX and OPEX, the 'Kitchen-as-a-Service' business model of Nucleus Kitchens enables food brands to expand their cloud kitchen chain to a new location with a fully managed and automated kitchen while ensuring high consistency of cuisines and highly scalable profits at the same time.

Speaking at Edabba's launch event in Bellandur, founder Vedant Pasari said, "We are appreciative to Nucleus Kitchen for eliminating all the hassles which were associated with our expansion in Bengaluru." With a full-fledged KaaS brand like Nucleus Kitchens, according to Vedant, Edabba can focus on recipe planning, branding, marketing, and promotions to generate demand for their brands and leave the highly CAPEX-oriented kitchen, manpower planning, training, etc. to them. Edabba's extensive menu features a host of Indian flavours like Veg JhalFrezi, Methi Matar Malai, Chicken Butter Masala, Dal Makhani and Chicken Bharta, served with a variety of accompaniments such as Laccha Paratha, Masala Kulcha, Masala Khichdi, Jeera Rice and different types of Biryanis along with the diverse array of oriental dishes and desserts.

Owing to its low entry costs, minimal capital expenditure, no rent on the property, and no operational concerns, all kinds of restaurateurs, from large to medium-scale brands, are turning to Nucleus Kitchens to expand their business throughout India. Within a year of its inception, the Bengaluru unit of Nucleus Kitchens has already onboarded major cloud brands, including Auntie's Fung's, Bigguy's Wingery, Biggies Burger, Maharaja Chaap, Mad Momos, Meraki, Ghost Kitchen, Miami shakes, WakkaMakka, Ching Chong, Khichdi Paradise, Badmash Biryani, Biryani Hazirho, Bhayankar Burgers including Edabba being the newest in the queue.

"We help make cloud kitchen brands scale up faster. That is the only way you can make a brand grow and sustain," said Ramchander Raman, Co-Founder & COO, Nucleus Kitchens, at the launch event. According to him, a fully automated unit of Nucleus Kitchens can onboard over 15 brands and service their requirements. Raman said it could be a mix of cuisine brands of all types of cuisines from Indian to Oriental to Continental and Mediterranean.

This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 12 (ANI/PNN): Muldooneys' ultra-luxury handbags and leather goods are making a comeback after a hiatus of about ten years.

The 'Made-in-France' bags are inspired by the incredible story of Warrior Goddess Meenakshi, from the ancient city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India.

The design of every series is inspired by history and legend. The product story is inspired by Meenakshi, the Warrior Goddess from the ancient land of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, South India, and a destined cosmic love story. Muldooneys Paris, launched in June 2022, has all the sophisticated signature stamps of elegance, rarity, intelligence and futurism of its founder-designer, Marlene P. Naicker, who first launched the brand in 2005.

The front panels of the Meenakshi potli bags are decorated with a total of two hundred hand-embroidered flowers and nearly four thousand Swarovski crystal gemstones. The precious sun and moon elements have been crafted using the centuries-old "technique de bijouterie: la Fonte a cire perdue," which is traditionally used for precision jewellery making.

For the first time in the world of luxe fashion, a unique hologram key is embedded in the physical bag, which can be activated only when paired with its digital NFT twin minted for the 600 limited edition designs. Thus, the consumer will remain connected with their Parisian atelier in real-time - whilst the bags are made to order.

The bag's shape takes inspiration from the traditional Indian "potli bags" and will have colour variants. The colour inspiration of Indian pink, paparadscha, ruby and fuchsia is taken from the many jewels the Nayaka Dynasty is said to have had in their treasury and the vibrant flowers of Madurai (carnations, marigolds, jasmine and roses).

The stories of contrary dynamics of courage and femininity, truth and bravery, resilience and celebratory triumph of the heroines from historical folklore, emanating from Naicker's ancestral heritage, form the basis of each product story of the Meenakshi limited edition.

Naicker, who has blended the traditional forms of French savoir-fair craftsmanship with the beauty of blockchain, the strength of smart pockets, the newness of NFTs, tenacity of time-capsuling and inspiration of innovation into clearly defined nuptial bonds, believes in pushing the boundaries of innovation to create a transformed biosphere of resplendent fashion and design.

Muldooneys pledges to give a part of the royalties from the trademark of Muldooneys towards the restoration and preservation of the great cosmic centre for ancient arts and culture at the Meenakshi Amman Temple and Thirumalai Nayaka Mahal.

"The ever-changing world of luxury consumers demands that we weave a connection of safety, truth, rarity and elegance. We, at Muldooneys, are raising the bar and doing away with age-old conventions. Our customer is at the heart and soul of our avant-garde supply chain, and we are responsibly providing her with real-time private access during every step of the French craftmanship design she buys. This is our way of telling her: We value you, and we cherish our association.", says Marlene P. Naicker.

Muldooneys was founded in 2005 by Marlene PathmavathieNaicker. After a hiatus, the luxury leather goods brand is reviving using innovative technology in its supply chain and the metaverse to connect with its customers. It is headed by its CEO and Founder, Marlene P. Naicker, and Chief Technology Officer and Managing Partner, Tim Hilgenstoehler.

(https://www.muldooneys.com/)

This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tata Motors is planning to list one of its subsidiaries, Tata Technologies, this fiscal. It will be after over 18 years, that Indias primary market will see listing of any Tata Group firm. The salt-to-software conglomerate will use the proceeds to expand the business of Tata Technologies.

But before the IPO is listed, the company carefully chooses its . Market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had introduced the idea of anchor investor in 2009. Anchor investors, also referred to as cornerstone investors in some global markets, are institutional investors who are allotted shares a day before the IPO opens.

Big names in the anchor book instills confidence in the retail investors. Retail investors tend to take cues from the anchor book.

On the flip side, if anchor demand is weak it can impact overall subscription in the IPO. Anchor allotment can be made only to qualified institutional buyers or QIBs. QIBs are entities such as sovereign wealth funds, mutual funds, pension funds and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) registered with market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Talks between the issuer and potential investors begin well in advance. However, the allotment can only be made one day prior to the IPO. In most cases, are allotted shares at the upper-end of the IPO price band.

The list of investors to get allotment in the anchor book is decided by the investment bankers handling the IPO along with the issuer company. Anchor allotments are made on a discretionary basis, unlike in the IPO, where allotment needs to be done on a proportionate basis. A company makes a stock exchange disclosure detailing the names of and the number of shares allotted to them.

Every IPO has three broad investor categories. These include QIBs, retail investors meaning those investing up to Rs 2 lakh and non-institutional investors or NIIs who include high net worth individuals, corporate entities and family offices. According to rules, a maximum of 60 per cent of the shares reserved for QIBs can be allotted to anchor investors. A third of the shares available in the anchor book are reserved for domestic mutual funds.

While those allotted shares in the IPO can sell any time after the listing, anchor investors are subject to a lock-in period. Half of the shares allotted to anchor investors cannot be sold for a minimum of 30 days from the date of allotment and the other half have to observe a 90-day lock in.
JERUSALEM, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Political analysts in Israel pinned scant hope on U.S. President Joe Biden's upcoming first visit to the Middle East for achieving tangible breakthroughs on the major issues in the region.

Biden's visit to Israel, the first stop of his Middle East tour starting on Wednesday, is expected to touch upon key regional issues, mainly the Iran nuclear deal, the Israel-Saudi Arabia relationship, and the Palestinian issue.

IRANIAN NUCLEAR TALKS

Israeli analysts predicted that the Iranian nuclear talks will be the focus of the Israel-U.S. talks during Biden's visit, noting Israel's position will not sway the U.S. policy or change the course of the Iranian nuclear talks.

Israel, which sees Iran as its arch-enemy, has been one of the fiercest opponents of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Israel hailed former U.S. President Donald Trump's move to unilaterally pull Washington out of the deal in 2018.

But the U.S. policy on Iran flip-flopped again when Biden took office in 2021 and started the effort to restore the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, despite Israel's strong opposition.

Eight rounds of talks have been held in Austria's capital Vienna since last year by Iran and major signatory parties on reviving the 2015 nuclear pact, with the United States being indirectly involved. A final deal could be reached at any time if Washington or Tehran makes compromises on a few remaining key differences.

Nimrod Goren, head of the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, said the attitude of Israel is unlikely to affect Biden's decision on the JCPOA.

"The Israelis want to be heard and the Americans are willing to listen. No one thinks, however, that this will have a major impact on the negotiations" on reviving the Iranian nuclear deal, said Goren.

ISRAELI-SAUDI RELATIONSHIP

Biden's four-day Middle East tour will also take him to Saudi Arabia, which has raised speculation about a possible breakthrough in the Israeli-Saudi ties.

In an opinion piece published on Saturday by The Washington Post, Biden said he will be the first U.S. president to fly from Israel to Jeddah of Saudi Arabia, adding the trip will be "a small symbol of the budding relations and steps toward normalization between Israel and the Arab world."

But analysts believe a real breakthrough in the Israeli-Saudi ties is still far beyond the horizon despite Biden's visit, given the deep differences between the two regional powers.

"We will not see something similar to the Abraham Accords. We will likely see a step as part of a gradual process that is already happening," Goren said.

Saudi Arabia, which officially holds a supportive stance for the Palestinians, did not participate in the U.S.-sponsored Abraham Accords that normalized in 2020 Israel's ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, two Gulf Arab countries. Morocco and Sudan later also normalized their ties with Israel.

Analysts noted that the ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which have allegedly behind-the-scenes cooperations in recent years, especially on the front of countering Iran, are likely to receive a boost from Biden's visit.

But they cautioned that the detente between the two regional powers has been mainly driven by their own interests and the U.S. effect should not be exaggerated.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN STALEMATE

Another issue that will come up during Biden's Israel visit is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although sidelined in recent years, it will be discussed in various meetings.

"The U.S. is trying to contain and manage the conflict," said Jonathan Rynhold, chairman of the Department of Political Studies of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at the Bar-Ilan University.

"The Americans are aware that the lack of a horizon on the Palestinian side leads to tension. Strategically, Biden wants to keep open the option of a two-state solution, and keep things going forward," he noted.

However, political instability in Israel and the internal Palestinian rift make the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks unfeasible.

Israeli analysts noted that Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who is facing new elections in November, will tread carefully on the highly contentious issue.

Despite having openly expressed his support for the two-state solution, Lapid argued that the solution, which allows an independent Palestinian state to form, is not achievable at the current stage.

The tension between the Israelis and Palestinians has been rising over the past few months as a series of fatal attacks in Israel set off almost daily Israeli raids to arrest Palestinian suspects in the West Bank.

Lapid held a phone talk with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, a day after Abbas' meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Ramallah to discuss security coordination. The two sides apparently tried to prevent the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian tension ahead of Biden's visit.

"The gestures to the Palestinians will not be announced by Lapid, but by Biden... so that Lapid does not appear to be making any concessions to the Palestinians," said Goren.

Talal Oukal, a Gaza-based political analyst, said Biden is aware that the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict "is not yet ripe for launching a peace process in the region."

"This issue does not constitute any priority in U.S. foreign policy, in terms of several considerations, including the failure of previous U.S. governments in this test," he told Xinhua. 
LOS ANGELES, July 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden released one of the James Webb Space Telescope's first images in a preview event at the White House on Monday.

This first image from Webb is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date, NASA said.

This image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is filled with thousands of galaxies, including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared, which have appeared in Webb's view for the first time, said NASA.

The busy image with hundreds of specks, streaks, spirals and swirls of white, yellow, orange and red is only "one little speck of the universe," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.

Webb was launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on Dec. 25, 2021, to probe structures and origins of the universe.

Webb is NASA's largest and most powerful space science telescope ever constructed. With a 6.5-meter primary mirror, the large infrared telescope will study every phase of cosmic history, from within the solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, said NASA. 
Jake Sullivan Getty Images

Training for Russian forces to begin as soon as this month, says US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Iran is moving rapidly to provide Russia with hundreds of its domestically-manufactured drones to bolster the Kremlin's war effort against Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official said Monday.

Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's national security adviser, said the US has information suggesting Tehran "is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs, on an expedited timeline." He was referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.

Iran, Sullivan said, is further preparing to train Russian forces on its drones as soon as this month as Moscow's forces continue to suffer battlefield losses amid its slowly grinding offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Sullivan did not specify the intelligence on which he was basing his claims.

The US and its Western allies have worked to implement sweeping sanctions on Russia, in part to prevent the country from replenishing its war stocks. That has included imposing export restrictions on key dual-use technologies, including drones.

DJI, a China-based leader in drone technologies, announced in April that it would suspend its operations in Russia due to Western sanctions that were imposed in retaliation for Russia's war.

Sullivan said Iran's decision to send drones to Russia is further proof that Moscow's war stocks have been badly depleted by its war in Ukraine and its gains in the country's east have come "at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons."

Iran provided similar unmanned weapons to Yemen's Houthi rebels before a cease-fire agreement was reached earlier this year, Sullivan said.

AA/Michael Hernandez
U.K.-based production/distribution company 108 Media has acquired a majority stake in Singapore animation and vfx studio Robot Playground Media (RPM).

Details:

RPM was co-founded by Ervin Han and Bernard Toh and has developed and produced projects for companies such as Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney Southeast Asia, MediaCorp, StarHub, and Viacom.

In 2019, Toh directed Disneys first Southeast Asia-originated series, Mickey Go Local. The six shorts ran on Disney Channel Asias Youtube channel, the Disney Channel in Southeast Asia, and on Disney+.

Han was director and showrunner on the Singaporean adult animated series Downstairs, acquired by Netflix and now heading into its third season. He also created the adult animated series Heartland Hubby for Mediacorp.

RPM will work directly with 108 Medias distribution and production teams. Titles included in the initial slate of joint projects include The Violinist, a WWII-era feature set in Southeast Asia based on RPMs 2018 short of the same name; 108 Medias U.S.-Taiwan-Singapore co-produced adult series A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts; and the series adaptation of Sonny Liews graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, produced with Finding Pictures in Singapore.

According to 108 Media, this is only the first of multiple planned acquisitions in Singapore this year. The company also recently acquired DCD Rights in the U.K. and a majority stake in Revolution Media in Malaysia.

In a joint statement, Toh and Han said: Weve always held a strong belief in being able to share exciting and diverse stories from the Asia Pacific, in particular Southeast Asia, with the world, while showcasing the unique talents in the regional animation landscape. Aside from the injection of new growth capital towards accelerating our scale-up plans in order to drive and co-produce larger and more strategic international projects, we also welcome a new global partner in 108 Media, who shares our passion and ambition in realizing the importance for Asian animated stories in all genres to be produced for global audiences.

108 Media CEO Abhi Rastogi added: Weve been so impressed with the world-class quality and creativity on display from Robot Playground delivering to international and regional clients since their inception in 2013. They fit the DNA and culture were building at 108 Media so well with the artistic teams theyve assembled, mentored, and led. Were laying the groundwork of something truly special with the teams we are carefully building in our corporate and creative expansion across markets as we move into production.

Pictured at top: Mickey Go Local
Photo: US Air Force

The Pentagon said Tuesday that it has killed a leader of the Islamic State in Syria in a drone strike.

U.S. Central Command said in a news release that Maher al-Agal was killed Tuesday and an unidentified senior official in the Islamic State was seriously injured. The Pentagon says there were no civilian casualties, though it wasn't possible to immediately confirm that information.

The U.S. carried out the strike outside Jindaris, a town in northwest Syria close to the Turkish border.

The Islamic State at the height of its power controlled more than 40,000 square miles stretching from Syria to Iraq and ruled over 8 million people.

While the group's territorial state collapsed in 2019, its leaders have turned to guerilla tactics and been able to efficiently restructure themselves organizationally, according to the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonpartisan think tank.

The strike on al-Agal comes months after the head of the group, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, killed himself during a raid of his hideout by American special forces. The U.S. said Al-Qurayshi blew himself up along with members of his family.
Re. Ricky Daytonas letter Takes issue with Zelenskyy (Castanet, July 11)

I read the letter from Ricky Daytona castigating Canadians for supporting our Ukrainian allies.

When Russia first invaded Ukraine, I felt worried. Russia and China were attempting empire building and it would be at the expense of us and our families if we allow it. There is no scenario where we allow Putin to expand into the Baltic States, or China to take Taiwan, and our security and safety continues. It just isn't possible. This is a critical fork in our road.

When I read Putin's multiple statements over the past weeks where he threatened to launch nuclear weapons at me, my children and my country, I felt scared and angry, scared and angry enough I had several calls with the Canadian Armed Forces to find out how to join.

The recruiting officer informed me that I was not alone. Many Canadians feel the same way as I do and are ready to stand up as we have in the past to protect home, family and country.

After reading Ricky's letter today, knowing I may face Russian munitions eventually, I feel more anger. This is treason, and it should be labelled as such.

You're with us, or you're with the enemy Ricky. Choose a side.

Scott Barnes, Kelowna
Photo: BIV Files

Westport Fuel Systems Inc. has landed a contract, valued at $49.6 million, with an undisclosed original equipment manufacturer to provide propane systems for vehicles in Europe.



The company announced it has been awarded a contract to provide its liquid petroleum gas fuel systems for various vehicle applications.



The deal is forecasted to provide 38 million in revenue through the end of 2025, with production expected to begin in Q4 2023, Westport said in its news release.



The deal is with an undisclosed global original equipment manufacturer.



Westport will provide fuel systems solutions for the Euro 6 applications to this OEM, supplying the entire LPG system from the fuel tank to the fuel injectors, Westport says.



Euro 6 applications refers to European emissions standards, which have been increasing in stringency since the first standards, Euro 1, were set in 1992. The next set of standards, Euro 7, are expected in 2025, and Westport is currently developing systems to meet the new standards.



Westport makes systems  injectors, fuel storage and other components  for a variety of alternative and low carbon fuels for vehicles, including propane (LPG), compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen.



Europe is a significant market for Westport. The energy crisis in Europe and war in Ukraine has had an impact on Westports business, the company said in its most recent financial statements.



"The first quarter of 2022 was challenging as our industry continues to deal with significant gaseous fuel price fluctuations due to the ongoing uncertainty in supply levels and geopolitical risk, the company said in its 2022 first quarter financials.



In 2021, Westport noted that OEM revenue for Q1 2021 -- $42.7 million  was up from $34.2 million for 1Q20. That increase was driven in part by sales to OEMs in Russia and India.



Westport noted revenue for the first quarter of 2022 was $24.7 million, down from $33.7 million in the first quarter of 2021.



The decrease in revenue was primarily driven by decreased sales volumes to mainly Russian customers due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a decrease in sales to Africa which in the prior year period included a large one-time infrastructure project, and  foreign exchange impact.
Pisco for Peru

ICR Research By

Published 12 July 2022

Caliza Cemento INKA is active in the Peruvian cement and concrete sector and has been supplying the countrys central region with cement since 2007. Now the company is looking forward to bringing its Pisco grinding plant online. ICR speaks with Carlos Choy, Caliza Cemento INKAs CEO.

ICR: How did the founding of the company come about in 2002? And what did operations consist of at that time?

Carlos Choy (CC): Although the company was registered in 2002, it was not until March 2007 that a 75,000tpa cement plant was inaugurated. It was quite complex to enter the business, mainly due to the bureaucracy of the governmental entities. It seemed that instead of encouraging investment in a highly concentrated and competitive industry, the purpose was to make us give up the project.

Later, during the government of President Alan Garcia, the start-up and inauguration took place and the President himself attended the inauguration because it had been more than 40 years since a new player had entered the Peruvian market to compete and deliver a product of the highest quality.



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Hanson gives ready-mix truck Pride livery

12 July 2022

Hanson UK (HeidelbergCement Group) has given a ready-mixed concrete mixer and an aggregates tipper truck a colourful makeover to mark the 50th anniversary of Pride marches in the UK and show its support for the LGBT+ community.

The vehicles can be spotted making deliveries across the Bristol area and were also part of the companys presence at the Bristol Pride festival held on The Downs in the city on 9 July. Members of the Hanson team also took part in the walking parade, wearing customised Hanson-branded Pride clothing and hard hats.



Last year we established our LGBT+ Network, the latest initiative aimed at making everyone in our business feel valued, empowered and accepted, said International Master Data Manager, Amy Hillier, who chairs the LGBT+ Network.

The network is open to all employees, not just those from the LGBT+ community, and it was great to see so many people involved in the Bristol Pride event and show their support for inclusion and diversity.

Hanson is also the first building materials supplier to become a member of Building Equality, which aims to build a more inclusive construction industry through collaboration, support and promotion.



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Dr. Rickie Moore, associate dean for Lee Universitys School of Religion, has been named the recipient of the Church of God Division of Educations Distinguished Educator Award for Faculty.

Hearing this news was like being struck by a wave that I did not see coming, in fact many wavesfirst, a huge wave of honor followed by wave after wave of gratitude, said Dr. Moore. I owe a great debt of gratitude to God and to many people, without whom I would not be here today at the end of this 40-year journey as an educator in the Church of God and at Lee University.

Beginning in 1976, the Church of God granted the Distinguished Educators Award to those who have done exceptional work within the field of education for the Church of God. Recipients are selected from a list of nominees submitted by church officials, leaders, faculty, administration from all educational institutions internationally, missionary educators, and ministerial development board members internationally.

Prior to serving as associate dean, Dr. Moore served for seven years as the chair of Lees Department of Theology and the previous 25 years on the faculty of the Pentecostal Theological Seminary. His teaching specialty is the Old Testament prophets. He is a founding editor of the Journal of Pentecostal Theology, the first academic serial ever to feature constructive theology from a Pentecostal perspective on an international scholarly level. His publications include, God Saves: Lessons From the Elisha Stories and The Spirit of the Old Testament.

Stories abound from former students that tell of moments in class when Dr. Moore would pause and drop a life-changing insight into their lives based on some truth found in the hard work of interpreting the Scriptural text, said Dr. Terry Cross, School of Religion dean. For Dr. Moore, the text of the Old Testament was a living oneone that we could read but more importantly one that would read us. The thousands of students he has taught over the years would testify to the appropriateness of him receiving this award. He is a rare gift to the church and academy.

Dr. Moore, who is retiring this summer, will be formally honored at the International Educators Luncheon during the Church of God General Assembly being held in San Antonio, Texas, this molt.

Throughout all these years, Ive been honored every step of the way by being entrusted with a priceless treasurethe hearts and lives of the sons and daughters of Lee. For this I am thankful beyond words, said Dr. Moore.




Morning Pointe Senior Living is celebrating 25 years of service to seniors throughout 2022 and will mark the milestone with a special 25th anniversary watercolor painting unveiling at Morning Pointe of Chattanooga, 7719 Shallowford Road this Wednesday at 10 a.m.



Regional artist Alan Shuptrine was commissioned by Morning Pointes co-founders, Greg Vital and Franklin Farrow, shortly after the assisted living and Alzheimers memory care company rebuilt two of its Chattanooga communities devastated in the 2020 Easter tornado. Morning Pointe of Chattanooga staff and residents planted a dogwood tree to mark the one-year anniversary of the tornado and symbolize rebirth, resurrection and resilience. From there the art project was born, and Morning Pointe tasked Mr. Shuptrine, a nationally renowned artist and master craftsman

with a long history of painting southern regional art.



While this special dogwood tree watercolor initially represented the rebirth of the two Chattanooga area communities following the tornado, we felt that it was very much symbolic of the work of Morning Pointe over the last 25 years of serving seniors, said Mr. Vital, president of Morning Pointe Senior Living. It is a true reflection of Morning Pointe associates, residents and families.



The piece, titled Renewal, is the largest watercolor painting by Mr. Shuptrine of the dogwood. Measuring almost four feet by four feet, the painting is a composition of dogwood blossoms, flowering across the canvas in rich colors and amazing detail, officials said.



The original painting is located in Morning Pointes corporate office in Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, with special renditions hand-painted and signed by Mr. Shuptrine hanging in each of Morning Pointes buildings in the southeast.



Morning Pointe facilities are renowned for serving our seniors through different stages of life with a journey based upon quality and compassion, and I am proud to have my artwork associated with their dedication, said Mr. Shuptrine.
Collegedale Parks and Recreation Department is sponsoring Troopers Treasures, a local dog rescue group, for its first Raise the Woof fundraising event at the Collegedale Commons on Sunday, Aug. 28, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

The event will feature food trucks, vendors, games for children, dog demonstrations, a silent auction, an adopter parade and much more.

Troopers Treasures is a non-profit dog rescue group in Chattanooga, founded by local teacher Ruth Smith in 2010 after a house fire took the life of her beloved Shih-Tzu named Trooper. Every year hundreds of rescued dogs find loving homes due to the tireless efforts of a team of Troopers Treasures dedicated volunteers. The volunteers make sure dogs are not kept in shelters but in homes with foster families until their forever families are found. Dogs needing medical care receive it, raising the cost of rescue to astonishing numbers.

Troopers Treasures depends on volunteers to serve as foster families. Foster families take dogs into their homes on a week-to-week basis while Troopers search for an adoptive family. Foster families provide the love, security, food and help build the trust so many rescued dogs need, said officials.

Troopers Treasures can be found every Saturday at Petco on Gunbarrel Road with a variety of dogs available for adoption. All dogs are given age-appropriate vaccines and spay/neuter.

To become a foster family or learning more about the mission of Troopers Treasures, text 212-3116 or visit Facebook or at www.TroopersTreasures.com.




The last two years have proven to be controversial when it comes to citizens addressing various governmental bodies across the United States. The most famous was in Loundon County, Va., where elected officials and school board association wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in an attempt to silence parents. Evidence shows that is coming to Tennessee and to Bradley County.



The Citizens First Initiative, as it was called, was thought to be a common sense approach. Every candidate talked about how they are representing the citizens and putting them first. However, the response from Chairman Mull was quite troubling. he said, I will have to talk to some people but you know that the county attorney told me theres no law that requires us to have communication from the audience.

In March, Bradley County Commission Chairman Johnny Mull was approached about moving communication from the audience or public comments from the end of the meeting to the beginning.The Citizens First Initiative, as it was called, was thought to be a common sense approach. Every candidate talked about how they are representing the citizens and putting them first. However, the response from Chairman Mull was quite troubling. he said, I will have to talk to some people but you know that the county attorney told me theres no law that requires us to have communication from the audience.

The question is how and why he and the Bradley County Commission were looking into the requirements of the law. An investigation was launched. An Open Document request was submitted to Bradley County Attorney Crystal Freiburg concerning all communications pertaining to communications from the audience or public comment during Commission Meetings. The request revealed a series of questions to Mrs. Freiburg from Commission Assistant Lorri Moultrie, with this one in particular, Is the Commission statutorily required to allow communication from the audience. In a follow up phone call with Mrs. Freiburg, the question was asked, Have you ever told a commissioner there is no law that requires communication from the audience? She said, No, not exactly but I did provide case law that says it.



A second Open Records Request was submitted to the Bradley County Commission and Administrative Assistant Lorri Moultrie. In response, multiple emails were revealed asking about the five minute rule for non-commissioners to speak and the case law about communications from the audience Mrs. Freiburg had referenced. The case law was from 1992 from the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Nashville. The case was Whittmore vs Brentwood Planning Commission, City of Brentwood. Residence were opposing a development. In part of the judgement the following statement was made:



The Sunshine Law gives citizens the statutory right to attend the meetings of state and local governmental boards and agencies. However, it does not give citizens the right to participate actively all public meetings nor does it require public officials to depart

from their agenda or to interrupt their business to accommodate the publics demands to be heard.

On June 6, during the Bradley County Commission Meeting, the commission was confronted about this issue. Chairman Johnny Mull stated that he had to know the laws. He then said that other citizens had approached him last year about moving communications from the audience to the beginning of the meetings.



There is no evidence that the Commission and Mr. Mull were considering moving public comment to the beginning of the meeting. Nothing in the documents obtained even asked the question. So exactly what are they looking to do. The questions give the perception they are looking to discontinue public comment from the meetings. It has been rumored that many commissioners want to end public comments and only allow citizens who are recognized by commissioners to speak. These commissioners want to adopt the same procedures that the Bradley County School Board and Bradley County Election Commission currently have in effect.



The findings in this report have statewide implications. Any municipal body in Tennessee can eliminate the right of citizens to speak at meetings based on the case law presented. With the rise of authoritarianism in the United States, all citizens should be concerned that the day will come when elected leaders will choose to silence you. We must move to make sure our voices are heard. With no law requiring citizens the right to speak at meetings, now its time we have one.

Rodney West
The Moms For Liberty group on Monday held the first of two scheduled public forums for school board candidates at Red Bank High School.

The public submitted questions for school board candidates to answer. Steve McKinney and Virginia Anne Manson from District 11, Larry Grohn District 8 and Joe Smith District 3, were in attendance. Other candidates were invited but were not present.

The first question concerned the biggest problem for education in their districts. Most of the candidates said school safety was the biggest issue. Ms. Manson said staying in touch with law enforcement is a concern, while Mr. Grohn said structure and discipline is important also.

The following question also concerned safety but more so on bullying and how it can be prevented.

The Internet is destroying generations, said Mr. Smith. I always bring up the Code of Conduct but the problem is it's not being enforced and we need to hold kids and parents accountable.

Mr. Grohn said he would like to see two police officers at schools and that it's an ongoing process to harden our schools. Mr. McKinney said communication between teachers and parents needs to be improved, which was another commonality among the candidates.

Parents and teachers communicating makes better schools, said Ms. Manson.

The community is supposed to be an active part in the curriculum; get involved and get online and make comments about the curriculum, said Mr. Grohn.

When discussing reduced testing, the candidates agreed it was necessary.

We need to focus on getting back to the basics in education, said Mr. Grohn.

Testing is important and it gives accountability but if it interferes with teachers being able to teach, then it's a problem, said Ms. Manson.

According to Mr. Smith, testing was one of the top three reasons teachers left their jobs. He said teacher pay was not even in the top three.

One reason was student behavior and the other was testing, said Mr. Smith. Twenty five percent of teachers' time is spent on testing.

Teacher shortages were addressed further when someone asked how the candidates would handle it and why it is happening. Mr. Smith said teacher shortages exist all over the country and kids should be encouraged to be lifelong educators. Ms. Manson said, "We need to give kids strong fundamentals to go into teaching."

I think we need to put money back into the schools and give a three percent raise across the board, said Mr. Grohn. Mr. McKinney responded to the question with a simple: Let the teachers teach.

Every decision matters on this school board, said Mr. Grohn.

The group was criticized for hosting the forums at a school from a different group called Moms for Social Justice.

The next Moms For Liberty public forum is Monday at Ooltewah High School.




Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on Tuesday announced several changes to his staff in Washington, D.C.Im pleased to welcome several new individuals to my staff, as well as announce promotions for others, Senator Hagerty said. Im confident that these talented and accomplished men and women, together with the rest of my staff, will continue to help me best serve and represent Tennesseans from across the Volunteer State on Capitol Hill.Julia Hahn, who has served as Senior Communications Advisor since January of 2021, will now be Senator Hagertys Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications.Ms. Hahn previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy White House Communications Director. She also served as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Rapid Response and Surrogate Operations. Prior to the White House, Ms. Hahn worked in media as the executive producer of the Laura Ingraham Show and a reporter at Breitbart News. Ms. Hahn graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Philosophy.Audrey Traynor, who has been Senator Hagertys Deputy Press Secretary and Digital Director, will now serve as Press Secretary. Traynor recently served as Communications Assistant for former U.S. Senator David Perdues (R-GA) 2020 re-election campaign. She holds a B.A. in Advertising from the University of Georgia.Riley Stamper, who has served as a Legislative Correspondent for Senator Hagerty since January of 2021, will now serve as a Legislative Aide to Senator Hagerty. Mr. Stamper most recently served as Personal Aide to Hagerty during his 2020 campaign. He is a graduate of Wofford College. Stamper is a ninth-generation Tennessean, originally from Knoxville.Nick Elliot, who has served as a Legislative Correspondent for Senator Hagerty since January of 2021, will now serve as a Legislative Aide to Senator Hagerty. Previously, he served as Deputy Field Director for Hagertys campaign. Mr. Elliot is a graduate of Georgetown University. He is from Nashville.Jason Hoffman is serving as a Legislative Assistant. Mr. Hoffman joins from Rep. Matt Rosendales office (MT, At-Large), where he worked in various capacities since January of 2021. Prior to his time on Capitol Hill, he worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Hoffman is a native of Warren, New Jersey, and a graduate of the George Washington University.Ryleigh Rains is serving as a Legislative Correspondent. Prior to working on Capitol Hill, Ms. Rains obtained her Bachelors in Economics and Masters in Public Service and Administration at Texas A&M University School of Government and Public Service. She is a native of Granbury, Tx.Brandon Jackson is a Press and Digital Assistant. Mr. Jackson is a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and previously served as an intern in both Senator Hagertys Washington, D.C., office in 2021 and for Senator Hagertys 2020 U.S. Senate campaign. He is a native of Franklin, Tn.Watson Dill is serving as a Staff Assistant. Mr. Dill, a Tennessee native from Nashville, recently completed his B.A. in Political Science from Villanova University.
General Sessions Court Judge Alex McVeagh said Tuesday he has decided to seek the post in Criminal Court being vacated by Judge Tom Greenholtz, who was named to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. Others who applied are attorneys Robert Davis and Amanda Dunn.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission will consider the three applicants for the criminal court vacancy in the 11th judicial district, which includes Hamilton County.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission will hold a public hearing on Friday, Aug. 5, at 9 a.m. EDT at a location to be announced shortly. Any member of the public may attend the public hearing to express, orally or in writing, objections concerning applicant(s) for the judicial vacancy. If you require an accommodation and/or have special needs because of a qualified disability, have questions, or need additional information, please contact Ceesha Lofton or Rachel Harmon at the Administrative Office of the Courts at 615- 741-2687.

The Commission is expected to vote immediately following the interviews and forward the names of qualified candidates to Governor Bill Lee for his consideration.

Judge McVeagh is the only candidate on the ballot for a new eight-year term as judge in Division 1 of General Sessions Court.

Attorneys Caldwell Huckabay and David Schmidt had both withdrawn their candidacies.

Judge McVeagh said in a letter to "Friends and Supporters",



I am writing to express how truly humbling it has been over this past year to campaign to remain your General Sessions Court Judge. You may have seen some campaign signs pop up recently around Hamilton County, and I am so grateful to you for your continued support. As I have said throughout this last year's campaign, I absolutely love my job, and it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the citizens of this great county as your judge. I will continue to work to earn your support, and I would be honored to have your vote on August 4.



I am also writing to let you know of some recent developments. My friend and mentor, Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge & felony Drug Recovery Court Judge Tom Greenholtz, was recently confirmed as an appellate judge beginning September 2022. I congratulate Judge Greenholtz and know that he will continue to make a positive impact on our criminal justice system and in the lives of all Tennesseans, and I thank him for his service to Hamilton County. Also, because his name will remain on the Criminal Court ballot, I encourage you to show your support for Judge Greenholtz by casting your vote for him on August 4.



Two weeks ago, Governor Bill Lee announced that after the election, he will begin the interview process to choose Judge Greenholtz's replacement after he steps down from the Criminal Court bench in September. Since that time, many members of the civic, business, and legal communities, including many of my judicial colleagues, have encouraged me to throw my name into the hat to be considered. Earlier this year, when approached with the theoretical question as to whether I would run for Criminal Court instead of General Sessions Court, I made clear to my former opponents and to my supporters that while I could not foresee what the future might hold, an opportunity to seek the Criminal Court judgeship would not be available at any time prior to the election, and that I would continue to actively campaign for General Sessions Court (and continue to do so to this day).



Now, after much prayer, contemplation and discussion with my family and others concerning how I can best serve my community, I have decided to submit my name for consideration following the election. I believe that my previous five years of judicial experience (including four years working with Judge Greenholtz and the misdemeanor and felony Drug Recovery Court teams) have uniquely positioned me for consideration by Governor Lee and his nominating commission. This decision will ultimately be in the Governor's hands. In the meantime, I will continue to actively campaign to serve you as General Sessions Court Judge, and I would be humbled to have your vote on August 4.
The City of Dayton Council passed its 2022-2023 budget on second reading with no tax increase, but did increase residential garbage service up $1.50 to $13 a month.

The $ 80 million main budget includes $7.3 million for Dayton City Schools. The property tax will remain at 58 cents per $100.

The routine meeting ended with a very lively discussion over the fishing tournament. John Bamber, director of the Rhea County Economic Community Development, sent an invoice to the city of Dayton for $90,000 for upcoming scheduled fishing tournaments that mostly are scheduled next year.l

Mayor Hurley Marsh vigorously stated, " We've told him (Bamber) and told him how to do this. He needs to come in front of the council and request a donation.

Mayor Marsh asked city manager Tommy Solmon where he was, and Mr. Solomon replied he was on vacation.

Vice Mayor Steve Randolph made the motion to place the item on hold until Mr. Bamber can come in front of the council.  Were not paying for a bass tournament. We will make our fair share contribution with the county, but not pay for it ahead of time.

Councilman Doss said that they have a 10-man board over the fishing tournaments, but they have only met twice in 18 months .

A lot of the community are not happy with some of what's going on with the tournaments, remarked Mayor Marsh.

Council did approve the annual $50,000 annual fee to the Economical and Community Development Board.

City Recorder Michelle Horton brought the board up to date on the paving of old Graysville Road from the Dayton/Graysville city limits to Illinois Avenue.

Ms. Horton said, We got an extension on the grant till September 2023 and are even closer than we have been before. TDOT is working with Norfolk Southern at this time as part of the Illinois Avenue is their property for the rail line.

Mayor Marsh remarked that they will probably have to get the city of Cincinnati involved as the rail line is actually owned by the city and leased by Norfolk Southern.bCincinnati will never go broke, he added. Mayor Marsh is a retired Norfolk Southern employee.

City Manager Solomon told the council that they were applying for ARP (American Recovery Plan) money for a grant to relocate the utilities on Summer City Road on Dayton Mountain.
Chattanooga firefighters were able to save a man from drowning in the Tennessee River, thanks to an alert driver crossing over the Chickamauga Dam.

Someone driving on Highway 153 called Hamilton County 911 Tuesday afternoon at 3:15 PM to report that they saw an overturned kayak and a man struggling in the water. He was far out in the water, sparking their concern.

CFD Fireboat 6 responded and spotted the party waving for help. The man, who was not wearing a life jacket, had decided to try to swim back to the recreation area when he realized his kayak had a hole in it and it started sinking. When firefighters got to him, he was extremely fatigued. The crew got him out of the water and onto the rescue boat.

Paramedics met them at the boat ramp and patient care was transferred to HCEMS. The rescued man was alert and conscious.

The fireboat then went back to retrieve the damaged kayak and brought it back to the dock and Quint 6s crew returned to service.

This was the first rescue using the CFD's newly-acquired fireboats.

Officials said, "The two boats are to protect citizens and visitors on the water and today, the boat that was used in the response was a life-saving asset."

Captain Chris Blazek said, Thanks to the Good Samaritan driving by who spotted this person in trouble and called 911 so we could quickly get to him.
Billy Hewitt with Chris Glover as he signs the statement of support

Billy Hewitt, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Chattanooga chairman speaks to ceremony attendees; Chattanooga CEO Chris Glover on far right

In a ceremony on Tuesday, Volkswagen Chattanooga confirmed its commitment to employees who serve in the United States Guard and Reserve units by signing a statement of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).

Many of our team members have selflessly given their time for active and reserve service in the military, some of whom also currently serve in our militarys guard and reserve components, said Chris Glover, CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga. We are proud of these brave men and women. With this statement of support, we reinforce our commitment to members of our team who are also members of the nations Guard and Reserve military units, and will support them as they continue to serve our country.

The mission of the ESGR program is to increase employer support of the nations Guard and Reserve members by encouraging employers to act as advocates for employees participating in the military.

By signing the Statement of Support, Volkswagen Chattanooga pledges to:

 fully recognize, honor and comply with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act;

 provide managers and supervisors with the tools they need to effectively manage employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve;

 appreciate the values, leadership, and unique skills Service members bring to our workforce and will encourage efforts to employ Guardsmen, Reservists and transitioning Service members and Veterans;

 continually recognize and support military Service members and their families, in peace, in crises and in war.

Employers like Volkswagen Chattanooga assist in putting our service men and womens minds at ease when performing their military duties, said Bill Hewitt, chair of the Chattanooga ESGR Committee. Confidence in knowing their employment is secure and a job is waiting when they return allows them to focus on their mission. Employers like Volkswagen are true patriots and partners to the protection of our country. ESGR values their support and commitment.

Volkswagen Chattanooga supports and accommodates employees with military obligations across all branches of the United States military, which include the Guard and Reserve. Employees are offered supplemental paid leave at increasing levels depending on the type and length of leave, such as military training, public emergencies and active duty.

Volkswagen Chattanooga complies with all federal, state and local laws that regulate military leaves of absence and does not discriminate with respect to an employees company standing on the basis of the employees military service.

At the factory, veterans and active duty service members have the opportunity to participate in the MilVets employee resource group, which supports camaraderie, leadership and continued professional development.
Three rising McCallie seniors were among 10,000-plus students from around the world who attended the International Leadership Conference for future health professional students at the Opryland Gaylord Convention Center in Nashville.

The conference was hosted by HOSA, formerly known as Health Occupation Students of America, a global student organization whose mission is to promote careers in health and medicine. The students were in attendance for the conferences informational sessions as well as competitive events.

Representing McCallie and competing in several events were Benjamin Yang 23, a boarding student from Minnetonka, Mn., Tucker Luna 23, a day student from Signal Mountain, and Jimmy Wu 23, a boarding student from Jiangsu, China.

Benjamin Yang competed in the testing for three categories: general chemistry, organic chemistry and pharmacology. He placed in the top 10 for pharmacology and earned first place overall in organic chemistry.

Tucker Luna competed in the biomedical laboratory sciences category. He first took a written test, where he placed in the top 36 out of roughly 200 students and he advanced to the final round.

Jimmy Wu, who was instrumental in organizing the McCallie HOSA chapter and preparing the McCallie group for the leadership conference, competed in the biology testing.

HOSA chapter advisor and science teacher Neal Dexter was pleased with the groups showing at the conference. I am very proud of these guys for competing at this level. They represented McCallie well, just as I expected. Their results were outstanding, especially considering its our first year ever to attend and participate in HOSA events.
Chris Hemsworth is an Australian actor who has been featured on the big screen in a number of films over the years including Star Trek, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Cabin in the Woods, and Men in Black: International. But hes perhaps best known for playing Thor in Marvels Cinematic Universe.

Hemsworth is married to Elsa Pataky who is an actor as well and known for her role as Elena Neves in the Fast & Furious franchise. Despite having to be in Hollywood for work, the pairs primary residence is a sprawling mega-mansion in New South Wales. Heres a look inside the amazing abode where the couple and their three children call home and why the locals were against the construction of the property.

Chris Hemsworth, who owns a $30 million mansion, smiles at the Sydney premiere of Thor: Love and Thunder | Don Arnold/WireImage

Aussie locals were against the construction of Hemsworths mega-mansion

In 2014, Hemsworth and Pataky decided to move from Los Angeles to Australia to give their kids a quieter life.

But the construction of their Bryon Bay mansion, nicknamed Kooeloah, in 2017 was not without controversy. News.com.au reported that the estate, located in the hills at Broken Head overlooking Seven Mile Beach, was dubbed by some as obscene, greedy, flashy, and vulgar. And many locals were not pleased as they felt that the once laid-back hippie haven was becoming too Hollywood.

Realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee explained: Theres definitely jobs being created, but it does seem to be that the area is attracting not just national attention but also international attention.

Byron Bay is now a popular vacationing spot for A-listers like Matt Damon and Hemsworths co-star Natalie Portman.

Inside the actors Bryon Bay compound

The residence sometimes referred to as Fort Hemsworth boasts six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, and is grand from the moment you step into the entryway.

A huge mural painted by artist Otis Hope Carey greets visitors as soon as they walk in the door. According to Hemsworth, Carey created the mural to symbolize the ceremonial dancing of the Gumbaynggirr people and the ocean. In this piece, Otis utilizes traditional symbols and imagery in grandiose scale in a display of contemporary practice and thought, Hemsworth wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the mural.

The home is a multi-level concrete structure with high ceilings and lots of windows for plenty of natural light. Some of the pads amenities include a cinema room, a sauna, a game room, a gym, and a butlers pantry. Outside youll find an area for entertaining complete with a firepit and a rooftop infinity pool.

Reports that Hemsworth and Pataky have been trying to sell the property

Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky attend the Thor: Love and Thunder | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney

Reports have swirled for years that Hemsworth and Pataky intend to sell the massive compound for another mansion in Sydney, however, the couple has denied those rumors.

It was also thought that Hemsworth was the buyer of the exclusive oceanfront Piano Coves site. The 1,312-acre property is located just off of Tasman Highway and sold for between $11 and $15 million in 2021.

The buyer wanted their identity kept private, but selling agent Marcus Douglas did share one piece of information about the person who purchased the site stating: Its not Chris Hemsworth.

RELATED: A Look Inside Natalie Portmans Longtime Los Angeles Home
TL;DR:

Jill Duggar has given birth to her third child with Derick Dillard.

Frederick Michael Dillard was born July 7, 2022.

His name honors both his father and grandfather.

Jill Duggar and her husband Derick Dillard | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

Congratulations are in order for Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard. Frederick Michael Dillard was born July 7. He is the third child for the couple, who previously appeared on TLCs now-canceled Counting On.

Jill Duggar gives birth to baby No. 3

Jill and Derick announced their happy news in a post on their family blog. Frederick  or Freddy  arrived on July 7 at 5:16 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs, 6 oz., and was 20 inches long.

Freddy arrived slightly ahead of schedule, the couple shared. While Jills due date was later in July, Freddy decided he wanted to come a little early. Jill had her planned C-section a bit before originally planned, they added.

Mom and baby are currently enjoying some bonding time while Jill and Derick wait to bring their new baby home from the hospital, the couple shared. They announced Jills pregnancy in February 2022, several months after sharing that she had experienced a miscarriage.

The newest addition to the Dillard family was born just one day before his elder brother Samuels birthday. Sam, the couples second child, was born July 8, 2017. Their eldest son, Israel, was born on April 6, 2015.

Jill and Derick explain the meaning behind their new babys name

RELATED: Jill Duggar Fans Say Shes Glowing and Gorgeous in Intimate Baby Shower Photos

Jill and Derick chose to honor both Freddys father and his late grandfather with his name. His first name means peaceful ruler, the couple explained in their blog post, while his middle name means gift from God.

Frederick also has an extra-special meaning for Jill and Derick.

[I]ts Dericks name with Fre added to the front, to make Fre-derick, they explained. Similarly, Dericks name is a variation of his late dads name, Rick, that his parents created by adding de to the front of Rick to spell, de-rick, literally meaning son of (de) Rick.

We were excited to settle on the name Frederick and incorporate both Dericks and his dads name, by just adding Fre to the beginning of Dericks name, they added.

The ex-Counting On couple recently moved to a new home

Its been a time of change for Jill and Derick. In addition to expanding their family, the pair recently moved into a new home. Derick, who graduated from law school at the University of Arkansas in 2021, has taken a job as a prosecutor in the Sooner State. The Dillards have purchased a home in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, close to the border with Oklahoma.

Its been a crazy and exciting season of transition, they wrote in a blog post announcing the news. The move means that Jill and Derick now live about 40 minutes away from her parents, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, who reside in Springdale, Arkansas.

The couple has had a strained relationship with Jills mother and father for some time. In a video shared on YouTube in March 2021, Jill shared that it had been a couple years since she had visited her parents home. A dispute over earnings from the familys TLC reality shows contributed to the bad blood. Jill and Derick have also been more vocal than some other members of the family in condemning her older brother Josh Duggar, who was convicted of possessing material depicting child sexual abuse in December 2021.

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheets YouTube channel.

RELATED: Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard React to Josh Duggar Sentencing: God Has Carried Out His Vengeance
Former Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller reads to students in a classroom in the 1980s. At the July Tribal Council meeting, the legislative body unanimously approved Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.s proposal to build a $5 million, 6.25-acre park in Tahlequah that will be named in her honor.
On July 5, more than 700 MPs, members of the House of Lords, and church leaders met to pray at the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast in Westminster, England.

The Reverend Les Isaac spoke to the assembled group: At the center of our lives is Jesus, and a desire to be like him and to fulfill his purpose here on earth. Many men and women are quietly demonstrating service, humbly and compassionately, for the common good of the community, of society, of their city and their nation.

At the front table, directly beneath the lectern, was an empty chair. Boris Johnson, the UKs prime minister, had joined the breakfast but left after the opening song. News had broken that morning of a former senior official contradicting Johnsons previous denial about whether he knew about allegations of inappropriate behavior from a government minister.

That evening, two of the most senior ministers in the government resignedSajid Javid, secretary of state for health, and minutes later Rishi Sunak, chancellor of the exchequer. And within 48 hours, Boris Johnson announced that he would be stepping down as leader of the Conservative Party and therefore also as prime minister.

My colleague sat at a table with Sajid Javid at that breakfast, who stayed throughout. In a statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Javid opened by saying, Yesterday, we began our day together. You, I, my right honorable friend the prime minister, and members from right across this housewhen we broke bread together at the parliamentary prayer breakfast.

And we listened, all of us, to the words of Reverend Les Isaac, who spoke about the fact that responsibility comes with leadership. The responsibility to serve the interests of others above your own and to seek common ground of your party, your community, and, above all, your country.

Javid, who has described himself as being of Muslim heritage but not practicing, has since confirmed that it was while listening to this sermon that he decided to resign from the government. This seemed to set off a chain reaction, after which more than 50 other members of the government quit.

While we cannot say for certain whether a single sermon was the catalyst for bringing down a government, it seems to at least be a contributing factor. That said, Javids motivations for resignation may well have also been political, as he is currently contesting to replace Johnson for the role of PM.

Most of the politicians who stepped down cited the need to restore integrity in our government. Ever since the criminal investigation into breaches of COVID-19 regulations at the center of government, Boris Johnsons premiership has frequently seemed on the brink of collapse.

In the UK political system, prayer holds a vital place. Each day, prayers are said at the start of sessions in the Commons and the Lords. In the central lobby, laid into the tiled floor are the words of Psalm 127:1 (in Latin): Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.

As an evangelical advocate in the UK, I believe Christians have a particular responsibility to pray for our nation.

Ive attended several prayer breakfasts over the years, in Westminster and other parliaments of the UK. In March, I joined with many in the Welsh parliament as we prayed for revival in the nationa prayer that needs answering even more than who is our current prime minister.

We now await what comes next in the UK after the resignations. The UK political system does not directly elect its prime minister; that is simply the person considered best able to command a majority within parliamentin effect, the leader of the largest party.

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So, the choice of the next prime minister is in the hands of the Conservative Party. Members of the parliamentary party will vote among themselves and decide the top two candidates, who will then be voted on by the wider party membership over the summer.

This political crisis was unusual because it was not really about policy priorities. Instead, it was a widespread feeling that integrity had seeped out of those leading in the highest offices of public life.

Over the last nine months, a series of political crises have put under scrutiny the motives and integrity of those in the highest political offices. An attempt to change the rules relating to misconduct in public life in autumn 2021, followed by the revelations about parties in Downing Street by those organizing rules prohibiting them, all contributed to a precipitous decline in trust.

Therefore, as we look ahead to the coming leadership election, we should focus on restoring trust and reestablishing truth as a foundation. Isaiah 59:14 says, So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.

In times of immense political upheaval, even the most modest statements risk echoes of partisan favoring. But standing for justice, advocating righteousness, speaking for truth, and relying on honesty should be a threshold we refuse to dip beneath.

Along with their policy platforms, Im expecting leadership contenders to make significant plays on how they will lead differently and work to restore trust in government. Words can be incredibly hollow. Weve all heard apologies that are heavily caveated or subtly shift blame elsewhere.

In the same way that meaningful apologies need to be substantive, commitments to improve how the government operates need to be backed with evidence that is more than just words.

Trust begins with a commitment to truth. It is a sad indictment of too much of public life that we have accepted a dichotomy between the public and privatewhere someones private actions, indiscretions, unfaithfulness, and dishonesty are not considered relevant to their public roles. But someone who can lie to the person closest to him or her can lie to the public.

Integrity is demonstrated by long-term action, not simply by ones words. We should care about the policies that political leaders advocate and their track records in delivering them. However, just because leaders are effective and hold to political stances that we agree with should not be a free pass for them to behave however they want.

Christian social critic Os Guinness has often spoken of doing the Lords work in the Lords way: We undermine our witness to Christ if we back expediency and efficacy over integrity. And after all, it was in apparent defeat that Christ triumphed over death.

I suppose well never know the full impact of the words spoken during the recent parliamentary prayer breakfast, whether from the stage or around the tables. Regardless, prayer is a powerful weapon, and we should never underestimate its impact on the life of our nations.

Danny Webster is director of advocacy for the UK Evangelical Alliance, working to represent evangelical Christians to government and inspire them to engage in all areas of public life.
When Naghmeh Panahi and Mariam Ibraheem describe each other, they start in contrast. Panahi is from the Middle East; Ibraheem from Africa. Panahi is Protestant; Ibraheem Catholic.

Despite their different backgrounds, the two women endured similar plights and ended up with a shared callingbut not the one either expected.

Panahi and Ibraheem were first brought together in the mid-2010s. Their families had been put in the spotlight by American evangelicals fighting Christian persecution abroad. Evangelical advocates rallied for Panahis ex-husband, Saeed Abedini, while he was imprisoned for his ministry work in Iran and for Ibraheem herself while she was on death row in Sudan for apostasy.

After a few years out of touch, the women reconnected in 2018 over a desperate, early-morning Facebook message. Ibraheem, now living in the States, had been secretly struggling to endure a difficult marriage like she thought a good Christian wife should. It was getting harder to bear the abuse, and she didnt know where to go for help.

Even when locked up in Sudan, Ibraheem hadnt questioned the Lord like this. God, Im really done. I need an answer, she prayed. I demand an answer. Ibraheem said God brought Panahi to mind. She remembered that years earlier Panahi had disclosed her famous husbands abuse.

The two women spoke with CT about how that message led them to years of prayer, assistance, encouragement, and partnership. Because Panahi and Ibraheem knew how powerful it was to have the church come together around the issue of religious persecution, they found themselves crushed by the lack of attention toward domestic violence. They felt convicted to help.

Both of us got millions of supporters when it was about persecution and silence when it was about abuse, said Panahi. Processing how the church has handled it was shocking for both of us.

Last month, a Washington Post investigation reported how advocates who promoted her ex-husbands case, including Franklin Graham, urged Panahi to reconcile with Abedini despite his physical and verbal abuse. At one point, Panahi said, they even asked Ibraheem to encourage her to stay.

Over the past year, Panahi has spoken up about the details she said she was pressured to keep to herself while #SaveSaeed trended among evangelicals, sharing more of her story at the Restore Conference, with the Religion News Service, and on The Roys Report podcast.

Panahi and Ibraheem also continue to raise concerns about the global threat of Christian persecution; Ibraheem spoke last month at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington and recently released her autobiography Shackled, focused on her willingness to face a death sentence for her faith.

The persecuted church is told by the bullying government what to believe. Thats so similar to being in an abusive home and churchits control, said Panahi, who is Iranian American and has ministry ties to the underground church there. You see the similarity and the heart of God for both.

While those targeted as a minority faith can recognize the government as the enemy and feel justified and supported in their suffering, domestic abuse is a much lonelier, more confusing prison to be trapped in, the two survivors told CT.

Even more so when your family is in the public eye, with happy photos and triumphant headlines hiding the distress at home.

Ibraheem said her home became worse than death row. The abuse by her ex-husband even echoed what she endured during her time behind bars in Sudan. I didnt teach my children Arabic because I didnt want my children to know the names I was being called during their fights at home, she recounted. Its the same thought she had as guards insulted her while imprisoned with her newborn.

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In prison, I know why I am here. In my home, Im asking, Why is this happening? said Ibraheem. You want to have peace at home.

Instead, the place she expected to be safe became dangerous; the person she expected to care for her was hurting her; and the faith she leaned on was telling her to stay.

Panahi recognized how Ibraheem had exhausted her patience trying to make an abusive marriage work, and shes seen that pattern with other Christian women shes helped over the years. Even when abuse persisted, they believed that marriage is for life, kids should grow up with both parents, and God could redeem the brokenness in their relationships.

A mother of two, Panahi had some of the same thoughts when married to Abedini, who had pleaded guilty to domestic battery in the US prior to his detention in Iran and was subject to protective orders after his return.

Panahis perspective shifted as she studied Scripture. She began to see that God cared about her well-being more than preserving a marriage at any cost, and that institutions like marriage existed for the good of people and not the other way around. The life of the person is more important than the institution, she said. One sheep is more important than the whole institution.

That understanding was the key to Panahis escape. The God who saved her life when she was arrested at gunpoint in Iran made a way for her to find freedom from an abusive marriage in America.

I started living, thinking for myself, reading the Bible, and it was God who rescued me, Panahi said. Ive seen Gods rescue again and again and again. I couldnt deny that Gods our lifeline.

Panahi ended up helping Ibraheem find safe housing, legal representation, and counseling, leading to another testimony of rescue.

God answers my prayers though people, Ibraheem said. God really worked miracles. When I prayed, God sent someone to help me.

While their faith in Lord hasnt wavered, their trust in the church took a hit.

The teachings that led them to justify remaining in abusive marriages as biblical remain widespread, they say. When believers abroad are suffering religious persecution, Christians want to help them escape; when theyre suffering in a violent home, the message from the church too often is to stay.

I needed someone who could have told me this is what abuse was and this was not the heart of God, said Panahi.

While more leaders are speaking up to address domestic violence from the pulpit and to condemn abuse in marriage, Panahi notes they often stop short of assisting a woman with legal fees to get a divorce.

She and Ibraheem lead the Tahrir Alnisa Foundation, advocating for women who have suffered abuse. They speak at conferences and church events, Panahi a couple times a month. Because they are public with their stories of survival, people in their network refer them to women who need advice or urgent help.

Panahi hears from fellow Middle Eastern immigrants as well as pastors wives and missionaries wives in the midst of abuse. She consults with pastors on how they can get involved to helpknowing when a situation needs more than in-house marriage counseling and requires an expert in domestic violence.

She sees a tiny bit of movement bringing abuse to the evangelical forefront, but not at the scale of seeing how bad persecution is.

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Persecution brings the church together for a cause, but abuse, Panahi worries, is a bigger issue thats doing more damage within the church. Persecution is close to the heart of God, but what Jesus was most outspoken about was where religion is used to oppress, she said.

Panahi, who lives in Boise, Idaho, and Ibraheem, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, have come to see their decision to take a stand against the abuse as not just permissible but God-honoringas much as standing against religious persecution.

Ten years ago, Ibraheem never planned on ending her marriage. She never imagined herself advocating for abuse survivors. But now she says, God has equipped us to be here and do this. My life is in a place where God wants it to be. His hand is always over us.

We didnt want to be in this position, said Panahi. I feel like God has raised up women, and weve been able to use that platform to speak out.
When Tammy Swanson-Draheim began serving in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), it was difficult for women in ministry to find lead pastor roles in the denomination. Twenty-three years later, she became the first female president in its history.

Over her ministry career, Swanson-Draheim said she was drawn to challenging circumstances that have forced her to rely on God.

Its going to sound strange, but Ive always enjoyed challenges because I think theyre really Gods opportunities, said Swanson-Draheim, who was elected at the ECCs 136th annual meeting last month.

In the challenges, you cant rely on yourself, but its a time to get on your knees. God has always provided, so one of the things thats poignant about my call is just being attracted to places where there are challenges and being used of God to be part of what hes doing to resolve them.

Now, the North Park Theological Seminary alumna will return to the ECCs headquarters in Chicago to lead the denomination that renewed her faith and inspired her call to ministry.

Tammys appreciation for the diversity of the church and her outstanding leadership skills, heart for relationships and relational health, and belief in our mission are essential qualities that are needed now, said Steve Dawson, chair of the presidential nominating committee.

Founded in 1885 by Scandinavian immigrants, the ECC spans 850 congregations in the US and Canada and has long been devoted to the mission of making disciples and building a multiethnic, intergenerational church body.

Swanson-Draheim served as a lead pastor in the ECC for eight years and has been the superintendent of the denominations Midwest Conference since 2011. Shes the second woman to hold a superintendent title and chaired the Council of Superintendents for the past four years.

Swanson-Draheim, who lives in Omaha, will step into the presidency in September, taking the reins from John Wenrich, who served in that position for the past four years. CT interviewed Swanson-Draheim about her new role and her vision for the denominations future.

How did you feel called to go into ministry? Was it a specific moment or more of a gradual realization?

It was a little bit gradual. I really tie it to discipleship. When I had sort of a renewing experience in my life spiritually and the importance that God had in my life rose, I heard from God in a kind of unique incident. I had started attending church and experienced some rejection, and in the midst of that, I just really sensed God speaking to me and saying that I could live with those hurt feelings, or I could decide to do something about that so no one else had to experience it.

I was just coming back to faith after a season away, and I heard God say, This is something I have for you. I followed that and enjoyed ministering to people, so I see that as sort of the initial call as a layperson.

I look back at that, because to me when you commit your life to Christ, you have a role in his kingdom ministry. That kind of transpired over time to more opportunities to serve and responsibilities; then it became apparent I was being called into seminary.

What stands out to you as a formative experience or relationship that has prepared you for this new position as president?

Many of the women that came before me, who really paved the way for women in ministry, in a general sense are very formative. One specific person who has been a tremendous mentor to me is Evelyn Johnson.

In my current role as superintendent, I was the second female to be a superintendent. Evelyn was the first. Shes worked across many executive roles in the denomination, and she has graciously poured her life into me, and we talk pretty much every week. Shes just been one of those women who have really poured into me and made it possible for me to be in this position today.

What has it been like to serve as a woman in ministry? Do you feel that being the first woman to serve as president of the Covenant is significant?

I have long been used to paving the way in some of these areas. My predecessor Evelyn Johnson was no longer on the council when I became superintendent. The reality is when God gives me a role that hes calling me into, I never step into the room and go, Okay, now, I have to remember that Im female. I walk into the room and think, Well, this is what Gods called me to do.

I think the same is true for the presidency. I am the first president who happens to be female. I say that because Ill be a president for all the people. Its very exciting to think that there are boys and girls who will grow up and understand that this is normative in Christs church. Women can serve in every capacity, and what a beautiful thing that will be. Its so tied to my theology of the kingdom and how God created us.

It means a lot because women are encouraged by it who are female clergy, but I think it will reorient some of the thinking of even those who are now young in the pew, growing up and experiencing that. Its exciting to me that I could be in any way, shape, or form a part of demonstrating that for the whole church.

What are you most excited about as you go into this new role?

Historically we as the Covenant Church are really strong in mission. But like most people in this season, its been exhausting with the pandemic and even some of the polarization of things happening in our culture and in politics. Frankly, its been exhausting, so I think theres some need for some healing. I also think it is a prime time to lead out strongly in missionhit the refresh button on our commitment to Gods mission and make sure that remains a strong priority for us.

I dont come in with a game plan; I come in with the ability to listen. Listen to people, listen to the movement of the Holy Spirit, and then together collaboratively figure out the best way forward thats going to really be for Gods glory and neighbors good. Im very much looking forward to how we can continue to move forward with strength and mission.

Id also sayand this is not necessarily separate but part of itthat were a part of a church committed to the multiethnic mosaic. As we go about mission, we do that with the multiethnic mosaic [and] gender equality in mind. Those arent add-ons. Theyre part of our kingdom theology.
Christian woman strangled, nearly beheaded in ambush attack in Egypt

A radical Muslim man ambushed and attacked a 35-year-old Coptic Christian woman, nearly killing her in an attempt to behead her in Egypts Minya governorate, according to a report.

The Muslim man, identified as Qassim Falah Muhammad, attacked the woman, Mona Wafdi Marzouk, as she was walking to her familys farm to help her father last month, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern said in a statement.

Muhammad ambushed her and began to strangle her, ICC said, adding that he then proceeded to grab a sickle and attempted to slash her to death.

Thanks to the dull sickle, the wounds to the womans neck did not cut deep enough to sever her arteries. The man fled, leaving her bleeding in the dirt.

One of the cousins of the Coptic woman saw the attack from a distance and immediately ran to help her. She was promptly taken to the hospital for treatment, but she continues to live in a state of terror and panic.

Police have not declared the attackers motives, but the Muslim radical likely targeted Mona because of her Christian faith, ICC said, noting that the day before the attack, he had burglarized the home of another local Coptic Christian.

Egyptian media have claimed that the attacker was mentally ill, but unprovoked attacks against Christians overall are becoming increasingly common, betraying the undercurrent of anti-Christian sentiment that is likely behind this and other violent incidents, ICC added.

Also, last month, Nehru Abdel Moneim Tawfiq, the convicted killer of Archbishop Arsanious Wadid, priest of the Virgin and St. Paul Church, in Alexandria, Egypt, was sentenced to death, according to Copts-United.

Leaders of both the historical church in Egypt and Islam had played down a religious motive in an attempt to prevent escalation. However, Tawfiq shouted the jihadist slogan Allah Akbar [Allah is greater] as he stabbed Wadid, an eyewitness testified at the trial, according to Copts-United. She said Tawfiq hovered around the area for 10 minutes before targeting Wadid because of his priestly garments.

The Copts, who make up about 10% of Egypts population, are the descendants of a long line of ancient Egyptians who later converted to Christianity in the early first century, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

According to the persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA, Egypt is among the 20 worst persecutors of Christians in the world.

Incidents of Christian persecution in Egypt vary from Christian women being harassed while walking in the street to Christian communities being driven out of their homes by extremist mobs, the group says on its website, adding that Christians are typically treated as second-class citizens.

Egypts government speaks positively about the Egyptian Christian community. Still, the lack of serious law enforcement and the unwillingness of local authorities to protect Christians leave them vulnerable to all kinds of attacks, especially in Upper Egypt, it explains.

Due to the dictatorial nature of the regime, neither church leaders nor other Christians are in a position to speak out against these practices.

Churches and Christian nongovernmental organizations are restricted in their ability to build new churches or run social services, it adds.

The difficulties come both from state restrictions, as well as from communal hostility and mob violence.
Illinois pastor loses 2 daughters and sister in tragic highway crash

An Illinois pastor and his family are grieving the loss of two of his three daughters and his sister after a tragic crash along Old U.S. Highway 50 on Friday.

Pastor Scott Broughton of First Baptist Church of Carlyle and his wife, Amanda, lost their daughters Savanna Grace Broughton, 17, and Brooke-Lynn Kay Broughton, 15, The Belleville News-Democrat reported. The pastors sister, Rhonda Evans, 43, from Ackerman, Mississippi, also died in the crash.

Clinton County Sheriff Dan Travous said in a statement that the trio was traveling in a 2005 Audi passenger vehicle at the time of the accident. The pastors 15-year-old daughter, who had a learners permit, was the one driving.

Travous said eyewitness reports and physical evidence from the scene suggest that the Audi crossed into the westbound lane on Highway 50 near Harper Street in Beckemeyer and caused a head-on collision with a Volvo tractor-trailer.

The tractor-trailer driver suffered minor injuries.

First Baptist Church of Carlyle did not immediately respond to calls made by The Christian Post on Tuesday. But an obituary published Saturday announced a funeral service that took place on Monday for the sisters.

The obituary also shared how loved and active the sisters were in their church and the wider community.

Savanna was bold, beautiful, and could easily bring a smile to your face. She was excited about her upcoming senior year at Carlyle High School. At CHS, Savanna was on the homecoming court, served as Student Council president, and reporter for Carlyle High School FFA. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Carlyle, where she was active on the Praise and Worship Team, the obituary reads. Savanna loved lifting up others by writing positive messages, leaving notes of encouragement and praise, and writing cards thanking others for kind deeds. She had a passion for mission work and enjoyed serving at homeless and womens shelters. Savanna had a tight bond with her siblings and loved her family deeply.

The obituary described Brooke-Lynn as creative, talented and devoted.

She was a student at Carlyle High School, where she played tenor sax in the band and was a member of the color guard. Brooke-Lynn loved hard, was devoted to her family, and she was protective of her siblings. She had an artistic touch and loved art and painting, the obituary said. Brooke-Lynn listened to every genre of music, from Sinatra to Eminem. Her love of music led her to sing on the Praise and Worship Team at the First Baptist Church in Carlyle, where she was a devoted member. Brooke-Lynn loved her family and her friends, but she hated bugs.

Carlyle Dairy Queen Chill & Grill, where Brooke-Lynn previously worked and Savanna frequented as a customer, remembered the sisters in a statement on Facebook Sunday.

We had the pleasure of employing Brooke-Lynn. During her time with us, there wasnt a shift she worked that there wasnt a smile on her face along with everyone who worked with her. She would walk through the door with the best attitude and the cutest hair styles! She was such a joy to be around. Truly a genuine, caring, loving, beautiful soul, the shop explained.

Savanna was a regular customer. She left notes for all the employees and we hung them above our drive thru window so everyone can see them every time they work. We are going to get them framed so we can always have them there with us as a reminder of one of the sweetest customers we have ever had. She truly was a beautiful person inside and out, they added. Please keep the Broughton Family, friends, peers and our community in your prayers these upcoming days.

Along with their parents, the sisters leave behind their siblings  Mary Kathryn Broughton and Emerson Keeton Broughton  and other extended family members.
School board member to teach sexual 'pleasure' classes at her sex shop for kids as young as 9

A member of the Bellingham School Board in Washington state who's also the owner of a sex shop is offering sexual education classes to children and teens as part of a workshop series on a variety of topics, including gender and sexual identity and sexual anatomy for pleasure.

The Uncringe Academy workshop series is scheduled to take place at the Wink Wink Boutique, a sex toy shop in downtown Bellingham, in August for children ages 9 to 12 and 13- to 17-year-olds. Shop owner Jenn Mason is teaching the lessons, which are described as sex education that's based in empowerment and information, rather than shame, fear, and judgment.

Mason adds that the classes offer honest, supportive, and inclusive sex education classes to help young people of all genders and sexual identities understand this important part of their life.

The workshops will divide children and teens by age. The topics covered during the two-day workshop range from The science of puberty to Sexual anatomy for pleasure and reproduction.

Other topics listed include Safer sex practices for all kinds of sexual activities and What IS sex? Kinds of solo and partnered sexual activities.

We use an accepting, informing, and affirming framework, the workshops event page reads. Our focus is helping young people to feel comfortable around these topics so that they can advocate for their own bodies, health, and well-being.

As KGMI reported, Mason has been a school board member since 2017. She claims that its possible and important to talk about sex with kids in age-appropriate and healthy ways.

The Bellingham School Board did not immediately respond to The Christian Posts request for comment, but a spokesperson for Bellingham Schools said in a statement to KGMI that Masons sex shop and the classes shes offering are not connected to the district or its schools.

Debates regarding childrens exposure to sexually explicit materials also arose last year at a Virginia school district.

During a Sept. 23 school board meeting last year, a parent of a student in Fairfax County Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in the U.S., read and shared images from two books available in the district's high school libraries.

"After seeing a Sept. 9 school board meeting in Texas on pornography in the schools, I decided to check the titles at my child's school, Fairfax High School," the parent, Stacy Langton, told board members. She discovered that the same books are available in public school libraries in her school district.

According to Langton, the books Gender Queer and Lawn Boy depict men and boys having sex and contain graphic sexual descriptions. As she began reading the curse words and sexual acts featured in both books, a school board member interrupted her, noting that "there are children in the audience here."

In May, a Loudoun County, Virginia, teacher contacted police after a school librarian allegedly defended the presence of a book containing information about prostitution by claiming that some middle school students are involved in sex work.

As The Daily Wire reported, the teacher recounted the exchange in a recorded conversation with the police. The exchange reportedly started after the teacher asked the librarian if the school had a copy of the book Seeing Gender by Iris Gottlieb, which includes a chapter titled "'Sex Work' Is Not a Bad Term."

The librarian confirmed the library had the book and asserted it was beneficial to students engaged in sex work. She did not provide the names of any current students, however, only pointing to one that graduated six years before that had allegedly been involved in the practice.

"She started talking about how there's kids who come to the library who do sex work, and this makes them feel validated," the teacher said in the interview. "As a teacher, if you get an individual student coming to you because you're abused, you have to go [to] the police immediately."
The God you cant make up

When his atheist friends asked W. H. Auden why he jettisoned his atheism for Christianity, he said: I believe in Jesus because he fulfills none of my dreams.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Enter most any church today and youll be told the exact opposite. At the very least, the message given is that Christ will remove the hardships you have in life, and in some cases, the line delivered is that Jesus wants you rich and in perfect health from top to bottom.

Sounds pretty dreamy to me.

After all, didnt Christ say: Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matt. 11:28,30). And didnt John write, Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health (3 John 1:2)?

Yes, they did. But maybe what Jesus meant was relief from the Law plus all the extra weight the religious leaders added to it, plus freedom from sin and its consequences. And maybe Johns words reflect a common greeting of the day for things generally going well, which is what the Greek term used for prosper literally means.

That being the case, lets return to Audens statement about believing in Jesus because He isnt a dreamboat. Whats that about?

Luckily, he gives us a little more clarity with his follow up statement: He is in every respect the opposite of what He would be if I could have made Him in my own image. What Auden means is simply this: Jesus is the God you cant make up.

Not a copycat

There was a time when historically illiterate people asserted that Jesus was an invention of the ancient world. For example, in their book The Jesus Mysteries, authors Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy wrote, Why should we consider the stories of Osiris, Dionysus, Adonis, Attis, Mithras, and the other pagan mystery saviors as fables, yet come across essentially the same story told in a Jewish context and believe it to be the biography of a carpenter from Bethlehem?

Well, lets first start with a statement from one of the best 20th century scholars on the subject, Dr. Bruce Metzger: Today no competent scholar denies the historicity of Jesus.

Next, its good to remember that Freke and Gandys inspiration came from now discredited writers such as the controversial figure Bruno Bauer (1809-1882) who put forward a series of widely-disputed works nearly 200 years ago arguing that Jesus never lived. His work was picked up by Albert Kalthoff (1850-1906) who followed Bauers extreme skepticism about the historical Jesus and went so far as to claim that Jesus never existed and was not the founder of Christianity. After Bauer and Katlhoff came James Frazer who wrote a work entitled The Golden Bough where he argued the theory of widespread worship of dying and rising fertility gods in various places.

However, as always happens when questionable theories meet a brutal gang of facts, their assertions have been thoroughly rejected by modern historical scholarship.

Finally, the New Testament also puts such false claims to rest with its narratives. The Bible tells us that the people of Jesus day didnt think He was the same-old-same-old type of false Greek and Roman gods.

Instead we read: He [Paul] seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities, because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean(Acts 17:18-20, emphasis mine).

This is why C. S. Lewis, who was a literature professor at Oxford and Cambridge, said: I have been reading poems, romances, vision literature, legends, and myths all my life. I know what they are like. I know none of them are like this. Of this [Gospel] text there are only two possible views. Either this is reportage  or else, some unknown writer  without known predecessors or successors, suddenly anticipated the whole technique of modern novelistic realistic narrative two thousand years ahead of when it happened. The reader who doesnt see this has simply not learned to read.

No, Jesus was something entirely new. And that newness is more than most people can bear, both back then and today.

A Jesus with hard edges

When asked how Jesus differed from Buddha, Confucius, and Muhammad Auden said, None of the others arouse all sides of my being to cry Crucify Him.

What Auden is articulating is the same thing spoken of by Aristotle. Hundreds of years before Christ, Aristotle was asked what would happen if a perfect man was introduced to a society. He responded by saying the man would be killed because his beauty and goodness would painfully highlight the imperfections of everyone else.

This is the Jesus of the Bible  One with hard edges. His sinlessness eventually evoked explicit hatred or silent disgust with the vast majority of those around Him, which is why He warned, Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me (Matt. 11:6).

Moreover, He doesnt seem as welcoming as some would have you believe, at least not in the extreme liberal sense. He calls us evil (Matt. 7:11), says we arent worthy of Him if we dont hate everyone else by comparison (Luke 14:26), and tells those opposing Him theyre headed for Hell (Matt. 23:33).

No wonder Scripture states, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him (Is. 53:3) and why Auden says that our fallen hearts cry out for His crucifixion.

So, I ask you  does this sound like a God youd make up? Hardly. As R. C. Sproul said, no one invents a God like this because Hes far too traumatizing: For there is nothing in the universe more terrifying, more threatening to a persons sense of security and well-being than the holiness of God  Left to ourselves, none of us would invent the God of the Bible, the being who is a threat to our sense of security more primal and more fundamental than any act of nature.

This is why W. H. Auden believed in Jesus and said He is the opposite of what his fallen dreams could conjure up. Instead, Hes the God who is so contrary to what wed want on our own, He has to be real.
360 million Christians face persecution, displacement and homelessness globally

Across todays increasingly violent world, Christians who are persecuted for their faith can be numbered in the hundreds of millions. Most of them live in poverty and constant uncertainty, yet they continue to pray, praise, and openly worship.

Far too many are subjected to horrifying scenarios. There are vicious abuses of converts to Christianity in Iran, ongoing massacres in Nigeria, and violent assaults on Afghan Christian believers. In fact, on July 5, International Christian Concern (ICC) exposed their ominously titled 2022 Persecutor of the Year awards. And the three worst persecutors they have awarded are, in fact, Iran, Nigeria, and Afghanistan. But those are hardly the only ones.

Open Doors annually publishes a World Watch List, focusing on the worlds 50 worst persecuting countries, identifying them in the order of their brutality. At the time of the WWLs 2022 release, over 360 million global Christians were experiencing high levels of persecution and discrimination.

Although Christians arent the only people of faith that suffer for their beliefs, they are unquestionably the most endangered. Tens of thousands have died in recent years. And innumerable believers have fled their impossibly dangerous hometowns and even their countries of origin. According to a sobering Open Doors report published in June 2022, titled Church on the Run:

They have been forcibly displaced from their homes because of their religious identity, either as a sole or contributory factor. The displacement of Christians from their homes and communities is a deliberate strategy of religious persecution, designed to erase the presence of Christianity from regions where persecution is most intense. Recent figures demonstrate the scale of global displacement: there are currently a record 100 million people forcibly displaced

The report explains that Christians are more likely to be forced out of their homes/countries, and more likely to experience psychological and physical violence once displaced on account of their religious identity and activity. Their protection needs are often poorly understood, or even willfully ignored.

There are four primary sources of endangerment and abuse that ultimately cause Christians to flee. These threats are magnified in the case of those who have converted from other religions, and particularly from Islam. The first source of danger is their own families, whether immediate or extended. The next is government officials, whether local or national. Another risk is their local community, sometimes including mob violence. And the fourth danger is violent religious groups.

These factors are very much at work in the three countries identified above  Iran, Nigeria, and Afghanistan.

In May 2022, Radio Free Europe reported on the struggles faced by Irans Christians, who may number as many as a million or more, due to widespread conversions from Islam. The article cited the well-respected Christian support organization Article Eighteen, whose most recent annual report cited more than 120 incidents of arrest, detention, or imprisonment of Christian converts from Islam, who comprise Irans largest Christian community.

The report article explains that one of the most striking trends in 2021 was the increased involvement of Irans powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the crackdown on Persian-speaking Christians. The IRCG was responsible for 12 of the 38 documented incidents of arrests of Christians or raids on their homes or house churches in 2021, noting the Iranian authorities increased focus on cracking down on evangelism online

Meanwhile, according to UNHCR, there were nearly three million displaced persons in Northeast Nigeria in 2020; that number has no doubt swelled dramatically across the entire country due to surging anti-Christian Fulani violence in Nigerias Middle Belt.

Like many others who have visited Nigerian victims of conscience, Baroness Cox describes the brutality of the Fulani assailants against Christians. During many of the attacks, Fulani militia are reported by survivors to have shouted Allahu Akbar, destroy the infidels, and wipe out the infidels. Armed with sophisticated weaponry, they destroy homes and churches and seize property and land, which has resulted in mass displacement. The attacks are organized and systematic. All such findings are recorded in the 2020 report, Nigeria: Unfolding Genocide? by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Perhaps the most unexpected and shocking report on Christian persecution emerged from Afghanistan, following the sudden U.S. troop withdrawals in August 2021. Charmaine Hedding, President of Shai Fund, explains the dangers there:

Shai Fund has assisted flying thousands of Afghans out of the country including many from the underground church. Those Christians have been identified by the Taliban, and some had to be moved through eight different safe houses to avoid capture. All Christian converts that remain there are under threat, and we know that some 500 actively need immediate evacuation. The situation in Afghanistan continues to be dire for the underground church. Many are being hunted down by local Taliban and their lives are in direct threat of execution for apostasy.

According to Church on the Run, Iran, Nigeria, and Afghanistan are only three countries out of some 58 where religious identity is a primary factor in both persecution and permanent displacement.

In our comfortable surroundings, as we read, discuss, and seek to help our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters, lets particularly pray for the homeless believers around the world. Most of them have little hope for resettlement. In fact  at least, for now  Heaven is the only home they can believe in.

Originally published at The Washington Stand.
Chinese envoy calls for extension of Yemen truce

Xinhua) 08:34, July 12, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, July 11 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called on parties to the Yemen conflict to work toward the extension of the current truce and to find a lasting solution.

The truce in Yemen has been generally holding and there have been positive developments in the security and humanitarian situations. The Yemeni government, the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition forces reaffirmed their commitments to the truce at the third meeting of the Military Coordination Committee in Amman. China welcomes these developments, said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

"The truce in Yemen expires on Aug. 2. Extending the truce is the shared aspiration of the Yemeni people and the international community, and is in the common interests of all parties in Yemen," he told the Security Council. "China hopes that all parties in Yemen will strengthen their political will, stay firmly in the general direction of political settlement, actively push for an extension of the truce and work together to seek a lasting solution to the Yemen issue."

Yemen is experiencing the worst food crisis in recent years with more than 19 million people facing famine. However, only about 26 percent of the UN humanitarian response plan for Yemen is currently funded. Multiple aid projects of the UN system are about to be suspended or scaled down due to insufficient funding, he noted.

China welcomes the tireless efforts of the United Nations and relevant agencies to improve the humanitarian situation in Yemen and calls on the international community to keep its input in Yemen, honor its commitments to assistance, and increase its funding so as to simultaneously improve the humanitarian and security situations. All parties in Yemen should actively cooperate in the humanitarian operations and facilitate humanitarian access, he said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
In Canadas New Brunswick, a British New England

New Brunswick looks and feels like New England had the British won the American Revolution or the war never happened in the first place.

While Canada has obviously evolved and developed its own distinct national identity since New Brunswick was founded in 1784 by Americans loyal to the British crown  some 15,000 loyalists fled here from the newly independent United States  I could feel the influences of New England and Britain everywhere I went on my summer road trip across the province.

The Britishness was mostly little things; think places or streets with names linked to the monarchy or statesmen. Some may find this a little ironic since New Brunswick is legally the only bilingual Canadian province. Meanwhile, the oldest towns and cities had a distinct New England feel.

Over the course of four nights and five days, I visited the somewhat sleepy provincial capital of Fredericton and explored the streets of Saint John, the oldest incorporated city in Canada, before driving along the Bay of Fundy.

Fredericton

Named after Prince Frederick, brother of King George III, the smallish city (population 58,220) is the seat of New Brunswicks government.

Dominating the downtown, which is situated a block or two off the St. John River, are two landmarks: the Gothic revival Anglican cathedral and Second Empire-style building housing the New Brunswick Legislature.

A nearly identical copy of a 14th century church in England, Christ Church Cathedral owes its existence to the patronage of the Right Rev. John Medley, who in 1845 became the first Anglican bishop of Fredericton. While smaller than more famous Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, it punches well above its weight and is actually one of the best examples of Gothic revival  an architectural style that became synonymous with churches  anywhere in North America.

The Legislature, which consists of a single or unicameral house, is in a building that feels familiar to anyone who has visited state capitols. Of course, like just about everything else in New Brunswick, the British influence is omnipresent. This includes the Legislative Assemblys chamber, where a portrait of George III by Sir Joshua Reynolds hangs next to a throne that sees use when the lieutenant governor, as Queen Elizabeth IIs viceregal, opens the provincial parliament in a ceremony comparable to the presidents state of the union or a governors state of the state speech.

Other sights include the old British military buildings of the Historic Garrison District. Here, a community market is held every Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Sept. 8. When I visited, the city band was performing a concert that included a tribute to the queens platinum jubilee. Then there is Government House, a kind of palace where the lieutenant governor lives and works. Those more interested in old churches will also want to see St. Annes, an Anglican chapel-of-ease from the same period as the cathedral.

Saint John

As one might expect from its location in Canadas Maritime provinces, Saint John (population 68,895) has long been a port city.

Downtown (locals call it uptown) is a mix of various periods and styles, thanks to a fire in 1877 that destroyed most of the city. Ignoring some of the hideous 1960s architecture, including one of the ugliest city halls I have ever seen, the older brick buildings have the same character as the Rust Belt cities back home.

Walking around, you get a sense that Saint John is very much an underrated destination  yes, a little tired, but also poised for urban revitalization.

While the provincial museum is sadly closed with no announced reopening date, there are a number of other things to do and see, including the park-like Loyalist Burial Ground, Kings Square with its Edwardian-era bandstand, and Loyalist House, where five generations of a family that sought refuge in New Brunswick after the British lost the American Revolution lived.

Another stop on the self-guided Loyalist Trail is Trinity Church, an Anglican church that contains the royal coat of arms taken from Bostons Old State House. There is also the newish Place Fort LaTour, a small recreated French trading post from the 17th century that stands as a visible reminder of the Acadians who settled here in the years after Samuel de Champlain claimed this part of North America for France.

About 40 minutes away near the loyalist-founded village of St. Martins is the west entrance to the Fundy Trail Parkway.

The 18-mile parkway parallels the coast along the Bay of Fundy at the western side of Fundy National Park. Separating New Brunswick from sister province Nova Scotia, the bay is known for twice-daily tides that are the highest anywhere in the world.

Besides scenic views that must be even more spectacular on a foggy morning or during fall colors, the slow-paced drive features 21 roadside lookout points as well as seemingly endless opportunities to hike, picnic or enjoy isolated beaches.

If you go

I flew into Fredericton, which has daily flights to hubs in Montreal and Toronto  making New Brunswick reachable from most major U.S. airports with just one connection. Canadas two big airlines, United partner Air Canada and Delta partner WestJet, serve the recently renovated airport.

With rental cars expensive and hard to come by this summer, you may want to consider driving to New Brunswick. The drive from the closest U.S. airport in Portland, Maine, is less than five hours. From Boston, its about six hours, depending on traffic.

In Fredericton, I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook. While it has the best location, the upscale chain-branded hotel didnt deliver the expected standard. A better alternative might be an Airbnb rental. For dinner, try Isaacs Way inside the former county courthouse or Wolastoq Wharf.

For Saint John, book a room at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites. The hotel is a short walk along the harborfront from everything to do and see. Eat at Billys Seafood Company, a local favorite in the historic City Market, or East Coast Bistro.

Dennis Lennox writes a travel column for The Christian Post.
Authorities investigate fires at 2 Maryland churches as priest suspects abortion motive

Authorities are seeking information on fires that started at two churches in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C., over the weekend as a third nearby church was also vandalized. Some believe there could have been a hate-driven motive for the property attacks.

North Bethesda United Methodist Church in North Bethesda was vandalized early Saturday morning. Firefighters responded to Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church, also located in the Montgomery County community, on early Sunday morning.

Bethesdas Wildwood Baptist Church also experienced vandalism over the weekend.

Pete Piringer, the chief information officer for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services, took to Twitter to announce that North Bethesda UMC suffered arson & associated vandalism causing $1,000 in damage. In the same tweet, he stated that investigators located damaged head stones & broken wood pieces scattered on the grounds of Wildwood Baptist Church, located just down the street from North Bethesda UMC.

ICYMI (7/9) ~130a Sat morn 10100 Old Georgetown Rd, North Bethesda United Methodist Church, arson & associated vandalism, damage ~K, in addition Investigators located damaged head stones & broken wood pieces scattered 10200blk Old Georgetwn Rd A/F Wildwood Baptist Church pic.twitter.com/JJuWs4EMvS  Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) July 10, 2022

Piringer previously announced that a fire broke out at 2:15 a.m. ET at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church, engulfing several pews in [the] main church area. In a tweet posted at 2:43 a.m. Sunday, Piringer noted that the fire was out and no injuries had been reported.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service stated that 65 firefighters responded to the fire and extinguished the fire quickly. Authorities also declared that this was the second act of vandalism targeting the church in two days, according to NBC Washington.

Update - St Jane de Chantal Church, fire involved several pews in main church area, fire is out, no injuries, https://t.co/TOy4lo5G9l  Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) July 10, 2022

Due to the damage, Saint Jane Frances de Chantal will hold masses at the Christopher Hall Gymnasium for the time being, according to the churchs website.

The priest, Rev. Samuel Giese, elaborated on the vandalism at the beginning of Sundays mass.



Last night, our church was vandalized. People broke in, they overturned statues, they tore down the stations of the cross, they desecrated the tabernacle and tried to set the church on fire.

Additionally, Giese shared his belief that the attack came because of the Churchs stand on the issue of life, referring to the Roman Catholic Churchs outspoken opposition to abortion.

There are those who believe that we do not have even the right to practice our faith," Giese said.

However, we are the Church. We are the living stones. We are the Body of Christ."

In remarks made during the Sunday morning worship at North Bethesda UMC, guest preacher Rev. Joye Jones called the vandalism mischief, speculating that if it had been genuine vandalism, we would have been dealing with a lot worse stuff.

Jones expressed gratitude that none of the attempted fires took hold and that we can replace all the stuff that was in the kitchen that was damaged.

I want to remind you, she added. The church is not a building. We love our building, its a beautiful building, and Im so glad that we have it. But the church is not a building.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, a Democrat, condemned the vandalism in a statement published Monday, calling the actions completely unacceptable.

[T]he criminal activity that took place over the weekend does not represent the values of inclusion and equity that we are striving for in the communities of this County," he said. "We pride ourselves on our diversity of religious communities. A hateful incident against one community impacts us all.

Hate in any form has no home in Montgomery County, he insisted.

The Maryland chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations issued a statement urging law enforcement authorities to investigate the possibility of a bias motive for these disturbing incidents.

Over the past few months, several churches and pro-life groups have been the victims of arson and other vandalism due to their stance on abortion.

A wave of property attacks was triggered in May when Politico published a leaked draft opinion of Dobbs v. JacksonWomens Health Organization indicating that the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

The acts of vandalism, and nonviolent protests, continued in late June after the Supreme Court released its final opinion in Dobbs overturning Roe.
Church of England says it has 'no official definition' of a woman

The Church of England, which heralded the appointment of its first female bishop in 2017, said it could no longer provide an official definition of a woman.

The Telegraph reported that the announcement came as a written response to a member from the General Synod, the denomination's legislative body, asking the question, "What is the Church of Englands definition of a woman?

In response, the Rev. Robert Innes, the denomination's bishop in Europe, wrote: There is no official definition, which reflects the fact that until fairly recently definitions of this kind were thought to be self-evident, as reflected in the marriage liturgy.

Innes referenced the denomination's Living in Love and Faith project, which aims to be a part of discerning a way forward for the Church of England in relation to matters of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage, according to its website.

Citing what he described as the marriage complexities associated with gender identity, Innes said the project points to the need for additional care and thought to be given in understanding our commonalities and differences as people made in the image of God.

The LLF project has garnered support from LGBT activist groups like the Ozanne Foundation, which in November 2020 hailed the project as working toward making the church more genuinely inclusive, recognizing the high cost borne by so many LGBT+ people today, and the significant safeguarding risks that need to be urgently addressed."

The Diocese of London did not reply to The Christian Post's request for comment by press time.

The Church of Englands official website has 176 search results for the word woman, including the 2014 announcement of Rev. Libby Lane as the the first woman bishop in the Church of England.

The recently retired Rev. Angela Berners-Wilson, the first woman ordained by the church as a priest in 1994, told the Telegraph she was not totally happy with the announcement.

I mean, I do think certain things like men cant have babies just to say the complete obvious thing, she added. But I think we need to be very sensitive and maybe we need to reexamine our boundaries.

The Church of Englands decision to allow for women to become bishops came 20 years after the denomination had voted to allow for female ordination.

In January 2015, Lane was consecrated the first female bishop, with her installation ceremony having a heckler interrupt by shouting, "Not in the Bible!"

In March 2015, the Ven. Rachel Treweek was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Gloucester, making her the first female bishop to lead a regional body.

In 2019, the church saw thousands of its clergy object to a newly-introduced baptism service for transgender members.
FBI arrests youth pastor for role in Jan. 6 riot after getting tip from Bible college acquaintance

The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested a youth pastor for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, following a tip from someone he knew at a Bible college.

Tyler Earl Ethridge, a 33-year-old youth pastor from Colorado Springs, was arrested last Friday and charged with civil disorder, a felony and other related misdemeanor offenses.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Ethridge was among hundreds who illegally entered the Capitol during the riot and encouraged others to do the same.

A statement from the Justice Department states that Ethridge helped remove fencing before entering the building. He posted several videos of himself on social media documenting his actions.

"I'm probably going to lose my job as a pastor after this," said Ethridge in one of the videos. "I think we're to a point where talk is cheap. If this makes me lose my reputation, I don't care."

On Sept. 24, 2021, Ethridge posted a message to social media: "Don't be afraid of what they sentence you with. I'm not. I'm ready for whatever I'll be charged with. America is still primed and ready."

According to a "Statement of Facts" document, authorities were tipped off to Ethridge's actions by an unnamed person who knew him from Charis Bible College in Woodland Park, Colorado.

"According to the tipster, ETHRIDGE was 'on scaffolding outside Nancy Pelosi's office and inside the chamber. He was on Facebook telling everyone about it,'" noted the document.

While Ethridge told authorities in 2021 that he did not remove any barricades, videos and photos found online showed him participating in their removal and entering the Capitol Rotunda.

The document also stated that Ethridge had been shot with at least one rubber bullet and was pepper-sprayed by security personnel at the Capitol building.

The statement of facts also provided additional quotes from Ethridge during his time inside the Capitol building, in which he said that the election was "stolen" and this was "what pastors need to do."

"Christians, we need to infiltrate every area of society like this. Every area of society like this. Peacefully," Ethridge was quoted as saying, according to the document.

"But if it takes a little bit of aggression to barge through the walls that Satan separates us from the culture, it's time for the body of Christ to infiltrate the culture."

According to The Gazette, Ethridge was employed at the Christ Center Church of Tampa in Dover, Florida, at the time of the riot. The church announced nearly two weeks later that Ethridge was no longer with the congregation.

With Ethridge being a Charis Bible College's School of Practical Government graduate, the college issued a statement on Jan. 21, 2021, stating that "an alumnus was present in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6 to attend the Trump Rally."

"Although the Ministry vigorously supports every citizen's right to free speech and peaceful assembly, we adamantly oppose the violence or other violations of the law that occurred," the college stated. "In addition, we do not condone or teach insurrectionist practices in our School of Practical Government, but instead, we encourage graduates to live out their faith as active and responsible citizens."

Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump held a rally at the Ellipse near the White House. During his speech, Trump rejected the official results of the 2020 election, in which he lost to Democratic challenger Joe Biden. The rally was held the same day that U.S. Congress held a joint session to certify the election results.

With thousands in town for the rally, several hundred people went to Capitol Hill, where another rally was to be held. However, protesters stormed the Capitol, attacking security guards, damaging property and entering several offices before gradually leaving several hours later.

Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed veteran, was the only person killed by lethal force during the riot when she was shot trying to climb through a smashed door pane into the House Chamber.

Last August, the U.S. Capitol Police announced the officer who shot Babbitt would not be prosecuted, concluding that he had acted lawfully when using deadly force.

Three other individuals died of natural causes, while 34-year-old Trump supporter Rosanne Boyland was killed when she was trampled to death by protesters fighting a police line.

According to the DOJ, approximately 850 people have been arrested for their involvement Jan. 6 riot, with over 260 individuals charged with various offenses.

In May, 45-year-old William Todd Wilson of the group Oath Keepers pled guilty to charges of seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding for his involvement in the riot.

Wilson was the third Oath Keepers member to plead guilty to such charges, agreeing as part of a deal to cooperate with authorities in their ongoing investigation of the Jan. 6 riot.

In June, the Justice Department announced that five members of the Proud Boys, including the group's former national chairman, were charged with seditious conspiracy and other charges for actions before and during the Jan. 6 riot.
Under Half Of Americans Believe Bible Is True, Catholic Minister In Race To Be UK PM, Stranger Things Increased Violence And Profanity

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 07:52 07:52

A Christian adoption agency's embryo adoption program has led to the birth of hundreds of babies as the practice of embryo adoption and donation remains a contentious issue, even among Christians.



MP Tom Tugendhat and former Tory Member of Parliament Kemi Badenoch are among those running to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson who announced his resignation.



Netflixs hit series Stranger Things seems to be getting more explicit as the show  and its young cast  grow older, according to a parents watchdog group.



Jewish organizations in the United States have denounced the Presbyterian Church (USA)s recent passage of a resolution labeling Israel an apartheid state.



While biblical literalism has long been held as the most dominant method of interpreting Scripture among Evangelicals, results of a new poll released by Gallup show that fewer than half of Evangelicals and born-Christians believe the Bible should be taken literally.
Fewer than half of Evangelicals believe Bible is literally true: study

While biblical literalism has long been held as the most dominant method of interpreting Scripture among Evangelicals, results of a new poll released by Gallup show that fewer than half of Evangelicals and born-again Christians believe the Bible should be taken literally.

Biblical literalism holds that except in places where the text is obviously allegorical, poetic or figurative, it should be taken literally as Gods Word, according to Got Questions Ministries, which holds this view of the Bible.

The poll, conducted through telephone interviews from May 2-22 with a random sample of 1,007 adults, found that just 40% of respondents who identify as Evangelical or born-again view the Bible as the actual word of God, while 51% see the Bible as the inspired word of God, meaning that men were inspired by God to write the collection of books now referred to as the Bible.

In general, among all U.S. adults, only 20% say the Bible is the literal word of God, which is a historic low according to Gallup. In 2017, the last time the research firm asked Americans about their views of the Bible, 24% of respondents accepted it as the literal word of God. A record 29% of Americans say the Bible is a collection of "fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man."

This marks the first time significantly more Americans have viewed the Bible as not divinely inspired than as the literal word of God. The largest percentage, 49%, choose the middle alternative, roughly in line with where it has been in previous years, Gallup said.

In 2015, just under 60% of Evangelical churches espoused a literal interpretation of Scripture, data from Pew Research showed. In 2019, Pew Research also noted that some 61% of Southern Baptists, who tend to express higher levels of religious commitment than Americans overall, accepted the Bible as the literal word of God. This share exceeded the share of those who hold this belief among all U.S. adults, 31%, and among other Evangelical Protestants, which had fallen to 53%.

The recent Gallup data show that only 30% of Protestants say the Bible is literally true, while just 15% of Catholics do. Almost two-thirds of Catholics view the Bible as the inspired word of God.

As was the case in 2017, belief in a literal Bible is highest among those who are more religious and among those with less formal education, Gallup said. Americans who identify as Evangelical or born again are much more likely than others to view the Bible as literally true, although even among this group, the percentage believing in a literal Bible is well less than 50%.

The data from the Gallup poll comes less than a year after, a study from Arizona Christian University found that of an estimated 176 million American adults who identify as Christian, just 6% or 15 million of them actually hold a biblical worldview.

The study found, in general, that while a majority of Americas self-identified Christians, including many who identify as Evangelical, believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and is the Creator of the universe, more than half reject a number of biblical teachings and principles, including the existence of the Holy Spirit.

Strong majorities also errantly believe that all religious faiths are of equal value, people are basically good and that people can use acts of goodness to earn their way into Heaven. The study further showed that majorities dont believe in moral absolutes; consider feelings, experience, or the input of friends and family as their most trusted sources of moral guidance; and say that having faith matters more than which faith you pursue.
The next level in spiritual maturity  its Jesus church

Red Church.

Blue Church.

Purple Church.

True Church?

Ever find yourself wondering  What is the church? What is it for? What does it mean to be a true Christ-follower as part of the family of God in our world in our day? What is my part in it? Is being a Christian really about embroiling myself in politics? Engaging angry hate speech on social media toward people I disagree with?

In the swirl and vortex of cultural turmoil these days, trying to answer these questions can be hard. Confusing at the least. But has there ever been a time when it was more important for the church to remember who we truly are? We are a Jesus Church. And the main reason is that we are Jesus Church!

Jesus loves us. Jesus calls us. Jesus saves us. Jesus went to the cross for us, died and rose for us, comes alive by His Spirit in us, and then reaches out through us in mission in this world. Jesus declared Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it! I was taught by a spiritual mentor years ago that The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing! Jesus is our Main Thing.

Jesus is our Message. Jesus is our Model. Jesus is our Mentor. And Jesus is still our Maker, willing and ready to transform our lives after the likeness of His own so we can join Him on mission in our world. Jesus said, Follow me and I will make you Jesus shapes His followers to be fishers of men rescuers of people in the troubled seas of life. Toward the end of his life, John Wesley commissioned Thomas Coke to go to America and ordain leaders for ministry. As Coke boarded the ship, he is said to have asked, Sir, What shall I offer them? Wesley said, Offer them Christ, Thomas. Offer them Christ.

In a day when distrust of institutional church is rampant, when Another one bites the dust feels like it was written about spiritual leaders, and when the hot button issues of the day are so powerful believers can easily be sucked into vulnerable places, whats the solution? The Apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians says, become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (4:13) He continues, Then we will no longer be infants, tossed to and fro by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming (4:14).

Grey Matter Research recently reported that the majority of Christians surveyed in America identify themselves as young in their faith development, as spiritual toddlers. Toddling can be cute and fun as a time in physical development, but no one is meant to stay there. Healthy growth toward full potential is the goal. And so also in spiritual development. Being a child is a healthy part of growing up in the Lord, but no one is meant to get stuck there! Everyone is meant to grow to full potential in Christ, as Paul says to become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ Jesus Church is to be a maternity ward for spiritual newborns, but it must ever be a maturity journey calling each to their next level in Christ.

That same study by Grey Matter Research also showed that some of the helpful habits for moving us forward in spiritual maturity were missing in the majority of those surveyed. Some of these simple practices  such as Bible reading, prayer, and church attendance  are outlined in my book Mature-ish: Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It, upon which the study was based. As Jesus Church, we know these are the steps we must follow, and I pray that as we start to incorporate them into our lives  one baby step at a time  well see ourselves reaching new levels in our relationship with Christ. And just as importantly, if not more so, well start reflecting Jesus to the culture around us.
Vatican bishop warns Catholic missionaries in Hong Kong of Chinas looming crackdown

The Vaticans unofficial representative in Hong Kong had warned Catholic missions in the city that tough days are ahead for them as China is increasingly restricting religious freedom.

Change is coming, and youd better be prepared," Mexico-born Monsignor Javier Herrera Corona, a bishop who served in the city for six years before his term ended in March, told the citys Catholic missions that month, Reuters reported. "Hong Kong is not the great Catholic beachhead it was."

Herrera-Corona warned about the coming restrictions in four meetings with the Catholic missions in Hong Kong between last October and March.

The 54-year-old from Mexico who is now an archbishop in the Republic of Congo and Gabon said that Hong Kongs closer integration with China could lead to mainland-style restrictions on religious groups.

According to Reuters, Herrera-Corona and other envoys at the unofficial mission in the city had begun discreetly moving cases of archives overseas for safekeeping even before the National Security Law was enforced in 2020, ending a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong following the 1997 British handover.

Hong Kongs National Security Law can restrict fundamental freedoms and has four categories of crimes: succession, subversion of state power, local terrorist activities and collaborating with foreign or external foreign forces to endanger national security.

The law also positions Beijing as over the Hong Kong judicial system in cases deemed related to national security, the U.S.-based watchdog group China Aid reported. This means that the judges in these cases must be Beijing-approved. Hong Kong residents can now also be taken to China, where they will face a courtroom with allegiance to the government.

In May, Chinese officials arrested 90-year-old former archbishop of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen for charges related to Hong Kong's National Security Law. He was arrested with trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, who backed protesters in the 2019 pro-democracy protests.

Earlier this year, a Chinese state-owned newspaper accused churches and Cardinal Zen of inciting Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests and called for greater control over Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist Party.

Late last month, the Rev. Jonathan Aitken, an Anglican priest, former United Kingdom cabinet minister and member of Parliament, also warned about restrictions as Chinese President Xi Jinping marked the 25th anniversary of the citys handover from Britain to China.

The skies are darkening for religious freedom in Hong Kong, Aitken said during a speech at the National Club in London on June 29, UCA News reported. There are increasingly ominous signs that religious freedom in Hong Kong is next on the hit list by the destructive forces of Xis regime.

China has often been accused of rights abuses against religious minorities, including Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghur Muslims.

Open Doors USA, which covers persecution in over 60 countries, estimates that China has more than 97 million Christians, many of whom worship in unregistered or so-called illegal underground churches.

The five state-sanctioned religious groups in China are the Buddhist Association of China, the Chinese Taoist Association, the Islamic Association of China, the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

Even the organizations within the five authorized religions are subject to surveillance and limitations.

Internet censorship targeting Christians in China, including government-sanctioned Christian groups, is severe.

In April, a well-known Christian website disappeared after serving believers for about 21 years.

China has been labeled for years by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for egregious religious freedom violations.

The U.S. has accused the Chinese Communist Party of committing genocide against the Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority of approximately 12 million people heavily concentrated in the Western province of Xinjiang. Estimates suggest that over 1 million people, including Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups, have been held in tightly-controlled concentration camps in Xinjiang.

In those camps, prisoners are taught to be secular citizens who will never oppose the ruling Communist Party. Those who have fled from the region have spoken of forced abortions and the torture they experienced.

China has continually denied allegations of unjustly detaining Uighur and other ethnic minority Muslims.
Catholic MP, ex-faith minister vying to be next UK PM as race kicks off to replace Boris Johnson

Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, a Catholic, and former Tory Member of Parliament Kemi Badenoch, who describes herself as a cultural Christian, are among those running to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who announced his pending resignation last week.

I am putting together a broad coalition of colleagues that will bring new energy and ideas to government, wrote Tugendhat, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, in a piece for The Telegraph.

My view is clear  the Conservative Party must be a broad church that anyone can find their home in, whether young or old, northern or southern, renter or owner, writes the MP for Tonbridge and Malling. We must show leadership and conviction on our Conservative values and their ability to enrich lives across every part of the country.

In November 2017, Tugendhat, who has studied Christian and Islamic theology, appealed to Johnson on behalf of British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was held in an Iranian prison on the false accusation of plotting to overthrow Irans government, Premier Christian News noted.

Tugendhat had urged Johnson to ask either the U.K. heads of the Anglican or Catholic Church to negotiate her release at the time. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was finally released in March this year, as The Christian Post reported.

In a debate about the EU referendum and Catholic values in 2016, Tugendhat urged the faithful not to lose sight of the foundational beliefs that united citizens ahead of the Remain versus Leave vote that was subsequently won by Brexit supporters.

The MP previously served on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and as the military assistant to the chief of the defense staff, according to his bio on the website of St. Augustines College of Theology. When the Iraq War broke out in 2003, Tom was mobilized as an Arabic-speaking intelligence officer to serve with the Royal Marines."

Tugendhat also went to Beirut as a journalist where he wrote about the conflict as well as regional politics and economics.

Badenoch, the former MP for Saffron Walden, who was brought up in Nigeria and once worked at McDonald's while studying for her A-levels at school, also announced her candidacy in a piece for The Sunday Times.

Im putting myself forward in this leadership election because I want to tell the truth. Its the truth that will set us free, wrote the former Minister for Local Government, Faith and Communities, which included being the governments liaison for the countrys faith leaders.

The mainstream right has too often become detached from its voter base, and rather than seeking to understand the new challenges voters faced, ignored them, leading to electoral failure and paving the way for populism in desperation. We cannot allow that to happen here, the 42-year-old politician added.

We need strong but limited government focused on the essentials, she wrote. Lower taxes yes, but to boost growth and productivity, and accompanied by tight spending discipline.

Badenochs maternal grandfather was a Methodist minister and her paternal grandfather was a Muslim who converted in later life, according to a 2017 interview with Conservative Home.

She is married to Hamish Badenoch, a Catholic, with whom she has two children.

My familys sort of Anglican and Methodist. My maternal grandfather was a Methodist reverend, she said in the interview.  Im an honorary or associate member of the Catholic Church  Im agnostic really, but I was brought up with cultural Christian values.

She also said, Im not really left-leaning on anything.

In May, the prime ministers sister, journalist Rachel Johnson, interviewed Badenoch on her Difficult Women podcast where she was described as having a fearsome reputation as a woman of color who takes a machete to the narrative of victimhood" based on one's gender, color or class. Badenoch, who was already being talked about as a future prime minister, discussed the issue of racism from the perspective of growing up in Nigeria and why she's fighting back against wokeism and movements that seek to dismantle society.

In March, Badenoch joined London church leaders in a demonstration at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London to express support for the Ukrainian people and the role the Christian church can play in welcoming Ukrainians who were arriving in the U.K. at the time.

Since the conflict began, people in this country have been in awe of the determination and courage Ukrainians have shown, she said, according to a government press release. It has sparked a wave of support across the U.K. with people up and down the country making donations to help the humanitarian effort and attending vigils to show solidarity.

She added, As ever, the church and other faith communities have been at the heart of these humanitarian efforts, and I stand together with faith leaders in calling for peace and offering our full support.

The field of Conservatives vying to be selected as the next prime minister is crowded, with former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Attorney General Suella Braverman, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who also previously served as home secretary, chancellor and other government departments being among the long list of names entering the race.

By 5 p.m. local time on Monday the 1922 Committee will release a timeline for ministers in the Tory Party to vote on who will be the next prime minister. It's expected that the U.K. will have a new prime minister by early September, ahead of the first Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament.
Amazon will be offering discounts on a variety of items during its two-day Prime Day shopping event that began Tuesday.

The Seattle-based ecommerce giant started the sales event in 2015 in response to Singles Day, a shopping holiday in China popularized by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba. Other retailers, including Best Buy and Target, are offering their own online discounts during Prime Day, trying to grab the attention of shoppers looking for deals online.

For Amazon, Prime Day has been a way to get people to sign up for its $139 a year Prime membership, which gets shoppers faster shipping and access to the deals. The company doesnt disclose total Prime Day sales, though research firm Insider Intelligence suggests sales could climb to about $7.76 billion in the U.S. alone  or 16.8% over last year.

WHAT ARE CONSUMERS LOOKING FOR?

The best deals they can find, including time-sensitive deals that are offered on the site for a short period of time, according to Google search trends.

Data on what customers are directly buying remains limited. But some preliminary information from the data group Numerator shows consumers are purchasing more electronics, a category Amazon tends to emphasize for deals. Electronics were also one of the top purchased categories last year, along with health and beauty items and apparel.

In an analysis of about 4,830 Prime Day orders made by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Numerator found some of the top items sold Tuesday have been Amazons Fire TV Sticks, the Echo Dot smart speakers, Cascade Dishwasher Pods and Amazon Basics Trash Bags. Earlier in the day, Insignia Fire TVs and Apple Airpods were listed as some of the most purchased items.

So far, the average price customers spent per item has been $34.08, Numerator said. Most of the items have sold for $30 or less, while 6.2% have sold for over $100.

HOW MUCH DO CUSTOMERS TYPICALLY SPEND?

Not as much as they used to. So far, Numerator says the average Prime Day order this year is $52.22. Last year, consumers on average spent $54.15 per order, a roughly 8% decline from $58.77 in 2019, according to Numerator.

The reason for the decline might be in part because consumers are buying cheaper alternatives for products on the site, said Guru Hariharan, the CEO of CommerceIQ, a software company that helps brands sell online. But analysts also say the events shifting dates makes it difficult to draw year-over-year comparisons.

Still, global sales growth have also slowed. Sales for last years event grew by 8%, much lower than the 67.9% and 43% spikes in 2019 and 2020 respectively, according to Insider Intelligence. This year, the firm projects global sales growth on Prime Day to bump up to 17% due to a higher level of frugal shopping among consumers and the mid-July timing, which will allow Amazon to pull in more consumers doing back-to-school shopping.

ARE THERE MAJOR DISCOUNTS ON ALL ITEMS?

Not necessarily. According to an analysis from CommerceIQ that tracked an index of discount items that brands sold directly to Amazon, products that were already on sale before Prime Day  excluding electronics -- did not see a significant rise in price cuts on Prime Day. The group's data, which tracked discount levels in 2020 and 2021, showed discount levels for many items hovered around 30% before and after Prime Day.

CommerceIQ said only home and kitchen items saw an increase in discounts during the shopping event. Meanwhile, tools, home improvement and office products actually had lower levels of discounts compared to surrounding days.
Reed Saxon/AP

Boeing said Tuesday that it delivered 51 passenger and cargo planes in June, the aircraft maker's best month for deliveries in more than three years, as airlines saw demand recovering from pandemic lows.

Boeing Co. shares rose about 8% in afternoon trading.
Starbucks is closing 16 stores around the country because of repeated safety issues, including drug use and other disruptive behaviors that threaten staff.

The coffee giant is closing six stores in its hometown of Seattle, six in Los Angeles, two in Portland, Oregon and one each in Philadelphia and Washington. Starbucks said employees at those stores will be given the opportunity to transfer to other stores.

Starbucks said Tuesday the closures are part of a larger effort to respond to staff concerns and make sure stores are safe and welcoming. In a letter to employees, Starbucks senior vice presidents of operations Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson said the companys stores arent immune from problems like rising drug use and a growing mental health crisis.

We know these challenges can, at times, play out within our stores too. We read every incident report you file  its a lot, Stroud and Nelson wrote.

But the company also faced criticism from some workers who said they werent consulted or given any options besides closure.

We think it is not fair that we were not allowed to be a part of this decision about our working conditions, nor for Starbucks to claim they could not provide a safe experience for our workplace, said Mari Cosgrove, an employee at one of the Seattle stores that is closing.

The closures took on heightened significance because of an ongoing unionization effort at Starbucks U.S. stores. More than 189 U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late last year, according to the National Labor Relations Board. Starbucks opposes the unionization effort.

Two of the Seattle stores that are closing have voted to unionize, while one of the Portland stores has petitioned to hold a union vote. Last month, Starbucks also closed a unionized store in Ithaca, New York, because of operational problems, including an overflowing grease trap.

Starbucks Workers United, the labor group organizing the effort, said it intends to file unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks on behalf of the two unionized stores that are closing in Seattle.

But Starbucks insisted the closures werent related to the unionization drive.

Opening and closing stores is part of our business operations, a spokesperson for the company said. This is really rooted in safe and welcoming stores.

U.S. labor law doesnt prevent Starbucks from closing its stores for business reasons. But it cant close a store  whether its unionized or not  in retaliation against labor organizers.

In the letter to employees, Starbucks said it is willing to make adjustments to ensure store safety, including modifying operating hours and moving furniture  or removing it  in order to give employees a clearer view of the store. The company said it's testing alarm systems and sensors to alert employees if someone is in a restroom.

Starbucks also noted an effort  now in eight cities  called Outreach Worker, which connects store employees to nonprofit groups who can help with patrons who are chronically homeless, mentally ill or abusing drugs.

The company also said restrooms at some stores might be closed if they become a safety hazard.

That's a reversal from 2018, when Starbucks issued a policy allowing anyone to use its restrooms even if they didn't buy anything. That decision was made after a Starbucks employee called police to report two Black men who were denied the use of a restroom and asked to leave. The men, who were in Starbucks waiting for a business meeting, were arrested; they later reached a settlement with Starbucks.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  A 500-year-old Orthodox icon that was looted from a church in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus has been returned to the island.

The icon of the Enthroned Christ, which Cyprus Antiquities Department dates to around the end of the 15th century to the early 16th century, was presented at a ceremony Tuesday to the head of the islands Orthodox Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos.
NEW YORK (AP)  The country's next poet laureate, Ada Limon, has long thought of her work as a public art form.

I grew up with poetry being in the community, says Limon, a native of Sonoma, California. It wasn't supposed to just be something read on page; it was supposed be read out loud. I remember going to poetry readings at the bookstore where I worked when I was 16. It's the oral tradition. That part of poetry has always remained true to me.

On Tuesday, the Library of Congress announced that the 46-year-old Limon had been named the 24th U.S. poet laureate, officially called the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Her 1-year term begins Sept. 29 with the traditional reading at the Library's Coolidge Auditorium, one of the laureate's few formal obligations. Limon, who succeeds Joy Harjo, is an award-winning and unusually popular poet, her acclaimed collection Bright Dead Things selling more than 40,000 copies. She has published six books of poetry, most recently The Hurting Kind, and also hosts the podcast The Slowdown.

Ada Limon is a poet who connects, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. Her accessible, engaging poems ground us in where we are and who we share our world with. They speak of intimate truths, of the beauty and heartbreak that is living, in ways that help us move forward.

The position was established in 1985, with other laureates including Louise Gluck, W.S. Merwin and Rita Dove. Laureates receive a $35,000 stipend, along with $5,000 for travel expenses, the funding originating not from the government, but from a private gift made decades ago by the philanthropist Archer M. Huntington.

While the job is officially based in Washington, D.C., the poets are not required to live there  Limon will mostly work from her home in Lexington, Kentucky  and are generally free to shape the position around their passions. The Slowdown podcast grew out of a project launched by Tracy K. Smith when she served as laureate from 2017-2019.

Limon is known in part for her poems about nature and hopes to give readings at parks and other settings that emphasize and celebrate our place in the world.

Poetry is a way of to remember our relationship with the natural world is reciprocal," she says. It's having a place to breathe and having a place to pay attention.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  Alabama on Tuesday closed a $509 million bond deal to help build two supersize prisons amid lawsuits by inmates bidding to block the project.

The Alabama Finance Department confirmed that the bond sale, which had been approved last month, was finalized. The deal closure comes after criminal justice reform activists had strived for more than a year to disrupt the sale. But legal wrangling over the project is continuing through ongoing litigation.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and lawmakers approved the construction as a solution to the state's ongoing prison woes. Critics of the plan argue that the state is ignoring the bigger issues  prison staffing levels and leadership  to focus on building projects.

The construction of new and modern correctional facilities is absolutely and undeniably necessary to support the safety of both inmates and staff, to improve mental health care, to provide space for vocational and rehabilitative programs, and ultimately to protect public safety, Alabama officials said in a statement.

No eleventh-hour lawsuits by inmates or activists will halt these efforts, and the state intends to move to dismiss the lawsuits and to vigorously defend against the claims as being without merit, it continued.

The state provided a formal disclosure to underwriters and bond holders regarding the lawsuit, a spokeswoman for the department wrote in an email.

Activists had tried to discourage the deal, calling it a cruel investment in mass incarceration. A group of activists and impact investors had urged buyers to stay away from the bond offering.

"It's incredibly disappointing that Alabama just seems hellbent on building prisons," said Eric Glass, an adviser to Justice Capital, an investment fund that joined the call for a boycott.

The bond sale fell $200 million short of expectations, but Glass said it is disappointing that the state had more than $500 million in orders.

While financing for the construction was secured, legal wrangling is ongoing over the project.

Inmates filed a lawsuit claiming state officials violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to analyze the environmental impacts of the new prisons. Another lawsuit challenges Alabama's use of $400 million in pandemic relief funds from the American Rescue Plan to help pay for the construction.

Building more prisons violates the guiding purpose of ARP: to foster a strong and equitable recovery that will uplift the communities most impacted by the pandemic namely, low-income communities and communities of color, the lawsuit states.

A separate action filed by an inmate argues the construction cost will drain financial resources and interfere with the prison systems compliance with a court order to dramatically boost the number of correctional officers working inside state lockups.

Alabama prisons remain deadly and dangerous years after federal officials warned the state of unconstitutional conditions, the U.S. Department of Justice said last year, noting that inmate-on-inmate homicides have increased from already high levels.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Opioid makers Allergan and Teva have agreed to pay $54 million in cash and overdose reversal drugs to settle a federal lawsuit brought by San Francisco alleging the drug industry fueled an overdose and addiction surge that created a public nuisance.

City Attorney David Chiu made the announcement Tuesday before closing arguments against the sole remaining defendant, Walgreens, started later in the morning. The lawsuit alleges that the pharmacy chain over-dispensed opioids without proper oversight and failed to identify and report suspicious orders as required by law.

Drug overdose deaths have surged in the country, including in San Francisco. Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency last year in the Tenderloin neighborhood, saying something had to be done about the high concentration of drug dealers and people consuming drugs out in public.

The city attorney's office says San Francisco saw a nearly 500% increase in opioid-related overdose deaths between 2015 and 2020 and that on a typical day, roughly a quarter of visits at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Emergency Department are opioid-related.

The agreement announced Tuesday calls for the two opioid manufacturers to pay San Francisco $34 million in cash and provide $20 million worth of the overdose reversal drug, Narcan.

Teva Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. affiliate of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., said in a statement that the settlement is a step forward in getting life-saving treatments to people suffering from opioid addiction but was not an admission of liability or wrongdoing.

Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman declined to comment, while Allergan did not respond to a request for comment.

The San Francisco case is one of only a handful of government claims against companies over the opioid epidemic so far that have gone to trial.

More cases have settled before trials. Earlier this year, the distribution companies AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson plus drug maker Johnson & Johnson finalized nationwide settlements totaling $26 billion.

And the drug maker Purdue Pharma is in court trying to win approval for a deal that could be worth $10 billion that it crafted after declaring bankruptcy amid the weight of lawsuits facing the OxyContin maker.

In all, proposed and completed settlements over the epidemic in the U.S. have totaled more than $40 billion, according to an Associated Press tally.

Much of the legal action so far has involved companies that make or distribute opioids, but litigation against pharmacies has emerged, too.

So far, there has been a verdict in just one pharmacy case. Last year, an Ohio jury found that CVS, Walgreens and Walmart recklessly distributed opioids in two counties. Its up to a judge to determine their penalty.
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BEIJING (AP)  China has filed a formal protest with Japan over the presence of the Taiwanese vice president at a memorial for assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

China claims Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunited by force if necessary and objects to any expression of its independent political identity.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday said Taiwanese authorities had latched onto the opportunity for political manipulation, and that Beijing has made stern complaints with Japan in Beijing and Tokyo and made clear its position.

Its political scheme can never succeed, Wang said at a daily briefing.

Taiwan's Vice President Lai Ching-te on Monday paid his respects at Abes Tokyo residence. Lai was later photographed leaving the Zojoji temple in downtown Tokyo where Abe's funeral was held.

Lai is the most senior Taiwanese official to visit Japan since Tokyo severed formal diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1972 in deference to Beijing.

Abe was known as a staunch supporter of Taiwan, a Japanese colony for 50 years where public sentiment strongly favors Tokyo.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949 and Beijing has increasingly sought to isolate the island's government diplomatically. In deference to China, Taiwan, with its 23 million people and high-tech economy, has been shunned by the United Nations and can only participate in global sporting events as Chinese Taipei."

China now regularly sends warplanes across the Taiwan Strait and into Taiwan's air defense identification zone to advertise its threat to use force if the island makes a formal declaration of independence, and to warn away its supporters, chiefly the U.S., along with allies including Japan.

In 2021, after resigning as prime minister, Abe angered Beijing with a speech in which he issued strong support for Taiwan and said that military adventure would lead to economic suicide.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon during the first half of 2022 broke all records, a measure of the increasing destruction taking place under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro.

Satellite images taken between January and June show 4,000 square kilometers (1,500 square miles) of forest destroyed, more than in any six month period in the seven years of record-keeping under the current methodology. The extent is four times the size of New York City.

What makes the statistic more remarkable is that the forest cutting is taking place during the rainy season. Deforestation is historically higher in the drier second half of the year when it is easier to access remote areas on the region's unpaved roads.

Brazil also will hold presidential elections in October, which typically reduces law enforcement in the Amazon. Bolsonaro will run for a second 4-year term. Currently he is trailing former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in polls.

The area destroyed in the first half of 2022 is 80% larger than the same period in 2018, the year before Bolsonaro took office, according to an analysis from the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, or IPAM, a Brazilian nonprofit.

Around half of the felling occurred on public lands, according to the IPAM analysis. The pattern in Brazil is that criminals seize public land expecting that the areas will be legalized for agriculture or cattle-raising in the future.

Other illegal real estate and timber transactions plus lack of enforcement contribute to the increasing deforestation rates, according to Ane Alencar, IPAMs science director.

Those who control the Amazon dont want it preserved, Alencar told the Associated Press in a phone interview. The standing forest has no value in todays Amazon."

The most rapacious cutting took place in Amazonas state, overtaking both Para and Mato Grosso, which historically register more tree loss. That is a worrisome trend, as Amazonas is deep in the rainforest and has remained pristine relative to other Amazon regions.

______

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.
Days after former President Donald Trump claimed Elon Musk lied about voting for him, the billionaire Tesla chief executive said Monday that Trump should "hang up his hat and sail into the sunset," adding that he was too old for another potential run at the presidency in 2024.

Speaking at an Alaska event on Saturday, Trump referred to a tweet in which Musk, who is attempting to terminate his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, wrote that he had recently voted for a Republican for the first time last month.

"He said the other day, 'Oh, I've never voted for a Republican.' I said, 'I didn't know that,'" Trump said at the Anchorage rally for Alaska Republicans Sarah Palin and Gov. Mike Dunleavy. "He told me he voted for me, so he's another bull---- artist."

Musk responded to a video of Trump's remarks in a series of tweets Monday night.

"I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset," Musk tweeted.

Musk also called on Democrats to "call off the attack" and not focus on whether Trump decides to again run for the White House.

"Don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency," said Musk, who previously noted he is leaning toward supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024 if the Republican were to run for president.

While again offering his support of DeSantis, the billionaire stressed that Trump would be too old to be president.

"Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America," Musk wrote.

On Tuesday evening, Trump said that Musk would be "worthless" without government support for his projects and that he had asked the then-president for help in subsidizing them. "I could have said 'drop to your knees and beg,' and he would have done it," Trump said on his Truth Social app.

Musk's tweets against Trump come as Twitter is setting the stage for a legal battle with the billionaire to enforce a takeover it wasn't even sure it wanted. As the company's stock fell another 11.3 percent after Musk announced Friday he was backing out of the deal to purchase Twitter, the board for the social media giant is expected to file a lawsuit in Delaware Court of Chancery as soon as this week to keep the Tesla chief executive on the hook.

Musk's lawyers are arguing that he has a right to drop out of the $44 billion agreement because Twitter hasn't given him enough information about the company's business.

The back-and-forth between Musk and Twitter is unfolding as Trump continues to rail against the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection plans. The seventh public hearing on Tuesday is expected to focus on the ways in which Trump and his allies summoned far-right militant groups to Washington as he grew increasingly desperate to hold on to power. The committee is expected to argue that Trump used the date of the congressional counting of the votes, Jan. 6, 2021, to block a peaceful transfer of power.

Shortly after it was announced that Musk was acquiring Twitter, he said in May that he would reverse the company's ban on Trump. Twitter had banned Trump's account after the Capitol riot, citing the "risk of further incitement of violence." Even though Trump has said he would not rejoin Twitter, Musk said the move was "a mistake."

"I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake," Musk said at a May 10 event hosted by the Financial Times. "It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice."

On Saturday, Trump, who has continued to make false claims of election fraud, said a top priority for Republicans should be to "stop left-wing censorship and to restore free speech in America." As he urged supporters to sign up for his social media company, Truth Social - "It's hot as a pistol" - Trump turned his attention to Musk and Twitter.

"Who the hell knows what's going to happen?" Trump said. "He's got a pretty rotten contract. I looked at his contract, not a good contract."

Trump then lashed out at Musk for allegedly telling the former president he had voted for him. Musk donated to Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016, according to Federal Election Commission data, and tweeted in May that he voted for Clinton in 2016 and President Joe Biden in 2020. Musk also wrote that he voted for Republican Mayra Flores, who won a special election last month in South Texas's heavily Hispanic, blue-leaning 34th Congressional District.

When a conservative media personality challenged Musk's tweet saying Trump should "hang up his hat and sail into the sunset," the billionaire said the former president carried with him "too much drama."

"Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!?" Musk wrote. "Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69."

There is no upper age limit for candidates seeking the presidency. If Trump were to run and be the GOP nominee, he would be 78 on Election Day. Biden would be about two weeks shy of his 82nd birthday on Election Day in November 2024.

Musk went on to claim that if DeSantis were to run against Biden, "then DeSantis will easily win - he doesn't even need to campaign."

- - -

The Washington Post's Rachel Lerman, Yiwen Lu, Jacqueline Alemany and Hannah Allam contributed to this report.
Two members of an Illinois group opposed to carbon dioxide pipelines being constructed in the state urged Morgan County commissioners to weigh the consequences of allowing a carbon dioxide to be built through the county.

During Monday's county commission meeting, Lan and Pamela Richart of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines gave a presentation on the Heartland Greenway pipeline being proposed by Navigator CO2 Pipelines.

The Heartland Greenway would cross five U.S. states and 13 Illinois counties, including Morgan, Brown, Scott and Pike. It would convert carbon dioxide produced by customers along its route  keeping it from entering the atmosphere  into a liquid form and pump it to a sequestration site a mile underground in Christian County.

"Whether you ultimately accept this project or reject it, our message, really, is do this from a fully informed position," Lan Richart said.

At 1,300 miles long and 24 inches diameter, the Heartland Greenway would be longer than any existing carbon dioxide pipeline in the United States and larger than all but one in existence, Lan Richart said.

That size could lead to logistical issues when trying to maintain it, which could lead to a gas leak similar to the one in Satartia, Mississippi, in February 2020, he said.

More than 175 homes in the county and all the homes in northern Bethel and Chapin would be within 1 mile of the pipeline's projected route through Illinois, Lan Richart said, noting that about 16 of those homes would be 150 yards or closer to the pipeline.

"We're not saying these folks are in imminent danger, but it is a serious and significant potential problem," he said.

Pamela Richart asked commissioners to put a one-year moratorium on the pipeline to allow time to work on an ordinance that would protect residents via community education and emergency planning.

She also asked that they change the county's public utility permit applications to include carbon dioxide pipelines, because road crossings for construction projects are not subject to eminent domain. She suggested that the application require measures including routine inspections and documentations of soil stability.

"We want the county board to take action to protect the residents because CO2 pipelines can rupture and can release a vast amount of gas ... that can cause people to become ill, to convulse and even die if the concentrations are high enough," Pamela Richart said.

Alec Messina, a consultant assisting Navigator with permitting and government relations, was at the meeting. He said that, while the questions raised by the coalition were important, the presentation and others like it tend to "pick and choose" their information.

Messina cited as an example a video by Norwegian classification society DNV that was played during the meeting and demonstrated a test carbon dioxide pipeline rupture. He said the video depicted a detonation rather than a typical rupture and was not representative of most pipeline failures.

There are numerous safeguards in place to prevent such an event from happening, Messina said.
Jeffrey Collins/AP

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A former Chester County sheriff convicted of abuse power and other charges was sentenced Monday to nearly 4 years in prison.

WSOC-TV reports that in April 2021, Alex Underwood was also convicted of stealing money from government programs, unlawfully arresting a man, and of wire fraud.
PHOENIX (AP)  A federal judge in Phoenix on Monday blocked a 2021 state personhood law that gives all legal rights to unborn children and that abortion rights groups said put providers at risk of prosecution for a variety of crimes.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes said in his written ruling that the groups that sued to block the law are right  it is anyone's guess, as the state acknowledged, what criminal laws abortion providers may be breaking if they perform otherwise-legal abortions.

And that is the problem, Rayes wrote. When the punitive and regulatory weight of the entire Arizona code is involved, Plaintiffs should not have to guess at whether their conduct is on the right or the wrong side of the law.

Rayes agreed with the challengers that the law appears to be unconstitutionally vague.

At least four other states have similar personhood laws in effect, including Missouri, Kansas, Georgia and Alabama.

It is unclear if abortions that have been halted in Arizona since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that women do not have a constitutional right to abortion would restart. Abortion providers stopped virtually all procedures because a pre-1901 banning all abortions that may be in effect and other laws created too much risk.

At least in Pima County, where the 1901 law remains blocked, they could be legal, although Attorney General Mark Brnovich plans to ask a court to lift that order and allow enforcement.

Rayes had refused to block the personhood law last year, but abortion rights groups renew their request after Roe v. Wade was struck down.

They argued that providers fear they could be charged with child abuse, assault or a litany of other crimes, and that the law was too vague. There is also concern of civil and regulatory action.

The attorney general's office told the judge that the personhood law created no new criminal laws, but admitted in their court filings that prosecutors and courts could have a different view.

Abortion rights groups hailed the ruling.

The court made the right decision today by blocking this law from being used to create an unthinkably extreme abortion ban, said Jessica Sklarsky, a lawyer at the Center for Reproductive Rights who argued the case. The Supreme Courts catastrophic decision overturning Roe v. Wade has unleashed chaos on the ground, leaving Arizona residents scrambling to figure out if they can get the abortion care they need."

An Arizona attorney generals office spokesperson said they are focused on "bringing clarity to the law for Arizonans.

Todays ruling was based on an interpretation of Arizona law that our office did not agree with, and we are carefully considering our next steps, spokesperson Brittni Thomason said in an email.

An attorney generals office lawyer told Rayes during a July 8 hearing that the law creates no new crimes that could lead to charges. The personhood law says all other state laws should be interpreted to bestow all rights to an unborn child.

The attorney generals office said in court filing that Rayes got it right last September when he refused to block the law. Rayes had cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 1989 where the court declined to block Missouris nearly identical law.

Rayes said he has now changed his mind about the relevance of that case.

The Court is now persuaded it was wrong to rely on Webster the first go around, he wrote.

Sklarsky had argued the personhood law is unconstitutionally vague on several fronts and told Rayes that the attorney general said in its court papers that its anyones guess how state judges or prosecutors might apply the law.

Rayes' ruling blocks enforcement of the law while the challenges precede though the court, including a possible trial.

Medical providers should not have to guess about whether the otherwise lawful performance of their jobs could lead to criminal, civil, or professional liability solely based on how literally or maximalist state licensing, law enforcement, and judicial officials might construe the Interpretation Policys command, Rayes said.

States now have wide-ranging rights to limit abortion, and many laws limiting or blocking all abortions that were previously blocked can now be enforced. That has led to battles in many states over which laws are now enforceable.

Arizona is in that position, with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey saying a ban on abortions after 15 weeks that he signed in March takes precedence over the pre-1901 law Brnovich said is in effect.

There were just over 13,000 abortions in Arizona in 2020, according to the most recent report from the Arizona Department of Health Services. Of those, fewer than 650 were performed after 15 weeks of gestation.
BRIDGEPORT  An East Windsor man admitted last week to selling oxycodone that he got through blank prescriptions, according to federal prosecutors.

Jayson Kemp, 45, of East Windsor pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport on July 5 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, oxycodone and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to his plea agreement.

Kemp was able to obtain these blank prescription papers from employees of various Connecticut medical practices. While he kept some of these papers for himself, he also sold some of the prescription paper for thousands of dollars to other individuals, including Oral Welborn of Hartford, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in a news release Monday.

Kemp, Welborn and another co-conspirator then recruited runners, who typically received Medicaid or Medicare benefits, to fill fraudulent prescriptions at various pharmacies. The trio would fill out each prescription with the runners information and forge a doctors signature, Averys office said.

The runner then filled the prescription at a pharmacy, usually using their Medicaid or Medicare benefits, and gave the pills to Kemp, Welborn and their co-conspirator for about $50, according to Averys office.

The three then sold the pills to people suffering from opioid addictions, Averys office said.

From January 2012 to October 2014, Kemp, Welborn and their co-conspirator filled at least 150 fraudulent oxycodone prescriptions. In all, they obtained more than 2,000 pills in the scheme, according to Averys office and court documents.

Law enforcement arrested Kemp, Welborn and thier co-conspirator on Aug. 2, 2019. Kemp is released on $150,000 bond. His sentencing is not yet scheduled, Averys office said.

Welborn pleaded guilty to the same charge on March 10, 2020, and awaits sentencing. Their co-conspirator was charged and convicted in state court, according to Averys office.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  A helicopter crash last month that killed six people in West Virginia occurred when the aircraft hit a rock face 15 minutes after takeoff from a local airport, federal investigators said in a preliminary report Tuesday.

The Vietnam-era Bell UH-1B Huey helicopter struck the rock face in an area about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from Logan County Airport in Amherstdale, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said in the report. The cockpit and cabin then crashed into a roadway and a guardrail and were consumed by fire.

Investigators have not yet released any information about the cause of the accident. A final report could take a year or two to complete, they said.

The flight on June 22 was the last scheduled for the day during a multiday reunion for helicopter enthusiasts where visitors could sign up to ride or fly the historic Huey helicopter, described by organizers as one of the last of its kind still flying.

The helicopter was flown by the 114th Assault Helicopter Company, The Knights of the Sky, in Vinh Long, Vietnam, throughout much of the 1960s, according to the website for MARPAT Aviation, a Logan County flight school that operated the helicopter. After the Huey returned to the U.S. in 1971, the website says, it was featured in movies such as Die Hard, The Rock and Under Siege: Dark Territory.

During the reunion, people who made a donation could fly the helicopter with a safety pilot seated in the left front seat, according to the report. People could take a ride on the helicopter for a suggested donation.

A private pilot, two pilot rated passengers and three others were killed in the crash.

Investigators said wreckage from the crash was found 26 feet (8 meters) across a roadway, as well as in a ditch at the base of a rock face. Additional wreckage including pieces of Plexiglas, a section of a tail rotor blade were found about 40 feet (12 meters) above the wreckage on a ledge of the steep rock face.

There were no known witnesses to the accident, according to the report.
Imani Perry, 49, is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and the author of "South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation." Perry is a native of Birmingham, Ala., and lives with her two sons outside Philadelphia.

Q: What was the impetus for the book? What made you think this was a book that needed to be written?

A: It was more emotional than intellectual. I felt like the book called to me, and it was born of my own experience of feeling as though the place of my birth was not only misunderstood but mischaracterized. As a child, being born in Alabama and then moving up to Massachusetts, I was aware of an external view of the place that was home for me. And then as I became an adult and a scholar, it was interesting to feel this disjuncture between the way people talk about the South as this backward, different place and the reality of its centrality in the history and the culture of the country.

Q: What do you think we gain as a nation by reframing the South?

A: I think we gain a more honest rendering of the country. We want to tell this story of an ever more perfect union - a kind of liberty-and-justice-for-all narrative, a noble narrative. And the reality is we are a country that was built on settler colonialism. Genocidal behavior toward Indigenous people. Enslaving people of African descent. And that foundation really shaped so much of how we do things. And to sort of marginalize where it happened, and to tell the story of the beginning of the country with Plymouth Rock as opposed to Jamestown - we forget how we came to be. I think that story has to not only include, but centralize, the South. All of the industries that made the country a global power - cotton, coal, tobacco, sugar - all of these industries were essential to building the wealth of the nation, and they wound up being centered in the South because of the climate and because that's where the bulk of enslavement took place.

Q: You talk about the art and the culture that comes out of the South.

A: Yeah, it's the home of American music. It's the intersection between multiple African origins, Scots-Irish and incredible music coming out of the South from people who lived on the land, who had encounters across experiences, who gave voice to their freedom dreams, to their yearnings, to their longings and made art of it in an everyday way. I also talk a lot about yard art in Alabama, which I think is a direct consequence of industry in Alabama. So you get incredible artists who build from the scraps of the industries - coal and steel - and live with art. It's also even in more mundane ways, in cross-stitch, in crotchet and quilting, creating beauty literally from the scraps on the margins. [It's] such a deeply Southern way of living. And it has inspired art across the country, but also across the globe.

Q: Your book talks about how Black folks appreciate the difference between honest racism and liberal subterfuge. However, there is something about not having to suppress [racism] that makes people more fearful. Do you understand the fear that some have about the Deep South?

A: I think that it's really miscast. The same prospect of racial violence and terror exists in pockets all over the country. I think one of the things that fuels some of the fear is the red-state, blue-state maps, when in reality, it's really red and blue counties. I'll give you an example: We live in Philly and my son played a team out west in Pennsylvania and on one occasion, all the kids had on Trump socks. What do they call the area between Philly and Pittsburgh? Pennsyl-tucky - for a reason. I do understand the power of historical imagery, but I think that it's important that we sort of name what exists everywhere. Growing up, Massachusetts was a place where I experienced more racial hostility than in Alabama. There have been Southern White people who have said to me, "Do you think you are letting us off the hook?" And I said, "No, I just think you have a lot of companions in other parts of the country."

Q: This is also a travelogue.

A: I'm always sort of traveling somewhere in the South. It's just a habit in my life. But I wanted to avoid the major historic sites, and instead I wanted to touch the land and people. And the benefit of doing that in the South is that people will talk to you. I was sort of trying to dig underneath, trying to find out: What's behind this person? Where are we physically? What roads are we traveling? You're encountering these people with me, but you are also encountering a space. And everywhere you travel, everywhere you go, there is a story underneath the street where you are. I was hoping it would encourage people to think that way overall. I had so many great conversations that took me on these wonderful, side journeys which is also facilitated by my love of Toni Morrison because one of the gifts of her writing is she is always taking in these sort of arterial journeys. I thought, OK, I'll try that too.

Q: You discuss the idea of intimacy across the color lines, implying that there is a different kind of understanding that exists between Blacks and Whites in the South, and there may be implications there for integration for the rest of the country.

A: Thank you for raising that because I think particularly in the Northeast often people say some version of "Oh, if we just knew each other better." We have this history of this incredible intimacy across the color line in the South, but that intimacy doesn't mean decency or fairness. And the history of sexism should teach us this. You can be close and still not fully respect those who are in a disfavored position. And so, integration, closeness is not nearly sufficient to getting to racial justice.

There is also something to learn about what happens to human beings when you can laugh together and play together and have deeply intimate associations and also participate in horrific racial violence. That says something about human beings that's very unsettling, and it should teach us something about being attentive to how we are socializing young people. How do we raise people to think about their responsibility to other human beings? It is not enough to feel warmly. Respect and dignity and integrity are really important. For me that has to be part of the story, a better story, that we tell.

- - -

Robin Rose Parker is a writer in Maryland.
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FLORENCE, Ala. (AP)  A prisoner who prompted a nationwide manhunt when he disappeared this spring from an Alabama jail has been charged with killing the corrections official authorities said helped him escape.

Casey White, 38, has been indicted on a murder charge for the shooting death of Vicky White, Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly announced Tuesday. The pair's disappearance from an Alabama jail in April sparked a national manhunt that came to a bloody end in Indiana where Casey White was captured and Vicky White died.

The indictment alleges that during the escape, White caused the death of Vicky White, who died from a gunshot to the head." The indictment does not specify who pulled the trigger. Authorities have said Vicky White died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

White will plead not guilty at an arraignment hearing, defense attorney Mark McDaniel said in a statement. The defense previously pointed blame at Vicky White for the escape, saying Casey White was in her care and custody the entire time of his disappearance from jail.

Casey White in April walked out of an Alabama jail in handcuffs in the custody of Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections at the facility, prompting a national manhunt for the pair. On the day of the escape, Vicky White, 56, told co-workers she was transporting the inmate to a mental health evaluation but authorities later learned no such appointment existed.

The two were eventually discovered in Indiana where Casey White was captured. Authorities said Vicky White shot herself in the head.

Alabama law allows a murder charge if someone, causes the death of any person while engaging in certain other felonies such as escape or if the person, recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person.

Friends and colleagues had said they were bewildered by the involvement of Vicky White, who had worked for the sheriffs office for 16 years, with the inmate who was already serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other crimes.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  A federal judge has blocked North Carolina laws that greatly restrict who can help people with disabilities request absentee ballots, fill them out and return them.

A disabled person needing help to vote by mail can now seek assistance from anyone they choose, not just from a close relative or legal guardian as state law has limited, the State Board of Elections told county election officials after the decision filed Monday by U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle.

Boyle declared that such restraints in state law conflict with the federal Voting Rights Act, which allows people who are blind, can't read or write, or have a disability to pick whomever they wish to assist them with voting, other than the voter's employer or union.

The elimination of the state's restrictions applies to all citizens with such disabilities, and not just the thousands who reside in hospitals, clinics or nursing homes, Boyle ruled in a lawsuit filed last September against the state board by the nonprofit Disability Rights North Carolina.

Voting is a fundamental right in this country, and these barriers not only violated federal law, they effectively denied the dignity, autonomy and humanity of disabled people by preventing their full participation in voting," Disability Rights North Carolina CEO Virginia Knowlton Marcus said in a news release Tuesday. "We are gratified to see these barriers come down.

Such restrictions in state law were designed in part to protect vulnerable voters from being manipulated by facility operators or party activists to vote for certain candidates.

But "facility staff are often the only reliable assistants available to an individual with a disability living in a facility and are often residents most consistent and trusted source of assistance, the Disability Rights lawsuit said. Receiving assistance from near relatives or guardians became more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic as visitations were restricted.

County boards already allow multipartisan assistance teams to enter nursing and rest homes and help residents. Voters with disabilities can still request such teams, State Board of Elections attorney Katelyn Love wrote in guidance to state boards late Monday.

State laws prohibiting certain people from assisting absentee voters who are not disabled and live in hospitals, rest homes or nursing homes will remain enforceable, Love said, including nursing home owners and workers, elected officials and candidates. Its a felony for owners of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes or rest homes to provide absentee ballot assistance.

Although North Carolina law prevents an employer or union representative from assisting an in-person voter with a disability or who is illiterate, that prohibition doesn't apply to an absentee voter, state board spokesperson Pat Gannon wrote in an email. The board interprets the Voting Rights Act as allowing, but not requiring, a state to allow such assistance, he said.

The rule changes will be posted to the state board's website, but it's too late in the election cycle to alter printed materials, she said. Absentee ballots are currently being accepted for July 26 elections in some localities. The general election is Nov. 8.

Lisa Grafstein, a Disability Rights attorney who filed the lawsuit, said Tuesday that other laws remain to punish those who seek to exploit people with disabilities in their voting.
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PARIS (AP)  President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday dismissed critics who questioned his close dealings with Uber executives and business lobbyists when he was France's economy minister, saying he was extremely proud" of his achievements in that role.

Macron's political opponents on the left and the right lashed out at the president Monday while lawmakers considered a no-confidence motion against his government. They accused him of representing the interests of multinational companies instead of struggling workers in France.

The barrage of criticism came after an international conglomerate of investigative journalists, including Frances Le Monde newspaper, revealed Macron's meetings and communications with Uber executives and their lobbyists between 2014 and 2016. At the time, Macron was minister of economy and finance.

I was the minister and I was doing my job," he told reporters during a Tuesday visit to southeastern France. I am extremely proud (...) to have fought as economy minister to attract foreign companies." He added: We have created thousands of jobs.

Uber has operated in France since 2011. The appearance of the ride-hailing app caused furious resentment among French taxi drivers and years of legal battles over regulations and protections for Uber drivers.

Far-left lawmakers said Monday that parliament might open an investigation into Macron's action as a minister. Some members of the French assembly's most powerful opposition bloc, known as Nupes, accused Macron of wheeling and dealing with Uber executives and lobbyists behind the back of fellow government members.

His allies dismissed allegations of wrong-doing.

Macron acknowledged meeting with Uber executives and many other business leaders when he was economy minister. He said that while in that role, he helped bring foreign companies to the country and to break down administrative barriers faced by French entrepreneurs.

We empowered young people in (economically) deprived neighborhoods and got them employed for the first time in their lives, Macron said.

Macron was first elected president in 2017. He won his second five-year term in April.
GRAND RIDGE, Ill. (AP)  Three workers were hospitalized in critical condition and two others in serious condition Tuesday after an aluminum gutter came into contact with a power line while working on a northern Illinois home, fire officials said.

The five workers were erecting an aluminum gutter when it came into contact with a power line in Grand Ridge, about 75 miles (120.7 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, officials said.
Wilson Ring/AP

CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  New Hampshire homeland security officials said Tuesday that a siren was inadvertently activated at the Seabrook Nuclear Power Station, and that there is no emergency and no danger to the public.

The state Homeland Security and Emergency Management agency and plant owner NextEra Energy Resources put out statements more than 30 minutes after beachgoers in nearby Hampton and Rye said they heard announcements at about 11 a.m. about the beaches being closed because of a problem at the plant.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvania's elections agency sued three Republican-controlled county governments on Tuesday, seeking to force their election boards to report primary results that include ballots with undated exterior envelopes  the subject of several other lawsuits.

The Department of State sued Lancaster, Berks and Fayette counties in Commonwealth Court, describing them as outlier counties that have not properly certified vote tallies from the May 17 election that included nominating contests for U.S. Senate, governor and most of the Legislature.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled May 20 that mail-in ballots without a required date on the return envelope must be allowed in a 2021 county judge race in Pennsylvania. Although the U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt the Senate vote-counting after the primary, three justices signed onto an opinion that said the 3rd Circuit was very likely wrong.

A Commonwealth Court judge, in a separate case that was directly about reporting this year's Senate primary election results, ruled on June 2 that county boards of election should count mail-in votes that lack the security envelopes' hand-written dates, and report vote totals both with and without those ballots.

In the new case, the Department of State and acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf want an order forcing the three counties to include in their primary election tallies, within three days, all absentee and mail-in voters, even if the voter failed to write a date on the declaration printed on the ballot's return envelope."

They said in a filing that a ballot envelope's handwritten date is not necessary for any purpose, does not remedy any mischief and does not advance any other objective," and that allowing just three county boards to exclude votes that all other county boards have included in their returns creates impermissible discrepancies in the administration of Pennsylvania's 2022 primary election.

Interpreting Pennsylvania law to allow a county board of election to exclude a ballot from its final certified results because of a minor and meaningless irregularity, such as a voter omitting a date from the declaration on a timely received ballot, would fail to fulfill the purpose of the Pennsylvania Election Code and would risk a conflict with both the Pennsylvania Constitution and federal law, wrote the state agency's lawyers from the attorney general's office.

The lawsuit stated that Berks County's election board said on June 23 it would not count mail-in votes without the date. A Berks County spokesperson declined comment.

Fayette, the department said in the complaint, notified the state of its decision on June 26 and officials there ignored subsequent attempts to discuss the issue. Lancaster told the state of its decision on June 27 and reiterated it July 5. Messages seeking comment were left with Fayette and Lancaster county government officials on Tuesday.

Department of State press secretary Grace Griffaton said the agency had no further comment because the litigation is pending.

A 2019 law under which legislative Republicans eliminated straight-party voting also gave Democrats a broad expansion of mail-in voting in a state where their use had previously been severely restricted. Since the pandemic, Pennsylvania Democrats have voted by mail in far greater numbers than their Republican counterparts.

Pennsylvania voters are instructed to write a date  not necessarily the date when they signed their ballot  next to their signature on the outside of mail-in return envelopes. The handwritten dates on ballot envelopes do not determine whether voters are eligible or if they cast their ballots on time.

___

Brooke Schultz, a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, contributed to this report. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
BOSTON (AP)  A Boston suburb that was the birthplace of two of the nation's earliest presidents is planning to build a center honoring their legacies.

Officials in Quincy, Massachusetts, announced Tuesday the formation of a new nonprofit foundation to raise money and oversee the design and construction of the Adams Presidential Center honoring former President John Adams and his son, former President John Quincy Adams, as well as former first ladies Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams.

Mayor Thomas Koch said the announcement marks the beginning of a formal, public process for building the long overdue center, which he hopes will offer more than a traditional presidential library and museum.

Were in the infant stages, but we envision it as a center for civic engagement, a place to really get some education about the history of our country, he said during remarks at the Adams Academy.

The mayor has said the center could be located on the former school property. The academy was built in the 1800s using money John Adams left to the city of Quincy, which is named after Abigail Adams grandfather, Col. John Quincy.

Koch has also asked the Boston Public Library to transfer John Adams collection of more than 3,000 books to the city to serve as a focal point of the project. On Tuesday, he said his administration is still pursuing the collection but that the planned center isnt contingent on receiving it.

Other speakers on Tuesday reflected on the Adams familys legacy and what it represents in the current political climate.

Were living in a critical moment in our history where erosion of our democratic institutions and our democracy is at risk, said former U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt, a Quincy native. Both presidents recognized that for a democracy to thrive, there has to be a well informed and engaged citizenry. This center can be a piece of that.

The planned center would offer programs encouraging future generations to be active in civic life, as well as ones fostering healthier political discourse, said retired Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Quincy native who will serve as chairman of the new foundation.

Its not just about preserving history but inspiring people to be engaged citizens, he said. The Adamses embodied the very best of the nation. They knew that democracy was not a spectator sport.

Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin noted John Adams, the nations second president, was also the first to lose his bid for another term. His son, who served as the nations sixth president, also lost his reelection campaign.

Neither one of them promoted an insurrection, he said as a congressional committee in D.C. continues its probe of the deadly U.S. Capitol attack and effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. None of them suggested that they should storm wherever the votes were being counted.

We speak as Americans of how proud we are of the peaceful transition of power and the significance of elections, Galvin continued. The people who first tested it out where the Adamses. They showed us the way.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland and Israel have taken a step toward normalizing diplomatic ties, the Polish president said Tuesday, as the Israeli ambassador officially presented his credentials in Warsaw.

President Andrzej Duda tweeted that he and Israeli President Issac Herzog have agreed that it's time to return to normal relations.

He said the first step was taken when Israeli Ambassador Yacov Livne officially presented his credentials on Tuesday.

Israel expects Poland to appoint an ambassador too, and Duda said he hopes it would happen soon.

Herzog thanked Duda on Twitter for receiving Livne's credentials, calling it an important first step to advancing Israeli-Polish relations" and added he expects to receive formal documentation from Poland's ambassador soon.

Livne noted on Poland's private TVN24 that the warming of relations comes at a time of many challenges around the world, including instability in the Middle East and Russia's war in Ukraine, which borders Poland.

"We believe (that) friendly countries such as Poland and Israel can and should work together to counter the challenges" that appear in security and economic spheres, Livne said.

The Jewish people and the Polish people, we have a huge richness of historical ties, historical contacts, this is also something we need to work on, he said.

One of the issues requiring to be solved urgently is the program of annual educational trips to Poland by thousands of young Israelis. Israel suspended the Holocaust study visits during the pandemic and said this year they wouldn't be resumed because Poland's right-wing government was trying to control the curriculum.

Poland is objecting to the presence of armed guards on such visits, saying that creates an unnecessary impression of danger. Warsaw would also like the visitors to meet with their Polish peers and jointly debate the history of both nations that spans many centuries, and to establish personal ties.

Relations between the two nations soured in recent years amid spats over Poland's laws that were seen as whitewashing the deeds of some Poles during the Holocaust and banning claims for restitution of seized property by Holocaust victims and their relatives.

Israel recalled its ambassador in the autumn of 2020 and Polands ambassador to Israel was instructed to end his mission prematurely last summer.

Ties have since improved in the wake of Israel-Polish cooperation on the Ukrainian refugee crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, whose late father was a Holocaust survivor, thanked Poland for its help in rescuing Jewish refugees from Ukraine.
FLOSSMOOR, Ill. (AP)  Suburban Chicago police investigating a domestic disturbance fatally shot a 64-year-old woman Sunday who was armed with a knife when officers arrived at the door of her apartment, police said.

Illinois State Police, who are investigating the deadly shooting, said Monday the woman was holding a knife when Flossmoor officers arrived at the door of her apartment in the Cook County village about noon Sunday.
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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump recently tried to call an unnamed witness in the investigation of the House select committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot - an effort that the panel has since referred to the Department of Justice, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., its vice chairwoman, said Tuesday.

The revelation came toward the end of a hearing in which the committee zeroed in on the violent rhetoric and planning that flowed from a tweet by Trump weeks before Jan. 6 promising a "wild" protest. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., one of the panel members leading Tuesday's hearing, said what transpired was "openly homicidal."

Raskin did not mince his words about Trump as he wrapped up Tuesday's hearing.

"American carnage: That's Donald Trump's true legacy," Raskin said. "His desire to overthrow the people's election and seize the presidency interrupted the counting of electoral college votes for the first time in American history, nearly toppled the constitutional order and brutalized hundreds and hundreds of people."

"The Watergate break-in was like a Cub Scout meeting compared to this assault on our people and our institutions," the Maryland Democrat added.

Trump had vowed to end "American carnage" at his presidential inauguration in 2017.

The Founders, Raskin said, "actually warned everyone about Donald Trump. Not by name, of course, but in the course of advising about the certain process that ambitious politicians would try to mobilize violent mobs to tear down our institutions."

"A violent insurrection to overturn an election is not an abstract thing," Raskin said "As we've heard, hundreds of people were bloodied, injured and wounded in the process."

Raskin appeared to wipe away tears as he revealed that Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell, who fought insurrectionists on Jan. 6, 2021, suffered injuries so critical that he will no longer be able to serve as a police officer.

Gonell, an Army veteran who has spoken to the committee about the insurrection, told the panel that nothing he saw during his time in Iraq prepared him for the Jan. 6 attack.

"He was savagely beaten, punched, pushed, kicked, shoved, stomped and sprayed with chemical irritants along with other officers by members of a mob carrying hammers, knives, batons and police shields taken by force and wielding the American flag against police officers is a dangerous weapon," Raskin said.

Now Gonell "must leave policing for good and figure out the rest of his life," Raskin said.

Stephen Ayres, who marched on the Capitol on Jan. 6, testified Tuesday that he genuinely believed the election had been stolen because of everything Trump said.

"I was very upset, as were most of his supporters. You know, that's basically what got me to come down here," Ayres said, referring to the Capitol on the day of the attack. He added that he now does "not so much" believe the election was stolen, after deleting his social media and "doing my own research" after the insurrection.

Asked whether it would have made a difference if he had known the extent to which Trump himself had been told by his advisers that the election wasn't stolen, Ayres said, "Definitely."

"Who knows? I may not have come down here then," he said.

Ayres said that when he was in Washington on the morning of Jan. 6, he originally planned to just see the "Stop the Steal" rally but had no intention of marching to the Capitol.

"The president, you know, got everybody riled up, told everybody, 'Head on down,'" he said. "So we basically just were following what he said. . . . I was already worked up, and so were most of the people there."

Ayres said he thought Trump would be marching to the Capitol with them. When asked what made him decide to leave the Capitol, Ayres said it was after Trump tweeted a video at 4:17 p.m. on Jan. 6 asking the crowd to leave.

"Basically, when President Trump put his tweet out, we literally left right after that," he said. "If he would have done that earlier in the day . . . maybe we wouldn't be in this bad of a situation."

Another Twitter post, a dead-of-night tweet by Trump on Dec. 19, 2020, followed what was described as an "unhinged" meeting in which White House lawyers and Trump allies advocating conspiracy theories about the election - including that the vote had been stolen via Nest thermostats - shouted at one another for hours.

Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., one of the panel members leading Tuesday's hearing, said the Dec. 19 tweet "served as a call to action and, in some cases, as a call to arms for many of President Trump's most loyal supporters."

"He lied to his supporters that the election was stolen. He stoked their anger," Murphy said. "He called for them to fight for him. He directed them to the U.S. Capitol. He told them he would join them, and his supporters believed him."

"And many headed towards the Capitol," she added. "As a result, people died, people were injured. Many of his supporters' lives will never be the same."

On Dec. 18, 2020, an outside group showed up at the White House to meet with Trump to push conspiracy theories about the election and figure out ways to keep him in power. The meeting lasted more than six hours and was characterized by the Jan. 6 committee as "a heated and profane clash" between the group and White House advisers, according to testimony from six meeting participants and former White House staffers who said they could hear screaming from outside the Oval Office.

The outside group included Sidney Powell, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. ("I looked at him and I said, 'Who are you?'" former White House counsel Pat Cipollone testified he asked Byrne.) The outside group pushed outlandish theories, including that Venezuela was meddling with the 2020 election and that Nest thermostats hooked up to the internet were somehow changing votes.

The group demonstrated "a general disregard for the importance of actually backing up, say, facts," Cipollone told the committee.

Throughout the meeting, the outside group accused Trump's White House advisers of lacking the courage to continue contesting the election results.

"I would categorically describe it as: You guys are not tough enough," former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said in taped testimony. "Or maybe I put it another way. You're a bunch of p------. Excuse the expression, but . . . I'm almost certain the word was used."

Jason Van Tatenhove, a former Oath Keepers spokesman who for years served as a close aide to founder Stewart Rhodes, portrayed the group as a "violent militia" that dreamed of and trained for a seminal event such as the storming of the U.S. Capitol to trigger a wider extremist revolt. He left the group years ago and didn't offer insight into Jan. 6 events, instead describing the general ideology and goals of the anti-government group.

About 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the insurrection, including members of U.S. Capitol Police and D.C. police. Rioters attacked law enforcement officers as they broke into the Capitol, set bonfires outside the building and protested efforts to officially declare Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 election.

One post on the site instructed people on how to get to lawmakers whom they viewed as threats to keep Trump in office. Discussions of the tunnels beneath the Capitol complex that could be used to find Trump critics in Congress grew more aggressive online as the former president riled up his supporters on Twitter.

During the wild, six-hour White House meeting Dec. 18, 2020, described in Tuesday's hearing, Flynn - asked repeatedly to provide evidence that the election was fraudulent - brought up smart thermostats. He made "some comment about, like, Nest thermostats being hooked up to the internet," White House lawyer Eric Herschmann recalled in recorded testimony played at the hearing.

The notion that smart thermostats somehow helped Biden win might be one of the lesser-known conspiracy theories that made the rounds after Nov. 3, 2020, but it reached into the highest levels of government. Not only was it invoked during the Dec. 18 meeting, but Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark referenced it as he tried to pressure his superiors into taking action to overtusrn the election outcome.

"If you have not seen it, white hat hackers have evidence (in the public domain) that a Dominion machine accessed the internet through a smart thermostat with a net connection trail leading back to China," Clark wrote Dec. 28, 2020, in an email released last year by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Salty Cracker, a pro-Trump YouTube streamer, said a "red wedding" would be carried out in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.

A "red wedding" is, in pop culture, a reference to a massacre.

The reference comes from the "Game of Thrones" series by author George R.R. Martin, which was adapted for television by HBO. The "red wedding" in the series refers to a gruesome massacre carried out during a wedding celebration that resulted in the deaths of multiple main characters. The phrase has come to signify violence and mass murder in popular culture.

The panel used the clip to show how some of Trump's supporters interpreted his messages and actions as invitations to come to Washington and commit acts of violence against Congress and Vice President Mike Pence.

The committee played a montage of right-wing influencers such as Alex Jones and Tim Pool seizing on Trump's tweet summoning people to Washington for Jan. 6.

"One of the most historic events in American history has just taken place," Jones said in the first clip. "He is now calling on we, the people, to take action to show our numbers."

"We're going to only be saved by millions of Americans moving to Washington, occupying the entire area, if necessary, storming right into the Capitol," commentator Matt Bracken said. "If you have enough people, you can push down any kind of a fence or a wall."

"This could be Trump's last stand," Pool said in another clip. "Trump supporters need to say this is it, it's now or never."

While the Jan. 6 committee has provided shocking information from inside and around the Trump White House, it has not revealed as much about the armed groups that supported him.

Testimony on Tuesday about the role of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys in the Capitol attack largely echoed public court filings describing how the two groups coordinated in advance and worked with Trump associate Roger Stone on the day of the riot. Messages indicating Florida Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs led those efforts were produced in court months ago.

Raskin noted that he was relying on a recent filing from prosecutors for the allegation that the Oath Keepers brought not just guns but explosives to the U.S. Capitol that day. While several members of both groups have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, Meggs and other leaders are planning to go to trial and have refused to cooperate with investigators.

- - -

The Washington Post's Emma Brown, Hannah Allam, Tom Jackman and Rachel Weiner contributed to this report.
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MANILA, Philippines (AP)  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing's vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and warned that Washington is obligated to defend treaty ally Philippines if its forces, vessels or aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters.

Blinkens statement, issued by the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Tuesday, was released on the sixth anniversary of the 2016 decision by an arbitration tribunal set up in The Hague under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea after the Philippine government complained in 2013 about Chinas increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

China did not participate in the arbitration, rejected its ruling as a sham and continues to defy it, bringing it into territorial spats with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian claimant states in recent years.

We call again on the PRC to abide by its obligations under international law and cease its provocative behavior, Blinken said, using the acronym for Chinas formal name, the People's Republic of China.

We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, Blinken said.

There was no immediate reaction from Beijing. But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference in Malaysias administrative capital of Putrajaya that China is speeding up talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines and three other claimant states, to come up with a nonaggression pact called a code of conduct to turn the South China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation.

We will oppose bloc confrontation and Cold War mentality, Wang told journalists after meeting his counterpart in Malaysia, the last stop in his five-nation swing through Southeast Asia. He did not take any questions.

In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have had overlapping claims in the busy waterway, where an estimated $5 trillion in goods passes each year and which is believed to be rich in undersea gas and oil deposits.

The potential flashpoint has become a key front of U.S.-China rivalry.

Washington lays no claim to the disputed waters but has deployed Navy ships and Air Force jets to patrol the waterway for decades and says freedom of navigation and overflight is in the U.S. national interest. That has provoked angry reactions from China, which has accused the U.S. of meddling in a purely Asian dispute and warned it to stay away.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said Tuesday that the arbitration ruling will be a pillar of his new government's policy and actions in the disputed region and rejected attempts to undermine the indisputable decision.

These findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal and are conclusive as they are indisputable. The award is final, Manalo said in a statement.

We firmly reject attempts to undermine it  even erase it from law, history and our collective memories, said Manalo, who did not directly name China.

New Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office June 30 after a landslide electoral victory.

Marcos Jr.s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, put the arbitration ruling on the backburner for years after taking office in 2016 and nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping while criticizing U.S. security policies.

In 2019, Duterte said he finally asked Xi to comply with the ruling but was flatly told, We will not budge.

Marcos Jr. has upheld the arbitration ruling and said he would not allow even one square millimeter of Philippine waters to be trampled upon.

But he said in January before winning the presidency that since China has refused to recognize the ruling, Dutertes policy of diplomatic engagement is really our only option.

Dozens of left-wing activists and workers protested in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manilas Makati financial district on Tuesday, asking Beijing to respect the arbitration ruling and for Marcos Jr. to defend the countrys territory and sovereign rights in the South China Sea.

___

Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Gov. Tom Wolf and lawmakers wrapped up a budget package this week  nearly two weeks late  approving billions of dollars in new spending, tax breaks for businesses and substantial new sums for public schools to cap the eighth and final budget for the Democratic governor.

Closed-door talks dragged on for weeks between Wolf's office and leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature, sometimes getting rocky, before a whirlwind two days last week in which lawmakers approved dozens of bills.

Some lawmakers complained the budget took so long because the state had so much money to spend.

Indeed, Pennsylvania is in its best fiscal position in years, with the state treasury benefiting from federal coronavirus subsidies propping up the economy, tax collections and state spending.

Wolf secured big new subsidies for public schools, perhaps his top priority as governor after taking office with a public school funding system riven by huge funding disparities between Pennsylvania's wealthiest and poorest school districts.

But he also made concessions.

Here are details:

SPENDING

The $42.8 billion budget plan authorizes a spending increase of 13%, or $4.9 billion, including more than $700 million that is being added to last years previously authorized total of $38.6 billion.

The plan also spends $2.2 billion in leftover federal coronavirus aid.

Most of the new money goes to education and human services, including hundreds of millions of dollars in increases for mental health programs, anti-violence programs and subsidies for workers who care for children, disabled people and the elderly.

The plan leaves more than $8 billion in reserve for the future  perhaps necessary as demographic projections show a fast-growing retirement age population that will need costly services and a shrinking working age population that must pay for them.

SCHOOLS

The budget includes about $1 billion more for public schools, or 11% more for instruction, special education and operations. That brings the total annual increase over Wolf's eight years in office to almost $3 billion, or 41% more.

Hundreds of millions more went for pre-kindergarten programs, rising pension costs, the rising cost of gas for school buses, school security and programs that benefit private schools.

Funding for higher education rose by about $165 million, or 9%, including $75 million for the 14-campus Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The system's chancellor, Daniel Greenstein, called it unprecedented.

TAXES

Pennsylvanians won't see a cut in income or sales taxes, the two major sources of money for the state's operating fund.

But Wolf and lawmakers are cutting the corporate net income tax rate, one of the nation's highest.

It will drop from its current 9.99% rate next year by a full percentage point, then a half-percentage point annually until 2031 when it hits 4.99%. That is projected to cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in the next couple of years at least.

Lots of other business interests got bigger tax breaks, too.

ELECTIONS

Democrats and Republicans remain mired in a stalemate on most aspects of updating state law on election administration and voting, but they did agree on one item: banning outside funding of elections in exchange for approving $45 million in grants to counties to run elections.

Republicans had pressed to restrict third-party funding for elections  a throwback to GOP complaints that nearly $25 million from the nonprofit Center for Tech and Civic Life was heavily tilted to Pennsylvania's left-leaning counties in 2020s presidential election.

The money came from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg  drawing the nickname Zuckerbucks from Republicans. But some county officials accused the state of underfunding elections.

HOUSING

Housing programs will get one-fourth of the leftover federal coronavirus money, or $540 million.

The aid will boost affordable housing construction, home repair and heating assistance and property tax and rental subsidies.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS

The package includes nearly $700 million for environmental improvement programs, nearly all of it from the federal coronavirus aid. Much of it is designed to help protect water quality in streams and rivers and improve outdoor recreation, including state parks.

WOLF'S CONCESSIONS

Wolf agreed to requests from Republican lawmakers to drop his push to toll as many as nine major bridges on interstates in Pennsylvania and to abandon regulations to subject charter schools to stronger ethics, accounting and admissions standards.

Efforts to update Pennsylvania's charter school law have been stuck in a political deadlock for more than a decade.

Meanwhile, Wolf  who has called for the phaseout of the gasoline tax  said figuring out a better way to fund roads and bridges has to be done soon.

___

Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/timelywriter.

__

Contributing to this report was Brooke Schultz, 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.
A recent review of court records shows a speeding Houston cop who crashed into and killed a Sunnyside man walking home from the barber will not face criminal charges.

A Harris County grand jury declined to indict Orlando Hernandez, 25, for criminally negligent homicide, a decision made June 28, according to court records. Family members of Michael Wayne Jackson, the 62-year-old who was killed near the intersection of Reed Road and Scott Street, were not aware of the grand jury's decision to no bill the embattled officer until Chron reached out to them Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the decision had been made.

"I think it's negligent homicide," said Timothy Jackson, who housed and loved his late brother Michael. "If I had driven on the sidewalk and hit somebody for whatever reason, it would have been negligent homicide. It's the same thing for this officer. Just because he works for the state or the city, he shouldn't get a pass on that."

WARNING: The following body-worn camera footage showing the collision is edited for content but may be difficult to watch.

Michael Doyle, a lawyer hired by Jackson's family, said the family is pondering filing a civil lawsuit against Hernandez. As of Tuesday, none have been filed.

"The family wasn't aware or involved in deciding what evidence was presented to a grand jury," Doyle said. "Obviously, there's tremendous amount of evidence that the HPD officers weren't acting reasonably or safely in killing Mr. Jackson."

The Houston Police Department had not turned over evidence relating to the collision to Doyle's office, he said, citing the ongoing criminal investigation. It is unclear how long it will take before more evidence is released to attorneys.

Hernandez at times drove the 6,300-pound Ford Police Intercepter between 80 and 100 mph down Reed Road, according to the cruiser's speedometer shown in a five-minute clip from his bodycam. Traffic on Reed Road is limited to 40 mph. The cops were driving with lights and siren activated to help another officer apprehend five individuals allegedly involved in a carjacking who reportedly fled on foot after a short pursuit.

Reed Road was wet from a recent rain shower that Saturday afternoon, according to a crash report filed by HPD. Video shows the cruiser's windshield wipers were activated as Hernandez maneuvered the police SUV through traffic, appearing on multiple occasions to be using only one hand to steer the speeding vehicle over slick residential roads. As Hernandez approached a red light at Cullen Boulevard, he slowed down to check for cross traffic before continuing west toward Scott Street.

Jackson was walking west on the sidewalk in the 4100 block of Reed Road near Scott Street as Hernandez's cruiser approached from the east around 5:40 p.m. Several cars were stopped at a red light at the Reed Road and Scott Street intersection, police said. As Hernandez sped toward the intersection, video shows the officer turn the steering wheel nearly 180 degrees to avoid colliding with other cars. Hernandez's cruiser slid slightly right, jumping the sidewalk and hitting Jackson before slamming into a Dumpster bin in a nearby parking lot.

Body-cam video indicates that Hernandez hit Jackson about 34 seconds after passing through the intersection at Cullen Boulevard, a distance of 3,755 feet, according to information compiled from Google Maps and a diagram from HPD's crash report. This distance would suggest Hernandez traveled at an average speed of 75 mph before he drove onto the sidewalk. In a frame before Hernandez attempted to turn the wheel, the cruiser's speedometer showed 60 mph.

"He never knew what hit him," Timothy Jackson said. "If you're on the sidewalk, you shouldn't have to worry about somebody driving in the street, because the street is their lane and the sidewalk is your lane. If they get out of their lane, they're responsible."

Houston Police Department

Crash investigators with HPD's vehicular crimes division noted in a crash report that Hernandez was "traveling at an unsafe speed" and "performed a faulty evasive action."

"I think the officer should have been held accountable for running over an innocent civilian that had absolutely nothing to do with a very dangerous police chase," said Travis McGee, a community activist in Sunnyside. "They always get no-billed. Hell, if a citizen hit an officer, I doubt the citizen would have gotten no-billed."

Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, called Jackson's death merely "an accident."

"We believe that the grand jury made the right decision," Griffith said. "As tragic as this accident was, it is just that: an accident. No officer sets out to hurt anyone, but in police work it sometimes happens. We pray for the family of the deceased as well as for our officers. It is extremely hard living with the fact that you hurt someone when you were just trying to do your job."

Hernandez remains on paid administrative duty as the Houston Police Department's Internal Affairs Division continues its investigation into his actions. The officer is represented by lawyers with the Houston Police Officers' Union, Griffith said.

The same day Hernandez was no-billed, a grand jury also declined to press charges against Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy Dontre Thomas, who killed a young mother during a high-speed pursuit in the city of Houston in January.
WASHINGTON  For years, Texas Republicans tried to win the Hispanic vote using a Bush-era brand of compassionate conservatism. The idea was that a moderates touch and softer rhetoric on immigration were key to making inroads with Hispanic voters, particularly in Democratic strongholds along the southern border.

Such was the Texas of old. The Trump age has given rise to a new brand of Texas Republicans, one of whom is already walking the halls of Congress: the far-right Latina.

Rep. Mayra Flores became the first Republican to represent the Rio Grande Valley in more than a century after she won a special election last month and flipped the congressional seat from blue to red. She also became the first Latina Republican sent by Texas to Congress. Her abbreviated term lasts through the end of the year, and she is seen as a long shot to win reelection to a full one.

But what is most striking is that Flores won by shunning moderates, embracing the far right and wearing her support for Donald Trump on her sleeve  more Marjorie Taylor Greene than Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Her campaign slogan  God, family, country  was meant to appeal to what she calls the traditional values of her majority-Hispanic district in the border city of Brownsville. She called for President Joe Bidens impeachment. She tweeted QAnon hashtags. And she called the Democratic Party the greatest threat America faces.

In an interview in her still-barren office the day after her swearing-in ceremony, Flores was asked whether she considered Biden the legitimately elected president.

Hes the worst president of the United States, she said.

When asked three more times whether Biden had been legitimately elected, she repeated the same non-answer.

Two other Latina Republicans, Monica De La Cruz in McAllen and Cassy Garcia in Laredo, are also on the ballot in congressional races along the Mexican border. All three  GOP officials have taken to calling them a triple threat  share right-wing views on immigration, the 2020 election and abortion, among other issues.

They share the same advisers, have held campaign rallies and fundraisers together and have knocked on doors side by side.

They accuse the Democratic Party of taking Hispanic voters for granted and view themselves, as do their supporters, as the embodiment of the American dream: Flores often speaks of working alongside her parents as a teenager in the cotton fields of the Texas Panhandle.

Flores, De La Cruz and Garcia grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, a working-class four-county region at the southernmost tip of Texas where Hispanics make up 93% of the population. All three are bilingual; Flores was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and the other two in South Texas. Only De La Cruz has been endorsed by Trump, yet they all remain outspoken advocates for him, his movement and his tough talk on restricting immigration and building the border wall.

The Rio Grande Valley has long been a politically liberal yet culturally conservative place. Church pews are packed on Sundays, American flags wave from their poles on front lawns and law enforcement is revered. Flores husband is a Border Patrol agent, a note she often emphasized on the campaign trail.

In 2020, the valleys conservative culture started to exert a greater influence on its politics. Trump flipped rural Zapata County and narrowed the Democratic margin of victory in the four valley counties and in other border towns.

Growing up down there, you always have closeted Republicans, said Garcia, a former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Now, the desire to embrace Republicans is really spreading. They feel a genuine sense of belonging.

Other pro-Trump Latinas are running for House seats in Virginia, Florida and New Mexico, among other places.

Republican leaders and strategists say Flores win and the candidacies of other right-wing Hispanic women are proof that Latino voters are increasingly shifting to the right. More than 100 Republican House candidates are Hispanic, a record number, according to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Democrats view the situation much differently. Some Democratic leaders dismiss Flores victory as a fluke  the product of a low-turnout special election in which 28,990 people cast ballots  and a fleeting one.

Flores, who was elected to serve the last six months of a retiring Democratic congressmans term, is running in November for a full term. She faces a popular Democratic incumbent who is switching districts, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez.

Democratic leaders are optimistic that Gonzalez will defeat Flores and that Garcia will lose her race against Rep. Henry Cuellar, a conservative Democrat who narrowly beat a progressive challenger in a primary runoff.

De La Cruz, however, is running in the most competitive House race in Texas and will face Michelle Vallejo, a progressive Democrat.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who heads the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, dismissed Flores win as a public relations coup for Republicans.

It does not mean she represents mainstream Hispanic voters, Gallego said.

Gonzalez, the Democratic congressman, nearly lost to De La Cruz two years ago when she challenged him in Texas 15th Congressional District. He won by 6,588 votes. Now, he is challenging Flores in the 34th District.

This was a profound message to the party, he said of Flores victory. Its really woken up the Democratic base. Ive never had so many people volunteer for free in all my years.

As she moved into her congressional office across from the Capitol, Flores, an evangelical Christian, eyed the bare walls. She planned to put up a large photo of the SpaceX launch site in her district as well as images of Jesus.

She had campaigned with the support of evangelical churches; her pastor carried out a Make America Godly Again outreach effort and traveled to Washington for her swearing-in. I do believe that pastors should be getting involved in politics and in guiding their congressmen, Flores said. Our pastors know our people better than we do.

Flores wasted no time displaying a combative style with Democrats. Minutes after her swearing-in, Speaker Nancy Pelosi posed with Flores and her family for a photo. What happened next is a matter of debate. To Democrats, it looked as if Pelosi had brushed her arm against Flores 8-year-old daughter as the two stood side by side. To Republicans, it looked as if Pelosi had shoved her aside.

No child should be pushed to the side for a photo op. PERIOD!! Flores later wrote on Twitter.

To hear Flores tell it, her switch to the GOP was inevitable.

Early on, she said, she had voted Democratic, primarily because everyone she knew did the same. The first time she cast a ballot for a Republican for president, she said, was for Mitt Romney in 2012.

After attending a Republican event for the spouses of Border Patrol agents, Flores began to volunteer for the Hidalgo County Republican Party in McAllen. By 2020, she was organizing pro-Trump caravans through the Rio Grande Valley.

She was also posting tweets using the hashtag #QAnon.

When asked about QAnon, Flores denied ever having supported the conspiracy theory, which claims that a group of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child sex ring is trying to control the government and the media. Hashtags have long been considered social media shorthand for expressing support for a cause or an idea, but Flores insisted her intention was to express opposition to QAnon.

Its just to reach more people so more people can see like, hey, this needs to stop, she said of using the QAnon hashtag. This is only hurting our country.

Flores deleted the tweets about QAnon, but she did not refrain from expressing other right-wing views. After the 2020 election, she insisted on Twitter that Trump had won, writing in one post, Ganamos y lo vamos a demostrar! or We won, and we will prove it! Following the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, she retweeted a post falsely calling it a setup by antifa. She has called Biden president in name only and has demanded his impeachment. And as her own oath of office coincided with the hearings by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, Flores largely dismissed the proceedings.

Honestly, my district doesnt care about that, she said of the hearings. My district is struggling to pay their bills. Thats what were supposed to be focusing on.

Like Flores, De La Cruz describes herself as a former Democrat who walked away from the party. She said she cast her first vote in a Republican primary for Trump in 2016.

I believe that the president was bringing to light the terrible things that we were doing to our country, De La Cruz said.

After she narrowly lost her challenge to Gonzalez in 2020, De La Cruz suggested, without evidence, that she and Trump had been victims of voter fraud in the district.

Garcia, by contrast, said she has been a Republican her whole life. Raised conservative, she went to church three times a week and entered politics soon after college, working as the outreach director for Cruz in McAllen.

As a candidate, she has focused on religious liberty, school choice and abortion bans  issues on which she said the regions Hispanic voters were increasingly like-minded.

The red wave is here, Garcia said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Days after former President Donald Trump claimed Elon Musk lied about voting for him, the billionaire Tesla chief executive said Monday that Trump should "hang up his hat and sail into the sunset," adding that he was too old for another potential run at the presidency in 2024.

Speaking at an Alaska event on Saturday, Trump referred to a tweet in which Musk, who is attempting to terminate his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, wrote that he had recently voted for a Republican for the first time last month.

"He said the other day, 'Oh, I've never voted for a Republican.' I said, 'I didn't know that,' " Trump said at the Anchorage rally for Alaska Republicans Sarah Palin and Gov. Mike Dunleavy. "He told me he voted for me, so he's another bull---- artist."

Musk responded to a video of Trump's remarks in a series of tweets Monday night.

"I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset," Musk tweeted.

Musk also called on Democrats to "call off the attack" and not focus on whether Trump decides to again run for the White House.

"Don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency," said Musk, who previously noted he is leaning toward supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024 if the Republican were to run for president.

While again offering his support of DeSantis, the billionaire stressed that Trump would be too old to be president.

"Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America," Musk wrote.

A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday.

Musk's tweets against Trump come as Twitter is setting the stage for a legal battle with the billionaire to enforce a takeover it wasn't even sure it wanted. As the company's stock fell another 11.3 percent after Musk announced Friday he was backing out of the deal to purchase Twitter, the board for the social media giant is expected to file a lawsuit in Delaware Court of Chancery as soon as this week to keep the Tesla chief executive on the hook.

Musk's lawyers are arguing that he has a right to drop out of the $44 billion agreement because Twitter hasn't given him enough information about the company's business.

The back-and-forth between Musk and Twitter is unfolding as Trump continues to rail against the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection plans. The seventh public hearing on Tuesday is expected to focus on the ways in which Trump and his allies summoned far-right militant groups to Washington as he grew increasingly desperate to hold on to power. The committee is expected to argue that Trump used the date of the congressional counting of the votes, Jan. 6, 2021, to block a peaceful transfer of power.

Shortly after it was announced that Musk was acquiring Twitter, he said in May that he would reverse the company's ban on Trump. Twitter had banned Trump's account after the Capitol riot, citing the "risk of further incitement of violence." Even though Trump has said he would not rejoin Twitter, Musk said the move was "a mistake."

"I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake," Musk said at a May 10 event hosted by the Financial Times. "It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice."

On Saturday, Trump, who has continued to make false claims of election fraud, said a top priority for Republicans should be to "stop left-wing censorship and to restore free speech in America." As he urged supporters to sign up for his social media company, Truth Social - "It's hot as a pistol" - Trump turned his attention to Musk and Twitter.

"Who the hell knows what's going to happen?" Trump said. "He's got a pretty rotten contract. I looked at his contract, not a good contract."

Trump then lashed out at Musk for allegedly telling the former president he had voted for him. Musk donated to Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016, according to Federal Election Commission data, and tweeted in May that he voted for Clinton in 2016 and President Joe Biden in 2020. Musk also wrote that he voted for Republican Mayra Flores, who won a special election last month in South Texas's heavily Hispanic, blue-leaning 34th Congressional District.

When a conservative media personality challenged Musk's tweet saying Trump should "hang up his hat and sail into the sunset," the billionaire said the former president carried with him "too much drama."

"Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!?" Musk wrote. "Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69."

There is no upper age limit for candidates seeking the presidency. If Trump were to run and be the GOP nominee, he would be 78 on Election Day. Biden would be about two weeks shy of his 82nd birthday on Election Day in November 2024.

Musk went on to claim that if DeSantis were to run against Biden, "then DeSantis will easily win - he doesn't even need to campaign."

- - -

The Washington Post's Rachel Lerman, Yiwen Lu, Jacqueline Alemany and Hannah Allam contributed to this report.
As Donald Trump weighs whether to open an unusually early White House campaign, a New York Times/Siena College poll shows that his post-presidential quest to consolidate his support within the Republican Party has instead left him weakened, with nearly half the partys primary voters seeking someone different for president in 2024 and a significant number vowing to abandon him if he wins the nomination.

By focusing on political payback inside his party instead of tending to wounds opened by his alarming attempts to cling to power after his 2020 defeat, Trump appears to have only deepened fault lines among Republicans during his yearlong revenge tour. A clear majority of primary voters younger than 35, 64%, as well as 65% of those with at least a college degree  a leading indicator of political preferences inside the donor class  told pollsters they would vote against Trump in a presidential primary.

Trumps conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, appears to have contributed to the decline in his standing, including among a small but important segment of Republicans who could form the base of his opposition in a potential primary contest. Although 75% of primary voters said Trump was just exercising his right to contest the election, nearly 1 in 5 said he went so far that he threatened American democracy.

Overall, Trump maintains his primacy in the party: In a hypothetical matchup against five other potential Republican presidential rivals, 49% of primary voters said they would support him for a third nomination.

The greatest threat to usurp Trump within the party is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was the second choice, with 25%, and the only other contender with double-digit support. Among primary voters, DeSantis was the top choice of younger Republicans, those with a college degree and those who said they voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.

Although about one-fourth of Republicans said they didnt know enough to have an opinion about DeSantis, he was well liked by those who did. Among those who voted for Trump in 2020, 44% said they had a very favorable opinion of DeSantis  similar to the 46% who said the same about Trump.

Should DeSantis and Trump face off in a primary, the poll suggested that support from Fox News could prove crucial: Trump held a 62% to 26% advantage over DeSantis among Fox News viewers, while the gap between the two Floridians was 16 points closer among Republicans who mainly receive their news from another source.

The survey suggests that Trump would not necessarily enter a primary with an insurmountable advantage over rivals such as DeSantis. His share of the Republican primary electorate is less than Hillary Rodham Clintons among Democrats was at the outset of the 2016 race, when she was viewed as the inevitable front-runner but ultimately found herself embroiled in a protracted primary against Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Trumps troubles inside his party leave him hamstrung in a matchup against an unusually vulnerable incumbent.

The Times/Siena poll suggested that the fears of many Republican elites about a Trump candidacy may be well founded: He trailed Biden, 44% to 41%, in a hypothetical rematch of the 2020 contest, despite plummeting support for Biden, with voters nationwide giving him a perilously low 33% job-approval rating.

A growing anyone-but-Trump vote inside the party contributed to Trumps deficit, with 16% of Republicans saying that if he were the nominee, they would support Biden, would back a third-party candidate, wouldnt vote at all or remained unsure what they would do. That compared with 8% of Democrats who said they would similarly abandon Biden in a matchup with Trump.

For Trump, bleeding that amount of Republican support would represent a sharp increase compared with the already troubling level of the partys vote he shed during his last race.

In 2020, 9% of Republicans voted for someone other than Trump, while Biden lost just 4% of Democrats, according to AP VoteCast, a large study of the 2020 electorate by NORC at the University of Chicago for The Associated Press.

Kenneth Abreu, a 62-year-old pharmaceutical executive from Pennsylvania, said he had voted Republican for three decades but would support Biden instead of voting again for Trump.

Unlike all these other people who believe every word he says, Im done, Abreu said. All the garbage hes been talking about, the lies, Jan. 6, the whole thing  I just lost all respect for him.

Still, many Republicans who favor someone else in a primary would nonetheless rally behind Trump if he won the nomination.

Richard Bechtol, a 31-year-old Republican voter in Columbus, Ohio, said he would back either DeSantis or Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, over Trump. Bechtol was disturbed by Trumps behavior that led to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

I hope he doesnt run at all, Bechtol said of Trump.

Bechtol, a lawyer, said he found Trumps arrogance off-putting, saw Trump as a divisive figure in the party and believed that he bore responsibility for the violence.

But he said he would support Trump in 2024 in a rematch with Biden.

Biden is getting bullied by the left wing of his party and I worry about his cognitive function as well  actually, I worry about that with Trump, too, he said. Its really a lesser-of-two-evils situation for me.

It is too early to tell whether the challenges for Trump inside his party will result in anything more than speed bumps on his path to the Republican nomination. Underscoring his residual strength, he is viewed favorably by 65% of Republicans who said they would vote against him in a primary, compared with 33% who said they had an unfavorable view.

Trump did a hell of a job on the economy, said Marie Boyce, a New York Republican in her 70s. There isnt anything wrong I could say about him.

David Beard, a 69-year-old retiree in Liberal, Missouri, who said he mostly relied on Social Security for his income, said he was frustrated with both political parties and all levels of government. He plans to stick with Trump in 2024, betting that was the best chance to improve the economy.

When Trump was in office, it didnt seem like prices went haywire, Beard said.

He said Democrats efforts to hold Trump accountable for the Jan. 6 attack had been a pointless distraction. The governments whole focus should have been on the people of the United States and the situation were in, instead of wasting time and money trying to impeach him, Beard said. Nothing is being done to help the people, and I believe that with all my heart.

About 20% of all registered voters said they didnt like either Trump or Biden. Trump also trailed his successor among these voters, 18% to 39%. One in 5 volunteered to pollsters that they would sit out such an election, although that option had not been offered to them.

I never thought I would say this, but it if was Biden and Trump, I dont think I would vote, said Gretchen Aultman, a 74-year-old retired lawyer in Colorado who voted for Trump in 2016. I liked Trumps policies, but he was so abrasive and unpolished, and having him as president was just tearing the country apart.

Aultman said she didnt see Biden as an acceptable alternative. I cant in good conscience vote for Biden, she said. I recognize the signs of being old, and his mental acuity is not going to last another two years.

Between the large number of primary voters ready for another nominee and the growing number who say they would not vote for Trump again under any circumstances, the poll suggests Trumps biggest hurdle to winning a second term isnt another Republican opponent  its himself.

John Heaphy, a 70-year-old retired software engineer in Arizona, said he voted for Trump in 2020 but planned to back Biden in 2024 because of the Capitol riot.

Heaphy said that Trump had incited an insurrection and that he was shaken by the support Trumps false claims have received from other Republicans. Indeed, according to the poll, 86% of Republicans who said they would support Trump in the 2024 primary said he was the legitimate winner of the 2020 election.

Trump lost the election, Heaphy said. There are too many people out there that just dont seem like they believe in reality anymore.

Although Trump has described election integrity as the countrys most pressing concern, just 3% of Republicans named it as the nations top problem. But Trumps response to his 2020 defeat was a significant factor in how Republicans are thinking about 2024.

Among Republicans who said they plan to vote against Trump in a primary, 32% said his actions threatened American democracy.

Paula Hudnall, a 51-year-old nurse in Charleston, West Virginia, said Trump was right to question the results of the election. She said she didnt blame him for the violence at the Capitol.

Anytime you have a large gathering, youre going to have people who get out of hand and are unruly, said Hudnall, who identified the economy and infrastructure as her top issues.

Hudnall said she was interested in learning about other Republican candidates, but that Trump already had her vote again for 2024.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
First lady Jill Biden is receiving blowback for comments made during a Monday speech in San Antonio, Texas.

Biden was speaking to Latino nonprofit group UnidosUS when she likened the diversity of the Latino American community to offerings of breakfast tacos at restaurants in the city.

Biden said UnidosUS founder Raul Yzaguirre had formed the group "with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength." The first lady also mispronounced the Spanish word "bodega" during her remarks.

The comments drew cheers from the in-person crowd and a laugh from Biden herself. Criticism of the remarks was quick to follow on social media. Among those unamused by the first lady's remarks was the National Associate of Hispanic Journalists, which issued a statement in response to the comments.

"Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of Latinos in San Antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of Latinos in the region," the statement read. "NAHJ encourages Dr. Biden and her speech writing team to take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities."

"We are not tacos," the group stated. "Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions, and should not be reduced to a stereotype."

Press Secretary to the First Lady Michael LaRosa has since tweeted an apology from Biden.

"The First Lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community," LaRosa tweeted.

UnidosUS CEO Janet Murguia has since tweeted a message saying the group was "honored" to host the first lady.

"So honored to host @FLOTUS at our Annual Conference today in San Antonio," Murguia wrote. "She has been a great educator in, and a great amiga to, our community for years. Privileged to call her a friend."
WFO ALBANY Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Southern Hamilton County in eastern New York...

Northern Fulton County in eastern New York...

* Until 245 PM EDT.

* At 151 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Stratford, or

18 miles northeast of Little Falls, moving east at 45 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage

to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Northville, Wells, Stratford, Northampton Beach Public Campground,

Sacandaga Campground, Hope, Arietta, Benson, Oregon, Fairchilds

Corners, Gilmantown, Girards Sugarbush, Sweets Crossing, Clockmill

Corners, Pinnacle, Blackbridge, Whitehouse, Knappville, Shaker

Place and Maple Grove.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Please report hail size...damaging winds and reports of trees down to

the National Weather Service by email at Alb.Stormreport@noaa.gov...

On Facebook at www.facebook.com/nwsalbany or twitter @nwsalbany

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 230 PM EDT

FOR NORTHEASTERN WARREN COUNTY...

At 153 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Chestertown, or

12 miles north of Warrensburg, moving east at 40 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

Locations impacted include...

Chestertown, Scaroon Manor Public Campground, Eagle Point Campground,

Byrnes Corners, Igerna, South Horicon, Starbuckville, Riparius,

Graphite, Adirondack, Brant Lake and Pottersville.

If on or near Schroon Lake, get away from the water and move indoors

or inside a vehicle. remember, lightning can strike out to 15 miles

from the parent thunderstorm. If you can hear thunder, you are close

enough to be struck by lightning. Move to safe shelter now! Do not

be caught on the water in a thunderstorm.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to

flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.

...Strong thunderstorms will impact portions of southeastern Essex,

southwestern Addison and northwestern Rutland Counties through 230

PM EDT...

At 151 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near

Schroon Lake, moving east at 30 mph.

HAZARD...Winds in excess of 30 mph and pea size hail.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is

possible.

Middlebury, Crown Point, Cornwall, Schroon Lake, Orwell, Shoreham,

Crown Point Center, Bridport, Whiting, Weybridge, Benson, Addison,

North Hudson, Benson Bay, Black Point, Plumies Point, Gilligans Bay,

Giards Bay, Hollands Pasture Island and Fivemile Point.

This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio

stations and available television stations for additional information

and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

If on or near Lake Champlain, get out of the water and move indoors

or inside a vehicle. Remember, lightning can strike out to 10 miles

enough to be struck by lightning. Move to safe shelter now! Do not

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect until 700 PM EDT for

northern New York...and central and southern Vermont.

LAT...LON 4377 7335 4381 7338 4377 7377 4398 7382

4405 7312 4376 7326 4375 7337

TIME...MOT...LOC 1751Z 258DEG 27KT 4381 7366

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN

MAX WIND GUST...30 MPH

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO ALBANY Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Northwestern Litchfield County in northern Connecticut...

Central Berkshire County in western Massachusetts...

Northeastern Dutchess County in east central New York...

Columbia County in east central New York...

Southeastern Greene County in east central New York...

Southeastern Rensselaer County in east central New York...

* Until 515 PM EDT.

* At 432 PM EDT, severe thunderstorms were located along a line

extending from near Hancock to near Athens, moving east at 45 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Pittsfield, Great Barrington, Hudson, Catskill, Chatham, Claverack,

Lee, Lenox, Livingston, Copake, Sheffield, Stephentown, Coxsackie,

Pine Plains, New Lebanon, Clermont, Valatie, Becket, Athens and

Austerlitz.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with these storms, and may lead to

flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.

Please report hail size...damaging winds and reports of trees down to

the National Weather Service by email at Alb.Stormreport@noaa.gov...

On Facebook at www.facebook.com/nwsalbany or twitter @nwsalbany

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH WEDNESDAY

EVENING...

* WHAT...Dangerous rip currents.

* WHERE...Southern Nassau, Southern Queens, Kings (Brooklyn),

Southeast Suffolk and Southwest Suffolk Counties.

* WHEN...Through Wednesday evening.

* IMPACTS...Life-threatening rip currents are likely for all

people entering the surf zone. Anyone visiting the beaches

should stay out of the surf. Rip currents can sweep even the

best swimmers away from shore into deeper water.

If you enter the surf zone, always have a flotation device with

you and swim near a lifeguard. If caught in a rip current, relax

and float, and do not swim against the current. If able, swim in

a direction following the shoreline. If unable to escape, face

the shore and yell or wave for help.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO BINGHAMTON Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT

Special Weather Statement

National Weather Service Binghamton NY

1204 PM EDT Tue Jul 12 2022

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of northwestern Oneida

County through 1245 PM EDT...

At 1202 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 9

miles northwest of Camden, moving east at 45 mph.

HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and pea size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is

possible.

Locations impacted include...

Camden, Boonville, Steuben, Florence, Ava, Taberg, Glenmore, Point

Rock, North Western and Pixley Falls State Park.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Heavy rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to

localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded

roadways.

LAT...LON 4330 7528 4330 7587 4332 7587 4332 7588

4333 7588 4348 7581 4342 7553 4352 7532

TIME...MOT...LOC 1602Z 265DEG 39KT 4341 7592

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN

MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH

The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

South central Lewis County in central New York...

East central Oswego County in central New York...

* Until 1230 PM EDT.

* At 1204 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 8 miles northwest

of Camden, moving east at 45 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor damage to vehicles is possible. Expect wind damage

to trees and power lines.

* Locations impacted include...

Williamstown, Kasoag, Swancott Mill and Amboy Center.

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO BINGHAMTON Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Binghamton has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Central Delaware County in central New York...

* Until 400 PM EDT.

* At 315 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Colchester,

or near Walton, moving east at 45 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Walton, Delhi, Roxbury, Colchester, Kortright, Meredith, Hamden,

Andes, Stamford and Margaretville.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, July 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Northwestern Lipscomb County in the Panhandle of Texas...

Eastern Ochiltree County in the Panhandle of Texas...

* Until 945 PM CDT.

* At 851 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Booker, or 17

miles east of Perryton, moving west at 20 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible.

Hail damage to vehicles is expected.

* Locations impacted include...

Perryton and Booker.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to

flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SAN ANGELO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in San Angelo has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Central Tom Green County in west central Texas...

Northeastern Irion County in west central Texas...

* Until 500 PM CDT.

* At 431 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Arden, moving

northwest at 15 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

* This severe thunderstorm will be near...

Arden around 450 PM CDT.

Other locations impacted by this severe thunderstorm include Us-

67 Near The Irion-Tom Green County Line.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
In Part 7 of CIC News' special interview series, Sean Fraser talks about his bucket list of items to complete during his term as minister of immigration.

Canadas immigration minister wants to make good on mandate letter commitments for refugees and undocumented workers

Canadas immigration minister wants to make good on mandate letter commitments for refugees and undocumented workers In Part 7 of CIC News' special interview series, Sean Fraser talks about his bucket list of items to complete during his term as minister of immigration.

Canadas immigration minister wants to make good on mandate letter commitments for refugees and undocumented workers In Part 7 of CIC News' special interview series, Sean Fraser talks about his bucket list of items to complete during his term as minister of immigration.

Canadas immigration minister wants to make good on mandate letter commitments for refugees and undocumented workers In Part 7 of CIC News' special interview series, Sean Fraser talks about his bucket list of items to complete during his term as minister of immigration. Shelby Thevenot Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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We asked Sean Fraser what he personally wants to achieve during his term as Canadas minister of immigration.

There were four items on Frasers bucket list, all found on his mandate letter, a document from the prime minister which outlines the objectives that each minister is expected to complete during their term.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

Canadas immigration minister shares wish list for refugees Transcript BelowWe asked Sean Fraser what he personally wants to achieve during his term as Canadas minister of immigration.We apologize for the sound q

I want to successfully resettle and make good on our commitments to Afghan refugees and to Ukrainians who are in search of safe haven, Fraser told CIC News on June 21.

Canada is committed to welcoming at least 40,000 Afghan refugees. Since August 2021, about 16,370 Afghans have come to Canada. For Ukrainians fleeing from the war in Ukraine, Canada has introduced the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET). This allows Ukrainians to come to Canada temporarily. So far, 55,488 Ukrainians have landed in Canada since January 1, 2022.

Fraser also said he want to be the immigration minister who returns application processing to the service standard. Following the pandemic, IRCCs inventory across all lines of business has grown to about 2.4 million persons.

Those are the big ticket items that everybody wants me do, Fraser said. Theres two things that I really care aboutin addition to thosethat I want to do while I am the minister of immigration.

Fraser first named the Employment Mobility Pathways Pilot, which allows refugee candidates who appear to have the potential to succeed in the Canadian labour market to apply under an economic immigration program.

The EMPP, Employment Mobility Pathways Pilot, has the potential to change the way the world thinks about refugees, not as people who are in need of charity, but as people who arrive with a lot more than the contents of their suitcase, Fraser said. We can teach people that refugee resettlement doesnt have to be motivated only by altruism, but also by our economic self-interest.

Finally, Fraser said undocumented workers who have contributed to Canada over an extended period of time should be allowed to have status.

I think its the right thing to do, Fraser said. And were going to continue digging on a policy to amend measures on implied status to certain people who have been here for a lengthy period of time.

Special interview series with Minister Fraser

CIC News sat down with the minister on June 21, 2022.

Over the coming weeks, CIC News is releasing a special series of articles elaborating on the interview with Minister Fraser on topics including:

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
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Sector bodies have advised the Labour party to consider unintended consequences and potential implications for other parts of the sector after it pledged to remove charitable status from private schools.

Keir Starmer, Labour party leader, had previously outlined the plan in 2021, but elaborated on the policy in a speech in Gateshead on Monday.

He said the Labour party would use tax money gained by removing private schools charitable status to invest in state education if it wins the next general election.

The party leader said a Labour government would increase investment in education, with funding raised by closing the VAT loophole for private schools. The commitment is similar to one made by Jeremy Corbyn in the partys 2019 manifesto.

Many independent schools are registered charities, and have to generate a meaningful amount of public benefit, though the Charity Commission is not prescriptive on this.

'Consider unintended consequences and potential implications'

Richard Sagar, head of policy at Charity Finance Group (CFG) said: CFG would want to see more details on these proposals and consider unintended consequences and potential implications for other parts of the sector.

Removing some tax benefits and retaining charitable status which some commentators have proposed, and which the Barclay review in Scotland recommended as the best approach, would create a two-tier system of charities and risk creating confusion amongst the public.

Removing charitable status from private schools would avoid this difficulty. Regardless of what is decided, CFG will work with the sector to support charities with the implications of the transition."

Richard Bray, chair of Charity Tax Group (CTG), said: CTGs position has always been that all charity tax reliefs should apply equally to all organisations which are recognised as being charities. We have consistently argued that charitable status should be determined by charity law and not by the tax system. If the Labour Party were to remove charitable status from public schools, this would no longer be a tax issue.

ISC: A tax on aspiration

Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), said Labours proposal to charge VAT on independent school fees will have the greatest impact on the families who work the hardest to pay the fees.

She said: These parents are striving to do the best for their children and often sacrifice other spending to pay school fees - their right to make choices over education should not be undermined by a tax on aspiration.

Ultimately, the policy would threaten the survival of the smallest independent schools, which operate on tight margins and without large endowments. Most independent schools have fewer than 400 pupils on roll, and these small schools, serving their local communities, would be at risk of closure.

Robinson added everyone working in independent schools wants to see a well-funded state school system but said this is a policy proposal in which the numbers simply do not stack up.

In Spring 2018, Baines Cutler Solutions and KPMG were commissioned by the ISC to conduct a review of the potential impact of the introduction of 20% VAT on the independent schools sector.

The review suggested that axing VAT exemption on independent school fees would cost the government at least 416m in its fifth year once pupil displacement and VAT recovery is taken into account.

sign up to receive the Civil Society News daily bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,
The Charity Tribunal has upheld the regulator's decision to ban the former director of a charity wound up by the High Court from being a trustee.

In 2019, the Charity Commission petitioned the High Court for an order to wind up Thrift Urban Housing Limited. This is the first time the regulator has done so under the Charities Act 2011.

This came after the Commission launched a statutory inquiry into the housing charity in 2014 after uncovering serious concerns.

In a recently published Charity Tribunal judgement, the charity's former director Preston Lennox lost an appeal against the Charity Commissions decision to ban him from serving as a board member or employee for 15 years.

Lennox has been added to the register of removed trustees and is disqualified from acting formally within a charity until 2037.

When the court case took place in May this year, Lennox did not attend to prosecute his appeal. In an email, Lennox told the court that the hearing of his appeal could not take place without him present. This was not the case.

Sky News previously reported that Lennox had spent around 350,000 of charitable funds over nine years on a credit card, medical expenses, his mortgage, a Range Rover and other personal costs.

Civil Society News contacted Lennox's accountants for comment but did not receive a response.

No possibility of success

The Commission felt that while there may be complex legal arguments arising in this appeal, the facts could not be in dispute despite the apparent position of the appellant [Lennox] to the contrary.

The charity tribunal agreed and struck out the appeal for having no reasonable prospects of success.

Investigation into the charity are ongoing

A spokesperson from the Charity Commission said: Preston Lennox has been disqualified as a trustee and from holding a senior management position in a charity for 15 years. Our inquiry into Thrift Housing Ltd. remains ongoing.

They explained that the Commission cannot comment further while the inquiry is underway.

sign up to receive the Civil Society News daily bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,
On Sunday, my phone pinged with several similar push notifications in quick succession. They were all about Uber, and they came from news sites, not my Uber app. Uber leveraged violent clashes between its drivers and taxi workers to pressure politicians, the Washington Post told me; Revelations sur le deal secret entre Uber et Emmanuel Macron, Le Monde promised. When alerts like these fall in a flurry, its a safe bet that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, or some other global media group, is involved, and so it proved this time: ICIJ had teamed up with forty-three news outlets in twenty-nine countries to sort through more than 124,000 emails, invoices, and other sensitive documents that a source leaked to The Guardian. Collectively, they show Uber engaging in all manner of sketchy tactics as the company piloted an aggressive international expansion between 2013 and 2017. As Mark MacGann, then its top lobbyist in Europe, put it in one leaked message, the firms approach to entering new markets was Uber launches, and then there is a regulatory and legal sh*itstorm.

Yesterday, The Guardian revealed, via a slickly produced video and accompanying article, that MacGann was the origin of the leak, and had decided to contact the paper because he thought that Uber had knowingly flouted taxi-licensing laws in various countries and sold prospective drivers a bill of goods about the benefits of working for the company. He met with Guardian journalists in Geneva in January, bringing along two suitcases stuffed with electronic devices and paper records and saying that it would take at least a few days to explain all the shady shit hed seen. He also acknowledged his complicity in the shadiness. How can you have a clear conscience if you dont stand up and own your contribution? he asked. I am partly responsible. I was the one talking to governments, I was the one pushing this with the media.

ICYMI: After weeks of hype, Unprecedented proves, well, precedented

The Uber Files, as ICIJ and The Guardians project is called, contains many interesting nuggets about the companys interactions with the media as it pursued its expansion playbook, and some of the nuggets do indeed concern MacGann directly; at one point, he can be seen praising staffers in Ubers Amsterdam office for leaking stories to the press about attacks on Uber drivers, pushing a violence narrative that would increase pressure on the Dutch government. The media stories in the cache go wider than MacGann, too. In 2014, consultants compiled a list of stakeholders in various countries whom Uber should seek to influence, including sixty-four journalists and media figures. In 2015, David Plouffe, a former top aide to Barack Obama who had gone on to work for Uber, met with the BBC on a visit to the UK and also spoke at a US Embassy event on the gig economy in front of journalists and other power brokers.

If none of this sounds out of the ordinary for a major company, Uber executives also sought financial investment from media entrepreneurs in several countriesnot because they wanted their money or even favorable coverage, The Guardian reports, but to leverage their individual clout in the corridors of power, particularly in jurisdictions where Uber was in a tight spot reputationally or regulatorily. Carlo De Benedetti, an Italian media mogul, was an early Uber investor, and records suggest that he lobbied politicians on the companys behalf, though he denies this; the German publishing behemoth Axel Springer, which now owns Politico and Insider, took a stake in Uber after the latter company talked internally about bringing the former onside, and the owner of the Times of India invested, too. (The latter company denied brokering political access for Uber; Axel Springer said it took its stake in exchange for Uber buying ad space, and that Uber never influenced its editorial line.) This morning, The Guardian reported that Uber paid several academics to produce favorable studies that it then fed to the press.

Some of Ubers media tactics have long been public knowledge; in 2014, for example, the company apologized after a senior executive suggested that it should hire opposition researchers to dig up dirt on Sarah Lacy, a tech journalist. During the period covered by the Uber Files, the company often found itself on the receiving end of damning exposes and other negative press that reached a head in 2017 when Travis Kalanick, its founder and CEO, stepped back amid a shareholder revolt, to be replaced as CEO by Dara Khosrowshahi. Responding to the Uber Files, an Uber spokesperson said that the company would not attempt to defend egregious past conduct, but characterized the investigation as old news with no bearing on its present direction. There has been no shortage of reporting on Ubers mistakes prior to 2017, the spokesperson wrote, referencing thousands of stories, several books, and a TV seriesSuper Pumped, a Showtime drama based on a book of the same name by the New York Times reporter Mike Isaacthat added up to one of the most infamous reckonings in corporate history. When we say Uber is a different company today, we mean it literally, the spokesperson said: 90% of current Uber employees joined after Dara became CEO.

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Yesterday, after Uber learned of MacGanns role in the leak, it took several shots at his personal credibility, claiming that he praised the company when he departed in 2016 but later became embroiled in litigation over a bonus he said he was owed, resulting in a hefty payout. We understand that Mark has personal regrets about his years of steadfast loyalty to our previous leadership, but he is in no position to speak credibly about Uber today, the company said. It is noteworthy that Mark felt compelled to blow the whistle only after his cheque cleared.

MacGann acknowledged to The Guardian that he has had personal grievances with Uber and said that he couldnt discuss his legal fight with the companybut he disputed that he had yet been paid in full, and he first contacted The Guardian months before reaching any settlement in his case. (Theres no statute of limitations on doing the right thing, he added.) And his grievances with Uber, he said, go far beyond money: he feels that bosses exposed him to violent threats from its opponents when he was on the jobcontributing to a subsequent diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorderand says that he came to realize, after stepping away, that the company treats its drivers with a similar lack of care. (Uber denies this.)

Before approaching The Guardian, MacGann says, he tried to blow the whistle on Uber via a French lawyer and the London mayors office, but didnt get very far in either case. Not that he wants for official connections: hes on first-name terms with various heavyweights of European politics, and continued to text with Macron well into this year. Ultimately, his profile as a senior executive and political insider make him an unusual whistleblower, The Guardian writes. So, too, does the fact he actively participated in some of the wrongdoing he is seeking to expose.

While MacGanns circumstances and motivations are his own, the fact of whistleblowing via the press isnt so unusual these daysits increasingly common. MacGann isnt even the first ex-staffer to have blown the whistle on Uber, specifically: early in 2017, Susan Fowler, a former engineer at the company, wrote a blog post detailing her experience of sexual harassment in the workplace, setting in motion a major scandal that would contribute to Kalanicks ouster and feed into reckonings both in Silicon Valley and internationally, as #MeToo exploded later in the year. (Fowler, who went on to work for the Times, later wrote a book titled Whistleblower.) Fowler went public on her own terms, though she made sure that all the claims in her post were backed up by extensive documentation. MacGann, by contrast, handed a much broader tranche of documents over to journalists for prepublication vetting. ICIJ commonly works on this basis, most famously combing through huge leaks of offshore financial data and packaging key findings for readers. (Its Pandora Papers investigation, which dropped last year, was based on 11.9 million records.)

Whistleblowers dont always identify themselves: many choose to remain anonymous, while others end up being exposed against their will. In coming forward alongside his evidence, MacGann reminds me most, perhaps, of Frances Haugen, who anonymously leaked a trove of documents from inside Facebook to the Wall Street Journal then went (very) publicappearing on a Journal podcast and on 60 Minutes, testifying in front of Congress, and taking on a high-profile publicist, sparking and sustaining a prominent debate about Facebooks business practices and impact on democracy. Like MacGann, Haugen blew the whistle from within the sprawling world of tech, albeit focused on a different corner, and was not the first person to come forward about wrongdoing at her company. (As my colleague Paroma Soni wrote at the time, Sophie Zhang, a former Facebook data analyst, had shared damaging documents with The Guardian months earlier. That they landed with less of a splash, Soni wrote, reflected complicated truths about what catches the publics attention, the effects of strategic PR, and the extent of journalisms value in holding the powerful to account.)

After initially working only with the Journal, Haugen handed documents to an ad hoc coalition of other top outlets, including the Times. In doing so, she succeeded at amplifying the story across the breadth of the US news cycle, but the effect was in some ways messy: different news organizations sometimes replicated each others reporting, as my colleague Mathew Ingram noted at the time, and the coalition experienced some internal awkwardness and cracks, as the then-Times media columnist Ben Smith reported. MacGanns leak, in the end, went down a more conventional route: ICIJ is well practiced at ensuring that investigations with lots of moving parts roll out in a more centralized way on a coordinated timetable, with outlets in different countries each owning their local chapter of the story. A planned joint embargo on Haugens leaked documents failed to hold. The Uber Files have rained down in a measured, multilingual stream of push alerts.

Itll be worth watching, now, whether MacGann, in such a crowded news cycle, has the ability or inclination to retain significant public and media focus over a period of months, as Haugen managedand whether and how he might use his leak to sell policy proposals pertaining to his industry, or to sell himself. Intentionally or not, Haugen became a media personality in her own right, perhaps reflectingas Delphine Halgand-Mishra of the Signals Network, a group that supports whistleblowers internationally, told me back in 2019a broader cultural reappraisal of the image of the whistleblower, from the sad geek who destroyed his life to part of a power movement. MacGann already seems to have at least some ambitions in that direction. It is my duty to speak up and help governments and parliamentarians right some fundamental wrongs, he told The Guardian. Morally, I had no choice in the matter.

Below, more on the Uber Files, investigations, and whistleblowers:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Journalism and the limits of Boris Johnson

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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.
An insurance carrier that issued a $1 million comprehensive liability policy to actress Amber Heard has filed a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that it is not liable for paying any part of a $10,350,000 jury award against her in a defamation lawsuit filed by actor Johnny Depp.

New York Marine and General Insurance Co. says in an action filed Friday in federal court in Los Angeles that a jury could not have found Heard culpable unless it found she intentionally defamed her ex-husband.

An insurer is not liable for the loss caused by the willful act of the insured, but (it) is not exonerated by the negligence of the insured, or the insureds agents or others, the companys filing says, citing the California Insurance Code.

Secondly, the carrier says Heard violated the terms of the policy by refusing to work with the attorneys it selected to represent her.

Depp in 2019 filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County, Virginia Circuit Court charging that Heard and defamed him in an essay published by the Washington Post that said she had been a victim of domestic abuse. On June 1, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Depp awarding $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The court reduced the punitive damage award to $350,000, as required by Virginia law.

The jury also returned a verdict in favor of Heard in counterclaims she had made against Depp and awarded her $2 million in damages. The two verdicts together work out to be a $8,350,000 victory for Depp.

New York Marine said in the court filing that it issued the liability policy in 2018 to Heard and a corporation that she owns, Under the Black Sky Inc. The policy has a $1 million per occurence limit.

The corporation was registered in Texas, but Heard is a resident of California. New York Marine contends that insurers cannot be held liable for the willful acts of insureds under California Insurance Code Section 533.

Whats more, the insurer said in the filing that it retained the Cameron McEvoy law firm to defend Heard while reserving its right to decline to indemnify Heard for the loss. Heard or her agents however, instructed the other attorneys she retained not to include Cameron McEvoy in the defense, so the law firm withdrew from the case, the lawsuit says. The policy required Heard to cooperate with the defense team, the insurer contends.

Heard filed a motion for mistrial on July 1, making several arguments. Among them: Her attorneys say they discovered that one of the jurors, who the jury summons said was born in 1945, was actually born in 1970. Heards attorneys say the court needs to investigate whether the person selected to serve on the jury is the same person who received the summons.

In a supplemental memorandum filed Friday, Heard said the 52-year-old man selected for the jury lived at the same address and had the same last name as the 77-year-old man who received the jury summons.

Depps attorneys responded on Monday, saying that even accepting an argument that a son served on the jury instead of the father who was summoned, there is no evidence that Heards case was prejudiced because of the switch. Heard was aware of the apparent age discrepancy at the time of the trial but did not object, the brief says.

Clearly Ms. Heard waived any right to allege new facts she chose not to investigate for so long, much less to demand the extraordinary remedy of a mistrial, the filing says.

About the photo: This combination of two separate photos shows actors Johnny Depp, left, and Amber Heard in the courtroom for closing arguments at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., on Friday, May 27, 2022.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and AbbVies Allergan unit on Tuesday reached a $58 million settlement with the city of San Francisco just before completion of a trial over claims that they fueled an opioid epidemic in the city.

Under the deal announced by City Attorney David Chiu, Israel-based Teva will pay $25 million in cash and contribute a $20 million supply of the overdose-reversal drug Narcan. AbbVie will pay $13 million.

This will bring significant resources to help with education, prevention and treatment, and the addition of tens of millions of dollars worth of overdose reversal medication will save lives in the Bay Area, said Paul Geller, a lawyer who represented the city in negotiating the settlement.

Tevas settlement also resolves the citys claims against drug distributor Anda Inc, which is owned by Teva.

San Francisco will receive $54 million, while $4 million will go toward attorneys fees.

Todays settlement is another critical step forward in getting life-saving treatments to people suffering from opioid addiction, Teva said in a statement.

AbbVie confirmed the settlement and said its discontinued branded opioid business had only a minimal market share nationwide.

The settlement was reached before closing arguments in a trial that kicked off on April 25. San Francisco will proceed with closing arguments on Tuesday against retail pharmacy chain Walgreens, the last remaining defendant in the case.

Parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA.O has denied wrongdoing. Teva and Allergan did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

San Francisco accused Walgreens, Teva, Allergan, and Anda of creating a public nuisance by flooding the city with prescription opioids and failing to prevent the drugs from being diverted for illegal use.

The companies argued that they sold legal medication prescribed by doctors.

The trial was selected as a bellwether case against drug manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies, testing the strength of claims in thousands of lawsuits filed by state and local governments. In other similar trials, drugmakers also have been accused of playing down the addiction and overdose risks in marketing their painkillers.

San Francisco has been hit hard by the opioid crisis, which has caused more than 500,000 overdose deaths nationwide in the past two decades, according to the U.S. data. Opioid-related health issues account for 25% of emergency room visits at the citys largest public hospital, according to a court filing at the start of the trial.

San Franciscos lawsuit, filed in 2018, initially included claims against drugmakers Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N and Endo International Plc ENDP.O, and the three largest U.S. drug distributors  McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp.

The city settled with those defendants ahead of trial. It signed onto a $26 billion nationwide settlement with J&J and the drug distributors, and agreed to support Purdue Pharmas bankruptcy plan.

Teva has been attempting to reach a nationwide settlement of its opioid liability.

Teva Chief Executive Kare Schultz said on May 3 that the company expects to reach a nationwide deal by the end of 2022 and pay about $2.6 billion over 15 years. Read full sto
South Africa: Labour hosts workshops on the new commercial diving regulations

The Department of Employment and Labour will from today host a series of commercial diving workshops to discuss the recently unveiled sector regulations.

The first workshop is being held today in Gqeberha at the Transnet offices.

The new commercial diving regulations were promulgated on 20 May 2022, replacing the diving regulations, which were promulgated in 2009.

In a statement, the department said that the commercial diving industry covers a broad spectrum of activities both offshore and inland, where people go underwater to work.

The Department of Employment and Labour regulates only commercial diving operations in the Republic of South Africa. Thus, the new regulations apply to all commercial diving operations and all persons engaged in commercial diving operations in the country or the territorial waters.

"These regulations ensure that the occupational health and safety of persons involved in the diving operations is promoted, the department said.

The key issues that will be discussed during the workshops are:

The re-issuing of diving certification to all commercial divers, diving supervisors, instructors and designated medical practitioners and their validity period.

The registration of chamber operators and diving contractors, as this is a new requirement included in the current regulations and the validity of their certification.

The requirements that the commercial diving schools need to comply with before continuing with the training of commercial divers.

The audits that will be conducted by the department before issuing certification to commercial diving schools and diving contractors.

The revised training standards and implications to commercial diving schools.

During the workshops, the constitution of the Diving Technical Committee will be discussed and nominees of the committee members will be requested from the participants.

The department said these workshops will be a good platform for stakeholders involved with diving operations to interact with the department and seek clarity on the new commercial diving regulations.

Wednesdays workshop will be held at the University of Cape Town at John Day LT2 in the John Day Building, University Ave North, UCT at 9am.

The next workshop will be held on 18 July at uShaka Marine in Durban, at the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) at 8:30 am.

The department said these workshops follow on the heels of the recently celebrated World Ocean Day on 8 June.

The celebration encourages action throughout the year to protect the planet. It is part of a global movement to safeguard at least 30% of the world's land, waters and oceans by 2030.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-07-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
UN chief hails human diversity as world population reaching 8 bln

Xinhua) 08:38, July 12, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, July 11 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that humankind should celebrate diversity and health advancements, especially lower mortality rates, in welcoming the 8 billionth person on the globe in November.

"This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates," he said in a World Population Day statement. "At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another."

However, the UN chief was quick to point out that because of COVID-19, the climate crisis, wars and conflicts, humanitarian emergencies, hunger and poverty, the world remains in peril.

"We still live in a world of vast gender inequality and we are witnessing renewed assaults on women's rights, including on essential health services," he said. "Complications related to pregnancy and childbirth are still the leading cause of death among girls aged 15 to 19."

In marking 8 billion people on Earth, the focus must always be on people, Guterres said, calling for greater equality and solidarity to ensure the planet can support the global need and those of future generations.

"Let us protect human rights and the ability of all individuals to make informed choices about whether and when to have children," he said. "And let us renew our promise to fully implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for a sustainable and inclusive future for all 8 billion of us, leaving no one behind."

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which launched the World Population Prospects for 2022, said the global population would reach 8 billion on Nov. 15 this year.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
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By Rick Palsgrove

Groveport Editor

Groveport City Council has again postponed further discussion and a vote on an ordinance regarding the personal use of fireworks within city limits.

Because of this, as of now, the use of personal fireworks remains banned in Groveport.

At councils July 11 meeting, council decided to delay more talks or action on the legislation until its July 25 meeting because Councilman Ed Dildine was not present at the July 11 meeting. Council members felt all members should be present during consideration of the fireworks legislation.

The proposed ordinance originally restricted the personal use of consumer grade fireworks to only on the Fourth of July within the Groveport city limits. However, on June 27 by a 4-2 vote, council amended the proposed ordinance to instead allow the use of personal fireworks on 15 days, which would make it consistent with the new state law regarding the personal use of fireworks. (Council members Jean Ann Hilbert and Jack Rupp opposed the amendment.)

A new Ohio law, which went into effect July 1, allows individuals to possess consumer grade fireworks, eliminating a requirement that purchasers transport consumer grade fireworks out of the state within 48 hours of purchase.

The new state law allows any person authorized to possess consumer grade fireworks to discharge them on their own property or on another persons property with permission on the following days: New Years Day; Chinese New Year; Cinco de Mayo; Memorial Day weekend; Juneteenth; July 3, 4, and 5 and the Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays preceding and following; Labor Day weekend; Diwali; and New Years Eve.

However, the law permits local governments to restrict the dates and times when individuals may discharge consumer grade fireworks or to impose a complete ban on the use of consumer grade fireworks.

A motion on June 27 to pass, as an emergency measure, Groveports amended ordinance that would adhere to the new state law failed by a 3-3 vote. (Five votes are needed to pass legislation as an emergency. Council members Ed Dildine, Scott Lockett, and Becky Hutson voted to approve while Jean Ann Hilbert, Jack Rupp, and Shawn Cleary opposed.)

The amended ordinance goes on to its third reading and a possible final vote on July 25. If it is passed at that time it would go into effect 30 days later and then allow the use of personal fireworks on the days listed in the state law.

According to Groveport City Administrator B.J. King, under existing Groveport law there is currently a complete ban on the use of personal fireworks in the city.

Council members Lockett and Dildine have both expressed the desire that Groveport follow the new state law that allows the personal use of fireworks and make changes if problems arise.

Hilbert and Rupp favor restricting the use of personal fireworks. Both said they are concerned about the potential injuries brought on by the use of personal fireworks.

Groveport Police Chief Casey Adams said individuals must be responsible when using personal consumer grade fireworks. He said people must ensure everyone in and around a launch is safe and the fireworks are launched away from others and structures that could sustain injury or damage when the fireworks explode and fall to the ground. He said the negligent use of fireworks without proper precautions could lead to criminal charges being filed against those responsible for the fireworks.
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Website bangkokhangover.me uses latest and advanced technologies like: Boostrap. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 195321 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 60586 bytes (59.17 kb uncompressed) and 14339 bytes (14.00 kb compressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2022-07-12, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
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NEW MILFORD  Following last weeks fire that damaged the roof and interior of New Milford High School, Mayor Pete Bass has declared a local disaster emergency.

The declaration allows the town to expedite the repair of the roof, and everything that may be involved, Bass said. Time is of the essence. Already, the town anticipates buying 50 portable classrooms because some rooms wont be ready to be occupied by the fall.

With this declaration, we're able to look at the insurance claims, arranging contractor contracts, terminations or interventions, leasing or purchasing equipment  doing this all much more quickly than we would be able to do if we had to go through the normal process, Bass said. Also, (when it comes to) placing temporary classrooms and structures, and also working with boards and other town agencies because of the fire  to do it in a faster process.

The emergency declaration comes after a large fire broke out July 5 on the New Milford High School roof, causing six firefighters to suffer from smoke inhalation.

As a result of the damage caused by the fire, the work on the roof will now be a full-blown renovation of part of the high school, Bass said.

It's going to be a much more complex project than it was for just a roof, which is going to require lots of moving parts, he said, adding the goal is returning students back to school.

At Thursdays Municipal Building Committee meeting, tempers flared as town officials strongly reprimanded representatives from United Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc. in Brookfield  the contractors performing the roof work. This is the second fire at the high school  the first one, in December, started when fiberglass insulation caught fire as workers from United Roofing used a torch, officials have said. The fire marshal hasnt determined the cause of last weeks fire.

The town has not decided if it will continue to work with the roofing contractor.

At Monday's Town Council meeting, Bass said the town must decide quickly regarding the roof, including filing, perfecting insurance claims, arranging for contractor termination and intervention, leasing or purchasing, and placing temporary classrooms or other structures, and seeking available grants and financing vehicles ... until the high school building is fully habitable for all educational and school related purposes.

The state of emergency will remain in effect until further notice.

Roof restoration

Belfor, a disaster recovery company, is performing the restoration work.

They've been going pretty much nonstop since really the night of the fire, Bass said. Some of the stuff that they've done, first and foremost, is to make sure that summer school was up and running.

This includes installing air conditioners at Northville Elementary School so summer school could start Monday.

Additionally, all contents, horizontal surfaces and floors were cleaned in the cafeteria. Student desks have been cleaned, stored and covered in plastic. Exterior glass cleanup was completed on the rear of the building by the main entrance.

Public Works Director Jack Healy said the schools emergency panel, sprinkler systems, electrical circuitry elevators, and elevators are all being inspected and repaired.

School start date

Healy said several classes won't be ready by the fall and the school may set up portable classrooms that come equipped with many bathrooms, a cleaning closet, air conditioner, and heat pump system for temperature and climate control.

These portable classrooms are very well designed and put together, he said.

He, the fire marshal and building official met last week with a representative about the portable classrooms.

What we're doing is going back and forth on the design, he said. We will take 50 classrooms.

In an email sent to parents on Tuesday, the superintendent said Belfor is assessing classrooms that will be accessible for the start of the school year and continuing with the restoration of the classroom areas.

Additionally, CIRMA, the towns insurer, is itemizing items and materials for repair and/or replacement.

This includes technology and items such as desks and curriculum materials, Superintendent Alisha DiCorpo wrote.

Many specifics as to exactly where students will be learning on Aug. 25, the scheduled first day of school, is still not known at this time.

How we begin the school year will be dependent on the number of classrooms and spaces within the school that are available to us and we are researching additional ways for students to access their learning in person, DiCorpo said. As Belfor continues to make progress with its assessment and remediation efforts, we should have more of an indication of how to effectively plan and order what is necessary to begin school.

The timeline Belfor presented to the Municipal Building Committee could be anywhere from two to four weeks from the start of school, she wrote.

Air quality testing is being conducted, and therefore access to the building is not allowed for safety reasons.

Everyone needs to pull together to make this work, to make it so that we can get the kids back into the high school, Bass said.

A meeting of the Board of Education was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Schaghticoke Middle School Library. Officials were expected to present a slideshow with pictures of the damage and remediation, discuss summer programming, and update attendees on what has been done so far.

A virtual Town Hall meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in conjunction with the town to discuss the project. Members of the Board of Education and the town will be at the meeting and will answer questions.

These virtual Town Hall meetings are planned to be regularly scheduled every two weeks as we prepare for the start of the 2022-2023 school year, is set for 7 p.m. at the E. Paul Martin Room at Town Hall, where the roof damage will be discussed.
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MIDDLETOWN  The only verified sighting in Connecticut of an apex predator fish known for its voracious appetite was in a small local neighborhood pond.

Its not clear how at least one Northern snakehead, a freshwater, invasive species with teeth most commonly found in Asia and Africa, made its way into Pameacha Pond, state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Fisheries Biologist Bruce Williams said.

Another one may have been caught shortly afterward, he added. However, he said its possible it was the same fish. There have been no reports since that time, but he said, we are still concerned.

The Connecticut sighting, he added, is not widely known. We hope this was a solitary incident, Williams said, but we cant be 100 percent sure.

The fish are named for their snouts likeness to a snakes head. Its presence came to light after a required DEEP survey of the pond in conjunction with a dam-removal project slated to begin next summer, Williams said.

Dam work will include a draw down of the 19-acre pond and screening of the outflow, Williams explained.

If there are any snakehead left in the lake, it would prevent them from leaving along with the other fish, he said.

There is a concern, however, that snakehead could make their way to the Connecticut River via Sumner Brook, he said.

Up until at least 2013, the agency reported there were no snakehead officially recorded in Connecticut. However, that changed in September 2017, according to Water and Sewer Department Chief Engineer Brian Robillard.

A young man caught one of these carnivores in the pond located off South Main Street in September 2017. His family sent photos to staff, who forwarded them to the fisheries division.

The pictures, partly blurry because the powerful fish whipped its body on the hook trying to free itself, show it both below water and on the line that eventually broke. It managed to escape back into the murky depths, the family told officials.

DEEP confirmed from those photos that it was a snakehead, Robillard said.

Robillard recalls seeing the pictures and being curious about it. After Googling photos online, he found what he was looking for: a mean fish with big teeth.

Snakehead also stir up the silt and sand in water bodies and aquariums.

In neighboring New England states and along the mid-Atlantic coast, snakehead, which can grow beyond 3 feet long, have proliferated in the Potomac River watershed in Maryland and New York.

The Bronx population has been pretty well-documented, Robillard said.

Maryland seems to be the epicenter, the biologist said. There have also been scattered reports in Massachusetts, Williams said.

They are often kept in aquariums, and can thrash about so vigorously and fling itself out of a tank.

The Pameacha dam has to be removed and rebuilt because of the leaking sewer line that travels under it, Williams said. Replacing the structure and long-term maintenance would be costly. It involves having an engineer come to the site to inspect and assess the condition of the dam.

Dams also have to be regularly inspected by the state, depending on their hazard class. My guess is that one would be required to be inspected every seven years, Williams said.

Next summers work will include a draw down of the pond and screening of the outflow, Williams explained.

If there are any snakehead left in the lake, it would prevent them from leaving along with the other fish, he said.

There is a concern, however, they could make their way to the Connecticut River via Sumner Brook, he added.

Snakehead eggs are buoyant and juveniles are very small, Williams said. Were only able to screen the outflow from large fish. If there are reproducing fish in there, my guess is they already left.

We have had no other reports, so were keeping our fingers crossed, he added.

The species, similar to catfish and other lung-breathing marine life, can also survive for a time on land and must come up for air, Williams said.

The meat is also a prized delicacy in Asia, the biologist explained.

Similar situations have occurred in Connecticut with mitten crabs, another invasive species.

[Snakehead are] either brought in alive and not eaten and released as pets,  or, he speculated, possibly brought in to establish a population breed.

Fishin Factory 3 employee Colin Walsh has heard rumors about the cold-water fish in the pond, but hes never seen one.

Bowfin, or dogfish, which populate the Connecticut River are often mistaken for snakehead, said Walsh, who works at the Middletown East Main Street shop.

The latter are more common in the South, including Florida, Walsh added. There have been very, very, very few reports of anything up this way, he said.

Snakehead became notorious by several high-profile introductions and a really bad movie (2004s Snakehead Terror), DEEP said.

Williams office routinely fields calls from people mistaking their bowfin catches for snakehead. Its similar if you dont know a lot about them.

The easiest method to distinguish between the two is to look at the length of the anal fin, according to DEEP. On a bowfin, that fin is short, and well less than half the body length of the fish, it said.

On a snakehead, the anal fin is generally long, half the distinguishing body length or longer.

The United States Geological Survey advises that people not release snakefish or throw them on a bank as it could wriggle back into the water. Remember, this fish is an air breather and can live a long time out of water, it said.

Instead, anglers are urged to kill their catch by freezing it or putting the fish on ice. DEEP asks fishers to photograph the snakehead so the species can be positively identified, and contact the proper state agency.

Anyone who catches a fish they suspect to be snakehead are asked to contact DEEP at 860-424-3474 or deep.inland.fisheries@ct.gov as soon as possible. More about invasive species can be found on the DEEP website.
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  As California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom heads to Washington this week, speculation about his national political ambitions won't be far behind.

The four-day swing, anchored to an award Newsom will receive on behalf of his home state Wednesday from an education group, will provide the Democratic governor with a national stage to continue his outspoken defense of abortion rights and gun restrictions.

It comes at a time when he has been picking fights with Republican governors in Texas and Florida and holding up California as a sanctuary for what he calls fundamental rights, including same-sex marriage, freedom of speech and abortion.

Newsoms recent activities have stoked talk about his White House ambitions as President Joe Bidens popularity tumbles and some Democrats question the presidents viability for 2024. Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, has dismissed any interest in the presidency, and Biden has said he's planning to run for reelection.

This is Gavin Newsom building his national brand for whatever opportunities might come up in the future, said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego.

He's savvy enough to know a lot of dominoes would have to fall for his future to come in 2024, but that makes it even more vital to take every opportunity to stay in the national consciousness for 2028 and beyond, Kousser added.

The president will be on a Middle East trip during Newsoms stop in Washington. The governors office said the president's absence was coincidental.

On his trip, Newsom is scheduled to meet with Biden administration officials, congressional leaders and members of the California delegation to discuss abortion access, gun control and climate change.

He will also be accepting an award from the Education Commission of the States that recognizes, among other things, that California is on track to establish universal pre-K classes for all 4-year-olds by 2025. Newsom spokesperson Erin Mellon said that what is happening on the education front reflects what were seeing across the country  restricting rights and freedoms.

While red states are limiting the choices of parents and students  banning books, limiting speech in the classrooms, and persecuting families with transgender youth  California is prioritizing freedom and choice, she said in a statement.

The 54-year-old governor has acknowledged hes hoping that issues like abortion rights will mobilize Democratic voters in a challenging midterm election year, when the presidents party typically loses seats in Congress.

After easily beating back a recall election last year and facing only token opposition in his bid for a second term in November, Newsom has sought out the national spotlight in recent months, blaming his own party for being too passive in the face of federal court decisions and new laws in Republican-led states that he said are eroding long-settled rights and rewriting what it means to be an American.

Along with the U.S. Supreme Court decisions overturning Roe v. Wade and holding that citizens have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, hes pointed to a Texas law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, possibly as early as six weeks, and a Florida law that forbids classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

On Independence Day, Newsoms campaign aired an ad in Florida critical of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, warning viewers that freedom is under attack in your state.

Republican leaders are making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors, Newsom said in the 30-second spot, while images of DeSantis and former President Donald Trump flashed on screen.

The DeSantis vision of freedom is a fraud, Newsom wrote in a recent fundraising pitch. Its a vision where people are free to carry guns everywhere and everyone has to live in fear of getting shot.

California, meanwhile, has been going its own way.

Last month, legislators with Newsoms support agreed to place a proposal before voters in November that would guarantee a right to an abortion in the state constitution. The heavily Democratic state has some of the nations tightest gun safety laws but has continued to expand them after the recent Supreme Court decision, including adding new restrictions on untraceable ghost guns and marketing firearms to minors.

As he maneuvers for a prominent place in the national party, Newsom could find himself attracting unwanted attention.

California residents are dealing with a long-running homeless crisis, soaring gas and grocery prices and rising crime in major cities. Housing costs are out of reach for many working-class families, and the state has some of the nations highest taxes.

A Public Policy Institute of California survey in May found that 50% of respondents believed the state was headed in the wrong direction. And perhaps most tellingly, California has been shedding population  and it's losing a congressional seat  after years of stratospheric growth.

Longtime Democratic consultant Bill Carrick said he saw Newsom making a vocal stand on nationally critical issues rather than maneuvering to get his name into the 2024 presidential discussion.

We had these two court decisions that had a deep impact on California, Carrick said. He's an important voice in that debate and he needs to represent the state as vigorously as he can.

___

Follow APs coverage of the midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at @AP_Politics
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PORTLAND  It was a bright summer day that took a tragic turn Sunday for eight people, including two children, who were on board a 21-foot jet boat that slammed into the shoreline, killing one and injuring the others, officials said.

The preliminary investigation revealed the Yamaha jet boat was traveling north on the river about 5 p.m. when it suddenly veered toward the shoreline, according to James Fowler, a spokesperson for the state Department of of Energy and Environmental Protection

Portland Fire Chief Robert Shea said it remained unknown what caused the boat to leave the water, traveling at least 50 feet on land after striking three trees along the shore of the Portland Fairgrounds. The vessel ultimately collided with rocks on the bank of the river near Gildersleeve Island, Fowler said.

Wayne Hamler, of Waterford, 60, was pronounced dead at the scene, Fowler said. Four others were seriously injured. A 45-year-old woman was listed Monday in critical condition, a 52-year-old woman and 59-year-old man were both in stable condition and a 6-year-old boy was in serious but stable condition.

The other occupants of the vessel were treated and released, DEEP said.

Middletown resident Gillian Plummer and her family, including two young children, were leaving Gildersleeve Island when they witnessed the aftermath of the incident.

The accident, close to Petzolds Marina, where they have docked their boat for five years, was in her backyard, Plummer said Monday.

It was really hard for us because it could happen to anyone, she explained.

Emergency marine crews from Portland and Middletown along with state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Conservation Police were called to three separate chaotic scenes, Shea said Monday.

Most of the occupants were thrown from the vessel into the rocky shore, he explained. One of the children suffered a critically injured extremity, the chief said. It was a traumatic scene, he said, with people unconscious, lying on the rocks.

Shea said a medical helicopter was requested, but was unable to respond due to other incidents around Connecticut at the time.

Shea said marine crews brought some of the victims who were in the water to nearby Petzolds Marina, where a staging area was set up.

They were triaging those who were most critical, and those we didnt think who would make it, the chief said. Three people were initially taken from the scene by a marine unit and EMTs worked on four others, he added.

Fire crews found the boat floating southbound on the river, Shea said. The vessel ended up at marker 100, near the privately owned Snyder property under development, he explained.

It was sinking (in very shallow water), because it had so much damage. It was taking on quite a bit of water, Shea added.

Plummer was about 100 yards away when they came upon the accident.

We came around the bend and saw police in the rocks and woods, she said.

Plummer said the river is usually generally safe out there, and she often sees patrol boats out on the water. The familys original plan for the day was to take the kids tubing and enjoy other activities.

That may not happen, she said. Im so freaked out about everything.  It was really hard for us, she said. It could happen to anyone.

She stopped by Petzolds Monday morning and found an eerie scene, as well as scattered pieces of the boat on shore.

Everyone obeys and there are never any issues. To see something like that in the boating community  were all kind of like a family, Plummer added.

My heart goes out to the families. Now, every time we go by this area, its going to be there, she said.

Statewide, there are typically fewer than a dozen fatalities associated with recreational boating accidents each year, according to statistics tracked by the United States Coast Guard.

In 2021, there were 43 incidents reported in Connecticut waters compared with 54 the previous year. But the number of fatalities and fatal incidents increased year over year, with seven fatal recreational boating incidents and fatalities in 2021, compared with three in 2020, according to the Coast Guard figures.

Nationally, grounding  where a vessel collides with the seafloor or land  was the fourth-most reported type of recreational boating accident in 2021, according to the Coast Guard figures. But only one incident of grounding was reported in Connecticut that year, according to the data.

Anyone who witnessed or has information about this incident can contact EnCon at 800-842-4357 and refer information to Officer Megan Erickson, and reference case #22-10902.

Staff Writer Peter Yankowski contributed to this story.
AP

NEW YORK (AP)  A former top Scientologist has a memoir coming out this fall. Mike Rinders A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology is scheduled for Sept. 27.

Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced the book deal Tuesday. Rinder held numerous positions within Scientology, from spokesperson to head of the Office of Special Affairs, the division that took on the church's critics.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A lawyer for disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh said Tuesday that investigators have indicated they intend to pursue murder charges against him for the deaths of his wife and son, who were fatally shot outside their home more than a year ago.

Lawyer Jim Griffin said in a statement that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division told Murdaugh family members they plan to seek indictments from a grand jury later this week.

We wont have any comment until charges are actually brought against Alex," Griffin said.

Officials with both state police and the attorney generals office would not comment on whether authorities were pursuing the indictments, which were first reported by news and opinion website FITSNews.

Murdaugh already faces dozens of criminal charges that have piled up in the months since his wife Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, were killed. But until now he has not been charged in connection with their deaths; hes repeatedly denied any role in those killings.

The deaths led to at least a half-dozen investigations into Murdaugh and his finances resulting in charges that he stole $8.5 million from people who hired him and that he lied to police in saying he was shot by a stranger on a roadside when  officials say  he really asked a friend to kill him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.

Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot several times between 9 and 9:30 p.m. the night of June 7, 2021, outside their home on the familys land near Islandton, authorities said. Their bodies were found near dog kennels, according to Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey.

At the time, authorities reported that Alex Murdaugh discovered the bodies and called 911. His family told Good Morning America that Murdaugh had been visiting his father in the hospital and checking on his mother when the killings happened.

The South Carolina Supreme Court also disbarred Murdaugh on Tuesday, confirming the inevitable after Murdaughs attorneys declined to contest arguments at a June disbarment hearing. In the order, the state Supreme Court noted its decision in no way affects ongoing investigations.

___

James Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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JERUSALEM (AP)  Israel said Tuesday it would increase the number of work permits issued to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and allow thousands more Palestinians to gain legal status ahead of President Joe Biden's visit to the region later this week.

Israel portrays such moves as confidence-building measures aimed at reducing tensions. Critics say they merely entrench its 55-year military rule over millions of Palestinians in the absence of any peace process. The last serious peace talks broke down more than a decade ago.

The latest measures were approved by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank last week to discuss coordination ahead of Biden's visit. Abbas' Palestinian Authority has limited rule over parts of the West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security matters.

Israel will allow an additional 5,500 Palestinians to be added to the Palestinian population registry  which it effectively controls  so they can get ID cards. Rights groups say tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza lack such status, forcing them to live under severe movement restrictions.

Israel said it would grant another 1,500 permits for Palestinian laborers in Gaza to work inside Israel, bringing the total number to 15,500  the highest since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power in Gaza from Abbas' forces 15 years ago. Israel and Egypt have imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza since then,

Israel says the blockade is needed to keep Hamas  which is opposed to its very existence  from arming itself. The Palestinians and rights groups view the blockade as a form of collective punishment of Gaza's 2 million Palestinian residents.

Israel has also approved six zoning plans for the West Bank. Israeli authorities heavily restrict Palestinian construction in the 60% of the West Bank that is under full Israeli control and routinely demolish homes and other structures built without hard-to-get Israeli permits. Authorities also said they would open a new vehicular crossing in the northern West Bank.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.

The Biden administration says it supports an eventual two-state solution. But it has largely stood by as Israel expands its West Bank settlements, where nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers with special legal status live alongside some 3 million Palestinians.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  In a heated, unhinged dispute, Donald Trump fought objections from his White House lawyers to a plan, eventually discarded, to seize states' voting machines and then, in a last ditch effort to salvage his presidency, summoned supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol for what turned into the deadly riot, the House Jan. 6 committee revealed Tuesday.

In another disclosure, raising the question of witness tampering, the panels vice-chair said Trump himself had tried to contact a person who was talking to the committee about potential testimony. And still more new information revealed that Trump was so intent on making a showing at the Capitol that his aides secretly planned for a second rally stage there on the day of the attack.

Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel's vice chair, said it had notified the Justice Department that Trump had contacted the witness who has yet to appear in public.

We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously, said Cheney, a Wyoming Republican.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley declined to comment when asked if the department was investigating the call.

The hearing Tuesday was the seventh for the Jan. 6 committee, which is portraying the defeated Trump as detached from reality, clinging to false claims of voter fraud and working feverishly to reverse his election defeat. It all led to his be there, will be wild tweet summoning supporters to Washington.

The panel delved into a critical three weeks of secret planning in the run-up to the Capitol attack and heard remorseful testimony from an Ohio father who believed Trumps election lies and answered the defeated presidents tweet to come to Washington. The panel also heard form a former spokesman for the extremist Oath Keepers who warned of the far-right groups ability for violence.

I think we need to quit mincing words about just talk. ... What it was going to be was an armed revolution, said Jason Van Tatenhove. I mean, people died that day.

Tuesday's session focused in part on December 2020, a time when many Republicans were moving on from the November election Trump lost to Joe Biden. Testimony brought out details of a late night Dec. 18 meeting at the White House with Trump's private lawyers suggesting he order the U.S. military to seize state voting machines in an unprecedented effort to pursue his false claims of voter fraud .

The panel featured new video testimony from Pat Cipollone, Trump's White House counsel at the time, recalling the explosive meeting when Trump's outside legal team brought a draft executive order to seize the states' voting machines  a terrible idea, Cipollone said.

That's not how we do things in the United States, he testified.

Another former White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, called the meeting unhinged in separate video testimony.

Cipollone and other White House officials scrambled to intervene as Trump met late into the night with attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, retired national security aide Michael Flynn and the former head of the online retail company Overstock. It erupted in shouting and screaming, another aide testified.

Where is the evidence?" Cipollone demanded of the claims of voter fraud.

"What they were proposing, I thought, was nuts," testified another official, Eric Herschmann.

But Trump was intrigued and essentially told his White House lawyers that at least Powell and outside allies were trying to do something.

As night turned to morning, Trump tweeted his call for supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6, when Congress would be tallying the Electoral College results. Be there. Will be wild, Trump wrote.

Instantly, the extremists reacted.

The panel showed graphic and violent text messages and played videos of right-wing figures, including Alex Jones, and others vowing that Jan. 6 would be the day they would fight for the president.

Messages beaming across the far-right forums laid out plans for the big day that they said Trump was asking for in Washington. It would be a red wedding, said one, a reference to a mass killing in Game of Thrones. Bring handcuffs.

Several members of the U.S. Capitol Police who fought the mob that day sat stone-faced in the front row of the committee room.

Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups are now facing rare sedition charges over the siege. Nine people died the day of the attack and in its aftermath.

This tweet served as a call to action -- and in some cases a call to arms, said one panel member, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.

The committee revealed new details about what happened next, as planning was underway for Trump's big rally on the Ellipse outside the White House, and aides scrambled to secretly set up a second stage outside the Capitol complex across the street from the Supreme Court.

In a Jan. 4 text message from rally organizer Kylie Kremer to Trump ally Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO, Kremer explains: This stays only between us, we are having a second stage at the Supreme Court again after the Ellipse. POTUS is going to have us march there/the Capitol.

Kremer warns that if the information gets out, others will try to sabotage the plans and the organizer will be in trouble with the National Park Service and other federal agencies.

But POTUS is going to just call for it unexpectedly, Kremer wrote.

On the morning of Jan. 5, Trump ally Ali Alexander sent a similar text to a conservative journalist saying: Ellipse then US capitol. Trump is supposed to order us to capitol at the end of his speech but we will see.

And the panel showed a draft tweet from Trump, which was obtained from the National Archives and never sent, calling on supporters to arrive early for the rally and expect crowds.

March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal! the draft Trump tweet said.

Committee member Murphy said, This was not a spontaneous call to action, but rather was a deliberate strategy.

Tuesday's was the only hearing this week, as new details emerge. An expected prime-time hearing has been rescheduled for July 21.

Cheney said the Trump team is shifting its strategy in dealings with the committee, and is now trying to shield the former president from blame, suggesting he received bad advice from crazy advisers or was otherwise incapable of understanding some of the details of the situation.

Trump is not an impressionable child, Cheney said. Just like everyone else in our country he is responsible for his own actions.

The panel also heard from a sorrowful Stephen Ayres, the Ohio father who said he got caught up in social media after the election, but has since lost his job and his house after joining the mob at the Capitol. He pleaded guilty last month to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.

When Trump summoned supporters to Washington, I felt like I needed to be down here, he testified.

Ayers hugged and apologized to the police officers after the hearing.

The problem of politicians whipping up mob violence to destroy fair elections is the oldest domestic enemy of constitutional democracy, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md..

___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Nomaan Merchant and Michael Balsamo in Washington and Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland, contributed to this report.

___

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
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A 70-year-old Nevada man has been charged in the 1982 killing of a 5-year-old girl who disappeared while walking to her kindergarten class in California after detectives solved the case using DNA evidence, authorities said.

Robert John Lanoue, of Reno, Nevada, was charged last week in the killing of Anne Pham.

Pham disappeared while walking to her kindergarten class at Highland Elementary School in Seaside, California, on Jan. 21, 1982. Her body was found two days later in the former Fort Ord.

The child had been kidnapped, sexually assaulted and strangled, California authorities said.

According to court records, Lanoue has waived extradition to Monterey County in California. As of Monday he was still in the Washoe County jail.

Lanoue, who is a registered sex offender in Nevada, was 29 years old at the time of the girls killing and lived near her home in Seaside, said Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni.

The case was reopened in 2020 when investigators with the Monterey County District Attorneys Office Cold Case Task Force worked with the Seaside Police Department to submit evidence from the case for DNA testing after receiving a grant to reopen cold cases.

Lanoue was charged with one count of first-degree murder, with special circumstance allegations that he murdered Pham while committing kidnapping and a lewd act on a child under the age of 14, said Pacioni.

It was not immediately known if Lanoue has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

On July 6, California investigators obtained a warrant for Lanoues arrest, Pacioni said. Lanoue was already in the Washoe County jail where he was booked on June 8 for a parole violation, records showed.
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UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Tuesday extending humanitarian aid deliveries to 4.1 million people in Syrias rebel-held northwest for just six months in a victory for Russia.

The vote was 12-0 with the United States, Britain and France abstaining. The three veto-wielding council members had backed a resolution for a year-long extension that was supported by almost the entire 15-member council but vetoed by Russia last Friday.

Ireland and Norway, which sponsored the vetoed resolution, circulated a new draft Monday that provides for a six-month extension of deliveries through Turkey's Bab al-Hawa crossing until Jan. 10. As Russia demanded, a further six-month extension after that would require a new Security Council resolution.

Irelands U.N. ambassador, Geraldine Byrne Nason, said before the vote that after difficult negotiations the two countries redoubled efforts to find a way to allow aid to continue to reach those in dire need in Syria.

Kenyan Ambassador Martin Kimani, speaking on behalf of the councils 10 elected members who serve two-year terms, said they wanted a year-long extension but supported six months to put foremost the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people.

The resolution adopted Tuesday is almost identical to the Russian draft for a 6-month resolution that failed to get council support last Friday. Russia only got support from its ally China in the 2-3 vote with 10 abstentions.

Russia, a close ally of Syrias government, remained adamant that it would only support a six-month extension. It has repeatedly called for stepped up humanitarian aid deliveries to the northwest from within Syria, across conflict lines. This would give Syrian President Bashar Assads government more control.

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills lashed out at Russia, saying: The vote we took this morning is what happens when one council member takes the entire security council hostage, with the lives of Syrian men, women and children hanging in the balance.

With the humanitarian needs in Syria today greater than they have ever been, he said Russia chose to ignore calls by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, U.N. agencies and over 30 non-governmental organizations for a yearlong renewal of cross-border deliveries.

He accused Assads regime of corruption, of stealing aid and denying it to communities in need, saying this is why the cross-border aid deliveries exist. He said Russia knows that some of the dire needs in Syria are a direct result of its invasion of Ukraine and the shocks to food and fertilizer deliveries around the world.

And the simple truth is, Russia does not care, Mills said.

Russias deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said after the vote that it was time for Washington, London and Paris to get used to respecting the interests of other states first and foremost  who are impacted directly by the Security Council decisions.

Guterres called the renewal of cross-border aid a matter of life and death for many people in Idlib, adding: I strongly hope that after six months it will be renewed.

Turkeys Foreign Ministry said the U.N. cross-border operation is vital for providing assistance to millions of people in Syrias northwest and continuing it is essential to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Syria as well as regional stability.

Humanitarian and human rights organizations said a six-month extension is not enough.

Dr. Houssam al-Nahhas, a researcher with Physicians for Human Rights and a former emergency room doctor in eastern Aleppo, said the compromise leaves humanitarian workers with little time to plan their missions in Syria.

Its gravely imprudent to have to revisit this debate again so soon, in January, when humanitarian needs are likely to increase in response to harsh winter conditions in the north, he said, saying more permanent, long-term solutions are critical.

The new draft calls for secretary-general Guterres to provide a report on humanitarian needs in Syria by Dec. 10 to assess the impact of a possible border closing in January if the resolution isnt renewed.

The draft also calls for Guterres to brief the council monthly and issue reports at least every 60 days on the progress of cross-line deliveries, humanitarian assistance delivered from Turkey, and early recovery projects in Syria that Russia has pushed for.

Polyansky said Russia will be monitoring progress on implementing the resolution so as to decide on the ultimate fate of the cross-border mechanism in six months. He also called for increased aid deliveries across conflict lines.

Northwest Idlib is the last rebel-held bastion in Syria and a region where an al-Qaida-linked militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is the strongest. The U.N. said recently that the first 10 years of the Syrian conflict, which started in 2011, killed more than 300,000 civilians, the highest official estimate of civilian casualties.

In early July 2020, China and Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution that would have maintained two border crossing points from Turkey for humanitarian aid to Idlib. Days later, the council authorized the delivery of aid through just one of those crossings, Bab al-Hawa.

In a compromise with Russia, that one-year mandate was extended on July 9, 2021, for six months, with an additional six months subject to a substantive report from Guterres. This was effectively a year-long mandate because a second resolution wasnt needed.

Before last weeks votes, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 800 trucks went through the Bab al-Hawa crossing every month last year, reaching about 2.4 million people, and 4,648 trucks crossed in the first six months of this year.

___

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Turkey contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Dr. Houssam al-Nahhas is with the group Physicians for Human Rights.
With the final episodes of the hit Netflix show Better Call Saul due to air this week, Breaking Bad fans are excitedly awaiting the return of characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.

It was confirmed in April that Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul would reprise their roles in the popular Breaking Bad spin-off.

But the actors are far from the first to reprise a popular role to say goodbye to a series, with Kylie Minogue and her real-life ex Jason Donovan recently reuniting for the final episode of Neighbours.

The blonde superstar, 54, brought back her iconic curls to reprise her role as Charlene Robinson to star alongside Jason, who plays her husband Scott, for the iconic soap's final scenes.

Here FEMAIL reveals the A-lister actors who returned to the programmes that made them famous before they finished filming for the final time.

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad and its spin-off, Better Call Saul

With the final episodes of the hit Netflix show Better Call Saul due to air this week, Breaking Bad fans are excitedly awaiting the return of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman

CHARACTERS: Walter White and Jesse Pinkman

DEPARTED SHOW: In the series finale in 2013

RETURNED: For the final episodes of the spin-off series Better Call Saul in 2022

Breaking Bad ran from 2008 to 2013 and garnered widespread acclaim from both fans and critics around the world.

It followed Walter White, a terminally ill high school chemistry teacher as he created a meth empire with Jesse Pinkman, his former inept student.

When we last saw Pinkman in the Breaking Bad series finale, he was speeding off in a hysterical frenzy in that El Camino after Walter White (Bryan Cranstan) saved him from his captors who had enslaved him to produce mass amounts of methamphetamine.

After White rigged a remote-control machine that wiped out the captors, the two partners in crime stared at each other in a tense standoff that resulted in Pinkman refusing White's request for him to kill him.

The eventually parted ways with one last nod of respect to one another.

The spin-off, Better Call Saul, premiered in 2015 and focused on Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), also known as Jimmy McGill, an attorney who appeared in the original series. But the two main Breaking Bad characters didn't join the cast.

In April it was announced that Paul and Cranston would make an appearance in the show's sixth and final season.

'They're coming back. #BetterCallSaul,' the official Twitter account posted with a photo of the dynamic duo sitting in the front seat of the car.

The final six episodes of the spin-off will be released later this week - and it is still unknown in what format the duo will make their reappearance.

Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan - Neighbours

Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan rose to fame in Neighbours as Scott and Charlene before departing the show in 1988 (left). This week, Kylie snaps on her Instagram as she returned to the programme alongside co-star Jason for the final episode (right)

CHARACTERS: Charlene and Scott

DEPARTED SHOW: 1988 and 1989

RETURNED: For the final episode in 2022

Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan's onscreen wedding in Neighbours as Scott and Charlene was watched by two million Australians on July 1, 1987.

Their on-screen relationship began after Scott mistook Charlene for an intruder at his neighbour Madge Ramsay's house, before eventually learning she was Madge's daughter.

Their union was an even bigger attraction when it aired in the UK a year later, drawing 19.6 million viewers, making it Britain's third most-watched show of 1988.

After getting married, the pair left Erinsborough and moved to Brisbane.

Kylie and Jason, who were dating in real life at the time were household names in both countries, and would each go on to launch music careers in the UK.

Kylie quit Neighbours in June 1988, having become the first person to win four Logie Awards in one year and the youngest ever recipient of a Gold Logie.

She went on to launch a phenomenally successful music career, selling more than 80 million albums worldwide.

After leaving Neighbours in 1989, Jason, like Kylie, pursued a pop career and while he may not have been as successful as his on-screen bride, he had a string of hits including Too Many Broken Hearts and Sealed With A Kiss.

Off screen, the couple dated from 1986 to 1989 - famously sharing a night of passion in a Travelodge.

However the pair reunited this week for their final scenes on Neighbours, with Kylie sharing some sweet photos on Instagram on Monday.

The beleaguered soap opera faced an uncertain future following its cancellation by original network Channel 5, where it has spent the last 14 of its 37-years on British TV.

And Fremantle Media, the production company responsible for its development confirmed it would be taken off-air indefinitely over the summer after an 'extensive search for alternative funding' ended in failure.

In the snaps, Kylie, 54, brought back her iconic curls to reprise her role as Charlene to star alongside Jason for the iconic soap's final episode.

Kylie captioned images of the pair together on her Instagram account, 'Now we're back together', referencing their hit song, Especially For You.

The pint-sized pop star donned her character's famous mechanic's overalls for what would be her final appearance on the cancelled series.

Steve Carell - The Office

CHARACTER: Michael Scott

DEPARTED SHOW: 2011

RETURNED: For the final episode in 2013

Steve Carell has given us plenty of memorable performances over the years, but none so dear as Michael Scott in The Office

Steve Carell has given us plenty of memorable performances over the years, but none so dear as Michael Scott in The Office.

Carell starred as the often problematic manager of paper company Dunder Mifflin, from the show's premiere in 2005, until he departed in 2011.

The Golden Globe winner left the show in its seventh season, which turned out to be an emotional moment for fans.

He would later reunite with his co-stars in the series finale of its nine-season run, which concluded in 2013.

In the episode, present and past employees of Dunder Mifflin gathered for the wedding of Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) and Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey).

Meanwhile Carell returned to serve as Dwight's best man.

To make it an even bigger surprise, the cameo from the actor was kept from everyone - including the show's network, NBC.

Patrick J Adams - Suits

CHARACTER: Mike Ross

DEPARTED SHOW: 2018

RETURNED: For the final series in 2019

Patrick J Adams, who played Mike Ross, left Suits at the same time as co-star Meghan Markle in season seven, which aired in April 2018 (left) He later returned for the final series in 2019 (right)

Patrick J Adams, who played Mike Ross, left Suits at the same time as co-star Meghan Markle in season seven, which aired in April 2018.

Their characters (Markle played Rachel Zane) were offered jobs in another city and decided the opportunities were too good to pass.

Rachel and Mike moved up their wedding date and were married in the 16th episode, aptly coined 'Good-Bye.'

The episode aired just weeks before Meghan's real-life wedding to Prince Harry at Windsor Castle on May 19 last year.

Patrick posted a lengthy message announcing his departure from Suits at the time, admitting that the 'last 7 years have been life changing.'

However it wasn't long before he announced his plans to return for the show's last season.

Patrick jumped back into his role as Mike on the ninth and final season of the popular program Suits on the USA network in 2019.

The 37-year-old took to Instagram at the time to make the big announcement and told his two million followers that it's 'go time' as he shared a picture of his lawyer character.

Ian Somerhalder - Lost

CHARACTER: Boone Carlyle

DEPARTED SHOW: 2004

RETURNED: For the final episode, in 2010

Ian Somerhalder may have been the first major character to be killed off in Lost when his character Boone Carlyle died, but he returned for the series finale in 2010

Lost evolved from the story of 48 survivors of Oceanic flight 815 who found themselves stranded on a mysterious island into a complicated, mythological tale with an expansive cast.

The series-ending season six began in the post hydrogen-bomb haze of the 1977 Swan construction site explosion, and progressed at a break-neck pace shifting through time periods.

It also offered a big break to a number of actors, including Ian Somerhalder, who played Boone Carlyle.

He became the first major character to die in the show in 2004. However, he later returned for the final episode, which was titled The End, in 2010.

In it, he appears in the alternate timeline and is amoung the characters who were reunited in a church in the controversial final scene.

Chad Michael Murray - One Tree Hill

Chad Michael-Murray was the main character in The CW's One Tree Hill, with fans stunned after he left the show in 2009 (left). However he returned for an episode in the final series in 2012 (right)

CHARACTER: Lucas Scott

DEPARTED SHOW: 2009

RETURNED: For an episode in the final series in 2012

One Tree Hill was the fourth-longest-running series on The CW network, behind, Smallville, 7th Heaven and Supernatural.

The show debuted in 2002, following a group of friends in Tree Hill, North Carolina, also starring James Lafferty, Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz.

The original drama series, created by Mark Schwahn with Chad Michael-Murray serving as the lead male role as Lucas Scott, premiered on The WB. .

After the merger with UPN, the show was broadcast on The CW beginning in September 2006 until the end of its nine season run in 2012.

Murray starred on the show for the first six seasons, left for the next two seasons, but eventually returned as a 'special guest' during an episode for the ninth and final season that premiered on January 11. 2012.

He later said he had returned because he knew how much it would mean to fans.

He told TVGuide.com: 'I've been busy with different discoveries in my own life ... [and] it never really dawned on me.

'Then the opportunity came, and I knew how important it was to these fans who are everything to the show  and that was it.'

In the episode, Lucas arrived back in One Tree Hill to comfort his best friend Haley, whose husband Lucas' brother Nathan had gone missing.

The series would eventually conclude with its final episode airing on April 4, 2012.

Nina Dobrev - The Vampire Diaries

Nina Dobrev was a major player on The Vampire Diaries for years, playing the lead character Elena Gilbert, and later her doppelganger Katherine Pierce. She left in 2015, but returned for the final episodes in 2017

CHARACTER: Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce

DEPARTED SHOW: 2015

RETURNED: For the final episodes in 2017

Nina Dobrev was a major player on The Vampire Diaries for years, playing the lead character Elena Gilbert, and later her doppelganger Katherine Pierce.

She portrayed the main protagonist in The Vampire Diaries as her character Elena was loved by two vampire brothers, Damon and Stefan Salvatore.

The Bulgaria native dated her The Vampire Diaries co-star Ian Somerhalder for three years before they split in May 2013.

However in 2015, she announced she was leaving the supernatural drama for pastures new.

At the time, she told Rogue that the reason she left Vampire Diaries was to take on other projects and not get typecast, saying: 'I wanted to prove everyone wrong who said I would play this one role my whole life or be stuck playing younger roles.'

'Ive always wanted to take big risks,' Dobrev explained in the magazine interview.

'I started Vampire Diaries when I was 20.... I grew with the show and I wanted to continue to grow outside of it. Mentally, it was a crazy time. I was 27 when I left the show. I was ready to do something different,' she said.

However she returned to the show for the final episodes in 2017, when she was reunited with her former castmates.

Rob Lowe - The West Wing

Rob Lowe starred in the political drama as Deputy White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn for four years between 1999 and 2003. However he returned for the final episodes in 2006

CHARACTER: Sam Seaborn

DEPARTED SHOW: 2003

RETURNED: For the final episodes in 2006

The West Wing aired on NBC from 1999 to 2006 for seven seasons and 156 episodes, with Sheen, 80, playing the fictional Democratic president Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet.

The show was about the personal lives of presidential advisers.

And Rob Lowe starred in the political drama as Deputy White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn for four years between 1999 and 2003.

The series - following the highly-strung personal lives of presidential advisers - was critically acclaimed and loved by the Emmys, picking up a total of 27 awards.

Martin Sheen's Democratic President Jed was the dominant character as he weathered scandals and threats.

However Rob is rumored to have quit 'The West Wing' after four seasons following a dispute over his salary as he was reportedly unable to have his $70,000-an-episode fee increased to be more in line with Sheen, who was said to be earning more than four times more.

He later returned for the final episodes in 2006.
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Three of the 'richest teens in America' have given a behind-the-scenes look at their lavish lifestyles while opening up about how they earned their incredible wealth  all before their 18th birthdays.

YouTuber Donald 'Donlad' Dougher, 15, reality star-turned-clothing designer Isabella Barrett, 15, and TikTok star Pierce Woodward, 19, detailed their paths to success on a recent episode of the Truly series Bling Life.

Each of the teens is estimated to be worth roughly $1 million or more, and Isabella proudly stated that she was just six years old when she became one of the youngest self-made millionaires in the U.S.

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YouTuber Donald 'Donlad' Dougher, 15, was one of three rich teens who opened up about their lavish lifestyles on Truly's Bling Life. Each of them is estimated to be worth $1 million or more

Isabella Barrett, 15, proudly stated that she was just six years old when she became one of the youngest self-made millionaires in the U.S.

Pierce Woodward, 19, started his career by posting modeling photos on Instagram and soon became a TikTok star with more than 1.6 million followers

The child beauty queen shot to fame on the TLC reality series Toddlers & Tiaras and made her first million after launching her jewelry line, Glitzy Girl, with her mother.

Isabella now designs her own clothing line, House of Barretti, a collection of sophisticated two-piece suits for teens.

Meanwhile, Donlad rakes in up to $20,000 a month from his YouTube channel, which has nearly 600,000 followers since he started posting videos in 2019.

Pierce, who is the oldest of the three, started his career by posting modeling photos on Instagram and soon became a TikTok star with more than 1.6 million followers.

He dropped out of high school at 17 and now uses his platform to promote his jewelry brand, Brand Pierre, a line of rings made out of vintage spoons.

All three of them are living glamorous lifestyles that most adults can only dream of, but they each credited their financial success to their hard work.

Donald 'Donlad' Dougher, 15

Estimated net worth: Between $900,000 and $1.2 million

Donlad launched his YouTube channel in 2019, and in just three years he boasts more than 597,000 subscribers

The teen creates a variety of content on his channel, including lifestyle and prank videos

Donlad has dubbed himself the 'richest kid in America' and refers to his fans as 'Ladiators'

Donlad launched his YouTube channel in 2019, and in just three years he boasts more than 597,000 subscribers  fans he refers to as his 'Ladiators.'

The teen, who dubbed himself the 'richest kid in America,' creates a variety of content on his channel, including lifestyle and prank videos.

'I first started off filming with FaZe Rug and Tanner Fox, and then I was affiliated with the Piper Squad, and then it just slowly keeps growing,' he said of his collaborations with other influencers.

'The most I've made off YouTube is about $20,000 a month,' he added. 'There's probably not an hour a week where I don't work. I'm always posting stories, always posting pictures. I'm always doing something in the social media.'

Donlad's mother, Yvonne Dougher, explained that she is 'always supportive' of her son and his drive, saying: 'I believe if you're going to do something, do it 100 percent.

During the episode, Donlad gave a tour of his closet, including his sneaker collection that is worth thousands of dollars.

The YouTuber star, who makes up to $20,000 a month, pulled out his 'favorite shoes' while giving a tour of his closet. The high-tech Nike sneakers auto lace when you push the buttons

The young entrepreneur has a sneaker collection worth thousands and gold chains

Donlad lives with his parents and sister, Sophia, in a stunning home that overlooks downtown Los Angeles

'I have a luxury taste. I'm kind of bougie,' he admitted. 'I like the nice things in life.'

The YouTuber first picked up his 'favorite shoes,' a pair of high-tech Nike sneakers that auto lace when you push the buttons.

Donlad then pointed out another pair of Nike sneakers on the shelf that he estimated cost about $2,000 to $3,000, but they weren't his only pricey kicks.

'These are reflective Yeezys. Those are also about $2,000,' he said before pulling out a $595 red Versace robe.

Donlad lives with his parents and sister, Sophia, in a stunning home that overlooks downtown Los Angeles. There is also a pool, but he explained he had yet to go in it.

'To be honest, we've lived in here for almost two months. I still have never been in the pool,' he said. 'It's a lot of floors down. Then you gotta run all the way back up.'

The show also captured the moment Donlad surprised his mom by giving her 2019 McLaren 570S a makeover with a custom wrap that cost $10,000.

Donlad's mother, Yvonne Dougher, explained that she is 'always supportive' of her son and his drive, saying: 'I believe if you're going to do something, do it 100 percent'

The show captured the moment Donlad surprised his mom by giving her 2019 McLaren 570S a makeover with a custom wrap that cost $10,000

The silver luxury vehicle, which cost an estimated $230,000, was covered in purple vinyl, his mother's favorite color

Donlad joked that his mom had 'never hugged me so tight' after the surprise unveiling

The silver luxury vehicle, which cost an estimated $230,000, was covered in purple vinyl  his mother's favorite color.

'I've heard her talking about wanting to wrap it, but she's been saying that ever since we bought it, for three years,' he explained. 'So I decided that maybe I should put some action into it.'

Donlad, who was 14 when the episode was filmed, enlisted his sister to take their mother's car to the shop, where a team completed the custom wrap  a process that takes about a week  in just 24 hours.

The teen said it was the 'biggest surprise' he'd ever done for his mom, but it paid off. She was thrilled when she saw the results.

'Oh my gosh! This is so wild. It doesn't even look like my car,' she gushed. 'Oh my gosh, that is beautiful.'

Donlad joked that his mom had 'never hugged me so tight.'

At the end of his interview, he reflected on his goals for his thriving career.

'In the future, the main thing I want to do is grow my channel,' he shared. 'All my money, I either save or funnel back into the channel because I want to help it grow to get the biggest audience possible, the most subscribers, the most views.'

Isabella Barrett, 15

Estimated net worth: $2 million

Isabella designs her own clothing line, House of Barretti, a collection of sophisticated two-piece suits for teens

Isabella was a child beauty queen and competing in a pageant when she caught the eye of Toddlers & Tiaras' producers and shot to fame on the reality show

The child star made her first million after launching a jewelry line, Glitzy Girl, with her mom

Isabella was a child beauty queen and competing in a pageant when she caught the eye of Toddlers & Tiaras' producers. She explained she was a natural fit for the show because she 'loves attention' and 'being on camera.'

She parlayed her reality TV fame into a lucrative business when she and her mother, Susanna Barrett, launched their jewelry line, Glitzy Girl.

'At the age of six years old, I became named one of the youngest self-made millionaires in the U.S.,' she said.

Isabella went on to create her first clothing line, Bound by the Crown Couture, before launching House of Barretti, a collection of suits for teens that cost anywhere from $210 to $599.

'I created House of Barretti because there was a gap in the market for teen suits,' she explained. 'I really saw no one making them.'

During the episode, the young entrepreneur showed her collection at New York Fashion Week

'This is a pretty big day because this is a really big collection for me, and there's going to be a lot of media,' she said of the show, which had 65 models

After the runway show, Isabella cut an $85,000 check for the start-studded after-party

The teen admitted she had a brush with failure when her gift-sending company Bear in the Box didn't attract the interest she thought it would, but she didn't give up.

During the episode, the young entrepreneur showed her collection at New York Fashion Week with a cast of 65 models.

'This is a pretty big day because this is a really big collection for me, and there's going to be a lot of media,' she explained before hitting the catwalk.

Isabella had two outfit changes during the show and six for the after-party she hosted, which had A-list guests and performers. The teen was filmed signing a check for $85,000 for the over-the-top bash.

'Having my own name on a checkbook is definitely scary for my parents, but great for me because I don't have to wait for my mom at the bank anymore,' she said.

Isabella gushed that 'being a self-made millionaire' has already opened 'so many doors' for her, though she insisted that she is a normal teen when she's not working.

'Right now, I feel like my goal is just to keep doing what I'm doing because I'm having a really great time,' she said. 'As long as I'm having fun, that's all that matters.'

Pierce Woodward, 19

Estimated net worth: $1.4 million

Pierce, who was 17 when he filmed the episode, boasted that he makes $100,000 a month from his TikTok fame and his jewelry line, Brand Pierre

Pierce dropped out of high school and now uses his platform to promote Brand Pierre, a line of rings made out of vintage spoons

'I've been able to make custom rings for names like Noah Beck, Dixie D'Amelio, Jules LeBlanc,' the teen said. Pierce sells anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 rings per drop

Pierce, who was 17 when he filmed the episode, boasted that he makes $100,000 a month from his TikTok fame and his company Brand Pierre, a collection of rings made out of vintage spoons.

The teen started his jewelry line out of his parents' garage and was able to upgrade to an entire brand house thanks to his success.

'I remember when Pierce came to us and talked that he wanted to sell rings online I thought, "You know what? You got to start somewhere,"' his father, Woody Woodward recalled. 'I didn't know it would turn into what it turned into.'

Pierce said his first drop of 23 rings sold out in about four days, and he used his TikTok fame to attract other influencers to his brand.

'I've been able to make custom rings for names like Noah Beck, Dixie D'Amelio, Jules LeBlanc,' he explained.

Pierce's parents, Woody and Shaylene Woodward, sold everything they owned to travel the world with him, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and they had to start over from scratch

During the episode, Pierce rented a convertible like the one his mom had and hid $50,000 of cash in the trunk. He explained that the money was for her to pick out the car of her dreams

'You could never imagine what it feels like to have your 17-year-old buy your dream car back again,' Shaylene said. 'There's no feeling like that'

The young entrepreneur dropped out of high school, which he admitted was a 'terrifying experience because just because all the odds are against you.'

His mother, Shaylene Woodward, said she 'had a heart attack' when he told her his plans, but she had 'a lot of faith in what he was doing.'

After he left school, he and his family decided to sell everything and travel around the world, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit three months later.

'We were completely destitute, had nowhere to go, and had to just start from scratch,' Woody recalled, though his wife noted that they were 'not quite destitute.'

However, Pierce's gamble paid off, and he now sells anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 rings per drop in addition to the money he makes as an influencer.

'I've had a goal since I was a little kid to save up six figures by the time I was 18, and I've finally been able to accomplish that,' he said.

Another dream of his was replacing the beloved white convertible Corvette his mother sold years ago to help support their family.

Pierce rented a convertible like the one his mom had and hid $50,000 of cash in the trunk. When he surprised her, he explained that the money was for her to pick out the car of her dreams.

'You could never imagine what it feels like to have your 17-year-old buy your dream car back again,' Shaylene said. 'There's no feeling like that.'

Unlike the other teens featured in the episode, Pierce had a more casual approach to his future goals.

'I want to go travel the world,' he said. 'I want to go just explore, maybe live in a van for a couple years, meet some hippies, make some rings with some hippies. Life's all good.'
Marilyn Monroe remains one of Hollywood's most famous faces, but she was almost penniless and couldn't afford a 'proper funeral' when she died nearly 60 years ago.

Author Joyce Carol Oates, 84, reflected on the iconic actress's tragic end while discussing the upcoming Netflix film adaptation of her best-selling historical novel 'Blonde' at the 21st Neuchatel Intl. Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland.

Published in 2000, the writer's fictionalized portrait explores how Monroe  born Norma Jeane Mortenson and later baptized Norma Jeane Baker  lost her identity when she transformed into the blonde bombshell she is still known as today.

'She gained a fame in the world, but thats not an identity you can live with. It is one that made a lot of money for a lot of men, but not much for herself. When she died, at 36, she didnt own enough money for a proper funeral,' Oates said, according to Variety.

Marilyn Monroe was almost penniless and couldn't afford a 'proper funeral' when she died nearly 60 years ago, according to author Joyce Carol Oates

Monroe's ex-husband Joe DiMaggio stepped in and planned her funeral after she was found dead from an overdose at her Los Angeles home on August 4, 1962

Oates said that Monroe (pictured with DiMaggio in 1954) 'made a lot of money for a lot of men, but not much for herself'

The writer also reflected on the starlet's frustration over her career and how it may have contributed to her death.

'As Marilyn got older, she was still being given these roles a young starlet would play, and she was feeling humiliated. You cant keep playing this dumb blonde nearing the age of 40,' she explained.

'Some people say she committed suicide. I dont necessarily think that. I think she may have died of something like extreme despair.'

Monroe died from an overdose of barbiturates at her Los Angeles home on August 4, 1962. Her body was found on her bed by a responding officer, who also discovered empty bottles of pills, prescribed to treat her depression, littered around the room.

Oates wrote a fictionalized account of Monroe's life in her 2000 novel 'Blonde,' which has been adapted into an upcoming Netflix film of the same name

The author's historical novel explores how Monroe lost her identity when she transformed into the blonde bombshell she is still known as today

'Some people say she committed suicide. I dont necessarily think that. I think she may have died of something like extreme despair,' Oates said of the icon

After a brief investigation, Los Angeles police concluded that her death was 'caused by a self-administered overdose of sedative drugs.' The Los Angeles County coroner's office declared her death a 'probable suicide.'

Questions and conspiracy theories about her death remain to this day, including unfounded rumors that she was murdered.

Monroe's ex-husband Joe DiMaggio stepped in and planned her funeral, barring the public and almost all producers, directors, and actors, according to PBS.

The icon's crypt is at the Westwood Village Memorial Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Ana de Armas, 34, portrays the late actress in the film adaptation of 'Blonde,' which was directed by Andrew Dominick

Oates, who has already given the film her stamp of approval, said it took about four hours of makeup to turn de Armas (pictured) into Monroe

Monroe's crypt is at the Westwood Village Memorial Cemetery in Los Angeles

Ana de Armas, 34, portrays Monroe in the film adaptation of 'Blonde,' which was directed by Andrew Dominick.

Oates noted that it took about four hours of makeup to turn the Cuban actress into the blonde starlet each day of filming.

Blonde, which is slated to be released on September 23, has already earned a seal of approval from the prolific author.

'Andrew Dominik is a very brilliant director. I think he succeeded in showing the experience of Norma Jeane Baker from her perspective, rather than see it from the outside, the male gaze looking at a woman. He immersed himself in her perspective,' she said.
When the Duchess of Cambridge turned to blow a kiss to her mother, Carole Middleton, at Wimbledon last week, it encapsulated how delightfully affectionate their relationship is.

Seeing their matching smiles light up across the Royal Box also underlined how strikingly similar they are both in style and appearance.

With their long chestnut hair worn glossy, straight and tucked behind the ears, with drop earrings peeking out below, the pair were clearly channelling the same look.

But where once it might have been Kate copying her mothers impeccable style, it seems that at the age of 67, Carole is taking a leaf out of her eldest childs fashion book.

Ladies in red: Kate wore her Boden coat to visit Great Ormond Street (left). Carole (right) popped out to M&S in hers

From her newly straightened hair  clearly impressed by the treatment Kate had for her Caribbean tour  to the matching jewellery and dresses, Caroles had not so much a make-over as a Kate-over.

And why not? After all the tips about make-up and fashion Kate has picked up from her mum over the years, its only fair that Carole should reap the rewards of her daughters sophistication.

They both call upon the service of Richard Wards hair salon, so why not share a wardrobe  especially when its as full as Kates?

Pastel pair: Kate's Alexander McQueen number (left) inspired the dress coat Carole wore to Pippa's wedding (right)

Take Royal Ascot a few weeks ago, when, wearing a breezy hot pink pleated shirtdress from British label Me+Em, Carole looked fabulous. The dress was strikingly familiar  it was identical to one worn by her daughter in May last year on a visit to Edinburgh.

Did Carole borrow it from Kates expansive wardrobe? Maybe. Although Carole is not as tall as the duchess, she certainly has the slender figure to carry off her daughters clothes. Not only that, but she put her own spin on the look with a black fascinator and matching clutch.

There was yet more daughter-mother style inspiration at Wimbledon, when Carole arrived on the third day of the tournament showcasing a stunning blue topaz necklace by one of Kates favourite gem designers, Kiki McDonough.

Me + Mum: Did Carole borrow Kate's bright pink Me + Em dress for the first day of Ascot last month?

It may even have been borrowed from Kates jewellery box, since Kate has worn the same piece on several occasions herself.

For me, just a few years older than Carole and with a 32-year-old daughter, Emma, I think the relationship Kate and her mother have is simply wonderful.

There is something uniquely pleasing about the moment you realise you can dip into your daughters wardrobe. Although Im not entirely sure Emma would always agree.

It feels a little risque to swan around in your daughters clothes  and rather fabulous that they fit!

Striking similarity: Kate wore it first, but Carole wasn't far behind in a navy version of this tiered Alexander McQueen dress

It is also good to be shaken out of your fashion rut from time to time  and who better than a daughter to provide the inspiration?

I can definitely relate to the fact that there are times as a mum when you think your daughter looks so gorgeous that you might like to emulate her style. Sometimes there need to be a few concessions to age, although Caroles legs are so shapely she can still raise a hem and look elegant. Good for her!

She was a British Airways flight attendant in her 20s, at a time when being cabin crew was one of the most glamorous jobs there was.

Of the same stripe: Breton tops are a staple style for mother and daughter

Family jewels: Kate and Carole both love Kiki McDonoughs designs. But its not often a mum gets to raid her daughters jewellery box!

So it would be no surprise if, when the seeds of Kates royal romance with William began to blossom, she might have offered some style advice to her daughter.

And during the early years of her romance with the prince, Kates safe fashion choices often  unsurprisingly  mirrored those of her beloved mum.

But with time, now a confident mother-of-three herself and shaping up for her future role as Queen, Kate has really come into her own.

It is truly delightful to see this confidence reflected in the very woman who helped to shape her.

Picture research by Claire Cisotti.
Chinese FM lauds China-ASEAN friendship, renews commitment on open regionalism

Xinhua) 08:40, July 12, 2022

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) meets with ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Veri Sanovri)

JAKARTA, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a speech at the ASEAN Secretariat here on Monday, speaking highly of the achievements in China-ASEAN cooperation, and making proposals for jointly upholding open regionalism with ASEAN.

Wang said China and ASEAN are linked by mountains and waters as well as hearts and aspirations. "We are always good neighbors, good friends and good partners with a shared future."

Wang said China-ASEAN relations have always stayed ahead in many areas. The cooperation between China with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries against COVID-19 was a vivid testament to the deep friendship through thick and thin. Currently, China and ASEAN are each other's largest trading partner, with trade volume soaring 100 times from 30 years before, and the two-way direct investment has exceeded 310 billion U.S. dollars.

China-ASEAN security cooperation has also been making steady progress, with differences and disputes being effectively managed, he added.

"Our region has secured such remarkable achievements and created exceptional miracles in growth, most fundamentally because countries in the region have adhered to open regionalism, respected and appreciated the diversities among members, and upheld and practiced the principle of voluntarism," Wang said.

However, he pointed out that there are two completely different trends concerning the future of Asia, one advocates open regionalism, true multilateralism, a development-first approach and mutually beneficial cooperation, while the other pursues a relapse into the obsolete Cold War mentality and closed group politics, and classifies countries in the region based on their values.

"The choice we make today determines where the path will take us from now on -- openness or isolation, cooperation or confrontation, solidarity or division, progress or regression."

As the world's largest developing country and an important member in Asia, China has always followed a path of peaceful development and a win-win strategy of opening-up, Wang said.

"We hope to champion open regionalism together with ASEAN and deepen our comprehensive strategic partnership," Wang said.

China will continue to support ASEAN centrality and promote solidarity and cooperation in the region. China firmly supports ASEAN's role in the "driver's seat", supports ASEAN community-building, and supports the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation architecture, Wang said.

China will continue to call for settling differences in the Asian way and uphold regional peace and stability, Wang said.

China will work with other countries in the region to implement the Global Security Initiative, hoping to blaze a new path of security that chooses dialogue over confrontation, partnerships over alliances, and win-win over zero-sum game, and put into practice principles for how neighbors may get along: trust as the basis, the greater good as priority, and sincerity in interaction.

China and ASEAN countries are expediting the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea consultations and will continue to support ASEAN's efforts in building a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

China will continue to firmly pursue its open strategy for development and promote regional economic integration, Wang said.

China is ready to launch a new round of upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area as soon as possible, and implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) across the board and promote its upgrade in due course. China is ready to sign high-standard free trade agreements with more countries, and it looks forward to closely integrating the development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and China-ASEAN cooperation.

China will continue to resolutely advance cooperation in science, technology and innovation to stimulate new drivers of development in the region, Wang said.

China stands ready to strengthen digital connectivity, explore cooperation on low-carbon, circular and green economy. China will advance barrier-and discrimination-free scientific and technological innovation that transcends borders. China will implement well the China-ASEAN Science, Technology and Innovation Enhancing Program, and accelerate regional transformation and development.

China will continue to carry forward Asian values and deepen the bonds of friendship among peoples in the region, Wang said. China is ready to work with ASEAN to rise above the zero-sum mentality, and deepen their brotherly bond of sharing weal and woe in the spirit of solidarity and partnership.

China will adopt more measures to facilitate the flow of people and discuss the launch of tourism recovery plans with all sides at the proper time, and supports the development of an ASEAN travel corridor. China will proactively step up exchanges with ASEAN countries in culture and between the youth, subnational entities, media and women, to promote mutual understanding, amity and affinity between their peoples, Wang said.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C) poses for a group photo with ASEAN nations' representatives to ASEAN at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Right to the end, when she was 87 and her body ravaged by cancer, she remained as enigmatic as ever. Marriages had brought Lily Safra untold riches, social success and a nickname she could never shake off  The Gilded Lily.

But she very carefully took one thing to her grave in Switzerland yesterday: the inside story of how her billionaire fourth husband met his death in a fire in his Monaco penthouse. The events of that night remain shrouded in mystery almost 23 years later.

When Edmond Safra died from smoke inhalation after locking himself in a panic room in the early hours of December 3, 1999, he was one of the worlds richest and most secretive private bankers. As a result of his death his much-married widow, a friend of Prince Charles, became one of the wealthiest women on the planet with a fortune of more than 3 billion.

Three years later a former U.S. soldier, who worked as a nurse to the reclusive Safra, was convicted of causing his death after a bizarre scheme to win his employers favour backfired. He admitted starting a fire in a wastepaper bin, claiming there were intruders and hoping to win the Safras gratitude by saving them. But the fire raced out of control.

Rumours, however, continued to persist about what happened inside the heavily fortified Belle Epoque building, where the Lebanese-born banker had a 20-room duplex apartment. Obsessed with security, he carried blue gems in his pocket to ward off the evil eye and he used the lucky number five on his car licence plate, EJS 555.

Right to the end, when she was 87 and her body ravaged by cancer, she remained as enigmatic as ever. Marriages had brought Lily Safra untold riches, social success and a nickname she could never shake off  The Gilded Lily

According to conspiracy theorists, the luck he had so assiduously nourished ran out because he had finally made one enemy too many. These theories suggested his death was either the work of the Russian mafia, Colombian drug cartels or Japanese business associates who suspected he had cheated on them in a deal. His stupendously rich widow, Lily Safra, whose life had already been struck by tragedy, found that she too could not escape rumour and innuendo.

It emerged that just weeks before the fire, she had moved the Mossad-trained security guards protecting her husband to the family estate in France. Videotape from key security cameras was also said to have gone missing. And it was revealed that this was not the first time one of her husbands had died in mysterious circumstances.

When her second husband Freddy Monteverde committed suicide in 1969, it was alleged he had managed to shoot himself in the heart not once but twice, yet investigators at the time recovered only one bullet. It was also claimed detectives had lost the two main pieces of evidence: the gun and the bullet.

Later still it became known that two months before his death, Safra had changed his will, cutting out his two brothers and leaving control of his fortune to Lily. Safras three sisters also went to court in Geneva claiming that his widow was obstructing their 14 million-a-head inheritances from her husbands will.

But while all this may have been perfect material for a movie script, evidence was scant. And if the implication was that Lily was involved in her last husbands death, no one could provide a motive or even an explanation of why she might have chosen a nurse to start a blaze when she could not possibly have known how long it would take the fire service to enter the apartment once the alarm had been raised.

Lily Safra never gave an interview on this or any other subject and got on with her life. She moved to London and used her considerable wealth to support charities favoured by the Prince of Wales.

Edmond Safra pictured with his wife Lily Safra. When Edmond died on 3 December 1999 he left the bulk of his fortune to Lily who - with the money left to her by two previous husbands - became one of the richest women in Britain

But old habits die hard. She bought a 12,500 sq ft Belgravia mansion and had it fitted out with a bombproof basement, armoured windows, sensors and 35 security cameras.

The daughter of a Scottish-born railway engineer who had emigrated to Brazil to cash in on the South American railway boom, Lily met Safra when she sought his advice on how to invest the 200 million she had inherited from her second husband.

They married in 1976 at a glamorous high society wedding attended by Ronald and Nancy Reagan and the Aga Khan. In the early 1980s they settled in New York, becoming key members of Manhattans social elite and friends with the likes of shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov and Frank Sinatra.

Dainty and willowy thin, Lily with her immaculately coiffed blonde hair, couture wardrobe and diamond and platinum jewels, was known for her lavish parties and her unfailing philanthropy.

She was also famously generous, once sending all her friends Manolo Blahnik shoes after having her secretary secure their sizes. Meanwhile, the couple embarked on a property spending spree purchasing lavish homes in Belgravia, the South of France, Paris, Geneva and Monte Carlo.

John Fairchild, snooty publisher of fashion magazines W and Womans Wear Daily, cattily wrote of the Safras meteoric rise to social power: They have taken the Riviera . . . New York, the Metropolitan Opera, Geneva  all in a space of five years. Whats next?

By all accounts theirs was a happy marriage. But for all his accomplishments, Edmond Safra was plagued by claims that his success had come through gold, drugs and currency trafficking, money laundering and organised crime. In the treacherous world of international banking where he had earned his fortune from clients who wanted their names kept out of the spotlight, such insinuations were easy to make.

The rumours had made him obsessively security conscious. He was also in poor health. In the 1990s he was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and soon required round-the-clock nursing care. According to figures close to the family, his increasing paranoia may have been linked to the drugs he took to control his Parkinsons. He was also spending more time at the Monaco mansion.

When police finally gained entry to the blazing apartment, they found Safra and one of his nurses dead in a bathroom which had been designated a panic room.

Mrs Safra, who had her own suite of rooms separated from her husbands by reinforced doors, escaped unscathed. She failed to persuade him to leave after ringing him on a mobile phone and assuring him there were no intruders.

Convinced it was an inside job, Monaco police arrested male nurse Ted Maher, an ex-Green Beret soldier. Maher confessed and was convicted of arson causing death. Since then he has changed his story and claimed his confession was extracted under pressure.

Mahers claim that there really was a conspiracy against Safra came as lawyers for Lily were acting to force the withdrawal from sale of Empress Bianca, a novel by Lady Colin Campbell. The book which the publishers said was a work of fiction was regarded by Mrs Safra as a thinly veiled account of her life and defamed her. It was subsequently pulped.

Prince Charles meets charity organiser Lily Safra at Somerset House in London, Thursday 11 July, 2002

But Lily Safras extraordinary life story was indeed the stuff of literature. She was born Lily Watkins in 1934 in Rio de Janeiro where her father Wolf White Watkins had emigrated from Surrey and started a rail track construction company. Her mother was a Jewish emigre from Poland.

The family were comfortably off but by no means rich. What she lacked in wealth, she made up for in slim beauty and charm. She was also intelligent and could speak at least five languages.

Young Lily had her pick of men. Often described as petite and porcelain-like, she was a popular dance partner at the Clube Israelita Brasileiro, the Jewish community centre in Rio she frequented as a teenager. But the boys she met there were not marriage material in her parents eyes.

To fend off unsuitable suitors, her parents whisked her to Uruguay, where her mothers family lived. There she met Mario Cohen, an Italian-Jewish man nine years her senior whose family had a successful hosiery business. They married in September 1952, and quickly had three children.

But the marriage was not happy and after divorcing Cohen  and obtaining a generous settlement  she married Alfredo Freddy Greenberg, who later changed his name to Monteverde, head of a Brazilian electrical distribution business. But he was a manic depressive and four years after they wed, he killed himself leaving his widow a considerable fortune.

His death was investigated at length by Brazilian authorities but no evidence of foul play was found. Lily placed her inheritance in the safekeeping of Edmond Safra, the 37-year-old head of Banco Safra in Brazil, a workaholic with a reputation for financial wizardry.

Safra became besotted with the beautiful widow and it was noted that with all her money, she could not be after him for his. But their courtship was rocky; his family was said to disapprove of the lively Lily and when he broke things off, she responded dramatically.

In Acapulco in 1972 she married a Moroccan-born British businessman Samuel Bendahan. It was claimed that her purpose was to make Edmond jealous. If so she succeeded for within two months the newlyweds split up.

Then the real party began. With her fourth marriage, Safra moved into the role of international socialite. The union was wittily described as the irresistible combination of a lady with a past and a man with a future.

A prenuptial agreement was reportedly drawn up , with a friend calling it a merger. But the marriage proved durable and happy.

Lily now counted the worlds richest and most famous among her friends, everyone from Valentino to Prince Charles and Camilla. But not all her life was gilded.

Lily Safra and Sir Elton John attend "An Enduring Vision" the 7th Annual Elton John Aids Foundation Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street on November 11, 2008 in New York City

In 1989 her son Claudio and three-year-old grandson were killed in a car crash, a tragedy from which she never recovered. Afterwards she threw herself into socialising, philanthropy and spending  as well as maintaining her wide-eyed youthful looks. In 1988, the Safras had purchased a huge villa on the French Riviera, once owned by the King of the Belgians and where Lily spent $2 million in decorator fees on her bedroom alone.

Eight years later, the couple moved into the 10,000 sq ft apartment in Monaco, Soon after Edmonds death, Lily settled in London where in 2001 she sat next to Prince Charles at a dinner in the Buckingham Palace picture gallery for the most generous American donors to his charities.

Thanks to her chequebook they became friends and she also gave 8 million to Somerset House to refurbish the courtyard fountains. After the 9/11 attack she donated 600,000 to the victims.

Latterly she supported medical charities, particularly research into Parkinsons disease.

Increasing ill health saw her move from London to Geneva.

Her rift with Safras brothers never healed. They did not attend the reception after his funeral and matters worsened over her decision not to bury Edmond in the family-owned plot in Israel but in Switzerland, where yesterday her coffin joined his.
It's time to stop making sexist comparisons between Diana, Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall according to Julie Bindel, who praised the duchess for not being obsessed with 'feminine fripperies'.

The feminist writer made the comments on GMB today, during a segment on whether the public has finally embraced Camilla ahead of her 75th birthday on July 16, who used to be unpopular because of her affair with Prince Charles.

Jack Royston, chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, argued that people haven't moved on from that time, and many continue to see Diana as a 'victim of injustice'.

He noted that public opinion around whether Prince Charles will be a good king plummeted after the affair became public knowledge, and has not recovered since.

However, Julie said this was not Camilla's fault, and that it's time to stop the sexist comparison between the two women, and stop 'blaming the woman for an affair the man had'.

Feminist writer Julie Bindel (pictured) says that comparisons between Diana and Camilla are sexist, and it's time to move on

The Duchess of Cornwall, pictured during a trip to Wales last week, has been described as authentic and genuine by Julie who added that it's good to have a senior royal who isn't obsessed with fashion

Diana, Princess of Wales, pictured here in Argentina in 1995, was hugely popular with the public, who saw her as a 'victim of injustice', according to Jack Royston

She added: 'Camilla is someone who takes her charitable work really seriously, as Diana did, but Camilla actually advocates for more, shall we say, stigmatised issues, such as rape, sexual assault, domestic abuse.'

According to Julie, 'all of those who have worked with Camilla in this field' have described the royal as authentic and genuine, and as someone who really cares.

'I think that now, we can really stop thinking of her as the wicked stepmother in the fairytale where Diana was the princess,' she said.

'[We should] stop this sexist approach to comparing women, where on the one hand you have the conventionally beautiful Diana, and on the other hand, someone who's been called horsey, and scruffy, and talked about in terms of her appearance.

'We really should move on from that sexist approach now.'

Julie went on to say: 'I think it's great for young women to see [a senior royal] who isn't obsessed with fashion, obsessed with appearance, and thinking about feminine frippery all the time in order to make herself popular.'

Julie Bindel (left) appeared on GMB today during a segment discussing whether the Duchess of Cornwall has won public popularity with royal expert Jack Royston (right)

GMB co-host Susanna Reid said she has met Camilla, and like Julie, found her to be a genuine person, but noted that she 'hasn't won over everyone'.

She asked Jack what else the royal might do to win over her detractors.

He replied: 'She's in a difficult position...I think...if she came out of her shell a little bit, and tried to draw more attention on some of the very good projects she's supported...if she were to take a few more risks...some of that work that she does might get noticed by a wider audience, so I think that is probably where she should try to focus.'
Where The Crawdads Sing author Delia Owens is wanted in Zambia for questioning over a cruel 1990 televised killing, new reports claim - in echoes of her book about a lonely heroine who stands accused of a righteously motivated murder.

Delia, 73, and her then-husband Mark moved to Zambia in 1986 to study and conserve the elephant population, and appeared in a 1996 program titled Deadly Game, which televised the apparent killing of a poacher who was shot after being caught on the grounds of a game warden.

The identity of the poacher was never revealed, nor was the identity of the person or persons who fired the fatal shots off-camera disclosed.

However sources speaking to investigative journalist Jeff Goldberg claimed Delia's step-son Christopher, then-25, was a member of a scouting party which allegedly shot the man, while Mark helped to cover up the killing.

Despite Mark and Delia vehemently denying all claims that they were involved in any killings or committed any wrongdoing, Zambia's director of public prosecutions Lillian Shawa-Siyuni has said all three are still wanted for questioning related to the killing of the alleged poacher.

Delia would later go on to publish the bestselling novel in 2018, with the story bearing striking similarities to her own circumstances in Zambia.

It follows a lonely naturalist, named Kya Clark, who lives in a remote swamp in 1950s Carolina and commits a righteously motivated murder of an abusive local man, Chase Andrews, who attempted to rape her.

The reports have resurfaced weeks before high-profile blockbuster adaptation of the book, which stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and was produced by Reece Witherspoon, is released in cinemas.

MailOnline has contacted Delia Owens representatives for comment.

Where The Crawdads Sing author Delia Owens is wanted in Zambia for questioning over a cruel 1990 televised killing, new reports claim - in echoes of her book about a lonely heroine who stands accused of a righteously motivated murder (pictured, Delia with her husband Mark in the North Luangwa National Park in Zambia)

Delia published the bestselling novel in 2018, with the story bearing striking similarities to her own circumstances in Zambia

Zoologist Delia and her then-husband Mark were living in Botswana in the 1980s when they left the country after criticizing the government's conservation policies.

Mark Owens later told People the couple were 'treated like criminals', saying: 'They fingerprinted us, threatened us... We weren't allowed to call the Embassy or get a lawyer. We lost everything. It took a lot of healing to get over it.'

They travelled to Zambia's North Luangwa wilderness in 1986, having been attracted to the area's isolation and the desire to study and conserve the elephant population.

The couple were stunned and dismayed to see poachers devastating the local elephant population, and began raising money from donors in Europe and August to better pay and equip scouts.

Mark became the de facto commander of the scouts, with Delia writing in her book, The Eye of the Elephant: 'Mark creates special units for those who perform well, and they are issued extra equipmentnew guns, jungle knives, binoculars, compasses.'

The book follows a lonely naturalist, named Kya Clark, who lives in a remote swamp in 1950s Carolina and commits a righteously motivated murder of an abusive local man, Chase Andrews, who attempted to rape her

Meanwhile Goldberg said he visited Zambia where he 'learned that Mark Owens had gradually come to command a corps of game scouts in North Luangwa, outside of Zambian-government oversight, by buying their loyalty through the provision of weapons, boots, and money.'

TIMELINE OF DELIA OWEN'S EXPERIENCE IN ZAMBIA 1986 - Delia and her husband Mark arrive in Zambia 1992 - The couple's second book The Eye of the Elephant: An Epic Adventure in the African Wilderness is published. It details their battles against poachers in Zambia's North Luangwa National Park. It attracts the attention of ABC 1996 - ABC documentary titled Deadly Game is broadcast. In it, a man, alleged to be a poacher, was killed after reportedly being caught on the grounds of a game warden. The couple return to the US and never return to Zambia 2018 - Delia pens her first novel, Where The Crawdads Sing, which is published to overwhelming success. It was selected for Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine Book Club. 2022 - A film is set to be released based on the novel and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones Advertisement

They claimed he would frighten poaching parties with firecrackers, and later, from a helicopter, menacing them with a machine gun.



In a highly contested letter sent to professional hunter named PJ Fouche, Mark said his scouts had killed two poachers and 'are just getting warmed up.'

Fouche told Goldberg for a 2010 New Yorker article: 'They thought they were kings...He made himself the law, and his law was that he could do anything he wanted.'

The couple published their second book The Eye of the Elephant: An Epic Adventure in the African Wilderness in 1992.

It details their battles against poachers in Zambia's North Luangwa National Park.

It attracts the attention of ABC, who express an interest in making a documentary about the couple.

The network produced the film, in which co-anchor Diane Sawyer said: 'They went halfway around the world to follow a dream.

'An idealistic American couple - young, in love. But a strange place and time would test that love.'

Meanwhile the Paley Center for Media described the warfare in the documentary by saying, 'Game wardens must shoot poachers as soon as they see one, otherwise, they will be shot themselves; the Owens have resolved that in order to save the elephants, they must sacrifice human beings.'

In the film, Delia tells the presenter 'there were several assassination teams that were sent down by poachers with the intent to kill us. I mean, lions don't frighten me nearly as much as humans.'

Elsewhere, she says her husband has become 'obsessed' with stopping the poaching of the animals.

Mark is seen carrying a number of firearms, ordering his team of scouts: 'If you see poachers in the national park with a firearm, you don't wait for them to shoot at you. You shoot at them first, all right?

The novel was published in 2018, with the film due to be released in the coming weeks

'That means when you see the whites of his eyes, and if he has a firearm, you kill him before he kills you, because if you let him getif you let him turn on you with an AK-47, he's going to cut you in two. So go out there and get them. Go get them, O.K.?'

He tells the presenter: 'I'm not comfortable at all with it. I'm absolutely uncomfortable with it. Sometimes poachers are killed and occasionally scouts have been killed.'

Goldberg later interviewed Chris Everson, the ABC cameraman who filmed the killing of the alleged poacher.

Writing in The Atlantic, Goldberg penned: 'The Zambian police detective in charge of the subsequent investigation, Biemba Musole, concluded that Mark Owens, with the help of his scouts, placed the victim's body in a cargo net, attached it to his helicopter, and then dropped it into a nearby lagoon.

'Musole led an effort to identify the alleged poacher, but did not succeed.

'The former Zambian national police commissioner, Graphael Musamba, told me that the investigation had been stymied by the absence of a body: 'The animals eat the evidence.''

After the ABC documentary was broadcast, Goldberg reported the Owenses traveled to the U.S. for a visit and were warned never to return.

Delia and Mark appeared in a 1996 program titled Deadly Game, which televised the killing of a poacher who was allegedly shot after being caught on the grounds of a game warden

Investigate journalist Jeff Goldberg claimed Mark became a de facto leader for a group who worked against poachers in the country

The couple moved to a remote area of land in Boundary County, Idaho, where they are believed to have divorced, although they remain on friendly terms.

Journalist Goldberg would release a New Yorker article about the incident in 2010, with Delia telling him at the time: 'We don't know anything about it. The only thing Mark ever did was throw firecrackers out of his plane, but just to scare poachers, not to hurt anyone.'

Meanwhile she insisted Chris 'wasn't there.'

Delia would pen her first novel, Where the Crawdads Sing, years later - but the plot of the bestselling book bears striking similarities to her experience in the African country.

Delia would pen her first novel, Where the Crawdads Sing, years later - but the plot of the bestselling book bears striking similarities to her experience in the African country

Owens, pictured with members of the cast alongside Reece Witherspoon, has said the book contains 'a lot of symbolism'

The story follows Kya, a young woman who is abandoned by her parents and left alone to raise herself on an isolated marsh just outside a small town in North Carolina.

Like the author Delia, she is a naturalist and a loner in an isolated and occasionally hostile environment.

When she becomes a respected author Kya is then accused of the murder of her former boyfriend Chase Andrews.

However, like the killing of the unnamed poacher, the killing could be considered righteously motivated - Chase had been abusive, and even tried to rape Kya.

There are multiple similarities between Delia and her character Kya, both of whom were loners who were isolated in a hostile environment before being associated with a killing

Despite the fact Kya is guilty, as revealed at the end of the novel, she is acquitted of Chase's murder and ultimately gets away with her crime (pictured, Harris Dickinson as Chase)

Despite the fact Kya is guilty, as revealed at the end of the novel, she is acquitted of Chase's murder and ultimately gets away with her crime.

In an interview with Amazon, Owens revealed: 'Almost every part of the book has some deeper meaning. There's a lot of symbolism in this book.'

The book topped the New York Times' best-sellers list for 32 weeks in 2019 and 2020 and sold between 8 and 9 millions copies around the world.

Goldberg told Slate.com: 'I have to say I found it strange and uncomfortable to be reading the story of a Southern loner, a noble naturalist, who gets away with what is described as a righteously motivated murder in the remote wild.'
A British tourist has described the terrifying moment he was caught in a Kyrgyzstan avalanche, saying only 20 metres stood between him and death, during an interview with This Morning.

Harry Shimmin, from the Isle of Mann, was part of a group of 10 tourists doing a guided tour of the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan when a glacier crashed down the side of a cliff last week.

The whole group survived, although one woman suffered a very deep cut on her knee.

Harry filmed as the avalanche of ice hurtled towards him before finally engulfing him, in a video that has since gone viral.

During his interview today, Harry, who has said he thought he may die during the incident, opened up what he was thinking as he filmed the avalanche, revealing that he had 'no profound' last thoughts.

Harry Shimmin, from the Isle of Mann, appeared on This Morning today to discuss the viral video he shot of an avalanche in Kyrgyzstan

Avalanche: Harry was part of a group of 10 tourists doing a guided tour of the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan when a glacier crashed down the side of a cliff last week.

Describing the events that led up to the events seen on the video, Harry said that during the day's hike, he had separated from the rest of the group, moving ahead to take photographs.

When he heard ice cracking, he realised what was about to happen, and started filming the avalanche - a decision which led to some criticism.

'Some of the comments online have been saying "Why is he just standing there, why isn't he running for his life, why is he just filming?",' he explained.

'They're completely justified, however, what the video doesn't show is the sheer drop that's right behind me and the only direction I can run is straight towards the avalanche.'

Harry added that there was a small area of shelter nearby, and given the choice between staying by the shelter and running towards the avalanche, he decided to stay.

This Morning co-host Dermot O'Leary asked Harry: 'The difference between you dying and living here is effectively the amount of snow that covers you, correct?'

He replied: 'I think the difference between life and death at that point was a stretch of about 20 metres.

'So if I was on the other side of the hill [with the rest of the group] then I would probably have a bit more than 20 metres, maybe about 50 metres or so.

'Fortunately the bulk of the landslide, or the bulk of the avalanche didn't hit me. It was just this kind of cloud of powder and light snow that covered me. It was just a few inches of snow that was on top of me, so I didn't get buried or anything like that fortunately.

The last words Harry says on the video before the avalanche hit him were: 'Oh God. Oh dear God'.

Harry spoke to This Morning co-hosts Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond (pictured) via video link from Kyrgyzstan

Speaking about how he felt in that moment, Harry revealed that until that point, he had thought the avalanche wouldn't reach him, but he then realised he had to try to get into the nearby shelter.

'I wouldn't say there were any kind of profound last thoughts... disappointingly...it's almost quite sad I suppose, but my last thought was, "I'm going to take a big risk here, and take a decent video,".'

Posting the video on Instagram three days ago, he wrote: 'I'm very aware that I took a big risk.

'I felt in control, but regardless, when the snow started coming over and it got dark, harder to breath, I was bricking it and thought I might die.'

He added: 'The whole group was laughing and crying, happy to be alive (including the girl who cut her knee). It was only later we realised just how lucky wed been. If we had walked five minutes further on our trek, we would all be dead.'
Princess Beatrice cut a chic figure last night as she headed out for a double date night with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at an exclusive member's club in Mayfair.

The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, 33, was all smiles as she joined her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 38, at Oswald's in London yesterday after enjoying a night on the town.

The couple were joined by Meghan Markle's BFF Misha Nonoo and her billionaire husband Mikey Hess at the exclusive club.

The royal has been quite the royal social butterfly of late as she refuses to hide away amid her father's sex abuse scandal - with the mother-of-one attending Glastonbury, Royal Ascot a summer ball, and a Rolling Stones Concert in a matter of weeks.

Princess Beatrice, 33, cut a chic figure last night as she headed out for a double date night with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 38, at an exclusive member's club in Mayfair

The couple were joined by Meghan Markle's BFF Misha Nonoo and her billionaire husband Mikey Hess at the exclusive club

Showing off her sartorial prowess, Beatrice opted for a trendy black lacey dress for the occasion.

Keeping a natural look, Beatrice opted for minimal make-up with just a light layer of foundation and lick of mascara to emphasise her good look.

Despite it being a Monday night, the couples appeared to enjoy their evening at the exclusive venue, leaving just after midnight.

Outside, Mikey could be seen blowing a kiss to Beatrice and Edoardo as they departed the establishment.

Showing off her sartorial prowess, Beatrice opted for a trendy black lacey dress with a matching headband for the occasion

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.

Misha has long been friendly with a number of members in the royal family, including Beatrice and Eugenie.

Princess Beatrice has known Misha for years, and attended her wedding to ex-husband Alexander Gilkes' in 2012 alongside her sister Princess Eugenie.

Keeping a natural look, Beatrice opted for minimal make-up with just a light layer of foundation and lick of mascara to emphasise her good look

The couple, who tied the knot in 2020, brushed hands as they walked into the venue last night in Mayfair

Beatrice's packed summer diary: How the royal made near non-stop appearances at exclusive nightclubs, music festivals and royal events 2 June - Trooping the Colour 3 June - Service of Thanksgiving, Night out at Maison Estelle 4 June - Platinum Party At The Palace 5 June - Big Jubilee Lunch, Platinum Pageant 13 June - Evening out at exclusive members club Oswald's 14 June - Day one of Royal Ascot 15 June - Day two of Royal Ascot 18 June - Day three of Royal Ascot 23 June - Summer ball at National Gallery 24 June - Spotted at Glastonbury 26 June - Seen on another day of Glastonbury 4 July - Rolling Stones concert 8 July - Wimbledon 11 July - Night out at Oswald's Advertisement

Meanwhile the sisters also attended her wedding to Mikey in 2019, with Eugenie even acting as a bridesmaid at the event.

And Meghan has been close to Misha for many years and is rumored to have set up the former actress on her first date with the Duke of Sussex in 2016, although this has never been confirmed.

The latest appearance from Beatrice comes as the eldest daughter of The Duke and Duchess of York continues to make regular public appearances this summer, enjoying a number of events alongside her husband Edoardo.

Days ago, she attended Wimbledon to watch British hopeful Cameron Norrie take on Novak Djokovic.

And last weekend she was spotted attending the Rolling Concert in Hyde Part as art of the British Summer Time festival.

The royal was also snapped soaking up the atmosphere at Glastonbury in late June as she walked alongside her Italian beau, just a week after she also attended the National Gallery's summer party.

And it's far from the first time the notoriously-private royal has been spotted out and about on the social scene this summer - with Beatrice also snapped visiting exclusive members clubs in the city to catch up with friends and spend time with Edoardo.

On many of her appearances, the mother-of-one has appeared much like any 30-something, as opposed to the Queen's granddaughter - strolling casually through Glastonbury and beaming widely as she posed at Ascot.

The move appears to be a distancing of Beatrice from her father, as she settles into a royal life without Prince Andrew in a public role in The Firm.

It comes after a difficult period for Beatrice, who royal commentators have previously said has been 'devastated' by accusations by Virginia Giuffre that the Duke of York sexually assaulted her. Prince Andrew has categorically denied the accusations.

Edo and Beatrice were joined by friends Misha and Mikey for the evening out, with the couple waving goodbye to one another at the end of their night
Kanye West's latest footwear design has left some fashion fans as cold as chilled pastry.

The star's new Yeezy Sulfur 450 shoe, which retails at around 200 a pair but has been fetching up to 400, has seen many on social media compare the yellow trainer with failed sausage rolls, Italian pasta and foam banana sweets.

British pastry brands Greggs and Ginsters have both chipped in with their views on Twitter of the fashion item, with Greggs suggesting a pair is 'two Sausage Rolls short of a multipack'.

Pasty giant Ginsters poked their own fun, calling the design, which is a collaboration between West's fashion company and Adidas, 'familiar'.

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Bet they wished they hadn't asked! Kanye West's Yeezy Sulfur shoe, which retails at around 200 a pair, launched in May...but the brand asked for feedback on the unusual design this week

The unique design has seen prices soar to up to 400 a pair...but not everyone's a fan, it seems

The bizarre trainer features a sock-like inside, with a yellow outer casing that resembles shark's teeth.

West's brand didn't quite get the reaction it hoped for when it asked people their opinion of the 450 Sulfur shoe on social media on Monday.

Many were scathing of the design. @DaleMeachen wrote: 'These are genuinely the worst footwear I have ever seen. You've released some horrid stuff but this takes the biscuit.'

@cattzee3 penned: 'Is this art from cold butter?' while @soulboydaveybee added: 'You could be infringing Greggs cheese-and-onion pasty copyright.'

Plenty of people compared the quirky sneaker to popular foods.

@SkipMcGowan posted a photo of steamed, crimped Chinese buns and joked: 'I'll have them, but only if they come with the soy and rice vinegar dip. I'm not keen on the sweet chilli.'

One shopper said he'd bought a pair but wearing them had garnered several comments. @stptweetinisaac wrote: Hello yes I spent $450 dollars on your extremely cool shoes and I wear them everywhere but people are telling me I look like I'm wearing pierogi [Polish pastries] on my feet.

@AShepherdWrites had a different memory jolt, saying: 'They remind me of those chewy bananas you got in a 10p mix up back in the day.'

Money moves: Kanye West (seen in November 2019) and his legal team have recently filed to trademark 'YZYSPLY' retail stores, online ordering services and online retail store services according to TMZ on Monday morning

Mall couture: However the publication claims that the new filing suggests that he is attempting to reach even wider with the possibility of physical brick-and-mortar stores, as he is seen at Paris Fashion Week in March 2020

Paving the way: The entrepreneur has already used the Yeezy Supply name for years as a way to sell his limited-release sneakers and clothing

Father-of-four West, 45, has previously teamed up with Balenciaga and has a ten-year deal with Gap to collaborate with the fashion brand he founded in 2006.

This week, it was revealed the rapper and his legal team have recently filed to trademark 'YZYSPLY' retail stores, online ordering services and online retail store services, according to TMZ.

The entrepreneur has already used the Yeezy Supply name for years as a way to sell his limited-release sneakers and clothing - and now it's thought he could open physical stores selling the brand.




Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard have welcomed their third baby boy via caesarean-section - one year after suffering a devastating miscarriage.

The Counting On alum, 31, and her husband of eight years, 33, shared the exciting announcement via their website on Monday, revealing that they named their newborn son Frederick Michael Dillard.

'Freddy Frederick Michael Dillard is here!' they gushed. 'He was born [July 7] at 5:16 P.M., weighing seven pounds, six ounces and is 20 inches long.'

According to the couple, who live in Arkansas, the baby's name has a very special meaning behind it.

Bundle of joy: Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard have welcomed their third baby boy via caesarean-section - one year after suffering from a devastating miscarriage

The Counting On alum, 31, and her husband, 33, shared the exciting announcement on Monday, revealing that they named their newborn son Frederick Michael Dillard

According to the couple, who live in Arkansas, the baby's name has a very special meaning behind it. They are seen with their other sons, Samuel Scott, five, and Israel David, seven

They explained that the name Frederick means 'Peaceful Ruler,' while his middle name, Michael, means 'Gift from God.' And on top of that, it also has a touching connection to Derick's father.

'The name Frederick also holds special meaning for us since its Dericks name with Fre added to the front, to make Fre-derick,' they continued.

They explained that the name Frederick means 'Peaceful Ruler,' while his middle name, Michael, means 'Gift from God.' They are seen with their other two sons

'Similarly, Dericks name is a variation of his late dads name, Rick, that his parents created by adding de to the front of Rick to spell, De-rick, literally meaning son of (de) Rick.

'We were excited to settle on the name Frederick and incorporate both Dericks and his dads name, by just adding Fre to the beginning of Dericks name.'

The new parents explained that while Frederick's due date was originally later in the month, he came a bit early - but both he and his mom are healthy.

'Both Jill and Frederick are healthy and are enjoying bonding while we look forward to bringing him home from the hospital soon,' they concluded.

Jill and Derick are also parents to Samuel Scott, five, and Israel David, seven. They first announced that they were expecting another child back in February, while opening up about suffering from a tragic pregnancy loss nine months earlier.

'We have prayed that, if it was Gods will, he would bless us with another baby,' they wrote on their website at the time.

The couple first announced that they were expecting another child back in February, while opening up about suffering from a tragic pregnancy loss nine months earlier

Back in October, the pair (seen in May) - who tied the knot in 2014 - shared the sad news that they had lost their baby via a video posted to YouTube and Instagram

Tragic: It contained a clip of them excitedly telling their two sons that another baby was on the way. However, the couple's happiness soon turned to heartbreak

'We are excited to announce that God has answered our prayers and we are expecting our rainbow baby due July 2022!'

Back in October, the pair - who tied the knot in 2014 - shared the sad news that they had lost their baby via a video posted to YouTube and Instagram - which showed the moment they first found out that they were expecting.

'They were full of questions and so excited as we talked about the pregnancy and how they would get to be involved along the way,' they wrote at the time, of their sons' reactions. 'However, a few days later we started miscarrying'

It also contained a clip of them telling their two sons that another baby was on the way and celebrating the exciting news with a pizza party. However, the couple's happiness soon turned to heartbreak.

'We recently found out that we were expecting our third baby. We were all thrilled!' they explained on their website.

'It was fun to see so much joy in the boys faces as we shared the news with them.

'They were full of questions and so excited as we talked about the pregnancy and how they would get to be involved along the way and after baby was born. However, a few days later we started miscarrying.

'Even though it was too early to tell the babys gender, we picked a name that we feel encompasses our babys significance and the life we will always remember: River Bliss Dillard.'

Then, after announcing another pregnancy in February, the reality star revealed that they were expecting a boy one month later.

It's a... Then, after announcing another pregnancy in February, the reality star revealed that they were expecting a boy one month later

Party time: Last month, Jill celebrated the upcoming arrival with an intimate baby shower attended by her nearest and dearest

However, many fans were quick to notice that she had neglected to invite her mother, or her siblings (including Jana, Jessa, Joy-Anna, and Jinger), amid tensions between the relatives

And last month, she celebrated the upcoming arrival with an intimate baby shower attended by her nearest and dearest; however, many fans were quick to notice that she had neglected to invite her mother, or her siblings, amid ongoing tensions between the relatives.

The sweet celebration was hosted at the home of the 19 Kids And Counting stars cousin, Amy Duggar King, however, it appeared that her parents Jim Bob and Michelle weren't at the event - and neither were some of the 31-year-olds sisters, including Jana, Jessa, Joy-Anna, and Jinger.

The mother-of-two gave fans a glimpse into the special day on Facebook, but many fans were quick to notice that most of her family members were MIA from the party.

The noted absences came weeks after Jill herself skipped out on a sibling reunion which took place in Santa Monica, California.

Sisters Jinger, Jessa, Jana, and Jennifer had publicly ventured out together for first time since their disgraced older brother Josh Duggar was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison on child pornography charges - but Jill was nowhere to be seen.

Jill and Derick spoke out after Josh was sentenced in May, with a statement which read: The Bible clearly states that God effects justice and vengeance through the governing authorities.

The noted absences came weeks after Jill herself skipped out on a sibling reunion which took place in Santa Monica, California. Some of the Duggar sisters are seen in 2020

Jill's brother Josh Duggar was found guilty on child pornography charges and sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison in May

'Though some believe Josh should have received a greater sentence and still fewer believe he should have received a lighter sentence, God has carried out his vengeance today for his unspeakable criminal activity.'

The pair claimed that '[Josh] had yet to be held accountable to the extent necessary to cause change in his dangerous pattern of behavior,' and that 'it seemed that it may take spending over a decade in federal prison, and still more on probation, for him to have any potential for rehabilitation to the point he can safely live in society again.'

The statement continued: 'Hopefully, Josh can actually begin to get treatment and begin to work toward a lifestyle where he is less likely to reoffend.

'If for nothing else, the notoriety of this case has hopefully contributed to the deterrence of potential offenders and will help protect children by decreasing the demand for' child pornography.

'We are neither rejoicing nor disappointed by the sentence, but we are thankful its finally over.

The couple added that they 'continue to love Josh and his family and will be there for them however we can.'

Jill's fraught relationship with her family was also brought to light in May, when court documents from a 2017 lawsuit filed by Jill and three of her sisters against those people responsible for releasing a police report detailing how her brother Josh abused them were released to the public.

Jill and Derick spoke out afterwards, writing in a statement: 'Hopefully, Josh (seen with his wife, Amy, at court) can actually begin to get treatment'

The couple added that they 'continue to love Josh and his family and will be there for them however we can.' Josh is seen with his wife and six out of his seven kids

In the documents, Jill spoke out about her 'toxic' relationship with her father Jim Bob, 56, whom she branded 'verbally abusive' and 'controlling.'

Jill, the fourth-oldest of 19 siblings, revealed that 'issues' with her family sent her to counseling, and that she has had limited contact with Jim Bob for years.

'I saw a whole new side to my dad once my husband and I started making decisions that were best for our family, but not in his best interest,' she said during a Preliminary Psychological Opinion by Robert Wynne, obtained by The Sun.

'Sadly, I realized he had become pretty controlling, fearful, and reactionary. He was verbally abusive. Our relationship is not good. It got pretty toxic.'

Josh, who has seven kids of his own with wife Anna, 33, downloaded child sexual abuse material online in May 2019.

A raid was carried out on his car dealership later that year, and authorities found that his computer was equipped with a dark web browser that could have let him anonymously search for child porn.

A detective on the case claimed she was able to locate two files: a zip folder containing 65 image files of naked girls aged between seven and nine, and a two minute video of a similarly-aged girl being raped by an adult man.

In December, he was found guilty of possession and receipt of child pornography, with the judge telling Josh that 'the images were some of the worst that this court has ever encountered.'
With Britain sweltering in temperatures as high as 32C this week - and the mercury set to rise even further - it's a timely reminder never to go out in the sun without SPF.

However, some unlucky people have found themselves caught out, ending up with awkward tan lines and painful red skin after suffering sun burn.

Taking to social media to share their photos as a warning to others, those who have felt the burn documented the process of trying to soothe their frazzled bodies, with one woman putting cold packs over both knees to calm down her red legs.

Elsehwere, others were left with lines caused by clothing, while one woman awkwardly ended up with a chevron pattern on her leg, presumably after catching the sun through the gaps in a table.

People who have been sunburned in the UK's 32C heatwave have taken to social media to warn others what will happen if you forget your SPF

Awkward! This sunbather was left with a red back and a visible white line where her bra strap was after a trip to the park

A burning back! Many Brits ended up with a burnt red back after enjoying time in the sun without applying sunscreen (left and right)

Cool customer: One woman woman put cold packs over both knees to calm down her red legs

One woman, who appeared to have forgotten her sunscreen, had a very sore looking chest (left), while another person was left with a white tank-top mark (right)

But while these images may be amusing to look at, the consequences of overdoing it in the sunshine can be very serious.

Emma Coleman, a dermatology registered general nurse previously told FEMAIL that just one sunburn incident can alter the way the skin functions.

Emma said: 'UVB rays from sunlight are more likely to cause sunburn compared to UVA light, which is essentially inflammed, immunosuppressed skin.

'Worryingly, the immune system remains suppressed for a period of time after the exposure.

When it comes to awkward tan lines, this woman's unusual zig-zag marks across her legs will take some explaining

Time for sun-screen? One person showcased their very red looking arm tattoo (left), while another ended up with a white line from their socks (right)

T-shirt tan! One British woman was left with a bright red neck and face after sitting outside in the heatwave

How to ease sunburn DO: Get out of the sun as soon as possible Cool your skin with a cool shower, bath or damp towel (take care not to let a baby or young child get too cold) Apply aftersun cream or spray, like aloe vera Drink plenty of water to cool down and prevent dehydration Take painkillers, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen for any pain Cover sunburnt skin from direct sunlight until skin has fully healed DON'T Use petroleum jelly on sunburnt skin Put ice or ice packs on sunburnt skin Pop any blisters Scratch or try to remove peeling skin Wear tight-fitting clothes over sunburnt skin Information supplied by NHS England Advertisement

'This means that even one sunburn incident can alter the way the skin is functioning, in particular genetic material formation is stunted meaning that cell division and shape are altered, and mitochondria - skin cell's power houses - are debilitated.

'This is why we see advanced ageing associated with sun exposure.'

She told how the back area is 'highly associated with malignant melanoma', while the chest is 'very delicate' because the skin is thin.

Emma said: 'It's important to protect the decolletage whenever exposed with a broad spectrum sunscreen.

'I regularly see clients with pigmentation and deep lines on their chests due to sun damage.'

Emma, who has her own skincare and beauty range, told FEMAIL: 'A history of sunburns and a young age of first sunburn incidence are associated with an increased risk of basal cell carcinoma development, and squamous cell carcinoma risk is largely increased in those with light-coloured eyes and fair to auburn hair colour.

'This is because those with Fitzpatrick skin types of IV and above have higher melanin levels naturally, and melanin is thought to exert a protective effect on skin.

'Sunburn in childhood equates to a five-fold increased risk of developing malignant melanoma, according to one Italian study.'

Current research suggests that while many people who are severely sunburned as children never develop skin cancer, one blistering sunburn in childhood increases the risk of melanoma later on in life by 50 per cent.

Should have worn sunscreen! Other Brits shared snaps of their very painful looking sunburn online (left and right)

Ouch! This person was left with painful-looking skin after spending time in the sun over the weekend

You missed a spot! One woman showed off the results of the little sunscreen she had rubbed into her arm

Ouch! Another man shared a photograph of his red-raw leg after getting a particularly severe sunburn

Another study claims that white women who get five or more severe sunburns in their teens have double the risk of developing melanoma.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and the numbers of new cases diagnosed each year are increasing.

Most non melanoma skin cancers are caused by exposure to the sun.

Many Brits have been lapping up the sunshine after the dismal spring weather - with some apparently forgetting to apply sunscreen

Others were left with awkward tan lines after the baking sun unexpectedly left them burnt (pictured, left and right)

Another Brit was left with awkward white tan lines after forgetting to apply sunscreen before enjoying time in the sunshine

Another person posted a snap of their burn across their arms after he said he had forgotten to apply suncream

Another person revealed his watch burn line after he spent a little too much time enjoying the good weather

This may be long term exposure or short periods of intense sun exposure and burning.

Temperatures have already hit 32C (90F) this week and will do so again today before dipping slightly between tomorrow and Friday  then bouncing back at the weekend with an unprecedented 40C (104F) possible.

Forecasters warned of 'widespread impacts to people and infrastructure' in the life-threatening Saharan heatwave that could cripple travel networks, trigger power blackouts, and cause 'potential serious illness or danger to life'.

Temperatures have already hit 32C (90F) this week and will do so again today before dipping slightly between tomorrow and Friday  then bouncing back at the weekend with an unprecedented 40C (104F) possible
The Queen joked with NHS leaders and healthcare workers today as she hosted a small audience at Windsor Castle to honour Britain's health service with the George Cross.

The 96-year-old was joined by Prince Charles as she handed out the medal, second only to the Victoria Cross, and heaped praise on NHS leaders from four countries over the UK's handling of the vaccine roll-out during the pandemic.

Looking relaxed, the 96-year-old head of state wore a pretty floral dress for the ceremony, as the royals were joined by frontline workers from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Also present was May Parsons, the nurse who delivered the world's first Covid-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials to Maggie Keenan on December 8 2020.

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The 96-year-old monarch looked in good spirits as she awarded health leaders from four countries the George Cross during the audience at Windsor Castle on Tuesday including Ms Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England, far right, and May Parsons, who delivered the world's first Covid vaccine, second from right

The Queen was joined by Prince Charles for the small audience; the 96-year-old is pictured greeting NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard

The George Cross, the highest honour after the Victoria Cross, was awarded to the NHS this afternoon to mark achievements in fighting the pandemic

The Queen, who moved with the aid of her now familiar walking stick, was on fine form and when told about the nurse's historic first, she made her guests laugh with the quip: 'You're still alive?'

When the nurse told the Queen: 'We're terribly, terribly proud of the vaccination roll-out, it was so successful,' she replied: 'Yes it was amazing.'

And when NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard highlighted the tens of millions who have been jabbed, the monarch said 'tremendous'.

When the Queen asked: 'And what are you going to do with it?' with regards to the medal, she was told by Pritchard it would go on a tour of the NHS before being found a permanent home.

The Queen and heir to the throne Prince Charles, dressed in full military uniform, welcomed a small number of healthcare professionals to the ornate confines of Windsor Castle

The Queen has kept up a steady stream of public appearances since celebrating her Platinum Jubilee with the nation in June

Sharing a glass with Prince Charles to toast the NHS, the George Cross celebrates the health service's efforts in rolling out the vaccine during the pandemic

Amanda Pritchard and May Parsons, Modern Matron at University Hospital Coventry and Warkwickshire, after being presented with the George Cross, which will now go on a tour of the NHS

Each health executive from the four nations and their frontline colleague came up in turn to receive a George Cross which had been placed on a cushion carried by the Queen's Equerry Lieutenant Colonel Tom White.

The Queen touched the cushion in a gesture to symbolise its presentation.

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Vernon, Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office with responsibility for organising ceremonial events, read out the George Cross citation at the start of the ceremony.

The cross, usually given to civilians for bravery, was first instituted in 1940 by King George VI

Donna Langley Shamshiri from Isle Of Wight was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Prince of Wales

The Queen is pictured shaking hands with Peter May, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Chief Executive of Health and Social care, and Sister Joanna Hogg, from the Royal Victoria Hospital Emergency Department

The 96-year-old was seen chatting with her visitors about the UK's healthcare service as she presented the honour

Judith Paget CBE, Chief Executive NHS Wales and Dr Ami Jones MBE, Intensive Care Consultant, were among those attending the short audience

The Queen looks on as the award is passed to Judith Paget and Dr Ami Jones

He said: 'It is with great pleasure, on behalf of a grateful Nation, that the George Cross is awarded to the National Health Services of the United Kingdom.

'This award recognises all NHS staff, past and present, across all disciplines and all four Nations. Over more than seven decades, and especially in recent times, you have supported the people of our country with courage, compassion and dedication, demonstrating the highest standards of public service.

'You have our enduring thanks and heartfelt appreciation.'

It's the Queen's first public engagement since she enjoyed a brief stay at Sandringham.

The Queen was spotted travelling back to Windsor last week - after she spent several days at her husband the late Duke of Edinburgh's former home.
Academics are calling for the Oxford dictionary to include Aussie food slang like HSP, parma and potato gems in new editions.

The team from ANU's Australian National Dictionary Centre believe it is important for the commonly used terms to appear in the Australian editions of the popular dictionary.

They are also appealing to the public to submit their own suggestions for slang words which should be incorporated in the new book.

Academics are calling for the Oxford dictionary to include Aussie food slang like HSP, parma and potato gems in new editions

ANDC director and chief editor of the Australian National Dictionary, Dr Amanda Laugesen said with the 21st century evolution of Australian culinary culture came a wide range of new words.

This means the search will focus on things like 'the halal snack pack' which is now known as a HSP and things like scallops - rather than old favourites like pav and snags.

'There is a much wider range of food choices available now  multicultural dishes, street food, ingredients from native plants and animals. We also like our less formal ways of enjoying food, from sausage sizzles to food festivals,' Dr Laugesen said.

'We can choose to dine on souvas and potato gems in the evening and wake up to a Tim Tam slam and a flattie in the morning,' the team said, showing off some of the words people may expect in the newest edition of the dictionary.

'All of these changes are reflected in the language we use, and we expect that there are many new Australian food-related terms that we have not recorded.'

Some old favourites will be added though, to properly reflect the Australian culture, these include honey joy, tank loaf, bushman brownie and smiley fritz.

This means the search will focus on things like 'the halal snack pack' which is now known as a HSP and things like scallops - rather than old favourites like pav and snags.

'It might even finally settle the age-old debate over whether we should call it a potato cake or a scallop,' Dr Laugesen said

'It might even finally settle the age-old debate over whether we should call it a potato cake or a scallop,' Dr Laugesen said.

The ANDC appeals to the public for new words each year, in a bid to leave no stone unturned and popular term un published.

The public can share their food terms via the ANDC Word Box feature or through the ANDC contact page.
Foodies are losing their minds over the new KitKat Milo chocolate bar after an image of the new collaboration surfaced on social media.

The Grocery Geek caught the attention of hundreds on Facebook by sharing a 'leaked' photo of the delicious new treat, calling it 'the marriage of the year' between KitKat and Milo.

'Wanna know a secret? KitKat Milo  we can't wait. It's a big YES from us,' the caption read.

Today Nestle officially confirmed the highly anticipated chocolate bar flavour will launch in stores around Australia from late July.

The Grocery Geek caught the attention of hundreds on Facebook by sharing a 'leaked' photo of the delicious new treat, calling it 'the marriage of the year' between KitKat and Milo

Today Nestle officially confirmed the highly anticipated chocolate bar flavour will launch in stores around Australia from late July

Set to satisfy sugar cravings, the chocolate is packed with the flavour of Milo with a choc-malt fudge filling inside the classic crisp KitKat wafer that's covered in smooth milk chocolate.

An entirely new range will be available in three mouth-watering formats - block, bar and chunky.

The KitKat Milo chocolate bar will retail for just $2 while the block will cost $5, and the chunky alternative will also cost $2.

Nestle Head of Marketing (Confectionery), Joyce Tan said: 'We're beyond thrilled and proud to announce KitKat's biggest ever collaboration with KitKat packed with Milo.

'We know KitKat lovers are passionate about how they eat their KitKat and similarly, Milo fans have unique ways of enjoying their hot or cold Milo. So now, we can't wait to see how Aussies enjoy their KitKat packed with Milo!'

Customers eager to try the latest offering can apply for a pre-order on the KitKat website now.

It follows on from the launch of other delicious creations, including KitKat Lotus Biscoff and vegan KitKat chocolate bars.
A chocolate lover has analysed why Aldi's Mars bar dupe is better, cheaper and bigger than the real thing, sparking a lively debate online.

Posting to popular Facebook group, Old Shops Australia, the Sydney man compared the two chocolate bars' quality, size, and value determining that Aldi came out on top.

His post had many in the comments agreeing they preferred the supermarket's caramel and nougat bar whereas other's preferred the classic Mars chocolate treat.

Posting to popular Facebook group, Old Shops Australia , a Sydney shopper compared A Mars Bar and Aldi's dupe, Titan, for quality, size, and value determining that Aldi came out on top

'Our special Old Shops Consumer Investigation (bored, rainy day WFH) reveals the shrinkflated Mars Bar is 22 per cent smaller than Aldi's knock-off Titan Bar and, when not on special costs over twice as much as the Aldi version,' the man wrote in a post.

'Shrinkflation' is a term used to refer to items shrinking in size or quality while the price stays the same or increases.

While major supermarkets sell a 47gram Mars Bar for $2.00 at full price, the Aldi Titan bar is not only 13grams larger but less than half the cost at 89cents.

While major supermarkets sell a 47gram Mars Bar for $2.00 at full price, the Aldi Titan bar is not only 13grams larger but less than half the cost at 89cents

'In our opinion the Titan Bar is a better Mars Bar in quality and value than the Mars Bar itself,' he continued.

Dozens of fellow group members agreed saying they chose Aldi Titan bars and other dupes over big brands.

'The Aldi version of Bounty is really good too,' one shopper replied while another claimed: 'The Aldi Cartwheel biscuits are waaaay better than the Wagon Wheels. Pretty sure they're under $1 too.'

Poll Which chocolate do you prefer? Aldi's Titan Bar The classic Mars Bar Which chocolate do you prefer? Aldi's Titan Bar 115 votes

The classic Mars Bar 41 votes Now share your opinion





'I'm quite a fan of a few Aldi rip offs. Their fake Milo 'NRG Maxx' powder is fantastic and has a really strong malted barley taste. Like you and their 'Mars' bars, I actively prefer the imitation,' said a third.

'We did this blindfolded taste test comparison last night with guests, Titan got the nod,' a fourth commented.

Some questioned whether Aldi's Titan bars were Australian made to which the man confirmed they were manufactured in Germany.

'It's made in Germany. The Germans know a bit about quality so I'd be OK putting my chocolate money in their pocket,' he said.

Not everyone was on board with Aldi's Mars bar dupe saying the original tasted better.

'Bought a Titan Bar the other week, hadn't had one in years. It's like eating grainy sugar...it's horrible! They used to be really nice,' a disappointed customer recalled.

'Mars bars are still the best. Taste much better than titan,' a second agreed.

'Doesn't taste the same tho. It's nice but taste completely different to me,' one woman said.

'Chocolate size is the true measure of the economy,' joked another.
An Aussie mum has told of how her daughter suffered horrific dental injuries after walking the wrong way up a waterslide

An Australian mum has issued a warning to parents to keep a close eye on children playing on waterslides after her daughter suffered horrific injuries.

The mum said her 10-year-old daughter was climbing the wrong way up a waterslide when she slipped and fell face forward causing severe dental trauma hospital staff said was the worst they'd ever seen.

She shared her story with parent group Tiny Hearts Education who gave out important tips for parents if their child ever knocks a tooth out - including to avoid putting it in water.

The woman warned parents to keep an eye on children playing on waterslides after her daughter had the 'greatest dental trauma the emergency hospital she attended has ever seen'

The 10-year-old fell face first onto the slide knocking one tooth out, pushing other up into her nasal cavity and suffered multiple fractures to her jaw bone

'I am currently sitting in paediatrics after my 10-year-old daughter had a horrible accident on a water slide in a caravan park on Saturday,' the woman wrote in an Instagram post.

'Never did I think our weekend away would end the way it did.'

She said her daughter was playing on a waterslide with her brother when the pair started walking the wrong way up the slide.

Her brother slipped taking his sister with him and she fell face first onto the slide knocking her two front teeth into her nasal region.

The 10-year-old lost a whole tooth which she spat into her mum's hand and suffered multiple fractures to the alveolar bone in her jaw.

Tops tips for parents to remember if a child's tooth is knocked out by trauma 1. Handle tooth by the crown (smooth white part, not pointy part) 2. If dirty, rinse with milk or saline for a few seconds (Don't use water!) 3. Don't let the tooth dry out keep the tooth in saliva, milk or saline. 4. If the tooth that has come out is a baby tooth do not attempt to put it back into the gum Source: Tiny Hearts Education Advertisement

She had to undergo dental or maxillofacial surgery to bring the teeth down, implant the one that was knocked out, splint the teeth and get multiple stitches in her mouth.

The girl was left with just 70 per cent of her jaw bone and will most likely require a bone graft in the weeks to come.

'I for sure never thought such injuries could come from walking up a water slide, but the signs are there for a reason, the mother said.

'This is the greatest dental trauma the emergency hospital we attended has ever seen.'

Former paramedic and founder of Tiny Hearts Education Nikki Jurcutz revealed exactly what parents should do if their child ever knocks out a tooth during an accident.

The Queensland mum said to only handle the tooth by the crown or the smooth white part rather than the root or pointy end.

If it is dirty, do not rinse the tooth with water - instead use milk or saline for just a few seconds.

Similarly, keep the tooth in milk, saline or even saliva so it doesn't dry out and never attempt to put it back into the gum.
After the original 'Oodie' wearable hooded blanket took the world by storm, other retailers have followed suit and by launching their own similar designs for a third of the price.

Australia's largest fabric and homewares store Spotlight has jumped on the bandwagon and started selling cosy KOO Plain Hooded Blankets for just $29 each - on sale from $100.

Much like the Oodie, the Spotlight version is also made with an internal 'buttery soft' Sherpa fleece lining, front kangaroo pocket and hood.

Australia's largest fabric and homewares store Spotlight has jumped on the bandwagon and started selling cosy KOO Plain Hooded Blankets for just $29 each - on sale from $100 (pictured)

It's available in two colours - pink and silver - and would be ideal for those on a budget who don't want to pay $84 for an Oodie (pictured: Spotlight hooded blanket in silver)

It's available in two colours - pink and silver - and would be ideal for those on a budget who don't want to pay $84 for an Oodie. The product is also unisex.

The affordable product is perfect to wear around the house during the cool winter months, providing instant warmth as soon as it's worn.

Other retailers including Kmart and Aldi have also previously sold similar items for around the same price.

Online shoppers admitted they have noticed few differences between The Oodie and alternatives - beside the fact the original remains fluffy after being washed, is durable and has longer sleeves up to the wrists.

Earlier this month the young founder of The Oodie spoke out after Aldi announced it will be launching new 'snuggle hoodies' that look exactly like his popular designs.

Davie Fogarty, from Adelaide, South Australia, started the brand in 2018 with just $500 after dropping out of university and has since turned over $400million.

On Saturday July 9, Aldi launched sherpa-lined hooded blankets for just $29.99 instead of the $84 that Oodie charges. One Aldi design features cartoon avocados with faces that look just like a pattern on one of the Oodies.

Mr Fogarty told FEMAIL that although it's 'flattering', he predicts shoppers will opt for his own, 'premium' product.

From Saturday July 9, Aldi shoppers across the country will be able to get their hands on the sherpa-lined hooded blankets for just $29.99 (pictured) - while Oodies retail for $84

One Aldi design features cartoon avocados that embody a similar resemblance to a design sold by The Oodie, and other similar colours including pink and charcoal will also be available (pictured: The Oodie avocado design)

From a young age, Davie Fogarty, from Adelaide, South Australia, (pictured) dreamed of starting his own business and would sell cookies to teachers and students at school to make some extra cash

'While it is flattering to see our trademarked Avocado design bring inspiration to big retail chains, we are confident customers will appreciate our premium product quality and want to support an Australian business by shopping the original Oodie,' he said.

The Oodie is lined with Sherpa fleece and is made with a front kangaroo pocket, making it the perfect winter essential.

To compare, the Aldi snuggle hoodie is also made with 'ultra-soft fleece' and 'warm sherpa lining' with a one-size fits most design and large front pocket.

But as the Oodie is deemed 'premium' it will likely last longer and remain fluffy after being washed several times.

Mr Fogarty told FEMAIL he isn't irritated by the situation with Aldi at all, but is instead flattered (Pictured left: The Oodie. Pictured right: Aldi snuggle hoodie)

At the moment in the market, there seems to be a variety of similar blanket-incorporated jumpers and hoodies of varying designs that may have sought inspiration from the original Oodie.

The Aldi adult snuggle hoodie is just one of many items available.

On TikTok some shoppers were concerned about the quality and said they'd prefer to fork out the cost for the original Oodie.

'The real Oodie is worth it! Save up if you can, the Kmart one doesn't compared,' one person wrote in response to a video by user Yasmine.

'The real one is a lot better,' another said.

The Oodie launched four years ago but sales exploded in 2020 when Covid swept Australia, leaving millions working, playing and languishing at home during lockdowns.

The instant nation of homebodies meant Australians were spending more money on cosy outfits to wear around the house; The Oodie is a cosy, wearable blanket with a warm sherpa fleece interior and 'kangaroo pouch' front pocket.

On TikTok Mr Fogarty shared a video after feeling humbled by his incredible success.
Travellers are flocking to this little-known tropical island with spectacularly turquoise waters, white sands and lush palm trees that look like something out of movie.

Direction Island is part of the Cocos Keeling Islands off the coast of Western Australia and is home to Cossies Beach which was named Australia's best back in 2017.

Despite being a five hour, 50 minute flight from Perth that only runs two days a week, Aussie tourists won't need to pack their passport as the island cluster is a remote territory of Australia.

A little-known tropical island hundreds of kilometres of the west Australian coast is drawing in travellers for its vibrant blue waters, sandy beach and lush forest of palm trees

Direction Island is part of the Cocos Keeling Islands off the coast of Western Australia and is home to Cossies Beach which was named Australia's best back in 2017

Despite being a five hour, 50 minute flight from Perth that only runs two days a week, Aussie tourists won't need to pack their passport as the island cluster is a remote territory of Australia

Enviable images of the island paradise are flooding social media as adventurers escape the winter chill with its stretching azure-blue oceans and shores shaded by towering coconut trees

The picture-perfect Direction Island is a short ferry trip away from Cocos Keeling Island's mainland and at just 14 square kilometres is the perfect day trip when visiting the region.

Enviable images of the sunny island paradise are flooding social media as adventurers escape the winter chill with its stretching azure-blue oceans and shores shaded by towering coconut trees.

Winter temperatures sit in a high twenties and with flights to the islands only running from Perth on Friday and Tuesday, Direction Island's unspoilt beaches are not overrun with tourists.

The picture-perfect Direction Island is a short ferry trip away from Cocos Keeling Island's mainland and at just 14 square kilometres is the perfect day trip when visiting the region

Winter temperatures sit in a high twenties and with flights to the islands only running from Perth on Friday and Tuesday, Direction Island's unspoilt beaches are not overrun with tourists

Direction Island has been described by beachgoers as 'hermit crab heaven' with the vivid crustaceans littering the sandy shore

Visitors can enjoy the tranquil, naturally stunning surrounds, walking trails, year-round summer-like weather or looking at the trinkets and memorabilia left by brave sailors who yachted to the isolated island.

Keen snorkellers can get up close and personal with the unique marine life of vibrantly colourful coral and fish, reef sharks, turtles and rays.

Direction Island has been described by beachgoers as 'hermit crab heaven' with the vivid crustaceans littering the sandy shore and it is home to a variety of resident and migrating birdlife.

The ferry to Direction Island only runs on Thursdays and Sundays so guests can either plan a day trip or pack supplies for an off-the-grid camping experience as there is no running water or electricity.
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More than 5.2million patients who do not exist are registered at GP surgeries in England, MailOnline can reveal as campaigners demand action to stamp out the scourge of 'ghosts'.

Crucial NHS statistics  used to determine how much money surgeries should be allocated from Government  show there are 61.7million patients across the country. But results from the 2021 census, which were released last month, states the nation's population actually stands in the region of 56.5million.

It means England's army of phantom patients, which has grown in size since NHS bosses pledged to tackle it seven years ago, is bigger than the entire population of Ireland.

Patients' rights campaigners have today suggested that practices could be deliberately letting their patients lists become overinflated to get extra cash.

Surgeries are paid roughly 150 for every individual on their books, regardless of whether they see them. It means the notional cost of 'ghost patients'  many of whom have either died, moved abroad or are duplicates  is in the region of 750million a year.

As well as the huge financial incentive, which saw the NHS's own fraud squad dragged in to investigate list sizes, critics fear GPs may be using inflated list sizes politically. Unions, including the British Medical Association (BMA), have peddled the rising patient-to-GP ratios as a means of demanding funding for more staff.

It comes after GPs last month threatened industrial action over a new NHS contract that would force them to offer appointments on Saturdays to help ease the current appointments crisis, which critics claim has overloaded A&E departments and led to late diagnoses of life-threatening illnesses.

Crucial NHS statistics  used to determine how much money surgeries should be allocated from Government  show there are 61.7million patients across the country. But results from the 2021 census, which were released last month, states the nation's population actually stands in the region of 56.5million

MailOnline's analysis of ghost patients shows patient lists are nearly a quarter larger than the estimated populations of some parts of the country. The figures are based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates of clinical commission groups (CCG) from 2020 to the end of 2021 and NHS Digital patient list data as of June 2022

Surgeries are paid roughly 150 for every individual on their books, suggesting the notional cost of 'ghost patients'  many of whom have either died or are duplicates that have moved surgery  is in the region of 750million a year

Taxpayers don't pay extra to cover ghost patients, instead funds are allocated from a ring-fenced 4billion 'global sum payments' budget operated by NHS England.

But campaigners say the 750million is still an 'astonishing' amount of money that is being wrongly allocated. The annual funds could be used pay for around 7,500 extra GPs.

MailOnline's analysis of NHS data shows patient lists are nearly a quarter larger than the estimated populations in some parts of the country.

Which areas have the most 'ghost patients'? MailOnline's analysis of NHS data shows patient lists are nearly a quarter larger than the estimated populations in some parts of the country. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates around 2.1million people live in the area covered by North West London clinical commissioning group (CCG) but more than 2.7million patients are registered at GPs in the area as of June 2022, according to NHS Digital. This means around 23.9 per cent of the entire list could be ghost patients who are listed but do not actually live in the area. North West London was followed by Blackpool CCG (21.7 per cent), Manchester CCG (20.7 per cent) and Blackburn with Darwen CCG (17.3 per cent). Our probe revealed that 25 out of England's 106 CCGs had patient lists at least 10 per cent larger than population sizes. The ONS estimates come from 2020 to 2021, while patient list sizes are registered in June 2022, meaning there is likely to be some discrepancy in where people are living now. Advertisement

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates around 2.1million people live in the area covered by North West London clinical commissioning group (CCG) but more than 2.7million patients are registered at GPs in the area as of June 2022, according to NHS Digital.

This means around 23.9 per cent of the entire list could be ghost patients who are listed but do not actually live in the area.

North West London was followed by Blackpool CCG (21.7 per cent), Manchester CCG (20.7 per cent) and Blackburn with Darwen CCG (17.3 per cent).

Our probe revealed that 25 out of England's 106 CCGs had patient lists at least 10 per cent larger than population sizes.

The ONS estimates come from 2020 to 2021, while patient list sizes are registered in June 2022, meaning there is likely to be some discrepancy in where people are living now.

And the large number of lives lost during the Covid pandemic means patient list sizes are likely to be greater than the amount of people who are still alive because of the time it takes to deregister dead patients.

Ghost patients have been a scourge of the health service for decades, warranting front page headlines and even an investigation from the NHS's own fraud team.

Authorities brought in scandal-hit outsourcing firm Capita to stamp down on the issue in 2015 (when there were roughly 3m ghost patients) but it has since got even worse.

The firm was contracted to vet GP lists and remove patients who could no longer attend the practice. But its work was put on hold until 2018 because of budget cuts. Its annual cleansing was switched to every three years instead, checking details of all patients registered as being over 100 to check if they are still alive.

It will also go through patients aged 16 recorded as living alone, those living in demolished properties and those living in student accommodation for more than four years to see if they should still be on lists.

Capita is continuing to look into surgery lists now to produce a review that will help redistribute funds away from surgeries benefitting from large numbers of ghost patients.

The NHS Counter Fraud Authority revealed it was formally investigating suspicions that GPs were claiming for non-existent patients in June 2019.

The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) and the British Medical Association slammed any suggestions of fraud. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, then-chair of the RCGP, branded the probe 'shocking' and insisted the issue was 'nothing sinister'.

Studies have shown a third of ghost patients are duplications, like students registered in two areas at once. Others can be patients who have died and not deregistered as well as children who split their time between their parents.

Investigators claimed, however, they had noticed suspicious anomalies when they opened the formal probe. They believed a small number of GPs deliberately kept names on their lists, but most were simply failing to prioritise the issues.

The RCGP argued that ghost patients were merely a result of record management issues, saying that staff have too much work on their plates and need better IT systems to address ghost patients quicker.

MailOnline was told the fraud investigation was halted early last year, in part due to pressures caused by the Covid pandemic. The NHS is not considering reopening the investigation  although this could change if its 'intelligence picture or priorities shift'.

NHS Digital data shows 64 per cent of total GP appointments were face-to-face in May. The figure is the second-highest since the height of the first Covid wave forced the majority of appointments to be held virtually. But it is still well below pre-pandemic levels, when eight in 10 appointments took place in-person.

Just a quarter of GP appointments are face-to-face and with a qualified doctor Just a quarter of GP appointments in England are face-to-face and with an actual doctor, MailOnline can reveal. Critics have warned general practice is heading down a 'slippery slope' where nurses and other staff are picking up the burden amid crippling staffing shortages. NHS Digital told MailOnline that of the 27.5million GP appointments carried out across England in May, just 27 per cent were both in-person and with a qualified doctor. Publicly-available data shows 64 per cent of total GP appointments were face-to-face and roughly half were with a real GP. The rest were a mixture of virtual or telephone consultations and appointments led by practice nurses, physiotherapists and even acupuncturists. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has demanded GPs do more in-person consultations after the share done physically plummeted during the pandemic. Campaigners argue remote consultations increase the risk of doctors missing signs of serious illnesses. Despite the Government's push to go back to normal, the country's top family doctor yesterday said the current level of face-to-face appointments was 'probably about right'. Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, told a conference in London that going back to pre-pandemic levels of more than 80 per cent 'just doesn't make sense for patients'. Advertisement

The NHSCFA estimates GP fraud, which includes creating fake patients or deliberately keeping dead ones on lists, actually leaves the health service vulnerable to losing 93.8million every year.

Most of England's 6,800 surgeries, which cater for 9,000 patients each on average, are ran as private businesses and contracted by the NHS to care for patients.

The majority of GP surgery budgets, from NHS England, is allocated based on the number of patients they have  weighted by factors including their ages and the practice's rurality.

Surgeries with ghost patients can divert money they do not spend on them to their 'real' patients, office costs and outgoings on buildings. But practices that weed out non-existent patients have no such surplus funds.

GP partners can also use leftover income in their practice to pay their own wages, pension contribution, taxes and other subscriptions. But there is no suggestion that GPs are abusing the system for any personal financial gain.

MailOnline in April revealed that the nation's busiest practices are dealing with up to 70 times more patients than others, including some that have nearly 15,500 patients for every full-time GP.

GPs have regularly cited growing patient lists as a reason for needing extra funds.

RCGP claimed the 'increase in patient demand is not being met with adequate levels of resourcing and staffing' in 2019 before the pandemic, on the back of data showing the average number of patients per doctor rose to 2,087 that year.

And the BMA, which represents every GP in the UK, this month called for funds to increase and retain the current workforce because of the rate at which patients-per-GP figures appear to be increasing.

But Dennis Reed, director of elderly charity Silver Voices, said GPs could be deliberately letting their patients lists become overinflated to increase their funding.

He told MailOnline: 'There would certainly be a temptation to delay removing patients, who have died or moved away, from their lists.

'There should be spot checks on practices where incompetence or fraud is suspected.

'With such pressure on GPs, and the postcode lottery on whether a patient can book a face-to-face appointment with a doctor, this 750million needs to be reallocated to where it is most needed.'

Meanwhile, John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It's astonishing that so many of these ghost patients still exist.

'The determination to pull out all the stops to help patients is one of the most admirable things about the NHS, but that is being threatened by BMA bean-counting.

'Health bosses must take steps towards cutting these figures sooner rather than later.'

However, Dr Gary Howsam, vice chair of the Royal College of GPs, told MailOnline: 'People's circumstances, and therefore our records, change all the time.

'Some practices, particularly in inner-city areas, have quite a high rate of turnover, and patients don't always tell us if they are moving on.

'But so-called "ghost patients" are the result of a records management issue, not a case of surgeries deliberately profiting by keeping patients on their lists when they shouldn't be there.

'We should be supporting GPs by addressing the intense workload and workforce pressures in general practice and investing in adequate IT and booking systems  not wrongfully accusing them of defrauding the health service.'

He said it's important surgery lists are kept as up to date as possible to ensure 'resources are used where they are most needed'.

An NHS England spokesperson said: 'The NHS receives a fixed amount of funding so there is no impact for taxpayers, but it is right that individual surgeries get their fair share of that funding, so Capita is currently working with GP surgeries on a review and update of surgery lists.'

The shocking figures come amid an appointment crisis  which has seen around 1.6million Brits go private for the first time over the last two years  that has been partly caused by more than 800 surgeries shutting over the past eight years, forcing around 2.5million patients to switch to a different doctor.

Some have had to close their doors completely because of staffing issues, leaving patients with no option but to travel. Others have merged, creating 'soulless' mega-practices.

Overall, there are now nearly 1,700 fewer full-time equivalent GPs than in 2015  despite a Government pledge to hire thousands more.

Many are retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or leaving to work in the private sector because of complaints about soaring demand, paperwork and aggressive media coverage.

Nine out of 10 GPs, who earn an average of nearly 100,000 per year, now work part-time according to snap polls and half of existing GPs want to retire before they turn 60.

At the same time as GPs leaving and practice shutting, the population has also grown, exacerbating the patient list size ratio.

A survey earlier this year revealed that patient satisfaction with their GP surgery has plummeted to its lowest ever level, fuelled by the appointments crisis.

It has seen patients rushed through consultations like 'goods on a factory conveyor belt', a damning report warned in May.

A quarter of consultations are taking five minutes or less in some parts of the country. Doctors say squeezing in so many appointments raises the risk of missing diseases and prescribing the wrong drugs.

Meanwhile, face-to-face appointments are still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels.

Campaigners have repeatedly demanded ministers act to ensure more in-person consultation are carried out, saying virtual appointments risk doctors missing tell-tale symptoms of serious illnesses.

In order to make it easier for millions of patients to be seen, family doctors have been told they must start offering weekday evening and weekend consultations from October.

But family doctors have threatened industrial action over the same NHS contract because they feel overwhelmed and fear the move will spread them even thinner.

A&E units say the crisis has also been felt in casualty units, with patients left feeling they have no other option but to go there for treatment.
Sex is 'not limited' to being male or female, the World Health Organization (WHO) will say in new guidance.

The WHO, an international authority on all things health, said it was 'going beyond' the use of binary terms to 'recognise gender and sexual diversity'.

But experts called the move a 'dismissal of basic biology' and could lead to medical advice being de-sexed and over-complicated.

The change will be to gender guidance originally published in 2011 and is used by public health officials.

It is not clear exactly what the WHO's new advice will say, but the agency explained its rationale for the change on its website.

WHO said its guidance would go 'beyond non-binary approaches to gender and health to recognise gender and sexual diversity or the concepts that gender identity exists on a continuum and that sex is not limited to male or female'.

The global health body risks wading into a wider row about gender-neutral health advice.

Experts today criticised new woke World Health Organization guidance hinting at there being more than two sexes as 'unscientific' and that it could open the door to language changes that will disadvantage women and girls

The WHO guidance review (pictured) states that sex 'is not limited to male or female'

Professor Jenny Gamble, a midwifery expert from Coventry University, described the WHO's change as 'problematic'.

'It is a dismissal of basic biology  and mistake,' she told MailOnline. 'Biology is a key determinant of health and illness.

'Not being clear about basic biology opens the door to a range of problems, including very poor health communication but also distorted data.'

What is the difference between sex and gender? Sex, as defined by the Government, refers to the biological aspects of an individual as determined by their anatomy. This anatomy is produced by their chromosomes and hormones. There are two universally accepted sexes, male and female. For example, males (XY chromosomes) are born with a penis and testes and females (XX chromosomes) are born with a vagina. There are some cases where children are born with attributes of both sexes, such as being born with a womb and testicles. These are called differences in sex development or being intersex. Gender, on the other hand, is defined by the Government as a social construct. This relates to the behaviours and features generally attributed to either men or to women. A person's gender identity is how they perceive their own gender. For most people this aligns with their sex. However, some people do not feel their gender matches their sex, this is called gender dysphoria. Advertisement

Dr Karleen Gribble, an expert in nursing and midwifery from Western Sydney University, told MailOnline the WHO's announcement was unscientific.

'The wording regarding there being more than male and female sexes is concerning,' she said.

'The website says that the handbook is being updated "in light of new scientific evidence and conceptual progress on gender, health and development".

'However, there is no new scientific evidence suggesting there are more than two sexes.

'Rather, the idea that there are more than two sexes, is a postmodern, unscientific understanding that should not be supported by the WHO.'

The UK donated about 114million to the WHO in 2020-2021, and is listed as the organisation's top voluntary funding contributor for that year.

A person's sex is determined by their biological traits.

Gender represents how someone feels about their identity, meaning there can be mismatch with a person's sex, as occurs in cases of gender dysphoria.

The NHS is currently caught up in controversy about de-sexing health advice after a series of revelations by MailOnline.

This website found the health service had removed the terms 'woman' and 'women' from its womb cancer, ovarian cancer and menopause pages as well as replacing the term 'breastfeeding' with 'chestfeeding' in advice for trans parents.

There have also been concerns about women losing access to single-sex spaces like bathrooms and hospital wards as a result of blurring the definition of a woman.

However, Dr Gribble said the WHO may be updating its guidance to be more inclusive to intersex people, who are born with biological characteristics of the two sexes.

But she said this could come across 'inaccurate and stigmatising'.

She is also concerned about the body's focus on gender identity rather than the health inequality women and girls suffer around the world.

'If this occurs, this will almost certainly dilute focus on the severe health disadvantage that women and girls face in many countries because they are female which can only be a bad thing,' she said.

'Many of us who work internationally in maternal and child health are very concerned about the push to desex language spilling over into UN organisations like WHO and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.'

The WHO guidance is for public health managers and in the UK these experts generally work in local government but some are also employed by the NHS and Government.

They can take on a wide variety of responsibilities, such as emergency planning for events like heatwaves or pandemics, or public health messaging like stop smoking campaigns.

The WHO's guidance review is currently in a gathering feedback stage, with the final version due to be rolled out sometime next month. The body was contacted for comment.
Patients find getting GP test results by text annoying, according to academics who say a lack of clear communication can be risky.

Texts, often automated messages sent from GP practices, can be 'flippant', 'blunt' and 'confusing'.

Dozens of GPs and patients were quizzed about how they received their results from routine blood tests.

The survey revealed some patients were left waiting for results because they wrongly expected their doctor to contact them.

Some assumed that 'no news was good news' and others didn't want to wait on hold for GP receptionists to answer their calls.

University of Bristol researchers, who carried out the poll, warned delays can lead to 'missed diagnoses'.

Study author and GP Dr Jessica Watson said relying on patients to get in touch and assuming they know how to access results 'were particular risks'.

University of Bristol researchers, who interviewed dozens of GPs and patients, found that patients were expected to find out the results of their blood tests by waiting for texts or calling practices

HOW ARE BLOOD TEST RESULTS DELIVERED? Options for receiving blood test results include face-to-face, by telephone, text message or letter. Doctors, other medics or receptionists can provide the results. But a University of Bristol study found that the vast majority of results are delivered by text or patients phoning practices to speak to receptionists. After a blood sample is taken, it will be put into a bottle and labelled with your name and details. It will then be sent to a laboratory where it will be examined under a microscope or tested with chemicals, depending on what's being checked. The results are sent back to the hospital or to your GP. Some test results will be ready the same day or a few days later, although others may not be available for a few weeks. GPs are supposed to inform patients when their results will be ready and how they'll be given them. Advertisement

Researchers interviewed 19 GPs and 28 patients from six practices in Bristol, Somerset and Gloucestershire.

Between May 2019 and March 2020, patients were quizzed at or soon after their blood test and again after they received their results. Doctors who commissioned the tests were also interviewed.

The findings, published in the British Journal of General Practice, show that patients received their results based on the habits and personal preference of their GP.

It revealed text messages are becoming a more common method of communication, in part because of the Covid pandemic.

Sending results by text was thought of positively by most doctors, who claimed patients 'love' the messages.

But while some patients said they were 'quick and easy' method of getting results, many complained they did not provide sufficient information to understand their results.

They also warned that they 'obviously' wouldn't want to hear about worrying results through text, labelling it 'inappropriate'. Meanwhile, doctors said they would text or call a patient if their results were abnormal.

Some blood result texts asked patients to contact doctors if they had concerns or questions, patients weren't sure how to get in touch or if they should book an appointment with their GP.

As well as through texts, results can also be dished out by phone calls and face-to-face appointments.

Patients were also expected to find out their own results, sometimes without being given any instructions.

Doctors claimed they expected patients to know how to access results, which can be accessed via an online portal for patients at some practices.

One anonymous GP said the 'onus is always put on the patients' at their practice. But they 'normally speak to the patient straightaway' if there is an 'abnormality'.

GPs told the researchers that patients should 'never presume no news is good news'.

But patients said they assumed nothing was wrong if they hadn't been contacted by their surgery. And they didn't want to wait for up to 30 minutes on the phone to their GP practice to check.

Patients also complained about being given results by receptionists, who they were unconvinced could correctly interpret blood test results.

Delays and difficulties obtaining and interpreting test results often leads to anxiety and frustration for patients, the researchers reported.

And a lack of clear systems to get results 'exacerbated' this and left some patients 'in limbo', they said.

Patients also complained about the lack of GP appointments if they had unanswered questions about their tests.

Dr Watson said: GPs have a medico-legal and ethical responsibility to ensure they have clear, robust systems for communicating test results.

'New technologies may be incorporated into these systems but are not a panacea.

'Failure to ensure safe systems for communicating test results could have significant consequences for patients and practices.

'Relying on patients to get in contact and making assumptions about their knowledge of how to do so were particular risks highlighted in our research.'

The average GP is thought to spend one-and-a-half to two hours per day reviewing test results, so more efficient systems of test communication could slash their workload, as well as boosting patient safety, the researchers said.


A cancer diagnosis of any kind can be very distressing  but for men told they need surgery to remove a tumour that has invaded their prostate, the threat of being left impotent by the procedure can be almost as bad.

A radical prostatectomy involves removing the walnut-sized prostate gland  which is located between the bladder and rectum  in order to clear the cancer.

But the surgery carries a high risk of damage to sensitive nerves and arteries that keep the penis in good working order.

Around 5,000 men a year in the UK undergo prostatectomies, and although modern techniques  known as nerve-sparing surgery  can reduce the risks, the charity Prostate Cancer UK warns that up to 80 per cent of these patients later experience erectile dysfunction severe enough to jeopardise their sex lives and put their relationships under strain. They can also experience incontinence.

But mounting evidence suggests the risk to mens sex lives could be radically reduced if they were put on a pre-habilitation programme before surgery, involving treatments and exercises to prevent or significantly limit any loss of virility.

A radical prostatectomy involves removing the walnut-sized prostate gland  which is located between the bladder and rectum  in order to clear the cancer

These include regular doses of an erectile dysfunction drug, Cialis (generic name, tadalafil), several weeks before surgery to dilate the tiny blood vessels supplying the genitals, improving their condition.

Daily exercises to strengthen a mans pelvic floor muscles are also recommended, as is regular use of a vacuum pump device to build stronger erections by drawing blood into the penis, causing it to become erect.

The NHS already routinely sanctions most of these measures as part of a GP-supervised rehabilitation programme to help men try to repair any surgical damage after they have had their prostate removed. But a growing number of studies show the benefits are potentially much greater if these steps are taken long before patients enter the operating theatre.

Its a no-brainer really, says Dr Geoff Hackett, a former consultant in urology and sexual medicine at Good Hope Hospital, Birmingham, and former president of the British Society for Sexual Medicine.

Whats the point in doing all this when the damage has already been done during the surgery? You get much quicker healing and recovery in erectile and urinary function if the nerves, blood vessels and muscles that control them are in a healthier condition going into the surgery.

A study by researchers at the Korea University College of Medicine in Seoul, published in the journal Oncology in April 2022, compared outcomes in 20 men who were put on a daily 5mg dose of tadalafil two weeks before having their prostates removed, with 21 men given the drug four weeks after their operation.

Twelve months after surgery, 80 per cent of men given the drug in advance had recovered most of their erectile function, compared with 71.4 per cent in the post-op treatment group.

This suggests pre-operative penile rehabilitation may lead to better erectile function than a post-operative approach, the researchers concluded.

Dr Hackett says giving drugs such as tadalafil in advance helps to improve blood flow in the penis, increasing the chances of regaining full erectile function after the operation.

But he says the drug works better where a surgeon plans nerve-sparing surgery, minimising damage to the tiny bundles of nerves near the prostate which control a mans erections.

Conventional prostatectomy  where a wide margin of tissue is removed as well as the prostate, in case malignant cells have spread  is more invasive, destroying delicate nerves and blood vessels and limiting the drugs effects.

However, daily tadalafil is currently sanctioned only for post-operative rehabilitation by health watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The trouble is that there are no major large-scale trials yet demonstrating its effectiveness before surgery, so its very difficult to persuade NICE to endorse it, says Dr Hackett.

So men wanting advance treatment usually need to obtain tadalafil on a private prescription. I see patients like this all the time, and I recommend they start, ideally, two to three months before surgery.

Likewise, other studies have found starting simple pelvic floor exercises before prostate surgery yields better results than afterwards, when the patient is often in too much discomfort to do them properly.

The Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy group  a body for physiotherapists specialising in pelvic floor exercise tuition  says the exercises strengthen two main muscles: the bulbocavernosus, which wraps around the base of the penis, and the ischiocavernosus, a group of muscles that act like guy ropes in holding up the penis when its erect.

Clare Bourne, a London-based private physiotherapist who specialises in helping men prepare for prostate surgery, says the exercises can be done at home or on the train to work, ideally at least six weeks before surgery.

One exercise is to imagine you are trying to hold in wind, she says. This contracts the muscles in the pelvis.

Another is to gently raise the testicles by contracting the pelvic floor muscles. Do these five or ten times, and repeat three times a day.

She says the exercises stimulate the release of a protein, vascular endothelial growth factor, which encourages nerve regeneration in the penis and enhances muscle power. Regularly contracting muscles in the pelvis also boosts blood flow to the genitals.

Aside from the physical benefits, Clare Bourne believes pelvic prehab also helps men psychologically.

For many, its the first time they have ever been told to exercise their pelvic floor muscles  and they often benefit mentally from knowing they are doing everything they can before surgery to save their sex lives afterwards.

For a guide to mens pelvic floor exercises to prevent erectile dysfunction, visit thepogp.co.uk
Flu may help protect you from Covid if you are infected with both simultaneously, a study suggests.

Tests showed influenza can suppress SARS-CoV-2  the pandemic-causing virus by stopping it attacking the lungs.

Getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 first did not seem to offer any protection against the flu, however.

Researchers do not have proof Covid would be milder if someone was struck down with the flu just days before.

But they say it does show coinfection, or flurona as it has been nicknamed, 'doesn't represent a looming threat for humanity'.

Hamsters infected with both viruses concurrently were not likelier to suffer a worse outcome.

The New York University study comes amid concerns of a double whammy of Covid and flu this winter.

Scientists from New York found catching flu and then catching Covid helped suppress the latter, a finding they said meant simultaneous infections of the two respiratory viruses are not a 'looming threat to humanity'

Covid restrictions could RETURN to 'protect the NHS' Britain could swing back to its 'protect the NHS' Covid policy if the latest spike in cases and hospital admissions impedes on the health service's ability to treat other conditions, a Government minister has admitted. Lord Syed Kamall, a junior health minister, said the extortionate free lateral flow testing scheme may return as he raised the prospect of mandatory face masks also making a comeback. Both measures were axed in April as part of No10's 'living with Covid' plan. He told the House of Lords yesterday: 'They [health officials] are still focusing on the backlog. If it gets to a point where it is affecting the backlog then clearly measures may well have to be introduced.' Individual hospitals have already started to reintroduce face masks and social distancing in corridors and waiting rooms as Covid hospital admissions near an 18-month high, in the first sign of curbs creeping back into normal life. There were 1,911 Covid admissions in England on July 4  the latest date with data  and at current pace they are due to rise further in the coming days. If average daily admissions rise above 2,100 it will mark the highest number since the peak of the second wave in January 2021  when there were more than 4,000. But only a third of patients are primarily sick with Covid, which suggests rising admissions are a symptom of high infection rates rather than severe disease. The majority (64 per cent) are known as 'incidental' cases  patients who went to hospital for a different reason but happened to test positive. More than 2.7million Britons were estimated to have been infected with Covid  one in 24 people  at the end of June. Trusts have warned they face rising staff absences caused by high levels of transmission in the community, combined with additional admission pressure. Advertisement

Australia is currently being ravaged by its worst flu outbreak in years, sparking warnings that same situation will strike the northern hemisphere.

Flu was effectively drowned out by restrictions deployed to fight Covid, meaning the nation has little immunity against it.

Meanwhile SARS-CoV-2 will continue to circulate potentially sowing havoc on NHS wards by fuelling staff absences ad adding to admissions.

Public health bosses earlier in the pandemic warned people were in 'serious trouble' if they got flurona.

Government research suggested that co-infection doubled the risk of death.

But experts later warned the fears were overhyped.

Professor Benjamin tenOever, author of the New York University study, said it is important further studies are done on coinfections.

His team's tests on hamsters infected with both viruses suggested having both simultaneously did not lead to worse outcomes  regardless of what way round they were infected.

The same tests also revealed hamsters pre-infected with flu had lower levels of SARS-CoV-2 than the other groups.

Furthermore, this suppressive effect on SARS-CoV-2's replication was found to last a week after the rodent's body had fought off influenza.

'These data suggest the presence of factors intrinsic to or induced by (influenza A virus) that may restrict the growth of SARS-CoV-2,' Professor tenOever said.

'But it remains unclear whether this effect plays a role on disease severity.

'These results suggest that coinfection with SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus does not represent a looming threat for humanity.'

The paper, published in the Journal of Virology, only looked at the one type of flu.

Both viruses, influenza and SARS-CoV-2, replicate in lungs.

Covid is undergoing a resurgence in the UK, with more than 2.7million people estimated to have been infected with virus one in 24 people  at the end of June.

NHS trusts have warned they currently face rising staff absences caused by high levels of transmission in the community, combined with additional admission pressure.

And yesterday, Lord Syed Kamall, a junior health minister, admitted Britain could swing back to its 'protect the NHS' Covid policy if the latest spike in cases and hospital admissions impedes on the health service's ability to treat other conditions.

He said the extortionate free lateral flow testing scheme and mandatory face masks could be some of the measures making a comeback.

There were 1,911 Covid admissions in England on July 4  the latest date with data  and at current pace they are due to rise further.

If average daily admissions rise above 2,100 it will mark the highest number since the peak of the second wave in January 2021  when there were more than 4,000.

But only a third of patients are primarily sick with Covid, which suggests rising admissions are a symptom of high infection rates rather than severe disease.

The majority (64 per cent) are known as 'incidental' cases  patients who went to hospital for a different reason but happened to test positive.
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Health chiefs must redouble their efforts to encourage millions of Britons to get vaccinated against Covid ahead of the winter, MPs warned today.

Nearly 3million adults in England have not had any jabs to protect against the virus, so are at more severe risk of being hospitalised or dying if they get infected. Another 2.7million have only had one dose.

NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency must 'urgently evaluate which methods are most effective' for boosting uptake, including 'fresh approaches' to tackle persistent low immunisation rates among ethnic groups, according to a report on the vaccine rollout.

More than 125million doses of Covid vaccine have been dished out across the country since December 2020, with nine in 10 over-12s having their first dose.

But the Public Accounts Committee, which published the report, warned that these 'early achievements' should not 'cloud the need to review vaccines', warning that there is uncertainty about how the virus will mutate and if another massive resurgence is due later this year.

Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the committee, urged health leaders not to 'take their eye off the ball in tackling future challenges and getting vaccines to hard to reach groups'.

Another round of booster vaccines are due for later this year, with health chiefs rumoured to be interested in dishing out an Omicron-specific jab.

Nearly 3million adults in England have not had any jabs to protect against the virus so are at more severe risk of being hospitalised or dying if they get infected, a Government report on the vaccine rollout states. The graph shows vaccine uptake among all over-12s in England. Some 93.2 per cent have had their first dose, 87.3 per cent are double-jabbed and 68.7 per cent are boosted

More than 125million doses of Covid vaccine have been dished out across the country since December 2020, with nine in 10 over-12s having their first dose. The graph shows Covid vaccine uptake by dose and by date, with uptake flattening for all vaccines

The UK Health Security Agency graph shows more than three-quarters of eligible age groups came forward for a spring booster dose. Uptake was highest among 80 to 84-year-olds (78.6 per cent), followed by 85 to 89-year-olds (77.8 per cent), 75 to 79-year-olds (77.4 per cent) and the over-90s (75.4 per cent)

Experts warn bringing back 2bn-a-month free Covid testing scheme is pointless because latest wave will fizzle out in a MONTH Calls are ramping up for Covid restrictions to return in the UK, despite a raft of data showing the virus has been reduced to a bad cold for the vast majority of people. A number of high profile experts have publicly urged the Government to bring back face masks and free tests after a health minister admitted they could be reintroduced if the NHS becomes too busy to clear its backlogs. The renewed calls for onerous public health measures are based on high levels of Covid cases and admissions to hospitals  despite figures showing two-thirds of 'Covid patients' in the NHS are not primarily sick with the virus. Deaths and ICU rates  which used to be the barometer for social restrictions  have remained flat despite the uptick in cases, which has been attributed to milder variants, vaccines and growing natural immunity. Yet Lord Syed Kamall, a junior health minister, admitted yesterday that if Covid impedes on the NHS' ability to treat other conditions then 'clearly measures may well have to be introduced'. Individual hospitals have already started to reimposed face masks and social distancing in corridors and waiting rooms, in the first sign of curbs creeping back into normal life. And today several scientists on Independent SAGE  a campaign group that used to advocate a Chinese-style zero-Covid strategy  started publicly lobbying for the return of the extortionate free lateral flow scheme, outdoor mixing and face coverings. Their calls come on the back of a warning by a symptom tracking study that cases are on track to reach new highs this summer. But other experts told MailOnline they expect the current surge to burn out naturally in the coming weeks as the virus ebbs and flows before settling into a more consistent pattern. They warned that by the time masks or lateral flows were rolled out, the latest wave would be 'history'. Advertisement

By the end of May, 2.98million adults in England were unvaccinated and a further 1.5million had only received a single dose of Covid vaccine.

Many of those unvaccinated are young city-dwellers, with residents of five cities making up a quarter of the unjabbed total, the report states.

And vaccination is now 'worryingly a lower priority for many people' as the country is no longer in a state of emergency, the MPs said.

They urged the NHS to 'set itself the challenge' of reducing the number of adults who are unvaccinated to 2.5million and achieve an 80 per cent uptake for the first booster dose within four months.

Some 32.6million adults have had their third dose so far  just 73 per cent.

The MPs noted that while nine in 10 adults were double-jabbed by the end of May, just 55 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds had come forward for two doses, dropping to 38 per cent among 12 to 15-year-olds.

Pregnant women have also been reluctant to get vaccinated, with just 58 per cent receiving two doses.

And black, black British and Pakistani people are less than half as likely to have had their booster than a white British person.

On top of difficulties reaching some ethnic communities, the MPs said health chiefs had struggled to encourage those with learning disabilities and needle phobia to come forward, noting these groups had 'not always been consistently or adequately addressed'.

They called for the NHS and UKHSA to recognise that the reasons for low vaccine uptake will vary and to 'urgently evaluate which approaches are most effective' at making people come forward.

The health bodies should inform local areas what works and support them deploy the most effective approaches, including 'fresh' ways to addressing the persistent low uptake in some ethnic groups.

MPs did not set out what methods should be brought in. But Britons were previously rewarded with vouchers, such as from ASDA, holiday provider lastminute.com and leisure centres. Free bus tickets were also on offer.

Those methods, as well as an advertising blitz, is thought to have helped boost uptake rates in some groups.

Dame Meg said: 'The Department and NHS England must build on the initial successes of the vaccine programme and redouble efforts to reach people who are unvaccinated and at greater risk of becoming hospitalised or dying as a result of Covid.

'Despite work to date, low vaccination rates persist in many vulnerable groups and fresh approaches are needed to reach then.

'The Committee recognises the enormous effort by those who developed, secured and administered our Covid vaccines. The vaccine programme made a real difference. As well as saving lives it has reduced the ongoing impact of the pandemic.

'It's important that the early success does not mean that the Department and NHS England take their eye off the ball in tackling future challenges and getting vaccines to hard to reach groups.'

The report also calls for the NHS to develop a vaccination workforce strategy by October that allows them to wind down their vaccine sites in a cost effective way while ensuring they can ramp up capacity again if needed in the future without relying on 'burnt-out' GPs and other NHS medics.

MPs said the Department of Health should conduct a review to identify lessons learnt from the vaccine rollout and inform the committee within six months of the improvements it will make in other health programmes as a result.

Health ministers and the vaccine taskforce, which sits within the UKHSA, were also instructed to review their Covid vaccine procurement strategy to ensure the UK's ongoing vaccine deals  which have only been secured with mRNA jab makers Pfizer and Moderna  are not 'too narrow'.

While health chiefs are confident the two jabs are the best for future booster campaigns, there is 'much uncertainty' around the emergence of new variants and what vaccines will be needed in the future, the report states.

The vaccine taskforce, UKHSA and NHS England have also been instructed to keep the committee updated on vaccine wastage levels amid concerns it is set to increase in 2022, from a 'remarkable' five per cent in 2021.

The graph shows the number of Covid jabs dished out in England per day since the vaccine rollout began in December 2020. At the height of the booster rollout in December 2021, more than 900,000 jabs were delivered in one day. An average of 18,000 people in England have been vaccinated per day in the week to July 2

Around 2.1m  the equivalent of one in 25  had the virus in England alone (shown), which was up from one in 30 the previous week

MailOnline analysis shows how the rate of severe illness from Covid has fallen over time. At the beginning of the pandemic, one per cent of all people infected with the virus (based on the Office for National Statistics infection rate) required mechanical ventilation within two weeks. But most recent NHS bed occupancy rates show just 0.015 per cent of those infected are admitted to an ICU bed - 100 times fewer than the start of the pandemic

This graph shows the number of deaths directly due to Covid recorded in England and Wales. The number of deaths being recorded these nations currently is far below that of previous waves earlier year and a sheer fraction of those seen at the start of 2021

Health chiefs are struggling to estimate demand for the rest of the year but has 'consciously taken a conservative approach to procurement, on the basis that too much is better than too little', the report states.

Additionally, MPs instructed the Department of Health to set out its annual budget in 'good time' after it emerged that it had not allocated its 9.6billion budget for the Covid response.

Part of the ongoing Covid response is the autumn booster rollout.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in May announced that a booster dose should be give to the over-65s, frontline NHS and social care staff, those living in care homes for older adults and over-16s who are considered at-risk from the virus.

The scheme will increase the UK's immunity against Covid hospitalisations and deaths over winter, when the NHS is already under strain.

However, the JCVI, which advises No10 on the rollout, said it will keep its suggestions under review.

In light of the virus' current resurgence, which saw Covid cases in England jump by a fifth last week to 2.7million, and concerns it could disrupt the health service's efforts to tackle its ever-growing backlog, officials are said to be considering expanding the autumn booster campaign to cover all over-50s.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control this week recommended that all over-60s and the medically vulnerable should be offered a Covid booster jab.

The move widens the pool of those eligible, after the EU health agency in April recommended that only the over-80s should get the additional dose. The expansion was prompted by rising infections across the continent.

Stella Kyriakides, the European commissioner for health and food safety, this week warned there is 'no time to lose' and urged EU member states to roll out the jab to eligible groups 'immediately'.
Dr Luke Evans, who is also a GP, told a Commons committee hearing today that the move would be 'revolutionary' and allow doctors to 'solve the problems' facing family doctors

GPs should be paid for 'thinking time' so they brainstorm how the general practice crisis be solved, an MP has suggested.

Tory Dr Luke Evans, who is also a GP in Leicestershire, told a Commons committee hearing today that the move would be 'revolutionary'.

It would allow doctors to 'solve the problems' facing family doctors, which has left patients struggling to get appointments.

These struggles include recruiting and retaining GPs and remodelling how general practice is delivered in the wake of Covid, he said.

The NHS has too few family doctors already and faces a mass exodus, with surveys suggesting half the workforce want to quit within five years.

GPs have also complained of unmanageable workloads, which has seen doctors  who are paid 100,000-a-year, on average  cut back on their hours to go part-time.

The Tory MP said a family doctor's day-to-day life can't be improved by Government and it instead relies on NHS medics to come up with suggestions.

Crucial NHS statistics  used to determine how much money surgeries should be allocated from Government  show there are 61.7million patients across the country. But results from the 2021 census, which were released last month, states the nation's population actually stands in the region of 56.5million

MailOnline's analysis of ghost patients shows patient lists are nearly a quarter larger than the estimated populations of some parts of the country. The figures are based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates of clinical commission groups (CCG) from 2020 to the end of 2021 and NHS Digital patient list data as of June 2022

EXCLUSIVE More than 5MILLION patients who do not exist are registered with GPs More than 5.2million patients who do not exist are registered at GP surgeries in England, MailOnline can reveal as campaigners demand action to stamp out the scourge of 'ghosts'. Crucial NHS statistics  used to determine how much money surgeries should be allocated from Government  show there are 61.7million patients across the country. But results from the 2021 census, which were released last month, states the nation's population actually stands in the region of 56.5million. It means England's army of phantom patients, which has grown in size since NHS bosses pledged to tackle it seven years ago, is bigger than the entire population of Ireland. Patients' rights campaigners have today suggested that practices could be deliberately letting their patients lists become overinflated to get extra cash. Surgeries are paid roughly 150 for every individual on their books, regardless of whether they see them. It means the notional cost of 'ghost patients'  many of whom have either died, moved abroad or are duplicates  is in the region of 750million a year. As well as the huge financial incentive, which saw the NHS's own fraud squad dragged in to investigate list sizes, critics fear GPs may be using inflated list sizes politically. Unions, including the British Medical Association (BMA), have peddled the rising patient-to-GP ratios as a means of demanding funding for more staff. It comes after GPs last month threatened industrial action over a new NHS contract that would force them to offer appointments on Saturdays to help ease the current appointments crisis, which critics claim has overloaded A&E departments and led to late diagnoses of life-threatening illnesses. Advertisement

Dr Evans said: 'For example, is there a space in the contract to say that we should be paying for thinking time?

'That would be revolutionary [at] the coalface because they're the ones who are going to solve the problems.

'Is there a way that we can think about putting that in place?'

The move would unlikely see family doctors paid extra cash to think of solutions for the problems facing them.

But the NHS contract could, in theory, set out that GPs should devote time to brainstorming solutions.

However, NHS bosses shot down the suggestion, saying it is time to 'step away' from paying for 'specific interventions' and focus on delivering the best patient care.

It comes as MailOnline today revealed there are 5.2million patients who do not exist that are registered with GP surgeries.

Surgeries get roughly 150 per person on their books, meaning the notional cost of 'ghost patients'  many of whom have either died, moved abroad or are duplicates  is in the region of 750million a year.

Quizzing the Health and Social Care committee's panel on the future of general practice, Dr Evans said: 'We're all in agreement, even the Government says we don't have enough staff.'

He said there is a need to figure out 'how do we get the best out of the staff we've got'.

'That's retention, recruitment and remodelling. Those three things are really really important,' Dr Evans said.

The NHS has the equivalent of 1,700 fewer full-time fully-qualified GPs than it did in 2015, according to the British Medical Association (BMA).

And a survey of family doctors by the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) found that 19,000 GPs are planning to quit by 2027  nearly half of the 45,000-strong workforce.

The RCGP blamed under-staffing, under-funding and over-working for the profession being 'in crisis'.

Dr Evans said: 'I could write a list of the things that could change and should change in a GP's day-to-day life to make a difference.

'As yet we have not heard there is a plan for the making life better of a GP.'

Dr Amanda Doyle, director of primary and community care at NHS England, said that general practice cannot be expected to transform the way it works 'with absolutely no headspace'.

She said room is needed 'to actually step back and look at it and put those changes in place  all of that takes time and work'.

However, she shot down Dr Evan's suggestion that GPs should be paid for allocated time to think about how to do this.

Dr Doyle said: 'I would like us to step away from an approach where we pay for specific interventions and look at an approach of what do we want general practice to look like? How do we want them to deliver the best care for their patients?'

It comes as MailOnline revealed today that more than 5.2million patients who do not exist are registered at GP surgeries in England.

Crucial NHS statistics  used to determine how much money surgeries should be allocated from Government  show there are 61.7million patients across the country.

But results from the 2021 census, which were released last month, states the nation's population actually stands in the region of 56.5million.

It means England's army of phantom patients, which has grown in size since NHS bosses pledged to tackle it seven years ago, is bigger than the entire population of Ireland.

Surgeries are paid roughly 150 for every individual on their books, regardless of whether they see them. It means the notional cost of 'ghost patients'  many of whom have either died, moved abroad or are duplicates  is in the region of 750million a year.

As well as the huge financial incentive, which saw the NHS's own fraud squad dragged in to investigate list sizes, critics fear GPs may be using inflated list sizes politically.

Unions, including the BMA, have peddled the rising patient-to-GP ratios as a means of demanding funding for more staff.
Florida-based Big Olaf Creamery has recalled its ice cream products from shelves after the company was tied to an outbreak of listeria that has killed at least one person.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning last week that the brand's ice cream was at the center of the 22 cases that have been detected among residents of the Sunshine state or people who had recently traveled there.

All but one of the confirmed infections have resulted in hospitalization. One pregnant mother that caught the disease ended up losing her unborn child as a result.

At first, Big Olaf responded to the CDC alert by distancing itself from the outbreak and claiming it was being 'targeted' in a post published to its official Facebook page. Now over a week later, it has finally given in and issued a recall.

Listeria is a bacterial infection often associated with dairy products - like ice cream - and deli meats. It can be highly dangerous to pregnant women, newborns and the elderly.

Big Olaf Creamery, in Sarasota, Florida, is issuing a recall of its ice cream products after they were tied to a listeria outbreak of nearly two dozen cases that has been responsible for at least one death (file photo)

The CDC is warning people not to eat the ice cream if they have it at home, and to make sure to clean any dishes or utensils they have that have come into contact with it (file photo)

The Florida Department of Health announced that Big Olaf ice cream had agreed to a recall on Friday.

It came after the CDC issued a notice on July 3 that the ice cream brand was being investigated as the potential source of the outbreak.

The company initially voluntarily contacted retail locations that carry their product to pull them off of shelves amid the investigation, but did not issue a full recall.

The CDC is recommending Americans to avoid eating the products if they already have it at home, and to thoroughly clean and disinfect any dishes or utensils that may have come into contact with it.

Big Olaf Creamery is a regional brand that only operates in the state of Florida. The company's website says that it has operated for 25 years.

It defended itself on its Facebook page, saying: 'for now it is only speculation as it is an ongoing investigation, our brand has not been confirmed to be linked to these cases, I am not sure why only Big Olaf is being mentioned and targeted.

'The original report we got from the Florida Department of Health on Friday July 1st, was that there are 23 cases reported, the first one reported was January 2021. 6 out of the 23 patients mentioned having consumed Big Olaf ice cream, but nothing has been proven.

WHAT IS LISTERIOSIS? Most people that catch listeriosis, caused by bacteria called listeria, will only experience mild symptoms, such as vomiting and diarrhoea. Other symptoms of the infection can include a high temperature of 38C or above, aches and pains, and chills, according to the NHS. Listeria monocytogenes (stock) as found in the pre-packaged food sold at hospitals However, more serious complications can develop in those with weakened immune systems, babies, the elderly and pregnant women. Many foods can harbour listeria, but it is usually found in unpasteurised milk, soft cheeses and ready-to-eat foods, such as prepacked sandwiches. Listeria is widespread in the environment and can be found in raw food and soil, and in the droppings of many mammals, birds, and fish. Around 180 cases of listeriosis are confirmed every year in England, according to figures. It strikes around 850 annually in the US. HOW CAN YOU AVOID LISTERIOSIS? wash your hands regularly with soap and water

wash fruit and vegetables before eating them

store ready-to-eat foods as recommended by the manufacturer

make sure all hot food is steaming hot all the way through Advertisement

'We have been cooperating with the Florida Department of Health, FDACS and the FDA as soon as we were informed about the situation. We have been transparent and have answered all their questions and provided them with all the information requested from us, as the health and well being of the public is our first priority.'

Some commenters took issue with the company's statement trying to distance itself from the current outbreak.

'Your lack of interest in your customer's well being is obvious. Sad reflection of American greed,' one person wrote.

'Obviously the health of your customers is NOT your priority! What is wrong with you? You stay open and only close one store in Siesta but don't recall and close your other stores? Listeria is serious. Blue Bell closed its plants for 10 outbreaks and still paid a criminal penalty of $17 million and the President was charged with wire fraud and criminal conspiracy. But you just keep selling ice cream to the public,' said another.

The CDC first reported the outbreak last week, mentioning that a food product was believed to be at the center of the infections.

The disease is normally picked up from eating food that has been contaminated  such as raw vegetables, meat and unpasteurized milk  with the microbes.

But in rare cases it can also be picked up from close contact with farm animals.

Patients who have Listeria in their intestines can suffer diarrhea and vomiting, with symptoms beginning within 24 hours of catching it.

But in cases where the bacteria spreads to the rest of the body it can trigger fever, muscle aches, fatigue and headaches.

The CDC reports that up to a third of people infected will die of the disease in any given year, with older people and those with a weakened immune system at higher risk.

About 1,600 Americans are diagnosed with the disease every year, and of this number 260 die from the illness.

Revealing the outbreak, the CDC said it was advising people at high risk and who have symptoms of a Listeria infection to contact their healthcare provider.

It said this particularly applied to anyone who had 'recently traveled to Florida.'

The agency didn't say when the cases were detected, or name the 10 states the patients are based in.

Officials also didn't say where in Florida the patients had traveled.
Doctors have made a break through in the practice of xenotransplantation after successfully importing two genetically engineered pig hearts into human bodies.

A team of surgeons at NYU Langone Health, in New York City, performed the operations on two patients that were brain dead but still breathing via life support on June 19 and July 9.

In both cases, the person's body did not reject the heart and the pigs' hearts operated as normal without the need of any machinery - unlike previous patients that experimented with similar transplants.

While the process of xenotransplantation - moving an organ from one species to another - is still in its early stages experts are hopeful that these types of breakthroughs will help close a shortage of available organs around the world, especially for children.

Surgeons at NYU Langone Health successfully completed two xenotransplantations of a pig heart into humans. The hearts functioned for at least three days without need of any external machinery. Pictured: The surgical team prepares to transplantation

'Our goal is to integrate the practices used in a typical, everyday heart transplant, only with a nonhuman organ that will function normally without additional aid from untested devices or medicines,' said Dr Nader Moazami, director of heart transplantation at NYU said in a statement.

'We seek to confirm that clinical trials can move ahead using this new supply of organs with the tried-and-true transplant practices we have perfected.'

The transplants were carried out on two patients that were already considered medically deceased.

Their status makes them valuable to researchers as it allows them to perform experiments that may be too risky for a living subject, but on a person whose bodily operations are still somewhat functional.

Warning: Graphic photos below

Both patients who received the xenotransplantation were functionally brain dead, allowing for doctors to take the risk. Pictured: Doctors perform the transplantation on one of the patients

After the transplantation, the patients' hearts worked fine without the need for machinery and without rejection from the body's immune system. Pictured: Doctors perform the transplantation on one of the patients

Previous trials on living people have led to death. Earlier this year a 57-year old man who receive a pig heart transplant at the University of Maryland died 49 days after the operation after his body rejected the vital organ.

Ex-convict, 57, who became the first ever patient to receive a genetically-altered PIG heart transplant dies two months later The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig died two months after the groundbreaking experiment. David Bennett, 57, of Hagerstown Maryland, died at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Doctors didn't give an exact cause of death, saying only that his condition had begun deteriorating several days earlier. Bennett's son praised the hospital for offering the last-ditch experiment, saying the family hoped it would help further efforts to end the organ shortage. Dr Muhammad Mohiuddin, director of cardiac xenotransplantation at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said Bennett's successful transplant has provided great insight for future procedures. 'We have gained invaluable insights learning that the genetically modified pig heart can function well within the human body while the immune system is adequately suppressed,' he said in a statement. 'We remain optimistic and plan on continuing our work in future clinical trials,' he added. Doctors for decades have sought to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Advertisement

For the NYU patients, hearts from pigs that had at least 10 genetic modifications were used.

Four of the mutations were described by surgeons as 'knockouts' that prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. The other six help mend the biological gap between pigs and humans that could cause that sort of rejection.

The mutations seem to have worked. In both patients, the heart successfully completed a three-day trial with no issue.

Unlike previous patients, they did not require any need for machinery or drugs to get their heart to start initially.

A short trial of only three days is just the start of research into these types of mutations, though, and there still is not any data available as to how these hearts will perform long-term.

'These are the first steps in developing a deep understanding of the mechanical, molecular, and immunologic aspects of xenoheart transplantation and the feasibility of utilizing standard clinical practice and tools to do so,' Dr Alex Reyentovich, director of the NYU Langone Advanced Heart Failure program, said.

Experts have long searched for a way to fill the world's dire need for more organs.

While campaigns encouraging people to become organ donors when they die have seen some success, it still is not enough to fill the present need.

According to official data, more than 115,000 people are currently waiting for an organ transplant in America.

More than 6,000 people will end up dying a preventable death after not receiving an organ in time.

This is especially true for children, who often will require an organ from another child who is of around the same size as them.

Children do not die of any causes very often, though, and the very specific requirements make it even harder for tots suffering from chronic conditions to get the transplant they need.

The Washington Post reports that 115 children in the U.S. died while waiting for an organ transplant in 2018.
On networking website LinkedIn, entrepreneur Wojtek Paprota calls himself a 'transhumanism believer'.

He is referring to a radical, but growing, movement that wants humans to use technology to evolve beyond their physical limitations.

The British-Polish businessman is founder of Walletmor  which claims to be the first company in the world to sell contactless bank-card chips that can be implanted into humans.

Handouts: London-based Walletmor claims to be the first company in the world to sell contactless bank-card chips that can be implanted into humans

The procedure is simple, if bloody, and leaves customers with a small stitch below the wrist.

Once the chip is in, users no longer have to bother with debit or credit cards. To make a purchase they can wave their hand over a contactless reader. It might sound like a dystopian fantasy, but Walletmor is evidence of how quickly the payment industry is progressing.

From chip implants to facial recognition software on your mobile, this new technology is aiming to consign cash and bank cards to the history books.

But is the rapidly growing sector dangerously out of its depth? Certainly Walletmor appears to be.

Today Money Mail can reveal the firm  which has featured on both the BBC and Forbes  has been plunged into controversy after it emerged it had misled customers.

Mr Paprota had been repurposing chips from a third-party supplier, MuchBetter, which is associated with Mastercard.

Once they were alerted to Walletmor's actions, both companies pulled the plug  citing 'health and safety' concerns.

Overnight customers in the UK had their accounts shut down.

The result? Some have been left with totally redundant chips under their skin. Their only option at present is to have them removed  though Walletmor insists it is looking at ways to reprogram already-implanted chips for future use.

A microchip was first inserted into a human in 1998. Professor Kevin Warwick  who is known as Captain Cyborg  had the procedure done to link his nervous system to a computer as part of an experiment.

But otherwise there was little appetite for commercially available chips  until Walletmor stepped in and began selling them as an alternative to bank cards.

The device is around the size of a grain of rice and costs 200 (169).

Walletmor could not conduct implantations, instead referring customers to piercing specialists.

The chip was linked to a smartphone app run by MuchBetter, where customers could deposit funds. In April, Walletmor bragged on social media that it had been featured in more than 450 articles worldwide.

'The implant can be used to pay for a drink on the beach in Rio, a coffee in New York, a haircut in Paris  or at your local grocery store,' Mr Paprota told the BBC earlier this year.

From chip implants to facial recognition software on your mobile, new technology is aiming to consign cash and bank cards to the history books

But on a Facebook group dedicated to Walletmor's 434 'ambassadors', customers regularly posted videos of card machines struggling to read their chips.

Gary Prince, chief strategy officer of software company SimplyPayMe, says: 'It's a fascinating concept but for something like this to work, people have to want to use it.

'What is the benefit of paying on your hand? If it could also be loaded with identification documents, that would be a different story. But that would also open up a bigger debate around privacy.'

Interest in 'biometric' payment solutions  which use physical characteristics to identify a customer and authorise a transaction  has been growing steadily.

Well-known examples include fingerprint and facial-recognition technology, which is used among banks, tech giants and even at airports to authenticate passports.

In the late 1990s, Nationwide piloted an ATM that could scan eyeballs to confirm identity and allow customers to withdraw money  though it never went further than the initial trial.

In 2016 Apple Pay introduced 'selfie pay' which let customers authorise transactions by taking a photograph of their face.

The following year Santander became the first bank in the UK to bring in voice-recognition technology. And in 2019, Barclays rolled out 'finger vein scanners' which can identify customers by their fingertips using infra-red technology.

The hope is that these types of technology could stamp out fraud as criminals are unable to replicate these unique characteristics.

Yet card payments are still by far the most popular payment mode, with 1.7 billion debit and credit card transactions recorded in February this year, according to UK Finance.

As for Walletmor, it now finds itself in a sticky mess.

Card payments are still by far the most popular payment mode, with 1.7 billion debit and credit card transactions recorded in February this year

The company says only two customers in the UK had chips implanted. Dozens more had paid but not yet inserted them.

Across the world, hundreds more have had chips implanted. But they are not facing the same issues because the company uses a different account provider, iCard.

Dmitriy Kondratiev, a lawyer who specialises in the ethics of body modification, says: 'Walletmor's legal department did an outstanding job protecting themselves in their terms and conditions.

The company is neither responsible for any complications associated with installation nor responsible for correct work of banking.'

Walletmor points out that it does not technically offer a financial service, meaning it is not beholden to regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority.

Mr Paprota tells Money Mail: 'We are asking our users for patience as soon the chips can work flawlessly also on the British Isles. Walletmor is a transparent, honest and professional company. We openly promote our ideas of transhumanism. We do not hide anything and operate in accordance with the law.'

The fallout has left Walletmor devotees divided. Many of its 'ambassadors' treat the tech as though it were a religion. One wrote on its Facebook page: 'I trust Walletmor to get this resolved. Every new technology faces problems along the way.'

Others are less forgiving. 'What has emerged is a failure to perform due diligence,' writes one.

'Walletmor did the tour of the media and confidently claimed they were making implants mainstream. The reality was very different from that.'

It is tempting to dismiss those so eager to jump on board.

However, some 51 per cent of individuals across Europe and the UK would consider implanting a chip in their hand, according to a 2021 survey by payment solution service Marqeta.

But when Money Mail approached MuchBetter and Mastercard for statements on their relationship with Walletmor, their responses were telling.

A Mastercard spokesman says: 'This is not a product we are involved with or endorse. This is an area that requires considerable review to ensure the safety of the transaction and the individual.

'We only allow transactions on our network with devices that meet our certification and testing requirements. Human chip implants do not meet these requirements.' A MuchBetter spokesman adds: 'We do not have a relationship with Walletmor, commercially or otherwise implied. Walletmor is in breach of MuchBetter trademark.'

Firms are clear: without efficient regulation, payment implants will never be embraced beyond the small cult of 'transhumanism believers'.

h.kelly@dailymail.co.uk
I am 82 and live with my wife who is 79. We have just our state pensions to live off.

In March 2021, I saw an advert online about investing in cryptocurrency from just 250. A man who said he was Lucas Hoffman rang me on behalf of a company called WiseCoin.

He said he was Swiss, opened an account on my behalf and started trading for me. Then he arranged for me to open an account with a money transfer firm through which I could make payments from my Halifax account into WiseCoin.

Tricked: An elderly reader was conned into handing over his life savings to an internet scammer claiming to work for a major cryptocurrency investment firm

He said I could remove my money at any time and as an act of faith transferred 250 back into my Halifax account.

In total I transferred about 52,000. When the value in cryptocurrency was shown as 119,000, I asked Hoffman to withdraw all my money.

He said a colleague would need to arrange this, but I heard nothing. After a week, I got in touch with Halifax, which told me I'd been scammed.

It said it would not refund the money and it was up to me to chase the other organisations. I have no savings left. Please can you help.

Anon.

Sally Hamilton replies: I know many readers will be thinking how could you be so naive? But I am here to help all in their hour of need. In my experience of dealing with similar cases, I can see how hard it is for victims to resist the insistent sales patter of an accomplished conman.

Predators like the one posing as 'Hoffman' use classic reassurance tactics, such as transferring back a small sum as an 'act of good faith'.

Later, they trick victims into parting with more money, citing tax reasons or other such hogwash, only for the culprits to disappear into thin air, along with the victims' life savings.

It made my heart sink. You were looking for a way to make your small savings pot stretch further in your twilight years, which made you juicy prey for these vultures.

As gullible as you were, I felt Halifax could have done more than fob you off when you finally woke up to the fraud. A customer's bank and its security measures should be the front line against these attackers.

I asked Lloyds Banking, which owns Halifax, if it would reopen your case, and see if it could track down and return any of your 52,000 losses.

Its fraud team re-examined all the details to work out whether you might be entitled to a refund under the industry's Contingent Reimbursement Model Code, a voluntary set of rules used by many banks to reimburse customers who have suffered so-called 'authorised push payment' fraud.

Its fraud team concluded the whole scam must have started with you tapping in your phone number on an online form following an internet search for cryptocurrency investments.

This was all the scammer required to hook you in. He phoned you, posing as a salesman from 'WiseCoin'.

He appears to have persuaded you to use your personal details and ID to open an account with genuine money transfer firm Wise (formerly TransferWise) on your behalf, deliberately confusing you with the similarity in company names.

Two large transfers were made, one in December 2021 and another in January this year. It seems money was quickly moved out of this account, which was when your savings vanished for good.

Halifax says it did block a further 12,000 transfer in March that looked suspicious. But even after a call with the fraud team, it appears you decided to continue with the payment. When you then lost contact with Hoffman, you visited your Halifax branch, which confirmed you had been scammed.

Since the transfers were being made to an account set up in your own name, this meant Halifax would not refund you this money under the scam code. But a few days later, for some reason, you reconnected with the scammer and made two further payments worth about 16,000.

This time you transferred the money into accounts belonging to the scammers. Despite a screen warning from Halifax, 'Make sure this investment is real', you went ahead and transferred another 10,000.

Since these payments went to the fraudster's account, they fell within the sphere of the scam code. Halifax says it could have intervened more forcefully at this point.

All in all, although it feels like you did not do enough to protect yourself, such as failing to make checks on the company, ignoring the warnings and being lured in by unfeasibly attractive promises, the bank decided it should share the responsibility and pay back half your losses.

We've now been able to refund 50 per cent of the money he paid directly to the fraudsters and have apologised for the service he received when the scam was first reported

A Lloyds Bank spokesman says: 'Helping keep our customers' money safe is our priority and we have a great deal of sympathy for the customer as the victim of a crime. We've now been able to refund 50 per cent of the money he paid directly to the fraudsters and have apologised for the service he received when the scam was first reported.'

You have now got back about 19,600 plus 200 for the poor service and lost interest.

I also asked Wise to investigate. After several weeks it confirmed it could not find any of your money in its coffers.

It concluded it could not have stopped the scam as you had opened the account with the fraudster and allowed remote access to your devices  which is against its terms and conditions. I argued you believed it was the firm's employee helping you, but it refused any refund.

I cannot stress enough the wisdom of making thorough checks on a firm's credentials before transferring funds, not least when life savings are at stake.
Laith Khalaf: When governance failings come to light, they can be ruinous for a company's share price

Laith Khalaf is head of investment analysis at AJ Bell.

'G' is definitely the dullest of the ESG (environment, social, governance) triumvirate.

It is nonetheless a vital aspect that should be a priority for responsible investors, as companies without good governance will normally have other flaws as a result.

In developed markets, a baseline of decent governance tends to be baked into companies, and indeed almost all fund managers will tell you that it's an important part of their investment process, because to ignore governance is to open yourself up to investment losses.

What is governance and how does it make you money (or avoid losses)?

Governance is essentially the framework that ensure a company has the necessary checks and balances between all its various stakeholders, and ensures that incentives don't exist that might encourage management or indeed other employees to act against the interests of the business and thereby its shareholders.

Yes, that does make it a particularly dry and procedural part of the corporate sphere, but one which can be rewarding not just from an ethical standpoint, but because it can mean preventing damaging corporate behaviour that has negative implications for investors.

That's because when governance failings come to light, they can be ruinous for a company's share price - see the box below.

If you are investing in individual shares, you can research firms to come to your own conclusions on whether they are well run.

If you prefer to invest in funds, you can look for those with a manager who actively seeks exposure to companies that demonstrate commitment to good governance and who keeps an eye on whether they maintain best practice over time.

>>>Which funds focus on good governance? Find tips below

How ignoring governance can lead to disaster

Consider for instance the governance weaknesses at Volkswagen, which led to the emissions scandal, something that cost the company billions in fines and investors billions in value wiped off the share price.

How do you work out if companies are well run? Laith Khalaf and other investing experts offer nine clues to judging management competence when picking stocks for your portfolio.

Even today the carmaker has not shed the reputational stain that appeared seven years ago.

The online retailer Boohoo suffered a similar fate when oversight failings led to workers in its Leicester supply chain suffering poor working conditions and underpayment.

Accounting scandals can also be terminal for a business if allowed to flourish by a lack of robust governance, as investors in Patisserie Valerie and the German payments firm Wirecard found to their cost.

Strong governance is not an absolute 100 per cent guarantee that poor behaviour can be evaded, as sometimes this is the result of individuals undermining and hiding from governance processes.

However it does offer a sizeable safety net, and means that when irregularities occur, they are picked up and acted upon, rather than left to fester and worsen.

What funds might you consider for your portfolio?

Stewart Investors Worldwide Sustainability (Ongoing charge: 0.67 per cent)

This is a global fund run by an experienced and well-resourced team that invests in companies across the world that are positioned to contribute to, and benefit from, sustainable development in the countries in which they operate.

A key plank of the investment philosophy is to understand the quality of the management of a company with regards to its integrity and its commitment to high levels of corporate governance.

The fund's preference for quality companies and a focus on capital preservation may mean that it might lag peers in strongly rising markets, but should offer better protection in falling markets.

Liontrust Sustainable Future Global Growth (Ongoing charge: 0.85 per cent)

Peter Michaelis, the longest serving manager on this global ESG fund, has been running it since before Greta Thunberg was born.

Moral compass: Companies without good governance will normally have other flaws as a result, warns Khalaf

The fund looks for companies that fit into a matrix of sustainable growth themes, and which make a positive contribution to society, focusing on firms that make the world cleaner, healthier or safer.

A crucial part of the research process is assessing whether company management has put in place appropriate structures, policies and practices for managing its ESG risks and impacts.

Royal London Sustainable Leaders (Ongoing charge: 0.76 per cent)

Fund manager Mike Fox is another long-standing ESG investor, who has been involved in running this offering since 2003.

The investment process is primarily driven by a screening process that scores companies on their ESG credentials. The team then conduct an in depth analysis of the resulting companies, and one of the things they will be looking for is the strength of corporate governance in the firms they are considering investing in.

This is a UK fund so will predominantly invest in UK-listed companies.
How do I get medical help on holiday now EHIC has gone? Is there another health insurance card and how do I get one?
The Mortgage Advice Bureau has completed the 72.2million acquisition of mortgage and insurance advice app Fluent Money.

The deal, which was first announced in May, received approval from the UK financial watchdog last week and is expected to 'significantly' boost profits next year.

Bolton-based Fluent Money is a fast-growing digital firm founded in 2008 that specialises in centralised telephone mortgage advice.

Telephone advice: Fluent Money helps customers with mortgages, insurance and bridge loans

Over the years, the business has expanded to offer advice about unsecured loans, bridging finance, home and life insurance, as well as equity release.

Derby-based MAB offers mortgage advice throughout the UK from a network of over 1600 advisers with access to over 90 lenders, both face-to-face and over the phone.

Announcing the purchase, MAB said: 'Fluent's model is built on an end-to-end digital customer journey supported by telephony advice.

'This combination delivers an exceptional customer experience across Fluent's range of products.'

MAB chief executive Peter Brodnicki said the acquisition would help the company access more customers and accelerate growth.

Fluent Money made a pre-tax profit of 949million in the year to the end of March 2021, the latest available filing to Companies House shows.

That's down from 2.7million the previous year as lockdown temporarily halted the property market, although the firm said it had increased its market share during the year.

MAB said Fluent Money was 'currently experiencing strong momentum, with the potential for accelerated growth and market share gains resulting from rapidly increasing lead flow as the business scales'.

MAB shares were down 1.5 per cent to 865.60p in afternoon trading.
Holidaymakers are flooding into southern Europe despite ongoing travel chaos, according to Hostelworld.

The hostel, hotel and bed and breakfast platform said bookings in southern Europe were back above pre-pandemic levels in the six months to June 30.

Hostelworld also said visits across the whole of Europe from the US and Canada are back above pre-Covid levels.

Hostel, hotel and bed and breakfast platform Hostelworld said bookings in southern Europe were back above pre-pandemic levels

The influx of North American tourists and southern Europes booming popularity helped the company bounce back from Covid.

Overall bookings hit 80pc of pre-pandemic levels in the first half of the year.

And after accounting for higher booking values, revenue was 4 per cent up on the same period in 2019.

Gary Morrison, chief executive of Hostelworld  which works across 180 countries  said the travel market is returning despite recent disruption.
The man who helped lead the hunt for an 87-year-old woman allegedly involved in the killing of Emmett Till is a black nationalist with a history of making racial slurs and orchestrating provocative protests, according to an anti-hate group.

Malik Shabazz, 55, led dozens of people last week who searched through a home for seniors in Raleigh, North Carolina, looking for Carolyn Bryant Donham.

She accused Till, 14, of whistling at her at a store in Money, Mississippi, in 1955, leading to the boy's murder in one of the most notorious lynchings in American history.

After an arrest warrant for Donham (then Bryant) from 1955 was discovered last month, interest in the case was revived and Shabazz led a group who entered the senior home where they thought Donham was living.

Confused residents looked on as the group showed a photo of Donham in the hope she was there - but there was no sign of her.

Now the Southern Poverty Law Center claims that Shabazz is a racist who has spoken about the 'inherent evil of white people' and is 'particularly skilled at orchestrating provocative protests.'

Malik Shabazz led dozens of people who searched through a home for seniors last week in Raleigh, North Carolina, looking for Carolyn Bryant Donham, 87

Carolyn Bryant Donham accused Emmett Till, 14, of whistling at her at a store in Money, Mississippi in 1955, leading to the boy's murder

Shabazz is a black nationalist with a history of making racial slurs and orchestrating provocative protests. He's seen here knocking on the door after posting a symbolic eviction notice and subpoena at the last known address of Carolyn Bryant Donham, calling for her arrest in connection in the death of Emmett Till

According to the the Southern Poverty Law Center, Shabazz is 'particularly skilled at orchestrating provocative protests'

The anti-hate organization says in its profile of Shabazz: 'Although he's sometimes identified in the mainstream media as a mere ''legal adviser'' or ''community organizer,'' Malik Shabazz is a racist black nationalist with a long, well-documented history of violently anti-Semitic remarks and accusations about the inherent evil of white people.'

Shabazz was 'ousted' from the Nation of Islam and took up leadership of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP), which the SPLC says is a 'virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers.'

Emmett Till was murdered in one of the most notorious lynchings in American history

The discovery of Donham's arrest warrant came after the Department of Justice closed Till's case in December, stating that no further prosecution could take place because federal hate crimes didn't exist in 1955.

It also said the 'statute of limitations' for a civil rights case have expired.

The District Attorney in Leflore County, Mississippi must now decide whether or not to prosecute Donham.

Shabazz's involvement appears to be the latest inflammatory action by somebody with a history of provocation, as the SPLC describes.

In a speech at Howard University in 1994, Shabazz asked the audience who 'controls the Federal Reserve' and the media and Hollywood.

The crowd responded back: 'Jews!'

Speaking to New York One TV in 1998 he said: 'What we have against Jews and others is simple facts of history - that the Jews have been involved in the African holocaust and that the Zionists are causing problems, you know, for people of color around the world.'

According to the SPLC, Shabazz became leader of the NBPP in 2001 and that year claimed there was a Jewish conspiracy behind the 9/11 attacks

Members of the group began appearing all over the country to 'protect' hate crime victims and denounce cops in a series of events that were provocative and drew significant media attention.

The SPLC profile said that during one protest in New York Shabazz led chants which said: 'Fifty shots! Fifty cops! Kill the pigs who kill our kids!'

On his Facebook page, Shabazz claims to be 'Lead Counsel at Black Lawyers for Justice' and has numerous posts about the Black Panthers.

After an arrest warrant for Donham (then Bryant) from 1955 was discovered last month, interest in the case was revived and Shabazz led a group who entered the senior home where they thought Donham was living. Shabazz is seen holding up the warrant

The discovery of Donham's arrest warrant came after the Department of Justice closed Till's case in December, stating that no further prosecution could take place because federal hate crimes didn't exist in 1955. It also said the 'statute of limitations' for a civil rights case have expired. But Shabazz posted on this Facebook that there is 'no time limit'

The group, led by Shabazz, are seen at the Mississippi Courthouse finding the warrant. There was a blessing ceremony held

Black nationalists, led by Shabazz, are seen outside the court house where they retrieved the warrant and gathering in a prayer circle

The senior citizens living in the facility looked confused as the activists stormed in and asked if they knew Donham

Video footage streamed live showed protesters knocking on doors calling out Carolyn Donham's name as they continued their search. But unable to locate her, they left the building

Shabazz did not respond to requests for comment, however DailyMail.com was called by John Barnett, another of the protest organizers who appeared alongside Shabazz in videos of the event.

He said that entering the nursing home was designed as a 'shock' to make people aware of the significance of the case.

Barnett said that 'we didn't kill anyone in that rest home' and that if Donham had been home they would have served the 'warrant' they brought with them.

Turning to Shabazz, Barnett said that journalists should 'not focus on Mr. Shabaaz's past' and should focus on Donham instead.

Asked about Shabazz's anti-Semitic views, Barnett himself made disparaging comments about Jewish people.

He said: 'When you look at Maury Povich, when you look at Barbara Walters, when you look at Howard Stern, all of those are associated with Jews. How is his show, Maury Povich, still on the air, and Oprah isn't even on air any more?

'The response to that would be that he's probably backed by some strong Jewish dollars.

'I've heard CBS, ABC and NBC are owned by the Jews.

'I would figure out who tried to own it and maybe that's why they locked up Bill Cosby, because he wanted to buy NBC.

'I would dissect that and try to figure out who owns ABC and where's the money come in to back that.

'And if so, his point (Shabaaz) is valid, but I don't know.

'I don't have time to look up who owns ABC and CBS but I'm almost certain they (the Jews) have something to do with it, especially knowing that those figures I just told you are all Jews.

'Maury Povich is a Jew and he's been on the air for years. I don't even watch the Jerry Springer show but it's still on the air.

'What fuels them to still be on? Ricki Lake's no longer on the air. Oprah Winfrey's no longer on the air. What has kept him with that staying power? Is it because we watch it? His numbers are not that high. He's backed by Jews, financially.

'Barbara Walters owned The View. Where's her money coming from? Howard Stern, he's been on for years and the list goes on and on.'

DailyMail.com spoke to John Barnett, another of the protest organizers who appeared alongside Shabazz in videos of the event. Turning to Shabazz, Barnett said that journalists should 'not focus on Mr. Shabaaz's past' and should focus on Donham instead

Asked about Shabazz's anti-Semitic views, Barnett himself made disparaging comments about Jewish people. He said: 'When you look at Maury Povich, when you look at Barbara Walters, when you look at Howard Stern, all of those are associated with Jews. How is his show, Maury Povich, still on the air, and Oprah isn't even on air any more?'

Activists were seen holding up signs that read 'Lock her up' outside the senior home where they thought Carolyn Bryant Donham lived

Videos posted on Shabazz's Facebook page show just how far the group of protesters went to find Donham.

In a post on July 5, Shabazz posted a graphic saying: 'Emmett Till Accuser To Be Arrested Wednesday!?'

The post included the date, time and location of an address where the protest took place

In one video Shabazz wrote that he was 'live in Raleigh at Carolyn Bryant's (Donham) location. The false accuser of Emmett Till.'

The location appears to be one of Donham's last known addresses.

Dressed in a dark blue suit and sunglasses he can be heard asking people: 'You haven't seen Bryant around here have you? She's an old white lady.'

Shabazz was holding a folder that he claimed contained an 'eviction notice from the black people in this state' and a 'subpoena to appear for The People of North Carolina versus Carolyn Bryant Donham' - no such case has been brought by the prosecutor overseeing the matter.

Speaking outside the home Shabazz said: 'Carolyn Bryant Donahm has hid from justice long enough.

'We're at the doorstop of the false accuser and the murderer of Emmett Till'.

When they didn't find Donham at the property they went to the seniors home where videos posted online show them walking in the front door and showing a photo of Donham around on a phone.

Shabazz said to a group of seniors sitting in chairs in the lobby: 'You ever heard of Emmett Till?'

An elderly white woman says back: 'Yes!'

Donham's husband, Roy Bryant, (right) and half-brother, JW Milam, (left) were arrested for his lynching, but acquitted. The pair later admitted guilt, but couldn't be prosecuted due to double-jeopardy laws. Carolyn is seen (right) celebrating after their acquittal

Emmett Till pictured with his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, at home in Chicago

A man in his 60s protests: 'I live here sir, all this is not necessary. I had nothing to do with that.'

The group leaves the lobby and gets into the elevator where they head up to the sixth floor and knock on a door and shouted: 'Carolyn Bryant Donham! We have a warrant'

When a man opens the door and says she is not there, the group interrogates him.

The man says: 'Who is that?'

A woman with the group says: 'How long have you been here?'

The man says: '20 years.'

When the group says they are the Original Black Panther Party, he says: 'Who is that?'

As the group walks away they pull up the address on a phone and show it to the camera so Shabazz can prove it was not a 'goose chase.'

Among those who appear in the videos are 'Mike Pain' who calls himself the 'Leader of The Original Black Panther Party.'

The Raleigh Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.

The Southern Poverty Law Center did not respond to requests for comment.
Two of Queensland's biggest festivals are under fire after disgruntled attendees complained about major queues stretching for hours - with some people unable to even go to the toilet.

The Abbey Medieval Festival in Caboolture and the Brisbane Airshow in Cressbrook made a return over the weekend, having been postponed for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Abbey Medieval Festival draws people to see its re-enactments of jousting tournaments, battling knights and powerful cannons.

But hundreds who attended the festival were left bitterly disappointed with the event's extremely long queues and issues with ATMs.

'1.5 Hour + Queue, to get on the buses and join another 45 minute queue, at Abbey Medieval Festival Queuefest '22,' one person posted to Reddit.

'Have been about 5 times now, and this was the worst,' another commented.

'It was basically just the festival of lining up... They should have sold less tickets and had it a much better experience.'

One Reddit post about delays at the Abbey Medieval Festival (pictured) was captioned: '1.5 Hour + Queue, to get on the buses and join another 45 minute queue, at Abbey Medieval Festival Queuefest '22''

Luke Binks vs Katrina Kruse 2 points each! Lady Katrina with a perfect score of 6 this round. Huzzah! Up next. Lady Amanda vs Lady Katrina. Posted by Abbey Medieval Festival on Saturday, July 9, 2022

The Abbey Medieval Festival (pictured) draws visitors for its re-enactments of jousting and battling knights

Another said: 'If a horse had bolted into a crowd or even some little panic went down, s*** could have went south fast. Queues went into other queues, and most of the time, blocked main thorough fares to much confusion.'

'At least 40min line for toilet and more for food. Couldn't even get mead...two lines, one for converting money to tokens and another for the alcohol,' said another attendee.

'This was my third year of attending and I've never seen the lines so long.'

A fourth highlighted the difficulty of accessing money onsite: 'I watched the poor stallholders waving their mobile phones around trying to get service for the EFTPOS. The grateful looks I got when I handed over cash.'

The Brisbane Airshow (pictured) gives fanatics the opportunity to come and see their favourite aircraft perform amazing aerobatic stunts at high speeds

The Brisbane Airshow, which gives fanatics the opportunity to come and see their favourite aircraft perform amazing aerobatic stunts at high speeds, also experienced long delays.

'Very disappointed! Stuck for 1.5h in a huge queue and was even close to the car park. Had to return home. Me and a lot of people, unfortunately. Better traffic management next time guys,'' one man posted on social media about the event.

An attendee at the Brisbane Airshow (pictured) commented: 'Absolute joke to try and get to parking from about 9.30am yesterday (Saturday) morning. The line was kilometres long and spent hours in it and thousands and thousands of people missed the show cause the parking was so slow'

'Very disappointed! Stuck for 1.5h in a huge queue and was even close to the car park. Had to return home,' one man complained about his experience at the airshow (pictured)

Another person commented: 'Absolute joke to try and get to parking from about 9.30am yesterday (Saturday) morning. The line was kilometres long and spent hours in it and thousands and thousands of people missed the show cause the parking was so slow.

'Then to hear apparently people got turned away 'cause there was too many people even though you had a ticket.'

A third said: 'Inconvenienced... Two hours sat in the car to travel around 3km ... absolute joke then no eftpos and huge queues at the ATMs so no food/drink.'

'Inconvenienced... Two hours sat in the car to travel around 3km ... absolute joke then no eftpos and huge queues at the ATMs so no food/drink,' one person complained online about attending the Brisbane Airshow last weekend (pictured, the Brisbane Airshow)

'After having tickets from the original 2020 date rolled over, this was such a disappointment.'

Abbey Museum Director, Edith Cuffe told Daily Mail Australia: 'The Abbey Medieval Festival apologises for unexpected delays experienced by some patrons on Saturday.

'Factors outside of our control saw longer than expected queues for some food and events.

Our team worked tirelessly to ensure the issues were rectified for day 2 on Sunday.'

The organisers of the Abbey Medieval Festival issued a Facebook statement on Saturday in response to the online claims.

'As you know, we will be receiving funding to improve the Festival and all your comments are providing invaluable feedback to our growth for permanent infrastructure in future,' festival organisers wrote.

Organisers of the Abbey Medieval Festival (pictured) issued a statement: 'As you know, we will be receiving funding to improve the Festival and all your comments are providing invaluable feedback to our growth for permanent infrastructure in future'

'As a registered not-for-profit organisation, this event forms a major fundraiser for our Museum, supports local business and provides an opportunity for our reenactment community to share the love of history.'

'After two years of COVID cancellations, we have had to navigate major change in the way our Festival is delivered and we will dedicate ourselves to making sure this is only a better experience moving forward.'

Daily Mail Australia contacted the Brisbane Airshow for comment on the claims about delays by those who attended the event.
Residents from one of NSW's biggest regional cities have been forced to boil their own drinking water for more than a week after flooding contaminated its supplies - but not before some locals were left with painful stomach bugs.

TikTok user Emma Debus, who was visiting the central NSW city from Sydney, posted a video on Friday showing a supermarket's shelves stripped bare of bottle water.

'I just arrived in Dubbo and my brother has informed me that the water has been contaminated due to flooding around the area so you either have to boil water or drink bottled water otherwise you get Bali belly equivalent due to bacteria,' she said.

Ms Debus than panned along the largely emptied shelves of the bottled water section.

'This is what the water shelves look like in the supermarket at the moment so looks like we're boiling water,' she said.

TikTok user Emma Debus revealed the empty supermarket shelves in the bottled water section of a Dubbo supermarket

Ms Deebus, who was visiting her family from Sydney, said Dubbo's water might give you the equivalent of 'Bali belly'

Dubbo Regional Council mayor Mathew Dickerson told Daily Mail Australia the decision had been made on Wednesday last week after floods had stirred up a lot of debris in the Macquarie River, which feeds into the Dubbo Water Treatment Plant.

He said council had worked closely with the Western NSW Local Health District official Priscilla Stanley to assess whether there was any danger.

'If you have water that is turbid (cloudy or opaque) it could hide some pathogens and so therefore it's easier from a public safety and health aspect to just test turbidity,' Mr Dickerson said.

He stressed that the measures were needed to safeguard against the possibility of water-born bacteria, such cryptosporidium, which when swallowed can induce stomach cramps and diarrhea - symptoms that Bali Belly sufferers are typically hit by.

'It's absolutely precautionary there's no proof that there's any cryptosporidium in the water,' Mr Dickerson said.

Dubbo Regional Council mayor Mathew Dickerson stands above the swollen Macquarie River last Monday

He said for people the bacteria could pose a serious threat to people who were immunocompromised.

He was hoping to have three reservoirs of town water given the all-clear by Thursday night but stressed the community should wait to hear from council.

'We'll tell the community if you live in certain zones you'll be able to drink,' he said.

Mr Dickerson said the community's response had been positive.

'In general it's been "OK it's happened, let's analyse it afterwards and please make sure it doesn't happen again",' he said.

'The supermarkets I have been walking into have large pallets of bottled water near the entrance.'

Mr Dickerson said the run on bottled water wasn't as severe as the toilet paper shortage during Covid.

Mr Dickerson with Western NSW Local Health District official Priscilla Stanley at the Dubbo Water Treatment Plant

The more than 43,000 people who live in Dubbo were told that tap water connected to the town's supplies was not safe to drink or use in food preparation unless it was brought to a 'rolling boil'.

Residents were also advised to use boiled or bottled water for brushing teeth, preparing baby formula, making ice and for drinking water for pets.

The health district also advised that, as a precaution, babies and toddlers should be sponge bathed but that dishes could be washed by hand in hot soapy water or in a dishwasher, provided they were air-dried.

The alert was also issued for the surrounding villages of Firgrove, Wongarbon, Eumungerie, Ballimore, Mogriguy, and Brocklehurst.
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More than 500 firefighters are racing against time to save ancient giant sequoias and historic structures at Yosemite National Park after a wildfire expanded overnight to scorch over 3,000 acres of the woodland.

The Washburn Fire, which officials now say was caused by humans, grew 500 acres overnight to reach 3,221 acres Tuesday morning. It is only 22 percent contained.

It now reaches the South Fork of the Merced River, Mercury News reports, and is creeping its way northwestern to threaten more than 500 mature sequoias in the park's Mariposa Grove and the nearby community of Wawona, which has been evacuated.

Fire officials are now preparing for the worst, using bulldozers to clear lines of downed trees to prevent the wildfire from spreading, while others are creating controlled burns of brushes and dead wood to protect the area.

They are using State Highway 41 as a stopping ground, CNN reports, and planes have been deployed to spray the area with fire retardant chemicals.

Crews have even installed a sprinkler system to dampen the ground around the 209-foot-tall Grizzly Giant sequoia tree, with water from a small pool feeding sprinklers set up by the tree's base.

'We're trying to give it some preventable first aid, really, and make sure that when the fire - if the fire - comes over here, that this tree is protected,' Garrett Dickman, a forest ecologist with the National Park Service at Yosemite, told CNN.

More than 500 firefighters have descended on Yosemite National Park in Wawona, California to extinguish the growing Washburn Fire before it destroys ancient sequoia trees. Some firefighters are seen here Monday night trying to create a controlled fire to help prevent the fire from spreading

The Washburn Fire spread 500 acres overnight, and is now scorching 3,221 acres of the national park

One firefighter is seen here using a driptorch to burn dead brush in an effort to contain the fire before it reaches the sequoias

A fireman is seen here early Monday morning braving the growing Washburn Fire after it doubled in size over the weekend

One firefighter tried to protect a tree with water on Monday as the fire creeps its way northwestern where it will threaten more than 500 mature sequoias in the park's Mariposa Grove

A CalFire firefighter is seen here monitoring the controlled burn of a tree along Wawona Road on Monday

John Carter, a firefighter with the Cleveland National Forest, doused Washburn Fire hot spots on the eastern edge of the fire

Meanwhile, the eastern part of the fire is causing some smaller spot fires that are more intense but slower moving to pop up - and the area of the southern portion of Yosemite National Park remains closed to visitors even as the rest of the park remains open.

'If you look at our progression maps, this fire is not moving quickly at all,' Matt Ahearn, the deputy operations chief for Fire Team 13 told CNN.

'What it's doing there is producing extreme heat and just sitting there and billowing and just pumping smoke out of it, which is producing the large smoke columns you are seeing from many miles away.'

He added that it is still on the outskirts of Mariposa Grove, and told community members at a meeting Monday night: 'We're feeling comfortable right now, but we still have a lot of work to do.

'We still have days worth of going in and cleaning out these downed trees, removing the heat from the edge,' he said, according to the San Francisco Gate.

Ahearn added that 'there are still pockets of unburned fuel in the interior.'

The southern portion of Yosemite National Park has remained closed as the fire continues to burn through the area

Officials say the fire is not moving quickly at all and insist that it is remaining on the outskirts of Mariposa Grove

Air tankers have also been deployed to the area to drop fire-retardant chemicals on the area in another effort to protect the ancient trees

A firefighter is seen here spraying water on one of the ancient sequoia trees to dampen the area around it so that the Washburn Fire will not destroy it

Over 500 firefighters are working to protect the sequoia trees as the fire inches closer on Tuesday

Firefighter Matt Shibuya, right, and assistant engine operator John Carter, with the U.S. Forest Service Cleveland National Forest unit, draw a hose to mop up hotspots in Mariposa Grove

Other firefighters worked to clear brush and downed trees from Mariposa Grove in an effort to protect the trees

Smoke continued to bellow as the firefighters worked to protect the ancient trees in Yosemite National Park on Monday

A firefighter is seen here trying to climb down one of the giant trees with a hose in preparation for the Washburn Fire to spread into the area

At the historic Grizzly Giant sequoia tree, officials have installed sprinklers to help dampen the area around it

How rescue service is trying to save the world famous Grizzy Giant sequoia The Grizzly Giant is the oldest sequoia in the Mariposa Grove, and one of the tallest trees in the world. The tree is 2,995 years old, with the oldest known specimen to have been 3,266 years old. Large giant sequoias owe their size to rapid growth rather than age, so an old sequoia will not necessarily be the largest. Standing at 209 feet it is the second largest tree in the Yosemite, and one of the most photographed. The Grizzly Giant is in the Mariposa Grove impacted by the Washburn Fire. Fire fighters are surrounding the Giant with a sprinkler system in order to protect it. Advertisement

Still, many ecologists are worrying about the fate of the giant and ancient trees that grace the national park.

They have coexisted for millennia with lightning-sparked fires considered part of the natural balance of healthy redwood forests.

The oldest known redwood fossils date back to the Jurassic period around 200 million years ago.

The trees require large amounts of water which they receive mostly from snowmelt that accumulates over the winter months and soaks into the ground.

But experts say blazes as large as the Washburn Fire can be too much for the trees to handle, as they have been stressed from persistent droughts and have grown increasingly vulnerable to more frequent bouts of extreme wildfire activity symptomatic of climate change.

'Fire is important, in fact it's critical for giant sequoias to have the seeds come out of the cones, to regenerate the soil, provide habitat for the animals,' Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman told CNN.

'But it's these high-intensity fires that are causing damages.'

Hundreds of the trees have perished in six major wildfires that have raged through California's Sierra Nevada range over the past six years, burning 85 percent of all giant sequoia groves between 2015 and 2021, compared to only one quarter in the preceding century, according to Park Service.

And over the past two years lightning-sparked wildfires have killed up to a fifth of the estimated 75,000 large sequoias, which are the biggest trees by volume and a major draw for tourists.

Last year, a fierce windstorm that ripped through the grove toppled 15 giant sequoias, along with countless other trees.

The blaze - which was first reported near the Washburn Trail at the park on July 7 and doubled in size over the weekend - also threatens some historic structures at the park, including the Wawana Hotel - the park's oldest hotel, which was first established in 1856.

And, CNN reports, fire management teams have wrapped the historic Galen Clark cabin - where the first 'guardian' of the park lived - with protective foil.

Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley have been protected since President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation in 1864.

A helicopter flew through the area over the weekend as the fire doubled in size to dump water on the national park

Some of the more than 500 firefighters on the scene are pictured making their way to the Mariposa Grove on Thursday

Controlled burns have left the area outside of Mariposa Grove charred, with one small tree still seen standing

Firefighters from the Cleveland National Forest have been enlisted to help out with the efforts at Yosemite. They are seen here marching toward the 209-foot tall Giant Grizzly tree

Firefighters are pictured protecting one of the other sequoia trees as the Washburn Fire burns outside of Mariposa Grove

Firefighters have worked to burn the downed trees in the area to make them less susceptible to being burned in the Washburn Fire as it moves toward Mariposa Grove

In this photo released by the National Park Service, the Washburn Fire burns near the lower portion of the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park on Thursday

On Monday, the Washburn Fire emitted a massive pyrocumulus cloud signaling an uptick in fire activity

A plume of smoke could be seen rising from Yosemite National Park in Oakhurst, California on Friday

Smoke billowed from the Washburn Fire near the lower portion of the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park on Friday

The situation is now growing even more dire as a heat advisory was issued for the Central Valley sprawling below the Sierra while up in the fire area, and a high temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded for the village of Wawona, where hundreds tourists and residents were forced to evacuate last Friday.

On Monday, the Washburn fire emitted a massive pyrocumulus cloud signaling an uptick in fire activity.

The clouds form when air heats up and moves upwards, pushing smoke, ash and vapor up with it, according to the San Francisco Gate.

But forecasters say that 'prescribed burning,' have been proven to help reduce fires, and say that there has not been 'any erratic winds' that have spread the fire even further.

'We do have the high pressure that's over the top of the fire which is causing the increase in temperatures. However, we do get a decent amount of humidity at night which moderates fire behavior which allows our night shift firefighters to do good work.'

The Washburn Fire has forced the closure of the South Gate entrance to the park, though other entrances remain open

The fire threatens a number of historic structures at the park including the Wawana Hotel - the park's oldest hotel, which was first established in 1856 - and the Galen Clark cabin

The smoke from the fire could be seen forming an orange cloud over the area at night

The fire burned through a hillside at Yosemite National Park in California over the weekend

State Highway 41 has been set up as a base for the firefighters and their crew, as they try to stop the fire

Officials now say the fire was likely caused by humans.

Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon made the revelation at a community meeting monday night.

'As you all know, there was no lightning on that day,' he said of July 7, when the fire broke out. 'So it is a human start.

'It's under investigation,' he continued, adding: 'That's all I can say about that right now.

'We're looking at that really hard.'

Meanwhile, other wildfires have sprang up throughout the west.

In Utah, smoke and ash emanating from a growing wildfire in rural Tooele County blew into Salt Lake City on Saturday. By Monday night, the Jacob City Fire had grown to 6.4 square miles, with 19 percent containment, officials said.

Elsewhere in Utah, firefighters contending with heavy winds battled the 15.9 square-mile Halfway Hill Fire in Filmore. Law enforcement on Saturday arrested four men who investigators said abandoned a campfire that ignited the blaze.

So far in 2022, over 35,000 wildfires have burned nearly 4.7 million acres in the U.S., according to the National Interagency Fire Center, well above average for both wildfires and acres burned.
Terry Strada (@TerrySStrada) is the National Chair of 9/11 Families United. Her husband, Tom, died in the World Trade Center's North Tower in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The United States suffered its worst terrorist attack over 20 years ago when 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and murdered 2,977 people on September 11, 2001, causing injuries to thousands more.

Over 3,000 children lost a parent, some lost both.

Like most victims' families, I was left to navigate in a post 9/11 world filled with overwhelming sadness, fear, and uncertainty.

Nothing about my life, including raising my three children who were seven, four and four days old has been easy since that heartbreaking day when their father was killed in the North Tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

The challenges of single parenthood came with a constant barrage of additional questions that I needed answers to; Who would attack us so violently? Why would they want to murder thousands on American soil? How did such a horrific attack happen?

I have committed the last 20 years to working with various members of the 9/11 community and our nation's lawmakers in uncovering evidence that would put an end to my burning questions.

We all deserve the truth, and if the United States is going to do its best to prevent another catastrophic attack motivated by the Islamist hate-filled ideology that inspired September 11, we need a full accounting from the Kingdom.

President Joe Biden is traveling to Jeddah this week to meet with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman al Saud (right)

President Joe Biden is traveling to Jeddah this week to meet with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman al Saud.

Will he be the first president to look a Saudi leader in the eye and demand accountability for Saudi Arabia's complicity in the 9/11 attacks?

The early signs are troubling.

In an op-ed published in the Washington Post this past weekend, the President outlined his reasons for traveling to the Kingdom without a single mention of Saudi Arabia's role in the 9/11 attacks.

He applauded himself for releasing the intelligence community's report on the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

He boasted that he, 'will be the first president to visit the Middle East since 9/11 without U.S. troops engaged in a combat mission there'.

Yet failed to even mention that his administration has also declassified thousands of documents concerning Saudi support for al Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorists.

Those documents were kept secret by the U.S. government for years. And most of these revelations were not available to the 9/11 Commission, which was ostensibly created to prepare a full accounting of the circumstances of the attack.

In fact, throughout the past two decades past presidents have gone to extraordinary lengths to protect the U.S relationship with the Kingdom.

This included excising information regarding the Saudis' role in September 11 from a 2002 U.S. congressional inquiry, attempting to deny the 9/11 families from their day in court by vetoing counter-terrorism legislation allowing us to sue the Saudi government, and most recently President Trump's reneging on a promise to declassify FBI documents to the greatest extent possible.

My late husband (Tom Strada, left) was a kind, fun-loving man with a strong moral compass

Tom (right) would frequently tell our two oldest to 'do the right thing' (children pictured above) That sentiment is the foundation for all three of my children's upbringing

(Above) Kaitlyn Strada, 17, conducts a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on legislation that calls for disclosure of 28 blacked out pages of the 9/11 report to Congress on the terrorist attacks on June 2, 2015. From left are her mother Terry, brother Tom, 20, firefighter Ray Hayden, Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

To his credit, President Biden proved different than his predecessors when he signed an executive order last September commanding U.S. Intelligence Agencies to conduct a declassification review process of all 9/11 related documents.

But this was only just a first step.

The newly declassified documents are damning and cannot now be ignored.

In one instance, documents reveal a Saudi intelligence operative -- on the payroll of former Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States Prince Bandar bin Sultan, living freely in the Kingdom and receiving a monthly stipend -- was a key part of the U.S.-based support network.

The evidence shows this Saudi agent, Omar al-Bayoumi, provided substantial assistance to the hijackers and possessed a drawing of a plane and formula used to calculate the rate of descent required of an aircraft to reach a target on the horizon at a given speed.

The FBI assessed that al-Bayoumi was likely to have advance knowledge of the hijacker's intentions.

After the announcement that President Biden would be making a visit to the Kingdom, my organization, 9/11 Families United, penned a letter to him pointing out the thousands of pages of newly declassified U.S. Intelligence documents supporting Saudi complicity in 9/11, including recent ones from Great Britain.

Moreover, there is overwhelming proof that Saudi agents in the U.S. ran an illegal anti-American, pro-Jihadist program in the U.S. to establish the support network needed to carry out the attacks.

President Biden must protect America's interests by demanding transparency from the Kingdom and accountability for the role they played in murdering our loved ones. Nothing less is acceptable from the 9/11 community, and the American people deserve nothing less.

Nothing about my life, including raising my three children who were seven, four and four days old has been easy since that heartbreaking day when their father was killed in the North Tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan

But the moral, legal, and diplomatic case for taking 9/11 accountability up with Saudis does not rely on that alone.

President Biden needs to address the undisputed fact that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the epicenter of terrorism financing leading up to 9/11, and declassified intelligence reports show that state-funded charities, billionaire Saudi elites and Saudi banks provided massive support to al Qaeda.

It is the obligation of the President to insist the Saudi state hold its own citizens and institutions accountable for their wrongdoing. And it is the obligation of the Saudi state to do so.

The Crown Prince has stripped some individuals of their resources for their extremist activities, but if he wants to show a capacity to be a responsible actor on the global stage, now is his opportunity to step up and do so.

My late husband was a kind, fun-loving man with a strong moral compass. He would frequently tell our two oldest to 'do the right thing.' That sentiment is the foundation for all three of my children's upbringing.

I would like to believe President Biden and the Crown Prince will see the wisdom in those words when they are sitting across from one another and realize the importance of doing what is right for both countries.

In this meeting, both leaders can begin a new chapter in our long history based on accountability for September 11 and the truth.

Both nations can commit to an agreement that their bad actors gave substantial support for the September 11 attacks.

It is long overdue for the Kingdom to account for harm caused to American civilians by the wrongdoing of its wealthy citizens, banks and charities and we expect nothing less than ensuring that accountability for our pain and suffering is achieved from our president.
Russia is looking to Iran for 'hundreds' of weapons-capable drones and other military equipment for use in its ongoing war in Ukraine, a senior White House advisor said on Monday.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the unmanned systems to Russia, but said the U.S. has 'information' that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

'Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline,' he told reporters Monday.

Sullivan said it was proof that Russia's overwhelming bombardments in Ukraine, which have led it to consolidate gains in the country's east in recent weeks, was 'coming at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons.'

The revelation comes on the eve of Biden's trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, where Iran's nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.

Sullivan also noted that Iran has provided similar unmanned aerial vehicles to Yemen's Houthi rebels to attack Saudi Arabia before a ceasefire was reached earlier this year.

'This is just one example of how Russia is looking to countries like Iran for capabilities that are also being used, I might add, or have been used before we got the ceasefire in place in Yemen, to attack Saudi Arabia,' the national security official said.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Monday that Russia has gone to Iran for 'hundreds' of weapons-capable drones in its months-long invasion of Ukraine

'So from our perspective, we will continue to do our part to help sustain the effective defense of Ukraine, and to help the Ukrainians show that the Russian effort to try to wipe Ukraine off the map cannot succeed.'

The U.S. decision to publicly reveal it and Saudi Arabia's chief regional rival was helping to rearm Russia comes as both Tel Aviv and Riyadh have resisted joining global efforts to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine due to their domestic interests.

The timing is also of note, with the White House confirming earlier on Monday that the president will be meeting with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, despite Biden's earlier vow to make his regime a 'pariah state.'

Military analyst Samuel Bendett of the CNA think tank said Russia's choice of Iran as a source for drones is logical because 'for the last 20 years or more Iran has been refining its drone combat force. Their drones have been in more combat than the Russians'.

A apartment building hit by Russian rockets fire in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 11

Iran has 'a proven track record of flying drones for hundreds of miles and hitting their targets,' Bendett added, including penetrating American-supplied air defenses and striking Saudi oil refineries.

Sullivan noted that Iran gave similar weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen (pictured: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi)

He said the Iranian drones could be very effective at striking Ukrainian power stations, refineries and other critical infrastructure.

Bendett noted that before the Ukraine war, Russia had licensed drone technology for its Forpost UAV from a proven supplier: Israel. The Jewish state has remained neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, so that source is no longer available to Moscow

Russia launched its unprovoked assault on Ukraine on February 24, and since then Kyiv's forces have put up a defense that surpassed the international community's expectations.

But months later and with likely tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives lost, Vladimir Putin's apparent obsession with taking over the former Soviet state at whatever cost has put no end in sight for the conflict.

Two explosions have been reported in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson in the last four days, according to CNN.

And on Sunday, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office reported that six people were killed and 31 injured in Kharkiv after Russians shelling hit a shopping center as well as homes and vehicles.

Last month Biden and other NATO leaders pledged to support Ukraine for 'as long as it takes.'
Mobile providers will soon be hit with strict new rules to stop cruel scammers from rinsing millions from unsuspecting Aussies.

Providers will be asked to identify, trace and block text message scams, share information about scams with other providers and make reports to authorities.

Telecommunication companies will face fines of up to $250,000 if they don't comply with the new rules that will be enforced from Tuesday.

The crackdown comes after Aussies lost more than $2 billion in scams in 2021, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Australian mobile providers will be hit with strict new rules in a crackdown on scam calls and texts that have seen Aussies lose millions (stock image)

Last month, Aussies were urged to watch out for a cruel new scam text (pictured) that said they had been in contact with a Covid case and needed to order a free PCR kit

An estimated $10 million was stolen from Aussies in 2021 through text messages, with 67,000 scam texts reported, data from Scamwatch shows.

Aussies have been increasingly targeted by bogus messages after authorities focused their efforts on targeting scam calls last year.

Chair of the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) Nerida O'Loughlin told the ABC the rules would have the same effect on scam text messages, which have seen Aussies lose more than $6.5million, so far this year.

'We're hoping that these rules will help Australian consumers as they have been helped by a previous code we put in place to reduce scam calls,' she said.

'That code has resulted in a reduction of an estimated half a billion scam calls to Australian consumers over the last 16 months.'

Last month, phone users were targeted by a cruel new scam text that said they had been in contact with a Covid case and needed to order a free PCR kit.

Services Australia issued the warning, saying fake messages have been sent out that appear to be from Medicare and direct recipients to a dodgy link.

Providers will be required to identify, trace and block text message scams, share information about scams with other providers and make reports to authorities (pictured, an Optus store)

Telecommunication companies could be hit with fines of up to $250,000 if they don't comply with the new rules due to be enforced from Tuesday (stock image)

The text of the bogus message reads, 'Medicare: You have been in close contact with someone who has contracted Omicron. You must order a free PCR Test Kit'.

Services Australia warned people not to click on the counterfeit link as it could contain malware and immediately delete the hoax message.

Earlier this month, Sydney-based Nine Network presenter Jess Ridley, 33, was swindled out of $35,000 by phone scammers who posed as her bank.

Ms Ridley was taken through a fake series of official-sounding steps to make her account 'safer' before she realised she was the victim of a sophisticated scam.

'Scamwatch has received over 6415 scam reports mentioning the coronavirus with more than $9 800 000 in reported losses since the outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus),' the ACCC website states.

'Common scams include phishing for personal information, online shopping, and superannuation scams.'

Aussies have been increasingly targeted by bogus messages after authorities focused their efforts on targeting scam calls last year (stock image)

Phishing scams involve criminals stealing confidential information, such as online banking and other logins and passwords, and credit card details.

Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones said the government is aware of the number of Aussies falling victim to scams.

He said harsher penalties for scammers and more targeted rules were on the way to stop victims who in some instances have lost their life savings in just minutes.

'It's costing us billions of dollars, but it's also driving people mad. It matters for economic reasons, but it also matters for personal safety reasons,' he said.

Vulnerable communities like Australians with a disability and Indigenous Australians are at a greater risk of being scammed, the ACCC said.

Up to $66million was fleeced from these communities in 2021, almost double the amount that was stolen the year previous.
A warrant was issued for his arrest last week on charges of being an accessory to the women's deaths

Meanwhile, Osborn, a Staten Island native actor who insisted on his innocence outside of court, posted $40,000 bond on Monday

If convicted on all of the charges, Pearce could face up to 120 years in prison

He also faces two more felony counts for selling or offering to sell the women a controlled substance leading up to their drug-induced homicides

Pearce, who is being held on a $3.4 million bond pending unrelated assault charges, appeared at Los Angeles Superior Court for a preliminary hearing

The women were found overdosed after being dumped outside two separate hospitals in LA

Pearce, 40 and Brandt Osborn, 42, face homicide charges in the November 13 deaths of Christy Giles, 24, and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26

Hollywood producer David Pearce appeared in court after being charged with murdering LA model and her architect friend, who overdosed on a cocktail of drugs and were dumped outside hospitals.

Pearce, 40 and actor Brandt Osborn, 42, face homicide charges in the November 13 deaths of Christy Giles, 24, and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26.

Pearce, who is being held on a $3.4 million bond pending unrelated assault charges, appeared at Los Angeles Superior Court for a preliminary hearing about the Giles-Cabrales case Monday.

He also faces two more felony counts for selling or offering to sell the women a controlled substance leading up to their drug-induced homicides. If convicted on all of the charges, Pearce could face up to 120 years in prison.

Meanwhile, Osborn, a Staten Island native actor who insisted on his innocence outside of court, posted $40,000 bond on Monday.

A warrant was issued for his arrest last week on charges of being an accessory to the women's deaths, The New York Post reported.

Hollywood producer David Pearce, who is being held on a $3.4 million bond pending unrelated assault charges, appeared at Los Angeles Superior Court for a preliminary hearing about the Giles-Cabrales case Monday

Pearce, 40 and Brandt Osborn, 42, (pictured) face homicide charges in the November 13 deaths of Christy Giles, 24, and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26

Giles (left) and Cabrales-Arzola (right) were found overdosed after being dumped outside two separate hospitals in LA on November 13

Osborn was released two days after his December arrest was rejected by the Los Angeles District Attorneys Office.

Meanwhile, Pearce is now facing a slew of felony sexual assault charges for a series of unrelated cases - as the LA DA warned he may have other victims.

Osborn told the Post on Monday he had not witnessed Pearce abusing women.

'I asked [one of the alleged victims], because I heard her scream in the middle of the night and our bedrooms were like adjacent. And I asked her. I said, ''Is everything okay?'' She said, ''We were role playing,''' Osborn reportedly told the Post.

[Pearce] never spoke anything to me about physically disrespecting women. I never saw him disrespecting women, ever.'

Osborn allegedly told two fellow actors, Alexandra Creteau and David Murrietta Jr. that he was partying with Giles and Cabralez-Arzola before their deaths, and helped Pearce dump their bodies.

'He told me how they'd partied, two girls came back to their place, and the girls had a bunch of drugs,' Murrietta told the Post last week, adding that Osborn told him he left his apartment to get a COVID test, and when he returned, his roommate told him Giles was dead.

'He checked her pulse, freaked out, decided not to call 911 and they decided what to do with the body,' Murrietta claimed.

A third man, Michael Ansbach, 47, was also arrested along with Pearce and Osborn in December, but has not yet been charged.

He is reportedly cooperating with prosecutors as a witness, his attorney told the Post.

Pierce also faces two more felony counts for selling or offering to sell the women a controlled substance leading up to their drug-induced homicides

Cabralez-Arzola was pictured partying hours before her death

Osborn, a Staten Island native actor who insisted on his innocence outside of court, posted $40,000 bond on Monday. A warrant was issued for his arrest last week on charges of being an accessory to the women's deaths

Last week, DA George Gascon announced that seven additional women have come forward to claim Pearce sexually assaulted them between August 2010 and November 2021.

He warned there may be other victims, urging them to come forward.

'We know that often survivors do not report sexual assault for a variety of reasons,' Gascon said at a news conference.

'Sometimes they feel the system is not going to listen to them, sometimes they're afraid of their assailant, sometimes they feel ashamed, and we recognize that these are all factors that play a role.

'That is one of the reasons we're here to say to our community, and certainly survivors out there, that if you feel comfortable coming forward we're here for you.'

Gascon said Pearce is facing three counts of forcible rape, two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, one count of sodomy and one count of sexual penetration by use of force.

Pearce is now facing a slew of felony sexual assault charges for a series of unrelated cases - as the LA DA warned he may have other victims (pictured in 2018)

Last week, DA George Gascon announced that seven additional women have come forward to claim Pearce sexually assaulted them between August 2010 and November 2021

Giles was found the sidewalk at Southern California Hospital in Culver City on November 13, 2021. She died a short time later from what was determined to be an overdose of fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs.

A few hours later, her friend Cabrales-Arzola was left at Kaiser West Los Angeles. She remained in a coma until she died on November 24 from organ failure and intoxication from cocaine, MDMA and possibly other drugs.

Their deaths were ruled as drug-induced homicides.

Surveillance video showed their bodies being dumped by three masked men driving a Toyota Prius with no license plates, and one month later Pearce was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

He has remained in jail ever since December on unrelated rape charges.

Gascon said investigators have found enough evidence to link Pearce with their deaths, and the sexual assault of three other women.

'We knew that this was going to be a lengthy investigation, and we started with the charges we knew that we could prove,' he explained. 'Most had to do with the using and administration of drugs.

'The LAPD did a lot of work here as well as our prosecuting team because we knew that they were murders and we wanted to prove that; and that is the reason why the outstanding charges have been confirmed.'

But Pearce's attorney insists that the District Attorney's Office still does not have enough evidence to convict Pearce on any of the charges against him.

'All the allegations, including the new charges, are based on extremely weak evidence,' Jacob Glucksman told the New York Post.

'The DA's Office is prosecuting under the premise of 'where there's smoke there's fire.' The problem is, they haven't yet located any fire.'

Pearce (left) and Cabralez-Arzola (center) are pictured together at a warehouse party on November 13 2021, hours before the architect and her model friend Christy Giles suffered fatal overdoses

Christy Giles was described as a vibrant woman who was down-to-earth and 'brutally honest' with her friends and family

On July 2, the Los Angeles Times reported that investigators got a warrant in January to search dozens of electronics seized from the three men.

Pearce was pictured partying with Cabralez-Arzola hours before her death. The young architect was also snapped having a good time with Giles in haunting photos depicting the final hours before their tragic killings.

The Times reported that he and the women had met up at the warehouse party in LA that night, where Cabrales texted Giles around 4 a.m. asking whether she wanted cocaine, according to a search warrant affidavit by Det. Jonathan Vander Lee.

'I'm in the kitchen,' Cabrales responded to Giles. 'Let's do a line.'

Surveillance cameras at the warehouse captured Cabrales and Giles leaving the party with the three men: Pearce, Ansbach and Osborn in Osborn's Hyundai. They were at Pearce's apartment around 5 a.m.

About twenty minutes later, Giles texted her friend: 'Let's go,' along with a wide-eyed emoji.

'Yes,' Cabrales responded. 'I'll call an Uber. 10 min away.'

The women met up with Pearce at the warehouse party in LA, where Cabrales texted Giles around 4 a.m. asking whether she wanted cocaine, according to a search warrant affidavit

According to video footage, a car believed to be the Uber, arrived at the apartment and then was seen leaving after waiting for five minutes.

'One glaring fact is that both Giles and Cabrales wanted to leave Pearce's residence, as is evident by their texts and ordering an Uber,' Vander Lee wrote. 'The next time they are seen, they're dead.'

Cameras later captured Pearce carrying Giles' body to his Prius and driving to a hospital, where she was left on the sidewalk, Vander Lee wrote. The same thing was done with Cabrales.

Vander Lee recalled in his affidavit that detectives spoke to a 'visibly nervous' Osborn, who said he didn't see Giles or Cabrales take any drugs.

'I didn't give them anything, OK, I don't live like that,' Osborn said. He said 'they were making noises, but I figured give them a couple hours and they'll come out of it, but it seemed like they were getting progressively worse.'

Osborn said he panicked because he'd never been in this situation before.

'We didn't know them,' he added, saying he didn't bring them to the same hospital because 'we didn't know how that would look.'
A mother accused of murdering her boyfriend with a single stab wound claimed he liked 'rough sex'.

Hayley Keating, 31, told the court that 45-year-old Matthew Wormleighton choked her regularly with his hands and belt causing her to 'pass out'.

In one instance Keating claims she told her partner, after regaining consciousness, that it felt like rape.

It's said that on the night Mr Wormleighton died at a property in Chilthorne Domer near Yeovil on May 14 last year that the couple were arguing when she picked up a knife from a kitchen drawer.

This was when she threw it at him where it lodged four inches into his chest during an incident fuelled by drink and drugs, Bristol Crown Court was told.

The hearing also heard a recording of the mother-of-two, who denies murder, telling a 999 call handler that night that she had stabbed him and now 'he's f***ing dying, Somerset Live reports.

Mother-of-two Hayley Keating denies murder as accused tells jury partner 'choked her out' during sex

Mr Wormleighton (pictured) died following an incident at a property in Chilthorne Domer near Yeovil on May 14

Keating, of Chilthorne Domer, told the court: 'Sometimes he would choke me out, I would pass out.

'Sometimes he would do it with his hands. Sometimes he would do it with a belt, quickly around my head in a loop.

'I would be on all four's and he was behind me. I would pass out and it was scary coming back 'round.

'I didn't really say anything, I just told him to be careful. I was OK with it, he liked it, he liked doing it.

'Being totally out didn't do anything for me. I was happy to do things for him.'

She also said Mr Wormleighton had to care for after a mental health crisis and was 'lovely'.

Hayley Keating, 31, is accused of the murder of Matthew Wormleighton, 45, at the Somerset home they shared

Police attended at 4.45am on May 14 2021 and he was taken to Yeovil District Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The emergency call handler was told: 'I have stabbed the c*** and now he's dying. I just thrown a knife at him because I was angry and now he's f***ing dying. Please get here now.'

A post-mortem examination concluded the preliminary cause of death as a single stab wound.

Prosecutor Miss Jo Martin, QC, previously told the court that she had killed her partner with a knife she had taken from the kitchen.

She said: 'There was a single wound to his chest. The large kitchen knife that she used went into his chest to a depth of 10 centimetres.'

Keating immediately rang the emergency services afterwards saying that she had stabbed him.

But Miss Martin said 'that may not be right' as Keating now says 'she threw the knife in his direction, she does not know how he became injured, and she cannot remember what happened'.

Mr Wormleighton had two previous significant relationships and neither woman said he was violent or controlling but 'caring, generous and a loveable rogue'

The jury now needs to consider how the knife ended up in the father-of-two's chest to a depth of 10cm, whether she threw it or held it in her hand as she stabbed him, Miss Martin added.

At the time of the incident, Keating was 'angry and upset' because Mr Wormleighton was 'trying to leave her', the court heard.

The mother-of-two claims that Mr Wormleighton was violent towards her both in the past and on the night in question which 'frightened her'.

The jury was told that the victim was controlling and coercive towards Keating who the prosecution say may suffer from a mental illness which leads to an inability to maintain self control.

Mr Wormleighton had two previous significant relationships and neither woman said he was violent or controlling but 'caring, generous and a loveable rogue'.

It's also claimed he told friends that Keating was a 'nutter but the sex is really good'.

Keating was described as being 'funny, entertaining and kind' but 'over the top' in her behaviour and both of them used alcohol and cocaine and suffered with depression.

The trial continues.
More than half a million homes will be uninsurable by 2030 due to Australia's rising risk of extreme weather and climate change, experts say.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians are facing soaring premiums after recent years have seen the country battered by bushfires, floods, and severe winds.

But the Climate Council says the issue is only set to get worse.

According to their data, one in 25 properties will be effectively uninsurable within the next eight years.

Antoinette, from Victoria, typically pays $3293 annually for home insurance, but when she received her renewal notice last month, the price jumped to $14,206.

Climate experts say more than half a million homes will be uninsurable by 2030 as the risk of severe weather events in Australia continues to rise. Pictured: Floods in Lismore, in northern NSW, in March

Antoinette (pictured) has witnessed her insurance premium hike by more than $10,000 despite never making a claim

She has never made a claim and has lived in the same home for 20 years.

'I thought it was a scam actually,' she told A Current Affair.

'There was no information on it that it was going to happen.'

Kirsten's Queensland home has seen two major floods. She currently pays about $4000 a year for insurance, but is now bracing for her premium to rise two or threefold.

'This house sits in about a 1 in 75-year flood risk. We have had three floods in 50 years. If we dropped flood insurance to save $8000 a year and there is another flood in less than ten years, we would have about $100,000 of repairs to do,' she said.

In Queensland, where there is the biggest number of high-risk electorates, 6.5 per cent or 193,232 properties are forecast to be uninsurable by 2030.

The same applies to 3.3 per cent (148,546) homes in NSW, 3.2 per cent (35,285) in SA, 2.6 per cent (95,845) in VIC, 2.5 per cent (2783) in NT, 2.4 per cent (35,277) in WA, 1.9 per cent (6689) in TAS, and 1.3 per cent (3071) in the ACT.

Chief Operating Officer of The Insurance Council of Australia Kylie McFarlane said the council has incurred over 395,000 claims in the last year - or around 6.5 billion worth of claims.

In March, insurance premiums rose about 2.3 per cent after a series of wild weather events lashed the country over the past 12 months.

'Insurance is a pool, so effectively it is the premium of many who pay for claims of a few. And the pool needs to be sufficient to pay those claims over time,' Ms McFarlane said.

Kylie McFarlane, Chief Operating Officer of The Insurance Council of Australia, said around 6.5 billion worth of insurance claims have been lodged within the past 12 months

In recent years, Australia has been battered by a series of wild weather events, including bushfires, floods, and extreme winds. Pictured is a shot taken during the Black Summer Bushfires of 2019-2020

And it is expected there will be more weather to come.

Meteorologist Ashleigh Lange from Weather Zone said a La Nina like state is still lingering off Australia's coast, giving rise to the possibility that the wet weather event could redevelop again this year over spring or summer.

CEO of Climate Valuation Dr Karl Mallon said the analysis looked at the impacts of climate hazards on 14 million Australian homes to assess the weather risks of homes over the next decade and beyond.

Dr Mallon said it was 'striking' how the number of affected properties grows under higher emissions scenarios.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said Australians are paying the price for Scott Morrison's Government 'failing to meaningfully tackle climate change'.

'Climate change is playing out in real time here and many Australians now find it impossible to insure their homes and businesses,' she said.

'Pollution from coal, oil and gas must begin to plummet and we must scale up our renewable power so it meets the needs of all sectors of our economy.'

The top 10 most at-risk electorates for uninsurable properties by 2030 1.Nicholls, Victoria: 27% or 25,801 properties 2.Richmond, New South Wales: 20% or 22,274 properties 3.Maranoa, Queensland: 15% or 9,551 properties 4.Moncrieff, Queensland: 14% or 18,032 properties 5.Wright, Queensland: 14% or 12,140 properties 6.Brisbane, Queensland: 13% or 19,355 properties 7.Griffith, Queensland: 13% or 14,812 properties 8.Indi, Victoria: 11% or 11,215 properties 9.Page, New South Wales: 11% or 11,691 properties 10. Hindmarsh, South Australia: 11% or 10,775 properties Advertisement

Is YOUR home at risk? The 10 areas in Australia that are likely to become IMPOSSIBLE to insure by 2030 - with up to 90 per cent of properties unable to be protected in one flood-prone city alone

By Stephen Johnson, Economics Reporter for Daily Mail Australia

Up to 90 per cent of homes in some parts of Australia are set to become uninsurable because of catastrophic flooding, an environmental group has warned.

The Climate Council has named the 10 areas across the nation most at risk of natural disasters including floods and bushfires, with five of them in Queensland.

A section of northern Victoria that is part of the Murray-Darling Basin was deemed the most vulnerable part of the country for flooding.

The Climate Council predicted 26.5 per cent, or more than one in four homes in the electorate of Nicholls - which covers the major regional centres of Shepparton and Echuca - would be uninsurable by 2030.

Most worryingly, a huge 90 per cent of homes in Shepparton, which sits on the Goulburn River, were expected to be impossible to insure within eight years because of the flood risk.

The Climate Council has named 10 areas of Australia, by federal electorates, most at risk of natural disasters. Shepparton hasn't had recurring floods recently like Lismore and Brisbane, with its last major inundation in 2010 (pictured) but up to 90 per cent of homes could be uninsurable by 2030

Shepparton hasn't had recurring floods such as those in Lismore and Brisbane, with its last major inundation in 2010.

But Nicki Hutley, an economist with the Climate Council who co-authored the report, said it was Australia's most at-risk place for flooding based on forecasts for heavy rainfall in the area which is flat.

'It's all about where we've built,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'Shepparton has yet to have the types of floods that we have seen elsewhere but this is all about risk.

'This all comes down to the level of increased rainfall that is forecast that will affect those river systems.'

Nicki Hutley, an economist with the Climate Council who co-authored the report, said Shepparton was Australia's most at-risk place for flooding based on forecasts for heavy rainfall in an area that is flat

The Nicholls electorate, previously known as Murray, had 25,801 properties regarded as high risk, putting it well ahead of the northern NSW electorate of Richmond, covering Ballina and Byron Bay, where 22,274 homes are predicted to be in danger.

Should rising global temperatures bring more frequent and devastating floods, potential home buyers would baulk at paying $30,000 a year in flood insurance, which Ms Hutley said would significantly reduce the value of homes.

'Whether they are worth nothing, it becomes a question of what the increase in the insurance premium is going to be,' Ms Hutley said.

'In some areas, the risk is much higher.

'There's a big difference if you're going to pay $3,000 a year in insurance versus $30,000 - if it's $30,000 then somebody who's going to buy that property is either going to expect to buy it for almost nothing - to take account of the fact that they can't insure the property.

'If it's a much lower rate of insurance, it might bring down the price of the property.

'If someone buys a house, if it's going to cost them an extra $5,000 a year for 10 years, does it knock it off by $50,000?'

Southeast Queensland had five spots in the shortlist of the 10 worst-affected federal electorates, with two of them in Brisbane, one on the Gold Coast and two further inland.

The Southern Down region southwest of Brisbane was one of the five federal electorates in Queensland most at risk of natural disasters

Northern NSW had two spots, and Adelaide had one place on the danger list.

The northern Victorian electorate of Indi, which covers Wangaratta, had 10.7 per cent of homes regarded as possibly uninsurable because of flooding.

Recurring flooding in Brisbane this year helped the Greens win the seats of Brisbane and Griffith for the first time ever at the May 21 election, with both those electorates considered most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

In Brisbane, 12.5 per cent of homes were considered likely to be uninsurable by 2030, with the electorate covering the northern side of the Brisbane River.

In the city's south side, 11.4 per cent of homes were considered to be high risk because of riverine flooding.

A similar proportion, or 11.9 per cent of homes in the Moncrieff electorate on the Gold Coast, which covers Surfers Paradise, were also regarded as being potentially uninsurable.

On the other side of the Queensland border, the Richmond electorate covering Ballina and Byron Bay was particularly at risk, with 14.5 per cent of homes deemed uninsurable by 2030 because of regular flooding.

On the other side of the Queensland border, the Labor-held seat of Richmond covering Ballina and Byron Bay (pictured) was particularly vulnerable, with 14.5 per cent of homes deemed uninsurable by 2030 because of the flood risk

This was significantly higher than the neighbouring Page electorate where 5.4 per cent of homes were deemed insurable by 2030 even though it is home to the badly flood-hit city of Lismore.

To the north, back in Queensland, the Maronoa electorate covering the Southern Downs area and the city of Warwick had 13.9 per cent of homes considered uninsurable due to flooding.

The Wright electorate was also the list with nine per cent of homes potentially impossible to insure because of bushfire risk.

Adelaide rounded out the top 10 list with the Labor seat of Hindmarsh deemed to have 9.5 per cent of homes with a high flood risk.

Ms Hutley said while bushfires destroyed homes, flooding was typically more devastating to more properties.

'Ultimately, what you can see is the most expensive risk comes from flooding - it tends to be closer, unlike fire which tends to happen often in areas that are uninhabited as devastating as it is,' she said.
President Joe Biden unveiled a stunning new image of distant galaxies on Monday night from NASA's James Webb space telescope - then promptly cracked a joke about reporters in those faraway places.

The telescope, which cost the National Air and Space Administration roughly $10 billion, produced the sharpest, deepest image of the universe ever seen by mankind.

The president met the once-in-a-lifetime occasion by repeating a favorite line of his about the country leading 'not by the example of our power, but the power of our example.'

He did laud the unveiling as a 'historic day' and called for more funding going toward scientific innovation.

'Whoa,' Biden gasped when the photo was unveiled, showing a myriad of distant stars and galaxies lighting up the blackness of space while in perpetual motion.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, a former Senate Democrat, put the image in perspective as 'a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arm's length' in relation to how much of the universe it shows.

Along with seeing whether distant planets up to 13 lightyears away are habitable, Nelson promised, 'we are going to be able to answer questions that we don't even know what the questions are.' Nelson finished his remarks by thanking the international scientific community for its herculean effort.

'It's amazing,' Biden told him.

Shooting a grin toward reporters, the president added, 'I wonder what the press is like in those other places.'

President Joe Biden said the unveiling of the Webb space telescope image was a 'historic' day

This image provided by NASA on Monday, July 11, 2022, shows galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope is designed to peer back so far that scientists can get a glimpse of the dawn of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with sharper focus

The media was then ushered out of the room, where officials will continue briefing Biden along with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris opened the event as chair of the National Space Council, among an eclectic variety of hats handed to her by the White House.

Her role leading the scientific group was previously in the headlines late last year over a well-meaning but awkward commercial starring Harris and five children, aimed at kindling an interest in space exploration for kids.

But in an odd production choice, the production opted to use child actors rather than students selected based on their love of space.

'All five of them are actors,' the father of a 13-year-old in the video told the Washington Examiner at the time. 'Hes a child actor - hes been trying to do this type of thing for a while.'

The event was delayed because of planning for the president's upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, he said at the top of his speech

On Monday evening, Harris said the Webb telescope 'will enhance what we know about the origins of our universe, our solar system, and possibly life itself.'

Each official who spoke about the meaning the new image holds also took time to thank the other nations whose labor contributed to its unveiling.

For the president, it evoked a comment he had made on at least three past occasions.

'Tomorrow when this image is shared with the world, it will be a historic moment for science and technology, for astronomy and space exploration, for America and all of humanity,' Biden said.

'You know as international collaboration, this telescope embodies how America leads the world not by the example of our power, but the power of our example.'

He pledged the country was leading 'not by the example of our power, but the power of our example' in his November 2020 victory speech, and then again in his inaugural address.

It was also mentioned in a February 2021 speech at the State Department.
A skydiver who died on his first wingsuit flight after both of his parachutes failed to open is being mourned by his heartbroken friends and family - as his devastated twin pays tribute to his 'mischievous' soulmate.

Mark Hanna, 34, plunged to his death after jumping from a plane 15,000ft (4572m) up near Torquay, south of Melbourne, at 10.30am on Sunday.

The experienced skydiver had already completed 300 jumps but it was his first time using a wingsuit - a webbed jumpsuit that allows the user to fall for longer thanks to its increased surface area.

Both his parachutes failed, investigators said, leaving Mark with no safety net to survive.

In a heartbreaking tribute on Monday, Mark's twin brother Andrew said he would miss having someone he could count on 'no matter what'.

'I'm lost for words,' he said.

'The bond that we had being twins growing up... all the mischief we got up to, we knew that we could always count on each other no matter what.'

Andrew (right) paid tribute to his twin Mark (left) and the bond they shared

Mark Hanna, 34, died after falling out of the sky in Connewarre, 70km southwest of Melbourne, at 10.30am on Sunday

The experienced skydiver had completed 300 jumps previously but it was his first time using a wingsuit

Mark's close friend David also paid tribute, telling 7News that the skydiver was a 'daredevil' but the 'nicest guy'.

'He was the biggest daredevil you'd ever meet, but he was the most humble and nicest guy as well with the best smile,' he said.

'He'll be missed by everyone, especially our inner tighter knight community but in particular his twin brother.'

'Mark, you were my jump buddy and best friend. Love you, brother,' his friend Jesse added.

Mark, who was a pharmacist as well as an avid skydiver, was among a group of 12 people taking part in a new flying course over Torquay, south of Melbourne.

He took off with a supervisor before something went wrong and both his parachutes failed. The supervisor was able to land safely before raising the alarm.

Australian Parachute Federation CEO Richard McCooey said the circumstances leading up to the fatal accident were still under investigation.

Friends and family have now paid tribute to the tragic skydiver (pictured, middle), who was also a pharmacist

Mark, who was a pharmacist as well as an avid skydiver, was among a group of 12 people taking part in a new flying course over Torquay

Australian Parachute Federation CEO Richard McCooey said the circumstances leading up to the fatal accident were still under investigation

'We understand that the man had successfully completed 300 jumps and was doing his first jump in a wingsuit, under the supervision of an experienced tutor,' he said in a statement.

'We know very little beyond that at this stage, although it appears the man failed to deploy either of his parachutes.'

The pair jumped from an Australian Skydive plane - which operates from Torquay Airport.

The company said the cause of the incident was still being determined.

'An experienced jumper in his 30s has died as a result of a parachute accident,' it said in a statement.

'The cause is under investigation by the Australian Parachute Federation.'

Investigations are ongoing.

Police and officials from the Australian Parachute Federation were on the scene on Sunday.
The young wife of a former Lone Wolf bikie who was gunned down in a residential carpark shares a dramatic new selfie in a hijab - a week after he was laid to rest.

Yusuf Nazlioglu died on June 27 when he a hitman pumped him with ten bullets in a basement parking complex underneath his apartment in Rhodes, in Sydney's west - in front of his new wife, Jade Nazlioglu.

The 40-year-old was taken to hospital but died the following morning - eight months after he was released from jail, and six months after he married the former personal trainer.

In the weeks after her husband's death, Mrs Nazlioglu took to social media to upload photos of the newlyweds during their short-lived romance.

The 27-year-old was usually pictured in figure-hugging dresses with plunging necklines, strappy stilettoes and designer handbags.

However, in the photo she uploaded in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Mrs Nazlioglu could be seen in the car with her husband while wearing traditional Muslim attire.

Jade Nazlioglu could be seen wearing a hijab in a new photo uploaded on Monday evening (pictured)

Jade Nazlioglu usually uploads selfies with her husband while wearing figure-hugging dresses with strappy shoes (above)

Mrs Nazlioglu also changed her Facebook cover photo to a passage from the Quran (pictured)

She also changed her Facebook cover photo to a passage from the Quran, which read: 'They plan, and Allah plans Allah is the best of planners.'

It is understood Nazlioglu was buried at Sydney's Rookwood cemetery in an intimate Islamic ceremony in rainy conditions on July 3.

On the evening of the shooting, the unidentified killer waited in a silver hatchback for the couple to return home in their black Mercedes.

A pool of blood could be seen at the parking space where he was gunned down.

Mrs Nazlioglu called emergency services.

The silver hatchback was set on fire a few streets away from the shooting.

The murder is under police investigation and no arrests have been made.

Pictured: A photo Jade Nazlioglu posted on social media, the day before her husband was shot dead

The couple were married in January - just four months after he was released from jail

Mr Nazlioglu walked free from Silverwater's Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre, western Sydney, in September last year - having served three years for firearm possession.

He quickly started a whirlwind romance with his future wife, who used to go by Jade Heffer - a fitness instructor 13 years his junior who grew up in the regional town of Barham, about 800km south-west of Sydney, on the NSW/Victoria border.

They moved into an apartment together in Rhodes before getting married on January 25 this year - four months after his release from jail.

The day before Mrs Nazlioglu witnessed her husband's brutal death, she was pictured on Facebook in a figure-hugging black dress, strappy sandals and a black designer handbag.

Former personal trainer Jade Nazlioglu, 27, had an enormous diamond wedding ring (pictured)

Yusuf and Jade Nazlioglu were married six months before he was gunned down under their unit

'Birthday week,' the caption read.

The post has since been deleted.

It is widely believed that Nazlioglu's death came about because he was previously charged with murder of former Comanchero leader, Mick Hawi - who was shot dead outside Fitness First Gym at Rockdale in February 2018, at a cemetery.

His co-accused was friend and fellow Lone Wolf member Ahmad 'Adam' Doudar, 38.

Nazlioglu was accused of being the triggerman and Doudar of disposing of a getaway car.

Doudar would plead guilty to being an accessory after the fact to Hawi's murder and was sentenced to a non-parole period of three years and four months in jail.

Emergency services cart Nazlioglu out of the Rhodes building on Monday after he was shot up to ten times in the head and chest

Pictured: The basement carpark where Yusuf Nazlioglu, 40, was gunned down on Monday

After a week of deliberations a jury found Nazlioglu not guilty of murder, however, he subsequently pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of possessing a firearm and was jailed for three years.

Detective Superintendent Martin Hayston said detectives believe his murder was 'targeted'.

'The person who approached the 40-year-old male and shot him clearly was there to do that, there is various lines of inquiry underway in relation to motive,' he said.

Nazlioglu's death marked the end of a six-week run without a fatal shooting in Sydney as the city grapples with a bloody underworld war, with at least 14 men gunned down over the past two years.

Detectives say at this stage in the investigation the assassination does not appear to be linked to the feud between the Alameddine and Hamzy networks.
Two of Australia's major airlines are performing at some of their worst levels in history as frustrated travellers face delays and cancellations caused by severe weather and staff sick with Covid-19.

More than half of Qantas and Virgin passengers saw their flight either delayed or completely cancelled last week, in a horror seven days for the two airlines.

Qantas cancelled 6.7 per cent of domestic flights with an on-time performance of 44 per cent, while Virgin had double the cancellations of its rival airline at 14.7 per cent and only 43 per cent of flights departing on-time.

Qantas and Virgin's on-time performance hits a near record low after more than half of all domestic flights in the first week of July were delayed or cancelled (pictured, passengers waiting at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia)

Figures compiled by the airlines showed Qantas cancelled 6.7 per cent of flights and had an on-time performance of 44 per cent, while Virgin had a cancellation rate of 14.7 per cent with a 43 per cent on-time performance rate (pictured, domestic terminal Sydney Airport)

A Qantas spokesperson said severe weather on the east coast of Australia was the major driver for delays and cancellations which was further exacerbated by staff sick with the flu and Covid-19.

'It was a pretty challenging week all around,' a Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'We appreciate how frustrating flight cancellations and delays are for customers with severe weather in New South Wales and a spike in Covid cases for operating crew impacting airline schedules over the past week.'

Qantas said 85 per cent of domestic flights departed within an hour of their scheduled time as the airline used additional crew they had on standby and larger aircrafts for some flights.

Virgin apologised to customers that had been impacted by delayed or cancelled flights.

'We are working tirelessly to ensure all guests reach their final destination,' the airline said.

'We know Covid-19 case numbers are rising again, there are record number of flu cases, and this is on top of the usual winter illness the community experiences, we are not immune to the impact of this and are not the only business experiencing the unintended knock-on effects of increased sickness present in the wider community.

'There have also been a number of weather events primarily in New South Wales and this comes at time when airports and airlines globally are also experiencing huge demand and challenges as travellers return to the sky as pandemic restrictions ease.

'The number of travellers flying with us this school holidays has increased by 15 per cent in comparison to 2019 levels, which is significantly higher than the recent Easter holiday period.'



Passengers are urged to be mindful of delays and cancellations as severe weather and staff shortages caused hour-long delays and cancellations (pictured, Jetstar flight rescheduling poster at Sydney Airport)

However, it's not just illness among airline staff that is causing massive delays - the air traffic control team has also experienced staff shortages.

Airservices Australia confirmed on Monday that 10 per cent of its air traffic control team was absent in the past week, according to The Australian.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said there was a 'real staffing crisis in aviation' caused by a third of the workforce leaving the industry unable to receive government assistance during the pandemic.

'We're seeing the consequences of those decisions play out in delays and disruption across the country. Nobody likes seeing flights cancelled or delayed,' Ms King said.

'The government will keep working with industry and unions to rebuild the aviation workforce, but the truth is that replacing the experience and expertise that has been lost can't be done overnight.'

Qantas (pictured) said severe weather on the east coast of Australia was the major driver for delays and cancellations which was further exacerbated by staff sick with the flu and Covid-19

As a result of Covid-19 travel restrictions and lockdowns, Qantas cut 9,400 jobs while Virgin cut 3,000 jobs and fell into bankruptcy.

Airlines desperate for workers have been racing to hire staff to meet post-pandemic travel demands - with Qantas recruiting 1,000 people since April 2022.

It comes after chaotic scenes emerged from Sydney Airport earlier this month when airlines struggled to cope with thousands of passengers during the school holiday rush.

Passengers at Sydney Airport on July 2 endured massive delays to check in their luggage as huge crowds crammed together in lengthy queues.

The T2 domestic terminal ground to a halt as flights were delayed and cancelled as airlines grappled with the tens of thousands of passengers.

The lines zigzagged through the terminal and even stretched outside with travellers told to arrive exactly two hours before their flight to help the airport manage crowds.

'We've tested the two-hour window and it's the sweet spot,' an airport spokeswoman said last week.

'Don't allow three hours, don't allow four hours, just allow the two hours or as close as possible.'

Sydney Airport predicted 2.1 million visitors would be going through its gates between June 27 and July 17 while Qantas and Jetstar anticipated 350,000 travellers in the first weekend of July.

The aviation industry has experienced a 'real staffing crisis' after a third of the workforce left during the pandemic - during that time, Virgin Airlines (pictured) fell into bankruptcy and cut 3,000 jobs

Delays are expected to continue until at least July 18.

The Bureau of Infrastructure Transport Research Economics on-time performance data for the month of May showed Qantas at 60.7 per cent with a 7.1 per cent cancellation rate.

Virgin Airlines had an on-time performance rate of 65.7 per cent and a cancellation rate of 5 per cent.

Official on-time performance figures for last month are not due until late July.
Healthcare providers must offer abortion services if the life of a mother is at risk, the Biden administration said on Monday

According to the guidance, abortion and other procedures conducted under such circumstances are protected under federal law regardless of various state bans.

The measure comes days after President Joe Biden signed an executive order easing access to services to terminate pregnancies after the U.S. top court's decision last month to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling.

The Department of Health and Human Services said physicians must provide the treatments if the patient is experiencing an emergency medical condition as defined by Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) and if abortion is a 'stabilizing treatment.'

The department said in a statement emergency conditions include 'ectopic pregnancy, complications of pregnancy loss, or emergent hypertensive disorders, such as preeclampsia with severe features.'

'HHS to Providers: If an abortion is necessary to save a pregnant patient's life or prevent serious jeopardy to the patient's health, the federal laws protecting emergency care supersede any state law prohibiting abortion,' the statement read.

According to a guidance, abortion and other procedures conducted under such circumstances are protected under federal law regardless of various state bans, the Biden administration said on Monday

The department said in a statement emergency conditions include 'ectopic pregnancy, complications of pregnancy loss, or emergent hypertensive disorders'

The measure comes days after President Joe Biden signed an executive order easing access to services to terminate pregnancies after the U.S. top court's decision last month to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling

EMTALA requires medical facilities determine whether a person seeking treatment may be in labor or whether they face an emergency health situation.

The guidance also protects providers when offering legally mandated abortion services in such situations.

What is EMTALA? The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires medical facilities determine whether a person seeking treatment may be in labor or whether they face an emergency health situation. The guidance, enacted in 1986, also protects providers when offering legally mandated abortion services in such situations Thanks to it, hospitals and medical facilities are required to provide abortions as stabilizing treatment if the mother is facing an emergency condition. Emergency conditions include 'ectopic pregnancy, complications of pregnancy loss, or emergent hypertensive disorders, such as preeclampsia with severe features.' Advertisement

It does not reflect new policy, but merely reminds doctors and providers of their existing obligations under federal law, the health department said.

On Sunday, Biden said he had asked his administration to consider whether he has authority to declare an abortion-related public health emergency.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday declaring a public health emergency would not necessarily free up resources, citing the experience of heavy federal spending for the government's response to COVID-19 and monkey pox.

'It also doesn't release a significant amount of legal authority,' Jean-Pierre told reporters. 'And so that's why we haven't taken that action yet.'

'Everything is on the table,' she added.

The White House has been under pressure from Biden's own party to take action after the Supreme Court decision last month.

Protecting abortion rights is a top issue for women Democrats, Reuters polling shows, and more than 70percent of Americans think the issue should be left to a woman and her doctor.

In a separate letter to providers, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said EMTALA protects healthcare providers' clinical judgment regardless of the restrictions in the state where they practice.

Becerra wrote a physician or other qualified medical personnel's professional and legal duty to 'provide stabilizing medical treatment ... preempts any directly conflicting state law or mandate that might otherwise prohibit such treatment.'

President Joe Biden signs an executive order on abortion access, surrounded by Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on Friday, July 8

On Friday, Biden fumed about the highly covered case of a a 10-year-old girl in Ohio who was forced to go to Indiana to get an abortion after she was raped, using the dramatic story to make the case for Democrats to vote this November.

Biden raised his voice as he recounted the story, grasping the podium with both hands as he railed about the trauma the girl must have faced and the unfairness of the situation.

'She was forced to have to travel out of state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life. That's the last part is my judgment,' he said, speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Health and Becerra at his side.

'Imagine being that little girl. I'm serious, just imagine being that little girl. Ten years old,' he said pointing his finger at the camera.

'A 10-year-old girl should be forced to give birth to a rapist's child?,' he said. 'I can't think of anything that's much more extreme.'

The case made national news after it was revealed a child abuse doctor in Ohio sought the help of Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, to help the get an abortion after Ohio banned the procedure after six weeks - hours after the 6-3 Supreme Court vote, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

The White House has been under pressure from Biden's own party to take action after the Supreme Court decision last month. Above, Abortion rights activists, dressed in an outfits from The Handmaid's Tale, lead protestors during a march in Denver, Colorado on June 27, 2022

The child was six weeks and three days pregnant - therefore, ineligible by just three days to receive the procedure in her home state.

In his remarks, Biden targeted the Supreme Court justices directly, calling them 'out of control' and arguing they were working with extremist Republicans to take away Americans' rights.

As he prepared to sign an executive order, Biden expressed his dismay at the limits of his executive power. He called on people - particularly women - to come out in record numbers in November to elect more Democrats to Congress.

'The only way to fulfill and restore that right for women in this country is by voting, by exercising the power at the ballot box,' he said. 'Your vote can make that a reality.'

Biden's executive order will push to safeguard access to abortion medication and emergency contraception and to add more protections for patient privacy.

Biden will also direct the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to push back on efforts to limit the ability of women to access abortion medication or to travel across state lines to receive abortion services.

And the order will increase access to legal services for the abortions rights battles expected to come.
The first live television debate of the Tory leadership race will take place on Sunday night on ITV.

All the candidates have been invited to take part in the show, to be followed by a second debate on Sky News on Monday.

In 2019, ITVs Conservative leadership debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt was watched by 4.4million viewers.

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considered a frontrunner and bookies' favourite, with 38 Conservative MPs endorsing him - the most of any candidate so far

Michael Jermey, the broadcasters director of news and current affairs, said: Television debates at important elections help voters engage with politics.

ITV has been the home of some of the biggest political debates over the past decade. Sundays debate will be an important event as the countrys next prime minister is chosen.

The Sky News debate will be hosted by Kay Burley. John Ryley, the channels boss, said: There has never been a more important time to reinvigorate the trust of voters in the office of the prime minister.

This live TV debate on Sky News gives the candidates a chance to reconnect with millions by debating the major issues facing Britain.

He added that the show presents a unique opportunity to re-engage a disillusioned electorate.
President Joe Biden will seek to reset relations with Saudi Arabia on his first trip to the region as president this week, where he will also push for stronger Israeli relations with its neighbors in an effort to counteract Iran.

The president will stop in Jerusalem, including a visit to the West Bank, before he heads to Jeddah for the GCC+3 summit on energy. But experts predict even an in-person visit to the biggest oil-producing country on the planet won't result in lower prices of gas for Americans.

'I don't expect any huge announcements that come out of this trip on the energy front. I'd be very surprised if Saudi Arabia comes out and announces a big increase in oil production,' Ben Cahill, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told DailyMail.com.

The White House has emphasized the security angle of the trip and downplayed an expectations for a sudden drop in prices at the pump.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described Biden's goal for the region, long known for its history of conflict: 'A region with more stability and fewer wars that could draw the United States in a region that is less hospitable to terrorism.'

Among the agenda items Biden will push on his four-day trip: strengthen the ceasefire in Yemen, work to deep Israeli relations with its Muslim neighbors, support the Palenstinian people, and coordinate on the threat posed by Iran.

Biden will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders while hes in Israel. His trip comes less than a month after the collapse of the latest Israeli government.

New Prime Minister Yair Lapid will welcome Biden upon his arrival on Wednesday afternoon. The president will also meet with former PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden supports the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. And he sees the region taking the lead in countering the growing threat from Iran. He will get a briefing on the security situation there, including the Iron Dome system.

On Friday, Biden will become the first U.S. president to travel directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia.

'They've been great pains to emphasize that this is part of a broader regional trip that it's not about energy, but it's about energy,' Mark Finley, an energy expert with Rices Baker Institute, told DailyMail.com about the White House.

President Joe Biden will seek to reset relations with Saudi Arabia on his first trip to the region as president this week

While in Saudi Arabia, Biden will attend The Gulf Cooperation Council summit  consisting of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.

And he will give his vision for the Middle East region.

At that summit, he will make a major statement on the Biden administration strategy, his vision for the Middle East region, Sullivan said.

Martin Indyk of the Council on Foreign Relations said he thinks Biden will push Israel and Arab nations to push to counter Iran's growing nuclear threat.

'I think that President Biden wants to now build what I would call a new kind of strategic vision for the region, which I believe will unfold in Jeddah,' he said.

'It's essentially one in which Israel and the Sunni Arab states step up to counter Iran, and the United States is supporting them. The most obvious manifestation of that will be this integrated defense system against Iranian missiles, rockets, drones, et cetera, in which Israel has a vital role to play,' he said.

The 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, known as the JCPOA, imposed limits on Irans nuclear program in return for the easing of economic sanctions. But then-President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.

Since the U.S. withdrew from the deal, Iran has expanded its uranium enrichment and restricted access to the U.N. atomic watchdog agency.

The war in Yemen, which Washington wants to see Riyadh make progress toward ending, will also be a topic of conversation during the Saudi portion of the trip.

And no matter the optics, it remains unlikely gas prices will see a bg drop in the United States after the trip.

Last month Saudi Arabia and The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to increase its output by more than 200,000 barrels a day  a move the Biden administration praised.

Finley said Riyadh may be reluctant to pump out more than that.

He said they are capable but added that they want to keep it for emergencies.

It's not meant for - hey, prices are a little bit high and we need to do something about it or we want to make more money. We're saving it for an emergency. Just like the United States has a strategic stockpile,' he noted.

Additionally, U.S. refineries are operating at 95% of capacity, the highest in almost three years, leaving little room to process more crude.

Oil producing nations like Saudi Arabia were raking in a billion dollars a day in oil export receipts in March and April of this year.

And gas prices in the United States have started to drop.

The U.S. average price for a regular-grade gallon was $4.67 on Monday, down 12 cents over the last week and 34 cents from a month ago, according to AAA.

But its still over a dollar higher than the average a year ago.

While in Jeddah for the energy summit, Biden will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler, the White House confirmed on Monday.

But the administration won't say whether or not the president will shake hands with MBS, as the prince is known, a photo that, if taken, would be shown around the world, likely infuriating some Democrats who are concerned about MBS' human rights record.

Sullivan said that President Biden will have a meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his government, which would include MBS, who is Salman's heir to the throne and serves as defense minister.

'The president will have the opportunity to have a bilateral program that will involve the King, the Crown Prince, other ministers of the Saudi government,' he said on Monday.

He declined to answer whether or not Biden and MBS will shake hands.

'In terms of the precise modalities, I'll leave that to the folks who are actually organizing this trip,' Sullivan said.

President Joe Biden will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler, when he visits Saudi Arabia this week

Relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated during Bidens presidency.

He slammed the kingdom as a pariah state after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that MBS approved the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.

But Biden's visit to the kingdom is seen as a chance to reset relations at a time gas prices remain high in the United States.

It's really important to Saudi Arabia and the GCC that Biden is coming, Cahill of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.

I think it underscores to them that they play a critical role in the global economy, that they have security issues that they want Washington to address, and that the Biden administration's engaging with them. So it is really significant for them that he's coming. Managing the optics of that as obviously complicated,' he notd.

Those complicated optics include the question of that handshake.

These official visits are usually highly choreographed affairs set after weeks of planning, which includes where officials will be positioned and how the president can walk into a room to set up or avoid a handshake.

But things can get unpredictable and how the meeting plays out will be closely watched.

Human rights advocates also have encouraged Biden not to make the trip without bringing up Khashoggis killing.

The White House has said Biden will discuss human rights on the trip but has not specificially said if Biden will discuss the murdered Washington Post journalist.

'We have had contact with Jamal Khashoggi, his family. The president has not himself spoken with them. But he has been focused on this issue from the beginning. And as he said when he took office, and as we have stuck by since then, our goal has been to recalibrate but not rupture the relationship with Saudi Arabia to end the blank check policy and to seek accountability,' Sullivan said.

Biden also has defended his record on human rights.

I know that there are many who disagree with my decision to travel to Saudi Arabia. My views on human rights are clear and long-standing, and fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad, as they will be during this trip, just as they will be in Israel and the West Bank, Biden wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post.

Biden has been reluctant to deal with the crown prince and, early on his presidency, said he would only deal with the aging King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who he sees as his equal.

And the White House has taken repeated pains to say Biden will be meeting with the king and his leadership team while the president is in Saudi Arabia and that team happens to include MBS.

But a handshake between the two men may be inevitable  and necessary, particularly if Biden wants the Saudis to start pumping more oil in an effort to bring down prices at the gas pump back home.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that President Biden will have a meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his government, which would include MBS, who is Salman's heir to the throne and serves as defense minister

Human rights advocates also have encouraged President Biden not to make the trip without bringing up the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Biden will also make a stop in Jerusalem where he will meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders - above a worker irons an American flag as part of the preparations for that visit

Experts point out that  from the Saudi point of view  that the high gas prices in the U.S. are a problem of the Biden administrations own making, a result of sanctions Washington and Western allies have placed on Russia in response to its invasion of the Ukraine.

Martin Indyk of the Council on Foreign Relations noted that despite Bidens reluctance to engage with the crown prince, the sense come from the Saudi government is that now the presidents going to have to eat crow and kiss the ring.

Both sides should understand that they need to find a way to work with each other and set the direction in the future for a better relationship, he said.

There is a pragmatic deal that does need to be done on this trip, which is, basically, MBS, the crown prince, agrees to pump more oil and President Biden agrees to take him out of the penalty box,' Indyk noted.
Government figures deny the claims and say Mr Barilaro was picked on merit

Former top public servant said she was told the job was a 'present for someone'

ICAC did not 'confirm or deny' it was investigating how John Barilaro got the job

The stunning claim by a former NSW top public servant that she had a $500,000 trade ambassador role wrenched from her so it could be given to a politician instead is now firmly in the sights of the state's anti-corruption watchdog.

Jenny West, a former Investment NSW executive, told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday that her dream New York job was ripped away just weeks after she was offered it following an extensive interview process.

Investment NSW head Amy Brown told her it had become a political appointment and would instead be offered as a 'present' to someone else.

The job was eventually claimed by former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro but he stopped down in June after a public outcry.

Ms West said she that in the space of four weeks she went from being appointed to the New York job to being told she was likely to be made redundant

Jenny West, a former senior bureaucrat with Investment NSW, has been testifying before an inquiry into how she was awarded a plum trade ambassador role only to have wrenched away and later given to former deputy prime minister John Barilaro

NSW's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is now looking into the apparent debacle, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday.

If the body gets involved it will further turn up the heat on the NSW government, which, following a previous ICAC investigation, saw the resignation of former premier Gladys Berejiklian.

An ICAC spokesperson said they could 'neither confirm or deny whether investigations were taking place'.

Ms West was offered the senior trade and investment commissioner role to the Americas with a briefing signed by Ms Berejiklian on August 12 of last year.

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown, who oversaw the recruitment, even sent her a text message featuring a Statue of Liberty emoji and a champagne bottle 'celebration' emoji, Ms West said.

Ms West was texted by her manager celebrating her scoring the coveted role

NSW Trade Minister Stuart Ayres has rejected 'offensive' suggestions he interfered with the appointment of the New York trade posting

However, Ms West never received a formal contract and on October 14 last year Ms West was told she was not getting the posting.

'Ms Brown said that the position  and this is a quote  "will be a present for someone",' Ms West told the inquiry.

'She added, and I again quote, "you are an extraordinary performer, and I am upset that this has happened".'

In a note sent to her lawyers, Ms West said that Ms Brown told her she had received instruction from Trade Minister Stuart Ayres.

Mr Ayres rejected the claims in a statement issued after the inquiry hearing.

NSW trade secretary Amy Brown (above) sent Ms West a congratulatory text after she was offered the job as New York trade ambassador

'I did not say the job was to be a "present" for anyone and I find that idea to be offensive,' he said.

'All my actions have been to ensure the independence of the public service during this recruitment process.

'Amy Brown is and was the decision-maker for this role.'

A spokesperson for Premier Dominic Perrottet also denied there was political interference in the process.

'Advice provided by Investment NSW Chief Executive Amy Brown was that there was no suitable candidate for the role in the first round of recruitment,' the spokesperson said.

'This was reaffirmed in her evidence on June 29.'

Ms West told the inquiry that during a 'walking meeting' with Ms Brown along Sydney's Balmoral Beach on September 17, she was told then-trade minister Mr Barilaro had made a submission to cabinet to make the trade commissioner jobs political appointments.

During that same walk, Ms Brown also told Ms West her position was being made redundant because of a restructure.

'In the space of four weeks, I went from having been appointed to the role of the senior trade and investment commissioner for the Americas to potentially not having a job,' Ms West told the inquiry.

She noted a very similar position to hers at the same level had recently been advertised on LinkedIn.

Mr Barilaro, who was then-NSW trade minister, has denied he did anything improper

Ms West said she found the decision to take away the job bewildering.

'I couldn't get my head around how a process could be stopped midway and then to be told that I'd lost my existing job,' she said.

'So, to be honest, I couldn't get my head around that.'

In a filed noted, Ms West wrote that she asked Ms Brown during their walk: 'How can he just change some things like that to put his mates in roles to help with the election?'

Ms West told the inquiry she could not remember who she was referring to.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says advice provided by Ms Brown after the recruitment process is that there was no suitable candidate

Ms Brown previously told the inquiry that although the submission had gone before cabinet no decision had been made.

She had made the trade commissioner appointment of Mr Barilaro on merit after a second selection process run by a global recruitment firm and Investment NSW.

'I would have loved to have stayed in the public service. I felt that there was a lot more that I could add in terms of my skills,' she told the inquiry on Monday.

'I did have concerns over the prior process, but I'd accepted that it was a ministerial or  a parliamentary appointment versus a public sector appointment.

'I'd accepted that, but I did want to stay in my current role because I felt that I had a lot more to offer. And I was quite passionate about some of those key projects that I was working on that I wanted to make a difference.'
Priti Patels Rwanda asylum policy is likely to be stalled for weeks because charities obtained fresh legal delays last night.

A court hearing due to begin next Tuesday has been put off until September after campaigners argued they needed more time to prepare.

Detention Action, which campaigns to stop foreign nationals being deported from the UK, announced it had secured a postponement to the judicial review at the High Court.

The first attempt at a removals flight to Rwanda under the deal had to be called off at the 11th hour on June 14, after the European Court of Human Rights intervened.

A Strasbourg judge used little-known powers to block the flight even though a series of senior UK judges had refused to intervene.

The European court said no removals could take place until the legality of the Rwanda policy had been properly scrutinised by British courts.

Delays to the judicial review  in which campaigners are expected to argue the policy breaches the European Convention on Human Rights and the Refugee Convention  mean an interim injunction granted by Strasbourg will remain in force.

Priti Patels Rwanda asylum policy is likely to be stalled for weeks because charities obtained fresh legal delays last night

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday

Any further attempt at a removals flight to Kigali is unlikely to take place until mid-September  after the Conservative party leadership contest.

The legal challenge is also being brought by the migrant charity Care4Calais and the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents thousands of Border Force staff.

The Home Secretarys plan will see migrants who arrive in the UK by irregular routes  typically across the Channel in small boats  handed a one-way ticket to Rwanda to claim asylum there rather than in this country.

A spokesman for Detention Action tweeted: The Divisional Court has agreed to adjourn our legal challenge against the Rwanda removals policy until September. This is a win for due process and fairness.

Individuals affected and our legal teams now have the time they need to prepare their substantial case.

'Until the lawfulness of the policy is fully tested in the courts, this Government should not attempt any forced removals to Rwanda, as they have threatened.

We also call for all people seeking asylum targeted by this policy to be released from detention, with proper support.

The charity is run by Bella Sankey, who is campaigning to be a Labour candidate at the next general election.

At least 50 migrants are in immigration centres after being told they were being processed for the next Rwanda flight.

Care4Calais tweeted: The Rwanda plan is brutal. Given the more humane and effective options available is this really what we as a compassionate country want to do?

A group of migrants launched an audacious bid to reach Britain yesterday. Rather than selecting an isolated spot on the French coast, the group set off from within sight of Grand-Fort-Philippe, near Dunkirk.

At least 30 people carried the black rigid inflatable boat down the beach before casting off.

It is not known whether they were among the 130 picked up and brought to Britain by Border Force vessels yesterday.
Dover is to expand border capacity to avoid queues if flight cancellations cause a rise in holidaymakers looking to cross the Channel by ferry.

Sources at Britains biggest port said a deal has been struck with the French border force to man an extra four or five newly built passport booths, up from the current seven.

They said the hub had a surge of travellers when flights were cancelled before Mays Champions League final in Paris in May, prompting a warning not to travel to Dover.

Dover will expand border capacity to avoid queues if holidaymakers turn to ferries (file image)

Port bosses want to avoid a similar situation this summer after tens of thousands of flights were axed and warnings that more are likely. A senior port source said: One of the things were doing right now is were installing a range of additional booths for the summer time for [French border guards] to operate out of. Theyll be in place at the end of next week or the week after.

The idea is to increase transaction time, which means we get more capacity added to get the same total volume of people going through. Dover is the busiest UK passenger port and Europes busiest roll-on roll-off freight ferry hub, with 4,500 to 5,500 cars passing through it daily.

British Airways this week axed 10,300 more flights after slashing 16,000 in March. Meanwhile easyJet axed more than 10,000 last month.

British Airways this week axed 10,300 more flights after slashing 16,000 in March

It means hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers may seek refunds if they cant be re-booked on to alternative flights and will be looking at different, potentially cheaper means of travel as air fares surge due to less seats being available.

BA and easyJet cut thousands of workers, including experienced legacy staff during the pandemic.

They have struggled to recruit new workers quickly enough to meet surging post-pandemic demand, forcing them to cancel flights.

Airlines have struggled to recruit workers needed to meet surging post-pandemic demand

Industry leaders believe the disruption could last up to 18 months due to the volatility of the jobs market.

Yesterday (FRI) a government amnesty to rules around airport slots ended.

It has allowed carriers to pull flights without facing potential penalties.

Ministers brought in the amnesty as they urged carriers to review their plans and only schedule flights that are realistically deliverable.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has accused some airlines of overbooking flights amid the staff shortages crisis.

But despite the amnesty ending, experts say thousands more cancellations are likely.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: The sheer scale of the cancellations has been jaw-dropping and its not the end yet as theres likely to be more to come next month, when we could see thousands more cancellations.

Jo Rhodes, of Which? Travel, said: Families planning for the big summer getaway urgently need certainty about travel.

Far too many passengers have suffered from last-minute cancellations already and the amnesty means theres no excuse for the same levels of disruption throughout the summer.
A new Covid sub-variant nicknamed Centaurus has made its way to Australia after ripping through India as health experts fear a similar situation could be on the way for us.

Officially named BA.2.75, the sub-variant is being monitored by the World Health Organisation with experts warning it could be more transmissible than Omicron.

Centaurus is a mutation of Omicron BA.2, which was the variant that led to a huge number of cases in Australia over the summer.

The WHO has not yet named Centaurus a variant of concern, but virologists fear it could fuel a new wave of cases around the world.

They say the sub-variant is able to evade vaccine protection, with sequencing showing it has already spread to Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Israel, India and the US.

'Centaurus' was first found in India, causing a surge in cases before spreading across the world.

Centaurus is a mutation of Omicron BA.2, which was the variation that led to a huge number of cases in Australia over the summer

'Surveillance-minded folks  worth keeping a close eye on BA.2.75  lots of spike mutations, probable second generation variant, apparent rapid growth and wide geographical spread,' virologist Tom Peacock from Imperial College London tweeted.

'None of these individually really flag as that worrying but all appearing together at once is another matter.'

Molecular biologist Ulrich Elling also warned that the sub-variant could evade immunity.

'The number of eight additional mutations in BA.2.75 is remarkable,' he tweeted.

'Delta had eight in spike in total. Three mutations can make a huge difference (BA.5). Thus the 11 mutations distinct between BA.5 and BA.2.75 could allow for yet another wave as BA.5 immunity might not protect.'

Epidemiologist and Professor Catherine Bennett told Daily Mail Australia it was 'too early to tell' how dangerous Centauris could be - but warned more sub-variants being present would weaken immunity in the community.

'It's too early to really tell. At the moment, there are low levels but a trend we saw in Australia was low levels of BA.4 and BA.5 and then they exploded,' she said.

'The more sub-variants we have, the greater the risk of re-infection. Everyone is game. If you recover from one variant but then come across a different one you could get it again.

'Each sub variant is a bit different and each one that comes along weakens our immunity.

'With this sub-variant, it's difficult to tell how bad it could be. We don't know enough about it yet, we need to see how it will compete with other variants.'

WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan also urged for more research so the severity of the virus could be fully understood.

'It's still too early to know if the sub-variant has properties of additional immune invasion or indeed of being more clinically severe,' she said.

'We don't know that, so we have to wait and see.'

The new sub-variant is widespread in India and it has already spread to Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Israel, India and the US (pictured, people masking up in India to try and escape Covid)

Meanwhile, NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant warned of a 'third Covid-19 Omicron wave' and predicted a 'significant rise in cases' - with the peak hitting in July or early August.

'I'm concerned about this picture and I am calling on the community to do a few things to protect yourself and each other,' she said.

'Isolate if you're sick and get tested, wear a mask when indoors and around other people and know if antivirals are recommended from you.'

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler also said that Covid-19 cases are not likely to peak nationally for at least four weeks during this third wave of infections.

'All of the modelling indicates that case numbers and hospitalisations have further to go over probably the next four to six weeks,' he told Melbourne radio 3AW on Tuesday.

'We've seen some data out this morning that suggests that COVID is the largest killer of Australians this year, taking over from coronary disease.'

Meanwhile, Covid-19 reinfections are becoming more common across the country as new sub-variants of the virus circulate.

University of Queensland Associate Professor Paul Griffin said people should not become complacent about the virus, warning those who had been recently infected could be reinfected in a matter of weeks.

The WHO have not yet named Centaurus a variant of concern, but virologists fear it could fuel a new wave of cases around the world

'We are seeing reinfections being more common and in short intervals, and that is why we recommend the reinfection period be reduced to four weeks,' he told the Seven Network on Tuesday.

'If you get symptoms again, you need to assume it could be a new infection.'

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee has recommended the reinfection period be reduced from its current 12 weeks to 28 days, following the rise of cases of the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variant.

This means people will be required to get tested and isolate if they re-develop symptoms 28 days after recovering from the virus, and could be reported and managed as new cases.

Prof Griffin said the rise in new COVID-19 infections alongside an increase in influenza cases was also concerning.

'This is translating into significant numbers in hospitals, with predictions ... we may exceed the hospitalisations we saw in the first big wave in January,' he said.

'We cannot assume people are protected just because they've had COVID, you need to be up to date with your vaccines and linking with therapies if you are eligible.'

This week, more people became eligible for a fourth vaccine dose - or a second booster shot - as well as antiviral treatments to help offset symptoms.

Australians over 70 who test positive for the virus were from Monday offered access to antivirals on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Access was also expanded to people over 50 with two or more risk factors for severe disease, and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people over 30 with two or more risk factors.

Anyone 18 or over and immunocompromised may also be eligible.

Normally costing more than $1000, the two antiviral treatments are now available for $6.80 for concession card holders and about $40 for everyone else.
Ukraine has blitzed a Russian ammunition depot using US-donated HIMARS missiles, sending the warehouse into a huge fireball in the latest hammer blow to Putin's war campaign.

At least seven people were killed in the deadly strikes, including Chief of Staff for the 22nd Army Corps of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Major General Artem Nasbulin, another high-profile Kremlin casualty.

Dramatic footage shows a fireball eruption and mushroom cloud in Novaya Kakhovka in the occupied Kherson region after the rockets blasted into the depot where saltpeter is stored for fertiliser and explosives.

Russia has acknowledged the strikes, with Vladimir Leontyev, an appointee of the military-civilian administration of the occupying forces, saying it was carried out was by HIMARS missiles, with dozens injured.

The hits are on a region where Russia is handing out its passports to locals and seeks to incorporate the region under permanent Kremlin control, but which Ukraine is vowing to take back.

In footage released by Ukraine, the US-donated High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems - which can hit targets up to 50 miles away - can be seen striking near Nova Kakhovka power plant.

Before the light multiple rocket launcher arrived, the Russian-occupied southern city of Kherson was out of range for Ukrainian forces.

It was also used in an earlier attack near Kherson in which a total of 12 Russian officers, including a colonel, were also said to have been killed when the US-supplied missiles hit their command post.

Ukraine has blitzed a Russian ammunition depot using US-donated HIMARS missiles, sending the warehouse into a huge fireball

Dramatic footage shows a fireball eruption and mushroom cloud in Novaya Kakhovka in the occupied Kherson region

Huge explosion in Russia-occupied Novaya Kakhovka in Kherson region, Ukraine, on July 11

An adviser to the head of the Kherson regional state administration, Serhiy Hlan, told the press that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had hit an ammunition depot in Novaya Kakhovk

'A strike by the Ukrainian army at Novaya Kakhovka was followed by explosions at storage facilities holding mineral fertilisers and saltpeter,' claimed Leontyev.

'Blasts continue. Several people were hurt.

'A hospital, a marketplace and residential houses within a two-kilometre radius were damaged.'

Leontyev compared the blasts to the explosion in Beirut in 2020 when hundreds were killed when ammonium nitrate exploded.

A Russian report by Readovka stated: 'An allegedly powerful explosion in Novaya Kakhovka was the result of a hit by artillery of the armed forces of Ukraine on an ammunition depot.

'The nature of the explosion in Nova Kakhovka and its intensity point to the explosion of an ammunition depot, detonated as a result of a Ukrainian rocket.'

The strike brought a furious reaction from Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin, an intelligence and army veteran, formerly a staunchly pro-Putin commander.

He is seen as speaking for hardliners including field commanders who are furious about Russian tactics, want to decimate Ukraine to win the war.

The hits are on a region where Russia is handing out its passports to locals and seeks to incorporate the region under permanent Kremlin control

Chief of Staff for the 22nd Army Corps of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Major General Artem Nasbulin, was killed in the strikes

The blasts at Novaya Kakhovka show how Ukrainian forces 'are busily destroying everything they manage to reach with the help of HIMARS, 'Three Axes [Howitzer M777s] and [French] Caesars [self-propelled howitzers]'.

He complained: 'The Ukrainians are strictly consistent in their primary interests.

'Their priority is ammunition depots and air defence positions.

'Tonight, another ammunition depot in Novaya Kakhovka was raised into the air.'

Girkin was central to Putin's annexation of Crimea and establishing the puppet Donetsk People's Republic eight years ago, but has become an arch-critic of Putin's campaign in Ukraine.

He said on a video: 'Our Supreme Commander does not have full information from the fronts, and is clueless on what is really happening there.

'Otherwise, I struggle to imagine what I would do to my Defence Minister [Sergei Shoigu] if I knew the true situation.

'Or what I would do to the chief of the army general staff.

'Most likely, execution by shooting would not be enough

'Putin, after learning what's happening at the front, could not sit next to his plywood marshal [Shoigu].'

He criticised Putin for saying recently that Russia had not yet properly begun its war.

Girkin said this was aimed at domestic propaganda in Russia because the West 'knows perfectly well we have already used the greater part of the currently available [military] resources'.

Serhiy Bratchuk, the spokesman for the head of the Odesa regional military administration, told his followers on Telegram that a HIMARS missile hit and the general Nasbulin was killed.

'There is information about the liquidation of another Russian general after HIMARS missiles hit the headquarters in the Kherson region. The chief of staff of the 22nd Army Corps of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (military unit 73954, Simferopol) Major General Nasbulin has gone to war,' he wrote.

Sergey Khlan, adviser to the head of the Kherson regional military administration, said: 'According to preliminary information, the sounds that were heard at night in Kakhovka and nearby are a clear hit of our armed forces in Tavriis'k.

'We destroyed a moving enemy command point, military equipment, radars and antennas, air defense that set there orcs. There are 200 Russians.'

Earlier Monday, twelve Russian officers are also thought to have been killed in a single rocket strike as Ukraine's armed forces inflict punishing losses with American-supplied weapons.

The attack targeted a command post in at Chornobaivka Airport, near Kherson, and is rumoured to have killed at least one general and one colonel. It is thought to have also been carried out using US HIMARS rockets.

Video shows what appears to be an ammunition dump at the base exploding, as Russian Telegram channels report Putin is infuriated at the inability of Russia's S-400 anti-air systems to protect his armed forces.

Experts also cast doubt on Ukraine's ability to launch a successful counter-attack with current resources, but the defence minister suggested it will happen soon.

Chief of Staff for the 22nd Army Corps of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Major General Artem Nasbulin, is said to have died in the attack on a mobile command post in Tavriis'k, Kherson Oblast

In footage, released by Ukraine, the US-donated High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems - which hit targets up to 50 miles away - can be seen striking near Nova Kakhovka power plant

Defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said yesterday: 'This is very necessary for our country. The president has given the order.

'We have approximately 700,000 in the armed forces and when you add the national guard, police and border guards, we are around a million strong.'

Most of these forces are already involved in Ukraine's bid to defend its small remaining territory in the eastern Donbas region, so could not be used in any counter-offensive there and elsewhere.

The country's international allies and Nato military advisers have recommended that it bides its time and builds up its arsenal of Western-donated weapons.

But expectations of a Ukrainian recovery were heightened further when deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged citizens to evacuate ahead of offensives by the country's troops.

Reports claim it also struck and took out the Kremlin's munitions and 200 Russian soldiers

She said: 'There should not be women and children there and they should not become human shields. There will be a massive fight. Our forces are coming to de-occupy.'

Amassing more rocket systems, drones and missiles will be crucial. In recent days long-range rockets have proved highly effective, destroying multiple enemy ammunition stores and command and control centres.

Even Russian state TV news broadcasts were forced to acknowledge the recent successes, with one saying Ukraine had 'struck several times at our decision-making centres with results'.

Plans for the counter-attack emerged as the number of Ukrainians entering European Union countries was reported to have passed six million  although three million have returned home.
RMT union bosses were accused of bullying members into going on strike yesterday as a threatening letter sent to a worker who refused to walk out emerged.

The letter, sent to a London Underground staff member and seen by the Daily Mail, was titled not obeying union instructions.

Sent by an RMT branch secretary in north London, the letter warned that the worker would no longer be entitled to the full array of perks offered to members. They were also summoned to a union meeting to explain themselves.

The letter to the worker, who the Mail has agreed not to name, said: I am writing to you as your elected RMT Branch Secretary and in that capacity.

It has been reported to me by one of your local representatives that you have not obeyed union instructions during our dispute with London Underground Limited.

The RMT last month caused major disruption to Britain's rail network following industrial action

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch, pictured, described the dispute last month as a 'fight of a lifetime'

You need to be aware that the branch has a position that we do not offer branch assistance including representation until you have been given the right to respond to this allegation at a branch meeting.

Summoning the worker, the letter added: You should be aware that the next branch meetings are at the Langham Club [North London] on Thursday 7 July and at the same time via Zoom link on Thursday 14 July.

It comes after the Mail revealed how nearly a quarter of rail staff defied the RMT by turning up for work during one strike last month.

An RMT spokesman said: This letter does not constitute bullying in any way, shape or form. It simply expresses concern that a member has not carried out duties expected of them by their local branch.
Brexit is partially to blame for travel chaos by keeping out foreign workers, an aviation chief said yesterday.

Philipp Joeinig, boss of Menzies Aviation, which provides check-in and baggage handling services to major airlines, said the staff shortages crippling the industry were predictable and preventable.

He added a recruitment crisis had been sparked by Brexit and aviation workers should now be added to the shortage occupation list to alleviate pressure.

But critics say the industry should pay British workers more and offer better conditions. Mr Joeinig wrote in The Times: Brexit had a big negative impact, reducing the available pool of employees.

Travel chaos saw airports like Heathrow (pictured) fill up with huge queues while thousands of passengers had their flights cancelled in May and June amid staff shortages

This was compounded during the pandemic, with the British aviation sector suffering huge job losses once furlough schemes ended before the easing of travel restrictions, and with many of these people lost to the industry.

He also claimed ministers have failed to slash red tape sufficiently to speed up background checks on new recruits.

At present, employers must ask for references from each new recruits employer for the previous five years.

This can take several weeks if some previous employers drag out responding.

But Grant Shapps changed the law last month to streamline the process. It allows employers to request details of each previous employer from HMRC.
A gruelling five-day mission to rescue a kitten hiding in a drain during torrential rain has come to an end after the cat was finally saved by dedicated members of the local community.

Tashi Gye was walking through Manly, in Sydney's Northern Beaches, on Thursday when she spotted the little tortoiseshell being chased by a flock of birds near Carlton street.

The young cat darted into a water drain and was too scared to come out, sparking fears it might drown as wet weather on Sunday sent rain gushing in from the road.

Ms Gye quickly took to a social media group to find its possible owner, rallying up a group of rescuers who rushed to the scene to try and coax the cat out.

A kitten has been saved after spending five days in a water drain in Sydney's Northern Beaches during torrential rain

Despite their best efforts - and even the help of firefighters - the kitten remained in the drain for almost a week, with rescuers attending every day to feed it and try and draw it out.

But about 6 pm on Monday, the cat - dubbed little kitty Carlton by its rescuers- was finally winched to safety after being lured into a trap with food.

Ms Gye told Daily Mail Australia the kitten was a girl, who they estimate is around eight weeks old.

'She is off to the vet today, and it is still a mystery where she came from,' she said.

'She doesn't look like a stray, but no one has claimed a missing kitten either.

'She is pretty tough, though.'

Manly local Tashi Gye shared this photo of Carlton Street on Facebook last week to alert the cat's possible owners that it had fled into the drain

Ms Gye, other rescuers, and the fire brigade all tried to draw the kitten out over several days to no avail

A trap filled with food was set up at the cage to try to coax out the baby animal

The lure finally worked on Monday, after rescuers swapped out the cage with a better one

Ms Gye, who is highly allergic to cats, said the kitten is currently in foster care with one of the other rescuers, Mark, where she will stay until she is old enough to be desexed and adopted out.

While Ms Gye would have taken her in if it weren't for her allergy, she said there was no shortage of potential guardians.

'There's about 50 people in line to take her,' she said.

'She became quite famous. So many animal lovers were invested in her being saved.

'I hope whoever adopts her names her Carlton.'

Ms Gye said there was a 'lovely response from the community' to rescue the feline, who was extremely well-fed during her time in the drain and is now very comfy in her new home.

Little kitty Carlton will need to be about 12 weeks old and weigh a kilogram before she can be desexed.

Once she is ready to find her a forever home, people can apply to adopt her through the Safe Rehoming website.
Victoria's Labor government has ruled out bringing back mask mandates despite a call from some conservative commentators and ABC hosts to reinstate strict rules as Covid cases surge.

Premier Daniel Andrews, who presided over the world's longest lockdown in Melbourne last year, is now backing away from hardline pandemic measures as the likes of media personality Steve Price call for a return to strict measures.

State Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas is resisting calls to again make face masks compulsory beyond public transport, airports and ride-share services, instead emphasing personal choice.

'Wearing a mask, getting up to date with your vaccinations and ensuring indoor areas are well ventilated are small but effective steps Victorians and businesses can take to manage their own Covid-19 risk this winter,' she said.

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Victoria's Labor government has ruled out bringing back mask mandates despite a call from conservative commentators to reinstate strict rules as Covid cases surge (pictured is a woman at Albert Park in Melbourne in October 2021 during the long lockdown)

The Victorian government also ruled out making face masks compulsory in all indoor settings like shopping malls.

'Mask wearing in indoor and crowded settings is strongly recommended to protect yourself and our most vulnerable Victorians through winter  but there will not be any changes to current face mask requirements with these new pandemic orders,' it said on Tuesday.

Price suggested a Victorian election, scheduled for November 2022, was behind the Labor government's reluctant to reimpose a mask mandate.

'Let's be frank about what's happening here,' Price said on The Project on Monday evening.

'The politicians are not listening to the health advice anymore because Victoria and New South Wales have got elections coming up.

'And they don't want to tell people that they have to get locked down or wear masks.'

Victoria recorded 10,627 new Covid cases and another 16 deaths on Tuesday, with hospitalisation rates continuing to rise.

There are 737 people in hospital with the virus, up 20 from Monday and almost 200 during the past week.

Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured), who presided over the world's longest lockdown in Melbourne last year, is now backing away from hardline pandemic measures as the likes of media personality Steve Price

Thirty-nine Covid-infected people are in intensive care, with seven on a ventilator.

Covid hospitalisations in Victoria peaked at 1,229 in mid-January during the original Omicron wave.

In changes announced on Tuesday, people who test positive to Covid will be exempt from testing and isolating for only four weeks rather than 12.

The changes, which come into effect from 11.59pm on Tuesday, following Australian Health Protection Principal Committee advice.

Employers are also being asked to consider working from home arrangements for their employees, although no recommendation has been issued.

An advertising blitz promoting Covid vaccine boosters will also start across the state, while more grants are available to small businesses who want to buy ventilators.

Health chiefs around the country have been warning of a coming spike in Covid cases as two virulent new BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron grip the nation.

The Project host Hamish Macdonald clashed with Steve Price (pictured) on Monday as the veteran conservative pundit made a surprise call for the return of hated Covid mandates

ABC hosts have repeatedly grilled federal Health Minister Mark Butler over why he and his state counterparts aren't reintroducing mask mandates, given the rapid spread of Covid and winter viruses.

News Breakfast presenter Michael Rowland on Friday accused Mr Butler of 'accepting' deaths by not re-introducing compulsory face-coverings.

Mr Butler said the advice from the chief health officers is that Australia has 'moved beyond the era of very broad mask mandates and lockdowns', and that you can 'make your own choice' about wearing a mask indoors.

But Mr Rowland refused to accept that answer, claiming that studies showed mask mandates offered close to a 100 per cent success rate - despite case numbers climbing even when previous mandates were enforced during the Delta and Omicron outbreaks.

The health minister was similarly grilled by another ABC presenter David Speers during the ABC's Insiders program on Sunday.

Speers asked: 'You say we've moved to a new phase of the pandemic but you just told us we're in a new wave that's very serious, you're worried about this. Are we really in a new phase of the pandemic where we don't need to consider some of these old measures, like mask mandates, in particular?

'Why don't we look at that for the next six weeks?'

Mr Butler said he had received no advice to mandate masks and said face-coverings were better in 'targeted' areas like hospitals, airports and aged-care settings.
A man has been shot twice by police at a busy petrol station in Sydney's inner west after the driver allegedly tried to run down one of the officers.

The shooting took place at 10am at the Ampol petrol station on Liverpool Road, in Croydon.

The man was rushed to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where he is in a serious but stable condition.

The shooting came after police spotted a Ford Falcon in Erskineville which had allegedly been stolen earlier this month from an address in West Pennant Hills.

A man has been shot twice by police in shoot out at a busy petrol station in Sydney 's inner west after officers spot an allegedly stolen Ford Falcon

The shooting took place at 10am at the Ampol petrol station on Liverpool Road

The Ford was located a short time later at a service station on the Hume Highway near Frederick Street, Croydon, where police stopped the vehicle.

The front male passenger got out and tried to flee the scene while pursued by police but the Ford was the allegedly driven at a police officer and tried to mow him down.

Police reportedly opened fire on the car, shooting the 36 year old driver.

He was treated at the scene by paramedics, before being taken to hospital under police guard.

He is believed to be in a stable condition with photographs from the scene revealing apparent wounds to his hand and wrist.

The shot man is believed to be in a stable condition with photographs from the scene revealing apparent wounds to his hand and wrist

The man was rushed to the Royal Prince Alfred hospital, where he is a serious but stable condition

The passenger, a 38-year-old man, was arrested shortly after following a chase on foot and was taken to Mascot Police Station.

'Two crime scenes have been established,' said a NSW Police spokesman.

'A critical incident team from Sydney City Police Area Command will now investigate all circumstances surrounding the incident.

'That investigation will be subject to an independent review.'
An Australian farm house has been destroyed after extensive flooding and wild weather merged to form a massive sinkhole.

The picturesque cottage in Richmond Lowlands, north west of Sydney, crumbled into an enormous crater on Monday following heavy rain and flooding along the Hawkesbury River.

The sinkhole stretches from the Hawkesbury riverbank and swallowed the entirety of the once large waterfront lawn at Archerfield Farm.

Archerfield Farm in Richmond Lowlands, north west of Sydney, has crumbled into a giant sinkhole (pictured) just days after it was hit by flood water

The enormous sinkhole stretched from the bank of the Hawkesbury River to the back of the cottage and swallowed the properties entire large water front lawn and part of the home (pictured)

A portion of the back of the house was ripped away when the land eroded, leaving the rest of the cottage teetering dangerously close to collapse.

The property's owners called neighbours on Monday warning them to stay away from the riverbank.

It comes after the Archerfield cottage was under water just last week as the area was hit by a third flood since the start of 2022.

Fire and Rescue NSW Chief Superintendent Michael Morris said erosion was the likely cause behind the sinkhole.

'The cause will be subject to an assessment by engineers but it does look like riverbank erosion that's led to the collapse of the surrounding land,' Mr Morris told 9News.

Fortunately, the property was already evacuated and no one was injured when the landslide occurred.

The farm was owned by former INXS manager Chris Murphy for 16 years and remained in his family when he died last year.

Mr Murphy bred polo horses at the Hawkesbury farm and listed its cottages as country getaways on Airbnb.

The lower Hawkesbury area remains flooded and state emergency services are still ferrying supplies to isolated communities around Wisemans Ferry.

About 7,200 waterlogged homes have been assessed, with almost 750 deemed uninhabitable.

Displaced families in flood-affected communities are slowly returning to their homes to assess the damage and start the dreaded clean-up.

The lower Hawkesbury area remains flooded after it was hit by a third flood this year (Pictured, flooded Windsor Bridge along the overflowing Hawkesbury River)

Federal Emergency Services Minister Murray Watt said on Monday the government would unlock a $4.8 billion emergency response fund to get more cash out for long-term flood mitigation projects.

Residents of 29 local government areas are now eligible for relief payments of up to $1,000.

The federal government said $340 million has been delivered so far.

Payments of $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child are available to people impacted by the flooding.

About 105,000 people can return home but have been warned to emotionally prepare for what they will find, and to reach out for help from neighbours.
Stunned cops allegedly found women's underwear stacked to the ceiling inside the home of a Melbourne 'pervert' accused of stealing more than 5000 pieces of clothing.

Joshua Murrell, 34, of Reservoir - north of Melbourne - is behind bars amid claims he has been nicking undies off clothes lines around his Reservoir home for anywhere up to five years.

He was arrested on Monday after one of his victims' allegedly caught him on CCTV cameras she set up after repeatedly having her undies stolen in the dead of the night.

When police finally caught up with Murrell, they found him on the floor of his bedroom, which was stuffed sky high with women's undies.

Shocked detectives also located a replica gun, the sex doll dressed in stolen undies, sex toys and a mobile phone allegedly containing videos of Murrell performing vile acts upon it.

Murrell has been charged with 10 offences spanning a 12-month period, including stalking, theft, weapons and trespass offences.

Cops found stolen underwear stacked to the ceiling inside the home of Joshua Murrell

He appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Tuesday via telephone from prison in the hope of being bailed back into the community - a request that was refused to to his alleged risk of reoffending.

The court heard police are in discussions with nearly a dozen terrified women, who claim to have had undies stolen from clothes lines around Murrell's home.

Many of Murrell's alleged victims are now too terrified to return home, the court heard.

Police claim Murrell, a father on one, had crept into the backyards of his various victims in the dead of night to steal undies, bras and active wear.

One victim claimed Murrell had tried to gain access into her home to steal undies drying on a clothes horse in her laundry.

In evidence read to the court, Detective Senior Constable Amanda Wright claimed Murrell had been storing dirty undies and bras taken from clothes hampers as well as wet items from outside.

The women's clothing was allegedly taken from clothes lines and laundry baskets in the middle night

In arguing against his bail, the court heard Murrell had been previously nabbed steaking undies from a Myer department store

'I'm disgusted. I've no excuse,' Murrell told police after his arrest.

When asked about the doll, Murrell claimed it was 'just a bit of fun to cuddle'.

He will return to court later this year.

Officers will continue to investigate the matter but wish to speak to anyone in the Reservoir area who may have had items of underwear or activewear stolen on 9479 6111.

Anyone with further information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
A former staffer for NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - avoided jail for historic child sex abuse

A former staffer for ex-NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has avoided jail over historic child sex abuse charges - and his identity will be never be able to be disclosed to the public.

The offender, who is aged in his 40s and cannot be identified as he was underage at the time, pleaded guilty to six charges dating back to the mid 1990s including aggravated indecent assault.

He was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order after appearing at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday.

The offences relate to a boy and girl who were aged between eight and 12 at the time, while the offender was aged between 14 and 16.

The allegations were made in 2016 but the offender wasn't arrested until 2020.

The abuse was carried out in the form of games such as tickling which progressed to touching the children's genitals through their clothing, Judge John Pickering SC told the court.

Another 'stacks on' type game involved the offender lying on top of the children while they were naked.

One charge related to a game of truth and dare where the offender held an ice-cube to the boy's private parts until it melted.

On another occasion the offender and the boy masturbated together, the court heard, while one charge involved the pair discussing having anal sex together.

Justice Pickering said no sexual intercourse occurred.

There is no suggestion any of the offences occurred while the staffer was working for Ms Berejiklian, or that she had any knowledge of the historic crime whatsoever, prior to him being charged

'Some people may make a comment it was young people having sexual experimentation,' he said in sentencing.

'I do not see it that way, he wasn't their friend, he wasn't in their age group.

'He was significantly more mature physically and mentally in relation to the children.

'They relied on him to be the adult in the room and he was at that time the adult committing sexual offences against them.'

Justice Pickering praised the victims for coming forward, adding he had been affected by their impact statements.

'It should be noted the courage of victims to come forward and make people accountable decades later is an important aspect of deterrence of child sexual assault,' he said.

'All offenders should know there is no safe period of time, you can be prosecuted 10, 20, 30, 40 years later and receive appropriate punishment.'

Justice Pickering said the offender was in a position of 'responsibility' and 'trust' at the time of the offences.

'He was one of the first persons they started to trust in life ... and he took advantage of them,' he said.

'That has an impact over and above just the sexual impact.'

The offender has since lived a life of good character, Justice Pickering said, adding he was a father and was married. He has had no further criminal history, the court heard.

The man was not placed on the child sex offender register.

There is no suggestion any of the offences occurred while the staffer was working for Ms Berejiklian, or that she had any knowledge of the historic crime whatsoever, prior to him being charged.

Because the victims were children, and the staffer was a minor, the perpetrator's identity cannot be disclosed under NSW law.
An adult surfer has unleashed a volley of ferocious punches at a stunned teenager after the two collided as they both tried to surf the same wave.

The incident happened at the notorious Superbank break off Snapper Rocks at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast and was caught on camera by a magazine surf filmer.

The pair were both sent flying when the bodyboarding teen crashed into the veteran surfer after both inadvertently tried to ride the same swell.

Some pumping waves today. Dust-ups too. We dont condone violence. Its never the answer. Posted by 18seconds on Monday, July 11, 2022

An adult surfer has unleashed a volley of ferocious punches at a stunned teenager after the two collided as they both tried to surf the same wave

The older surfer cut in front of the youngster who was left with nowhere else to go, bumping the man's surfboard and dumping them both as the barrel wave crashed over them.

But bystanders were shocked when the adult then launched a savage on the teenager, raining punches down on the youngster in a furious violent reaction.

The older man can be seen repeatedly smacking the teen around the head in the Facebook footage posted by Gold Coast-based surf site, 18 Seconds.

The website captioned the shocking video clip: 'Some pumping waves today. Dust-ups too. We don't condone violence. It's never the answer.'

Fellow surfers can be heard shouting at the adult to stop, with one female surfer telling him: 'He's just a kid, dude. You're twice his age.'

Bystanders were shocked when the adult then launched a savage on the teenager, raining punches down on the youngster in a furious violent reaction

The incident happened at the notorious Superbank break off Snapper Rocks at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast where surfers frequently clash over waves

The surfer eventually relented and threw up his hands in surrender and exasperation before the pair swam off.

The popular break is infamous for angry encounters between surfers competing for the best breaks. Monday's one-day swell was a magnet for surfers young and old.

One 18 Seconds reader posted : 'Punching a kid multiple times in the head because he a drops in on you on 3 foot wave is weak and embarrassing at best.'

Another added: 'What a hero, punching a grommet [young surfer] and I dont give a rats what the circumstances are.'

ON eposted: 'Don't hit kids ya w***er. A good old verbal barrage would have been enough. Even if the lidder was being lippy.'

But another replied: 'Hope the grom learns from it and looks on the inside next time because that could have been way worse if he was riding glassed board.

'Still you could have just dunked the kid instead of belting him.'

Another added: 'The grom did wrong but he could have just been yelled at instead.'

Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia they had no record of the incident being reported to them.
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Disturbing footage has emerged of a toddler cursing and swinging at cops while adults in the background hurled racist slurs in St. Paul, Minnesota, where crime has soared since the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

The footage was recorded last week while police were at a home to serve a search warrant in the hunt for a murder suspect, according to local news outlet Alpha News.

The 30-second clip shows the unnamed boy standing in the street in his underwear, barefoot, screaming: 'Shut up b***h!' at a black police officer and telling him to 'shut the f**k up!'

He then turned to the other cop and made fun of his 'ugly a** shoes', while other barefoot and barely-dressed kids stood around him.

More disturbing is the commentary in the background of the video from what sounds like an adult male who called the black police officer 'Oreo head'.

It's unclear where the child's parents were, or who the subject of the murder warrant was.

Crime in the Twin Cities soared in the wake of the 2020 unrest that followed George Floyd's killing by cops, so much so that St. Paul increased its police funding in 2021.

There are now 620 sworn officers in the city of 305,877.

Police officers with St. Paul police could only look on as they were abused by small children in the street

Footage has been released that was shot on the streets of St. Paul, Minnesota that sees a young child hitting and cursing at police officers

The cops were on-site in order to conduct a search warrant for a murder suspect

A little girl wearing a diaper watches as the boy attacks the two cops

The children continue to pummel the police with their tiny fists whilst the officers could be seen trying to calm them down.

The cops could be seen reaching out but the youngsters continues to lunge and hit them.

The officers all managed to show restraint against the toddlers who were easily kept at bay.

Journalist Sheila Qualls shared the story first in a column for Alpha News, where she wrote that the 'behavior of these children is eerily similar to the behaviors of rioters who burned and looted Minneapolis two years ago.'

'They cussed, berated, and struck police officers with their fists. This video is disgraceful. Heartbreaking. It is unsettling to law enforcement officers who encounter this behavior daily. It should be frightening to all of us.

'It should be embarrassing to leaders who have failed to lead a community toward virtue and morality,' Qualls wrote.

'We can do better, and we must. Let's stop playing politics with our children's lives. I do not believe this is what civil rights leaders wanted for the future of the black community.

'These children and our country deserve better.'

The kid punched, kicked, cursed, and threw rocks at the police and appeared to be encouraged by bystanders

The child was easily fended off by the officers who showed restraint

One little boy could be seen hitting the police officer as they walked away

Crime has been on the rise in Minneapolis and St. Paul suburbs over the last two years.

Overall crime in Saint Paul rose 15 percent according to yearly statistics

The number of murders in Minnesota increased an alarming 58 percent in 2020 and set a new record, after the state became the epicenter of demands to 'defund' the police in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, new data show.

In 2020, 185 people were murdered across the state, marking an all-time high and sharp increase from 117 the year before, according to the state's Uniform Crime Report.

'A large number of crimes can be a one-person crime wave, particularly in a suburban area with a relatively small population,' Chris Uggen, a professor and criminologist at the University of Minnesota told the Star Tribune.

'The numbers then go up, and the fear goes up, but it can still be a relatively small number of people who are actually doing the activities.

Violent crimes have surged in the Twin Cities with a record 135 homicides in 2021. It compares with 22 in 2019

While the suburbs did not see an increase in violent crimes, nearly all saw increases in property crimes including thefts.

Crime began noticeably increasing in 2020 with a summer of riots and protests.

Minneapolis was at the epicenter of the protests and riots following the death of George Floyd who was killed during an interaction with city police.

The number of murders in Minnesota increased an alarming 58 percent in 2020

Crime has soared in the Twin Cities since the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis cops in 2020 and the civic unrest that followed

'You have the unrest, you have the pandemic, you have the deaths of George Floyd, the next year you have the death of Daunte Wright,' said Star Tribune data journalist Jeff Hargarten explained.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the St. Paul police force for comment on the interaction with the children.

The video went viral on Twitter with many users shocked by what they had witnessed.

'These are not parents, this child has so much violence and hate that I don't think he has ever had a person read to him, cook him a meal that he can rely on daily. Give him a hug daily.

'He has only seen ugliness & can't imagine how he is spoken to & beaten daily this he knows,' tweeted Kristiana C.

'So much rage. That's not normal for a child. Also not normal-out on the street, unsupervised, in their underwear.

'Neglected, abused, and totally bereft of hope. Why are we, as a culture, accepting this? And how do we turn it around? NO child should live like this,' added Rochelle Wentz.

'I would have been in big trouble with my father if I acted that way,' shared Charlie Theriault.

'No discipline turns people into animals. It's discipline that makes us less like beasts, and more like angels,' added another user.

'This is definitely learned hate. And the language is abhorrent, it is not cute or funny. If they have no respect for authority then they will probably have no respect for teachers either,' wrote another Twitter user.
The mother of Australian teenage rap sensation The Kid Laroi will try to overturn her conviction for fraudulently using a credit card to pay for lip filler treatment at a Sydney cosmetic clinic.

Sloane Howard, whose son's real name is Charlton Howard, had pleaded not guilty to one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

The 51-year-old did not appear in the Downing Centre Local Court on Monday when her case was listed and was convicted in her absence. She was not represented by a lawyer.

Daily Mail Australia has learnt Howard lodged an annulment application on Tuesday to have the guilty verdict vacated and will seek to have her not guilty plea restored.

Sloane Howard, the mother of teenage rap sensation The Kid Laroi, was convicted of credit card fraud after allegedly using someone else's details to spend $849 at a Sydney cosmetic clinic. She now wants that verdict annulled. Mother and son are pictured

After returning to Australia from Los Angeles in May to tour with her son, Howard attended a police station in central Sydney where she was charged. The Kid Laroi is pictured with girlfriend Katarina Deme

Police allege Howard used the credit card details of a John Keith to pay for a lip filler treatment worth $849 at the Laser Clinics outlet at Marrickville Metro shopping centre on August 8, 2018.

Magistrate Susan McIntyre found the offence proven, fined Howard $1,000 and ordered her to pay $849 in compensation to Laser Clinic Australia.

Howard will now seek to explain her absence on Monday when the matter returns to court later this month. It is understood she is on tour in Europe with The Kid Laroi.

Mother and son returned triumphantly to Australia in late May for the local leg of a world tour which was interrupted by Howard facing the old fraud charge.

Her case was mentioned in Downing Centre Local Court on June 27 when high-profile solicitor Chris Watson sought an adjournment so the rest of a police brief could be served.

Mr Watson said Howard was overseas as part of an existing contractual agreement and he could not be sure of her exact whereabouts.

'That's not her choice - it's a contractual commitment,' Mr Watson told the court.

Sloane Howard, whose son's real name is Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, had pleaded not guilty to one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception. Mother and son are pictured

Police allege 51-year-old Howard used the credit card details of a John Keith to pay for cosmetic services worth $849 from Laser Clinics Australia at Marrickville Metro Shopping Centre (above) on August 8, 2018

'This is a pre-existing world tour by her son... My client is travelling overseas and her movements at this stage are unknown to me.'

Mr Watson described Howard's son as 'a well-known personality'.

The Kid Laroi - who takes his name from his Indigenous Kamilaroi ancestry - owes much of his success to Howard, whose musical tastes shaped her son's and who closely manages his affairs.

On Mother's Day in 2020, he paid tribute to her as 'the strongest woman I know'.

'I've seen you literally put your own life on the line to make sure I always had the best, even in the worst [times].'

The Kid Laroi has spoken at length about his time in public housing and how his family was evicted from one block of units. He is pictured performing at Qudos Bank Arena on May 26

The Kid Laroi has previously discussed the lengths his mother went to in supporting him and his younger brother Austin after her separation in 2007 from her husband, music producer Nick Howard.

After his parents parted ways Howard took her sons to Broken Hill in far western New South Wales where she set up a talent agency before returning to Sydney about 2017.

The Kid Laroi has spoken at length about his time in public housing and how his family was evicted from one block of units.

Since the Aria-winner broke through to global superstardom in 2020, his mother and Austin have lived in Los Angeles with him.

The now 18-year-old has gone on to record duets with Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and recently signed with Bieber's manager Scooter Braun.
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Hundreds of bonfires were lit across loyalist areas of Northern Ireland last night as Protestant loyal orders prepared to celebrate the Twelfth of July.

Fire and rescue crews in Northern Ireland received a total of 203 emergency calls on the first night of celebrations to usher in the main date of the parading calendar.

As hundreds of bonfires were lit, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) responded to 98 operational incidents.

A spokesperson said there was a 12.5 per cent decrease in bonfire incidents compared to 2021, with the night's activity reaching its peak between 11pm and 1am.

They added that between 6pm on Monday and 2am on Tuesday, 35 of the 98 operational incidents NIFRS responded to related to bonfires.

'NIFRS maintained normal emergency response throughout the evening, attending a range of operational incidents including special service calls, a road traffic collision and other emergencies,' the spokesperson said.

The Twelfth parades, which are organised by the Orange Order, commemorate the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

The battle, which unfolded at the Boyne river north of Dublin, saw Protestant King William of Orange defeat Catholic King James II to secure a Protestant line of succession to the British Crown.

A view from Cavehill overlooking Belfast city of loyalist bonfires burning for the traditional Twelfth commemorations marking the anniversary of the Protestant King William's victory over the Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690

The Twelfth parades, organised by the Orange Order, commemorate the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and will take place today

Pictured: Craigyhill loyalist bonfire in Larne, Co Antrim, on the 'Eleventh night' to usher in the Twelfth commemorations

A young man carries a Northern Ireland flag in silhouette past the burning Craigyhill loyalist bonfire in Larne, Co Antrim

Thousands of Orange lodge members parade through the summer months to mark William's victory and other key dates in Protestant/unionist/loyalist culture.

Those celebrations culminate on the Twelfth - the anniversary of the Boyne encounter.

The routes of certain Orange parades became intense friction points during the Troubles, often leading to widespread rioting and violence.

The disputes usually centred on whether or not Orange lodges should be entitled to parade through nationalist areas.

While Orangemen insisted they had the right to parade on public roads following long-established traditional routes, nationalist residents protested at what they characterised as displays of sectarian triumphalism passing through their neighbourhoods.

The number of flashpoints has reduced significantly in the peace process years.

The build up to this year's Twelfth has been low key and lacking the levels of tension and rancour associated with previous years.

On July 12, there will be 573 loyal order parades. Of these, 33 follow routes that are deemed to be sensitive.

Pictured: Craigyhill loyalist bonfire in Larne, Co Antrim, on the "Eleventh night" to usher in the Twelfth commemorations

Houses had windows boarded up and the fire crews hosed down properties to protect against the heat of the massive bonfire

Two men with drinks pose at the Craigyhill loyalist bonfire in Larne on the 'Eleventh night' to usher in the Twelfth celebrations

People celebrate as the Craigyhill bonfire burns in the Craigyhill housing estate, Larne County Antrim, Northern Ireland

A couple embrace in silhouette at Craigyhill loyalist bonfire on the 'Eleventh night' to usher in the Twelfth commemorations

A view from Cavehill overlooking Belfast city of loyalist bonfires burning as part of the traditional Twelfth commemorations marking the anniversary of the Protestant King William's victory over the Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne

Pictured: Crowds of people celebrate as they watch fireworks at the Craigyhill bonfire in the Craigyhill housing estate

Fireworks are seen around the completed Craigyhill bonfire as it is set alight standing at 202.37208 ft, measured by an independent land survey company, aiming to break the world record of tallest bonfire, on the 'eleventh night'

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) plan on the Twelfth being their busiest and most resource-intensive day of the year.

There will be 2,500 police officers on duty on the Twelfth, which is around a third of the strength of the PSNI.

The Eleventh Night is traditionally the Police Service of Northern Ireland's (PSNI) second busiest and most resource-intensive day of the year.

Police said they were gathering evidence after receiving a number of complaints about election posters and effigies being placed on bonfires.

Earlier in the night, PSNI said there will be 2,500 police officers on duty on the Twelfth, which is around a third of the strength of the PSNI.

Monday night saw crowds gather across Northern Ireland to watch the towering pyres being set alight in loyalist areas, with the largest Eleventh Night bonfire taking place at the Craigyhill estate in Larne, Co Antrim.

But before the fires were lit, police said that they were investigating multiple reports of flags, effigies and election posters being placed on bonfires.

Hundreds of people watched on as the Craigyhill bonfire was lit at midnight with organisers confident that they had broken the world record for the tallest bonfire, after the pyre was measured at 202.3ft.

Nearby houses had their windows boarded up and the fire service hosed down properties to protect against the heat of the massive bonfire.

The build-up to the Eleventh Night celebrations was overshadowed by the death of a bonfire builder in Co Antrim on Saturday night.

Crowds celebrate as the Craigyhill bonfire burns in the Craigyhill housing estate, Larne County Antrim, Northern Ireland

People watch as the Craigyhill bonfire burns standing at 202.37208 ft, measured by an independent land survey company, aiming to break the world record of tallest bonfire, on the 'Eleventh night' in order to usher in the Twelfth of July celebrations

A view from Cavehill overlooking Belfast city of loyalist bonfires burning as part of the traditional Twelfth commemorations marking the anniversary of the Protestant King William's victory over the Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne

John Steele, a window cleaner who was aged in his mid-30s, was killed when he fell from a separate bonfire in Larne that stood more than 50 feet tall.

In total more than 250 bonfires were constructed in loyalist neighbourhoods across Northern Ireland.

The fires are traditionally ignited on the eve of the Twelfth of July  a day when members of Protestant loyal orders parade to commemorate the Battle of Boyne in 1690.

The battle, which unfolded at the Boyne river north of Dublin, saw Protestant King William of Orange defeat Catholic King James II to secure a Protestant line of succession to the British Crown.

Most of the bonfires pass off every year without incident, but a number continue to be the source of controversy.

This year there have been a number of complaints from nationalist and cross-community politicians about their images being placed on the fires.

The SDLP's Paul Doherty condemned those behind putting his election poster on a bonfire in west Belfast.

He said: 'While I respect everyone's right to celebrate their culture in their own way, we regularly see posters of nationalist representatives and hate speech on these bonfires and we need leaders in the unionist community to call it out and put a stop to it once and for all.

Its extremely disappointing to see my election posters alongside this sectarian message on an eleventh night bonfire. Leaders in the unionist community need to call these actions out and put a stop to this once and for all. pic.twitter.com/82zN5LQYHx  Paul Doherty (@PaulDohertySDLP) July 11, 2022

'I have also heard concerns about the building of this bonfire so close to the local community centre and would ask those taking part to ensure that this bonfire passes off as safely as possible with no damage caused to the local community or surrounding areas.'

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said his election posters were also placed on the bonfire.

He said: 'Unfortunately there has been a deafening silence from many unionist politicians in the face of this kind of sectarian intimidation.

'It is time for leadership, and to demand an end to this provocation.'

Alliance Party MLA Stewart Dickson tweeted: 'Saddened to see once again Alliance and other party election posters together with flags ranging from the EU to the Vatican and the Republic of Ireland on bonfires in East Antrim.'

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) tweeted: 'The Police Service has received a number of complaints relating to flags, effigies, election posters and other emblems being placed on bonfires.

'We are gathering evidence in respect of these complaints and will review to establish whether offences have been committed.'

Another fire lit at midnight was at Adam Street in the loyalist Tigers Bay area of north Belfast. Nationalist residents from the nearby New Lodge estate have previously claimed the fire is located too close to the interface between the two communities  something the bonfire builders have denied.
On Sunday, Lapid had expressed hope that his country would establish formal diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, days before Biden visits the two countries

The White House has stepped up COVID protocols around Biden to ensure that the oldest President to take office does not become infected

President Joe Biden will not shake hands with Prime Minister Yair Lapid during his trip to the Middle East amid a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the US and Israel.

According to The Jerusalem Post, The White House communicated to Lapid's office that in an effort to protect Biden, 79, he will be skipping the traditional handshake when meeting heads of state on Wednesday.

The decision comes amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases both in the U.S. and in Israel. In America, the seven-day average has spiked to 133,907, more than 20,000 compared to last month, according to the latest data released by the CDC.

Meanwhile, Israel is seeing an average of 7,300 new cases every day, as opposed to 4,800 just a month ago, John Hopkins University data shows.

The White House has stepped up COVID protocols around Biden to ensure that the oldest President to take office does not become infected.

Among those measures are requiring aides to be tested weekly and on the day of meetings with Biden in addition to wearing N95 masks, The New York Times reported.

On Sunday, Lapid had expressed hopes that his country would establish formal diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, days before Biden visits the two countries as part of a regional trip.

Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have official diplomatic relations, but have shared clandestine security ties over a mutual enmity of regional arch-rival Iran. The kingdom is widely believed to be among a handful of Arab states weighing open ties with Israel.

'Israel extends its hand to all the countries of the region and calls on them to build ties with us, establish relations with us, and change history for our children,' Lapid said during a weekly Cabinet meeting.

He said Biden will carry 'a message of peace and hope from us' when he embarks for Saudi Arabia.

President Joe Biden (left) will not shake hands with Prime Minister Yair Lapid (right) during his trip to the Middle East amid a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the US and Israel

The decision comes amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases both in the U.S. and in Israel. In America, the seven-day average has spiked to 133,907, more than 20,000 compared to last month, according to the latest data released by the CDC

Meanwhile, Israel is seeing an average of 7,300 new cases every day, as opposed to 4,800 just a month ago, John Hopkins University data shows

Biden will also meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler, when he visits Saudi Arabia his week as part of his larger trip.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that President Biden will have a meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his government, which would include MBS, who is Salman's heir to the throne and serves as defense minister.

'The president will have the opportunity to have a bilateral program that will involve the King, the Crown Prince, other ministers of the Saudi government,' he said Monday.

President Joe Biden will also meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler, when he visits Saudi Arabia this week

Relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated during Biden's presidency.

He slammed the kingdom as a 'pariah state' after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that MBS approved the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.

But Biden's visit to the kingdom is seen as a chance to reset relations at a time gas prices remain high in the United States.

'It's really important to Saudi Arabia and the GCC that Biden is coming,' Ben Cahill, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told DailyMail.com.

'I think it underscores to them that they play a critical role in the global economy, that they have security issues that they want Washington to address, and that the Biden administration's engaging with them. So it is really significant for them that he's coming. Managing the optics of that as obviously complicated,' he noted.

Those complicated optics include the question of that handshake.

These official visits are usually highly choreographed affairs set after weeks of planning, which includes where officials will be positioned and how the president can walk into a room to set up or avoid a handshake.

Human rights advocates also have encouraged Biden not to make the trip without bringing up Khashoggi's killing.

The White House has said Biden will discuss human rights on the trip but has not especificially said if Biden will discuss the murdered Washington Post journalist.

'We have had contact with Jamal Khashoggi, his family. The president has not himself spoken with them. But he has been focused on this issue from the beginning. And as he said when he took office, and as we have stuck by since then, our goal has been to recalibrate but not rupture the relationship with Saudi Arabia to end the blank check policy and to seek accountability,' Sullivan said.

Biden also has defended his record on human rights.

'I know that there are many who disagree with my decision to travel to Saudi Arabia. My views on human rights are clear and long-standing, and fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad, as they will be during this trip, just as they will be in Israel and the West Bank,' Biden wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post.

Biden has been reluctant to deal with the crown prince and, early on his presidency, said he would only deal with the aging King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who he sees as his equal.

And the White House has taken repeated pains to say Biden will be meeting with the king and his leadership team while the president is in Saudi Arabia and that team happens to include MBS.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that President Biden will have a meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his government, which would include MBS, who is Salman's heir to the throne and serves as defense minister

Human rights advocates also have encouraged President Biden not to make the trip without bringing up the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi (pictured)

Biden will also make a stop in Jerusalem where he will meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders - above a worker irons an American flag as part of the preparations for that visit

Experts point out that  from the Saudi point of view  that the high gas prices in the U.S. are a problem of the Biden administration's own making, a result of sanctions Washington and Western allies have placed on Russia in response to its invasion of the Ukraine.

Martin Indyk of the Council on Foreign Relations noted that despite Biden's reluctance to engage with the crown prince, the sense come from the Saudi government is that 'now the president's going to have to eat crow and kiss the ring.'

'Both sides should understand that they need to find a way to work with each other and set the direction in the future for a better relationship,' he said.

'There is a pragmatic deal that does need to be done on this trip, which is, basically, MBS, the crown prince, agrees to pump more oil and President Biden agrees to take him out of the penalty box,' Indyk noted.

While in Saudi Arabie, Biden will attend The Gulf Cooperation Council summit  consisting of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.

He will start the trip with a stop in Jerusalem, where he will meet with Israeli and Palenstinian leaders.

He will stress regional cooperation and its mutual benefits in all his stops.

The administration would like to see closer Arab security ties with Israel to counter Iran.Biden will also offer his vision for the region.

'At that summit, he will make a major statement on the Biden administration strategy, his vision for the Middle East region,' Sullivan said.

The war in Yemen, which Washington wants to see Riyadh make progress toward ending, will also be a topic of conversation during the Saudi portion of the trip.

The choreography of the trip, especially the meeting with King Salman, will be closely watched.

And no matter the optics, it remains unclear if gas prices will drop in the United States after the trip.

Last month Saudi Arabia and The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to increase its output by more than 200,000 barrels a day  a move the Biden administration praised.
A former cafe boss and convicted teen sex predator has been jailed for nine years after being found guilty of two counts of rape.

Portuguese immigrant Miguel Dantas De Sa, 32, appeared at the District Court in Adelaide on Tuesday.

De Sa was issued a non-parole period of five years and six months.

Portuguese immigrant Miguel Dantas De Sa (pictured), 32, was sentenced to nine years in jail after being found guilty of two counts of rape

With time already served he will be eligible for release in late 2025, when he and his family are likely to be deported, The Advertiser reported.

Judge Allen said De Sa showed no remorse or insight into his crimes.

In January 2020, the victim applied for a job at his cafe and he messaged her over the next few days to come back for a trial shift.

De Sa said he would teach her how to pour beers and make cocktails.

It was revealed that after hours of making and trying drinks, the young girl was invited out by De Sa for another drink.

The incident resulted in the girl feeling 'very intoxicated' by the end of the night.

The girl stated she woke up in a bedroom that was unfamiliar to her and had some memories of being abused.

De Sa said he carried the young girl to an Uber and sent her home where she had to be lifted out of the car by the driver and her parents.

He maintained he had not been reckless as to whether the victim was not consenting to sexual activity, although Judge Allen rejected that argument.

With time already served De Sa (pictured) will be eligible for release in late 2025, when he and his family are likely to be deported

Judge Allen stated: 'You carried your barely conscious victim to an Uber  that is cogent evidence that you knew she had no way of consenting.'

This offending took place while De Sa was on bail and awaiting trial for a similar offence.

He was sentenced to two and a half years jail in July 2020 after he forced a 16-year-old waitress to expose herself and offered her money to have sex with him at a cafe in Adelaide on November 12, 2016.

De Sa cornered the young girl in a locked cool room with him before he asked her if she would have sex with him for $200.

When the teenager insisted she needed to get back to work he looped his fingers in her underwear and forced her to pull down her pants.

After messaging the employee to reconsider his offer she again turned him down only for him to later ask what size underwear she wore.

De Sa previously begged the court not to jail him as it could see his whole family deported because their visas are dependent on the 'good character' clause in his own.
The loyal staffer who successfully won a $2.8million payout after suing her former workplace for being relentlessly 'bullied and harassed' by her oppressive boss has revealed how the ordeal ruined her life.

Vivienne Leggett, 54, worked in sponsorship and promotions at Hawkesbury Race Club, in Sydney's north-west, for more than 25 years before quitting due to the treatment she received from CEO Greg Rudolph over several months in 2016.

The Federal Court of Australia heard Mr Rudolph's behaviour led Ms Leggett to develop a significant depressive disorder with anxiety that left her unable to work for nearly six years.

Ms Leggett sued in 2019 and was recently awarded the life-changing payout for the year of bullying she suffered from Mr Rudolph, plus being denied annual leave, long service leave and commission payments.

Mr Rudolph has since stepped down, citing his desire to work in a number of 'charity fields'.

In an exclusive interview, mother-of-Ms Leggett said her her physical and mental health fell apart during her five year legal battle just to 'keep living.'

She now struggles to drive for periods longer than an hour without having to stop and rest, and is still on medication to treat ongoing mental illness, was forced to sell three properties and take out more than $200,000 from her super.

'I lost my identity,' she said, voice wavering. 'I was always Vivienne Leggett from Hawkesbury Race Club - I wasn't Ashley or Scott's mum, I was Vivienne, from Hawkesbury Race Club.'

In happier times: Vivienne Leggett and her husband Garry attending a charity ball supporting Hawkesbury Living Cancer Trust where she is a founding member. Ms Leggett won a $2.8million payout after suing her former workplace

Hawkesbury Race Club CEO Greg Rudolph (above) was found to have bullied and harassed Ms Leggett over several months in 2016. The Federal Court heard Mr Rudolph's conduct caused Ms Leggett to develop a depressive disorder that has left her unemployable for six years

Ms Leggett started working at the club in 1991 when she was 28 years old, under then-CEO Brian Fletcher, who described her as a 'trusted employee'.

She was responsible for bringing in new deals and retaining existing contracts, and was promoted to the club's sponsorship and marketing manager.

Mr Rudolph took over as CEO in May 2016 after Mr Fletcher left to take the top job at the Penrith Panthers NRL club.

The court heard the new chief began bullying Ms Leggett from the outset, believing she was being paid too much.

She recalled her first meeting with Mr Rudolph, where the new CEO pulled her into his office and, as the court heard she alleged, said: 'You earn too much money, if you were at Gosford you'd earn half as much.'

'No hello, no nothing. He stuck his long arm out to me and pointed at me, about a metre from his face,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'I was a bit of a smart a**, I did say: "Hey Greg, how are you?"

'There was no introduction, nothing. It was straight away.

'It was that same meeting he called me a "nothing".'

The court heard that in July 2016 Mr Rudolph said to Ms Leggett: 'You are not a contractor. You are not an employee. You are a nothing'.

She also said when first introducing himself to the rest of the women at the club, Mr Rudolph said: 'Before I even start, I want you all to know I'm a control freak'.

Ms Leggett (pictured) worked in sponsorship and promotions at Hawkesbury Race Club for more than 25 years before quitting due to the treatment of its CEO - before winning $2.8million after taking the club to Federal Court

Ms Leggett quit due to the treatment she received from the Hawkesbury Race Club CEO Greg Rudolph (above)

Mr Rudolph would repeatedly single the sponsorship manager out, micromanage her tasks, relentlessly email her and denied her basic benefits that every employee was entitled to, the court heard.

Ms Leggett complained to Mr Rudolph about his behaviour about four months after he started the new role, explaining the impact it was having on her mentally and her capacity to do her job appropriately.

She asked him to refer the complaint to Hawkesbury Race Club's board of directors, before he responded the next day asking her to come to his office to 'discuss her work performance', the court decision said.

Mr Rudolph said she could bring a 'support person' to the meeting, before Ms Leggett sent him a medical certificate explaining she couldn't work for the next week 'due to work stress'.

The court decision said Mr Rudolph then forwarded her letter to his father-in-law and added: 'Dropping like flies'.

Ms Leggett said on the last day of the financial year in 2016 Mr Rudolph demanded 'a momentous' amount of paperwork.

Ms Leggett was a beloved employee at Hawkesbury Race Club - respected highly by colleagues and former CEO Brian Fletcher, who now runs the Penrith Panthers

'I remember going to my husband, just exhausted, saying "I don't know why he's doing this",' she said.

'What's he trying to do, is he trying to take my sponsors away from me?

'What is it? All he wanted to know was about my contracts, what I had in place, how long they were for.

'That was pretty horrific. Once he got that he just kept adding and asking all these questions on this thing that took me eight hours. He was micromanaging to a level I couldn't turn my head.'

Ms Leggett claimed Mr Rudolph's treatment of her caused her to lose sleep, doubt her ability to do her job and made her feel 'so useless'.

'I was deflated, lethargic, questioned myself as a person, my ability. I started to crawl inside a shell,' she said.

On another occasion, upon reviewing Ms Leggett's use of the club's credit card, she claimed that Mr Rudolph questioned her spending $15 on parking.

'It was just ridiculous. I didn't have a credit card until six months before Brian [Fletcher] left.

'He would say fill up your car if you've been driving around a lot, which I really appreciated because it'd been 20 or 25 years,' she said.

The Federal Court heard he often held 'dogged interrogations' over expenditures.

The court heard Mr Rudolph even questioned another employee about Ms Leggett taking a 'kickback', which the employee rejected.

'With [Mr Rudolph], if I didn't put that $3.50 receipt in, I'm not going to get the money.

'For a CEO it was well and truly under his pay rate, the things he was getting involved with.'

In happier times: Ms Leggett (center) with her daughter in-law Iveta (left), husband Garry (center left), son Scott (right) and daughter Ashley (center right)

The court heard a phone call she had with board member Sid Kelly OAM where Ms Leggett accused Mr Rudolph of 'constantly harassing' her.

'I feel like he doesn't trust what I'm doing or what I've been doing for 25 years. I feel like he's just, like, put me in a box and won't let me do anything,' she told Mr Kelly.

'I just can't work properly because he's constantly harassing me.'

In another conversation with Mr Kelly, the court heard Ms Leggett said she 'hadn't stopped crying for a week' over Mr Rudolph's treatment of her.

'I can't... cope. I'm constantly, I just I can't stop crying. I haven't stopped crying for a week,' she told Mr Kelly.

'I can't do my work. I'm so stressed. I can't eat. Can't sleep. I'm just completely just not myself.'

Ms Leggett was forced to sell her three properties and withdraw hundreds of thousands of dollars from her super because she wasn't paid for years since October 2016.

She was not paid any workers compensation for the first 15 months of being off work, and the Race Club withheld her long service and annual leave, as well as commissions she had brought into Hawkesbury.

The Leggetts were paying off a $6,000 mortgage loan every month, so the mother was forced to take more than $200,000 out of her super supposed to see her through retirement.

The three properties they owned were sold off each year to try to survive financially.

Ms Leggett began employment at the club in 1991 when she was 28 years old, working under then-CEO Brian Fletcher, who described her as a 'trusted employee'

Mr Rudolph, who had previously been deputy chair of stewards with Racing NSW, was hired by South Australia's equivalent body early this year.

He was initially employed as a senior steward but was recently promoted to racing operations manager in a revamp of the organisation.

Racing SA chief executive Nick Redin confirmed last month he and his board were comfortable with Mr Rudolph's appointment to the newly-created job, despite Ms Leggett's experience.

'We did our due diligence when Greg joined us,' Mr Redin told the Herald Sun.

'We were satisfied with Greg on the way in and we've seen nothing since he's been with us to indicate we should have any cause for concern.'

Ms Leggett was distressed to hear Mr Rudolph recently received a promotion at Racing SA - saying there was 'no fairness' in the industry

The court found the club was in breach of its contractual obligations toward Ms Leggett, and the Fair Work Act, for not paying her the benefits she was entitled to.

It also ruled that the club was negligent in providing a safe work environment for her.

It ordered Hawkesbury Race Club pay Ms Leggett $2.8million for denied bonuses, payments, leave and future loss of work.

'Bullying of women in the workforce seems to be rampant, not just in racing,' she said.

After resigning in 2019, Mr Rudolph said he was proud of his achievements at the helm of the club.

'The Board and I are proud of what we have achieved during my term, which has extended beyond my initial three year commitment,' he said.

'The time is right for me to complete my business studies and to put some more time into various other commitments I have, in charity fields, for example.'

Daily Mail Australia put questions to Mr Rudolph, but did not receive a response by deadline.
Julie Bishop threw her head back and laughed with a group of young mining workers in pictures taken less than two weeks since splitting with her partner of eight years.

The former foreign minister posted happy snaps to Instagram of herself attending a function held by the Mineral Resources mining services company.

Ms Bishop, 65 was reportedly dumped by long-term boyfriend David Panton, 61, over dinner at a restaurant in Sydney's central business district on July 1.

In the photographs posted on Monday night after speaking at a Mineral Resources professional development program she was all smiles and seemed carefree.

Julie Bishop was all smiles as she addressed a group of young mining employees less than two weeks since split with David Panton, her partner of eight years

A glowing Julie Bishop threw her head back and laughed in pictures the former foreign minister posted to Instagram after attending a function held by Mineral Resources mining services company

'Addressing employee graduates at Mineral Resources' professional development program, sharing my career journey, the sliding-door moments plus a few tips!' she captioned the pictures.

It was the first time Ms Bishop had posted on Instagram since late June when she uploaded pictures of herself and Mr Panton having dinner with Prince Charles in London.

Ms Bishop was seen last Tuesday night when she attended the Australian National University's (ANU) annual John Gee Memorial Lecture in Canberra.

Photos showed a beaming Ms Bishop standing with International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Smartly dressed in a black floral blouse, pants and heels, Ms Bishop delivered the opening speech for the event in front of a full house in her role as university chancellor, a job she's held for two-and-a-half years.

Ms Bishop, 65 was reportedly dumped by long-term boyfriend David Panton, 61, over dinner at a restaurant in Sydney's central business district on July 1. The former couple is pictured

'Addressing employee graduates at Mineral Resources professional development program, sharing my career journey, the sliding-door moments plus a few tips!' Ms Bishop captioned the pictures

Argentinian Mr Grossi was a keynote speaker at the lecture, named in honour of the late diplomat Dr John Gee.

It was the first time Ms Bishop had been spotted in public since her break-up four night earlier.

She first stepped out publicly with Mr Panton in 2014, with the pair pictured at countless events including the 2018 wedding of Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough.

The couple went to dinner on July 1 when Mr Panton said the relationship had run its course, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

'I'm going to be focused on living in Manly and Melbourne for the foreseeable future,' Mr Panton told the publication.

'I wish Julie all the best in her ongoing stellar career.'

A newly single Julie Bishop (right) posed for a photo with keynote speaker International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi at an ANU event in Canberra on July 5

The pair had been together at St James's Palace in London, having dinner with Prince Charles for an event honouring his charity, just days before their split
The girlfriend of a thug who was stabbed to death by a bodega store worker he attacked has not been charged because prosecutors feel she was defending her beau, insiders have claimed.

The 32-year-old woman, who has not been named, has yet to be arrested over knifing Jose Alba three times during the violent assault in Manhattan on July 1.

Shocking footage shows her brawling with the 61-year-old clerk after calling her boyfriend Austin Simon who hopped the counter and pounced on him.

But Alba managed to grab a sharp object and plunge it into Simon's neck and chest in self defense before being arrested and charged with murder.

Now, insiders claim the girlfriend has not been charged for attacking the shop worker because prosecutors think she was defending her boyfriend.

It comes as New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been accused in recent weeks of having a soft-on-crime approach to tackling violent offenders.

This is the moment bodega worker Jose Alba was stabbed in the arm by the girlfriend of the gangster he stabbed to death on July 1 in a row over a bag of potato chips

The woman produced her own knife from her bag and stabbed Alba in the arm while he fought off her boyfriend

Jose Alba, 61, is back at home in New York City after being released from Rikers Island on a lower bond last week. He is pictured here with one of the wounds he sustained fighting off the vicious attacker

Alba (pictured today) had just refused to give Simon's girlfriend a bag of chips. She tried to pay for the $3 snack but her card was declined

A police source told the New York Post: 'The DA's office looked at the tape, and they felt she was defending her boyfriend. They didn't feel charges were necessary.'

The move incensed Alba's supporters who could not grasp why she has escaped justice when the store worker faces prison.

Francisco Marte of the Bodega and Small Business Association Group said: 'I don't understand why the [district attorney] hasn't charged her.

'She participated in that. She's supposed to be in jail and the $250,000 bail [Alba once faced] should be on her, not on him. He was just defending himself.'

Defense lawyer Michael Discioarro added: 'I have no idea why she's not charged. Her boyfriend was the aggressor. She does not get to protect the aggressor.

'We're getting a good look at how the system works for the average person,' he said. 'Imagine if there was no video.

'Jose Alba would never be released from Rikers, and [Simon's girlfriend] would testify against him, likely perjuring herself.'

Jose Alba, 61, shows DailyMail.com his injuries on Monday after being released on a lowered bond. He says he was fighting for his life

Alba did not want to show his face on Monday but he spoke to reporters to ask for forgiveness from Simon's mother. 'I know this pain because I lost a son,' he said

Alba, 61, had his arm slashed in the attack by the man's girlfriend. She has not been named or arrested

It comes as Alba is back at home in New York City after being released from Rikers Island on a lower bond last week.

On July 1, he stabbed Simon in the neck and chest in self-defense after Simon charged into the store to confront him.

Alba had just refused to give Simon's girlfriend a bag of chips. She tried to pay for the $3 snack but her card was declined.

On Monday, he did not wish to have his face photographed but he showed off his injuries at his New York City apartment.

They include a graze on the upper arm, deep bruises and a gash on his shoulder. It comes after new surveillance video emerged showing how the woman attacked him with her own knife while he tried to fight off her boyfriend.

He spoke softly from behind the door of his apartment to ask for forgiveness from Simon's family.

'I didn't think this would happen. At that moment, I was in shock. I didn't know what to do and what to say. I feel very sad.'

'I didn't want to do this. This happened. I don't know in the moment how this happened.

'But I'm also sad. I know what the pain is because I also lost my son. Please forgive me because I didn't want to do that.'

Alba had a cut on his arm which was the result of Simon's girlfriend attacking him first, his family say

Video footage reveals the bodega worker Jose Alba was trying to avoid confrontation with Austin Simon in the minutes leading up to the July 1 stabbing

Alba's supporters, who include Mayor Eric Adams, say it's a clear case of self-defense and that he should never have been arrested.

After widespread public outrage last week, Alba's bond was lowered from $250,000 to $50,000 and he was let go after posting the required 10 percent.

Other videos obtained by DailyMail.com show Simon - who was on parole for attacking a police officer when he died - marching behind the bodega counter to confront Alba.

'Papa, I don't want a problem, papa,' Alba told him calmly.

Simon charged into the Blue Moon convenience store minutes after his girlfriend tried to buy a bag of chips for her daughter but her benefits card was declined.

The woman, who claimed Alba snatched the bag of chips from the child, is heard on the video asking Alba, 'Did you put food?'

Alba responds that he'll try her card another time.

'OK, mama, let me do it another time. My God,' he says to her as she insists, 'There's money on there.'

But he scans the card multiple times and hands it back to her telling her it's not working.

The edited footage cuts to show other customers in the bodega as the woman is heard yelling out of view from the camera.

'You can't touch my daughter. Don't snatch that out of my daughter, you fking piece of shit!'

The woman had reported that Alba snatched the bag of chips from her daughter's hands when they couldn't pay.

She continues, 'I'm gonna bring my n down here and he gonna fk you up. My n is gonna come down here right now and fk you up!'

Alba tells her that it's not his fault and that the card was not working.

Simon charged into the Blue Moon convenience store minutes after his girlfriend tried to buy a bag of chips for her daughter but her benefits card was declined

The woman had called Simon for back-up after her card was declined paying for a bag of chips

The woman is shown afterwards gesturing to the paramedics who arrived to tend to her boyfriend

Another woman asked, 'Did they take something from you?' Alba replied, 'No, I take it back.'

Simon can then be seen on the video storming into the store and walking behind the counter where he confronts Alba.

'What's up with you? Nr what is wrong with you?' he yells at him.

In previous footage that was released, the fight between the two men breaks out when Simon goes behind the counter and is seen pushing Alba into a chair.

Alba grabbed the store's box cutting knife to stab him in the neck and chest. Simon later died in the hospital.

In the new video footage, it cuts to show bloody Simon splayed out on the bodega floor. His girlfriend is heard yelling, 'That was over $3. Three fking dollars. He snatched something out of my daughterplease help him.'

Alba was released from Rikers Island on Thursday evening after his bail was lowered from $250,000 to $50,000, and returned to his Hamilton Heights home wearing an electronic monitor and accompanied by one of his sons. He was only required to pay $5,000.

Osamah Aldhabyani, 35, who owns the bodega told The Post that he was haunted by what happened and worried about possible retaliation from Simon's friends after, he claims that he saw two of them in a car outside the store.

'I'm scared for my life,' he said.

Alba's fellow bodega workers said they will not let him return to work because they fear the victim's friends will come to harm him.

New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been accused in recent weeks of having a soft-on-crime approach to tackling violent offenders

'We're not letting him come back,' a Blue Moon Convenience store worker named Wilson told the New York Post.

Wilson said his victim's 'friends and family' now know where Alba works and his coworkers fear it's a 'death sentence' if he returns to his post.

Wilson said he is now scared that he could face a similar situation to Alba if he were forced to protect himself.

'Why is [Alba] getting charged? He was working. Now that makes workers even more scared. This could happen to me. We out here working. We feel scared. We have to protect ourselves,' he told the New York Post.

'He wasn't looking for trouble, he was working. What is he supposed to do? That guy could have done anything[Alba] is an old man. It's not fair.'

Wilson also expressed fear over the growing gun problem in New York City, saying he didn't know 'who has a gun' in the neighborhood. He also said that all the workers are trying to do is 'make money and serve the community,' not deal with violence.

'They should consider self-defense,' another employee Escoo told the Post. 'We are risking our lives serving the community.'

Alba was thrown in jail and held on a $250,000 bond after prosecutors from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's office asked for double that, despite letting other career criminals loose.

Following a resounding outrage over the decision, a Manhattan judge finally lowered Alba's bond today and he was released to his home.
A brand new $200million quarantine facility purpose built for overseas and returned travellers will go to waste as the Western Australian government decides on an alternative use.

Construction of the Morrison Government's Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience on Perth's outskirts is nearing completion and will be handed over to the state next month.

The 500 bed facility was intended for overseas travellers to undergo their 14 days of mandatory isolation after they arrived on Australia's shores.

But the facility will remain empty with its future now hanging under a cloud after Australia recently scrapped quarantine and vaccination requirements for overseas arrivals.

Drone footage taken by Seven News shows that the $200million quarantine facility on Perth's outskirts is almost complete

The WA government has only committed to funding the cost of operating the facility for 12 months.

Premier Mark McGowan says it's looking at several options, including as short-term accommodation for skilled workers arriving from overseas.

'This was a decision of the Morrison government to build this. It was on the basis that we may well need it,' he told reporters on Sunday.

'At this point in time, it's not needed for quarantine purposes but it may be needed for some of those purposes in the future. So the state government has agreed to operate it for the course of one year.

'What we will do is look for a purpose.'

One option being considered is short-term accommodation for skilled workers to fill critical shortages in the healthcare, hospitality and construction industries.

'We all know one of the biggest problems we face is not enough people for the jobs that are out there,' Mr McGowan said.

From our drone - the massive 500 bed Quarantine facility nearing completion in Bullsbrook, north of Perth. Built by the federal government, intended for overseas arrivals but now looking for a new use #7NEWS @7NewsPerth pic.twitter.com/lHdV1LD7MG  Simon Hydzik (@simonhydzik) July 11, 2022

The 500 beds at the Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience will remain empty for now as the state government decides what to do with the facility

'Skilled labour coming in that might need somewhere to stay is one of the things we are looking at.

'We're currently going through a process to work out how that might happen and whether it's actually feasible or not, considering the location of the centre.'

Mr McGowan previously suggested the facility could also be used for disaster relief.

'As you know every Christmas we have disasters, we have fires and cyclones. Perhaps there is a use there at some points during the year,' he recently told parliament.

'Maybe there is some use we can put it to outside of a pandemic or a disaster (but) we haven't quite landed on what that is yet.

'We're seeking feedback from people as to what it can be used for.

'It's not in the heart of the city. So you know, in terms of backpackers or something, it can't really be used for that.'

There are also calls for the facility to help ease Perth's dire rental market with just 2300 properties available for lease earlier this month, according to REIWA, the state's real estate institute.

The newly constructed Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience (pictured) was intended to be a quarantine facility for overseas arrivals

Northern Territory's quarantine facility at Howards Spring closed last month.

The Victorian government are in talks with the federal government about using Melbourne's quarantine hub to accommodate refugees fleeing war-torn Afghanistan and Ukraine.

The Queensland government independently contracted their own Wellcamp Covid quarantine facility outside Toowomba, in addition to the one still being built by the Commonwealth, which is near Brisbane Airport.

Wellcamp also has 1000 beds and opened in February but as of last month had reportedly hosted only 504 travellers.
Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government has announced new guidelines to help students pursue foreign education, with more stress on merit and has been made applicable also to the poor students from forward castes.

The state government on Monday issued an order on Videshi Vidya Deevena. Students whose parents annual income is below Rs 8 lakh are eligible to avail the Videshi Vidya Deevena scheme. Students must be aged below 35.

Accordingly, the state will bear the study expenditure of students who secured seats in the first 200 universities in QS World University Rankings. This means those who secured seats in the first 100 universities will get total fee reimbursement.

Those who secured seats in universities of rankings between 100 and 200 would get fee reimbursement up to Rs 50 lakh.

The fee reimbursement amount will be released into the bank accounts of the students in four instalments. The first instalment will be released to the students who secured either landing permit or I-94 card while the second instalment will be released after the results of the first semester or term are out.

The third instalment will be released after the second semester results are out. The fourth instalment will be released after the results of either the fourth or the final semester are out.

Students pursuing PhD and MBBS courses would get fee reimbursement either annually or semester-wise until they complete their course.

All the students who secure seats in the top 200 universities as per QS World University Rankings would get fee reimbursement under the scheme.

However, the scheme is applicable to the native students of AP and only one student from a family will get the benefit.

The state government will issue notification to identify eligible students to pursue foreign education every year between September and December, and again between January and May. A committee headed by the AP chief secretary will select the eligible students.

A comparison of foreign education scheme implemented by the previous TD government and the the present YSR Congress government showed that the last government selected 3,326 students from 2016-17 but failed to clear the dues of Rs 318 crore.

The TD government did not allow poor students from upper castes to avail it and imposed a ceiling on annual income up to Rs 6 lakh. This has now been raised to Rs 8 lakh.

The TD government scheme covered universities in only some nations in the world and offered Rs 15 lakh each to SCs, STs and minorities, Rs 10 lakh each to BCs and Kapus. It had released the amount to benefit 300 students from SC, 100 from ST, 400 from Kapu, 1,000 from BC communities and 500 from minorities. Several lapses in implementation of the TD scheme were also noticed by the vigilance and enforcement authorities.

Among these lapses were: no income ceiling was followed in selection of beneficiary students while some students changed the university and the nation to pursue foreign education without informing the government while some discontinued their foreign education after getting the fee reimbursement.

Also, then, the eligibility norm of only one student from a family was violated, it has been pointed out.
The Star casino is seeking to shut down a lawsuit by a banned gambler who lost $950,000 and wants a second chance to win the money back.

In the lawsuit, which The Star wants either dismissed or stayed, Kim Huyen Tran Nguyen has accused the casino of banning her and withdrawing her membership for no reason and making misleading statements to the police.

Ms Nguyen, who works as a beauty therapist in western Sydney, claims she received a verbal one-year ban without an end date in April 2021.

A gambler who has lost $950,000 at Sydney's The Star casino is fighting what she says is an open-ended ban from the venue which is preventing her from winning her money back

The woman, from the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield East, says she accepted the ban without dispute at the time because of Covid-19 and family issues.

Ms Nguyen launched the NSW Supreme Court lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban claiming it is also preventing her from starting a job as a travel host at the casino.

The Star's lawyers are attempting to shut down the lawsuit by having it either dismissed or stayed

As well as wanting to return to the casino to recover $950,000 in losses, she allegedly had $2500 of credit left which was not fully refunded when stripped of her membership.

Ms Nguyen will oppose The Star's bid to terminate her lawsuit, saying she wished the matter to go to a hearing with full evidence.

The Star is also seeking its legal costs of defending the case.

Beauty therapist Kim Huyen Tran Nguyen claims The Star ban is stopping her taking a job in the casino and is still owed $2500 in credit

The Star is also suing another gambler it claims owe them $12million from cashing in an allegedly dodgy cheque

It's a busy time for the casino's lawyers because they are also suing a high roller over $12million in allegedly unpaid debts.

The Star claims that in July 2019 Jingang Hu withdrew $13.2million worth of Hong Kong dollars from a cashing facility based on a cheque that later bounced.

'On 19 July 2019, the said cheque was not met on presentation upon deposit by [The Star] causing [The Star] to suffer loss,' the casino wrote.

The Star claims Hu falsely said the cheque was valid and would be honoured.

While Hu partially repaid the funds, The Star alleges it is still owed $10.7million plus $1.3 million in interest.

The casino is also seeking its legal costs in the NSW Supreme Court lawsuit.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said it was time for Donald Trump to 'hang up his hat and sail into the sunset,' days after the former U.S. President mocked the billionaire at a political rally and called him a 'Bull***t artist.'

Writing on Twitter, Musk said, 'I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.'

'Dems should also call off the attack - don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency,' he added without explanation.

At the same rally, Trump, who was famously banned from Twitter, urged the crowd to join his own social media network Truth Social.

The pair have previously been on good terms, with Trump previously calling Musk 'one of our great geniuses', and Musk welcomed his support when he was trying to reopen his Tesla plant in California.

Some believed Musk's potential purchase of Twitter might lead to Trump being reinstated on the platform, however it appears the relationship has soured.

Elon Musk told Trump it is time to 'hang up his hat & sail into the sunset', after the former president lambasted him at a rally on Monday

Donald Trump called the Tesla CEO a 'Bull***t artist' and criticised Musk's efforts to buy Twitter at a 'Save America' rally

Musk tweeted that he doesn't 'hate the man' and argued for the democrats to 'call off the attack' on the former president

The world's richest man replied to several tweets on the topic, saying Trump's presidency had 'too much drama' and was akin to a 'bull in a china shop'

Musk also denied Trump's claim that he voted for him in the last election with a simple 'Not true'

The South African billionaire was critical of presidents being to old, saying Trump at 82 would be 'too old to be chief executive of anything'

Musk's remarks were in response to comments Trump made at a rally in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday, where he was speaking in support of U.S. House of Representatives candidate Sarah Palin and U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka.

The former president said at the rally that Musk was not going to buy Twitter Inc and that the Tesla Inc chief executive had got himself a mess.

'(Musk) said the other day, I've never voted for a Republican. I said I didn't know that; he told me he voted for me. He's another bull***t artist, but he is not going to be buying it (Twitter),' Trump said.

On the topic of Trump's reelection, the South African billionaire said there was 'too much drama' and asked if 'we really want a bull in china shop situation every day!?'

He added he thought the oldest starting age for a president should be 69 and tweeted that Trump would be too old by the end of the next presidential term at 82.

Musk has previously said his first vote for a Republican was for Mayra Flores, the winner of a special election in South Texas in June.

Last month Musk said at the Qatar Economic Forum that he had not decided whom he would support in the next presidential election.

Though the week before on Twitter he had revealed that he was 'leaning' toward voting for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, should he run for president in 2024.

On Monday, Musk added that if DeSantis ran against Biden in 2024, 'then DeSantis will easily win' and that 'Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.'
A severe heart disease with 'silent' symptoms could kill 50,000 Australians within five years.

A study last year found aortic stenosis - which narrows the aortic valve opening, causing the heart to weaken - has a 50 per cent fatality rate every half decade if untreated.

The condition affects almost 100,000 Australians over the age of 55.

Some people can be genetically predisposed to the condition but high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes were also identified as contributing factors.

Aortic stenosis, which narrows the heart's aortic valve opening, kills half of patients within five years if left undetected

David Playford, a cardiologist with the University of Notre Dame in Western Australia, told ABC News the most worrying thing about the disease is that it goes unnoticed.

'One of the hallmarks of aortic stenosis is that it's often silent,' he said.

'[Patients] either have no symptoms at all or could potentially just have some breathlessness during exercise.'

Dr Playford's research is based on analyses of the National Echo Database Australia, which tracks information from anonymous heart patients Australia-wide.

He found a patient's aortic valve replacement was 'associated with markedly improved survival'.

'Due to Australia's progressively ageing population, a clear strategy to detect and then optimally manage an increasing burden of aortic stenosis is urgently required,' the study said, noting cases were likely to increase by 10,000 per year.

Dr Playford urged people aged over 55, as well as those suffering symptoms like chest pain, to get regular check-ups as one third of aortic stenosis patients are asymptomatic.

People suffering chest pain or over the age of 55 should undergo regular checkups as the disease can be largely asymptomatic

'It's quite common for symptoms to be under-reported and not really thought to be significant. Also there are people that just really have absolutely no symptoms,' he said.

Shane Caulfield, 61, said he brushed off symptoms of a heart disease until 2017 when he bent down to pick up his TV remote and felt his chest 'caving in'.

Mr Caulfield underwent open heart surgery to replace the aortic valve and said he went from struggle to 'walk a couple of hundred metres' to walking up to 10km every other day.

He said the surgery fixed his breathlessness and prolonged his life.

'The pain of the operation and all that afterwards, it's well worth it. Don't hesitate to get yourself checked out,' he said.
Russian special forces booby-trapped a dog after almost beating it to death to kill Ukrainian civilians coming to its rescue.

Spetsnaz GRU, operating within the north-west city of Makariv, wired a bomb to the pooch so its rescuers would be blown up along with the dog when they came to help.

The special forces are believed to have infiltrated the Ukrainian town close to Kyiv in order to strike fear in the hearts of Ukrainians.

No one knows exactly where the GRU are operating, but one British soldier embedded with the Ukrainian international Brigade said the covert forces have been disguising themselves as aid workers.

Russian special forces beat up a dog so badly it couldn't walk before wiring a bomb next to it in the hope of killing innocent Ukrainians who came to the rescue. The booby-trap is highlighted

The Russians use Improvised Explosive Devices to kill unarmed civilians throughout the country, striking psychological terror into the population.

It is a 'big psychological hit' for local communities to think the Russians are among them, said the British soldier.

The dog, named 'Fox', is without an owner, and was found beaten in a ditch wired to the bomb and ready to explode if the locals got too close.

But residents of the Ukrainian town realised something wasn't right, calling bomb disposal experts instead of approaching.

The Ukrainians were able to defuse the bomb and rescue Fox, who is now recovering from the attack.

'This is more evidence the Russian plan is hopefully fractured with the Kremlin now forced to send in undercover soldiers on low level "terrorist" operations,' a source told the Daily Mirror.

'This is what the GRU specialise in, undermining civil confidence in the war effort and inflicting horror rather like a terrorist group would.

'Covert operatives will be behind this, either having done it themselves or having recruited a sympathiser to set the booby-trap.'

Fox is on the mend after being rescued by a Ukrainian bomb squad who diffused the trap

But Fox is not the only dog to be rescued by Ukrainian troops.

Max, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois Max, was found starving by Ukrainians in the Mykolaiv region and was nursed back to health in May.

He was then redeployed as a minesweeping dog after being taught to understand Ukrainian commands.

Max was found still wearing a camouflaged collar issued to the Russian hounds. He quickly became a favourite with the guards and a common sight among Ukrainian troops in Mykolaiv.

Also joining Ukraine's dog army is Patron, a Jack Russell recently awarded a medal for valour by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Patron has detected more than 200 deadly Russian landmines and unexploded bombs. He weighs 4kg, handily less than the 5kg that sets off most Russian munitions.

From six months, Patron was trained to detect TNT and gunpowder. When he does, he stops rigid and stands with his nose down until his owner 33-year-old Mykhailo Iliev and his team approach.

Also among Ukraine's canine forces, Max has now been redeployed as a minesweeping dog after being taught Ukrainian commands

Patron, the medal winning explosives dog is pictured with his owner 33 year old Mykhailo Iliev

Over the past few days, Russian bombers have targeted a school, a block of flats and a factory in three separate attacks across the city of Kharkiv between Sunday and Monday morning.

At least three people are dead, regional governor Oleh Syneihubov said, while 'scores' more are injured including children aged four and 16.

Syneihubov said the targets were 'exclusively civilian' as he bashed Putin's commanders for what he called 'absolute terrorism.'

Russia has stepped up its attacks on civilians as its offensive in the east has ground to a halt, with rockets hitting an apartment block in Chasiv Yar on Saturday.

Putin's men recently took two major cities in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region - Severodonetsk and Lysychansk - stepping up their attack on civilians while the army regroups.
A judge said a 'wet bum' was not sufficient evidence to sue TUI for 112,000 after a holidaymaker slipped onto her rear at a luxury Tenerife juice bar, shattering her ankle.

Karen Carey, 64, did not convince Judge Heather Baucher she slipped in a puddle of juice or water just because she claimed she had a wet bum after her fall.

Mrs Carey was injured while she and her husband, Peter, were breakfasting at the luxury H10 Taburiente Playa Hotel in Tenerife six years ago.

She went down on her backside after her feet went from under her as she walked towards the fruit juice bar.

The fracture had a catastrophic effect on her life and career, Central London County Court heard, plaguing her with chronic pain and drastically limiting her mobility.

Karen Carey, 64, shattered her ankle at the four-star hotel in Tenerife six years ago as she was going down to have her breakfast. Mrs Carey is pictured outside Central London County Court

The British woman was holidaying at the luxury H10 Taburiente Playa Hotel in Tenerife (pictured) when the incident happened in January 2016

Mrs Carey sued holiday giants TUI Ltd for 112,620 over the January 2016 accident, which her lawyers blamed on a juice or water puddle which cleaners did not mop up.

But Judge Baucher has now thrown out her claim, saying she had not given enough detail about how she slipped to found a ruling of negligence on the part of TUI.

In evidence, Mrs Carey told the judge that she didn't know exactly how she slipped, but said there must have been a puddle of juice or water on the floor because 'my bum was wet' after the fall.

But dismissing her case, the judge said: 'She simply has no idea on what, if anything, she slipped. Mrs Carey's shorts could have been wet for any number of reasons (after her fall) and that is not enough on which to found liability.'

Mrs Carey and her husband had booked a seven-day package at the four-star beachside hotel, which boasts spectacular views, four swimming pools and several restaurants.

The fall came on the fifth morning of the couple's week-long winter dream holiday - and led to an ambulance rushing her off to hospital in La Palma, as well as repeated bouts of surgery once she was back in the UK.

During the case, TUI's legal team denied all liability.

They disputed that any liquid had been spilled on the floor, which they say was regularly cleaned up by hotel staff.

They also claimed that she was at fault for going to breakfast barefoot and not keeping a proper lookout.

To this day she still suffers from a 'significant disability' due to her injuries, the court heard.

She said she her mobility has been affected and she had to quit a job she loved as a hotel credit controller.

TUI disputed that any liquid had been spilled on the floor, which they say was regularly cleaned up by staff at the hotel (pictured)

Sketching out the circumstances of the accident her barrister, Andrew Young, told the court: 'Mrs Carey and her husband sat down at a table and the claimant then stood up and started walking towards the area where fruit juice was available in order to obtain a drink.

'As she came near to the area, her feet slipped from underneath her and she fell to the floor twisting her right ankle as she did so.

'She saw nothing on the floor before she fell, but she noticed that her bottom was wet after she had fallen.

'Her husband was summoned by a waiter immediately after the accident and he also noticed that the floor around the claimant was wet.'

The judge concluded: 'The burden is on the claimant to prove there was something on the floor which caused her to slip and that burden has not been met.

'It is sad that the claimant fell over with such devastating impact during this accident, but that is just what is was, an accident. I hope that Mrs Carey can now find some way to move forward.'

The judge awarded costs in the case to TUI, but Mrs Carey will not have to pay the bill unless the court makes a further order at a future date.
Four suspected people traffickers were arrested today after more than 400 Channel migrants landed in the UK yesterday.

It brings the total number who have crossed this year to 13,749, new figures revealed today - as sources ruled out a deportation flight to Rwanda until a new Prime Minister is appointed.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the arrests were linked to two incidents in 2019 involving 32 migrants found in the back of lorries in the Netherlands and France.

Investigators believe the gang involved also broke into lorries and loaded people onto them without drivers' knowledge.

A 39 year-old man - believed to be a senior member - was arrested in Dagenham , East London on suspicion of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.

In a number of co-ordinated raids, a 37 year-old man was also arrested on similar charges in Ilford, along with two others, aged 36 and 42, in Streatham and Leytonstone.

It is the second major operation by the NCA to target people smugglers this week.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said 442 people made the journey in 15 boats yesterday, July 11, suggesting an average of around 29 per boat.

Among them were several young children, including one seen clutching a cuddly toy.

It is the highest daily total since 444 were recorded on June 14, and is the fifth time this year that the figure has topped 400. Crossings continued today, with large numbers of people expected to arrive on the Kent coast.

Priti Patel's policy of flying Channel migrants to Rwanda has been proposed as a way to reduce the number of people attempting the dangerous crossing.

The Home Office has insisted it is in the process of planning the next flight to the East African nation but has not provided a possible departure date.

However, government officials speaking anonymously said there is 'no chance' of any plane leaving before the next PM comes to office in early September.

National Crime Agency (NCA) arrived at the house to arrest a 39 year-old man

NCA officers rammed down the door to gain entry to the home in Dagenham, East London

The raid was part of a coordinated series of strikes across greater London which saw four men arrested on trafficking charges

The man was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration

The suspect attempted to cover his face with a hoodie as he was led away by NCA officers

This child was one of a number brought ashore by border guards at Dover today, July 12

More than 400 migrants landed in the UK on Monday July 11 - bringing the total this year to almost 14,000

The number of migrants crossing the channel was the highest daily total since 444 were recorded on June 14 - it is the fifth time this year the figure has topped 400

Border guards wait at the Dover Docks after bringing migrants crossing the Channel ashore

A female migrant landing at Dover with her child today, as crossings continue following more than 400 arrivals yesterday

A man arriving at Dover this morning. Large numbers of migrants are expected to continue to arrive later today

Attempting any deportations before then would cause too much controversy during the leadership battle, the sources told The Times.

All leading candidates to be next Conservative leader have pledged to keep the controversial policy as they try to appeal to party members.

Polling shows three in four voters who backed the Conservatives in the last election support the policy, while just 10 per cent oppose it.

Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday he would continue with the deportations after rivals pointed out he had not revealed his view since launching his leadership campaign on Friday.

A spokesman for the former Chancellor told the Times: 'Rishi signed off and funded the Asylum Partnership Agreement with Rwanda, and now he just wants to make sure that it works.

'Rishi is proud to be from a family of immigrants but believes that the UK must have control of its borders.'

Meanwhile, Jeremy Hunt - seen as a centrist candidate - has even pledged to expand the programme to other nations.

'I hope we could find some other countries as well as Rwanda,' Mr Hunt told the Sunday Telegraph.

He also told Sky News: 'I do but we've got to make it work and I'm not convinced it is working at the moment.

'But we have to be honest that migration has become massively more mobile over recent years in a globalised world and therefore if we want to become a humane country that offers a safe haven for people who genuinely need asylum, then we need to find legal safe routes for people to come here and not a mad dash for people to put their lives in the hands of people smugglers and try and get across the Channel.'

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said 442 people made the journey in 15 boats yesterday (this image is from Dover today)

The first deportation flight - due to take off in June - was grounded amid legal challenges

On Friday, Downing Street confirmed the Home Office agreement with Rwanda remained despite Boris Johnson's resignation and suggested the first deportation flight could be made before a legal challenge against the policy is heard on July 19.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'This is a pre-agreed Government policy.

'Convention doesn't prevent or preclude the government from seeking to fulfil that policy and that would include defending cases in court as required.'

In April Home Secretary Priti Patel signed what she branded a 'world-first' agreement to send migrants deemed to have arrived in the UK illegally to Rwanda.

The first deportation flight - due to take off in June - was grounded amid legal challenges.

Steve Valdez-Symonds, from Amnesty International UK, has urged the Government to rethink the 'disastrous plan', claiming it was 'irresponsible and callous', adding: 'The UK Government is so far removed from reality and lacking in humanity that they are not only destroying the asylum system but also people's lives.'

A Home Office spokesman said: 'The government will not be deterred as we plan for the next flight to Rwanda. We will keep individuals detained where appropriate and if released on bail we may seek to tag them if appropriate.'
An M&S worker successfully sued the company for sacking her when she went off sick after confronting a maskless shopper.

Deborah Daisy was verbally abused by the 'aggressive' man while working for the retail giant in November 2020, an employment tribunal heard.

The hearing was told this 'traumatic' event affected her mental health and brought back past incidents, namely an armed robbery and her chasing a shoplifter out of the shop to a bus stop.

Mrs Daisy had not received training in dealing with crime, the panel was told, and she went off sick for five months with anxiety and depression caused by safety at work fears.

The tribunal heard that during this time, Mrs Daisy complained about M&S' 'lack of action' over the incidents and that she still felt 'vulnerable' being in store.

She was then sacked after M&S concluded there were no adjustments that could be made to facilitate her return to work, so she launched a claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal.

Deborah Daisy successfully sued M&S for sacking her when she went off sick for five months after confronting a maskless shopper at the Teesside store where she worked (pictured above)

Mrs Daisy has now won her claim with the panel concluding she should have been told the outcome of investigations into her personal safety issues and the company had hidden behind the guise of GDPR constraints.

Additionally, a judge was 'surprised' by M&S' failure to explore options that could resolve her problems given it is a 'well-resourced retailer'.

'Loyal and hardworking' Mrs Daisy joined the firm in April 2015 and worked part time as a customer assistant at the Teesside Park branch, Stockton-on-Tees.

The hearing, held in Leeds, was told she went off work due to 'high levels' of anxiety and 'severe' depression in January 2021 after she confronted a shopper who refused to wear a mask.

During an ill-health meeting the following month, the panel heard Mrs Daisy's anxiety and depression were caused by the pandemic in general but referred to that specific incident. Adjustments were discussed to facilitate her coming back.

The tribunal was told two occupational health reports were made and she was deemed unfit to work, with her return unlikely in the foreseeable future.

The panel heard: 'Her history would suggest that she could be revisiting distressing thoughts and feelings from the armed robbery or other incidents where she felt under threat.

'This is likely to be impacting on why she doesn't currently feel safe in work despite strict Covid preventions measures in place.

Mrs Daisy said the confrontation with a maskless shopper was 'traumatic'. Pictured: Shoppers wearing face masks. There is no suggestion that any of those pictured confronted Mrs Daisy

'It is likely the anxiety around Covid safety is exacerbated by some unresolved issues from the past and could include the armed robbery and issues she alluded to in the past.'

The panel heard investigations were carried out by M&S into Mrs Daisy's concerns, however she was not told of the result due to 'vague' GDPR reasons.

In April, Mrs Daisy was warned her continued absence could result in her being sacked if she was incapable to return to work, the tribunal was told.

Matters had not improved by the following month, as the panel heard thinking about work sent her anxiety 'through the roof' and she felt 'vulnerable in store'.

The tribunal was also told that in a meeting about her absence, Mrs Daisy said she felt M&S had not 'acted and dealt with abusive customers appropriately'.

'Most of the fourth consultation was taken up by [Mrs Daisy] complaining about the lack of action over the incidents she had referred to previously as happening to her at the store and making her feel vulnerable...

'It is clear from the content of the discussion at the fourth consultation that these are the matters that [she] is stating are preventing her from returning to work,' the tribunal heard.

In June that year she was fired, which she unsuccessfully appealed.

Mrs Daisy then took M&S to the employment tribunal which found she should have been told the result of the investigations and that M&S had only shared the information with her after she was sacked.

Employment Judge Timothy Knowles concluded: 'It was in my conclusion outside of the band of reasonable responses which might have been adopted by an employer acting reasonably to dismiss without sharing the findings about the issues she had raised in relation to her personal safety and engaging with [Mrs Daisy] about how her personal safety fears may be addressed in future....

'I am surprised that those matters were not explored with [her] given that [Marks and Spencer Plc] is a well-resourced retailer in the UK and given that the plight of shopworkers and the abuse they suffer at work is generally well known.'

Mrs Daisy will be awarded compensation in due course, however this will be reduced by 25 per cent as the tribunal found it was likely she would have eventually been dismissed in any event.
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Another runner has been gored in the latest running of the bulls in Pamplona while several others have been injured at the San Fermin Festival in Spain.

This morning's run, the sixth day of the controversial celebrations, saw one person gored in the arm a day after an American tourist was impaled through the leg.

Spanish Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba said as well as the goring victim, medics treated four other people for bumps and bruises sustained in falls and pile-ups.

A participant is struck by a bull during the 'encierro' (bull-run) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, this morning

Red Cross personnel attend to a man who was injured during the traditional running of the bulls as part of the San Fermin Festival

This morning's run, the sixth day of the controversial celebrations, saw one person gored in the arm a day after an American tourist was impaled through the leg

Spanish Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba said as well as the goring victim, medics treated four other people for bumps and bruises sustained in falls and pile-ups

On each day of the festival six bulls are released at 8am to run from their corral through the narrow, cobbled streets of the old town

In all, four people have been gored in the six runs held so far this year. The other three gorings happened on Monday

The bull-running fiesta is held annually from July 6 to 14 in commemoration of the city's patron saint San Fermin

One bull charged straight into the back of a young woman, knocking her to the ground before lifting another runner into the air and throwing him.

Another runner was dragged along the ground for several meters by a bull whose horn was hooked into the back of his jersey.

In all, four people have been gored in the six runs held so far this year. The other three gorings happened on Monday.

In the 8am runs, hundreds of runners, mostly men, dash frantically ahead and alongside six fighting bulls as they charge along a route through the cobblestone streets of the northern city.

The run finishes at Pamplona's bullring, where later in the day the bulls are killed by professional bullfighters.

Yesterday, a 29-year-old Spanish man was gored in the knee and two other men were gored inside the northern city's bullring at the end of the run.

In the 8am runs, hundreds of runners, mostly men, dash frantically ahead and alongside six fighting bulls as they charge along a route through the cobblestone streets of the northern city

The run finishes at Pamplona's bullring, where later in the day the bulls are killed by professional bullfighters

Yesterday, a 29-year-old Spanish man was gored in the knee and two other men were gored inside the northern city's bullring at the end of the run

The first goring of the festival so far this year happened on Saturday when a bull's horn stabbed a 39-year-old Spaniard in the buttocks

Sixteen people have died in the bull runs since 1910. The last death occurred in 2009 gored a 27-year-old Spaniard in the neck, heart and lungs

The nationally televised early morning runs are the highlight of the nine-day festival made world famous by Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises

A bull jumps over runners entering the bullring as revellers from around the world flock to Pamplona every year for nine days of uninterrupted partying

One of them was a 25-year-old from Florida who was gored in his leg and the other is a 29-year-old Spaniard who was gored in the groin, it added. Three other runners were taken to hospital for injuries sustained in falls during the run.

The first goring of the festival so far this year happened on Saturday when a bull's horn stabbed a 39-year-old Spaniard in the buttocks.

Sixteen people have died in the bull runs since 1910. The last death occurred in 2009 gored a 27-year-old Spaniard in the neck, heart and lungs.

His parents left a bouquet of flowers along the bull run route on Sunday on the 13th anniversary of his death.

Tens of thousands of visitors go to the Pamplona festival, which was featured in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises.

The adrenaline rush of the morning bull run is followed by partying throughout the day and night.

Eight people were gored in 2019, the last festival before a two-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tens of thousands of visitors go to the Pamplona festival, which was featured in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises

The adrenaline rush of the morning bull run is followed by partying throughout the day and night

Eight people were gored in 2019, the last festival before a two-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic

The spectacle lasted just over three minutes as hundreds of runners, mostly men, run frantically ahead and alongside six fighting bulls

Most people running in the event, who are called 'mozo's', traditionally wear white clothes and a scarf of red.

The two colours are picked to honour San Fermin - the white represents him being a saint and the red because he was martyred

Runners who take part in the historic festival run directly in front of the bulls before trying to jump out of the way at the last minute without being injured - with varying success

The spectacle lasted just over three minutes as hundreds of runners, mostly men, run frantically ahead and alongside six fighting bulls as they charge through the over an 929 yard course.

Most people running in the event, who are called 'mozo's', traditionally wear white clothes and a scarf of red. The two colours are picked to honour San Fermin - the white represents him being a saint and the red because he was martyred.

Runners who take part in the historic festival run directly in front of the bulls before trying to jump out of the way at the last minute without being injured - with varying success.

The adrenaline rush of the morning bull run is followed by partying throughout the day and night.

The running of the bulls in Pamplona is thought to date back to the 13th century, beginning as a way of clearing the streets for traders to get their bulls through the city, with the animals goaded on by locals and runners to reach the bullring.

It is now the main event of the San Fermin festival, and a chance for thrill-seekers to test their courage by running alongside, or in front of, the bulls.
Amber Heard's 'desperate' attempt for a retrial should not be allowed, according to Johnny Depp's lawyers.

Depp's legal team are urging a Virginia judge to leave his $10million defamation judgment intact after attorneys for his ex-wife called the jury's verdict 'nonsensical and unfounded'.

Heard's lawyers asked the judge to set aside the verdict on multiple grounds, including an apparent case of mistaken identity with one of the jurors.

One of the claims is based on the fact that a 77-year-old man was summoned for jury duty  but a 52-year-old man, who shares the same last name and address, was improperly seated for the six-week trial.

Depp's lawyers say that the Heard team's complaints about the juror's identity are irrelevant and would have caused no prejudice to the actress.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor's attorneys said: 'Ms. Heard's desperate, after-the-fact demand for an investigation of Juror 15 based on a purported error in his birth date is...misplaced... Moreover, Ms. Heard's argument is based on pure speculation.'

Johnny Depp's (pictured in Germany last week) lawyers have said Amber Heard's efforts to get a retrial are 'desperate and outlandish', as her legal team argues that a different person than summoned served on the jury

Amber Heard (pictured shopping in TJ Maxx) believe the fact that a 77-year-old man was summoned for jury duty but a 52-year-old man served, is grounds for a retrial

The opening page of Depp's lawyers' response to Heard's claims

Last month, a civil jury in Fairfax awarded $10.35million to Depp after they found he was defamed by Heard when she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post about domestic violence.

The jury also awarded $2million to Heard on her counterclaim that she was defamed by one of Depp's attorneys after he called her allegations a hoax.

Heard's lawyers filed motions earlier this month asking the judge to toss out the verdicts on a variety of legal theories.

Depp's legal team responded, writing: 'Following a six-week jury trial, a jury of Ms. Heard's peers rendered a verdict against her in virtually all respects. Though understandably displeased with the outcome of trial, Ms Heard has identified no legitimate basis to set aside in any respect the jury's decision.

'Virginia law is clear that a verdict is not to be set aside unless it is "plainly wrong or without evidence to support it." Va. Code  8.01-680.

'Here, the verdict was well supported by the overwhelming evidence, consistent with the law, and should not be set aside. Mr. Depp respectfully submits that the Court should deny Ms. Heard's Post-Trial Motions, which verge into the frivolous.'

The lawyers at Brown Rudnick LLP concluded by again calling Heard's argument 'frivolous'.

'For all the reasons set forth above, Mr. Depp respectfully requests that this Court deny Ms. heard's frivolous Motion in its entirety and reject her outlandish requests to set aside the jury verdict, dismiss the Complaint, or, in the alternative, order a new trial, and investigate Juror 15.'

Depp's lawyers argue that if Heard's team had concerns, they should have spoken up at the time because it was apparent that the man who served was not 77 years old, even though court paperwork described him as such.

Currently Amber Heard has to pay $10.35million to her ex-husband Johnny Depp for defamation

His legal team previously shot down other claims in Heard's post-trial motion to toss the judgment, including arguments that the damages amount awarded to Depp were exorbitant and the verdict inconsistent.

The stars attorney Ben Chew, accused Heard on slinging 'an exceptional amount of mud at the wall in the hope that something might stick'.

Judge Penney Azcarate has not yet indicated if she plans to hold a hearing to hear arguments on the motions to set aside the verdict.

The verdict in Depp's favor in Virginia came about two years after a similar trial in the United Kingdom in which Depp sued a British tabloid after he was described as a 'wife beater.'

The judge in that case ruled in the newspapers favor in 2020 after finding that Heard was telling the truth in her descriptions of abuse.

Jurors in the Virginia case were not told that the judge in the British case had ruled against Depp.

To read the full 36 page response from Johnny Depp's lawyers click here.
A 55 year-old man was fatally shot after stepping out of a parked car following and argument in Melbourne.

Emergency services rushed to the bloody scene after calls from frightened witnesses at about 4.15pm on Tuesday at the intersection of Napier Street and Gertrude Street in Fitzroy.

It is believed the man had an altercation with a number of people before he was gunned down.

A 55 year-old man was fatally shot near a parked vehicle in Fitzroy, Melbourne, on Tuesday afternoon

Emergency services rushed to the bloody scene after calls from frightened witnesses at about 4.15pm on Tuesday at the intersection of Napier Street and Gertrude Street in Fitzroy

An ambulance crew treated the man at the scene where he was later pronounced dead.

Police established a crime scene and detectives are still working to understand the circumstances of the his death.

Early investigations suggest the parties involved were known to each other.

Police are yet to make any arrests but said they do not believe the shooting is related to any other recent gangland murders.

Police established a crime scene at the intersection and are investigating the circumstances of the man's death

Police have urged anyone who witnessed anything or has CCTV or dashcam vision of the incident to come forward.

Anyone with relevant information should contact Crime Stoppers.

More to come.
Suspended police inspector K. Nageswar Rao evaded cases of kidnap, rape, and arms use, among others, as he was closely acquainted with senior police officials Representational image/DC

Hyderabad: Suspended police inspector K. Nageswar Rao evaded cases of kidnap, rape, and arms use, among others, as he was closely acquainted with senior police officials, referred to as godfathers, who failed to rescue him this time around due to strong evidence of his illegal activities that were reportedly submitted by a politician to senior police officials.

Days after the Rachakonda police registered cases of abduction, rape and arms use against him, an internal inquiry awaits the suspended cop. The probe will also ascertain the origins of his properties, as he has failed to furnish details of the same.

Rao was working with the task force for over four years, since the last general elections. He was transferred to the Banjara Hills police station as an inspector, following an altercation with a politician at the Radisson Blu.

There was an internal dispute that took place between Nageswar and a senior politician in Banjara Hills after the politician questioned the inspector on allegations of demanding bribes from a businessman in a land dispute case. The leader concentrated on Nageswar Raos illegal activities and a report has allegedly been submitted to higher-ups with proper evidence. Since then, Nageswar Rao faced transfer from Banjara Hills to Marredpally after allegedly demanding Rs 25 lakh bribe from a businessman in connection with a land dispute case, a source said.

The source added that since the politician stepped up his campaign against Rao, the police department godfathers have maintained their silence and also apologised to Rao for their inability to help him. Following this, he surrendered to the special operation team of Rachakonda.
A young woman who set up a honeytrap plot that would have seen a trusting man kidnapped and robbed of his life savings has been spared jail.

Gemma Frost, 23, lured in her victim Christopher Stanley on a dating website before asking to be loaned 210.

Alongside two mystery men, Frost then planned to kidnap and rob Mr Stanley in a honeytrap plot after learning he had life savings.

She arranged to pick up Mr Stanley for a a face-face date before two masked men approached the vehicle in a residential area of Cardiff and threatened to kill him.

Mr Stanley only managed to escape his attackers unharmed after desperately fleeing the vehicle, falling onto the ground as he did so.

Frost was sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison sentence at Cardiff Crown Court after admitting her role in the terrifying attempted robbery.

Gemma Frost, 23, lured in her victim Christopher Stanley on a dating website before asking to be loaned 210

The court heard Frost first asked Mr Stanley to be loan her 210 after meeting online and then offered to meet up when she realised he had savings.

She offered to pick him up for their 7pm date and he entered into the front passenger seat.

Prosecutor David Pugh said two men later approached her car as she drove down busy Manor Way in Cardiff.

He told the court: 'She [Frost] turned to him and said: "They look dodgy".

'One was wearing a dressing gown with the hood up and a surgical mask. The other person was wearing a tracksuit with the hood up and a piece of fabric over his neck.

'To the victim's surprise, Ms Frost steered to the kerb and stopped near those two men and turned the engine off.'

Alongside two mystery men, Frost (above) planned to kidnap and rob Mr Stanley in a honeytrap plot after learning he had life savings

The pair then opened the car door to shout at him: 'Get back. We will kill you, we're going to hurt you'.

Mr Pugh added: 'They grabbed the victim and tried to push him into the back. The victim managed to break free and exited the vehicle, briefly doing so he fell on the pavement but managed to escape. The two men got into the car and they drove off.'

Mr Stanley was described as 'very shaken'.

Cardiff Crown Court heard CCTV footage traced the car back to her home after the kidnap plot in June 2020 and she was arrested.

Frost, of Rogerstone, Newport, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap.

She said she was 'at a low point in her life' and 'hanging around with older individuals with significant criminal backgrounds'.

She said she was forced by the two older men to take part in the robbery after they learned the victim had loaned her money and she was too scared and intimidated to refuse.

Frost said she was forced by the two older men to take part in the robbery after they learned the victim had loaned her money and she was too scared and intimidated to refuse

Defence barrister Josh Scouller said his client was 'at a low ebb' in her life and was addicted to cocaine and surrounded by others who were using heavier drugs.

He said the defendant's relationship with the victim was 'genuine' but was she was taken advantage of by the two older men.

The barrister said Frost was ashamed of her behaviour and helped to care for her grandmother who would be affected if she was sent to prison.

Recorder Paul Hobson said: 'You deliberately led your victim into a situation where he was going to be forced to hand over money by your associates who you knew to be serious criminals.

'That is something of which you should be thoroughly ashamed. It's no thanks to you he escaped relatively unscathed from what was a frightening experience indeed.'

Frost was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months. She was also ordered to carry out a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement of 15 days and 150 hours unpaid work.
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Brazen travellers have been pictured enjoying the sunny weather after setting up an illegal camp opposite an exclusive row of homes in Worcestershire's Malvern Hills.

Around 15 caravans pitched up on the picturesque Peachfield Common in Malvern on Saturday afternoon.

Pictures show a fleet of flash 4x4s parked next to caravans with travellers sunbathing and chatting as they enjoy the heatwave.

Outraged residents from 800,000 properties nearby have hit out at the 'unauthorised encampment'.

Brazen travellers have been pictured enjoying the sunny weather after setting up an illegal camp opposite an exclusive row of homes in Worcestershire's Malvern Hills

Around 15 caravans pitched up on the picturesque Peachfield Common in Malvern on Saturday afternoon. Outraged residents from million pound properties nearby have hit out at the 'unauthorised encampment'

Some of the expensive homes near the illegal encampment in Malvern are seen above in an image taken from Google Street View

One said: 'The travellers rocked up in their expensive cars and 4x4s, pitched up their caravans and started sunbathing like they owned the place.

'It's appalling that neither the council nor police do anything to stop them.

'This is an area of outstanding natural beauty yet there is no protection from this kind of unauthorised encampment.

'No one wants to see fences or gates going up on the common but there must be a better way to deter this flagrant illegal behaviour.'

Another said: 'I walked my dog near the site on Monday and it was pretty intimidating.

Pictures show a fleet of flash 4x4s parked next to caravans with travellers sunbathing and chatting as they enjoy the heatwave

The illegal camp overlooks the Malvern Hills and is just two miles from the former home of England's greatest composer, Edward Elgar. Above: The town of Malvern

West Mercia Police confirmed that the group has been asked to vacate the site. Above: The travellers' camp

Despite the warning from the trust and the police, the travellers were still on the site on Monday evening

'Some young children were kicking a glass bottle around and I got some pretty hard stares from the adults as I walked past.

'I'm sorry to say that I saw litter and some dirty nappies flung around the sides of the field which is just so sad to see.

'The problem is that now they have set up a camp her once, more will see it as a soft touch.'

The illegal camp overlooks the Malvern Hills and is just two miles from the former home of England's greatest composer, Edward Elgar.

West Mercia Police confirmed that the group has been asked to vacate the site.

A police spokesperson said: 'They have been served a notice to move by the Malvern Hills Trust.

'We are expecting them to start leaving by Monday.

'We are paying attention to the area.'

Despite the warning from the trust and the police, the travellers were still on the site on Monday evening.
An anaesthetist who allegedly raped a pregnant woman during a C-section may have carried out attacks on two more mothers on the same day.

Giovanni Quintella Bezerra, 32, was arrested on suspicion of rape after he was allegedly secretly filmed orally raping a woman after he heavily sedated her at the Hospital da Mulher in Sao Joao de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro.

The woman's husband was told to leave the room without being able to see his newborn baby, and only found out about what had happened to his wife when he recognised the doctor on television after his arrest.

'I've never seen anything like it,' said delegate Barbara Lomba, who is in charge of investigating the case.

The woman told family she thought she was having an hallucination at the time of the attack.

Mr Bezerra only completed his medical training in anaesthesia two months ago.

Hospital staff were reportedly worried about the amount of drugs he was giving to his patients so fitted a secret camera to see what he was up to.

Giovanni Quintella Bezerra, 32, (pictured) was arrested on suspicion of rape after he was secretly filmed raping a patient

They were horrified to see him sexually assaulting the woman as other doctors performed the C-section on her less than a yard away behind a surgical curtain.

He reportedly assaulted her for almost ten minutes.

But staff members who recorded the rape said the doctor had already carried out two similar procedures that day, with police investigating whether those two women were also victims of attack.

In the second operation on Sunday, employees said Giovanni 'wore an open cloak on himself, widening his silhouette, and positioned himself in a way that also prevented anyone from seeing the patient from the neck up.'

In most C-sections the woman is not fully sedated during the procedure, but the women who went under the knife earlier in the day said they were fully unconscious during the procedure.

'The only thing I remember from the surgery is his voice. He kept talking softly in my ear, it bothered me,' said one of the patients. 'He asked if I was okay.'

Two other people who said they were also Bezerra's patients have arrived at the police station in Brazil since the accusations came to light.

'Giovanni, still positioned towards the patient's neck and head, started, with his left arm bent, slow movements back and forth ,' said the witness, according to G1 Rio de Janeiro.

'From the movement and the curvature of the arm, it looked like he was holding the patients head towards his pelvic region.'

Staff members became suspicious as the doctor would use so much anaesthetic that the mothers would be unable to hold their babies after delivering.

Clovis Bersot Munhoz, president of Cremerj Clovis Bersot Munhoz said the alleged attack was 'absurd'.

He allegedly raped the woman as she was undergoing a C-section in a Brazilian hospital

The Health Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro and the Secretary of State for Health said: 'We inform you that an internal investigation will be opened to take administrative measures.

'The Hospital da Mulher team is providing full support to the victim and her family.

'This behaviour constitutes a crime, which must be punished in accordance with the legislation in force.'

Police praised hospital workers for taking action and recording the crime.

The custody hearing of the doctor was held on Tuesday. He was earlier transferred to the prison of Benfica.

He is facing charges of rape with a prison sentence ranging from 8 to 15 years in Brazil.
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The chief of airlines has slammed Heathrow Airport for introducing an unprecedented 100,000 limit on daily departing passengers until September

Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said the airport should have gotten its act together after airlines predicted a strong rebound in traffic.

'They clearly got it completely wrong,' the former CEO of British Airways told Reuters.

Heathrow also ordered airlines to stop selling summer tickets as airports battle against a staffing crisis across the aviation sector while apologising to customers over long queues and baggage issues that holidaymakers have had to put up with for weeks.

The dramatic move will impose a maximum limit on the number of passengers allowed to leave the airport between July 12 until September 11.

Airlines had planned to operate flights with a daily capacity averaging 104,000 seats over that period - meaning further cancellations are likely.

Heathrow said it has ordered airlines to 'stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers'.

The measure will lead to more cancellations on top of the thousands of flights axed in recent months.

Affected passengers will not be entitled to compensation as the reason for the cancellations will be classified as being outside the control of airlines.

Passengers have been hit by delays and cancellations at airports across the UK due to a shortage of staff after thousands were laid off or left the industry during Covid. Yesterday Heathrow cancelled another 61 flights at the last minute - disrupting 10,000 passengers.

And in a fresh sign of chaos, easyJet passengers 'mutinied' after being forced to wait for four hours on the Gatwick Airport runway yesterday. The plane never even departed and they had to wait 'until midnight' to collect their luggage after being returned to the terminal.

Heathrow's chief executive John Holland-Kaye today announced departing passengers would be capped at 100,000 per day for the rest of the summer

Willie Walsh (pictured), director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said the airport should have gotten its act together after airlines predicted a strong rebound in traffic

In the latest evidence of the chaos gripping UK airports, easyJet passengers were left stuck on a runway for four hours yesterday during searing conditions

Announcing the passenger cap, Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said today: 'Over the past few weeks, as departing passenger numbers have regularly exceeded 100,000 a day, we have started to see periods when service drops to a level that is not acceptable.'

Problems include long queue times, delays for passengers requiring assistance, bags not travelling with passengers or arriving late, low punctuality and last-minute cancellations, Mr Holland-Kaye said.

Why is Heathrow imposing a daily passenger cap? Airlines were able to take advantage of a Government scheme which meant they could cancel summer flights without losing their future rights to the valuable take-off and landing slots. But even with this measure, Heathrow believes airlines still planned to operate flights carrying 4,000 more daily passengers than could be processed in an acceptable manner. Heathrow said: 'On average only about 1,500 of these 4,000 daily seats have currently been sold to passengers, and so we are asking our airline partners to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers. 'We recognise that this will mean some summer journeys will either be moved to another day, another airport or be cancelled and we apologise to those whose travel plans are affected. 'But this is the right thing to do to provide a better, more reliable journey and to keep everyone working at the airport safe.' Heathrow insisted the capacity cap is 'in line with limits implemented at other airports'. It added that airlines have 'discretion as to how they implement this in their individual schedules'. Advertisement

He said this is due to a combination of poor punctuality of arrivals due to delays at other airports and in European airspace, as well as increased passenger numbers 'starting to exceed the combined capacity of airlines, airline ground handlers and the airport'.

He added: 'Our colleagues are going above and beyond to get as many passengers away as possible, but we cannot put them at risk for their own safety and wellbeing.'

Aviation expert Julian Bray predicted disruption at UK airports would continue until next spring.

'Staffing issues remain as all airport aviation workers need security clearance which currently takes between 3 to 6 months. In this time many applicants get jobs elsewhere.'

Asked what customers should do if they have their flights cancelled, he said:

'Passengers who have flights cancelled are entitled to compensation, and a flight on another airline if possible They should keep in touch with their airline, holiday company and travel agent.'

Nicky Kelvin, Head of The Points Guy UK, said:

'While the move to cap passenger numbers will no doubt be disruptive to many travellers looking to jet away over the coming months it is needed if we're to see a shift away from the travel chaos of recent months.

'The numbers currently suggest that Heathrow is already hitting capacity for the number of passengers it is able to currently cater for. if you are still planning a getaway we'd advise you to plan your departure point accordingly, be flexible with dates if you can or consider other London or U.K. airports to star your journey.'

In the latest evidence of the chaos gripping UK airports, easyJet passengers were left stuck on a runway for four hours yesterday during searing conditions.

Passenger Dominey Jenner said the flight was due to depart Gatwick for Dubrovnik at 1.40pm yesterday but due to delays passengers only boarded at 4.30pm before beginning a long wait.

During the time - when temperatures were 86F (30C) outside - she says customers were only offered 'one glass of water' and there was no food available.

They eventually left the plane at 8.30pm following a 'mutiny' onboard, 'with people giving a deadline as to when they would simply leave'.

'I heard that the police at Gatwick were about to come and escort us off as they'd had calls from people on board,' she said.

Once off the plane, Ms Jenner said their luggage: 'didn't arrive until midnight,' and she claimed passengers had to go through passport control despite not flying anywhere.

MailOnline has contacted easyJet for comment.

It came as an aviation boss suggested Brexit was partly to blame for travel chaos by keeping out foreign workers.

Philipp Joeinig, boss of Menzies Aviation, which provides check-in and baggage handling services to major airlines, said the staff shortages crippling the industry were 'predictable and preventable'.

He added a recruitment crisis had been sparked by Brexit and aviation workers should now be added to the shortage occupation list to alleviate pressure.

But critics say the industry should pay British workers more and offer better conditions.

Passengers at Manchester Airport - pictured on Saturday - have also complained of 'unbelievably long delays' in recent months

Mr Joeinig wrote in The Times: 'Brexit had a big negative impact, reducing the available pool of employees.

'This was compounded during the pandemic, with the British aviation sector suffering huge job losses once furlough schemes ended before the easing of travel restrictions, and with many of these people lost to the industry.'

He also claimed ministers have failed to slash red tape sufficiently to speed up background checks on new recruits.

At present, employers must ask for references from each new recruit's employer for the previous five years.

This can take several weeks if some previous employers drag out responding.

But Transport Secretary Grant Shapps changed the law last month to streamline the process. It allows employers to request details of each previous employer from HMRC.

Meanwhile, airport disruption could be compounded by Sunday's estimated 100F (38C) heatwave, with the Met Office warning planes could struggle to take off.

This is because planes can become too heavy to take off in very hot weather due to reduced air density resulting in a lack of lift.

This happened during a heatwave in summer 2018 at London City Airport when some passengers had to be removed so the services become light enough to take off on the relatively short runway.
A 33-year-old man has been charged with twice trespassing on the grounds of Buckingham Palace.

Daniel Brydges, from Portsmouth, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

He is accused of entering the grounds of the royal residence on December 18 and 22 last year.

He is also accused of criminal damage on December 18 after allegedly damaging the barbed wire fence that surrounds the property, a member of court staff confirmed.

A 33-year-old man has been charged with twice trespassing on the grounds of Buckingham Palace (pictured)

It comes just months after US citizen Joseph Huang Kang, 25, was prosecuted for sneaking into Buckingham Palace's stables in a separate incident.

Kang appeared before magistrates in February where he admitted trespassing on a protected site in the Royal Mews on December 10 last year. He was fined 200 and told to pay 85 costs and a 34 victim surcharge.

A breach of Windsor Castle security in December last year led to a major security review (Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II on a visit to Edinburgh last month)

An application by his lawyer for a conditional discharge was rejected because Kang had ignored signs saying he was on a protected site.

A teenager was arrested in December last year after being suspected of scaling Windsor Castle armed with a crossbow in a bid to 'assassinate the Queen in revenge for 1919 Amritsar massacre'.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 19, uploaded a pre-recorded video to Snapchat at 8:06am on Christmas Day, 24 minutes before a man was arrested by police inside the grounds of Windsor Castle.

It has sparked a major internal security review at the estate looking at how someone could have got so far into the grounds.

Chail, who was raised in a 500,000 semi-detached house on a private estate in North Baddesley, Southampton, was later pictured while his father, Jasbir Singh Chail, told MailOnline something had 'gone horribly wrong with our son and we are trying to figure out what'.
A speeding lorry driver who killed a British father and his ten-month-old baby when he crashed into their car in France has received only one year in jail.

The heavy-goods driver was speeding at the time he crashed his empty cattle truck into the car of a British couple in 2017.

The driver of the cattle truck, a 32-year-old man, was sentenced Thursday by the criminal court of Quimper in Brittany to five years in prison, four of which are suspended.

The British family were enjoying a holiday at the town of Plogastel-Saint-Germain, with the baby's grandparents travelling just ahead close to the village of Pluguffan, when their car was hit from behind.

The baby is said to have died instantly while the father died after being treated in hospital. Pictured above, the scene of the crash

'It was a very violent collision,' a member of the Gendarmes was quoted saying at the time.

The baby is thought to have died instantly, while the 37-year-old father was extracted from the wreckage and taken to hospital in Quimper, but died from his injuries a day later.

The mother, who was travelling in the front of the car, was taken to hospital in Brest after suffering heavy injuries and became the sole survivor from the car.

There was evidence to suggest the truck that hit the car had braked for about 65 feet before crashing into the family car, which was about to turn left.

The British-rented car was then apparently forced onto the other side of the road.

The driver was treated for shock and suffered slight injuries. He had been travelling at 87km on a 80km road and had sent several messages from his phone just before the accident.

The 'very violent collision' occurred near the Breton village of Pluguffan, shown above

At the time of the crash, authorities found the driver had faked a company test intended to monitor his driving time, according to French newspaper 20 Minutes.

Drivers are required to rest for at least 45 minutes after 4.5 hours of driving under EU law, but the livestock driver had not taken the rest period required at the time of the crash.

He was banned from driving a truck for five years and his company was fined 16,922.
PM Anthony Albanese is set to arrive on the day of the Pacific Islands Forum

Pacific leaders will gather in Suva, Fiji on Wednesday for face-to-face meetings

Spurred on by Chinese interest in the region, the United States will boost funding and establish two new embassies in the Pacific as it grows its footprint in the blue continent.

On Wednesday, US Vice President Kamala Harris will virtually address Pacific Islands Forum members and announce new postings in Kiribati and Tonga.

Veteran Pacific-watchers have labelled the move unprecedented, especially given reports China has been blocked from participating in the week's leaders summit in Fiji.

The region's relationship with the two global superpowers is a hot topic in Suva, as China and the US jostle for influence.

Anthony Albanese (right) will meet with pacific leaders on Wednesday in Suva, Fiji for the Pacific Islands forum

Kamala Harris (pictured right with US President Joe Biden) will virtually address leaders and announce new embassies in Kiribati and Tonga

The invitation, extended by Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) host Fiji, is viewed as a diplomatic coup for the US.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the engagement, before adding the backhander suggestion it was about time.

'They weren't as present as they perhaps have been in the past,' Ms Ardern said from Nasinu, near Suva, on Tuesday.

'At the behest of many in the region, (the US) is now seeking to re-engage again, to step back up to the expectations that already exist in the region.

'There's been a call for more engagement and you see the response to that.'

The White House has released details of Ms Harris' address, which will include a suite of offerings to the region.

Along with the new embassies, the US will roughly triple what it pays Pacific nations for access to fisheries under the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, netting them around $US600 million ($A893 million) over the next decade.

The US has pledged to create the first-ever 'national strategy on the Pacific Islands' to 'to prioritise the Pacific Islands in American foreign policy', and appoint an envoy to PIF.

The measures follow heightened Pacific engagement from China.

The announcement from the US of two new embassies and a boost in funding in the Pacific comes amid China's growing interest in the region (pictured, China warships arrive for a ship parade in Russia)

The region's relationship with the two global superpowers is a hot topic in Suva, as China and the US jostle for influence (pictured, Chinese soldiers sit atop mobile rocket launchers as they drive in a parade)

Already this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has toured the Pacific, signing a suite of bilateral deals including a security tie-up with the Solomon Islands that has concerned Australia and New Zealand.

A broader multilateral framework was rejected by Pacific nations in a rebuff of Beijing's assertive diplomacy.

Analysts believe China may be behind the departure of Kiribati from PIF. It withdrew from the forum on the weekend blaming a lack of support for Micronesia.

Beijing denies engineering Kiribati's departure, with a foreign ministry spokesman calling those allegations 'completely groundless'.

'China does not interfere in the internal affairs of Pacific Islands countries (PICs) and hopes to see greater solidarity and closer cooperation among PICs for common development,' Wang Wenbin said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong (pictured) said the US invitation was 'a matter for the forum and the chair', and she wasn't aware of Chinese requests for similar involvement

As the contest between superpowers plays out in one of the world's least developed regions, Ms Ardern said the 'more contested environment' in the Pacific brought opportunities but also worries.

'China is ... a development partner who's been around the Pacific for decades but it's certainly increasing their activity and changing the way in which they engage,' she said.

'There are elements of that, particularly when it comes to the security arrangements of the region, that concern us.'

'We don't want the militarisation of our region.'

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, in Suva ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's arrival on Wednesday, said the US invitation was 'a matter for the forum and the chair', and she wasn't aware of Chinese requests for similar involvement.

'Fiji sets the agenda. Fiji and the secretary general look at how the forum is to be run,' she said.
The widow of slain underworld figure Carl Williams has been spotted in public with mysterious injuries to her hands.

Roberta Williams sported bandages on both hands to disguise her injuries as she walked the streets of Melbourne's CBD on Tuesday, accompanied by her daughter Dhakota.

The mother-of-five, 53, wore a pink knitted jumper and grey pants accessorised with a Louis Vuitton handbag.

Her daughter Dhakota, 21, tried to keep a low profile as she kept warm from winter chilly air in a black hooded puffer jacket teamed with black leggings and designer handbag.

Roberta and her daughter were spotted together two days after Dhakota issued a classy response to cruel trolls in the wake of a 12-year battle with online bullying.

Roberta Williams sported bandages on both hands while walking the streets of Melbourne

Widow Roberta, 53 (left) was joined by daughter Dhakota, 21 (right) on a stroll through Melbourne

Roberta's late husband Carl was a key figure in Melbourne's infamous gangland war, which claimed the lives of 36 criminal figures between 1998 and 2010.

He married Roberta in January 2001 and the couple welcomed the arrival of daughter Dhakota two months later.

The notorious killer was jailed for 35 years in 2007 for ordering the murders of three rivals, and more time for conspiring to kill a fourth.

Williams wrote several long letters to his wife and others from jail in the months before his 2010 murder, which have since been made into a book titled Life Sentence.

He was serving time in Melbourne's notorious Barwon Prison when he was bashed to death by fellow inmate Matthew Charles Johnson with a exercise bike part in April 2010.

Dhakota was just 10-years-old at the time of her father's death, aged 39.

Both mother and daughter accessorised with designer handbags in Melbourne's CBD

Roberta Williams, 53, appeared to have mysterious hand injuries which were bandaged up

Just 15 months ago, Roberta shared rare footage of her wedding to Williams on the 11-year anniversary of her husband's death.

Roberta detailed how difficult her life has been since his death and how much she desperately wished they could have 'one more moment' together in an emotional Instagram post.

'You picked me up when things got tough. I never imagined you not being here, but 11 years later you are gone,' she continued.

'Most days I wait for that phone call that in reality is never going to come, but I imagine the things I'd say if I had that chance.

'My love, my life, my best friend, my baby daddy, my husband I miss you immensely! Shine bright like a diamond.'

Roberta (left) wore a pink knitted jumper teamed with grey pants while her daughter Dhakota (right) wore all black

Ms Williams shared photographs from her wedding to Carl for the 11 year anniversary of his death

Roberta paid tribute to her daughter at her 21st birthday party held at trendy Melbourne nightclub The Emerson in March, telling Dhakota her dad would be proud of the woman she'd become.

'I wish your dad could see you today,' Roberta said in her speech.

'He would be so proud of you because you are exactly how he dreamt you would be. Every night before you were born your dad and I would sit in your nursery talking about you and what you'd be like, and everything he said, you have grown to be.'

He loved you beyond words.

'Im glad you got to feel his love and I know he is with you every step of the way guiding you  your own personal angel.'

Dhakota took to Instagram on Sunday to show off her curves in a racy green tie-dye frock and said she'll 'just let her fit talk'.

It comes after she revealed she had been criticised for her weight since her father's death when she was just nine-years-old, and was fed up.

Late last month, Dhakota fired back at cyber bullies for body shaming her in an emotional Instagram post.

A defiant Dhakota took to Instagram on Sunday to show off her figure in a racy green tie-dye frock and revealed that she'll 'just let her fit talk' after a 12 year battle with cyber bullies

She revealed she has been relentlessly mocked for her weight since childhood and was fed up.

'These people online have been calling me fat since I was about nine years old,' she raged.

'I was nine, crying, because people were calling me fat... [what the f**k]. That's 12 years of me having to see people comment about my body.

'It's such a shame that I've had to learn not to give a f**k instead of people having to learn to be nice.'

She went on to say that she was proud of her curves

'Sorry we're built like f***ing women around here, not prepubescent children like some of these weirdos want you to look like,' she wrote.

'Women have thighs, hips, boobs, and are built in all different shapes and sizes.'

The social media star finished by saying that 'body shaming in 2022 is not cool' and she's thankful that it no longer bothers her like it once did.

Melbourne-based Dhakota went on to say that she was proud of her curves

Dhakota regularly shares sultry images of herself on Instagram and has amassed almost 40,000 followers.

Her father's death in 2010 followed an investigation revealing Victoria Police was paying $8,000 per year for his daughter's school fees.

It was later revealed Carl was an informant and had given information regarding a handful of unsolved murder investigations.

Dhakota spoke fondly about her father on Channel Seven's Sunday Night in 2016.

'We know our dad as our dad, not what he's described as in the newspapers... so we know him as fun and loving and caring for us, and always made us happy,' she said.

'If you spoke to him and got to know him, you'd think he's not that sort of person, like, and you can tell he did it for his family 'cause he was all for us, all for us family.'

'It was just normal for me, that's all I really knew.
A man accused of being a US fugitive who is wanted by the FBI over sexual assault charges has told a court there is 'mass hysteria' around his case, as he unsuccessfully tried to have reporting restrictions applied to it.

US prosecutors say the man is Nicholas Rossi, who allegedly raped a 21-year-old in Utah in 2008 and is also alleged to have attacked women in Rhode Island, Ohio and Massachusetts.

However, the 34-year-old claims to be Arthur Knight, a victim of mistaken identity who has never been to America.

The man, who gave his name as Knight, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday as part of extradition proceedings against him.

He is said to have faked his own death and fled to Scotland to escape the charges.

Photos today showed him sitting in a wheelchair and wearing an oxygen mask after he arrived at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in the back of a private ambulance. He was wearing burgundy pyjamas, a dressing gown and black slippers.

His wife, Miranda Knight, was also seen arriving at court today.

Rossi was remanded in custody last week after being charged at Glasgow Sheriff Court with threatening two hospital medics. He is set to go on trial for the separate alleged offences in August.

The man alleged to be Rossi was apprehended in Glasgow earlier this year after being admitted to hospital with Covid-19.

An alleged fugitive who is said to have faked his own death to dodge US sex charges has arrived in court in Scotland for an extradition hearing. US prosecutors say the man is Nicholas Rossi, who allegedly raped a 21-year-old in Utah in 2008

Rossie's wife, Miranda Knight, was also seen arriving at court today

On Tuesday, Sheriff Alistair Noble considered a motion to adjourn the extradition proceedings against him until Thursday due to the criminal case in Glasgow.

Sheriff Noble agreed to adjourn the hearing to Thursday.

The man, representing himself, then sought to submit his own motion to the court in a bid to restrict press reporting.

He said there was 'mass hysteria' around the case, claiming it had 'turned into a media circus'.

He said the media had committed contempt of court by 'continually referring to me as Nicholas Rossi'.

Rossi (pictured) is accused of faking his death from cancer in the US to avoid a sexual assault charge, before fleeing to Scotland

The defendant arriving by ambulance at Edinburgh Sheriff And Justice Of The Peace Court, for a hearing on the extradition of Nicholas Rossi to the US

The suspect is seen being wheeled out of the private ambulance by a paramedic

The man claiming to be Mr Knight told the court: 'I would submit that it is incredibly important that this case be adjudicated so as not to include the public humiliation I have faced.'

However, Sheriff Noble said: 'I have not heard anything that would justify making any sort of order.'

The sheriff said the matter would be considered by a judge rather than a jury so there was no risk of prejudice to the case.

As he was wheeled back to his ambulance, the suspect quoted Sherlock Holmes, saying: 'The game's started. The game's afoot.'

His wife had sat in the dock of the court in Edinburgh as the suspect himself sat at a a table usually reserved for lawyers.

On Tuesday, Sheriff Alistair Noble considered a motion to adjourn the extradition proceedings against him until Thursday due to the criminal case in Glasgow. Above: The suspect arriving at court

The suspect raises two fingers in the air as he arrives at court in a burgundy dressing gown

The suspect was charged last Thursday with acting aggressively towards a consultant and senior charge nurse at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH)

Last month, Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told he was using 'every means possible' to delay the extradition proceedings.

Last week, Julie Clark, the prosecutor in the case that is unrelated to the US extradition request, said the suspect has been identified by police witnesses and medical professionals as Rossi.

The suspect was charged last Thursday with acting aggressively towards a consultant and senior charge nurse at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).

'This man has denied that he is that person and has refused to give DNA or fingerprints to evidence that position,' Ms Clark said at the court in Glasgow.

Rossi reportedly told US media in December 2019 that he had late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma and had weeks to live.

An obituary dedicated to him appeared online, and several outlets reported that he had died in February 2020.
A pensioner was given an 100 parking fine - after she got stuck in a car wash queue.

Colleen Russell, 69, received the parking penalty from Euro Car Parks despite never actually leaving her vehicle during her visit.

The pensioner drove to Sutton Court Service Station in Surrey to use its car wash but on her arrival, was met with a 30 minute queue on June 25.

She said Euro Car Parks, the owners of the car park, have cameras monitoring the forecourt - fining anyone who stays for more than 30 minutes without a ticket.

Colleen Russell, pictured, was waiting in line to wash her car when she inadvertently overstayed the deadline in the service station in Sutton, Surrey, and was issued a 100 fine

Ms Russell had four cars ahead of her waiting to use the car wash at the Sutton Court filling station in Sutton, Surrey

But the technology doesn't take into account cars using the car wash on busy days.

A week after her visit, Colleen, received a 100 parking fine from Euro Car Parks through the post.

Ms Russell, a retired carer from Sutton, Surrey, said: 'I've been going there for over 10 years, and this has never happened before.

'I didn't go in for petrol, and I didn't go in to park - I was just in the queue for the car wash.'

'There were four cars in the line so I had to wait my turn to use the facility.

'I'd like to know whether those cars were fined as well as they were also queuing just like me.

'I just think it's so unfair, especially because I'm a pensioner.'

Ms Russell has appealed the decision.

Euro Car Parks has been approached for comment.

Ms Russell said she had been washing her car at the service station for the past ten years without incident
Heavy rainfall across Telangana over the past week is estimated to have damaged almost a tenth of the crop plantations, undertaken recently at the start of the Kharif season. (Representational image/DC)

HYDERABAD: Heavy rainfall across Telangana over the past week is estimated to have damaged almost a tenth of the crop plantations, undertaken recently at the start of the Kharif season.

The key farming centres of undivided Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam districts incurred heavy losses.

In Kharif season, the plantation is done across 55 lakh acres. As per preliminary reports, crops on over 5 lakh acres  of paddy, cotton, maize and soya bean, among others  have been damaged, with officials unable to undertake a field study due to continuous rains.

Farmers are a worried lot as the IMD has predicted more heavy rains in north Telangana, with red and orange alerts already issued. They said that they might have to redo the entire sowing process if rains continue to wash away the soil and destroy saplings.

Farmers are eagerly awaiting a field-level study by the agriculture department, as it would enable them to get input subsidy or crop compensation.

Congress Kisan cell state president Sunket Anvesh Reddy alleged that the state government has not been paying crop damage compensation to farmers for the past eight years. Reddy cited an instance of a visit by a group of ministers to damaged agricultural fields failing to elicit compensation, despite assurances.

Meanwhile, officials of agriculture universities issued guidelines to farmers to minimise crop damages, especially for saplings of cotton, maize, soya bean and pulses.

Sai Reddy, a farmer from Balkonda mandal of Nizamabad told Deccan Chronicle that the state government must immediately declare compensation for crop damages. Farmers will incur heavy losses due to crop damages as they lack crop insurance facility. The state government should declare a schedule for assessment of crop damages in agriculture fields, he said.

Adding that he had not witnessed such heavy rains in July, Reddy said that the inflows at the Sri Ram Sagar project have reached record levels.
A 16-year-old has died after getting into difficulty while swimming in a Yorkshire river just days after a promising teenage boxer also died while swimming in an abandoned quarry.

The body of Alfie McCraw, from Wakefield, was found following a search of the Aire and Calder Navigation, West Yorkshire, after he was reported missing on Monday afternoon.

Alfie, a schoolboy who had recently finished his GCSEs, became the second teenager to die in just three days of hot weather.

On Saturday, Jamie Lewin, 16, got into difficulty after entering the water at Appley Bridge, West Lancashire, with emergency crews recovering his body following a search.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service were called out alongside police and ambulance crews to search for the boy who had entered the water on one of the hottest days of the year.

Jamie was pronounced dead soon afterwards, with his next of kin informed. His death is not currently being treated as suspicious.

Heartfelt tributes have since poured in for the schoolboy, with his mother Steph describing him as a 'promising boxer who loved life and had so much to look forward to'.

The body of Alfie McCraw, 16 from Wakefield, was found following a search of the Aire and Calder Navigation in Yorkshire after the schoolboy was reported missing on Monday afternoon

Alfie, a schoolboy who had recently finished his GCSEs, became the second teenager to die in just three days of hot weather. Pictured: The Aire and Calder Navigation in Yorkshire

Jamie Lewin, 16, got into difficulty after entering the water at Dawber Delph, Appley Bridge, with emergency crews recovering his body following a search

West Yorkshire Police have issued a public warning to those thinking of using the waterways to cool off during the blast of warm weather.

Superintendent Nick Smart said: 'This was an extremely tragic incident which has resulted in the loss of the life of a boy who had just finished his GCSEs.

'We have specially trained officers who are supporting Alfie's family at this unimaginably awful time.

'We are working with the Canal & River Trust to deliver some inputs into schools before they break up for the holidays to warn of the dangers of open water swimming, but we need everyone to help us in spreading this message.

'The weather is forecast to get even hotter over the weekend and into next week, but we would urge people to not be tempted to cool off in open water, unless it is a supervised area intended for swimming.

'Even in the summer months, open water can be very cold. Anyone entering cold water suddenly is susceptible to hyperventilation, which can result in the body going into seizure.'

Heartfelt tributes have since poured in for the schoolboy, with his mother Steph describing him as a 'promising boxer who loved life and had so much to look forward to'

Emergency crews recovered the body of 16-year-old Jamie Lewin from East Quarry in Dawber Delph, Appley Bridge

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service were called out alongside police and ambulance crews to search for the boy in the water

In her tribute published by Lancashire Police, Ms Lewis added: 'Jamie was so loved by everyone.

'He touched so many peoples' lives in such a short time, he really did spread himself far.

'He really was one in a million. I'm so happy I was his mum. He was only 16 and so full of life and so happy.'

A spokesperson for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said: 'Three fire engines, a boat and the drone team were deployed.

'Tragically the casualty died at the scene. Our thoughts remain with Jamie's family at this time.'

The teenager's death is not being treated by police as suspicious, with a file due to be passed on to the coroner.

Local residents have backed campaigners who are urging the quarry's owners, Maybrook, to drain and re-fill the quarry that has so far claimed the lives of three teenagers over the past 23 years.

On social media, people expressed their sympathies for Jamie's family.

'This is just so awful and sad. Deepest sympathy to his family,' one person wrote.

Another added: 'Rest in peace young man, thoughts are with his family at this heartbreaking time.'

'So sad, heartbreaking for his family and friends,' another person wrote.

In 2015, Miracle Godson, a promising 13-year-old rugby player died after entering the quarry's waters and getting into difficulty.

Craig Croston, 17, also drowned at the quarry in a tragic incident in 1999.
Young festivalgoers are furious after learning that underage revellers will need to be accompanied by a parent at all times at Splendour in the Grass.

The iconic Australian music festival in Byron Bay is set to begin on July 22, but a last-minute 'nanny state' rule change has left thousands of patrons scrambling for extra tickets on resale websites.

Splendour in the Grass were told by NSW Police that all attendees under 18 must be accompanied by a 'responsible adult', giving underage ticket-holders just ten days to find another ticket for guardians or face 'significant fines'.

NSW liquor laws define a 'responsible adult' suitable for minor supervision as a parent, guardian or long-term partner.

Festival organisers said the change was imposed on them by the police and that they are 'not happy' with the move.

Splendour in the Grass announced all underage attendees at its 2022 music festival in Bryon Bay must be accompanied by a parent or long-term partner

Splendour in the Grass organisers made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon but made no mention of a possible refund for underage ticket-holders

Splendour in the Grass is a popular camping music festival held in the Bryon Bay Parklands

'These new rules have been imposed on us by NSW Police. We were only informed of this late Thursday and we are very unhappy about these major changes being forced on the festival at such a late stage,' the announcement read.

'We want you all to be aware that Police will be present at the event, roaming throughout the crowd checking that underage minors are with a responsible adult.'

The announcement suggested minors look to purchase tickets from resale sites or risk facing 'significant fines' for attending the festival unaccompanied.

There has been no mention of refunds for underage patrons unable to attend the event because of the rule change.

Splendour in the Grass is a massively popular three-day camping music festival held in Bryon Bay Parklands, NSW.

Splendour in the Grass 2022 has been highly-anticipated after the festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic

Splendour in the Grass organisers warned underage patrons face 'significant fines' if they're caught by police at the event without a supervisor

Splendour in the Grass is a massively popular Byron Bay music festival that was cancelled due to Covid in 2020 and 2021

Headliners for this year's festival, set to run from Friday July 22 to Sunday July 24, include Gorillaz, The Strokes, Tyler the Creator, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Glass Animals.

Splendour in the Grass 2022 has been highly-anticipated by music-lovers after the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.

The rule change received massive backlash online with people slamming NSW Police for leaving the enforcement to the last minute and others calling for minors to be refunded.

'Imagine being a local kid just wanting to see their favourite bands just up the road. What the hell, NSW police?,' one person wrote.

The Splendour in the Grass announcement warned NSW Police would be attending the event

Splendour in the Grass organisers suggested minors look to purchase tickets for supervisors from resale sites

Headliners for this year's Splendour festival, set to run from Friday July 22 to Sunday July 24, include Gorillaz, The Strokes, Tyler the Creator, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Glass Animals

'This sounds like a significant change in the ticket conditions that would we worthy of a refund for younger ticket holders,' another said.

'There's obviously not going to be enough tickets for everyone to comply with this. You should be offering every under 18 ticket holder the option of a full refund,' another wrote.

A NSW Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: 'NSW Police work closely with the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority and festival organisers to ensure the safety and security of all attendees at the event'.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Splendour in the Grass for comment.
David Beckham today told of his agony at feeling 'helpless' against a stalker who left his daughter Harper scared to leave her home - after the obsessed fan tried to pick her up from school.

Sharon Bell, 58, was charged with harassing former Manchester United and England midfielder David with a series of letters after trying to contact him since 2016.

She wrongly believed she was in a relationship with Beckham, 47, and that he and Victoria had conspired to steal her eggs from inside her body.

In the most frightening incident Bell turned up at the Beckhams' 11-year-old daughter's prep school on November 18, claiming: 'I'm Harper's mother. I'm here to pick her up.'

Victoria was also there and saw the stalker looking 'vacant' as police arrived and took her away.

Today the famous couple's fear over her campaign of harassment was laid bare as she was detained under the Mental Health Act.

District Judge Michael Snow ruled she was a risk to Harper, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz because she was 'obsessed with the family'.

In a statement read to Westminster Magistrates Court, David said: 'I felt like the language in the letters was escalating and becoming more emotional and threatening to me and my family - and this worried me.

'She appeared with no warning, making the threat more targeted and intimidating.

'I felt helpless and angry that there was nothing I could do.'

Beckham denied having a relationship with Bell, saying he had never seen her before.

Victoria Beckham's statement said: 'Due to the volume of attention [my husband and I receive from fans], we are rarely informed of the nature of communications from fans.'

'I tried to protect her and I am worried about her safety.'

She added: 'I am very concerned and anxious about Harper going to the park or being taken on school trips.'

Prosecutor Arizuna Asante added: 'She is now scared to go out and it has made things harder for her.'

'She is worried, especially when Harper goes on school trips.'

Victoria Beckham said she had been left too afraid to leave her home by stalker Sharon Bell

Sharon Bell, 58, sent a series of chilling letters that left David 'helpless and angry' at them

David Beckham and daughter Harper who are frequently pictured on his public Instagram

Bell sent a handwritten letter to Beckham's Oxfordshire home on July 5 last year telling him she planned to attend the property days later.

'I have got your address from a detective agency, I hope you don't mind. I have feelings for you, David,' it read.

'Victoria owes me some money, David, as she said she's been robbing my bank account for years, which isn't very nice. I would appreciate it if she wasn't there.'

The court heard Bell was 'persistent' when she arrived at the property on July 9 but left after being told by security it was the wrong address.

Another letter was sent to the Beckhams' home in Holland Park before Bell turned up on September 9.

'Please be there, otherwise someone will go to the press and say you both have my roll numbers. Now that wouldn't look good, would it, as you have got an OBE,' the letter said.

'You said if I write to you first and I'm unarmed (which I will be) then I can come in for a chat and a tea (Earl Grey is my favourite tea). I really want to chat to you, so please can I come in for a chat?'

The letter also made reference to the home of television presenter Richard Madeley, and said: 'I will not have a go at you.

'Family time is so precious!' Victoria Beckham shared snaps of her recent European getaway to celebrate her 23rd wedding anniversary on Friday

Happy families: The former Spice Girl was joined by her parents, Jackie and Anthony Adams, as well as her sister Louise, 38, and her rarely-seen brother Christian

'I just want to talk to you. You owe me that, David (PS I would like to be with you when you have brain surgery to give you a few new brain cells) and your friend Tom Cruise has really upset me, David.

'He has done some terrible things to me.'

In a third letter sent in October, Bell said: 'I do love you and have done since we were children.'

Beckham said he had never met Bell and told of his concern about her 'escalating' behaviour, which he felt was becoming 'erratic and unpredictable'.

'I felt like the language in the letter was escalating and becoming more emotional and threatening towards me and my family and this worried me,' he said.

'The letters were becoming increasingly threatening and obviously the female knew where I lived.'

Bell, of Watford, was charged with stalking but did not face a criminal trial because she has a mental disorder.

District Judge Michael Snow said he was satisfied she had carried out the criminal conduct and made an order to detain Bell, who appeared in court by video-link, under the Mental Health Act.

He referred to the 'rather frightening thought' of her researching Beckham's address and the 'chilling words' used in her letters.

'He became frightened for the safety of his family, being concerned to what Ms Bell might do next,' the judge added.
A lone gunman is being hunted in at least three out of six pre-dawn robberies at six 7-Eleven shops in Southern California that left two people dead and three hurt, authorities said.

The spree of violence happened within about five hours on Monday July 11  or 7/11  the day when the national 7-Eleven brand celebrates its anniversary.

This is its 95th year and, on Monday, shops gave out free Slurpee drinks.

It was not immediately clear to investigators what prompted the violence in the cities of Ontario, Upland, Riverside, Santa Ana, Brea and La Habra.

'I think the only person to answer that would be the suspect,' said officer Ryan Railsback, a spokesman for the Riverside Police Department.

But he said the date was no accident.

'Our hearts are with the victims and their loved ones,' 7-Eleven, Inc. said in a statement. 'We are gathering information on this terrible tragedy and working with local law enforcement.'

In this image from video released by the Brea Police Department is a person that police are attempting to identify in connection with two people who were killed and three who were wounded in shootings at four 7-Eleven locations in Southern California ,Monday, July 11, 2022. At least three of the four shootings are believed to be linked to the same lone gunman.

The same suspect was caught on surveillance footage in several locations

The robberies all occurred within the space of a few hours of one another

Police crime scene tape closes off a parking area following a shooting at a 7-Eleven store in Brea, Calif., on Monday

The first shooting at Riverside left the victim in grave condition and while that shooting had not been officially connected to the others, Railsback said, 'they all seem very, very similar.'

The cases appeared strange, Railsback said, because criminals typically know that robberies at convenience stores rarely yield large amounts of money, especially during the overnight hours.

'If you go hit a liquor store or a 7-Eleven or a fast food place, you're not going to get a lot of cash out of it,' he said. 'It's kind of odd that they would do this.'

Authorities remove a body from a 7-Eleven after a clerk was fatally shot on Monday during a robbery in Brea, California

At least two people have been killed in a string of armed robbery shootings at multiple 7-Eleven locations around the Los Angeles area, police said at a press conference

Authorities are working to confirm a connection between all of the shootings. The shootings coincide with National 7/11 Day, where customers can receive a free Slurpee

Timeline of deadly 7-Eleven attacks The timeline of events of the reported incidents at various 7-Eleven stores on Monday, July 11, lead authorities to believe they were all committed by a single gunman. First robbery - 12 am A robbery was reported at a 7-Eleven in the 600 block of North Vine Avenue in Ontario. There were no injuries. Police are still looking to see if it was connected to the other robberies. Second robbery - 12:37 am Police in Upland reported an armed robbery at a 7-Eleven store located in the 2100 Block of Arrow Route. First shooting - 1:50 am Riverside police reported a robbery and shooting at a 7-Eleven located at 5100 Block of La Sierra Ave. One customer was shot and remains in grave condition. Police say there was no indication the customer or store clerk did anything to provoke the gunman. Second shooting - 3:23 am Police say a man was shot and killed in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven store at 300 Block East 17th St. in Santa Ana. The victim was later identified as Matthew Rule, 24, of Santa Ana. Third shooting - 4:18 am Police say a clerk was shot and killed at a 7-Eleven store on Lambert Road and N. Brea Boulevard in Brea during a robbery. The victim was identified by his girlfriend as Matthew Hirsch, 40. His girlfriend Kristen Ewan described him as the most caring and compassionate person. Fourth Shooting - 4:55 am A clerk and a customer were both shot and injured during a robbery at the 7-Eleven store located at 1381 E. Whittier Blvd. in La Habra, according to police. Advertisement

In the Riverside case, the gunman robbed the clerk and brandished a gun, then turned the weapon on a customer, opened fire and fled, Railsback said. Police believe the clerk handed over cash from the register.

'It doesn't appear to be any reason that the suspect shot the customer,' Railsback said. 'It sounds like the clerk gave him whatever he asked for.'

The second shooting occurred around 3:20 a.m., about 24 miles (39 kilometers) away, in Santa Ana, authorities said.

Officers responding to reported gunfire at a 7-Eleven in that city and found a man dead in the parking lot with one gunshot wound in his upper torso, according to Sgt. Maria Lopez, a Santa Ana police spokesperson. The violence appeared to include a robbery.

Police officers were on the scene of the shootings as they attempted to work out the link

Officials investigate after officers found two victims with gunshot wounds following a robbery at a 7-Eleven in La Habra, California

One of the victims of the shooting could be seen in the back of an ambulance early on Monday

Officers could be seen outside one of the 7-Eleven locations following the shootings

One of the victim's could be seen being wheeled out on a stretcher

'At this moment, we don't believe he was an employee. We don't really know yet what he was doing there in a parking lot, if he was a potential customer or just walking by,' Lopez said.

Surveillance video shows the suspect dropping items - believed to be the victim's belongings - as he fled, Lopez said.

Lopez said detectives believe the suspect in the Santa Ana killing is the same person who then traveled 12 miles to Brea, where a 7-Eleven employee was found dead of a gunshot wound at about 4:18 a.m.

Brea Police Capt. Phil Rodriguez said officers responded to a report of a man suffering from a gunshot wound and found the employee wounded. He was later pronounced dead.

'This does appear to be a robbery that turned into a homicide,' Rodriguez said.

Surveillance photos, posted to social media by Brea police, show a masked man wearing a black sweatshirt with a hood over his head. The sweatshirt had white lettering with green leaves on its front.

Police declined to say what, if anything, was stolen from the Brea store or the victim - reiterating only that the incident began as a robbery.

Less than an hour later, officers in neighboring La Habra were sent to a reported robbery at a 7-Eleven. They discovered two gunshot victims around 4:55 a.m., according to Sgt. Sumner Bohee. The gunman had fled.

Authorities have not disclosed the victims' conditions.

'We feel confident that it is the same suspect,' Rodriguez said.

The shootings appear to have occurred at the four convenience stores on July 11, or 7/11 - a day when the national 7-Eleven brand is celebrating its 95th birthday by giving out free Slurpees
A British woman facing the death penalty in Pakistan for allegedly ordering the murder of her husband said the authorities beat her every day to try to get her to confess.

'I was held at a police station for two weeks, where I was hit every day,' said Yasmin Kausar, 64. 'They tried to force a confession, but I wouldnt make a statement that wasnt true.'

Kausar, from Bradford, has spoken of her relief after being released on bail. She had been in the Pakistani prison since April 4 and was released in June.

She was detained after the charred remains of her husband of 23 years were found in a car at a rubbish dump in Rawalpindi in the Punjab region.

Mrs Kausar was held on suspicion of having Mohammad Farooq, 65, killed by a 23-year-old man who worked for his family and who police claim was hired by her.

Mrs Kausar was held in April on suspicion of having her husband Mohammad Farooq, 65, killed by a man who worked for the family

Yasmin Kausar with her husband Mohammad Farooq at a wedding in 2020

Farooq was the director of a British property firm with hotels in Leeds and Pakistan.

His wife later followed him out to the country following the death of his younger brother.

Maintaining her innocence, her lawyer later applied for bail which was refused by the sessions court in Rawalpindi.

But Mr. Justice Muhammad Tariq Nadeem granted bail after an appeal was taken to the high court in Lahore.

The judge highlighted flaws in the prosecution argument against bail in his order, including no direct evidence available that can connect Mrs Kausar to the crime she is accused of.

After being freed from prison last month, Mrs Kausar has been staying with relatives in Pakistan including her daughter Saima, who suffers from cancer, who travelled from the UK to offer her support.

Mrs Kausar's trial starts next week. She hopes to be found not guilty, she said, speaking for the first time since her release from prison.

The burnt out car where Mohammad Farooq's body was allegedly found is pictured

Mrs Kausar, who moved to Leeds from Bradford before accompanying her husband to Pakistan, said: 'Im not good, Im still upset, Im upset about whats happened to me, what they did to me and what theyre doing now. Im devastated this has happened to me.

'Ive not been able to grieve the loss of my husband. I cant come to terms with the fact hes gone, he was my soul mate for over 25 years. Its hard, its very hard.

'Throughout this ordeal, my brother has passed away, so Ive suffered two losses.'

Mrs Kausar, who is diabetic, was holed up in a prison cell with four other women in a wing that housed 32 prisoners, some of whom had children with them in the jail.

Of the conditions she faced in prison, Mrs Kausar added: 'I wouldnt wish it upon my worst enemy. I didnt have any rights.

'I wasnt able to speak to my family in the UK, there was no system in place to speak to them.

'My medicine was kept by the prison officers and I had to ask for it from them,' said Kausar, who has type 2 diabetes.

'They would shut the toilets for hours at a time and just not let you go. Theyd tell you [to] wet yourself basically.

'I thought because Im a British citizen that the UK Embassy would come and get me out, but they didnt.

'It was very hot in the prison and it was very dirty. It was a terrible ordeal, Im glad to be out. Im mentally exhausted and shattered.

'I just hope now for justice and to be home with my family in the UK. I want to go home and be with my children.'

Police in Pakistan believe Mr Farooq was strangled at his familys home before his killer drove the body to a rubbish dump around 27 miles away and torched the car.

His charred boy was found at the dump at Morgah, near Islamabad, on April 1.

Police think Kausar was having an affair with a young lover, a 22-year-old mechanic employed by the family called Abdul Waheed, who they allege wanted to run away to the UK with the older woman.

He was also arrested alongside 24-year-old Abdul Idrees. Police allege the trio hatched a plot to kill Kausar's late husband, according to local media.

Saima Bashir, pictured next to her brother Sajid, faces the possibility of her mum's death sentence. She said: 'We just hope the judge is fair and can see the evidence for what it is'

But her children both say their mother has been framed, saying it is absurd she would begin an affair with a man young enough to be her grandson.

'My mum is 100 per cent innocent,' Saima told the Telegraph & Argus. 'She was married to my stepdad for 23 years, they had a loving relationship.'

Mr Farooq was a wealthy businessman living in a 1.5million house, but Kausar lived with her daughter in a less expensive 180,000 home in another part of the city.

Her daughter says she would have inherited little from his death compared to other relatives.

'It must be the quickest a murder has ever been solved in history,' she said. 'It just doesnt add up.'

Mrs Kausar said she thought somebody was playing an April Fools prank on her when she received a phone call to tell her Mr Farooq had been killed.

It was 3:30am on April 4 police burst into her house in Pakistan, banging on the doors and arresting her.

She added: 'I was in shock as to why they were arresting me. They didnt let me change my clothes and they were pushing and shoving me into the police car and wouldnt let me get my jewellery or medicine.

Saima had to return to the UK to continue her cancer treatment, said she hoped her mum would get justice for herself and her late husband.

She said: 'We just hope the judge is fair and can see the evidence for what it is.'

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office told the Nottingham Post: 'We are in contact with the local authorities in Pakistan following the death of a British man and are providing consular support to his family.'

Bradford West MP Naz Shah has written to Pakistan Prime Minister to raise concerns.

In the letter, the MP highlights the familys concerns about the investigations credibility.
Fugitive Comanchero bikie boss Mark Buddle has been deported to Turkey where he's expected to be processed and handed over to Australian authorities, according to Northern Cyprus officials.

Australia's most wanted man, who fled the country in 2016 after being wanted in connection with several murders, was captured on Saturday while returning to his hideout on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus by officers identifying themselves as FBI.

Australian authorities are aware Buddle is now in Turkey, where they hope to attempt to extradite him back home.

But there are fears Buddle may flee to another country before extradition is granted.

The interior ministry of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus confirmed Buddle received a residence permit to live in the statelet last August on the grounds his 'high income' would bring wealth to the territory.

But authorities later ruled that the underworld figure's presence was 'inconvenient in terms of public peace and security'.

Underworld boss Mark Buddle has been deported to Turkey, where's it's hoped he'll be extradited to Australia

The infamous bikie, 44, was transferred to the Turkish capital of Ankara on Sunday under the supervision of two police officers.

'Legal proceedings are continuing in Ankara for the extradition of Mark Douglas Buddle  to his home country,' Cypriot officials said in a statement.

Australia has an extradition treaty with Turkey on the provision that the extradition of a person charged with an offence punishable by imprisonment for at least one year

But both police and underworld sources acknowledged the matter was far from over.

'I think he went there (Turkey) the first day he was arrested,' one source told The Daily Telegraph.

'At the end of the day it's Turkey mate, it's not Australia, it's not America.'

A senior Australian law enforcement officer added: 'This is a long way from over, but the net is closing in on Buddle.'

Buddle (right) fled Australia in 2016 for Dubai, where he set up a new life with his glamorous partner Melanie Ter Wisscha (left), after a security guard was fatally shot

Buddle recently left his latest safe haven on the island nation to meet with a high-profile international member of the gang in Germany.

He then travelled back to the nation's north via Turkey, an area where many Australian fugitives hide out, before reports surfaced on Sunday that American agents had swooped on the gangster.

But the US crime bureau later denied they were behind the sting operation.

Buddle took over the leadership of the Comancheros when former boss Mahmoud 'Mick' Hawi was jailed over a fatal brawl in Sydney Airport in 2009.

He fled Australia in 2016 for Dubai, where he set up a new life with his partner Melanie Ter Wisscha, after he became a person of interest in the 2010 murder of a security guard.

Last year, Buddle left Dubai soon after a video surfaced showing him fighting tourists at a resort pool.

Since then it is understood he has hopped between numerous countries such as Turkey, Greece and Iraq, before settling in Cyprus.

The Sydney-born crime boss who grew up in a Maroubra housing commission estate before joining the Comanchero, has reportedly been living in Cyprus since mid-2021.

Mark Buddle (pictured) has been on the run from Australian authorities for the last six years

However, his stay has not been low-profile, as he made the front-page of the Cyprus newspaper Kibris Gercek last year.

Sources recently said the exile life was taking a heavy toll on Buddle, with the Commander of the Australian arm of the Comancheros isolated from his daughters, who are believed to have been living away from him in Australia.

When Buddle fled Australia, he entrusted the Comanchero in Australia to national sergeant-at-arms Tarek Zahed, national president Mick Murray and Sydney commander Alan Meehan.

In May, Zahed miraculously survived an assassination attempt at Bodyfit Gym in Auburn when he was shot multiple times as more than 20 bullets were fired.

He was rushed to hospital fighting for life and was taken into surgery with 10 bullet wounds to his head and body, with one bullet piercing straight through his eyeball.

His brother Omar, 39, was killed during the shooting.

With Zahed recovering from his injuries and Murray facing charges in Victoria, Meehan has been named Comanchero national president.

Australia's most wanted man Mark Buddle (pictured with partner Mel Terwisscha) fled the country in 2016 after being wanted in connection with several murders
Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin has said, just hours after the US warned he is trying to buy military drones from Tehran to use in Ukraine.

The Russian leader will visit the Iranian capital on Tuesday for a meeting with Iran's leaders and Turkey's President Erdogan, ostensibly to hold talks on Syria.

But the situation in Ukraine - which sits across the Black Sea from Turkey - is almost certain to feature in discussions.

Vladimir Putin (pictured Monday) will travel to Tehran next week for talks with the country's leaders and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, said Putin and Erdogan will have a separate meeting without Iran's leaders at the summit.

However, he rubbished suggestions that talks could lead to more negotiations with Ukraine, which Erdogan helped facilitate in the early days of the war.

The trip marks on the second time Putin has been abroad since the war started almost five months ago

It was announced just hours after Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser, warned that Iran is preparing to sell drones to Russia to use in Ukraine.

Mr Sullivan - speaking before Joe Biden travels for talks with Iran's biggest rival Saudi Arabia - said Tehran is planning to provide 'hundreds' of combat drones to Moscow.

In addition, Iranian soldiers will train their Russian counterparts in how to use the drones - with lessons beginning in just a few weeks.

'Initial training sessions slated to begin as soon as early July,' Mr Sullivan said.

Meeting was announced hours after US warned that Russia is looking to buy 'hundreds' of combat-ready drones from Iran (file image)

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Iran will train Russian soldiers how to use the drones, and lessons could begin this month

It is not clear whether any Iranian drones have already been sold to Russia, he added, saying it showed Russia's war in Ukraine was imposing a heavy cost on its army.

Iran has a history of selling weaponised drones, including to Houthi rebels fighting a civil war against Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen.

Tehran claims those drones were used in an attack on Saudi oil facilities that crippled production for several days back in 2019.

Saudi said the attack had actually come from Iran itself, and displayed the wreckage of several of the drones as proof.

Russia is now into the fifth month of fighting in Ukraine, and is suffering heavy losses without much progress.

Putin's men have captured two cities in the Donbas region in recent weeks, but are now taking an 'operational pause' after exhausting themselves in combat.

Meanwhile Ukraine is counter-attacking to the south near Kherson, and is using US-donated HIMARS rocket systems to target command posts and ammo dumps.

A strike two nights ago in Kherson killed 12 officers including a general, Kyiv says, while one last night in Nova Kakhova caused a huge explosion.

America's decision to reveal the intelligence comes ahead of Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia, where he will meet in-person with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Biden had previously threatened to turn Saudi Arabia into a 'pariah state' over its human rights record.

Russia is suffering heavy losses in Ukraine as Kyiv's men target their ammunition dumps using American HIMARS systems, such as this one that blew up in Nova Kakhova overnight

MBS, as the kingdom's de-facto ruler is known, was personally implicated in ordering the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi - a dissident Saudi journalist and American citizen killed inside the consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

Military analyst Samuel Bendett of the CNA think tank said Russia's choice of Iran as a source for drones is logical because 'for the last 20 years or more Iran has been refining its drone combat force.

'Their drones have been in more combat than the Russians'.

He said the Iranian drones could be very effective at striking Ukrainian power stations, refineries and other critical infrastructure.

Bendett noted that before the Ukraine war, Russia had licensed drone technology for its Forpost UAV from a proven supplier: Israel. The Jewish state has remained neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, so that source is no longer available to Moscow

Russia launched its unprovoked assault on Ukraine on February 24, and since then Kyiv's forces have put up a defense that surpassed the international community's expectations.

But months later and with likely tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives lost, Vladimir Putin's apparent obsession with taking over the former Soviet state at whatever cost has put no end in sight for the conflict.

Two explosions have been reported in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson in the last four days, according to CNN.

And on Sunday, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office reported that six people were killed and 31 injured in Kharkiv after Russians shelling hit a shopping center as well as homes and vehicles.

Last month Biden and other NATO leaders pledged to support Ukraine for 'as long as it takes.'
Former soldier Tom Tugendhat today packed in military metaphors as he outlined his bid to be Tory leader.

In a speech in Westminster this morning, the senior Conservative MP promised 'leadership with a renewed sense of mission' and insisted he 'cannot accept defeat'.

Mr Tugendhat, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, told supporters the British people had asked the Tory Government to not only 'hold the line' but 'to advance'.

In a swipe at outgoing PM Boris Johnson, he vowed a 'clean start' and despaired at how 'when the moment demanded service, we delivered scandal'.

The 49-year-old made a series of policy pledges, including a 10p per litre cut to fuel duty and immediate action to tackle the NHS backlogs.

But he was also forced to hit back at claims he would be 'learning on the job' as Tory leader and PM, as he has never held ministerial office before.

And he denied his leadership campaign was merely a ploy to secure a senior Cabinet job from whoever was the winning candidate.

Ex-soldier Tom Tugendhat promised 'leadership with a renewed sense of mission' and insisted he 'cannot accept defeat'

The senior Tory MP, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, packed his speech with military metaphors

Mr Tugendhat, the chair of the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee, was wounded twice during a ten-hour firefight behind enemy lines when he served in Iraq.

He referred to his military career as he pointed to how he had 'a record of service and a record of delivery in some of the most difficult and trying conditions around the world'.

Deputy PM Dominic Raab - who is backing ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak for the Tory leadership - has insisted it is 'no time to learn on the job' for a new PM

But Mr Tugendhat swiped back that he would be 'putting all that experience' from his time in the army 'to work' in Downing Street.

'The reality is that the job of prime minister is unlike every other job in government,' he added.

'Its not a management job, its not a departmental job. Its a job that demands vision and leadership, it demands a willingness to serve and to throw everything in the duty of serving the British people.'

With a cost-of-living crisis and war in Ukraine, Mr Tugendhat noted there was a 'creeping sense of despair about our collective future' with Britain facing a 'defining moment'.

He lashed out at the response of Mr Johnson and the wider Conservatives Party to the mounting challenges.

He added: 'In a moment that is so desperate for so many - and when our service is most needed - we have retreated.

'We have retreated into the pettiness of a politics that is more about personality than principle.

'We have retreated into division when we desperately need unity. When our nation needed our party to function, we retreated into faction.

'When the moment demanded service, we delivered scandal. This is a crisis of purpose, of leadership, and of trust.'

Mr Tugendhat appears to have won enough support to make it through to tomorrow's first round of voting among Tory MPs

Mr Tugendhat backed Remain ahead of the EU referendum, but he vowed to 'seize one of the biggest economic benefits of Brexit that we haven't yet grasped'.

He outlined a plan to rip up 'EU rules that forced British insurers to sit on dead money that they are not allowed to invest'.

Mr Tugendhat promised that removing the EUs Solvency II regulations would 'mean around 100 billion of British savers money can be put to work regenerating our communities and building homes'.

In other policy pledges, Mr Tugendhat confirmed his intent to scrap the recent 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance contributions.

He also promised to ease the cost-of-living crisis for struggling Britons by reducing fuel duty by 10p a litre.

On his first day in Downing Street, Mr Tugendhat also promised he would 'bring together experts from the NHS, the wider public sector, the military, the private sector and the voluntary sector to bust through the NHS backlog'.

He said he would aim to copy the success of the Covid vaccines taskforce in dealing with hospitals' mammoth waiting lists caused by the Coronavirus crisis.

Mr Tugendhat appears to have won enough support among fellow Tory MPs in order to make it through to tomorrow's first ballot in the leadership contest.

Among those supporting him are International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and ex-Cabinet ministers Damian Green and Karen Bradley.

He has also picked up the key backing of Jake Berry, the chair of the influential Northern Research Group of Tory MPs.

But Mr Tugendhat is still viewed as an outsider due to his absence of experience being in government.

He today denied his leadership bid was merely an attempt to be named foreign secretary in a future administration.

'I did not enter this race for any other purpose than to champion the values that I stand on and to lead the country I love,' Mr Tugendhat said.

'That is why I am here, this is not a compromise position, this is not a negotiating strategy, this is a plan and we're going to deliver it.'
Former President Donald Trump continues to lead all challengers in a poll of Republican voters  but with nearly half of GOP voters saying they prefer someone else.

And the poll reveals a sizable chunk  16 per cent  of Republicans who say they would vote for President Joe Biden if Trump is the party nominee.

The New York Times / Sienna College poll comes as Trump continues to try to assert his dominance within the party, picking favorites in key primaries and trying to defeat Republicans who voted to impeach him.

Nearly half of Republican voters want someone else besides former President Donald Trump as the party's nominee, according to a new poll

Trump gets the support of 49 per cent of Republican voters who are asked to name their preferred candidate in the poll.

That doubles up support over his top rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who party insiders view as the most potent threat to him.

There is a substantial dropoff after that, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz getting 7 per cent support, former Vice President Mike Pence getting 6 per cent, former South Carolina Gov. and UN ambassador Nikki Haley at 6 per cent, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at 2 percent.

Pence during recent speeches has defended his decision to accept votes certified by states where Trump was claiming fraud during his ceremonial role overseeing the count of the electoral votes on Jan. 6.

Trump repeatedly attacked him for lacking 'courage,' and the House Jan. 6 committee has probed Trump's election overturn effort, which came amid key administration officials telling him the fraud claims were false.

Pence said in a New Hampshire speech that 'I dont know if well ever see eye to eye on that day,' in reference to he and Trump on January 6.

The poll comes as Trump continues to campaign across the country, as he did with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin over the weekend

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gets backing of 25 per cent of Republican voters in the new poll, about half Trump's support

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is at 6 per cent in the poll

Biden leads Trump by a narrow 44 to 41 margin in the poll, as Biden faces increasing complaints from within his own party.

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats would prefer a candidate besides Biden, including to a Times / Sienna poll released Monday.

A stunning 64 per cent of Democratic voters prefer someone besides President Joe Biden on top of the ticket in 2024, according to a new poll

A total of 64 per cent of voters said they want someone besides Biden as their party's nominee. Just 26 per cent think the party should nominate Biden  even though incumbent president's traditionally have major electoral advantages.

Biden's overall job approval stands at just 33 per cent in the survey.




A 22-year-old sailor died on board the San Diego-based aircraft carrier Carl Vinson early on Sunday morning, the Navy has confirmed they will investigate.

Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Darren Collins, from Oklahoma, was found unresponsive on the ship at while it was docked at Naval Air Station North Island early Sunday, he was pronounced dead at 6:23am.

The Navy is investigating Collins' death, but there are no indications of foul play or suicide, according to the Navy's Monday night release.

Collins joined the Navy in 2019 and reported to Information Warfare Training in Pensacola, Florida, before being assigned to Carl Vinson in October 2020.

Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Darren Collins, 22, died while on board the USS Carl Vinson on Sunday, the Navy have confirmed they are investigating

He was found unresponsive early Sunday morning while on the aircraft carrier (pictured), which is currently docked in California

'My deepest condolences go out to the Collins family in this time of tragic loss,' said Commanding Officer Capt. P. Scott Miller in the release.

'As shipmates we grieve the untimely passing of a talented young man. We will continue to provide support to the Vinson crew and the Collins family.

'In addition to our shipboard resources, our Sailors are receiving tremendous support from the base and regional mental health services.'

The USS Carl Vinson returned to the California area on February 14 following an eight-month deployment, according to USNI New's Fleet Tracker.

A Carl Vinson spokesperson, contacted by the San Diego Union Tribune, declined to say where on the ship Collins was found, whether he lived on board or was working over the weekend, citing the ongoing investigation.

Collins' death, the cause of which is not yet known, comes as the number of sailors deserting the navy have more than doubled amid suicide concerns, as sailors feel trapped by contracts.

There were 157 new Navy deserters in 2021 from more than 342,000 active sailors, compared with 63 in 2019 and 98 in 2020,.

Navy data shows that most of them were 25 and younger, as many sailors sign long contracts straight out of high school.

Nearly 150 deserters were returned to the Navy last year, the most in the last five years, data shows. Fifty-nine deserters were returned in 2020, compared with 79 the year before.

On the USS George Washington, seven sailors are confirmed to have died on the USS George Washington in the past year with several more having also had attempts.

Following a spate of three suicides in one week in April, the Navy finally spurred into action, who then moved up to 260 sailors off the ship.

Navy sailor Hannah Crisostomo (pictured) describe toxic work environment on board USS George Washington

Their contracts are considered to be nearly unbreakable and can require up to six years of active duty.

They are unable to simply quit and are left with extreme alternatives: die by suicide or flee and face harsh consequences.

Aviation boatswain's mate handler Hannah Crisostomo swallowed 196 pain relievers while working onboard the USS George Washington.

After eight days of life support she miraculously woke up, recalling the incident she said: 'If they keep me in the Navy, and they put me back in the same situation, I'm going to kill myself.

Crisostomo, who was released on an honorable discharge with a medical condition following her suicide attempt in October 2021, said 95 percent of the reason she tried to kill herself was work-related.

On April 15 this year, Master-at-Arms Seaman Recruit Xavier Hunter Sandor died by suicide onboard the George Washington, he had been working on the warship for about three months, his family said.

His death came five days after Natasha Huffman, an interior communications electrician, died by suicide off-base in Hampton, officials said.

The day before, Retail Services Specialist 3rd Class Mika'il Rayshawn Sharp also died by suicide off-base in Portsmouth, said his mother, Natalie Jefferson.

'Three people don't just decide to kill themselves in a span of days for nothing,' said Crisostomo.
China earmarks 270 mln yuan to support disaster relief work

Xinhua) 08:42, July 12, 2022

BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday allocated an advance 270 million yuan (40.32 million U.S. dollars) from its central natural disaster relief funds to help local governments with flood control and drought relief work.

The emergency funds were allocated by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Ministry of Emergency Management, the MOF said on its website.

Some 200 million yuan was earmarked for six provincial-level regions including Liaoning, Jilin, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Yunnan to support them as they search for, rescue and relocate those affected, and to help with emergency treatment, secondary disaster detection and the repair of damaged houses, the ministry said.

The remaining 70 million yuan was allocated to Gansu Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shaanxi Province to help solve water shortages.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended till further orders the interim bail of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case lodged against him in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly outraging religious sentiments.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna was told by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the State government, that they wants to file a counter affidavit to Zubair's plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged in the case.

The bench then listed the plea for final hearing on September 7 and asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file its response in four weeks.

On July 8, a vacation bench of the top court had granted five-day interim bail to Zubair in the case.
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Former CNN host Chris Cuomo is relaunching his journalism career as a 'free agent' reporting from the eastern front in Ukraine

Ousted CNN host Chris Cuomo has launched a comeback, rebranding himself as a 'free agent' and reporting from Ukraine while plugging merchandise in an effort to rehabilitate his career.

The former TV anchor took to Instagram on Monday night to tell America to 'pay more attention' to what is happening in the war zone.

'What is happening right now in Ukraine is bad and America should be paying a lot more attention.

'I went to the eastern front... Outmanned and outgunned we had to hide behind abandoned buildings,' he said.

He likened the conflict to 'WW2' and compared Ukrainians to Americans fighting the War of Independence.

'Ukrainians sound like Americans 240yrs ago vs the British. They are laying down their lives to keep the freedoms we have here.

'The interest here has slowed...the war is only accelerating. I will show you more reason to care...soon. Thank you for the interest.'

He then instructed his followers to 'be a #freeagent' like him.

The carousel of videos garnered nearly 14,000 likes on Instagram in the hours after it was posted - a far cry from the 750,000 viewers he routinely attracted with his prime time CNN show.

In his first video, Cuomo filmed himself wearing an army helmet and sunglasses.

'We are situated on the side of this building because the artillery has been passing along here on the other side of it and literally they are standing where they are because it's safe and if they step out they have to worry about something hitting and exploding like that hole right there that is the nature of this war.'

In another, he films his team walking through an abandoned town.

Cuomo told his followers to pay more attention to the war in Ukraine, which he compared to WW2 and The War of Independence. He shared multiple videos from the scene of Ukrainian fighters and foreign journalists. He is shown, right, standing in front of a mound of harvested grain, explaining to followers why it can't be exported

Last week, Cuomo said he'd traveled to the region with his 'brother' Sean Penn, who is filming a documentary there

Cuomo has rebranded as a 'free agent' and is selling merchandise on his website in an apparent bid to fund his dispatches

Image overhaul: Chris had been quiet until recently, when he popped back up on Instagram with his reports from the warzone. Now, he is flogging merch and giving away t-shirts

Among the items for sale on the disgraced host's website are t-shirts, hoodies, mugs and hats with the slogan: 'Are YOU free?'

'This was the last shelling this was seven days ago. It's pretty abandoned.

On June 29, Cuomo announced he was in Ukraine. 'More to come of how bad it is getting here. #ukraine #ukrainewar #letsgetafterit,' he said, invoking his old CNN catchphrase

'We keep this kind of distance under shelling so that if one hits, not everybody gets hit.'

In another video, Cuomo shows off a Ukrainian tank and gets a tutorial from a soldier on how it is used.

'In others a European journalist explains to him how the Russians are shooting prohibited weapons at them.

He also filmed in front of a mound of unused grain, telling the camera: 'We talk about the Ukrainian grain issue and how they can't export right now.

'This is like a lot of grain that was harvested.

'The Russians destroyed this. The soldiers say their motto is "if they can't have it nobody can."

It's unclear who he traveled with or who is footing the bill.

Last week, Cuomo said he'd traveled to the region with his 'brother' Sean Penn, who is filming a documentary there.

Last week, Cuomo said he'd traveled to the Ukraine with his 'brother' Sean Penn, who has been filming a documentary in the region. The actor has also met with President Zelensky

In another video, Cuomo shows off a Ukrainian tank and gets a tutorial from a soldier on how it is used. In others a European journalist explains to him how the Russians are shooting prohibited weapons at them

On June 29, Cuomo announced he was in Ukraine.

'More to come of how bad it is getting here. #ukraine #ukrainewar #letsgetafterit,' he said, invoking his old CNN catchphrase.

The 51-year-old was fired by CNN in December last year after he was caught advising his scandal-plagued brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, through sexual misconduct allegations while clinging on to his spot as the network's top anchor.

In the months that followed, Cuomo was accused of trying to tear the network down with him by exposing an affair between former boss Jeff Zucker and his aide Allison Gollust.

He is also fighting scrappily for a $125million payout from CNN, which he claims unfairly fired him and deprived him of future earnings.

Cuomo's unveiling last night comes days after he teased his comeback on his website, writing: 'Something's coming' in an effort to tantalize fans.

In the months after his departure from CNN, Cuomo was accused of trying to tear the network down with him by exposing an affair between former boss Jeff Zucker and his aide Allison Gollust (shown above)
Cigarette in hand, the evil mother of Baby P carries on life as normal today after being released from prison over the death of her toddler son.

Twisted Tracey Connolly was snapped enjoying a stroll.

The 40-year-old - who has ballooned to nearly 20-stone - wore a Covid face mask but she pulled it down to take quick drags from her ciggie.

Baby P's mother Tracey Connolly, 40, who was jailed in 2009 for allowing his death, has been pictured out walking

Connelly was spotted walking in the street and enjoying a cigarette as she enjoyed her new-found freedom

Peter, who was initially named in the press as Baby P, died after suffering more than 50 injuries including a snapped spine and eight broken ribs

Tracey Connelly, who was jailed in 2009 following the death of her 17-month-old son Peter, was told in March she had been successful in her fourth bid for freedom

Tracey Connelly, right, is pictured telling a social worker she wishes they would 'back off and leave me alone' just four months before her son's death

She is understood to have been moved from location after her whereabouts was leaked at the weekend.

One onlooker today told MailOnline: What she did is despicable. There are no words for that.

Theres no way that she should be out and about living life as normal after what she did. I believe in rehabilitation for offenders but not for what she did.

Connolly was given parole despite a last-ditch bid by Deputy PM Dominic Raab.

She was given an indefinite term with a minimum of five years in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of 17-month-old Peter in Tottenham, North London, in August 2007.

Connelly appeared to be walking at leisure as she was pictured months after a parole board approved her release

Baby P: A timeline of the tragedy that shocked Britain March 1, 2006: Peter Connelly (Baby P) is born August 3, 2007: 17-month-old Baby P is found dead in cot November 11, 2008: Peter's mother, Tracey Connelly, boyfriend Steven Barker and brother Jason Owen are convicted of causing his death November 13, 2008: Ed Balls orders an inquiry into the role of the council, health authority and police December 1, 2008: An independent review declares Haringey's child protection services 'inadequate' December 8, 2008: Haringey Children's Services boss Sharon Shoesmith is sacked with immediate effect May 22, 2009: Connelly is jailed indefinitely, Barker gets a life term and Owen is given an indeterminate sentence for public protection October 7, 2009: Shoesmith launches a High Court case against Balls to seek compensation for her dismissal September 15, 2010: Shoesmith tells MPs she is sorry about what happened but refuses to accept any blame, saying she had no involvement in the care of Baby P May 27, 2011: The Court of Appeal rules in favour of Shoesmith, saying her dismissal was 'tainted by unfairness' October 8, 2013: Connelly is recommended for release by the Parole Board February 14, 2015: Connelly is back behind bars after sending nude pictures to male fans December 29, 2015: The Parole Board rejects Connelly's first bid for freedom November 28, 2017: The Parole Board rejects Connelly's second bid for freedom January 6, 2019: The Parole Board rejects Connelly's third bid for freedom March 30, 2022: Connelly is recommended for release by the Parole Board Advertisement

The child suffered 50 injuries at the hands of his mum, stepdad, Steven Barker and Barkers brother Jason Owen, with mistakes by social workers meaning medics missed vital warning signs.

David Spencer, director of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: 'It is appalling to see this woman free to walk the streets again.

Few people would disagree her horrendous crimes deserved far longer behind bars. I am pleased that Dominic Raab agrees and did his utmost to keep her in jail.

'Lets hope he now delivers long-overdue and meaningful reform to the parole system.'

Connellys parole bid was the fourth after losing appeals in 2015, 2017 and 2019  with officials finding she still posed a threat to the public.

She finally won in March despite Mr Raab going to court only for a judge to rule in her favour. Connelly was pictured for the first time on Friday, straining with shopping bags from Aldi and Bodycare.

Her own mum, Mary OConnor, slammed her release, telling The Sun: 'Look at her  look at the state of her. Shes got so fat. She looks disgusting.

She is wearing the mask because she doesnt want anyone to recognise her. It makes me feel sick looking at these photos. I dont know how she can live her life like normal.

Connolly is subject 20 licence conditions, including wearing a tag and having to declare any relationships she now forms.

Any breach could see her sent back to jail immediately.

She was previously released in 2013 but was recalled to prison in 2015 for selling naked photos of herself and breaching her licence conditions by 'developing intimate personal relationships' online.

Earlier this year, Mr Raab had asked the board, which is independent of the Government, to re-examine the decision under the so-called reconsideration mechanism.

His application was 'refused'.

A Parole Board spokesman had said in a statement: 'Following the reconsideration application from the Secretary of State, a judge has ruled that the decision made by independent Parole Board members to release was not irrational, as stated in the reconsideration application, and the original decision is upheld.'

Known publicly as Baby P, Peter had suffered more than 50 injuries despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police officers and health professionals over eight months.

Connelly was jailed for a minimum of five years in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of her child

Baby P, was tortured to death in 2007 by Connelly's lover Steven Barker (left) and his brother Jason Owen (right) at their home in Tottenham, north London

Connelly, pictured in 2013, when she was released on licence in 2013 before being ordered back to jail

Connelly's lover Steven Barker was jailed in 2009 for a minimum of 32 years for torturing the 17-month-old to death while his brother, Jason Owen, received a six year jail sentence for allowing the toddler to die.

A series of reviews identified missed opportunities for officials to save the toddler's life had they reacted properly to warning signs.

Three of the children, including Peter, were on Haringey's Child Protection Register because of fears they were being neglected.

Connelly, who covered up the abuse of her son, was jailed in 2009 for a minimum of five years after admitting causing or allowing the death of her son Peter.
Two brothers, aged 10 and 14, have handed themselves in after Philadelphia Police appealed for information about a group of teenagers who beat a 73-year-old man to death with a traffic cone.

Horrific footage shows the gang of seven teens chasing James Lambert Jr. down the street before swinging a cone at the back of his head.

The callous group even filmed themselves carrying out the brutal attack in the early hours of June 24, on Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Philadelphia.

Two boys have now turned themselves into the homicide department yesterday, but no formal charges have yet been filed.

Police have not released their identities, and they are still appealing for any information on the remaining five members of the gang.

Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner said that it was 'very likely' that the youths involved would be charged with murder.

He told CBS: 'This is a very very active investigation, things are happening hour by hour.'

In the footage Lambert can be seen falling over onto the sidewalk after being hit in the back of the head with the traffic cone.

James Lambert Jr. attempted to escape the teenagers, but a girl pics up the cone and appears to bash it over his head as the teens chase after the desperate man. Two brothers, 10 and 14, have now handed themselves into Philadelphia Police in relation to the violent attack

The video captures the moment the seven teens chase Lambert, 73, of Philadelphia, at around 3am last month. One of the teens has a traffic cone in his hand as he approaches their alleged victim

Police said Lambert (pictured) suffered several injuries to the head and was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead

He is then surrounded by the group and one of the girls picks up the cone again and hurls it at him before he attempts to get to his feet.

The teens then chase him off camera, with the girl grabbing the cone for a third time and hitting him with it as they vanish from sight.

Police said Lambert suffered several injuries to the head and was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Lambert's family said that they were heartbroken by his death and in complete disbelief that a group of kids were allegedly behind this.

Tania Stephens, Lambert's niece, told Fox 29 Philadelphia: 'I just don't understand what's going on in our city.

'He's walked that path for 60, 70 years of his life, and for his life to be snuffed out like that, is just unbelievable.'

'I don't understand how children that age, how are you out at 2am in the morning committing crime.

'Where were the parents, those cones are heavy and to pick it up with such force and to throw it not once but twice at a senior citizens head and then laugh about it.'

Lambert's sister, Elsie Stephens has issued a heartfelt plea for the other teens involved to turn themselves in.

She told CBS: 'Let them turn themselves in, turn yourself in how can you let us suffer like this. You took him away from us.'

One teen strikes Lambert on the back of his head, sending both Lambert and the cone falling onto the side walk during the brutal June 24 attack. Footage shows their victim struggling to get to his feet and away from his alleged attackers

Following the first attack with the traffic cone, a girl picked up the makeshift weapon for a second time and hurls at the Lambert, who was lying on the ground

Police are offering a $20,000 reward for information on the seven teens, but will not confirm the charges they will face

Police believe the teens recorded the assault on one of their cell phones, and even laughed as they recreated the fatal attack while walking down the street

A $20,000 reward has been offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of each suspect.

The Philadelphia Police Department is still searching for five other offenders, who they describe as two black males and three black females in their early to mid-teens.

Along with video of the incident, police also shared additional clips of the young suspects, four boys and three girls, who they believed to be between the ages of 13 and 17.

One of the male suspects had a blonde patch on his hair, while another one rode his scooter during the entire incident.

Another one of the alleged assailants appeared to be stumbling about, appearing to recreate the moment Lambert fell to the ground during the assault.

Officials said that one of the suspects also appeared to be filming the incident on their phone, but police have yet to find any video of the attack on social media.

Police did not specify what charges the teens would face, and said the final decision would be on the district attorney's office.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334/3335.

The teenagers chased after their victim who disappeared off camera. He was rushed to hospital but died several days later after suffering from head injuries'

Philadelphia has seen a drastic rise in violence, with overall crime up more than 25 percent so far this year compared to the same time in 2021.

While homicides and rapes have seen a notable drop this year, the number of assaults has only dipped by 1.47 percent, from 2,522 incidents last year to 2,485 so far this year.

Meanwhile, the number of shooting victims has gone up 5.51 percent, with police reporting 1,168 cases so far this year, up from 1,107 last year.

Robberies have seen the greatest uptick, with 1,427 cases reported this year, up 21.55 percent from the 1,174 reported last year.

Lambert's death came just four days before Anthony Nelson, 47, of Philadelphia, allegedly shot and killed 21-year-old Jailene Holton at the Philly Bar and Restaurant on June 28.

Nelson is accused of opening fire after he was kicked out of the venue when he was told that he would be unable to use a pool table because a league was playing.

After getting into a tussle with a bouncer, the group of three men were forced to leave, after which one member went to get a gun from their car.

Jailene Holton, 21, of Philadelphia, was shot while standing in the back of the Philly Bar and Grill on June 28. She was out for a night on the town with her friends

Anthony Nelson, 47, was arrested in Harrah's Casino, Atlantic City in connection with the shooting death of Jailene Holton, 21, of Philadelphia

Philadelphia Police are also currently investigation gunfire that ran out during the city's Fourth of July fireworks festival, which sent hundreds running for their lives

Holton had been standing at the back of the bar when she was struck in the head by a bullet, after more than a dozen shots were fired from less than 200 feet away.

Philadelphia Police are also currently investigating gunfire that ran out during the city's Fourth of July fireworks festival, which struck and injured two officers working at the event.

Officers Sergio Diggs, 36, and Deputy John Foster, 44, were transported to Jefferson Hospital in stable condition, and were released early Tuesday morning.

They suffered minor injuries from the shooting, with Foster, assigned to the Montgomery County Bomb Squad, shot in the shoulder, and Diggs, a Highway Patrol Officer, suffering from a graze wound to the head.

Police are still unsure if the shootings were an intentional attack on the city's officers, or if they were a result of celebratory bullets ricocheting and striking the men by accident.

Like in the attack with Lambert, Philadelphia police are offering a $20,00 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect.
A Florida family has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, claiming that their disabled daughter's life drastically changed when she was ejected from a wheelchair while boarding a flight, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down.

Gabrielle 'Gaby' Assouline, 25, was boarding a Southwest flight at the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on February 25, traveling to Denver to visit her sister when she suffered the life-altering injuries.

Assouline, who at the age of 12, was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that made it difficult to walk long distances but otherwise allowed her to be highly functional, was using an electronic wheelchair to board the flight.

According to the lawsuit filed in March, Assouline was going down the jet bridge when the wheelchair apparently hit a junction and she was suddenly ejected from the chair.

The fall caused her to suffer a catastrophic spinal cord injury, the family attorney says, which left her paralyzed and on a ventilator.

'She's a prisoner in her own body,' the family attorney Robert Solomon told CBS News. 'I mean it's, you see her, she's with it, she understands, but she's just literally sitting there fighting for her life. It really rips your heart out.'

Gabrielle 'Gaby' Assouline, 25, suffered a spinal cord injured and was left paralyzed after being ejected from a wheelchair while boarding a Southwest flight on February 25 in Florida

'That's why I told the family, I said, "We'll do everything in our power to get you guys justice." Because there's no plausible explanation that you drop your child off at an airport, you take them all the way to the gate, and then you get a phone call that your child fell and broke their neck.'

Assouline's mother, Sandra, told Local10 that the last time she saw her daughter before the accident was when she dropped her off at the gate, which she was able to do with an escort pass.

'The next thing I got was a call from BSO (Broward County officer on the scene) (saying) my daughter was involved in an accident and she broke her neck,' Sandra Assouline said.

Gaby Assouline, who at the age of 12, was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that made it difficult to walk long distances but otherwise allowed her to be highly functional

Gaby's mother, Sandra, said the last time she saw her daughter before the accident was when she dropped her off at the gate, and they took a selfie

The lawsuit claims that Southwest Airlines and its contractor, G2 Secure Staff, were 'careless and failed to provide proper wheelchair assistance or instruction, failed to adequately train staff and failed to warn of hazards or dangers in the jet bridge.'

'We believe something in that jet bridge caused her to be ejected,' the family's attorney added.

He told The Virginian-Pilot that the family doesn't yet know when their daughter will be able to leave the hospital.

A GoFundMe page has been created to help the family with medical expenses. More than $112,000 has been raised.

The family said they don't yet know when their daughter will be able to leave the hospital

Gaby struggles to say 'Hi, family' while in the hospital after the wheelchair accident

Assouline pictured after the fall which caused her to suffer a catastrophic spinal cord injury, the family attorney says, leaving her paralyzed and on a ventilator

Assouline's parents explained in the post that because of her paralysis, they are learning to read lips to communicate with her.

'It's unfathomable; I just think about it,' Felix Assouline, Gaby's father, said.

Assouline's mother said on the fundraising site that despite her daughter's genetic disorder, which is called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), it never stopped her from living her life.

'Gaby is a fighter,' Sandra Assouline wrote. 'She is smart, passionate, hilarious, creative, and so resilient. She makes everyone around her better, simply by being her witty, brilliant self. She is taking online college classes, and is an advocate for making life more accessible for people with disabilities.'

A GoFundMe page has been created to help the Assouline family with medical expenses. More than $112,000 has been raised

Assouline has been in the hospital since her accident in February. Her family says they do not know when she'll be released

Assouline smiles despite her months-long stay in the hospital and her life-altering injuries

She went on to say that Gaby 'created art with her hands, spending hours tending to her growing garden and crocheting well-loved pieces of clothing. Gaby is able to make friends with anyone. She has long-distance friends around the world that she spends hours upon hours talking to each day.'

'She makes everyone laugh a kind of belly laugh that only Gaby can create in each of us,' her mom added. 'Gaby is a jewel in our family. Gaby gives so much to everyone she knows.'

Southwest Airlines released a statement to DailyMail.com on Tuesday in response to the lawsuit.

'Southwest Airlines primary priority is the safety of our people and customers both on the ground and in the air. We have reviewed the customers initial account of her travel experience and have offered a response directly to those involved.

Southwest will continue to work with the customer and other involved parties to investigate and address the facts and circumstances relating to her travel experience. Southwest has spent more than 51 years caring for our people and customers and remains committed to continuing to do so.'

Assouline's mother said that despite her daughter's genetic disorder, which is called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), it never stopped her from living her life

She is described as a fighter who is 'smart, passionate, hilarious, creative, and so resilient'

After leaving the hospital, Assouline will need to be moved to a live-in inpatient rehab facility where she will learn to live with her new reality, her mother said

In response to the airlines' statement, the family's attorney calls it 'insensitive.'

'It's just insensitive, and it's the boilerplate response we've been getting,' Solomon said of Southwest's statement.

'Now we're gonna fight. Just like their daughter's fighting, that's what they hired me to do.'

Assouline's mother wrote on the fundraising site that after her daughter leaves the hospital, whenever that may be, she will need to be moved to a live-in inpatient rehab facility where she will learn to live with her new reality.

'Gaby will need occupational, speech, physical, psychological, and many other therapies in order to regain what shes lost. When, G-d willing, she comes home, we need to renovate her whole space to make it accessible for her. An injury of this magnitude requires a life-long healing process.'
Sex offenders will be offered chemical castration in Thailand in a bid to cut down reoffending after lawmakers approved the controversial procedure.

Criminals who are considered likely to commit more sex attacks after their release will be given the option of the injection, which lowers their testosterone levels, in return for a reduced prison sentence.

The procedure will require the approval of two doctors and the offenders will still be monitored for 10 years and made to wear electronic bracelets.

Sex offenders will be offered chemical castration in Thailand in a bid to cut down reoffending after lawmakers approved the controversial procedure

The bill, which the lower house passed in March, was approved late on Monday by 145 senators, with two abstentions. It still requires another house vote, then royal endorsement.

Of 16,413 convicted sex offenders released from Thai prisons between 2013 and 2020, there were 4,848 who re-offended, according to corrections department figures.

If approved, Thailand would join a small group of countries that use chemical castration, among them Poland, South Korea, Russia and Estonia, plus some U.S. states.

'I want this law to pass quickly,' Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said on Tuesday. 'I don't want to see news about bad things happening to women again,' he said.

The bill still requires another house vote, then royal endorsement. Pictured: Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn

Jaded Chouwilai, director of the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that addresses sexual violence, among other areas, said use of chemical castration would not tackle sex crime.

'Convicts should be rehabilitated by changing their mindset while in prison,' he said.

'To use punishment like execution or injected castration reinforces the idea that offender can no longer be rehabilitated.'

Last year, Pakistan announced that rapists convicted of repeat offences would face castration.
The January 6 committee will meet with former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne behind closed doors at the end of this week, it was reported Tuesday.

Byrne is a close ally of Donald Trump's and was present at a White House meeting on December 18 in which the then-president and a group of formal and informal advisers discussed ways to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, CNN reports.

He was forced to step down from his position as chief executive of the online furniture store in 2019 after disclosing that he was romantically involved with a woman who was convicted of being a Russian spy, Maria Butina.

The December 18 meeting will be a focus of Tuesday afternoon's hearing for the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

There are reportedly no parameters set for Byrne's Friday meeting with lawmakers.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the January 6 committee for confirmation.

The committee's normal process involves a closed-door deposition as its first step before any possible consideration of a public hearing.

Tuesday's report does not make clear whether it's Byrne's first time before the panel, or if he will be bound under oath.

Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock, will meet with the January 6 committee behind closed doors, CNN reported

He's a close ally of former President Donald Trump and reportedly helped push his 2020 election fraud lies

The former chief executive has been accused of actively pushing Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was 'rigged' in favor of President Joe Biden.

Alongside Byrne, the Oval Office meeting was attended by former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as his disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The meeting was described to CNN as 'forceful,' having erupted into 'fighting' and shouting matches as White House officials clashed with the ex-president's conspiracy theorist allies.

Ideas floated at the meeting included seizing voting machines for government inspection and installing Powell as a special counsel to investigate election fraud, committee aides have said.

Byrne's attendance at the meeting was not disclosed until Tuesday.

Byrne was also reportedly present at a December 18 White House meeting during which January 6 committee aides say the idea of appointing Sidney Powell as special counsel for election fraud was floated

Aides said the committee's afternoon hearing will also focus on a tweet sent out by Trump after the heated meeting.

'Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,' he touted in the early hours of December 19. 'Be there, will be wild!'

Byrne stepped down from his position at Overstock after disclosing his romance with convicted Russian spy Maria Butina

Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone was pressed about the December 18 meeting during his own closed-door deposition with the committee last Friday.

Multiple accounts suggest Cipollone and his team threatened the ex-president with resignations in the face of his election fraud claims.

He reportedly made his skepticism of Trump and his allies' plot abundantly clear to the committee.

Excerpts from Cipollone's deposition, which was videotaped, could be shown at Tuesday's hearing.

It's the panel's seventh hearing, and the only one expected this week after former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson claimed last week that Trump directed his supporters toward the Capitol while knowing they were armed, and got into a physical altercation with his security detail when Secret Service agents stopped him from joining the mob.

Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin told NBC News that Cipollone corroborated 'almost everything' that came up in the panel's last six hearings, including Hutchinson's explosive account.

'He had the opportunity to say whatever he wanted to say, so I didnt see any contradiction there,' the Maryland Democrat said.

He and fellow Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy will lead Tuesday's hearing.
Carrie Bickmore revealed she was shocked by the lack of Covid conversation during her recent trip to the UK, even though people were 'coughing and spluttering' on cramped trains.

Speaking on Tuesday's episode of Ten's The Project, Bickmore commented that residents abroad rarely discuss the virus - in stark contrast to Australia where Covid remains a heated topic of debate.

'I noticed when I was overseas, no-one spoke about Covid. It was really interesting,' Bickmore told co-host Waleed Aly.

The Project host Carrie Bickmore (above) said she was shocked by the lack of Covid conversation in the UK when people are still 'coughing and spluttering' on crowded trains

'It wasn't that Covid wasn't there, I mean we'd be on a packed tube and people were coughing and spluttering.'

Aly said he'd experienced the same thing in the US and chalked the Covid-hush down to long-term relaxed restrictions.

'The really big difference is ... they made a rule that you no longer had to isolate. There was no point, if you got Covid or you didn't,' he said.

'If one of us gets Covid, that's seven days in isolation. You don't want to get it because you might have something important coming up and you couldn't travel.'

Presenter Kate Langbroek added: 'It's a tedious conversation... It's a relief to stop talking about it.'

British residents are recommended to wear face masks in crowded indoor areas but are no longer required to isolate if they test positive for Covid.

Bickmore said 'no-one spoke about Covid' during her UK trip despite sick people still crowding on to trains (pictured, commuters in London)

Residents in England are recommended to wear face masks but are not required to isolate if they test positive for Covid (pictured, commuters on a London tube)

Meanwhile, Australia's daily Covid case numbers are regularly soaring past 40,000 and state governments are considering taking measures to counteract rising hospitalisations and staff shortages.

Dr Kerry Chant urged NSW residents to wear masks earlier this month but did not propose a mandate.

The Chief Health Officer said residents should wear a face coverings when in crowded indoor areas as two more-infectious sub-strains of the Omicron variant, known as BA.4 and BA.5, tear through communities.

'We have to create an enabled environment to say that actually wearing a mask is an okay thing to do,' Dr Chant said.

Co-host Waleed Aly (left) said the Covid-hush was likely due to long-term relaxed restrictions in England

However, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it's important life remains as normal as possible.

'I do look back at the lockdown phase with concern that we had to go down that path,' he said.

'I would certainly not want to be seeing mandatory orders again in place for a whole range of reasons. I think that if you look at the mental health issues.'

'Go back to the basic messages. Wear a mask if you can't socially distance, definitely wash your hands, wash your hands as much as you possibly can, and stay home if you're sick.'

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard (above) said it is important for life to continue as normal amid rising cases

Last week Australians aged over 30 became eligible for a fourth Covid vaccine shot to help build immunity against the Omicron variants.

The booster is open to some 7.4 million people despite criticism from experts that the fourth shot is unlikely to protect against the new strains.

'We are in the early stages of a third Omicron wave and our Government is absolutely committed to making sure as many people as possible are protected with the vaccine,' Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler said.

'My message to everyone living in Australia aged 50 and over is to make sure you have the greatest protection against Covid by having a fourth dose as soon as possible.

'If you are aged 30 to 49 and you want that extra protection, you can choose to get a fourth dose.'
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The woman who had an affair with TikTok star Addison Rae's father says that she's been receiving death threats on social media, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

Renee Ash, 25, said things have been a 'nightmare' after her affair with Monty Lopez, 46, was exposed last week.

'It's been horrible, I've been in hiding all week,' she said, 'People are sending me death threats on Instagram. I haven't even checked TikTok, I'm sure they're on there too.'

Ash, herself a social media influencer, said that she and Lopez started hanging out as friends, then 'ended up falling in love.'

'I don't go for looks, I'm a personality person,' she said, 'This one was, like, very questionable for me.'

Ash had previously said that Lopez had conned her into the affair, claiming he told her his marriage to Rae's mother, Sheri Nicole Easterling, 42, was over and that he wanted to start a new family.

Lopez has not commented on the situation.

Renee Ash, 25, who had an affair with TikTok star Addison Rae's father says that she's been receiving death threats on social media, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal

Monty Lopez, 46, was exposed for his affair with 25-year-old Instagrammer Renee Ash. 'He was doing a lot of stuff behind my back that he was telling me not to do,' Ash said

Monty Lopez is the father of social media star Addison Rae, 21 (right). He has not commented on the affair

Ash told DailyMail.com that Lopez started out 'protective' over her in the relationship, 'and then it turned into very overbearing,' saying he laid out jealous rules about her talking to other men that he didn't uphold himself with other women.

'He was doing a lot of stuff behind my back that he was telling me not to do,' she said.

Ash said that she 'was not in contact' with Rae or her family, but that she would be open to speaking with them.

News of the affair led Easterling to change her Instagram bio to read 'single mom,' and to send out a defiantly independent tweet reading 'That old version of you. Isn't for you. New story. New version!'

'I just feel bad for his family, I'm embarrassed myself, I can't even imagine how they feel,' Ash said.

'I'd be open to a conversation with them. I just don't want to disturb them any more than they've been disturbed,' she added, 'It's been a nightmare for me, I can't even imagine how they feel.'

Ash said that Lopez has been continually trying to get in touch with her since the affair broke.

'He's been calling me, I'm not answering,' she said, 'and I'm the one getting death threats. How ironic is that?'

Asked if she had any regrets about the affair, she responded in absolute terms.

'I regret spending any second with him.'

Ash said that she 'was not in contact' with Rae or her family, but that she would be open to speaking with them

Ash told DailyMail.com that Lopez started out as 'protective' over her, 'and then it turned into very overbearing,' saying he laid out jealous rules about her talking to other men that he didn't uphold himself with other women

Asked if she had any regrets about the affair, Ash responded in absolute terms: 'I regret spending any second with him'

Ash told Page Six she finally broke up with Lopez earlier following accusations that he was hitting on several women at a bar in an incident that was caught on camera.

Lopez, who boasts 5.4 million TikTok followers of his own, was seen in the viral clip grabbing a woman from behind and whispering in her ear.

'Addison Rae's dad is trying to f**k me, I swear to God,' the young woman in the clip says as she then shows the scene play out.

Another since-deleted video features a young woman speaking to someone over the phone who urges her to FaceTime him. Although the man's face is hard to make out in the dark, his voice resembles Lopez's, and the woman alleges that it was him.

'POV: When Addison Rae's Dad FaceTimes you late night,' she captioned the video.

Ash said the videos broke her heart, and that she regretted her relationship with him and the pain it has caused his family.

'I am so sorry if anything I have said has hurt his family any more than he already has,' Ash told Page Six. 'And I am also sorry that he has hurt me so deeply that I believed we were in love.'

Monty Lopez, 46, with his 21-year-old daughter, TikTok star Addison Rae. Rae stopped following her father on social media after news of the affair broke

Lopez with his wife Sheri Nicole Easterling, 42. Ash said that Lopez told her his marriage was over and that he wanted to start a new family with her

Ash said she called it off with Lopez following two incidents this week where young women accused the TikTok star of hitting on them. A woman showed off a recording of her alleged encounter with Lopez at a club (pictured) saying he wanted to have sex with her

Last week, Rae and Easterling unfollowed Lopez on social media. Lopez still has the two listed as his family on his bio.

Following news of the alleged affair, Easterling took to Instagram to say that she is doing okay and that her biggest concern now is the effect this will have on her children.

'Personal matters being brought public are always challenging and overwhelming for anyone involved,' Easterling wrote, 'I will be okay.'

'My biggest concern is - an always will be - my children and their fragile hearts and minds. I will always do my best to try to protect them.'

'My goals is to make sure that they feel secure and safe and know that everything will be okay,' she added.

Ash said she was heartbroken after Lopez was accused of hitting on multiple women this week

'It's been horrible, I've been in hiding all week,' Ash said, 'People are sending me death threats on Instagram. I haven't even checked TikTok, I'm sure they're on there too.'

Ash, herself a burgeoning Instagrammer, said that she and Lopez started hanging out as friends, then 'ended up falling in love'

She told Page Six that she felt she had no support from Lopez after she believed she was pregnant last June, despite his alleged promises that he wanted to have kids with her.

'You handled my pregnancy scare really poorly,' she allegedly texted him after the fact.

'I can't handle having two positive tests and [you] fully blowing me off. Especially after you kept saying I'll never pull out [and] I want to marry you.'

The two had allegedly discussed having a family together while on a trip to southern France in May.

Although Ash said she was in love with Lopez, she started having doubts after he allegedly continued to refuse her pleas to go public with their relationship.

'Addison and Sheri don't deserve this and neither do the other girls he's disrespected,' Ash told Page Six, 'I hope telling my story sheds light on a man who has gotten away with their power in the industry for too long.'

'This has been going on in LA for too long and I just want to be the girl who is brave enough to tell the truth,' she added.
A top ISIS official was assassinated by the United States Tuesday - when he and his deputy were hit by an American drone strike in northwest Syria.

The strike killed senior ISIS leader Maher al-Agal, US officials said Tuesday morning, taking credit for the daytime attack in the northern village of Khaltan in the Syrian countryside.

Al-Agal - one of the top five leaders in the terrorist group - was riding a motorbike in the village when he was targeted by the American missile, which killed him instantly.

Another senior ISIS official was also hit by the attack, officials said, but survived. The official, who was not named, was reportedly wounded. The extent of his injuries are unknown.

Al-Agals body, which was badly burned and mutilated in the attack, was transported to an Idlib hospital.

The attack took place in the Jenderies district in Afrin - an area northwest of Aleppo, near the country's shared border with Turkey.

The war-torn region has been under occupation by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) since March 2018.

The strike killed senior ISIS leader Maher al-Agal, US officials said Tuesday morning, taking credit for the attack in the northern village of Khaltan in the Syrian countryside. Pictured are Syrian Civil Defence officials surveying the site

The attack took place in the Jenderies district in Afrin - an area northwest of Aleppo, near the country's shared border with Turkey. The region has become a haven for hundreds of ISIS terrorists and leaders in recent years, as the country continues to face a civil war

Despite this, the region has become a haven for hundreds of ISIS terrorists and leaders in recent years, who have made use of the areas sprawling mountain ranges and fields to set up bases of operations amid the ongoing civil war.

The attack serves as a reminder of the US' pledge to aid the Syrian government in their struggles against the militant group.

In February, the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, killed himself and his family by detonating a suicide bomb during a raid by US Special Forces in Atimah, a town also near the Turkish border in northern Syria

The strike also fits a previous pattern by US military officials, where senior ISIS leaders are assassinated by drone strikes or US military operations in areas under Turkish control - including Afrin.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) - a Department of Defense combatant command - took credit for the attack Tuesday, saying 'extensive planning' went into the strike, but kept details sparse as to its specifics.

'This strike reaffirms CENTCOM's steadfast commitment to the region and the enduring defeat of ISIS,' Col. Joe Buccino, a spokesperson for the agency told reporters, adding that the strike saw no civilian casualties.

'The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks.'

The colonel added: 'Extensive planning went into this operation to ensure its successful execution.'

According to Buccino, al-Agal was responsible for developing ISIS networks outside of Iraq and Syria.

The attack serves as the latest blow to the Islamist insurgent group's efforts to reorient toward a more guerrilla approach to their conflict with the Syrian army - which is backed by several NATO countries including Turkey and the US - after losing large swathes of territory after a series of defeats in 2019.

The attack serves as the latest blow to the Islamist insurgent group's efforts to reorient toward a more guerrilla approach to their conflict with the Syrian army - which is backed by several NATO countries including Turkey and the US - after losing large swathes of territory after a series of defeats in 2019

An aerial image released by the Pentagon shows the compound where ISIS emir al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi lived, also in Northwest Syria near the Turkish border. He ran his terror network through a lieutenant living on the second floor

This year, the US - which has roughly 900 troops in Syria - has ramped up its efforts against the group, which has languished after seeing its power peak in 2017, when it ruled over millions and claimed responsibility for attacks around the world.

In February, the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, killed himself and his family by detonating a suicide bomb during a raid by US Special Forces in Atimah, a town also near the Turkish border in northern Syria.

Al-Qurashi blew himself up as US special forces conducted a raid on the building he was hiding in northwestern Syria, according to Washington's intelligence.

US military officials said last month that the one-legged jihadist leader rigged the third floor of the building in preparation for the attack.

Officials say al-Qurashi, who was tracked down after a drone spotted him bathing on the building's roof last year, detonated the explosives at his home in the sleepy village of Atmeh, also near the Turkish border, on February 2.

The militant group, who lost its previous leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - the movement's founder - when he detonated explosives during a US raid in 2019. The group - which has been forced to hide out throughout the war- torn country following a series of defeats by US backed SYrian forces in 2019 - has since sworn revenge

In June, US forces captured Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi, a senior leader in ISIS in Syria.

The attack comes roughly two weeks after the US killed Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, a senior leader of the al-Qaeda-aligned Hurras al-Din group, in another drone strike.

It also comes just a day before US President Joe Biden is poised to visit the Middle East, paying visits to both Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, hundreds of ISIS fighters are still in hiding throughout the country - strangely, often in areas occupied by Turkish forces.

The attack comes roughly two weeks after the US killed Abu Hamzah al Yemeni (pictured in northwestern Syria in 2016), a senior leader of the al-Qaeda-aligned Hurras al-Din group, in another drone strike

The attack comes three years after the global coalition against ISIS helped Syrian forces crush the 'caliphate' IS had proclaimed in Iraq and Syria, and as the jihadists step up their efforts to bolster their presence in the Sahel region and West Africa.

The Global Coalition against Daesh (an Arabic acronym for ISIS) was formed in 2014 after the militants seized huge swathes of Iraq and Syria and now included 84 states and international organizations.

Officials have long warned that IS continues to pose a worldwide threat despite its loss of a territorial base.

ISIS has vowed to take vengeance for its elusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, killed in a US raid in northern Syria in late 2019.
An incredible video taken off the British coast has captured a thresher shark breaching in and out of the waves.

A Bay To Remember, which provides Dolphin and Wildlife Watching Boat Trips was near Pen-Yr-Afr, Pembrokeshire when the thresher put on a spectacular display on Monday.

A spokesperson from A Bay To Remember said: 'This is only our third time seeing one in 16 years of running, and the first to be caught on camera.'

Thresher sharks are one of the few shark species known to jump fully out of the water, using their elongated tail to propel them above the waves.

This comes only days after what is believed to be a basking shark was seen swimming by Tenby North beach.

The sharks, which are regarded as a threatened species, are found in all the world's temperate oceans, including the coastal waters of the UK in summer.

Pictured: This is the incredible moment a thresher shark breaching in and out of the waves

More frequent sightings are reported around southwest England, Wales and the west coast of Scotland.

Their hotspots are the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Hebrides, and the Isle of Man, Devon and Cornwall.

Like the basking shark, threshers are safe and no danger to humans.

There has only been one known attack from a thresher shark to a human, which was a provoked attack.

The species is known to be a migratory shark, which passes through UK waters in the summer months.

Threshers are known to grow up to 6m and weigh up to 340kg.

The thresher shark (top) was spotted by a sea-life spotting group off the cost of Pen-Yr-Afr, just 10 days after a basking shark was spotted by swimmers off the coast of Tenby (bottom)

This footage shows the sea giant slowly drifting in 'waist deep' water off the coast of Tenby

A spokesperson from The Wildlife Trusts said: 'The thresher shark spends most of its time in the deep waters of the open sea, rarely straying into coastal areas.

'To survive in these colder waters, they have evolved to be endothermic.

'This means that they can keep their body temperature higher than the temperature of the surrounding water.

'If you're lucky, you might see this magnificent shark jump high out of the water in to the air.'
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear Bhima Koregaon case accused P Varavara Rao's plea for permanent medical bail on July 19 and extended his interim protection till further orders.

The 83-year-old, who has challenged the Bombay High Court order rejecting his petition for permanent medical bail, is currently on bail on medical grounds and was to surrender today.

"At the joint request made by the counsel appearing for the parties, this matter be posted as first item on July 19," a bench headed by Justice U U Lalit said.

"The interim protection enjoyed by the petitioner shall continue... till further orders," it said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had requested the bench that the matter be taken up for hearing on Wednesday or Thursday.

"If it can be, subject to your lordships convenience, kept tomorrow or day after tomorrow and whatever is the protection may continue," Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices S R Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Rao, said the petitioner has to surrender today and the court may extend the interim protection.

"What he (Mehta) says is that the protection can be extended," the bench told Grover.

Mehta requested the bench that the interim protection be extended till July 19.

"If for some reason or the other, the matter is not taken up, we do not want a situation that the man is picked up," the bench said.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.

Pune police had also claimed that the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links. The National Investigation Agency later took over the probe in the matter.

In his plea filed against the April 13 order of the Bombay High Court, Rao has said, "The petitioner is an 83-year-old renowned Telugu poet and orator, who has undergone over two years of incarceration as an under-trial."

The plea submitted that "any further incarceration would ring the death knell for him as advancing age and deteriorating health are a fatal combination".

It said Rao had challenged the high court order as he was not granted an extension of bail despite his age and precarious health condition, and his prayer to shift to Hyderabad was also denied.

Rao was arrested on August 28, 2018 from his Hyderabad residence and is an under-trial in the case for which an FIR was lodged by Pune police on January 8, 2018 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Initially, Rao said he was put under house arrest following an order of the apex court. On November 17, 2018, he was taken into police custody and later shifted to the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.

On February 22, 2021, the Bombay High Court granted him bail on medical grounds and he was released from jail on March 6, 2021.

Giving extensive details of his health condition, including his sufferings in jail, Rao said the high court order dated February 22, 2021 had contemplated that the petitioner could be on medical bail for an extended period and even permanently on medical grounds, depending on his condition supported by medical examination reports.

"The judges in the impugned judgement and order committed a serious error in proceeding on the footing that because the earlier order had granted bail for a limited period of time, namely six months, it (the earlier bench) was not prepared to grant the bail for an unlimited period of time," the plea said.

It added that after being granted bail, the petitioner's health had deteriorated and he had developed an umbilical hernia for which he had to undergo surgery.

He needs to be operated for cataract in both eyes, which he has not undertaken as the cost is prohibitive in Mumbai, the plea said, adding the petitioner has also been suffering from neurological problems.

"It is submitted that in the totality of circumstances, the trial will take not less than 10 years. In fact, one of the accused in the case, Father Stan Swamy, who was suffering from similar ailments as the petitioner, passed away even before the trial could start," it said.

The high court rejected the plea but extended the time for the activist to surrender before the Taloja prison authorities by three months to enable him to undergo cataract surgery.

The high court had said it had found substance in several claims made by Rao's counsel on the lack of medical facilities at the Taloja prison and the poor hygienic conditions there.

The court had directed the Maharashtra inspector general of prisons to submit a "candid" report on the state of such facilities at the "Taloja prison in particular" and also at all prisons across the state.
Conservative radio host and conspiracy theorist threatened to cut his finger off on the live edition of The Alex Jones Show in honor of his fans on Sunday.

'We have been given nothing but success, nothing but victory. It has been spectacular. And you, the viewers and listeners, you did this,' Jones said while streaming on his InfoWars empire website.

He added, 'That's why when I salute you - I'm not into self-harming, but I just actually want to take this dagger and just cut a finger off right on air to show you how much I appreciate you and what you've done.'

Jones grabbed a knife that was on the table and brought the blade close to his finger, saying, 'Giving up a finger to beat these people is nothing!'

He then held the knife away from his finger while insisting his audience was responsible for his show's success.

'You have changed the world! You have stood up against evil. You have turned the tide and I salute you. And I thank you. You've got that from the very bottom of my heart. You've got my full commitment, cause you need to know in the universe, there are real people.'

Jones continued, 'You need to know in the universe, there's people like you, who aren't evil, who don't serve Satan. That's why they all day say I'm an actor. All day, say I'm a fake. All day, say I'm a fraud with no evidence because they know I don't sell out to them. They know you didn't sell out to them.'

Conservative radio host Alex Jones threatened to cut his finger off live on air while thanking his audience for his shows success

Jones held the blade close to his finger while claiming, 'Giving up a finger to beat these people is nothing!' Despite his threats, Jones turned the sharp blade away from his finger

The contentious radio host has been the center of various battles - especially after he was found liable for damages in multiple lawsuits in 2021 for falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that left 28 dead in Connecticut was a hoax.

Families of the victims filed a defamation lawsuit against Jones in 2018, accusing him of benefiting financially off lies about the mass shooting that killed their loved ones.

Jones has since retrieved his original claims now insisting it the shooting occurred. He disputed the claims but failed to turn over documents and financial records to support his argument.

In a 2019 deposition, in this case, Jones said he was allegedly suffering from a form of 'psychosis' when he made claims that the mass shooting was staged. He said that he was in a place where he felt every news event was staged because of the 'trauma of the media and the corporations lying so much.'

While Jones' lawyers claimed the lawsuits were efforts to silence his right to freedom of speech, judges in Texas - where his show is filmed - and Connecticut determined otherwise.

Connecticut State Police lead a line of children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 after the shooting

People gather at the scene of a mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut

In late March, Jones reopened the case to compromise. He offered to settle the defamation lawsuit by paying $120,000 to each of the 13 plaintiffs.

Each of the plaintiffs turned down the settlement offer in court documents, saying, 'The so-called offer is a transparent and desperate attempt by Alex Jones to escape a public reckoning under oath with his deceitful, profit-driven campaign against the plaintiffs and the memory of their loved ones lost at Sandy Hook.'

Jones was subjected to pay damages in October 2021. He was set for a deposition on March 23 and 23 in Austin, Texas, but he failed to show.

Judge Barbara Bellis in Connecticut, rejected Jones' excuse for his absence which he said was due to medical issues, including vertigo.

Doctors were concerned that his health issues could be a heart condition. Jones said he was merely suffering from a sinus infection. Bellis' opinion was that Jones was not too sick to sit for the deposition.

Records show that Jones recorded episodes of his show on the dates of his scheduled deposition that were nearly four hours in length. He was subjected to pay $75,000.

Jones attended a rescheduled deposition on April 5 and 6. Judge Bellis ordered that Jones be repaid the $75,000.

Weeks later, Jones' company, InfoWars, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas after he was found liable in the suits.

Alex Jones' InfoWars website has filed for bankruptcy after he was found liable for damages in a trio of lawsuits last year for falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that left 28 dead was a hoax

Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedures put a hold on all civil litigation matters and allow companies to prepare turnaround plans while remaining operational.

The bankruptcy court filings showed InfoWars listed its estimated assets in the range of $0-$50,000 and estimated liabilities in the range of $1 million to $10 million.

This prompted some of the Sandy Hook victim families to launch another lawsuit against Jones in April. They alleged the radio host had hid assets in shell companies that are operated by family members to make Jones appear broke.
New York Chief Judge Janet DiFiore is currently at the centre of a state ethics probe which was launched before her announcement on Monday that she was going to be retiring.

The investigation is examining weather married DiFiore, 66, interfered in the disciplinary hearing of Dennis Quirk, the New York State Court Officers Association president.

Quirk, an outspoken critic of the judge, faced punishment after being accused of writing a letter to DiFiore threatening to post copies of a newspaper story about an alleged affair.

She was accused of having a relationship with a police officer in 2013, when she was working as a prosecutor, behind the back of her husband Dennis Glazer.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct is investigating whether the judge wrongly interfered in his disciplinary hearing by writing to the hearing officer demanding he be punished.

Quirk's disciplinary hearing was launched after he responded to a story in the New York Post which stated Judge DiFiore had ordered an 'independent review of the New York state court system's response to issues of institutional racism' after receiving a complaint about the union leader's alleged conduct toward Black court officers.

DiFiore reportedly wrote a letter in August 2021 to Phyllis Orlikoff Flug, the hearing officer in the case, telling her that Quirk 'exhibits no remorse' for what he did.

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, pictured, is being investigated by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct over allegations that she interfered in a disciplinary hearing. She reportedly asked that Dennis Quirk be punished for making several threats to 'expose' an alleged affair she had

Quirk, 73, pictured above, is an an outspoken critic of the judge with the pair clashing after she announced mandatory vaccinations in the pandemic. He also defended his 'doxxing' of the judge, by posting the address of her Hamptons and Westchester mansions online

DiFiore had close ties to disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, pictured above, and was appointed by him in 2016. She had been accused of having an affair with a police officer while working as a prosecutor in 2013 but the claims were never proven

She went on: 'These patent realities require that you use every means at your disposal to address this incident and deter future misconduct by respondent.

'I implore you to use your authority wisely to uphold the values of our entire court system.'

Flug told Law360 she forwarded the letter to the Commission on Judicial Conduct shortly after receiving it.

The retired judge claims she spoke directly with Robert Tembeckjian, chief counsel for the commission, who told her the commission would investigate.

According to Law360, a person familiar with the inquiry confirmed that Judge DiFiore was under investigation at the time she announced her resignation.

DiFiore had close ties to disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and was appointed to the bench by him in 2016.

Quirk said: 'She should know better as a judge.'

The 73-year-old sent an email to Judge DiFiore, who has three children with husband, after she launched the independent review.

He suggested that he would respond to the spread of 'false rumors,' according to documents in a related dispute in state court over whether Judge DiFiore should testify in the disciplinary hearing.

According to the court documents he said: 'Lets [sic] see [how] you like the online articles about your relationship with a police officer with ties to organized crime while you were married posted all over every Court Building in NYS.'

The email was subsequently referred for potential disciplinary action.

DiFiore announced yesterday that she would be stepping down from her role after more than six years. However the state court has denied that the complaint and investigation had an impact on her decision to retire

Quirk responded to an article which accused DiFiore of launching an investigation into his unions issue with 'institutional racism'. Court documents show that he threatened to post details of an alleged affair 'all over every Court Building in NYS'

Quirk wrote that the Office of Court Administration (OCA) held a conference call with court unions regarding protesting outside of the Chief Judges homes

A person familiar with the inquiry confirmed that Judge DiFiore was under investigation at the time she announced her resignation. After the investigation came to light Quirk said 'she should know better'

Judge DiFiaro, who has three children with her husband Dennis Glazer, announced that she would be retiring from her post. Pictured: Kathy Hochul (left) with her husband William J. Hochul Jr. shakes hands with Chief Judge Janet DiFiore (right) during her swearing in ceremony

In August he also defended his 'doxxing' of the judge, by posting the address of her Hamptons and Westchester mansions online after she imposed a mandatory vaccine order.

Quirk was suspended after the posts on Facebook, which also revealed her holiday home address in Southampton, and was suspended for 30 days without pay and ordered to relinquish his gun.

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct declined to comment when approached by DailyMail.com.

Judge DiFiore did not give a specific reason for her decision to resign Monday, but the state court has denied her resignation has anything to do with the complaint.

Announcing that she was stepping down, she said: 'It is time for me to move on to the next chapter in my professional life.'

In a statement state court spokesman Lucian Chalfen said: 'Anyone can file a complaint with the Conduct Commission, regardless of merit, and it will be considered. Complaints such as Dennis Quirk's are filed all the time.

'That is part of being a public official in this day and age. Chief Judge DiFiore's announcement, one she has been planning for months, is completely unrelated to Quirk's complaint or any other external factors.'
James Bond screenwriter Paul Haggis has denied an allegation of rape after being freed from house arrest, instead insisting he made 'two mistakes'.

Prosecutors have appealed against a court ruling to bail the writer following the accusation from a British woman, Mail Online can reveal.

Haggis, 69, was arrested last month after the 29-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told police she had allegedly been subjected to a terrifying 48 hour ordeal by him.

He was kept under house arrest for almost two weeks before being freed but has remained in Italy, where the attack is said to have taken place in order to clear his name as the investigation continues.

Haggis spoke for the first time in detail about the allegations with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, with the Oscar winner saying: I didnt rape anyone but I made two mistakes. My life has been destroyed in a minute.

Canadian Haggis said: 'My first mistake was allowing someone who I hardly knew to come and visit me. It was foolish. The second mistake was on the last morning after an incident occurred that I personally found particularly unpleasant, I decided to end this situation.

I took this person to the airport hours before her flight. Im upset with myself for these errors in judgement but cannot comprehend that they resulted in false and damaging accusations against me.

James Bond screenwriter Paul Haggis has denied an allegation of rape and said he made 'two mistakes', following his release from home arrest (pictured June 22)

The Canadian, 69, said he was calm during his two weeks of house arrest because he knew he 'hadnt committed any crime'. File photo: Haggis is pictured on October 16, 2015 arriving at the Rome Film Festival

The British woman, whose identity is known to Mail Online, and who is a graduate who lives in Kensington, west London, was found by staff at Brindisi airport in a dishevelled state last month and they alerted police.

Following her claims that she had been kept in a bed and breakfast Harris was held and questioned for several hours before being given house arrest by a local magistrate.

This was overturned last week by a court but he will remain in Italy for the time being despite another court case in Manhattan in September over another sexual assault claim from his former publicist Haleigh Breest.

The British womans lawyer Claudio Strata told MailOnline: 'I dont know the specific details but I can only assume the prosecutor and the police have found elements which they feel warrant an appeal to the court against the decision to free Mr Paul Haggis.

At this stage we cannot intervene and it is up to them to decide what to do but we have full faith in both the prosecution and the polices work.

It may be, some new evidence they have found gives the grounds for an appeal.

'But we will have to await the decision of the court.

Haggis, who co-wrote, the screenplays for Bond blockbusters Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace also won two Oscars for Crash in 2006 and was also behind Million Dollar Baby.

He said of the Italian judicial system: There are some things that I cannot understand, like how its possible that in your country (Italy) you can start and continue a trial even when the accusation is not corroborated by clear evidence.

It seems strange and unjust to me that innocent people can apparently be prosecuted for years. My attorneys explained to me that in Italy, a trial could last many years. I cant even imagine the damage that kind of persecution could cause to my family and my ability to provide for them.

Haggis wrote the screenplays for the Daniel Craig blockbusters Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace and he won an Oscar with his screenplay for the 2004 hit Crash

Haggis added: 'During the two weeks of my house arrest, I was calm because I knew that I hadnt committed any crime and I have always had faith in the judicial system. Naturally, there were some difficult moments but I was able to overcome them thanks to the love and support of my family and friends, and also to the world of my lawyer and his team, who have been exceptional.

To be accused of sexual violence, a serious crime, that which I absolutely did not commit, was devastating. Its an experience that no innocent person should go through. It was difficult not being able to peak with my children and family, who had come to Italy to be with me during the film festival (he was due to attend last month).

After two weeks my son got permission to see me when he was about to leave and he raced to me and we hugged, he said that he loved me and to be strong. Its something I will never forget. It was great to have my daughter and her partner and their two children with me.

He is facing court proceedings in the US where he is being sued by Ms Breest, who claims that he raped her in 2013  she originally filed the claim in 2017 but proceedings have been delayed due to Covid and are set to start in October.

Haggis denies the any wrong doing and claims the encounter, which happened after a premier, was consensual.

Haggis, was also asked if the case in the US and the current investigation, suggested he had a problem with women and he replied:  I work in theatre, television and cinema for more than 40 years and I have worked with literally thousands of women. I have been married twice. I have a son and three wonderful daughters, two of whom are married to incredible women. I have had relationships and great friendships with dozens of women.

None of them have ever gone to the police or a prosecutor to accuse me in any country in the world. No, I dont have a problem with women.

He was also asked if there could be a link to the Church of Scientology, which he was a member of until he left in 2009 and which he later wrote a damning article on for the New Yorker magazine as well as slamming them in TV documentaries.

Haggis said: I dont have proof. But from what Ive learned from Scientology, I know that they are capable of anything. If you speak against them, they will use any means to destroy your reputation, your career, and your family.

It would take too much time to explain, slowly I have learned that Scientology is in effect a deeply corrupt organisation, It was something maybe I should have understood a lot earlier, but clearly I could no longer be part of this organisation and defend it.
BBC director-general Tim Davie has promised a report into sex misconduct claims levelled against veteran hip-hop DJ Tim Westwood will be released by the end of July.

An internal audit into six allegations made against the disc jockey between 1994 to 2013 are being probed as part of a review into Westwood's 19-year career at the broadcaster.

Former Radio 1 DJ Westwood, 64, denies any wrongdoing, with director-general Tim Davie earlier this year stating he had 'seen no evidence of complaints.'

The claims relate to the DJ's alleged bulling and sexual behaviour referring to his conduct outside of the BBC and with one being reported to police.

Speaking as the corporation unveiled its annual report for 2021/22, Mr Davie said: 'With regards to Tim Westwood, we are at the moment going through a full deep dive.

'What we have done essentially is we did an initial round of analysis of HR files, which didn't show something, that was why I made that statement which was my understanding at that time.

'We take this very seriously. I want to ensure that everyone who has got anything to bring which relates to the BBC or the time spent at the BBC we look at, fully investigate.

'We have (an) internal audit separate to myself working to the senior independent director Nick Serota going through now, responding to anything coming into us.'

Veteran DJ Tim Westwood is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by women who claim he abused his position to take advantage of them. The DJ has strenuously denied all allegations

A woman using the alias Pamela claims Westwood drove her to a flat in central London and initiated unwanted sex when she was 19 and he was 53

A woman, using the alias Tamara, alleges Westwood, then aged in his mid-thirties, also subjected her to unwanted sex when she was 17

One woman, using the pseudonym Isabel, alleges she was 19 and the DJ was 53 when he exposed his genitals to her in a car

BBC director-general Tim Davie has promised a report into sex misconduct claims levelled against veteran hip-hop DJ Tim Westwood will be released by the end of July

Mr Davie said he did not want to give a 'running commentary' on the investigation.

He added: 'It is not because I am lacking in transparency. It is just we want to do that work and then we will come back and I think what we will do is publish something and summarise exactly to the questions.

'Here are the things we have got in, this is all we have got as the BBC,' and be fully transparent around that. And we should get that out within the next two weeks.'

He said the BBC had 'no objective apart from to ensure that everything is flushed out' and for the broadcaster to gain an understanding of what had happened during Westwood's time there.

A statement from a representative of Westwood in April said: 'Tim Westwood strongly denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

'In a career that has spanned 40 years, there have never been any complaints made against him officially or unofficially.

'Tim Westwood strongly rejects all allegations of wrongdoing.'

One accuser claims Westwood drove her to a flat in central London and initiated unwanted sex when she was 19 and he was 53. He has denied all of the women's claims

The DJ, who is the son of Bill Westwood, the former Anglican bishop of Peterborough who died in 1999, began his career on local radio before joining Capital Radio in London.

He was later given his own show by BBC Radio 1.

The radio presenter left Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra in 2013 after nearly 20 years and returned to Capital Xtra to host a regular show on Saturday nights, where he was referred to as 'The Big Dawg'.

A representative for Westwood was contacted for comment.

The news comes after the Guardian and BBC published testimonies in April from seven women who made allegations of predatory sexual behaviour against Westwood.

In 2020, Westwood was forced to deny involvement in similar allegations when the hashtag #survivingTimWestwood appeared on Twitter.

Westwood's name and the allegations began trending on Twitter after an unnamed woman posted messages describing a four year relationship.

Using the Twitter name @survivingtimwestwood she admitted she was in love with the DJ and had not gone to police with any of her allegations.

Westwood, pictured above in 2005, is at the centre of a sexual misconduct storm after allegations were levelled against him in recent years

Others responding to the Twitter messages called on bosses at Global Radio, where Westwood works for Capital Xtra, to investigate his behaviour towards young black women.

The renowned DJ vehemently denied sensational allegations on social media that he behaved inappropriately with student fans.

In October 2013, Westwood was condemned by students for a vulgar and sexist stage show he put on during a freshers' event at the University of Leicester.

While performing as guest DJ at the O2 Academy he was heard shouting over the microphone: 'Girl in the front row with the black dress on, I will be f****** you later.

Earlier this year, Westwood was heard in unearthed clips urging a fan to stay in her bra as he ogled her on stage in the BBC3 film Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power.

The DJ was accused of groping black women at gigs in the scathing documentary.

Westwood was also filmed cat-calling a woman as she scrambled to cover up as he shouted from the decks: 'Yo baby you don't have to put your top back on'.

He was also caught clutching a woman while looking down her top and asking: 'I like your rack  is it real?'.

The documentary also showed him refusing to let go of a woman's arm after he allegedly whispered something sexual in her ear while backstage at a festival.

And another clip shows Westwood interviewing rapper Cardi B during a 2017 interview for Capital FM.

The American artist asks him: 'Do you have sex with a lot of like, you know, black girls?' Westwood replied after a pause: 'Not as much as I'd like to' in an interview where he was accused of being inappropriate towards the star.

Straight Outta Lowestoft... the bishop's son who made 10m playing 'gangsta rap' glorifying guns and violence

By Helen Weathers for The Daily Mail

The son of an Anglican bishop, British DJ Tim 'Big Dawg' Westwood couldn't have been a more unlikely pioneering champion of hip-hop music.

Middle-class and privately educated, he was  critics noted dryly  Straight Outta Lowestoft in Suffolk, where the only 'hood' he would have been familiar with growing up was the one on his anorak.

But just as his late father, the former Bishop of Peterborough, was a regular on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day slot, so too did his son become a BBC radio fixture for almost 20 years as the 'voice of hip-hop'.

That, though, was where the similarities ended.

British DJ Tim 'Big Dawg' (pictured back, centre), reported to be worth around 10million, he can command 10,000 for a gig and has sold more than two million copies of his compilation albums with a YouTube channel boasting more than 1.3million subscribers, is being accused of secual misconduct. His father was an Anglican bishop

While the Rt Rev Bill Westwood, who died in 1999 aged 73, sought to inspire listeners with spiritual sermons, Westwood junior would bring them instead the violent lyrics of gangsta culture.

Today, the gulf between father and son seems even wider with accusations of sexual misconduct by multiple women.

Three have accused the DJ of opportunistic and predatory sexual behaviour, while four others allege they were groped by him at events.

Westwood has strenuously denied all the allegations, with a spokesman saying they were completely false and denied in their entirety.

Over the years Westwood's passion for hip-hop would see him transform from a gangly, nerdy, moustachioed pirate radio jock into an edgy, award-winning  if somewhat controversial  figure, dressed in urban streetwear as he promoted a new wave of stars.

Adopting the patois of his idols, his radio shows were peppered with phrases such as 'the bomb's about to go off, baby' and 'kick it to the curb, man'.

Though he has always insisted this persona was entirely genuine, Westwood's enthusiastic use of pseudo-Jamaican slang inspired Sacha Baron Cohen's spoof character, tracksuit-wearing Ali G.

'Once I found out he was actually the son of a bishop, it became even more absurd. He was so keen to be presented as a gangsta,' Baron Cohen said of his muse.

The Right Reverend William John Westwood, Bishop of Edmonton, and regular Radio Four Broadcaster who died in 1999 aged 73, is pictured outside Church House. Today, the gulf between father and son seems even wider with accusations of sexual misconduct

As for Westwood, now aged 64, he has always declared himself mystified by accusations that he was trying to be something he wasn't.

'I came from a good home,' he once said in an interview. 'I never reacted against it. I loved my dad. He taught me dignity and respect. I'm a white guy, I'm not aspiring to be anything other than who I am.

As for his fans in the clubs, and the black rap stars he promoted, he insisted they didn't care about his background.

'Honestly, baby, I get love out there, pure and simple,' was his response.

Certainly, despite the mockery, he was the one laughing all the way to the bank. Reported to be worth around 10million, he can command 10,000 for a gig and has sold more than two million copies of his compilation albums. His YouTube channel has more than 1.3million subscribers.

His passion for the emerging US hip-hop scene of the early 80s began when Westwood worked as a bottle collector and roadie in clubs in London's West End, graduating to become an apprentice DJ. He specialised in jazz funk until he heard one of the first rap records, and was hooked.

In 1982, he started DJing for a pirate radio station based in Peckham. From there, he moved to Kiss FM and then Capital before the BBC came calling in 1994, cementing his status as the country's most influential hip-hop player.

He reportedly revelled in creating an anarchic atmosphere, hiring a personal chef and dotting the studio with champagne bottles.

'Newsreaders would have to come in and, like, read the news with people spluttering on blunts [cannabis cigars] all around them,' said Westwood.

The clean-living son of a clergyman, he did not drink or take drugs himself. By the time Westwood was axed from the Radio 1 Rap Show in 2013, aged 55, more serious questions were being asked about his devotion to a music culture which increasingly glorified guns, gang violence and misogyny.

He still bears the scar from a bullet wound to his arm after he was the victim of a 1999 drive-by shooting. He would later say the attempted assassination was carried out by south London gang members who were trying to extort money from him.

The front door of his one-bedroom Fulham flat, where Westwood  unmarried and childless  has lived for more than 30 years, is said to be reinforced by a metal bar as a security measure, a legacy of that gangland attempt on his life.

Veteran hip hop DJ and radio presenter Tim Westwood started DJing for a pirate radio station based in Peckham. From there, he moved to Kiss FM and then Capital before the BBC came calling in 1994, cementing his status as the country's most influential hip-hop player. He said he rejects all allegations of wrongdoing after he was accused of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour by several women

Westwood has said of the attack: 'Before the shooting, the only people who knew me were the hip-hop crowd. But the truth is that was real gangster s***. It made me big.'

In 2018 Westwood was heavily criticised for making money from YouTube adverts after a leaked Metropolitan Police file cited 32 of his videos as potentially inciting violence. The DJ then deleted clips and posts on social media linked to 'drill'  the notorious genre blamed for glamorising violence.

A spokesman for Westwood said at the time: 'We aim and hope to provide opportunities and a positive path... we do not support or condone gangs. Any violence is obviously a concern.'

However a year later Westwood made headlines again when  surrounded by members of a street gang  he posted a new drill rap session featuring lyrics boasting about gangland murders.

Then, he posed with a toy gun champagne holder hours after a gang member stabbed Siddique Kamara  who'd previously appeared with the DJ in a clip on his channel  to death in London in what was described as a feud between drill rivals.

As for Westwood's private life, he insisted in 2017 that there was nothing to excite any interest beyond his love of hip-hop. Love, marriage or children would be, he maintained, a distraction from his real passion: music.

That didn't mean, apparently, a monk-like existence, however.

Fans, may recall a 2018 Instagram post in which, holding up a credit card, Westwood gave a glimpse of his past relationships. 'My sugar daddy days are over,' he declared. I'm tired of buying... nails, shoes, bags, rent. I need an independent woman.'
Pope Francis has again hinted that he intends to retire, saying 'the door is open' for him to step down as head of the Catholic Church.

Francis said the retirement of his predecessor - Pope Emeritus Benedict - had gone 'rather well' and that he could also retire 'if the time is right' and 'if I survive'.

But the 85-year-old, who has suffered bouts of ill-health in recent months, denied he has plans to call it quits any time soon.

Pope Francis, 85, has again hinted that he has plans to retire - saying the 'door is open' and he might like to head home to his native Argentina after stepping down

Speaking to Mexican-American broadcaster TelevisaUnivision in his native Spanish, Francis said: 'The first experience went rather well because [Benedict] a saintly and discreet man, and he handled it well.

'But in the future, things should be delineated more, or things should be made more explicit.'

The pope added: 'I think for having taken the first step after so many centuries, he gets 10 points. It's a marvel.'

Francis said he would also step down if the time was right before he died while still serving, 'if I survive'.

Some cardinals and canon lawyers have long questioned Benedict's decisions in retirement, including his continuing to wear the white cassock of the papacy and keeping his papal name rather than reverting to Josef Ratzinger.

They say those choices and Benedict's continued presence in the Vatican created confusion among the faithful and enabled Francis's traditionalist critics to use Benedict as a rallying point, threatening the unity of the Catholic Church.

Asked whether he would continue to live at the Vatican after retirement, Francis answered 'surely no'.

But he said 'maybe' when it was suggested that he might take up residence in the Basilica of St John Lateran, which is the traditional seat of the bishop of Rome.

'I'm the bishop of Rome, in this case the emeritus bishop of Rome,' Francis said.

He also recalled that he had planned to retire as archbishop of Buenos Aires at the time of the 2013 conclave that resulted in him becoming pope.

Rumours have been swirling around the future for Francis since May, when he appeared in a wheelchair for the first time while having a problem with his knee

Francis said he had prepared a nice apartment in Buenos Aires where he could continue hearing confessions at a nearby church and visiting the sick at a hospital.

'This is what I thought for Buenos Aires. I think this scenario, if I survive until a resignation - it's possible I might die before - ... I'd like something like this,' he said.

Benedict became the first Pope to step down in 600 years when he retired in 2013, saying ill health meant he couldn't keep up with the demands of the role.

Talk began to swirl of Francis's own possible retirement in May, when he was pictured using a wheelchair for the first time due to pain in his knee.

The pontiff has since undergone surgery and been seen back on his feet, but has begun to send discreet signals that he is looking for the exit.

Francis has called a consistory for August 27 to create new cardinals, some of whom would be eligible to elect a new Pope at the next conclave.

He has also scheduled a trip - due to take place the day after the consistory - to the town of L'Aquila, which was ravaged by a 2009 earthquake.

Francis will attend a local religious festival before visiting the tomb of Celestine V, a hermit who became Pope in 1294 but retired just five months into the job.

Benedict visited the same tomb four years before announcing his own retirement, which also came when he was aged 85.

Robert Mickens, editor of the La Croix Catholic newspaper, told The Guardian: 'There is 'no reason that he needs to call this [event] three months in advance and then go to L'Aquila in the middle of it.

The 85-year-old Francis said when he was first elected that he would like it to become normal for Popes to retire (file image)

'I think there'll be another announcement: it might not be that he's going to resign, but I think that's a very good possibility.'

Francis's most-recent interview also covered topics other than retirement.

On whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should continue receiving the sacraments, Francis repeated it was a matter of conscience for elected officials to work out for themselves.

While the Catholic Church opposes abortion, Francis added that priests and bishops should remain pastors.

'When a pastor loses the pastoral dimension, he creates a political problem,' Francis said, referring to the 'polarised' debate in the United States concerning President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both Catholics who support abortion rights.

US bishops considered rebuking Mr Biden for his support of abortion rights, but ultimately backed off a formal rebuke.

Ms Pelosi's bishop, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, has barred her from receiving Communion in his archdiocese, though she recently received Communion during a papal mass at the Vatican's St Peter's Basilica.

Asked what such Catholic politicians should do, Francis said: 'I leave it to his conscience and that he speaks to his bishop, his pastor, his parish priest, about that inconsistency.
Brooke Jenkins, 40, is the new San Francisco DA

San Francisco's new no-nonsense DA Brooke Jenkins wants to give police access to private surveillance cameras in homes and businesses in an effort to crackdown on open-air drug markets and theft.

In a drastic shift from her woke predecessor Chesa Boudin, Jenkins - who took office on Friday - wants to expand the current access that police forces have and allow them to tap into the cameras to monitor the crimes in real-time.

It is part of her widespread crack down on crime in the city, which she says has succumb to lawlessness in the name of criminal justice reform.

Jenkins, 40, was sworn in by Mayor London Breed last week. She has not yet run for the job and will have to campaign in November, likely against Boudin.

Currently, police departments are able to access the cameras in situations when there is deemed to be a serious risk of physical injury or death.

Under the new rules that Jenkins is proposing, they could monitor the cameras to tackle pettier crimes that are terrorizing the city.

'I believe this policy can help address the existence of open-air drug markets fueling the sale of the deadly drug fentanyl.

'Drug dealers are destroying people's lives and wreaking havoc on neighborhoods like the Tenderloin.

'Mass organized retail theft, like we saw in Union Square last year, or targeted neighborhood efforts like we've seen in Chinatown is another area where the proposed policy can help,' Jenkins wrote in a letter to the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee that was obtained by SFGate.

Open air drug markets: Jenkins wants to eradicate San Fran's lawless culture where drug addicts shoot up freely in the streets

Brazen shoplifting: The new DA also wants police to have access in real-time to private business' surveillance cameras to stop widespread theft and looting

San Fran DA Brooke Jenkins rose through the ranks in DA's office before joining effort to recall her predecessor Brooke Jenkins has worked in the DA's office since 2014. She is married and has three kids with her partner, Daniel. She studied first at UC Berkeley, where she obtained a degree in Political Science and African American studies in 2003, and at the University of Chicago, where she obtained her law degree in 2006. In the DA's office, she rose through the ranks of the sexual assault unit and homicide unit. The final straw with Boudin, for her, was when he refused to fight an insanity plea in a case of a murder suspect. Jenkins was the prosecutor in the case - the murderer was 29-year-old Daniel Gudino, who savagely murdered his own mother in 2020. Her body was so mutilated when she was found at home naked and drenched in blood that the coroner couldn't figure out exactly how she was killed. He was found guilty of second degree murder but the jury was hung on whether or not he was legally sane. Boudin accepted an insanity plea and as a result, despite Jenkins' objections, and Daniel was put in a mental hospital rather than in prison. Jenkins quit Boudin's office in 2021 because of his refusal to prosecutote serious crimes, and she the effort to recall him. He was ousted on June 7. Mayor London Breed then appointed Jenkins as DA and she was sworn in on Friday, July 8. Advertisement

The plan was originally proposed by the Mayor London Breed, who appointed Jenkins to replace Boudin after a disastrous year of crime in the city.

The proposal has already been slammed by the ACLU and local politicians who say it would be an overreach and infringement on civilian privacy.

'As written, SFPDs proposal would allow officers to use private cameras to monitor people going about their daily lives and to request troves of recorded footage, keeping it for years.

'It does not set any meaningful limits on how SFPD can share this video footage.

'So, in practice, local police could conceivably turn over stockpiled and time-stamped footage to prosecutors from other states.'

The ACLU added that 'potential targets would include 'immigrants, religious minorities, LGBTQ people, abortion seekers, black people and any other frequent targets of state violence.'

It's Jenkins' second tough decision since she took office.

Last week, in her first day on the job, she ordered her staff to review soft plea deals that allowed criminals to walk free.

The meeting was immediately after she was sworn in. Staffers called it 'icy' and 'horrible'.

Jenkins revolted against Boudin, leading calls for a recall after watching his woke policies exasperate crime in the city.

She has since vowed to restore law to San Francisco.

'Under my leadership the San Francisco District Attorney's office will work diligently every single day to restore order to our city and to bring our city back to being the beautiful city that we know it is and the world renowned place that everybody loves to come visit.

'I want to make clear: Holding offenders accountable does not preclude us from moving forward with vital and important reforms to our criminal justice system.

'As a Black and Latina woman, I know very well the inequities that exist in our criminal justice system.

'Accountability does not mean that we reject reform. We can have responsible reform and accountablity both at the same time. I vow to this city to balance both in pursuit of justice and safety for all,' she tweeted last week.

Jenkins has spent eight years in the DA's office working across the hate crimes unit, sexual assault crimes unit and the homicide division

Jenkins with her husband Daniel and two of their three kids. She was appointed by the Mayor last week

Jenkins with her husband Daniel. She obtained her law degree from the University of Chicago after studying political science at UC Berkeley

Jenkins has worked in the DA's office since 2014. She is married and has three kids with her partner, Daniel.

Jenkins studied first at UC Berkeley, where she obtained a degree in Political Science and African American studies in 2003, and at the University of Chicago, where she obtained her law degree in 2006.

In the DA's office, she rose through the ranks of the sexual assault unit and homicide unit.

The final straw with Boudin, for her, was when he refused to fight an insanity plea in a case of a murder suspect.

Out: Chesa Boudin was recalled thanks largely to an effort by Jenkins to boot him out of office

Boudin's woke policies led to more criminals being arrested and released repeatedly, which residents grew sick of growing crime

Jenkins was the prosecutor in the case - the murderer was 29-year-old Daniel Gudino, who savagely murdered his own mother.

Her body was so mutilated when she was found at home naked and drenched in blood that the coroner couldn't figure out exactly how she was killed.

He was found guilty of second degree murder but the jury was hung on whether or not he was legally sane.

Boudin accepted an insanity plea and as a result, Daniel was put in a mental hospital rather than in prison.
A Russian mother accused of selling her newborn son for 2,900 to pay for a nose job has been arrested.

The unnamed 33-year-old woman from Dagestan, in southern Russia, is said to have told a friend she did not want to keep the infant.

She arranged for a couple to buy the baby only five days after he was born on 25th April.

Police say the mother handed over her son to the couple for just 200,000 rubles (2881.95), with a 10% deposit.

A detained woman who sold her newborn child for 200,000 rubles to get money for plastic surgery in Kaspiysk, Russia

'Her biological mother wanted to leave her at the hospital,' said the woman who bought the baby, telling police in an interview she was not his biological mother.

'She could not provide for the child, so I took the child.'

But the infant needed hospital treatment and medics asked the couple for his birth certificate.

When the couple went back to the woman asking for the baby's birth certificate, she would only give it up in exchange for a further 100,000 rubles (1440.98).

The mother had told the couple she did not have a job, a place to live or any money.

But upon receiving the amount on May 26, she told them she intended to spend the cash on a nose job.

The woman who bought the child said the mother told them she needed the nose job for better breathing.

But before the couple could hand over the remainder of the total fee, police arrested the group for human trafficking.

In a statement obtained by Newsflash, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Dagestan said: 'The investigating authorities of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Dagestan have initiated a criminal case against a 33-year-old resident of the city of Kaspiysk.'

The statement said she was accused of selling another person.

'According to investigators, on 25th April, 2022, a woman gave birth to a male child in Caspian City Central Hospital,' the authorities went on.

The woman who bought the infant from the mother is pictured

The husband and his wife agreed to adopt the child after they were told about the mother's situation, encouraged by a neighbour.

'I became friends with her and suggested she give the child to a family who couldn't have kids anymore,' the neighbour told police.

The mother went to a notary issued a waiver for the rights to the child on April 30, the investigators said, and exchanged the child for the cash.

'She did not want to just leave the child, she wanted to find a family for her,' said the woman who bought the child.

'Currently, a series of investigative actions is being carried out, aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime committed and consolidating evidence of the suspect's guilt,' the statement concluded.

'The issue of choosing a preventive measure against her is being decided.'
The uncle of a young Asian woman whose body was found after she was reported missing for over a week has appeared in court charged with her murder.

Mohammed Taroos Khan, 52, is accused of killing Somaiya Begum, 20, who was found dead on Wednesday, July 6, after a major police search in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Khan did not speak or enter a plea during the brief hearing at Bradford Crown Court today.

The city's Recorder, Judge Richard Mansell QC, set a trial date for next February.

Khan was remanded in custody ahead of a further hearing in September.

Somaiya was last seen on June 25 at her home in Binnie Street in Bradford and was reported missing the next day. Her body was found on July 6 just over a mile away

Forensic officers and sniffer dogs were seen search for evidence at Miss Begum's home at Binnie Street

A police cordon was put in place around Fitzwilliam Street in Bradford following the discovery of Somaiya Begum's body on July 6

Recorder Mansell said: 'I am fixing your trial for February 20 next year. You will be held in remand until that date.

'There will be a plea and trial preparation hearing on September 19. You will remain in custody until then.'

Somaiya was last seen on June 25 at her home in Binnie Street in Bradford and was reported missing the next day.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police discovered her body just over a mile away on Fitzwilliam Street, near the city centre, after a search that lasted almost two weeks.

The search operation saw forensic officers comb areas including a storage yard in Thornbury Road and the area near where Miss Begum lived before her body was eventually found.

Residents said they were shocked at the news.

A tent was put up at an industrial site being searched on June 30, but she was not found there

Officers eventually discovered Miss Begum's body just over a mile away from her home, on Fitzwilliam Street near the city centre, after a search that lasted almost two weeks

One neighbour described Somaiya as a 'very quiet and very reserved woman'.

'I've not seen her smile,' said the neighbour. 'I'm happy she has been found but the circumstances are so very sad. At least she can be at peace. I am very sad. I've been thinking about her a lot. I am going to put some flowers outside her door.'

I am very sad. I've been thinking about her a lot. I am going to put some flowers outside her door.'

Khan, of Bradford, was re-arrested on suspicion of her murder and later charged.

Two other men and a woman were previously arrested but released on bail last week.
A fraudster took 25,000 in wages after landing a well-paid Civil Servant job by supplying a reference in the name of the popular Assassin's Creed video game character Layla Hassan, a court has heard.

Angelica Stoichkov, 32, worked at the General Chiropractic Council as a policy and communications officer while moonlighting at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Southwark Crown Court heard she had been signed off sick at the GCC due to an eye problem, which she claimed made her unable to use computer screens.

However, Ms Stoichkov was caught red-handed when her employers noticed her LinkedIn profile said she was working at DEFRA.

The Bulgarian had been paid more than 25,000 in wages after she landed the job at the ministerial department in January 2021. Salaries for DEFRA policy advisers can range from 27,777 to 55,299 per year.

DEFRA's professional standards unit had also launched an investigation and found Stoichkov had supplied a reference in the name of Layla Hassan - a character from the popular video game franchise Assassin's Creed.

Angelica Stoichkov, 32, (pictured) worked at the General Chiropractic Council as a policy and communications officer while moonlighting at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Southwark Crown Court heard Ms Stoichkov had been signed off sick at the GCC due to an eye problem which she claimed made her unable to use computer screens

The judge, Miss Recorder Maryam Syed, said the offence was 'very serious' adding: 'I must decide the appropriate way to properly punish her and send a signal of deterrence to the public.'

Wearing a white suit, Stoichkov wept as the judge told her: 'You have now lost your previous good character because you now have a conviction for an offence of dishonesty and fraud.

'It will affect how you secure any further education and employment. That is, as you know, your own fault.

'This is something in my view that is not opportunistic. It involved an element of planning.'

'There is an element of you wanting to fund certain things and you wished to be a higher achiever and do better in your career.

'There was definitely an element of personal gain to you.

'I can see that you are upset and that you have found this very troubling.

DEFRA's professional standards unit had also launched an investigation and found Stoichkov had supplied a reference in the name of Layla Hassan (pictured) - a character from the popular video game franchise Assassin's Creed

'What you have done is seriously wrong and deceitful. To deal with the public concern is to impose an onerous community order and I do so as a direct alternative to custody. You are being punished as part of a criminal sentence.

'You are an intelligent young woman, you are a young woman, this was a very serious thing you did.

'But I am giving you the opportunity to turn your life around. You have potential - go utilise that potential.'

Stoichkov, of Islington, north London, admitted fraud by false representation.

She was sentenced to a two-year community order to carry out 100 hours unpaid work with an additional 30 days rehabilitation activity requirement.

Stoichkov is also subject to a three-month electronically monitored curfew at her home address between 10:30pm and 8am.

No order for compensation or confiscation was ordered since the GCC had successfully settled a civil claim against her.
Alabama inmate Casey White has been charged with the murder of his prison guard lover Vicky White after she helped him escape prison and the pair went on the run for 11 days before being caught.

Casey, 38, and the prison guard staged a well-planned escape from a Florence, Alabama, jail for what she falsely claimed was a mental health evaluation on April 29. The pair then swapped vehicles and used disguises as they made it across three states.

The pair were on the run for 11 days when Vicky White, 56, was shot dead after a police chase in Evansville, Indiana. Authorities said at the time that she shot herself in the head. Casey was immediately arrested after the chase on May 9.

On Thursday, Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly announced that Casey has been indicted for murder. It does not state that he shot Vicky in the head.

The indictment, seen by DailyMail.com, shows that the 6ft9 prisoner has been charged with first-degree escape 'and in the course and furtherance of committing escape in the first degree, caused the death of Vicky White, who died from a gunshot wound to the head.'

Casey White has been charged with the murder of Vicky White, who helped him plan his escape across the country. Casey is pictured at court in Florence, Alabama, with his hands cuffed and his feet shackled after his arrest

A coroner ruled that Vicky had died as a result of self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head after the two lovers spent 11 days on the run

On May 9, Vicky and Casey were traveling in the same car when cops in Evansville started to pursue the pair.

Vicky spoke to 911 dispatchers in the moments before her death, and could be heard saying: 'Airbags are going off. Let's get out and run.'

Officers then arrived at the scene, stating that she was still breathing, but in audio released by Indiana authorities the dispatcher claims they could hear her say 'she had her finger on the trigger.'

In the initial confusion, they believed that Casey White had shot himself, and then requested a negotiator, before a second voice says that one is not needed.

Dashboard and body camera footage from Indiana showed the dramatic moment that fugitive Casey White was taken into custody and Vicky's body was dragged dying from their car.

Initial reports stated that Vicky pulled the trigger after the pair were run off the road by police.

Footage shows Casey being dragged out of the crumpled car by his hands, as officers kneel on him to handcuff him.

His denim shirt is ripped, but he appears otherwise unharmed, with his black sunglasses still on his face.

As police approach the car, one officer says: 'We need to clear some of this s***' to get to her.'

Another officer, kneeling by the overturned car, says: 'She's still got the gun in her hand.'

One adds: 'She's still breathing. I can see her chest rising. Finger still on the trigger. She could pull that trigger again.'

A third video released by the police showed them searching a Ford truck, which the couple abandoned before switching to their Cadillac.

An officer searches the vehicle, then tells his colleague: 'There's no paperwork. A little bit of trash and a charger and a Glock magazine loader.'

The escaped prisoner, standing 6ft 9 tall, towers over the Indiana officers who arrested him after the car he was driving was run off the road

Casey White, 38, is seen in dashboard camera footage released by police in Indiana being taken into custody in May

Casey White can be seen looking over his shoulder, as Vicky White lay dying in the car

An Indiana sheriff said the pair were carrying $29,000 in cash, four handguns and an AR-15 rifle and were prepared for a shootout when they were captured.

The end of the manhunt left authorities trying to piece together what happened during the 11 days that elapsed after Vicky escorted Casey from the prison in Alabama.

The inmate and Vicky White appeared to have had a 'jailhouse romance,' according to Alabama authorities.

As for her role in the escape, the sheriff said: 'He was not forcing her. It was a mutual relationship.'

Casey had been awaiting trial at the Florence prison for reportedly stabbing Connie Ridgeway, 58, to death during a 2015 burglary.

At the time of the breakout he had been serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other offenses.

He has confessed the crime, claiming he was paid to commit the heinous act. If convicted, he could get the death penalty.

Vickey White was placed on the ground after being pulled out of the car. Officers said that she still had a gun in her hand

Sheriffs in Indiana are seen investigating the crumpled wreck of the car, in which Vicky White killed herself

Sheriffs are seen pulling Vicky White, 56, from the car after the ran the Cadillac off the road. Initially they called for negotiators after believing Casey had a gun

Vicky White was taken out of the car and laid on the grass beside the wreck

Investigators believe the pair spent about six days holed up at a motel in Evansville after arriving on May 3, and discovered a variety of wigs as a way to disguise themselves.

Dave Wedding, sheriff of Vandenburgh County, said investigators do not believe the two had relatives or other contacts in the city of 120,000.

Authorities closed in on them after the manager of a car wash reported that a man closely resembling the 6-foot-9, 260-pound Casey White had been recorded by a surveillance camera getting out of a pickup truck.

Investigators said they located the pickup, then learned that the pair may have switched to a Cadillac, which was then spotted outside a motel nearby.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Motel 41 manager Paul Shaw said: 'They stayed in a room not in their name. Somebody else rented the room and checked them in.

'A local man with a local ID checked in and signed the stub. I never saw them  I wish I had  but they stayed in the room.

'People come and go here, we don't keep track.'

These are all of the weapons the couple had in their Cadillac when they were rammed into a ditch by police, before Vicky died

The couple had just $29,000 of the $90,000 Vicky had withdrawn when they were caught by officers

Rooms at the motel are all accessed independently by exterior doors, meaning guests do not need to walkthrough the small reception area except to use the vending machine or to check in.

Shaw, an electrical engineer by trade, said that he works the morning shift and never saw White or Vicky.

When the couple left the motel, police chased them down, with Casey telling investigators after his capture that 'he was probably going to have a shootout at the stake of both of them losing their lives.'

The inmate appeared by video in May in an Indiana courtroom, where he waived extradition, before being sent back to Alabama.

Vicky, assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County jail, had put in for retirement ahead of the escape, and the day of the breakout, April 29, was her last day of work.

Sherry Sylvester had worked alongside Vicky for 16 years, saying: 'I know she did wrong and made a terrible mistake, but she's still your friend.'

She said that Vicky often tried to help prisoners, particularly ones without family, but she had never seen her do anything that crossed the line  claiming she was 'by the book.'

Connie Moore, Casey White's mother, said she last spoke with him by phone the day before the escape.

She said: 'Everything was just as normal as it could be. I doubt he even knew he was leaving when she came in there to get him.'

The pair were staying in room 150 on the ground level of the motel, where accommodation costs about $44 a night not including a $25 cash deposit required upon booking

A warrant was issued on May 2 for Vicky White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape.

Authorities said the plan appeared to have been in the works for some time.

She sold her house for about half its market value and bought an SUV that she stashed at a shopping center without license plates.

Asked where the bulk of the money had gone, Sheriff Wedding told DailyMail.com: 'They spent it. They spent it on multiple vehicles, equipment, a gun, hotel, meals, clothes.

'$60,000 can go pretty quick if you're spending $6,000 a pop.'

Vicky used some of the cash and an alias to purchase the bronze 2007 Ford Edge in which they initially fled before abandoning it on a rural road in Tennessee about two hours north of the Florence, Alabama, jail from which White was sprung.

Casey White, who faces a possible death sentence if convicted of a 2015 murder, had additional charges of fleeing added to his rap sheet as well as the murder charge

According to US Marshalls the couple then spent $6,000 on a Ford F-150 which was spotted parked at an odd angle at an Evansville carwash where White was also pictured on surveillance footage.

US Marshals Commander Chad Hunt said that the couple are believed to have purchased another vehicle.

Speaking earlier this year Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said she was the 'mastermind' of their logistical escape plan - but it's unclear who came up with the idea to get Casey out.

He said: 'To go from day one, thinking she's been kidnapped and maybe in danger then finding out she took him out willingly, then trying to determine was she threatened or coerced in some way...then finding out that she was basically the mastermind behind the whole plan.

'It's been an emotional roller-coaster. Obviously, he was behind bars  he couldn't have planned too much behind bars.

'Personally, I think she was the one who put the plan together.

'She was in a position of knowledge. She made sure the other armed deputies were out, she arranged to purchase the getaway car, she sold her house got her hands on cash, went shopping.
A Florida construction company owner could face charges after he pulled out an assault rifle during an argument with a black landscaper who was blocking his driveway.

Shocking footage show the moment David Berry, 44, marched down his driveway with an assault rifle in his hand, and yelled at Jeremy Lee, 46, of J&S Outdoor Maintenance, for partially blocking his driveway with a trailer ramp while working on a neighbor's lawn.

'This is is my property,' Berry, of Fat Finger Construction, yells while armed after Lee's vehicle has already been moved.

'You're not allowed to block my driveway. Don't be a p***k.'

Clearwater Police said it will be presenting the case to the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office on possible charges of aggravated assault with a firearm against Berry, WFLA reported.

David Berry, 44, of Fat Finger Construction, brought out a rifle when yelling at landscaper Jeremy Lee after his driveway was partially blocked by Lee's trailer ramp

Lee (right) said he moved his car and apologized after Berry confronted him in Clearwater, Florida, on Thursday, but claimed Berry continued to yell at him with a rifle in hand

The neighbor who hired Lee to mow his lawn took a photo of Berry's driveway, which was only partially blocked by the ramp after Lee unloaded a lawnmower

Lee said he and his daughter - Carrie, 22, who filmed the encounter - were left traumatized by the incident, which took place on Thursday after the father-and-daughter duo arrived to do some yardwork on Boylan Avenue in Clearwater.

Lee said Berry had come out of his house, angry that the trailer ramp was blocking part of his driveway.

'I immediately moved,' Lee told WFLA. 'I stopped what I was doing and I moved up, and like I said, just wasn't good enough for him and I apologized to him.'

Lee said Berry returned, now armed with a rifle, as his daughter pulled out her phone and recorded the tense moment.

'You think I'm playing,' Berry yelled at them. 'Punk ass. You're daughter better take record of how stupid her father is.'

'Keep recording,' he then warned Carrie. 'If it goes online, your a** will be sued, too.'

'I'll blast your f**king head off because you're a dumba***,' Berry added by the end of the video.'

Lee, who called Berry a 'dumb motherf****r' for pointing the gun at him, said he was worried for his daughter's safety.

'I was stunned,' Lee said. 'I think I said, 'You're going to kill me in front of my daughter?'

Carrie told WFLA that she also feared the worst.

'I thought he was going to take my dad's life, honestly,' she said. 'Then I was like, 'Well, if you take his, he's probably going to take mine.''

Berry declined DailyMail.com's request for comment.

During the argument, Berry, who has faced several charges in the past, yelled that he would shoot Lee 'because you're a dumba**'

Lee, pictured, has called on authorities to not only file charges against Berry, but to also remove his weapons given his past charges of battery, burglary and petit theft

Lee said he and his daughter then called for Clearwater Police, who condemned the incident.

'The bottom line is a dispute over parking should never have escalated to something like this,' Clearwater Police Chief Dan Slaughter said in a statement.

'If you have a problem with someone partially blocking the driveway, you call the police. You don't grab a gun like some vigilante.'

This is not Berry's first run in with the law as the construction company owner has been previously charged with battery, burglary and petit theft charges in the past, which were all pled down to misdemeanors, according to Pinellas County Court records.

Given his previous charges and anger during their confrontation, Lee has called for police to take away Berry's guns.

'I don't think he ought to have the rights to bear arms,' Lee told WFLA.

He added that several family members would be speaking with his city council leaders later this month to push for gun law reform.
A head chef grabbed a sleeping woman's throat and raped her after she allowed him to spend the night at her home in Edinburgh.

Ross Nicol of Burntisland, Fife has today been sentenced to five years behind bars after being found guilty of rape.

Nicol, 31, took advantage of the victim at the flat in the Slateford area of the Scottish capital on August 31 2018.

The woman awoke to find the sexual predator on top of her while he was grabbing her throat.

He was today, July 12, sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow for rape.

Nicol - also a former history and philosophy student - was convicted of a further rape following a trial in Edinburgh earlier this year in May.

Ross Nicol, 31, a head chef from Fife was today handed a five year sentence for raping a woman in Edinburgh after she allowed him to stay the night

Jurors heard how the victim knew her attacker and they had been on a night out with others before the incident.

It ended up too late for Nicol to get home and the woman offered him the spare room at her flat to stay.

On arriving, she went to bed - but Nicol repeatedly got in beside her and began to grope her.

The woman initially managed to push him away.

But, after she fell asleep, the victim was awoken by finding Nicol again in her bed - and this time he was raping her.

Nicol's lawyer today asserted in court that his client continues to deny the crime.

Frances Connor, defending, added: 'He had become quite a successful chef.

'This was in Fife and then a head chef in Glasgow.

'He lost his long-term relationship and his employment as a result of this conviction.

'His view is that he is not capable of this behaviour.'

Nicol appeared for the hearing today via video link.

Judge Lady Scott told him: 'You repeatedly abused the woman while she was asleep and then raped her.

'You were persistent and forceful.'

Nicol was also placed on the sex offenders register.
A plane carrying 180 people came within just six feet of slamming into a field near Paris when air traffic controllers gave pilots wrong instructions, it has been revealed.

Pilots of the Norwegian Air Sweden flight, from Stockholm to Charles de Gaulle airport, were landing in heavy cloud using only their cockpit instruments when the incident happened on May 23.

A French tower worker, speaking to them in English, had given them an incorrect reading as they set up the instruments - meaning the plane was actually 280ft closer to the ground than the on-board computer was telling them.

Fortunately, pilots decided to abandon the landing after failing to see lights on the runway. Unbeknownst to them, they were just 6ft off the ground at the time.

A Norwegian Air Sweden plane trying to land in heavy cloud and rain in Paris back in May came within 6ft of crashing into the ground, it has been revealed (file image)

The incident - which has only just been revealed by BEA, the French air accident investigator - took place on May 23 around 11.40am local time.

Flight NSZ4311 - an Airbus A320 - was flying from Stockholm Arlanda airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle and coming in for landing when the near-miss happened.

An air traffic controller - who was a French native but speaking to the pilots in English - gave them instructions for landing around 11.30am when they were around 5,000ft off the ground.

But, while reading the instructions, the controller accidentally gave them an incorrect 'QNH' reading.

The QNH tells the plane where sea level is, which allows the on-board altimeter to calculate how far off the ground the plane is.

Instead of telling the pilots the correct reading - 1001 - the controller told them 1011.

It meant that, from that moment onwards, the plane was actually flying 280ft below the reading on the altimeter.

Pilots then attempted to land in heavy cloud and driving rain, meaning they could not see the ground and were relying on instruments to guide them.

Ten minutes after the incorrect reading was given, while the pilots thought they were 300ft off the ground, they could still not see landing lights for the runway.

The near-miss happened when a controller at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport - speaking in English instead of native French - gave an incorrect instruction

In fact, they were just a few feet off the ground and could not see the lights because the runway was a mile away ahead of them.

Sensing something was wrong, the pilots abandoned the landing and decided to perform a go-around.

At the same time, the tower radioed to say an altitude warning signal had gone off and to check whether they were in trouble.

The pilots responded that they heard no warning signal, but had never-the-less had decided to abandon the landing.

When the captain pulled the airplane out of the landing, equipment showed it was just 6ft off the ground instead of 286ft the pilots were being shown.

The plane went around for another attempt but, incredibly, the error from the first landing wasn't corrected, meaning the altimeter was still wrong.

Luckily, the cloud cleared enough for pilots to catch sight of the runway during the second landing - at which point they corrected course and landed safely.

Air investigators found the same tower controller had given a similar incorrect reading to an incoming EasyJet flight around the same time as the Norwegian one - whilst also speaking in English.

But in that case, the pilot had mis-heard the reading and given the correct one back, which wasn't noticed by the tower.

The same controller, speaking this time in French, had given a third plane the correct QNH reading.

Investigators recommended that the air traffic services 'ensure without delay that controllers are aware of the importance' of giving the correct altimeter settings.

They also urged airlines to tighten their procedures for double-checking the readings that are being given.
All ambulance trusts in England were today put on the highest alert and headteachers warned there could be major disruptions in schools as Covid threatens to cause a summer of disruption.

Rising Covid staff absences, the escalating heatwave and ongoing delays in handing over patients to A&E have heaped extra pressure on ambulance services which were already in crisis mode.

All 10 trusts have been put on a level four alert known as Resource Escalation Action Plan (REAP) 4, which signals they are under 'extreme pressure'.

As part of this, patients with emergencies that are not life threatening could be told to make their own way to hospital or seek alternative care  or face even longer waits than usual.

Meanwhile, teachers have said the number of pupils off sick is 'extremely concerning' for this time of year, with up to one in five pupils absent last week in England.

The data represents the highest level of pupil absence since January at the height of the Omicron wave that brought swathes of the economy to a standstill.

It comes amid a fifth wave of Covid infections across Britain, with 2.7million (one in 24) people estimated to have been infected in the most recent week.

The rise of two mild but highly infectious Omicron sub-strains have caused daily Covid hospital admissions to rise to a near 18-month high, with around 2,000 people being hospitalised with the virus every day.

But only a fraction of these are primarily sick with the virus.

Paramedic Tony Sutton tweeted a picture on Monday afternoon of ambulances being held up at the Royal Stoke University Hospital

Headteachers have already started to warn staff that staff sickness caused by high Covid rates could cause disruption to education this summer. Pictured: A sign hangs on the gate of St Anne's Catholic Primary school in Caversham, Reading, in January 2021

Ambulances have been put on the highest alert, also known as Resource Escalation Action Plan (REAP) 4, meaning trusts are under 'extreme pressure', and patients with emergencies deemed less urgent will be told to make their own way to hospital or seek alternative care through their GP, pharmacist or 111

Ambulances took an average of 39 minutes and 58 seconds to respond to category two calls, such as burns, epilepsy and strokes in May, the most recent month of data. This is 11 minutes and 24 seconds quicker than one month earlier but more than double the 18-minute target

The problem has been compounded by A&Es being too busy to accept ambulance handovers. Separate data shows 19,053 people were forced to wait 12 hours or more to be treated in emergency departments, three times longer than the NHS target

The REAP 4 alert signals that trusts are prioritising patients with urgent and immediately life-threatening conditions.

Those with less serious conditions are being advised that there may be a delayed response or they should seek alternative care.

South Central Ambulance Service trust has explicitly asked people in the lowest category of callouts to find 'alternative treatment and advice' and to not call 999 back to ask about an estimated time unless the patient's condition has changed.

The service said it was experiencing a growing number of 999 calls coupled with patients calling back about delayed responses.

Meanwhile, West Midlands Ambulance Service said it had been on the highest level of alert for a few months and told HSJ more than half of its ambulance crews were queued outside hospitals at one point yesterday.

A spokesman for the trust said one ambulance crew had to wait 24 hours to hand a patient over.

One senior leader in the north of the country, who asked not to be named, told HSJ the situation was 'dire' for both staff and patients.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said the ambulance service was in 'crisis'.

'Patients are left for far longer than is safe and lives are being lost as a result,' he said.

The situation mirrors the peak of the Omicron wave in January, when all ambulance services were also on the highest alert level.

Teacher shortages could result in pupils being sent home from school if Covid cases continue to rise, ministers have been warned

Children wearing facemasks during a lesson at Outwood Academy in Woodlands, Doncaster

The Office for National Statistics ( ONS ) weekly infection survey found more than 2.7million Britons were infected with Covid in the last week of June

This graph shows the number of deaths directly due to Covid recorded in England and Wales. The number of deaths being recorded these nations currently is far below that of previous waves earlier year and a sheer fraction of those seen at the start of 2021

But only a third of patients are primarily sick with Covid, which suggests rising admissions are a symptom of high infection rates rather than severe disease. The majority (64 per cent) are known as 'incidental' cases  patients who went to hospital for a different reason but happened to test positive. The above graph compares incidental cases throughout the pandemic

MailOnline analysis shows how the rate of severe illness from Covid has fallen over time. At the beginning of the pandemic, one per cent of all people infected with the virus (based on the Office for National Statistics infection rate) required mechanical ventilation within two weeks. But most recent NHS bed occupancy rates show just 0.015 per cent of those infected are admitted to an ICU bed - 100 times fewer than the start of the pandemic

Nurse's neighbour dies waiting for ambulance and 83-year-old left in street for18 hours A nurse was unable to save her neighbour's life as he waited two hours for an ambulance, while a man in his 80s was left lying in the street for 18 hours because of delays. Community nurse Claire, 49, from Stoke-on-Trent, who did not want to share her surname, witnessed the impact of long ambulance waiting times on June 8 when her 59-year-old neighbour collapsed. After more than two hours of waiting for paramedics to arrive, the man went into cardiac arrest and, despite performing CPR, Claire was unable to save him. 'It was a category two call; they should've been there in 18 minutes,' Claire said. 'I did everything I could, but obviously you think about things after and whether anything could've been done to create a different outcome. It's extremely sad.' After 90 minutes, two crews from the West Midlands Ambulance Service arrived and attempted to resuscitate the man but, 50 minutes later, he was pronounced dead. Claire, who has worked as a community nurse for almost 30 years, said: 'I have no blame at all for the ambulance service. 'They're working under incredibly difficult circumstances and I can't imagine what it must be like for them to do their job at the moment with these situations that they're facing. 'But patients are potentially dying that might not have died if the ambulance had been able to get to them in time.' Gareth, 27, a support worker from Solihull, Birmingham, who also did not wish to share his second name, said his father was made to wait 18 hours for an ambulance after falling off his mobility scooter into the street. Barry, 83, fell outside a McDonald's 10 minutes from home on July 9 while out with his son. Gareth said when he called an operator and told them his father may have a broken hip and was 'extremely exhausted', he was advised not to move him and told it could take up to hours for paramedics to arrive. 'My dad was in excruciating pain and the phone call wasn't that helpful as they told me it could take up to five hours,' Gareth said. Gareth said he called 999 seven times and was told more than 28 people in Birmingham were waiting for ambulances  with paramedics eventually arriving for his father at 11am the next day. 'They told me not to move him from the position he was in (which was sitting up). They expected him to just sit up and be in pain for 18 hours. It's just wrong,' Gareth added. 'It seemed like they [were] just never going to come 3pm to 11am is ridiculous.' Meanwhile, West Midlands Ambulance Service has apologised after Brian Sharples, 73, was left lying on the floor while waiting 14 hours for an ambulance on Sunday. Sharples, who has kidney and bowel cancer, fell out of bed and had to wait more than 14 hours to be taken to A&E at 7.30am. However, Brian was still waiting to be handed over to the Royal Stoke University Hospital at 2.30pm and there were three patients ahead of him in the queue. Advertisement

A category one 999 call would be a patient with a life-threatening condition such as a cardiac or respiratory arrest, where patients might be unconscious or about to become so, needing an immediate ambulance response.

Category two calls would be serious conditions like a stroke or chest pain, sepsis or major burns, which need rapid assessment and/or urgent transport.

An urgent problem, for example an uncomplicated diabetic issue which needs treatment and transport to an acute setting, is classed as category three calls.

A category four call is a non-urgent problem where the patient is clinically stable but needs taking to hospital.

The pandemic has taken its toll on emergency services, with ambulance response times at their highest on record in March.

Despite the Covid-induced backlog worsening yet again, response times in A&E and for ambulances have actually improved slightly.

More than 19,000 patients attending casualty units were still forced to wait 12 hours or more to be given a bed in May, in conditions described by experts as 'inhumane'.

This was down by a fifth on the previous month  but emergency medics say NHS England figures are a 'gross under-representation' of the actual crisis.

Last month, the average category one response time was eight minutes and 36 seconds. This is 26 seconds faster than April but 96 seconds slower than the seven-minute target.

Ambulances in May took an average of 39 minutes and 58 seconds to respond to category two calls, such as burns, epilepsy and strokes. This is 11 minutes and 24 seconds quicker than one month earlier but more than double the 18-minute target.

Response times for category three calls  such as late stages of labour, non-severe burns and diabetes  averaged two hours, nine minutes and 32 seconds. This is down from two hours, 38 minutes and 41 seconds in April. Ambulances are supposed to arrive at nine in 10 category three calls within two hours.

Meanwhile, education chiefs estimate 42,000 teachers and school leaders (roughly 8 per cent of the workforce) up from 33,000 on 23 June and 49,000 support staff (6.8 per cent of all support staff nationally) up from 5.5 per cent (39,000) on 23 June, were absent last Thursday.

The latest Government data, released on Tuesday, showed that overall attendance in state schools, adjusted to exclude Year 11 and 13 students sitting exams, fell to 86.9 per cent on 7 July, down from 89.4 per cent on 23 June.

The attendance in secondary schools was just 81.2 per cent, down from 86.9 per cent on 23 June, equating to nearly one in five pupils being off school.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, described the data as 'extremely concerning'.

'It is impossible to know how many of these absences are directly due to Covid, as the government has made the decision to no longer collect this information,' he said.

'However, given the rising rates of infection across society, it is highly likely that Covid is playing a significant role in these worrying figures.'

He said the Government, which had 'already appeared to have washed its hands of responsibility' for rising Covid rates, was now 'even more distracted by its own internal politics'.

'In the meantime, education continues to be disrupted, and children and staff continue to fall ill, often multiple times.'

'We simply cannot have this pattern continue to repeat, particularly as we head into the colder months again in the autumn term. The government must re-focus on the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and come up with a strategy to minimise this ongoing disruption.'

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: 'This matches what we have been hearing from our members. Covid has absolutely not gone away, and in fact we are hearing that cases have been on the rise again recently, in line with numbers nationally.

'While the summer holidays are coming up soon, there is already worry about the autumn and winter. The government can't just leave schools to it in dealing with Covid.

'Learners need and deserve better than that. We need a proper plan for how to live with it long term that is focused on keeping levels low and reducing disruption.'

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said the high rates were 'causing further disruption to pupils' education as they try to catch up on missed learning before the end of the academic year'.

He added that Covid recovery funding had never 'come close' to the levels proposed by the recovery tsar Sir Kevan Collins, and that current infection rates meant pupils risked being left further behind before the summer holidays.

'Government efforts to improve ventilation in classrooms remain woefully inadequate,' he said.

'The current Covid wave is occurring during mid-summer, when classroom windows are open and still the absence rate is high.

'This is a wake-up call: if the next Covid wave arrives in winter, transmission and sickness levels are likely to be much worse unless the DfE gets its act together and properly funds adequate ventilation in all classrooms.'

Britain's fifth wave is being driven by the Omicron sub-strains BA.4 and BA.5, with the latter regarded as the most infectious variant of the virus yet.

The emergence of the strains has caused infections to rise across Britain for the past five weeks, with 2.7million (one in 24) people estimated to have been infected last week.

They have also caused daily Covid hospital admissions to rise to a near 18-month high, with around 2,000 people being hospitalised with the virus every day.

But BA.4 and BA.5 are both as mild as their parent strain, which has meant ICU admissions and deaths have remained steady despite cases rising for weeks.

And two-thirds of NHS patients with Covid are not primarily sick with the virus, which suggests rising admissions are a symptom of high infection rates rather than severe disease.

The majority are known as 'incidental' cases  patients who went to hospital for a different reason but happened to test positive.

Covid ICU inpatient numbers are currently 20 times lower than at the height of the second wave in January 2021 and are lower than at any other point when infections were this high.

There are currently just 218 patients with the virus on mechanical ventilators in England  about 100 more than a month ago.

For comparison, there were 3,600 patients on ventilators at the peak of the second wave in January 2021.

Meanwhile, only 25 people are dying per day with Covid as the main cause, according to separate Office for National Statistics figures.

Deaths hit 1,300 a day last January and the vast majority were primarily due to the virus.

The changing severity of Covid is due to a mixture of growing natural immunity, vaccines and the milder strains that are currently dominant.
Mark Zuckerberg is finally getting tough on staff as managers are ordered to oust 'coasting' employees amidst a devastating downturn in value.

An internal memo sent on Friday by Facebook's head of engineering, Maher Saba, directed engineering managers to report anyone who 'needs support' to human resources by 5pm Monday, according to the Information.

'If a direct report is coasting or is a low performer, they are not who we need; they are failing this company,' Saba wrote in the scathing message, 'As a manager, you cannot allow someone to be net neutral or negative for Meta.'

The move is a dramatic change of tone for the social media giant - recently rebranded as Meta - which was well known in its early days for setting the tone for the relaxed and laid-back corporate attitude that came to characterize Silicon Valley.

The news comes as Facebook's value has plummeted in the past months - declining nearly 52 per cent since the start of 2022 - amidst an ongoing reckoning of the company's privacy policies that has gutted its longtime method of making money by selling user data.

'If I had to bet, I'd say that this might be one of the worst downturns that we've seen in recent history,' Mark Zuckerberg told employees during a companywide call in late June

'If a direct report is coasting or is a low performer, they are not who we need; they are failing this company,' Facebook's head of engineering, Maher Saba (above), wrote

'If I had to bet, I'd say that this might be one of the worst downturns that we've seen in recent history,' Mark Zuckerberg told employees during a companywide call in late June.

The 38-year-old Facebook founder said during the call that he expected to reduce engineer hiring plans by at least 30 per cent as the company looks for ways to cut costs, according to Reuters.

On the call, Zuckerberg indicated that one of those cost cutting methods would be rooting out dead weight.

'Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn't be here,' he said.

It was not immediately clear what led Zuckerberg to believe there was dead-weight in the company's staff.

The memo from Saba appeared to be one of the first steps in that process, with many employees expressing fear that their jobs may be on the line in the face of layoffs.

'The reaction from folks that have seen this is that this will be used to create a bunch [of] 'performance improvement plans' that will result in mass layoffs,' an anonymous individual close to the matter told The Washington Post.

Employees are also worried about a reduction in promotions and shrunken bonuses, according to the Post.

'I think some of you might decide that this place isn't for you, and that self-selection is OK with me,' Zuckerberg told employees on the June call.

Facebook employees are also worried about a reduction in promotions and shrunken bonuses, according to the The Washington Post

At the end of 2021, Facebook reported that it had lost daily users for the first time since it was started 18 years ago.

The downturn comes after Apple introduced privacy policies on its devices intended to curb outside parties' ability to gather and sell user's data. Apps - including Facebook - were forced to ask people whether they wanted their activity tracked so they could receive targeted ads. Many declined, and gutted Facebook of that cornerstone source of income.

The company has also faced growing competition from other social media apps like TikTok, despite leaning heavily into its own short form video platform, Reels.

Profits at Facebook have also declined since it was rebranded Meta, following Zuckerberg's bet that the next era of the internet will be a virtual-reality based immersive experience known as the metaverse.

Zuckerberg has reportedly funned billions into making the metaverse a reality and ensuring that the company is at its forefront.

Profits at Facebook have also declined since it was rebranded Meta, following Zuckerberg's bet that the next era of the internet will be a virtual-reality based immersive experience known as the metaverse

Other cost-cutting measures at the Facebook offices have been the elimination of laundry and dry-cleaning services employees previously enjoyed, along with moving back the time free dinners are offered to late-working employees from 6pm to 6:30pm, according to The New York Times.

Those cuts come as Facebook employees largely returned to offices in March, leaving some displeased by the new lack of amenities they had grown used to in the days before the pandemic.

'As we return to the office, we've adjusted on-site services and amenities to better reflect the needs of our hybrid work force,' a spokesperson wrote in a statement to employees, according to The Times.

Many among the staff expressed their displeasure in a comments section on the statement, questioning whether they would be compensated in other ways and whether staff had been consulted on the matter.
Elon Musk's much-talked-about tiff with Donald Trump continued in full force this week - with the Tesla CEO this time taking to Twitter to question the ex-president's credibility and brain capacity.

The online barrage from Musk - who pulled out of $44b deal to buy the social media platform last week - saw the outspoken mogul slam Trump as a liar, and 'too old' to run for president.

The claims came in response to a recent appearance by the politician - who has repeatedly hinted at a second presidential run in 2024 - that saw him mock Musk by calling him a 'Bull***t artist.'

The insult was triggered by an assertion from Trump that Musk lied about voting for him during his ill-fated presidential run in 2020.

The accusation referred to a Tweet from Musk last month, which saw the South African businessman brag about voting for a Republican for the first time, casting a ballot for new Texas Congresswoman Maya Flores.

Trump seemingly took issue with the endorsement, and accused Musk of lying about his political allegiance at the Alaska event Saturday.

The pair had previously had been on good terms, with Trump previously calling Musk 'one of our great geniuses' and Musk welcoming his support when he was trying to reopen his Tesla plant in California during the pandemic.

However, last month on social media, Musk said he was leaning toward Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for his preferences for the upcoming president - a pseudo-endorsement that Trump may have taken as a slight.

Scroll down for video:

Elon Musk's much-talked-about tiff with Donald Trump continued in full force this week - with the Tesla CEO taking to Twitter to question the ex-president's credibility and brain capacity

The claims came in response to a recent appearance by Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, Saturday, that saw him mock Musk by calling him a bBull***t artist'

'You know he said the other day, "Oh, I've never voted for a Republican,"' Trump, 76, said at his Alaska rally, when speaking about Musk's Twitter deal falling through.

'I said, "I didn't know that. He told me he voted for me,"' he went on.

'So he's another bulls*** artist.'

Musk promptly replied to a post that shared the clip - along with an article titled 'Donald Trump: Elon Musk Told Me He Voted for Me' - to make his own bulls**t call on the president's claim.

'Not true,' Musk wrote, in an uncharacteristically succinct clap-back.

Musk also denied Trump's claim that he voted for him in the last election with a simple 'Not true'

The SpaceX CEO proceeded to further pan the politician, saying he should 'hang up his hat' and call it quits on his political career, due to his advanced age.

'I dont hate the man, but its time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset,' Musk, 51, wrote to his more than 100million followers.

'Dems should also call off the attack,' he went on to add, referring to the currently ongoing public hearings into the Jan 6 riots by a violent mob of Trumps supporters - an occurrence the left has been trying to pin on the former president.

'Dont make it so that Trumps only way to survive is to regain the Presidency,' Musk warned.

When one Twitter user questioned which of Trump's policies Musk took issue with, the mogul instead pointed to the politico's notorious no-nonsense - and at points plain brazen - approach to politics, which he said causes 'too much drama.'

The world's richest man replied to several tweets on the topic, saying Trump's presidency had 'too much drama' and was akin to a 'bull in a china shop'

'Yeah, but too much drama,' Musk wrote in response to the user's query. 'Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!?'

Musk then circled back to the topic of the president's age.

'Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69,' Musk wrote, before elaborating on the issue.

'Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.'

He added: 'If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win - he doesnt even need to campaign.'

The slew of posts also saw Musk agree with another Twitter user that the world has a 'serious issue with gerontocracy' - meaning the government is controlled by old people.

The South African billionaire was critical of presidents being to old, saying Trump at 82 would be 'too old to be chief executive of anything'

Musk, who now lives in Texas, said that he voted Republican for the first time in June's special election when he cast his ballot for Flores in her bid for the 34th congressional seat against Democrat Dan Sanchez.

'I voted for Mayra Flores  first time I ever voted Republican,' Musk tweeted June 15. Massive red wave in 2022.'

When a Twitter account called Tesla Owners Silicon Valley asked Musk if he was voting Republican in the 2024 presidential election, the Tesla CEO replied 'tbd.'

Trump has yet to respond to Musk's comments.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (left) said in June that he cast his first ever Republican ballot for Mayra Flores (right) in a Texas special election

At the rally in Anchorage, the politician accused Musk of shirking on his promised buyout of Twitter, which has been in talks since April but was abandoned due to mogul's reported concern over fake accounts on the platform.

Trump, who was booted from the site due to tweets that allegedly urged his supporters to protest the 2020 election during the January 6 riots, seemed unconvinced by that narrative.

Trump then encouraged those in the audience to instead use his own social media platform, Truth Social, which he founded after being booted from the platform last year.

Trump then encouraged those in the audience to instead use his own social media platform, Truth Social, which he founded after being from the platform last year.

'Elon. Elon,' Trump repeated, to clamorous applause. 'He's not going to buy Twitter.'

Trump then encouraged those in the audience to instead use his own social media platform, Truth Social, which he founded after being booted from the platform last year.

Earlier this week, the Republican gloated about Musk ending his efforts to buy Twitter, in a celebratory post.

'THE TWITTER DEAL IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE TRUTH,' he wrote, referring to his rival platform.

Meanwhile, Musk has seemed to take a liking to DeSantis - an increasingly popular political figure who has been compared to former President Trump due to no-nonsense policies, but without the legal and political baggage synonymous with the outspoken New Yorker

The post was liked close to 37,000 times, and shared more than 9,000 times on Truth, where Trump has 3.5 million followers.

Musk, meanwhile, shocked the world in May when he announced would be switching political allegiances for the next election, saying he would vote for the Republican due to liberal bias at Twitter.

Speaking via video link at a tech summit in Miami, Florida in May, hosted by the All-In podcast, Musk confirmed he would be changing his vote.

Earlier this week, Trump gloated about Elon Musk withdrawing his bid to buy Twitter on his rival social media network

'The reality is that Twitter at this point, you know, has a very far left bias,' Musk told attendees. 'I would classify myself as a moderate, neither Republican nor Democrat.'

Musk went on to assert that he has 'overwhelmingly' voted for Democrats in the past.

'I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically. Like I'm not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear,' Musk said.

He then declared: 'Now this election I will.'

Speaking via video link at a tech summit in Miami in May (pictured), hosted by the All-In podcast, Musk confirmed he would be voting Republican in the upcoming election

Meanwhile, Musk has seemed to take a liking to DeSantis - an increasingly popular political figure who has been compared to former President Trump due to no-nonsense policies, but without the legal and political baggage synonymous with the outspoken New Yorker.

Last year, Musk tweeted that he had spoken with DeSantis about digging tunnels under Miami to help improve traffic gridlock.

DeSantis, meanwhile, has expressed support for Musk's Twitter bid.

Speaking at a conference in Madeira Beach last month, DeSantis commented on news of Musks potential support with a joke that played off the billionaire's South African heritage.

'Im focused on 2022, but I welcome support from African Americans,' the conservative quipped to a reporter.

Musk has yet to officially endorse DeSantis.
At least one prisoner was killed and six others were injured after inmates rioted over alleged mistreatment at a jail in the eastern Dominican Republic city of Higuey on Monday.

Agustin Fernandez suffered a gunshot wound during the uprising at the Anamuya Correction and Rehabilitation Penitentiary, and was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Wander Baez and Robinson Martinez were among the six prisoners who suffered injuries and were treated at the same medical facility.

The revolt was provoked by a group of inmates who opposed a routine inspection of their jail cells Monday morning.

Still image from a cellphone video shows inmates seeking cover during Monday's riot that left one prisoner dead and six others injured at the Anamuya Correction and Rehabilitation Penitentiary in Higuey, Dominican Republic

A prisoner at the Anamuya Correction and Rehabilitation Penitentiary places a cloth over the head of Carlos Mercedes, a guard, who was held hostage during Monday's riot that left one inmate dead and six others with injuries

The Anamuya Correction and Rehabilitation Penitentiary houses 992 inmates. Guards at the jail were set to conduct a routine search of the cells when the inmates revolted Monday morning

Jail guards at the Anamuya Correction and Rehabilitation Penitentiary were scheduled to conduct revisions of the cells that house 992 prisoners when a group of inmates revolted.

The prisoners kidnapped one of the officers, Carlos Mercedes, for several hours. He suffered head bruises and received care at the same hospital as the inmates.

Video captured by a detainee and uploaded to social media showed one prisoner checking Mercedes pockets before they stood him up.

Several prisoners then hurried over and appeared ready to assault Mercedes when another inmate instructed them not to do so.

Order was restored Monday afternoon after the director of the Dominican Republic's prison system negotiated the release of a guard who was held hostage during a riot

Another video that was also taken by an inmate showed some of the detainees armed with sharp weapons while others set fire to mattresses and other objects along a hallway surrounded by cells.

Inmates could be heard yelling at cameras alleging mistreatment, beatings and that guards would allow them out of their cells late in the day and then force them back inside earlier than usual.

Hilda Lagombra, director of the Dominican Republics Correction and Rehabilitation Centers, negotiated Mercedes' transfer.

Three inmates eventually turned him over to authorities before order was restored around 3pm and met with jail officials to go over their concerns.

What they want is for the abuse that is being committed against the inmates to end, Mercedes said, as quoted by Dominican newspaper Diario Libre. They (the guards) do a lot of inspections and beat them up.
Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon tells MPs she was informed the broadcaster would be privatised 'minutes' before Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted the government's decision.

Ms Mahon, who was asked during a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee meeting how much notice she was given regarding the privatisation decision, said: 'The first discussion on this was April last year.

'It was quite short notice for us and unexpected when the consultation was launched and, as you know, the final decision was released by tweet in recess on April 4  that was quite sudden notice.

'We were informed a number of minutes beforehand.'

She later added: 'I think it was disappointing in terms of process but I don't think it indicates a substantial breakdown (in communications).

'It probably indicates a decision having been made and communicated rapidly.'

Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon tells MPs she was informed the broadcaster would be privatised 'minutes' before Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted the government's decision. Pictured today giving evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee in the House of Commons

Ms Mahon said 'important' programming such as the Paralympics and Dispatches would not be shown on a privatised Channel 4.

The Government decided to proceed with plans to privatise the broadcaster in April following concerns for its survival in the streaming era.

During a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee on Tuesday, Ms Mahon said Channel 4 is one of the most innovative broadcasters in the world but added this is hard to achieve in the pursuit of profit.

'I think delivering remit while optimising profit is very hard because that sort of innovation and distinctiveness is hard to do while seeking to maximise for profit because it involves taking significant creative risks on new talent, on social diverse topics and things that might not work which we are very motivated to do,' she said.

Ms Mahon continued: 'A simple example would be the Paralympics. We know evidentially that other commercial broadcasters did not bid for the Paralympics when Channel 4 did, I know that it is expensive to do, we believe it to be very important work.

'We seek to continue to innovate. At the last Paralympics we covered every sport, at the Winter Paralympics we sent a fully disabled presenting team, these are big things to do.

'They don't make money, but they are very important things to do and you could apply that to a whole list of other shows we do from Peter Kosminsky's The Undeclared War to Dispatches about Ukraine and Life Under Attack, these are things we do that you would not do if you were commercially optimising.'

Mahon added that Channel 4 are 'fighting for something' in terms of remit and are not 'trying to fight against anything.'

She said: 'At the moment the white paper is silent on the question of what Channel 4's remit might be under another construct.

'Channel 4 is about creating programming, having an impact on the UK that champions unheard voices, takes bold and innovative risks, conspires change in the way people lead their everyday lives and particularly to stand up for diversity and for young people which can be from all kinds of things from representing the old to representing Paralympians and diversity.

'At this point I am not confident that legislation would preserve these important purposes of Channel 4 but of course we are yet to see it.'

Ms Mahon, who used to run private enterprises before taking the helm of Channel 4, said she is 'very familiar with how to profit maximise' detailing what a CEO would do to Channel 4 if it were to be privatised.

'The first thing to go would be the supply chain across the UK because I wouldn't have to do it for the legislation. We currently work with around 300 companies across the UK, I would bring that in-house and I would centralise it in the south-east because it's more cost efficient, so I would reverse decades of work.

Ms Mahon said 'important' programming such as the Paralympics and Dispatches would not be shown on a privatised Channel 4. Pictured, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who tweeted about the privatisation plans

'I would close those nations and regions offices, they are expensive and I would bring that back to London, I would cut the skills and training that is wonderful for young people, but it is not wonderful for profitability.

'And I would change the commissioning strategy, the kinds of programmes we buy in order to de-risk it, so that would mean I wouldn't do the creative innovation anymore.

'It would mean on television you wouldn't have seen the Paralympics, Derry Girls, It's A Sin or even Gogglebox, certainly not documentaries we make about the rise of Putin or the war in Ukraine,' she said.

Chief operating officer Jonathan Allan added: 'This question around Channel 4 is not just about us, it's about the ecosystem of television in the UK.

'We have some of the best TV in the world. We feel the Channel 4 brand and the programming we produce is a vital and important part of that ecosystem, but it is something to celebrate.'

The committee also heard the Channel 4 annual report was 'running a little late' because the Government tried to intervene and change the wording, Ms Mahon said.

When asked if the Government is trying to rewrite the report to make privatisation more desirable, Ms Mahon added: 'We provided the complete annual report on May 23 to the DCMS and there have been some delays to the normal process.

'It is fair to say that the DCMS made some comments that they would have preferred to see in the report, particularly about our future financial sustainability. They have now agreed that the report can be submitted to Parliament in the normal course without any changes. I think it is the first time adjustments had been requested.'
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The family has been notified that Murdaugh, 63, will be charged this week. A grand jury will be shown evidence on Thursday

South Carolina legal heir Alex Murdaugh will be charged with the 2021 murders of his wife and son this week, one year after they were found shot dead on the family's property in a shocking double killing that was the beginning of the end for the dynasty family.

The family has been notified that Murdaugh, 54, will be charged this week. A grand jury will be shown evidence on Thursday.

It's unclear what that evidence is, or why it has taken so long for police to bring charges against Murdaugh.

The legal heir remains in county jail on fraud and embezzlement charges relating to the money he stole from his law firm and a failed attempt to stage his own murder as part of a $10million life insurance scam for his son.

None of Murdaugh's attorney immediately responded to requests on Tuesday afternoon.

His younger brother told The Post and Courier that the family 'wants the truth'.

Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found dead in their family home last summer in a mystifying crime that was the beginning of a long, legal saga for the rich South Carolina family.

Since then, Alex has been charged with trying to commit life insurance scams and questions have arisen over the family's dark past.

Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were found shot dead on the grounds of the family home on June 7. Maggie was killed with an assault rifle, whereas Paul had been killed with a shotgun. Both were shot multiple times.

Alex called 911, claiming through tears and screams that he'd just returned home to find them there.

No other suspects have ever been named and SLED - the State Law Enforcement Division - has always been tight-lipped on whether or not Alex had an alibi.

In the months that followed, it emerged that Murdaugh had embezzled money from his law firm to fund his opioid addiction.

He then tried to stage his own murder in a life insurance scam to benefit his surviving son, Buster, hiring would-be hitman Curtis Smith to shoot him on the side of the road.

Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found dead at the family home on June 7, 2021. Alex Murdaugh called 911 claiming he found them there, shot dead. No other suspects have ever been named

The shocking murders on the family's grounds last year were the beginning of a twisted web of murder and crime. Above, the grounds on June 8, the day after Maggie and Paul were found dead

Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were found shot dead on the grounds of the family home on June 7. Maggie was killed with an assault rifle, whereas Paul had been killed with a shotgun. Both were shot multiple times

Buster Murdaugh is photographed being comforted at the funeral for his mother and brother on June 11

Buster, Alex Murdaugh's surviving son, was exclusively photographed by DailyMail.com as the legal dynasty began to unravel last year. He said he'd been touch with his father but would not give any further comment.

In the months before her murder, Maggie Murdaugh - a regular fixture in Charleston society - had reportedly been meeting with divorce attorneys.

Friends said she had become embarrassed that her checks at charity luncheons were bouncing. She is believed to have then discovered that her husband had squandered their money on prescription pills.

''She confronted him about money more than once and his response was always the same, ''Leave it to me. I'll figure it out just like I did the last time,"' one source told DailyMail.com.

Alex Murdaugh was drowning in debt; his account balances at one bank were negative hundreds of thousands of dollars and the family was being sued for the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, a teenager who drowned after being thrown from a boat Paul was driving drunk in 2019.

In light of the murders of Maggie and Paul, the family's dark history came into question.

TIMELINE OF MURDAUGH FAMILY MURDERS, SCANDALS AND CRIMES JUNE 7, 2021: Maggie and Paul Murdaugh are found shot dead at the family home. Alex claims he found them dead outside dog kennel and calls 911 JUNE 17: Alex Murdaugh's brothers go on Good Morning America to protest his innocence. Family later offers $100k reward for information SEPTEMBER 3: Alex Murdaugh quietly resigns from his law firm SEPTEMBER 4: Murdaugh calls 911 claiming he has been shot in the head SEPTEMBER 6: Murdaugh publicly announces resignation and checks into rehab. The law firm then announces that he has stolen millions over the years he spent working there SEPTEMBER 14: Curtis Smith is charged with helping Murdaugh in a staged murder plot. He tells cops Murdaugh hired him to shoot him on September 4 as part of a plan for him to be killed and give his son Buster a $10million life insurance payout SEPTEMBER 15: Cops open investigation in 2018 death of housekeeper Gloria Satterfield SEPTEMBER 16: Murdaugh surrenders to police OCTOBER 14: Murdaugh is charged with stealing life insurance money from housekeeper Gloria Satterfield's kids JULY 2022: Reports Murdaugh will face charges for the murders of his wife and son Advertisement

It emerged that in 2018, the Murdaugh family housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died three weeks after falling in their home.

Her sons sued the family for insurance money - which Alex encouraged them to do - then later sued him directly claiming that he stole the insurance money he promised them.

Before his death, Paul Murdaugh was also involved in a fatal boating accident that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

He was driving the boat drunk when it crashed and she was thrown into the water.

Murdaugh's life quickly unraveled after the deaths of his wife and son. Days later, his father - who had served as an attorney in the area for decades - died.

In the absence of any other suspects, suspicion quickly turned to Alex but his family stood by him. His brothers appeared on Good Morning America to protest his innocence.

The family put up a $100,000 reward for information that could lead to Maggie and Paul's killers.

In a statement at the time, a grieving Alex said: 'I want to thank everyone for the incredible love and support that we have received over the last few weeks.

'Now is the time to bring justice for Maggie and Paul. Buster and I, along with Maggie's mother, father and our entire family, ask that anyone with helpful information should immediately call the SLED tip line or Crime Stoppers.'

It wasn't until September that the tide started to turn against him.

On September 3, he quietly resigned from the law firm he'd served for years, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth, & Detrick.

Before that - on September 4 - Murdaugh called 911 reporting that he had just been shot on the side of the road.

He said he had no idea who had attacked him, and claimed it happened while he was changing a tire.

In his 911 call, which DailyMail.com obtained an audio recording of he told police he was 'bleeding' from the head.

On September 6, his resignation from the law firm became public along with the allegations that he had stolen millions over the years.

Murdaugh is currently in jail on fraud and embezzlement charges relating to the $8.5million he stole from his law firm. He always claimed that he came home to find Maggie and Paul (right) shot dead at the family home last June

Buster, Alex Murdaugh's surviving son, was exclusively photographed by DailyMail.com as the legal dynasty began to unravel last year. He said he'd been touch with his father but would not give any further comment

Murdaugh housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, left, died after a fall in the family home in 2018. Mallory Beach, 19, was killed in an accident on a boat Paul Murdaugh was driving

Curtis Smith told police that Murdaugh hired him to kill him as part of a staged murder plot that would win his surviving son Buster $10million in life insurance money

He entered rehab at the same time, revealing a crippling addiction to prescription painkillers.

Curtis Smith, the hitman he allegedly hired to kill him, was then arrested and his insurance scam plot was revealed; Smith told police that Alex wanted him to kill him and have it look like a murder so that his surviving son, Buster, would receive a $10million life insurance payout.

Murdaugh surrendered himself to police in September.

Weeks later, SLED announced it was criminally investigating the death of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaughs' housekeeper who died after a fall in 2018, and claims that Alex stole insurance money that was intended for her children.

He was then charged with theft for allegedly stealing the $3million set aside for the pair.

In recent weeks, Murdaugh has been communicating with Buster through phone calls from the county jail, where he has complained about conditions.

But in one call from December, Buster was more concerned about the authorities lawfully carrying out warrants than he was with the extent of his father's alleged crimes.

'I understand that youve done some illegal s**t,' Buster told his father, to which he shot back: 'Allegedly done some illegal stuff.'
Rep. Liz Cheney on Tuesday accused former President Trump of witness tampering by revealing that he had tried to contact a witness who was set to testify before the committee.

'After our last hearing, President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation. A witness you have not yet seen in these hearings,' Cheney said during Tuesday's Jan. 6 committee hearing, without revealing a name. 'That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump's call, and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. Their lawyer alerted us. And this committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice. '

'Let me say one more time we will take any efforts to influence witness testimony very seriously,' the Wyoming Republican and ranking member on the Jan. 6 committee said.

Cheney also claimed it was 'nonsense' to argue that former President Trump was misled into believing the election had been stolen from him as the Jan. 6 committee played testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone claiming he told Trump to concede after Dec. 14.

The congresswoman said the committee had seen a 'change' in how Trump-allied witnesses and lawyers had approached the committee's investigation

'Today, there appears to be a general recognition that the committee has established key facts including that virtually everyone close to President Trump - his Justice Department officials, his White House advisors, his White House Counsel, his campaign - all told him the 2020 election was not stolen,' Cheney said.

She said this had forced Trump's attorneys to 'change the strategy' for defending him. 'Now the argument seems to be that President Trump was manipulated by others outside the administration that he was persuaded to ignore his closest advisors and that he was incapable of telling right from wrong.'

Rep. Liz Cheney said that former White House Pat Cipollone's testimony 'met expectations' while she claimed it was 'nonsense' to argue that former President Trump was misled into believing the election had been stolen from him

'This new strategy is to try to blame only John Eastman or Sidney Powell or Congressman Scott Perry or others and not President Trump. ... This, of course, is nonsense. President Trump is a 76 year old man. He is not an impressionable child.'

Cheney also said that former White House counsel Pat Cipollone's testimony 'met our expectations.' She said the focus of Tuesday's hearing would be on election fraud claims in the weeks between the November election and Jan. 6.

Excerpts from Cipollone's deposition, which was videotaped, were shown at Tuesday's hearing.

The committee played a clip where Cipollone told them that by mid-December he had urged the former president to give up his election fraud claims after court after court ruled against him.

'Did I believe he should concede the election at a point in time? Yes I did.'

The former White House counsel said that former Vice President Mike Pence deserved a Medal of Freedom for resisting Trump's orders and certifying the election in favor of Joe Biden on Jan. 6.

'I think the Vice President did the right thing. I think he did the courageous thing. I have a great deal of respect for him.'

Multiple accounts suggest Cipollone and his team threatened the ex-president with resignations in the face of his election fraud claims.

He reportedly made his skepticism of Trump and his allies' plot abundantly clear to the committee.

Cipollone said that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who has refused to testify before the committee, told him there was no widespread evidence of fraud and Trump should concede.

Cipollone was asked if Meadows assured him Trump would make a graceful exit.

'I would say that is a statement and a sentiment that I heard from Mark Meadows...It wasn't a one-time statement.'

Ivanka Trump, the former president's daughter, and Kayleigh McEnany, his press secretary, both said they believed the fight was over after legal battles concluded unsuccessfully in mid-December, as the committee tried to drive home the point that trusted members of Trump's inner circle were not on his side with election fraud, and he chose to ignore them.

'In my view upon the conclusion of litigation I began to plan for life after the administration,' McEnany said.

In response to the Justice Department's finding there was no fraud, Ivanka said: 'I think it was my sentiment, probably prior as well.'

Cipollone said he 'supported that conclusion' made by Attorney General Bill Barr that there was no widespread fraud.

Excerpts from Cipollone's deposition, which was videotaped, were shown at Tuesday's hearing

Cipollone said that he got a call on Dec. 18 that a number of outside advisers had made their way to the president's office to discuss election fraud.

The meeting included Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor, Sidney Powell, Michael Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock.com, a close ally of the ex-president's who previously dated a Russian spy.

'I saw Gen. Flynn. I saw Sidney Powell sitting there. I was not happy to see the people in the Oval Office..... First of all, the Overstock person, I didn't even know who this guy was ... I looked at him and said, 'who are you?''

Powell said she had no idea if they could get a private audience with the president, but a lower level staffer led them to his office. Then, Cipollone came running.

'I bet Pat Cipollone set a new land speed record,' Powell said in a clip played from her testimony.'

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the committee had spoken to six participants in that Dec. 18 election fraud meeting.

'What ensued was a heated and profane' argument, Raskin said, that included 'challenges to physically fight.'

In a clip of Trump's former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani's testimony, he says he told the White House lawyers they weren't 'tough enough' and that they were a 'bunch of p***ies' for claiming there was not enough evidence of election fraud.

Raskin said that after the unhinged meeting, Trump sent out a tweet calling on his supporters to come to the Capitol on Jan. 6: 'It will be wild,' Trump wrote.

Stephen Ayres, left, one of the January 6 committee's two Tuesday witnesses who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, said that he did not plan on going to the US Capitol when he attended Donald Trump's 'Stop The Steal' rally on the White House ellipse

Stephen Ayres, who pleaded guilty last in June 2022 to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, shakes hands with Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges

Cipollone tore into Trump attorney Sidney Powell's idea for Trump to sign an executive order to seize voting machines the Trump team believed were linked to fraud.

'At some point you have to put up or shut up, that was my view. To have the federal government seize voting machines? That's a terrible idea for the country. That's not how we do things in the US. There's no legal authority to do that,' Cipollone said.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said that when Trump brought him a draft executive order to seize voting machines across the nation, he shot it down immediately.

'Some people say we can get to the bottom of this if the department sees the machines -i t was his typical way of raising the point,' Barr said in his videotaped deposition.

'I said absolutely not. There is no probable cause, we are not going to seize any machines.'

Cipollone added: 'I don't understand why we even have to tell you that's a bad idea. It's a bad idea.'

Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy then displayed text messages obtained from former Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson where she raised red flags to Meadows about how the Jan. 6 'Save America' rally could get out of hand.

She said that Trump loved the 'crazies' which was why some of them were speaking at his rally.

'He loved people who viciously defended him in public,' Pierson said in recorded testimony about her texts, expressing particular concern about right-wing commentators Alex Jones and Ali Alexander.

After a break, Stephen Ayres, one of the January 6 committee's two Tuesday witnesses who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, said that he did not plan on going to the US Capitol when he attended Donald Trump's 'Stop The Steal' rally on the White House ellipse.

Asked why he changed his mind, Ayres said: 'The president got everybody riled up we were just following what he said.'

He said it was Trump's urging on social media that made him want to come to Washington, DC that day.

Ayres said that he did not decide to leave until Trump tweeted asking rioters to go home in the late afternoon. Other witnesses have said they urged Trump to publicly call off the rioters much earlier.

'Basically, when President Trump put his tweet out, we literally left right after that come out,' Ayres said. 'You know, to me, if he would have done that earlier in a day 1:30 I, you know, we wouldn't be in this, maybe we wouldn't be in this bad situation or so.'

Ayres, who no longer believes the election was stolen from Trump, said it 'makes me mad' that Trump is still promoting since-debunked election fraud claims.

'I was hanging on every word. He was saying everything he was putting out I was following it. I mean, if I was doing it, hundreds of thousands or millions of other people were doing it or maybe even still doing it.'

Ayres said he felt like he had 'horse blinders on.' 'I was locked in the whole time, he said. Ayres pled guilty to charges for joining the riot that day but has not yet been sentenced.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin gave a chilling summary.

'The Watergate break-in was like a Cub Scout meeting compared to this assault on our people and institutions,' Raskin said. He promised next week's hearing 'will be a moment of reckoning'

It's the panel's seventh hearing, and the only one expected this week after former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson claimed last week that Trump directed his supporters toward the Capitol while knowing they were armed, and got into a physical altercation with his security detail when Secret Service agents stopped him from joining the mob.

Meanwhile, Raskin told NBC News that Cipollone corroborated 'almost everything' that came up in the panel's last six hearings, including Hutchinson's explosive account.

'He had the opportunity to say whatever he wanted to say, so I didn't see any contradiction there,' the Maryland Democrat said.

He and fellow Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy will lead Tuesday's hearing.

Meanwhile, the January 6 committee will meet with former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne behind closed doors at the end of this week, it was reported Tuesday.

Byrne is a close ally of Donald Trump's and was present at a White House meeting on December 18 in which the then-president and a group of formal and informal advisers discussed ways to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, CNN reports.

He was forced to step down from his position as chief executive of the online furniture store in 2019 after disclosing that he was romantically involved with a woman who was convicted of being a Russian spy, Maria Butina.

The December 18 meeting will be a focus of Tuesday afternoon's hearing for the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

There are reportedly no parameters set for Byrne's Friday meeting with lawmakers.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the January 6 committee for confirmation.

The committee's normal process involves a closed-door deposition as its first step before any possible consideration of a public hearing.

Tuesday's report does not make clear whether it's Byrne's first time before the panel, or if he will be bound under oath.

Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock, will meet with the January 6 committee behind closed doors, CNN reported

He's a close ally of former President Donald Trump and reportedly helped push his 2020 election fraud lies

The former chief executive has been accused of actively pushing Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was 'rigged' in favor of President Joe Biden.

Byrne stepped down from his position at Overstock after disclosing his romance with convicted Russian spy Maria Butina

Alongside Byrne, the Oval Office meeting was attended by former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as his disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The meeting was described to CNN as 'forceful,' having erupted into 'fighting' and shouting matches as White House officials clashed with the ex-president's conspiracy theorist allies.

Ideas floated at the meeting included seizing voting machines for government inspection and installing Powell as a special counsel to investigate election fraud, committee aides have said.

Byrne's attendance at the meeting was not disclosed until Tuesday.
Mourners gathered for funeral services on Tuesday for the mother of a 2-year-old boy who lost both his parents in the Highland Park shooting.

Irina McCarthy, 35, and Kevin McCarthy, 37, died along the parade route on the Fourth of July after a gunman opened fire, killing seven and wounding more than 30.

The couple are survived by their toddler son, Aiden McCarthy, who was rescued from under his father's body during the massacre.

Irina's family and friends spoke during her funeral in Wilmette, Illinois, and warmly remembered her as a woman with a big heart who quickly dove into marriage and motherhood.

The speakers promised to care for her son, Aiden, and ensure that he will remember his parents through stories. Many noted how his cheerful attitude and smile resembles that of his mother.

'(Aiden) will be cared for by all of us," said Vic Lichtenberg, a friend of Irina's parents. 'He will have a family, a home and hell thrive and grow with us. Every moment, every time I look at that child, I see Irina.'

Brittany Chisum, Irina's friend since the second grade, recalls the late mother as being a devoted wife and mother who claimed she and her husband were obsessed with their son Aiden.

'I promise to always be there for Aiden ... We, as your closest friends, are going to spend the rest of our lives honoring your memory so Aiden knows what amazing parents he had,' Chisum said.

Information regarding Kevin's funeral hasn't been released yet.

Irina McCarthy, 35, (left) and Kevin McCarthy, 37, (right) were among the seven people killed in Highland Park, Illinois, on the Fourth of July

Mourners embrace as they arrive at the funeral for Irina on Tuesday at Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home in Wilmette, Illinois

Mourners hug as they walk into the funeral home. Irnia was killed in the Highland Park mass shooting that killed seven and left more than 30 injured

Mourners hugged outside the funeral home while preparing to lay Irina to rest. Speakers at her funeral pledged to take care of her son, Aiden

Highland Park, Illinois, Mayor Nancy Rotering (second from left), and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (center) arrive at the funeral for Irina on Tuesday

The hearse carrying the casket of McCarthy leaves the funeral home after the services completed. Friends and family of Kevin and Irina pledged to tell their son, Aiden, stories about the deceased couple

During the July 4 massacre, Lauren Silva and her boyfriend found the two-year-old after they decided to run towards the commotion from a parking garage a few blocks away, Silva told The Daily Beast.

'We were just opening the door to walk up the stairs and we heard itboom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,' she told the Beast. 'And it sounded like someone was, like, pounding on the glass doors.'

Silva pulled two-year-old Aiden out from under his father Kevin's remains as he asked her 'Is my momma and dadda coming back?' Aiden survived the shooting after his father shielded him with his own body.

Silva, herself a mother-of-two, brought Aiden to a nearby parking garage to shield him from the unraveling aftermath. She had left her own children at home that morning.

Aiden was handed off to a bystander, Dana Ruder Ring, who cared for Aiden until 8 p.m. on July 4. A photo Ring posted of the Aiden went viral and helped reunite the boy with his family.

Aiden McCarthy, 2, (pictured) survived the hail of bullets Monday after his father, Kevin McCarthy, shielded him with his own body

Lauren Silva, right, and boyfriend Tom Brooks, left, found orphaned Aiden McCarthy under his father Kevin's body

Aiden has been placed in the care of his grandparents, Misha and Nina Levberg.

Following the shooting, a GoFundMe was set up to help pay the necessary expenses to care for Aiden. As of Tuesday morning, more than $3 million has been donated.

'At two years old, Aiden is left in the unthinkable position; to grow up without his parents,' GoFundMe organizer, Irina Colon, wrote on the page.

'Aiden will be cared for by his loving family and he will have a long road ahead to heal, find stability, and ultimately navigate life as an orphan.

'He is surrounded by a community of friends and extended family that will embrace him with love, and any means available to ensure he has everything he needs as he grows.'

The GoFundMe page was established to help Aiden's grandparents with 'raising, caring for and supporting' him and has already raised over $3 million

Local man Bobby Crimo III, 21, was arrested for the shooting on July 4 that left Kevin and Irina among the seven dead.

He allegedly committed the crime shortly after the parade started after 10 a.m. from a rooftop along the parade route.

Crimo disguised as a woman to escape the scene as people panicked around him, police said.

Bobby Crimo opened fire at 10.14am on Monday, barely 15 minutes into the parade. He then fled the scene dressed like a woman. Police arrested him eight hours later

He confessed to the attack after police arrested him eight hours after the shooting.

Crimo was charged with seven counts of murder last week, and prosecutors say they plan to follow up with attempted murder charges for each wounded victim.

The other five deceased victims include Stephen Straus, 88; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacki Sundheim, 63; Nicholas Toledo Zaragoza, 78, and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69.
A Walgreens clerk in Wisconsin refused to sell condoms to a married couple on vacation during the Fourth of July weekend, telling them it was because of this faith.

Jessica Pentz, 38, and her husband Nate, who were on a trip from Minneapolis, said they stopped by the Walgreens in Hayward to pick up groceries and condoms, the Star Tribune reported.

But when Pentz got to the checkout, a clerk who she said was named John, refused to ring up the condoms, telling her: 'I can't sell those to you.'

She added that he then went on to say: 'Well, we can sell that to you but I will not, because of my faith.'

Although Walgreens apologized for the incident, the pharmacy chain said employees are allowed to step away from the register if they have a moral objection to a customer's purchase.

The Wisconsin incident came just three days after TikToker Abigail Martin said a Walgreens employee refused to refill her birth control prescription.

Nate and Jessica Pentz (above) said a clerk at a Wisconsin Walgreens refused to sell them condoms on July 4 because his faith demanded it

Nate recounted the incident on Twitter, with Jessica calling the incident embarrassing

Walgreens issued an apology to the married couple, but the company maintains its policy allowing workers to step away from the register if they have a moral objection to a purchase

Pentz said she was embarrassed when the Walgreens employee refused to sell her the condoms, prompting her to tell him that her purchases were 'none of your business.'

'He said, 'Well I'm sorry, this is what my faith demands,'' Pentz told the Tribune.

Pentz said the incident reminded her of the case centered around Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, where the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that bakery owner Jack Phillips had the right to refuse service to a gay couple based on his religious beliefs.

'I feel bad that I thought, 'It won't happen to me,'' Pentz told the Tribune. 'But it did. It could happen to anyone.'

Although a manager was able to come ring up their purchases, Nate wrote about the incident on Twitter, prompting Walgreens to apologize to the couple.

'I am truly sorry for the difficulty that you experienced during this recent visit to Walgreens,' a Walgreens rep wrote. 'I've shared your concerns with leadership.'

Management at the Hayward store declined to comment, with Walgreens issuing a statement reiterating its policy in these types of situations.

'Our company policy allows team members to step away from completing a transaction to which they have a moral objection and refer the transaction to a fellow team member or manager who will complete the customer's request.'

The incident allegedly took place at the Walgreens in Hayward, Wisconsin (pictured)

Meanwhile, Abigail Martin, suggested that a Walgreens worker at a different, unnamed store, refused to refill her birth control prescription because of her religious beliefs

Meanwhile, Abigail Martin, suggested that a Walgreens worker at a different, unnamed store, refused to refill her birth control prescription because of her religious beliefs.

Martin, who boasts more than 882,000 followers, shared her story on July 1, when she said an employee at her local Walgreens gave her trouble picking up a refill on her birth control.

'I don't want to be biased against any religion, but the lady that was helping me was older, she was one of the only people working there, they weren't busy, and she had two crosses, not one, but two crosses hanging around her neck,' Martin says in the video.

'When I told her what I was there for, my birth control, she looks me up and down and goes, 'Hmm.' Like, excuse me?

Martin double-checked with her provider that everything was fine for her prescription, and when she returned the following day to pick up her overdue birth control, another employee allegedly told her the store has been having trouble with that employee.

Martin said another employee told her that her local Walgreens has been having trouble giving women their birth control because of the worker Martin encountered during her first visit

Martin condemned the employee's alleged actions following the Supreme Court's recent ruling to overturn women's federal right to abortion

'They've been having a problem with women not being able to get their birth control for the last two weeks,' Martin said.

'So first, they want us to stop getting pregnant and having abortions, and then, they don't want to help us prevent that pregnancy,' she added, referencing the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last month.

'I've been trying to keep this video lighthearted, but access to healthcare should be a right and this should not be happening.'

During a follow-up visit to finally pick up her prescription, Martin said she was told that 'the situation has been dealt' and that the employee's alleged actions were not being tolerated at the store.

Walgreens did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment on Martin's case.
Russia is warning that new tests of its deadly hypersonic Satan-2 missile are imminent and on the brink of going into 'serial production.'

Vladimir Putin's space chief Dmitry Rogozin has been seen inspecting the giant weapon as it was taken into a forest by rail.

'The world's most powerful global-range nuclear-tipped missile is being prepared for new tests and serial production,' said Mr Rogozin.

The major new tests of Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile mean it has already been suggested that it be deployed in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin's space chief Dmitry Rogozin (left) inspects the giant weapon

Last month he said the doomsday weapon, also called Sarmat, was already in mass production.

Russia state TV and politicians have regularly suggested deploying the missile during the Ukraine crisis.

The Roscosmos chief recently visited the Krasmash defence plant in Krasnoyarsk, in eastern Siberia, to inspect the process of producing Sarmat for flight tests.

The Krasmash defence plant in Krasnoyarsk, eastern Siberia produces Sarmat for flight tests. Pictured: Kura training ground with missile craters

The Roscosmos chief recently visited the Krasmash defence plant in Krasnoyarsk, eastern Siberia, to inspect the process of producing Sarmat. Pictured: Head of Russian space agency Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin

Mr Rogozin highlighted a 26ft deep crater made at the Kura test site by the missile without a nuclear warhead Pictured: Kura training ground with missile crater circled

The first and so far only test launch of a silo-based Satan-2 was on 20 April from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

Russia building new laser weapon to disable foreign satellites Russia is developing a new laser system in the Greater Caucasus mountain range that will disable foreign satellites passing over Russian territory, an open-source investigation published last week by The Space Review found. Construction of the Kalina project, which started in 2011, is underway in the Krona space surveillance complex located at the Chapal mountain peak, the report found by analyzing recent satellite imagery from Google Earth and documents from Russian industrial contractors. Kalina's goal, as written in a bank guarantee document from January 2014, is 'creating a system for the functional suppression of electro-optical systems of satellites' using lasers. The 'space security complex,' as it is described in a 2017 document, is a 'special quantum-optical system' to be used for 'electro-optical warfare,' according to Precision Instrument Systems (NPK SPP), a Russian scientific and industrial corporation, who was given the contract for the project by the Russian Defence Ministry. Kalina features a new telescope used to accurately aim laser beams at satellites, housed in a specially-constructed building built to withstand earthquakes up to magnitude seven. The laser beams are routed via mirrors and enter and the telescope through an opening on its side, after which they are reflected back, causing them to form an image of the targeted object in a detector. The project has been delayed several times and progress has been extremely slow, the report noted, citing a newsletter published by the contractors in 2016. One possible setback came in the form of the liquidation of NPTs Femto, the company tasked with developing an adaptive optics system for the project, in 2021. Kalina was also likely delayed by the economic sanctions imposed on Russia since the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the more-recent wave of sanctions imposed by the West due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Kalina is the latest of a new generation of Russian laser systems developed in recent years including a mobile laser system first announced by President Vladimir Putin in 2018 which Moscow said had advanced so far it could blind orbiting satellites and destroy drones. Source: The Jerusalem Post Advertisement

Despite this, Russia is committed to commissioning the missile with the country's strategic rocket forces by the end of the year.

In April, close Putin ally Mr Rogozin said there would be 'a few more tests to prove the systems compliance with the technical parameters set by the chief client - the Defence Ministry'.

He has also said it would be commissioned no later than autumn which suggests there will be several upcoming tests.

Mr Rogozin has said the hypersonic 208-ton 15,880mph missile is 'on schedule'.

The weapon is about the size of a 14-storey tower block and Mr Rogozin has said that Satan-2 is far ahead of anything the West has.

He said recently: 'As for technical performance, what they have in their arsenal certainly lags behind what we have.

'They lag especially far behind in terms of the designed capabilities of our Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile, which have been confirmed in the first test launch.'

The space chief also claimed that when he was at the production facility of the missile, which he called the 'Doomsday Plant', he was at the 'safest place in the world'.

'We are standing under the cover of the formidable Sarmat, created with great love and respect by our military factories and assembled at Krasmash to continue its flight design tests.

'This is the safest place on Earth.'

Putin has said the missile would ensure Russia's security and make 'those fierce people who are trying to threaten it' think twice.

There would be 'no analogues to this weapon in the world for a long time to come'.

After the April launch, Mr Rogozin highlighted a 26ft deep crater made at the Kura test site by the missile without a nuclear warhead.

'With a nuclear charge, such a crater at an enemy site will bewell, very large and very deep - and radioactive.

'And not just one, but exactly as many as the most powerful nuclear missile in the world will deliver to the territory of a fierce enemy.

'And we will soon have almost 50 such Sarmats (the missile is called Satan-2 in the West) on combat duty.

'It remains only to advise the aggressors to talk more politely with Russia.'

Mr Rogozin himself has previously threatened to unleash Sarmat on the West.

He mocked an alleged report that Boris Johnson had threatened to deploy Britain's nuclear missiles without consulting NATO.

Mr Rogozin threatened: 'Boris, if 'Sarmat' is used, none of you will 'consult with each other'.

'And there will be no one to style your hair, Mr. Prime Minister.'
The Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said his office didn't hear a 'whisper' about the 10-year-old girl who allegedly had to leave the state in order to get an abortion, and said there's 'no biological evidence' of the case as a rape kit was not performed.

Yost, 65, told Fox News' Jesse Watters that a police report was never filed involving a 10-year-old rape victim and that the office 'works closely' with law enforcement, indicating that he would have known about it if one was filed.

'We have regular contact with prosecutors and local police and sheriffs, not a whisper anywhere,' he told Fox News.

'Even more telling, Jesse, my office runs the state crime lab. Any case like this, you're going to have a rape kit, you're going to have biological evidence, and you'd be looking for DNA analysis,' he said on Monday. 'There is no case request for analysis that looks anything like this.'

The case made national headlines soon after the Indianapolis Star, an Indiana-based publication, reported a little girl had to cross state lines to receive an abortion because she was denied one in Ohio. An Indianapolis gynecologist claimed an Ohio abuse doctor got in contact with her hours after the Supreme Court's controversially overturned Roe v. Wade.

The child was allegedly six weeks and three days pregnant - therefore, ineligible by just three days to receive the procedure in her home state.

Abortion advocates in the state attempted to halt Ohio's six-week abortion ban, but the effort was denied by a judge on Friday.

The Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, 65, said his office didn't hear a 'whisper' about the 10-year-old girl who allegedly got an abortion in Indiana, and said there's 'no biological evidence' of the case as a rape kit was not performed

Ohio is one of the many states that are set to impose laws, which would cap abortions at six weeks in the state. Also in the state of Ohio, doctors are mandated to report abuse of minors

Yost also claimed he 'knows' the state prosecutors and cops in Ohio and said all of them would be 'turning over every rock in their jurisdiction if they had to slightest hint that this occurred there.'

The Buckeye State AG also said he doesn't even know if the 'originating doctor' exists and said it would be a crime for that doctor to not report the girl's alleged abuse to law enforcement, as she is a minor.

'In Ohio, rape of a 10-year-old means life in prison,' Yost declared.

Governor Mike DeWine's office has also said it has no record of the case, according to Fox News.

It was originally reported that the girl had to leave the state for an abortion due to trigger laws, but Yost told Fox News that that is incorrect.

'Ohio's heartbeat law has a medical exception, which is broader than just the life of the mother,' he said. 'This young girl, if she exists and if this horrible thing actually happened to her - it breaks my heart to think about it - she did not have to leave Ohio to find treatment.'

Biden mentioned the story in an passionate speech that argued for federal abortion protection and asked the audience to imagine being the that little girl

Last week, Biden raged about trigger laws and the girl's alleged rape in Ohio.

On Friday, the president himself referenced the story, using it to help push an executive order that would protect abortions in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.

'This isn't some imagined horror,' Biden said. 'It is already happening. Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim - 10 years old - and she was forced to have to travel out of state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life.'

Biden, 79, raised his voice as he recounted the story, grasping the podium with both hands as he railed about the trauma the girl would have faced, and the presumed unfairness of the situation.

'Imagine being that little girl,' he added, in another appeal to the crowd. 'Just imagine being that little girl. Ten years old!'

The original account was given by Dr. Caitlin Bernard to the Indianapolis Star on July 1 - but has since been called into question by a flood of critics who have deemed the claims dubious.

Detractors cite how Bernard did not name the doctor who contacted her about the incident, nor the city where the child was located, while others pointed out that Bernard is a prominent abortion advocate, citing a slew of posts on her social media.

On Saturday, Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler threw further cold water on the claims after watching the president's speech, calling the story 'very difficult' to verify.

'This is the account of a one-source story that quickly went viral around the world  and into the talking points of the president,' Kessler - usually a proponent for the president - wrote of his doubt's over the tale's certainty.

Kessler began writing, 'The Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed a right to abortion, has led a number of states to quickly impose new laws to restrict or limit abortions.

'Ohio was one of the first, imposing a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape and incest,' he went on, reiterating claims in the article, which was titled, 'Patients head to Indiana for abortion services as other states restrict care.'

Governor Mike DeWine's office also told Fox News that it did not have a record of a 10-year-old rape victim matching Bernard's story

Kessler noted how Bernard was the only source for the story - and revealed the OBGYN declined to provide details to the Post about the location of the alleged rape, or whether it was being investigated by authorities.

'The only source cited for the anecdote was Bernard. She's on the record, but there is no indication that the newspaper made other attempts to confirm her account.'

Bernard, meanwhile, declined to identify to Kessler the name of her colleague or the city where the rape transpired.

Bernard wrote in an email: 'Thank you for reaching out. I'm sorry, but I don't have any information to share.'

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has since refused to say if Biden had confirmed that local law enforcement was seeking the child's attacker.

'The President spoke to that - a young woman - just to show how extreme the decision on...the Dobbs decision was, and just how extreme it is now for American public, the American families,' Jean-Pierre said at daily press briefing Friday.
A photo captures the moment that Chief of Staff Mark Meadows escorted Rudy Giuliani out of the White House after a raucous and nearly violent December 18 strategy meeting to keep Donald Trump in office after he lost the 2020 election.

The 'unhinged' Oval Office powwow, which continued past midnight, was the subject of Tuesday's January 6 Committee hearing  featuring testimony on angry clashes between outside advisors who bought Donald Trump's election fraud claims and advisors who called them absurd.

The meeting involved a 'heated and profane clash,' said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a former impeachment manager who discussed the meeting, which came weeks before the Jan. 6, 2020 Capitol riot.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows walking Trump campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani out of the White House on December 18

White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testifies before the January 6 Committee

Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to Mark Meadows, texted her colleague on the night of the meeting that the 'west wing is UNHINGED'

'The Select Committee has spoken with six of the participants as well as staffers who could hear the screaming from outside the Oval Office,' Raskin said.

'What ensued was a heated and profane clash between this group and President Trump's White House advisors who traded personal insults, accusations of disloyalty to the President, and even challenges to physically fight,' he added.

White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who delivered bombshell testimony last month that showed Trump knew the crowd that gathered for his rally was armed, took the photo looking down the colonnade in the West Wing at the backs of two men in blue suits walking away.

'I take one photo of Mark of each of his days,' Hutchinson wrote in the photo caption. 'Tonight, it was him escorting Rudy off-campus to make sure he didn't wander back to the Mansion.'

Former Trump campaign adviser Stephen Miller testified earlier that the former New York City mayor was 'inebriated' on Election Night, a claim Giuliani denied.

Hutchinson seems to suggest that during this heating meeting, the alcohol was flowing.

'That's why the alcohol opened,' she wrote in a text. 'It's not flowing around the oval - just the outer oval.'

Then she added, 'The West Wing is UNHINGED.'

Members of the Jan. 6 panel played short testimony clips of witnesses describing that meeting, which began in the Oval Office and continued inside another oval- shaped room in the White House residence.

It came four days after the members of the electoral college had met Dec. 14 to cast their votes for president  an event that former Attorney General Bill Barr and others took as a signal that Trump's opportunity to prevail over Joe Biden was formally over.

'Kraken' lawyer Sidney Powell took part in an angry Dec. 18 White House meeting that lasted six hours and Rep. Jamie Raskin said had been called the 'craziest' of the entire Trump era

Powell said former White House counsel Patrick Philbin set a 'land speech record' rushing to join the meeting

Then, 'Kraken' lawyer Sidney Powell, pardoned former national security advisor Mike Flynn, and Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne turned up at the White House.

It soon became clear what the subject matter was  efforts to overturn the election by having the Defense Department seize voting machines and other drastic measures.

'I bet Pat Cipollone set a new land speed record' when he got wind of it and raced to the meeting, quipped Powell.

'For all of its absurdity, the December 18 meeting was critically important because President Trump got to watch up close for several hours as his White House Counsel and other White House lawyers destroyed the baseless factual claims and ridiculous legal arguments being offered by Sidney Powell, Mike Flynn and others,' said Raskin.

'President Trump now knew all these claims were nonsense, not just from his able White House lawyers, but also from his own department of justice officials.'

The meeting lasted 6 hours, beginning in the Oval Office and moving to the White House residence, said Raskin.

He then played a video stringing together clips of testimony about the confrontation.

Said former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows Cassidy Hutchinson: 'So that was the first point that I had recognized: Okay, there was nobody in there from the White House. Mark's gone. What's going on right now?'

Recalled Cipollone, who testified despite occasionally invoking executive privilege: 'I opened the door and walked in. I saw General I saw Sidney Powell sitting there. I was not happy to see the people in the Oval Office,' he said.

He also testified that he shared Barr's view that Trump should concede after the electoral college met.

Cipollone referred to Byrne, whom he called 'the Overstock person,' in reference to the online retailer.

'I walked in I looked at him. I said, Who are you?' he said.

'I don't think I don't think any of these people were providing the President with good advice,' he said.

Former White House lawyer Eric Hirschmann described some of the intricate theories of election fraud that the outside advisors, whom he and Cipollone opposed, were sketching.

'I was asking like, 'Are you claiming that Democrats were working with Hugo Chavez because Venezuelans and whomever else and at one point General Flynn took out a diagram that supposedly showed IP addresses all over the world.'

He said he asked: 'Who was who was communicating with whom, via the machines?' The response he got was 'some comment about like Nest thermostats being hooked up to the Internet,' he said.

'It was not a casual meeting,' said Derek Lyons, a former White House staff secretary. 'I mean, at times, there were people shouting at each other, hurling insults at each other. It wasn't just sort of people sitting around on the couch like chit chatting,' he said.

Powell said Cipollone and Hirschmann 'showed nothing but contempt and disdain of the president.'

We were asking one simple question, as a general matter: Where is the evidence?' said Cipollone.

White House staff pressed Powell on the string of losses in court. 'And she says, well, the judges are corrupt,' said Hirschmann. 'And I was like every one? Every single case that you've done in the country, you guys lost, every one of them is corrupt? Even the ones [judges] we appointed?' he said.

'The screaming was completely completely out there,' said Hirschmann. 'What they were proposing I thought was nuts.'

'I'm going to categorically describe it as you guys are not tough enough,' said former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. 'Or maybe I put it another way, you're a bunch of p******,' he said, using an expletive.

'Excuse the expression, but I'm almost certain the word was used.'

It's unclear when Meadows gave Giuliani the heave-ho, but Cassidy reported at 11 past midnight: 'Still here, but Rudy, Sidney and Flynn have left.'

And: 'Get this - the CEO of Overstock.com was here!!!!! Dream team!!!!'

Earlier, panel vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) claimed it was 'nonsense' to argue that Trump was misled into believing the election had been stolen from him as the Jan. 6 committee played testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone claiming he told Trump to concede after Dec. 14.

The Wyoming Republican, ranking member on the Jan. 6 committee, said the committee had seen a 'change' in how Trump-allied witnesses and lawyers had approached the committee's investigation

'Today, there appears to be a general recognition that the committee has established key facts including that virtually everyone close to President Trump - his Justice Department officials, his White House advisors, his White House Counsel, his campaign - all told him the 2020 election was not stolen,' Cheney said.

She said this had forced Trump's attorneys to 'change the strategy' for defending him. 'Now the argument seems to be that President Trump was manipulated by others outside the administration that he was persuaded to ignore his closest advisors and that he was incapable of telling right from wrong.'

Rep. Liz Cheney said that former White House Pat Cipollone's testimony 'met expectations' while she claimed it was 'nonsense' to argue that former President Trump was misled into believing the election had been stolen from him

'This new strategy is to try to blame only John Eastman or Sidney Powell or Congressman Scott Perry or others and not President Trump. ... This, of course, is nonsense. President Trump is a 76 year old man. He is not an impressionable child.'

Cheney also said that former White House counsel Pat Cipollone's testimony 'met our expectations.' She said the focus of Tuesday's hearing would be on election fraud claims in the weeks between the November election and Jan. 6.

Excerpts from Cipollone's deposition, which was videotaped, were shown at Tuesday's hearing.

The committee played a clip where Cipollone told them that by mid-December he had urged the former president to give up his election fraud claims after court after court ruled against him.

'Did I believe he should concede the election at a point in time? Yes I did.'

The former White House counsel said that former Vice President Mike Pence deserved a Medal of Freedom for resisting Trump's orders and certifying the election in favor of Joe Biden on Jan. 6.

'I think the Vice President did the right thing. I think he did the courageous thing. I have a great deal of respect for him.'

Multiple accounts suggest Cipollone and his team threatened the ex-president with resignations in the face of his election fraud claims.

He reportedly made his skepticism of Trump and his allies' plot abundantly clear to the committee.

Cipollone said that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who has refused to testify before the committee, told him there was no widespread evidence of fraud and Trump should concede.

Cipollone was asked if Meadows assured him Trump would make a graceful exit.

'I would say that is a statement and a sentiment that I heard from Mark Meadows...It wasn't a one-time statement.'

Ivanka Trump, the former president's daughter, and Kayleigh McEnany, his press secretary, both said they believed the fight was over after legal battles concluded unsuccessfully in mid-December, as the committee tried to drive home the point that trusted members of Trump's inner circle were not on his side with election fraud, and he chose to ignore them.

'In my view upon the conclusion of litigation I began to plan for life after the administration,' McEnany said.

In response to the Justice Department's finding there was no fraud, Ivanka said: 'I think it was my sentiment, probably prior as well.'

Cipollone said he 'supported that conclusion' made by Attorney General Bill Barr that there was no widespread fraud.

Excerpts from Cipollone's deposition, which was videotaped, were shown at Tuesday's hearing

Cipollone said that he got a call on Dec. 18 that a number of outside advisers had made their way to the president's office to discuss election fraud.

The meeting included Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor, Sidney Powell, Michael Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock.com, a close ally of the ex-president's who previously dated a Russian spy.

'I saw Gen. Flynn. I saw Sidney Powell sitting there. I was not happy to see the people in the Oval Office..... First of all, the Overstock person, I didn't even know who this guy was ... I looked at him and said, 'who are you?''

Powell said she had no idea if they could get a private audience with the president, but a lower level staffer led them to his office. Then, Cipollone came running.

'I bet Pat Cipollone set a new land speed record,' Powell said in a clip played from her testimony.'

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the committee had spoken to six participants in that Dec. 18 election fraud meeting.

'What ensued was a heated and profane' argument, Raskin said, that included 'challenges to physically fight.'

In a clip of Trump's former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani's testimony, he says he told the White House lawyers they weren't 'tough enough' and that they were a 'bunch of p***ies' for claiming there was not enough evidence of election fraud.

Raskin said that after the unhinged meeting, Trump sent out a tweet calling on his supporters to come to the Capitol on Jan. 6: 'It will be wild,' Trump wrote.

Cipollone tore into Trump attorney Sidney Powell's idea for Trump to sign an executive order to seize voting machines the Trump team believed were linked to fraud.

'At some point you have to put up or shut up, that was my view. To have the federal government seize voting machines? That's a terrible idea for the country. That's not how we do things in the US. There's no legal authority to do that,' Cipollone said.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said that when Trump brought him a draft executive order to seize voting machines across the nation, he shot it down immediately.

'Some people say we can get to the bottom of this if the department sees the machines -i t was his typical way of raising the point,' Barr said in his videotaped deposition.

'I said absolutely not. There is no probable cause, we are not going to seize any machines.'

Cipollone added: 'I don't understand why we even have to tell you that's a bad idea. It's a bad idea.'

Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy then displayed text messages obtained from former Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson where she raised red flags to Meadows about how the Jan. 6 'Save America' rally could get out of hand.

She said that Trump loved the 'crazies' which was why some of them were speaking at his rally.

'He loved people who viciously defended him in public,' Pierson said in recorded testimony about her texts, expressing particular concern about right-wing commentators Alex Jones and Ali Alexander.

It's the panel's seventh hearing, and the only one expected this week after former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson claimed last week that Trump directed his supporters toward the Capitol while knowing they were armed, and got into a physical altercation with his security detail when Secret Service agents stopped him from joining the mob.

Meanwhile, Raskin told NBC News that Cipollone corroborated 'almost everything' that came up in the panel's last six hearings, including Hutchinson's explosive account.

'He had the opportunity to say whatever he wanted to say, so I didn't see any contradiction there,' the Maryland Democrat said.

He and fellow Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy will lead Tuesday's hearing.

Meanwhile, the January 6 committee will meet with former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne behind closed doors at the end of this week, it was reported Tuesday.

Byrne is a close ally of Donald Trump's and was present at a White House meeting on December 18 in which the then-president and a group of formal and informal advisers discussed ways to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, CNN reports.

He was forced to step down from his position as chief executive of the online furniture store in 2019 after disclosing that he was romantically involved with a woman who was convicted of being a Russian spy, Maria Butina.

The December 18 meeting will be a focus of Tuesday afternoon's hearing for the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

There are reportedly no parameters set for Byrne's Friday meeting with lawmakers.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Jan. 6 committee for confirmation.

The committee's normal process involves a closed-door deposition as its first step before any possible consideration of a public hearing.

Tuesday's report does not make clear whether it's Byrne's first time before the panel, or if he will be bound under oath.

Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock, will meet with the Jan. 6 committee behind closed doors, CNN reported

He's a close ally of former President Donald Trump and reportedly helped push his 2020 election fraud lies

The former chief executive has been accused of actively pushing Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was 'rigged' in favor of President Joe Biden.

Alongside Byrne, the Oval Office meeting was attended by former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as his disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The meeting was described to CNN as 'forceful,' having erupted into 'fighting' and shouting matches as White House officials clashed with the ex-president's conspiracy theorist allies.

Ideas floated at the meeting included seizing voting machines for government inspection and installing Powell as a special counsel to investigate election fraud, committee aides have said.

Byrne's attendance at the meeting was not disclosed until Tuesday.

Byrne was also reportedly present at a December 18 White House meeting during which Jan. 6 committee aides say the idea of appointing Sidney Powell as special counsel for election fraud was floated

Aides said the committee's afternoon hearing will also focus on a tweet sent out by Trump after the heated meeting.

'Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,' he touted in the early hours of December 19. 'Be there, will be wild!'
Starbucks is shuttering more than a dozen stores due to reports of rife drug use and disturbances by brazen members of the public at the popular cafes.

The planned closures, announced Monday, will see 16 stores closed in several cities across the country - all set in left-leaning locales.

The reported disruptions include drug use by paying customers and, more often than not, members of the public - who often take advantage of the company's open bathroom policy, which allows nonpaying patrons to use their facilities.

As a result, the lavatories have in large part devolved into dens of debauchery, regularly used by vagrants and homeless to do drugs and engage in other illicit behavior.

Reports of assaults were also commonplace in the cities set to see closures, which include the company's hometown of Seattle, as well as five other liberal-run municipalities.

Those stores are in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, and Washington, DC.

All have seen an influx of crime - with many attributing the rise to a recent wave of 'woke' policies implemented by progressive politicians.

The result are cities that border on lawlessness - with employees at the stores reportedly complaining to staff in droves that they feel unsafe at work.

Starbucks is closing more than a dozen stores due to reports of rife drug use and disturbances by brazen members of the public at the popular cafes. Pictured is a shuttered store in Portland, Oregon - one of the cities that will see closures - that was ransacked by looters in 2021

The reported disruptions include drug use by paying customers and, more often than not, members of the public - who often take advantage of the company's open bathroom policy, which allows nonpaying patrons to use their facilities. Pictured are homeless people loitering outside a Starbucks in Seattle, which will also experience closures, the company said

The closures were announced in an internal email sent to employees at the company Monday.

The correspondence saw Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson, both senior vice presidents of the chains' US operations, cite questionable safety condition at Starbucks stores in the aforementioned locations.

The memo remarked how staffers at other stores across the country have experienced similar unrest as a result of 'the challenges facing our communities.'

Those challenges, they wrote, include 'personal safety, racism, lack of access to healthcare, a growing mental health crisis, rising drug use, and more.'

The officials added that 'with stores in thousands of communities across the country, we know these challenges can, at times, play out within our stores too.

The planned closures, announced Monday, will see 16 stores closed in several cities across the country - all set in left-leaning, 'woke'-run locales such as Los Angeles. Pictured is a homeless person sleeping in front of one of the store's LA locations

Reports of assaults were also commonplace in the cities set to see closures, which include liberal LA, as well as five other left-leaning municipalities. Pictured is an LA Starbucks. Homeless citizens can be seen sitting outside the store on the street

'We read every incident report you file - it's a lot,' the operations heads wrote. 'We cannot serve as partners if we don't first feel safe at work.'

The said that aside from the closures - which will see staffers at the stores transferred to other locations nearby - the company said it will now give staffers discretion to deny free access to the store's bathrooms.

Last month, Starbucks new interim CEO Howard Schultz - who has sought to improve company culture since being appointed in April, amid recent pushes from staffers to unionize - said the company was rethinking its 'open bathroom' policy due to mounting safety concerns.

'There is an issue of, just, safety in our stores, in terms of people coming in who use our stores as a public bathroom,' Schultz said during a New York Times DealBook event last month.

The closures were announced in an internal email sent to employees at the company Monday

The closures come as cities across the nation have seen a drastic rise in crime over the past two years - spurred by the pandemic and recent soft-on-crime policies implemented by woke DA's who have sought to find alternatives to incarceration

'We have to provide a safe environment for our people and our customers. The mental health crisis in the country is severe, acute and getting worse.'

Managers will also now have the freedom to adjust seating layouts and even adjusting hours of operation in order to address staffers' safety concerns.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed the closures to DailyMail.com Tuesday.

They said: 'After careful consideration, we are closing some stores in locations that have experienced a high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to continue to operate.'

Washington, DC, one of the locations that will experience closures, has seen a drastic rise in murders, with 93 compared to the 82 last year, a 13 percent jump

The closures come as cities across the nation have seen a drastic rise in crime over the past two years - spurred by the pandemic and recent soft-on-crime policies implemented by woke DA's who have sought to find alternatives to incarceration.

Seattle - the city where Starbucks was founded - has seen a surge in both violent and property crime since the start of the pandemic, with cops already recording 302 shootings so far this year - a 75 percent increase from last year.

In Washington, DC, there have already been 93 murders compared to the 82 last year, signaling a 13 percent jump.

Seattle - the city where Starbucks was founded - has seen a surge in both violent and property crime since the start of the pandemic, with cops already recording 302 shootings so far this year - a 75 percent increase from last year

Robberies are also in the nation's capital by a marked 25 percent.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, has arguably been hurt the most by woke politicians, with its District Attorney George Gascon now almost certain to face a recall election for soft policies.

The City of Angels has seen more people killed by guns during the first six months of 2022 than during the same period in any of the past 15 years, police say - while robberies are also rife, due to lax punishments on repeat offenders.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, has arguably been hurt the most by woke politicians, with its District Attorney George Gascon now almost certain to face a recall election for soft policies

The moves by the company come in direct response to these crime surges, but are also part of a broader effort to revamp the company, Schultz said in a Monday letter to staff.

'We need to reinvent Starbucks for the future,' he wrote, adding that the company will need to 'radically' improve employee experiences in the coming months.

He added that based on feedback from employees, the company will strive to create 'safety, welcoming and kindness for our stores.'

During its latest fiscal year, Starbucks closed 424 of its more than 15,000 US stores, about 5 percent of its total, while also opening 449 new locations.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on Tuesday that he's 'absolutely' considering dropping the charges against a bodega worker who stabbed an ex-convict in apparent self-defense.

Jose Alba, 61, was arrested on July 1, after he fatally stabbed Austin Simon in the neck and chest.

But surveillance footage clearly showed that Simon, 37, had moved behind the counter at the Blue Moon convenience store in Hamilton Heights and pushed the store clerk into a stack of shelves before grabbing him.

It was only then that Alba reached over to a shelf and pulled out a knife to fight back.

He was then apparently stabbed by Simon's girlfriend, who is not facing charges.

In the weeks since, residents throughout the Big Apple - including Mayor Eric Adams - condemned Alba's arrest and have called for him to be let free.

On Tuesday, the New York Post reported District Attorney Bragg told a group of bodega owners there's 'absolutely' a chance he may drop Alba's murder charges.

Surveillance footage from the Blue Moon convenience store in Hamilton Heights showed Jose Alba, 61, was assaulted before he grabbed a knife and stabbed Austin Simon, 37, on July 1

The convenience store where the incident occurred in Manhattan's Hamilton Heights

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (pictured) said he's 'absolutely' considering dropping the murder charges against store clerk Jose Alba

Jose Alba, 61, the Manhattan bodega worker charged with murder for stabbing a man who assaulted him, is released on bail

'We felt very good because his tone was very soothing,' United Bodegas of America spokesman Fernando Mateo said of the group's closed-door meeting with Bragg at his office.

'His demeanor was very direct, and he said "I don't understand why people are jumping to conclusions. I have not made a determination. I am investigating."

'I asked, "Do the possibilities exist that you will drop the charges?" And he said, "Absolutely,"' Mateo recounted.

Still, Mateo said Bragg left room to continue pressing the case.

'He explained to us the entire routine of what happens when a crime or a supposed crime is committed and what happens after that,' Mateo said, adding: 'We're very hopeful that Jose Alba's case will de dismissed, will be dropped by the District Attorney.

'He has not made that determination yet, but he certainly left the doors and windows open for something like that to happen.

'So we must sit and wait, not get impatient and not jump to conclusions.'

Alba had his arm slashed in the attack by the man's girlfriend

United Bodegas of America joined the calls for Alba to be released last week

Protesters outside a meeting with District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday

Pressure had been growing for Bragg to drop the charges against Alba since footage emerged showing that Simon - who has previously been convicted for other assaults - had pushed Alba into a shelf and started dragging him.

The footage shows the two struggling before Alba grabbed his knife and started stabbing Simon

Other videos obtained by DailyMail.com show Simon - who was on parole for attacking a police officer when he died - marching behind the bodega counter to confront Alba.

'Papa, I don't want a problem, papa,' Alba told him calmly.

Simon charged into the Blue Moon convenience store minutes after his girlfriend tried to buy a bag of chips for her daughter, but her benefits card had been declined.

The woman, who claimed Alba snatched the bag of chips from the child, is heard on the video asking Alba, 'Did you put food?'

The woman was in the store with her daughter trying to buy a bag of chips

Alba responds that he'll try her card another time.

'OK, mama, let me do it another time. My God,' he says to her as she insists, 'There's money on there.'

But he swipes the card multiple times and hands it back to her, saying it's not working.

The edited footage cuts to show other customers in the bodega as the woman is heard yelling out of view from the camera.

'You can't touch my daughter. Don't snatch that out of my daughter, you fking piece of shit!'

The woman had reported that Alba snatched the bag of chips from her daughter's hands when they couldn't pay.

She continues, 'I'm gonna bring my n down here and he gonna fk you up. My n is gonna come down here right now and fk you up!'

Alba tells her it's not his fault and the card wasn't working.

Another woman asked, 'Did they take something from you?' Alba replied, 'No, I take it back.'

Simon can then be seen on the video storming into the store and walking behind the counter where he confronts Alba.

'What's up with you? N****r what is wrong with you?' he yells at him.

It is then that Simon pushes Alba into the shelf.

In the new video footage, it cuts to show a bloodied Simon splayed out on the bodega floor and his girlfriend is heard yelling, 'That was over $3. Three f**king dollars. He snatched something out of my daughterplease help him.'

Insiders have claimed the girlfriend has not been charged for attacking the shop worker because prosecutors think she was defending her boyfriend.

The man's family set up a GoFundMe to help him pay for his legal defense but it was removed overnight after raising $20,000

This is the moment Alba was stabbed in the arm by the girlfriend of the man he stabbed to death on July 1 in a row over a bag of potato chips

Video footage reveals Alba was trying to avoid confrontation with Austin Simon in the minutes leading up to the July 1 stabbing

Simon charged into the Blue Moon convenience store minutes after his girlfriend tried to buy a bag of chips for her daughter, but her benefits card was declined

Alba holds his arm out as Simon approaches him behind at the counter at the bodega

Following the altercation, Simon was brought to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead; Alba was thrown in the city's infamous Riker's Island prison on murder charges.

He was originally being held on a $250,000 bond, but the district attorney's office lowered it last week to $50,000 amid the growing outrage.

Among those who expressed their support for Alba was New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who even visited the Harlem bodega to offer his support.

'I'm a person that's there for people following the law. I saw from the video, I saw a voter here inside the store following the law...It's time for New Yorkers and Americans to start standing up for people who follow the law,' he said.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin also slammed Bragg's decision to charge Alba, tweeting: 'My first Day 1 action as Governor next January will be to fire Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.'

Alba, who didn't wish to have his face photographed, showed off his injuries - a graze on the upper arm, deep bruises and a gash on his shoulder - at his apartment on Monday.

He spoke softly from behind the door of his apartment to ask for forgiveness from Simon's family.

'I didn't think this would happen. At that moment, I was in shock. I didn't know what to do and what to say. I feel very sad.

'I didn't want to do this. This happened. I don't know in the moment how this happened.

'But I'm also sad. I know what the pain is because I also lost my son. Please forgive me because I didn't want to do that.'

Alba is back at home in New York City after being released from Rikers Island on a lower bond last week. He is pictured here with one of the wounds he sustained fighting off the vicious attacker

Alba had just refused to give Simon's girlfriend a bag of chips. She tried to pay for the $3 snack but her card was declined

Alba was released from Rikers Island on Thursday evening after his bail was lowered from $250,000 to $50,000, and returned to his Hamilton Heights home wearing an electronic monitor and accompanied by one of his sons. He was only required to pay $5,000.

Osamah Aldhabyani, 35, who owns the bodega told The Post that he was haunted by what happened and worried about possible retaliation from Simon's friends after, he claims that he saw two of them in a car outside the store.

'I'm scared for my life,' he said.

Alba's fellow bodega workers said they will not let him return to work because they fear the victim's friends will come to harm him.

'We're not letting him come back,' a Blue Moon Convenience store worker named 'Wilson' told the New York Post.

Wilson said his victim's 'friends and family' now know where Alba works and his coworkers fear it's a 'death sentence' if he returns to his post.
More than 100 passengers and crew will be forced to remain on a Covid-infected cruise ship until they test negative to the virus as it docks in Sydney this morning.

Dozens of guests and staff members were infected on the Coral Princess as it sailed from Port Douglas in Far North Queensland to Brisbane on Sunday.

The ship will dock at Sydney's Circular Quay at 6:30am on Wednesday with those infected unable to disembark until they return a negative Covid test.

The outbreak aboard the cruise ship has mostly infected crew members, with 114 of them in isolation on Tuesday.

More than 100 passengers and crew on the Coral Princess (pictured docked at Circular Quay in Sydney on Wednesday) have tested positive for Covid

Dozens of guests and staff members were infected on the Coral Princess (pictured in Sydney on Wednesday) as it sailed from Port Douglas in Far North Queensland to Brisbane on Sunday

The ship will dock at Sydney's Circular Quay at 6:30am on Wednesday with those infected unable to disembark until they return a negative Covid test (pictured, passengers onboard)

Passengers form the ship were seen waiting to board buses after disembarking the ship

A passenger onboard the ship told a Today Show presenter he 'couldn't wait to get off' amid the spiralling outbreak that has infected over 100 people.

Yelling over the balcony as the ship docked in Circular Quay, the man told the reporter he and his wife did not have Covid.

Four passengers were isolating after positive results, and 24 earlier disembarked in Brisbane, Queensland's chief health officer John Gerrard said.

NSW Health said passengers who tested positive on board likely took the virus on board with them rather than becoming infected at sea.

The ship docked in Eden on the south coast on Tuesday, where about 800 passengers disembarked after returning negative tests.

The Coral Princess is expected to remain docked in Circular Quay for one day, before returning to its home port of Brisbane.

Passengers are seen on The Coral Princess cruise ship as it docks at Circular Quay in early on Wednesday morning amid an unravelling Covid outbreak onboard

The Coral Princess is expected to remain docked in Circular Quay for one day, before returning to its home port of Brisbane (pictured, the ship in Sydney on Wednesday)

The outbreak aboard the cruise ship has mostly infected crew members, with 114 of them in isolation on Tuesday (pictured, curious onlookers watch the Coral Princess on Wednesday)

The outbreak has forced Princess Cruises to offer refunds to those booked on its next 12-day trip before it departed from Brisbane to Sydney on Monday.

A Princess Cruises spokesman on Tuesday said the crew who had tested positive in a recent full-screening were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms.

The contagion on the vessel - which is a sister ship to the Ruby Princess that was linked to 28 deaths after an outbreak on board in 2020 - is the first for the local cruise industry since it resumed trips after the pandemic.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath says protocols were in place on the ship before the outbreak.

She said some passengers are isolating at home or in other accommodation, while authorities are helping the company manage infected staff on board.

'The virus is everywhere and there's no escaping that,' Ms D'Ath said on Monday.

'They will be testing staff more frequently at the moment and also encouraging any passengers with any symptoms whatsoever to come forward and get tested and they will have to isolate as well.'

The ship travelled around Queensland on Sunday before heading to NSW, where it is currently docked in Sydney

Princess Cruises said they were 'doing everything possible' to ensure the safety of guests and crew (pictured, the cruise ship docked at Sydney's Circular Quay)

A woman takes a photo of the view from her balcony after the ship docked in Circular Quay

Princess Cruises said they were 'doing everything possible' to ensure the safety of guests and crew.

'We are adhering to comprehensive protocols that were agreed in conjunction with federal and state authorities and we are confident that they are working effectively,' a spokesman told AAP.

Protocols include regular testing of all crew who must be fully vaccinated.

'Should any crew member test positive, they go into isolation on board and have no contact with guests,' Princess Cruises said.

'We recently advised embarking guests that in the most recent full screening of crew some had returned positive tests and that this was being managed effectively in line with our protocols.

'As guests look forward to their cruise holidays, we want them to be confident in knowing that everything possible is being done to ensure they do so in an environment that is as safe as it can be.'

A NSW Health spokesperson said cruise operators are responsible for keeping passengers and crews safe from infectious diseases including Covid-19, in line with the Eastern Seaboard Cruise Protocols.

Protocols onboard include regular testing of all crew who must be fully vaccinated (guests take in the view of Sydney Harbour on their balconies on Wednesday)

Crew members and passengers who test positive to the virus must remain onboard until they can return a negative Covid test

The outbreak has forced Princess Cruises to offer refunds to those booked on its next 12-day trip before it departed from Brisbane to Sydney on Monday (pictured, crew members onboard)

'NSW Health is liaising with the Coral Princess cruise ship to monitor the health of its passengers and crew members,' they said.

'While a small number of passengers have been diagnosed with Covid since boarding the Coral Princess, their infections were most likely acquired prior to boarding and they subsequently tested positive.

'The vast majority of cases on the ship are currently in crew members. All Covid-positive people are isolating and being cared for by the onboard medical team.'

'NSW Healths assessment is that the Covid risk level for the Coral Princess during this cruise is amber, which indicates a moderate impact to the vessel,' they said.

'No crew members will disembark and all passengers disembarking will be requested to return a negative RAT result first.

'To further minimise the risk of transmission, passengers on shore tours will also be advised to wear masks when on transport or in other public indoor spaces, physically distance wherever possible and to regularly use hand sanitiser.'

Guests were seen leaving the Coral Princess cruise ship after disembarking at Circular Quay early on Wednesday morning

A passenger onboard the ship told a Today Show presenter he 'couldn't wait to get off' amid the spiralling outbreak that has infected over 100 people

NSW Health said passengers who tested positive on board likely took the virus on board with them rather than becoming infected at sea (pictured, the cruise ship docks in Sydney)

Queensland recorded another 4804 cases on Monday, taking the number of active cases to 40,589.

Of those, 782 have required hospital treatment (1.9 per cent of active cases) and ten are in intensive care (0.025 per cent of cases).

The former federal government banned cruise ships from entering Australian waters in March 2020 after 2700 passengers on the Ruby Princess were allowed to freely disembark in Sydney Harbour, sparking 900 cases and 28 deaths across Australia.

The ban was lifted almost two years later in April 2022 after the industry worked with federal and state governments to refine health and safety protocols for passengers and crew.

In 2019, the cruise ship industry supported about 18,000 jobs and generated about $5billion in direct and indirect revenue for the economy.
Twitter has sued Elon Musk, accusing the world's richest man of violating his $44 billion agreement to buy the social media platform.

The suit filed on Tuesday in Delaware chancery court seeks a ruling that would order Musk to complete the merger at the agreed price of $54.20 per Twitter share, according to a court filing.

'Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its shareholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests,' the lawsuit states.

On Friday, Musk said he was terminating the deal because Twitter violated the agreement by failing to respond to requests for information regarding fake or spam accounts on the platform, which is fundamental to its business performance.

The billionaire appeared to respond to the suit in a tweet on Tuesday evening, writing: 'Oh the irony lol.'

He seemed to be referring to the fact that he was initially aggressive in pursuing the deal over skepticism from Twitter's board, roles that have now reversed.

Twitter has sued Elon Musk for violating his $44 billion agreement to buy the social media platform

Twitter filed the lawsuit (above) on Tuesday in Delaware chancery court

Musk appeared to respond to the suit in a tweet on Tuesday evening

Twitter's lawsuit argues: 'Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, Musk apparently believes that he - unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law - is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.'

Twitter's General Counsel Sean Edgett informed staff of the lawsuit in a company-wide memo on Tuesday afternoon.

'We have also filed a motion for an expedited trial alongside the complaint, asking for the case to be heard in September, as it is critically important for this matter to be resolved quickly,' Edgett wrote in the memo, according to the New York Times.

'At this point we anticipate the next step in the process will be for the court to set a schedule for the case,' he added.

The lawsuit was a widely anticipated step after Musk last week announced his intent to pull out of the April 25 merger agreement, which specified penalties for backing out of the deal.

Those penalties included a $1 billion breakup fee, as well as the ability for the parties to enforce the contract in court, which Twitter officials had previously vowed to do.

The lawsuit was a widely anticipated step after Musk announced his intent to pull out of the April 25 merger agreement (file photo)

Musk argues that Twitter has broken its contractual obligations by failing to disclose key information about fake accounts on the platform.

But it's unclear whether the courts will be sympathetic to his argument. It the past, Delaware courts have forced prospective buyers to follow through on signed merger agreements, though the facts differ in each case.

For example, in 2020, Tiffany & Co sued Louis Vuitton maker LVHM when the luxury retailer attempted to back out of a deal to acquire the jewelry maker.

The litigation was settled out of court when LVHM agreed to complete the takeover of Tiffany at a slightly reduced price.

Twitter's lawsuit will be heard in Delaware chancery court, as both Twitter and the company Musk is using to complete the merger are officially incorporated in Delaware.

Musk, who is the chief executive officer of electric vehicle maker Tesla, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit accused Musk of 'a long list' of violations of the merger agreement that 'have cast a pall over Twitter and its business.'

Shares of the social media platform closed at $34.06 on Tuesday, sharply below the levels above $50 where it traded when the deal was accepted by Twitter's board in late April.

Shares of Twitter closed at $34.06 on Tuesday, sharply below the levels above $50 where it traded when the deal was accepted by Twitter's board

Musk said he was terminating the merger because of the lack of information about spam accounts and inaccurate representations that he said amounted to a 'material adverse event.'

He also said executive departures amounted to a failure to conduct business in the ordinary course, as Twitter was obligated to do.

Twitter said it negotiated to remove from the merger agreement language that would have made such firings a violation of ordinary course requirement.

Twitter called the reasons cited by Musk a 'pretext' that lacked merit and said his decision to walk away had more to do with a decline in the stock market, particularly for tech stocks.

Tesla's stock, the main source of Musk's fortune, has lost 30 percent of its value since the deal was announced and closed on Tuesday at $699.21.

Legal experts have said that from the information that is public Twitter would appear to have the upper hand because of the way Musk negotiated the deal, declining to do traditional pre-merger diligence.

Musk has launched many of his attacks in the merger saga from Twitter itself, most recently tweeting a series of memes mocking the company for attempting to enforce the agreement.

One showed a picture of Chuck Norris at a chess board with one pawn confidently staring down a full set of black pieces.

Another appeared to poke fun at the social media giant for taking legal action, claiming it means they will have to disclose spam bot details that he wants.

The series of comments were shared alongside pictures of him hysterically laughing on the right-hand side.

Musk long stated his belief that Twitter is being dishonest about the number of fake accounts on the platform

In the second post, Musk tweeted a pic of meme legend and action star Chuck Norris playing a game of chess

TIMELINE OF BILLIONAIRE ELON MUSK'S BID TO CONTROL TWITTER January 31: Musk starts buying shares of Twitter in near-daily installments, amassing a 5% stake in the company by mid-March. March 26: Musk, who has 80 million Twitter followers and is active on the site, said that he is giving 'serious thought' to building an alternative to Twitter, questioning free speech on the platform and whether Twitter is undermining democracy. He also privately reaches out to Twitter board members, including his friend and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. March 27: After privately informing them of his growing stake in the company, Musk starts conversations with Twitter's CEO and board members about potentially joining the board. Musk also mentions taking Twitter private or starting a competitor, according to later regulatory filings. April 4: A regulatory filing reveals that Musk has rapidly become the largest shareholder of Twitter after acquiring a 9% stake, or 73.5 million shares, worth about $3 billion. April 5: Musk is offered a seat on Twitter's board on the condition he amass no more than 14.9% of the company's stock. CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet that 'it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board.' April 11: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announces Musk will not be joining the board after all. April 14: Twitter reveals in a securities filing that Musk has offered to buy the company outright for about $44 billion. April 15: Twitter's board unanimously adopts a 'poison pill' defense in response to Musk's proposed offer, attempting to thwart a hostile takeover. April 21: Musk lines up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter. Twitter board is under pressure to negotiate. April 25: Musk reaches a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion and take the company private. The outspoken billionaire has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it's not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech. April 29: Musk sells roughly $8.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla to help fund the purchase of Twitter, according to regulatory filings. May 5: Musk strengthens his offer to buy Twitter with commitments of more than $7 billion from a diverse group of investors including Silicon Valley heavy hitters like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. May 10: In a hint at how he would change Twitter, Musk says he'd reverse Twitter's ban of former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, calling the ban a 'morally bad decision' and 'foolish in the extreme.' May 13: Musk said that his plan to buy Twitter is ' temporarily on hold.' Musk said that he needs to pinpoint the number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform. Shares of Twitter tumble, while shares of Tesla rebound sharply. June 6: Musk threatens to end his $44 billion agreement to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about its spam bot accounts. July 8: Musk tells Twitter he is terminating agreement because firm wouldn't hand over information on spam bots July 12: Twitter files suit seeking a court judgement forcing Musk to complete the merger at the agreed price Advertisement

One of them said: 'They said I couldn't buy Twitter. Then they wouldn't disclose bot info.

'Now they want to first me to buy Twitter in court. Now they have to disclose bot info in court.'

In the post featuring legendary TV hardman Chuck Norris, he captioned it: 'Chuckmate.'

Musk replied to one user who made reference to the amount of spambots that they regularly see on the site.

The South African-born billionaire simply wrote: 'Hellow??? @SECGov,' the Twitter handle of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Twitter has retained heavy-hitting law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz to pursue its lawsuit against Musk.

The hiring of Wachtell gives the company access to lawyers Leo Strine and Bill Savitt, who previously served as Chancellors of the Delaware Chancery Court.

Delaware's chancery courts deal with non-jury proceedings overseen by judges known as chancellors.

They often tackle business wrangles, with many top US firms - including Twitter - basing their corporate headquarters there, even when their main offices lie elsewhere.

Chancery courts cannot order punitive damages to be paid, and generally hear cases more quickly than criminal trials, with the Twitter case likely to be wrapped-up within a few months.

Musk hired Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP., the firm which defended him in a 2019 defamation case, and is currently representing him in lawsuit related to Tesla.

The billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX on Saturday took the stage at the Allen & Co Sun Valley Conference, an annual gathering of media and technology executives in Idaho, less than 24-hours after he announced he was terminating his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter Inc.

Musk's arrival at the conference, known as the 'billionaires' summer camp,' delivered a jolt to the off-record event this week, where the headline-making typically happens without the media being present.

The interview was conducted by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research company, funded by Musk and several others, as the world's richest man discussed the possibility of life on Mars in the future, but stayed silent about Twitter.

'It just seems like an absolute mess,' said one senior media executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the interview. 'The guy makes his own rules ... I'd hate to be Twitter, where you have to take this guy seriously.'

Sun Valley is typically covered like an athleisure version of the Met Gala, with photographers capturing the arrivals of fleece-vested media moguls and reporters making note of power-lunches at the Konditorei cafe on the property.

This year, the five-day, invite-only conference, running from July 6 to 10, is being held at the edge of Idaho's Sawtooth National Forest in a tiny town of just 1,500 people.

One Hollywood power-broker on Friday expressed hope that the Musk interview would enliven the conference's staid, cerebral atmosphere this year.

Following Musk's announcement, one chief executive noted the elephant in the room - Saturdays remarks might well be uncomfortable to two conference attendees: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal.

One of Musk's last public messages to Agrawal came in the form of a tweet of a poop emoji in response to the Twitter CEO's defense of how the company accounts for spam bots.

It is not clear if Musk has met Agrawal or Segal at the Idaho event.

Musk's attorneys had delivered an eight-page letter to Twitter on Friday, saying he planned to call off the deal to acquire the social network.

The document, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, alleged Twitter failed to respond to repeated requests for information over the past two months, or obtain his consent before taking actions that would impact its business - such as firing two key executives.

Experts speculated the move may have been a bid to drive the price down. Musk initially offered $54.20 per share in April, but the market price of the shares was down to $36.81 on Friday night.

Bret Taylor, Twitter's chairman, tweeted on Friday the board was 'committed to closing the transaction' under the current terms of the deal and they were 'confident' they would win.
Sri Lanka's embattled president flew out of his country early Wednesday, in a probable prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests over the island nation's worst-ever economic crisis.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a 'peaceful transition of power', after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it.

As president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, and he is believed to have wanted to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.

He, his wife and a bodyguard were among four passengers on board an Antonov-32 military aircraft which took off from the main international airport heading for the neighbouring Maldives, according to immigration sources.

'Their passports were stamped and they boarded the special air force flight,' an immigration official involved in the process said.

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa sings the national anthem of Sri Lanka during the country's Independence Day celebration in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 4, 2022

People visit Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo on July 12, 2022, after it was overrun by anti-government protestors on July 9

The departure of the 73-year-old leader once known as 'The Terminator' had been stymied for more than 24 hours in a humiliating stand-off with immigration personnel at the airport.

He had wanted to fly to Dubai on a commercial flight, but staff at Bandaranaike International withdrew from VIP services and insisted that all passengers had to go through public counters.

The presidential party were reluctant to go through regular channels fearing public reactions, a security official said, and as a result missed four flights on Monday that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates.

Clearance for a military flight to land in the closest neighbour India was not immediately secured, a security official said, and at one point on Tuesday the group headed to a naval base with a view to fleeing by sea.

Rajapaksa's youngest brother Basil, who resigned in April as finance minister, missed his own Emirates flight to Dubai early Tuesday after a tense standoff of his own with airport staff.

Basil - who holds US citizenship in addition to Sri Lankan nationality - tried to use a paid concierge service for business travellers, but airport and immigration staff said they had withdrawn from the fast track service.

People crowd at presidential secretariat in Colombo on July 10, 2022, a day after it was overrun by anti-government protestors

Sri Lanka army soldiers patrol near the official residence of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa three days after it was stormed by anti government protesters in Colombo in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Basil had to obtain a new US passport after leaving his behind at the presidential palace when the Rajapaksas beat a hasty retreat to avoid mobs on Saturday, a diplomatic source said.

Official sources said a suitcase full of documents had also been left behind at the stately mansion along with 17.85 million rupees (about $50,000) in cash, now in the custody of a Colombo court.

There was no official word from the president's office about his whereabouts, but he remained commander-in-chief of the armed forces with military resources at his disposal.

Rajapaksa is accused of mismanaging the economy to a point where the country has run out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports, leading to severe hardships for the 22 million population.

If he steps down as promised, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will automatically become acting president until parliament elects an MP to serve out the presidential term, which ends in November 2024.

But Wickremesinghe has himself announced his willingness to step down if consensus is reached on forming a unity government.

The succession process could take between three days - the minimum time taken to convene parliament - and a maximum of 30 days allowed under the statute. If Rajapaksa does step down on Wednesday, the vote would take place on July 20, the parliamentary speaker has said.

The leader of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party, Sajith Premadasa, who lost the 2019 presidential election to Rajapaksa, has said he will stand for the position.

Premadasa is the son of former president Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was assassinated in a Tamil rebel suicide bombing in May 1993.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51-billion foreign debt in April and is in talks with the IMF for a possible bailout.

The island has nearly exhausted its already scarce supplies of petrol. The government has ordered the closure of non-essential offices and schools to reduce commuting and save fuel.
The Royal Navy has been reduced to acting as tour guides for illegal migrants in the Channel, MPs were told yesterday.

Since April, its vessels have escorted all but one of the boats operated by people smugglers, according to official figures.

The Navys reassuring presence has made the crossing safer, thereby encouraging more migrants to set off. Some 3,139 migrants arrived last month.

It also emerged yesterday how the refusal by senior Navy officers to blockade British waters triggered a major row between government departments.

Earlier this year Home Secretary Priti Patel gave the Navy primacy for security.

She expected its ships to protect the UKs seas  including the push back of migrant vessels. But the Navy refused to turn around boats and has accordingly been reduced to an escorting role in the Channel, leading MPs to question the purpose of its involvement.

Royal Navy HMS Blazer tows two small boats as it arrives in Dover, Kent in April

Labour MP John Spellar told a parliamentary committee the Navy was acting as tour guides for illegal migrants to get them to our shores.

But Armed Forces minister James Heappey said that the remark was unfair. He insisted the Home Secretarys plan, which was backed by Boris Johnson, was inappropriate.

He said: We were asked to explore it [the push back] but our analysis was that it was inappropriate.

We won the argument. The evidence supplied by mariners in the Royal Navy made the case for not doing it.

There were some trials down near Weymouth involving the Royal Marines but it didnt get further than that.

Border Force Typhoon bring Migrants ashore at Dover Docks in June

Chairman of the Commons defence committee Tobias Ellwood said: Providing duties to the Home Office is adding a burden which otherwise [the Navy] is not expecting to do.

We are going to become increasingly threatened by smaller Russian vessels so it is important the Navy is able to hand over this role to another branch of government.

If the Home Office or Border Force needs to buy P-2000 patrol vessels then it will have to buy them. We need the Navy to do Navy things.

Around 200 Navy personnel, mostly drawn from its Home Waters Squadron, have been involved in migrant operations since April.

When Miss Patel and Mr Johnson announced plans for the Navy to take over responsibility from Border Force, opponents warned the change would lead to an increase in the numbers of crossings.

Critics said the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister ignored these warnings in favour of appearing to launch a clampdown.
Cladding-hit flat owners are hoping that the new housing secretary will continue the progress of his predecessor, Michael Gove, in helping to resolve the cladding scandal.

That part of the housing market was paralysed following the Grenfell fire, as lenders refused to lend on cladding-hit properties, leaving flat owners in dangerous homes that they were unable to sell.

The former housing secretary Mr Gove has been widely praised for his progress in getting developers - rather than flat owners - to pay for fire safety defects.

It is hoped that Greg Clark, who has now stepped into the Government role, will be as effective as Mr Gove in making sure building owners pay for any remediation works.

Flat owner Natalie Carter (pictured) s calling for reassurance from Greg Clark, the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Flat owner Natalie Carter explained: 'Leaseholders urgently need reassurance from Greg Clark that the work Gove was doing to challenge developers to commit to paying for building safety remediation will continue.

'While imperfect and not leaseholders yet protected, Gove made more progress than any other minister to date.

'This work must continue. And we will be looking for a commitment to works towards abolishment of leasehold and implementation of commonhold.'

Greg Clark steps into the role following the sacking of Michael Gove, just before Boris Johnson made his resignation speech.

Mr Gove was credited with making huge progress in the sector, placing an emphasis on making sure developers took responsibility for fire safety defects.

Under his watch, the Building Safety Act was made law, making building owners - rather than the leaseholders of individual flats - financially responsible for making dangerous buildings safe.

It applies to buildings above 11 metres tall or with more than five storeys. Mr Gove suggested that a prison sentence may be given to building owners that did not comply and continued to invoice residents for remediation costs.

Cladding became a national issue following the fire at Grenfell Tower in London in 2017 when 72 people died and a further 70 were injured

Giles Grover, of campaigning group End Our Cladding Scandal, said: 'We are sorry to see Mr Gove leave the Government.

'Mr Gove was the fourth Secretary of State we have dealt with since this crisis began - we sincerely thank him and his officials for their engagement with us during his time in office and the determination to materially improve what was on the table since he was promoted to the role last September.

'While the solution proposed by Mr Gove is by no means ideal, with a number of gaps remaining and action on the ground still insufficient, we have moved significantly further forward towards ending this scandal than we have over the last five years.

'We have asked DLUHC's policy officials for urgent clarity on the position of the ongoing work that is taking place, particularly in relation to the developer pledges that are in the process of being turned into contracts and the secondary legislation due to come into force on 20 July.

Innocent leaseholders have been in limbo for years and the work that Mr Gove has begun must not be brought to a halt

'Innocent leaseholders have been in limbo for years and the work that Mr Gove has begun must not be brought to a halt. We are hopeful that, when a new Prime Minister is in place, people will finally be placed before politics.

'We currently see no good reason why Mr Gove could not be re-appointed to ensure full stability and completion of the important tasks in hand. Failing that, we would need a politician of equal authority and determination to hold industry to account appointed to the role.

'We welcome the comments from the new Secretary of State, Greg Clark, who has said that he will provide stability, good governance and accountability to Parliament at this important time. Our direct request to him is for continuity over the coming weeks. We look forward to meeting him.'
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Cavers have stumbled across a cobalt mineshaft left in pristine condition after it was sealed up and abandoned by miners more than 200 years ago.

The lack of oxygen penetrating the shaft has turned it into an underground 'time capsule' and preserved items discarded by the workmen.

These include a clay pipe, bowls, leather shoes, a windlass wound with rope and messages written on the walls in candle soot.

The discovery was made by the Derbyshire Caving Club in autumn 2021, who were exploring the mine network at Alderley Edge in Cheshire.

Ed Coghlan, the club secretary, said: 'To find a mine in pristine condition, together with such personal objects and inscriptions, is rare. It is a compelling window into the past and to the last day when the mine workers stopped their activities.'

The mine shaft extends 33 feet (10m) underground, and was spotted by the Derbyshire Caving Club thanks to a dip in the landscape that indicated a collapsed shaft seal. Pictured is Ed Coghlan with the bowl found in the mine

A miner's leather shoe discovered in the abandoned and sealed mine shaft. The lack of oxygen penetrating the shaft has turned it into an underground 'time capsule', and preserved items discarded by the workmen

The initials 'WS' and date '20th Aug 1810' were found written on a cave wall in candle soot, puzzling the cave explorers

HOW WAS THE COBALT PROCESSED? The cobalt mineral, asbolite, was separated from the other minerals as far as possible. It was treated to make a concentrate, and packed into barrels which were sent to the processing plant. There the blue cobalt oxide was produced and manufactured into 'zoffre' and smalt. Zoffre was a fused mixture of cobalt oxide and flint which gave a blue colour to china. While smalt, pulverised cobalt oxide, was used with silica and potash glass to give paper a blue tint or for whitening laundry. Nowadays, cobalt is primarily used in lithium-ion batteries. Advertisement

Written records and archaeological evidence suggest that mining took place in Alderley Edge in the Roman times, Bronze Age and between the 1690s and 1920s, for copper, lead and cobalt.

Now the network of caves and passages is owned by the National Trust, but has been leased out to the Derbyshire Caving Club since the 1970s.

Club members have been searching areas of mining that have been closed for centuries and reporting any finds to the National Trust, which have so far included a Bronze Age shovel and a Roman coin hoard.

The latest mine extends 33 feet (10m) underground, and was spotted by the club thanks to a dip in the landscape that indicated a collapsed shaft seal.

Experts believe it was was abandoned around 1810, having once being used for the extraction of cobalt.

Blue cobalt oxide was used to colour pottery, glass and paper during the medieval and post-medieval periods, and could be found where copper was mined in Cornwall, Cumbria and Cheshire.

Its mining was short-lived in England because imports from Europe proved more plentiful, but these imports were halted during the Napoleonic War between 1803 and 1815.

This led to the resurgence of cobalt mining practices, and in about 1806 cobalt ore was discovered on Alderley Edge.

At the time Alderley Edge was owned by Sir John Thomas Stanley who anticipated a boom in the cobalt market, and so leased out the rights to the extraction of cobalt ore to a Yorkshire pottery company in 1808.

Sadly, all practices were abandoned in July 1817 when imports from the continent resumed.

Cavers from the Derbyshire Caving Club discovered numerous personal objects and pieces of equipment in the mine that had been discarded by workmen just before the shaft was sealed.

This includes leather shoes, clay pipes, a metal button from a jacket, mining machinery and inscriptions written in candle soot on the walls.

Also uncovered was a clay bowl that had been buried in a wall, a practice that may have been followed by superstitious miners as an offering of thanks for a good source of mineral.

The Alderley Edge mines are located on the escarpment in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, and are managed by The National Trust

Ed Coghlan with a miner's pipe found in the mine. He said that his club has explored many disused mines since it started its exploration, but most of them had been filled in with rubble or sand, or already broken into and gutted of artefacts

Also uncovered was a clay bowl that had been buried in a wall, a practice that may have been followed by superstitious miners as an offering of thanks for a good source of mineral

Letters engraved by miners were found on rubble in the mine shaft. The shaft will soon be sealed once more and the oxygen allowed to run out, with all the relics left inside to be preserved just as the miners had left them

Jamie Lund and Ed Coghlan from Derbyshire Caving Club discuss one of the timber props installed by the miners

They also found clearly defined fingerprints pushed into clay blobs that once held candles, and the imprint of corduroy from a worker's clothing where he leaned against a wall.

Ed Coghlan said that his club has explored many disused mines since it started its exploration, but most of them had been filled in with rubble or sand, or already broken into and gutted of artefacts.

The fact that this mine had been so well sealed meant its contents was uniquely preserved.

A windlass, a piece of apparatus used to shift large weights or quantities of raw materials, was also discovered for the first time in the Alderley Edge mining network, and was still wound with rope.

Coghlan said: 'This was an important piece of mining equipment which we would have expected the workers to have taken with them for use at another mine.

'It does suggest they were told without much warning to collect their tools and move on, which is not surprising once the cobalt was exhausted, since each day there was a day paying wages.'

A windlass, a piece of apparatus used to shift large weights or quantities of raw materials, was also discovered for the first time in the Alderley Edge mining network, and was still wound with rope

A metal button from a jacket was found inside the newly discovered mine shaft, along with leather shoes, clay pipes, a, mining machinery and inscriptions written in candle soot on the walls

Clearly defined fingerprints were also found pushed into clay blobs that once held candles, along with the imprint of corduroy from a worker's clothing where he leaned against a wall

The initials 'WS' and date '20th Aug 1810' were also found written on a cave wall in candle soot, puzzling the explorers as to the story behind it.

'Who was he and what is the significance of the date?', said Coghlan.

'We found other more basic initials and numbers in what we believe were the 'cribs' or rest areas, as if someone had been learning and practicing their writing.

'But the 'WS' is stylishly written, with quite a flourish.

'Our research so far has not identified who this could be. Was it just an individual wanting to say, 'I was here', or from a visit by a mine manager or estate owner, or could it have been to indicate the last day this mine was in use?'

Since its discovery last year, The National Trust has been creating a 3D 'fly through' of the new mine shaft, allowing it to be navigated interactively and can be viewed here from today.

The shaft will soon be sealed once more and the oxygen allowed to run out, with all the relics left inside to be preserved just as the miners had left them.

A cross section showing the 33-foot (10 metre) shaft and subterranean workings of the cobalt mine. Since its discovery last year, The National Trust have been creating a 3D 'fly through' of the new mine shaft, allowing it to be navigated interactively

Written records and archaeological evidence suggest that mining took place in Alderley Edge in the Roman times, Bronze Age and between the 1690s and 1920s, for copper, lead and cobalt

The network of caves is owned by the National Trust, but have been leased out to the Derbyshire Caving Club since the 1970s

Ed Coghlan, the secretary of Derbyshire Caving Club, with an old roofing stone found at the end of the mine workings

Jamie Lund, National Trust archaeologist said: 'This discovery is helping us understand a less well-known chapter in the story of mining at Alderley Edge, which has been explored and exploited for 4,000 years.

'We are passionate about giving people the chance to explore our industrial heritage and the Caving Club conducts tours of some of the more accessible mines that have been discovered at Alderley Edge.

'But sometimes locations with impractical access mean we need to find other ways to bring the place to life for visitors.

'Virtual access is a great way anyone can navigate their way around the mine from the comfort of their armchair and imagine themselves in the boots of the men who worked there.

'The objects found in the mine have been photographed and catalogued and left where they were found, to remain in the underground conditions which have preserved them.

'It leaves the mine as a time capsule, protecting a place that was once a hive of activity for future generations to explore and enjoy.'
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Dazzling, unprecedented images of a 'stellar nursery', dying star cloaked by dust and a 'cosmic dance' between a group of galaxies have been revealed to the world by NASA's new super space telescope.

Hailed as 'the dawn of a new era in astronomy', they were taken by James Webb  a successor to the famous Hubble observatory  and were released by NASA at a global press conference today.

It puts an end to months of waiting and feverish anticipation as people across the globe are treated to the first batch of a treasure trove of images that will culminate in the earliest ever look at the dawn of the universe.

Webb's infrared capabilities mean it can 'see back in time' to within a mere 100-200 million years of the Big Bang, allowing it to snap pictures of the very first stars to shine in the universe more than 13.5 billion years ago.

Its first images of nebulae, an exoplanet and galaxy clusters have triggered huge celebration in the scientific world, on what has been hailed a 'great day for humanity'.

British astronaut Tim Peake, who spent six months on the International Space Station back in 2016, tweeted: 'Simply breathtaking. I think a lot of people will be choosing new screensavers this week.'

Among the discoveries announced by NASA is that scientists have seen water vapour in the atmosphere of an exoplanet planet more than 1,000 light-years from Earth.

Webb captured the distinct signature of water, along with evidence for clouds and haze, in the atmosphere surrounding WASP-96 b  a hot, puffy gas giant planet which orbits a distant sun-like star every 3.4 days.

It is the first ever spectrum analysis of an exoplanet's atmosphere. WASP-96 b has about half the mass of Jupiter, and its discovery was announced in 2014.

One of the five jaw-dropping pictures released shows a planetary nebula caused by a dying star  a fate that awaits our sun some time in the distant future.

Nearly half a light-year in diameter and approximately 2,500 light-years away from Earth, the Southern Ring Nebula can be seen in incredible never-before-seen detail.

Another image is of Stephan's Quintet, which is located in the constellation Pegasus and is notable for being the first compact galaxy group ever discovered in 1877.

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Sea of stars: Dazzling, unprecedented images of a 'stellar nursery', dying star cloaked by dust and a 'cosmic dance' between a group of galaxies have been revealed to the world by NASA's new super space telescope. Among them is an image revealing baby stars in the Carina Nebula (pictured), where ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds shape colossal walls of dust and gas

One image is of Stephan's Quintet, which is located in the constellation Pegasus and is notable for being the first compact galaxy group ever discovered in 1877

Another picture captures a planetary nebula caused by a dying star  a fate that awaits our sun some time in the distant future

Two cameras aboard Webb captured the latest image of this planetary nebula, cataloged as NGC 3132, and known informally as the Southern Ring Nebula. It is approximately 2,500 light-years away. One image was taken in the near-infrared (left) and another in the mid-infrared (right)

Webb also analysed the atmosphere of a giant planet outside our solar system called WASP-96 b (pictured). It is located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth and orbits its star every 3.4 days

Spectacular: Pictured is the first image from the James Webb Space Telescope, showing SMACS 0723, a galaxy cluster billions of light-years from Earth. It was revealed to the world yesterday by US President Joe Biden

HOW DOES JAMES WEBB SEE BACK IN TIME? The further away an object is, the further back in time we are looking. This is because of the time it takes light to travel from the object to us. With James Webb's larger mirror, it will be able to see almost the whole way back to the beginning of the universe, more than 13.5 billion years ago. With its ability to view the Universe in longer wavelength infrared light, James Webb will be capable of seeing some of the most distant galaxies in our universe, certainly with more ease than than the visible/ultraviolet light view of Hubble. This is because light from distant objects is stretched out by the expansion of our universe - an effect known as redshift - pushing the light out of the visible range and into infrared. Source: Royal Museums Greenwich Advertisement

Four of the five galaxies within the quintet are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters.

This enormous mosaic is Webb's largest image to date, covering about one-fifth of the moon's diameter. It contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files.

NASA said the information provides new insights into how galactic interactions may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe.

Webb has also revealed a sparkling image of baby stars in the Carina Nebula, where ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds shape colossal walls of dust and gas.

The 'cosmic cliffs' of the Carina Nebula  a star-forming region located roughly 7,600 light-years from Earth in our own Milky Way galaxy  were previously pictured by Hubble.

However, the new view offers a rare glimpse of stars in their earliest, rapid stages of formation, including hundreds that were previously completely hidden from our view.

While the Hubble Space Telescope has analysed numerous exoplanet atmospheres over the past two decades, capturing the first clear detection of water in 2013, NASA said that Webb's immediate and more detailed observation marks a giant leap forward in the quest to characterise potentially habitable planets beyond Earth.

Emma Curtis-Lake, an astronomer at the University of Hertfordshire, said: 'I've just watched the release of the new images, and I am blown away by the sharpness and level of detail in all the images!

'My favourite moment was when they revealed the image showing the NIRSpec spectrum of a galaxy that is over 13 billion light years away.

'I've been impatient to find out how NIRSpec performs, and I can't wait to get my hands on it and test our models for my own research. The NIRSpec is an on-board spectrograph, and it's capable of taking spectra of hundreds of galaxies at once.

'The final image of the Carina Nebula was absolutely stunning, a really special moment  you could hear the gasps from the people in the room.'

Yesterday, US President Joe Biden previewed the main event as he unveiled one of Webb's images that showed a cluster of galaxies 4 billion light-years away from Earth.

This provided the deepest and sharpest infrared look at the distant universe to date, capturing the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago.

President Biden called it 'a historic moment for science and technology, for astronomy and space exploration and all of humanity'.

This deep field, taken by Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths and took just 12.5 hours to compile, compared with the weeks it took predecessor Hubble to observe other 'deep fields'  images of a portion of the sky taken with a very long exposure time.

According to NASA, SMACS 0723 has a gravitational pull so powerful that it warps both space-time and the path that light subsequently travels through it.

By studying this light, scientists want to learn about the origins of the cosmos, and possibly even catch a glimpse of the elusive photons that came from the very first stars to ever exist.

NASA said Webb's NIRCam has brought distant galaxies into sharp focus in the new image  they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said: 'Today, we present humanity with a groundbreaking new view of the cosmos from the James Webb Space Telescope  a view the world has never seen before.

'These images, including the deepest infrared view of our universe that has ever been taken, show us how Webb will help to uncover the answers to questions we don't even yet know to ask; questions that will help us better understand our universe and humanity's place within it.'

Yesterday he told the public: 'We're looking back more than 13 billion years. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second  that light that you're seeing on one of those little specks has been traveling for 13 billion years.

'By the way, we're going further.

'Since we know the universe is 13.8 billion years old, we're going back almost to the beginning.'

Nelson said the $10 billion (7.4 billion) observatory is so precise that scientists will be able to see whether or not planets in other galaxies are habitable  so whether or not they can host life, possibly like on Earth.

In the mid-infrared view of Stephan's Quintet, Webb pierces through dust, giving new insight into how interactions like these may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe

The telescope (pictured), which was launched from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana on December 25 last year, will explore the universe in the infrared spectrum, allowing it to gaze through clouds of gas and dust where stars are being born

Webb's infrared capabilities allow it to 'see back in time' to the Big Bang, which happened 13.8 billion years ago. Light waves move extremely fast, about 186,000 miles (300,000 km) per second, every second. The further away an object is, the further back in time we are looking. This is because of the time it takes light to travel from the object to us

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEBB AND HUBBLE? NASA likes to think of James Webb as a successor to Hubble rather than a replacement, as the two will work in tandem for a while. That's because they look at stars and galaxies in different ways. Hubble studies the universe predominantly at optical, or visible, wavelengths, which is the same type of light we detect with our eyes. Webb, on the other hand, is set up to specifically look in the infrared, which is invisible to our eyes but allows it to identify the glow from the most distant objects in the universe. It works in much the same way night vision goggles use thermal imaging technology to capture infrared light. Advertisement

Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies' masses, ages, histories and compositions, as Webb seeks the earliest galaxies in the universe.

The telescope, which was launched from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana on December 25 last year, will explore the universe in the infrared spectrum, allowing it to gaze through clouds of gas and dust where stars are being born.

In comparison, its predecessor Hubble has operated primarily at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths since its launch in 1990.

As the universe is expanding, light from the earliest stars shifts from the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths it was emitted in, to longer infrared wavelengths.

Astronomers will use Webb to observe the infrared universe, analyse the data collected, and publish scientific papers on their discoveries.

'James Webb allows us to see deeper into space than ever before,' said Vice President Kamala Harris, who leads the National Space Council.

'It will enhance what we know about our universe our solar system and possibly life itself.'

Webb is the most advanced telescope ever built and is 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, which is still operational 32 years after its launch.

Last week, NASA shared its list of targets for the first images to be captured by Webb  including the giant exoplanet WASP-96 b, the Carina Nebula and Stephan's Quintet.

Yesterday, US President Joe Biden previewed the main event as he unveiled one of Webb's images that showed a cluster of galaxies 4 billion light-years away from Earth

Webb's primary mirror consists of 18 hexagonal segments of gold-plated beryllium metal, and measures 21 feet 4 inches (6.5 metres) in diameter. It is supported by three shallow carbon fibre tubes, or struts, that extend out from the primary mirror

TARGETS ACQUIRED! WHAT JAMES WEBB HAS CAPTURED FIRST The targets of the James Webb Space Telescope's first images were: SMACS 0723 Massive foreground galaxy clusters magnify and distort the light of objects behind them, permitting a deep field view into both the extremely distant and intrinsically faint galaxy populations. Carina Nebula The Carina Nebula is one of the largest and brightest nebulae in the sky, located approximately 7,600 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. Nebulae are stellar nurseries where stars form. The Carina Nebula is home to many massive stars, several times larger than the sun. WASP-96b WASP-96 b is a giant planet outside our solar system, composed mainly of gas. The planet, located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth, orbits its star every 3.4 days. It has about half the mass of Jupiter, and its discovery was announced in 2014. Southern Ring Nebula The Southern Ring, or 'Eight-Burst' nebula, is a planetary nebula  an expanding cloud of gas, surrounding a dying star. It is nearly half a light-year in diameter and is located approximately 2,000 light years away from Earth. Stephan's Quintet About 290 million light-years away, Stephan's Quintet is located in the constellation Pegasus. It is notable for being the first compact galaxy group ever discovered in 1877. Four of the five galaxies within the quintet are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters. Advertisement

WASP-96 b, which was discovered in 2014, is a giant planet outside of our solar system that is composed mainly of gas.

It is 1,150 light-years from Earth, orbits its star every 3.4 days is about half the mass of Jupiter.

Stephan's Quintet is located in the constellation Pegasus and is known for being the first compact galaxy group ever discovered in 1787.

Four of the five galaxies within the quintet are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters, NASA said.

Webb has an ambitious mission to study the early universe, work out how fast it is now expanding and analyse objects throughout the cosmos ranging from galaxies to exoplanets.

The telescope has a gigantic golden mirror measuring just over 21 feet across that is made up of 18 individual hexagonal segments that can fold up and unfold.

They were slowly and meticulously deployed over the past six months to prepare James Webb for its science mission.

The observatory and most of its instruments have an operating temperature of roughly 40 Kelvin  about minus 387 Fahrenheit (minus 233 Celsius).

Anticipation for the images has only grown as NASA scientists have shared their thoughts over the last week.

'What I have seen moved me, as a scientist, as an, and as a human being,' NASA's deputy administrator, Pam Melroy, said in a press conference in June.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said earlier this month that Webb would be able to gaze further into space than any telescope before it.

'It's going to explore objects in the solar system and atmospheres of exoplanets orbiting other stars, giving us clues as to whether potentially their atmospheres are similar to our own,' he said.

'It may answer some questions that we have: Where do we come from? What more is out there? Who are we?

'And of course, it's going to answer some questions that we don't even know what the questions are.'

Beyond what is already planned for Webb, there are the unexpected discoveries astronomers cannot anticipate.

In 1990, when Hubble was launched, dark energy was completely unknown. Now it is one of the most exciting areas of astrophysics.

Last week NASA shared a 'teaser' image ahead of the eagerly-anticipated release of the first deep-space pictures from its James Webb Space Telescope

Webb is pictured prior to launch. The primary mirror is composed of 18 hexagonal segments made of the metal beryllium and coated with gold to capture faint infrared light

INSTRUMENTS ON THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE NIRCam (Near InfraRed Camera) an infrared imager from the edge of the visible through the near infrared NIRSpec (Near InfraRed Spectrograph) will also perform spectroscopy over the same wavelength range. MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument) will measure the mid-to-long-infrared wavelength range from 5 to 27 micrometers. FGS/NIRISS (Fine Guidance Sensor and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph), is used to stabilise the line-of-sight of the observatory during science observations. Advertisement

NASA likes to think of James Webb as a successor to Hubble rather than a replacement, as the two will work in tandem for a while.

That's because they look at stars and galaxies in different ways.

Hubble studies the universe predominantly at optical, or visible, wavelengths, which is the same type of light we detect with our eyes.

Webb, on the other hand, is set up specifically to look in the infrared, which is invisible to our eyes but allows it to identify the glow from the most distant objects in the universe.

It works in much the same way night vision goggles use thermal imaging technology to capture infrared light.

Currently, the earliest cosmological observations date to within 330 million years of the Big Bang, but with Webb's capacities, astronomers believe they will easily break the record.

The telescope and most of its instruments have an operating temperature of roughly 40 Kelvin  about minus 387 Fahrenheit (minus 233 Celsius).

It began development in 1996 and was originally envisaged to launch in 2007, but a major redesign in 2005 put this back and a series of further delays led to it eventually making it to orbit at the end of last year.
Luke Shaw has heaped praise on new Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag and says the structure he is trying to implement is something the club 'haven't had for quite a while'.

The 52-year-old has been putting his new squad through their paces over the last fortnight, but their preparations for the new season will intensify when they face Liverpool today.

Ten Hag is believed to have got a tune out of the United squad through his work on the training ground, having been appointed by the club's hierarchy in May due to his clear attacking philosophy which he demonstrated with Ajax.

Left-back Luke Shaw (right) has heaped praise on new Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag

Shaw described the Dutchman as a 'top, top manager' and hailed the structure he is building

Tactical nous was something Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick were questioned over in United's thoroughly underwhelming campaign in 2021-22.

And speaking in Thailand ahead of the friendly against Jurgen Klopp's men, Shaw appeared to take a dig at United's previous two bosses, insisting the structure ten Hag wants to play with is something United did not have last season.

'It's clear that he's a top, top manager. He has a structure to play the way he wants us to play,' said Shaw in quotes carried by The Metro.

'We haven't had that for quite a while, and it was clear to see last season, which was extremely disappointing.

Ten Hag is believed to have got a tune out of the United squad on the training ground

'We have to bounce back [from last season] and he has been working us extremely hard, but I think we need it.

'We're really looking forward to this season because I know it's going to be much better than the last one.'

United endured a difficult campaign last time out, finishing sixth in the Premier League and extending their run without a trophy to five seasons.

Their first game under their new boss in a friendly in Bangkok could, however, be hindered by the absence of centre-back duo Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire.

There were doubts about the tactical nous of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (R) and Ralf Rangnick (L)

The Red Devils held two sessions on Monday with the first at the STB Academy before moving on to the Rajamangala Stadium, the venue for the friendly, with Varane missing entirely from the latter one.

The 29-year-old did train with the team on Monday morning but was absent for the open session which was conducted in front of a few thousand fans.

Ten Hag's problems were compounded with Maguire not taking part in team training too.

Unlike Varane, the captain was present at the Rajamangala Stadium but trained away from the rest of the squad.

Defender Raphael Varane missed United's opening training session on Monday in Thailand
A travel vlogger has filmed his trip on the world's shortest - and technically most expensive - commercial flight, which takes just one minute and 14 seconds.

Noel Philips, 41, shot the video flying between the islands of Papa Westray and Westray in the Scottish archipelago of Orkney - with the flight covering a distance of just 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometres).

The flight only costs 17, but its cost-per-mile ratio applied to a flight from London to Dubai would produce a 34,000 fare.

Travel vlogger Noel Philips (left) filmed himself experiencing the world's shortest flight, between the islands of Papa Westray and Westray in the Scottish archipelago of Orkney. The Loganair flight (right) covers a distance of just 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometres) and takes just one minute and 14 seconds. The record journey time is 53 seconds

The Papa Westray to Westray service can carry up to eight passengers and operates twice a day with Loganair

The footage shows Noel, from Mansfield, Derbyshire, boarding the Britten-Norman Islander plane in Papa Westray, with the vlogger setting a timer on his phone to record the length of the journey.

It sets off, flying briefly over the channel of water between the isles as Noel spins the camera around to show the interior of the plane.

'You barely get airborne from the runway before the aircraft is turning onto its final approach into the destination,' Noel says in the clip.

He adds: 'It ranks as one of the most expensive flights that you can take on a per-mile basis. It's actually more expensive than Emirates' first-class.'

Seconds later, the plane touches ground in Westray, as Noel holds up his timer to prove that a total time of one minute and 14 seconds has been recorded.

Tiny Westray airport comes into view, as a baggage handler helps to unload the small plane.

The plane used for the service is a Britten-Norman Islander, with the film showing Noel boarding it in Papa Westray

The flight can carry up to eight passengers and operates twice a day with Loganair, with the record journey time just 53 seconds.

Some say the flight's distance makes it environmentally questionable, but the alternative is a 20-minute boat ride through choppy waters.

The route acts as a connecting flight to Kirkwall on Orkney, which helps locals get to the more populous places.

The video shows the interior of the plane, which can carry up to eight passengers and operates twice a day with Loganair

The plane descends into Westray

The local council has suggested that a bridge be built to connect Papa Westray and Westray, but nothing has been authorised so far.

For the time being, the plane bridges the gap and is used regularly by both tourists and locals.

Describing his trip, Noel said: 'When I got to Westray, I stayed there overnight to explore, and flew back to Kirkwall the following morning, once again taking the world's shortest flight along the way.

'I love flying on little flights like this and travelling around some of the world's most remote communities.

'Scotland has so many of these tiny flights connecting the remote communities in the islands, and living in the UK it's so easy to travel to.

'The planes that serve these islands are quite small, they're like getting onboard a minibus.

'You can't take any hand baggage onboard, it all has to go in the boot when you get onboard.

Pictured left, a baggage handler unloads bags from the Loganair flight. You can't take any hand baggage onboard, it all has to go in the boot when you get onboard, Noel reveals. On the right, the video gives a view of tiny Westray airport

'It's very popular with tourists and aviation enthusiasts.

'On my flights were several people who were staying on the islands and just wanted to experience the world's shortest flight.

'But it's also relied upon for locals to be able to connect with Kirkwall and be able to leave or return to the islands.'

Noel is no stranger to the world of transport and has travelled on some of the planet's more obscure flights, trains and transport links.

He has travelled across the globe and reviewed the likes of the world's 'longest', 'worst' and most 'dangerous' flights.

He said: 'I've been a full-time travel vlogger for three years now.

'Before this, I worked as an IT consultant and did YouTube as my side hobby.

'You barely get airborne from the runway before the aircraft is turning onto its final approach into the destination,' Noel says in the clip

'I've been an aviation enthusiast since a very young age, and I started sharing my passion with others via YouTube in 2013.

'I was fortunate enough to be able to take it full time in 2019 when my channel grew to such a size that it was taking up more of my time than my full-time job!

'Since then I've travelled around the world and made videos on every continent - apart from Antarctica.

'I consider myself very lucky to have what I think is the best job in the world - travelling around the world flying on unique airlines and pursuing my passion, then coming home to spend months at home with my family.

'I still have more countries to visit and more airlines to fly.

'Every time I think I've "done it all", I find another experience that goes on the list.'

For more from Noel visit his YouTube channel.
Kim Kardashian revealed in an interview with Allure that her daughter North recently played a gory prank on her.

The reality star, 41, told a story to the publication about her nine-year-old's obsession with special effects makeup.

'North is really into special effects makeup, and shes really good at it so I have a teacher come and show her special effects makeup where its like wounds and blood and tons of stuff,' the Keeping up with the Kardashians star said.

Giving her a fright: Kim Kardashian revealed in an interview with Allure that her daughter North recently played a gory prank on her

Kim went on to explain that she rented a house over the summer and walked into a terrifying scene.

'She decided not only to prank me and do [the makeup] on her and Chicago, but she made the whole room look like a murder scene,' the Los Angeles native said.

While Kim got her kids clean before putting them to bed, she said she was 'too tired' to clean up the rest of the room.

Quite the hobby: The reality star, 41, told a story to the publication about her nine-year-old's obsession with special effects makeup

Terrifying: 'She decided not only to prank me and do [the makeup] on her and Chicago, but she made the whole room look like a murder scene,' the Los Angeles native said

She left the house to drop off her kids at school the next morning, and the housekeeper walked into the frightful room.

'The housekeeper came and tried to call the authorities and called the homeowner thinking that it was a full, real murder scene,' The Kardashians star said.

'I had to let them know that it was completely just a prank and my kids were doing special effects makeup. It was bad.'

Big happy family: North is Kim's oldest child. She shares North and three other children with her ex-husband Kanye West who now goes by Ye

Exes: Kim and Kanye married back in 2014 and finalized their divorce earlier this year. They've both moved on since breaking things off (pictured 2020)

North is Kim's oldest child. She shares North and three other children with her ex-husband Kanye West who now goes by Ye.

The couple also share six-year-old Saint, four-year-old Chicago and three-year-old Psalm.

Kim and Kanye married back in 2014 and finalized their divorce earlier this year. They've both moved on since breaking things off.

Kardashian is now in a committed relationship with Pete Davidson while Kanye has dated several women since breaking things off with Kim. He's been connected with actress Julia Fox and model Chaney Jones in recent months.
Tommy Little has expressed his deep regret after failing to complete his charity swim from the United Kingdom to Belgium.

The comedian, 27, had embarked on the swim over the weekend to raise money for a spinal cord charity, but was forced to stop halfway through after French authorities threatened to intercept his team's boat.

'I'm shattered and I'm embarrassed. I've been talking about this swim for about six months now,' he said on The Project on Monday.

The Project host Tommy Little (pictured) has expressed his deep regret after failing to complete his charity swim from the United Kingdom to Belgium

'A lot of people donated money, which is going to a great cause, and we didn't finish. And if you don't think it's embarrassing... we even got world record T-shirts with our names on them, and where are we going to wear them?' he added.

Tommy, who went through months of gruelling training and fundraising, admitted he was 'still devastated' by the weekend's turn of events.

The funnyman explained his swim team was prevented from entering French waters, despite receiving approval for the route they were taking, because local officials 'decided it was getting too dangerous'.

The comedian, 27, had embarked on the swim over the weekend to raise money for a spinal cord charity, but was forced to stop halfway through after French authorities threatened to intercept his team's boat

'So they pulled the pin and told us we needed to get out, and if we didn't, they'd intercept our boat,' he said, explaining there would be dire consequences including a court case and 'huge fines' if they refused.

He later admitted: 'If I am going to do it again, I am going to do it quietly and not tell anyone. People have pledged money and donated money and then you just feel like a bit of a fraud at the end of it. But it's something that was out of my control.'

Co-host Carrie Bickmore assured Tommy he had nothing to be ashamed of, and that it was admirable he put his 'body on the line for an incredible cause'.

'A lot of people donated money, which is going to a great cause, and we didn't finish. And if you don't think it's embarrassing... we even got world record T-shirts with our names on them, and where are we going to wear them?' he said on The Project on Monday

Tommy is pictured with a fellow swimmer (left) after qualifying for the UK-to-Belgium swim

Unfortunately, the swim ended in disaster when French authorities prevented Tommy and his crew from entering French waters after they had completed 53km of their journey

Tommy qualified for the world-first swim relay event back in May.

He shared the news to Instagram at the time, writing: 'Four hours and 10.9 kilometres later and this breathless idiot has officially qualified for the 1st ever UK to Belgium swim!'

Unfortunately, the swim ended in disaster after French authorities prevented Tommy and his crew from entering French waters after they had completed 53km of their journey.

'I've been give strict instructions not to go too hard and call the French "d**kheads"... but I will call them "w**kers", which I believe is a French word,' Tommy said of the incident on The Sunday Project.
On Sunday she delighted fans by sharing a couple of photos of herself with her lookalike daughter enjoying a beach sunset.

But on Monday it was back to business for Reese Witherspoon as she stepped out in New York City.

The actress and producer, 46, was spotted out and about in Midtown wearing a pretty white summer frock with a brown leather belt at the waist.

Things to do: It was back to business on Monday for Reese Witherspoon as she stepped out in New York City after enjoying a tropical break with family

The Legally Blonde star added open-toed leather sandal heels and a shoulder bag on a leather strap.

She wore her hair in a sleek ponytail and sported black-framed sunglasses and silver hoop earrings.

Reese made sure to stay safe by donning a mask for her outing.

Pretty: The actress and producer, 46, was spotted out and about in Midtown wearing a pretty white summer frock with a brown leather belt at the waist and matching leather sandal heels

Out and about: Reese wore her hair in a sleek ponytail and sported black-framed sunglasses and silver hoop earrings. She made sure to stay safe by donning a mask for her outing

Meanwhile, her Sunday posts on Instagram left her followers gasping at just how alike she and daughter Ava Phillippe are.

Ava, 22, also showed off a new tattoo in the snaps taken against a tropical ocean backdrop.

Ava, whose father is Reese's ex-husband actor Ryan Phillippe, debuted an 'Admit One' ticket on her forearm.

The inking was clearly visible as she wiped away her famous mom's makeup in one of the photos, prompting Reese to add the caption: Love sharing sunsets with my girl *esp when she fixes my makeup.'

The celebrity offspring already had a few tattoos which were visible when she posed for a black and white photo she then posted to her Instagram in May.

Twins! On Sunday, Reese left fans gasping at how much she and daughter Ava Phillippe, 22, look alike as she shared photos taken against a tropical sunset backdrop to her Instagram

Cute: Ava, whose father is actor Ryan Phillippe, debuted an 'Admit One' ticket on her forearm. The inking was clearly visible as she wiped away her famous mom's makeup in one of the snaps
Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey canceled their first rose ceremony after failing to talk to all 32 contestants on Monday's season premiere of The Bachelorette on ABC.

With time running out before the first rose ceremony, Gabby 31, an ICU nurse from O'Fallon, Illinois, and Rachel, 26, a flight instructor from Clermont, Florida, compared notes and realized they didn't come close to meeting all the contestants.

When season 19 host Jesse Palmer, 43, came to get them for the ceremony Gabby asked Jesse if they could do things differently.

Leading ladies: Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey canceled their first rose ceremony after failing to talk to all 32 contestants on Monday's season premiere of The Bachelorette on ABC

'You guys can do whatever you want,' Jesse told them.

The former star of season five of The Bachelor in 2004 also shared some advice with them.

'If there are people here tonight that you know in your hearts that don't have a future, do you really want to string them along?' Jesse said.

Gabby and Rachel pulled aside Robert 'Rob' Sobieski, 33, a magician from Los Angeles, and two identical twins Joey and Justin Young, 24, from Brookfield, Connecticut, and told them that they didn't feel a connection with them and hugged them goodbye.

Season premiere: With time running out before the first rose ceremony, Gabby 31, an ICU nurse from O'Fallon, Illinois, and Rachel, 26, a flight instructor from Clermont, Florida, compared notes and realized they didn't come close to meeting all the contestants

The host: When season 19 host Jesse Palmer, 43, came to get them for the ceremony Gabby asked Jesse if they could do things differently

Bachelor star: The star of season five of The Bachelor offered advice to Rachel and Gabby

They then told the remaining men they decided to cancel the rose ceremony to get to know them better.

'We felt that we didn't have enough time to really get to know you all, and that would be doing ourselves and you all a disservice,' Gabby said. ' So we are asking you to move forward with us next week and cancel the rose ceremony tonight.'

The men cheered.

Moving forward: The women told the remaining men they decided to cancel the rose ceremony to get to know them better

'Thank you guys for being patient with us,' Rachel said.

Waiters brought in champagne and they all toasted 'to love.'

At the start of the show Rachel and Gabby discussed their types and how the show would work.

They're back: Rachel and Gabby previously competed on season 26 of The Bachelor starring Clayton Echard, 29

Good times: Waiters brought in champagne and they all toasted 'to love'

Gabby said she wanted to be with someone who could make a decision.

'It was clear that Clayton didn't know what the f*** he wanted,' Gabby said. 'I know what I want.'

Rachel was nervous how it would work if they both liked the same guy.

Bachelor star: 'It was clear that Clayton didn't know what the f*** he wanted,' Gabby said. 'I know what I want'

Dynamic duo: At the start of the show Rachel and Gabby discussed their types and how the show would work

'I'm sure someone's going to try and play our a**,' Gabby said. 'I have no doubt. I don't trust men.'

'Dating the same guys is definitely going to be challenging,' Rachel said in a confessional.

Gabby and Rachel excitedly stood together waiting for the limos full of men to arrive as each of the contestants tried to make a lasting impression.

Challenging season: 'Dating the same guys is definitely going to be challenging,' Rachel said in a confessional

Jordan Helman, 35, a software developer, from Tampa brought noise cancelling headphones so he could talk to each of the women individually.

Ethan Kang, 27, an advertising executive from New York juggled apples to impress them.

Logan Palmer, 26, a videographer from San Diego carried two live chicks in his hands that he handed to them.

Brought headphones: Jordan Helman, 35, a software developer, from Tampa brought noise cancelling headphones so he could talk to each of the women individually

Juggling skills: Ethan Kang, 27, an advertising executive from New York juggled apples to impress them

'I haven't had sex in a year and almost a half,' Quincey Williams, 25, from Miami, said. 'I've been saving for the right person.'

Alec Garza, 27, a wedding photographer from Houston had a choir sing a song to them about how 'Clayton sucks' and that he was instead their 'mister right.'

'I hope this was a first impression that you will never forget,' Alec said.

Limo choir: Alec Garza, 27, a wedding photographer from Houston had a choir sing a song to them about how 'Clayton sucks' and that he was instead their 'mister right'

'I don't think we could,' Rachel said.

James Clarke, 25, a meatball enthusiast from Winnetka, Illinois, got out of the limo carrying a giant meatballs sub sandwich. He told them his nickname was 'meatball.'

'I got dinner for tonight boys,' James said when he entered the house with the giant sandwich.

Meatball sandwich: James Clarke, 25, a meatball enthusiast from Winnetka, Illinois, got out of the limo carrying a giant meatballs sub sandwich

Tino Franco, 28, a general contractor from Playa Del Rey, California, pulled up in a forklift.

'I do work in conscription so that means I'm good with my hands,' Tino said.

'He's my type,' Rachel said.

Forklift driver: Tino Franco, 28, a general contractor from Playa Del Rey, California, pulled up in a forklift

Jacob Rapini, 27, a mortgage broker from Scottsdale, Arizona rode up on a white horse shirtless with an oiled chest.

'Is that Fabio,' Rachel said.

'I know this looks like a cover to a romantic novel, but I'm only here for a happy ending,' Jacob said.

White horse: Jacob Rapini, 27, a mortgage broker from Scottsdale, Arizona rode up on a white horse shirtless with an oiled chest

Good question: 'Is that Fabio,' Rachel asked

Spencer Swiss, 27, a graduate student from Chicago brought them both folding chairs to sit in.

'This might be the best introduction we have seen,' Rachel said.

'He's my type,' Gabby said.

'I hope Rachel is not into him because I want to get to know him,' Gabby said in a confessional.

Into him: 'I hope Rachel is not into him because I want to get to know him,' Gabby said in a confessional

Jordan Vandergriff, a drag racer from Alpharetta, Georgia, told them he was a professional race driver.

The men worried how it would work with two bachelorettes.

'It's definitely going to be double the fun and double the action, and double the chances to find love,' Alec said.

Having fun: Alec was looking forward to double the fun with two bachelorettes

Gabby and Rachel both ran into the house holding hands excited to meet all the men together. The men cheered when they entered.

'We look forward to this journey,' Rachel said. 'It's going to be a wild ride.'

Initially, Gabby and Rachel sat together to meet the men individually. Joey and Justin told them that even though they were identical twins that they had different personalities.

Different personalities: Joey and Justin told them that even though they were identical twins that they had different personalities

Gabby said in a confessional that the conversation with the twins wasn't working for her. Gabby and Rachel decided to separate and meet with the men individually. Gabby sat down with Ryan.

'I was so pumped to meet you because you are absolutely hysterical, ' Ryan said.

Hayden gave Rachel a handwritten birthday card for her recent birthday. Jacob sat in front of the fire and read Gabby a letter about what he was looking for in a woman.

Split up: Gabby and Rachel decided to separate and meet with the men individually

'His pecs are rock hard,' Gabby said in a confessional. 'I can't stop looking at them.'

Jordan V. brought one of his actual drag racing cars and showed it to Rachel.

'I'm very impressed by you,' Rachel said.

Very impressed: Rachel told Jordan V that she was very impressed by him

The two held hands and later in a confessional Rachel said she was surprised that Jordan didn't kiss her.

'I thought the moment was right,' Rachel said.

Mario was the first guy to make the move and to kiss Gabby.

First kiss: Mario was the first guy to make the move and to kiss Gabby

'He's a great kisser,' Gabby said in a confessional. 'He's kind of giving me butterflies.'

Tino brought Rachel to the stairs where she wept after being crushed by Clayton and said he wanted to make better memories on them for her. Sitting on the stairs, Rachel told him that he had a creative entrance. He asked her if she would let him kiss her and she said yes.

'The stairs are already getting a little bit better,' Rachel said.

Sad stairs: Tino brought Rachel to the stairs where she wept after being crushed by Clayton and said he wanted to make better memories on them for her

'I'm so happy to finally get a kiss tonight,' Rachel said in a confessional. 'Tina is definitely the romantic connection that I've been having and it's what I've been waiting for.'

Gabby and Rachel compared notes on the guys that they met. They told each other who they kissed.

'Now I understand how you can have feelings for multiple people,' Gabby said.

Rachel said in a confessional that she was very attracted to Logan because he made her laugh. Gabby also found him attractive.

Very attracted: Rachel said in a confessional that she was very attracted to Logan because he made her laugh

'We did have so much fun and he is somebody that I have my eye on for the future,' Gabby said.

Later Gabby spent time joking around with Erich and said in a confessional that she really liked him too. Erich kissed her.

'I'm on cloud nine,' Erich said in a confessional. 'I had a fantastic conversation with Gabby. And then we shared an amazing kiss.'

Rachel gave Tino her first impression rose.

First rose: Rachel gave Tino her first impression rose

'This is a really big deal but I have been thinking about you for a while,' Rachel said. 'I really look forward to getting to know you more.'

'I'm here to make you happy,' Tino said and then pulled her in for a kiss.

Making out: 'I'm here to make you happy,' Tino said and then pulled her in for a kiss

Gabby gave her first impression rose to Mario.

'I'm excited that Gabby and I got off on the right foot,' Mario said. 'I'm pumped.'

The Bachelorette will return on Monday on ABC.
The model girlfriend of billionaire publican Justin Hemmes is living the high life on the Merivale CEO's private island in Far North Queensland.

Madeline Holtznagel, 26, who has been dating the 49-year-old business mogul for at least two years, showcased her sensational bikini body in a gallery of sizzling Instagram snaps on Monday.

She is holidaying at a rustic villa on Haggerstone Island with Justin and his two children Alexa, four, and Saachi, three.

Madeline Holtznagel, the model girlfriend of billionaire publican Justin Hemmes, is living the high life on the Merivale CEO's private island in Far North Queensland

Justin is part owner of Haggerstone Island, which lies off the tropical coast of Cairns.

Guests typically fly to Cairns then take a light plane to Hicks Island before sailing to Haggerstone by boat.

The 26-year-old is holidaying at a rustic villa on Haggerstone Island with Justin and his two children Alexa, four, and Saachi, three (all pictured)

Justin became a part owner of the island back in July 2020, the Australian Financial Review reported at the time.

The private island costs a whopping $7,000 a night to rent.

Previous guests include the late Bob Hawke and his wife Blanche d'Alpuget, as well as Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch.

Justin became a part owner of the island, which lies off the tropical coast of Cairns, back in July 2020, the Australian Financial Review reported at the time

While it's not known exactly how long they've been dating, they have been publicly together for about two years.

However, Madeline previously hinted they'd known each other for much longer.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald in October 2020, she said they'd actually met two years before reports emerged of their relationship.

'We have known each other for two years and met when I was modelling in Singapore,' she said at the time.

Previous guests of Haggerstone Island include the late Bob Hawke and his wife Blanche d'Alpuget, as well as Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch

It was also reported that Madeline was living in a penthouse apartment owned by Justin in the beachside Sydney suburb of Coogee.

She added that while the majority of her family was yet to meet her boyfriend, her older sister Simone Holtznagel was a fan.

Simone, 28, was a finalist on the 2011 season of Australia's Next Top Model.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald in October 2020, Madeline said they'd actually met two years before reports emerged of their relationship

'My parents and my sister Anna haven't met him yet but Simone has been introduced to him and really liked him,' she added.

Justin made his debut on the Financial Review Rich List in 2018 with an estimated net worth of $951million.

His net worth grew to $1.2billion last year, making him the 97th richest person in Australia.
Jeremy Allen White admitted in a new profile for GQ that he wasn't sure if taking on the lead role in FX's new series The Bear was a great idea after spending a decade filming Shameless for Showtime.

The actor stars in The Bear as Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto, a troubled young chef that takes over his brother's restaurant in Chicago following a tragic death in the family.

The actor, 31, revealed that he was in an 'upsetting head space' after finishing up 10 years of Shameless.

New hit: Jeremy Allen White, 31, landed the role of Carmy in FX's popular series, The Bear

The series began airing in June on Hulu and has received critical acclaim and plenty of interest from fans thirsting after the actor.

Jeremy admitted that at first, he was contemplating whether or not he wanted to play Carmy, since the character was quite similar to the one he played on Shameless for 10 seasons.

However, after taking to time to read through the script, Jeremy stated that he would regret passing up the opportunity.

'I also knew that if I said no to this, that whoever ended up doing it, I would hate them forever,' he admitted to GQ.

Long-lasting role: The actor starred as Lip Gallagher in the show, Shameless, which aired for a total of 10 seasons

The talented star revealed that he felt like he related to Carmy due to both the character and himself having similar personal and emotional struggles.

'We kind of found each other at a similar place. He knew he's really gifted at this thing, but he could be painfully insecure about his abilities as well,' he explained.

Jeremy discussed how after working on Shameless for a decade, he had forgotten who he was as actor due to playing the same character for so long. 'I'm not sure if shows are meant to go that long,' he stated.

Incredible story-telling: Jeremy revealed that after he read through the show's script, he wanted to take on the role of Carmy in The Bear

'I stopped feeling like an actor': The star stated to GQ that playing the same character for a decade made him not feel like an actor after some time

'There was a period where I stopped feeling like an actor and I started feeling like I was just here to do this show,' he admitted.

As an actor, he explained to the publication that he was, 'definitely having a lot of doubt when I was finishing Shameless.'

The Rental star stated that he didn't regret his time on the show, where he played, Lip Gallagher.

'I love Shameless so much. I love everybody that was a part of it, and the experience was incredible.'

Talented: At 31, Jeremy Allen as a long list of successful roles under his belt, and The Bear is another success

The Bear has continued to receive positive reviews from critics and audiences, which can be due to various reasons.

The show leads with a star-studded cast, including Abby Elliot, Lionel Bryce, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Mass-Bachrach.

The series also contains the realities and stresses workers and chefs face in the restaurant business.

Joanna Calo, executive producer of the show, discussed the making of The Bear in an interview with Forbes.

Meant to be: The star discussed that himself and the character of Carmy 'found each other' and helped him make the decision to take on the role

She opened up about the importance of capturing the 'pacing' of what goes on behind the scenes in a busy kitchen.

'Yeah, I mean, the pacing was incredibly important. It felt like the insane pace of an actual kitchen had never really been shown on TV or film,' she stated.

'We really wanted to use the truth there to kind of escalate stories and add tension for our characters, so we built that into the scripts from the beginning.'

With the success of the first season, The Bear, likely will come back to the screen once again to continue Carmy's story.

On the topic of a second season, Jeremy stated that he felt like season one was just the very beginning.

'To me, the whole first season feels almost like a prelude to what the show actually is,' the actor revealed to GQ.
She certainly knows how to turn heads with her distinct sense of style.

And Drew Barrymore did just that on Monday, as she was snapped at Dolce & Gabbana's 10th anniversary celebrations in Sicily.

Opting for a slightly avant-garde ensemble, the actress, 47, donned a puffed-out peach gown with a mesh overlay for the event, pairing a matching headpiece in the same shade.

An entrance! Drew Barrymore, 47, caught the eye on Monday as she donned a vintage mesh gown and matching headpiece for Dolce & Gabbana's Sicily event

The dress featured a black waist-cinching bodice, as she layered a cropped black jacket on top.

Drew's brunette locks were left to fall freely in a tousled curl, as she went for a bold palette of makeup - including a bright blush and a deep red lip.

She clutched onto a dainty box handbag by the brand, with an embroidered design and bright pink handle.

Extravagant: Opting for a slightly avant-garde ensemble, the actress donned a puffed-out peach gown with a mesh overlay for the event, pairing a matching headpiece in the same shade

Deep: Drew's brunette locks were left to fall freely in a tousled curl, as she went for a bold palette of makeup - including a bright blush and a deep red lip

The star held onto a man's hand as she was ushered into the event, smiling and waving at onlookers.

As Haute Couture Fashion Week took place over in Rome, Dolce & Gabbana took to Sicily for a four day event in celebration of Alta Moda's 10th anniversary.

The festivities, which included a concert in a 5th century BC Greek theatre and a beach club dinner - were concluded at Monday's event, which took place in Castello Maniace.

Smiles: The star held onto a man's hand as she was ushered into the event, smiling and waving at onlookers

He's here: And one half of the fashion house, designer Stefano Gabbana, appeared in high spirits as he entered the venue too

Stunning: Model Kitty Spencer, 31, was also in attendance to the event, going for a mesh, lime green maxi number with a cross-over chest

And one half of the fashion house, designer Stefano Gabbana, appeared in high spirits as he entered the venue too.

Donning an all-black ensemble, he beamed and waved upon entering - throwing his hands in the air with glee.

Model Kitty Spencer was also in attendance to the event, going for a mesh, lime green maxi number with a cross-over chest.

Featuring an orange panel, wrap around torso and polka dot design - the beauty also carried one of the brand's signature box bags,

Crossover: Featuring an orange panel, wrap around torso and polka dot design - the beauty also carried one of the brand's signature box bags

Amping up the ante: Actress Lupita Nyong'o certainly brought her A-game too, opting for a sequin-covered mini dress with a strapless neckline and flower-decorated slanted sleeve

Actress Lupita Nyong'o certainly brought her A-game too, opting for a sequin-covered mini dress with a strapless neckline and flower-decorated slanted sleeve.

She added a matching floral headpiece to the daring ensemble, pairing complementing orange shoes to the look.

Her radiant complexion was enhanced with a dewy makeup look, as the beauty went for a bronzed eye look and glossy lip.

Extras: She added a matching floral headpiece to the daring ensemble

Glowing: Her radiant complexion was enhanced with a dewy makeup look, as the beauty went for a bronzed eye look and glossy lip
Fans have turned on Celeste Barber after she recently criticised Tammy Hembrow for showing off her toned body just 12 days after she gave birth.

Despite the 40-year-old comedian's popularity on social media, many sided with the fitness influencer, 28, and accused Celeste of not being body-positive.

'How can it be body positivity if a mother of three is being told to cover up? It's the complete opposite,' one critic wrote on Instagram.

Fans have turned on Celeste Barber (pictured in June) after she recently criticised Tammy Hembrow for showing off her toned body just 12 days after she gave birth

They continued: 'Normalise showing postpartum bodies at any size, whether it be smaller than Tammy or bigger than Tammy or whatever.'

Another chimed in: 'Celeste was funny but now I feel like it's [mean-spirited]. What a horrible thing to do to a new mother.'

Others questioned Celeste's commitment to accepting bodies of all sizes after she suggested there was something wrong with Tammy's somehow.

Despite the 40-year-old comedian's popularity on social media, many sided with fitness influencer Tammy (pictured) and accused Celeste of not being body-positive

'Celeste makes a living off scrutinising other women but says she's an advocate for women? She [parodies] women who are fit and have a healthy lifestyle like Tammy does, but because it's through a comedic lens everyone lets it happen,' one critic said.

Another wrote: 'Celeste... is the last person I would listen to when it comes to body image.'

In an Instagram post on June 30, Tammy revealed her slim and toned body in activewear just 12 days postpartum, saying she stayed as active as possible during and after her pregnancy.

In an Instagram post on June 30, Tammy revealed her slim and toned body just 12 days postpartum, saying she stayed as active as possible during and after her pregnancy

The social media star went on to emphasise that everyone's journey is different and people shouldn't compare themselves to others.

'That being said I work and have worked extremely hard and want nothing more than to motivate and inspire you!' she added.

Celeste later reposted Tammy's video and wrote: 'No disrespect, well done on your success but this is dangerous.

Celeste later reposted Tammy's video and wrote: 'No disrespect, well done on your success but this is dangerous. Women should NEVER feel as though they need to put on activewear and show off their bodies to prove a point, ESPECIALLY 12 days after having a baby. 12 DAYS!'

'Women should NEVER feel as though they need to put on activewear and show off their bodies to prove a point, ESPECIALLY 12 days after having a baby. 12 DAYS!'

Celeste, who shares two young sons with her husband Api Robin, then shared her own experience just days after giving birth.

'Jeez I was s**ting in a bag and screaming into a pillow after having my babies. How we look is irrelevant,' she said. 'Be kind to yourselves, moisturise your nipples and unfollow accounts that make you feel like s**t!'

Tammy welcomed daughter Posy last month with her Ironman fiance Matt Poole. She is also mother to son Wolf, six, and daughter Saskia, five, from a previous relationship.
She's a regular on the best dressed list at star-studded events across the globe.

And fashion queen Lupita Nyong'o proved why she deserves the title once again as she pulled off yet another amazing look at the Dolce & Gabbana haute couture show in Sicily on Monday.

The actress, 39, made sure all eyes were on her as she dazzled in a burnt orange sequin encrusted ensemble with flower decor shoulder detail and fringe overlay.

Wow: Lupita Nyong'o dazzled in a burnt orange sequin encrusted ensemble with flower decor shoulder detail at the Dolce & Gabbana haute couture show in Sicily on Monday

The Star Wars beauty finished the stylish look with a matching head piece as her mini dress also included some flower patch work.

Lupita wowed in the custom made design as she strutted her stuff in a pair of matching heels as she stood out from the crowd in the showstopping number.

The screen star looked every inch the Hollywood siren as she smiled from ear-to-ear, showing off her svelte physique in the fitted garment.

Rounding off her effortlessly chic attire, Lupita wore a pair of elegant drop earrings and carried her essentials in a gold handbag.

Showstopper: Lupita stunned in the ensemble - proving once again why she's a regular on the best dressed list at star-studded events across the globe

Hey there! The Star Wars beauty finished the stylish look with a matching head piece as her mini dress also included some flower patch work

Stepping out: Rounding off her effortlessly chic attire, Lupita wore a pair of elegant drop earrings and carried her essentials in a gold handbag

Lupita recently proved that she not only has talent for acting, but carries some excellent dance moves in a previous interview.

Speaking to Vogue, she opened up with the publication and explained that pole-dancing was one of her newest hobbies.

'It was incredible and sexy, and I thought, I need to learn how to do that,' she stated. It appears the star has always had an interest in dancing.

Beaming: The screen star looked every inch the Hollywood siren as she smiled from ear-to-ear, showing off her svelte physique in the fitted garment

The star also takes her fitness and health very seriously, and has posted her workout routines on her social media.

She has been using arm weights during sweaty workout sessions or other equipment to help her stay fit. The star is also a big motivator for her fans and followers.

The Oscar winner is full of talent, and has also written a children's book titled, Sulwe.

The novel's plot follows a little girl named, Sulwe, who has darker skin than anyone else she knows, and overall, learns to love herself for who she is.

The actress received a Daytime Emmy Award for the book, and according to Deadline, the story is being adapted by Netflix to become an animated musical.

She is also starring in the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which is set to premiere later this year in November.

After the passing of one of the lead stars, Chadwick Boseman, Lupita reassured that the film will definitely honor him.

According to People, in an interview for her Saks' Spring 2022 digital campaign, she stated, 'It'll be interesting to bring out another one of those films without Chadwick Boseman but we are holding him in close light. I think people will be excited about this one.'
Johnny Depp has reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed against him by a crew member on the film City of Lies, who accused the actor of attacking him during production of the movie.

The actor, 59, has come to a legal accord with Greg 'Rocky' Brooks on a settlement Monday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which reviewed court docs in the case.

Depp in the legal agreement agreed to comply with the settlement by the end of August, according to court docs, as the trial in the case would have begun later in July.

The latest: Johnny Depp, 59, has reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed against him by a crew member on the film City of Lies, who accused the actor of attacking him during production of the movie. He was seen in court in Fairfax, Virginia in May

'The settlement agreement conditions dismissal of this matter on the satisfactory completion of specified terms that are not to be performed within 45 days of the date of the settlement,' according to court docs in the case. 'A request for dismissal will be filed no later than 1/5/2023.'

Details of the settlement were not disclosed in court docs, and the case will move forward should Depp not follow through with the terms of the agreement.

Brooks initially filed suit against the actor in 2018, claiming that Depp in April of 2017 had punched him twice in the midsection, yelled at him and challenged him to hit him back offering $100,000. Brooks claimed that Depp smelled of alcohol in the exchange, and had consumed drugs on the set of the movie. Depp had denied the allegations.

Brooks said he was let go from the film when he would not agree to not sue Depp over the encounter.

Depp in the legal agreement agreed to comply with the settlement by the end of August, according to court docs, as the trial in the case would have begun later in July

The crew member claimed that Depp in April of 2017 had punched him twice in the midsection, yelled at him and challenged him to hit him back offering $100,000

Emma Danoff, who worked as the script supervisor for City of Lies, told the court in a declaration that Brooks' account of the exchange was not accurate. Danoff said that she saw Brooks use racial epithets at a Black homeless woman during shooting, and Depp had reacted to it.

'He immediately stood up from our shared seat on the edge of a planter bench and went over to Brooks to stand up for the woman,' Danoff said in the court declaration. 'Mr. Depp said to Mr. Brooks, "You can't talk to her like that. You think she is something less than you? Who do you think you are? How dare you?"'

Danoff said she had photographic proof that Depp did not punch Brooks.

The film, which was released last year, cast Depp as an LAPD detective investigating the death of The Notorious B.I.G.

Depp was represented by Camille Vasquez, who also represented him amid his high-profile defamation case against Amber Heard.

Depp in June was awarded more than $10 million in his libel suit against ex-wife Amber Heard over a 2018 opinion piece she penned for The Washington Post in which she called herself a 'public figure representing domestic abuse,' but didn't mention the actor's name.

Depp was seen at the City of Lies premiere last September in France at the Deauville American Film Festival

The film, which was released last year, cast Depp as an LAPD detective investigating the death of The Notorious B.I.G.

Depp in June was awarded more than $10 million in his libel suit against ex-wife Amber Heard. Both were pictured in court in May in Virginia

Much of the televised trial was centered around Heard's claims Depp - who she wed in February of 2015 and filed for divorce from in May of 2016 - physically and sexually abused her, as she said he had attacked her on more than a dozen occasions. Depp denied that he ever hit Heard, saying that she had been abusive to him.

Depp had been awarded $15 million in damages, which was reduced by the judge to $10.4 million in accordance to state law limitations in regards to punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2 million by the jury for damages stemming from remarks made by a Depp lawyer that Heard had concocted a story and trashed an apartment she shared with Depp to make it look bad when authorities were summoned to the scene.

In the wake of the trial, Depp released a statement saying he was 'truly humbled' ad that the jury 'gave [him his] life back' with the verdict.

'From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome,' he said. 'Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.'
Khloe Kardashian bared some serious skin while laid out on the deck of a ship in a skimpy black bikini in photos she posted to Instagram on Monday.

The 38-year-old Kardashians star sunbathed in a two-piece suit that showed off her toned stomach, ample curves and even her ribs.

Khloe's sizzling display comes after she shared  and then quickly deleted  a photo of some lovely flowers that her ex Tristan Thompson, 31, sent her for her 38th birthday, which led some fans to speculate that she might have restarted her relationship with the serial cheater.

Showing off: Khloe Kardashian, 38, bared some serious skin while laid out on the deck of a ship in a skimpy black bikini shortly after celebrating her birthday

She laid on top of a white beach towel and a small glass with a white straw in it sat near her feet.

The thong-style bikini showed off quite a bit of the side of her impressive derriere.

She ran her hands through her thick brownish-blonde locks and protected her eyes from the harsh sun while she looked up toward the sky.

The huge blue ocean spread out for miles behind the mother of one's prone figure.

Back on? Khloe's post comes after she shared  and quickly deleted  a photo of flowers her ex Tristan Thompson, 31, sent her for her birthday, which led fans to speculate that she might have gotten back together with him

Laid out: The reality star laid out on her back in a bikini which showed off her toned stomach, prominent ribs and ample curves

Comfy: She laid on top of a white beach towel and a small glass with a white straw in it sat near her feet

Backside: The thong-style bikini showed off quite a bit of the side of her impressive derriere

Eyes on the sky: She ran her hands through her thick brownish-blonde locks and protected her eyes from the harsh sun while she looked up toward the sky

Sun shining down: She reached her leg over her body at one point, casting the front part of her body in dark shadows while the sun bounced off her back

She reached her leg over her body at one point, casting the front part of her body in dark shadows while the sun bounced off her back.

Kardashian's social media post came just hours after a trailer for the second season of The Kardashians was released.

Khloe's boat post also arrived amid rumors that she and her ex Tristan Thompson may have gotten back together.

In a since-deleted Instagram Stories post from June 27, Khloe shared a string of bright pink peonies displayed on a dining table that she had received for her 38th birthday.

Full of turmoil: Khloe's post comes after fans worried she had gotten back together with her ex Tristan Thompson. They have had a tumultuous relationship since they first started dating in 2016

Birthday present: In the original post, she tagged the Chicago Bulls star, 31, implying that the flowers came from him, before she deleted it and removed the caption

In the original post, she tagged the Chicago Bulls star, 31, implying that the flowers came from him.

However, she then deleted the post before re-uploading it without the Tristan Thompson tag.

Fans immediately speculated that she may have gotten back together with her on-again, off-again flame but was trying to hide it.

'i cant do this anymore,' one social media user complained in response to the post, while another wrote, 'girl pleaseee i cant keep defending her.'

'She does this every time,' wrote one follower on Reddit. 'She ease's everyone into Trashcan with whatever gift her got her before she comes out publicly with him.

'They are together, just give it some time. Clearly she does NOT learn and I'm done feeling bad for her at this point.'

Another user vented: 'Can we all collectively just give up on the idea she will cut ties with Tristan? Because she never will. Im f***ing over it.'

But others weren't so quick to jump to conclusions. 'Before yall come for her shes literally just thanking ppl who sent her flowers for her birthday. She does this every year,' wrote a more level-headed fan.

Family: Fans were upset after some thought the post was a sign that they were back together. Kardashian and Thompson also share one child together, True, who was born in 2018

Thompson and Kardashian have had a tumultuous relationship since they first started dating in 2016.

They were working on fixing things last year before she found out that Thompson had fathered a child with fitness model Maralee Nichols.

He had previously cheated on her multiple times earlier in their relationship, including during Khloe's pregnancy and shortly before she gave birth to their daughter True, who was born in 2018.
Ackley Bridge

Rating:

Long Lost Family

Rating:

Dont watch Ackley Bridge (C4). Channel 4s schedulers clearly dont want you to see it. Take the hint.

The school soap opera, superheating dramas between white and Asian communities in a northern city, airs all this week in double bills, far too late for its target audience.

The first pair of episodes in this fifth series started at 10pm. The last one will conclude after midnight, in the small hours of Saturday morning.

Whats the point of showing teen romances and playground spats at that time? C4 would do better to screen Ackley Bridge at 6pm, before Hollyoaks, instead of those interminable Simpsons repeats.

The school soap opera, superheating dramas between white and Asian communities in a northern city, airs all this week in double bills, far too late for its target audience

The show and its characters have always been treated with a cavalier lack of respect.

Three years ago, the central duo, Missy and Nas (Poppy Lee Friar and Amy-Leigh Hickman) were brutally written out as soon as their final exams were over.

Its frustrating that fans of the show are treated so badly, because Ackley Bridge has moments of real sparkle

One moment they were celebrating the end of school, the next they were mown down by a speeding car. If youd followed the girls through their rebellions and heartaches, and grown attached to them, tough luck!

Adding insult to fatal injury, Missy and Nas were reincarnated in two identikit new characters, half-sisters Marina and Kayla (Megan Morgan and Robyn Cara). One is flamboyant but insecure, the other is swotty but steel-willed. All the old storylines are being recycled, as Marina campaigns to make herself the most popular girl in the school and Kayla falls in love with a boy from a family of white racists.

By the end of part two, their mum Jules (Gemma Page North) was planning to uproot the family to Glasgow. Will Marina and Kayla be leaving? Theyd better take care when crossing the road.

Its frustrating that fans of the show are treated so badly, because Ackley Bridge has moments of real sparkle. Marina turned on her headmaster (Robert James-Collier) with a savage put-down: Id rather leave school with nothing than be stuck here forever in a bad suit.

We were left wondering what hed done to deserve her contempt, until his sweaty affair with Jules was revealed.

Sunetra Sarker is marvellous fun, as she always is, playing the prudish Mrs Paracha  aghast to be put in charge of sex education for the 16-year-olds. Her lessons were summed up in one line: Save it for your wedding night. And for any spotty oik tempted to look at porn on his phone: Watch Blue Peter instead!

None of the adolescent traumas in Ackley could compare to the horror of Mark Chesterfields childhood. The 87-year-old returned to the foundling hospital where he grew up in the 1930s and could not suppress a shiver, on Long Lost Family (ITV). He recalled how the principal would stalk the corridors with his punishment book under his arm, and thrash children on any excuse.

Searcger Mark Chesterfield is pictured with his wife Elaine Winney on ITV's Long Lost Family

Episode five tells the stories of three men brought up in care. Pictured: Mark while in the RAF

Mark had left the past behind, and was happily married with four grown-up children, when he received a shocking bundle of papers 15 years ago. The hospital was being demolished and in a file labelled with his name he discovered the letters his desperate single mother sent to the authorities, begging to have her baby back.

Also in the folder were the Christmas and birthday cards she loyally sent each year, to tell her son how much she longed to see him. Everything was kept from him  and yet it was not destroyed either.

Presenters Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell were able to introduce Mark for the first time to a half-sister who welcomed him with hugs and tears. Its remarkable that such a gentle, patient man can emerge from so harsh and cruel a childhood.

Muck mountain of the night: Rubbish removers Oli and Cam were called to a house near Worcester, on Filthy Business (BBC3), where flytippers had dumped a ton of waste over the fence. Facing a clean-up bill of 780, the homeowners seemed remarkably calm. Id be raging.
Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o resembled a regal Baroque beauty as she attended the Dolce & Gabbana 'Alta Moda' presentation in Sicily on Sunday.

Stylist Micaela Erlanger selected the custom, hand-painted D&G couture dress that the Mexican-born, Kenyan-raised 39-year-old donned for the fashion festivities.

Lupita paired the ballerina-style halter frock with matching floral kitten heels and a half-circle crown fascinator.

'Ciao!' Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o resembled a regal Baroque beauty as she attended the Dolce & Gabbana 'Alta Moda' presentation in Sicily on Sunday

Hairstylist Vernon Francois coiffed Nyong'o's elaborately braided updo for the star-studded event attended by 750 guests.

Make-up artist Nick Barose gave the Warrior Women host a vampy look with black lipstick and eccentric eye-liner.

On Monday night, Lupita wore an orange-sequin mini-dress for the fourth and final celebration of the D&G extravaganza - an A-list party at Castello Maniace in Siracusa.

Team: Stylist Micaela Erlanger (R) selected the custom, hand-painted D&G couture dress that the Mexican-born, Kenyan-raised 39-year-old donned for the fashion festivities

Protractor vibes: Lupita paired the ballerina-style halter frock with matching floral kitten heels and a half-circle crown fascinator

Big fan: Hairstylist Vernon Francois coiffed Nyong'o's elaborately braided updo for the star-studded event attended by 750 guests

Babe: Make-up artist Nick Barose gave the Warrior Women host a vampy look with black lipstick and eccentric eye-liner

Nyong'o wore a pink flower crown around her top bun at the raucous bash featuring professional dancers and DJ Cassidy.

At one point, Grammy winner Ciara performed her 2004 hit 1, 2 Step inside the thousand-year-old castle and brought the 355 action star onstage with her.

Lupita last made headlines for her viral reaction to having a front row seat at Will Smith's meltdown during the 94th Academy Awards on March 27 when he violently assaulted comedian Chris Rock over a G.I. Jane joke.

Flapper: On Monday night, Lupita wore an orange-sequin mini-dress for the fourth and final celebration of the D&G extravaganza - an A-list party at Castello Maniace in Siracusa

In bloom: Nyong'o wore a pink flower crown around her top bun at the raucous bash featuring professional dancers and DJ Cassidy

Entourage: She brought along her glam squad and bodyguards

'Lupita!' At one point, Grammy winner Ciara performed her 2004 hit 1, 2 Step inside the thousand-year-old castle and brought the 355 action star onstage with her

Nyong'o next reprises her role as River Tribe's undercover spy Nakia in Ryan Coogler's sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which hits US/UK theaters November 11.

The MCU flick ensemble also includes Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Isaach de Bankole, Dorothy Steel, Danny Sapani, and Michaela Coel.

Tragically, Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman - who headed up the 2018 film as Wakanda King T'Challa - died, age 43, in 2020 after a private four-year battle with stage IV colon cancer.



Viral reaction: Lupita last made headlines for having a front row seat to Will Smith's (L) meltdown during the 94th Academy Awards on March 27 when he violently assaulted comedian Chris Rock over a G.I. Jane joke
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Reese Witherspoon and Daisy Edgar-Jones were both looking their best when they walked the red carpet for the premiere of their new film Where The Crawdads Sing on Monday in New York City.

Reese, 46, is producing the new mystery drama  which will be released on July 15  after selecting the novel by Delia Owens for her popular book club shortly after it was published in 2018.

Daisy, 24, who is best known for her starring role on the BBC Three and Hulu limited series Normal People, stars in the film as Catherine 'Kya' Clark, a young woman struggling to raise herself in the marshes of North Carolina after her parents abandon her.

Star power: Reese Witherspoon, 46, and Daisy Edgar-Jones, 24, were both looking their best when they walked the red carpet for their new film Where The Crawdads Sing on Monday in New York City

Later, Kya is involved in a love triangle with two men (played by Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson), but when one of them turns up murdered, she becomes the primary suspect in his death.

Reese showed off her winning smile as she hit the red carpet.

The Election star looked fit and youthful in her sleeveless pink hot pink dress, which highlighted her toned arms.

The look featured a long skirt, and she contrasted it with shining gold open-toe heels from Aquazzura and a jeweled gold bracelet on one wrist.

Reese wore her golden blond hair with a middle part and styled in thick waves that cascaded down her shoulders.

Mysterious: Daisy stars as Kya Clark, a young woman struggling to raise herself in the marshes of North Carolina after her parents abandon her. She's involved in a love triangle with two men (Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson), but when one of them turns up murdered, she becomes the primary suspect in his death; seen with David Strathairn

Beaming: Reese showed off her winning smile as she hit the red carpet. The Election star looked fit and youthful in her sleeveless pink hot pink dress, which highlighted her toned arms

Pretty in pink: The look featured a long skirt, and she contrasted it with shining gold open-toe heels from Aquazzura and a jeweled gold bracelet on one wrist

Gorgeous: Reese wore her golden blond hair with a middle part and styled in thick waves that cascaded down her shoulders

Daisy looked effortlessly elegant in her sheer cream-colored dress, which was decorated with delicate lace designs.

The bodice was decorate with pink, purple and powder blue flowers that were decorated with sparkling sequins and reached well beyond the bodice and down to one of her ankles.

Daisy wore the plunging outfit with white open-toe heels, and she styled her brunette hair with a middle part and strands that dangled down to frame her face, along with a bun in the back.

The London-born actress added some extra sparkle to her look with flower-shaped diamond earrings.

Joining her on the red carpet was her costar Jojo Regina, who plays a younger version of her character Kya in Where The Crawdads Sing.

The young actress wore a gorgeous navy blueandblack floral-print dress and stopped to get a sweet hug from Daisy.

Summery vibe: Daisy looked effortlessly elegant in her sheer cream-colored dress, which was decorated with delicate lace designs

Flower power: The bodice was decorate with pink, purple and powder blue flowers that were decorated with sparkling sequins and reached well beyond the bodice and down to one of her ankles

Child star: Joining her on the red carpet was her costar Jojo Regina, who plays a younger version of her character Kya in Where The Crawdads Sing. The young actress wore a gorgeous navy blueandblack floral-print dress and stopped to get a sweet hug from Daisy

Gugu Mbatha-Raw made a grand entrance at the premiere in a dress covered in shimmering green tassels and beads.

She wore her hair slick back in lustrous curls, and she accessorized with a black quilted Christian Dior clutch.

Taylor John Smith, who stars in the film as Daisy's love interest, looked dapper in a gray double-breasted pinstripe suit, which he wore with a simple white shirt.

Harris Dickinson, who plays the man vying for Kya's affections before his mysterious murder, also favored a gray suit, though he opted for a single-breasted version with peaked lapels.

The Beach Rats star complemented it with a silver tie that was either on backward, or designed to look as if it was backward.

The three acting leads all joined together on the red carpet to pose with Reese.

Seeing green: Gugu Mbatha-Raw made a grand entrance at the premiere in a dress covered in shimmering green tassels and beads. She wore her hair slick back in lustrous curls, and she accessorized with a black quilted Christian Dior clutch

Male lead: Taylor John Smith, who stars in the film as Daisy's love interest, looked dapper in a gray double-breasted pinstripe suit, which he wore with a simple white shirt

Costars: Harris Dickinson, who plays the man vying for Kya's affections before his mysterious murder, also favored a gray suit, though he opted for a single-breasted version with peaked lapels

Puzzler: The Beach Rats star complemented it with a silver tie that was either on backward, or designed to look as if it was backward

The bosses: Reese and the male stars also posed with her fellow producer Lauren Neustadter, who sizzled in a plunging black dress

Reese and the male stars also posed with her fellow producer Lauren Neustadter, who sizzled in a plunging black dress.

Ahna O'Reilly, who plays 'Ma' Clark in the film, stunned in a sleeveless white dress with a voluminous sheer skirt that was decorated with colorful embroidered flowers.

She turned to show off the backless design, and she wore her brunette tresses in a braided ponytail.

The actor Eric Ladin, who plays Eric Chastain, looked snazzy in a baby blue suit with white shoes and pink shirt.

He posed with his wife Katy Ladin, who wore a white top with a hypnotizing plaid skirt and a quilted green handbag.

The actress Geneva Carr wore a dress decorated in lovely pink and yellow pastels while carrying a pink quilted Chanel handbag.

Karen Pittman had all eyes on her with her illustrated red-and-green blazer, which she wore draped over her shoulders while adding a pink satin slip dress underneath it.

Stunner: Ahna O'Reilly, who plays 'Ma' Clark in the film, stunned in a sleeveless white dress with a voluminous sheer skirt that was decorated with colorful embroidered flowers. She turned to show off the backless design, and she wore her brunette tresses in a braided ponytail

Cute couple: The actor Eric Ladin, who plays Eric Chastain, looked snazzy in a baby blue suit with white shoes and pink shirt. He posed with his wife Katy Ladin, who wore a white top with a hypnotizing plaid skirt and a quilted green handbag

Colorful display: The actress Geneva Carr wore a dress decorated in lovely pink and yellow pastels while carrying a pink quilted Chanel handbag. Karen Pittman had all eyes on her with her illustrated red-and-green blazer, which she wore draped over her shoulders while adding a pink satin slip dress underneath it

Olivia Newman, who directed Where The Crawdads Sing, had on a green satin blazer atop an intriguing top with white panels connected to sheer black designs, which she wore with black slacks.

The actress Michael Hyatt, who appears in the film as Mabel, beamed ear-to-ear in an orange dress decorated with intricate designs. She also carried a large clutch decorated in shades of blue with a black design of the African continent.

She posed with her costar Sterling Macer Jr., who paired a navy blazer with a burgundy vest and matching trousers.

Courtney Henggeler highlighted her taut midriff with a blue-and-white striped crop top and flowing white pants.

Actor Logan Macrae paired classy and casual fashion with a double-breasted charcoal blazer, black pants and brilliant white trainers.

Leading the way: Olivia Newman, who directed Where The Crawdads Sing, had on a green satin blazer atop an intriguing top with white panels connected to sheer black designs, which she wore with black slacks

Costars: The actress Michael Hyatt, who appears as Mabel, wore an orange dress decorated with intricate designs. She also carried a large clutch decorated in shades of blue with a black design of the African continent. She posed with her costar Sterling Macer Jr., who paired a navy blazer with a burgundy vest and matching trousers

Fit figure: Courtney Henggeler highlighted her taut midriff with a blue-and-white striped crop top and flowing white pants
Radio presenter Kyle Sandilands lost his temper and broke a television live on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Tuesday.

The 51-year-old threw his marble coffee cup at the TV screen, shattering it, after his producers couldn't display an image due to a technical problem.

Kyle's outburst left his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson shocked.

Kyle Sandilands lost his temper and broke a television live on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Tuesday. (Pictured: Kyle's co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson reacting to the outburst)

'It doesn't work, you're right. It's broken!' the shock jock said sarcastically after damaging the monitor.

Jackie, 47, scolded Kyle for his behaviour, saying: 'Look what you've done! What's wrong with you?'

Kyle explained he was short-tempered because he wasn't able to drink coffee or smoke cigarettes due to an upcoming operation.

The 51-year-old threw his marble coffee cup at the TV screen, shattering it, after his producers couldn't display an image due to a technical problem

Jackie groaned: 'This is not a good start. This is no good. Just drink [the coffee]. Doctors lie. They always say don't have anything before an operation.'

After some back and forth, Kyle said the money to replace the TV would come out of the producers' pockets because 'that's supposed to be checked before I come in'.

When Jackie told him 'don't blame it on someone else' since he was the one who broke it, Kyle replied: 'It's not the first and it won't be the last screen I've ever broken.'

'Yeah, but that was 18 years ago. I thought we'd moved on from this behaviour,' his co-host responded, referring to their wild early days hosting the Hot 30 Countdown.

Kyle (pictured) explained he was short-tempered because he wasn't able to drink coffee or smoke cigarettes due to an upcoming operation

Jackie then pointed out that Kyle was in fact drinking coffee at the time he throw the cup, and asked if he felt 'stupid' for breaking the studio equipment.

The former Australian Idol judge doubled down, saying he didn't do any real damage because the monitor was 'already broken anyway'.

A producer then chimed in to say the TV was working fine before Kyle broke it, and it was just the control button that was malfunctioning that day.

Kyle then snapped: 'Get the f**king button fixed! If I come to work, I expect the buttons to work.'
ABC's Q+A used to set the news agenda with its hard-hitting discussions of current affairs, but it seems the panel show is now struggling to stay afloat.

Last Thursday's episode, hosted by Virginia Trioli, drew just 194,000 viewers in the five major cities, according to OzTam overnight ratings.

This was Q+A's third-worst ratings performance in the program's history.

ABC's Q+A used to set the news agenda with its hard-hitting discussions of current affairs, but it seems the panel show is now struggling to stay afloat. (Pictured: host Virginia Trioli)

The episode, in which Trioli oversaw a discussion about domestic violence with journalists Anne Summers and Jess Hill, had fewer than 35,000 viewers in Brisbane and Adelaide combined

A former ratings winner for the public broadcaster, Q+A has been hemorrhaging viewers since it moved from its original Monday time slot to Thursdays last year.

One episode in March drew just 175,000 metro viewers. Another from the same month brought the show its lowest ratings ever: 168,000 across the major capitals.

Trioli hosts Q+A on a rotation with David Speers and Stan Grant.

Last Thursday's episode, hosted by Trioli (pictured on March 24 in Melbourne), drew just 194,000 viewers in the five major cities, according to OzTam overnight ratings

Beginning in 2008 with Tony Jones as host, Q+A used to be a major drawcard for political leaders across the spectrum during its period as a ratings winner.

But there has been a major decline in its audience in recent years, and the show has frequently faced scrutiny for its perceived left-wing bias.

On Thursday, Trioli was seen smiling amid cheers from the studio audience as she announced the resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Sunday Project's Hamish Macdonald (pictured) was host from 2020 to mid-2021, and during this period Q+A lost ground with audiences

Often controversial, Q+A divided opinion in March when Grant, 58, took exception to remarks made by a Melbourne university student.

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis was removed from the studio during the broadcast after he claimed on air that Russia was under threat from Ukrainian 'Nazi' killers.

His controversial take on the invasion sparked fierce debate on the panel, and ultimately saw him booted from the show, prompting raucous applause.

Q+A has a rotating roster of hosts, including David Speers (pictured), Stan Grant and Trioli

Some media commentators believe Q+A lost its edge when Jones stepped down from his long-term role hosting the show in 2015.

The Sunday Project's Hamish Macdonald was host from 2020 to mid-2021, and during this period Q+A lost ground with audiences.

A timeslot move from Monday nights to Thursdays only quickened the decline.
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Emily Blunt commanded attention in a salmon pink-hued dress as she attended the Freeing Voices, Changing Lives gala Monday night.

The 39-year-old actress stunned in the flattering and flashy dress as she graced the red carpet in New York City.

The look featured black ribbons at the end of its softly-shaped bell sleeves and a thin one around her trim waistline.

Freeing Voices, Changing Lives is an annual fundraising event that acknowledges the accomplishments of people who stutter.

Stunner: Emily Blunt commanded attention in a salmon pink-hued dress as she attended the Freeing Voices, Changing Lives gala Monday night

The Quiet Place star pulled her dirty blonde hair back and styled it in in a sleek ponytail.

She arranged the locks in a center part and braided them into a long, textured plait.

Blunt's A-line dress cropped just above her ankles, high enough to show off her black, open-toe heels.

It featured a blue abstract design stretching from one shoulder down the front of the frock.

Dainty details: The look featured black ribbons at the end of its softly-shaped bell sleeves and a thin one around her trim waistline

Pretty: The Quiet Place star pulled her dirty blonde hair back and styled in in a sleek ponytail with a textured braid

Precious: Emily shared a sweet moment with a little girl named Wynter Mabry on the red carpet

Emily, who's been married to actor John Krasinki since 2010, flaunted a nude manicure and pink pedicure.

She accessorized with a gold chain necklace with two drop pendants that rested on her chest.

Additionally she wore drop earrings with a black stone accoutrement hanging from them.

Her hands were delicately adorned with various gold rings that made her fun look pop.

Jewelry: She accessorized with a gold chain necklace with two drop pendants that rested on her chest

Sitting pretty: Blunt took the stage at the high-profile New York City event

Group chat: Mark O'Malia, Mark O'Malia, Kristel Kubart and Emily appeared onstage

Engaged: Emily smiled as she took to the stage at Guastavino's on Monday evening

The mother-of-two's face glowed with the help of flattering makeup that highlighted her features.

The United Kingdom-born stunner's dark eyebrows were perfectly shaped, creating a gorgeous frame for her visage.

Her cheeks were dusted in a soft pink blush that accented her lovely dimples.

And finally, the look was made complete with a coat of matte pink lipstick to bring out her smile.

A vision! The mother-of-two's face glowed with the help of flattering makeup that highlighted her features

Speaking: The award-winning performer took the stage and spoke behind a podium

Strong women: English journalist Tina Brown joined the UK-born Blunt on stage at the event

The gala is of particular importance and meaning to the actress because she used to suffer from a stutter as a child.

She eventually overcame the speech impediment to become the renowned Hollywood entertainer she's now known as.

In a 2008 issue of W magazine, the star discussed the condition as she said, 'I was a smart kid, and had a lot to say, but I just couldn't say it. It would just haunt me. I never thought I'd be able to sit and talk to someone like I'm talking to you right now.'

She credited acting - and a teacher who encouraged her to try it - with helping her to reconcile the blockage that kept her from speaking up.

'It was so freeing that my stuttering stopped when I was onstage. It was really a miracle,' she recalled.

Photo op: Wynter Mabry and Emily posed for a photo inside the venue

Benefit: Freeing Voices, Changing Lives is an annual fundraising event that acknowledges the accomplishments of people who stutter

Heading out: The fashionista was seen exiting the gala hosted by the American Institute for Stuttering

Tina Brown, an English journalist, joined the red carpet gala in a two-toned floral tunic.

It had a low-cut, v-shaped neckline that was outlined with a golden collar and corresponding trim at the sleeves.

She complemented the top with black trousers that had a slight sheen to them.

The full look was rounded out with open-toe gold heels that showed off her red pedicure.

Flattering: Tina modeled a two-toned floral tunic with a pair of black trousers

Stylish: Tina's look had a low-cut, v-shaped neckline that was outlined with a golden collar and corresponding trim at the sleeves

For the cause: Also attending the yearly benefit gala was Marc Winski, a stuttering awareness advocate

Also attending the yearly benefit gala was Marc Winski, a stuttering awareness advocate.

He made his presence known in a deep burgundy-colored suit with a white shirt layered underneath.

He wore a patterned floral tie and rounded out the look with light brown dress shoes.

Sharp: Marc made his presence known in a deep burgundy-colored suit with a white shirt layered underneath

Young star: Upcoming actor Eli Golden, 13, was a guest at the event, showing up in a black suit and black and white sneakers

Upcoming actor Eli Golden, 13, was a guest at the event, showing up in a black suit and black and white sneakers.

He added a white button-up dress shirt with a pink, patterned tie and a black Louis Vuitton belt.

Lucy Fato, a corporate attorney, also attended the soiree and dressed in an all black getup.

Her plus one joined her in a floral mini dress and metallic open-toe heels.

On the scene: Lucy Fato, a corporate attorney, also attended the soiree with a guest and dressed in an all black getup
Kim Kardashian revealed a new side to her relationship in intimate photos she shared to Instagram on Monday of their trip to her sister Kourtney Kardashian's Palm Springs home.

But her sister Khloe Kardashian's main takeaway from the steamy photos, which included multiple snaps of Kim resting her bare feet on Pete's tattooed chest, was to wonder if the loved-up couple had a thing for feet.

'Do you guys have a foot fetish too?' the 38-year-old Good American founder commented on the post, adding a shocked, wide-eyed emoji.

Just curious! Khloe Kardashian, 38, quizzed her sister Kim, 41, and her beau Pete Davidson, 28, about whether they had a 'foot fetish' after Kim's feet were prominently featured in a new Instagram set from Monday

But Kim shrugged off her sister's query by replying, 'nope!'

Khloe couldn't be blamed for thinking Pete might have been a fan of Kim's feet, as two images from the photoset featured her playfully resting her feet on his chest while they relaxed with friends or family, none of whom she identified.

Kim also highlighted her toned legs thanks to her black shorts, which she pulled up for extra exposure.

The 41-year-old reality star might have expected the question, as her older sister Kourtney Kardashian, 43, hasn't bothered in the past to hide how much her feet drive her husband Travis Barker wild.

Doing the legwork: Khloe appeared to be curious after fans of The Kardashians had already speculated that her sister Kourtney Kardashian's husband Travis Barker had a thing for feet; seen in May in NYC

Up close and personal: Two photos showed her placing her bare feet on the comedian's tattooed chest while he held a fruity drink in his hand, but Kim said 'nope!' to the question about a foot fetish

Back in December, the 46-year-old Blink-182 drummer shared a kinky photo to Instagram of himself seemingly in a moment of ecstasy as he buried his face in his love's feet.

'All I want for Christmas,' he joked in the caption.

Kourtney wasn't afraid to play along on the public forum, and she replied, 'You've been extra good.'

Their fans and followers weren't so keen to get swept up in he lovebirds' foot flirtations, however.

The couple also alluded to Travis' potential foot fetish in an episode of The Kardashians when they told Kourtney's sisters and mother about a no-sex cleanse that they were undertaking.

When Kim asked if that included masturbation, Kourtney replied, 'No, they said no orgasm at all. Because we asked about that... We asked, "What about oral? What about hands? What about feet?"'

'Feet?! Hold on,' replied a shocked Kris Jenner.

Insatiable: Back in December, Travis, 46, shared a kinky photo to Instagram of himself seemingly in a moment of ecstasy as he buried his face in Kourtney's feet

Top of the list: Making it known that he worshipped every inch of the Poosh founder's body he remarked 'All I want for Christmas'

Can't get enough: They also alluded to Travis' potential foot fetish on The Kardashians when Kourtney told her sisters and mother about a no-sex cleanse and mentioned that they had asked if sex acts involving 'feet' were fair game; seen in September 2021

In her new photoset from Monday, Kim and Pete were pictured soaking up the perfect summer weather as they got handsy while enjoying at day at the pool.

The former Saturday Night Live star leaned down over his love as if to kiss her, while Kim arched her back while closing her eyes and showing off an ecstatic expression on her face.

The 41-year-old Skims founder and her love appeared to be visiting her older sister Kourtney Kardashian's Palm Springs home for some time out in the sun, as her distinctive pool and palm treedecorated lawn was visible.

Tender: Kim arched her back while wearing a crop top as her beau Pete leaned over as if to kiss her in photos she posted to Instagram on Monday from a trip to Palm Springs

Despite having others around, Kim didn't mind being intimate and affectionate with her boyfriend.

Two photos showed her placing her bare feet on the comedian's tattooed chest while he held a fruity drink in his hand.

He glanced down at her affectionately while grasping her toned legs.

Kim and Pete may have been joined by other family members, as both Kourtney and Kris Jenner's Palm Springs homes often are a gathering place for the KardashianJenner clan.

Close encounter: He glanced down at her affectionately while grasping her toned legs while she placed her feet on his tattooed chest

Kim appeared to be keeping her ensemble totally casual for the day, which saw her sunbathing in a skimpy black bikini that highlighted her curves while Pete sat next to her.

He went shirtless to show off his abundant tattoos while wearing simple gray sweatpants.

The two seemed to be ready for a pool party with friends or family, as they had inflated pool toys laid out by the side of the water, and other people were pictured from behind or just out of frame in the photos.

Stunner: The former SNL star could be seen admiring Kim's bikini body in other snaps around the pool. She wore a skimpy black string bikini while he had on gray sweatpants

Family vacation house: The lovebirds appeared to be enjoying the pristine weather at her older sister Kourtney Kardashian's Palm Springs home, as her distinctive pool and palm treedecorated lawn was visible

Back in black: Kim was attired in a more relaxed fashion in other snaps, which showed her in a black crop top that showcased her toned tummy amid her impressive weight loss

Kim was attired in a more relaxed fashion in other snaps, which showed her in a black crop top that showcased her toned tummy amid her impressive weight loss, which she launched in order to fit into a classic Marilyn Monroe dress for May's Met Gala in New York City.

She paired the top with baggy black shorts, and she wore her platinum blond hair tied back in a playfully messy bun.

The cute couple also posed for a sweet selfie, which highlighted Kim's perfect pout and impeccably made up face.

Pete had his eyes nearly closed, but he also showed off a sweet smile and his mustache, which he had kept relatively long while recently trimming the rest of his beard.

Cute couple: The cute couple also posed for a sweet selfie, which highlighted Kim's perfect pout. Pete showed off a sweet smile and his mustache, which he had kept relatively long while recently trimming the rest of his beard

New ink: Pete had a new tattoo over his collar bone reading 'Jasmine' and 'Aladdin,' with an infinity sign joining the two names together, which referenced their first kiss in an Aladdin-themed sketch on SNL

Although Pete has said he wanted to remove many of his tattoos, and several appeared to have become faded as if from laser removal procedures, he also appeared to debut some new ink professing his love to Kim.

One text tattoo paid tribute to their first kiss, when Kim made her hosting debut on SNL in October 2021 in a sketch parodying Disney's Aladdin, with Pete playing the title character and Kim appearing as Jasmine.

In small cursive text, he had 'Jasmine' and 'Aladdin' written over his left collar bone, with an infinity sign joining the two names together.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in April, Kim revealed that Pete also paid tribute to the special moment for Valentine's Day, when he gave her their costumes from the sketch as a gift.

The King Of Staten Island star also made it clear that he was dedicated to Kim's entire family, as he added a 'KNSCP' tattoo just above the Aladdin ink, which stood for the first initials of Kim and her children North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm.

Sweet: During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in April, Kim revealed that Pete also paid tribute to the special moment for Valentine's Day, when he gave her their costumes from the SNL sketch as a gift
Real Housewives of Miami star Lisa Hochstein and her estranged husband Lenny Hochstein called a truce amid what's been a nasty divorce to celebrate their son Logan's seventh birthday.

Both took to social media to share photos and clips from a Star Wars-themed birthday bash thrown for Logan.

Lenny, a 56-year-old plastic surgeon, posted an image of himself and Lisa, 39, posing with Logan and daughter Elle, two, alongside performers dressed as Star Wars characters including Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper.

The latest: Real Housewives of Miami star Lisa Hochstein, 39, and her estranged husband Lenny Hochstein, 56, called a truce amid what's been a nasty divorce to celebrate their son Logan's seventh birthday

Lenny captioned the shot: 'Happy birthday to my wonderful son Logan. Cant believe its been 7 years since you were born. I could not ask for a better son.'

Lisa last week had taken to the social media site with a series of photos of Logan, writing, 'Happy birthday week my baby, one of the best things that ever happened to me is you. You are [the] most kindhearted, sensitive soul.

'You can build any Lego set in record time and you make friends [wherever] you go. You are the smartest kid I know. I am so proud to be your mommy ... happy birthday.'

Lisa shared a series of clips from the birthday party on her Instagram Stories account, including Logan posing with his birthday cake; posing with Elle in front of a cake and balloons; and posing with the Darth Vader and Stormtrooper characters.

Dark side: Lisa posed with the Darth Vader and Stormtrooper characters at the festive gathering

Birthday wishes: Lisa shared an image of son Logan posing next to his cake

Happy day: Lisa posed with daughter Elle, two, at the birthday bash

Details: Lisa looked joyous at the bash, which came less than a week after she was accused of creating a fake Instagram account dedicated to bullying Lenny's girlfriend Katharina Mazepa

Lisa looked joyous at the bash, which came less than a week after she was accused of creating a fake Instagram account dedicated to bullying Lenny's girlfriend Katharina Mazepa.

A representative for Mazepa - a 26-year-old Austrian model - told Page Six that the Real Housewives of Miami star 'has created a fake Instagram page and has continually cyber bullied Katharina.'

Mazepa's rep also alleged that Lisa 'threatened [Mazepa] on the phone' in May, after she started dating the 'boob god.'

New account? Lisa Hochstein is being accused of creating a fake Instagram account dedicated to bullying her estranged husband Lenny's girlfriend, Katharina Mazepa; Lisa pictured in 2020

The beauty went on to hit back at Lisa's recent claims in court documents that she is 'detrimental' to the former couple's two children, saying she never even met them.

'The kids would not know who I am if I stood next to them,' the brunette stunner stated.

Meanwhile the reality TV star responded to the claims of cyberbullying, telling the publication on Wednesday that Katharina's claims were 'childish antics.'

Bullied: A representative for the 26-year-old Austrian model told Page Six that the reality star, 39, 'has created a fake Instagram page and has continually cyber bullied Katharina'

'Ive got no time for Katharinas childish antics and accusations. They are false and just show her true colors and motives. I have my children to focus on and I am trying to keep them away from her and this negativity. None of these allegations are true.'

It comes after Lisa accused her estranged husband Lenny of volatile behavior, alleging he 'berated and threatened' her in front of the couple's two children.

The Canada native claimed that she and the kids had to leave the family's $52 million Miami mansion due to Lenny's conduct, in divorce documents obtained by The Sun.

Hitting back: Mazepa alleged that Lisa 'threatened her on the phone' in May, and hit back at Lisa's recent claims that she is 'detrimental' to the former couple's two children, saying she never even met them

The newly single beauty additionally asked the court to forbid Lenny's girlfriend from having contact with the kids after acting in a manner 'that would be seen as injurious to the minor children.'

She asked to be granted exclusive possession of the mansion, after Lenny previously asked the court to kick her out as he claimed that in their prenuptial agreement, Lisa had agreed to leave the home if they were to get a divorce.

She also asked that his 'alleged unannounced visits' to the home stop right away.

Childish: Lisa responded, saying: 'Ive got no time for Katharinas childish antics and accusations. They are false and just show her true colors and motives'; Lisa and Lenny pictured with their daughter Elle and son Logan

As for Lenny's girlfriend, Lisa asked that she have no contact with the kids, as it is 'detrimental' to them.

'The husband has exposed the minor children to his presumed girlfriend which is detrimental to the best interests of minor children.'

'The husband's presumed girlfriend, upon information and belief, has acted and continues to act in a manner that would be seen as injurious to the minor children, should she have any contact of access to the minor children at this time,' the filing stated.

No contact: She recently asked the court to forbid Lenny's girlfriend from having contact with the kids after acting in a manner 'that would be seen as injurious to the minor children'

Volatile: The star also accused her estranged husband of volatile behavior, alleging he 'berated and threatened' her in front of the couple's children; Pictured 2019

His lawyer, Richard Preira, told Page Six that Lisa 'seems to crave attention, and so issues allegations that are inflammatory and the opposite of the truth,' adding that when he moved out of the couple's master bedroom Lisa 'stalked him in the house' which is why he moved out.

'Now she stalks him in the media and social media,' the attorney stated.

Lenny - who married Lisa in 2009 - has recently announced his new romance with Mazepa, though Lisa did not name a particular woman in her filing.

In the documents, the mother-of-two revealed that she is currently not dating anyone else and is 'loyal' to her husband, 'even though the husband filed this divorce unannounced and without the wife's knowledge.'

In May, it was claimed that Lisa was 'blindsided' by Lenny's divorce announcement, after 12 years of marriage.

Lenny had submit his divorce filing from Lisa on May 20, saying 'irreconcilable differences' were the reason for the end of the couple's 12-year marriage.

He had previously told Page Six May 16, 'Lisa and I are getting divorced,' adding that 'this is a very difficult time, and I would ask for some privacy so that we can best take care of our children who mean the world to us.'
Tammy Hembrow proudly displayed her post-baby body on Tuesday.

The fitness entrepreneur, 28, who welcomed daughter Posy Poole last month, posted two photos highlighting her postpartum 'lumps and bumps'.

Tammy, a mother of three, cradled her newborn in a carrier strapped to her chest while posing for the body-positive snaps on Instagram.

Tammy Hembrow proudly displayed her postpartum 'lumps and bumps' on Tuesday

Tammy wore a skimpy yellow and orange two-piece with G-string bottoms as she stood on the deck of her Gold Coast home.

In the caption, she said 'I'll be living in bikinis in Bali' come September, when she hosts a wellness retreat for some of her followers.

The retreat will include 'fun activities such as a sunrise hike, aerial yoga and secluded beaches' and will give guests the chance to 'reset and refresh'.

Tammy, a mother of three, cradled her newborn in a carrier strapped to her chest while posing for body-positive snaps on Instagram

Tammy gave birth to Posy, her first child with Ironman fiance Matt Poole, three weeks ago.

She is already mother to two older children, son Wolf and daughter Saskia, from her previous relationship with Reece Hawkins.

Tammy and Matt, 32, are still in the baby bubble, having spent the last few weeks posting loved-up family photos on Instagram.

Tammy gave birth to Posy, her first child with Ironman fiance Matt Poole, three weeks ago

Tammy welcomed her 'perfect little girl' on June 19.

At the time, Matt revealed Posy was born with '12 fingers', a rare mutation called polydactylism.

Tammy was also born with 12 fingers, and had two removed after she was born.
Bill Hirst, the Sydney teenager behind the 'Gentleminions' trend, has opened up about the inspiration behind the viral phenomenon.

He told NBC News it was mostly childhood nostalgia that pushed him and his friends to dress up in formalwear and attend a screening of Minions: Rise of Gru.

The 18-year-old did not expect a fun night out at the movies with his mates would turn into a global TikTok sensation.

Bill Hirst, the Sydney teenager behind the 'Gentleminions' trend, has revealed what inspired the viral phenomenon that sees teens attend screenings of Minions: Rise of Gru in formalwear

'I think the trend would've happened with or without me, but I think our TikTok made it more viral than it would've been,' Bill said on Thursday.

'I think it was a really great promotion for the Minions.'

The recent high school graduate was six years old when Despicable Me came out in 2010, and he said the Gentleminions trend tapped into Gen Z's nostalgia since they grew up with the franchise.

The 18-year-old told NBC News it was childhood nostalgia that pushed him and his friends to dress up in suits to watch the movie. (Pictured: Bill and his mates participating in the trend)

'I think one of the reasons it has done so well is the nostalgia,' he said.

'I grew up watching all the Despicable Me movies. I didn't mind having to go and watch the one-and-a-half hours to do the TikTok.

'It's a good movie, and it brought back the memories of watching the Despicable Me movies with my family.'

'I think the trend would've happened with or without me, but I think our TikTok made it more viral than it would've been,' Bill said. (Pictured: a scene from Minions: Rise of Gru)

The recent high school graduate was six when Despicable Me came out in 2010, and he said the Gentleminions trend tapped into Gen Z's nostalgia since they grew up with the franchise

Bill explained he and his 15 friends pulled off the stunt shortly after their grade 12 formal, so they had their suits ready.

Sam Hart, a year 10 student from Mosman High School, also explained in a column for The Sydney Morning Herald why he and his friends got in on the fun.

He said he jumped on the bandwagon because he'd 'regret it for the rest of [his] life' if he missed the opportunity.

Bill explained he and his 15 friends pulled off the stunt shortly after their grade 12 formal, so they had their suits ready

Sam joked that he and his friends wore suits to 'celebrate the historic milestone' that is the Minions sequel, which he described as 'the peak of cinema' and even better than The Godfather.

Bill's video has amassed more than 36.6 million views and over 8.7 million likes as of Wednesday, and the Gentleminions hashtag on TikTok has 30.6 million views.

Universal Pictures took notice and tweeted on July 1: 'To everyone showing up to Minions in suits: We see you and we love you.'

Sam Hart, a year 10 student from Mosman High School, also explained in a column for The Sydney Morning Herald why he and his friends got in on the fun

However, the trend hasn't been popular everywhere, with some moviegoers complaining online and certain cinemas banning smartly dressed teens from attending.

The manager of a Vue Cinema in Worcester, England, said they had to issue AUD$2,285 (GBP1,300) worth of refunds in a single day due to complaints from customers about bad behaviour by the young people dressed in suits.

One mother said: 'Took the girls to see the minions movie this evening. Walked out after an hour and got a refund.

'Pretty much the whole rear half of the cinema was full of teenagers screaming, shouting, chanting and yelling throughout the entire thing. Wtf is wrong with people?'
Elizabeth Banks showed off a sliver of her pale tummy in a tiny crop top with a plunging neckline in Los Angeles on Monday.

The 48-year-old actress showed off in the shirt and a pair of knee-length, glittery black shorts.

She carried a matching black handbag and walked in small pink and black sandals.

Out on the town: Elizabeth Banks showed off a sliver of her pale tummy in a tiny crop top with a plunging neckline in Los Angeles on Monday

Her voluminous blonde hair bounced around as she flipped her head from side to side.

Huge diamond earrings hung down and nearly touched the tops of her shoulders.

Banks' appearance out came in the middle of a very busy period in the Pitch Perfect actress' career.

Shirt and shorts combination: The 48-year-old actress showed off in the shirt and a pair of knee-length, glittery black shorts

Accessories: She carried a matching black handbag and walked in small pink sandals

Striding: Banks walked jauntily in the alley between buildings

As she strutted around the Jimmy Kimmel Live studio lot in Los Angeles, the entertainer carried around a canned beverage.

The drink was none other than luxury wine Archer Roose, a company which she owns half of.

The Hunger Games star looked peppy as ever as she clutched the can of bubbly in one hand and a bag of food in the other.

All smiles: Banks showed her teeth as she smiled, walking with pep in her step

Having a sip: The movie star carried a canned rose beverage as she stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live

Banks will star in the movie Call Jane which is set for release in October 2022. The movie centers on a woman who joins an underground organization that helps women get abortions.

Kate Mara, Sigourney Weaver and Alison Jaye star alongside Banks in the movie directed by Carol writer Phyllis Nagy.

She has another movie titled The Beanie Bubble which is in post-production and her film, Signal Hill, is in pre-production.

Big movie on the way: Banks will star in the movie Call Jane which is set for release in October 2022 (pictured 2020)

Happy couple: Banks met sportswriter Max Handelman in college while attending the University of Pennsylvania. They married in 2003 (pictured 2019)

While she's stayed very busy in her career in recent years, the Modern Family actress still puts aside time to spend with her family.

Banks met sportswriter Max Handelman in college while attending the University of Pennsylvania. They married in 2003.

The couple share two children: 11-year-old Felix and nine-year-old Magnus.
Amelia Marni is turning up the heat on holiday in Mykonos.

The newly single Love Island Australia star posted some sizzling holiday snaps on Tuesday, showing her ex Josh Moss exactly what he's missing.

The 26-year-old flaunted her breathtaking beach body in a gallery of racy Instagram photos.

Amelia Marni posted some sizzling snaps on Tuesday while on holiday in Mykonos, Greece

Her black one-piece swimsuit highlighted her ample cleavage and toned thighs.

Amelia sizzled under the scorching sun as she posed on a poolside mattress.

The influencer appears to be adjusting well after her recent split from ex Josh, 29, whom she dated for about four years.

Her black one-piece swimsuit highlighted her ample cleavage and toned thighs

Following their break-up, Amelia announced she would be relocating from Australia to sunny Europe for several months.

She hinted a 'casual move' was on the cards as she readjusted to single life.

'So, in two weeks, I'm gonna go to Mykonos for, like, 10 days,' she said in June.

Amelia appears to be adjusting well after her recent split from ex Josh Moss (left) whom she dated for about four years

'Who knows, I'm very sporadic, I'm very spontaneous at the moment.'

Amelia and Josh started dating as contestants on season one of Love Island Australia in 2018.

They mutually ended their relationship in May, after it was reported the pair had been 'unhappy' for months.
Fans will soon be able to watch BTS on one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world.

On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the Korean boy band's management company HYBE entered into a collaboration with Disney+ to work on exclusive content.

The partnership includes five new projects, three of which are slated to be exclusive series.

Boy band: Fans will soon be able to watch BTS on one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world (pictured June 2022)

'We are thrilled to be collaborating with Hybe to showcase their original content created with powerful artist IP on our global streaming services including Disney+,' said Disneys APAC head of content Jessica Kam-Engle.

She continued, 'This collaboration represents our creative ambition  to work with iconic content creators and top stars in Asia Pacific so their talent can be enjoyed by mainstream audiences in multiple ways. We believe these new titles will captivate consumers worldwide and look forward to introducing more music content on our service.'

The publication also reported that one of the BTS original content pieces will be a filmed version of one of their Permission to Dance tour dates in Los Angeles.

Collab: On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the Korean boy band's management company HYBE entered into a collaboration with Disney+

Filmed tour: The publication also reported that one of the BTS original content pieces will be a filmed version of one of their Permission to Dance tour dates in Los Angeles

The show will be titled BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage  LA and will reportedly be 'an exclusive cinematic 4K concert film featuring BTS' live performance in Los Angeles Sofi Stadium in November 2021.'

There will also be a docu-series titled BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star that will follow the boy band's journey.

The docu-series will debut in 2023 and will show footage of the group for nearly a decade.

New series: There will also be a docu-series titled BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star that will follow the boy band's journey (pictured 2020)

Years together: BTS formed in 2010 and released their first studio album in 2014. The group has released a total of nine studio albums in the past eight years (pictured April 2022)

'This will be the start of a long-term collaboration, where we present worldwide audiences a wide range of Hybe content for fans who love our music and artists,' CEO of Hybe Park Ji-won said. 'The Walt Disney Company has a long history of franchise building and promoting musical artists, with its unparalleled brands and platforms.'

BTS formed in 2010 and released their first studio album in 2014. The group has released a total of nine studio albums in the past eight years.

They last released an album in 2020 when they dropped three LPs: Map of the Soul: 7, Map of the Soul: 7  The Journey and Be.

Map of the Soul: 7 and Be were both certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Former Newcastle Knights star Alex McKinnon and his wife Teigan recently split after five years of marriage.

And on Tuesday, Teigan celebrated moving into her own place after the NRL couple's shock split.

The mother-of-three shared a video to Instagram of herself dancing in front of the mirror and eating a chocolate bar while surrounded by boxes.

Alex McKinnon's estranged wife Teigan (pictured) has celebrated moving into her own place after the NRL couple's shock split

'Packing feels brought to you by Cadbury,' she captioned the post.

Teigan looked stylish in blue jeans and a black shirt as she threw her hands in the air and danced in front of the mirror.

Alex and his high school sweetheart Teigan split after five years of marriage and three children together.

The former WAG seen here with her estranged husband Alex

The couple, who share three children together, separated in January after 12 years together.

The split is amicable and they are committed to co-parenting their children, twins Audrey Jill and Violet John, and eldest daughter Harriet.

Alex had proposed to his high school sweetheart from his hospital bed just days after his promising NRL career was cut short in March 2014, when he suffered a devastating spinal cord injury during a round-three match against Melbourne Storm.

The couple, who share three children together, separated in January after 12 years together

He suffered fractures to his C4 and C5 vertebrae after a dangerous tackle close to half-time and was left a quadriplegic.

Alex and Teigan tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in the NSW Hunter Valley in October 2017 and welcomed Harriet into the world one day before their first wedding anniversary the following year.

McKinnon had promised his bride that he would rise from his wheelchair when he popped the question, and he did just that at their wedding.
MasterChef Australia: Fans V Faves reigned supreme in the overnight ratings, following weeks of lacklustre viewership.

The Channel 10 cooking show won Monday night's prime time battle, airing part one of its grand finale episode to 693,000 metro viewers.

Earlier this season, MasterChef Australia had struggled to crack the 400,000 mark, sometimes dropping down to the 300,000s.

MasterChef Australia: Fans V Faves reigned supreme in the overnight ratings, following weeks of lacklustre viewership. Pictured: MasterChef judge Melissa Leong

However, Monday night's episode proved that Aussies are still hungry for the long-running reality show ahead of its finale at 7.30pm on Tuesday.

Meanwhile over on Channel Nine, The Australian Ninja Warrior grand final failed to win the top spot, trailing behind MasterChef with 560,000 metro viewers.

The nail-biting episode saw Ninja Warrior Zak Stolz walk away with $100,000 for the second time, after being the furthest fastest competitor.

The Channel 10 cooking show won Monday night's prime time battle, airing part one of its grand finale episode to 693,000 metro viewers. Pictured: Third-placed contestant Daniel Lamble

Meanwhile over on Channel Nine, The Australian Ninja Warrior grand final failed to win the top spot, trailing behind MasterChef with 560,000 metro viewers. Pictured are hosts Jim Courier and Leila McKinnon

Seven's Big Brother Australia meanwhile clocked in with just 329,000 metro viewers ahead of Tuesday night's finale.

The penultimate episode of the Fans vs Faves season saw third-placed contestant Daniel Lamble be eliminated after his dessert in a three-course meal failed to impress the judges.

He plated his tartine without the sorbet when the icy component was left too long in the blast chiller, turning into an unusable ice block.

The nail-biting episode saw Ninja Warrior Zak Stolz (second, right) walk away with $100,000 for the second time, after being the furthest fastest competitor

This left Billie McKay and Sarah Todd, two Faves, as the final contestants competing for the $250,000 prize.

Billie, 31, was hired by Heston Blumenthal at his three-Michelin starred restaurant, The Fat Duck, in Berkshire, UK after winning series seven of MasterChef before returning to Australia to take up cheesemaking on her family's dairy farm.

Meanwhile, Sarah, 34, placed ninth on season six and went on to open two eateries in India and publish two cookbooks.

The penultimate episode of the Fans vs Faves season saw third-placed contestant Daniel Lamble (pictured with Sarah Todd, left, and Billie McKay, right) be eliminated after his dessert in a three-course meal failed to impress the judges

Judge Melissa Leong declared the all-female finale represented a win for women everywhere, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

'It's been a great story seeing these strong women reconfirm their place in the food world,' said the TV star.

She added 'these women are inspiring future generations' of chefs.
Jessica Chastain has voiced her support for Florence Pugh, who hit back at 'vulgar men' critiquing the nipple-baring Valentino gown she wore last Friday.

The Oscar-winning actress, 45, shared Florence's impassioned post with the caption: 'Why is it so threatening for some men to realize that women can love our bodies without your permission? We don't belong to you.'

It came the day after The Gray Man star Rege-Jean Page shared Florence's post, even quoting her bafflement over misogynistic trolls: 'What. Is. So. Terrifying?'

She's got her back! The 355 producer-star Jessica Chastain (L) just voiced her support for Florence Pugh (R), who clapped back at 'vulgar men' critiquing the nipple-baring Valentino gown she donned last Friday

'Take a look at yourself fellas. Then take a look at your mates and step up when it's time to step up. When the boys are out of line, have a word,' the actor, 34, wrote on Sunday.

'The weird thing about misogyny is men actually listen to other men. So do your bit [because] the next few years in particular are [going to] be a really good time to listen, and take some responsibility, for everyone's sake.'

It all started on Saturday when Pugh, 26, gushed about having her 'pink princess dreams' come true while attending the Valentino haute couture fall/winter 2022/2023 presentation in Rome.

On Monday, the 45-year-old Oscar winner shared the 26-year-old Oscar nominee's post with the caption: 'Why is it so threatening for some men to realize that women can love our bodies without your permission? We don't belong to you'

It was the day after The Gray Man actor Rege-Jean Page (pictured July 5) shared Florence's post, even quoting her bafflement over misogynistic trolls: 'What. Is. So. Terrifying?'

The 34-year-old Emmy nominee wrote on Sunday: 'Take a look at yourself fellas. Then take a look at your mates and step up when it's time to step up. When the boys are out of line, have a word. The weird thing about misogyny is men actually listen to other men. So do your bit [because] the next few years in particular are [going to] be a really good time to listen, and take some responsibility, for everyone's sake'

That's when the British actress started noticing men commenting about her 'flat chest' or 'tiny t**s' or 'flawed' body beneath the ultra-sheer pink gown.

She wrote: 'I've lived in my body for a long time. I'm fully aware of my breast size and am not scared of it.

'What's more concerning is... Why are you so scared of breasts? Small? Large? Left? Right? Only one? Maybe none? What. Is. So. Terrifying?' Florence vented to her 7.5M Instagram followers.

'It makes me wonder what happened to you to be so content on being so loudly upset by the size of my boobs and body?

'I'm very grateful that I grew up in a household with very strong, powerful, curvy women. We were raised to find power in the creases of our body. To be loud about being comfortable.

'Technically theyre covered?' It all started on Saturday when Pugh gushed about having her 'pink princess dreams' come true while attending the Valentino haute couture fall/winter 2022/2023 presentation in Rome

'Why are you so scared of breasts?' That's when the British blonde started noticing men commenting about her 'flat chest' or 'tiny tits' or 'flawed' body beneath the ultra-sheer pink gown

Florence vented to her 7.5M Instagram followers: 'I wore that dress because I know. If being loudly abusive towards women publicly in 2022 is so easy for you, then the answer is that it is you who doesn't know. Grow up. Respect people. Respect bodies. Respect all women. Respect humans. Life will get a whole lot easier, I promise. And all because of two cute little nipples'

'RESPECT': Pugh received supportive comments from Nicola Coughlan, Karen Gillan, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, Gemma Chan, Ariana DeBose, Jameela Jamil, Cacee Cobb, Joey King, Ever Anderson, AnnaSophia Robb, and Sofia Carson

'It has always been my mission in this industry to say "f*** it and f*** that" whenever anyone expects my body to morph into an opinion of what's hot or sexually attractive.

'I wore that dress because I know. If being loudly abusive towards women publicly in 2022 is so easy for you, then the answer is that it is you who doesn't know. Grow up.

'Respect people. Respect bodies. Respect all women. Respect humans. Life will get a whole lot easier, I promise. And all because of two cute little nipples.'

Pugh received supportive comments from Nicola Coughlan, Karen Gillan, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, Gemma Chan, Ariana DeBose, Jameela Jamil, Cacee Cobb, Joey King, Ever Anderson, AnnaSophia Robb, and Sofia Carson.

The Hawkeye guest star will next appear in the August 15 episode of National Geographic's Running Wild with Bear Grylls during which she roughed it in the volcanic rainforests of Costa Rica.
They recently made their red carpet debut at the world premiere of Top Gun: Maverick in San Diego.

And Rainey Qualley, 32, bared her taut midriff in a silk scarf crop top and mini skirt as she stepped out with her new boyfriend Lewis Pullman, 29, in Portofino, Italy, on Monday.

The daughter of actress Andie MacDowell looked sensational as she strolled through the cobbled streets of the fishing village.

Loved-up: Rainey Qualley, 32, bared her abs in a crop top as she joined new boyfriend Lewis Pullman, 29, in Portofino on Monday - after they confirmed their romance at Top Gun premiere

Rainey nailed summer chic in the stylish ensemble that she finished off with a pair of pale blue heeled flip flops.

She wore her brunette locks down in tousled waves and carried a black quilted handbag for her outing.

The son of actor Bill Pullman, Lewis, opted for a casual white T-shirt with a pair of charcoal shorts and blue Vans.

Stunning: Rainey nailed summer chic in the stylish ensemble that she finished off with a pair of pale blue flip flops

Relaxing: She wore her brunette locks down in tousled waves and carried a black quilted handbag for her outing

The couple made their red carpet debut at the world premiere of Top Gun: Maverick in San Diego in May.

Lewis, starred in the film as Bob, a weapon systems officer, alongside Tom Cruise, who reprised his role as Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Lewis said of his character: 'I really enjoyed playing Bob. I wanted to make sure that there was a pilot  because I was a pretty shy kid growing up  who represented maybe not the cockiest or most overly confident.

Exploring: The daughter of actress Andie MacDowell looked sensational as she strolled through the cobbled streets of the fishing village

Out and about: The son of actor Bill Pullman, Lewis, opted for a casual white T-shirt with a pair of charcoal shorts and blue Vans

'Hes more of a quiet burning ember who knows he can burst into flames at any moment.'

The official synopsis for Top Gun: Maverick reads: 'After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.

'When he finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: 'Rooster,' the son of Maverick's late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka 'Goose.'

'Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.'
She was styled in a stunning array of Dolce & Gabbana dresses for the fashion house's tenth anniversary of their haute couture line, Alta Moda.

But one of the ensembles from last weekend's festivities in Sicily saw Dame Helen Mirren lost amid the home furnishings.

The Oscar winner, 76, wore a long, blue and white, majolica-print chiffon dress designed by Dolce & Gabbana, which costs 3,650.

Matching Dame Helen Mirren was lost amid the home furnishings in a stunning blue and white, majolica-print chiffon dress designed by Dolce & Gabbana over the weekend

However, she blended in with the curtains, sofa and lampshades at the Piazza Duomo in Sicily, where she was celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Italian fashion house's haute couture line.

Dame Helen, who played Her Majesty in The Queen, gushed of her weekend of dress-up: 'A truly magical event.'

Dolce & Gabbana hosted a star-studded fashion show in Sicily on Sunday evening and the a-list guests couldn't resist posing for the ultimate glam snap.

Dame Helen teamed up with Mariah Carey, 52, Drew Barrymore, 47 and Sharon Stone, 64 for the stunning shot, with the foursome looking resplendent in their D&G ensembles.

Iconic: Drew Barrymore, Mariah Carey, Sharon Stone and Dame Helen posed at Dolce & Gabbana's star-studded fashion show in Sicily on Sunday evening

In the shot shared on Mariah's Instagram, Dame Helen wowed in a metallic, rainbow gown with a dramatic skirt which fanned out in front of her.

She stood next to Sharon who teamed a pair of turquoise satin trousers which featured a floral train, with a racy gold corset-style top .

Mariah arrived in a skintight fishtail dress with a plunging neckline and a Majolica-inspired print, adding a gold crown in her curly locks.

Drew meanwhile looked incredible in a pink and red pleated gown with her sleeves festooned with roses and a floral headpiece to match.

VIP: Dame Helen also wowed in a metallic, rainbow gown with a dramatic skirt which fanned out in front of her as she posed for Insta snaps with design duo Dolce & Gabbana

Date: She also appeared in a glam photo with her dapper husband Taylor Hackford

'Siracusa is a special place for us,' Gabbana explained before the show, as reported by the National News, adding, 'It is in the most southern part of Sicily, in front of Africa. I love the feeling, I love the mood, I love the stones, the colors, the people.'

To help set up the mood, ahead of the Alta Moda presentation, there was a re-enactment of the classic Italian opera Cavalleria rusticana from the late 1800s by Pietro Mascagni that was performed on a catwalk set up in front of the famed cathedral.

The idea was to create an experience that was best representative of the Dolce & Gabba DNA.

Queen: Mariah arrived in a skintight fishtail dress with a plunging neckline and a Majolica-inspired print, adding a gold crown in her curly locks

The new collection has been described as heartfelt love letter to the Sicilian woman, which has been part of the brand inspiration.

This time around there was a move away from its signature prints and vibrant colors, and replaced almost entirely with black pieces.

'If you ask someone, in their imagination, what the Sicilian woman wears, it is black,' said Gabbana.

In all, the new collection consists of 106, that were represented by the many models who first appeared at the top of a set of steps in front of the cathedral.
Isla Fisher has authored two young adult novels as well as the popular children's series, Marge In Charge.

But the actress, 46, excitedly unveiled her 'first ever picture book' in an Instagram post on Monday.

The Wedding Crashers star ripped open a package to reveal her illustrated children's book Mazy the Movie Star.

Isla Fisher, 46, excitedly unveiled her 'first ever picture book' in an Instagram post on Monday.

In her caption, Isla revealed the plot of the book, writing, 'Mazy lives in Hollywoof and has her fur fluffed twice a day.'

'While other dogs chase sticks at the park, Mazy chases her acting dreams.'

She continued, 'Then one morning Mazy's agent delivers bad news. Hollywoof has changed and there are no jobs for Mazy anymore.'

'Can Mazy embrace what it is that makes her special and find her perfect role?'

The Wedding Crashers star ripped open a package to reveal her illustrated children's book Mazy the Movie Star

The social media reveal comes after Isla issued a searing response to the question of whether children should be allowed to access Instagram.

The Australian actress, who is married to British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, aired her grievances during an interview with The Independent in February, branding the social media platform a blight upon society.

'It's toxic for children and [for] the proliferation of fake news. They don't have to meet publishing standards, it appeals to our base instincts,' the 46-year-old declared.

Fisher recently branded Instagram 'toxic for children' and blamed the social media platform for increase in bullying, anxiety and depression in an interview with The Independent

'Actually, I'm being gentle  Instagram increases bullying and fear of missing out and leads to anxiety and depression. So, obviously, I am no fan of Instagram,' she added.

The Wolf Like Me star said she avoids posting anything too personal on her Instagram page and mainly uses the account to promote her work.

Indeed, neither Isla nor Sacha have ever uploaded social media images of their three children.

The Wolf Like Me star, said she avoids posting anything too personal on her Instagram page and mainly uses the account to promote her work

In an interview with Marie Claire Australia last year, Isla said she wanted to 'protect' her children from the public eye as much as possible.

'Motherhood is actually my favourite topic  but I keep it private. I think all parents are trying to protect their kids, especially in the social media age,' she said.

'I want our children to have a normal childhood  being able to play outside without pressure or scrutiny. All kids have the right to just be kids, and I would never sell a film or magazine by speaking about [mine].'

Indeed, neither Isla nor Sacha (left) have ever uploaded social media images of their three children: Olive, 12, Elula, eight, and Montgomery, four

Isla and Sacha met at a party in Sydney in 2002 and married eight years later.

In 2020, Isla told Marie Claire that meeting Sacha was like 'winning the lottery'.

She said their relationship was built on 'a shared sense of humour and a willingness to be married'.

Isla and Sacha met at a party in Sydney in 2002 and married eight years later

The Confessions of a Shopaholic star, who relocated to America early in her career, also admitted that 'juggling' a family in LA wasn't easy.

'There's not really a culture of bringing your kids to dinner parties or to restaurants past 6pm. I tend to entertain at home because I want to be with my family - it's easier to put your kids to bed and have a wine with friends,' she said.

Isla and Sacha, along with their children, moved to Sydney in 2020, and have since relocated to Perth, Western Australia.

The Stan Original Series, Wolf Like Me is available to stream on Stan.
She was spotted at several shows during Paris Fashion Week.

And following her jaunt to the French capital, Christine Quinn revealed she had arrived in Venice as she shared snaps from a water taxi on Monday.

The Selling Sunset star, 33, looked incredible as she sat at the back of the boat wearing a printed denim co-ord with a white crop top.

Here she is! Christine Quinn revealed she had arrived in Venice as she shared snaps from a water taxi on Monday

The skimpy ensemble revealed her toned midriff and slender legs in the printed denim co-ord, which featured a cropped jacket and matching mini skirt.

Christine styled her look with a pair of white strappy heels, while she also accessorised with a tiny Laurence & Chico bag.

The reality personality wore her blonde locks swept back into a neat bum and appeared to go make-up free for the outing.

Oui, oui! It comes days after she shared snapshots and videos from her trip to Paris, where she attended the Haute Couture Fashion Week

Living life: The Selling Sunset star, 33, looked incredible as she sat at the back of the boat wearing a printed denim co-ord with a white crop top

Christine, who was sipping on a bottle of Coca-Cola, completed the look with a pair of quirky blue sunglasses.

The real estate agent posted her arrival on her Instagram Stories.

It comes days after she shared snapshots and videos from her trip to Paris, where she attended the Haute Couture Fashion Week.

Glam: In one clip, Christine strutted through Place Vendome, which houses the likes of Bvlgari and Van Cleef & Arpels

Turning heads: The mother of one looked incredible in a neutral dress, which showcased her toned abs and revealed a hint of sideboob

In one clip, Christine strutted through Place Vendome, which houses the likes of Bvlgari and Van Cleef & Arpels.

The mother of one looked incredible in a neutral dress, which showcased her toned abs and revealed a hint of sideboob.

The top half of the garment featured an inflated section, which some of her fans compared to a neck pillow.

Relaxed: Christine leaned against a lampost as she posed for the stunning shot

What's going on? The top half of the garment featured an inflated section, which some of her fans compared to a neck pillow

Meanwhile, the skirt featured a huge split which revealed her svelte pins, teamed with a pair of cream cowboy boots.

Christine gave birth to her first child, a son named Christian Richard last year, and she's now looking to the future and sees herself having another baby with her husband Christian.

In an interview with Us Weekly, Christine was asked if she has any plans for baby number two, and she replied: 'Absolutely. I want to have another child in the future.'

She recently celebrated her little boy's birthday on May 15, and says she's enjoying her new life as a mum.

Christine added: 'I think the overwhelming feeling of being a first-time mom is definitely something that no one is prepared for. I love being a mom. It's a really sacred special thing.'

The television personality also revealed she sees a lot of herself in her son, but she also sees aspects of her partner Christian too.

Christine has been on 'Selling Sunset' since it launched back in 2019, but her future on the series now looks uncertain.

The show is focused on glitzy estate agent company the Oppenheim Group, but she recently revealed she has 'terminated' her contract with the firm so she can focus on launching her own crypto real estate business, RealOpen.

Christine said: 'I terminated my contract when the brokerage launched. I had to make a business decision that was for me, so I had to terminate the contract so I could move it over to my brokerage.'

Accessories: She added rectangular shades and statement earirngs

Svelte: Christine's dress was wrapped around her slim waist
Lisa Faulkner looked sensational in a plunging leopard print bikini as she joined her 'wonderful' husband John Torode for a romantic holiday in Menorca.

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the celebrity chef, 50, showed off her incredible figure as she lounged by the pool during their 'beautiful break'.

John, 56, and Lisa looked as loved-up as ever as they gave their followers an insight into their relaxing time in the sun with a carousel of photos.

Sun-soaked: Lisa Faulkner, 50, looked sensational in a plunging leopard print bikini with 'wonderful' husband John Torode during a 'beautiful break' in Menorca on Tuesday

In another photo, Lisa donned a pair of aviator sunglasses and a tie-dye top as she posed for a selfie with John.

Alongside the snaps, she penned: 'Holiday drop! Oh my what a beautiful break we had! We have totally fallen in love with Menorca and are already planning our next visit.

'We properly relaxed, laughed, ate ,swam and snoozed!! Just what we needed. I love you @johntorodecooks my super wonderful husband and best friend.'

Loved-up: Posing for another photo, Lisa donned a pair of aviator sunglasses and a tie-dye top as she posed for a selfie with John

Relaxing: The celebrity chef showed off her incredible figure as she lounged by the pool

It comes as John and Lisa opened up about their romance and navigating their blended family.

The celebrity chefs wed in 2019 - the second time for them both after their first marriages collapsed.

And in a new interview with The Sunday Times, the culinary duo got candid about their first encounter, cooking and family, with John admitting there has been a 'black mark' about when the pair met.

Adorable: The celebrity chefs wed in 2019 - the second time for them both after their first marriages collapsed

Getaway: Alongside the snaps Lisa penned: 'Holiday drop! Oh my what a beautiful break we had! We have totally fallen in love with Menorca and are already planning our next visit'

The Australian explained how in his version of events, they'd met when Lisa was a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef back in 2010.

Yet unearthed footage from This Morning back in 1996 showed John being introduced as the new chef, while his now-wife was being interviewed on the sofa.

For London-born Lisa, their initial meet on the ITV daytime show had not escaped her memory, as she recalled complimenting one of his dishes and his brusque reply.

'Wonderful husband and best friend': The holiday comes as John and Lisa opened up about their romance and navigating their blended family

She regaled that she thought he was arrogant, but that soon changed when their soon-found friendship after MasterChef developed into something more.

Of how he'd been encouraged to ask the Brookside actress on a date, John divulged: 'I'd separated from my wife [Jessica] which was awful, and I was reluctant to approach Lisa face to face as I didn't fancy the prospect of her saying no, so I wrote her a letter.

'If I'd got no response, it wouldn't matter. Cowardly? S***, yeah. I'm as cowardly as they get.'

John explained that she'd agreed to a date and from there, everything fell into place, gushing that 'we just really, really like each other.'
She's a Married At First Sight star with a big Instagram following.

But Hayley Vernon has opened up about one of the very off-putting side effects of her fame: receiving unsolicited pictures of male genitalia.

Speaking on her Radio Metro radio show this week, the 34-year-old said, 'No woman in their right mind wants to wake up with a picture of your [penis] on their phone, to start the day at 6am.'

Hayley Vernon (pictured) has opened up about one of the very off-putting side effects of her fame: receiving unsolicited pictures of male genitalia

'First, I haven't had a coffee, second, it's unattractive as all hell,' she continued.

'I don't want pictures of slugs on my Instagram when I wake up at 6am in the morning!'

She added that the pictures are 'unwanted' and 'unsolicited'.

Speaking on her Radio Metro radio show this week, the 34-year-old said, 'no woman in their right mind wants to wake up with a picture of your [penis] on their phone'

The rant comes after Vernon recently opened up about her extraordinary journey from struggling ice addict to millionaire porn star.

The radio star revealed in a documentary by The Wash that she's made more than $1.3million doing hardcore porn on OnlyFans in just two years.

'Can you imagine that opening my legs has got me this far?' she said.

'I don't want pictures of slugs on my Instagram when I wake up at 6am in the morning!' She added that the pictures are 'unwanted' and 'unsolicited'

Before becoming one of the country's most successful adult entertainers, Hayley was hooked on crystal meth and had to steal food from Coles and Woolworths to survive.

'I was an ice addict for the biggest part of my adult life. The way in which my life is today, I could never, ever have imagined,' she said.

'I have to pinch myself some days - most days, actually.'

The rant comes after Vernon recently opened up about her extraordinary journey from struggling ice addict to millionaire porn star

Hayley won Best Newcomer at the The Adult Industry Choice Awards held in Sydney earlier this year.

She shot to fame on the seventh season of Married At First Sight in 2020.

She was paired with farmer David Cannon on the show, but their union ended in disaster when he scrubbed a dirty toilet with her toothbrush after an argument.
Chrissie Swan has spread her wings and become an influencer.

The radio star shared a sponsored post to Instagram on Tuesday, spruiking HOKA Australia sneakers.

The 48-year-old wrote in her caption: 'Time alone, just walking, has given me the mindfulness and momentum to stay focused and constantly move forward to be the absolute best version of myself - yes for me - but also for everyone else I love who also deserve the best version of me.

Chrissie Swan (pictured) has spread her wings and become an influencer. The radio star shared a sponsored post to Instagram on Tuesday, spruiking HOKA Australia sneakers

'Walking helps to unknot all my life's tangles with kindness and gratitude and time: sweet, sweet time.'

She continued: 'You guys actually recommended them to me years ago when you saw how often and how much I was walking. Now I recommend them right back to you!'

In the accompanying images, Chrissie showed off her slimmed-down figure in a fitted blue top with a cutout at the chest, as well as black tights.

The 48-year-old wrote in her caption: 'Time alone, just walking, has given me the mindfulness and momentum to stay focused and constantly move forward to be the absolute best version of myself - yes for me - but also for everyone else I love'

It comes after the former reality star revealed that she has added 'night walking' to her rigorous fitness regimen.

Chrissie, who has undergone a physical transformation in the past year, told fans on her Instagram that her evening strolls were a 'newish pleasure' and that she highly recommended the activity for others.

The media personality, who hosts Nova's Chrissie, Sam and Browny breakfast show, accompanied the message with a smiling selfie.

It comes after the former reality star revealed that she has added 'night walking' to her rigorous fitness regimen

In the blurry photo, Chrissie is beaming widely while holding the camera up to catch a flattering angle.

She is carrying a yellow back pack wearing a light blue pullover and silver hoops with a matching silver chain.

Fans and followers were quick to comment on the photo, with many praising the star on her recent slim down and health kick.

'What a difference the walking has made to your life,' one comment read.

Chrissie briefly touched on her weight loss in a recent interview with The Australian Women's Weekly , saying the 'enormous' lifestyle changes she'd made over the last year had improved her life in so many ways

'You look amazing and guessing feel great. Keep it up legend,' gushed another.

One follower even asked Chrissie if she carries weights in her backpack to create resistance while walking.

Chrissie briefly touched on her weight loss in a recent interview with The Australian Women's Weekly, saying the 'enormous' lifestyle changes she'd made over the last year had improved her life in so many ways.

Chrissie gave up alcohol as part of her health kick and took up daily 10km walks to improve her physical and mental health during Melbourne's 112-day lockdown

'I'm not going to talk about the size of my a**e. I'm not going to tell you what I eat in a day,' she said.

'Because I've read those stories and they make me feel bad about myself.'

However, the former BigBrother star confirmed Melbourne's lengthy Covid lockdown was the catalyst for her health and fitness kick.

During the pandemic Chrissie gave up alcohol, turned to meditation and took up daily 10km walks to improve her physical and mental health.
Natalie Barr likes to care for her skin.

And the Sunrise presenter has revealed just how she stays looking so youthful and fresh.

In a sponsored post on Tuesday, the 54-year-old shared her skincare secrets, including how she protects her face from the daily ravages of television makeup.

Natalie Barr (pictured) likes to care for her skin. And the Sunrise presenter has revealed just how she stays looking so youthful and fresh

'I'm always asked about my skincare, especially how I take off all my TV makeup after work,' Natalie captioned a video shared to Instagram.

'Well for the past 5 years I've used a brand called @dermaviduals. (I've just become an official ambassador for them).

'My skincare regime all starts with a really simple cleanser,' the breakfast television host continued.

In a sponsored post on Tuesday, the 54-year-old shared her skincare secrets, including how she protects her face from the daily ravages of television makeup

'With a combination of their DMS Cleansing Milk & Gel, the @dermaviduals cleansing range supports your skin and is powered with all these pure, active ingredients that gently nourish your skin. They mix it up to suit you,' she explained.

Natalie added in the video that the worst thing about working in breakfast TV is 'wear and tear on your face and hair. Lots of makeup.'

She added that she has a 'travel kit' that she takes on assignments that includes a mini version of her favourite moisturiser.

Natalie previously told Yahoo! Lifestyle that she's the 'fittest [she's] ever been' after embracing a 'back to basics' approach to her health.

'I'm always asked about my skincare, especially how I take off all my TV makeup after work,' Natalie captioned a video shared to Instagram

'I exercise regularly, eat well most of the time, cut out sugar and make sure I get enough sleep,' she said.

Natalie revealed her weekly fitness routine consisted of Pilates, Xtend Barre classes, walking and running.

The newsreader also regularly uses a green algae face mask by Australasian skincare brand Dermaviduals.

Natalie revealed her weekly fitness routine consisted of Pilates, Xtend Barre classes, walking and running

Natalie explained that she prefers Dermaviduals because their products don't contain 'nasty chemical stuff'.

She replaced Samantha Armytage as Sunrise's co-anchor in March 2021, stepping in alongside David 'Kochie' Koch.

Prior to her promotion, she was the show's longtime newsreader.
She never fails to turn heads with her incredible sense of style.

And Amanda Holden looked radiant once again in a yellow co-ord as she left work at Heart FM on Tuesday.

The Britain's Got Talent judge, 51, looked nothing short of sensational in a plunging blazer decorated with a floral pattern.

Eye-catching: Amanda Holden looked radiant once again in a yellow co-ord as she left work at Heart FM on Tuesday

She teamed the jacket with the coordinating pair of shorts, which left her long legs on full display.

She added height to her frame with a pair of cream high heels, and toted a matching handbag.

Amanda shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun behind a pair of white sunglasses.

Glowing: The Britain's Got Talent judge, 51, looked nothing short of sensational in a plunging blazer decorated with a floral pattern

She wore her honey-coloured tresses poker straight and accessorised with several bracelets, hoop earrings and a pearl necklace.

She later took to her Instagram to show off her outfit and her flexibility, by taking on the famous Victoria Beckham pose - lifting her leg up high in the air while lounging on a couch.

It comes after Amanda recently showcased her incredible figure as she touched down Sicily for a sun-soaked getaway.

Looking good: She teamed the jacket with the coordinating pair of shorts, which left her long legs on full display

The TV and radio presenter wasted no time getting into the holiday spirit, sharing an insight from the Mediterranean hotspot with her 1.8million Instagram followers on Friday.

Donning a yellow bikini, the star posted a TikTok video she had made - playing a sound which described the trip as 'perfect, perfect, perfect'.

Enjoying a beach day, the video initially showed Amanda walking along seashore in a bright yellow linen dress.

Stunning: She wore her honey-coloured tresses poker straight and accessorised with several bracelets, hoop earrings and a pearl necklace

Copycat: She later took to her Instagram to show off her outfit and her flexibility, by taking on the famous Victoria Beckham pose - lifting her leg up high in the air while lounging on a couch

Posh did it first! The move was a mirror copy of Victoria's famous leg snap

With her blonde locks flowing in the wind, the Britain's Got Talent judge turned to flash a smile at the camera whilst walking barefoot.

The next shots showed her brave the waves and go for a dip in the sea, first placing her feet in before stripping off the dress to reveal her matching bikini.

The video showed Amanda as she walked into the water, slightly windswept as the waves crashed to her thighs.

And following the dip, she dried off on a beach sun-lounger, kicking back while she placed a straw sunhat on her head.

As a viral TikTok sound, which hears a girl saying: 'This is perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect' played over the video - Amanda also hashtagged the phrase.
He was in London on Sunday for the Men's Singles final at Wimbledon.

And on Tuesday, Andrew Garfield partied with a bikini-clad woman and a host of friends in Italy as he relaxed in style on a luxury yacht during the Ischia Global Festival.

The Spiderman star, 38, appeared to be in great spirits as he soaked up the sun aboard the boat with pals including millionaire art dealer Vito Schnabel, 35.

Fun! On Tuesday, Andrew Garfield, 38, partied with a bikini-clad woman and a host of friends in Italy as he relaxed in style on a luxury yacht during the Ischia Global Festival

Andrew kept things casual in a magic mushroom band style T-shirt and a camel coloured pair of chinos, while carrying his belongings in a simple beige tote bag.

The handsome tick, tick...BOOM! actor strolled along in a slip-on pair of brown shoes and completed his summer attire with a classic pair of shades.

Andrew appeared to be enjoying his time aboard the boat where the mystery babe displayed her enviable frame in a skimpy green bikini.

The talented star, who recently announced that he is taking a break from acting, is in Ischia because he is set to speak at the festival on Friday and is set to be honoured on Saturday night.

Summer style: Andrew kept things casual in a magic mushroom band style T-shirt and a camel coloured pair of chinos

Sensational: The stunning blonde beauty paraded her slim figure in a two-piece thong swimwear set which left her seahorse tattoo on display

Stunning: Andrew appeared to be enjoying his time aboard the boat where the mystery babe displayed her enviable frame in a skimpy green bikini

Holiday time: While Andrew stayed covered up in his T-shirt and chinos, the blonde beauty aboard the boat soaked up the sun in her swimwear

At the beginning of April, Andrew's ex-girlfriend Alyssa Miller, 33, hit out at those 'gossiping' amid claims that the couple had split.

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the model, shared an unseen photo from February's Screen Actors Guild Awards alongside a cryptic caption.

Refusing to confirm if they were together or not, she simply penned: 'If you must gossip at least use a cute photo. Lol love you AG.'

Loving life: Andrew spent time with friends while aboard the vessel

Keeping it casual: The handsome tick, tick...BOOM! actor strolled along in a slip-on pair of brown shoes and completed his summer attire with a classic pair of shades

Fun times: The group milled around on the luxury yacht

Here come the boys: Vito Schnabel led Andrew and their friends to the boat

While Alyssa's post proved she has nothing but love for the actor, a source told People that the couple have not reconciled and are just friendly exes since splitting.

Their appearance at February's awards ceremony is the last time the former couple were pictured together.

Earlier in the week it was reported that the couple had called it quits as their respective work schedules made it 'hard to see each other.'

Andrew was first linked to the American model last November when they were spotted holding hands in New York City.

The Spiderman star soaked up the sun aboard the boat with pals including millionaire art dealer Vito Schnabel, 35

Off to the boat: The actor and his pals looked ready for a day of fun

In good company: Andrew followed his millionaire art dealer friend Vito Schnabel as they made their way to the yacht

Fun times: Vito greeted his friends as he boarded the boat

The actor previously had a four-year relationship with his Amazing Spider-Man co-star Emma Stone that ended in April 2015.

Back in April, in an interview with Variety around the same time, Andrew said he will be stepping back from acting in order to 'rest for a little bit' and 'be a bit ordinary'.

The actor - who had several high-profile projects in 2021 - confessed: 'I need to recalibrate and reconsider what I want to do next and who I want to be, and just be a bit of a person for a while.'

Day out: Andrew was flanked by friends as they arrived for the boat day
Louisa Lytton has opened up about feeling 'relieved' to have finally married Ben Bhanvra at their beautiful wedding in Italy last week after the nuptials were beset by three postponements

The EastEnders actress, 33, called her husband her 'best friend' as she reflected on the three-day wedding in 'blistering heat' in the picturesque Tuscan town of Siena.

In a candid interview with OK! magazine, the star spoke about feeling emotional and crying a lot during the day as the couple celebrated their nuptials alongside friends, family and their baby daughter Aura, 10 months.

Mr and Mrs! Louisa Lytton has opened up about feeling 'relieved' to have finally married Ben Bhanvra in Italy last week after the nuptials were beset by three postponements

'I just felt relieved, I felt like we had finally done it,' she gushed. 'It's the same for any COVID bride... I remember us gigging at the altar, just thinking about how long it took us to get there. We had tears in our eyes but we couldn't stop giggling.'

Describing their big day, filled with happy crying from guests and the couple alike, Louisa and Ben, 32, also said the 39C heat was a lot to handle.

'In the ceremony, all of the guests were in the shade and me and Ben were centre stage in the sun,' she told the publication.

'So when I got up to Ben he said, "You look beautiful", and the next thing he said was, "I'm so hot!". My legs were dripping with sweat.'

Sealed with a kiss: The EastEnders actress, 33, called her husband her 'best friend' as she reflected on the three-day wedding in 'blistering heat' in the picturesque Tuscan town of Siena

Hot, hot, hot: Describing their big day, filled with happy crying from guests and the couple alike, Louisa and Ben, 32, also said the 39C heat was a lot to handle (pictured last week)

The bride - who looked beautiful in a tulle-detailed white wedding dress - and her dapper groom - were surrounded by 90 guests, and the ceremony kicked off with a pizza party.

Among those present were EastEnders actress Lacey Turner, 34 - Louisa's friend and soap co-star, who she has known for 15 years.

Despite feeling worried about guests being able to travel to Italy and attend the special day following Ben's proposal three years ago, the loved-up couple said their joy overshadowed any initial anxieties.

She confided: 'When I saw Ben for the first time in the blistering heat, I was so happy to finally be there with my best friend.'

Doting dad: The star spoke about feeling emotional during the day as the couple celebrated their nuptials alongside friends, family and their baby daughter Aura, 10 months (pictured)

Gorgeous: Louisa caught the eye in a multi-coloured maxi skirt and black top in a slew of snaps posted to Instagram on Thursday from her Italian honeymoon with Ben

The couple - who are still in Italy as they enjoy their honeymoon - were forced to postpone their nuptials three times.

Louisa and Ben, who first got engaged in 2019, had been forced to delay their wedding on three occasions, with the most recent setback being just days earlier when the actress shared that they were a 'Covid household'.

The actress looked chic in a slew of snaps which she posted to Instagram last week from her honeymoon with husband Ben.

Louisa caught the eye in a multi-coloured maxi skirt which she combined with a black top and an oversized straw handbag as she posed on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

What's that? The father-daughter-duo admired a wall mural during their stroll through the city of Florence while Louisa and Ben enjoyed their honeymoon

Bride: Louisa shared a first glimpse of her Italian wedding last week as she donned a bridal white jumpsuit while posing with her new husband and a pal who set the couple up

With her new spouse planting a kiss on her forehead in a follow-up shot, he went on to adorable carry Aura through the city.

The father-daughter-duo admired a wall mural during their stroll, with the tot wearing a pink dress with yellow and blue floral embroidering and a yellow hat.

Louisa wrote in one caption: 'Mr and Mrs + 1. Anyone else honeymooned with the minis? We need a rest after this.'

She added in another: 'Wedding done, Honeymoon activated. Just trying to navigate a 10 month old in 40 degree heat.'

Cute: Aura wore a pink dress with yellow and blue floral embroidering, as well as a yellow hat

Family: Louisa beamed from ear-to-ear towards during an al-fresco dinner with her baby girl

In her element: She wrote in one caption: 'Mr and Mrs + 1. Anyone else honeymooned with the minis? We need a rest after this'

Louisa shared a first glimpse of her Italian wedding last week as she donned a bridal white jumpsuit and matching headband while posing with her new husband and a pal who set the couple up.

The EastEnders star beamed for the camera in the Instagram snap as she stood between the two men while clutching a glass of white wine amid the celebrations.

Louisa looked lovely in the plunging white outfit which she teamed with a coordinating white clutch bag.

Ben cut a handsome figure in a cream shirt teamed with olive green trousers.

Louisa had re-shared the image taken by her pal, in which he wrote: 'I set these two up on a date in 2017 and this weekend I watched them finally get married in front of their daughter and loved ones.

'Very surreal but very amazing moment. They couldn't be more suited and I couldn't be happier for them!'
Larry Emdur has a new tattoo - and it's one that holds a lot of meaning.

The Morning Show host flashed the ink on his Instagram on Tuesday and explained why he got it.

The 57-year-old's tattoo is of a heart with three arrows, done in black ink and in a hand drawn style.

Larry Emdur (pictured) has a new tattoo - and it's one that holds a lot of meaning

'New ink story. My heart with an arrow for Sylvie, an arrow for Jye and an arrow for Tia #Family,' he wrote in the caption.

Jye is Larry's son, and Tia is Larry's daughter, while Sylvie is his wife, and the pair have been married since 1995.

The TV presenter and his wife recently made a decent profit from the sale of their New York-inspired home in The Rocks, Sydney.

The 57-year-old's tattoo is of a heart with three arrows, done in black ink and in a hand drawn style. 'New ink story. My heart with an arrow for Sylvie, an arrow for Jye and an arrow for Tia #Family,' he wrote in the caption

Jye is Larry's son, and Tia is Larry's daughter, while Sylvie is his wife, and the pair have been married since 1995. All pictured

The couple's realtor son Jye sold their three-bedroom Art Deco apartment for $4.3million after just a few weeks on the market, reports News.com.au.

The Emdurs had bought the property for $3.19million back in 2017.

Larry and Sylvie are expected to move into their new place in Darling Point.

The TV presenter and his wife recently made a decent profit from the sale of their New York-inspired home in The Rocks, Sydney

The couple purchased the home five years ago after selling their Dover Heights clifftop property for $11.5million.

The apartment was converted from a 1924 building that was previously used as a depot for the Cadbury confectionary company.

The Emdurs also own an eco-friendly holiday home converted from an old shipping container in Kangaroo Valley.
Katie Price is claimed to have wished Michelle Penticost's baby 'dead' while she was pregnant with her 11-month-old son Santiago last year.

The new fiancee of Katie's ex-husband Kieran Hayler claims she suffered a campaign of abuse from the TV star leaving her fearful to leave her home.

Katie avoided a prison sentence last month after breaking a restraining order against Michelle, 40, by indirectly calling her a 'gutter s**g' in a text to Kieran, 35.

Claims: Katie Price is claimed to have wished Michelle Penticost's baby 'dead' while she was pregnant with her 11-month-old son Santiago last year

In a new interview, Michelle slammed Katie's setence after the former glamour model was ordered to complete 18-months of community service.

Michelle told how she is scared to step foot outside her home and has installed CCTV 'everywhere' out of fear Katie or someone she knows will turn up.

The mother of two claimed to the Sun that the couple have had several 'incidents' with Katie and claimed that she once turned up without warning.

Michelle insisted that as well as hurling abuse at her and personal trainer Kieran, Katie has also said 'horrible' things about their son Apollo.

Michelle said: 'When I was about seven months pregnant she said she hoped the baby is either born dead or disabled'.

She claims the comment was made to a third party who repeated it to her.

Reports: The new fiancee of Katie's ex-husband Kieran Hayler claims she suffered a campaign of abuse from the TV star leaving her fearful to leave her home

'Seven months you're at quite a critical time, all the hormones, it's hard enough. Considering she has Harvey, that was quite disressing actually.'

Katie's eldest child Harvey has Septo-optic Dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder affecting his eyesight, as well as autism and Prader-Willi syndrome, which can cause learning difficulties and behavioural problems.

Michelle concluded: 'This behaviour is bullying, and considering she's an advocate for mental health, she's a hypoctite.'

Katie was given a five-year restraining order against Michelle in 2019 after calling her a series of insults including 'f*****g c**t' in front of children, parents and a teacher outside the school gates.

Disappointed: In a new interview, Michelle slammed Katie's setence after the former glamour model was ordered to complete 18-months ofcommunity service

Katie then indirectly breached the order when she text Kieran, saying: 'Tell your c*****g whore piece of s**t girlfriend not to start on me.'

The former I'm A Celebrity star dodged jail once again while also on a suspended sentence for her drink and drug-fuelled car crash.

Michelle admitted that she now worries that there is 'no deterrent' and believes Katie hasn't received any real consquences for her actions.

Katie was ordered to complete 170 hours of community service and pay 1,500 in court costs during her sentencing last month.

Katie was heard tellinga reporter to 'suck my d**k' after she was asked about the prospects of a prison sentence.

Katie had been banned from contacting Miss Penticost directly or indirectly for five years in June 2019.

This was after she hurled a foul-mouthed 'tirade of abuse' at her during a row in a school playground.

The message read: 'Tell your c***ing w***e piece of s**t girlfriend not to start on me.

'She has a restraining order so shouldn't try antagonise me as she is in breach and I'm sure she doesn't want people knowing that she was having an affair with you behind my back. That gutter s**g.'

The court heard the offence was committed due to Katie's use of the words 'tell your', which was an indirect attempt to communicate with Michelle.

Dodged: Katie avoided a prison sentence last month after breaking a restraining order against Michelle, 40, by indirectly calling her a 'gutter s**g' in a text to Kieran, 35

It was also said that her message to Kieran may have been triggered by an Instagram post by Michelle, which she denies was aimed at Katie.

Judge Stephen Mooney told Price: 'In my judgement, this offence was committed out of anger.

'The words you used were highly offensive and inflammatory so the breach cannot be considered minor.

'In my judgement, balancing the aggravating and mitigating factors, the appropriate sentence is a medium-level community order.'

Katie showed no emotion as the verdict was announced but gave a brief smile as she left the dock.

Her fiancee Carl Woods, 34, who was in the court public gallery, let out a sigh of relief and held his head in his hands.

Speaking after the verdict, Mr Hayler and Miss Penticost said this morning: 'We are incredibly disappointed with the result of today's court hearing.

'We feel a custodial sentence would have sent the right message to the public given the seriousness of Miss Price's offending.'
Olivia Colman looks unrecognisable in first-look photos as jilted once-bride-to-be Miss Havisham in Steven Knights forthcoming adaptation of Great Expectations for the BBC and FX.

The actress, 48, appeared decades older thanks to impressive costume and make-up work as she donned the trademark character's wedding dress and veil.

One snap shows her cradling the face of her co-star Fionn Whitehead - who plays Pip.

Unrecognisable: One snap shows her cradling the face of her co-star Fionn Whitehead - who plays Pip

Classic: The actress, 48, appeared decades older thanks to impressive costume and make-up work as she donned the trademark character's wedding dress and veil (pictured in May)

Another captures her using a walking stick to make her way over to Shalom Brune-Franklin, who stars as Estella.

They will appear in the six-part limited series alongside a stellar cast including Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle, Rudi Dharmalingam and Matt Berry.

Top Boy actor Ashley will take on the role of lawyer Jaggers while Johnny is set to play escaped convict and Pip's benefactor Magwitch.

On set: Another captures her using a walking stick to make her way over to Shalom Brune-Franklin, who stars as Estella

Great Expectations is the coming-of-age story of an orphan nicknamed Pip.

Olivia's character - Miss Havisham - is a wealthy woman who, since being stood up on her big day, insists on always wearing her wedding dress.

The role was previously played by Martita Hunt in the 1946 film version while Gillian Anderson took on the role in 2012.

She lives with her daughter Estella in a darkened, decrepit mansion, following the heartbreak two decades prior.

Charles Dickens first released the work in a series of weekly chapters beginning in December 1860, before it was subsequently published as a novel.

Dickens' famous novel follows the story of Pip, who lives with his sister Mrs Joe Gargery and her blacksmith husband Joe.

Escaped convict Magwitch scares Pip into stealing food and a metal file for him, but takes the blame when Pip is caught for the theft.

Later, Pip visits the eccentric Miss Havisham at Satis House and meets Estella, who he falls in love with.

However Miss Havisham is raising Estella to break men's heart as she lashes out at her own treatment.

Adaptation: Martita Hunt played the role of Miss Havisham in the 1946 film version (pictured)

Pip later discovers he has a wealthy benefactor and becomes a gentleman, while Estella marries another man.

Knight will write and executive produce Great Expectations, which will also be executive produced by Tom Hardy, Ridley Scott, Dean Baker, David W. Zucker, Kate Crowe  the team behind 2019s A Christmas Carol - and Tommy Bulfin for the BBC.

Great Expectations will be produced by FX Productions in association with the BBC, Scott Free and Hardy Son & Baker.

This is the second Dickens adaptation penned by Knight, following the hit limited series A Christmas Carol.

Filming for the series continues in the South of England.

It will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.
Jacques O'Neill has to be talked down from a furious showdown with rival Adam Collard on Tuesday night's episode of Love Island.

It was announced on Tuesday afternoon that Jacques had decided to quit the show, and a new teaser for the upcoming episode shows the rugby player getting wound up by what new villa arrival Adam has been saying about him.

2018 Love Island star Adam made his return to the show during Monday's episode and was seen telling Jacques' partner Paige Thorne what he thought of their relationship.

Drama: Jacques O'Neill has to be talked down from a furious showdown with rival Adam Collard on Tuesday night's dramatic episode of Love Island

In the First Look video for Tuesday's episode Jacques gets wound up as the other girls reveal what Adam told Paige.

Tash kicks things off by telling Jacques that Adam 'had a conversation with me and he was like, obviously I was talking about Andrew and he was like, "We I think actions speak louder than words"'.

Jacques says 'Oi, I hope he said stuff like that about me, because we'll have a bit of biff then,' only for his ex Gemma Owen to jump in, revealing 'Oh he was proper slagging you off.'

Rival: It was announced on Tuesday that Jacques had decided to quit the show, and a new teaser shows the rugby player getting wound up by what Adam has been saying about him

'What do you mean? What's he saying?' says Jacques, getting riled up.

'Immature, I think it was. Something like that,' the girls tell him, causing the furious star to stand up, getting ready to confront Adam.

Jacques is then seen angrily pulling Paige for a talk, telling her of Adam: 'Who the f**ks he? Just another geezer who's been on the show. He's f**king nothing mate. Do you know what I mean?'

'Alright and then keep that in mind,' Paige tells him in a bid to calm him down. 'You don't need to rise to it and be like bitey with it, do you know what I mean? What does it actually change? Nothing.'

Fury: In the First Look video for Tuesday episode's Jacques gets wound up as the other girls reveal that Adam told Paige he was 'immature'

Having words: Jacques says 'Oi, I hope he said stuff like that about me, because we'll have a bit of biff then,' only for his ex Gemma Owen to spill all

Can I have a word? Jacques is then seen angrily pulling Paige for a talk, telling her of Adam: 'Who the f**ks he?'

'You know what I get like, if a boy's gonna chat s**t behind my back, I don't f**king have it.' Jacques insists.

Later in the teaser clip Jacques is seen breaking down in tears as he tells Paige he wants to leave the villa.

'You mean so much to me, you know that. I just wish I could finish my journey with you in here,' he tells a tearful Paige.

During Monday's episode, Adam entered the villa while the boys were away on a spa day and he immediately made a beeline for Paige to find out how her relationship with Jacques is at the moment.

Calm down: Paige tells him: 'You don't need to rise to it and be like bitey with it. What does it actually change? Nothing'

Paige gushed over Adam's physique, telling him he's the tallest guy in the villa, before declaring in the Beach Hut: 'He's so fit. No I'm not going to lie, he is very fit.'

By the pool, Adam told her he is boyfriend material, explaining: 'When I'm with someone, I'm 100% with them, I've never cheated on any ex-girlfriends or anything like that.

'Coming off the back of this, everyone's going to get loads of attention and I've been there and done it. I don't need to get that out of my system like some guys do. I feel like some of the guys in here will want to that.

Emotional: Later in the teaser clip Jacques is seen breaking down in tears as he tells Paige he wants to leave the villa

Tears: 'You mean so much to me, you know that. I just wish I could finish my journey with you in here,' he tells a tearful Paige

Paige replied: '100%. I'm not ready to train somebody else up to be a boyfriend. Like you're either boyfriend material or you're not.

Adam asked: 'What do you think Jacques will be like with me and you speaking?'

Paige: 'I don't think he'll like it. I think he'll be intimidated.'

Following her chat with Adam, Paige went over to Gemma and Ekin-Su Culculoglu to ask what they thought about her getting to know him.

Gemma, who dated Jacques prior to Love Island, encouraged her to get to know Adam and to not feel bad about it, given Jacques infidelities during Casa Amor.

Gemma said: 'You need to throw yourself in more to this. You'd be more than stupid [if you didn't]. Please, please, please do not think about Jacques, just think about yourself. He didn't think about you in Casa and I'm sorry, karma's a b***h.'

Getting to know you: During Monday's episode, Adam entered the villa and he immediately made a beeline for Paige to find out how her relationship with Jacques is at the moment
A WHO-supported mobile clinic provides free-of-charge services to people who suspect they may have TB

Damascus, 7 July 2022  WHO, the Global Fund and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have been working closely to address HIV and tuberculosis (TB) epidemics under the Middle East Response (MER) project. Through the MER 1 grant, WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health in Syrias national TB programme with 3 mobile clinics in Aleppo, Rural Damascus and Deir-ez-Zor governorates, as Syrias protracted crisis has severely affected the health system across the country.

Each of the WHO-supported mobile clinics  with accompanying doctor, nurse, laboratory technician and driver  is equipped with an X-ray machine capable of sharing high-quality digital images through mobile networks for swift diagnosis. The mobile clinics also contain an electric generator to be deployed in remote areas with severe electricity shortages.

Samera, a 25-year-old lady from Deir Haffer in Rural Aleppo, had been suffering from weight loss and severe cough for over 2 weeks. During a medical consultation at an Aleppo health care centre, Samera heard about the WHO-supported mobile X-ray clinic that provides health services free-of-charge and visits her village regularly. Transportation and treatment fees would have overburdened me. Having the mobile clinic in my own village is a tremendous relief, said Samera, overjoyed.

After her examination and X-ray, the technician sent Sameras radiology results to an online group of specialized doctors from across the country, including responsible physicians at Al-Masaranieh Specialized Centre, 30 km away. Later, a requested sputum sample was also sent for diagnosis at Al-Masaranieh laboratory, where the culture was tested with a GeneXpert PCR system to assess drug resistance within mere hours. As mobile clinics transport samples to Al-Masaranieh Centre for analysis, patients are no longer forced to make the journey to public health centres for lab results. Once confirmed as a TB patient, Sameras treatment was initiated and her care began in her village. Our area is difficult to access for medical treatment and care. The presence of the mobile clinic was simply life-saving, she added.

During the last 2 years, 83 119 individuals in Aleppo governorate received the needed health services and key messages about TB  integrated with COVID-19 messages  thanks to the WHO mobile clinic. Of the total population screened, 315 tested positive for TB, accounting for 30% of TB cases in the governorate.

Tuberculosis is one of the top 10 causes of mortality worldwide and remains a significant threat to human life among the most vulnerable in Syria. Tackling the disease remains highly challenging in a country where widespread shortages of medicines and displacement interrupt essential lengthy treatments that are needed to prevent the development of drug-resistant TB, said Dr Iman Shankiti, WHO Representative a.i in Syria. We highly appreciate our partnerships with the Global Fund and IOM to provide quality health services to all people in need without exposing them to financial hardship, and we will spare no efforts to ensure that everyone everywhere has an equal chance at a healthy life, Dr Shankiti added.

WHO support extends to building the capacity of health care officers at the national TB programme. In 2021, the national programme and the National Reference Laboratory for TB testing held 15 coordination and capacity-building workshops attended by 390 national TB programme officers from various governorates.
Pete Davidson is at the center of a sizzling house party that turns into a grisly murder mystery in the second official trailer for Bodies Bodies Bodies.

Kim Kardashian's 28-year-old boy toy stars in the A24 film amid a cast of young notables including Amanda Stenberg, Rachel Sennott and Maria Bakalova.

At the end of the new sneak peek, Pete can be seen standing by the swimming pool in a downpour bellowing: 'Is that all you got motherf***er?'

Shirtless: Pete Davidson is at the center of a sizzling house party that turns into a grisly murder mystery in the second official trailer for Bodies Bodies Bodies

Early in the trailer a group of young people gather together at a mansion during a hurricane for what appears to be an overnight party.

Pete's character David, a fabulously wealthy man seen shirtless in the pool early on in the trailer, is the host of the party.

He is throwing the fete with Sophie, played by Amandla, who rose to prominence in a drama film about racism called The Hate U Give.

Sophie is dating a working-class girl called Bee, played by Maria, a Bulgarian actress who shot to fame as the title character's daughter in the Borat sequel.

Defiant: At the end of the new sneak peek, Pete can be seen standing by the swimming pool in a downpour bellowing: 'Is that all you got motherf***er?'

Plotline: Kim Kardashian's 28-year-old toyboy stars in the A24 film amid a cast of young notables including Amanda Stenberg, Rachel Sennott and Maria Bakalova

Who's who: Amandla, who rose to prominence in the drama film The Hate U Give, and Maria, a Bulgarian actress who became an international star in the Borat sequel, play a couple

Early in the trailer Bee is informed she has 'the vibe' of being in her 'first relationship' - and chows cheerfully down on a cake before being told it is laced with cannabis.

Rachel, who made her mark in the dark comedy Shiva Baby, plays Alice, who appears to be dating Greg, played by The Hobbit actor Lee Pace.

When Sophie introduces Bee to the other guests, Greg, floating shirtless around the pool in an inflatable donut, gawps at her and says: 'Oh, whoa!'

Other young faces in the movie include Chase Sui Wonders as Emma, Myha'la Herrold as Jordan and Connor O'Malley as Max.

What a lineup: Chase Sui Wonders's character Emma appears to be dating Pete, as she is frequently seen clinging to him, in the pool and on a deck chair

Stunned: When Maria's character Bee is to the other guests, Greg (Lee Pace, floating shirtless around the pool in an inflatable donut, gawps at her and says: 'Oh, whoa!'

Chase's character Emma appears to be dating Pete, as she is frequently seen clinging to him, in the pool and on a deck chair.

When Bee arrives at the mansion, she brings a gift in a box for David, presumably to thank him for hosting them all there.

'What is it?' says David, and when Sophie supportively tells him the box contains zucchini bread, he says with a somewhat dubious air: 'Yum.'

As the party guests dance and frolic around the mansion, Sophie calls for 'Silence!' and says with a mischievous grin: 'Who wants to play Bodies Bodies Bodies?'

'It's zucchini bread': When Bee arrives at the mansion, she brings a gift in a box for David, presumably to thank him for hosting them all there

Her friends gather around as she explains the rules of the card game, saying: 'If you draw the piece of paper that has the X on it, you are the murderer.'

She adds in a sly tone of voice: 'And if you're the murderer, you have to kill someone by touching them on the back.'

Sophie concludes: 'The most important part - if you come across a body, you have to yell: "Bodies, bodies, bodies!"'

Pete's character David rolls his eyes at the prospect of being selected, saying: 'It would be so obvious if I were the killer.'

Making it happen: As the party guests dance and frolic around the mansion, Sophie calls for 'Silence!' and says with a mischievous grin: 'Who wants to play Bodies Bodies Bodies?'

Suddenly all the lights in the mansion are cut, presumably because of the hurricane, leaving the guests crawling about in the dark.

One of the women at the party comes upon David, who teasingly blows a cloud of what is presumably marijuana smoke at her.

However David eventually goes missing, and the women at the party begin to wander around in the pitch darkness looking for him.

Their search evidently leads to horrifying results - an earsplitting shriek rings out and a bloody knife appears on the scene.

Having a laugh: Pete's character David rolls his eyes at the prospect of being selected, saying: 'It would be so obvious if I were the killer'

'Our friend is dead!' Myal'ha's character Jordan says in the kitchen, before reaching for one of the knives to protect herself.

'Jordan, what are you doing?' Alice exclaims, and when Jordan insists she is just 'staying safe,' Alice replies: 'Really? Because it looks like you're grabbing a meat-cleaver to go look for my boyfriend!'

The trailer offers a few mysterious glimpses into the rest of the plot, including a shot of the women trudging through the rain at night.

Goofing about: Pete's character David rolls his eyes at the prospect of being selected, saying: 'It would be so obvious if I were the killer'

Suspicion appears to be spreading among the guests, as one of them asks, seemingly about Bee: 'How long have you known her?'

Even early on in the party, David is seen conspiratorially warning his old pal Sophie: 'You should watch your girl.'

The tension reaches a breaking point at the trailer when one of the guest is seen in silhouette pushing another one over a railing to a steep fall into the floor below.
Jonathan Bailey will play Matt Bomer's on-screen lover in new Showtime eight-part miniseries, Fellow Travellers, it has been announced.

The actor, 34, caused Bridgerton viewers to swoon over his risque scenes in the Netflix period drama and is now set to bring his talents to the LGBT romance thriller.

Based on the namesake novel by Thomas Mallon, he will portray Fordham University graduate Tim Laughlin, who enters a volatile romance with Matt's character Hawkins Fuller in 1950s Washington D.C.

Coming soon: Jonathan Bailey (pictured in Bridgerton) will play Matt Bomer's on-screen lover in new Showtime miniseries, Fellow Travellers, it has been announced

The pair - portrayed by two gay-identifying actors - will continue to cross paths over the following 40 years, with monumental timepoints including the 1960s Vietnam War, 1970s disco era and the 1980s AIDS crisis.

Allison Williams will also star as Lucy Smith in the production which will begin shooting in Toronto later in July.

Matt, 44, publicly announced he was gay in 2012, and has gone on to welcome three children with his husband Simon Halls.

Talented: He will portray Fordham graduate Tim Laughlin, who enters a volatile romance with Matt's character Hawkins Fuller in 1950s Washington D.C. (Matt is pictured in White Collar)

Jonathan is thought to be dating fellow actor, James Ellis, following a string of appearances together - however the pair haven't spoken publicly about the rumours.

It comes after Matt admitted that coming out to his family eighteen years ago had been much more difficult, and hinted the relationship with his mother and father was still strained as a result.

Speaking to MR PORTER, the actor confessed his parents had been shocked to hear he was gay, due to their religious beliefs - and revealed he now sees his grandmother as a true 'loving and accepting Christian', as she gave 'zero f****s' about his sexuality.

Woah! Jonathan, 34, caused Bridgerton viewers to swoon over his risque scenes in the Netflix period drama and is now set to bring his talents to the LGBT romance thriller

Matt married his publicist partner Simon in 2011, one year before he confirmed to the public he was gay at the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards.

However the Magic Mike star explained he first came out to his brother at the age of 24, after pretending he was straight during his youth, in the 'Bible Belt' of Texas.

Telling his parents two years later, Matt admitted he was surprised at how shocked were - and that it was actually his grandparents who accepted him straight away.

He said: 'You know who was coolest about it? My grandparents. They gave zero f****.

Before adding, in a seemingly subtle dig at the rest of his family: 'My grandma blows my mind. To me, she exemplifies what a loving, accepting Christian is.'

He went on to explain that his religious parents did not speak about his sexuality for six months after he came out, culminating in a huge row when he returned home from college - which he hinted has still not been fully resolved.

When asked if thirteen years later, he was now on good terms with his parents, he revealed: 'I'll just say yes.

'When you're a family, you just table [put to one side] certain things in order to get to the business of loving each other. I feel very, very thankful to have the family that I do.'
A former NFL star is claiming that his son posted a naked picture of him in the shower even though his country music star wife can be partially seen in the frame.

Eric Decker, 35, and Jessie James Decker, 34, say their four-year-old son, Forrest, took the selfie with his father naked in the shower behind him before accidentally posting it to Instagram on Monday night for all to see.

In the snap, the young Decker grinned for the camera as his unsuspecting father rinsed off in the background.

The couple said they weren't aware of the nude photo until a friend sent Jessie a screenshot. The post had already garnered thousands of likes and comments before it was taken down.

But some noticed strands of blonde hair on the edge of the frame, leading them to wonder if the child actually took the picture or if mom Jessie was behind the camera.

'Omg': Jessie James Decker's four-year-old son Forrest posted a photo of his unsuspecting father Eric Decker taking a shower on Monday

A friend sent a screenshot to Jessie, who posted about it on her story.

'No I can't stop laughing Jessie. I can't,' she texted Jessie. 'I am not even sure if u know he has his phone but if u don't know go grab,' she added.

'Omg,' Jessie replied.

She posted a screenshot of their text exchange to Instagram, where she added a laughing crying emoji.

'I can't even,' she wrote.

Addressing the kerfuffle on his Instagram Stories, Eric posted: 'Time to change the code... so much for letting Forrest watch his Avengers videos during my shower.'

'Go grab': A friend alerted Jessie to the snap via text message

'Time to change the code': Decker addressed the kerfuffle on his Instagram Stories

Eric didn't seem particularly panicked in his statement, and perhaps that's because fans have already seen him in the buff before.

In September 2020, he shared a photo of himself reading a copy of his wife's new cookbook, Just Feed Me, while naked.

'Its bigger, better and tastier than what you could ever imagine...... I'm talking about my wifes amazing new cookbook "just feed me" Its officially out now!' he suggestively captioned the photo.

Not his first nude! In September 2020, he shared a photo of himself reading a copy of his wife's new cookbook, Just Feed Me, while naked

'What happens in Cabo': Decker posted a photo of her husband in his birthday suit as she celebrated his 35th birthday earlier this year

Jessie also posted a photo of her husband striking a pose in his birthday suit in celebration of his 35th birthday earlier this year.

'The birthday boy In his birthday suit lookin like a statue from Greece,' she captioned the shot, taken in Cabo San Lucas. 'My man is 35 and aging like fine wine. Happy happy birthday to the love of my life, my best friend, my soulmate, my baby daddy, my ride or die. I'm so happy you were born today. I sure do I love growing old with you,' she concluded, along with several hashtags including 'what happens in Cabo.'

The country songstress married Eric in 2013, and last month they celebrated their nine year wedding anniversary during a sun-soaked getaway to Capri, Italy.

'Mi amor. Weve been looking forward to this for a year, happy anniversary month baby [heart-eyes emoji] 9 years married next week!' she captioned the snap.

Jessie and Eric were introduced by mutual friends and married two years later.

The couple share daughter Vivianne Rose Decker, eight, and sons Eric Decker II, six, and Forrest Bradley.

Family of five: The couple wed in 2013 and share three children: daughter Vivianne, eight, and sons Eric Jr. and Forrest, six and four
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Kevin Costner's non-woke smash-hit series Yellowstone has been snubbed from the Emmy Awards again  with the actor and director not getting a look in.

The smash-hit Paramount + show is not the only one to be completely ignored, with several other big-name actors getting the cold shoulder.

Yellowstone, which pulls in more than 10 million viewers, has been largely snubbed by the Emmys for years  and has been called anti-woke.

It did not get recognized in the Best Drama category, with star Kevin Costner, who is also an executive producer, being one of many stars left off the list.

The shows only nomination by the guild was last year for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More), but it failed to win.

It did land a Screen Actors Guild nomination this year, but did not come away with the top prize.

The nominations for the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, which honor the best in television, were announced on Tuesday morning.

Succession, Pam & Tommy, Hacks, Ted Lasso and Only Murders In The Building did well, but several big names were left off the list.

Not on the Emmy list: The smash hit Paramount + show Yellowstone did not get recognized in the Best Drama category and its star Kevin Costner was left off the list

Not a big city show: Although Yellowstone is often compared to HBO's Succession - they came out the same year and are both family-business dramas - it breaks the mold for hit series as it's based not on the East or West coasts, but in Montana. It is shot in Utah

Yellowstones prequel 1883 did get recognized by the Emmys this year, and was singled out for its cinematography and music.

But the series' stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were not on the list for their acting even though they won raves for playing a married couple battling the wild West.

Sam Elliott, Isabel May and Billy Bob Thornton also deliver sensational performances, but were shut out.

Yellowstone focuses on Costner's John Dutton, a landowning rancher in Montana overseeing his wealth and family, a setting rarely seen among modern top-rated shows.

Emily VanDerWerff, a TV critic for Vox, ultimately credits Yellowstone's success on its ability to tap into middle America and portray a different kind of fantasy.

Although the show has received little media attention despite its high viewership, it did receive its share of criticisms when it first aired.

The series, which first aired in 2018, has been besting cable TV mainstays with over 7 million viewers on the week of December 6.

It was only surpassed by the 13 million attracted to the New England Patriots versus Buffalo Bills football game, outpacing the FOX channel's The Five, Special Report with Brett Baer and Tucker Carlson Tonight.

On January 2, it became the most watched show on TV since The Walking Dead Season 8 premiere on AMC in October 2017, which drew 11.4 million viewers.

Although Yellowstone is often compared to HBO's Succession - which has eight nominations across the categories - it breaks the mold for hit series as it's based not on the East or West coasts, but in Montana and is shot in Utah.

Not there: Yellowstone's prequel 1883 did get recognized for its cinematography and music. But the series' stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were not on the list for their acting; seen with Audie Rick

So much talent: The cast in December 2021. Sam Elliott, Isabel May and Billy Bob Thornton also deliver sensational performances, but were shut out

Only the men were recognized on this show: Selena Gomez was not nominated for her starring role in Only Murders In The Building but she was given a nod as a producer as it the Hulu series landed in the Outstanding Comedy Series category. However, her costars Steve Martin and Martin Short were recognized for their acting work

Unlike shows like Succession that play up current drama in New York or Los Angeles, Yellowstone avoids big city issues and political correctness conflicts, and instead puts a lens on rural America where local businesses are losing wealth and power in a changing nation.

There were many other snubs beyond Yellowstone and 1883, with A-List actresses Selena Gomez and Jennifer Anniston both being left off the awards list.

Selena Gomez was not nominated for her starring role as Mable Mora in Only Murders In The Building, while her two male co-stars were both recognized for their work.

But she was given a nod as a producer as the Hulu series landed in the Outstanding Comedy Series category, and was renewed for a third season this week.

Julia Roberts did not land an Emmy nomination for her starring role as Martha Mitchell in the Starz series Gaslit about the Watergate drama, and neither did her costar Sean Penn.

Roberts has been nominated twice before by the Emmys.

In 2014 she was placed in the category Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for The Normal Heart for playing Dr. Emma Brookner.

Not lit: Julia Roberts did not land an Emmy nomination for her starring role as Martha Mitchell in the Starz series Gaslit about the Watergate drama, and neither was her costar Sean Penn. Roberts has been nominated twice before by the Emmys

Not Jen: Jennifer Aniston (right) was not included for her work on The Morning Show, but her co-star Reese Witherspoon (left) was in the Best Actress in a Drama Series category

And in 1999 she landed in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series category for playing Katrina Ludlow in the Law & Order episode Empire.

Mandy Moore was also snubbed for her acting work on This Is Us which has come to an end this year. The show was nominated for Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics.

She took to Insta stories to expressed her disappointment after her hit show This is Us received only one nod during the Emmy Awards nominations announcement.

The actress, 38, took to her Instagram Stories to state her thoughts, writing: 'Do I wish our show was recognized in what I think was it's finest hour? Sure.'

However, she saw the silver lining in the situation, adding: 'But nothing can take away what our show meant to SO MANY (us included). That's an incredible legacy to be a part of. I will be grateful forever. #thisisus'

She also praised creator Dan Fogelman's, 46, 'brilliant writing for 6 seasons' and director Ken Olin, 67, 'impeccable direction' and the 'insanely, wildly talented cast and crew.'

Jennifer Aniston was not included for her work on The Morning Show, while her co-star Reese Witherspoon was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series category.

Billy Crudup was also recognized for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series and Marcia Gay Harden landed a nod for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series for the hit Apple+ show.

No pink love: Emmy Rossum was not given a nod for her work in Angelyne, who came to prominence in 1984 after the appearance of a series of iconic billboards in and around Los Angeles

Hard work for ER: The beauty starred in and produced the series. Seen in the makeup chair

A big effort: But the show got attention for makeup, prosthetic and costume

Aniston was nominated in 2020 for The Morning Show in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category.

She has been nominated several other times, most recently in 2021 for the Friends Reunion, but only won once in 2002 for Friends.

Emmy Rossum was not given a nod for her work in Angelyne, who came to prominence in 1984 after the appearance of a series of iconic billboards in and around Los Angeles.

The beauty starred in and produced the series.

But the show got attention for makeup, prosthetic and costume.

Juliette Lewis was not given a nomination for her work on Yellowjackets though her co-stars Christina Ricci and Melanie Lynskey were.

An Emmy no: Juliette Lewis was not given a nomination for her work on Yellowjackets though her co-stars Christina Ricci and Melanie Lynskey were

Nada: Mandy Moore was not singled out for her acting work on This Is Us which has come to an end this year

The show was also nominated for Best Drama Series, as well best writing, directing and casting.

Jessica Chastain did not get a nod for her work in Scenes From a Marriage.

J.B. Smoove of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Melissa Fumero of Brooklyn Nine-Nine as well as Television Academy chairman and CEO Frank Scherma read of the list of nominees.

The 2022 Emmy Awards are set to air live on September 12 on NBC. The show will also stream live on Peacock.

Prior to the main ceremony on NBC, the Creative Arts Emmys will take place over two nights, on Saturday, September 3 and Sunday, September 4.
She welcomed her baby boy just a mere five weeks ago.

And Olivia Bowen was glowing as she shared a radiant video to Instagram of her breastfeeding Abel, as she returned to work for a photoshoot in London on Tuesday.

The Love island star, 28, was beaming as she nursed her the newborn and gently rocked him from side to side as she proudly said she 'kicked her anxieties a**.'

Doting mother: Olivia Bowen, 28, proudly nursed her baby boy as she returned to work for the first time on Tuesday - five weeks after giving birth

Olivia stunned as her blonde hair caught the breeze and she sported a glamorous face of makeup for the shoot.

Alongside the incredible video she penned: Back & Im better. Back to work today on a fabulous shoot around London with an incredible brand & my baby AJ in tow.

'I am so tired now, like I said on my stories I was so nervous but wanted to do this for me and to kick anxieties a**!'

Amazing: Alongside the incredible video she penned: Back & Im better. Back to work today on a fabulous shoot around London with an incredible brand & my baby AJ in tow

She continued: 'I feel SO accomplished; doing what I love, being unapologetically me AND being Mum at the same time. Dont lose yourself Mamas, you deserve to be YOU too.

'Couldnt do it without my team @ab_bowen @charhilditch @annalingis.'

It comes as Olivia was positively radiating with the glow of new motherhood as she posed for a series of stunning snaps in an Instagram shoot last week.

Adorable: She continued: 'I feel SO accomplished; doing what I love, being unapologetically me AND being Mum at the same time. Dont lose yourself Mamas, you deserve to be YOU too'

Good to be back: Olivia candid;y documented her first day back at work on her Instagram

The Love Island star looked sensational as she slipped into a cobalt blue swimsuit while relaxing in her hot tub.

The mother-of-one dazzled in the skimpy one-piece which boasted a high leg design and intricate strap detailing on the back.

She wore her blonde locks pulled back into a ponytail and sported a glamorous palette of makeup.

Celebrating National Bikini Day, Olivia captioned the snap: 'Water baby'.

Yummy mummy: It comes as Olivia was positively radiating with the glow of new motherhood as she posed for a series of stunning snaps in an Instagram shoot last week

Olivia welcome Abel with her husband Alex, formerly a sales executive and scaffolder respectively, soared to fame in 2016 where she was an original star and he, a late and extremely popular entrant.

After leaving the villa their romance soon when from strength to strength and Alex popped the question in New York in 2016.

Loved-up couple Olivia and Alex tied the knot in a luxurious Essex ceremony two years after meeting on Love Island during series two.
Former Love Islander Montana Brown displayed her incredible figure on Tuesday as she took to Instagram in a selection of skimpy purple swimwear from her sustainable brand Swim Society.

The reality star, 26, looked gorgeous as she strutted her stuff towards the camera in the stunning clip, modelling no less than THREE bikini.

Montana's first outfit was a lilac two piece with gold detailing, it's draw string bottoms accentuating her gorgeous hourglass figure.

'Everything is better in purple':Love Island's Montana Brown, 26, flaunted her incredible figure in a range of skimpy lilac swimwear on Tuesday

The blonde beauty opted for a natural make-up look as her long tresses cascaded to her shoulders in a gentle wave.

Next the television personality emerged from the open patio doors in a white bikini which was embellished with an intricate periwinkle print.

The former ITV2 star founded the luxury sustainable swimwear brand in 2019 to be inclusive for all body types.

Catwalk: The blonde beauty opted for a natural make-up look as her long tresses cascaded to her shoulders in a gentle wave

Montana beamed for the camera as she flaunted her sun kissed skin, accessorising the look with a simple beaded anklet.

The third outfit was an equally stunning ensemble, a bright orchid bikini complete with high cut bottoms and a plunging top that clung to her gorgeous curves.

She captioned the clip: 'Everything is better in purple'.

Stylish: The television personality also donned a white bikini which was embellished with an intricate periwinkle print

Recently Montana proudly displaced her 'cellulite' and 'leg hairs' as she spoke about embracing the female body in an Instagram post in March.

The influencer admitted the pictures were 'unposed' and although she 'didn't think they were the best ones' she shared how important it is to share natural images.

Montana wore her brunette locks up for the pictures, which showed her taking a hot tub dip at luxury mountain resort Six Senses Residences Courchevel in the French Alps.

Stunner: The third outfit was an equally stunning ensemble, a bright orchid bikini complete with high cut bottoms and a plunging top that clung to her gorgeous curves

Fun in the sun: She captioned the clip: 'Everything is better in purple'

Talking to her followers, Montana wrote: 'Monday motivation today is embracing the female body. Everything Swim Society represents is loving your body as it is TODAY. Including skin texture, stretch marks, cellulite, wonky boobies and all the rest.'

'I've fluctuated with my weight, loving the gym, not loving the gym, dealing with depression/anxiety and I refuse to feel bad about what I see in a picture.

'Bit of cellulite on my a**, you can zoom in and see my little hairs on the tops of my leggies and if you scroll to the end my armpit legit looks like a vagina for no apparent reason / our new collection for all women is now available, all bodies welcome,' she concluded.

Natural: Last month Montana proudly displaced her 'cellulite' and 'leg hairs' as she spoke about embracing the female body in an Instagram post

Montana was open in the post, talking about her weight fluctuating and struggling with mental health issues, as she showcased off her 'real' body - talking candidly on cellulite and body hair.

Montana rose to fame on season three of Love Island, making it to the final with ex Alex Beattie and ultimately coming in fifth place.

While the Hertfordshire-born beauty ended things with Personal Trainer Alex, she has since found love with real estate guru Mark O'Connor.

Whilst Montana keeps the relationship fairly quiet, the pair were first spotted together in early 2021.

Montana reportedly met her beau through a gym in London, as friends of Mark told MailOnline last year: 'He played rugby for Chiswick and Wales 1st Teams as a prop, and has a proprietary interest in Forge Gym London. That's likely how he met Montana.'
A proud Scarlett Moffatt took to Instagram recently to share a gorgeous snap of her younger sister Ava ahead of her school prom.

The television personality, 31, bemoaned that she felt 'so old' as her 16-year-old sibling looked worlds away from when joined the family on Gogglebox as a young child.

Ava looked beautiful in a black halterneck jumpsuit for the occasion which she teamed with a stylish gold belt.

'I feel so old!': Scarlett Moffat, 31, shared a snap of her sister Ava, 16, as she headed to prom looking worlds away from her time on Gogglebox recently

The stunner opted for a glamorous make-up look as her brunette tresses cascaded to her shoulders in an open curl.

Ava who appeared alongside her sister and parents Betty and Mark on the show until 2016, accessorised her look with danging earrings and a gold upper arm cuff.

The schoolgirl posed with a mocktail and balloons as she beamed celebrating the milestone.

Family: Ava appeared on Gogglebox alongside sister Scarlett and parents Mark and Berry from 2014-106 (pictured on the show)

Scarlett captioned the snap: 'And just like that my little sister is going to prom I feel so old!! #prom #beautiful #sister'.

Fans and famous friends rushed to the comments section amazed with how much Ava has since her sporadic television appearances.

Former Strictly professional Orla Jordan wrote: 'Omg! So grown up. Beautiful'.

Can't believe it: Fans and famous friends rushed to the comments section amazed with how much Ava has since her sporadic television appearances

While a fan added: 'Oh! wow! I cant believe thats your sister. I remember her being on #gogglebox'.

And a second commented: 'No way is that your little sister! omg she's so grown up, she looks blumming gorgeous'.

Following the family's stint on Gogglebox Ava and the family joined Scarlett in Australia when she hosted the I'm A Celeb spin-off after winning the main show in 2016.

Sisters: Following the family's stint on Gogglebox Ava and the family joined Scarlett in Australia when she hosted the I'm A Celeb spin-off after winning the main show in 2016 (pictured together in 2019)

In 2019 the family also appeared in The Tribe Next Door Channel Four documentary that saw them live alongside the Himba community in a Namibian tribal village, in an exact replica of their parents Newcastle home.

But the experiment has been branded 'twisted' and 'harmful' by activist charity, No White Saviours, hours after some angry fans said the show 'screams privilege'.

A spokesman for the charity told MailOnline at the time: 'It is dehumanising and harmful. They are making a mockery of African lifestyles, and more specifically, Namibian traditional ways of living.

Family: The family exited the show and went on to star in other documentaries following Scarlett's rise to fame

It comes after Scarlett spoke about her out of control' facial ticks as she fronts a new documentary about Bell's palsy and Tourette's syndrome.

Bell's Pal, which effects around 5,000 people each year, causes temporary weakness or paralysis of the muscles in one side of the face.

And the star has revealed she 'didn't feel in control' of her body when suffering with symptoms of the condition as a teenager

Speaking to OK! magazine she said: 'I'd try to suppress the facial tics so I didn't stand out, which was like holding in a hiccup'.

Backlash: The family's Channel Four documentary The Tribe next door was branded 'twisted'

Before going on to say that once she was alone the tics would suddenly return all at once.

As well as Bell's Palsy Scarlett also suffered from Tourette's syndrome which will be the main focus of her show Britain's Tourette's Mystery: Scarlett Moffatt Investigates.

She told The Sun that she was forced to grow a thick skin during the filming as she was called 'fat' and 'Miss Piggy' by some of the participants whilst they were tic-ing.

New you: Ava can be seen on social media as she embraces life following High school

She said: 'One guy we met, Ryan, had a huge tic attack - it was like his body wasn't his own.

'He was banging his head on the floor and it looked like he was in so much pain. We had to call an ambulance.

'I hope by watching, people get more of an understanding about what it's like to live a day having Tourette's.'
Vicky Pattison has penned an impassioned post about mental health after admitting that life has 'kicked [her] a**e' recently.

The TV personality, 34, took to Instagram on Tuesday and shared side by side photos of herself, one posing on a red carpet and the other a candid selfie where she looked glum.

The former Geordie Shore star wrote a lengthy caption saying she had experienced 'amazing highs' and 'really intense lows' over the last few weeks and sometimes her negative emotions felt like a 'monsoon'.

Honest: Vicky Pattison has penned an impassioned post about mental health after admitting that life has 'kicked [her] a**e' recently

She wrote: 'Courage doesn't always roar.. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying "I will try again tomorrow..." Mary Anne Radmacher.

'I've wanted to write this post for a while but it has felt like my mind has just been under such a cloud of fog that it was hard to articulate what I wanted to say so bear with me.

'I think some days we just need to accept that life is going to kick our a**e. The last couple weeks have kicked mine a bit - it's been this mad mix of amazing highs and then really intense lows and subsequently I've just felt like I was on a rollercoaster - never knowing if what was round the corner was going to be a really good, exciting moment or something more difficult and testing.

'I know that everyday can't be big wins, beautiful moments and clear skies- there has to be a little rain but, and I know everyone can relate to this, sometimes doesn't it just feel like a f***ing monsoon??!'

Candid: Vicky wrote a lengthy caption saying she had experienced 'amazing highs' and 'really intense lows' over the last few weeks and sometimes her negative emotions felt like a 'monsoon'

Vicky said she hopes that by by discussing her own mental health she will help others who are feeling the same.

She said: 'I wanted to put this out there incase anyone was feeling similar or maybe you were feeling like there was abit too much rain in your life and you were long overdue some sunny spells 

'Grazed knees, bad chapters, hard days- hard weeks even.. they don't last forever. Sooner or later, we all get a win.

'The clouds part and things just get a little better. That's life - and these setbacks don't define us - it's how we keep going that proves who we really are.

Vicky wrote: 'I think some days we just need to accept that life is going to kick our a**e. The last couple weeks have kicked mine a bit'

'So keep going, keep smiling and understand that everyday you do that - every time you say quietly to yourself "I will try again tomorrow" - it takes real bravery and you should be really proud of yourself.

'And next time you find yourself in the eye of a storm just be kind to yourself - pull back from everything and focus on the things that bring you peace- create your own "umbrella."

'Whatever that looks like for you. You probably already have it - it's your "go to" things that make you all warm and safe.'

The star added that she plans on speaking to 'no one' for the rest of the week and will be 'setting healthy boundaries'.

Self-care: The star added that she plans on speaking to 'no one' for the rest of the week and will be 'setting healthy boundaries'

She wrote: 'This week I will be seeing practically no one but my dog, eating nice things, training a little, setting healthy boundaries, watching s***e on tv and crying a bit in the bath- and that's my umbrella 

'Find yours and don't be afraid to use it when the clouds start rolling in'.

Vicky has won legions of followers on social media thanks to her candid updates on her life.

The star is engaged to her partner Ercan Ramadan after he popped the question during a trip to Dubai.
Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn was brought to tears at Comic Con after a fan thanked him for being 'so nice' at the convention after staff allegedly 'rushed' his meet and greet the day before.

The actor, 29, became emotional during his first ever Comic Con appearance at Olympia London on Sunday when a fan thanked him for 'making our summer' by taking the time to speak to them all.

It was reported that staff allegedly 'rushed' Joseph's meet and greet and 'treated him like a child' on Saturday as hundreds of fans were said to have lined up to meet him.

Emotional: Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn was brought to tears at Comic Con after a fan thanked him for being 'so nice' at the convention

Joseph, who rose to fame playing fan favourite Eddie Munson in Stranger Things, was allegedly 'yelled at' by staff after the event was reportedly oversold, creating a rush.

On Sunday, one fan addressed the alleged incident during a question and answer session with Joseph at London Film and Comic Con.

In a video, Joseph broke down in tears as a fan kindly thanked him for taking the time to greet fans and said he had 'made their summer' by appearing at the convention.

The fan said: 'Hi, mine's not really a question, it's more an extension of gratitude really.

Tearful: The actor, 29, became emotional during his first ever Comic Con appearance at Olympia London on Sunday when a fan thanked him for 'making our summer'

'I'm sure a lot of us have heard what happened yesterday, whether it's true or not, about how you were treated.

'I won't really comment on it, I just wanted to say, thank you from all of us - we're really grateful you're sharing the time.

'Thank you for signing our things, spending time with us and making our summer.'

Joseph could be seen getting emotional on stage and wiping tears from his eyes as she expressed her gratitude for him giving his time to fans.

She went on explain how Stranger Things viewers have all 'connected' with his character Eddie because of his role as the 'outsider' in the sci-fi show.

Incident: It comes after it was reported that staff allegedly 'rushed' Joseph's meet and greet and 'treated him like a child' on Saturday as hundreds of fans lined up to meet him

She continued: 'I think we've all connected with Eddie for one reason or another whether we like his music taste or that he is the outsider like you mentioned.

'I think all of us are part of Eddie, we've all travelled far because we all really connect with you as well and you really made our weekend.'

The fan also said she was particularly grateful to Joseph for being 'so nice' to her and her guide dog when she had spoken to him at the meet and greet on Saturday.

She added: 'You've really made mine as well, you were just so nice to me and my guide dog yesterday and however you were treated yesterday, you know, we are so grateful. Thank you!'

The crowd erupted into rounds of applause after the fan's comments while Joseph said, 'ah why did you do that', before wiping tears from his eyes.

Comic Con: Joseph, who rose to fame playing fan favourite Eddie Munson in Stranger Things, was allegedly 'yelled at' by staff after the event was reportedly oversold, creating a rush

He added: 'That's very kind of you. Thank you for your kind words.'

Speaking of the alleged incident on Saturday, an eyewitness claimed staff were treating the actor 'like a child' and reportedly 'rushed' his meet and greet.

The eyewitness said: 'The day before, staff weren't letting him interact with fans, sign autographs or do anything - they were treating him like a child.

'So when the girl next to me stood up and thanked him he got overwhelmed.

'In that moment I think he saw the amount of love people had for him and his character.'

'I love you. man': Elsewhere, Stranger Things writers recently confirmed Joseph improvised his character Eddie Munson's heart wrenching final line in the show's season four finale

The meet and greet was reportedly oversold and resulted in more than 400 fans lining up eager to meet Joseph, according to Buzzfeed.

It has been claimed that the actor was told not to interact with fans and was allegedly 'yelled at' by staff for taking too long with people during the session.

MailOnline has contacted Showmasters Comic Con for comment.

Fans were left heartbroken when Joseph's character Eddie was killed off in the Stranger Things finale after becoming a fan favourite during season four.

And the Duffer Brothers - the writers and creators of the show - recently revealed that Joseph's heartbreaking final line was unscripted.

The actor emotionally told Gaten Matarazzo's character Dustin Henderson 'I love you, man' - in an off-the-cuff moment.

Season four saw the introduction of Eddie, who is the leader of the Hellfire Club at Hawkins High School.

But in a tragic twist of fate, the character's stint was short-lived - as he heroically sacrificed himself to save the rest of the group.

Short-lived: Season four saw the introduction of Eddie, who is the leader of the Hellfire Club at Hawkins High School - but in a tragic twist of fate, the character's stint is short-lived

The gang battled off deathly bats as they attempted to kill Vecna in the Upside Down, with Eddie and Dustin paired together to act as bait during the plan.

But succumbing to the bats, Eddie loses his life to save his friends, with an emotional scene showing him die in Dustin's arms.

And it seems one of the hardest hitting lines was improvised by actor Joseph, as he tells an emotional Dustin: 'I think it's my year, Henderson. I think it's finally my year. I love you man' with the teary youngster replying: 'I love you too'.

Taking to Twitter on Saturday, Stranger Things confirmed via their official writers account that the 'I love you, man' line was improvised.

Spontaneous: Taking to Twitter on Saturday, Stranger Things confirmed via their official writers account that the 'I love you, man' line was improvised

And that wasn't his only off-the-script moment which made it into the final cut, as Joseph also improvised a line during a scene which showed him hot-wiring a caravan alongside Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) and Robyn Buckley (Maya Hawke).

As Robyn was unconvinced about Eddie driving the van, she expressed her concern to the boys - with Eddie assuring that Steve would be the one driving.

Turning to Steve, he jested: 'Harrington's got it... Don't ya big boy?'.

Suspecting there was a hint of improvisation in there, one intrigued fan tweeted the Stranger Things Writers account, asking: 'Did he improvise the 'don't you, big boy?' at Steve in the camper van too? just asking for a friend.'

Confirming that the last part of the line was from Joseph himself, the account simply replied: 'yes.'
James Franco has landed a role in the upcoming drama film Me, You as he continues his return to the spotlight following accusations of sexual misconduct.

The actor, 44, will be playing a 'hardened fisherman' who beguiles a teenage boy with his 'wounded tales of the sea and the war following his military service as a U.S. GI,' according to The Hollywood Reporter.

'I am excited to board this phenomenal project and to be working with the legendary Bille August,' Franco said, according to THR. 'I'm a huge fan of his work, and Me, You is a truly brilliant script.'

James Franco has landed a role in the upcoming post-World War II coming-of-age drama film, Me, You; pictured 2018

Described as a coming-of-age, post-World War II film, the movie is an adaption of the Erri De Luca novel Tu, Mia. It also stars Tom Hollander and Daisy Jacob.

The film will be helmed by Danish director Bille August and principal photography will begin this September in Ischia.

Director: Danish director Bille August, pictured August 2022, will be helming Me, You

The film is set in 1950s Ischia and follows Marco, a 16-year-old who spends time 'sailing in the tranquil waters of the bay of Naples with hardened fisherman Nicola... who beguiles Marco with his wounded tales of the sea and the war following his military service as a U.S. GI,' according to THR, citing a plot description.

'Shy and curious, Marco sets out to experience all that his enchanting new surroundings, so far removed from his native London and gloomy Scottish boarding school, have to offer,' the description continues.

Marco then goes on vacation with his parents (his father will be played by Hollander) and falls in love with the 'enigmatic' Caia, 20 (Daisy Jacob).

'A beautiful complicity is established between the two when Caia reveals her painful past; a childhood stolen by the SS and a father who thew his daughter out of a train in Yugoslavia to save her from the horrors of a concentration camp. The harrowing stories of Nicola and Caia awaken a ferocious resentment for the SS in Marco and, when he encounters a group of rude German tourists on the island, he decides to avenge Caia's pain.

'This sets off alarm bells for Caia who avoids him but, fueled by his infatuation and impossible love for her, Marco plans an arson attack on the German's villa to prove himself worthy of Caia's affections.'

The film is among several roles Franco is currently attached to as he mounts a career comeback following his sexual misconduct controversy.

In January 2018, the actor was accused of sexual misconduct by five women, four of his ex-students and one who said he was her mentor in a report published by the Los Angeles Times.

One claimed that Franco removed a protective plastic guard covering actresses' vaginas and simulated oral sex on them while filming a scene for a movie, while another said he asked actresses to remove their shirts on set.

Two of the women later sued the Spider Man star, saying he intimidated students at his now-defunct Studio 4 acting school into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations.

Franco initially denied all of the allegations but settled for $2.2 million in July with the two women who sued him.

The actor said last year on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Podcast that he thought sleeping with students was 'cool' because it was 'consensual,' but admitted he was 'completely blind to power dynamics ... but also completely blind to people's feelings.'

Speaking on the show, Franco said he 'did sleep with students, and that was wrong.'

He also admitted he could 'never be faithful to anybody' before meeting 29-year-old actress Isabel Pakzad who he has been dating since November 2017.

Actress Charlyne Yi who accused Franco of being a 'sexual predator' earlier this year reposted tweets criticizing the actor on her Instagram feed, including one which said: 'Took 4 years [for a response to the allegations] and still seems lacking and performative. He didn't know teachers sleeping with students crossed a boundary due to power imbalance? Yikes.'

Franco blamed his infidelities and inappropriate behavior on a sex addiction he has suffered from since giving up alcohol as a teenager.

'It's such a powerful drug,' he explained on The Jess Cagle Podcast. 'I got hooked on it for 20 more years. The insidious part of that is that I stayed sober from alcohol all that time.

'And I went to meetings all that time. I even tried to sponsor other people. So in my head, it was like, 'Oh, I'm sober. I'm living a spiritual life.' Where on the side, I'm acting out now in all these other ways, and I couldn't see it.'

Franco said he has been in recovery from sex addiction since 2016 and has 'been doing a lot of work' after the allegations against him 'and changing who I was.'

'I didn't want to hurt people,' he said.
Agricultural Bank of China increases loan support for grain industry

Xinhua) 08:43, July 12, 2022

A farmer drives a planter to sow corn in Chencun Township in Fengxiang District, Baoji City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province on June 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Shao Rui)

BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The Agricultural Bank of China, one of the country's four big state-owned lenders, stepped up its loan support for the grain industry in the first half of this year.

By the end of June, the bank's outstanding loans to key sectors related to grain production stood at 235.1 billion yuan (about 35.1 billion U.S. dollars), up 22 percent from the beginning of 2022, according to data from the bank.

It said that it had also provided various types of credit support for the country's seed industry and high-standard farmland development.

Under a plan to bolster the seed industry, for example, the bank's outstanding loans to related sectors expanded 46 percent from the beginning of this year to 22.6 billion yuan at the end of June.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
With cVDPV1 and cVDPV2 outbreaks unfolding against the backdrop of a major humanitarian crisis, polio surveillance has never been tougher  or more important

Dr Mutahar Ahmed, national surveillance coordinatorAt his office in Sanaa, Yemen, Dr Mutahar Ahmed stands before a wall-sized map of his country and feels the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The situation here in Yemen is very complex, and the problems we face are quite immense, said Dr Ahmed.

As Yemens national surveillance coordinator, Dr Ahmed leads the countrys acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance efforts, the primary means of tracking poliovirus transmission. With an explosive outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 having paralysed 115 children and counting, and with swathes of the countrys infrastructure  from roads to hospitals  decimated by conflict, youd be forgiven for thinking that his and his teams efforts to surveil for poliovirus were falling short or otherwise compromised. But youd be wrong.

In Yemen, despite a long-running conflict and complex humanitarian disaster that has significantly impacted health care, AFP surveillance indicators tell a promising story of a functioning system where case detection, sample collection and laboratory analysis  the steps that enable us to detect poliovirus so we can respond to it  are, in fact, on track.

Dr Mutahar Ahmed reviewing the location of AFP cases with Dr Khaled Al-Moayad, Director of Disease Control and Surveillance in Sanaa, YemenSurveillance data allows the polio programme to identify new AFP cases and to test those cases to determine whether polio infection is the cause. In this way, a robust and wide-reaching AFP surveillance system enables health workers to detect the presence and circulation of poliovirus.

In addition to our work building the engagement and knowledge of pediatricians and clinicians, we are reaching the community and community-based health care providers including traditional healers. We also appeal to families for their support in reporting cases. The more aware they are of the symptoms of paralysis in a child, the quicker our surveillance coordinators can collect the stool sample for analysis, said Dr Ahmed.

Early detection of symptoms such as AFP is a crucial step in the chain of polio surveillance. If a case of paralysis is not reported within the first 14 days of the onset of symptoms, the reliability of testing the sample in the laboratory reduces significantly. In Yemen, the AFP surveillance system in high-risk districts is supported by volunteers trained in community-based surveillance. In 2021, 82% of AFP cases were detected early, within the first seven days of the onset of paralysis, which is above the global target of 80%.

Dr Mutahar Ahmed L inspecting samples with Dr Abdullah Yahya, assistant national coordinator for AFP surveillance

Once a case is detected and stool samples are collected, its vital to make sure the samples reach the laboratory in good condition.

Two stool samples are required from each child showing symptoms of paralysis. Both samples need to be collected within the first 14 days, 24 hours apart. They need to be correctly labelled, and their temperature needs to be maintained at between 2 and 8 degrees. Otherwise, they are not adequate samples, said Dr Ahmed.

In 2021, 921 AFP cases were detected. Of these cases, 87.84% had adequate specimens collected, which is above the global target of 80% (Polio bulletin, issue no. 1227, week 14).

Along with stool adequacy, another key performance indicator for surveillance is the non-polio AFP rate. This refers to the detection of diseases, other than polio, that can cause AFP. Yemens non-polio AFP rate is 5.96 per 100 000 children aged below 15 years in 2021, significantly higher than the global standard of 3 per 100 000 for polio outbreak countries like Yemen (Polio bulletin, issue no. 1227, week 14). This accomplishment points to the sensitivity of Yemens surveillance system due to the relentless efforts and commitment of the surveillance personnel working with Dr Ahmed.

Due to electricity shortages, maintaining the cold chain (keeping vaccines cold) and reverse cold chain (keeping stool samples cold) poses a significant challenge for the programme. To overcome this and further increase the efficiency and sensitivity of the surveillance system to detect polioviruses as quickly as possible, solar power panels have been installed in health facilities at the central and governorate levels to support the storage and transfer of stool samples. One indicator of the impact of this change is Yemen's non-polio enterovirus rate, which tells us what percent of stool samples tested negative for poliovirus, but were in such condition that they could still test positive for enteroviruses. In 2021, that rate was 20% above the global target of 10%.

Because Yemen does not have a poliovirus laboratory in-country for testing, samples are first collected at the central level in Sanaa and then sent by road to Muscat, Oman. The journey can take up to 7 days, barring any obstacles or emergencies.

Working in this role is a challenge, but what I particularly enjoy is how we are able to turn these challenges into opportunities for the AFP surveillance programme. The AFP indicators for the last year show us how far we have come in our journey, said Dr Ahmed.

He explained why these indicators are so critical to the polio programme.

The fact that our indicators are above the minimum global standards shows that the surveillance system is functioning, sensitive and responsive, despite the critical humanitarian situation. The data from our surveillance work has helped us identify the outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses type-1 and type-2. The situation is quite fragile, but we are committed to addressing these challenges, and we will continue to do so.

WHO has supported Yemen to establish an environmental surveillance system to supplement its AFP surveillance system and support early detection of polioviruses and more timely responses.
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Jacques O'Neill told Paige Thorne he wants her to be his girlfriend and will wait for her on the outside as he left the villa on Tuesday's Love Island.

Paige was left in floods of tears after Jacques broke the news he was leaving with bombshell Adam Collard asking the group: 'That's not because of me is it?' following his flirtation with Paige.

Before he went to pack his bags, Jacques pulled Paige aside and told her: 'I want you to be my girlfriend. I want that. I'll wait. I'll be counting down the days until you get out.'

Next step: Jacques O'Neill told Paige Thorne he wants her to be his girlfriend and will wait for her on the outside as he left the villa on Tuesday's Love Island

Speaking to the girls, a tearful Paige insisted she supported Jacques' decision to leave as he hasn't been himself over the last few weeks.

She said: 'I support what he's doing because I know he's not being himself. He does have the biggest heart in here. But this makes my life so much harder.'

'You've got us,' Ekin-Su told her, to which she said: 'I know he's got so much more to give and I just wish I had seen it all.'

Gathering the islanders around the firepit, Jacques said: 'Lately, I feel like I can't be myself. I'm not going to fake it. I'm going to be leaving today.

Rivals: After Jacques broke the news he was leaving, Adam Collard asked the group: 'That's not because of me is it?' which came after his flirtation with Paige

Tears: Paige was left in floods of tears after Jacques broke the news he was leaving

'I just can't stick around and not be myself, it's not fair to me and it's definitely not fair to Paige. If that means removing myself from the situation and waiting for Paige, that's what I'm going to do.'

As Jacques said his goodbyes, Adam stood up and asked: 'That's not because of me is it?' with the girls telling him: 'No, don't think like that.'

Earlier in the episode, Jacques had to be talked down from a furious showdown with rival Adam after being told the bombshell was 'slagging' him off.

Emotional: Gathering the islanders around the firepit, Jacques said: 'Lately, I feel like I can't be myself. I'm not going to fake it. I'm going to be leaving today'

He said: 'I just can't stick around and not be myself, it's not fair to me and it's definitely not fair to Paige. If that means removing myself from the situation and waiting for Paige, that's what I'm going to do'

Devastated: The other islanders were heartbroken to hear he was leaving

Tash kicked things off by telling Jacques that Adam 'had a conversation with me and he was like, obviously I was talking about Andrew and he was like, 'We I think actions speak louder than words''.

Jacques said: 'Oi, I hope he said stuff like that about me, because we'll have a bit of biff then,' only for his ex Gemma Owen to jump in, revealing 'Oh he was proper slagging you off.'

'What do you mean? What's he saying?' said Jacques, getting riled up.

Drama: Jacques had to be talked down from a furious showdown with rival Adam

Rival: It was announced on Tuesday that Jacques had decided to quit the show, with the rugby player getting wound up by what Adam had been saying about him

'Immature, I think it was. Something like that,' the girls told him, causing the furious star to stand up, getting ready to confront Adam.

Jacques then pulled Paige for a talk, telling her of Adam: 'Who the f**ks he? Just another geezer who's been on the show. He's f**king nothing mate. Do you know what I mean?'

'Alright and then keep that in mind,' Paige said in a bid to calm him down. 'You don't need to rise to it and be like bitey with it, do you know what I mean? What does it actually change? Nothing.'

Fury: Jacques got wound up as the other girls reveal that Adam told Paige he was 'immature'

Calm down: Paige told him: 'You don't need to rise to it and be like bitey with it. What does it actually change? Nothing'

'You know what I get like, if a boy's gonna chat s**t behind my back, I don't f**king have it.' Jacques insisted. 'If he tries to speak to me, I'll say 'f**k off, don't speak to me.''

Still fuming after learning that Adam was slagging him off, Jacques went to speak with Luca and some of the other boys.

Adam soon wondered over to the group, with Jacques hardly hiding his fury as he accused the bombshell of having a 'game plan'.

'What's your game plan?' Jacques asked, to which Adam replied: 'Speak to as many people in possible'

Jacques asked: 'What's your convo like with girls?'

'I think it's good,' Adam answered, with Jacques replying: 'We'll see, won't we? Crack on boy.'

Awkward: Jacques told Adam he believes he has a 'game plan' in an awkward chat

Jacques asked: 'What's your convo like with girls?' 'I think it's good,' Adam answered, with Jacques replying: 'We'll see, won't we? Crack on boy'

The next day, Jacques broke down in tears as he told Paige he wanted to leave the villa.

'You mean so much to me, you know that. The past two weeks, I'm finding it hard. I'm trying to put a brave face on but things are getting to me. I just wish I could finish my journey with you in here but, I'm going to home today.'

Paige began to shed tears as the pair hugged, with Jacques telling her: 'Still enjoy your time in here. Do what you need to do. Don't even think about me when I leave.'

Emotional: Jacques broke down in tears as he told Paige he wanted to leave the villa

'I don't want you to go. It hurts me seeing you this way,' Paige said. 'I just feel so guilty.'

'For us to work, I need to get back to myself and the only way to get back to myself is by going home. I can't carry on like this. You can have the best time without me. I'm picking you up at the airport.'

Speaking in the Beach Hut, Jacques said: 'I'd say the last week, the only thing keeping me was Paige. I've never felt this way for anyone. I just want to get home, be myself again and carry things on. '

Tears: 'You mean so much to me, you know that. I just wish I could finish my journey with you in here,' he told a tearful Paige

Elsewhere during the episode, Tasha decided to give Andrew another chance after he got intimate with Coco during Casa Amor.

Speaking on the balcony, Tasha admitted that while she does get on with Billy, who she is currently coupled up with, Andrew is the one she wants.

She said: I have a connection with Billy and I had to boil it down to how I feel. I might be holding back a bit because I am scared of getting hurt after what happened with Coco.

Smooch: Elsewhere during the episode, Tasha decided to give Andrew another chance after he got intimate with Coco during Casa Amor

Andrew replied: 'We've both made mistakes, on my side probably more. I will make it up to you. You mean the world to me. What do you want to do?'

Tasha said: 'I'll give you another chance,' before the pair kissed.

Tasha later appeared to be having second thoughts however as she broke down in tears while in bed with Billy.

Asking her what was wrong, she admitted guilt at getting back with Andrew, telling him: 'Part of me is like, he can easily hurt me again, and the fear of missing out on you.'

Love Island airs at 9pm weekdays and Sundays on ITV2 and ITV Hub. Episodes are available the following morning on BritBox.

Conflicted: Tasha later appeared to be having second thoughts however as she broke down in tears while in bed with Billy
The late Chadwick Boseman and Jessica Walter were among the Emmy Award nominees announced Tuesday despite their deaths in recent years.

Both Boseman, who's best known for his starring role in Black Panther, and Walter, who had a lengthy film and television career going back to the mid-1960s, were nominated for their voiceover work in animation.

Former Saturday Night Live star Norm Macdonald was also among the departed stars to be honored with a nomination for his bittersweet comedy special Nothing Special, which he recorded shortly before his death.

Honoring late stars: Chadwick Boseman (pictured in 2019), Jessica Walter and Norm Macdonald were all honored with posthumous Emmy Award nominations on Tuesday

Boseman received his Emmy nomination for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for reviving his Black Panther character TChalla for Disney+'s Marvel series What If...?, which portrays popular characters from Marvel properties but imagines them in scenarios that depart from the films and comics.

Boseman only recorded for a short time, as What If...? episodes are only around 30 minutes long.

In a press conference from August 2021, director Bryan Andrews said that, 'None of us knew what he was going through at the time,' according to Deadline.

His episode imagines a scenario in which T'Challa took on the role of Star Lord from Guardians Of The Galaxy, rather than Peter Quill, who is played in the franchise by Chris Pratt.

The end: Boseman was nominated for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for reviving his Black Panther character in the Disney+ series What If...? It was his final role

Gone too soon: Boseman died at 43 on August 28, 2020, after secretly battling colon cancer since 2016; seen in 2018 in Hollywood

Boseman's death originally came as a shock when he died on August 28, 2020, after battling colon cancer.

The actor had been diagnosed with stage III colon cancer back in 2016, but he kept his illness a secret from the public and continued to star in films, including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which he shot in the summer of 2019 before its posthumous release.

That film earned him a posthumous Academy Award nomination.

His voice role in What If...? was his final performance prior to his death at age 43.

Long career: Jessica Walter earned a nod after dying in her sleep on March 24, 2021, at age 80. She was best known for starring in Clint Eastwood's Play Misty For Me and Arrested Development; seen in 2018 in LA

Comic icon: Walter was nominated for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for voicing Malory Archer, the mother of the title character on FXX's spy comedy Archer

Walter, who is probably best known for her roles in Clint Eastwood's 1971 directorial debut Play Misty For Me as a former loverturnedcrazed stalker and her comedy series Arrested Development, earned her posthumous Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for starring in FXX's animated series Archer.

She played Malory Archer, a woman running a private spy agency, while the title character, her son, was voiced by H. Jon Benjamin.

The show's twelfth season was her final before her death in her sleep on March 24, 2021, at age 80.

Archer, which has been renewed for a thirteenth season, paid tribute to the late star with the finale episode of its twelfth season.

Honored: Comedian Norm Macdonald was showered with three posthumous Emmy nominations following his death on September 14, 2021, at age 61 from leukemia; seen on The Middle

Comedian Norm Macdonald was showered with three posthumous Emmy nominations following his death on September 14, 2021, at age 61 from leukemia.

He was nominated for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), Outstanding Writing For A Variety Special and Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special.

Macdonald had received his diagnosis nine years earlier, but he feared sharing the news might change the perception of his work and comedy, so he shared it only with family, as well as his agent and a producing partner.

The comedian had planned to film a stand-up special in front of a live audience, but in order to ensure that the material was immortalized, he filmed a version of the set at home by himself with the mocking title Nothing Special.

It ended up being his final comedy special, and it was released posthumously on May 30 of this year.

Netflix, which released the special, included a chat among several of his comedian friends and former costars, including Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Adam Sandler, Molly Shannon and David Spade.

Although Macdonald's mortality came up periodically in the special, he didn't give any hints of his impending death.
Australians Toni Collette and Sarah Snook are up for major acting awards in television's highest honours, the Emmys.

Collette, 49, has been nominated for best actress for her starring role opposite Colin Firth in The Staircase, about a crime novelist and the suspicious death of his wife, in the limited series or TV movie category.

Snook, 34, is up for best supporting actress in the drama series category for her role as Shiv Roy in the HBO show Succession, which is also up for a swag of awards.

Australians Toni Collette (pictured) and Sarah Snook are up for major acting awards in television's highest honours, the Emmys

If she wins, Snook will add to her trophies for the role, including a Golden Globe and a Critics' Choice Television Award.

The drama, which tells the story of a conniving media mogul and his family, topped the list of Emmy nominees with 25 nods, including one for best drama series.

The rivals for best drama in the U.S. honours include Netflix's South Korean thriller Squid Game, the first non-English language show to be nominated for an Emmy.

Netflix's sci-fi hit Stranger Things and HBO's Euphoria, about high school students navigating the world, also were nominated.

Fellow Aussie actor Murray Bartlett, 51, earned himself a nomination for best supporting actor in a limited series for The White Lotus.

Snook (pictured) is up for best supporting actress in the drama series category for her role as Shiv Roy in the HBO show Succession, which is also up for a swag of awards

In April, Collette revealed she was initially reluctant to accept her role The Staircase because she did not want to 'further fan the narcissistic flame' of convicted murderer Michael Peterson.

She stars in the new mini series as Kathleen, the wife of crime novelist Peterson, who was convicted of murdering her.

Peterson has continually denied responsibility for his wife's death.

Fellow Aussie actor Murray Bartlett (pictured) also earned himself a nomination for best supporting actor in a limited series for The White Lotus

'I was blown away when I was asked to play Kathleen, but I did take pause,' she said.

'I questioned the actual purpose of retelling this story of tragic loss and, guilty or not, I certainly didn't want to further fan Michael Peterson's narcissistic flame.'

Collette was won over, however, by the idea she could be an advocate for the victim.

The Emmy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on September 3.
Elizabeth Olsen and her husband, Robbie Arnett, were spotted enjoying an afternoon walk together in Los Angeles on Monday.

The WandaVision actress, 33, recently confirmed that she secretly tied the knot with the 30-year-old before Covid.

The couple donned comfortable and casual outfits as they spent a relaxing day under the summer sun while flashing their new gold wedding bands.

Relaxing: Elizabeth Olsen, 33, and husband, Robbie Arnett, 30, enjoyed an afternoon stroll together in LA on Monday

The actress donned a pair of black shorts and added an oversized white, button-up shirt on top.

Elizabeth left a few buttons on the bottom open to help her stay cool in the warmer temperatures.

She wore black sneakers to coincide with her simple outfit, and to also stay comfortable during her walk outside.

Happy couple: The two lovebirds were seen putting on smiles as they enjoyed having conversations with each other

The couple eloped: Elizabeth confirmed herself last month in June that the couple said, 'I do,' by eloping before the pandemic

The Doctor Strange star kept her blonde hair straight and parted on the side, allowing her locks to fall down naturally past her shoulders.

The author added a pair of round, black sunglasses as she held a cup of tasty iced coffee in her right hand.

For a quick stroll under the sun, the actress opted to not add any accessories to her ensemble, and also kept her makeup minimal.

Private: The couple choose to keep their lives out of the public, with Elizabeth deleting her Instagram account a few years back

Elizabeth's husband also donned a similar style to hers. He wore a plain white T-shirt, and dark navy shorts.

He slipped on a red sneakers with white socks to complete his look. Instead of styling his hair, the musician wore an orange cap.

Robbie threw on a pair of round, reflective sunglasses as he also sipped on his own espresso-filled drink.

Travel: The married couple moved to London together in 2021 so Elizabeth could film Doctor Strange

The couple for the most part enjoy their privacy and keep their relationship out of the public eye.

When Elizabeth referenced Robbie as her husband during an interview with Variety in 2021, the comment immediately raised questions and sparked rumors.

Following the actress's statement, Us Weekly confirmed that the couple did elope before the pandemic.

However, it wasn't until a recent interview last month in June on Sirius XM's The Jess Cagle Show, that the star confirmed the news herself with Robbie by her side.

Great partners: Elizabeth and Robbie are not only partners in marriage, but the two also wrote a children's book together

'We eloped and then we had a wedding at another time,' the Oldboy actress explained. 'And it was before Covid. I just never talked about it.'

Along with the couple enjoying their private marriage life, the two recently co-wrote a children's book titled, Hattie Harmony: Worry Detective. The couple penned the short novel during the pandemic.

On the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the actress discussed the book. The plot follows a cat named Hattie that helps her friends, 'identify their worries and then gives them tools on how to deal with it.'
Andy Cohen had conflicted emotions after Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud over a telemarketing scheme.

Cohen, 54, commented about the latest developments in Shah's legal case on his Sirius XM show Radio Andy on Tuesday.

'I dont know how to feel about this, Jen Shah pleading guilty,' Cohen said, noting that he was reticent to call Shah, 48, guilty in the wake of her plea to the court on Monday, adding that 'all it means is shes changing her plea.'

The latest: Andy Cohen, 54, had conflicted emotions after Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah, 48, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud over a telemarketing scheme, as he commented about her legal case on his Sirius XM show Radio Andy on Tuesday

Cohen's cohost on the episode, theater actor John Hill, brought up the victims of the scam Shah pleaded guilty to, saying, 'When you say youre guilty of something, it maybe means youre guilty.'

Cohen said Shah had recently sent a gift to his two-month-old daughter Lucy, adding, 'I just thought that was so nice of her.

Cohen, who is also dad to three-year-old son Ben, said, 'I was like, "Jen Shah, with everything you have going on, that you thought to send Lucy a gift."'

A caller to the show mentioned the previous legal troubles of The Real Housewives of New Jersey's Teresa Giudice, who served 15 months in prison as result of a fraud conviction in 2014.

Shah was pictured on a Real Housewives of Salt Lake City reunion special

Cohen said Shah had recently sent a gift to his two-month-old daughter Lucy, adding, 'I just thought that was so nice of her.' He was pictured in NYC last month

Cohen said that viewers were typically more upset when the alleged crimes impacted multiple people - as Shah is accused of targeting seniors in the telemarketing scam she pleaded guilty to - as well as Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne's estranged husband Tom Girardi, who is accused of embezzling funds earmarked for families of the victims of the 2018 Lion Air Flight 610 crash, in which all 189 people onboard died.

'What Ive found regarding viewer response to some of these moments that have happened [is that] some of the viewers are more outraged when there are - you know, when you look at Tom Girardi and what it looks like he did - actual victims that you can look at,' Cohen said.

Cohen continued: 'When you look at Joe Giudice defrauding the government of some tax money, I think you wind up getting more upset when you know that there are victims.'

Shah was initially arrested in March of 2021 amid allegations she oversaw a telemarketing operation in which hundreds of people were scammed out of money.

Shah was seen departing the Manhattan Federal Court Monday after changing her plea

Shah faces up to 14 years in prison when she is slated to be sentenced November 28

Shah initially entered a not guilty plea, and said she was innocent of the allegations, but changed her plea to guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Monday, ahead of the trial commencing.

Shah told the court she was so sorry and that she knew her actions were wrong and that 'many people were harmed' as the product she was selling 'had little to no value,' NBC News reported.

She also acknowledged to the court that she was aware her actions were unethical and illegal.

Shah 'accepts full responsibility for her actions,' her lawyer Priya Chaudhry told Page Six, adding that the switched her plea to guilty as she 'wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family.'

Shah faces up to 14 years in prison when she is slated to be sentenced November 28.
Teresa Giudice is set to marry Luis Ruelas in August, but one guest who won't be attending is The Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Dina Manzo.

However, the reality TV star, 50, reportedly has 'no issue' with her best friend's, 50, absence, and is 'OK with it' according to Page Six.

'Teresa respects Dinas wishes and looks forward to celebrating with her in the future,' a source told the publication, adding, 'They remain as close as ever.'

Won't be there: Teresa Giudice, 50, reportedly has 'no issue' with the fact that her longtime friend Dina Manzo, 50, will not attend her wedding to Luis Ruelas, 46; Pictured 2021

Recently there was speculation regarding a potential rift between Manzos husband, David Cantin, 42, and Teresa's fiance, 46.

However, the insider said the rumors are untrue and pointed to the fact that both men still follow each other on social media 'as evidence of their bond.'

Instead, the source revealed that Manzo decided not to attend the ceremony because she does not want to film.

No problem: 'Teresa respects Dinas wishes and looks forward to celebrating with her in the future,' a source told Page Six; L-R Ruelas, Giudice, Manzo and her husband, David Cantin, 42

The insider stated that there is a 'very strong likelihood the wedding is being filmed' and that 'Dina has made it clear that she does not want to be on camera, and Teresa is OK with it.'

Bravo has not yet made an official announcement on whether the couple's nuptials will feature on Bravo or the series.

Giudice previously told Page Six that her wedding day would 'definitely not' be shown on Season 13 of RHONJ but said, 'Well see' when she was asked about a special on Bravo.

No filming: Manzo reportedly decided not to attend the ceremony because she does not want to film; Dina (seen here in 2010) starred in seasons one, two, and six of Real Housewives of New Jersey and also appeared as a guest in season four

Big day: The insider said there is a 'very strong likelihood the wedding is being filmed' and that 'Dina has made it clear that she does not want to be on camera'; Pictured with Ruelas in 2022

Manzo starred on the popular reality TV series from 2009 to 2010, and returned in 2014 before quitting the reality show and moving to Los Angeles.

The two women have enjoyed a close friendship and Dina and her husband were in Greece and watched as Ruelas asked Teresa to marry him in October 2021.

Prior to the declined wedding invitation, it was reported that Dina might be Teresa's maid of honor. It's currently unknown who will take the role in her place.
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.
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Trade between Russia and India stood at $9.4 billion in the financial year 2021-22 so far, up from $8.1 billion in FY 2020-21. Twitter

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said that it is putting in place a mechanism to settle international trade in rupees. The move comes after major Russian banks were removed from the international financial messaging system Swift, making it harder for India to trade with Russia.

The RBI said that authorised banks would need to take its permission before instituting the rupee trade settlement mechanism.

Under the new settlement mechanism, exports and imports under the arrangement will be denominated and invoiced in rupees with the exchange rate between the currencies of the two trading partner countries to be market-determined.

In order to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of the global trading community in INR, it has been decided to put in place an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports/ imports in INR. Before putting in place this mechanism, AD banks shall require prior approval from the Foreign Exchange Department of Reserve Bank of India, Central Office at Mumbai, said the RBI in a circular.

Trade between Russia and India stood at $9.4 billion in the financial year 2021-22 so far, up from $8.1 billion in FY 2020-21. India relies on imports of crude oil, petroleum products, gold and other precious metals, precious stones, coal, fertilisers, etc from Russia. In addition, India also imports 60-70 per cent of its military equipment from Russia.

This opens the door for rupee settlements but brings in a lot of responsibility on banks to take care of FATF (Financial Action Task Force) related obligations, said Ashutosh Khajuria, vice-president, Federal Bank.

To settle the trade deals, Indian banks will need to open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts of correspondent banks of the partner trading country.

Indian importers undertaking imports through this mechanism shall make payment in INR which shall be credited into the Special Vostro account of the correspondent bank of the partner country, against the invoices for the supply of goods or services from the overseas seller/supplier, it said.

Indian exporters undertaking exports of goods and services through this mechanism shall be paid the export proceeds in Indian rupees from the balances in the designated Special Vostro account of the correspondent bank.

This mechanism may enable Indian exporters to receive advance payment against exports from overseas importers in rupees.

As per the circular, the rupee surplus balance held can be used for permissible capital and current account transactions. The balance in vostro accounts can be used for payments for projects and investments; export/import advance flow management; and investment in government bonds. Also, bank guarantee, setting-off export receivables, advance against exports, use of surplus balance, approval process, documentation and related aspects would be covered under Fema rules, the RBI said.
A division bench comprising Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili and Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar has passed orders while disposing of the two petitions filed by the PG students of the two colleges. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: In a sigh of relief to students studying postgraduate medical courses at MNR Medical College and Mahavir Medical College, the Telangana High Court on Monday directed the National Medical Council (NMC)  which cancelled admissions in the two colleges  to relocate the affected students into other medical colleges in Telangana within four weeks.

A division bench comprising Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili and Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar has passed orders while disposing of the two petitions filed by the PG students of the two colleges.

The students moved HC after the medical council cancelled the admissions in the two colleges stating that the infrastructure and teaching facilities at these colleges did not meet specified norms.

In their petition, the students asked HC to relocate them to other colleges. Though the court sought details of relocation, there was no positive response from either the medical council, the Union government, the state government or KNR University for Health Sciences.

As 45 days passed the medical councils decision, the counsel for the students Sama Sandeep Reddy on Monday explained the pitiful condition of the affected students and how they were being victimised without their fault. The counsel requested the bench to issue orders to relocate the students.

Considering the situation, the bench directed the medical council to take the assistance of the TS government and Kaloji Narayana Rao University for Health Sciences to relocate the affected students to the existing government or private medical colleges within four weeks.
Mangaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will visit rain-affected places in Dakshina Kannada district today. The Chief Minister will arrive at Sampaje in Sullia Taluk at 3 pm.

The district administration will brief him about the recent earthquake incidents in the region. The villages near Sampaje had experienced tremors several times in the last few days.

The Chief Minister will visit flood-affected areas near Uppinangady and distribute compensation to the families of the Panjikallu landslide victims.

Mr. Bommai will also visit the sea erosion-affected areas in Someshwara and Bettampady near Ullal and also Pakshikere and Koykude where people are facing problems due to river erosion.

The chief minister is scheduled to hold a meeting with the officials of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts on the relief works on Wednesday morning. The chief minister will visit the rain-affected places in Bhatkal and Udupi.

On Wednesday evening, Mr. Bommai will leave for Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, all educational institutions including schools and anganwadis in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have reopened on Tuesday after holidays for about a week following heavy rains.

The deputy commissioners of the two districts issued orders for the opening of schools, anganwadis and other educational institutions from today.

DK deputy commissioner K V Rajendra said further holidays will be declared if rain-related issues persisted. An orange alert has been issued in DK and Udupi districts by the meteorological department for Tuesday.

Rajendra said the schools will remain open full day on Saturdays and the Dasara holidays will be cut short to compensate for the loss of learning hours during the rainy season.
Party national vice president D.K. Aruna said the Chief Minister was unable to digest the BJPs growth in Telangana, and that he was shocked at the response to Modis public meeting in Hyderabad.  DC Image

HYDERABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday launched an offensive to counter the narrative by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao during his Sundays press meet, with its leaders declaring that people were ready to usher in a BJP government in the state, and castigating the Chief Minister for the language used by him while speaking about their party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dr K. Laxman, senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member, declared that he would pursue the Chief Minister and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government like a shadow and highlight their failures in the Rajya Sabha and outside. Laxman said he was picked for the Rajya Sabha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in recognition of long political service. Why is Chandrashekar Rao so agitated at my Rajya Sabha membership? I am not someone who dropped in from the USA into a position of power, he said.

He said, India does not need a government that turns its people into drunkards as the TRS has done in Telangana, or turn the nation into one run by mafia as in the case of Hyderabad under the TRS rule.

Party national vice president D.K. Aruna said the Chief Minister was unable to digest the BJPs growth in Telangana, and that he was shocked at the response to Modis public meeting in Hyderabad. She also severely criticised Chandrashekar Rao for the language used by him at the press conference, adding, It is the misfortune of Telangana that Chandrashekar Rao became the Chief Minister of Telangana. People were not aware of whom they were electing but now they do.

Former TRS minister and now BJP MLA, Etala Rajendar, said Chandrashekar Rao still had not learnt his lessons that personal attacks on others did not work. The people in Huzurabad proved it, he said referring to his win in the by-poll from that constituency. People believe that I am the one who can defeat the Chief Minister and I stand by my challenge that I will contest from Gajwel and defeat him, he said.

The Chief Minister reached new lows by indulging in personal attacks on Modi, UP Chief Minister and others, Rajendar said, and urged Chandrashekar Rao to moderate his comments and not indulge in wanton abuse.

Meanwhile, in a statement, BJP state spokesperson N.V. Subhash said the Chief Ministers long-winded press conference displayed fear of the BJP, and a realisation that the public mood in the state was fast turning against him and the ruling party. KCRs attacks were a feeble attempt to cover up his own failures and blame the Central government for the same, he said. In eight years of his rule, the only achievement of KCR was luring legislators of other parties into his party, he added.
BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar along with other leaders staged a two-hour 'silent protest' against the state government for not resolving the Podu land issue of the tribal people and glitches in Dharani portal in Karimnagar. (DC)

HYDERABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday welcomed Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Raos challenge to go for immediate elections in Telangana, with the partys state in-charge and national general secretary Tarun Chugh saying good things must happen quickly".

In response to Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce dates for early elections in Telangana, Tarun Chugh demanded that the ruling dispensation dissolve the Assembly and call for elections to seek a fresh mandate.

Chugh, however, asserted that the Chief Minister's demand that the BJP decide the dates was unconstitutional. The Election Commission will decide the dates. The BJP is ready anytime, even if the elections are held 15 days from now. The BJP demands that KCR initiate the process, Chugh said.

He claimed that the Chief Minister was nervous and shaky, and was clearly rattled by the overwhelming turnout for Prime Minister Narendra Modis public meeting on July 3 in the city. The Chief Minister and his entire family watched the Modi public meeting, and he is able to sense the enthusiasm and exuberance among the public, Chugh said.

In response to the Chief Minister's remarks that the Prime Minister is "one of the weakest in post-independence history of India, Chugh asked, How is he weak? Is he weak because he administered 200 crore vaccinations in a record time, which even the super powers couldnt do? Is he weak because he temporarily halted a conflict between Russia and Ukraine in order to save Indians? Is he weak because in Telangana itself he has freely distributed food grains to 1.92 crore poor people?

In a tongue-in-cheek remark, Chugh said, I agree with Chandrashekar Rao that Telangana is number one. It is number one for infamous reasons. It is number one in registering a higher crime rate, especially in POCSO cases. While the national average is 28.9, Telangana registered an average of 36.9, which is higher than for other states. It is number one in landing surplus states in debt traps. Telangana began as a rich state in 2014, and the debt now is about Rs. 3,29,000 crore, which is almost 25% of the state's GSDP.

He said, the facts are before the people, and they will decide who is strong and who is weak. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister should focus on the problems of people and farmers who have suffered due to the incessant rains in Telangana and inundation. I request KCR to start expediting relief and rescue activities in the rain hit areas. For politics, we have a lot of time, Chugh remarked.
Speaking to media personnel at the TRSLP office in the Legislative Assembly premises on Monday, ministers Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Mohd Mahmood Ali, V. Srinivas Goud, Koppula Eshwar alleged that the BJP leaders were abusing the Chief Minister and his family members as they had no answers to the questions raised by Chandrashekar Rao during his Sunday press conference. (Twitter/@YadavTalasani)

Hyderabad: Telangana state ministers and TRS MLAs on Monday lashed out at BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar for criticising Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

Speaking to media personnel at the TRSLP office in the Legislative Assembly premises on Monday, ministers Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Mohd Mahmood Ali, V. Srinivas Goud, Koppula Eshwar alleged that the BJP leaders were abusing the Chief Minister and his family members as they had no answers to the questions raised by Chandrashekar Rao during his Sunday press conference.

Talasani said the Chief Minister had demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to answer why the rupee was depreciating steeply, why he failed to bring back black money to India from abroad and why did he fail to bring back 'bank looters' to India from other countries.

"Instead of answering these questions raised by the Chief Minister, the Telangana BJP leaders are abusing the Chief Minister and his family members. They are talking about the family rule in the state. But they should realise that the Chief Minister's family members were not nominated to the Legislature. In fact, they were elected by the people with a bumper majority multiple times, Talasani stated.

Minister Mahmood Ali also strongly condemned the BJP's leaders criticism that the Telangana government has failed to maintain law and order in the state. "The Telangana government and our police acted swiftly and nabbed the accused involved in recent cases. Our government and police did not spare anyone, irrespective of whether the accused belonged to the TRS or the AIMIM or any other party. For us, what matters is maintaining law and order strictly and not political mileage, he said.

Koppula Eshwar stated that there was no question of the BJP coming to power in Telangana. He alleged that Bandi Sanjay Kumar's 'mouna deeksha' did not last even for 10 minutes and he started abusing KCR and his family members within 10 minutes of sitting on deeksha.

"The BJP government at the Centre is known for toppling democratically elected governments. They have no right to talk about democracy," Eshwar said.

Srinivas Goud said Telangana people are opposed to the 'double-engine BJP government' in Telangana as they don't want to lose the welfare schemes and development programmes of the 'single-engine TRS government'.

"If BJP leaders have guts, they should show at least one welfare scheme or one development programme in the double-engine BJP ruled states which is better than the one implemented in Telangana," he dared.
TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is reportedly in touch with leaders of a few non-BJP parties over phone to build a consensus on fielding a joint Opposition candidate for Vice-Presidential election on the lines of Presidential election, according to party sources. (Photo: Twitter/@TelanganaCMO)

HYDERABAD: After extending its full support to joint Opposition candidate for Presidential election Yashwant Sinha, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is now pitching for fielding a joint Opposition candidate for upcoming Vice-Presidential election against BJP-led NDA candidate.

TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is reportedly in touch with leaders of a few non-BJP parties over phone to build a consensus on fielding a joint Opposition candidate for Vice-Presidential election on the lines of Presidential election, according to party sources.

Chandrashekar Rao, who is waging a political battle against Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre for the past few months, wants to utilise Vice-Presidential election to unite non-BJP parties against the BJP, it is learnt.

The Vice-President is elected by an electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament. The TRS has a total strength of 16 MPs in Parliament, of whom nine are Lok Sabha members and seven are Rajya Sabha members. Party sources said the leaders of non-BJP parties were expected to meet in Delhi in a day or two to discuss fielding a joint Opposition candidate and finalise a candidate of non-BJP parties for Vice-Presidential election.

However, it is not clear who will represent the TRS in this meeting although there is a talk in TRS circles that Chandrashekar Rao may depute a senior party MP. The TRS was not part of the meeting convened by non-BJP parties in Delhi in June last week for selection of candidate for the Presidential election. However, Chandrashekar Rao deputed his son K.T. Rama Rao, who is also TRS working president and IT minister, to Delhi to attend Yashwant Sinha's nomination papers filing event.

The TRS also held a grand reception for Yashwant Sinha at Jalavihar in the city last week which was attended by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, his entire cabinet, party MPs and MLAs.

Chandrashekar Rao appealed to the MPs of all political parties to vote according to their conscience and elect Sinha as the next President of India.

Former West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, was the joint Opposition candidate against NDA's M. Venkaiah Naidu in 2017 Vice-Presidential election. The TRS had extended support to Naidu then. Naidu's term as Vice President ends on August 10.

The Election Commission has issued the notification for Vice-President election on July 5 for the polls on August 6. The last date for filing nominations is July 19 and the last date for the withdrawal of nominations is July 22. The election will be held on August 6 and the counting, if required, shall be held on the same day.
Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, which has kept ally Samajwadi Party guessing on whom it will vote for in the presidential election, will take a call on Saturday after meeting SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, a party leader said.

As chinks appear in the opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the SBSP has been sending mixed signals on whether its MLAs will vote for opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha or ruling NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu.

On Tuesday, an SBSP spokesperson maintained that the party still remained part of the SP-led alliance.

Also Read | Election Commission starts distribution of ballot boxes for Presidential election

SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar had earlier said he will announce the partys decision on the presidential election on Tuesday after meeting Akhilesh Yadav on the issue and other matters related to the alliance.

But spokesperson Arun Rajbhar told PTI that a press conference scheduled for the day has been cancelled. He said the SBSP chief will soon meet Yadav.

He said senior SP leader Udayveer Singh had earlier told the SBSP that Yadav will meet them in a couple of days.

He suggested that the planned meeting has got delayed because of the death of party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's wife Sadhna Yadav.

"After having a meeting with Akhilesh Yadav regarding the presidential election, a press conference will be held in Lucknow on July 16," the SBSP spokesperson, who is party chiefs son, said.

He maintained that the party remained an ally of the SP. The SBSP is with the SP and will remain with it in the future as well," he said.

When asked about a party meeting Tuesday in Ballias Rasra, he said, "Discussions were held on expanding the party organisation.

The SBSP chief said that a meeting will be held (with Akhilesh Yadav) by July 16, after which we will make it clear who we will vote for, he said.

Om Prakash Rajbhar had created a flutter in the opposition camp by attending a dinner hosted by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow last Friday.

It signalled cracks in the opposition alliance and triggered speculation that Rajbhar could walk out of the coalition that fought the recent assembly election together.

Shivpal Yadav, who heads the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), formally an SP ally, also attended the dinner hosted for Murmu.

Jansatta Dal Loktantrik chief Raghuraj Pratap Singh, also known as Raja Bhaiya, and the lone Bahujan Samaj Party MLA in Uttar Pradesh, Uma Shankar Singh, were also present there.
Pakistan said on Saturday that it rejects Indias attempt to hold a meeting of G20 countries in Kashmir, hoping that members of the grouping will be fully cognisant of the imperatives of law and justice and would oppose the proposal outright.

Jammu and Kashmir will be hosting the 2023 meetings of G-20, an influential grouping that brings together the worlds major economies, with the union territory administration on Thursday setting up a five-member high-level committee for overall coordination.

This will be the first major international summit to be held in J&K after its special status guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution was withdrawn and the erstwhile state was divided into two union territories in August 2019.

Also Read: Jammu & Kashmir to host G20 leaders summit next year

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said in a statement that Islamabad had taken note of news items appearing in the Indian media indicating that India might be contemplating to hold some G20-related meeting in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan completely rejects any such attempt by India, Ahmad said.

He said it was a well-known fact that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised disputed territory between Pakistan and India, and has remained on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for over seven decades.

Contemplating the holding of any G20-related meeting/event in JK, in utter disregard of the globally acknowledged disputed status of the territory, is a travesty that the international community cannot accept under any circumstances, the spokesperson said.

He hoped that in case of any such controversial proposal from India, the G20 members will be fully cognisant of the imperatives of law and justice and would reject it outright.

Ahmad said Pakistan also strongly urges the international community to call upon India to revoke its actions of August 5, 2019, and free all political prisoners.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have spiked since New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

India's decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy. Pakistan also halted bilateral trade with India.

India has repeatedly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir "was, is and shall forever" remain an integral part of the country.

India has told Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.
From emerging as the surprise choice for the chief ministers post to ingraining his hold within the AIADMK to steering the party to its best performance in a losing election to his appointment as the interim general secretary  Edappadi K Palaniswami has come a long way in consolidating himself as the political successor of late J Jayalalithaa, albeit for now.

He not just pipped his former boss O Panneerselvam (OPS) but also the once-all-powerful V K Sasikala, who helped him occupy the Chief Ministers chair in February 2017 before she went to serve her prison term in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

Though the forcible takeover is likely to be challenged by OPS, leadership transition in AIADMK has always been marred by expulsions and counter-expulsions  Jayalalithaa fought a long battle with MGRs widow Janaki to take control of the party.

Also Read | Churning in AIADMK gives DMK leverage, opens up new vistas for BJP

The fourth in the pecking order

Palaniswami (69) was placed fourth in the pecking order of the 2016 Jayalalithaa Cabinet and only one among the 75 district secretaries of the party when he was elected as AIADMK Legislature Party leader at a resort near Chennai on February 14, 2017. OPS had then rebelled against Sasikala, who thought Palaniswami (EPS) was the right choice to carry forward the mantle  she might be regretting her decision now.

Looking at everything from the prism of politics, Palaniswami began demonstrating his power from day one  he occupied the chamber meant for the Chief Minister at Fort St George, breaking a tradition set by OPS who always functioned from his office when he stood by as chief minister twice for Jayalalithaa.

Five years after his ascension to the CMs chair, Palaniswami, in 2022, got himself appointed as interim general secretary  a post that the AIADMK decided not to fill as a tribute to Jayalalithaa. He used his brute majority among legislators, district secretaries, and members of the powerful General Council to achieve his long-cherished dream of anointing himself as Jayalalithaas political successor.

Also Read | AIADMK abolishes dual leadership, appoints EPS as interim general secy

How did EPS consolidate his position in AIADMK?

The message is clear: he is the boss till the time he is challenged. By removing OPS from the primary membership, EPS has cleared the way for his formal election as general secretary in the next couple of months.

Months after he assumed charge as Chief Minister, EPS accommodated OPS into his cabinet and agreed to be his deputy in the party at the behest of the BJP but used his political acumen and his powers to wean away whatever support base that Panneerselvam commanded in the party. In five years, he ensured OPS was a lone man.

Pointing to his support base, EPS got himself declared as CM candidate for the 2021 assembly polls and made sure he became the Opposition Leader. It was only fair that EPS occupied the position as he shouldered the entire burden of campaigning  the result was AIADMK winning 66 seats  the best performance in a losing election since its inception in 1972.

Read | AIADMK expels O Panneerselvam from party

EPS ensured that the party-led government completed his tenure, though with ample help from the BJP. He also used his political acumen to get the support of his colleagues from Mukulathors, a dominant community to which OPS and Sasikala belong, in running the government and party.

He displayed smart political acumen when it was needed the most. He knew Sasikala will not be out of jail till 2021 and began sidelining her family members like T T V Dhinakaran. He inspired his colleagues to prevent them from siding with Sasikala after her release, a senior leader told DH, adding that OPS should have seen this coming.

Taking OPS into confidence and leaving him in the lurch

Known to keep things close to his chest, EPS played smart by taking OPS into confidence when he was sending feelers to Sasikala  the two leaders were elected as coordinator and joint coordinator in December 2021.

In March this year, EPS extracted an assurance from OPS that he will not side with Sasikala but struck unannounced -- his faction raked up the demand for a unitary leadership at a party meeting on June 14 putting the OPS camp on notice.

EPS felt the dual leadership which gave equal powers to OPS was hindering him from exercising his independent self. The developments over the week displayed EPS political astuteness  he invoked the right to silence that put the rival OPS camp on the defensive as their support base dwindled.

He adopted the same strategy in 2020 when he wanted himself to be the Chief Ministerial candidate. His faction made the demand and EPS ensured OPS came around and proposed his name. He wanted to emulate the same strategy this time. When it failed, he went to kill and got OPS isolated, another leader said.

With the AIADMK now in his firm control with opponents being neutralized, EPS can focus all his attention on cornering the ruling DMK and preventing ally BJP from being in the political and media limelight.

Challenges and dealing with BJP

His challenges now include running the party smoothly, dealing with the BJP especially vis-a-vis the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and countering the narrative that AIADMK is ineffective as opposition. He has to retrieve the party's sullen image, thanks to the internal wranglings for the past five years.

BJP realised EPS was a tough bargainer and that he can't be handled like OPS when he ensured that the efforts by BJPs Amit Shah to take V K Sasikala and her nephew T T V Dhinakaran back into the party or alliance for the 2021 polls failed.

It may have been simply unplanned but Annamalai and C T Ravi, BJPs TN in-charge, calling on EPS seeking support for Draupadi Murmu first, and OPS next speaks volumes about who holds the real power in AIADMK.

With the Lok Sabha polls just two years away, the BJP may just accept EPS ascension and work with him. EPS doesnt have much of a choice when it comes to an alliance with BJP though the general opinion in AIADMK is that the saffron party, for now, is more of a baggage than a value addition to AIADMK.

How will he run the party  imposing a military-like discipline of Jayalalithaas times or a bit democratic is yet to be seen, but he has to take the Mukulathors, who have stood with the AIADMK for long, and leaders from other castes along with him. EPS took the first step immediately after his appointment by naming Dindigul C Sreenivasan in place of OPS as the treasurer. Sreenivasan is a Mukkulathor like OPS.

'Situation forced EPS elevation'

This is not just to deflect the criticism that he was converting AIADMK into a Gounder party but also to ensure that his leadership doesnt come under the scrutiny and give way for any dissent. Challenges for EPS are also in the form of court cases against him, especially the DMK government reopening the 2017 case involving the break-in of Jayalalithaas Kodanad bungalow.

Prof Ramu Manivannan, former Head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras, said the election of Palaniswami was the demand of the time, mainly because of the erosion that the party may be facing from BJPs encroachment.

The crisis within the party demanded a resurgence and the party might have felt EPS is much better than OPS who surrendered the AIADMK to the BJP. The party needs rejuvenation, and the circumstances are forcing it towards the move. The cadre is the force of the AIADMK, and they are now rallying the party, Manivannan told DH.
A day after the party headquarters was sealed by revenue authorities following violent clashes, AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and expelled leader O Panneerselvam knocked at the doors of the Madras High Court seeking to remove the seal from the premises.

Palaniswami and Panneerselvam contended that the premises belonged to them and sought an urgent hearing. Palaniswamis camp moved to the High Court in the morning seeking removal of the seal, while Panneerselvam filed a petition in the afternoon. They are likely to be heard on Wednesday.

Also Read | Battle for power within AIADMK shifts to Election Commission, banks

Revenue authorities sealed the AIADMK headquarters on the Avvai Shanmugham Salai in Chennai on Monday under Section 145 of CrPC (disputed property) following violent clashes between the supporters of EPS and OPS. OPS, who occupied the premises for over two hours, left only at the instance of government officials who asked him to vacate the place.

While the AIADMK accused the DMK of siding with OPS, the ruling party dismissed the allegations. The factions led by EPS and OPS also filed complaints against each other with the police of violence and assault. Police have so far booked 400 persons in connection with Mondays violence inside and outside the AIADMK headquarters.

As the situation remains tense, police beefed up security outside the residences of OPS and EPS in Chennai. Security has also been tightened outside the AIADMK HQ.

Meanwhile, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam wrote to a private bank in which the party maintains its accounts. Palaniswami informed the bank that the party has a new treasurer in Dindigul C Sreenivasan in place of Panneerselvam and that the former should be recognized as the signing authority.

However, in a separate letter, Panneerselvam said the bank should not allow Sreenivasan or any other person authorized by him to access the accounts as he is still the coordinator of the AIADMK as per the records of the Election Commission of India.

In spite of this, if you allow any other person other than me to operate the aforesaid accounts in the name of AIADMK, you will be held responsible for any misuse or misappropriation of accounts, he said.
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Two East Derry MLAs have hit out after the placing of flags and election posters on Eleventh Night bonfires.

Caoimhe Archibald posted photographs online of two different pyres - identifying the latter as being in the Harpur's Hill area of Coleraine - on which her own election posters, and that of the SDLP's Cara Hunter and Aontu candidate Gemma Brolly were placed.

The photograph also showed the Irish national flag and a number of Derry GAA flags placed on the stacked pallets in preparation for the lighting of the bonfires tonight.

"The burning of flags & election posters on bonfires is wrong, deeply offensive & a hate crime," said the Sinn Fein representative.

The burning of flags & election posters on bonfires is wrong, deeply offensive & a hate crime.



Ive reported this to the PSNI.



Theres an onus on unionist political & community leaders to stand up against displays of sectarian hatred & make it clear there is no place for them. pic.twitter.com/fr2cTMINip  Caoimhe Archibald (@CArchibald_SF) July 11, 2022

"Ive reported this to the PSNI. Theres an onus on unionist political & community leaders to stand up against displays of sectarian hatred & make it clear there is no place for them."

Reacting to the same photograph, fellow MLA Cara Hunter branded it a display of 'blatant sectarianism'.

"The normalisation of these types of bonfires is a sad reflection of where we are today," she said.

The normalisation of these types of bonfires is a sad reflection of where we are today.



Its about time leaders from the unionist community stepped up and called this out for what it is - blatant sectarianism. It needs to stop. pic.twitter.com/ViUiAzDWNX  Cara Hunter MLA (@CaraHunterSDLP) July 11, 2022

"Its about time leaders from the unionist community stepped up and called this out for what it is - blatant sectarianism. It needs to stop."

The PSNI have said they are 'gathering evidence' after a number of complaints were received relating to items placed on bonfires.

"The Police Service has received a number of complaints relating to flags, effigies, election posters and other emblems being placed on bonfires," said a spokesperson.

The Police Service has received a number of complaints relating to flags, effigies, election posters and other emblems being placed on bonfires. We are gathering evidence in respect of these complaints and will review to establish whether offences have been committed. pic.twitter.com/3AJLnQLm7L  Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) July 11, 2022

"We are gathering evidence in respect of these complaints and will review to establish whether offences have been committed."

The condemnation comes as the final preparations get underway for the lighting of the Eleventh Night bonfires later tonight.

Tributes also continue to be paid to bonfire builder John Steele, who died after falling from a bonfire in the Antiville area of Larne on Saturday evening.

Those building the nearby Craigyhill bonfire - who were attempting to break the record for the tallest bonfire ever constructed - hope to dedicate the pyre in memory of the father-of-two.

A post on the official Facebook page of the Craigyhill bonfire, Larne.

Organisers say the bonfire was measured using 'lasers and a drone' and was found to be 202ft tall, four feet taller than the 198ft recorded at Lustenau, Austria in March 2019.

Shortly after measurements were taken, footage emerged of the pyre placed at the top of the bonfire falling to the ground, with organisers later announcing it had been removed 'in a controlled drop' due to 'safety concerns' as the wind picked up.
Towering bonfires are being lit in loyalist areas across Northern Ireland to usher in the main date in the Protestant loyal order parading season.

A number of the pyres, mainly constructed by stacking wooden pallets, were set alight late on Monday evening with the rest to be ignited at midnight.

Police said a number of complaints had been received about flags, effigies and election posters being placed on bonfires and officers would review evidence to establish if offences had been committed.

The build-up to the Eleventh Night celebrations was overshadowed by the death of a bonfire builder in Co Antrim on Saturday night.

John Steele, a window cleaner who was aged in his mid-30s, was killed when he fell from a bonfire in Larne that stood more than 50 feet tall.

A vigil was held at the site of the fire in the Antiville estate on Sunday night.

The bonfire was dismantled earlier in the day and the remnants were lit during the memorial event for Mr Steele.

A flute band played at the vigil while a minutes silence was also held. Wreaths were laid close to the scene of the fatality.

Mid and East Antrim Council, which owns the land where the fire was built, announced on Monday that it was launching an investigation into the fatal fall.

More than 250 bonfires have been constructed in loyalist neighbourhoods across Northern Ireland.

The fires are traditionally ignited on the eve of the Twelfth of July  a day when members of Protestant loyal orders parade to commemorate the Battle of Boyne in 1690.

The battle, which unfolded at the Boyne river north of Dublin, saw Protestant King William of Orange defeat Catholic King James II to secure a Protestant line of succession to the British Crown.

Most of the bonfires pass off every year without incident, but a number continue to be the source of controversy.

Its extremely disappointing to see my election posters alongside this sectarian message on an eleventh night bonfire. Leaders in the unionist community need to call these actions out and put a stop to this once and for all. pic.twitter.com/82zN5LQYHx  Paul Doherty (@PaulDohertySDLP) July 11, 2022

The SDLPs Paul Doherty condemned those behind putting his election poster on a bonfire in west Belfast.

He said: While I respect everyones right to celebrate their culture in their own way, we regularly see posters of nationalist representatives and hate speech on these bonfires and we need leaders in the unionist community to call it out and put a stop to it once and for all.

I have also heard concerns about the building of this bonfire so close to the local community centre and would ask those taking part to ensure that this bonfire passes off as safely as possible with no damage caused to the local community or surrounding areas.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said his election posters were also placed on the bonfire.

He said: Unfortunately there has been a deafening silence from many unionist politicians in the face of this kind of sectarian intimidation.

It is time for leadership, and to demand an end to this provocation.

Alliance Party MLA Stewart Dickson tweeted: Saddened to see once again Alliance and other party election posters together with flags ranging from the EU to the Vatican and the Republic of Ireland on bonfires in East Antrim.

The PSNI tweeted: The Police Service has received a number of complaints relating to flags, effigies, election posters and other emblems being placed on bonfires.

We are gathering evidence in respect of these complaints and will review to establish whether offences have been committed.

Around a dozen fires are considered potentially problematic by police.

One potential flashpoint this year is the site of a fire at Adam Street in the loyalist Tigers Bay area of north Belfast.

Nationalist residents from the nearby New Lodge estate have previously claimed the fire is located too close to the interface between the two communities  something the bonfire builders have denied.

Prior to the accident in Antiville, Larne had been making headlines for another bonfire in the town.

Bonfire builders in the nearby Craigyhill estate are attempting to break a world record for the tallest bonfire  a record which currently stands at 198 feet.

On Sunday, the builders in Craigyhill vowed to continue with their record bid in tribute to Mr Steeles memory.

On Monday, the wooden tower was measured using lasers and a drone, and found to be 202.3ft high.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) plan on the Twelfth being their busiest and most resource intensive day of their year, with the Eleventh Night being second.

There will be 2,500 police officers on duty on the Twelfth, which is around a third of the strength of the PSNI.

On July 12, there will be 573 loyal order parades. Of these, 33 follow routes that are deemed to be sensitive.
One way to reach the stars is faster-than-light travel which is almost impossible based on Einstein's theories, though novel spacetime bending methods are suggested. With the current technology, it is almost impossible and will take years to reach the nearest star.

Study of Faster-Than-Light Travel

According to German physicist Erik Lentz from Gottingen University, in a 2021 study, there is a loophole to exceed light speed limits with alternative warp drives, noted IOP Science.

Several suggestions to solve the problems of achieving faster-than-light travel, which is equal to traveling into spacetime at superluminal speeds, reported Science Alert.

Conventional physics imposes limitations that comply with the theory of relativity, which is Albert Einstein's contribution to modern physics. It dictates that nothing can travel faster than light in the known rules of physics.

No one can exceed lightspeed and should not be done, but spacetime is malleable and not limited by such rules. The universe is doing just that by moving faster than light itself. Before, a bubble of space is condensed, which requires less energy than space, called negative energy at a quantum scale, which is unknown except in exotic physics.

A particular method to bend spacetime via wormholes, even time travel, even negative energy, as opposed to positive, can activate a proposed Alcubierre warp drive for faster-than-light travel.

Read Also: Hubble Space Telescope Using Gravitational Lensing Captures Images of Dark Matter Clumps

Spacetime bending methods is done by projecting negative energy on the hull of a starship which achieves faster-than-light travel and keeps following accepted physical laws of Einstein's supposed limit. But it needs to be fleshed out, especially what will power the craft or where negative energy will be sourced.

It is possible to zoom at extra luminal speeds yet adhere to Einstein's relativity without unfamiliar physics being left to be imagined yet.

Soliton Waves

Lentz proposed a radical notion of bypassing Einstein's laws via hyper-fast solitons, a wave with constant shape and energies at a constant speed, even at faster-than-light rates.

One theoretical calculation is that extreme velocity soliton particles are compatible with general relativity. Positive energy has enough density to keep a starship in flight, but not confirmed.

Solitons act as warp bubbles traveling at superluminal speeds, stabilizing the piercing spacetime and keeping the ship from getting crushed up in the path. The thinking akin to theoretical gymnastics has a catch-22; how much energy is needed to keep the fabric of spacetime from crushing a starship.

In March last year, Lentz expounded on this problem and its complexities, citing Uni-Goettingen. The energy needed to do it is immense beyond comprehension.

His work is supposed to be the first study, but it was published in March 2021 at the same time with a similar study of a warp engine minus the negative energy to work. Lentz offered to share his work to look into his data.

Furthermore, the study about faster-than-light travels has moved theory but is a bit close to engineering a solution to superluminal speeds. Now it boils down to lowering the energy needed to enable such a feat, like a working engine.

Lentz's work shows that faster-than-light travel might be doable under Einstein's theories, allowing exotic spacetime bending methods like soliton particles.

Related Article: White Dwarfs Might Be the Place to Find Alien Life

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Extension of Syria Cross Border Operation

Press release

On 12 July, the Security Council adopted a resolution extending the mandate for the UNs cross-border humanitarian operation between Turkiye and North-West Syria. This operation provides vital support for over 4 million people in North West Syria.

Ireland and Norway led negotiations on Resolution 2642, which extends the mandate of the operation for six months, until 10 January 2023



Speaking after the adoption of Resolution 2642, Minister Coveney said:



Ensuring the delivery of humanitarian assistance to people in Syria has been one of Irelands top priorities as an elected member of the UN Security Council.



I visited the UNs humanitarian operation at Bab al-Hawa for the second time last month, with Norwegian Foreign Minister Huitfeldt. In conversations with UN officials and humanitarian workers, I heard again about the critical importance of this operation for over 4 million people in North West Syria, and saw first-hand the dedication and professionalism of the staff working there.



Minister Coveney added:



Since joining the Security Council in January 2021, Ireland and Norway have led efforts to extend the mandate for the cross-border operation.



These have been incredibly challenging negotiations. Throughout, we have had one overarching focus and objective  to ensure that humanitarian aid can continue to reach all people in need in Syria.



Im pleased that, through relentless determination, we have been able to get this Resolution over the line, and that the vital work of the UNs cross-border operation can continue.



ENDS

|
Googles new premium truly wireless earphones  The Google Pixel Buds Pro  will launch in India on July 28. Google confirmed the launch date of the Pixel Buds Pro as a response to a user question on Twitter. The premium earbuds were first unveiled during the Google I/O event in May 2022 alongside the Google Pixel Watch. These earbuds will attempt to take on other heavyweights in the audio segment including the Apple AirPods Pro, Sony WF-1000XM4, and Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro.

Google Pixel Buds Pro: Price and Availablity in India

The Google Pixel Buds Pro will make its way to the Indian market on July 28. According to the Made by Google official handle, pre-reservations for the device will commence on July 21 in India. The earbuds will also be arriving in 12 other countries at the same time including the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.

The Google Pixel Buds Pros Indian pricing hasnt been revealed yet but they were unveiled with a price tag of $199 (approximately Rs 15,400) during the Google I/O 2022. The earbuds are available in four colourways  Lemongrass, Coral, Fog, and Charcoal. These earbuds succeed other TWS from Google including the Google Pixel Buds and Google Pixel Buds A-Series.

Google Pixel Buds Pro: Specifications and Features

The Google Pixel Buds Pro  as mentioned before  competes with industry heavyweights, so, naturally, it comes equipped with premium features such as Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode. A custom six-core audio chip running on Google-developed algorithms will tune the ANC. Transparency Mode will allow users to hear ambient sounds more distinctly when activated. The buds also offer hands-free Google Assistant support, which has been one of the key features of all past Pixel Buds as well.

You also get an IPX4 splash and sweat-resistant build while the case offers IPX2 splash resistance. The earbuds come equipped with capacitive touch sensors for music and call controls. The charging case supports USB Type-C wired charging, and theres Qi wireless charging support added as well.

The buds support multipoint connectivity as well  a much-loved feature that enables users to connect the earbuds to two devices simultaneously. The Pixel Buds Pro will come with Bluetooth v5.0 connectivity and will deliver a total listening time of 31 hours (without ANC). The charging case supports fast charge which allows for an hours worth of playback with merely five minutes of charging. Users can also use the Find My Device app to locate their earbuds if they misplace them.
When it comes to hardware, Samsung seems to be leaving no stone unturned to offer innovative devices that cater to a wide range of customers  weve seen this ourselves with advances in foldable screen smartphones, stylus technology, camera and photography, and even UI experience.

So we got a chance to interview Mr. Seungwon Shin, VP & Head of Security, Samsung Mobiles (Global), to understand some of the category-leading work undertaken by Samsung to enhance security features on most of its smartphones, tablets and laptop devices through Samsung Knox.

Samsungs role in enabling a password-less future

Im actually a board member of the FIDO Alliance, Mr Shin told us, And Samsung was engaged in the development of ideas for the Passkey feature, which the FIDO Alliance introduced, and this was actually applied in Samsung Internet Browser at a third stage, he explained, highlighting Samsungs focus on innovating to enable a password-less future. We are working closely on various means of biometric authenticators to replace the password, Mr Shin emphasized.

In terms of enabling this futuristic, password-less security into their devices, Samsungs Mr Shin shared the following insight. We incorporate various biometric authenticators launched by the FIDO Alliance in order to protect our devices against all levels of threats and also to replace a password. With respect to the Passkey feature, which is one of the latest launches by FIDO, we announced our framework to support the Passkey in May 2022 and we are basically doing our best to become an early adopter, introduce the latest vital technologies in our devices as early as possible, he said, explaining how Samsung can make significant contributions in pushing the industry forward in terms of enhanced security applications.

Preventing phishing attacks and protecting user privacy

The number of phishing incidents in India has gone up significantly since the pandemic began in 2020. At worse, security reports claim the phishing emails menace has gone up by as much as 4000-percent, whereas conservatively Indian government believes it has at least doubled. Mr Shin explained how Samsungs Knox security tries to prevent these phishing attacks from occurring on supported smartphones. We do offer secure Wi-Fi, secure DNS and by default we use domains provided by our trusted DNS providers such as Google, and this allows us to prevent any potential phishing attacks on our devices, said Mr Shin.

Does Samsung collect data from users to ensure the links theyre clicking are safe? Mr Shin highlighted that, We cannot collect or access data of the users for the reasons of user privacy. We cannot collect data without user consent, but as long as the customers use the basic features that are available on our phone and also for example by using the secure DNS domain provided by the trusted DNA providers as I mentioned earlier, then we will be able to prevent these types of attacks. In combating state-level cyber attacks that get launched, we are cooperating closely with Google and Microsoft to develop measures to best prevent them from our infrastructure, he said.

Mr Shin better highlighted Samsung Knoxs security capabilities with an anti-phishing case study from the recent past. In Korea, we have a lot of voice phishing attacks and our system has on various occasions automatically identified and blocked such attempts at voice phishing, he claimed. We have worked with the National Police Agency of Korea to develop an app that proactively predicts and blocks any potential voice-phishing attacks, and we do it through intelligence thats available for us in order to identify these threats in advance. This allows us to guarantee maximum security and privacy for our users against voice-phishing type attacks, claimed Mr Shin.

Samsungs advantage in the threat landscape

According to Samsung, because of increased work from home due to Covid-19, the number of attacks targeting laptops and mobile phones containing personal information and sensitive information have also increased. Samsung has also seen a rise in number of banking trojan attacks, financial scam related attacks, and security threats trying to steal personal information has all increased in the recent past, Mr Shin confirmed. Last year, we launched a new B2B laptop incorporating reinforced security measures, which allows the laptop and business users to better respond to any levels of threats on Windows, highlighted Mr Shin. He also further explained the difference between cyber threats aimed at business users or enterprise customers and individual customers.

The landscape of cyber threats between the two is quite different, Mr Shin explained. In the B2C landscape, we see more attacks that are dependent on the users or the consumers to make mistakes. Whereas in the B2B landscape we see more targeted attacks against the actual company or the management, and therefore we do provide focused security for these B2B customers, he emphasized.

We also asked Mr Shin how Samsungs silicon possibly differentiates its security measures compared to the likes of Intel and Apple. We have whats called Knox Principle, which covers both hardware and software of all the devices that we design and develop, and we apply the same security principle of Knox in designing and developing all of the models under our umbrella. One of our biggest differentiation is Knox Vault, which has been EAL5+ certified, allowing us to really provide a differentiated level of security in the ecosystem.
For a while now, Samsung has been using its own in-house Exynos chipsets  alongside Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs  in its Galaxy series of smartphones. However, if the latest report is to be believed, Samsung could be ditching Exynos chips altogether for its upcoming Galaxy S23 lineup. This would mark the end of an era with Samsung foregoing the practice of producing the same handset with two variants using region-specific chipsets.

(1/3)

1. Qualcomm will likely be the sole processor supplier for Samsung Galaxy S23 (vs. 70% shipment proportion for S22) thanks to the next flagship 5G chip SM8550 made by TSMC 4nm.   (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) July 8, 2022

As per renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Samsung is likely to power the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S23 series with Qualcomm chipsets alone. This would be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC  which will make its debut in November 2022. In the past, the company would use both Snapdragon and Exynos SoCs in its flagship phones and the model you got would depend on where you lived.

Samsung Galaxy S23 series processor

As mentioned earlier, industry insider Ming-Chi Kuo has said that Qualcomm will be the sole SoC supplier for the Galaxy S23 series of smartphones. In effect, the flagship Samsung Galaxy S-series devices will no longer be region-dependent from 2023. The Galaxy S23 phones will reportedly house the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC in all markets. This Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (SM8550) is expected to make its debut in November this year and we could start seeing devices adopt the SoC as early as December 2022.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 series is expected to launch in January or February 2023 though. The fact that the S23 series will likely only house Qualcomm SoCs could be met with a sigh of relief by those in the European and Asian markets. This is because the Exynos variants of the Galaxy S series of phones have had a reputation of always being inferior to their Snapdragon counterparts, in terms of performance and battery life.

Kuo also suggested that the S23 series may not adopt the Exynos 2300 chipsets made by Samsung since it cant compete with the SM8550 in all aspects. He also added that this decision could further cement Qualcomms dominance in the Android smartphone market.

Despite this, some reports still claim that Samsungs flagship in-house SoC  the Exynos 2300  is still being developed with the codename Quadra. There is no confirmation so far, but we could possibly see this chipset in Samsungs Flip and Fold series of foldable smartphones.
According to Ukrainian officials, at least 29 people have been confirmed killed after a Russian strike on an apartment building over the weekend in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk area.

As Russia intensified its assault on eastern Ukrainian cities and villages in an effort to capture control of the whole Donbas region, a residential building in the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine was struck on Saturday night.

Death Toll Rises in Russian Rocket Attack in Donetsk

As per Ukraine's State Emergency Service, 24 bodies had been removed from the debris, and another five were visible but could not be saved. According to the emergency service, six individuals had been saved, and contacts had been made with two more who were still trapped beneath the debris.

The area was hit by two or three Russian missiles over the weekend, and the incident was yet another confirmation of the crimes committed by the Russian Federation and their practice of bombarding civilian areas.

In recent days, Russian forces have intensified their shelling of Chasiv Yar and other Donetsk towns as they attempt to crush local Ukrainian opposition and advance towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, as per CNN.

Rescuers carefully searched through a massive mound of debris that was left when a five-story building fell late on Saturday in the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk province.

A Reuters correspondent observed rescuers hoisting a survivor from the rubble to a stretcher and removing two people's bodies in white bags. Soldiers contributed to the rescue attempt as well. By early Monday evening, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy director of the president's office, 65 percent of the rubble, weighing about 170 tonnes, had been removed.

Russia claims its February invasion of Ukraine was a special military operation, but it insists that civilians were not its intended objective. After claiming to have captured nearby Luhansk, Russia is anticipated to concentrate the majority of its attack on eastern Ukraine in the province of Donetsk. The two provinces together comprise the larger industrial region of Donbas, according to Reuters.

Read Also: North Korea-Based Hackers Attack US Health Organizations, Disrupting Services for "Prolonged Periods" with Ransomware

Ukraine Recaptures Village in Kherson Region

Images posted by Ukraine appear to show that a Russian artillery installation has been damaged by defending soldiers. On July 10, the Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom) said that the strike had occurred in Kherson Oblast, a region in southern Ukraine.

The video depicts a row of concealed Russian military apparatus on fire in a rural setting. When this article was being written, Zenger News had not yet heard back from the Russian Ministry of Defense or the Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communications.

Monday marks the 138th day since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is still referring to as a 'special military operation.' Russia lost approximately 37,400 personnel, 1,645 tanks, 3,828 armored combat vehicles, 838 artillery units, 247 multiple launch rocket systems, 109 air defense systems, 217 warplanes, 188 helicopters, 676 drones, 155 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,696 motor vehicles, and fuel tankers, and 66 units of special equipment between February 24 and July 11, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, issued a warning and a challenge this week, saying that his country's campaign in Ukraine has just begun. Despite Ukraine's denials, Russia's military ministry has claimed that it killed Ukrainian personnel on the recently retaken Snake Island who was attempting to fly the Ukrainian flag.

Russia may be taking a short operational break in its push in eastern Ukraine to allow its forces to relax before attempting to reassemble for another offensive, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

The Turkish ambassador has been called by Ukraine, which claims that Turkey has permitted a Russian ship carrying tens of thousands of tons of grain that was purportedly stolen from Ukraine to dock at one of its ports. Kyiv claims that the ship is carrying 7,000 tons of stolen grain on board.

Due to Russia's embargo on Ukrainian grain exports, the United Nations has issued a dire warning about an impending food crisis. In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been greeted with regret, especially by Volodymyr Zelensky, who referred to him as a great friend of Ukraine, Newsweek via MSN reported.

Related Article: Russia-Ukraine War: Russian Missile Hits Apartment in Donetsk Killing At Least 15, Dozens Trapped

@YouTube

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Imagine looking at a single grain of sand on your finger-tip at arms length, thats what the James Webb Space Telescope has captured by focusing on one single dot in the universe - the sharpest infrared image ever taken in the history of human space endeavour

After seven long months of its launch, the largest most-sophisticated telescope ever built by humanity, the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed its very first picture  and its absolutely stunning.

Earlier on July 11 (July 12 according to IST), US President Joe Biden revealed the very first full-colour image taken from the James Webb Space Telescope. The picture reveals a patch of deep, dark space background full of thousands of glittering galaxies.

Click here to visit NASAs official link to JWSTs first-ever pic

This first publicly revealed image taken from the James Webb Space Telescope is also reportedly the highest resolution image of the infrared universe anyone has ever seen, according to NASA. This isnt hard to believe because, after the Large Hadron Collider, the James Webb Space Telescope is probably the most sophisticated scientific instrument ever built and operated by humanity.

The JWST is the culmination of over three decades and several billion dollars of effort to undertake never-before-attempted scientific research from deep space.

Comparison of Hubble and Webb images of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. pic.twitter.com/oqWseqA8f9  Tinfoil (@tinfoil_globe) July 11, 2022

Webbs First Deep Field

As for the historic first image captured and made public by the James Webb Space Telescope, it has been christened its own name, the Webbs First Deep Field, according to reports. The image specifically shows galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 in unprecedentedly clear detail, captured of course from JWST at an orbit thats 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth.

According to the James Webb Space Telescopes Twitter handle, capturing the Webbs First Deep Field image literally took less than a day.

Is JWSTs first pic the oldest pic of the universe?

As sophisticated as the James Webb Space Telescope is, fundamentally its aimed at doing space imaging largely in the infrared spectrum of light  which is not the oldest light in the universe, in case you dont know.

This fact is confirmed by JWSTs official Twitter handle, too. It says that Webbs First Deep Field image isnt the farthest back weve observed the universe. Non-infrared missions like COBE & WMAP saw the universe closer to the Big Bang (~380,000 years after), when there was only microwave background radiation, but no stars or galaxies. Webb sees a few 100 million years after the Big Bang, it highlighted in no uncertain terms.

What was JWST focusing on for the image?

This is the most amazing part of the James Webb Space Telescopes first-ever image, what the telescope was looking at in the night sky, where its lens was focused on for less than a day to reveal the image we are now calling it the Webbs First Deep Field.

This is how NASAs Bill Nelson explained it to US President Joe Biden, during the official unveiling of the image. If you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arms length, that is the part of the universe that youre seeing (in this picture)... just one little speck of the universe, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. Youre seeing galaxies that are shining around other galaxies whose light has been bent.

Whats next for the James Webb Space Telescope?

According to NASAs Bill Nelson, the James Webb Space Telescope is just getting warmed up, just getting started to do what the Hubble Space Telescope could never physically do  which is to look back at the very beginning of the universe immediately after the Big Bang.

According to a PBS report, the NASA Administrator hinted that future images from JWST will capture a time even farther back into the ancient universe to about 13.5 billion years ago, almost to the beginning.

This isnt all, as James Webb Space Telescopes nothing short of a full-fledged science lab in deep space, and its on-board cutting edge capabilities will help NASA researchers on the ground here on Earth analyze not just static images of the early universe, but also the chemical composition of the atmosphere of planets beyond our solar system, and whether they can sustain life on them.
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BATTLE GROUND, Clark County (AP)  A former bank manager in southwestern Washington is accused of stealing more than $1 million from vulnerable customers.

The Columbian reports Brian Davie was arrested Friday in Yakima on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office statement.





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Intel's $20B chip project is big for Ohio, but not for those in the way

Two holding companies working on behalf of Intel have spent millions on offers to homeowners, often well-above market rates.



By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS and PATRICK ORSAGOS

Associated Press

JOHNSTOWN, Ohio  When President Joe Biden applauded a decision by Intel Corp. to build a $20 billion semiconductor operation on 1,000 empty acres of land in Ohio, it didn't sit well with Tressie Corsi. The 85-year-old woman has lived on 7 acres of that land since she and her late husband, Paul, built a house there 50 years ago. They raised four children there and welcomed multiple generations of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, including some who lived right next door.



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SEATTLE  The former Continental Van Lines property, at 4501 W. Marginal Way S.W., sold for $10.9 million, according to King County records.

The seller was Del Olmo Properties LLC, a local family investment group, which acquired the property in 2019 for $3.5 million.





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President Biden's Monday speech honoring the passing of a bipartisan gun bill was stopped by the parent of a child who died in a horrific shooting at a Parkland, Florida, school.

Manuel Oliver, who tweeted disapproval of the event in advance, was removed after shouting during Biden's speech. According to Oliver's Twitter bio, Joaquin Oliver, one of the victims of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in 2018, is his son.

Biden's Gun Control Speech Interrupted

It's unclear exactly what Oliver said at the gathering, which took place on the White House's South Lawn. When Oliver interrupted Biden during his speech, Biden paused and asked Oliver to stop before removing him.

Due to the rigorous security measures in place at the White House, protesters or hecklers are uncommon during presidential speeches. In 2006, a protester who disrupted a meeting between former presidents George W. Bush and Hu Jintao was charged with crimes.

Numerous members of Congress, including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who led negotiations on the side of the Republicans, were present at the ceremony on Monday. Cornyn was able to overcome the filibuster threshold in the Senate by securing the support of 15 Republican senators in total, Fox News reported.

Following the killing at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Biden signed the law last month, including certain safety measures to stop school shootings. The Biden administration applauds the effort as a step toward tighter gun rules, but some gun control supporters claim it is insufficient to stop mass massacres. On Monday, Biden hosted a ceremony to mark the law's passage.

Oliver interrupted Biden as he claimed that the legislation proves that despite the naysayers, we can make substantial progress in dealing with gun violence during his speech. Oliver appeared to be criticizing the legislation for not doing enough to reduce gun violence, as per Newsweek via MSN.

Read Also: Shinzo Abe Assassination: Gunman Reveals Initial Plan To Use Bomb To Kill Ex-Prime Minister in Okayama

POTUS' Series of Gaffes

About three minutes after being heckled by gun control activist Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son Joaquin was killed in the Parkland shooting, Biden fumbled the date. Oliver persuaded Biden to establish an internal office for gun control.

Biden, who turns 80 on Nov. 20, frequently makes mistakes, tells untrue stories, or pronounces words incorrectly. He has explained some of the mistakes as being caused by a childhood stammer, but the errors frequently prompt Republicans, especially, to question his suitability for the government.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, tweeted on Friday that the person in control of the teleprompter is the real president. Immediately after Biden remarked, "Repeat the line," during planned remarks, the White House denied that he had accidentally read from stage directions.

Some of Biden's errors go beyond possibly misreading a prompter; for example, he has called his vice president, Kamala Harris, "President Harris" at least four times.

To demonstrate his passion for passenger rail, Biden has recounted a historically improbable story about a former Amtrak conductor at least seven times since taking office. Also, in September, Biden revealed to a crowd in Idaho that the Boise Cascade lumber and wood products company had made him a first employment offer. The business claimed to be unaware of it and that Biden had never previously expressed interest in relocating there.

There is also no proof that Biden was ever detained during the civil rights protests, as he claimed in January to students at historically black colleges in Atlanta.

During the Naval Academy's graduation ceremony in May, Biden revealed that the late Sen. J. Caleb Boggs had appointed him to the military academy in 1965. (R-Del.). The Boggs archives were searched, but no proof of the claim could be found. As more Democrats question whether he should run for reelection, Biden's critics frequently charge that he is mentally deteriorating, according to the New York Post.

Related Article: After Russia, President Joe Biden Blames Republicans on Economic Issues

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On Friday 8th July 2022, the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence (AMTCE) hosted a delegation of political and business leaders from the Alto Minho region in north-west Portugal.

The AMTCE is Irelands leading advanced manufacturing and training provider, giving the delegation the opportunity to view best practice in terms of territorial development strategies in a similar region to their own.

The visit, organised by Enterprise Ireland in conjunction with the Portuguese Embassy in Ireland, was part of a territorial benchmarking programme supported by the European Union.

The AMTCE is jointly funded by Enterprise Ireland and SOLAS, and Industrial Development Authority (IDA) have kindly agreed a long-term lease on the building with LMETB.

The 12 strong delegation was headed by Bruno Caldas, First Secretary of the Intermunicipal Community of Alto Minho (CIM) and Luis Ceia, President of the Alto Minho Business Confederation (CEVAL).

The Alto Minho region has a population of circa 250,000 inhabitants, covering 2,210 square kilometres.

The Intermunicipal Community of Alto Minho has a range of powers in relation to supra-municipal spatial planning and economic development strategy to enhance regional development.

Martin O Brien, LMETB Chief Executive and founder of AMTCE, delivered a presentation and led a tour of the centre for the delegates.

He outlined the centres aim to maintain manufacturings place at the heart of Irish society, by assisting employers in reskilling and upskilling in the new emerging technologies used in industry 4.0 and encouraging the development of new careers in advanced manufacturing.

Martin OBrien said:

As Irelands leading advanced manufacturing and training centre, we were delighted to welcome our Portuguese visitors and for the opportunity to showcase the work of our expert team in developing training and upskilling solutions for the high value manufacturing and technology sectors in Ireland.

The AMTCE is actively engaged in promoting and developing strategic educational and training alliances with our European and global neighbours.

The collaboration and sharing of knowledge, information, expertise and training will support opportunities for trade and industry linkages, further strengthening the creation of a modern industrial ecosystem on the island of Ireland, OBrien continued.
A former clerical officer who stole over 27,000 from the Revenue Commissioners, had spent the money on her cocaine addiction with some of the money going to others in her peer group, Dundalk Circuit Court heard last week.

Judge Dara Hayes was told Teresa Delduca (33) from Greenacres, Dundalk had diverted the monies into her own bank account between September 2016 and May 2018, using the names of tax payers, but no individuals were at a personal loss or aware of what happened.

The court heard last Thursday that the defendant had diverted 27,565.22 through Revenues computer system into her own account at Permanent TSB in Dundalk and the fraud was uncovered after an internal investigation following her return to work, having been on sick leave between April 23rd 2018 and April 15th 2019.

A branch manager with the Revenue Commissioners made a formal complaint at Dundalk Garda Station on September 16th 2019.

The payments, which varied in their amounts, were made under the guise of a refund through tax credits to individuals whose bank account details on the Revenue computer system the clerical officer had changed to her own.

They were passed off as being refunds for health benefits, one parent tax credits and under a CE scheme.

The court heard Ms Delduca, who presented herself voluntarily at Dundalk Garda Station, had made full admissions and was sent forward from the district court having entered signed guilty pleas to 31 counts of theft.

She lost her job in Revenue but has been working in her familys takeaway business and had repaid 2,250 and was paying back 100 per week.

Defence barrister Vincent Heneghan SC said while his client spent some of the money on personal items like clothing, most of it went on drugs, not only on cocaine for herself, but for a peer group who took advantage of the money.

The court heard 7,000 of the stolen money was diverted to the account of another individual, who was not charged, and is also paying that money back.

The defendant had not come to Garda attention before or since for such offending but she had a number of convictions for road traffic matters, including two related to drink-driving.

Mr. Heneghan stressed that even before his client came before the court, she was aware of her difficulties in relation to drugs and alcohol and had attended a residential treatment programme in Waterford in May 2019.

Judge Hayes described it as an elaborate fraud but said he accepted Ms Delducas remorse is genuine and noted the defendant had not used cocaine since last October and has been attending Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

He imposed a two and a half years sentence with the final two years suspended on the defendant entering a good behaviour bond, placing herself under the supervision of the Probation service for a year after her release and on condition that she repays the balance of the monies owed within five years.
The White House requests India and Japan to support a Russian oil price cap that will enable less to pay per barrel of oil. This US administration has been vocal against New Delhi and Beijing to stop buying oil from Russia, and the US wants both India and China to legitimize its illegal sanctions.

Moscow Sells Cheap Oil to Friendly Nations

Scheduled Quad meeting in Sydney will have to pressure New Delhi to support cheaper oil imports, according to US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Bloomberg on Monday.

This desperate price cap was first spoken of at the G7 Summit held in Germany. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also invited, reported Sputnik News.

According to the G7 joint statement, they want to get oil cheap from Russia via a price cap. But keep their goals to lessen dependence on Russian energy without affecting climate goals.

India and China have been getting discounts, so the US thinks it deserves the same privilege after oil producers rebuffed Joe Biden's pleas to increase production.

Sources say the White House wants an oil price cap of $40-$60 a barrel, but Moscow won't have it. To get what the US wants, it will penalize insurance and transportation services shipping Russian crude; Putin has rebuffed and mocked western leaders for similar impositions.

Read Also: Emmanuel Macron Facts: Interesting Info You May Not Know About The French President

Self-Inflicted Energy Crunch

Efforts to punish Moscow backfired, and a repeat of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008. EU and Japan's significant reliance on Russian oil, natural gas, and coal excludes Moscow's energy exports from six rounds of coordinated sanctions.

India and China don't care about the west's sanctions against Moscow; Washington and the European Union are less important than energy security for Delhi and Beijing. Many in Europe are afraid of no heating and will pay high for fuel, too, all because they allowed the US to dictate.

Despite criticism, the Indian Prime Minister told the Group of Seven that New Delhi would have energy security. He rebuffed the G7 leader for the extreme effort to pressure India in failed sanctions.

Western pressure is not a factor for India, as the EU and United States struggle to survive. In contrast, India and China have a boom time importing oil and are not as bothered.

According to data cited by several financial sources, New Delhi, the second-largest crude importer in the world, purchased a record-high one-fifth of its total supplies from Moscow in June. Russia bypassed Saudi Arabia as the energy provider to New Delhi in May.

The White is willing to force India and Japan to push an oil price cap due to the crisis of their own making. But, the US administration is bound to fail on the world stage again and again until credibility is negligible.

Related Article: White House Wants To Dictate Price Cap on Russian Oil as Energy Crunch Ravages US, Allies

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A woman aged in her 20s died in a two-vehicle collision in Co Waterford on Tuesday morning.

Gardai and emergency services attended the scene of the collision on the N25 at Faha near Kilmacthomas.

Gardai said that a car and a lorry collided at about 8.30am on Tuesday.

The woman, who was driving the car, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her body has since been taken to the mortuary at University Hospital Waterford where a post-mortem examination will take place.

The driver of the lorry was taken to University Hospital Waterford with non-life threatening injuries.

Diversions are currently in place to allow for a technical examination of the scene.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses to come forward and any road users with video footage, including dashcam footage, are asked to make this available to them.

Anyone with information can contact Tramore Garda Station 051 391 620 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
Dutch authorities expressed their "deepest apologies" to the 1995 Srebrenica massacre that killed roughly 8,000 people as 50 newly-identified victims were honored and reburied on Monday in Bosnia.

The horrific tragedy is Europe's only acknowledged genocide since the Holocaust and commemorates its 27th anniversary this year. One resident, identified as Idriz Mustafic, attended the collective funeral to bury the partial remains of his son, Salim.

Srebrenica Massacre Anniversary

The young boy was only 16 years old when he was killed in Srebrenica in July 1995 while trying to flee the town as it was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces in the closing months of Bosnia's 1992-95 war. The father said, "My older son, Enis, was also killed. We buried him in 2005. Now I am burying Salim."

The resident added that forensic experts have yet to find his skill and added that his wife got cancer and had to undergo surgery, stifling any hopes of waiting longer to bury the bones that have already been found. They wanted to at least know where their children's graves were located, as per the Associated Press.

The brutal Srebrenica killings were the bloody crescendo of Bosnia's war in the mid-1990s that came after the breakup of Yugoslavia unleashed nationalistic passions and territorial ambitions that set Bosnian Serbs against the country's two other main ethnic factions, Croats and Bosniaks.

Read Also: Russia-Ukraine War: Vladimir Putin's Forces Kill 29 in Donetsk Attack, Ukraine Strikes Back in Kherson

Bosnian Serbs overran a UN-protected safe haven in Srebrenica in July 1995 and separated at least 8,000 Bosniak men and boys from their wives, mothers, and sisters. They chased them through the woods around the eastern town and slaughtered them.

According to Aljazeera, Dutch peacekeepers were outgunned and outnumbered, making them unable to prevent the Bosnian Serbs from advancing. In a statement, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said that only one party bore responsibility for the horrific genocide, the Bosnian Serb army. The remarks were made on Monday during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Acknowledging Responsibility

She added, "But let me be clear. The international community failed to offer adequate protection to the people of Srebrenica and as part of that community, the Dutch government shares responsibility for the situation in which that failure occurred. And for this, we offer our deepest apologies," while putting her hand to her heart.

The official said that the events of the 1995 massacre led to deep human suffering that is palpable here to this day. Ollongren said that while they cannot relieve the victims of their suffering, they can look history "straight in the eye."

The chairman of the organizing committee for the commemoration of the anniversary, Hamdija Fejzic, who is also the deputy head of the Srebrenica municipality, said he was fortunate enough to have survived the genocide, which he referred to as a "defeat of humanity."

He added that the horrific events of those times must never become just a footnote in the history of mankind. Fejzic urged officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina to take concrete steps to make the region a "city of life, not a place of death," RFERL reported.



Related Article: Shinzo Abe Assassination: Gunman Reveals Initial Plan To Use Bomb To Kill Ex-Prime Minister in Okayama

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After the Justice Department referred to Stephen K. Bannon's offer to testify before the House committee looking into the Jan. 6, 2021 uprising as a last-ditch attempt to avoid accountability on charges of criminal contempt of Congress, a federal judge on Monday declined to postpone the former Trump aide's trial, which is scheduled to begin next week.

After a hearing, US District Judge Carl J. Nichols rejected several of Bannon's defenses, including his claim that Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege over his testimony and papers. Nichols said, "I see no basis for extending this case any longer." The trial judge focused mostly on whether Bannon grasped the due dates for responding to Congress' demands.

Steve Bannon Lawyer Tries to Delay Trial

After declining to cooperate with a committee subpoena issued earlier for his testimony and records about his acts leading up to the Capitol riot by a pro-Trump mob on January 6, Bannon, 68, the former Trump top strategist, was arrested in November on two counts of contempt of Congress. If found guilty, the misdemeanor charges carry a minimum sentence of 30 days and a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

The House committee's ongoing hearings about the Capitol siege and politicians' testimonies, according to Bannon's counsel, has sparked a media blitz, tainting the pool of potential jurors, and should therefore be postponed until October.

US prosecutors pleaded with Nichols in an overnight brief to keep Bannon's trial on schedule for July 18 and to keep from the jury Bannon's "sudden wish to testify," which they described as a last-minute attempt to erase the actions that led to his conviction, as per Washington Post.

Bannon was present at the Willard Hotel on January 5 and 6 as Trump's associates convened in a "war room" to plan a legal maneuver to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory the next day. He is rumored to have had a phone conversation with Trump that evening.

Read Also: Johnny Depp Seemingly Rips Into Ex-Wife Amber Heard in New Song '18' with Jeff Beck After Winning Defamation Trial

Trump's Former Adviser Offers Testimony

His testimony might be the smoking gun House lawmakers need to demonstrate that last year's assault on the US Capitol wasn't just a random act of violence but rather Trump and his allies' "last stand" for the presidency.

Bannon's attorneys state in a letter that he is "willing to, and indeed prefers" to testify at a public hearing for the committee on January 6 as opposed to a personal interview.

In his letter, the former Trump adviser's attorney claimed that Bannon had not undergone "a change of posture or heart," but was instead restrained from speaking out by the former president's claim of executive privilege.

Bannon's offer might be an attempt to mitigate the Justice Department's case against him. He could spend up to a year in jail and pay a fine between $100 and $100,000 if found guilty.

But early on Monday, federal prosecutors responded to the presenter of the podcast "War Room." In a meeting with Trump's lawyer Justin Clark in late June, according to the Justice Department, Clark purportedly admitted that his client had never used executive privilege to protect Bannon, according to Daily Mail.

Federal courts have thus far denied Trump's claims of executive privilege. He was unsuccessful in his legal battle to deny the committee access to the National Archives' records about his administration.

A panel of the D.C.-based US Court of Appeals and a US district court both have jurisdiction. According to the decisions of each Circuit, President Joe Biden's waiver of executive privilege for the documents requested by the investigation outweighed Trump's argument.

Trump's appeal was denied by the Supreme Court, which stated in an unsigned judgment that his arguments would have been rejected even if he had still been in office.

The FBI interviewed Trump's lawyer Justin Clark last month, and during that interview, the lawyer asserted that Trump had never invoked the privilege, according to court documents released by the prosecution on Monday.

Rep. Jaime Raskin, D-Md., a member of the House investigation committee, stated on Sunday that Bannon was probably prompted by recent testimony that was scathing in nature and described the president's actions on January 6, 2021, and in the days leading up to the uprising, USA Today reported.

Related Article: New York Crime: 15-Year-Old Boy Arrested After Fatally Stabbing Teen in Subway Station

@You Tube

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EBRD to invest 20 million in a 230 million green bond issue by Lamda Development

Green bond to back the companys investment in sustainability and climate resilience

EBRD to support flagship The Ellinikon project through an innovative green finance instrument

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has successfully participated in a green bond issued by Lamda Development in Greece, investing 20 million in the total 230 million offering.

Lamda is the largest Greek real-estate developer and owner of The Ellinikon, the largest urban regeneration project in Greece and one of the largest in Europe, which aims to transform the former Athens International Airport in the area of Ellinikon into a sustainable and fully integrated commercial, residential and hospitality area open to the public.

The proceeds of the bond issue will fund sustainability elements of The Ellinikon, including green buildings and infrastructure, green energy and smart-city technologies.

Lamda will invest the EBRDs proceeds in financing green-certified assets, achieving at least Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold or BREEAM Very Good certification.

The green bond is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange () and aligned with the International Capital Market Associations Green Bond Principles. The issuance, taking place in the current market environment, shows the debt capital markets resilience and contributes to its development and long-term financial viability, promoting environmental aspirations through a dedicated green finance instrument that strengthens corporate climate governance.

Vlaho Kojakovic, EBRD Head of Property and Tourism, said: We are delighted to contribute to Lamdas path towards a low-carbon trajectory and the realisation of an investment plan focused on sustainability and climate resilience, through a tailored capital markets tool. The Ellinikon is a flagship project for the sectors transition to a high-specification, smart and sustainable building and infrastructure landscape, offering a versatile land-use mix and having significant economic, societal and environmental implications for a much wider area.

Odisseas Athanasiou, CEO of Lamda Development, said: We are very pleased with the EBRDs participation in our first ever green Greek listed bond. This transaction further cements our relationship with the EBRD, which we consider a strong partner in our journey to make The Ellinikon a benchmark project for sustainability and smart living. The great reception of this bond by our investors is testament to the trust and confidence in our commitment to provide all of society, in a responsible way, with the highest standards of living in an urban environment.

In 2019, the Bank invested 22.7 million in Lamdas equity issuance to support the development of The Ellinikon.

To date, the EBRD has invested more than 5.8 billion in 91 projects in the corporate, financial, energy and infrastructure sectors of the Greek economy.
In the week ending 8 July 2022 the net position of the Eurosystem in foreign currency (asset items 2 and 3 minus liability items 7, 8 and 9) increased by EUR 0.5 billion to EUR 344 billion.

As a result of the Eurosystems open market operations and standing facilities, net lending to credit institutions (asset item 5 minus liability items 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 and 4) rose by EUR 9.9 billion to EUR 1,397.6 billion. This was due primarily to the change in the level of the deposit facility (liability item 2.2).

Claims on non-euro area residents denominated in euro (asset item 4) decreased by EUR 1.2 billion to EUR 10.3 billion, owing mainly to maturing Eurosystem operations providing euro liquidity to non-euro area central banks (further details can be found on the ECBs website under Central bank liquidity lines.

Base money (liability items 1, 2.1 and 2.2) increased by EUR 54 billion to EUR 6,247.2 billion.

The table below provides the detailed breakdown of securities held for monetary policy purposes (asset item 7.1) into the different portfolios. All portfolios are accounted for at amortised cost.
ACTIVISTS campaigning against the spiralling cost of living protested at City Hall this evening calling for an emergency budget before the Dails summer recess. The protest took place before a Cork City Council meeting, with the issue also raised on the floor of the council.

The protest heard calls for the Government to implement further measures to help mitigate against the rising costs of utility bills, food and fuel prices and other expenses.

I know the budget will be announced early but the point is people need help now, Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould told The Echo.

You have people who are working, who are in full-time employment, some people who have two jobs in the one house, and theyre struggling to pay their bills.

Rents are going through the roof, heating, gas, everything is going through the roof  even bread and milk, the simple things in life, Mr Gould said.

There should be an emergency budget. The Taoiseach and the Tanaiste should ask the Dail to sit for another week and bring in emergency measures.

Party colleague and Cork city councillor Mick Nugent said measures introduced by the Government, such as the energy credit and the increase in the back-to-school allowance, were welcome but more needed to be done.

Julie Ann Cunneen and her son Liam and Skye a services dog. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

In particular, the Government should widen the net on those eligible for the back-to-school allowance, he said.

This was echoed by Socialist Party TD Mick Barry.

The Governments decision to ask people to wait until the autumn for budget reliefs other than those related to back-to-school costs was a wrong decision, he said.

If the Government force people to wait until September, I think the pre-budget protests can and should be very large indeed.

Michael Kelleher from Blarney Street was at the protest yesterday evening. He said the rising cost of living was having a wide-reaching impact.

People are struggling to make ends meet, even people who are working in a full-time job, Mr Kelleher told The Echo. The price of diesel and petrol is unbelievable, as we know, and with that up goes the cost of food and everything else.

Something has to happen.

Mr Kelleher voiced particular concern for young people struggling to pay rent or get on the property ladder.

This was echoed by another protestor, Joan Casey.

Jonathan O'Shea and Rosaleen O'Riordan at the Cost of Living protest. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

My heart bleeds for people from 25-30, 40 whatever  theyll never own a home, the Ballincollig resident said.

Motion voted down

Inside the council chamber, Sinn Fein councillors tabled a motion calling on the Government to bring forward an emergency budget before the Dail rises for its summer break.

Michael Gallagher at the Cost of Living protest outside City Hall. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Fianna Fail councillor Mary Rose Desmond agreed that people were struggling with the cost of living but said the Government had already introduced measures to help people.

She said further targeted measures were set to be announced in September but that putting together a budget takes time to do it well.

We wont be thanked for doing it any other way, she continued.

This was echoed by Fine Gael councillor Shane OCallaghan, who said the budget cannot be rushed into.

If they get this Budget wrong, were looking at an economic catastrophe, he said.

The motion ultimately fell with nine votes for, 10 against, and three abstentions.
A truck leaves the coal-fired Huntington Power Plant outside Huntington, Utah in 2016. Electricity production (25%) and transportation (27%) combined generate most of the greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according to the EPA. George Frey / Getty Images

Climate activists have long argued that countries that have contributed the most to the climate crisis owe something to countries that have released relatively few emissions yet still suffer the effects of rising temperatures.

Now, a first-of-its kind study from Dartmouth College backs this argument with hard data. The study, published in Climatic Change, calculates for the first time the financial damages that emissions released by certain nations have caused for others.

This research provides an answer to the question of whether there is a scientific basis for climate liability claims  the answer is yes, first study author Christopher Callahan said in a Dartmouth College press release. We have quantified each nations culpability for historical temperature-driven income changes in every other country.

The researchers looked at both emissions and climate-related increases or decreases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 143 nations between 1990 and 2014. Global heating causes economic damages by, for example, reducing harvests or productivity.

When it comes to responsibility for climate damages, the U.S. leads, having cost other nations more than $1.9 trillion in economic losses related to the climate crisis, The Guardian reported. Thats 16.5 percent of the total economic losses calculated by the study. The U.S. is followed by China, which is responsible for $1.83 trillion in damages; Russia, at 986 billion; India; and Brazil. All told, the five countries have cost the world $6 trillion since 1990  or around 11 percent of global GDP per year.

Its a huge number, Callahan told The Guardian. Its not surprising that the U.S. and China are at the top of that list but the numbers really are very stark.

Those numbers emphasize the inequality inherent in the climate crisis, which campaigners and less developed countries have long pointed out. The leading 10 emitters  rounded out by Indonesia, Japan, Venezuela, Germany and Canada are responsible for more than two-thirds of total losses, according to The Guardian and Dartmouth College. Further, some nations actually saw their GDPs increase because of climate change, but these tended to be wealthier, northern countries that stood to benefit from warmer temperatures or longer growing seasons. The countries that suffered the greatest losses, on the other hand, tended to be poorer, warmer countries in the Global South.

Irrespective of the accounting, warm counties have warmed and lost income because of it, while colder countries have warmed but enjoyed economic gains, Dartmouth College assistant professor of geography and senior study author Justin Mankin said in the press release. The responsibility for the warming rests primarily with a handful of major emitters, and this warming has resulted in the enrichment of a few wealthy countries at the expense of the poorest people in the world.

The study comes a little less than a month after the Bonn climate talks concluded with no agreement on loss and damage  the money that poorer nations say wealthier nations owe them to help pay for the impacts of the climate crisis. This has been a sticking point in UN climate negotiations, with wealthier nations remaining resistant to pay. During the negotiations in Germany, they prevented the issue from being added to the agenda for the upcoming COP27 climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. That doesnt mean the issue is settled. The Loss and Damage Youth Coalition has written an open letter to the COP27 Presidency urging action on the issue at the November talks.

We have no choice left but to stand up and speak for climate and social justice for all, the young people wrote. We demand an end to the vicious cycle of loss and damage with high emitting countries drastically reducing their emissions to achieve the 1.5C targets and providing reparations to the most affected with adequate climate finance, capacity building, knowledge, and technology transfer.

Center for International Environmental Law chief executive Carroll Muffett told The Guardian that the new study could help inform this debate, calling it a positive step.

[W]e can see the scale of harm is enormous, Muffett said. We are moving slowly towards some sort of accountability for this. As the evidence mounts and the record of U.S. obstructionism in the climate context is established, I dont think it and other countries will be able to escape their liability in perpetuity.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

The extreme weather that has inundated the Sydney, Australia area with rain and flooding this summer has also taken a toll on the regions beaches.

The lifeguard tower at North Cronulla beach even had to be lifted by crane away from encroaching waves Monday night as the beaches of southern Sydneys Bate Bay experienced their third major erosion event in less than one month, the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader reported.

Ive never seen them this bad, scientist and writer Dr. Darren Saunders tweeted of the beaches.

The lifeguard tower was removed after waves as high as four to five meters (approximately 13 to 16 feet) crashed against the cliffside supporting the tower Sunday and Monday, the Illawarra Mercury reported. A video shared by Australias ABC News showed it clinging perilously to a scooped-out cliffside before its removal.

[Its] structurally OK, but its better to be safe than sorry, Sutherland Shire Mayor Carmelo Pesce said, as the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader reported.

In addition to North Cronulla, the beaches of Cronulla, Elouera and Wanda have also experienced erosion. Pictures shared on social media also showed erosion at a beach in the Eastern Sydney suburb of Maroubra and at Bar Beach in Newcastle, according to The Guardian.

North Maroubra, sand has disappeared. pic.twitter.com/vLn9VYwBtj  Frank Glass (@frankglass74) July 11, 2022

The erosion comes as the Sydney region has experienced its fourth flooding emergency in less than two years following a storm that brought a years worth of rainfall in days to some areas. Both the intensity and frequency of this type of precipitation event have been linked to the climate crisis.

We will most likely see more events such as these as climate change takes its toll, and we get more east coast lows, coastal geomorphologist and professor at the University of Melbourne David Kennedy told The Guardian.

Pesce said that the Sutherland Shire Council was requesting aid from the government of New South Wales  the Australian state where Sydney is located  to help the beaches recover, according to the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. He raised the issue at a recent Zoom meeting for councils impacted by the flooding.

I said, while we had flooding at Woronora, our beaches have also been destroyed and we need to address that urgently, he recalled.

However, its possible that some of the councils recovery plans will do more harm than good. A draft management plan calls for the construction of a new seawall at North Cronulla Beach.

Yet Kennedy told The Guardian that seawalls built on either side of the beach in 1974 may actually be increasing the erosion. Thats because coastal development can impair beaches ability to shift and recover naturally.

Beaches are counterintuitive. Theyre loose piles of sand. But because they are movable obstructions to the water they are great at sort of laying there and acting as a buffer. They are the shock absorbers of the coast, he said. What weve done is weve removed some of the shocks on the coast, by putting in the seawall, and by doing this we have effectively reduced the beaches[] resilience to change. Because what were protecting is the infrastructure behind the beach and not necessarily the beaches themselves.




Irish agriculture minister welcomes progress in application for Irish grass fed beef

Ireland's Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue TD, recently welcomed important progress on the application for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status for Irish grass fed beef.

"I am very pleased that consultations between my Department and Bord Bia with their Northern Ireland and UK counterparts have successfully concluded, with agreement that the geographical area covered by the application will cover both Ireland and Northern Ireland," McConalogue said. "I have always been committed to extending the PGI application on an all-island basis. I have discussed this issue with my counterpart Minister Edwin Poots on a number of occasions... I acknowledge and commend the hard work of all those involved in reaching this agreement, including my Department officials and Bord Bia, and their counterparts in Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and the Livestock and Meat Commission and the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

"The European Commission will now be notified of the agreement; and I hope that the remaining steps can be progressed quickly, so that the process for registration may be finalised by the European Commission as soon as possible.

"I want the PGI for Irish grass fed beef to be of real benefit to the suckler and beef farmers on the island as a reward for their hard work, commitment and dedication to producing a world-class beef product. I am excited to see the process come to a conclusion as soon as possible."

The interim chief executive officer of Bord Bia, Michael Murphy, said: " I welcome the progress made in getting the application to this stage. Bord Bia initiated this PGI application because it presents a significant opportunity to add value for Irish beef exports to key markets based on a well-established reputation of excellent quality based on our unique pasture-based production system. We are now progressing our approach to the implementation of the PGI for Irish Grass Fed Beef in our European markets, pending the successful completion of the application process.

"Together with our farmers, exporters and customers, we want to ensure that the PGI can be implemented to grow consumers' recognition of the unique characteristics and reputation of Irish grass fed beef as a protected European regional product. "

The revised specification will be published on the website of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine shortly, and notified to the European Commission, which will advise on next steps. Due to the change to the geographical area, this will require a further publication and consultation period at EU/third country level.

After an extensive consultation process with stakeholders in Ireland, a PGI application for Irish grass fed beef from Bord Bia, on behalf of producers, was submitted to the European Commission in November 2020 by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Between May and October 2021, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Bord Bia responded to European Commission queries as part of the commission's scrutiny of the application.

On December 8, 2021 the European Commission published the PGI application for a three month EU/third country opposition procedure.

Following the submission by the United Kingdom of a reasoned statement of opposition, on April 14, the European Commission invited both parties to engage on the opposition to the PGI.

Detailed discussions between the parties involved have been ongoing since April.

- Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine




Former Mowi staff returns as managing director of company's Canada East's operations

Former Mowi Scotland operations director Gideon Pringle has returned to the company he left almost three years ago.

He is moving across the Atlantic to North America to take up the role of managing director of Mowi Canada East's operations.

Pringle is seen as an experienced and high profile fish farming figure who has had at least two previous spells with the world's largest salmon farming business. Educated at the University of Aberdeen, he first joined Mowi (when it was known as Marine Harvest) in 2016 after five years as farming director with the trout farmer Dawnfresh.

In 2019, Pringle left Mowi to take up the role of director of farming with Scottish Sea Farms.

Speaking of his appointment, Pringle said: "Both Canada East and Scotland share the North Atlantic Ocean and, not surprisingly, also share many of the same farming challenges.

"During my time in the aquaculture sector, I have come to realise that there is no single formula about how to farm salmon  they can be farmed in many different ways, equally successfully.

"The key is to be knowledgeable, adaptable and, most important, have the best team of people. I am very happy to rejoin Mowi and be a part of this very motivated team that will lead Canada East to realise its full potential."

Pringle takes over from Alan Cook who had been in the role for the past two years.

Ben Hadfield, chief operating officer for Mowi's Scotland, Ireland, Faroese and Canada East farming regions, said: "We have a strong team in Canada East and we also have the added advantage at Mowi to augment and support our operations with experienced salmon farmers.

"I believe we now have established the best possible team that will work hard and smart, safely and at pace to realise the success we know is possible in Canada East and specifically, the southern coast of Newfoundland."

- Fish Farmer




ForFarmers expects EBITDA in first half-year of 2022

ForFarmers expected that, due to the positive developments in countries outside of the Netherlands, its underlying EBITDA in the first half-year 2022 will be slightly higher than the relatively low level in the first half of 2021.

The previously disclosed expectation was a substantial decline of mentioned result.

In its first quarter 2022 trading update of May 6, 2022, ForFarmers announced that some movement could be seen in the food chain with respect to passing on higher costs of raw material, energy and fuel. However, at the time, it was too soon to draw any conclusions from this. It has since become clear that this trend has continued in a broad sense, ForFarmers explained.

Considering the continuing uncertainties with respect to availability and consequentially prices of raw materials, energy and fuel and on top of that, the uncertain political climate in the Netherlands with respect to the agricultural sector, ForFarmers does not provide guidance for the development of underlying EBITDA in the second half-year of 2022.

The results of the first half-year 2022 will be published on August 11, before opening of the stock exchange.

- ForFarmers




The Philippines introduces new measures to address rising poultry prices





The Philippines Department of Agriculture has introduced new measures such as permitting inter-island movement for poultry and special import permits for new vaccines, to address rising poultry prices in the country, GMA news reported.

Chicken prices in the Philippines have gone up due to higher demand for chicken and low production. Chicken prices are currently at PHP 200 per kg as of early June.

Through the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), the Department of Agriculture has permitted inter-island movement from mainland Luzon of day-old chicks, hatching eggs, and ready-to-lay pullets.

The department said movement will be permitted if day-old chicks and hatching eggs test negative for bird flu 28 days from the date of sample collection.

Transport for ready-to-lay pullets will be allowed if they test negative for bird flu 14 days from the date of sample collection.

In addition, the Department of Agriculture said that the BAI establishes the actual supply scenario by closely collaborating with associates from the private sector and routinely validating the broiler life cycle model.

Reildrin Morales, the BAI officer in charge and director, announced that Department of Agriculture executives would be speaking with other nations about potential alternate sources of less expensive feed ingredients in an effort to address the high cost of agricultural inputs.

According to the Department of Agriculture, the BAI has already granted special import permits for necessary vaccines to support disease prevention against additional poultry diseases like Infectious Body Hepatitis (IBH).

The Philippines' Department of Agriculture has already lifted the temporary ban on poultry products from the Czech Republic, Spain, and Denmark.

Morales said that the easing of pandemic restrictions had led to the opening of new markets, including hotels and restaurants, which contributed to the rise in demand.

He said the BAI has also noticed a drop in production due to the high cost of feed inputs and problems with other hepatitis, which may also be linked to the stunted growth of poultry birds.

Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said that increasing the nation's production of key staples, including corn, which is used as both food and animal feed, is a top priority for his administration.

- GMA News




German pig producers to get part of US$180.5 million aid in light of Ukraine-Russia war's impact

Germany's Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) has presented details of an aid of 180 million (US$180.5 million) to local farmers in sectors most affected by the war in Ukraine.

This came as the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/467 of March 23, 2022 (establishing exceptional adjustment aid for producers in the agricultural sectors), will provide EU member states with a total of 500 million (US$501.5 million) in EU aid for farmers to counter the effects of the war.

Germany will receive around 60 million (US$60.2 million) of the aid and, in addition, the federal government will provide a further 120 million (US$120.3 million), which means that the crisis reserve will have a total of 180 million allocated to the German sectors most affected by the war, which are horticulture, viticulture, poultry farming and pig production.

In the case of swine production, the amounts of aid are:

- Finishing pigs: 128 (US$128.34) per 100 fattening pigs raised on average;

- Piglets: 32 (US$32.08) per 100 piglets raised on average;

- Sows: 99 (US$99.26) per sow.

The aid is limited to a maximum of 15,000 (US$15,027) per company. Payment must be made before September 30, 2022.



- BMEL (Germany)
In a move to increase Moscow's influence over war-torn Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday expanded a fast-track system for getting Russian citizenship to include all Ukrainians.

Only citizens of the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, as well as those in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas, major portions of which are currently under Russian control, were previously qualified to apply for the simplified passport process.

Putin Expands Russian Passports

Putin's signing of a passport decree, which also applies to stateless persons in Ukraine, was cited by Dmytro Klueba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, as evidence of his predatory appetites.

More than 720,000 persons living in the rebel-held territories of the two regions between 2019, when the procedure was initiated for residents of Donetsk and Luhansk and this year (or around 18% of the population) have gotten Russian passports.

Residents of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas were also given the option to use the fast-track process in late May, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine. The implementation of the Russian currency in the Ukrainian area under occupation and the potential future annexation of more Ukrainian territory into the Russian Federation all appear to be components of Putin's political influence strategy. In 2014, Russia already annexed the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine, according to the Washington Post.

Read Also: COVID-19 Surge Forces Macau Casinos To Shut Down First Time in Two Years

Russia Attacks Ukraine's Second-Largest City

The passport news came hours after the Russian bombing of the second-largest city in Ukraine on Monday leaving at least six people dead and 31 injured, according to local authorities and prosecutors. The second-largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv, was the target of three missile strikes by Russian forces, which one official referred to as pure terrorism.

Two days had passed since a Russian missile attack in eastern Ukraine hit apartment complexes. On Monday, the number of fatalities in the attack on the village of Chasiv Yar reached 31. Nine individuals have been pulled from the debris while others are reportedly still trapped, according to emergency personnel.

Three buildings in a neighborhood primarily inhabited by factory workers were destroyed by the attack late on Saturday. The hamlet of Chasiv Yar, which is also the house of Ukraine's president, was the target, according to the Russian Defense Ministry; and more than 300 nationalists were murdered there.

Serhiy Haidai, the regional governor of Luhansk, reported Monday that Russian forces continued their attacks in eastern Ukraine, carrying out five missile strikes and four rounds of shelling against towns close to the Donetsk region's border.

The Donbas, or the eastern industrial core of Ukraine, is made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk areas, and it is here that separatist insurgents have been engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces since 2014. Earlier this month, Russia seized Lysychansk, the last significant center of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, CBS News reported.

Oleksiy Arestovych, a contentious adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, has alleged that twelve top Russian officers had died in a Ukrainian attack on a strategically significant airport close to Kherson.

Since Vladimir Putin's forces took it at the start of the war, Kyiv has frequently attacked the airport; the most recent attack is said to have used HIMARS rockets that the United States provided.

While rescuers are removing the debris left by a Russian strike on a five-story apartment building in the Donetsk village of Chasiv Yar, Ukrainian authorities have pronounced nine more persons dead.

Nine individuals have been rescued from the building's rubble, and the death toll now stands at 24, according to emergency services.

Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, reportedly saw an additional three fatalities and 31 injuries as a result of what authorities believe to be Russian multiple rocket launcher fire targeting residential areas. Moscow claimed to have destroyed the staging areas where foreign and Ukrainian fighters were to be deployed, as per Independent.

Related Article: Russia-Ukraine War: Vladimir Putin's Forces Kill 29 in Donetsk Attack, Ukraine Strikes Back in Kherson

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Pigs numbers in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, fell





As of May 3, 2022, the pig herd in Germany's second-largest pig-producing state, North Rhine-Westphalia, reached 6.1 million head, down 3.4% from November 2021 (6.3 million head), according to preliminary results from the state's statistical office.

The number of pig farms also fell by 2.3% (6,030), which represents 140 fewer farms than six months ago.

By category, in May this year, the number of finishing pigs, which represent almost 50% of the total pig herd, was 2.97 million head (-5.1% compared to November 2021). The number of finishing pigs between 50kg and 80kg experienced a slight increase (+1.8%), with 1.36 million head, but, on the other hand, the number of finishing pigs between 80kg and 110kg (-11%), with 1.28 million head, and 110kg (-7.6%), with 337,200 head, fell.

The number of young pigs of more than 50kg also decreased, with 987,000 head (-11.8%), while the number of piglets grew, with 1.77 million head (+4.9%).

- Statistical Office of North Rhine-Westphalia




Malaysian farmers urge government to provide subsidy for eggs



The Federation of Livestock Farmers Associations of Malaysia (FLFAM) has urged the Malaysian government to establish a subsidy for eggs at MYR 0.08 (~US$0.018; MYR 1 = US$0.23) per egg, to help the egg farming sector and ensure food security, The Star reported.

The FLFAM said they requested the subsidy due to soaring input costs, which includes higher costs for feed, raw materials, transportation, as well as labour issues.

Malaysia's Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry recently announced controlled farm prices for Grade A chicken eggs at MYR 0.41 (~US$0.092), Grade B at MYR 0.39 (~US$0.088) and Grade C at MYR 0.37. (~US$0.083). The ceiling price was fixed at MYR 0.45 (~US$0.10), MYR 0.43 (~US$0.097) and MYR 0.41 (~US$0.092) respectively.

The FLFAM also thanked the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry for supporting the farming sector with financial aid. They said the subsidies provided will help farmers survive and overcome losses.

Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia Finance Minister, announced additional subsidies of MYR 370 million (~US$83.3 million) has been allocated for chicken and eggs in July and August.

- The Star
New Omicron subvariants become health threat in U.S. summer COVID-19 surge

Xinhua) 08:51, July 12, 2022

LOS ANGELES, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The latest and most contagious versions of Omicron subvariants, known as BA.5 and BA.4, have accounted for over 70 percent of new COVID-19 infections in the United States, leading to new surge in cases and hospitalizations nationwide.

BA.5 became the dominant variant in the United States, making up about 54 percent of new cases in the week ending July 2, according to data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Another highly transmissible subvariant, BA.4, made up about 17 percent more.

The two subvariants are more contagious than earlier variants of Omicron, and also appear to evade protection from vaccines and previous infections more easily than most of their predecessors, according to health experts.

"These new variants could indeed pose threats to existing protection from previous infections or vaccines. There are many uncertainties," Jeffrey Sachs, professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

David Montefiori, a professor at the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University Medical Center, estimated that BA.4 and BA.5 are about three times less sensitive to neutralizing antibodies from existing COVID vaccines than the original version of the Omicron variant, BA.1.

Other research suggested that BA.4 and BA.5 are four times more resistant to antibodies from vaccines than BA.2, which replaced the Omicron variant as the dominant version of the coronavirus in the United States in April.

Bob Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said BA.5 manages to at least partially sidestep some of the immunity people may have from prior infections and vaccinations.

"Cases are already rising again in the U.S., and could rise substantially later this summer or in the fall, when there is a return to offices, schools, and other indoor facilities," Sachs told Xinhua.

The country is now averaging about 106,000 new COVID-19 cases and 300 new deaths each day, according to CDC data.

But experts believe the CDC case counts tremendously underestimated the true numbers because some people are no longer getting tested, and some others are testing at home and not reporting the results.

"I think that we will see increased BA.5 activity, hopefully without substantial increases in hospitalization or death," Stanley Perlman, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, told Xinhua.

"We are still far from over this pandemic. We need intensified global cooperation, most importantly between the U.S., China, and European Union, to ensure that all of the world takes appropriate control measures and has the necessary access to diagnostics, drugs, vaccines, and other necessary control technologies," Sachs told Xinhua.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
After 4Chan members claimed to have hacked Hunter Biden's iCloud account, rumors about Hunter Biden calling his father "Pedo Peter" started to circulate on social media.

Hunter, according to the users, saved America. The name is kept in President Joe Biden's phone contact list. The users uploaded screenshots of Hunter's laptop and phone on the website on Saturday night in addition to revealing a ton of contentious information on the social media platform.

Secret Service Acknowledges Hack Into Hunter Biden's iCloud Account

After some of its purported contents were posted on the internet forum 4Chan on Monday, the Secret Service declared that it is "informed" of a suspected hack of an iCloud owned by Hunter Biden.

According to NBC News, some of that information first came to light in the months leading up to the 2020 election when Rudy Giuliani, the personal attorney for former President Donald Trump, claimed to have purchased Hunter Biden's laptop from a Delaware computer shop and given a copy of the hard drive to the New York Post. Giuliani's refusal to provide NBC News with a copy of the hard drive at the time prevented them from verifying the details and veracity of the emails and other documents.

Earlier last year, NBC received a copy of the disc from a Giuliani representative. Hunter Biden and his company earned about $11 million thanks to his work as an attorney and board member with a Ukrainian company accused of bribery and his association with a Chinese businessman currently accused of fraud, according to an NBC analysis of the hard drive, iCloud account, and documents released from two Senate committees.

A request for comment on the alleged attack on Monday did not immediately elicit a response from Hunter Biden's legal counsel.

Hunter Biden acknowledged that federal investigators are looking into his "tax affairs" in a statement in December 2020. His representative claimed in May that Biden had settled all of his tax debts with the IRS, but legal experts have said that wouldn't necessarily exempt him from any potential criminal liability.

To assess the legitimacy of the drive and whether there were any indications of tampering, Konstantinos "Gus" Dimitrelos performed a thorough forensic investigation. Dimitrelos determined that Biden is the only individual capable of producing the data by cross-referencing tens of thousands of emails, papers, business records, text messages, Apple Notes, images, geolocation data, travel records, and other pieces of information on the drive.

Hunter Biden's iCloud account was synching his personal data with his MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad when the machine was last used in March 2019, according to records on the drive examined by Dimitrelos. Since 2011, 46 distinct gadgets, including more than 20 iPhones, eight Mac laptops, nine iPads, and three Apple TVs, have been linked to Hunter Biden's Apple ID account, which is used to check in to all Apple services, according to other documents, Dimitrelos said.

It's unclear if the most recent leak, which claims to come from the younger Biden's iCloud, originated from the same account linked to the hard drive that the Washington Examiner independently validated.

Read Also: China: Angry Protestors Try To Storm Zhengzhou Bank Over Massive Scam, COVID-19 Tracking Issue

Documents Reveal Further Hunter Biden Scandals

According to documents, messages, and videos that show Hunter Biden spent an amazing $30,000 on escorts over the course of five months, he may be prosecuted with federal prostitution crimes.

Records show that the president's son delivered checks to a Ukrainian woman whose activities were flagged by banks as being dubious. Ekaterina Moreva was identified in a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filed by JPMorgan Chase after she received tens of thousands of dollars from Hunter's business and ladies that the First Son paid for sex. Moreva has apartments in both Florida and New York.

Additionally, texts from Hunter's iPhone show him paying for escorts from Moreva, whose website promotes a "girlfriend experience" with prostitutes as young as 20, while passing them off as medical services. These escorts were delivered by Moreva.

Hunter got some of his hooker payments just hours after getting thousands of dollars from his father. Videos and pictures show Hunter helping to transport those prostitutes across state lines for a wild night with him, which may be a federal crime.

There is a likelihood that Hunter will face charges in connection with his encounters with prostitutes because the FBI has had access to the information since December 2019. Experts point out that convictions based only on claims of prostitution are unusual.

According to Daily Mail, a federal investigation against the president's son is reportedly investigating into potential tax violations, money laundering, and accused unlawful foreign lobbying in connection with his overseas business transactions.

Related Article: Elon Musk Goes Full Meme King, Channels Chuck Norris Amid Threat of Twitter Lawsuit

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In the wake of new privacy concerns post-Roe, the FTC has warned companies and data brokers that it would crack down on any misuse of health and location data. The agency stopped short of detailing any new steps to safeguard sensitive reproductive health data but stressed it would hunt down companies that break existing data privacy laws. In a new blog post, the FTC wrote that it was committed to using the full scope of its legal authorities to safeguard consumer privacy. It also noted that apps that track periods and fertility, as well as any product that collects health or location data could expose individuals to harm, particularly those seeking abortions.

The Commission is committed to using the full scope of its legal authorities to protect consumers privacy. We will vigorously enforce the law if we uncover illegal conduct that exploits Americans location, health, or other sensitive data. The FTCs past enforcement actions provide a roadmap for firms seeking to comply with the law, wrote the agencys acting associate director in the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection Kristin Cohen in the post.

The FTCs statement arrives only a few days after the Biden administrations July 8th executive order on abortion access, in which it asked the FTC to take steps to protect abortion data privacy, including launching a task force. In light of the Dobbs ruling, digital privacy groups have warned that police can easily use location tracking and other sensitive data to prosecute those suspecting of having an abortion in states where it is now illegal.

Period-tracking apps are just one of the many tools that law enforcement agencies can use to build a case against a person suspected of having an abortion. As both digital privacy groups have noted, fitness trackers, search histories, GPS map apps and practically any online activity could be fair game for law enforcement in states with abortion bans. Location data can also be misused. The FTC noted a 2017 Massachusetts case where a company sent targeted ads on abortion alternatives to anyone who crossed a digital fence outside an abortion clinic.

Perhaps as an example of how aggressive it has been with apps that misused reproduction health data in the past, the FTC also mentioned a settlement it reached last year with popular period-tracking app Flo. The agency had alleged that Flo shared sensitive health data with outside parties, despite promising to keep such information private. As a result, Flo agreed to obtain user consent prior to sharing information with outside parties and to launch an independent privacy review. Flo is hardly the only reproductive health app to share sensitive user data. A May study of 20 different period-tracking apps by VPN company Surfshark found that nine shared data for third-party ads and 10 collected coarse location information.
Some Meta employees could lose their jobs as the company prepares for leaner times ahead. According to The Information, Maher Saba, Meta's VP for Remote Presence, has instructed managers to identify people on their team who "need support" by end of day on Monday. He also told the managers to "move to exit" poor performers "who are unable to get on track." Based on that wording, employees who get singled out will get the chance to redeem themselves, but since the company didn't respond to the publication's request for comment, it's not entirely clear what that means.

A person familiar with the matter told The Washington Post that workers are concerned that this will be used to create "performance improvement plans" that end up resulting in mass layoffs. Saba also reportedly wrote in his note: "If a direct report is coasting or is a low performer, they are not who we need; they are failing this company. As a manager, you cannot allow someone to be net neutral or negative for Meta."

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned employees during a Q&A session earlier this month that the company is experiencing "one of the worst downturns [it has seen] in recent history." It previously said that it's slowing hiring this year, but it was at that session when Meta revealed that it's slashing its target number for new engineers hires by about 30 percent. Zuckerberg also announced at the time that Meta is going to raise expectations on its employees and giving them more aggressive goals. "I think some of you might decide that this place isn't for you, and that self-selection is okay with me. Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn't be here," he said.

The social network/metaverse company started preparing to cut costs due to weak revenue forecasts a few months ago, even going as far as to axe some of its metaverse initiatives. Facebook lost daily active users in the last quarter of 2021, and while it bounced back a bit in the first quarter of this year, Meta expects a revenue drop in part because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company also expects to lose $10 billion in revenue due to the changes in Apple's privacy settings on iOS, which limits advertisers' access to the unique code that enables them to show users targeted ads.
For the past week, a handful of high-profile and Michelin-starred restaurants from San Francisco to New York City have been targeted in an extortion campaign weaponizing Google reviews. It appears to be a coordinated effort: The restaurants receive a barrage of one-star reviews on Google  you know, the ratings that show up when you search for anything on Maps  and then the owners receive an apologetic email asking for a $75 Google Play gift card in order to stop the digital bombing.

Kim Alter is chef and owner of Nightbird, a fine dining restaurant in San Francisco that was hit by this campaign. On July 5th, she shared an email she received from the extortionists after her restaurant was inundated with negative reviews. The email read as follows:

"Hello. Unfortunately, negative feedback about your establishment has been left by us. And will appear in the future, one review a day. We sincerely apologize for our actions, and would not want to harm your business, but we have no other choice. The fact is that we live in India and see no other way to survive. We are begging you to send us google play gift card worth $75."

The message then offered a link to buy the gift card on PayPal and an email address to receive the code. It concluded with another apology.

Alter shared the email on Twitter and tagged Google, asking for the company's help in removing scam-related reviews. She tagged a handful of other acclaimed SF-based restaurants that were experiencing the same review bombing, including Sons & Daughters, Acquerello, 3rd Cousin, Marlena, Birdsong and Nari. But this wasn't just a West coast thing  high-profile restaurants across the country received the same threats and negative reviews this past week, including Ever, Roux, EL Ideas and Sochi Saigonese Kitchen in Chicago.

A Google Maps spokesperson told The New York Times on Monday that the company was investigating the issue and removing reviews from people who didn't actually visit these establishments. The Google Maps team explained in February how it used machine learning and live moderation to identify and stop review bombing, writing, "Our systems continue to analyze the contributed content and watch for questionable patterns. These patterns can be anything from a group of people leaving reviews on the same cluster of Business Profiles to a business or place receiving an unusually high number of 1 or 5-star reviews over a short period of time."

This particular extortion campaign seems to fall in that final category, with restaurants receiving a bunch of one-star reviews at once, but owners like Alter had to take the issue to social media to get help from Google. One week after Alter's tweet, it looks like the scam-related one-star reviews have been purged from the affected restaurants' profiles  for now.
Sony's WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones have been some of our favorites since they first came out in 2020. While the company has since moved on to the XM5, which build upon the solid foundation of the XM4, the 2020 version remains a great options for those who prefer over-ear headphones and want strong ANC in a comfortable package. Thanks to Amazon Prime Day deals, you can pick up the WH-1000XM4 for only $228, which is a new record-low price and $120 off their usual rate. Those who like wireless earbuds more can also snag the WF-1000XM4 buds for only $198 right now, too.

We gave the WH-1000XM4 a score of 94 when they first came out. We liked their comfortable design with padded earcups and headband, and the new matte finish they have. You'll be able to wear them for hours on end, and their battery life will support that, too. The XM4 should last up to 30 hours on a single charge, so you could wear them a few hours a day for more than a week before they'll need more juice.

These headphones also excel when it comes to sound quality and ANC. Audio is immersive with excellent clarity and detail, plus these cans support Sony's 360 Reality Audio as well. ANC is strong and adjustable via the companion app, and you can even turn on a feature that will automatically change the ANC levels depending on your location.

Sony added a few new features when it debuted the XM4, namely multi-device connectivity and Speak to Chat. The former lets you connect to two devices at once, switching between them as needed. This feature works quite well as you can seamlessly go from listening to music on your laptop to taking a call on your smartphone. Speak to Chat, when enabled in the mobile app, will automatically pause audio when the headphones' mics sense that you're speaking.

We should note that Sony's new XM5 did dethrone the XM4 as our current favorite pair of wireless headphones. The $398 cans have all of the same features as the XM4, but they have a more refined design, additional mics and even better sound quality and ANC. But those upgrades do come at a hefty price, so if you're willing to skip them, you can get an excellent pair of cans for much less right now.

As for the WF-1000XM4, they are the true wireless earbud equivalents to Sony's over-ear headphones. You'll get a lot of the same features on these buds too, including 360 Reality Audio support, solid ANC, great sound quality and a formidable battery life.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
Malaga

Froilan se encontraba celebrando su cumpleanos en la discoteca de Marbella donde se produjo el tiroteo con cinco heridos
Chinese residents are fearing a potential second major lockdown as a surge of a subvariant of the Omicron virus in the region is threatening to force officials into action.

The country's most populous city, Shanghai, confirmed over the weekend that the increasingly dominant subvariant of omicron had arrived only weeks after officials declared victory against COVID-19 following a citywide lockdown.

Omicron Subvariant Surge

While the total number of infections in China remains relatively low compared with many other countries, with the National Health Commission reporting on Monday that 352 locally transmitted infections were recorded in the region, Beijing has continued to be concerned that the highly transmissible subvariant's arrival will lead to a mass outbreak.

Shanghai authorities also quickly tried to ease worries of a potential return to April and May, when the city's disruptive coronavirus restrictions occurred. When asked about whether or not another large-scale lockdown was possible, the Chinese government said that the only plan they had was to conduct PCR tests for all residents in nine of the city's 16 districts, as per the Washington Post.

Only one street had been designated high risk but 37 others were deemed medium risk on Monday, which means that residents will not be allowed to leave their homes. On Weibo, a microblogging platform, many residents noted that Shanghai officials had made similar denials about a wider lockdown in March.

Read Also: Dutch Authorities Offer 'Deepest Apologies' For Role in 1995 Srebrenica Massacre That Killed Roughly 8,000

One comment on the platform that received more than 10,000 likes read, "Originally, I half-believed them. As soon as there was a denial, I rushed to stock up on goods." Furthermore, a growing concern among residents clashed with continued upbeat messaging from propagandists.

According to the Wall Street Journal, in the past seven days, more than 2,300 locally transmitted cases have been reported nationwide. The central province of Anhui, which is a producer of steel, autos, and computers, is the worst affected, peaking at 292 cases daily more than a week ago.

China's Lockdowns

Chinese President Xi Jinping had previously lauded the claimed effectiveness of the country's zero-COVID policies in containing outbreaks driven by the highly infectious omicron variant. However, given that only five of the 31 provincial-level regions have reported zero cases since Shanghai's lockdown officially ended on June 1, preventing another outbreak while avoiding severe damage to the economy would be a big challenge.

Shanghai authorities said on Sunday that the city found its first locally transmitted infection of the omicron subvariant BA.5 which was traced to an earlier imported case. The strain, which has now dominated the United States, is considered as the most infective version yet because of its ability to evade immunity built up by previous infections and vaccines.

In northwestern China, the city of Xi'an, which is home to roughly 13 million people, was partially shut down on Wednesday after reporting the country's first outbreak of the highly transmissible omicron subvariant.

The region recorded 18 COVID-19 infections from Saturday to Monday, all of which were found to be the omicron BA.5 subvariant. Xi'an officials on Tuesday announced sweeping restrictions that would shut down several parts of the city for seven days starting from Wednesday, CNN reported.



Related Article: China: Angry Protestors Try To Storm Zhengzhou Bank Over Massive Scam, COVID-19 Tracking Issue

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Foreign exchange analysts at MUFG consider that expectations of increased fiscal support under a new Conservative Prime Minister could provide an element of Sterling support, but it expects underlying UK and global vulnerability, together with the threat of further Euro losses, will have a bigger impact and maintain pressure on the Pound to Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate)

It adds; We maintain a bearish view for GBP and in the likely scenario of EUR/USD breaching parity soon, GBP/USD will likely extend to new [2-Year] lows beyond the 1.1876 low recorded last week.

GBP/USD retreated to around 1.1950 on Monday as EUR/USD posted renewed losses to near 1.0100.

Tax Promises Wont Alter GBP/USD Trajectory

MUFG notes the rampant talk surrounding tax cuts and a more expansionary fiscal policy, but does not expect a positive impact on the Pound.

Firstly, it points out the longer-term fears over UK fiscal policy, illustrated by last weeks report by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR). It quotes the report as saying; the UK is on an unsustainable fiscal path with debt-to-GDP on course to reach 267% over a 50-year outlook.

The report adds that to take debt-to-GDP back to the pre-covid stable level of 75% would involve sustained fiscal tightening.

According to MUFG; The OBR made clear that tax cuts now would be inappropriate as the benefits would be outweighed by the cost.

In the context of medium-term expectations it adds; Any fiscal easing by a new leader could provide some support for growth but unlikely by a degree that would alter notably the near-term course for rates and GBP.

As far as Bank of England (BoE) policy is concerned, it expects there will be further rate hikes in August and September before the bank is forced to pause.

MUFG considers that the constraints on BoE tightening will limit potential Pound support.

Brexit Tensions could be Dialled Back

MUFG notes that a new Conservative leader could take a more conciliatory stance surrounding Brexit and aim to limit tensions surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol.

MUFG doubts there will be a significant impact as it considers that Sterling losses have been due to wider fundamental concerns rather than Brexit concerns.

It adds; we do not believe GBP underperformance reflected much of a risk premium related to the protocol legislation.

Global Risk Appetite Vulnerable

The Pound performance in currency markets is linked closely to trends in the global economy and asset prices.

In this context, the more hostile environment has contributed to Pound losses and MUFG expects further vulnerability ahead.

It adds; The positive correlation between risk assets and GBP TWI is clear (especially since covid) and given challenging financial conditions will persist, further GBP depreciation is likely.
Washington, DCThe last World War II recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor (MOH), Hershel "Woody" Williams, will receive another of the greatest honors granted an individual by the United States Government. Williams, who passed away at the age of 98 on June 29, 2022, will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol.

Mr. Williams will lie in state on Thursday, July 14 between 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

"Out of 669,100 marines who fought in WWII, only 82 were awarded the MOH," says Bryan Rigg, author of Flamethrower: Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient and U.S. Marine Woody Williams and His Controversial Award.

Woody Williams received the Medal of Honor, the highest medal for valor in the United States military, for his actions on Iwo Jima island on February 23, 1945, when he used a flamethrower against the Imperial Japanese army positioned in fortified underground "pillboxes."

Taking Iwo Jima was considered strategically sound because, at 600-miles away from Japan, it could serve as a base to launch air assaults and mount the final act of invasion. Twenty thousand Japanese were entrenched in underground tunnels and bunkers on Iwo Jima, ready to fight to the end. The battles on Iwo Jima were some of the bloodiest in Marine Corps history but the leathernecks prevailed.

Those interested in learning more about Iwo Jima, the Marines, and Woody Williams can dive deep with Flamethrower by Dr. Bryan Mark Rigg. This compelling account of a critical phase of the Pacific War, focused on the U.S. Marines of the 3rd Div., 21st Regiment, 1st Battalion, C Company and their Japanese adversaries, has been referred to as the Marine Corps version of Band of Brothers. Flamethrower highlights the importance of Iwo Jima in the course of history and connects this American triumph to the war's ultimate conclusionthe bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The book also explores Japan's Holocaust and the men who served Emperor Hirohito like no other book to date.

Flamethrower is the only book on World War II endorsed by two Marine Corp commandants, (USMC 31st Commandant, General Charles C. Krulak, USMC 29th Commandant, General Al Gray) and a Marine Corp general, (General Anthony C. Zinni USMC (Retired)). It was also endorsed by the former head of the Marine Corps Historical Division as well a famous author of "Chesty," Colonel Jon Hoffman.

Flamethrower, ISBN: 978-1734534108, Published by Fidelis Historia, available on Kindle, Audible and hardcover on Amazon. For more info go to www.BryanMarkRigg.com.

About the Author: Dr. Bryan Mark Rigg, the Biographer of Woody Williams, the Last WWII Medal of Honor Recipient and author of FLAMETHROWER. Dr. Rigg is a recipient of the 2002 William E. Colby award for his work Hitler's Jewish Soldiers.

He received his undergraduate degree from Yale earning honors in History; the university subsequently awarded him the Henry Fellowship to study at Cambridge University where he received his MA and PhD. Since then, he has written five acclaimed books on World War II and the Holocaust and his newest title, Conquering Learning Disabilities at Any Age.

Media Contact: To arrange an interview with Dr. Bryan Rigg please contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 248-705-2214. Reach Lorenz on twitter @abookpublicist
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Budget carrier Spirit Airlines is returning to San Antonio International Airport in the fall with direct flights to Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla.

The news is a win for the airport, which has long struggled to attract nonstop service.

Spirit, currently a buyout target of both Frontier Airlines and JetBlue Airways, said Monday that it will begin daily flights to Harry Reid International Airport and Orlando International Airport on Nov. 17.

Spirit coming to San Antonio International Airport gives our community more family-friendly travel options, said Jesus Saenz, San Antonios airport director. Its a win-win because its making traveling to far destinations more accessible.

Frontier, Allegiant Air, Sun Country Airlines and Southwest Airlines already offer nonstop service to Las Vegas from San Antonio. Frontier and Southwest offer nonstops to Orlando.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio International Airport  long deemed stodgy, small-time  to get new terminal by 2028

Novembers takeoffs wont be Spirits first from San Antonio. In 2008, it offered service to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but it canceled the flights the next year.

Its offering introductory fares starting at $89 one way for trips from Nov. 30 through Dec. 14, excluding Fridays and Sundays.

Fellow budget carrier JetBlue announced last year that it would offer service from San Antonio to New York and Boston. Airline analysts have said the absence of JetBlue and Spirit previously has contributed to higher fares at the local airport, particularly in comparison to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Spirit will be the 13th carrier at San Antonio International.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio economic development group launches fund to entice more nonstop flights to the airport

In a bid to draw more nonstop flights to Europe, Canada, Mexico, the Bay Area and other destinations, economic development organization Greater:SATX last week announced the creation of a fund that so far has raised $3 million from the private sector.

The fund will primarily be used to guarantee airlines that a minimum number of seats will be paid for on flights from San Antonio. It was not used to attract Spirits new flights.

As a new carrier, Spirit will receive $100,000 for marketing as well as landing fee and rental waivers for one year. It must provide service for 12 consecutive months and offer a minimum of 104 departures for each route.

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.

San Antonio International also continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, which saw airlines cut routes and passenger volumes plummet, but at a slower rate than other U.S. airports.

About 814,300 passengers flew through San Antonio International in May, up 18.8 percent from the same month in 2021. It was about 90.9 percent of the level during the same month in 2019, which was the busiest May in the airports history.

Frontier and JetBlue have been battling for months over acquiring Spirit, which is based in Miramar, Fla.

Frontier and Spirit announced merger plans in February, but JetBlue launched a takeover effort in May. Frontiers offer is now worth about $2.7 billion, and JetBlues is worth about $3.7 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Shareholder votes on Frontiers proposal have been postponed several times. Either deal would result in the fifth-largest U.S. airline, according to the Journal.

madison.iszler@express-news.net
Authorities said they identified the person responsible for the sexual assault and death of a 12-year-old Texas girl in 1979 through DNA.

In a news release on Monday, the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office identified Gerald Dwight Casey, of Conroe, as the prime suspect in the death of Lesia Michell Jackson. Casey, however, died by lethal injection in 2002 for a murder conviction in 1989.

Lesia was last seen on Sept. 7, 1979, walking home from her neighborhood pool in Conroe, located about 40 minutes northwest of Houston.

On ExpressNews.com: Tattoos helped ID Texas man as body found in Alabama river 22 years ago

An extensive search was conducted the next day, but only her eyeglasses were found. On Sept. 13, an oilfield worker found her body in a heavily wooded area about 5 miles from her home.

Authorities found the bikini, shredded T-shirt and gold butterfly necklace that she had been wearing the day she went missing near her body. Officials said she had been strangled and sexually assaulted before her body was dumped.

The investigation would go cold until October 2021, when the sheriff's office used modern DNA technology to process evidence from her clothing.

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office

After entering the DNA evidence into a national database, it matched with Casey.

Police did not say why Casey may have committed the crime or whether he knew Lesia before her death.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will announce new investments in the Pacific and the opening of two embassies when she addresses a summit on Wednesday of island nations that are increasingly coming under Chinese influence.

Harris will speak virtually at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji. Her invitation from Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama to speak is remarkable given that the forum's dialogue partners  including the United States, China, Britain and France  have not been invited to this years summit.

She will propose new embassies in Tonga and in Kiribati, a Micronesian state that split this week from the 18-nation forum in a major blow to regional harmony, a White House statement said.

Harris will also propose requesting that Congress triple funding for fisheries assistance to $60 million a year and the appointment of the first U.S. envoy to the forum.

The United States and the forums wealthiest nations, Australia and New Zealand, are concerned about a security pact signed this year between China and the Solomon Islands.

The United States proposes reopening the embassy it closed in the Solomon Islands in 1993.

Both the Solomon Islands and Kiribati recently shifted their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing. Kiribatis withdrawal from the forum is being interpreted as a deepening of Chinas influence in the region.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday urged forum nations to unite on their shared challenges from U.S.-China strategic competition, climate change and COVID-19.

All the nations are seeking to navigate those challenges. And we do it best when we can do it together, Wong said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who arrived Monday in Fiji, described Kiribatis withdrawal as disappointing. Wong said the door remains open to Kiribati returning.

The forums secretary general, Henry Puna, on Tuesday addressed our brothers and sisters from Micronesia and appealed for reconciliation.

I acknowledge again the breakdown in our connections of the past two years, the former Cook Islands prime minister said.

My hope is that through our dialogue mechanism and the resolutions that we are working towards, you continue to find value and indeed belonging within the forum, Puna added.

Puna was elected secretary general last year over a Micronesian candidate, deepening the rift between Kiribati and the other nations.

The Fiji Sun newspaper reported that Prime Minister Bainimarama, who is currently the forums chair as this years host, was unable to reach Kiribati President Taneti Maamau on Monday for a possible rapprochement.

Maamau did not reply to AP's email or phone call on Tuesday.

In his opening address at the forum, Bainimarama said Pacific nations had a choice.

The most important consideration for us this week is this: How will we, the Pacific Islands Forum, choose to navigate these challenges and opportunities as we voyage into the future? he asked. Will we forge ahead together? Will we take individual paths? Will we be assertive or will we leave it to others to decide our fate?

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a speech in Washington, D.C., that Australia and the Unites States will need to do more to counter a growing number of threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

Due to the pandemic, the Suva summit will be the Pacific leaders first opportunity for face-to-face meetings since 2019, when the forum met in Tuvalu.

In May, China fell short on a bold plan to have 10 Pacific nations endorse a sweeping new agreement covering everything from security to fisheries as some in the region expressed deep concerns. But there were plenty of smaller wins for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his island-hopping tour of the region, including bilateral agreements.

Wang was in Fiji on May 30 to co-host a key meeting with the foreign ministers from the 10 island nations. At an unusual news conference afterward, Wang and Bainimarama spoke for about 30 minutes and then abruptly left the stage as reporters tried to shout out questions. That left many details of what transpired at the meeting unanswered, but it was clear the nations hadnt endorsed Chinas plan.
A 44-year-old San Antonio woman accused of holding two brothers for ransom is facing an aggravated kidnapping charge.

Reynaicela Alcasar was arrested Monday, and her bail was set at $100,000.

According to an affidavit supporting her arrest, the sister of the brothers called San Antonio police to report that Alcasar and other individuals were demanding money in return for their family members, who were being held against will June 20-21.

On ExpressNews.com: These are the most stolen vehicles in San Antonio

The kidnappers also threatened to hurt and/or kill the brothers if they did not receive the ransom, the affidavit said.

Other individuals were arrested in connection with the case, but authorities have not identified them.

According to the affidavit, Alcasar drove the brothers to a Walmart, located near U.S. 281 and Loop 1604, where they cashed a $2,000 Western Union payment from the family.

The police identified Alcasar from the Western Union transaction number and through the personal information she left when she withdrew the money, the affidavit said.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
A California doctor has a plan to launch a floating reproductive health clinic in the Gulf of Mexico, where care will be regulated by federal -- not state -- law.

The plan -- currently in the fundraising stage -- hopes to make surgical abortions, contraception and other reproductive health services available to Gulf Coast patients living in states restricting such services.

"Those in the most southern parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas may be closer to the coast than to facilities in bordering states where abortion and reproductive health care are available," reads the website for the ship, named PRROWESS -- an acronym for Protecting Reproductive Rights of Women Endangered by State Statutes. It added that similar facilities "have been used by the military and relief organizations for years."

The plan was first reported by San Francisco-based KCBS Radio, which said that the effort was being organized by a Bay Area Ob-Gyn, Meg Autry.

Autry, who is from the South, told the Chronicle that her inspiration traces back to a phenomenon popular along the Mississippi: riverboat casinos. The fact that different laws applied to gambling on land and on water led her to consult with lawyers about whether there may be a way to continue providing abortion access after the Supreme Court reversed the Roe vs. Wade decision that protected the procedure.

"We believe that patients should be able to make a choice," she said.

The legal team of the PRROWESS now includes maritime lawyers and criminal attorneys, who have determined that a floating clinic in federal waters would be able to legally provide services that individual states may restrict, such as surgical abortions.

One of her partners also conducted a study that found a sizeable number of patients in the South said they would seek care on a vessel if it was their closest option.

When, roughly a year ago, the rollback of Roe vs. Wade began to seem likely, the group stepped up organizing efforts, securing seed funding to pay ship and security consultants. It recently launched the fundraiser.

The PRROWESS website does not say how much funding would be required to launch a floating clinic -- in part, Autry explained, because it depends on the vessel they're able to secure. She estimated it would take roughly $20 million unless a ship is donated. The funds would cover the purchase of the boat, the retrofitting process to turn it into a clinic and equipment such as beds and ultrasound machines. The timeline for the floating clinic depends on its fundraising success, but Autry hopes it will be able to open in a year.

After one-time costs are met, the ship would rely on ongoing donations to cover operational costs such as medical procedures, crew and security. Autry and other medical providers would volunteer their labor, each taking time off from their regular lives for stints at sea.

The PRROWESS would offer surgical abortions up to 14 weeks after conception, as well as contraception, vaccinations and on-site testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. The ship would have a helicopter in addition to water shuttles so that patients could be quickly transported in case of emergencies.

Patients would be pre-screened and provided transportation arrangements onto the vessel, which would operate three weeks out of every month, to give it down time for maintenance and flexibility for weather conditions. Autry estimated that the clinic would be able to see 1,800 patients every six months, but said that number would increase if it acquired a larger ship.

Autry said the floating clinic would be an important resource for patients living near the Gulf who wanted a surgical abortion, since the proximity would make it easier for them to get to and require them to take less time off from work. It may also be less expensive than flying patients to states where abortion is legal.
A Texas death row inmate who petitioned officials to delay his execution so he could donate a kidney has been granted a stay of execution, according to state officials, though the decision was not related to his desire to donate an organ.

Ramiro Felix Gonzales, who was sentenced to death in 2006 for murdering a woman in Medina County, will no longer be executed on Wednesday as scheduled.

The Criminal Court of Appeals on Monday granted a stay of execution for Gonzales, remanding one aspect of the case back to the trial court. The execution will be blocked until that court settles the matter.

DEATH PENALTY: How many innocent people are executed in Texas? Melissa Lucio case spotlights a troubling list

The appeals courts decision was based on the assertion that a psychiatrist gave false testimony during the murder trial about extremely high recidivism rates for sexual offenders.

In fact, the motion stated, that testimony from Dr. Edward Gripon was nothing more than myth.

Additionally, Gripon testified that Gonzales suffered from a personality disorder and predicted that he would pose a threat to others in the future  a legal requirement for imposing the death sentence in Texas.

Gripon recently reevaluated Gonzales, according to the inmates attorneys, and determined that he does not have a personality disorder and does not pose a risk of future danger, court documents show.

The court of appeals did not factor that argument into its decision, however, according to a brief from the court.

The determination of future dangerousness is made at the time of trial and is not properly reevaluated on habeas, the court wrote.

The attorneys for Gonzales also argued that he was 18 at the time of the crime, barely old enough to face capital punishment, though the appeals court dismissed that claim.

OTHER: Melissa Lucio gets stay of execution 2 days before scheduled killing by lethal injection

Gonzales is represented by Raoul Schonemann and Thea Posel from the Capital Punishment Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law and Michael Gross, a San Antonio attorney, according to court filings.

The attorneys had also filed a petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles in which they asked officials to commute the death sentence to a lesser penalty, or alternatively, grant a 180-day reprieve.

The pardons and parole board on Monday voted unanimously to not recommend the commutation or the reprieve, according to the agency.

Meanwhile, the attorneys representing Gonzales have written letters to Gov. Greg Abbott asking for a delayed execution in order to give Gonzales enough time to make a lifesaving organ donation.

A spokesperson from Abbotts office did not respond to a request for comment.

There are two potential recipients for the donation, including a cancer survivor in Washington who shares a rare blood type with Gonzales, according to the attorneys.

Gonzales has sought to become a living kidney donor for the past year and a half after corresponding with a spiritual leader about the possibility. His desire to donate is in keeping with his efforts to atone for his crimes, the attorneys wrote in a clemency petition.

Doctors approved Gonzales as an organ donor last spring and determined that he was an excellent candidate, according to his attorneys. However, Gonzales was not a match for the intended recipient because of his rare Type B blood.

CRIME: San Antonio man charged with capital murder in fatal shooting of Houston educators  his parents

Since his conviction and sentencing, Gonzales has expressed remorse for the killing and turned to spirituality, art and meditation in prison, his attorneys said. He spends his time reading, studying theology and corresponding with pen pals.

Gonzales was born in a small town southwest of San Antonio and raised by his grandparents, according to the attorneys petition. He suffered from neglect, abuse and trauma that contributed to a drug addiction, the petition said.

In 2001, he kidnapped and murdered Bridget Townsend after she saw Gonzales stealing drugs from her boyfriends home, according to the petition.

The next year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for a separate case in which he abducted and raped a real estate agent, attorneys said. He then confessed to Townsends murder and led authorities to her body.

PRISON: Family of Fort Bend man hoped his jailing might lead to a fresh start. Instead, he died in custody.

During the trial in Medina County, prosecutors included testimony from a jail house informant who has since recanted statements that painted Gonzales as a sexual predator, according to Gonzales attorneys.

Gonzales was sentenced to death in September 2006 and has remained on death row since then.

Ramiro is a compelling example of genuine, self-motivated rehabilitation, and his growth behind bars demonstrates the human capacity for redemption, his attorneys said.

anna.bauman@chron.com
Eagerly anticipated by scientists and non-scientists alike, President Joe Biden released the first image from the James Webb Space Telescope on Monday, revealing what NASA called a "glimpse" into 13.5 billion years of cosmic history.

JOURNEY TO SPACE: Why NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has 'perfectly misshaped' mirrors

The image taken by the $10 billion infrared telescope showed "a little speck of the universe," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. "What you are seeing there are galaxies that are shining around other galaxies where light has been bent."

Launched on Christmas Day from French Guiana on the northernmost edge of South America, Webb traveled more than 1 million miles from Earth to its current location. The mission is expected to last more than a decade.

NASA/Bill Ingalls

Biden could barely contain his enthusiasm Monday as he introduced the image. "That blows my mind -- a million miles into the cosmos," Biden said. "It's astounding to me."

Vice President Kamala Harris, also present during the White House reveal, said Webb's dispatches would "inspire future generations to look to heavens with excitement and ambition."

A panel of NASA scientists will release additional data and full color photographs Tuesday morning. The White House unexpectedly usurped the reveal after months of speculation about what the first image would contain.

First conceived in 1996 as a successor to the vaunted Hubble Space Telescope, the infrared telescope was designed to shed light on the formation of our solar system, capturing information about the earliest galaxies that formed 100 million years after the Big Bang.

The space agency has said more information from Webb would be made public in the months to come.

Until Tuesday afternoon, the image had been glimpsed only by a handful of agency administrators. Pamela Melroy, NASAs deputy administrator and a former astronaut, teased its contents at a news conference in June, saying it had touched her "as a scientist, an engineer and a human being."

Scientists overcame a series of challenges to deploy the telescope, considered one of the most complex projects ever attempted by NASA and its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. More than 10,000 people have worked on it, some of whom spent their entire careers waiting for Monday's reveal.

GAME-CHANGER: NASA says James Webb Space Telescope is 'absolutely phenomenal' and will meet or exceed goals

Designed to observe distant galaxies, Webb is expected to enable scientists to study the birth of stars and probe atmospheres of planets outside our solar system for signs of ozone, water or carbon dioxide. Construction began in 2004, but Congress nearly canceled the project in 2011, after years of delays and cost overruns.

The telescope finally launched into space in late December and reached its final destination  the second sun-Earth Lagrange point  in late January, only to be struck by a micrometeoroid in May. NASA said the telescope was designed to survive such impacts, and that the impact would not affect its ability to capture data.
In five years, medically under-served residents in the southern and northeastern portions of Bexar County will have more access to treatment through two new county hospitals.

The county agreed Tuesday to authorize University Health to issue up to $500 million in certificates of obligation to pay for more than half of the $950 million cost to build the facilities. University Health will finance the remaining expense. County officials previously said property taxes wouldnt be affected.

University Health announced the plans more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted the need for better access to medical care in the southern portions of the county and poorer neighborhoods. In those communities, the mortality rate has been higher, fewer people are vaccinated and more cases of the coronavirus have been reported.

Additionally, county leaders in May vowed to spend $60 million in federal COVID relief funds to hire a public health director and revamp health care.

The new hospitals reflect University Healths goal of providing smaller facilities with community-focused service to residents closer to their homes. Theyll be built near Texas A&M University-San Antonio on the South Side and the Retama Park area in Selma.

Commissioner Tommy Calvert, who has been an advocate of both projects to expand medical treatment to traditionally under-served areas, said they are a good business decision for the county that will pay for themselves and fill two tremendous gaps in health care services.

Since University Hospital opened its Sky Tower in 2014, the health systems emergency department has seen a 22 percent rise in visits to 102,000 projected for this year.

On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County vision of public health equity taking shape

In that same period, hospital admissions have increased 23 percent, from 458 to 565 patients daily.

The result is that University Hospital does not have sufficient operating beds to meet community demand, county documents state.

Also Tuesday, the Commissioners Court received an update on the local response to the June 27 discovery of dozens of people who died in an unventilated trailer. Dr. Kimberley Molina, chief medical examiner, highlighted the need for more help handling an unprecedented caseload in the last two years. The office also responded to the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde that left 22 people dead, including the gunman.

We honestly cannot sustain this workload, Molina told commissioners.

The medical examiners office, which shares a building with the countys criminal investigation laboratory, will have a larger space once the crime lab relocates to a newly renovated facility in about a year. But Molina said population growth, a rise in homicides and the COVID-19 pandemic have driven up her staff caseload.

She plans to present a budget request this summer to enlarge her staff at all levels, from clerical to a vacant medical examiners position, when theres a national shortage of forensic pathologists.

We need help. We need personnel, said Molina, who leads a staff of 61 employees, up from 56 in 2021.

The office investigated 13,688 deaths in 2019 and 16,200 in 2020, and the numbers continue to rise. Molina said her staff is on track to perform 400 autopsies per forensic pathologist this year, above the National Association of Medical Examiners recommended limit of 250.

Outside the meeting, Molina told reporters she will do whatever it takes to get her amazing and dedicated staff the help and resources they need to maintain accreditation with the association while responding to routine cases and disasters.

All of that work still has to be done while were handling these mass-fatality events she said. It is difficult work. It is challenging work.

Of the 53 people ages 13 to 55 who were found dead June 27 or later died in the hospital, 26 were citizens of Mexico, 21 were from Guatemala and six were from Honduras. Forty were men, and 13 were women.

Molina said all but two of the people had been released from her office after weeks of work to positively identify and repatriate them back to their home countries with the dignity and respect that they deserve.

Earlier at Tuesdays meeting, Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores read the 53 names. She noted the ages of the minors and sometimes strained with emotion as she read.

In other business, commissioners cast a 3-2 vote in favor of a $2 million preliminary engineering study on The Link, a proposed four-block pedestrian waterway downtown connecting San Pedro Creek with the River Walk. Calvert has been a champion of the project and last year secured $41.1 million in the county budget for it.

The yearlong study, in partnership with the San Antonio River Authority, will identify engineering, hydrology, permitting and property acquisition issues and final cost projections. Clay-Flores said she could not support the study when there are still many projects left undone in her South Side precinct. Commissioner Marialyn Barnard was reluctant to support the study because the city hasnt firmly committed to the project.

On ExpressNews.com: The Link seeks to connect River Walk, San Pedro Creek

Commissioner Justin Rodriguez had concerns that the full project cost could mushroom into hundreds of millions of dollars. But he said he recognized the potential for the project and the work Calvert has put into it and joined Calvert and County Judge Nelson Wolff in voting for the study.

Also approved Tuesday were:

 Establishment of an immigrant legal services program for county residents with an initial $1 million allocation. The county estimates there are nearly 7,000 detained and nondetained immigrants currently in need of legal representation. Commissioners approved the action in a 4-1 vote after hearing comments in support from several immigration advocates. Barnard, saying she supported the concept but felt there were too many other needs facing the county, voted against the proposal.

 A $6.4 million, 2.5-mile extension of the Zarzamora Creek greenway trail on the West Side, in partnership with the city and the river authority. The extension from Tierra Del Sol Park to Alderete Park is expected to take about three years to complete.

shuddleston@express-news.net
Former United States Attorney General William Barr is facing a subpoena as part of an ongoing 2020 election defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.

The voting machine company filed to subpoena former President Donald Trump's ex-AG last week, the latest sign that the company's lawsuits against those who pushed false claims of election fraud may be gathering steam.

Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox News

Dominion also recently issued an additional string of subpoenas to officials, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who Trump famously called after the 2020 election. The former president allegedly asked the official to help him "find" the exact number of votes he needed to win the state of Georgia.

In the voting machine company's $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed against Fox News last March, it alleges that the media outlet pushed false accusations that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election in order to make a profit and boost ratings.

"Fox sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process," the company said in its complaint. Fox News responded by saying that it would "vigorously" defend itself against the "baseless lawsuit in court," as per ABC News.

During the first public hearing of the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, Barr said in a clip that the baseless allegations that Dominion machines switched votes from Joe Biden to Trump were "complete nonsense" and "amongst the most disturbing."

Read Also: 2024 Election: NY Times Insists Joe Biden Is Too Old for Re-Election, Groups Regret Voting Him in 2020

The former attorney general said that the allegations were "crazy" and that they were only a waste of time. The conspiracy theories against Dominion were repeatedly pushed by the former president and his allies.

According to The Hill, Dominion's legal team also argued that Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch decided to "promote former President Trump's narrative after Trump's condemnation of Fox damaged its stock and viewership."

Conspiracy Theories of Election Fraud

Last month, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis denied a motion from Fox Corp. to dismiss the lawsuit. He wrote that the voting systems company "adequately states a claim for defamation per se against Fox Corporation based on its theory of direct liability."

The media outlet has moved to dismiss the case on First Amendment grounds, arguing in a recent statement that "limiting the ability of the press to report freely on the American election process stands in stark contrast to the liberties on which this nation was founded."

The situation comes as the House Select Committee continues to investigate the events before, during, and after the Jan. 6 insurrection and how deep Trump's involvement goes. They argued that the former president has consistently pushed the conspiracy theory of election fraud in order to gain support from his followers and try to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The panel has recently questioned Pat Cipollone, who served as White House counsel for Trump, asking him detailed questions on Friday regarding pardons, false election fraud claims, and the former president's pressure campaign against then-Vice President Mike Pence, the New York Times reported.

Related Article: Jan 6. Committee Rejects Steve Bannon's Request To Delay Trial After Longtime Donald Trump Adviser Offers Testimony

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The San Antonio Water System is divesting itself of its legal interest in providing water and wastewater services in part of Kendall County.

SAWS board on Tuesday approved the transfer to a private company of its water and sewer certificates of convenience and necessity  or CCNs, which delineate the areas where SAWS is required to provide such services when requested  in Kendall County. The move comes after months of discussion about the city-owned utilitys service obligations beyond Bexar County.

Under a proposed agreement that the board approved, SJWTX Inc., a water and wastewater company in south-central Texas, will pay $50,000 plus legal fees to assume the portions of SAWS water and wastewater CCNs that lie in Kendall County. They include 520 acres in SAWS water CCN and 317 acres in its wastewater CCN. Both areas abut the northwest corner of Bexar County and are in the city of San Antonios extraterritorial jurisdiction.

I think what were doing releasing this is reflecting the fact that we feel that the development [in Kendall County] is outside of our authority and purview and how that gets developed, said Amy Hardberger, a trustee on SAWS board. I think its the right thing for us to divest ourselves.

On ExpressNews.com: SAWS considers cutting its ties to Kendall County

SAWS has been exploring options for relinquishing its interest in Kendall County for several months after it received a request for a utility service agreement from a proposed 120-acre development called Lily Ranch, which would have marked SAWS first customers in Kendall County. Providing water to the development would require a $50 million infrastructure project, while significant downstream sewer improvements would be needed to supply wastewater services, according to a staffs briefing during the boards March meeting.

We went to our board on multiple occasions for different (utility service agreements) where theres been arguments made by individuals or groups who dont like a kind of growth in their area or they have environmental concerns, said Robert Puente, CEO of SAWS. There cant be a blanket decision for all of them throughout our CCN coverage. Its all individual, so this is the first time the board made the policy decision to simply not have our CCNs in one area anymore.

Now that the board has approved the transfer, an agreement with SJWTX  which does business as Canyon Lake Water Service Co. and is a subsidiary of SJW Group, a publicly traded company  will need to be signed, and the San Antonio City Council must consent to the move. Also, the water utility will need to submit an application to the Texas Public Utilities Commission.

While SAWS has expressed its desire as an entity to extricate itself from shaping development in Kendall County, it remains concerned about the standards for water and wastewater management there, and it included provisions for those concerns in its proposed agreement with SJWTX.

SJWTX, which currently provides service in Canyon Lake and Deer Creek, must meet or exceed Texas Commission on Environmental Quality standards when building the water infrastructure, and the sewer lines will need to be inspected and cleaned every five years, with smoke testing conducted every two years. Additionally, the sewer infrastructure will be built to SAWS standards.

We will have the opportunity to review the infrastructure SJWTX plans to build ahead of time, said Andrea Beymer, SAWS vice president of engineering and construction. So well have the opportunity to make sure that the utility meets both the TCEQ standards, as well as the SAWS standards, as if we were to build it ourselves, moving forward.

SAWS will also coordinate with SJWTX on its inspections, Beymer said.

On ExpressNews.com: Living in limbo: Quaint pocket of unincorporated San Antonio feeling threatened by development

SAWS staff said that SJWTX does not plan to build a wastewater treatment plant, opting to have a wholesale sewer connection to SAWS, which will include an additional encasement for the portion crossing Balcones Creek, along with ongoing monitoring. SJWTX will have to pay sewer impact fees, and its customers will be subject to drought restrictions consistent with neighboring utilities.

Any future wholesale sewer contracts by SJWTX will be limited to 1,500 equivalent dwelling units and the 317 acres of the sewer CCN, Beymer said. This will prevent the utility from growing past these constraints.

Environmental groups, such as the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, applauded the transfer to SJWTX, but they urged including further language in the contract regarding impervious cover, floodplain setbacks and protections for Balcones Creek. Lance Kyle, president of the Cascade Caverns in Boerne, said he wants to make sure that the contract is enforced.

SJWTX will be regulated by the TCEQ and the PUC, and SAWS will need to be present to ensure that the company follows its requirements.

SJWTX needs to be held accountable for any violations of the transfer agreement, Kyle said. Perhaps its something that can be discussed next meeting.

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
Although the cowboy is synonymous with the Lone Star State, wrangling down the hometown of an integral part of Texas culture is the subject of much debate.

A post in the Texas Hill Country Facebook group with over 700 comments Tuesday morning spurred the argument. Bandera appeared to be the frontrunner for most commenters, the town northwest of San Antonio claiming to be the Cowboy Capital of the World.

Bandera, commenter Christina Cypert wrote. Says so on their signage, so it must be true!

Banderas officially boasted the title since The Texas Historical Commission approved an official Texas historical marker recognizing the town on Aug. 31, 2013. The first printed reference to the moniker appeared in an issue of the San Antonio Express on May 21, 1948. The town received the same recognition from both chambers of the Texas Legislature as well.

On ExpressNews.com: Fredericksburg boutique sees rush of customers after viral video shows off store's customized cowboy hats

Stephenville, home of Tarleton State University about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, proved a popular alternative for some commenters due to a storied and ongoing rodeo tradition.

Stephenville is (the) rodeo cowboy (capital) and Bandera is ranching cowboy (capital), Wilbert Hazelett replied to the post.

The front page of the Stephenville tourism bureaus website proclaims the town as Cowboy Capital of the World and The Other Live Music Capital of the World, and the Cowboy Capital of the World Pro-Rodeo. The Cowboy Capital Pro Rodeo Association is based in Stephenville and hosts its eponymous rodeo in the city during Stephenvilles annual Rodeo Heritage Week.

Not all commenters fell on either side of the Bandera-Stephenville split. Some bucked the trend and suggested Pleasanton, which lies 30 miles south of San Antonio and claims to be the Birthplace of the Cowboy.

Some suggested the state was in fact, big enough for the two towns.

I live in Bandera and have been around here my entire life, commenter Audra Rose Kight wrote. There are not as many true cowboy's/cowgirls around Bandera as there used to be. (Stephenville) does have a lot more rodeo cowboys than Bandera. I agree, Texas is big enough for more than one cowboy town!

Ricardo.Delgado@express-news.net
One of our greatest errors as a country has been our nonstop campaign to convince generations of voters that elections are about freedom of choice.

This may be true if you are of a class not historically oppressed by the state. Many white people, particularly white men, fall into this category. They have the ability  the power  to be swing voters, knowing their basic civil rights are not on the line. And many of them have invented new dangers  like threats to the Second Amendment  while pretending to defend their rights against those threats.

In November 2019, Nate Cohn in the New York Times analyzed a number of surveys of swing-state voters and looked specifically at the 15 percent of voters in the battleground states who were undecided and still thinking of voting for Donald Trump or a Democrat. He found, As a group they are 57 percent male and 72 percent white.

For most other people, freedom of choice in elections is an illusion. We are captives of the two-party system. We are political hostages.

Voters subject to oppression have only two choices: the benevolent captors (Democrats) or the cruel captors (Republicans).

Democrats will work for your freedom, but not to the extent that it endangers their power. They have to work against Republicans, who, especially now, seem hellbent on establishing a new age of severe restrictions under the banner of states rights.

The choice between the two is not a choice at all. Voting for Democrats is the only option, not because they have been fully responsive to your pleading, but because they are the only bulwark against disaster. This is not a lesser-of-two-evils view but a light-switch view: the choice is light  no matter how dim  or darkness.

There was some waffling about Hillary Clinton in 2016, and that gave us Trump, who gave us a radical, theocratic Supreme Court, which has given us dozens of deeply regressive decisions: overturning Roe v. Wade, restricting the ability to enforce Miranda rights, tying the countrys hands in its fight against climate change.

Now, we live in a kind of captivity, and captivity, of any sort, is unconscionable to some. So, they fly against it. Over the past year, progressives have demanded action from Democrats, demanded that promises be kept, demanded that more of a fight be waged. But in the end, this is futile. Whats worse, it often provides ammunition to cruel captors waiting for a chance to replace the benevolent ones.

There are periods on the electoral calendar in which voters can more forcefully challenge Democratic politicians to stay true to their ideals while doing the least amount of damage to their electoral chances: primary season, when Democrats are choosing among possible candidates, and in the early days of a presidential term.

But once those windows close, the time for complaining ends. One must enter the defense phase.

We have to dispense with the mythology of elections and come around to the reality of them. That often means swallowing a bitter pill, coming to terms with the fact that our priorities are not always aligned with those of the politicians we chose to represent us.

Politicians in a hyper-politicized, two-party system understand that winning and holding their seats is the first order of business. With a position in power or a vote in Congress, they can get things done, even if their accomplishments are limited in scope. But if they lose seats, nothing gets done. In fact, it is very likely that something deeply harmful will happen.

In that equation, simply trying to make progress has to be sufficient. It is the has to be in that sentence that grates against those of us on the quest for full freedom, political and otherwise.

This is maddening, I know. When I see broken promises, when I see existential issues shunted to the back burner, when I see political tiptoeing when there should be stomping, I am enraged. I know that politics are once again winning over the will of the people.

But I try to remind myself of what every voter must: This is the system in which we are trapped. We can try to reform that system or, at minimum, force our leaders to consider radically altering it. Both are noble endeavors, but they are also incredibly hard and not close at hand. In the meantime, we have to work within the current system.

Maybe one day there will be a third party or multiple parties, but that wont be the case by the next presidential election.

This brings me to President Joe Biden: Whatever you think of him and his performance  whether you champion his accomplishment or focus on the areas where he has fallen short  if he chooses to run for re-election, he will be the only option. In that scenario, he becomes a last line of defense. His shortcomings become secondary. Helping to ensure his re-election becomes an act of self-preservation.
A cloud of sadness engulfed me at the news of the migrant tragedy on Quintana Road in Precinct 1, in which 53 migrants died after being in the back of a tractor-trailer. First thing the next morning, I went to visit the victims at University Hospital.

While I was there, I learned that the last child patient from the Uvalde shooting was still at University Health Systems, so I asked to visit her as well. As I was visiting with her family, the conversation turned to the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

She is 10 years old and had been in the hospital for more than a month, not realizing the July Fourth was that coming weekend. She began to cry because her family had planned to see country music artist Kevin Fowler in concert.

While visiting survivors from the migrant tragedy, giving interviews and updates, attending vigils, visiting the site on Quintana Road, and meeting with consulate representatives from various countries, there came something to smile about. My staff began working to get Kevin Fowler to visit the 10-year-old girl before his San Antonio concert. Fortunately, Fowler agreed and visited her July Fourth.

What an amazing experience it was meeting this sweet little girl! Shes way braver than I could ever be. This whole experience really hit home with me. I have three daughters and I cant imagine one of my babies going through this. Her parents, Christina and Ruben Zamora, are absolute angels and by her side nonstop, Fowler posted on Facebook after the visit.

Zamora still has a long road ahead in her healing, as do the other victims of Uvalde and the migrant tragedy.

A teenage boy from among the surviving migrants was still in critical condition at University Hospital when we finally learned his name, age and country of origin. His mother was on her way to San Antonio to see her son.

The 23-year-old woman from Guatemala, who was also at University Hospital for several days, is doing better. Her brother was also finally identified at another hospital.

We mourn for 53 global citizens who died in this migrant tragedy, yet we continue to have hope for the survivors.

I applaud the difficult work of our county employees from the medical examiners office who assisted with the victims of the Uvalde shooting and then had to handle the fatalities from the migrant tragedy.

These are humanitarian issues that we must continue to stand up for. We can do so while we serve our small circles of influence. I invite you to join me in fighting against the ills of society and working to improve our community with hope for a better world.

Rebeca Clay-Flores is Bexar County Commissioner for Precinct 1.
Ive read quite a bit about how the U.S. Supreme Courts Dobbs v. Jackson decision will take us back to the years before Roe v. Wade. Unfortunately, those concerns are optimistic. Were likely facing an assault on womens bodily autonomy much worse than in 1972.

Before Roe, Americans most likely to oppose abortion rights were not as extreme in their views as the current pro-life movement. Even the most conservative American evangelicals expressed nuanced views on the subject.

A 1971 resolution of the Southern Baptist Convention stated, Southern Baptists (will) work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.

The United Methodist Church took a more liberal position. Its general conference in 1970 appealed to all states to remove the regulation of abortion from the criminal code, placing it instead under regulations relating to other procedures of standard medical practice. Three years before Roe legalized abortion in all 50 states, the Methodists had advocated for the same result.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA declared in 1972, Women should have full freedom of personal choice concerning the completion or termination of their pregnancies and that the artificial or induced termination of pregnancy, therefore, should not be restricted by law.

Secular conservatives were also more accepting of abortion. Before Roe, women seeking abortion often traveled to California, which had the most liberal abortion law in the nation. The governor who signed that 1967 law was Ronald Reagan, who would be elected president in 1980.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, abortion was one element of a constellation of issues championed by conservatives, particularly those in the movement that became the religious right. Born from a movement to protect the tax-exempt status of all-white private schools, the religious right, once it established a national following, shifted its focus to what its leaders called family values. In addition to opposition to abortion, these included opposition to liberal divorce law and women in the workforce, criminalization of homosexuality, endorsement of Christian prayer in public schools and, most stridently, opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment.

By the late 1980s, most of those issues were settled. Conservatives won the battle to stop the ERA, despite widespread support from Americans across the political spectrum and ratification by 38 states. Texas was the eighth state to ratify, only eight days after Congress sent the amendment to the states. Most other issues appeared lost to the conservatives, although it wasnt until after the 2003 case Lawrence v. Texas that Americans in every state could no longer be imprisoned for being gay.

Abortion was the only issue left that seemed to unify the right, strengthening a bond between evangelicals and conservative Catholics initially forged by anti-ERA activist Phyllis Schlafly. And so it remained until June 24, with the anti-abortion movement becoming increasingly unconcerned about the welfare of women who found themselves with an unwanted, nonviable or dangerous pregnancy.

Red-state legislatures are now enacting draconian anti-abortion laws without exceptions for rape, incest or a womans life. In some of those states, zombie law predating womens suffrage will be triggered, outlawing the procedure in all cases.

The future could be worse. In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas recommends the court reconsider cases that protect access to contraception, decriminalize being gay and allow Americans to marry the ones they love. There is little reason to assume this radically activist court wont follow his lead in future terms.

Were not facing a return to an earlier era. Were seeing the rise of a new patriarchal theocracy. Its time to push back while we still can.

James Ivy is an American cultural historian and a visiting assistant professor of religion at Trinity University.
First lady Jill Biden's comments at a Hispanic conference on Monday in San Antonio follow a long line of often cringeworthy pandering.

During her speech to the nations largest Hispanic civil rights advocacy organization, UnidosUS, the first lady said Latinos are "as unique" as "San Antonio breakfast tacos."

Bidens comments quickly drew ire from Republicans and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, which issued a statement saying her comment demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the divinity of Latinos in the region.

You might also like: 'Im more of a Gordita': After Jill Biden breakfast taco comments, we asked San Antonio to weigh in

It's not the first time a politician has been accused of political pandering, or Hispandering, as some call it.

Below are some noteworthy instances of pandering in Texas or by Texas politicians:

"The Great Tamale Incident": President Gerald Ford was running for a second term in 1976 against Jimmy Carter. At a campaign stop in San Antonio to visit the Alamo, Ford was offered a plate of tamales.

Ford picked one up, and, without removing the corn husk, bit right into it.

Mike Huckabee, who was living in Texas at the time, said the tamale blunder became a media focal point and that it may have cost Ford the presidency.

"Every newscast in Texas all weekend long, all they did was show Gerald Ford not knowing how to eat a tamale," Huckabee told Sporkful. "To this day, I am convinced that it was that gaffe with the tamale that cost him the state of Texas. Carter won Texas and Carter won the presidency, and it may have been a tamale that did it."

On ExpressNews.com: Kendall Jenners 818 Tequila is not a rip off of a Texas brand, lawsuit says

"The little brown ones": On Aug. 16, 1988, George H.W. Bush, who was running for president at the time, referred to his half-Hispanic grandchildren as the little brown ones, which drew criticism from a Latino organization for promoting stereotypes.

Its vintage George Bush, Ruben Bonilla, general counsel of the Texas-based League of United Latin American Citizens, told the New York Daily News after the remark was made.

Its a cavalier, aloof attitude that thrives on reinforcing the differences among Americans, Bonilla told the newspaper.

TOM REEL/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Bush, who was a Republican from Texas, made the remark as he introduced three of his children to then-President Ronald Reagan at Belle Chasse Naval Air Station in New Orleans. The childrens mother, Columba Bush, is a naturalized Mexican-American.

Among the children Bush referred to was Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who was 13-years-old at the time.

"I am tu Hillary": In 2015, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stood hand in hand with former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro at a campaign rally in the Alamo City.

JERRY LARA/San Antonio Express-News

Clinton entered the Latinos for Hillary event to the sound of Selenas Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.

She stood at the podium adorned with a campaign sign that read Estoy Contigo, according to the Guardian.

Clinton then said: I gotta tell you, I love being La Hillary  I promise I will keep working on my pronunciation  but Im not just La Hillary. Im tu Hillary.

Did we miss anything? Email reporter Timothy Fanning at timothy.fanning@express-news.net


The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure has held talks with its counterparts at the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, where the two sides discussed ways of improving Ljubljanas air connectivity, among other matters. The Slovenian representatives expressed interest in strengthening ties with Lufthansa in order for the country to boast better connections and more flights. The German national carrier is the busiest airline serving Slovenia, handling 20.566 passengers on its Ljubljana flights during the first quarter of the year. It is also Slovenias busiest transfer airline, accounting for some 30% of all connecting travellers. Together with its equity partners Swiss and Brussels Airlines, the Lufthansa Group has played a dominant role in the Slovenian aviation sector since the bankruptcy of Adria Airways in 2019. The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure has held talks with its counterparts at the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, where the two sides discussed ways of improving Ljubljanas air connectivity, among other matters. The Slovenian representatives expressed interest in strengthening ties with Lufthansa in order for the country to boast better connections and more flights. The German national carrier is the busiest airline serving Slovenia, handling 20.566 passengers on its Ljubljana flights during the first quarter of the year. It is also Slovenias busiest transfer airline, accounting for some 30% of all connecting travellers. Together with its equity partners Swiss and Brussels Airlines, the Lufthansa Group has played a dominant role in the Slovenian aviation sector since the bankruptcy of Adria Airways in 2019.





Following the collapse of Adria, the Slovenian government proposed for it to jointly set up the countrys new national carrier with Lufthansa. Talks on the matter were held on several occasions in October 2019, however, the German airline eventually rejected the idea. Last year, its subsidiary, Air Dolomiti held talks with Slovenian officials over the possibility of setting up operations from Ljubljana. However, the Slovenian Ministry for Economic Development and Technology turned down the proposal, which is believed to have been too expensive. Air Dolomiti is always seeking new partners and is open to assessing new possibilities. We had a meeting to see and assess opportunities for both parties, the company said.





Despite cancelling hundreds of flights across its network next month due to staffing shortages, Lufthansa will keep its Ljubljana operations intact and will increase capacity on its flights to the Slovenian capital. Its double daily service between Frankfurt and Ljubljana will be upgraded from the CRJ900 aircraft to the Airbus A319 jet starting July 1. The move will result in an additional 94 seats per day each way between the two cities. The route will be maintained by the A319 until the end of the 2022 summer season in late October. Last month, Lufthansa restored operations between Munich and the Slovenian capital following a two-year hiatus.






Amsterdams Schiphol Airport has issued Air Serbia with an order to reduce its capacity on each flight departing the Dutch city for Belgrade by 28% this July. The measure came into force this Thursday and will run until August 1, although the airline has already warned the policy will be extended into August as the airport faces an unprecedent shortage of staff and is unable to properly handle departing flights. Amsterdams Schiphol Airport has issued Air Serbia with an order to reduce its capacity on each flight departing the Dutch city for Belgrade by 28% this July. The measure came into force this Thursday and will run until August 1, although the airline has already warned the policy will be extended into August as the airport faces an unprecedent shortage of staff and is unable to properly handle departing flights. As previously reported , the order has angered Air Serbia, which maintains nine weekly services between Belgrade and Amsterdam with its A320-family aircraft. It has threatened to take legal action against the airport operator.





Amsterdam is one Air Serbias more popular destinations which sees a notable number of transfer passengers. Its inbound service sees solid feed from the United States and Canada, with travel from the two countries to Serbia peaking during this month. As a result of the new measures imposed by Schiphol Airport, Air Serbia no longer has any free seats available on flights from Amsterdam until the end of the week, with no free capacity available on July 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 21 either. Few seats remain available on July 11 and 13 with one-way tickets priced at over 600 euros. When it comes to another airline, which relatively recently, after a thirty-year hiatus, established twice daily flights between Belgrade and Amsterdam, it will have an advantage, bearing in mind that it is Schiphol Airports hub carrier and therefore has various options available to adapt to the reduction in the number of seats to its needs. We believe that this seriously violates the principles of competitiveness of the two airlines that fly on this route, Air Serbia said, referring to KLM.





Air Serbia noted the restrictions are causing it great financial and reputational damage due to the number of booked passengers who cant be re-accommodated. "The situation is further complicated by the fact that other airlines are facing similar capacity restrictions, so it is difficult to redirect overbooked passengers to flights of other airlines from Amsterdam", it said. Affected travellers are being offered to change their travel dates without extra fees, depart from Brussels or Dusseldorf instead, or choose a refund. Air Baltic has also publicly confirmed it has been forced to cut the number of available seats on its flights departing Amsterdam. Schiphol has been among the airports hardest hit in Europe by shortages of security staff and other workers as travel demand rapidly rebounds. Last month it capped summer passenger numbers almost 20% below usual levels to avoid the chaos of last-minute delays and cancellations, leading to KLM and easyJet cancelling hundreds of flights.
Above, a New Orleans building housing luxury shops also has one of the nation's immigration courts, where public business typically knocks off about 11 a.m., reflecting an apparent lack of urgency.

By James Varney, RealClearInvestigations

July 12, 2022

NEW ORLEANSThe courtrooms handling illegal immigration cases here are tucked into the fifth floor of a white skyscraper on the bank of the Mississippi River. A few floors below is a Saks Fifth Avenue, reputed to be one of the tony department stores most profitable locations, and a few floors above is a U.S. passport office so busy admittance is barred without an appointment.

The New Orleans immigration courts have none of that bustle. Over five days during a two-week period in June that officials described as typical this year, two active courtrooms heard about 50 combined cases each morning, wrapping up business by 11 a.m. even though all those cases were continued.

The brief activity seemed puzzling for a system that all sides of the immigration debate agree has been overwhelmed by a growing national backlog of at least 1.8 million cases. For the New Orleans courts, the backlog currently stands at more than 40,000 cases, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, at Syracuse University, which focuses on immigration topics. But the darkly wooded courtrooms -- featuring the Department of Justice seal on to the wall behind the judge (photography not allowed) -- feel more like a sleepy municipal outpost than one of the key cogs in a national crisis.

The day begins around 8:30 a.m. Handfuls of immigrants, very few of whom have lawyers  which will turn out to be a wise legal strategy  walk down an unmarked hallway typical of corporate office space. After buzzing to open the door, they pass through a metal detector into a small, windowless waiting room reminiscent of a Department of Motor Vehicles office. There are some 30 hard plastic chairs bolted in rows, and behind a thick glass panel on one wall a secretary is intermittently at work. On a back wall, hanging limply over the edge of plastic pockets, are stapled copies, in English and Spanish, of advice for immigrants, including, from the Department of Homeland Security, "Have You Been A Victim of Trafficking?" and "What if You Disagree with the Judge's Decision?"

The immigrants coming to court are a fairly even mix of men and women. Some are accompanied by children; some clutch a few sheets of paper, usually their Notice to Appear, the first official document they receive from the United States, either when they first entered the country or got in the mail if they had a fixed address. They are then usually assigned to one of the 66 stateside immigration court locations nearest them. In one sign of the backlog, several of the immigrants had forms issued to them in March 2021.

When I started practicing immigration law in Baton Rouge in 2007, said Ken Mayeaux, one of Louisianas top immigration attorneys and former clinical professor at LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, there was only one immigration judge in New Orleans and at that time, from initial hearing to final decision, was typically four to six months. Now its more like four to five years.

The immigrants take their seats among a handful of wooden pews. A mask requirement was lifted on June 24, but attendance is sparse enough to allow ample social distancing in the audience.

These morning procedures are what are known as master calendar hearings. On most days, given that everyone is going through the same procedure and few of the immigrants speak much, if any, English, the sessions begin like a dubbed movie. As the judge quietly runs through the legal boilerplate that applies to all first appearances, a translator stands in front delivering, much more loudly, the same legalese in Spanish.

They are then called up one by one. The immigrant dons the translating headphones at one table. Speaking rapid-fire, the judge whips through the fact the immigrant has come to the United States apparently illegally.

Sometimes something more than Spanish is required. In those cases, the judge phones in to a private business that offers translators, swears them in over the speakerphone and business flows as normal. On one morning, U.S. immigration judge Joseph La Rocca called in translators for two languages  Arabic and Kiche, an indigenous Mayan tongue.

About typical, La Rocca said after clearing the 25 master calendar cases listed on his docket. Sometimes it does feel like we have the United Nations here.

The charges regarding illegal entry are quickly conceded. The judge then concludes the immigrant is removable and a country of return is requested. At times the immigrant will specify, Honduras, say, or Mexico. Should a country of return not be offered, the governments attorney will specify one, uttering some of the few words they speak throughout the morning sessions.

But that is not the end of the matter. Those who do not have a lawyer, which was almost everyone in court the days RealClearInvestigations attended, get a reprieve  usually a four-month stay to allow time to find an attorney and be placed back on the master calendar to sit through the process once again. Immigrants are not entitled to representation, although the court does make available a list of nonprofit clinics that can offer legal advice.

A more substantive hearing will be required later, generally where immigrants can press claims for asylum. Those hearings, which usually take place in the afternoon in New Orleans, are rarely public. Although the morning numbers of cases would suggest busy afternoons, on the days RCI visited the court, there was only one afternoon when two such hearings were scheduled and no one showed up for them. Several attorneys said that indicates they were dismissed.

The lack of activity in June was unusual, according to attorneys who practice in immigration court. They also said additional master calendar hearings are held by video, and that many days there is a separate room where the court will hear dozens more initial appearances. It may look like nothing is going on but believe me, there is a lot going on, Mayeaux said. But this is an abnormal time.

TRAC of Syracuse attributes much of the slowdown to the COVID pandemic, but another main cause according to attorneys is what the Biden administration calls prosecutorial discretion, which it has increasingly used to wipe clear cases against illegal immigrants.

The policy involves the governments lawyers in court, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, simply dropping the cases. The new policy to unclog the system by letting illegal immigrants walk came from the so-called Doyle Memorandum, an internal guidance memo issued by DHS Principal Legal Adviser Kerry E. Doyle that went into effect April 25.

Under its terms, the government makes an unopposed motion to dismiss without prejudice  recipients who have been ordered removed or deported from the United States and are seeking to apply for lawful permanent residence with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

You are free to go and live your life, and the government has no interest in removing you from the country, Judge Charlotte Marquez told an immigrant in New Orleans accepting prosecutorial discretion, adding those terms could change should there be some future lawbreaking.

The Doyle Memorandum is tied to a series of memos DHS crafted in 2021, culminating in one from Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last Sept. 30 that crafted new categories for illegal immigrants on whom the administration said it would concentrate its deportation efforts.

But states have successfully sued DHS over those terms, in federal lawsuits including, as one of their core arguments, that Mayorkas does not have prosecutorial discretion in matters on which Congress has passed clear mandates.

DHS declined to provide figures to RealClearInvestigations on how many people have received prosecutorial discretion since the Doyle Memorandum took hold, or to offer comment on its legal basis.

"Statistics are not available at this time, an agency spokesperson told RCI, pointing to the web page that offers general information about its prosecutorial discretion, which appears to have been available to any illegal immigrant ICE deemed non priority.

At the end of June it appeared the Biden administration would suspend the policy after it lost a lawsuit filed by Texas and Louisiana, but the practice has continued, albeit less comprehensively, according to several immigration attorneys.

The resort to prosecutorial discretion seemed inevitable in a situation where the system is overwhelmed by its caseload and its judges are appointed by the attorney general and largely serve at the AGs pleasure, said Tony Rogers, who stepped down from the immigration bench in a Texas court in 2009.

Im not the greatest fan of how things are run now, Rogers said. And Im hyper-concerned now with the volume they have. The measure of efficiency now is strictly numbers, that is, how many cases are you completing in a month?

What is happening in New Orleans is but a tiny sliver of the nations immigration court system trying to handle what has become a crush on the southern border so severe that on July 5 several Texas counties declared they were under invasion.

U.S. immigration courts have a global reach  there are two judges based in Saipan, part of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific, added to those across 28 states and Puerto Rico. As might be expected, heavily populated coastal cities or border states have the most. In Texas, for instance, there are 100 judges on benches in 13 places. New York City alone has 71 immigration court judges operating in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Los Angeles, one of 10 California locations, has 35 judges, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). The total means Los Angeles eclipses the 25 judges in San Francisco and the 18 in Santa Ana, making it the largest California location.

All told, it takes at least 535 immigration judges in 66 stateside locations plus three outside adjudication centers to address the migrant challenge, according to the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge.

As might be expected, none of this comes cheaply to taxpayers. The immigration court systems budget has exploded in recent years, growing from $504 million in fiscal 2019 to a request for $891.19 million in fiscal 2022, an increase of 57%, according to federal figures.

Much of that increase is attributable to personnel. In fiscal 2019, EOIR had 2,798 full-time positions and 1,201 lawyers. By 2022, staffing had swelled to 4,361 permanent positions along with 2,921 full time equivalent (FTE) positions, a rise of 55% in three years, according to public figures.

TRACs figures show U.S. immigration courts have become more friendly for illegal immigrants under the Biden administration. For example, the relief granted by immigration judges has hit a record high in FY2022.

The number of cases in which a judge found the original charges sustained but also found provisions in the immigration law that entitle an individual to relief, from removal, allowing them to remain in this country rose from 19,935 in fiscal 2021 to more than 36,800 through early July in fiscal 2022, according to TRAC.

Meanwhile, the number of removals ordered has plummeted, according to TRAC. Under President Trump, removals rose from 102,167 in fiscal 2017 to 187,934 in 2019. President Biden took office four months into fiscal 2021, and removals that year fell to 38,258, according to TRAC, which did not respond to requests for comment. That number has climbed in the current fiscal year, but at a pace that will leave it below 100,000.

The odds a non-citizen will not be ordered deported have improved dramatically under President Biden. In the 2020 fiscal year, illegal immigrants stood a 70.3% chance theyd be ordered deported, and that figure has now plummeted to 24%, according to constantly updated TRAC charts.

And even if someone is ordered deported, state officials insist those orders arent being followed. Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey recently noted there are more than 1 million immigrants with standing deportation orders the Biden administration is making no effort to enforce, a figure state officials confirmed to RealClearInvestigations.

Its all become simply a matter of buying time, Rogers said. These things used to be around 20-day proceedings and the only people who ever showed up were the Chinese, usually seeking a change of venue to New York. Youd just show the person is not a citizen and an order of deportation would be issued.

But now you can buy time, at least five to eight years, he said. The best thing you can do is buy time, because then the law might change. There might be another amnesty.

One immigrant who no doubt hopes for an amnesty is Pedro Pablo Alvarez. The 17-year-old recently set out with his father, on foot, from De Boaco, Nicaragua, and after a month-long odyssey wound up before Judge Kevin Guillory.

Alvarez told RCI that despite widespread horror stories about such trips, his journey was not fraught with danger aside from one or two dicey days in Mexico. about which he declined to elaborate. Although crossings at the border are reputed to be controlled exclusively by Mexican cartels, Alvarez doggedly insisted he and his father crossed the border independently.

His master calendar appearance in New Orleans was like every other, in that Guillory gave him four months to look for an attorney and then scheduled a return appearance for October.

But Alvarez decided to take a chance.

I dont know if I should be saying this, he said, but I want the court to know. I came from a poor, farm territory and Im a high school graduate. I came to this country because I want to find a better life for myself and I hope to go to college. Our purpose here is just to do better in life.

Guillory told Alvarez, the court appreciated his candor, and with a caveat that his words were not a promise did his best to assure the earnest young man.

If theres any way at all the court can grant you relief it will, and the court will look at every possible avenue to grant you relief, Guillory said.
A new surveillance video shows the moments before a man was fatally stabbed inside a bodega in New York City. The video has surfaced as requests for the shopkeeper who delivered the fatal punches to be exonerated of murder charges increase.

As Austin Simon, 37, approaches Jose Alba behind the counter at the Bluemoon Convenience Store in Harlem, the 61-year-old Jose Alba can be seen attempting to defuse the tense situation by saying, "I don't want a problem, papa."

NYC Bodega Worker Faces Charges Despite Acting in Self-Defense

Later, when the bodega employee is pushed into some shelves by Simon, a scuffle breaks out, and Alba stabs the victim to death. Alba was booked into the notorious Rikers Island jail on a second-degree murder accusation and was being detained there on a $250,000 bail.

His bond was reduced to $50,000 after protests from his family and the neighborhood, who claim he acted in self-defense, and he was freed from jail on Thursday.

The New York Post has received new security video that shows the original encounter between Alba and Simon's girlfriend that sparked the argument as well as the words the two men spoke before things became violent.

The incident started on July 1 about 11 p.m. when Simon's unnamed girlfriend attempted to buy a bag of chips for her daughter.

The second time the transaction fails, the discussion grows more heated and parts of it are unintelligible since they are speaking over one another. Before the woman starts ranting from somewhere else in the store, the edited video moves ahead to Alba servicing other customers.

Alba reportedly stole the bag of chips from the woman's daughter around that time, but the incident is not captured on camera. When Simon enters the store and can be heard yelling at the bodega employee to "come out, come out," the 61-year-old continues to serve customers.

Read Also: Highland Park Shooting: Police Chief Reveals Massive Confusion in Search of Gunman

Surveillance Reveals Details in NYC Bodega Incident

A client at the counter reaches her arm through and attempts to get Simon's attention in an apparent effort to defuse the tense situation. Simon's girlfriend yells something as she emerges from behind the counter. After a fight, Alba stabbed Simon in the following scene, which was omitted from the video.

Alba was aggressively shoved against the shelves in previously seen video of the physical incident, which caused Alba to recoil and fell in a chair beside the wall. Alba is pulled from his chair and away from the counter area by Simon, who is still positioned directly in front of the store employee and yelling at him. Simon then takes Alba by the back of his shirt, as per The Independent.

At that time, the bodega employee starts stabbing Simon after grabbing a knife from the shelves. The two guys struggle while much of the chaos happens behind closed doors.

The Post was able to collect video from a third camera that depicts the two men fighting and Simon's girlfriend grabbing Alba during the altercation. Simon is shown being brutally stabbed by Alba as the two men struggle. From her purse, the woman seems to pull out her own knife and stab Alba.

All of this occurs while worries about out-of-control crime in major American cities escalate and locals express their frustration. DA Chesa Boudin in San Francisco has recently been ousted by referendum in that predominantly Democratic city.

Over 700,000 signatures have just been turned in for a vote in Los Angeles to recall DA George Gascon (567,000 are needed to trigger it). DA Larry Krasner is the target of an impeachment campaign in Philadelphia, Fox News reported.

Related Article: New York Crime: 15-Year-Old Boy Arrested After Fatally Stabbing Teen in Subway Station

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Attorneys in Yellowstone County District Court debate a group of voting laws passed by the 2021 Montana Legislature on July 11, 2022 (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).

Lawyers for the state and several organizations spent Monday afternoon searching for the problems that solutions created by the Montana Legislature solved.

The hearing in Yellowstone County District Court focused on four bills passed by Montana lawmakers that changed voting laws and access to ballots and those collecting ballots. District Court Judge Michael G. Moses pressed lawyers for the State of Montana and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen about what evidence lawmakers used to craft the new, more restrictive laws that would prove the state was working to make elections more secure while also safeguarding the constitutionally protected right to vote.

Both lawyers for the state as well as lawyers for the plaintiffs representing a variety of groups including Western Native Voice and the American Civil Liberties Union, spent three-and-a-half hours arguing about why Moses should issue a summary judgment for their side as they debated whether the laws unlawfully prevented Montanans access to the ballots.

Referencing a recent Montana Supreme Court decision that focused on whether the same lawmakers had the right to control or restrict guns on public university and college campuses, Moses said the high court had given clear definition as to the distinct roles and standards each part of government, the judiciary and lawmakers, must meet.

We all have standards that we are required to meet, Moses said. We dont get to sit here and do whatever we want. If I did, Id be legislating from the bench, and it aint going to happen.

For example, attorneys for the state argued that the Republican-led Legislature had passed Senate Bill 169, which rejected university-issued identification because it was easier to forge. Moses questioned what evidence the Legislature used to establish that claim.

You have to jump through an extra hoop that you didnt have to two years ago. If youre a college student, it just got harder for you. What is the standard for doing that? Where is the factual basis for that decision, Moses asked.

But an attorney representing the state and Jacobsen, John Semmens, argued that lawmakers dont necessarily need proof to exercise their ability to make or change laws.

The Legislature doesnt have to provide a detailed record about designing legislation, Semmens argued.

The hearing also focused on what level of judicial review or scrutiny should be applied to the four laws passed by the Legislature. Attorneys for the ACLU argued that strict scrutiny must be applied because a constitutional right, suffrage, was at stake. Meanwhile attorneys for the state argued the Legislature has the right to set elections in the manner it sees fit by both the United States and the Montana constitutions.

Same Day Voting

The four laws being challenged have been the subject of debate since they were first introduced. House Bill 176 eliminated same-day, or Election Day, registration for voters, moving it to noon of the day before the election. Voting-rights organizations have argued this unduly affects Native American voters who, on average, live farther away from election offices and could wind up needing to make multiple trips to vote, instead of registering and voting on Election Day.

Article IV, Section 3 (of the Montana Constitution) does not include voting in the most convenient way, Semmens said.

He pointed out that in 1972, framers of the constitution had set a 40-day registration window for voters and specifically opted not to include Election Day registration as proof that it should be left up to lawmakers to decide the specific issues of registration.

Moses questioned Semmens about why the Legislature could ignore the will of the voters, who overwhelmingly approved same-day election registration.

Semmens said it comes down to trying to balance the workload of rural election officials by making the smallest change possible.

Alex Rate, legal director for Montanas ACLU, told the court that Native Americans disproportionately use same-day registration when compared to other groups, and that in 2018 and 2020, more than 800 Indigenous people used it. And overall, 5 percent of voting takes place through same-day voting.

University identification

Senate Bill 169 eliminated university-issued student identification as an acceptable form of identification for voter registration.

Moses questioning focused on whether there was a documented problem with university issued identification.

If there is no proof that there was ever a problem or if none existed, why did anyone do anything? Why would you burden the voters if you didnt have a problem, Moses asked, calling the states argument a double-edged sword.

Semmens argued the Legislature has the responsibility of guarding against fraud proactively.

The plaintiffs in this case seem to reject anything that changes law, making the law a one-way ratchet that can only make it easier, Semmens said.

Attorney Matthew Gordon argued on behalf of the plaintiffs that the change doesnt make sense, though. When the lawmakers opted not to use the student-issued identification, but allowed a concealed carry permit, Gordon pointed out almost identical documentation requirements for both.

He also pointed out that expired drivers licenses were acceptable, and that non-citizens can get concealed carry permits or drivers licenses.

Ballot collection

House Bill 530 prohibits ballot collectors from being paid, which voting rights advocates argue also discriminates against poor, elderly or disabled Montanans who may not be able to travel to vote.

Attorney Lars Phillips, representing Jacobsen, told the court that while every qualified resident has the right to vote, that right doesnt mean the right to an absentee ballot or the ballot being collected.

This is a slippery slope the plaintiffs are taking us down. That if you testify in opposition to a bill in the Legislature, that can be the basis of a discriminatory intent by simply objecting to it, Phillips said. The idea that you have a fundamental right for someone to pick up your ballot is a push too far.

He said the basis for the Legislature proposing the law is rooted in Montanas interest in controlling money in politics. He said that paying people to collect ballots is a dangerous route because of where the money may come from.

A law passed previously by the Legislature, the Ballot Interference Protection Act, was a similar measure struck down by fellow Yellowstone County District Court Judge Jessica Fehr, who ruled that prohibiting ballot collection was part of the exercise of political speech via the ballot and ran contrary to the states constitution.

This manufacturing of government interest rests upon sowing seeds of doubt, said the ACLUs Rate.

Calling them post-hoc rationalizations, Gordon said that Jacobsen has created a cover for the Legislature to create and enact more restrictive laws by ginning up a narrative of cratering confidence in Montanas election. But he accused attorneys for the state of having to go to the state historical society to even find cases of election fraud.

This claim of crisis in voters doesnt exist, and its not because of the tens of thousands of votes on Election Day. Thats not why this exists, Gordon said. Its the result of spreading lies and disinformation about the 2020 Election. Theyve manufactured this crisis to implement these laws.

17- and 18-year-olds

House Bill 506 changes the way voters who turn 18 after ballots are sent out but before Election Day can receive their ballot, which voting rights advocates say is unconstitutional because it treats those eligible to vote in a different way.

Voters who will be 18 by Election Day, but who havent yet turned 18 by the time ballots go out, are not allowed to receive a ballot, according HB506. On behalf of the plaintiffs, attorney Rylee Sommers Flanagan told Moses that their votes are equal and should be treated like any other absentee ballot, and only adds confusion to the law.

The post Court hears arguments on four voting rights challenges to Montana law appeared first on Daily Montanan.
More centers dedicated to helping people explore and sign up for federal flood assistance are set to open this week.

The Federal Emergency Management Administration announced in a release Saturday that three Disaster Recovery Centers would be opening in Park, Carbon and Stillwater counties. Mobile centers will also be set up in Carbon and Park counties.

The pair of Disaster Recovery Centers in Stillwater and Park counties will open Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The Stillwater County center will be at the Absarokee Elementary School. The Park County center will be at the Park High School in Livingston.

Both will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, according to the release.

The Carbon County center opened Saturday at Roosevelt Jr. High School. That center will also operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.

Mobile Registration Intake Centers are coming to Carbon and Park counties, too.

The Carbon County mobile center will be at the Fromberg Methodist Church until Tuesday, and is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Park County Mobile Center at the Gardiner High School is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Saturday, July 16.

Anthony Mayne, a FEMA spokesperson, said that the mobile centers are temporary. The Disaster Recovery Centers will be open for as long as needed, with no end date scheduled for their closure.

All of the centers can help people affected by the flooding in June to navigate the different FEMA individual assistance programs, which were authorized in late June after a request from Gov. Greg Gianforte.

Some resources available through FEMA include the individuals and housing program, disaster case management, crisis counseling and assistance, disaster legal services, disaster unemployment assistance and clean removal assistance.

Mayne said people will be working in the centers to help those affected by flooding figure out what programs they are eligible for, and to walk them through the application process.

People can also call the federal agencys disaster assistance hotline at 800-621-3362 for help with the individual assistance programs.

Mayne said that while individual assistance is available, it is not a substitute for insurance. If a person has insurance, they should file a claim first, but can still come to a disaster center or call the hotline to see what else they might be eligible for, he said.

We want to make sure you get the help you need, but we make sure not to double dip, Mayne said.

Mayne also warned of scammers and fraudsters that appear after disasters. He said that the agency has Disaster Survivor Assistance teams in Park, Carbon and Stillwater counties wearing FEMA gear with ID badges.

If people are skeptical, they can ask to see the ID badge and even call the hotline to confirm whether the person works for FEMA.

Previously, Sen. Steve Daines office held mobile office hours for the first few weeks after the Yellowstone River to help people connect to relief resources.

A Daines spokesperson said that the senator is still working on recovery issues and with Montanas congressional delegation and the governors office to get more resources.

Veterans Affairs sent mobile vet centers, which aimed to provide trauma and emotional counseling, in late June to the Gardiner, Livingston and Fromberg areas in response to a request from Sen. Jon Tester.

The last mobile center was sent on July 2. A spokesperson from Testers office said that more can be deployed on an as needed basis.

To get assistance from the VA, people can contact the Missoula Vet Center at 406-721-4981 or the Billings Vet Center at 406-657-6071.
PASADENA, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- JRW Realty, a commercial real estate firm with a specialization in sourcing net-leased properties for institutional clients, announced it has facilitated the purchase of a net-leased Scheels in Great Falls, Mont.

"This represents our buyer's first acquisition of an experience-based retail and sporting goods store." - JRW Realty

Carol Vena, real estate advisor with JRW Realty, represented the buyer, while Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.

With the addition of this 99,279-square-foot sporting goods store, JRW Realty has helped its clients identify and acquire more than 110 properties year-to-date, with more 2.2 million square feet of commercial space, representing over $500 million in total acquisitions.

Melinda Marston, JRW Realty president of single-tenant net lease, said that the tenant's strong track record and the specifics of this location made the property especially attractive.

"This represents our buyer's first acquisition of an experience-based retail and sporting goods store," Marston said. "Similar to many of the other recession-resilient tenants that our buyers have a focus on, Scheels weathered the Great Recession of 20082012 extremely well, without any need to downsize or lay off staff, due to its market positioning and loyal customer base. Furthermore, the tenant has also shown a strong commitment to the store at this location, which features very high sales per square foot."

Marston added that JRW Realty's buyers' specific criteria require diligent sourcing of properties, but once the right kind of property is identified, their buyers are able to move swiftly to close.

"Our clients continue to seek net-leased properties backed by tenants with investment-grade credit ratings that operate in recession-resilient sectors," she said. "Their strong balance sheets and streamlined due diligence processes tend to make for smooth closings, enabling them to close within 28 days of a signed contract."

About JRW Realty

JRW Realty is a commercial real estate brokerage firm that has closed on more than 900 properties valued at more than $3.6 billion on behalf of its clients. JRW Realty's team places special focus on due diligence, reviewing over 100 properties each week and only choosing to source for clients the best 3-4% according to their rigorous acquisition criteria. For more information, visit www.jrwrealty.com.

Single-Tenant Net Lease Sourcing Contact

Melinda Marston, President - STNL

CA DRE #01950977

melinda@jrwrealty.com

(626) 696-2910

Multi-Tenant Retail Sourcing Contact

Joel Staffilino, President - Multi-Tenant Retail

jstaffilino@jrwrealty.com

(513) 227-4502

Media Inquiries

press@jrwrealty.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jrw-realty-facilitates-purchase-of-scheels-in-great-falls-montana-301584343.html

SOURCE JRW Realty
An influential parliamentary committee has reiterated the industry's warnings over animal welfare standards after conducting an inquiry into the trade deal the UK has struck with Australia.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee raised concerns after examining the post-Brexit deal that was signed between the countries in December last year.

The first new trade deal negotiated since the UK left the EU, the agreement removes most tariffs on trade in goods between the UK and Australia.

The government says the deal will increase UK GDP by 0.08%, or 2.3 billion, by 2035, although it estimates that the UK farming and food sector will lose 278 million.

And the EFRA committee quotes in its report Henry Dimbleby, who led a government commissioned inquiry a national food strategy.

He said that a failure to adopt a core standards approach to animal welfare and the environment, while negotiating free trade agreements, poses a danger of exporting cruelty and carbon emissions abroad.

The EFRA committee said following its inquiry into the UK-Australia trade deal that the government should formally commit to upholding animal welfare and environmental standards in all trade deals.

Committee chairman Sir Robert Goodwill said: We want our high UK animal welfare and environmental standards baked into every trade deal we do from now on.

"The government has done well protecting our rules on beef hormone growth chemicals, but having core standards in all deals would strengthen our hand when negotiating with other countries.

Some nations will no doubt want to challenge these rules  and similar bans on things like chlorine-washed chicken  so its vital to have our high standards in there right from the start.

He said that the government needed to learn lessons for future trade deals and urged it to make up the estimated loss to British food and farming resulting from the Australia agreement.

The government must commit to helping the food and farming sector win back the 278m worth of lost growth it will experience because of this deal. Theres a plan to appoint new trade envoys to push our exports.

"We welcome that, but we also need to see the government commit to - and deliver on  the 278m target for additional exports to ensure the sector is no worse off.

"If that requires other export promotion strategies, then they must be implemented. We will be watching the numbers and holding the government to account.

He said: "Its all part of the government needing to listen more carefully to our farmers and food producers. They have the expertise to help us get better deals all round  let's use it.

The committees report said that the Australia free trade deal did not prevent core standards being adopted in the future.

It was unlikely that much food that did not meet these standards would enter the country because of the Australia deal.

However, the report argued that committing to standards ahead of negotiations would strengthen the hand of UK negotiators.

It would also, the committee added, reassure UK producers about the governments commitment to high environmental and animal welfare standards.

The report said the government should pay more attention to the voices of UK farmers and food producers when negotiating trade deals, taking care to consult their expertise before arrangements became a fait accompli.

This should include, the committee said, making sure the governments independent trade advisory bodies, including the agri-food Trade Advisory Group, were brought in from the outset so the government could take advantage of sector knowledge while negotiating deals.

NFU president Minette Batters has said that the trade deal between the UK and Australia 'offers little benefit' for British farmers.

She said it was difficult to discern anything in this deal that will allow us to control imports of food produced below the standards legally required of British farmers."

I hope that MPs will now take a good, hard look at this deal to see if it really does match up to the governments rhetoric to support our farmers businesses and safeguard our high standards. I fear they will be disappointed, she said at the time the agreement was announced.

MPs sitting on the EFRA committee have now taken a look at the deal and they have published their concerns.
The Northern Irish government has reiterated the need for the UK and EU to make urgent progress on the issue of veterinary medicines supply from GB to NI.

Data from industry suggests that 51% of veterinary medicines would be discontinued in Northern Ireland if Protocol requirements are applied.

This would affect some critical products such as cardiovascular medicines, anaesthetics and vaccines, including those that prevent salmonella and E. coli.

NI's agriculture minister Edwin Poots said the industry needed certainty, and there must be no barriers put in place that would risk the health and welfare of animals.

He recently wrote to the Defra Secretary and the European Commission calling for urgent action to find a permanent solution to the matter.

I have stated on many occasions that it is completely unacceptable that the Protocol would prevent NI from having access to the same veterinary medicines as other parts of the UK.

"It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that all possible steps are taken to prevent suppliers from withdrawing or reducing the range of products available in NI and protect the availability of medicines here.

Mr Poots added: While I acknowledge the EU recognition of the current agreed grace period in relation to these moves, that recognition only extends to the end of this year so is simply not enough.

"I am also concerned about the additional burden our industry would face if it had to meet all the additional EU requirements for the movement of veterinary medicines to NI when they are simply not necessary.

"If an agreed solution is not possible, I have also urged the Secretary of State to take any measures at his disposal, including the exercise of any powers that may be available to him under the NI Protocol Bill, to ensure that the disturbing picture painted by industry does not become a reality."
A conservation project has been announced offering new hope for the future of the Large White Pig, a rare native pedigree pig breed.

The new project will see the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) and the British Pig Association (BPA) jointly purchase 10 pedigree Large White Pigs.

These will be selected from the most vulnerable Large White bloodlines and least related to the rest of the population.

The pigs, known internationally as The Yorkshire Pig, will join tailored breeding programmes at five RBST-accredited farm parks across the UK.

The project aims to ensure at least five breeding females for each these 10 key lines in at least five different herds.

The original pedigree population in the UK has been in decline for many years, and is teetering on the brink.

Both groups say the move will secure vulnerable pedigree bloodlines to strengthen the breeds genetic diversity, and also improve its geographic dispersal.

RBST chief executive, Christopher Price said the Large White Pig was part of the UK's rural heritage, but also important to food and farming.

The Large White Pig is a wonderful breed, rooted in Yorkshire but at one time it was being exported all over the world thanks to its many attributes including hardiness, fast growth and excellence in crossbreeding.

"But breed numbers are sadly very low now and the pace of continued decline is really concerning."

The Large White Pig has had a significant influence in the commercial pig industry and the development of the hybrid pig.

It enjoyed enormous popularity in the 1950s but breed numbers declined dramatically in the aftermath of the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001.

As the pig industry has followed the poultry industry with increasing consolidation and vertical integration, the number of pedigree Large Whites in the hands of independent breeders is now at an all time low.

BPA chief executive, Marcus Bates said: The Large White Pig, exported from the UK for more than 100 years is the foundation of every commercial pig industry around the world: virtually any joint in the supermarket today will have some degree of Large White in its genetic make-up.

"This project will strengthen the breeds genetic diversity and geographic dispersal around the UK, both of which are crucial for any rare breeds future.

"I am delighted that three young pedigree breeders will be mentored to play leading roles in the programme, helping build the conservation skills and experience which are vital for the future of our rare breeds.

In 1955 there were more than 7200 independent breeders of pedigree Large Whites. Today there are less than 50 breeders keeping the original bloodlines alive.

In April 2022 the breed was added to the highest Priority category on the RBSTs annual Watchlist after the breed suffered a further significant decline in numbers in 2021.
Farmers are only receiving a fraction of the recent increases in the price of a dozen free range eggs, leading to warnings that some may quit the industry if the situation does not improve.

The latest data seen by British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) shows shoppers are paying 20p more for a dozen free range eggs, but farmers are only receiving an extra 4p.

Meanwhile, there has been no let-up in the pressure being put on producers as the cost of feed, fuel, and other essential inputs shows no sign of reducing.

BFREPA has repeatedly warned that if egg producers dont receive at least 40p per dozen more, some will leave the industry or pause production, leading to shortages of British eggs in six-to-nine months.

The body's chief executive Robert Gooch warned that farmers cannot continue producing free range eggs at a loss.

"We welcome the small rise in egg prices in supermarkets but it needs to go further and the money needs to make its way to farmers, not into the pockets of the supermarkets and the egg packers.

Not one retailer has done what was asked and increased egg prices by 40p. Only then will many producers be able to break even."

He added: The last thing the British public wants to see is a watering down of its excellent animal welfare and food safety standards  but that is exactly what is coming as a shortage of British eggs on the shelves hurtles towards us.

Retailers will likely make up the shortfall with imports from countries which dont adhere to the same high welfare and safety standards we have here in the UK.

The cost of living crisis rages on and has worsened the situation for farmers who have been hit with soaring feed and fuel costs that show no signs of abating.

The situation for UK producers appears to be unsustainable, with many producers already contacting BFREPA to cancel their membership after deciding to leave the industry.

The industry body has campaigned to prevent farmers from going out of business since following a year of growing costs.

At a crisis summit held at this years Pig and Poultry Fair, retailers refusal to engage with farmers was highlighted with shadowed cardboard cut-outs standing in place of the supermarkets missing representatives.
Tenant farmer access to Wales' new Sustainable Farming Scheme remains uncertain, the sector has warned, after the Welsh government unveiled its plans to replace the BPS.

The Tenant Farmers Association in Wales (TFA Cymru) has highlighted significant concerns around how tenant farmers will access the new post-Brexit scheme.

Tenant farmers are responsible for farming well over one third of the farmland in Wales.

A 70-page document outlining plans for the new Sustainable Farming Scheme was unveiled last week, which will be the subject of further consultation next year before being introduced in 2025.

The Welsh government also confirmed that a Tenancy Working Group will be set up to look for solutions to the constraints faced by the tenanted sector.

But TFA Cymru says it has so far seen "little of substance to give us the confidence we need that these major issues will be addressed".

The group says that the Welsh government should look more at the limitations and barriers to entry faced by tenant farmers in the country.

TFA Cymru chairman, Dennis Matheson said: It is essential that there is joined up thinking between those designing the new scheme, those drafting the new legislation and the yet to be established Tenancy Working Group.

"All three need to be working in concert to ensure that farm tenants are not left out in the cold. There is much within the outline of the new scheme that TFA Cymru welcomes but if tenants are unable to take part, then it will be seriously damaging to the future of agriculture within Wales."

Issues to overcome include the statutory definition of agriculture that binds most farm tenancy agreements, and the rules of good husbandry to which tenants are, by law, required to adhere, which will prevent them delivering public benefits for landscape and biodiversity without their landlords consent.

There are no guarantees that landlords will give consent, according to TFA Cymru. The short lengths of terms offered by landlords on farm business tenancies will also cause problems in the context of the desire for multiannual agreements.

Mr Matheson said: The most obvious example of the problem area is the intended requirement for participants in the new scheme to have at least 10% of their farmland covered by trees."

And in most cases, any trees on tenanted land are reserved out of leases by landlords, and tree planting will be a banned activity by the covenants under which tenants will have been required to operate.

Mr Matheson added: "In discussions with Welsh government officials, it has since been suggested that tenant farmers may be given some form of exemption in respect of the tree cover requirement  we await further details.

With the removal of the BPS it will be imperative that tenant farmers are not excluded from taking part in the replacement scheme.

"Whilst some tenants will have been able to obtain their landlords consent for previous agri-environment schemes, it will now be vital if that all tenant farmers have the same access."
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted his response to former US President Donald Trump's criticism of his decision to withdraw his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

At a rally in Anchorage, Alaska, Trump publicly criticized the tech mogul and called him a "bulls--artist."

Musk took to Twitter in his response to Trump's remarks against him, saying that the time has come for Donald Trump to "hang up his hat & sail into the sunset" because his days as a political leader are over.

Fox Business reported that the multi-billionaire also claimed that Democrats were encouraging Trump's prospective run for president, which he said needed to stop.

I dont hate the man, but its time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.



Dems should also call off the attack  dont make it so that Trumps only way to survive is to regain the Presidency.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022

Elon Musk tweeted: "Dems should also call off the attack - don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency."

One user asked Musk if he had issues with Trump's administration. The Tesla CEO answered, "Yeah, but too much drama." He added, "Do you really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!?"

Musk, 50, also suggested that the "legal maximum age" to start a presidential term should be 69. The Space X founder continued, "Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States."

Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.



If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win  he doesnt even need to campaign.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022

Donald Trump is 76 years old. If he wins in 2024, he would be 78 and 82 at the end of a second term. President Joe Biden is 79 years old. If he decided to run for reelection in 2024, he would be 81 years old, and if he gets elected, he would be 85 at the end of his term.

Is Musk Going To Support a Republican Presidential Candidate?

While some Twitter users praised Musk's tweets, several users suggested that he should refrain from politics, while others defended Trump.

But Elon Musk made another controversial remark when he predicted a massive red wave is coming in 2022 and suggested he is leaning toward voting for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president, should he decide to run in 2024.

When asked by a Twitter user which potential candidate he leans toward, Musk replied, "DeSantis."

Musk further stated that he previously backed Andrew Yang's presidential campaign; however, he believes Ron DeSantis "has a better chance of winning," as per another Fox Business report.

Read Also: Hunter Biden iCloud Hack: 4Chan Users Leak Screenshots, More Incriminating Evidence Against US President's Son

However, Musk merely stated "TBD" when asked if he would support a Republican for president in 2024.

Ron DeSantis, 43, has not yet declared whether he will run for president in 2024. He has dodged questions and claimed that his name continues showing on lists of probable GOP contenders due to his success in Florida.

What a Tough Day for the Tech Mogul

Musk made his remarks on Trump during a tough day for his companies.

His reusable rocket business, SpaceX, conducted a ground test of a rocket booster in Boca Chica, Texas, which resulted in an unforeseen explosion.

On Monday, Elon Musk also encountered legal pushback from Twitter after attempting to back out of an earlier agreement he made to buy the social network for $54.20 a share. According to Twitter, his justification for ending the agreement was "invalid and wrongful."

Shares of Musk's electric car manufacturer Tesla fell on Monday after Shanghai increased mass testing for Covid in response to news of two dozen additional cases there, per CNBC. The tests sparked worries about a revival and additional lockdowns that would disrupt Tesla's factory operations in China once more.

Related Article: Barr Faces Subpoena Over 2020 Dominion Election Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox News

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 11, 2022) - Danavation Technologies Corp. (CSE: DVN) (OTCQB: DVNCF) ("Danavation" or the "Company") today announces the appointment of Mr. Jorge Martinez to the Company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. Since 1994, Mr. Martinez has held senior executive positions with etimex group and its subsidiary, etisign, including his current role as President and CEO based in Monterrey, Mexico.

Etimex is a multi-national firm that provides flexible product packaging and labeling solutions for various business verticals including food and beverage, wine and spirits, health and beauty and industrials, and service clients from locations in Monterrey, Ensenada and Mexico City in Mexico; Houston, Laredo and Chicago in the US; and Toronto and Halifax in Canada. In addition to his strong background in retail signage and labeling solutions that align optimally with Danavation's business, Mr. Martinez brings financial acumen with broad experience across all aspects of accounting, auditing, financial management, venture capital and business development. He has an MBA in Economics from Tecnologico de Monterrey, a private university system in Mexico, and studied business as an exchange student at the University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

Mr. Martinez replaces former director, Mr. Daniel Matlow, who has resigned from the Board of Danavation to focus on his other business endeavours, particularly in his role as President & CEO of VitalHub (TSXV: VHI). The team at Danavation and the Company's Board of Directors sincerely thank Dan for his service and support of the Company during his tenure.

"We are pleased to welcome Jorge to the Danavation Board. As a highly experienced executive who has a lengthy track record of providing product labeling, promotion and packaging for a myriad of global brands, we believe he will make a significant contribution to our Board," said John Ricci, CEO of Danavation. "We also wish to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Dan for his valued contributions and dedication to Danavation and wish him the very best for his future endeavours."

Stock Option Grant

Danavation also confirms the Company has granted options to purchase an aggregate of 800,000 common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares") exercisable at a price of $0.45 per share for a period of five years to certain officers, directors and consultants of the Company. The Common Shares issuable upon exercise of the options are subject to a four-month hold period from the original date of grant.

About Danavation

Danavation Technologies Corp. is a Canadian-based, Internet of Things (IoT) technology company, providing micro e-paper displays to organizations across North America. The Company's Digital Smart Labels, powered by IoT automation technology and software Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), enables companies across various sectors to automate labelling, price, product, and promotions in real-time, enhancing data accuracy and improving performance by removing high labour costs and low productivity associated with traditional labour-intensive workflows. By empowering the adoption of smart retail, smart cities and industry 4.0, our goal is to create a sustainable and profitable business for shareholders while advancing sound environmental, social and governance practices, including by significantly reducing paper usage. Danavation has introduced its solution to retailers across North America, including big box and boutique grocers, while also targeting new markets including healthcare providers, manufacturing, and logistics companies. Learn more about the background of Danavation and our vision for the future on our website. As well, follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for more updates on how we are transforming the retail landscape.

For further information, please contact:

John Ricci

President & Chief Executive Officer

hello@danavation.com

Cindy Gray

5 Quarters Investor Relations, Inc.

Tel: 1-403-705-5076 | investors@danavation.com

Investor Relations - United States

Trevor Brucato, Managing Director

RBMG - RB Milestone Group LLC

New York, NY & Stamford, CT

danavation@rbmilestone.com | www.rbmilestone.com

For media relations / management interview requests:

Mr. Nelson Hudes

Hudes Communications International

Tel: 1-905-660-9155 or nelson@hudescommunications.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements and information relating, the future business of the Company, potential roll outs of the Company's products and services, further business from the Company's clients, industry outlook and potential and other matters. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by management of the Company. Although management of the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information since no assurance can be given that they will prove to be correct.

Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and no undertaking is given 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. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130608
SHENZHEN, China, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shenzhen Century Joint Innovation Technology Company Ltd. (INNOCN) is a well-known company that specializes in the research and development, manufacturing, and sale of high-end monitors, all-in-one computers, and commercial displays. They have been featured in prestigious publications such as Rolling Stone and Forbes. They are committed to producing the best equipment with stylish product designs in order to make consumers' lives easier all over the world. Because INNOCN's primary motivation is innovation, there is nothing that can prevent this company from remaining the leading contender in the display monitor industry.







The ideal time to try out one of INNOCN's top monitors is quickly approaching for anyone who has never done so. On July 12 and 13, their 27-inch Home Office Art Monitor 27C1U, which was made with artists and designers in mind, will be on sale as a Prime Day Deal. The 27-inch Computer Display 27C1U from INNOCN is a design monitor that blends in with any office or work-from-home setup thanks to its brilliant colors, excellent picture quality, and stylish design. Any laptop can use this office monitor as a second screen, but the MacBook is without a doubt its best match. For those who can't wait until Prime Day, this display monitor is available right now on Amazon DE , Amazon FR and Amazon ES.

This aesthetically pleasing art monitor is ideal for photographers and artists. Because images can be captured in their raw, unprocessed state, photography can be appreciated in its purest form when seen on this display. The use of this high-quality monitor simplifies video editing, programming, and other labor-intensive activities while also increasing productivity. Thanks to the true color composites that have been implemented into the software that controls the screen display, gamers can enjoy flawless live-streaming capabilities as well as the graphics of their favorite computer games in their entirety. Users benefit from the low blue light feature as well, which makes viewing the screen more comfortable and less taxing on the eyes.

Affordable Prime Day Deals

Customers who have Amazon Prime are ecstatic about the new Prime Day deals that will be available on July 12th and 13th. The INNOCN 27" 4K Art Computer Monitor 27C1U was originally priced at 499 EUR, but it will be available for 336 EUR on Prime Day. Customers who buy this display monitor will have the ideal device for their home office, work space, or gaming setup.

Media Contact

Manufacturer's Name: Shenzhen Century Joint Innovation Technology Company Limited

Manufacturer's Official Website: https://www.innocn.com/

Manufacturer's Email Address: marketing@innocn.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2c79c42b-472a-4cf5-9f88-22867ab34e88
Luminaries from Japan and abroad congregated Tuesday to say their goodbyes at the funeral ceremony for former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on Friday.

The event took place following a wake the night before with an estimated 2,500 attendance, according to Japan Times.

Before the private ceremony at the Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, crowds gathered around the venue in the early morning, per Nikkei Asia.

The crowd watched as a black hearse carried Abe's body. His widow, Akie, was seen in the backseat. The funeral car drove toward Nagatacho, Japan's political hub, where Abe spent most of his long and illustrious career and the site of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) headquarters, the parliamentary building, and the Prime Minister's Office.

Most of those grieving in attendance were carrying flowers, some of them in tears, as they stood in front of the renowned Tokyo Tower. Before the funeral, people lined up and placed their flowers at the temple. Others went to the LDP headquarters, where a temporary mourning area was set up.

Final Bow for the Beloved Leader

As the hearse passed in front of the party headquarters, LDP executives and lawmakers bowed. Government officials, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, bowed their heads as the funeral car entered the premises of the Office of the Prime Minister.

U.S. officials were among the visiting diplomats that attended the wake or the funeral. Janet Yellen, the Treasury Secretary, was in Japan to meet with her Japanese equivalent and William Lai, the Vice President of Taiwan, a close friend of the Abes.

After making an unplanned trip to Japan on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken delivered a personal letter from U.S. President Joe Biden to Kishida to hand over to the Abe family.

Until Tuesday, Japan has received around 1,700 formal messages from 259 nations and territories worldwide.

Read Also: Russia-Ukraine War: Vladimir Putin's Forces Kill 29 in Donetsk Attack, Ukraine Strikes Back in Kherson

Hoping for an opportunity to say goodbye for the last time, Naomi Aoki, a supporter of the Liberal Democratic Party, lingered outside the Parliament building on Tuesday, as per a CNN report.

Aoki said: "For me, he was the most respected politician in Japan. I want to say the last farewell and I was off work today. He has made a great impact on my life. I don't think his death will be for nothing. People all over the world will feel the impact of what he achieved in his life."

Unification Church Puzzled on Suspect's Resentment Towards Congregation

The Unification Church stated on Monday that it was baffled by reports that the person accused of killing Shinzo Abe harbored a grudge toward the organization, CNN reported.

According to Tomihiro Tanaka, the Japan office chair of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, there is a "big distance" between holding resentment towards their organization and the killing of Prime Minister Abe.

"We struggle to understand why this happened," Tanaka remarked. "We will cooperate fully with the police to reveal his motive,"

The church's statements follow an earlier report by NHK that the suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, had targeted the former Prime Minister because he thought Abe's grandfather, also a former Prime Minister, had helped the growth of a religious group he hated.

Nobusuke Kishi, the prime minister from 1957 to 1960, was the target of an assassination attempt in the latter year of his term. Despite being stabbed six times, he survived.

According to state broadcaster NHK, Yamagami admitted that he had a "grudge against a particular religious group" and believed that Abe "had a close relationship" with the group.

He said: "My mother got into a group and made a large donation, and my family life was messed up."

Yamagami admitted to killing Abe last Friday in the city of Nara, where the former leader was delivering a campaign speech. Although Yamagami has not been formally charged, he is being investigated on suspicion of murder.

Related Article: Omicron Subvariant Surge Prompts Chinese Authorities To Mull a Potential Second Major Lockdown

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wefox achieves US$4.5bn post-money valuation largest for an insurtech up from US$3bn (post-money) in 2021

Series D funding round closed at US$400m

Mubadala led the equity round with participation from Eurazeo, LGT, Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures and Target Global

wefox generated more than US$200m in the first four months of business in 2022 and is well on target to reach more than US$600m revenues by the end of the year

Series D funding round increases total funding to more than US$1.3bn since first funding round in 2016 led by Salesforce Ventures.

wefox, the Berlin-based insurtech, has successfully closed a Series D funding round of $400m (comprising equity and debt) and increased its post-money valuation to US$4.5bn.

Mubadala Investment Company led the equity raise with participation from Eurazeo, LGT, Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures and Target Global.

The round sees wefox increase its valuation from US$3bn to US$4.5bn in 12 months, bucking the trend currently experienced in the insurtech market and more broadly across the tech sector.

Julian Teicke, CEO and founder of wefox, said: "This new valuation of US$4.5 billion is a clear validation of our business model, which focuses on indirect distribution via agents rather than direct. This makes our business one of the most credible insurtechs in the market right now."

"We continue doubling our revenues with last year reaching US$320m. Within the first four months of this year wefox generated more than US$200m in revenues, which keeps us on track to achieve our revenue target of US$600m by the end of 2022.

"wefox now has more than two million customers and we aim to reach three million customers by the end of this year. It is further proof that wefox is trusted and testament to our focus on prediction and prevention, rather than the traditional approach of repair and replace. We are making insurance 10 times better through technology. As a result, our customer experience is simple and fit for purpose for the way we live today," added Mr. Teicke.

wefox intends to use the funding for product development and expand across Europe and thereafter Asia and the US.

Fabian Wesemann, CFO and founder of wefox, said: "wefox is in the strongest position ever. In successfully closing this funding round we reinforce our strategy and enable faster acceleration on our path to greater revenues and profit."

"This additional investment is a strong validation from the investor community of our indirect model, which allows us to be cash efficient and is another testament to our continuous performance even in turbulent times. wefox has a proven model and a sustainable track record to replicate globally, for which the additional funds will be used.

"Our model ensures we deliver a stronger financial profile with a clear path to profitability. This is vital at all times but especially in the current economic climate which demands greater financial discipline," added Mr. Wesemann.

Ibrahim Ajami, head of Mubadala Ventures, said: "Unlike most direct to consumer insurtechs, wefox acts as an ecosystem enabler empowering the various distribution channels instead of competing with them. This model has allowed wefox to scale quickly and sustainably, providing brokers and customers alike a platform that seamlessly digitizes the insurance market."

Despite the current economic climate, wefox remains one of the very few tech companies still recruiting, with more than 1300 employees in the company today up from 550 employees in 2021. wefox expects to reach 2000 employees by the end of 2022.

wefox is a fully licensed digital insurance company that sells insurance through intermediaries and not directly to customers, which has resulted in significant growth. Earlier this year, wefox appointed Prince Max von zu Liechtenstein to the board alongside former Klarna executive, Hanna Jacobsson. In December of last year, wefox appointed former president of Samsung Electronics, Young Sohn as chairman of the board.

Notes to Editors

The US$400m series D funding round comprises equity and debt with Mubadala leading the equity round.

About Mubadala Investment Company

Mubadala Investment Company is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio, aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for the Government of Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala's US$284 billion portfolio spans six continents with interests in multiple sectors and asset classes. We leverage our deep sectoral expertise and long-standing partnerships to drive sustainable growth and profit, while supporting the continued diversification and global integration of the economy of the United Arab Emirates.

For more information about Mubadala Investment Company, please visit: www.mubadala.com

About wefox

wefox was founded in 2015 by Julian Teicke, Fabian Wesemann and Dario Fazlic. wefox is a full-stack insurtech with indirect distribution driven by a single purpose: keeping people safe by making insurance 10x better through technology. wefox is the parent company of wefox Insurance, which is the in-house regulated insurance carrier.

Timeline of funding rounds

2022: Series D round $400M led by Mubadala Investment Company.

2021: Series C round $650M led by Target Global.

2019: Series B round $235M led by Omers and Mubadala.

2017: Series A round of $30M led by Horizons Ventures.

2016: Seed round of $5.5M led by Salesforce Ventures.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220711005902/en/

Contacts:

For more information:

John Shewell

Director of Global Communications Public Affairs wefox

Ph: +49 (0)1731406796

E: john.shewell@wefox.com

UK Europe wefox HQ

Sallyanne Heywood

Ph: +44 (0)7884 187 074

E: sallyanne.heywood@ext.wefox.com

Germany Austria Switzerland (DACH)

Fatih Aydin

Ph: +49 151 64504430

E: mail@fatihaydin.de

Italy

Miriana Capella

Ph: +39 370 1569522

E: mcappella@dagcom.com

Spain

Sara Gonzalo Cristina Blanco

Ph: +34 615 184 166 +34 606 854 423

E: sara.gonzalo@trescom.es cristina.blanco@trescom.es

North America Middle East

Michael McMullan Lori Rhodes

Ph: +1 201-826-6226 +971 56 455 7105

E: mmcmullan@bcg-pr.com lrhodes@bcg-pr.com
Basel/Allschwil, Switzerland, July 12, 2022

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd (SIX: BSLN), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that its distribution partner for Latin America, Knight Therapeutics Inc. ("Knight", TSX: GUD), has received a marketing authorization from the Agencia Nacional de Vigilancia Sanitaria (Anvisa) in Brazil for the broad-spectrum, anti-MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) antibiotic Zevtera (ceftobiprole). Zevtera is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and adult patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), excluding ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

David Veitch, Basilea's Chief Executive Officer, stated: "We are very pleased with the approval of Zevtera in Brazil. We look forward to working with Knight to make Zevtera available to patients in Brazil. Knight has a strong local presence in Brazil, with a track record of successfully launching anti-infective brands in the country."

The grant of the marketing authorization triggered a milestone payment from Knight to Basilea.

About Zevtera (ceftobiprole)

Ceftobiprole medocaril, the prodrug of the active moiety ceftobiprole, is a cephalosporin antibiotic for intravenous administration, with rapid bactericidal activity against a wide range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. This includes methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA, MRSA) and susceptible Pseudomonas spp.1 The brand is currently approved and marketed as Zevtera and Mabelio in a number of countries in Europe and beyond. Basilea has entered into license and distribution agreements in Europe, Eurasian countries, Latin America, China, Canada, Israel, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions.

About Basilea

Basilea is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Switzerland. We are committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative drugs to meet the needs of patients with bacterial and fungal infections. We have successfully launched two hospital brands, Cresemba for the treatment of invasive fungal infections and Zevtera for the treatment of severe bacterial infections. In addition, we have several preclinical anti-infective assets in our portfolio. Basilea is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Please visit basilea.com.

Disclaimer

This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information, please contact:

Peer Nils Schroder, PhD



Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations

Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd, Allschwil

Hegenheimermattweg 167b

4123 Allschwil

Switzerland Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail media_relations@basilea.com (mailto:media_relations@basilea.com)

investor_relations@basilea.com (mailto:investor_relations@basilea.com)



(mailto:investor_relations@basilea.com)

This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com.

References

Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) Zevtera: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/9164/smpc (https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/9164/smpc)

[Accessed: July 11, 2022]



Attachment
PARIS, FRANCE and BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / TISSIUM, a privately-owned medtech company developing biomorphic programmable polymers for tissue reconstruction, announced today it has appointed Maria Sainz as an independent member of the Board of Directors.

Ms. Sainz has over 30 years of experience in the medical technology industry. In the last 10 years, she held the position of President and CEO of three medical devices companies including AEGEA Medical, acquired by CooperSurgical in 2021, Cardiokinetix, and Concentric Medical, acquired by Stryker in 2011.

Prior to these positions, Ms. Sainz began her career at Guidant Corporation (acquired by Boston Scientific in 2006) where she held several key positions in Europe and the United States, including being the President of the Cardiac Surgery division and the VP Global Marketing of the Vascular Intervention division.

She also serves as a member of the board of directors of Shockwave Medical, Avanos Medical, Hyperfine, Levita Magnetics, Artio Medical, and Atrion Medical.

Ms. Sainz earned a Master of Arts in Languages from Complutense University of Madrid, and a Master's in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

The arrival of Ms. Sainz to TISSIUM's Board of Directors is a great addition as TISSIUM continues to expand its platform and prepare for commercialization. Ms. Sainz will be the third independent board member on TISSIUM's Board of Directors.

Christophe Bancel, CEO of TISSIUM, said: "We are delighted to have a new member with such a vast and rich experience in leadership and commercialization join the board at TISSIUM at such a strategic moment for the company. Maria's experience and deep knowledge of the medical devices field will be an invaluable resource as we advance the company toward commercialization."

Ms. Sainz added: "I am honored to join the TISSIUM Board of Directors. The solutions developed by TISSIUM have the potential to impact the lives of patients in need of better tissue reconstruction across multiple clinical indications and revolutionize the medtech industry."

About TISSIUM

TISSIUM, a privately-owned MedTech company based in Paris, France and Boston, USA, is dedicated to the development and commercialization of products derived from its unique biopolymer platform. The company's products will address multiple unmet clinical needs, including atraumatic tissue repair and reconstruction.

TISSIUM is developing a portfolio of products that leverage its proprietary family of fully biosynthetic, biomorphic, and programmable polymers, which are the foundation of the company's technology platform. Currently, the Company has a pipeline of seven products across three verticals, including sutureless nerve repair, hernia repair and cardiovascular sealants. Each product is designed to enhance the tissue reconstruction process in a unique way. In addition, the company develops complementary delivery and activation devices for enhanced performance and usability of its products.

TISSIUM's technology is based on world-class research and intellectual property from the laboratories of Professor Robert Langer (MIT) and Professor Jeffrey M. Karp (Brigham and Women's Hospital), who co-founded the company in 2013.

PRESS CONTACTS

Investor relations

Romain Attard - Chief Financial Officer

rattard@TISSIUM.com

Tel: +33 1 76 21 72 28

Twitter: @TISSIUMtech

Press

Jeanene Timberlake

jtimberlake@rooneypartners.com

Tel: +1 646-770-8858

Yoann Besse

yoann.besse@citigatedewerogerson.com

Tel: +33 6 63 03 84 91

SOURCE: TISSIUM

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708152/Tissium-Appoints-Maria-Sainz-as-Independent-Board-Member
Series of orders demonstrates Plurilock's continued sales growth across key industry verticals

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Plurilock Security Inc. (TSXV: PLUR) (OTCQB: PLCKF) and related subsidiaries ("Plurilock" or the "Company"), an identity-centric cybersecurity solutions provider for workforces, announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Aurora Systems Consulting, Inc. ("Aurora"), has received purchase orders from several organizations in June 2022, totaling US$2.5 million.

Many of the orders received continue to be part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Solution for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) program, a U.S. Government-Wide Acquisition Contract Vehicle (GWAC), and align with Plurilock's stated goal of expanding within the government and defense verticals.

All contracts and orders announced by PlurilockTM and its subsidiaries since January 1, 2022, including the latest orders, represent a combined total of roughly US$11.2 million in sales.

About SEWP

The SEWP V program, launched by NASA in 2015, is the leading information technology (IT) contract vehicle, with government agencies spending US$7.9 billion in fiscal 2020.1 Estimates anticipate that agencies will utilize SEWP V for US$8.8 billion in contracted spending in fiscal 2021.2 The contract vehicle provides Plurilock with the opportunity to access downstream customers in the government sector.

About Plurilock

Plurilock provides identity-centric cybersecurity for today's workforces. The Plurilock family of companies enables organizations to operate safely and securely while reducing cybersecurity friction. Plurilock offers world-class IT and cybersecurity solutions through its Solutions Division, paired with proprietary, AI-driven and cloud-friendly security through its Technology Division. Together, the Plurilock family of companies delivers persistent identity assurance with unmatched ease of use.

For more information, visit https://www.plurilock.com or contact:

Ian L. Paterson

Chief Executive Officer

ian@plurilock.com

416.800.1566

Roland Sartorius

Chief Financial Officer

roland.sartorius@plurilock.com

Prit Singh

Investor Relations

prit.singh@plurilock.com

905.510.7636

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") related to future events or Plurilock's future business, operations, and financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements normally contain words like "will", "intend", "anticipate", "could", "should", "may", "might", "expect", "estimate", "forecast", "plan", "potential", "project", "assume", "contemplate", "believe", "shall", "scheduled", and similar terms. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, actions, or developments and are based on expectations, assumptions, and other factors that management currently believes are relevant, reasonable, and appropriate in the circumstances. Although management believes that the forward-looking statements herein are reasonable, actual results could be substantially different due to the risks and uncertainties associated with and inherent to Plurilock's business. Additional material risks and uncertainties applicable to the forward-looking statements herein include, without limitation, the impact of general economic conditions, the success of the Company in obtaining new or extended contracts or orders; the Company's ability to maintain existing customers or develop new customers; the Company's ability to successfully integrate acquisitions of other businesses and/or companies or to realize on the anticipated benefits thereof; and unforeseen events, developments, or factors causing any of the aforesaid expectations, assumptions, and other factors ultimately being inaccurate or irrelevant. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the Company's forward-looking statements. Many of these factors are beyond the control of Plurilock. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as at the date hereof, and Plurilock undertakes no obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in its most recent Annual Information Form. They are otherwise disclosed in its filings with securities regulatory authorities available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

https://gov-acq.com/contracts/nasa-sewp-v-contract/ https://about.bgov.com/news/this-is-it-sewp-v-is-the-top-it-vehicle-in-fiscal-2020/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130562
Businesses in the region can now tap into the power of the Lumen platform to deploy applications and workloads at the cloud edge

LONDON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) is investing in its global Edge network and expanding its Edge Computing Solutions into Europe, providing the low latency platform businesses need to extend their high-bandwidth, data-intensive applications out to the cloud edge. This expansion is part of Lumen's continued investment in next-generation solutions that transform digital experiences and meet the demands of today's global businesses.

"Edge computing is a game-changer. It will drive the next wave of business innovation and growth across virtually all industries," said Annette Murphy, regional president, EMEA and APAC, Lumen Technologies. "Customers in Europe can now tap into the power of the Lumen platform, underpinned by Lumen's extensive fibre footprint, to deploy data-heavy applications and workloads that demand ultra-low latency at the cloud edge. This delivers peak performance and reliability, as well as more capability to drive amazing digital experiences. Customers can focus efforts on developing applications and bringing them to market, rather than on time-consuming infrastructure deployment."

Today, Lumen Edge Computing Solutions can meet approximately 70% of enterprise demand within 5 milliseconds of latency in the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Additional locations are planned by end of year. Lumen Edge Computing Solutions bring together the power of the company's expansive global fibre network, on-demand networking, integrated security, and managed services, with edge facilities and compute and storage services. This allows for quick and efficient deployment of applications and workloads at the edge, closer to the point of digital interaction. Customers can procure Lumen Edge Computing Solutions online, and within an hour gain access to high-powered computing infrastructure on the Lumen platform.

Lumen offers several edge infrastructure and servicessolutions to support enterprise innovation and applications of the 4th Industrial Revolution. These include:

Lumen Edge Bare Metal offers dedicated, pay-as-you-go server hardware hosted in distributed locations and connected to the Lumen global fibre network. Edge Bare Metal delivers enhanced security and connectivity with dedicated, single tenancy servers designed to isolate and protect data and deliver high-performance.

offers dedicated, pay-as-you-go server hardware hosted in distributed locations and connected to the Lumen global fibre network. Edge Bare Metal delivers enhanced security and connectivity with dedicated, single tenancy servers designed to isolate and protect data and deliver high-performance. Lumen Network Storage enables customers to take advantage of secure, scalable, and fast storage where and when they need it. The service allows enterprises and public sector organisations to ingest and update data at the edge using whatever file storage protocol meets their needs.

enables customers to take advantage of secure, scalable, and fast storage where and when they need it. The service allows enterprises and public sector organisations to ingest and update data at the edge using whatever file storage protocol meets their needs. Lumen Edge Private Cloud provides pre-built infrastructure for high performance private cloud computing connected to the Lumen global fibre network. Lumen Edge Private Cloud is fully managed by Lumen and helps businesses go-to-market quickly with the capacity needed for interaction-intensive applications.

provides pre-built infrastructure for high performance private cloud computing connected to the Lumen global fibre network. Lumen Edge Private Cloud is fully managed by Lumen and helps businesses go-to-market quickly with the capacity needed for interaction-intensive applications. Lumen Edge Gateway is a scalable Multi-access Edge Compute (MEC) platform for the premises. The service offers a compute platform for the delivery of virtualised wide area networking (WAN), security, and IT applications from multiple vendors on the premises edge.

Key Facts:

Lumen Edge Computing Solutions meet approximately 97% of U.S. enterprise demand and approximately 70% of enterprise demand in the UK, France , Germany , Belgium , and the Netherlands within 5 milliseconds of latency.

, , , and within 5 milliseconds of latency. For a current list of live and planned Lumen edge locations, visit: https://www.lumen.com/en-uk/resources/network-maps.htmledge-roadmap

As part of the Edge Computing Solutions deployment in Europe , Lumen enabled an additional 100G MPLS and IP network connectivity, as well as increased power and cooling at key edge data centre locations.

, Lumen enabled an additional 100G MPLS and IP network connectivity, as well as increased power and cooling at key edge data centre locations. Lumen manages and operates one of the largest, most connected, most deeply peered networks in the world. It is comprised of approximately 500,000 (805,000 km) global route miles of fibre and more than 190,000 on-net buildings, seamlessly connected to 2,200 public and private third-party data centres and leading public cloud service providers.

In EMEA, the Lumen network is comprised of approximately 42,000 (67,000 km) route miles of fibre and connects to more than 2,500 on-net buildings and 540 public and private third-party data centres.

Additional Resources:

For more information visit:

Lumen Edge Computing Solutions: https://www.lumen.com/en-uk/solutions/edge-computing.html

Lumen Edge Bare Metal: https://www.lumen.com/en-uk/edge-computing/bare-metal.html

Lumen Network Storage: https://www.lumen.com/en-uk/hybrid-it-cloud/network-storage.html

Lumen Edge Private Cloud: https://www.lumen.com/en-uk/hybrid-it-cloud/private-cloud.html

Lumen Edge Gateway: https://www.lumen.com/en-uk/edge-computing/edge-gateway.html

About Lumen Technologies and the People of Lumen:

Lumen is guided by our belief that humanity is at its best when technology advances the way we live and work. With approximately 500,000 route fibre miles and serving customers in more than 60 countries, we deliver a fast, secure platform for applications and data to help businesses, government and communities deliver amazing experiences. Learn more about the Lumen network, edge cloud, security, communication and collaboration solutions and our purpose to further human progress through technology at news.lumen.com/home, LinkedIn: /lumentechnologies, Twitter: @lumentechco, Facebook: /lumentechnologies, Instagram: @lumentechnologies and YouTube: /lumentechnologies.

Follow us on our EMEA social networks:

LinkedIn | Twitter

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D16eACzQvr0

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1857072/Edge_Launch_Release_Social_Tile_EMEA.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1275666/Lumen_Logo.jpg
July 12, 2022

Philips SmartSpeed AI-based software receives FDA 510(k) clearance, delivering breakthrough high-speed, high-resolution MR imaging

Unique broad compatibility (97% of clinical protocols) allows faster and high-quality scans for virtually all patients with various conditions including those with implants

Intelligent MR acceleration software helps drive increased MR department efficiency with 3 times faster scans, and enables greater diagnostic confidence with higher quality image resolution

Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Royal Philips delivers higher image resolution with 3 times faster scan times [1] and virtually no loss in image quality, representing a major step forward in diagnostic confidence and MR department productivity.

With personalized treatment for complex diseases such as cancer increasing the need for high-confidence precision diagnoses, coupled with soaring caseloads due to aging populations and high levels of clinician burnout, radiology departments are under increasing pressure to improve performance, productivity, and profitability.

"Philips' AI-based SmartSpeed reconstruction is the new benchmark among acceleration techniques for us. It improves on the company's existing Compressed SENSE in all aspects and allows a reduction in scan times with excellent image quality and diagnostic confidence," said Dr. Grischa Bratke, radiologist and expert in musculoskeletal imaging at the University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.

Philips SmartSpeed, the latest addition to Philips' expanding portfolio of AI-driven, smart, connected imaging and smart workflow solutions, helps achieve the Quadruple Aim of improving diagnostic outcomes, enhancing patient and staff experiences, and reducing healthcare costs overall.

This latest AI-powered MR software increases resolution up to 65% and achieves up to 3 times faster scanning times compared to conventional MR scans [1]. Coupled with its support for 97% of current clinical protocols [2] - including advanced contrasts and diffusion weighted imaging, and even quantitative imaging such at T1 or T2 mapping for brain, liver, heart or musculoskeletal (MSK) imaging - Philips SmartSpeed helps increase diagnostic confidence in a wide range of patients, including the most complex cases. The unique deep learning technology of Philips SmartSpeed is applied at the source of the MR signal and seamlessly integrated with Philips leading Compressed SENSE speed engine to deliver higher resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio needed for detailed images, small lesion detection and enhanced diagnosis.

Award-winning AI technology of Philips SmartSpeed

Philips SmartSpeed uses an award-winning AI reconstruction algorithm [3] at the front-end of the MR signal to remove noise and preserve details while enabling k-space data consistency check for trustworthy AI. The unique Compressed SENSE adaptive AI technology used in Philips SmartSpeed, which was co-developed by Philips and several of its academic partners, won the 2019 fastMRI Challenge hosted by Facebook AI research and New York Langone Health.

"By taking the Quadruple Aim as a starting point to develop and deploy AI solutions, we have a tremendous opportunity to address the inefficiencies and growing demand that our customers and partners face every day," said Kees Wesdorp , Chief Business Leader of Precision Diagnosis at Philips. "Powered by AI, our ?leading technologies and smart connected imaging solutions help turn data into actionable insights to increase diagnostic confidence and help improve clinical outcomes for patients.'

Philips portfolio of smart, connected imaging and intelligent workflow solutions at ECR 2022

Philips SmartSpeed joins the growing number of Philips AI powered workflow innovations that are available across the portfolio of smart Philips MR systems that will be showcased at the upcoming 2022 European Congress of Radiology), including the recent European introduction of the smart connected 3T MR system, Philips MR 7700 and the company's latest MR 5300 1.5T helium-free in operations MR system. Each of these systems uses intelligent software to automate tasks and help relieve the burden on busy radiology staff and departments.

Visit Philips at ECR 2022 for more information on Philips' AI-powered Precision Diagnosis suite of solutions, featuring smart connected imaging systems and integrated radiology workflow solutions, designed to increase clinical confidence and diagnostic outcomes.

Philips SmartSpeed is FDA cleared but not CE marked, and not yet available for delivery in all countries.

[1] Compared to Philips SENSE

[2] Average measured across a sample of sites from Philips MR installed base

[3] Adaptive-C-SENSE-Net technology is the winner of Fast MRI Challenge hosted by Facebook AI research and New York Langone Health

For further information, please contact:

Kathy O'Reilly

Philips Global Press Office

Tel.: +1 978-221-8919

E-mail : kathy.oreilly@philips.com

Twitter: @kathyoreilly



About Royal Philips

Royal Philips.

Attachment
New Medical Imaging Product Delivers Affordable 3D Imaging at the Point-Of-Care

OXFORD, England, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical imaging technology company Adaptix Limited (Adaptix) has submitted a 510(k) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its first medical imaging product ("NeXt 3D-Ortho"), allowing the company to begin marketing its Point-of-Care 3D orthopedic system in the United States.



Adaptix, based at Oxford University Science Park, has developed novel technologies that allow affordable, low-dose 3D imaging at the Point-of-Care using Digital Tomosynthesis (DT), to provider quicker, more accurate diagnosis possibilities.

2D X-ray is currently the world's dominant diagnostic modality, but frequently results in inconclusive reads due to areas of clinical interest being obscured by overlying and underlying tissues. This leads to diagnostic "misses" and delays, additional referrals for an "over-read," and excessive and expensive escalation to Computer Tomography (CT) or MRI, as well as potentially the unnecessary immobilisation of a limb for a patient waiting diagnosis.

CT provides a more sensitive 3D image but at a far greater cost in terms of money, time and radiation dosage to the patient. Access to CT is also more limited particularly in some countries or regions, resulting in delayed diagnosis and extended travel by the patient.

Mark Evans, Adaptix's CEO, stated, "This is the first of many innovations that Adaptix is excited about bringing to medical markets. The U.K. is the country that invented the first clinical CT and MRI scanners, and our new low-cost 3D imaging technology builds on the long-standing U.K. pedigree of innovation in medical imaging. We hope that our patent-protected technology will become even more widely deployed and that one day Adaptix's technologies will touch the lives of everyone through medical and dental applications."

There is a drive within healthcare systems towards a new diagnostics model where more facilities will be made available in free standing locations away from main hospital sites, to Regional Diagnostic Centres and even commercial and retail locations. This will support earlier diagnosis, greater convenience to patients and the drive to reduce health inequalities. Adaptix's low-cost deployable 3D imaging will help change the location of service delivery within and beyond the hospital environment, and meet diagnostic needs faster and at a lower cost.

Adaptix already has active customers in the veterinary market with a low dose affordable 3D imaging system that is used by clinicians in first opinion practices. The orthopedic system will be offered to clinicians and payers on the "Pay-per-Study" model accepted in the veterinary market. Like the veterinary system, the orthopedic system can run from a single-phase domestic power supply and requiring minimal radiation protection measures, further reducing the total cost to payers.

This is the first step in Adaptix's mission to transform medical radiology by supplying affordable low-dose Point-of-Care 3D imaging to replace 2D X-ray and to do so using a non-standard business model. Further unmet clinical needs in the dental market (intraoral 3D) and hospital market (a portable 3D chest imaging system for Intensive Care Units, Emergency Departments and Primary Care applications) will be met by later products.

About Adaptix Limited

Adaptix Limited is transforming radiology through the development of innovative 3D imaging technologies. At the core of their patent portfolio and commercialization strategy is a distributed Flat Panel X-ray Source (FPS) system which has applications across a multitude of global markets that are currently limited to 2D X-ray imaging systems where cost, speed to diagnostic result, location or dose concerns mean CT is not optimal. Adaptix's central mission is to transform radiology by offering affordable low-dose 3D imaging at the point-of-care and allowing "3D-first" as the standard of care.

The first of Adaptix's medical offerings, the NeXt 3D-Ortho, enables fast, low-cost 3D imaging from a stationary source at a significantly reduced radiation dose and much lower cost than CT systems. Based in Oxford, England, Adaptix has fostered strategic partnerships in academic, medical research, and technology in support of their goal to make advanced 3D tomosynthesis more widely available to healthcare providers and their patients throughout the world. For further information, visit www.adaptix.com.

Contact:

Mr. Mark Evans

mark.evans@adaptix.com

+44 (0)7767 215564

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1856569/Adaptix_Logo.jpg
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - BAROYECA GOLD & SILVER INC. (TSXV: BGS) (the "Company") is pleased to announce it has resumed bulk-sampling at the Santa Barbara Gold Project in Bolivar, Colombia. A first batch of 10,304 kg of mineralized material has been processed through the pilot processing plant, which has recently been upgraded, with a gold dore bar poured on-site as part of preliminary metallurgical and plant efficiency tests.

Assay results from the head-grade samples returned 18.20 g/t Au, with 130.4 grams of gold at 99.8% purity recovered on-site from the process (recoveries of 69.53%).





Photo 1. Gold dore pour from first batch of new bulk sample at the Santa Barbara project

To view an enhanced version of Photo 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7881/130605_4f830380b4a598c1_001full.jpg

Raul Sanabria, P.Geo., President of Baroyeca commented: "We stick to our plan of generating non-dilutive cash flow while we conduct meaningful exploration at Santa Barbara, and this is an excellent example of that. We took the approach of drifting along the veins to undertake vein characterization and sampling work at small spacing intervals to better understand gold grade distribution and so far, we haven't gone wrong. Now we are focused on accessing and developing the vein at the Mariana mine where historical artisanal mine works and assay results continue to show high-gold grades, which we believe is an indicator of what we can expect at depth and in other parallel veins in the project. Bulk sampling has now started from all the currently exposed veins recently accessed by our underground development preparation works. The vein material obtained from these samples will also be processed at the Santa Barbara processing plant and included in further shoot delineation works towards the first resource estimate. While we do this, the Company intends to recover the gold to generate enough non-dilutive cash flow from the bulk sampling process to defray most of the overhead costs of the project while continuing advancing underground exploration."

The Company has been clearing the access and a collapsed section of the Mariana Mine to access the fresh vein at Level 2 by a horizontal drift located 40 meters to the northeast of the former access shaft.

The Santa Barbara exploratory tunnel was extended for an additional 25 meters following Vein #1 after the completion of the milestone 500-ton bulk sample released in 2021. Channel sampling started at 2-meter intervals from the crosscut that accessed Vein #2 and samples from this section are now at SGS Labs in Medellin for assay.

Sample collection method

Bulk sample collection is designed and supervised by a Qualified Person for QA/QC purposes. Baroyeca used the same bulk sampling process methodology used before but increased the batch sample from 10 to 15 tons after completing some improvements and upgrades at the pilot processing plant.

The mining method employed at the exploratory tunnels consisted of splitting the vein from the barren wall rock and separating and collecting vein material with a minimum of wall rock attached. The vein material from the tunnel was then bagged at the tunnel portal in woven plastic bags and individually weighed until an approximate nominal 10-to-15-ton batch sized sample was completed. Samples were then loaded in random order into a truck and taken to the Santa Barbara pilot gold processing plant. Once the batch was completed, the section of tunnel from where the sample was removed was surveyed and followed with channel sampling at 1-meter intervals.

At the plant site, sample bags were dumped in random order after passing through a first stage of crushing to 2-inch and a second stage of crushing to 0.5 inch size. Crushed material was then stored in a bin with a vibrating door that self-feeds the primary ball mill. Crushed material was then sent to the primary ball mill (>40% passing 150 mesh) and secondary ball mill (>60% passing 200 mesh) connecting with the three 15m3 cyanide leaching talks where the pulp was agitated before adding reagents for homogenization purposes.

The pilot plant does not have a gravity separation stage or flotation system therefore there was no loss of material in the process and the sample pulp reaching the cyanide leaching tanks was considered the entire sample, with the sample being homogenized. A >1 kg head grade sample was then collected from the tank before the cyanide leaching process started and sent to SGS labs in Medellin for Au-Ag fire assay.

2022 Santa Barbara Exploration Program update

Baroyeca has completed an additional 25m in its crosscut tunnel perpendicular to the main exploratory one following the Santa Barbara vein #2, getting closer to Vein #3 inferred from surface mapping.

Baroyeca's Mining Engineering Team is currently working on underground tunnel upgrades at the Mariana mine to speed up access to the fresh (unaltered) part of the vein below the saprock boundary and will continue with the bulk sampling / channel sampling in this area of the project immediately west of the Pilot Processing Plant.





Photo 2. Securing access to level 2 following the gold bearing vein (oxidized at the saprock level) at the Mariana mine to continue with bulk sampling in this area.

To view an enhanced version of Photo 2, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7881/130605_4f830380b4a598c1_002full.jpg





Fig. 1. Location Map of the Santa Barbara project.

To view an enhanced version of Fig 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7881/130605_4f830380b4a598c1_003full.jpg

QA/QC

Rock samples are shipped by transport truck in sealed woven plastic bags to SGS sample preparation facility in Medellin, Colombia for sample preparation and analysis. SGS operate according to the guidelines set out in ISO/IEC Guide 25. Gold is determined by fire-assay fusion of a 50 g sub-sample with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Samples that return values >10 ppm gold from fire assay and AAS are determined by using fire assay and a gravimetric finish. Silver is analyzed by inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission spectroscopy, following multi-acid digestion. Silver is determined by ore grade assay for samples that return >500 ppm.

About Baroyeca Gold & Silver Inc.

Baroyeca Gold & Silver Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on high-grade silver and gold projects located in Colombia. Baroyeca's flagship asset is the high-grade Atocha Silver-Gold Project located in Tolima Department, Colombia. The Company also holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Santa Barbara Property, Bolivar Department, Colombia, which is renowned for its high-grade gold mineralization and vein density. Current exploration activities on the Santa Barbara Property involve the bulk sampling of vein structures, which material then feeds into a trial production facility which has consistently been producing gold for over a year. The revenue from the sale of produced gold defrays part of the operating costs. The Company is planning to expand these activities.

The Company's Board and senior management are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital, and environmentally and socially responsible mineral exploration.

Qualified Person

Raul Sanabria, M.Sc., P.Geo., President of Baroyeca Gold & Silver Inc. and a qualified person ("QP") as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release.

BAROYECA GOLD & SILVER INC.

Per: "Raul Sanabria"

Raul Sanabria, President

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rick Wilson - (604) 351-3599

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130605
11.7 MW/34 MWh battery-based energy storage system co-located with a solar farm, has been awarded a contract under the Innovation Tender.



Once completed, the project will produce enough energy to supply 5000 households with renewable, low-cost energy for an entire day.

ERLANGEN, Germany, July 12, 2022, Inc.one of the largest decentralised energy suppliers and developers of photovoltaic power plants in Germany.

The project, scheduled for completion in April 2023, will co-locate Fluence's Gridstackenergy storage product with a 34 MW solar plant in in Merseburg, in eastern Germany. Once completed, the project will be directly connected to the electricity grid via a specially built transformer station, enabling Munch Energie to participate in the secondary reserve market (aFFR).

"Fluence and Munch Energie are committed to accelerating the energy transition, utilising smart energy storage to increase Germany's share of renewables, reducing the country's dependency on natural gas-based generation, and ensuring affordable electricity for German energy users," commented Brian Perusse, VP sales and market development EMEA at Fluence.

"Renewable generation and battery-based energy storage are both critical in achieving Fluence's mission to create a more sustainable future by transforming the way we power our world. We are proud to be working together with Munch Energie on the development of this project - the first one for Fluence to be deployed under the German Innovation Tender," added Perusse.

In May this year, the project was awarded a contract in the Innovation Tender run by the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur). The tender is open to projects which combine solar generation and at least one other eligible technology per site that will share a grid connection point. The winning bidders are awarded the 20-year contracts with a fixed market premium price for the renewable energy they produce. By 2028, the market regulator plans to award contracts of up to 4 GWh to the developers of distributed energy storage systems under the Innovation Tenders.

"Munch Energie has decades of experience in developing solar plants with megawatt capacity measured in triple-digits. This, combined with our successful track record in constructing substations and grid connections, makes us perfectly positioned to partner with Fluence, a leading global technology company with a strong European footprint to deliver solar + storage projects in Germany," commented Benjamin Voth, Project Manager.

"The German electricity grid is in full transformation, and it is now in our hands to position ourselves solidly for the requirements of tomorrow. To drive the further development of solar + storage projects in the country, Munch Energie and Fluence are planning more projects with triple-digit megawatt-hour capacity," said Mario Munch, founder and CEO of Munch Energie.

In May, the European Commission published the REPowerEU Plan. The package of new policies is aimed at driving the construction of renewable generation projects. The European Commission proposed to increase the target for the energy generated from renewable sources to 45 per cent by 2030, up from 40 per cent previously planned and called for the installation of over 320 GW of solar photovoltaic generation by 2025, over twice today's level, and approximately 600 GW by 2030.

"By combining intermittent solar generation with battery-based energy storage, the German electricity grid will be significantly more resilient. Fast-acting energy storage will be charged in the daytime during the periods of high generation and dispatched during the peak demand, usually in the evening. This way, we will not only contribute to increasing the share of renewable energy in the grid mix, but we will also supply the low-cost electricity at the times when the prices increase due to higher demand," commented Benedikt Schwinger, project manager at Munch Energie.

For the accelerated deployment of renewable energy sources to be successful, Germany and the whole of Europe need rapid roll out of proven technologies which increase grid flexibility and enable safe and efficient integration of renewable generation into electricity systems, delivering security of supply, affordability, and sustainability. To this end, battery-based energy storage is a quickly deployed, cost-effective, and low-emission solution with the potential to become a backbone of modern, resilient, and decarbonised energy systems. It enhances network stability, eases congestion on transmission lines, and reduces renewable curtailment.

About Munch Energie

Munch Energie is one of the largest decentralized energy suppliers in Germany and is committed to supplying entire regions with affordable, sustainable and secure energy. With around 20 years of experience, Munch Energie offers businesses, municipalities and consumers reliable, end-to-end energy concepts, thereby increasing the independence and future viability of these regions.

Each year, Munch Energie realizes major photovoltaic projects with double to triple-digit megawatt capacity. These concepts integrate local agriculture, industry and infrastructure, all of which also benefit directly from the power plants. Sustainable energy projects thus not only secure an economically and ecologically valuable supply of energy; their decentralized structure also ensures that any added value that is created remains in the region.

True to our vision of "preserving the earth together", the sustainable management of energy and the (global) environment is more than just a business model for Munch Energie; it is a fundamental attitude held throughout the entire company.

Learn more about Munch Energie at www.muench-energie.deor follow us on LinkedIn.

About Fluence

Fluence Energy, Inc., or follow us on LinkedInor Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statement

The information in this press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, expected timing for the project to be fully operational and anticipated benefits and impacts of the project, including on the German energy transition.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events, and their potential effects on our business. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and there can be no assurance that future developments affecting our business will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Most of these factors are outside Fluence's control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences in expected results include but are not limited to the following: delays with the deployment of the project, including those caused by disruptions in the supply chain and extreme weather, delays with connecting the project to the grid and making it fully operational, and the potential implementation of a revised or new regulatory framework by German or European Union regulators affecting the project deployment and/or impact. Fluence cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Additional information about factors that could materially affect Fluence is set forth under the "Risk Factors" section in its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Except as otherwise required by applicable law, Fluence disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, all of which are expressly qualified by the statements in this section, to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release. Should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and projections could differentiate materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.

Media Contact

Fluence: Joanna Spirodek, Regional Marketing Manager, EMEA

Email: joanna.spirodek@fleunceenergy.com

Phone: 0049 17286 62155

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ef29395f-ae2f-46f7-8d9e-86ed87ca1951
LONDON, July 12, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - Imperial College London (Imperial), Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi Europe Ltd. (Hitachi) today announced that they have signed an agreement to establish a joint research centre for decarbonisation and natural climate solutions. Together, they will collaborate in fundamental and applied research, addressing key challenges in decarbonisation and climate repair in order to achieve a Net Zero future.The new Centre, named the "Hitachi-Imperial Centre for Decarbonisation and Natural Climate Solutions" will enable a fundamental and applied research programme to be established where Imperial and Hitachi will collaborate on selected research projects, reports and white papers on the challenges and technologies in reaching net zero, as well as potential scenarios that could arise when the world reaches net zero. The Centre will also help train the next generation of scientists and engineers in the field.Initial research projects will focus on carbon management, the decarbonisation of energy and transport, carbon dioxide removal and biodiversity, with a focus on new technologies and nature-based solutions. The Centre will be a platform to bring together researchers from different faculties and disciplines, to build a truly multidisciplinary, holistic programme, taking a systems-thinking approach to embed both technical and socio-economic/policy aspects to deliver transformative and translatable solutions.Imperial is committed to helping societies become more sustainable through bold initiatives that find meaningful solutions to climate change. Imperial's Transition to Zero Pollution initiative aims to build new partnerships between research, industry and government - from fundamental science and engineering, systems thinking, human health, new business models, and policymaking - to realise its vision of a sustainable zero pollution future.Hitachi's Environmental Vision is to realise a decarbonised and resource-efficient society in harmony with Nature, and thereby contribute to a sustainable society flourishing within planetary boundaries and enhancing human well-being. To underline its commitment to a net zero society and become a Climate Change Innovator, Hitachi joined the United Nations Race to Zero Campaign in 2020, was a principal partner of COP26, and has been advocating a holistic approach to combating climate change together with stakeholders. Building on its strong presence in the mobility and energy sectors in Europe, Hitachi will leverage the global footprint and green products portfolio of the Hitachi group to deploy economically viable impactful end-to-end green solutions.Projects under this collaboration will be steered jointly by senior representatives from both Imperial and Hitachi, including Professor Mary Ryan from Imperial's Faculty of Engineering, and Dr Kazuyuki Sugimura, CTO of Hitachi Europe Ltd.Professor Ryan, who also leads the Transition to Zero Pollution initiative, said: "There is greater urgency than ever before to tackle global pollution, of which CO2 is one of the biggest sources. This joint research centre will bring together world-leading scientists and innovators in decarbonisation and climate repair to develop new technology and solutions to the climate emergency. Imperial and Hitachi will work closely together to make significant advances in developing cleaner energy and this new centre will accelerate our work towards a zero pollution future."Dr David Green, collaboration centre lead for Hitachi and Head of the Sustainability Laboratory in the European R&D Centre of Hitachi Europe Ltd. said: "Limiting greenhouse gas emissions and reaching Net Zero is crucial. Yet even in a net zero world we will still face serious societal and environmental challenges caused by high residual levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We are excited to open our new centre with Imperial which builds on previous collaborations and harnesses their expertise in scientific research, business and policy."About Imperial College LondonImperial College London is one of the world's leading universities. The College's 22,000 students and 8,000 staff are working to solve the biggest challenges in science, medicine, engineering and business.Imperial is University of the Year 2022 in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide. It is the world's fifth most international university, according to Times Higher Education, with academic ties to more than 150 countries. Reuters named the College as the UK's most innovative university because of its exceptional entrepreneurial culture and ties to industry. Imperial has a greater proportion of world-leading research than any other UK university, according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF). Imperial ranks first in the UK for research outputs, first in the UK for research environment, and first for research impact among Russell Group universities.About Hitachi, Ltd.Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society with data and technology. We will solve customers' and society's challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products, under the business structure of Digital Systems & Services, Green Energy & Mobility, Connective Industries and Automotive Systems. Driven by green, digital, and innovation, we aim for growth through collaboration with our customers. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2021 (ended March 31, 2022) totalled 10,264.6 billion yen ($84,136 million USD), with 853 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 370,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com.About Hitachi Europe Ltd.Hitachi Europe Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., is headquartered in Sefton Park, UK. The company is focused on its Social Innovation Business - delivering innovations that answer society's challenges. Hitachi Europe and its subsidiary companies offers a broad range of information & telecommunication systems; rail systems, power and industrial systems; industrial components & equipment; automotive systems, digital media & consumer products and others with operations and research & development Laboratories across EMEA. For more information, visit https://www.hitachi.eu/en.For more information, use the enquiry form below to contact the Research & Development Group, Hitachi, Ltd. Please make sure to include the title of the article. www8.hitachi.co.jp/inquiry/hqrd/news/en/form.jspSource: Hitachi, Ltd.Copyright 2022 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
NASA and U.S. President Joe Biden shared on Monday the first colored image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) detailing the deepest view ever made on the cosmos.

 Sneak a peek at the deepest & sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken  all in a days work for the Webb telescope. (Literally, capturing it took less than a day!) This is Webbs first image released as we begin to #UnfoldTheUniverse: https://t.co/tlougFWg8B pic.twitter.com/Y7ebmQwT7j  NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) July 11, 2022

Called "Webb's First Deep Field," the image shows the deepest and sharpest, high-resolution image of the distant universe ever seen, NASA said. This image reveals of a cluster of galaxies known as SMACS 0723, which first came into existence 4.6 billion years ago. The total mass of these captured galaxies presents itself as a gravitational lens that magnifies the farther celestial bodies pictured in the background.

Image Shows Never-Before-Seen Features in Galaxies, Leads to More Studies on History of the Universe

A number of these galaxies have distinct features that have been unknown previously. Astronomers will study these never before seen galactic features to discover more about the history of our universe. NASA, however, notes thst Webb's First Deep Field do not show the earliest look at the universe. The U.S. space agency said other microwave telescopes, such as the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) had taken snapshots that are closer to the Big Bang, but was not able to provide the view of stars and galaxies as those captured by Webb.

Read Also: James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Phenomenal Image of Stars

How and When to View Rest of Unprecedented Webb Images

The image Biden and NASA shared on Monday is merely the first of several photos NASA is set to share this week from the JWST. The rest of the initial batch of images will be seen Wednesday at 9:45PM ET when NASA hosts a press conference with Webb leadership.

Live coverage of the event starts at 10:30AM ET on NASA TV, YouTube, Twitter and Twitch.

Long, Rough Road for James Webb Space Telescope

This milestone comes after a long, rough road for the deep space telescope. When it was first announced, the Webb was firt planned to launch in 2007. However, following a redesign in 2005, the U.S. space agency completed work on the project in 2016 and announced that the spacecraft would be ready to launch by 2018.

By the next year, NASA completed assembly of the JWST, but when the pandemic hit in 2020, further delays in testing and shipping happened. These delays caused the JWST project cost to balloon to $10 billion.

NASA then finally launched the JWST on December 25, 2021. on a European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, and entered orbit in January 2022. As of July 2022, JWST is intended to succeed the Hubble as NASA's flagship mission in astrophysics.

Its naming was also saddled with controversy after the deep space telescope was named after the former agency administrator James Webb, who, after leading NASA's effort in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs, worked at the U.S. State Department at a time when it fired hundreds of gay and lesbian workers. In September last year, amid calls to rename the project, NASA said it did not plan to change the name of the telescope.

Related Article: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Set To Study Geology of 2 Super-Earths
Grass Valley, California--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Dr. Lin Jovanovic (530-446-1930) has launched a new relationship counseling program, offering intensive sessions for couples interested in finding new paths to rediscovering trust and rebuilding their relationships.

Available in three-hour blocks and six-hour blocks, the newly launched couples intensive therapy is designed to create healing interactions by getting partners to talk about difficult topics with the therapist.

More details can be found at https://www.relationshipexplorations.com/intensive-couples-session





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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With this launch, Dr. Lin Jovanovic will provide one or two-day intensive counseling for couples who have complex issues or are going through a major crisis in their relationship or individual lives. This type of intensive lasts six hours and begins with an assessment of the relationship. Additional support is provided during follow-up appointments.

In the US alone, over half a million divorces are settled every year on the basis of irreconcilable differences. Dr. Jovanovic's therapy sessions focus on helping clients understand the foundation of their misunderstandings. In this way, couples can find common ground and work towards resolving their issues.

By providing longer sessions, instead of the industry-standard 45-minute counseling, Dr. Jovanovic guides couples while they explore all aspects of their relationship to find a way of managing conflict.

The new sessions use the memory reconciliation approach, which helps partners to change the way they react to triggering events and build new and healthy responses.

Once a couple finishes their intensive session, Dr. Jovanovic will prepare a personalized plan with resources for further improvement of the relationship.

About Dr. Lin Jovanovic

Dr. Lin Jovanovic is a licensed psychologist with over three decades of experience in the field. She earned her Ph.D. in medical psychology in 1985 and has taught as a professor at CSU Stanislaus for almost 30 years. Dr. Jovanovic also provides training and guidance to other clinical therapists in her field.

Dr. Jovanovic said, "You can jumpstart the change in your relationship in a matter of hours instead of three to six months. An intensive therapy program gives you time to work on issues, experience the heated emotions, and then practice the skills needed to reconnect. That real-time practice is priceless and builds the muscles you need to create positive, healthy changes, and improve your relationship every day."

Interested parties can find more information about Dr. Jovanovic's program at https://www.relationshipexplorations.com/what-is-a-couples-intensive-retreat-could-it-be-right-for-you

Contact Info:

Name: Lin Jovanovic

Email: drlin@relationshipexplorations.com

Organization: Dr. Lin Jovanovic DBA Relationship Explorations

Address: 204 West Main Street, Grass Valley, California 95945, United States

Phone: +1-530-446-1930

Website: https://www.relationshipexplorations.com/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130626
Austin, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Riders Share has expanded its private motorcycle rental service throughout Las Vegas, Nevada. The site offers flexible motorbike sharing with fully customizable rental periods.

With the recent move, the company continues its quest to provide more affordable and reliable motorcycle hire throughout the United States. Leading brands, including Harley Davidson, BMW, Honda, Ducati, and Triumph, are available.

More information can be found at: https://www.riders-share.com





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Whether customers are looking to take a unique vehicle to a local motorcycle event or they want a long-term rental for a vacation or trip across the country, Riders Share offers a range of options. The latest expansion ensures that customers save money over traditional approaches.

Historically, motorcycle rental has involved slow processes and limited variety. It's often expensive to find the right option for a ride, and rescheduling or canceling can be a hassle. Riders Share overcomes this with customer-focused service that emphasizes flexibility.

To benefit from the motorcycle rental service in Las Vegas, riders begin by searching the platform for their favorite option. Over 25,000 listings are currently available and bookings can be completed within minutes, with 24/7 roadside assistance for peace of mind.

Renters can collect the bike in person, or arrange for a delivery to be made to their property. Owners have full control over the price of their bikes and the agreement options in the contract.

Riders Share allows customers to browse bikes by make and model, and the hiring process can be managed completely through the company website. A community app is also available to connect with local riders.

In addition to offering customers a huge range of rental options for all their motorbike transport needs, the site also caters to those looking to earn through their existing vehicle.

The rental service allows Las Vegas residents to ride their favorite bike without obligation. The options provided are flexible enough to suit any need, whether customers are long-term renters or hiring for a weekend trip.

A spokesperson for the company states: "Riders Share is motorcycle rentals done right. Sign up, find a ride, and book it, all within 5 minutes. Further, if you already have a motorcycle you can now profit from your passion. Our team of motorcycle enthusiasts works hard every day to provide the best in class prices, insurance coverage, and customer support."

Interested parties can learn more at: https://www.riders-share.com

Contact Info:

Name: Guillermo Cornejo

Email: guillermo@riders-share.com

Organization: Riders Share

Address: 901 East 5th Street Apt 1531, Austin, TX 78702, United States

Website: https://www.riders-share.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130629
Dynamic momentum, continued growth, and commitment to innovation are the markers of success in the 10-year anniversary of one of the leading regional ice cream and dairy groups in Europe

Highlights:

Continued focus and investment in innovation with 140 novelty ice cream products developed and brought to market

Strategic investment to maintain and secure power positions in key geographies with market leadership in the Baltics and Denmark, Norway and Romania

Leadership appointment of Arturs Cirjevskis as CEO in Europe

Sergey Beskhmelnitskiy appointed as Business Development for Europe

Aivar Aus (CCO) to implement commercial strategy in Denmark, Norway and Romania

Regional support of Ukraine via financial assistance and food donations. The Group has also provided jobs to Ukrainian refugees in Food Union plants in Latvia and Estonia

Arturs Cirjevskis, CEO of Food Union, Europe, said "As we reached the end of a decade, Food Union continued to make major strides in building power brands in key markets with significant innovations across the business, from product to distribution. These results were achieved against difficult market conditions with longer COVID-19 lockdowns and rapidly rising material prices. Going forward and based on our impressive customer base in DSD segment we aim to develop in-depth client relationships and become their reliable partner in categories beyond ice cream."

Overview of Results

Net revenue, consistent with 2020 reached EUR 291 million with record ice cream sales achieved in June and July. Profits rose to EUR 10.8 million, up 30%, following significant investment in new products, automatization and e-commerce.

Financial Highlights (EUR million):

2021 2020 2019 Net revenue 291.4 290.7 276.6 Gross profit 114.6 115.5 103.6 EBITDA 42.2 46.1 31.5 Cash flow generated from operating activities 35.3 37.1 31.9 Net result 10.8 8.3 2.1

Further information can be found at the following link: Food Union 2021 Annual Results Food Union official website

ABOUT FOOD UNION

Food Union is a leading, innovative consumer goods company that develops local brands and delivers delightful products in Europe, China, and Pacific Asia. Food Union is currently the leading ice cream producer in the Baltics and Denmark, and the group holds a strong market position in Norway and Romania. The leading dairy group is backed by Hong Kong-based investment company Meridian Capital Limited, and one of Asia's largest private capital firms PAG.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005126/en/

Contacts:

Linda Mezgaile

Food Union Head of PR

Linda.mezgaile@foodunion.com

T:+37129772050
The acquisition marks TraceSafe's definitive move into carbon management for its global customers looking to measure and offset emissions and report climate action

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Tracesafe Inc., (CSE: TSF) ("TraceSafe" or the "Company"), a global leader in location-aware Internet of Things (IoT) platforms for large-scale industrial and enterprise operations, has announced the acquisition of Offsety- a carbon offset marketplace for individuals to reduce their carbon footprint by investing in high quality offset credits. With this acquisition, the Company has strengthened its vision to help its Fortune 500 clients respond to the urgent call for climate action from their key stakeholders including customers, investors, regulators and governments. Offsety will serve as a key platform for individuals to evaluate and offset their carbon footprint using 'Carbon Reserve'- fractionalized high-quality offsets that have gone through stringent verification mechanisms, and third party audits. With Offsety, TraceSafe has also brought on-board Qayyum Rajan, a prominent leader in the finance and technology ecosystem in North America. Before launching Offsety, Qayyum was the founder and Chief Executive Officer at ESG Analytics, a startup that focuses on applying AI to the environmental, social and governance industry. Qayyum is anticipated to take a full time leadership role at the Company.

With unprecedented scrutiny and focus on organizational response to climate change, the market for carbon offset solutions, including mandatory and voluntary, has grown exponentially. Many mid to large scale organizations and governments have made public commitments to achieve Net-Zero carbon footprint in near future. Achieving this ambitious target would require companies to carry out large scale carbon removal through offsets. While estimating the size of the voluntary carbon offset market has been complex, leading industry experts and researchers have estimated a range of USD $100 Billion- USD $150 Billion per year by 2030.

"We are thrilled to have Offsety and Qayyum join us at TraceSafe where we are solving the biggest challenge that companies are about to face globally; proof of climate action. Carbon removal is about to become a boardroom agenda for most companies and credibility of offsets will play a central role in the decision. This acquisition sets the pace for us as we move into the company's future of decarbonization solutions for individuals, companies and their customers," said Wayne Lloyd, TraceSafe CEO. "Qayyum comes with a successful history in ESG tech and deep expertise in carbon offset space and will be a key member of the team as we go into the exciting new direction."

"I am excited to join the incredible team at TraceSafe. Offsety's platform will be a seamless fit into the unique solutions that the company is building in carbon management. I am deeply passionate about the future of sustainable organizations and the role technology will play in making net-zero ambitions a reality," said Qayyum Rajan, Founder- Offsety and former CEO- ESG Analytics. "TraceSafe has a notable history of identifying problems in the enterprise and creating solutions customized for various industries. With Offsety and the new portfolio of decarbonization solutions, we have an opportunity to make a real difference in climate action and the path to net-zero."

Earlier this year, TraceSafe announced a strategic foray into decarbonization solutions and building solutions to measure, mitigate, offset and report carbon emissions. The acquisition of the personal offset marketplace is the company's first step towards a complete carbon management solution for individuals and businesses as the Race To Zero picks up speed. The company will be announcing the new carbon product platform, and industry specific solutions in carbon calculation, along with a brand refresh in the weeks to come.

About the Transaction

The acquisition of Offsety (the "Transaction") is anticipated to be completed pursuant to an asset purchase agreement dated July 11, 2022 among the Company, Qayyum and Nuu Business Ventures Inc. (the "Agreement"). On closing of the Transaction, the Company will purchase and acquire from the vendor the Offsety platform, website and related intellectual property in exchange for the issuance of 2,000,000 common shares. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company will employ Qayyum as an officer of the Company.

Common shares issued in connection with the Transaction will be subject to statutory transfer restrictions.

About TraceSafe

TraceSafe provides Internet of Things (IoT) solutions transforming large-scale industrial and enterprise operations with unique wearables, industrial-grade sensors and award-winning analytics platform. The Company's hardware solutions, powered by advanced low-power bluetooth beacons, work together with its proprietary software to provide mission-critical data enabling safer, efficient and sustainable enterprise environments. With presence across North America, Asia and Europe, TraceSafe's solutions are trusted by leading organizations in healthcare, hospitality, construction, events, education and government.

For further information, please contact:

Wayne Lloyd, CEO

+1 (604) 629-9975

wayne@tracesafe.io

Mark Leung, CFO

+1 (778) 655-4242

mark@tracesafe.io

The Canadian Securities Exchange has in no way approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.

Statements in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on TraceSafe's expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates, including with respect to expectations regarding the TraceSafe assets and their application, future business plans and relationships, future developments in respect of COVID-19 and solutions adopted in response to the virus, and the deployment and acceptance of the TraceSafe technology. Although TraceSafe believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict, including the suitability of our products to help businesses and governments reopen, competition, the spread or containment of COVID-19 and government responses thereto and general economic and market conditions. Therefore, outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and TraceSafe undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances unless otherwise required to do so by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130616
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calibre Mining Corp. (TSX: CXB; OTCQX: CXBMF) ("Calibre" or the "Company") is pleased to announce operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, and cash on hand at quarter-end (all amounts in United States dollars).



Q2 and Year to Date ("YTD") 2022 Production Overview

Record consolidated quarterly gold production of 59,723 ounces, and gold sales of 59,783 ounces; 37% increase in gold production compared to Q2 2021 (43,506 ounces); Nicaragua gold production of 48,810 ounces and Nevada gold production of 10,913 ounces;

Consolidated YTD gold production of 111,621 ounces, gold sales of 112,270 ounces and on track to deliver full year guidance of 220,000 - 235,000 ounces.

Q2 2022 Highlights

Cash of $92.3 million at June 30, 2022, or C$0.27 per share, an increase of $15 million from March 31, 2022 and no debt;

Announced the grade driven increasing production outlook (news release June 22, 2022 (https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7092/calibre_mining_multi_year_production_outlook_june_22_20.pdf)); 2023 increasing to 250 - 275 koz, 2024 increasing to 275 - 300 koz leading to lower per ounce costs;

Received the environmental permit to develop the Pavon Central open pit; (news release June 16, 2022 (https://www.calibremining.com/news/calibre-mining-receives-environmental-permit-for-d-4385/))

15 drills completed 62 km of drilling across our operations which has led to new discoveries, resource building opportunities and the potential for additional grade driven production growth, including;

Bonanza Grade Drill Results from Panteon North within the Limon Complex (news release June 27, 2022 (https://www.calibremining.com/news/calibre-intersects-bonanza-grade-gold-at-the-limon-4395/)) 66.03 g/t Au over 5.6 m Estimated True Width ("ETW"); 30.33 g/t Au over 5.0 m ETW; 22.55 g/t Au over 4.9 m ETW; 17.80 g/t Au over 7.3 m ETW; and New VTEM data outlines multiple kilometres of high-priority discovery and resource building potential.



High Grade Drill Results from the Gold Rock Project in Nevada (news release June 29, 2022 (https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7096/20220629_gold_rock_exploration_update_final.pdf)) 2.94 g/t Au over 18.0 m; 3.36 g/t Au over 22.9 m; 3.10 g/t Au over 18.3 m; 2.19 g/t Au over 44.2 m; and Positive metallurgical results demonstrating favorable heap leach recoveries and cycles times.

Step Out Drill Results from the Pan Mine in Nevada (news release April 12, 2022 (https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7063/april_12_pan_exploration.pdf)) 1.29 g/t Au over 18.3 m; 1.46 g/t Au over 9.1 m; 1.01 g/t Au over 9.1 m; 0.95 g/t Au over 15.2 m; and Demonstrate resource expansion and higher-grade potential.





Darren Hall, President & Chief Executive Officer of Calibre, stated: "I am very pleased with the Company's second quarter performance, delivering a record 59,723 ounces, positioning the Company well to deliver its full year guidance of 220,000 - 235,000 ounces. Our demonstrated quarter over quarter delivery and continued robust operating cash flows provides the opportunity to self-fund all growth opportunities and reinvest into exciting exploration across all the assets while maintaining a strong treasury."

"We continue to see the benefits of our commitment to exploration with the exciting results across the board, in particular at Limon with bonanza intercepts, in combination with our new VTEM data, demonstrate exciting potential to make new high-grade discoveries across multiple kilometres of strike extent."

"During the quarter we received the environmental permit to develop and operate the Pavon Central open pit mine which demonstrates our commitment to deliver sustainable value for shareholders, local communities and all stakeholders through our responsible operating practices, transparent communications, and acting as a steward of the environment. With this approval confirmed we provided our robust grade driven and reserve backed multi-year production outlook growing up to 300,000 ounces of gold production in 2024."

Operating Overview

Our Q2 gold production of 59,723 ounces aligns with our original outlook for the year, and with production expected to increase during the second half with continued increasing grades the Company is well positioned to meet its full year gold production guidance of 220,000 - 235,000 ounces.

Q2 and YTD 2022 Financial Results and Conference Call Details

Financial results will be released after market close on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, and management will be hosting a conference call to discuss the results and outlook in more detail.

Date: Wednesday, August 10, 2022 Time: 10:00 a.m. (ET) Webcast Link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/y5ismjno (https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/y5ismjno)

Instructions for obtaining conference call dial-in numbers:

All parties must register at the link below to participate in the Calibre Mining, Q2 conference call. Register by clicking https://register.vevent.com/register/BI8dee59d100bc48b59353279a56f79893 (https://register.vevent.com/register/BI8dee59d100bc48b59353279a56f79893) Once registered you will receive the dial-in numbers and PIN number for input at the time of the call.



The live webcast and registration link can be accessed here (https://www.calibremining.com/investors/events/) and at www.calibremining.com (http://www.calibremining.com) under the Events and Media section under the Investors tab. The live audio webcast will be archived and made available for replay at www.calibremining.com (http://www.calibremining.com). Presentation slides that will accompany the conference call will be made available in the Investors section of the Calibre website under Presentations prior to the conference call.

Qualified Person

Darren Hall, MAusIMM, President and Chief Executive Officer, of Calibre Mining Corp. is a "qualified person" as set out under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Darren Hall"

Darren Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Ryan King

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development & IR

T: 604.628.1010

E: calibre@calibremining.com (mailto:calibre@calibremining.com)

W: www.calibremining.com (http://www.calibremining.com)

About Calibre Mining Corp.

Calibre Mining is a Canadian-listed, Americas focused, growing mid-tier gold producer with a strong pipeline of development and exploration opportunities across Nevada and Washington in the USA, and Nicaragua. Calibre is focused on delivering sustainable value for shareholders, local communities and all stakeholders through responsible operations and a disciplined approach to growth. With a strong balance sheet, no debt, a proven management team, strong operating cash flow, accretive development projects and district-scale exploration opportunities Calibre will unlock significant value.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are identified by words such as "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "project", "target", "potential", "schedule", "forecast", "budget", "estimate", "intend" or "believe" and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Calibre's control. For a listing of risk factors applicable to the Company, please refer to Calibre's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2021, available on www.sedar.com (http://www.sedar.com). This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Calibre's forward-looking statements.

Calibre's forward-looking statements are based on the applicable assumptions and factors management considers reasonable as of the date hereof, based on the information available to management at such time. Calibre does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.
The inaugural instalment of the conference will see a host of international authors, experts and visionaries assemble to address a crowd of 800 in Edinburgh



OKX is partnering with the conference as it seeks to educate and inform on the potential of Bitcoin and its 'sound money principles'

LONDON, July 12, 2022, the world-leading Bitcoin and cryptocurrency platform, today announced that it is partnering with The Bitcoin Collective to launch the UK's first global Bitcoin conference.

To be held at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on October 21 and 22 this year, the conference aims to educate and inform to help power a financial and technological revolution across the UK. Built from the result of grassroots community efforts, the conference has attracted high-profile speakers from across the globe that include Jeff Booth, Lawrence Lepard and Natalie Brunell, among others.

Haider Rafique, Chief Marketing Officer, OKX, said: "The UK has a thriving Bitcoin community, and this conference is very well timed against the backdrop of a building phase for the market. This is a time when we should all come together, share ideas, and incubate new products and services to prepare ourselves for the next chapter. We are excited to be a leading sponsor for this conference, and to participate in educating and encouraging the next generation of developers and entrepreneurs to come and build in this industry. OKX is out to create a generation of responsible, well-informed long-term traders, and the fact that The Bitcoin Collective have the same vision is what makes us so thrilled to be helping make this conference a reality."

Topics covered at the conference will include the genesis of Bitcoin, The Bitcoin Network, blockchain, Bitcoin as sound money and the future of Bitcoin. The first in a series of annual events, the conference is designed to educate everyday people on sound money principles and relatable macroeconomics.

Jordan Walker, CEO, The Bitcoin Collective, said, "Bitcoin is for everyone. I think many are feeling the effects of rising prices and the cost of living crisis around the world-and especially in the UK-but maybe don't completely understand why this is happening. When fancy words like macroeconomics and sound money are used, things can get confusing. But understanding how money works has never been so important.

"This conference is not about the broader term 'cryptocurrency', but rather solely about Bitcoin. However, it's not about buying or investing in Bitcoin-that's a whole different discussion. Our focus is on education, so make sure to bring a notebook and pen! Looking over the list of incredible speakers we have assembled still blows my mind, and I can't wait to see this community of open-minded people come together later this year!"

The conference seeks to differentiate between Bitcoin and crypto to educate on the sound money principles of Bitcoin. It also aims to capture as many diverse participants as possible both on and off the stage, with Bitcoin Collective Operations Director Lucy-Rose Walker saying this is because The Bitcoin Collective believes that "Bitcoin is for all, and does not differentiate between gender, race or religion."

OKX, a major global exchange, is harnessing its international network and expert personnel to support the grassroots Bitcoin movement in the UK. As it looks to bring better accessibility and educational resources to a global user-base, OKX will continue to empower the international Bitcoin community to deliver responsible trading principles.

Bitcoin Collective founders Jordan Walker, Jim Duffy and Lucy-Rose Walker are the Bitcoin advocates behind The Bitcoin Collective podcast .

For further updates, follow The Bitcoin Collective on Twitter .

For further information, please contact:

Media@okx.com

About OKX

Since 2017, OKX has served a global community of people who share a common interest in participating in a new financial system that is designed to be a level playing field for everyone. Beyond the OKX trading app, the OKX Wallet is our latest offering for people looking to explore the world of NFTs and the metaverse while trading GameFi and DeFi tokens.

To learn more about OKX, download our app or visit: okx.com

About The Bitcoin Collective

Every once in a while on our planet an individual, a group or a technology creates change for good and a paradigm shift. We believe Bitcoin has that potential. But, as a technology it needs people's energy. The Bitcoin Collective, founded by Jordan Walker, Jim Duffy and Lucy-Rose Walker, is committed to creating an inclusive environment for an honest and open dialogue about the enormous potential of Bitcoin. Over the next five years we plan to deliver inspirational Bitcoin Conferences in the UK. We will support a grassroots movement with local Bitcoin groups in towns and cities across the UK educating those old and young with an aim of inspiring new Bitcoiners.
New High Grade Au Vein in the Northwest Extension and C4A Au-Ag Zone Extended

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Meridian Mining UK S (TSX:MNO)(Frankfurt/Tradegate:2MM)(OTCQB:MRRDF), ("Meridian" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that another high-grade gold vein set overprinting the VMS copper-gold layer of the Cabacal Northwest Extension ("CNWE") has been delineated (Figure 1). CD-147's high-grade gold vein assayed 2.3m @ 16.7g/t Au, and provides yet another example of a new high-grade domain found within the prospective 1,250m strike length of the CNWE. Meridian is also pleased to report that its C4-A gold-silver discovery[1], has been extended from the discovery hole CD-139[2] by 50m to the northwest, with CD-142 returning 10.7m @ 1.8g/t Au & 33.7g/t Ag from 45.7m. The C4A gold-silver discovery is 2km from the Cabacal mine and is open in all directions. The Company is also reporting further assay results from the ECZ, SCZ & CNWE zones[3] from its ongoing drill program at the Cabacal copper-gold VMS project ("Cabacal") located in Mato Grosso Brazil. Referenced images are presented at the end of this release as well as on the Company's website. Further results are pending.

Highlights Reported Today:

Meridian intercepts another high-grade gold vein overprinting the Cabacal Northwest Extension; 2.3m @ 2.2% Cu , 16.7g/t Au & 3.6g/t Ag from 21.0m (CD-147) -CNWE; Multiple high-grade sub-vertical gold veins now defined along the CNWE;

Cabacal's major new gold-silver discovery C4A, extended 50m along strike, remains open; 10.7m @ 1.8g/t Au & 33.7g/t Ag from 45.7m (CD-142) -C4A;

along strike, remains open; Cabacal's results continues to confirm, and extends layers of strong copper-gold mineralization;

54.2m @ 0.9% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.9g/t Au & 1.6g/t Ag) from 11.0m (CD-147) - CNWE; Including 2.3m @ 12.3% CuEq (2.2% Cu, 16.7g/t Au, 3.6g/t Ag) from 21.0m; Emerging strong copper zone from 58.3m; Assays 7.0m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.9% Cu, 0.3g/t Au & 5.9g/t Ag) from 58.0m;

19.2m @ 0.6% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.4g/t Au, 2.0g/t Ag & 0.1% Zn) from 58.3m (CD-143) - CNWE; Emerging strong copper zone from 58.3m; Assays 7.8m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.8g/t Au & 3.5g/t Ag) from 58.3m;

from 58.3m (CD-143) - CNWE; Meridian expands locally gold dominate layer overlying the CNWE VMS system; 9.5m @ 0.2% Cu, 1.3g/t Au & 0.3g/t Ag from 63.2m (CD-127) -CNWE; 39.9m @ 0.5g/t Au & 0.1g/t Ag from 30.1m (CD-132) CNWE;

41.4m @ 0.8% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.8g/t Au & 0.9g/t Ag) from 62.4m (CD-128) - SCZ, and Including 6.6m @ 3.2% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 4.4g/t Au & 2.2g/t Ag) from 66.8m.



Dr Adrian McArthur, CEO and President comments : "The Cabacal Northwest extension is now confirmed to host multiple vein sets of very high-grade gold overprinting the copper-gold VMS system, and we are confident more veins will be delineated. The strength of a new 2.3m gold vein grading at over half-an-ounce gold is significant, in being one of a new array of structures identified over the length of the CNWE. We will be releasing our first resource statement in September, and todays high grade veins, infill drilling and the emerging layer of gold dominate mineralisation, again in the CNWE, via CD-127 and CD-132 will all be contributing to Cabacal's tonnage potential. C4-A, our major new precious metal discovery has a high-grade gold-silver core that has been extended 50m to the northwest and is open in all directions. C4-A's high grade precious metal zone found running along the surface has a large alteration zone in the footwall and we see further potential along strike and at depth to repeat or even intercept higher grades, potentially along the lines of those gold intercepts of the CNWE. The C4-A discovery has the footprint to potentially become a major contributor to the Cabacal project's significant upside potential.

Today's results further confirm Cabacal's incredible potential to deliver new discoveries in this under-explored greenstone belt."

Cabacal Drilling Continues to Intersect Broad Widths, Hosting Robust Grades of Copper-Gold-Silver

Infill-drilling results reported today, continue to extend the footprint of copper-gold mineralization into sparely drilled areas. Three rigs continue to remain active, with a particular focus on extensions to the Cabacal Mine area. Results continue to deliver broader than expected extensions of mineralization beyond historical resource[4] envelops, within which higher-grade structures continue to be encountered.

Across-strike drilling in the CNWE continued to define extensions to the gold-dominant trend previously reported CD-099, CD-110 and CD-113[5]. New results have extended this zone-dominant zone to 200m strike length:

CD-127 intersected 54.4m @ 0.4% CuEq (0.1% Cu, 0.4g/t Au & 0.3g/t Ag) from 26.9m, including a gold-dominant layer of 9.5m @ 0.2% Cu, 1.3g/t Au & 0.3g/t Ag from 63.2m; and

& 0.3g/t Ag from 63.2m; and CD-132 intersected an upper gold-dominant layer of 39.9m @ 0.5g/t Au & 0.1g/t Ag from 30.1m, and a lower base metal - gold zone of 39.9m @ 0.4% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.1g/t Au, 1.7g/t Ag & 0.2% Zn) from 76.9m.

Extensions to the trend continue to the south, with broader intersections of gold-dominant or mixed copper-gold mineralization, amongst which further higher-grade intervals have been returned:

CD-138 intersected 20m @ 0.5% CuEq (0.5% Cu, 0.1g/t Au & 0.5g/t Ag) from 31m, 19.6m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.8% Cu, 0.4g/t Au & 4.8g/t Ag) from 78.4m;

(0.8% Cu, 0.4g/t Au & 4.8g/t Ag) from 78.4m; CD-141 intersected 28.2m @ 0.2% CuEq (0.1% Cu, 0g/t Au & 0.2g/t Ag, 0% Zn) from 18.8m, 31.3m @ 0.3% CuEq (0.2% Cu, 0.1g/t Au & 1.0g/t Ag) from 55.0m, 23.2m @ 0.5% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.2g/t Au, 1.4g/t, Ag & 0.1% Zn) from 113.8m;

CD-143 intersected 19.2m @ 0.6% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.4g/t Au, 2g/t Ag & 0.1% Zn) from 58.3m, including 7.8m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.8g/t Au & 3.5g/t Ag) from 58.3m; and

(0.6% Cu, 0.8g/t Au & 3.5g/t Ag) from 58.3m; and CD-147 intersected 54.2m @ 0.9% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.9g/t Au & 1.6g/t Ag) from 11.0m, including 2.3m @ 12.3% CuEq (2.2% Cu, 16.7g/t Au & 3.6g/t Ag) from 21.0m and 7.0m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.9% Cu, 0.3g/t Au & 5.9g/t Ag) from 50.0m.

The broad intervals of Cu-Au mineralization encountered in the drilling is significantly in excess of the narrow mineral historical resource envelopes that were previously projected into these areas, or into areas where no historical resource envelopes where previously modelled, providing additional upside for Cabacal's first resource definition program (Figure 2). Drilling is planned to continue and will necessarily need to include holes to close out the limit of mineralization to optimize the definition of resources accessible to potential open-pit development.

Within the immediate Cabacal mine environment, CD-128 returned a strong interval of 41.4m @ 0.8% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.8g/t Au, 0.9g/t Ag) from 62.4m, including 6.6m @ 3.2% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 4.4g/t Au, 2.2g/t Ag) from 66.8m in the SCZ, from an area where historical records were incomplete. Final resource definition drilling in the Cabacal area will include shallow drilling in unsampled areas. This drilling will continue past the planned September resource update and will be incorporated into a further update towards the end of Q1 in 2022.

Further Gold-Silver Mineralization Intersected at C4-A Discovery, Extended 5O to the Northwest

Diamond drill holes CD-139 and CD-142 were collared down dip and along strike from Trench 20's 44.0m @ 1.5g/t Au (Figure 1). CD-139 first confirmed a precious metal bedrock mineralization system, returning 26.4m @ 0.6g/t Au & 25.2g/t Ag from 56.2m. CD-142 was drilled as a 50m step-out hole to the northwest, with results now received confirming extensions to the precious metal discovery at shallow depths, returning 10.7m @ 1.8g/t Au, 33.7g/t Ag, 0.1% Zn from 45.7m. High silver assays coupled with the gold mineralization continued to characterize this new mineral system, with peak silver assays of 164.6 g/t Ag encountered[6]. CD-142 was extended to a depth of 253.0m, continuing to intersect strong alteration with periodic sulphide mineralization (Table 1; Figure 3). The results indicate a broad halo of base metal mineralization ("Halo"), which may point to the emergence of a new VMS centre requiring additional geological and geophysical follow-up. This gold-silver discovery is part of a larger 3.5km trend that hosts multiple soil geochemical and anomalies and coincident induced polarization geophysical anomalies[7]. This discovery, only 2km southeast of the Cabacal Mine, reflecting the Project's upside and scalability and will be incorporated into Future resource development programs for the Cabacal project, with mineralization open along strike and at depth. Additional geophysical surveys are being scheduled to extend coverage to the northwest of the CD-142 intersection.

About Cabacal

In November 2020, Meridian signed a Purchase Agreement[8] to acquire 100% ownership certain tenements covering the historical Cabacal and Santa Helena lines and the along strike tenements from two, private, Brazilian companies ("Vendors"). Subsequently, Meridian expanded its land tenure to today's 55km of strike length. Cabacal had two historical, shallow, high-grade selectively mined underground mines that cumulatively produced ~34 million pounds of copper, ~170,108 ounces of gold, ~1,033,532 ounces of silver and ~103 million pounds of zinc via conventional flotation and gravity metallurgical processes.

Meridian has defined an open 2,000m trend of shallow copper-gold mineralization centred on the Cabacal Mine. This mineralization trends northwest-southeast, sub-crops along its northeast limits and dips to the southwest at 26 and is up 90m thick; presenting excellent open-pit geometry and mineral endowment. Meridian is currently focused on infilling this 2,000m zone.

Cabacal's base and precious metal-rich mineralization is hosted by volcanogenic type, massive, semi-massive, stringer, and disseminated sulphides within units of deformed metavolcanic-sedimentary rocks ("VMS"). A later stage sub-vertical gold overprint event has emplaced high-grade gold mineralization truncating the dipping VMS layers. It was explored and developed by BP Minerals/Rio-Tinto from 1983 to 1991 and then by the Vendors in the mid 2000's. This historical exploration database includes over 83,000 metres of drilling, extensive regional mapping, soil surveys, metallurgy from production reports and both surface and airborne geophysics. The majority of Cabacal's prosects remain to be tested.

Cabacal has excellent infrastructure with access by all-weather road, industrial electricity provided by the adjacent hydroelectric power station supplying this clean energy grid, and local communities provide a large population to draw employees from. Cabacal consists of 1 mining license, 1 mining lease application and 4 exploration claims which total 28,324 hectares. A further three licences totalling 15,941 Ha are awaiting formal transfer from the ANM following the licence auction system.

About Meridian

Meridian Mining UK S is focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development activities in Brazil. The Company is currently focused on resource development of the Cabacal VMS copper-gold project, exploration in the Jauru & Araputanga Greenstone belts located in the state of Mato Grosso; exploring the Espigao polymetallic project and the Mirante da Serra manganese project in the State of Rondonia Brazil.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining UK S

Dr. Adrian McArthur

CEO, President, and Director

Executive Chairman

Meridian Mining UK S

Email: info@meridianmining.net.br

Ph: +1 (778) 715-6410 (PST)

Qualified Person

Dr Adrian McArthur, B.Sc. Hons, PhD. FAusIMM., CEO and President of Meridian as well as a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

Stay up to date by subscribing for news alerts here: https://meridianmining.co/subscribe/

Follow Meridian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeridianMining

Further information can be found at www.meridianmining.co

Figure 1: Location of drill holes reported in today

Figure 2: Perspective view filtered to show holes reported today from Cabacal and the CNWE, in relation to mineralization envelopes of the historical resource.

Figure 3: Cross sections of CD-142 (top) and CD-139 / TR-020 (bottom). Traces are coloured by Cu-Eq (%), with Cu (%) grade plotted to the left and Au and Ag (ppm) grade plotted to the right

Table 1: Cabacal Assays reported today.

Hole Id Zone* Intercept Grade From CuEq Cu Au Ag Zn Pb (m) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (m) CD-121 CNWE 58.7 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.6 0.0 0. 0 8.4 CD-122 ECZ 21.0 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 10.0 33.4 0.5 0.4 0.2 1.5 0.0 0.0 37.7 Including 3.8 1.5 1.2 0.4 7.3 0.1 0.0 65.0 CD-123 CNWE 50.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 1.2 0.1 0.0 25.7 CD-124 ECZ 34.0 0.4 0.3 0.2 1.4 0.0 0.0 14.0 Including 1.3 1.7 0.3 2.3 3.5 0.0 0.0 18.2 12.3 0.5 0.4 0.1 2.0 0.0 0.0 52.0 8.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 2.8 0.2 0.0 70.1 CD-125 ECZ 70.3 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.8 0.0 0.0 13.5 Including 3.1 1.5 1.1 0.5 6.0 0.0 0.0 58.0 CD-126 CNWE 2.4 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.0 0.0 16.0 11.5 0.3 0.1 0.1 1.4 0.3 0.1 25.7 CD-127 CNWE 54.4 0.4 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.0 26.9 Including 9.5 N/A 0.2 1.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 63.2 12.3 0.4 0.2 0.2 1.0 0.2 0.0 98.5 CD-128 SCZ 14.0 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.9 0.1 0.0 34.0 41.4 0.8 0.3 0.8 0.9 0.0 0.0 62.4 Including 13.2 1.9 0.5 2.3 1.5 0.0 0.0 66.8 Including 6.6 3.2 0.6 4.4 2.2 0.0 0.0 66.8 CD-129 CNWE 5.8 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.0 0.0 44.1 3.3 0.3 0.1 0.0 1.2 0.7 0.1 59.0 CD-130 CNWE 25.0 0.5 0.4 0.1 1.3 0.1 0.0 18.0 Including 4.0 1.8 1.4 0.5 4.3 0.2 0.0 35.1 18.0 0.3 0.3 0.1 1.3 0.0 0.0 54.0 CD-131 CNWE 5.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 36.8 11.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 1.2 0.5 0.1 55.0 CD-132 CNWE 11.1 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 16.4 39.9 N/A 0.0 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 30.1 39.9 0.4 0.3 0.1 1.7 0.2 0.0 76.9 Including 5.7 1.2 1.1 0.2 2.8 0.0 0.0 87.0

Hole Id Zone* Intercept Grade From CuEq Cu Au Ag Zn Pb (m) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (m) CD-133 CNWE 15.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.2 0.0 24.5 7.7 0.3 0.1 0.0 3.7 0.6 0.1 46.8 CD-134 CNWE 25.0 0.4 0.3 0.0 1.3 0.0 0.0 10.0 Including 1.6 1.5 1.4 0.1 4.7 0.0 0.0 16.4 12.0 0.4 0.2 0.3 1.4 0.0 0.0 51.7 CD-135 CNWE 29.4 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 16.0 10.5 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.2 0.0 0.0 55.0 21.7 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.7 0.0 0.0 72.0 13.6 0.5 0.3 0.1 1.5 0.2 0.0 119.7 CD-136 CNWE 40.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.5 0.0 0.0 14.5 7.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.2 0.1 54.9 CD-137 CNWE 5.2 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.0 53.5 20.7 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 69.6 4.7 0.6 0.4 0.1 3.9 0.1 0.0 95.6 CD-138 CNWE 20.0 0.5 0.5 0.1 0.5 0.0 0.0 31.0 19.6 1.1 0.8 0.4 4.8 0.0 0.0 78.4 34.7 0.2 0.2 0.1 1.1 0.1 0.0 105.6 CD-140 CNWE 3.4 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.0 0.0 34.2 20.9 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.0 0.0 43.0 CD-141 CNWE 28.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 18.8 31.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.0 0.0 0.0 55.0 23.2 0.5 0.3 0.2 1.4 0.1 0.0 113.8 CD-142 C4-A 6.6 N/A 0.0 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.0 12.4 4.0 N/A 0.0 0.3 0.7 0.0 0.0 32.0 10.7 N/A 0.0 1.8 33.7 0.1 0.0 45.7 Halo 7.5 N/A 0.0 0.0 1.8 0.0 0.0 62.0 Halo 2.6 N/A 0.0 0.2 1.3 0.0 0.0 99.0 Halo 10.4 N/A 0.2 0.0 0.9 0.0 0.0 140.2 Halo 8.0 N/A 0.2 0.0 1.4 0.0 0.0 170.0 Halo 7.0 N/A 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.3 0.0 197.0 Halo 19.4 N/A 0.2 0.0 2.1 0.0 0.0 214.0 Halo 14.8 N/A 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.3 0.0 237.5

Hole Id Zone* Intercept Grade From CuEq Cu Au Ag Zn Pb (m) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (m) CD-143 CNWE 19.2 0.6 0.3 0.4 2.0 0.1 0.0 58.3 Including 7.8 1.1 0.6 0.8 3.5 0.0 0.0 58.3 CD-144 Pending CD-145 Pending CD-146 Pending CD-147 54.2 0.9 0.4 0.9 1.6 0.0 0.0 11.0 Including 2.3 12.3 2.2 16.7 3.6 0.0 0.0 21.0 Including 7.0 1.1 0.9 0.3 5.9 0.0 0.0 50.0 7.8 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.7 0.3 0.0 74.9

NA: Not applicable

Drill Details Hole Id Dip Azimuth EOH CD121 -48.6 59.2 87.0 CD122 -55.0 46.3 100.1 CD123 -49.2 58.9 90.4 CD124 -59.5 55.3 94.5 CD125 -59.7 44.5 100.7 CD126 -47.8 59.6 71.5 CD127 -49.0 60.5 175.1 CD128 -90.0 0.0 125.2 CD129 -45.0 60.0 88.3 CD130 -48.3 61.2 106.6 CD131 -49.4 59.4 88.8 CD132 -50.0 60.0 148.4 CD133 -50.0 60.0 90.9 CD134 -50.0 60.0 102.3 CD135 -50.0 60.0 151.4 CD136 -52.0 60.0 93.5 CD137 -50.0 60.0 121.3 CD138 -55.0 60.0 160.8 CD140 -51.0 60.0 88.3 CD141 -50.0 60.0 172.4 CD142 -45.0 45.0 253.0 CD143 -50.0 60.0 138.4

Drill Details CD144 -48.0 60.0 97.7 CD145 -50.0 60.0 113.2 CD146 -51.0 60.0 109.3 CD147 -50.0 60.0 120.0

Technical Notes

True widths are approximately 80-90% of downhole lengths and assay figures and intervals rounded to 1 decimal place. Holes have been drilled HQ through the saprolite and upper bedrock and then reduced to NQ. Mineralized intervals represent half HQ or NQ drill core. Samples have been analysed variably at the accredited ALS laboratory in Lima and SGS laboratory in Belo Horizonte. Gold analyses at ALS have been conducted by Au-AA23 (fire assay of a 30g charge with AAS finish). High-grade samples are repeated with a gravimetric finish (Au-GRA21). Base metal analysis is by methods four-acid digestion and ICP-AES finish (ME-ICP61a; Cu-OG62 for over-range samples). Gold analyses at SGS have been conducted by FAA505 (fire assay of a 50g charge), and base metal analysis by methods ICP40B and ICP40B_S (four acid digest with ICP-OES finish). Visible gold intervals are sampled by metallic screen fire assay method MET150-FAASCR.Samples are held in the Company's secure facilities until dispatched and delivered by staff and commercial couriers to the laboratory. The Company submits a range of quality control samples, including blanks and gold and polymetallic standards supplied by ITAK and OREAS, supplementing laboratory quality control procedures.

*Copper Equivalents ("CuEq") have been calculated using the formula CuEq = ((Cu%*Cu price 1% per tonne) + (Au ppm*Au price per g/t) + (Ag ppm*Ag price per g/t) + (Zn%*Zn price 1% per tonne)) / (Cu price 1 % per tonne). Commodity Prices: Copper and Zinc ("Zn") prices from LME Official Settlement Price dated April 23, 2021 USD per Tonne: Cu = USD 9,545.50 and Zn = USD 2,802.50. Gold & Silver prices from LBMA Precious Metal Prices USD per Troy ounce: Au = USD 1781.80 (PM) and Ag = USD 26.125 (Daily). The CuEq values are for exploration purposes only and include no assumptions for metallurgical recovery

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information or forward-looking statements for the purposes of applicable securities laws. These statements address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in under the heading "Risk Factors" in Meridian's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. While these factors and assumptions are considered reasonable by Meridian, in light of management's experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, Meridian can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Meridian disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or results or otherwise.

--

[1] Meridian news release April 5, 2022

[2] Meridian news release June 21, 2022

[3] ECZ: Eastern Copper Zone, CCZ: Central Copper Zone, and SCZ: Southern Copper Zone.

[4] Meridian news release August 26, 2020

[5] Meridian news releases March 22, 2022, April 26, 2022, 11 May 2022,

[6] Sample CBDS19295 (164.6 g/t Ag, 4.7 g/t Au, 0.0% Cu, 0.2% Zn over 0.5m from 53.0m)

[7] Meridian news release June 28, 2022

[8] Meridian news release November 9, 2020

SOURCE: Meridian Mining UK S

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708227/Meridian-Reports-Further-Significant-Copper-Gold-Silver-Results-From-Cabaal
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX:JAG) today announced production results for the second quarter of 2022 ("Q2 2022"). Financial results for Q2 2022 will be reported and filed on SEDAR on or before August 10, 2022. All figures are in US Dollars, unless otherwise expressed.

Q2 2022 Operating Highlights

Consolidated gold production increased 4% with 21,036 ounces in Q2 2022 compared to 20,212 ounces in Q2 2021. Tonnes of ore milled increased to 228,000 in Q2 2022 compared to 214,000 in Q2 2021. Pilar gold production increased 14% with 13,212 ounces in Q2 2022 compared to 11,631 ounces in Q2 2021; Turmalina gold production decreased 9% with 7,824 ounces in Q2 2022, compared to 8,581 ounces in Q2 2021;

Total development of 2,847 metres for the second quarter of 2022, an increase of 25% compared with the same period in 2021 with 2,278 metres.

Total definition, infill and exploration drilling increased 64% to 30,605 metres in Q2 2022 compared to 18,665 metres in Q2 2021.

Treasury position as of June 30, 2022, with cash of $30.5 million compared to cash of $34.8 million on March 31, 2022. During the quarter, the Company paid a dividend of $2.3 million, invested approximately $6 million in growth (non-sustaining capital) and approximately $6 million in sustaining capital.

Q2 2022 Operating Results

"Vern Baker, President and CEO of Jaguar Mining stated: "I am very pleased at how our teams have brought the mines back on track and into a reasonable rhythm. Performance picked up both from the first quarter of 2022 and for Q2 year on year. We have been accelerating development at both mines to build an inventory of stoping areas and to provide for growth opportunities. Pilar is showing excellent consistency in production and development with a good quarter for ounces and development meters. Turmalina struggled with grade, partially from the large amount of lower grade development ore, and partially from a shortage of stoping blocks as development focus moved from A orebody to C orebody. Development rates in the C orebody structure are at a level that will bring stoping block inventory to adequate levels over the next quarter. Development of the Project Northwest at Turmalina is progressing well and on schedule. Pilar's Project Southwest is also on track and has begun contributing a modest amount of development ore to the mine's production. Jaguar's commitment to a sustainable production and steady growth was reflected in the teams' effort on development, diamond drilling, and exploration work."

Qualified Person

Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Jonathan Victor Hill, BSc (Hons) (Economic Geology - UCT), FAUSIMM, Vice President Geology and Exploration, who is also an employee of Jaguar Mining Inc., and is a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

The Iron Quadrangle

The Iron Quadrangle has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 16th century. The discovery in 1699-1701 of gold contaminated with iron and platinum-group metals in the southeastern corner of the Iron Quadrangle gave rise to the name of the town Ouro Preto (Black Gold). The Iron Quadrangle contains world-class multi-million-ounce gold deposits such as Morro Velho, Cuiaba, and Sao Bento. Jaguar holds the third largest gold land position in the Iron Quadrangle with over 50,000 hectares.

About Jaguar Mining Inc.

Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caete Mining Complex (Pilar and Roca Grande Mines, and Caete Plant). The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. The Roca Grande Mine has been on temporary care and maintenance since April 2019. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com.

For further information please contact:

Vernon Baker

Chief Executive Officer

Jaguar Mining Inc.

vernon.baker@jaguarmining.com

416-847-1854 Hashim Ahmed

Chief Financial Officer

Jaguar Mining Inc.

hashim.ahmed@jaguarmining.com

416-847-1854

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. All of the forward-looking information made in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements below and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators in Canada. Forward-looking information contained in forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "are expected," "is forecast," "is targeted," "approximately," "plans," "anticipates," "projects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "believe" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might," or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, may be considered to be or include forward-looking information. This news release contains forward-looking information regarding, among other things, expected sales, production statistics, ore grades, tonnes milled, recovery rates, cash operating costs, definition/delineation drilling, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of projects and new deposits, success of exploration, development and mining activities, currency fluctuations, capital requirements, project studies, mine life extensions, restarting suspended or disrupted operations, continuous improvement initiatives, and resolution of pending litigation. The Company has made numerous assumptions with respect to forward-looking information contained herein, including, among other things, assumptions about the estimated timeline for the development of its mineral properties; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which the reserve and resource estimates are based; the receipt of necessary permits; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities; political and legal developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations including, without limitation, the impact of any potential power rationing, tailings facility regulation, exploration and mine operating licenses and permits being obtained and renewed and/or there being adverse amendments to mining or other laws in Brazil and any changes to general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking information involves a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including among others: the risk of Jaguar not meeting the forecast plans regarding its operations and financial performance; uncertainties with respect to the price of gold, labour disruptions, mechanical failures, increase in costs, environmental compliance and change in environmental legislation and regulation, weather delays and increased costs or production delays due to natural disasters, power disruptions, procurement and delivery of parts and supplies to the operations; uncertainties inherent to capital markets in general (including the sometimes volatile valuation of securities and an uncertain ability to raise new capital) and other risks inherent to the gold exploration, development and production industry, which, if incorrect, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described herein. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development, mining and production, including environmental hazards, tailings dam failures, industrial accidents and workplace safety problems, unusual or unexpected geological formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, chemical spills, procurement fraud and gold bullion thefts and losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking information made in this news release, see the Company's most recent Annual Information Form and Management's Discussion and Analysis, as well as other public disclosure documents that can be accessed under the issuer profile of "Jaguar Mining Inc." on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects the Company's reasonable expectations as at the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. 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. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE: Jaguar Mining Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708239/Jaguar-Mining-Reports-Q2-2022-Production-Results
(2022-07-12) Kitron today reported record numbers for revenue, order backlog and profits.



Kitron's revenue for the second quarter was NOK 1 580 million, compared to NOK 994 million last year.

Second-quarter operating profit (EBIT) was NOK 100.2 million, compared to 73.1 million last year. EBITDA was NOK 142.7 million, compared to 97.5 million last year.

The order backlog ended at NOK 4 879 million, an increase of 113 per cent compared to last year. This reflects a strong total demand situation and built-up demand from supply chain delays. The order backlog increased within all market sectors.

Peter Nilsson, Kitron's CEO, comments:

"Demand remains very strong, leading us to raise our revenue outlook for the year. The supply chain delays saw some relief during the second quarter, contributing to record revenues and a positive margin trend compared to the first quarter. We expect the component market deliveries to continue to show improvement over the rest of the year, leading to a more favorable outlook on the introduction and ramp-up of several electrification projects."

Profitability expressed as EBIT margin was 6.3 per cent in the second quarter, compared to 7.4 per cent in the same quarter last year. The EBIT margin is improved from the preceding quarters but still affected by cost increases and inefficiencies caused by supply chain delays.

Profit after tax amounted to NOK 66.3 million, compared to 48.6 million in the same quarter the previous year. This corresponds to earnings per share of NOK 0.34, up from 0.27 last year.

Operating cash flow was NOK 21.7 million, compared to NOK 109.3 million in the second quarter of 2021.

Net working capital was NOK 1 790 million, an increase of 73 per cent compared to the same quarter last year, partly reflecting the acquisition of BB Electronics. Net working capital as a percentage of revenue was 26.9 per cent compared to 25.8 per cent last year and 29.9 per cent the preceding quarter. Further reduction is expected as improvement programs deliver on advancements in the supply chain, resource management, cash and deliverables.

Outlook

For 2022, Kitron has previously indicated a revenue outlook of between NOK 5 200 and 5 800 million and operating profit (EBIT) between NOK 330 million and 430 million.

Entering the the second half of 2022, Kitron sees strong demand from customers and continued ease of supply chain constraints. Profitability is improving compared to the first quarter, when rapid cost increases challenged the company.

Kitron therefore raises its revenue outlook to between NOK 5 700 and 6 100 million. Operating profit is expected to be between NOK 330 million and NOK 400 million.

Enclosed in PDF are the quarterly report and the presentation. The interim report is presented today at 2 p.m. CEST. The presentation will be given in English by CEO Peter Nilsson and CFO Cathrin Nylander, and will be webcast at the following link: https://channel.royalcast.com/hegnarmedia/#!/hegnarmedia/20220712_2

For further information, please contact:



Peter Nilsson, President and CEO, tel. +47 94 84 08 50

Cathrin Nylander, CFO, tel: +47 900 43 284

E-mail: investorrelations@kitron.com

Kitron is a leading Scandinavian electronics manufacturing services company for the Connectivity, Electrification, Industry, Medical devices and Defence/Aerospace sectors. The group is located in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, China and the United States. Included the acquisition of BB Electronics in January 2022, Kitron has about 2 800 employees, and pro forma revenues were about NOK 5 billion in 2021.

www.kitron.com

This information is made public by the Company pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation article 5, as supplemented by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052, and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.





Attachments
12 July 2022

LEI: 213800Z5WTW8QKOHWQ82

WINCANTON PLC ("Wincanton" or the "Company")

Result of Annual General Meeting

Wincanton plc, a leading supply chain partner for UK business, announces that at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 12 July 2022, the resolutions set out in the Notice of Meeting, circulated to shareholders on 6 June 2022, were passed by the requisite majorities.

Resolutions 1 to 14 were passed as ordinary resolutions and Resolutions 15 to 18 were passed as special resolutions. In accordance with the Group's Articles of Association, the resolutions were put to the meeting on a poll in which every member present in person or by proxy had one vote for every share held.

The poll results are as follows:

RESOLUTION VOTES FOR % VOTES AGAINST % VOTES TOTAL % OF

ISC VOTED VOTES WITHHELD 1 Reports and Accounts 89,847,198 99.86 129,492 0.14 89,976,690 72.25% 77,426 2 Annual Report on Remuneration 88,885,955 99.49 453,353 0.51 89,339,308 71.73% 705,991 3 Final dividend 90,034,103 100.00 4,422 0.00 90,038,525 72.29% 15,261 4 Re-appoint Ms G Barr 89,323,247 99.23 688,640 0.77 90,011,887 72.27% 35,240 5 Re-appoint Mr A Bickerstaff 89,344,251 99.26 663,677 0.74 90,007,928 72.27% 35,463 6 Re-appoint Ms M Jayaweera 89,323,786 99.24 687,146 0.76 90,010,932 72.27% 36,195 7 Re-appoint Ms D Lentz 89,322,695 99.24 687,419 0.76 90,010,114 72.27% 37,013 8 Re-appoint Mr S Oades 89,341,678 99.26 669,936 0.74 90,011,614 72.27% 35,513 9 Re-appoint Dr M Read CBE 89,438,173 99.39 548,215 0.61 89,986,388 72.25% 60,739 10 Re-appoint Mr J Wroath 89,018,030 98.92 974,995 1.08 89,993,025 72.26% 36,427 11 To re-appoint Auditor 89,987,496 99.97 26,038 0.03 90,013,534 72.27% 32,907 12 Remuneration of Auditor 89,985,032 99.97 23,308 0.03 90,008,340 72.27% 38,787 13 Donations to political organisations 89,644,187 99.59 371,556 0.41 90,015,743 72.28% 39,912 14 Allot shares 88,525,928 98.35 1,482,826 1.65 90,008,754 72.27% 38,373 15 New Sharesave Plan 89,827,893 99.84 144,974 0.16 89,972,867 72.24% 81,249 16 Disapply Pre-emption rights 89,780,965 99.79 186,519 0.21 89,967,484 72.24% 80,003 17 Market purchase of own shares 89,782,956 99.76 215,433 0.24 89,998,389 72.26% 51,283 18 Notice of meetings other than AGMs 89,170,164 99.05 853,988 0.95 90,024,152 72.28% 31,533

The number of the Company's shares in issue as at the date of the meeting was 124,543,670 Ordinary Shares of 10p each.

Each share carries one vote; a 'vote withheld' is not a vote in law and has not been counted in the calculation of the proportion of the votes for and against the resolution. Any proxy appointments which gave discretion to the Chair have been included in the 'votes for' total.

In accordance with UK Listing Rule 9.6.2 copies of the special business resolutions passed at the meeting will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and shortly be available for inspection at its website: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

About Wincanton

Wincanton is a leading British supply chain solutions company. The Group provides business critical services including storage, handling and distribution; high volume eFulfilment; retailer 'dark stores'; two-person home delivery; fleet and transport management; and network optimisation for many of the UK's best-known companies.

It is active across a range of markets including food and consumer goods; retail and manufacturing; eCommerce; the public sector; major infrastructure; building materials; fuel; and defence. With almost 100 years' heritage, Wincanton's 20,300-strong team operates from more than 170 sites across the country, responsible for 8,500 vehicles.

For further information please contact:

Headland Tel: +44 20 3805 4822

Susanna Voyle / Henry Wallers /Marta Parry-Jones

E: wincanton@headlandconsultancy.com

Wincanton

Lyn Colloff, Company Secretary Tel: +44 1249 710 000
While NASA focuses on getting to the moon and Mars, Japan focuses on space real estate.

Researchers at Japan's Kyoto University are currently developing gravity-defying habitats for astronauts and other people who wish to live in space to use on the moon and Mars, per the Japanese publication Asahi.

The researchers believe that the technology they are developing will be available sometime in the 22nd century.

Japanese Space Habitat Development Details

Researchers at Kyoto University have recently partnered with Jaima Corp. to develop gravity-defying habitats required for use on the moon and Mars.

Yosuke Yamashiki, director of the SIC Human Spaceology Center of Kyoto University, mentioned that a press conference that his team's plan represents important technologies crucial to ensuring human beings can move to space in the future.

"There is no plan like this in other countries' space development plans," Yamashiki said.

He also explained that gravity plays a critical role in the birth and growth of babies and children in space - should there be no gravity, mammals, humans included, may not be born successfully.

Furthermore, humans born in low gravity could also be an equally challenging situation, as a child would be unable to stand on their own on the earth if they were born in a place with no gravity.

As such, Yamashiki and his team are developing space habits that use centrifugal force to generate gravity similar to that of Earth, simulating the same gravity needed for children to grow on the moon and Mars without worries.

Read More: Genshin Impact Unveils Three New CHapters  New Teaser Reveals Fatui Harbingers Gathering

These habitats, dubbed "Glass," are shown in a video to be filled with water and green pastures similar to that of Earth, making it comfortable and ideal for any human being to live in, per Interesting Engineering.

The habitats will also help reduce the impact of low gravity on the health of people living on the moon or Mars, researchers say.

If a Glass is installed on the moon, it will be called a Lunar Glass. On the other hand, if the same is done on Mars, the Glass with then be called Mars Glass.

Yamashiki stated that construction of these Glasses on a large scale is impossible using current technology. As such, he expects that humanity will be able to do so by the 22nd century.

However, all is not lost. Yamashiki mentioned that they're aiming to build a simplified version to be used on the moon come 2050. Although it isn't known what "simplified" means in Glass' context.

A Celestial Railway System?

Yamshiki is also considering creating a transportation system called the "Hexagon Space Track System" to travel between Earth, the moon, and Mars.

The idea involves a space train that is as large as a Shinkansen, a Japanese bullet train, that generates artificial gravity while operating like the trains running on Earth.

The space train will then stop at "stations" built on satellites orbiting the Earth, moon, and Mars, and each of its cars is separated at the stations and transported in hexagon capsules when traveling from Earth and Mars to avoid cosmic ray radiation.

Related Article: China's Tianwen 1 Mars Orbiter Snaps Stunning Photos After Successfully Mapping the Red Planet
DGAP-News: FRX Innovations Inc

FRX Innovations Renews Engagement with Harbor Access for Cross Border Investor Relations Services



12.07.2022 / 13:00

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





FRX Innovations (TSXV:FRXI) ("FRX," or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that the Company has renewed its engagement with Harbor Access, a strategic investor relations firm with offices in Stamford, Connecticut and Toronto, Ontario.

Graham Farrell, Managing Partner of Harbor Access commented, "We are delighted to continue our work with Marc and the FRX team. Consumers have exposure to toxic flame retardant chemicals through multiple products in everyday life. These toxic chemicals are being phased out, positioning FRX as one of only a few companies in the world that can address this seismic shift in demand. We are excited for what the future holds for FRX as the Company is at the leading edge of an industry that is on the cusp of major disruption."

The agreement is for a 6-month term with a monthly retainer of US$8,000. Harbor Access does not have any interest, directly or indirectly, in the Company or its securities, or any right or intent to acquire such an interest.

About FRX Innovations

FRX Innovations is a global manufacturing company, producing a family of environmentally sustainable flame-retardant products that serve several large markets spanning electronics, automotive, electric vehicles (EV) and medical devices. FRX is led by a team of highly experienced business and technical professionals and is positioned to be a leader in the rapidly growing flame retardant plastics and additives market. Nofia is a registered trademark of FRX. Nofia products are manufactured at its manufacturing facility on the Port of Antwerp in Belgium, one of the world's largest chemical producing clusters. Nofia Polyphosphonates are produced using sustainable green chemistry principles such as a solvent-free production process, no waste by-products, and near 100% atom efficiency. FRX's portfolio includes an extensive patent estate. FRX has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the EPA's Environmental Merit Award, the Belgium Business Award for the Environment, and the Flanders Investment of the Year Award. FRX has also been recognized six times on the Global Cleantech 100 list.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain acts, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information in this press release may include, without limitation, statements with respect to the safety and/or efficacy of Nofia flame retardants, the positioning of the Company within the industry, and the expected shift in consumer demand benefitting the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

FRX Innovations

Mike Goode

+1 978-244-9500

mgoode@frx-innovations.com

Investor Relations

Graham Farrell

+1 416-842-9003

ir@frx-innovations.com

Media Inquiries

Joseph Grande

+1 413-684-2463

joe@jgrandecommunications.com

12.07.2022 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. ("Emerald" or the "Company") (CSE: EMH) (OTCQB: EMHTF) reports that it has received an Order of the British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC") revoking the management cease trade order ("MCTO") issued by the BCSC on May 3, 2022.

On April 28, 2022, the Company announced that it had applied to the BCSC for a management cease trade order ("MCTO") on the basis that the Company would be unable to file its annual financial statements and management discussion and analysis for the year ended Dec. 31, 2021, by the applicable filing deadline. The BCSC issued the requested MCTO on May 3, 2022, restricting all trading in securities of the Company, whether direct or indirect, by insiders of the Company in management.

The BCSC revoked the MCTO as the Company's audited financial statements and management discussion and analysis for the 12 months ended December 31, 2021, and its interim financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2022, were filed with the BCSC on, respectively, June 30, 2022, and July 8, 2022.

Please visit www.emeraldhealth.ca for more information or contact:

Moe Jiwan, Chief Operating Officer

1(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5

Emerald Investor Relations

(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5

invest@emeraldhealth.ca

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and are subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions, both general and specific, which give rise to the possibility that actual results or events could differ materially from our expectations expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent management beliefs regarding future events, many of which, by their nature are inherently uncertain and beyond management control.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent our expectations as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to obtain a better understanding of our anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Emerald undertakes no obligations to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur unless required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130609
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Destiny Media Technologies (TSXV: DSY) (OTCQB: DSNY), the makers of Play MPE, a cloud-based SaaS solution for digital asset management in the music industry, today announced financial results for its fiscal 2022 third quarter ended May 31, 2022.

"During our third quarter, we continued to grow our product development capacity as we address specific opportunities that we identified in order to expand addressable markets and market conversion," said Fred Vandenberg, President and CEO. "We continue to see growing user activity and revenue in our developing markets with many positive signs for future growth."

Q3 2022 Financial Results

Highlights for Q3 2022 include (all figures are USD, and comparisons are to Q3 2021):

Currency adjusted Play MPE revenue down 2.3%

Currency adjusted European revenue grew by 5.5%

USA revenue up 1.1%

Capitalized software development costs of $0.18 million

Nine Months Ended May 31, 2022 Financial Results

Highlights for the nine months ended May 31, 2022 include (all figures are USD, and comparisons are to the nine months ended May 31, 2021):

Currency adjusted Play MPE revenue up 0.3%

Currency adjusted Canadian revenue grew by 27.6%

Currency adjusted European revenue grew by 3.5%

USA revenue up 2.1%

Capitalized software development costs of $0.33 million

During the nine months ended May 31, 2022, under a normal course issuer bid, the Company repurchased 143,100 shares for a total cost of $0.18 million.

Fiscal 2022 Third Quarter Earnings Webinar

Destiny Media Technologies will hold a live webinar on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) to discuss financial results for its third quarter ended May 31, 2022. The live webinar will include comments from President and Chief Executive Officer, Fred Vandenberg, and Director of Business Development, Allan Benedict.

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Time: 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time)

Attendees are encouraged to register prior to the scheduled time at the following:

https://investors.dsny.com/investors/financials/ or by clicking on the Webinar Registration Form.

Attendees viewing the webinar can voluntarily submit questions during the live presentation. Attendee cameras will remain off throughout the presentation. Attendees' microphones will remain off unless the attendee voluntarily selects to engage in verbal questions similar to the format available on traditional conference call format.

The webinar format will provide the Company an opportunity to present visual information.

For those without internet access, the webinar can be accessed via the following dial in details:

Direct dial in: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 253 215 8782

Webinar ID: 823 7596 4271

Attendees participating via dial in will not have access the webinar video stream and will not have access to question and answer functions.

A recording of the webinar will be available after the event on https://investors.dsny.com/investors/financials/

DESTINY MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets















May 31,

2022

August 31, 2021 ASSETS











Cash and cash equivalents $ 1,953,454

$ 2,752,662

Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $24,844 (August 31, 2021 - $19,743)

800,847



400,233

Other receivables

23,278



53,172

Prepaid expenses

54,937



103,463

Deposits

45,269

- Total current assets

2,877,785



3,309,530











Deposits

-



35,556

Property and equipment, net

359,490



143,487

Intangible assets, net

254,489



187,622

Right-of-use assets

-



190,253

Total assets $ 3,491,764 $ 3,866,448









LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY







Current







Accounts payable $ 116,158

$ 202,722

Accrued liabilities

301,394



309,839

Deferred revenue

25,523



8,511

Current portion of operating lease liability

-

226,978 Total current liabilities

443,075

748,050 Total liabilities

443,075

748,050









Contingencies

-



-











Stockholders' equity







Common stock, par value $0.001, authorized 20,000,000 shares.

Issued and outstanding - 10,122,261 shares

(August 31, 2021 - 10,265,361 shares)

10,122



10,266

Additional paid-in capital

9,137,129



9,157,804

Accumulated deficit

(5,828,790 )

(5,788,539 ) Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(269,772 )

(261,133 ) Total stockholders' equity

3,048,689

3,118,398 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 3,491,764

$ 3,866,448

DESTINY MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)

(Unaudited)































Three Months Ended May 31,



Nine Months Ended May 31,





2022

2021

2022

2021

























Service revenue $ 999,282

$ 1,083,987

$ 3,029,853

$ 3,138,663



















Cost of revenue















Hosting costs

50,604



32,582



138,399



92,291

Internal engineering support

21,497



7,375



43,709



20,998

Customer support

121,816



41,794



247,685



118,989

Third-party and transactions costs

15,688

16,053

48,686

47,738



209,605

97,804

478,479

280,016

















Gross margin

789,677



986,183



2,551,374



2,858,647





















Operating expenses















General and administrative

318,995



202,878



800,173



526,822

Sales and marketing

113,172



361,411



772,163



1,004,839

Product development

326,125



326,450



944,941



961,930

Depreciation and amortization

36,313



26,673

90,059

77,388



794,605

917,412





2,607,336

2,570,979

















Income (loss) from operations

(4,928 )

68,771



(55,962 )

287,668





















Other income















Interest and other income

1,686



823



4,693



3,162

Gain on disposal of assets



-

-

11,018

- Net income (loss) $ (3,242 ) $ 69,594

$ (40,251 ) $ 290,830



















Foreign currency translation adjustments

28,168



149,774



(8,639 )

211,897



















Total comprehensive income (loss) $ 24,926

$ 219,368

$ (48,890 ) $ 502,727



















Net income (loss) per common share













Basic $ (0.00 ) $ 0.01

$ (0.00 ) $ 0.03

Diluted $ (0.00 ) $ 0.01 $ (0.00 ) $ 0.03

















Weighted average common shares outstanding:













Basic

10,122,261



10,426,961



10,185,320



10,428,809

Diluted

10,122,261

10,531,708

10,185,320

10,543,442



About Destiny Media Technologies Inc.

Destiny Media Technologies ("Destiny") provides software as service (SaaS) solutions to businesses in the music industry solving critical problems in distribution and promotion. The core service, Play MPE (www.plaympe.com), provides promotional music marketing to engaged networks of decision makers in radio, film, TV, and beyond. More information can be found at www.dsny.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect current views with respect to future events and operating performance. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Destiny Media Technologies is not obligated to update these statements in the future. For more information on the Company's risks and uncertainties relating to those forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors section in our Annual Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2021, which is available on www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov.

Contact:

Fred Vandenberg

CEO, Destiny Media Technologies, Inc.

604 609 7736 x236

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130611
Property represents a large, under-explored land package adjacent to Rock Tech's near term Georgia Lake Lithium deposit

The Georgia Lake Lithium District has a proven track record of economic Li deposits dating back to the mid 1950's

Rock Tech is building a lithium ore processing facility for custom milling in Thunder Bay, to be online in early 2024, which with Ontario Government support will support mineral processing from other nearby Li mines

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Victory Resources Corporation (CSE:VR)(FWB:VR61)(OTC PINK:VRCFF) ("Victory" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company's has begun its first work program on its recently acquired Georgia Lake Lithium Project in the Thunder Bay Mining District, Ontario.

"We are excited to begin our first work program at our fully owned Georgia Lake property, which is based in the proven Lithium region within the Thunder Bay District," said Mr. Mark Ireton, Victory Resources President and CEO. "Victory's Georgia Lake property is ideally situated in a proven lithium region, and one with mining infrastructure supported by the Government of Ontario and from Rock Tech, which will allow us to realize the full potential of any commercially viable deposits within the project."

Work Program Details

The work program will be focused upon soil sampling and prospecting over a 10-day period to explore for lithium mineralization on our Georgia Lake Project

The program is aimed at identifying anomalous lithium values in soil to develop targets for follow-up exploration work which would then require an exploration permit and support from the local First Nations communities

It is anticipated that results will follow within 6-weeks of the program, identifying the specific areas for permit application and community engagement related to future surface trenching and drilling

As it relates to Victory's press release on 5 July 2022, Terms of the Agreement for the 100% acquisition of the Company's Stingray II property are $10,000 in cash and 2.5 million common shares payable on Regulatory and Exchange approval.

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Bob Marvin (PGeo), who is a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101.

For further information, please contact:

Mark Ireton, President

Telephone: +1 (236) 317 2822 or TOLL FREE 1 (855) 665-GOLD (4653)

E-mail: IR@victoryresourcescorp.com

About Victory Resources Corporation

VICTORY RESOURCES CORPORATION (CSE: VR) is a publicly traded diversified investment corporation with mineral interests in North America. The Company is also actively seeking other exploration opportunities.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

SOURCE: Victory Resources Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708241/Victory-Begins-Work-Program-on-Its-Georgia-Lake-Lithium-Project-in-Ontario
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Dollar General Corp. (DG) announced Tuesday that Chief Executive Officer Todd Vasos has decided to retire from his position, effective November 1, 2022. The Company's Board of Directors also approved the promotion of Jeffery Owen, its Chief Operating Officer since 2019, to succeed Vasos as CEO effective immediately following Vasos's retirement from the CEO role. To assist in the transition of leadership, Vasos is expected to serve in a senior advisory position beginning November 1, 2022, and continuing through April 1, 2023, at which time Vasos will retire. Vasos is also expected to enter into a two-year consulting agreement and continue to serve as a member of the Company's Board of Directors following his retirement from the Company. Vasos has served as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Company's Board of Directors since June 2015. He joined Dollar General in 2008 as Executive Vice President, Division President and Chief Merchandising Officer and served as Chief Operating Officer from 2013 until being named CEO. Meanwhile, Owen has served as Chief Operating Officer since August 2019 and previously held the roles of Executive Vice President, Store Operations from 2015-2019 and Senior Vice President, Store Operations from 2011-2014. Prior to August 2011, Owen served as a Vice President, Division Manager; Retail Division Manager; Senior Director, Operations Process Improvement; and Store Manager, among other roles. He began his employment at Dollar General in 1992 as a store manager trainee in a Nashville, Tennessee store. Owen is expected to be elected to serve as a member of Dollar General's Board of Directors upon the effectiveness of his promotion to CEO. He has also served as a director of Kirkland's Inc. since March 2015. 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.
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.
SINGAPORE, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Thunes , a global cross-border payments company, has entered into a strategic partnership with Attijariwafa bank, one of the largest banks in Morocco and Africa.

This partnership enables any of the nearly 30 million bank account owners in Morocco to receive inbound payments directly to their accounts. Thunes' global customers will have the ability to send seamless, cost-effective and real-time payments to bank accounts in Morocco.

Thunes is connected to Attijariwafa bank via Ripple, the leader in enterprise and blockchain solutions, and its global financial technology RippleNet. The connection to RippleNet and Thunes will allow Attijariwafa bank's customers to receive transfers from around the world initiated through the Thunes network in a matter of a few seconds. Other Moroccan banks' customers can be reached using the local clearing.

Morocco is the third largest remittance receiver in Africa (after Nigeria and Egypt), with a large diaspora, a dynamic market and a sound regulatory framework to foster digital payment services and reduce costs. The World Bank estimates that personal remittance inflows increased strongly during the pandemic, reaching an estimated US$7.4 billion at the end of 2020.

Asma Ben Gamra, VP of Network Development, MENA, at Thunes, said: "Morocco is a major force in the North African economy, with a GDP of over $100 billion USD, and it is a key financial hub in the region. Cross-border payments have been a challenge as in the past, customers would have to use inefficient and expensive methods to send payments to Morocco. We are today pleased to partner with Attijariwafa bank to enable seamless bank-to-bank payments to all bank accounts in Morocco. This will be a major improvement for customers that need to make regular cross-border payments, and a significant milestone for our Network expansion in North Africa."

This partnership with Attijariwafa bank aligns with Thunes' commitment to building more efficient and affordable payments services around the world, a financial access mission the company is undertaking in collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF) .

Brooks Entwistle, SVP of Global Customer Success and MD of APAC and MENA at Ripple, said, "We are thrilled to announce this extension to our existing partnership with Thunes, and together we look forward to providing faster, cost-effective and more transparent cross-border payments experiences for customers in Morocco and the greater MENA region."

Mrs Nawal Alami, Head of Cash Management and Payments at Attijariwafa bank said, "Thanks to Thunes' Membership in Ripplenet network, Attijariwafa bank and its international financial partners, are now able to exchange transfers in a transparent, secure and instantaneous way.

This will allow Attijariwafa bank's customers to receive transfers initiated through the partners members of the same network in a few seconds. Other Moroccan banks customers can be reached using the local clearing.

We are excited to announce our partnership with Thunes, a leader in global cross-border payments, to enrich Attijariwafa bank's offer to the Moroccan population living abroad."
SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Oncology Pharma Inc. (OTC PINK:ONPH) - Oncology Pharma, Inc. ("The Company") is furthering progress in discussions with investors and developing the financing model towards the next step of the development process with its Nanoemulsion drug delivery system. The Company is confident that it will progress towards this next step.

The early feasibility study was intended to serve as a demonstration that the development team possessed the capability of formulating research-scale nanoemulsion formulations of dactinomycin. Initial characterization of these formulations would be carried out to demonstrate that the nanoemulsion formulation possessed several desirable characteristics that made them suitable candidates for further nonclinical development. As stated the Company is confident these steps were met and looks forward to moving ahead.

Essentially, all of the specific aims under the scope of this project were met. The capability to formulate nanoemulsions that incorporate the active pharmaceutical ingredient, dactinomycin, was demonstrated. Specifically, the study identified two formulations feasible for further development.

The capability to be able to innovate and make progress in this early stage demonstrates the team's ability to identify developmental goals and overcome formulation challenges to produce a drug formulation with suitable characteristics for further, formal nonclinical development. These characteristics include the ability for the nanoemulsion to incorporate the majority of available drug into the lipid nanoparticles, a demonstrated release-over-time profile, and stability during storage. Additionally, test methods were established at independent contract laboratories to support basic formulation characterization and accurately detecting the drug concentration in control and test formulations in support of future nonclinical studies.

ABOUT ONCOLOGY PHARMA, INC.

ONCOLOGY PHARMA, INC. (OTC PINK:ONPH) (the "Company") is currently engaging in research and development of therapeutics for oncology and prides itself for having a world-class Advisory Board that keeps the Company in the forefront of developing technologies in cancer research, biotechnology, and healthcare.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain of the matters discussed in this announcement contain forward-looking statements that involve material risks to and uncertainties in the Company's business that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein. Such risks and uncertainties include risks related to licensing arrangements and joint ventures, including the need to negotiate the definitive agreements for the relationships; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of business relationships; and, costs of providing funding to these business relationships. Other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company include, among other things, current negative operating cash flows and a need for additional funding to finance our operating plan; the terms of any further financing, which may be highly dilutive and may include onerous terms; unexpected costs and operating deficits, and lower than expected sales and revenues; uncertain willingness and ability of customers to adopt new technologies and other factors that may affect further market acceptance; adverse economic conditions; adverse results of any legal proceedings; the volatility of our operating results and financial condition; inability to attract or retain qualified senior management personnel, including sales and marketing personnel; our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through the patent process, as well as our ability to possibly license from others patents and patent applications necessary to develop products; the Company's ability to implement its long range business plan for various applications of its technology; the Company's ability to enter into agreements with any necessary marketing and/or distribution partners and with any strategic or joint venture partners; the impact of competition; the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory clearances applicable to applications of the Company's technology; management of growth; and, other risks and uncertainties. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities and does not purport to be an analysis of the Company's financial position.

CONTACTS:

For additional Information, please contact the Oncology Pharma at:

One Sansome Street, Suite 3500

San Francisco, CA 94104

Phone: 415-869-1038

Fax: 415-946-8801

website: www.oncology-pharma.com

email: info@oncology-pharma.com

SOURCE: Oncology Pharma Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708218/Oncology-Pharma-Conducting-Interviews-and-Presentations-with-Investors-to-Pursue-Next-Steps-to-Forward-The-Development-Process-of-Nanoemulsion-Drug-Delivery-System
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Alerio Gold Corp. (the "Company") (ALE:CSE) announces advancement of exploration activities on the Company's 100% owned Tassawini Gold Property ("Tassawini"), Guyana. The Company has contracted Auracle Geospatial Science Inc ("Auracle") to complete an updated topographic map as well as structural interpretation of the Property. Additionally, the Company's technical consultants Kangari Consulting LLC ("Kangari") continues to advance the reinterpretation of existing exploration and drilling data.

Remote Sensing Survey

Alerio has contracted Auracle and work has begun on an updated topographic map and structural interpretation for the Tassawini Gold Project. The Auracle remote sensing work will apply proprietary technology to locate and identify sub surface features within the Tassawini Project and to advance new geographic/topographic and geological interpretation. Auracle will build a 3D Radar Model defining surface and near surface structure and lithological domains. Additionally, the work will identify the boundaries and locations of legacy artisanal mining sites. The results will provide new geographic and geological information relating to updated surface geology, structural features of the underlying bedrock, and a new Digital Elevation Model ("DEM"). The DEM is a vital component to the anticipated updated Mineral Resource Estimate and to future exploration and drill programmes.

"We are very pleased to work with such a uniquely capable remote sensing company," commented Jonathan Challis, President & CEO. "The program Auracle has developed for Alerio offers a highly cost-effective method in prioritizing exploration targets with exceptional accuracy." Mr. Challis continued, "Alerio intends to utilize the Auracle technology to evaluate the entire Tassawini Project to better understand additional targets on the Property." "Advancing Tassawini along with Harpy and the recent purchase of the Puruni Property, gives Alerio an enviable and highly prospective land package in Guyana", Mr. Challis further states."

Puruni Property

The Puruni Property consists of five prospecting permits covering approximately 23 square kilometres. The Puruni Property has a well-documented history of alluvial mining in the active river channel and saprolite mining on land adjacent to the river bank, along with the mining of quartz veins at higher elevations. The geology appears to be analogous to that of the Peter's Mine (some 2.5 kms to the north) and to other gold deposits in Guyana.

Updated Geological Model

The Company's technical consultants Kangari Consulting LLC, continue with the evaluation of the geological model at Tassawini. Kangari confirms the high quality and reliability of the previous detailed historic exploration work and drilling, as well as the previous interpretations. Upside potential has been identified within the mineralized envelope with potential to define further near-surface, oxidized gold mineralization with the saprolite and additionally down dip extensions to the previously modeled zones. The historic work resulted in an SRK (2010) report demonstrating that the Tassawini Property hosted some 437,000 ounces Indicated and an additional 62,000 ounces Inferred within the Tassawini Property. The results of the technical review will guide the confirmation and extension drill campaign on the Property planned for 2022.

The historical mineral resource consists of an indicated resource containing 10,766,000 tonnes grading 1.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (for 437,000 ounces (oz) gold) and an additional historical inferred resource of 614,000 tonnes grading 1.7 g/t gold (for 62,000 oz gold) that was estimated by SRK in a mineral resource estimation dated July 21, 2008 and revised on Feb. 10, 2010. The estimation practices, at a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t, were in accordance with CIM Estimation of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Best Practice Guidelines (November 29, 2019), and followed CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May 10, 2014), that are incorporated by reference into National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). The data and procedures employed by SRK and the historical resource is considered reliable and it was a valid resource estimation in 2010. The historic resource estimate used geological interpretation to prepare wireframes, data validation, and statistical analyses including variograms. Composites were capped for gold grades, block size was determined by drill spacing, and grades were estimated into the block model using ordinary kriging. Mineral resource classification was carried out using a combination of drillhole spacing, geological and wireframe confidence. Pit optimization studies were conducted to determine the depth to which resource estimates were reported. Since 2010, a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimation as current mineral resources and the Company is not treating the historical resource estimation as a current mineral resource. Additional confirmation drilling and updated topographic surveying is required to update the historic resource estimate. The historical estimate should not be relied upon.

Alerio also announces that it has retained Kaye Wynn Consulting to provide investor relations services to the Company. Established in 2010 and based in Vancouver Canada, Kaye Wynn works closely with clients to get their message out to a proprietary network and the broader investment community.

The Company also announces that it has granted 750,000 stock options to employees and consultants, pursuant the Company's stock option plan. The stock options will have and exercise price of $.10 per share and expire July x of 2023

Mr. Greg Smith, P. Geo. Director of Alerio Gold, is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical data and information contained in this news release. Mr. Smith has verified the technical and scientific data disclosed herein and has conducted appropriate verification on the underlying data.

About Auracle Geospatial Science Inc.

Auracle Geospatial Science Inc. is a private Canadian remote sensing and technology company that has developed an innovative and proprietary technology, "The Auracle System", that uses satellite data to penetrate surface and subsurface to build a comprehensive 3D geological model including everything from ground surface to true bedrock.

About Alerio Gold Corp.

Alerio Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company in the business of acquiring, exploring, and developing natural resource properties, with a focus in Guyana, South America. The company currently has 100% interest in three gold properties located in Guyana.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Jonathan Challis"

Jonathan Challis, President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Geoff Balderson

Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, and Director

Telephone: 604-602-0001

Email: gb@harmonycs.ca

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as, "anticipates", "expects", "is expected", "intends", "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements include those relating to the acquisition by Alerio Gold Corp. of all of the Properties and the corresponding issuance of the Consideration Shares, the satisfaction of necessary terms and conditions of the Definitive Agreement to complete the Acquisition, and the ownership of the Properties via power of attorney.

Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, including assumptions related to the ability of both companies to successfully complete all the conditions precedent under the Definitive Agreement and the companies receiving all necessary future approvals and permits. Actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from that expressed in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements in this press release, and, accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements and they are not guarantees of future results. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks, assumptions, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual future results or anticipated events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Alerio Gold Corp. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The CSE nor its market regulator does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. The CSE has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

SOURCE: Alerio Gold Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708175/Alerio-Gold-Advances-Tassawini-Gold-Project-in-Guyana
China unveils its first solar electric vehicle to the public.

During a public event gathering, at the World Intelligence Conference, the country showed off its SEV that it is also currently on tour in mainland China.

As reported, the development of this solar vehicle is stated to be a result of collaborative efforts of 42 companies and three universities.

Due to the current alarming environmental state that the world is in, numerous efforts of developing sustainable alternatives have been increasing.

In line with that, there has also been an increase with consumer consumption opting to prefer electric vehicles than the gas fueled cars due to environmental and cost factors.

Furthermore, a team from China has taken environmentally friendly transportation one step further by developing a solar vehicle that operates solely on the energy that is derived from the sun.

This comes at a time when several companies from around the world are moving closer to delivering scaled production of solar electric vehicles. The country's first ever vehicle is named, Tianjin.

#ExploringTianjin #HelloTianjin #ModernTianjin The pure solar car "Tianjin" can move according to the route set by the unmanned system. It will go out of Tianjin and spread the high-end materials and cutting-edge technologies throughout the country. #Tianjin #NiceTianjin pic.twitter.com/6yL1IiBOm8  Exploring Tianjin (@ExploringTJ) July 9, 2022

China's First Solar Vehicle, Tianjin

China's Tianjin was introduced to have 47 advanced technological features. Some of these features are also the same features that can be experienced and seen in top-tier cars in the industry.

According to Electrek, the Tianjin solar car is reported to be capable of autonomous driving at Level 4 and above.

Tianjin car weight is 1 020 kilograms, it measures 4,080 millimeters in length, 1,770 millimeters width, and is 1,811 millimeters tall (13.4 x 5.8 x 5.9 ft.).

On days with the most sunshine, the daily maximum power generation is 7.6 kWh.

This motor vehicle has a battery pack that has an energy density of 330 watt-hours per kilogram.

The car's features also include four seating capacities just like a regular car you would see in the market. Its max tested range is at 47 miles, while the top speed of the solar vehicle is at 79.2 kilometers per hour.

It is possible to cut carbon emissions by 25 kg for every 100 km traveled (55 lbs. per 62 miles)

Not thrilling specs compared to a solar EV, or any EV for that matter, but still quite impressive considering these numbers come entirely from the sun's energy. That's exciting, to say the least.

The Tianjin, at the very minimum, provides proof of concept for vehicles that can be powered entirely from a natural and abundant source of clean energy.

It's exciting to think about what sort of possibilities this solar vehicle creates for future engineers developing means for us all to get around without emissions.

Read Also: Best New Movies on Amazon Prime To Binge Watch This Summer

China's Possible Problems with Tianjin

China's solar electric vehicle also has one very noticeable difference, it is missing a steering wheel. This may or may not be reasonable since the Tianjin is designed to utilize autonomous driving which will eliminate the need for a wheel.

Interesting Engineering has reported that this has been replaced with a large touchscreen display and three buttons in the usual driver's area.

Having the vehicle operate at its speed in urban areas would seem reasonable. However, a massive adaptation of this vehicle might encounter some hurdles with its autonomous driving feature.

The level of automation known as level 4 is notoriously difficult to achieve, which is why companies like Tesla and Waymo have spent years perfecting their systems.

The existing regulations for driver assistance systems require that vehicles only be operated in limited areas (geo-fencing), and they are primarily aimed at ride-sharing. This probably explains why there is no navigator's seat in these vehicles, as it was designed for a human to sit in.

Related Article: Several Honda Models Have a Vulnerability That Lets Hackers Unlock Cars, Start Engines Remotely
PORTLAND, Ind., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Safety on construction sites has improved greatly over the past fifty years. However, the latest report by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) shows that construction tops the most dangerous occupations in the US for fatal injuries.

One of the main causes of fatal incidents for workers is being struck by a moving vehicle. In fact, OSHA states that approximately 75% of struck-by fatalities involve heavy equipment such as trucks or cranes.

Laws for occupational safety, enforced and regulated by OSHA, provide comprehensive information on the standards that should be put in place by companies operating in the construction industry - those found guilty of breaching these rules face hefty fines.

In 2021, Atlantic Coast Utilities LLC/Advanced Utilities Inc. was cited for 28 violations of the regulations and ordered to pay more than $1.3 million in fines after two employees were struck and killed by a dumper truck.

In a statement, OSHA said the violations included "the company's refusal to train the two fatally injured employees and other workers to recognize and avoid work-related hazards" and that the company also "failed to conduct worksite inspections to identify and correct hazards, including the risks of being struck by construction vehicles."

Clearly, vehicle safety should always be taken seriously. But regulations can also be open to interpretation. Certainly, there are question marks over the duties and responsibilities of companies, operators and individuals when it comes to ensuring hazards posed by vehicles on worksites are prevented.

Large construction vehicles are notorious for having complex and numerous blind spots and visibility has long been an issue for drivers and workers on the ground.

The OSHA Regulations state that no contractor or subcontractor for any part of the contract work shall require any laborer or mechanic employed in the performance of the contract to work in surroundings or under working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to his health or safety.

The rules relating to material handling equipment also require that scrapers, loaders, crawler or wheel tractors, bulldozers, off-highway trucks, graders, agricultural and industrial tractors, and similar equipment should be fitted with audible alarms. But what does this mean?

While the regulations don't indicate precisely what the best type of alarm is or how this should be applied, it is clear that operators and their drivers have a legal obligation to ensure people are not endangered by vehicles under their control. In the event of an incident, an operator or driver could be prosecuted and face hefty fines if they were found to be in breach of these rules. So how can operators and drivers ensure they do not violate these rules?

Corey Heniser is a vehicle safety expert and CEO of Brigade Electronics INC, a leading supplier of safety devices and solutions for construction vehicles. He said:

"Construction sites can be extremely challenging and unpredictable environments. Therefore, maintaining safety at all times can be very difficult. On construction sites, the need for safety is paramount, particularly as the slightest mistake can have devastating consequences.

"A variety of technologies are helping to address the problem of restricted visibility and blind spots on vehicles operating in construction sites. One of these includes the very latest RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, such as Brigade's ZoneSafe proximity warning system, which will be launched in the US later this month."

Ideal for construction sites, ZoneSafe uses vehicle-mounted antennas that communicate with detection tags, which can be worn by workers or placed on objects or property. When a tag enters a detection zone, the vehicle operator will automatically receive a visual and audible alert via the in-cab control unit, which will enable them to take the necessary action. Tags worn by workers on foot will also vibrate to warn of an approaching vehicle.

Since ZoneSafe uses RFID technology, the tags will be detected regardless of obstructions, blind spots, adverse weather conditions or poor visibility. Each tag can be uniquely identified and linked to individuals or objects and does not require a line-of-sight to alert the operator of potential obstruction.

Corey continued:

"This technology is ideal for all types of construction vehicles that frequently operate within close proximity of workers and other machines. The system provides fast, reliable and accurate data exchange without any limitation on the number of tags or antennas in operation, making it perfect for large areas like busy construction sites."

As the industry prepares for the American Public Works Association (APWA) Public Works Expo: PWX 2022 in August, safety remains top of the agenda.

Corey added:

"The training of drivers is key to ensuring safety standards are adhered to. However, vehicle safety technology can add an additional layer of security and peace of mind for operators who strive to keep their workplaces hazard free."

Brigade Electronics Inc. will be attending PWX 2022 at Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, NC from August 28th to August 31st and exhibiting its range of mobile and construction vehicle safety systems, including ZoneSafe.

Sources

https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/fatalinjuries.pdf

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20210818

https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1516067.015

https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1516067.015

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/company-indicted-on-perjury-charges-related-to-construction-accident-that-killed-2-workers/2578264/

1926 | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1857531/Brigade_worksite_safety.jpg




Singapore, July 12, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - The World Blockchain Summit, which will take place on July 14-15, 2022 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center, Singapore, will be one of the elite gatherings of the global crypto and blockchain ecosystem.Sedition is the world's leading platform for digital art. Sedition was founded in 2011 and provides contemporary digital art for private collectors all over the world, as well as hotels, offices, airports and other public spaces. Sedition will join World Blockchain Summit Singapore as Presenting Sponsor and will make announcements regarding the integration of NFTs to Sedition's platform.Among the top crypto leaders and speakers who will join the global conversation will be Rory Blain, the Director of Sedition."Sedition is the world's leading digital art platform and we're proud to be working with many of the world's most celebrated contemporary artists - Tracey Emin, Bill Viola, Yoko Ono, Bharti Kher, Mat Collishaw, and many other giants from the museum and gallery world. We also have artworks by the titans of the digital and NFT sphere, artists like Refik Anadol, LIA, Can Buyukberber, Rafael Rozendaal, Maxim Zhestkov and many others' stated Rory Blain.Rory continues: "Starting mid-2022, Sedition is introducing blockchain technology to the platform. We want to allow our community to decentralize the ownership of their artworks by turning them into NFTs. We're excited to be joining World Blockchain Summit Singapore to make this announcement to the global blockchain community."During his speech at World Blockchain Summit Rory will be sharing his insights on the topic of the Democratization of Art. Rory will talk about his background in the art world and what inspired the founding idea of Sedition - to democratize access to fine art - as well as discuss why blockchain technology will revolutionize the art industry.According to Mohammad Saleem, Founder of World Blockchain Summit, "Blockchain technology offers more benefits than just faster securities settlement. It will radically alter market dynamics and perhaps even the design of the internet. Everything has transformed the Internet and blockchain, the future of content lies in it." He further added, "We are excited to have Sedition at the World Blockchain Summit, which will promote the field of art on digital platforms and introduce the participants to numerous avenues to enjoy art."He further added, "We are excited to have Sedition at the World Blockchain Summit, which we think will unlock the possibilities of digital assets and introduce our participants to the world of cryptocurrency."About World Blockchain SummitWorld Blockchain Summit is a global series of elite gatherings that takes place in 16+ destinations across the world. It connects global blockchain gurus and technology players in this space including emerging startups - with regional businesses, government authorities, IT leaders, tech entrepreneurs, investors, and blockchain developers.About TresconTrescon is a global business events and consulting firm that provides 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.About SeditionSedition is the world's leading platform to collect, share, trade, display and enjoy art in digital format. Sedition also provides contemporary digital art for hotels, offices, airports and other public spaces. Sedition works with the world's leading contemporary artists such as Tracey Emin, Bill Viola, Yoko Ono, Bharti Kher, Mat Collishaw, and many other giants from the museum and gallery world. Sedition also has artworks by the titans of the digital and NFT sphere, people like Refik Anadol, LIA, Can Buyukberber, Rafael Rozendaal, Maxim Zhestkov and others.For further details about the announcement, please contact:Aakancha K.Marketing Executive, Tresconmedia@tresconglobal.comVladislav AlimpievCommunity Manager, Seditionvladislav@seditionart.comSource: tresconCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Australia's national science agency - The Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) - will lead a consortium of academic research institutes to formulate a science-based framework to assist TMC in the development of an environmental management and monitoring plan for proposed polymetallic nodule collection operations in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean

The consortium will draw upon TMC's extensive environmental baseline data to identify appropriate indicators and tolerance limits to enable the Company to minimize impacts in its deep-sea operating environment

CSIRO will be joined by researchers from Museums Victoria, Griffith University, and the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia, as well as the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand

The researchers bring an established track record of delivering integrated frameworks for the assessment of cumulative impacts and risk and for the management and monitoring of marine ecosystems

NEW YORK, July 12, 2022) to create a framework for the development of an ecosystem-based management and monitoring plan (EMMP) for its proposed deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection operations in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Pacific Ocean.

The CSIRO-led consortium, which includes global leaders in the development and application of effective EMMPs in a diversity of marine areas, will leverage TMC's extensive environmental baseline data - acquired in the Company's NORI project area in the CCZ - to help develop appropriate indicators and tolerance limits to create safe parameters for collecting seafloor nodules. The work will form the scientific foundation of TMC's future Adaptive Management System, which is expected to provide robust scenario testing of seafloor mine plans, monitoring of nodule collection operations and a dynamic dashboard for review by stakeholders.

Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of The Metals Company, said: "Last year our subsidiary, NORI, completed environmental baseline studies in partnership with leading marine research institutions. We've now got one of the world's most extensive deep-sea datasets to hand over to the CSIRO-led consortium, experts with the practical experience we need to develop a scientifically robust framework for a marine ecosystem-based management program for NORI-D. I'm thrilled that these trusted and independent institutions have agreed to undertake this research, setting a high bar for future work in this industry."

The Metals Company has invested significant resources in its deep-sea environmental baseline program, and in November 2021 the Company entered into an agreement with Kongsberg Digitalto develop a Digital Twin. As TMC prepares for pilot nodule collector system trials in the CCZ later this year, the CSIRO-led research project will propel the development of a rigorous management plan focussed on the cumulative impacts of collecting nodules at a regional scale within the CCZ to enable TMC to operate within safe ecological limits. The Company expects to employ the science-based framework developed by the CSIRO-led consortium in the Adaptive Management System - which will also draw on expert opinion and machine learning to improve operational efficiencies and reduce the uncertainty of environmental impacts over time - ahead of planned commercial operations expected to commence in 2024.

About The Metals Company

The Metals Company is an explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, on a dual mission:.

More Info

Media | media@metals.co

Investors | investors@metals.co

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this press release are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "should," "would," "plan," "predict," "potential," "seem," "seek," "future," "outlook" and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the development and use of an ecosystem-based management and monitoring plan (EMMP) as well as the design, use and accuracy of any technology developed by TMC and its partners, agents and/or service providers to support its operations. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside TMC's control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: regulatory uncertainties and the impact of government regulation and political instability on TMC's resource activities; changes to any of the laws, rules, regulations or policies to which TMC is subject; the impact of extensive and costly environmental requirements on TMC's operations; environmental liabilities; the impact of polymetallic nodule collection on biodiversity in the Clarion Clipperton Zone and recovery rates of impacted ecosystems; TMC's ability to develop minerals in sufficient grade or quantities to justify commercial operations; the lack of development of seafloor polymetallic nodule deposit; uncertainty in the estimates for mineral resource calculations from certain contract areas and for the grade and quality of polymetallic nodule deposits; risks associated with natural hazards; uncertainty with respect to the specialized treatment and processing of polymetallic nodules that TMC may recover; risks associated with collection, development and processing polymetallic nodules; risks associated with TMC's limited operating history; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; risks associated with TMC's intellectual property and the validity, use and ownership of any new technology or intellectual property subsisting therein; and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Company's Form 10K, dated and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 25, 2022 , including those under "Risk Factors" therein, and in TMC's other future filings with the SEC. TMC cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. TMC cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. TMC does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based except as required by law.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Magna Terra Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Magna Terra") (TSXV:MTT) is pleased to announce that it has initiated exploration on its 100%-controlled Hawkins Love Gold Project ("Hawkins Love" or "Project"), located in Southern New Brunswick (Exhibit A). The program includes prospecting and mapping of five (5) new gold targets identified through soil geochemistry over an 8-kilometre strike (see news release dated February 17, 2022).

Project Highlights

Quartz vein boulders* with visible gold assaying up to 302.5 g/t gold ;

; Soil samples assaying up to 10.0 g/t gold including 276 soil samples >10 ppb gold and 21 samples >50 ppb gold;

including 276 soil samples >10 ppb gold and 21 samples >50 ppb gold; Five (5) gold targets recently identified on geophysics and gold-in-soil trends discovered along the Back Bay Fault ( Exhibits B and C );

); 8-kilometre trend of anomalous gold in soil anomalies and grab samples from five (5) gold targets situated along the Back Bay Fault;

New gold targets at Hawkins Love share a similar geological environment to the nearby Clarence Stream Deposit - deformed sediments and volcanics adjacent to the St. George granite; and

9,155 hectares of prospective mineral lands along a 10-kilometre extent of a regional-scale gold bearing structure - the Back Bay Fault.

*Note: "grab and float samples" are selected samples and are not necessarily indicative of mineralization that may be hosted on the property.

"We are keen to follow-up at Hawkins Love on the five new gold targets identified in our Summer 2021 field program. The size of each target, in close proximity to the Saint George Batholith and Back Bay Fault system, provides an excellent opportunity for the Company to make a near term discovery in this underexplored area. Hawkins Love is located within a similar geological environment to Galway's multi-million ounce Clarence Stream Project. Furthermore, we see similarity in the tenor and scale of the gold anomalies at Hawkins Love, forming a compelling opportunity for discovery on the project. Our current goal is to demonstrate the presence of in-situ gold across these target areas and to discover new areas that have the potential to host significant gold mineralization. This detailed prospecting and mapping program will direct future follow-up work that may include geophysical surveys and trenching to define further targets for a future drilling program as we advance the Project".

~ Lew Lawrick, President and CEO, Magna Terra Minerals Inc.

Compelling New Gold Prospects Developing

The recently identified gold targets at the Hawkins Love Project, are hosted in the same geological environment as the Clarence Stream deposit 40 kilometres away, owned by Galway Metals. The Clarence Stream Gold Deposit currently has an NI43-101 combined open-pit and underground Indicated Mineral Resources of 922,000 ounces of gold (12,396,000 tonnes at 2.31 g/t gold) and Inferred Mineral Resources of 1,334,000 ounces of gold (15,963,000 tonnes at 2.60 g/t gold).

The Hawkins Love gold targets are nested along a 10-kilometre long prominent structure known as the Back Bay Fault system that is 3.0 kilometres wide and locally coincident with the southern contact between the Saint George Batholith and the Mascarene Group volcanic and sedimentary rocks. (See Exhibits A and B). The purpose of this program will be to further delineate the 5 Hawkins Love gold targets and advance them to the drill stage.

Exhibit A: Regional Geology and Gold Deposits of Southern New Brunswick with Magna Terra Project Locations.

Exhibit B: Property Geology and Gold Anomalies; Hawkins Love Project.

Exhibit C: Five Exploration Targets based on gold-in-soil geochemical trends; Hawkins Love Project.

Target Area Details

The exploration work to date completed by the team at Magna Terra, has outlined five (5) significant geochemical and structural target areas at the Hawkins Love Project; the Jake Lee, Hawkins, Love, New River 1 and New River 2 gold targets.

The Jake Lee gold target is a zone of anomalous soils and has been outlined over an extent of 1.7 by 2.7 kilometres, with 54 soil samples assaying greater than 20 ppb gold and up to 256 ppb gold and >10,000 ppb gold, over a strike length of 1.7 kilometres that coincides with high tenor, historic stream silt samples assaying up to 5,280 ppb gold in an area of bedrock base metal (Cu, Pb, Zn) mineralization (Exhibit C). A soil sample assaying >10,000 ppb gold (>10 g/t gold; upper detection level) is located at the southern extent of the Jake Lee target and forms a priority target for follow-up prospecting.

The Love gold target includes 32 high tenor soil samples assaying > 20 ppb gold and up to 208 ppb gold occur over an area of 2.8 by 1.0 kilometres with the highest tenor soils located 500 to 1,000 metres down-ice (southwest) of historic, visible gold-bearing boulders* assaying up to 302.5 g/t gold.

The Hawkins gold target includes 12 anomalous soil samples assaying greater than 20 ppb gold and up to 683 ppb gold coincide with know bedrock base metal (Cu, Pb, Zn) mineralization and form a target over a 1.0 by 0.6 kilometre area.

The New River 1 gold target includes 9 anomalous soil samples assaying greater than 20 ppb gold and up to 52 ppb gold form a target over a 1.4 by 0.7 kilometre area.

The New River 2 gold target includes 10 anomalous soil samples assaying greater than 20 ppb gold and up to 460 ppb gold forms a target over a 1.2 by 0.6 kilometre area.

The Hawkins Love Property is characterized by an area with a complex glacial geological history with areas that have thin glacial till cover and other areas covered by thicker glacial till blankets and glacial-fluvial material. The soil anomalies show a consistent southeast directed glacial dispersion, where transport of gold-bearing soils from a source located up-ice from the northwest extent of the soil trend is likely, typically near the deformed northern margin of the Mascarene group in proximity to granitoids of the St. George Batholith (Exhibit C).

Qualified Person and Technical Reports

This news release has been reviewed and approved by David A. Copeland, P. Geo., Chief Geologist with Signal Gold Inc., a "Qualified Person", under National Instrument 43-101 - Standard for Disclosure for Mineral Projects. All quoted rock and soil samples and grades have been compiled from historic assessment reports obtained from the Government of New Brunswick as well as recently acquired data.

All rock float and grab samples and soil samples referred to in this release were analyzed for gold at ALS Global in North Vancouver, BC ("ALS"), using standard fire assay (30 g) pre-concentration or fire assay fusion with Atomic Absorption finish (method AU-AA23). ALS is a fully accredited firm within the meaning of NI 43-101 for provision of this service.

About Magna Terra

Magna Terra Minerals Inc. is a precious metals focused exploration company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Magna Terra owns two district-scale, resource stage gold exploration projects in the top-tier mining jurisdictions of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. Further, the Company maintains a significant exploration portfolio in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina which includes its precious metals discovery on its Luna Roja Project, as well as an extensive portfolio of district scale drill ready projects available for option or joint venture.

Forward Looking Statements

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian legislation. All statements in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations and orientations regarding the future including, without limitation, the ability of the Company to file a report that complies with Regulation 43-101. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable and reflect expectations of future developments and other factors which management believes to be reasonable and relevant, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, and the ability of the author of the Technical Reports to finalize same.

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 differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include the inability of the Company to execute its proposed business plans, and carry out planned future activities. Other factors may also adversely affect the future results or performance of the Company, including general economic, market or business conditions, future prices of gold, changes in the financial markets and in the demand for precious metals, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting the mineral exploration industry, and the Company's investment and operation in the mineral exploration sector, as well as the risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis and in other filings made by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly, are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements.

These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, unless required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in these forward-looking statements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Magna Terra Minerals Inc.

Lewis Lawrick

President and CEO, Director

647-478-5307

Email: info@magnaterraminerals.com

Website: www.magnaterraminerals.com

SOURCE: Magna Terra Minerals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708238/Magna-Terra-To-Commence-Follow-Up-Exploration-Program-on-New-Hawkins-Love-Gold-Targets-Southern-New-Brunswick
SAP Expert Highlights the Performance and Integrated Functionality of the Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform in SAP Environments

Pyramid Analytics (Pyramid) is identified as a leading Decision Intelligence platform provider in the SAP technology landscape. A new SAPinsider Technology Insight report, Creating Value Through Decision Intelligence in SAP Landscape, finds that Decision Intelligence has the capabilities to overcome challenges associated with using legacy business intelligence tools in an SAP environment. SAPinsider comprises the largest and fastest growing SAP membership group worldwide, with more than 500,000 members across 205 countries. The free report provides specific recommendations for SAP professionals.

Key Points:

Increasing business complexity requires more than business intelligence (BI) can deliver.

Decision Intelligence fills the voids that exist in legacy BI tools, putting the power of analytics into the hands of both business and technical users.

Organizations want solutions that can help them leverage the immense value of data in S/4HANA and other SAP data sources to make intelligence decisions.

Download Creating Value Through Decision Intelligence in SAP Landscape

Join us at SAPinsider 2022 in Las Vegas. Register with our discount code: PYRAMIDVIP.

Data integration is underlined in the SAPinsider report as a crucial aspect of the Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform. The Pyramid Platform serves as a point of integration: pulling data from various sources, allowing businesses to create a single source of truth within the enterprise. This seamless integration with other business-critical applications is an imperative in the SAP technology landscape.

Decision Intelligence is the Next Big Data Analytics Innovation

The next major innovation in analytics is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Applying AI across Data Prep, Business Analytics, and Data Science is what separates Decision Intelligence from traditional business intelligence tools such as Microsoft Power BI, Qlik, and Tableau. AI lowers the skills barrier by automating the highly technical work needed to prepare and analyze data and create and share reports and dashboards.

The Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform delivers data-driven insights for anyone to make faster, more intelligent decisions. The Pyramid Platform provides instant access to any data, enables automated governed self-service for any person, and serves any analytics need, from the simple to the sophisticated. By uniquely combining Data Prep, Business Analytics, and Data Science with AI guidance in a single environment, the Pyramid Platform reduces cost and complexity while accelerating growth and innovation. This enables a strategic, organization-wide approach to Business Intelligence and Analytics

Complete, Unified Decision Intelligence

Only the Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform unifies Data Preparation, Business Analytics, and Data Science on a single, integrated platform. This eliminates the need to use multiple disparate tools and the associated license cost and management complexity. Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), rapid rollout, quicker and direct access to all available data, and industry-leading user adoption means faster time to value. The Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform can be deployed on-premises, into a private or public cloud, embedded into other apps or delivered through Managed Services Providers (MSP).

Quotes

Dave Henry, Senior VP of Strategic Alliances, Pyramid Analytics: "Decision Intelligence really combines the best of traditional enterprise analytic platforms with a more modern approach. The goal is ultimately to help people use all relevant data to make better decisions, achieve faster outcomes, troubleshoot problems, and capitalize on opportunities to drive innovation.

"We see a desire for comprehensive analytics using data from multiple systems. We help with that while also improving everyday use of SAP. Through Pyramid, we can bring what we feel is a world-class experience to SAP while extending this experience to modern cloud data warehouses such as Redshift and Snowflake."

Kumar Singh, Research Director, SAPinsider: "What makes Pyramid's platform comprehensive and places it in the category of Decision Intelligence is that it covers the entire analytics pipeline and enables features like self-service data discovery and collaboration, allowing users of all skill levels to work independently and as teams. Platforms like Pyramid's help extract maximum value from SAP investments and can help act as a 'single source of truth' by tapping into disparate data sources and enhancing collaboration, building a data-driven culture.

"Analytics needs to be a powerful aid in decision-making to create a truly data-driven enterprise. For this to happen, it needs to be leveraged by users with all levels of expertise to make data-driven decisions in their day-to-day work."

About Pyramid Analytics

Pyramid is what's next in analytics. Our unified decision intelligence platform delivers insights for anyone to make faster, more intelligent decisions. The Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform provides direct access to any data, enables governed self-service for any person, and serves any analytics need in a no-code environment. The Pyramid Platform uniquely combines Data Prep, Business Analytics, and Data Science in a single environment with AI guidance, reducing cost and complexity while accelerating growth and innovation. The Pyramid Platform enables a strategic, organization-wide approach to Business Intelligence and Analytics, from the simple to the sophisticated. Schedule a demo.

Pyramid Analytics is incorporated in Amsterdam and has regional headquarters in global innovation and business centers, including London, New York City, and Tel-Aviv. Our team lives worldwide because geography should not be a barrier to talent and opportunity. Investors include H.I.G. Growth Partners, Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), Sequoia Capital, and Viola Growth. Learn more at Pyramid Analytics.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005285/en/

Contacts:

UK

Susie Evershed

Resonance

+44 7966 145092

pyramidanalytics@resonancecrowd.com

US

Heather Racicot

Resonance

+1 360-632-5616

pyramidanalytics@resonancecrowd.com

Chas Kielt

Vice President of Global Corporate Communications, Pyramid Analytics

617.687.3371

chas.kielt@pyramidanalytics.com
GUANGZHOU, China, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The 49th China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou) ("CIFF Guangzhou"), the world's first and largest furniture fair that represents the entire supply chain, will take place in two phases at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Pazhou, Guangzhou. The first phase will be dedicated to Home Furniture and take place between July 17-20; while the second phase will be held between July 26-29 and showcase furniture for offices, public and commercial spaces.

The 49th CIFF Guangzhou will take place on-site and online, bringing together nearly 4,000 domestic and international brands over 700,000sqm of exhibition space. With the theme "Building a beautiful home together, Building new service patterns", CIFF Guangzhou promotes collaboration and innovation with the goal to build a new development model that meets the needs and expectations of the entire furniture industry.

Original design is the focal point of this year's CIFF Guangzhou, as the expo strives to form a new high-quality development platform for the industry based on original design. Over 6 exhibition halls, an exciting line-up of exhibitors will display the latest in high-level design, upholstery, and customization options for living spaces and sleeping areas; alongside new materials, functions and processes that are shaping the future of the industry.

The 49th CIFF Guangzhou will open on July 17 with the 2022 Global Furniture Industry Trend Conference, which will encourage high-level dialogue around smart consumption trends and emerging sectors. Furthermore, during the expo, CIFF Guangzhou will support the expansion of cross-border e-commerce channels and lead the industry to achieve high-quality green development with eco-friendly exhibition arrangements, green exhibitors, and seminars on sustainability and environmental protection.

As China's economy makes the shift from high-speed growth to high-quality development, CIFF Guangzhou is an important platform to stimulate the domestic economy by growing local demand and building local sales channels. With its new theme, new focus, new opportunities, new direction, new ideas and new vitality, CIFF Guangzhou will lay out a new development model for the large-scale furniture industry and provide more networking opportunities for brands and dealers.

For more information, please visit: https://www.ciff-gz.com/en/

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John Wigboldus brings over 20 years of sales, sales leadership, and telecommunications sector growth expertise to Turnium

Vancouver, Canada--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Turnium Technology Group Inc. (TSXV: TTGI) ("Turnium" or "the Company"), the industry leader in cloud-native software-defined wide area networking solutions (SD-WAN), is pleased to announce the appointment of John Wigboldus as Chief Revenue Officer ("CRO"). As CRO, Mr. Wigboldus will oversee all sales, customer acquisition, and business development efforts while implementing the Company's "Go to Market" plan to ultimately grow Turnium's business.

"Over the past year, we've announced strategic partnerships with global technology leaders such as IBM, Red Hat, and Intel," said Johan Arnet, Founder and CEO of Turnium. "John's proven leadership in transforming SaaS-focused sales organizations is crucial to the next phase of our Company's growth and we're extremely pleased to have him join the team."

An entrepreneurial veteran of the technology industry, John has over 20 years of demonstrated success in driving sales strategies and establishing scalable growth revenue and sales organizations. Prior to joining Turnium, John was the Senior Vice President of Sales at Rise. Before Rise, John was SVP Global Sales at the software company CounterPath, where he reshaped the company's sales focus to a SaaS model. In the four years under his direction, CounterPath's revenues increased by 56% and SaaS revenues grew 900% by the time the company was acquired by Alianza in March of 2021.

Turnium Technology CEO Interview with Radius Research Available for Viewing

Shareholders and other interested parties who would like to learn more about how Turnium's platform allows telecoms, internet service providers, and other partners to build and manage the networks required to deliver digital services efficiently and securely to every site in their customers' networks can view the Company's recent interview with Martin Gagel of Radius Research here:





Turnium CEO Johan Arnet's interview with Radius Research

Cannot view this video? Visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U40xlvOKWi0

About Turnium Technology Group Inc.

Turnium Technology Group, Inc. delivers its SD-WAN solution as a white label, containerized, disaggregated software platform that channel partners host, manage, brand, and price and as a managed cloud-native service provided by Turnium. Both Turnium SD-WAN offers are available through a channel partner program designed for Communications Service Providers, Internet and Managed Service Providers, System Integrators, and Value-Added Resellers.

For more information, visit www.turnium.com , www.ttgi.io, or follow us on Twitter @turnium.

About SD-WAN

SD-WAN is revolutionizing the networking and telecommunications industry by abstracting secure, high-speed networking and network control from underlying physical circuits. SD-WAN frees enterprises, small-medium businesses, cloud and managed services providers from the business and cost constraints imposed by traditional telecommunications companies.

Turnium Contact:

Investor Relations: Bill Mitoulas

Email: investor.relations@ttgi.io

Telephone: +1 416-479-9547

Media inquiries: please email media@ttgi.io

Sales inquiries: please email sales@ttgi.io

www.ttgi.io , www.turnium.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130619
-Official Inauguration and Ribbon Cutting of New API Production Plant

-Plant is part of the company's CAD $30 million capital investment in the site

-New plant includes reactor suites, filtration, and drying capabilities

MUMBAI, India, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Piramal Pharma Limited's Pharma Solutions business, a leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), held a Grand Opening to celebrate the official inauguration of a new active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) plant at the company's site in Aurora, Ontario.

The event was attended by members of the PPS Aurora Site Leadership Team, the company's global Executive Leadership Team, and a number of Aurora dignitaries, including the Honorable Tom Mrakas, Mayor of Aurora; Aurora Town Councilors Sandra Humfryes and Rachel Gilliland; Lisa Hausz, Manager of Economic Development & Policy for Aurora, and Seanna Murray of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce.

The new plant, built as part of a CAD $30 million capital investment in the Aurora site, features more than ten thousand square feet of new manufacturing space and includes two new reactor suites with additional filtration and drying capabilities. It will support ongoing customer demand for Piramal Pharma Solutions' expertise in APIs and enhances and expands the company's ability to produce clinical to commercial scale APIs, including highly potent APIs requiring an Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL) of 1mcg/m3.

Peter DeYoung, Chief Executive Officer, Piramal Pharma Solutions said, "This new plant is just the latest in a series of expansions and capability upgrades at Aurora, with more to follow. I thank the local government for their support. In partnership with them, the team at Aurora has done commendable work in getting this facility engineered and online. It's evidence of our commitment to the global API market and the long-term growth of PPS as an organization. Our ultimate objective is to help customers get medicines to patients, and Aurora is an important part of that process. What's been accomplished to date in Aurora is indeed a source of pride for all of us, and we look forward to what's yet to come."

The Honorable Tom Mrakas, Mayor of Aurora, stated, "The opening of this plant is an exciting moment for the town of Aurora. It validates our strong partnership with Piramal and affirms that we are fully supportive of their efforts to expand their presence and their capabilities. I congratulate them on this outstanding achievement. Piramal is an example of an extraordinary corporate citizen, and I'm proud of what our two strong teams have achieved by working together."

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

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global small molecule API market size is expected to reach USD 282.50 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 5.44% during the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is driven by an increase in demand for pharmaceuticals globally and a high rate of new small molecule-based drug approval.

Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report:

In 2021, synthetic APIs held the largest market share attributable to the high demand for the production of pharmaceuticals that are required in high volume

The outsourced manufacturing segment held the largest market share owing to a dependency of small and mid-sized companies on outsourcing for commercial production

Oncology is projected to grow at the fastest rate in the application segment as the adoption of cancer treatments is rising, creating a strong demand for API

North America dominated the market in 2021 due to the presence of key players and rising support from the government for enhancing the API manufacturing capacity of the region

Read 200-page market research report for more Insights, "Small Molecule API Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Synthetic, Biotech), By Application (Oncology, Pulmonology, CNS, Endocrinology), By Manufacturer, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030", published by Grand View Research.

Small Molecule API Market Growth & Trends

The increasing number of new pharmaceuticals entering the market is creating a lucrative opportunity for key players. For instance, as per NCBI in 2021, 75% of the drugs accepted by the FDA were small molecules, with the dominant therapeutic area being oncology. Over 50% of these approvals were from small and mid-sized companies which require support from CDMOs for the commercialization of products that enhance the growth rate of CDMOs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made supply-chain shortcomings in the small-molecule API business apparent, as most of the production facilities are located in Asian nations such as India and China. This has increased the focus of players on creating an end-to-end integrated supply chain for the clients and increased the number of facilities in western countries with heightened support from the government for doing the same.

Merger and acquisition activities are frequently being undertaken by the players to meet the soaring demands globally. For instance, in April 2022, Novasep and PharmaZell announced a strategic merger for the creation of a leading technologically-driven CDMO for complex small molecules and specialty API production.

Expansion and diversification are becoming key strategies used by key players in the market to maintain their market share. For instance, in April 2021, Lonza announced its investment plan of USD 218.6 million for the construction of a manufacturing complex for small molecules in Switzerland. The facility is expected to ensure continuity and flexibility of supply for the products.

Emerging markets such as China, India, and Southeast Asia represent significant opportunities for growth. Furthermore, niche areas such as "halal API" further present growth opportunities owing to the rise in the demand for drugs in the segment, majorly in Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian nations. The synthetic small molecule API segment is largely driven by the presence of small companies and CDMOs that cater to the changing requirements of the industry.

Small Molecule API Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global small molecule API market based on type, manufacturer, application, and region:

Small Molecule API Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

Synthetic

Biotech

Small Molecule API Manufacturer Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

In-house

Outsourced

Small Molecule API Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

Cardiology

Oncology

CNS and Neurology

Orthopedic

Endocrinology

Pulmonology

Gastroenterology

Nephrology

Ophthalmology

Others

Small Molecule API Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



U.K.



France



Italy



Spain



Russia

Asia Pacific

China



India



Japan



South Korea



Australia

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico



Argentina

Middle East & Africa

& South Africa



Saudi Arabia



UAE

List of Key Players in the Small Molecule API Market

Merck & Co., Inc.

AbbVie, Inc.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Albemarle Corporation

Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH

Cipla, Inc.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Viatris Inc.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.

Aurobindo Pharma

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Market - The global active pharmaceutical ingredients market size is expected to reach USD 353.0 billion by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.0% during the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is driven by the growth of the biopharmaceutical sector, advancements in active pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) manufacturing, and an increase in the geriatric population.

The global active pharmaceutical ingredients market size is expected to reach by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.0% during the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is driven by the growth of the biopharmaceutical sector, advancements in active pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) manufacturing, and an increase in the geriatric population. High Potency Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Market - The global high potency active pharmaceutical ingredients market size is expected to reach USD 38.84 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2021 to 2028. The market is driven by an increased focus on targeted therapies and a surge in demand for cancer therapies.

- The global high potency active pharmaceutical ingredients market size is expected to reach by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2021 to 2028. The market is driven by an increased focus on targeted therapies and a surge in demand for cancer therapies. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients CDMO Market - The global active pharmaceutical ingredients CDMO market size is expected to reach USD 136.1 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2021 to 2028. Increasing pharmaceutical R&D investment, patent expirations, and rise in demand for generic drugs and biologic innovation are the factors driving the market.

Browse through Grand View Research's Pharmaceuticals 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: sales@grandviewresearch.com

Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Sandwich maker Subway can be sued for allegedly deceiving customers about its tuna products, a federal court has ruled. The company was accused of using other fish species and meat instead of the advertised 100% tuna in its products.



In response to the ruling, Subway, which has more than 37,000 restaurants, said it serves 100% real, wild-caught tuna, and that the claims are unsupportable as a matter of fact and law.



In a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California, plaintiff Nilima Amin accused Subway of cheating consumers, claiming that the sandwiches advertised as contains tuna did not have tuna at all. Amin's lawsuit reportedly relied on findings from a marine biologist who tested 20 tuna samples from Subways in southern California.



U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco now elected to allow the complaint to survive. The court dismissed Subway's argument that any presence of non-tuna DNA might result from eggs in mayonnaise, or cross-contact with other ingredients.



Reuters quoted Tigar as saying, 'Although it is possible that Subway's explanations are the correct ones, it is also possible that these allegations refer to ingredients that a reasonable consumer would not reasonably expect to find in a tuna product.'



According to the judge, Amin, who claimed to order Subway tuna products more than 100 times from 2013 to 2019, could try to prove that the salads, sandwiches and wraps wholly lack tuna.



An earlier complaint was dismissed by the Court on October 7, 2021. The plaintiff then filed another amended complaint which Subway moved to dismiss.



Following the initial lawsuit, the fast food restaurant franchise in January last year had called the allegations baseless, noting that it delivers 100% cooked tuna to its restaurants, which is mixed with mayonnaise and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps and salads.



In its webpage created to address the misinformation and misunderstandings generated in the media regarding tuna, Subway says it uses wild-caught skipjack tuna regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which has always been high-quality, premium and 100% real.







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Amazon Prime Day 2022 is here, and those with Amazon Prime memberships can now enjoy all the deals and discounts they can get their hands on in celebration of Amazon's foundation.

Here are some things you may want to know bout the event and some things you may have missed before the bid day arrived.

Amazon Prime Day Started in 2015

Amazon's About Us Page mentioned that the two-day celebration has been going on since July 15, 2015, during the 20th anniversary of the company's foundation. Back then, only people in the US, the UK, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and Austria were allowed to participate in the global shopping event.

Amazon Prime Day Was Only Celebrated In One Day Only

The celebration wasn't always a 48-hour long global shopping event. Back when it first started, the event was only celebrated on July 15, making it a one-day event.

34.4 Million Items Were Sold During the First Amazon Prime Day

The first Amazon Prime Day sold more than 34.4 million items across the first Prime-eligible countries, with 398 items ordered per second.

This huge amount meant that Amazon overtook the number of items sold during the 2014 Black Friday Sale.

A Kitchen Appliance Was Once The Most Sold Item During Amazon Prime Day

CNBC mentioned that a kitchen appliance, more specifically, the Instant Pot 7-in-1 programmable pressure cooker was among the most popular sales items in the US during the first Amazon prime Day.

In fact, Instant Pot sold 24,000 pressure cooker units in the US only during the global shopping event.

Amazon Prime Membership Was Only $99 Per Year In 2015

An Amazon Prime membership would cost you $139 thanks to various add-ons that became permanent as time went on. However, back in 2015, an Amazon Prime membership would only cost you $99 per year, making Amazon richer by around $40 million in 2015.

Amazon Prime Day Became A Two-Day Event On 2019

Amazon eventually decided to make Amazon Prime Day into a two-day global shopping event in 2019 possibly due to public demand. After all, one day isn't normally enough to get all your online shopping done during a sale.

Read More: Amazon Prime Day 2022 Deals: Ring Cameras, Bundles That You Can Get on Discount Right Now

Additionally, by this time, Amazon added Spain, The Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourh, India, China, Belgium, Australis and the United Arab Emirates to the list of Prime-eligible countries, making those pople living in these countries able to participate in the global shopping event.

Students Can Also Get An Amazon prime Subscription

$139 sounds too expensive for a higher education student, so in the spirit of accessibility, Amazon is offering them a chance to get an Amazon Prime membership at only $69 per year, per its Amazon Prime Day 2022 announcement.

Small And Medium-Sized Businesses Hugely Benefitted On Amazon prime Day 2021

NBC News reported that third-party sellers have hugely benefited from Amazon Prime Day in 2021, as they nearly all of them are small and medium-sized businesses.

It also helped that the COVID-19-induced lockdowns are still in effect during this time, forcing consumers to shop online for their wants and needs.

You Can Get The Echo Frames At 60% Off During Amazon prime Day 2022

Echo Frames were among the first products that became available to Amazon Prime members at a discounted price before Amazon Prime Day 2022. In fact, Prime members can enjoy a 60% discount for a pair of Echo Frames under three available styles as soon as July 9.

Discounted Smart Home Security Cameras And Doorbells Are Available During Amazon Prime Day 2022

Another product you may have missed before Amazon Prime Day 2022 are Blink Smart Home Sacurity Cameras and Doorbells, which provide you safety and security from without and within your own home.

If you're looking to save on money, you might want to consider buying a Blink video Doorbell + 1 Outdoor camera systtem with Sync Module 2.

The combination can give you "full home coverage with features like two-year battery life, two-way audio, 1080p HD day and infrared night video, custom alerts, privacy settings, and more," according to its Amazon listing.

Related Article: Amazon Prime Day PlayStation Discounts: PS4, PS5 Games Hit Lowest Prices! Up to 70% Off?
Alternatives to OpenDNS for MSPs, how to choose a competitive solution

CESENA, Italy, July 12, 2022, a company in DNS-based web content filtering solutions, announces the launch of an offer dedicated to the MSPs that are looking for an alternative to Cisco OpenDNS.

Cisco's termination of the OpenDNS program for MSPs and the inclusion of the offer in the Cisco Secure MSPs Centre within the Cisco Umbrella DNS-Essentials/DNS-Advantage program, starting from August 2022, will require MSPs to revise their partnership agreements, and consequently subscribe to the new proposed conditions and accept a total redesign of the supply flow of the service.

FlashStart is launching an offer dedicated to IT partners and MSPs.

All the MSPs and channel partners who are migrating from the Cisco OpenDNS program and who will subscribe to any of the FlashStart plans will not pay anything until 30 September 2022, hence enjoying two more months of free services.

"This is the right time for MSPs and for all the partners who supply a web content protection and filtering platform to choose another quality alternative already recognized all over the world." - stated Francesco Collini, CEO of FlashStart.

The DNS filter by FlashStart is powered by an artificial intelligence and is distributed through a global Anycast network with numerous nodes in five continents, and is stable and fast, as shown on DNSperformance (dnsperf.com). The cloud-based FlashStart filter is designed to protect web navigation from offensive content and all cyberattacks.

Compatible with every device, the FlashStart filter is based on 85 categories of blacklists and can be integrated with MS Active Directory and Google Workspace. Provided with multi-tenant functions, the FlashStart filter is especially recommended for MSPs, carriers and channel partners who, thanks to an easily configurable dashboard, can quickly set up personalized filtering policies also on single groups within the company.

With a global presence that can count on important references in various companies and educational institutions in South America, in the USA, and in Italy, FlashStart is characterised by quality support with direct chat support in several languages.

Free trialavailable.

Linkedin

Facebook

FlashStart

The FlashStart brand was born in 2012. Today, FlashStart distributes to MSPs, carriers and channel partners its cloud-based DNS filter protecting the navigation around the world and filtering in 146 countries every day.

PRESS CONTACTS:

Laura Bartolini - press@flashstart.com

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Global restaurant brand signs franchise agreement with Manila-based Bistro Americano Corp. to bring the Fogo experience to Asia for the first time

DALLAS, July 12, 2022, the internationally-renowned restaurant from Brazil that allows guests to make discoveries at every turn, today announced its plans to enter Asia for the first time with the signing of a franchise development agreement that will bring Fogo's award-winning dining experience to the Philippines. In partnership with Bistro Americano Corp., a division of the leading Manila-based multi-brand restaurant operator The Bistro Group, the deal will bring five Fogo de Chao locations to the country over the next six years. The agreement reflects the next step in Fogo's growth plans as the Company accelerates expansion in domestic and international markets. The Bistro Group joins Fogo's existing international franchise partners in Mexico and the Middle East.



With 66 locations worldwide and growing, Fogo earlier in 2022 announced a 15 percent planned annual growth rate through company-owned restaurants, with an additional international capital light franchise development strategy. With the goal to bring the culinary art of churrasco to guests worldwide, the Company has announced 8-10 company-owned and 1-2 international franchise restaurant openings for 2022, supported by a strong pipeline of new restaurant development to meet demand in new and existing markets. Fogo's newest openings include restaurants in Rio Barra, Brazil, El Segundo, Calif., Coral Gables, Fla. and Monterrey, Mexico, with planned openings in Elmhurst, N.Y., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Paramus, N.J. and others expected later this year.

"We are honored to partner with Bill and his accomplished team at The Bistro Group, who have successfully developed premium brands throughout the Philippines for the past 25 years," said Barry McGowan, Chief Executive Officer of Fogo de Chao. "Our entrance into Asia marks a monumental step in our brand's strategic growth plan. At Fogo, we celebrate culinary discoveries and are proud to introduce guests to the art of churrasco at each of our restaurants around the world."

For over 25 years, the experienced team at The Bistro Group has built a track record of excellence introducing and operating iconic restaurant brands within the Philippines. As the leading premium dining retailer in the region, the Company currently operates 111 restaurants across a 21-brand portfolio, which includes international names like Texas Roadhouse, TGI Fridays, Italianni's and Buffalo Wild Wings.

"We are continually looking for opportunities to bring distinctive and innovative hospitality brands to our guests within the Philippines, and we see incredible potential in Fogo de Chao," said Bill Stelton, Chairman and CEO of The Bistro Group. "For over 40 years Fogo has set the standard in upscale, experiential dining by bringing authentic flavors of churrasco globally, and for that reason, we're proud to represent Fogo as it makes its Asia debut."

Founded in Southern Brazil in 1979, Fogo de Chao is a nearly 45-year-old brand known for its dining experience of discovery and showcasing the culinary art of churrasco where guests can watch as gaucho chefs butcher, hand-carve and grill high-quality cuts of protein over an open flame. With a modern, timeless design and signature offerings including a fresh and seasonal Market Table and an award-winning Bar Fogo menu featuring hand-crafted cocktails and South American wines, Fogo has become a destination of choice by both brand advocates and new guests globally.

For more information about Fogo de Chao, visit fogo.com . To learn more about global franchising opportunities, visit fogo.com/global-development/ .

About Fogo de Chao

Fogo de Chao (fogo-dee-shown) is an internationally renowned restaurant that allows guests to discover what's next at every turn. Founded in Southern Brazil in 1979, Fogo elevates the centuries-old cooking technique of churrasco - the art of roasting high-quality cuts of meat over an open flame - into a cultural dining experience of discovery. In addition to its Market Table and Feijoada Bar - which includes seasonal salads and soup, fresh vegetables, imported charcuterie and more - guests are served simply-seasoned meats that are butchered, fire-roasted and carved tableside by gaucho chefs. Guests can also indulge in dry-aged or premium Wagyu cuts, seafood a la carte, All-Day Happy Hour including signature cocktails, and an award-winning South American wine list, as well as smaller, sharable plates in Bar Fogo. Fogo offers differentiated menus for all dayparts including lunch, dinner, weekend brunch and group dining, plus full-service catering and contactless takeout and delivery options. For locations and more information about Fogo de Chao, visit fogo.com.

About The Bistro Group

Founded in 1994, The Bistro Group is one of the Philippines' most progressive restaurant chains that popularized the casual dining concept with the entry of TGI Fridays in the country over 25 years ago. Its success led to the launch of other reputable, world-class brands such as Italianni's, Denny's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Texas Roadhouse and Hard Rock Cafe among others as well as Asian concepts like Watami, Modern Shanghai, Bulgogi Brothers and Fish & Co. In May this year, The Bistro Group introduced LA's iconic Randy's Donuts which was received enthusiastically by the local market. The company also owns and operates Bistronomia, a collection of boutique Spanish/Mediterranean restaurants, Las Flores, Rambla, Tomatito, BCN by Las Flores and Rumba. TBG Elite by The Bistro Group's award-winning chef, Josh Boutwood, is also a part of the company. Its upscale, chef-driven restaurants (Helm, The Test Kitchen, Savage and Ember) highlight quality ingredients, seasonality and unique cooking methods.

Media Contact:

FogoPR@icrinc.com

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BUFORD, GA / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Masterbeat Corporation (OTC PINK:MSTO), a company specializing in hard, tangible asset acquisitions with an intense focus on real estate, collectible classic automobiles, and other tangible assets, is pleased to announce it has completed the sale of 183 Rolling Dunes, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida beach property for $4.25 Million ($4,250,000). The land acquisition and construction costs for this property were $1.85 Million ($1,850,000) which realizes a $2.4 Million ($2,400,000) gross profit.

In February of 2021, SBQ announced the acquisition and purchase of a parcel of land (183 Rolling Dunes) in a high-end area located in the sunny beach town of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. The Rolling Dunes lot was purchased for $400,000, with an estimated construction cost of $1,450,000, for an "all in" cost of $1,850,000. At the time, comparable properties in the immediate area were selling for between $2.5 Million and $3.2 Million and generating an annual rental revenue of approximately $300,000 per year.

In July, 2021, SBQ announced that SBQ had broken ground and was going to be starting construction on the 183 Rolling Dunes asset. In August, 2021, they announced the lot was cleared and construction had started. In October of 2021, the 183 Rolling Dunes property was listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) with an asking price of $4.25 Million.

In December 2021, SBQ received an all-cash offer and agreed to sell the property for the asking price of $4.25 Million. The funds are in escrow until the completion of the build which is still expected to be completed in April 2022. The 183 Rolling Dunes property will realize a gross profit of $2.4 Million ($2,400,000) and, after the Realtor Commission of 4 % ($170k), a net profit of $2.23 Million ($2,230,000).

SBQ's 183 Rolling Dunes, Santa Rosa property is the first of multiple custom 5,000 sq. ft. vacation style homes that SBQ will be constructing in the Florida Panhandle. SBQ recently announced the acquisition of three additional properties in the area that will be constructed throughout 2022. SBQ will be implementing an aggressive land acquisition strategy throughout the year.

SBQ's vacation style homes are custom 5,000 sq. ft. vacation style homes that feature 8 to 9 bedrooms, 8 to 9 bathrooms, 3 to 4 stories with ocean views, rooftop decks, short walks to the beach, elevators, 16-person hot tubs, fire pits, professional putting greens and can sleep up to 32 people per home.

Rented Inc., recently listed the Florida Panhandle as the best location for investors to purchase vacation rental homes. Florida's northwest Gulf Coast ranked #1 on the new "100 Best Places to Buy Vacation Rentals." The report was compiled by Rented Research and Weiss Analytics ranking destinations by the cost of ownership, short-term revenue potential, acquisition cost, annual appreciation, and projected changes in asset value. The new 2020 report determined that Florida's Panhandle offers the best returns on vacation home investments over "Every Other Market" in the United States and has an index score of 98.7 out of 100. The Florida Panhandle has emerged as the clear winner as the top vacation-home investment area in the United States. See more at www.inman.com/2020/07/20/florida-is-the-no-1-state-to-purchase-a-vacation-rental/

About MasterBeat Corp.

MasterBeat Corporation (OTC:MSTO), incorporated under the laws of Delaware, is a publicly traded company specializing in hard, tangible asset acquisitions with an intense focus on real estate, precious metals, and other tangible assets. The company believes its progressive approach to an old school model, especially in this market based on fragile earnings multiples and uncertainty, to acquire hard, tangible assets will not only offer long term capital appreciation but also deliver revenues, profits, and self-sustainability.

www.masterbeatcorp.com

info@masterbeatcorp.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 that are based upon current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events. Although we believe that the expectations and assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. Some of these uncertainties include, without limitation, the company's ability to perform under existing contracts or to procure future contracts. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties, including without limitation, successful implementation of our business strategy and competition, any of which may cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the statements. We undertake no obligation and do not intend to update, revise or otherwise publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of any unanticipated events. Although we believe that our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will materialize. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements.

Contact:

Josh Tannariello

561-570-7050

josh@masterbeatcorp.com

SOURCE: MasterBeat Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708274/MasterBeat-Corporations-SBQ-Holdings-LLC-Completes-Sale-of-its-Rolling-Dunes-Florida-Vacation-Rental-Property-for-425-Million
RENO, NV / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Talage, a provider of digital distribution software solutions for commercial insurance, today announced the launch of SolePro on the Talage platform. The new offering brings workers' compensation quotes for sole proprietors and owner-only entities to the expansive Talage network of agents.

According to the 2018 census, close to 15 million people were self-employed. Post pandemic, and the 'great resignation,' millions more have left the traditional workforce, exponentially increasing the need for these plans.

The Talage platform now supports the Solo X plan for sole proprietors and owner-only entities, commonly known as a "Ghost" or "Paper" policy that provides proof of coverage when contractually required. The combination of policies includes an Accident Policy giving the owner limited 24/7 on and off-the-job coverage. The Solo I plan is a standard monoline workers' compensation policy that targets owners who choose, or are contractually required to be included on their workers' compensation policy. Solo I is a very sought-after policy for local trucking entities who are required to be included by their vendors.

"We are pleased to continue to use our technology to offer unique and one-of-a-kind opportunities to the market," said Adam Kiefer, co-founder, and CEO of Talage. "Launching SolePro on our platform will afford agents an opportunity to expand their business with these ghost policies and expand their business to a segment of the workforce that has been historically difficult to service. We look forward to a fruitful partnership."

Talage is the digital connection for commercial insurance that automates traditionally manual processes, such as applications or renewals. The solution provides the ability to quickly and easily equip agencies, wholesale brokers, and other carrier partners with the digital tools to support automation and growth in the small business segment.

"We have always been champions for the sole proprietors and entrepreneurs looking to protect themselves and their contractors. Prior to SolePro, one of the only solutions for this type of policy was the Assigned Risk Plan, which came with mid-term audits and long wait times" said Steve Love, president of SolePro. "Partnering with Talage is a huge win for us that will significantly expand our reach and simplify the quoting and approval processes for these much-needed policies."

Over the past 12 months, demand has prompted Talage to add the ability to quote additional lines of coverage such as professional liability and cyber insurance and deliver industry-first tools to simplify renewals, book rolls, and cross-sell opportunities. With access to more than 30 API-enabled products for insurance that dramatically reduce quote times, Talage has turned what was an arduous, weeks-long process for agents, into an instant turnaround. Agents and brokers can now quickly generate quotes for customers while automating that process with digital tools and extending their reach and book of business.

About SolePro

SolePro is an online insurance broker offering easy and efficient solutions for agents looking to provide businesses with fast, affordable insurance. Our team is made up of underwriters, account managers, and problem solvers. Our insurance professionals have been working in the insurance industry for over 100 years combined, and specialize in online workers' compensation programs.

About Talage

Talage is the digital connection that powers digital distribution for commercial P&C insurance via the Talage API platform. With over 30 carrier integrations Talage delivers instant, bindable quotes across five product lines. Today the platform is leveraged by agents, wholesalers, carriers, and technology providers.

Contact:

EscalatePR for Talage

talage@escalatepr.com

SOURCE: Talage

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708215/Talage-and-SolePro-Join-Forces-to-Provide-Expansive-Agent-Network-with-Instant-Quotes-for-Sole-Proprietor-Workers-Compensation-Plans
Glacial Gold is one of the top selling brands of CBD vapes and oils in the British Columbia market

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Nextleaf Solutions Ltd. (CSE: OILS) (OTCQB: OILFF) (FSE: L0MA) ("Nextleaf" or the "Company"), a federally regulated manufacturer and distributor of cannabis extracts including vapes and oils, is pleased to announce the launch of its new CBD 3:1 vape under the award-winning prohibition-era brand, Glacial Gold.

The Company's technology stack enables the transformation of industrial hemp biomass into CBD distillate purified to be free of wax, chlorophyll, and residual pesticides.

Glacial Gold CBD 3:1 Vape is launching as a 1-gram format in the Company's signature Berry Lemonade flavour, reminiscent of fresh-picked berries from the Fraser Valley. The new CBD 3:1 Vape will build off the success of the Glacial Gold Session THC Vape and Anytime 1:1 Vape by offering an additional tier of potency at the accessible price point and quality the legacy brand is known for.

The Company expects the Glacial Gold CBD 3:1 Vape to be available first in the British Columbia market this summer, and nationally through medical cannabis distribution partners. The British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch ("BCLDB") is responsible for the wholesale distribution of cannabis to private retailers in British Columbia and is the public retailer of cannabis throughout the province under the brand 'BC Cannabis Stores'.





Figure 1

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

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"We are excited to build on the legacy of the Glacial Gold brand with our new vape product that fills a gap for consumers looking for a CBD vape that doesn't crystalize and clog like many of the vapes on the market," said Nextleaf Co-Founder and CEO Paul Pedersen. "With Nextleaf's multi-patented extraction and distillation technology, we are able to control the quality and price of cannabinoid ingredients and position the Glacial Gold brand as a price-point value leader in all distillate focused product categories."

Glacial Gold CBD products are manufactured using Canadian hemp flower processed at Nextleaf Labs in Greater Vancouver, B.C. Additionally, all Glacial Gold products are developed through the Company's extensive sensory evaluation program as covered in Forbes.

Nextleaf sets monthly record for kilos sold to licensed manufacturing partners

During the month of June 2022, Nextleaf sold more than 100 kilograms of high-purity distilled THC and CBD ingredients to long-term and new partners. The Company onboarded five new partners during the month. Cannabis distillate produced by Nextleaf's ingredient processing technology will power more than 15 brands throughout the Canadian market this summer.

As producers throughout the industry right-size and look for additional efficiencies in their business, many are choosing to outsource their extraction and distillate supply.

About Nextleaf Solutions Ltd.

Nextleaf is a federally regulated manufacturer and distributor of cannabis vapes and oils under its award-winning prohibition-era brand, Glacial Gold. The Company's multi-patented ingredient processing technology transforms cannabis and hemp biomass into high-purity distillate at an industrial scale. Nextleaf is a low-cost producer of cannabis oils, and supplier of THC and CBD ingredients to qualified wholesale partners across Canada. Nextleaf is the first publicly traded company to be issued a U.S. patent for the industrial extraction and purification of cannabinoids. The Company has been issued 18 U.S. patents, and over 95 patents globally, on cannabinoid processing including distillation and acetylation. Nextleaf develops cannabinoid-based formulations and delivery technology through its Health Canada Research Licence with sensory evaluation of cannabis via human testing. For more information visit www.nextleafsolutions.com and www.Glacial.Gold

Nextleaf trades as OILS on the Canadian Securities Exchange, OILFF on the OTCQB Market in the United States, and L0MA on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Follow the Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

Follow Glacial Gold: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Jason McBride, Corporate Development

604-283-2301 (ext. 219)

jason@nextleafsolutions.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,

Paul Pedersen, CEO

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's anticipated delivery of its products to provincial markets across Canada and those regarding the Company's strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will", "may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict", "project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to the risk factors discussed in the Company's MD&A for the most recent fiscal period. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed or approved the contents of this press release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130630
ADELAIDE, Australia, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Essex based company LapSafe self-service solutions LTD, are taking the Australian market by storm! In 2019, Education Sales Manager took his most recent trip to Australia to showcase LapSafe at the EduTECH International Congress & Expo, in June 2019. This allowed LapSafe to meet with current and new customers leading to an expansion in Australia.

LapSafe provide lockers and trolleys to make device loaning simple. Students having access to devices on campus became popular in the UK education sector and is on the rise in the Australian market.

Since their last visit to Australia in 2019 approximately 780 bays have been added. The first site in Australia was TAFE SA, they now own 504 bays across 12 installs being the largest self- service offering site in Australia.

The most recent site that is set to be installed in 2022 is TAFE NSW, entering with an exciting 216 bays with plans to further expand in the future. With this site in mind, LapSafe currently have installed in ten sites across Australia offering their Diplomat Self-Service lockers.

The purpose of the smart lockers is to introduce technology to students without worry of needing to own or transport devices. The lockers are designed to make device loans easy to manage, allowing users to borrow devices at any time without the need for staff to oversee the loaning due to the simplicity.

In recent years, 70% of UK universities have chosen to automate their manual loan service and of these 94% have installed LapSafe solution. When asked whether automating their laptop loan system had improved their service, 97% of universities said yes!

The smart lockers operate with a smart charging system, meaning the best-charged device is always deployed first, allowing users access to a fully charged device whenever they need, allowing them to work from anywhere.

Since 2019, many customers expanded their installations highlighting the satisfaction universities are getting from the self-service solution. With the support available in Australia, LapSafe are excited to expand current sites and enter new sites in the future, and hopefully exhibit at more conferences!

For more information on the LapSafe range visit www.lapsafe.com

You can contact our Education Sales Manager with any questions: Jamie.Crathern@lapsafe.com

Note to editors:

Based in Colchester, England , LapSafe Self-Service Solutions Ltd is the market leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of storage and charging solutions for devices in volume. LapSafe designed and manufactured the UK's first-ever laptop storage and charging trolley in 2003 and has almost twenty years of experience in providing safe, secure and technologically advanced mobile ICT storage and charging solutions to the education and commercial sectors.

, LapSafe Self-Service Solutions Ltd is the market leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of storage and charging solutions for devices in volume. LapSafe designed and manufactured the UK's first-ever laptop storage and charging trolley in 2003 and has almost twenty years of experience in providing safe, secure and technologically advanced mobile ICT storage and charging solutions to the education and commercial sectors. Charging and storage cabinets from LapSafe can safely charge multiple mobile ICT devices and provide complete mobile IT solutions to organisations requiring automated data transfer and wireless access. The charging trolleys protect against theft and allow equipment to be transported throughout a building, office or school.

A range of intelligent and sophisticated charging lockers that allow users to borrow a device without staff interaction

For more information, please contact marketing@lapsafe.com

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SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nanotech Energy, the world's leading manufacturer of graphene and the only producer of non-flammable, graphene-based batteries on the market, is expanding its operations to Storey County, Nevada, east of Reno, with a new 517-acre, multiple building manufacturing facility in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center. The high-volume facility will significantly increase Nanotech Energy's manufacturing capacity to produce and scale its patented, non-flammable Graphene batteries. The first of 2 buildings planned will produce 2.5 Gwh of batteries with the plan to continue expansion to has high as 15Gwh over he next several years. Nanotech's new factory will also produce other graphene-powered products, including EMI (electromagnetic interference) shielding, transparent conducting electrodes, conductive inks, conductive adhesives and silver nanowires. View a short video about Nanotech Energy here.

Nanotech Energy has already broken ground on the campus, which will include multiple buildings and a combined footprint in excess of one million square feet, in support of the company's exponential U.S. and international expansion. The new campus is anticipated to bring more than 1000 jobs to the region over the next five years, including a significant number of engineering and research positions. The first building is slated to open in Q4 2022 and they are currently taking battery pre-orders. They will begin limited production in 2023 with full production starting in 2024.

"Nanotech Energy's proprietary, graphene-based, nanotechnology overcomes the safety, limited storage capacity and recharge speed challenges of traditional lithium-ion batteries, and our new Northern Nevada facility will manufacture energy storage that will help power the world," said Nanotech Energy Chairman, CEO and co-founder, Dr. Jack Kavanaugh. "Nanotech Energy is the first and only producer to break the 50% content barrier by reaching 98% monolayer graphene, the wonder material that powers our products. We've already developed groundbreaking energy storage using technology that has the high capacity of a battery and the power performance of supercapacitors in a single solution."

Nanotech Energy recently announced $64 million Series D funding at a $550 million post-Series D valuation. The Series D funding led by Taiwan's largest financial services company, Fubon Financial Holding Co, and brought the total amount of funding raised to date by Nanotech Energy to $94.9 million.

"The expansion of Nanotech Energy to Northern Nevada is a potential game-changer that aligns closely with our energy and economic development initiatives, bringing a significant number of high paying, engineering jobs to our community," said Mike Kazmierski, President and CEO of EDAWN (The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada). "The future of generations to come depends on technological advances that harness renewable energy and implementation in products that have the potential to impact and benefit countless aspects of our lives. Nanotech Energy is leading this charge and I couldn't be more excited to welcome them to Nevada. A special thanks to the Governor's Office of Economic Development for supporting this project."

About Nanotech Energy

Nanotech Energy is on a mission to bring transformative, graphene-based, energy storage products from the research lab to the mass market. Our very high surface area, single layer graphene material is already being used in multiple applications, including non-flammable batteries, transparent conducting electrodes, conductive inks, printed electronics, conductive epoxy, antistatic coatings and EMI (electromagnetic interference) shielding.

Founded in 2014 by Dr. Jack Kavanaugh and noted UCLA scientists Dr. Richard Kaner and Dr. Maher El-Kady, Nanotech Energy is headquartered in Florida and is a privately held company backed by Multiverse Investment Fund, Fubon Financial Group and other strategic investors. Learn more at https://nanotechenergy.com.

All trademarks contained herein are the respective property of their owners.

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FREMONT, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackery, a leader in innovative, best-in-class portable power and green outdoor energy solutions, is planning a raft of special offers for Amazon Prime Day, running from July 12-13.

The company, known for its cutting-edge consumer-based solar technology, has prepared special deals for Amazon customers in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United States, and Canada, among others. For those who are about to enjoy their summer times with a plan of camping in the backyard or the wild, Jackery is ready to keep everything in a camping field or outdoor forest adventures powered up.

With Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Pro, Jackery's most advanced green energy product yet, campers can pack up and go whenever, wherever, and for however long. The product can receive a full charge of up to 2,160 Wh in just 2.5 hours of sunlight. It is a suitable solution for powering most appliances and tools used during outdoor activities and home emergencies. The Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Pro features a built-in advanced Battery Management System (BMS) with dual-monitoring chips to regulate and protect battery life and devices.

Another popular Jackery product is the Explorer 1000, one of the most powerful portable power stations available on the market. Weighing only 22lbs, its 1002Wh capacity is capable of supplying 1000W of power (or 2000W surge power) using multiple output ports. The model features two USB-C, two USB, one DC car port, and three pure sine wave AC outlets. The Explorer 1000 also employs an LCD screen with charge and discharge data as well as battery life information, making the experience easier and safer for users.

?About Jackery

Founded in California in 2012, Jackery is a top-selling global outdoor solar generator brand that emboldens campers to go further outdoors without compromise. As the pioneer of the Solar Generator concept and products, Jackery offers a range of portable, versatile green generators that meet all outdoor needs, from charging a cellphone or laptop to powering large devices like electric cooking equipment, heaters, and lights. Its products have been consistently selected as Best Sellers on Amazon and have been included in Amazon's Choice lists since 2020. To date, Jackery has received 19 prestigious international awards, and since 2018, Jackery has sold more than 1.5 million units worldwide and boasts a global footprint spanning from the US to Europe.

Contact: marketing@jackery.com
BOSTON and THE WOODLANDS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Benchmark, Pyramid Luxury & Lifestyle, the independent luxury and lifestyle hotel services of Pyramid Global Hospitality, has named Rick Kinert general manager of Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa in Lake Arrowhead, California. One of Southern California's premier luxury resorts, Lake Arrowhead offers 173 rooms including 11 suites, wellness center, restaurant bar and private lake beach.

"It is a pleasure to welcome Rick to the Benchmark family and to this magnificent resort," said Stephen Cullen, vice president of operations, Benchmark, Pyramid Luxury & Lifestyle. "Rick comes to us with strong leadership and operational experience gained at first rate properties and major luxury brands over the past couple of decades. Rick is the ideal professional to lead Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa into a promising future."

Rick Kinert, general manager, Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa

Rick brings 35 years of senior leadership experience to his new post. Previously he was regional vice president of resort operations for Diamond Resorts of Las Vegas, Nevada where he oversaw the west region's 11 resorts. He earlier served as general manager of Cibola Vista Resort and Spa in Peoria, Arizona and as resident club manager for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Rick is a strong believer in affording his team ample creativity and empowerment to satisfy every guest's expectation. He prides himself on building strong teams based on a culture of accountability, empathy and ownership while creating memorable vacation experiences for resort guests and their families.

About Benchmark, Pyramid Luxury & Lifestyle

Benchmark, Pyramid Luxury & Lifestyle, a division of Pyramid Global Hospitality, features the finest in lodging, dining, recreational and meeting accommodations. Featuring unique and distinctive properties renown for exceptional service and for creating unforgettable memory-making experiences, it is the signature division of Pyramid Global Hospitality, a leading U.S.-based hospitality management company. Many of Benchmark's properties are certified by IACC, the association that represents the finest meeting venues and services globally, and many have also been recognized with the coveted Benchmark Conference Centers certification of meeting excellence. Learn more at www.benchmarkglobalhospitality.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Media Contacts:

Andrew Doucette / Jenna Bush

Mower

adoucette@mower.com/ jbush@mower.com

978-987-9493 / 212-284-9936

SOURCE: Benchmark, Pyramid Luxury & Lifestyle

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708216/Benchmarks-Lake-Arrowhead-Resort-and-Spa-Appoints-New-General-Manager
FREMONT, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The premium market intelligence study by BIS Research titled Global Laparoscopy and Endoscopy Devices Market projects the market to reach $38.94 billion in terms of revenue by 2031, at a CAGR of 4.94%.

Surgical system and tool improvement has resulted in important breakthroughs and disruptive phases in the healthcare environment around the world, increasing the demand for minimally invasive surgeries.

The use of laparoscopy and endoscopy devices in these minimally invasive surgeries helps broaden the applications for laparoscopic and endoscopic surgeries.

In the global healthcare ecosystem, laparoscopy and endoscopy are used for therapeutic as well as diagnostics. These minimally invasive surgeries are preferred over open surgeries as they prefer better visualization and better control with more precision, reducing human error.

The widespread application is distributed in laparoscopy, endoscopy, and capsule endoscopy. These are further divided into sub-segment for elaborated categorization.

The detailed study - 'Global Laparoscopy and Endoscopy Devices Market - Analysis and Forecast, 2022-2031' - is a compilation of 17 market data tables and 233 figures spread through 282 pages and an in-depth TOC.

Demand - Drivers and Limitations

Following are the demand drivers for the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market:

Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases

Benefits of minimally invasive surgeries over invasive open surgeries

Growing geriatric population

Rapidly increasing healthcare costs

Technological advancements in minimally invasive surgeries

The market is expected to face some limitations too due to the following challenges:

Lack of skilled professionals

Lack of reimbursement frameworks in the emerging markets

Reasons to Buy this Report

This exclusive report on the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market will help in the following ways:

Aid in the development of advanced laparoscopy and endoscopy devices

Help in understanding the regulatory scenario of the market in different regions

Aid in understanding the patent trend of the market

Aid in targeting end users for increasing the adoption of minimally invasive surgeries

Support in analyzing the market opportunities

Help to understand the competitive positioning of the key companies in the market

Analyst's Take on the Market:

According to Abdul Wahid, Principal Consultant, BIS Research, "The global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market is expected to witness significant growth in emerging economies due to factors such as increasing demand for minimally invasive surgeries due to the rise in geriatric population and chronic disorders, as well as the growing technology integration across countries such as Japan, South Korea, India, and Brazil."

View the report on Global Laparoscopy and Endoscopy Devices Market

Key Companies Operating in the Market and Competitive Landscape

In the past few years, the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market has witnessed several strategic and technological developments undertaken by the different market players to attain their respective market shares in this emerging domain.

Some strategies covered in this segment are funding activities, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), partnerships, alliances, business expansions, regulatory and legal activities, and new offerings. The preferred strategy for companies has been new offerings of products followed by partnerships, alliances, and business expansions.

Some key players operating in the market include Ambu A/S, Arthrex Inc., B.Braun Melsungen AG, Boston Scientific Corporation, CONMED Corporation, Cook Medical LLC, FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, HOYA Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG, Laborie, Olympus Corporation, Richard Wolf GmbH, Smith & Nephew plc, Stryker Corporation, CapsoVision Inc., and Medtronic plc.

Who should buy this report?

Companies that manufacture and commercialize smart irrigation controllers

Companies that produce machinery for agricultural uses

Agri-input suppliers

Raw material suppliers

Research institutions

Regulatory bodies

Request a Sample of this Report

Key Questions Answered in the Report:

What are the key regions in the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market? Which regional market held the largest share in the market in 2021? Which region is projected to be the fastest-growing region during the forecast period 2022-2031?

What are the key technological trends influencing the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market? What is their potential for impacting the market during the forecast period 2022-2031?

What is the growth opportunity for the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market in the short-term and long-term?

What is the patent landscape of the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market like? Which companies have the highest number of patents filed between 2018 and 2021?

What are the key regulations that impact the growth of the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market?

What was the impact of COVID-19 on the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market?

What are the key drivers, restraints, and opportunities for the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market? What will be their impact on the market in short-, mid-, and long-term duration?

What are the key therapeutic areas wherein endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures are performed? Which therapeutic area is projected to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period 2022-2031?

Who are the major end users for the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market? Which end user held the largest share in the market in 2021?

Who are the key players in the global laparoscopy and endoscopy devices market? What was their market share in the global market in 2021?

BIS Research Related Market Studies:

Global Minimally Invasive Surgical Systems Market

About BIS Research:

BIS Research is a global B2B market intelligence and advisory firm focusing on deep technology and related emerging trends which can disrupt the market dynamics in the near future. We publish more than 200 market intelligence studies annually that focus on several deep technology verticals.

Our strategic market analysis emphasizes on market estimations, technology analysis, emerging high-growth applications, deeply segmented granular country-level market data, and other important market parameters useful in the strategic decision-making for senior management.

BIS Research offers syndicate as well as custom studies and expert consultations to firms, providing them specific and actionable insights on novel technology markets, business models, and competitive landscape.

BIS Healthcare vertical offers intelligence in the healthcare technology market for medical devices, digital health, life sciences, robotics and imaging, information technology, precision medicine, and other emerging healthcare technologies, covering the entire industry spectrum.

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Ukrainian president, Dutch PM discuss financial, military aid for Kiev

Xinhua) 08:54, July 12, 2022

KIEV, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday met with visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to discuss financial and military support for Kiev, the presidential press service reported.

At the talks, Zelensky thanked Rutte for the Netherlands' allocation of 200 million euros (about 201.5 million U.S. dollars) of additional financial support for Ukraine, which will help ensure the financing of payments for Ukrainian teachers, doctors and pensioners.

The Ukrainian leader also appreciated the Netherlands for the pledge to provide heavy weapons for Kiev.

"In terms of the amount of defense support provided, the Netherlands is among the top ten partners of our country," Zelensky said.

For his part, Rutte said the Netherlands will continue to support Ukraine politically, and strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Besides, the Dutch Prime Minister pledged that his country will supply more military aid for Ukraine, including modern weapons and equipment.

Zelensky and Rutte also touched upon the situation on the frontline in Ukraine, sanctions against Russia and Ukraine's post-conflict reconstruction.

Rutte arrived in Kiev earlier in the day for his first visit since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Scenes from "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" / Courtesy of ENA





By Yoon Ja-young







The success of the drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" has pulled up the stock price of its production company, AStory. The stock price has risen more than 70 percent since the premiere of the drama.







The legal drama centering on Woo Young-woo, a genius lawyer who is on the autism spectrum, is gaining huge popularity, topping Netflix's most-watched show list not only in Korea, but also in Taiwan and Vietnam. It ranked in the top two in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, and top three in Japan and Malaysia as of Monday, according to FlixPatrol.







AStory traded at 17,200 won when the drama premiered on June 29. But it continued its steep rise with the drama gaining viewership through word-of-mouth recommendations. The stock closed at 30,500 won on Tuesday, down 2.71 percent from the previous day and pausing six consecutive trading days' rise. But it has already risen over 70 percent since the premiere date of the drama.







"Amid fierce competition to get subscribers, over-the-top (OTT) service providers are investing to secure differentiated content. This means increasing demand on Korean drama content, an opportunity to level up their value," said Lee Sang-heon, an analyst at Hi Investment & Securities.







"Based on this success, AStory plans to pursue a 'one-source, multi-use' strategy, which would turn its growth potential to real growth," he said, pointing to the production company's plan to adapt the drama into a webtoon.







A poster of "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" / Courtesy of ENA

The astonishing jump in the bourse contrasts with last October, when viewers' disappointment with "Jirisan," another drama produced by AStory, led to a stock market plunge. The drama that premiered amid high expectations thanks to star actor Jun Ji-hyun, soon faced mounting criticism from viewers regarding computer graphics and excessive product placement, and its stock price plummeted 34.7 percent for the seven trading days following its release. The failure of the much-anticipated drama coupled with a global stock market plunge that followed pulled AStory shares further down to the bottom. It traded at 16,050 won on June 24, a 68.09 percent drop from its peak, before "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" came to rescue.







DS Investment Securities expects AStory to see sales surge 88 percent to 110.6 billion won this year, while operating profit would jump 135 percent to 16.3 billion won.







The success of "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" is expected to have a positive impact on KT, as its subsidiary KT Studio Genie is also involved in the production.







"As KT's content business got on the right track, it will be reevaluated in the near future," said Lee Seung-woong, an analyst at eBest Investment & Securities, noting the success of "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" as well as "Never Give Up," another drama made by KT Studio Genie.


The Yara International ASA second quarter 2022 results will be published on Tuesday 19July 2022at08:00 CEST.

An on-line presentation will be held at 12:00 CEST, hosted by Yara President and CEO Svein Tore Holsether. The presentation will be held in English.



The report, presentation and webcast will be available at the above mentioned times at:

yara.com/investor-relations/latest-quarterly-report/



There will also be a conference call at 13:00 CEST the same day with an opportunity to ask questions to Yara's management. Please use the Dial-in numbers listed below and Conference code 7679525:

Norway: +47 23 50 05 05

UK: +44 (0)330 165 4012

USA: +1 323-701-0160



A full list of international dial-in numbers is provided on Yara's webpage (under Investor Relations - Financial Calendar). Please join the event 5-10 minutes prior to scheduled start time. When prompted, provide the Conference code listed above.

A replay of the conference call will be available from 19 July 16:00 CEST to 26 July 16:00 CEST. Please use the dial-in numbers listed below and Conference code 7679525 to access the replay:

Norway: +47 23 50 00 77

UK: +44 (0)207 660 0134

USA: +1 719-457-0820



Yours faithfully

for Yara International ASA



Silje Ingeberg Nygaard

Head of Investor Relations





About Yara



Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Supporting our vision of a world without hunger and a planet respected, we pursue a strategy of sustainable value growth, promoting climate-friendly crop nutrition and zero-emission energy solutions. Yara's ambition is focused on growing a nature positive food future that creates value for our customers, shareholders and society at large and delivers a more sustainable food value chain.

To achieve our ambition, we have taken the lead in developing digital farming tools for precision farming and work closely with partners throughout the food value chain to improve the efficiency and sustainability of food production. Through our focus on clean ammonia production, we aim to enable the hydrogen economy, driving a green transition of shipping, fertilizer production and other energy intensive industries.

Founded in 1905 to solve the emerging famine in Europe, Yara has established a unique position as the industry's only global crop nutrition company. We operate an integrated business model with around 17,000 employees and operations in over 60 countries, with a proven track record of strong returns. In 2021, Yara reported revenues of USD 16.6 billion.



www.yara.com

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.




COLUMBUS, Ga., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RC Cola International, its clients, and guests from around the world will get together for one of the biggest beverage expos in the industry, Drinktec 2022, this September 12 to 16 in Munich, Germany. Drinktec is the world's leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry. RC Cola International and its team will be present at the trade show, introducing new and exciting products and portfolio additions.

With world economies opening up, an overdue show and tell of exciting new innovations in the industry are awaited by Drinktec's audience. With that, RC Cola International is thrilled to get together with bottlers and partners to showcase all that has been happening over the last couple of years. From improvements in business continuity during the pandemic to exciting and tasty new portfolio additions and introductions, as well as the newly launched marketing campaign for the company's flagship brand, RC Cola.

"We are excited to see the world opening up again, as being able to meet our partners and colleagues from around the world in person is such an important part of our business", said Francis J Lamprea, Managing Director at RC Cola International. "This Drinktec, we are looking forward to sharing our most recent developments and innovations with our visitors, and we are inviting them into the wonderful world of RC Cola, a world that has been ever-evolving and reinventing itself, since 1905."

In correlation with the digital nature of business interactions during the pandemic, the RC Cola team has also launched a unique digital portal for its partners around the world. The portal assures the continuity of business for bottlers, answering different marketing, sales, technology, and training needs, online.

RC Cola welcomes members of the industry to visit the team at their Drinktec booth 455 in Hall A5 and learn more about the new products and updates. You may request a meeting with one of our Business Managers by emailing WeWelcomeBottlers@rcgbi.com

For more information please visit www.rccolainternational.com

Press Contact:

Anton Panajon

avpanajon@rcgbi.com

Senior Marketing Director

RC Cola International

Related Images











Image 1: Meet us at Drinktec









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Attachment


HELSINKI (dpa-AFX) - As the United States' first step towards giving its approval to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bid, President Joe Biden sent to the Senate the protocols for the accession of the two Baltic countries to the defense alliance.



'I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to its ratification, the Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on the Accession of the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden,' Biden said in a message to the Senate on Monday.



Finland and Sweden 'more than meet the qualifications' required to become NATO members, according to the U.S. President.



They will be net contributors to the Alliance in both capabilities and resources and they share critically important values with the United States, Biden said. Finland's and Sweden's accession will help further United States priorities within NATO, he added.



Biden urged the Senate to continue working with his Administration in advancing a strong and free Europe by providing its prompt advice and consent to ratification of the Protocols.



Also, the Department of State transmitted an overview of the Protocols for the information of the Senate.



The North Atlantic Council's approval of the applications for NATO membership requires ratification by the parliaments of all the countries of the 30-member bloc. The Senate is expected to ratify the protocols for the accession.



NATO leaders had taken a historic decision to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of the Alliance at their summit in Madrid last month. The Protocols were signed on behalf of the United States and other Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty on July 5 in Brussels.



Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which outlines NATO's Open Door policy, is part of the doctrinal foundation of the Alliance.



The defense alliance currently has 30 members. A potential expansion of the defense bloc with the addition of these two countries is seen as a big political challenge by Russian President Vladimir Putin as his war to conquer Ukraine grinds ahead.







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Strategic senior hire is the latest in Cresa's efforts to deepen industry expertise and expand services

BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / The Boston office of Cresa, the world's largest tenant-only commercial real estate firm, is pleased to announce that RJ Panzo has joined their team as Senior Vice President of Life Sciences. This addition is the latest development in Cresa's multiyear strategy to strengthen their life sciences practice and underscore their commitment to serving the scientific community.

With a background as a scientist and lab operator, Panzo will bring critical end-user perspective to support Cresa's life sciences clients. Panzo will collaborate with Cresa's real estate advisors, consultants, and strategists to provide industry-specific insights and creative solutions to our clients and partners across Greater Boston.

"To have RJ join Cresa is a game changer for our team," said Adam Subber, Managing Principal at Cresa Boston. "Life sciences organizations have so much to consider in the market, and RJ's experience and perspective will be a strong asset for our clients moving forward. This industry has dominated the market for the last few years, and there's still so much opportunity for our clients."

"Cresa has a seasoned team and is on a great trajectory," said Panzo. "I'm thrilled to be joining this group, and I'm looking forward to the chance to collaborate with the team and grow the life sciences practice together."

With the addition of Panzo, Cresa's life sciences team is comprised of a unique combination of advisors, lab and workplace strategists, project managers, and data consultants to provide a deeply integrated and holistic look at real estate strategies and opportunities. As the Greater Boston market continues to shift and evolve, this type of multidisciplinary insight will be critical in informing sound business decisions.

Panzo joins Cresa from T3 Advisors, A Savills Company. As Corporate Managing Director of Lab and Facility Planning with T3, he developed and executed lab operations and real estate strategies for life sciences companies at all stages of growth. Before T3, Panzo worked in research, project management, and operations roles at a number of prominent life sciences and biotech organizations in Greater Boston.

About Cresa

Cresa is the world's only global commercial real estate advisory firm that exclusively represents occupiers and specializes in the delivery of fully integrated real estate solutions. Our purpose is to think beyond space, strengthening those we serve and enhancing the quality of life for our clients. Delivered across every industry, Cresa's services include Transaction Management, Workplace Solutions, Project Management, Consulting, Lease Administration, Technology, Investment Banking & Capital Markets and Portfolio Solutions. In partnership with London-based Knight Frank, Cresa provides service through 16,000 people, across 380 offices in 51 territories. For more information, please visit cresa.com.

Media Contact

Susan Shelby, FSMPS, CPSM

Rhino PR for Cresa Boston

cresaboston@rhinopr.com

978.985.4541

SOURCE: Cresa Boston

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708142/Cresa-Boston-Welcomes-RJ-Panzo-of-T3-Strengthening-Life-Sciences-Practice


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden has unveiled the first full-color image from NASA's Webb Space Telescope, which captured the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe ever produced.



Known as Webb's First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 was made public during a White House event Monday.



The image was previewed to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, during a briefing at the White House by officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The NASA top officials discussed how these revolutionary images will enable breakthroughs in nearly every branch of astronomy.



Biden and Harris were briefed by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Assistant to the President Dr. Alondra Nelson, who leads the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Head of NASA Science Thomas Zurbuchen, James Webb Space Telescope Program Director Greg Robinson, Operations Project Scientist Jane Rigby, and Space Telescope Science Institute Deputy Director Nancy Levenson.



'These images are going to remind the world that America can do big things, and remind the American people - especially our children - that there's nothing beyond our capacity,' Biden said in remarks during the event.



Webb's First Deep Field is not only the first full-color image from the James Webb Space Telescope, it's the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe, so far. This image covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length. It's just a tiny sliver of the vast universe.



'Webb is just the start of what we can accomplish in the future when we work together for the benefit of humanity,' said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.



Webb's First Deep Field is filled with galaxies, some more than 13 billion years old, which means they formed just after the Big Bang. Over the coming days, NASA will publish additional images, which reveal details about the atmosphere of an exoplanet outside the solar system, 'stellar nurseries' where stars form, galaxies that interact and trigger star formation and black holes, and a glimpse into how stars die.



A preview of the full set of Webb's first images will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday in a live broadcast on NASA Television.



The Webb Space Telescope is an international program led by NASA in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Its revolutionary technology will study every phase of cosmic history over the past 13.5 billion years - from inside the solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. The telescope is capable of exploring a wide range of questions that help understand the origins of the universe and earth's place within it.



One of humanity's great engineering feats, the Webb Space Telescope launched from French Guiana in December 2021 and is now orbiting the Sun one million miles away from Earth.







Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



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The virtual healthcare platform and Ukrainian humanitarian non-profit will focus on urgent care needs, prescription renewals, and ordering lab tests for thousands of refugees in the U.S.

Digital healthcare company K Health and 501(c)3 registered nonprofit organization Nova Ukraine announced today its partnership to offer free virtual doctor visits to Ukrainians who have resettled in the U.S. K Health-affiliated clinicians will be able to remotely treat hundreds of Urgent Care conditions, renew certain prescriptions, and order lab tests for refugees.

An estimated 75,000 Ukrainians have already arrived in the U.S. as a result of the war with Russia, with an additional 100,000 expected over the next two years. Once in the U.S., it can take up to six months to be approved for parole and receive a work permit, and health insurance options can be expensive, restrictive, or difficult to get. Recent refugees are also required to be screened for tuberculosis (TB) within two weeks of arrival, but are struggling to secure the test. With K Health, eligible Ukrainian refugees will have access to remote doctors on the platform for free, regardless of insurance status. They will be able to sign up for an account at khealth.com/ukraine.

"We're in constant contact with thousands of refugees all over the U.S. and many of their questions have been around how to access healthcare," said Julia Berzoy of the ??Refugee Assistance Team at Nova Ukraine, which is dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainian people all over the world. "With more refugees now being welcomed into the U.S., we're so grateful to K Health for working with us to prioritize access to health services and ensure people get the care that they need."

Access to quality, affordable healthcare in the U.S. is notoriously difficult. A lack of options leads many people to seek unnecessarily expensive solutions, like the ER and Urgent Care, to resolve basic health issues. K Health's free data-driven app and web platform provides millions with personalized information about their symptoms based on billions of anonymous clinical data insights. It also offers text-based chats with clinicians to treat a range of conditions-from UTIs to hypertension to stomach bugs. Clinicians are able to remotely prescribe medication and order lab tests.

"With an office in Kyiv and many employees displaced because of this war, we want to do everything in our power to support our team and the millions of innocent people whose lives have been uprooted," said Allon Bloch, CEO and co-founder of K Health and Hydrogen Health. "Healthcare in America isn't seamless for anyone and with Nova Ukraine as our partner, we hope we make the next few months a bit more bearable for those new to our country."

About K Health

K Health, headquartered in New York, is the data-driven digital primary care platform on a mission to use the power of shared medical knowledge to get everyone access to better, affordable healthcare-whenever, wherever they need it. Named to the 2022 FastCompany World's Most Innovative Companies list and the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, K Health is a free app and web platform that uses AI to help people understand how those with similar symptoms and conditions (aka "People Like Me") were diagnosed and treated. Its platform consolidates the knowledge of thousands of doctors and billions of clinical data insights to get people trusted information and treatment fast. K Health also offers, through affiliated professional entities, the option to chat with a clinician without insurance for less than a copay. K Health treats hundreds of urgent and primary care conditions, as well as anxiety and depression, and offers remote custom treatment plans and prescriptions.

K Health has helped over six million people get access to higher quality and affordable care. K Health is available to employers and insurers through Hydrogen Health, an enterprise solution and joint venture between Anthem, Blackstone Growth, and K Health. It is available in all U.S. states, except Alaska and Hawaii. For more information, please visit www.khealth.com or download the app.

About Nova Ukraine

Nova Ukraine is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and strengthening the country's democratic society. Founded in 2014, Nova Ukraine has redoubled its efforts in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We work with our partners in Ukraine and around the world to help refugees and provide humanitarian efforts to those impacted by the war.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005506/en/

Contacts:

Alexandra Emerson

Media Contact, Moxie Group PR

khealth@moxiegrouppr.com



Amanda Kule

Director of Communications, K Health

amanda@khealth.com



Julia Berzoy

Refugee Assistance Team, Nova Ukraine

julia.berzoy@novaukraine.org
NOIDA, India, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new report published by UnivDatos Markets Insights theVenous Stents Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% during the forecast period 2021-2027. The analysis has been segmented into Technology (Iliac Vein Stent Technology and Wallstent Technology); Application (Leg, Chest, Abdomen, Others); Diseases (Chronic Deep Vein Thrombosis, Post Thrombotic Syndrome, Others); Region/Country.

Click here to view the Report Description & TOC

The venous stents market report has been aggregated by collecting informative data on various dynamics such as market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. This innovative report makes use of several analyses to get a closer outlook on the venous stents market. The venous stents market report offers a detailed analysis of the latest industry developments and trending factors in the market that are influencing the market growth. Furthermore, this statistical market research repository examines and estimates the venous stents market at the global and regional levels.

Request for Sample Pages

Market Overview

Vascular disorders are more prevalent in developed countries as compared to economically weaker countries mostly because of the lifestyle differences between the two communities. The rise of venous diseases like post-thrombotic syndrome, chronic deep vein thrombosis, May-Thurner syndrome, Hemodialysis/arteriovenous fistulae, nutcracker syndrome, etc. play a huge role in the growth of the venous stents market. According to the center for disease control and prevention, 60,000-100,000 individuals in the United States die from deep vein thrombosis every year. Venous stents can help cure these diseases. The prevalence of vascular diseases is constantly rising boosting the market growth. Major constraints in the market include the lack of awareness of venous stents and the high cost of stenting

COVID-19 Impact

Before the pandemic, vascular disease treatments could be elective, urgent, and emergent in nature. Elective Procedures performed routinely also included venous stenting. Urgent and emergent cases combined with nonelective arterial disease comprise approximately 30%-50% of vascular surgery practices. The timelines and efficacy of care were disrupted due to the pandemic. Physicians were in the dilemma of bringing patients to the hospital due to the potential Covid-19 exposure. Also, hospital resources should more appropriately be utilized for covid-related-admissions. Even the outpatient vascular services and office-based laboratories were severely affected mostly for elective venous treatments. In a global survey by ng et al., vascular surgeons reported an 86.9% downscale or suspension of services due to the pandemic.

The global venous stents market report is studied thoroughly with several aspects that would help stakeholders in making their decisions more curated.

Based on technology, the venous stents market is bifurcated into Illiac Vein Stent Technology and Wallstent Technology. The Wallstent segment held a significant share in the market in 2020.. Wallstents have been the most common stent type available since a very long time. More than 50% of the patients get Wallstent in the United States .

. Based on application, the venous stents market is fragmented into legs, chest, abdomen, and others. In 2020, the legs segment accounted for a majority share in the market. Key factors that made the leg segment the frontrunner is the increasing prevalence of deep vein thrombosis. An estimated 900,000 people could be affected by DVT in the United States every year. Additionally, about 33% of the people with cured DVT had a recurrence within 10 years.

every year. Additionally, about 33% of the people with cured DVT had a recurrence within 10 years. Based on disease, the venous stents market is fragmented into chronic deep vein thrombosis, post thrombotic syndrome, and others. The chronic deep vein segment to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. The key factor increasing the occurrence of chronic deep vein thrombosis is the increasing geriatric population. Age plays a major factor in this disease as the elderly are more likely to have DVT the aging population is the reason for the growth in the segment.

Have a Look at the Chapters

Venous Stents Market Geographical Segmentation Includes:

North America ( United States , Canada , and Rest of North America )

( , , and Rest of ) Europe ( Germany , France , Italy , Spain , United Kingdom , and Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , and Rest of ) Asia-Pacific ( China , Japan , India , Australia , and Rest of APAC)

( , , , , and Rest of APAC) Rest of the World

For a better understanding of the market adoption of the venous stents Market, the market is analyzed based on its worldwide penetration in the countries such as North America (United States, Canada, and Rest of North America), Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, and Rest of APAC), and Rest of World. North America constitutes a major market for the venous stents industry in 2020 owing to the increase in the aging population in North America and the availability of Medicare reimbursement facilities in the region which is increasing the market growth.

The major players targeting the market include

Boston Scientific Corporation

Medtronic Plc

Becton, Dickinson and Company

Medica Germany GMBH & Co. KG

Cook Medical

W. L. Gore & Associates Inc.

Cordis

Jotec GmBH

Abbott Laboratories

Optimed Medizinische Instrumente GmBH

Competitive Landscape

The degree of competition among prominent global companies has been elaborated by analyzing several leading key players operating worldwide. The specialist team of research analysts sheds light on various traits such as global market competition, market share, most recent industry advancements, innovative product launches, partnerships, mergers, or acquisitions by leading companies in the venous stents market. The major players have been analyzed by using research methodologies for getting insight views on global competition.

Key questions resolved through this analytical market research report include:

What are the latest trends, new patterns, and technological advancements in the venous stents market?

Which factors are influencing the venous stents market over the forecast period?

What are the global challenges, threats, and risks in the venous stents market?

Which factors are propelling and restraining the venous stents market?

What are the demanding global regions of the venous stents market?

What will be the global market size in the upcoming years?

What are the crucial market acquisition strategies and policies applied by global companies?

We understand the requirement of different businesses, regions, and countries, we offer customized reports as per your requirements of business nature and geography. Please let us know If you have any custom needs.

About UnivDatos Market Insights (UMI)

Browse Other Related Research Reports from UnivDatos Market Insights

Aortic Valve Market

Cardiac Monitoring Market

Mobile Cardiac Telemetry Devices Market

Heart Pump Device Market

Urethral Stricture Treatment Devices Market

About UnivDatos Market Insights

UnivDatos Market Insights (UMI) is a passionate market research firm and a subsidiary of Universal Data Solutions. We believe in delivering insights through Market Intelligence Reports, Customized Business Research, and Primary Research. Our research studies are spread across topics across the world, we cover markets in over 100 countries using smart research techniques and agile methodologies. We offer in-depth studies, detailed analysis, and customized reports that help shape winning business strategies for our clients.

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UnivDatos Market Insights

Ankita Gupta

Director Operations

Ph: +91-7838604911

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Website: https://univdatos.com/

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Longi has revealed plans to enter the inverter business through a partnership with Shenzhen Energy, while Solarspace has announced plans to open a 16 GW cell factory in Anhui province.Longi and Shenzhen Energy have set up a joint venture to open an inverter factory in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province. The two companies will invest CNY 5.3 billion ($791 million) in the new facility, which will have a capacity of 10 GW and could also potentially host 10 GW of solar module production. Solarspace has signed a deal with the government of Chuzhou, Anhui province, for a 16 GW solar cell manufacturing facility. ...

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.
CAPITAL GEARING TRUST P.L.C.

LEI: 213800T2PJTPVF1UGW53

Date:12 July 2022

Result of Annual General Meeting

The Company announces that, at the Annual General Meeting held on 12 July 2022, all 16 resolutions proposed were duly passed.

The full text of the resolutions can be found in the Notice of Annual General Meeting set out in the Annual Report and Accounts for the period ended 31 March 2022, copies of which have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism which is located at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

Details of proxy votes lodged before the meeting will be available shortly on the Company's website http://www.capitalgearingtrust.com/

In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.2, copies of the special resolutions passed at the Annual General Meeting will shortly be available for inspection at the National Storage Mechanism which is located at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

All enquiries to:

Juniper Partners Limited, Company Secretary

Email: company.secretary@capitalgearingtrust.com


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Biden Administration has announced plans to establish new U.S. Embassies in the tiny Pacific island nations of Kiribati and Tonga.



This will be part of a series of commitments that Vice President Kamala Harris is set to announce while virtually participating in the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting Tuesday to strengthen U.S. partnership with the Pacific Islands.



The United States will commence discussions with Kiribati and Tonga about Washington's interest in establishing U.S. embassies in those countries, the White House said. This will be subject to congressional notification.



The United States is on track to reopen its embassy in Solomon Islands, another Pacific nation.



Tuesday, Harris will announce that the United States is prepared to request from the Congress $60 million per year for the next ten years in connection with a new Economic Assistance Agreement with the Forum Fisheries Agency.



The Biden Administration will appoint the First-Ever U.S. Envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum, and publish the first-ever U.S. strategy on the Pacific Islands.



U.S. Peace Corps volunteers will soon return to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu, and will work with the region to explore program expansion to additional Pacific Island countries.



Harris will announce that USAID is taking steps to re-establish a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Regional Mission for the Pacific in Suva, Fiji.







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By Yi Whan-woo







Shinhan Financial Group carried out efforts and activities related to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles worth 2.13 trillion won ($1.53 billion) last year, the banking group announced, Tuesday.







The figure is up from 780 billion won in 2019 when the country's second-largest banking group began to quantify its annual ESG performance.







The number of ESG-related programs also increased from 93 to 244 between 2019 and 2021.







The quantification is made possible using the Shinhan ESG Value Index co-developed by the banking group and Yonsei University's Center for Global ESG and Business Ethics.







"Creating value for customers, community and society, plus measuring and analyzing such value in a thorough manner will be a key barometer for ESG management," Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung said in a press release.







He called Shinhan Financial Group "a leading company in ESG management" and vowed to make "all-out efforts to spread ESG values and pursue sustainable growth."







Of the 244 programs in 2021, 125 were linked to issues on environmental protection, innovation and joint prosperity that, collectively, were worth 1.7 trillion won.







Another 34 programs were aimed at protecting consumers against voice phishing and other financial scams, as well as nurturing public education on finance and social diversity. They were worth 172.8 billion won.







Shinhan Financial Group joined the Value Balancing Alliance (VBA) in 2021 to develop more sophisticated measurements of business management in partnership with other VBA member firms, including BASF and Novartis.







Established in 2019, VBA is a nonprofit organization consisting of more than 25 companies worldwide under a shared goal of sustainability.


WINNIPEG, MB / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / FP NEWSPAPERS INC. (TSXV:FP) ("FPI") announced today that its President and CEO, Bob Silver, is stepping down from the role effective July 25, 2022 but will continue as chairman of the Board of Directors of FPI.

FPI also announced that its Publisher, Bob Cox, will be stepping down from the role effective July 25, 2022 and will continue in an advisory capacity until early 2023 to assist in the transition.

"We thank Bob for his contributions to FPI over the past 17 years," said Bob Silver, President and CEO. "Bob has helped move our strategy forward including most recently, navigating through the business impacts of a global pandemic. We wish him well in his future endeavors."

"It has been a great pleasure to work with the dynamic and innovative teams at FPI over the past 16 years," said Bob Cox. "I continue to have great confidence in the passionate people of FPI and their ability to face tough industry challenges, transform the business and continue to champion the important role of quality journalism in our country. I want to thank Bob Silver for his tremendous support and leadership and the entire executive team, who I consider to be not just colleagues, but friends."

"We are thrilled to welcome Mike Power" said Bob Silver, "who will be taking on the role of President and CEO effective July 25, 2022. With a 20 year career, spanning various consumer and technology-focused industries, FPI will benefit from Mike's strategic financial and leadership insights.

For further information please contact:

Ryan Kolaski, CFO

FP NEWSPAPERS INC.

Phone 204-771-1897

SOURCE: FP Newspapers Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708294/FP-Newspapers-Inc-Announces-Changes-to-Officers
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Sharechest Inc. is pleased to welcome SPIRIT Blockchain Inc. to our network of growing companies. With the installation of the Sharechest Connector, SPIRIT Blockchain Inc. is streamlining their corporate growth by simplifying communications between management and investors. SPIRIT Blockchain Inc. provides simple, safe and diversified investment into blockchain and digital assets focusing on their 4 core pillars: Treasury Management, Streams and Royalties, Research and Advisory, and Staking and Mining. Interested investors can find out more information on the company's website: www.spiritblockchain.com

About Sharechest Inc.



Sharechest Inc. provides an innovative web application solution that streamlines the discovery process for companies seeking investors. The Sharechest Connector seamlessly integrates onto your companies existing website and acts as a magnet for investors who are interested in learning more about your company or investing in your company. Customized to meet your company's brand, the Sharechest Connector widget provides a secure and simplified lead generation form for interested investors to actively engage and take action as they navigate through your website.

For further information about Sharechest Inc. and becoming one of our success stories, please visit www.sharechest.io

About SPIRIT Blockchain Inc.

SPIRIT Blockchain Inc. is a Canadian Swiss company operating specifically in the Blockchain and Digital Asset sectors with the primary goal of creating value in a growing environment through recurring income, cash flow and capital appreciation.

For more information about SPIRIT Blockchain Inc. , please visit their website at www.spiritblockchain.com or contact: Matthew Whitcomb, Chief Corporate Development Officer, matthew@spiritblockchain.com

Steve Kim, Media Relations, steve@sharechest.io

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130556
Blackline Safety Corp. (TSX: BLN), a global leader in connected safety technology, today announced it has been shortlisted in the 2022 SaaS Awards in three categories-Best SaaS Product for Health Safety or Risk Management, Best SaaS Innovation in the Internet of Things, and Best SaaS Product for Business Intelligence or Analytics.

Now in its seventh year of celebrating software innovation, the New York-based international program looks at hundreds of companies worldwide from North America, Australia, UK, Europe and the Middle East, which were evaluated by an international panel of judges.

"SaaS technologies are now part of successful business DNA and continue to evolve," said James Williams, Head of Operations for the SaaS Awards.

"This year we've seen a raft of truly remarkable software solutions. The shortlisted candidates announced today, however, have proven to be truly innovative thinkers in the SaaS industry, whether they're freshly-funded disruptors or established names."

Blackline Safety's SaaS-enabled, cloud-based wearables for personal and area gas monitoring put reliable data at managers' fingertips so they can gain a better understanding of safety situations facing employees in real-time. The technology features GPS-enabled safety sensors that leverage the Internet of Things (IoT), providing valuable data analytics and connecting workers to live 24-7 command centre monitoring.

"To be awarded this recognition in the SaaS Awards, the SaaS industry's de facto recognition platform, is an immense honor," said Cody Slater, CEO and Chair, Blackline Safety.

"Our innovative technology is transforming the future of work in the modern industrial workplace-over 1,000 companies in 70 countries across 12 sectors rely on us to power their data-drive safety program."

SaaS Awards finalists will be announced on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022, with the category winners announced on Tuesday, September 13th, 2022.

About Blackline Safety

Blackline Safety is a technology leader driving innovation in the industrial workforce through IoT (Internet of Things). With connected safety devices and predictive analytics, Blackline enables companies to drive towards zero safety incidents and improved operational performance. Blackline provides wearable devices, personal and area gas monitoring, cloud-connected software and data analytics to meet demanding safety challenges and enhance overall productivity for organizations with coverage in more than 100 countries. Armed with cellular and satellite connectivity, Blackline provides a lifeline to tens of thousands of people, having reported over 180 billion data-points and initiated over five million emergency responses. For more information, visit BlacklineSafety.com and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005934/en/

Contacts:

MEDIA CONTACT

Blackline Safety

Christine Gillies, CMO

cgillies@blacklinesafety.com

+1 403-629-9434
INFICON Holding AG / Key word(s): Conference

INFICON to Publish its Second Quarter and Half-Year 2022 Results on Thursday, July 28, 2022



12.07.2022 / 18:00





Corporate Contact

Matthias Trondle

Chief Financial Officer

+423 388 3510

matthias.troendle@inficon.com





Bad Ragaz/Switzerland, July 12, 2021

INFICON will issue on July 28, 2022 a press release at 07:00 a.m. CEST on the second quarter and first-half year 2022 results. At the same time, the accompanying presentation and the full half-year report will also be available for download in the Investors' section of the INFICON website, www.inficon.com.

INFICON will host a Web Conference via Microsoft Teams on Thursday, July 28, 2021 at 03.00 p.m. / 15.00 CEST to discuss its second quarter and half-year 2022 results in more detail. The presentations and the following question and answer session will be in English. You may join the presentation using the following links

http://bit.ly/IFCN_WebConference

https://ir.inficon.com/conference-calls-or-webcasts/

Please make sure that you have access to Microsoft Teams. During the Web Conference, participants will first be in a listen-only mode. After the prepared remarks, Management will take questions via the voice or chat functionalities provided. The Web Conference will be recorded and later archived in the investors' section of the INFICON website.

Communication Calendar

The communication calendar of INFICON is continuously updated and available online in the Investors' section of the INFICON website, https://ir.inficon.com/financial-calendar/

E-Mail Alerts

To automatically receive notification via e-mail of the latest financial information from INFICON, sign-up for news in the Investors section of the INFICON website at https://ir.inficon.com/contact-and-information-request/

07:00 a.m. / 07.00 CEST: Publication of Media Release, Half-Year Report, and Presentation



03.00 p.m. / 15.00 CEST: Web Conference via Microsoft Teams

About INFICON

INFICON is a leading provider of innovative instrumentation, critical sensor technologies, and Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4.0 software solutions that enhance productivity and quality of tools, processes and complete factories. These analysis, measurement and control products are essential for gas leak detection in air conditioning/refrigeration, and automotive manufacturing. They are vital to equipment manufacturers and end-users in the complex fabrication of semiconductors and thin film coatings for optics, flat panel displays, solar cells and industrial vacuum coating applications. Other users of vacuum based processes include the life sciences, research, aerospace, packaging, heat treatment, laser cutting and many other industrial processes. We also leverage our expertise in vacuum technology to provide unique, toxic chemical analysis products for emergency response, security, and environmental monitoring. INFICON is headquartered in Switzerland and has world-class manufacturing facilities in Europe, the United States and China, as well as subsidiaries in China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. INFICON registered shares (IFCN) are listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. For more information about INFICON and its products, please visit www.inficon.com.

This press release and oral statements or other written statements made, or to be made by us contain forward-looking statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of our management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect our current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

End of Media Release


ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / SpendHQ, North America's largest procurement spend analytics platform, has joined forces with France-based Per Angusta, the world's first procurement performance management platform. As part of the transaction, Per Angusta CEO Pierre Lapree will join SpendHQ as a significant shareholder, board member, and Chief Product Officer. He will join the SpendHQ leadership team led by CEO Scott Macfee.

Per Angusta's employees will join SpendHQ resulting in a combined organization with team members in 11 countries across three continents. The resulting Procurement powerhouse will serve over 400 customers globally including many of the largest companies and private equity firms in the world.

SpendHQ partnered with Charlotte-based Pamlico Capital to support the acquisition. Pamlico provided $65 million in funding for the transaction and to accelerate growth. Pamlico will be a minority investor in SpendHQ and board member.

This union creates the most advanced platform in the market to drive procurement operations excellence, on a global scale. The combined organization is revolutionizing the procurement technology landscape by providing the first of its kind platform - a closed-loop procurement system. From spend analytics and opportunity identification to procurement performance management and project execution to validated and verified savings & value tracking - this solution is what procurement teams have been asking for.

According to SpendHQ founder and board chair Tom Beaty, "Pierre is the first procure-tech executive I have met in my 25-year career who shares a nearly identical vision to build a true platform for procurement professionals, going well beyond the transactional procure-to-pay suites of today. The combination of these two successful firms plus our ambitious road map under the leadership of Scott, will create something the procurement world has never seen. And we are more than excited to partner with a high integrity private equity firm like Pamlico Capital to achieve this vision."

"Per Angusta created the Procurement Performance Management segment. The combination with SpendHQ unlocks the potential to create a market-defining solution," says Pierre Lapree, CEO and founder of Per Angusta. "As an entrepreneur I am grateful I met Tom. Our common Procurement DNA, the alignment of our visions and the values of our people are incredible. This union will accelerate our ability to use data to bring Procurement closer to Finance and the C-suite, and ultimately elevate the role of Procurement."

"This is an exciting leap for procurement technology," says SpendHQ CEO Scott Macfee. "Both of our organizations have a rich procurement history and a disciplined, customer-centric approach to building solutions. Our joining forces is a direct result of both customer and market feedback. Together, we'll enable our customers to bridge the gap from spend analytics and opportunity identification to the execution and realization of their strategic objectives, whether bottom-line savings or non-financial goals such as diversity and sustainability."

"We will continue to lead the industry by being stronger together across North America and Europe with an ability to serve global companies and private equity firms more effectively," adds Aymeric Le Page, Per Angusta Managing Director who now will lead the European business for SpendHQ.



Walker Simmons, Partner at Pamlico, and Larsen Jones, Vice President at Pamlico, said "We couldn't be more excited to partner with the SpendHQ and Per Angusta team to help build a leading platform in procurement technology. Not only does this combination bring together a best-in-class management team, but we believe the integration of spend analytics and procurement performance management will deliver unique value to procurement organizations. We look forward to supporting the company's continued growth."

About Per Angusta

Per Angusta is the leading cloud-based solution for Procurement Performance Management, providing increased visibility into the strategic sourcing process, enabling better collaboration and transparency. Per Angusta uplevels the value of procurement teams by tracking savings, bridging the gap between purchasing and finance, and aligning stakeholder goals and progress. Enhancing visibility into team performance and improved reporting lets teams focus on the strategic side of procurement, creating value and innovation for their stakeholders. Since 2012, more than 17 000 users in over 120 countries are relying on the solution to strengthen transparency and collaboration. Recognized by Spend Matters as one of the 50 to know players in Procurement, Per Angusta is the global leader in Procurement Performance Management (PPM).

About SpendHQ

SpendHQ is a procurement analysis solution that provides rapid, accurate, and detailed visibility into enterprise spend data. Built by sourcing professionals for sourcing professionals, this full-service SaaS spend analytics solution delivers actionable insight for every stakeholder. The SpendHQ platform and solutions team serves all industries, and clients include some of the world's largest organizations. SpendHQ has been recognized as an industry leader by Spend Matters' SolutionMap, Ardent Partners' Key Solution Providers, and Procurement Leaders' World Procurement Awards.

About Pamlico Capital

Pamlico Capital is a private equity firm founded in 1988 that invests in growing middle market companies in North America. Pamlico Capital seeks growth equity investments of up to $200 million alongside founders and proven leaders in its target industries: communications, healthcare, services and software. The firm, based in Charlotte, NC, has assets under management of approximately $4 billion with a current fund exceeding $1.4 billion. For additional information, please visit www.pamlicocapital.com.

Media Contacts

Debbie Raymundo

Director of Marketing, SpendHQ

404.891.0377 | draymundo@spendhq.com

Valerie Lacour

Marketing Director, Per Angusta

+33 6 64 86 00 57 | valerie@per-angusta.com

SOURCE: SpendHQ

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708177/SpendHQ-Joins-Forces-With-per-Angusta-To-Build-the-Worlds-First-Integrated-Closed-Loop-Procurement-Platform-SpendHQ-Receives-a-65-Million-Investment-From-Pamlico-Capital-as-Part-of-the-Transaction
Regulatory News:

NOXXON Pharma N.V. (Euronext Growth Paris: ALNOX) (Paris:ALNOX),a biotechnology company focused on improving cancer treatments by targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME), announced today that pursuant to the liquidity contract entrusted to Invest Securities by NOXXON Pharma N.V. the following assets appeared on the liquidity account:

As of June 30, 2022:

Number of shares: 86,193

Cash balance of the liquidity account: 27,144.62

For the period January 1, 2022 June 30, 2022:

Total number of shares bought: 457,196

representing an amount of: 69,398.39

representing total transactions of: 336

Total number of shares sold: 430,954

representing an amount of: 70,410.28

representing total transactions of: 420

As a reminder, as of December 31, 2021, the following assets appeared in the liquidity account:

Number of shares: 59,951

Cash balance of the liquidity account: 26,132.73

For more detailed information please see the annex of this press release.

About NOXXON

NOXXON's oncology-focused pipeline acts on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the cancer immunity cycle by breaking the tumor protection barrier and blocking tumor repair. By neutralizing chemokines in the TME, NOXXON's approach works in combination with other forms of treatment to weaken tumor defenses against the immune system and enable greater therapeutic impact. NOXXON's lead program NOX-A12 has delivered final top-line data from a Keytruda combination trial in metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients published at the ESMO conference in September 2020 and in July 2021 the company announced its Phase 2 study, OPTIMUS, to further evaluate safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 in combination with Merck's Keytruda and two different chemotherapy regimens as second-line therapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. NOXXON is also studying NOX-A12 in brain cancer in combination with radiotherapy which has been granted orphan drug status in the US and EU for the treatment of certain brain cancers. GLORIA, a trial of NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy in newly diagnosed brain cancer patients who will not benefit clinically from standard chemotherapy has delivered top-line data from all three dose-escalation cohorts showing consistent tumor reductions and objective tumor responses. Additionally, GLORIA has been expanded to assess the benefit of NOX-A12 with other treatment combinations, radiotherapy bevacizumab and radiotherapy pembrolizumab. The company's second clinical-stage asset NOX-E36 is a Phase 2 TME asset targeting the innate immune system. NOXXON plans to test NOX-E36 in patients with solid tumors. Further information can be found at: www.noxxon.com.

Keytruda is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp Dohme Corp.

Visit NOXXON on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About the GLORIA Study

GLORIA (NCT04121455) is NOXXON's dose-escalation, phase 1/2 study of NOX-A12 in combination with irradiation in first-line partially resected or unresected glioblastoma (brain cancer) patients with unmethylated MGMT promoter (resistant to standard chemotherapy). GLORIA further evaluates safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 three additional arms combining NOX-A12 with: A. radiotherapy in patients with complete tumor resection; B. radiotherapy and bevacizumab; and C. radiotherapy and pembrolizumab.

About the OPTIMUS Study

OPTIMUS (NCT04901741) is NOXXON's open-label two-arm phase 2 study of NOX-A12 combined with pembrolizumab and nanoliposomal irinotecan/5-FU/leucovorin or gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel in microsatellite-stable metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.

Disclaimer

Translations of any press release into languages other than English are intended solely as a convenience to the non-English-reading audience. The company has attempted to provide an accurate translation of the original text in English, but due to the nuances in translating into another language, slight differences may exist. Certain statements in this communication contain formulations or terms referring to the future or future developments, as well as negations of such formulations or terms, or similar terminology. These are described as forward-looking statements. In addition, all information in this communication regarding planned or future results of business segments, financial indicators, developments of the financial situation or other financial or statistical data contains such forward-looking statements. The company cautions prospective investors not to rely on such forward-looking statements as certain prognoses of actual future events and developments. The company is neither responsible nor liable for updating such information, which only represents the state of affairs on the day of publication.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005773/en/

Contacts:

For more information, please contact:

NOXXON Pharma N.V.

Aram Mangasarian, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Tel. +49 (0) 30 726247 0

amangasarian@noxxon.com

Investor and Media Relations:

LifeSci Advisors

Guillaume van Renterghem

Tel. +41 (0) 76 735 01 31

gvanrenterghem@lifesciadvisors.com

NewCap

Arthur Rouille

Tel. +33 (0) 1 44 71 00 15

arouille@newcap.fr
Lyon, France - 12 July 2022 - 6 pm CEST - Theranexus, a biopharmaceutical company innovating in the treatment of neurological diseases and pioneer in the development of drug candidates modulating the interaction between neurons and glial cells (the "Company"), today announces its cash position as at 30 June 2022.

Total available funds on 30 June 2022 stood at 11.6 M, compared with 12.5 M on 31 December 2021. The cash level has evolved in line with the company's expectations during the first six months of fiscal 2022 and provides the company with more than 18 months of financial visibility. This healthy financial situation validates the decision to definitively terminate in April 2022 the equity financing line that was set up with Iris Capital in January of the same year.

Next financial publication:

Tuesday 27 September 2022: 2022 semestrial financial results

About Theranexus

Theranexus is an innovative biopharmaceutical company that emerged from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). It specializes in the treatment of central nervous system disorders and is a pioneer in the development of drug candidates targeting both neurons and glial cells.

Theranexus has a unique drug candidate of advanced therapy identification and characterization platform focused on rare neurological disorders and an initial drug candidate in clinical development for Batten disease.

Theranexus is listed on the Euronext Growth market in Paris (FR0013286259- ALTHX).

More information on:

http://www.theranexus.com

Click and follow us on Twitter and Linkedln





Contacts



THERANEXUS

Thierry LAMBERT

Chief Financial Officer

contact@theranexus.com















NEWCAP

Theo MARTIN/Pierre LAURENT

Investors Relations

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 97

theranexus@newcap.eu FP2COM

Florence PORTEJOIE

Media Relations

+ 33 (0)6 07 76 82 83

fportejoie@fp2com.fr

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Report provided by Data Bridge Market Research

NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new 350 page research study released with title 'Dental Practice Management Software Market Insights by Size, Share, Trends, Industry Application, Product Type& Regional Forecast 2029' provides detailed qualitative and quantitative research to better analyse latest market scenario and staged competition. The Dental Practice Management Software report deciphers definition, an examination of noteworthy advancement in the market. It gives generally speaking industry overview, item depiction, wide cluster of uses, top players, and improvement figure. It improves understanding about that market alongside new business patterns. Data about the verifiable substance is accessible that comprehends advancement of market in various topographical regions. The Dental Practice Management Software report encompasses fundamental, auxiliary and propelled data having a place with the item advertise. It holds onto generation process just as utilization and assembling volume and income.

Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the Dental Practice Management Software Market which was USD 2.34 billion in 2021, would rocket up to USD 9.44 billion by 2029, and is expected to undergo a CAGR of 19.05% during the forecast period 2022 to 2029. In addition to the market insights such as market value, growth rate, market segments, geographical coverage, market players, and market scenario, the market report curated by the Data Bridge Market Research team also includes in-depth expert analysis, patient epidemiology, pipeline analysis, pricing analysis, and regulatory framework.

Get Sample Copy of Dental Practice Management Software Market Report @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-dental-practice-management-software-market

Global "Dental Practice Management Software Market" report contains the information regarding market share, company performances (stocks), comprehensive analysis, consumer perspective, historical analysis, statistics, and market forecast 2022 to 2029 in terms of revenue, volume, growth rate, and CAGR. This report target Dental Practice Management Software volume and value at a global level, regional and company level. Dental Practice Management Software report target market product specifications, current competitive players in Dental Practice Management Software market and the market revenue with profitability.

To build an influential Dental Practice Management Software Market report, detailed market analysis has been conducted with the inputs from industry experts. By working on a number of steps for collecting and analysing market data, this supreme market research report is prepared with the expert team. It describes various definitions and segmentation or classifications of the industry, applications of the industry and value chain structure. Businesses can obtain a complete knowhow of general market conditions and tendencies with the information and data involved in the credible Dental Practice Management Software business report. The foremost areas of market analysis such as market definition, market segmentation, competitive analysis and research methodology are looked upon very vigilantly and precisely throughout the report.

Li s t of Companies Profiled in the Global Dental Practice Management Software Market Report are:

Carestream Dental LLC (U.S.)

Henry Schein Inc (U.S.)

Allscripts Healthcare LLC (U.S.)

CD Newco, LLC (U.S.)

Patterson Companies Inc (U.S.)

Datacon Dental Systems (U.S.)

DentiMax (U.S.)

Dovetail (U.S.)

Epic Systems Corporation (U.S.)

Quality Systems Inc (U.S.)

Benco Dental Supply Company (U.S.)

NXGN Management, LLC (U.S.)

The companies are exploring the market by adopting mergers & acquisitions, expansions, investments, new service launches and collaborations as their preferred strategies. The players are exploring new geographies through expansions and acquisitions to avail a competitive advantage through combined synergies. Research Analyst at Data Bridge predicts that United States Vendors will contribute to the maximum growth of Global Dental Practice Management Software market throughout the predicted period.

Access Full Report @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/checkout/buy/enterprise/global-dental-practice-management-software-market

Recent Development

In June 2021 , Curve Dental has partnered with Dental Intelligence to receive access to LocalMed, a web-based scheduling system. This partnership aims to make it easier for dental businesses to use Curve Dental's practise management software, which allows patients to confirm appointments virtually. The company will gain a competitive edge as a result of this strategic action.

, has partnered with Dental Intelligence to receive access to LocalMed, a web-based scheduling system. This partnership aims to make it easier for dental businesses to use Curve Dental's practise management software, which allows patients to confirm appointments virtually. The company will gain a competitive edge as a result of this strategic action. In May 2021 , Henry Schein has announced the addition of Dental and Medical Patient Records to their axiUm Dental Software. The new Consistency of Care module improves electronic health record interoperability and information exchange across dentistry and medicine. This strategic approach will enable the organisation to provide a higher-value service to its target market than industry competitors.

Dental Practice Management Software Market Dynamics

Drivers

Rising popularity of patient communication software

Novel developments by industry conglomerates

Greater awareness and focus on oral health

Opportunities

Restraints/Challenges

Scope of Report:

Type

Practice Management Software

Patient Communication Software

Treatment Planning Software

Patient Education Software

Dental Imaging Software

Application

Clinical Application

Administrative

Deployment

On-Premise Model

Web-Based/Cloud-Based Model

End Users

Hospitals and Clinics

Academics and Research Institutes

Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-dental-practice-management-software-market

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on the product portfolios of the top players in the Dental Practice Management Software market. Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on the upcoming technologies, R&D activities, and product launches in the market. Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of the market strategies, geographic and business segments of the leading players in the market. Market Development: Comprehensive information about emerging markets. This report analyses the market for various segments across geographies. Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the Dental Practice Management Software market.

Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Dental Practice Management Software Market:

Chapter 01 - Dental Practice Management Software Executive Summary

Chapter 02 - Market Overview

Chapter 03 - Key Success Factors

Chapter 04 - Covid-19 Crisis Analysis on Global Dental Practice Management Software Market

Chapter 05 - Global Dental Practice Management Software Market - Pricing Analysis

Chapter 06 - Global Dental Practice Management Software Market Background

Chapter 07 - Global Dental Practice Management Software Market Segmentation

Chapter 08 - Key and Emerging Countries Analysis in Global Dental Practice Management Software Market

Chapter 09 - Global Dental Practice Management Software Market Structure Analysis

Chapter 10 - Global Dental Practice Management Software Market Competitive Analysis

Chapter 11 - Assumptions and Acronyms

Chapter 12 - Research Methodology

.Continued

Complete TOC Is Available @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-dental-practice-management-software-market

Explore DBMR Comprehensive Coverage on Healthcare Domain:

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Share, Growth, Demand, Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy Market Share, Growth, Demand, Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029: https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-inductively-coupled-plasma-mass-spectroscopy-market





Share, Growth, Demand, Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029: Radiology Market Size, Share, Growth, Demand, Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029: https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-radiology-market





Size, Share, Growth, Demand, Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029: Neurodegenerative Disorder Therapeutics Market Size, Share, Growth, Demand, Industry Trends and Forecast: https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-neurodegenerative-disorder-therapeutics-market

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Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

For immediate release

12 July 2022

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 23,998 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 800.83 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.

The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 9 February 2022.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 4,863,150; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 220,128,153.

The figure of 220,128,153 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For and on behalf of

Frostrow Capital LLP

Company Secretary

For further information, please contact:

Victoria Hale

Frostrow Capital LLP

Tel: 020 3 170 8732
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Reflecting concerns about the outlook for global demand, the price of crude oil showed a substantial move to the downside during trading on Tuesday. Crude for August delivery plummeted $8.25 or 7.9 percent to $95.84 a barrel, closing below $100 a barrel for the first time in two months. The steep drop in crude oil prices reflected concerns that a slowdown or outright recession by the global economy will lead to reduced energy demand. Concerns about the emergence of a new, more infectious Covid-19 strain in several parts of the world continue to weigh on investors' minds. Many cities in China are already taking steps to stop the spread of the new strain, leading to worries about another round of painful lockdowns, especially in Shanghai or Beijing. A Covid-19 resurgence and the resumption of Chinese lockdowns could put further pressure on a global economy that is already being squeezed by aggressive monetary policy tightening by the world's central banks. Looking ahead, trading on Wednesday may be impacted by reaction to the latest weekly reports on U.S. oil inventories. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The logo of Korea's dominant crypto exchange, Upbit, is seen in front of its headquarters in Seoul. Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



Minor cryptocurrency exchanges are feared to have to close down amid rapidly-cooling market sentiment here and abroad.



The five largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Korea  Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax  account for more than 99 percent of the market. According to data from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, a total of 26 crypto exchanges _ including the top five _ were in operation here as of the end of June.



But it remains questionable whether the minor exchanges will be able to survive this period of monetary tightening and falling crypto transactions.



Even the major exchanges' transaction volume has been on a steep decline this year. Data from the five exchanges showed that their combined crypto transactions stood at around $260 billion in the second quarter of this year, down by more than 77 percent from a year earlier.



The lukewarm performance is attributable to deteriorating asset market conditions here and abroad after the U.S. Federal Reserve started its aggressive set of rate hikes in March.



As most monetary authorities, including the Bank of Korea, are widely expected to maintain such a hawkish stance until the end of this year, the outlook remains murky whether crypto market investor sentiment will remain buoyant over the next few months.



Industry officials argue that it would be realistically tough for small exchanges to join the ranks of the major exchanges at a time when the market leader, Upbit, maintains a de facto monopoly here.



"The four major exchanges _ excluding Upbit _ are struggling to expand their market shares, but the reality looks tough at a time when the market has lost momentum for a robust rally for the time being," an industry source said. "For minor exchanges that cannot operate Korean-won-based crypto transaction services here, it will be much tougher to achieve sustainable growth."



Only the aforementioned five exchanges can now operate such services after signing contracts with commercial banks here. Those that have not clinched partnerships with local lenders cannot operate won-based crypto transaction services here at all.




Medford, Wisconsin--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Green Light Metals Inc. ("Green Light" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that on July 8, 2022 (the "Closing Date") it closed, on a non-brokered basis, the second tranche of a private placement of 850,000 units of the Company ("Units") at a price of $0.40 per Unit for gross proceeds of $340,000 (the "Offering").

Pursuant to the Offering, each Unit is comprised of one common share (a "Common Share") and one-half warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant") in the capital of the Company. Each whole Warrant is exercisable by the holder thereof to acquire one (1) additional Common Share at a price of $0.60 for a period of 36 months following the Closing Date.

Finder's fees consisting of an aggregate cash commission of $6,000 and 15,000 warrants to purchase Common Shares ("Finder Warrants") were paid by the Company in connection with the Offering. The finder's fees represent 6.0% of the aggregate proceeds raised and 6.0% of the Units issued to certain subscribers introduced to the Company by finders. Each Finder Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one Common Share at a price of $0.40 for a period of 24 months from the Closing Date.

The securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day from the date of completion of each closing date of the Offering, in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

For more information concerning the Company, please refer to the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

ABOUT GREEN LIGHT

Green Light's mission is to expand known mineral resources and make new discoveries on one of North America's most prolific yet underexplored volcanogenic massive sulfide ("VMS") greenstone belts - the Penokean Volcanic Belt (the "Belt") in Wisconsin, USA. The Belt's deposits are rich in the clean energy metals copper and zinc, as well as gold, that are required to power the imminent green, low carbon economy. The Company's strategy is to capitalize on its first mover advantage to consolidate, secure, and drill dominant land positions.

Green Light is committed to operating in a responsible and sustainable manner that benefits our local communities, bolsters national security, and assists in building and securing crucial US supply chains, all while protecting the environment. The Company has established an ESG Committee and is fully committed to transparency, accountability, environmental stewardship, safety and community engagement.

The Company's key assets on the Belt are the Reef gold-copper and Bend copper-gold properties, each of which contains known historical resources with the potential for expansion. In addition, upon consummation of the upcoming amalgamation with Can-America, the Company will control two additional prospective properties in Wisconsin - Lobo and Black. Outside of Wisconsin, the Company will control the Kalium Canyon property, an exciting epithermal gold prospect located in the Walker Lane District of Nevada, upon consummation of the amalgamation with Can-America.

For more information, please contact:

Green Light Metals Inc.

Dan Colton

President & CEO, Director

(612) 839-8286

dancolton@greenlightmetals.com

David Carew

CFO & Corporate Secretary

(416) 786-4867

dave@greenlightmetals.com

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "intend", "may", "will", "expect", and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current beliefs or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual future results may differ materially. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company. The material facts and assumptions include the intended use of proceeds remaining in the best interests of the Company. The Company cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Due to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward- looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities Laws.

THE SECURITIES OFFERED HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. THIS PRESS RELEASE SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY SALE OF THE SECURITIES IN ANY STATE IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130671


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Raising the pitch of an ongoing verbal clash between them, Elon Musk said on Tuesday that Donald Trump should 'hang up his hat' and is too old to run for the Oval Office in 2024, even as a poll result revealed that the former president is losing support among Republican voters.



'I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset,' Musk said in a tweet, using the same social media platform he first tried to buy and is now trying to distance himself from. His tweet came after Trump, at a public appearance in Alaska last weekend, described Musk as a 'bullshit artist' over the Twitter sale.



Musk also tweeted that the Democrats, who hold seven of the nine seats on the congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump's supporters 'should also call off the attack'.



'Don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the presidency,' Musk wrote.



Musk had on Friday filed a notice to withdraw his $44bn bid to purchase Twitter, after the company agreed in late April for its sale. He said that the platform did not provide the required information on fake and spam accounts, though many observers have said that tech stocks have been on a downward spiral recently, thus making the sale price look much higher.



Twitter, on its part, said that Musk's backing out was 'invalid and wrongful' and the company is suing Musk to enforce a provision in the agreement, which may force him to go through with acquiring the platform provided he has the money for it, which Musk said in May he had.



Trump spoke up after Friday's announcement, saying that Musk's deal with Twitter was 'rotten' anyway.



The Trump-Musk battle has been going on for a while with Musk saying that he was thinking of supporting Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, as the Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential race.



In Alaska, Trump claimed that Musk said he'd previously voted for him. Musk denied the claims, though he has also criticized Twitter for banning Trump's account on the platform after the Capitol attack.



If Musk had earlier voted for Trump, he isn't alone in having a change of heart, as per the results of a recent poll by the New York Times and Siena College. Nearly half of Republican party primary voters are interested in supporting someone other than Trump in the 2024 presidential election, and 16 percent even indicated that if he was the GOP nominee they would support Joe Biden, a protest candidate, abstain from voting or be unsure of what to do, according to the poll.







Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

TESLA-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Nicola Mining Inc. (TSXV: NIM) (FSE: HLI) (OTCQB: HUSIF), (the "Company" or "Nicola") announces that it has completed a prepayment of 20% (the "Prepayment") of the outstanding principal, as well as interest, of the debenture due November 21, 2022. The Company prepaid $1,329,176 of the principal and $81,936 in accrued interest of the $6,942,882 outstanding principal. The remaining principal of the debenture is now $5,613,706. Approximately 89% of the outstanding debenture is held by Concept Capital Management ("CCM") an insider and largest shareholder of the Company. Nicola continues to place emphasis on operational cash flow, exploration of the New Craigmont Project, and debenture repayment.

In addition to the Prepayment, the Company announces that it has signed an amended agreement (the "Amended Agreement") for gold and silver concentrate with Ocean Partners UK Limited1 ("Ocean Partners"), which was originally announced in a news release on April 30,2021. Sales terms of the original and Amended Agreement are the same, except the latter includes an increase in the Revolving Prepayment from US$500,000 to US$1,500,000. Nicola has received US$750,000 of the Revolving Prepayment.

Preliminary results from the Company's recently completed 998-line kilometer Z-Tipper Axis Electromagnetic ("ZTEM") survey, which covered the entirety of the New Craigmont Project, are encouraging. Targets of interest and key structures have been identified, via preliminary data and maps. The Company is now awaiting receipt of the final report. The Company looks forward to issuing a news release upon receipt of the final report.

Peter Espig, CEO of Nicola, commented, "We are very encouraged with the preliminary ZTEM survey results and eagerly await the final report. We are also pleased to see that operations at the Craigmont Site have increased again after slowdowns attributed to freshet and approvals. This includes recommenced fly and bottom ash shipments from Nicola Clean Power2, increases in daily shipments of hydrovac materials from Trans Mountain Expansion Project, and shipments of sand and gravel from our site to provide rock and gravel for BC infrastructure projects. Signing of the Amended Agreement highlights our long term goal to work with Ocean Partners and the latter's belief in working closely with Nicola."

Qualified Person

Brian May, P.Geo, a consulting geologist to the Company, is the independent qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Nicola Mining

Nicola Mining Inc. is a junior mining company listed on the TSX Venture and Frankfurt Exchanges that maintains a 100% owned mill and tailings facility, located near Merritt, British Columbia. It has signed Mining and Milling Profit Share Agreements with high grade gold projects. Nicola's fully-permitted mill can process both gold and silver mill feed via gravity and flotation processes.

The Company owns 100% of the New Craigmont Project, a high-grade copper property, which covers an area of 10,913 hectares along the southern end of the Guichon Batholith and is adjacent to Teck Resources Ltd.'s Highland Valley Copper, Canada's largest copper mine. The Company also owns 100% of the Treasure Mountain Property, consisting of 30 mineral tenures covering 513 hectares (ha) and a mining lease covering 335 ha.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Peter Espig"

Peter Espig

CEO & Director

For additional information

Contact: Peter Espig

Phone: (778) 385-1213

Email: info@nicolamining.com

URL: www.nicolamining.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.

_________________________________

1 Ocean Partners operates in a number of countries, including Canada, Chile, China, Cyprus, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Peru, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States, and retains agency representation in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, India, Japan, South Africa, South Korea. The Company maintains a strong global network of relationships and contacts in the base metal mining and smelting sector.

2 Previously called Merritt Green Energy: https://www.power-technology.com/marketdata/merritt-green-energy-project-canada/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130677
Naureen Hassan to succeed Tom Naratil as President UBS Americas; Iqbal Khan to become President Global Wealth Management

Regulatory News:

Ad hoc announcement pursuant to article 53 of the SIX Exchange Regulation Listing Rules

Following a successful 39-year career at UBS (and its predecessor firm PaineWebber), Tom Naratil has decided to step down from his current roles as Co-President Global Wealth Management and President UBS Americas effective 3 October 2022. Tom has served as a member of the UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) (SWX:UBSN) Executive Board for the past 11 years after holding various roles across divisions, functions, and regions. He was named Group Chief Financial Officer in 2011 and became Group Chief Operating Officer in 2014. In 2016, Tom took on the leadership of the firm's Americas wealth management business and was named President UBS Americas. In 2018, Tom was named Co-President Global Wealth Management (GWM) and, together with Co-President GWM Iqbal Khan, strengthened the wealth management franchise. Under Tom's leadership, GWM's profit before tax (PBT) in the Americas region more than doubled to USD 2 billion. Over the next few months, Tom will ensure a smooth transition of both his roles.

Naureen Hassan will join UBS from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) and will succeed Tom as President UBS Americas and CEO of UBS Americas Holding LLC., and will become a member of UBS's Group Executive Board on 3 October 2022. In this role, Naureen will be responsible for driving client relationships, promoting cross-business collaboration, navigating the evolving public policy landscape, and ensuring sound regulatory and reputational risk governance. In addition, she will lead the firm's strategic growth and digital initiatives in the Americas region, including the transformation of the firm's Wealth Management Americas Platform, expansion of digitally customized banking services, implementation of the Wealthfront acquisition upon closure, and the rollout of UBS Circle One in the region. Most recently, Naureen was First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the FRBNY, where she also served as an alternate voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee. Prior to joining the FRBNY, Naureen was the chief digital officer for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management where she was responsible for the business' digital transformation. Before Morgan Stanley, she was the executive vice president leading Investor Services strategy, segments and platforms at Charles Schwab Corporation and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. She also held various business transformation, strategy, and client experience leadership roles at Charles Schwab Corporation. She began her career at McKinsey Company.

Iqbal Khan will become sole President Global Wealth Management, effective 3 October. Since joining UBS in 2019, Iqbal has served as Co-President GWM together with Tom. Iqbal's global network, background as a financial and regulatory auditor, risk management expertise, and his relentless focus on client outcomes and commercial impact make him the ideal person to lead GWM and will ensure a seamless continuation of our global growth strategy.

Group Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers: "I am delighted to welcome Naureen Hassan to UBS as President UBS Americas and to congratulate Iqbal on his expanded role as sole President Global Wealth Management. I also want to personally thank Tom for his leadership and significant contributions to UBS over the past four decades. He's been a champion of our strategy and transformation and a vocal advocate of our diversity initiatives. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Our Global Wealth Management business and our Americas region are strategically important, and both offer significant growth opportunities for us. I am confident that Naureen and Iqbal will build upon Tom's success and continue to deliver for our clients and achieve our strategic ambitions."

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This media release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements," including but not limited to management's outlook for UBS's financial performance, statements relating to the anticipated effect of transactions and strategic initiatives on UBS's business and future development and goals or intentions to achieve climate, sustainability and other social objectives. While these forward-looking statements represent UBS's judgments, expectations and objectives concerning the matters described, a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors could cause actual developments and results to differ materially from UBS's expectations. For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may affect UBS's future results please refer to the "Risk Factors" and other sections of UBS's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F, quarterly reports and other information furnished to or filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 6-K, and the cautionary statement on the last page of this presentation. UBS is not under any obligation to (and expressly disclaims any obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

www.ubs.com/media

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005839/en/

Contacts:

UBS Group AG and UBS AG

Investor contact

Switzerland: +41-44-234 41 00

Media contact

Switzerland: +41-44-234 85 00

UK: +44-207-567 47 14

Americas: +1-212-882 58 58

APAC: +852-297-1 82 00
Collaboration represents one of the largest and most ambitious plant-based sustainability initiatives with Redefine Meat and any hospitality chain to date

Menus to feature Redefine Meat's New-Meat, which offers a level of product quality comparable to premium animal meat

Selina, the fast-growing lifestyle and experiential hospitality brand targeting millennial and Gen Z travelers, today announces a global partnership with Redefine Meat, the global pioneer of New-Meat. The collaboration represents one of the largest and most ambitious hospitality plant-based initiatives with Redefine Meat, kicking off Selina's ultimate goal of shifting menus to greater plant-based options, with 100% of Selina's menus available plant-based. For Redefine Meat, the collaboration marks another milestone in its rapidly-growing portfolio of customers, opening up New-Meat to a much broader global audience as part of its pursuit of becoming the world's largest meat company.

Adopted commercially by some of the world's leading chefs, Redefine Meat's New-Meat has taken the culinary world by storm, achieving a level of product quality comparable to high-quality animal meat in terms of taste, texture and aroma. With menus beginning in July 2022, the first two Selina restaurants to feature New-Meat include Selina Tel Aviv Beach in Israel, and Selina Camden, London, UK. Featuring dishes such as the PowerPlant burger with smashed avocado, Korean style pulled Redefine Beef brisket taco and Shakshuka with spicy merguez sausage, Selina chefs are now utilizing New-Meat products including Redefine beef and lamb Redefine Flank cuts, as well as premium-quality burgers, sausages, lamb kebabs and ground beef all without animal-based ingredients.

Rafael Museri, Selina's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer commented, "The Selina brand has strong ESG values, ?which is crucial to our young and environmentally-conscious audience. As a result, we always challenge ourselves to push the boundaries of the conventional hospitality market, to ensure that we continue to provide guests with truly unique and high quality, sustainable, experiences. Our partnership with Redefine Meat marks an exciting and important milestone perfectly supporting our commitment to move the portfolio towards more plant-based menus, with 100% of our menus available plant based at all our locations globally around the world."

"We're working towards fulfilling a grand vision, which is to make Redefine Meat the largest meat company in the world and our collaboration with Selina allows us to bring New-Meat to a much broader global audience and take another step towards that," said Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, CEO, and co-founder of Redefine Meat. "We are truly excited to have found a perfect partner in Selina, and the opportunity to bring a range of culinary New-Meat experiences to Selina's guests, whether they be vegetarians, vegans, or meat-eaters who care about the environment."

Both Selina and Redefine Meat share a joint vision of environmental responsibility, appealing to an audience that likes to eat well and enjoy life in a sustainable manner. Selina caters to the needs of a growing segment of travelers, digital nomads, and remote workers, and is hyper-focused on making a long-term positive change in the communities that host them.

Redefine Meat caused a global revolution by commercially launching the world's first premium New-Meat cuts made from plants, while also offering a wide portfolio of burgers, sausages, kebabs, and mince. Using a range of breakthrough technologies, ranging from material science to additive manufacturing and artificial intelligence, all Redefine Meat products are made from non-GMO, plant-based ingredients, contain no cholesterol, and do not use any animal or animal by-products all while saving up to 96% in water usage, requiring 98% less land and generating up to 91% less Greenhouse Gas emissions when compared to today's beef production. Redefine Meat's New-Meat is currently commercially available in hundreds of restaurants, delis, and butcher shops across Israel, UK, the Netherlands and Germany.

About Selina

Selina is one of the world's largest hospitality brands built to address the needs of millennial and Gen Z travelers, blending beautifully designed accommodation with coworking, recreation, wellness, and local experiences. Custom-built for today's nomadic traveler, Selina provides guests with a global infrastructure to seamlessly travel and work abroad. Founded in 2014, each Selina property is designed in partnership with local artists, creators, and tastemakers, breathing new life into existing buildings in interesting locations around the world from urban cities to remote beaches and jungles. Selina's portfolio includes over 155 open or secured properties across 25 countries and 6 continents. On December 2, 2021, Selina entered into a definitive merger agreement with BOA Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: BOAS), the closing of which, which is subject to customary conditions, will result in Selina becoming a publicly listed company.

For further information on Selina, visit www.selina.com or check out @selina on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

About Redefine Meat

Founded in 2018, Redefine Meat is on a mission to offer New-Meat with the same flavour, texture, and versatility as animal meat, by harnessing technology instead of animals. Aiming to become the world's largest meat company, Redefine Meat creates a wide range of premium meat products using plant-based ingredients offering the world a new type of delicious meat, that's good for the environment, and kind to animals.

Using a range of proprietary and patented technologies and working closely with global chefs and meat experts, Redefine Meat has developed a category-defining New-Meat product portfolio that spans minced meat products and whole cuts that offer the same flavor, taste and texture as animal meat. These products are now commercially available within food services in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, and Israel.

Redefine Meat is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, and has over 200 employees.

For more information, please visit www.redefinemeat.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712006083/en/

Contacts:

Media

Sophie Low

Incus Media

+44 787 211 9525

sophie.low@incus-media.com
PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / The following abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds announced today that the closed end funds in the chart directly below will pay the distributions indicated on a per share basis on July 29, 2022 to all shareholders of record as of July 22, 2022 (ex-dividend date July 21, 2022).

Ticker Exchange Fund Amount ACP NYSE abrdn Income Credit Strategies Fund $ 0.1000 AGD NYSE abrdn Global Dynamic Dividend Fund $ 0.0650 AOD NYSE abrdn Total Dynamic Dividend Fund $ 0.0575 ASGI NYSE abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund $ 0.1200 AWP NYSE abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund $ 0.0400 FAX NYSE American abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.0275 FCO NYSE American abrdn Global Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.0700

At the end of each calendar year, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders, which will state the amount and composition of each fund's distributions and provide information with respect to their appropriate tax treatment for the prior calendar year. You should not draw any conclusions about any of these Funds' investment performance from the amount of the distributions.

MANAGED DISTRIBUTION POLICY FUNDS

ANNOUNCE DISTRIBUTION PAYMENT DETAILS

abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund ("ASGI")

abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc. ("FAX")

The above-noted abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds (the "Funds" or individually the "Fund"), today announced that the Funds will pay the distributions noted in the chart above on July 29, 2022, on a per share basis to all shareholders of record as of July 22, 2022 (ex-dividend date July 21, 2022).

Each Fund has adopted a distribution policy to provide investors with a stable distribution out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital in reliance on an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under applicable U.S. tax rules, the amount and character of distributable income for each Fund's fiscal year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and related rules, the Funds may be required to indicate to shareholders the estimated source of certain distributions to shareholders.

The following tables set forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distributions for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the rules adopted thereunder. The tables have been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The tables include estimated amounts and percentages for the current distributions to be paid as well as for the cumulative distributions paid relating to fiscal year to date, from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated compositions of the distributions may vary because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities and currencies.

Each Fund's estimated sources of the current distributions to be paid and for its current fiscal year to date are as follows:

Estimated Amounts of Current Distribution per Share Fund Distribution Amount Net Investment Income Net Realized Short-Term Gains** Net Realized Long-Term Gains Return of Capital ASGI $0.1200 $0.0156 13% $0.0072 6% $0.0972 81% - - FAX $0.0275 $0.0158 57% - - - - $0.0117 43%

Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per Share Fund Fiscal Year* to Date Distribution Amount Net Investment Income Net Realized Short-Term Gains** Net Realized Long-Term Gains Return of Capital ASGI $1.1298 $0.1469 13% $0.0678 6% $0.9151 81% - - FAX $0.2475 $0.1412 57% - - - - $0.1063 43%

* ASGI has a 9/30 fiscal year end; FAX has a 10/31 fiscal year end.

**includes currency gains

Where the estimated amounts above show a portion of the distribution to be a "Return of Capital," it means that Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in a Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income."

The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions for the current year will only be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. After the end of each calendar year, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders for the prior calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The following table provides the Funds' total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Funds' annualized and cumulative distribution rates.

Fund Performance and Distribution Rate Information Fund Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 06/30/2022 Current Fiscal Period's Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV Cumulative Total Return on NAV Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV ASGI 8.24%3 6.61% -2.07% 4.87% FAX -1.15% 9.79% -17.95% 6.53%

1 Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan.

2 Based on the Fund's NAV as of June 30, 2022.

3 The Fund launched within the past 5 years; the performance and distribution rate information presented reflects data from inception (July 29, 2020) through June 30, 2022.

Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about a Fund's investment performance from the amount of the Fund's current distributions or from the terms of the distribution policy (the "Distribution Policy").

While NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market.

Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Funds may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Funds during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Funds, to be taxed at a lower rate not to exceed the maximum rate applicable to your long-term capital gains. Distributions made in any calendar year in excess of investment company taxable income and net capital gain are treated as taxable ordinary dividends to the extent of undistributed earnings and profits, and then as a return of capital that reduces the adjusted basis in the shares held. To the extent return of capital distributions exceed the adjusted basis in the shares held, capital gain is recognized with a holding period based on the period the shares have been held at the date such amount is received.

The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. Each Fund's Board has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances.

Circular 230 disclosure : To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Treasury, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

In the United States, abrdn is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: abrdn Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., abrdn Australia Limited, abrdn Asia Limited, Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, abrdn ETFs Advisors LLC and Aberdeen Standard Alternative Funds Limited.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. A Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that a Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

If you If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact Investor.Relations@abrdn.com

https://www.abrdn.com/en-us/cefinvestorcenter/fund-centre/closed-end-funds

For More Information Contact:

abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds

Investor Relations

1-800-522-5465

Investor.Relations@abrdn.com

SOURCE: abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708343/abrdn-US-Closed-End-Funds-Announce-Distribution-Payment-Details
Best Performance since 2015

Christie's:

Guillaume Cerutti,

Chief Executive Officer, Christie's

"Our results in the first half of 2022 have been remarkably strong, with many memorable moments like the sales of Warhol's Marilyn and of the Bass collection in New York, and of the Givenchy collection in Paris. These results have been achieved in a challenging economic and political environment, partly thanks to the natural resilience of the art market and partly thanks to the transformation of Christie's business model over the last years. We have accelerated our technological innovations and diversified the range of services for our clients (live and digital auction, private sales, art financing) to allow them to take advantage of a growing demand for art and luxury. In the second half, our strategy will be to continue to present the best objects and the best collections."

Key take-aways from H1 2022:

Christie's total sales for H1 2022 surpass H1 2021 total (+34% in GBP/ +18% in USD)

Christie's total sales for H1 2022 establish best performance since 2015 (surpassing H1 2018, when Christie's sold the Rockefeller collection)

The most valuable art work at auction in H1 was sold by Christie's: Andy Warhol's Shot Sage Blue Marilyn for $195 M, the most expensive 20 th Century artwork ever sold

Remarkable results for major collections: Thomas and Doris Ammann, Anne H. Bass, Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs, Hubert de Givenchy

Superior sell-through rate of 87% across all Christie's auctions

Strong influx of new and younger clients : 30% of all buyers in H1 are new to Christie's, and 34% of these new buyers are millennials (up from 31% in 2021);

Christie's innovative 20/21 sales format brings new, younger, and more diverse artists to the international auction stage, achieving record prices for 21 st Century art

Philanthropic sales raise nearly $440 M in H1 2022, with $13.7 M for aid to Ukraine

Christie's makes meaningful progress towards global sustainability goals ; recognized in our 2 nd Environmental Impact Report

Promising Autumn pipeline , led by Ann Gordon Getty Collection in New York

HALF-YEAR DETAILED HIGHLIGHTS:

GLOBAL FIGURES FOR H1 2022

Total sales:3.3 B $4.1 B (up 34% GBP 18% USD v 2021 H1)

Auction sales: 2.8 B $3.5 B, including online-only sales (120 M $149 M)

# Lots sold: 22,085 lots sold at auction in H1

Private Sales: 0.5 B $0.6 B, second best total for H1 in the last 5 years, with an increasing number of curated selling exhibitions including pop-ups in Hong Kong, London, Paris, Singapore, Los Angeles, Palm Beach, Miami, Aspen, Southampton, Monaco as well as the summer online exhibition of monumental sculpture, Dream Big, generating tremendous response in key collecting centers.

MASTERPIECES IN EVERY MARKET

Christie's sold 7 of the 12 most expensive artworks at auction in H1 2022, including the top lot: Andy Warhol's Shot Sage Blue Marilyn ($195 M), which sold in New York and is now the most valuable 20th century artwork and the second most expensive work ever sold at auction; from the Collection of Anne H. Bass, Edgar Degas's Petite danseuse de quatorze ans sold for $41.6 M, breaking a record for the artist for the first time in almost 15 years; Paris: Alberto Giacometti's Femme qui Marche (27 M) became most expensive work sold YTD in France; rediscovered Michelangelo drawing (23.2 M) set record for most valuable work on paper sold in Europe; at end of June a curated sale of 9 masterworks of African and Oceanic art totalled 11.4 M, and set 4 new auction records; London: Franz Marc's The Foxes Die Fusche (42.7 M) ascended to top 5 works sold at auction in London in last decade in inaugural Shanghai-London 20/21 sale; Geneva: The Rock was the largest white diamond ever sold at auction (CHF 21.7 M); in the Hong Kong saleroom, Zao Wou-Ki's 29.09.64. sold for HK$278 M (US$35.6 M), the second highest auction price for the artist.

SUCCESS WITH PRIVATE SINGLE-OWNER COLLECTIONS

Christie's continues to be the auction house of record for the world's best private collections, selling 8 of the top 10 collections in history, including two in H1 2022. H1 2022 highlights: in Paris, the iconic Hubert de Givenchy: Collectionneur realized 118.1 M, celebrating le gout Francais and redefining the market for 18th century furniture and art; the Collection of Jacqueline Matisse Monnier, also sold in Paris, totalled 40 M; in New York, three landmark collections led Christie's $1.4 B spring marquee week-the Collection of Thomas and Doris Ammann ($325.1 M), the Collection of Anne H. Bass ($363.1 M), and the Collection of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs ($42.3 M) including Man Ray's Violon d'Ingres: most expensive photograph ever sold ($12.4 M); in London: the 100% sold Marc Chagall, Colour of Life: Works Formerly from the Artist's Estate sale more than doubled its low estimate, achieving 9.7 M.

LUXURY BUSINESS EXPANDS

Global Luxury auction sales total $413.3 M for H1 2022, +18% H1 2021 (334.4 M +33% in GBP); online sales organized from Geneva, Hong Kong, London, New York, Milan and Paris contributed a total of $77 M, 19% of total luxury auction sales; Precious stones market steadily trending upwards, bolstering strong jewelry results, highlighted by The Rock (228 cts) 21.7 M, The Red Cross Diamond (205 cts) $14 M, and The Light of Africa (103 cts) $20 M; New trend in semi-precious stones: Paraiba tourmalines, garnets, a 54 cts spinel $515,000; Artistic contemporary designs by jewelers such as JAR continue to achieve huge prices on secondary market with demand far exceeding supply; Unparalleled results for exceptional timepieces: Kairos collection of 128 Patek Philippe watches was 100% sold in Geneva, Hong Kong and New York 183% above low estimate ($22.2 M); Record-breaking $57.8 M in wine sales for H1 (+234% v. 2021 46.8 M +279%); Historic $19.6 M for "The Visionary's Spectacular Cellar" ranks highest ever total for the category and most valuable single-owner collection at Christie's; Christie's Paris hosted first-ever single-owner handbags live sale in Paris in April, inaugurating new series of sales in France for further development in this market; Christie's Milan held first online single-owner sales of handbags, with millennial collectors accounting for 53% of new registrants.

GLOBAL DEMAND

Buyers in the Americas contributed 44% of the total value of global auction sales in H1; in EMEA 34%, and in APAC 22%. Sales volumes at auction were up significantly, with New York leading at $1.9 B, followed by London and Paris. American buying power grows, due to significant collection sales including Ammann and Bass in H1; The amount spent by clients locally within region is up across the board vs. pre-pandemic levels (Americas +48%, APAC +26% and EMEA +27%). This trend is also mirrored in bought value by clients outside of their regions vs. 2019, +32% from American clients and +10% from EMEA clients. In APAC due to the ongoing pandemic restrictions, this was -9% in H1 but activity is anticipated to return as the situation stabilises. Major sales continue to drive tremendous global engagement due to strategic collaboration between regions: In 21st Century evening sale in May in New York, 32% of the underbidder value was from APAC clients; and in the 20th Century New York evening sale, EMEA clients increased their spend by 32% against the same sale in May 2021. APAC bidding and buying was also especially important in the success of both the Givenchy Collection in Paris and the Chagall Collection in London.Continuing to expand the global reach of its auctions, in March, Christie's hosted the first live sale in its new saleroom space in Shanghai Bund One- the 20/21 relay sale between Shanghai and London.

CLIENT ENGAGEMENT AND RETURN

Christie's average of more than 3.7 bidders per lot for both live and online auctions demonstrates strong client engagement; 13% of all buyers/bidders in H1 continue to be active across categories; Christie's continues to provide the strongest returns to consignors, on average achieving a hammer value of 117% of low estimate in H1; superior sell-through rate of 87% across all auctions. Clients are excited to be back in the saleroom in person but many participate digitally at the highest level

NEW BUYERS

30% of all buyers are new to Christie's in H1 (29% in 2021), with nearly 2/3 entering via onlinesales; 34% of new buyers are millennials; New buyers to date comefirst from AMERICAS (39%), second from EMEA (33%), third from APAC (28%), with the greatest number of new buyers from the United States, China (Hong Kong), United Kingdom and France overall; Growth in New buyers activity across regions and sale channels. While majority of new buyers enter via Luxury (38%) and 20th/21st Century Art (31% YTD), Asian Art showed a notable increase in new buyers for Chinese Paintings (+37%), and Classics-Old Masters (+21%) and Decorative Arts (+20%) show the highest growth in new buyers in H1.

20/21 PLATFORM BRINGS NEW, YOUNGER AND MORE DIVERSE ARTISTS TO GLOBAL AUCTION

Responding to demand from a new generation of collectors who embrace the diversity of creativity, Christie's continues to widen and diversify the art market. Christie's 21st century platform has led the way across all regions, achieving top prices worldwide: 48 records set for female artists in H1 including Lynn Drexler and Barbara Hepworth; while in London this June, work by women accounted for 48% of living artists in the London Evening Sale, featuring works by Simone Leigh and Rebecca Warren. 35 records set for artists of color led by Ernie Barnes, whose The Sugar Shack sold for $15.2 M 76 times its high estimate; and including a new record for Shara Hughes, whose Spins from Swiss achieved $2.94 M against a low estimate of $500,000New York's May Marquee Week alone also broke 10 records for artists under the age of 40, including breakout star Anna Weyant, whose Summertime achieved $1.5 M more than seven times its low estimate.

GROWTH IN ONLINE-ONLY SALES

Online-only sales continue to grow in importance as a gateway to Christie's. Compared to pre-pandemic levels in H1 of 2019, sales are up 292%; average lot value is $15 Kmore than half of all lots offered online were Luxury sales and Luxury remains the #1 recruiter (47%) of new buyers to online; e-commerce continues to be a strong driver of client engagement across all departments with 63% of new buyers entering online; the most expensive lot sold online in H1 was Lucio Fontana's Concetto Spaziale, [Attesa], which realized 942,000, the highlight of the Milan 20/21 sales; despite return of live auctions, which themselves are seeing materially increased online participation, our online-only sales channel has continued to grow, with 26% more lots sold online than H1 2021. Reflecting a conscious decision to more tightly curate our auction calendar for the benefits of all, we held 68 online-only sales in 2022 (vs. 76 in H1 2021) and generated 120 M (USD$ 149 M) in sales.

DIGITAL INNOVATION REACH

Christie's partnered with Proto to use cutting-edge hologram technology to virtually tour life-size 3D works of art and objects around the world; Social channels in the US and EMEA grew +13.4% to 1.78M; including Twitter growth by +26.5%; in Asia, our social media audience across our main channels, Instagram Asia, Wechat, Weibo and Xiaohongshu (Red), has grown by 105% since H1 2021 to 480K followers and there has been nearly 100% increase in visitors using Christie's app; 5.8 million unique visitors to Christies.com; The May New York 20/21 sales were livestreamed across 11 platforms, engaging more than 3.7 million viewers throughout the week; Christie's becomes first major auction house to offer PayPal as an online check-out option for buyers. 73% of all bids at Christie's are now placed online

NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS FACE MARKET TEST

Christie's sells $4.75 M in NFT art in H1 2022, including the top NFT lot at auction: Refik Anadol's Living Architecture: Casa Batllo ($1.39 M) Amidst the recent cryptocurrency volatility, the market for NFTs is facing its first real endurance test; collectors are responding by selecting the best digital artists from the rest, and are consolidating around a canon more likely to survive the tumult of the broader cryptocurrency markets. Christie's remains strongly committed to the digital art/NFT space which we had such a significant role in taking mainstream and our long-term ambition is undaunted. We continue our focus on presenting exceptional quality works in the most dynamic environments, such as Refik Anadol's multi-storey installation or the industry-leading exhibition of digital art using customized screens by Atomic Form for the charity MAPS. Seeing hundreds of the most passionate collectors, artists and web3 enthusiasts at Christie's during NFT.NYC this May and with significant interest shown for our 5th Annual Art+Tech Summit in NYC next week, it is clear there is still much opportunity for a stronger yet equally dynamic market to emerge.

PHILANTHROPY

Philanthropy played a major role in H1 2022; Christie's sales this year to date have helped to raise nearly $440 M to support vital philanthropic causes, including: humanitarian aid and educational support for children; urgent relief for those suffering from the war in Ukraine and funds to support museums and scientific research. Most notable was the $325.1 M total for the Thomas and Doris Ammann Collection sold to benefit charities providing urgent medical and educational services to children and Jeff Koons' Balloon Monkeywhich sold for 10.1 M in London in June for humanitarian relief in Ukraine, generously donated by Victor and Olena Pinchuk. Sale proceeds from "The Visionary's Spectacular Cellar" (US$19.6 M) in Hong Kong will further the impact of London Business School.

RESPONSIBLE CULTURE: DIVERSITY INCLUSION AND SUSTAINABILITY AT CHRISTIE'S

Diversity at Christie's: In April, Anthea Peers was appointed President of Christie's in EMEA, joining other senior women leading the company including regional presidents for the Americas and France. Positive change was also made at a junior level with the Americas welcoming their most diverse class of Interns to date. The Christie 's Fund , established last year as part of our ED&I efforts to drive positive change across the art world, offers financial support, expertise and resources to drive positive change across the art world, established 15 partnerships with organisations around the world, introducing more people to the arts through investment in early exposure, education, career development and mentorship.

In April, was appointed President of Christie's in EMEA, joining other senior women leading the company including regional presidents for the Americas and France. Positive change was also made at a junior level with the Americas welcoming their to date. , established last year as part of our ED&I efforts to drive positive change across the art world, offers financial support, expertise and resources to drive positive change across the art world, established 15 partnerships with organisations around the world, introducing more people to the arts through investment in early exposure, education, career development and mentorship. SustainabilityAcknowledging the urgent scientific evidence for climate action, Christie's set ambitious and important goals to become a more sustainable business, and we werethe first major auction house to do so. Our second annual Environmental Impact Report details the progress we have made to date, including receiving SBTi validation of our commitment to reduce our carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, the launch of a sea freight container service with partner Crozier as a sustainable alternative to air shipments; and raising 4.6 M in 2021 for ClientEarth to advocate for climate action, in partnership with the Gallery Climate Coalition.

IMAGES:

Images related to first-half sales and activities can be taken from this Dropbox link here

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712006157/en/

Contacts:

PRESS:



Europe, Middle East, Africa

Nicky Eaton

+44 207 389 2664

presslondon@christies.com



Americas

Deidrea Miller

+1 212 636 2680

communicationsamericas@christies.com



Asia

Gigi Ho

+852 2978 6719

communicationsasia@christies.com



Global

Natasha Le Bel

NLeBel@christies.com
HOUSTON, TX and CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Cub Energy Inc. ("Cub" or the "Company") (TSXV:KUB) announces that it has entered into a letter agreement dated July 8, 2022 to sell its 100% interest in 3P International Energy Ltd ("3P") and its wholly-owned Ukraine subsidiary, Tysagaz LLC ("Tysagaz"). The sale is for a nominal consideration of $1 and the buyer assuming all of 3P's and Tysagaz' liabilities including the Ukraine bank debt that is guaranteed by Cub and all provisions for reclamation costs. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion and the Ukraine government's increase of the royalty rate, Tysagaz has been generating monthly losses. The Company carried out a sales process engaging multiple parties to review the assets and it received multiple offers. The board selected the offer that provided the most favorable financial terms to the Company as well as greater certainty of closing in an expedited timeline. The sale is subject to several conditions which include entering into a definitive agreement, regulatory approval and shareholder approval. The Company intends to satisfy the shareholder approval by written consent. The transaction is expected to close in the next month. The buyer group includes two officers of the Company, namely Eugene Chaban, the Company's Chief Financial Officer and Sergey Panchuk, the Company's Chief Operating Officer.

The benefits of the Company's divesture of 3P and Tysagaz include (1) elimination of the Ukraine bank debt guaranteed by Cub (2) removal of all provisions for reclamation (3) separation from contingent liabilities (4) removes the last exposure to Ukraine and (5) reduction of overhead and monthly cash burn. As a condition to close, Cub is to be fully released from all Tysagaz liabilities, including Cub's guarantee of Tysagaz' repayment of the Ukraine bank loan.

This asset divesture is in furtherance of the Company's strategy to exit Ukraine and redeploy the capital as a cash dividend or reinvest in a new opportunity.

About Cub Energy Inc.

Cub Energy Inc. (TSXV:KUB) is an energy company looking to implement western technology and capital, combined with local expertise and ownership, to build a portfolio of assets within an advantaged commodity price environment. For further information please contact us or visit our website: www.cubenergyinc.com

Patrick McGrath

Chief Executive Officer

(832) 499-6009

patrick.mcgrath@cubenergyinc.com

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, including without limitation statements relating to the Company's western Ukraine property. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company cannot assure that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. They are made as of the date hereof and are subject to change and the Company assumes no obligation to revise or update them to reflect new circumstances, except as required by law. Prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration for and development of resource properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological and geophysical data, fluctuating commodity prices, the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated costs or delays and other uncertainties associated with the resource industry. Other risk factors could include risks associated with the armed conflict, martial law, negotiating with foreign governments as well as country risk associated with conducting international activities, the risk associated with closing the sale of 3P and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Cub Energy Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/708355/Cub-Energy-Announces-Letter-Agreement-for-the-Sale-of-Tysagaz
Arise, a NYC-based digital healthcare company enabling comprehensive care for eating disorders, mental health, and long-term healing, raised over $4 million in seed funding.

The round was led by Greycroft and BBG Ventures with participation from Wireframe Ventures, Cityblock co-founder Iyah Romm (he/him) and Sonder Health founder Sylvia Romm, MD, MPH (she/her), and PatientPing founder Jay Desai (he/him), among others.

The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach.

Led by CEO Amanda DAmbra, and Chief Product Officer Joan Zhang, Arise is bringing people virtual-first, person-centered support for disordered eating, eating disorders, and mental health. Through virtual care pathways, community, and ongoing support, the company will bring integrated community and clinical care to people living with disordered eating and eating disorders, which are a category of conditions that can show up in different ways for people  including binge eating disorder, bulimia, anorexia, rumination disorder, avoidant or restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), and other conditions. The companys care model is designed to also address the past and current life circumstances and underlying conditions that can contribute to and exist alongside eating disorders  including trauma, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders.

In addition to overcoming access barriers and broadening care options to best serve the complexity of eating disorders, Arise aims to expand access to the diverse populations of people experiencing eating disorders  including boys and men, people who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, transgender, and gender-nonconforming+, those who live in larger bodies, who are neurodivergent or disabled, and others.

Arise plans to launch a beta program on its community care in late summer 2022, followed by its full care model with clinical services in the fall.

FinSMEs

12/07/2022
Change, a San Francisco, CA-based giving technology platform provider, raised $5M in Seed funding.

The round was led by Freestyle and NEA.

The company intends to use the funds to expand its engineering team to scale the donation platform to all major blockchains.

Led by CEO Sonia Nigam, Change is a technology company streamlining cryptocurrency and fiat donations to 200K+ accredited charities. Companies around the world use Change to launch point-of-sale campaigns, charitable NFTs, loyalty programs, DAOs for a cause, and more.

FinSMEs

12/07/2022
A North Korean fisherman resists South Korean officials' attempt to hand him over to North Korean officials at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, in this Nov. 7, 2019, file photo. Courtesy of Ministry of Unification



New revelation suggests they were sincere about defecting, unlike previous claims



By Jung Min-ho



The Ministry of Unification has abandoned its previous position on the repatriation of two North Korean fishermen, whom it said were "not sincere" about defecting to South Korea in 2019  a chief justification for the controversial decision.



Speaking to The Korea Times, Tuesday, a ministry official reconfirmed its shift in stance. But while the Coast Guard apologized for reversing its investigation results involving North Korea under the previous administration, the official said the ministry, as of now, has no plans to issue an apology.



The Moon Jae-in administration said in 2019 that the South Korean government was not obligated to accept the defectors, because they murdered 16 fellow fishermen during their escape to South Korea across the Northern Limit Line, or the de facto maritime border separating the two Koreas.



At Monday's press briefing, Cho Joong-hoon, a spokesman for the ministry, said the decision was "obviously flawed," considering the fate the fishermen faced if they were sent back, reversing its position three years ago.



He also said the ministry received documents from the fishermen who, in their own words, asked for protection  further evidence against the claim questioning their intentions.





Cho Joong-hoon, spokesman for the Ministry of Unification, speaks during a press briefing at the government complex in Seoul, Monday. Newsis
The talent solutions division of Prytek, a Singaporean multinational technology corporation, has made a USD30M Investment in London, UK-headquartered global executive search firm TritonExec.

Specialising in leadership hiring for professional, tech services, and fintech, TritonExec will bolster Pryteks HR technology services portfolio, and further its mission of building a tech-enabled talent solutions ecosystem.

This follows a recent investment into Chicago-based talent acquisition provider, Hirewell, who have embedded technology to provide faster, more efficient client and candidate experience.

TritonExec, which pioneered Exec RPO-as-a-service (recruitment process outsourcing) for corporations looking to scale at pace, will create synergies with Hirewell, offering an end-to-end solution powered by technology to clients globally.

TritonExec, which already had presence in Europe and the US, has recently expanded its global reach to India, Philippines, Japan and Australia, and continues to grow through an approach of hiring leaders and building out teams. It is led by co-founders Ben Graham and Jonathan Morris.

FinSMEs

12/07/2022
wefox, a Berlin, Germany-based insurtech company, closed a Series D funding round of $400m (comprising equity and debt) and increased its post-money valuation to US$4.5bn.

The round was led by Mubadala Investment Company with participation from Eurazeo, LGT, Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures and Target Global.

The company intends to use the funding for product development and expand across Europe and thereafter Asia and the US.

Founded in 2015 by Julian Teicke, Fabian Wesemann and Dario Fazli, wefox is a full-stack insurtech company that sells insurance through intermediaries and technology. wefox is the parent company of wefox Insurance, which is the in-house regulated insurance carrier.

Timeline of funding rounds

2022: Series D round $400M led by Mubadala Investment Company.

2021: Series C round $650M led by Target Global.

2019: Series B round $235M led by Omers and Mubadala.

2017: Series A round of $30M led by Horizons Ventures.

2016: Seed round of $5.5M led by Salesforce Ventures.

FinSMEs

12/07/2022
From May 30th to 31st, the Chinese Embassy in Liberia and the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Liberia jointly held the first National Conference on the Right to Development in Liberia. Chinese Ambassador to Liberia H.E. Ren Yisheng attended the conference and delivered opening and closing remarks. Hon. Atty. Paul Harris, Special Representative of the Vice President of the Republic of Liberia H.E. Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor, Hon. Dr. Wilhemina S. Jallah, Minister of Health, Hon. Varney A. Sirleaf, Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. Cllr. T. Dempster Brown, Chairman of the Independent National Commission of Human Right in Liberia, and Mr. Neil Scott, the UN Resident Coordinator in Liberia attended respectively the opening and closing ceremonies and delivered speeches. More than 100 people participated offline or online, including Assistant Ministers and other government officials of Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of State, etc., development superintendents of 15 Liberian counties, Mr. Uchenna Emelonye, Representative of the OHCHR in Liberia, ambassadors, charge d'affaires or representatives of Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Cuba, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Sweden and other countries in Liberia, Ms. Li Xiaomei, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Professor Hu Biliang, Executive Dean of the Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University, Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh, Canadian Professor of Global Human Rights and African Studies, Representatives of Chinese-funded institutions and overseas Chinese in Liberia, Council of Chiefs and Elders of Liberia, think tank scholars, civil society organizations and media representatives, etc.

At the meeting, Ambassador Ren elaborated on the Chinese government's people-centered development philosophy, prioritizing the realization of the rights to subsistence and development, the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy with Chinese characteristics, the remarkable development achievements it has made, as well as President Xi Jinping's philosophy of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Belt and Road initiative, Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative. He shared China's active participation in international cooperation in the field of human rights, vigorous promotion of the implementation of the right to development, and China-Africa and China-Liberia friendly and pragmatic cooperation in the new era. Ambassador Ren said that in the face of changes unseen in a century and world turmoil, the international community should firmly safeguard world peace and security, create favorable conditions for the realization of the rights to subsistence and development, and promote sustainable security through sustainable development. China is willing to work together with other countries including Africa and Liberia to jointly build the Belt and Road, implement the Nine Programs of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and build a closer China-Africa and China-Liberia community with a shared future, so as to build lasting peace and common prosperity and make new and greater contributions to the world.

In his speech, Atty. Harris, the Special Representative of the Vice President of Liberia, congratulated the Chinese Embassy in Liberia and the OHCHR for the first joint National Conference on the Right to Development in Liberia, and stressed that the conference is of great significance to promoting the realization of the right to development, development and sustainable development in Liberia and West Africa. Minister Sirleaf of Internal Affairs, Chairman Brown and others thanked China for its long-term great contributions to Liberia's peace building, economic and social development, and the fight against Ebola, COVID-19 and other epidemics, looked forward to the international community to help African countries, including Liberia, to accelerate the realization of the right to development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and expressed that Liberia is willing to strengthen cooperation with China and other international partners in such fields as infrastructure construction, rule of law, anti-corruption, agriculture, education, digital economy, health and anti-epidemic, and capacity building, so as to promote Liberia's economic and social development.

The UN Resident Coordinator and the ambassadors or representatives from the diplomatic missions said in their respective remarks that all countries should strengthen international cooperation and communication to promote the development of human rights cause including all categories of rights, the right to development and gender equality, and make contributions to world and regional peace and Liberian economic and social development. The representative of the OHCHR in Liberia thanked the Chinese side for its positive contribution to the ever first joint National Conference on the Right to Development in West Africa and even in Africa, and expected to strengthen bilateral cooperation to promote together the human rights cause in the world.

Special Representative Li Xiaomei and Professor Hu Biliang elaborated respectively online on the Chinese position on human rights and the right to development and the positive achievements of Belt and Road international cooperation.

During the two days meeting, the participants carried out in-depth discussions on the topics of the implementation of the right to development and the relevant international cooperation, the enlightenment of Chinas tremendous development achievements, the B&R international cooperation, anti-epidemic and other international or regional cooperation through remarks, interventions, questions and answers, and panel discussions. The conference was interactive with rounds of applause. The participants highly commended the Chinese side and the OHCHR for the first joint National Conference on the Right to Development, appreciated the development achievements of China and the fruitful outcome of China-Liberia pragmatic cooperation, and hoped to learn from Chinas successful experience to promote the realization of the right to development in Liberia.

A dozen of Liberian mainstream media outlets covered the event. Ambassador Ren took interviews from some media.
Scooters Coffee Continues Growing in North Carolina

Charlotte Residents Sign Multi-Unit Agreement with National Coffee Brand

July 12, 2022 // Franchising.com // OMAHA, Neb. - Scooters Coffee, LLC, the Midwest-based drive-thru coffee franchise that is experiencing record-breaking growth, is continuing its effort to grow its presence throughout the United States by bringing its world-class drive-thru coffee locations to Matthews, Weddington, and Ballantyne, North Carolina.

Scooters Coffee, based in Omaha, Nebraska, specializes in artisan espresso drinks, fruit smoothies, baked-from-scratch pastries and features its signature drink, the Caramelicious. The company also recently added depth to its profile with a line of organic hot and iced teas, single-origin coffee and Cold Brew & Cream.

The expansion into the suburbs south of Charlotte, NC is the result of a five-unit franchise agreement signed by business partners Jason Houseman and Gregg Turkovich. Houseman, a banker, and Turkovich, an accountant both originally from Buffalo, NY currently live in Charlotte where they were introduced by a mutual friend. They decided to go into business together since they share an entrepreneurial spirit. We asked ourselves whats lacking in the market and we realized that its hard to get a good cup of coffee if you are in a hurry. Theyd heard about Scooters Coffee, so did some research and found it was a strong brand with strong support. Besides being able to get customers in and out quickly, they had a premium product at an affordable price which were both very important to us.

According to the latest market trends compiled by the National Coffee Association, 60 percent of Americans drank coffee in the past day. Thats more than reported drinking tea, juice, soda, or even tap water! And the number of people who reported buying coffee at a coffee shop or restaurant has risen 20% since January of 2021. The drive-thru coffee model, already popular in our fast-paced society, has boomed during the pandemic, giving customers a way to get a delicious beverage while staying socially distant. Scooters Coffee kiosks, with the Brand Promise of Amazing People, Amazing Drinks Amazingly Fast!  is helping Americans meet that demand.

Since Scooters Coffee is relatively new, and we are able to get onboard with a company thats poised for incredible growth, were very excited by that, said Houseman. These franchises are just the start; we hope to do a lot more eventually.

The Charlotte North Carolina market has been a great area for Scooters Coffee, says Kelly Crummer, Scooters Coffee Senior Director of Franchise Recruitment. We are excited to onboard new franchisees and feel Jason Houseman and Gregg Turkovich will be a great addition to our system.

About Scooters Coffee

Approaching 500 stores operating across 23 states and commitments to open stores in 30 states, Scooters Coffee is in the midst of a strategic growth phase across the nation. The U.S. coffee market is an estimated $48-billion-a-year, recession-resistant industry, and with a 664-foot proven kiosk model, Scooters Coffee is striving to become the #1 drive-thru coffee franchise in the nation. Visit ownascooters.com to learn more about the benefits of owning a franchise with a well-established and fast-growing brand.

Founded in 1998 by Don and Linda Eckles in Bellevue, Nebraska, Scooters Coffee roasts only the finest coffee beans in the world at its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. In more than two decades of business, Scooters Coffees success is simple: stay committed to the original business principles and company core values. The Scooters Coffee Brand Promise, often recited to franchisees, customers and employees is: Amazing People, Amazing Drinks... Amazingly Fast!  It represents the companys business origins from 1998 and reflects a steady commitment to providing an unforgettable experience to loyal and new customers.

For more information, visit, scooterscoffee.com, facebook.com/scooterscoffee, ownascooters.com or call 877-494-7004.

SOURCE Scooters Coffee

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Jbiegel@919marketing.com

919-589-4056

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Members of Eld Union, a civic group consisting of senior citizens, hold a rally near the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, June 16, calling for legalization of euthanasia. Newsis



By Lee Hyo-jin



Debates on euthanasia, the deliberate ending of a person's life to relieve suffering, have been reignited in Korea due to a proposed law that would offer certain patients with terminal illnesses an end-of-life option.



Earlier in June, Rep. Ahn Gyu-back of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea proposed a revision to the Act on Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for patients in hospice care, or the so-called "Death with Dignity Act," which would allow terminally ill patients to request a physician to assist in the process of ending their life.



While the current measures  in a limited way  allow terminally ill patients to withdraw life-extending medical treatments under several key criteria such as confirmation by a family member and approval from the ethics committee at a medical institution, the revision bill goes a step further.



Under the proposed bill, eligible applicants seeking physician-assisted death may file a request to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, proving that they are suffering from an irreversible illness and unbearable pain.



The ministry would then review the case with various medical experts. If granted approval, the patient would then be able to request a prescription for life-ending medication or subsequent medical aid. And the physician who performs the procedure will be exempt from criminal punishment.



Eld Union, a civic group consisting of senior citizens, strongly supported the legislation, which they believe would guarantee individuals' self-determination regarding the issue of assisted dying.



"Even as we speak, there are hundreds of thousands of patients receiving 'meaningless' end-of-life care lying in comas in intensive care unit beds, incapable of expressing their own wishes. In other words, they are deprived of a choice over the manner and timing of their imminent death," Ko Hyun-jong, a senior official at Eld Union, told The Korea Times.



He went on to say that the legalization of physician assisted-dying would spare the economic and emotional pain of the patient's family and guardians who have to see their loved ones suffer a long-drawn-out death while suffering from difficulties in covering medical costs.



The right-to-die activist also thinks that Rep. Ahn's proposal concerning the revision seems to reflect changes in public sentiment over the issue.



A survey conducted in March 2021 among 1,000 adults by Yun Young-ho, a professor of family medicine at Seoul National University Hospital, found that over 76 percent of respondents had positive views of the legalization of euthanasia or assisted dying. In the same survey conducted in 2016 and 2008, about 50 percent, respectively, said that they would support it.





A medical worker takes care of a patient in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Yonsei Severance Hospital in Sinchon, Seoul, in this March 2018 photo. Korea Times file




A key aide to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Tuesday with a South Korean foreign ministry official for discussions on the bilateral alliance and other issues.







State Department Counselor Derek Chollet tweeted that he had a meeting with Yeo Seung-bae, deputy minister for political affairs, in Seoul.







"We spoke about the U.S.-ROK Alliance and our joint efforts on regional and global issues. I appreciate the ROK's partnership on Burma," Chollet wrote, using the acronym for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. He stopped short of providing details.







In a Twitter message posted hours earlier, he wrote, "It's great to be in Seoul! The U.S.-ROK Alliance is the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and our nations are working closer than ever on a range of global issues."







It followed his department's announcement that he would make a two-day trip to South Korea from Monday for consultations on the alliance as well as regional and global affairs, including North Korea and Myanmar, which Washington calls Burma.







Serving at the rank of under secretary as a senior policy adviser to Blinken, he is tasked with conducting "special diplomatic assignments" as directed by the secretary, according to the department. (Yonhap)






The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Woo Sang-ho writes a tribute in a guest book at the memorial altar of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was fatally shot during an election campaign speech, set up at the Japanese embassy in downtown Seoul, June 12. Yonhap



The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea paid his respects at a memorial altar for late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday.



"I came to offer condolences over the tragic incident, even though his political views were different from the Democratic Party," Rep. Woo Sang-ho told reporters at the mourning altar set up at the Japanese Embassy's public information and cultural center in downtown Seoul.










Philip Goldberg, the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, submitted a copy of his credentials to Seoul's foreign ministry Tuesday, effectively beginning his official activity in the position.







Goldberg, who arrived here Sunday, visited the ministry's headquarters in the capital city to hand in the copy to its chief of protocol in advance of presenting it to President Yoon Suk-yeol. The date for a related ceremony to be held at the presidential office in the central district of Yongsan has yet to be announced.







In 2018, his predecessor, Harry Harris, presented then President Moon Jae-in with his credentials 18 days after his arrival to assume the post. Usually, South Korea's presidential office groups together new foreign ambassadors in the nation for such an event.







The envoy then headed to the Japanese Embassy's information and culture center in Seoul to pay tribute to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated during a political campaign speech in Nara, Japan, last week.







Later in the day, Goldberg is scheduled to pay an introductory courtesy call on Foreign Minister Park Jin, according to his ministry.







The minister plans to request that the ambassador make lots of contributions to the strengthening of the Seoul-Washington relations to a "global comprehensive strategic alliance," its spokesperson Choi Young-sam said at a press briefing







He is Washington's first ambassador to Seoul under the Joe Biden administration, as he filled the post that had been vacant for 1 1/2 years since the departure of Harris.







Goldberg, a veteran diplomat, previously served as ambassador to Colombia after working as a coordinator for implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea from 2009-10. (Yonhap)






PARK CITY, Utah, June 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sorenson Impact Group, the multidisciplinary impact organization focused on accelerating and growing intentional, scalable and equitable impact investing, today announced that Sorenson Impact Asset Management, its new for-profit asset management subsidiary, has launched Enable Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests at the intersection of disability and innovation with the goal of delivering deep impact.

"Over the years I have sought to scale impact investing by showing in various ways the profits to be made from doing well by doing good," said Jim Sorenson, President and Founder of Sorenson Impact Group. "But the myriad of challenges we face as a global society require the impact marketplace to do more, faster. Sorenson Impact Asset Management aims to do just that. We offer unique investment opportunities that are designed to deliver market-rate, risk-adjusted returns alongside deep impact outcomes by investing in impact sectors that have been overlooked or underserved."

Enable Ventures was co-founded by Regina "Gina" Kline. Former Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, Kline is an entrepreneur and attorney who spent nearly 15 years as a civil rights lawyer leading efforts to dramatically improve working conditions and the employment of people with disabilities. As a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Kline successfully fought for workers with disabilities in segregated workplaces, where they were often paid pennies per hour, helping secure court orders to support and move over 11,000 workers to competitive integrated employment and setting a new standard in law.

"I launched Enable Ventures because I wanted to solve the problems that I witnessed as a civil rights lawyer on the front lines of work and economic participation in America, where workers with disabilities were fighting every day just to be heard and to be counted," said Kline. "Throughout my journey, I saw so much rich innovation and problem solving potential in people with disabilities. In so many ways, people with disabilities are the original entrepreneurs - and yet this talented marketplace has been completely ignored by the mainstream venture community. This is despite the fact that from Thomas Edison to Vint Cerf, the disabled community has an astonishing track record of successful innovators. What's more, elevating the design of products and services to meet the needs of people with disabilities has remarkable follow-on effects in many areas of deep tech and innovation, from biotech to computer engineering, to artificial intelligence advancing innovation for all."

"Enable Ventures is a perfect fit for the Sorenson Impact Group and an ideal first investment strategy for our asset management business," added Sorenson. "The disability market is massively underserved and undercapitalized. I know from my own experience as an entrepreneur how rewarding, both monetarily and emotionally, it can be to build a business that supports this community. By bringing together our institutional grade investment acumen with the Enable team's remarkable sector expertise and impressive deal pipeline, we have an opportunity to penetrate deeper into the disability marketplace by identifying investible transformational products and services."

Today, there are over 1 billion people with disabilities globally, with $8 trillion in disposable income. In the U.S., 26 percent of adults have some kind of disability. Yet the disabled population is experiencing crisis levels of unemployment. Nearly two-thirds of the world's working-age population are unemployed. People with disabilities make up 50 percent of those living with long-term poverty in the U.S. and receive less than one percent of all microfinance loans worldwide. All of which leads to a $1.9 trillion loss to global GDP as a result of the economic exclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. This comes at a time and moment when technological advances and changing workplace cultures make people with disabilities valued workforce participants.

Enable Ventures invests in four categories, all of which have strong potential for purpose and growth: up-skilling, re-skilling, and future proofing work; work-related technologies; next-gen assistive technologies; and founders with disabilities.

Enable Ventures is the first investment strategy to be seeded by Sorenson Impact Asset Management, the newly formed asset management business of Sorenson Impact Group. Sorenson Impact Asset Management focuses on supporting investment strategies in impact sectors that have been overlooked or underserved and that have the potential to deliver deep impact outcomes. The business looks to advance Sorenson Impact Group's mission to scale the deployment of capital into impact investing by launching thesis-driven strategies with innovative businesses, especially those from diverse founders. Existing funds on the Sorenson Impact Asset Management platform today include the Catalyst Opportunity Funds and University Venture Funds.

Sorenson Impact Asset Management leverages the private equity expertise of Jim's son, Luke, who has been investing in private equity for over 20 years and who has joined the Sorenson Impact Group as CEO. Luke Sorenson joins Sorenson Impact Asset Management from Sorenson Capital, a $2 billion venture capital firm where he was managing partner and chairman. Luke and his team, including chief operating officer Mark Ludwig, formerly a partner with Sorenson Capital, co-founder Jeremy Keele and chief investment officer Lauren Sercu, formerly a managing director with Serpio Capital, will provide venture investing expertise as well as back office and operational support to Enable Ventures.

"The impact investment community has tended to overlook the disability market," says Luke Sorenson, CEO of Sorenson Impact Asset Management. "But we are at an ideal moment now where the market demand is there, the technology innovation is there, and investor will and interest is there. That is why we are so excited to have Enable Ventures on our impact investment platform."

A serial entrepreneur, Jim Sorenson founded Sorenson Communications in 2000. For over 20-years the Salt Lake City, Utah, firm has been delivering accessible communications technologies and services to the deaf and hard of hearing communities and is one of America's largest private employers of deaf people.

"I know the value of servicing disabled communities," says Jim Sorenson, who sold his stake in Sorenson Communications in 2005. "So, when Gina came to us with her idea, I could immediately see what an amazing opportunity Enable was delivering on. The fact that Luke and his team were also able to come on board for the launch of Sorenson Impact Asset Management was all the more synergistic. It positions Sorenson Impact Group as a real powerhouse in the impact investment space, furthering my goal of growing and scaling impact investment and entrepreneurship. We are excited for what lies ahead."

The Sorenson Impact Center recently hosted the Sorenson Impact Summit, a three-day convening of impact entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders in Park City, Utah, from June 13 through June 15.

About Enable Ventures

Enable Ventures is an impact venture fund dedicated to closing the disability wealth gap by investing in and scaling early-stage companies that leverage disability as an asset to unleash untapped economic potential through products and services powered by universal design. Enable Ventures is led by Regina "Gina" Kline, an entrepreneur and civil rights lawyer and supported by SmartJob, a platform to attract disability deal flow. Enable is part of the Sorenson Impact Group platform of funds founded by impact pioneer Jim Sorenson. For more information, please visit www.enableventures.vc.

About Sorenson Impact Asset Management

Sorenson Impact Asset Management is an asset management subsidiary of Sorenson Impact Group. We offer investors unique investment opportunities that are designed to deliver market-rate, risk-adjusted returns alongside deep impact outcomes by investing in impact sectors that have been overlooked or underserved. We seek to scale capital deployment by launching thesis-driven investment strategies with like-minded partners, especially those from diverse founders, with innovative solutions that can create impact at scale. Currently, strategies supported by Sorenson Impact Asset Management include Enable Ventures, Catalyst Opportunity Funds, and University Venture Funds.

About Sorenson Impact Group

The Sorenson Impact Group, founded by Jim Sorenson, is a multidisciplinary organization focused on catalyzing intentional, scalable and equitable investing to help solve complex, global social and environmental challenges. We strive to foster an investment ecosystem that aligns mission and values with market-rate, risk-adjusted returns. Sorenson Impact Group stands unique as a multidisciplinary impact organization that can offer a full spectrum of solutions that the impact marketplace needs to grow and flourish. Our organization includes the Sorenson Impact Center, which is housed at the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business; the Sorenson Impact Foundation, which is one hundred percent mission aligned; and Sorenson Impact Asset Management, which focuses on delivering market-rate risk-adjusted returns and intentional impact from investments in impact sectors that have been overlooked or underfunded.

Media Contact:

Cindy Stoller

Confluence Partners

917-331-0418

cstoller@confluencepartners.com

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BRISBANE, Australia, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the leading SEO agency Brisbane-wide, Zib Digital, for a business to be found online by motivated local customers, building visibility in organic search is crucial. Zib Digital shares its top tips for helping businesses enhance their organic reach through SEO.

Zib Digital explains that checking for technical errors that could impact indexing is a critical aspect of SEO. Understanding the basics about how search engines crawl and index websites is baseline SEO. Technical SEO issues such as indexation are rather complex and while there are many resources online which businesses can use to help build their foundational knowledge, it could be wise to outsource to an agency that specialises in SEO Brisbane-wide.

Content is king when it comes to SEO. Competition online is strong and content must be high quality and offer value to users in order to stand out. A local content strategy needs to be created that aligns with business goals, says Zib Digital, and incorporating different types of local content that is optimised according to SEO best practices will give small businesses a competitive edge.

Links signal trust and authority to search engines and, therefore, incorporating local link building is an important factor contributing to a successful SEO strategy. Local, relevant links will help users find a business and also show that the local area trusts or endorses a business, explains Zib Digital.

A well-optimised Google profile is another crucial part of a local SEO strategy. Previously known as Google My Business, Zib Digital says these profiles are incredibly useful for users as they help them understand the experience they will have with a business, allow businesses to interact with customers and proactively showcase offers, events and information about the business. Zib Digital recommends ensuring local listings are accurate as well as monitoring and responding to local reviews.

Taking on local SEO for a small business is an integral aspect of a successful digital marketing strategy. As it is not a simple "set and forget" task, many small businesses choose to outsource to experts in the area. As the premier digital marketing agency Brisbane-wide, Zib Digital can help small businesses with a customised SEO strategy.

Zib Digital

Phone - 1300 942 633

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BROOKFIELD, News, July 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Renewable (NYSE: BEP, BEPC; TSX: BEP.UN, BEPC) will hold its Second Quarter 2022 Conference Call and Webcast on Friday, August 5, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss results and business initiatives.



Results will be released on Friday, August 5, 2022 at approximately 7:00 a.m. ET and will be available on our website at http://bep.brookfield.com under Press Releases.

Participants can join by conference call or webcast:

Conference Call

Please pre-register by conference call: https://register.vevent.com/register/BIda42e69349d7426f84876a91cff4e032

Upon registering, you will be emailed a dial-in number, direct passcode and unique PIN. This process will bypass the operator and avoid the queue.

Webcast

Please join and register by webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/f352qv5d



Brookfield Renewable operates one of the worlds largest publicly traded, pure-play renewable power platforms. Its portfolio consists of hydroelectric, wind, solar and storage facilities in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, and totals approximately 21,000 megawatts of installed capacity and an approximately 69,000-megawatt development pipeline. Investors can access its portfolio either through Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE: BEP; TSX: BEP.UN), a Bermuda-based limited partnership, or Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE, TSX: BEPC), a Canadian corporation. Further information is available at www.bep.brookfield.com and https://bep.brookfield.com/bepc. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

Brookfield Renewable is the flagship listed renewable power company of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $725 billion of assets under management.
President Yoon Suk-yeol pays tribute at a memorial altar for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Japanese embassy's Public Information and Cultural Center in Jongno District, central Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of presidential office



Visit to altar seen as attempt to mend ties with Japan



By Nam Hyun-woo



President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday visited a memorial altar set up at the Japanese embassy's cultural center in Seoul and paid tribute to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated during a campaign speech in the Japanese city of Nara on Friday.



The move is part of the president's efforts to improve Seoul-Tokyo relations, which have gone from bad to worse during the previous Moon Jae-in government as a spat over historical issues intensified.



According to the presidential office, Yoon expressed his condolences at Abe's memorial altar set up at the Japanese embassy's Public Information and Cultural Center in Jongno District, central Seoul. Abe was Japan's longest-serving prime minister.



Yoon wrote on a guestbook at the memorial altar that he hopes Abe, who devoted himself to the progress and development of Asia, "rest in peace." The Korean president added that he "hopes Korea and Japan, the closest neighbors, will cooperate closely in the future."



According to presidential spokesperson Kang In-sun, Yoon told Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Aiboshi that he was "shocked" by the former prime minister's death and delivered his deep condolences to the bereaved family and the Japanese public.



"We hope the president's visit to the altar will be an opportunity reconfirming that Korea and Japan are close neighbors sharing values and rules," Kang said in a statement. "Also, we hope this would be the new starting point for bilateral relations."











President Yoon Suk-yeol leaves a message on a guest book at a memorial altar for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Japanese embassy's Public Information and Cultural Center in Jongno District, central Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of presidential office



Yoon's visit came after he expressed several times his intention to mend ties with Japan.



When he attended the 2022 NATO Summit in Spain last month, Yoon said he wants to "resolve issues that stand in the way of improving Seoul-Tokyo ties as soon as possible after Japan's upper house election," and described incumbent Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as "a partner who can work together to resolve bilateral issues."



Korea will also send a delegation to Japan to attend Abe's funeral. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will lead that delegation.



The Korean president's visit to the memorial of the late former Japanese prime minister is a rare event in the history of the two countries.



In 2000, then-Korean President Kim Dae-jung visited Tokyo and attended the funeral service of former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who died while serving his term.



Kim and Obuchi were close as they announced the Korea-Japan Joint Declaration in 1998, in which the two countries agreed on future-oriented relations based on Japan's recognition of the damage and suffering caused during its past colonial rule over Korea. During his presidential election campaign, Yoon pledged to improve Seoul-Tokyo relations by reaffirming the 1998 declaration.



This is the only case of an incumbent Korean president visiting the funeral of a Japanese prime minister.



Other than that, a number of former prime ministers, and lawmakers of Japan had attended the funerals of Korean presidents until 2015. However, Japan did not send delegations to the funeral services of former Presidents Roh Tae-woo in October last year and Chun Doo-hwan a month later, after the two countries' relations soured in 2019.



Against this backdrop, Yoon's visit to Abe's altar is interpreted as an effort to maintain the momentum for talks with Japan.



Korea's relations with Japan slumped to its lowest level after Japan began restricting exports of key industrial materials to Korea in 2019, in an apparent retaliation against the Supreme Court's ruling here ordering Japanese companies to compensate surviving Korean victims of wartime forced labor.




English Estonian

The number of digital subscriptions of AS Ekspress Grupp increased by 34% year-over-year in the Baltic States (2nd quarter: 4%, first six months: 12%) and totalled 151 322 at the end of June.

The number of digital subscriptions of AS Ekspress Meedia that publishes the news portal Delfi, newspapers Eesti Paevaleht, Maaleht, Eesti Ekspress and several popular magazines increased by 22% year-over-year (2 nd quarter: 7%, first six months: 12%) and totalled 84 072.

quarter: 7%, first six months: 12%) and totalled 84 072. The number of digital subscriptions of AS Ohtuleht, 50% of which is owned by Ekspress Grupp, increased by 38% year-over-year (2 nd quarter: -7%, first six months: 6%) and totalled 22 281.

quarter: -7%, first six months: 6%) and totalled 22 281. The number of digital subscriptions of Geenius Meedia OU increased by 55% year-over-year (2 nd quarter: 1%, first six months: 10%) and totalled 4 523.

quarter: 1%, first six months: 10%) and totalled 4 523. In Latvia, the number of digital subscriptions of Delfi A/S increased by 40% year-over-year (2 nd quarter: 1%, first six months: 4%) and totalled 18 190.

quarter: 1%, first six months: 4%) and totalled 18 190. In Lithuania, the number of digital subscriptions of Delfi increased by 84% year-over-year (2nd quarter: 8%, first six months: 28%) and totalled 22 256.

Chairman of the Management Board of Ekspress Grupp Mari-Liis Ruutsalu comments:

As compared to last year, the number of digital subscriptions of Ekspress Grupp continued to demonstrate fast growth; however, the growth rate decelerated slightly in the 2nd quarter. One the one hand, this slowdown is, as expected, due to the reference base of previous periods which keeps getting higher and higher. On the other hand, growth was also impacted by our marketing campaigns where the prices of the subscriptions of new customers were less than 1 euro but that we do not include in the number of digital subscriptions. We will be able to witness the positive impact of the campaigns in the second half of the year.

Detailed overview of digital subscriptions

30.06.2022 31.03.2022 change 31.12.2021 change 30.06.2021 change AS Ekspress Meedia 84 072 78 799 7% 74 873 12% 69 082 22% AS Ohtuleht Kirjastus 22 281 23 935 -7% 20 992 6% 16 102 38% Geenius Meedia OU 4 523 4 461 1% 4 100 10% 2 913 55% Delfi AS (Latvia) 18 190 18 060 1% 17 549 4% 12 977 40% Delfi UAB (Lithuania) 22 256 20 550 8% 17 433 28% 12 092 84% Total Ekspress Grupp 151 322 145 805 4% 134 947 12% 113 166 34%





One of the long-term goals of Ekspress Grupp is to increase the volume of digital subscriptions to 340 thousand subscribers in the Baltic States by the end of 2026 which is approximately 2.5 times higher than at the year-end 2021.





Signe Kukin

Group CFO

AS Ekspress Grupp

Telephone: +372 669 8381

E-mail address: signe.kukin@egrupp.ee





AS Ekspress Grupp is the leading Baltic media group whose key activities include web media content production, publishing of newspapers, magazines and books. The Group also operates an electronic ticket sales platform and ticket offices in Estonia and Latvia. Ekspress Grupp that launched its operations in 1989 employs more than 1400 people, owns leading web media portals in the Baltic States and publishes the most popular daily and weekly newspapers as well as the majority of the most popular magazines in Estonia.
LONDON, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Diamond Mining Market Analysis including Reserves, Production, Operating, Developing and Exploration Assets, Demand Drivers, Key Players and Forecasts, 2020-2025 report offered by GlobalData Plc provides detailed information on diamond reserves, production, production by company and country, major active, exploration and development projects by region. It also provides a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on global diamond industry for us to gain an understanding of its relevant driving factors, historical and forecast trends, and identify key players.



The global rough diamond production was expected to reach 112.99 million carats (Mct) in 2021. The production is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 2% during the forecast period (20212025). Russia, which holds some of the worlds largest diamond deposits, is expected to remain the worlds largest supplier. With potential diamond mines, Botswana, Canada, and the DRC are also expected to remain prominent suppliers of rough diamonds to global markets.

For more insights on the diamond mining market forecast, download a sample report

Leading Companies in the Diamond Mining Market

ALROSA : ALROSA is amongst the worlds leading diamond mining companies, headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and carries out the exploration, extraction, and sale of rough diamonds. It mines small, medium, and large diamonds. It operates mining and processing facilities in Udachny, Aikhal, Nyurba, and Anabar, located in Eastern Siberia and the Arkhangelsk region.

ALROSA is amongst the worlds leading diamond mining companies, headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and carries out the exploration, extraction, and sale of rough diamonds. It mines small, medium, and large diamonds. It operates mining and processing facilities in Udachny, Aikhal, Nyurba, and Anabar, located in Eastern Siberia and the Arkhangelsk region. Anglo American Plc: It mines, processes, and markets bulk commodities, base metals, precious metals, and minerals. The company operates in Southern Africa, South America, North America, and Australia. Anglo American operates through six reportable business segments: De Beers; Copper; Platinum; Iron Ore and Manganese; Coal; and Nickel.

It mines, processes, and markets bulk commodities, base metals, precious metals, and minerals. The company operates in Southern Africa, South America, North America, and Australia. Anglo American operates through six reportable business segments: De Beers; Copper; Platinum; Iron Ore and Manganese; Coal; and Nickel. Petra Diamonds Ltd: It is an independent diamond mining company. It is involved in the exploration, mining, and sale of rough diamonds. Its mine portfolio includes Finsch, Cullinan, Koffiefontein, and Reivilo in South Africa and Williamson in Tanzania. In addition, the company involves in the exploration of new economic deposits in Botswana and South Africa. Petra Diamonds is headquartered in St. Helier, Jersey, the UK.

It is an independent diamond mining company. It is involved in the exploration, mining, and sale of rough diamonds. Its mine portfolio includes Finsch, Cullinan, Koffiefontein, and Reivilo in South Africa and Williamson in Tanzania. In addition, the company involves in the exploration of new economic deposits in Botswana and South Africa. Petra Diamonds is headquartered in St. Helier, Jersey, the UK. Rio Tinto Plc: Rio Tinto is an international metals and mining company that carries out the mining, exploration, and processing of various mineral resources. It supplies a range of minerals and metals, including aluminum, diamonds, uranium, copper, gold, and iron ore. Rio Tinto also supplies industrial minerals such as borax, titanium dioxide, and salt.

Rio Tinto is an international metals and mining company that carries out the mining, exploration, and processing of various mineral resources. It supplies a range of minerals and metals, including aluminum, diamonds, uranium, copper, gold, and iron ore. Rio Tinto also supplies industrial minerals such as borax, titanium dioxide, and salt. Endiama EP: Endiama carries out the prospecting, research, mining, and trading of diamonds. The company offers logistic support services for diamond exploitation companies. It also provides healthcare services for its workers. Endiama through its subsidiaries, offers hotel operations, general trade, and import and export activities. The company operates in Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Benguela, Malange and Moxico in Angola, Central Africa.



To know more about major diamond producers, download a sample report

Diamond Mining Market Analysis by Country Reserves

Russia

Botswana

DRC

South Africa

Others



Diamond Mining Market Share, by Country Reserve

For more country reserve insights, download a sample report

Global Diamond Mining Market Report Scope

The report provides detailed information on reserves, production, production by company and country, major active, exploration and development projects by region.

Reasons to Buy

A comprehensive evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on the global diamond industry

To gain an understanding of the global diamond mining industry, relevant driving factors

To understand historical and forecast trends in global diamond production

To identify key players in the global diamond mining industry

To identify major active, exploration and development projects by region



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United States of America (USA) Copper Mining Market by Reserves and Production, Assets and Projects, Fiscal Regime including Taxes and Royalties, Key Players and Forecast, 2022-2026  Click here

Hydrogen in Mining  Thematic Research  Click here

Australia Mining Industry Fiscal Regime Analysis including Governing Bodies, Regulations, Licensing Fees, Taxes and Royalties, 2022 Update  Click here

Silver Mining Market by Reserves and Production, Assets and Projects, Demand Drivers, Key Players and Forecast, 2022-2026  Click here



Global Diamond Mining Market Report Overview

Market Size 2021 112.99 Mct CAGR% (2021-2025) >2% Leading Countries by Reserve Russia, Botswana, DRC, South Africa, and Others Leading Companies ALROSA, Anglo American, Petra Diamonds Ltd, Rio Tinto Plc, and Endiama EP

FAQs

What was the diamond mining market size in 2021?

The diamond mining market size was expected to reach 112.99 Mct in 2021.

What was the diamond mining market growth rate?

The diamond mining market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 2% during 2021-2025.

Which are the leading countries with reserves in the diamond mining market?

The leading countries with reserves in the diamond mining market are Russia, Botswana, DRC, South Africa, and others.

What are the leading companies in the diamond mining market?

The leading companies in the diamond mining market are ALROSA, Anglo American, Petra Diamonds Ltd, Rio Tinto Plc, and Endiama EP.

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary

2 Reserves and Production

2.1 Diamond Reserves by Country

 Russia

 Botswana

 DRC

 South Africa

2.2 Rough Diamonds Production

2.3 Production by Country

 Russia

 Botswana

 Democratic Republic of the Congo

2.4 Production by Company

3 Diamond Assets

3.1 Active Mines

3.2 Development Mines

3.3 Exploration Projects

4 Demand Drivers

4.1 Diamond Value-Chain Analysis

5 Major Diamond Producers

5.1 Company Profiles

 ALROSA

 Anglo American Plc

 Petra Diamonds Ltd

 Rio Tinto Plc

 Endiama EP

6 Appendix

6.1 Abbreviations

6.2 Methodology

6.3 Coverage

6.4 Secondary Research

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
LONDON, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Japan Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report offered by GlobalData Plc provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Japan today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2026. Published annually, the report provides a detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics, and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile, and pay-TV markets, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.



The Japan telecom market size was valued at $119.8 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 4% during 2021-2026. The telecom market growth in Japan will be driven by the ongoing 5G network expansion by major MNOs like NTT Docomo, KDDI, Softbank and Rakuten, which will create opportunities for wireless network infrastructure and equipment vendors.

To gain more information on Japan telecom market forecast, download a sample report

Japan Telecom Market - Competitive Landscape

NTT Docomo leads the mobile market in terms of mobile subscriptions, followed by KDDI. Over the forecast period, NTT will maintain its leading position in the mobile service industry, supported by its sustained focus on mobile network expansion. It is also concentrating on the deployment of 6G technology, with an intention to deliver it commercially by 2030.

Leading Telecom Operators in Japan

NTT : Focusing on 5G network modernization and upgradation, NTT teamed up with Nokia in December 2021 to supply its O-RAN fronthaul multi-vendor solution. This step will allow the operator to use more independent hardware and software combinations in the future to optimize its network.

Focusing on 5G network modernization and upgradation, NTT teamed up with Nokia in December 2021 to supply its O-RAN fronthaul multi-vendor solution. This step will allow the operator to use more independent hardware and software combinations in the future to optimize its network. KDDI : Focusing on Internet network expansion, KDDI has teamed up with aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services provider SpaceX (Starlink) to provide high speed Internet connectivity to remote islands and mountainous regions in Japan via the US firms satellites. About 1,200 places will receive high-speed, low-latency satellite broadband Internet starting in 2022.

Focusing on Internet network expansion, KDDI has teamed up with aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services provider SpaceX (Starlink) to provide high speed Internet connectivity to remote islands and mountainous regions in Japan via the US firms satellites. About 1,200 places will receive high-speed, low-latency satellite broadband Internet starting in 2022. SoftBank: It collaborated with Nokia to deploy a shared radio access network (RAN) across Japan in October 2021. This rollout will reportedly enable Softbank to scale capacity flexibly and efficiently as their 5G business evolves. It also teamed up with Ericsson in June 2021 to deploy Multi-Operator Radio Access Network (MORAN) technology in its network. This move will reportedly allow for modern, flexible, and efficient network deployment across the nation.



Other Telecom Operators in Japan

IIJ

Rakuten Mobile

Optage

Others

Japan Telecom Market Share by Operators



To know more about leading telecom companies in Japan, download a sample report

Japan Telecom Market Regulatory Highlights

To strengthen cyber defense in the country, the Japanese government announced plans to adopt new legislation for 14 vital infrastructure sectors, including telecommunications, in May 2021. The government will require operators of key infrastructure to address national security concerns when procuring foreign-made equipment.

Japan Telecom Market Segmentation by Service

Mobile services

Fixed services

Pay-TV services



Japan Telecom Market Analysis by Service

To gain more information on Japanese telecom market segmentation insights, download a sample report

Japan Telecom Market Report Scope

The Country Intelligence Report provides an in-depth analysis of the following 

The demographic and macroeconomic context in Japan.

The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments about spectrum licensing, DTT migration, IoT regulations, etc.

Telecom and pay-TV services market outlook: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, mobile data, and pay-TV markets.

The competitive landscape: an examination of the positioning of leading players in the telecom and pay-TV services market as well as subscription market shares across segments.

Company snapshots: analysis of the financial position of leading service providers in the telecommunications and pay-TV markets.

Underlying assumptions behind our published base-case forecasts, as well as potential market developments that would alter, either positively or negatively, our base-case outlook.

Reasons to Buy

This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Japans telecommunications markets, service providers, and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.

Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Japans mobile communications, fixed telephony, and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.

With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.

The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Japans telecommunications markets.

The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors, and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Japan.



Related Reports

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Wireless Telecommunication Services Market Summary, Competitive Analysis, and Forecast, 2017-2026 (Global Almanac)  Clic k here

North America (NAFTA) Wireless Telecommunication Services Market Summary, Competitive Analysis and Forecast, 2017-2026  Clic k here

Egypt Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report  Click h e re

Peru Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report  Click here



Japan Telecom Market Overview

Market Size 2021 $119.8 billion CAGR >4% Forecast Period 2021-2026 Telecom Segment Mobile Services, Fixed-Broadband Services, and Pay TV Services Leading Operators NTT, KDDI, SoftBank, IIJ, Rakuten Mobile, Optage, and Others





FAQs

What was the Japan telecom market size in 2021?

The telecommunications market in Japan was valued at $119.8 billion in 2021.

What is the Japan telecom market growth rate?

The telecommunications market in Japan is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 4% during the forecast period.

What are the key telecom market drivers in Japan?

The Japanese telecom market growth will be driven by the ongoing 5G network expansion by major MNOs like NTT Docomo, KDDI, Softbank and Rakuten, which will create opportunities for wireless network infrastructure and equipment vendors.

What are the key telecom market segments in Japan?

Mobile services, fixed-broadband services, and pay TV services are key service segments in the Japanese Telecommunications market.

Which are the leading telecom operators in Japan?

The leading operators in the telecommunications market in Japan are NTT, KDDI, SoftBank, IIJ, Rakuten Mobile, Optage, and others.

Table of Contents

Market highlights

Demographic, macroeconomic, and regulatory context

Demographic and macroeconomic context

Regulatory context

Telecom market outlook

Total telecom service revenue

Mobile services market

Fixed services market

Pay-TV service market

Competitive landscape and company snapshots

Competitive landscape

NTT

KDDI

Softbank

Additional resources

Baseline forecast assumptions

Data tables

Glossary

Research methodology

Country Intelligence Report coverage

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
Mississauga, Canada, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hatch is pleased to announce that it has teamed up with NEXT Canada, to support their Next AI program. Next AI is a founder-focused educational program for Canadian entrepreneurs with artificial intelligence-based ventures. With this initiative, Hatch will work with Next AI to help Canadas AI and tech startups grow and take their ideas to the market in the metals, infrastructure, and energy industries.

The metals, infrastructure, and energy sectors are crucial for Canadas economic growth, having set ambitious sustainability agendas in decarbonization, electrification, and the supply chain and sourcing of critical minerals. Hatch has enthusiastically helped leading companies in these sectors solve their toughest challenges with their extensive industry experience bundled with digital solutions. As a Pillar Level Partner of NEXT Canada, Hatch will be integrated into the Next AI program, providing mentorship and resources to participating ventures, and assistance with recruitment. Hatch will work with Next AI founders to accelerate their ventures and co-develop IPs that create practical digital solutions to address issues and opportunities within these sectors.

NEXT Canada is a national charity headquartered in Toronto. With the support of an expansive network of academics, investors, mentors, corporate partners, and donors, NEXT provides founder development training for some of the countrys most talented young entrepreneurs. Since 2010, NEXT has championed an ambitious and competitive Canada through founder and skills development across three programs: Next 36, Next Founders, and Next AI (delivered in Toronto and Montreal). NEXT Canada alumni have launched over 450 ventures that have raised over $2 billion of equity capital and have created over 4,000 new jobs.

Quotes:

Alim Somani  Managing Director, Hatch  Digital Solutions

Canada is a world leader in both natural resources and AI. These are priority sectors for Hatch as well. We have teamed up with NEXT Canada to identify and mentor early-stage startups who can work to solve some of the toughest challenges faced by Hatchs clients. By working together with these start-ups, we hope to co-develop IPs that the industry can use and highlight the magnitude of improved productivity, stronger environmental compliance, greater safety outcomes, and digitalization.

Kyle J. Winters - Chief Executive Office, NEXT Canada

"We're grateful to the entire team at Hatch for their continued support of our Next AI program. As a corporate partner, Hatch is part of the NEXT Canada family and plays a critical role in our day-to-day program delivery, mentoring our ventures, and influencing the growth of our organization. We look forward to continuing this relationship in the years to come."

Click here for more information on how Hatch is helping clients tackle their digital transformation issues.

Attachments
New York, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Bottled Water Market: Market Segments: By Product ; By Distribution Channel ; and Region  Global Analysis by Market Size, Share & Trends for 2014  2019 and Forecasts to 2030" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06191697/?utm_source=GNW

The most convenient source of water is bottled water, since it is available in different convenient packets, enabling customers to conveniently hold it. These bottles of water are convenient and perfect for use on the go.



Market Highlights

Bottled Water Market is expected to project a notable CAGR of 10.2% in 2030.

Bottled Water Market to surpass USD 850.2 Billion by 2030 from USD 198 Billion in 2019 in terms of value growing at a CAGR of 10.2% throughout the forecast period, i.e., 2020-30. The demand is driven by an increased understanding of waterborne diseases such as malaria, typhoid, diarrhea, food poisoning, and others in health care. Besides, since it is handy, bottled water is more compact and easier to use, thereby helping the growth of the market. Besides, over the forecast period, growing consumer perception of the health benefits of drinking bottled water is expected to drive market growth. Product sales are driven by the inclination towards bottled water rather than ordinary water, particularly among younger consumers. Several restaurants are offering bottled water to meet customer demand in light of this development. For health-conscious consumers, water seems to have found a sweet spot. The rapid expansion of restaurants in the U.S. is also foreseen to create a significant demand for bottled water in the upcoming years.



Bottled Water Market: Segments

Sparkling water segment to grow with the highest CAGR of 11.2% during 2020-30

Bottled Water Market is segmented by product as Purified, Mineral, Spring, Sparkling, Distilled, and Others. The purified water segment is estimated to lead the market with a share of over 35.3% in 2019. Water shortage in most regions of the world is worsened by rising water needs due to population growth, increased per capita water use, urbanization, economic development, and falling water resources due to climate change and pollution. During the forecast era, demand for ultra-purified water derived from desalination technology is expected to rise to address these concerns. Over the forecast era, the sparkling water segment is projected to be the fastest-growing segment with a CAGR. Sparkling water is also sold as sparkling drinking water or mineral water.



Bottled Water Market: Market Dynamics

Drivers

Change in lifestyle patterns of consumers

Bottled water market is expected to witness substantial growth in the coming years due to change in lifestyle patterns of consumers as they are more inclined towards the most convenient sources of water and food to save their time. The key factor driving the growth of the market studied over the forecast period has been increasing consumer demand for functional beverages. The ease of consumption and its effect on human nutrition are the factors driving the markets demand. Functional waters rising popularity among the working class and millennial populations is expected to enhance the market growth. Plain and flavored types of still and sparkling water have become widely popular drinks on a global level in recent years. This is an ongoing megatrend and is predicted to remain prevalent in years to come. With growing health consciousness, consumers are opting for packaged water and reducing the consumption of sugary drinks. The consumption of still drinking water has increased in food outlets and restaurants, which is boosting the market growth.



Restrain

Stringent regulations

Strict regulations for the acceptance of bottled water and the lower-cost availability of tap water are key factors hindering market development. In addition, the harmful effects of using plastic bottles can cause neurological diseases and behavioral problems among children due to the presence of chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA). Environmental contamination from plastic trash poses a threat to the development of the market. Bottled water use leads to health hazards.



Bottled Water Market: Key Players

Nestle



Company Overview, Business Strategy, Key Product Offerings, Financial Performance, Key Performance Indicators, Risk Analysis, Recent Development, Regional Presence, and SWOT Analysis.



PepsiCo

The Coca-Cola Company

DANONE

Primo Water Corporation

FIJI Water Company LLC.

Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co. KG

VOSS WATER

Nongfu Spring

Rhodius Mineralquellen Und Getranke GmbH & Co KG



Bottled Water Market: Regions

Bottled Water Market is segmented based on regional analysis into five major regions. These include North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East, and Africa.



Bottled Water Market in Asia Pacific led the market with a lion share of more than 42.2% in 2019 and is expected to maintain its lead throughout the forecast period. The regional market is mainly driven by the growing preference for bottled water due to rising health issues caused by contaminated water consumption. Changing water consumption habits, growing organized retail sectors, and the introduction of innovative products, such as flavored water is further expected to support the regional market growth. India and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote Indias desalination technology. This government-led initiative to boost the technology to produce purified water is anticipated to positively impact the segment growth over the forecast period.



Competitive Landscape:

Bottled Water market, which is highly competitive, consists of several major players such as Nestle SA; PepsiCo; Primo Water Corporation; The Coca-Cola Company hold a substantial market share in the Bottled Water market. Other players analyzed in this report are DANONE; VOSS WATER; FIJI Water Company LLC.; Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co. KG; Nongfu Spring; Rhodius Mineralquellen Und Getranke GmbH & Co KG among others.



Bottled Water Market is further segmented by region into:

North America Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  United States and Canada

Latin America Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Rest of Latin America

Europe Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, NORDIC, Russia, Turkey, and Rest of Europe

APAC Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  India, China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, and Rest of APAC

MENA Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  North Africa, Israel, GCC, South Africa, and Rest of MENA

Bottled Water Market report also contains analysis on:



Bottled Water Market Segments:



By Product Type:

Spring

Purified

Mineral

Sparkling

Distilled

Others

By Distribution Channel:

Offline

Online

Bottled Water Market Dynamics

Bottled Water Market Size

Supply & Demand

Current Trends/Issues/Challenges

Competition & Companies Involved in the Market

Value Chain of the Market

Market Drivers and Restraints

FAQs on Bottled Water Market

Which segment is anticipated to hold the largest market share?

At what CAGR is the market anticipated to grow between 2020 and 2030?

Who are the key players in the Bottled Water Market?

What could be the challenging factors in the growth of Bottled Water Market?

What are the growth drivers for the Bottled Water Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06191697/?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.



__________________________
New York, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Feed Mycotoxin Binders and Modifiers Market: Market Segments: By Type ; By Livestock ; and Region  Global Analysis by Market Size, Share & Trends for 2014  2020 and Forecasts to 2030" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06191690/?utm_source=GNW

They also boost animal health by reducing livestock diseases, in addition to improving the stability and consistency of feed. Gums & starch, clay, hydrocolloids, gelatin, molasses, and wheat gluten are the most popular binders used in feed.



Market Highlights

Feed Binders Market is expected to project a notable CAGR of 3.5% in 2030.

Feed Binders Market to surpass USD 8.7 billion by 2030 from USD 4.28 billion in 2019 at a CAGR of 3.5% throughout the forecast period, i.e., 2020-30. The Global Feed Binder Market due to enhanced stability, functionality, low inclusion value, and cost-effectiveness. Growing population growth, increasing consumption of meat products, decreasing preference for pelleted foods and increasing knowledge of animal nutrition and health among individuals are expected to further fuel demand for Feed Binders during the forecast period, leading to growth in the Feed Binder Market during the forecast period. Investments in research & development by industry participants to develop enhanced feed binder products are expected to drive the market for feed binder products. Through the growth of feed binder organizations and the acquisition of companies in different regions and countries, the Feed Binder market is growing.



Feed Binders Market: Segments

Lignosulphonates segment to grow with the highest CAGR during 2020-30

Feed Binders Market is segmented by type into Lignosulfonates, Plant gums & starches, Gelatin & other hydrocolloids, Molasses, Clay and Other. lignosulphonates based Feed Binders, led the market in 2019, accounting for XX.X% of market share. Improved health and higher milk production resulted from the use of probiotic yeast in ruminant feed. Likewise, yeast activates an immune response in pigs to decrease the entry of pathogens into the body and also to decrease the incidence of post-weaning diarrhea. With the growing use of probiotics for animal nutrition, growth promotion, and development of gut health, it is projected that the probiotic yeast segment will record the fastest type-based growth during the forecast period. With the rising use of probiotics for animal nutrition, growth promotion, and gut health development, the probiotic yeast segment is expected to grow faster.



Poultry segment to grow with the highest CAGR during 2020-30

Feed Binders Market is segmented by livestock as Ruminants, Poultry, Swine, Aquatic animals, Pets and Equine. The aquatic segment held the largest share of the market accounting for XX.X% of the overall revenue in 2019 the increasing fish consumption in regions such as Europe and South America encourages fish farming, which would further drive the market in the aquafeed segment. Supplementing the correct quantity of Feed Binders to aquatic animals results in an optimum supply of vital nutrients. Factors that are expected to drive the demand for Feed Binders are the increased consumption of animal-based products and the rise in animal health concerns. Factors that are expected to have a short-term effect on the production and supply of Feed Binders are, however, labour shortages, foreign trade restrictions and decreased consumption of livestock products.



Feed Binders Market: Market Dynamics

Drivers

Expansion of Animal Meat Market

The growth of the feed binder industry is due mainly to the expansion of the market for animal meat. Increased global consumption of meat and an increase in animal health issues have led the industry to purchase a higher volume of feed binders. By venturing into R&D for better manufacturing and management strategies, leading businesses are searching for advancements in the industry. The feed industry plays a vital role in solving global food and agriculture problems. Feed manufacturers are becoming more aware of the need to increase feed products nutritional value in order to improve animal digestibility to optimum levels. It is possible to describe compound feed as the final feed product made up of different raw materials and additives. To increase their nutritional value, shelf-life, and consistency, additives are added to the feed. The compound feed industry is rising at a very fast rate, fueling the need for new additives to be developed in the feed market.



Restrain

Price volatility and availability of raw materials

Binding agents are highly effective binders, such as guar gum, maize starch, agar, carrageenan, and gelatin, but they are very costly to include in the feed. Farmers opt for binders with high-cohesive properties to maximize the cost of feed ingredients, compound feed mixers, or livestock to minimize the amount of inclusion as well as to reduce the cost. Cost-effective binders are moderately costly, with very low levels of inclusion, such as lignosulfonates and clay. Feed goods are often developed and engineered to maintain their market position by limiting the overall cost. Depending on the source, extraction method, or the chances of availability in the region, the prices of raw materials will increase.



Feed Binders Market: Key Players

Archer Daniels Midland Company

Jinan Tiantianxiang Co., Ltd.

Sichuan Groupeve Co. ltd

Darling Ingredients Inc

M. Huber Corporation

Fuzhou Wonderful Biological Technology Co.ltd

Panay Mineral Product Resources Corp.

I Du Pont de Nemours and company

Huzhimpex international ltd



Feed Binders Market: Regions

Feed Binders Market is segmented based on regional analysis into five major regions. These include North America, Latin America, Europe, APAC, and MENA.



Feed Binders Market in Asia Pacific held the largest market share of XX.X% in the year 2019 the consumption rate of meat products in East Asia had witnessed rapid growth. The ban on the use of antibiotics as a growth promoter in the livestock sector in the European and North American countries has, however, indirectly affected the countries of the Asia Pacific region. This has prompted main feed additives businesses to produce natural growth promoters and health supplements. After the ban, creative ways of encouraging animal development by-products with similar benefits have been found by livestock producers by replacing antibiotic growth promoters with microbial feed additives that have antibiotic properties.



Competitive Landscape:

The Feed Binders market, which is highly competitive, consists of several major players such as Archer Daniels Midland Company (US), DuPont (US) hold a substantial market share in the Feed Binders market. Other players analyzed in this report are Darling Ingredients Inc. (US), Roquette Freres (France), Borregaard ASA (Norway), Gelita AG (Germany), CP Kelco Inc. (US), and Avebe U.A. (Netherlands) among others.



The market competition has been stepped up by the availability of many players offering Feed Binders. For Instance, In November 2019, Cargill Animal Nutrition and Health launched a mycotoxin binder known as Notox Ultimate Pro. This product helps swine farmers tackle the challenges of mycotoxin contamination in feed materials.



Feed Binders Market is further segmented by region into:

North America Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  United States and Canada

Latin America Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Rest of Latin America

Europe Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, NORDIC, Russia, Turkey, and Rest of Europe

APAC Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  India, China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, and Rest of APAC

MENA Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  North Africa, Israel, GCC, South Africa, and Rest of MENA

Feed Binders Market report also contains analysis on:



Feed Binders Market Segments:



By Type:

Lignosulfonates

Plant gums & starches

Gelatin & other hydrocolloids

Molasses

Clay

Other

By Livestock:

Ruminant

Poultry

Swine

Aquaculture

Pets

Horses

Others

Feed Binders Market Dynamics

Feed Binders Market Size

Supply & Demand

Current Trends/Issues/Challenges

Competition & Companies Involved in the Market

Value Chain of the Market

Market Drivers and Restraints

FAQs on Feed Binders Market

Which segment is anticipated to hold the largest market share?

At what CAGR is the market anticipated to grow between 2020 and 2030?

Who are the key players in the Feed Binders Market?

What could be the challenging factors in the growth of the Feed Binders Market?

What are the growth drivers for the Feed Binders Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06191690/?utm_source=GNW



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PORT SAINT LUCIE, Fla., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A recent survey conducted with school teachers indicates that nearly half are contemplating transferring schools or quitting altogether due to their concerns about safety. The time to invest in better safety and security measures for schools is now. As the Quitman School District in Arkansas can attest, installing and utilizing National Safety Shelters' safety pods has made a positive impact on the peace of mind of parents and educators and has been the catalyst for driving more revenue and enrollment.

The Quitman school board made the decision to install National Safety Shelters' safety pods in every classroom in 2018. Superintendents and school board members from other districts who have since personally toured the Quitman campus emphatically remarked that the safety pods are the best safety feature that a school district could invest in to protect their students and staff.

Dennis Truxler, Superintendent at the Quitman School District, credits the security the safety pods provide  and the peace of mind that comes with knowing they are there  as part of the reason for the district's 20% increase in student enrollment. Most of the new students have matriculated in from neighboring districts. Significantly, revenue from the increase in student enrollment has more than covered the cost of purchasing and installing the safety pods. (Read more about Truxler's decision to install National Safety Shelters safety pods in the Quitman School District in his full testimonial.)

That revenue gain is driven in part by the safety pods having no operating or maintenance costs. Once a safety pod is installed, it is always ready for use, requires no maintenance, and will function optimally for years to come. The cost of a safety pod project over a 14-year enrollment period averages out to around $7 per month per student.

Truxler describes parents' reaction to the shelters as "overwhelmingly positive" and reiterates his gratitude for, and belief in, the investment. "I spent a lot of time researching and reading articles concerning school safety and nothing compares to our shelters. I am 100% satisfied with the security that the safety pods produced by National Safety Shelters provide to our students and staff."

The safety pods from National Safety Shelters are unique in that they serve a dual purpose - protection from both tornadoes and active shooters. They have been designed and tested to withstand the destructive forces of the highest category (EF5) tornado. In addition, each safety pod is constructed with American-made, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) ballistic Level III steel (MIL-DTL-46100). Being virtually bulletproof, the pods are capable of stopping bullets from semi-automatic weapons, such as AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, which are commonly used in mass shootings.

The pods serve as an excellent defense layer for schools that are concerned about the dramatic rise in school shootings in recent years, since near-absolute protection for students is available. There is no longer the need to hide in fear in closets or under desks. Finally, a safety measure that can potentially eliminate casualties is now readily available.

The design of the safety pods can be customized to satisfy any amount of square footage and any desired layout. Typically, each pod occupies less than 5% of the existing classroom space. Unlike other security measures, such as armed personnel, video surveillance systems, metal detectors, etc., the one-time investment comes with no operating or maintenance costs. The safety pods can be used to retrofit existing buildings or can be designed into new ones. They can even be moved to a different location later if necessary. Most importantly, each pod, regardless of layout or size, is designed to be immediately accessible, ensuring occupant safety within seconds.

Visit www.nationalsafetyshelters.com for more information on how National Safety Shelters safety pods can protect your school or business.

About National Safety Shelters

National Safety Shelters safety pods provide instant protection from violence-related incidents, including armed intruders, and severe weather, including EF5 tornadoes. Their modular design can be formatted to fit any particular need. Please visit http://nationalsafetyshelters.com to learn more about how National Safety Shelters' safety pods can protect your school.

Media Contact

Dan Johnson

dan.johnson@newswire.com

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TORONTO and DALLAS, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marble (formerly Medchart) today announced that law firms are using Marble API to authenticate claimants and pull medical data from various medical databases in three mass tort cases: Camp Lejeune water, 3M earplugs and manufacturers of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). Marble API allows law firms to easily, securely and cost-effectively verify claimant data to expedite services and find justice for our honored veterans and public servants.



The Marble API Solution

Medical record retrieval, authentication and review is an essential process to mass tort law, but traditionally it is highly manual and time-consuming. Law firms are turning to Marbles modern API technology to authenticate claimants and retrieve required information, such as drivers license, email and phone number, via input and facial recognition, to gain the right insights to support cases at scale.

Marble empowers law firms to practice more profitably by dramatically reducing the time spent preparing medical data requests from four months to one day, and reviewing the records for the fundamental criteria critical to a cases success.

The Cases

For decades, 1 million veterans, their families and civilian employees who worked at Camp Lejeune base were exposed to contaminated water, and thousands of those people may have developed related health conditions.

3M supplied a version of Combat Arms earplugs to the U.S. military from 2008 to 2015. About 290,000 active-duty U.S. military service members and veterans are suing 3M over hearing problems resulting from using the companys earplugs.

Several manufacturers have been selling chemical-based firefighting foam (AFFF) due to its effectiveness in extinguishing jet fuel and petroleum fires. However, it may have caused cancer in firefighters regularly exposed to the foam.



The legal industry is making significant decisions on case management and expenditures based on data-driven intelligence. Marble has transformed how personal injury law firms complete the enrollment process for claimant authentication, said Damon Spiceland, head of mass tort operations at Marble.



In less than a minute, a claimant can upload their information into a database via secure email or SMS. Law firms can organize necessary documentation to start requesting records and services immediately. This frictionless integration to enable efficient service delivery  when dealing with the complexity and scale of multi-plaintiff litigation  is invaluable to ensure swift justice for victims.

Marble will be the Opioids Litigation Group sponsor at the American Association for Justice conference in Seattle, July 16-19. To set up a meeting, contact Damon Spiceland at damon.spiceland@medchart.com .

About Marble

Marble easily and securely aggregates consumer-authorized access to digitized health records, billing data and affidavits. By providing tens of thousands of trusted data connections through a simple-to-use API set, Marble makes it easy for law firms to practice more profitably. Marble customers include law firms representing nearly 40% of all U.S. claimants in the ongoing Purdue opioid litigation. With offices in Dallas, San Francisco and Toronto, Marble is powering businesses for customers across North America with its rapidly expanding national data coverage. For more information, visit www.marbleapi.com .

Contacts:

Damon Spiceland

Marble

damon.spiceland@medchart.com

Davida Dinerman

Look Left Marketing for Marble

marbleapi@lookleftmarketing.com
SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Javelin Strategy & Research today announced the winners of its 2022 digital banking scorecards, which rank 20 of the top U.S. financial institutions for their digital capabilities.

Javelins Mobile Banking Scorecard and Online Banking Scorecard evaluated more than 440 digital banking capabilities across six evaluation categoriesEase of Use, Security Empowerment, Financial Fitness, Money Movement, Customer Service, and Account Opening. The rankings for each scorecard recognized a top finisherthe Best in Class designeeand two Overall Leaders. For the sixth consecutive year, Bank of America was named Best in Class in both channels. Chase and Wells Fargo ranked as Overall Leaders in the Online Banking Scorecard, and U.S. Bank and Truist earned Overall Leader recognition in the Mobile Banking Scorecard.

The 2022 digital banking scorecards provide strategic and tactical insights, including how to maximize engagement and sales from the homepage, create partnerships with customers to fight fraud, and strengthen enduring and profitable banking relationships. For example, the scorecards underscore the importance of simplifying experiences with search functionality, plugging gaps in the digital customer service continuum, and helping customers improve their financial fitness with aggregation, saving, investing, and credit-building features.

Mobile Banking Scorecard: Top-Ranked Banks Widen Their Lead



Bank of America (Best in Class), U.S. Bank and Truist (Overall Leaders) topped the leaderboard for Mobile Banking Scorecard awards. Bank of America and U.S. Bank widened their lead over the rest of the pack by finishing as leaders in all categories but one. Truist debuted in third place, showcasing an all-new app that emerged from the merger of BB&T and SunTrust. Four other banksNavy Federal, Chase, USAA, and Wells Fargowere recognized as leaders in at least one evaluation category.

This consolidation of leadership at the top banks partly reflected budget-driven innovationbigger banks have bigger budgets and tend to release more new functionality each year, said Emmett Higdon , Director of Digital Banking at Javelin Strategy & Research. This has dramatically increased pressure on smaller institutions to keep pace, both with the leaders and with customer expectations.

Online Banking Scorecard: FIs Can Make a Mark with Focused Investments

This year, Bank of America (Best in Class), Chase and Wells Fargo (Overall Leaders) earned the top three spots in the online banking scorecard. Six other institutionsCiti, Huntington, Regions, Truist, USAA, and U.S. Bankwere recognized as leaders in at least one evaluation category.

This broad range of online leadership reflects the choices that individual FIs made to target their budgets at the aspects of online banking they feel customers will value the most, said Mark Schwanhausser , Director of Digital Banking at Javelin Strategy & Research. Leading banks also benefited from innovative upgrades and industry consolidation that eliminated rivals.

Javelins Mobile and Online Banking Scorecards are powerful tools for financial institutions of all sizes to benchmark and assess their acumen and performance against peers and competitors. To learn how Javelins scorecards and benchmarking programs can help elevate your organizations digital expertise, contact: inquiry@javelinstrategy.com .

About Javelin Strategy & Research

Javelin Strategy & Research, part of the Escalent family, helps its clients make informed decisions in a digital financial world. It provides strategic insights to financial institutions including banks, credit unions, brokerages and insurers, as well as payments companies, technology providers, fintechs and government agencies. Javelins independent insights result from a rigorous research process that assesses consumers, businesses, providers, and the transactions ecosystem. It conducts in-depth primary research studies to pinpoint dynamic risks and opportunities in digital banking, payments, fraud & security, lending, and wealth management. Learn more at javelinstrategy.com.



Media Contact

Tejas Puranik

tejas.puranik@javelinstrategy.com
Anaheim, CA, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Livewire Ergogenics Inc. (OTC: LVVV), a company focused on acquiring, branding, managing, and licensing special purpose real estate properties conducive to producing high-quality, handcrafted, and organically grown cannabis products for medical and recreational adult-use in California; today announced that its affiliate Estrella River Farms (ERF) has been approved for nine additional cultivation licenses from the California Department of Cannabis Control for the expansion of the cultivation area on Estrella Ranch by two additional acres.



The expansion will increase the canopy area on Estrella Ranch to over 130,000 sqft. to accommodate increased production and begin the process for the 2022 harvest. The approval of these additional licenses completes the goal that we had set for cultivating the equivalent of 3 acres of sungrown cannabis on Estrella Ranch. Executing these licenses is expected to meet the goal of drastically increasing the capacity for Estrella River Farms.

Bill Hodson, CEO of Livewire Ergogenics, states, "The licensing process for additional acreage on Estrella Ranch was painfully cumbersome, lengthy, and expensive. The due diligence process by the Department of Cannabis Control was as intense as for the first acre of cultivation. Although the process took much longer than anticipated, we support the intense due diligence to meet all the legal and environmental requirements. Many companies that entered the initial process light-heartedly are now failing this difficult and expensive process. Our research shows that approximately 49% of California cultivation permits have expired or have been surrendered this past year. Successfully concluding the new application process and proceeding with a strong focus on the most environmentally friendly footprint possible makes Estrella River Farms stand out from the competition and should provide a solid base for the business for years to come."



During the cultivation and harvesting of the initial one-acre harvest, the crew has gathered valuable experience about the positive impact of the exceptional microclimate around Estrella Ranch to produce exceptional quality cannabis. Our processing partners confirmed that Estrella River Farms is growing some of California's best quality sungrown cannabis in the market far superior to anything out there, including indoor. We certainly had hoped for that when we chose Estrella Ranch in Paso Robles as our central location and home of the Estate Grown Weedery project. We are surrounded by hundreds of world-renowned vineyards that take advantage of the exceptionally favorable micro-climate to produce their famous wines. We are happy to continue this tradition by applying it to a cannabis cultivation process based on our tractor-less farming principles, aiming for the best sungrown cannabis quality in the State. We will be able to take full advantage of our expansive setup once Federal regulation finally allows interstate transactions. Everybody will want California Cannabis, and' 'we'll be ready to deliver."

The Livewire Cannabis Project

Livewire runs an economically prudent operation based on an advantageous operational structure with the ability to share resources as needed between its subsidiaries and affiliate companies at its locations in Paso Robles and Humboldt. We will continue to expand all operations according to our business plan focused on cost-effective production and a determination to produce the best quality cannabis in California while generating the smallest possible carbon footprint, smaller and more cost-effective than any indoor cultivation operations that currently use about 3% of all energy sources in California. The Estrella Ranch Estate Grown Weedery on Estrella Ranch is a historic ranch property in Paso Robles, the center of the California wine country, and is considered the gem of the California Central Coast. Through its affiliate Estrella Ranch Partners, LLC., the Company has begun transforming this stunning property into the world's first "Estate Grown Weedery," developing it into a facility to cultivate high-end organic sun-grown cannabis products and eventually the ultimate Cannabis tourist destination. The Estrella Ranch location has been established as the central hub for all Livewire operations in Paso Robles and Humboldt, California.

About LiveWire Ergogenics Inc.

The Company focuses on acquiring, managing, and licensing well-qualified cannabis real estate locations to establish fully compliant and permitted facilities to produce cannabis-based products and establish relationships for the state-wide distribution of these products in California. This includes developing and licensing high-quality organic cannabinoid-based products and services and creating the high-quality "Estrella Grown Weedery" brand via its affiliate companies Estrella Ranch Partners and Estrella River Farms. LiveWire Ergogenics does not produce, sell, or distribute products that violate the United States Controlled Substances Act. For more information about LiveWire Ergogenics, visit www.livewireergogenics.com . For non-material updates, follow LiveWire Ergogenics on Twitter @livewireLVVV, or go to www.stockwatchindex.com/livewire-ergogenics .

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or the Company's future performance. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should carefully review various risks and uncertainties identified in this release, the Company's Social Media postings, and matters set in the Company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

LIVEWIRE ERGOGENICS, INC

1600 North Kraemer Blvd.

Anaheim, CA 92806

714-740-5144

www.livewireergogenics.com

info@livewireergogenics.com MARKET AWARENESS

Stockwatchindex, LLC

442-287-8059

www.stockwatchindex.com

info@stockwatchindex.com LIVEWIRE INVESTOR RELATIONS

Tristan Cavato

(805) 835-2415

ir@livewireergogenics.com

info@livewireergogenics.com

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Foreign Minister Park, right, speaks during a meeting with new U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg at the ministry's office in central Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap



Philip Goldberg, the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, submitted a copy of his credentials to Seoul's foreign ministry Tuesday, effectively beginning his official activity in the position.



Goldberg, who arrived here Sunday, visited the ministry's headquarters in the capital city to hand in the copy to its chief of protocol in advance of presenting it to President Yoon Suk-yeol. The date for a related ceremony to be held at the presidential office in the central district of Yongsan has yet to be announced.



In 2018, his predecessor, Harry Harris, presented then President Moon Jae-in with his credentials 18 days after his arrival to assume the post. Usually, South Korea's presidential office groups together new foreign ambassadors in the nation for such an event.



The envoy then headed to the Japanese Embassy's information and culture center in Seoul to pay tribute to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated during a political campaign speech in Nara, Japan, last week.



Later in the day, Goldberg paid an introductory courtesy call on Foreign Minister Park Jin and vowed to closely work with the Seoul government to develop "a global strategic partnership" based on "shared democratic values" between the allies.



"The alliance between the United States and Korea has been and continues to be a bedrock of security here in the Korean peninsula, and also in the region and has helped maintain the peace of the region for many decades," Goldberg said during the meeting.



He is Washington's first ambassador to Seoul under the Joe Biden administration, as he filled the post that had been vacant for 1 1/2 years since the departure of Harris.



Goldberg, a veteran diplomat, previously served as ambassador to Colombia after working as a coordinator for implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea from 2009-10. (Yonhap)


Norfolk, VA, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Old Dominion Universitys national search for a first-of-its-kind leader fully focused on the institutions maritime efforts has resulted in the selection of Elspeth McMahon as Associate Vice President for Maritime Initiatives effective July 10. This new position was created as a result of the deliberations of a task force assembled by ODU and co-led by John Dubby Wynne and Nancy Grden to identify areas in which the University could help catalyze economic development in Hampton Roads.

Subsequently, ODU and the Hampton Roads Maritime Collaborative for Growth & Innovation (HRMC) commissioned a report, "A Pathway for Maritime Innovation in Hampton Roads, which was prepared by TEConomy Partners. The report identified major economic areas to leverage and expand the region's innovation and workforce support for the maritime industry. President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., unveiled the report and ODUs national search for the Associate Vice President for Maritime Initiatives in fall 2021.

I am pleased to welcome Elspeth to the Commonwealth of Virginia, Hampton Roads and Monarch Nation, President Hemphill said. She has a strong educational background and direct international experience that will be so critical in our ongoing efforts to increase our impact in the region and across the state, as well as gain national and international recognition for our long-standing contributions to maritime.

Earlier this month, following approval of the Board of Visitors, ODU announced the forthcoming establishment of ODUs School of Supply Chain, Logistics, and Maritime Operations, a key step in elevating maritime as a signature strength, as well as responding to industry needs for supply chain and logistics training and research. As Associate Vice President for Maritime Initiatives, McMahon will coordinate ODUs extensive and varied programs, outreach and services that engage with the regions maritime enterprises to increase engagement and better serve the needs of external stakeholders in growing the maritime sector, including port logistics and supply chain; shipbuilding and repair; naval sustainment; offshore wind energy; and coastal resilience.

McMahon has a diverse maritime background, including experience as a Licensed Merchant Mariner, Assistant Professor of Marine Transportation at SUNY Maritime College and Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves. She is highly skilled in leadership, management, and industry outreach backed by nearly two decades of direct experience and extensive education and training in the field of marine transportation. She holds an active U.S. Coast Guard Chief Mate License and is completing a doctoral degree in Nautical Sciences at the University of Antwerp and Antwerp Maritime Academy in Belgium.

As an innovative leader in the field, McMahon is directly involved in the future of maritime technology as a member of the Belgian Shipowners Association Autonomous Ship Think Tank and is a member of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science, and Technology. She strives to grow and excel both at sea and ashore.

"The maritime industry invisibly touches everything we see, she said. In an era of rapid technological advancement, it is essential that we are at the forefront of where this industry is headed. ODU recognizes its potential to be positioned as a leader in all things maritime. By continuing to collaborate with external stakeholders, embracing technology and innovation and advocating for entrepreneurship, we can create a diverse and dynamic maritime workforce that can strengthen and shape the future of the maritime economy in Hampton Roads. I am proud to be a part of this journey."

The national search was chaired by Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) Executive Director and Associate Vice President Eric Weisel, Ph.D., as well as Grden, with support from Julie Tea of Storbeck Search. In addition to sharing his appreciation for members of the Search Committee, as well as campus community members and local industry representatives, Dr. Weisel said, Elspeths selection is yet another signal that ODUs research and service mission are on a trajectory to reach unprecedented heights in the months and years to come.

Vice President for Research Morris Foster, Ph.D., who oversees ODUs research enterprise, including VMASC, said, I look forward to Elspeths many contributions as she joins the Office of Research team and works diligently with members of the campus community and the broader region in establishing ODU as the nations top R1 university for maritime workforce development and innovation.

###

About Old Dominion University:

Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, is Virginias forward-focused public doctoral research university with approximately 23,500 students, rigorous academics, an energetic residential community and initiatives that contribute $2.6 billion annually to Virginias economy.

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SHENZHEN, China, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As new electronics enter the market, INNOCN maintains its position as a market leader in the display monitor industry. With Amazon Prime Day approaching, the company is gearing up to offer several discounts on some of the best devices on the market. INNOCN will offer significant Prime Day discounts on two of their top portable monitors, the INNOCN OLED Portable Monitor 15K1F and the INNOCN Portable Monitor N1F PRO, on July 12th and 13th. Customers will be able to purchase the Portable Monitor 15K1F for $249.99, which is $100 less than the original price. The Portable Monitor N1F PRO is also on sale for an affordable price of $191.45.





Portable monitors are very convenient, and devices like the INNOCN 15.6 OLED Portable Monitor 15K1F have many features that make life easier and more enjoyable. This monitor provides the ideal viewing experience because it is a Full HD OLED monitor with a bright, colorful, and vivid picture quality. Users who want a monitor that provides a true-to-life viewing experience will be able to enjoy this monitor while live streaming some of their favorite shows. Get a head start by purchasing the new monitor today on Amazon between 12th 11:15 AM and 11:15 PM.

The Portable Monitor 15K1F is an ultra-slim art monitor with advanced color calibration technology that is ideal for photographers and videographers who frequently edit photos and videos. For those who work remotely and need to pair a device with their laptop or smartphone, the 15K1F has USB C and mini HDMI connectivity and works with all compatible devices.

Another excellent portable monitor is the INNOCN 15.6 Portable Monitor N1F PRO, an ultra slim portable external monitor that is Full HD 1080P with an anti-glare function and low blue light technologies for a comfortable viewing experience. This device includes USB C and mini HDMI ports, making it ideal for people who work in a variety of fields. DJs, graphic designers, office workers, and programmers can all benefit from having a portable laptop monitor to use on the go. Get a head start by purchasing the new monitor today on Amazon between 12th 6:50 AM and 6:50 PM.

The Portable Monitor N1F PRO comes with all of the accessories needed to ensure that it works properly at all times. This is the ideal monitor to add to the collection for those looking to improve their lives and increase productivity.

What's the backstory on INNOCN?

Shenzhen Century Joint Innovation Technology Company Ltd. (INNOCN) continues to make excellent products that withstand the test of time and has received notable mentions in Rolling Stone and Forbes. Since 2014, the company has been elevating display monitors through research and development at various facilities. Some of the most prestigious design awards have been bestowed upon INNOCN, and it's easy to see why.

Media Contact

Manufacturer's Name: Shenzhen Century Joint Innovation Technology Company Limited

Manufacturer's Official Website: https://www.innocn.com/

Manufacturer's Email Address: marketing@innocn.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fecf3a06-73ed-4aaa-b77c-c2b4cd026265
WESTPORT, Conn., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HMG Strategy, the Worlds #1 digital platform for enabling technology executives to reimagine the enterprise and reshape the business world, is excited to announce a series of exciting builds to its 2023 Global Leadership Institute Awards (GLIA) program.



Since the inception of its Transformational CIO Awards in 2012, HMG Strategy has been recognizing the industrys premier technology executives who are making a difference in their organizations through the industrys most distinguished and recognizable global leadership awards program.

In 2020, HMG Strategy introduced the Global Technology Executives Who Matter Awards to recognize the top-performing Chief Information Officers, Chief Information Security Officers, Senior Technology Leaders, Venture Capitalists and Search Executives who have demonstrated unparalleled leadership in areas such as Innovation, Business Transformation and Digital Disruption.

Now in its 11th year of recognizing the exceptional contributions of technology executives, HMG Strategy extended its recognition program beginning in 2021 to honor exemplary technology leaders and their teams who are making outstanding contributions to their organizations.

The 2023 Global Leadership Institute Awards recognize top-tier technology executives for their courageous, empathetic and inclusive leadership in the face of a global health crisis and turbulent socio-economic challenges, said Hunter Muller, Founder and CEO of HMG Strategy. These dynamic global technology executives are being recognized for their extraordinary leadership in helping to foster a culture of trust, to drive innovation, to reimagine the business and develop new go-to-market strategies with fellow members of the C-suite and line of business in incredibly challenging times.

Technology leaders being recognized by HMG Strategy under the 2023 Global Leadership Institute Awards are being cited in the following areas:

Demonstrate Exceptional Leadership Which Drives Unique Innovation, Disruption, and/or Business Reinvention

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Leading Into the C-Suite

Creating New Go-to-Market Business Models

Modernizing Enterprise Architecture

Building a Culture of Trust

New recognition categories for HMG Strategys 2023 Global Leadership Institute Awards include:

CEO Legends : Partner CEOs whose vision has reshaped the technology industry or their industry segment

: Partner CEOs whose vision has reshaped the technology industry or their industry segment The HMG Strategy Hall of Fame : World-class technology executives who have demonstrated high-caliber leadership, character and integrity

: World-class technology executives who have demonstrated high-caliber leadership, character and integrity HMG Strategy Industry Legends : Leaders whose contributions, leadership and innovation have had an indelible impact on the industry

: Leaders whose contributions, leadership and innovation have had an indelible impact on the industry The HMG Strategy Lifetime Achievement Award : Recognizes those leaders for their career accomplishments and industry contributions

: Recognizes those leaders for their career accomplishments and industry contributions HMG Global Thought Leadership Champions : Honors industry executives for the expertise shared with the HMG community

: Honors industry executives for the expertise shared with the HMG community Emerging Leaders: Honors up-and-coming technology executives who are making a difference in their organizations

To learn more about HMG Strategys 2022 Global Leadership Institute Awards and to nominate a deserving technology leader, click here or contact August Pelliccio, Managing Editor  Digital, at august.pelliccio@hmgstrategy.com.

About HMG Strategy

HMG Strategy is the world's leading digital platform for connecting technology executives to reimagine the enterprise and reshape the business world. The HMG Strategy global network consists of more than 400,000 CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, CDOs, senior business technology executives, search industry executives, venture capitalists, industry experts and world-class thought leaders.

HMG Strategys global media model generates more than one million impressions per week, providing vast opportunities for business technology leaders and sponsor partners to promote themselves and their brands.

HMG Strategy was founded in 2008 by Hunter Muller, a leadership expert who has worked side-by-side with Fortune 2000 executives with strategic planning and career ascent for the past 30+ years.

HMG Strategys regional and virtual CIO and CISO Executive Leadership Series, authored books and Digital Resource Center deliver unique, peer-driven guidance from CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, CDOs and technology executives on leadership, innovation, transformation and career ascent.

HMG Strategy offers a range of peer-led research services such as its CIO & CISO Executive Leadership Alliance (CELA) program which bring together the worlds top CIOs, CISOs and technology executives to brainstorm on the top opportunities and challenges facing them in their roles.

HMG Strategys Global Peer Actionable Insights Services Stack is a unique set of research services that are designed to keep business technology executives up to speed on the latest leadership, business, technology and global geo-economic trends that are impacting businesses and industries.

HMG Ventures is a venture capital unit thats designed to connect CIOs, CTOs, CISOs and other technology executives with innovative early-stage technology companies from Silicon Valley to Tel Aviv. HMG Ventures provides technology executives with a window into hot emerging technology companies that can help move the needle for their businesses while also offering these executives unparalleled personal investment opportunities. One early-stage investment in an enterprise-level AI-powered service management provider has generated a 100X return.

HMG Strategy also produces the HMG Security Innovation Accelerator Panel, a new webinar series thats designed to connect enterprise technology and security leaders with the most innovative technology and cybersecurity companies from across the world.

To learn more about the 7 Pillars of Trust for HMG Strategy's unique business model, click here .

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3eaa6c61-6dc8-4a33-a95f-622cb179c77b
New York, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Insight Partners published latest research study on  Solar Inverters Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type (Central, String, and Micro), System Type (On-Grid and Off-Grid), and End User (Residential, Commercial, and Utility) The global solar inverters market growth is driven by rising number of solar installations attributed to government-led incentives and schemes and growing residential solar rooftop installations.





Request Sample PDF Brochure of Solar Inverters Market Size - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis with Strategic Developments at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00009372/





Market Size Value in US$ 9.80 billion in 2022 Market Size Value by US$ 16.32 billion by 2028 Growth rate CAGR of 8.9% From 2022 to 2028 Forecast Period 2022-2028 Base Year 2022 No. of Pages 161 No. Tables 88 No. of Charts & Figures 81 Historical data available Yes Segments covered Type, System Type, and End User Regional scope North America; Europe; Asia Pacific; Latin America; MEA Country scope US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Argentina Report coverage Revenue forecast, company ranking, competitive landscape, growth factors, and trends





Increaing technological developments has created new trend of smart inverters in the global market. Due to the high penetration level of distributed energy resources (DER), the grid poses many complex challenges to the functioning of inverters. As a solution for these common problems, smart inverters come into play by solving most of the problems of the traditional system. Since smart inverters work autonomously, they have a positive impact on the implemented residential sector as well as the national power grid. The traditional grid requires constant maintenance due to the stress, but smart inverters could help address these localized challenges and grow the system's flexibility. Smart inverters allow two-way communication with utility control centers. In addition, advanced capabilities such as voltage and frequency sensors allow smart inverters to detect grid abnormalities and send feedback to utility operators.





Have a question? Speak to Research Analyst: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/speak-to-analyst/TIPRE00009372





Solar Inverters Market: Competitive Landscape and Key Developments

ABB Ltd; Delta Electronics, Inc.; Enertechups; GOODWE; Power Electronics S.L.; Powerone Micro Systems Pvt.Ltd; Sineng Electric; SMA Solar Technology AG; Solaredge Technologies Inc.; and Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics Pvt Ltd. are among the key players profiled during the study of the global Solar Inverters market. In addition, several other essential market players were studied and analyzed to get a holistic view of the Solar Inverters market and its ecosystem.

 In March 2022, Dorman Products has announced 250 new auto parts which includes 100 plus newly aftermarket parts for wide range of cars and trucks.

 In March 2018, NUCAP had announced a project on back plate project win including FineBlankPlus with stepped-chamfer in North American FORD Transit Platform.





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Growing Investment in Renewable Sector Created Substantial Opportunity for the Market

Prospects for investment have improved markedly along with economic growth, although there are significant country-by-country variations. Global energy demand is set to increase by 4.6% in 2021, more than offsetting the 4% contraction in 2020, according to the latest International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates. The anticipated upswing in investments in 2021 is a mixture of a cyclical response to recovery and a structural shift in capital flows towards cleaner technologies. After staying flat in 2020, global power sector investment is set to increase by around 5% in 2021 to more than US$ 820 billion, according to the latest IEA estimates. Renewables energy sector dominates investment in new power generation and is expected to account for 70% of 2021's total of US$ 530 billion spent on all new generation capacity, according to the latest IEA estimates. Investment in grids and storage makes up the remainder. Renewable energy sector investment has thrived in markets with well-established supply chains where lower costs are accompanied by regulatory frameworks that provide cash flow visibility and where lenders and financiers that understand these sectors are seeking sustainable projects to support.





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Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Solar Inverters Market

Governments worldwide imposed strict restrictions on vehicles and human movement due to the tremendous spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions, business shutdowns, and mass lockdowns, caused by the pandemic, affected multiple economies and the manufacturing & production industry in several countries. The lockdown imposition had reduced the production of commodities, goods, and services. Therefore, pre-pandemic situation have a positive impact on the solar inverters market.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had adversely affected the global economies, leading to many challenges. Multiple manufacturing industries were temporarily closed because of lockdowns, reducing global demand for solar inverters. Also, according to the World Manufacturing Production Statistics released by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the second quarter (AprilJune) in 2020, global manufacturing output decreased by 11.2% compared to the same quarter in 2019. Moreover, China is expected to record a greater drop (1.6%) compared to industrialized economies in North America and Europe, wherein value-added in 2020 is likely to plummet by 15% and 14.3%, respectively. Therefore, as solar inverters are directly proportional to manufacturing activities, the solar inverters market was negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021 and 2022, relaxations in government restrictions in lockdown led to the resumption of manufacturing businesses, with upgraded and improved supply chains. This further propelled the manufacturing of solar inverters. The projected rise in the demand for solar inverters in 2022 will be due to their increasing construction of residential and commercial buildings. Therefore, post-pandemic situation have a positive impact on the solar inverters market.





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Solar Inverters Market: Type Segment Overview

On the basis of type, the solar inverters market can be segmented into central, string, and micro. In 2021, the central segment accounted for the largest market share. Central inverters are anticipated to have a greater demand because central inverters are highly reliable with timely maintenance and are housed in a protected location for their installation. The inverters are integrated with large arrays installed on field installations, buildings, and industrial facilities, taking direct current (DC) power from all the solar panels and converting it into alternating current (AC) power becoming a single point for power distribution









Browse Adjoining Reports:

Solar Power Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Technology (Solar Photovoltaic (PV), Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)); Application (Residential, Non-residential, Utility) and Geography

Inverter Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis - by Inverters (Single Phase, Three Phase, Others); Type (Solar Inverters, Non-Solar Inverters, Residential Inverters); Power Rating (Below 10 kW, 10-50 kW, 50-100 kW, Above 100 kW); End-User (Residential, Commercial, Industrial) and Geography

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Hybrid PV Inverter Market to 2028 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Product (Single-phase hybrid, Three-phase hybrid); Application (Energy Generation, Solar Energy Storage, Others); End User (Residential, Commercial, Industrial) and Geography

Solar (PV) Inverter Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product Type (Central Inverter, String Inverter, Micro Inverter); Connection Type (On-grid, Off-grid); End User (Residential, Commercial and Industrial, Utilities) and Geography









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INFORMATION REGARDING

THE TOTAL VOTING RIGHTS AND SHARES

OF KLEPIERRE AS OF JUNE 30, 2022 (1)

Paris  July 12, 2022

NUMBER OF SHARES AS OF JUNE 30, 2022

Date 06/30/2022 Company name Klepierre Trading place Euronext Paris (Compartment A) Mnemonic LI Symbols EPA:LI / LI:FP / LOIM.PA ISIN FR0000121964 Total number of shares 286,861,172 Total number of voting rights Number of theoretical voting rights(2) 286,861,172 Number of exercisable voting rights(3) 285,470,851





AGENDA July 26, 2022 First-half 2022 earnings (after market close) October 19, 2022 Business review for the first nine months of 2022 (after market close) INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS Arnaud Courtial, Group Head of IR and financial communication

+33 (0)6 74 57 35 12  arnaud.courtial@klepierre.com

Paul Logerot, IR Manager

+33 (0)7 50 66 05 63  paul.logerot@klepierre.com

Julia Croissant, IR Officer

+33 (0)7 88 77 40 37 julia.croissant@klepierre.com

ABOUT KLEPIERRE

Klepierre is the European leader in shopping malls, combining property development and asset management skills. The Companys portfolio is valued at 20.7 billion at December 31, 2021, and comprises large shopping centers in more than 10 countries in Continental Europe which together host hundreds of millions of visitors per year. Klepierre holds a controlling stake in Steen & Strm (56.1%), Scandinavias number one shopping center owner and manager. Klepierre is a French REIT (SIIC) listed on Euronext Paris and is included in the CAC Next 20 and EPRA Euro Zone Indexes. It is also included in ethical indexes, such as Euronext CAC 40 ESG, MSCI Europe ESG Leaders, FTSE4Good, Euronext Vigeo Europe 120, and features in CDPs A-list. These distinctions underscore the Groups commitment to a proactive sustainable development policy and its global leadership in the fight against climate change.

For more information, please visit the newsroom on our website: www.klepierre.com

(1) Provided pursuant to article l. 233-8-II of the French commercial code and article 223-16 of the general regulation of the French financial market authority.

(2) Theoretical voting rights correspond to the total number of voting rights attached to all shares, including those deprived of voting rights (article 223-11 of the General Regulations of the Autorite des marches financiers). As of June 30, 2022, Klepierre owns 1,390,321 of its own shares.

(3) Exercisable voting rights correspond to the number of voting rights net of shares deprived of voting rights.

Attachment
Dallas, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The cheesiest day of the year is finally here, and theres no better place to celebrate than at Dickeys Barbecue Pit, where experienced pitmasters serve up Legit. Texas. Barbecue. rounded out with the most indulgent side  creamy, savory mac and cheese.

On Thursday, July 14, let Dickeys satisfy your cheesy cravings and put a barbecue spin on the classic dish this National Mac and Cheese Day by topping it with chopped brisket and pulled pork. Or enjoy these delicious new takes on mac and cheese:

Brisket Mac Stack  The return of the legit classic, featuring Dickeys slow-smoked brisket, perfectly prepared on top of creamy Mac and Cheese.

 The return of the legit classic, featuring Dickeys slow-smoked brisket, perfectly prepared on top of creamy Mac and Cheese. Kickin Buffalo Chicken Mac Stack  A new mac and cheese concoction featuring slow-smoked chicken, tossed in a buffalo sauce for the perfect amount of savory and spice.

Dickeys wants all fans to celebrate the holiday their own way. Thats why the Texas-style BBQ brand is inviting guests to make their mac with any smokin topping their hearts desire, like cabbage slaw, sliced cheddar cheese, smoked ribs and more! The sauceabilities are endless on Dickeys Mac and Cheese.

When we added Mac and Cheese to the menu it was an immediate hit and continues to be, said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. Our savory Mac and Cheese is the perfect side to accompany a flavorful, hearty meal of barbecue  especially on this delicious holiday. We cant wait for barbecue lovers across the country to come celebrate with us!

Looking for more ways to cue up your mac and cheese? The possibilities are endless with the best mac and cheese recipe right from our authentic BBQ menu. Read more about our Dickeys Brisket Mac Stack on Forbes and how to take our mac to the next level! Choose from a variety of fresh toppings to customize to your liking at any one of our BBQ joints!

To learn more, follow Dickeys Barbecue Pit on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Download the Dickeys Barbecue Pit app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.



About Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.

Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the worlds largest barbecue concept, was founded in 1941 by the Dickey family. For the past 80 years, Dickeys Barbecue Pit has served millions of guests in 44 states Legit. Texas. Barbecue. At Dickeys, all our barbecued meats are smoked onsite in a hickory wood burning pit. Dickeys proudly believes theres no shortcut to true barbecue and its why our name isnt BBQ. The Dallas-based, family-run barbecue franchise offers eight slow-smoked meats and 12 wholesome sides with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included. Dickeys Barbecue has 550 locations across the United States and eight other countries.

Dickeys was named to Newsweeks 2022 Americas Favorite Restaurant Chains list and USA Today 2021 readers choice awards. Dickeys won first place on Fast Casuals Top 100 Movers and Shakers list, been named a Top 500 Franchise by Entrepreneur and named to Hospitality Technologys Industry Heroes list. Led by CEO Laura Rea Dickey, who was named among the countrys 50 most influential women in foodservice in Nations Restaurant News, was recognized by Fast Casuals Top 100 Movers and Shakers list and honored by Dallas Business Journal. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Fox News, Forbes Magazine, Franchise Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine and QSR Magazine. Dickeys Barbecue is part of Dickeys Restaurant Brands which has more than 700 restaurants nationwide including brands Wing Boss, Trailer Birds, Big Deal Burger and bbqathome.com. DRB is led by CEO Roland Dickey Jr. For more information, visit www.dickeys.com.

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Archipelago, an AI-driven technology platform that connects, validates and analyzes property risk data for large commercial property owners, today announced the ability for customers to integrate their loss history data with their property exposures on the Archipelago platform.



Archipelago is already transforming how large property owners manage, analyze, validate, and securely share their property exposure data with their broker and insurance partners across the market. Over $7 trillion of total insured values of commercial property are already on Archipelagos SaaS platform that digitizes disconnected spreadsheets and documents into a Smarter SOV. By linking historical loss experiences to uniquely identified properties, and doing so over time, Archipelago's customers can now obtain a more comprehensive understanding of historical trends and key drivers of risk. Additionally, users can share this data-driven experience and its relevance more effectively with their insurance partners.

Having a detailed loss history that is readily available on platform lets us share our full narrative and build trust and transparency with stakeholders, said Deborah Ravetti, Risk Manager at Shorenstein, a real estate investment company with $8 billion in assets. The details do more than just quantify the loss, they put it into context. Losses can come from a variety of incidents and if we fix the root cause, it allows us to communicate and demonstrate our loss prevention/mitigation measures and overall proactive risk management program. It impacts our outcomes as well as accomplishing our goal of transparency and moving towards a more sustainable model.

Included with this product update are additional enhancements to user access and security controls. Customers can now provide access to insurers by domain or on an individual basis via email address. Property risk data is sensitive information, and Archipelago gives its customers and their broker-partners the confidence to securely manage and share access to this data with their insurance markets.

Empowering our customers with the ability to integrate their loss experiences to their exposures, identified uniquely to individual properties and trended over time, empowers them to better understand their drivers of risk, shape their risk management strategies, and more proactively communicate these experiences to their insurers, said Hemant Shah, CEO and Co-Founder of Archipelago.

About Archipelago

Archipelago is an AI technology and data analytics company transforming how commercial property risks are understood and managed by owners, operators, and risk managers. The high-quality data generated through Archipelagos platform can be shared securely with stakeholders to deliver innovative services and solutions to their customers. Learn more at OnArchipelago.com.

Media Contact:

Ben Carter

Broadsheet Communications for Archipelago

bencarter@broadsheetcomms.com
New York, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market by Product ; ByTest Type ; By Disease ; By End User ; By Type and Region  Analysis of Market Size, Share & Trends for 2017 2019 and Forecasts to 2030" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06191614/?utm_source=GNW

It releases proteins referred to as autoantibodies which attack healthy cells. Some autoimmune disorders only affect a single organ. Such as Type 1 diabetes is harmful to the pancreas. Other diseases affect the entire body, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).



Market Highlights

The global market size for autoimmune disease diagnosis is projected to grow to USD 8.3 billion by 2030 from USD 4.1 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.9%. This industry is experiencing substantial growth due to the high incidence of autoimmune diseases, increased awareness about autoimmune diseases, and growth in autoimmune disease research.



Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market Expected Market Growth



Recent Highlights in Global Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market

 In 2019, PerkinElmer, Inc. was approved by the US FDA EUROIMMUN Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase ELISA to assist physicians in confirming or excluding a diagnosis of celiac disease.



 In 2019, Exagen Inc. extended its third-year agreement with GSK to raise awareness of lupus diagnosis and management challenges.



 In 2019 ZEUS IFA Test Systems was launched in the US by Cambridge Life Sciences Limited.



Global Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market: Segments

Consumables & Assay Kits segment to dominate the demand for autoimmune diagnostics in 2019

The autoimmune disease diagnostics industry is segmented into consumables & assay kits and tools depending on the drug. During the forecast period, the Consumables & Assay Kits segment is projected to rise at the fastest growth rate. This is mainly due to the growing occurrence of autoimmune diseases and the rising number of launches/approvals for the drug.



Segment of routine laboratory tests to dominate autoimmune diagnostics market in 2019

The autoimmune disease diagnostic industry is segmented into standard laboratory tests, inflammatory markers, autoantibodies & immunological tests, and other tests, depending on the test form. The segment of routine laboratory tests is estimated to record the highest CAGR over the period of forecast. This can be attributed primarily to the increasing prevalence of autoimmune diseases coupled with advanced national health-care infrastructure.



Global Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market: Drivers and Restraints

Drivers

Growing Awareness and prevalence of the disease

Factors contributing to the growth of the worldwide autoimmune disease therapy market include increasing autoimmune disease prevalence coupled with increasing patient awareness and increasing laboratory automation leading to the simultaneous diagnosis of multiple diagnostic tests leading to rapid and error-free results. Growing patient awareness of these diseases should drive market growth.



Advancements in healthcare technology and infrastructure

Technological advances such as the development of novel biomarkers such as Enbrel and Humira, and portable diagnostic point of care equipment, and growing demand for laboratory automation are anticipated to fuel growth over the forecast period of 2020-2030. Due to continually evolving healthcare infrastructure and an increase in healthcare spending, there is a spur in the sector.



Restraints

Non-penetration to the remote areas of underdeveloped countries

Underdeveloped countries and remote areas do not have the knowledge and awareness about autoimmune diseases and their symptoms which would, in turn, minimize their use in the underdeveloped and lower-income countries. Inadequate funding in developing countries, high costs involved in the treatment of the disease, and non-availability of the treatment in developing countries are the main restraints for the global autoimmune disease therapeutics market.



Global Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market: Regions

The global autoimmune disease diagnosis market is segmented based on regional analysis into five major regions. These include North America, Latin America, Europe, APAC, and MENA.



Europe was the largest regional diagnostic market for autoimmune diseases in 2019. The rising prevalence of chronic diseases, the growing geriatric population in this area are key factors driving the growth of the European autoimmune diagnostics industry. In 2018 Britain dominated the European economy and the trend is expected to continue throughout the forecast period. High R&D activities coupled with the increasing economic burden of the countrys autoimmune disorders would affect regional development. Increasing demand for better and accurate diagnosis of both systemic and localized diseases will also have a positive impact on the market.



The diagnostic market for autoimmune disease is dominated by Europe, and North America followed in 2019. However, during the forecast period, The Asia Pacific region is estimated to grow at the fastest rate.



The area of Asia Pacific is expected to see lucrative growth due to continuously developing healthcare infrastructure, growing patient perception, and high unmet medical needs. A rise in market share is anticipated during the forecast period. Its market share is expected to rise from 21.0 percent in 2015 to over 22.0 percent in 2025. The Japanese autoimmune diagnostics market holds the largest market share in the Asia-Pacific region and a healthy CAGR has been registered.



The autoimmune disease diagnosis market is further segmented by region into:

North America Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  United States and Canada



Latin America Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Rest of Latin America



Europe Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, NORDIC, Russia, Turkey, and Rest of Europe

APAC Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  India, China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, and Rest of APAC

MENA Market Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, Y-o-Y Growth, CAGR  North Africa, Israel, GCC, South Africa, and Rest of MENA



Global Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market: Key Players

AESKU GROUP GMBH & CO. KG (Germany)



Company Overview

Business Strategy

Key Product Offerings

Financial Performance

Key Performance Indicators

Risk Analysis

Recent Development

Regional Presence

SWOT Analysis

Abbott (US)

Thermo Fisher Scientific (US)

Danaher (US)

HYCOR Biomedical (US)

Siemens (Germany)

Inova Diagnostics (US)

Trinity Biotech (Ireland)

Bio-Rad (US)

GRIFOLS (Spain)

Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market report also contains analysis on:



Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market Segments:

By Product

Consumables & Assay Kits

Instruments

Others

By Test Type

Routine Laboratory Tests

Inflammatory Markers

Autoantibodies & Immunologic Test

Other Tests

By Disease

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Sjogrens Syndrome

Thyroiditis

Scleroderma

Other Diseases

By End-User

Clinical Laboratories

Hospitals

Other End Users

Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market Dynamics

Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market Size

Supply & Demand

Current Trends/Issues/Challenges

Competition & Companies Involved in the Market

Value Chain of the Market

Market Drivers and Restraints

FAQs on Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis Market

Which segment is anticipated to hold the largest market share?



At what CAGR is the market anticipated to grow between 2020 and 2030?



Who are the key players in the autoimmune disease diagnosis market?

What could be the challenging factors for the growth of the autoimmune disease diagnosis market?

What are the growth drivers for the autoimmune disease diagnosis market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06191614/?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.



__________________________
Burlington, Kentucky, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Snappy Tomato Pizza is a rapidly growing, award-winning, Italian pizzeria chain headquartered in Northern Kentucky. Since 1978, Snappy Tomato Pizza has been known for their fresh ingredients, great service and delicious pizza, hoagies, salads and wings. Tim Gayhart, current franchise owner of five locations and area developer of thirteen stores, will take over the reins of the company and become the new owner of Snappy Tomato Pizza Company as of July 2022.

I am excited to begin this new chapter in my career, having started 30-years ago with a loan of $20,000 for my first Snappy franchise to now owning the company, it is truly a blessing to be in this position, shared Tim Gayhart, new owner of Snappy Tomato Pizza. The opportunity to do more of what I love to do is the reason I wanted to take a bigger slice of the (pizza) pie.

Gayhart is a homegrown Cincinnati, Ohio native, now residing in Union, Kentucky. He will purchase the Snappy Tomato Pizza Company from its current owner, The Deters Company, for an undisclosed amount. Gayhart has owned a Snappy Tomato franchise since 1991 and served as an area developer since 2001, making him a fitting choice for corporate ownership. In the transition, Gayhart will take ownership of the Burlington, Kentucky location. The Burlington flagship store along with Gayharts Kentucky locations in Villa Hills, Richwood, Dry Ridge and his Indiana sites in Lawrenceburg and Rising Sun will all become corporate establishments. Gayhart will provide overall support, guidance and resources for all forty-four current locations across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee and New Mexico. He will also be the franchisor of the first new franchise of his tenure, now under contract to open in LaGrange, Kentucky later this fall.

Having worked with Tim (Gayhart) for more than thirty-years, I instantly knew that the very moment he expressed interest in buying the company, it was a great fit, stated Jeremy Deters, President of The Deters Company. Tim knows the pizza business and this company inside and out; I am excited to see where he takes Snappy, because with Tims passion and commitment the skys the limit.

The pizza industry is huge, stable and growing. Americans spend $46 billion a year on pizza, according to PMQ Pizza Magazine. Food Business News estimates that 30% of Americans eat pizza at least once a week. In the United States, it is estimated that an average of 350 slices of pizza are sold every second of every day.

The Snappy Tomato Pizza corporate headquarters will remain in Burlington, Kentucky alongside their flagship store location. The corporate staff, over 900 current employees, management and thirty-one franchisees throughout the country will remain intact during the ownership transition.

The goal for this fast-casual, affordable, family-friendly, Italian pizzeria restaurant chain will be to continue the quality, service and growth already established, while increasing the companys footprint in existing markets. We hope to grow our store count by ten units over the next three years, said Gayhart. By emphasizing the award-winning sauce, the unique line of BEAST pizzas and the memorable Mr. Snappy logo, the table is set for instant success.

###

About Snappy Tomato Pizza: www.SnappyTomato.com| #SnappyTomato

Snappy Tomato Pizza was founded in 1978 in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, as a single independent Italian pizzeria and has grown into forty-five locations across five states: Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and New Mexico. Every location prides itself on being immersed in its community. What started as an all-in bet on a horse named Snappy Tomato, at a horse race in Kentucky, is now a beloved casual, affordable, award-winning, family restaurant and one of the most sought-after franchise opportunities nationwide. The delicious handcrafted pizzas include the Signature menu items Snapperoni Pizza, Ranch Pizza, Loaded Potato Pizza and the complete line of The Beast Pizzas. In addition to these Italian specialties, the menu contains delectable wings, salads, hoagies and calzones. Snappy Tomato Pizza is famous for their always-fresh ingredients, secret recipe award-winning sauce, house-made dough, the unique line of Beast Pizzas and the ever-memorable Mr. Snappy Tomato logo.

Stay in the know by following: #SnappyTomato

Franchise Information: www.SnappyTomato.com/franchise-info

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NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fever-Tree, the leading premium brand of carbonated mixers with a range of tonics, ginger ales, ginger beers and sparkling sodas, is out to mix up the weekend and let people in on a little secret: Great-tasting drinks don't have to be complicated. In fact, all they need is a high-quality mixer and a premium spirit to help people get on what really matters: enjoying the drink in the glass. If three-quarters of a drink is the mixer, wouldn't people want it to be the very best?

The Fever-Tree range is designed to complement and enhance a wide array of premium spirits and is the perfect accompaniment to any drinking occasion. Fever-Tree is made with the best naturally sourced ingredients from around the world and no GMOs, artificial flavorings or sweeteners.

Now, this July 15-17, Fever-Tree is partnering with Food Truck Promotions  an experiential marketing agency that focuses on creating one-of-a-kind brand-to-consumer moments  to take over New York City with the mixer truck of the summer.

Fever-Tree's branded truck will take full-day stops in Soho, Union Square, and Williamsburg to hand out complimentary Fever-Tree four-packs and branded tote bags from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday & 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Best of all, the truck will be staffed with a bartender from top bars in each neighborhood to serve up refreshing mocktails that give people a taste of the Fever-Tree line firsthand. In partnership with Crownshy, Hawksmoor NYC, and Westlight at the William Vale, guests will be treated to non-alcoholic cocktails straight off the menu of these top bars, crafted onsite by leading bartenders Harrison Ginsberg, Adam Montgomerie, and Sean Davenport.

Don't miss out on the chance to sample new, delicious Fever-Tree mixers like Sparkling Lime & Yuzu, Sparkling Pink Grapefruit, and Refreshingly Light Cucumber Tonic from the branded truck and take away award-winning gingers, tonics, and sparklings to make simple, delicious mixed drinks from Palomas to spritzes to highballs all weekend and summer long.

About Fever-Tree: Founded in 2005, Fever-Tree is the leading premium line of carbonated mixers. It procures the world's finest ingredients from across the globe, including quinine from the Democratic Republic of Congo, ginger from Ivory Coast, India and Nigeria, and lemons from Sicily. Since its launch, Fever-Tree has collected a vast number of awards, including the Best Selling and Top Trending Tonic Water for seven consecutive years by Drinks International's surveys of the World's Best Bars. In the U.S., Fever-Tree's portfolio includes 16 mixers, comprising tonics, ginger ales, ginger beers and sparkling sodas that are available at leading retailers, bars and restaurants across the country. For more information, please visit fever-tree.com, email us at USA@Fever-Tree.com, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and on Instagram.

About Food Truck Promotions: Food Truck Promotions is a full-service mobile experiential marketing agency that specializes in transforming vehicles into interactive experiences that connects brands with consumers. Whether you are promoting your own brand or hosting a marketing event, Food Truck Promotions' team of experts will help you reach your target audience in a memorable way. Learn more about what Food Truck Promotions can do for your marketing strategy and get in touch with the team today.

Contact: fever-tree@legendpr.com

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Intelligent equipment, systems upgrade village clinics across China

09:05, July 12, 2022 By Sun Chao ( People's Daily

Intelligent systems and equipment are lending a big hand to medical agencies and doctors in rural China, making medical services more convenient and accessible.

In a clinic in Zibianwangji village, Daxingdi township, Lushui city, southwest China's Yunnan province, various types of medical devices are assisting doctor Yang Wenhua in diagnosis and treatment, such as a blood pressure monitor, a glucometer, and a traditional Chinese medicine massager.

Doctors of a clinic in Mangshikou township, Zhulu county, Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei province pay home visits, May 14, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Chen Xiaodong)

Since a smart village doctor system was launched, we have obtained more assistive medical devices and therapy methods. There are more villagers coming to the clinic nowadays, said Yang, while recording, on a specially designed application on his phone, the information of a villager who came to the clinic for massage therapy.

The system has put an end to the history when rural doctors had to rely on echometers, thermometer, and their personal experiences to make diagnoses, Yang told Peoples Daily.

Recently, a smart assistant system was launched at township- and village-level medical agencies in Hengnan county, central Chinas Hunan province. Based on big data and AI technologies, the system collects information of massive cases, as well as the latest prescription requirements, thus providing references to the doctors from these agencies when they make diagnoses. If there is a discrepancy between doctors diagnoses and those made by the system, doctors can seek for advices from higher medical agencies.

Such high-tech assistance was totally beyond imagination in the past, said a rural doctor with more than 20 years of clinical experience.

In the past, rural doctors across China had to pay home visits to their patients carrying heavy medical kits. Nowadays, a number of villages have access to modern medical devices.

Photo taken on March 22, 2022 shows villagers going to a free clinic given by doctor He Wei, who works at a clinic in Xiaoshuijing village, Yuduo township, Qianxi, southwest China's Guizhou province. (People's Daily Online/Zhou Xunchao)

For instance, AI-enabled patient callback systems can automatically call chronic patients and record their conditions over the phone; a 5G-enabled intelligent diagnosis and therapy machine can perform 13 types of examinations and give remote diagnoses.

The application of advanced medical technologies in the countryside helps improve the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment, and makes medical services more professional. Besides, it also reduces clerical work for doctors and enables them to invest more energy in diagnosis and treatment.

In the past, some villagers were reluctant to go to the doctor due to the complicated healthcare reimbursement procedures. Today, these procedures have become much easier thanks to the wide application of electronic medical records.

In Baise, south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, intelligent settlement terminals have been installed at local medical agencies, through which the villagers can go through reimbursement formalities. Patients in rural Baise have benefited significantly from the terminals, which enable them to receive treatment for minor ailments at their doorsteps.

Rural doctors comprise a major part of the well-trained professionals in the countryside. Some rural areas are still facing a lack of doctors and substandard medical services. Some rural doctors said that sometimes, due to a lack of experience, they had to leave tricky cases to higher agencies.

Today, thanks to the close medical consortiums established across the country, rural doctors have more opportunities to receive training and pursue further studies at higher agencies, which makes them more skilled in dealing with common diseases that were once prone to missed diagnoses and misdiagnoses.

Doctor Wu Yun of a clinic in Tumen village, Chengguan township, Baokang county, Xiangyang, central China's Hubei province records information of villagers coming to the clinic to get medicines, Aug. 15, 2021. (People's Daily Online/Yang Tao)

Statistics indicate that as of the end of 2020, 609,000 clinics had been set up in 509,000 administrative villages across China, with each clinic having 2.37 medical workers on average.

In 2020, county-level hospitals in China received 1.16 billion visits, and the number was 1.1 billion for those at the township level. Village clinics across the country were visited 1.43 billion times in the same year, or 2,349 times for each one of them.

At present, China has more than 700,000 doctors working at village clinics to ensure the health of rural residents.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
From left: U.K. Ambassador Colin Crooks, Hong Suemin, Kim Ji-myung, Kim Jiyoon and RAS President Steve Shields. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar



By Steven L. Shields



The winners of Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea's third annual high school essay contest were presented with their awards at the society's recent Founders' Day celebration on June 11. A large group of RAS Korea members and friends were on hand to greet and congratulate the students and their families.



The 2022 awards were presented with assistance from U.K. Ambassador Colin Crooks, who is also RAS Korea's honorary president, and Dr. Kim Ji-myung, president of the Korea Heritage Education Institute, who sponsored the cash prizes.



RAS Korea's essay contest is a follow-up to a delightful contribution in 2019 from several students at Dongducheon Foreign Language High School. The group of students there read an article about RAS Korea in the Chosun Ilbo late in 2018. They got together and decided to express their support for RAS Korea's century-long contribution to Korea through essays. Afterward, RAS Korea representatives visited the school and met more than 100 students, many of whom also wanted to contribute essays, and the contest was born.



This year's contestants were challenged to choose between three directed topics rather than an open format. The topics were: "How can Korea preserve its cultural assets for future generations? How should Korea make choices about what is culturally relevant and vital?"; "What is something that is not currently being taught in your school that you think could foster a better understanding or appreciation of Korea's history or culture? How would this improved awareness help us today?"; "You have been asked to make a new holiday in Korea. When is your new holiday, what is it about, and how is it celebrated?"



Essays were received on each of the three topics, but two winning essays were on curriculum, and one was on a new holiday. All three winners were from the same school, Myungduk Foreign Language High School in southwestern Seoul. Each contestant this year presented well-written, creatively thought-out, timely essays. The judges were challenged to make the top choices. Even though not all could be awarded, RAS Korea believes that competing students were winners, too. We are proud of the young people who took part.



Oh Sumin's delightful essay, "When eggplant flowers bloom," proposes a new national holiday for Korea. She proposes that July 27 be designated as Armistice Day, the day on which the cessation of hostilities was declared in 1953. She recounts the story of her grandfather, who suffered significantly escaping to the south at the end of the Pacific War. Grandfather ate raw eggplants to survive as he made his way south. Oh's father plants eggplants each year, and when the flowers bloom, they remember her grandfather (now deceased), who never got to see his hometown again. She notes that every year, the number of separated family members is decreasing due to old age, and in a few short years, no one will be left to remember. Her suggestion of a new national holiday is thoughtful and heartwarming, to be sure.





RAS President Steve Shields, left, presents Oh Sumin with her award. / Courtesy of RAS Korea
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Mrs. Hanan Elatr Khashoggi was invited to meet with senior officials at the White House as President Biden prepares to depart for the Middle East. Mrs. Khashoggi was accompanied by her attorney, Randa Fahmy, Esq., of Fahmy Hudome International.

Mrs. Khashoggi conveyed her thanks to President Biden for fulfilling his commitment to human rights and his promise to investigate her husband's murder in a transparent and fair manner. She also expressed her thanks to the President for publicly releasing the intelligence report which led to a very painful understanding of exactly what happened to her husband.

Mrs. Khashoggi noted: "I am here today, before President Biden departs to Saudi Arabia, to thank him and express what Jamal wanted most in this world: the release of all political prisoners being held in Saudi Arabia, including Jamal's close friend, Essam Al-Zamil. I do not want those political prisoners to suffer the same fate as Jamal."

Mrs. Khashoggi's attorney, Randa Fahmy, Esq. added: "It was important for Mrs. Khashoggi to be able to express exactly what Jamal would have wanted if he were alive today, particularly right before President Biden's departure to Saudi Arabia. This meeting is just the beginning of her long road to closure amid her grief. Part of that closure is also to hold all parties accountable for the death of her husband."

Jamal Khashoggi married Hanan Elatr Khashoggi on June 2, 2018, in Alexandria, Virginia, months before he was murdered at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. As his only wife at the time of his death, it is important to Mrs. Khashoggi that Jamal's true legacy of freedom and tolerance outlive his death.

Please contact randa@fahmyhudome.com (202) 352-2186 for interview requests for Mrs. Khashoggi.

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Image 1: Jamal Khashoggi and Hanan ElAtr Khashoggi Wedding Ceremony June 2, 2018





Jamal Khashoggi marries Hanan Elatr Khashoggi on June 2, 2018 in Alexandria, Virginia.









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Albuquerque, N.M., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Humane, the countrys first national humane organization, today reunited retired Military Working Dog Akim with Senior Airmen Jenna, his former handler and best friend, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The pair have been separated for more than a year after serving together in South Korea.

We at American Humane honor the lifesaving contributions of all veterans, including the four-legged military dogs who risk their lives to courageously serve our country, said Dr. Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane. We are thrilled Akim will get the retirement he deserves, alongside the person who loves him most.

Uniquely qualified in detection and patrol, Akim was paired with SrA Jenna in 2020. The two served together in South Korea, patrolling the Air Base, searching vehicles at the gates, and training with the Republic of Korea Air Force Special Forces. In November 2021, they were forced to part ways.

While serving together, Akim had a near-death experience after accidentally swallowing a bee and suffering from an extreme allergic reaction. SrA Jenna leaped into action as Akim went into anaphylactic shock, picking up the 70-pound dog and running him to the veterinarian at the base. Thanks to her quick action, Akim survived. SrA Jenna spent the next two days by his side and even slept with him in his kennel to keep him company. From that day forward, SrA Jenna always had an EpiPen on hand.

Tragically, Akim lost his eyesight when he was resuscitated and in recovery. He eventually regained some of his sight and was able to perform his duties on base again, but it never returned fully. This unfortunate incident formed a lifelong, unbreakable bond between Akim and SrA Jenna, and the pair have been inseparable ever since.

I dont care about me. I care about my dog. I just wanted to make sure that he was as comfortable as he could possibly be, said SrA Jenna, recalling the traumatic event. No one is going to care as much about him as me.

From the moment she became MWD Akims handler, SrA Jenna knew she wanted to be the one who gave him a forever-loving home when he finished his years of service. American Humane was honored to work with SrA Jenna and the U.S. Military to transport MWD Akim more than 6,000 miles from South Korea to New Mexico, into SrA Jennas loving arms. The reunion took place in Albuquerque.

I want him to see everything, said SrA Jenna. I want him to experience the freedom of life. I want him to go in a river and go swimming and just live his best free life. He still deserves to see the world and get to have some fun.

Retired MWDs often have medical issues stemming from their physical jobs, and American Humane provides free specialty and preventative medical care to make retired MWDs as healthy and comfortable as possible during retirement.

To help us reunite military heroes like Akim with their former handlers and give them the retirement they truly deserve, visit www.AmericanHumane.org.

ABOUT AMERICAN HUMANE

American Humane is the countrys first national humane organization and the worlds largest certifier of animal welfare, overseeing the humane treatment of more than one billion animals across the globe each year. Founded in 1877, American Humane has been First to Serve the cause of animals and for 145 years has been at the forefront of virtually every major advance in the humane movement. For more information or to support our lifesaving work, please visit www.AmericanHumane.org, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to our channel on YouTube for the latest breaking news and features about the animals with whom we share our Earth.

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TORONTO, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX) ("MUX" or the "Company) announces that it is proceeding with a 1-for-10 reverse split of the common shares of the Company ("the Reverse Split") with an effective date on or about July 26th, 2022. Notice has been provided to the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), and MUX's common shares are expected to begin trading on the NYSE and the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"), on a consolidated basis, on or about July 26th, 2022.



At the MUX Annual Meeting of Shareholders, held on July 7th, 2022, the Company's shareholders approved the proposal to grant the Board of Directors the discretion to amend the articles of incorporation to effect a reverse split of the outstanding common stock on a ratio of not less than 1-for-5 and not more than 1-for-10. Additionally, the shareholders approved the proposal to amend the articles of incorporation to reduce the number of common stock authorized to be issued from 675 million shares to 200 million shares.

Following the Reverse Split, the number of outstanding common shares of the Company will be reduced from approximately 474 million outstanding common shares to approximately 47 million outstanding common shares. MUX's common shares will continue to trade on the NYSE and the TSX under the existing ticker symbols. Following the Reverse Split, the new CUSIP number for the Company's common shares will be 58039P305, and the new ISIN for the Company's common shares will be US58039P3055.

MUX's transfer agent, Computershare Investor Services ("Computershare"), will act as the exchange agent for the Reverse Split. On the effective date of the Reverse Split, Computershare will send instructions (a Letter of Transmittal) to shareholders who hold stock certificates regarding the exchange of old certificates for new certificates. Shareholders who hold their shares in brokerage accounts or "street name" are not required to take any action to effect the exchange of their shares. No fractional common shares will be issued in connection with the Reverse Split; any fractional shares will be canceled.

Election of New Director

Mr. Ian Ball had been newly elected to the Company's Board of Directors. Ian has spent the majority of his professional career in the mining and natural resource sector. In executive roles he has been involved in companies focused on gold and silver exploration and development in North and South America as well as royalty businesses. He most recently served as the President and CEO of Abitibi Royalties, Inc., a Toronto-listed gold royalty company. He joined Abitibi in 2014 and served as an officer and director until 2021, when the company was acquired for $250 million. Prior to his tenure at Abitibi, Ian served as McEwen Mining's President.

AGM Voting Results

At the annual meeting of shareholders held on July 7th, 2022, MUX shareowners voted to:

Elect as directors: Robert McEwen, Allen Ambrose, Ian Ball, Richard Brissenden, Robin Dunbar, Dr. Donald Quick, Dr. Merri Sanchez, and William Shaver.

Ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2022.

Approve the named executive officer compensation (on an advisory basis), and set the frequency with which shareholders are entitled to vote on compensation at every three years.

Approve the proposal to grant the Board of Directors the discretion to amend the articles of incorporation to effect a reverse split of the outstanding common stock on a ratio of not less than 1-for-5 and not more than 1-for-10.

Approve the proposal to amend the articles of incorporation to reduce the number of common stock authorized to be issued from 675 million shares to 200 million shares.



Detailed voting results are as follows.

For the election of directors:

For Withheld Percentage For Percentage Withheld Robert R. McEwen 171,581,744 11,233,062 93.86% 6.14% Allen V. Ambrose 168,694,429 14,120,377 92.28% 7.72% Richard W. Brissenden 171,099,372 11,715,434 93.59% 6.41% Robin E. Dunbar 170,595,019 12,219,787 93.32% 6.68% Donald R.M. Quick 171,096,051 11,718,755 93.59% 6.41% Merri Sanchez 171,188,034 11,626,772 93.64% 6.36% William M. Shaver 171,399,520 11,415,286 93.76% 6.24% Ian Ball 171,638,113 11,176,693 93.89% 6.11%

For the advisory vote on the approval of executive compensation:

For Against Abstain Percentage For Percentage

Against Percentage

Abstain 165,788,946 14,208,713 2,817,397 90.69% 7.77% 1.54%

For the approval of the frequency of holding advisory votes on compensation:

1 Year 2 Years 3 Years Abstain 77,524,138 2,726,549 100,143,283 2,421,086

For the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm:

For Against Abstain Percentage For Percentage

Against Percentage

Abstain 238,132,480 3,728,244 6,124,650 96.03% 1.50% 2.47%

For the proposal to grant the Board of Directors the discretion effect the Reverse Split:

For Against Abstain Percentage For Percentage

Against Percentage

Abstain 216,390,016 22,413,156 1,591,357 90.02% 9.32% 0.66%

For the proposal to reduce the number of authorized shares:

For Against Abstain Percentage For Percentage

Against Percentage

Abstain 217,682,278 21,362,046 1,350,205 90.55% 8.89% 0.56%

CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and information, including "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements and information expressed, as at the date of this news release, McEwen Mining Inc.'s (the "Company") estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations or beliefs as to future events and results. Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies, and there can be no assurance that such statements and information will prove to be accurate. Therefore, actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements and information. Risks and uncertainties that could cause results or future events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to, effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, fluctuations in the market price of precious metals, mining industry risks, political, economic, social and security risks associated with foreign operations, the ability of the corporation to receive or receive in a timely manner permits or other approvals required in connection with operations, risks associated with the construction of mining operations and commencement of production and the projected costs thereof, risks related to litigation, the state of the capital markets, environmental risks and hazards, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral resources and reserves, and other risks. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information included herein, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to reissue or update forward-looking statements or information as a result of new information or events after the date hereof except as may be required by law. See McEwen Mining's Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, under the caption "Risk Factors", for additional information on risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to the forward-looking statements and information regarding the Company. All forward-looking statements and information made in this news release are qualified by this cautionary statement.

The NYSE and TSX have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this news release, which has been prepared by the management of McEwen Mining Inc.

ABOUT MCEWEN MINING

McEwen Mining is a diversified gold and silver producer and explorer focused in the Americas with operating mines in Nevada, Canada, Mexico and Argentina. It also has a large exposure to copper through its subsidiary McEwen Copper, owner of the Los Azules copper deposit in Argentina.
DENVER, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) named KND Labs as an MVP Supplier for 2022, the company announced. The award was presented to KND Labs during the NASC Annual Conference with leaders in the animal supplement industry in attendance.

As one of the only CBD manufacturers in the world recognized by the NASC, KND Labs is pre-qualified to supply products and services to NASC Primary Suppliers. This distinction allows the world's largest pet brands, many of which are already sourcing from KND, to take comfort in their bulk CBD ingredient supplier.

"We're honored to receive this recognition from NASC," Nich Wilson, President of KND Labs, said. "Our goal is to be the most compliant and certified supplier of bulk hemp-derived ingredients, and this award further cements KND Labs as a premier supplier trusted by brands around the world."

The use of CBD ingredients in pet products is quickly gaining popularity, and veterinarians are increasingly recommending CBD oil for dogs, cats and other pets. Like humans, dogs and cats have an endocannabinoid system that allows them to benefit from CBD oil.

"The KND team is truly passionate about working closely with brands and manufacturing partners to form exceptional products continuing to set the standard for delivering the highest quality cannabinoids to the pet industry," Courtlandt Pennell, National Sales Manager of KND Labs, said.

In addition to its NASC supplier status, KND Labs is also cGMP 111 and 117, ISO 9001, Kosher-certified and is certified as an API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) manufacturer for the pharmaceutical industry and for OTC applications.

###

Media Contact:

Eli Davis | edavis@dragonflimedia.com



KND Labs:

info@kndlabs.com

sales@kndlabs.com

About KND Labs

KND Labs is a leading manufacturer of hemp-derived ingredients, extracting quality bulk ingredients for brands and manufacturers of both human and pet products. Focused on certification and compliance in the CBD market, KND is a certified NASC supplier, cGMP 111 and 117, ISO 9001 certified and Kosher certified. With two state-of-the-art facilities in Lakewood, Colorado, and Arvada, Colorado, KND Labs produces hemp-derived cannabinoids such as CBD, CBG, and other hemp-derived cannabinoids in powered isolate form, distillate oil form and liquid or powder water-soluble form. Learn more at kndlabs.com.

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NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber or the Company) (NYSE: UBER). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.



The investigation concerns whether Uber and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On July 11, 2022, The Guardian published an expose based on a leak of 124,000 internal documents that revealed the inside story of how the tech giant Uber louted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments during its aggressive global expansion. Among other news, The Guardian reported that [d]uring the fierce global backlash [to Ubers expansion], the data shows how Uber tried to show up support by discreetly courting prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs and media barons and that [l]eaked messages suggest Uber executives were at the same time under no illusions about the companys law-breaking, with one executive joking they had become pirates and another conceding: Were just [expletive deleted] illegal.

On this news, Ubers stock price fell $1.15 per share, or 5.15%, to close at $21.19 per share on July 11, 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
NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a release issued under the same headline on July 10, 2022, please note the lead plaintiff deadline should be September 6, 2022 instead of September 5, 2022. The corrected release follows:

Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Unity Software, Inc. (Unity or the Company) (NYSE: U) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and docketed under 22-cv-03962, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Unity securities between March 5, 2021 and May 10, 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 Unity securities during the Class Period, you have until September 6, 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]

Unity creates and operates an interactive real-time 3D content platform. The Companys platform provides software solutions to create, run, and monetize interactive, real-time 2D and 3D content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual reality devices. One of the tools on the Companys product platform is the Audience Pinpointer, a user acquisition service which uses real-time user valuation at the time of an ad request.

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) deficiencies in Unitys product platform reduced the accuracy of the Companys machine learning technology; (ii) the foregoing was likely to have a material negative impact on the Companys revenues; (iii) accordingly, Unity had overstated the Companys commercial and/or financial prospects for 2022; (iv) as a result, the Company was likely to have to reduce its fiscal 2022 guidance; and (v) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On May 10, 2022, after the market closed, Unity announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2022. The Company also reduced its fiscal 2022 guidance, citing challenges with monetization products. Specifically, Unity stated that a fault in [Unitys] platform . . . resulted in reduced accuracy for [its] Audience Pinpointer tool, a revenue expensive issue given that [the] Pinpointer tool experienced significant growth post the IDFA changes.

On this news, Unitys stock price fell $17.83 per share, or approximately 37%, to close at $30.30 per share on May 11, 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
AURORA, Ill., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BERNINA of America, the premier manufacturer of sewing, embroidery and quilting machines, today announced an exclusive collaboration with iconic textile designer Kaffe Fassett to bring Kaffes iconic designs to two Special Edition machines. BERNINA also announced the Summer availability of its long-awaited B 735 model and new products from its value-packed sister brand, bernette.



Kaffe Fassett is one of the most iconic and colorful textile designers of our time and its a great honor to partner with him for this Special Edition release, said Paul Ashworth, President and CEO of BERNINA of America. This collaboration is years in the making, and together, was a joy to bring to life for BERNINA fans and textile enthusiasts around the world.

Founded over 125 years ago, BERNINA is the premier manufacturer of sewing, embroidery, and quilting machines; and Kaffe Fassett has inspired millions for more than 60 years with his colorful work in fabric, knitting, needlepoint, painting and mosaics. Kaffes designs are instantly recognizable thanks to his passion for colorful designs inspired by his world travels and love of bright, fresh patterns.

BERNINA KAFFE EDITIONS

The Kaffe collaboration includes two Special Edition machines that come with exclusive stitch patterns and optional embroidery modules featuring Smart Drive Technology (SDT):

BERNINA 770 QE PLUS Kaffe Edition : With all the sophisticated features of one of BERNINAs finest machines, the B 770 QE PLUS Kaffe Edition is adorned with Kaffes acclaimed Guinea Flower pattern and comes with a gift package valued at $1,500 that includes a dust cover and XL Trolly in the Guinea Flower design, 15 half-yard cuts of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, 64 exclusive embroidery designs and 31 decorative stitches designed by Kaffe Fassett. MSRP: $7,999





: With all the sophisticated features of one of BERNINAs finest machines, the B 770 QE PLUS Kaffe Edition is adorned with Kaffes acclaimed Guinea Flower pattern and comes with a gift package valued at $1,500 that includes a dust cover and XL Trolly in the Guinea Flower design, 15 half-yard cuts of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, 64 exclusive embroidery designs and 31 decorative stitches designed by Kaffe Fassett. MSRP: $7,999 BERNINA 475 QE Kaffe Edition: Known for its compact design that still delivers on precision, the BERNINA 475 QE Kaffe Edition is the first full-color machine featuring a bold turquoise color palette with a design inspired by the Millefiore print by Kaffe. The exclusive gift package valued at $900 includes a dust cover and Large Trolly in the Millefiore design and 21 additional and exclusive decorative stitches specifically designed for the B 475 QE Kaffe Edition. MSRP: $3,199



I am so grateful to BERNINA for letting me decorate their iconic machines and Im thrilled at how this collaboration has blossomed, said Kaffe Fassett. Color is the tonic the world needs and I hope these machines inspire others to add more color to their designs, workspaces and life.

BERNINA 735 COMING SUMMER 2022

BERNINA 735: BERNINA of America also announced the Summer availability of the long-awaited new BERNINA 735. The B 735 is packed with features for a modern sewist with a 7 color touch screen, 5.5 mm stitch width, jumbo bobbin. compatible with the BERNINA Stitch Regulator to enhance free-motion quilting capability. MSRP: $5,999.



NEW BERNETTE MACHINES

bernette 62 AIRLOCK Coverstitch Machine: The new b62 AIRLOCK Coverstitch Machine makes getting projects started easy with an air threader that automatically threads the loopers. Packed with 4 coverstitches and 3 chain stitches, a hands-free system and slide on table provides space for large projects. MSRP: $1,735.



The new b62 AIRLOCK Coverstitch Machine makes getting projects started easy with an air threader that automatically threads the loopers. Packed with 4 coverstitches and 3 chain stitches, a hands-free system and slide on table provides space for large projects. MSRP: $1,735. bernette 68 AIRLOCK Combo Machine: The top-of-the-line bernette b68 AIRLOCK is a combo machine that created overlock, cover, chain and combo stitches. The b68 is a sturdy and easy-to-use machine that offers flexibly with different fabrics, threads and sewing projects. MSRP: $2,399.



The top-of-the-line bernette b68 AIRLOCK is a combo machine that created overlock, cover, chain and combo stitches. The b68 is a sturdy and easy-to-use machine that offers flexibly with different fabrics, threads and sewing projects. MSRP: $2,399. bernette 05 Crafter Machine: With the ability to sew through 12 layers of denim, this heavy duty, rugged b05 Crafter is the machine for the creative all-rounder packed with value for all sewing needs - from beautiful clothes to trendy accessories. MSRP: $465.



Todays announcements were made at BERNINA University, an annual conference where authorized BERNINA dealers and employees celebrate the creative possibilities made possible with BERNINA.

The Kaffe collection will be available for purchase through authorized BERNINA dealers nationwide in Fall 2022. Learn more about the Limited BERNINA Kaffe Editions and promotional bundles at www.bernina.com/kaffe-edition. Follow and join the social conversation with #BERNINAUSA and #BERNINAKaffeEdition. For more information on BERNINA of America, please visit bernina.com.

About BERNINA

BERNINA is the worlds premier manufacturer of quality state-of-the-art sewing, quilting and embroidery machines, overlockers and embroidery software. Since being founded over 125 years ago, BERNINA has maintained a strong commitment to serving the creative community. This dedication threads through the Swiss precision found in every machine, the training and education available through our over 400 fully trained independent BERNINA Dealers and the endless tutorials and content shared on BERNINAs blog and social media channels. BERNINA products are designed for beginning to advanced sewists and priced to meet a variety of budgets, with new products being introduced every year. Shop for BERNINA products online or buy directly from your nearest BERNINA Dealer . Follow BERNINA on Facebook , Instagram and Pinterest . BERNINAs sister machine, bernette, can be found on Instagram. You can also find helpful tips and tutorials for every skill level on BERNINAs Blog, WeAllSew .

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/03711445-f521-4306-af66-7e23d93f0509

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Philadelphia, PA, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In an era of artificial intelligence, a Meta AI Research mathematician delves into how AI impacts our society, and its potential to defeat even the newest encryption techniques for safeguarding data.

How can you expect your data to be kept secure and private in an AI-driven future? said Dr. Kristin Lauter, West Coast Director of Research Science at Meta AI Research, who will be presenting a free and livestreamed public lecture as part of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Annual Meeting tomorrow, July 13. AI may improve our lives, but without adequate safeguards, AI may also jeopardize the security of our private data, she added.

Research in cryptography, the science of securing information, has to stay ahead of emerging threats and attacks in order to protect everyone's privacy. In her upcoming presentation entitled Artificial Intelligence & Cryptography: Privacy and Security in the AI era, Dr. Lauter will share how cryptosystems may be vulnerable, especially as the power of machine learning and AI models grows. She will specifically discuss how transformers, a widely used AI architecture, can be used to attack lattice-based cryptography, one of the most promising new types of cryptography. The work of Dr. Lauter and her team at Meta AI launches a new line of inquiry by exploring potential AI-related weaknesses of cryptosystems; by uncovering these potential weaknesses now, the research community is in a better position to develop more robust ways to safeguard information in the future.

The presentation is free for the public and media to attend. Please email Becky Kerner if you plan to attend and would like to interview Dr. Lauter following the talk. You must email SIAM in advance in order to attend in-person; press credentials will be required for media.

The lecture will also be livestreamed and posted to SIAMs YouTube afterwards. Register here to watch the presentation live online.

Artificial Intelligence & Cryptography: Privacy and Security in the AI era

Featuring: Kristin Lauter, Meta AI Research

Wednesday, July 13, 6:15  7:15 p.m. EST

Spirit of Pittsburgh A

David L. Lawrence Convention Center

1000 Fort Duquesne Boulevard

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

About SIAM

Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an international society of more than 14,500 individual, academic, and corporate members from more than 100 countries. SIAM helps build cooperation between mathematics and the worlds of science and technology to solve real-world problems through publications, conferences, and communities like chapters, sections and activity groups. Learn more at siam.org.

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CHIHUAHUA, Mexico, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GCC, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: GCC*), a leading producer of cement and concrete in the United States and Mexico, will host a conference call to review its second quarter 2022 earnings results on Wednesday, July 27 at 11:00 a.m. (ET). Earnings results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, will be released on Tuesday, July 26, after market close.



The call will be hosted by Enrique Escalante, CEO, and Luis Carlos Arias, CFO, and can be accessed by dialing +1 (877) 407 0789 or +1 (201) 689 8562 for international calls. The conference ID is 13725700.

The presentation and listen-only webcast will be available via the following link.

A replay of the webcast will be available the same day at 2:00 p.m. (ET) until August 3 at 11:59 p.m. (ET). The replay can be accessed through this link or by dialing +1 (844) 512 2921 or +1 (412) 317 6671 for international calls. The replay PIN is 13725700. Additionally, an online replay of the live broadcast will be available on the Company's website two days later.

For more information visit www.gcc.com or contact:

GCC Investor Relations

Sahory Ogushi

MX +52 (614) 442 3176

US + 1 (303) 739 5943

soguship@gcc.com

About GCC

GCC is a leading supplier and producer of cement, concrete, aggregates, and constructionrelated services in the United States and Mexico, with an annual cement production capacity of 5.8 million metric tons. Founded in 1941, the Companys shares are listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GCC*.
Record plant throughput of 108,853 tonnes processed during the quarter or 1,196 tpd, significantly exceeding the Stage 2 Expansion run-rate and a 44% increase from Q2 2021. Record mine throughput with 114,471 tonnes mill feed mined during the quarter or 1,258 tpd, an increase of 59% from Q2 2021.



Strong metallurgical recoveries of 91.0% for gold and 90.9% for copper, ahead of the installation of the additional flotation cells planned for Q4 2022, which will double rougher tank capacity.



Record daily mill tonnes processed achieved on June 29, of 1,559 tonnes and record monthly average mill throughput achieved in June of 1,251 tpd. During May and June, 48% of days (29 days) exceeded 1,300 tpd. Subsequent to quarter end, on July 6, a new daily mill tonnes processed record was achieved of 1,638 tonnes.



Strong quarterly production in the second quarter of 26,085 oz of gold equivalent (AuEq)(1) or 22,934 oz gold, 1,229,961 lbs copper and 25,224 oz silver. Kainantu is well positioned to meet its guidance of 115,000 to 140,000 oz AuEq, with a strong second half of the year planned via higher throughput rates and stoping sequence mining higher grade.



Significant advancement of the twin incline in Q2, with incline #2 (6m x 6m) advanced to 1,276 metres and #3 (5m x 5m) advanced to 1,317 metres as of June 30, 2022. Year-to-date, twin incline development has exceeded budget by 38%. Overall mine development was 1,826 m, an increase of 75% and 19% from Q2 2021 and Q1 2022, respectively.

Note (1): Gold equivalent for Q2 2022 is based on the London Metal Exchange quarterly spot average price: gold $1,870 per ounce; silver $23 per ounce; and copper $4.32 per pound.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K92 Mining Inc. (K92 or the Company) (TSX: KNT; OTCQX: KNTNF) announces production results for the second quarter (Q2) of 2022 at its Kainantu Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea, of 26,085 oz AuEq or 22,934 oz gold, 1,229,961 lbs copper and 25,224 oz silver. Sales during the second quarter were 23,674 oz gold, 1,349,816 lbs copper and 27,033 oz silver.

During the second quarter, Kainantu delivered its third consecutive quarter at Stage 2 Expansion run-rate throughput, processing a record 108,853 tonnes, an increase of 44% from Q2 2021. Mine performance was also strong, exceeding mill throughput, with a record 114,471 tonnes of total mill feed mined, an increase of 59% from Q2 2021.

Importantly, in June, the mill delivered a monthly average throughput record of 1,251 tpd, significantly exceeding the Stage 2 Expansion target of 1,100 tpd. During May and June, 29 days (48% of the period) exceeded 1,300 tpd throughput and a daily record of 1,559 tonnes was set on June 29, 2022. Subsequent to quarter end, on July 6, a new daily mill tonnes processed record was achieved of 1,638 tonnes. The plant continues to demonstrate much higher throughput rates than the Stage 2 Expansion design (400,000 tpa / 1,100 tpd) and potentially higher than the Stage 2A Expansion design run-rate (500,000 tpa / 1,370 tpd).

As an update on the Stage 2A Expansion, the new filter press is installed and operational, the additional TC-1000 secondary crusher was installed in late 2Q and is currently being commissioned, while the new flotation tanks are scheduled to arrive in Q4 2022. The estimated growth capital cost for the plant expansion is US$2.5m and was approved in October 2021 (see October 7, 2021 press release: K92 Mining Announces Stage 2A Expansion to Increase Throughput +25% to 500,000 Tonnes Per Annum at Kainantu Gold Mine).

During the quarter, long hole stoping continued to perform to the design, with operations focused on Koras K1 and K2 veins, and Judds J1 Vein for a total of 9 levels mined. Mining on Kora was conducted on the 1150, 1170, 1205, 1225, 1265 and 1285 levels, and Judd on the 1235, 1265 and 1285 levels.

The operation delivered head grades of 8.2 g/t AuEq or 7.2 g/t gold, 0.56% copper and 9.9 g/t silver in Q2. Gold grades were below budget due to stope sequencing. Metallurgical recoveries averaged 91.0% for gold and 90.9% for copper during the quarter and we see further upside once the flotation tanks are installed that will double the rougher tank capacity. Q3 2022 will also mark the first quarter with the gravity circuit fully operational and utilized as the dore export license was granted in late April 2022. The strong throughput and higher grade stoping sequence planned for 2H 2022, well positions Kainantu to achieve its 2022 production guidance of 115,000 to 140,000 oz AuEq.

Twin incline development made significant progress, advancing 58% above budget during Q2. As of June 30, 2022, incline #2 (6m x 6m) advanced to 1,276 metres and #3 (5m x 5m) advanced to 1,317 metres. Year-to-date, twin incline development has advanced 38% above budget. Overall, mine development performed well, advancing 1,826 metres in Q2 (including the twin incline), a 75% increase from Q2 2021, the 2nd highest quarter on record.

Figure 1 for Quarterly Total Mill Throughput, Development Metres Advanced and Total Mined Material Chart

Figure 2 for New TC-1000 Crusher Installed and Being Commissioned

COVID-19 Operational Resiliency

The Kainantu Gold Mine operates under a comprehensive COVID-19 Management Plan that has continuously operated during the pandemic. A considerable focus is on health and safety and risk-mitigation. Under the COVID-19 Management Plan, K92 has: established a Government-recognized testing lab facility utilizing qualified medical personnel on site; set up quarantine and isolation facilities for incoming staff; and implemented enhanced hygiene, disinfecting and training systems and procedures. Additional controls were implemented in 2021, requiring external COVID-19 testing prior to travel and quarantine at site in addition to testing on arrival at site before reporting to quarantine. A focus has been supporting Government efforts at a national, provincial and local level through the 1.5 million PGK (Papua New Guinea Kina) COVID-19 Assistance Fund and a further 1.0 million PGK of additional assistance funding to Eastern Highlands Province.

In addition to its various control measures, K92 continues to make considerable progress increasing resiliency through vaccinations of our expatriate and PNG national workforce, with vaccinations continuing to be administered on site. Over 75% of our workforce (employees and contractors) have received at least one vaccine dose. The Company is in close communications with the provincial and national health authorities of Papua New Guinea and the Government of Australia, in addition to the Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum to deliver an effective pandemic response.

Table 1  Q2 2022 & 2021 Annual Production Data

Q2 2021 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022 H1 2022 Tonnes Processed T 75,667 336,221 99,611 108,853 208,463 Feed Grade Au g/t 10.3 9.8 8.3 7.2 7.7 Feed Grade Cu % 0.76% 0.51% 0.76% 0.56% 0.66% Recovery (%) Au % 88.3% 89.4% 90.9% 91.0% 90.9% Recovery (%) Cu % 87.2% 88.8% 91.1% 90.9% 91.0% Metal in Conc Prod Au Oz 22,153 95,055 24,152 22,934 47,085 Metal in Conc Prod Cu T 498 1,531 692 558 1,250 Metal in Conc Prod Ag Oz 14,914 70,792 28,142 25,224 53,365 Gold Equivalent Production Oz 25,015 104,196 28,188 26,085 54,273

Note - Gold equivalent for Q2 2022 is based on the London Metal Exchange quarterly spot average price: gold $1,870 per ounce; silver $23 per ounce; and copper $4.32 per pound. Gold equivalent for Q1 2022 is based on the London Metal Exchange quarterly spot average price: gold $1,879 per ounce; silver $24 per ounce; and copper $4.53 per pound. Gold equivalent for 2021 is based on the following prices: gold $1,800 per ounce; silver $25 per ounce; and copper $4.35 per pound.

John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, stated, The second quarter once again marked another major step forward for the Kainantu Gold Mine. Mill throughput and mill feed delivered from the underground mine were both records, increasing 9% and 14% quarter-over-quarter and 44% and 59% versus Q2 2021, respectively. Development was also strong, increasing 19% from the previous quarter, and the 2nd highest on record.

The performance at the mill is particularly impressive; at an average of 1,196 tpd in Q2, it is not only significantly exceeding the 1,100 tpd Stage 2 Expansion run-rate but it is also showing the potential to exceed the Stage 2A Expansion run-rate of 1,370 tpd. In June, mill throughput averaged 1,251 tpd with a daily record of 1,559 tonnes processed on June 29. Last week, on July 6, another new daily record was set with 1,638 tonnes processed. Importantly, the Stage 2A Expansion plants two major outstanding upgrades have not yet been commissioned, with the additional TC-1000 crusher recently installed and the additional flotation cells, which will double rougher tank capacity, planned for installation in Q4.

The strong throughput and a higher grade stoping sequence planned for the second half of 2022 bodes well for the operation and we are well positioned to meet our annual production guidance of 115,000 oz to 140,000 oz AuEq.

Beyond production expansions, exploration is also a major focus for K92. There are 10 drill rigs currently operating, focusing on resource growth. With our financial position the strongest it has ever been by a significant margin, we expect to increase our exploration budget near-term.

Qualified Person

K92 Mine Geology Manager and Mine Exploration Manager, Andrew Kohler, PGeo, a qualified person under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and is responsible for the technical content of this news release. Data verification by Mr. Kohler includes significant time onsite reviewing drill core, face sampling, underground workings, and discussing work programs and results with geology and mining personnel.

About K92

K92 Mining Inc. is engaged in the production of gold, copper and silver at the Kainantu Gold Mine in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea, as well as exploration and development of mineral deposits in the immediate vicinity of the mine. The Company declared commercial production from Kainantu in February 2018 and is in a strong financial position.

The Company commenced an expansion of the mine based on an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment on the property which was published in January 2019 and updated in July 2020. K92 is operated by a team of mining company professionals with extensive international mine-building and operational experience.

On Behalf of the Company,

John Lewins, Chief Executive Officer and Director

For further information, please contact David Medilek, P.Eng., CFA at +1-604-416-4445

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as expect, plan, anticipate, project, target, potential, schedule, forecast, budget, estimate, intend or believe and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions will, would, may, could, should or might occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our ability to control, that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, without limitation, Public Health Crises, including the COVID-19 Pandemic; changes in the price of gold, silver, copper and other metals in the world markets; fluctuations in the price and availability of infrastructure and energy and other commodities; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; volatility in price of our Common Shares; inherent risks associated with the mining industry, including problems related to weather and climate in remote areas in which certain of the Companys operations are located; failure to achieve production, cost and other estimates; risks and uncertainties associated with exploration and development; the fact that a feasibility studying of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability has not been prepared for the Kainantu Mine; uncertainties relating to estimates of mineral resources including uncertainty that mineral resources may never be converted into mineral reserves; the Companys ability to carry on current and future operations, including development and exploration activities; the timing, extent, duration and economic viability of such operations, including any mineral resources or reserves identified thereby; the accuracy and reliability of estimates, projections, forecasts, studies and assessments; the Companys ability to meet or achieve estimates, projections and forecasts; the availability and cost of inputs; the price and market for outputs, including gold, silver and copper; inability of the Company to identify appropriate acquisition targets or complete desirable acquisitions; failures of information systems or information security threats; political, economic and other risks associated with the Companys foreign operations; geopolitical events and other uncertainties, such as the conflict in Ukraine; compliance with various laws and regulatory requirements to which the Company is subject to, including taxation; the ability to obtain timely financing on reasonable terms when required; the current and future social, economic and political conditions, including relationship with the communities in jurisdictions it operates; other assumptions and factors generally associated with the mining industry; and the risks, uncertainties and other factors referred to in the Companys Annual Information Form under the heading Risk Factors. Estimates of mineral resources are also forward-looking statements because they constitute projections, based on certain estimates and assumptions, regarding the amount of minerals that may be encountered in the future and/or the anticipated economics of production, should mining occur. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance, and actual results and future events could materially differ from those anticipated in such statements. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actual results to differ materially from those that are 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 disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Figure 1: Quarterly Total Mill Throughput, Development Metres Advanced and Total Mined Material Chart

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5076eeb8-a2bc-4d73-bcab-d0be6af90db6

Figure 2: New TC-1000 Crusher Installed and Being Commissioned

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3a36040e-c04c-4d74-a1a6-9b2c06489f86
U.S. military helicopters are parked at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province during joint exercises with South Korea in this April 18 photo. Newsis



Combined drills to take place in late August



By Kang Seung-woo



As South Korea and the United States are poised to test Seoul's military readiness to regain wartime operational control (OPCON) of its forces from Washington during their envisaged combined field drills next month, questions are growing over whether South Korea's delayed plan will pick up speed.



However, military experts say that the one-time exercise will not be enough to determine if South Korea  which has the world's sixth-most-powerful military  is fully prepared for the transfer of OPCON.



The OPCON transfer has already been pushed back twice in the past and the two allies agreed upon a condition-based OPCON transition plan in 2014. Under the Moon Jae-in administration, South Korea sought to take back the authority by the end of his term in May of this year, but the postponing of field exercises various times dashed such hopes. Seoul regained peacetime OPCON in 1994.



According to military sources, the two countries have been weighing the idea of conducting field maneuvers during their combined command post training (CCPT) from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1. During the period, they are also seeking to hold the full operational capability (FOC) assessment of the future Combined Forces Command, the second of the three-phase verification process to check the South Korean military's readiness for OPCON, which did not happen last year in part due to COVID-19.



If it gets approved by the defense ministers of both sides, a Full Mission Capability (FMC) test will be subsequently carried out. The two sides carried out an initial operational capability (IOC) test in 2019.



"The South Korean military must show that it can lead a combined command architecture through the envisaged field drills, but the exercise has not been conducted for the past four years. In addition, we are pressed for time, preventing the allies from holding a full-scale training like before," said Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum.



"I think next year or the year after next, the allies might be able to fully assess the South Korean military's readiness for the OPCON transfer," he continued.



Former Defense Minister Suh Wook and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin agreed during last year's Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul to conduct the FOC assessment this fall. The field training has begun to take shape following the summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden in May. At the summit, they agreed to begin talks on expanding the "scope and scale" of combined drills on and around the Korean Peninsula.



Along with the pundits' negative views, Yoon himself is also skeptical about a speedy OPCON transition.



In an interview with Voice of America in May, Yoon said South Korea lacks sufficient readiness to operate intelligence assets, which are essential in commanding a wartime operation.



"The issue of returning wartime operational control to South Korea should depend on factors that are the most effective in winning a war," he added.



The OPCON transfer is often seen as signifying the restoration of South Korea's military sovereignty, but Shin said that its actual meaning has been misunderstood.



"The goal of the OPCON transition is to build a unified strategy between South Korea and the U.S. in order to effectively respond to North Korea's threats," he said, questioning if South Korea would be able to lead the U.S. Navy or Air Force, which have military capabilities superior to those of its South Korean counterparts.










MELBOURNE, Australia, July 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- International travel resumed for the first time in two years earlier in 2022, and many Australians flocked to airports to take a well-deserved holiday or visit family and friends overseas. However, there remains a significant portion of the population who is still feeling nervous about the prospect of traveling internationally. Travel expert Inspiring Vacations reveals why some Aussies are feeling wary, and shares its tips for combating travel anxiety.

For the past couple of years, Australia - in particular, Melbourne and Sydney - has been in and out of lockdowns; Covid-19 rules have been known to change suddenly and with very little warning, and Aussies have been stuck outside of their home states, stranded and begging to be let back in. In 2020 at the onset of the pandemic, Australians were even finding themselves marooned overseas, desperately trying to book flights home from foreign countries as airfares rose and restrictions tightened. Of course, this has caused some lingering apprehension when it comes to travel, says Inspiring Vacations.

However, travel experts are reassuring nervous Aussies that although their fears aren't unfounded, they no longer have anything to be worried about. For instance, travelers can rest assured that airplanes are some of the most Covid-safe places to be as they have a better air filtration system than most buildings or other forms of transport. Coupled with Australia's ongoing mask mandate on planes, it is highly unlikely travelers will contract Covid from a plane trip.

Inspiring Vacations suggests nervous travelers opt for a tour rather than a self-planned trip. Whether traveling close to home or as far away as Japan or Egypt, tours ensure everyone is Covid-safe and abiding by local regulations. Tours often have travel insurance included, so if anything were to go wrong, travelers are covered. Travelers will still get to enjoy all that their destination has to offer without stressing about what could go wrong.

Explore tours to Egypt, Alaska and everywhere in between with Inspiring Vacations - contact their team to find out more.

Contact Info:

Inspiring Vacations

Phone: 1300 88 66 88

Email: bookme@inspiringvacations.com

Related Images











Image 1: Inspiring Vacations









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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TORONTO, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Flowr Corporation (TSX.V: FLWR; OTC: FLWPF) (Flowr or the Company) herein announces the resignation of Noel Biderman from the Board of Directors who is departing in order to pursue other opportunities. Flowr would like to thank Mr. Biderman for his service to the Company and wish him success in his future endeavours.



About The Flowr Corporation

The Flowr Corporation is a Canadian cannabis company with its operating campus, located in Kelowna, British Columbia. Flowr aims to support improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and, as an established expert in cannabis cultivation, strives to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking the highest-quality craftsmanship and product consistency across a portfolio of differentiated cannabis products.

For more information, please visit flowrcorp.com or follow Flowr on Twitter: @FlowrCanada and LinkedIn: The Flowr Corporation.

On behalf of The Flowr Corporation:

Tom Flow

Interim Chief Executive Officer

CONTACT INFORMATION:

INVESTORS & MEDIA:

investors@flowrcorp.com



Forward-Looking Information:

Certain statements made in this press release may constitute forward-looking information, future oriented financial information or financial outlooks (collectively, forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results. Particularly, information regarding our expectations of future results, targets, performance achievements, prospects or opportunities is forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as may, will, expect, believe, estimate, plan, could, should, would, outlook, forecast, anticipate, foresee, continue or the negative of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Forward-looking information is current as of the date it is made and is based on reasonable estimates and assumptions made by us at the relevant time in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. However, we do not undertake to update any such forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws in Canada. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information as discussed in the Companys other publicly filed documents, which can be accessed under the Companys profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com, Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SAN DIEGO, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson Fistel, LLP (www.JohnsonFistel.com) is investigating whether Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER), any of its executive officers, or others violated securities laws by misrepresenting or failing to timely disclose material, adverse information to investors. The investigation focus on investors losses and whether they may be recovered under the federal securities laws.



What if I purchased Uber common stock? If you purchased Uber common stock and suffered significant losses on your investment, join our investigation now:



Click or paste the following web address into your browser to submit your losses:



https://www.johnsonfistel.com/investigations/uber-whistleblower-kill-switch-leak

Or for more information, contact Jim Baker at jimb@johnsonfistel.com or (619) 814-4471

There is no cost or obligation to you.

What is Johnson Fistel investigating? On July 11, 2022, the Guardian published an article titled, Uber broke laws, duped police and secretly lobbied governments, leak reveals. The article states that 124,000 documents leaked from Uber exposing ethically questionable practices. During the fierce global backlash, the data shows how Uber tried to shore up support by discreetly courting prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs, and media barons. Leaked messages suggest Uber executives were at the same time under no illusions about the companys law-breaking, with one executive joking they had become pirates and another conceding: Were just f***ing illegal. Against this backdrop, Uber developed sophisticated methods to thwart law enforcement. One was known internally at Uber as a kill switch. When an Uber office was raided, executives at the company frantically sent out instructions to IT staff to cut off access to the companys main data systems, preventing authorities from gathering evidence.

What if I have relevant nonpublic information? Individuals with nonpublic information regarding the company should consider whether to assist our investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the SEC program, whistleblowers who provide original information may, under certain circumstances, receive rewards totaling up to thirty percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, contact Jim Baker at (619) 814-4471 or jimb@johnsonfistel.com .

About Johnson Fistel, LLP. Johnson Fistel, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in securities class action and derivative lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonfistel.com. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

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VACAVILLE, Calif., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mettler-Toledo Rainin, LLC announced their expansion into Vacavilles Interchange Business Park, a transaction that represents another advancement of the City of Vacavilles plans to expand its biotechnology footprint.



Rainin, a part of the Mettler Toledo family, manufactures liquid handling instruments and consumables for the life sciences industry. We are excited to expand our manufacturing operations in Vacaville, said Werner Maas, General Manager for Rainin. The City of Vacaville has been very welcoming and accommodating, giving us the confidence that we will be successful here! The high cost and scarcity of real estate in the central Bay was one of the key considerations in our decision to expand operations here.

The purchase of the 93,240 sq ft facility moves Vacaville one more step forward in solidifying itself as a global center for biomanufacturing. I couldnt be more pleased that Rainin has chosen to invest in the City of Vacaville. As we continue to attract more biomanufacturing and medical device companies, Rainin will help to strengthen the Citys biotech eco-system, said Vacaville Mayor Ron Rowlett. We will work with Rainin through our Biotechnology Fast Track permitting program to get this expanded site up and operational as quickly as possible, and we will continue to connect them to the resources they need to be successful in Vacaville.

In October 2020, the City of Vacaville announced the start of the next generation of its world class biomanufacturing cluster with the identification of 300 acres available for development. Capable of an estimated 3 million additional square feet of biomanufacturing, this space houses the Polaris acquisition and the recently announced Agenus Inc. Acquisition, a Lexington, Massachusetts-based biotech company who recently purchased 120 acres to build a 72 acre biomanufacturing campus.

Mettler-Toledo Rainin, LLC is part of METTLER TOLEDO, a global manufacturer and marketer of precision instruments for use in laboratory, industrial and food retailing. Life scientists around the world rely on high-quality liquid handling equipment from Rainin.

The City of Vacaville is located 50 miles northeast of San Francisco along Interstate 80 between the University of California Berkeley and Davis campuses. Vacaville is a vibrant community in one of the fastest growing areas of the nation and has become home to some of the largest and most successful life-science companies in the world, including Genentech, Polaris, Alza, and Chiron. Its location makes it one of California's most attractive family communities. Vacaville has been a center for biomanufacturing since the 1980s. It gained recognition as a world-class biotechnology center in 1994 when Genentech acquired land for its biologics manufacturing facility, touted as one of the largest biotech drug manufacturing complexes in the world.

Contact:

Don Burrus

Economic Development Services Director

(707) 449-5611

Don.burrus@cityofvacaville.com
Mick Schumacher finally seems to be making his breakthrough in F1. After a tough period in which he did not score any points, he battled with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the last two races and scored his first points.

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Schumacher took his first points in F1 at the British Grand Prix with an eighth-place finish. P7 seemed attainable, but the reigning world champion held off the German. A week later Schumacher fought another world champion. In the battle with Hamilton, he did pass him once and learned an important lesson.

Schumacher the travelling star

''I think the main thing that I learned is that everybodys human. Everybody makes mistakes and everybody, when theyre under pressure, at some time gets to a point where they do make mistakes. That, I think, is important to me to know that and not be afraid about fighting with anybody out there,'' the son of Michael Schumacher said to Racer.com.

Read more Column | Nonsense that Leclerc is now suddenly back in the title race

Schumacher has finally found confidence because, after an eighth-place at Silverstone, a sixth-place immediately followed in Austria. On the Red Bull Ring, Mick was particularly convincing in the duel with Hamilton. He forced the seven times world champion into mistakes and kept the Briton behind him for a long time. So now he has learned a lot from that.

Read more Verstappen to stay a little longer in Austria for 2023 F1 testing
On behalf of Honda, four top men were present at the Red Bull Ring and that immediately caused speculation. In a conversation with Motorsport.com HRC president Koji Watanabe revealed that the door to F1 is open again.

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High profile visit in Austria

At the end of 2021, Honda pulled the plug on its F1 project and that was a special moment for many. After years of investment, the brand was finally back at the top of F1, but just then decided to leave again. There might be some regret within the Japanese ranks and so they are looking again to 2026 when the new engines will be introduced.

Read more Verstappen to stay a little longer in Austria for 2023 F1 testing

The Grand Prix weekend in Austria saw a heavy delegation from Honda, including CEO Toshihiro Mibe, chairman Seiji Kuraishi, HRC president Koji Watanabe and director Yasuaki Asaki. HRC is Red Bull's technical partner helping with the transition from Honda to Red Bull Powertrains.

Return for Honda

Watanabe told the media that Honda is always looking at F1. There is no plan for 2026 yet, but the carbon-neutral step that Formula 1 wants to take appeals to Honda. It is not a closed door'', says the president of Red Bull's partner.

Although the plans for 2026 have not yet been officially announced by F1, Honda is in a hurry to make a decision. According to Watanabe, a decision must be made within the next year and a half as to whether the brand would like to return in 2026. It would have to do so without Red Bull, however, as they will in all likelihood enter into a partnership with Porsche from 2026 onwards.




The Coast Guard retrieved Tuesday a body believed to be of a crewman who went missing in a devastating fire at a port on the southern island of Jeju last week, officials said.







The fire broke out on a 29-ton fishing boat docked at Hallim Port on Thursday and spread to two others, leaving three crewmen of the first boat seriously injured and two others  one foreigner and one South Korean  missing.







During an operation to lift the 29-ton boat out of the sea Tuesday, Coast Guard workers found and collected the body in the underwater mud in the vicinity, officials said.







Coast Guard officials are trying to determine the exact identity of the body, believing it belongs to one of the two missing crewmen. (Yonhap)






During the Grand Prix weekend in Austria, it emerged that there had been many reports of unwelcome behaviour from spectators. In particular, sexual harassment of female fans was reported. Toto Wolff has a clear message for spectators who behave in this way.

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The Mercedes team boss believes that fans who are racist, sexist or homophobic should "f*** off" and stay home. But he also calls for caution, stressing that a few bad apples spoil it for the majority of fans who can behave.

Wolff has message for annoying fans

"If you are a real Formula 1 fan, whatever team, whatever driver, you cant be a racist and you cant be homophobic, you cant be sexist because you dont fit to F1, and we dont want you," reads the Austrian's clear message in conversation withThe Race.

On the other hand, Wolff warns that one should not judge all fans on the behaviour of a few 'drunk dumbassess'. "We shouldnt condemn the 99.9% of fans that come here," he continued. According to Wolff, there will always be idiots around and he hopes that those who are not part of that group had a great weekend. "You need to report them [the perpetrators] to the security if you can and [they should] read my sentence  we dont want you, f*** off," said the Mercedes team boss.
David Coulthard believes that Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton should come together to take action against fan behaviour. After the intense title fight in 2021, there has been more tension between the fans of the rivals, but the Scot believes the drivers can do something about it together.

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During the weekend of the British Grand Prix, people were critical after Verstappen was booed by fans. In Austria, things went wrong again after Lewis Hamilton crashed. The crowd was cheering while the Briton had not yet exited his car unharmed. However, the behaviour of the spectators became even more unpleasant at the Red Bull Ring. Several female fans reported being subjected to sexual harassment.

Formula 1 announced in a statement that they do not tolerate this kind of behaviour. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton also spoke out about the situation. The Dutchman said in an interview that he had read shocking things, while Hamilton said on social media that he was disgusted by the situation.

Hamilton and Verstappen must work together

The two old rivals are not good friends after the title fight in 2021, but former F1 driver Coulthard thinks the drivers could play a role in reducing tension between fans. He revealed this after Verstappen joked about Hamilton "still being able to hit an apex at the age of 37."

"I think its the age gap, its a generational thing, said the Scot. Lewis and Max just dont have a connection, that is there with Charles and Carlos [Sainz] and Lando [Norris] and George [Russell], all these guys of a generation", he says on Channel 4.

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"And that maybe doesnt seem like much, 10 or 11 years or whatever the age gap is, but in sport thats more than a generation. I actually would like to see them both get their arms around each others shoulders and make a statement to the fans of Formula 1 because we heard some booing for Max at Silverstone  I really dont feel comfortable with that in Formula 1. Im all for who you want to support, but lets be sporting, lets make this something which is respectful."
Rep. Kweon Seong-dong / Yonhap



Lee Jun-seok faces calls to step down as ruling party atmosphere turns hostile to him



By Kang Hyun-kyung



Chairman Lee Jun-seok's defiance against a decision by the ruling People Power Party's (PPP) ethics committee to suspend his party membership for six months ended up being a storm in a tea cup.



Earlier, he had threatened not to approve the ethics committee's decision in the party's decision-making Supreme Council meeting, saying that he was in charge.



On Monday, a consensus has been built among the PPP members that Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, a Supreme Council member close to President Yoon Suk-yeol, will lead the party for six months as its acting chairman, replacing Lee, instead of the party holding a primary to elect a new chairperson.



Rank-and-file PPP lawmakers approved Kweon taking the helm in Chairman Lee's absence during a meeting held in the National Assembly. The PPP lawmakers gathered there to search for an alternative to the leadership vacuum to minimize its negative impact on the party.



After rounds of heated debate about the possible risks of the current situation, they agreed that holding a national convention to elect a new leader is against the party's rules and showed their support for Kweon to replace Lee as acting leader.



"Currently, there are no rules or clauses that stipulate the need for a primary in the event of such an incident," he said. "We're told that the suspension of the chairman's party membership is a sort of accident, and that, in the case of such an accident, we are not required to hold a primary to select a new leader. A primary will be held only when the leadership post has been vacated."



His remarks hinted that he would serve as the PPP's acting leader for six months while Lee is removed from the post.



When asked if the party's Supreme Council approved of the ethics committee's decision made on Friday, Kweon said, "The disciplinary measure was confirmed and took effect as soon as the committee made the decision."



He told reporters after the meeting, "Aware of this, the members of the Supreme Council, including myself, agreed to accept it."



Earlier in the day, PPP members held several different small meetings. Senior lawmakers had a closed-door meeting to discuss what to do after the ethics committee's decision on Lee. After the meeting, they told reporters that they fully support Kweon as the acting leader to lead the party for six months during Lee's absence.



Shortly after their announcement, a group of first-term lawmakers also endorsed Kweon as the PPP's acting chairman.



Rep. Lee Jong-seong told reporters that he and fellow first-term lawmakers had discussed various issues, including the public's worries regarding the current situation within the PPP. "Most of us agreed that the current circumstances facing our party are grave and thus must be resolved as soon as possible, so that we can fully focus on urgent policy priorities that have added to the economic pressure on the public," he said.



Counter to speculation that he would try to overturn the ethics committee's decision, Chairman Lee didn't show up for the Supreme Council meeting held on Monday. On Friday, Lee said he would preside over the meeting and nullify the ethics committee's decision to impose the six-month sanction on him.



He was been spotted in public on Monday and did not upload any social media posts, either. Those who are close to Lee said he is still thinking about his options and how to react to the ethics committee's disciplinary decision. The six-month suspension comes in response to his alleged receiving of sexual services twice in 2013 as bribery in return for doing favors for a businessman, as well as destroying related evidence.



"I understand that he had no intention to resign from the party's leadership post," Rep. Kim Yong-tae, a Supreme Council member who is close to Lee, said during a radio interview on Monday. "I guess he would have thought about the ethics committee's decision over the past weekend and would try to find an opportunity to share his views with other party members sooner or later."



The overall atmosphere within the PPP is not favorable to Lee. Some lawmakers urged him to step down from the party's leadership post to take responsibility for his past deeds, although few have said so openly.



First-term lawmaker Rep. Park Soo-young, for example, posted the word "ji-ji," consisting of two Chinese characters, on social media. The term means "knowing the wisdom to stop doing something so as not to cross the line." Although he didn't provide any other words for context, some interpreted his post as an indirect message putting pressure on Lee to quit.



Three-term lawmaker Rep. Ha Tae-keung tried to defend Lee. "The imposed sanction requires him to step aside from party affairs for six months, but that being said, he doesn't necessarily need to step down," he said on a MBC radio show.



But Rep. Ha admitted that Lee has few supporters inside the PPP. "Roughly there are two different factions within the PPP: some are putting pressure on Lee to step down, whereas there is another group of people who say enough is enough and we'll wait and see how the police investigation of Lee turns out," he said.




Vice Minister of Interior and Safety Han Chang-seob speaks during a press conference at Government Complex in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap





By Nam Hyun-woo







The government will redistribute approximately 1 percent of civil servants every year, as part of President Yoon Suk-yeol's "government manpower management plan" to streamline the central government and cut expenses, according to the interior ministry, Tuesday.







The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced the plan during a press conference at the Government Complex in Seoul, detailing measures to reassign 1 percent of the civil servants in every department each year to improve the efficiency of the government workforce.







According to the plan, each ministry will reduce its staff quota by 1 percent every year and form a pool of workers with the reduced workforce. Those in the pool will be reassigned to other ministries that are in need of additional workers, rather than hiring new staff.







The government estimates that approximately 1,500 to 2,000 workers are required every year, and that this demand can be covered by reassigning 1 percent of each department's quota of civil servants.







"Despite the changes in the administrative environment and declining population, the number of civil servants has been growing to stand at 1.16 million currently," vice minister Han Chang-seob said in a press conference. "This has been a great burden for the state coffer and caused inefficiency in administrative matters."







The number of civil servants has been gradually increasing throughout the previous administrations from 978,000 in the 2003-2008 Roh Moo-hyun administration, 990,000 in the 2008-2013 Lee Myung-bak administration, 1.032 million in the 2013-2017 Park Geun-hye administration and 1.163 million in the 2017-2022 Moon Jae-in administration.







President Yoon has been criticizing this trend, saying that streamlining the bulky government is an urgent task.







Following the plan, each ministry will conduct a review of its workforce and report the results to the interior ministry. Actual reassignment is anticipated to take place in the third quarter of this year.






By Ahn Choong-yong





President Yoon Suk-yeol set the tone of South Korea's new economic diplomacy by declaring during his inauguration that he would "build a nation that espouses liberal democracy and ensures a thriving market economy."



Yoon's commitment in his inaugural address on May 10 to "work together with like-minded nations that respect freedom and encourage creativity" is particularly important for Seoul to navigate turbulent economic competition in the Asia-Pacific region amid the intensifying U.S.China rivalry.



At the ROKU.S. summit in Seoul on May 21, the leaders of the two countries agreed to upgrade their security alliance into a global comprehensive strategic alliance. This move calls for South Korea to take a more active role on the global stage to promote the common values of democracy, the rules-based international order, freedom, sustainable growth and a fair playing field for international trade and investment.



The previous Moon Jae-in administration cautiously engaged with China, after initially saying in 2017 that Korea would share in Chinese President Xi Jinping's "Chinese dream." South Korea's geoeconomic strategy has historically taken a dichotomous approach after China's rapid economic rise  balancing its security alliance with the United States with its economic ties with China, its largest trading partner.



South Korea relies heavily on China to acquire key intermediate goods and essential materials such as electronic equipment, chemicals, rare earths and urea water, to complete many of its supply chains.



The long-cherished ROKU.S. security alliance and lenient U.S. market access have greatly benefited South Korea's economic rise. New ROKU.S. relations now ensure a "high-tech alliance" that is essential for South Korea to maintain its international competitiveness.



The alliance secures trade for cutting-edge semiconductors, electric vehicles and batteries. The ongoing pandemic and war in Ukraine have shown that national security is directly linked to economic security. Indeed, the resilience of interconnected supply chains is ultimately secured through the removal of supply-side bottlenecks.



As the first concrete step toward a comprehensive ROKU.S. alliance, Yoon declared South Korea's role in the U.S.-initiated IndoPacific Economic Framework (IPEF) to address supply chain resilience, digital trade, anti-corruption and decarbonization. The 13-member framework aims to become a high-standard rule-making process for international trade and investment without offering direct market access to the United States.



New disciplinary rules are good news for East Asia because they signal increased U.S. engagement with East Asian economies. South Korea should play an active role in making the IPEF a durable, credible and open architecture for countries willing to adhere to rules-based economic connectivity.



A stronger South Korean alliance with the United States will also revitalize trilateral security cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan against North Korean nuclear threats.



Actively reviving the trilateral alliance will help mend South KoreaJapan relations, starting with the removal of sensitive trade restrictions. The two countries became formally connected in January 2022 through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)  an agreement that will expedite the mending process.



Yoon's new economic diplomacy with the United States is likely to make China uneasy. In ROKChina relations, Yoon has emphasized the need for mutual respect and principled diplomacy to achieve pragmatic win-win outcomes. This is unsurprising given that East Asian economies prefer to avoid choosing between the United States and China.



This dilemma could be mitigated by upgrading the China-driven RCEP to match the high standards of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Doing so would mean addressing the issues of state subsidies, labor conditions, intellectual property rights, cross-border data transfers and environmental concerns.



China has already submitted a formal application to join the CPTPP, but South Korea has not yet applied, although it approved an entry plan. Joining the CPTPP would enable deeper South Korean integration with regional trade.



All CPTPP members have vetoes over new membership applications, so China will need to carry out domestic reforms to meet the high standards of the CPTPP to ensure "competitive coexistence" with the United States.



Yoon's domestic economic agenda is a challenging feat to achieve. South Korea needs to tackle everything from the prospects of stagflation, mounting household and national debt and record youth unemployment. Some of these issues are chronic, while others emerged amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and others have been aggravated by the ongoing RussiaUkraine war.



In this landscape, Yoon's pro-growth agenda of tax cuts and deregulation needs to deal effectively with inequality. Yoon may run into heavy criticism from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK)  which prioritizes labor rights and equitable distribution  in the National Assembly if he ignores this issue.



After Yoon's party was mostly victorious in the local elections last month, his political support should be enough to push for a U.S.-aligned economic strategy while maintaining trade engagement with China. Still, upgrading the ROKChina FTA on the basis of "mutual respect and principled diplomacy" remains his big test.





Ahn Choong-yong (cyahn@cau.ac.kr) is distinguished professor at the Graduate School of International Studies, Chung-Ang University. This article was published on July 5 in East Asia Forum, an English-language international policy forum based at the Australian National University's Crawford School of Public Policy.






An average of 49.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) was traded globally during 2021, an increase of 2.2 Bcf/d (4.5%) from 2020, according to The LNG Industry GIIGNL Annual Report 2022 by the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL). New LNG export capacity, primarily in the US, and rising global demand for natural gas drove continued growth in global LNG trade last year.





Global LNG export capacity has increased by 29%, or 14.0 Bcf/d, over the past five years (201721). The growth was led primarily by capacity additions of 9.6 Bcf/d in the United States, 2.2 Bcf/d in Australia, and 1.7 Bcf/d in Russia.

Last year, LNG exports increased the most from the United States, a 2.9 Bcf/d increase compared with 2020. Australia increased its LNG exports by 0.1 Bcf/d, remaining the worlds largest LNG exporter for the second consecutive year. In North Africa, LNG exports from Egypt increased by 0.7 Bcf/d and from Algeria by 0.2 Bcf/d, the second- and third-largest year-on-year volumetric increases among all LNG-exporting countries.

Among LNG-importing regions in 2021, only Asia and Latin America increased annual imports: Asia by 2.4 Bcf/d and Latin America by 0.6 Bcf/d. In four of the past five years, China increased its imports of LNG more than any other country.

In 2021, Chinas LNG imports grew by 1.4 Bcf/d, accounting for 57% of the increase in Asias LNG imports. Japans LNG imports, essentially flat from 2020 to 2021, declined by 11% (1.2 Bcf/d) between 2017 and 2021 as a result of nuclear units coming back online. India reduced LNG imports by 0.3 Bcf/d in 2021 primarily because of record-high LNG spot prices in Asia.

Europes LNG imports were 8% (0.9 Bcf/d) lower during 2021 than 2020 because larger volumes of flexible LNG supplies, primarily from the United States, were shipped to Asia and Brazil. Lower LNG imports in Europe contributed to record-low natural gas storage inventories during 2021, even as prices reached record highs. The United Kingdom and Italy reduced LNG imports more than other European countries between 2020 and 2021, by 0.3 Bcf/d each.

In Latin America, Brazil had the most growth in LNG imports between 2020 and 2021. Brazils LNG imports increased by 0.6 Bcf/d, averaging 0.9 Bcf/d during 2021, as it experienced its worst drought in more than 90 years. The drought limited hydroelectric power generation and led to increased natural gas-fired electricity generation.
Korean companies should turn crisis into opportunity



Last month, the European Parliament passed a package of carbon legislations, which expanded the scope of targets for the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and drastically strengthened the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on imported goods. The move has effectively made the carbon border tax a fait accompli, which could deal a heavy blow to Korean exporters.



In addition, the EU will phase out governments' free allowance of emission rights under the ETS from 2027 and end it by 2032. The EU's CBAM is to impose import duties on products from countries that heavily emit carbon. Its draft targeted only direct emissions from manufacturing goods, but the final legislation included indirect emissions from generating the electricity used to produce goods, further increasing the burden on exporters.



Moreover, the original proposals for a CBAM regulation were limited to goods in five categories  steel, refinery, fertilizer, aluminum and cement. However, the latest amendments added four more  organic chemicals, plastic polymer, hydrogen and ammonia. According to the Korea International Trade Association, Korea's annual exports of these nine categories to the EU averaged $5.51 billion, accounting for 15.3 percent of the nation's total export to the bloc.



Korea emits 472.4 grams of carbon dioxide to produce 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity, two to four times higher than the EU and Canada. Accordingly, the Bank of Korea has predicted that Korea's European exports could drop by $3.2 billion a year if the EU adopts CBAM. A bigger problem is that the United States is also toying with its version of a carbon border tax. Korea, which depends heavily on exports for economic growth, can ill afford to sit and watch.



Now is the time for businesspeople and policymakers to go all out to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in keeping with the new global trend. Korean companies have pleaded with the government to slow down the pace of greenhouse gas reduction, citing the nation's manufacturing-oriented industrial structure. However, if domestic businesses keep dragging their feet, the international community will move ahead without waiting for them. The government and industry can  and should  turn the crisis into opportunity depending on how they cope with the new reality.






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NEW YORK (AP)  A rock memorabilia dealer and two other men were charged Tuesday with scheming to sell allegedly ill-gotten, handwritten lyrics to the classic rock juggernaut Hotel California and other hits by the Eagles.

Prosecutors said the trio lied to auction houses and buyers about the manuscripts' fuzzy chain of origin, coaching the person who provided the material about what to say. Meanwhile, the men tried to thwart Eagles co-founder Don Henley's efforts to reclaim the items, according to prosecutors.

They made up stories about the origin of the documents and their right to possess them so they could turn a profit, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

Through their lawyers, rock auctioneer Edward Kosinski and co-defendants Glenn Horowitz and Craig Inciardi pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges. Kosinski and Inciardi were also charged with criminal possession of stolen property, and Horowitz was charged with attempted criminal possession of stolen property and two counts of hindering prosecution. They were released without bail.

Their lawyers insist the men are innocent.

The DAs office alleges criminality where none exists and unfairly tarnishes the reputations of well-respected professionals, defense attorneys Antonia Apps, Jonathan Bach and Stacey Richman said in a statement vowing to fight these unjustified charges vigorously."

Apps, who represents Kosinski, later called the charges the weakest criminal case I have seen in my entire career, characterizing it as a civil dispute over ownership.

Despite six years of investigating the case, the DA hasnt included a single factual allegation in the indictment showing that my client did anything wrong, she said in a statement.

The trove of documents included Henleys notes and lyrics for Hotel California and two other singles from that eponymous, blockbuster album: Life in the Fast Lane and New Kid In Town. Prosecutors valued the material at over $1 million.

The writings are irreplaceable pieces of musical history and an integral part of the legacy Don Henley has created over the course of his 50-plus-year career, longtime Eagles manager Irving Azoff said in a statement.

He thanked prosecutors for bringing a case that exposes the truth about music memorabilia sales of highly personal, stolen items hidden behind a facade of legitimacy.

The chart-topping, Grammy-Award-winning single Hotel California is a touchstone of 1970s rock, with one of the era's most memorable guitar solos capping a musical tale of being lured into a glitzy, mysterious hotel where you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. Theories about its meaning abound; Henley has said its about excess and a dark side of the American dream.

The Grammy-winning album has sold more than 26 million copies since its release in 1976, making it one of the best selling in history.

According to prosecutors and an indictment, Horowitz bought the documents around 2005 from a writer who worked on a never-published book about the Eagles in the late 70s.

The writer, who isn't identified in the indictment, gave a variety of explanations to Horowitz over the years of where the documents came from.

In one email included in the indictment, the writer says Henley's assistant sent them from the musician's Malibu, California, home after the writer picked them out; in another, the writer found them discarded in a dressing room backstage at an Eagles concert; in another, someone who worked for the band gave them to him.

It was about 35 years ago and my memory is foggy! the writer said in a 2012 email.

By then, Kosinski and Inciardi had bought the documents from Horowitz; Kosinski had listed them for sale on his online auction site and inquiries about their origins were looming.

In subsequent emails, Horowitz and Inciardi worked to have the writer's explanation shaped into a communication  eventually, an April 2012 email saying that he didn't remember who gave him the documents. Kosinski sent it to Henley's lawyer, according to the indictment.

Later that month, Kosinski sold some Hotel California lyric sheets to Henley for $8,500, according to the indictment.

Inciardi and Kosinski then tried to peddle more of the Eagles documents to other potential buyers through Christies and Sothebys auction houses, while also offering to sell some to Henley, according to the indictment.

By 2017, with not only Henley's lawyers but the district attorney's office asking questions, Horowitz asked the writer whether he'd gotten the materials from another founding Eagles member, Glenn Frey, the indictment said. Frey had died the year before.

Once you identify GF as the source of the tablet, you and I are out of this picture for good, Horowitz wrote in a follow-up email.

The writer then provided a note to that effect, according to the indictment.
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  After years of addiction, Matthew Hirsch was sober. He landed a stable job working overnight shifts at a 7-Eleven in Southern California, lived with his girlfriend in a nearby apartment and spoke to his father every day.

Around 4:15 a.m. Monday, a masked shooter gunned down the 40-year-old clerk inside the convenience store. Authorities say it was one of six robberies by the same man at 7-Eleven stores across the region, senseless attacks that left two dead and three wounded.

The tragedy left Hirsch's father reeling on Tuesday. Jim Hirsch had long feared his son's death would come from another heroin overdose.

Id walk into his room at night and see needles, Hirsch told The Associated Press. Do I throw him out to die under a bridge? Or let him overdose in the house?"

Still, he always had an open-door policy for Matt at the home where his son grew up. Matt eventually sobered up as "he slowly straightened himself out more than a year ago, his father said. He began working at the 7-Eleven in Brea about six months ago, juggling his job and his recovery.

Jim Hirsch was glad his son was employed but worried about him working alone late at night.

He hadnt had time to enjoy a normal life, his father said. He goes through a struggle for goodness and it ends in a shooting.

The robberies occurred in a five-hour span early on Monday. Following the deadly robberies, 7-Eleven Inc. urged Los Angeles-area stores to close Monday and Tuesday nights for safety.

Investigators aren't sure what what led to Hirschs death in Brea, or what sparked the robberies in Ontario, Upland, Riverside, Santa Ana and La Habra. Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback said it doesn't seem coincidental that 7-Eleven was targeted on July 11  or 7/11, the day when the company celebrates its anniversary.

Hirsch was shot to death after authorities believe the gunman earlier gravely wounded a customer in Riverside and then fatally shot Matthew Rule, 24, outside a Santa Ana store. After those three shootings, the suspect then shot two people at a store in La Habra before disappearing

Rules aunt said his mother was too distraught Tuesday to speak to a reporter.

Armed robberies also occurred at stores in Ontario and Upland shortly before the shootings. Authorities in those cities on Tuesday confirmed that the crimes they were investigating are linked to the crimes at the other locations.

Authorities in Ontario, Brea and Upland shared images of a masked man wearing what appeared to be the same black sweatshirt with a hood over his head. The sweatshirt had white lettering with green leaves on the front.

The first robbery happened around midnight in Ontario, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. Then, about 45 minutes later, a gunman stole a few items and $400 to $500 in cash from a store in the neighboring city of Upland. About an hour later, the Riverside store was robbed and a customer shot and gravely wounded.

Another shooting occurred around 3:20 a.m. in Santa Ana. There, officers found Rule dead in the 7-Eleven parking lot. The victim did not work at the store, and surveillance video shows the suspect dropping items  believed to be the victims belongings while fleeing, police said.

About 40 minutes later, Hirsch was fatally shot and less than an hour later officers discovered two gunshot victims at a store in nearby La Habra. Those two victims are expected to survive.

___

News Researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed.
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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  An assistant attorney general in Iowa is suing the city of Des Moines and its police chief over his arrest during a June 2020 racial justice protest, alleging he was tackled, pepper-sprayed and handcuffed for no reason.

The lawsuit filed by Assistant Attorney General Paxton Williams is among at least eight cases filed against the Des Moines police, the Des Moines Register reported. The cases involve protests following George Floyd's death in the custody of Minneapolis police.
Nokias latest feature phones are a blast from the past with some modern twists. Theres the re-imagined Nokia 8210 4G which introduces 4G to 1999s Nokia 8210 as well as the Nokia 2660 Flip which offers a familiar experience and large tactile buttons. Nokia is also honoring the XpressMusic line with the Nokia 5710 XpressAudio - a candybar handset with built-in wireless earbuds.

Nokia 5710 XpressAudio is the more exciting offering out of the bunch thanks to its built-in wireless earbuds. The back of the phone features a sliding mechanism that houses the buds and charges them while not in use. You can use the buds to listen to music stored on the device (up to 32GB storage via the microSD slot) or FM Radio and you can also connect them to any other device like a smartphone or tablet. The phone also has a headphone jack if you prefer that route.



Nokia 5710 XpressAudio

Nokia 5710 brings a 2.4-inch QVGA color screen and signature audio controls on the side of the display. The phone also packs a VGA rear camera and a removable 1,450 mAh battery rated at up to 6 hours of 4G talk time and charges via microUSB. It runs the S30+ interface. Nokia 5710 comes in white/red and black/red colors with the earbuds matching the phones primary color.



Nokia 8210 4G

Nokia 8210 4G takes its design from the classic model launched in 1999 but updates the hardware on all fronts. Theres a 2.8 QVGA color display, LTE connectivity and support for up to 32GB of storage via a microSD card. The phone is made from polycarbonate and comes in sand, blue and red colors. Theres a removable 1,450 mAH battery rated at up to 6 hours of talktime on 4G and up to 19 days on standby. Other extras include an FM Radio receiver that works with both wired and wireless earbuds, a built-in MP3 player and the fan-favorite Snake game.

Nokia 2660 Flip is the third new entry and brings similar specs to the other two new Nokia feature phones but in a clamshell form. It has a 2.8 QVGA main screen, a secondary 1.77-inch panel, a VGA camera, and a 1,450mAh battery rated at up to 20 days on standby.



Nokia 2660 Flip

Nokia 2660 Flip also has large tactile buttons and Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC), making it a viable alternative for elderly users. The device also runs on the S30+ interface and supports up to 32GB SD cards. It comes in black, blue and red colors.

All three phones are coming top the UK later this month. The Nokia 8210 4G and Nokia 2660 Flip will retail for 64.99 (59) while the Nokia 5710 XpressAudio will go for 74.99 (69).
Nokia 8210 4G



Exp. release 2022, July 28

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Last month, Google announced that its two video calling products Duo and Meet would merge together into a single video calling platform called Google Meet.

A small number of users are starting to see this merger take place with the latest version of the Google Duo app on Android. 9to5Google has some screenshots showing the start of the transition with the latest version 169.0.459621665.

Your Duo app will become Meet, with a new name and icon, and more features like background effects

The updated app shows that Duo is getting even better and the main action button has changed from New Call to New. You can also Schedule in Google Calendar to set up calls for later. A new pop-up message shows updated privacy terms, namely the switch from using end-to-end encryption to cloud encryption, which Google says allows for more features like chat and live-caption. They also note that blocked users on Duo wont transfer over to Meet.



Source: 9to5Google

If a user schedules a new Meet through the desktop website, the meeting will show under a new Meetings section of the app that will also list any other scheduled events from the calendar.

Google Duo was Googles simple video calling app for smartphones or desktop that would rival with FaceTime when it launched alongside Allo in 2016 and Meet wouldnt launch until just a few months later in 2017. Google Meet is Googles video conferencing platform that was integrated with Google Calendar and Gmail, and it rose in popularity amidst the spike in demand for conferencing apps during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Googles Support page details the transition of Google Duo to Meet, which will include all the features that Meet users benefit from like 100-person video calls and enhanced video calling with live closed captions and virtual backgrounds. Meanwhile, Meet will keep features from Duo including fun filters and effects, the ability to send video messages, and the ability to use Google Assistant to call home devices.

Source
Last June, YouTube rolled out the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode to Premium subscribers on iPhone and iPad in the US, and now the company has announced that this feature is rolling out for all the devices running iOS and iPadOS 15.0 or higher globally.

YouTube Premium users across the globe will be able to play music and non-music content in PiP mode on their iPhones and iPads, meaning they can watch the videos in a small, floating window while simultaneously browsing other apps on their devices.

However, for non-Premium users, the PiP mode will be available for free only in the US and for non-music content only. So if you live in the States and want PiP mode for music content, you'll have to buy a YouTube Premium subscription.

YouTube, in its blog post, said PiP for iPhone and iPad is rolling out to all "over the next several days," but in its tweet, the company said it's "slowly rolling" to the users. Either way, it's safe to say it will be at least a couple of weeks before all eligible iPhone/iPad users get this feature on their devices.
Del. Michael San Nicolas split the crowd Monday night at the Guam Legislature during his final congressional address, and local leaders across the political spectrum had mixed reactions of the gubernatorial hopefuls speech.

In the beginning, it seemed like there was a competing challenge for credit for the federal dollars that we received between our governor and our congressman, said Sen. Telena Nelson, the Legislatures Democrat majority leader who is also vying for the vacant delegate seat.

In the first few minutes of his speech, San Nicolas took time to refute an alleged claim by Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero that federal dollars flowing to the island had come regardless of the work of his office.

But whats key to notice here is that both of them worked tirelessly and endlessly to ensure that we got federal dollars during this global pandemic. And we received an unprecedented amount of federal dollars to aid our local community, to aid our island moving forward, Nelson said.

So, we tip our hats to the congressman.

When asked about the delegates statement that the administration was hoarding $300 million in federal American Rescue Plan money Nelson said, Thats the governors purview on how shes going to utilize this ARP funds. But it is also our role to advocate for areas that we feel as a legislative body  they could best be used for, adding that she wanted more of the money to go towards infrastructure and affordable housing.

Former legislative speaker and Democrat Judi Won Pat, who will face Nelson at the primary for the delegate seat nomination this August, provided a brief reaction over text.

Congressman San Nicolas had a lot to share last night in his last Congressional address. I would have liked to hear more about his congressional work, but understand that he is running for governor now. With the support of the people of Guam, I am ready to build on his four years in Congress.

Republican agreements

Sen. Jim Moylan, the sole Republican seeking the delegate seat, was one of several Republican leaders to agree with San Nicolas speech.

I appreciate Congressman Michael San Nicolas candor in expressing what so many of us in the Guam Legislature, as well as the community, have been expressing since the federal dollars reached the government of Guams bank account, and its, why are we not spending federal relief dollars to assist our people with relief efforts? Moylan said in a statement.

He went on to state that many relief programs enacted with income thresholds by the current administration were designed to alienate a number of our working-class residents.

Moylan stated that his own Bill 76, to fund employee salaries businesses, had sat idle for a year as the island entered into recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The delegate supported that measure during his speech, while the governor did not find it important, he said.

Sen. Chris Duenas, minority Republican leader for the Legislature, noted that San Nicolas depiction of Guams economic state matched with Republican gubernatorial candidate Felix Camachos view.

San Nicolas asserted the islands economy was in a bad state because of bad policy and investment by the administration, whereas Leon Guerrero painted a picture of an island in recovery during her State of the Island Address.

I dont think Mike was, or even Felix was trying to be doom and gloom. I think theyre being realists. And theyre trying to say, Look, governor, we just think you live in a different world, he said.

While local tax revenue would increase during the next few years of the military buildup, there were still businesses closed and people struggling, and the current increase in government spending was not sustainable, Duenas said.

I think the congressman hit a very strong chord, he added, when he spoke about the lack of checks and balances in excluding the Legislature from budgetary decisions, and the irresponsibility of pay raises being enacted through executive orders from Adelup.

When asked about the recent referral of San Nicolas to federal prosecutors by the House Committee on Ethics for alleged campaign finance violations, Duenas said, If the Department of Justice right now were to bring forward charges, and it looked extremely serious, I think that that would change the posture, but otherwise, the delegate would have to make his case to voters.

Republican Sen. Tony Ada, who is running for lieutenant governor alongside Camacho, was also positive about San Nicolas speech.

He recognizes what weve recognized here in the Legislature, that these are issues that are pressing to our people: transparency and accountability. What programs are being done with the money? What are we doing with federal money?

Ada said he was also aligned with the delegates view of the continually extended state of public health emergency.

Were still under declaration of emergency, but for what purposes now? Hawaiis is lifted, you only have certain limitations on their emergency declaration. And those are the things that Guam needs to move towards, so that we can move on with our lives, because when you look at whats going on outside, everything is already pretty much open, he said.

Smokescreen

In a statement released hours after San Nicolas address, Rory Respicio, co-chair for the Leon Guerrero-Tenorio campaign, said the delegate took a time-honored tradition  the State of Congress address  and turned it into a speech that tore down the people of Guam instead of lifting them up.

True to form, Delegate San Nicolas took only three minutes to turn his final congressional address into an attack on Gov. Lourdes Leon Guerrero, Respicio said. And we cannot help but notice the glaring omission as to why San Nicolas is not returning to Congress: The condemnation by the Congressional Ethics Committee and his referral to the Department of Justice for financial campaign irregularities.

Respicio said San Nicolas threw up a smokescreen by taking credit for the administrations accomplishments during the pandemic, and the efforts of local government employees.

These are not the traits of a true leader.


Danuri lunar orbiter to be launched on Aug. 3



By Baek Byung-yeul



Korea is set to launch its first lunar orbiter, the Danuri, aboard SpaceX's rocket in the United States on August 3. The successful launch of the Danuri will mark the first step for Korea to join the space economy following other advanced countries active in the field, according to industry experts and government officials.



The space economy refers to the economy beyond our planet, including exploring deep space, extracting resources that are rare on Earth and developing technologies necessary for space exploration.



Space-related industries are drawing a lot of attention for their vast growth potential. In 2017, Morgan Stanley projected the global space industry to grow in size from $348 billion at the time to around $1 trillion by 2040. Meanwhile, Bank of America predicted in 2020 that the industry will grow in size to $1.4 trillion by 2030, showing that the growth potential of the industry is rising sharply.



The rapid growth might be possible because a few private sector players, such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, have set up their own space development companies and have been making huge investments into technological development.



"Securing space-related technologies can lead to the development of other industries, especially the defense sector, and ultimately, we can also expect to collect minerals that are not available on Earth," Ahn Jae-myung, a professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), told The Korea Times.



"The Danuri lunar orbiter project is a program that orbits the moon, and the government sees a moon landing to be possible by the early 2030s. Its next mission, which is collecting resources there and returning to Earth, is a more difficult mission than simply landing on the moon. The plan should be carried out in the long run, but the economic benefits of implementing the plan are expected to be significant," Ahn said.



Ahn added that he cannot say exactly how many years it will take for Korea to reap any economic benefits, such as being able to utilize resources found in space, but that it will not be in the very distant future.



"These activities will lead to exploring metal-rich asteroids in the end. I don't know how long it will take to achieve this goal, but I don't think it'll take a hundred years and it will be visible in 10 or 20 years," Ahn said. "Creating a human-friendly village on a planet outside Earth is also a direction we should pursue," he added.





President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with an engineer at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) in Daejeon, July 6. During his visit to the agency that supervises the country's space program, Yoon vowed that the country will make a bold investment in the space industry. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon
A ceremony to remember the strength of the CHamoru people and honor World War II survivors was held on Tuesday in front of the Mangilao Memorial at the mayors office.

The ceremony, part of ongoing commemorations of Guams 78th Liberation Day, began with an opening invocation led by Father Richard Kidd from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Rita-Sumai.

Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio shared a personal story about his great-grandmothers experiences during the war on her family ranch in Mangilao.

He said she resisted the occupation by refusing to tell the Japanese soldiers that she had livestock, which would have been taken by the imperial authorities.

He then said that toward the end of the war, when the Japanese military's supplies were low, they started taking all the crops, livestock and supplies the CHamoru people had for their families.

Because she did not surrender the livestock, she was subject to a beating and it was not your typical beating. This beating was with a club with spikes, said Tenorio as he recounted the story heard from relatives.

Tenorio said it is important for survivors personal stories to be shared with the younger generations so the sacrifices and hardships theyve experienced are passed on and not forgotten.

Tenorio laid wreaths with Consul-General of Japan Toshiaki Kobayashi, veterans representatives, Guam senators, the Manenggon Memorial Foundation, Mangilao Mayor Allan Ungacta, Vice Mayor Kevin Delgado and war survivors.

Mangilao will never be forgotten, nor will our manamko who sacrificed for us. Their many stories will always be an inspiration for us, the people of Guam, said Ungacta.
Steven Merrill, special agent in charge of the FBI Honolulu Field Office, sat down with Guam Police Department representatives on July 11, 2022, to talk about elderly fraud scams. From left: GPD Chief Stephen Ignacio and Merrill.




The industry ministry vowed Tuesday to provide companies in the nuclear power industry with work worth 130 billion won ($99.04 million) this year in an effort to rebuild the sector and expand nuclear power generation.







The work to be provided this year will be meant to improve related facilities and to prepare for the construction of the Shin-Hanul No. 3 and No. 4 nuclear reactors set to begin in 2024, Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang said during a policy briefing to President Yoon Suk-yeol.







The government also seeks to create more than 100,000 high-quality jobs in the renewable and future energy resources sector by 2030 by supporting 5,000 venture firms and fostering 10 unicorn candidates for technology innovation.







A unicorn company refers to an unlisted startup with a valuation of more than $1 billion.







The ministry will increase funds for corporate research and development of the energy field to 1 trillion won this year, the ministry said.







The Yoon government is pushing to boost the country's generation of nuclear power to more than 30 percent of its total energy creation by 2030 to boost energy security and better meet carbon neutrality goals, marking a reversal of the previous administration's nuclear phase-out policy. (Yonhap)










Haiti - Politic : Caricom will send a delegation to Haiti





At the end of the 43rd Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), announced that it would send a delegation to support Haiti (member of CARICOM) in the grip of violence and the instability and called for the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).



"Continued support must be there for Haiti and there will be a Caricom mission to assist in the process of reconciliation and reconstruction in Haiti," declared the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bahamas, Fred Mitchell recalling "Haiti is facing serious problems socio-economic and political; especially after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise on July 7, 2021 [...] Haiti has paid a very bitter price from those who have imposed so many burdens on this society that it has not had an honest opportunity to develop. It is up to Caricom to continue to be an ardent defender of Haiti in the international space."



Chandrikapersad Santokhi President of Suriname who is the rotating President of CARICOM expressed his "serious concern over the deterioration of the security situation in Haiti.e



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





A student injured by a stray bullet

Monday, a student of the Faculty of Sciences (FDS) of the State University of Haiti was hit in the hand by a stray bullet in the enclosure of the Faculty. Many shots were heard in areas close to the FDS, particularly on Rue Joseph Janvier.



RTVC suspends broadcasts

Monday, July 11, 2022, the managers and the entire team of Radio Television Caraibes (RTVC) decided to suspend broadcasts for a week with the aim of forcing the competent authorities to act to stop the rise of insecurity in the territory. national.



Cite Soleil, gang warfare, death toll on the rise

Joel Janeus, the deputy executive agent of Cite Soleil, is revising upwards the results of the clashes between gangs who broke up on July 8. He now estimates that these fights have left at least 50 dead and a hundred injured mainly among the belligerents but also in the population, more than double his last estimate https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37125-icihaiti-cite-soleil-already-at-least-20-dead-and-50-injured-in-armed-clashes.html . However, it is impossible to confirm these figures.



C.A.S. : Misappropriation of more than 5,000 checks ?

Monday, July 11, following denunciations alleging the misappropriation of more than 5,000 checks intended for the most needy, investigators from the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) carried out a search at the Caisse d'Assistance Sociale (CAS) in order to to find clues and evidence that could lead to possible accusations of corruption.



More than 150 active gangs in Haiti

According to the "Je Klere" Foundation, a non-profit citizen monitoring organization, there are no less than 150 active gangs in Haiti, including 92 in Port-au-Prince.



Port-de-Paix : New Chief Prosecutor

Me Bertin Vital has been promoted to Acting Government Commissioner at the Port-de-Paix Public Prosecutor's Office. He replaces in this position Michelet Virgile dismissed for having freed two arms traffickers... https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37114-haiti-flash-arms-trafficking-the-minister-of-justice-dismisses-the-commissioner-of-the-government-of-port-de-paix.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















The Seoul High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's ruling in favor of Shin Kyuk-ho, the late founder of retail giant Lotte Group, in a high-profile gift tax dispute against the tax authorities.







Shin filed the administrative suit against a district office head of the National Tax Service in 2018, seeking to revoke gift taxes of 212.6 billion won ($161.8 million) imposed on him after the prosecution charged him with tax evasion, embezzlement and breach of trust two years earlier.







Prosecutors claimed Shin dodged the gift taxes in the course of selling off a 6.2 percent stake in Lotte Holdings, which he owned under a borrowed name, to a corporation owned by his common law wife, Seo Mi-kyung, in 2003.







Shin died of a chronic illness in January 2020 at age 99, a year after the Supreme Court finalized a three-year imprisonment and a fine of 3 billion won for him on the embezzlement and breach of trust charges.







Shin's children, including incumbent Lotte Group Chair Shin Dong-bin, have since inherited the suit.







In the first court ruling on the gift tax case, the Seoul Administrative Court ordered the district tax office head to revoke the gift taxes in December 2020, and the Seoul High Court confirmed the verdict Tuesday. (Yonhap)






Father of shooting victim interrupts White House event on gun bill

Xinhua) 09:05, July 12, 2022

WASHINGTON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Manuel Oliver, whose son was killed in the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, interrupted Monday a White House event on the gun bill that U.S. President Joe Biden signed last month.

Oliver stood up from the audience seat on the lawn and shouted to Biden when the president was delivering remarks on the bill and discussed America's gun violence. The heckler's son, Joaquin, was among the 17 victims, including 14 students, of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018.

"We have to do more than that," Oliver said before being escorted out of the event, which the White House held to "celebrate" the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, less than two months after 19 children and two teachers were shot and killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

"The word CELEBRATION has no space in a society that saw 19 kids massacred just a month ago," Oliver tweeted before attending the event. "Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.' Not me, not Joaquin."

"There's nothing to celebrate," Oliver told Miami Herald later. "It's a big lie. We lie between ourselves thinking we have a solution to this when we actually don't."

Monday's event at the White House was attended by advocates from various gun violence prevention groups and survivors and family members of victims of mass shootings from across the United States.

Biden signed into law what has been described as a gun safety bill on June 25 amid nationwide demonstrations against gun violence and political inaction.

There have been more than 23,200 deaths from gun violence and 331 mass shootings across the United States over the past six months or so, according to the latest data from the Gun Violence Archive.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
By Kim Jae-heun







SPC Group Chairman Hur Young-in attended the "Choose France" event held by the French government in Paris, Monday (local time), the company said, Tuesday. The French government has been hosting the annual event since 2018 to attract more investments from global companies.







French President Emmanuel Macron and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne attended the ceremony along with other government officials to welcome guests from some 250 global companies such as Coca-Cola, Disney and FedEx.







It is the second time that the French government invited SPC Group to Choose France after the first in 2018. The food firm is the first Korean company to join the event twice.







There, Hur discussed ways to invest in the food business in the European country.







SPC Group is currently working on establishing a production facility in France and plans to expand its Paris Baguette bakery business there. The Korean firm also acquired French sandwich and salad restaurant chain, Lina's, in June of this year.







"France is an important market for the company as it plans to actively carry out global business in Europe based in France," an SPC Group official said.







SPC Group entered the French market in 2014 by opening its first Paris Baguette bakery, where it has been offering Korean-style bakery products. It also collaborates with the Institut National de la Boulangerie Patisserie and Ecole Lenotre to introduce their curricula into Korean bakery institutes.


Edwards rips Cooper's veto of sanctuary counties bill

Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill Monday that would have required North Carolina sheriffs to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they cannot confirm the citizenship status of someone in their custody accused of serious felonies and violent crimes.



State Sen. Chuck Edwards, the Republican from Flat Rock who sponsored the bill, blasted Cooper's action.

"With the stroke of his pen, Gov. Cooper just gave Sanctuary Sheriffs permission to shield an illegal immigrant who rapes or murders a North Carolinian," Edwards said in a statement. "Keeping violent criminals off our streets should be a shared priority, but this veto proves that Gov. Cooper isnt interested in increasing public safety if it goes against his liberal donors' wishe."

Edwards told Senate Rules Committee members that the bill is needed to keep some criminals off the streets. The measure comes after several sheriffs in N.C. counties refused to cooperate with ICE, including Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden and Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller.



ICE estimates that 500 suspected illegal immigrants were released from N.C. jails despite being wanted by federal agents.

This was the second time Cooper, a Democrat, has vetoed similar legislation, although this bill, Senate Bill 101, set a higher bar for a detainee's charges when compared to the one Cooper vetoed in 2019. This bill applied to detainees charged with a serious felony, assault on a female, assault with a deadly weapon, or domestic violence.

Under S.B. 101, approved along party lines in the closing days of the short legislative session, the sheriff's office would hold the detainee for up to 48 hours, or until federal agents take custody. Supporters of the measure say it keeps illegal immigrants accused of violent crimes in custody rather than releasing them back into the community.

"This law is only about scoring political points and using fear to divide North Carolinians," Cooper said in a statement. "As the states former top law enforcement officer, I know that current law already allows the state to incarcerate and prosecute dangerous criminals regardless of immigration status. This bill is unconstitutional and weakens law enforcement in North Carolina by mandating that sheriffs do the job of federal agents, using local resources that could hurt their ability to protect their counties."

The veto is one of four Cooper stamped on Monday, the last day for his action before the bills would have become law. The others were House Bill 49, Concealed Carry Permit Lapse/Revise Law, which would have allowed gun owners who let their licenses lapse to renew them without taking another concealed carry safety course. He also vetoed Senate Bill 593, Schools for the Deaf and Blind; and House Bill 823, Child Advocacy Centers/Share Information. Mondays four vetoes give Cooper a total of five for the year. He extends his state record with 75 vetoes since taking office in 2017. No other N.C. governor has vetoed more than 20 bills.
TELLING the true story of the British painter, designer, illustrator and wood engraver, Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War (PG) looks at his legacy.

He took on a salaried role as a war artist during the Second World War but was killed when the aircraft he was a passenger on was lost off Iceland.

Margy Kinmonths documentary explores how Erics art had faded into obscurity until relatively recently.

One of Erics three children, Anne Ullmann, talks about how she uncovered an unknown hoard of her fathers works in the Eighties, including many depicting submarines, in the bedroom of his best friend, artist Edward Bawden.

The story unfolds in his own words through rare archive film and unseen private correspondence.

The film is showing at the Regal Picturehouse Henley from today (Friday).
A COFFEE morning for Ukrainian refugees was held at a primary school in Caversham.

Host families, teachers and community workers also attended the event at Thameside primary in Harley Road on Friday.

The event was organised by the schools family hub to welcome families who were forced to leave the war-torn country.

The school currently has seven Ukrainian pupils.

Yuliia Svitlychna attended the event with her four-year-old son Andrii, who is due to start at Thameside in September.

The pair lived in Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine but fled the city when the Russian invasion began.

They arrived in Britain last month under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and are now living with hosts in Queens Road, Reading.

Ms Svitlychna said: We came to the UK without knowing anyone but everyone has been so friendly.

I am really thankful for this coffee morning as it allows us to meet other Ukrainians in the area. My son doesnt speak English but he can meet other Ukrainian pupils here.

Kateryna Okolosfka has helped welcome many of the families fleeing the conflict.

Three years ago she left Kyiv with her husband and son Lev, six, and they now live in Montague Street, Caversham, and Lev attends Thameside.

Mrs Okolosfka said: I know how scary it is to come here, so I try to help anyone I can whos coming over now. We didnt know any Ukrainians when we arrived. In fact, we didnt know anyone.

One of the people who has come over is my friend since we were children. I helped her to come with her son. Now she visits our house a lot and I will look after her son.

My whole life is still out in Ukraine  families, friends, cars and houses. We used to go back every few months on holiday but now we cant. If we did, my husband could not leave as he would have to fight.

Owen Williams, of Peppard Road, Caversham, is hosting a

19-year-old girl from Chernihiv in northern Ukraine after she arrived in Britain alone.

Mr Williams, whose two children attended Thameside, said: It is great to get all the Ukrainians together as I imagine they could be quite isolated otherwise. It also brings our community and the Ukrainian community together.

Mick Pollock, from the Reading Ukrainian Community Centre, was able to speak to the families in their own language.

He said: Things like this are a great opportunity to get together and connect people from across Ukraine.

People from the east wouldnt normally get a chance to meet those from the west but these coffee mornings make that happen. Many of them do find it difficult when they arrive. It can be very lonely and strange coming here.

You have to understand the circumstances of their arrival. If someone dropped you in China, for example, youd definitely want to go to an English coffee morning.

The community centre in Sidmouth Street has been helping newly arrived Ukrainians with career advice and getting an NHS number and also runs coffee mornings itself.

Sophie Roseaman, who runs the schools family hub, said: I felt this was a good way of showing the Ukrainians our support and to make the transition a little easier.

I wanted them to feel that they are part of the local community and especially the Thameside school community.

She added that the success of the event had made her think of organising another one.

The refreshments at the coffee morning were provided by Waitrose.
Asiana A350 / Courtesy of Asiana Airlines



By Kim Hyun-bin



The resurgence of COVID-19 is putting airlines and travel industries on their toes as infection rates have been rising fast over the past week, according to industry officials Tuesday. Air carriers and travel agencies are worried that the situation could get worse and have a dire impact on their business operations, they said.



According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Tuesday, there were 37,360 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of midnight, Tuesday, the highest in 62 days. The airline industry is expected to be hit the hardest if the COVID-19 resurgence intensifies.



Although the number of confirmed cases in Korea is increasing rapidly, it is reported that so far there are not many inquiries for flight cancellations.



The airline industry believes that the possibility of a full lockdown due to the COVID-19 resurgence is low, as many countries around the world have eased quarantine measures, such as the abolition of the mandatory submission of negative PCR tests upon arrival.



Aside from the quarantine situation, airlines are concerned that travel sentiment may shrink, which could dampen travel demand.



Travel demand has exploded after the easing of quarantine measures, and the number of monthly international passengers exceeded 1 million for the first time since the COVID-19 crisis began.



Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are expanding their international flights, focusing on routes to the Americas and Europe, and domestic low-cost carriers (LCC) are expanding routes to Southeast Asia.



"In the peak season, airlines are preparing to increase flights, but worry that the plan will be disrupted due to the resurgence of COVID-19," a major airline official said. "Easing of quarantine measures is essential for normalization of international flights, but there are concerns that the resurgence of COVID-19 will strengthen them."



Passenger demand could also be weakened amid an unstable external environment such as unfavorable exchange rates and high oil prices, which are expected to delay the normalization of business operations.



In particular, if LCCs, which have been suffering operating losses for over two years, do not recover international flights even in the second half of this year, their financial difficulties will become worse.



Travel agencies are also monitoring the situation closely, as a continuous surge in infections could directly affect profitability.



"Currently, there has not been a huge impact so far and the travel demand has been rising slowly, but we are monitoring the situation in case it gets worse," a Hana Tour official said.



The travel industry fears that the rise in infections could force the government to once again strengthen quarantine regulations, such as social distancing and mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals.




Management and unionized workers of South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor reached a tentative wage deal on Tuesday, averting a labor strike for the fourth consecutive year.





The two sides agreed to a 98,000 won ($74.80) increase in basic monthly pay, the construction of a new electric vehicle factory in South Korea and more new hires, among other things, during their 16th round of negotiations held in Ulsan, some 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul.





It marked the fourth consecutive year that the two parties have reached a wage deal without a labor strike.





The deal will be finalized when unionized workers vote for it. (Yonhap)










A passenger sits inside the wheelhouse of Avikus' self-navigating leisure boat at Wangsan Marina in Incheon, Tuesday. Courtesy of Avikus



By Park Jae-hyuk



INCHEON  Simply touching a tablet computer screen was the only thing needed for Avikus' self-navigating leisure boat to sail off of the coast of Incheon. As a passenger touches the "automatic" button on the screen after selecting the point of departure and the destination with a finger, the boat's navigation assistance system then automatically plans the optimal route, just as car navigation systems do.



When another passenger touches the "play" button, the boat's system starts the autonomous navigation function. The boat can also be accelerated and decelerated with the plus and minus buttons.



The boat's software system did not even need any manual operation to adjust its position for docking, thanks to its Lidar (light detection and ranging) mapping and tracking algorithm.



The series of autonomous navigation technologies were demonstrated to the press for the first time at the Wangsan Marina, Tuesday, by Avikus, a Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group subsidiary, which specializes in autonomous navigation technologies.



"Using wireless internet, you can control the boat even if you are not on board," an Avikus official told reporters on the boat. "Our artificial intelligence system has memorized over 150,000 images so as to avoid obstacles automatically."



Cruising approximately 2.5 kilometers for about 20 minutes, the self-navigating boat with six passengers on board avoided motor boats and buoys by using sensors that can automatically recognize objects surrounding the vessel.



After avoiding obstacles, the boat returned to the pre-programmed route that the navigation system initially had set.



The augmented reality technology also enabled screens installed on the boat to visualize levels of each object's risk with different colors, identifying what the objects were.





Avikus CEO Lim Do-hyeong poses in front of the company's self-navigating leisure boat at Wangsan Marina in Incheon, Tuesday. Courtesy of Avikus
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks during an event celebrating the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., July 11. UPI-Yonhap



U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday that a flood of guns is turning U.S. communities into "killing fields" and vowed to reinstate a ban on assault rifles.



In a White House ceremony to mark new gun control legislation that he signed on June 25, Biden said it was the first significant progress in 30 years, but did not go far enough to rein in U.S. gun violence.



"This has taken too long, with too much of a trail of bloodshed and carnage," Biden said.



"The past many years, across our schools, places of worship, workplaces, stores, music festivals, nightclubs, and so many other everyday places, they have turned into killing fields."



Biden cited recent mass shootings that left 19 students and two teachers dead at the primary school in Uvalde, Texas, 10 dead at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and seven killed at a Highland Park, Illinois July 4 parade.



In addition, Biden said, every day there are "tragic killings that don't make the headlines."



"Neighborhoods and streets have been turned into killing fields as well," he said.



Biden pledged to restore a ban on assault rifles that existed from 1994 to 2004. After it was lifted, millions of the high-powered semi-automatic war weapons were sold across the country, and used repeatedly in mass shootings.



"I'm determined to ban these weapons again.... I'm not going to stop until we do it," he said.



Biden also called for legislation that would require gun owners to store their guns securely in homes, saying he himself did so with the shotguns he owns  two his, and two of his late son.



"I have four shotguns... that are locked up," he said. "Every responsible gun owner that I know does that."



Biden said he supports the constitutional right to bear arms, but also pointed out that guns have become the number one killer of children across the country.



"We also have a right to live freely, without fear for our lives," he said. (AFP)


Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, left, greets Pope Francis prior to the start of the beatification ceremony of Pope Paul VI and a mass for the closing of a two-week synod on family issues, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Oct. 19, 2014. / AP-Yonhap



Pope Francis said he would not live in the Vatican or return to his native Argentina if and when he ever retires, but would instead like to find a church in Rome where he could continue hearing confessions.



''I'm the bishop of Rome, in this case the emeritus bishop of Rome,'' Francis said in an interview segment with Spanish-language broadcaster TelevisaUnivision that aired Tuesday.



Francis, 85, denied he was planning to retire any time soon but repeated that ''the door is open'' after Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 became the first pope in 600 years to step down.



While having a retired pope on hand has gone well, the Vatican needs to better regulate the figure of an emeritus pope, Francis said in the interview.



Some cardinals and canon lawyers have long questioned Benedict's decisions in retirement, including his continuing to wear the white cassock of the papacy and keeping his papal name, Benedict, rather than reverting back to his birth name, Joseph Ratzinger.



They say those choices and Benedict's continued presence in the Vatican created confusion among the faithful and enabled Francis' traditionalist critics to use Benedict as a conservative point of reference, threatening the unity of the Catholic Church.



''The first experience went rather well because he's a saintly and discreet man, and he handled it well,'' Francis said of Benedict in the interview. ''But in the future, things should be delineated more, or things should be made more explicit.''

''I think for having taken the first step after so many centuries, he gets 10 points. It's a marvel,'' Francis added.



Francis said he would also step if the time was right before he died while still serving, ''if I survive.'' He answered ''surely no'' when asked if he would live in the Vatican as a retired pope or would return to Argentina, and said ''maybe'' when it was suggested that he might take up residence in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the traditional seat of the bishop of Rome.



He recalled that he had planned to retire as archbishop of Buenos Aires at the time of the 2013 conclave that resulted in him becoming pope. Francis said he had prepared a nice apartment in Buenos Aires where he could continue hearing confessions at a nearby church and visiting the sick at a hospital.



''This is what I thought for Buenos Aires. I think this scenario, if I survive until a resignation _ it's possible I might die before _ . I'd like something like this,'' he said. (AP)


The company continues growth momentum in SWA by growing its core brands across key markets.

IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world's leading hotel companies, has signed an agreement with Doreen Hotels & Resorts Limited, to open Crowne Plaza Dhaka Gulshan in Bangladesh by the end of 2022. IHG currently has presence in Dhaka through hotels operating across its leading global brands, InterContinental and Holiday Inn, both of which are located in the old business district of the city. Crowne Plaza Dhaka Gulshan will become IHG's third hotel to open in the city and will further strengthen the company's offering for both business and leisure travellers looking for quality hospitality experiences.

Strategically located in the heart of Gulshan 2 area, the Central Business District and the highest-rated market in Dhaka, the hotel is spread over two sites - the first is in the mixed-use Tower block with 119 rooms, while the second Tower is in close proximity featuring 30 suites with independent facilities. Being in an affluent neighborhood and at a convenient distance from the city centre, shopping malls, popular restaurants, as well as from the Dhaka airport, the hotel will be a great choice for leisure travelers. As the highly secure zone of Gulshan also houses multiple embassies, expat residential areas, business houses and head offices of Banks, Crowne Plaza Dhaka Gulshan will also be an excellent option for guests traveling to Dhaka for business.

In addition to well-equipped and spacious rooms which integrates business and leisure, Crowne Plaza Dhaka Gulshan will offer an array of facilities including an all-day-dining restaurant, three specialty restaurants, lounges, outdoor pools and gymnasiums for guests to unwind and relax. The hotel will feature a banquet hall and two meeting rooms, making it an ideal choice for MICE requirements. The guest experience will be enhanced with the signature IHG hospitality, which will reflect the brand's promise of offering a premium stay experience to guests.

Hotel website
Led by Remington Hotels, Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley has completed a $4 - million renovation to its 178-room property. This renovation includes guestrooms, meeting space, restaurant/lounge, lobby, and hotel technology. Pet-Friendly and Pure Wellness rooms are now available making this hotel the perfect stay for business and leisure travelers alike.

Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley has completed a $4-million renovation to its 178-room property. Led by Remington Hotels, the project includes updates to guestrooms, meeting space, restaurant lounge, lobby, and hotel technology.

Owned by Ashford Hospitality Trust and managed by Remington Hotels, Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley welcomes guests to a mountain retreat location only a short drive from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Quality services and amenities include on-site dining, complimentary Wi-Fi and parking, business center, fitness center, and a relaxing outdoor pool. With each stay guests enjoy a guestroom that includes a 42-inch LCD TV with premium channels, refrigerator, and Hilton Serenity bed. Pet-friendly and Pure Wellness rooms are available as an added option to fit any guests' preference or need. Pure Wellness rooms are treated with the latest technologies available and 99.9% free from allergens.

Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley is part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton's 18 world-class brands. Hilton Honors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels have instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that allows members to choose nearly any combination of Points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount that can't be found anywhere else, and free standard WiFi. Members can access contactless technology exclusively through the industry-leading Hilton Honors mobile app. Hilton Honors members can check in, choose their room, and access it using Digital Key.

Hotel website
Tyler Davies is General Manager of Hyatt Place Panama City Beach/Beachfront.

Davies studied culinary arts at Metropolitan State University of Denver and earned a bachelor's degree in restaurant and resort management from Colorado State University. Career accolades include Stonebridge Companies' General Manager Performance Award and President's Award/General Manager of the Year; OTO Development's Most Improved Hotel of the Year Award; and multiple brand Guest Satisfaction Awards
Diana C. Canas is Director of Sales of Hyatt Place Panama City Beach/Beachfront.

Canas brings a wealth of brand experience to Hyatt Place Panama City Beach. She launched her hospitality career more than a dozen years ago as a front desk agent at a small boutique hotel in Miami Beach, taking on operations roles of increasing responsibility before moving into sales and marketing. She served as Director of Sales at a Hyatt property in Miami prior to moving to Panama City Beach to lead revenue strategy development and execution at the new Hyatt Place.

A native of Colombia who now calls Florida home, Canas studied hospitality and tourism management at Miami Dade College.
Bronisz joins The St. Regis Washington, D.C. following a successful tenure at Mandarin Oriental Washington, D.C. where she served as the Director of Sales and was responsible for driving group, transient and catering sales activities with luxury agencies and corporate market. Under her supervision, Bronisz exceeded booking goals and increased the ADR rates, resulting in maximized revenues for the hotel.

Prior to her position at Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C., Bronisz served as the Area of Director of Sales and Marketing at Riggs Washington D.C. during the hotel's opening year. There she collaborated on brand developments, conducted extensive research on consumer behavior, created strategic plans and campaigns, and more, all while working within a budget parameter. Bronisz has also served as Director of Sales & Marketing for the Park Hyatt Washington, D.C., Carmel Valley Ranch in California, Mandarin Oriental Atlanta in Georgia, and Mandarin Oriental Prague in Czech Republic. She holds a BA in Hospitality Management from the Vetter School of Economics.

Bronisz brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience in the hospitality and sales arena, offering passionate and professional guidance and effective leadership. Having strong experience within the Washington D.C. market, Bronisz looks forward to continuing her work with the enthusiastic local community and driving successful initiatives for The St. Regis Washington, D.C.
Hotel distribution is a proactive strategy for hoteliers to sell their rooms to target customers with profit concerns in mind. Hotel distribution management is more clearly defined as using sales websites, online travel agents (OTAs), wholesalers, and global distribution systems (GDSs).

The hotel industry is thriving with annual revenue of over $570 billion. And every key player in this industry is worried about the future of hotel distribution.

For all the new and established hoteliers, it is time to consider the change and leverage the potential of the new trends in hotel distribution management. So, lets explore the shift!

What Is Disrupting the Current Hotel Distribution Strategies?

OTAs are charging a hefty commission, which cuts down the profit margin of hoteliers. Therefore, hotels are investing a large chunk of money in their direct sales channels and loyalty programs to cut down this commission and keep the profits a maximum.

But, the hotel distribution strategies for direct booking channels are mostly inefficient, for which they spend more than the commission that the OTAs would have charged.

Meanwhile, OTAs are also boosting their online presence and gaining market stature. Hence, hotels know online travel agents are not going anywhere in this industry.

Therefore, the future of hotel distribution needs to accept a change and train with new strategies. Will it be possible for hotels to direct the majority of their target audience towards direct booking channels? Is it possible in the future?

If the hotels can play a perfect game with the distribution strategies for direct channels, there is a possibility of leaping with the profit margin.

Are OTAs Friends or Foes?

Many experts in the hotel industry believe that OTAs are more like friends than foes. Even though they want to promote bookings through their sites for commission, they still indirectly help hotels boost direct bookings.

Marco Rosso, the Regional Director of Spain at SiteMinder, attended an interview with the Young Hoteliers Summit. The interview was about changing the distribution landscape for hotels in the future.

The interview also discussed how to increase a hotels revenue and visibility by optimizing the use of distribution channels.

Rosso said that hotels should be present over as many OTAs as possible. It will help generate traffic for their business and increase sales. The work on converting those customers into your direct hotel clients from their next bookings will be your primary job to do.

It is obvious that customers look for a hotel, it's rating, and reviews over OTAs at first and then search for direct websites to know more about it.

So, when they land on your website to learn about the hotel business, ensure you have optimized it and loaded it with elements that wont send the customers back to the OTA channels to confirm the booking.

Ultimately, OTAs are considered friends rather than foes, as they can be very useful for increasing direct bookings to your hotel. Rosso said it is time for hotels to utilize these OTA channels to overcome their insecurities rather than constantly trying to compete with them.

What Does the Future Hold for Hotel Distribution Management?

There are a few themes that hoteliers are happily implementing to leverage the potential of proper hotel distribution management in the future. They include:

Scope of Reinvesting on Service Offerings

As the COVID 19 pandemic fear persists among people, it becomes important for the hospitality sector to reinvest in some of the major inclusions to their hotel services such as:

Growing with digitalisation

Assuring health aspects of customers

Proposing flexibility of booking

Cancellations and promoting new usages.

Such changes have helped improve their overall hotel distribution channel strategy. And the changed consumer behaviour will help your hotel business stand out over others.

Better Digital Approach

Hotel businesses are improving their digital implementations to reach customers directly and build contacts. They want to depend less on OTAs or other indirect channels.

Therefore, they are investing in digital maturity potential to distribute their rooms and services to customers through their own sales channels. It will eventually help them build a positive rapport with their customers, and they will be able to better understand their experience.

The future of hotel distribution has this theme or strategy as the most focused one. The hotel industry is looking forward to getting the best out of it.

Environmental Sustainability

Both regulatory and consumer expectations will have environmental sustainability as a concern for a long time in the future. Customers are actively willing to know the environmental policies of hotel businesses.

Therefore, the future of hotel distribution management for direct bookings will stand a chance only if you analyze your hotels environmental impact.

Hotel business owners ought to take steps to streamline the inappropriate policies. Following that, you should also be transparent about the climate impact policies with the customers.

Use of Metasearch Sites

Metasearch is a very efficient marketing tool for all hotels to drive bookings through direct and indirect channels. The use of metasearch has increased over time, and the future of hotel distribution will utilize it.

A recent study states the use of metasearch concerning countries. China uses it at the rate of 54%, France at 38%, the United States at 36%, Germany at 42%, and the UK at 35%.

Metasearch is also facilitating direct bookings for hotels. With dedicated solutions, hotels are listing themselves over metasearch platforms. This allows them to generate immaculate visibility among travellers and generate a lot of sales.

It is an excellent initiative for small hotel owners as it needs less marketing budget. Thus, this hotel distribution system is a futuristic adaptation for the industry.

Use of social media

OTAs charge around 15 to 25% commission for every booking processed through their portals. And such a high commission eats up the hotels profit margins. Therefore, the use of social media helps increase brand recall in the customers minds.

With offers, discounts, and incentives, hotels use social media to draw the target audience's attention to their websites and direct sales platforms for priority bookings. This initiative will eventually cut down the third-party costs and generate more profit for the hotels.

Using Channel Manager

The use of channel managers for a hotel business is currently being leveraged by just a small percentage. A hotel distribution channel manager solution will help the hoteliers take care of the sales strategies across all booking channels.

It will allow you to sell all your rooms simultaneously, overall connected booking sites, including direct and indirect channels. It increases the capacity of your business to attract more customers and bag more profits.

Parting Words

So, this is what the future of hotel distribution will look like when all of these themes are successfully adopted by the key players in the hotel industry.

Most of these trends or themes will eventually grow in the future to change the entire hotel distribution landscape. Moreover, new trends will also come into play as consumer behaviour and technology demands change over time.

AxisRooms Editorial Desk

AxisRooms, a software suite provider for the hospitality industry, is committed to aiding your business growth, not just with our state-of-the-art products and services, but also with the latest updates from the travel and hospitality industry. Got something to say? Write to us at: [email protected]
A hearse which carries the body of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, makes a brief visit to the House of Parliament after his funeral Tuesday, in Tokyo, in this photo provided by Kyodo News. AP-Yonhap





The Japanese government will review possible regulations on handmade guns in the wake of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's killing, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday.







There's already a legal ban on owning firearms in Japan but authorities plan to look into any need to regulate handmade guns while examining the shooting that killed Abe and similar incidents, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular briefing. (Reuters)


Q. Texas allows senior citizens over age 65 to defer their property taxes. Can you explain how this process works? Can one apply it to a residential homestead and to a second property? Can it be stopped once started?

A. There are two ways persons over age 65 can lower their property taxes. One way is to claim the over age 65 homestead exemption, and the other is to defer the property taxes altogether.

The over-65 exemption is in addition to the regular homestead exemption. You claim the exemption by completing the appropriate form in the county where you live. In Harris County, it's Form 11.13, and in Bexar County, it's Form 50-114. On these forms, there is a box on page one you would check to claim the exemption.

You will receive additional exemptions for purposes of calculating the taxes on your home once you have secured the over-65 exemption. Plus, once you qualify, your school taxes will not increase unless you make improvements to your home.

You can also elect to defer their property taxes, including school taxes, by filing a Tax Deferral Affidavit. Importantly, your taxes will not be canceled or forgiven, but instead they continue to accrue, with unpaid taxes bearing a statutory rate of interest each year (currently 5 percent). If you live for decades after claiming the deferral, the amount of interest owed on the deferred taxes can greatly exceed the taxes that were originally owed. Taxes and interest are not due as long as the homeowner or spouse occupies the residence as a homestead.

Property taxes can be deferred regardless of the value of the property and the personal wealth of the owner.

To find the Tax Deferral Affidavit form in Harris County, go to hcad.org, and search for Form 33-06. In Bexar County, go to bcad.org and search for Form 50-126.

The homestead exemption is only available for your homestead. This is the home you use and claim as your primary residence. If you have other homes, these properties will not be eligible for the homestead exemption, the over-65 exemption, or the deferral of taxes.

You would never want to stop the over-65 exemption, but you can stop deferring taxes at any time. In fact, if you have deferred taxes, you can pay the back taxes plus interest at any time.

Q. We moved to Texas from Indiana three years ago. Will our existing estate planning documents still be recognized, or do we need to draw up Texas-specific documents? We have wills, a special needs trust for our disabled brother-in-law, a medical power of attorney, and a directive to physicians.

A. Your estate planning documents should be changed to the Texas versions of those forms.

Although Indiana wills are valid in Texas, they do not contain certain Texas specific language which streamlines the probate process. The other Indiana forms you mentioned are also valid, but they are different than the Texas versions of those forms, meaning they may not be as readily accepted if they are ever needed.

The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Email questions to

stateyourcase@lipmanpc.com.
This summer has already been brutal for ERCOT.

Tight grid conditions have become nearly a daily occurrence. The all-time record for demand has already been broken eight times in the past three months. Officials have called for conservation as weary Texans adjust their thermostats out of fear that using too much may stress the system, potentially sparking memories of the power outages that blanketed the state in February 2021.

But despite those concerns, the lights have stayed on.

At the helm of ERCOT's operations is Brad Jones, the nonprofit grid manager's interim CEO who was appointed after his predecessor was ousted amid the fallout of the February 2021 freeze. Jones, who previously oversaw New York's grid operator for about three years, sat down with the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday to talk about changes made since the freeze, how the grid is faring this summer and his hopes -- and concerns -- about the future of power in Texas.

Here are five key takeaways from the Chronicle's interview with Jones:

1.) ERCOT officials did not expect this summer to be as hot as it has been:

ERCOT's Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy, or SARA, report had projected that peak demand on the hottest day of summer would probably reach around 77,300 megawatts (one megawatt is enough to power about 200 homes on a hot day). But Jones said forecasters did not anticipate temperatures to get close to where they were during the record heat logged in 2011. Temperatures that summer were about 5 degrees hotter than average.

RELATED: Texas grid survives sweltering day, but heat is still on ERCOT

"The question we always ask of our weather forecasting team is: Is this 2011? And youd hear no, this is not 2011. Everyone was saying this is not 2011. And about the end of May theyre saying, this looks like 2011. And at about the end of June, they're saying it's like we're heading into 2011," Jones said.

He said the extreme heat scenario for this summer estimated that demand could reach above 81,000 megawatts, which was the original forecast for Monday. Forecasters originally gave that scenario a 5 percent chance of happening, he said.

"The 81,500 (megawatts) was the extreme, but those numbers are in the system. We just start with what we think the expected case is, and in early May, the expected case was 77,500" megawatts, he said.

2.) Jones is concerned, but hopeful, about getting through the rest of this summer:

To keep up with record-breaking demand this summer, ERCOT has called on thermal generators (think natural gas, coal and nuclear) to run as much as possible, including having some humming in the background just in case their power is needed in tight grid conditions.

Having those plants running is part of more "conservative operations" ERCOT is working with, which essentially gives the grid manager more of a cushion when electricity supplies get tight. As of right now, Jones said he doesn't see evidence that having more power in the short term will mean more plants breaking down in the future.

"Now, I am concerned that there will be more (generation) outages because just the way we're running them this summer, not even the conservative operations, just how we're running in the summer. It puts a lot of wear and tear on some of these older machines. So I am concerned about their reliability all the way through the summer, but right now they are performing extraordinarily with low outage rates."

At the same time, he said, Texans have shown they've been able to cut back on usage to help ease the tight grid conditions. On Monday, for example, ERCOT officials expected a few hundred megawatts to be shaved off demand after issuing a conservation notice. But Jones said smaller customers, in conjunction with large industrial users, ended up cutting demand by more than 2,500 megawatts from what officials had projected.

"It was millions of customers in Texas helping out. And this is where I get impressed by the Texas spirit, the spirit of people who wanted to help each other," Jones said.

3.) Conservation alerts no longer mean the grid is in emergency conditions:

Jones said ERCOT officials used to wait until the grid was already in emergency conditions -- and sometimes close to triggering rolling blackouts -- before calling a conservation notice. He said that's no longer the case, and that the conservation notices are now called to avoid getting close to emergency conditions altogether.

RELATED: ERCOT's shift in operations may mean rise in prices for customers

"When we call for it, I want Texans understand: That's not because we're going into rolling outages. That's because we want to stay far enough away from a rolling outage scenario that were asking for it early," Jones said. "We used to stand right at the edge of the cliff before calling one, now we're 10 feet back when we start to it manage."

"You noticed yesterday, we didn't go into an emergency. We stayed out of that altogether," he added.

4) Wind is not the enemy:

In a press release sent to media Sunday night, ERCOT pointed to low wind output as a driver for the tight grid conditions. Gov. Abbott and others blamed wind as a primarily driver of outages in the February 2021 freeze, even though the majority of generation that tripped offline came from thermal sources, especially natural gas.

Wind output was relatively low yesterday, Jones said, but it remains a good resource for ERCOT.

"Bringing them in is an extraordinary value for Texas and for ERCOT, Texans get lower prices and ERCOT gets very reliable generation most of the time. We can predict it. We have real good sense of what is going to do every day," he said. "Sometimes it just has a bad day."

He said part of the reason he and others have called for more quick-starting gas generation is to buoy the supply of cheap wind and solar and to act as a bridge when those resources aren't producing due to weather conditions.

"If we don't get enough dispatchable, we can't bring in more solar or wind. Because then we're going to be in a situation where, when it gets dark and still, we can't keep the lights on," Jones said. "We have to figure out a way to attract and retain the amount of dispatchable generation that we need."

5.) The key to long-term reliability is bringing more responsive generation online:

Jones said the grid is in pretty dire need of more generation that can turn on quickly to respond to grid conditions. One option is utility scale batteries, which can store energy from wind and solar farms and discharge that stored power when their output is low. Another is fast-responding gas plants.

Generators, however, have been reluctant to build new generation while the Public Utility Commission studies a new design for ERCOT's power market. Final blueprints of the market redesign aren't expected until later this year or perhaps early next year.

"We need more generation, we need more dispatchable generation," he said.
While Texans on Monday avoided potentially dangerous emergency power conditions such as rolling blackouts amid sweltering temperatures, the state power grid will continue to teeter during similar days until it can line up more power generators, experts say.

The Electrical Reliability Council of Texas, the state grid manager, staved off emergency conditions despite record-breaking demand as the official temperature in Houston reached 101 degrees.

ERCOT officials credited Texans for heeding calls to conserve electricity between 2 and 8 p.m., as well as the production of reserve power. Nevertheless, Texas shattered the previous power consumption record at 4:25 p.m., with demand reaching 78,284 megawatts. One megawatt is enough electricity to power about 200 homes.

Monday was yet another day, however, when officials were forced to warn of tight grid conditions. Demand for power has broken the all-time record eight times in the past few months. Before that, the previous record was 74,820 megawatts set in 2019.

HOW IT UNFOLDED: See how the power grid stood up as the day got hotter

While demand on the self-contained Texas grid, which provides about 90 percent of the states power needs, continues to grow, supply has not kept up. It will continue to squeak by, says University of Houston energy fellow Ed Hirs, until the state can provide financial incentives for companies to provide additional power generation.

Just because you get across Westheimer blindfolded and drunk one time doesnt mean youll be able to do it again, Hirs said. This is going to continue to be a crisis until we add real reserves to the market.

But providers are hesitant to build new power generation facilities in Texas until they have more certainty about the future of the states deregulated power market. The Public Utility Commission, which oversees ERCOT, is in the midst of changing how power is priced and sold in Texas. The PUC has hired a third-party consultant to study several proposals for new market designs, but final plans arent expected until later this year or possibly early next year.

Until the PUC pulls their heads out of the sand and addresses the fact that nobody is going to invest in a grid that doesnt let them make money, this is going to keep happening, Hirs said.

Amanda Frazier, senior vice president of regulatory policy with power generation and retail behemoth Vistra, has said that the uncertainty, along with temporary, unilateral changes made by ERCOT and the PUC, have cooled plans for investment.

POWER WARNINGS 101: What Texans need to know about ERCOTs warnings

We have no current plans to build a new gas generator, she told the state energy plan advisory committee in late June. And we have existing gas plants that arent recovering their costs and are at risk of retirement.

Even if the market was redesigned instantly, and it gave companies incentives to build dispatchable generation units like utility-scale batteries and peaker plants, it would take years for them to come online, said Michele Richmond, executive director of the Texas Competitive Power Advocates, a trade group that represents thermal generators. ERCOTs permitting process takes several years before crews can break ground, she said, and construction of a facility takes another two.

This is not just a this summer problem, she said. Its a 2024 problem and a 2025 problem.

Wind debate

On Monday, however, ERCOT placed some of the blame for tight conditions on the states fleet of wind turbines, which they said produced 8 percent of its capacity  or about 2,700 megawatts  when the margin between supply and demand was thinnest, between 2 and 3 p.m.

By 5 p.m., with power demand at its peak, wind power contributed 6,861 megawatts to the grid.

Onshore wind has always produced more energy in the evenings and nights, said Doug Lewin, president of the Stoic Energy consulting firm. Wind energy was forecast to produce more than 14,300 megawatts by 11:59 p.m. Monday, for example.

He said ERCOT officials also blamed wind for a conservation notice sent out in May, a day when 3,000 megawatts of thermal power tripped offline. Blaming wind for systemic issues has become a pattern for the state, Lewin said. He said the wind generated during peak demand hours on Monday was 120 percent more than ERCOT forecasters said they prepared for during low-wind summer day scenarios.

If you cant operate the grid with 120 percent more wind than you expect on a low-wind day, that begs a lot of questions, he said. Wind is their favorite thing to blame. Its easier than taking responsibility for things they havent been doing that they should have been doing.

Hirs, with UH, said its no mystery that the wind doesnt blow as much during hot summer days in Texas. But pointing that out does little to help the grid now, he said.

Until the PUC pulls their heads out of sand and address the fact that nobody is going to invest in a grid that doesnt let them make money, this is going to keep happening, Hirs said.

shelby.webb@chron.com
There's rarely a dull moment in Houston's real estate world, and the fallout from the pandemic has only accelerated trends already underway in residential and commercial real estate. As the Houston Chronicle's senior real estate reporter, I've compiled this list of several key trends affecting Houston's real estate scene -- and in honor of 713 day, all of these articles will be free to access July 12-14.

1. Downtown Houston is in the midst of a major economic shift. Two years after lockdowns emptied the city center, people are again catching Astros games at Minute Maid Park, crowding into concerts at Jones Hall, strolling through Discovery Green and gathering for major meetings and conferences. But a critical element remains missing: the 168,600 workers that once stampeded into the district every weekday. That's forcing a complete restructuring of the downtown Houston economy. It's not just the tunnel businesses taking a hit. You can dive in here to see how this uneven economic recovery in downtown is shaping up or check out this accompanying Looped In podcast here.

2. Mortgage rates are pricing out more homebuyers already facing rising prices and limited inventory. The effect of rising mortgage rates is starting to ripple through Houston's single-family home market. After the historically low rates fueled a frenzied buying boom last year, higher mortgage rates, rising home prices and limited supply of new homes are forcing some would-be homebuyers to sit on the sidelines. The expectation is that higher rates will start to pump the brakes on home sales in Houston, which so far are only modestly slower. However, prices are still expected to remain relatively high as the inventory of homes on the market stays tight, and homebuilders face construction delays in getting new homes on the ground.

3.The suburbs are no longer a sure-fire way to access affordable housing. The old phrase used to be "Drive until qualify," but now homebuyers searching for affordability in Houston's sprawling suburbs will have to drive farther and farther out to find it. Explore our home value tracker developed by data visualization editor Alexander Kanik to see how much home values have jumped throughout Houston's suburbs. Strong demand and limited inventories are pushing up prices rapidly in suburbs like Katy, which now has two of the hottest ZIP codes for real estate nationally, according to a report from Opendoor, Claire Goodman reports. Reporter R.A. Schuetz dives into recent Rice University Kinder Institute research showing how the suburbs are losing their reputation as an affordable haven. Meanwhile suburbs such as Sugar Land and Pearland also are becoming less affordable for renters too.

Elizabeth Conley, Staff / Houston Chronicle

4. Build-to-rent activity continues to grow. With nearly half of Houstonians unable to afford to buy a home here, that is only increasing demand for single-family rentals. While some institutional investors are scooping up single-family homes to turn into rentals, other developers in Houston are building master-planned single-family rental communities, such as Howard Hughes' in the Cypress community of Bridgeland and Wan Bridge in Brazoria County.

5. Hybrid work is reshaping how companies use the office. For many office workers, commuting into the office is now optional or at least only a part-time requirement. That's pushing some firms to rethink how they use office space, with some companies such as Shell redesigning their office spaces to facilitate more collaboration and team work when people do come into work. (You can also listen to an interview with architecture firm Gensler to hear more about how hybrid work is affecting office design in this Looped In podcast.) Other companies are choosing to downsize their space requirements, meaning that even with oil priced above $100 barrel, the Houston office market can't expect a big boom. Meanwhile, some firms are increasing their use of co-working space as a more flexible option than a long-term lease that allows workers to separate their home and work lives, reporter Katherine Feser writes in her feature on Boxer Property. Offices with large outdoor spaces are also a key draw for office tenants post-pandemic.

6. Sustainability is becoming a bigger focus for commercial developers. The real estate sector is a major but often overlooked driver of climate change, according to a U.N. report, but developers are trying to reduce their emissions. Skanska USA is building its greenest office tower yet in Texas with its 1550 on the Green tower in downtown Houston, where it is tracking embodied carbon, or all the carbon emissions tied to construction of the building. Meanwhile, Houston-based real estate firm Hines has set an ambitious goal to make all properties in its global portfolio reach net-zero carbon emissions, which could affect some 27 million square feet of real estate in Houston. The focus on sustainability comes as more office tenants are emphasizing environmental effects in their office search, with companies like Cheniere Energy and Bechtel seeking out sustainable offices recently in Houston.

Jason O'Rear, Courtesy Hines

7. Developers are giving new life to underused or vacant buildings. Adaptive reuse projects - which convert often-vacant buildings into new uses - are another way developers are reducing climate effects of construction in projects such as The Post in downtown, M-K-T in The Heights or the proposed new redevelopment of historic warehouses in the East End.

8. Life sciences is driving more commercial real estate demand. More commercial developers are betting on a rise in life sciences as the sector starts to grow in Houston, with developments such as Hines' 53-acre life sciences district, Levit Green, and the Texas Medical Center's 37-acre biomedical research campus, TMC3, greatly expanding the amount of life sciences and medical office space available in Houston. However, even with this rising interest in biomedical research space, it will still be difficult to turn Houston into a biotech hub, Becca Carballo reports.

9. Evictions are still rampant and rental relief is running out. After the pandemic pummeled the Houston economy, government and charitable agencies moved to disperse rental relief funds to struggling renters, with Houston helping out the most families out of any city in the country by May 2021, R.A. Schuetz reports. But as of June 2022, only $25 million in federal rental relief funds remained, and that is quickly getting used even as the risk of eviction remains elevated for many.

10. Rental scams are on the rise. Soaring rental prices are forcing some tenants to move to find a place they can afford, but when some renters find a good deal on a rental unit, it really can be too good to be true. Reporter R.A. Schuetz takes a look at the rise in rental scams spreading throughout Houston as desperate tenants try to find a place they can afford right as scammers have gotten more tech savvy. Landlords are also getting scammed, Schuetz reports.

marissa.luck@chron.com
With structures from the Pasadena petrochemical complex looming in the distance, Tim Pylate stands in a field at Armand Bayou Nature Center and imagines a different moment in history.

If you could wave a magic wand and go back in time, this is what Texas would have looked like, Pylate said, waving an arm across a field of tan prairie grasses punctuated with bright pops of yellow flowering baptisia. But again, theres less than 1 percent of that historical range left, less than 1 percent.

Pylate is talking about the Houston areas original ecosystem, Gulf Coast native prairie, which once ran from Brownsville, Texas, to Lafayette, La., but now is considered an endangered ecosystem  just 100 acres remain in Louisiana and another 65,000 acres in Texas. Its been lost to residential and commercial growth, ever bigger highways, overgrazing and invasive species.

The prairie isnt important just for historical or cultural reasons. Ecologically, its important, too. Plants that naturally populate Gulf Coast native prairie have roots that can grow to 20 feet underground, turning the land into a giant sponge to prevent flooding during heavy rains, and at other times serve as a huge carbon bank that cleans the air.

MORE ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: A formerly 'drab' Katy house gets a total makeover with a splash of color, patterns and accessories

Not long ago, Pylate and his team with conservationists from two dozen other conservation groups such as the Coastal Prairie Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy Texas, Ducks Unlimited and the University of Houston Coastal Center organized under the umbrella of the Texas Coastal Prairie Initiative. Together, they vowed to educate the public, raise money, share resources and find a way to restore native prairie, in plots large and small, throughout the area.

It was big news in parks and conservancy circles, but ordinary folks likely heard little about it. Since existing prairie acreage was at suburban sites such as the Coastal Prairie Conservancy or Armand Bayou, most wouldnt recognize prairie even if they saw it.

So the coalition decided to bring prairie to the city, in small patches at schools and colleges and in every signature park in Houston. Theres even a bit in the Texas Medical Center. Fifteen acres of undiscovered native prairie were spotted at Willow Waterhole, a fairly new park just outside Loop 610 on the citys southwest side, and 25 acres atop the Memorial Park Land Bridge will get its first real seeding this fall. In fact, the Willow Waterhole Conservancy is now trying to raise $3 million to develop the prairie.

Now, Pylate and Armand Bayou are in the middle of a capital campaign, having raised $17 million of the $20 million needed to buy another 1,000 acres from ExxonMobil, where theyll launch a new plan to create more prairie land. An urban wilderness, the nature center has what may be the most pristine, meticulously curated native prairie in Texas. Its 2,500 acres includes 900 acres of Texas tallgrass coastal prairie.

We were about making this ancient ecosystem visible to urbanites, and showing resiliency and how you can manage land differently, said Jaime Gonzalez, Houston Healthy Cities director at the Nature Conservancy Texas and vice president and co-founder of the Coastal Prairie Partnership. We also want to reconnect the things people love with the ecosystem from which they came. Because we had a prairie, we have a rodeo and barbecue and take pictures of bluebonnets. Because we had a prairie, we have cowboy music. Its about reconnecting Houstonians to their heritage.

Prairie origins

Back in the early 1800s  before brothers Augustus and John Allen founded Houston and even before Stephen F. Austin arrived with Texass original settlers, the Old Three Hundred  the Texas Gulf Coast was pristine frontier inhabited by tribes of Attakapa, Akokisa and Karankawa native Americans.

From Brownsville into Louisiana, stretching inland from the Gulf Coast to the piney woods of East Texas, were 9 million acres of coastal prairie. The land had grasses that reached 6 feet tall, and at different times of the year burst with color from sweet golden rod, red milkweed and a variety of wildflowers.

Bison roamed in herds the size of Harris County, with the front of the herd consuming sweet green tops of plants and the back of the herd munching on woody stems. As the alpha mammal of their day, bison were the architects of the prairie, consuming plants, then fertilizing the land and redistributing seeds that would feed them in a new season.

With them were a host of species, from birds that either lived here year round to those who migrated through here annually. Some, like the eastern meadowlarks and loggerhead shrikes, were prairie obligate, meaning that they had to live on the prairie. As NASA grew and other businesses sprang up, residential neighborhoods followed, and the habitat nearly vanished. Animals, birds and insects moved on, or, like the Attwater prairie chicken, their numbers dwindled.

MORE FROM DIANE COWEN: A West University Place house was too French for this family, so they gave it a California face-lift

At one time you could find red wolves here, though theyre now considered extinct in the wild in the U.S. The American alligator was once on the verge of extinction, but has made a slow, steady comeback after being protected by the Texas Endangered Species Act in 1973.

There are lots of folks who have recognized the importance of having these prairie grasses as an important part of our ecosystem. When you dont take care of this land you lose the things that are important to us, Pylate said. You lose the alligators, the bison, the prairie chickens and bobwhite quail. You lose the red wolf. You lose all of those, and its our ecological heritage that youve lost.

Armand Bayou has done much to restore the habitat of alligators, and theyre now an important part of the nature centers ecology. In fact, when various species are nesting, alligators provide protection for many birds, who build their nests directly above an alligator nest.

In a pond near the front of the nature center, one mama alligator protects her eggs on the ground while a yellow-crowned night heron sits on her own eggs in a nest in the tree limbs above. She knows that any predator  such as a raccoon or a snake  that wants her eggs, first has to get past the ferocious alligator.

After NASA sprang up in Clear Lake, residential neighborhoods followed and wildlife lost its habitat and as underground aquifers emptied, the ground crushed in on itself  a geological process called subsidence. The nearby bayou  then called Middle Bayou and now known as Armand Bayou  spread out and washed out the existing riparian forest, killing trees and marsh grasses and driving out the wildlife that depended on them.

Through the years, Armand Bayou staff and hundreds of volunteers have physically removed invasive species such as daisy grass and Chinese tallow and replanted acres of prairie, collecting big and little bluestem grass seeds, growing new plants and then placing them in the ground by hand.

They also brought back marsh grasses  which spread more easily  and created a home for the blue crabs, shrimp and speckled trout that spend the first summer of their lives in the brackish marshes or estuaries in the nature center, where headwaters meet the sea.

Natures kidneys

The Coastal Prairie Conservancy began as the Katy Prairie Conservancy some 30 years ago, with volunteers concerned about the loss of wetlands on Houstons west side. Today they have conservation easements on 17,088 acres, and own another 13,500 acres.

We need to get people on the land if were going to get them to care about it. Its an incredible wildlife habitat, helps air quality and wetlands are natures kidneys reducing flood risk, said Mary Ann Piacentini, the CPCs president and CEO.

The park-like part of the conservancy on the citys west side has prairie grasses and wetlands, trails and a nursery where volunteers produce plants from seeds, just as they do at Armand Bayou. Bird watchers flock here, and sometimes west-siders come to have lunch or relax.

People have to have places to live, but there just needs to be a balance. Who wants to live in a place that doesnt have anything green? Piacentini asked. We want to be Memorial Park West, only bigger and more natural.

At Memorial Park, its no coincidence that the new land bridge will someday be covered in the grasses and flowers found here 200 years ago.

Park officials were still reeling from the 2011 drought that caused the loss of millions of trees when they began the process of creating a master plan for the parks future.

Sarah Newbery, the director of parks and greenspace at the Kinder Foundation who assisted the Memorial Park staff, said their mandate was to look at the land and learn from it. Despite the parks current canopy that provides generous shade, scientists evaluated the soil and found that there used to be more grasses and fewer trees.

The new plan became a park that would have a mix of forest, savanna and prairie, she said. The parks new prairie wont be evident for a while, but when it is, it will be in a prime location and able to evolve season to season  as it would have historically.

Already, more wildlife is through the park, just as Pylate and his team at Armand Bayou notice in Clear Lake.

There are indicator species, like the alligator, osprey and the least bittern. They tell you about the health of the bayou, Pylate said. One day I came through and they were just landing here on their way to Mexico. I saw 650 wood storks here in one day. Their population has declined exponentially over the years, so to see 650 of them together shows what were doing here is working.

diane.cowen@chron.com
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There are many ways to celebrate 713 Day, Houston's unofficial holiday. It's named after Houston's oldest area code and falls annually on July 13. Duh.

In addition to cranking up the Slim Thug or Paul Wall, here's how to make the most of H-Town this Wednesday.

1. 713 Day at Henderson & Kane

Henderson & Kane General Store is celebrating 713 Day all week long. In honor of the family owned, Old Sixth Ward shop's fourth year in business, the store is announcing a special daily deal on its social media accounts through Friday.

When: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Henderson & Kane, 715 Henderson

Details: Follow the daily specials on Instagram @hendersonandkane

2. 713 Day at Mo's Irish Pub

Mo's Irish Pub locations in Katy and Cypress are celebrating all things Houston by streaming the Astros vs. Angels game at 8:38 p.m., hosting a raffle for Astros tickets to a future game, plus restaurant giveaways and special $7.13 pricing on select food and beverage menu items.

When: 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Where: 23511 Katy Fwy and 138 Vintage Park

Details: For more information click here.

3. 713 Day at Spanish Village

What: One of Houston's oldest restaurants, Spanish Village, will celebrate 713 Day with a $7.13 lunch plate: El Clasico enchiladas. The historic Third Ward mainstay turns 70 years in 2023.

When: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Spanish Village, 4720 Almeda

Details: No cover. For more information, click here.

4. 713 Day at Rosalie

What: Chris Consentino's Rosalie Italian Soul inside the C. Baldwin Hotel will offers all cocktails on their drink menu for $7.13 including crowd favorites the Dalai Mama and Hugo Spritz.

When: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Rosalie at the C. Baldwin Hotel, 400 Dallas

Details: No cover. For more information, click here.

5. 713 Day at the Ion

What: Join the Ion's fireside chat with the G-Unity Foundation team this Wednesday. Come for the short documentary film, stay for networking happy hour with cold brews by Second Draught, bites from Stuff'd Wings and a DJ.

When: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Where: The Ion, 4201 Main

Details: Register here.

6. Lil Keke 7 Thirteen Day Social & Book Signing

What: Lil Keke is hosting a book signing for "LGND TLK Vol. 1: the Fastest Way to a Fresh Start" at James Harden's upscale restaurant Thirteen in Midtown.

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Thirteen, 1911 Bagby

Details: To register, click here.

7. 713 Day w/ Lil Flip & Raising the Steaks

What: Lil Flip takes the stage at Bottled Blonde this Wednesday. Oh, and it's steak night at the Washington hotspot, too.

When: 3 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Where: Bottled Blonde, 4910 Washington

Details: To register, click here.

8. 713 Day and the 25th anniversary of Mambo Seafood

What: Mambo's Seafood is hosting a double celebration with Donkeeboy on Wednesday to commemorate both 713 Day and the restaurant's 25th anniversary. The pop-up will include frozen desserts by Popston and T-shirts by State Line Designs:

When: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Mambo Seafood, 6697 Hillcroft

Details: For more information visit mamboseafood.com.
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Jabari McPherson used to dread looking in the mirror. He felt his nose was too wide for his face, shaped more like a rectangle than a triangle.

He wanted his face to look more balanced. As a teenager he started considering the possibility of a rhinoplasty, commonly referred to as a nose job.

McPherson, 35, delayed because he was apprehensive about changing his appearance. When he became a father, he wanted to make sure his facial features matched those of his children.

He did some research and found Dr. Anthony E. Brissett, a facial plastic surgeon at Houston Methodist Hospital. As he watched YouTube videos of Brissett discussing the importance of preserving cultural identity during a rhinoplasty, McPherson realized that was exactly what he wanted.

I didnt want someone to copy-and-paste someone elses nose and features onto my face, McPherson said. I wanted something that was unique to me and offered balance.

McPherson is among a growing number of patients of color who have undergone what surgeons refer to as an ethnic rhinoplasty. Historically, nose jobs have been heavily influenced by the appearance of a white persons nose, in part because more than 70 percent of the rhinoplasties performed in the U.S. involve white patients. But as patients have become more diverse, patients and their surgeons have increasingly sought to preserve the cultural features that make each person unique.

Michael Wyke/Contributor

Preserving a patients ethnic identity during a rhinoplasty is not a novel idea  Brissett is the co-author of a 2009 article in the journal Seminars in Plastic Surgery that delves into the topic. But ethnic rhinoplasties have become more common over the past 10 or 15 years as more patients began expressing concern about losing their unique features  something Brissett calls cultural destruction.

We would lose kind of these racial features or unique features of ones face or nose, he said. I began about 15 years ago seeing patients coming to me upset  psychologically, physically, emotionally  because they had lost the uniqueness of their appearance.

The appearance of someone's nose can differ by ethnicity. For example, a 1993 study in the journal Annals of Plastic Surgery identified differences in the appearances of African, Afro-Caucasian and Afro-Indian noses. And a 2011 article in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery identified 14 different types of noses in white people living in Israel and Europe.

With ethnic rhinoplasty, its critical for surgeons to understand those differences, said Kofi Boahene, a Johns Hopkins University professor who is an expert in the field. For every ethnic group, there are certain facial features that help guide how a nose should look.

You have to be invested to really understand that culture, because you are not just taking care of noses in isolation, Boahene said. Youre not sculpting noses. Youre sculpting lives. Youre sculpting personalities. Youre sculpting the features that people interact with.

Changing demographics

The rise in interest in ethnic rhinoplasty has coincided with an overall increase in plastic surgery in the U.S. There were 2.3 million plastic surgeries performed in 2020; that is 22 percent more than the 1.9 million performed in 2000, according to the most recent annual report from the American Society for Plastic Surgeons.

White people still underwent 71 percent of 352,000 rhinoplasties performed in 2020, according to ASPS data. But patients from other ethnic groups have gradually begun to account for larger shares.

Asian American patients underwent 11 percent of the rhinoplasties performed in 2020 compared to just 4 percent in 2012. African American patients accounted for 6 percent of the procedures in 2020, a slight increase from 5.7 percent in 2012, according to ASPS data.

Michael Wyke/Contributor

Rhinoplasty costs an average of nearly $4,500, according to the ASPS, and it is generally not covered by insurance.

Brissett attributes the increasing popularity to a greater focus on celebrating diversity in America compared to 30 or 40 years ago. Western beauty standards have historically been centered around whiteness, but that has been shifting. He predicts it will continue to shift moving forward, as the U.S. population becomes more racially and ethnically diverse.

We're seeing that people are becoming more aware of global influences. And as a result, they are celebrating that uniqueness, he said.

Preserving cultural identity

Like McPherson, Houston resident Kisha Peters spent years considering rhinoplasty before undergoing surgery in 2019. She wanted to alter a nose that she felt was too wide and had a bulbous tip, as well as correct an issue that made it difficult to breathe through her nostrils.

Peters, 44, spoke with 22 plastic surgeons over nearly 10 years before she decided to have the surgery. She needed to find someone who understood that she didnt want to look like anyone else  she just didnt want her nose to be the defining feature of her face.

I just wanted some symmetry with my nose, making it a little smaller, she said. But I still wanted my African American nose. I didnt want it to be skinny and narrow.

Courtesy Houston Methodist Hospital

An ethnic rhinoplasty also helps ensure a nose looks more natural on a persons face, Boahene said. In a successful rhinoplasty, you shouldnt be able to tell that someone has had a nose job. The new nose may look out of place if the surgery is not ethnic-sensitive, he said.

That brings about some incongruence, and in some people, it leads to inner conflict, he said. I see quite a few people who want their surgeries reversed.

When Peters spoke with Brissett, she knew shed found a surgeon who was aligned with her vision for her nose. She still waited to commit, though, because she wanted to be sure she was ready.

Now that shes had the surgery  as well as a revision in 2021  shes glad she took the care to ensure she would still have her African American nose. She just wishes she would have made her decision sooner.

I wanted to make sure that I wasnt trying to change me, per se, she said. My nose job is so perfect to the point where most of my family  my family didnt notice the nose job until I told them.

Finding balance

Thanks to the interest in ethnic rhinoplasty, Brissett has seen a shift from what he used to call cultural destruction to cultural preservation  a greater focus on maintaining each persons ethnic identity during the procedure.

For Brissett, that means creating harmony in the way different parts of a patients face relate to each other. Hes not just considering a patients nose during a rhinoplasty; hes thinking about their eyes and mouth.

If its done correctly, an ethnic rhinoplasty should look natural and preserve the patients cultural identity, Brissett said.

Were looking more for balance. Were not trying to be influenced by Western features, he said. Once you achieve that, it just creates a more unique aspect of beauty.

McPherson is happy with the balance his new nose has given him. His surgery in December 2021 made the top of his nose a bit narrower, so it has less of the box shape that he felt self-conscious about for decades. The change is subtle, but its given him the appearance he has wanted since he was a teenager.

When I look in the mirror, everything just seems more balanced, he said. I dont dread taking pictures anymore.
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The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office has solved its oldest cold case thanks to a new forensics technology that linked a Conroe man to the death of a 12-year-old girl in 1979.

Sheriffs Lt. Scott Spencer called the investigation of the 43-year-old case complex and detailed.

Using the new forensic M-Vac system, detectives matched the unknown DNA found on Lesia Michell Jacksons clothing to Gerald Dewight Casey.

On yourcouriernews.com: DNA testing leads to 20-year-old cold case murder conviction

Casey was executed in April 2002 after he was convicted of killing Sonya Howell during a robbery in July 1989 in Montgomery County.

The new M-Vac system uses wet vacuum principles to release and capture cells. A DNA buffer is sprayed directly onto the surface while vacuum pressure is applied around the spray pattern to collect the buffer and suspended particles in a collection bottle.

I am proud of our cold case detectives, both past and current, who worked tirelessly to bring closure to the family of Lesia Jackson, said MCSO Sheriff Rand Henderson. Our hearts are with Lesias family, and we are thankful to be able to share this latest news with them.

On yourcouriernews.com: Woodlands forensic labs work on cold case murder inspires Law & Order episode

Spencer said on Sept. 7, 1979, Lesia disappeared while walking home after spending a day at her neighborhood pool. When she did not arrive home, her family contacted law enforcement and a search was launched to find Lesia. Searchers found the girls glasses in the road but did not find Lesia.

Six days later, on Sept. 13, an oil field worker found her body in a heavily wooded area along a pipeline near Exxon Road. An autopsy revealed Lesia had been sexually assaulted and murdered.

Sheriffs detectives began an extensive investigation into her death that lasted for years. However, while all leads were explored, the case eventually became cold.

In October 2021 when M-Vac was available, sheriffs office cold case detectives submitted Lesias clothing for testing. With the new M-Vac system, a Texas Department of Safety forensic scientist was able to locate unknown male DNA.

This unknown DNA profile was loaded into the FBI-managed Combined DNA Index System and matched the DNA to Casey.

We are honored to receive the thanks of Lesias family for the work completed by our team. To the Jackson family, your kind words invigorate and challenge us to help other families who have experienced tragedies such as yours, Henderson said. To other families mourning like the Jackson family, we will not give up on finding justice for your loved ones. Please know we will be as diligent with your case as we were with Lesias.

We will continue to use every resource and technology currently available and explore future advances to further our investigative ability.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
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LONDON (AP)  Eight politicians are vying to replace Boris Johnson as the next Conservative Party leader and British prime minister.

These are the contenders who have secured support from at least 20 Conservative lawmakers to progress to Wednesday's run-off votes:

___

RISHI SUNAK, FORMER TREASURY CHIEF

Sunak, 42, is the best-known of the party's potential leaders and a favorite of bookmakers to succeed Johnson.

His public profile rose after he became the U.K.'s Treasury chief in 2020, a job that entailed overseeing the billions of pounds handed out during the coronavirus pandemic to help businesses and workers.

But he has faced criticism for not doing enough to ease the country's growing cost-of-living crisis. His popularity also took a dive after he police fined him for attending one of the government's lockdown-flouting parties at Downing Street, home to the prime minister's office and official residence.

Sunak says the promises to cut taxes made by many rival candidates are not credible and that he would only reduce taxes after inflation is under control.

___

LIZ TRUSS, FOREIGN SECRETARY

Truss, 46, took on the high-profile Cabinet post in September after serving as trade minister. She is also the U.K.s lead negotiator with the European Union on issues following Brexit.

Truss, the U.K.'s top diplomat, has made no secret of her leadership ambitions and has sought to emulate former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in carefully curated social media photos. If selected, she says she wants to cut taxes from day one and reverse an income tax hike.

___

PENNY MORDAUNT, TRADE MINISTER

Mordaunt, 49, is popular with many Conservatives and is another bookmakers' favorite to win.

She was the first woman to serve as U.K. defense secretary, although Johnson dismissed her shortly after he became prime minister in 2019 because she had backed another candidate for party leader, Jeremy Hunt.

Mordaunt, a former reality TV contestant, played a prominent role in the pro-Brexit campaign in 2016.

___

JEREMY HUNT, FORMER CABINET MINISTER

Hunt, who has served as both health and foreign secretary, ran against Johnson in the 2019 leadership race. He lost heavily, and was dumped from the Cabinet.

Hunt, 55, has remained a member of Parliament and kept himself in the public eye by grilling the governments pandemic policies as head of the Health and Social Care Select Committee.

___

TOM TUGENDHAT, COMMONS FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR

Tugendhat, a 48-year-old lawmaker and former soldier, has never held a Cabinet post but heads the influential Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament. He is seen as a centrist and has billed his candidacy as an opportunity for a clean start.

He said he is consulting a broad coalition of colleagues to bridge the divides in government.

___

KEMI BADENOCH, FORMER EQUALITIES MINISTER

Badenoch, who has worked as a software engineer and at a private bank, grew up in Nigeria and says she experienced poverty first hand.

The 42-year-old lawmaker was initially considered an outsider for the race, but an endorsement from party heavyweight Michael Gove has boosted her profile.

She wants to lower taxes and lead a limited government focused on essentials.

___

NADHIM ZAHAWI, TREASURY CHIEF

Zahawi, 55, came to prominence as vaccine minister during the pandemic. A co-founder of the market research firm YouGov, Zahawi was elected to Parliament in 2010.

He was born in Iraq to a Kurdish family and came to the U.K. as a child when his parents fled Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

___

SUELLA BRAVERMAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Braverman is a lawmaker and lawyer who became Englands attorney general in 2020.

A euroskeptic and supporter of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, Braverman, 42, says she wants to deliver all of the great opportunities of Brexit"  including a tougher line on immigration and leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.

___

Follow all of APs coverage of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and British politics at https://apnews.com/hub/boris-johnson
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  The West Virginia University Health System plans to launch an initiative that will increase the number of nurses in the state, officials said.

WVU Health President and CEO Albert Wright Jr. told the Charleston Gazette-Mails Outside the Echo Chamber" that the system plans to start an associate's degree nursing program. Wright said the aim is to alleviate a particularly challenging nursing shortage in the state.
A Kentucky judge has struck down a measure that would have weakened Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's appointment authority over a key ethics commission by shifting power to Republican officials to select a majority of the members.

In his ruling Monday, Jefferson Circuit Judge McKay Chauvin said the measure severely diminishes and diverts the governor's constitutional duty to ensure the state's executive branch ethics code is faithfully executed. By shifting appointment authority away from the governor, the law empowered other constitutional officers who aren't "charged with that same constitutional duty, he said.

The GOP-dominated legislature passed the measure  House Bill 334  this year over Beshear's veto. The new law was set to take effect Thursday but is now blocked by the judge's decision.

Republican Attorney General Daniel Camerons office said the ruling will be appealed.

Under the measure, five statewide officeholders  currently all Republicans  each would make one appointment to the reconstituted state Executive Branch Ethics Commission. Those officials are the attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor and agriculture commissioner. The governor would appoint two members to the panel that enforces the executive branch ethics code. The measure would have removed all five current commission members  all gubernatorial appointees.

Beshear filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the measure, calling it an unconstitutional incursion into executive branch powers. The governor also warned that the commission's revamped membership could launch politically based, meritless investigations.

The legal fight comes a year before Beshear will be on the statewide ballot seeking a second term in a state increasingly dominated by Republicans. Its the latest in a series of court confrontations over Republican-backed laws that would weaken the Democratic governors executive authority.

The governor's office hailed the circuit judge's ruling in the ethics commission case.

This is an important ruling that shows the rules stay the same for everyone and that Gov. Beshear has the same authority as every governor before him, Crystal Staley, the governor's spokeswoman, said in a statement Tuesday. This was an attempt by the General Assembly to politicize and even weaponize the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.

The circuit judge in Louisville ruled that the law was unconstitutional, saying it improperly impedes the governors executive authority and effectively creates a superior executive body.

Cameron has called the ethics commission-related law a good-government measure. Cameron is among the Republicans seeking to challenge Beshear in next year's election.

We are disappointed with the courts ruling and will be appealing, Elizabeth Kuhn, a spokeswoman for the attorney generals office, said in a statement Tuesday.

State Auditor Mike Harmon, who also is running for governor next year, said he disagreed with the ruling and said he looked forward to joining with my fellow constitutional officers in appealing.

In his ruling, Chauvin said that maintaining the integrity and independence of each branch of government is vital to our democracy.

An incursion by one branch of government into the powers and functions of another threatens the balance of power purposely and purposefully established in the Kentucky Constitution as foundational to our democracy, the judge wrote.

Chauvin called it a balance that has been remarkably robust over time but remains at all times perilously fragile.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  A federal judge on Monday declined to delay the upcoming trial of Steve Bannon, a one-time adviser to former President Donald Trump who faces contempt of Congress charges after refusing for months to cooperate with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

Bannon is still scheduled to go on trial next week despite telling the House committee late Saturday that he is now prepared to testify. It's unclear whether Bannon will again decline to appear before the committee with the trial pending.

Bannon was also barred from asserting several potential defenses or calling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or members of the House committee to the stand. The series of rulings by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols left one of his attorneys complaining that the former White House senior official, now host of the Bannon's War Room podcast, wouldn't be able to defend himself at all.

Barring an appeals court ruling or another delay, the trial will begin as the committee continues its high-profile hearings into the riot. Testimony by former White House aides has revealed new allegations that Trump knew the crowd was heavily armed and that he tried to join the people marching to the Capitol.

Nichols also barred Bannon's attorneys from arguing that the committee violated House rules in demanding Bannon's appearance or that Bannon defied the subpoena on the advice of his defense counsel or at Trump's order.

And Nichols declined to delay the trial from its current start on July 18, saying any concerns about pretrial publicity due to the hearings could be addressed during jury selection. If it proves impossible to pick an unbiased jury, the judge said he would reconsider granting a delay.

Bannon could potentially argue he thought the deadline to respond to the subpoena may not have been operative" or that the date to respond could have been moved, said Nichols, who was nominated to the bench by Trump.

The rulings led one of Bannon's attorneys, David Schoen, to speak out in frustration as he sought clarification from the judge.

"Whats the point of going to trial here if there are no defenses? Schoen asked.

Agreed, Nichols responded.

Bannon did not appear in court Monday. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Schoen said he questioned whether Bannon could effectively defend himself given Nichols rulings and hinted he would appeal.

Hes the judge, Schoen said of Nichols. Thats why they have a court of appeals.

The 68-year-old Bannon had been one of the highest-profile Trump-allied holdouts in refusing to testify before the committee, leading to two criminal counts of contempt of Congress last year for resisting the committees subpoena. He previously argued that his testimony is protected by Trumps claim of executive privilege.

Trump has repeatedly asserted executive privilege  even as a former president  to try to block witness testimony and the release of White House documents. The Supreme Court in January ruled against Trump's efforts to stop the National Archives from cooperating with the committee after a lower court judge noted in part, Presidents are not kings.

The committee has also noted Trump fired Bannon from the White House in 2017 and Bannon was thus a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president in the run-up to the riot.

Bannon was indicted in November on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, one month after the Justice Department received a congressional referral. Each count carries a minimum of 30 days of jail and as long as a year behind bars.

Speaking to reporters after his arrest, Bannon said he was taking on the Biden regime and added, This is going to be a misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden.

But Bannon contacted the committee over the weekend after Trump issued a letter saying he would waive any claim of executive privilege to testify before what the former president called an unselect committee of political thugs and hacks.

Federal prosecutors argued Monday that Bannon's new offer to appear wouldn't change any criminal offense committed by not appearing earlier. Randall Eliason, a former prosecutor who now teaches law at George Washington University, agreed with that view.

This is a criminal contempt, Eliason said. You can't erase the charge by deciding to show up later.

___

Associated Press journalist Gary Fields contributed to this report.

__

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  A group that wants to legalize recreational marijuana in North Dakota turned in more that 25,000 signatures to the secretary of state Monday in an effort to place the matter before voters in November.

The group, New Approach North Dakota, needed 15,582 signatures to get the measure on the ballot for the general election.

The organization's campaign manager, David Owen, says all the additional signatures they gathered shows there is broad support for legalization.

Weve had signature gatherers in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck, Minot, Willistonwe were at Country Fest this weekend in New Salem. This was campaign that was done in less than 100 days and we averaged 2,000 signatures a week the whole way through, Owen told KFGO. "We think that this really shows true, strong support across the state, the fact that we were able to get so many people to sign.

Secretary Al Jaegers office has 35 days to review the signatures and determine if enough of the petitions are valid to place the measure on the ballot.

The New Approach initiative would allow people 21 and older to legally use marijuana at home as well as possess and cultivate restricted amounts of cannabis. Public consumption of marijuana would not allowed under the proposed provision.

The measure would also establish policies to regulate retail stores, cultivators, and other types of marijuana businesses.

A similar effort failed in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic hampered the groups effort at gathering signatures.

Marijuana was a major topic in the Republican-controlled Legislature last year. State representatives brought bills to legalize and tax the drug, but the Senate killed the bills that were passed by the House.
Chronicle file

The Ford Foundation was giving the Alley Theatre an additional grant of up to $1.4 million, it was announced on this day in 1966.

The money was going toward the construction of the Alley's new home downtown. The foundation had previously donated $1 million toward construction. (You'll recall that in recent weeks, it was announced that a $25 million matching grant will result in the Alley being renamed.)
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The family of the man who was killed by a Harris County Sheriffs Office sergeant in Westfield on Friday called the shooting unjustified and unnecessary, adding that he was a victim of racism and police brutality.

Roderick Brooks, who authorities said had shoplifted from a nearby Dollar General and assaulted a clerk there moments earlier, died after an altercation with Sgt. G. Hardin, who used a Taser on him and then shot him in the neck. Hardin shot at Brooks when he grabbed at the sergeants Taser, authorities said.

courtesy photo

For the city and the state to allow this type of  racism, Ive never seen anything like this, said Brooks older sister, Demetria Brooks Glaze. My brother was treated worse than an animal. Shoplifting does not warrant killing a man.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer LEFT: Demetria Brooks Blaze wipes her eyes as Haleem Muhammad speaks at a press conference with lawyer Sadiya Evangelista as they discuss the killing of Blazes brother, Roderick Brooks, by police on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 in Houston. RIGHT: Demetria Brooks Blaze hugs lawyer Sadiya Evangelista as her sister, Sandra Brooks, wipes away tears following a press conference about their brother, Roderick Brooks, who was shot and killed July 8, 2022, by a Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy, on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 in Houston. (Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer) LEFT: Demetria Brooks Blaze wipes her eyes as Haleem Muhammad speaks at a press conference with lawyer Sadiya Evangelista as they discuss the killing of Blazes brother, Roderick Brooks, by police on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 in Houston. RIGHT: Demetria Brooks Blaze hugs lawyer Sadiya Evangelista as her sister, Sandra Brooks, wipes away tears following a press conference about their brother, Roderick Brooks, who was shot and killed July 8, 2022, by a Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy, on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 in Houston. (Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer)

The incident began with a call to police from the discount store in the 2000 block of Cypress Creek Parkway, where the familys attorney, Sadiyah Evangelista, said Brooks shoplifted household goods.

Hardin spotted him nearby and began chasing him, at one point jumping out of his police cruiser without putting it in park and running after Brooks, Evangelista said witnesses told her.

They also said that after Brooks, 47, was shocked by the Taser and incapacitated, Hardin jumped on his back and pulverized (him) with punches, the attorney continued.

The family and the sheriffs office disagree on what happened next. Brooks reached back and tried to gain control of Hardins Taser, authorities said, but Evangelista and Brooks family contend that he was defending himself against the onslaught of punches from the officer.

The sergeants actions drew a sharp rebuke from Deric Muhammad, a local activism stalwart.

The problem is that racist policing is alive and well in the United States of America, and I believe that Roderick Brooks was a victim of racist policing, he said. (Hardin) was so hellbent on hog-tying this Black man that he abandoned all of his general orders.

Evangelista invoked the case of George Floyd, who grew up in Houston and whose 2020 murder at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin sparked an international reckoning on police brutality and officer accountability.

You would think that law enforcement officers  would be on high alert, would be vigilant about the standard of care that they give and the de-escalation of crime, she said. But in this case, that did not happen.

At the time of his death, Brooks had been free for hours on a personal recognizance bond stemming from a felony theft charge filed Thursday in which he was accused of stealing $124 worth of shampoo and beer from a Walmart, according to court records.

Despite several past shoplifting convictions, Brooks did not have a history of violence, his older sister said.

My brother, hes always been in and out of trouble  but hes no murderer, Brooks Glaze had previously told the Houston Chronicle.

She remembered Brooks as a fun-loving and fiercely loyal brother who, despite not having any children of his own, got along well with the kids in his family.

He played a lot, sometimes too much, she said with a chuckle. But he was for the family, like he always was. I got upset with him when he made the choices he made, but he will always be my brother.

Brooks Glaze, who grew up in Longview in East Texas with her brother, also detailed the troubles he experienced early in life, including the deaths of their parents months apart when he was a child and her leaving him in their hometown when she moved to Houston a few years later.

I regretted it every day, she said. I should have brought him with me.

Hardin, identified in a Twitter post by Sheriff Ed Gonzalez in which he offered condolences to the family, is on mandatory leave.

Homicide and internal affairs investigators are reviewing the shooting, the sheriffs office said in a statement, as is the civil rights division of the Harris County District Attorneys Office. A grand jury will determine whether charges will be filed.

Meanwhile, Evangelista and Brooks family are calling for body camera footage of the killing to be released and demanding more transparency from the sheriffs office.

We cant live without the truth. We need justice, Evangelista said. This family deserves to look at the last moments of Rodericks life.

Alfred Dozier contributed to this report.

jhair.romero@chron.com
One person was killed and three other people were injured Sunday evening in a shooting at at house party Brazoria County, according to the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office.

The shooting happened at about 11:46 p.m. Sunday in the 1500 block of County Road 149, near the Alvin city limits, according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies were called to a house and found two men with gunshot wounds, according to press release. A 23-year-old was flown by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, where he was pronounced dead. A 26-year-old man was flown to Southeast Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Two other people were also shot at the address and went to area hospitals on their own, according to the sheriff's office. They were both treated and released. The sheriff's office had identified the two other victims and were trying to contact them as of Monday evening.

The sheriff's office didn't release the names of any of the victims.

The house where the shooting occurred was a rental property. There were sometimes between 100 and 300 people at the party at the time of the shooting, said Brazoria County Sheriff's Office Lt. Ian Patin. The party had been advertised on social media and police were working to get in contact with the person who rented the house, Patin said.

CLOSING TIME: Airbnb last month banned parties at its rental houses

It's not clear if the people who were shot were targeted or were bystanders, Patin said.

The sheriff's office asked anyone with information about the shooting to call investigators at 979-864-2223 or to email videos of the gathering to investigator Jorge Sosa at jorges@brazoria-county.com. Anonymous information can also be submitted to to Brazoria County Crime Stoppers at brazoriacountycrimestoppers.com.
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A conservative candidate who ran for a seat on the Clear Creek ISD school board to fight indoctrination in May, has filed a lawsuit contesting her election loss, claiming problems with mail-in ballots.

Misty Dawsons petition, filed June 30 in Galveston County District Court against Jessica Cejka, who narrowly won the District 1 seat by 43 votes, claims there were at least 29 illegal votes counted in the race and asks for the results to be ruled void.

The basis for the petition, filed under Title 14 of the Texas Election Code, which allows any candidate of any election to contest results, is that discrepancies in mail-in ballots may have changed the outcome of the tight race. Though Dawson had a lead in early voting, Cejka won the election after mail-in ballots were counted.

My hope is for any and all errors to be brought to light. For our district to do better in future elections. For every candidate to be given a fair (and) honest election where every eligible vote counts, Dawson wrote in a message sent via social media Tuesday.

Cejka and Clear Creek ISD officials did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

In a response to the lawsuit filed in the case, Cejka said she rejects every claim made by Dawson.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston school board races emerge as new battleground over critical race theory, book bans

The official results took 10 days to tally due to a large number of absentee votes. Once the results were official, Dawson said she would contest them.

In May, the district said it received 2,426 mail-in ballots. Of those, 380 were rejected, according to the district, for a number of reasons, including carrier envelopes not being signed, signatures on applications that could not immediately be verified to match the signatures on ballots and statements of residence not being included.

Among the discrepancies alleged in the lawsuit, Dawson said the District 1 position appeared on at least 19 early voting ballots for mail-in voters who did not live within the district boundaries.

The suit alleges the district did not keep a record of which voters received District 1 ballots or the total number of ballots with the District 1 race included that were accepted. Dawsons petition seeks to have all mail-in ballots re-examined by court order to determine whether the discrepancy exceeds 19 votes.

The lawsuit claims emails obtained by Dawson indicate the number of voter registrations counted by Galveston County and the number compiled by the district to set the voting roll do not match, meaning others who live in District 1 may have been given the incorrect ballot.

This indicates the possibility that others were given the improper ballot style and denied the opportunity to vote in District 1, Dawson said in the petition.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Conservative Houston area school board candidates win by campaigning against critical race theory

The petition also alleges that two additional mail-in ballots were sent by voters who did not submit an application to vote by mail, which would mean the votes should not be counted under Texas law.

Since the number of voters prevented from voting and the number of illegal votes counted exceeds the difference in the number of votes between Contestant and Contestee, this Court cannot ascertain the true outcome of the contested election and must declare it void, reads the petition. A new election must be ordered for the office of District 1 Trustee.

Dawson, a 41-year-old mother and PTA member, ran as a morally-minded conservative and accused board members of lying to the public about proposed property tax rates. In campaign material, Dawson said Critical Race Theory should be kept out of the district, adding We should be bringing people together, not finding ways to split children apart for political reasons.

A status conference for the lawsuit is scheduled for Sept. 29 in Galveston District Court.

hannah.dellinger@chron.com
Eviction defense attorneys who say publicly elected justices of the peace have disregarded pandemic tenant protection are increasingly taking what some call a nuclear option: filing suits against the judges themselves.

In the past 15 months, at least half a dozen cases have been filed asking Harris County civil judges, who are one step up in the judicial hierarchy, to weigh in on whether justice of the peace rulings follow the law.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Kiki goes in search of her stuff, gone from her place on a Houston sidewalk

The cases allege that justices of the peace failed to comply with emergency eviction protections. In such cases, the judge of a higher court can issue what is called a writ of mandamus, ordering the lower court judge to reverse course and give tenants a second chance.

The systems put in place under pandemic emergency protocols have failed our clients, said Dana Karni, managing attorney for the Eviction Right to Counsel Project at the nonprofit Lone Star Legal Aid. We recognize that sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

Eviction defense lawyers are charging justices of the peace, the elected judges who decide the outcomes for hundreds of eviction cases a day, of operating as kingdoms, with many interpreting emergency eviction protections in idiosyncratic and often incorrect ways. These lawyers indicated that many more tenants besides those in suits against judges are being unfairly evicted but that lawyers providing free legal aid to low-income tenants are too busy fighting a flood of eviction filings to file mandamus suits for many cases.

Its gotten pretty offensive, said Jerry Loza, an eviction defense lawyer at South Texas College of Law Houston. So many of these cases would qualify for this type of mandamus in theory, we just dont have the resources.

The mandamus cases include a wide swath of justices of the peace, including Judges Jose Stephens, Holly Williamson, David Patronella and Angela Rodriguez. Tenant lawyers have stopped prosecuting most of the cases when the corresponding eviction cases against their clients are dropped. But at least one case has resulted in a judge ordering a justice of the peace to recall his order directing a constable to evict a tenant.

More from R.A. Schuetz: Cypress couple was sued for up to $250K by their HOA for feeding ducks. Now they could lose their home.

In the case, a County Judge LaShawn Williams found that because both the tenant, Christopher Jenkins, and the apartment complex, Adorable Pointe Apartments, were participating in Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance at the time, the lower court should have frozen the case for 60 days.

It was abuse of discretion to issue the writ of possession, Williams wrote. As a result of the mandamus case, the renter, Jenkins, remains in his home.

Adorable Pointe Apartments and the office of the justice of the peace for that case, Israel Garcia, did not respond to requests for comment.

Lone Star Legal Aid has filed six mandamus cases since May of 2021, which accuse justices of the peace of making decisions that fly in the face of protections that were created to shield tenants. The nonprofit has also sued a landlord for allegedly violating the Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Karni said she hoped that the mandamus cases would have a ripple effect as more justices of the peace realize what pandemic-related protections entail.

The emergency eviction protections in question include the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions moratorium on evictions (since expired), the Texas Supreme Courts emergency order requiring judges abate eviction actions for 60 days if both the landlord and tenants are participating in rent relief and the Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which bars participating landlords from pursuing evictions while tenants await rent relief.

NEW REPORT: Houston's suburbs used to be the place to go for affordable homes. Not anymore, data shows.

The bulk of the suits against judges involve cases where both the landlord and the tenant are participants of the Houston-Harris County rent relief fund. When landlords agree to participate in the rent relief fund, they sign a contract saying that they will not seek to have a constable remove a tenant from his or her home if the tenant has applied for rental assistance unless the program has determined that the renter is not eligible or selected for assistance.

When asked for clarification on how such cases should proceed in court, a spokesperson for the fund said in an email, We have discussed the programs purpose, federal guidelines, and eligibility requirements in numerous meetings with judges, elected officials, the Houston Apartment Association, and many community groups. The spokesperson added that authority for ruling on eviction cases lies with the court.

Most justices of the peace simply ask property owner representatives if they are seeking rent relief, instead of checking the funds database of participating property owners, before issuing a judgment or order.

The vast majority of tenants do not have the resources to file a mandamus suit. Even those who do have their lives upended.

Jenkins  who volunteers with West Houston Assistance Ministry, Houston Area Urban League, Fair Jobs for Progress and other organizations  believes he knows how to seek out resources and navigate programs such as rent relief. So he was shocked when in January Garcia, a justice of the peace for an precinct stretching west of Memorial Park to Katy and Waller, ordered a constable to empty his apartment. Everything was on the line, he said.

FROM JOY TO HARDSHIP: A Houston dad died of COVID, and his family faced eviction. The regions rent relief isn't enough.

His attorney at Lone Star Legal Aid successfully sued to have the courts eviction order recalled, but Jenkins is still living with the aftermath. He has had his back lock up from stress and has taken a break from college classes until he recuperates financially. To this day, hes living out of boxes he packed to be ready for the day a constable was originally supposed to arrive.

But hes hopeful his successful mandamus case will have a positive impact on the outcomes of similar eviction filings.

Some people wanted me to leave instead of fighting back in court, he said. He said thats not going to happen: Because if I do that now... it could happen to someone else.

rebecca.schuetz@chron.com;

twitter.com/raschuetz
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Despite their decade of friendship, Pam Lewis knew very little of Rev. Betty Adams storied ministry at one of Houstons oldest churches. Adam was always more interested in listening than talking about herself.

Adam died on June 30 after a 50-plus year career as a scholar, Episcopal priest and Houston nonprofit leader that was characterized by her desire to elevate women and build interfaith bridges. She was 82. Friends and colleagues remembered her this week for her humility, humanitarian work and heartfelt care for all people.

She had such a lifelong sense of the importance of bringing people of different backgrounds together, said Lewis, board president of Compassionate Houston, the umbrella nonprofit organization that Adam co-founded more than a decade ago to foster empathy and cooperation among Texas many diverse communities. She was as completely at home with the homeless as she was with other priests. She felt very strongly about standing up and saying things that needed to be said, but in a kind and compassionate way.

Born in 1939 in Houston, Adam left her hometown to pursue undergraduate degrees in English and mathematics at the University of Texas. After earning a masters degree in English and American literature at University of California-Berkley, Adam received her doctorate in philosophy from Rice University.

Together We Dine: Creating a dialogue as Interfaith dinners go virtual

She later served as a lay chaplain at MD Anderson Hospital, offering comfort to patients as they grappled with illness and existential questions, often in their final days.

Adam eventually attended the Houston Graduate School of Theology and, as an ordained Episcopal priest, served more than 20 years as a canon pastor and theologian at Christ Church Cathedral, one of Houstons oldest and most storied congregations. There, she helped lead Spanish services that are now integral to the 183-year-old church.

She was also an ardent advocate of womens ministry, using her background in scholarship to produce works on Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus earliest followers. In 1993, she founded Brigids Place, a womens ministry at the Cathedral that is named after St. Brigid, a fifth-century saint and pioneering woman in Irelands Celtic and Christian traditions. Adam continued her work at the church until late last year

She uplifted womens spirituality, said Christ Church Cathedrals dean, Very Rev. Barkley Thompson. He said he will forever cherish a 2015 pilgrimage with Adam to Ireland, where she led prayers at St. Brigids Well and other sacred spaces for women.

It was just profound to be in those holy spaces that were women-centered, and to have a female priest lead our group in prayers, Rev. Thompson said. They were some of the most powerful experiences of prayer Ive ever had.

Online: See Houston as it was 30 years ago with these old photos

But her contributions extended far past Houstons robust Christian community, said Anne Klein, a former chair of Rice Universitys religion department who co-founded Dawn Mountain, a local nonprofit that teaches Tibetan Buddhist practices.

Adam was a friend and mentor to Klein since 1989. On Christmas Eve 2002, Adam helped organize an event at the Cathedral that featured Tibetan Buddhist speakers. Klein said that, nearly two decades later, Houstonians still recall how much that evening meant to them, how accepted it made them feel in the citys diverse, interfaith community.

The two grew even closer around 2012, when Adam reached out to learn more about Buddhist practices of compassion, which helped inform humanitarian training seminars that Adam ran through a program at Stanford University.

She engaged in it whole-heartedly, as was always her way, and with great conviction and inspiration, Klein said. She was a great soul, and someone who made everyone feel both comfortable and their best selves.

Thompson agreed, and said Adams work only strengthened her own faith, selfless listening and soft-spoken leadership.

As brilliant as she was, she always understood herself to be in a state of becoming, he said. But she was also a teacher  a natural-born teacher.

She is survived by her husband of 49 years Ken Adam; her sons Mark and his wife Heather, Michael and his wife Alana; and her five grandchildren,.

robert.downen@chron.com
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Thirteen billion years of cosmic history were distilled into one glittering image Monday, when President Joe Biden revealed the first dispatch from the James Webb Space Telescope.

The image, a smattering of disk-shaped light formations against an inky backdrop, arrived 12 hours earlier than expected after three decades of research. The White House unexpectedly usurped the reveal after months of speculation about what the first image would contain.

A panel of NASA scientists will release additional data and full color photographs Tuesday morning.

The image taken by the $10 billion infrared telescope showed a little speck of the universe, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. What you are seeing there are galaxies that are shining around other galaxies where light has been bent.

Launched on Christmas Day from French Guiana on the northernmost edge of South America, Webb traveled more than one million miles from Earth to its current location. The mission is expected to last more than a decade.

Biden could barely contain his enthusiasm Monday as he introduced the image.

That blows my mind  a million miles into the cosmos, Biden said. Its astounding to me.

Vice President Kamala Harris, also present during the White House reveal, said Webbs dispatches would inspire future generations to look to heavens with excitement and ambition.

First conceived in 1996 as a successor to the vaunted Hubble Space Telescope, the infrared telescope was designed to shed light on the formation of our solar system, capturing information about the earliest galaxies that formed 100 million years after the Big Bang.

The space agency has said more information from Webb would be made public in the months to come.

Until Tuesday afternoon, the image had been glimpsed only by a handful of agency administrators. Pamela Melroy, NASAs deputy administrator and a former astronaut, teased its contents at a news conference in June, saying it had touched her as a scientist, an engineer and a human being.

Scientists overcame a series of challenges to deploy the telescope, considered one of the most complex projects ever attempted by NASA and its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. More than 10,000 people have worked on it, some of whom spent their entire careers waiting for Mondays reveal.

That group includes Rice Universitys Pat Hartigan, who for 20 years has dreamt of using Webbs groundbreaking discoveries in his research on star formation. Yet the perennially delayed project always seemed years from completion, Hartigan said.

The astronomer was thwarted by another unexpected delay during Mondays reveal, when he said he was stuck with jury duty.

As one of the thousands of scientists that will have access to the telescope during its decade long mission, Hartigan said via email he was eager to see what the telescope can do.

Its a very significant event for astronomy, he said.
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Houston's own iconic James Coney Island, known for its signature hot dogs and sandwiches, quietly shuttered its last location inside Loop 610 this month.

The location at the corner of Shepherd Drive and Richmond Avenue permanently closed last week, according to a Culture Map report noting signs outside the door.

The signs reportedly said:

Dear JCI Customer, We made the difficult decision to permanently close this location. We are tremendously grateful for your patronage at Shepherd for many years. We are a small, local business and we hope you will continue to support us at our other Houston Area locations. In fact, our 99-year Houston tradition depends on your support. Please know that all employees from the location have been offered employment within the company.

President Darrin Straughan told CultureMap that the Shepherd location's sales had suffered due to a difficult-to-access location and the ongoing street construction in the area. Due to staffing difficulties, it had dwindled to drive-thru and to-go only.

Founded in 1923 by two brothers Tom and James Papadakis, James Coney Island is known primarily for its hot dogs, which are traditionally served with mustard, onions, cheese and the restaurant's signature chili sauce. In recent years, the company has tried to rebrand itself as a fast casual concept called JCI Grill. Still, Straughan told CultureMap the business isn't what it used to be.

The Shepherd location isn't the first JCI to halt operations. Since 2021, the restaurant has also closed its locations in Town & County, Meadows Place, Katy and in west Houston at Clay Road and the Sam Houston Parkway.

Straughan told the CultureMap that closing certain locations has been part of a deliberate strategy to reconfigure the restaurant's operations.

"Were not going away," he said. "We are entertaining the possibility of selling the concept. We have people who want to keep the brand alive and flourishing. To use the current term, were pivoting."

More locations could potentially close in the future. Commercial real estate firm United Equities lists the Pasadena, east Houston (I-10 and Federal Road) and North Houston (I-45 and Crosstimbers) restaurants as being available for lease to new tenants.

For now, patrons can fulfill their coney cravings at 11 Houston-area sites, including Meyerland, Westheimer west of the Galleria, Humble, Webster and The Woodlands.
Actor James Van Der Beek may have only recently moved to Texas from California, but the Dawsons Creek star has already developed a strong opinion on the state's fire ants.

(Expletive) fire ants, Van Der Beek said in a recent TikTok video. "(Expletive) them in their little, however many little eyes they have. I hope they get stung in their eye by other fire ants. I hope they have to deal with the itching and the pain of little pus and boils that come out.

According to an Austin Life Magazine interview, Van Der Beek and his wife, Kimberly, relocated their five children from Los Angeles to Austin in order to give their children "space" to grow up.

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Kimberly told the magazine that she felt as if Texas had the capacity to heal after she found an oak tree to meditate under. The decision to move the family came after Kimberly had multiple miscarriages.

In the TikTok video, Van Der Beek can be seen walking around his backyard. He said that he wished Texas fire ants would just stay in the dirt.

You dont need to crawl across the concrete patio and into my sock and sting me, Van Der Beek said. You dont need to go into my bed. You dont need to go into my kids clothes. Youre dead, Im killing you now. If you just kept to yourself, youd be fine.

There are over 210 species of ants in Texas, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In the TikTok video, Van Der Beek appeared to take issue with the red fire ant, an invasive species introduced to Texas and other states in the 1930s.

These ants deliver a painful sting that produces a red pustule that itches and burns. While irritating, red fire ants eat a lot of pesky insects, including flea larvae, ticks and cockroach eggs, according to the Texas Parks and Widlife.

But to Van Der Beek, red fire ants are just an invasive species. Much like Californians.

timothy.fanning@express-news.net
Regarding ERCOT urges Texans to conserve power Monday, fearing limited reserves, (July 10): Why has the Houston Chronicle paid so little attention to the other side of the coin, that Texans use more energy per capita compared to many other states? An enormous amount of this overuse is waste. We can conserve quite easily.

First, stop the industrial-strength light at night that blinds drivers and keeps Houstonians from sleeping. Cheap LED lighting has backfired. We use so much we are likely not even saving energy. Poor sleep exacerbates disinhibition, juvenile delinquency and makes mental illness worse. It is no wonder people are shooting each other over parking spaces with the intense 24/7 light blazing away that can be seen in news reports. Sleep deprivation is used as torture for a reason.

Stop the freezing air conditioning in commercial buildings. We should not have to bring sweaters and order hot tea all summer. Restaurants and some stores are finally responding. Reasonably comfortable is good enough with a glass of iced tea.

The pandemic taught us how to Zoom. We dont have to drive everywhere. My dads four-man carpool to Shell Oil in the 1970s equals the fuel savings of a two-man carpool in a Prius today. Maybe you cant afford an electric car but used hybrids often have mainstream pricing.

And Texas, join the eastern or western grid. We would not have to invest tons of dollars to cover rare weather events if we did.

Deborah Moran, Houston

Regarding Houston just had its hottest June yet. The next two months could also be 'above normal', (July 1): It is confirmed that this June was the hottest on record in much of Texas, as was May. Record temperatures are happening across the globe. Texas leads the country in methane emissions from our oil and gas fields, yet our Republican leaders do nothing. These emissions are preventable and scientists say the benefits to cutting methane in the atmosphere are significant: it would especially contribute to reducing climate-related damage according to a recent UN report. When are we going to see the dire progress we need to protect our planet? Instead, the conservative-majority Supreme Court ruled to limit the governments ability to fight this crisis. Insanity!

Gary Whiting, San Antonio

Regarding Texas and EPA face off over ozone designation in Permian Basin, (June 30): Even elementary school children know that greenhouse gases contribute to ground-level ozone pollution, and that greenhouse gases are to blame for dangerous climate change. Were already seeing the effects of global warming in the increasing frequency of severe weather events, ravaging fires and warmer temperatures. Government entities, citizens and especially insurance companies are paying billions and billions of dollars in damages each year.

Why is it that our governor and state leaders seem far more concerned over oil companys profits than in the health of their citizens and that of future generations?

Cheryl Bolen, Pearland

Big Oil

Regarding Fuel stocks kept falling last week as refineries reached 95 percent of their capacity, (July 7): If this is true, then the oil companies are reaping a lot of money. When oil was trading this low, gas pump prices were somewhere under $2.50. Not charging twice that amount. This feels like a strategy from Republicans to make President Biden and the economy look bad, so that they can take control of Congress.

Property taxes are on the rise. Gas prices are real high. The cost of food and building materials feels like its doubling each week. People are being gunned down in ever-increasing numbers. Children are being killed every day by guns in wrong hands. The NRA is trying to scare people into buying more of their guns. It is working. I read in this paper of arguments turning into shootouts in bars, restaurants and local neighborhoods. The laws in this country have to change. This cannot and should not continue.

We have to vote out these people in office who want to control your money, control womens bodies and make laws to suit themselves.

Phillip Lynch, Houston
WASHINGTON  The U.S. House is poised to pass legislation protecting abortion patients who need to travel to receive care and those who help them pay for it, an effort to get ahead of Republican lawmakers in red states like Texas who have said they will ban patients from taking interstate trips for the procedure.

The Supreme Courts ruling overturning Roe v. Wade earlier this month sparked uncertainty in states where old statutes on abortion, some dating back a century or more, remain on the books.

A POST-ROE WORLD: A floating abortion clinic? Medical team plans to launch ship in Gulf of Mexico, in federal waters

Some Texas GOP legislators claim those old laws  revived by the Roe ruling  already do more than just ban abortion in the state, with clauses barring anyone from furnishing abortions as well, which they argue prohibits businesses or advocacy groups from covering a patients travel costs.

Many groups that helped Texans travel out of state for abortions since the states six-week abortion ban went into effect in September 2021 have paused their operations to review the ruling and its impact.

The Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, authored by U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, a Houston Democrat, would make it clear that the freedom to travel to other states is a constitutional right, and would prohibit states from restricting travel for those seeking to obtain a lawful abortion.

IN-DEPTH: Five Texans tell the stories of how their abortions changed their lives

Its really important to do this now, as we see people and this conversation moving into restricting American citizens from traveling between the states, Fletcher said in an interview with Hearst Newspapers.

The legislation would also bar states from banning businesses or groups from assisting in that travel, something some Texas Republicans have argued state law already does as a slew of companies have offered to cover travel costs for their Texas employees who need abortions.

Its a key part of Democrats response to last months Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, and is one of two abortion bills that House Democrats have teed up for votes this week as Republicans gear up to push further abortion restrictions in the states.

IMPACT: Texas abortion funds freeze indefinitely as Supreme Court shakes landscape

While the bill is almost certain to pass the Democratic-controlled House, its unclear whether it would go anywhere in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans have blocked efforts to codify abortion access.

Threats from the right

Meanwhile, Texas Republicans have targeted businesses helping fund employees travel to other states to seek abortions. Corporations including Tesla, Apple and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have said they will cover costs for employees to travel for abortions.

The Texas Freedom Caucus last week sent a letter to Dallas law firm Sidley Austin LLP saying the firm was exposing itself and each of its partners to felony criminal prosecution and disbarment for reimbursing travel costs for employees who leave Texas to murder their unborn children.

It is not clear why the group thinks Texas can enforce a law restricting constitutionally protected travel rights. The Freedom Caucus chair, Rep. Mayes Middleton of Wallisville, did not respond to a request for comment.

The letter pointed to a 1925 state law that bans furnishing the means for an abortion. The state Supreme Court earlier this month said that Texas can enforce the law for now, though the court has not issued a final ruling on it.

The letter said the caucus also plans to push legislation next session that would prohibit any employer in Texas from paying for elective abortions or reimbursing abortion-related expenses, regardless of where the abortion occurs.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the states top law enforcement official, has not yet opined on whether aiding in travel for abortion is forbidden by the 1925 ban, or by a so-called trigger law banning abortion outright that is set to take effect later this month.

Paxton did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

In court filings in a case defending the states six-week abortion ban, Paxton previously pointed to the number of Texans traveling to other states to seek abortions as evidence that the law was stimulating interstate commerce.

At the U.S. Supreme Court, at least one justice who voted to overturn Roe has said last months ruling did not give states a green light to restrict travel.

Some of the other abortion-related legal questions raised by todays decision are not especially difficult as a constitutional matter, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in his concurring opinion. For example, may a state bar a resident of that state from traveling to another state to obtain an abortion? In my view, the answer is no based on the constitutional right to interstate travel.

Bill forbids travel interference

Fletchers bill reaffirms the right to travel established by the 14th Amendment and would empower the attorney general to bring a civil action against any person who violates it. It would also create a cause of action for civil suits against those who interfere with interstate travel.

Fletcher said Texas has already served as a case study for the importance of travel for abortion, pointing to a University of Texas at Austin study that found the six-week abortion ban the state passed last year forced nearly 1,400 Texans to travel out of state for abortion care each month.

Im hearing from people on the ground, and from some providers at home  they said this has become a humanitarian crisis for people here who need access to reproductive health care, she said. Youve reduced the options down so much and now are threatening the last option people have.

Fletcher, a former board member at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee with jurisdiction over interstate commerce.

Fletcher said she hopes some Republicans may support the bill, though none have signed on so far.

Its so fundamental that I think that they should, Fletcher said. I think they should recognize that if, as weve heard for years, that this is a decision for the states, that states shouldnt prohibit their citizens from exercising their constitutional right to travel.

The House is also expected to vote again on the Womens Health Protection Act, which would codify and expand Roe. The House passed the bill last year, but it has been stuck in the Senate, where Democrats would need the support of 10 Republicans to pass it.

We have a sacred, fundamental duty to expand freedom in America, not to roll back fundamental rights, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. While Republicans seek to criminalize reproductive health care nationwide, House Democrats will never relent in our fight to defend freedom for women and for every American.

Taylor Goldenstein contributed reporting from Austin.

ben.wermund@chron.com
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First lady Jill Biden offered an apology Tuesday morning for her comments about breakfast tacos in San Antonio, according to a spokeswoman who said Biden apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community.

The brouhaha began Monday, when Biden said during her speech at an advocacy conference that the Latino community is as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio.

Almost immediately, Texas Republicans pounced.

Jill Biden just said Hispanics are as unique as tacos, wrote Steve Guest on Twitter, an adviser to Sen. Ted Cruz. Which White House speechwriter just won a bet for getting the first lady to say something like this?

Personally, Im a chorizo, egg & cheese, wrote his boss, whose father is Cuban.

Said U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston: Jill Bidens speech writer hates her so much.

Biden was in San Antonio to attend a Democratic fundraiser, where she called for more unity in her party. She spoke afterword at UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group.

EDITORIAL: Unhappy Biden voters, whom did you think you were electing?

She made the remark as she praised Raul Yzaguirre, a longtime leader of the group: Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community  as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio  is your strength.

Republicans also mocked the term Latinx in the title of the event  a term that is supposed to be inclusive of non-binary Latinos, and one which research has shown many Latinos either havent heard or dont like.

If Jill Biden is going to compare Hispanic Americans to breakfast tacos, then she could at least use more inclusive language: Its TacX, Jill, Crenshaw said on Twitter.

Bidens comments echoed a similarly clumsy, taco-related comment from Donald Trump in 2016, when he posted a photo of himself eating a taco bowl at his Las Vegas hotel.

Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! Trump wrote.

Although most of the backlash at Jill Biden came from conservatives, it wasnt exclusive to them. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists posted a statement on its social media saying: We are not tacos.

It continues: Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions and should not be reduced to a stereotype, encouraging Biden to take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and our communities.

In recent weeks, members of the Biden Administration have also been plagued by a series of speech gaffes.

President Joe Biden read aloud teleprompter instructions that said end of quote. Repeat the line, garnering widespread mockery, while Vice President Kamala Harris has also drawn widespread references to the HBO series Veep on social media after two meandering interview responses went viral.

On Democratic surprise that Roe v Wade was overturned, Harris said: I think that, to be very honest with you, I do believe that we should have rightly believed, but we certainly believe that certain issues are just settled.

And this, at the scene of the July 4 mass shooting at Highland Park in Illinois: We have to take this stuff seriously, as seriously as you are because you have been forced to take this seriously.

edward.mckinley@chron.com
WFO SHREVEPORT Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

HEAT ADVISORY

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Shreveport LA

327 PM CDT Mon Jul 11 2022

...HEAT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT TUESDAY...

* WHAT...Heat index values up to 109.

* WHERE...Portions of north central and northwest Louisiana and

east and northeast Texas.

* WHEN...Until 7 PM CDT Tuesday.

* IMPACTS...High heat and humidity values will significantly

increase the potential for heat related illnesses,

particularly for those working or participating in outdoor

activities.

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.

...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 7 PM CDT TUESDAY...

* WHAT...Heat index values up to 107 expected.

* WHERE...Portions of north central and northwest Louisiana,

southeast Oklahoma, south central and southwest Arkansas and

northeast Texas.

* WHEN...From 10 AM to 7 PM CDT Tuesday.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat

illnesses to occur.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
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How (and why) Billie Eilish won Glastonbury

Kendrick Lamar might have gotten the biggest consumption bump, but Billie Eilish is likely the one who ended up with the largest long-term uplift to her fanbase,

By Mark Mulligan from MIDiA and the Music Industry Blog

Glastonbury returned to great fanfare after the pandemic-enforced break, which meant it was the first one since 2019. The music world has changed a lot since then, with streaming getting bigger than ever and TikTok now established as a cornerstone of the music business. Back in 2019, the standard thing to do was to look at how much Glastonbury boosted streaming numbers of artists who were on the bill, but in todays world, it is the impact on an artists fanbase that is arguably most important.

The BBC and Glastonbury partnership is a fandom engine room

Glastonbury plays an important role because it is broadcast (TV and radio) and streamed in the UK by the BBC, which means it is a rare thing in todays on-demand world: it is a cultural moment. Due to the splintering of culture and the fragmentation of fandom, cultural moments in music have largely gone, replaced by the asynchronous paradigm that streaming enables. In the past, summers were soundtracked by hits that everyone knew, now algorithms and personalisation mean that everyone has their own summer hit. Meanwhile, streaming has turned music into a utility, more of a soundtrack to our daily lives than a cultural touchpoint. If streaming has turned music into water, then what we now need are glasses to drink it from. In the UK, Glastonbury provides a counterpoint to that dynamic, presenting a few days in which everyone, from casual viewers through to due hard music fans, can watch great music  music that is, crucially, often outside of what they would usually listen to. The reason this matters is because streaming algorithms deliver us more of what we like and, thus, narrows our cultural scope. The handpicked and diverse line up of Glastonbury, amplified by the expert curation and programming of a national broadcaster, breaks music listeners out of the algorithm cage. There are not many algorithms that would present Wolf Alice alongside Diana Ross. The Glastonbury / BBC combination thus presents a real-world evidence point for how genuine discovery can be brought back into music. It is not instead of streaming, but, instead, amplifying it.

Finding new audiences

So much for the consumer case, but what about the artist case? What an artist (and labels) really want is not just a temporary streaming boost, but a long-term lift to fanbases. Big streaming counts are a great calling card, but, unless they are huge, they do not add up for most artists. And a weekend bump is only of any real value if it provides the footprint for a longer term fanbase lift. So, what really matters is how a one-off event drives fandom growth. But how is that measures? Well, it just so happens that MIDiA is currently building a fandom measurement tool that we are calling Music Index. Let us take a look at some of MIDiAs Index data to show just how much impact Glastonbury has already had on some of the artists who performed there.

One of the key things we do with Index is create artist cohorts to enable comparisons across similar artists, with the top performing artist in each category indexed as 100 and the others against that base. So, we defined a Glastonbury cohort to track fandom and engagement impact across these artists. Looking at the top five artists in our engagement metric (a hybrid measure that includes streaming, YouTube, etc.), the clear winner was Kendrick Lamar, with AJ Tracey being a close second and Wet Leg a not-too-distant third. These three artists all saw the biggest gains during and after Glasto.

The vast majority of established artists do not rely on streaming as their primary income, so measuring engagement is only part of the picture. Which brings us onto our next metric, fandom, another hybrid metric that captures a large collection of fandom and social behaviours. What is interesting here is that the rankings are very different, with Billie Eilish, who was not even in the engagement top five, not only coming out on top, but way ahead of the rest. Unlike with engagement, the distance to second and third spots is much larger. Notwithstanding, Kendrick Lamar grabs another podium spot and also saw a stronger uplift than Megan Thee Stallion, though the latter was already more highly ranked before Glasto and remains ahead.

One of the key inputs into MIDiAs Music Index is Wikipedia. It is a heavily underrated artist metric that is front of mind for music marketers. Wikipedia is so useful because it reflects a consumers desire to go further, to learn more about the artist. It is a fandom lean-in metric. Whereas a Google search may simply be geared to going and finding a track, a Wikipedia view is a first step towards a deeper level of fandom. The Wikipedia spikes for the Glastonbury artist cohort demonstrates a very clear pattern of spikes in line with performances, thus highlighting the huge benefit of a widely broadcast and streamed live performance in penetrating new audiences for artists. Beyond the bigger acts, Sam Fender and Yungblud both saw strong spikes following their performances, further evidence of the unique power of the broadcast and streamed event helping artists connect with new fans.

Taken together, the Glastonbury impact can be defined as follows:

Kendrick Lamar might have gotten the biggest consumption bump, but Billie Eilish is likely the one who ended up with the largest long-term uplift to her fanbase

The Glastonbury / BBC partnership makes a compelling case for the power of building artist reach to wider audiences via tentpole, live performances broadcast and online

Artists in the UK understand just how Glastonbury can create career-defining cultural moments  just ask Sam Fender. But the case here should be less about Glastonbury itself and more about how the live / broadcast / stream model presents a global use case for reinvigorating cultural moments in the era of splintered culture.

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Half-day Business Expo in Dalton on August 9

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Entrepreneurship for All Berkshire County is coordinating a half-day Business Resource Expo on Tuesday, Aug. 9, at the Stationery Factory in Dalton from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

A collaborative effort of EforAll, 1Berkshire, Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corp. and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, the event will feature booths from more than 25 organizations that support small business, panel discussions and plenty of opportunities for networking. The event is free and open to the public.

Business owners and managers will be able to connect with organizations and programs that have resources to help them  whether with technical assistance, funding or grant programs, marketing or other advice or support. The program will be valuable for existing businesses, would-be entrepreneurs and solo service providers and consultants.

Participants will be able to access experts through a series of panel discussions led by regional experts:

"Which organization can help me with what?" moderated by Ben Lamb of 1Berkshire.

"Fueling Your Business: Wheres the Money?" moderated by Raymond Lanza-Weil of Common Capital

"How can I find more customers ... What marketing works?" moderated by Noah Cook-Dubin of Kanoa Consulting

A networking area will be open throughout the event for one-on-one conversations and meetings. The list of exhibitors, as of July 11, includes:

EforAll, Berkshire County, 1Berkshire, Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corp., Berkshire Innovation Center, TD Bank, Mountain One, Mass Health Connector, Massachusetts Small Business Development Center, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Berkshire Bank, Adams Community Bank, CDC of Southern Berkshire, Common Capital, North Adams Chamber Franklin County CDC, Downtown Pittsfield Inc., Schumacher Center, Lever Inc., Berkshire Community College, Berkshire Eagle, MassHire, Berkshire Agricultural Ventures, Forge, Berkshire Immigrant Center, Mass Development, Berkshire Black Economic Council, Aligned Workplace, Center for Women & Enterprise.
BRI: A pathway to a bright future for mankind

09:09, July 12, 2022 By Stephen Brawer ( People's Daily

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). To date, 149 countries and 32 international organizations have now joined the initiative in the spirit of win-win cooperation and the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Stephen Brawer, the Chairman of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden. (Photo from the official website of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden)

As the well-known Chinese saying goes, If you want to get rich, build a road first. Since China adopted its reform and opening-up policy in 1978, it has experienced tremendous development in all major sectors. As part of the reform and opening-up policy, China has been developing viable transport alternatives. The recent China-Europe freight rail is an excellent example.

The fundamental necessity of advancing modern infrastructure in the forms of electrical power and modern transport systems, both road and rail, are the bottlenecks that need to be overcome in developing countries, to overcome global poverty.

At present, the problem with the traditional international financial institutions, in the West primarily, has failed to achieve the necessary infrastructure investment in developing countries in Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world.

A ship is loading containers at the container terminal of the Lianyungang Port in Lianyungang city, east Chinas Jiangsu Province, May 22, 2022. (Peoples Daily Online/Wang Jianmin)

The BRI is the foundation for global development and the elimination of poverty. Since the launch of the BRI, new forms of international institutions have emerged to finance infrastructure development, such as the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, the Silk Road Fund and the BRICS New Development Bank. These are important alternatives to the existing insufficient financing of the present global system.

In my view, the BRI is a pathway that represents a bright future for mankind. The world has reached a point in which power struggles between countries and people will only bring about the destruction of everyone. The old formulas of geopolitical games lead eventually to no mans land. Instead, nations working together for the common aims of peace and development must become a new chapter in mankinds history. This is what the BRI provides, a whole new direction for cooperation between East and West.

Photo taken on June 30, 2022 shows a China-Europe freight train pulling out of a station in Chengdu city, southwest Chinas Sichuan province. (Peoples Daily Online/Hu Zhiqiang)

The Global Development Initiative, another global public good proposed by President Xi last year, further complements the essence of the BRI. It further points out that China will work tirelessly with all countries to achieve the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The progress of human society needs cross-cultural cooperation between Chinese and Western civilizations. This will set the cast for much deeper and profound cooperation. That deeper cooperation between nations and peoples will lead humanity to a new era of human progress and development. The BRI has put forward an opportunity for cooperation that would be mutually beneficial to Sweden and Europe.

Founded in 2018, the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden (BRIX) is a non-profit organization with the purpose to enlighten the significance and benefits of the BRI and promote cooperation between Sweden and China.

The author is the Chairman of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden (BRIX).

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
The Ulster loyalist celebrations known as The Twelfth, celebrated every 12 July in the North of Ireland, commemorate the victory of William of Orange over King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. They are used to whip up sectarian tensions by specifically anti-catholic groups such as the Orange Order, who amongst other things promote the myth that the Williamites victory was fought to overthrow the Pope and popery. This was recognised for the falsehood it is by the great Irish socialist and revolutionary James Connolly, who understood the pernicious role sectarianism played and continues to play in dividing the workers of Ireland. We republish his thoughts on The Twelfth below in full.

As this Saturday is the 12th of July, and as I am supposed to be writing about the North of Ireland in particular, it becomes imperative that I say something about this great and glorious festival.

The Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne is celebrated in Belfast by what is locally known as an Orange Walk. The brethren turn out and take possession of the principal streets of the city, and for the space of some hours they pass in processional order before the eyes of the citizens, bearing their banners, wearing their regalia, carrying symbols emblematic of the gates of Derry, and to the accompaniment of a great many bands.

Viewing the procession as a mere Teague (to use the name the brethren bestow on all of Catholic origin), I must confess that some parts of it are beautiful, some of it ludicrous, and some of it exceedingly disheartening.

The regalia is often beautiful; I have seen representations of the Gates of Derry that were really a pleasure to view as pieces of workmanship; and similar representations erected as Orange arches across dingy side streets that, if we could forget their symbolism, we would admire as real works of art.

The music (?) is a fearful and wonderful production, seemingly being based upon a desire to produce the maximum of sound in the minimum of space. Every Orange Lodge in the North of Ireland, and many from the South make it a point to walk, and as each Lodge desires to have a band without any regard to its numbers, the bands are often so near that even the most skilful manipulator cannot prevent a blending of sounds that can scarcely be called harmonious.

I have stood on the sidewalk listening to a band, whose instruments were rendering:

Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly.

Whilst another one about twenty yards off was splitting the air with:

Dollys Brae, O Dollys Brae, O, Dollys Brae no more; The song we sang was kick the Pope Right over Dollys Brae.

But the discord of sound allied to the discord of sentiment implied in a longing to fly to the bosom of Jesus, and at the same time to kick the Pope, did not appear to strike anyone but myself.

For that matter a sense of humour is not one of the strong points in an Orangemans nature. The dead walls of Belfast are decorated with a mixture of imprecations upon Fenians, and, the Pope, and invocations of the power and goodness of the Most High, interlarded with quotations from the New Testament. This produces some of the most incongruous results. What would the readers of Forward say to seeing written up on the side of a wall off one of the main streets, the attractive legend:

God is Love, Hell Roast the Pope.

Of course, the juxtaposition of such inscriptions on the walls appears absurd, and yet, the juxtaposition of sentiments as dissimilar is common enough in the minds of all of us, I suppose.

The Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne is celebrated by what is known as an Orange Walk / Image: Ross

To anyone really conversant with the facts bearing upon the relations of the religious in Ireland, and the part played by them in advancing or retarding the principles of civil and religious liberty, the whole celebration appears to be foolish enough.

The belief sedulously cultivated by all the orators, lay and clerical, as well as by all the newspapers is, that the Defence of Derry and the Battle of the Boyne were great vindications of the principles of civil and religious liberty, which were menaced by the Catholics, and defended by the Protestants of all sects.

The belief we acquire from a more clear study of history in Ireland is somewhat different. Let me tell it briefly. In the reign of James I, the English Government essayed to solve the Irish problem, which then, as now, was their chief trouble, by settling Ireland with planters from Scotland and England. To do this, two million acres were confiscated, i.e., stolen from the Irish owners. Froude, the historian, says:

Of these, a million and a half, bog-forest and mountain were restored to the Irish. The half a million of fertile acres were settled with families of Scottish and English Protestants.

A friendly speaker, recently describing these planters before a meeting of the Belfast Liberal Association, spoke of them as:

Hardy pioneers, born of a sturdy race, trained to adversity, when brought face to face with dangers of a new life in a hostile country, soon developed that steady, energetic, and powerful character which has made the name of Ulster respected all over the world.

And a writer in the seventeenth century, the son of one of the ministers who came over with the first plantation, Mr. Stewart, is quoted by Lecky in his History of England in the Eighteenth Century, as saying:

From Scotland came many, and from England not a few, yet all of them generally the scum of both nations, who from debt, or breaking the law or fleeing from justice, or seeking shelter, come hither, hoping to be without fear of mans justice in a land where there was nothing, or but little as yet, of the fear of God ... On all hands Atheism increased, and disregard of God, iniquity abounded, with contentious fighting, murder, adultery.

The reader can take his choice of these descriptions. Probably the truth is that each is a fairly accurate description of a section of the planters, and that neither is accurate as a picture of the whole.

But while the Plantation succeeded from the point of view of the Government in placing in the heart of Ulster a body of people who, whatever their disaffection to that Government, were still bound by fears of their own safety to defend it against the natives, it did not bring either civil or religious liberty to the Presbyterian planters.

The Episcopalians were in power, and all the forces of government were used by them against their fellow-Protestants. The planters were continually harassed to make them adjure their religion, fines were multiplied upon fines, and imprisonment upon imprisonment. In 1640, the Presbyterians of Antrim, Down, and Tyrone, in a petition to the English House of Commons, declared that:

Principally through the sway of the prelacy with their factions our souls are starved, our estates are undone, our families impoverished, and many lives among us cut off and destroyed ... Our cruel taskmasters have made us who were once a people to become as it were no people, an astonishment to ourselves, the object of pittie and amazement to others.

What might have been the result of this cruel, systematic persecution of Protestants by Protestants we can only conjecture, since, in the following year, 1641, the great Irish rebellion compelled the persecuting and persecuted Protestants to join hands in defence of their common plunder against the common enemy  the original Irish owners.

In all the demonstrations and meetings which take place in Ulster under Unionist Party auspices, all these persecutions are alluded to as if they had been the work of Papists, and even in the Presbyterian churches and conventions, the same distortion of the truth is continually practised.

But they are told:

all this persecution was ended when William of Orange, and our immortal forefathers overthrew the Pope and Popery at the Boyne. Then began the era of civil and religious liberty.

So runs the legend implicitly believed in in Ulster. Yet it is far, very far, from the truth. In 1686 certain continental powers joined together in a league, known in history as the league of Augsburg, for the purpose of curbing the arrogant power of France. These powers were impartially Protestant and Catholic, including the Emperor of Germany, the King of Spain, William, Prince of Orange, and the Pope. The latter had but a small army, but possessed a good treasury and great influence. A few years before a French army had marched upon Rome to avenge a slight insult offered to France, and His Holiness was more than anxious to curb the Catholic power that had dared to violate the centre of Catholicity. Hence his alliance with William, Prince of Orange.

King James II, of England, being insecure upon his throne, sought alliance with the French monarch.

When, therefore, the war took place in Ireland, King William fought, aided by the arms, men, and treasures of his allies in the League of Augsburg, and part of his expenses at the Battle of the Boyne was paid for by His Holiness, the Pope. Moreover, when news of King Williams victory reached Rome, a Te Deum was sung in celebration of his victory over the Irish adherents of King James and King Louis.

Therefore, on Saturday the Orangemen of Ulster, led by King Carson, will be celebrating the same victory as the Pope celebrated 223 years ago.

Nor did the victory at the Boyne mean Civil and Religious Liberty. The Catholic Parliament of King James, meeting in Dublin in 1689, had passed a law that all religions were equal, and that each clergyman should be supported by his own congregation only, and that no tithes should be levied upon any man for the support of a church to which he did not belong. But this sublime conception was far from being entertained by the Williamites who overthrew King James and superseded his Parliament. The Episcopalian Church was immediately re-established, and all other religions put under the ban of the law. I need not refer to the Penal Laws against Catholics, they are well enough known. But sufficient to point out that England and Wales have not yet attained to that degree of religious equality established by Acts XIII and XV of the Catholic Parliament of 1689, and that that date was the last in which Catholics and Protestants sat together in Parliament until the former compelled an Emancipation Act in 1829.

The desire of the Irish people to control their own destinies is a part of the desire of the workers to forge political weapons for their own enfranchisement as a class / Image: Lucas Ludziejewski

For the Presbyterians the victory at the Boyne simply gave a freer hand to their Episcopalian persecutors. In 1704 Derry was rewarded for its heroic defence by being compelled to submit to a Test Act, which shut out of all offices in the Law, the Army, the Navy, the Customs and Excise, and Municipal employment, all who would not conform to the Episcopalian Church. The alderman and fourteen burgesses are said to have been disfranchised in the Maiden City by this iniquitous Act, which was also enforced all over Ireland. Thus, at one stroke, Presbyterians, Quakers, and all other dissenters were deprived of that which they had imagined they were fighting for at Derry, Aughrim, and the Boyne. Presbyterians were forbidden to be married by their own clergymen, the Ecclesiastical Courts had power to fine and imprison offenders, and to compel them to appear in the Parish Church, and make public confession of fornication, if so married. At Lisburn and Tullylish, Presbyterians were actually punished for being married by their own ministers. Some years later, in 1712, a number of Presbyterians were arrestcd for attempting to establish a Presbyterian meeting house in Belturbet.

The marriage of a Presbyterian and an Episcopalian was declared illegal, and in fact, the ministers and congregations of the former church were treated as outlaws and rebels, to be fined, imprisoned, and harassed in every possible way. They had to pay tithes for the upkeep of the Episcopalian ministers, were fined for not going to the Episcopalian Church, and had to pay Church cess for buying sacramental bread, ringing the bell, and washing the surplices of the Episcopalian clergymen. All this, remember, in the generation immediately following the Battle of the Boyne.

The reader should remember what is generally slurred over in narrating this part of Irish history, that when we are told that Ulster was planted by Scottish Presbyterians, it does not mean that the land was given to them. On the contrary, the vital fact was, and is, that the land was given to the English noblemen and to certain London companies of merchants who had lent money to the Crown, and that the Scottish planters were only introduced as tenants of these landlords. The condition of their tenancy virtually was that they should keep Ireland for the English Crown, and till the land of Ireland for the benefit of the English landlord.

That is in essence the demand of the Unionist Party leaders upon their followers today. In the past, as the landlords were generally English and Episcopalian, they all, during the eighteenth century, continually inserted clauses in all their leases, forbidding the erection of Presbyterian meeting houses. As the uprise of democracy has contributed to make this impossible today in Ireland, the landlord and capitalist class now seek an alliance with these Protestants they persecuted for so long in order to prevent a union of the democracy of all religious faiths against their lords and masters.

To accomplish this they seek insidiously to pervert history, and to inflame the spirit of religious fanaticism. The best cure I know of for that evil is a correct understanding of the events they so distort in their speeches and sermons. To this end I have ever striven to contribute my mite, and while I know that the sight of the thousands who, on July 12, will march to proclaim their allegiance to principles of which their order is a negation, will be somewhat disheartening. I also know that even amongst the Orange hosts, the light of truth is penetrating.

In conclusion, the fundamental, historical facts to remember are that:

The Irish Catholic was despoiled by force,

The Irish Protestant toiler was despoiled by fraud,

The spoliation of both continues today under more insidious but more effective forms,

and the only hope lies in the latter combining with the former in overthrowing their common spoilers, and consenting to live in amity together in the common ownership of their common country  the country which the spirit of their ancestors or the devices of their rulers have made  the place of their origin, or the scene of their travail.

I have always held, despite the fanatics on both sides, that the movements of Ireland for freedom could not and cannot be divorced from the world-wide upward movements of the worlds democracy. The Irish question is a part of the social question, the desire of the Irish people to control their own destinies is a part of the desire of the workers to forge political weapons for their own enfranchisement as a class.

The Orange fanatic and the Capitalist-minded Home Ruler are alike in denying this truth; ere long, both of them will be but memories, while the army of those who believe in that truth will be marching and battling on its conquering way.
Adams Free Library to Host Improv Artist Robert Rivest on July 13

Adams MA  The Adams Free Library is hosting master mime performer, comic actor and improv artist Robert Rivest on Wednesday, July 13 at 11:00 a.m.

Rivest has been doing improv for more than 20 years and his work includes mime stories, spoken word and physical comedy.

The event is part of the "Read Beyond the Beaten Path" summer reading program, which is sponsored by the Adams Free Library, the Massachusetts Library System, the Boston Bruins, and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of the Adams Free Library.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire, supported by the Mass Cultural Council. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of the Adams Free Library.

Families and children of all ages are invited to attend. An adult must accompany children under 8 years of age. Library events are free and open to the public.

Attendance at library programs constitutes consent to be photographed; photos may be used in print or electronic publicity for the Adams Free Library.

Call the Adams Free Library at (413)743-8345 or visit www.adamslibraryma.org for more information.
North Adams Panel Rejects Conduct Ordinance Draft

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The General Government Committee won't recommend a draft proposal on codes of conduct for officials but encouraged committee member Ashley Shade to continue researching the issue.

Shade had proposed guidelines for professional conduct shortly after taking a seat this year on the City Council and had been charged with bringing language back to the council.

The council's Rules of Order relating to conduct simply state that members should avoid personalities and libel and address each other respectfully during meetings. But tensions between council members have spilled over onto social media, communications between them, as well as a some sharp words during meetings. City employees have also been on the receiving end.

Shade's proposal was to enact and ordinance based on recommendations by the Massachusetts Municipal Association and the several other communities she had researched.

"It essentially would apply to all elected and appointed officials," she said at Monday's meeting. "It creates a standard of conduct to help people understand better what their roles are as elected and appointed officials of the city and what their expectations are in terms of behavior, language, etc."

Shade thought it was important that there be a process for hearing and investigating complaints, preferably by someone nonpolitical such as a paid member of staff. She proposed the reporting be done to the city administrator and that appropriate measures be taken include censuring or not reappointing an offending official, or whatever other punishment was allowed by law.

Committee member Peter Oleskiewiecz said he couldn't support the draft and noted it was based on a board of selectmen form of government.

"We do not work for the mayor or in administration. The administration can't make a decision on whether or not to replace us," he said. "If we were to be removed that's done in an election in November every other year. That's for the people to decide. ...

"I think the way that this is presented, it's unenforceable."

Councilor Bryan Sapienza, who attended the meeting along with Council President Lisa Blackmer and Councilor Jennifer Barbeau, said the one group of people the council answers to is the voters.

"I don't think that we need to codify this and again, the conflict with having a city administrator oversee the activities of council, I believe may even be a charter violation. Correct?" he said. "Because you're having one branch of the government tell the other branch what they can and cannot do and I don't think that could be passable."

Blackmer said the proposed ordinance more suitably applies to municipalities with managers or administrators.

"But the city's administrative officer plays a different role," she said, adding that position is a mayoral appointment in which the council has no voice.

"I have really mixed feelings about this. I think people should behave and be nice, but I also when I hear about this policy, I also think about glass houses and stones," Blackmer added. "Some of the people that want this policy have said some of the most egregious things in texts or in public places heard by other people. ... You can't dictate speech."

Shade said complaints could be brought to independent investigator the council wanted. She agreed there is no removal process in the city for elected officials but the ordinance would create a process for investigating complaints.

"So it doesn't just apply to councilors, it would apply to the mayor, apply to anyone on a board or commission, apply to everybody who's either elected or appointed," she said. "The penalties under this, what I came up with, are whatever is allowable under law."

At least twice in the last several decades, the council has had members make public comments that were deemed inappropriate: one was believed censured and the other, more recently, resigned.

"We are our own body who governs ourselves ... we have council rule. If we do violate things and the public doesn't agree with some of the things we do then, what happens is in the two years, they don't vote for you again," said Oleskiewicz.

Blackmer said there were other independent agencies employees could bring their complaints to, such as the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

"People have a right to file a complaint with the state level ... if it's criminal, you can report to the Police Department," she said. "Obviously if someone is being sexually harassed you take that to the state level or to the next level and I don't think we need to codify that because it's already there."

Shade acknowledged the draft wasn't perfect but saw it as a jumping off point to have further discussion since it was also referred to other committees including Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA).

"I would like more input and other people to work with, which is why I got something submitted," she said. "So we had something in paper that we could work off and make changes to."

The committee discussed the next step with Chairman Wayne Wilkinson asking if she wanted to withdraw without prejudice and come back with another draft.

Shade motioned to continue the item but got no second; Oleskiewicz motioned to bring back to council with a negative recommendation, which passed. Wilkinson said that did not meet the matter was over but rather he would report that it was rejected as presented with the caveat that Shade would continue to work on it.

"We know where we want to go, but we're having trouble getting there," he said, adding that creating an ordinance would be complicated and require a lot of vetting. "We will strive to continue to come up with something more palatable."

The committee is recommending the council amend its Rules of Order to change the deadline for making minutes available after a meeting from two weeks to 30 days. The change had been made during a prior council but a number of councilors have considered the timeline too tight, particularly during periods when committees are meeting more regularly.

The City Council minutes are done by the city clerk but committee meetings are done by councilors. The state has a standard of no later than the body's third following meeting or 30 days, whichever is later.




iciHaiti - Scholarships : Antenor Firmin names of the 5 laureates of the UEH





The Rectorate of the State University of Haiti (UEH) informs the public in general, the university community in particular that 5 of the 6 doctoral students selected for the financing of their theses, within the framework of the 3rd edition of the Antenor Firmin doctoral mobility program, are attached to UEH laboratories.



List of laureates :



- Keteleine CHARLES, Laboratory Languages Speeches and REpresentations "LADIREP" of the Faculty of Ethnology of the UEH;



- Wisly FIDEL, Laboratory of Sciences for the Environment and Energy "LS2E)" of the Ecole Normale Superieure of the UEH;



- Nedet FRANCOIS, Laboratory Languages Society Education "LangSE" of the Faculty of Applied Linguistics of the UEH;



- Marie Estella JOSEPH, "LADIREP" of the Faculty of Ethnology of the UEH;



- Emmanuel ROSENA, "LangSE" of the Faculty of Applied Linguistics of the UEH.



The Rectorate salutes and congratulates the lucky winners for the success achieved. The Rectorate also congratulates the laboratories concerned for the quality of the support provided to these researchers in setting up their thesis project.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36247-haiti-notice-antenor-firmin-doctoral-mobility-program-applications-open.html



IH/ iciHaiti


















On 9, July 2022, the Santiago de Compostelas Journalists Association (APSC) inaugurated the International Press Centre of Galicia in the regional capital. The International Federation of Journalists General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, participated in the inauguration of this future meeting point for the citizens and media professionals.

Among many representatives from the main European media organisations and unions, Anthony Bellanger attended in the name of IFJ this historic inauguration at number 9 of Rua Nova. The president of the Spanish Journalists Federation (FAPE), Miguel Angel Noceda and the APSC president and directive member of the FIP, Luis Menendez were present to lead the event. Different nationalities were in attendance as well to provide their support: the general secretary of the National Federation of the Italian press (FNSI), Rafaele Lorusso, the Brussels Press Club Director, Laurent Brihay and the Portugal Journalists Syndicate's vice president, Ana Isabel Costa.

The newly created centre features an assembly hall, two annexes and a large office space for journalists. The APSC will run the different activities of the centre and establish its head office there. The facilities will have a public relations and tourist orientation department along with equipment for administration tasks, IT, editing, sound recording, simultaneous translation and video interpretation, among others. More generally, this International Press Centre intends to work and provide support in favour of freedom of speech, plurality and independence of media.

In his speech, Anthony Bellanger celebrated the accomplishment and synergy embodied by the creation of this International Press Centre. According to him: The International Press Centre of Galicia in Santiago is a good example for all journalists in the world as it brings together all the forces of the profession. It is the result of the collective work of my friend Luis Menendez (who has just been elected a member of the IFJ Executive Committee at our last IFJ World Congress in Muscat, Oman) of the hard work and effort of the Santiago Journalists' Association.

In the spirit of the IFJ's work for solidarity and strengthening global relations between unions and journalists, the IFJ General Secretary wished this centre a future rich in connections and encounters within the world of journalism, with some opportunities to host IFJ events in the future.

He also expressed his concern for the local media situation and the relevance of building an International Press Center in the current context:

"This inauguration and my presence today in Santiago is also an appeal to the public authorities and administrations of Galicia to safeguard the freedom of the press and the protection of journalists, without censorship, manipulation or precariousness. We are also here to study and look for solutions for journalists in Galicia, who we know suffer from many problems.

Anthony Bellanger concluded his inaugural speech by stressing the necessity of having access to quality information and independent journalism to guarantee democracy and informed citizens. His last words were to congratulate Luis Menendez for creating such a place benefiting all the journalists of Galicia, Spain and the rest of the world.

Dominique Pradalie, President of the IFJ, also sent her congratulations on this inauguration.


As a business owner, there are few moments more pivotal in your career than opening your first office or storefront. Whether it's a home office, corporate space, or brick-and-mortar store, making sure your physical location represents your brand is of paramount importance.

With 3-D modeling and rendering applications, you can create digital representations of your space for planning layouts and furniture placements, but a lot of these software tools are designed for professionals and come with a steep learning curve, which is why many business owners hire professional interior designers instead.

Boom Interactive is one of several companies attempting to streamline the interior design process using automation. The Salt Lake City-based startup's free app, Bubbles, which is scheduled to soft launch in the third quarter of 2022, uses artificial intelligence to read floor plans and create a "digital twin" of your real-life space, according to CEO and founder Timber Barker. Once a "twin" has been created, users have full freedom to customize the space by adding doors, erasing walls, and placing furniture.

The experience resembles the interior design gameplay of The Sims, with simple grayscale icons that can be easily dragged and dropped into the environment. Barker says that creating a user interface that was immediately legible to design and tech neophytes was a top priority, and that his team worked to create a system with a "video game-y" feel. Boom's 3-D rendering technology is currently being used for the production design of an upcoming MGM film, according to Barker, who says that Boom's platform could also be used in industries ranging from public safety design to video games to the still nebulously-defined metaverse.

"We're enabling the masses to create digital copies of their real homes and apartments," he says. "In effect, we're allowing anybody to build and share their own personal metaverse." Users can even walk around their spaces in augmented reality by using their phones as a window into the digital environment.

Nina Etnier, a partner at New York-based design studio Float, says that any tech that enables founders to more clearly share their vision for a physical space is a positive development for designers, as they can be more collaborative with founders throughout the entire design process. She adds that automated 3-D renderings could also save time during the design process. "Any sort of software that can lighten our design development time will free us up to spend more time innovating and creating," Etnier says.

A.I. may soon play a significant role in the decoration and furnishing of new offices or stores. Fulhaus, a furnishing company based in Montreal, Canada, is planning to make finding and sourcing the perfect set of furniture and decor easier with its in-development A.I. model Ludwig. The application can analyze a single image of a space and then produce furniture packages that are "in line" with the space in the image, according to Fulhaus founder and CEO Andria Santos. Ludwig's algorithm can recommend a combination of furniture from the company's roster of over 300 suppliers, and can take inspiration from images of all sorts, from office layouts to a simple photo of a flamingo, providing users with furniture packages based on the aesthetic of the photo. The company is planning to release a beta version of the product before the end of the year, and has yet to announce pricing.

For now, Fulhaus is focused on providing home and hospitality decor, but Santos says she's received many requests to begin providing her services for office design as well. Float's Etnier says that recommendation engines run the risk of feeling impersonal, but that doesn't mean a product like Ludwig won't have utility.
Don't you just love Subway? I don't mean the sandwiches. I'm no expert on the food; I don't think I've actually eaten at a Subway in a decade.

What I really love is the company's story -- especially going back to the very early days at Subway, long before things became a little more fraught. If you're a business owner or an entrepreneur, it's worth knowing.

The reason we're talking about Subway now is because its story is about to get a new chapter. In fact, in the more than 57-year history of Subway, this is probably one of its biggest operational changes ever.

Here's the history, the big change, and what you might take away for your business.

Pete's Submarines

On its website, Subway claims to be "a truly global brand ... [with] more Subway restaurants in the world than any other restaurant chain!"

By my count, Subway lists 36,848 locations in 106 countries on its website. It's a privately held company, so valuations are always a bit of a guessing game. But before the pandemic, Subway's value was estimated as high as $12.3 billion.

Not bad for a company whose co-founder, Fred DeLuca, opened a single restaurant in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1965. When that location failed to make money, the story is that DeLuca opened a second restaurant to create the appearance of success.

The whole thing was originally called Pete's Submarines, then Pete's Subway, and ultimately just Subway. And the plan worked. Within a decade, DeLuca started franchising Subway restaurants, hoping to get to 32 stores.

By the early 1980s, however, there were 200 stores. By 1987, they hit 1,000.

By 1995: 10,000.

"When we finally passed McDonald's in the U.S. in 2002, we didn't announce it," DeLuca told Inc.com in an interview in 2013. "But somebody ... put some little piece in the news, and that turned into a giant thing. The same thing happened when we passed McDonald's global store count in 2010."

As DeLuca told Inc. back then, Subway headquarters was focused on only three things:

We build sales at the store level.

We build profits at the store level.

We build more stores.

For a long time, it was a great combination. But nothing lasts forever.

Crisis after crisis

In late 2013, not long after his interview with Inc., DeLuca announced that he would be stepping back from his position as CEO because he was battling leukemia. Two years later, he died as a result of the disease.

In the meantime, Subway was rocked by bad news and tough challenges. First, its longtime advertising spokesperson, Jared Fogle, was arrested and sentenced to prison for child pornography offenses.

Then, its franchise practices came under greater and greater scrutiny. And, in the wake of DeLuca's death, the company faced an intense crisis of leadership.

In short, DeLuca and his original investor-partner, Peter Buck, had each owned half of the company's equity, even as it grew to billions of dollars. DeLuca's wife inherited his shares when he died, but reportedly she and Buck had very different visions for the future of the company.

Then, Subway closed stores at a record pace. When I wrote about the company three years ago, Subway claimed 42,431 stores, so there's been a heck of a drop.

Eventually, Subway brought in John Chidsey, former head of Burger King, as CEO. Then, rumors of a sale began to circulate, then Subway tamped down the rumors, and then last year, Buck died, at age 90.

One million free sandwiches

That more or less brings us up to date. And I suspect most of us are familiar with the Subway customer experience, even if you rarely eat there.

In short, the gimmick has been that you watch as an employee makes your sandwich along a sort of assembly line, weighing in with the type of sandwich, toppings, and other add-ons that you want.

But, against all of this background, Subway announced recently that it's trying something radical: in the company's words, "the most significant menu update in its nearly 60-year history."

The biggest change seems to be a shift from the assembly line format to premade sandwiches, at least in 12 cases: four sandwiches each in categories like cheese steaks, "Italianos," chicken sandwiches, and clubs.

As a way to build buzz, Subway plans to give away one million free sandwiches today between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. So if you're literally looking for a free lunch, here's your chance.

Will it matter? Will customers return to Subway? Will its franchisees be happier, and its valuation grow once more?

Heck, will your humble Inc.com writer check it out again after a decade or more away?
Smart people do dumb things. The reason is that, as Daniel Kahneman wrote in Thinking Fast and Slow, people are systematically irrational. For example, they are subject to confirmation bias -- the tendency of decision-makers to ignore information that contradicts a conclusion they have already reached.

I would argue that the CEO and board of Twitter fell victim to their own confirmation bias when they signed an April 25 merger contract for Elon Musk to pay $54.20 a share -- or $44 billion -- for all of Twitter's shares. That price represented a 38 percent premium over Twitter's value the month before, according to the New York Times.

What does this have to do with confirmation bias? Twitter's CEO and its board decided that $54.20 a share was a high value for the company -- probably higher than any other bidder would pay and more than the company would be worth after executing its strategic plan as an independent company.

Given the high price, Twitter chose to ignore what in retrospect looks to be an obvious reason not to sign a contract with Elon Musk -- in prior deals, he has made material misstatements.

While Musk's regulatory filing alleged that Twitter did not give him the information he needed to assess the number of fake accounts on the service, Musk's real reason for reneging on the deal may be that the digital advertising market on which Twitter depends has cratered, as has the value of the currency Musk intended to use to pay for Twitter -- Tesla's stock.

Twitter argues that Musk must go forward with the $44 billion deal he signed in April to buy the company.

In short, Twitter -- whose shares on July 11 had lost 35 percent of their value since peaking when the deal was signed -- is in for a world of hurt. That's because Musk seems happy to pay the legal fees required to get out of the deal cheaply and Twitter lacks a good way to boost the company's value or to attract another bidder.

Business leaders can avoid such nasty traps by doing three things.

1. Know your negotiating partner.

Before you sign a merger contract, conduct due diligence. That means doing independent investigation by interviewing customers, employees, suppliers, and investors who have worked with the partner.

I am guessing that Twitter was well aware of Musk's reputation for less-than-forthright conduct. Most egregiously, in 2018, Musk tweeted that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private for $420 a share.

That statement was false. According to the Wall Street Journal, "The SEC fined Mr. Musk for what it deemed a false statement. Mr. Musk also relinquished his role as Tesla chairman as part of the settlement. Mr. Musk is suing to have the settlement thrown out."

I would be shocked if Twitter's board was not aware of this. Based on Musk's past behavior, it should not have come as a huge surprise to Twitter that on June 8, Musk announced his intent to back out of his deal to acquire Twitter.

My guess is that Musk's agreement to pay such a high price for Twitter caused Twitter's board to ignore what it knew about Musk's prior track record or to assume that he would follow through with the contract despite that record.

2. Consider whether the deal will make customers, employees, and investors better off.

Once your due diligence convinces you that the potential partner is honorable, you should assess whether the deal will make your customers, employees, and investors better off.

In my view, the only group that looked to benefit if Musk's Twitter deal went through was shareholders. I think the deal would have made employees and customers -- specifically advertisers -- considerably worse off.

How so? Based on his rough treatment of Tesla employees, what reason would Twitter employees have for being optimistic about their prospects under Musk's rule?

Moreover, Musk's apparent motivation for acquiring Twitter -- to bring Donald Trump and others of his ilk back to the site -- would make it more toxic for many advertisers and thus drive down Twitter's value.

If you want to avoid Twitter's current fate, don't sign a deal that makes employees and customers worse off.

3. Have a next-best alternative to the deal in case it falls apart.

Finally, deals do not always go through. Therefore, companies should have a back-up growth strategy they can deploy should the deal evaporate. If Twitter has such a strategy, now would be a good time to make it happen.
The Reserve Bank of India has instituted a new mechanism to enable international trade settlement in Indian Rupee (INR). The central bank notified this on July 11, 2022. The move comes as several countries, led by the US and EU, have imposed sanctions on countries like Russia and Iran, making Indias bilateral trade and payment settlements difficult with these respective countries.

Through a notification dated July 11, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled international trade settlements between India and other countries, including Sri Lanka and Russia, in Indias domestic currency  Rupee (INR), with immediate effect . The new mechanism allows an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports and imports in INR. According to the RBI, this mechanism has been instituted to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of global trading community in the Indian Rupee.

This move by the RBI, Indias central bank, comes in the wake of increasing pressure on the Indian currency, following the Russia-Ukraine conflict and sanctions by the US and the European Union (EU) on certain countries. For instance, following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, several countries had imposed sanctions on Russia, which left Indian companies desperate for alternative modes of payment for imports.

The new mechanism enabled by the RBI will facilitate importers and exporters to circumvent rules that prevent the use of a global currency, such as the US dollar for trade with certain countries.

What is the framework outlined by the RBI for cross-border trade transactions in the Indian Rupee?

Invoicing

In this new international trading framework, all exports and imports under will be denominated and invoiced in Indian Rupee.

Exchange rate

Without mentioning the name of the countries, the RBI has clarified that the exchange rate between the domestic currencies of the two trading partner countries will be market determined.

Settlement

As per the RBI notification, the settlement of trade transactions under this arrangement shall take place in Indian Rupee, in accordance with the procedure outlined below.

For settlement of trade transactions with any country, the authorized dealer bank in India must open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts of the correspondent bank of the partner trading country. Indian importers undertaking imports through this mechanism shall make payment in INR, which shall be credited into the Special Vostro Account of the correspondent bank of the partner country, against the invoices for the supply of goods or services from the overseas seller or supplier. Indian exporters, undertaking exports of goods and services through this mechanism, shall be paid the export proceeds in INR from the balance amount in the designated Special Vostro Account of the correspondent bank of the partner country.

What is the documentation requirement in this new international trade payment mechanism?

There is no change in documentation requirements for export and import undertaken and settled under this new framework. Letter of Credit and other trade related documentation may be decided mutually between banks of the partner trading countries under the overall framework of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCPDC) and incoterms.

The reporting of these cross-border transactions must be done in accordance with the existing guidelines under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.

How can Indian exporters avail the advance against exports in this new mechanism?

Indian exporters may receive advance payment against exports from overseas importers in Indian Rupees, once permitted by the concerned Indian banks. Before allowing any such receipt of advance payment against exports, Indian banks will have to ensure that available funds in these accounts are first utilized towards payment obligations arising out of already executed export orders and pending export payments.

To ensure that the advance is released only as per the instructions of the overseas importer, the Indian bank maintaining the Special Vostro Account of its correspondent bank shall, apart from usual due diligence measures, verify the claim of the exporter with the advice received from the correspondent bank before releasing the advance.

The grant of such permission must be in accordance with the conditions outlined in Master Direction on Export of Goods and Services, 2016. The same rules also govern set-off of export receivables against import payables in respect of the same overseas buyer and supplier.

How can the Indian Rupee surplus balance in Special Vostro Account be used?

This INR surplus balance in the Special Vostro Account can be used for the following purposes:

Payments for projects and investments

Export and import advance flow management

Investment in government treasury bills, securities, etc., subject to FEMA and other statutory provisions

What is the approval process for instituting this new international trade payment mechanism?

All the authorized dealer banks who adopt this mechanism must first seek prior approval from the Foreign Exchange Department of RBI, Central Office at Mumbai.

The bank of a partner country may approach an authorized dealer bank in India for opening of a Special Rupee Vostro Account. The authorized dealer bank will seek approval from the RBI with details of the arrangement. The authorized dealer bank maintaining the Special Vostro Account shall ensure that the correspondent bank is not from a country or jurisdiction in the updated Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Public Statement on High Risk and Non Co-operative Jurisdictions, on which FATF has called for counter measures.
According to authorities, the managing director of SpiceJet airline was arrested for defrauding a businessman out of lakhs of rupees on the pretense of giving him company stock. According to the complainant, Ajay Singh has committed similar fraud against other people.



Ajay Singh allegedly gave Amit Arora a phoney depository instruction paper (DIS) for shares worth Rs10 lakh in exchange for services rendered, according to Amit Arora's complaint.



According to him, Singh promised to provide him Spicejet shares worth Rs10 lakhs in exchange for the assistance Arora gave him when he took over the airline from the promoters.



"Depository instruction slip given by Ajay Singh was later found to be obsolete and ineligible. After that, I repeatedly approached him and asked him to either present a legitimate depository instruction slip or transfer shares personally. He, however, refused to transfer me shares for some reason or another "According to Arora's lawsuit.



I was forced to accuse Singh because I had no other choice, he said.



At the Sushant Lok police station, the police opened a case under sections 406, 409, 415, 417, 418, and 420 of the IPC.



Inspector Poonam Hooda, SHO of the Sushant Lok police station, stated that a FIR had been filed. "We are confirming the facts and taking action in accordance with the law," she added.




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.
A 21-year-old tribal man was allegedly assaulted by four people in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, according to a police officer. They were arrested on charges of attempted murder and other offenses.



Representational Image

As per the youth's complaint, his landlord and three others confined him to a house, beat him, inserted petrol in his private parts, and then shot a video of him in the nude, the Tejaji Nagar police station official said.



Representational Image

"The victim, a student from Alirajpur, was living on rent along with his two sisters in the house of accused Nazim Khan. The latter suspected that the tribal youth had extorted Rs 50,000 from his son and bought a laptop," Tejaji Nagar police station in-charge RD Kanva said.



"On July 9, Khan took the victim on the pretext of buying a goat, confined him to a house, and assaulted him. Khan and three other accused poured petrol into his private parts from a small bottle, shot his video in the nude, and threatened to circulate it," Kanva added.

The official said Khan (35) and his associates Aadil Khan (22), Saddam Patel (35), and Salman Patel (27) had been booked under Indian Penal Code section 307 (attempt to murder) and other offenses.

Meanwhile, several members of the Hindu Jagran Manch gathered at the police station and demanded that the four accused face strict punishment.

(With inputs from PTI)

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Earlier today, we got a sneak peek at what NASA's revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope has in store for us. With vivid details and clarity like we've never seen before, James Webb has brought humanity closer to seeing distant universe like we've never seen it before.

The first suite of colour images, along with spectroscopic data were released starting 8 pm IST on July 12, 2022. With these images, the James Webb Space Telescope has kicked into action. What does space look like through the world's most powerful and largest space telescope? Keep reading to find out.

The Carina Nebula

This stunning burst of colours almost feels like a painting. But it's not, in fact, it's a testimony to how powerful James Webb Space Telescope is. NASA described the image as a landscape of "mountains and valleys speckled with glittering stars." It is situated at the edge of a star-forming region known as NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula.

NASA

The image was captured in infrared light by James Webb Space Telescope, and revealed invisible areas of star formation for the first time. The picture is titled "Cosmic Cliffs" and NASA claims that the tallest "peaks" in this image are at least 7 light-years high.

Stephan's Quintet

Stephan's Quintet is a grouping of five galaxies, now available in detail never seen before. "This enormous mosaic is Webbs largest image to date, covering about one-fifth of the Moons diameter," NASA wrote.

NASA

Also read: 7 Crazy Facts About NASA's James Webb Space Telescope That Will Blow Your Mind

The image contains about 150 million pixels and was created from 1,000 separate image files. "With its powerful, infrared vision and extremely high spatial resolution, Webb shows never-before-seen details in this galaxy group. Sparkling clusters of millions of young stars and starburst regions of fresh star birth grace the image," NASA wrote. In addition, Webb captured huge shock waves from one of the galaxies, NGC 7318B smashing through the cluster.

Southern Ring Nebula

We are in complete awe! James Webb Space Telescope revealed for the first time that the dimmer star at the centre of South Ring Nebula has been covered in dust.

NASA

The Nebula is officially called NGC 3132 and is situated about 2,500 light-years away from Earth. "Webb will allow astronomers to dig into many more specifics about planetary nebulae like this one  clouds of gas and dust expelled by dying stars," NASA wrote.

WASP-96 b

The James Webb Space Telescope has found peculiar signatures of water, along with evidence for clouds and haze in the atmosphere of a hot and puffy gas giant planet that orbits a Sun-like star far away.

NASA

Also read: Spooky Blue Remains Of An Ancient Cosmic Explosion Captured By NASA In New Image



"The observation, which reveals the presence of specific gas molecules based on tiny decreases in the brightness of precise colors of light, is the most detailed of its kind to date, demonstrating Webbs unprecedented ability to analyze atmospheres hundreds of light-years away," NASA wrote.

SMACS 0723

The first image clicked by James Webb Space Telescope was shared earlier by NASA and is considered the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date.

NASA

Also read: Sharpest Image Ever Of Our Universe Has The Internet Awed, Scared, And Curious

It is officially known as Webb's First Deep Field and shows thousands of galaxies, even the faintest ones. "This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arms length by someone on the ground," NASA wrote.

What do you think about these cosmic stunners clicked by James Webb Space Telescope? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.
After seeking assistance for a persistent urinary issue for the past 20 years, a man in China was shocked to discover that he was intersex.



According to local Greek media, Chen Li, 33, received the biggest shock of his life when he discovered that he had ovaries and a uterus and that the recurring urine issues he experienced were actually menstruation.

Unsplash

Chen underwent surgery in the Sichuan province of China to treat his uncontrollable urinating during adolescence.

He has been dealing with recurring blood in his urine for over 20 years. The underlying cause of Chen's ailment was identified during a medical examination last year. Chen had a feminine sex chromosome. According to the South China morning post, the monthly blood in his urine and discomfort in his abdomen was brought on by his menstruation.



Unsplash

After 33 years of identifying as a man, Chen went to a Guangzhou hospital that treats genitalia issues, as the outcome of the check-up was distressing for him.



Chen requested Guangzhou hospital's request to have his female reproductive organs removed. He underwent a three-hour surgery on June 6 and was released from the hospital ten days later.

Representational Image

According to the Greek Reporter, the man was born intersex, which means that despite having male exterior genitalia, he also had female sex chromosomes, ovaries, and a uterus.



The term "intersex" is used for a variety of conditions in which ones chromosomes, reproductive organs, and sexual anatomy do not fit into the standard categories of male or female.

Representative Image

In the past, intersex people were referred to as "hermaphrodites." The term "hermaphrodite" is no longer used and is widely considered pejorative.



Any chromosomal and reproductive organ combination is possible in intersex individuals. The actual number of intersex people may be significantly higher than the present officially recorded numbers because many types of intersexuality may not be found until a health condition develops later in life, as in Li's case.

Hermaphroditic animalsmostly invertebrates such as worms, bryozoans (moss animals), trematodes (flukes), snails, slugs, and barnaclesare usually parasitic, slow-moving, or permanently attached to another animal or plant.

Unsplash

In humans, conditions that involve discrepancies between external genitalia and internal reproductive organs are described by the term intersex. Intersex conditions are sometimes also referred to as disorders of sexual development (DSDs). Such conditions are sporadic in humans.



Most experts believe intersex births can range anywhere from three in every 200 births to one in every 2,000.

According to the UN, the Greek Reporter reported about 0.05 to 1.7 percent of the worlds population is intersex, roughly the same number of people with red hair.

(With ANI inputs)

(For more trending stories, click here.)


The major providers internet service was down for more than 15 hours on Friday, leaving businesses and individuals without internet and phone service. Services have now been restored to most customers, according to a notice on Rogers website.

Read more: Rogers CEO faces grilling as network woes cast shadow over deal

Interacs bank transfer services were down during the outage, while ATMs were knocked out of service and vendors found themselves unable to take payments other than in cash.

911 calls were reportedly affected, as people struggled to get through to the emergency services.

Events were also affected, with music artist The Weeknds concert at the Rogers Centre in Toronto postponed on Friday due to service outages impacting venue operations, the venue said.

Government officials rushed to assure Canadians that the outage  which Rogers has blamed on maintenance  did not appear to be a cyberattack.

Business interruption

There are likely to be limited implications for the insurance industry from the incident, according to de Pruis, as the outage did not amount to physical damage preventing access to businesses.

Read more: Business interruption the overarching umbrella for top 10 global business risks

Generally speaking, a standard business insurance policy would not provide business interruption or loss of income coverage as a result of some type of an outage, de Pruis said. Typically, for a loss of business income there has to be some type of physical damage trigger, or damage to your premises that doesnt allow you to operate, which would be the trigger.

Some  but not all  policies may include a service interruption endorsement. However, there is no guarantee that this would be triggered by the event.

These policies are typically also triggered by some type of physical damage  think of a big fire at a power generating station that causes an outage to a large amount of people, de Pruis said.

It sounds like this was more of some kind of a maintenance oops [by] Rogers that caused the outage, so there likely would not be coverage even under this special endorsement.

It could also be the case that businesses could have suffered a delayed income loss, wherein on being able to resume services people who had been unable to make purchases the previous day then bought goods, de Pruis said.

Events coverage

Those with specialty policies, such as in events, could be in line for a payout depending on the wording of their insurance contract. However, there are no guarantees.

If you had a real specific big event that was happening, like a festival, or a wedding for that matter, these policies are specifically tailored for some of these interruptions, de Pruis said.

These policies are very customized, and very specific, and it really gets into the details as to what caused the outage, how long [the outage was for]  and [] the policies might say there has to be an outage for longer than a specific period of time [for example, 12 or 24 hours] before the policy would be triggered.

The IBC national relations director urged businesses to check their specific policies and reach out to their broker if they did suffer an income loss that could be covered.

Second outage

This is the second significant Rogers outage in 15 months, and the impact of the first incident on the industry was minor, according to the IBC  nothing really came from that, de Pruis said.

In response to the latest incident, Rogers president and CEO Tony Staffieri said on Saturday that the provider will automatically credit affected customers.

We know how much our customers rely on our networks and I sincerely apologize. Were particularly troubled that some customers could not reach emergency services and we are addressing the issue as an urgent priority, Staffieri said.
Bringing people together Ground zero for the social justice uprisings of 2020, the United States continues to make great strides in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. In particular, the insurance sector leads DEI efforts in North Americas financial services industry, but theres still a long way to go. Insurance continues to lead in gender diversity in the entry-level workforce, where 66% are women  though these women are predominantly white, says a recent report by McKinsey & Company. The report also shows that the greater number of women at entry level is mostly due to the larger, more diverse workforces employed by call centers and field-claims organizations in insurance. Black women account for more than 7% of the entry-level workforce  the highest rate in financial services  but the number drops along the corporate ladder, down to zero at the C-suite.

Greater awareness, psychological safety at work, and the imperative of diversity and inclusion have been amplified, but theres still more work to be done

Michele Lamarre, QBE Insurance

The time to act

For Jani Groza, corporate responsibility and diversity officer at Westfield Insurance, a winner of Insurance Business Americas 5-Star Diversity, Equity and Inclusion award, the last several years have shone a light on racial inequities throughout the world and highlighted the need to carefully consider how companies address and navigate DEI at work.

Intention is not enough, she says. Now, its about committing and demonstrating measurable action to reduce barriers.

At Westfield, we have been on this journey for more than a decade. So, at the time of the social unrest, we were in a place where we were building. We had already invested considerable time assessing our existing strategies, yet we paused and asked ourselves, Are we doing enough and in what areas can we do more to stand in support of ending systemic racism? For those who had not started their journey, it was the impetus to begin because the biggest mistake would be inaction.



Grozas concerns are echoed by Michele Lamarre, head of diversity, inclusion and belonging at QBE North America, another 5-Star DEI winner. The national efforts have made some progress over the past few years. Greater awareness, psychological safety at work, and the business imperative of diversity and inclusion have been amplified. Theres still much more work to be done, though.



She says that increasing diversity but not incorporating inclusion and belonging is a limited view that could result in a failed strategy.

The hurdle of solely focusing on increasing representation of a diverse workforce is deceptive where representation may be great, but creating an environment where this diverse workforce can thrive and feel like they belong is even more vital, Lamarre says.

Gail Wien, head of people engagement at AXIS Capital, another 5-Star DEI awardee, also emphasizes the work yet to be done.

We recognized that we had to set goals to achieve meaningful progress in gender and ethnicity representation at the most senior levels of the organization, she says. We also recognized we are competing with other organizations within and outside of our industry to attract diverse talent and retain the talent we currently have, which is in high demand.

Intention is not enough. Now, its about committing and demonstrating measurable action to reduce barriers

Jani Groza, Westfield Insurance

Clear objectives

To get to where it is today, AXIS has established a strong DEI foundation based on employee input. The company has engaged executive support for DEI initiatives, including a commitment to setting and reporting long-term goals. Career development initiatives have also been launched for a workforce with a diverse background.

Meanwhile, Groza says that in response to the social unrest, [Westfield] made a public statement where we committed to doing more to stand in support of ending systemic racism. One of the ways was leadership investing time to assess and then revise our DEI, community, and government relations strategies. This work results in elevating equity alongside diversity and inclusion.

In addition, Westfield has created a new operating model by integrating DEI across all operations, provided time and space for sharing feelings and experiences, and hosted Power of Each Learning Experience to enable self-reflection opportunities and dialogues around DEI.

Moreover, Lamarre of QBE says that her organization focuses on creating opportunities for underrepresented people to learn more about the insurance industry and gain higher education through scholarships and internships. Efforts include expanding pulse surveys to measure employees sense of belonging and psychological safety, and continuing to place a lens through which DEI&B will be seen as a business imperative. Other steps are developing sponsorship programs and building up the analytics piece of DEI&B to have clear metrics to measure progress and enhance the overall diversity strategy.

We had to set goals to achieve meaningful progress in gender and ethnicity representation at the most senior levels of the organization

Gail Wien, AXIS Capital

A new direction

Despite their achievements, organizations that care about DEI are not resting on their laurels, and are eager to meet higher expectations from communities and colleagues, says Groza.

Businesses are being held accountable for measurable action, not just good intentions, she says. Based on their readings and learnings from their thought partners, experts and peers, Westfield anticipates a number of trends to be top of mind. These include a focus on psychological safety across multiple environment workplaces; incorporating equity across all aspects of the workplace; addressing environmental, social and governance issues; increased concentration on allyship and upstander behavior; and establishing DEI as a team priority.

Lamarre of QBE expects efforts to continue strengthening and representing all dimensions of diversity.

Additionally, bringing belonging further along; enabling employees to feel secure and authentic in sharing their feedback and ideas will need to be a huge focus. I anticipate the DEI&B journey will continue to progress and that the insurance industry will make greater strides in advancing these efforts, she says.

Wien of AXIS Capital says DEI will continue to be critical to how companies do business and that stakeholders  such as employees and investors  will continue to demand transparency on progress in this area.

Organizations who will be successful in this space will be those who have learned how to have open and honest conversations with their colleagues from underrepresented groups about the barriers and challenges they have experienced.

Crucial work ahead

In the meantime, the winning companies are cognizant of the challenges involved in nurturing DEI within their workplaces.

Lamarre highlights the need to concentrate on strengthening QBEs metrics. There is truth to what does not get measured does not get done, [so were ensuring] that we have better data and quantitative and/or qualitative measures in place for our DEI&B goals. [Were also] bringing DEI&B to the forefront of our day-to-day activities and meetings so it is more rooted in our culture and not seen as an initiative or program.

Groza emphasizes the importance of pursuing current plans and best practices as well as rolling out a full diversity recruitment strategy. Shes also intent on leveraging Westfields leaders to drive the DEI strategy and continue focusing on mentoring and sponsorship programs, not to mention supporting the continued evolution of measurement and transparency of dashboards.



For AXIS Capital, Wien says the challenge is incorporating a DEI mindset into recruitment, career development, performance management, succession planning, promotions, and organizational development activities, while ensuring that leaders at every level understand the value of pursuing this mission.
THE HIGH TECH ACHIEVERS Global funding for insurance technology is surging  in the third quarter of 2021, insurtechs raised a total of $3.1 billion, according to Willis Towers Watson, making it the second largest funding quarter on record. Thats hardly surprising, considering that the world is still mired in a global pandemic thats been highly reliant on advanced, innovative technologies to enable businesses to prosper throughout challenging times.

The insurance industry is undergoing a seismic digital transformation, both to better align with consumers heightening expectations and also to enable smarter, faster, and better processes for insurance professionals, says Jason Liu, CEO of Zywave, one of IBAs 5-Star Insurance Technology Providers.

Greg Council, vice president of marketing and product management at 5-Star Insurance Technology Provider Parascript, agrees that insurtech is becoming increasingly dynamic and innovative, especially with applications based on artificial intelligence. Another area thats hot, he says, is applying machine learning to unstructured data to speed underwriting and claims.

The insurance technology provider segment is at a really interesting place, says Ian Jeffrey, CEO of 5-Star Insurance Technology Provider Breathe Life. While the beginning of the insurtech revolution saw distributors coming in and attempting to replace carriers and advisors, weve now moved into the next phase, which is all about enablement, and thats where Breathe Life sits. Modern insurance technology providers are coming in and replacing the legacy technology that carriers implemented decades ago, and the changes are huge. Its a really interesting time as carriers and advisors are moving towards the adoption of modern technologies, and I think were about to see a lot of companies emerging with the goal of enabling them.

Winning innovations

Against the backdrop of this evolving landscape, IBA surveyed brokers to find out which technology providers have been the most dogged trailblazers in the digital realm.

Breathe Life won in several categories for its Breathe Life Hybrid Distribution Platform. Jeffrey notes that according to the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association, an estimated 60 million people in the US are either uninsured or underinsured. Breathe Life aims to target those and other potential customers by making it easier, faster and more cost-effective to buy life insurance.

While we are the first technology provider to provide this level of experience to carriers, advisors and consumers, what really makes us unique is our vision to become the operating system of modern life insurance distribution, Jeffrey says. This operating system, Breathe Life, will be the platform that connects all channels  existing and new  while putting the customer at the center of everything.

And the numbers look good. Carriers on the Breathe Life platform have seen a boost in sales of more than 23%, along with a 26% increase in premiums and a 33% decrease in the cost of customer acquisition. Breathe Life has also recorded a 65% decrease in time to issue and 45% rise in its advisor adoption rate. And its taken the average error rate from 30% down to 0% while earning a 94% customer satisfaction score from carriers.

The technology we have built is several steps ahead of existing life insurance distribution technology, Jeffrey says. The way we approach the industry as a SaaS platform that is continuously improving means that our clients always have the most cutting-edge and user-optimized system in place.

Parascript won in two categories for its FormXtra.AI platform, which manages the intake and processing of documents for claims, prior authorization requests and medical case reviews. This documentation is often submitted as a monolithic PDF file that requires staff to review, separate and then locate key data to index; FormXtra.AI automates these time-consuming tasks.

Our solutions can take a large data dump of medical records and automatically identify, separate and parse them at automation rates of close to 90%, Council says. This enables a wide range of applications, such as records data preparation needed for claim review or to support quality-of-care audits where it can be costly to assess medical conditions through manual review.

In addition, the platform features pre-trained capabilities  knowledge of unstrutured data built into machine learning models so clients can concentrate of more important requirements. A smart learning system underpins all of FormXtra.AIs training and optimizing capabilities and reduces the need to find skilled staff to spend days (or weeks) on data analysis.

Parascript software parses more than 5 billion pages of unstructured data each year. FormXtra.AI was able to help one client transition from a system with approximately 50% automation  where the company had to review every output  to a system with 75% automation and zero required validation. For another client, FormXtra.AI was able to reduce the medical records workload from 22 employees down to two.

Council attributes Parascripts selection as a 5-Star Insurance Technology Provider to our approach on making complex parsing and analysis of unstructured information approachable as well as reliable. Often technology solutions come with a price: either they are simple at the cost of usefulness, or they are incredibly powerful but not easy to command. Our approach is basically the equivalent of a Mars shot: to make solutions that are highly reliable and useful for complex unstructured data needs without the need to bring data scientists and developers to the table.

Zywave won in seven categories for its Sales Cloud platform. For lead generation, Sales Cloud provides instant access to millions of commercial prospects with robust insurance insight such as current broker, carrier, OSHA violations and DOT citations, pulling data from more than 40 sources. Marketing automation empowers users to automate and streamline communications with simple communication and campaign functionality. And Sales Clouds configuring, pricing and quoting (CPQ) functionality automates the mission-critical steps of each buyers journey.

Zywave has had seven acquisitions in past two years  the most of any insurtech since 2019  and counts all of the top 100 US insurance brokerages as customers. The company had 274 product releases in 2020 alone, maintains more than 800 employees across three continents, and processes over 30 million quotes a year.

Zywave is the fastest-growing major software platform provider and the only insurtech provider to offer front-office solutions for independent insurance agencies across all lines of business, Liu says. Zywave offers agents and brokers an all-in-one, cloud-based platform, providing sales, marketing and management solutions to power growth  their very own modern RevOps machine. The industrys attention is shifting from back-office efficiency to focusing on how to attract new customers and grow existing customers. And thats where Zywave is the clear leader.

Advice for future contenders

So what suggestions do Breathe Life, Parascript and Zywave have for other insurtechs?

Be customer-obsessed, Jeffrey says. Focus on the needs of not only your customers, but also  and almost more importantly  of your customers customers. Its all about creating world-class user experiences and meeting customers where and how they want to be met. That should always be your number-one priority.

Council advises fellow insurtechs to approach any prospective customers in the voice of applied technology in the form of their real business problems and processes and not some abstract, feature-laden presentation. Speak about outcomes or results, not about the technology itself.

Finally, Liu notes that Zywave utilizes an open API structure because we believe collaboration is crucial in this space. We would encourage all software and technology vendors to embrace that view of open architecture, standards and integration. Its the one of the best ways to ensure our customers enjoy a positive and productive user experience.

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Insurance Rating
Partners in protecting the workforce The workers compensation insurance segment in the United States has performed extremely well in recent years, relative to other lines of business in the hard commercial insurance market. Workers comp continues to be a profitable line for most carriers as claim activity and frequency have declined due to remote working arrangements, and rates remain flat. Partly as a result of these tailwinds, the 5-Star Workers Compensation award winners in 2022 have delivered outstanding services and support to brokers and their clients. Despite the markets strong performance, there are some possible headwinds on the horizon. A recent survey conducted by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) determined that some of the top concerns for workers compensation insurers in 2022 are rate adequacy and COVID-19, as well as shifting workforces and workplaces and rising medical costs.

In the coming years, we expect to see rates stabilize before beginning to rise in light of industry accident year results

Chris LaMantia, Omaha National

Regarding rates, Chris LaMantia, chief marketing officer at Omaha National, a 5-Star award winner, says: In 2021, we saw a steady softening of rates which led to continued increases in industry accident year loss ratios. Omaha National is fortunate in that we consistently generate loss ratios significantly lower than the industry average. In the coming years, we expect to see rates stabilize before beginning to rise in light of industry accident year results.

Meanwhile, Jeff Cole, AVP of national accounts for Sentry Insurance, also an award winner, says that the workers comp market has continued its historic streak of record results. Looking ahead, it appears that prior year reserve releases that have been positively impacting the reported results are losing momentum against rising loss ratios in more recent years. We expect rates to be flat to slightly positive in the next year.

Another winner, Sandy Cyr, vice president of workers compensation at Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies, says that workers comp is a healthy line of insurance and even in 2020, the combined ratio came in under 90%. In general, workplaces are safer, but there are concerns about what lies ahead for rate adequacy as we watch pricing decline year-over-year and wait for a post-COVID work environment to reveal itself, she says.

Regarding COVID, she adds: While the pandemic impacted the insurance industry at large, workers compensation was hit especially hard. An abrupt change in the workforce in 2020, driven largely by lockdowns and layoffs, stifled premium growth for the line  down 10% according to NCCI. Last year, we saw an uptick in volume, but experts seem to agree that we might not be back to pre-pandemic levels until early 2023.

We want to help our customers save lives, time and money by helping them prevent losses from happening in the first place

Jeff Cole, Sentry Insurance

What makes a winner?

This years winners fall under 13 categories: claims processing, customer service, competitive premiums, most flexible, loss sensitive programs, construction, hospitality, manufacturing, loss control services, high-risk workers comp situations, low-risk workers comp situations, tech companies and communication.

Omaha National won in claims processing, which it considers its defining strength. We perform all claims management functions in-house at the highest levels of quality and service, says LaMantia. The company also won in customer service, attributing its achievement to maintaining a human touch and speedy service, and he says that an automated service will never be used to answer the phone. Regarding competitive premiums, LaMantia notes that Omaha National provides high-rate business that others may shy away from.

Meanwhile, Cyr says Berkshire Hathaway GUARD delivers extra savings to insureds who maintain programs designed to lessen risks for certain exposures, such as safety committees, and encourages smaller businesses to pool their workers comp experiences to possibly earn a dividend. If giving our customers a price break based on certain loss mitigation techniques makes sense, well do it, says Cyr. Berkshire Hathaway GUARD also won in customer service, also citing their human touch and ability to match human resources and technology with their clients needs as key factors in the achievement.

Regarding competitive premiums, LaMantia noted that Omaha National provides high-rate business that others may shy away from. Meanwhile, Cyr says Berkshire Hathaway GUARD delivers extra savings to insureds who maintain programs designed to lessen risks for certain exposures, such as safety committees, and encourages smaller businesses to pool their workers comp experiences to possibly earn a dividend. If giving our customers a price break based on certain loss mitigation techniques makes sense, well do it, says Cyr.

Meanwhile, Sentry Insurance won in loss sensitive programs, and the company attributes its success to excellent customer service and delivering high-quality products and services that enable clients to focus on their business.

For construction, LaMantia repeats a popular company saying: Omaha National serves the companies that build America and keeps them running. The company supports workers getting back on their feet and earning full wages, and strives to prevent fraud and abuse, he says.

Then theres hospitality, which has been a successful niche for Berkshire Hathaway GUARD . Food handlers, hotel-motel owners, restaurateurs  its a low-hazard segment with clear-cut needs, says Cyr. She adds that safety awareness goes a long way toward reducing work-related injuries such as slips, falls and cuts.

Both Omaha National and Berkshire Hathaway GUARD have won for loss control services. The former cites safety materials for helping enable best practices, and the latter provides everything from online resources to onsite inspections to OSHA recommendations  whatever is needed for all sizes of businesses.

Regarding the high-risk workers comp situations award, LaMantia says: We have a broad appetite, but high risk, high-rate business is an area in which we excel. Its a great match for our focus on superior claims management. Claims dont scare us.

About the companys achievement in low-risk workers comp situations, he says that although Omaha National mostly writes high-rate business, the company is happy to quote classes with lower rates in combination with high-rate classes.

Our approach to managing workers compensation claims has set us apart from the industry with lower-than-average loss ratios for many years

Sandy Cyr, Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies

What survey participants want

As part of the survey, Insurance Business also asked participants to rank the following categories in terms of importance. From highest to lowest, they were competitive rates, claims handling, underwriting expertise, risk mitigation, available technology and range of products.

Regarding competitive rates, Omaha National underwrites each risk based on its own merits and helps manage claims to help save clients money over time. Meanwhile, Sentry Insurance has powerful cost-control tools, such as a national pharmacy program  with savings around 30% below retail fees  and PPO discounts as well as litigation, subrogation and investigative resources to help control costs.

Our approach to managing workers comp claims has set us apart from the industry with lower-than-average loss ratios for many years, says Cyr of Berkshire Hathaway GUARDs claims handling. Numerous factors contribute to our success, including early intervention, cost-effective medical management, and return-to-work activities.

As for underwriting expertise, LaMantia says that Omaha National doesnt just rely on algorithms but digs into the data and does the research, enabling the insurer to quote some risks others would decline.

Regarding Sentry Insurances underwriting process, Cole describes it as being built around understanding our customers business and the industry theyre in. We create individualized insurance products that best suit each customers specific circumstances.

He says that to mitigate risk, Sentry Insurance offers certified safety consultants and fleet service specialists who help guide our customers through risk scenarios, regulatory demands, training, and program gaps. We want to help our customers save lives, time, and money by helping them prevent losses from happening in the first place. We also have certified industrial hygienists experienced in assessing environmental and occupational health hazards.

Both Omaha National and Sentry Insurance have their own systems for available technology. The formers, called Oncore, is a proprietary and comprehensive enterprise app, and the latters technology, a powerful risk management system, empowers brokers, agents and customers to manage online claims, monitor activity and generate loss reports  all in real time.

And regarding product range, LaMantia describes Omaha National as a monoline workers compensation company that performs all key functions in-house and offers three ways to pay, including the popular pay-premium-as-you-go payroll service.

Meanwhile, Sentry Insurances products include a traditional monthly paid loss program, monthly incurred loss program, prefunded and hybrid plans, standard incurred retros, loss cost multiplier plans and excess coverage for self-insureds.



AIG

Chubb

CNA

EMPLOYERS

Everest Insurance

Hanover

ICW Group

Liberty Mutual Insurance

Markel Insurance

Method Insurance Services

NYSIF Safety Groups

PIE Insurance

QBE

Sentry

The Hartford

Travelers

Zenith Insurance

Zurich Insurance Group

Claims processing

Everest Insurance

ICW Group

Liberty Mutual Insurance

Travelers

Zenith Insurance

Customer service

Chubb

Everest Insurance

ICW Group

The Hartford

Competitive premiums

Everest Insurance

ICW Group

Method Insurance Services

PIE

The Hartford

QBE

Most flexible

Everest Insurance

ICW Group

The Hartford

Travelers

Loss sensitive programs

Everest Insurance

ICW Group

Liberty Mutual Insurance

Sentry

Zenith Insurance

Zurich Insurance

Construction

CNA

Everest Insurance

ICW Group

Liberty Mutual Insurance

NYSIF Safety Groups

Travelers

Hospitality

Chubb

Everest Insurance

The Hartford

Travelers

Manufacturing

CNA

Everest Insurance

ICW Group

Liberty Mutual Insurance

The Hartford

Travelers

Loss control services

ICW Group

Everest Insurance

Travelers

Zenith Insurance

High-risk workers comp situations

AIG

ICW Group

Everest Insurance

QBE

Zenith Insurance

Low-risk workers comp situations

Employers Insurance

Everest Insurance

Markel Insurance

The Hartford

Travelers

Tech companies

Chubb

CNA

Hanover

The Hartford

Travelers

Communication
Turning risks into rewards By providing coverage for niche markets, specialty insurance brokers deliver a variety of targeted insurance products, such as coverages for security guards, cannabis, construction, elevator industry, flood, excess and surplus lines, and Medicare. To celebrate the Top Insurance Specialists for 2022, Insurance Business America spoke with the winners in environmental, flood, and personal article floater (PAF) insurance about their fields.

Increasing self-esteem by becoming an expert or specialist at something, knowing how to assert yourself, and being able to offer value and help others is extremely motivating and rewarding

Tanya Andolsen, Argosy Risk Specialists

Expansion of coverage

Over the past 25 years, Tanya Andolsen, president of Argosy Risk Specialists and one of this years winners, has seen the environmental insurance sector transform from covering mainly high-risk chemical and hazardous waste industries to insuring companies across all industries as part of their corporate insurance plans to fill coverage gaps in their casualty programs. Real estate owners and developers now use environmental insurance regularly to facilitate transactions. In 2020, there was a lull in activity due to the initial COVID-related lockdowns, but the situation began to improve in 2021, and theres a positive outlook for 2022.

While most environmental insurance premiums have remained flat, there have been and continue to be rate increases for environmental products that have a combined casualty or excess line of coverage, Andolsen says. More important to note is that experienced underwriters continue to make more calculated decisions when it comes to exposure analysis and pricing.

Another winner, Diana Duke, a senior flood underwriter and commercial lines underwriter at the New England Excess Exchange, has observed many changes recently. Private flood and the federal flood program have seen dramatic shifts in the last year, with more changes to come, she says. Multiple private flood markets edging into the flood pool, changes to the National Flood Insurance Program with Risk Rating 2.0 methodology, and a significant rise in flooding events, in areas not usually prone to flooding, have left many people looking at flood coverage more closely.

In the near future, Duke sees private insurers gaining market share on government coverage options and fostering big changes in how coverage is provided.

Genette Nice, a special risks senior underwriter focusing on personal article floaters (PAF) for Monarch E&S Insurance Services  and another winner  says: The market for personal lines as a whole has been difficult as well as PAF coverage. In past years, the carriers were concerned about brush exposure but not as focused as they are today. The market was not as concerned about brush for the jewelry schedules either but not the entire risk is reviewed for brush exposure as well as the maps have changed to include a larger area. I believe we will continue to see markets restructure their rates and areas they are open to writing in which will continue to move more risks into the surplus lines market.

I tend to mentally break things down to small pieces to see how they fit into the insurance world. Once the smaller parts of a problem are solved, we begin to see a solution to the larger need

Diana Duke, New England Excess Exchange

Acquiring and maintaining skills

What does it take to be a Top Specialist Broker? Experience, primarily.

Previously a niche coverage, environmental insurance has evolved into more of a mainstream risk management concern, and Andolsen has had the opportunity to see different sides of the industry. Working on the carrier side, she learned to underwrite and analyze environmental risks. As a retail agent, she refined her sales skills and learned how to target business owners needs.

Now, as a wholesale broker, I work with both the retail broker and the carriers, she says. I respect what both sides are trying to accomplish and am able to bridge the communication gap and offer expertise in addressing environmental risks.

As for Duke, she has built up her knowledge base through seminars, webinars and conferences, as well as the independent study of flood insurance and underwriting flood coverage.

In turn, I have been able to offer flood webinars and on-demand videos to our valued independent agents, she says. I also follow changes in the marketplace, and in government and lender regulations to help me stay ahead of trends and updates, allowing me to stay sharp when it comes to flood insurance.

Meanwhile, unlike other underwriters who might spend all of their time and focus on personal lines, Nice says she and her team write a variety of coverages but focus primarily on PAF coverage.

Growth does not happen by yourself, you need to have good support working with you that is trained and feels part of the team. Communication is key

Genette Nice, Monarch E&S Insurance

Distinctive success formulas

For the survey to select the Top Specialist Brokers, Insurance Business America asked a series of significant questions: How are the nominees value proposition reflected in financial success? How did they respond to challenges? And how did they keep up with trends in their specialty areas?

Since Andolsen started Argosy, she has been successful in providing a value to partner retail brokers by delivering seamless environmental insurance expertise. She maintains an excellent reputation by being thoroughly open and honest with brokers and clients, as well as taking advantage of the resultant and subsequent referrals and opportunities.

There have been many submissions that Ive chosen to pass on quoting because after an exposure analysis and review of their current program, its apparent that they are in a good place, have a good relationship with the carrier, and coverage is competitively structured and priced, she says.

Continually networking with peers and keeping up with emerging issues through everything from seminars to LinkedIn content enables Andolsen and Argosy to help educate brokers and clients on what insurance options are available to address potential environmental risks.

Meanwhile, Duke has increased her book of flood business by $2 million over five years and has recently gone out of her way to keep up with the burgeoning demand for flood insurance during the pandemic while leveraging her tenacity to achieve a 21% increase in flood premium for the 2021 fiscal year. Known as the Workaround Queen, Duke is always looking to solve basic and complex challenges, often turning problems into opportunities.

I tend to mentally break things down to small pieces to see how they fit into the insurance world. Once the smaller parts of a problem are solved, we begin to see a solution to the larger need, she says. To keep up with the market, Duke continuously monitors legislation, financial regulations, company changes and trends set forth by competitors.

For Nice, her relationship with retailers and carriers or syndicates at Lloyds is key to driving growth. She also keeps up with her sector through conversations with carriers and competition and reading trade articles. Regarding challenges, she says: Due to our long-standing relationship with underwriters, we have some very good contracts in place that they trust us with full underwriting and binding authority, which gives us the opportunity to be creative with coverages to get things done.

Words of encouragement

For those seeking to be recognized in their field, for example, as a Top Insurance Specialist, Andolsen recommends being proud of ones excellent performance. Increasing self-esteem by becoming an expert or specialist at something, knowing how to assert yourself, and being able to offer value and help others is extremely motivating and rewarding, she says.

Duke encourages professionals to pursue their passions and interests to the fullest extent  and be extra about it  regardless of the possibility of receiving an award. My passion for flood insurance came from a personal experience in which my family was affected by a flooding event. What it has turned into is being passionate about how flood insurance impacts everyone, and how I can help agents and insureds find protection from unnecessary losses.

Nice emphasizes the importance of maintaining relationships. Continue to talk to your retailers, ask them what they are in need of most. Talk to the carriers and see what trends they are seeing. If a risk was bound elsewhere, dont hesitate to ask the retailer what set the other policy apart from you so you can assist better next time. Growth does not happen by yourself  you need to have good support working with you that is trained and feels part of the team. Communication is key, she says.


The current numbers account for around $307 billion of exposure, and around 10% of all the states homeowners policies  making it Floridas largest homeowners insurer.

Were now averaging around 5,000 new policies a week, and thats net, Michael Peltier, Citizens media relations manager, told Insurance Business.

The prognosis is not good  the Insurance Information Institutes Mark Friedlander, corporate communications director, said that so many private insurers are in such an unstable condition today that we could see numerous Florida private insurers fail if we were to see a significant storm strike the state during hurricane season.

Read more: Is the largest private insurer failure in P&C history coming?

Louisiana is also facing problems. Southern Fidelitys failure left tens of thousands of policyholders looking for a new provider, and it has also had to contend with the solvent exit of Maison, with owner Fed Nat leaving the market to focus on its struggling Floridian business, as well as the failures of Americas and Lighthouse.

Around 60,000 policyholders are now on its insurer of last resort, also named Citizens, and the numbers could more than double within the next two months, according to Jeff Albright, CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of Louisiana.

Premiums in both states have skyrocketed to well above the national average  and, unlike in Florida where Citizens coverage is typically cheaper due to a rate cap, those on Louisianas Citizens are likely to find themselves paying even higher rates than in the commercial market.

Read more: Louisiana and Florida insurance markets in danger ahead of Atlantic hurricane season

The last resort provider has been scrambling to update its systems to cope with an influx of policyholders after requests left it overwhelmed, with the state having had to extend its deadline to apply for cover. Louisianas insurance commissioner Jim Donelon told a press conference this month that Citizens was in the process of bringing in expanded IT hardware to help it cope with the onslaught.

While there are similarities between the gulf coast states  both have coastal exposure, both are at risk of hurricanes and have in the past faced up to vast damage from storm events, and both are facing hits from some of the same carrier exits  sources were adamant that Louisianas issues stem from recent storms, while Florida is suffering a man-made crisis stemming from a torrent of insurance litigation.

Storm damage

If we have another major storm this year, Im afraid its going to be devastating, said Louisianas Albright.

Louisiana has suffered from a stream of hurricane hits in the past couple of years, with Laura, Delta and Zeta hitting the state in 2020, followed by Ida in 2021.

Read more: Louisiana legislators battle to tackle in-crisis homeowners market

That kind of hurricane activity, both the number of storms and the number of claims, there was something in the order of 800,000 claims in those two years, with something approaching $25 billion in paid losses  thats the primary reason that insurers are pulling back from the Louisiana market, said Albright.

The secondary reason is that weve had five insolvencies of coastal homeowners companies as a result of the historic hurricane claims. And so all of a sudden, weve got about 80,000 homeowners policies on the street looking for a home and carriers are afraid of trying to soak up all that business.

Legal wrangling

Florida, meanwhile, has not experienced a major storm since 2018s Hurricane Michael. However, there is another factor at play: the legal environment.

Read more: Firm predicts $6 billion-$10 billion in insured losses from hurricane

Ours is very much a man-made problem that was [] driven entirely by the perverse incentives that are built into our marketplace, our third parties to get involved in the claims process, said Kyle Ulrich, Florida Association of Insurance Agents CEO.

Florida independent insurance agents have had to rehome 269,433 policies of insolvent insurers since 2019, according to figures from the broker association boss. This does not include at least another 50,000 policies that have had to be replaced as a result of Office of Insurance Regulation consent orders where a company has been allowed to non-renew large blocks of business to keep itself afloat.

June reinsurance renewals outcomes can offer a glimpse into the gulf between the issues facing the two states. Munich Re and Swiss Re recently cut property capacity for Florida by 50% to 80%, and at least one reinsurer targeted double digit price hikes, according to S&P Global.

Ive heard that Louisiana didnt have the same type of reinsurance capacity issues that Florida did this renewal cycle  and most of that is due to the fact that they were able to quantify what those losses were: it was cat losses, they got hit by crossing for very large storms and a two-year period, and that can happen, you can price for that, Ulrich said.

What reinsurance cant price for is the litigation that happens in Florida, and the unknown that goes along with that.

Read more: Florida property prognosis "better" but challenges remain

The Floridian insurance market accounts for 79% of Americas homeowners insurance litigation, but only 9% of claims, according to the Florida governors office.

Issues at play include assignment of benefits (AOBs)  wherein third parties can take over insurance claims and negotiate or file lawsuits  an inundation of potentially fraudulent roofing repair schemes, and, according to ratings agency Demotech president Joe Petrelli, an inducement to litigate.

The dilemma today, is in 2016 Florida passed a one-way attorney fee statute  and that one-way attorney fee statute was basically if an insurance company was being obstinate or being unreasonable on the amount of a claim and you went to court sued that company, the attorneys would be entitled to extra fees, Petrelli said.

This has led to a spike in legal actions and put fear into insurers since 2016  with a one cent claim valuation difference enough to put carriers at risk of paying extra, according to Petrelli.

Lawmakers respond

Recent moves by the legislature, following a heated special session in May, have sought to limit AOBs and brought in new rules on roofing repairs  but Demotechs Petrelli said he did not believe the measures went far enough.

The problem comes in when the attorneys get involved, and the attorneys start taking out monies that are intended for claimants, and thats why its a totally manmade issue, Petrelli said.

Its tragic, because the market will collapse under the weight of the litigation.

Louisiana lawmakers have also been working to patch up the market, with new laws to encourage capacity into the state, bulk up solvency requirements, bring in insurer contingency planning, and build a more transparent and streamlined claims process set to come into force.

Time will tell whether fresh legislation will have the desired effect, sources in both states said  but for now, while the markets face up to their individual challenges, one thing is clear: with yet another above average hurricane season predicted, both are already in crisis.
Other factors commonly seen as very important to driving technological change included a desire to better leverage MI and data in the business (67%) and sustainable growth and scalability (51%)

Alignment with Blueprint Two, however, was least likely to be seen as very important or important by underwriting business leaders, with 41% ranking it as not important.

Businesses risk putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage if they are not focused on aligning with the market-wide Blueprint Two program, cautioned Chris Croft, CEO of the London & International Insurance Brokers Association (LIIBA).

Central market processing is about everybody doing the same thing, not necessarily the right thing  ideally it will also be the right thing, the broker association boss told Insurance Business.

The standardization is what drives efficiency and collective processes like that  if you have a one-too-many relationship with a broker trying to process premium with multiple carriers on a syndicated risk the key to doing that effectively is standard data messaging and standard processes.

Blueprint Two is our best guess as to what those processes should be, according to Croft.

If people arent investing in them, they risk being an outlier and more difficult to deal with than the rest of the market, and thats maybe not a great commercial position to be in, Croft said.

Tools and investment

PwC surveyed senior leaders at London market insurers doing business across Lloyds and the London company market, with some respondents also operating in overseas territories and global reinsurance platforms.

Exposure management tools were performing best for participants, with 68% agreeing that they were fit for purpose. Rating tools (48%) and document management systems (43%) rounded out the top three.

More than half of those surveyed disagreed when asked if portfolio management tools (58%) or underwriting workbenches or workflow (54%) were working well for them.

Respondents were most likely to invest in digitizing pricing spreadsheets (53%), underwriting workbenches (49%), system integrations to reduce re-keying (49%), market placement platforms (47%) and automating submission intakes (41%) over the next 12 months.

These are absolutely the right focuses, according to Sheila Cameron, CEO of the Lloyds Market Association and chair of the cross-market data council, which launched in 2021 in a bid to create common data standards for fully electronic trading.

COVID was a pivotal moment for technology in the London Market, and brought a real awareness that we can deliver both placement and contracts digitally and truly move some of our activity online, Cameron said.

Broker API links (29%) and algorithmic underwriting rules (29%) were least likely to see investment over the next year, according to the report.

The market should expect broker APIs to feature more prominently in the coming years, according to Justin Davies, Xceedance SVP, region head  EMEA, who confirmed that the business is assisting at least one firm with such an initiative.

They do require a bit more in terms of development and integration, but it is the path forward for our industry, Davies said.

Biggest risks

The biggest risk to businesses transformation plans was delivery and execution, with 27% of respondents having flagged this as a concern. Those surveyed also ranked poor underwriter adoption (16%) and unsuitable system implementations or configurations (13%) as top three risks.

Companies can help themselves swerve issues with execution and delivery by finding the right partner, according to Davies.

Working with a company that has a proven track record of success, technology prowess, and deep insurance domain expertise will help minimize project risk and amplify the value realized through such a transformation initiative, the Xceedance SVP said.

PWC also recommended planning a complete and integrated change programme rather than disjointed initiatives, as well as being clear on what is needed from a tool, and not using agile as an excuse for undisciplined project management.

It is easy to make assumptions about the benefits new tools can bring, but without the right processes and adoption, the benefits of the change often fail to materialize, the report said.
There is a strong positive correlation between cyber preparedness and digital trust, Swiss Re said.

Countries that had invested in cyber security policies, legislation and outcomes found there were greater levels of digital trust within their economies, according to the report.

Despite cyber progress across some regions, however, the report said that executives may still not have a handle on the risk. PWCs Global Digital Trusts Insights 2022 report said that as many as 60% of c-suite executives did not have a thorough understanding of third-party data breach risks.

The most advanced product offering we have in the digital space is for cyber insurance. Cyber insurance is still an emerging and forming market, Swiss Re chief research officer Christoph Nabholz (pictured) told Insurance Business.

Insurers continue to invest in building cyber knowledge, while the market has seen volatility in recent years from the impact of ransomware incidents.

If insurers do a bad job on cyber, it will be for three reasons, Nabholz said. Two of these reasons would be within carriers control.

The first would be around claims disputes.

These should diminish as wording becomes more standardised and accepted, Nabholz said.

The second would be high loss ratios threatening market stability; however, this is a scenario that should not happen if insurers are prudent with risk management and risk diversification, according to Nabholz.

Thirdly, a lack of capacity could drive a wedge between would-be insureds and insurance businesses. On this point, Nabholz said that insurers can only accept risk to a point it is coverable in a free market.

Swiss Res report examined three pillars of digital trust: reliability, security and reassurance.

Security is the most obvious way that the insurance industry can build digital trust into their product offerings, with this set to extend into reassurance as decision making becomes increasingly automated, Nabholz said.

With carriers increasingly targeting the digital space, agents will not want to rest on their laurels, according to the Swiss Re research boss.

The dynamics of digitalisation are already changing this space, as insurers seek direct relationships with clients, he said. If brokers want to maintain their intermediary role, they may have to consider how they shape their own digital relationships between clients and insurers.

As for how agents can look to build digital trust, Nabholz said that the human factor should not be forgotten.

Nabholz said: Relatively simple product offerings, such as travel insurance, lend themselves to online purchases. However, clients may continue to seek human advice and reassurance for more complex coverage needs, such as life insurance.

Human and digital interaction is not necessarily a zero-sum game, according to Nabholz, with the onus on agents to show how both could coexist.

Brokers also play a key role for complex projects that require specialist expertise and provide risk consulting, captive management and claims handling services, he said.

Despite ranking highly for internet penetration, Canada lagged behind peers including South Korea, Denmark, the UK and the US where it came to insurance penetration as a percentage of GDP.

Digital will play a role in driving greater insurance penetration; but is probably not the key factor, Nabholz said.

The key determinant will be constructing products relevant for all consumer segments. That will include innovating to cover new and emerging risks, particularly in the digital field.

As for these products, Nabholz highlighted an extension of natural catastrophe coverages following recent hail and flood events and 2021's heat dome.

It will also involve constructing products of suitable price and relevance for lower income segments, most likely with some form of regulatory support, he said.
Michaelson has more than 13 years of industry experience. He most recently served as managing director at Catto & Catto, a division of Hub International of Texas. Prior to that, he held a variety of brokerage, risk management and business development roles with several companies, including Wortham Insurance and WTW. While his main focus will be energy and marine, Michaelson will also work with NFPs real estate and construction specialty practices.

Read next: NFP bolsters energy practice

Michaelson is a Certified Insurance Counselor through the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research and an Accredited Advisor in Insurance through The Institutes.

Im excited to join NFP and work with Vilma and the energy practice team, Michaelson said. Risk management in the energy industry is increasingly more challenging, and organizations need a variety of skilled resources to make decisions regarding new and evolving challenges. NFP is a destination for top specialty talent who are truly experts in their respective fields. NFPs emphasis on specialization and technical broking, and the opportunity to work with an organization whose values align with mine, sets NFP apart as an employer of choice.
Amid the ongoing success of his professional career, Menzies actively works to build out his charitable footprint, setting an exemplary standard for his colleagues, partners and friends. This May, he met with Pope Francis and was appointed to create and spearhead the global St. Francis Day Foundation, focusing on human ecology to develop an agenda that harmonizes the disparate interests of human activity in a meaningful way to benefit humankind.

An example of the first activity underway is the construction of a supra national arrangement for the distribution of vaccine-related medical technology fairly among nations and stateless peoples, he says.

Menzies also prioritizes philanthropic involvement to promote and facilitate meaningful growth within his organization. Applieds new headquarters in Omaha, Nebraskas Heartwood Preserve is in the process of being built; once complete, it will be part of one of the largest urban developments in the US. The 500-plus-acre Heartwood Preserve has surpassed expectations of most conventional land development projects. The environmentally conscious development includes a variety of retail, commercial, residential and recreational facilities.

The results have been overwhelmingly favorable economically, environmentally and aesthetically, Menzies says. Its Applieds way of giving back to the local community and our dedicated employees.

He adds that in business, philanthropy and in everything one does, having the same set of values is key. The point is to apply an intellectual and emotionally courageous approach to every effort, he says. For me, there is no end to learning, to thinking and rethinking, to investing, and to retaining a deep, abiding optimism.

The Berkshire buyback

Back in 2005, Menzies sold a percentage of Applied Underwriters to Berkshire Hathaway. However, as Applieds footprint became more robust within the national marketplace, its growth began to create a problem for Berk-shire: Applied and Berkshires other insurance businesses were growing into competitors, creating unproductive channel conflict.

In 2019, Menzies reacquired the company in a deal valued at $920 million, including the buyout of 81% of stock that had been held by Berkshire since 2005.

I recall when Warren Buffett expressed an interest in our company in 2005, purchasing a majority share  and equally defining, our unprecedented buyback from Berkshire in 2019, returning Applied Underwriters on its own course as a private company, Menzies says. As an entrepreneur, I have long felt a sense of inevitability about such a buyback and have looked toward the opportunities that independent ownership holds. Our acquisitions and market positioning over the past 24 months show the value of that transaction for Applied.

Buffett typically makes investments in companies, then leaves their affairs in the hands of those who made the company attractive to him in the first place. This approach allowed Applied to develop its own corporate culture within the Berkshire Hathaway group.

Warren set the governance standards with great but tempered ambition for all of the companies in Berkshire and showed strength through his native humility and modesty, Menzies says. He is a consummate capitalist and easily among the leading paradigms of entrepreneurship in business history. He operates with utmost integrity.

On a personal note, my relationship with Warren meant a lot to me  it still does  and I found myself emulating his approach to business with objectivity, yet always with respect for the courage of entrepreneurs.

Commitment to culture

Applied was born in the workers compensation realm  a difficult, dynamic and heavily regulated line of insurance.

We learned its intricacies and the very real human risk it involves, Menzies says. We then used that insight to help our customers better manage their risk. Through a pattern of profound study, considering the human side of risk and seeing opportunities where others see obstacles, we have grown into new product lines, new challenges and built a global collective of loyal customers and partners.

While Applieds philosophy is rooted in care for injured workers, homeowners and business owners, the company continues extend its reach to countless other classes.

With imagination, experience and integrity, we dig into new risks to create original solutions while factoring the human story into every pursuit, Menzies says.

Disciplined financial strength is a core value, since without it, you cannot earn a customers confidence, he adds. We are proud that Applieds insurance companies became the first monoline workers compensation writer ever to receive an A+ (Superior) rating from A.M. Best 10 years ago.

Menzies also notes that Applieds staff reflects the companys unique spirit through their dedicated and thoughtful responsiveness, as well as their forward-looking approach to clients needs well beyond the letter of the policy.

All of our customer calls and needs are handled on our Omaha campus by company employees, he says. Our customers and producers never reach a TPA or someone halfway around the world. Unified operations present Applieds customers with a consistent and responsive experience.

We honor claims and go beyond the minimum in care, which we believe is simply the best option for real protection and responsible pricing. While our competitors adopt slogans and often do mean them, getting actions to suit the words is quite another matter. Applieds leadership and top decision-makers have a dimension of care that runs deep in our corporate culture.
One of the largest changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic to the workplace was the popularization of remote work. Industries that previously operated solely from offices realized almost overnight that they could operate without everyone under a single roof.

With the pandemic on the wane and restrictions being eased, many workers have expressed interest in adopting a hybrid model of work, spending time at home or in the office, as needed. However, there are some businesses that disagree, leading to friction between employees and employers.

Many employees prefer the flexibility that hybrid and remote work offer  in fact, 60% of employees say hybrid is their preferred arrangement, said Michael Schultz (pictured above), founder of digital risk management firm Aclaimant. Businesses are quickly realizing that having a distributed workforce rather than having everyone work under one roof is becoming the norm.

According to Schultz, conflict usually erupts when a business pursues more aggressive return to office (RTO) plans, such as Elon Musk requiring Tesla and SpaceX employees to RTO for a minimum of 40 hours a week. There are also logistical challenges that come with navigating hybrid work, such as determining when and understanding why individuals need to come into the office.

On the other hand, the pushback from businesses is due to their concern around employee productivity, as 22.5% of managers believe employee productivity has decreased since the start of the pandemic, Schultz said. However, 32.2% of hiring managers said employee productivity has increased and their performance was boosted by 22% when employees were able to work from home. Since employees and management perceive productivity in the office versus at home differently, businesses should ensure everyone is on the same page, otherwise they risk losing engagement and motivation of employees going in.

Schultz believes that organizations should make efforts to meet their employees needs, and that includes adopting hybrid work where possible.

If an employee works better from home or in a hybrid setting, employers should offer a flexible working model that allows employees to choose when and how often they wish to come into the office, he said, The hybrid workplace is here to stay and companies need to start thinking about how to best support their employees' work-life balance.

According to Schultz, some employers may not realize it, but hybrid work also brings them several advantages.

One of the benefits employers and employees can gain from hybrid and remote work is increased employee productivity and efficiency due to this flexibility, he said. When employees have more flexibility to choose when and where they work, theyre more likely to balance their workloads and be happier, compared to those who work fully remote or in-person. Hybrid workers are also an employer's biggest advocate, with most workers saying they would recommend their company as an ideal work destination. Additionally, hybrid and remote work can also help companies access a broader talent pool, cut down on operating costs such as office space and undergo digital transformation, boosting employee collaboration and communication while maintaining employee health and safety.

With that said, there are many risks businesses must navigate in permanently implementing a hybrid work model. The transition to remote work in 2020 was haphazard and brought about by the need to keep businesses running during widespread lockdowns. Vulnerabilities were discovered and had to be patched up on the fly.

According to Schultz, organizations must contend with cybersecurity risks such as data breaches, ransomware and phishing, culture risks such as disengaged workers and employee retention, and safety risks such as lack of training, workplace practices and hazards in the workplace. Risk management technology can help businesses keep track of all these risks while identifying and mitigating future risks in the workplace.

When transitioning into and maintaining a hybrid or remote model, one of the biggest risks employers need to be mindful of is employee burnout, Schultz said. In the US, 28% of employees report having burnout symptoms and 32% of employees felt distressed. To address employee burnout, businesses can use technology like risk management tech to give employees the tools needed to help them make informed, risk-minded decisions and establish psychological safety in the workplace.

Hybrid work is very tech-intensive, with all communication and data sharing done electronically, opening businesses to a wide array of cyber risks.

To identify and mitigate cybersecurity and workplace risks, businesses can invest in safety and risk management technologies, which will allow them to guide all employees, even the most inexperienced, through common workplace exposures and equipment hazards such as falls and falling objects, Schultz said. These technologies can also ensure employees at all levels can properly use risk management and safety tools to better identify workplace risks, properly document them, and create a risk-minded culture thats able to prevent risks before they happen.
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Nine health care workers who sued Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills over the states COVID-19 vaccine mandate have until Money to reveal their identities.

The workers have so far remained anonymous, but on Thursday, a federal appeals court in Boston rejected a motion by the workers and gave them until Friday to file an amended complaint with their names, the Portland Press-Herald reported.

The plaintiffs were later given an extension until Monday.

Attorneys for Liberty Counsel, a law firm representing the health care workers, said in a court filing Friday that the one-day extension is needed to give lawyers time to speak with each plaintiff about whether they want to move forward with the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs filed their complaint in federal court last August, before the states COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers at Maine care facilities went into effect on Oct. 20, 2021.

In the complaint the workers argued that it was their religious right to refuse the vaccine over their belief that fetal stem cells from abortions are used to develop the vaccines.

Maines vaccine mandate does not allow for religious exemptions.

The lawsuit prompted several Maine newspapers, including the Portland Press Herald, to intervene in an effort to force the plaintiffs to be identified.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Medical Professional Liability Maine
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Investigations are underway into several weekend incidents of apparent arson and vandalism at churches in Maryland, authorities said.

Montgomery County authorities said the incidents took place at three churches of different denominations a short distance away from each other in Bethesda, TV station WJLA reported.

Overnight Sunday, a blaze was apparently set at St. Jane Frances De Chantal Parish, forcing worshippers to attend mass at an alternate location Sunday morning, news outlets reported.

Dozens of firefighters responded to an alarm at the church around 2 a.m. and quickly extinguished the fire, according to the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.

The fire involved several pews in the main church area, Pete Piringer, a spokesman for the agency, tweeted. No injuries were reported.

In a statement about the fire, a spokesperson from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said the archdiocese was shocked by the incident but that they are a resilient community of faith.

Earlier in the weekend, a fire was set at a Methodist church that was broken into, according to fire officials. Also Saturday, investigators found damaged headstones and broken wood pieces scattered around the vicinity of Wildwood Baptist Church, WJLA reported.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Maryland
Berlin insurtech wefox reports it has closed a Series D funding round of US$400 million and increased its valuation to US$4.5 billion.

The round included both equity and debt. Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Co. led the equity portion of the raise with participation from Eurazeo, LGT, Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures and Target Global.

The round sees wefox increase its valuation from US$3 billion to US$4.5 billion since last June, which is says bucks the trend currently experienced in the insurtech market and more broadly across the tech sector.

Wefox is a fully licensed digital insurance company that sells insurance through intermediaries and not directly to customers. Wefox offers agents digital tools that help them streamline and automate labor intensive processes. Agents sell nine out of every 10 policies in Europe, leaving direct-to-consumer competitors like Lemonade fighting for a smaller piece of the market.

Julian Teicke, CEO and founder of wefox, said the new valuation of US$4.5 billion is a clear validation of his firms agent-oriented business model.

German Insurtech Wefox Raises $650M in Funding, Valuing Firm at $3B

Teicke said the insurtech has more than two million customers and has doubled revenues over the last year reaching US$320. The company has set US$600 million in revenues and three million customers as targets to reach by the end of 2022.

The insurer, which is currently in Germany, Switzerland and Poland, intends to use the funding for product development and to expand across Europe and thereafter Asia and the U.S.

The company has 1,300 employees today, up from 550 employees in 2021, and expects to reach 2000 employees by the end of 2022.

Ibrahim Ajami, head of Mubadala Ventures, said that wefox acts as an ecosystem enabler, empowering the various distribution channels instead of competing with them. Ajami said he believes this model has allowed wefox to scale quickly and sustainably.

Wefox was founded in 2015 by Teicke, Fabian Wesemann and Dario Fazlic.

Topics InsurTech Tech Funding Germany
An ambiguous extra expense provision in a commercial property insurance policy requires the insurer to pay for new equipment that a grocery store and delicatessen needed for a new location after its former home burned down, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled last Friday.

The high court reversed a portion of a ruling by a Cherry County District Court judge that dismissed a $159,878.53 extra expense claim filed by Old Mill Bulk Foods. The unanimous opinion said the policy written by North Star Mutual Insurance Co. was not clear on whether there was coverage for substantial modifications to a replacement location.

North Star seems to take the position that the policy does not provide coverage for remodeling expenses, the opinion says. However, nowhere does the policy caution the insured that its definition of to equip differs from a plain and ordinary definition expressed in a standard dictionary, nor does it specifically exclude coverage for what may be considered structural modification or remodeling expenses.

Jerry and David Miller owned Old Mill, a delicatessen and grocery located in Valentine, Nebraska. A fire destroyed the building on July 2, 2018. The Millers decided not to repair or rebuild the structure and began searching for a replacement property.

The Millers found a defunct move theater in Valentine in April 2019 and decided to buy the property and lease it to their business. Substantial modifications and renovations were needed, including leveling floors, removing walls and installing lighting, electrical outlets and sinks.

North Star paid $89,050 for business personal property coverage and $199,212 for lost business income, but refused to pay the Mills claim for extra expenses to cover the renovation costs. The carrier filed a lawsuit in seeking a declaration that no coverage was owed for renovations to the replacement property. The Millers filed counterclaims.

Judge Mark D. Kozisek granted a motion for summary judgment filed by North Star and dismissed the Millers extra expense claim, but also ordered North Star to pay an additional $46,000 to replace a walk-in cooler  an expense that the insurer disputed. He also awarded the Millers $5,000 out of $33,797.99 in requested attorney fees.

The Supreme Court decision said Kozisek ruled in the insurers favor on the extra expense claim even though he found that provision of the policy to be ambiguous. The court said the judge was correct about the ambiguity, but that should have prompted a ruling in favor of the policyholder.

According to the opinion, the policy does not caution the insured that its promise to pay to equip a replacement location in the extra expense section does not include the cost of remodeling.

Thus, reading the policy from the insureds point of view, we adopt the natural and obvious meaning of the provisions in a policy in preference to the hidden meaning suggested by North Star and hold that for purposes of the policy, the word equip means to make ready or to furnish for service or action by appropriate provisioning and necessarily encompasses expenses incurred in modifying a replacement premises in order to continue operations, such as costs associated with electrical improvements, plumbing improvements, structural improvements, and materials used in those improvements, the opinion states.

The Supreme Court reversed the portion of the District Court ruling that dismissed the Millers extra expense claims and remanded the case, directing the trial court to also recalculate its attorney fee award.

Topics Carriers Nebraska
The father of the jet engine-powered semitruck driver who died during a performance at a southwestern Michigan air show said last Tuesday that the truck burst into flames after a blown tire ruptured the fuel tank.

Chris Darnell, 40, died in the accident Saturday that happened during a race between the Shockwave Jet Truck and two airplanes at the Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival. No one else was injured in the accident.

The custom-built jet truck reaches speeds topping 350 mph (560 kilometers per hour) and races at air shows across North America, according to Springfield, Missouri-based Darnell Racing Enterprises.

As the tire came apart it ruptured the fuel tank on the left side of the car and that, of course, initiated the fire. It happened so quickly that Chris didnt even have time to react, Neal Darnell, the drivers father, told The Associated Press.

Video from an audience member shows the truck catching fire before flipping down the runway at Battle Creek Executive Airport.

Neal Darnell, who also drives the Shockwave, said he concluded what happened after watching video of the accident and inspecting the jet truck. He said this was the only accident Darnell Racing Enterprises has had in 20 years.

Battle Creek police and fire officials did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request by The Associated Press seeking further comment about an investigation into the crash.

Most people dont like their jobs. Chris loved his job. He would say on a fairly regular basis that he was living the dream and I loved that for him, Darnell said.

The family is waiting for an autopsy report to learn the official cause of death.

Chris Darnell leaves behind his wife and two young daughters. A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Michigan
An oilfield worker was killed last Thursday in an accident at a northwestern Oklahoma oil rig, officials said.

In a statement, the Major County Sheriffs Office says the accident was reported shortly before 9 a.m. about six miles (10 kilometers) northeast of Fairview or about 130 miles (210 kilometers) northwest of Oklahoma City.

Emergency personnel arrived to find Jerry Pollard of El Reno, Oklahoma, pulled into a cable winch drum.

Pollard worked for Orco Service LLC at the rig owned by Stride Energy LLC.

Rig operations have been suspended while the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Oklahoma Medical Examiners office investigate.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Oklahoma
Supporters of initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana and scale back casino gambling submitted thousands of signatures Friday to get their proposals on the Arkansas ballot.

Friday was the deadline for groups to turn in the signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot. Proposed constitutional amendments need at least 89,151 signatures from registered voters.

The proposals ballot title and popular name will also need to be approved by the state Board of Election Commissioners.

More than 192,000 signatures were submitted for the recreational marijuana proposal to allow people age 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of cannabis. Arkansas voters in 2016 voted to legalize medical marijuana in the state.

More than 103,000 signatures were submitted for the other proposed amendment to repeal part of a casino gambling amendment voters approved in 2018. The proposal would remove Pope County as one of the counties where a casino is allowed. Casinos have already been set up in the three other counties spelled out in the 2018 measure.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cannabis Arkansas
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An insurance company is not responsible for premises liability damages after a man was shot and killed outside an Atlanta grocery store in 2019, thanks to unambiguous policy exclusions, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Colony Insurance Co., part of Argonaut Insurance and the Argo Group, asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to declare that its policy for the food store clearly excluded coverage for injuries that arise from assaults and from the use of lethal weapons. Colony made the motion despite the fact that it is defending the property owners in the underlying negligence and premises liability lawsuit.

The Court finds that the language of the assault and battery exclusion and the weapons exclusion is unambiguous and that the underlying claims fall within those exclusions, U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash wrote in the order.

The ruling, if it is not appealed or is upheld on appeal, could come as a relief to property insurers in the wake of several recent seven-figure verdicts over negligent security and premises liability at food stores and convenience stores in the South.

The case also shines a light on discovery proceedings in litigation, an insurance brokers relationship with a carrier, and an insurers responsibility to insureds who may not understand the policy wording.

Lawyers for the widow of the 28-year-old killed in the shooting had argued that the policy exclusions were unconscionable because the owners of Henry Properties do not speak English. But the judge found that under Georgia law, parties to a contract are presumed to have read and understood the policy.

The property owners also argued that they needed discovery of Colony Insurance information about the broker, as well as the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the policy. But the judge said that while the general rule in litigation is for the court to hold off on summary judgment until discovery is complete, 11th Circuit, the federal appeals court for Georgia and parts of the Southeast, has not adopted a blanket prohibition on the granting of summary judgment motions before discovery.

And in this case, one discovery period closed in June and the defendant property owners did not provide evidence that further disclosure would rebut Colonys motion that the court uphold the policy exclusions.

The property owners also provided no evidence showing that the insurance broker was a dual agent acting on behalf of the insurance carrier. Previous court rulings have held that brokers are considered agents of the insured unless the insurer granted authority to bind coverage on the insurers behalf. Henry Properties suggested that may be revealed in discovery, but the judge said that was insufficient grounds to deny summary judgment.

Three young men were charged with Holloways murder after the 2019 shooting.

The Colony Insurance case decision came eight months after a Georgia state appeals court upheld a $43 million premises liability verdict against the CVS Pharmacy chain, after a man was shot in the Atlanta stores parking lot in 2012. That case and two other high-dollar verdicts in Georgia in the last three years have put a spotlight on properties and insurers responsibility to ensure safety for businesses in high-crime areas.
With an academic background that lurches from political philosophy to theatre, and a subsequent acting career that encompassed Shakespeare, Matlock and corporate communications videos, the story of American actor Charles Martinet was already an interesting one before a chance message from a friend led him to crash an audition for voice talent while living in San Francisco in 1992.

The role? Mario, the moustachioed plumber whod already achieved a place in pop culture as the hitherto-mute star of Nintendos world-famous video games.

As I'm walking in the door, the producer is walking out, and I know that because the cameraman is behind him. I asked him, 'can I read for this part?' And he goes "ugh, alright". We go inside, we set the camera back up, he says 'You're an Italian plumber named Mario, he's this video game character. Make up a voice, a video game, anything you want. I don't care. Just keep talking, and that's your audition.'

Luckily, I had played Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew, so I thought, well, I'll do that character, but make him younger. I didn't know anything about video games, except [ Pac-Man and Space Invaders]. I heard "action", and I just said, 'Hello, I'm a-Mario! Let's make a pizza! You get some sausage, I'm gonna get some spaghetti, we're gonna put spaghetti on your pizza, and then I'm gonna chase you with a pizza! If I catch you with the pizza, you're gonna eat it!'

[I kept talking until there was] no more tape. 'Thank you. We'll be in touch.' Went back to the beach and I had dinner with my friend, thought nothing of it. That evening, I got a phone call. 'Okay, you're our Mario.' This guy had called Nintendo directly about me  that was 31 years ago.

"Here we go!" Mario jumped into 3D in 1996's Super Mario 64

For a number of years, Martinet developed the Mario character in tech demonstrations like Mario in Real-Time, an early exercise in motion capture and augmented reality, and software like Mario Teaches Typing  but being presented with the early versions of 1996's Super Mario 64 prompted him to flesh Mario out fully, as the plumber negotiated 3D worlds for the first time.

It was a tremendous honour and a tremendous joy. In that moment, it was skin-tingling, the environments under construction. Seeing it, you knew this was going to be something, and if Mario is going to do anything, it's going to be joyful: 'hup, hup  yippee!'. You can create through joy, fun, and thrills.

If Mario's going to be injured from a fall, or something, it's not gonna be at his expense, like, [grunts], it's gonna be silly: 'ow-ow-ow-ow'! Being in that room, working with everybody with a common goal, we wanted this to be really fun. It was just so joyful  like all creative processes can be.

Mario, Luigi and Wario: some of the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, as voiced by Charles Martinet

In over 30 years since his initial audition, Martinet has gone on to voice much of the wider Mario cast, including his brother Luigi, and nemeses Wario and Waluigi. Martinet takes the time to consider his body of work  and what keeps him invested: You play the first Mario game that was ever made, and you play the most recent one  even though Mario Strikers is a much more aggressive game for sound and voice, you'll always recognise it as a Mario game. The responses of the characters, the silliness, the fear, the trepidation, all these things, it hasn't really changed much.

I still walk up to a microphone, and I still just put out love and joy and fun. You always have a script as an actor, and my belief is to do the script exactly as written one time  'whoopee!'. And then going from there, it's gotta go up a level  'WHOOPEE!'.

Charles Martinet: "If Mario's going to do anything, it's going to be joyful".

A consideration for younger audiences turned out to be an immense piece of forethought  when not at the mic, Martinet travels the world attending conventions and fan events, fostering connections with people who have grown up with Mario and crew  including next months Dublin Comic-Con.

I'm so grateful to the comic-cons: I've met many people who have met, like a Mario met a Princess Peach in costume, and they ended up getting married, then, three or four years later, there's a little baby Mario alongside them at the booth!

I love Ireland. It's just such a wonderful part of the world  my ambition is still to drive the whole coastline. When I was younger, I wanted to cycle it! (laughs) I can't do that anymore, but it's such a beautiful country.

Charles Martinet appears at Dublin Comic-Con on Saturday, August 6 and Sunday, August 7 at the Convention Centre in Dublin
Air travel comes with added anxiety these days. No surprise then, that one of the oldest and most enduring travails of the traveller has just got worse: the wait at the end of the journey to see if your bag will clatter down the carousel and join you at your destination.

On a normal day in Dublin, over the past 10 years, up to 50 bags might be expected to fail to meet their owners at arrivals. Nowadays, the missing list reaches 500 a day and sometimes more, over 1,000 on several days in recent weeks.

The problem is largely human, a wake-up call for an industry increasingly dependent on tech. Europes and north Americas airports say they are short of burly men to lift and load these bags. Aircraft captains are opting to take off without all of the luggage to avoid missing their slot.

Tech failures, as at Heathrow T2 a few weeks ago, and strikes, as at Zurich a few days ago, exacerbate the problem.

Baggage handling in Dublin Airport is a game of four parts. Ryanair and Aer Lingus handle their own baggage in Dublin for 80% of the passengers who fly with them (although not in other airports). Swissport and Sky handling handle the 70-odd other airlines who use the airport.

The two subcontracted agencies say they have had problems staffing up after Covid, and Aer Lingus have said they have been hit by Covid absences.

But that affects only the tail of the problem. Most bags go astray at the transfer airports, en route to or from Dublin. Dublins nearest and best-fed hub is Heathrow. Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt are the big ones to the east, JFK, Chicago, Toronto, Newark and Atlanta the big ones to the west.

One of the oldest and most enduring travails of the traveller has just got worse: the wait at the end of the journey to see if your bag will clatter down the carousel and join you at your destination. File photo

While all hubs have their problems, the situations at Toronto and Heathrow are dire. Westjet have landed aircraft in Dublin with none of the passenger bags. A Canadian blogger who aired his grievances on RTE this week had flown home to Oregon using Westjet and a transfer through Toronto, something he neglected to mention. Even BCC, Before Covid Chaos, Westjet had a policy of offloading bags for weight reasons.

Dublin has become a Dub-hub of its own in recent years, but a lot of passengers self-transfer, using Ryanair to fly, collect their bag and check it in on an Aer Lingus flight west. Few bags are lost by self-transferring passengers.

Ryanair does not use hubs and therefore, does not lose bags. Passengers load and collect their bags on their flights, which are always point-to-point. Bags only get lost if there is a baggage loaders strike or other handling issue at one of the airports.

Aer Lingus, on the other hand, is the biggest carrier of passengers from Heathrow and is left with the bulk of Dublins baggage problem and the butt of bag gags by online comedians. They have moved to transfer their baggage mountain landside to assist couriers delivering bags to disgruntled passengers.

They appeal to people not to ring the customer care line, who cannot give them the answers they need, and fill out the details correctly online. Filing out lost baggage reports by phone is time-consuming and clogs up the lines when the airline communications are under siege for a variety of other issues.

Aer Lingus complains some of the passengers who lost bags have moved on when the bags are delivered, without telling the airline, leaving the courier companies in a game of wheres Wally throughout the country.

Aer Lingus is the biggest carrier of passengers from Heathrow and is left with the bulk of Dublins baggage problem. Picture: Larry Cummins

Airlines always lost bags. Worldwide, before Covid, six out of every 1,000 passengers could expect to be separated from their luggage for longer than they expected, or in the case of 1%, forever.

Compensation, defined by the Montreal convention, is extremely low. In contrast with the elaborate compensation code of passenger rights under Eu261m, the maximum you can claim for a lost bag is about 1,200.

Bags whose barcode has not become detached will eventually be found. In the same way that courier companies track parcels or with lenders returning a library book, airlines trace checked luggage as it moves through an airport and between aircraft, which is where half of the losses occur.

Read More Dublin Airport says its plan to handle the summer surge is working

Two years before Covid, International Air Transport Associations Resolution 753 came into effect. It introduced mandatory tracking at four stages of a checked bags journey: when it is first handed in to the airline, when it is loaded onto the aircraft, when it is delivered to the transfer area and when it is returned to the passenger. The barcode will tell when the bag was last loaded.

Irish engineers have designed many of the baggage tracking solutions in use by airlines worldwide. Some airlines, such as Qatar, have an app which allows passengers to track the bag themselves.

These make sense because lost bags, (or mishandled bags as they are called in the industry) are expensive. Before Covid, IATA estimated they cost the airline industry $2.1bn a year.

This is not to mention the untold stress and inconvenience to passengers and the damage to the brand even. As is the case with Aer Lingus, the airline is not ultimately responsible.
Given the seriousness of the climate situation facing our little blue planet, it is beyond time that we in our tiny corner of the globe started getting serious about doing our bit to try to alleviate some of the problems we face.

Large tracts of Europe are ablaze with wildfires, while Portugal, Spain, France, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Sicily, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey are all listed by Copernicus, the EUs earth observation programme, as being in high danger or very extreme danger from wildfire.

Across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and Asia, the climate issue is becoming more pressing by the day.

Eastern Australia is experiencing unheard of flooding. Train tracks have burst into flames across Britain, as the Met Office there issued only the third extreme heat warning in its history.

Italys longest river, the Po, has been reduced to a trickle, and even in northern Europe, countries such as Sweden and Finland are coping with drought and heatwaves.

Up on Mount Everest, scientists are witness to the fact that ice which took 20,000 years to form has melted in just 25 years.

Dry cracked land where once the river Po flowed  just one of many startling images from around the world which should alert us to the reality of climate change. Picture: Luca Bruno/AP

Base camp on the Nepalese side of the mountain, from where most attempts to climb Everest are launched, has had to be moved down the mountain because the Khumbu glacier is melting at an unprecedented rate.

Everyone knows that the planet is in a state of unprecedented flux and facing the threats posed by war and famine. However, human activity is adding more greenhouse gases each year and the heat-trapping effect of this will only ease when we take strong and in many cases unpalatable decisions to help avert catastrophe.

Read More Majority support introduction of single-use plastic levies

Extreme heat is increasingly a public health issue and  unless governments invest in infrastructure to keep their populations cool and healthy in a rapidly warming world  death rates will accelerate. It is worth remembering that, in 2020, which was not a particularly scorching summer by the standards of 2018 and this year, there were 2,500 heat-related deaths in the UK alone.

Temperature records are being broken across Europe on a daily basis. Irelands eastern counties saw 27C on Monday, topping the record of 26.2C seen in Shannon on Sunday.

There is a strong chance Britain will break 40C this month, while other European countries are already sweltering in that heat.

Our Government must now prepare a budget that incorporates climate change issues as much as it focuses on the cost-of-living crisis. It is not too late to, at best, reverse global warming or, at worst, reduce our effects on it. It should be a prime focus for us all.
Guest Column Myanmar Military's Culture of Atrocities

Regime soldiers in Yangon during a crackdown on anti-regime protesters in March 2021. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars military, known locally as the Sit-Tat or military, has embarked upon a massive campaign of violence since last years coup and, over the past 17 months, has intensified and expanded its use of terror. The Sit-Tat has a notorious history of committing atrocities, so much so that its opponents often label it as fascist. Since its founding under the patronage of Imperial Japan in late 1941, the casual and systematic employment of atrocities in warfare has become deeply internalized within the institutional culture of the Sit-Tat.

The militarys most recent atrocities are thus not an aberration but rather a historical pattern emanating from its institutional culture. This culture of atrocities is the product of a complex interplay of its guardianship ideology, internal brutalization, longstanding legal impunity, and situational logic. The militarys atrocities do not appear all at once, but emerge over time as a result of an escalatory process. Thus, it is highly likely that the current war will see further escalation in the Sit-Tats employment of mass violence as it continues.

Despite the recurrent nature of this violence across many decades, the international community largely chooses not to act. The global community has seemingly not realized the true nature of the Sit-Tats deep-seated culture of atrocities, as well as its inability to change or reform. Some international actors are thus unrealistically hopeful regarding the Sit-Tats vague promises of reinstalling civilian rule, while others believe the Sit-Tats narrative about its supposed role as a stabilizing force in Myanmar.

Yet history exposes the flaw in these two views, a history that Myanmars people know all too well. With the ongoing revolution, the majority of Myanmars people are endeavoring to end the Sit-Tats culture of atrocities and bring the country back to a democratic and stable future. The responsible international community should therefore find all possible ways to aid and abet the Myanmar people in their struggle against the monstrous Sit-Tat and bring an end to its use of mass violence.

An Endless Cycle of Atrocities

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently published images and video depicting junta soldiers bragging about how they murdered civilians in cold blood. The photos and video, retrieved from a cache of files in a soldiers cell phone obtained by a villager in Sagaing Regions Ayadaw Township, are evidence of a series of atrocities committed by the Sit-Tat since it launched its massive offensive against the Peoples Defense Forces. The report revealed images recording the mass arrest and execution of civilians, as well as the cruel torture of a detained villager, and a selfie video that shows soldiers chatting in crude terms about how many people they have killed and by what means, what they did with the bodies, what their commander ordered them to do, and admitting that they looted villagers properties.

In the video a soldier asked another, You said you killed 26 people. How did you kill them? Just shooting them with a gun? He then boasted that he killed five by slitting their throats. The third claimed that he had killed eight people. One soldier said his superior ordered him to cut a body in three pieces before burial, while another added exuberantly, I had to cut off the head. I had to chop it five and six timesPieces of flesh came out, like pork. But human flesh is yellowish. The soldiers show no sign of remorse and appear to speak proudly about committing unspeakable crimes and atrocities. The images and video in the report are the clearest evidence that the Sit-Tat regularly commits abhorrent war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The RFA report exposes just one incident from one of the many operations launched by the Sit-Tat nationwide. Data for Myanmar, an independent group monitoring the juntas atrocities, has estimated that 18,886 houses in 435 locations, of which the village in the report is just one of them, have been burned down in the Sit-Tats operations from February 1st, 2021 to the end of May this year. In fact, the actual extent of damage is wider, as data from some conflict areas is unavailable. As the Sit-Tat has done for decades, wherever it operates, it has committed arson attacks, mass arrests, torture, looting, wanton destruction and summary executions  including burning villagers alive and killing children.

The Sit-Tats Institutional Culture of Atrocities

The Sit-Tats brutality is a core element of its institutional culture as practiced throughout the modern history of Myanmar. In the countrys long-running and bloody civil war, the Sit-Tat has persistently and extensively executed its signature indiscriminate violence against not only its opponents but also non-combatant civilians, particularly in ethnic minority areas.

This is best reflected in its Four Cuts strategy, meaning the cutting off of food, money, intelligence, and potential recruits. This doctrine was developed by the Sit-Tat in the 1960s and used extensively and repeatedly over decades in its many counter-insurgency campaigns. The original aim of the Four Cuts was to cut off insurgent groups from essential support within the local population, and it predominantly targeted civilians instead of armed combatants.

Over seven decades of internal conflict, campaign after campaign has transformed Myanmars military into a battle-hardened institution shaped by its institutional culture of systematic atrocity infliction. The brutal clearance operations against the Rohingya, which the United States ruled a genocide, are the most internationally notorious example of how deeply entrenched the atrocity culture is within the institution.

As some analysts argue, ideology plays a crucial role in shaping the patterns of violence perpetrated by armed groups in civil war. In this case, the Sit-Tats atrocity culture is intertwined with its long-established guardianship ideology that justifies its violence, including the Four Cuts strategy. Successive military leaders have long claimed that the military is the guardian of the State and defender of the religious faith. This guardianship ideology is entrenched within the institution via constant indoctrination and propaganda campaigns amongst both the officers and enlisted men. Military personnel are indoctrinated to believe that they are indispensable to Myanmar because the country will disintegrate and Buddhism will be destroyed without their active protection. Any action by the guardians  even extreme atrocities  is justified as being for the sake of the country.

Soldiers are taught that they stand above all civilians, who are incapable of preserving the country and religion by themselves. As an institution guided by this ideology, the Sit-Tat rejects the notion of civilian control, which it regards as incompetent civilians unnecessarily attempting to restrict Its actions, and it is thus feels justified in undermining any constraints on its prerogatives.

Another key driver of this culture is the Sit-Tats legal impunity. The Sit-Tat has historically enjoyed decades-long legal impunity, as reflected in the 2008 constitution that reserved substantial powers, including 25 per cent of parliamentary seats and key ministerial positions, for the military even under civilian rule. Such a privilege of impunity impeled the coup-leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to boldly claim that there is nothing I dare not do before the coup and military personnel to believe that they can get away with any sort of fiendish crimes. As the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said, the current crisis was born of impunity.

Furthermore, the Sit-Tats atrocity culture is sustained by a system of harsh discipline. Historian Bret Devereaux observes in his Foreign Policy article that brutal discipline, such as harsh treatment between superiors and subordinates and brutal training, are enabling factors for the militarys atrocities. In the militarys repressive hierarchy subordinates, who have found themselves on the receiving end of harsh treatment by their own superiors, replicate the pattern to atrocious effect while in a position of power over unarmed civilians. Likewise, soldiers mistreated by brutalizing military training stand ready to apply what they have learned in basic training to others, particularly defenseless civilians.

The interplay of harsh discipline and war crimes is not unique to Myanmar. Studies on the brutality of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) concur with this statement. Japanese historian Saburo Ienaga wrote that the IJA practiced a cruelty towards subordinatessnowballed as it rolled down the ranks, till all the tensions and abuse landed on the recruitsthe lowest of the low. Professor Yang Daqing related this practice inside the army with atrocities towards outsiders in his study of the Nanjing massacre in 1937. Moreover, Ienaga also observed that the brutal military training in the IJA installed a penchant for brutality among its soldiers against enemy prisoners and civilian noncombatants.

Within the Sit-Tats climate of fear, individuals at the lower end of the military hierarchy are as ill-treated as slaves. Major Hein Thaw Oo, a military officer who broke ranks after the coup, told Myanmar Now that in the military, for whatever reason, youre always scared of anyone who has a higher rank than you. Moreover, as one analyst observed, training for military infantry troops is invariably rigorous and often brutal and a level of brutalization is par for the course in the training process. It therefore comes as no surprise that soldiers brutalized by internal military hierarchies are predisposed to unleashing their frustrations and grievances on civilians.

Finally, the institutional culture of atrocity, long-established, inculcated, and embedded within the Sit-Tat, often erupts as a direct result of the situational logic of the battlefield. Commanders, frustrated due to severe backlash, massive losses and abject failures in achieving their operational objectives, often push their troops to increase their level of violence, which therefore readily spirals into wartime atrocities. The Sit-Tat, which has suffered its heaviest losses in recent memory during the current fighting, has scaled up its brutality with the aim of creating a reign of terror by indiscriminately shelling and bombing civilian areas, extensively launching arson attacks and scorched earth campaigns, and committing mass murder in the name of reprisals. In the foreseeable future, it is safe to say that the increasingly overstretched and overburdened Sit-Tat will only escalate and intensify its atrocities, particularly under the pressures of a metastasizing rebellion.

In the Sit-Tat, a culture of atrocities has become so deeply entrenched that there is little hope of resurrecting the institution. During the democratic transition period, international actors attempted to engage the military in an attempt to reform it and ensure civilian rule. Yet, as demonstrated in its continued violence against ethnic minorities, the genocide of the Rohingya, and the February 2021 coup, the Sit-Tats institutional culture is fundamentally rotten to the core due to its potent mix of ideology, impunity, internal brutalization, and eagerness to resort to mass violence. The militarys atrocities did not appear all at once, but are only the latest incidences in a long string of tragedies.

The World Should Not Stand By

While the crisis in Myanmar, and the Sit-Tats future, will likely be decided on the battlefield, inaction by the international community to stop it will only contribute to the unfolding humanitarian cataclysm. Yet many in the international community look the other way as Myanmars military commits atrocious crimes against its fellow countrymen. This wilful ignorance stands in stark contrast to the international communitys response to the Russian militarys atrocities in Ukraine.

The global community has yet to fully realize that the Sit-Tat as an institution is unsalvageable and must be replaced, a fact that Myanmars people know all too well. Many in the international community still argue that the Sit-Tat will reinstall civilian rule through negotiated settlement and restore stability. But this is not realistic, as successive generals of the military have always presumed that negotiation comes from a position of weakness, and that compromise is about losing. Even if they enter into negotiations, it is not for genuine reasons but rather to buy time.

As history shows, the military with its profoundly internalized culture of atrocities is, as one analyst observed, an army of darkness. It will not concern itself with democracy, stability and the countrys future, but only with maintaining its grip on power by whatever means it deems necessary. And, considering its guardianship ideology and culture of atrocities, this includes escalating the mass violence.

Expecting the military with a deep-seated institutional culture of atrocities to bring the country back to a democratic and stable future is pure fantasy. Without radically reforming the institution, the Sit-Tat will always be a poison pill for the future of the country. The Myanmar people are experientially well aware of this fact, so they sacrificially set themselves towards the Herculean task of taking on the Sit-Tat to bring the country back to a stable democratic state. As Myanmars people embark on this struggle, the international community must do more to support and stand together with the people against the monstrous Sit-Tat.

Ye Myo Hein is the executive director of the Tagaung Institute of Political Studies and a fellow with the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

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Multinational conglomerate Honeywell has launched a suite of Occupant Experience apps to help owners and tenants in premium commercial buildings to leverage the benefit of a hybrid office space today.

The apps features analyse occupant behaviour and space utilisation patterns to improve comfort, convenience, and collaboration of workersputting control in their hands as they return to the office post-pandemic.

It identifies which areas need improvement.

Many employees are returning to the office at least a few days per week. In the Property Council of Australia's latest Office Occupancy Survey, office occupancy grew by at least 12% in all capital cities in Australia from May to June 2022.

Adelaide and Brisbane had peak occupancy days which reached 80% and 73% respectively. These figures are expected to remain strong with hybrid working arrangements becoming the norm.

Honeywells Occupant Experience suite, including the Honeywell Remote Building Supervisor, featuring an Occupant Experience dashboard, and the Occupant Experience app powered by the Sine Pro mobile platform, highlights the following features and benefits

Create value for building owners and facilities managers

Learn valuable insights on the occupants experience by soliciting feedback on security, safety, building health, cleanliness and collaboration

Access tools to show tenants how the building supports great occupant experiences and creates an environment for efficiency, productivity and collaboration

Improve property value with technology assets that can support current and future needs

Provide greater insight to employers and tenants

Help employees adjust to hybrid work schedules and protocols through scheduling tools, frictionless entry options and space utilisation analytics that prevent crowding

Leverage tools to make employees feel heard by providing easy feedback pathways

Provide in-office experiences focused on teamwork and collaboration to encourage a positive return to the office

Use space utilisation tools to accommodate employee populations

Gain confidence that goals for productivity, collaboration and retention are being met through easy-to-read, well-organised dashboards and real-time occupant experience indexes

Create frictionless experience for office workers

Take more control over their in-office experience, including direct access to adjust temperature and lighting through a readily available app that also provides frictionless check-in and visitor management, eliminating the need for badges or keycards

Submit on-the-go mobile requests to facilities managers about maintenance, security and quality of life factors

Engage directly with facilities staff to address building experience concerns

In a time where competition for talent is high and there is an increased focus on personal well-being, the occupant experience will continue to grow in importance as more employees return to offices and workers set higher expectations for the environments in which they spend time  the need to create a place that employees want to go to is key, said Honeywell Building Technologies interim vice president and chief technology officer Udaya Shrivastava.

We have already launched and field-tested these tools at our new Honeywell corporate headquarters in Charlotte to help us provide an unmatched occupant experience that supports the well-being of our employees and guests.

At Honeywells new Charlotte headquarters, Occupant Experience makes it easy for employees to move through campus. Sensors, cameras, and biometrics-based access control create a touchless experience. Using the Sine application, an employee can park their car in the garage, go through lobby security, access elevators and enter their desired office space without touching a single surface.

Gone is the need to fish bags or pockets for fobs, badges or keys. Once in the office, employees can adjust temperature and lighting controls in conference rooms and workspaces to their desired comfort while instantly reporting any office conditions that need attention from facilities management staff through the Occupant Experience app.

Honeywells innovative technology allows tenants to gain visibility into returning workers behaviour and can help tenants optimise their space utilisation, improve employees well-being and productivity, and identify opportunities to improve how their employees use their days working in the office, said PRP president and chief investment officer Paul Dougherty.

From our tenants perspectives, the more digital services people have to make their lives in the office easier and more rewarding, the more effective they are and the more they enjoy their work. And the more they enjoy their work, the more committed they are to their companies. Its about creating smart offices that are sustainable, comfortable, healthy, modern, equipped with digital services and simply more fun to work.
Billionaire Elon Musk has terminated his bid to buy social media company Twitter for US$44 billion ($64 billion), according to a filing on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but he's not off the hook just yet, as Twitter will file legal charges against the controversial SpaceX and Tesla CEO.

Twitter co-CEO Bret Taylor has responded on the social media platform and said Twitter will pursue legal action to ensure the deal goes ahead, according to ABC Australia.

"The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery."

Musk is known for his polarising online persona, and his tweets often generated controversies. His reputation precedes him, boasting more than 100 million followers, and engages with his followers on politics, talks business openly, and embraces the internet's meme culture.

However, there are dire consequences terminating the deal. For example, ABC Australia reported on Friday, shares of Twitter fell 5% to $US36.81, below the US$54.20 that Musk had offered to share.

Shares of Tesla climbed 2.5% to US$752.29.

What happens next

According to a filing with the SEC on 25 April, the deal requires Musk to pay Twitter a US$1 billion fee if he decides to cancel the buyout.

Of course, given Musk's estimated net worth, US$1 billion is just a walk in the park. Cancelling the deal won't be as easy as pouring large amounts of money. According to USA Today, Twitter may force Musk to complete the deal, citing analysis of legal observers.

Musk's lawyers have argued that the prevalence of bots on the social media platform is "fundamental to Twitter's business and financial performance."

Last 9 June, CommsWire reported that Musk questioned the number of bots and demanded to do his own verification, saying that he refuses to believe in Twitter's lax methodologies.

Legal experts say this is a weak argument.

UCLA Law professor James Park told USA Today that it's fairly obvious there are potentially fake spam accounts at Twitter.

Musk can make this argument, but I think it's a weak one, he said. To me, this is just a pretext for him to pull out of the deal.

Case Western Reserve business law professor Anat Alon-Beck told the publication in an email that Twitter has "every incentive to enforce the deal."

This fight is just beginning and only time will tell on how steep a penalty each side will pay to close this deal," Alon-Beck said.

Musk's Twitter buyout saga began in late March.

Twitter said he contacted members of its board including co-founder Jack Dorsey, and told them he was buying shared and was interested in either joining the board or taking Twitter private, or starting a new competitor, according to ABC Australia.

Last 4 April, a regulatory filing revealed he had become Twitter's largest shareholder after acquiring a 9% stake worth US$3 billion.

Twitter offered him a seat on the board, but Twitter CEO Parag Aragwal tweeted he won't be joining the board after all.

Then, he announced his bid to buy the social media platform. He sold roughly US$8.5 billion worth of Tesla shares and raised US$7 billion from a group of diverse investors including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 11 July 2022.
Telstra has hired 2,000 local new team members across the country to answer all consumer and small business calls.

This means all consumer and small business calls are now being answered in Australia.

"Our team are your neighbours. Theyre located in cities and towns across Australia, including regional hubs like Maryborough, Bunbury, and Bathurst. Thanks to hybrid working, this means the person helping you could be in your state, suburb, town or  who knows  even your street. On any given day, nine out of 10 of our consumer and small business service team choose to work at home," CEO Andy Penn wrote in Telstra's company blog.

Penn said Telstra made the change because of consumer demand.

"What we heard loud and clear was that you wanted a change in the way we answered our calls, so we did it," Penn said, referring to Telstra's subscribers. "Its a change that also deepens our local expertise."

Penn said for questions such as bill summary, services, and how to troubleshoot connection issues, the My Telstra app offers immediate assistance. But for complex problems, a customer service representative can offer extra help, "someone who understands your service history, and knows what you're going through."

Penn said subsribers can access the My Telstra app if they have quick questions on their bill summary, services, or connection issues. But for complex problems, a customer service representative can offer extra help, "someone who understands your service history, and knows what you're going through."

"During the Queensland floods earlier this year, we had customers in Brisbane speaking to local team members who understood first-hand the challenges they were facing. Being there  locals helping locals  this motivates our team every day," he said.

The initiative to answer all calls in Australia is part of Telstra's T22 strategy.

According to Telstra, T22 aims to simplify product offerings, eliminate customer pain points, and create better digital experiences.
John Taylor, DO

John A. Taylor, DO, of Mid Coast Medical GroupNeurology was awarded the Louis Hanson, DO, Physician of the Year award by the Maine Osteopathic Association (MOA) at the groups awards luncheon in June at the Samoset Resort in Rockland. According to the MOA, the award is presented to a DO who, "has demonstrated a high quality of practice, a compassionate interest in patients and a commitment to their community.

During the last 15 years, Dr. Taylor has found great satisfaction in starting new programs and developing them over time. Taylors involvement in those programs and his role with the department of motor vehicles are among the reasons he was chosen to receive the award.

Dr. Taylor came to Maine after completing his fellowship training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire. He arrived at Mid Coast Hospital in 2007 as its first neurologist. Since then, he has helped expand the neurology group from one to five providers, developed a successful Joint Commission-accredited stroke treatment program and started and leads the states only Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association-affiliated clinic. In addition, he is the chairman of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles Medical Advisory Board that establishes medical standards for safe driving.

Taylor is particularly proud that after years of effort, Mid Coast Hospital launched the first and only ALS Association-affiliated clinic in Maine dedicated to helping patients on their journey with ALS, a fatal disorder of the motor system.

"Motor neurons are responsible for controlling voluntary and some involuntary muscles, Taylor said. "It does not affect just arms and legs but also nerves in the esophagus and diaphragm affecting swallowing and breathing respectively.

The clinic serves 30 to 40 people at any given time, Taylor said, adding, "This is the type of disorder that rapidly progresses and requires constant surveillance of patient needs.

People with ALS require a wide variety of support as their condition advances including mobility, breathing, communication, nutrition and mental health. "We know our patients, we know the trajectory of this disorder and we can anticipate what theyll need and when theyll need it, Taylor said.

The multidisciplinary clinic also offers support groups and has implemented the Mind, Body, Medicine program for ALS patients that provides a set of techniques to assist with mindfulness. "Our clinic is as close to a one-stop shop as it can be, Taylor said.

Taylor said that while he was honored to receive this award, he shares it with many other collaborators.
GUEST OPINION: Product packaging has a significant influence on the customers buying decisions. So, now is the time to make your Australian web-to-print business stand out.

In this article, well discuss the current trends in custom packaging, the rise of the E-commerce print industry, and its future in Australia.

What is eCommerce packaging?

E-commerce packaging is an online business that produces wrapping material in cardboard, box, or plastic design to protect, display or promote a product.

According to global statistics, 72% of consumers decide to buy the product after viewing the packaging. Another research shows that 61% of consumers are likely to buy a product if it comes in premium packaging.

A report states that 67% of customers prefer paper and cardboard-based packaging over other packaging materials. These statistics show the importance of the print packaging business.

A wrong design choice can lead to damaged products, lost sales, and customer retention. Whereas excellent packaging design can generate revenue and increase brand loyalty and customer outreach.

Custom Packaging in Australia

Custom packaging is a well-reputed industry in Australia where customers have complete control over the design and size of the packaging design.

Most E-commerce print businesses in Australia provide the option of product packaging design software to their customers. So they can change the product's colours, fonts, and style or upload their own custom designs that best suit their brand or product.

The Print Sector & Its Revolution in Australia

Despite the low demand for print packaging, Australian E-commerce print businesses have been doing reasonably well in the past five years. It is also the best and most cost-effective strategy for promoting products.

Unique packaging and out-of-box design solutions can differentiate your business from your competitors and can also attract a large number of consumers worldwide.

The packaging is nothing less than an excellent combination of arts, science, and web-to-pack technology. Different products require different standards of packaging.



Check how web-to-pack software works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S_8ezuggXo

There is also a huge demand in Australia for biodegradable and recyclable packaging. Moreover, the Australian population has grown more prominent over the past years.

The manufacturing industries have also given rise to 3D printing because it saves cost and consumes less time. All these factors combined to bring revolution in the Australian E-commerce printing businesses.

Rise of eCommerce in Australia

Some of the E-commerce packaging design trends we can expect to see over the next few years in Australia are as follows:

1. Embellishment

The year 2022 is seeing the trend of embellishment on the horizon in Australia. Premium packaging with specialty inks, embossment, metallic foils, and UV coatings is rising.

The shine of embellishments is vital in attracting and retaining customers. It adds to the design and functionality of a product.

Embellishment doesnt need to be overcomplicated. A simplistic design with gold or silver foil can add an exclusive touch to the presentation of the product.

2. Personalization

Personalization is another trend gaining momentum in the Australian print packaging industry. Over the past years, consumers have become increasingly selective about the products they purchase.

Personalization is being incorporated into online print businesses. In fact, according to research, 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that will provide them with a personalized experience.

With the help of packaging box design software integrated into an E-commerce website, customers now have the choice to personalize designs. They can change colours, fonts, and sizes or add particular messages of their choosing to the packaging.

3. On-demand packaging printing orders

Gone are the days when printers used to prepare bulk products, which led to wasted products, time, and energy. Nowadays, print packaging companies manufacture products on request. This saves processing and labour cost and eliminates wastage of materials.

Multiple orders can be combined and printed in one go. You can also change the design of each product and print only what you need and when you need it. On-demand print packaging is also suitable for short seasonal and promotional design packaging, which is the norm of marketing nowadays.

How Web-to-Print Impacted the Australian Print Industry and its People?

The printing sector in Australia contributes to many aspects of the Australian economy, with more than 65,000 printing companies in operation. Understanding peoples changing behaviour has led many print E-commerce stores to make the necessary changes in their designs.

During the covid and post-pandemic phase, several Australian print companies went digital. It not only saved the cost but also provided enough opportunities for them to sustain growth amid lockdowns.

What used to be unattainable years ago is now the most thriving business in Australia due to fewer imports and more packaging required for takeaways and online shopping.

Consumers have also grown to love the web-to-print business models. It allows them to customize templates through web2print packaging design software from the comfort of their home.

The Future of Web-to-Pack Business in Australia

Digital transformation has changed the way consumers buy and businesses promote their products. Hence, online E-commerce stores are now integrating various technological solutions such as box packaging design software that covers all aspects of designing, ordering, and customer management. This saves time and increases the global outreach of a brand.

Considering the rise of the print packaging industry in Australia, the growth is set to increase to $4309.98 million between 2020 and 2025. Due to unprecedented demands for custom packaging designs, E-commerce stores have also increased their working capacity.

Consumers like interactive and colourful design solutions on-demand. Sustainable, reusable, versatile packaging and trend in 3D and graphic designs will be gaining momentum in the future.

Conclusion

Australia has the 11th largest E-commerce market in the world. Due to the increase in on-demand print designs, the print packaging industry continues to grow.

Various factors such as the growing population and covid have also contributed to consumers' buying behaviour. Knowing this, print companies are also shifting their businesses into online web-to-print stores and adapting sustainable and reusable packaging designs.

People want a cost-effective design solution. This has given rise to digital printing integrated with packaging design software that provides a personalized experience to customers.

One such effective solution is provided by DesignNBuy, which aims to empower visitors to customize packaging design and labels from the convenience of their smartphones. Your vendors can also track and manage orders from the backend efficiently.

So adopt this customized all-in-one web-to-print solution to increase your sales and make your Australian print business stand out.

About The Author:

Abhishek Agarwal, CMO of DesignNBuy comes with a huge experience in custom web to print solution & IT. With a mission to deliver the best and innovate new ideas in w2p he and his team always deliver challenging and exciting results. Delivering the best and with utmost perfection has always been his lifes motto.

Website link: https://www.designnbuy.com/; Twitter: https://twitter.com/designnbuy; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/design'n'buy/
GUEST OPINION by Debashish Jyotiprakash, APJ managing director, Qualys: In the last couple of years, we have witnessed a rapidly growing number of cyberattacks that has left organisations exposed to threats as they struggle to keep pace with and balance the growing need to transform and innovate, and match it with the cybersecurity investments required to properly assess the risks to their critical business processes, putting even more pressure on cybersecurity teams, which are often already understaffed.

Even though most organisations pay a lot of attention to cybersecurity and have invested heavily in security solutions, CISOs and CIOs often discuss they dont feel confident that they have the right capabilities in place to protect confidential and privacy-sensitive data.

According to a recent report, Australian CISOs felt least prepared and more at risk of cyber-attacks compared to global counterparts, with these three major challenges adding to their organisations vulnerabilities  lack of holistic visibility, a false sense of security and inadequate automation.

1. Lack of holistic visibility

One of the key challenges adding to the complexity of having an effective cyber-resilient strategy in place is not a lack of security solutions, rather many organisations using over ten security solutions - usually stand-alone tools with fragmented information - that they often deploy to limited subsets of their assets.

The larger the company, the more such silos exist. That leaves many assets out of view, and leads to a lack of context on its information and a lack of clarity about how all these assets connect among themselves and to the network environment. The value of data collected from these assets and its risk assessment of the organisation is effectively lost. That is not acceptable when vulnerabilities require an immediate response.

For CISOs and CIOs, the first order of business is to map out exactly what is in-house and their fundamentals. It is imperative to make an inventory of all known and unknown assets, and to keep this dataset up to date, in a configuration management database (CMDB). That means properly itemising all assets, identifying those most important for the organisation and the business processes to ensure the highest protection levels are applied. Having this system in place would then allow for better management and response to cyber-incidents.

2. A false sense of security

Virtually all companies use a wide range of security solutions such as Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) systems, antivirus solutions, firewalls, and so on. However, forensic research at companies that fell victim to hacks and cybercrime shows that these attacks often breached an asset that was falsely believed to be protected by a security solution. However, that solution turned out not to be enabled on the device at all.

Forensic research further shows that patches for vulnerabilities that have long been exposed are often missing. This provides cybercriminals with yet another point of entry. A thorough map of available patches and a trustworthy process to implement them significantly reduce the risk of intrusion.

Furthermore, after a vulnerability is fixed, often the system requires a reboot or a modification to a registry key before the patch is fully completed, although many organisations lack the control checks to ensure these steps are actually taken. While users believe the vulnerability to be fixed, it remains present.

Alert fatigue is another factor that has also contributed to a false sense of security as, although the solutions are in place, systems generate so many security alerts that employees become insensitive to them. As a result, they ignore these alerts or fail to respond to them adequately.

Finally, the trend of outsourcing cybersecurity to managed security service providers (MSSPs) is also adding to a not-so-bullet-proof security system as most MSSPs only work on subsets or silos as well. Many organisations employ the services of multiple MSSPs, engaging one party for servers, another for workstations, and yet another for cybersecurity. CISOs and CIOs must always have oversight of the entire environment. That calls for a so-called 'hybrid MSSP' outsourcing model: the MSSP services all or part of the environment while CISOs and CIOs retain control.

3. Insufficient automation

With a holistic understanding and well-founded confidence in security, organisations have all they need to protect assets from the risks of vulnerabilities. However, to best realise this, CISOs and CIOs must be able to correlate and understand their data. To do this, the context of the information is essential.

The more CISOs and CIOs can automate the processes to obtain this context, the better they can prioritise the remediation of assets and the easier it is to see whether or not they should act on alerts.

In addition, where compliance audits are concerned, it is vital that the reporting process is quick and efficient. Audits are often a very costly, time-consuming, and cumbersome exercise for any organisation. Therefore, auditors must have all the data and insight as soon as they require it. Collecting data from different point solutions or silos is complex and prone to errors. Moreover, if findings are not delivered promptly, auditors may shut down an organisation's operations. Automation can therefore be crucial for business continuity.

Conclusion

As the hacker community seems to retain the advantage and is becoming more and more sophisticated, CISOs and CIOs need to strengthen their organisations defences by levelling up and deploying a cyber-resilient strategy that ensures their security solutions are integrated and applied across critical assets, ensuring ongoing reviews and oversight of all the operations processes has taken place to effectively manage and respond to cyber-threats.
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THE ruling Zanu PF party has bragged that it has the countrys armed forces and war veterans on its side, raising fears that the security sector might be used to influence the outcome of next years polls.

Addressing a Zanu PF Press conference in Harare last Friday, party spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa, who is also national chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, said: We are delighted as war veterans; we are going to make sure that we support you (Zanu PF). We are also aware that we have a very proud umbilical connection to our friends in the armed forces. We have the best army in the world. We have remained there to make sure that we have the best army in the world. We are always conscious of the role they are playing in defending our nation and making sure that we keep the enemies at bay.

Mutsvangwa also sent a chilling warning to the opposition, mainly the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa, saying those calling for security sector reforms were daydreaming and that war veterans would not be messing around ahead of next years polls to make sure Zanu PF retains power.

We will not brook those who say there must be security sector reforms, our army is the best. We want to send a very strong warning to the opposition that the boys and girls are back in town, he boasted.

Zimbabwe National Army spokesperson Colonel Alphios Makotore yesterday refused to comment on Mutsvangwas claims.

Mutsvangwa is a politician, therefore, the army does not comment on political issues, Makotore said.

President Emmerson Mnangagwas government came into power in 2017 through a coup which toppled the late former President Robert Mugabe.

In past elections, the army and war veterans have been accused of helping sustain Zanu PF rule.

Army generals are on record stating that they will never salute any President without liberation war credentials.

During the 2008 election re-run elections when Mugabe was the Zanu PF presidential candidate, the campaign period was characterised by violence which resulted in many opposition MDC-T members, then led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai, being killed or maimed in brutal assaults by alleged war veterans, soldiers and Zanu PF militia.

During the August 1, 2018 post-election violence, soldiers gunned down six unarmed civilians during protests by MDC Alliance members, then led by Chamisa, over delays by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to announce Presidential election results.

Ahead of the 2023 polls, Zanu PF has resolved to form a war veterans league which will hold its elective congress next month to fill in 40 seats reserved for the wing in the party.

Mutsvangwa said war veterans were aware of the heavy responsibility thrust upon them.

We will not disappoint Zanu PF and the President. We will also bring in organisation and discipline  The discipline is symptomatic of the people who fought against an organised imperial army and won. It will be yours in a formal way for you to harness so that we deliver once-and-for-all a final blow to those who have pretensions to think that there can be regime change in Zimbabwe.

CCC deputy spokesperson Gift Ostallos Sibiza said this was an indication that Zanu PF was desperate to get the security sector on its side ahead of next years elections because its campaign was losing steam due to the countrys worsening economic crisis.

Its a clear desperate attempt by Zanu PF which is losing political support at a time CCC support is surging, as has been confirmed by the Afrobarometer survey and also by ordinary people because of the deepening socioeconomic crisis in the country, Siziba said.

Every Zimbabwean has rejected Zanu PF because of its failure, and they are doing everything to re-engage stakeholders including war veterans. It is clear and is of no doubt that Zanu PF is running from post to pillar because only the CCC government led by president Nelson Chamisa can be able to protect the legacy of the liberation struggle.

Political analysts said Mutsvangwas utterances were a clear indication that the securocrats were involved in the countrys political affairs.

Zanu PF has always relied on pressuring the ex-combatants and security institutions to support it as it has not always been confident about its electability. Where persuasion, the proverbial carrot has not been successful in influencing voters, these have provided the coercion, the proverbial stick, commentator Vivid Gwede said.

Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said: In terms of 2023, there is nothing much to expect unless the military chooses to work with the masses. Otherwise, the peoples vote will be stolen once again and the election will usher in a cycle of legitimacy issues, poor governance, economic crisis and further deterioration of social services.

We have re-lived this vicious cycle since 2000 and every stolen election brought phases of despair in the cycle.

Another political analyst Effie Ncube added: The relationship between the entire security infrastructure with partisan organisations is prohibited by the Constitution and every organ, including the army, is subject to the Constitution of Zimbabwe. So the idea that there can be any relationship between security forces with political parties, for instance Zanu PF, is a brazen violation of the Constitution. Newsday
China's auto market perks up in June amid easing COVID-19 control, policy stimulus

Xinhua) 09:35, July 12, 2022

BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- China's auto sales regained strong momentum in June after dropping for three consecutive months, boosted by waning COVID-19 outbreaks and strong policy stimulus, industrial data showed on Monday.

A total of 2.5 million motor vehicles were sold in June, up 23.8 percent from one year earlier, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.

Sales of passenger vehicles soared 41.2 percent year on year to 2.22 million units in June, data showed.

China's carmakers manufactured approximately 2.5 million vehicles in June, an increase of 28.2 percent year on year, the association said.

Thanks to the country's efforts to heavily promote the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs), the sector remains a bright spot. June's NEV sales hit a record high of 596,000 units, jumping 1.3 times from the same month of last year, data showed.

In the first half of 2022, overall vehicle sales in the world's largest car market hit 12.06 million units, with the sales of NEVs climbing 1.2 times from a year before, the association said.

The buoyant sales came after the implementation of a policy package to revive the industry that was hit hard by the pandemic, the CAAM said.

China in late May announced it would halve the car purchase tax for passenger vehicles priced at no more than 300,000 yuan (about 44,803 U.S. dollars) and with 2-liter engines or smaller. The tax cut will last from June 1 to the end of the year.

Some 1.09 million cars benefited from the cut during the first month of the policy's implementation, saving about 7.1 billion yuan for car buyers, according to the country's top taxation authority.

Policies have also been rolled out to bolster car consumption. The latest move came as China's authorities unveiled a raft of measures to spur demand, including facilitating the free flow of new energy cars among different regions, increasing numbers of parking lots and charging stations, and boosting parallel imports of cars.

Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the CAAM, said he expects that in the second half of 2022, buyer sentiment will recover further and policy incentives will continue to take effect.

The association, however, warned that the industry is still constrained by factors such as chip shortages, the rising costs of raw materials and uncertainties in geopolitical situations. It has called for further efforts to sustain growth.

The association expects steady growth for the whole year, predicting that annual sales of vehicles will reach 27 million units, up 3 percent year on year.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)


ELECTORAL watchdog, the Election Resource Centre says Zimbabwes total eligible voters should hover around eight million, meaning that nearly three million people are not interested to vote.

A graphic report produced by ERC this week revealed that opposition strongholds such as Harare and Bulawayo have the least number of potential voters registered to vote in the 2023 elections compared to rural constituencies.

According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), only 5 804 975 people are on the 2023 voters roll, a 2% increase from the 2018 figure of 5 695 706 registered voters.

Zec has promised to introduce more voter registration blitzes.

Infographics by the ERC showing the number of eligible voters against the population in each of the countrys 10 provinces have revealed that around 8 738 628 people are eligible to vote.

The province which has the highest number of eligible registered voters is Mashonaland East, with 72% (641 701) registered voters out of a population of eligible voters of 895 190. Manicaland, Mashonaland Central and Midlands follow at 70%.

Bulawayo has the lowest number of eligible citizens who registered to vote at 58% (270 914) out of an eligible voter population of 469 760, while Harare is at 65% (952 520) registered voters out of a population of eligible voters of 1 541 192.

Matabeleland South has 60% eligible registered voters, Matabeleland North 69%, Masvingo 66% and Mashonaland West 67%.

ERC programmes manager Solomon Bobosibunu said the methodology used was to look at the number of registrations released by Zec last week.

We also looked into the ZimStat [Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency] population projections that say, for instance, Bulawayo province has an adult population of 469 760 and Zec says it registered only 270 914. Thats what we are projecting in that infographic, Bobosibunu said.

Zimbabwe Democracy Institute director Pedzisayi Ruhanya said the opposition parties should aim to win with big margins in their urban strongholds like Harare, Bulawayo and in the Midlands provinces in order to close the losing gap in Zanu PF rural constituency strongholds such as Uzumba, Maramba and Pfungwe in order to win the 2023 presidential vote.

Ruhanya said during Zambias elections last year, United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema won with huge margins after encouraging people to register to vote.

I was looking at the election outcome in Zambia. There were two outstanding things. Where the opposition won, it won with a huge margin and where it lost, it lost with a small margin. So if you look at the history of Harare, the opposition usually takes all parliamentary seats and during council elections they can take 44 out of 45 council seats.

The presidential vote is about the actual number of the victory which matters. How Zanu PF wins in rural areas and how the opposition loses accounts for the presidential vote results. If you look at Harare during the previous election, Nelson Chamisas then MDC Alliance won with 500 000 votes, while (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa had around 200 000 votes. That margin is too small if you want to win a presidential election. For the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Chamisa to win the 2023 elections, its strongholds must win decisively, not just winning, Ruhanya said.

CCC interim deputy spokesperson Gift Ostallos Siziba said his partys focus was to win with a huge margin.

He, however, lamented the deliberate voter suppression.

Our focus is to mobilise every voter in the country because we are determined to win resoundingly, either council, parliamentary or the presidential vote. But there is deliberate voter suppression and a lot of electoral malpractices. Thats why we are talking about reforms and a pre-electoral pact so that we resolve these issues ahead of the elections, Siziba said.

Zanu PF director of information and publicity, Tafadzwa Mugwadi said: There is nothing wrong with those figures. Its given that for all intents and purposes, political parties formed to wrest power from the incumbent by their very nature are allowed to be optimistic, but the grassroots doesnt work along wills, opinionated views or anticipations of individuals in their formations. Its how the people react. They will always ultimately prevail and they have a tendency of prevailing through Zanu PF.

Zanu PF Mashonaland East province has, meanwhile, set a new target to mobilise one million voters ahead of next years elections.

For the whole country, the party is targeting five million voters.

Zanu PF Mashonaland East, famed for being the ruling partys stronghold, was initially tasked to mobilise at least 800 000 of the partys five million votes.

Addressing scores of party supporters at Waterloo Primary School in Murehwa South constituency at the weekend, provincial chairperson Daniel Garwe said they were now burning the midnight oil to mobilise more voters to register to reach the one million target.

We need a massive voter registration exercise in this province. We now need one million votes to come from this area, and that is an upward target from what we were initially told, Garwe said.

Zanu PF won 21 out of 23 constituencies in the province during the 2018 harmonised elections.

The province recently appointed a high-powered delegation led by politburo member David Parirenyatwa, which is moving in the districts mobilising people to register to vote.

The team is also assisting party members to get identity documents.

Zimbabwe Election Advocacy Trust official Ignatius Sadziwa said some potential voters failed to register because they did not have national identity cards, adding that they should be given the opportunity to register before the elections.

Meanwhile, Zec has slated the public inspection of the delimitation voters roll for July 17 to 26. Newsday
China on Tuesday accused Taiwan of "political manipulation" after its Vice President William Lai attended former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe's funeral -- Taipei's highest-ranking official visit to Japan in decades.

Beijing views the self-ruled democratic island of Taiwan as its own territory, and countries that have diplomatic relations with China usually refrain from having official exchanges with Taiwan.

"After the former Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo unexpectedly passed away, Taiwan authorities seized it as an opportunity for political manipulation," said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters at a routine briefing.

"Taiwan is a part of China, there is no so-called Vice President."

The Chinese government had already made "representations" to Japanese officials at its embassy in Beijing as well as in Tokyo, Wang added.

Taiwanese officials remained tight-lipped about the visit, likely to avoid further antagonising Beijing.

But Taiwanese media reported that Lai made the trip on the orders of President Tsai Ing-wen, in what one ruling party lawmaker called a "diplomatic breakthrough".

While Japan does not formally recognise Taiwan, relations between the two have warmed in recent years, with Tokyo donating several batches of Covid vaccines to the island and becoming more outspoken about China's growing influence in the region.

Japanese officials have also sought to downplay the visit, with foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi saying Tuesday that Lai had attended the funeral "as a private individual".

"There has been no change to our country's basic policy to keep our relationship with Taiwan as a non-governmental, working relationship," Hayashi told reporters.

Abe was dubbed "the most Taiwan-friendly Japanese prime minister" by Taiwanese media and he continued to voice support for the island in the face of Chinese military and economic pressure after stepping down in 2020.

But he had a mixed legacy in China, where he was criticised for visits to Yasukuni, a shrine that venerates the souls of Japan's war dead -- including some convicted by a US tribunal of war crimes -- and his death triggered a wave of jubilation on social media.
JUSTICE INFO IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS Leigh Payne



Latin America has been a hotbed of attempts to hold business accountable for serious human rights violations. Oxford sociology professor Leigh Payne has been working on the topic for decades. She explains how this region of the world has been able to multiply strategies and achieve some success.

JUSTICE INFO: How does your perspective as a sociologist rather than a lawyer allow you to approach the subject of corporate responsibility in serious crimes in a different way?

LEIGH PAYNE: As a sociologist, I find the focus on law frustrating because if you look at the world in terms of law on the books, it seems like a really wonderful place to be. But the gap between what we call law on the books and law in practice is enormous. There's a big gap between what is right, how to protect victims, and how victims can access those rights on the books in everyday practice.

In the field of corporate accountability you can see lots of ways in which the law could be interpreted as business having specific obligations, responsibilities, duties and obligations. And yet, there is an argument made in the legal scholarship that, in fact, there are no binding or enforceable obligations on business. How is this possible? How can victims have the right to truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-repetition on the books, but lack the binding or enforceable mechanisms to realize those rights? How can those legal instruments become applicable? What innovative lawyers have been able to do is to find creative ways around legal constraints and advance initiatives for victims of corporate abuses to realize their rights.

What we are trying to do as non-lawyers is to think about what is possible, what can become possible, and how we make it possible by looking at the key actors in society who are doing the work. The matter is: how are the victims able to gain access to truth, justice, reparations and the guarantees of non-recurrence? There is a real struggle. We've tried to identify what factors seem to be at play in making it possible for victims, who are weak actors in the Global South, to still stand up to these powerful domestic companies, sometimes multinational, who have all the protections of top lawyers.

Almost every country in Latin America has incorporated international human rights law into domestic law. It means victims don't have to depend on international courts but they can depend on local courts to apply the law.

On some level you could say: we don't really need transitional justice because a lot of instruments are already in place for victims in ordinary laws. Transitional justice has identified patterns of abuses that occurred within and across countries experiencing authoritarian rule and armed conflict. Once those patterns were identified and connected to existing international human rights laws, then victims and human rights advocates could mobilize to incorporate those international human rights laws into domestic constitutions.

Almost every country in Latin America has incorporated international human rights law into domestic law in the form of constitutions, but also in criminal law codes. It means victims don't have to depend on international courts but they can depend on local courts to apply the law, and it's the law of the land. Transitional justice, therefore, is not necessarily a special form of justice, but the application of justice to address human rights wrongs during authoritarian or armed conflict pasts.

In Latin America, and elsewhere, international human rights law is not required in law faculties. It thus becomes very important to have these laws incorporated into domestic law and to be able to rely on those laws. Judges understand that they need to apply domestic laws  laws incorporated into constitutions and criminal and civil codes. They may not understand that they can apply international laws.

A functioning watchdog or monitoring body exists in Latin America that has not yet evolved in other regions of the world.

Why is this region an example in having corporations challenged in courts?

We found that in African or Asian countries, victims have had to use foreign courts, like in the Netherlands or in France, to adjudicate these cases. One reason is that the domestic human rights law instrument and the set of human rights law innovators are not as strong outside Latin America. A powerful regional human rights body, moreover, exists in the region: the Inter-American Commission and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. That system has ruled against member states in Latin America for failing to adopt into their own legislation the regions human rights. Indeed, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights can rule against member states that have violated the Inter-American Convention. This acts as a pressure on states to adopt those Conventions that are meant to be binding on member states. In short, a functioning watchdog or monitoring body exists in Latin America that has not yet evolved in other regions of the world.

There is a mobilized, organized civil society that's making demands for its rights in every Latin American country.

You wrote in one of your articles that the transitional justice efforts in several Latin American countries could become a global model for promoting the accountability of economic actors for their involvement in serious human rights violations. Whats specific about transitional justice in Latin America?

We have, in Latin America more than any other region in the world, a concentration of human rights trials and truth commissions. First, as I said, because we have the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights. Every year, it goes to another part of Latin America. It has hearings where justice scholars and practitioners can participate, for example in Bogota, or more recently in Washington D.C. So there is an engagement with civil society by the Inter-American Commission and Court. It doesn't just write reports, it also brings countries to court if they violate human rights provisions embodied in the Systems Conventions.

The other reason is that the legal community in Latin America has been very strongly supported by international groups. The most powerful human rights NGOs in the world are in Latin America: CELS [Center for Legal and Social Studies] in Argentina, Dejusticia in Colombia, different NGOs in Mexico, etc. There is a mobilized, organized civil society that's making demands for its rights in every Latin American country. I don't want to give the impression that Latin America is uniform in this; there's a lot of variation between Brazil and Argentina, for example. But comparing to other regions in the world, there are more countries with internationally supported human rights organizations that have been able to do some of this creative thinking.

There are also legal practitioners who come out of an experience of gross violations of human rights and have committed their lives and their careers to promoting human rights. Many of them were trained outside Latin America; they were exiled during the dictatorship, so they began to have their formal training outside the region during a period of time in which authoritarian systems dominated in the region. When they came back to their countries, they worked hard, particularly with the Inter-American Commission, to make sure that there were advances in these areas of rights. They are very powerful protagonists. But they come up against very powerful veto players, as we call them, because we have a strong conservative legal tradition in Latin America. In this David and Goliath story, you sometimes have victories for the weaker civil society forces in the region, even where you might not expect them.

Some of these veto players involve companies that were domestic companies and grew into Latin American multinationals or multilatinas, as they're called. They are companies doing business all over the world that have grown very powerful and capable of resisting those kinds of demands for human rights protections for victims of corporate abuse.

Step by step we brought together people who have been at the forefront of advancing corporate accountability. We created a network and we also have been preparing a set of guidelines for how to advance these cases.

How was your approach to transitional justice built on the issue of corporate responsibility and for what purpose?

I began to work in the area of transitional justice before we had a name for it in the 1980s. I was working on my doctoral thesis on Brazilian business elites who had participated in the 1964 coup and how they responded to the transition to democracy. Some of them were beginning to speak about the "truth about the authoritarian regime". Later, when I began working in the defined field of transitional justice, I was not looking at business, but rather how to determine whether truth commissions, trials, and amnesty laws contributed to strengthening democracy and lowering human rights violations. A subsequent project examined alternative accountabilities and we considered mechanisms to hold non-state actors responsible for human rights violations; I began looking again at business during dictatorships and armed conflicts. Then, around 2011, I had lunch in Oxford with a member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights who knew that I was working on transitional justice. She asked me if I might be interested in building a database to see if the Ruggie principles work. [The UNs Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, known as the Ruggie Principles, formalize the concept of "due diligence" and its application to companies through proportionate measures to identify, prevent and remedy the negative impacts of their actions on human rights.] I answered that I would be very interested in building a database to evaluate whether the role of transitional justice in holding businesses accountable for past human rights violations, but I could not determine if the Ruggie Principles were relevant to that process.

Gabriel Pereira, now a law professor at the University of Tucuman [north of Argentina] and a founder of a human rights NGO called Andhes, joined me. Andhes brought some initial cases for violations by companies in the north of Argentina, mainly sugar mill companies. They were famous cases of torture, killings, and disappearance of workers and others by these powerful companies in the region. Next Laura Bernal, a sociologist and law professor at the Javeriana University in Bogota who had written her thesis on the successful trial against palm oil companies by Afro-Colombian victims of human rights abuses. She joined us and the three of us built the Corporate Accountability and Transitional Justice database.

Step by step we brought together people who have been at the forefront of advancing corporate accountability and we are now working with prosecutors, judges, and advocates to think about what lessons we can take across borders to remove blockages to accountability. We created a network and we also have been preparing a set of guidelines for how to advance these cases.

For example, during the Argentine dictatorship and elsewhere, there were cases of workers who were disappeared from the workplace. They went to work that morning and were never seen again. The companies where they worked were implicated in the disappearance. In some cases, the companies had their own detention centres on site. Creative efforts have been used to try to hold companies accountable for these disappearances. These creative efforts involved a blending of labor laws and international human rights norms embedded in domestic constitutions. Labor law in Argentina requires companies to protect the safety of workers. Their disappearance from the workplace violates those protections. However, those safety protections have a statute of limitations of only a couple of years; the statute of limitations had run out by the time it was possible to bring these cases after the end of the dictatorship.

Under international human rights law, that is also incorporated into Argentina's constitution, there is no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity. Disappearance is a crime against humanity. Therefore, innovative strategies were adopted to hold businesses accountable for their failure to protect workers' safety from disappearance, blending domestic labor law and international human rights protections in the country's constitution.

The aim of our corporate accountability collaboration is to put more tools in their hands of victims and their advocates, to better defend victims of corporate human rights violations. By developing a network of support if something does happen  if somebody is threatened, if somebody is intimidated  we can alert people and raise visibility to these tactics to suppress accountability.

In Brazil, a group of businessmen organized a way to help finance the dictatorships repressive apparatus to end conflicts with labor. Some companies even had their own detention centers on the company premises where employees faced tortured.

Did you identify specific stories of violations and reparations?

We did a study of all the published truth commissions reports that we could find. And we went through and looked for any reference to companies in relation to violations of human rights. In Guatemala, there are a few big companies like Coca Cola that were mentioned in the report. In addition, a number of powerful landholders in specific regions were mentioned who lack the kind of global power of Coca Cola. In Brazil, with the huge incentives for foreign investment before and during the dictatorship, multinational investment by firms such as Volkswagen, Mercedes, Ford and Fiat occured, but national companies like Petrobras or Odebrecht also grew during the dictatorship. The coup was in 1964 and these companies remain powerful today. Many were involved in supporting the coup, the dictatorship, and its repressive apparatus.

To give a more concrete model, Volkswagen was operating in the industrial area around Sao Paulo during the dictatorship. At the same time, trade unionists were developing. A group of businessmen organized a way to help finance the dictatorships repressive apparatus to end conflicts with labor. Some companies even had their own detention centers on the company premises where employees faced tortured. The National Truth Commission didn't pay attention to these violations initially. It didn't have a mandate to investigate corporations involvement in human rights violations. It was the Sao Paulo Truth Commission [set up in 2012 in parallel to the National Truth Commission] that really focused on the business and its role during the dictatorship. The trade union movement had worked with that Commission to carry out investigations; they produced documents sent to the Sao Paulo Truth Commission who conducted research in the archives of the business federations in Sao Paulo. Local Commission actors and trade unionists then pressured the National Truth Commission. The national Commission eventually included the Sao Paulo findings in the final report. The recommendations of that report were to investigate criminal violations of human rights. Sao Paulo state prosecutors began these investigations against Volkswagen drawing on trade unions research and documents. Eventually, with strong pressures from Brazil and Germany, Volkswagen agreed to settle the case with individual and collective reparations. They also agreed to build a memory site in Brazil and to support investigation into other companies activities during the dictatorship.

We have violations in the mining sector in Peru, in sugar mills in Argentina, auto manufacturers in Brazil, and landholders in Guatemala. It really is quite a range of companies.

Did you identify what types of businesses have been prosecuted in Latin America? Were they only large companies or also small companies and in which particular sectors?

We thought there would be a targeting of the mining sector because of so many violations. But in fact, we find everything, including small businesses. We have violations in the mining sector in Peru, in sugar mills in Argentina, auto manufacturers in Brazil, and landholders in Guatemala. It really is quite a range of companies.

In the case of Paine, in Central Chile, the individual who was prosecuted, Juan Francisco Luzoro Montenegro, owned a transportation company but he was also a landowner. The people of Paine had received land under the Frei and Allende governments before the Pinochet dictatorship. They were political activists; some of them were part of the armed left. During the dictatorship, a high number of community activists were tortured and massacred. Some of the bodies have never been found. The military police was found guilty in that case but also Luzoro was held accountable in the Chilean high court.

One of the big successful cases is the Argentine case against Ford Motor Company. Two top officials in the Ford Motor Company were found guilty and were sent to prison for similar kind of story as Volkswagen: torture within the Ford plant in Argentina. That case was also brought simultaneously in US courts, but has not advanced. These executives have appealed the Argentine decision. The employers are 92 and 95 years old, however, so it is likely they will die of natural causes before the appeal is completed. But they may die convicted for the role they played in the torture of the 1970s.

Since that Shell agreement, the US Supreme Court has made it harder and harder to bring cases through the Alien Tort Statute.

The dictatorship period in Latin America is 40 or 50 years ago. What about current violations?

I just came back from Colombia where, despite the peace accords, a conflict continues. Violations today are definitely linked to the transition and transitional justice process. People who work in business and human rights still hold out hope that the courts in the Global north might prove powerful enough to get convictions for ongoing  post-transition -- human rights violations around the world. The United Kingdom, France, Switzerland are beginning to consider adopting national laws that allow their courts to hold companies accountable for crimes against humanity that are committed outside their countries and by non-national companies.

This was what has been tried in the US under the Alien Tort Claims Act. It's a civil claim so you can't put individuals in jail but you can fine them heavily for the harm that's committed. Crimes against humanity, genocide are against the law of nations. So that would enable US courts under this statute to hear those cases even if the crime did not take place on US soil or did not even involve a US company. That's what happened with Shell in Nigeria: it was brought to courts in the US for civil claims. Shell is a Dutch company, the crimes were committed in Nigeria, but the US courts nonetheless took the case. Eventually Shell settled a very dramatic settlement for the Ogoni people in Nigeria who were victims of massacres. It was a success. But since that Shell agreement, the US Supreme Court has made it harder and harder to bring cases through the Alien Tort Statute.

Why?

In recent decisions the US Supreme Court has limited the possibility of taking these cases through the US courts because there's not enough, as the Supreme Court justices said, touch and concern. It doesn't touch our land and it doesn't concern our people enough, they said. Another decision that weakens the use of this Act for corporate accountability relates to foreign policy: that when there are foreign policy considerations, US courts should not be involved since they are not foreign policy making bodies. The new developments in Europe have a lot of potential to fill a gap left by the Alien Torts Statute. But this is at a preliminary stage without any certainty about whether the same kind of pushback that has happened in the US will also happen in Europe.

The transitional justice in Colombia really tried to make up for all of the past gaps in accountability. Now, because of political pressure, it may end up being a very limited process.

If you take Colombia and its comprehensive transitional justice process, how do you see it addressing corporate accountability for serious crimes?

In our conversations with some of the attorneys in Bogota, they prefer to resort to ordinary justice because transitional justice has become too politicized. There's so much pressure against it from the government [This interview took place before the change of government in Colombia following Junes presidential and general elections] that everyone who's trying in these leadership positions is being threatened. In a country of 50 years of violence you really don't ignore those security threats.

So that's a little bit disillusioning because the transitional justice in Colombia really tried to make up for all of the past gaps in accountability. Now, because of political pressure, it may end up being a very limited process. On the other hand, cases are going through the ordinary courts. We had some astonishing victories like for the Afro-Colombian workers on palm oil plants who have seen justice in ordinary courts against palm oil companies, or the Chiquita Brands case and the Drummond case.

In fact, what I take away from the project on corporate accountability as a lesson is this: Try wherever you can. Go international. Go foreign. Go transitional justice. Go ordinary courts. Be creative. Do everything you can because these cases are really hard to win.

Interviewed by Clementine Metenier
Many Rwandans have been convicted for acts related to the 1994 genocide by domestic courts, international ones or those in Western countries.

A French court on Tuesday jailed for 20 years Laurent Bucyibaruta, the highest-ranking Rwandan official, to have faced trial in France over the 1994 massacres in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in 100 days of mass killings.

AFP takes a look back at previous convictions.

- International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda -

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was set up by the United Nations in 1994 in Arusha Tanzania just months after the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people, most of them ethnic Tutsis, were killed.

In September 1998 it became the first international tribunal to hand down a conviction for genocide. The court issued dozens of rulings, from life sentences to acquittals, before closing in late 2015.

Its work was taken over by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) office in Arusha, where the overall MICT chief prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, is based.

Felicien Kabuga, an alleged financier of the genocide, is due to be tried "as soon as possible" at The Hague after a UN court ruled in June that he was fit to stand.

Kabuga, arrested near Paris in 2020 after 25 years on the run, is accused of helping to create the Interahamwe Hutu militia, the main armed group involved in the massacres, according to the UN.

- Rwandan justice -

Rwanda started trying genocide suspects in 1996 and on a single day in April 1998 had 22 executed by firing squad.

It abolished the death penalty in 2007, lifting the main obstacle for the ICTR to transfer genocide suspects to the Rwandan judiciary for trial.

Since 2017, three defendants who have returned to Kigali have received life sentences.

Between 2005 and 2012, more than 12,000 "gacaca" grassroots courts put nearly two million people on trial and convicted 65 percent, sending most to prison.

- Western courts -

In 2001 a Brussels court sentenced four Rwandans, including two Catholic nuns, to 12-20 years in prison for "serious violations of international humanitarian rights" for providing the means for the killings or failing to intervene.

In 2005 two Rwandan businessmen were sentenced to 10-12 years in jail for war crimes and murder.

In 2007 a former Rwandan army major was convicted of "premeditated homicide" for his role in several killings, including of 10 Belgian peacekeepers who were protecting the prime minister.

In 2009 a Brussels court sentenced a Rwandan ex-bank director, dubbed the "genocide banker", to 30 years in prison for murders and rapes during the bloodbath.

In 2019 former senior Rwandan government official Fabien Neretse was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the first conviction in Belgium that used the crime of "genocide".

In France the first trial took place in 2014, two decades after the genocide. An ex-presidential guard member was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

To date three men have been definitively sentenced. A fourth, a former Franco-Rwandan hotel driver accused of having transported militiamen, appealed his conviction in 2021 to 14 years in prison.

In 2016 a Paris court sentenced two former Rwandan village mayors to life in prison for taking part in the genocide. The sentence was confirmed on appeal.

Since 2009, a dozen or so convictions have been handed down -- most of them life imprisonment -- in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, the US and Canada.

acm-ang-rap-eab/jmy/bp
Go Yoon Jung's career is slowly skyrocketing to the top. From doing more minor roles to being recognized by fans for her extreme talent. The actress recently made headlines for her cameo appearance in the highly loved fantasy series "Alchemy of Souls," which made everyone swoon with her girl crush charisma and impressive acting skills. As she becomes more prominent in the industry, here are some things you need to know about Go Yoon Jung!

1. Go Yoon Jung is an art major.

Prior to her television debut in 2019, Go Yoon Jung has always expressed her thoughts and feelings through other forms of art.

Self-expression has always played a vital role in honing herself as an artist. Because of her innate fascination with beauty and art, she studied art and earned her bachelor's degree at Seoul Women's University.

2. She is a model.

Go Yoon Jung is definitely fond of being the star of the show! She isn't only good at acting, but she's also a master in striking a pose for the camera.

The "Alchemy of Souls" star started her career as a model under MAA and has worked with many well-known brands such as Nike, Giorgio Armani, Tom Ford, and more.

In particular, Go Yoon Jung worked hard and built a massive online following. Currently, she has more than two million followers on Instagram and counting!

3. Go Yoon Jung loves making memories.

While films and television series are capturing her growth as an actress, Go Yoon Jung also loves making memories by herself that she'll undoubtedly treasure forever.

The actress loves traveling and experiencing other parts of the world, including their food, culture, and lifestyle. To document her journey, she uses her professional eyes to snap breathtaking moments that she will vividly remember as she ages.

Although she may not consider herself as a photographer, the actress is clearly one. Her love for photographs is paired with her love for traveling, making it a combination that truly works for her.

4. She is a movie junkie.

Like many regular people, Go Yoon Jung finds happiness in the smallest things.

She spends her time watching movies and television shows when she's not busy with work. Go Yoon Jung loves a wide variety of shows, but her favorites are "Stranger Things" and "The Walking Dead."

5. Go Yoon Jung will return with a major acting role.

Go Yoon Jung has only done minor and supporting acting roles on television since her debut.

This year, the actress promises to return with a greater role and work as she was cast in her first-ever film "Seoul Vibe," which was set in 1988 during the Olympic Games. It follows the story of a car chase to take down the corrupt politicians and authorities behind the controversial slush funds.

Yoo Ah In, Go Kyung Pyo, and more big stars will also lead the film, and it is expected to be released in the second half of 2022. On the other hand, she receives her first-ever Cannes role through Lee Jung Jae's directorial debut film "Hunt."

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
While on her hiatus due to pregnancy, soon-to-be mom Son Ye Jin is mastering a new hobby. After a surprising announcement about their growing family, the actress has been updating her 6.9 million followers on her life outside the spotlight. Keep on reading for all the details.

Son Ye Jin's Instagram Shows Off her Impressive Cooking Skills

In her recent IG post, the Hallyu star posted a series of photos featuring delectable dishes.

She flaunted her high-level cooking skills by showing her millions of followers her versions of mouth-watering dishes from kimbap, stir-fried anchovy, stewed fish, tortilla pizza, yukgaejang, and hamburgers.

In her caption, the "Thirty-Nine" star explained that she spends most of her time in the kitchen.

"I do a lot of cooking these days that I haven't done before. I feel so proud when I feel like cooking for the first time. Everyone who is good at cooking is amazing. But at this time, a picture of food. Sorry!" the actress wrote.

While fans mentioned how amazing she is at cooking, Son Ye Jin's celebrity friends also praised her new hobby,

"Once Again" actress Oh Yoon Ah even commented, "Oh, you're good at it!"

Song Yoon Ah expressed the same thought and wrote, "No, more and more!!! What's going on! It must be amazingly delicious."

Interestingly, this is not the first time that the "Crash Landing on You" flaunted her skills in the kitchen.

In an Instagram post uploaded in June 2021, she mentioned that it was her first time preparing dumplings.

"The first time I've ever made dumplings," she wrote, adding, "It's the first time I've ever made it this pretty. Dumpling master. Goodnight. I want to go to bed, so I'm going to have seafood before I go to bed."

It appears like Son Ye Jin might spend most of her time cooking now that she's on hiatus because of her pregnancy.

Son Ye Jin's Pregnancy

Three months after their ceremony, dubbed the "wedding of the century," Son Ye Jin took to Instagram and announced bombshell news.

She mentioned wanting to "share some joyful news" with her fans.

With a symbolic photo shared on Son Ye Jin's Instagram, she revealed "A new life has come to us," signaling that she is pregnant with their first child.

She concluded a heartfelt message with a promise that she and Hyun Bin "will make sure to protect the valuable life" that has come to them.

As of this writing, the post garnered over 2.1 million likes and tons of congratulatory messages from friends and fans.

Son Ye Jin last appeared in the K-drama "Thirty-Nine" alongside Jeon Mi Do and Kim Ji Hyun, who were also present at her wedding.

Meanwhile, Son Ye Jin's husband, Hyun Bin, is set to return to the big screen with multiple projects. This includes a film with Hwang Jung Min called "The Point Men," followed by a team-up with Jeon Yeo Bin for "Harbin" and lastly, the highly anticipated sequel "Confidential Assignment 2: International."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Here's How Hyun Bin & Son Ye Jin Reacted After Fan Welcomed Them in NYC

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
Song Ji Hyo received various comments from the public after her short hair look appeared. No one knew why she had to cut it, but in her recent guest appearance on the Korean talk show with Lee Yong Jin, the actress finally revealed why. Keep on reading for all the details.

Song Ji Hyo Gets Real About Having Short Hair

In the program "Turkids on the Block" episode 3, MC Lee Yong Jin welcomed actress and "Running Man" host Song Ji Hyo as his next celebrity guest. The "Princess Hours" star sat down and had a casual interview with the show's host.

While enjoying their conversation and curious that he is just like any other fans and the female star's supporters, MC Yong Jin asked why Ji Hyo suddenly cut her hair short.

Before answering, Lee Yong Jin added to his statement that there was a rumor that the reason why Song Ji Hyo made a hair transformation was because of a breakup. Another reason was that others said that the "Running Man" host doesn't want to spend much money on her long hair.

The MC even complimented Song Ji Hyo that short hair does fit her well, however, he wanted to know the truth behind her new hairstyle.

Meanwhile, before saying anything, the South Korean star contemplated first whether she would tell the truth on the national broadcast. After moments of deciding, Song Ji Hyo finally revealed why she had a sudden hair transformation that caused controversy among fans.



According to her, she drank a lot and confessed that she cut her hair by herself. "The Witch's Diner" actress continued, "During that time, I suddenly lost my temper and thought about why I should have long hair. I cut my hair using small scissors."

Song Ji Hyo Apologizes and Asks the Public Not To Criticize Her Staff

Her revelation caused laughter on the set of the show. She faced the camera and publicly apologized, "Please don't be mad with my staff members."

In November 2021, Song Ji Hyo's new hair did receive backlash from fans. It was after the actress showed her pixie cut hair at the "Running Man" episode broadcast. Fans were not satisfied with her hair and even targeted Ji Hyo's stylists, blaming them for cutting her hair.

The "Was It Love" lead star already stated that she decided to have shorter hair, but the public did not readily accept it and kept pointing at Song Ji Hyo's stylists. And after almost eight months, the public now knows the real reason why the female star had a surprise hair transformation.

Meanwhile, catch Song Ji Hyo every Sunday on the longest-running Korean variety show "Running Man."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Amid Backlash, Song Ji Hyo Flaunts Stunning Pixie Cut at the 2021 Asia Artist Awards

Got any thoughts? Tell us in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
Goo Hye Sun revealed a surprising and heartfelt way she spent the prize after winning an award at the Asia competition at Japan's film festival. After bagging the Audience Award, Goo Hye Sun took to social media and shared what she will do with the prize. Keep on reading for all the details

Besides being an actress, the 37-year-old beauty focuses on projects behind the camera.

Interestingly, her short film "Dark Yellow" made it as one of the competitors at prestigious Japan's Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2022.

The said competition is the Academy Awards-accredited film festival focusing on Asian short films.

Goo Hye Sun Made a Thoughtful Donation to Support her Alma Mater

The "Boys Over Flower Star" decides to share her blessings and donate the entire prize she got at Japan's Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2022.

Over Goo Hye Sun's Instagram, she revealed that the money will be donated to a school's fund campaign.

"I received the 'Audience Award' prize at the 24th International Short Shorts Film Festival," she wrote. She added, "When I heard the news that there were students who couldn't get their education due to the economic hardship, I donated to my alma mater, Sungkyunkwan University's 'Senior Love Learning Support Fund, Senior Shoots Campaign."

The actress-director is currently studying at the university's Department of Imaging, where she honed her skills as a filmmaker.

On the other hand, Newsis also shared the statement of Goo Hye Sun's agency IOK Company, confirming that she has donated the entire prize to her alma mater.

The representative of the talent label said that Goo Hye Sun wants the money to be used "more meaningfully" and after hearing the plight of the students who were "skipping their studies due to difficult economic conditions" the actress "expressed his intention to donate."

Goo Hye Sun's Short Film 'Dark Yellow'

After being under the radar, Goo Hye Sun focused on making short films with her latest project, "Dark Yellow."

It follows the story of a woman who works at a yellow flower shop and unexpectedly meets a mysterious man who becomes obsessed with her.

"Dark Yellow" cast includes Goo Hye Sun as one of the lead stars alongside "Sweet Revenge" season 2 star Ahn Seo Hyun.

The short film was her comeback since the 2017 short film "Father's Sword" and also her ninth project as a director.

Besides competing at Japan's Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2022, "Dark Yellow" debuted at the 2021 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.

According to the Korea Times, Goo Hye Sun shared that she purposefully wanted to create a film about women.

"By making this film, I wanted to understand both women and men. In addition, I wanted to deal with subjects such as our inferiority complex and vulnerabilities," she explained.

Apart from "Dark Yellow," she is also planning to direct a documentary about the new-age of music.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Goo Hye Sun Clarifies Relationship Status Through Instagram Post

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
Preliminary state school funding estimates for the 2022-23 academic year indicate Kenosha Unified may be receiving a slight cut in general state school aid.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has released estimates for general school aid each district will receive for the coming year, subject to final budget calculations later this year.

Kenosha Unified School District is estimated to receive $148,259,398 for the upcoming school year based on the budgeted dollars sent in by the district. That is a $651,820 change from last years general state aid.

Any change in state aid, whether it be increase or decrease, doesnt change the total size of our budget, said Tarik Hamdan, chief financial officer for the district.

Hamdan said if there is a decrease in the amount of state aid, for example, the district would potentially need to raise its tax levy.

Now we are in the process of our audit and doing our end of year clean up, and then we will report our actuals to the DPI, Hamdan said. Then they recalculate all of that and in October they give us what our official state aid number is.

The amount of aid given to schools first goes through the states equalization formula, which takes property valuation, enrollment and shared costs into account.

Thats why they call it Equalization Aid, Hamdan said. The concept is to kind of balance out high property value districts with low property value districts to ... try to level the playing field.

An increase in local property values is part of the reason why Kenosha Unified School District could receive less aid from the state, according to Hamdan.

Hamdan believes the district will receive something close to the estimate.

I think we might get a little more because were not necessarily going to spend all the budget this year, Hamdan said. I know our data, but all the other 421 districts, their data is going to also play into the same thing.

Hamdan reiterated that the amount of aid provided by the state does not increase or decrease the size of the budget in total. What it will change is the mix of property tax levy and state aid, Hamdan said

Other area districts

Central High School District of Westosha is estimated to receive $5,307,023 in state aid, which is a $247,234 decrease from the $5,554,257 it received last October. Westosha district administrator John Gendron said the decrease in aid was anticipated, considering the property value per student in the district was increasing. Weve planned for it, Gendron said. It will not have a significant impact on the school tax levy.

Wilmot Union High School District is estimated to receive $2,630,333 in state aid, which is $505,307 less than the $3,135,640 it received last October. Nicole Massie, the business manager for Wilmot Union High School District, said the estimated decrease in funding will not affect the schools programming but the tax levy may increase due to the increase in property value within the district.

Burlington Area School District is estimated to have an increase in state aid. The district is estimated to receive $18,871,979, which is a $407,370 increase from the $18,464,609 it received for the 2021-2022 school year.

Bristol #1 School District is estimated to receive $4,231,141 in state aid, which is a $349,283 increase from the $3,881,858 received in state aid last year.

Brighton School District is estimated to receive $336,337 in state aid, which is a $44,829 increase from the $291,508 the district received in state aid last year.

Paris Consolidated School District is estimated to receive $63,547 in state aid, which is an $11,214 decrease from the $74,761 the district received in state aid last year.

Randall Consolidated School District is estimated to receive $2,214,662 in state aid, which is a $303,425 increase from the $1,911,237 the district received in state aid last year.

Salem School District is estimated to receive $7,483,026 in state aid, which is a $332,047 increase from the $7,150,979 the district received in state aid last year.

Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated School District is estimated to receive $3,106,251 in state aid, which is a $201,917 decrease from the $3,311,168 the district received in state aid last year.

Twin Lakes School District #4 is estimated to receive $890,396 in state aid, which is $167,907 less than the $1,058,303 the district received in state aid last year.

Wheatland J1 School District is estimated to receive $2,647,224 in state aid, which is a $182,066 more than the $2,465,158 the district received in state aid last year.

Read Across Kenosha March 2 community literacy event Forest Park Read Across America 2022 Forest Park Elementary was one of about 40 schools to participate in this year's United Way of Kenosha County's Read Across Kenosha community  Forest Park Read Across America 2022 Students at Forest Park Elementary participate in this year's United Way of Kenosha County's Read Across Kenosha community literacy event held Forest Park Read Across America 2022 Students at Forest Park Elementary participate in this year's United Way of Kenosha County's Read Across Kenosha community literacy event held Forest Park Read Across America 2022 Students at Forest Park Elementary participate in this year's United Way of Kenosha County's Read Across Kenosha community literacy event held Forest Park Read Across America 2022 Students at Forest Park Elementary participate in this year's United Way of Kenosha County's Read Across Kenosha community literacy event held Forest Park Read Across America 2022 Students at Forest Park Elementary participate in this years United Way of Kenosha Countys Read Across Kenosha community literacy event held Forest Park Read Across America 2022 Students at Forest Park Elementary participate in this year's United Way of Kenosha County's Read Across Kenosha community literacy event held Forest Park Read Across America 2022 Students at Forest Park Elementary participate in this year's United Way of Kenosha County's Read Across Kenosha community literacy event held Forest Park Read Across America 2022 Students at Forest Park Elementary participate in this years United Way of Kenosha Countys Read Across Kenosha community literacy event held
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Unlike my dad, I grew up with very different feelings about my own longevity. I have always believed that I would live to a ripe old age. This belief has colored my approach to career and finances. In many ways, I was able to delay my passions in order to build the appropriate amount of jet fuel to power my transatlantic flight. The urgency of now was replaced with a wholehearted wish to delay gratification now to benefit the future.

Getting your financial house in order requires understanding these concepts, weighing them, and coming to terms with what scares you most. Armed with this knowledge you can create a financial plan which balances the urgency of now and your wealth needs for the future.

Jordan Grumet is an internal medicine physician, host of the Earn & Invest Podcast, and author of Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctors Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, A hospice doctors advice on getting your finances in order.

This episode is sponsored by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM).

Chronic disease is a global emergency. If youre interested in evidence-based lifestyle change to address the root causes of chronic disease and restore health, rather than the less effective approach of merely managing symptomsits time you heard about the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM).

Experience ACLMs annual lifestyle medicine conference, #LM2022, while you earn CME/CE and connect with leading lifestyle medicine experts.

Become an ACLM member before the conference and save up to 22 percent off registration.

Go to lifestylemedicine.org/membership to learn more.

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Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD.

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Click here to earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

Also available in Category 1 CME bundles.

Powered by CMEfy  a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s). Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

Do you know someone who might enjoy this episode? Share this episode with anyone who wants to hear health care stories filled with information, insight, and inspiration.

Hosted by Kevin Pho, MD, The Podcast by KevinMD shares the stories of the many who intersect with our health care system but are rarely heard from.
I have survived every tragedy that comes with nursing

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If mommy dearest only knew.

There I was, sitting in the banquet room  a room full of retired nurses celebrating with upper management. They were praising us for our retirement and praising us for our blood, sweat and tears and massive overtime hours with little to no potty breaks. They were praising us for our missed time with our families, like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving.

It was nice.

With their white gloves, waiters served us tea and coffee and a fine meal with adorable desserts on the side  crystal chandeliers were hanging above each table.

There was a long-term chaplain to pray over our food and a senior vice president cheering us on.

It was nice.

But maybe I am, as Prince used to sing:

Maybe Im just like my mother

Shes never satisfied.

Mommy dearest used to call the people at this country club: the blue bloods.

Dad moved up the corporate ladder. We had a big house, a lake house with a boat and went to private school.

What we didnt have was the acknowledgment of alcoholism, as daddy eventually became a non-functioning alcoholic.

Mother would have done anything to be a member of this elite country club.

As this upper echelon group praised us, they interjected how we could volunteer to help the nurses in the hospital. They suggested giving out dinner trays to the patients, assisting in feeding some of the patients, assisting in turning and repositioning patients and loads of other opportunities to volunteer for the corporation. The list was endless.

It was nice.

As they each gave their speech, my mind drifted off.

I thought about how I was so tainted by several hospital systems and how I dedicated 46 years of my life to nursing. Emergency department nursing, surgical/PACU nursing, surgical trauma ICU, CCU, behavioral health nursing.

Nurses Week would come and go every year. And we were honored by a cookie, shoestrings, a rock, half-eaten pizza and Lifesavers.

I reflected on all of my trauma and triumphs during this career.

Management attempting to write me up for calling out sick while my husband was dying, because I had to call out sick frequently before a leave of absence was initiated for me.

Mandatory overtime.

During COVID, there was nurse desperation. While travel nurses were paid over $100 an hour, we were offered an extra $5 an hour.

My list is long.

There was sadness in my heart for the little old lady in ICU who lived on borrowed time but wanted to teach me how to knit. And so she did.

I remember holding the hand of a near-catatonic mother as she stared at her dead daughter in ICU, who had just plumaged five stories to her death.

I remember the mother that called me relentlessly about her son, who was paralyzed from the neck down because of drugs and no seat belt.

I remember the little 6-year-old girl brought into the ER. She had long blonde hair with eyes black as coal. She was catatonic after being molested by her mommas boyfriend while momma was out playing bingo  my heart shattered, and I still tremble inside.

And I remember the time a daddy had a near-fatal heart attack but survived from a CABG and ECMO and cardiac rehabilitation. He survived in time to walk his pride and joy, his daughter, down the aisle on her wedding day.

My list is long.

I have survived every tragedy that comes with nursing: the good nurses, the bad nurses, the bullies, the good and the bad management.

I am a survivor. I am resilient.

But I am human.

Thank you for this fine meal.

The memories will always be ingrained in my head.

I was escorted out to my car by an attendant.

I had a beautiful bouquet of flowers in my hand.

And I had a lifetime of memories.

Tears.

And yes, I will volunteer for your corporation  for $50 an hour, not including differential.

Mommy dearest would have been jealous that my final destination in nursing was  the country club!

It was nice.

Debbie Moore-Black is a nurse who blogs at Do Not Resuscitate.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Internationally-renowned Irish pianist Finghin Collins is in Kilkenny for a one-off recital on Thursday, July 21, with all proceeds going to the citys Butler Gallery.

Dublin-born Collins career has taken him all over Europe and the United States, as well to the Far East and Australia.

He will be in Kilkennys historic St Johns Priory on July 21 for a 90 minute performance which begins at 7pm with an exclusive reception following afterwards at nearby Butler Gallery.

The event is kindly supported by Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland and Pembroke Hotel, Kilkenny.

Anna OSullivan, Director and Chief Curator at Butler Gallery, explained that Collins is renowned for his engaging performances and will treat the audience to music from Haydn to Brahms and Schubert, and a performance of "Nesting Doll" inspired by the Ros Tapestry.

"We are delighted to welcome patrons to Butler Gallery afterwards for a reception which includes drinks and canapes, she added.

Finghin Collins studied piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with John O'Conor and at the Geneva Conservatoire with Dominique Merlet.

He took first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland in 1999.

Since then he has continued to enjoy a flourishing international career that takes him all over Europe and the United States, as well to the Far East and Australia.

Collins has performed with many of the worlds finest orchestras and conductors.

He has also given solo recitals in many of the worlds most prestigious halls and participates frequently in chamber music festivals with a variety of colleagues of international standing.

All funds raised are in support of Butler Gallery, supporting living artists and all audiences.

Tickets cost 50 and are available HERE.
Two Kilkenny agricultural shows are to benefit from government funding under the Our Rural Future programme and Leader.

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has today announced individual allocations of up to 6,000 to 119 Agricultural shows taking place this summer.

In total, 700,000 is being provided to support the return of the shows over the coming months

In Kilkenny two rural shows will benefit - Ballyfoyle Show and Thomastown Show.

As Minister for Rural and Community Development, I know how much the Agricultural Shows mean to people in rural communities.

Between cattle best of breed, dog shows, sheep and poultry competitions, and music, the events are extremely popular and Im delighted to support their return to the summer calendar. Our shows signals fun, energy and a sense of community - something for all the family. They are a shop window for what is produced locally and bring visitors from near and far.

Practically every weekend over the coming months there is an agricultural show on somewhere in Ireland. I urge people to get out, enjoy them and give them your full support.

Each show will attract funding in the region of 5,000 - 6,000, with funding based on vouched expenditure.
The fifth 'National Inpatient Experience Survey' is now underway in St Lukes General Hospital and Kilcreene Regional Orthopaedic Hospital in Kilkenny.

This annual survey  the largest of its kind in Ireland  offers patients the opportunity to share their experiences of healthcare and tell, what is working well and what improvements they believe are necessary.

This provides a clear picture of the safety and quality of care in Irish hospitals, as seen through the eyes of patients.

Almost 26,000 patients are eligible to participate in this years survey.

Since 2017, over 50,100 patients have completed the survey nationally, making over 86,000 comments on the care and treatment they received in hospital.

Last years response rate of almost 40% at St Luke's General Hospital and 72% at Kilcreene Regional Orthopaedic Hospital, indicates the strong desire of patients to talk about their experiences in hospital in order to bring about meaningful change.

The National Inpatient Experience Survey contains a total of 67 questions on topics such as admission to hospital, care and treatment on the ward, trust in hospital staff, respect and dignity, and care during the pandemic.

All patients aged over 16 years-of-age who spent 24 hours or more in hospital and were discharged during the month of May are eligible to participate in the survey.

HIQAs Director of Health Information and Standards Rachel Flynn encourages all eligible patients to tell them about their recent experiences of care in St Lukes General Hospital and Kilcreene Regional Orthopaedic Hospital.

"By sharing your views, you will provide us with invaluable information on the improvements that are necessary to deliver a more person-centred health service in your area," she said.

"It is by listening and learning from your experiences that we can bring about effective and sustainable changes across the healthcare sector."

Declan Lyons, CEO of Ireland East Hospital Group said that by directly hearing from patients who highlight areas that require improvement, hospitals and staff can put into place beneficial changes to services.

"Service improvement is a priority for the Ireland East Hospital Group and our hospitals," he said.

"The feedback provided to us by our patients ensures that our teams focus on those improvements which mean the most to our patients.

"We look forward to continuing to hear what our patients have to say so that we can continue to learn and make the necessary changes so that we deliver the world-class care our patients expect and deserve."

Eligible patients received a survey questionnaire by post at the end of June.

The survey can be completed in paper form or online, and must be submitted by 5pm on August 12, 2022.
Councillors in South Kilkenny recently paid their respects to Waterford Deputy Mayor James Tobin following his sudden passing earlier this month.

Cllr Tomas Breathnach opened the floor of Piltown Municipal District Council to expressions of sympathy at the most recent meeting.

Cllr Pat Dunphy informed councillors that he had crossed paths with Tobin in previous roles and described him as a nice man who was always in good spirits.

Cllr Ger Frisby described Tobin as always full of life and extended his sympathies to the family and the community of Lismore.

Tobin first became a councillor in 1999 and in 2014 he became the first mayor of the newly amalgamated Waterford City and County Council.

The Fianna Fail representative from Knockanore had only been elected to the position of Deputy Mayor at an AGM on the Thursday before his passing.

He is survived by he and his wife Annes children - Mairead, Micheal, Sean, Aine, Seamus and Padraig.
Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative provides dairy farmers throughout the Midwest with a powerful voice in Congress, with customers and within our communities. Edge, based in Green Bay, is the third-largest dairy cooperative in the country based on milk volume. Member farms are located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Visit www.voiceofmilk.com for more information.
With 20 years experience behind him, award-winning agricultural journalist Chris McCullough is always on the hunt for his next story. He grew up on the family dairy farm in the heart of Northern Ireland and is based on the countrys east coast. He travels around the world to bring readers international news. He has many friends and colleagues in Ukraine.
JEFFERSON CITY - The News Tribune will host two forums Tuesday evening for state Senate in the Aug. 2 primary election, according to the Jefferson City News Tribune.

The forum for state Senate District 6 is scheduled for 6 p.m. The forum for the state Senate District 10 is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The forums are open to the public at the Jefferson City Hall, 320 E. McCarty Street. It will also be livestreamed on the City of Jefferson Youtube channel.

The candidates for state Senate District 6 are Mike Bernskoetter and Scott Riedel.

Bernskoetter is an Republican incumbent in the race. He was sworn into office on Jan. 9, 2019. Prior to serving on the Senate, Bernskoetter was the State Representative for the 59th District and served for eight years.

Riedel is a Republican candidate in the race against Bernskoetter. He served 31 years in the U.S. Army, completed two Combat tours in Iraq, and retired as a Lieutenant-Colonel.

The candidates for state Senate District 10 are Joshua Price, Bryan Spencer, Travis Fitzwater, Jeff Porter, and Michael Carter.

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Price is a Republican candidate from Mexico, Missouri.

Spencer is a Republican candidate from Wentzville. He was elected to be the State Representative for the 63rd District and served for eight years. He left office on Jan. 6.

Fitzwater is a Republican candidate from Holts Summit. He is currently serving as State Representative for the 49th District and has served since 2014.

Carter is a Republican candidate from St. Louis. Prior to running for state Senate, he was a private practice attorney for Carter Law Offices LLC. He has also worked for the University of Missouri - St. Louis as a real estate attorney, defense attorney, general counsel, and senior lecturer. Carter also served as Wentzville Municipal Judge and was a director on the St. Louis Real Estate Board.

The forums will be moderated by Managing Editor Gary Castor, who will ask questions to the candidates that were posted by the News Tribune staff and community members.

Questions for candidates can be submitted via email to vote@newstribune.com, and candidates will be asked to answer them in a future edition of the newspaper or at the forum.

The forums will go on for a second night and is scheduled for Thursday, July 21. The forums will features candidates from House Districts 49 and 59.
COLUMBIA - Columbia Police Chief's Vehicle Stop Committee is set to meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Columbia Police Department (CPD) Regional Training Center.

According to the agenda, topics include reviewing the revised draft of the vehicle stop data collection recommendations and discussing traffic stops where no action is taken.

According to CPD Communications and Outreach Supervisor Toni Messina, if data is provided in time of the meeting, it will "provide context around stops where no action is taken."

Thus, areas may be exposed where policy change and trainings might be needed and informing the public of those decisions.

The second topic of discussion, the revised data draft, has been in discussion since May.

The document discusses the issue of Columbia police stopping Black drivers disproportionately to other races, according to Missouri's Vehicle Stops Report.

The document also states that the data does not prove discrimination, but it does highlight situations where officers may not be acting on facts that are separate from racial stereotypes.

The plan is to collect information into the decision making process of officers with the hope that supervisors will be able to guide them to ignore stereotypes and solely focus on criminal behavior.

The committee recommends the following steps:

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Data Collection

Data Analysis

Post-Stop Rates and Disproportions

Incident-Based Data

Alternative Disproportions and Methods of Analysis

Monthly Public Access to Data

Annual Review

Officer Feedback by Supervisors

Self-Reviews by Officers

Criteria for Credible Intelligence

Command Staff Performance

Survey Data

Conclusion

This new data collection will provide all community members with the impartial facts needed to tell when discrimination might arise, and hopefully lead to change according to the draft of the data recommendations document.

"Our community has every right to question us and our methods and what we're doing and they have a right to know," Assistant Police Chief Jeremiah Hunter said.

According to Messina, if a majority vote passes at the meeting, the recommendation will be passed on to Chief Geoff Jones and reviewed internally.

Jones would then respond to the committee after his examination.

"Any data that we're obtaining, or any information that we're gleaning from these reports, that's the main focus, the main goal that we're policing correctly, and for the right reasons," Hunter said.

There is no current timeline on when the reports and evaluations will start.

For those interested in attending, general comments by public, members and staff will take place at 6:50 p.m. The meeting will end at 7 p.m.

More information about what will be covered in Tuesdays meeting can be found in the meeting agenda.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri was accused by a law professor of engaging in a line of transphobic questioning during a hearing Tuesday on the legal consequences of the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Scientists are searching for solutions after studies show pulse oximeters don't work as well for people of color
Morocco's Ambassador to Korea Chafik Rachadi, second from left, and other guests attend the Morocco Now roadshow promoting investment and trade opportunities in Morocco on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations at Lotte Hotel Seoul, July 5. Yonhap



North African country shows strength in car, aerospace industries



By Kwon Mee-yoo





Meryem Kabbadj, acting export director of the Moroccan Agency for Investment and Export Development
Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap



Foreign minister to make trip to China soon



By Kang Seung-woo



Foreign Minister Park Jin expressed the government's intent, Monday, to repair relations with Japan as Seoul's efforts to find a breakthrough in frayed ties with Tokyo could be dampened by the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot and killed at a campaign event in Nara, Friday.



He also said the new South Korean government's policy toward China was not blindly based on the U.S.-led move to contain Beijing, and added that bilateral ties should develop based on an equal partnership.



"As you might know, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is seeking to improve ties with Japan as soon as possible, so if [Abe's] memorial service is set, our high-ranking delegation will be sent there to convey the president's respects," Park said during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul.



According to the presidential office, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Deputy National Assembly Speaker Rep. Chung Jin-suk will be part of the government's condolence delegation to Tokyo.



The foreign minister also visited the Japanese embassy's public information and cultural center in downtown Seoul to pay his respects to Abe earlier in the day.



Along with the planned trip by the government delegation, the foreign minister himself had been pursuing a visit to Japan for a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi. But Park said his envisaged trip to Japan should be pushed back due to Abe's assassination.



"We were in talks over my trip to Japan, but the shocking death of the former Japanese prime minister happened," Park said.



"However, we are poised to continue discussing the issue," he added.



The decision comes as the new South Korean government is calling for a future-oriented approach to bilateral ties, which have slumped to their worst level in years over historical and territorial issues.



Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party triumphed in Upper House elections, Sunday, partly due to the assassination of Abe, which was believed to have helped rally conservative voters.



In response to the outcome of the election, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hinted that he will pursue a revision of the country's pacifist constitution, which outlaws war as a means to settle disputes and the retention of armed forces for war.



However, the foreign minister refrained from commenting on the issue, just saying that the government will keep close tabs on how the Japanese government will move in terms of the constitutional reform.



As for ties with China, Park reiterated the government's stance that its relations with Beijing should be based on mutual respect and trust, heralding a shift from Seoul's previous position on the country.



Park's remarks are seen as the Yoon administration's decision to side with the United States amid an escalating U.S.-Sino rivalry, as evidenced by his participation in the NATO Summit in Spain earlier this month, whose focus was on anti-China and anti-Russia policies.



However, Park said the government's stance had nothing to do with anti-China propaganda.



"Bilateral ties will develop further if China respects us and we understand its position," Park said.



To this end, Park said he will try to visit China soon, reciprocated by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's return visit in the second half of this year. In addition, the government will strengthen its communication with the country at every level, according to the foreign minister, in order to improve bilateral relations for the next 30 years.



This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.



Meanwhile, Park said the South Korean government will seek cooperation with neighboring countries to effectively deal with North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats.



"In order to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, we are seeking dialogue with China and Russia as well as the U.S.," Park said.



"In addition, if talks between South Korea and Japan are activated, the two sides could hold in-depth discussions on the North Korea issue, and also through trilateral meetings including the U.S."


KK Group Chairman Datuk Seri Dr. KK Chai, left, poses with GS Retail's Convenience Store Division head Jung Jae-hyung after signing a MOU at KK Group's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on July 9. Courtesy of GS Retail



By Kim Jae-heun



GS Retail signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Malaysia's KK Group to open its first GS25 convenience store in the Southeast Asian country next year, the Korean retail firm said Monday.



The two parties agreed on the master franchise contract and promised to open 500 stores over the next five years.



Malaysia is the third-largest ASEAN country with a per capita GDP of $11,400 (14.8 million won). The country is home to a population of 33 million and its convenience store industry has been growing by 10 percent annually.



Malaysia's fertility rate is about twice as high as Korea's, and the average age of the country's population is 28.5. GS Retail sees big potential in the market there, as young people are the main customers in the convenience store business.



The retail firm will target local consumers based on localized products that it has prepared before advancing into Malaysia.



The company plans to share its fresh food management system in the country, while providing a quick commerce service that it has implemented successfully in Korea. Quick commerce refers to delivery services that take less than an hour from the order to the completion of delivery.



"The company's MOU with KK Group served as an opportunity to show the world of the competitiveness that GS25 has accumulated over the past 30 years. We will continue with our global expansion plan based on the company's successful experiences in the convenience store business," a GS Retail official said.



GS Retail first entered the global market in Vietnam in 2018. As of now, the company operates some 160 convenience stores there and it hopes to open 200 stores within this year as well as 700 stores by 2027.



Last May, GS Retail also advanced into the Mongolian market by opening three GS25 stores at one time there. There, the retailer offers distinguished products reflecting the local meat-eating culture. It currently operates 70 branches there and it hopes to double the number by the end of the year.




Nicki Minaj caused chaos when she turned up five hours late for a publicity stunt.

The rapper, 39, was unable to attend the meet and greet in London she announced on Monday after police were called, and she was left trapped in her car by mobs of fans.

She had travelled to the UK to perform at Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park at the weekend, where officers also had to be deployed to manage crowds, and announced she would be at Londons Cafe KOKO.

She ended up barricaded in her chauffeur driven car as screaming fans surrounded the vehicle and chased it down the street.

Around 2,000 of her followers are thought to have turned up and she was left trapped in her car for 30 minutes before leaving.

Minaj shared one fans clip of her in a black people carrier on Twitter and said: Guys, if you dont get in a contained space they wont let me get out the cars. Pls dont run in the streets. Please get in 1 place. 1 line. (sic)

The clip showed Minajs vehicle stopped in the street and when her fans ran towards it she was driven away.

A spokesperson for the Met Police said it sent officers to close the roads and manage crowds as it confirmed Minaj and organisers cancelled the event in the interests of safety.

They told MailOnline: A local policing plan was in place for an event at KOKO in Camden this evening.

Police were contacted by venue staff beforehand concerned about significant crowding outside.

Further police resources had to be deployed to keep public order and close roads.

In the interests of safety the event managers took the decision that the event would not go ahead. Members of the public are advised not to travel to the area.

Another video of the havoc showed a policeman telling the crowd: Regardless of what Ms Minaj is tweeting, she's not here, she has driven past, she has gone. Regardless of what she is saying, that is a fact.
Hong Kong: CS chairs poverty task force meeting

Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki chaired the first meeting of the Task Force to Lift Underprivileged Students out of Intergenerational Poverty today.

Mr Chan said the task force strives to alleviate poverty in a targeted manner. It will launch a scheme to address intergenerational poverty, which comprises three major elements - mentorship, a personal development plan and financial support.

The scheme will recruit underprivileged Secondary 1 to 3 students from the community and schools, particularly those living in subdivided units. A total of 2,000 places will be provided in the first round.

Each student will be paired with a volunteer mentor who will share their life experience with the students and arrange visits, work shadow schemes or other activities to broaden the students' horizons and strengthen their self-confidence, enabling them to develop personal goals in a proactive and positive manner.

The mentors will also assist the students in developing positive financial planning concepts and deploying the financial support provided by the scheme effectively to achieve their personal development plans.

As an initial plan, the task force will provide each student with a startup sum of $5,000 to be spent under the mentor's guidance. Upon successful completion of the programme, a scholarship of $5,000 will be awarded to the student so that he or she can apply the financial planning concepts acquired for personal pursuits.

At today's meeting, the task force discussed the scheme's initial plan and implementation details, including tripartite collaboration among the Government, the business sector and the community, recruitment of students and mentors, a structured mentorship programme and indicators on the impact of the scheme.

It also explored ways to engage the business sector, such as the nomination of mentors with rich life experience and provision of relevant funding support for students.

In addition, the task force will mobilise government departments as well as public and commercial organisations to hold inspiring group activities to broaden students' horizons.

Regarding indicators on the impact of the scheme, the task force initially formulated the indicators and agreed that more emphasis should be placed on assessing and comparing the changes and improvements of students before and after enrolling in the scheme in different areas, such as self-confidence, sense of responsibility, goal-setting and financial planning abilities.

The Chief Secretary noted that the task force seeks to announce the scheme's details in August after they are ironed out.

Subject to the experience accumulated and review of the scheme's effectiveness, we will consider enhancements to the scheme a year later and launch the second round, with a view to carrying on targeted work against intergenerational poverty in an in-depth and systematic manner, he added.

The task force will later brief the Commission on Poverty on the scheme and consult its views.

This story has been published on: 2022-07-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
UN General Assembly adopts resolution on strengthening connectivity between Central, South Asia

Xinhua) 10:39, July 12, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations General Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution on strengthening connectivity between Central and South Asia.

The resolution recognizes the importance of cooperation in establishing safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport networks with a view to achieving transport connectivity across Central and South Asia.

It encourages the continuation and advancement of cooperation between Central and South Asia by expanding transport and information and communications technologies infrastructure and creating new international transport corridors that open convenient, sustainable, commercially viable, affordable, accessible, inclusive and safe routes to seaports.

It recognizes the importance of Afghanistan's potential role in connecting Central and South Asia, as well as its economic development and integration into interregional economic processes for lasting peace and stability.

The resolution emphasizes the importance of developing potential tourist routes covering the historical and cultural centers of the Central and South Asian states, and supports the efforts of Central and South Asia to further strengthen relationships between the regions and their people, including in the fields of education, science and technology, innovation, tourism, culture, art and sports.

It recognizes the importance of energy connectivity between Central and South Asia.

It recognizes the significant potential of regional economic integration and interconnectivity to promote inclusive growth and sustainable development, commits to strengthening regional cooperation and regional trade agreements, and encourages multilateral development banks, in collaboration with other stakeholders, to address gaps in trade, transport and transit-related regional infrastructure.

The resolution was drafted by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
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Chungha finally unveiled her most awaited 2nd regular album "Bare&Rare Pt. 1." She held a presscon at the Blue Square Chaos Hall in Seoul on July 11, where she shared her feelings on her new release.

ICYMI: Chungha Reveals She Can't Get Used to 'Sparkling' Choreography by LACHICA

Check out Chungha's "Sparkling" MV here:
Concerns over Beomgyu's health condition sparked after the idol was seen leaving in the middle of an interview. The idol has since spoken up amid concerns. Keep on reading to know more.

MOAs Concerned Over TXT Beomgyu's Health Condition After He Leaves During Interview

Since TXT's debut back in March 2019, the five-member boy group's popularity and success have only been seeing an upward trajectory. Three years into their career, TXT's success has skyrocketed, and the members have become busier than ever with their jam-packed schedule.

Currently, TXT is in the United States for their 2022 world tour "ACT: LOVE SICK," which began back on July 2 in Seoul, South Korea. The group's world tour visits a total of 14 cities around the world, with seven cities in the United States alone including Dallas, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and more.

Fans have even voiced their concerns regarding TXT's world tour schedule, which shows that the group would be holding a concert in different cities every two or three days. With their busy schedule, fans are worried it might cause a decline in the members' health.

However, some have pointed out that such a schedule is inevitable. TXT is currently at the peak of their career and would need to work longer hours to solidify their position as a top fourth-generation group.

But that doesn't stop TXT fans, MOAs, to worry about their health. More recently, Beomgyu's health condition has sparked concern as the idol was seen looking exhausted during their recent interview.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: TXT Taehyun Has Hilarious Response to Fan's Intention of Riding Bike to South Korea

In their interview with Rolling Stone, Beomgyu can be seen with his head lowered, hands on his knees, and having a strained look, as if he was feeling unwell.

He can also be seen gesturing to the staff behind the cameras and shaking his head.

Not long after, Beomgyu leaves during the interview after staff told him he could do so.

Beomgyu Assures MOAs of His Health

Following his exit, fans have become worried about the idol's health condition, as well as the other members. Many have also expressed their utmost support for Beomgyu and hope that he and the members prioritize their health. MOAs are also grateful to the staff for allowing Beomgyu to leave despite being a live interview.

Some comments from MOAs read:

"Beomgyu, we love you and are proud of you. Get lots of rest when you can. All of you deserve it." "Rest well, Beomgyu... Appreciating how he admits he needs to leave (he's so brave for this) and the staff recognizing it." "Huening Kai handled the situation so well, waving happily to Beomgyu and telling us he's going to the bathroom, so no one gets worried... I hope Beomgyu feels better soon and all the members get some rest after this." "It's a relief that he's okay now. I wonder how much pain he [was in] that he had to leave in the middle [of the interview]... He's the kind of kid who hate showing he's in pain."

After MOAs continued to express their worry for Beomgyu's health condition, the idol himself assured fans on Weverse.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: TXT Soobin Reveals TWO Things That Gave Him Hard Time as Big Hit Trainee, Idol

On Weverse, Beomgyu replied to a fan who told him they were worried. The TXT member replied, "Aigo, I am sorry to our MOAs who stayed up so late because you were worried. But right now, I am really fine, so please don't worry and sleep early!!! It's way too late."

Hopefully, the TXT members will be able to get some rest.

For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Robyn Joan
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The Linn Police Department has released the name of the victim who died in the July 4 crash that involved a total of 11 patients.

The man who died has been identified as Jesus Orlando Castro-Gonzalez, 28, of Schaumburg, Illinois, Linn Police stated in a release issued on Monday, July 11.

The crash occurred on Monday, July 4, at around 2:23 p.m., when officers with the Town of Linn Police Department responded the area of State Highway 120 and County Highway B for a motor vehicle crash with injuries.

When officers arrived, they located a three-vehicle crash with 11 total patients. Fight for Life was requested to be placed on standby but they were unable to fly due to inclement weather. As a result of the weather and injuries, nine patients were transported by ambulance to area hospitals and trauma.

Preliminary information suggests that a vehicle (Vehicle 1) driven by a 42-year-old Chicago man and occupied by two passengers (a woman age 39 and a juvenile), was traveling eastbound on County Highway B when it entered the intersection at State Highway 120 and met Vehicle 2. Vehicle 2 was driven by Jesus Orlando Castro-Gonzalez (age 28) of Schaumburg and occupied by two passengers (female aged 21 and a juvenile). Vehicle 2 then suffered a secondary crash with Vehicle 3 which was traveling northbound on State Highway 120 driven by a 19-year-old female from West Dundee, Illinois and occupied by four passengers (males aged 20, 20, 21, and a female age 18).

The driver of Vehicle 2, Castro-Gonzalez, was transported via ground ambulance to Froedtert Hospital, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries and was later pronounced deceased at Froedtert Hospital.

The intersection was closed approximately three hours due to the crash and the subsequent investigation.

Impairment is not suspected as a contributing factor to the crash.The crash continues to be under investigation.
EAST TROY  A 36-year-old father from Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, died on Saturday, July 9, after a Jet Ski accident on Lake Beulah in the Town of East Troy.

At approximately 3:55 p.m. Saturday, the Town of East Troy Police Department, along with East Troy Area Fire Department, were dispatched to a Jet Ski accident on Lake Beulah in the Town of East Troy, according to a release from the police department issued on Monday.

On arrival to the scene, first responders attempted lifesaving measures on the 36-year-old man. The man was later pronounced deceased by the Walworth County Medical Examiners Office. The man was identified as Rickey A. Madsen Jr. of Mount Pleasant.

According to Rickeys stepmother, he had been riding his Jet Ski out toward his brothers boat when he started spinning in the water, doing a doughnut.

He loved Jet Ski-ing, the stepmother, Susan Madsen, said.

But Rickey didnt realize there was another Jet Ski behind him. When he spun around, the other Jet Ski wasnt able to change direction in time and drove straight into him, with its nose apparently hitting him in the head.

Susan said those on scene attempted CPR for an hour.

He never woke up.

He was the best dad ever, Susan said of her stepson. Rickey had been working in Texas for a time but moved back home full-time so he could be with his 8-year-old, Tanner, more often than on certain weekends. It was for Tanner. There was nothing he wouldnt do for him.

Divorced, Rickey remained on good terms with Tanners mother. It was one of his strongest attributes, Susan said.

They worked together, they were co-parenting. He was not one to give up if there was an argument, always preferring to talk things through. He would often say that you never know when your last conversation might be, and he never wanted to walk away holding resentment.

Rickey Madsen Sr. wrote on Facebook Sunday, People please listen to me. Spend time with your friends as much as you can. If you have kids hold them close and tell them you love them every day. You just never know when will be the last time you will get the chance.

Rickey Jr. also leaves behind a soon-to-be stepdaughter and fiancee, Bree and Carrie Willmns. Susan described Rickey and Willmns as one-thousand percent soulmates. They were due to be married in the spring.

Life is too short, she added.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family during this time of grief, the East Troy Police Department said in its press release.

The accident remains under investigation by the Town of East Troy Police Department and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The Walworth County Medical Examiners Office, Mukwonago Fire Department and Walworth County Communications Center also assisted with the incident.
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], July 12 (ANI): A policeman was killed and two others were injured on Tuesday after terrorists fired upon a Naka party in the Lal Bazar area of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.

The deceased policeman was identified as ASI Mushtaq Ahmad.

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"ASI Mushtaq Ahmad succumbed to his injuries and attained martyrdom. We pay rich tribute to the #martyr for his supreme #sacrifice made in the line of duty. The other two injured personnel are being treated. Further details shall follow," the Kashmir Zone Police said in a tweet.

Earlier, the police had informed that the injured have been shifted to a hospital and the area has been cordoned off to track down the attackers.

Also Read | Gujarat Rains: 21 Trapped on River's Bank in Narmada District Rescued.

"Terrorists fired upon police naka party at Lal Bazar area of #Srinagar city. In this terror incident, three police personnel got injured and they have been shifted to hospital. The area has been cordoned. Further details shall follow," it said.

Earlier on Monday, the ADGP Kashmir said that a terrorist belonging to the proscribed Jasih-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit, identified as Kaiser Koka and active since 2018, was trapped in an encounter in Awantipora.

A joint cordon-and-search operation was launched by the Police, Army and CRPF on specific information regarding the presence of terrorists in Awantipora that led to the killing of two terrorists.

During the search operation, as the joint search party approached the spot, the hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which retaliated effectively thus leading to the encounter.

In the ensuing encounter, two JeM terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the encounter site.

They have been identified as Kaisar Rashid Koka son of Ab Rashid Koka resident of Tengpora, Kaigam and Ishaq Ahmad Lone son of Ghulam Nabi Lone resident of Lelhar, Pulwama.

As per the police records, the killed terrorist Kaiser Koka was a categorized terrorist and was involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on Police and security forces and civilian atrocities.

He was active since the year 2018 and had ex-filtrated to Pakistan. After acquiring arms and ammunition and training, he infiltrated back to the Kashmir valley and was active in the areas of Awantipora and Pulwama.

He was also involved in an IED attack at Larmoo Awantipora on May 2 in which two CRPF personnel got injured.

While as, the other killed terrorist Ishaq Ahmad Lone was a hybrid terrorist and was also involved in several cases including the attacks on police and security forces and civilian atrocities.

Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation.

In this regard, a case under relevant sections of law has been registered and an investigation has been initiated. People are requested to cooperate with Police till the area at the encounter site is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Amaravati, Jul 12 (PTI) NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu met MPs and MLAs of the ruling YSR Congress here on Tuesday as part of her election campaign and requested them to "bless and support her."

Also Read | National Emblem Dispute: Narendra Modi Government Says It Is Adaptation From Sarnath Lion Capital of Emperor Ashoka.

Accompanied by Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy, Murmu arrived here in the afternoon and drove to Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's residence at Tadepalli, where he hosted tea for her.

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Vedic priests from the Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada bestowed 'Veda aasirvachanam' on Murmu on the occasion.

She then went to the CK Convention Centre at Mangalagiri for a meeting with the ruling party parliamentarians and legislators.

"Andariki namaskaraalu," Murmu began her address in Telugu, greeting all those present.

She spoke about the "glorious history" of Andhra Pradesh, its poets, warriors and freedom fighters and paid tributes to them.

"AP has a glorious past and a promising present," she said.

Murmu said a new era has been ushered in in India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Many novel features were added in every field of development. The attitude and outlook of the world towards India has also undergone a sea change. Youth of the country developed confidence in themselves.

"This year is very important in the history of modern India as we are celebrating the 75th year of independence. On this auspicious occasion, PM prepared a roadmap for development of India in the coming 25 years and has sought active and positive cooperation from all," she said.

The presidential nominee exhorted people to "join together and be a part of that journey to make India the most prosperous country of the world."

"I am a tribal leader from a remote village in Mayurbhanj district in Odisha. AP and Odisha are neighbours and have many similarities in food habits, dress and customs. I belong to Santal community, one of the major tribes of India," she said.

Murmu observed that her candidature (for the post of President of India) was the "manifestation of social justice and women empowerment."

"I request you all to bless and support your sister to see her in the highest constitutional post in the country in the 75th year of our independence. I thank Jagan Mohan Reddy for extending support (of his party) even before I requested," Murmu summed up.

Later, Jagan Mohan Reddy introduced the Legislative Council Chairman Moshen Raju, Assembly Speaker T Sitaram, YSRC MPs and MLAs to the presidential candidate.

Murmu later visited the Telugu Desam Party headquarters, just a few metres away, where former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu felicitated her. He introduced his party MPs and MLAs to her and said it was a matter of pride for them to support her candidature for the presidential post.

"You are the right choice for the post of President of India, having risen from the grassroots level. The country is looking up to you. You will be the pride and respect of all weaker sections and downtrodden and they will be inspired by you," the former Chief Minister said.

Naidu thanked Prime Minister Modi for choosing Murmu for the highest constitutional post.

She expressed gratitude to the TDP for supporting her candidature.

BJP state president Somu Veerraju, BJP MPs G V L Narasimha Rao, C M Ramesh and others were present.

The YSRC with 31 MPs and 151 MLAs has pledged its support to Murmu in the presidential election slated for July 18.

The opposition Telugu Desam Party with four MPs and 23 MLAs has also announced it will back the NDA nominee.

The lone MLA of Jana Sena, who has virtually defected to the YSRC, will also vote along. In effect, all votes from Andhra Pradesh will go to Murmu.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 12 (ANI): The Tamil Nadu government sealed the AIADMK party headquarters in Chennai following clashes between party members on Monday in the wake of the power struggle between former chief ministers Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam, resulting in the sealing of the party office by revenue officials.

"Due to the violence at AIADMK party office, RDO has sealed the party HQ. To avoid further law & order issues, either they or their advocates should be present before RDO office on July 25 to decide the control over party headquarter," said Chennai Police.

Also Read | Bihar Shocker: Three-Year-Old Child Buried Alive by Mother in Saran District, Rescued by Villagers.

Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) was appointed the AIADMK interim general secretary on Monday.

A total of 16 resolutions were passed in the crucial All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Council meeting held on Monday in which Edappadi K Palaniswami was appointed as the party's interim General Secretary and O Paneerselvam was expelled for "anti-party" activities.

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Along with OPS, his supporters - JCD Prabhakar, R Vaithilingam and PH Manoj Pandian were also expelled from the AIADMK.

The resolutions were passed after the Madras High Court today dismissed a petition by OPS, who sought to stay the holding of a General Council (GC) meeting. He had contended that only the Coordinator and the Joint Coordinator can convene the GC meeting and that since the newly-appointed Presidium Chairman had done so, the meeting was technically illegal and hence untenable.

The party has said that anyone who wants to contest for the post of General Secretary has to be a member of the party for 10 years. The candidature should be proposed by ten district secretaries and seconded by the same number of district secretaries of the AIADMK.

Ahead of the GC meeting, supporters of EPS and OPS clashed in front of the party headquarters here.

After the demise of Jayalalithaa in 2016, the party has been following a dual-leadership formula with EPS as co-coordinator and OPS as coordinator. The clamour has been growing louder for a single leader in the party since the district secretary meeting on June 14 this year.

Meanwhile ahead of today's court's ruling supporters of the EPS and OPS factions clashed on the streets of Chennai. Some people were injured in the clash. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, Jul 12 (PTI) Combined opposition candidate for presidential polls Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday said the country does not need a "silent president" but the one who uses his moral authority and discretion.

Sinha said this as he accused the BJP-led Union government of misusing central agencies against its political rivals.

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Sinha, who was here to seek support for the July 18 presidential polls, said if elected he will stop the misuse of central agencies like the ED, CBI and the Income Tax Department.

The country does not want a "silent president" but the one who uses his discretion and moral authority, he stressed.

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Sinha said he has spent 60 years in the administration and public life. "In 60 years, I never saw as much terror of the government agencies as I am witnessing now," he said.

He said when he was the finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, he never thought of using these government agencies to fix political rivals and opponents. Now, the agencies are being "shamelessly" misused, the former Union ministers told reporters here.

He said some Shiv Sena MPs were pressuring Uddhav Thackeray to support the NDA candidate for the presidential polls.

Sinha said if he wins the presidential polls, "such things will stop the next day of taking oath" as the post of president is the highest position of the constitution and it carries a lot of dignity.

"If it has its use, apart from being the formal head of a state, then it is to use those powers and moral authority and ensure a government runs on the right track, not with confrontation but with dialogue," he said.

"If a president gives advice to a prime minister after calling him, then it becomes difficult for any PM to completely deny it," said Sinha.

Referring to the rule of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sinha said politics based on consensus has now ended. Now, there is politics of conflict, said the former Union minister.

When reporters asked Sinha how much difference he finds between the BJP under Vajpayee and now, he replied, "The BJP is dead and gone".

"At that time, within party and outside party consensus was the main thing which no longer is there," he claimed.

He also said atmosphere is prevailing in the country and the elections are being held under extraordinary circumstances.

"If somebody is a Hindu, he is scared of Muslim and if somebody is Muslim, he scared of Hindu. Society has been divided on communal lines," said Sinha.

The former Union minister said he met Haryana Congress MLAs, who pledged their support to him.

He was accompanied by Leader of Opposition in the Haryana assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and state Congress chief Udai Bhan.

Thirty of the Congress MLAs were present and pledged their support to Sinha, said Hooda.

At present, the Congress has a strength of 31 MLAs in the 90-member Haryana assembly. Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is party MLA from Adampur, was expelled by the Congress from all party positions a month ago after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Varanasi (UP), Jul 12 (PTI) The Muslim side on Tuesday completed its arguments on the maintainability of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex case in the district court here.

District Government Counsel Rana Sanjiv Singh said after Muslim side completed its arguments, the Hindu side started its arguments that will continue on Wednesday.

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Madan Mohan Yadav, the counsel for the Hindu side, said the Muslim side demanded from the court to dismiss the case.

The district court had on July 4 fixed the hearing for July 12 as the Muslim side sought more time to present their arguments.

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Earlier, five women had filed a petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the mosque.

A lower court had ordered a videography survey of the complex. The survey work was completed on May 16 and the report was presented in the court on May 19.

The Hindu side had claimed in the court that a Shivling was found during the videography survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex.

On the order of the Supreme Court later, the matter is now being heard in the district judge's court from May 23.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Jul 12 (PTI) The Shiv Sena on Tuesday requested the Maharashtra Governor not to administer the oath to any minister in the Eknath Shinde government, saying the legality of the decision to appoint Shinde as the chief minister is in question.

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In a letter to governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Shiv Sena's general secretary Subhash Desai said the issues related to the disqualification of 39 MLAs are also pending before the Supreme Court.

Appointment of ministers and/or offering any remunerative posts to persons against whom disqualification proceedings under the Tenth Schedule are pending, and who may be disqualified will be against the letter and spirit of Article 164 (1B) as well as Article 361B, the letter said.

Rewarding persons against whom disqualification proceedings are pending with ministerial berths or remunerative posts would be totally destructive of the Constitutional scheme, the letter added.

...the issues pertaining to the disqualification of 39 MLAs are pending consideration before the Supreme Court. Further, the question of the legality of the decision to appoint Eknath Shinde as the chief minister is also sub judice before the Supreme Court, it said.

The much-awaited expansion of the Maharashtra cabinet led by CM Shinde may take place after the July 18 presidential polls, the Shinde-led camp of Shiv Sena MLAs had indicated.

Currently, CM Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the only members of the cabinet. They had taken oath on June 30.

Talking to reporters, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the Eknath Shinde-led government is illegal, and so is the post of the chief minister.

This is a legal fight. The Cabinet expansion is not happening. If ministers take the oath then that would be against the Constitution, Raut said.

Until the Supreme Court gave its verdict, the Shinde government is illegal, he alleged.

Raut also said the Governor has been urged not to administer the oath to any minister after the Supreme Court's relief to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Monday.

In a relief to Shiv Sena MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray faction, the Supreme Court has asked newly-elected Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar not to proceed with the plea seeking their disqualification which was sought by the Shinde camp on the ground of defying party whip during the trust vote and the election of the speaker.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 12 (ANI): Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday accused Union Minister Prahlad Joshi of conspiring against BS Yediyurappa and removing him from the Chief Minister's chair.

"BS Yediyurappa, who built the BJP in the state, was sent to jail and removed from the post of Chief Minister by whose conspiracy? Aren't you into it?", Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly questioned Union Minister Pralhad Joshi.

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Siddaramaiah, in a series of tweets, came down heavily against Pralhad Joshi.

Joshi had criticised the Siddaramaiah birthday event which has been described by BJP as "Siddaramothsava" organized by Congress leaders.

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Siddaramaiah tweeted, "BS Yediyurappa who built the party with blood and sweat for four decades. Who cornered Yadiyurappa? Whose conspiracy sent him to jail and removed him from the post of Chief Minister when the party was in power? Aren't you involved? BS Yediyurappa wanted to be the chief minister and who performed Operation Kamala on him? Who finally removed him from the post of Chief Minister?" Siddaramaiah attacked Prahald Joshi.

"MLA Basavanagowda Patil Yatnal is pouring accusations against former Chief Minister @BSYBJP and Vijayendra every day due to whose connivance? Whose hands are preventing action against MLAs who speak disparagingly against a senior party leader @JoshiPralhad?", he asked in tweets.

"Who is happy that the bench is standing tall to prevent former chief minister @BSYBJP's son Vijayendra from getting a ministerial position? Who is involved in that joy? Whose plot is leaking his name in scams @JoshiPralhad?" he added in another tweet.

Speaking about the Lingayats in Karnataka, he said, "By wooing the Lingayats and the lords of the Lingayat Math, who formed the party and now they are cornering each and every Lingayat in the party? Former Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar and MLA Arvind Bellada, who was dreaming of the post of Chief Minister, who poured water to his desire @JoshiPralhad?

"The BJP, which had three chief ministers in its first tenure, deposed the first and made a second chief minister by the end of the year of the second term. It is funny that you talk about Congress dissension when you are going to drop the second one and install the third one @JoshiPralhad," added Siddaramaiah.

"It is not written on your forehead to gain a majority and come to power by virtue of achievement. Whatever you say, Operation Kamal is a dirty business," tweeted the Congress leader.

Amid the ongoing crisis in the Goa unit, Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday alleged that the BJP is offering Rs 50 crores for each MLA.

The remarks of the Congress leader came a day after rumours of a split in Goa Congress surfaced. Congress removed party MLA Michael Lobo as the Leader of the Opposition in the Goa Assembly alleging that he along with Digambar Kamat hatched a conspiracy to engineer defections in "total coordination" with the BJP."

By offering Rs 50 Crores for each MLA...they (BJP) are not believing in democracy. Not only in Goa, everywhere they do Operation Kamala. They will offer money, they will purchase MLAs," said Siddaramaiah.

Karnataka Congress MLA MB Patil said that the trading of MLAs has "spoiled the system" of the country.

"CT Ravi's statement is undemocratic...Buying MLAs for Rs 40 Crores. This has spoiled the system of our country, we're ashamed that such things happen in our country," Patil 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)
New Delhi [India], July 12 (ANI): A group of former judges and bureaucrats has urged the Supreme Court not to expunge any of its remarks in the case of "Zakia Ahsan Jafri vs State of Gujarat and Anr", saying that "interference in judiciary not acceptable".

This comes after a "politically motivated" section of civil society has made attempts to cast "aspersions on the integrity of the judiciary" at large and in this case relating to Teesta Setalvad following her arrest in connection with a case against her NGO which gave baseless information about the 2002 Gujarat riots to the police.

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"The Hon'ble Supreme Court remarked that Teesta Setalvad and others were vindictively pursuing this suit for her ulterior design by exploiting the emotions of Zakia Ahsan Jafri, aggrieved by the events. The Supreme Court also took note of the misadventures of Teesta Setalvad when she forwarded letters written by her to the SIT to the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights at the United Nations (OHCHR) for oblique motives and made insinuations against the Hon'ble Supreme Court for accepting the work of the SIT as fair and complete investigation," read the statement.

The statement, signed by 13 retired judges, 90 retired bureaucrats and 87 retired armed forces, said this section has attempted to pressurise the judiciary to expunge remarks which are unfavourable to Setalvad and the two guilty IPS Officers who have fabricated evidence.

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"This section should realise that SCI acted in a matter which was within its jurisdiction and any action for modification of Court proceedings, like its 'clarification' etc., must take form of a regular motion, not merely by the asking of it, and even as they pretend that the Citizens are 'totally disturbed and dismayed', so also the law abiding Citizens are disturbed and dismayed at the former's attempt to disrupt the Rule of Law," it said.

The signatories urged the apex court not to be intimidated by the tactics of such "institutional disruptors". (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai, Jul 12 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi on Tuesday accused Governor R N Ravi of attempting to infuse politics among the students under the guise of convocation at the Madurai Kamaraj University and announced that he would boycott the ceremony.

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Normally, the university's Vice Chancellor decides on the event and whom to invite. But despite being the State Higher Education Minister and Pro Chancellor of the varsity, as well, neither he nor his department secretary were consulted on inviting the speakers for Wednesday's function, the minister claimed.

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The Vice Chancellor's office claimed it was following instructions from the Governor's office while the latter said, when contacted, that procedure is being followed.

"The university has decided the chief guest for the event without consulting me and I am the Pro Chancellor of MKU. Normally, no one is invited as guest of honour for such functions. This is a wrong precedence and nothing but politics," Ponmudi told reporters here.

"This raises suspicion that the governor is attempting to infuse politics among the students through the convocation ceremony," the minister said and claimed when the department secretary and officials contacted, the Vice Chancellor's office replied they were carrying out instructions from the Governor's office.

"When we asked the Governor's office, they said they will do it like this. I have decided to boycott the convocation ceremony as Pro Chancellor, as there is suspicion that the Governor (R N Ravi) is attempting to infuse politics among university students," Ponmudi said.

The Governor is only a nominal executive appointed by the Central government and his duty is to meet the aspirations of state where he serves, Ponmudi said.

"But here, the Governor is conducting himself like a Pracharak propagating the Centre's policies including those on education," Ponmudi alleged and pointed out that the state government under the guidance of Chief Minister M K Stalin has formed a separate committee to formulate the State Education Policy.

He took exception to Union Minister L Murugan being invited to speak as guest of honour before him and said this was gross violation of the protocol as normally the Pro Chancellor's address precedes the speeches of other speakers.

Advising the Governor to read the history, particularly about the Dravidian history, the minister said, "We have many 'isms' like Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc. No one should speak without knowing the Dravidian history. Humanism is the basis of Dravidianism which treats all people as equal and encourages them to live in harmony."

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Jul 12 (PTI) EV charging network provider CHARGE+ZONE on Tuesday said it plans to introduce renewable energy for its high-speed charging network for electric buses and commercial vehicles across India.

The announcement of NITI Aayog and CESL for rolling out 50,000 e-buses offers a major opportunity for the e-mobility industry to invest up to USD 5 billion in charging infrastructure, while for renewable energy, it opens up a new segment of up to 2000 MWp of investment, the company claimed.

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The company said it has set up over 1,450 charging points across 650+ EV charging stations, serving around 5,000 e-vehicles on a daily basis.

Under this initiative, it has deployed its first 200 KW solar rooftop for Ashok Leyland's electric buses in Patna, which is able to source 20 per cent of its daily energy requirements through green energy.

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"The timing of this announcement could not have been better as our team of 100+ electrical engineers continue to push the energy envelope for a monthly sale of 3-million energy units to its existing customers and scout the opportunities beyond," Kartikey Hariyani, Founder & CEO of CHARGE+ZONE, said.

Over the last three years, the company has built an EV charging infrastructure of over 700+ fast DC charging stations pan-India, with the network rapidly being expanded for both inter-city travel across 3,000 kms as well as urban e-mobility applications, the company said.

The company is now expecting to cover at least 25 cities for renewable energy powered charging stations.

"Our initiative of introducing renewable energy powered EV charging stations is aligned with the government's hybrid renewable energy policy of solar and wind, which offers higher capacity utilization (CUF) compared to stand alone solar or wind projects," Hariyani said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, Jul 12 (AP) President Joe Biden will try to reaffirm and recalibrate US relationships in the Middle East during his first trip to the region since taking office, but it won't be easy in a corner of the world that's asking fresh questions about the future of American influence.

Biden departs late Tuesday bound for Israel, where chaotic politics have left a caretaker government in charge until elections later this year, limiting the opportunity for durable deal making. It's unlikely that Biden will have much better luck in the West Bank when he visits with Palestinian leaders who have become increasingly unpopular among their own people.

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The trip only becomes more fraught from there. Biden's next stop will be Saudi Arabia, an autocracy with a legacy of human rights abuses but also vast reserves of oil that the president wants to see pumped more quickly to alleviate high gas prices caused, in part, by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Looming over Biden's travels will be his administration's struggle to rejuvenate the Iran nuclear deal that was reached by Barack Obama in 2015 and abandoned by Donald Trump in 2018. Negotiations stalled last month, and Iran is believed to be closer than ever to having the ability to build a nuclear weapon. Failure to reach a diplomatic solution could increase the chance of conflict in an already combustible neighbourhood.

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He's going to face a region that's long on problems with very few solutions, said Aaron David Miller, a former State Department official who is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In addition, Biden has been more focused on Europe, which is experiencing its worst armed conflict since World War II, and Asia, where he's been trying to reorientate US foreign policy to confront China's rising power.

Jake Sullivan, the president's national security adviser, said the US needs to remain intensively engaged in the Middle East because the region is deeply interwoven with the rest of the world.

"If we act now to create a peaceful and stable region, it will pay dividends for the American national interests and for the American people for years to come," he said Monday at a White House briefing.

In addition to meetings with Israeli and Palestinian politicians, Biden is expected to visit an Israeli missile defense installation and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. He's also slated to receive Israel's Presidential Medal of Honour and visit with US athletes taking part in the Maccabiah Games, which involves thousands of Jewish and Israeli athletes from around the globe.

He travels to Saudi Arabia at the end of the week, when he'll attend a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which brings together Arab leaders from the region. Sullivan said the president will make a major statement on his vision for the Middle East region.

But the most closely watched encounter will be his first meeting with Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's crown prince and presumed heir to the throne currently held by King Salman.

Biden has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia, even saying during the presidential campaign that it should be treated like a pariah for human rights abuses. His administration released a declassified intelligence report saying the crown prince, known as MBS, likely approved the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based writer who was critical of the regime.

However, the shifting politics of energy have led Biden to change course, especially as American drivers face high costs at the gas pump. The global price spike could also make it more difficult for Biden to convince allies to keep pressuring Russia with sanctions as the war in Ukraine grinds on.

Even if Biden's visit goes smoothly, there may not be any immediate relief because oil production targets are governed by an agreement reached among the members of OPEC+, a cartel that includes Saudi Arabia and Russia. And while the current agreement expires in September, concern about a potential worldwide recession could make oil producers wary about pumping more.

Biden made only a glancing reference to working with Saudi Arabia to help stabilise oil markets when he defended his plan to visit the kingdom in an op-ed in the Washington Post, the same newspaper that used to publish Khashoggi's writing.

He promised to continue raising human rights issues, and he said he wants to reorient  but not rupture" the US relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Brian Katulis, vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute, said Biden's shifting approach shows he's no longer seeking the dramatic break from Trump that he originally envisioned.

I think reality just set in," Katulis said, describing the administration's views on the region as evolving from adolescence to a much more mature phase.

Critics say that some of Biden's rhetoric around the Saudi leg of the trip, particularly playing down his expected meeting with the crown prince, could complicate efforts to reset relations. The president has stressed that the primary purpose of his visit to Jeddah is to take part in the gathering of the Gulf council countries.

One factor in seeking a detente in the Saudi relationship is growing concern in the administration that the Saudis could move closer to China and Russia amid strains with the United States.

Another significant stumbling block has been the lack of a new nuclear agreement with Iran. The last round of negotiations in Doha ended without success. The Saudis, as well as the Israelis, have been frustrated that the White House has not abandoned efforts to revive the deal with Tehran.

We want the Saudis to feel that the US is committed to its security long term, and that, in turn, the Saudis are committed to US national security interests as well, said Richard Goldberg, who served as a senior National Security Council adviser on Iran in the Trump administration.

The president is saying ahead of his trip, We are going to continue to hedge on you.' If I was MBS looking at that, I would say, Well, then I'm going to hedge against you as well.'

The threat from Iran, which would only increase if it built a nuclear weapon, has spurred greater cooperation between Arab nations and Israel, something that would have been unthinkable decades ago. Biden hopes to foster closer ties during his trip, and it's notable that he will be the first US president to travel directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia.

Although no one expects the two countries to immediately normalise relations, there could be incremental steps taken, such as by allowing Israeli flights to cross through Saudi airspace.

The tectonic plates are shifting, said Dennis Ross, a former American diplomat who is now a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. That's what's happening.

It's unclear whether any of these changes could eventually lead to a resolution of the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, who live under an Israeli military occupation.

A reminder of the turmoil that could break out at any moment came last year during a brief, bloody war between Israel and the militant group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.

Peace talks are moribund, nor is there much chance of reviving them at the current moment.

Yair Lapid, Israel's caretaker prime minister, leads a centrist political party that is more aligned with Biden than the country's recent conservative leaders. However, new elections are being held in November, and Israelis could decide to revert to Benjamin Netanyahu, a right-wing leader who has clashed with Biden in the past.

A warm visit from Biden could boost Lapid's chances, but any overt shows of support for him could backfire.

Either way, the chaotic state of Israeli politics  this will be the fifth election in three years  means little can be accomplished in the interim.

This is not the moment to try to revive the peace process, said Martin Indyk, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who was Obama's special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Still, Indyk encouraged Biden to express his support for a two-state solution, however distant the possibility may be.

If you ignore the Palestinian issue, it will come back to bite you," he said. "And eventually it will explode. And that's not in anybody's interest. (AP)

(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], July 12 (ANI): Sri Lanka's former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is the youngest brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was stopped from boarding a flight to Dubai on Monday evening, local media reported.

Basil reportedly attempted to leave Sri Lanka amid the ongoing economic crisis in the country but airport immigration officials refused to let him leave the country following the protests by passengers, Daily Mirror reported.

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Upon immigration officials' refusal, Basil had to return without being able to proceed, the report added.

This development comes a day after Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena clarified that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country, soon after reports emerged that the President has left the island nation.

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Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, who announced his resignation on Saturday, was earlier said to have fled and was in a third country.

"President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country, I made a mistake in the (BBC) interview," Speaker Abeywardena told ANI in a telephone call.

When asked further about the whereabouts of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lankan President, the speaker said that both of them are still in the country.

The development comes after thousands of people stormed into the President's House in Fort on Saturday. The dramatic visuals came from PM's official residence where they were seen playing carrom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying in park premises and preparing food for dinner.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also announced to step down from his posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts.

The worsening economic situation in the country has led to increasing tensions and over the last few weeks, there were reports of several confrontations between individuals and members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations where thousands of desperate members of the public have queued for hours and sometimes days.

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress.

The oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice. Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation, have fuelled the shortages.

The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty - some for the first time - adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic. (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], July 12 (ANI): Sri Lankan Nidahas Sewaka Sangamaya (SLNSS) of SriLankan airlines on Tuesday announced the withdrawal of the services at the Silk Route Lounge of the Sri Lankan airport.

The trade union took the decision in order to prevent the responsible officials who are involved in the ongoing crisis from leaving the country, the Daily Mirror reported.

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SLNSS decided to withdraw from functioning their duties with effect from noon today and also decided to stay away from passenger handling on the Silk Route/CIP.

Earlier in the day, The Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Officers' Association (SLIEOA) also announced withdrawal from functioning at the Silk Route Passenger Clearance Terminal at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) with effect from morning until further notice.

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Accordingly, the operations at the Silk Route Passenger Clearance Terminal were stopped at 12.00 midnight today.

SLIEOA President K.A.A.S. Kanugala said, "The decision was made considering the current unstable and crisis situation in the country and the strong possibility of a large number of accused former political VIPs using this Silk Route Clearance Terminal to leave the country."

"The VIPs can arrange their flight facilities by paying money at the BIA through the Silk Route," he added.

This comes after Sri Lanka's former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is the youngest brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was stopped from boarding a flight to Dubai on Monday evening.

Basil reportedly attempted to leave Sri Lanka amid the ongoing economic crisis in the country but airport immigration officials refused to let him leave the country following the protests by passengers, Daily Mirror reported.

Upon immigration officials' refusal, Basil had to return without being able to proceed, the report added.

This development comes a day after Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena clarified that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country, soon after reports emerged that the President has left the island nation.

Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, who announced his resignation on Saturday, was earlier said to have fled and was in a third country.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also announced to step down from his posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts.

The worsening economic situation in the country has led to increasing tensions and over the last few weeks, there were reports of several confrontations between individuals and members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations where thousands of desperate members of the public have queued for hours and sometimes days. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Jul 12 (AP) Ivory Coast officials called on Mali to immediately release 49 of its soldiers who were arrested Sunday at the international airport in Bamako, refuting accusations they were mercenaries.

Contrary to the allegations ... these soldiers are regularly registered in the workforce of the Ivorian Army, and were in Mali as part of agreed upon support mechanisms for the contingents of the troop-contributing countries within the framework of the U.N. peacekeeping mission, according to a statement from the Ivory Coast government after a meeting of its National Security Council Tuesday.

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Under an agreement signed in July 2019 between Ivory Coast and the United Nations, and in accordance with a security and logistical support contract signed with the Societe Sahel Aviation Service (SAS), Ivorian soldiers are present at Bamako Airport, it said.

Since that date, 7 contingents have taken turns periodically on this site, without any difficulty.

Also Read | US: Three-Year-Old Boy Dies in Hot Car Parked Outside Miami Area Jewish Center.

A copy of the 8th rotation's mission order was sent to Malian airport authorities along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Malian armed forces Chief of Staff, Ivory Coast's statement said.

No Ivorian soldier from this contingent was in possession of weapons and ammunition when he got off the plane.

The weapons of the contingent, as authorised by the United Nations for personal protection and self-defense cases and according to the procedures in the matter, were in a second plane, it said.

Ivory Coast's National Security Council called on the Malian authorities to release, without delay, the Ivorian soldiers. Ivorian authorities will continue to work to maintain the climate of peace and brotherhood that has always prevailed between Ivory Coast and Mali, despite this incident, it said, calling on residents to remain calm while awaiting the soldiers' release.

Malian government spokesman Col. Abdoulaye Maiga said Monday that two aircraft arrived at Mali's international airport Sunday with the 49 soldiers with their weapons and ammunition of war, as well as other military equipment.

They were illegally on the national territory of Mali, and the transitional government considers them mercenaries, he added.

The soldiers are working for the Sahelian Aviation Services, a private company contracted by the U.N., according to the statements from both governments.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the contingent was not a formal part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali.

However, he said, They are National Support Elements who are deployed bilaterally by the Troop Contributing Countries in support of their contingents, and that's a common practice in peacekeeping missions.

Mali's government said it intends to put an end to the protection activity of the Sahelian Aviation Services by foreign forces and demand their departure from Malian territory, the government spokesman said.

The government invited the airline Sahelian Aviation Services to henceforth entrust its security to the Malian defense and security forces, he said.

Mali has faced recent tensions with the international community and the United Nations.

Mali's transitional government affirmed in June that it would not authorise the U.N. mission to investigate ongoing human rights violations in Mali, including an incident at a small village in the centre of Mali where the Malian army is accused by rights groups of killing more than 300 civilians in April.

France has also announced the withdrawal of its forces deployed there nearly a decade ago to help fight extremist rebels. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bamako, Jul 12 (AP) Malian authorities arrested nearly 50 soldiers from Ivory Coast who came to Mali to work for a company contracted by the United Nations mission in Mali.

The government made the announcement Monday calling the Ivorian soldiers mercenaries, in a move that could raise tensions between the two West African countries.

Also Read | US: Three-Year-Old Boy Dies in Hot Car Parked Outside Miami Area Jewish Center.

Two aircraft arrived at Mali's international airport Sunday with the 49 soldiers with their weapons and ammunition of war, as well as other military equipment, said Malian government spokesman Col. Abdoulaye Maiga. They were illegally on the national territory of Mali, and the transitional government considers them mercenaries, he added.

UN mission spokesman Olivier Salgado said these Ivorian soldiers are not part of one of the MINUSMA contingents, but have been deployed for several years in Mali as part of logistical support on behalf of one of our contingents.

Also Read | Euro Equal to the US Dollar for First Time in 20 Years.

He said that their arrival as relief would have been communicated beforehand to the national authorities.

The soldiers are working for the Sahelian Aviation Services, a private company contracted by the UN, he said.

The government intends to put an end to the protection activity of the Sahelian Aviation Services by foreign forces and demand their departure from Malian territory, the government spokesman said.

The government invited the airline" Sahelian Aviation Services to henceforth entrust its security to the Malian defense and security forces, he said.

Mali's transitional government affirmed in June that it would not authorize the UN mission to investigate ongoing human rights violations in Mali, including an incident at a small village in the center of Mali where the Malian army is accused by rights groups of killing more than 300 civilians in April.

International tensions are mounting as France has also announced the withdrawal of its forces deployed there nearly a decade ago to help fight extremist rebels. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Actors Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor have been shooting for Bawaal in Europe for the last two months. The duo has shot in multiple European locations including Paris and Amsterdam, and are at present in Poland for the last leg of shoot. According to media portal Pinkvilla, as a part of their prep, the duo visited the Auschwitz Nazi Camp in Poland. Bawaal: Varun Dhawan Poses Alongside Janhvi Kapoor in This Fun Picture as They Head For Paris for Nitesh Tiwari Directorial.

"Varun and Janhvi heard the entire history behind World War 2 and the story of Jews. They visited there like tourists, and learnt the history of the place in a pre-recorded tape. The visit to this Nazi Camp has a connect with the film's plot, which has been kept under wraps for now," revealed a source close to the development, adding that various facets of Bawaal will be unveiled as the release approaches.

The movie marks the reunion of Sajid Nadiadwala and Nitesh Tiwari after their National Award Winning collaboration of Chhichhore. This is also a first time pairing of Varun and Janhvi. "It's a special script for all the stakeholders. The shoot so far has gone off very well, with Nitesh Tiwari and team capturing the visual essence of the premise. Bawaal: Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoors Film by Nitesh Tiwari Goes on Floors in Lucknow.

He has shot the entire film at real locations so far - be it in India or abroad, sticking to the need of the story, and Sajid, as a producer, has gone all out to get all the formalities of the shoot sorted," the source added. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Bawaal is gearing up for an April 2023 release in cinema halls across the globe. Besides Bawaal, Varun is gearing up for another film with Sajid Nadiadwala - Sanki.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 12, 2022 05:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
As the countdown for the upcoming Presidential elections starts, the Shiv Sena has dropped broad hints that it may support NDA's candidate Draupadi Murmu and not the non-BJP Opposition's nominee, Yashwant Sinha, here on Tuesday.
The younger sister, Tosca Musk, of tech billionaire Elon Musk, said that she is incredibly proud of her older brother, media reports say. Tosca Musk is the CEO and founder of Passionflix, which is a premium streaming service focusing on romance. It focuses on bringing romance novels to life on the screen.
BJP-led NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu pays tribute to Swami Vivekananda at his ancestral residence in Kolkata, West Bengal, in the presence of Union Ministers and others pic.twitter.com/cJ6esWB4aY ANI (@ANI) July 12, 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.)
Jerusalem, July 12: The number of Monkeypox cases in Israel rose to 66 with 11 new cases reported, the state's Health Ministry has said.

In addition to the vaccines that have already been used in the country, Israel is purchasing third-generation vaccines against the virus, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the ministry.

It called again on the residents to see a doctor if they developed a fever, blistering rash, or were near a person suspected of being infected with the virus. Monkeypox Outbreak in India: 'We Should Not Panic, It Usually Spreads by Very Close Contact', Says ICMR Scientist.

An upcoming shipment from the Danish manufacturer Bavarian Nordic is expected to include 2,000 vaccine doses, which will be enough to vaccinate 1,000 people, according to the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Monkeypox is common in wild animals like rodents and primates, and humans can also get infected with the virus. Bird Flu Outbreak Kills Thousands of Cranes in Israel.

Symptoms include skin rashes, fever, headache, muscle ache, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.

The rash eventually forms a scab, which later will fall off, indicating that the person is no longer infectious.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 12, 2022 10:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
At the end of last month, citizens in cities around Mexico gathered to commemorate and protest the disappearance of 43 students from a rural teachers college in Ayotzinapa one year ago. In a country wracked by violence, the case of the disappeared students continues to resonate: a story of everyday, working-class Mexicans attempting to make a better life for themselves, who were smothered by drug war violence  that of the government and of the cartels (two purportedly opposing groups who too often appear to be working in tandem).

In this environment, the 43 have become more than just a number, they have become a symbol of everything that is wrong with Mexicos corrupt ruling classes, a breaking point for a people who have had enough. (For some terrific insight into the case and the way it has affected politics in Mexico, be sure to read journalist and novelist Francisco Goldmans series in the New Yorker.)

As with protests elsewhere  consider Umbrella Man, the icon of last years pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong  the Ayotzinapa manifestations in Mexico have inspired a frenzy of art-making: impromptu installations, murals, banners, masks and costumes. These borrow as much from popular culture as they draw from traditions of Mexican folk art.

And altogether, they tell an interesting story: The 43 may be gone, but they will not be forgotten.

The calavera  or skull  is a common motif in Mexican folk art and it is employed frequently in the Aytozinapa protests. A woman clad in a skull mask stands in front of the National Palace during a rally in the Zocalo, the capitals main square. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press)

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Mexican Revolution-era garb is frequently used as symbol of protest, such as this figure, in Mexico City, dressed as a soldadera, one of the Revolutions female soldiers. Her sign reads: He who sows hunger, unemployment, ignorance, fraud and murders, harvests Revolution. Where are the 43? (Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

Stencil portraits of some of the missing students are depicted on a billboard erected by Amnesty International at a protest camp inside Mexico Citys main square. Stencilling is a form that dates back hundreds of years, but began to be regularly employed for political purposes during the 20th century. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press)

Skull stencils bearing the number 43 line the street in front of the National Palace in Mexico City in late August at a rally in support of the parents of the missing students. (Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

A flower rests next to hands reaching upward on a newly erected monument for students killed on the day 43 others disappeared just over a year ago. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press)

Since the 43 students disappeared, the numeral has become a symbol  of resistance to corruption, violence and a broken justice system. In this image, a masked man sprays a graffito in honor of the 43. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP/Getty Images)

The Greenpeace ship Esperanza is illuminated with the number 43 in Acapulco, in Guerrero state, in early September. Guerrero is the region where the students lived and disappeared. (Pedro Pardo / AFP/Getty Images)

A silhouette with space for eye-holes turns this simple placard into a mask  and every protester at a demonstration in Mexico city last month into one of the missing. (Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

The protests have also generated plenty of paintings  generally portraits of the missing  often executed in a brightly hued folk style. Seen here: portraits of the missing in front of Guerreros state assembly, located in the city of Chilpancingo. (Pedro Pardo / AFP/Getty Images)

Banners representing the 43 missing students are seen during a protest in Mexico City on Sept. 26. The faces of the 43 have become a broader symbol of everyday Mexicans held hostage to the countrys violence. (Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

A view of the elaborate Ayotzinapa mask framed by colorful banners that employ indigenous iconography and protest symbols. This image was taken in late September at an anniversary protest in honor of the missing 43. (Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

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Honduras is bordered by Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador while having four district regions such as the central highlands, Pacific lowlands, eastern Caribbean lowlands, and northern coastal plains and mountains.

It is also home to many colorful insects such as butterflies, beetles, and spiders. Large animals include deer, ocelots, and pumas.

IExplore reported that the concept of "banana republic" comes from the idea that Honduras was left a power vacuum to be filled with the departures of the Spanish rules despite being one of the earlier countries to break free from colonial rule.

The early 20th century saw U.S. companies arriving in Honduras to set up and export goods, mostly banana crops.

READ NEXT: El Salvador Food: Traditional Salvadoran Dishes That Every Traveler Should Try

People of Honduras

Honduras has a diverse mix of people. The majority live in the highlands and practice the Roman Catholic religion. Most of the American Indians are Lenca and are now found in the southwest, near the Guatemala border, which is close to the most important Indian centers of the pre-Columbian period.

Meanwhile, small and isolated groups of non-Spanish-speaking Indians continue to live in the northeast, although their numbers are decreasing. These groups are the Jicaque, Miskito, and Paya, according to Britannica.

About nine-tenths of the population is Mestizoor, or a mix of European and Latin American descent. Minority ethnic groups compose about six percent of the population. Meanwhile, Blacks of West Indian origin and Garifuna make up a significant part of the population along the Caribbean coast, an area where English is widely spoken.

The official language of Honduras is Spanish. The largest remaining religious groups in the nation are Protestant, with notable congregations on the Bay Islands.

Protestant churches in Honduras have expanded rapidly since the upheaval caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Honduras Culture and Economy

The country vote for a president who serves a single four-year term, with the president appointing 18 governors to run administrative departments.

National Geographic noted that the departments are then further broken down, with localities being the most local government subdivision.

A third of the economy in Honduras is derived from agriculture. Coffee is the biggest export of the country, with bananas contributing a significant percentage of the money brought into the country.

Honduras was under military rule in 1969. During that time, a brief but serious war broke out with El Salvador due to a dispute over immigration and the lack of a clearly defined border between the two countries.

Honduran cuisine is a fusion of the Caribbean, the indigenous Lenca people, the Spanish, and Africa. The Garifuna also have their own way of cooking up a meal.

The staple food in Honduras is the same as in other countries in Central America. Corn-based tortillas are paired up with almost everything, starting with breakfast. Beans also play a part in the country's food.

The best-known dish from Honduras is Sopa de caracol, or conch soup.

READ MORE: El Salvador Travel: Best Tourist Attractions to Visit as the Central American Country Sees a Tourism Boom

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Honduras - All you need to know - Geography, History, Economy, Climate, People and Culture - from Geography Nuts
Authorities in the United States have seized over 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine from attempted smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border. The illegal narcotics were seized inside a box truck that crossed the border last Thursday. Its port of entry was the Otay Mesa, according to the DEA.

Four men have been arrested, and all of them were from Tijuana, Mexico. They were identified as Rafael Alzua, 37; Mario Contreras, 41; Ethgar Velazquez, 44; and Galdrino Contreras, 41. CNN reported that they are facing charges of conspiracy to distribute the highly addictive drug. All four men are facing the possibility of life imprisonment and a fine worth $10 million.

Authorities Tracked Drug Smugglers to National City, California

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California and the Drug Enforcement Administration said that the 20-foot commercial truck carried 148 bundles of meth. Law enforcement authorities followed the vehicle to National City, California, where the four men began unloading cardboard boxes into a Dodge van. When they seized the cardboard boxes, they tested positive for methamphetamine, according to CBS News.

Shelly S. Howe, a special agent in charge at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told the media that this drug bust was another "win against drug cartels." She then praised the other law enforcement agencies that took part in this huge drug bust and vowed that they will continue to disrupt the cartels' drug flow into the United States.

Federal authorities say the confiscated items weighed more than 5,000 pounds. CBS News reported that this may be one of the largest methamphetamine busts in San Diego County's history.

The Sand Diego County Sheriff's Department posted images of the illegal drugs they seized, along with the K-9 milo who helped authorities track them.

#KeepingYouSafe @SDSheriff K-9 Milo is a very good boy after helping our deputies and law enforcement partners make one of the biggest methamphetamine busts in #SanDiegoCounty history. Read the news release here: https://t.co/BOdi19XyJO #Teamwork @HSISanDiego @DEASANDIEGODiv pic.twitter.com/v68GWLy42O  San Diego Sheriff (@SDSheriff) July 9, 2022

READ NEXT: Mexico Authorities Discover Truck With Over 300 Migrants From 14 Countries

Methamphetamine Continues To Be a Threat to Americans

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive substance that usually takes powder form. According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 23,000 Americans died from overdoses involving psychostimulants, the primary example being meth.

According to NBC News, this drug bust was larger than the 2,200 pounds that the DEA seized back in 2020. At that time, that was considered the largest domestic drug bust. This one eclipses that by more than twice the amount in pounds.

This latest San Diego drug bust is considered big, and U.S. authorities are stepping up their efforts to combat the smuggling of illegal drugs across the border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in California previously seized over 400 pounds of various illegal drugs, including meth, cocaine, and heroin. They were concealed inside toolboxes, and the smugglers tried transporting them into the country. The CBP said that the estimated street value of the captured narcotics amounted to $2.56 million.

READ NEXT: El Chapo's Wife Emma Coronel Aispuro Could Be an Influencer Earning up to $10,000 per Publication Once She Gets Out of Prison

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: 5K pounds of meth seized in San Diego - Fox 11 Los Angeles
Weeks after two Jesuit priests and a tour guide were killed inside the church in Cerocahui, Chihuahua, the Roman Catholic Church began a special round of prayers for peace in the country. Jesuits, the order of which the two slain priests were part, also held a moment of silence for them.

The two priests tried helping a man who sought refuge inside their church. However, several armed men arrived and killed the man, as well as the two priests. They then wrapped their bodies in black plastic and drove away. A local drug gang may have been responsible for their deaths, according to authorities.

Jesuits Say They Will Not Be Intimidated

Dozens gathered at the downtown monument, the Stella of Light, as the Jesuits held a moment of silence for their murdered brethren. According to THE Associated Press, the priests said they will not be intimidated into leaving the Tarahumara mountains where the murders took place. They will continue their mission and minister to the Raramuri Indigenous community in the region.

Jesuit priest Rev. Jorge Atilano Gonzalez spoke to the media and said that they are starting a cycle of prayers for peace at the national level. They are also doing this to mark the memory of "all the people killed and disappeared." He added that they are remembering not only the priests but also the "journalists, the social activists and the young people who have died violently."

Mexico is now considered the deadliest country for journalists, according to the Washington Post, as 12 journalists have been killed inside the country so far this year.

Father Gonzalez also said that in addition to continuing their mission in the region, they have already assigned their replacements. Two new Jesuit priests will be heading to the Tarahumara mountains and continuing the work of the two fallen priests, Javier Campos Morales, 79, and Joaquin Cesar Mora Salazar, 80.

The local tour guide who fled to the church and was killed alongside the priests was identified as Pedro Palma.

READ MORE: Mexico: 2 Elderly Jesuit Priests Killed After Gunmen Chased Man Seeking Refuge in Church

Murdered Jesuit Priests Were Doing Important Social Work for the Raramuri

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico have praised the two priests for their service. They stated that the two Jesuits carried out important social work among the Raramuri, or Tarahumara, Indigenous people. They also said that they were well known among their community, and their murders are a reminder of the violent situation these indigenous people face.

The Mexican church killings have sent a shockwave across Mexico. Reuters reported that authorities identified the lead suspect in the killings as Jose Noriel Portillo Gil. The Chihuahua state prosecutor's office is offering a reward for information leading to his capture, and it is worth five million Mexican pesos, or around $250,000.

The Church is also praying for the killers, as the bishops' council of Mexico is conducting a prayer on July 31 for the conversion or redemption of the men of killed the two priests.

Meanwhile, Father Gonzalez said that they are still asking for justice and the strengthening of local institutions. He added that having the army or the National Guard present is not enough, and Mexico needs to have "stronger local institutions."

READ MORE: Mexico: Pope Francis in 'Pain and Shock' Over Brutal Killing of Jesuit Priests in Northern Mexico

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Jesuit priests killed in Mexico buried in parish - AP Archive
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared a message on Monday in connection to the anniversary of the July protests in Cuba, paying tribute to the demonstrators, a view which was not supported by the island's officials.

In a statement on Monday, Blinken said that Washington "celebrate[s] the Cuban people and commend[s] their indomitable determination' during oppression."

"Americans watched with admiration on July 11, 2021 as tens of thousands of you took to the streets to raise your voices for human rights, fundamental freedoms, and a better life," the U.S. secretary of state underscored.

Blinken accused Cuba's regime of "condemning" the protesters to decades of long prison sentences instead of listening to their voices.

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Cuba's Foreign Minister Slams U.S. Over Protests Last year

Meanwhile, Cuba's officials on Monday have a different view on the protest that occurred last year. Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez took to Twitter on Monday in response to Blinken's statement.

We reject comments by US Secretary of State confirming direct involvement of government of that country in attempts to subvert order and peace in #Cuba in violation of International Law.#CubaPorLaPaz  Bruno Rodriguez P (@BrunoRguezP) July 11, 2022

Rodriguez pointed out that they reject the comments of the U.S. secretary of state, contending that Blinken confirmed the involvement of the U.S. in the demonstrations last year.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel also commented on the anniversary of the protests, claiming that if there was something to celebrate out of the demonstration, it should be the victory of the Cuban people and the Cuban revolution before the attempt to make the protests into a soft coup.

"There was vandalism, some with cruelty and tremendous belligerence," Cuba's president said.

The protests in Cuba last year were driven by Cubans' frustrations with shortages of food, medicines, and repeated electricity outages. Political change and faster vaccination were also demanded by the demonstrators in last year's rally.

Cuba's Protests

Cuba's protests, which occurred on July 11 and 12 last year, prompted thousands of people to go to the streets of Havana and other towns to voice out their frustration on certain issues, such as food shortages, which worsened during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cuba's government blamed the hardships on the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on the island.

Cuba's government arrested several protesters during that time but did not mention how many were placed under their custody. However, independent organization Justice 11J counted more than 1,400 Cubans arrested during the protests last year.

Last month, Cuba's government imposed sentences on at least 381 people who participated in the protests last year. Two hundred ninety-seven of those were sentenced to between five and 25 years of prison time for crimes of sedition, sabotage, robbery with force, and public disorder. In addition, at least 16 people aged 16 to 18 were among those sentenced last month.

In January, at least 790 people were charged after the protests in Cuba.

READ NEXT: Joe Biden Approves to Continue Donald Trump-Era Border Wall Project in California and Close Friendship Park

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Today Marks One Year Since Historic Anti-Government Protests In Cuba - From MSNBC
After the Roe v. Wade repeal, the Health and Human Services Department announced that hospitals and doctors must provide abortion procedures if the life of the mother is at risk.

CBS News reported that the department added it forestalls state laws in jurisdictions that now prohibit the medical procedure after the Supreme Court's ruling that ended the landmark precedent to abortion, deeming it a constitutional right.

The emergency treatment guideline is officially called as Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. It requires medical facilities to decide whether a person seeking treatment may be in labor or if they face an emergency health situation.

HHS's guidance noted that if a medical provider believes that a pregnant patient is showing an emergency medical condition, as defined by the law, the physician must provide abortion if it is the "stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve that condition."

It also noted that it preempts the state law that does not include an exception for the life of the mother.

READ NEXT: Roe v. Wade Overturned: What It Means for Abortion in California, Florida, New Mexico | Where Will It Be Illegal?

Health and Human Services Emergency Treatment Guideline

The department noted in a Reuters report that the emergency conditions included in the guideline are ectopic pregnancy, a complication of pregnancy loss, or emergent hypertensive disorders. An example of hypertensive disorders is preeclampsia with severe features.

The emergency treatment guideline does not introduce a new policy but rather a reminder for the medical providers and physicians of their obligations under federal law.

U.S. President Joe Biden had asked on Sunday to consider whether he has the authority to declare an abortion-related public health emergency.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday that declaring abortion as a public health emergency would not release resources. Jean-Pierre cited the heavy federal spending in the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and monkeypox.

The White House press secretary told reporters that it was the reason why the administration has not taken that action yet. However, she said that everything is on the table.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said that medical emergencies are not limited to cited instances. Becerra added that women have the right to emergency care, covering abortion care, no matter where the life, as stated under the law.

Roe v Wade and Abortion Access

Biden signed an executive order on Friday in response to the Supreme Court repealing Roe v. Wade. The executive order is focused on protecting abortion access across the country despite the abortion bans enforced by some states, according to an ABC News report.

Biden said that it was not "some imagined horror," adding that it is already happening. The president then referred to the 10-year-old girl, who was a rape victim and was forced to travel out of state to terminate the pregnancy.

The White House noted that the executive order directs Attorney General Merrick Garland and the White House counsel to gather volunteer lawyers and organizations.

The president also mentioned that he will provide leave for federal workers traveling for the medical procedure.

READ MORE: Pres. Joe Biden Labels Supreme Court Leaked Opinion on Abortion Case as "Radical Decision"

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: US President Joe Biden signs order on abortion access after Roe v Wade court ruling - from Evening Standard
The 10-year-old boy from Florida who was arrested months ago after allegedly threatening to engage in a school shooting pleaded not guilty to the charge slammed against him on Monday.

New York Post identified the 10-year-old as Daniel Marquez. The Florida boy was reportedly from a police station in handcuffs accompanied by his dad when he entered his plea in Lee County juvenile court.

The Florida boy is accused of threatening to commit a mass shooting during an event in his school, which he made through sending text messages.

He is reportedly from Patriot Elementary School located in Cape Coral.

READ NEXT: Florida Sheriff Responds to Shock Arrest of 10-Year-Old Boy Over School Shooting Threat: "Our Policy Is Zero Tolerance"

Florida Boy's Dad Says Messages Sent Were 'Misinterpreted'

On Monday, Daniel's father, Dereck Marquez, as well as his attorneys, criticized Lee County Sheriff Lee Merceno for publicizing the arrest of the 10-year-old. The dad also noted that the authorities misinterpreted the messages sent by his son.

The authorities revealed that the Florida boy said in one text that he scammed his friend for $1 trillion with a Google image of money. He then sent an image of AR-style rifles, claiming that he bought the firearms for the money.

"Get ready for water day," the Florida boy said.

On Monday, Dereck underscored that the "water day" reference was not connected to the preceding messages that were sent.

Meanwhile, Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) Managing Editor Letitia Kim slammed the charges pressed against the Florida boy, calling them "bogus."

"Daniel Marquez is an innocent 10-year-old child who has been falsely accused and publicly maligned by the Lee County Sheriff," Kim said.

Kim further noted that their focus at the moment is to repair the harm experienced by the Florida boy and ensure that the same thing will not happen again in any other families in Lee County.

FAIR took up Daniel's case after his arrest.

10-year-old Boy Arrested Over School Shooting Threat

The 10-year-old boy from Florida was arrested in May after he made the school shooting threat through a message.

The Lee County Sheriff's office posted a video of the boy being escorted by an officer to the police vehicle. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno called the behavior of the 10-year-old "sickening," contending that what he did was not funny, prompting him to face real consequences.

Last month, Marceno defended his decision to arrest the Florida boy, arguing that the threat made by the fifth-grader "called for stiff treatment."

"As sheriff, the safety and security of our students and schools in Lee County have been my top priority," Marceno emphasized.

The Florida sheriff then mentioned that they act immediately to investigate any and all threats made against their students or schools.

READ NEXT: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken 'Celebrate' on Cuba Protest Anniversary; Island's Officials Pushback

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: 10-Year-Old Florida Boy Arrested for School Shooting Threat - From Fox News
The camp of Colombia's rebel group FARC has been "bombed" during a joint operation by Colombian police and military, killing at least 10 people.

According to BBC News, Colombian police and military were targeting a man named Ivan Mordisco, who is believed to be the first commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to turn his back on the 2016 peace deal. He has been leading dissident guerillas in southern Colombia ever since.

Local media reported that nearly 300 soldiers and police moved into the camp in the southern Caqueta region after the Air Force first bombed it. Dubbed Jupiter, the operation has reportedly been planned for two months.

The identity of those killed has not yet been confirmed. However, officials said they counted six men and four women who were members of the dissident FARC rebel group.

Police noted that they had information that Mordisco was in the FARC camp. It is unclear if he was among those killed in the bombing.

READ NEXT: Colombia's Defense Minister Calls on Colombian Gangs to Surrender or Be Hunted Down

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC

It was not the first time Colombia's law enforcement bombed the dissident group. In 2019, Colombian troops launched an air raid against FARC, which killed nine dissidents.

Al Jazeera reported that it was the first air strike since the group's former leaders rejected the 2016 peace agreement and announced a return to arms.

Colombia's President Ivan Duque said at the time that he gave the go signal for the military operation in Colombia's south rural area.

Duque named one person who died during the air strike. It was a rebel known by his alias Gildardo Cucho. The Colombian president said the rebel was part of a group that former FARC commander Luciano Marino was looking to recruit to another rebel faction.

Duque noted that Gildardi Cucho was a leader in the said organization while citing the troop's "strategic, meticulous, impeccable, and rigorous work." The group FARC are Marxist rebels who waged war against the Colombian government for more than five decades.

The rebel group signed a peace deal with the government in 2016, prompting a huge number of its members to follow the peace deal. However, some backed out of the agreement and continued fighting, which included Ivan Mordisco.

Ivan Mordisco

Ivan Mordisco, with a real name Nestor Gregorio Vera Fernandez, assumed the leadership of FARC after the death of Miguel Botache Santillana, alias "Gentil Duarte," in Venezuela in May 2022.

Mordisco started his criminal activities when he joined FARC in the late 1990s. At first, he was a foot soldier and quickly became a sniper and explosives expert.

He temporarily served as commander of the First Front in 2008 after its leader Gerardo Aguilar, alias "Cesar," was captured, according to an InsightCrime report.

Army Special Anti-Drug Trafficking Brigade had Mordisco in their custody in 2015 for a short time. He was captured in a rural area of Miraflores municipality.

He was then released with details remaining to be unclear. Mordisco was known to be a violent leader with "disdain for civilian populations."

He also played a prominent role in Gentil Duarte's plan to combine FARC dissidents. Ivan Mordisco was reportedly assigned to run the operation in northern Colombia.

READ MORE: Colombia's Most-Wanted Drug Lord Dairo Antonio Usuga Arrested; Pres. Ivan Duque Likened It to Capture of Pablo Escobar

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Bombardeo Contra Disidencias De Las FARC en Caqueta: Serian Varios Los Abatidos - From Noticias Caracol
Texas death row inmate Ramiro Gonzales has filed a petition to delay his execution so he can donate a kidney.

Houston Chronicle reported that the state's appeals court had granted him a stay of execution. However, the decision was not connected to his intended kidney donation.

Gonzales has been scheduled to be put to death on July 13. He wrote a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott on June 29 to ask for his execution to be delayed for a month, so he could donate his kidney to either of two "preliminarily compatible" recipients.

The governor's office has yet to comment on the matter. Gonzales' attorneys noted that there are two possible recipients of the donation. One was a cancer survivor who shares a rare blood type with Gonzales.

The patient was believed to be a resident of Washington. Gonzales has an extremely rare blood type B, with most donor patients waiting for years for a compatible organ.

On Monday, the Criminal Court of Appeals granted a stay of execution for Gonzales. The decision was based on the assertion that a psychiatrist gave false testimony during the trial about "extremely high" recidivism rates for sexual offenders.

The appeals court remanded this aspect of the case back to the trial court. The execution will be halted until that court settles the matter.

READ NEXT: Retired Texas Couple Could Lose Home After Facing a HOA Lawsuit for Feeding Ducks

Texas Death Row Inmate Kidney Donation

Potential kidney recipient Judith Frith wrote in a note to Greg Abbott that Ramiro Gonzales' attorneys submitted together with their own letter that she "cannot emphasize enough what a precious gift you would be giving someone if you allowed Mr. Gonzales the opportunity to donate his kidney," CNN reported.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Gonzales' petition for a six-month delay to donate his organ to a member of a Jewish congregation in Maryland, according to the Daily Mail.

The Department of Criminal Justice justified its rejection of kidney donation by saying it would create an "uncertain timeline" that could possibly interfere with the court-ordered execution date.

In a statement, Gonzales' lawyers, Raoul Schonemann and Thea Posel, described the Board's decision as "disappointing," adding that nothing in the Board's decision precludes Abbott from granting a 30-day reprieve to allow the process to move forward.

Cantor Michael Zoosman, the founder of L'chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, said Texas should allow the act of kindness and not deny Ramirez from doing that.

Ramiro Gonzales' Murder Case

Ramiro Gonzales was sentenced to death in 2006 for murdering Bridget Townsend in Medina County in 2001. He was 18 at the time.

Gonzales reportedly kidnapped Townsend from her boyfriend's house, where he was looking to steal drugs. He stole some money, bound her hands and feet, and drove her to a location near his family's ranch.

Gonzalez sexually assaulted Townsend before he shot her and buried her in a ditch. In 2003, he confessed to the crime while sitting in county jail for an unrelated crime.

His confession led investigators to Townsend's decomposing body. Ramiro Gonzales' lawyers said their client has "never made excuses" for the crime he has done.

READ MORE: Texas Police Shoot, Kill Gunman at Youth Summer Camp After He Opened Fire

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Ramiro Gonzales on Death Row in Texas - From Death Penalty Action
The Los Negritos lake in Mexico, a popular tourist destination near the Michoacan-Jalisco border, has reportedly become a narco cemetery.

According to reports, the natural mud pits and acidic hot springs in the lakeside community have now turned into a makeshift graveyard for victims of the Jalisco cartel or Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

On Monday, the Mexican newspaper El Universal reported that over the past three weeks, officials from Michoacan and Mexico's Attorney General's Office had exhumed 25 bodies from the Los Negritos lake in the Villamar municipality in the state of Michoacan.

However, activists believe that more bodies may be buried in the mud pits, which El Universal now calls a narco cemetery. Activists said there could be as many as 500 people buried there.

Eight Bodies Found in Mexico's Los Negritos 'Narco Cemetery' Already Identified

Mexican authorities claimed that they have already identified eight of the bodies found in Mexico's Los Negritos, mainly using clothing and dental records.

However, 17 of the victims found through Sunday remained unidentified as their bodies have already deteriorated so much that DNA testing might be the only viable option to identify them.

A group of relatives who believe that their missing loved ones could have been buried in the mud pits is pressuring authorities to begin the excavations.

Called "San Pedro Cahro en Busqueda de Angeles" or "San Pedro Cahro in search of angels," Isis del Rocio Macias Gracian formed the group, Mexico Daily News reported.

Hailing from San Pedro Cahro, Michoacan, she claimed that her brother was kidnapped and was later found dead in the area.

According to Macias Gracian, there was information that more human remains were buried in the Los Negritos narco cemetery, and some may have been there for seven or eight years.

She said some of the bodies might not be rescued yet as the site is in a geothermal zone with dangerous volcanic vents, which may pose a threat to rescuers. She added that many of the bodies might be inside the boiling wells or the lake itself.

READ NEXT: Mexico: 9 Dead After Shootout Between Police, Gunmen in Jalisco State Plagued by Mexican Drug Cartels

Towns Near Los Negritos Lake in Mexico Known for Jalisco Cartel Activities

The Associated Press reported that more than five dozen bodies were found in the town of La Barca in 2013, and these mass graves were linked to the Jalisco cartel.

The Los Negritos area is near the town of La Barca and several municipalities such as Zamora, Jiquilpan, and Sahuayo, and a part of it is in dispute between rival factions of the Jalisco Cartel. Zamora was recently named the "world's most violent city of 2021" in a study by a Mexican NGO.

Mexican drug cartels frequently use clandestine burial pits to dispose of the bodies of their rivals or kidnapping victims. The number of missing persons in Mexico has already exceeded more than 100,000.

READ MORE: Jalisco Cartel Leader 'El Senoron' Who Receives Orders From Boss 'El Mencho' Arrested in Mexico

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Mexican Cartels: Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion - From RANE
A Laois teacher whose passion is hand sewing and environmentally sustainable fashion, got the exciting job of adjusting the gowns of film stars recently at the Oscars and the Met Gala Ball in New York.

Primary School teacher Miriam Keegan from Emo is completing a Masters in Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware, focusing on social responsibility, supply chain management and sustainability.

She won a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to the US, for her work to promote sustainable fashion and to educate others about the damage and waste caused by 'fast fashion'.

A recent Gaisce Gold winner for which she mastered the art of embroidery among physical and community achievements, she told the Leinster Express about the glamorous opportunities that sewing has brought her.

"Last September I got to work at the Met Gala, doing alteration assistance. I got to work at the Oscars as well. I worked on Vanessa Hudgens' dress and on the dress of Demi Singleton who played Serena Williams in the movie King William," she said.

Miriam is the creator of an online teaching course for primary school teachers, Education for Sustainable Development Using Fabric and Fibre, approved by the Department of Education. It gives teachers the knowledge to in turn teach pupils how to sew and mend their clothing.

In 2021, after a year of buying no clothes, Miriam created the No Clothes Commitment Challenge, a climate change movement for people to take in order to meaningfully reduce their carbon emissions and save some money.

"At the end of the day it's about getting everybody to learn how to sew and getting the word out about overconsumption. I still have my online course going while I am in the states. 300 teachers have done it in the last two years, that's amazing. I want to bring about change and give the ability to kids so they are able to turn up a hem. One group of girls asked to get sewing machines for Christmas and they made bandanas for charity, so it created a ripple effect.

The Gaisce ceremony was a special moment.

"It was a fantastic day, it was the first time it was held in Aras an Uachtarain. I was lucky that I was home for the summer. It was a really humbling moment and I got to meet the dogs too. It felt really personal even though there were so many other Gold Gaisce winners there," she said.

Miriam gave President Higgins a gift of a gold embroidered Gaisce Logo.

Read about all three Laois Gaisce Gold winners below.

She recommends going for the Gaisce Gold to others.

"It was really rewarding, I would definitely advise any young person to do the Gold Gaisce," she said.

To achieve the President's award involves many challenges, and Miriam did a 80km hike in Achill, volunteered as a lifeguard instructor for Laois Water Safety, and took on a gym challenge.

She soon returns to complete her MA in Delaware, where she is also now a Graduate Teaching Assistant, teaching at the University.

Find her on Instagram @sew_sustainable
Kildare could be basking in temperatures of nearly 30 degrees Celsius next weekend, according to Carlow Weather expert Alan O'Reilly.

O'Reilly said: "Latest weather charts show that hot plume of air next weekend into Monday the 18th with up to 29c possible in Ireland and up to 39 degrees in England."

He added; "We have a few cooler few days to come first but that kind of heat is not normal for this part of the world!"

"Spain and Portugal will see temperatures up to 45 C tomorrow and Wednesday and France could see up to 46 C next Monday."

Meanwhile the Irish Weather Online Facebook Page said Sunday could see highs of 25 to 29 C.

It added that [we] "could see 30 C at Shannon or one or two other hot spots while Dublin [will see] around 25 C due to a weak sea breeze."

Met Eireann also said that temperatures should reach up to 25 degrees on Saturday.

Forecasters added: "Sunday and early next week look to bring plenty of dry and warm weather, with daytime maximum temperatures possibly reaching the high 20s."

In July last year, temperatures reached 30.1 degrees in Mount Dillon in Co Roscommon.

A Status Orange high temperature warning was in place at the time for some counties.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Ireland was 33.3 degrees at Kilkenny Castle, on June 26th, 1887.
The Juddmonte Irish Oaks Classic takes place at the Curragh on Saturday.

The day also features Barberstown Castle Ladies' Day.

Racing continues on Sunday, when the Kilboy Estate Stakes is the featured race.

Epsom Oaks winner Tuesday is set to renew rivalry with runner up Emily Upjohn trained by John Gosden in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks taking place at the Curragh this Saturday.

The Aidan OBrien trained filly is one of 11 contenders remaining in the Group 1 Classic following today's entry stage.

OBrien, who has won the race six times including victory with Snowfall last year, also has History, Toy, Emily Dickinson and Perotan in the race.

Jessica Harrington is likely to be represented by Royal Ascot winner Magical Lagoon and Fennela, while Cairde Go Deo trained by Ger Lyons, Show of Stars trained by Paddy Twomey and the Joseph OBrien trained Tranquil Lady also feature.

Little Big Bear, Slan Abhaile and Blackbeard are amongst the 13 entries in the Jebel Ali Racecourse and Stables Anglesey Stakes, while there are 26 entries in the Kildare Village Ladies Derby and 26 in thebvaluable Paddy Power Scurry.

Mooneista is set to attempt to win a second Barberstown Castle Sapphire Stakes also on Saturday. The Group 2 contest has also attracted Castle Star, Cadamosto, Brostaigh, Geocentric and recent Paddy Power Rockingham Handicap winner Ano Syra. A strong British trained team includes Equilateral, Raasel, Twilight Calls and Last Crusader.

The Group 2 Romanised Minstrel Stakes is one of the feature races on Sunday with Order of Australia, Dr Zempf and Pearls Galore amongst the entries, while twenty fillies remain in the Group 2 Kilboy Estate Stakes including Rumbles of Thunder, One for Bobby and Galleria Borghese, while British trained are likely to be well represented with Potapova trained by Sir Michael Stoute and Purplepay trained by William Haggas also feature amongst the entries.

Ground

Following watering and 1.5mm of rain overnight, the ground is good, good to firm in places (watering continues).

Forecast: overcast today, mainly dry and warm thereafter (20-22 degrees).
The fifth National Inpatient Experience Survey is now underway in Naas General Hospital (NGH).

This annual survey  the largest of its kind in Ireland  offers patients the opportunity to share their experiences of healthcare and tell us what is working well and what improvements they believe are necessary. This provides a clear picture of the safety and quality of care in Irish hospitals, as seen through the eyes of patients.

Almost 26,000 patients are eligible to participate in this years survey. Since 2017, over 50,100 patients have completed the survey nationally, making over 86,000 comments on the care and treatment they received in hospital. Last years response rate of 38% in Naas General Hospital indicates the strong desire of patients to talk about their experiences in hospital in order to bring about meaningful change.

The National Inpatient Experience Survey contains a total of 67 questions on topics such as admission to hospital, care and treatment on the ward, trust in hospital staff, respect and dignity, and care during the pandemic. All patients aged over 16 years-of-age who spent 24 hours or more in hospital and were discharged during the month of May are eligible to participate in the survey.

HIQAs Director of Health Information and Standards Rachel Flynn said: I would like to encourage all eligible patients to tell us about their recent experiences of care in Naas General Hospital. By sharing your views, you will provide us with invaluable information on the improvements that are necessary to deliver a more person-centred health service in your area. It is by listening and learning from your experiences that we can bring about effective and sustainable changes across the healthcare sector.

Kieran McDonald, the General Manager of Naas General Hospital said: The results of our most recent survey, with 80% of our patients saying the care was good or very good is testament to the hard work and commitment of the dedicated staff at NGH. I am encouraging all patients approached to fill in the survey for 2022, as it will provide us with a clear insight into what we are doing well and where we need to introduce new measures to improve our care.

To find out more about the survey, watch our short animation here. You can also visit our website yourexperience.ie and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The current TV licence system will be maintained but overhauled to make it more equitable, relevant and sustainable.

The announcement was made at the publication of the report of the Future of Media Commission today, which was tasked with examining funding models and challenges for the media sector.

The report recommends replacing the licence fee with exchequer funding but the Government says it will keep the current system "in order to maintain a direct link between media and the public they serve, and to minimise the risk of actual or perceived political interference in media independence".

The commission's report contains a total of 50 recommendations and the Government says it will adopt, in principle, 49 of them.

A new Media Fund will be established to support the wider media and journalism sector at local, regional and national levels, and will be open to broadcast, print and online media.

The report also recommends a number of other actions to help ensure greater equality, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability in the media sector.

Coimisiun na Mean, the new regulator, will have a key role in setting industry standards, and eligibility for public funding will be conditional on adherence to these standards.

The commission also recommends that environmental sustainability standards could be considered as part of future funding eligibility criteria.

The Future of Media Commission, established by Government in September 2020, was tasked with developing recommendations on sustainable public funding and other supports to ensure media in Ireland remains viable, independent and capable of delivering public service aims.

The Commission was also asked to make specific recommendations in relation to RTE's financing.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said: "The Government is determined to do everything we can to ensure that Ireland's media continues to deliver high quality public service content at local, regional and national levels."

The Taoiseach added that the Government wants to reform defamation laws and are actively pursuing this.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said the decision to maintain but overhaul the licence fee "is the correct one".

"It guarantees a dedicated and more secure funding stream for public service broadcasting and ensures that funding for the public service is ring-fenced," Mr Varadkar said.

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin said a technical group will examine the overhaul of the TV licence system and it will report back to her in November.
RESEARCH by the University of Limerick could reduce the time required to bring new medicines to market.

Professor Gavin Walker at University of Limericks Bernal Institute has had a worlds first paper published in applying molecular engineering methodologies to continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing.

The paper addresses an important public health issue of reducing the time required to bring new medicines to market for the benefit of patients and society.

The UL research emphasises the increasing significance of combining process engineering, modelling and data science to generate a better understanding of processes at a molecular scale for the optimisation of pharmaceutical manufacturing.

The study has been published in the world-leading general science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Professor Gavin Walker, Bernal Chair of Pharmaceutical Powder Engineering and project lead, explained: "This contribution offers a proof of concept to make it achievable to model specific co-crystals at a molecular scale within a continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing process.

"Molecular interactions can be altered to optimise drug properties and this process can be crucial to the performance of a dosage form which links to the preparation of the safe delivery of the content of the drug product for the ultimate benefits of patients and society.

"There is huge value in improving the productivity of the drug development process. This study expands on possibilities that exist for future development of progressing towards more supportive mechanisms in the pharmaceutical manufacturing space, improving processing and reducing time to market for new medicine."

The study was led by Professor Walker and funded through CONFIRM, the SFI Research Centre for Smart Manufacturing and SSPC, the SFI Research Centre for Pharmaceuticals, which are both based at UL, and European funding through the MSCA Process Co-Fund.
LIMERICK City and County Council have asked the government to form an advisory group to deal with the global grain shortage amid the crisis in Ukraine.

The motion to contact officials was proposed by Cllr Liam Galvin and was supported by all members of the council.

Cllr Galvin proposed that the advisory group would be formed imminently and report back to the Department of Agriculture within six months.

Councillors wish for the the national review group on horticulture to review the industry under the following headings: Food security, import substitution and employment opportunities.

The total grain used in Ireland each year is 5.5 million tonnes, of which 3.3 million is imported from other countries.

From Ukraine alone, Ireland imports 14% of its wheat, 24% of its maize, 33% of its corn and 20% of our fertiliser.

Cllr Galvin said that his constituents raise the issue of the price of fuel and feeding their families on a daily basis.

"If we don't act on this as a government, to try and reduce the cost of production and to try and be more self sufficient, the people in this state could see hunger. That is the reality of it.

"If the products needed by farmers to produce food are not provided at a reasonable rate then the cost of food in this state will not be affordable".

The motion was supported by Cllr Galvin's colleagues with councillors agreeing with the points made and adding their own concerns about the increase of prices.
FOR THE second time in a matter of hours Lough Derg RNLI launched their lifeboat to help people in distress.

On Sunday night it was to search for three people and their dog reported missing on Lough Derg

On Monday, Valentia Coast Guard requested Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat to launch to assist seven people on a 60ft vessel which was taking on water and sinking. Valentia Coast Guard gave lifeboat volunteers coordinates for the vessel, which was at a location south of Mountshannon Harbour on the County Clare shore.

At 2.42pm Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat Jean Spier launched with helm Eleanor Hooker, Owen Cavanagh, Joe ODonoghue and Ciara Lynch on board. The lifeboat was also carrying its salvage pump. The Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter team, Rescue 115, had taken off from their base at Shannon Airport and the Killaloe Coast Guard Rescue Boat was also launched.

En route to the casualty vessel, Valentia Coast Guard informed the lifeboat that a passing vessel was in the process of taking all seven people off the casualty vessel.

As the lifeboat approached the Hare Island, Rescue 115, the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue helicopter, indicated to the RNLI volunteers to follow them as they flew high and ahead of the lifeboat. The passing vessel, having taken all casualties to their vessel, reported to Valentia Coast Guard that they were bringing the people to Mountshannon Harbour.

At 2.52pm the lifeboat was on scene. Strong southwesterly gusts had pushed the casualty vessel deep into an area known locally as the Nook of Pages on the County Clare shoreline, northeast of Mountshannon. Valentia Coast Guard asked the lifeboat to make an assessment of the casualty vessel and determine if it posed any environmental risks. With an RNLI volunteer taking soundings off the bow, the lifeboat approached the casualty vessel in safe water and, using an anchoring and veering technique, came alongside the vessel.

An RNLI volunteer transferred across to the casualty vessel and noted that it had significant water on board, that the electrics were still on but that he was unable to access them, but that there was no evidence of a fuel leak. The lifeboat helm requested he deploy the casualty vessels anchor and return to the lifeboat.

The lifeboat told Valentia Coast Guard of their findings and was stood down.

Peter Kennedy, deputy launching authority at Lough Derg RNLI, advises boat users "if in danger on the lake please call 999 or 112 and ask for marine rescue or using your VHF radio request assistance on channel 16".
THE FUTURE of Limericks transformative Opera Square Site is looking bright as contractors get to grips with vital conservation works.

Contractors will on Monday, July 18, commence a special works programme aimed at securing the most vulnerable of the 16 heritage protected buildings being retained on the Opera Square site.

Limerick Twenty Thirty CEO David Conway said: Our demolition and enabling programme at Opera Square has been the biggest undertaking in Limerick in recent years and throughout that we have been extremely careful about and focused on preserving the heritage buildings.

He outlined that 16 Georgian buildings out of 18, in accordance with planning will be retained.

The works on No. 8 and No. 9 Rutland Street are being carried out by John Sisk & Son, who were engaged by Limerick Twenty Thirty to carry out demolition and enabling works in advance of the site-wide basement contract that will commence in Q3 this year.

The majority of these works are now complete, with 14 of the 16 heritage protected buildings already stabilised.

The remaining two 18th century Georgian terrace buildings pose the biggest challenge due to complex structural issues, engineers report.

These issues need to be addressed before commencing demolition of the 40-year-old office building adjacent to them, they added.

Together, the restored Georgian Buildings, the heritage protected Town Hall and the new build on the demolished site will form the new City Library.

Structural Engineers and conservational specialists, Punch Consulting, have developed a temporary works design solution to address the structural issues and stabilize the buildings.

This will include temporary steelwork to secure the front and rear facade and works at the top floor of the building. The programme will take 8 to 10 weeks to complete and will require one of two lanes on Rutland Street to be closed to traffic.

Tom Cassidy, Limerick City and County Council Conservation Officer said it is one of the most complicated projects he has been involved in, labelling it a safety first approach.

Its a critical few weeks for these particular buildings and Im confident, given all the time and planning that has gone into this, that we will arrive at the result we all want, he said.
LIMERICK is set for a further jobs boost tomorrow, with WP Engine moving into new offices in the city.

It paves the way for the creation of 20 new positions locally, with the firm, founded in Austin, Texas, relocating from the Engine building in Cecil Street to a state-of-the-art complex in Henry Street.

It will also see the technology company grow its headcount in Limerick to 150 staff in total.

This team in Limerick is responsible for helping major brands and small businesses build websites on WordPress.

In the last three years, WP Engine  which opened in Limerick in 2016  has doubled its customer numbers from just over 3,300 to more than 8,000.

And the new jobs in Limerick will include roles in software engineers, senior development engineers and product designers.

The firm exists to host web sites via the WordPress templates, alongside hosting of other resources, e-commerce solutions, and enterprise offerings.

The ribbon will be cut at the new offices tomorrow afternoon.

The companys chief executive and chair Heather Brunner will be in attendance, alongside the site lead for WP Engine in Limerick Paul Ryan.

They will be joined by the firms general counsel Chad Costello.

WP Engines new offices in Henry Street replace what was once a leisure centre and a former Bedford Motor Company garage.

Now, the firm says, its a state of the art hybrid workspace fit for the future of work.

Local Fine Gael TD Kieran ODonnell described the new jobs as another great news story for Limerick city, the county and the wider region.

I would like to commend the team at WP Engine on their amazing success to date who have seen substantial customer growth over the last three years and this year being recognised as a Great place to work for the fourth time  WP Engine are undoubtedly going from strength to strength here in Limerick city. This high quality office space investment is another ringing endorsement of what we have to offer here in Limerick city, with the available high quality technical talent pool and opportunity for strong business growth in a modern and open office environment that facilitates innovation in the changing ways people are now working.
The Irish government has utterly failed to address the cost-of-living crisis and must be kicked out, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has said.

Mr Murphy said his party will vote against the Irish government in a confidence motion on Tuesday evening.

He added it was no surprise that they had decided to do this.

This government has utterly failed, he said.

They have failed to address the cost-of-living crisis while allowing big energy companies, the big food companies, to profiteer to a massive and gross extent.

They have completely failed to tackle the ongoing housing crisis, with the result that rents continue to rise at least 10% per year.

Last week they criminally failed to address the Mica crisis by giving 100% redress and justice to those families and homeowners affected by Mica, going against their own promises, and as a consequence of which they lost the formal Dail majority.

The coalition has seen its majority slowly eroded over the past few months, finally losing it when Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh resigned the whip over the Governments controversial Bill to provide redress to home owners in counties affected by defective building blocks.

The loss of Mr McHugh saw the number of Government TDs drop to 79  one short of a Dail majority.

Sinn Fein tabled the motion, with party president Mary Lou McDonald saying independent TDs face a big call on whether they are going to back bad government or stand up and be counted to secure a change in administration.

In response, the Irish Government is set to table a motion of confidence in itself in the Dail this evening, confident that it has the numbers to win the vote.

That would supersede the Sinn Fein motion, with the debate and vote held on the Governments confidence motion instead.

Speaking outside the Dail on Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said that he would not give a prediction on the final vote margin ahead of the confidence motion, adding that some members had yet to indicate how they will vote.

I will be hopeful that government will come through this evening because I think the most pressing issue facing government now is a budget, is a cost-of-living package, he said.

The week before Sinn Fein were asking for an emergency budget, now theyre asking for a general election. It doesnt tally, its not consistent, and in my view, the focus should be on a budget and a cost of living [package] by the end of September.

I have a long-standing view that to deliver sustained change and reform, you need governments that go the distance.

However, Mr Murphy said that people he had spoken to wanted to see the government kicked out.

The people that we speak to, who are being crucified by increasing costs, who see their incomes reduced effectively on a month-by-month basis, who are effectively facing into the prospect of having to choose between heating or eating come winter  those people would like to see no confidence passed in this government, he said.

(They) would like to see this government kicked out and would like to see people given a chance to elect a left government, a government that would implement eco-socialist policies, a government that would rule in the interests of ordinary people, renters, ordinary householders, as opposed to ruling in the interests of the corporate landlords.

He added that the government could be using its powers to implement price controls on petrol, diesel, kerosene, gas, and electricity to bring prices down to a manageable level for people.
India on 12 July has expressed deep concern over the situation in Ukraine and called for a cessation of all hostilities while backing efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the people especially encouraging talks between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Speaking at the UNSC Arria-formula meeting on Ukraine, Counsellor in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Pratik Mathur said, India remains deeply concerned over the situation in Ukraine. The conflict has resulted in loss of lives & countless miseries for its people, particularly for women, children & the elderly."

Counsellor Mathur said from the beginning of the conflict, India has been consistently calling for a complete cessation of all hostilities and advocated the path of peace, dialogue and diplomacy.

"With millions becoming homeless & forced to take shelter in neighboring countries. From beginning of conflict, India has been consistently calling for complete secession of all hostilities and advocated the part of peace, dialogue & diplomacy," he further added.

"We support all efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the people of Ukraine especially encouraging talks between Ukraine and the Russian Federation," he said.

He said India believes that no solution can be arrived at the cost of innocent lives.

"We continue to reiterate that the global order is anchored on international law, UN charter and respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of states."

India remains deeply concerned over the situation in Ukraine. The conflict has resulted in loss of lives & countless miseries for its people, particularly for women, children & the elderly: Pratik Mathur, Counsellor, at UNSC pic.twitter.com/vSEqR5MXiv  ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2022

This statement comes two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed Kyiv's ambassador to Germany on Saturday as well as several other top foreign envoys, the presidential website said.

In a decree that gave no reason for the move, he had announced the sacking of Ukraine's ambassadors to Germany, India, Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary. It was not immediately clear if the envoys would be handed new jobs.

Zelensky had urged his diplomats to drum up international support and military aid for Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia's February 24 invasion.

More than four and half months since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, civilians have suffered from explosions and missile strikes, particularly in eastern cities including Donetsk, Sloviansk, Makiivka, Oleksandrivka and Yasynuvata, but also in southern oblasts, in Odessa and Mykolaiv.

According to OCHA's latest humanitarian update, while east Ukraine accounts for most of the active warfare, more missile attacks and casualties were reported in the last week in several other regions.

These include eastern Kharkiv and western Khmelnytski oblasts, where civilians and civilian infrastructure have been impacted heavily.

Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India has taken the "right course" on the Ukraine conflict and the most urgent issue is to prevent hostilities from escalating to a level where they only do harm.

While addressing an event on the book 'Modi@20: Dreams meet delivery' in New Delhi today, Jaishankar said that India has adopted the "right course" since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February.

"The most urgent issue...is to prevent hostilities from escalating to a level where it only does harm," Jaishankar said.

(With inputs from ANI)
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden will participate in a four-way virtual summit with the leaders of Israel, the United Arab Emirates and India during his Middle East trip this week, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

Sullivan told reporters that the summit will focus on food security.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  Dont fall ill or get into accidents: Thats the advice doctors in Sri Lanka are giving patients as the country's economic crisis leaves its health care system short of drugs and other vital supplies.

The South Asian island nation lacks the money to pay for basic imports like fuel and food, and medicine is also running out. Such troubles threaten to undo its huge gains in public health in recent decades.

Some doctors have turned to social media to try to get donations of supplies or the funds to buy them. Theyre also urging Sri Lankans living overseas to help. So far theres no sign of an end to the crisis that has thrust the country into an economic and political meltdown.

That means 15-year-old Hasini Wasana might not get the medicine she needs to protect her transplanted kidney. Diagnosed with a kidney ailment as a toddler, she got a transplant nine months ago and needs to take an immune suppressant every day for the rest of her life to prevent her body from rejecting the organ.

Hasinis family is depending on donors to help now that her hospital can no longer provide the Tacrolimus tablets that she received for free until a few weeks ago. She takes eight and a half tablets a day and the cost adds up to more than $200 a month, just for that one medicine.

We are being told (by the hospital) that they dont know when they will have this tablet again, said Ishara Thilini, Hasinis older sister.

The family sold their home and Hasinis father got a job in the Middle East to help pay for her medical treatment, but his income is barely enough.

Cancer hospitals, too, are struggling to maintain stocks of essential drugs to ensure uninterrupted treatment.

Dont get ill, dont get injured, dont do anything that will make you go to a hospital for treatment unnecessarily, said Samath Dharmaratne, president of the Sri Lanka Medical Association. That is how I can explain it; this is a serious situation.

Dr. Charles Nugawela, who heads a kidney hospital in Sri Lankas capital, Colombo, said his hospital has kept running thanks to the largesse of donors but has resorted to providing medicine only to patients whose illness has advanced to the stage where they need dialysis.

Nugawela worries the hospital might have to put off all but the most urgent surgeries because of a shortage of suture materials.

The Sri Lanka College of Oncologists gave a list of drugs to the Health Ministry that are very essential, that all hospitals have to have all the time so that we could provide cancer treatment without any interruption, said Dr. Nadarajah Jeyakumaran, who heads the college.

But the government is having a hard time providing them, he said.

And its not just medicine. Patients having chemotherapy are susceptible to infections and cant eat normally but hospitals dont have enough food supplements, Jeyakumaran said.

The situation threatens to bring on a health emergency at a time when the country is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

Hospitals lack drugs for rabies, epilepsy and sexually transmitted diseases. Labs don't have enough of the reagents needed to run full blood count tests. Items like suture material, cotton socks for surgery, supplies for blood transfusions, even cotton wool and gauze are running short.

If you are handling animals, be careful. If you get bitten and you need surgery and you get rabies, we dont have adequate antiserum and rabies vaccines, said Dr. Surantha Perera, vice president of the Sri Lanka Medical Association.

The association is trying to help patients by seeking donations through personal contacts and from Sri Lankans living overseas, Perera said.

Dhamaratne, the association president, said if things dont improve doctors may be forced to choose which patients get treatment.

Its a reversal of decades of improvements thanks to a universal health care system that has raised many measures of health to the levels of much wealthier nations.

Sri Lankas infant mortality rate, at just under 7 per 1,000 live births, is not far from the U.S., with 5 per 1,000 live births, or Japans 1.6. Its maternal mortality rate of near 30 per 100,000 compares well with most developing countries. The U.S. rate is 19, while Japan's is 5.

Life expectancy had risen to nearly 75 years by 2016 from under 72 years in 2000.

The country has managed to eliminate malaria, polio, leprosy, the tropical parasitic disease filariasis commonly known as elephantiasis, and most other vaccine-preventable diseases.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appealed for help, and the U.S., Japan, India and other countries have pledged funds and other humanitarian support. That aid and more from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other agencies will ensure medical supplies until the end of next year, Wickremesinghe recently told lawmakers.

But in the hospital wards and operating rooms, the situation seems much less reassuring and it threatens to erode public trust in the health system, Dhamaratne said.

Compared to COVID, as a health emergency today's situation is far, far worse," he said.

___

Follow AP's coverage of Sri Lanka at https://apnews.com/hub/sri-lanka
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James Franco is set to star in Bille Augusts post-Second World War drama Me, You.

Franco will play one of the lead roles in the feature, which also stars Tom Hollander (The Night Manager) and Daisy Jacob (Vanity Fair).

A coming-of-age drama, Me, You takes place on the Italian island of Ischia in the 1950s. Thats where Marco, a 16-year-old on break from his dreary Scottish boarding school, befriends U.S. GI turned fisherman Nicola (played by Franco). The duo while away the hours sailing in the bay of Naples while Nicola regales his young friend with tales of war and oceans.

But when Marco meets the mysterious 20-year-old Caia (played by Jacob) he is entranced and upon finding out she is a concentration camp survivor, he vows to take revenge. Soon he is plotting to set fire to a villa occupied by a group of boorish German tourists in the hopes of winning Caias affections.

Deeply tender and bittersweet, Me, You explores the raw beauty and tragedy of love, the age of innocence and the bitter realities of war, reads the official logline.

Hollander plays Marcos father Edward. Principal photography is set to start in September 2022 on location in Ischia.

Greg Latter (Goodbye Bafana) has written the screenplay and the film is produced by Sean OKelly (Deep Fear) and Marc Bikindou (Black Dahlia) and Cristaldi Pics Mark Hammond (The Traitor). Jad Ben Ammar and Leo Maidenberg (Deep Fear) will co-produce.

Brilliant Pictures are repping global sales.

I am excited to board this phenomenal project and to be working with the legendary Bille August, Franco said in a statement. Im a huge fan of his work and Me, You is a truly brilliant script.

Franco is repped by Anonymous Content and United Talent Agency in the U.S., and Adequat Agency in France. Hollander is repped by Anonymous Content in the U.S. and United Agents in the U.K.

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Courtesy/Webb County Sheriff's Office

A Laredo police officer has been arrested on the suspicion of driving drunk, according to authorities.

Arturo Davalos Jr., 48, was arrested Monday and charged with driving while intoxicated. He was arrested by the Webb County Sheriffs Office.
LPETTET/Getty Images/iStockphoto

On Tuesday, Spirit Airlines announced that it was bringing nonstop flights from San Antonio to two popular travel destinations: Las Vegas and Orlando. So, when will these nonstop flights be offered and how much will these tickets cost?

The launch date for both of these daily nonstop flights is listed as November 17 of this year.
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The Ukrainian military on Tuesday reported destroying a Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine, resulting in a massive explosion captured on social media, while rescuers said the death toll from a weekend Russian strike in the country's east grew to 45.

An overnight rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, the Ukrainian military's southern command said. Nova Kakhovka is about 55 kilometers (35 miles) east of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.

The precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used U.S.-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. Ukraine indicated in recent days that it might launch a counteroffensive to reclaim territory in the south as Russia bombards the eastern Donbas region.

Russias Tass news agency offered a different account of the blast in Nova Kakhovka, saying that a mineral fertilizer storage facility exploded and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged. Some of the ingredients in fertilizer can be used for ammunition.

A satellite photo taken Tuesday and analyzed by The Associated Press showed significant damage. A huge crater gaped precisely where a large warehouse-like structure once stood.

Ukraine now has eight of the HIMAR systems, a truck-mounted missile launcher with high accuracy, and Washington has promised to send four more.

Explosions were reported late Tuesday in Luhansk, a city in the Donbas that has been under the control of Russian-backed separatists since 2014, with videos posted on social media. A spokesman for the separatist forces, Andrei Marochko, said the Ukrainian army had dealt a massive blow to the air defense system in Luhansk, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. He said there was no word yet on any casualties. There was no immediate information from the Ukrainian government or military.

The occupiers have already felt what modern artillery is like, and their rear will not be safe anywhere on our land that they have occupied, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. They have felt that the operations of our intelligence officers for defending their homeland are of an order of magnitude greater than any of their special operations.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian shelling over the past 24 hours killed at least 16 civilians and wounded 48 more, Ukraines presidential office said in its Tuesday morning update. Cities and towns in five southeast regions came under Russian fire, the office said.

Nine civilians were killed and two more wounded in Donetsk province, which makes up half of the Donbas. Russian rocket attacks targeted the cities of Sloviansk and Toretsk, where a kindergarten was hit, the presidential office said.

The British military said Tuesday that Russia was continuing to make small, incremental gains in Donetsk, where heavy fighting led the provinces governor last week to urge its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine.

The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that struck a Donetsk apartment building Saturday rose to 45, the emergency services agency said late Tuesday. It said workers found more bodies and also rescued nine people as they dug through the rubble of the five-story building in Chasiv Yar throughout the day.

Yet many in the Donbas, a fertile industrial region in eastern Ukraine consisting of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, refuse  or are unable  to flee, despite scores of civilians being killed and wounded each week.

In northeaster Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, and its surrounding region, Russian strikes hit residential buildings, killing four civilians and wounding nine, Ukrainian officials said.

The Russians continue their tactics of intimidating the peaceful population of the Kharkiv region, Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote Tuesday on Telegram.

Russian fire also struck the southern city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday morning, hitting residential buildings. Twelve people were wounded as the result of the Russian shelling, with some of the rockets hitting two medical facilities, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

Air raid sirens sounded Tuesday in the western city of Lviv  the first daytime sirens there in over a week  and in other areas of Ukraine as Russian forces continued to make advances.

In eastern Luhansk, fighting continues near the villages on the administrative border with neighboring Donetsk, Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The Russian army burns down everything in its way. The artillery barrage doesnt stop and sometimes continues for four to six hours on end, Haidai said.

The British Defense Ministry's intelligence briefing said Russia had seized the town of Hryhorivka and continued to push toward the Donetsk province cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Russian forces are likely maintaining military pressure on Ukrainian forces whilst regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future, the intelligence briefing said.

However, Russia may be relying more heavily on private military contractors, like the Wagner Group, to avoid a general mobilization, the British ministry said. Western officials have accused Wagner of using mercenaries to fight in Africa and elsewhere.

In other developments:

 The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Iran next week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin will travel to Tehran next Tuesday to attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, a format for Syria-related talks. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday that Russia was seeking hundreds of surveillance drones from Iran, including weapons-capable ones, for use in Ukraine.

 Russian and Turkish military representatives plan to meet in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the transport of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said. Pyotr Ilyichyov, head of the ministrys department for international organizations, told Russian news agency Interfax that representatives of Ukraine, as well as U.N. (officials) in the role of observers are also expected to take part in the talks. Ilyichyov reiterated that Moscow was ready to assist in ensuring the navigation of foreign commercial ships for the export of Ukrainian grain.

 Germanys justice minister said investigating war crimes in Ukraine would likely take many years but he was confident it ultimately will be successful. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said there will "probably be hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of pieces of evidence that have to be sifted through, documented and evaluated. The German federal prosecutors office said in early March that it had started looking into possible war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Buschmann spoke Tuesday in Prague, where he and his European Union counterparts were meeting.

___

Jon Gambrell in Lviv, Ukraine, and Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
CHARLOTTE, Mich. (AP)  A woman accused in the 2002 fatal bludgeoning of her husband in Michigan was ordered held on a $10 million bond following her return to the U.S. from Italy.

Beverly McCallum was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder and disinterment/mutilation of a body, the Eaton County sheriff's office said Monday.

McCallum had been in custody in Rome since February 2020. She was turned over Friday to sheriff's deputies at an airport in Grand Rapids.

She is the third and final person charged in the death of Roberto Caraballo, according to the sheriff's office. Her daughter, Dineane Ducharme, is serving a life sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder, while Christopher McMillan, a friend of Ducharme's, is serving a prison sentence of 15 to 40 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Caraballo, 37, was suffocated and beaten in the basement of a house in Charlotte, about 105 miles (169 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. His badly burned remains were found in a metal footlocker near a blueberry field in western Michigan's Ottawa County, but the remains were not identified as those of Caraballo until 2015.

McMillan, of Grand Rapids, agreed to testify against Ducharme and McCallum. He told investigators that the slaying was planned and a test run was performed, Eaton County sheriffs Detective James Maltby testified at a 2019 hearing.

Maltby said McMillan told investigators that McCallum pushed Caraballo down the basement stairs, then beat him with at least one hammer, lodging it in Caraballos skull. McCallum wrapped a plastic bag around the head of the still-breathing Caraballo, Maltby testified.

Ducharme, who was 21 at the time, told police her mother killed Caraballo and that she helped dispose of her stepfathers body, according to Maltby.

Rome police arrested McCallum two years ago after she and her teenage son checked into a hotel on the northwest outskirts of the Italian capital. Italian hotels are required to register guests in an online system linked to a police database that showed she had an Interpol arrest warrant. U.S. authorities had been seeking to extradite McCallum from Pakistan, where she was believed to be living.

She's due back in court on July 22. The Associated Press was unable Monday to determine if McCallum has an attorney in Michigan who could comment on the charges against her.
China hopes Sri Lanka restores social stability at early date: FM spokesman

(People's Daily App) 13:25, July 12, 2022

As a friendly neighbor of Sri Lanka, China sincerely hopes that all sectors in Sri Lanka will act in the fundamental interests of the country and its people, and work together to realize social stability, economic recovery and livelihood improvements at an early date, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Monday.

Wang made the remarks during the regular press conference when asked to comment on the current situation in Sri Lanka.

China is closely following the development of the situation in Sri Lanka, he said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
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In my time I have written many tributes but this one is without doubt the most upsetting one for me as I knew Edmund personally for a hell of a long time with electrical work, plumbing, welding, repairing tractors and in later years the music scene.

Back in the early days Edmund started out driving a dozer for a local contractor. After that he trained as an electrician with another man named Alfie Dennehy who lived just outside Arva Co Cavan.

They both worked together for a while but the farm at home was in Edmund's best interest as he loved to be looking after his cows, he used to call them (the Bows).

He treated his animals like royalty, however, he still continued to do his electrical work later in the evening after his farm work was done and would go to people far and wide to help and sort out their electrical problems and would often go on to the early hours.

He was more than qualified as an electrician. Edmund was highly intelligent in many ways, he really could turn his hand to anything like carpentry, could sort out plumbing, water pumps and all that kind of thing.



Edmund did a lot of work for me, he wired my garage and my radio station which wasn't easy and there was a lot of equipment to be catered for and as usual did a very neat and tidy job of it and left nothing undone.



Edmund and I worked a lot together. I would repair his tractor occasionally. His old reliable Massey Ferguson 135 which every day Edmund would be heading to the shop or the creamery stores or even to Carrigallen for a round bale of hay. I will miss meeting him on his tractor.

As well as that I would do some welding and cut an odd tree for him and the beauty of all this is we helped each other out and in all the years there was never a wrong word between us. We really got on very well I'm proud to say and worked well together.

It was so easy to get on well with Edmund because he never ever changed his frame of mind. Always in good humour and then there are the music years of which he was very proud of. Edmund was with me on the music scene as Harry-O for twenty five years.



At that time we were very busy and we would be in locations all over the place. Edmund would carry in equipment and set it up for me and knew where every wire had to be fitted in, he was just a gem and then he would head for the counter for a few drinks and everywhere he went he made so many friends.

He really enjoyed himself, he had a great saying which was (I come and go with everyone) and by God Edmund most certainly lived by it day and night all his life.

I was entertaining on the stage and Edmund was entertaining at the counter. I used to laugh at him every time he would get into the Harry-O van. Going or coming back from a venue he would say (I better put on the vestments) he was referring to the seat belt.

The next day he would be telling the neighbours where we were, the nice people he met and how the night went and all that. Edmund absolutely enjoyed every minute of those times.



He saw parts of the country he thought he would never see. Edmund was so very helpful to me all down the years.

Of course when the Covid appeared we had to pack the music up at that stage. I can remember if anything went pear shaped at the farm all he would say (do best can). Such a gentleman.

I think it's fair to say that I spent more time with Edmund than anyone.



It was said to me by his predeceased brother Michael that only for Harry-O Edmund would be only moving from the bed to the cattle and cattle to the bed and Edmund said to me himself manys a time how he really enjoyed getting out at night and was very proud of it all.



I'll finish with this: Edmund Dolan was one of the real people of Ireland.

For me it was an honour and a pleasure to have known Edmund. I am so thankful for all the help he gave me and like everyone that knew him I will always miss him.

If I ever manage to get up to heaven, which is surely where he is, the first person I want to meet is Edmund Dolan.



Thanks for everything Edmund. Rest easy and be happy in heaven. Goodbye my friend for now.

- Written by Milton C Hardcastle

Edmund Dolan, Kiltycon, Moyne, Longford

The death occurred, peacefully at home, surrounded by his family and neighbours, on Tuesday, June 7 of Edmund Dolan, Kiltycon, Moyne, Longford. Pre-deceased by his parents and brothers Mattie (Dublin) and Michael. Edmund will be sadly missed by his loving family, brother Gerard, nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law Junette, Kathy (London) and Carmel (Dublin), grandnieces, relatives, neighbours and a wide circle of friends. May he rest in peace.

Edmund reposed in Glennon's Funeral Home (Eircode N39 EC81) on Thursday, June 9 from 5pm concluding with prayers at 7pm. Edmund's funeral cortege left Glennon's Funeral Home on Friday morning at 11am, travelling via Ballinamuck to arrive at St Mary's Church, Legga, for Mass of the Resurrection at 12.00 noon, interment afterwards in Tubberpatrick Cemetery.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause

By Chris Boyle Published: July 12 2022

Suffolk County FRES & Suffolk County Fire Academy to Showcase Various Vehicles & Demonstrations in an Effort to Recruit First Responders.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced the Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services (FRES) and the Suffolk County Fire Academy will jointly host a Firefighters and EMS Recruitment Event on Saturday, July 16 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Suffolk County Fire Academy located at 102 East Avenue in Yaphank.

The five-hour event will feature various vehicle demonstrations and on-site resources for potential future firefighters and emergency medical service members to become familiar with, including a live exercise that will simulate a train-vehicle incident and response. The Long Island Railroad, Brookhaven Fire Department and South County Ambulance will be participating in the demonstration.

Recruitment specialists from Suffolk County will be available to discuss the many benefits available to potential first responders. Representatives from the Air National Guards 106th Rescue Wing based in Westhampton Beach will also be in attendance for recruitment purposes.

In Suffolk County, we are committed to ensuring that our volunteer fire and EMS agencies have the necessary resources to operate and protect our residents. A key component of this includes recruitment. That is why our Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services continues to engage with our departments and communities to provide these important events, said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. Last years inaugural event was a success as more than 125 residents signed up to become a first responder in their local community, and we look forward to achieving the same success this summer.

Recruitment and retention events continue to be essential for fire and EMS agencies as we need to continue to engage with our residents and educate those who are interested in becoming a first responder of all the tremendous benefits our local departments and volunteer organizations can provide, said Suffolk County FRES Commissioner Patrick Beckley. This summers open house will both be interactive and educational, and we encourage residents of all ages to attend.

The event will also encompass a food drive component as Island Harvest will be on-site to accept non-perishable goods, including canned vegetables, sauces and soups, pasta, beans, rice, personal care and toiletry items and feminine hygiene products. Fire departments and attendees are all encouraged to participate and donate.

This summers open house event follows FRES first recruitment event in October 2021 where more than 125 prospective firefighters and EMS personnel signed up to become volunteer members with their local departments and agencies. The open house is part of Suffolk Countys comprehensive approach to first responder recruitment, including the Vets to Vollies Program that launched in April 2022.

Candidates who are interested in becoming a first responder, but are not able to attend the recruitment event can go to suffolksbravest.com/volunteernow. All junior firefighters and educational groups are also invited to attend.

The Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services (FRES) is committed to serving both the 1.5 million residents of Suffolk County and the more than 11,000 emergency responders who are dedicated to saving lives and protecting property.
(Alliance News) - Block Energy PLC on Tuesday said it has received confirmation from Georgia's State Agency of Oil & Gas that it has completed the minimum work programme in the production sharing contract for Block XI.

The London-based oil & gas company focused in Georgia noted that the minimum work programme comprised of an environmental impact assessment, 3D-seismic data acquisition and processing, the drilling of a side-track from an existing well and one new well.

Block Energy added that it has now secured the licensing rights of Block XI until 2043.

The company said that Block XI is Georgia's "most productive block", with 2P oil and gas reserves of 64 million of barrels of oil equivalent.

Block Energy said that this marks a "major milestone" as it has now completed all minimum work programme requirements across its entire license portfolio.

Chief Executive Paul Haywood said: "Safely completing the minimum work programme commitment across the XIF licence represents yet another significant milestone for the business, providing assurance over title on a key asset until 2043. This further supports final investment decisions on future work programmes over the life of the production sharing contract.

"More broadly, all minimum work programme commitments across our portfolio have now been met, allowing the team to focus, define and execute programmes, which meet our corporate objectives," Haywood added.

Shares in Block Energy were down 1.9% to 1.32 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

By Sophie Rose; sophierose@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - OTAQ PLC on Tuesday said it has signed a deal with a "leading" salmon & sea trout producer in Chile, sending its shares upwards.

OTAQ shares surged 13% to 15.78 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

The Lancaster-based producer of marine technology for offshore oil and gas industries will supply water quality monitoring technology to Salmones Antartica SA, a company based on the southern Chilean island of Chiloe.

OTAQ's technology "monitors a site's oxygen, temperature and salinity levels to provide aquaculture farmers with immediate information about the quality of their water environment."

The companies did not disclose financial details of the agreement.

"After this initial deployment in Chile, customer interest in Scotland and Australia is now being explored," said OTAQ Chief Executive Officer Phil Newby.

By Tom Budszus; tombudszus@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The following news items are reprinted from the Manistee Daily News from 1922 and are compiled by Teena Kracht from the newspaper archives of the Manistee County Historical Museum.

(Front, center) Photo of two women in bathing suits and fancy bathing caps and a man kneeling measuring the length of the suits, hand lightly against one womans knee and thigh.) Bill Has A Hard Life Of It. Every summer some fellow some place gets a job like Bill Nortons. Bill measures bathing suits at beaches in Washington, D. C., to see that they are not more than six inches above the knee.

BERLIN, July 7  Germany is about to declare itself bankrupt, it was authoritatively announced today.

Complete collapse of the mark has brought the republic to the verge of financial ruin ...

Unprecedented nervousness prevails in Berlin today.

More online See the full 100 Years Ago section at manisteenews.com See More Collapse

LANSING, July 7  More than 200,000 automobile owners in Michigan waited until the last minute before making application to the secretary of state for a certificate of title for their automobile ...

As a result it will be six weeks or two months before the application received can be checked over and certificates issued. This will mean that 200,000 auto owners will not be permitted to sell their cars or dispose of them in any way until certificates are received.

In the future no automobile license will be issued without the owner of the car presenting a certificate of title.

 ... about 100 additional clerks have been engaged to get out the work. Wednesdays mail contained 25,000 applications.

Pg. 3

Supt. B. Klagers plan of a summer school of five weeks for children of the grade schools in the city who have failed in one or two subjects during the past school year, is working out very satisfactorily, 24 pupils being enrolled in the school which was started Wednesday morning ...

It is expected that this course of five weeks will be sufficient to allow nearly all of these 24 students to pass in the one or two subjects in which they failed, thereby allowing them to continue in the next grade during the following school year ... .

Following Harold Finan on the witness stand in the trial of Lauritz A. Larson in circuit court, the prosecution presented a $50-a-day and expense witness in the person of Frank Seidman, member of a Grand Rapids auditing firm ... who has been two days in attendance at the trial ...

Attorney Campbell brought out at the close that Seidman expects to be paid at the rate of $50 a day and expenses for his services, and that his bill for the audit, which has been half paid by the county, totals some $807, but his inquiry as to who engaged him to make the audit was balked by Special Prosecutor Penney, whose objection was sustained.

Alfred Jensen, Lake street, was brought into Justice Greves court today as the result of a too hearty Fourth of July celebration ...

Jensen, who has been in the clutches of the law before on drunk charges, obtained a pint of hootch to help along the celebration, and then became intoxicated.

When he returned home, his wife tried to take the bottle, with half the contents which was left, away from him, and it was while she attempted to do so that her husband assaulted her. The complaint against Jensen followed.

 ... Jensen readily admitted the charges but put the fault of the assault on the hootch.

Upon promise of good behavior and to take good care of his family, a sentence of 90 days in jail was suspended.

A steady growth from a small notions establishment to a complete department store has been enjoyed by the Famous 99, which celebrates its 35th anniversary.

The 99-Cent store, stocked with a variety of home and personal furnishings, was started on Saturday, July 8, 1887, by Joseph and Lemuel Wellman. The place was originally located in a small building in the present Manistee County Savings Bank block.

 ... The 99-Cent store moved ... to the Smith building at the foot of Greenbush street where it has remained.

Lemuel Wellman died in February, 1901. Joseph Wellman left the firm some time later. The store, which now occupies all three floors of the Smith building, is being managed by Mrs. E. E. Wellman and her two sons, Lemuel and Robert.

Dont expect the unexpected to happen too often.

Noah Little says: The man who growls every day shows he is leading a dogs life.

The hardest way to get votes is to deserve them.

As Noah Heap puts it: Many are free, but only a few are independent.

Human nature is always willing to adapt itself to any change that promises an easier way of getting along.

A cynic remarks that even if the spirit of 76 returned, the chances are it would be declared unconstitutional.

Since the arrival of the porch swing as a summer institution, there have been fewer front porch casualties. In other days the cartoonists had the old hammock tumbles to use for comics.

Whats become of that pepper sauce bottle that had a goose quill down through the center of the cork to shoot the juice all over your food and everything else?

Cecil Murphy announces that he will reopen the Midway restaurant tomorrow morning. Regular meals and short orders will be served. He formerly conducted a restaurant in Flint.

July 8, pg. 1

BERLIN, July 8.  Republican Germany may be crushed to ruin under the heels of a shattered financial system.

A restored monarchy or extreme communist rule are the alternatives if the republic comes to an abrupt end as the result of the present financial chaos ... .

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At The Lyric TONIGHT ONLY Conrad Tearle  In  Shadows of The Sea. The story of a Gentleman Adventurer and a Misguided Woman ... .

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Two of the big cherry orchards in Manistee county, the Lakeview orchard and the Nellie Whitney orchard, purchased a short time ago by Grand Rapids fruit growers, together with numerous other orchards throughout the counties of this section of the state, are suffering great damage as the result of shot-hole fungus, a disease attacking cherry trees and giving the fruit a bitter taste ...

At least one third of the cherry crop of the Lakeview orchard is affected ... The loss at the Nellie Whitney farm is also quite heavy.

Two of the other large orchards, the C. N. Russell orchard south of the city, and the Peter Lass orchards, at Onekama, are not affected by the disease. At the C. N. Russell farm, it has been necessary to prop up the limbs in order to keep them from breaking under the heavy load of the fruit.

The trees of all four of these large farms were either sprayed or dusted to prevent this disease, but on the Lakeview and Nellie Whitney farms it was not done soon enough to keep the disease from taking hold, which it did immediately after the four-day rain spell we had last month, such damp weather being especially favorable for the spread of the disease ... .

A house without fly screens doesnt need an alarm clock.

There is a bright side. If you dont enjoy your vacation elsewhere youll enjoy coming back to Manistee.

The Call of the Wild. This is the season of the year when the family decides it must have a picnic. Everyone must commune with nature, the green grass, wild flowers, the trees and bugs. So we pack a lunch with about twice as much as we need, board the flivver and hie ourselves to the meadows. Dad, of course, carries the luggage while mother handles the six kiddies. When we reach the wilderness and get the lunch all spread out we find the butter melted and the coffee cold, the salt has been left behind, and the sugar sack burst and sweetened everything but our dispositions. Then it starts to rain, all of us getting soaked, the children cry, the wife blames Pa for everything, and they all go home sore and tired and weary and angry. But they have had their annual picnic, and everyone is satisfied for a year. Nature is grand but it makes us wild. We much prefer to get our provender off the dinner table than off the ground.

Men go to lots of trouble to regain youth, while women continue to rub it on.

The largest volume of mail since Christmas was handled by the local postoffice force last night as the result of the increased amount when the noon mail missed connections. The clerks were busy until after 9 oclock distributing the mail, and even Postmaster John A. Meier jumped into the work to expedite distribution.

July 10, pg. 1

Last nights electrical storm was the worst in years, according to Manager Charles S. Kressler of the Consumers Power company.

Lightning worked havoc with the power transmission system. At the car barns distributing station, fire was started. Rain leaking through the roof fell on the huge switches and created a wild fireworks. When the high voltage lightning hit the system, flames shot out of the switch blocks to the roof.

The play of lightning at the station was the most spectacular ever seen. Throughout last night and this morning, the lightning caused interruptions to service at various times.

While the sudden fall of rain last night was quite heavy, it was not as great as other recent downpours. Altogether ... the precipitation was nine-tenths of an inch.

Pg. 3

Visitors yesterday to various orchards in the county infected with shothole fungus found the disease to have caused more damage than reports indicated.

The sight at the Nellie Whitney orchard is appalling. One whole section is practically denuded of leaves. When viewed from above it looks like a great scarlet rug.

What makes the condition heart-breaking is this abundance of fruit. Clusters hang from the limbs like gooseberries. Made bitter by the fungus, the cherries are inedible.

Experienced orchardists say that if the fungus is not checked at once whole fields of trees will probably be destroyed. The disease not only damages the fruit now but weakens the trees ...

Dried leaves holding the fungus should be raked up and burned or plowed into the ground ... Diligent and heavy spraying next year will help defeat the disease.

EXPRESSION OF APPRECIATION.

After a weeks thought of the greatest surprise of my life, I am wondering what prompted so generous an expression of good will from the Board of Commerce and the many friends who conferred this honor upon me.

I wish to thank all friends who have contributed so generously in any degree to the wonderful ovation given me on my ninetieth birthday, which I shall not forget during the remainder of my life. R. G. PETERS.

As Noah Heap puts it: A dollar goes farthest when it lacks company.

Formerly Monday newspapers printed long reports of sermons, but now the space is needed for accounts of automobile accidents.

By Heck says we may be forced to get used to the looks of long skirts any time now, but itll take several years for him to forget who has the good-looking legs and who hasnt.

One swallow doesnt make a summer  or much of a drink  but two of them sometimes make a fall. Entertaining visitors in his little cigar shop on Lake street the other day, Bill Piellusch heard mysterious sounds in the stovepipe and, giving it a poke to quiet the disturbers, sent a length of pipe crashing to the floor. Out popped two sooty, impudent chimney swallows, like the rabbit out of the silk hat in a slight-of-hand performance, and now Bills friends accuse him of throwing a scare into them by feats of magic.

Noah Little says: All men may be created equal, but they dont look that way.

The various hay fever agencies are just beginning to get their broadcasting stations tuned up for the busy season.

Soon all women will know how to operate automobiles, but there will be many who cant run sewing machines.

July 11, pg. 1

The 1922 edition of the R. L. Polk & Co.s Manistee City and County Directory has just been issued from their presses and is being delivered to subscribers. The volume contains 408 pages ... .

Voting in the school election yesterday, which had showed practically no interest in the morning or afternoon, took an unprecedented spurt towards evening when the report was circulated that a dark horse candidate had been let into the field to defeat Miss Louise Jones, the only avowed candidate for the office of school trustee.

No sooner was the report started on its flight than the women of the city speedily mobilized, emphasized to voters the necessity of putting a woman on the board and before the polls closed more ballots had been cast around supper time than during the whole day.

Miss Jones was unanimously elected, for results showed that there had been no votes cast for any opposing candidate ... .

Pg. 3

The Manistee Exchange club yesterday in response to a suggestion from President Schnorbach of the Board of Commerce that it take the initiative in the matter, committed itself to an effort to secure before next spring an enclosed recreation field for Manistee, wherein football, baseball and other athletic sports can be fostered and staged under proper conditions and auspices.

One of Manistees most crying needs, as pointed out by the Board of Commerce executive and conceded by everybody, is an enclosed athletic park, as a municipal or civic project. Under present conditions football and baseball contests, played on Sands park grounds, a municipal field, are sadly hampered and interfered with by the crowding upon the playing space of spectators, and the better class of teams will not schedule games here because of this condition.

Grayling will be the scene of a heavy visitation of Manistee people next Sunday, if present indications count for anything.

The special excursion over the M. & N. E. in connection with the baseball game scheduled between the Manistee Independents and the strong Grayling team affords Manisteeans the opportunity they have long awaited for renewing friendly relations with a town in which many former residents of this city now make their home, and some who are not even interested in the diamond sport plan to take advantage.

The anonymous letter to a newspaper receives more contempt than consideration.

Detroit May Become a Big Steel Center  headline. It is already a noted steal center.

Frank R. Carlson has moved his merry-go-round from First street bathing beach to the old market site on River street.

E. C. Carver, representing the Commercial Curtain company, Jackson, Mich., is here on his annual visit selling space on a new drop curtain for the Lyric theater.

Tourist Night will be observed tomorrow when the first pavement dance of the season will be given at the east end of River street. Mike Klibers full band will furnish the music.

Even though our weight of woe seems overwhelming there is a ray of sunshine. The National Kraut Packers association announces that there will be a bumper production of that delicacy this year. Hot Dog!

The weather may be overcoolish, but at least it cuts down the likelihood of a family man going home for a good, hearty supper and finding a so-called repast of potato salad, nut butter sandwiches and lemonade.

Noah Little says: Envy is the tribute failure pays to success.

As Noah Heap puts it: The man on top of the hill doesnt see much of it.

July 12 pg. 1

With the formulation of definite plans for the reception of hundreds of visitors, final arrangements were completed last night at a meeting of the Young Peoples society of Trinity Lutheran church for the joint mission festival to be held Sunday at Orchard Beach State Park ...

Upward of 500 people are expected to attend the festival, for besides the 200 young people of the (area congregations) many of the older people of the congregations, to whom invitations were extended, will also be present ...

The purpose of the festival will be to arouse interest in missionary and Walther League work, and collections taken up ... will be used toward the support of a missionary in one of the foreign fields, China or India ... .

With the dates for this years seven-day Chautauqua program in Manistee definitely fixed for August 21 to August 28, inclusive, the local executive committee, guarantors of the entertainment, last night perfected a working organization ...

Season tickets this year will be sold at $2.75 for adults or 19 cents each for the 14 scheduled entertainments ... Childrens season tickets ... will be $1.50. The morning programs, principally childrens entertainment, are free, as usual.

Manistee has secured some more fine publicity, this time in The Exchangeite, organ of the national association of exchange clubs ...

The article, under the title How About It? was written by Sec. J. C. Beukema of the Board of Commerce, who besides possessing a thorough knowledge of business fundamentals, has the valuable facility of wielding a highly productive pen. In the days of his newspaper work he produced several books of fiction and many short stories ...

The writer takes advantage of the opportunity to bring in a number of the chief attractions of the region, including Orchard Beach State Park, the Junction Dam fishing haunts and Portage Lake, all vividly described in terms that are certain to arouse the interest of prospective visitors ...

Last year Sec. Beukema had a handsomely illustrated article on the Manistee-Portage regions in See America First, the national magazine of tourists. More cooperation and boosting of this sort is bound to make Manistee the mecca of tourists and vacationists.

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Mrs. Sidney O. Kann and son Junior arrived home this morning from Waukesha, Wis., after spending a week with her husband, who is under medical treatment at the Spa.

The W. C. T. U. met at the Carrie Filer home Tuesday afternoon ... After the business meeting the following program ... was given: piano duet, Cordelia Brock and Iris Badman, Tramp and Glory, Miss Brock played the Battle of Nations as an encore; flag salute by all present, led by Helen Cowan; vocal solo, America for Me, Miss Mildred Hawkins; recitation, The Battle of the W. C. T. U. Helen Cowan; vocal duet, Come unto Me, Mrs. Ethel J. Johnson and Mrs. Lydia Hansen; singing A Million Members by all present. Rev. Helickson then spoke on the 18th amendment, taking law obedience as his subject. He said, Let reverence for the law be breathed by every mother to all her children, let every man remember that disobedience to the law is to trample on the faith of our forefathers. Have reverence for the law written in spelling books, in almanacs, in magazines, everywhere until law enforcement is the political religion of the nation. God grant this day may come soon.

Mrs. Lipe, president of the union talked on this subject and Mrs. Cowan read, Is your Citizenship in Heaven? The program closed by singing Work For Enforcement Where you are. Refreshments were served to about 50 ... The county prizes in the essay contest (for junior high school and high school students on law enforcement and citizenship) were awarded by the county president, Mrs. Lipe.

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Twelve thousand buns and nearly a ton of beef will be required to feed the crowd at the annual Merchants & Farmers picnic to be held at Orchard Beach state park, Thursday, August 24, according to estimates prepared by the Picnic Committee of Manistee merchants which met last night at the Board of Commerce rooms.

 ... Last year over 8,000 people attended the picnic which was the banner event of the year.

The Manistee County Farm Bureau will join the merchants this year ... Merchants have turned the arrangement of the program over to Carl Knopf, County Agricultural Agent, as chairman. Mr. Knopf figures on bringing one of the best agricultural speakers in the state here ... for a short half hour talk ... Baseball between two leading teams will be a feature as usual ... It is expected that all the star horseshoe flingers of the county will be assembled to fight for the prizes that will be hung up. There will be a tug of war and a pie-eating contest.

Mr. Knopf is now out on a hunt for the leanest, lankest, toughest, swiftest, razorback hog in the county for the greased pig contest. An old tusker who has been living on acorns for a year is preferred ...

The merchants plan to mail out 3,500 invitations ... a general invitation will also be extended to all ...

Experience has demonstrated that the picnic has accomplished more toward promoting good feeling between the business men of Manistee and their patrons, the farmers and village residents, ... than anything else. For this reason the committee is determined that this picnic shall be the biggest and best ever and looks to the co-operation of every merchant and professional man in the city to that end ... .

The tedious trial in circuit court of Lauritz A. Larson on a charge of false pretenses in connection with the reorganization of the Copemish and Mesick banks in 1918, which has been in progress since June 27, is slowly dragging toward a close ... .

Morris G. Waal, former sheriff, announces his candidacy for the same office at the primaries Sept. 12, on the Democratic ticket.

He has been a resident of Manistee since early childhood ... and all his business interests are, and always have been, in this city and county.

He was elected to the office of sheriff in November, 1914, which position he held for four years. He takes pleasure referring to his official record as one of efficiency and economy ...

During the World War he was chairman of the Draft Board, and in that capacity exercised the duties of his office faithfully and fearlessly and without discrimination.

If nominated and elected he will devote his entire time and attention to the duties of the office ... His familiarity with all the details and requirements of that office would certainly be a valuable asset should he be nominated and elected.

If a man has the disposition there are usually opportunities for doing something worthwhile.

No person is worth a million dollars  some are merely the custodian of that amount of money for a few years.

The grasshopper pest should be fought early, says a trade journal. That is to say, get the jump on it.

Do men stop buying flowers when they get married? asks a national service. Certainly, but they start buying flour then.

Motorists report the Ludington road by way of Maple street and Victory township in excellent condition. There is only one short piece not up to standard.

Numerous huckleberry hunters are reported to have been lost and to have wandered for days on the plains southeast of Traverse City, says Detroit News Wolverines. But, Others who spent their vacations there and returned home promptly at the appointed date, say they endeavored to hire a guide who would lose them, but in vain.

If ignorance is bliss, it is funny there arent more happy people in the world.

July 13, pg. 2

LYRIC THEATRE Friday and Saturday SPECIAL ATTRACTION. BELLS FAMOUS HAWAIIANS. SINGERS  DANCERS  INSTRUMENTALISTS. FORTY-FIVE MINUTES OF EXCLUSIVE NOVELTY ENTERTAINMENT BY ORIGINAL HAWAIIAN ARTISTS. Introducing all the Latest and Most Popular Song Numbers. ALSO THE 1922 DANCING SENSATION PRINCESS LEI LEIHEAHA Presenting Her Original Version of GOLDEN HULU.

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The rain during the last three days has been both harmful and beneficial to the crops and fruits in Manistee county, County Farm Agent Carl Knopf stated this morning.

The most damage was done to the sweet cherries, the rain causing the fruit to split open, and although this does not make it utterly useless, the fruit cannot be packed and shipped any great distance.

The rain has slowed up the packing work ...

In nearly all cases the sour cherries have been improved by the rain, causing them to ripen sooner ...

 ... Raspberries (were) also more benefited than damaged by the rain, as only the first of this fruit was so ripe as to be beaten from the bushes.

The later fruits, apples, peaches, pears, etc. were also benefited ...

In general, the rain was not of sufficient force to crush the wheat, hay, and rye to the grounds, nor was the ground soaked too much for the potato crop.

One complaint which has, however, been constantly made during the three days is that it kept blueberry pickers from going out into the woods for this fruit, which is very plentiful this year. Quite a number of youngsters, it is said, have been missing a good days wages.

Pavement dancing is just as popular as ever.

This was convincingly proved last night when hundreds enjoyed the first of the seasons frolics on the waxed macadam. The rain which fell in the morning did not prevent city workmen from putting on a smooth surface.

Peppy music was furnished by Mike Klibers band.

In the capture last night of Andrew Krusniak, aged 37, living at 110 Washington street, the police believe they have solved the mystery surrounding the theft of three bicycles in the last few months.

Carl Kieling, who lost his bicycle in May, last night reported to officer Cierpka that he had found it at the pavement dance. In order to determine who claimed it, they tried a couple of schemes. First Kieling moved it away, but the man they suspicioned made no motion to prevent it. Then the officer took himself out of sight, and as the pavement dance broke up, Krusniak started away with the wheel. He was nabbed at once and lodged in jail.

A visit to his place revealed another wheel and several bicycle parts. The police will assist those who have lost wheels and can identify them.

It sounds unreasonable, but as a girls legs became beautiful in the good old days the horrified mother lengthened her skirts.

Lucky or unlucky, todays the 13th. But its not Friday. The only remaining Friday, the 13th, this year falls in October.

The Allies are now worrying in fear that Germany will collapse. A few years ago they worried because they feared she would not.

Scores of bad colds of the early spring variety have been brought on by the recent cool and damp weather, according to druggists. Cough medicine and throat lozenges, rarely asked for during the summer, are in demand.

Since some of the raisin manufacturers have begun putting up their product in 5-cent packages, the percentage of people who eat the raisin as a confection is on the increase. To some it is a newly acquired habit, while others are only renewing an old-time practice which they will remember from childhood days. Memories of purloining natures confection from mothers pantry in the good old days are recalled by many an old-timer as he munches the long-forgotten delicacy.

In the good old days the girls used to flirt. Now they only flap.

An office holder denies that political jobs are soft snaps. He says he has to work two hours a day to fill the job and 22 hours to hold on to it.

July 7, pg. 4

(Editorial) THE FRONT PORCH.

The old front porch is still with us. Despite the competition offered by the automobile, amusements, nearby resorts, and varied attractions the value of the veranda continues. It may not be in such demand as in the past, but walks through residential sections find the porches occupied.

There has been danger that the front porch was on its last step; some of the modern homes are erected without this feature, but the majority still holds true to form and provide this necessary adjunct to every complete house. There are sun parlors and enclosed side porches, but they have not yet driven the front open air room off the lawn. It is to be hoped that it will not be lost in the advancement of modern civilization.

It is on our front porch that we can see the world and its neighbor pass by, and it is there we have witnessed the changing times. First we viewed the beaten path and dirt roads, then followed the board walks and paving blocks, and now the cement and asphalt. There were once pedestrians that went strolling past, and there we watched the panorama of styles, the hoop skirts, the bustles, the big sleeves, the long dresses, the close fitting and now the flapper and knee high skirts. We also saw the horse back riders, the old creaking buggies and family carriages, the bicycle, and now the automobile.

There are fond memories, too, of the old front porch, memories which the present and passing generations hold dear, and will not forget. It was the summer courting place where hearts sang, love rang true, and vows were made. Love did not go then in a speed car, mixed with dust and gasoline and the chug chug of a motor. It was quiet and peaceful, and well, more satisfying than taking it at sixty miles an hour.

The front porch has also been the gathering spot for children and the older people of the family, the place for discussion of politics, of local, national and world events. It provided the fresh air cure for mind and body.

It is good to know that the old front porch is still here; that there are still those who can find their pleasure in rest, rather than in motion. May it not become a relic of the past.
MANISTEE TWP.  Tuesday was expected to mark the start of a several month roundabout project in Manistee Township at the U.S. 31 and M-22 intersection.

Brian Gutowski, Manistee County sheriff, said at the July Manistee County Public Safety Committee meeting that the roundabout option for that intersection is a much safer alternative to the current caution signal.

I think as much as people complain about roundabouts, the science is there and the studies are there to show how effective they are, Gutowski said. I think you can ask anybody who drives into town, there are a lot of people who pull out in front of people at that intersection."

Last year, a report by the Michigan Department of Transportation assessed three potential alternatives for the U.S. 31 and M-22 intersection. The report looked at the construction of a roundabout, the installation of a traffic signal or no action being taken at the intersection.

The study found that both a roundabout and traffic signal would be expected to improve operations and safety at the intersection by providing longer gaps for motorists entering U.S. 31. However, a roundabout is expected to reduce the risk of severe crashes by decreasing speeds along U.S. 31, the report stated.

James Lake, Michigan Department of Transportation North Region communications representative, previously said in an email that the M-22 and U.S. 31 intersection has seen a pattern of angle crashes at this intersection that have unfortunately resulted in one death and several severe injuries in recent years

Ive policed several pretty serious crashes at that intersection. Most notably was the semi versus the RV crash that happened there that was really bad crash, Gutowski said. I think it might be a little bit of a nuisance for those who arent big fans of roundabouts, but I think its really going to help improve the safety and the flow of traffic there.

This prompted the interest in a roundabout for the location, Lake had said.

Roundabouts virtually eliminate head-on and high speed angle crashes, which are some of the most severe kinds of crashes and result in the greatest number of deaths and serious injuries, Lake had said. In other locations where we and other road agencies have replaced traditional intersections with roundabouts, we generally see a 90% reduction in fatalities and a 76% reduction in injuries.

About 1,300 vehicles pass through the intersection each day, according to data from MDOT.

Earlier news releases from MDOT said work would start on July 12, however, as of early Tuesday afternoon, only traffic barrels could be seen at the intersection area.

There are several phases to the project. The first phase includes a temporary lane where drivers should expect shoulder closures and traffic shifts, a previous MDOT release states.

Gutowski emphasized that the roundabout construction also wont include a traditional detour.

The nice thing about the roundabout is that theyre going to build in that bypass, he said, using Traverse City as an example. If anybody went the back way to Traverse City when they put the roundabouts in there, they built a bypass road around the roundabout construction.

He explained that the plan is to build a temporary road for U.S. 31 traffic.

Gutowski said there isnt a good way to detour people around the intersection, making the bypass road a better option.

That will be a huge benefit rather than trying to do a detour route, he said. It will be nice to have that bypass road anyway for the traffic on U.S. 31 to still continue to move north and south on (U.S.) 31.

In mid-August, the MDOT news release states that M-22 will be inaccessible from U.S. 31 with traffic detoured to M-22 on Schoedel Road. U.S. 31 through-traffic will be controlled with temporary signals.

North and southbound traffic will have two temporary traffic signals allowing one lane of traffic to go at a time through a "runaround" continuing along U.S. 31 in their original direction.

Anyone trying to access the Little River Casino on the corner of M-22 and U.S. 31 by way of U.S. 31 will need to use an alternate route, since M-22 from the corner of U.S. 31 to Schoedel Road will not be accessible except to local through-traffic.

Submitted graphic/MDOT

Lake had noted that in MDOTs talks with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians about the project, it supported the safety benefits a roundabout will bring, as well as the traffic flow improvements we expect to see there.

The $1.8 million project is being funded jointly by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and MDOT.



The Little River Band is contributing $883,000 for this project and MDOT, through a combination of state and federal funding, is contributing the rest, he said.



According to a news release on July 5 from MDOT, the project is expected to directly and indirectly support 19 jobs.

The roundabout construction project is expected to go through Oct. 31.

Need a refresher on proper roundabout usage? Check out this explainer.
Johnny Depp mocks the attempt made by Amber Heard's legal team to annul the jury's verdict to compensate her ex-husband with $10 million, after the exhausting media trial that both lived in June.

The actress argues that this sum was excessive, while Depp, in an ironic tone, responded that this amount reflects only the loss he really suffered after she defamed him.

Johnny Depp shows off new tattoo on his arm: What did he get done?

The response of Johnny Depp's lawyers

Depp's lawyers say there is clear evidence that, as a result of the op-ed published by Amber Heard in The Washington Post in 2018, he lost work opportunities, not appearing in a single studio production until October 2020. That alone, lawyers say, is why she supported the court order to receive the $10 million in damages.

In fact, Depp's legal documents refer that one of his representatives negotiated a deal for the sixth installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean" for $22.5 million just before the op-ed was published and that the project was put on hold despite the fact that the producer, Jerry Bruckheimer really wanted Johnny.

Fans chant Johnny Depp's name after defamation verdict AP

Therefore, Johnny Depp scoffed at Amber Heard's request to overturn the jury's verdict as excessive, as the $10 million judgment reflects the loss he actually suffered after she defamed him and with this occasion became persona non grata in the production.

How much did Johnny Depp really lose because of Amber Heard's defamation?

Even, lawyers say that Johnny proved with experts during the trial that his real loss exceeded $10 million and reached more than $40 million.

The crazy story behind the trial Amber Heard and Johnny Depp

TMZ revealed Monday that Amber filed legal papers last week alleging that one of the jurors was fraudulently employed.

Her legal team says a man was subpoenaed, but someone with the same family name, the man's son, took the subpoena to court and became a juror, and that, her team says, should warrant a new trial. Johnny's team responded... Amber could have objected at the start of the trial, but she didn't, so it's bad luck for her.
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Iran has arrested an internationally renowned filmmaker, several newspapers reported Tuesday, the third Iranian director to be locked up in less than a week as the government escalates a crackdown on the country's celebrated cinema industry.

The arrest of award-winning director Jafar Panahi and wider pressure on filmmakers follows a wave of recent arrests as tensions escalate between Irans hard-line government and the West. Security forces have detained several foreigners and a prominent reformist politician as talks to revive Tehrans nuclear accord with world powers hit a deadlock and fears grow over the country's economic crisis.

Panahi, one of Iran's best-known dissident filmmakers, had gone to the prosecutor's office in Tehran on Monday evening to check on the cases of his two colleagues detained last week, when security forces scooped him up as well, the reports said.

A colleague of Panahi, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, told The Associated Press that authorities sent him to Irans notorious Evin Prison to serve out a prison term dating back years ago.

In 2011, Panahi received a six-year prison sentence on charges of creating anti-government propaganda and was banned from filmmaking for 20 years. He was also barred from leaving the country.

However, the sentence was never really enforced and Panahi continued to make underground films  without government script approval or permits  which were released abroad to great acclaim.

Panahi has won multiple festival awards, including the 2015 Berlin Golden Bear for Taxi, a wide-ranging meditation on poverty, sexism and censorship in Iran, and the Venice Golden Lion in 2000 for The Circle, a deep dive into women's lives in Iran's patriarchal society.

The Berlin International Film Festival said it was dismayed and outraged to hear of Panahi's arrest, calling it another violation of freedom of expression and freedom of the arts."

His detention came after the arrest of two other Iranian filmmakers, Mohamad Rasoulof and Mostafa al-Ahmad.

Authorities accused Rasoulof and al-Ahmad of undermining the nations security by voicing opposition on social media to the governments violent crackdown on unrest in the countrys southwest.

Following the catastrophic collapse of the Metropol Building that killed at least 41 people in May, protests erupted over allegations of government negligence and deeply rooted corruption. Police responded with a heavy hand, clubbing protesters and firing tear gas, according to footage widely circulating online.

Rasoulof won the Berlin Film Festivals top prize in 2020 for his film There Is No Evil" that explores four stories loosely connected to the themes of the death penalty in Iran and personal freedoms under tyranny. In 2011, Rasoulofs film Goodbye won a prize at Cannes but he was not allowed to travel to France to accept it.

Cannes sharply condemned the arrests of the three filmmakers and the wave of repression obviously in progress in Iran against its artists.

PEN America, a literary and free speech organization, said their detention marks a brazen violation of their human right to free expression and speech.

Several foreigners have also landed in Iranian prison in recent weeks, including two French citizens, a Swedish tourist, a Polish scientist and others, spurring concerns that Iran is trying to leverage them as bargaining chips in negotiations.

It's a tactic Iran has used in the past, including in 2014 when authorities arrested Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian. He was released a year and a half later in a prisoner swap with the United States as the landmark nuclear accord took effect.

On Monday, the family of a Belgian humanitarian worker being held in Iran, Olivier Vandecasteele, appealed to Brussels to do everything to secure his release from Evin Prison. They said he was arrested in late February after working for more than six years in Iran to help its Afghan migrant community.

The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the AP on Tuesday it had asked Iran for his release on several occasions and still had no information on the reasons of his arrest. It said the government was providing him with consular assistance.

__

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Midland Daily News

A 29-year-old Flint woman was arrested and charged in connection with child abuse after her 3-year-old daughter shot herself after she was left alone in a car with a loaded pistol.

Detectives for the Flint Police Department said the mother left the girl inside the car with an older sibling around 5 p.m. on Friday when she went inside the Sunoco Gas Station in the 1300 block of Court Street.
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Succession received a leading 25 Emmy nominations Tuesday, but the satirical drama about the rich and ruthless has a landmark rival in Squid Game, the first non-English language series to vie for televisions top honor.

Netflix's Squid Game, a South Korea-set drama in which the poor are fodder for brutal games, earned a best drama nomination and 13 other bids for Septembers Emmy Awards. HBO's Succession captured the best drama trophy and six other awards when it last vied for Emmys, in 2020.

Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said he appreciated that Squid Game was chosen as the first milestone for a Hollywood and U.S. change of attitude.

Instead of just exporting the content around the world, it is now shifting to become a participant in the global content realm to facilitate exchanges of cultures around the world, he told The Associated Press through a translator.

Ted Lasso was the top comedy series nominee with 20 bids and has the chance to earn its second consecutive best comedy trophy, as academy voters proved undeterred by its sophomore season turn to the emotional dark side.

Other top nominees included the tropical resort-set anthology dramedy The White Lotus, which also received 20 nominations; the comedies Hacks and Only Murders in the Building with 17 bids each, and teenage dysfunction drama Euphoria. Its star, Zendaya, was crowned best actress in 2020 and is nominated again.

Departing series that might have expected salutes were instead snubbed, including the beloved family drama This Is Us, which received one bid, for original music and lyrics. An equally beloved family comedy, black-ish, earned costume and hairstyling nominations. Ozark, which wrapped its run last season, fared better, with 13 bids including best drama series.

The final season for Insecure earned a lead comedy actress bid for its creator-star Issa Rae, while the return of Atlanta brought its creator and lead Donald Glover a shot at a best actor trophy to bookend his 2017 award.

The crowd-pleasing and acclaimed  Abbott Elementary made a splashy debut in its first year, earning seven nominations including a best comedy nod and a lead acting bid for its creator, Quinta Brunson. The recognition for the ABC show was a rare bright spot for broadcast networks, which were otherwise shut out of the comedy and drama series races.

The other nominees for best comedy series are Barry; Curb Your Enthusiasm; Hacks; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Only Murders in the Building; "Ted Lasso" and What We Do in the Shadows.

Best drama series nominees include Better Call Saul; Euphoria; Severance; Stranger Things and Yellowjackets.

The modern vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows and Yellowjackets, a combined thriller and coming-of-age saga that's created major buzz, showed that Emmy voters have both a sense of humor and adventure. Controversy apparently left them unfazed: Dave Chappelle: The Closer, which drew criticism for its transgender mockery, picked up a pre-recorded variety special nomination.

Only Murders in the Building," a cheery crime romp headed by the charmingly unlikely trio of Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short, earned best comedy actor bids for its veteran stars but left Gomez off the acting list.

Netflix's global sensation "Squid Game followed in the footsteps of 2020 Oscar darling Parasite, also made in South Korea. But Pachinko, a sweeping and much-lauded South Korean family drama failed to garner any Emmy nods.

Emmy rules allow for a non-English language show with a U.S. production partner to compete, but it took the rise of streaming services to make it happen. The Emmys were once dominated by broadcast and later cable shows made primarily for North America, but streamers target that market and a wide swath of others  and are finding that shows made in Asia, Europe and elsewhere can carry worldwide.

The longstanding lack of shows with any dialogue other than English is demonstrated by NBCs 1980 miniseries Shogun, based on the James Clavell novel about early 17th-century Japan. The bilingual production by a U.S. studio was groundbreaking but not a trend-setter when it won the best limited series Emmy and acting nods.

Squid Game boosted rare Asian representation with its five acting nominations, including a lead actor bid for Lee Jung-jae and supporting actress nod for Jung Ho-yeon. The show already had proved a groundbreaker at this years Screen Actors Guild, where Lee and Jung received the first guild acting trophies for a non-English language show.

The series was such a phenomenon that it would have been really odd if it hadnt done well with Emmy voters, said Eric Deggans, television critic for National Public Radio. The impressive number of acting nods it received indicates the academy valued the performances they were delivering as well as the impact of the entire show.

Other performers of Asian descent received nominations, including Sandra Oh for Killing Eve" and Bowen Yang for Saturday Night Live." But there were opportunities missed for Black actors, including the stars of black-ish, and for series recognition of Black-led shows Atlanta' and Insecure," said Deggans.

Voters also missed the chance to salute the well-reviewed Native American comedy Reservation Dogs and another series with Native characters and culture, Rutherford Falls, and there's scant Latino representation in the nominations.

The other nominees for best comedy series actress besides Brunson and Rae are Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant; Elle Fanning, The Great, and last year's winner, Jean Smart for Hacks.

Other nominees for actor in a comedy series include: Bill Hader, Barry; Nicholas Hoult, The Great; Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso; Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building; Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building.

For drama series actor, the field also includes Jason Bateman, Ozark; Brian Cox, Succession; Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul; Adam Scott, Severance and Jeremy Strong, Succession.

The other best drama series actress nominees are Jodie Comer, Killing Eve; Laura Linney, Ozark; Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets and Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show.

The limited series nominees are: Dopesick"; The Dropout; Inventing Anna; The White Lotus; Pam & Tommy.

The nominees for variety talk series are: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah; Jimmy Kimmel Live; Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The Emmy ceremony is set for Sept. 12 and will air on NBC and stream on Peacock, with a host yet to be announced.

-

AP Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson contributed to this report.

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For more on this years Emmy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/EmmyAwards
MIDLAND  Private-public partnerships are one of the recently proposed solutions to address gun violence in the 35th State Senate race.

Republican candidate Christian Velasquez discussed this issue, among several others, Monday at a primary election forum held by the Midland Area League of Voters.

"The government can talk about it, but we really need to be focusing on how we get community together to drive these solutions," Velasquez said, when replying to a question of what gun laws he'd support or oppose.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization, which aims to help facilitate informed voters with active participation in government. On Monday, the League began its effort to host a series of forums, beginning with Republican candidates of the 35th State Senate district.

However, candidate Tim Kelly on Friday announced in a press release that he rescinded commitments to participate in the forum due to concerns of partisanship.

Despite a call to his running mates to drop out of the forum, Rep. Annette Glenn, Martin Blank and Velasquez were present at the Monday forum.

About 25 attendees watched the broadcast at the MCTV Studio, which is located in the lower level of the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library. The event series will be rebroadcast throughout local TV channels and YouTube. Questions to candidates were developed by the League of Women Voters. Participants had two minutes to respond, with one minute later allotted for a reply.

The forum was moderated by President Kim Steinke with the Midland Area organization. In response to Steinke's question, "in light of the recent Supreme Court decision, what changes to the gun laws in our state, would you support or oppose?" Glenn said it's aligned with Michigan's "shall-issue" status, which she supports.

"I grew up in a time period when it was very common for kids to just have their rifles in the back of their pickups and after school, they'd go hunting," she said. "I know that times have changed ... but I am a firm supporter of the Second Amendment."

Glenn shared that she is endorsed by the National Rifle Association. Velasquez acknowledged his high-level contributions to the association.

When asked about positions on carbon-neutrality, economy-wide, Blank said he supports proposals to safeguard the environment. Right now, he said, rising fuel prices have taught voters the lessons of a fragile energy system.

"In many ways, we are going to suffer, if we aren't proactive to ensure that we have dependent fuel sources, including pipelines," he said. "We have to make sure that we don't over-do-it with trying restrict the energy sources. We have to make sure that we have a safe future."

In a short introduction, Blank described himself as a solider, not a politician. Glenn described herself as a representative, who has been blessed to serve. Velasquez described himself as a business- and family-man.

The newly drawn district represents parts of Midland, including the city, Bay and Saginaw Counties. The seat is currently held by Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth. He is facing term limit, in a district that held Frankenmuth, Saginaw and Montrose prior to the redistricting process in Michigan.

Democratic candidate Kristen McDonald Rivet is running unopposed in the 35th State Senate primary election.

Democrats running in the 39th State House district participated in a forum, following the State Senate forum. The series continues at 7 p.m. on Tuesday with the League hosting Republican candidates for the new 95th District State House seat, followed by Republican candidates for County Commissioner District 5.

The organization has shared online information on primary election candidates for races at the federal, state and local levels at www.VOTE411.org.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  The supervisor of a national forest that erupted in flames earlier this year has been temporarily assigned to a post in Washington, D.C., as New Mexico looks to recover from its largest wildfire in record history and the U.S. Forest Service reviews its prescribed burn policies.

Debbie Cress will serve as acting deputy chief of staff in the office of U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. Her replacement to oversee the northern New Mexico forest was named Friday, but some have questioned the timing given that the wildfire has yet to be declared contained and recovery work has just begun.

Forest officials have dismissed criticism, saying the opportunity for Cress to work at headquarters initially came up in January and was the culmination of her work over the past year with the agency's leadership.

Cress acknowledged in a statement Friday that it was difficult timing as her home state deals with the aftermath of the massive wildfire. But she said local, state and federal officials have a unified commitment to post-fire repairs and to meeting the needs of the communities that depend on Sangre de Cristo mountain range for firewood and water supplies.

The blaze is the result of two planned burns that were meant to clear out overgrown and dead vegetation to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire. Instead, hot, dry and windy conditions helped push the flames across 534 square miles (1,383 square kilometers) of the Rocky Mountain foothills, destroying hundreds of homes and upending the lives of thousands of rural residents.

A recent review highlighted multiple missteps by Forest Service employees in planning for the prescribed fires, most notably a failure to fully grasp how dry conditions have become amid New Mexicos decades-long drought.

About 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers) of dozer lines were carved into mountainsides and valleys, while firefighters armed with hand tools scratched in another 176 miles (283 kilometers) in hopes of corralling the fire.

Massive quantities of fire retardant and water were dropped by planes and helicopters to protect the community of Las Vegas and other small villages, but it was really the start of the monsoon season in June that helped to slow flames that had been churning since early April.

The price tag for suppression now totals $275 million, officials told The Associated Press. Another $2.5 million is going toward road work, storm inspection, seeding, debris removal and the protection of sites considered important to residents.

Cress' assignment in Washington will last four months. Carson National Forest Supervisor James Duran will lead the Santa Fe forest until Cress returns from her assignment.

Agency officials said such work details are common across the Forest Service and are used as both professional development and as a way to continue with agency business pending a permanent hire.

Joe Reddan, a retired ranger who used to work in northern New Mexico, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that even if Cress had been working on the assignment for months, she should have refrained from going.

Its not going to help her out, and its not going to help the credibility of the agency, he said, noting the lessons that could be learned from what happened and how to deal with the people impacted by such catastrophic fires.

The Forest Service is in the midst of a formal review of its prescribed fire operations nationwide that was prompted by the New Mexico blaze and fire danger levels that reached historic levels this spring. All planned burns have been put on hold pending the outcome.
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TOKYO (AP)  The Unification Church confirmed the mother of the man accused of assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a member and said it was cooperating with the police investigation into possible motives.

Police say the suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators he wanted to kill Abe because of his apparent connection to an organization. Some Japanese media gave his mother's donations to the church and her subsequent bankruptcy as a motive for the assassination.

Tomihiro Tanaka, head of the Unification Church's Japan branch, declined to comment on the specifics of the donations Monday. Speaking in generalities, he confirmed some people have made generous donations, but stressed none was forced.

Also known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, the church was founded in South Korea by the late Sun Myung Moon. It is known to have hundreds of thousands of followers in Japan.

Trying to understand how such hatred may have possibly led to the killing is totally perplexing, Tanaka said.

Abe was not a church member, but may have spoken at affiliated groups' events, Tanaka said.

Abe was fatally shot Friday in Nara in western Japan while campaigning for Sundays parliamentary elections. Video and photos taken by people in the crowd show the suspect pulling out a homemade gun. Two smoke-filled blasts were fired. Abe collapsed and later died at a hospital.

Funeral services were being held Tuesday at a Tokyo Buddhist temple.

This is something that should never have happened, and I feel a deep outrage, Tanaka said, bowing deeply. My heart aches that Japan has lost a loved and respected leader.

Such bows are part of Japanese protocol to express condolences and do not necessarily signify admission of guilt.

Tanaka brushed off media reports as speculation, stressing the motive was still unclear.

Tanaka said Yamagamis mother joined the church in the late 1990s and has been participating in church events about once a month lately. There were years in between during which she did not come at all, he said.

Although the church has had scandals related to donations, compliance measures were set up in 2009, and there have not been any major troubles since then, Tanaka said.

The amount of donations is up to each individual, he said. We are grateful to those who give large donations, but nothing is required.

The news conference started with Tanaka bowing in a solemn moment of prayer. As a religious leader, I take this extremely seriously, Tanaka said of Abes assassination.

Japanese media reports say Yamagami's mother declared bankruptcy in 2002. Tanaka said records dating back 20 years couldnt be confirmed.

Yamagami is in prosecutors' custody and not available for comment.

The Unification Church has been embroiled in controversies over the years. Since its founding in 1954, Moon built a business empire with hundreds of ventures in more than a half dozen countries, from hospitals and universities to newspapers and a ballet troupe.

The controversial practices include mass arranged weddings, often pairing followers from different countries, aimed at building a multicultural religious world.

In Japan, famous actresses have joined the church, while politicians courted friendly ties because of the church's influence. The Japan branch was founded in 1959. Church spokesperson Ahn Ho-yeul said the church has 300,000 believers in Japan, and from 150,000 to 200,000 members in South Korea.

The church's beliefs are based on the idea that love in marriage and family is what God wants for world peace and harmony.

The majority of Japanese people adhere to a mix of Shinto and Buddhism.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
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BRIDGEPORT  Mimicking an overhead train station service announcement, Gov. Ned Lamont shouted about an increase in trains along Metro-Norths Waterbury Branch and more express options.

Now arriving on track one from Waterbury: more frequent rail service, Lamont said in a mechanical voice. By the way, this is a test, but its an important test.

Speaking at the Bridgeport Transportation Center on Monday morning, Lamont announced the addition of six additional express trains on the New Haven Line into Grand Central along with seven new weekday trains on the Waterbury Branch.

The increased train service began Monday.

This represents the states latest action in its continued commitment to improve transportation and its dedication to connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lamont said.

This is the ideal state for rail. We are pretty densely packed right now and there are only so many roads and bridges you can expand. Weve got to get people out of cars and onto rail, Lamont said.

Our rail service did us proud, all the guys here over the last two years of really tough times, he said. You dont have to pay for parking down in New York and get some of those cars off the road and make transportation easier.

Waterbury service added

This year, Metro-Norths weekday service on the Waterbury Branch will increase to 22 trains, up from 15, according to the state Department of Transportation. The additional trains amount to a 47 percent service increase.

The seven new trains will be divided as four new southbound trains and three new northbound trains running weekdays, according to a statement from the governors office.

With these added trains, service begins earlier in the morning in both directions and operates more frequently in off-peak hours, providing more options to riders in the Naugatuck Valley, the statement said.

The cost of the new service will be $6.14 million annually, according to DOT. Lamonts 2023 fiscal year budget includes $1.23 million to match federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds for the additional trains.

About $14 million was invested in the Waterbury Branch in recent years to bring the lines infrastructure up to par and capable of safely facilitating the increased use, according to DOT. The improvements included fixing and improving bridges; adding parking lot cameras and signals; building passing tracks; and making $5 million worth of continuous welded rail replacements.

The ridershp on the Waterbury Branch is at about 18,500 passengers, or 63 percent of pre-COVID numbers, for March, the latest available, according to DOT.

Waterbury has been under construction, and were going to keep working on that as well, DOT Commissioner Joe Giulietti said. Theres been a lot of investment on that end, and theres been a lot of economic interest. The entire line right now is getting constant questions and demands, as they see opportunity to make adjustments throughout.

Jim Gildea, president of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, said that Monday marked the biggest day in the Waterbury Branchs history.

Im a Waterbury Branch commuter. I am an in-the-trench, boots-on-the-ground commuter, Gildea said. This is transformational not only for the rail commuter such as myself to get to our destination, but for the economic development and the downtowns that this line runs through. It goes through every downtown from Waterbury to Bridgeport. That is huge.

The announcement resulted in the completion of a campaign promise made by Lamont in 2018 to improve train service on the Waterbury Branch, Gildea said.

More express trains to Grand Central

For commuters heading into New York City for work, six more express trains to Grand Central will operate on weekdays, beginning Monday, Giulietti said.

Three weekday morning rush-hour express trains to Grand Central Terminal will depart from New Haven  with stops in Bridgeport and Stamford  along with three weekday evening express trains to New Haven making the same stops, according to the governors office.

The morning trains will depart New Haven at 5:09 a.m., 5:41 a.m. and 7:52 a.m. while the evening rush-hour trains depart from Grand Central at 4:16 p.m., 4:49 p.m. and 6:26 p.m., according to the statement. Express trains operate as quickly as about 90 minutes between New Haven and Grand Central.

Where were at right now is about 90 percent of what the trains were prior to the pandemic, Giulietti said. What were going through right now is a transition. Theres been some changes there that were watching the adoption thats going on and what are the normal commuting hours because thats changing, as well as more people doing three-day weeks and four-day weeks. We are seeing earlier starts in the mornings and later at night, so we are adjusting as were see that flow come in.

As traffic and working patterns change throughout the pandemic, DOT and Metro-North will work together to keep atop demands and will alter train schedules as needed, Giulietti said.

abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com
Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo

MIDDLETOWN  A Middletown man was charged with impersonating a police officer after he drove an SUV with red and blue flashing lights, state police said.

State troopers received a report Friday morning about a gray Ford sport utility vehicle consistent in appearance with a police vehicle driving erratically on Route 79, or Durham Road, state police said Monday.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  A presidential tweet that some saw as a call to arms. An unhinged meeting in the White House. Violent extremists planning to storm the Capitol as President Donald Trump pushed lies about election fraud.

At its seventh hearing, the House Jan. 6 panel on Tuesday showed further evidence that Trump was told, repeatedly, that his claims of fraud were false  but that he continued to push them anyway. And at the same time, he turned to the widest possible audience on Twitter, calling his supporters, some of them violent, to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, to not only protest but be wild as Congress certified President Joe Biden's victory.

'A CALL TO ACTION  A CALL TO ARMS'

A major focus of the hearing was Trumps Dec. 19 tweet about a big protest at the coming joint session of Congress: Be there, will be wild!"

Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Democratic member of the panel, said the tweet served as a call to action and in some cases as a call to arms. She said the president called for backup as he argued that Vice President Mike Pence and other Republicans didnt have enough courage to try to block Bidens certification as he presided over the joint session.

The tweet electrified and galvanized Trumps supporters, said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, another Democratic committee member, especially the dangerous extremists in the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys and other far-right racist and white nationalist groups spoiling for a fight.

The committee showed a montage of videos and social media posts after the tweet as supporters reacted and planned trips to Washington, some of them using violent rhetoric and talking about killing police officers.

AN 'UNHINGED' MEETING

The committee spliced together video clips from interviews to describe a chaotic meeting on Dec. 18, in the hours before Trump's tweet, in almost minute-to-minute fashion.

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified live before the panel two weeks ago, called the meeting between White House aides and informal advisers pushing the fraud claims unhinged in a text that evening to another Trump aide. Other aides described screaming and profanity in the meeting as the advisers floated wild theories of election fraud with no evidence to back them up, and as White House lawyers aggressively pushed back.

The video clips included testimony from lawyer Sidney Powell, who had pushed some of the wildest theories, including of breached voting machines and hacked thermostats that she somehow tied to the false claims of fraud.

White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, one of the aides who pushed back, said the theories were nuts and it got to the point where the screaming was completely, completely out there.

The aides described a chaotic six hours of back and forth, starting with Trump talking to a group of the informal advisers with no White House aides present. Both Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, and Powell said in interviews that Cipollone rushed in to disrupt the gathering. Powell said sarcastically that she thought Cipollone set a new ground speed record getting there.

Cipollone, who sat with the committee for a private interview last week after a subpoena, said he didnt think the group was giving Trump good advice and said he and the other White House lawyers just kept asking them, where is the evidence? But they did not receive any good answers, he said.

Hours later, at 1:42 a.m., Trump sent the tweet urging supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6.

A RIOTER, AND A FORMER OATH KEEPER

Two witnesses were in the hearing room for testimony  a rioter who has pleaded guilty to entering the Capitol and a former Oath Keeper who described his experiences with the group.

Stephen Ayres, who pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and is scheduled to be sentenced in September, said he was in Washington on Jan. 6 at the behest of Trump, and that he left the Capitol when Trump  after several hours  told them in a tweet to leave. Basically we were just following what the president said, Ayres said.

He said his arrest less than a month later changed my life, not for the better and it makes him angry that he hung on Trumps every word, and that some people are still doing that. Asked by Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney if he still believes the election was stolen, Ayres said, Not so much now.

Jason Van Tatenhove, a former ally of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes who left the group years before the insurrection, said the group is a violent militia.

I think we need to quit mincing words and just talk about truths and what it was going to be was an armed revolution, he said. I mean, people died that day  This could have been the spark that started a new civil war.

Rhodes and other members of the Oath Keepers, along with another far-right group, the Proud Boys, have been charged with seditious conspiracy in the most serious cases the Justice Department has brought so far in the Jan. 6 attack.

INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE

The committee revealed that Trump planned for days to have his supporters march to the Capitol  and that he would join them.

The panel showed a draft tweet, undated and never sent, that said Please arrive early, massive crowds expected. March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal! And they showed texts and email exchanges between planners and White House aides about a secret plan for the march.

This stays only between us, we are having a second stage at the Supreme Court after Trump's rally, wrote one of the rally's organizers, Kylie Kremer, to a Trump confidant. POTUS is going to have us march there/the Capitol." People will try to "sabotage" it if they found out, she said.

Murphy said the president's call for the march at his rally was "not a spontaneous call to action, but rather was a deliberate strategy decided upon, in advance, by the president."

Hutchinson's testimony last month also focused on Trump's desire to march with the protesters, and his anger at security officials who would not let him go.

The committee examined Trumps speech at the rally that morning and some of his ad-libs about Vice President Mike Pence that were not in the original drafts of the speech. In the end, he would mention the vice president eight times, telling the crowd that he hoped Pence would do the right thing and try and block Bidens certification at the joint session of Congress.

IGNORED ADVICE AND STAFF REGRETS

As they have at several hearings, the committee lawmakers showed video testimony from White House aides who said they did not believe there was widespread fraud in the election and had told the president that. Several aides said they were firmly convinced Bidens victory was a done deal after the states certified the electors on Dec. 14 and after dozens of Trumps campaign lawsuits failed in court.

Ivanka Trump, the former presidents daughter, said it was her sentiment that the election was over after Dec. 14 and probably prior as well. Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she planned for life after the White House at that point. Eugene Scalia, Trump's labor secretary, said he told the president in a call that it was time to say that Biden had won.

And there were regrets afterward. In one text exchange revealed by the panel, former Trump campaign aide Brad Parscale wrote to aide Katrina Pierson: This week I feel guilty for helping him win, and If I was Trump and knew my rhetoric killed someone.

It wasnt the rhetoric, Pierson responded.

Katrina, wrote Parscale, who still participates in a weekly strategy call with Trump aides. Yes it was.

WITNESS TAMPERING?

At the end of the hearing, Cheney revealed some new information: Trump had tried to call a future witness, and the committee had alerted the Justice Department about the call.

The witness did not take the call, according to Cheney. She did not identify the witness but said it was someone the public has not yet heard from.

The committee has previously said that people in Trumps orbit have contacted witnesses in ways that could reflect or at least create the appearance of inappropriate influence.

___

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Michael Kunzelman, Jill Colvin, Amanda Seitz and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

___

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
Food insecurity was a crisis among military veterans before COVID-19 and it's become worse in the past two years, said participants in a bipartisan congressional hearing hosted by Rep. Mike Levin on Monday in Oceanside, California.

"Even before the pandemic ... we knew that the food insecurity crisis in the country was real," he said during the hearing at the Veterans Association of North County. Veteran families have been hit hard since then, especially women, minorities and people with disabilities.

The term "food insecurity" generally means someone doesn't have the money or resources they need to get adequate, nutritious meals, Levin said.

Prior to the pandemic, from 2015 to 2019, more than 11 percent of working-age veterans lived in food insecure households, according to a study in 2021 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Levin, D- San Juan Capistrano, chairs the House Committee on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.

Joining him to host the Oceanside meeting were Rep. Mark Takano, D- Riverside, and Rep. Barry Moore, R- Montgomery, Ala. The speakers included Daniel Santibanez, chief of Nutrition and Food Services with the Department of Veterans Affairs, San Diego Healthcare System; National Food Security Program VA Coordinator Christine Going; San Diego Hunger Coalition President and CEO Anahid Brakke; and others.

Food insecurity is higher among veterans for a number of reasons, the speakers said.

Shame, stigma and fear keep a lot of veterans from seeking the assistance they need, said Brakke of the Hunger Coalition.

Some people incorrectly believe that by signing up for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that they will take food away from others, she said. SNAP is the country's most widely used food assistance program.

"The hunger relief sector in general doesn't work as well as it should," Brakke said. "People fall through the cracks."

Nutritional security is "three healthy meals a day," she said.

"This is an economic and system issue," she said, and she recommended that individual and household incomes be looked at more closely to determine who needs assistance.

An individual making less than $27,000 a year or a family of four making less than $55,000 a year should be considered at risk, Brakke said, especially in the San Diego area where the cost of housing is higher than most other places.

Veterans living in rural communities have higher rates of food insecurity than those in urban areas, studies show. Employment issues, a tighter labor market, and higher costs for food and services in those communities could be among the reasons for that, said Matthew Rabbitt, a USDA research economist.

San Diego County, with the second-largest population of California counties after Los Angeles, has 16 different Marine, Navy and Coast Guard installations, said Rick Wanne, director of self-sufficiency services for the county Health and Human Services Agency.

Most veterans who are food insecure also tend to have depression or some other chronic disability, he said.

"We stay in contact with our veterans," Wanne said, providing food and counseling to those who need it. "Many families have become reliant upon alternative programs to supplement their food budget."

Takano, the congressman from Riverside, said "the one big thing I want to see come out of this hearing" is a better understanding of why some veterans don't get enough to eat.

"It's just not acceptable that we have anyone who wore a uniform in the United States experiencing food insecurity, especially if they are disabled," Takano said.

This story originally appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The sailor found dead on the San Diego-based aircraft carrier Carl Vinson Sunday was a 22-year-old petty officer from Oklahoma, the Navy said in a statement Monday.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Darren Collins was found unresponsive on board the ship at its homeport berth at Naval Air Station North Island early Sunday. He was pronounced dead at 6:23 a.m., the Navy said.

Collins' death is under investigation. The Navy said there are no indications of foul play or that the sailor died by suicide.

Capt. P. Scott Miller, the commanding officer of the Vinson, said Collins was a "talented young man."

"My deepest condolences go out to the Collins family in this time of tragic loss," Miller said in a statement. "As shipmates we grieve the untimely passing of a talented young man. We will continue to provide support to the Vinson crew and the Collins family."

Collins joined the Navy in 2019 and reported to the ship in October 2020, the Navy said.

A Carl Vinson spokesperson, reached by email Monday, declined to say where on the ship Collins was found, whether he lived on board or was working over the weekend, citing the ongoing investigation.

This story originally appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday that their forces targeted a Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine overnight, resulting in a massive explosion captured on social media.

The Ukrainian militarys southern command said a rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.

The precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used U.S-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, to hit the area. Ukraine indicated in recent days that it might launch a counteroffensive to reclaim territory in the countrys south as Russia devotes resources to capturing all of the eastern Donbas region.

Russias Tass news agency offered a different account of the blast in Nova Kakhovka, saying a mineral fertilizer storage facility exploded, and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged in the strike. Some of the ingredients in fertilizer can be used for ammunition.

A satellite photo taken Tuesday and analyzed by The Associated Press showed significant damage. A massive crater stood precisely where a large warehouse-like structure once stood in the city,

Ukraine now has eight of the HIMAR systems, a truck-mounted missile launcher with high accuracy, and Washington has promised to send another four.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian shelling over the past 24 hours killed at least 16 civilians and wounded 48 more, Ukraines presidential office said in its Tuesday morning update. Cities and towns in five southeast regions came under Russian fire, the office said.

Nine civilians were killed and two more wounded in Donetsk province, which makes up half of the Donbas. Russian rocket attacks targeted the cities of Sloviansk and Toretsk, where a kindergarten was hit, the presidential office said.

The British military said Tuesday that Russia was continuing to make small, incremental gains in Donetsk, where heavy fighting led the provinces governor last week to urge its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine.

The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that struck a Donetsk apartment building Saturday rose to 38, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday afternoon. The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said on social media earlier in the day that nine wounded people were rescued from the building in Chasiv Yar.

Yet many in the Donbas, a fertile industrial region in eastern Ukraine made of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, refuse -- or are unable -- to flee, despite scores of civilians being killed and wounded each week.

In Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, and its surrounding region, Russian strikes hit residential buildings, killing four civilians and wounding nine, Ukrainian officials said.

The Russians continue their tactics of intimidating the peaceful population of the Kharkiv region, Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote Tuesday on Telegram.

Ukrainian authorities also said that Russian fire struck the southern city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday morning, hitting residential buildings. Twelve people were wounded as the result of the Russian shelling, with some of the rockets hitting two medical facilities, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

Air raid sirens sounded Tuesday in the western city of Lviv  the first daytime sirens there in over a week  and in other areas of Ukraine as Russian forces continued to make advances.

In eastern Luhansk, fighting continues near the villages on the administrative border with neighboring Donetsk, Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

The Russian army burns down everything in its way. The artillery barrage doesnt stop and sometimes continues for four to six hours on end, Haidai said.

The British Defense Ministry's intelligence briefing said Russia had seized the Ukrainian town of Hryhorivka and continued to push toward the Donetsk province cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Russian forces are likely maintaining military pressure on Ukrainian forces whilst regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future, the intelligence briefing said.

However, Russia may be relying more heavily on private military contractors, like the Wagner Group, to avoid a general mobilization, the British ministry said. Western officials have accused Wagner of using mercenaries to fight in Africa and elsewhere.

In other developments:

-- The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Iran next week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin will travel to Tehran next Tuesday to attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, a format for Syria-related talks. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday that Russia was seeking hundreds of surveillance drones from Iran, including weapons-capable ones, for use in Ukraine.

-- Russian and Turkish military representatives plan to meet in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the transport of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said. Pyotr Ilyichyov, head of the ministrys department for international organizations, told Russian news agency Interfax that representatives of Ukraine, as well as U.N. (officials) in the role of observers are also expected to take part in the talks. Ilyichyov reiterated that Moscow was ready to assist in ensuring the navigation of foreign commercial ships for the export of Ukrainian grain.

-- Germanys justice minister said investigating war crimes in Ukraine would likely take many years but he was confident they ultimately will be successful. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said there will "probably be hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of pieces of evidence that have to be sifted through, documented and evaluated. The German federal prosecutors office said in early March that it had started looking into possible war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Buschmann spoke Tuesday in Prague, where he and his European Union counterparts were meeting.

Jon Gambrell in Lviv, Ukraine, and Isabel DeBre in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
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What Kind of Reserves Does Russia have at its Disposal to Fight in Ukraine?

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine begins to approach its fifth month, it has shown no signs of winding down or becoming any less resource-consuming for either Russia or Ukraine. Recent British intelligence reports that Russia is assembling large quantities of reserve forces near Ukraine to support its future operations has raised questions outside of Russia as to what reserve forces Russia can draw upon at this stage of its invasion, and what the quality of such forces might actually be.

What has Russia Already Committed to the Fight?

Russia's initial full-scale invasion of Ukraine was initially built around some of the most elite or specialized units in Russia's armed forces and security forces. These included Russian spetsnaz special forces units who were supposed to facilitate Russia's invasion and help decapitate Ukraine's leadership. There was also VDV units who were ordered to seize key targets such as Hostomel airport near Kyiv, and Rosgvardia detachments which accompanied the invasion to help enforce a new public order if Russia's "special military operation" had met its initial strategic goals. Many of these units took extremely heavy casualties in the first days and weeks of the war.

Formations from each of Russia's five military districts have also been involved in the invasion from the start, including units from as far afield as the Russian Arctic and Far East. The initial Russian incursion into Ukraine was made up of four fronts, each spearheaded by units of a different military district. By May, the U.S. Department of Defense estimated that 110 operational battalion tactical groups (BTGs) were committed in Ukraine. A battalion tactical group is designed to be the basic combat maneuver element of the Russian Armed Forces, and are usually made up of 400 to 600 personnel, several hundred men below the size intended by Russia's military planners.

In its current phase, the war in Ukraine is a grinding war of attrition for both sides, which makes the search for new recruits all the more pressing for Russia to be able to sustain its plodding and sporadic advances in Donbas.

Reservists are on their Way to Ukraine from All Over Russia

Russia's ongoing campaign has taken much of the wind out of the Russian Armed Force's sails, forcing it to take an "operational pause" to regroup and recoup its losses while it still remains heavily committed to fighting in Donbas. Russia's military likely needs to reconstitute many elements of its invasion force, which is where the reported injection of reservist manpower would come in handy. Russian state media has either remained mute on the subject of reservists in Ukraine or has attempted to portray the assembling reserves of Russian troops as "volunteers" instead. Rather than commenting on outside reports of its reservist buildup, Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman General Igor Konashenkov instead claimed that Ukraine was sending "increasing" numbers of "untrained reservists" into battle to replace mounting losses.

In the past few weeks, Russian local and social media sources from all over Russia have given glimpses of what Russia's buildup of reserves near Ukraine looks like. In Russia's Far Eastern Primorsky Krai, local media reported the formation of a battalion of volunteers and veterans for battle in Ukraine. In Bashkortostan (a Russian federal subject in the southern Urals, home to the Bashkir ethnic group), the creation of a second volunteer battalion was promoted by Russian media. The Arctic news site "The Barents Observer" has also reported that the Arctic-based 200th Motorized Rifle Brigade was assembling a new battalion of volunteers made up of reservists, sailors, military policemen, and soldiers from coastal defense units for service in Ukraine. According to a report by the Russian business and investigative publication RBK, local administrations in the federal subjects of Chechnya, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Perm have also stepped up their promotion of volunteer contracts in Ukraine, as has the Rosgvardia and the infamous state-linked private military company Wagner. These media reports from all over Russia on recruiting drives potentially indicate that much of the manpower Russia has in reserve (or will have in the coming months) are relatively green and inexperienced.

Moscow's Reserves are a True Hodgepodge

Since Moscow and the Russian Ministry of Defense continue to remain mute on the topic of which reserve units it has at its disposal, or whether it needs to rely on reserves at all, it is difficult to assess the true makeup and combat effectiveness of the forces it does have in reserve. Since many Russian units operating on Donbas today have withstood significant casualties in battle, Russia's operational reserve many also include partially reconstituted regular units recuperating behind Russian lines during its operational pause.

If the aforementioned British intelligence reports are any guide, Russia's reserves available to fight in Ukraine might increasingly be equipped with older legacy Soviet equipment. According to this intelligence presented by London, Russian infantry units being assembled around Ukraine to take part in upcoming Russian offensives are likely equipped with MT-LB armored personnel carriers, which were first introduced in the middle of the Cold War.

So long as the Kremlin continues to pursue a half-mobilization of the Russian population and economy rather than a full and open one, it will be forced to rely on the amorphous recruitment of volunteers for service in Ukraine observed in recent weeks. As a result, Russia's reserves will likely struggle to plug all the gaps they are intended to fill in Russian manpower requirements in Ukraine needed to sustain any future offensives. Significant questions remain, too, on the quality of Russia's assembling group of reserves, many of whom will be relatively inexperienced compared to personnel who spearheaded Russia's initial invasion.

Wesley Culp is a Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress. He regularly writes on Russian and Eurasian leadership and national security topics and has been published in The Hill as well as in the Diplomatic Courier. He can be found on Twitter @WesleyJCulp.

This article originally appeared on 19fortyfive.com.
Nearly 80 years after George Owen Squier's death, a company he founded sold for more than $300 million. Squier never could have envisioned what would become of the company he started as Wired Radio Inc. in 1922, before changing its name to Muzak in 1934.

But his legacy is so much more than the background music heard in restaurants, shops and other public places. An inventor who was granted 65 patents, Squier was also a major general who transformed the Army forever.

"He spent his career inventing and forging new structures in the U.S. Army," a 2014 story in the Tennessean newspaper said.

Confronted with an unsettled home life, Squier (pronounced "Square") dropped out of school when he was 14 years old, "advised by his grandfather and an uncle not to go to school anymore, for he had enough education to do all the business he would ever want to do." The young teen stopped his studies at the time but eventually graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1887, and many historians believe he was the first West Point graduate to attain a Ph.D. (from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore).

Forty years before the Air Force became a separate military branch, Squier spearheaded the creation of an aeronautical division in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1907. He helped design the specifications for the first military aircraft to be acquired by the Army and was the first military officer to fly in a plane, a Wright Brothers Flyer in 1908.

Promoted to chief signals officer during World War I, Squier, now a major general, was charged with coordinating all communications and aviation for the Army during the conflict. He went on to establish the service's first signal school at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and its radio research laboratory at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Near the end of his military career, Squier also helped establish Langley Field in Virginia, which became a research hub for military and civilian aviation.

All the while, Squier was innovating.

"The army provided Squier with many opportunities for study and research in areas of interest to him," one summary of historical papers on Squier said. "As a scientist, he conducted research on such topics as the electrochemical effects due to magnetization, the sine wave systems of telegraphy and ocean cabling, [and] the absorption of electro-magnetic waves by living vegetable organisms, among others. His inventions were primarily in the area of telephony: wireless, multiple, and long-distance." Looking to improve the military's long-range communications, Squier tested his theories on whatever resources were available. (He even substituted trees as antennas once to see whether sound could be transmitted farther, clearer and better. It could.)

Nothing Squier devised, though, changed the lives of more service members or civilians than when he developed the concept of multiplexing in 1910.

Multiplexing -- the ability to send more than one signal over one line at the same time by dividing the bandwidth -- enabled Squier's idea of piped-in music ultimately to become reality.

More importantly, it contributed greatly to the development of the internet and fiber optics, and made possible the seemingly endless programming choices on cable television and streaming.

Still, not everyone was impressed. Unconvinced of its viability, engineers at AT&T initially scoffed at multiplexing. Then, they took another look and begrudgingly endorsed Squier's findings.

"AT&T officials began a reappraisal of the 'wired wireless' system, as Squier chose to call it, and by 1914 development of a commercial system was underway," according to IEEE Communications Magazine. "By 1918, however, when the AT&T system went into service, AT&T was claiming that Squier's work had only been 'suggestive' and that its system was based on inventions of its own engineers."

After Squier's work on multiplexing, he was awarded several patents regarding delivering music and other information via wires. When Wired Radio was formed in 1922, the initial aim was to deliver music to the populace through private subscriptions. Its mission changed as the popularity of regular radio grew in the late 1920s and early 1930s, putting it into more homes and causing the company's business model to be reimagined.

Thus, Muzak was pitched to businesses as a way to break the silence. Customers heard Muzak for the first time in 1936, two years after Squier died at age 69.

Although Muzak is not as prevalent as it once was, the technology remains as strong as ever.

"Without the innovations of George O. Squire [sic], our lives would be vastly different today," according to the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission's website.

-- Stephen Ruiz can be reached at stephen.ruiz@military.com.

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The Brewers announced that outfielder David Dahl has been released from his minor league contract. The 28-year-old heads back to free agency in search of another opportunity elsewhere.

Selected by the Rockies with the #10 overall pick a decade ago, Dahl developed into one of the sports top prospects. He reached the majors in 2016 and hit at an above-average level (even after accounting for Coors Field) for his first few seasons. Various injuries limited him to 239 MLB games through the end of the 2019 campaign, but the lefty-swinging Dahl compiled a strong .297/.346/.521 line when he was healthy enough to take the field.

That seemed to position him as a key piece of Colorados long-term future, but the Rox made the surprising decision to cut bait after the 2020 season. Dahl had a woeful 24-game stretch and missed extended chunks of action with back and shoulder injuries that year. The Colorado front office nevertheless came under some fire for not retaining him for an arbitration salary that wouldve still been fairly modest.

The Rangers signed Dahl that offseason, buying low on a $2.7MM guarantee. Texas hoped theyd unearth a long-term outfield contributor, but he instead continued to scuffle. Dahl hit only .210/.247/.322 across 220 plate appearances, seeing his power numbers take a dramatic step back. Texas released him last August, and Milwaukee brought him aboard on a multi-year minor league deal last summer.

Dahl has spent the past year with the Brewers top affiliate in Nashville. Hes shown well at the dish, hitting .327/.375/.536 in 31 games down the stretch last season. Hes had another quality performance this year, posting a .294/.357/.468 mark with nine round-trippers in 280 trips to the plate. Milwaukee has Christian Yelich and Hunter Renfroe as their primary corner outfielders, leaving them without a clear path to at-bats for Dahl in the outfield. Center field has been a problem area, but Dahl has played almost exclusively in right field with Nashville.

Milwaukee couldve given him a look at designated hitter, but theyve stuck with righty-hitting veteran Andrew McCutchen in that role. Instead, the Brewers will let Dahl search for other opportunities. Between his prospect pedigree, strong minor league performance and history of big league success, he shouldnt have much problem latching on somewhere else on a minor league pact.
Empowering the local industry will strengthen local trade and create employment opportunities while exports of local goods will increase in relation to quality and quantity to reduce pressure on the local currency, Mr. Abraham Koomson, Secretary-General of Ghana Federation of Labour has stated.

Mr. Koomson maintained that no country has developed from a buying and selling policy because you destroy your local economy adding that no country has ever become richer by exporting raw materials without adding value to it and also having a local industry virtually at the intensive care units.

He argued that Ghana cannot create jobs without having a strong manufacturing base and industrialized economy, if the government really thinks that production will transform the country, then it must revive and exploit the countrys resources to boost the local economy.

Mr. Koomson was analyzing the labour front at the 14th edition of the Stakeholders Engagement And Worker's Appreciation Day Seminar of the Tema Regional Office of the Ghana News Agency which was monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema.

The GNA Tema Stakeholder Engagement is a platform rolled out for state and non-state actors to address national issues and serves as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters toward national development in general and the growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.

We can survive on manufacturing industries if there is conscious effort to boost the local industry to grow, he said.

Mr. Abraham Koomson, Secretary-General of Ghana Federation of Labour, therefore called on the government to revive the local industries to achieve sustainable wealth towards the improvement of the local economy, local industries are critical toward the achievement of sustainable economic recovery.

All developed and emerging economies have used industrialization as the key driver of modernization; Ghana cannot develop based on the importation of basic goods which can be produced locally, he said.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, GNA Tema Regional Manager said the agency has embarked on a process of revamping its newsgathering operations, which include training of reporters and editors in the production of digital news content and the acquisition of modern digital equipment to aid speedy transmission of stories from the field.

Mr Ameyibor said GNA was poised to be the source of news on Ghanas investment and industrialization drive, economic and tourism potential through story exchanges with its international partners, and Tema serving as a major industrial city, GNA Tema will provide critical news as we move forward.
Sana Singhateh, known by his stage name as St Brikama Boyo, is one of the top selling recording artists in the Gambia. He has now turned his attention to mitigating the impact of climate change.

Through his ST foundation, he has committed to planting one million trees across the Gambia within the next five years.

ST said he is motivated to continue advocacy through music and other initiatives because the world can only be better if everyone fights for the benefit all.

When you have a platform that others are not [lucky enough] to have because of your career or influence, I believe you should use it positively to impact every life, he said.

I was thrilled when we had the first tree planting. The number of people that showed up demonstrates that whether I hold a music show or other activity, my fans will always support me. That is why I'm putting more energy into climate change advocacy because it is affecting all of us."

Climate resistance and farming

ST is also working with women farmers to look into farming plants and crops that are climate resistant. One of the women groups he is working with is the Mung Nyinii Farm in Kafuta.

These women are now changing from planting vegetables to planting tree seedlings.

Mama Gassama one of the farmers in Kafuta village said that over the past five years they have been studying the impact of climate change on crops and they have now shifted to a more sustainable farming model.

One of the experiences we had as a direct impact of climate change is drought. When this happens, some of our crops like vegetables die because there is not enough water. What we have done is to look at a sustainable way to produce vegetables. This is done though the tree nursery project where we plant seedlings like moringa, black locust, and oranges and then sell this seedling to partners like ST foundation and others.

Climate Impact and actions

Advocacy groups in the Gambia are joining forces to call for action against climate injustice. They recently came together to form the Gambia environmental alliance, a union of civil societies and community-based organisations to restore and protect the environment.

Maimuna Jabbi of Green-up Gambia said they have succeeded in pushing the government and other stakeholders to put together actions despite the challenges.

What we are seeing around the world is climate injustice. Those that are doing most damage to the environment are seeing less impact. Africa, we produces least than 10 percent of global climate emissions and yet we are the most impacted," she said.

Climate Change expert Assan Dukureh said that although the Gambia is on track in mitigate climate change by meeting the Paris Climate accords, more efforts and actions are needed.
Opposition deputies have called for an enquiry into French President Emmanuel Macron's past support for online transport giant Uber when he worked for a socialist government. This follows media revelations accusing the former economy minister of making "secret deals" to bend legislative rules.

The 'Uber Files' investigation is based on a leak of tens of thousands of documents to Britain's Guardian newspaper from an anonymous source, and has been coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The ICIJ is working with 42 media partners around the world on the story including Le Monde.

Macron is accused of holding several undeclared meetings with Uber executives while he was economy minister from 2014-2016.

Citing leaked internal documents and text messages, Le Monde also alleged that Uber struck a secret "deal" with Macron on regulation of the company's services at a time when it was upending the traditional taxi market.

Ideologue for globalisation

Opposition MPs on the left and far-right slammed the president, a former investment banker who positioned himself as a pro-enterprise, pro-innovation politician when he emerged as a national figure in 2014.

Macron was "a lobbyist at the service of foreign private economic interests," senior far-right MP Sebastien Chenu told France Info radio on Monday morning.

The 44-year-old president was "an ideologue for deregulation, for globalisation," Chenu added.

Hard-left MP Alexis Corbiere from the France Unbowed party suggested a parliamentary enquiry, which could prove embarrassing for the 44-year-old leader who lost his majority in the National Assembly last month.

"It's very serious the idea that with this secret pact Mr Macron deregulated the regulation of the taxi industry," he told Public Senat television. "What lessons should be drawn?

"Obviously we'll ask the questions to the government when we can, and a parliamentary enquiry as well," he added.

Market regulation

According to the reports, the "secret deal" entailed Macron promising to help Uber work around legislation introduced in 2014, which sought to regulate the new app-based taxi hailing services.

Le Monde described Macron as "more than a supporter, almost a partner" for Uber over the course of 17 meetings held by him or his staff with company executives at a time when the firm faced multiple legal enquiries.

Contacted by French news agency AFP, Uber France confirmed that the company had been in contact with Macron during his time as minister.

The meetings had been in the normal course of his ministerial duties, which covered the private-hire sector, it said.

The president's office told AFP that at that time Macron had "naturally" been in contact with "many companies involved in the profound change in services that has occurred over the years mentioned, which should be facilitated by unravelling certain administrative or regulatory locks".

Macron was a vocal and public supporter of Uber when it arrived in France from the United States - contrary to many colleagues in the Socialist government of the time.

He defended it as providing employment for people in low-income areas and as a means of breaking the monopoly held by taxi companies.

Choose France summit

Macron rarely responds to public criticism and his agenda on Monday includes a meeting with the heads of multinational investors in France at the annual "Choose France" summit at the Versailles chateau outside Paris.

Around 180 executives are expected, an increase from previous years which demonstrated "the very strong interest by foreign bosses after the president's re-election," an aide said.

Macron beat far-right veteran Marine Le Pen to win a second term in April, promising tax cuts and welfare reform to boost employment, as well as major public investments in key industries of the future.

On Monday, his office announced a major investment worth 5.7 billion euros for a new semiconductor factory in southeast France by French-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics and US-based GlobalFoundries.

(with newswires)
The Upper East Regional branch of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has disposed of some unwholesome products worth GHS312,720,15 at the Sirigu disposal site.

This follows the constant surveillance by the FDA at various markets for unwholesome products.

The FDA assured the general public that it will not relent in its routine checks to rid the market of unwholesome products.

The Upper East Regional Manager of the Food and Drugs Authority Sebastian Mawuli Hotor

The Regional Head of the FDA, Sebastian Malawi Hotor explained that ensuring public health and safety is their prime objective.

He therefore urged the general public especially retailers and wholesalers to cooperate with the FDA to flush out all unwholesome products in the system. He further urged the consuming public to also look out for expired products when purchasing and volunteer information to FDA.

It took the collaborative efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environmental and Sanitation Agency (ESA), the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Ghana Police Service (GPS), and the Ghana National Fire Service (GFS) among others to help the FDA execute its mandate.
Global movement to end the injustice of corruption, Transparency International has issued a press release to mark the Sixth African Anti-Corruption Day.

In the release dated Monday, July 11, it has urged African States to address corruption in the delivery of basic services.

Stressing that corruption affects mostly the poor, Transparency International wants African States to prioritise transparency in the delivery of services such as housing, water, education, health amongst others.

Enjoin African states to address corruption in the delivery of basic services especially housing, water, sanitation, education, health, humanitarian responses and judicial systems, part of the release from Transparency International reads.

It adds, Corruption in basic service delivery tends to mostly affect the poorest of citizens who depend on these public services, and particularly disadvantages persons living with disabilities, women and children. Similarly, corruption in land management systems exacerbates inequalities by violating the fundamental rights of local communities, particularly vulnerable groups.

In the release, Transparency International reminds African Leaders of its 2018 call to the African Union to promote transparency and accountability in the delivery of basic services, land administration systems, and justice systems and to end impunity for those convicted of corrupt practices.

In addition, the Global movement to end the injustice of corruption is charging African States to create mechanisms to collect citizens complaints and strengthen whistleblower protection, notably through the adoption of appropriate legislation in accordance with international standards.

Read the full release from Transparency International below:

TO THE AFRICAN UNION ON THE OCCASION OF THE SIXTH AFRICAN ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY

Transparency Internationals open letter

11 July 2022

To African Union Leaders,

On the occasion of this sixth African Anti-Corruption Day, Transparency International through its 28 National Chapters across all of Africas Regional Economic Communities,

Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted the livelihoods of African citizens and demanded additional resources be deployed by governments, and that while more resources are needed to address the impact of the pandemic, there is need to manage the available resources with greater transparency and accountability;

the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted the livelihoods of African citizens and demanded additional resources be deployed by governments, and that while more resources are needed to address the impact of the pandemic, there is need to manage the available resources with greater transparency and accountability; Recognising that Africa is the region most affected by illicit financial outflows, and addressing that this challenge would substantially increase resources for the continent to meet its development needs;

Africa is the region most affected by illicit financial outflows, and addressing that this challenge would substantially increase resources for the continent to meet its development needs; Concerned that there is still an urgent need to address corruption in the delivery of basic services, which mostly affects the most vulnerable and marginalised citizens who greatly depend on these public services;

there is still an urgent need to address corruption in the delivery of basic services, which mostly affects the most vulnerable and marginalised citizens who greatly depend on these public services; Observing the urgent need for national-level follow-up and implementation of Africas commitments on anti-corruption and democratic governance;

take the opportunity to again:

Applaud the African Union (AU) for earmarking and marking 11 July as African AntiCorruption Day and especially welcome this years theme: "Strategies and Mechanisms for the Transparent Management of COVID-19 Funds. The pandemic has greatly disrupted the livelihoods of African citizens, impeded the movement of people, and exposed inequalities in access to essential goods and services including healthcare and food.

Commend the 3 Member States of the AU that have recently ratified the African Union

Convention on Preventing and Combatting Corruption (AUCPCC) joining the 44

Member States that had already ratified it, and call upon the remaining 8 Member States to take measures to ratify, domesticate, implement and develop clear action plans for this important Convention at the earliest opportunity. The AUCPCC provides a bold and robust roadmap for the implementation of anti-corruption efforts and reinforces the commitments made by Member States of the AU to uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law, as well as the underlying values of transparency, integrity, participation and accountability.

Further commend the 36 Member States of the AU that have ratified the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, and urge the remaining 19 Member States to take swift measures to ratify this important African treaty.

Note with great concern that corruption is and remains a significant threat to democracy and democratic institutions, and poses a significant hindrance to African States in realising Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Further note that the impact of corruption on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the necessary resources, vaccines and personnel, is visible and cannot be ignored given its effect on the most vulnerable, poor and marginalised people.

Recognise the commendable leadership and coordination of African institutions like the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in rallying regional resources for the continent to address COVID-19 and forestall a potentially disastrous outcome from this and other humanitarian crises.

Further join with the AU in calling for reforms to the global financial architecture and thereby recognise the establishment of the Sub-Committee on Tax and Illicit Financial Flows in a bid to strengthen resource mobilisation and to curb losses and wastages on the continent, as well as reduce the dependence on external predatory loans that have increased the debt burden across the continent.

Call on the AU to accelerate the completion, roll-out and implementation of the Tax and Illicit Financial Flows Strategy. The strategy that is being developed will effectively position the continent to instigate global reforms on an inclusive tax treaty and increase the resources available in a post-pandemic era.

Further call on AU Member States to strengthen know your customer rules to ensure that enablers of corruption and illicit financial flows, including professional enablers such as bankers, lawyers and accountants, are held accountable for actions that facilitate the loss of resources.

Remind African leaders of our 2016 call on governments to disclose beneficial ownership information as a way of ending the secrecy that enables corruption, and our 2018 call on governments to:

African leaders of our 2016 call on governments to disclose beneficial ownership information as a way of ending the secrecy that enables corruption, and our 2018 on governments to: Publish timelines for establishing public registers, in open data format, containing beneficial ownership information;

Require foreign companies operating in Africa to register and disclose their beneficial owners;

Require bidders for public contracts to undergo due diligence procedures to verify the background of the company and its senior officers, majority shareholders and ultimate beneficial owners, as well as disclose the identity of beneficial owners;

2

Require high-risk sectors, such as the real estate industry, to have anti-money laundering programme requirements, including customer due diligence and adequate record keeping; and Ensure there are appropriate sanctions proportionate to the misconduct involved for those found guilty of breaching these and related laws.

Enjoin African states to address corruption in the delivery of basic services especially housing, water, sanitation, education, health, humanitarian responses and judicial systems. Corruption in basic service delivery tends to mostly affect the poorest of citizens who depend on these public services, and particularly disadvantages persons living with disabilities, women and children. Similarly, corruption in land management systems exacerbates inequalities by violating the fundamental rights of local communities, particularly vulnerable groups. We urgently remind African leaders of our 2018 call to the AU to:

African states to address corruption in the delivery of basic services especially housing, water, sanitation, education, health, humanitarian responses and judicial systems. Corruption in basic service delivery tends to mostly affect the poorest of citizens who depend on these public services, and particularly disadvantages persons living with disabilities, women and children. Similarly, corruption in land management systems exacerbates inequalities by violating the fundamental rights of local communities, particularly vulnerable groups. We urgently remind African leaders of our 2018 call to the AU to: Promote transparency and accountability in the delivery of basic services, land administration systems and justice systems and end impunity for those convicted of corrupt practices; and

Create mechanisms to collect citizens complaints and strengthen whistleblower protection, notably through the adoption of appropriate legislation in accordance with international standards.

Urge State Parties to the AUCPCC to take swift action to report their progress on the implementation of the AUCPCC as required by Article 22(7) of the Convention, with the full participation of civil society in an enabling environment as required by Article 12 of the AUCPCC. We appreciate the efforts of the very few States that have so far reported.

Hereby jointly with other partners reaffirm our commitment to work with the AU through the distinguished African Union Advisory Board against Corruption, the African Governance Architecture and other Organs related thereto, and most especially work with the anti-corruption agencies in our various Member States to eliminate corruption from the daily lives of African citizens.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong has rubbished reports that Ghana's decision to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was inevitable due to government mismanagement of the economy.

He said the IMF move does not suggest Ghana is broke.

The Minister noted there are funds to deal with the economic hardship.

However, he indicated that government decision to seek IMF support was to secure enough financial support needed to restore the economy since the E-levy failed to rake in the expected revenues.

Mr. Acheampong stated at this year's Eid-ul-Adha celebrations in the Eastern region.

"Fund to run the country is available but going to IMF for more funds to enable government continue its programs and developmental projects. So it doesn't mean Ghana is broke, he stated.

The Mpraeso lawmaker stressed that the President's statement during the covid-19 pandemic that "he knows how to bring back the economy" will surely come to pass following the effort to restore the ailing economy.

During the covid pandemic, the President said we know how to bring back the economy but not the dead. So it is the same path of economic restoration that we are on now. I know many people think Ghana is broke is the reason we are going to IMF. No! That is not the case.

This is not the first time Ghana is going to IMF. For the sake of politics people will say government has mismanaged the economy but that is not the case," he said.

On Wednesday, July 6, 2022, the Ghana government began negotiations with the IMF for Balance of Payment support.
The local unions of the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) have declared intention to stage a massive demonstration to protest the Meridian Ports Services (MPS)-GPHA concession agreement signed in 2015.

In an interview, the Union Chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Arhin Young, stressed that the MPS-GPHA deal was having dire implications on the GPHA workforce and the entire nation.

This development, he said, compelled the Maritime Dockworkers Union (MDU) to petition the presidency on the matter, which necessitated a cabinet meeting on the issues and concerns raised by the unions.

However, a fallout of the cabinet meeting directed the sector minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah to engage with both parties (MPS-GPHA) to ensure that the demands of GPHA are adhered to by MPS which include; GRA compliance with all refrigerated containerised cargo volumes from MPS to GPHA Reefer Terminal, GPHA to implement its intention of leasing Harbour Mobile Cranes for its containerised vessel operations, and GPHA be allowed to handle 20% of containerised cargo traffic during the ten-year exclusivity period.

Mr. Arhin told the paper that these directives have been duly communicated to MPS with several reminders as MPS has failed to adhere to the directive of cabinet, especially on the 20% container volumes since 2019.

The non-adherence of MPS due to the inaction of Ofori Asiamah, on the directives of cabinet necessitated the local unions to engage both the management of GPHA and the Minister on the MPS-GPHA issues which sound frustrating and hopeless, he added.

He said the local unions viewed this as an act of gross disrespect by MPS to cabinet, and by extension the President, for disregarding his cabinet-led directive over the period.

This, he stressed, was unacceptable because of its daring consequences, currently impacting negatively on the entire workforce and financial sustenance of the organisation in general, with workers of GHPA's conditions of service getting worse with the current economic situation of the country.

Mr. Arhin said the Minister of Transport's failure to enforce cabinet's directives on the MPS-GPHA was becoming more frustrating for local unions.

That situation, he continued, has left the local unions with no option but to embark on a massive demonstration in the coming days to impress upon MPS to implement the directives of cabinet and by extension the President to the latter to help save the current situation of GPHA and the nation.

Source: The Finder
The founding President and Executive Director of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has advised members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) not to be deceived by current events in the country to assume that the 2024 elections is a done deal for the party.

He advised the NDC to be vigilant during the elections.

In a tweet on Monday, July 11 sighted by Modernghana News, he noted that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is capable of doing everything possible to win the elections.

According to him, if the NPP is able to work hard and employs a very effective different approach to change the current economic situation before the election period, the story may change in their favour.

Meanwhile the major opposition party, the NDC should not assume 2024 is a done deal. Harder work, a very different path to the current one and VIGILANCE. The NPP may turn things around by 2024, he tweeted.
The striking pre-tertiary teachers are requesting better negotiations from government before backing down on their strike action.

Rebecca Ocran Abaidoo, NAGRAT's Gender Coordinator says President Akufo-Addo must give them something tangible in exchange for what government is requesting before they call off their strike.

We are hopeful that we would have something tangible to send to our rank and file so that we would call off the strike. (But) We are still on strike and we have not called off the strike, she said.

The ongoing strike action started on Monday, July 4, 2022, when four teacher unions declared a nationwide strike in response to the government's failure to meet their demand for a 20 per cent Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).

Meanwhile, during this year's Ed-Ul-Adha national prayers, President Akufo-Addo pleaded with teacher unions to call off their strike pending the outcome of ongoing negotiations.

According to Akufo-Addo, the state is in a difficult position as a result of the country's current economic catastrophe.

But Rebecca Ocran Abaidoo, the Gender Coordinator for NAGRAT in reaction to the President's statement in an interview on JoyNews further stated that they admire government's invitation to the negotiation table.

According to her, they are not going back to the classroom until they get tangible reasons.

We have heard His Excellency but we need to consult our rank and file, she emphasised.
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Intensify HIV advocacy to contain the spread of HIV education among the homosexual community instead of ignoring the threat their activities posed to many in society.

Currently, the LGBTQI+ must be the target group as they are vulnerable to HIV infections, therefore, all measures must be put in place to ensure that they are assisted to ensure safety protocols that would either prevent them from contracting the virus or spreading it.

Even if the Ghanaian society does not accept the homosexual community, the practice was ongoing which could spread the virus since HIV prevalence among gays was the highest, Dr. Stephen Ayisi-Addo, Programme Manager, National AIDS/STI Control Programme has stated.

He stated this during the 14th Edition of the Stakeholders Engagement and Workers Appreciation Day Seminar of the Tema Regional Office of the Ghana News Agency, which was monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema.

The GNA Tema Stakeholder Engagement is a platform rolled out for state and non-state actors to address national issues and serves as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters towards national development in general, and the growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.

Dr. Ayisi-Addo said the National AIDS/STI Control Programme was not interested in politics but could only campaign for the need to protect oneself from being exposed to the virus, irrespective of ones way of life or condition.

He said currently, technology was far advanced to keep HIV patients alive and to help them live normal lives, therefore, the need to keep persons within the high-risk group well informed so they took advantage of it.

The Programme Manager said, with strict adherence to HIV protocols, people would not only stay free from contracting the virus but HIV patients had an increased chance of not having their situations degenerate into AIDS, thereby reducing HIV deaths drastically.

Even though HIV-related deaths have reduced over the years, the virus was still an issue since it had no cure, therefore we should not relent in the fight against the virus, he stressed.

He also indicated that NACP was focused on educating pregnant women who form another high-risk group. The idea is to save many of the unborn babies from contracting the virus since the disease is not genetically transmitted and therefore with the right technology babies could be spared from getting the virus.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, GNA-Tema Regional Manager explained that the stakeholder platform adopted by the GNA-Tema Office is a progressive movement from static Journalistic practice to pragmatic journalism which is action-driven for results.

He said modern journalistic practice demands progressive practitioners with a high sense of intuition for developmental news; the era where journalists seat down in the newsroom waiting for assignment or for the event organizer to invite them for coverage is long gone.

It is an anachronistic journalistic practice; you cant set agenda when you virtually depend on someone else speeches for news.

Mr. Ameyibor said the media landscape is an evolving vehicle that has no seat for static journalists. It, therefore, calls for a paradigm shift to remain relevant in the fast-growing communication world.

The media must be a catalyst for change that will reflect in national development. Society is gradually losing confidence in the media  we must therefore move away from the control of politicians and influential people to be truly the voice of the people.

As the salt of the world, we are gradually losing our role as the fourth estate of the realm  and will sooner than later be trampled under the feet of society.
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Sourcing sugarcane from Twifo Praso, to the Komenda Sugar Factory is an anomaly. By the time they bring it, it will be fermented so it can only be crashed into molasses for alcohol.

The running of the factory must be done alongside the cultivation of a sugar plantation, which was yet to be done by the management, therefore, making it non-realistic to revive its operations," Mr. Caleb Nartey a former Electrical Technician and Local Secretary for the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) for the Asutuare Sugarcane Plantation has revealed.

Mr. Nartey said this during the 14th Edition of the Stakeholders Engagement and Workers Appreciation Day Seminar of the Tema Regional Office of the Ghana News Agency monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema.

The GNA Tema Stakeholder Engagement is a platform rolled out for state and non-state actors to address national issues and serves as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters towards national development in general, and the growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.

Mr. Nartey who is the President of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has disclosed that the governments move to revive operations of the Komenda Sugar Factory around this time would only produce molasses instead of sugar.

He explained that by the time the sugarcanes would be transported from other places including Twifo Praso to Komenda, fermentation would have taken place making it impossible to be used to produce sugar.

He added that when it happened so, the only product that the fermented sugarcanes could be used for was sugar molasses which could be used for the production of alcohol.

Mr. Nartey said it must first start with the preparation of the land, after which the sugarcanes would be nursed for six months, and subsequently planted for at least 18 months.

He indicated that such a sugarcane plantation must be located near the factory for easy transportation and avoidance of fermentation in the process of producing sugar.

Speaking of the importance of the local industries in national development, Mr. Abraham Koomson, GFL Secretary-General stressed that empowering the local industry will strengthen local trade and create employment opportunities.

He said exports of local goods will increase in relation to quality and quantity to reduce pressure on the local currency.

Mr. Koomson maintained that no country has developed from a buying and selling policy because you destroy your local economy adding that no country has ever become richer by exporting raw materials without adding value to it and also having a local industry virtually at the intensive care units.

He argued that Ghana cannot create jobs without having a strong manufacturing base and industrialized economy, if the government really thinks that production will transform the country, then it must revive and exploit the countrys resources to boost the local economy.

Mr. Koomson said we can survive on manufacturing industries if there is a conscious effort to boost the local industry to grow.

The GFL Secretary-General, therefore, called on the government to revive the local industries to achieve sustainable wealth towards the improvement of the local economy, local industries are critical toward the achievement of sustainable economic recovery.

All developed and emerging economies have used industrialization as the key driver of modernization; Ghana cannot develop based on the importation of basic goods which can be produced locally.
The President of the Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has expressed eagerness to vacate his office as Nigerian President.

He admitted that his tenure has faced difficulties, which is the reason he is really to hand over power quickly to another elected president.

On Monday, July 11, 2022, while addressing some governors of All Progressives Congress (APC), legislators and political leaders who paid him a visit at his residence in Daura, Katsina State, he expressed happiness seeing people admiring his efforts.

I am eager to go. I can tell you it has been tough. I am grateful to God that people appreciate the personal sacrifices we have been making, he said.

The President added that he wishes to add more laurels to his record before he finally hands over power to his successor.

By this time next year, I would have made the most out of the two terms, and in the remaining months I will do my best, he said.

He added, I wish the person who is coming after me the very best.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria will be going to the polls on February 25, 2023 to elect a new president, Vice President.
Ahead of the 2022 mid-year budget review presentation, the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), is calling for a reduction in the current charge rate of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).

The presentation of the Mid-Year budget review by the Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta, which is expected to come off on the 13th of July, 2022, comes as Ghana engages the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the balance of payment support. Currently, the country's revenue projections are underperforming, while high debt levels and high expenditure continues to pose problems.

One of the sources the government was hoping would help it raise much-needed revenue is the E-Levy, but information from government's quarters indicates that it is underperforming woefully.

A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, recently noted that the tax measure since its implementation has generated only 10% of estimated revenue, causing some to call for it to be scrapped.

Commenting on the E-Levy ahead of the 2022 mid-year budget presentation, Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Peter Quartey argued against the tax's scrapping but called for the rate to be reduced.

I expect the Minister of Finance to look at the E-Levy for instance as it is not yielding the needed revenue. I think we have to revise the rate downwards, even if we have to then tighten some of the concessions given to different stakeholders. So I expect the Finance Minister to reduce it, to help us raise the needed revenue.

citinewsroom
The Member of Parliament for Tema East Constituency Mr. Isaac Ashai Odamtten, has presented eight rams to the Tema Metropolitan Chief Imam Sheik Adam Abubakari to be distributed to the Islamic Community within the constituency to mark the 2022 Eid-al-Adha.

The beneficiaries Mosques from Tema Community One were: Tema Central Mosque, Bonon, Mallam Hamdu, Site 12 Mosque Sallafiyya; and those from Tema Newtown Mosque were: Central mosque, Station Mosque, Ahmediyya, and Medina Mosque Abonkor

Mr. Odamtten commended the Muslim communities for their contribution toward national development and Tema East in particular stressing that peace is a highly valued commodity which demands the contribution of all, and our brothers and sister from the Islamic Faith in Ghana deserves commendation.

What we hear happening in other communities across some countries allegedly attributed to some youth from the Muslim Communities are absent in Ghana dull to the role of the National Chief Imam and other Islamic Leaders and Scholars.

The presentation witnessed by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema also offered the platform Mr. Odamtten admonished the country not to take for granted the contribution of religious and traditional leaders in the maintenance of peace in the country.

What is interesting in Ghana is you can see a Church building and a Mosque close by without any inter-religious conflict, we understand each other, we celebrate Muslims and Christians festival together truly we are one people with one common destiny irrespective of our religious faith, he said.

The Tema East MP called on Ghanaians to continue to work together, stressing that we must support each other in these difficult times.

Receiving the rams on behalf of the Chief Imam, the Deputy Metropolitan Chief Imam, Mallam Hussein, prayed for Allahs protection and blessings for the MP for the kind gesture.

Mallam Hussein also praised the MP for the good relationship he has with the Moslem community.

Eid al-Adha, is a year of sacrifice, and obedience and it also signifies the end of this years pilgrimage.

Source: CDA Consult
Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has accused the Akufo-Addo government of mismanagement of public funds.

He claimed GHS50billion was squandered by the government, citing the 20172021 Attorney General's report.

In a tweet on Tuesday, July 12, sighted by this portal, he noted that government's IMF move to seek a financial bailout of $2-3 billion despite misusing almost double of it does not make sense.

According to Ghanas Auditor-General, between 2017 and 2021, financial irregularities have cumulatively cost Ghana some GHS50billion.

Instructively, our government is chasing the IMF for a $2-3 billion bailout which is less than half of the GHS50billion lost to irregularities, his tweet reads.
Xi urges young people across Taiwan Strait to strive for national rejuvenation

Xinhua) 13:28, July 12, 2022

BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has urged young people across the Taiwan Strait to jointly strive for the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Xi made the remarks in a letter replying to young people from Taiwan who are attending the Straits Youth Forum held in Xiamen, Fujian Province, from Monday to Tuesday.

Xi said in the letter that he was glad to learn that the young people from Taiwan have found a stage on the mainland to realize their dreams, witnessed the rapid development and changes of the motherland, and felt the warm feelings between compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait who are all of the same family.

"We will, as always, create favorable conditions for young people across the Taiwan Strait to learn from each other and provide more convenience for young people from Taiwan to study, work, start businesses and live on the mainland," read the letter.

Xi expressed his hope that the young people from Taiwan can share more of their experiences on and feelings about the mainland with those in Taiwan so that more Taiwan youth will get to know the mainland and join hands with mainland youth to strive relentlessly for national rejuvenation.

Founded in 2003, the Straits Youth Forum is an important platform for youth exchanges across the Taiwan Strait. Fifty young people from Taiwan, who have been invited to attend this year's forum, wrote Xi a letter in which they stated their firm resolve to contribute to national rejuvenation and reunification.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Ghana was already suffering from managerial crises when President Akufo-Addo took power in 2017, an Economist and Chattered Accountant, Christian Donkor has said.

According to him, Ghana was facing issues with high unemployment rate during the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress tenure and many others that have negatively affected the country's economy leading to IMF bailout in 2015.

In an interview with Ohene Amoako popularly referred to as 'The Flagbearer' on Homebase TV, the Economist stated, Ghana was on IMF bailout when the Akufo-Addo led NPP took power amidst inability to pay salaries, freeze on public sector employment, unreliable power supply and many other challenges.

"So it was left to President Akufo-Addo and his team to put down measures to deal with the mess that has been caused by the NDC when elected into power in 2017," he stressed.

He revealed that the country's GDP as at 2016 was 6% but was increased to 7% the following year due to financial discipline by the NPP government.

"The economic indicators under the Akufo-Addo led government from 2017 to 2019 were impressive until the COVID-19 pandemic and currently the Russian-Ukraine war. But the NDC tenure did not experience global pandemic but yet still the economy was poorly mismanaged," Mr. Donkor averred.

IMF bailout

Mr. Christian Donkor hinted Government introduction of the electronic levy was to deal with the world economic crises locally.

He also attributed Ghana's decision to go for IMF bailout due to late the start of the collection of the electronic levy which could not yield the result Ghana needed.

"The Finance Minister is not a failure. It was because the e-levy attracted opposition from the minority and the NDC, that its collection delayed and that did not allow us to get the needed results.

"This IMF bailout is not going to be rigid as that of 2015 because they (IMF) is aware of the global crises. So policies like the free SHS is not going to be affected as being speculated. After all, the policy was introduced in 2019 when Ghana was still with the IMF," the Economist insisted.

He, however, urged Ghanaians to rally behind the Government as the IMF bailout is not going to have negative impact on the economy.
Journalists Amos P. Korzawu (left) and Emmanuel Kollie were covering elections when they were threatened at gun point by Liberian police officers in northern Lofa county on June 29, 2022. (Credit: Korzawu and Kollie)

12.07.2022 LISTEN

Abuja, July 11, 2022  Liberian authorities should investigate and hold to account the two police officers responsible for threatening journalists Emmanuel Kollie and Amos P. Korzawu and assaulting Kollie, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

On the evening of June 29, two police officers in Foya district, in northern Lofa county, threatened to shoot Kollie, a reporter with state-owned Liberia Broadcasting System, and Korzawu, a reporter and video editor for the privately owned Fortune TV Liberia online broadcaster and news website, according to the journalists, who spoke to CPJ by phone, and a statement by the local Press Union of Liberia.

Police stopped the journalists, who were reporting on the results of June 28 senatorial elections, while Kollie and Korzawu were on their way to cover a confrontation between supporters of the rival Unity Party and Coalition for Democratic Change political parties, they said.

The officers demanded to know where the journalists were going, and then pulled out their guns and threatened to shoot them if they did not return to their hotel, Kollie and Korzawu told CPJ. One officer then slapped Kollie in the face so hard that the journalist lost his balance, and punched him twice in the neck, according to those sources.

Authorities in Liberia must investigate police officers threatening of journalists Emmanuel Kollie and Amas P. Korzawu and their assault of Kollie, identify those responsible, and hold them accountable, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, in Durban, South Africa. Liberian security forces are too often involved in attacks on members of the press, and the lack of accountability is alarming.

The journalists returned to their hotel after the incident, saying they feared for their lives. Kollie and Korzawu told CPJ they decided not to file a police complaint because they did not know the officers names, as they were wearing jackets that covered their name tags.

Kollie told CPJ on July 6 that he was taking pain medication for his neck.

CPJs call and text messes to Liberia police spokesperson Moses Carter went unanswered.
The sole surviving member of an Islamic State group cell that killed 130 people in Paris in 2015 has not appealed his whole-life sentence for the killings, the Paris chief prosecutor said Tuesday. Nor have the other 19 accused. The head of one of the victims' associations has expressed his relief that there will not be another trial.

Salah Abdeslam, a 32-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan origin, was captured alive by police four months after the attack at the Bataclan concert hall and other locations, the worst peace-time atrocity in modern French history.

He was sentenced to life in prison with only a tiny chance of parole after 30 years, the toughest possible punishment under French law which had only been pronounced four times previously since entering into law in 1994.

The 19 others sentenced for their role leading up to and following the attacks also declined to appeal, prosecutor Remy Heitz told AFP.

They had 10 days to lodge any appeal after their sentencing, a deadline that expired at midnight Monday.

The decision of the special court handling the cases "has now acquired permanent status and there will not be an appeal trial", he said.

President of the victims' association 13onze15 Fraternite - Verite Philippe Duperron, told France Info that "the horizon has cleared, it's a relief".

For the man who lost his 30 year-old son Thomas at the Bataclan, there was "the question of another trial hanging over their heads", but now, "we can finally rest. The accused have accepted their sentences".

Duperron says he will forever retain the memory of "an historic trial, physically and mentally exhausting. A great moment of justice within which a special place had been made for all the victims".

A million pages of evidence

The trial has been the biggest in modern French history, the culmination of a six-year international investigation whose findings run to more than a million pages.

All of the attackers except for Abdeslam blew themselves up or were killed by police during or after the assault.

Abdeslam had begun his court appearances last September by defiantly declaring himself as an "Islamic State fighter" but finished tearfully apologising to victims and asking for leniency.

In his final statement, he urged the judges not to give him a full-life term on the basis that he had not actually killed anyone.

"I made mistakes, it's true. But I'm not a murderer, I'm not a killer," he said.

Abdeslam, a one-time pot-smoking lover of parties, discarded his suicide belt on the night of the attack and fled back to his hometown, Brussels, where many of the extremists lived.

He told the court that he had had a change of heart and decided not to kill people.

'Exemplary' trial

"I changed my mind out of humanity, not out of fear," he insisted.

But after hearing that his suicide belt had turned out to be defective, the judges concluded that this "cast serious doubt" on his apparent "renunciation".

They ruled he was a "co-perpetrator" of the attacks which "constituted a single crime scene".

France, under then president Francois Hollande, declared the country "at war" with the Islamic State extremists and their self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Hollande, who testified in November, called the trial "exceptional" and "exemplary", adding in a statement that the accused had been "judged with respect for the law".

The 10-month process had "enabled us to look for the truth in order to better understand the course of Islamist terrorism", he said.

(with wires)
The Wa West MP Peter Lanchene Toobu has said while the Mahama administration walked to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme to seek a bailout, the Akufo-Addo government resorted to the Bretton Wood institution in an ambulance for the same purpose.

According to the Ranking Member of the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, Mr Mahama went to the IMF with a home-grown policy seeking policy credibility from the Fund, however, President Akufo-Addo and his Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, went to the Fund at the time the economy was comatose.

The retired police officer made this distinction while reacting to the mass action in Sri Lanka over economic mismanagement that has led to the ousting of the president and his family in that country.

Speaking in an interview on Accra100.5FMs morning show Ghana Yensom hosted by Kwame Obeng Sarkodie on Tuesday, 12 July 2022, Mr Toobu stressed that what is happening in Sri Lanka should be a wake-up call for the Akufo-Addo's government because it is this same government that promised Ghanaians it will never go to the IMF.

What we are seeing today is in sharp contrast to what the leadership of the NPP, led by the president, promised Ghanaians, he noted.

He said the mass action in Sri Lanka is partly because of the family and friends government practice, which, he noted, is what happens in the current government.

In Sri Lanka, the Finance Minister, and Immigration Minister, among others in Cabinet, are family members of the sitting president, he noted but was quick to add that even though the ousting of their president is a wake-up call for the government of Ghana, the same thing cannot happen in the country because of the kind of democracy the country practices.

---Classfmonline.com
The Mfantsipim School has denied media reports that it is charging parents GHC250.00 to cater for the feeding of the students.

Rev. Ebenezer Aidoo, the Headmaster of the school, indicated in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that the reports were false and should be disregarded by the public.

"Whatever is out there is untrue. I do not know where they got that information from, but I can assure you that there are no plans or any intention to do such a thing, he said.

Media reports suggested that the Mfantsipim School and the Wesley Girls Senior High School (SHS) are charging parents GHC250.00 and GHC500. 00 respectively amid shortage of food in SHSs to mitigate the situation.

Checks by the GNA, however, indicated that even though the Mfantsipim School is facing a challenge for food, the allegation of demand for feeding fee was untrue.

A teacher, some caterers and some students the GNA engaged were all consistent that the report was false.

Where is this coming from? It is not true that we are taking any money from parents or students for feeding, the teacher emphasised.

A student, however, explained that some parents who were aware of the school's situation with regard to feeding were voluntarily supporting the school with some cash and food.

A caterer also maintained that it was true that the school did not have enough food for the students but denied taking money from parents for such purposes.

The situation here is that we are not getting food commodities in adequate quantities.

There is a timetable for the students but we don't follow it because we only cook what is available for them, she added.

GNA
Brigadier-General (Rtd.) Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, former Chief of Defense Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces has disclosed his bitterness towards former President John Dramani Mahama.

He said the former President sidelined him after pleading for him to be accepted by the late Jerry John Rawlings.

In an interview with JoyNews, he revealed that the late Jerry John Rawlings opposed to Mahama being the running mate of then-candidate, the late Atta Mills for the 2008 elections.

According to him, a member of the NDC advised Mr Mahama to speak to him (Nunoo-Mensah) to plead with the partys founder, which he did.

He noted that immediately Mr Mahama was accepted and made Mills' Running Mate and subsequently became President, he forgot he (Nunoo Mensah) even exist.

"President Mahama...2008 when he was going to become running mate to Atta Mills but Rawlings said 'No'. Somebody told him [Mahama] 'go and see General Nunoo-Mensah'. I can swear by the Bible, Quran...ask him whether it happened.

"He came here and asked me to talk to late President Rawlings on his behalf. I promised I will do it. Ask Victor Gbeho whether what I'm saying is true or false, he stated.

He further stated that he was shocked when President Mahama sidelined him under his government.

"I went to see Rawlings with Gbeho to appeal to him to allow Mills to choose him as vice president [running mate]. [He] became President...he put an elbow through my chest, pushed me aside. You don't do that," the former Chief of Defence Staff lamented.
12.07.2022 LISTEN

LONDON, 12 July 2022  The Commonwealth has announced the appointment of Botswanas former President, H.E. Festus Mogae, to lead its observer group for Kenyas upcoming general elections.

The 20-person Group will be in Kenya for the 9 August polls at the invitation of the countrys Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. It follows a visit by a Commonwealth pre-election assessment team in April.

Announcing the team in London, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said:

Election observation is an essential component of our efforts to support member countries to strengthen the processes, culture, and institutions of democracy, and to enable citizen participation and representation at all levels.

I am grateful to President Mogae and all observers for accepting this important assignment, as we continue to promote and protect electoral democracy  and the right of individuals to participate in processes which shape their societies through credible, inclusive, and transparent elections  in line with the Commonwealth Charter.

Ahead of the Groups arrival, an advance team from the Commonwealth will arrive on 16 July to meet key stakeholders, including the election management body, political parties, civil society groups, media, and other international observers. They will travel across the country to build a comprehensive picture on the conduct of the process and to observe the campaign and the electoral preparations.

The Chair and observers have been given the mandate to observe and consider the factors affecting the credibility of the electoral process as a whole and to judge whether elections have been conducted according to the standards for democratic elections to which Kenya has committed itself, including legislation and relevant regional, commonwealth and international commitments.

The Commonwealth Observer Group will arrive in Nairobi on 2 August 2022 and will be supported by a team from the Commonwealth Secretariat, led by the Deputy Secretary-General Dr Arjoon Suddhoo.

The Commonwealth Observer Group members are:

H.E. Festus Moga  Chairperson

Former President of Botswana

Dr Anne Gallagher

Director-General, Commonwealth Foundation, Australia

Mr Darrell Bradley

Former Mayor of Belize City, Belize

Dr Simon Munzu

Former UN Deputy Special Representative for Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon

Hon Halifa Sallah

Former National Assembly Member, The Gambia

Mr Jerald Joseph

Former Human Rights Commissioner, Malaysia

Dr Evarist Bartolo

Former Foreign Minister, Malta

Hon Maryan Street

Former Minister of Housing, New Zealand

Ms Idayat Hassan

Director, Centre for Democracy and Development, Nigeria

Prof Attahiru Jega

Former Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria

Ms Nighat Dad

Founder and Executive Director of Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan

Mrs Marcella Samba-Sesay

Chairperson, National Election Watch, Sierra Leone

Professor Mandla Mchunu

Former Chief Election Officer, South Africa

Dr Victor Shale

Elections and governance Expert, South Africa

Mrs Fern Narcis-Scope

Chief Election Officer, Elections and Boundaries Commission Trinidad and Tobago

Justice James Ogoola

Former Principal Judge of the High Court, Uganda

Ms Zeinab Badawi

Broadcaster and President of School of Oriental and African Studies, United Kingdom

Baroness Denise Kingsmill

Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom

Mr Mark Stephens CBE

Lawyer, United Kingdom

Dr Chaloka Beyani

Professor of Law, London School of Economics, Zambia
There is confusion between squatters under the high tension poles at North Dzorwulu in Accra and the police over the demolition of their structures.

Even though the squatters admit that their current abode is illegal, they indicated that authorities should have given them prior notice before the exercise.

The demolishing is being done in collaboration with the Ayawaso Central Municipal Assembly and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo.)

Some affected residents shared their displeasure with Citi News.

I came to visit my friend only to see the structures being demolished. No notice was given whatsoever. Are we not Ghanaians? What is the meaning of all these? We are tired of being treated as strangers, a resident shared.

Another resident said, This is getting out of hand. We were not notified. We woke up, and went about our normal business, only for them to demolish our structures.

Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, Lydia Alhassan, has called for calm among the squatters and indicated that her office will engage the relevant stakeholders to bring a permanent solution to the matter.

We will do all we can to make sure we get to the bottom of this matter. We urge you all to hold your peace as we find lasting solutions to this.

---citinewsroom
The Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has expressed disappointment in the High Court ruling dismissing the application to freeze the asset of the late former Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, (Sir John).

The OSP said Ghana will lose the fight against corruption if this decision is allowed to stand.

In spite of the court ruling, the OSP said the investigations into the estate of Sir John will still proceed.

The High Court in Accra on Tuesday, July 12 dismissed an application filed by the OSP to freeze the assets of Sir John.

On 30th May 2022 the Special Prosecutor directed the freezing of the assets.

On 9th June 2022, the Special Prosecutor applied to the High Court for a confirmation of the freezing order. On 12th July 2022 the High Court presided over by Her Ladyship Justice Efia Serwah Browe inexplicably dismissed the application.

If this decision is left to stand, the Republic will lose the fight against corruption in unimaginable ways. The investigations into the estate of Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie alias Sir John will still proceed, the OSP said in a statement reacting to the ruling.

A supposed will of Sir John circulated in a section of the Ghanaian media.

On Monday, May 23, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources indicated that it had taken a serious exception and was investigating the matter.

The documents list some individual relatives of Mr Owusu Afriyie's to be allocated some portions of the Achimota Forest, which has become a topical issue in the past days as a result of an Executive Instrument signed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuf-Addo to declassify portions.

I give my portion of land that I jointly own at the Achimota Forest in the name of DML Limited to Elizabeth Asare Boateng who at the time of making this will is domiciled in the USA forever, point g. of the will of the late public official, popularly known as Sir John, stated as captured on social media.

But the Ministry says it will probe this.

The Ministry takes a very serious view of the allegations, and has requested for all documents relating to the lands in question, as part of an initial inquiry to ascertain the veracity of the claims, a statement issued on Sunday, May 22 by the Ministry said.

---3news.com
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), headed by Lawyer Kissi Agyabeng has said the court decision to dismiss the freezing of the assets of the late Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the forestry commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, better known as Sir John will undermine the right against corruption in Ghana.

The office on May 30, 2022, directed that the assets of the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, which came under intense scrutiny, be frozen.

Following that decision, it went to the Accra High Court to freeze the assets on June 12.

However, the court presided over by Her Ladyship Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe dismissed the case on Tuesday, July 12.

The OSP, in a press release signed by Lawyer Kissi Agyabeng, the Special Prosecutor and available to this portal has expressed dissatisfaction with the High Court's decision.

The Special Prosecutor has vowed to file an appeal against the High Court ruling.

If this decision is left to stand, the Republic will lose the fight against corruption in unimaginable ways. The investigations into the estate of Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie alias Sir John will still proceed, a portion of the release reads.

Read full Release by the OSP below:
Former Chief of Defense Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Brigadier-General (Rtd.) Joseph Nunoo-Mensah has cautioned the Akufo-Addo government against neglecting the needs of the angry Ghanaian youth.

He said government's continued neglect of the basic social needs in the country is likely to compel a citizen who will rise and challenge it just like the late Rawlings did to Hilla Limanns administration on December 31, 1981.

Speaking in an interview with the Accra-based JoyNews monitored by Modernghana News, on the issue of insecurity within the West African sub-region, the security expert added that people are hungry and, as such, would do anything to survive.

There was a demonstration the other day (Arise Ghana). You dont care, you dont mind them. Another Rawlings is going to get up and cause a big mess, bigger than Rawlings mess. If people are hungryI get callspeople are hungryThis is not a small issue, he said citing the Arise Ghana demonstration as an example.

According to the former Chief of Defence Staff, the situation can only be prevented when government puts a stop to the luxurious lifestyle in the face of economic struggles.

They cant get enough of local food  kenkey  to eat and we are siphoning their money and buying expensive [cars]. There will be more Land Cruisers in Accra than you will find in Tokyo. Are we crazy or whats wrong with us? When you behave like that you will get a reaction from the youth It is because of anger. The anger shouldnt arise but we are causing it, he fumes.
12.07.2022 LISTEN

The 2022 edition of the annual Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) alumni homecoming has been scheduled to take place from August 20.

This years event is being led by the PR Boys of 2018 year group with support from the GIJ Alumni Association and GIJ SRC.

The event is aimed at fostering unity, togetherness and creating business opportunities.

The event is targeting about 1,000 old students.

It will commence with games and other activities on August 20 at the St Thomas Aquinas Senior High School (SHS) at Cantonments, Accra.

It will be followed by an alumni meeting with students on August 24 at the GIJ campus at 6pm.

The celebration will be climaxed with a homecoming night on August 26 at the GIJ Dzorwulu campus at 5pm.
A security analyst Adam Bonaa Ghana is likely to face the Sri Lanka situation where hundreds of angry youth besieged the Presidential Palace over mismanagement of the economy if President Akufo-Addo fails to with immediate effect sack non performing ministers and reshuffle his cabinet.

He also called on the President to cut down the size of his government whilst taking urgent steps to address the ongoing protest by organized labour.

He argued that a reshuffle plus the dismissal of some non-performing ministers will force citizens to give the new entrants some time to ascertain what they will bring on board.

Yes [what happened in Sri Lanka] can happen in Ghana but what the President can do is to sack all non-performing ministers and pave way for some who can do the job. He must also cut down the size of government because some of the ministers are not doing anything. Most of them (Ministers) are not working but they receive fuel allowance, provision of state security (Police) and also received ex gratia at the end of his term. He must also reshuffle some of the ministers. The president must also act quickly in dealing with the labor agitation whilst reducing fuel prices, Dr Bonaa said.

He added that the move will give the people hope and ensure stability because where the people live in a state of hopelessness like it happened in Sri Lanka, when theres no hope, people begin to challenge those who are not giving them hope.

Dr. Bonaa, however, observed that the President has demonstrated little capacity in dismissing some of his appointees, citing absentee MP Sarah Adwoa Safo as an example.

In his view, some of the labour agitations stem from President Akufo-Addos inability to sack the Gender Minister although she continues to draw salaries from state coffers.

I dont believe the President has demonstrated that he will reshuffle his ministers because a president who cannot sack Sarah Adwoa Safo cannot sack anybody, a President who cannot sack the Agric minister cannot sack anybody. Adwoa Safo has been appointed to occupy a very sensitive position but has been away for almost a year whilst drawing her salaries. I will only have confident in the President when he begins to sack people like Adjoa Safo. Some of these things are annoying everybody including the organized labour, Dr Bonaa told Oyerepa Breakfast show host Kwesi Parker-Wilson in an interview.

---Classfmonline.com
The Minerals Commission of Ghana has noted that it has not granted any mining permit to any institution or individuals to mine at the Effutu Ramsar site.

The Commission has, however, called for a meeting with Omanhene of Effutu Traditional Area, the Effutu Municipal Assembly and Asafo groups to deliberate on the matter.

In a letter sighted by the reporter and signed by the CEO of the Minerals Commission, Martin Ayisi revealed that his outfit has not given permit to Green Metals Resources Limited despite the company's pending earlier proposal.

It added that Chiefs and communities cannot be left out in negotiations before permit is issued to a mining company, per the mining laws in Ghana.

The Effutu Traditional Authority at a press conference few days ago led by Neenyi Ghartey VII registered their displeasure over a permit issued to a company to mine at the Ramsar Site.

The Traditional Authority indicated it would not accept any offer from anybody or institution to to mine at the sacred place.

They noted that the Effutu Ramsar site has been the host of famous Aboakyir festival and therefore mining in such a sacred place will spiritually affect the traditional powers of the Traditional Authority.

The Member of Parliament and Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin in support against encroachment donated Ghc30,000 to the Forestry Commission to protect the site.

Read full statement below:
A presidential aspirant in the run-up to the 2020 general elections, Kofi Koranteng is calling for the removal of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the chairman of the Economic Management Team (EMT) of government.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, July 12, the presidential aspirant argued that the governments move to seek help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a clear indication that the Vice President failed as chairman of the EMT.

According to him, if Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia fails to do the honourable thing to resign, all 275 Members of Parliament must use any available means to have the vice president removed from the team.

On the cusp of yet another mortgage financed by the IMF with guarantees provided by the future blood, sweat, tears, and toil of every working Ghanaian, I am here to call for the resignation of Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, as the chairman of the Economic Management Team.

Barring his willing resignation, I call on every Member of Parliament to act for the good of our Nation and remove him from office, Kofi Koranteng told journalists at his press conference.

Touching on the current state of Ghanas economy, the presidential aspirants noted that Ghanaians must not see the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as an alternative to the failed New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

In his view, both the NPP and the NDC are responsible for the hole Ghana finds itself.

He further called on Ghanaians to give him the support to save the country from the mismanagement of the two biggest political parties in the next general elections.

I do not have all the answers to the problems of this Nation that has been infected by a cancer of government malfeasance, but I do have concise viable ideas.

I need all citizens and especially the youth of this Nation to join me in saving our Nation from the economic collapse that has been ignited by both parties, Kofi Koranteng appealed.

Ahead of the 2024 general elections, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Progressive Alliance Movement who was disqualified from the 2020 exercise is preparing the grounds to contest for president.
Pressure group, Arise Ghana, has asked the Ghana Police Service to drop all charges against 31 of its members who were arrested during its demonstration some weeks ago.

During the protest on June 28, some protesters were arrested by the police.

The arrests, according to the Police, were as a result of the demonstrators' involvement in attacks injuring some of its officers.

But at a press conference in Accra, leaders of the group say all innocent persons arrested, will have legal representation as they are poised to prove their innocence.

Bernard Mornah, a member of the Arise Ghana group, said the charges were frivolous and trumped-up

All those arrested are innocent and never capable of any breach of any law claimed by the police, he stressed.

It is unfortunate that these innocent protesters arrested by the Ghana police service were starved as well denied access to their families, friends and counsel.

Moving forward, he said Arise Ghana had arranged legal representation for all protesters who are facing this harassment and persecution and shall stand by them every step of the way until their innocence is vindicated.

The 31 were arrested after the Arise Ghana protestors and police officers clashed during the first day of the demonstration at the Nkrumah Interchange on June 28.

Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the angry crowd, who were also pelting stones at the police.

The police service said 12 of its officers were left injured by the incident.

The suspects have been granted police inquiry bail.

---Citi Newsroom
Alhaji Habib Issaka

12.07.2022 LISTEN

The Ghanaian Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has advised Hajj pilgrims to pray for Allah's kindness and abundance for the nation.

Ghana is at a crossroads and, according to Alhaji Habib Issaka, the consular officer at the embassy, needs prayers.

He pointed out that the government is doing its best to restore the economy.

"While some of our neighbors have faced unrest, Ghana has remained at peace because of our prayers and sense of unity. We are fortunate to be going through this. All pilgrims are urged to beseech Allah, the All-Mighty, in order to keep Ghana peaceful," he said.

Alhaji Ibrahim, a Ghanaian Hajj pilgrim, in an interview said they prayed for peace and a recovery of Ghana's economy. He added that the problems the nation is currently facing can be resolved with the help of prayers.

"We have no alternative but to pray for peace and stability, according to Hajia Maryam, another Hajj pilgrim. "We can lament, but the world belongs to Allah. Our nation will overcome this obstacle, we are confident.''

An Islamic scholar who is also on the Hajj pilgrimage, Sheikh Ameen Bonsu, indicated that they have prayed to Allah for a recovery of the economy. He asserts that he thinks Allah has heard their prayers and Ghana will soon advance.

The Ambassador of Ghana to Saudi Arabia, H.E. Mohammed Habib Tijani, reassured their dedication to the security of Ghanaian Hajj pilgrims.

"We stand ready to help every Ghanaian living in the Kingdom. All Ghanaians are expected to be good ambassadors and to promote our colorful culture," he added.
12.07.2022 LISTEN

When I was 6, my Granny told stories about Osofo Dadzie, Cantata and Akan Drama. Being a kid, I was anxious to know more about how life was then. It looked as if, Granny and her contemporaries had a good time. There wasnt Covid-19, Monkeypox nor Antelope pox, so to speak. They feared God and channelled their resources into championing the course of assisting each other positively. Those were the days where you can trust your fellow man. Marriages stood the test of time and Political Leaders were credible. Managers of Private and State Corporations didnt take delight in sleeping with their female secretaries. Neither did they loot from the coffers of the company. As such, they enjoyed good life coupled with longevity. Today, my Granny is 97, alive and kicking. She is stronger than majority of the current corrupt managers who had succeeded in collapsing many private businesses yet go about to dent the image of the Chief Executive Officers. The corrupt managers think of themselves smart because after their numerous encounters with their female secretaries, their wives didnt catch them. Except for a particular incident that compelled a slim secretary to shiver in the presence of one managers wife during a period of stamping tickets for a show somewhere in Ghana.

My Granny continued to tell me about the fact that, anyone who is quick to tell a business owner of peoples insubordination is the cause of the companys woes. Just that he uses that as his modus operandi to win the owners favour. Lord have mercy. She told me a story of malfeasance then, compelled to what we see today. Thievery and its cousins werent prevalent then, compared to what is happening now. People had the nation at heart and demonstrated true patriotism unlike the era where some managers take their CEOs to juju to manipulate them. The question is; for how long with the potency of the said juju last on them?, Granny quizzed.

Away from my Grannys long conversation, we had some time back, so I could give a simple admonition to everyone who is reading this piece of mine today.

Life wouldnt remain cosy forever. This gives me a desire to even tell this story in a different perspective that will be beneficial to corrupt, and genuine government officials, fake and genuine men of God, Quack and genuine doctors, fake and genuine managers of media firms and finally fake and genuine security personnel.

Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory played an instrumental role in Ghanas success story of infrastructural development. We continue to hail him today after several years of his departure. Some people even believe he was Gods sent whereas others think otherwise. All said and done, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was a real gem and deserves all accolades for making sure that living conditions, infrastructural development and education were prioritised during his tenure. One would have thought that, he would have been alive today to share his knowledge on governance with our past and current governments. I believe some of them would have loved to embrace Nkrumahs admonition considering being a listening government. However, this cannot be possible because of the expiry syndrome. The expiry syndrome has no panacea and is currently looking at leaders with keen interest. No matter how connected you are, when you contract it, you would be reduced to a state of helplessness. If you were a womaniser, the strength for adwaman wouldnt be there even if your boys want you to have a feel of one. The expiry syndrome, I call it. If leaders will remember this syndrome every morning, the mass looting of state resources and making corruption pleasant will all be a thing of the past.

Another point worth mentioning is that, as humans as we are, there comes a time when the beauty will fail us. Our strength will fail us. We will have to resort to individual assistance before we can go to important functions. I dont intend to use this article to demean anyone whatsoever. But I think, its right I use practical examples to tell a true story. Where are all the soldiers who through coup detat became Presidents of this great nation? Where are they? The Expiry Syndrome spreads faster than the Novel Covid-19. Whether you adhere to the protocols or otherwise, it will still catch up with you. In the 1966 military coup, Army Officers like Colonel E.K. Kotoka, Major A. A. Afrifa, Lieutenant General (retired) J. A. Ankrah, and Police Inspector General J.W.K. Harlley played a crucial role in showing Dr. Kwame Nkrumah the exit through unlawful means. In 1969, Lieutenant General Akwasi Amankwah Afrifa was Ghana's President. The Ghanaian soldier, farmer and traditional ruler popularly known as "Okatakyie" (Hero) of Ghanas political history was not power drunk. He peacefully handed over power to Busias civilian government. He was however, executed by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) led by Jerry Rawlings On 26th June 1979 by firing squad. He met his Expiry Syndrome in that manner.

Junior Jesus was one of the names Former President Rawlings was called. General Fred Akuffo, who had removed his predecessor, General I.K. Acheampong, in a palace coup, was deposed by Jerry John Rawlings in another coup d'etat on June 4, 1979. Jerry John Rawlings, as a military leader who later became the first President of Ghana's 4th Republic, oversaw a transition from authoritarianism to multiparty democracy and guided the country through difficult years of economic recovery, restoring national pride to Ghanaians. President Rawlings achieved tremendous things during his time as President of Ghana. During the 'Ghana Must Go' period in 1983, Rawlings took it upon himself to provide accommodation for Ghanaians deported from Nigeria in El-Wak Stadium before relocating them to their families' homes.

He established the Ghana Educational Trust Fund (GET Fund), which now benefits a large number of Ghanaians. He is the reason that Ghana's northern region now has electricity. He brought energy to Ghana's northern regions. In Kumasi, Takoradi, and Accra, he built numerous major roads. He did not overlook education, establishing the University of Development Studies and stocking the University's library with his own funds among other things he did to cushion Ghanaians. Some people are of the view that Mr. Rawlings was also corrupt and they have every right to say that. Besides, what happened to the Nsawam Cannery and other allegations of corruption during, before and after his regime? The question is; after all these achievements, where is Papa J? The Expiry Syndrome continues to glare at everyone. It will put you to a perpetual silence and render you helpless. The Expiry syndrome.

It is worthy of note that President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009, John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor is a Ghanaian politician who discharged his duties creditably. From 2007 to 2008, he served as the African Union's Chair. Following the end of Jerry Rawlings' second term, he defeated John Evans Atta Mills in the first peaceful democratic transition of power in Ghana since independence in 1957. Leadership and accomplishments of John Agyekum Kufuor throughout his eight-year reign from 2001 to 2008 made great impacts. Former President Kufuor implemented far-reaching social programs that accelerated the country's and people's progress in an irreversible manner. Some of which were the Health insurance policy, that is National Health Insurance Scheme, The capitation grant, School feeding, Free maternal health care, Metro Mass Transport, Decriminalisation of free speech among others. Today, Former President Kufuor is not how he used to be some ten years ago. The Expiry Syndrome. No human can escape it. What is this Syndrome teaching us? We must not be selfish and engage in practices that put the majority of Ghanaians in hardship. For a time comes when the Expiry Syndrome visits.

The solid economic management team of Ghana couldnt prevent us from going to the IMF. It is a sad development and I humbly think the government must as a matter of urgency apologise to Ghanaians for failing to honour the numerous promises. Again, this shouldnt be an avenue for the NDC to score cheap political points. Besides, the African politician is best known for creating, looting and sharing which then gives birth to corruption hence the hardships in the Sub-Region. Ghana cant continue to suffer under NPP and NDC everyday. Who said she thinks the value is the same? They all have a significant bad record on corruption and certainly resorting to the usual political gimmicks cannot possibly downplay on the intelligence of the right thinking Ghanaian except for those diehard party supporters. My conscience cant be bought with GHC100 and I know yours cant be bought either. Current leadership must bow in shame for condemning IMF when in opposition and turning around to go there for a certain financial intervention. My simple message to the NPP and NDC Leadership is that, Ghana as it stands now is bigger than any political party and majority of Ghanaians are discerning so lets avoid cheap political shows aimed at throwing dusts into our eyes and work assiduously in improving living conditions when the good people of Ghana give them the mandate to govern.

That notwithstanding, they should always remember that there is a certain Expiry Syndrome that awaits them before, during and after their stewardship. Ghana can only be likened to China, the US and others if we make corruption bitter as the bitter leaf . No wonder a certain SM was jittery whenever he set eyes on me. The fire in the Expiry Syndrome cannot be quenched by firefighters.

A man's behaviour stems from the belief system. Maybe, you are a thief because of a certain belief system. She sleeps with the manager because of this same belief system. But hey, belief system cannot escape the wrath of the Expiry Syndrome.

Stephen Bernard Donkor, An Award-Winning Journalism Student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ)

Email: [email protected]
The Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong has rubbished the notion that the government has marched Ghana to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because the country is broke.

Addressing a congregation of Muslims at the Central mosque in Koforidua on Saturday during the celebration of Eid-ul- Adha, the Minister stressed that claims that Ghana is broke is a fallacy.

According to him, the country has money to fund its business but is only going to the IMF for additional money.

During the Covid pandemic, the President said we know how to bring back the economy but not the dead. So it is the same path of economic restoration that we are on now. I know many people think Ghana is broke reason we are going to IMF. No! That is not the case, Seth Kwame Acheampong shared.

The Eastern Regional Minister continued, Funds to run the country is available but going to IMF for more funds to enable government continue its programs and developmental projects. So it doesnt mean Ghana is broke. This is not the first time Ghana is going to IMF.

For the sake of politics people will say government has mismanaged the economy but that is not the case.

In the midst of the economic challenges facing Ghana, President Akufo-Addo directed the Finance Minister to engage the IMF for support.

A team from the IMF is already in the country and started in-person discussions with representatives from the government on Thursday, July 7, 2022.

Today, the team from IMF is meeting with the Finance Committee of Parliament to gather more information on the true state of the country.
12.07.2022 LISTEN

The applicant has no locus and is not clothed by law to file the instant application to commit the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for contempt. The application in itself is defective, it does not measure up to the standard. It is frivolous and vexatious. We award cost of 10,000 to be paid personally by counsel.

This was the ruling at the first appearance of #fixthecountry convener, Oliver Barker-Vormawor at the apex court as Counsel for the applicants  Benjamin Darko, Democracy Hub and Democratic Accountability Lab, on Tuesday July 12.

The trio had filed a contempt case against the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority at the Supreme Court following the implementation of the e-levy despite an impending injunction filed by three MPs in parliament.

Judges of the apex court took turns to school the fixthecountry convener who had failed to abide by the court's due processes after admitting that he was making his maiden appearance at the Supreme Court.

Presiding Judge, Justice Nene Amegatcher questioned the basis for the suit against the GRA boss when the applicants had no merit to do so.

This was after the court had heard the case filed by the Minority members in parliament and the parties had left the courtroom.

But lawyer Barker Vormawor explained to the court that in matters concerning integrity of the law, a person can seek the intervention of the apex court.

Members of the panel of seven judges admonished the social activist to withdraw the suit since he had no locus to do so and stop wasting the court's time'.

Although Oliver Barker Vormawor would not concede and sought to clarify his stance the court proceeded to deliver its verdict without hearing the submissions from the Attorney General and counsels for the Ghana Revenue Authority.

The remaining members of the panel were Prof Ashie Kotey, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkonoo, Emmanuel Kulendi, Prof Henrietta Mensah Bonsu, Lovelace Johnson and Mariama Owusu.

---3news.com
The calls for President Akufo-Addo to reshuffle his ministers have been heightened following Ghana's IMF move, with the most recent one coming from Adam Bonaa, a Security Analyst.

He said the President must reshuffle his government and sack non-performing and absentee ministers like Adwoa Safo from his administration to restore hope.

Speaking on Oyerepa TV, a Kumasi-based television station, the security expert fears a similar protest in Sri Lanka may occur in Ghana if the Akufo-Addo fails to do the needful and reduce the size of his government.

Yes, it can happen in Ghana but what the president can do is sack all non-performing ministers and pave way for some who can do the job. He must also cut down the size of government because some of the ministers are not doing anything.

"Most of them (Ministers) are not working but they receive fuel allowances, provision of state security (Police) and also receive ex gratia at the end of their term. He must also reshuffle some of the ministers. The president must also act quickly in dealing with the labour agitation while reducing fuel prices, he stated.

He argued that the failure of the President to act could spell doom considering the anger of the youth in the face of economic hardships. The move will give the people hope and ensure stability. Because where the people live in a state of hopelessness as it happened in Sri Lanka where there was no hope, people begin to challenge those who are not giving them hope.

He added, I dont believe the president has demonstrated that he will reshuffle his ministers because a president who cannot sack Sarah Adwoa Safo cannot sack anybody; a president who cannot sack the agric minister cannot sack anybody. Adwoa Safo has been appointed to occupy a very sensitive position but has been away for almost a year whilst drawing her salaries. I will only have confidence in the president when he begins to sack people like Adwoa Safo. Some of these things are annoying everybody including organized labour."

The Security Analyst concluded that He (Akufo-Addo) will be the one we will hold responsible if this country goes into the drain.
The President of the New Ghana Social Justice Forum (NGSJF), Mr Yahaya Alhassan has appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to end ex-gratia in Ghana.

In a press release, Mr Alhassan said IMF must end the lump sums paid as ex-gratia to article 71 office holders which include parliamentarians, Ministers of state, and others every four years.

"Its an elite payment, backed and protected by the elites system making it difficult for the ordinary to question this compromised fraud, extortion, loot and share by the leaders with exception of Togbe Afede XIV who deemed it inappropriate by returning his GH365.392.6 ex-gratia to state coffers," he stated.

He added that the GH365.392 ex-gratia that was rejected by Togbe Afedo XIV when completely counselled from the laws of the country can save 5,000 street children.

The founder of the NGSJF, Mr Alhassan added that his organization would like IMF to precondition Ghana to convert the National Cathedral project into a vocational and housing unit to accommodate and provide training for the needy in society.

"There are countless lives found in our big cities and God/Allah would prefer shelter for these homeless nursing mothers, girls, children and orphans than a cathedral, he added.

Read more below:
The Hajj Board has said deliberations and arrangements towards the refund of monies to persons who could not travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia will begin in two weeks.

According to management, directors and finance managers of the Board who are expected to play pivotal roles in the disbursement are currently in Mecca with the pilgrims.

Persons who were unable to travel to Hajj are demanding a refund of the GH19,000 paid to the Board in 2019 for the journey.

In an interview with Citi News, the Communications Director for the Hajj Board, Abdul Rahman Gomda, assured that all monies will be refunded to affected persons.

For now, whoever has their money with us will have to wait for at most two weeks proper auditing will be made to ascertain the amount of monies paid and then refunds will be made, Mr. Gomda said.

Some pilgrims, in an earlier interview , complained that after paying for the trip in 2019 and topping up with the extra funds requested by the board this year, they expected that they will be prioritised, but they have been left out of the flight to Mecca for this year's hajj.

By Citi Newsroom
12.07.2022 LISTEN

The Lands Commission has accused the proprietor of Ideal College of unlawfully laying claim to some state lands at Mempeasem in the Greater Accra Region.

The lands in contention are the current site of the school near UPSA as well as parcels of land in the same enclave.

A team from Anyok Holdings led by its CEO, Clemence Dzato attempted to halt developments on the land last week but was met with resistance from the school.

At a press briefing in Accra today, the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, James Ebo Dadson cautioned the proprietor of the school to stay off state land.

The proprietor, Dr. Joseph Kwabena Esibu, had been advised to formally apply for regularisation on two separate parcels of land within the enclave. It is therefore noteworthy that engagements with Dr. Esibu date back to 2018. The two sides are the present site for the school with the hostel, approximately 2.50 acres, and the 4 plots proposed for a canteen, which is behind the school premises.

Dr. Joseph Esibu is currently laying claim to about 22 plots, in addition, measuring approximately 3.60 acres scattered within the area. Some of which he had sold without recourse to the commission.

James Ebo Dadson also cautioned that other entities and individuals who have illegally acquired state lands will face the consequences.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Lands Commission has always been committed to ensuring sanity in the land sector and ask that the public should keep off the enclave and other lands belonging to the government.

---citinewsroom
The Supreme Court has handed #FixTheCountry activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a cost of GHc10,000 as it dismissed a case he represented on.

Obviously dissatisfied with the standards of processes filed, as well as the quality of Mr. Baker-Vormavor's Legal representation in court on Tuesday, the court said the application was frivolous, vexatious and the court found no merit in it.

The vociferous activist was a lawyer on the record for a group calling itself Democratic Accountability Lab in a matter before the court.

The group was seeking to commit the Commissioner-General, Ghana Revenue Authority, and the Ghana Revenue Authority itself, to contempt for the May 1, 2022 implementation of the controversial e-levy, while there was an injunction application pending in respect of the implementation.

The group told the court that the action had the effect of exposing the court to ridicule.

Sooner had Oliver Barker-Vormawor announced himself than a barrage of questions engulfed him, ranging from standard practises, through procedure to substantive law, including precedent (decided cases).

President of the 7-member Court, Nene Amegatcher quizzed him on the propriety of the title of the case brought before the court.

He also asked why the charge was not directed at any specific official of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), noting that organisations cannot be cited for contempt.

The ladies and Lords of the Court again demanded from him the legal basis upon which he sought to appear before them, and to commit the public official and institution to prison.

As His Lordship, Emmanuel Yoni Kulendi thundered calmly, we are a court of law, not an NGO. What we want is your legal authority, not your opinion and speeches.

For Her Ladyship, Prof. Mensah-Bonsu, Mr. Barker-Vomarvor came as an officious bystander.

You cannot be an outsider who weeps louder than the bereaved. So we want to hear you on the law and the authorities, Her Ladyship hammered.

Reeling under the weight and heat of the blast, the outspoken activist sought refuge under a 1976 High Court decision in Okine v. Mawu & Another.

This case, according to lawyer Barker-Vormawor, is basis that a contempt application may be brought by even a stranger.

Just as lady Lovelace Johnson pushed for the facts of this authority and the exact holding of the Court, lord Professor Ashie Kotei was asking why a 1976 High Court decision was being used to argue a case in 2022 at the Supreme Court.

Not moved by the submissions of the Democratic Accountability Lab's lawyer, the Court said it did not think we should call on counsel for the second respondent to respond, the applicant in our view has no locus in this matter.

The application itself, the Court said, is defective and does not measure up to the practice of instituting origination notice of motions in this court.

Here is the full complement of the Court, Nene Amegatcher as President, Prof Ashie Kotey, Mariama Owusu, Lovelace Johnson, Gertrude Torkonoo, Prof Henrietta Mensah Bonsu and Emmanuel Yoni Kulendi.

---citinewsroom
The leadership of the striking teacher unions on Tuesday, July 12 walked out of the meeting with government officials that was supposed to discuss the issues that resulted in the strike.

President of the National Association of Teachers (NAGRAT) and the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Angel Carbonou and Thomas Musah respectively, who attended the meeting in Accra, told journalists after stepping out that the governments representatives were insisting that the unions call off the strike before negotiations start.

They said they found this as a betrayal of trust hence, their decision to boycott the meeting.

Thomas Musah said I think that what has happened today is very unfortunate. What we can say now is that our negotiation has come inconclusively and we are still on strike

For his part, Mr Carbonou said They are indicating and asking us to call off our strike before negotiations begin. So all it means is that the government side is not ready to continue negotiation unless the teacher unions call off the strike.

They have held all organized labour unions hostage and this is a betrayal of trust because the understanding we had was that organized labour has been convened for us to find solution to the issue of COLA. Right now, since we are undesirable, we think that before they even walk us out of the meeting, we are walking out of the meetings ourselves.

On Monday, 4th July 2022, the four unions in education, namely GNAT, NAGRAT, Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers , Ghana, withdrew their services in all the Pre-Tertiary educational space, to back their demand for the Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA).

This involved both Teaching and Non-Teaching staff.

---3news.com
Dr. Freda Prempeh, a Minister of State in-charge of Works and Housing on Tuesday assured that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout negotiations would not affect government social intervention policies and programmes.

We will do our negotiations to protect our social intervention programmes, so nobody should be scared at all, she said.

Dr. Prempeh emphasised the government's Free Senior High School (FSHS) and the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) programmes in particular, were integral that would be strengthened, and entreated Ghanaians to remain calm.

The bailout, she added, was a laudable initiative that would greatly stabilise the economy, and spur rapid socio-economic growth and development.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Duayaw-Nkwanta in the Tano North Municipality of the Ahafo Region, Dr. Prempeh, also the Member of Parliament for Tano North Constituency said the government's return to the IMF was not due to economic mismanagement.

Rather, she said the bailout was due to the huge toll of the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the Russian invasion of Ukraine had had on the global economy, with Ghana no exception.

In fact, this government has not mismanaged the economy, but emerging circumstances and global circumstances beyond our control, she said, indicating that the cleaning up in the banking sector, which was needed, cost the nation about GHC21 billion, having a disturbing toll on the economy.

Dr. Prempeh explained the national economy had resurfaced, and was doing great, under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's watch, before the COVID-19 set in, indicating that at the wave of the COVID, teachers and some nurses stayed at home and were paid for more than nine months.

Government's provision of free water, electricity and other economic relief interventions were all contributing factors, but we are optimistic that Ghana is going to improve very soon, the MP stated.

She said the government was touched by the concerns and plight of the populace, and entreated Ghanaians to maintain their trust and confidence in President Akufo-Addo's administration which was working hard to turn the fortunes of the nation round.

My brother, countries around the globe are all experiencing these economic challenges and hardships. In fact, our current situation is not the best, I agree with you perfectly, but it's also not the worst and we hope that things will change for the better very soon, Dr. Prempeh added.

GNA
Mrs Bernice Sam, a Gender Consultant, has called for more vigilance and conviction of more perpetrators of violence against women and girls to deter others.

She said men, mainly perpetrators of the offence, were committing hurting women with impunity.

Mrs Sam, also a Lawyer, made the call at the Ghana National International Network to End Violence Against Women and Girls (INEVAWG) consultation to re-politicise violence against women and girls.

Mrs Sam noted that many cases of violence against women and girls had been recorded by the Ghana Police Service, however the number of convictions made were not enough.

She said in 2019, a report by the Police Service showed that out of 6,500 reported cases of assault, only 63 were convicted, 17 out of 1200 defilement reported cases were convicted and 11 out of 1100 cases of threat of death were convicted.

That, the Gender Consultant said, was hurting women and girls in various forms while such offenses increase in society.  ...Impunity of abuse of children and women is back with a bang, she said.

Mrs Sam called on all stakeholders including the Police, judiciary and social welfare to address the issues of violence against women and girls efficiently.

The Lawyer underscored the need for the citizenry to be educated extensively on the laws against violence.

Professor Akosua Darkwa, Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Ghana, said all forms of violence were problematic and must be addressed as equal.

Studies show that there is a relationship between levels of education and the form of violence one experiences.

It indicated that women with tertiary were less likely to experience physical abuse than the uneducated.

She encouraged younger women who would take up the obligation to advocate for women and girls to intensify the efforts of the older advocates.

Prof Darkwa advised that spaces must be created for others with different social demographic characteristics to be heard.

Dr Amanda Odoi, Research Fellow, Centre for Gender Research, Advocacy and Documentation, University of Cape Coast, urged the older generation of advocates to help the younger ones with the laws and policies while the younger ones used social media and other tools to push the fight against women and girls.

Dr Odoi, also a Feminist and Gender Expert, noted that many of the older advocates mentored and offered them spaces to operate, however, more of the younger ones had the difficulty to approach them.

Ms Gloria Kankam, a member INEVAWG, said the Network sought to build a fierce and strong feminine side as the fight against violence on women and girls was waning.

She called for funds for stakeholders to effectively fight against the menace on women and girls.

INEVAWG was founded in 2014 in South Africa as a response to heightened global concerns about violence against women and girls, and increasing levels of impunity and poor state accountability.

GNA
The Minority in Parliament is kicking against what it says is attempts by the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile a new voters register on the sole basis of the new Ghana card.

According to the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, a new register on this basis is a wasteful expenditure and will disenfranchise a lot of Ghanaians who have not registered or secured their cards yet.

Haruna Iddrisu addressed the press in Parliament and said: Our understanding as we pick it up is that the EC is desperately planning to discard the 2020 voters register and replace it with a new voter register, which will cause taxpayers and the people of Ghana 80 million dollars thereabout.

The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam George made similar allegations in the past, indicating that the EC is preparing to lay a Constitutional Instrument in Parliament that will allow the creation of new voters register with the Ghana Card.

The government came under intense criticism after the creation of a new voters register ahead of the 2020 polls.

Several Civil Society Organisations and individuals argued that the register at the time was credible, thus the compilation of a new one was not necessary.

IMANI Africa had indicated that the procurement of the equipment for the compilation of a new register which was subsequently abandoned amounted to some $60 million.

---Citi Newsroom
12.07.2022 LISTEN

Government has told the striking teachers that negotiations with them cannot start when they are still on their industrial action.

Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Bright Wireko Brobbey explained that the labour law does not permit negotiations to start when the strike is still in force therefore, they have asked the teachers to bring an end to their action.

He told journalists in Accra after a meeting with labour unions, we started engaging them. Last Friday we met them and then we adjourned the meeting to today. You will recall that the Minister for Employment issued a statement and he appealed to them to call off the strike and for the governments side to meet the entire organized labour because this was a matter that affected all labour unions, and so we were expecting that we will come here and the teacher unions would have called off the strike because section 161 of the Labour law does not permit negotiations or engagements when one party is on strike or lookout.

So before the commencement of the meeting the government side had wanted to engage the teacher unions so that we see the way forward on the appeal we made to them last Friday. Unfortunately, organized labour were in solidarity since they had all come, we should meet them at once.

They had a caucus meeting for some time and then we came back and unfortunately the teacher unions themselves had even stepped out. Government maintains that we want to meet them and start negotiations but we cant do this because we are constraint under the law not to negotiate when one party is on strike and so organized labour suggested that we adjourn the meeting and do more talking for them to call off the strike and then we start negotiations. The call was to us from organized labour for us to adjourn for us to do.

The leadership of the striking teacher unions walked out of the meeting with government officials that was to discuss the issues that resulted in the strike.

President of the National Association of Teachers (NAGRAT) and the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Angel Carbonou and Thomas Musah respectively, who attended the meeting in Accra, told journalists after stepping out that the government's representatives were insisting that the unions call off the strike before negotiations start.

They said they found this as a betrayal of trust hence, their decision to boycott the meeting.

Thomas Musah said I think that what has happened today is very unfortunate. What we can say now is that our negotiation has come inconclusively and we are still on strike

For his part, Mr Carbonou said They are indicating and asking us to call off our strike before negotiations begin. So all it means is that the government side is not ready to continue negotiation unless the teacher unions call off the strike.

They have held all organized labour unions hostage and this is a betrayal of trust because the understanding we had was that organized labour has been convened for us to find solution to the issue of COLA. Right now, since we are undesirable, we think that before they even walk us out of the meeting, we are walking out of the meetings ourselves.

On Monday, 4th July 2022, the four unions in education, namely GNAT, NAGRAT, Teachers' and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers , Ghana, withdrew their services in all the Pre-Tertiary educational space, to back their demand for the Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA).

This involved both Teaching and Non-Teaching staff.

---3news.com
Mr. Michael Lukuje, Director-General, Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) has appealed to the Local Union to call off a series of demonstrations rolled out.

He said the concession deal, could not be entirely solved at once because it needed to go through a series of processes with the necessary stakeholders involved.

Mr Luguje explained that there had been various engagements concerning the signing of the concession agreement adding that, the results of the meetings would be officially communicated to the union on Thursday, July 14, 2022.

The GPHA Director-General who was speaking to the workers during a demonstration on Tuesday appealed to them to back down and wait until July 14 for an official communication update.

He reminded the demonstrators that their objective to prevent vessels from transacting business at the port would obstruct revenue generation for the country and pleaded with the union to allow vessels to have access to the Port.

Mr. Emmanuel Arhin Young, the Local Union Chairman in his response told the Management of GPHA that the executives of the local union would meet to decide the way forward however, the strike would go on until the union decided on the next step.

GNA
A disqualified Independent Presidential aspirant in the 2020 general elections, Kofi Koranteng has urged Ghanaians to rubbish the claims by government officials that the current economic hardship being experienced in the country is caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, July 12, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Progressive Alliance Movement said contrary to the claims by the government, Ghana is in its current state because of the bunch of what he describes as clueless officials occupying various government positions.

Ghana struggling because there are a bunch of clueless position holders who we have mistakenly gotten them into power and they are making all these decisions. Dont buy that nonsense, that narrative that Covid brought us to where we are. Its never like that, Kofi Koranteng told journalists.

He added that the failure of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to improve the countrys net export, boost its reserve, and improve productivity is what has forced President Akufo-Addo to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Sharing his thoughts on the way forward for Ghana which is saddled with debt of over GHS400 billion, Mr Koranteng proposes that there should be a significant cut on the size of government.

He stressed that when given the mandate in the 2024 general elections, he will cut the size of Ministers in the country, trim the number of Parliamentarians to a maximum of 40 and reduce the number of regions from 16 to 10.

The over 100 Ministers that we have what are they doing? What do they bring to Ghana? They dont bring anything to Ghana. Ghana has to cut down on its expenses. The biggest thing that is hurting Ghana now is that Ghana is wasteful. The second thing is to address corruption. We must pluck the leaks and we must also offload. The government is too huge. What are the over 120 ministers doing for Ghana? We have 275 parliamentarians. What do they do? We have to cut them down to 64. Thats our proposal. Four per region. We can have 40 MPs when we roll back to having 10 regions because it doesnt make any sense to have 16 regions.

We are going to cut down on government big time. There is only one way Ghana has to go. We have to have a national development plan. We cant have 275 MPs. Thats a waste of resources. We need to cut down and put the money into agriculture, Kofi Koranteng emphasised.

Ahead of the 2024 general elections, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Progressive Alliance Movement who was disqualified from the 2020 elections is preparing the grounds to contest for president.
13.07.2022 LISTEN

H.E. Alhaji Said Sinare, former High Commissioner and the current National Vice-Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has extended his condolences to the people of Akatsi South following the death of Hon. Famous Matsi, a constituency Vice Chairman of the NDC in Akatsi South.

Hon. Famous, who until his sudden demise was a cadre, a former Assemblymember and the Akatsi South NDC Vice-Chairman.

As confirmed by his family, he died on Monday, July 12, 2022.

Messages of condolences started pouring last night when his colleagues, the Akatsi South Constituency executives led by Mr. Anthony Kwadzo Owusu (Westfelia) visited the family on behalf of the party to greet and know the next line of action towards the funeral.

Today, the National Vice Chairman of the party is the first national officer to join the long list of world mourners.

"I was shocked to hear of the tragic and untimely death of a hard-working colleague, Cadre, a former Assemblymember for the Bata electoral area, and my current vice-chairman in the Akatsi South constituency."

"His loss will be particularly felt by his electorates, the good people of Akatsi South, and the NDC.

"However, the NDC will continue to draw strength and inspiration from the memory of his outstanding leadership," parts of a statement on the official Facebook page of H.E. Alhaji Said Sinare reads.

According to him, Hon. Famous Matsi will be remembered by the people within his electoral area, the Akatsi South NDC, and the world for promoting more inclusive and dynamic leadership skills while upholding the NDC's values and ethics in his various working places.

Read full statement below:

For immediate release.

July 12, 2022

Attention: All media houses.

Message of Sympathy on the Death of Hon. Famous Matsi, Akatsi South NDC Vice-Chairman.

I am sad to join other wishers in sending the good people of Akatsi South NDC and the families of the late Hon. Famous Matsi, the constituency Vice-Chairman, my deepest sympathy and condolences during this time of sorrow.

I was shocked to hear of the tragic and untimely death of a hard-working colleague, Cadre, a former Assemblymember for the Bata electoral area, and my current vice-chairman in the Akatsi South constituency.

His loss will be particularly felt by his electorates, the good people of Akatsi South, and the National Democratic Congress, for whom he worked so hard to be.

However, the NDC will continue to draw strength and inspiration from the memory of his outstanding leadership.

All who knew him are richer for his memory, and our party, the National Democratic Congress, can be justly proud of his leadership at all times.

My thoughts are with the immediate family of the deceased, the former Speaker of our Party, Rt. Hon. Edward Kobby Doe Adjaho, the Honourable Member of Parliament, Hon. Bernard Ahiafor, the Akatsi South National Democratic Congress, and his colleagues, the Akatsi South Constituency Executives.

A tragic death has silenced a dynamic leader, and his loss will be deeply mourned by all who knew my dear Akatsi South Constituency Vice Chairman well.

Soldier and Cadre, may your gentle soul rest well with your creator!!

SIGNED

H.E. ALHAJI SAID SINARE

[National Vice-Chairman of the NDC]
July 12, 2022

No, Iran Will Not Deliver Armed Drones To Russia

In March this year we were treated to an onslaught of obviously false claims that China would deliver weapons to Russia for the fight in Ukraine.

Russia seeks military equipment and aid from China, U.S. officials say - Washington Post - March 13, 2022

Russia has turned to China for military equipment and aid in the weeks since it began its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, did not describe what kind of weaponry had been requested, or whether they know how China responded. The development comes as White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan plans to travel to Rome on Monday to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi. We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing, that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions, evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them, Sullivan told CNN.

Russia is an exporter of military weapons and China is one of its biggest customers. There is nothing in the Chinese arsenals that Russia can not and does not produce itself.

The claim was false from the get go but Sullivan, the mediocre National Security Advisor of the Biden regime, planted it to put pressure on China. It of course did not work.

China denied that it had received any request from Russia or that it was in any way willing to ever fulfill one if it would come:

No Chinese weapons have been seen in Ukraine.

Now an equally stupid claim was launched by the very same liar who launched the fake Chinese weapons claim.

White House: Iran set to deliver armed drones to Russia - AP - Jul 7, 2022

The White House on Monday said it believes Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, including weapons-capable drones, for use in its ongoing war in Ukraine. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the unmanned systems to Russia, but said the U.S. has information that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month. Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline, he told reporters Monday.

Russia has for some time build mass production facilities for its own drones.

A decade ago, the Russian Armed Forces possessed fewer than 200 UAVs, and now this figure stands at over 2000, and each year is replenished by 300. Furthermore, the Russian defence industry is conducting R&D on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in UAVs, with the ambition of enabling them to perform as unified swarms of drones in combat zones. Sources claim that this was already tested in 2020, during the Kavkaz-2020 military exercise.

Russia has absolutely no need to buy drones from Iran. Besides that it is dubious that Iran would be able to deliver some and certainly not 'several hundreds'.

Gregg Carlstrom - @glcarlstrom - 6:18 UTC  Jul 12, 2022 Does Iran even have "hundreds of weapons-capable drones" to export? It has limited production capacity; would be surprising (to say the least) if it could churn out hundreds, let alone hundreds of useful weapons systems rather than worthless tchotchkes.

Esfandyar Batmanghelidj @yarbatman - 23:14 UTC  Jul 11, 2022 1. @jakejsullivan's claim that Iran is set to send "several hundred" drones to Russia doesn't make sense. Data is spotty, but it's unlikely Iran even has that many operational drones in its own fleet. It also has no experience exporting drones at scale.

2. The Defense Intelligence Agency's 2019 report on Iranian Military Power does not assess that Iran has the ability to mass produce and export drones. Hard to believe things have changed dramatically in three years.

3. From the report: "Despite advances in its UAV manufacturing capabilities, Iran remains reliant on Western manufactured engines and components to support its UAV production. Iran is developing a domestic UAV engine but is struggling with quality issues."

4. @RUSI_org's database seems to suggest that Iran has 50 operational drones in its fleet (cc @Justin_Br0nk). Also most of Iran's drones are rudimentary. These are not Bayraktars and would be of little value.

Perhaps someone can check the Jane's estimate.

5. Last year, @bellingcat reviewed satellite images and video footage "showing over 154 drones." But there's widespread agreement among analysts that these displays of air power probably include drones that are not fully armed or operational.

6. Sullivan's statement is also odd because he says that it is "unclear" whether Iran has already exported any drones. He was weirdly responding to a broader question about Russian capabilities. This export might happen, but I'll believe it when I see it.

7. The only explanation I can think of is that Sullivan believes Irans new drone JV in Tajikistan is primarily intended to supply Russia. But I am doubtful production can ramp up that quickly. Plus cant the US just lean on Dushanbe if concerned?

The Washington Post notes the weird timing of Sullivan's claims thereby hinting that it was made for purely political purposes which have nothing to do with Russia:

The revelation comes as President Biden prepares to depart for the Middle East, where he is expected to confer with key allies on a unified regional policy toward Iran. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been further strained in recent weeks, amid faltering nuclear talks and an uptick in rocket and drone attacks on U.S. military installations in the Middle East, conducted by militia groups armed and funded by Iran.

The whole issues is just a talking point designed to put Iran and Russia into the same 'baddies' binder for Biden's talks in the Middle East. The countries there may not like Iran but they will certainly not allow for a condemnation of Russia. The whole idea is, as many others Sullivan had, stupid to begin with.

So no, there will not be any Iranian drones going to Russia or fly over Ukraine.

Posted by b on July 12, 2022 at 9:32 UTC | Permalink

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New York, US (PANA) - Access to information is a human right, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Tuesday, underscoring that for peacekeepers, it can be a matter of life and death, and the difference between peace and war
BERLIN (AP)  Germany's vice chancellor on Tuesday defended the government's commitment to ending the use of nuclear power at the end of this year, arguing that keeping its few remaining reactors running would be complex and do little to address the problems caused by a possible natural gas shortfall.

Germany's main opposition party has called repeatedly for the country's last three nuclear reactors to be kept online after the end of December amid fears that Russia may halt natural gas supplies entirely. There's some sympathy for that position in the ranks of the pro-business Free Democrats, the smallest party in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition.
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Ilona Khomenko was widowed nearly two months ago when her husband died in fighting in Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. Now, she's looking to make a difference on the battlefield.

Khomenko, 29, is helping to train soldiers and civilians in combat first aid to help save lives as Russia's war in Ukraine is well into its fifth month.

The training is mostly based in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Up to 100 people attend each day. So far, Khomenko and others have taught more than 5,000 people simple rules that can save their lives.

One of those attending the course is soldier Liudmyla Rohacheva.

I am currently working in the rear, but there is a possibility that I will get to the front line. And I think that all soldiers should undergo such training, Rohacheva said during a break between sessions.

The attendees learn to provide sequential care under the MARCH acronym for easy recall: M for massive hemorrhage, A for airway, R for respiratory, C for circulation and H for hypothermia.

The units we trained have wounded, but they survive. And those units that didn't undergo training have a much worse ratio of wounded and survivors, said Oleksandr Khyzhniak, the head of the training center.

The center teaches, for example, how to apply a tourniquet in 25 seconds. Such an action can save a life.

The machines will not fight alone. We need people to manage it. And these people must be saved, Khizhnyak said.

The training mimics front-line conditions. At one location, an instructor frantically shouts into a trench: A sniper is working in the sector. Drag them to safety! Do you want to live?

Its a way to immerse trainees in stressful situations that shouldn't stop them from acting when needed.

Natalia Demchevska, a doctor in the emergency service in the Kyiv region, said she came to the training to learn how to provide first aid in combat conditions. She said she learned many things she didnt know before, even though she works in medicine.

The center also encourages civilians to get training.

We live in a war. And we do not know how the circumstances will develop. When a missile comes, it doesnt choose who to hit, instructor Maksym Maksymenko said.

On May 23, Khomenko's husband, Svyatoslav Khomenko, died in fighting. Like many in Ukraine, he left his job and went to war.

Her husband used to send her photos of nature from the front line.

He went to war because he wanted to save what he loved so much," Ilona Khomenko said.

Now, in her own way, she hopes to save what she loves too.

She said she had always wanted to go to the front to be closer to her husband. But he was against it, so she enrolled in combat medic courses. Now she's a volunteer and plans to become an instructor.

If Khomenko could go back in time, she said she would have studied medicine. She realized this while preparing the first-aid kit for her husband at the front.

Despite her grief, she is grateful to fate that she can now help save the lives of other soldiers.

The best people of Ukraine are in the war. And I want to learn everything that will help me save them, she said.

___

Follow APs coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
The coastal marshlands of North Carolina take on a mythic quality in Delia Owens Where the Crawdads Sing. They are where the protagonist, Kya, grows up alone after her family leaves. They are also both the source of her artistic inspiration and her social isolation from the people in the nearby town of Barkley Cove.

Marsh is not a swamp, Owens book begins. Marsh is a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky. Slow-moving creeks wander, carrying the orb of the sun with them to the sea, and long-legged birds lift with unexpected grace-as though not built to fly-against the roar of a thousand snow geese.

It is a character as important as any in the book, and the filmmakers behind the big screen adaptation, which opens in theaters nationwide Friday, were not going to take any chances recreating that environment on a soundstage. They too would take to the marsh  oppressive heat, swarming bugs, looming alligators, unpredictable weather, flash floods, lightning storms and all  to bring the story to life. New Orleans plays coastal North Carolina in the film.

Reese Witherspoon and producer Elizabeth Gabler (Life of Pi, Hidden Figures) were both early champions of Where the Crawdads Sing, which became an unlikely publishing phenomenon, with over 12 million copies sold and a record-breaking 191 weeks on the bestseller list. They set out to make a feature film and enlisted Oscar-nominated Beasts of the Southern Wild screenwriter Lucy Alibar to take a stab at adapting the lyrical novel, which is at turns a romance, a coming-of-age tale, a courtroom drama, a mystery and a celebration of the natural world.

Director Olivia Newman had already decided she had to avoid the book when she heard there was an adaptation in the works. She wanted to preemptively spare herself the heartbreak of not getting to direct it herself. Then her agent told her that they were still searching for a director. She read it in two days, put a pitch together, and with an image of Terence Malicks The New World in her head, she landed the dream job.

We really wanted it to feel timeless, Newman said. Even though the book is really grounded in a specific time and place in American history that was so important for us to capture authentically, the story of the marsh girl also felt to me like a bit of folklore.

The story follows the marsh girl Kya from age 6, when her mother leaves suddenly and her siblings and father go soon after, to her teen years through adulthood, capturing her evolution as an artist and several romances. Her freedom and future are put into jeopardy when one of her suitors is found dead and shes assumed to be the cause. Daisy Edgar-Jones, the English actor who broke out as Marianne in Normal People, was cast to play Kya.

I feel very lucky that Ive been able to play women that are real and complicated, Edgar-Jones said. Kya and Marianne arent just one thing. They are both vulnerable and kind people, but theyre also incredibly spiky at times and flawed in many ways as well.

Edgar-Jones immersed herself in Kyas world which required her to adopt a mid-century Carolina accent, learn how to navigate a boat through the marsh and often be barefoot outdoors, which was mostly fine save for the red ants everywhere. Upon arriving in New Orleans, she found herself transported by the environment and its natural beauty and wildness. One of her fondest memories, she said, was the first time she saw the shack that production built in a nearby state park for Kyas house.

It felt like it was really lifted from my imagination, Edgar-Jones said.

Filming was scheduled to catch the spring greenery before the rains came. They planned to shoot exteriors in May and interiors in June, but nature had other plans. A record May rainfall had the production constantly having to rearrange, sometimes on the spot, when there were sudden lightning storms. There were also unique challenges in shooting a good portion of the film on water, which had the entire production  from actors and cameras to props and port-a-potties  on small boats in the marsh.

It was stressful at times, said Taylor John Smith, who plays Kyas friend and first love Tate. But being out in the humidity when the air is super thick and hearing the cicadas and the frogs croaking and seeing snakes and gators come up next to you in the middle of a scene? It was great that we were able to play around in that environment.

Newman said she has a bit of PTSD from the experience, from chasing the daylight to running from storms. And it felt like a cruel trick when after the rains, they had five days of gorgeous weather but couldnt film anything they needed to because of all the flooding.

It was very challenging...But at the same time, there was absolutely no way to tell the story without being right there in the environment. Its as beautiful as it is because we shot on location and dealt with the elements and captured that landscape exactly as it is, Newman said. We wanted to lean into the natural beauty of her world, of the marsh, of the swamps and really highlight how beautiful that landscape is without touching it, using natural light and just picking the right time of day to shoot.

The team spent nine months editing the film and everyone is excited about finally releasing it to the world on the big screen. Newman was heartened to know that Sony Pictures always intended for it to be a theatrical release, which is more and more of a rarity from major studios focused on franchises, tentpoles and superheroes  especially in the summer months.

I think theres a real thirst for these kinds of big dramas, romances and suspense movies, Newman said. We need more stories like this, and we need more movies like this in the theater."

I think that theres a lot to take away from a character like Kya, she continued. "I think weve all felt underestimated. Weve all felt sort of ostracized for different reasons. She gives us a bit of hope that were stronger than we think. This is a time when women especially need to be reassured.

-

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr
Washington, DC, US (PANA) - The United States has expressed its condolences on the death of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, saying he played "a consequential role" in Angolas history, during its struggle for independence, as Foreign Minister, and as President
Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, calls for additional gun control actions as he interrupts President Joe Biden during a White House event to celebrate passage of the "Safer Communities Act," in Washington, D.C., July 11, 2022.
The Government of Guam Relief Center officially opened its doors to the public Monday. Staff are shown assisting people Monday morning.
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
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The Jacksonville Airport Authority Board of Commissioners is scheduled to meet in regular session at 5:30 p.m. today at the airport terminal, 1956 Baldwin Road.

Among the items on the agenda are:
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The Illinois Poison Center (IPC) is warning the public to stay safe by avoiding recreational drugs, especially synthetic recreational drugs. Multiple fatal and non-fatal overdose clusters in several Northern Illinois counties related to heroin, cocaine and fentanyl took place in June, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reports.



We are seeing a significant spike of overdose cases across the nation due to synthetic drugs, Dr. Michael Wahl, medical director at the Illinois Poison Center, said in a statement. Illegal drug manufacturers are mixing fentanyl with cocaine, methamphetamines, ecstasy and other known party drugs and selling the product at parties, festivals and special events. Experimenting with street drugs can be fatal and that first time could be your last.



According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), drug traffickers are using fake pills to exploit the opioid crisis and prescription drug misuse in the United States, bringing overdose deaths and violence to communities nationwide. Since fentanyl is cheap and easy to produce, illicit drug manufacturers often mix it into counterfeit oxycodone (brand names: Percocet and OxyContin), alprazolam (brand name: Xanax) and Adderallsubstances popular with young adults and teenagers.



Taking prescription drugs for recreational purposes, especially those provided by someone other than your physician or pharmacist, can be a deadly decision, Carol DesLauriers, vice president of the Illinois Poison Center, said in a statement. Fake pills are being deliberately laced with synthetic opioids like fentanyl and sold to people across the country, which has proved to cause life-threatening symptoms. These drugs are dangerous and addictive and not worth the risk.

Here are IPCs safety recommendations:
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Verizon's Jacksonville store will be taking part in a School Rocks Backpack Giveaway this month.

The event, which will be 1-4 p.m. July 31 at the 1699 W. Morton Ave. location, is part of a national campaign by authorized Verizon retailer TCC and its sister company, Wireless Zone. Bags will include pencils, paper, a pencil box, folders, a ruler and glue. One backpack will be given for each child present while supplies last.
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An investigation is under way at the St. Louis Health Department following a probable case of monkeypox.

This would be the city's first case of monkeypox, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed three cases in Missouri.
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  The president of Sri Lanka fled the country early Wednesday, slipping away in the middle of the night only hours before he was to step down amid a devastating economic crisis that has triggered severe shortages of food and fuel.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane bound for the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives, according to an immigration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Rajapaksa had agreed to resign under pressure. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would leave once a new government was in place.

The president's departure followed months of demonstrations that culminated Saturday in protesters storming his home and office and the official residence of his prime minister. The protests have all but dismantled his family's political dynasty, which ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.

On Wednesday morning, Sri Lankans continued to stream into the presidential palace. A growing line of people waited to enter the residence, many of whom had traveled from outside Colombo on public transport.

What Rajapaksa did  flee the country  is a timid act," said Bhasura Wickremesinghe, a 24-year-old student of maritime electrical engineering, who came with friends. "Im not celebrating. Theres no point celebrating. We have nothing in this country at the moment.

He complained that Sri Lankan politics have been dominated for years by old politicians who all need to go. Politics needs to be treated like a job  you need to have qualifications that get you hired, not because of what your last name is, he said, referring to the Rajapaksa family.

There was no end to the crisis in sight, and protesters vowed to occupy the official buildings until the top leaders are gone. For days, people have flocked to the presidential palace almost as if it were a tourist attraction  swimming in the pool, marveling at the paintings and lounging on the beds piled high with pillows. At one point, they also burned the prime minister's private home.

At dawn, the protesters took a break from chanting as the Sri Lankan national anthem blared from speakers. A few waved the flag.

Malik D Silva, a 25-year-old demonstrator occupying the presidents office, said Rajapaksa "ruined this country and stole our money. He said he voted for Rajapaksa in 2019 believing his military background would keep the country safe after Islamic State-inspired bomb attacks earlier that year killed more than 260 people.

Nearby, 28-year-old Sithara Sedaraliyanage and her 49-year-old mother wore black banners around their foreheads that read Gota Go Home, the rallying cry of the demonstrations.

We expected him to be behind bars  not escape to a tropical island! What kind of justice is that? Sithara said. This is the first time people in Sri Lanka have risen like this against a president. We want some accountability.

The air force said in a statement that it provided an aircraft for the president and his wife to travel to the Maldives with the defense ministrys approval. It said all immigration and customs laws were followed.

This shows what befalls a leader who uses his power to the extreme, said lawmaker Ranjith Madduma Bandara, a senior official of the main opposition party in Parliament, United Peoples Force.

Sri Lankan lawmakers agreed to elect a new president next week but have struggled to decide on the makeup of a new government to lift the bankrupt country out of economic and political collapse.

The new president will serve the remainder of Rajapaksas term, which ends in 2024, and could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament.

The current prime minister is to serve as president until a replacement is chosen  an arrangement that was sure to inflame protesters who want Wickremesinghe out immediately.

Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power, and it is likely Rajapaksa planned his escape while he still had constitutional immunity. A corruption lawsuit against him in his former role as a defense official was withdrawn when he was elected president in 2019.

Corruption and mismanagement have left the island nation laden with debt and unable to pay for imports of basic necessities. The shortages have sown despair among the country's 22 million people. Sri Lankans are skipping meals and lining up for hours to try to buy scarce fuel.

Until the latest crisis deepened, the Sri Lankan economy had been expanding and growing a comfortable middle class.

Sithara said the people want new leaders who are young, educated and capable of running the economy.

We dont know who will come next, but we have hope they will do a better job of fixing the problems," she said. Sri Lanka used to be a prosperous country.

As a restaurant manager in a hotel in Colombo, she once had a steady income. But with no tourists coming in, the hotel closed, she said. Her mother, Manjula Sedaraliyanage, used to work in Kuwait but came back to Sri Lanka a few years ago after she suffered a stroke. Now the daily medication she needs has become harder to find and more expensive, Sithara said.

The political impasse added fuel to the economic crisis since the absence of an alternative unity government threatened to delay a hoped-for bailout from the International Monetary Fund. In the meantime, the country is relying on aid from neighboring India and from China.

Protesters accuse the president and his relatives of siphoning money from government coffers for years and Rajapaksas administration of hastening the countrys collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged some of his policies contributed to the meltdown.

___

Associated Press Business Writer Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed to this report.
Farmers Market: 7 a.m.-noon, Pathway Plaza, 1905 W. Morton Ave. Prices vary. | Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through Oct. 31. Link cards accepted.

Produce and Bakery Giveaway: 9 a.m.-noon, Jacksonville Food Center, 316 E. State St. Free | For Morgan County residents.

Free Noon Meal: 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. | Meals in to-go containers can be picked up at side door.

Walking for Wellness: 12:30-3 p.m., First Christian Church, 2106 S. Main St. Free | Indoor walking program offered year-round Monday-Thursday. For more information, call 217-243-6445.

Author Event: 3 p.m., Our Town Books, 64 E. Central Park Plaza. | Meet Dr. Joe Squillace, former professor at MacMurray College, and author of "A History of the Poorhouse and Farm of Morgan County, Illinois" and "The Untold History of the First Illinois State Hospital for the Insane."

Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen: 3:30-4 p.m., Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen, 105 E. Dunlap St. Free | Serving meals to go for anyone in need.

Bluffs Market: 4-6 p.m., Bluffs downtown square. Prices vary. | Crafts, vendors, farmers market, flea market and more. Every Tuesday through Labor Day.

YMCA Youth Volleyball Clinics: 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., Mount Sterling YMCA, 896 IL 99 850 E. St. Members $25; non-members $39 | Volleyball clinic each Tuesday through July 26. Children entering grades 1 through 3 at 5:30 p.m. Children entering grades 4 through 6 at 6:30 p.m. Register online at mtsterlingymca.net. For more information, call 217-773-2230.

Wednesday

Produce and Bakery Giveaway: 9 a.m., noon, Jacksonville Food Center, 316 E. State St. Free | For Morgan County residents.

Story Time: 10 a.m., Jacksonville Public Library, 201 W. College Ave. Free | Stories and a craft. For more information, call 217-243-5435 or email clangdon@jaxpl.org.

Free Noon Meal: 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. | Meals in to-go containers can be picked up at side door.

Walking for Wellness: 12:30-3 p.m., First Christian Church, 2106 S. Main St. Free | Indoor walking program offered year-round Monday-Thursday. For more information, call 217-243-6445.

Commodity Food Distribution: 1:15 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. Free | For income-eligible residents of Morgan County. Bring proof of residence and a box for food.

Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen: 3:30-4 p.m., Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen, 105 E. Dunlap St. Free | Serving meals to go for anyone in need.

Community Walking Group: 3:30 p.m., Boyd Hospital Wellness Center, Eighth and School streets, Carrollton. Free for wellness center members, $1 for non-members. | For more information and to sign up, all Dawn at 217-942-6946, extension 1352.

County Line Dance Club Class: 6:30 p.m., The Hangout Bar & Grill, 901 W. Superior Ave. $5.

To submit items to the calendar, go to myjournalcourier.com and select calendar, or email jjcsocial@myjournalcourier.com. Items must be submitted at least 48 hours in advance.
The return of Taliban control in Afghanistan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine brought the worlds attention to authoritarian governments role in displacing people from their homes. This is sadly not a unique situation.

More than 82 million people worldwide are displaced, many due to persecution and violence at the hands of authoritarians. The Free World has opened its doors to Ukrainians and, to a more limited extent, Afghans. But millions of other refugees are left with few options, long periods of uncertainty, and tiny odds of being permanently resettled somewhere safer.

The European response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis has been a rare bright spot in migration policy. Since the invasion began in late February, more than 8 million Ukrainians have left Ukraine seeking protection. Ukraines neighbors  Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova  deserve credit for welcoming millions fleeing Russias brutal attacks.

The European Unions relatively liberal migration policies for many Europeans, including Ukrainians, have undoubtedly helped despite their imperfections. Reports from early in the war demonstrated the limits of welcome to non-white Ukrainians. Many were unjustly delayed or outright denied entry upon presenting themselves at border checkpoints with their countrymen.

But overall, the response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis has been a feel-good story. Few of us will forget the images of baby strollers left on train platforms in Poland to help Ukrainian moms who carried their babies to safety or the ordinary Germans who greeted Ukrainian refugees at train stations with homemade signs and offers of a meal and a safe place to stay. These stories represent the best of humanity and remind us all how powerful even small gestures of welcome can be.

The millions of other refugees worldwide are still waiting for their welcome. This includes tens of thousands of Afghans who were displaced when the Taliban came back to power.

The plight of the Afghans is particularly disappointing. Hundreds of thousands were evacuated by the combined effort of the NATO allies who had had a presence in the country over the last 20 years. Tens of thousands have been resettled across the globe. But thousands remain in limbo.

Many other displaced people have it much worse. Only about 1% of refugees will be permanently resettled, a shamefully low number made worse when the freest and wealthiest countries in the world are unwilling to welcome them. Eighty-six percent of refugees are hosted by nations with developing economies.

These are just two examples of the events driving displacement. While many are fleeing authoritarian regimes, others are driven out by war, violence and persecution based on race, gender or religion. In some places, its a lack of economic opportunity. Elsewhere, the climate  droughts, floods or other natural disasters  makes an already challenging living situation impossible.

Which reasons make refugees deserving in the eyes of the governments that can afford to welcome them? Is it only an invading military? Is brutal persecution of women enough? Or does cultural similarity make some refugees preferable to others?

The freest and wealthiest countries in the world are not doing enough. All people deserve to live in a country that respects their rights and dignity as people. Unfortunately, too often, these countries make arbitrary choices about which refugees are more deserving to live in freedom and prosperity than others.

Citizens of these nations have an obligation as free people to make sure our countries lead. And we should all be asking ourselves how we can do our part to ensure that every displaced person is seen as deserving.
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US Vice President Harris to announce investments in Pacific View Photo

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will announce new investments in the Pacific and the opening of two embassies when she addresses a summit on Wednesday of island nations that are increasingly coming under Chinese influence.

Harris will speak virtually at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji. Her invitation from Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama to speak is remarkable given that the forums dialogue partners  including the United States, China, Britain and France  have not been invited to this years summit.

She will propose new embassies in Tonga and in Kiribati, a Micronesian state that split this week from the 18-nation forum in a major blow to regional harmony, a White House statement said.

Harris will also propose requesting that Congress triple funding for fisheries assistance to $60 million a year and the appointment of the first U.S. envoy to the forum.

The United States and the forums wealthiest nations, Australia and New Zealand, are concerned about a security pact signed this year between China and the Solomon Islands.

The United States proposes reopening the embassy it closed in the Solomon Islands in 1993.

Both the Solomon Islands and Kiribati recently shifted their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing. Kiribatis withdrawal from the forum is being interpreted as a deepening of Chinas influence in the region.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday urged forum nations to unite on their shared challenges from U.S.-China strategic competition, climate change and COVID-19.

All the nations are seeking to navigate those challenges. And we do it best when we can do it together, Wong said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who arrived Monday in Fiji, described Kiribatis withdrawal as disappointing. Wong said the door remains open to Kiribati returning.

The forums secretary general, Henry Puna, on Tuesday addressed our brothers and sisters from Micronesia and appealed for reconciliation.

I acknowledge again the breakdown in our connections of the past two years, the former Cook Islands prime minister said.

My hope is that through our dialogue mechanism and the resolutions that we are working towards, you continue to find value and indeed belonging within the forum, Puna added.

Puna was elected secretary general last year over a Micronesian candidate, deepening the rift between Kiribati and the other nations.

The Fiji Sun newspaper reported that Prime Minister Bainimarama, who is currently the forums chair as this years host, was unable to reach Kiribati President Taneti Maamau on Monday for a possible rapprochement.

Maamau did not reply to APs email or phone call on Tuesday.

In his opening address at the forum, Bainimarama said Pacific nations had a choice.

The most important consideration for us this week is this: How will we, the Pacific Islands Forum, choose to navigate these challenges and opportunities as we voyage into the future? he asked. Will we forge ahead together? Will we take individual paths? Will we be assertive or will we leave it to others to decide our fate?

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a speech in Washington, D.C., that Australia and the Unites States will need to do more to counter a growing number of threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

Due to the pandemic, the Suva summit will be the Pacific leaders first opportunity for face-to-face meetings since 2019, when the forum met in Tuvalu.

In May, China fell short on a bold plan to have 10 Pacific nations endorse a sweeping new agreement covering everything from security to fisheries as some in the region expressed deep concerns. But there were plenty of smaller wins for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his island-hopping tour of the region, including bilateral agreements.

Wang was in Fiji on May 30 to co-host a key meeting with the foreign ministers from the 10 island nations. At an unusual news conference afterward, Wang and Bainimarama spoke for about 30 minutes and then abruptly left the stage as reporters tried to shout out questions. That left many details of what transpired at the meeting unanswered, but it was clear the nations hadnt endorsed Chinas plan.

By ROD McGUIRK

Associated Press
White House: Iran set to deliver armed drones to Russia View Photo

WASHINGTON (AP)  The White House on Monday said it believes Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, including weapons-capable drones, for use in its ongoing war in Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the unmanned systems to Russia, but said the U.S. has information that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline, he told reporters Monday.

Sullivan said it was proof the Russias overwhelming bombardments in Ukraine, which have led it to consolidate gains in the countrys east in recent weeks, was coming at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons.

Sullivans revelation comes on the eve of President Joe Bidens trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, where Irans nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.

The U.S. decision to publicly reveal that the two countries chief regional rival was helping to rearm Russia comes as both Israel and Saudi Arabia have resisted joining global efforts to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine due to their domestic interests.

Sullivan also noted that Iran has provided similar unmanned aerial vehicles to Yemens Houthi rebels to attack Saudi Arabia before a ceasefire was reached earlier this year.

Military analyst Samuel Bendett of the CNA think tank said Russias choice of Iran as a source for drones is logical because for the last 20 years or more Iran has been refining its drone combat force. Their drones have been in more combat than the Russians. They are pioneers of so-called loitering munitions, the kamikaze drones like the Switchblade that the U.S. has provided Ukraine.

Iran has a proven track record of flying drones for hundreds of miles and hitting their targets, Bendett added, including penetrating American-supplied air defenses and striking Saudi oil refineries. He said the Iranian drones could be very effective at striking Ukrainian power stations, refineries and other critical infrastructure.

Bendett noted that before the Ukraine war, Russia had licensed drone technology for its Forpost UAV from a proven supplier: Israel. The Jewish state has remained neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, so that source is no longer available to Moscow.

__

Associated Press writer Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

By ZEKE MILLER and JOSH BOAK

Associated Press
Don't be chess pieces, SE Asia nations urged

By MO JINGXI (China Daily) 13:38, July 12, 2022

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi makes a policy speech with Q&A at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 11, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

FM: China, ASEAN must work to insulate region from geopolitical calculations

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Southeast Asian countries on Monday to take the future of themselves and the region into their own hands to refrain from being used as chess pieces in major power rivalries.

In a policy speech at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, Wang said that many regional countries, including ASEAN nations, were under pressure to take sides.

Noting that the strategic environment in the region is at risk of being reshaped by political factors, he said that China and ASEAN countries must work to insulate the region from geopolitical calculations and the trap of the law of the jungle.

Wang called on countries in the region to adhere to peaceful coexistence, saying that geopolitical conflicts and bloc confrontations should by no means be brought to Asia.

Regional countries are also unwilling to see sanctions, blockades and humanitarian crises happening here, he said, adding that differences should be peacefully resolved through dialogue and consultation.

China and ASEAN countries should correctly view each other's development and enjoy the opportunities brought by development, secure a free and open global market, and promote integrated economic development.

Wang said that although globalization is suffering from temporary headwinds, it remains an irresistible trend and only inclusiveness and openness can bring win-win cooperation and benefits for all.

He stressed the importance of true regional cooperation that promotes unity among regional countries and is inclusive to those outside the region.

Fake regional cooperation excluding or targeting a certain country must be opposed, Wang said.

When asked about the United States' attempt to expand its influence in the Asia-Pacific region, Wang referred to his bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bali on Saturday.

Wang said he had suggested that China and the US discuss the establishment of rules for positive interactions and jointly uphold regionalism in the Asia-Pacific.

The core elements of such rules are to support the central role of ASEAN, uphold the existing regional cooperation framework, and respect each other's legitimate rights and interests in the Asia-Pacific, instead of aiming to antagonize or contain the other side, he said.

The two countries should also play their role as responsible major countries to promote regional stability and development, and provide more public goods for regional countries, Wang added.

He said that it would be very beneficial if China and the US can achieve positive interactions in the Asia-Pacific, as it will not only make a positive contribution to China-US relations but also meet the general expectations of regional countries.

China is waiting to see the choice of the US side, he said.

Washington's response will also show whether the US can abandon hegemonism, overcome the Cold War mentality and discard the logic of a zero-sum game with a view to truly playing a constructive role for peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region, Wang added.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
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Latvia president supports reinstating military conscription View Photo

HELSINKI (AP)  Latvias president said Tuesday that he supports a plan to reinstate national conscription for men, and for women on a voluntary basis.

The draft could be reintroduced next year after a hiatus of over 15 years.

President Egils Levits, who is the supreme military commander of Latvia  a NATO member that borders Russia  said in an interview with Latvian broadcaster TV3 that he favors the idea floated by the Baltic countrys defense minister last week to create an 11-month mandatory military service for men aged 18-27 from the beginning of 2023.

We have really, really good, high-level armed forces, professional armed forces  you could say one of the best in NATO, Levits told TV3. The conscription, he said, is needed because there are not enough reservists with military training in the nation of 1.9 million.

Latvia abolished compulsory conscription in 2007, switching to a fully professional military service. Levits said the biggest limitation in the countrys current professional military is its small size.

The new geopolitical situation  requires a larger number of people who, if necessary, can participate in the defense of their country, and who are not professional soldiers and are reservists, Levits said, referring to Russias Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

He added that women should also be ready to defend their country but refrained from saying whether female conscription should become compulsory. Levits also urged officials and politicians to come up with ways to get Latvians living abroad to participate in the defense of their native country.

Under the Latvian defense ministrys initial, unconfirmed plan, some 1,000 conscripts would be recruited annually in drafts twice a year. The conscription model would be phased in during a five-year period starting next year.

Latvias Baltic neighbor, Lithuania, abolished compulsory conscription in 2008, but reinstated it in 2016 in response to Russias aggression of Ukraine. Estonia, the northernmost of the three Baltic states, has maintained conscription, supported by the Estonian Defense League, created after independence in 1991.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

By JARI TANNER

Associated Press
Kremlin critic charged over criticizing fighting in Ukraine View Photo

Russian prosecutors on Tuesday brought criminal charges against another opposition figure who has criticized Russias military campaign in Ukraine, his lawyer said.

Ilya Yashin was due to be released after spending 15 days in jail on charges of failing to obey police. Instead, Yashin was charged under a new law making it a crime to spread false information about the military, said his lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov. It carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors searched Yashins Moscow apartment on Tuesday evening, and video taken at the scene shows that Yashin was present during the search.

Russia has cracked down on those who criticize what it calls the special military operation in Ukraine. Vladimir Kara-Muza, a well-known opposition figure, was arrested in April and charged under the same law.

Yashin, a member of a Moscow municipal council, was detained in late June in a city park, and police said he grabbed one officer by the uniform and insulted them. Yashin said the police approached him while he was sitting on a bench with a friend and demanded he go with them without explanation.

By The Associated Press
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered remarks on the Senate floor regarding the Supreme Court.

McConnell was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

Since the Senate was last in session, our nations highest Court finished its term.

It was an absolutely historic series of victories for the American people and for the Constitution. The single best Supreme Court term in nearly 70 years, since Brown v. Board overturned Plessy in 1954.

For the first time in modern history, there is a textualist and originalist majority on the Court. Justices who understand that the job of a judge is to follow the law as it is written. Who understand they are there to faithfully apply what our statues and Constitution actually say and leave everything else to the people and their elected representatives.

This is the kind of judiciary that the rule of law requires; that our system of government demands; that a diverse society needs.

Last month, the Court corrected one of the most egregious legal and moral mistakes of the 20th century.

Only seven countries in the entire world allow elective abortion-on-demand past 20 weeks, but until two weeks ago, past Supreme Courts had mistakenly decreed that the Constitution forced America to be one of them.

All 50 states had to handle this issue like China and North Korea. No state was allowed to handle it even like France or Germany.

Of course, there is no command like that in our Constitution. And that is what the Court finally recognized. There is nothing in the Constitution that forces us to be a radical global outlier on abortion. The American people finally have their freedom back to enact commonsense protections for unborn life.

Millions of Americans spent half a century working, marching, and praying for this landmark day. It has been my honor to stand with them throughout the journey that led to June 24th, 2022, and to continue to stand together.

The Courts ruling in Dobbs is not only a huge victory for innocent life. It is an historic triumph for the rule of law itself.

Even liberal legal experts, including the late Justice Ginsburg, said the Courts abortion precedents were badly reasoned. The liberal Yale law professor Akhil Amar wrote in May, I am a Democrat who supports abortion rights but opposes Roe In the eyes of many constitutional experts across the ideological spectrum, it [lacked] solid grounding in the Constitution.

Now, Washington Democrats have taken pains to ignore that fact.

Remember, their party has become jaw-droppingly extreme on this issue. More than 60 percent of Americans support restrictions after 15 weeks. Only 19% of Americans want abortion on demand until the moment of birth.

But 97% of Washington Democrats support precisely that. Ninety-seven percent of Washington Democrats are with less than one fifth of the country on this issue.

So Democrats are desperate to change the subject. Many are not even trying to argue with the decision, but have pivoted to claims about all kinds of unrelated issues.

But this is nonsense. Here again is Professor Amar, the arch-liberal from Yale Law, writing back in May. Does Justice Alitos draft, as many are now claiming, inflict collateral damage on other areas of constitutional case law, such as the Warren Courts precedents on contraception and interracial marriage? It does not. In fact, the Dobbs draft reinforces these iconic opinions by explaining why they were right.

From top to bottom, this ruling was a gigantic step forward for human dignity and for the rule of law. The Justices tuned out the mobs and attempted violence, tuned out the threats from politicians, and simply followed the law where it clearly led.

And this historic achievement was just one part of the most consequential Supreme Court term in seven decades. Ill have more to say on this subject this week.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The Ukrainian military on Tuesday reported destroying a Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine, resulting in a massive explosion captured on social media, while rescuers said the death toll from a weekend Russian strike in the country's east grew to 45.

An overnight rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, the Ukrainian military's southern command said. Nova Kakhovka is about 55 kilometers (35 miles) east of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.

The precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used U.S.-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. Ukraine indicated in recent days that it might launch a counteroffensive to reclaim territory in the south as Russia bombards the eastern Donbas region.

Russias Tass news agency offered a different account of the blast in Nova Kakhovka, saying that a mineral fertilizer storage facility exploded and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged. Some of the ingredients in fertilizer can be used for ammunition.

A satellite photo taken Tuesday and analyzed by The Associated Press showed significant damage. A huge crater gaped precisely where a large warehouse-like structure once stood.

Ukraine now has eight of the HIMAR systems, a truck-mounted missile launcher with high accuracy, and Washington has promised to send four more.

Explosions were reported late Tuesday in Luhansk, a city in the Donbas that has been under the control of Russian-backed separatists since 2014, with videos posted on social media. A spokesman for the separatist forces, Andrei Marochko, said the Ukrainian army had dealt a massive blow to the air defense system in Luhansk, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. He said there was no word yet on any casualties. There was no immediate information from the Ukrainian government or military.

The occupiers have already felt what modern artillery is like, and their rear will not be safe anywhere on our land that they have occupied, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. They have felt that the operations of our intelligence officers for defending their homeland are of an order of magnitude greater than any of their special operations.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian shelling over the past 24 hours killed at least 16 civilians and wounded 48 more, Ukraines presidential office said in its Tuesday morning update. Cities and towns in five southeast regions came under Russian fire, the office said.

Nine civilians were killed and two more wounded in Donetsk province, which makes up half of the Donbas. Russian rocket attacks targeted the cities of Sloviansk and Toretsk, where a kindergarten was hit, the presidential office said.

The British military said Tuesday that Russia was continuing to make small, incremental gains in Donetsk, where heavy fighting led the provinces governor last week to urge its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine.

The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that struck a Donetsk apartment building Saturday rose to 45, the emergency services agency said late Tuesday. It said workers found more bodies and also rescued nine people as they dug through the rubble of the five-story building in Chasiv Yar throughout the day.

Yet many in the Donbas, a fertile industrial region in eastern Ukraine consisting of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, refuse  or are unable  to flee, despite scores of civilians being killed and wounded each week.

In northeaster Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, and its surrounding region, Russian strikes hit residential buildings, killing four civilians and wounding nine, Ukrainian officials said.

The Russians continue their tactics of intimidating the peaceful population of the Kharkiv region, Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote Tuesday on Telegram.

Russian fire also struck the southern city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday morning, hitting residential buildings. Twelve people were wounded as the result of the Russian shelling, with some of the rockets hitting two medical facilities, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

Air raid sirens sounded Tuesday in the western city of Lviv  the first daytime sirens there in over a week  and in other areas of Ukraine as Russian forces continued to make advances.

In eastern Luhansk, fighting continues near the villages on the administrative border with neighboring Donetsk, Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The Russian army burns down everything in its way. The artillery barrage doesnt stop and sometimes continues for four to six hours on end, Haidai said.

The British Defense Ministry's intelligence briefing said Russia had seized the town of Hryhorivka and continued to push toward the Donetsk province cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Russian forces are likely maintaining military pressure on Ukrainian forces whilst regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future, the intelligence briefing said.

However, Russia may be relying more heavily on private military contractors, like the Wagner Group, to avoid a general mobilization, the British ministry said. Western officials have accused Wagner of using mercenaries to fight in Africa and elsewhere.

In other developments:

 The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Iran next week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin will travel to Tehran next Tuesday to attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, a format for Syria-related talks. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday that Russia was seeking hundreds of surveillance drones from Iran, including weapons-capable ones, for use in Ukraine.

 Russian and Turkish military representatives plan to meet in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the transport of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said. Pyotr Ilyichyov, head of the ministrys department for international organizations, told Russian news agency Interfax that representatives of Ukraine, as well as U.N. (officials) in the role of observers are also expected to take part in the talks. Ilyichyov reiterated that Moscow was ready to assist in ensuring the navigation of foreign commercial ships for the export of Ukrainian grain.

 Germanys justice minister said investigating war crimes in Ukraine would likely take many years but he was confident it ultimately will be successful. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said there will "probably be hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of pieces of evidence that have to be sifted through, documented and evaluated. The German federal prosecutors office said in early March that it had started looking into possible war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Buschmann spoke Tuesday in Prague, where he and his European Union counterparts were meeting.

___

Jon Gambrell in Lviv, Ukraine, and Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
(Bloomberg) -- Nearly all industrial scale Bitcoin miners in Texas have shut off their machines as the companies brace for a heat wave that is expected to push the states power grid near its breaking point.

Miners such as Riot Blockchain Inc., Argo Blockchain Plc and Core Scientific Inc., who operate millions of energy-intensive computers to secure the Bitcoin blockchain network and earn rewards in the token, flocked to the Lone Star State thanks to its low energy costs and liberal regulations on crypto mining. The state has become one of the largest crypto-mining hubs by computing power in the world.

There are over 1,000 megawatts worth of Bitcoin mining load that responded to ERCOTs conservation request by turning off their machines to conserve energy for the grid. Lee Bratcher, president of Texas Blockchain Council told Bloomberg in an email response. This represents nearly all industrial scale Bitcoin mining load in Texas and allows for over 1% of total grid capacity to be pushed back onto the grid for retail and commercial use.

Future Publishing/Future Publishing via Getty Imag

Miners may see a drop in profitability as the heat wave keeps their machines off by sending energy prices soaring and further stressing the states power grid. The miners are already struggling to repay debt and raise additional capital with Bitcoin prices in sharp decline. Shares of public miners have tumbled about 75% this year.

The all-time peak record for energy usage was set Friday with 78,206 megawatts, breaking the previous unofficial all-time peak of 77,460 megawatts that occurred on July 5, according to data from the states power operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The operator has been working with Bitcoin miners, who are required to turn off their mining machines when the state faces energy shortages.

While Texas is likely to face more energy shortages in the future, ERCOT expects crypto miners to increase electricity demand by up to six gigawatts by mid-2023, more than enough to power every home in Houston.

Currently, 100% of the machines located in Texas have been powered off to provide support for the ERCOT grid, Core Scientific CEO Mike Levitt said. In troubled situations including the current Texas heat event, we have been curtailing power and will continue to curtail power as needed. The company operates in six states, with less than 15% of its production located in Texas, he said.

Riot is participating in ERCOTs Four Coincident Peak program, in which the companys Whinstone Facility located in Rockdale, Texas, will curtail energy consumption when called on during the four summer months of peak energy demand, the miner said in an email to Bloomberg.

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
A longtime Alamo Plaza bar named after a "coward" who left the old mission before the Battle of the Alamo has refused buyouts from Alamo Trust. The San Antonio development group is planning a $140 million revamp the property around the historic site into a museum. Here's what you need to know.

Vince Cantu, owner of Moses Rose's Hideout at 516 E Houston Street, has refused an offer from Alamo Trust for $2.5 million, the Express-News reported. While that is above the property's estimated $2.1 million value, it is vastly below Cantu's asking price of $17 million.

In February, the Texas General Land Office came to an agreement with the attractions of the neighboring Woolworth Building that forced them to break their leases and move out. This meant saying goodbye to Ripley's Haunted Adventure and Tomb Rider.

Now the Texas General Land Office has sent a letter to Cantu asking him to remove the railing and patio seating that is sitting on property managed by the GLO and Alamo Trust, Express-News reports. Cantu says he had a permit for the patio but it expired in February.

On June 27, GLO told Cantu in a letter that he would need to remove the patio by Monday or they would do it for him and then send him the bill, but they have given Cantu more time.

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Click here to read the full article.

Johnny Depp will not be making an encore appearance in court later this month, as his attorneys have reached a settlement with a City of Lies crew member who alleged the actor punched him on set in 2017.

Depp had been scheduled to go to a civil trial in Los Angeles on July 25, less than two months after winning his defamation battle in a Virginia courtroom against ex-wife Amber Heard.

Gregg Rocky Brooks, a location manager, sued Depp in 2018, alleging that Depp became angry after Brooks informed him they had to stop filming for the night.

According to the suit, the production had a permit to shoot at the Barclay Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, but the permit expired at 10 p.m. Depp wanted to go later to get a longer version of a scene, and Brooks was able to get two extensions. But at 11 p.m., he was told he would have to shut it down.

Brooks first informed the director, Brad Furman, who responded: Why dont you tell that to Johnny Depp?

Brooks tried to get a police officer to help him break the news, at which point Depp began to shout, Who the fuck are you? You have no right to tell me what to do!, according to the lawsuit.

Depp allegedly punched Brooks twice in the lower rib cage, according to the lawsuit. Brooks claimed that Depp had alcohol on his breath, and shouted I will give you $100,000 to punch me in the face right now!

The case was set for a final status conference before trial on Tuesday. On Monday, the notice of settlement was sent to the judge. The suit is expected to be dismissed once the settlement is completed. No terms were disclosed.

Depp was represented by Camille Vasquez, the attorney who became popular among Depps fans after cross-examining Heard in the defamation trial.

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Last month, TikTok user janelleeev posted several videos of her sister enjoying Texas things while visiting from California. One of her TikToks hit a viral level after she hilariously showed how the Los Angeles resident reacted to shopping at H-E-B. Spoiler: she loved it.

Never miss an article. Sign up for our MySA newsletters here.

In her TikTok, the L.A. sister named Katie praised the McAllen H-E-B for its label and weight produce section, comparing it to her stores in California by saying they don't have those at her supermarket. She also freaked out about how people are doing curbside deliveries at the store.

"Does Northgate [Market] or El Super cut up every kind of fruit you can think of? No, they don't," her sister said while looking at the fruits H-E-B has sliced up. "And it's only $2."

Katie also couldn't believe the number of electronic products at H-E-B saying, "They have a f*cking Apple section here." She loved how H-E-B has a restaurant and a flower section. Katie also noted how H-E-B has the finest workers.

"That's it. 10 out 10," she said.

People on the video-sharing app agreed with Katie, finding her commentary hilarious and true. The video received more than 671,000 views and over 94,000 likes. In the comments, TikTok user hawk1up joked, "tell me you're from LA without telling me you're from LA."

"imagine her finding out that the H-E-B in San Antonio is 2 floors," crisdilon wrote.

"my H-E-B has a james avery in it lol," oooof12365 commented.

Check out the video below (This video contains offensive language).
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TOKYO (AP)  Japanese bid their final goodbye to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday as his funeral was held at a temple days after his assassination shocked the nation.

Abe, the country's longest-serving prime minister, remained influential even after stepping down two years ago for health reasons. He was gunned down Friday during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.

Hundreds of people, some in formal dark suits, filled sidewalks outside Zojoji temple in downtown Tokyo to bid farewell to Abe, whose nationalistic views drove the governing party's conservative policies.

Mourners took photos and some called out Abe san! as a motorcade with the hearse carrying his body accompanied by his widow, Akie Abe, slowly drove by the packed crowd.

I believe there were many things he left unfinished as a politician, public broadcaster NHK quoted Akie Abe as saying. But he planted many seeds and Im sure they will sprout.

Abes long-time ally and mentor, Finance Minister Taro Aso, described him as the most talented politician in postwar Japan who raised Japans international profile.

About 1,000 people, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, governing party leaders and foreign officials, attended the funeral at the temple.

Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te also attended in a private capacity, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported, prompting a formal protest from China. Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and objects to any expression of its independent political identity.

The hearse traveled through Tokyo's main political district, Nagata-cho, where Abe spent more than three decades after being first elected to parliament in 1991. It then drove slowly by the governing party headquarters, where senior lawmakers in dark suits stood outside and prayed, before heading to the prime minister's office, where Abe served a total of nearly a decade.

Kishida and Cabinet members pressed their hands before their chests as they prayed and bowed toward the hearse heading to a crematorium.

On Sunday, two days after Abe's killing, his Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner won a landslide victory in elections for the upper house, the less powerful of parliament's two chambers.

That could allow Kishida to govern uninterrupted until a scheduled election in 2025. But Abe's death also opens up a period of uncertainly for his party. Experts say a power struggle within Abe's party faction is certain and could affect Kishida's grip on power.

Kishida has stressed the importance of party unity after Abe's death.

Abes assassination has shaken Japan, one of the world's safest nations with some of the strictest gun laws.

The suspect, Tetsyua Yamagami, was arrested on the spot Friday and is being held at a local prosecutors office for further investigation. They can detain him for up to three weeks while deciding whether to formally press charges.

Police said Yamagami cited a rumored link between Abe and an organization the suspect hated as the motive for the killing. Media reports said the organization was the Unification Church and that Yamagami disliked it because donations made by his mother to the group had bankrupted his family.

The head of the Japanese branch of the South Korean-based church, known for its anti-communist stance and mass weddings, confirmed on Monday that the mother was a member. He said Abe was not, but may have spoken at groups affiliated with the church.

Police this week inspected a building related to the church in Nara after the suspect told investigators that he had test-fired a homemade gun there the day before the assassination. They found several holes in the building believed to be bullet holes, NHK and other Japanese media reported.

On Tuesday, National Police Agency chief Itaru Nakamura said police failed to fulfil their responsibility to protect Abe. I feel deep regret and shame, he said. He told reporters that the agency will set up a taskforce to review guarding procedures.

Abe, the son of an earlier prime minister, became Japan's youngest leader in 2006 at age 52. He left after a year in office due to health reasons but returned to power in 2012.

He vowed to revitalize the nation and lift its economy out of its deflationary doldrums with his Abenomics formula, which combines fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms.

His long-cherished goals, shared by other ultraconservatives, were to revise Japan's pacifist constitution drafted by the United States after World War II and transform Japan's Self Defense Force into a full-fledged military.

Abe, who was 67, left office in 2020, citing a recurrence of the ulcerative colitis he had since he was a teenager.
Odessa city officials are still investigating what caused a massive water line break that left the city without water for 48 hours last month. But theyve shared one important detail: The water line was about 60 years old.

Aging water systems are common throughout the country, said Thomas Kerr, Odessas utilities director, during a press conference the day after the line broke. Its often difficult for municipalities to be able to afford to manage those systems as they age. Thats the situation we find ourselves in.

The water outage in Odessa exposed the city to a reality that happens all over Texas and the nation  water supply systems have become increasingly more vulnerable to disasters.

In February, many Laredo residents had their water cut off due to a break in the 50-year-old pipes. In May, Bell County residents were asked to use 50% less water after a water leak. Last month, a water line break caused areas of College Station to flood, and officials said it was due to the dry conditions.

Last year, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued a report that gave a grade of C- to Texas drinking water infrastructure, describing it as mediocre [and] requires attention.

The report notes it's important for Texas to keep up with drinking water demand as its population continues to grow. According to the report, Texas population is projected to grow by more than 1,000 people per day during the next five decades  from 29.7 million in 2020 to approximately 51.5 million by 2070.

The report also states that many wastewater systems arent resilient enough to withstand extreme events. According to the report, the number of sanitary sewer overflows more than doubled from 2,500 to nearly 6,000 between 2016 and 2019, and theyre a threat to Texas lakes, rivers and beaches.

Ken Rainwater, a professor of civil, environmental and construction engineering at Texas Tech University, said a lot of factors can cause critical infrastructure to fail, and in the case of water pipes, it could be anything from how old they are to what material theyre made from. Other factors are the conditions surrounding the pipes, including the areas climate and whether theyre buried near high-traffic areas.

In an interview with the Odessa American, Kerr said 40% of the citys pipes are made of cast iron and another 20% are made from iron-based materials. According to Rainwater, cast iron was widely available and used after World War II when a lot of cities were growing their infrastructure. Now, because of the way the material degrades as it ages, Rainwater said its not used when pipes are upgraded or repaired.

While its likely that Odessa has replaced some of its old pipes in the past, Rainwater said its to be expected that cities with older infrastructure will be surprised now and then with breaks and failures.

Weve learned that cast iron pipes have lives of about 50 years, so [Odessa] got past 60 years, he said. But its like you deciding, How long am I going to wait to change the tires on my car?

Water boil notices are a good indicator of how troublesome a citys water infrastructure is becoming. Rainwater said when a water system is shut down, it also takes time to start disinfecting and cleaning water again before its safe to use, which is typically why water boil notices are issued.

According to data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 2021 was the worst year for water boil notices in the last decade, with 3,866 reported. The high number of reports could be linked to the winter storm last year, when more than 14.6 million Texans water supply was disrupted by frozen or burst pipes. During that time, 1,655 water boil notices were issued.

On average in the last 10 years, East Texas has experienced more water boil notices than any other area per year. TCEQ said only 12 of Texas 254 counties had no listed notices in the last decade. The agency did not have additional information about why that is, noting that the information available is self-reported by each citys public water officials.

Smaller cities, bigger challenges

Keeping the water healthy is an important function of a citys infrastructure, and its a challenge in places like Idalou, a town of about 1,815 residents about 150 miles north of Odessa.

Our main priority is funding for a water treatment plant, said Idalou city administrator Suzette Williams. Our best-producing well has a contaminant that exceeds the maximum level, and weve tried fixing it in the past but we couldnt keep up with the level.

The contamination issue has been ongoing for about five years, but Williams said its been difficult to find the funds to get the towns treatment plant. According to Williams, its been 12 years since the city issued a bond to citizens, and even then, that was for water and sewer improvements.

The funding opportunities are not as easily accessible as maybe other larger cities that can issue larger amounts of debt to do a large project, said Williams. Its a 20-year note, so we look at the climate of the economy, too, because whenever we add debt to our portfolio, that debt is passed on to the citizens, and thats when were looking at utility rate increases to cover that bond payment.

In March, Williams presented seven requests to the Lubbock County Commissioners Court as part of funding applications through the American Rescue Plan Act, which is expected to dole out about $5.7 billion for COVID-19 recovery to Texas. Williams requests were mostly related to water system improvements.

Regardless of if we get funded through the countys ARPA funds, this project has to go on, Williams said. If we have to look at issuing debt, that will be our next step.

Residents want to raise their families here, they want to have safe drinking water, she added. And they understand that theres going to be some costs associated with it.

Raising money for these projects is a hurdle for small communities, but rate increases are a feasible option. According to the Texas Water Journal, raising rates is the only low-cost means cities and utility boards have to secure the funds for needed upgrades in a short period of time.

Financing upgrades and repairs has become all the more difficult because of supply shortages and price increases in raw materials as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perry L. Fowler, executive director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network, said contractors who specialize in water systems are having a harder time giving their clients a precise estimate for repair work because of those uncertainties.

Getting pricing guaranteed on certain items is difficult until youre submitting a purchase order that day. So theres a lot of risk thats out there. It really requires a lot more planning and communication in some cases, and more funding, Fowler said.

No silver bullet

President Joe Bidens Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed in November, promises to bring some much-needed financial relief to Texas. According to the Texas Water Development Board, it has not received funds yet but is expecting to receive nearly $508 million this fiscal year.

Although the federal funds that will flow into the state are much-needed aid, some experts say its not enough.

People talk about it like its going to be this infrastructure renaissance, and frankly, I just disagree with that, Fowler said. Anybody whos really familiar with it knows that thats not necessarily the case. Its more money, certainly. It might go to some communities that really need it, but it is not the silver bullet for our water infrastructure needs by any means.

Another issue facing Texas water infrastructure is the ongoing drought. Texas is experiencing the worst drought in the last decade. About 80% of Texas has been facing drought conditions most of the year, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

When it gets dry, the soil expands and contracts, and when it does that, it impacts everything underground, Fowler said. So if pipes are in conditions where the soil is expanding and contracting, especially if theyre old and brittle, theyre more likely to have potential failures. Which is why typically we do see more pipes breaking in the summertime in Texas.

Last years winter storm also caused pipes to freeze and burst all throughout the state.

Any severe weather conditions are gonna potentially impact infrastructure, especially if the ground is shifting and things are moving around where you have facilities for water, wastewater systems. ... It exposes your vulnerabilities, Fowler said.

In colder states, water infrastructure is typically placed further underground to prevent freezing  something that Texas might need to consider in the future. In the meantime, Fowler said, infrastructure upgrades need to happen sooner rather than later.

These projects cant wait, thats the problem, he said. If you delay investments, or you have a project thats ready to go on the shelf, its going to cost more money if you go further down the road.

Disclosure: Texas Tech University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Correction, July 8, 2022: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that an American Society of Civil Engineers report gave a grade of C- to the quality of Texas drinking water. The grade was for the states drinking water infrastructure.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
Kelly Neidert, founder and leader of the North Texas-based anti-LGBTQ organization Protect Texas Kids, organized a protest Sunday of Hamburger Marys drag brunch in downtown Houston. A few dozen anti-LGBTQ protestors gathered with her across the street from the LGBTQ-friendly restaurant, while100-or-so counter-protestors lined the sidewalk in front of its doors.

"We're out here today...because theyre allowing kids into all their weekend drag shows," Neidert said, while flanked by multiple armed men wearing masks depicting the iconic Buc-ees grinning beaver.

The popular Texas brand's logo and mascot have been adopted as a marker for members of the white supremacist group the Proud Boys in recent months, according to reports from Texas Monthly and Salon. Men in Bucky masks appeared to stand guard over Neidert throughout her protest at the Houston drag event Sunday, however, the men declined to respond to questions about their membership in the Proud Boys or clarify whether they were affiliated with any specific group.

Jay R. Jordan / Chron staff

Tracy Shannon, the Houston-based leader of the Texas chapter of Mass Resistancewhich bills itself as a "leading pro-family activist organization" with aims to "confront assaults" on traditional valuesinformed her friend Neidert of Hamburger Mary's Sunday Drag Brunch and urged her to bring her anti-trans activism from the Dallas area to Houston, Neidert said. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled Mass Resistance an anti-LGBTQ hate group since as early as 2017.

Both Neidert's and Shannon's groups believe that the LGBTQ communityand drag performers especiallyaim to indoctrinate young kids into liberalism and coerce them into sexual activity with pedophilic adults using LGBTQ identity as cover.

Jay R. Jordan / Chron staff

One of the men wearing Buc-ees masks hovered close by as Neidert spoke with Chron at the event, and trailed close behind Neidert as she moved among her supporters afterwards. Other men donning Buc-ee's masks appeared to stick close to Neidert during the remainder of the protest, alongside other armed men wearing a variety of different face masks and regalia.

"I wouldnt be surprised if those were some of them," Neidert said, when asked whether the men in Buc-ees masks were Proud Boys there to protect her during the event. "But I didnt really like speak with them about it, or like I couldn't confirm that."

Neidert has been linked to the Proud Boys in the recent past: While facing backlash for her anti-trans demonstrations during her time as a student at the University of North Texas at Denton near Dallas, former Proud Boys lawyer Jason Lee Van Dyke voiced support online and offered her legal representation if it was needed. A Denton resident told the Daily Beast that they saw Neidert and Van Dyke at dinner together at a Denton Thai restaurant in February. However, Neidert told the Daily Beast that Van Dyke was not providing legal services for her in March.

Members of the Proud Boys have donned the Bucky face mask at events across Texas in recent months. Masked members crashed an LGBTQ pride event near Dallas in June, brandishing weapons and shouting that the attendees were pedophiles and "groomers." Buc-ees masks were also spotted among groups of anti-LGBTQ activists outside a drag brunch event in Arlington, Texas and at a May Frisco City Council meeting designating June as a Pride month.

Michael Murney

Buc-ee's has kept its distance from any affiliation with the Proud Boys. "We have never had contact with these people and do not know who they are," Buc-ee's general counsel Jeff Nadalo told Texas Monthly in June, adding that, No third party is going to prevent us from providing clean bathrooms equally to all people."

The Buc-ees mask wasnt the only symbol associated with hate-groups that was visible among anti-trans protestors on Sunday. At least one man wore an SS hat and a necklace with a large silver swastika while shouting anti-gay slurs at counter protestors. Another wore a skull and crossbones mask associated with the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, while flashing the "OK" hand gesture at counterprotestors. The gesture has been appropriated to mean white power in recent years.
Texas native Eugene Lee Yang from The Try Guys gathered around 200 locals for a fundraising event with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke at San Antonio's Southtown Arts District on Monday, July 11.

"Let me introduce you to the next governor of Texas," Yang, who's from Pflugerville, said while the audience applauded at the beginning of the event.

Yang expressed to the crowd that he teamed up with O'Rourke because he strongly believes he will be a better governor than Greg Abbott, who has served as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. The YouTube Star said he thinks Texas is more progressive than many people perceive and that the state will turn blue in the next decade.

During the event, O'Rourke answered several questions from Yang and the audience. Yang and O'Rourke discussed the struggles many Texans are facing under the Abbott administration, such as abortion rights, the power grid, and health care.

Billy Calzada/Staff photographer

Many San Antonio leaders also showed up to the event in support of O'Rourke, such as Mayor Ron Nirenberg, Democratic Nominee for Congress Greg Casar, District 2 City Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, and Queer Eye's Angel Joy Flores.

In regards to the power grid, O'Rourke said Abbott is failing Texans. He recalled going door to door and seeing Texans help others when the power grid failed millions during the devastating winter storm in February 2021. For education, O'Rourke pledged support for teacher pay increases and more money for public schools. He said it's also time to get rid of STARR tests.

Yang mentioned how he visited the queer scene in San Antonio prior to the event, asking them about how the Texas legislature has failed the LGBTQ+ community. O'Rourke promised the audience that he will fight for LGBTQ+ rights and work with the legislation on protecting the community.

Billy Calzada/Staff photographer

Yang asked O'Rourke what he says to voters who want to see less tragic events in Texas, such as the Uvalde mass shooting. O'Rourke said he's also frustrated that Texas has not made progress but guarantees he will make progress if elected. "Don't give up on this vote," he said. O'Rourke added that no one should have an AR-15 or AK-47. He said it's a weapon designed for battle.

The producer and writer filmed the event for his upcoming documentary named, This is Texas. The documentary aims to showcase the strength of the Democratic resistance in Texas, the issues facing working Texans, and the need for new political leadership. The documentary will be released on September 7 on The Try Guys YouTube channel, which has more than eight million subscribers.
UPDATE: Texas Govenor Greg Abbott shared his sentiments on the matter Tuesday afternoon in a tweet.

The original story follows here:

First Lady Jill Biden is drawing backlash for saying Texas Hispanics are as "unique" as "breakfast tacos" during a speech in San Antonio on Monday, July 11. Biden made the remark at the UnidosUS Annual Conference in San Antonio while she was praising the organization's president Raul Yzaguirre.

"Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength," Biden said in her speech.

After she made the comment, the crowd cheered a bit to her breakfast taco reference and she shared a light laugh. However, the backlash came fast after the speech. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists released the following statement:

"Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of Latinos in San Antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of Latinos in the region," the organization wrote. "NAHJ encourages Dr. Biden and her speech writing team to take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities."

NAHJ continued, "We are not tacos. Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions and should not be reduced to a stereotype."

Florida Senator Marco Rubio also responded to the first lady's comment, changing his Twitter profile picture to an image of a taco.

Michael LaRosa, the first lady's spokesman, said the first lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community.
KateLynn White graduated from Tennessee State University, where she was an editor of the student newspaper. She interned for The Tennessean and The Tennessee Tribune before joining the Nashville Post in 2022. She also contributes to the Nashville Scene.

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My Nashville Post role has evolved since 2000 when I joined the now-defunct The City Paper. TCP became a Post sister publication in 2008 (when I began doing some Post work) and folded in 2013. I have been managing editor of the Post since late 2011.

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(Natural News) Amazon is now in a perilous situation after spending billions to increase the size of its fulfillment network during the pandemic. It has been forced to either cancel or delay plans for 16 warehouses scheduled to be built this year.

Four warehouses in Texas and two in Tennessee were among the 16 put on hold, along with several others in California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin.

According to Amazon Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brian Olsavsky, the company decided to broaden its warehouse network based on the high end of a very volatile demand outlook.

We currently have some excess capacity in the network that we need to grow into. So, weve brought down our build expectations. Note again that many of the build decisions were made 18 to 24 months ago, so there are limitations on what we can adjust midyear, he informed investors on Amazons Q1 2022 earnings call.

American e-commerce retail sales during the first quarter of 2022, with an adjustment for seasonal variation, rose 2.4 percent as per the Census Bureau. Despite this, the e-commerce giant recorded a $3.8 billion net loss in the first quarter this year after collecting an $8.1 billion profit in the same quarter last year.

But even though the new warehouses were canceled or postponed, Amazon still possesses a fulfillment that is impossible to match. According to supply chain consulting firm MWPVL International, the tech giant has almost 1,200 active distribution centers covering 376 million square feet. In comparison, Walmart operates almost 200 active facilities with less than half the square footage.

Amazon went from understaffed to overstaffed in a few months

Amazon cutting its footprint in half by walking back warehouse plans is not the issue, as it would still have more warehouses than any other U.S. company. The real issue lies with the warehouse staff.

The Big Tech firm expressed displeasure over the productivity of its fulfillment centers. According to Olsavsky, the enormous marketplace overcompensated for its labor issues. It went from understaffed to overstaffed in a few months, subsequently tanking productivity.

We hired more people and then found ourselves overstaffed when the [B11529] omicron variant subsided rather quickly, at least from our standpoint in warehouses. So, the issue has switched from disruption to productivity losses to overcapacity on labor, said the Amazon CFO.

Olsavsky added that Amazon has worked to protect and enhance the customer experience despite a sharp increase in costs, particularly over the past three quarters, even though it has seen a large cost to keep up with demand these past two years.

But a glut of employees is the least of Amazons problems.

A leaked company memo, seen by Recode in June, disclosed the e-commerce giant could decrease its warehouse labor force by 2024. If we continue business as usual, Amazon will deplete the available labor supply in the U.S. network by 2024, the memo warned.

In addition, Amazon gained notoriety for its unrivaled turnover rate. A New York Times investigation revealed that it was as high as 150 percent even before the pandemic  which meant that there are more employees leaving Amazon warehouses annually than there are being hired. (Related: TERMINATED: Amazon relying on machines to fire its workers.)

Employee turnovers had also concerned Amazon that it started tracking it on a weekly basis. The tech giant discovered that it is losing an estimated three percent of its warehouse workers every seven days. Putting it bluntly, the e-commerce powerhouse filtered through its whole supply of warehouse labor every eight months on average.

Follow JeffBezosWatch.com for more news about Amazon.

Watch the video below to know more about Amazons fully autonomous warehouse robot.

This video is from the High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Amazon employees demand banning of all books they dont like.

Amazon buying up massive industrial land holdings across the U.S., even as it reduces warehouse square footage what are they planning?

Amazon sued for price gouging during coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

FreightWaves.com

RetailTouchpoints.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Last week at American Thinker, in discussing the Dobbs case, I prophesied, and if your media sources resemble those Ive seen, the moral angle will be played to the hilt with stories of exceptional cases being treated as the rule.

(Article by Clarice Feldman republished from AmericanThinker.com)

How right I was, as the story of a 10-year-old who was raped and had to travel to Indiana from Ohio to get an abortion was highlighted in multiple media everywhere and used to discredit the Supreme Court justices who decided Dobbs and pro-life politicians.

Megan Fox has done a fine bit of journalism exposing this propaganda coup and the Blaze details her work. Ms. Fox broke the story in a series of tweets. In order to make her work easier to follow Im reframing it in a more conventional, easier-to-understand way, but you are invited to the source to see how this unraveled. Each of her factual assertions is accompanied by links to them.

The sole source of the story is an ardent abortionist. The story is unverifiable and peddled by those who share her views with no apparent independent efforts to confirm the tale. If nothing else, this shows you how easy the job of a news editor at the named publications is. You dont have to do anything  just let your reporters rattle off the headline-framing tales of a figure who advances the desired narrative. Do not demand even the merest investigation of claims, particularly if they sound outrageous. (Like Trump hiring prostitutes to pee in a hotel bed in Moscow because Obama had slept there.)

The Megan Fox account asserts that an unnamed child abuse doctor from Ohio called Dr. Caitlyn Bernard, an Indiana abortionist, for help. And she called the media with the account which published it without any questions asked.

Dr. Bernard is the medias sole source for this story, so its important to check her background to see if she is likely to be giving an accurate, nonpartisan account.

When you do, the answer is clear: Its exceedingly unlikely that she is without a partisan interest in the issue. In June she was interviewed by PBS, predicting doom if Roe was overturned. That same month she repeated her claim of doom on worth.com as she organized a rally for abortion access on the Indiana University campus where she teaches. On June 30 WTHR quotes her saying:

Healthcare providers are sick of politicians getting in the way of their decision making.

Politico likes her, too, quoting her as saying, For a lot of people in Indiana, if I tell them to go out of state, I might as well tell them to go to the moon. They have to pay for the care at the clinic, the time away from their children, the time away from their jobs. Gas prices are also increasing.

Since Politico likes her as a source for advancing a narrative of which they approve, can the Republic be far behind? Also advancing her pro-abortion stance was the Herald Bulletin on July 5. Beginning on January 16, 2017, when the NYT covered her remarks on a Trump abortion ban through July 5 of this year, she is quoted twenty times in various publications. Clearly, shes on the woke publications go-to-persons-on-abortion Rolodex.

Its not just that shes the media go-to person on the topic of abortions, she was as well the plaintiff in a pre-Dobbs case in Indiana to obtain an injunction against enforcement of the states second-trimester abortion (dismemberment abortion) restrictions. She won that case, but now that Roe is overturned, the state seeks to have the injunction lifted, and she is again fighting to keep second-trimester abortions legal.

Once an advocate of self-abortions by abortifacient drugs, on July 1 she is quoted in a Fox 59 report as saying they are risky. If women are so desperate to send away to receive pills to have a self-managed abortion at home is what Right-To-Life doing really helping them? Obviously not because then they wouldnt be doing something as drastic as that.

Despite her obvious and easily documented partisanship, her account of the young rape victim was deemed credible  apparently without any independent examination  by these media (Courtesy of Megan Fox):

Its not just the obvious bias of the source of the story, however. There is much more which should have alerted news editors that the story is suspect. Qui bono? That is, to whose benefit is this story? It was used to attack Republican Kristi Noem and will certainly be used to attack all pro-life politicians and contribute to the vitriolic attacks on Supreme Court justices who decided Dobbs. (Justice Brett Kavanaugh, already a target of a would-be-assassin, was just driven by protesters from a downtown D.C. steak house.) The Washington Posts Jennifer Rubin embraced the Bernard claim with an op-ed entitled Its the cruelty that will undo the forced birth crusade. She bought the tale of the 10-year-old and uses it for her ends  bashing her former conservative colleagues.

The story is unverifiable. Even Snopes concedes this.

Dozens of Snopes readers searched out site or contacted us wondering whether that had actually happened. To find out we reached out to dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis and who spoke to the Columbus Dispatch about the headline-generating story. As of this writing [July 5] Bernard has not returned our request for an interview, but we will update this story if that changes.

Megan Fox reached out to the IndyStar, the first press outlet to carry the Bernard story, asking what kind of vetting had been done by the paper on the story. As of July 5, she had received no response.

But its more than unverifiable, even though Dr. Bernard can hide behind doctor-patient confidentiality. It is on its face unlikely to be true. There is no proof that this 10-year-old exists. If she did exist and was abused, the law requires that law enforcement be called to investigate, but no such report exists. No mention in any of these oft-reported stories is there even the name of the town where this crime occurred. (Reminds me of those cheap tabloid stories of a baby with the wolfs head having been born in some remote, unnamed village in Bangladesh, accompanied by a blurry, impossible to identify, obviously fake photo.)

Stripped down to essential facts, the story is really this: An ardent abortionist, fearing that her state will ban abortions after the Dobbs decision, said an unnamed physician in an unnamed Ohio town told her he had as a patient a 10-year-old pregnant rape victim who needed to travel to Indiana for an abortion. No record exists of a report to law enforcement of the rape, even though an attending physician would be required to make such a report.

Its good to be a news editor  you can retire at your desk and keep your salary and paycheck.

Read more at: AmericanThinker.com
(Natural News) Finding a way around the Supreme Courts decision to upend Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden just signed an executive order protecting access to reproductive health services on July 8.

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court issued a decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated a womans Constitutional right to choose. This decision expressly took away a right from the American people that it had recognized for nearly 50 years, a womans right to make her own reproductive health care decisions, free from government interference, the White House stated in a fact sheet.

The said executive order will support abortion on demand until the moment of birth.

On Friday morning, July 8, the fact sheet was released directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to protect and expand access to medication abortion. It also ordered the Attorney General and the White House Counsel to convene private pro bono attorneys, bar associations and public interest organizations to provide legal counsel for women seeking abortions and doctors committing abortions.

The Biden administration promised to fight any attack by a state or local official who attempts to interfere with women exercising this right.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra reportedly said the administration has no magic bullet that can restore access to abortion, as the executive order seemed vague on how the president hopes to accomplish those goals.

Anti-abortion advocates denounced this massive move to disrespect the high courts decision and the sanctity of life.

President Biden has once again caved to the extreme abortion lobby, determined to put the full weight of the federal government behind promoting abortion. Democrats will stop at nothing to promote their agenda of abortion on demand, up until the moment of birth, paid for by the taxpayers, Susan B. Anthony (SAB) Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said. (Related: Even as threats continue to rise globally, Bidens Pentagon gets its priorities in order: Protecting access to abortion.)

Pro-life activist Evangelist Alveda C. King, the niece of civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr., said the president and the liberals in Congress are focused on expanding the death care known as abortion. We must pray and we must act to save our unborn, she tweeted.

Abortion is not a reproductive healthcare service,' Ryan Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, stated in his social media post. He pointed out that reproduction has already occurred and there are two patients who need healthcare services, if you are contemplating abortion.

Dannenfelser said their pro-life organization is committed to exposing Democrats abortion extremism to voters across key battleground states so this extreme agenda can be soundly rejected at the ballot box this November.

Pro-abortion supporters would do anything to get what they want

Biden signed the executive order designed to ensure access to abortion medication and emergency contraception while preparing for the legal fights to come. But even before this, violent and chaotic acts have been performed that may have added to the pressure on Biden to do something.

Leftists would do just about anything as they were disappointed with what they perceived as inaction to protect abortion following the overturning of the landmark decision. Pro-abortion groups continue to wreak havoc on pro-life sites.

Fire broke out at a Christian pregnancy clinic late last month in Colorado. There were chilling messages that were spray painted onto the walls and ground outside: If abortions arent safe, neither are you and Bans off our bodies.

Authorities believe the fire was set deliberately. The center aims to educate women on pregnancy and no abortion procedures are being carried out in this clinic.

Vandals also struck at the Montpelier state capitol. Windows were broken and a message was painted outside the main door: If abortions arent safe, youre not either.

Police said seven windows worth $25,000 were smashed and damaged.

Pro-abortion protestors also attempted an insurrection at the Arizona State Senate. Extremist demonstrators made their way to the entrance of the Senate building and began forcibly entering by breaking windows and pushing down doors. Law enforcement monitoring this situation called for backup and was able to disperse the crowd with tear gas before entry was made.

Watch the below video that talks about current issues, including Bidens executive order on protecting access to abortion.

This video is from the Terral03.com channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

House Republicans call on Bidens AWOL Homeland Security to investigate radical Janes Revenge pro-abortion group as domestic terrorists.

ABORTION LUNACY: Elizabeth Warren called for abortion TENTS at national parks to butcher babies in red states.

Biden promises that your tax dollars will be used by HHS to transport women across state lines for baby killing abortion Uber.

To the horror of Leftists, Biden just admitted that abortion involves the death of a child.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

WhiteHouse.gov

NYTimes.com

Twitter.com

Archive.vn

Wcax.com

WendyRogers.org

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Ray Forbess, a former Clay County assistant state attorney and circuit court employee with the Duval County state attorneys office, once boasted on his website that he helped alleged pedophiles escape without justice.

(Article by Shane Trejo republished from BigLeaguePolitics.com)

Forbess, who is now running for the position of Clay County Judge (Group 1) in Florida, made the boast while he was in private practice and looked to collect money from accused child molesters looking to beat their charges.

The Central Florida Post reported that The Forbess Law Firm bragged about helping at least 20 defendants defeat sex crime charges on their official website until officially scrubbing the page on June 22. Forbess firm even bragged about helping a 60-year-old man accused of penetrating a 6-year-old girl beat the charges.

The sick and deranged testimonial can be seen here:

Our client, C.S., a 60 year-old man, was arrested and held on no bond for Capital Sexual Battery, a Mandatory Life Felony. C.S. was accused of fondling and penetrating the genitals of a six-year old girl. The child said that C.S. stuck his finger in her genitals and moved it all around. When interviewed by detectives at the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office, C.S. said that he left his hand on her vagina longer than he should have. C.S. was facing mandatory life in prison. After the facts of the case were examined and scrutinized by our firm, our Jacksonville Sex Crimes Lawyers were able to get all charges DISMISSED and our client was allowed to resume his normal life.

Another testimonial showed how The Forbess Law Firm helped an alleged serial child molester beat the charges:

Our client, J.S., was arrested in Jacksonville for lewd and lascivious molestation, a first degree felony. The alleged victim, a 10 year-old girl, told her grandmother and the police that she was molested by our client. Our client dated the girls mother at one time. She said that the touching incidents occurred 4 years ago, when she was 6 years old. She claimed that he would touch her between her legs on her vagina over 100 times. The alleged victims sister told police she saw J.S. touch her sister and was afraid to tell earlier because she was afraid one of her family members would hurt him. Our clients original bond was set at NONE, but then was set at $250,003 with an ankle monitor. Our Jacksonville Sex Crimes Attorneys investigated the case further and brought out inconsistencies in the testimony and evidence. Our Jacksonville Sex Law Firm was able to get all charges DISMISSED.

They also bragged about getting a man accused of penetrating a 12-year-old girl off scot free:

Our client, H.H., was arrested in Jacksonville and charged with 2 counts of lewd or lascivious molestation and 1 count of sexual battery. One lewd charge and the sexual battery charge were both life felonies. That means, if H.H. was convicted of either charge, he would face life in prison. The other lewd charge was a second degree felony, punishable for up to 15 years in prison. The alleged victim was H.H.s 12 year-old step-daughter. The alleged victim told her mother and police that H.H, a 32 year-old man, kissed her with his tongue, used his hand to fondle her breasts, and digitally (finger) penetrated her vagina. After our Jacksonville Sex Crimes Attorneys investigated the charges thoroughly, we were able to get all sex charges DROPPED.

While all criminal defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty under the law, the fact that Forbess sought out child molesters and pedophiles to defend and actually bragged about getting their charges dropped  even when they admitted to certain improprieties  is highly disconcerting. Jacksonville voters should take this into consideration when considering what person they want as their judge next month.

Read more at: BigLeaguePolitics.com
(Natural News) In the wake of the assassination of former conservative Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, elements of the liberal media made sure to get their kicks in as they slapped on nasty labels to show their disgust with his politics. This comes in contrast to their glowing words and emotional goodbyes to communist dictators and murderers, and Muslim terrorists.

(Article by Nicholas Fondacaro republished from NewsBusters.org)

The anti-Abe pronouncement getting a lot of attention on Friday was NPRs now-deleted Tweet describing the recently murdered world leader as a divisive arch-conservative. In the replacement tweet, they still had the knives out as they smeared him as an ultranationalist.

And in the piece itself, international correspondent John Ruwitch used the ultra-nationalist [sic] label again and left kinder words to people like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said Abe was a towering statesman, an outstanding leader, and a remarkable administrator.

Even in American politics, NPR couldnt be bothered to cover the attempted assassination of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh. But in 2016, an NPR reporter described getting a kiss from the murderous communist Castro brothers of Cuba as the blessing of the Holy Trinity.

Another infamous headline for the death of a murderous lunatic was when The Washington Post mourned the death of ISIS founder Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, calling him an austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State. The paper had to be shamed into changing the headline and making an apology.

For Abe, The Post put out a tweet with a graphic saying he leaves behind a mixed legacy. Though in a follow-up tweet, they noted he was in the Liberal Democratic Party, possibly because they like those labels when viewed through the prism of American politics rather than the policies they promote in Japan.

CBS Mornings got in the Abe bashing with foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer declaring him a polarizing figure and a right-wing nationalist and conservative because he was a fierce supporter of Japans military.

NewsBusters has amassed a trove of instances of Palmer showing reverence to the murderous remiges of Iran (such as here, here, here, and here). In one, she touted the epic salute to Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian general. Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khameini wept as he led the prayer service for his friend and ally, the man he had worked with so closely to expand Irans influence across the Middle East, she lamented at the time.

In another instance of a veteran network reporter gushing for murderous monsters, following the ironic death of communist butcher Fidel Castro on Black Friday, NBC chief foreign correspondent Andrea Mitchell shared her fond memories of him:

We would argue, he would have dinners or meetings or interviews starting at midnight going to 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning so sometimes hard just to keep up with him. And he was a voracious reader questioning me about the politics and the economy in the US. And he was a voracious reader questioning me about the politics and the economy in the US.

But on Friday, NBC wanted to use Abes assassination to score political points here at home by making it about gun violence. And yet they would drown out the attempt against Kavanaugh with January 6 coverage.

Read more at: NewsBusters.org
(Natural News) Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is now claiming that it should not be held responsible for criminal acts involving its Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine because the government knew about them when granting authorization.

The lawyer for whistleblower Brook Jackson told The Defender that in its argument, Pfizer essentially admitted to wrongdoing but says there should be no consequences because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave its blessing to the fraudulent clinical trials. (Related: The FDA advisory board that authorized the jabs based on fraudulent data has financial ties to Pfizer.)

Under the False Claims Act, which is the means through which Jacksons lawsuit was filed, whistleblowers can be rewarded for confidentially disclosing fraud that results in financial losses for the federal government.

A possible roadblock to this, and Pfizers latest defense, is a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded the scope of a legal principle known as materiality. This resulted in a series of federal court decisions in which fraud claims brought under the False Claims Act were dismissed.

As interpreted by the Supreme Court, if the government continued paying a contractor despite the contractors fraudulent activity, the fraud was not considered material to the contract, reports The Defender.

Attorney Robert Barnes says that Pfizers argument maintains that the company can get away with fraud as long as the government continues writing checks despite knowing about it.

Pfizer killed congressional amendment that would have strengthened False Claims Act

In 2021, Congress introduced the False Claims Amendments Act, which aimed to strengthen the False Claims Acts anti-retaliation provisions as well as install new safeguards against industry-level blacklisting of whistleblowers seeking employment.

Five months later, Pfizer hired a well-connected lobbyist known as Hazen Marshall, along with the law firm Williams & Jensen, to lobby against the bill. Pfizer, it turns out, has had to pay out billions of dollars in the past due to other health care fraud.

Since November 2021, Congress has taken no further action on the False Claims Amendments Act, thanks to Pfizers interference with it.

Pfizer, one of the most criminally fined drug companies in the world, wants to weaken the laws that hold them accountable, Barnes told The Defender.

The outcome of Jacksons case is not just significant for Jackson. It is a critical case for the American public at large because it will determine the future of the pharmaceutical industrys ability to scam and harm people without consequence.

This case will determine if Big Pharma can rip off the American people using a dangerous drug that harms millions without any legal remedy because they claim the government was in on the scam, Barnes says.

Brook [Jackson] brought a Qui Tam action and a retaliatory discharge case against Pfizer and others for fraud on the people concerning Pfizers false certifications to the U.S. Department of Defense about the safety and efficacy of their COVID-19 vaccine.

A Qui Tam case, by the way, allows individuals and other entities with evidence of fraud against federal programs or contracts to sue the wrongdoer on behalf of the United States government.

She was part of the clinical trials, witnessed extraordinary malfeasance, blew the whistle, and was quickly fired after she blew the whistle, Barnes added.

In August, Barnes and his legal team are filing an opposition brief to Pfizers motion to dismiss. A ruling on that could occur by Fall 2022.

This highlights just how insanely corrupt both Pfizer and the government are, wrote someone who reads The Defender. Two wrongs dont make a right. If the government knew about and enabled the crimes, both Pfizer and the government should be punished.

The latest news coverage about Fauci Flu shots can be found at Vaccines.news.

Sources for this article include:

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The United States continues to drain its stockpile of weapons, many of them advanced long-range missile and artillery systems, by supplying them to Ukraine, but almost as fast as many of them arrive, they are being destroyed by Russian forces.

Last week Russias defense ministry claimed that its forces managed to locate and destroy two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) that were only recently supplied to Ukraine, the loss of which cannot be sustained.

The systems are meant to greatly expand Ukraines long-range firing capabilities in order to match those of Russia. But in keeping with an earlier pledge, Moscow announced that its forces would target any weapons systems supplied by foreign nations and ultimately hold them responsible.

There was no independent confirmation that Russian troops took out the two systems, but to be honest, its not like the Ukrainians would confirm that the systems were destroyed even if true. Thats because Kyiv doesnt want to lose its weapons gravy train being supplied primarily by U.S. taxpayers; admitting the HIMARS were taken out is a tacit admission that a) supplying such systems is pointless because b) the Ukrainians have no way to protect them.

However, if accurate, it would be a devastating rollback of efforts to give Kiev longer range rockets, given at this point the Ukrainians likely only possess less than half a dozen HIMARS. It also takes time to train the Ukrainians on the complicated mobile systems being transferred, Zero Hedge reports.

This could mean the destruction of half of the US-made HIMARS deployed by the Ukrainians. Reuters recounts, Ukraine had received only four HIMARS systems as of early July, the European Council on Foreign Relations said in a report. The U.S. has pledged to deliver eight by mid-July,' the site added.

Reuters noted further, citing Russian military sources:

It also said Russian forces destroyed two ammunition depots storing rockets for the HIMARS near the frontline in a village south of Kramatorsk in Ukraines Donetsk region  the main focus for Russian troops following the capture of Luhansk over the weekend.

The ministry released video footage which it said showed the strike. Reuters could not independently verify the strike.

One military analyst, Samuel Ramani, noted that the Kremlins claim underscores Russias desire to specifically target HIMARS shipments from the U.S. to Ukraine  likely because the Russian military is keenly aware that the systems are highly effective and the Ukrainians cant protect them.

Russian ministry of defence claims to have destroyed two HIMARS systems in Donetsk region. Ukrainians deny it. Russian video (black and white bit here) inconclusive. pic.twitter.com/d6Z5FlqNGK  Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) July 6, 2022

If true, what the destruction of the HIMARS also does is move the U.S. and Russia that much closer to a direct conflict since Russian troops appear to be specifically looking for any weapons that have been supplied by foreign (largely NATO) countries. That would especially include long-range rocket and artillery systems, for obvious reasons.

Late last month, the Ukrainian military said that it took out a Russian military base using a HIMARS.

What does US aid to Ukraine look like? It looks like a destroyed Russian base. The long-awaited M142 HIMARS made their first appearance this week, striking in Izyum, Ukraine. Info is still pending, but one thing is clear: Artillery is the King of Battle, a Twitter user called CJ noted in a post that contained video footage of what appears to be destroyed Russian military vehicles and equipment.

What does US aid to Ukraine look like? It looks like a destroyed Russian base ? The long-awaited M142 HIMARS made their first appearance this week, striking in Izyum, Ukraine. Info is still pending, but one thing is clear: Artillery is the King of Battle ? pic.twitter.com/sS4crZYecL  CJ (@cjdrew94) June 25, 2022

The Biden regime seems to want war with Russia.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

NationalSecurity.news
(Natural News) Retired Army Major General Paul E. Vallely has warned that the U.S. is facing both external and internal enemies.

Were faced with so many enemies, external as well as internal. Were looking at this global reset. The globalists taking over the world [and] basically [having] puppets that will run these global governments at the country level, Vallely told host Dr. Peter Breggin during the July 6 episode of ReFounding America on Brighteon.TV.

The former deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army in the Pacific noted the growth and expansion of China and the Chinese Communist Party. Vallely cited the massive improvement in Chinas military, scientific and manufacturing capabilities, which allowed it to launch its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Formerly known as One Belt One Road or OBOR, BRI is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in nearly 70 countries and international organizations. It is considered a centerpiece of the Chinese leader Xi Jinpings foreign policy. As of March 2022, 146 countries were listed as having signed up to the BRI.

Vallely also noted that the Chinese are now in control of the $5 billion worth of equipment that the U.S. left in the hands of Taliban forces at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan.

Threats from within

Breggin pointed out that the American government has been taken over by extreme left-wing progressives, who are not very different from global predators like Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates.

Many of these global predators have been identified in an upcoming book titled Americas End Game for the 21st Century, which Vallely co-authored with Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney and David Goetsch. Specifically, they identified 38 globalists working with Schwab and his World Economic Forum. Those people, Vallely said, are part of a shadow government that is running the show at the World Health Organization.

Vallely, chairman of Stand Up America, pointed out that the communists have been working for decades in America and have now influenced all of the major American universities with their leftist ideology. (Related: Alex Newman tells Dr. Peter Breggin: Global elites have driven the spread of communism around the world  Brighteon.TV.)

He also mentioned that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is being used to crush those opposing the Biden administration and that the left-wing Democrats led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are out to control the American people. They found an opening to do that when China released the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Democrats dont want to lose what they have right now and they want to hold on to that power, Vallely said.

Globalists out to destroy America

The retired major general also expressed concerns about the cartels controlling the southern border. According to Vallely, the borderless societies and borderless countries policy implemented several years ago in Europe marked the initial launch of the Great Reset.

That policy could also be implemented in America.

Breggin said there are leaders throughout the world like Schwab, Gates, Michael Bloomberg and George Soros who want to destroy America and enforce globalism.

The globalist elites want to take charge and rearrange the world to meet their needs, Breggin said. They want to make a worldwide workforce that they can exploit everywhere in the world.

Breggins pointed out that the globalists want a free labor market and they dont want an entity that stands for freedom, especially individual freedom and political freedom, because they want global governance.

Thats the reason why they want Russia to fall.

Vallely said the Russians are not going to tolerate the globalists. He also mentioned that Russian President Vladimir Putin knows what is going on and is doing everything to spoil the plans of the globalists.

Watch the July 6 episode of ReFounding America below. ReFounding America with Peter Breggin M.D. airs every Wednesday at 6-7 p.m. and every Saturday at 1-2 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related articles:

Dr. Zev Zelenko tells Dr. Peter Breggin: Humanity is on the verge of global enslavement  Brighteon.TV.

Globalists push for centralization of power amid worldwide economic decline.

The Globalists final solution will be a Blitzkrieg bloodbath of unparalleled proportions.

Globalists promote synthetic meat as they try to stop people from growing their own food.

Globalists are pushing climate change narrative to force mass starvation and depopulate the world, the Health Ranger warns.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

Vallely.com
(Natural News) A study conducted in New Zealand found a close relationship between booster rollout and rising excess mortality. The study was published in EconPapers, the worlds largest collection of online Economics working papers, journal articles and software.

The researchers deduced that age groups most likely to have had booster injections had up to 10 percent more excess mortality than the age groups most likely not to have taken up a booster dose. The said paper was authored by John Gibson, a professor at the University of Waikatos Department of Economics.

In the study titled The Rollout of COVID-19 Booster Vaccines is Associated with Rising Excess Mortality in New Zealand, Gibson stated: The results suggest 16 (95 percent confidence interval: 5 to 27) excess deaths per 100,000 booster doses, amounting to over 400 excess deaths in New Zealand given the booster doses administered to date. If this rate of excess deaths is extrapolated to other countries, it amounts to over 300,000 excess deaths worldwide.

The study also noted that the rise in excess mortality rates was not experienced by those in the 0-29 age group, who are mostly ineligible for boosters.

The primary vaccine used in New Zealand is Pfizer. With 8.2 million original vaccines and 2.2 million booster doses administered, about half of the population are both fully vaccinated and boosted.

Value of statistical life of these excess deaths is over $1.6 billion. Even a small fraction of this (say, one percent) would have been sufficient to fund robust evidence on the impacts of rolling out COVID-19 booster vaccines, Gibson added.

The paper also mentioned that if unnecessary boosting causes significant adverse reactions, it may increase vaccine hesitancy generally. Also, a concern raised elsewhere is that the potentially low benefits of COVID-19 vaccines relative to the costs borne by vaccines may undermine public confidence in other vaccination efforts.

Gibson and his team pointed out that even the World Health Organization has admitted that a vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable.

Back in September last year, an advisory panel of experts not affiliated with the Food and Drug Administration, voted against the mass vaccination of booster shots due to a lack of safety data and doubts about the benefits of mass boosting over targeted approaches, Gibson further noted.

Nevertheless, FDA ignored the advice and proceeded to approve the boosters for the general population.

New Zealand is stuck and not moving on from the pandemic

More than two years have passed since the pandemic started, and a lot of countries have eased out of the lockdown protocols and COVID-19 safety guidelines. However, New Zealand is still stuck at the orange traffic light setting.

Half of the entire countrys population has been fully and triple jabbed, but the omicron surge is becoming more intense, with cases continuously soaring and hospitals recording an all-time high patient numbers for April. (Related: After residents were forced to get vaccinated, New Zealand saw massive surge in new positive cases of covid.)

According to the New Zealand government, large gatherings can still take place; masks are optional in most settings; and schools and workplaces can open without restrictions.

Hospitals are already operating at 100 percent capacity. However, the Association of General Surgeons wrote to Health Minister Andrew Little to report how a staffing shortfall is profoundly reducing the doctors ability to deliver care.

If hospitals cancel procedures and close wards, this could manage the staffing shortage. However, hospital executives would have to redirect COVID care staff and resources to urgent care clinics. But the clinics are already reporting impossible numbers. A Hamilton clinic was documented to have doubled the number of patients compared with the same time last year.

Analysts are saying that this orange setting is backed by very few rules and little government encouragement. There could be no sign of moving on.

Back in June 2020, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared that NZ has already eliminated the transmission of the coronavirus domestically and will lift all containment measures except for border controls, making the nation one of the first countries to do so.

Visit DangerousMedicine.com for more stories about the adverse effects of COVID vaccines.

Watch the below video about deaths in New Zealand correlated to the mass vaccination program.

This video is from the Truth or Consequences channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

New Zealand now paying euthanasia doctors $1,000 a pop to murder covid patients.

New Zealand lifts majority of COVID-19 restrictions amid skyrocketing cases.

Australia and New Zealand are targets of COVID psychological experimentation.

New Zealand transforms into a tyrannical regime in pursuit of COVID Zero.

Sources include:

Expose-News.com

EconPapers.repec.org

TheGuardian.com

Stuff.co.nz

WeForum.org

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Shannon ShadyGrooove Townsend believes that America is the greatest nation for two reasons: First, because it gives people freedom, and second, because people have a voice in the system they helped create.

We need, as Americans, to be a little more forceful  and maybe more arrogant. People refer to it as arrogance whenever you say America is the greatest nation, he said during the July 5 episode of The Matrixxx Grooove Show on Brighteon.TV.

America is the greatest nation because it gives people freedom. Its not the greatest nation because of its king. Its not the greatest nation because of its ruler. Its the greatest nation because the people have the final say in the system that we created here.

According to Townsend, Americas system of government is the exact alternative to either monarchy or tyranny. He added that there is not another country in the world that allows the people to govern themselves except America. (Related: The illusion of freedom: Were only as free as the government allows.)

The program host also noted that QAnon and former President Donald Trump have amplified and echoed freedom for people worldwide in such a way that humanity is currently seeing tyranny to a certain degree that they wouldnt have thought possible.

This tyranny mainly originated from the Antifa and the Left, which oppose Trumps Make America Great Again (MAGA) ideology. Townsend remarked that Americans have seen much more anger and destruction from the leftists and their allies compared to MAGA supporters.

Co-host Jeffrey InTheMatrixxx Pedersen, meanwhile, played a wine commercial for We The People Wine to express his agreement with Townsend. The advertisement featured a speech from former President Ronald Reagan, which talked about how freedom is fought for, protected and handed to the next generation. The speech also instructed the next generation to do the same thing in order to stay free.

Freedom now under threat from the globalists

Pedersen showed a video of independent German journalist Alina Lipp, who is being persecuted by both German and Ukrainian authorities for telling the truth about the conflict in Ukraine.

The 28-year-old Lipp, who lives in Donetsk, has transmitted first-hand information from the Donbas region in three languages. However, her reports have earned the ire of the German government  especially when she revealed that Ukraine is committing genocide on its own people.

I am simply filming everything I see around, doing interviews with people in Donetsk and merely translating them into German, she said. What is it thats illegal or dangerous in that?

According to Pedersen, Berlin has criminally charged Lipp and sentenced her to three years in prison for interviewing the citizens and reporting it. Kyiv has also labeled her a terrorist.

Townsend pointed out that Lipp was a journalist simply trying to get the story, looking for the truth of what is going on and sharing it with other people. He said that the globalists in Berlin and Kyiv, who are telling people what they can and cannot do, are the real terrorists.

Follow Freedom.news for more stories about people fighting for freedom.

Watch the July 5 episode of The Matrixxx Grooove Show with Jeff and Shady below. The Matrixxx Grooove Show airs Monday to Friday at 12-1 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Google whistleblower Zack Vorhies discusses his new book in debut episode of Uncovering the Truth With Matrixxx Groove on Brighteon.TV.

The Sons of Liberty with Bradlee Dean: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are under attack in America  BrighteonRADIO.

America Unhinged: A government that fears the people will govern wisely  Brighteon.TV.

Mattias Desmet: Governments will put their people under mass formation psychosis to enact totalitarian takeovers.

Dr. Patrick Johnston tells Dr. John Diamond: American people and the states must resist tyrannical leaders  Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

Kanekoa.Substack.com
(Natural News) One of the biggest scandals in modern medicine is not the fact that more people die in hospitals, by far, than by gun homicides and car accidents every year, but rather the amount of big pharma money spread throughout drug regulatory agencies the world over.

According to a new investigative study by the British Medical Journal, over the past decades, regulatory agencies have seen major portions of their annual budgets increasingly funded by the industry they are sworn to regulate  big pharma.

Patients and doctors expect drug regulators to provide an unbiased, rigorous assessment of investigational medicines before they hit the market. But do they have sufficient independence from the companies they are meant to regulate? the report begins.

According to Childrens Health Defense news and views publication The Defender:

The report examines whether drug regulators in six countries, including the U.S., have sufficient independence from the companies they are meant to regulate.

Investigative journalist Maryanne Demasi found significant conflicts of interest have developed between drugmakers and the agencies charged with drug regulation, resulting in a negative impact on the quality of pharmaceutical products that reach the public.

Whats more, this direct funding was intentional.

In 1992, the US Congress passed the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), allowing industry to fund the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) directly through user fees intended to support the cost of swiftly reviewing drug applications, the report states. With the act, the FDA moved from a fully taxpayer funded entity to one supplemented by industry money. Net PDUFA fees collected have increased 30 foldfrom around $29m in 1993 to $884m in 2016.

The situation is worse in Europe, where industry fees funded 20% of the new EU-wide regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), in 1995. By 2010 that had risen to 75%; today it is 89%, the report, by investigative journalist Maryanne Demasi, notes further.

In her report, Demasi made reference to a 2005 example from the United Kingdom, when the House of Commons health committee looked into big pharmas influence on health policy, including the Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which is the UK equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S.

The committee members at the time noted they were concerned that big pharmas funding of the MHRA and similar agencies might lead them to lose sight of the need to protect and promote public health above all else as it seeks to win fee income from the companies.

Nearly two decades on, little has changed, Demasi reported. Industry funding of drug regulators has become the international norm.

Experts in the field have also expressed concerns.

Sociologist Donald Light of Rowan University in New Jersey, US, who has spent decades studying drug regulation, told Demasi in reference to a similar agency receiving drug contributions in Australia: Like the FDA, the [Therapeutic Goods Administration] was founded to be an independent institute. However, being largely funded by fees from the companies whose products it is charged to evaluate is a fundamental conflict of interest and a prime example of institutional corruption.

The TGA, for the record, has vehemently denied that despite the fact the agency relies on pharmaceutical industry funding almost exclusively amounts to a conflict of interest. All fees and charges are prescribed in our legislation. To provide transparency, the TGA fees and charges are published on the TGA website, the agency said.

But all that does is tell Australians their health agency is being funded by private drug interests; it doesnt reassure them that those big pharma dollars arent being used to influence drug policy decisions and, importantly, drug approvals.

Its the opposite of having a trustworthy organization independently and rigorously assessing medicines, Light said.

Theyre not rigorous, theyre not independent, they are selective, and they withhold data. Doctors and patients must appreciate how deeply and extensively drug regulators cant be trusted so long as they are captured by industry funding, he added.

Sources include:

BMJ.com

ChildrensHealthDefense.org
(Natural News) Dr. Alan Keyes argued that the Democratic Party has always been the party of evil in America.

During the July 5 episode of his Brighteon.TV program Lets Talk America, he said the U.S. is moving in a direction that overthrows the present form of government. Keyes continued that this is being replaced with something that is no longer based on the will of the people, as expressed through elections at all levels of government.

According to the conservative political activist and author, the government of, for and by the people is now being erased and replaced with one of, for and by the wealthy, powerful and mad elites.

Keyes pointed out that the Democrats, alongside the socialists and communists, seek to enslave humanity and put people under their total control  citing communist China and the former Soviet Union as examples.

Socialism and communism have mostly produced poverty and disaster for people throughout the world, said the former Reagan administration official.

The Democrats, he said, want to persuade everybody that the whole world should be enslaved in the 21st century based on the excuse that America had slavery in the 19th century. Democrats were incidentally indifferent to slavery, if not supporting it, during that period.

Aside from this, the Democrats had also been spending their time beating up people. Keyes explained that this stemmed from their hatred of America and that they are trying to get others to hate America (Related: The Democratic party has become radicalized into the party of communism, violence and anti-America.)

Dems have become the most unreasonable and unconscionable party in the history of the West

Congressional candidate and athlete Claston Bernard, Keyes guest during the July 5 episode of his program, told the Brighteon.TV host that America has been trying to preserve ancient moral values that are tied to religion, specifically Judeo-Christian religion and morality.

However, he lamented that Americans are now seeing the total removal of morality and religion in the current time. He also lamented how the Democratic Party has become the most unreasonable and unconscionable party in the history of the West.

The Democratic Party loves wrong. [It] loves to speak to the wrong people and loves to protect the wrong people, said Bernard.

Keyes pointed out that the Black community in America today is always susceptible to the arguments that the Democrats make about their opposition to slavery, which are actually based on lies.

Bernard agreed. The two-time Olympian and gold medalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games quoted abolitionist and author Frederick Douglass, who remarked that the Democratic Party is the enemy of Black people as their values were anti-Republican in the same government class.

I am a Republican; a black, dyed in the wool Republican; and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress, Douglass is quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Keyes referenced educator and reformer Booker T. Washington, who pushed hard to ensure Blacks would get the education, skills and moral discipline necessary to grab opportunities and rise through them.

Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than to be in bad company, Washington once said.

Follow CancelDemocrats.news for more news about the Democratic Party.

Watch the July 5 episode of Lets Talk America below. Lets Talk America with Dr. Alan Keyes airs Monday to Friday at 1-3 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related articles:

The God hating Communist Democrats are the epitome of EVIL!

BREAKING: Project Veritas reveals a Democrat Senate candidate urging leftist sleepers to run as Republicans

Doug Billings: Democratic Party has been replaced by the Communist Socialist Party  Brighteon.TV

Democrats in disarray as latinos bolt to the GOP

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

WesternJournal.com

Indy.education
(Natural News) The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently reported that a federal grand jury has indicted one current and one former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) worker in relation to an alleged plot to silence critics of the Chinese government.

Ties between Beijing and Washington continue to be shaky with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying earlier this year that the bilateral relationship has not yet emerged from the predicament created by the previous U.S. administration but has instead encountered more and more challenges.

DHS employee Craig Miller and Derrick Taylor, a retired DHS agent working as a private investigator, are charged with accessing and giving information about Chinese activists from a classified government database to two more defendants, who then utilized the files to target the victims.

U.S. prosecutors alleged that Fan Frank Liu, Qiang Jason Sun and Matthew Ziburis carried out a campaign to spy on, harass and discredit dissidents living in America and to put down criticism of Beijing. (Related: ChinaGoogle collusion? Human rights channel leaving YouTube after it CENSORED videos critical of China)

As stated by the prosecutors, an unidentified artist in California was among the dissidents supposedly targeted by the defendants. The prosecutors argued that Ziburis posed as a dealer interested in purchasing the painters artwork and covertly installed surveillance cameras and GPS devices in the artists studio and in his car. The defendants purportedly planned to destroy the dissidents artwork.

Miller and Taylor were arrested in June and each faces one count of obstruction of justice. Taylor faces an added charge of making a false statement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in connection with the investigation.

A DHS spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment.

The DOJ said Liu, Sun and Ziburis allegedly conducted the transnational repression scheme to target U.S. residents whose political views and actions are disfavored by the Chinese government, such as advocacy for democracy in China.

The three men are facing multiple criminal charges, including plotting to commit interstate harassment and criminal use of a means of identification. Additionally, Liu and Ziburis are charged with acting as agents of the Chinese government without registering with the DOJ, while Liu and Sun are charged with conspiring to bribe a federal official.

Liu and Ziburis were arrested in March. Sun, a Chinese citizen who allegedly organized the scheme, remains at large.

Pro-democracy Chinese dissidents in America are being discredited

According to the indictment, the aim of the scheme was to discredit pro-democracy Chinese dissidents living in New York City, San Francisco and Indiana by spreading offensive information about them.

Alluding to the indictment, Assistant U.S. Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen promised that he and his colleagues will defend the rights of people in the United States to engage in free speech and political expression, including views the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] government wants to silence.

As charged, these individuals aided agents of a foreign government in seeking to suppress dissenting voices who have taken refuge here. The defendants include two sworn law enforcement officers who chose to forsake their oaths and violate the law, Olsen said.

The comments followed the Chinese Foreign Ministry describing the U.S. as the biggest threat to world peace, stability and development. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijan told the media that the relevant U.S. politician has been playing up the so-called China threat to smear and attack China.

We urge this U.S. official to have the right perspective, see Chinas developments in an objective and reasonable manner and stop spreading lies and stop making irresponsible remarks, Zhao stated.

Zhao referred to the speech given by FBI Director Christopher Wray at the MI5 building in London, in which he warned of the complex, enduring and pervasive danger that China poses to both the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

Wray stated that the Chinese government poses an even more serious threat to Western businesses than even many sophisticated business people realize, arguing that the danger from China is complex and growing.

The Chinese government is trying to shape the world by interfering in our politics, and those of our allies. All of that is to say  China poses a far more complex and pervasive threat to businesses than even the most sophisticated company leaders realize, Wray explained.

The FBI director made the statement after Americas National Counterintelligence and Security Center accused China of attempting to exploit U.S. subnational relationships to influence U.S. policies and advance PRC geopolitical interests.

Watch the video below to know how the DHS spies for China.

This video is from the Wardo Rants channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

DHS Fusion Centers are being used to spy on citizens.

China has been spying on American computer systems through compromised chips.

Watch what you feel: China now using emotion recognition technology to arrest people.

Criticizing communist China even outside of China is now a punishable offense.

China censoring videos of people being dragged out of their homes and into quarantine camps.

Sources include:

InfoWars.com

VOANews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) A former female-to-male (FTM) transgender teen expressed support of Floridas ban on the use of Medicaid funds for transgender-related medical interventions, such as puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgeries.

Chloe Cole, 17, revealed during a July 8 public hearing that she received such treatments for gender dysphoria from ages 13 to 16. The teenager from California took puberty-blocking drugs and testosterone and underwent a mastectomy at age 15, before de-transitioning a year later at age 16.

I really didnt understand all of the ramifications of any of the medical decisions that I was making, she admitted. I was unknowingly physically cutting off my true self from my body, irreversibly and painfully.

In line with this, Cole spoke in favor of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administrations (AHCA) Rule 59G-1.050. The new order excluded puberty blockers, hormones and hormone antagonists, sex reassignment surgeries, or any other procedures that alter primary or secondary sexual characteristics to treat gender dysphoria from being covered by Florida Medicaid.

She reiterated her support for the rule during a separate private meeting with Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo on the same day.

I dont know if Ill be able to fully carry a child, and I might be at increased risk for certain cancers, mainly cervical cancer. And because I do not have my breasts, I am not able to breastfeed whatever future children I have, Cole told the Sunshine States top health official. She added that those realizations made her reflect that transitioning was not the path she should have taken.

The teen exhorted the public not to transition their kids, adding: If you are considering transitioning, please wait until you are a fully developed adult. Transitioning can damage your body and mind in ways that we may not fully understand. (Related: British whistleblowers reveal horrors that come following trans surgeries.)

No child should have to experience what I have, concluded Cole.

Ladapo, DeSantis steer people away from transgender medical procedures

The surgeon general himself also urged parents who plan to seek medical intervention for their children with gender dysphoria against such procedures.

Medicalization of minors with gender dysphoria might advance the political views of physicians involved in their care, but the data showing any benefits for the actual children is extraordinarily thin, said Ladapo.

According to the health official, the so-called gender-affirmative model runs an unacceptably high risk of harm. He added: Parents are threatened with fears of suicide, but the treatments have not been shown to actually reduce this risk. These patients need compassionate care of their emotional and mental well-being, not to be in embroiled in political views about sex [or] gender.

Ladapos remarks mirrored that of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said back in May that he plans to ban gender transition surgeries for children in the Sunshine State.

You cant get a tattoo if youre 12 years old. When they say gender-affirming care, what they mean a lot of times is you are really castrating a young boy, sterilizing a young girl [and] doing mastectomies for these very young girls, the Republican governor told Fox News host Lisa Boothe.

Youre doing things that are permanently altering them, and then theyre not [going to] be able to reverse that. So I dont think its appropriate for kids at all.

Brock Juarez, the AHCAs communications director, dubbed Coles testimony as very thought-provoking. He also cited a recent report by the agency, which found that several services for treating gender dysphoria are not consistent with widely accepted professional medical standards and are experimental and investigational with the potential for harmful long term effects.

Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Matthew Benson also expressed agreement with the AHCAs order. I think the data on which the gender-affirmative model is based [on] is not scientific, he said.

We need better data, we need long-term perspective trials where we can look at adverse effects. We need much more robust data to justify these kinds of very robust therapies, added the Jacksonville-based child physician, citing studies from Sweden and Denmark that showed extremely high rates of suicide among people who received transgender interventions.

Listen to Health Ranger Mike Adams explaining how transgender surgeries for teenagers are tantamount to medical child abuse below.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Trans federal official ATTACKS Florida surgeon general for trying to protect children.

Depopulation twofer: Youth suicide rates are HIGHER now that children are being pushed to go trans.

U.K. government formally endorses medical child abuse by promoting transgender surgery for children under 16.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he plans to PROHIBIT gender transition surgeries from being performed on children.

MAIM THEM EARLY! White House demands early genital mutilation surgeries for children to convert them before they have the presence of mind to say NO.

Sources include:

FoxNews.com

LifeSiteNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Russia is on the verge of cutting off all gas supplies to Europe, and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire is warning that citizens must prepare now for a full-on energy crisis.

Speaking at an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence, Le Maire told his audience that the time is now for a total cut-off of Russian gas, adding that this is the most likely option to occur in the next phase of the great reset.

You also have to prepare load-shedding plans; we are doing it, Le Maire added in a follow-up statement to reporters.

It means looking in a very specific way at each company, each employment area; Which are the companies that should reduce their energy consumption and which are the ones that cannot?

In other words, Western European governments are planning to ration energy and decide who gets to use what. The French government is compiling a list as we speak about who still deserves energy and who deserves to be cut off and plunged into darkness.

We have to anticipate and to put ourselves in order of battle as of now, he explained.

Nord Stream 1 now offline for maintenance for the next 10 days

Over the past several months, Europes energy situation has gone from bad to worse. Countries that refuse to play ball with Russia are seeing pipelines shut off and costs skyrocket, France and Germany being two prominent examples.

Starting Monday, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs through Germany as a main conduit for Russian natural gas, will be offline for 10 days due to maintenance. Some speculate that it will never come back online.

Germanys population of some 80-million is reliant on Russia for over one-third of total gas supplies, and theres no immediate alternative, reports Zero Hedge.

Should Moscow use routine maintenance as an excuse to keep supplies halted, some German publications are even predicting social unrest as the squeeze gets put on the working class population in particular.

Many German households are already rationing hot water and electricity as ordered by the government. Letters went out to renters warning about dramatic price increases, even for flat-rate utilities costs that are typically included in the standard rent payment.

One housing company in Berlin is announcing a 100% increase in heating prices for apartments heated with gas or oil, one report revealed.

Whether this will be enough is not clear. The high energy prices have a delayed impact because the advance payments are not offset against the actual costs incurred until the end of the year.

In a worst-case scenario, which seems to be what will happen next, Russian oil will stop flowing to Germany, France and other Western European countries completely. This will lead to the entire economy [being] affected, according to German news outlet DW.

If Russian gas supplies fail, Germanys economic output could drop by 12.7 percent before 2023, which is a substantial amount.

July 22 is the pre-scheduled date that marks the theoretical end of maintenance on Nord Stream 1 to test mechanical and automated systems. If any problems are discovered, however, then Russia will have the autonomy to extend the maintenance shut-off indefinitely.

While we all spend most of our market time thinking about the Fed and a recession, I suspect what happens to Russian gas in H2 is potentially an even bigger story, warned Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid.

Of course by July 22nd, parts may have been found and the supply might start to normalise. Anyone who tells you they know what is going to happen here is guessing but at minimum it should be a huge focal point for everyone in markets.

More related new coverage about the energy crisis in Europe can be found at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) After becoming the first country in the world to mandate Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination on all citizens, Austria is now trying to shift responsibility onto doctors for all the health damage that resulted.

Austrian Green Minister of Health Johannes Rauch says physicians, and not himself and his fellow politicians, are to blame for all the injuries and deaths because they failed to warn their patients about the risks involved with getting injected.

Never mind the fact that these patients had no choice but to get them  and doctors were basically required to give them. In Rauchs mind, it is someone elses fault that thousands of Austrians are now dead or permanently injured because of the policies he helped create.

The SuperSpreader Substack is calling Rauchs blame game the most epic throwing under the bus to save your own a** of our generation  and he is right. Not only is Rauchs claim nonsensical, but it absolutely shows that the plandemic is crumbling to pieces at a rapid pace.

Anyone paying attention already understands that once the bodies start piling up the REAL fireworks will begin, the Mole Substack adds.

We will see frantic finger pointing and rabid blame shifting. Screeching turned up to 11 competing with a word vomit of lies about who said what and when. It will be something spectacular to behold.

If Austrian doctors had reported jab injuries, they would have lost their licenses

It turns out that there was never even a way for Austrian doctors to warn their patients about the risks involved, seeing as how those risks were concealed by politicians and their Big Pharma buddies who wanted the truth to be kept under wraps.

Not only that, but doctors in Austria are not even allowed to report vaccine damage, even in suspected cases. This is due to strict instructions from the medical association, one person in the know tweeted.

Anyone who violates this is revoked the right to ordain, the tweet further explains.

None of this was revealed by the corporate-controlled media, however. Headlines all around the world cited Rauchs claim that the medical profession is to blame for covid jab injuries and deaths.

One headline declared that Rauch dropped a liability hammer by supposedly confirming that doctors are responsible for vaccine damage simply because they were the ones who were told to stick the injections into peoples arms, or else.

He seems to be trying to pull his own head out of the ever-tightening noose and to want to shirk responsibility, one critical report said about Rauchs shifting of blame.

Although he prescribes the vaccinations, liability is shifted entirely to the medical profession.

Doctors face fines of up to 14,000 euros for covid vaccine injuries and deaths

Laying blame on doctors is apparently not enough for Rauch. He also supports penalizing doctors up to 14,000 euros for their role in administering the jabs that caused many to become injured or die.

Even though Austrian doctors basically had no choice in the matter, except to refuse and lose their medical licenses, Rauch stated that he is not responsible at all and that doctors need to pay a price.

The scope of medical education has been shown in the Austrian vaccination plan for years and I can assume that doctors work in accordance with the recommendations and the state of the art, Rauch is quoted as saying, claiming innocence in the matter.

In essence, Rauch is saying that doctors should have avoided listening to him and instead done their own due diligence into the shots to see if they really were safe and effective like Rauch and others claimed.

The function of the information is to protect the freedom of decision of the person concerned, one report explains. This can be punished under administrative and / or disciplinary law as well as have consequences under liability law.

If Rauchs perspective becomes the Austrian governments official position, then doctors all across that country could face lawsuits in the coming months and years over the role they apparently played in deceiving the masses into rolling up their sleeves for deadly medicine.

That is rich after their government even mulled a vax mandate for all adults and tried to silence all critics, wrote a reader at the Mole Substack.

Hes right about the fact that medical doctors who failed to inform patients of the risks betrayed their medical responsibility, suggested another. However, a governing board that threatened the licenses of doctors who were true to their medical responsibilities are also to blame.

Another also blamed the media for just following orders and reporting whatever the government and Big Pharma told them to.

This is all about good versus evil, this person added. And all will be judged.

The latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine program can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

Mole.substack.com
(Natural News) New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has admitted that the country is still struggling to deal with Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) cases despite its high vaccination rate.

According to leading public health researcher Michael Baker, New Zealand is losing the arms race with the virus. COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed within the last week or so in an abrupt rise.

Baker warned that the odds are against New Zealand and reports show that hospitals in the country are getting overwhelmed. Data from New Zealand also show that coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are decreasing among the unvaccinated but increasing among the vaccinated.

However, Baker is still calling for new mRNA vaccines to be rolled out urgently while using terminology usually associated with wartime.

Professor John Gibson, an economist at Waikato University, published a paper revealing that boosters are ineffective and that the excess mortality in New Zealand highlights an alarming health deficit among people who are vaccinated.

Similar trends in other countries have been recorded among the young and working age.

But why is this kind of analysis not being taken seriously? (Related: Jacinda Ardern leads the way with disinformation.)

The great biotechnology scam

For many years pressure had been building to adopt biotechnology in agriculture and food, then in medicine and in weaponry. For people who wanted to gain the most, the potential profits were huge. After all, food and medicine are the global markets that flourish regardless of whether things are fine or not.

The release in 2019 of COVID-19, a novel biotech pathogen, was the first attack in a completely new type of global warfare. Biotech vaccines were advertised as defensive weapons that everyone needed, so the whole economic process was turned over to vaccine production and promotion.

In countries like New Zealand, political parties closed ranks behind the war effort. Government propaganda insisted that if you loved your country and your people, you would get vaccinated. If you chose not to get vaccinated, you would suffer consequences.

People who allowed themselves to get vaccinated thus became heroes, while those who suffered vaccine injuries were ignored.

Instead of being protected, the young were forced into the front lines. They were at little or no risk from coronavirus infection, but they were exposed nonetheless to a significant and measurable risk of cardiac damage through mRNA vaccination.

So why did people allow this to happen? Because of government deception and fearmongering. Also because Big Pharma published lies and false scientific data claiming that vaccine-induced immunity would shield society from possible infection.

Censorship and propaganda amid the pandemic

Meanwhile, experts who spoke up against vaccine mandates and other draconian pandemic measures were punished and censored. Politicians also fought to appear the most committed and the most generous with funding.

There are several trends within the social psychology of war, like profiteers, sadists, rumormongers and mainstream media that faithfully repeat what the government orders them to. These were all in play amid the pandemic.

While the battle between human immunity and pathogens is an age-old conflict that humans have always won, now majority of the people have allowed their flexible immune systems to be exposed to a prescriptive mRNA vaccine designed in a lab that wasnt sufficiently tested.

Protestors have asked the government to give back their right to make their own medical choices, but the government insists on telling people what to do.

While the first pandemic war is backed by political, financial and authoritarian ambitions, the only way to end it is for those responsible from all sides to use their common sense. Pausing biotechnology experimentation and vaccinations is the only way to ensure peace and the safety of the public.

Visit Pandemic.news to learn how other countries are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Watch the video below to know more about how Jacinda Ardern is spreading disinformation in New Zealand.

This video is from the Free4eva Media channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

New Zealand lifts majority of COVID-19 restrictions amid skyrocketing cases.

New Zealand court threatens to seize property over non-payment of fine for COVID testing non-compliance.

NZ prime minister Jacinda Ardern says vaccine side effects are PROOF the vaccine is working: Does this include heart attacks and death?

Sources include:

Expose-News.com

HatchardReport.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Once again, members of the mainstream American media have proven what disgusting, nasty people they are.

In the wake of the shocking assassination of former conservative Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe late last week, several members of the U.S. media had to make sure they got in their licks by besmirching his name and his politics which, by the way, were very popular with the Japanese people (more on that in a moment).

Meanwhile, their disdain for Abe is in stark contrast to the glowing words they reserve when the worlds vilest authoritarians pass away.

The anti-Abe pronouncement getting a lot of attention on Friday was NPRs now-deleted Tweet describing the recently murdered world leader as a divisive arch-conservative. In the replacement tweet, they still had the knives out as they smeared him as an ultranationalist,' Newsbusters noted along with a screengrab of the tweet.

Its no wonder the loser leftists at taxpayer-supported NPR deleted the tweet: It literally made no sense.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a divisive arch-conservative and one of his nations most powerful and influential figures, has died after being shot during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan, hospital officials said, the tweet noted.

Ponder this: How is someone divisive and one of his nations most powerful and influential figures at the same time? Who is calling him divisive  because it wasnt the vast majority of Japanese citizens, who obviously adored and respected him (hence how he became powerful and influential in the first place).

Newsbusters noted more hypocrisy:

And in the piece itself, international correspondent John Ruwitch used the ultra-nationalist [sic] label again and left kinder words to people like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said Abe was a towering statesman, an outstanding leader, and a remarkable administrator.

Even in American politics, NPR couldnt be bothered to cover the attempted assassination of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh. But in 2016, an NPR reporter described getting a kiss from the murderous communist Castro brothers of Cuba as the blessing of the Holy Trinity.

Another now-infamous headline following the death of a murderous lunatic goes to The Washington Post, which mourned ISIS founder Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, describing him as an austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State. The paper was summarily shamed into changing the headline and issuing an apology, but the left-wing Marxists who run the paper showed their hand and told everyone how they really felt with the original headline.

But for Abe, all the Post could muster was a tweet including a graphic claiming that he leaves behind a mixed legacy. Really? He was influential and his people loved him; how is that mixed?

For Abe, The Post put out a tweet with a graphic saying he leaves behind a mixed legacy. Though in a follow-up tweet, they noted he was in the Liberal Democratic Party, possibly because they like those labels when viewed through the prism of American politics rather than the policies they promote in Japan.

Theres more.

CBS Mornings got in on the bashing when foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer declared him to be a polarizing figure as well as a right-wing nationalist and conservative simply because he was a fierce supporter of Japans military.

And why shouldnt he be? Japans very close neighbor is China; both countries have a history of despising one another and are definitely at odds over control of several islands currently in Japanese hands but which Beijing wants. Any sane, competent Japanese leader in the modern age would be a fierce supporter of Japans military in the face of such a threat.

But really, Abes big sin was that he and former President Donald Trump were very close, and we know now these mainstream media extremists hate Trump.

One more thing: Following Abes assassination, the ruling party of the divisive polarizing right-wing nationalist and conservative just won a massive landslide victory in elections.

So much for the credibility of our mainstream media.

Sources include:

Yahoo.com

Newsbusters.org
A new dinosaur species was discovered by American and Argentinean researchers in a new study that would further explain the evolution and anatomy of massive carnivorous dinosaurs. The new giant dinosaur is called Meraxes gigas which resemble a physical feature of a large body with tiny arms similar to the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Carcharodontosaurus.

The tiny arms amongst some of the prehistoric world's largest predators have long been thought to be a product of basic evolution. Previous studies and reports indicate said body part may not have been used quite often for millions of years, leading to the shrinking of its size.

Serving no deemed purpose, paleontologists and other scientists alike have long attempted to decipher the origins and function of the small arms of the dinosaur apex predator T. Rex. This has been the case since the fossils of the said dinosaur species was first unearthed by American paleontologist and dinosaur hunter Barnum Brown in 1904.

Currently, the M. gigas giant dinosaur has been a rising contender but not in terms of their physical prowess with helping scientists to gain answer to some of the greatest mysteries of the dinosaur world, which ended after the impact of the planet-killing Chicxulub asteroid 65 million years ago.

Meraxes Gigas Dinosaur Species

In a news release on Thursday, July 7, the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities announced its new study, which it spearheaded along with Argentinean scientists, published in the journal Current Biology. The announcement came after the scientific team extracted and prepared M. gigas to the world, a decade later after they have initially discovered its fossilized remains in Patagonia in 2012.

The colossal dinosaur belongs to the family Carcharodontosauridate, a group of meat-eating therapods which includes the dinosaur species Giganotosaurus, which is one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs and the dinosaur star of the "Jurassic World: Dominion" (2022) movie.

At its peak, Meraxes is estimated to have grown around 36 feet tall and weigh around 9,000 pounds. This was based on the fossil data gathered by the team from rocks dating back to 90 to 95 million years old. Other dinosaur specimen, including from long-necked sauropod specimens, were found from the site.

Also Read: Ancient Rats May Have Eaten Dinosaurs, Scientists Say

Therapod Arm Reduction

The said study focused on the research title about the new giant carnivorous dinosaur and what it reveals about the 'convergent evolutionary trends' when it comes to therapod arm reduction, as also mentioned by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Peter Makovicky, one of the study's principal authors, had addressed the long-speculated role of the dinosaurs' small arms. Meanwhile, Sebastian Apesteguia, the study's co-author, said the discovery gave them an opportunity to learn more about the paleobiology, systematics, and true size of the giant reptiles, as cited by the AAAS.

Makovicky said one should not burden himself or herself about what the arms are used for since they are a consequence or result of the extreme enlargement of the skulls of the dinosaurs, like of those belonging to the T. Rexas, M. gigas, and Carcharodontosaurus.

Related Article: Dinosaurs Were Already Dying Off Even Before Massive Asteroid Drove Them to Extinction
As the Washburn Fire continued to burn out of control through parched terrain in the sweltering, dry weather on Sunday, a thick curtain of toxic air hung over California's Yosemite National Park, putting the air quality in the area up to more than 200 AQI.

Yosemite visitors were advised by the national park to limit or forego outdoor physical activity.

Air Quality Index 200: Unhealthy

As wildfire smoke moved north along the Sierra Nevada toward the Tahoe Basin and into the foothills, the air quality in and around the park reached very unhealthy levels.

According to Robert Baruffaldi, a forecaster with the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service, the smoke will continue to move north overnight with southerly winds.

On Sunday, it is not anticipated that the smoke will reach the San Francisco Bay Area due to offshore winds coming from the Pacific Ocean and blowing toward the Central Valley. Depending on how the winds are Monday, the sooty air may start to flow into the Bay Area.

The Monterey office of the weather service tweeted that the smoke plume is moving north but could reach the Bay Area on Monday.

Satellite imagery of the San Francisco-Monterey region shows a layer of stratus just off the coast, and the smoke plume from the #WashburnFire (It's the grayish patch to the west of June Lake.)



The plume of smoke is heading north, but could drift into the Bay Area on Monday. pic.twitter.com/Im1nL7AMhV  NWS Bay Area  (@NWSBayArea) July 11, 2022

The Air Quality Index, which has a scale from 0 to 500, is used to determine the amount of pollution in the air. The level of air pollution and the resulting health risk increase with increasing AQI values.

The well-known website PurpleAir noted AQI levels above 200 and 150 in a number of locations close to the park at 6 o'clock. API 150 is still described as "unhealthy" although mostly for people with certain sensitivities. Bear Valley and Kirkwood had air quality readings between 100 and 110, whereas most places near Lake Tahoe had readings between 50 and 75, with a few places exceeding 100. Yosemite National Park had unhealthy levels, according to the government's AirNow.gov website.

The metrics for PurpleAir are continuously updated and averaged over the past 10 minutes. AirNow's figures - which are based on The statistics for PurpleAir are calculated in real-time and averaged over the previous 10 minutes. The figures from AirNow, which are based on EPA standards, are computed using a sophisticated algorithm that employs longer averages during periods of stable air quality and shorter averages during periods of rapid change in air quality. Results are delayed when compared to PurpleAir but are updated hourly.

Read also: Risk of Potential Wildfire Threats to Increase as Drought Winds Come

To track particulate pollution on a global scale, PurpleAir sells its proprietary sensors to individuals. Depending on their preference, people can place them indoors or outdoors, SF Gate reports.

The sensors count the number of airborne particles using a laser particle counter and then use an algorithm to determine the mass concentration based on the count. They are distinct from AirNow's sensors, which measure particulate matter by passing air through a filter before weighing the filter.

At the southern end of the park, close to the Mariposa Grove, the 1,591-acre Washburn fire was burning as of Sunday afternoon, endangering its 500 giant sequoia trees.

Related article: Wildfire Smoke Particles Can Affect the Climate Longer Than Previously Expected
Recent hot summer weather and a persistent surge of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico have caused rounds of severe thunderstorms across much of the country. More of the same is predicted for the Midwest and Northeast this week as a cold front moves eastward. Major airports in the region run the risk of experiencing delays in air travel due to the weather.

Severe Weather

Since the beginning of this month, the northern Plains have been the main target of severe weather, with the area experiencing severe weather every day. On Friday, hurricane-force wind gusts were recorded from powerful storms, with one gust reaching 91 mph. In Big Sandy, Montana, which is in the state's north-central region, wind gusts of 91 mph were recorded on Friday, signaling the storm's peak intensity. Through the weekend, the storms persisted, with winds in Rapid City, South Dakota, reaching 75 mph.

Similar conditions will exist into Monday night for the start of this week's intense thunderstorm season. All of the conditions for thunderstorm development will be present as an expanding dome of heat brings sweltering temperatures to the southern Plains and Southwest.

Grady Gilman, an AccuWeather meteorologist, explained that southwesterly winds will bring a warm and humid air mass into the Midwest ahead of an impending cold front. Together, these two elements will be sufficient to establish a wide severe threat zone that extends from the Great Lakes westward into the Plains.

Storms are likely to start developing across the threat area in the early afternoon and move southward and eastward throughout the evening and overnight. Residents of towns like Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Wichita, Kansas, will want to keep an eye on the most recent watches and warnings in case any storms are approaching.

Thunderstorms in the Chicago metro area may cause problems for drivers and people attempting to fly into or out of the city during the evening rush hour.

Hail + Strong Winds

While any storm that forms over the Plains or the Midwest may produce hail and strong winds, the area from central Illinois to southern Michigan is expected to have the highest chance of tornadoes.

Storms may move south and east later on Monday night, potentially affecting cities like Detroit and Indianapolis. Although severe thunderstorms are less likely to occur here, a round of gusty storms is still a possibility and could result in isolated power outages.

The severe threat will change as the cold front moves toward the east on Tuesday. The mid-Atlantic and Northeast will take center stage as the Plains and the majority of the Midwest finally experience a break from thunderstorm activity.

Read also: Severe Storms Place 50 Million Americans at Risk in the Northeast US This Weekend: AccuWeather Forecast

Temperature Spike + Humidity

These storms will be fueled by an increase in the area's high temperatures and humidity, just like the day before. The Northeast is expected to experience a temperature spike ahead of the incoming front, which will create the ideal conditions for a round of severe thunderstorms with widespread temperatures in the upper 80s and 90s F. Humidity and the blazing summer sun could cause temperatures to rise as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas.

Gilman said that a northward surge of moisture will end the recent period of low humidity in the Northeast while also allowing for the development of thunderstorms on Tuesday afternoon.

Storms may form initially close to the Great Lakes before moving south and east. Inconvenient storms may occur in the afternoon in cities like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Syracuse, New York, so plans that involve being outside during those times may need to be revised. Storms may move further east and south during the evening toward the nearby coast and the mid-Atlantic. In Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York City, storms may cause delays on the way home.

Some people in the Northeast will be relieved by the rain that comes along with the thunderstorms. As stated by the U.S. According to the Drought Monitor, some areas of the area have experienced unusually dry conditions. Small streams have dried up as a result, and dry patches of grass have begun to appear on unwatered lawns.

The threat posed by severe storms will only last for a brief period, AccuWeather reports. By Wednesday, the cold front will have left the East Coast, and by the middle of the week, dry weather will be back.

Related article: Flash Floods Due to Heavy Rain Kill 57 People in Pakistan; Dozens of Death Reported in Afghanistan and India
A heat wave is threatening the electric infrastructure of Texas, according to reports early this week.

The extreme heat increases the state's potential power generation, while placing its power grids at risk.

As a result, the Electric Reliability council of Texas (ERCOT) are urging both residents and businesses to conserve their power supply.

NWS Heat Wave Forecast

The NWS' Weather Prediction Center (WPC) on Monday, July 11, stated that the dangerous heat could continue across areas of the southern Great Plains until midweek.

In Texas, this prompted the US weather agency to retain the ongoing heat advisories and excessive heat warnings for most parts of the Lone Star State.

The forecast comes as a heat dome returns to the Western US, which also affects the Southwest US and all areas adjacent to it, including Texas.

Hot weather and dry conditions are possible to continue across the region in the coming weeks and months as part of the US summer season, which spans from June to September each year.

Also Read: Intense Heatwave Expected to Bring 100 Degrees in Texas Next Week

NERC Summer Heat Report

In May, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued a report entitled the "2022 Summer Reliability Assessment," which highlights the risk of an intense and prolonged heat wave to the electric infrastructure of the US.

The threat lies on above-average or scorching temperatures brought by the unusual weather phenomenon.

In particular, the assessment focuses on the persistence of elevated risk of energy emergencies and potential power grid failures nationwide, especially in the Western US.

The risk is due to the sweltering heat's high potential to damage power lines but also power grids.

Earlier this year, various reports question the capability of the country to make its energy infrastructure to withstand the upcoming 2022 summer season.

The inquiries refer to similar events in the past.

For instance, the NERC cites the heatwave of August 2020, which caused power grid failures as electricity generation and transmission struggled to meet increased electricity demand.

The availability of hydroelectric energy was also scrutinized in the assessment since it is expected to have a reduced supply due to the possibility of increased power demand.

The NERC said discrepancies in supply and demand would force energy operators to look for alternative sources like generators fueled by natural gas and battery systems.

Summer Blackout and Fuel Price Hike

According to Bloomberg, fears over the summer blackout could lead to a 300% increase in fuel price and a potential "windfall" may be profitable for US power plant owners.

However, it can have the opposite effect for some of the country's strained power grids.

Bloomberg also cited the extreme heat in Texas on Monday, which highlights that the state's power grids are on the brink of being significantly damaged or destroyed.

The situation forced Texas power grid operators to encourage conserve electricity consumption to avoid massive blackouts.

In 2021, Texas underwent an almost similar scenario when a winter freeze caused an increased demand and for plants to go offline.

This forced other of the state's grid to shutdown as well to prevent further infrastructural failures.

Related Article: Extreme Heat Waves Can Cause More Power Outages
Dead cats due to mysterious tar or marmite substance have been found in the city of Leeds in Yorkshire County, England.

Some of the felines have to be but put down in a form of euthanasia.

As a probe into the case continues, the local government and animal experts believed that the cats were a victim of chemical poisoning.

Investigation is Underway

Local officials have conducted an investigation into the incident.

It was mentioned earlier that initial assessment suggested that the cats were exposed to chemical poisoning, which led to their eventual deaths.

However, it is unclear if whether the deaths involve a foul play or were purely accidental.

According to ITV News, the charity organization Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is urging cat owners in Leeds to remain vigilant and be cautious in their surrounding areas following the spate of chemical poisonings.

Several cat owners in the Horsforth neighborhood reportedly claimed their pets went missing over the last month before Saturday, July 9, the RSPCA said.

In a related case, one cat struggling from the substance was put into sleep.

Another feline was also found dead after coming into contact with the mysterious substance, which local sources claimed to be "like Marmite in texture" associated with an unpleasant or foul smell.

RSPCA inspector Adam Dickinson stated the said substance was evidently highly acidic and toxic.

This comes after the vets and other authorities attempted to clean the cats from the chemical substance.

Also Read: Cats and Dogs Rescued at a House in Diamond Bar, Los Angeles Following Reports of Animal Hoarding

Chemical Poisoning Case

The exact nature of the chemical poisoning itself remains to be undisclosed, even with the specific toxic substance used. But, it was apparent that the chemical is capable of burning some of the cat's fur and other body parts.

In one instance, a cat named Buzby, who was once active, became lethargic since the substance managed to burn the interior of her mouth.

The same feline also had some of her fur to fell off, which allowed the officials to confirm the substance was very poisonous.

Buzby's ordeal started when she returned home on Grove Road in Horsforth many times with her fur coated with a "dark tar-like substance," according to The Yorkshire Post.

Indication of the cat's symptoms manifested when she changed her behavior before coming ill.

In particular, Buzby was drooling and entered in a state of lethargy.

The feline was put to sleep on May 24 after failing to respond to veterinary treatment, and after suffering from organ failure.

The initial investigation assumed there could be a chemical spillage in the area.

On the other hand, it also considers the possibility that the substance may have been thrown at the cats when they were roaming outdoors.

Poison Transmission

According to the organization International Cat Care, a cat can become poisoned when it directly digests a toxic substance or when it consumes a poisoned prey.

In addition, inhaling the poison through air and swallowing a contaminated fur could be other possibilities.

Cats can also absorb the toxins through their skin, especially the paws, the organization says.

Related Article: 25 Cats Beaten to Death and Strung from Trees in New York
In North and Central American grasslands, pocket gophers are well known for leading lonely, subterranean lifestyles while consuming roots.

Researchers have now discovered that pocket gophers "farm" roots that grow into their tunnels in order to meet the high energy requirements of their burrowing lifestyle.

They estimate that between 20% and 60% of the gophers' daily caloric needs are met by these roots.

Gophers as a "root farmer"

According to F E "Jack" Putz of the University of Florida, Gainesville, Southeastern pocket gophers are the first non-human mammalian farmers.

Ant, beetle, and termite species all do farming, whereas other animals do not, as per ScienceDaily.

According to Veronica Selden and Putz, pocket gophers don't merely consume roots that just so happen to develop along the courses of the brand-new tunnels they dig.

They instead create favorable circumstances for root development by using their own excrement as fertilizer.

The authors contend that because southeastern pocket gophers encourage root growth in their tunnels and subsequently harvest or crop those roots, they have discovered a farming-like method of food production.

According to Putz, it truly depends on how "farming" is defined. Gophers are not considered farmers if planting crops is necessary.

For somebody with a more horticultural viewpoint, however, in which crops are carefully managed, such as fruit trees in forests, but not necessarily planted, this description seems to be far too constrictive.

According to this viewpoint, maize cultivation in the Americas and the cultivation of annual cereal and pulse crops in Mesopotamia are among the origins of agriculture.

However, many cultures all over the world developed agriculture based on perennial crops, many of which they did not plant but tended.

Root cropping, according to Selden and Putz, may help to explain why gophers maintain and guard such vast tunnel networks. Comparable to rows of crops are the tunnels.

Also Read: The Mysterious Relationship Between Truffles and the Birds That Love Them

Gophers are a pest?

Gophers spend the majority of their time creating huge burrow networks, which range in depth from four to 12 inches and have over 500 tunnels, as per Oregon State University.

The gopher mound has a distinctive form that resembles a fan that stretches laterally over the surface and has plugs or dents at either end.

On small acres, trapping is a reliable non-toxic pest management technique.

The u-shaped, spring-type Macabee trap is the most typical style of gopher trap. Explore the new mounds to find the main runway of the tunnel.

When the probe descends four to 12 inches into the surface, you know you have located the main runway.

It's crucial to find the main runway since gophers could take some time before returning to lateral tunnels.

Place two traps within the tunnel entrance that you dug. For relocation, attach a wire to each and anchor with a flag.

Keep the hole open because the gopher will come back if his burrow is disturbed. The gopher will set off the trap when he returns to close the hole.

The autumn and spring, when gophers are most active, is the greatest time to set traps. Regularly check traps and reset them as required. Move the trap to a new area if you don't catch a gopher in a few days.

Gophers can also be managed by using barn owls.

Related article: These 15 Species Just Won't Make it Unless We Act Now
According to a PR published by Austal USA on July 11, 2022, the firm celebrated the start of construction on the companys first steel ship - a U.S. Navy Navajo Class Towing, Salvage, and Rescue Ship (T-ATS 11).

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

Ceremony of the start of construction of the Navajo class rescue and salvage ship T-ATS 11. (Picture source: Austal)

The milestone was observed during a ceremony at which Congressman Jerry Carl, U.S. representative for Alabamas first district, and Rear Admiral Thomas J. Anderson, U.S. Navys program executive officer for ships spoke alongside Austal USA Vice President of New Construction, Dave Growden.

Austals new 170,000 square foot enclosed steel production facility houses state-of-the-art computerized and robotic steel processing equipment. The new facility will operate using Austals proven ship manufacturing processes and innovative methods that incorporate lean manufacturing principles, modular construction, and moving assembly lines. Modules for T-ATS will be built in the new steel production facility before being transported to the final assembly hall to be erected.

About the Navajo-class rescue and salvage ship

The Navajo class is a class of Towing, Salvage, and Rescue Ships of the United States Navy. They were ordered in 2017 as the planned replacement for the aging Safeguard-class rescue and salvage ships and Powhatan-class tugboats. The lead ship of the first batch of six ships was laid down in 2019.

The ships have a length of 263 ft (80 m), a beam of 59 ft (18 m), a draft of 17.7 ft (5.4 m), and a depth of 24.6 ft (7.5 m). They can displace 5,110 long tons (5,190 t).

The class is powered by two diesel engines Wartsila 8L32 and can reach a top speed of 15.1 knots (28.0 km/h; 17.4 mph). They can carry up a complement of 42 sailors.
According to information published by HII on July 12, 2022, San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) departed from HIIs Ingalls Shipbuilding division, en route to its commissioning site in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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San Antonio amphibious transport dock Fort Lauderdale (Picture source: US DoD)

Fort Lauderdale was delivered to the U.S. Navy in March following acceptance sea trials and is the 12th San Antonio-class ship delivered by HII. Additional San Antonio-class ships are under construction at Ingalls, including Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) and the first Flight II amphibious ship in the San Antonio class, Harrisburg (LPD 30). Later this year, fabrication will begin on the 15th San Antonio-class ship, Pittsburgh (LPD 31).

LPD 28 is scheduled to be commissioned on July 30 in Fort Lauderdale. It is named to honor the Florida citys historic ties to the U.S. Navy, which date back to the 1830s and include an important naval training center during World War II.

Amphibious transport docks are a major part of the Navys 21st-century expeditionary force, deployed with a U.S. Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force for amphibious and expeditionary crisis response operations that range from deterrence and joint-force enablement to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

About the San Antonio class

The San Antonio class amphibious transport docks replace the Austin-class LPDs (including Cleveland and Trenton sub-classes), as well as the Newport-class tank landing ships, and the Charleston-class amphibious cargo ships that have already been retired.

The San Antonio class is powered by four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick diesel engines driving two shafts. She can reach a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h). She has a crew of 28 officers and 333 enlisted sailors.

The ship is armed with two Bushmaster II 30 mm close-in-guns, two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, two Mk 41 eight-cell VLS for quad-packed ESSMs, and several twin M2 Browning machines gun turrets.

San Antonio amphibious transport dock Fort Lauderdale (Picture source: US DoD)
According to information published by the U.S. Navy on July 9, 2022, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) arrived in Riga, Latvia for a scheduled port visit.

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The destroyer USS Arleigh Burke in Riga, Latvia. (Picture source: U.S. DoD)

Arleigh Burke is on its second patrol in U.S. Naval Forces Europes area of operations, working with NATO allies and partners in the region. Arleigh Burke began its current patrol in June, operating in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea alongside allies and partners. The ship conducted port calls in Ferrol, Spain, and Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France, strengthening ties with Spanish and French navies.

Additionally, Arleigh Burke conducted interoperability exercises with the French and Spanish navies in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, highlighting the capability and capacity Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E) ships bring to the European theater. Now in the Baltic Sea, Arleigh Burke continues its mission for diplomatic strengthening between NATO alliances.

These mobile, multi-mission capable ships routinely operate throughout the waters of Europe and Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arctic Circle, demonstrating their mastery of the maritime domain. Arleigh Burke is one of five U.S. Navy destroyers based at Naval Station Rota, Spain, and assigned to Commander Task Force 65 in support of NATOs Integrated Air Missile Defense architecture.

About the destroyer USS Arleigh Burke

USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (19011996), is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988, launched on 16 September 1989, and commissioned on 4 July 1991.

The destroyer has a length of 505 ft (154 m), a beam of 59 ft (18 m), and a draft of 31 ft (9.4 m). She can reach a top speed of 29 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).

Guided-missile destroyers are multi-mission surface combatants capable of conducting Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW).

The destroyer's armament has greatly expanded the role of the ship in strike warfare utilizing the MK-41 Vertical Launching System (VLS), and, beginning with ships equipped with Aegis Baseline 9, Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD).
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According to information published by ECNS on July 11, 2022, a joint maritime exercise of the Chinese and Pakistani militaries began at a Shanghai military port.

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Pakistan Navy's Type 054A/P frigate PNS Taimur, Shanghai. (Picture source: Wakwb)

The Chinese personnel participating in the exercise are mainly from the navy in the Eastern Theater Command. Vehicles involved include the guided-missile frigate Xiangtan, corvette Shuozhou, replenishment ship Qiandaohu and a submarine; an early warning aircraft; two fighter jets; and a helicopter.

Participating in the exercise on the Pakistani side is the PNS Taimur, a Type 054A/P frigate delivered to the Pakistan Navy from a shipyard in Shanghai last month.

About the replenishment ship Qiandaohu

Qiandaohu (886) is the lead ship of the Type 903 replenishment ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy. She was launched on 21 July 2003 at Huangpu Shipyard in Shanghai and commissioned on 30 April 2004 into the East Sea Fleet.

The ship is a new generation of large-scale ocean-going integrated supply ships in China. Its supply equipment has been greatly improved compared to the earlier Type 905 integrated supply ship.

It can be used for supply operations horizontal, vertical, vertical, and sideways. It has two sides, three directions, and four stations. At the same time, the replenishment capability can complete fleet replenishment tasks in more complex situations.

And the speed is higher than that of the Qinghaihu built with merchant ships as the standard, with a maximum speed of 20 knots, which can accompany fleet operations.

The class integrated supply ship used some Russian equipment in the early stage, and later it was fully localized. This type of supply ship has undergone a comprehensive upgrade of electronic equipment and has high formation communication capabilities, automatic statistics of materials, and the ability to report to formation command ships.
A new managed WAN service from AWS promises to make it faster and easier for enterprises to build, manage, and monitor a global network that seamlessly connects cloud and on-premises environments.

AWS Cloud WAN, which the company previewed in December, lets customers link cloud resources in on-premises data centers, branch offices or colocation sites and manage that environment through a single dashboard. Using the dashboard, networking teams can apply policies, automate configuration and security tasks across their entire network.

The idea is to eliminate the need to individually configure and manage multiple networks that use different technologies across the enterprise, AWS stated.

Network teams have the option to use network policies to define the Amazon virtual private clouds and on-premises locations they want to connect through AWS VPN, AWS Transit Gateway, or third-party SD-WAN products.

The service supports SD-WAN technologies from a variety of industry players, including Aruba, Aviatrix, Checkpoint, Cisco Meraki, Cisco Systems, Prosimo and VMware.

Customers can use policies in Cloud WAN to segment network traffic regardless of how many AWS regions or on-premises locations they add to the network, Sebastien Stormacq, principle developer with AWS, wrote in a blog about the new service.

For example, you can easily isolate network traffic from retail payment processing from other traffic on your corporate network while still giving both segments access to shared corporate resources, Stormacq stated. Another example would be the isolation of your development and production environment by creating logical network segments for each environment. This makes it easier to ensure consistent security policies when connecting large numbers of locations with your VPCs [Virtual Private Cloud] especially when your policies need to apply to large groups with unique security and routing requirements.

Cloud WAN can automatically attach new VPCs and network connections to the network, so customers do not need to approve each change manually. It reduces the operational overhead involved in managing a growing network. Network teams do this by tagging attachments and defining network policies that automatically map attachments with a certain tag to a specific network segment, Stormacq stated.

AWS Cloud WAN is available now in US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (N. California), US West (Oregon), Africa (Cape Town), Asia Pacific (Mumbai), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Sydney), Asia Pacific (Tokyo), Canada (Central), Europe (Frankfurt), Europe (Ireland), Europe (London), Europe (Milan), Europe (Paris), Europe (Stockholm), and Middle East (Bahrain) AWS Regions.
Business entities in Florida and New Jersey, plus 25 storefronts on Amazon and eBay, sold old Cisco gear that had been cosmetically altered to seem like new, more advanced models, part of a conspiracy going back eight years.

The counterfeit-distribution operation was selling the networking devices for a tenth what it would cost if they were legitimate, according to the US Department of Justice. It estimated the conspiracy took in more than $100 million in revenue, and thatif the equipment had been what it was purported to bewould have retailed for more than $1 billion.

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The devices were tricked out with counterfeit labels, stickers, boxes, documentation, and packaging that made the goods falsely appear to be new, genuine, and high-quality devices, according to a DoJ press release.

The counterfeits sometimes included pirated Cisco software and low-quality components, including ones to bypass Cisco software checks to authenticate the hardware and verify license compliance, according to the DoJ.

The products often malfunctioned or failed, damaging the networks and operations of the users, sometimes at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars. Purchasers of the bogus devices included hospitals, schools, government agencies, and the military, the DoJ said.

A 38-year-old Miami man has been charged with running the operation, identified as the Pro Network Entities, that imported tens of thousands of the fraudulent devices from China and Hong Kong. Onur Aksoy, also known as Ron Aksoy, also known as Dave Durden, is charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and to commit mail and wire fraud; three counts of mail fraud; four counts of wire fraud; and three counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods, the DoJ said. He was arrested in Florida June 29.

This month federal agents seized 1,156 counterfeit Cisco devices with a retail value of over $7 million from an Aksoy warehouse, according to the DoJ.

Often, the products Pro Network entities sold would simply fail or otherwise malfunction, causing significant damage to users networks and operations, in some cases costing tens of thousands of dollars. Customers of the devices included hospitals, schools, government agencies, and the military, the DoJ said.

Some of Pro Networks entities have existed since 2013, and the business has been on the radar of federal law enforcement since 2014. According to the indictment, US Customs and Border Protection seized about 180 shipments of the devices between 2014 and 2022. Cisco was also aware, and between 2014 and 2019 sent seven letters to Aksoy asking him to cease and desist his trafficking of counterfeit goods, the DoJ said. Earlier this year, Cisco told its customers about steps they should take to verify the authenticity and integrity of our solutions.

Named entities that sold the counterfeits

According to the DoJ, these are business entities involved in the scheme:

In Florida: Netech Solutions LLC; Target Network Solutions LLC; Maytech Trading LLC; NFD Trading LLC; Kenet Solutions LLC; Tenek Trading LLC; The Network Gears LLC; All Networking Solutions LLC (aka All Network); San Network LLC; Pro Network US Inc.; Jms Tek LLC; Renewed Equipment LLC; and Pro Ship US LLC.

In New Jersey: Pro Network LLC; Easy Network LLC; ACE NETUS LLC (aka Ace Network); My Network Dealer LLC; 1701 Doral LLC; and Team Tech Global LLC.

These are the Amazon storefronts involved, according to the DoJ:

Albus Trade Hub; EasyNetworkUS; Get Better Trade; Mercadeal; Netech Solutions; Netkco LLC; NFD Trading LLC; Palm Network Solutions; Renewed Equip; Servtaur; Smart Network; SOS Tech Trade; Target-Solutions; TeamTech Global; andTradeOrigin US.

These are the eBay storefronts involved, according to the DoJ:

Connectwus; futuretechneeds; getbettertrade; getontrade; maytechtradingllc; netechsolutions; netkco; nfdtrading; smartnetworkusa; and tenektradingllc.
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Introduction

Examples of Clinical Real-Time Data Mining

AI Learning in Healthcare

The role of The Internet of Things (IoT) in Real-Time Data Acquisition

References

Health professionals have been allocating a lot of funds into electronic record-keeping, paying for server data, computing power, etc. While this method does work, it becomes difficult to extract relevant information if the data itself is old or if there is too much of it to comb through.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased rates of heart disease, and other afflictions, hospitals aim to change healthcare delivery, increase patient autonomy, and devote fewer funds to healthcare as a percentage of the economy. This can all be accomplished through real-time data acquisition and AI machine learning. In clinical business intelligence, an emerging field within the STEM sectors, professionals focus on accruing information at the point of care, where it is applicable, relevant, and easy to access.

Image Credit: Buyakshina/Shutterstock.com

Examples of Clinical Real-Time Data Mining

Salam health, located in Oregon, has taken the initiative in clinical business intelligence, gathering real-time data on the rates of clostridium difficile, a hospital-acquired infection in the gut. Remarking on the death toll of 200,000 patients yearly, doctors began using information systems to assess how infections performed in real-time. This differs from the typical 60-90 retrospective approach. After some monitoring of staff infections was conducted, it was found that this real-time data tracking proved to be essential for combating C. difficile, correlating to a direct reduction in HO-CDI rates.

A paper produced by Ziemssen, T. et al. demonstrated a strategy to tackle multiple sclerosis using real-time data mining. A software/ machine was built to generate a classification model founded upon the signs and symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis. It will classify and prejudge the severity and progressive nature of several symptoms, such as paresis, diplopia, numbness, and more, and create an algorithm to diagnose.

After combing through the electronic health records and generating this model, the P-score was low enough, and a positive predictive value rate was attained. This study uses other afflictions and shows the grander audience just how vital a role AI can take in monitoring human health.

AI Learning in Healthcare

AI and machine learning have been in use for the past decade and, since then, have acted as our primary modus for attaining trending data in health care facilities. It is important to note that this approach is not only applicable to the monitoring of disease and infection.

Real-time data collection has been used in managing hospital beds, surgical day care units (procedural suites for extended periods of recovery), the supply and demand of bays, forecasting the most likely day of discharge for a given patient, and more.

Rule-based expert systems, founded upon an assortment of "if-then" rules, are helpful in the acquisition of real-time data. This rule-based system is often integrated with the hospital's electronic health records (EHRs). This further lead to "clinical decision making" on the part of the machine, to be interpreted by the leading physician. Though AI is proficient with data mining, tracking, and establishing patterns using a heavy mass of data, human experts and engineers are still required to maintain these machines. Moreover, many of the moral and ethical decisions that physicians face cannot be tackled by these binary systems.

Image Credit: Panchenko Vladimir/Shutterstock.com

The role of The Internet of Things (IoT) in Real-Time Data Acquisition

The internet of things (IoT) is a digital platform that encompasses all smart devices and uses their sensors to gather information about the world around us. This approach expands the scope of traditional medicine and uses large data streams to optimize patient health through algorithmic processing and decision-making. This segment of the health industry, sometimes dubbed "The Internet of Medical Things," aims to surpass outdated analog devices such as ultrasound probes and old cumbrous sphygmomanometers and replace these devices with smart pills, robotic surgical instrumentation, and other such devices that possess the ability to transfer data into the cloud.

Patients with smartphones or other smart device brands can now use high-speed broadband wireless to upload intel on whichever disease they are being treated for. The data-assisted analysis founded upon this real-time data acquisition will make an intelligent diagnosis and treatment avenues, culminating in AI machine learning, the internet, and real-time trends as the foundation.

A paper produced by Wang P et al. introduces the process of machine learning through density-based spatial clustering with noise (DBSCAN). This aims to transform data acquisition and improve clustering results. Doctors and nurses use this to collect patient data while the algorithm models trends (rate of disease, equipment usage, etc.), knowing what abnormal points to avoid and what outliers should be deleted to avoid false clusters.

Comparing clustered data with other sources can aid in the decisions of treatment. It was concluded by Wang P et al. that the results of smart diagnosis could provide cleaner facilities and greater insight into hospital management.

This paper emphasizes the importance of adopting real-time data in all hospitals and clinics. Though single intervention at the institution level does show some promise, we will not be aware of its true efficacy until it has been tested and validated in multiple centers. This is the only way to compare and draw conclusions on the relevant data.

Continue Reading: Unlocking the Power of Data to Accelerate Future Health Systems

Yeng, P. K., Szekeres, A., Yang, B., & Snekkenes, E. A. (2021). Mapping the Psychosocialcultural Aspects of Healthcare Professionals' Information Security Practices: Systematic Mapping Study. JMIR human factors, 8(2), e17604. https://doi.org/10.2196/17604

Schlicher, J., Metsker, M. T., Shah, H., & Demirkan, H. (2021). From Nasa To Healthcare: Real-Time Data Analytics (Mission Control) Is Reshaping Healthcare Services. Perspectives in health information management, 18(4), 1g.

Wang, P., & Li, J. (2021). Implementation of Real-Time Medical and Health Data Mining System Based on Machine Learning. Journal of healthcare engineering, 2021, 7011205. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/7011205

Almarzouki HZ, Alsulami H, Rizwan A, Basingab MS, Bukhari H, Shabaz M. An Internet of Medical Things-Based Model for Real-Time Monitoring and Averting Stroke Sensors. J Healthc Eng. 2021 Oct 27;2021:1233166. doi: 10.1155/2021/1233166. PMID: 34745488; PMCID: PMC8566034.

Bohr, A., & Memarzadeh, K. (2020). The rise of artificial intelligence in healthcare applications. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, 2560. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818438-7.00002-2

Doyen S, Dadario NB. 12 Plagues of AI in Healthcare: A Practical Guide to Current Issues With Using Machine Learning in a Medical Context. Front Digit Health. 2022 May 3;4:765406. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2022.765406. PMID: 35592460; PMCID: PMC9110785.

Further Reading
Congress MP Manish Tewari has not signed the memorandum, seeking immediate withdrawal of the 'Agnipath' scheme, submitted by the Opposition MPs during a crucial meeting with the members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence on Monday, sources said.

In past also, Tewari has supported the 'Agnipath' scheme. Speaking to IANS, Tewari had said, "The process of Defence reforms including right sizing the military started in the US way back in 1975 when Donald Rumsfield was Defence Secretary in the Ford Administration and every successive administration has seen it through. Rumsfeld initiated the conceptual basis of preparing armed forces for future warfare as he could envision the changing nature of the battlefield. Even the Chinese started the process of right sizing the PLA way back 1985."

Apart from the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Secretary, the three chiefs of the Armed Forces and other senior officials of the Ministry of Defence were also present in the meeting.

Out of total 12 MPs in the meeting, six were from Opposition parties that included Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The Opposition leaders who attended the meeting included Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Saugata Roy from TMC; Supriya Sule from NCP; Rajni Patil, Shaktisinh Gohil and Manish Tewari from Congress; and A.D. Singh from RJD.

The opposition MPs voiced their concerns over the new military recruitment scheme in the meeting, and said it should be rolled back.

As per a source, the Opposition members submitted a memorandum against the scheme to the Defence Minister.

"Number of applications coming in Agnipath scheme is not a proof of the success of the scheme but shows unemployment in the country. It is a failure of the scheme otherwise more people would have come," the memorandum reportedly underlined.

Along with the memorandum, the Opposition MPs asked Singh to hold wider consultations across the country, and also to send the scheme to the Standing Committee for Defence.
Modern science has advanced to the point where scientists can design living systems or modify existing ones, thereby pushing or breaking the limits of nature, in some cases, to achieve specific aims.

Otherwise known as synthetic biology, this field of science looks to produce novel functional designs that are based on living cells or subcellular microbes. Despite its promise, there are potential dangers surrounding the impact of synthetic biology on community dynamics that need to be explored.

Study: Ecological Firewalls for Synthetic Biology. Image Credit: Kotkoa / Shutterstock.com

A new iScience study discusses the use of ecological firewalls to predict and control communities of microbiota into which synthetic organisms are released.

Introduction

Synthetic biology research has led to the development of tools capable of examining natural processes and novel biomedical applications. Taken together, these advancements have been harnessed to design synthetic ecosystems, biocomputational systems, and multicellular systems.

Systems biology is intrinsic to advancements made within the field of synthetic biology. In fact, over the past decade, one type of systems biology known as community ecology has been a source of inspiration of several new ideas within the field of synthetic biology, in which population dynamics concepts have been examined for microbiota.

Moreover, researchers have become increasingly interested in the development of engineered microbes capable of withstanding various conditions caused by climate change. Some examples include specific waste-degrading bacteria, soil-improving cyanobacteria, or plant microbiomes.

Humans have caused a significant impact on the living world by polluting the oceans and freshwater bodies, all the while reducing carbon dioxide removal and advancing the decay of biodiversity. Thus, the development of these types of microorganisms could help conserve or restore ecosystems, particularly those at risk of catastrophic climate-linked events

Despite their promise, there remains an urgent need to determine the effect of such synthetic designs on cell communities. Notably, prior studies have been restricted by moratoria and modeling frameworks that have been largely absent.

Previous studies have reported the successful utilization of microbial inoculation-based techniques or the introduction of microorganisms into urban waste. However, these methods introduce a number of microorganisms simultaneously, or even a whole microbiome, into the environment, which can have long-term effects that have yet to be explored.

Ecological firewalls for synthetic biology

Strategies of biocontainment

The biocontainment strategies currently used within synthetic biology remain a challenge, as most of these approaches eliminate any interaction between the engineered strains and their surrounding environment. The basic working principle of these methods is to develop a genetic firewall that operates predictably and closely resembles known living organisms.

For example, the development of such a firewall could involve designing a new cell. Furthermore, the sequential modification of codons within designed bacterial cells could direct them away from the parent strains toward the artificial cell that is controlled by an unnatural genetic code.

In the current study, the researchers discuss the concept of terraformation as an approach to solving the issue of population containment within synthetic biology.

The key concept here is that, ideally starting from a member of the resident community, a synthetic strain can be obtained to be reintroduced to perform a function while being constrained to a limited spread within the given habitat.

Research on ecosystems and their tipping points or alternative states demonstrates that the right intervention can transform or restore a degraded ecological community into a healthy one. That is, there are some common characteristics of an ecosystem, that ensure attractor states, which allow the ecosystem to enter one or more possible equilibrium states.

The challenge facing these researchers was to modify or design organisms that could interact with other species in the resident community, such that the resulting robust attractor state would prevent synthetic organism overgrowth.

Earlier studies on invasion ecology show that invasion by a new species is limited by the structure of the host community that ultimately prevents colonization by the new microorganism. Weak host communities or the extinction of top predators are examples of situations in which the invader finds it easy to establish itself. In some cases, the invading organism facilitates the establishment of diversity, thereby helping other organisms to survive.

Attractor stability is determined by how different organisms in the ecosystem interact with each other. With a single stable attractor, an ecosystem could be designed where multiple species, including the synthetic strain, coexist indefinitely. In other words, the designed characteristics of the synthetic organism could result in a dynamic and diverse ecosystem.

In this situation, the ecological firewall would successfully limit the overgrowth of the introduced synthetic species, while leaving it capable of proliferating in response to an increase in the environmental problem, for instance, an oil spill.

Potential ecological firewalls

Five possible ecological firewalls are discussed in the current paper, each of which have been designed based on different mechanisms including the dynamic relationship between resources and consumers, mutualism, parasitism, indirect cooperation, and niche ecology.

Each firewall represents a specific network of interactions between species that are designed to operate within a greater web or natural community that is responsible for a specific functional role. The scientists chose a model set that uses a single species in a single dimension to simplify the theoretical problem and its outcome.

No specific gene constructs were proposed in the current study. Instead, the researchers looked to examples where the basic functional traits were assumed by the organism following its introduction into a given environment. In each type, the synthetic organism coexists with the existing community, though it may shrink to a very low level at times.

Resource-consumer firewall

In the example of the resource-consumer dynamic, the goal is to develop synthetic microorganisms that can efficiently degrade certain anthropogenic xenobiotics such as plastic, recalcitrant chemicals, or oil spills. As the microorganism becomes a part of its community and anthropogenic substrate levels are reduced below certain predetermined limits, the synthetic strain should become extinct.

The model used in the current study made predictions that accurately resemble recent findings on the impact of current synthetic biology applications. These include the exponential rise in plastic debris being dumped into the ocean failed to increase the sampled marine plastic concentrations. Simultaneously, an increasing number of plastic-eating bacteria are being detected across the world.

Synthetic mutualistic firewall

In the mutualistic firewall model, the researchers looked at how cyanobacteria could be engineered to improve soil moisture in drylands. Such an approach would make it easier for more plants to grow in the soil, while also enhancing soil quality and preserving the microbial diversity within the soil.

The behavior of the synthetic mutualistic firewall is ideal, as it improves moisture levels within the entire community, simultaneously improving the soil's production capabilities. Improved soil levels will subsequently benefit the synthetic cyanobacteria, thereby ensuring a coexistence attractor outcome.

Indirect cooperation firewall

In the indirect cooperation firewall example, synthetic organisms that derive carbon from the toxins in an oil spill sustain each other and the community, while helping to clean up the toxins. As the oil levels decrease with increased removal, the synthetic strain becomes less abundant but does not die out.

Implications

The scientists have demonstrated the feasibility of using engineered ecological approaches to prevent the overgrowth of synthetic microbial strains. Herein, they considered different types of ecological networks to establish various firewall concepts that allow ecosystems to maintain their required level of diversity while remaining functional as desired.

Ecological firewalls will help to tackle future bioremediation strategies.

Further studies may help incorporate genetic firewalls into this broader systems-level approach to enhance the level of biocontainment. Introducing a limited time span is another potentially useful intervention.

Stochastical parameters would also be helpful in building more detailed models, necessitating a careful study of the interactions between the species and abiotic factors.

Above all, these EFW should be used to test future terraformation strategies under a microcosm/mesocosm framework, where the presence and reliability of the previous attractor states could be studied under realistic conditions.
A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, among others, presents the theory that egg-sperm fusion, a crucial feature of sexual reproduction in plants and animals, may have originated from an ancient form of genetic exchange that involved the fusion of bacteria-like microorganisms called archaea. The results, published in Nature Communications, may open an entirely new perspective on the evolution of sex.

Archaeal proteins with membrane fusion activity might help us to understand how cells evolved from apparently simple forms sharing discrete pieces of DNA to today's complex life forms undergoing sexual reproduction." Shunsuke Nishio, researcher at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, and one of the study's first authors

The fusion of egg and sperm, specialized cells that carry the genetic information for the next generation, is the climax of sexual reproduction. Because uncontrolled cell fusion is lethal, plants and animals use special proteins called fusogens to control when and where this process takes place.

The new study reports that archaea, bacteria-like cells believed to have originated more than 3 billion years ago, can contain a protein (Fusexin 1 or Fsx1) that resembles a type of fusogen (HAP2) that had previously been identified in viruses, plants and invertebrate animals.

The researchers combined computational evolutionary biology, AlphaFold-based protein modeling, X-ray crystallography, and functional studies to show that the archaeal protein Fsx1 is a bona fide fusogen. This is both because it is structurally similar to the previously identified HAP2 fusogen and able to promote cell-cell fusion when expressed in other cell types.

"Gamete fusion has fascinated mankind for more than 150 years. Since we already knew that HAP2-like proteins are used to fuse the membrane of enveloped viruses (such as zika, dengue and rubella) with host cells, we wondered whether this key molecule originated in a virus and was then repurposed for gamete fusion in plants and animals or the other way around", says Luca Jovine, professor at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, and one of the study's corresponding authors. He continues:

"The discovery that ancient creatures like archaea can also contain a HAP2-like protein now raises a third intriguing possibility whereby Fusexin1 is the ancestral molecule from which viral, plant, and invertebrate animal fusogens derive".

The study was an international collaboration with academic research groups from Israel, Argentina, Uruguay, and Switzerland, as well as the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in France and the UK-based AI company DeepMind that developed AlphaFold.

The next step will be to work out what Fsx1 proteins are doing in nature, for example, if they fuse archaeal cells - like their plant and animal HAP2 counterparts fuse gametes - to promote a sex-like DNA exchange. Parallel studies will also be needed to accurately chart the evolutionary history connecting Fsx1 and HAP2 in order to firmly establish their origin.

Karolinska Institutet's work was funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Swedish Research Council. Shunsuke Nishio and Luca Jovine report no conflict of interest.
After the Russian invasion, Katie Nelha and her husband couldn't safely return to their home in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, so they took their chances as refugees. Flying from Poland, where they were working, to Mexico in early April, they crossed into the U.S. at Tijuana, where they were granted a temporary visa for humanitarian reasons.

Once in Sacramento, Nelha, 24, relied on a county translator to help her enroll in Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, to cover the cost of visiting an optometrist. "I need glasses to pass my eye test and get a driver's license so we can start looking for work," Nelha said through an interpreter. She plans to find a job in one of the city's dozens of Ukrainian and Russian restaurants.

The thriving Slavic communities in the California cities of Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco have become magnets for Ukrainians fleeing war less than a year after the state experienced an influx of Afghans in response to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Many refugees need health care immediately, for conditions such as pregnancy, high blood pressure, and diabetes or because of trauma they've recently experienced.

Earlier this year, the state Department of Health Care Services issued an advisory reminding local governments to enroll refugees in health programs because those who may not be eligible for federal services often qualify for state-administered programs, including full-coverage Medi-Cal, which covers doctor visits, vaccinations, screenings, and medications.

But the social service agencies tasked with delivering much of that care are straining to keep up with demand. Understaffed after years of dwindling funding, they're now desperate for skilled interpreters who can walk newly arrived refugees through the application process and attend clinic appointments with them.

"We have four staff who speak Russian or Ukrainian, and we really need three more to meet all the demand," said Dr. Sumi Mishra, medical director for Sacramento County's Department of Health Services. "We can't find them."

Mishra said the county's refugee health clinic is recruiting for six open positions. But because the jobs require language skills, the candidate pool is limited. And a county salary  a recent posting put the range for a Ukrainian language specialist at $37,000 to $45,000  often can't compete with private-sector offerings. The median household income in Sacramento County is more than $70,000, according to 2020 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The shortage extends to other languages as well. "We can't find enough Pashto and Dari speakers [for Afghan enrollees] who will take those positions," Mishra said.

Rich Desmond, a Sacramento County supervisor whose district includes some of the unincorporated areas in which many Ukrainian immigrants have settled, said the pandemic exposed long-standing funding and staff shortages in public health. Between 2010 and 2019, public health workforce funding in the state fell 14%, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center. And several Sacramento County health officials told KHN that they're chronically understaffed.

"It really laid bare where the gaps were," Desmond said.

The problem appears to be more severe in Sacramento County because of the influx of refugees to the region. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, for example, said it has enough interpreters to meet demand.

Sacramento has the highest concentration of Ukrainian immigrants in the country, according to the Migration Policy Institute, which says that about 18,000 Ukrainians reside permanently in the Sacramento area. Federal counts of the current surge say about 200 Ukrainian refugees arrived in California between October and June. But Florin Ciuriuc, executive director of the Slavic Community Center of Sacramento, said that as many as 10,000 refugees have come to the Sacramento area since the war began in late February and that the vast majority were Ukrainian.

The undercount extends statewide. County health officials and immigrant support networks put the total number of newly arrived Ukrainians in California at 20,000 or more  a 33% increase to the 60,000 Ukrainian immigrants already living in the state.

It's a continuation of a long-standing pattern. Between 2002 and 2019, California resettled more refugees than any other state, about 108,000, according to the Pew Research Center. Many of them arrived from Iran, Iraq, Laos, and Ukraine. California is home to a Southeast Asian refugee community that numbers in the hundreds of thousands and dates to the end of the Vietnam War.

More recently, the state has welcomed an influx of Afghan refugees.

Because of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, many Afghan refugees could apply for special immigrant visas, which took time to process and gave states and counties advance notice of how many people might be coming their way and when, Desmond said.

Not so with Ukrainian refugees initially. Like Katie Nelha, many arrived in California via the U.S.-Mexico border before the Biden administration stopped allowing Ukrainians to enter there in April.

Some Ukrainians resettling in California have come through under humanitarian parole or temporary protected status  both of which qualify them for Medi-Cal. But most can claim a Medi-Cal status known as Permanently Residing Under Color of Law, or PRUCOL, to qualify for benefits. Because PRUCOL covers immigrants who have applied for a legal status but are still awaiting a response, there may be vast numbers of Ukrainians who are eligible for care  and therefore known to local health officials and immigrant networks  even though they're not officially designated as refugees.

Desmond said Sacramento County supervisors are pushing the state to free up discretionary funding to address the refugee surge. The county recently set aside $3 million to provide support services to recently arrived Afghans and may take similar action for Ukrainians.

When Afghans began settling in Sacramento last fall, the county used state funding to hire shift interpreters, part-time workers to bridge language gaps. It contracts with a half-dozen translation services to fill those spots, but Mishra, the county medical director, said hiring full-time staff would be preferable.

Refugees often have pressing health needs.

New immigrants must take a tuberculosis test within 14 days of arriving in the U.S. And common health problems include elevated lead levels in children, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Health workers also screen people for region-specific issues  such as a bacteria found in Afghanistan that leads to gastritis, and thyroid disease, a potential consequence of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, among Ukrainians.

Mishra worries about invisible scars, too.

"Many of these people were experiencing PTSD," she said. "They were coming out of very, very traumatic situations  in some cases seeing family members die. But it's something that is not really discussed openly within their community. We often have to ask a lot of questions for that to reveal itself."

Noel Sanchez, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said doctors screen carefully for signs of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Some of the county translators' duties include guiding newcomers through the layered U.S. health care system. When Russian refugees Andrew Dozhdev, 25, and Kivil Spassky, 21, were asked in Sacramento in June whether they had seen a doctor since fleeing their country because of their opposition to the war, both shook their heads and hesitated.

"I hope I don't need one," Dozhdev finally replied.

With county agencies understaffed and overwhelmed, the task often falls to nonprofit and community or religious groups. Dmitriy Pridyuk, senior pastor at Revival Christian Center in Sacramento's Foothill Farms area, said his church is housing about 35 immigrants on a short-term basis, providing them with a place to sleep and shower, food, and other assistance.

As for the care itself, county health officials said they are committed to serving refugees, although their staffing shortages are unlikely to be resolved soon.

"More and more families are just showing up at our doorstep," Mishra said. "We made the decision that we were not going to turn them away even if we don't have a clear read on their legal status."

This story was produced by KHN, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.
In a recent case report posted to the Research Square* preprint server, researchers described the symptomatology and clinical manifestations of monkeypox infections among two Israeli patients.

About the case report

The authors of the present report described monkeypox infections among two Israeli men aged 30 to 40 years who had sex with men (MSM). None of the patients were vaccinated for smallpox, and neither received antiviral therapy for monkeypox.

Case 1

The patient had normal body weight [indicated by body mass index (BMI) values], and history of hemorrhoids and condyloma acuminatum one year before the current monkeypox infection, and had received human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. The final HPV vaccine was administered one month before the current infection. In addition, he had been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease 2 (SARS-CoV-2) once despite being vaccinated twice for the same one year prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis.

On day 1, the patient reported a sensation of altered perianal skin texture without any visible skin lesions. On day 2, mild fever (37.5 C), fatigue, and muscle aches were reported. He had unprotected sex with his male partner till one day before the onset of symptoms. The partner had confirmed monkeypox infection several days before patient 1 and had unprotected sex with a European traveler. After being diagnosed with monkeypox infection, the patient was self-quarantined. On day 3, he presented with increased body temperature (38C), chills, severe headaches, and tender right and left inguinal lymph nodes.

In addition, painless, raised, and serous papules were reported in the anal region and perianal region. Monkeypox infection was suspected, so the patient was referred for emergency care. All vital signs except body temperature were within the reference range, and new lesions were not reported. Nasopharyngeal and anal swabs were obtained from the patient for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, based on which the patient was diagnosed with monkeypox infection.

Laboratory tests, including biochemistry parameters such as liver function tests, electrolytes and creatinine, and complete blood count were performed. The patient had a mild increase in neutrophil count (6 10e3/L), elevated C-reactive protein (93.4 mg\L), and alanine transaminase (64 U/L) levels and received hospital discharge with prescription of topical antibiotics prescribed and advised for sexually transmitted disease panel testing.

On day 4 of monkeypox infection, 10 pruritic pustular lesions were identified with an additional solitary papule in the mouth commissure. On day 5, the patient presented with lymphadenopathy, severe pain in the inguinal region, with additional lesions in the buttocks, anal region, and perianal region with umbilication in the center. In addition, elevated erythematous patches over the extremities, trunk, and neck were also detected. He was prescribed creams for topical application, antihistamines, and analgesics.

On day 6, the red patches transformed into umbilicated and painless papules restricted to the upper extremities and the trunk. On day 7, the patient presented with pruritis vesicular lesions in the anal region with severe dyschezia and pain, for which he sought emergency care once again. The laboratory test reports were similar to the earlier reports, and the patient received discharge with medication comprising paracetamol and oxycodone. On the eighth day of infection, the body temperature returned to normal, the pain and lymphadenopathy subsided, and crusting of lesions on the anal and perianal areas was observed with persistent pruritis. The patient was highly anxious due to rapid clinical alterations and the uncertain duration of infection.

Case 2

A male patient suffering from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), treated with combination therapy comprising dolutegravir, lamivudine and abacavir, and CD4 + T lymphocyte count of >500 lymphocytes/mm3 presented with suspected monkeypox infection. He also received apixaban medication after an event of venous thromboembolism.

The patients BMI was normal, and he had a condyloma acuminatum history and had received HPV vaccination, the final dose of which was received several weeks before the current infection. He initially presented with dysuria, malaise, pruritis in the penile region, and enlarged unilateral inguinal lymph nodes. Symptom onset was reported 14 days after unprotected sex with a European traveler.

On day 3, a solitary lesion with umbilication in the center was detected on the penis, and 10 lesions were detected on the following day. Two days later, the patient presented with enlarged cervical lymph nodes and 10 penile pustular lesions with papules spreading to non-genital regions of the body, although vitals, urine analysis, and biochemistry test reports were normal.

By day 8, the lesions in the penis appeared to be vesicular, and the bodily papules were more numerous throughout the body; however, the face was spared. By the tenth day of infection, crusted lesions were observed, and some lesions disappeared three days later. Even though the patient showed symptomatic improvement, the diagnosis of monkeypox infection made him anxious.

Conclusion

The authors believe that no case report before the present one described the clinical presentation of monkeypox infections in Israel and is also among the initial reports of the infection among developed nations. Both cases had atypical clinical presentations with asynchronous lesions on the trunk, extremities, genital and anal regions; however, the clinical presentations were similar to those of sporadic cases observed in Australia and Italy.

The report underpins the need to lower the suspicion threshold of monkeypox infections and increase awareness and testing for monkeypox infections. In addition, health measures must be developed to minimize monkeypox virus transmission but also to address the anxiety and stress of gay men.

*Important notice

Research Square publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
Four years ago, when Karen Giuliano went to a Boston hospital for hip replacement surgery, she was given a pale-pink bucket of toiletries issued to patients in many hospitals. Inside were tissues, bar soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and, without a doubt, the worst toothbrush she'd ever seen.

"I couldn't believe it. I got a toothbrush with no bristles," she said. "It must have not gone through the bristle machine. It was just a stick."

To most patients, a useless hospital toothbrush would be a mild inconvenience. But to Giuliano, a nursing professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, it was a reminder of a pervasive "blind spot" in U.S. hospitals: the stunning consequences of unbrushed teeth.

Hospital patients not getting their teeth brushed, or not brushing their teeth themselves, is believed to be a leading cause of hundreds of thousands of cases of pneumonia a year in patients who have not been put on a ventilator. Pneumonia is among the most common infections that occur in health care facilities, and a majority of cases are non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia, or NVHAP, which kills up to 30% of those infected, Giuliano and other experts said.

But unlike many infections that strike within hospitals, the federal government doesn't require hospitals to report cases of NVHAP. As a result, few hospitals understand the origin of the illness, track its occurrence, or actively work to prevent it, the experts said.

Many cases of NVHAP could be avoided if hospital staffers more dutifully brushed the teeth of bedridden patients, according to a growing body of peer-reviewed research papers. Instead, many hospitals often skip teeth brushing to prioritize other tasks and provide only cheap, ineffective toothbrushes, often unaware of the consequences, said Dian Baker, a Sacramento State nursing professor who has spent more than a decade studying NVHAP.

"I'll tell you that today the vast majority of the tens of thousands of nurses in hospitals have no idea that pneumonia comes from germs in the mouth," Baker said.

Pneumonia occurs when germs trigger an infection in the lungs. Although NVHAP accounts for most of the cases associated with health care, it historically has not received the same attention as pneumonia tied to ventilators, which is easier to identify and study because it occurs among a narrow subset of patients.

NVHAP, a risk for virtually all hospital patients, is often caused by bacteria from the mouth that gathers in the scummy biofilm on unbrushed teeth and is aspirated into the lungs. Patients face a higher risk if they lie flat or remain immobile for long periods, so NVHAP can also be prevented by elevating their heads and getting them out of bed more often.

According to the National Organization for NV-HAP Prevention, which was founded in 2020, this pneumonia infects about 1 in every 100 hospital patients and kills 15% to 30% of them. For those who survive, the illness often extends their hospital stay by up to 15 days and makes it much more likely they will be readmitted within a month or transferred to an intensive care unit.

John McCleary, 83, of Bangor, Maine, contracted a likely case of NVHAP in 2008 after he fractured his ankle in a fall and spent 12 days in rehabilitation at a hospital, said his daughter, Kathy Day, a retired nurse and advocate with the Patient Safety Action Network.

McCleary recovered from the fracture but not from pneumonia. Two days after he returned home, the infection in his lungs caused him to be rushed back to the hospital, where he went into sepsis and spent weeks in treatment before moving to an isolation unit in a nursing home.

He died weeks later, emaciated, largely deaf, unable to eat, and often "too weak to get water through a straw," his daughter said. After contracting pneumonia, he never walked again.

"It was an astounding assault on his body, from him being here visiting me the week before his fall, to his death just a few months later," Day said. "And the whole thing was avoidable."

While experts describe NVHAP as a largely ignored threat, that appears to be changing.

Last year, a group of researchers  including Giuliano and Baker, plus officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Veterans Health Administration, and the Joint Commission  published a "call-to-action" research paper hoping to launch "a national healthcare conversation about NVHAP prevention."

The Joint Commission, a nonprofit organization whose accreditation can make or break hospitals, is considering broadening the infection control standards to include more ailments, including NVHAP, said Sylvia Garcia-Houchins, its director of infection prevention and control.

Separately, ECRI, a nonprofit focused on health care safety, this year pinpointed NVHAP as one of its top patient safety concerns.

James Davis, an ECRI infection expert, said the prevalence of NVHAP, while already alarming, is likely "underestimated" and probably worsened as hospitals swelled with patients during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We only know what's reported," Davis said. "Could this be the tip of the iceberg? I would say, in my opinion, probably."

To better measure the condition, some researchers call for a standardized surveillance definition of NVHAP, which could in time open the door for the federal government to mandate reporting of cases or incentivize prevention. With increasing urgency, researchers are pushing for hospitals not to wait for the federal government to act against NVHAP.

Baker said she has spoken with hundreds of hospitals about how to prevent NVHAP, but thousands more have yet to take up the cause.

"We are not asking for some big, $300,000 piece of equipment," Baker said. "The two things that show the best evidence of preventing this harm are things that should be happening in standard care anyway - brushing teeth and getting patients mobilized."

That evidence comes from a smattering of studies that show those two strategies can lead to sharp reductions in infection rates.

In California, a study at 21 Kaiser Permanente hospitals used a reprioritization of oral care and getting patients out of bed to reduce rates of hospital-acquired pneumonia by around 70%. At Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, better oral care reduced NVHAP cases by a yearly average of 35%.

At Orlando Regional Medical Center in Florida, a medical unit and a surgical unit where patients received enhanced oral care reduced NVHAP rates by 85% and 56%, respectively, when compared with similar units that received normal care. A similar study is underway at two hospitals in Illinois.

And the most compelling results come from a veterans' hospital in Salem, Virginia, where a 2016 oral care pilot program reduced rates of NVHAP by 92%  saving an estimated 13 lives in just 19 months. The program, the HAPPEN Initiative, has been expanded across the Veterans Health Administration, and experts say it could serve as a model for all U.S. hospitals.

Michelle Lucatorto, a nursing official who leads HAPPEN, said the program trains nurses to most effectively brush patients teeth and educates patients and families on the link between oral care and preventing NVHAP. While teeth brushing may not seem to require training, Lucatorto made comparisons to how the coronavirus revealed many Americans were doing a lackluster job of another routine hygienic practice: washing their hands.

"Sometimes we are searching for the most complicated intervention," she said. "We are always looking for that new bypass surgery, or some new technical equipment. And sometimes I think we fail to look at the simple things we can do in our practice to save people's lives."
In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers described the evolutionary profile of the monkeypox virus.

Between 1 January and 15 June 2022, over 2,100 infections of the monkeypox virus have been detected in 42 countries. The surveillance of viral transmissibility corresponding to the monkeypox virus (MPXV) is extremely important to curb the monkeypox epidemic.

About the study

In the present study, researchers reported a non-canonical ribonucleic acid (RNA) secondary structure called the G-quadruplex (RG4) present in the MPXV variants.

The team employed a quadruplex forming G-rich sequence (QGRS)-mapper to assess the putative G4-forming sequences (PQSs) present in the MPXV genome. Since MPXV has accumulated various mutations across different variants, the team obtained 177 complete viral genomic sequences corresponding to the MPXV genome. These genomic sequences were used to predict the varied PQSs present in the viral strains and analyze the magnitudes of sequence conservation among the PQSs.

The evolutionary relationship between the different C9L PQSs found in the various MPXV strains was identified by analyzing the phylogenetic tree as per the 177 whole-genome deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences of MPXV. The generation and stability of the RG4 structures present in the nine C9L PQSs were assessed by conducting a fluorescent turn-on assay using a thioflavin T (ThT), which is a G4-specific fluorescent probe.

Results

The study results showed that out of all the MPXV genome sequences, only one PQS was located in the region corresponding to the coding sequences (CDS) in the C9L gene. The C9L gene in the MPXV encodes a Kelch-like protein that is essential in inhibiting innate immune responses related to the host. The team noted five to eight G-tracts in nine variants corresponding to C9L PQSs. Some of the C9L PQS variants displayed G-tracts with three G-bases, while others had two G-bases.

Furthermore, the C9L PQSs related to the different viral strains displayed diverse G-scores as well as overlaps, which suggested varied stability and potential for the formation of G4. Five G-tracts present in the C9L PQSs were found to be highly conserved within the MPXV genome, suggesting a potential function in the viral life cycle of MPXV.

The team also observed that MPXV has two primary genetic clades, the Western African clade, and the Central African clade, along with other subclasses. All the genomic sequences detected in the MPXV cases were significantly related to each other and belonged to the West African B.1 clade. Furthermore, the MPXV genomes found in the A.1, A1.1, and B.1 clades contained C9L-RG4-5, which is the PQS having the least number of G-tracts while the rest of the clades had PQSs having more G-tracts. This suggests that the C9L RG4 has an evolutionary function.

The fluorescent assay with thioflavin T showed that the annealing of the C9L PQS oligos led to an increase in the fluorescent signal of ThT. On the other hand, the G-A mutation of the G-tracts of the C9L PQS did not increase the fluorescent intensity. This suggested that the nine C9L PQSs could effectively form G4 structures within a general cytosolic condition. Furthermore, the C9L PQS oligos displayed varied fluorescent intensity at the peak wavelength at the same concentration as ThT, suggesting that the mutations accumulated in the C9L G4 motifs regulated the stability of the RG4 structures.

Furthermore, the team observed that the stability of the C9L RG4 was higher in the Central African clade than in the West African clade. The strains related to the West African clade comprise the most unstable motif called C9L-RG4-5, while the strains belonging to the Central African clade primarily contain the comparatively more stable motif called C9L-RG4-7-2G3. The team also noted that the RG4 motifs belonging to the MPXV strains that have similar evolutionary distances also have similar stabilities. Moreover, the highly stable C9L RG4 motifs, including C9L-RG4-8-2G3, C9L-RG4-8-3G3, and C9L-RG4-8-5G3 were detected in only a few strains, which indicated a low contagion. This data indicated that MPXV evolution was likely to reduce C9L-RG4 stability and thus boosted the spread of MPXV.

The RG4 structure present in the CDS region was also found to effectively inhibit the translation of proteins according to the stability of the RG4 structure. Since the C9L gene is associated with the inhibition of host immune response, the team inferred that the genetic evolution of C9L-RG4 could control the activity of MPXV by enhancing the C9L protein level. This suggested that improved MPXV transmission is correlated to C9L-RG4 evolution.

Overall, the study findings showed that MPXV evolution leads to the generation of increasingly unstable C9L RG4 motifs while the current MPXV strains have shown the presence of the highly unstable C9L-RG4-5 motif.

*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.
In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* pre-print server, Australian researchers comprehensively investigated the impact of 39 receptor-binding-domain (RBD) mutations in six severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs). The SARS-CoV-2 variants included Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, and Omicron.

Additionally, the researchers studied the effect of 33 common point mutations using a custom bead-based 39-plex array. Specifically, they examined the effect on immunoglobulin G (IgG) recognition, fragment crystallizable gamma receptors (FcRs)-engagement, and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-binding.

Study: Altered affinity to ACE2 and reduced Fc functional antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 RBD variants. Image Credit: Juan Gaertner / Shutterstock

Background

The RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein is a mutation hotspot across all VOC lineages. The Beta and Omicron VOCs harbor RBD mutations such as N501Y, which enhance their ACE2 binding affinity and subsequently their infectivity and transmission potential. The RBD-targeting neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) induced following SARS-CoV-2 infection and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination block ACE2-binding on host cells, thus protecting them from symptomatic infection.

Some RBD mutations, such as E484K found in Beta and Gamma VOCs, result in a loss of epitope recognized by anti-SARS-CoV-2 nAbs, consequently reducing their neutralizing capacity. Likewise, Omicron BA.2 has 16 amino acid mutations at the RBD that facilitate evading neutralization. However, several antibodies directed towards the RBD also induce non-neutralizing activity.

Studies have barely investigated the impact of RBD mutations on the affinity to protein-altering ACE2 polymorphisms. Animal studies have demonstrated the importance of Fc-mediated immunity, where animals that received neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with compromised Fc-regions had higher viral burdens. Thus, a better understanding of antibody Fc effector functions, including antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP) and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), could help improve protective signatures across all VOCs.

About the study

In the present study, researchers collected 16 IgG plasma antibodies samples from BNT162b2 vaccine recipients and 15 COVID-19 convalescent subjects. The convalescent study samples were collected between March and May 2020 when pre-VOC ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strains caused infections. They used a SARS-CoV-2 multiplex bead assay to measure antibody isotype and subclasses. Its results also indicated the capacity for antigen-specific antibodies to engage soluble FcRIIa and FcRIIIa-dimer constructs, a proxy readout for ADCP and ADCC activity, respectively.

The team used systems serology to observe the antibody repertoire of BNT162b2 vaccinees and convalescent subjects. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that these subjects naturally separated into three groups based on the antibody signatures, with 15 antibody features contributing to observed differences between groups.

Further, the researchers used biolayer interferometry (BLI) to characterize the binding affinity of wild-type (WT)-ACE2 to VOC RBDs and a subset of single-point mutations. The BLI also helped the researchers assess the binding profiles of three low-frequency ACE2 polymorphisms, E35K, K26R, and S19P, to RBDs of Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Omicron BA.2 VOCs and ancestral strains RBD. It is noteworthy that ACE2 polymorphisms are present at a low frequency within the human population. For instance, S19P, predominant within African/African American populations, occurs at a low frequency of 0.3%.

Study findings

The current study had three key findings. First, the authors observed a loss of IgG recognition against the RBD of Omicron and Beta VOCs and numerous single-point mutations, including G446S and N501T. The ADCP assays validated that this reduced IgG recognition translated to a loss of FcR-binding antibodies, which showed that RBD mutations in VOCs compromised Fc-effector functions. Overall, these results indicated evolutionary immune escape tendencies of Gamma, Beta, and Omicron VOCs.

Second, the researchers evidenced that the RBD-ACE2 affinity influenced the potential of antibodies to block ACE2-binding using a surrogate in-vitro neutralization assay. Third, the researchers used BLI to demonstrate that VOC mutations and human ACE2 polymorphisms, including E35K, K26R, and S19P, altered the RBD-ACE2 affinity and binding kinetics; which, in turn, influenced an individuals susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Conclusions

The present study had a cohort of BNT162b2 individuals who received two vaccine doses. Now, most countries have expanded the currently approved vaccination regimen to three doses, which likely enhanced immune responses to VOCs. Future studies should dissect the impact of particular mutations on enhanced RBD-specific antibody responses.

Future studies should also explore how the current study findings would translate to other SARS-CoV-2 vaccines with more or less potent responses, such as messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-1273. To conclude, all the VOC mutations, including common point mutations, RBD mutations, and their combination, had significant effects on RBD-ACE2 affinity, IgG-binding, and the Fc effector functions. Indeed, these sites are crucial for SARS-CoV-2 evolution and need continuous monitoring.

*Important notice

medRxiv 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.
In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers at Ghent University and KU Leuven, Belgium, demonstrated that Urtica dioica agglutinin (UDA), a monomeric lectin extracted from stinging nettle rhizomes, inhibited severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VOCs) cell to cell fusion.

Study: Carbohydrate-Binding Protein from Stinging Nettle as Fusion Inhibitor for SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern. Image Credit: Craig Walton / Shutterstock

Background

From the initial 41 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in Hubei province, China, the SARS-CoV-2 quickly expanded to become a global pandemic with over 556 million confirmed infections and more than 6.35 million fatalities in just over two and a half years.

The current study's authors previously identified plant lectins as a distinct class of antiviral compounds. A carbohydrates-attaching tiny monomeric protein called UDA was discovered in the rhizomes of stinging nettle plants.

UDA selectively hinders the replication of numerous viruses, including coronaviruses, in different cell kinds. Prior studies with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and influenza virus demonstrated that UDA impedes viral entry, possibly by blocking virus fusion.

Notably, the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic emphasizes the necessity for a broad-spectrum antiviral agent that can be employed immediately to quickly reduce viral transmission when an epidemic associated with a (re-)emerging virus arises.

About the study

In the present study, the researchers looked into UDA's potential as a broad-spectrum SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drug. Determining if the lectin was a viable wide-ranging antiviral inhibitor requires resolving its precise mode of action in depth. The team assessed UDA against a screen of SARS-CoV-2 variants in several cell types.

Initially, the plant lectin UDA was assessed against pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2. Subsequently, the antiviral effectiveness of UDA was examined against the wild-type virus. The team also evaluated UDA against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta VOCs.

To further explore the antiviral potency of UDA, the researchers assessed UDA's antiviral function in differentiated cells in three-dimensional (3D)-like structures that were air-exposed, known as air-liquid-interface (ALI) cultures. To identify which region of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein or cellular receptor was in charge of UDA's antiviral effect, they utilized surface plasmon resonance (SPR).

The investigators next evaluated UDA's potential to block cell-cell SARS-CoV-2 fusion utilizing a split neon-green molecular platform to better comprehend the precise molecular focus of UDA in SARS-CoV-2 entrance. They also determined which carbohydrates on the S protein were necessary for UDA binding.

Results and conclusions

The study results indicated that in A549 angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) cells, UDA effectively prevents entry of pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2 with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values varying from 0.32 to 1.22 microM.

Further, UDA inhibited the replication of the early SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan-Hu-1 strain in Vero E6 cells with an IC50 value of 225 nM, and the SARS-CoV-2 Beta, Alpha, and Gamma VOCs with an IC50 range of 115 to 171 nM. Moreover, UDA has antiviral activity in U87.ACE2+ cells against the latest Omicron and Delta VOCs, with IC50 values of 0.9 and 1.6 microM, respectively.

Interestingly, UDA maintained antiviral efficacy against the SARS-CoV-2 20A.EU2 variant within the nanomolar range when evaluated in ALI primary lung epithelial cell cultures. According to SPR investigations, UDA binds to the S protein of the SARS-CoV-2 in a concentration-reliant manner, perhaps interfering with cell adhesion or subsequent viral entry.

Moreover, in subsequent mechanistic studies using cell-cell fusion tests, UDA prevented SARS-CoV-2 S protein-facilitated membrane fusion. According to the current cell-cell fusion investigations, a saturating concentration of UDA was necessary for the dynamic fusion process to elicit an almost full inhibitory effect. The scientists found that the inhibitory potential of UDA significantly decreased when unbound UDA was removed ahead of the start of cell-cell fusion. Furthermore, N-glycosylation deletions across the S2 subunit of the S protein in pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2 mutants did not affect their sensitivity to UDA's antiviral effects.

To conclude, the present work demonstrated that UDA was a potent and wide-spectrum SARS-CoV-2 fusion inhibitor. The study findings depicted that UDA efficaciously prevents SARS-CoV-2 from entering target cells. Besides, the current observation that UDA retained antiviral effectiveness against various SARS-CoV-2 VOCs shows that UDA should be regarded as an antiviral with an intriguing pan-character that could be a beneficial tool for combating present and prospective SARS-CoV-2 variants.

*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.
The first widespread census of the genetic diversity of common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) populations living along 3000km of Australia's southern coastline has raised key pointers for future conservation efforts.

The comprehensive Flinders University study calls for more conservation and policy efforts to preserve adaptive DNA diversity and assist connectivity between these dolphin groups. This will support long-term gene flow and adaptation during ongoing habitat changes  including oceanic conditions affected by climate change and human enterprises.

Flinders University researcher Dr Andrea Barcelo  first author in the study just published in BMC Ecology and Evolution  says high levels of genomic variation can play an important part in the long-term survival of these wide-ranging marine mammals and other species.

"Information about how the environment affects DNA diversity of marine populations can assist with the population management and in forecasting how they may cope with climate change and other anthropogenic impacts."

As well, Flinders and Macquarie University researchers say maintaining connectivity can promote long-term genomic variation, which in turn will enhance population viability under anthropogenic impacts, including unfavorable climatic events.

While so many breeding and feeding conditions are still unknown, it's important for managers of our coastal environments to consider the importance of DNA diversity, particularly in the event of changes in key environmental conditions such as water temperatures, salinity, and food sources." Luciana Moller, Study Co-Author, Marine Biologist Associate Professor, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University

The adaptive divergence from more than 200 dolphins showed five dolphin populations from Western Australia to Victoria and compared this with the key environmental conditions and available fish food supplies fuelled by oceanic upwellings and local seasonal circulations.

Genomic variation in dolphins of the southern coast of Western Australia was associated to local currents, while genomic differentiation of common dolphins from sites along the continental shelf break was impacted by fluctuations of primary productivity and sea surface temperatures.

I contrast, genomic differentiation of common dolphins from protected coastal habitats and more enclosed embayment areas was associated mainly with fluctuations in salinity and local environment temperatures.

Such seascape genomic assessment identified candidate genes for future comparative studies of common dolphins and potentially other delphinid species that share similar dynamic environments around the world
In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers assessed the impact of gene amplification on cross-species adaptation.

Spillover events between different species have often initiated various pandemics throughout human history. However, further research is necessary to understand the evolutionary forces that drive such cross-species transmissions.

About the study

In the present study, the team demonstrated the incidence of gene amplification of RhTRS1 could effectively rescue viral replication in fibroblasts of partially resistant African green monkeys (AGMs).

The team infected A549 cells with either the vaccinia virus (VACV)+RhTRS1 or the VACV strain named Copenhagen, expressing a beta-galactosidase (bg) reporter gene. Furthermore, the team infected an A549 protein kinase R (PKR) knockout (KO) cell line. The team also investigated if the rhtrs1 phenotype was consistently present in other human-derived cells by infecting A549 cells with VACV-bg, VACV+RhTRS1, AGM-A, AGM-B, or AGM-C.

Furthermore, the team explored whether the rhtrs1 amplification could increase the extent of viral replication in PKRs absence. This was achieved by infecting both PKR A549 cells as well as PKR-competent cells with the AGM-A, AGM-B, and AGM-C viral populations. The viral titers of the infected cells were then compared with those observed in the VACV-RhTRS1 and VACV-bg infected cells. Subsequently, the team conducted an immunoblot analysis on intermediates derived from the PKR pathways in the infected A549 cells.

The team also investigated the role of ribonuclease L (RNase L) in the restriction of VACV-RhTRS1 replication within human cells by infecting A549 or A549 PKR cells with VACV-RhTRS1, VACV-bg, or AGM-A. The infected cells were then tested for products of ribonucleic acid (RNA) degradation 24 hours after infection. The team also infected either RNase L-competent A549 cells or clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-mediated deletion of RNase L present in existing A549 cells with VACV-RhTRS1, VACV-bg, or AGM-A.

Results

The study results showed that A549 cells restricted VACV+RhTRS1 replication by almost 10000 times as compared to the replication of VACV-bg. The team noted that the deletion of A549 PKR cells enhanced the replication of VACV+RhTRS1 almost 1000 times compared to the PKR-competent cells. On the other hand, VACV+RhTRS1 cells could replicate almost 100 times less in comparison to the wild-type (WT) virus present in the PKR cells. Duplication of rhtrs1 also elicited the benefit of partial replication in human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) cells.

VACV-bg, VACV+RhTRS1, and the AGM-adapted populations comprise an amplification related to the rhtrs1 locus and unique arrays corresponding to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) present at various allelic frequencies among different populations. The team noted that the AGM-adapted virus displayed replication 100 to 1000 times more than that observed in VACV-RhTRS1 cells but 100 to 1000 times lesser than VACV-bg found in the A549 cells.

Furthermore, the team observed that PKR KO did not provide additional benefits related to viral replication to either of the three AGM-adapted viruses since they replicated up to titers almost 100 times lower than those noted in VACV-bg infected cells. This suggested that rhtrs1 amplification could fully inhibit PKR.

Interestingly, the VACV-bg infected cells displayed minimal eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha (eIF2) phosphorylation and no PKR phosphorylation while the VACV+RhTRS1 cells showed high levels of eIF2 and PKR phosphorylation. The AGM-A infected cells had PKR phosphorylation, while the AGM-A infected A549 cells also displayed eIF2 phosphorylation. This suggested that AGM-adapted viruses did not fully cause inhibition of human PKR even though PKR KO did not positively affect the replication of AGM-A viruses. Altogether, this indicated that PKR was not the sole host factor that restricted the replication of VACV+RhTRS1 in human cells.

The team observed that RNAase had no impact on the replication of VACV-bg. However, VACV-RhTRS1 replicated almost 1000 times more in A549 RNase L cells than in A549 cells. However, VACV-RhTRS1 replication was 100 times lower than that in titers of the A549 PKR cells.

Serial passaging of viruses from primary HFF cells revealed a ten-time increase in titers for the HFF-Ap2, HFF-Bp2, and HFF-Cp2 viral populations. This increase was found to be consistently stable for six rounds of passage. In the seventh serial passage, each viral population displayed a gradual increase in viral titers. This overall increase in viral replication remained mostly stable in the three viral populations through the 12 serial passages.

Overall, the study findings showed that initial adaptation elicited by genetic amplification acted as a molecular foothold in enhancing the viral population among resistant host species.

*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.
IMF, other intl institutions urged to take responsibility in tackling Sri Lankan crisis to prevent more nations in Africa, LatAm to follow suits

(Global Times) 14:18, July 12, 2022

As political leaders of Sri Lanka discussed the way forward for the country following the announced resignation of both the country's president and prime minister amid the worst economic crisis in decades in the country, Chinese observers called on global financial organizations to coordinate creditors to speed up debt restructuring, avoid putting politics first and establish an emergency response mechanism to prevent more sovereign debt defaults as countries like Zimbabwe and Argentina may follow Sri Lanka into economic crisis.

Sri Lanka's economy is highly dependent on foreign trade with limited resilience to shocks. The pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as US' unilateral sanctions against Russia have combined to precipitate a crisis, observers stressed. They said it was not directly related to China-funded infrastructure investment, and blaming China's projects is purely driven by malicious geopolitical motives.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa officially informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will continue with his resignation on Wednesday as previously announced, the Prime Minister's Office said Monday after protesters stormed the residences of the two leaders, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

A senior government official told Xinhua that Wickremesinghe called for an urgent meeting with his cabinet on Monday and will also meet leaders of all political parties to discuss the way forward. Wickremesinghe has also agreed to resign.

Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry, said at Monday's routine media briefing that China is closely following the latest developments in Sri Lanka. As a friendly neighbor and cooperation partner, we sincerely hope that all sectors in Sri Lanka could bear in mind the fundamental interests of their country and people and work together in solidarity to overcome the current difficulties and strive to restore stability, revitalize the economy and improve people's livelihoods at an early date,Wang said.

China has provided emergency humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka in the past months, and would continue to provide support and assistance to Sri Lanka within its capacity to help the country's economic recovery and ordinary people, but Chinese observers said professional finance organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, should be largely responsible for addressing the crisis based on effective coordination with all creditors, as commercial creditors and multilateral financial institutions are the major lenders behind Sri Lanka's foreign debt.

Meanwhile, although the US dominates the current global financial safety net, it conducts financial assistance more in its own interests than in the interests of the world. Some US-led small groups have constrained the effectiveness of global governance and the functioning of international organizations, which has exacerbated the Sri Lanka crisis, observes said.

Some major powers, in pursuit of their own interests, have formed small groups based on the so-called common values, used global governance as a tool for geopolitical games, and downplayed the real value of global governance, Xu Liping, a research fellow on Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday.

For instance, the Quad, in the name of setting up a foreign aid group to jointly respond to the Sri Lanka crisis, actually has the true purpose of taking advantage of the crisis to exclude China and contain China's role in Sri Lanka, according to Xu.

Xu suggested major countries and international organizations establish an emergency response mechanism to prevent more countries from facing a catastrophic debt crisis like Sri Lanka.

He said Sri Lanka's crisis was mainly due to a foreign exchange shortage - a result of many external reasons including the impact of the coronavirus, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and a single economic structure which makes it more fragile in the face of external shocks. Xu reiterated that the crisis was not directly related to China-funded infrastructure investment in Sri Lanka.

Under the impact, all its pillar industries, such as tourism, textile and tea planting, are incapable of "making money" and thus leading to severe consequences, Xu said.

Thus, the ongoing Sri Lanka crisis reflects a common challenge faced by many developing economies, especially those which have a single economic structure and are deeply affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and other South Asian countries like Nepal and Maldives should be on the alert, observers noted. They also warned that globally African countries like Zimbabwe and Latin American countries like Argentina and Brazil all at risk of following Sri Lanka into major economic crisis.

While for Sri Lanka, external assistance can only provide temporary help, and the South Asian nation must follow through on radical reforms if it wants to really get out of the crisis, Long Xingchun, president of the Chengdu Institute of World Affairs, told the Global Times on Monday.

Sri Lanka's crisis reflects the mismatch between the country's development strategy and actual economic capacity, and between its long-term goals and the reality on the ground, according to Long. He said it is necessary for Sri Lanka to formulate a development strategy suitable for its national conditions based on its own situation rather than copying Western modes.

Indian media smear the BRI

As a close neighbor of Sri Lanka, India has beefed up surveillance along the Sri Lankan maritime borders by deploying additional hovercrafts and patrol boats to prevent an influx of illegal immigrants, India Today reported on Sunday.

Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday that India may help Sri Lanka although the assistance may not be significant due to its own economic situation, as India needs to ensure that possible refugee issue of Sri Lanka would not result in security risks for India.

But aside from protecting its own safety, some Indian media outlets have largely seen Sri Lankan crisis as a geopolitical tool to counter China's influence.

The Times of India run an article entitled "How India hopes to counter China with 'unprecedented' support to crisis-hit Sri Lanka," and the Print, another Indian media, smeared the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by claiming that more South Asian countries, which borrowed from China for infrastructure projects, "face balance of payments challenges."

Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Monday that that the deteriorating China-India relations over the last two years have created more spaces for the Indian media to smear and attack China, and Indian media outlets have grabbed the opportunity of the current Sri Lanka crisis to try to influence Indian government decisions so that India may one day dominate South Asia.

Meanwhile India often takes a strong hand on Sri Lankan issues with a long-standing condescending attitude, which can only cause negative response in Sri Lanka, analysts said.

In comparison, the BRI projects such as Hambantota Port has developed into an important comprehensive port for the region, and it is China's loans and participation that have helped Sri Lanka revitalize its important assets, provided an key driving force for the sustainable development of Sri Lanka, analysts said.

Maya Majueran, who's currently serving as a director of Belt&Road Initiative Sri Lanka (BRISL), a Sri Lanka-based organization that specializes in BRI cooperation, refuted the so-called debt-trap diplomacy hyped by some in the US and Indian media.

"Someone's hyping that Sri Lanka's debt burden was a result of BRI projects like Hambantota Port. However, there is no evidence supporting the claim. Furthermost Chinese loans are concessional and taken for infrastructure and eco-social development," Majueran told the Global Times on Monday.

In fact, in partnership with BRI, Sri Lanka commenced a series of developmental projects, leading to a huge overhaul of Sri Lankan infrastructure which had been lagging behind for generations. Improving infrastructure and creating jobs have immensely benefited the Sri Lankan people, Majueran said.

However, political and economic turmoil in Sri Lanka will definitely have an impact on the progress of some large-scale BRI projects such as Hambantota Port and Colombo City, but the impact is short-term, Zhou Yuyuan, senior research fellow at the Center for West Asian and African Studies under the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.

In the long run, these projects are actually important developments that were and will be critical in contributing to the economic construction of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government is also fully aware of this and also attaches great importance to the BRI, Zhou said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
A two-and-a-half feet tall man managed to nab a five feet tall thief in Bihar's Buxar district.

Santosh Kumar, sub-inspector of Krishnabrahma police station confirms the incident. He said that the accused Dhodha Bind, a native of Turiganj was nabbed the the two and half feet person named Ranjeet Paswan and handed over to the police but his associate managed to flee from the spot.

The incident was reported from Nuaon village under Krishna Brahma police station on Sunday night when Dhodha Bind along with his associate jumped the wall and entered into the house of Paswan. He and his wife were sleeping at that time.

The thieves entered the room and stole valuables from the cupboard. Hearing the noise, Paswan woke up and noticed two persons. He immediately ran towards them, and managed to nab one of them. Paswan's wife, who also woke up after the scuffle, raised the alarm. Immediately neighbours assembled at Paswan's house and overpowered the accused.

"Until the neighbours have not reached the house, Paswan tightly held Bind. He showed courage and fought with the thief who was twice of his height. They handed him over after our team reached the spot. The raid is currently underway to nab Bind's associate who is on the run with the valuables stolen from the house," Kumar said.
(Newser)  Before she made eyes at Jim Carrey in The Mask, Cameron Diaz may have had another job that no one (not even Diaz) was fully aware of. In one of those unexplained "why are we just finding out about this now?" items, a Second Life podcast Diaz appeared on in late 2020 has been unearthed, due to one particularly interesting tidbit she mentioned to interviewer Hillary Kerr. Per the Guardian, it started with Diaz discussing how shortly before she appeared in The Mask, when she was barely out of her teens, she was struggling to find work as a model in Paris.

And one gig did turn up for her, but "I think I was like a mule carrying drugs to MoroccoI swear to God," she said in the podcast. Diaz told Kerr that she was given a locked suitcase "that had my 'costumes' in it, quote, unquote" and then sent to Morocco with it. Once at the airport, however, when Diaz was asked to open her luggage, a "WTF?" lightbulb went off in her head. "What the f--- is in that suitcase?" she said she found herself thinking. "I'm like this blonde-haired blue-eyed girl in Morocco, it's the '90s, I'm wearing torn jeans and platform boots and my hair down."

She added: "I'm like ... this is really unsafe." It's not clear what actually was in the suitcase, who gave it to her, or whom it was intended for, but Diaz claimed it wasn't hers and somehow got off the hook. "That was my only job I ever got in Paris," she noted to Kerr. Soon after, Diaz got the part in The Mask at age 21, beating out such competition as Anna Nicole Smith. After a couple of decades of moviemaking, Diaz married rocker Benji Madden in 2015, retired from acting a few years ago, and became a mom. (She's reportedly returning to her roots, however, after this actor convinced her to un-retire.)
(Newser)  Tourists flock to the resort town of Sorrento, Italy, on the southwestern coast for its picturesque views. The mayor, however, is insisting that they cover up when they do so, reports Travel Weekly. Massimo Coppola has decreed that anyone walking around town in a bikini or without a shirt faces fines of up to about $500, per CNN. Coppola says he acted because the town has seen "malpractice and behaviors that are perceived by the majority of people as contrary to decorum and decency."

Police will apparently give tourists a warning first, and those who don't comply will be fined. Coppola makes the case that having people walk around with little clothing is uncomfortable for locals and for more modest tourists, and he's worried about the city's image, per the UK Times. He warns that the situation, unchecked, will lead to "a deterioration in the quality of life of citizens." (Read more tourism stories.)
(Newser)  Local hubbub involving the Sarasota County School Board and the far-right Proud Boys has trickled into the national media and created a headache for staff at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Back on June 24, the paper published a guest column by Lisa Gialdini Schurr calling on school board candidates to denounce the Proud Boys"frequent disruptors" at school board meetings who also operate locally under a politically active "front group" called Unmask Freedom. In her column, Schurr named Nicholas and Melissa Radovich, husband and wife who are central to the Proud Boys movement in the area.

In the name of fairness, the Herald-Tribune published an op-ed by Melissa Radovich this Sunday entitled "Attacking Proud Boys Does a Disservice to Caring School Parents." Its author was identified as "a mother who lives in the Sarasota County School district and  an executive at an area manufacturing education company." But she was not identified as the wife of a Proud Boy, nor did she mention it in her piece. The backlash was "intense," according to Mediaite, "both for the newspapers decision to publish it in the first place and for the failure to disclose Radovich's marriage to a Proud Boy."

Radovich's op-ed was deleted Monday morning, though of course it remains in the print edition. Herald-Tribune executive editor Jennifer Orsi posted a statement saying "an editor felt it fair to give [Radovich] a chance to respond," but the piece did not meet editorial standards. And while the paper strives "to provide a broad range of views," it will "not provide a forum for support of the Proud Boys, an extremist group that promotes white nationalist views." As the New Jersey Globe notes, the Herald-Tribune is owned by Gannett Company, which owns USA Today and more than 250 dailies and announced recently that it was "dramatically decreasing the footprint of their opinion pages" because they were "alienating readers" and not producing page views. (Read more Proud Boys stories.)
(Newser)  Florence Pugh shared photos of herself in a sheer gown on Instagram Sundayand fired back at men who criticized her body after she wore the dress Valentino haute couture show in Rome. She said many commenters "aggressively" told her about how she should be "embarrassed by being so 'flat chested,'" CNN reports. "It isn't the first time and certainly won't be the last time a woman will hear what's wrong with her body by a crowd of strangers, what's worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be," the Black Widow and Midsommar star wrote.

"What happened to you to be so content on being so loudly upset by the size of my boobs and body?" the 26-year-old asked. "Why are you so scared of breasts? Small? Large? Left? Right? Only one? Maybe none? What. Is. So. Terrifying." The actress said that when she wore the "incredible Valentino dress," she knew there would be some kind of reaction, but it was "interesting" to see "just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a womans body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see," the Guardian reports.

Pugh said she has long accepted the "intricacies" of her body and is "happy with all of the 'flaws' that I couldnt bear to look at when I was 14." She urged her detractors to respect women. Pugh also criticized Instagram's nudity policy, which bans most photos of female nipples. In one of the photos she shared, Pugh covered her nipples with her fingers.

"The last slide is for those who feel more comfortable with that inch of darker skin to be covered," she wrote. (Read more Instagram stories.)
(Newser)  A lawsuit alleging that there's something fishyor not fishy enoughabout the tuna subs at Subway can proceed, a federal judge in San Francisco has decided. US District Judge Jon Tigar ruled that the chain can be sued over claims that its tuna sandwiches are not "100% tuna" as advertised, NBC reports. An update to a lawsuit filed last year claimed that samples of sandwiches from outlets in Southern California found chicken, beef, and pork DNA but "no detectable tuna DNA sequence." Subway has said that any non-tuna DNA detected must be the result of eggs in mayonnaise or possible cross-contamination for ingredients in other sandwiches.

"Although it is possible that Subways explanations are the correct ones, it is also possible that these allegations refer to ingredients that a reasonable consumer would not reasonably expect to find in a tuna product," Tigar said, per Reuters. The judge dismissed one plaintiff from the case but said Alameda County resident Nilima Amin could try to prove that there's no tuna in Subway's tuna. The judge said, however, that it was a "fact of life" that people would reasonably expect some things that aren't tuna to be in a tuna sub, including mayonnaiseand bread.

Subway, which has called the lawsuit "reckless and improper," said it was confident it would prevail in court. "There is no question that the lawsuit is completely meritless and the evidence will bear that out," the chain said in a statement. "Our position has not changedwe serve 100% real, wild-caught tuna." (Read more Subway stories.)
Rishi Sunak, of East African Indian origin, was on Monday being touted as the bookmakers' favourite in the British Conservative party's leadership contest. The winner will automatically become the UK's Prime Minister.

Previously, the favourite in a poll of Conservative party members, who will ultimately determine the choice, was Ben Wallace, presently defence secretary. He has, however, declared he will not compete.

Oddscheckers' price on Sunak was 1.6/1. The second favourite was Penny Mordaunt, minister for international trade, who had in the past been defence secretary, at 3.3/1. The third favourite was the foreign secretary Liz Truss at 4/1. Tom Tugendhat, who has no ministerial experience but is chair of the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee, was quoted at 9/1; while Jeremy Hunt, a former foreign secretary, was being offered at 14/1.

Another bookmaker Skybet also had Sunak as favourite at 15/8, Mordaunt as second favourite at 7/2 and Truss as third favourite at 4/1.

The vacancy was created when the incumbent Boris Johnson lost the confidence of his party MPs after a series of scandals, and resigned on Thursday. 11 candidate have since thrown their hats into the ring. Among them, Sunak, who chancellor of the exchequer before he resigned last Tuesday, and Suella Fernandes Braverman, who is of Goan descent and is still serving as caretaker attorney general.

There are two runners of Pakistani extraction - Sajid Javid, who was health secretary in the Johnson cabinet till he led the spate of resignations on Tuesday, and Rehman Chishti, who was appointed a third tier minister in the Foreign Office after nearly 60 ministers decided not to remain in office under Johnson.

On Monday evening in London, Sir Nicholas Brady, the chairman of the Conservative Parliamentary Party's '1922 Committee', which sets the rules of the race, said nominations will close on Tuesday. A candidate will need the backing of at least 20 MPs out of a total of 358 Conservative MPs to go forward. The first ballot will take place on Wednesday afternoon and the outcome revealed the same evening. Similarly, the second round is provisionally scheduled to take place on Thursday. He expected that a maximum of three rounds of balloting will be needed to whittle down the contestants to two.

The full membership of the Conservative party - estimated to be around a quarter of a million - will then choose the winner. The result will be declared on 5 September, when parliament is scheduled to return from its summer recess.

The Guardian indicated: "With just two contenders so far having the support of the 20 Tory (Conservative) MPs needed to get them on to the ballot, the remaining nine hopefuls were scrambling to shore up support by Tuesday night before knockout votes begin on Wednesday." Sunak and Mordaunt were said to have the backing of 40 and 24 MPs respectively. Braverman is reported to have 12. A candidate will have to muster at least 30 votes in the first round to enter the second round.

Johnson will remain as lame duck premier until the election of his successor is made public. He told reporters he "wouldn't want to damage anybody's chances" by offering his backing to any of the candidates.
(Newser)  Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah says he was illegally trafficked to the UK at age 9 and forced to work in domestic servitude, looking after another family's children. The long-distance runner made the revelation in a documentary debuting Wednesday on the BBC. The 39-year-old says he was born Hussein Abdi Kahin and that the people who flew him out of east Africa changed his name to Mohamed Farah. Born in Somalia, he escaped the war-torn region and went to live with family in Djibouti at age 8 or 9, he says. When a woman he'd never met before arrived to take him away from there, she claimed she was bringing him to live with family in Europe.

He says he was "excited": "I'd never been on a plane before." But instead, he says, she brought him to her own home in the UK, took the piece of paper with his family's contact information, and ripped it up. She then forced him to do housework and childcare if he wanted to be fed, he says. "For years I just kept blocking it out," he says in the documentary. "But you can only block it out for so long." Farah has previously said his parents sent him and two siblings to London for a better life, the Guardian reports. Eventually, Farah says in the documentary, a teacher helped him get out of the situation he was in and he started being fostered by another Somali family. He eventually got UK citizenship. He says he will continue to go by the name Mo Farah. (Read more Mo Farah stories.)
(Newser)  Update: Two California men have been charged in connection with what Orange County DA Todd Spitzer calls a "reign of terror" that left three people dead in a string of robberies between July 9 and July 11. Malike Patt, 20, and Jason Payne, 44, who were arrested on July 15 are accused of a crime spree that included robberies of six 7-Eleven locations on July 11, "7/11 Day," KTLA reports. Spitzer described Patt as a "stone cold serial killer" who "executed innocent people." Patt faces charges incuding special circumstances murder, while Payne has been charged with felony robbery but not murder. Our story from July 11 follows:

Two people were killed during a string of armed robberies at southern California 7-Eleven stores on MondayJuly 11, the day on which the convenience store chain gives out free Slurpees to mark the "7/11" date. Fox 11 reports armed robberies took place in at least six locations in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties in the early morning hours, and police are searching for the same suspect in three of those: Santa Ana, where a man was found fatally shot in the parking lot after a 3:23am robbery; Brea, where a store clerk was fatally shot during a robbery around 4:18am; and La Habra, where an employee and a customer were shot during a robbery around 4:55am. Both are expected to survive.

The other robberies took place in Ontario around midnight and Upland around 12:40am (no one was shot in those two incidents) and Riverside just before 2am. A customer was shot in the head in the Riverside incident and is in critical condition. Police have released surveillance footage of the man suspected in the Santa Ana, Brea, and La Habra robberies and shootings, and Upland police believe the same man may be their suspect in that robbery as well, ABC 7 reports. Authorities are investigating whether the other two incidents are also linked. It's also not yet clear whether the incidents have to do with the date, but a Riverside police rep tells the AP, "Theres no way it can be a coincidence of it being 7-Eleven, July 11." (Read more California stories.)
(Newser)  One of two US fighters captured in Ukraine says he's "doing fine" despite facing possible execution. Alexander Drueke, a US Army veteran from Alabama, spoke with his mother in a Friday phone call shared with the Washington Post by his family. It was their fifth call since Drueke and fellow Alabama resident Andy Tai Huynh were captured by Russian forces near Kharkiv on June 9. "I'm doing fine. No real danger currently," Druekeheld in the self-proclaimed, Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukrainetold his mother, Lois. He said he had seen Huynh during a meeting with a lawyer on ThursdayHuynh has yet to speak with family or US officials, according to his fianceebut otherwise remained in solitary confinement.

Drueke described the challenges of living in a confined space, such as "finding little things to think about, just, you know, [to] fill in the boredom," in the phone call that lasted over four minutes. His mother has described previous calls as scripted, noting her son was "clearly reciting some things he had been made to practice or read," per Tuscaloosa News. He also claimed he regretted his actions in a June 28 conversation with a blogger who'd previously spoken with Aiden Aslin, a British soldier sentenced to death in Donetsk. "I did not have a full understanding of what was going on" and would tell others to "look at sources outside of the Westbe better informed," Drueke said, per AL.com, which noted he may not have been speaking freely.

In this call, Drueke said he'd been in contact with a State Department official who did not convey "any concrete news." His mother said a State Department case worker had told the family that "they were meeting with ambassadors and teams from Ukraine and also from the UK to discuss the British prisoners and all of y'all, and you and Andy were on the agenda." She added, "It just might be awhile." The State Department has only said publicly that it is in touch with family and "Ukrainian and Russian authorities" regarding the detainees. But Drueke's aunt, Dianna Shaw, tells the Post that officials are working to include Drueke and Huynh on a list of prisoners for potential action. A third American, Grady Kurpasi, last seen in Ukraine in April, is feared captured or killed, per the Post. (Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
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Poll Has Trump as No. 1 in GOP, but There's Trouble

Ex-president losing support as DeSantis establishes himself as top rival, says 'NYT' poll
(Newser)  On Monday, Jill Biden spoke in San Antonio at the UnidosUS Annual Conference, one of the Hispanic community's largest gatherings on issues such as housing, health care, civil rights, and education. But the first lady's speech didn't go over well with everyone, drawing backlash for what some say was a reliance on a well-worn stereotype. "The diversity of this communityas distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antoniois your strength," Biden told the crowd during a presentation on equity, per the Hill. Insider notes that Biden mispronounced "bodegas" (see a clip here), but the bigger issue turned out to be her reference to morning sustenance in the Alamo City.

"We are not tacos," the National Association of Hispanic Journalists said in a statement regarding Biden's words. "Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by various diasporas, cultures & food traditions. Do not reduce us to stereotypes." The Democratic first lady also saw some backlash from observers in the GOP. Newly elected Texas Rep. Mayra Flores posted a GIF that referenced an older Biden speech, in which she botched the pronunciation of "Si, se puede" ("Yes, we can"), per Fox News. "What Joe Biden and family think about the Hispanic Community," Flores wrote in her tweet.

Fox notes that support for Biden's husband among Hispanic Americans fell to 26% in a Quinnipiac poll in May; in the same poll last year, Biden was at 55% with that group. Janet Murguia, president of the UnidosUS nonprofit, went to bat for Jill Biden in a later tweet. "So honored to host @FLOTUS at our Annual Conference today in San Antonio," Murguia posted. "She has been a great educator in, and a great amiga to, our community for years. Privileged to call her a friend." Still, the NAHJ has a further message for Biden after the hubbub, noting in its statement that it "encourages @FLOTUS & her communications team to take time to better understand the complexities of our people & communities." (Read more Jill Biden stories.)
(Newser)  A former spokesperson for the Oath Keepersthe far-right, anti-government militia group that claims to defend its interpretation of the US Constitutionwill testify in front of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot Tuesday in its seventh hearing and the first since the stunning testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson on June 28. Sources tell CBS News that Jason Van Tatenhovewho moved from Colorado to Montana intending to write a book about the Oath Keepers but served as its media director for a year and a half before his exit from the group in 2016will speak publicly after previously appearing before the committee in person and over Zoom.

He's been critical of the Oath Keepers since his departure, telling ABC News that he spouted "absolutely dangerous" rhetoric as a "propagandist." He said his exit came after the group "took a very hard right turn" that included "a denial of the Holocaust." In a June 7 blog post, Van Tatenhove wrote that he was asked to give "a historical overview of the Oath Keepers and violent militias" at the hearing, per the Hill. Ohio man Stephen Ayres, who pleaded guilty to illegally entering the Capitol Building, will also appear, per CBS. Ayres, who allegedly claimed "civil war would ensue" if Donald Trump was denied the presidency, wrote on Facebook about his plans to travel to Washington, DC, quoting a tweet from Trump that predicted a "wild" scene in the capital.

The committee will try to show that this was a call to action to far-right groups. "You'll see the evidence that we have of how the president's tweet in the wee hours of December 19 activated the groups, and how the members of Congress amplified that tweet, and the tragic end result was January 6," Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida, co-leader of Tuesday's hearing, tells CBS. The committee will share evidence that pro-Trump groups moved up the date of protests, initially planned for after President Biden's inauguration, in response to the tweet, per Axios. It also plans to highlight links between Trump associates, including Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, and groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys in the hearing scheduled for 1pm ET. (Read more Jan. 6 hearings stories.)
(Newser)  Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the US warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its actions in Ukraine. During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Putin's visit to Iran will follow US President Biden's trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, where Iran's nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion, per the AP. The White House said Monday that it believes that Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with "hundreds" of drones, including those capable of carrying weapons, for use in Ukraine.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the vehicles to Russia, but he noted the US has "information" that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month. "Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline," Sullivan told reporters Monday, referring to drones by the acronym for "unmanned aerial vehicles." An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman didn't deny the US claim in comments on Tuesday, noting that "Iran's cooperation with Russia in some sophisticated technologies dates to before the Russia-Ukraine war. There has not been any special development in this regard recently."

Iran has long worked on the development of drones, including so-called loitering munitions, the "kamikaze" drones like the Switchblade that the US has delivered to Ukraine. The US decision to publicly reveal that the two countries' chief regional rival was helping to rearm Russia comes as both Israel and Saudi Arabia have resisted joining global efforts to punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine. In Tehran, Mohammadreza Pourebrahimi, head of the Iranian Parliament's economic panel, told state-run news agency IRNA that Putin's trip would seek to improve economic relations between the two sanctions-hit nations. Peskov added that on Putin's visit to Tehran, he'll also have a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In March, Erdogan helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian reps in Istanbul. Peskov said there was no discussion about new negotiations.

(Read more Vladimir Putin stories.)
(Newser)  After Henry VIII left her for Anne Boleyn in 1531, queen Catherine of Aragon refused to consent to a divorceand insisted she was Henry's wife until her death five years later. Now a scholar suggests that Catherine left behind a secret message of defiance in a pendant design she commissioned, reports Smithsonian. Vanessa Braganza, a PhD candidate in English at Harvard, says she decoded a cipher in the design that includes the words "Henricvs Rex" (meaning "Henry the king") and "Katherine" (an alternate spelling of her name). Braganza describes this as an "early modern Wordle" in a tweet that includes an image of the design and describes her process of decoding it.

The pendant was created around 1532after Henry left. "It's a gateway into her thinking," Braganza tells the New York Times. "It's just sitting there, daring you to see it." She tells Smithsonian that the message is "a sign of her conviction of her own enduring legitimacy [and] a sign of stubbornness in refusing to concede that legitimacy." The Times sees the discoverywhich is still awaiting confirmation by outside expertsas part of a trend in which the voices of women from history are being heard for the first time in centuries. "What's especially compelling, and often moving, is the fact that Vanessa is focusing on voices that would've been otherwise silenced or caricatured," James Simpson, one of Braganzas dissertation advisers at Harvard, tells the newspaper. (Read more King Henry VIII stories.)
(Newser)  Corrections officer Vicky White died by suicide in May as police pursued the car she was in with escaped Alabama convict Casey Whiteand now Casey White is charged in her death. The escapee, who was apprehended May 9 in Evansville, Indiana, has been charged with felony murder. AL.com has the wording: "in the course and furtherance of committing escape in the first degree, [he] caused the death of Vicky White, who died from a gunshot wound to the head."

WHNT explains that under Alabama state law, a felony murder charge can apply when someone dies during the course of the defendant committing a crime. The indictment references this language from the state's criminal code: "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, he or she recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself or herself, and thereby causes the death of another person."

The indictment was announced by Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly on Tuesday. A lawyer for Casey White says White will plead not guilty. WHNT cites officials who have alleged the pair had a "suicide pact," whereby Vicky White would take her own life and Casey White would die in a shootout if police closed in on them. Casey White is currently serving a 75-year sentence tied to crimes committed in 2015; he is also set to go on trial in December for the 2015 stabbing death of Connie Ridgeway. (Vicky White's last words were captured in a 911 call.)
(Newser)  The House panel investigating the Capitol riot on Tuesday zeroed in on a now-famous tweet issued by then-President Trump on Dec. 18, 2021, encouraging his supporters to come to the Capitol. "Be there, will be wild," Trump wrote, according to panel member Rep. Stephanie Murphy, per CNN. "This tweet served as a call to action and in some cases as a call to arms," said Murphy. Rep. Jamie Raskin, who with Murphy is leading Tuesday's hearing, added that the tweet mobilized right-wing extremists in the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and other groups, reports the Washington Post.

The panel members also noted that Trump tweeted that message after a meeting in the Oval Office that Raskin said has been described as "unhinged" and "the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency." In that session, advisers including Michael Flynn, attorney Sidney Powell, and business executive Patrick Byrne encouraged Trump to take extreme actions to stay in power, per the New York Times. The advice included issuing an executive order to seize voting machines. Trump tweeted soon after the meeting broke up about midnight. In his opening statement Tuesday, chair Bennie Thompson described things this way: Trump "summoned a mob to Washington, DC, and ultimately spurred that mob to wage a violent attack on our democracy."

The panel also made clear that while Trump received advice of the aforementioned nature, many of his top aides were telling him that no election fraud existed and that he should embrace a smooth transition of power. For example, the committee on Tuesday played testimony from Gene ScaliaTrump's labor secretary and son of the late Supreme Court justice. "I might have called on (Dec.) 13thwe spoke I believe on the 14thin which I conveyed to him that I thought that it was time for him to acknowledge that President Biden had prevailed in the election," Scalia said in his video deposition. The 14th is a key date because that's when the Electoral College met and affirmed Biden's victory. (Liz Cheney on Tuesday said Trump is a grown man who must be held accountable for his own actions.)
The West seems more fixated on spending social wealth on the military rather than addressing the climate catastrophe.

by Murad Qureshi

During late April and early May, South Asia experienced the terrible impacts of global warming. Temperatures reached almost 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in some cities in the region. These high temperatures came alongside dangerous flooding in Northeast India and in Bangladesh, as the rivers burst their banks, with flash floods taking place in places like Sunamganj in Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Saleemul Haq, the director of the International Center of Climate Change and Development, is from Bangladesh. He is a veteran of the UN climate change negotiations. When Haq read a tweet by Marianne Karlsen, the co-chair of the UNs Adaptation Committee, which said that [m]ore time is needed to reach an agreement, while referring to the negotiations on loss and damage finance, he tweeted: The one thing we have run out of is Time! Climate change impacts are already happening, and poor people are suffering losses and damages due to the emissions of the rich. Talk is no longer an acceptable substitute for action (money!) Karlsens comment came in light of the treacle-slow process of agreement on the loss and damage agenda for the 27th Conference of Parties or COP27 meeting to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2022.

In 2009, at COP15, developed countries of the world had agreed to a $100 billion annual adaptation assistance fund, which was supposed to be paid by 2020. This fund was intended to assist countries of the Global South to shift their reliance on carbon to renewal sources of energy and to adapt to the realities of the climate catastrophe. At the time of the Glasgow COP26 meeting in November 2021, however, developed countries were unable to meet this commitment. The $100 billion may seem like a modest fund, but is far less than the Trillion Dollar Climate Finance Challenge, that will be required to ensure comprehensive climate action.

The richer statesled by the Westhave not only refused to seriously fund adaptation but they have also reneged on the original agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol (1997); the U.S. Congress has refused to ratify this important step toward mitigating the climate crisis. The United States has shifted the goalposts for reducing its methane emissions and has refused to account for the massive output of carbon emissions by the U.S. military.

Germanys Money Goes to War Not Climate

Germany hosts the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In June, as a prelude to COP27, the UN held a conference in Bonn on climate change. The talks ended in acrimony over finance for what is known as loss and damage. The European Union consistently blocked all discussions on compensation. Eddy Perez of the Climate Action Network, Canada, said, Consumed by their narrow interests, rich nations and in particular countries in the European Union, came to the Bonn Climate Conference to block, delay and undermine efforts from people and communities on the frontlines addressing the losses and damage caused by fossil fuels.

On the table is the hypocrisy of countries such as Germany, which claims to lead on these issues, but instead has been sourcing fossil fuels overseas and has been spending increasing funds on their military. At the same time, these countries have denied support to developing countries facing devastation from climate-induced superstorms and rising seas.

After the recent German elections, hopes were raised that the new coalition of the Social Democrats with the Green Party would lift up the green agenda. However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised 100 billion for the military, the biggest increase in the countrys military expenditure since the end of the Cold War. He has also committed to [spending] more than 2 percent of the countrys gross domestic product on the military. This means more money for the military and less money for climate mitigation and green transformation.

The Military and Climate Catastrophe

The money that is being swallowed into the Western military establishments does not only drift away from any climate spending but also promotes greater climate catastrophe. The U.S. military is the largest institutional polluter on the planet. The maintenance of its more than 800 military bases around the world, for instance, means that the U.S. military consumes 395,000 gallons of oil daily. In 2021, the worlds governments spent $2 trillion on weapons, with the leading countries being those who are the richest (as well as the most sanctimonious on the climate debate). Money is available for war but not to deal with the climate catastrophe.

The way weapons have poured into the Ukraine conflict gives many of us pause. The prolongation of that war has placed 49 million more people at risk of famine in 46 countries, according to the Hunger Hotspots report by the United Nations agencies, as a result of the extreme weather conditions and due to conflicts. Conflict and organized violence were the main sources of food insecurity in Africa and the Middle East, specifically in northern Nigeria, central Sahel, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen and Syria. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the food crisis by driving up the price of agricultural commodities. Russia and Ukraine together account for around 30 percent of the global wheat trade. So, the longer the Ukraine war continues, the more hunger hotspots will grow, taking food insecurity beyond just Africa and the Middle East.

While one COP meeting has already taken place on the African continent, another will take place later this year. First, Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, hosted the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in May and then Sharm el-Sheikh will host the UN Climate Change Conference. These are major forums for African states to put on the table the great damage done to parts of the continent due to the climate catastrophe.

When the representatives of the countries of the world gather at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2022 for COP27, they will hear Western representatives talk about climate change, make pledges, and then do everything possible to continue to exacerbate the catastrophe. What we saw in Bonn is a prelude to what will be a fiasco in Sharm el-Sheikh.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

Murad Qureshi is a former member of the London Assembly and a former chair of the Stop the War Coalition.
(Newser)  John Kevin Woodward, CEO of online training company ReadyTech, is going to face a third trial in the 1992 murder of his roommate's girlfriend. Woodward, 58, relocated to the Netherlands after two trials in the 1990s ended in hung juries. Prosecutors say he was arrested Saturday after he arrived at New York's JFK Airport on a flight from Amsterdam, CNN reports. Woodward is accused of killing 25-year-old Lauren Houts, an Adobe Systems software engineer who was found dead in her vehicle with a rope around her neck. She was found around two miles away from her workplace in Mountain View, California and investigators said there were clear signs of a struggle in the car.

In Woodward's 1995 trial, defense lawyers argued that there wasn't enough evidence connecting him to the killing. Prosecutors said Woodward, who is gay, had developed feelings for his roommate and was jealous of the man's relationship with Houts, the Mercury News reports. A judge did not allow that motive to be introduced during Woodward's second trial in 1996. Police and prosecutors say Woodward was arrested on the basis of newly analyzed DNA evidence linking him to the rope found around Houts' neck. The analysis excluded her boyfriend as a suspect.

Police said the lab also determined that "fibers from sweatpants inside Woodwards car were virtually indistinguishable from fibers found on the murder weapon," reports the Mercury News. Police said that in a monitored call with Houts' boyfriend after he became a suspect, Woodward "did not deny" killing her and asked what evidence authorities had. Woodward is being held in New York and will be sent to California before the end of the month. "The DAs office is thrilled that we have an opportunity, after 30 years, to seek justice for Laurie, her family, and friends," said prosecutor Rob Baker at the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office. (Read more murder stories.)
(Newser)  The Pentagon said Tuesday that it killed a leader of the Islamic State group in Syria in a drone strike. US Central Command said in a news release that Maher al-Agal was killed Tuesday and an unidentified senior official in the Islamic State group was seriously injured. The Pentagon said there were no civilian casualties, though it wasn't possible to immediately confirm that information, the AP reports. The US carried out the strike outside Jindaris, a town in northwest Syria close to the Turkish border.

The attack "takes a key terrorist off the field and significantly degrades the ability of [ISIS] to plan, resource, and conduct their operations in the region," President Biden said in a statement. The Washington Post reports al-Agal was regarded as among the top five ISIS leaders in Iraq and Syria. Tuesday's strike on him comes months after the head of the group, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, killed himself during a raid on his hideout by American special forces. The US said Al-Qurayshi blew himself up along with members of his family.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, al-Agal was a former prominent commander of the Islamic State group during its control of Raqqa and had since moved farther north to Afrin in 2020 under Turkish-backed factions. He was most recently a commander in a Turkish-backed faction called Jaysh Al-Sharqiyyah. While the Islamic State group's territorial state collapsed in 2019, its leaders have turned to guerilla tactics and have been able to "efficiently restructure themselves organizationally," according to the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonpartisan think tank. (Read more Islamic State stories.)
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 48F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 48F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A Bahraini man, who landed in jail for 15 years for growing marijuana in his home, had his appeal rejected by the High Appeals Court. Rejecting the appeal, the court also confirmed a BD10,000 fine slapped. Interestingly, the man told the court that he was not guilty and had no knowledge of the marijuana, he was found guilty of growing.

He stood by his claims that the seeds he planted were fruits and vegetables. Police said they caught hold of the suspect after investigating a tip-off on men peddling drugs on the streets of Bahrain. Investigators told the court that the suspect had large quantities of drugs in his possession when they caught him.

When we searched the suspects home after obtaining a search warrant, we also found several devices and tools used by the suspect for growing marijuana seeds. Court files say, despite producing conclusive evidence, the suspect denied wrongdoing at the court and claimed that the room was for growing fruits and vegetables. The Public Prosecution had charged the suspect with planting and possessing marijuana.
By Dr. Abdelgadir Warsama

Arbitration is almost the best alternative dispute resolution (ADR) worldwide. This is due to many factors, inter alia, availability of experienced qualified arbitrators, clear procedures, short span of time to issue the final binding award and, most importantly, the enforceability of this award. Normally, in case of dispute(s) the parties go to Courts to settle the dispute, if any? Recourse to Courts seeking justice, is a legal and, nowadays, a constitutional right to every person.

However, due to the lengthy time spent before Courts to the extent of denying justice, most litigants genuinely look for other alternative disputes resolution and from this comes the role of arbitration as the best available alternative disputes resolution.

Bahrain, in its endeavors to strengthen the judicial process for the sake of achieving justice and to facilitate disputes resolution issued a new law for arbitration. The arbitration law is taken from UNCITRAL text. UNCITRALs business, as formulated by UN, is modernization and harmonization of rules on international business, covering arbitration as a tool to settle disputes. This preparation of UNCITRAL model law text is the outcome of long discussions and excessive global practice.

Thus, the arbitration law model text absorbs the confidence of all litigants seeking justice. Accordingly, Bahrain follow suits... One of the advantages associated to arbitration, among other things, is the encouragement of foreign direct investment (FDI).

Bahrain eagerly looks for foreign direct investment to boost the national economy, as well as, an extra means to achieve diversification of the sources of income. Also, to implement the adopted national economy plans for Bahrain, as a hub for all commercial services including judicial services. Good & fast judicial process, including arbitration, adjudication, mediation, conciliation, is encouraged and overwhelmingly maintained by the official competent authorities in Bahrain.

To fulfill this stand, the new arbitration law was passed by the Legislative body & signed by HM King of Bahrain. This step puts Bahrain as an attractive place for investors and foreign direct investment. Investors and foreign direct investment will rejoice and benefit from all legal privileges stipulated therein and provided for in the new arbitration law.

Based on such lucrative incentives and privileges, all foreign investors by accessing arbitration in Bahrain will enjoy and will have the exclusive right to choose the appropriate applicable law on their dispute, the appointment and or dismissal of the members of the arbitration tribunal, the choice of the seat of the arbitration tribunal, the useable language, the frame time to issue the award, and any other matters as applicable on the arbitration process. The adoption & proper implementation of the arbitration process in Bahrain, will ultimately cement justice and, at the same time, lay the judicial rules that are necessary to obtain the confidence and trust of foreign investors and foreign direct investment.

This will add value to the business, investment and trading community in Bahrain. A step that is needed and comes in the right and most suitable time.
For half a century, Takeo Nakajo has been catching katsuo, or skipjack tuna - indispensable in Japanese cuisine whether eaten raw, dried or used as a base for the broth.

But he and other fishermen in Kure, in Kochi prefecture in southwest Japan, have seen something worrying in the past two years - an unprecedented number of unusually fatty katsuo.

While heavier katsuo means more money, locals and experts say it indicates climate change and a risk for katsuo numbers already under threat due to growing demand and overfishing.

Originally from tropical waters, some Pacific katsuo migrate northward on a warm ocean current every spring, making Kochi's arc-shaped bay a fertile fishing ground.

The average surface temperature of the bay in winter has risen by 2 degrees Celsius in the four decades to 2015, local fisheries lab data shows, and the fatter katsuo may be due to ample prey in the warmer sea.

But longer term, this warming may prevent mineral-rich water from rising to the surface, resulting in a drop in plankton and smaller fish to feed on, leading to fewer katsuo, said Hideyuki Ukeda, an agroscientist and vice president of Kochi University.
A constitution is not divine word. They are written by people, changed by people and can be burnt by people.

by Helasingha Bandara

I came to protect the constitution- Ranil Wickramasinghe.

Ranils claim makes no sense from any angle. Did he become the Prime Minister constitutionally? A man whose party did not win a single seat in the parliament and who entered the parliament by fraudulent means, suddenly lands the PMs post. How constitutional is that? There may be some provision in the severely abused constitution of Sri Lanka to validate his appointment. Such a provision, if there is any, itself is enough reason to consider this constitution is archaic and fickle. It must be symbolically burnt and should be replaced soon with a new constitution that can align with peoples political desires and that can prevent it from being abused by power hungry and ignorant politicians who bear no good intentions for the people or the country.

Q: When does the PM resigns? -media person

A: There is no provision in the constitution for him to resign -Vajira Abewardena

I beg all watch this interview for a scrutiny to find any sign of sincerity on his fat face. His answers were typical and traditional political garbage with which they still believe, people can be deceived. Inside those fat heads, there must be nothing other than clay, if they still havent understood that the era of deceptive political games is over and done with.

All types of companies have a governing document called the constitution. In certain situations, a constitution contains two parts: memorandum of association and the articles of association. Together, those documents have all kinds of governing activities of the company. Invariably a constitution of a company includes a performance appraisal system of its employees including the chief executive. Companies take various actions to rectify a failed performer. If all the efforts in the process of correcting this particular employee fail, the eventual action is dismissal. Any constitution without a performance appraisal system in it is inefficient. This theory is applicable to any country too. Repeated failures of a politician to perform and how intensely such failures affect the country and its people cannot be taken into account under this ineffective constitution of Sri Lanka. There is no provision in the countrys constitution to act against such leaders. The implication is that SL constitution is totally inefficient to ensure the progress of the country.

Most importantly, if there is no provision to withdraw a mandate of the people given to a politician, during the period for which the politician is elected, this spells disaster for a country. If people elect a leader under an illusion, they should be able to change the decision once they realise that they have followed an illusion. Those short comings and the numerous amendments that had been made to the constitution on personal gains of powerful individuals, have taken the gloss away from the original constitution that the British handed in.

This revolution happened without following any constitution-Sarath Fonseka

The implication is that the old constitution has no legitimacy to continue under a peoples government. It has no place or power in the new system of governance, and it should not be followed hereafter as it is null and void now. The new governance should be entirely new, and it needs a new governing document. Under successful revolutions people did not pay any respect for the old systems that made them agitate. The chasing away of a president, a prime minister, a finance minister, and forcing numerous cabinet reshuffles mean that the old system has conceded defeat. In a victorious new system, members of the old parliament under the old constitution should cease to exist.

A constitution is not divine word. They are written by people, changed by people and can be burnt by people. Ours is a piece of paper on which clause upon clause is written with borrowed clauses, phrases, and words that were constantly changed without knowledge or purpose every single time somebody came to power with a group of spineless cronies who could raise their hands in favour of such changes. There is no other constitution in the world, at least in the developed world, that has been shamelessly abused like ours, particularly by the Rajapakshas and the Jayawardene clan to which Ranil belongs.

Constitution is a contemptuous term in Sri Lanka and people have lost faith on it. The old constitution can be called a rag which has gathered so much dust and dirt that it is unlikely that it would even burn easily. The Sinhalese say when they see someone wearing a very dirty sarong, that sarong cannot catch fire even if it is thrown into fire (lipata demmata pichenne ne).We need a brand-new constitution which can deter anyone from falling into old ways.

Our leader Sajith has the constitutional right to be the president- Nalin Bandara

People fought at the cost of their lives. The victory was hard earned. The vultures are now planning to own the kill. Shame on you!

In a comparison between Sajith and Anura, a SJB politician from Polonnaruwa suggested that Anura is not recognised by any world leader where as Sajith has met many. This comment is not worth analysing but should be highlighted to understand ignorance and stupidity of the people whom the country has sent to the parliament.

Among all the names Sajith and Dalas (Is he an American?, The name sounds American) are the worst. Dalas being an integral part of a government that failed and destroyed the country. He has not stood against any misdeeds of his bosses for the fear of losing position and power. Sajith being the deputy leader of the UNP that ruled the country during the previous five years and failed. He did not talk against his leader or resigned, for the same fear. In addition, he has grown up within the luxuries that are now exposed to public view, during his fathers tenure as the prime minister and the president. Such a person cannot be believed to give up all such luxuries and come down to earth to work with the ordinary people.

I suggest that Sri Lanka should abolish Independence Day celebrated on 4th of February and replace it with 9th of July. A few days later, lets say 13th of July we should introduce as the burning of the constitution night or fireworks night similar to Guy Fawkes night in the United Kingdom.

On the 13th we should symbolically burn the old constitution. Everyone should carry a small paper as a token of the old constitution and at a selected time, the whole country should symbolically burn this piece of paper to signify the burning of the old constitution. That would put an end to all the squabbles around the old constitution and we can establish a new independence day followed by a fireworks night similar to Guy Fawkes night.

Wikipedia

Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain, involving bonfires and fireworks displays. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605 O.S., when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. The Catholic plotters had intended to assassinate Protestant king James I and his parliament. Celebrating that the king had survived, people lit bonfires around London; and months later, the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.

by the 20th century Guy Fawkes Day had become an enjoyable social commemoration, although lacking much of its original focus. The present-day Guy Fawkes Night is usually celebrated at large organised events.

After centuries Guy Fawkes has become a hero who tried to blow up the parliament and its members and the night is celebrated with a happy mood all over Britain.

Time has come for us to burn the old constitution behind which the corrupt politicians try to hide and achieve their traditional and person-centred goals. It is time to start with a constitution of the people who won the non-violent revolution. They might get some advice form Nagananda and the law society but certainly not from Wijedasa or Sabri.

People could not be intimidated by physical violence, discouraged by imposed obstacles and stopped by the existing laws. Therefore, they should not abide by a worthless constitution. A good constitution must constitute the will of the people. The will of the people at the moment is to disregard the old constitution to allow them to form a new government that suits to needs of the country and its people. There is no obstacle to go ahead and do that.

Long live the struggle!
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)  The Biden administration on Tuesday released two reports arguing that removing dams on the lower Snake River may be needed to restore salmon runs to sustainable levels in the Pacific Northwest, and that replacing the energy created by the dams is possible but will cost $11 billion to $19 billion.

The reports were released by the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Business as usual will not restore salmon, said Brenda Mallory, chair of the council. The Columbia River system is the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest.

If the four Snake River dams were ultimately removed, it would be largest such project in U.S. history. In 2012 the Elwha Dam on Washington states Olympic Peninsula was removed to restore habitat. At the time, the National Park Service said the elimination of the Elwha Dam was the largest such project in U.S. history.

Many salmon runs continue to decline, which environmentalists blame on dams, Mallory said, and her office is leading multi-agency efforts to restore abundant runs of salmon to the Columbia River Basin.

Mallory cautioned that the Biden administration is not endorsing any single long-term solution, including breaching the dams.

A draft report by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found changes are needed to restore salmon, ranging from removal of one to four dams on the lower Snake River to reintroduction of salmon to areas entirely blocked by dams. A second report studied how power supplies could be replaced if dams are breached.

These two reports add to the picture  that we are working alongside regional leaders to develop  of what it will take over the decades ahead to restore salmon populations, honor our commitments to Tribal Nations, deliver clean power and meet the many needs of stakeholders across the region," Mallory said.

More than a dozen runs of salmon and steelhead are at risk of extinction in the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Billions of dollars have been spent on salmon and steelhead recovery, but the fish continue to decline, speakers said, and it is time to try a different approach. Dam breaching is opposed by grain shippers, irrigators, power producers and other river users. Dam supporters blame declining salmon runs on other factors, such as changing ocean conditions.

We need to go to larger-scale actions, NOAA scientist Chris Jordan said in a briefing on the report Monday.

We are at a crucial moment for salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin when were seeing the impacts of climate change on top of other stressors," said Janet Coit, an administrator for NOAA Fisheries.

Six Republican members of Congress from the Northwest blasted the reports as biased.

They are cherry picking points to justify breaching the Lower Snake River Dams, which will permanently and negatively impact our way of life in the Pacific Northwest, said a statement from U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Jaime Herrera Beutler, all from Washington, Cliff Bentz of Oregon, Russ Fulcher of Idaho and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

Kurt Miller, executive director of Northwest RiverPartners, which is made up of river users, said electricity ratepayers will see higher bills if the dams are breached. The rate increases could reach 65%, Miller said.

The study confirms the fact these dams are irreplaceable for the region if we want to meet our emissions reduction objectives and maintain a reliable grid at an affordable cost, Miller said.

The issue has percolated in the Northwest for three decades, sparking court fights and political debates over the future of the four dams on the Snake River that environmentalists blame for the decline in salmon and steelhead.

U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, kicked off the latest round of debates in 2021, when he released a plan saying it would cost $34 billion to remove and replace the dams services in order to save salmon. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, both Democrats, are also preparing a report, with their recommendations expected later this summer.

Last month, Murray and Inslee announced that replacing the benefits provided by the four giant hydroelectric dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state would cost $10.3 billion to $27.2 billion.

Breaching the dams would significantly improve the ability of salmon and steelhead to swim from their inland spawning grounds to the Pacific Ocean, where they spend most of their lives, and then back to their original spawning grounds to procreate and die, Murray and Inslee said.

Major benefits of the dams include making the Snake River navigable up to Lewiston, Idaho, allowing barges to carry wheat and other crops to ocean ports. Eliminating the dams would require truck and rail transportation improvements to move crops.

The dams also generate electricity, provide irrigation water for farmers and recreation opportunities for people. Breaching the dams would require an act of Congress. Newhouse and McMorris Rodgers have introduced a bill to protect the dams, which are located in their districts.

In the late 1800s, up to 16 million salmon and steelhead returned to the Columbia River Basin every year to spawn. Over the next century and a half, overfishing whittled that number down. By the early 1950s, just under 130,000 Chinook were returning to the Snake River.

Construction of the first dam on the lower river, Ice Harbor, began in 1955. Lower Monumental followed in 1969, Little Goose in 1970, and Lower Granite in 1975. The dams stretch from Pasco, Washington, to near Pullman, Washington, and stand between migrating salmon and 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) of spawning habitat in central Idaho.

The dams have fish ladders, but too many of the salmon die as they swim through the dams and across slack water reservoirs on their migrations.

In 1991, Snake River salmon and steelhead were listed as endangered species, requiring production of a federal recovery plan.

The U.S. government has spent more than $17 billion trying to recover Snake River salmon, through improvements to fish ladders and other measures, with little to show for it.

___

This story has been updated to correct that the goal of dam removal is to restore salmon runs to sustainable levels, not historic levels.
Q2 Represents $6 Million in Total Contract Values and the Company Anticipates Further Growth Through Q3

VANCOUVER, BC, July 12, 2022 /CNW/ - HS GovTech Solutions Inc. (the "Company" or "HS GovTech") (CSE: HS) (OTC: HDSLF) (Frankfurt: 38H) is pleased to present an update regarding its sales performance during the quarter ended June 30, 2022 ("Q2"). All financial figures contained herein are expressed in U.S. dollars ("USD") unless otherwise noted.

HS GovTech will provide an update on its activities in a webinar, July 14, 2022 at 2:00 pm EST hosted by Adelaide Capital. Registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4SD8vol0Q1u6l08Uz

Q2 Sales Summary:

Total Contract Value ("TCV") for deals that were either fully executed contracts during Q2 ("Fully Executed") or agreed to, awarded and out for execution ("Awarded") at the end of Q2 totaled $6.05 million :

: Fully Executed in period - $2.19 million in TCV, an increase of 400% YoY from the same period 2021 , including :

in TCV, an increase of 400% YoY from the same period 2021 including

Professional Services Fully Executed in period - $0.34 million





Net new Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) Fully Executed in period - $0.37 million



Awarded at end of period - $3.86 million in TCV, an increase of 300% YoY from the same period 2021:

in TCV, an increase of 300% YoY from the same period 2021:

Professional Services Awarded at end of period - $0.54 million





Net new ARR Awarded at end of Period - $0.39 million

As at June 30, 2022 ARR under contract was $4.82 million

ARR under contract was Once Awarded are Fully Executed, ARR will be $5.21 million

Total number of deals in period: 29

10 Fully Executed



19 Awarded



All contracts and awards were for the usage of HSCloud Suite within the Company's key market of environmental health ("EH") with an average contract length of five years



Deals in the period represent broad market growth across both the US and Canada ; the Fully Executed executed and awarded in the period are in multiple states and provinces including - California , Illinois , Colorado , Arizona , Missouri , Connecticut , Ontario , Oregon , Wisconsin and the Virgin Islands .

"I am very pleased with the performance of our team this past quarter. They continue to deliver for our customers by providing great solutions and service. This enables us to deliver strong sales growth quarter over quarter, with Q2 representing the strongest quarter in terms of sales performance in the Company's history. This quarter's Fully Executed and Awarded deals, representing $6 million of TCV, equate to over 60% of the entire TCV for all of 2021. I am confident in the momentum we are carrying as we head into Q3. I anticipate another strong quarter as we continue to add to and close out our sales pipeline." noted Silas Garrison, CEO of HS GovTech.

Non-IFRS Measures

ARR is a non-IFRS measure that provides an indication of the subscription revenue from customers that is expected from continued usage per the term of contract signed, and as such management believes ARR to be a meaningful measure for assessment of Company performance. Key assumptions related to ARR figures are from continued usage of the services over the life of the agreement, with the calculation based on the annual average of subscription revenues over the life of the agreement.

HS GovTech Solutions Inc.

HS GovTech Solutions Inc. HS GovTech is an industry leading software as a service company serving the state, provincial and local government market across the United States and Canada. HS GovTech's cutting edge platforms currently provide inspection, information, communication and data management systems that enable government agencies to operate more efficiently. HS GovTech's cloud and mobile based platforms are currently deployed in over 800 state and local government organizations across North America. HS GovTech currently offers the only fully integrated inspection, administration and analytics product suite across all platforms in North America. HS GovTech also delivers its government grade technologies to private businesses through its My Health Department platform, enabling citizens and private businesses to gain visibility and predictability into their own organizations and move from a reactive to a proactive operational status. As HS GovTech continues to deliver focused service and innovative solutions to government organizations, the Company entered the FinTech space through its HSPay offering which serves as a payment platform that streamlines the intake of government revenue. Further, HS GovTech's GovCall platform offers one of the only teleconferencing and video collaboration platforms tailored exclusively for government agencies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although HS GovTech 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 may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. HS GovTech expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE HS GovTech Solutions Inc.

For further information: Silas Garrison, CEO, (415) 580-2735, [email protected]; Victoria Rutherford, Investor Relations, (604) 757-6888, [email protected]
TORONTO, July 11, 2022 /CNW/ - Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC) will release its 2022 second quarter results after the market closes on Thursday, July 28, 2022.

The company will hold its 2022 second quarter earnings conference call for analysts and investors on Friday, July 29, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Conference call participants will be Charles Brindamour, Chief Executive Officer; Louis Marcotte, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Isabelle Girard, Senior Vice President, Personal Lines; Darren Godfrey, Executive Vice President, Global Specialty Lines, Patrick Barbeau, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Ken Anderson, Executive Vice President & CFO UK&I.

To join the live audio webcast and to view the presentation slides and supplementary financial information, visit intactfc.com and click on "Investors".

The conference call is also available by dialing 416-764-8659 or 1 888 664-6392 (toll-free in North America). Please call 10 minutes before the start of the call. A replay of the call will be available on July 29, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. ET until midnight on August 5, 2022. To listen to the replay, call 416-764-8677 or 1-888-390-0541(toll-free in North America), passcode 018351.

A transcript of the call will also be made available on intactfc.com .

About Intact Financial Corporation

Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC) is the largest provider of property and casualty (P&C) insurance in Canada, a leading provider of global specialty insurance, and, with RSA, a leader in the U.K. and Ireland. Our business has grown organically and through acquisitions to over $20 billion of total annual premiums.

In Canada, Intact distributes insurance under the Intact Insurance brand through a wide network of brokers, including its wholly-owned subsidiary BrokerLink, and directly to consumers through belairdirect. Intact also provides affinity insurance solutions through the Johnson Affinity Groups.

In the U.S., Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions provides a range of specialty insurance products and services through independent agencies, regional and national brokers, and wholesalers and managing general agencies.

Outside of North America, the Company provides personal, commercial and specialty insurance solutions across the U.K., Ireland and Europe through the RSA brands.

SOURCE Intact Financial Corporation

For further information: Media Inquiries: Emilie Dutil-Bruneau, Vice President, Communications, (514) 654-3180 [email protected]; Investor Inquiries:Shubha Khan, Vice President, Investor Relations, (416) 341-1464 x41004, [email protected]
TORONTO, July 12, 2022 /CNW/ - Neighbourly Pharmacy Inc. ("Neighbourly" or the "Company") (TSX: NBLY), Canada's largest and fastest growing network of community pharmacies, will release its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 prior to the market open on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2022. The release will be followed by a conference call at 8:30AM ET.

Participants may join Neighbourly's conference call by dialing 416-764-8650 or 1-888-664-6383 (ID: 11136131). The conference call will also be available via webcast using the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at https://investors.neighbourlypharmacy.ca/events-and-presentations.

For those unable to participate, playback will be made available an hour after the event at 416-764-8677 or 1-888-390-0541, utilizing passcode 136131#. The webcast of the call will also be archived and available on Neighbourly's website.

About Neighbourly Pharmacy Inc.

Neighbourly is Canada's largest and fastest growing network of community pharmacies. United by their patient first focus and their role as essential and trusted healthcare hubs within their communities, Neighbourly's pharmacies strive to provide accessible healthcare with a personal touch. Since 2015, Neighbourly has expanded its diversified national footprint to include 275 locations, reinforcing the Company's reputation as the industry's acquirer of choice.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, the word "will" and similar expressions, as they relate to Neighbourly, are intended to identify forward-looking statements.. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Neighbourly as of the date of this press release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, many of which are beyond Neighbourly's control, including, without limitation, the risk factors and other matters set forth in Neighbourly's filings with the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. Neighbourly undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

SOURCE Neighbourly Pharmacy Inc.

For further information: Marina Davies, VP Investor Relations, at [email protected] or visit www.neighbourlypharmacy.ca.
New Partnership Supporting Hundreds of Thousands of PayPal Merchants in Canada

TORONTO, July 12, 2022 /CNW/ - Leading-edge technology company netParcel is partnering with Canada Post to support more than 250,000 PayPal merchants across the country as they continue to recover from the challenges presented over the past two years.

This partnership between netParcel and Canada Post builds upon the successful relationship between netParcel and PayPal, which enables hundreds of thousands of small business owners to access savings on domestic and international shipping services.

"The partnership between netParcel and Canada Post brings incredible value and opportunity for small business owners who are looking to gain efficiencies and optimize their business model," said Derek de Hooge, co-founder of netParcel.

"Shipping is an important, but costly part of doing business. With a PayPal account and netParcel at their fingertips, small business owners can not only reach new customers and help improve their sales, but benefit from savings on their shipping costs, whether they are sending a parcel down the street or across the world," said Gary Jackson, PayPal Canada's Head of Inside Sales. "We've automated the shipping process, saving time and headaches, which we all know translates to dollars. We are helping merchants so they can focus on what is important."

"We are excited to see the launch of our new service with Canada Post and PayPal this month. By giving merchants the ability to import their orders from multiple ecommerce sources, they will be able to access shipping services in a single location and update the order with tracking details, merchants have the peace of mind knowing they can focus on growing their business while PayPal helps simplify the management of their operations," said Rizwan Merchant co-founder of netParcel

"You can now add your Canada Post account directly on netParcel or use Canada Post via netParcel without an account, which is new for PayPal. We've also helped consolidate PayPal's two shipping tabs into a single platform, creating a single place to ship," said Derek de Hooge.

"In 2019 we launched a platform with PayPal to help Canadian small businesses save up to 75% on shipping costs with a focus on international shipments into the U.S. and the rest of the world. With the addition of Canada Post, PayPal merchants will have access to competitive rates from Canada's leading delivery service providers," said Rizwan Merchant.

In a world where online sales are driven by a seamless customer experience, it's imperative that small businesses are able to access services that are cost effective and timely. The combination of netParcel, Canada Post and PayPal provides the support that Canadian merchants need to succeed in the evolving ecommerce market.

About netParcel

netParcel is a Toronto-based domestic and international shipping service committed to giving merchants the most competitive rates available. Using best-in-class functionality and cutting-edge technology, netParcel delivers solutions that meet your daily shipping needs.

SOURCE netParcel

For further information: John Early, Director of Growth, email - [email protected], phone - 1-855-891-4521
A donation of $1 from each booklet of 10 stamps (and 10 cents from the Official First Day Cover, a special collectible envelope) will provide essential aid  and hope  to those affected by the situation. Funds raised through the purchase of this stamp will be distributed through the Canada-Ukraine Foundation. This is the first time that Canada Post has issued a stamp in support of a country in need of humanitarian assistance.

Today, nearly four per cent of Canadians can trace their roots to Ukraine. The sunflower is Ukraine's national flower and has now become a widely recognized symbol of peace and unity. The yellow sunflower and blue-sky background reflect the colours of Ukraine's flag. Sunflowers also adorn the vinok, Ukraine's traditional floral headdress.

About the stamp issue

The colourful stamp, originally issued in 2011, was designed and photographed by Isabelle Toussaint Design graphique, with the new booklet and first day of issue special envelope designed by Helene L'Heureux. Printed by Lowe-Martin, the stamp issue includes a booklet of 10 Permanent domestic rate stamps and an Official First Day Cover cancelled in Ottawa.

For images and more information on these and other products:

TM Trademark of Canada Post Corporation

Ce texte est aussi disponible en francais

SOURCE Canada Post

For further information: Media Relations, 613-734-8888, [email protected]
In the National Herald case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Congress President Sonia Gandhi to appear before the agency on July 21, 2022.

The Income Tax Department, which has been investigating the National Herald case since 2016, filed a charge sheet alleging financial irregularities in the Congress-backed Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the companys promoters and majority shareholders, each owning a 38 percent stake.

The Gandhis are being investigated after the ED filed a new case under the criminal provisions of the PMLA after a Delhi trial court took cognizance of an Income Tax department investigation against Young Indian, which was based on a private criminal complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy filed a case in the Delhi High Court accusing Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of land grabbing and misappropriating funds worth thousands of crores of rupees in the National Herald case.

Gandhi had previously written to the investigation agency, requesting a postponement of an appearance scheduled for June 23, 2022, citing recovery from Covid-19.

Rahul Gandhi, her son and former Congress chief, was interrogated for 54 hours in five days.
Five Congress MLAs, including Kamat and Lobo, went silent on Sunday. They did, however, attend the Goa Assembly proceedings on Monday, the first day of its monsoon session.

The Congress party was relieved when 10 of 11 MLAs in Goa attended a meeting chaired by senior leader Mukul Wasnik, indicating that the party has managed to avert a split in its fold for the time being. Congress MLAs, including Michael Lobo, were present at the two-hour meeting at the state party headquarters.

According to reports, all other party MLAs, with the exception of former chief minister Digambar Kamat, attended the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Congress Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao and state party president Amit Patkar.

Wasnik claimed that some people with bad intentions were attempting to create a schism in the Goa Congress, but the legislators thwarted it by demonstrating their unity. During the meeting, he said, MLAs discussed how to work aggressively in the House and strengthen the party in the coastal state.

Five Congress MLAs, including Kamat and Lobo, went silent on Sunday. They did, however, attend the Goa Assembly proceedings on Monday, the first day of its monsoon session, and claimed that nothing was wrong and that they were members of the party.

Lobo and Kamat were accused by the Congress of conspiring and hobnobbing with the ruling BJP in order to engineer a split in the grand old partys legislative wing.

Lobo was also removed from his position as leader of the opposition in the 40-member Assembly.

Patkar filed a disqualification petition against Kamat and Lobo before Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Monday after some Congress Legislature Party members failed to attend a press conference called by Rao on Sunday.

When asked if the disqualification petition would be withdrawn, Wasnik replied, You dont ask all the questions now, let us save some for later.

Lobo told reporters after the meeting on Monday night that he was with the Congress and that there had been a misunderstanding by the party because he was unable to attend the press conference called on Sunday.

All of the Congress MLAs are members of the party. I told them I didnt want to continue as opposition leader because I wouldnt be able to do the job justice, he said.

He added that senior leaders such as Digambar Kamat or Sankalp Amonkar could be elected as the LoP in the Assembly.
India is anticipated to overtake China as the world's most populated nation in 2023, according to a UN assessment.

According to a report released by the UN on Monday, India will overtake China as the worlds most populated nation in 2023. According to the analysis, just eight countriesincluding Indiawill account for half of the predicted rise in world population up to 2050.

According to the World Population Prospects 2022 report by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, India is expected to overtake China as the worlds most populated nation in 2023. The research also stated that by November 15, 2022, there will be eight billion people on the planet.

Just eight nationsthe Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzaniawill account for more than half of the predicted growth in the worlds population by 2050.

The UN research stated that differing population growth rates among the worlds largest countries will shift their position by size.

Eastern and South-Eastern Asia had 2.3 billion people (or 29% of the worlds population) in 2022, and Central and Southern Asia had 2.1 billion people. These two Asian regions were the most populous in the world (26 per cent). With populations of about 1.4 billion apiece, China and India made up the majority of the people in these two areas.

According to the paper, the coronavirus pandemics effects were mostly to blame for the decline in the worlds life expectancy at birth, which dropped from 72.8 years in 2019 to 71 years in 2021.

The percentage of people in the world over the age of 65 is anticipated to increase from 10% in 2022 to 16% in 2050.

Globally, the number of people 65 and older is expected to surpass that of people under the age of 5 by 2050 and be almost equal to that of those under the age of 12.

The article stated, Migration will be the only factor influencing population increase in high-income nations during the coming few decades. Contrarily, an excess of births over deaths will continue to drive population growth in low-income and lower-middle-income countries for the foreseeable future.
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One of Connecticut's top chefs is driving the menu and concept at a new oyster bar and seafood restaurant in New Haven's Fair Haven neighborhood.

Emily Mingrone  voted "Chef of the Year" during Connecticut Restaurant Association's 2021 CRAzies Awards  and Shane McGowan opened Fair Haven Oyster Co. on June 28. The restaurant, an "elevated seafood bar," is at 307 Front Street in the Quinnipiac River Marina.

Fair Haven Oyster Co. replaces the former Street's Smokehouse Boathouse restaurant. When Mingrone announced the project in January, she said she and McGowan were approached about the space back in the fall, and knew it was ideal when they saw the waterfront location.

"We had been looking [for another location] anyway, but then we saw this space and said 'Yup, this is the one,'" she said.

Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

Mingrone and McGowan are known for Tavern on State, their celebrated East Rock restaurant, and its associated whole-animal butcher shop, Provisions on State. McGowan said they've had several ideas for new projects, including a dive bar and steakhouse, but they've always talked about a seafood concept.

"We've always wanted to do a seafood-focused place, and it's on the water, so it naturally lends itself to being that," he said.

At Fair Haven, "elegant mid-century design meets a modern and cozy tavern," according to its website. Mingrone and McGowan spent six months renovating the space, which features indoor seating for about 28 guests and porthole-style windows along the dining room's wooden walls. Outside, an expansive deck has seating for another 40, overlooking the water.

Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

Fair Haven Oyster's raw bar selections feature oysters, littleneck clams and peel-and-eat jumbo shrimp by the piece, with recent oyster selections from Connecticut, Rhode Island and Canada (Newfoundland, New Brunswick and British Columbia.) The menu also features tinned fish like mussels in escabeche, sardines and mackerel fillets in olive oil, served with crusty bread and olives.

A selection of crudos currently feature raw scallops and tuna, lightly dressed with ingredients like olive oil, lemon, sea salt, white balsamic, horseradish and herbs.

"Here, it's really important for me to showcase the fish," Mingrone said. "There's some punchy flavors there, but I didn't go crazy with the ingredients."

Lobster bisque will be a staple on the soup and salad menu, Mingrone said, along with a salad Nicoise with olive oil-poached tuna. The restaurant currently offers a tomato-based Manhattan seafood chowder, but she's also crafted a "Fair Haven" chowder with clear Rhode Island-style broth, miso and local kelp that may return to the menu.

Small plates include baked stuffed clams with shrimp and 'nduja, a spicy spreadable pork sausage, and steamers, served with clam broth and butter. Chilled crab salad, mixed with Old Bay aioli, is served with celery salad on toast  inspired in part by Southern deviled crab, Mingrone said, but in a cold version. Uni, or sea urchin, is served on toasted brioche with white shoyu, yuzu and sesame oil.

Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

Lobster rolls are served two ways here: classic Connecticut-style with hot butter, with the addition of preserved lemon and brown butter crumbs, and a cold version, with creme fraiche instead of mayonnaise. The cold version is also topped off with smoked trout roe and threads of fresh dill.

"I couldn't decide on just one," Mingrone said. "I don't like the mayo-based lobster roll, but I wanted a version of it, so I used creme fraiche. It complements the lobster nicely."

In a nod to Tavern on State, Fair Haven also has a cheeseburger, with meat ground fresh at the Provisions butcher shop. A footlong hot dog is topped with fermented cabbage, chili relish and bacon aioli.

Of the larger plates, the seared scallops have been "flying out of here," Mingrone and McGowan agreed, with grilled sweet potato and a Peruvian aji amarillo sauce. A black bass entree is another popular dish, with salsa verde, summer squash ragout and toasted farro, and beer-battered hake is Fair Haven's take on fish and chips, with crispy potato wedges, malt vinegar mayo and fennel slaw.

Desserts will rotate, and currently feature treats like cherry lime Italian ice with lime sugar, a chocolate mousse with cacao nibs, strawberry shortcake and key lime pie  "simple and comforting," Mingrone said.

Fair Haven also has a full bar, with a curated beer and wine selection, and McGowan's cocktail program is focused on gin and sherry, with drinks reflecting the waterfront location and seafood-centric menu.

Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

Drinks are either "shaken" or "stirred," and early favorites have included the "Swan Dive," with gin, Pedro Ximenez sherry, orgeat, celery, lemon and fennel pollen. The "Bad Alibi" is another bestseller, with tequila, mezcal, Ancho Reyes chile liqueur, passion fruit and chili oil.

In its first few weeks, Fair Haven has seen plenty of Tavern on State regulars, Mingrone and McGowan said. Alternately, as new guests find Fair Haven, some learn of Tavern on State's existence for the first time and make plans to go to the State Street restaurant.

"It's a nice symbiosis," Mingrone said.

Mingrone is the first-ever female chef to win the CRA's Chef of the Year award. 2021's finalists included Ashley Flagg of Millwright's in Simsbury, Joel Gargano of Grano Arso in Chester, Michone Denae Arrington of The Art of Yum (Southington and Waterbury) and Manuel Romero of Olea in New Haven.

Fair Haven Oyster Co., at 307 Front St. in New Haven, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. The bar is open later.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden will try to reaffirm and recalibrate U.S. relationships in the Middle East during his first trip to the region since taking office, but it wont be easy in a corner of the world thats asking fresh questions about the future of American influence.

Biden was bound Tuesday night for Israel, where chaotic politics have left a caretaker government in charge until elections later this year, limiting the opportunity for durable dealmaking. Its unlikely that Biden will have much better luck in the West Bank when he visits with Palestinian leaders who have become increasingly unpopular among their own people.

The trip only becomes more fraught from there. Bidens next stop will be Saudi Arabia, an autocracy with a legacy of human rights abuses but also vast reserves of oil that the president wants to see pumped more quickly to alleviate high gas prices caused, in part, by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Looming over Bidens travels will be his administrations struggle to rejuvenate the Iran nuclear deal that was reached by Barack Obama in 2015 and abandoned by Donald Trump in 2018. Negotiations stalled last month, and Iran is believed to be closer than ever to having the ability to build a nuclear weapon. Failure to reach a diplomatic solution could increase the chance of conflict in an already combustible neighborhood.

Hes going to face a region thats long on problems with very few solutions, said Aaron David Miller, a former State Department official who is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Biden has been more focused on Europe, which is experiencing its worst armed conflict since World War II, and Asia, where he's been trying to reorient U.S. foreign policy to confront China's rising power.

Jake Sullivan, the president's national security adviser, said the U.S. needs to remain intensively engaged in the Middle East because the region is deeply interwoven with the rest of the world.

"If we act now to create a peaceful and stable region, it will pay dividends for the American national interests and for the American people for years to come," Sullivan said.

In addition to meetings with Israeli and Palestinian politicians, Biden is expected to visit an Israeli missile defense installation and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. He's also slated to receive Israel's Presidential Medal of Honor and visit with U.S. athletes taking part in the Maccabiah Games, which involves thousands of Jewish and Israeli athletes from around the globe.

The U.S. and Israel plan to issue a joint statement dubbed the Jerusalem Declaration on Thursday that is meant to serve as a roadmap for the countries relationship in the coming years, according to senior Israeli officials who briefed reporters Tuesday.

The declaration would include a tough stance on Irans nuclear program, committing both countries to use all elements of their national power against the Iranian nuclear threat, according to one of the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Biden travels to Saudi Arabia at the end of the week, when he'll attend a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which brings together Arab leaders from the region. Sullivan said the president will make a major statement on his vision for the Middle East region.

But the most closely watched encounter will be the president's first meeting with Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's crown prince and presumed heir to the throne currently held by King Salman.

Biden has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia, even saying during the presidential campaign that it should be treated like a pariah for human rights abuses. His administration released a declassified intelligence report saying the crown prince, known as MBS, likely approved the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based writer who was critical of the regime.

However, the shifting politics of energy have led Biden to change course, especially as American drivers face high costs at the gas pump. The global price spike could also make it more difficult for Biden to convince allies to keep pressuring Russia with sanctions as the war in Ukraine grinds on.

Even if Biden's visit goes smoothly, there may not be any immediate relief because oil production targets are governed by an agreement reached among the members of OPEC+, a cartel that includes Saudi Arabia and Russia. And while the current agreement expires in September, concern about a potential worldwide recession could make oil producers wary about pumping more.

Biden made only a glancing reference to working with Saudi Arabia to help stabilize oil markets when he defended his plan to visit the kingdom in an op-ed in the Washington Post, the same newspaper that used to publish Khashoggi's writing.

He promised to continue raising human rights issues, and he said he wants to reorient  but not rupture" the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Brian Katulis, vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute, said Biden's shifting approach shows he's no longer seeking the dramatic break from Trump that he originally envisioned.

I think reality just set in," Katulis said, describing the administration's views on the region as evolving from adolescence to a much more mature phase.

Critics say that some of Biden's rhetoric around the Saudi leg of the trip, particularly playing down his expected meeting with the crown prince, could complicate efforts to reset relations. The president has stressed that the primary purpose of his visit to Jeddah is to take part in the gathering of the Gulf council countries.

One factor in seeking a detente in the Saudi relationship is growing concern in the administration that the Saudis could move closer to China and Russia amid strains with the United States.

Another significant stumbling block has been the lack of a new nuclear agreement with Iran. The last round of negotiations in Doha, Qatar ended without success. The Saudis, as well as the Israelis, have been frustrated that the White House has not abandoned efforts to revive the deal with Tehran.

We want the Saudis to feel that the U.S. is committed to its security long term, and that, in turn, the Saudis are committed to U.S. national security interests as well, said Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who served as a senior National Security Council adviser on Iran in the Trump administration. The president is saying ahead of his trip, We are going to continue to hedge on you. If I was MBS looking at that, I would say, Well, then Im going to hedge against you as well.

The threat from Iran, which would only increase if it built a nuclear weapon, has spurred greater cooperation between Arab nations and Israel, something that would have been unthinkable decades ago. Biden hopes to foster closer ties during his trip, and it's notable that he will be the first U.S. president to travel directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia.

Although no one expects the two countries to immediately normalize relations, there could be incremental steps taken, such as by allowing Israeli flights to cross through Saudi airspace. The Israeli-Saudi relationship remains very delicate" but there is hope that Biden's visit to the Middle East will mark the start of the process of normalization, according to the senior Israeli official.

It's unclear whether any of these changes could eventually lead to a resolution of the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, who live under an Israeli military occupation.

A reminder of the turmoil that could break out at any moment came last year during a brief, bloody war between Israel and the militant group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.

Peace talks are moribund, nor is there much chance of reviving them at the current moment.

Yair Lapid, Israel's caretaker prime minister, leads a centrist political party that is more aligned with Biden than the country's recent conservative leaders. However, new elections are being held in November, and Israelis could decide to revert to Benjamin Netanyahu, a right-wing leader who has clashed with Biden in the past.

A warm visit from Biden could boost Lapid's chances, but any overt shows of support for him could backfire.

Either way, the chaotic state of Israeli politics  this will be the fifth election in three years  means little can be accomplished in the interim.

Martin Indyk, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who was Obamas special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, said it's not the moment to try to revive the peace process.

Still, Indyk said it was important for Biden to express his support for a two-state solution.

If you ignore the Palestinian issue, it will come back to bite you," he said. "And eventually it will explode. And thats not in anybodys interest.

___

Federman and Madhani reported from Jerusalem.
HARTFORD  The wife of a former state lawmaker accused of having stolen more than $1 million in federal money from the city of West Haven by approving falsified invoices pleaded guilty to her role in the alleged scheme Tuesday.

Lauren DiMassa, who took the name of her husband, former Democratic state Rep. Michael DiMassa, after being charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in February, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge  conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Lauren DiMassa, formerly Lauren Knox, is the second of four people arrested in connection with the scheme to plead guilty. DiMassa admitted in court Tuesday that she received $147,776.10 through 16 checks for what was supposed to be a youth violence prevention program funded by the Department of Justice. She did not provide any of those services, she admitted.

According to a statement from Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, These invoices listed charges for in-home counseling, cleaning supplies, special needs hourly service, wi-fi assistance for low/moderate income families, counseling services, license fees, a fall youth clinic, meals, support group supplies, equipment rental, and youth clinic support group. The payment vouchers requested that checks be made out to directly to DiMassa.

DiMassas attorney Francis OReilly alleged in court that his client did not keep most of the funds from the checks that she deposited.

She turned over the vast bulk to her husband for his purposes, OReilly said.

John Bernardo, a former City Hall employee, was the first to plead guilty in connection with the scheme to defraud the city of federal funds. Bernardo and Michael DiMassa founded Compass Investment Group in January 2021, which allegedly was used as a shell company. Compass Investment Groups business address is Bernardos home address.

In court, Bernardo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud but also claimed he only received about $50,000 of the $636,783.70 Michael DiMassa is alleged to have billed to Compass Investment Group.

Michael DiMassa pleaded not guilty to all charges in February. Jury selection in his case is scheduled for Sept. 15.

Michael DiMassas attorney John Gulash did not immediately respond to a request for comment about allegations against his client made in court.

According to court documents, Michael DiMassa, who also was a city employee at the time, allegedly used the signatory authority granted to him by the City Council to falsify invoices, signing off on work he said was provided by the three other codefendants in the case that never happened.

Jury selection for the fourth codefendant, John Trasacco, a contractor who is alleged to have received payment with federal funds for work he did not provide to West Haven, also is scheduled for Sept. 15.

Bernardos sentencing date is scheduled for Sept. 27. A sentencing date has not yet been set for Lauren DiMassa.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media /

HAMDEN  Four people were injured during a domestic incident on North Street Monday evening, according to police.

Officers responded to the home for reports of a domestic disturbance involving a stabbing around 6 p.m., Detective Sean Dolan said.
Online Talk: Impressions of Friedrichshafen 2022 On Wednesday, July 13, Denby Dale Amateur Radio Society will have a report and impressions of the largest amateur radio event in Europe, all are welcome to join the Zoom session



Club members Mike DL1BJW and Adriane DL8BDT made the 850 km journey across Germany to the hamfest which last took place in 2019.



They attend the club meeting to give their impressions and to share a video film of their visit.



The talk is being given to the Denby Dale Amateur Radio Society at 7:30pm on Wednesday, July 13 (Zoom active from 7:15pm). The meeting is open to all, you dont need to be a member to attend, you will always be welcome.



The Zoom meeting ID is 842 5221 3056

https://zoom.us/j/84252213056



For further information see

http://www.ddars.net/



Recordings of earlier Denby Dale online talks can be seen at

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq9nFTkJJAjOdPZVytoPOcg
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MILFORD  Christine Holloways family wants answers.

More than two years have passed since Holloway was killed at her Ansonia home and her infant daughter, Vanessa Morales, vanished without a trace in December 2019.

The man charged in the killing  Vanessas father, Jose Morales  has not been charged in connection with the babys disappearance.

But after Morales appeared in court briefly Tuesday, Holloways family members said that he must know where Vanessa is if he killed Holloway  and that its upsetting not to know more by now.

Its very frustrating, Jodi Jacobellis, Vanessas aunt, said. We have nothing on my niece. We have nothing for Christine. It should not be taking this long.

During Morales court appearance, Judge Peter Brown ordered Ansonia police to turn over a car owned by Holloway, to James Sheehy, a lawyer appointed by a probate judge to administer her estate, once cops take photos of it if they havent already.

Supervisory Assistant States Attorney Howard Stein and Morales lawyer, Edward Gavin, agreed to the request.

Stein told the judge that there are still some lingering disclosure issues being handled by his and Gavins offices.

The lawyers agreed to continue the case to Oct. 12.

Gavin said he had gone through well in excess of 95 percent of the 248,000 pieces of evidence  and gave a list of what he hasnt seen yet to prosecutors to track down.

Its just a question of finding this material, obtaining it and turning it over, he said.

Stein told the judge he wanted to either resolve the case or set a timetable for trial.

All parties have been part of that discussion in terms of trying to take this very large case and move it as quickly as we can towards resolution, the prosecutor said.

Several members of Holloways family attended Tuesdays hearing, as they do all of Morales appearances.

Anna Rodonski, an aunt of Holloways, said the family is holding out hope for Vanessas return and that they just want more awareness.

There was so much awareness when it all happened, she said of the initial widespread public attention focused on the case. We just want people to keep praying and keep thinking about us and to pray that we bring her home.

Ansonia cops have said they continue to look for Vanessa. Last year they released an age-enhanced image of what she might look like.

The homicide investigation resulted in an arrest but Vanessa has still not been located, Lt Patrick Lynch said on the two-year anniversary of Vanessas disappearance and her mothers death last December. The disappearance is still an active investigation, and we continue to ask the public for assistance in locating Vanessa or any information that will lead to determining what happened to Vanessa.

Jose Morales has been charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with Holloways death. He has pleaded not guilty to both offenses.

Morales also faces two unrelated felony charges of criminal possession of a firearm, to which he has also pleaded not guilty.

He has not been charged with Vanessas disappearance. The toddler went missing the same night of her mothers death.

At a court appearance for Morales last May Stein said investigators had received many leads in the disappearance, but none had panned out.

Morales was identified early on as a suspect in Holloways death, which was determined to be from blunt-force trauma.

Morales arrest affidavit indicates he told police he had nothing to do with Holloways death or his daughters disappearance.

Morales is being held in lieu of more than $5 million bond.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Jill Biden apologized Tuesday for saying Latinos are as unique" as San Antonio breakfast tacos during a speech to the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization.

The first lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community, tweeted Jill Biden's spokesperson, Michael LaRosa.

The first lady flew to San Antonio on Monday to address the annual conference of UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group formerly known as the National Council of La Raza. She also spoke at a Democratic Party fundraiser at a private home before she returned to Washington.

But Biden's attempt at a compliment floundered when she described Latino diversity as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio.

She also badly mispronounced bodegas, small stores in urban areas typically specializing in Hispanic groceries.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists and others registered their offense on social media, with the journalists' organization tweeting that, We are not tacos.

Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of Latinos in San Antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of Latinos in the region," NAHJ said.

The association said the first lady and her speechwriters should take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities.

Hispanic voters generally favor Democrats, though the groups support patterns vary widely in different parts of the U.S., and Latino support for the Democratic presidential candidate softened in 2020 compared to 2016, according to Pew Research Center data.

Some Democrats have suggested that the party isn't working hard enough to maintain Hispanic support. In her speech, Jill Biden outlined how President Joe Biden has responded to the community, including by appointing Latinos to the Cabinet and other high government posts and helping them get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Separately, last month, Republican Mayra Flores won a special congressional election in a usually Democratic area of South Texas. Now completing a House term expiring in January, Flores is an avid Trump supporter and the first Mexican-born woman elected to Congress.

Jill Biden spent part of Tuesday showing Mexico's first lady, Beatriz Gutierrez Muller, around the Library of Congress while Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was at the White House meeting with President Biden.

-

Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report.
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CHICAGO (AP)  Mourners shared memories and tears Tuesday during the funeral for the mother of a 2-year-old boy who lost both his parents in the attack on a suburban Chicago Independence Day parade, and they pledged to care for young Aiden McCarthy and ensure he shares in their memories of his mom and dad.

Irina McCarthy, 35, and her husband Kevin McCarthy died on the parade route in Highland Park on July Fourth.

Strangers cared for their young son in the chaotic hours following the barrage of gunfire that killed seven people and wounded more than 30. A photo of the boy's round-cheeked face spread online, helping authorities to eventually reunite him with his mother's parents who had lost their only daughter.

Irina McCarthy's friends who spoke during the funeral in Wilmette, Illinois, remembered her as a big-hearted, dedicated woman who cherished her relationship with her parents and threw herself into marriage and motherhood.

Each speaker pledged to remain a part of Aidens life and make sure he hears stories of his parents, noting his own cheerful approach to life that echoes his mothers smile and can-do attitude.

Family friends recalled Irina McCarthy as her mother's best friend and their own children's favorite babysitter, who calmly read aloud the definitions of various unmentionable words as the kids giggled endlessly.

(Aiden) will be cared for by all of us, said Vic Lichtenberg, a friend of Irina's parents. He will have a family, a home and hell thrive and grow with us. Every moment, every time I look at that child, I see Irina.

Brittany Chisum recalled meeting her friend in second grade. Irina was a bold, loyal girl who loved traveling abroad with her parents and became a devoted wife and a loving mother who once described herself and her husband as obsessed with their young son.

I promise to always be there for Aiden ... We, as your closest friends, are going to spend the rest of our lives honoring your memory so Aiden knows what amazing parents he had, she said tearfully.

Details of services for Kevin McCarthy, 37, have not been publicly announced.

Lake Country prosecutors charged Robert E. Crimo III with seven counts of murder last week and said they plan to follow up with attempted murder charges for each person wounded in the attack.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Stamford Police Department / Contributed Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Stamford Police Department / Contributed Show More Show Less 3 of 3





STAMFORD  A New York man has been arrested after police say he pushed a woman out of his car and threw a small dog out the window while two children were also in the vehicle Saturday night.

Jeremy Cepeda, 31, of Yonkers, N.Y., was charged with cruelty to animals, two counts risk of injury to a minor and breach of peace, police said.
He was not educated, and he struck people as prudish to the point of perversion. The New York Times made wicked fun of him. Civil liberties organizations fought him tooth and nail. George Bernard Shaw called him a joke. He called Shaw an Irish smut dealer.

Yet for decades, New Canaans own Anthony Comstock held incredible sway over what was considered obscene and pornographic. He was admired. He was hated. He was feared.

And though it is wrong to put words in the mouths of the dead, I will hazard a guess that Comstock would be pleased at the Supreme Courts recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which for nearly a half century provided federal constitutional protection of abortion rights. And though I do not own a crystal ball, I will also hazard a guess that the Courts recent decision will one day  soon, I hope  be ridiculed by history at least as much as is Comstock.

Thats happening already. The United Nations has already issued a statement decrying the shocking and dangerous decision that will jeopardize womens health and lives. And while right-wingers are exulting in this latest victory, the Republican party, by devolving into the Forced Birth Party, has alienated a political active, socially aware generation of young voters.

Comstock, a failed grocer, was a Victorians Victorian. He served in the Civil War, but more than the carnage he saw, Comstock was bothered by the coarse language of his fellow soldiers who resisted his attempts to take them to church on Sunday. With help from the influential YMCA, Comstock founded the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (a word we dont hear often enough these days), and in 1873, he was able to successfully lobby for passage of An Act for the Suppression of Trade In, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use, known better as the Comstock Law, which criminalized the publication, possession, or distribution of lewd or indecent items.

Lewd or indecent was broadly interpreted to include a variety of Gilded Age pornography  what today might pass for an evening of family television  as well as information about contraceptives and abortion.

After Congress passed Comstocks law, they named him a special agent of the postal service, by which he could doggedly pursue people  many of them women  who dared to so much as share medically accurate information about the workings of the human reproductive system.

In this, Comstock was relentless.

As New York writer Amy Sohn wrote in her award-winning 2021 book, The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age, Comstock counted the pain he caused among abortionists as a victory, and kept track of how many people had committed suicide to escape his pursuits. (Comstock was prone to exaggeration, so we will most likely never know how many people died because of his efforts.) His special targets were abortionists, though he included anyone who shared information about birth control and critiques of traditional marriage in his maniacal desire to clean the world of anything he deemed naughty.

Sohn wrote, The Comstock era revealed the danger that ensues when a polemical, well-funded, highly connected, determined man gains access to political power and will stop at nothing to keep it.

Indeed. Theres a lot about Comstocks story that will sound familiar. His lack of formal education was surpassed by his zeal, and he possessed a unique ability to partner with powerful people. As Sohn wrote recently in the Washington Post, Comstock would have been nothing without the influential cadre of blue-blooded Christian white men anxious to fund his efforts.

Comstocks legacy is primarily how he linked contraceptives with pornography (only naughty people have sex. We havent quite broken that link. In his concurring opinion last month, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court should also reconsider past rulings on access to contraceptives, as well as same-sex marriage. (Thomas, a Black man, is married to insurrection-adjacent Virginia Thomas, a white woman. He should hope his group doesnt also start reconsidering their decisions on interracial marriages.)

Abortion certainly still carries a stigma, all while we are being led by people who couldnt describe the gestation process if their lives depended on it. That, too, is nothing new.

One of the things that upsets me the most is Anthony Comstock was very confused about the difference between contraception  preventing a pregnancy  and trying to end a pregnancy, Sohn said. He didnt understand the difference.

In the end, Comstock lived long enough to see a growing birth control movement that would supplant his efforts. He also saw himself made vicious sport of. In 1926, more than a decade after Comstocks death, H.L. Mencken wrote, The net result of Comstockery is complete and ignominious failure. All its gaudy raids and alarms have simply gone for naught. Comstock, of course, was an imbecile; his sayings and doings were of such sort that they inevitably excited the public mirth.

I do not know if the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will ever invoke mirth. The stakes are too high, but I count on history treating the conservative six members of that august body with the disdain they have earned.

Susan Campbell is author of Frog Hollow: Stories From an American Neighborhood, Tempest Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker, and Dating Jesus: Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl. Find more at susancampbell.substack.com .
Church leaders have expressed disappointment over the prolonged industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU. They sa...





Church leaders have expressed disappointment over the prolonged industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.





They said the countrys future was now bleak with students roaming the streets aimlessly everyday.





The leaders then enjoined ASUU and other academic unions to immediately resolve the issues in the interest of the students and the future of the country.





The Fellowship of Leaders and Ministers of Bible-believing Churches, led by Pastor Abel Aiyedogbon, while speaking with newsmen in Ilorin on Monday, observed that the country may be in jeopardy if the youths were not properly trained and prepared for expected roles in the country.





He said, As a body and stakeholders to the destinies of our children, we appeal to the parties concerned, especially the Federal Government to quickly resolve the ASUU crisis.





He noted that the students involved were the future leaders of the nation and if they were not prepared for such roles as expected, the future of the country may be in jeopardy.





He added that today is the womb of tomorrow, what Nigerians do with the nation today would determine how strong the country will be tomorrow, adding that the Nigeria of tomorrow is certainly going to be what the ruling class of today organises it to be.





The church leaders said that the prolonged strike had shown insensitivity on part of the nations policy makers and all the stakeholders involved, adding that the plight of university students who have been at the receiving end over the years need to be considered.
The Presidency has queried the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over the lingering strike. President Muhammadu Buharis S...

The Presidency has queried the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over the lingering strike.

President Muhammadu Buharis Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, wondered why ASUU was holding the President by the neck over an agreement not signed by his government.

Shehu recalled that the agreement in contention was signed in 2009 by the then Federal Government.

Featuring on Channels Televisions programme, Politics Today, Shehu said Buharis government cannot meet their demand 100 percent.

He disclosed that the Federal Government needs to pay attention to other sectors of the country.

According to Shehu, the military needs weapons to fight terrorists, hence government cant pay all its attention on ASUU alone.

He said: As for ASUU, the president has the right to appeal on behalf of Nigerians, this is six months or more of the ongoing strike.

Is it right for anyone to insist on taking 100 percent of all of those grievances that they have? Dont forget that what is the cause of this problem is a 2009 agreement with the then government that they have no capacity to deliver upon and have passed it from one government to another.

So, we might ask the question, why is Buhari being held by the neck? What happened in the past? Why didnt they strangle those past administrations on these matters? Thats our worries.

The Federal Government has put a lot of substance on the table. Will the Federal Government yield to 100 percent of ASUU demands, I want say.

There are also other sectors of the economy yearning for attention, the military need weapons, guns to fight terrorists. We have to look into other sectors of the economy.

The Minister of State for Education has assured that we are about to turn the corner and all these issues are about to be resolved. We have reached this level in the past and my prayer is that it would soon end.

They have family members and leaders within the community, so they should prevail on them to resume classes and those elements that have not being resolved can be talked over.

This is coming when Buhari urged the academic body to consider the future of students and call off the lingering industrial action.
The Peoples Democratic Party Lagos State governorship candidate, Olajide Adediran, has defended the partys choice of actress Funke Akinde...

The Peoples Democratic Party Lagos State governorship candidate, Olajide Adediran, has defended the partys choice of actress Funke Akindele as his running mate.

Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, noted that the actress will add more value to his candidacy in the 2023 general elections.

Adediran made this known in a Twitter thread on Tuesday, where he confirmed Akindeles deputy governorship candidacy.

He said, I appeal to the entire populace to work with me and my running mate, who will add more value to my candidacy.

My choice running mate is from the clear understanding of the task ahead and the need to work with a co-visionary with shared passion for the emancipation of the good people of Lagos.

So this happened (173) reviews NLCs protest on ASUU strike, JJC Skillz, Funke Akindeles separation, other

This journey demands focus, resilience and tenacity. My running mate is someone who is large-hearted with a well-known history of service and advocacy.

An Ikorodu-born success story who has, through several of her projects, positively transformed our society.

I am proud to present Barrister Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele as my running mate and the Deputy Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos for the 2023 general elections.

Together, we will serve and offer you a breath of fresh air.

While confirming her candidacy, Akindele noted that she is suspending her acting career to take on her new assignment.
A humanitarian crisis is looming. The shortage of food grains and fuels on the international level is making the situation in Lebanon more dangerous.

Since 2019, the monthly minimum wage has sunk from the equivalent of $450 to $24 at last weeks exchange rate due to the currency collapsing with the devaluation of the Lebanese lira. It has led to workers striking. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that nearly 100 percent of public sector employees are now engaged in permanent or intermittent work stoppages as salaries are no longer sufficient for employees to get to work, let alone support their families. Many workers are barely capable of securing their basic necessities. Lebanon's poverty rate now rises to over 74 percent, according to the World Bank. Nearly 2.2 million people from Lebanon are in dire need of food security. One-third of the population in the country is unemployed, and half of the young people out of work. Lebanon's GDP halved, from $52 billion in 2019 to $21.8 billion in 2021

The Lebanese government launched last year two cash aid programs for needy families, namely the Emergency Social Safety Net and the ration card policy, both funded by the World Bank. Lebanon said in January that about 50 percent of its population has registered for social assistance through the social safety net financing plan funded by the World Bank, under the latter's loan of 246 million dollars. Lebanon also hoped to secure another World Bank loan in support of its ration card policy that aims to pay 556 million dollars in cash to the most vulnerable population.

A humanitarian crisis is looming. The shortage of food grains and fuels on the international level is making the situation in Lebanon more dangerous. The United Nations warned that food scarcity and malnutrition in Lebanon would intensify further in the coming times. Najat Rochdi, the UN special representative for Lebanon expressed concern that the food grain and fuel shortages developing worldwide because of the Ukraine conflict are critically affecting the country. Rochdi warned that almost two-thirds of this population could higher hunger levels.
Nollywood actor, Kenneth Okonkwo, has dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress over the partys decision to fly a Muslim-Muslim preside...

Nollywood actor, Kenneth Okonkwo, has dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress over the partys decision to fly a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket for the 2023 election.

It can be recalled that the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, on Sunday, announced former Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate despite opposition from some quarters to a same-faith ticket.

The thespian announced his decision in a letter shared on his Instagram page on Monday.

He said his decision became imperative following Tinubus choice of Shettima as running mate despite clamour from stakeholders and other Nigerians that a Christain northerner should complement the partys ticket.

Part of the letter read, Recall that joined APC because of its Constitutional vow, as true Progressives and Patriots, to eliminate all forms of discrimination and social injustice in Nigeria, thereby building the nation a nation which will guarantee equal opportunity for all and ensure mutual and peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

Those ideals are now alien to the APC, with their unfortunate decision to paint our Muslim brothers in had light, by insinuating that the Muslims in Nigeria will not accept or vote for a Northern Christian as Vice-President to pair with a Southern Muslim.

If Muslims could vote voluntarily for Southern Christian Presidents, it is then a fallacy to insinuate that they cannot accept a Northern Christian Vice-President. This will permanently destroy the political viability of Northern Christians in Nigeria, if allowed to stand.

Being the convener of the Campaign for Equity and Justice in Nigeria, and as a former member of APC Presidential Campaign Council, which resisted same religion presidential ticket in the past, I can no longer continue to lend my name to these abnormalities in the interest of our peaceful co-existence, integration and progress of our beloved country.
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba has revealed that 21,000 police personnel would be deployed to the Osun State for the gub...





The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba has revealed that 21,000 police personnel would be deployed to the Osun State for the gubernatorial election slated for this weekend.





He stated that the Police personnel would take charge of security and protect electoral materials.





The IGP disclosed this during the INEC stakeholders meeting held in Osogbo.





The deployment of the police he maintained will also serve as a strong warning that the government was ready to make democracy work and assured the residents of the state that government will provide a conducive electoral environment for a peaceful election.





He warned trouble makers that irrespective of their status they would be dealt with in accordance with the law.





Nobody will be allowed to derail the electoral process and no stone will be left unturned in prosecuting those who would be found wanting, Baba warned.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has lambasted the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, over its position on Bola Tinubus choice of v...

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has lambasted the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, over its position on Bola Tinubus choice of vice-presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections.

The Islamic human rights organisation accused the Christian body of heating up the polity with its comment on Tinubus choice of former Borno State Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima as running mate.

MURICs response was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday, signed by the groups director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

Tinubu is under CANs hammer for picking a Muslim, Senator Kashim Shettima, as his vice-presidential candidate and Rev. John Hayab of Kaduna State chapter of the organization is the axe man for CAN, MURIC said.

The group said the CAN would never be satisfied with a Muslim as president of Nigeria.

According to the group, a Muslim becoming a President of Nigeria will not suit CANs agenda of Nigeria for Christ.

CAN is simply hungry for power. We know CAN. The group has been canvassing for a Christian running mate not for the benefit of Nigerians but for parochial ends.

The idea is to milk the Christian vice presidential candidate if his party wins in the end by claiming that the Christian umbrella body fought for him. It is for political influence, for contracts and for power. We advise CAN to form its own political party.

It is not written in the constitution that a candidate must not pick a running mate from his own religious group.

Nigerians should not allow themselves to be deceived by CANs spiritual banditry. We warn CAN to leave Tinubu alone.
A trigger-happy police officer attached to the Nekede Police Division, allegedly shot an ND2 student of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Poly...





A trigger-happy police officer attached to the Nekede Police Division, allegedly shot an ND2 student of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, PolyNek.





The incident happened at the entrance gate of Ben_Jen lodge, Umuokomoche, Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State.





Emeka Uwalaka, who is a student of the Department of Civil Engineering, was said to be returning from church on Sunday when the yet-to-be-identified cop reportedly shot at him with the bullet hitting the students hostel gate.





It was not clear what the policeman accused Uwalaka of doing, but the trigger-happy cop who was in company of three others was said to have fled the scene after the incident.





As the students heard the gunshots, they reportedly scampered for safety for fear of stray bullets.





Narrating the incident to newsmen on Monday, Uwalaka, who said on his way back from church on Sunday, he noticed people were running and asked the caretaker why everyone at Ben_jen lodge was on the run.





According to him, I only asked Mr Prince, the hostel caretaker who happens to be my brother, what happened. I didnt even talk to the police officers and that was my only offence, before the trigger happy officer shot directly at me. I thank God I was not hit by the bullet.





Continuing he said, Immediately I took a step toward the gate, what I saw was the muzzle, the front end of the gun pointed at me, if not God and the fact that I moved back immediately, I would have been a dead person today.





I didnt talk to the officer neither did I confront him. I appeal to Nigerians to please ask him what I did to him.





He called on the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command to fish him out and sanction the said police officer to serve as a deterrent to other officers who are so quick in taking laws into their hands.





Also speaking, Okeke Prince, the caretaker of the lodge expressed shock because he was not sure of their safety in the hands of the policemen anymore.





According to the caretaker, These officers assaulted Mr. Okpara Emmanuel of the Department Electrical Engineering, who is waiting for NYSC call-up and I queried why they took away his wristwatch, his phone and insisted they must search his room. I have to intervene because Im the caretaker but it only took the intervention of the community vigilantes to calm the situation.





He said the police officer must face the wrath of the law.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Marie Fazio writes for The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate as a Report For America corps member. Email her at MFazio@theadvocate.com or follow her on Twitter @mariecfazio.

To learn more about Report for America and to support our journalism, please click here.
Forecasters on Tuesday nearly doubled the estimates for rain totals that could fall in south Louisiana this week, saying parts could get up to 15 inches from a disturbance in the Gulf of of Mexico.

The system also is expected to dump rain on Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle, regardless of development.

Related: Here are tips for the proper way to use sandbags at your property

The heaviest rain will be possible along the coast, with Boothville expected to get 10 to 15 inches through Sunday morning from the Gulf disturbance, according to the National Weather Service in Slidell.

The disturbance has a 20% chance of developing into at least a tropical depression this week, the National Hurricane Center said in its 1 p.m. outlook. If the system strengthens into a tropical storm, the next available name is Danielle.

How much rain?

The highest rainfall is expected along the coast south of New Orleans, according to Phil Grigsby, the lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Slidell.

Heavy rain is possible all week, with the extreme southeastern tip of Louisiana forecast to get up to 15 inches of rain through Sunday.

Generally, 4 to 8 inches of rain are expected through Sunday south of the I-10/I-12 corridor, but Grigsby said there's "a lot of uncertainty" with the estimates because the system could shift and change where the rain falls.

The rainfall estimates have already changed in the past 24 hours, with forecasters nearly doubling the anticipated amounts in south Louisiana.

Estimates by city

Here are the current rainfall estimates from the National Weather Service through Sunday. They are valid as of 3:30 p.m. A new graphic with the updated estimates has not been released yet.

Boothville - 10 to 15 inches

Houma - 4 to 6 inches

New Orleans - 3 to 5 inches

Covington - 1.5 to 2.5 inches

Baton Rouge - 1 to 2 inches

Lafayette - 0.5 to 1.5 inches

The rounds of rain will have a cumulative effect, forecasters said, and most rain will convert to runoff. Rain chances stick around daily through Sunday morning.

Get hurricane updates in your inbox Sign up for updates on storm forecasts, tracks and more. e-mail address * Sign Up

Slow development

As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, development chances have decreased slightly for disturbance in the Gulf.

It's producing a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms over the northern Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said, and some of them were spreading north over the Florida panhandle Tuesday afternoon.

The system is expected to meander near the coast line through the end of this week, and forecasters said development will only be possible if it remains over the water.

The shaded area on the graphic is where a storm could develop and is not a track. The National Hurricane Center releases a track when a tropical depression forms or is about to form.

The categories, in order of increasing strength, are tropical depression, tropical storm and hurricane (categories 1 through 5).

No other systems are expected to develop within 48 hours in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean or Atlantic, forecasters said.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.

See the full outlook.

Don't miss a storm update this hurricane season. Sign up for our free Hurricane Center newsletter.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with 1 p.m. information from the National Hurricane Center.
Iran warns U.S.-led Mideast defense systems to cause tension, sow division

Xinhua) 16:22, July 12, 2022

TEHRAN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Days before U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to the Middle East, the United States said it is working to bolster coordination of regional air defense systems, prompting Iran to dismiss such a notion as "provocative."

"Bilaterally we're talking with nations across the region about air defense capabilities specifically and what we can do to assist with their defense and then, exploring the idea of being able to kind of integrate all those air defenses together," John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the U.S. National Security Council, told reporters Thursday.

In response, "the Islamic Republic considers the statement as a threat against its national security and also regional security," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Saturday.

IRANOPHOBIA CAMPAIGN

Washington's plan for potential military cooperation against Iran's growing missile and drone capabilities dates back months, as The Wall Street Journal reported in June that the United States convened a secret meeting of top military officials from Israel and Arab countries in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in March.

According to Iran's English daily Tehran Times, Biden's visit will take place on July 13-16 but "rumors and speculation about its agenda" have spread in the region. Kirby's comments gave substance to the speculations of a U.S. plan to form a military alliance against Iran in the region a la NATO, it noted.

"Experience has shown that stockpiling arms cannot bring security," Kanaani said.

As for the purpose of Washington's efforts to advance closer military ties between its Middle Eastern allies, Kanaani said that the United States raises and pursues such issues out of "its own illegitimate interests" and merely for the purpose of "portraying Iran as a threat and sowing division in the region."

Meanwhile, Iranian lawmaker Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi said on Monday that the United States constantly pursues the project of spreading Iranophobia in a bid to find more customers for its weapons and generate additional revenues.

DOUBTFUL PROSPECTS

Yet, such an alliance as "the much-touted future Middle East-NATO" may be "overly ambitious or even utterly wishful," Marwan Bishara, a senior political analyst at the Qatari Al-Jazeera news channel, wrote on Monday.

"Make no mistake, Israelis will never fight, let alone die, in defence of Gulf security. Ever," Bishara emphasized.

Even among Gulf Arab countries, while some of them see Iran as an enemy and believe it should be dealt with on this basis, others believe that dialogue with Iran is the safest way to solve their differences, analysts said.

Qatar and Oman currently enjoy good ties with Iran, and Kuwait maintains cautious relations with Tehran. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are wary of Iran, but they have also been conducting fairly open negotiations with Iran.

Iran, under a new foreign policy agenda called neighborhood policy, has been patching up its relations with some neighboring Arab states since 2021, Tehran Times pointed out.

Iranian and Arab officials have exchanged visits over the last few months and they continue to keep in close contact with each other, it said, adding that Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has traveled to many countries, including Oman and Qatar, in a bid to advance the country's foreign policy goals.

DESTABILIZING FACTOR

Washington's efforts to incite confrontation against Iran would "only drive the crisis-stricken region towards the verge of more instability and turmoil," Arwin Ghaemian, an analyst on the Middle East, wrote recently on the website of Iran's Tasnim News Agency.

Likewise, "the entry of foreigners into any regional processes not only does not create security and stability but it will work as a factor in causing tension and sowing division," Kanaani warned.

Any effort to pave the way for beefing up the presence of the United States in regional security mechanisms will "have no outcome but insecurity, instability and expansion of terrorism across the region," he added.

The creation of a joint defense pact in the region by the United States with participation and hidden management of Israel is "a threatening act," Nour News, affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council, tweeted on Sunday.

"If the implementation of such plans threatens security of Iran in any way, it will face initial decisive response to the nearest &most accessible targets," it added.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Looking to learn more about how to grow your business?

Indiana University Northwest is hosting free webinars for small businesses this summer.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs can learn about marketing, leadership, technology and other subjects at 1 p.m. on the second Friday of every month through October.

Indiana University Northwest's Small Business Academy, a program of the School of Business and Economics, is offering the no-cost webinars to the general public. Assistant Professor Yllka Azemi will give a talk entitled "Marketing Strategies that Attract Long-Standing Customers" on Aug 12. Professor Cynthia Roberts will deliver a lecture called "Effective Employee Motivation Strategies" on Sep 9.

Professor Ranjan Kini will give a talk on "Technology for the Small Business" on Oct 14.

All of the lectures will take place online.

Innovate Indiana is sponsoring the Small Business Academy webinars. IUN offers them to provide the greater community outside of campus training, access to resources and education about business and management concepts. The program is geared toward small business owners and entrepreneurs and has a YouTube channel and references to local business organizations and other resources.

For more information or to register, visit iun.edu/sba.
The coronavirus pandemic initially took a toll on manufacturing employment, as shutdowns forced waves of temporary layoffs, including at local steel mills and factories.

It also resulted in supply chain disruptions that put more people temporarily out of work, including at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant on the far South Side and its suppliers, including the Lear Corp. seat factory in Hammond.

But factories added 29,000 jobs in June, finally restoring manufacturing employment back to its pre-pandemic level, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The manufacturing sector, a pillar of Northwest Indiana's heavily industrialized economy, is now 12,000 above its February 2020 level.

"Two of the bright spots in the economy have been the steady growth in manufacturing jobs and new major plant announcements. June continued that trend," said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a collaboration between the United Steelworkers union and leading manufacturing companies. "The factory sector has now recovered all of the jobs shed during the pandemic-induced recession, making this a unicorn recovery. Manufacturing jobs have never bounced back from a recession this well."

Average hourly earnings for manufacturing employees stayed steady at $30.86 an hour in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Production workers saw their pay increase by 5 cents to $25 an hour.

Production workers' average workweek fell to 40.9 hours, a decrease of 0.3 hour as compared to the previous month.

Manufacturing employment remains 19,000 below its recent peak in July 2019.

"But some obstacles stand in the way of future growth. It would be shortsighted to remove tariffs on imports from China  Beijing hasnt earned relief, reshoring could pause, and even retailers acknowledge consumers wouldnt see lower prices," Paul said. "And Congress should not allow competitiveness legislation to stall. The rest of the world is moving ahead to bolster supply chains. We cant afford to get left behind."
Eat, pray, love and listen.

Purdue University Northwest's Sinai Forum will be headlined by writer Elizabeth Gilbert, "Mythbusters" co-host Adam Savage and Gen. David H. Petraeus this year.

Tickets for the 69th season go on sale Tuesday. For nearly seven decades, the Sinai Forum has brought prominent speakers to Northwest Indiana and given people the chance to ask them questions during town-hall forums.

Sharing perspectives on the most prominent issues we face is what Sinai Forum does best, said Leslie Plesac, executive director of the Sinai Forum. More than ever, its important that we come together to listen and learn from great leaders, creators and from one another.

Savage will give a talk entitled Every Tools a Hammer: Life is What You Make It at 4 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Stardust Event Center at Blue Chip Casino, Hotel & Spa at 777 Blue Chip Drive in Michigan City.

He was one of the hosts of the long-running "Mythbusters" show on the Discovery Channel. Savage will share his ideas about problem solving, creativity and curiosity.

Will Hurd will give a talk entitled American Reboot: An Idealists Guide to Getting Big Things Done at Purdue Northwest's Westville campus on Oct. 23. He's a former member of Congress, CIA officer and cybersecurity executive.

Gen. David H. Petraeus will give a talk entitled Exploring the Geopolitical Landscape with General Petraeus at Purdue Northwest on Nov. 13.

Petraeus is a four-star general with a 37-year military career who led five combat commands and who became a public figure while leading "The Surge" during the Iraq War.

Rachel Barton Pine will headline An Afternoon with Rachel Barton Pine on Dec. 4. She's performed solos with orchestras around the world, including the Chicago Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Pine has released 40 albums and appeared on The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning and NPRs Tiny Desk.

All of the talks will take place at 4 p.m., mostly at the James B. Dworkin Student Services and Activities Complex at PNWs Westville campus at 1401 S. U.S. 421 in Westville. Doors open at 3 p.m.

For tickets or more information, visit pnw.edu/sinai-forum.
CROWN POINT  A trial began for a Calumet Township woman accused of causing the death of a child she was babysitting.

A Lake Criminal Court jury must decide whether 8-month-old Maci Moor was shaken to death by her 32-year-old babysitter, Trisha Woodworth, or died of a stroke from accidental falls.

Woodworth's defense attorneys argue the timing of Macis death has misled authorities into blaming Woodworth.

They point jurors to focus on earlier head injuries the child suffered earlier when not in Woodworths care.

Defense and prosecution attorneys promised in opening arguments Monday afternoon to back up their diametrically opposed theories of the case with medical specialists.

Woodworth is pleading not guilty to felony child neglect and battery charges alleging she violently shook the child and didnt provide medical care in the crucial moments afterward.

The trial opened Monday afternoon with Woodworth confidently facing the jury.

The first piece of evidence was a photo of the smiling infant all dressed up in pink.

Ryan Moor, the childs father, was the first witness. He testified that Maci was healthy prior to the afternoon of April 15, 2016, when she was rushed unconscious to the hospital from Woodworths home.

She was later diagnosed as brain dead from a head injury that authorities say was inflicted that same day. She was disconnected from life support two days later.

Defense attorneys argue Macis death was caused by a blood clot that slowly developed over two months from the child twice striking her head on the floor of her parents' Hammond residence.

The father testified that Maci had fallen earlier that same week  April 11, 2016  off a bouncy toy called a "jump-a-roo" and bumped her head on the hardwood floor of their living room.

He said Maci also rolled off the couch and fell on the floor two months earlier.

But Moor said that only the second fall left a small red spot over Macis right eyebrow and that neither instance caused Maci to stop her normal eating, play or development. She was a normal, happy baby, he said.

Prosecutors said Macis parents initially felt they could have been responsible by not immediately getting Maci to a doctor after the April 11 fall.

But they are not charged with any wrongdoing.

Dr. Jill Glick, medical director of child advocacy and protective services at the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital, has concluded that the earlier fall didnt cause the brain damage.

Instead, Glick and authorities hold Woodworth responsible for Macis death, which they identify as consistent with injuries from shaken baby syndrome.

Defense attorneys said they will present three medical specialists who will testify that Glick and her medical theory are inaccurate.

The defense didnt indicate in opening arguments whether Woodworth will testify on her own behalf.

The trial is scheduled to continue through this week.
A 65-year-old Valparaiso man, who was airlifted to a Chicago hospital after flipping a 1950s-era roadster in rural Porter County late Saturday night, is dead, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

The deceased was identified as Jimmie Lawson and his manner of death is listed pending.

Porter County police said they responded around 11:30 p.m. Saturday to a report of the rollover crash on North Calumet Avenue, near the intersection with E. 632 North in Liberty Township.

Officers found the driver, later identified as Lawson, pinned underneath the convertible and unconscious.

It was determined Lawson had been driving south on Calumet Avenue when he ran off the west side of the roadway and struck a culvert under a residential driveway, police said. The vehicle continue south and overturned, pinning Lawson underneath.

Police said the weather was clear and roadway dry at the time of the crash.

Lawson had to be extricated from the vehicle and after receiving medical treatment on scene, was taken to a local hospital before being flown to Chicago for more intensive, specialized life-saving trauma care.
CROWN POINT  The Lake County Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to establish a committee to investigate and evaluate potential policies for combating gun violence.

The committee, comprised of Councilman Charlie Brown, D-Gary, and Councilwoman Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, has no authority to limit or prohibit access to legal firearms.

Indeed, Indiana law generally preempts the county council, and all local governments, from enacting any gun-related ordinance that's more stringent than the policies adopted by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Nevertheless, Brown and Cid said that in the wake of Independence Day mass shootings in Gary and Highland Park, Illinois, as well as the May 24 massacre at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, something needs to be done about gun violence in Northwest Indiana, and across the country, particularly the prevalence of AR-15s that Brown described as "weapons of war."

"I would like us just to research what we can do as a council to minimize the gun violence in Lake County," Brown said. "Granted, the Indiana General Assembly has tied our hands in what we can do. But I'm one that does not believe in giving up, and I know that there is some kind of opening, or something that we can do, to minimize the multiple deaths and injuries."

"I think we should at least indicate to our constituents that we are looking at that, and we will attempt to do as much as we can, legally, about this issue of AR-15 type weapons," he added.

Cid said she recognizes the gun rights protections afforded by the Second Amendment. At the same time, she said, there's something seriously wrong when children no longer can go to school or a parade without potentially being torn apart by bullets and never making it home.

"There has to be some solution, even if it's minor," Cid said. "I don't understand it. The law was just changed to say women don't have certain rights with their bodies  to save the unborn. Yet, what are we doing to save the ones that are here right now?"

"I just want to save these children's lives, and other people's lives, so they don't have to fear going to an event. We have to get some of these guns off the street. It's ridiculous."

Neither of the two Republicans on the seven-member council opposed creating a gun violence prevention committee.

In fact, Councilman Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, a candidate for Indiana Senate, said he looks forward to seeing the results.

"I'm absolutely willing to listen to what comes out. But we have issues as it relates to our constitutional rights, and I don't want to pass something and it's moot," Dernulc said.

Michael Lee, a National Rifle Association advocate from Lowell, objected to the council forming the committee and particularly to Brown describing certain firearms as weapons of war. Lee said lawful gun owners "don't take target shooting at children."

The council's gun violence prevention effort is supported by the Interfaith Action Network, whose members said they hope more council members choose to participate in the committee process and follow through with legislative action.
GARY  The 9-year-old female who drowned at Marquette Beach on Tuesday has been identified.

Tianna Hatten, of Hammond, died of asphyxia due to drowning, the Lake County coroner said.

Two females were struggling in the water in an unguarded portion of the beach Tuesday afternoon. Visitors were able to pull a 14-year-old female from the water, but a 9-year-old was not visible. Gary Police Department, beach patrol and the fire department began a chain search in the water while the Lake County Sheriff's Department helicopter did an overhead search.

Both were treated at Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus, and the 14-year-old was released. The 9-year-old was pronounced deceased. DNR said.

Gary Fire Department, Gary Police Department, Merrillville Fire Department, Hobart Fire Department, Crown Point Fire Department, Cedar Lake Fire Department, Lake County Sheriff's Marine and Aviation units and Indiana Conservation Officers all responded to the scene.
Indianas surging tax collections over the past year have pushed state governments budget surplus up more than 50% to about $6.1 billion. The jump from last years record high of $3.9 billion in cash reserves announced Friday comes as the Republican-dominated Legislature is set to soon consider a proposal from Gov. Eric Holcomb for distributing $225 payments to taxpayers for what he calls inflationary relief. The proposed payments could cost the state about $1 billion, but Holcomb has said they are affordable. Democrats have questioned the helpfulness of the state payments because of slow distribution and have pushed for suspending Indianas 62 cents-per-gallon in gasoline taxes, saying that would provide more immediate relief.
6. The largest space telescope ever built is ready to show us what its been looking at for the past six months.

President Biden, speaking from the White House, unveiled a deep field image  the first of five captured by the James Webb Space Telescope to be released by NASA. The image includes a massive cluster of galaxies about four billion light-years from Earth that astronomers use as a kind of cosmic telescope, revealing light from galaxies not previously seen before.

We are going to be able to answer questions that we dont even know what the questions are yet, said Bill Nelson, the space agencys administrator.

The telescope, which has the ability to gaze on the oldest stars in the universe, dates back to 2002 but was finally launched on Christmas of last year. We talked to the NASA scientist who finally got it off the ground.
Similar jumps can be seen in the use of stimulants, like Adderall. In 2021, just under 77 million prescriptions were written for A.D.H.D. stimulant medications, nearly six million more than in 2020. Among Americans ages 20 to 44, use of A.D.H.D. medications increased by 16.7 percent from 2019 to 2021, compared with a 7 percent increase from 2017 to 2019.

Across the country, many psychologists and psychiatrists have been witnessing the pandemics mental health effects firsthand. They report practices filled to capacity, patients who are in significantly worse shape than before, or patients who had been stable for years, but who are now in need of medication, intensive outpatient treatment or hospitalization.

These rising medication numbers arent necessarily caused only by a worsening of mental health in this country, although rates of anxiety and depression have increased. Part of the uptick could be explained by the fact that, stuck at home, people finally had time to seek out the health care they had been delaying.

And emergency legislation, passed in the early days of the pandemic, may have played a role. The new rules lifted the requirement that doctors see patients in person in order to prescribe them certain controlled substances, including Adderall.
Suppose you want to learn about crypto. Many famous universities offer programs, typically online subscription courses.

Suppose you want to know whos advising major players in the crypto industry. Well, the board of Digital Currency Group, one of the biggest players, includes a co-chair of the Brookings Institutions board of trustees and boasts a former Treasury secretary as an adviser.

Given this aura of mainstream approval, how many people would have been willing to believe that the digital emperor had no clothes? More to the point, how many would have been willing to accept a regulatory crackdown?

Why were these mainstream institutions and people lending cover to what is, as Brainard made clear, a highly dubious industry? I doubt there was any corruption (as opposed to what goes on in the crypto sector itself, which is overrun with fraudsters). Indeed, I know from personal experience that one can draw a paycheck doing what seems like honest work and find out only later that the people signing the check were scammers.

Still, there clearly were and are financial rewards involved. I dont know how much money Venmo makes from people buying and selling crypto on its platform, but its certainly not offering the service out of sheer good will. If you want to take, say, M.I.T.s online blockchain course, it will cost you $3,500.

The way I see it, crypto evolved into a sort of postmodern pyramid scheme. The industry lured investors in with a combination of technobabble and libertarian derp; it used some of that cash flow to buy the illusion of respectability, which brought in even more investors. And for a while, even as the risks multiplied, it became, in effect, too big to regulate.
The White House, in its defense, is trying to be realistic about some of the legal and legislative limits of the presidency. (Vice President Kamala Harris, for her part, announced that the White House is not discussing the federal lands proposal from Ocasio-Cortez and Warren.) But whats particularly distressing is that the White House seems more interested in playing defense against the left wing of the Democratic Party than actually confronting the activist agenda of the current Supreme Court.

Its unclear what the White Houses political strategy might be at this point. This past weekend, an official said, Joe Bidens goal in responding to Dobbs is not to satisfy some activists who have been consistently out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Its to deliver help to women who are in danger and assemble a broad-based coalition to defend a womans right to choose now, just as he assembled such a coalition to win during the 2020 campaign.

For the sake of argument, lets assume all of the Biden administrations concerns are real. Lets say there is a significant number of moderates in crucial states who will be scared away by a Democratic Party that takes any bold action on any of its core issues; lets say any losses in the House, the Senate or the presidency will lead to full minority rule in this country and the passage of a broad raft of policies that will wipe away everything from environmental regulation to gay marriage and any public dissent that might impinge on a very narrowly defined and nativist vision of patriotism. And lets even say that on many issues, like police funding and student loan forgiveness, progressives are delusional about the popularity of their proposals, which, in turn, makes them unaware of the potential political harm. Even if all those things are true, abortion rights are the one issue that Democrats should fight on  poll after poll shows that a significant majority of Americans, especially women, oppose overturning Roe. This is the perfect moment for the administration to climb out of its defensive position.

If the Biden administration continues to throw its hands up and say theres nothing to be done and that the only people who demand action are out of step activists, they will be sending a message that this current political situation  a Democrat president, a Democrat House, the narrowest possible edge in the Senate, and a right-wing-activist Supreme Court  cannot yield any action on anything, really, for fear of alienating swing voters.

Given the grim outlook for the Democrats in the midterms, when the House will likely be lost and control over the Senate remains a toss-up, theres no clear forecast for when Democrats will free themselves from this situation. Theres also no indication that the Supreme Court will end what many see as a right-wing-activist streak. What could possibly break this stasis? What is the Democratic leaderships theory of change other than holding on for dear life while their president's approval rating sits at 33 percent with 64 percent of Democratic voters saying they would prefer a new standard-bearer, according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll?

This proposal, I admit, goes against a lot of my political instincts. Protest, by definition, should be oppositional and mostly aimed at the state, which in this case still includes the president and the Democratic leaders who now run the House and the Senate. Huge rallies, especially ones rubber-stamped by what some might call the authorities, oftentimes dont do much to change policy or even push politicians toward passing legislation. The Womens March of 2017, which drew somewhere between an estimated three million to five million people in the United States out into the streets in a massive if somewhat vague repudiation of Donald Trump, was also bogged down by infighting among its organizers and failed to capitalize on its impressive turnout.
The crime scenes were all 7-Eleven stores.

Five people were shot, two fatally, at four of the stores in Southern California early Monday, and the police said at least three of the shootings seemed to be the work of the same gunman. A fifth store in the area was robbed of about $500 in cash.

Law enforcement officials were pondering what significance the date of the shootings and robberies  July 11, or 7-11  might hold. On Monday, 7-Eleven was celebrating its 95th birthday by giving customers free Slurpee drinks.

We dont know if theres any relation to today being July 11, Officer Ryan Railsback, a spokesman for the Riverside Police Department, said by phone. Only the suspect can tell us that.
Mr. Raskin has hinted at disclosing evidence of more direct ties between Mr. Trump and far-right groups, though he has declined to preview any. The panel plans to detail known links between the political operative Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Mr. Trumps, the former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, and the extremist groups.

Mr. Stone, for instance, has used members of both the Oath Keepers militia and the Proud Boys for security. At least six people who had provided security for Mr. Stone entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, and two have been charged with federal crimes.

Additionally, Mr. Stone was in a chat group called Friends of Stone with at least three members who are now facing charges in connection with the riot. They include Owen Shroyer, one of the top lieutenants of the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones; Enrique Tarrio, the onetime chairman of the Proud Boys; and Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers.

A witness has also told federal investigators that Mr. Rhodes attempted to reach Mr. Trump on Jan. 6 as rioters were storming the Capitol through an unidentified intermediary, as the Oath Keepers leader pressed to stop the transition of presidential power. That intermediarys name has never been revealed.

Mr. Flynn has ties to the 1st Amendment Praetorian paramilitary group, which provided him with security when he appeared as a speaker at a pro-Trump march in Washington in December 2020. Joining the group in a security role at the event were members of the Oath Keepers, including Mr. Rhodes.
There are not people in these races who are, you know, running as post-Trump candidates, she said.

Watching for Trumps role

Longwell acknowledges the difficulty of the task at hand, given President Bidens unpopularity and Americans widespread public anger over the price of gas and groceries. But she said the political environment could shift if Trump jumps into the 2024 fray before the midterms  a move that would instantly put Trump on the ballot and perhaps push a significant fraction of Republican voters to shun the most-Trump-leaning candidates.

One important criterion for Longwell for jumping into a race is the quality of the Democratic nominee  Republicans will find it easier to support moderate candidates, in the mold of Bidens 2020 run, than it is to back Bernie Sanders-style progressives.

With a little over four months to go before Election Day, Longwells team has raised $6 million so far. It plans to run ads targeting potentially persuadable Republicans on digital platforms, as well as via direct mail, billboards, TV and radio.

Longwell is prioritizing many of the same areas a previous version of the group, Republican Voters Against Trump, homed in on in 2020: places like Bucks and Dauphin counties in Pennsylvania and Pima County in Arizona, which are teeming with frustrated Republicans who may have voted in past elections for John McCain or Mitt Romney.

Part of the challenge, Longwell acknowledged, is to create a permission structure for these voters to break with their party.
CHASIV YAR, Ukraine  The young man had been trapped for more than 20 hours, pinned under the rubble of his devastated apartment complex in the eastern Ukraine village of Chasiv Yar.

He emerged from the wreckage on Sunday evening, pulled out by rescuers who quickly covered his dust-covered body with a blue blanket before gently placing him on a stretcher.

The man  whose rescue was captured in a video filmed by Ukraines military and shared with The New York Times  was the sixth person dug out alive during a grim search-and-rescue operation that began after a Russian airstrike hit the complex late Saturday night, shearing off part of the building.
American Ballet Theater announced on Tuesday that it has promoted two of its dancers  Catherine Hurlin and Roman Zhurbin  to the role of principal, while also hiring Daniel Camargo, who has been a guest artist, as a principal, the companys highest rank.

Ballet Theater is nearing the end of its first season at the Metropolitan Opera House since the pandemic shut down the performing arts. Camargo, a Brazilian-born dancer, has been a standout since he started a packed season with the company just last month, taking on roles in Don Quixote, Swan Lake and Alexei Ratmanskys Of Love and Rage. On Monday, he made his debut as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet.

Camargo, 30, has been a member of the Stuttgart Ballet in Germany and the Dutch National Ballet but has more recently been living out of a suitcase, freelancing with companies around the world. Now, he will get to put down roots in New York City.
Spider Webb, a renowned tattoo artist known for his intricate designs and for his efforts to overturn the law that made tattooing illegal in New York City for decades, died on July 2 at his home in Asheville, N.C. He was 78.

His wife, Sharon OSullivan, said the cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Spider  his real name was Joseph OSullivan (and never Mr. Webb, as The New York Times noted in 1974)  was part of a generation that brought serious art credentials to tattooing and helped it shed the disrepute that surrounded it in the middle of the last century, elevating it to acceptability and even chic. No one was more brash than Spider when it came to promoting tattooing as a form of artistic expression.

New York City banned tattooing in 1961, supposedly out of concern that it could spread hepatitis, although others, including Spider, had their own explanations.
HARRY SYLVESTER BIRD, by Chinelo Okparanta

The eponymous protagonist of Chinelo Okparantas second novel is racist. And the author wants her reader to find him spectacularly, fascinatingly racist, offering up 300 pages of painstaking detail on every microaggression he commits in the first decades of his life.

In the novels first half, were given sketches of Harrys young, rich, white boyhood in Edward, Pa., a town where elephant stickers, posters and bumper stickers decorated front yards. Though the reader knows better, the young narrator is marvelously secure in his superiority as a bona fide antiracist, and marvelously disdainful of his bona fide racist parents. We open in December 2016 on the Birds family vacation to a Tanzanian resort, and are treated with plenty of fodder for liberals like Harry to hiss and boo over. His father, Wayne, says of a Black hotel employees dark complexion: If that isnt ugliness, I dont know what is. Chevy, his mother, is shocked that an African bathroom has a real flushing toilet and running water.

By the second half, its 2021 and Harry, driven by disgust at such displays, has fled to New York. There he seeks to live a life untainted by the clumsy anti-Blackness that is his heritage. Of course, he fails. Harry Sylvester Bird fashions itself as an anthropological study of a contemporary white liberalism far less invested in the eradication of evil than in the ridiculous self-flagellations of the ruling classes. But it flattens its subjects, stripping them of both familiarity and farcicality. The result is a profound hollowness of character and form that undermines the novelists worthy ambition.
Once a rising star in the religious community, Imam Salim becomes disillusioned in the face of inexorable institutions. I met sheikhs, scions of media empires, oil tycoons and mullahs who led revolutions against sheikhs and oil tycoons and scions of media empires, he writes in a letter to Youssef. But the infusion of foreign capital, Salim fears, encourages monopolies of thought as well as industry. Khalids survey incorporates academia, real estate and electoralism, sparing none.

Brother Alive is a nervy, episodic read, yet its pivots are sobering in their scale. The romantic New York chapters cohere around warm family scenes and wistful walks across the city. In the books chatty, disjointed second half, the nostalgia is dismissed with a wave of bullets and biowarfare. The contrast is akin to the logic exercises of DeLillos grungier titles, such as Great Jones Street (1973) and Mao II (1991). In Brother Alive, the narrative collapse prompts successive inquiries: Do believers choose their faith? How else to live within a system built on suffering? The seductive Hollywood sheen of the early chapters is stripped away, revealing an underbelly of conspiracies. Men die, movements wither and corporations remain.

Khalid is such a gifted commentator that his methods bear close examination. Brother assumes a menageries worth of forms depending on his mood, feeding on Youssefs emotions like a parasite; in most instances, Brother feels as real as Youssefs flesh-and-blood siblings. Why so much magical realism in a novel about Saudi-U.S. commerce? Although its allegory is grounded in current events, Brother Alive is neither a press bulletin nor a position paper. Khalids sentences abound with florid, poetic metaphors while maintaining the clipped, declarative tempo of Scripture. Visiting the 9/11 Memorial with Dayo, Youssef contemplates the skyscrapers of the financial district. The buildings in the area were diaphanous spreadsheets, their cells like oil slicks, he remarks. Youssef appraises his broken world and, try as he might, cant imagine a better one.

His desperation to do so drives him to madness. Brother Alive is Rushdie with none of the ceremony, a searing collage of the profound and the mundane. Khalids Staten Islanders bear witness to miracles, yet the borough retains a dreary, static solemnity. As conglomerates and governments hone their tools of suppression, Youssefs fantastic visions act as both a warning and a prayer. Amid the endlessly gentrifying ghetto that is the United States, there must be more than meets the eye.
Extreme heat grips China

Parts of Chinas east and south withered under extreme temperatures as dozens of cities issued heat alerts yesterday. Some temperature forecasts exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

The heat waves melted the roofs of buildings and buckled roads in dozens of cities, as people sought cool air in air-raid shelters underground.

Chinas quest to stamp out Covid-19 outbreaks remained undiminished. Health workers in hazmat suits persisted in administering a round of mandatory coronavirus tests, despite the bracing heat. One video showed a health worker in Henan succumbing to heat stroke as his colleagues fanned him with packaging from test kits.
Russia increases attacks on civilian areas

Officially, Russias military has paused its drive to seize Ukrainian territory. But in recent days it has stepped up its haphazard attacks on civilian areas, with strikes delivered by warplanes, artillery and missiles. Residents and Ukrainian soldiers alike have been terrified, maimed and killed by the strikes.

Ukrainian officials said yesterday that in the previous 24 hours, Russian strikes had killed at least eight civilians. In eastern Donetsk Province, at least 10 cities and towns were hit, and two people killed, bringing the civilian death toll in the province to nearly 600 since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Though its forces are severely depleted, Russia is nowhere near finished with its assault on Ukraine. Ukrainians and Western analysts believe that before long, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, will order a new offensive to conquer the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donetsk.
Shinzo Abe could sometimes look like yet another one of the worlds modern breed of nationalist leaders, alongside Viktor Orban in Hungary, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Xi Jinping in China and Donald Trump in the U.S.

Abe came from a family of Japanese nationalist politicians, including a grandfather whom the U.S. accused of war crimes during World War II. Abe himself downplayed Japans wartime atrocities and spoke of the importance of patriotism and traditional values. Above all, he pushed his country to shed its post-1945 pacifism and become more militaristic.

Yet for all his nationalism, Abe  Japans longest-serving prime minister, who remained a power broker until his assassination last week  was fundamentally different from Putin, Xi and most of the other new nationalists. They have set out to undermine democracy around the world and expand autocracy. Abe, by contrast, tried to use Japanese nationalism mostly in the service of strengthening a global alliance of democracies.
When Digit spends an afternoon unloading boxes from a tractor-trailer in 100-plus-degree heat, co-workers never hear a complaint. Digit, a blue-and-white humanoid robot, was designed to handle the tough, menial and dangerous tasks at warehouses.

The robots movements, informed by years of studying how birds walk, include a slight sway in its frame when it is at rest, to dispel the discomforting stillness that bothers humans. It also doesnt talk, because voice recognition tech is not advanced enough yet.

Instead of designing the whole warehouse around the robots, we can now build robots that are able to operate on our terms, in our spaces, in our environments, said Jonathan Hurst, the chief technology officer and a founder of Agility Robotics, the firm behind Digit.
By the time we arrived at the park gates, the temperature was 100 degrees Fahrenheit, about 37 Celsius. The low-lying swaths of the park were dry. Some oaks were the color of caramel.

We saw smoke rising from the ashy hills. A fire crew was carrying out a controlled burn near the General Sherman Tree, the oldest sequoia in the park and a huge tourist draw. The controlled burn was designed to clear the understory and reduce fire risk.

We asked Fierst what could be done to protect the trees in the era of climate change. In the long run, it requires reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he said. But right now, he added, park officials are debating some unusual measures. Should they spray down the forest with water to help stave off risk of fires? Should they apply a bit of pesticide to trees infested with beetles? These are moral dilemmas, he said.

Two children approached Fierst for their Junior Ranger badges. They repeated after him the Junior Ranger pledge: I will continue to explore, learn about, and take care of the natural world wherever I go, the pledge went.

I felt a lump in my throat.

These trees had endured so much. They had been shaped by so much shock and loss. It was good to be in their presence alongside my child. But it was also good to be reminded of my connection to living beings not my own. It brought home the precarity of being human in this moment. It gave me permission to accept that there are limits to my own resilience.

It stilled me for a bit.

A growing body of research suggests that spending time in the natural world, even as little as two hours a week, has measurable benefits for our physical health and our cognitive functions. I find it increasingly urgent in the time we live in, when we are being asked to absorb so many heavy, hard-to-bear facts about the world. It helps me to make sense of what I cover as a reporter day after day. It helps me to be an attentive parent. It helps me face my own shocks and loss.
And it was the latest in a yearslong attempt by the city to stamp out illegal short-term rentals, which officials in many American cities say exacerbate the housing shortage by catering to tourists over residents.

New York State law largely bars apartment rentals for fewer than 30 days when the host is not present. And New York City officials have imposed several restrictions on the rental services over the years.

But thousands of homes that seemed to violate the rules continued to be listed on the companies platforms.

Mayor Eric Adams said the city was likely to bring additional lawsuits to compel hosts to follow the rules in an attempt to alleviate the housing crisis and aid the hotel industry, which has struggled during the pandemic.
Mr. Muhammad had been receiving treatment for an unspecified mental illness, according to one of the people with knowledge of his case. In the days before he died, he had spent more than 32 hours in isolation before being returned to a regular cell, a violation of department rules against holding detainees in so-called de-escalation units for more than six hours at a time. While in the isolation cell, Mr. Muhammad did not have a bed or access to medical care, the person said.

On Monday, the Correction Department issued a statement disclosing the death and the firing of the correction officer but offering no further details, saying only that Mr. Muhammad passed away at about 10:30 p.m. on Sunday. In fact, an officer discovered him at about 9:46 p.m., a jail official said.

One person with knowledge of the case said that officers at one point took Mr. Muhammad out of his cell and, while returning him, saw that he appeared to be disoriented and barely able to walk. He died hours later. His appearance, the person said, indicated that Mr. Muhammad needed medical attention.

Mr. Muhammads death has come as city leaders are resisting calls for a federal court takeover of the Rikers Island jail complex. Responding to concerns raised by the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, among others, a federal judge has given the city until October to show progress or risk the appointment of an independent overseer.

As jail officials have struggled to restore order, a steady influx of illicit drugs has contributed to a spike in overdoses. At the Correction Board meeting on Tuesday, members said detainees have died after overdosing on synthetic marijuana, fentanyl, heroin, PCP or some combination of those drugs in the past 18 months alone. Board members noted that the Correction Department does not track nonfatal overdoses.

The total number of suspected overdoses on Rikers Island has risen sharply, according to jail health records obtained by The New York Times, increasing from 73 emergencies that required 911 calls in 2020 to 113 in 2021.
Early on July 5, a homeless man sleeping on a bench by the Hudson River in Manhattan was awakened by a sharp pain in his stomach. He had been stabbed. He staggered across the street, where a passer-by called 911, but the man died at Bellevue Hospital.

Four nights later, the police said, the same assailant struck again. For half an hour, he sat staring at a man reclining on a bench in Midtown, then put on a Covid mask, approached and, without a word, stabbed him in the abdomen. The man survived.

At 3 a.m. Monday, the police said, he attacked once more with a large kitchen knife, wounding a man sleeping on a bench on a playground on the Upper East Side.
It is hardly uncommon, however, for people running for office to have messy pasts. And in theory, someone could be an effective senator while, like Walker, questioning the theory of evolution: At one time, science said man came from apes, did it not? he asked in March. If that is true, why are there still apes? Think about it. Or even while, as he did two years ago, offering the take that there existed a dry mist that will kill any Covid on your body that they dont want to talk about.

The problem with Walker is how glaringly unfit he is for public office apart from all that.

Asked whether he would have voted for President Bidens bipartisan infrastructure bill, Walker objected that it was totally unfair to expect him to answer the question because he hadnt yet seen all the facts, apparently unaware that one would expect him to have formed an opinion via, well, following the news. Asked, on the day of the Uvalde massacre, about his position on new gun laws, Walker seemed unclear that candidates are expected to at least fake a basic familiarity with the issues, responding, What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.

Days later on Fox News, he went into a bit more detail in a verbal bouillabaisse that almost rose to the level of performance art, saying:

You know, Cain killed Abel. You know, and thats a problem that we have. And I said, what we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. You know, you talked about doing a disinformation, what about getting a department that can look at young men thats looking at women, thats looking at their social media? What about doing that, looking into things like that, and we can stop that that way?

This isnt a mere matter of verbal dexterity. Hes not just a political neophyte getting his sea legs as a public speaker  in recent months, weve watched Eric Adams, the New York City mayor, going through that. Walker isnt just gaffe-prone, as Biden has been throughout his career. He isnt someone underqualified and swivel-tongued, like the former governor and current congressional candidate Sarah Palin, who still gives the impression of someone who could have learned on the job. Walker doesnt appear to have the slightest clue about, or interest in, matters of state, and gives precious little indication that this would change.

Heres where Im supposed to write something like, Walker makes Donald Trump look like Benjamin Disraeli by comparison. But its more that Trump, who has endorsed Walker, is pretty much as clueless. Trumps speeches are riveting  at least to his devotees  and certainly more practiced, but given how recently weve seen what happens when someone who would lose an argument with a cloud is placed in a position of grave responsibility, its rather grievous to see Republicans now do this with Walker.
To the Editor:

Re The 14th Amendment Should Protect Fetal Life, by Erika Bachiochi (Opinion guest essay, July 2):

I must challenge Ms. Bachiochis insistence on referring to an embryo or fetus as an unborn child. Pregnancy begins with a small cluster of undifferentiated cells that are not, in fact, a child. The anti-choice movement calls it a child because it is essential to their argument. But calling it so does not make it so.

At term, that small cluster has definitely grown into an unborn child. Somewhere on the continuum of fetal development it is reasonable to say it has become a person. That moment of personhood is perhaps difficult to define, but Roe at least made the effort.

Given the enormous consequences to the mother, it is important that we give her the right to choose her own well-being for some period of time over that which is not yet an unborn child.
Other states were emboldened and passed patently unconstitutional anti-abortion statutes  most notoriously, the detection of heartbeat provision in Texas, which incorporated an enforcement scheme encouraging private citizens to sue anyone who helps a resident procure an illegal abortion.

These red-state forays catalyzed the courts decision reversing Roe, which in turn has accelerated the race among conservative state legislatures to pass draconian abortion restrictions. Justice Brett Kavanaugh filed a concurring opinion in the Dobbs case insisting that the ruling did not necessarily empower anti-abortion states to forbid or even criminalize attempts by their citizens to procure abortions in neighboring states or assist others in doing so. But his assurances were unpersuasive, if not disingenuous.

There is no sign that red-state lawmakers are in any mood to slow down. In Oklahoma, for example, an abortion ban that takes effect from the moment of fertilization became law. The states attorney general, John OConnor, promised immediate enforcement, including against those who solicited abortions, and said his targets could include private companies that facilitate abortions for employees. This hard-line stance dovetails with campaigns in other states to enact laws adopting the Texas strategy of enabling private citizens to sue anyone who helps a resident procure an abortion anywhere that would be unlawful in the home state.

These attempts to punish out-of-state abortions inevitably will provoke lawsuits, one or more of which will make their way to the Supreme Court. The justices may duck the issue once or even twice, but eventually they will have to re-enter the fray to address whether the Constitution forbids a state from regulating across state lines in this fashion. The courts established jurisprudence, combined with the core holding in Dobbs that women lack a constitutionally protected abortion right, leaves it doubtful, notwithstanding Justice Kavanaughs concurrence, that the court would find that the Constitution enshrines a right to travel for reproductive health reasons.
In the interest of full disclosure: Hes also managed to endure a friendship of many years with me  which hopefully wont kill him in the end.

Tugendhat is bidding for Conservative leadership at a bleak time for traditional parties of the center right, in Britain and other democracies. The basic problem: They are stale at their diminished center and nutty at their expanding fringe. To put it another way: Where there is sense, there is not much charisma; where there is charisma, there is almost no sense.

Thats been the pattern in Britain under the past dozen years of Tory leadership. There was the colorless and technocratic David Cameron, who lost the vote on Brexit. There was the colorless and overmatched Theresa May, who fumbled the execution of Brexit. There was the nothing if not colorful Boris Johnson, who got Brexit done (and in whom I once placed modest hopes) but lacked the moral character and political principles to make it work. As Johnson once said of himself, You cant rule out the possibility that beneath the elaborately constructed veneer of a blithering idiot, there lurks a blithering idiot.

Tugendhat, by contrast, represents three things the current party is not.

The first is an older ideal of conservatism, reminiscent of John McCains or Winston Churchills, in which a sense of honor (personal, martial and national) is paramount. If that seems fusty, its also the best possible cure to Johnsons political legacy, which has been the destruction of trust  in the Conservative Party, in government, in Britain itself. If Conservatives cant restore that trust, quickly, they will struggle to hold on to power.
FRONT PAGE

An article on Friday about Boris Johnsons downfall misstated the role of Conrad Black at the Spectator magazine. He was its owner, not its editor.

INTERNATIONAL

An article on Friday about the end of Boris Johnsons political career misquoted part of Mr. Johnsons resignation speech. He said, I want to tell you how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, not, I want to tell you how sorry I am to be giving up the best job in the world.

Because of an editing error, an article on Saturday about a judges ruling clearing the way for Prince Harry to pursue a libel claim against the newspaper The Mail on Sunday misstated where Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, live in Southern California. Their home is in Montecito, not Los Angeles.
I walked in and said, This is the house, Mr. Newkirk said. They offered the full asking price of $349,000 and closed that November.

Then Mr. Newkirk turned to Kishani Perera, a close friend and the interior designer who had worked on the couples house in Los Angeles. Ms. Perera wasnt prepared to get on a plane during the pandemic, so they all made plans to collaborate remotely: Mr. Newkirk would be the eyes and ears on the ground, responsible for directing contractors, and Ms. Perera would provide guidance via email, text and daily video calls.

We wanted it to feel like a midcentury cabin, but with very elevated pieces punctuated with high-end designer stuff, for a little bit of glam, Ms. Perera said.

Or, as Mr. Newkirk put it: I wanted it to be very classic New York  because I love classic New York, and this is the first New York property that Ive owned  but also very luxe.
In 2002, Sean OKeefe, then the NASA administrator, announced that the agencys next telescope would be named for James Webb, who led NASA during the 1960s, when it was gearing up to land people on the moon. He was a staunch champion of space science.

Some astronomers were disappointed that it would not be named for an astronomer, while others objected on more serious grounds, namely that Mr. Webb bore some responsibility for an event during the Truman administration known as the Lavender Scare that resulted in the purging of gay and lesbian employees from the State Department. At the time, Mr. Webb had been the under secretary of state.

That issue gained prominence a year ago when four astronomers  Lucianne Walkowicz of the JustSpace Alliance and Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein of the University of New Hampshire, Brian Nord of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of Chicago and Sarah Tuttle of the University of Washington  published an op-ed in Scientific American, The James Webb Space Telescope Needs to Be Renamed.
SAN FRANCISCO  Twitter sued Elon Musk on Tuesday to force the billionaire to complete his $44 billion acquisition of the company, setting the stage for a prolonged legal battle over the fate of the social media service.

Mr. Musk agreed in April to buy Twitter but declared last week that he intended to walk away from the deal. To push Mr. Musk to abide by the acquisition agreement, Twitter sued him in Chancery Court in Delaware. The court will determine whether he remains on the hook for the purchase or whether Twitter violated its obligation to provide Mr. Musk with data he requested, entitling him to walk away.

Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests, the company said in the suit. Musk apparently believes that he  unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law  is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.
For so many of us, stress roared in and put down roots. The stress of living at perpetual high alert in a world that has seemed, for the past several years, to be in an ever-shifting state of emergency. Amid all that, in the post-shutdown theater, has come a tsunami of shows dedicated to elucidating social ills and processing cultural pain. Such work is vital now and always; dont get me wrong.

But we desperately require its counterweight, too  shows that usher us into alternate worlds where we can give ourselves over to pure delight. The Classical Theater of Harlem gets that, deeply, and proves it with a delectable Twelfth Night so fizzy and fun that you may be surprised afterward at how relaxed your body is, and how much lighter your spirit feels.

Thats what communal joy can do. Maybe its been a while?

Hie thee, then, to the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park, where this free, outdoor production directed by Carl Cofield boasts dance as lissome as ever, design that raises the bar on this companys customary visual wow and a cast whose ease brings a lovely clarity. In Kara Young as Viola, this Twelfth Night also has a star as fascinatingly natural in Shakespeare as she has been in any of the contemporary stage roles that have established her as one of New Yorks most exciting actors.
In July 1693, a large Spanish galleon set sail from the Philippines with a full cargo load of Asian luxury goods, including silk, porcelain and beeswax. The ship was destined for Acapulco, Mexico, when it veered off course and vanished.

The ships fate has been the subject of a mystery that endured for more than 300 years along the coast of what is now northern Oregon. Pieces of blue-and-white porcelain and beeswax with Spanish markings have long washed ashore there, offering tantalizing clues to beachcombers and researchers that a shipwreck was somewhere nearby.

Last month, a team of maritime archaeologists painstakingly recovered more than a dozen timbers from sea caves along the coast that researchers said were almost certainly pieces of the galleon that disappeared, the Santo Cristo de Burgos. The researchers said it was the first time that remnants of a Manila galleon had ever been recovered in North America.
Ms. White and Mr. White disappeared after they left the Lauderdale County Jail on April 29 for an appointment for a mental health evaluation that did not exist. Days later, the Alabama authorities issued an arrest warrant for Ms. White, who had been one of the most respected and senior figures at the jail, the Lauderdale County sheriff, Rick Singleton, said in April.

Image The authorities said Ms. White fatally shot herself after a police pursuit ended in a crash in Indiana on May 9. Credit... Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office, via Associated Press

The search for the Whites ended on May 9 in Evansville, Ind., more than 200 miles north of the jail, after the authorities there heard that the pair were in a vehicle nearby and began pursuing it.

A U.S. Marshals vehicle struck the car that the Whites were driving, causing theirs to roll over and crash. Mr. White surrendered to the authorities while Ms. White, who had been shot, was taken to a hospital, where she died. The authorities said she had shot herself in the head.

Mr. White said he had intended to engage in a shootout with the police, said Sheriff Dave Wedding of Vanderburgh County, Ind. Mr. White told the authorities that he and Ms. White were married, which was not true, Sheriff Wedding said.

The authorities found $29,000 in cash in their car along with four guns and different-colored wigs.

At the time of his escape, Mr. White, 38, was awaiting trial on two counts of capital murder in a murder-for-hire slaying from 2015. He was supposed to have two deputies with him at all times  a rule that Ms. White was supposed to enforce.

He had been serving a 75-year sentence for previous convictions, including robbery, burglary, carjacking and kidnapping, according to booking records. He was also serving a six-year sentence on a domestic violence charge.
Now, federal authorities have about 60 days to move the beagles out of the facility and find new homes for them. The dogs are being placed in the care of the nonprofit Humane Society of the United States. If all goes well, the dogs could make it to new homes by late August, after they are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and treated for any health conditions.

Cassie Staubus signed up with the Beagle Freedom Project, a non-profit animal rescue, to foster some of these dogs once theyre released. She is willing to drive from Minnesota to Virginia to pick them up and help in the process of re-homing them. Ms. Staubus is already the owner of Stinky, a 6-year-old beagle, and two other dogs, so fostering is the best way for her to help since she already has a house full of pets, she said.

Its just a great feeling to save a life and give them a love that they have never known before, she said.

After retiring from 42 years of teaching, Mary Hunter Gallalee of Virginia is ready to welcome two beagles to her 200-acre farm in Prospect, Va. They will join the three dogs she already has  Baby Girl, Dalila and Gypsy  and Ms. Gallalee has already applied to adopt and dedicate time to caring for the beagles, a breed she has owned before.
One witness appearing at the House select committees hearing on Tuesday will likely give an insiders glimpse of the Oath Keepers militia: Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesman for the group who left it several years ago and has more recently been speaking out about the dangers it presents.

Mr. Van Tatenhove is expected to testify about the history of the Oath Keepers, which was founded in 2009 by a former Army paratrooper, Stewart Rhodes, and how the group became increasingly radical in the months and years leading up to the Capitol attack, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Van Tatenhoves testimony will also likely touch on how Mr. Rhodes used conspiracy theories to raise money for the group and increase its membership.

Mr. Van Tatenhove began to work with the Oath Keepers around 2014, eventually becoming the public face of the group during several prominent anti-government and militia operations. He issued statements for the organization  and answered questions from the media  after Mr. Rhodes and his men helped support the rancher Cliven Bundy in an armed standoff with federal agents in Nevada.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on whether the department had received the information or was acting on it. A spokesman for Mr. Trump said on Twitter that Ms. Cheney was trafficking in innuendo and lies, but did not directly address whether Mr. Trump had tried to reach out to a witness.

Ms. Cheneys remarks came in the closing moments of Tuesdays hearing and two weeks after the previous hearing, when a former White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, testified that Mr. Trump was aware that some members of the crowd on Jan. 6 were armed, that he wanted to lead his supporters to the Capitol anyway, and that White House officials had expressed concerns that Mr. Trumps plan for Jan. 6 could be unlawful.

At the end of the public hearing with Ms. Hutchinson, Ms. Cheney raised the prospect that Mr. Trump and his allies were tampering with a witness  later revealed to be Ms. Hutchinson  and shared messages sent to her by people close to Mr. Trump.

In one phone call, according to the account provided by the committee at the time, the witness was told that Mr. Trump was paying attention to the hearings and reading the transcripts. The caller said that the witness would continue to stay in good graces in Trump world if the person continued to be a team player and demonstrate that they were protecting who they needed to protect.
Abortions became legal again in Louisiana on Tuesday after a Baton Rouge judge granted a temporary restraining order blocking the states abortion bans from being enforced.

The judges decision was the latest in a series of legal maneuvers that have jolted the legal status of abortions in the state, leaving women and providers scrambling to adapt. One of the few remaining abortion clinics in the state said it would resume providing the procedure.

Louisiana is among a number of conservative states that passed abortion restrictions or bans in anticipation that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that since 1973 had guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion. When the court did so last month, triggering those state bans, abortion rights groups and providers sued, arguing that state constitutions protected the right to abortion.
WASHINGTON  President Bidens coronavirus response team warned Americans on Tuesday that they must do more to protect themselves against Covid-19, as the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant known as BA.5 fuels a new wave of infections, re-infections and hospitalizations across the country.

But their new strategy to combat the threat sounded a lot like the old one, couched as advice that they hope more people will follow: Get vaccinated or boosted even if you have already been infected; test if you feel sick; seek out therapeutics if you test positive and wear masks in crowded indoor spaces.

Variants will continue to emerge if the virus circulates globally and in this country, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Mr. Bidens chief medical adviser for the pandemic, said at a White House news briefing. We should not let it disrupt our lives. But we cannot deny that it is a reality that we need to deal with.
Mr. Bannon is willing to, and indeed prefers, to testify at your public hearing, Robert J. Costello, Mr. Bannons lawyer, wrote to Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee.

Mr. Costello said that Mr. Bannons decision to comply with the committees subpoena came after he was cleared to testify by Mr. Trump. He provided the panel with a letter that Mr. Trump sent to Mr. Bannon on Saturday that waived any claim to executive privilege over his testimony or producing documents comply with the subpoena.

Our position about the committee remains unchanged, but President Trump wants Mr. Bannon to tell the committee the truth, Mr. Costello said on Sunday. He said Mr. Bannon planned to supply the committee with documents as well as testimony.

The committee has yet to respond to Mr. Bannon but members said any interview with him would take place behind closed doors.

The committee and the Justice Department have long maintained that Mr. Trump has no valid claim of executive privilege over Mr. Bannons testimony, in part because Mr. Bannon left the White House in 2017 and was a private citizen when he was involved in Mr. Trumps efforts to hold on to power after the 2020 election.

When you first received the subpoena to testify and provide documents, I invoked executive privilege, Mr. Trump wrote in his letter to Mr. Bannon on Saturday. However, I watched how unfairly you and others have been treated, having to spend vast amounts of money on legal fees and all of the trauma you must be going through for the love of your country and out of respect for the office of the president.
And Republicans nationally have noticed his hesitancy so far.

This is a guy who jumps into the culture wars when he thinks he can make a point, said Mike DuHaime, who managed Rudolph W. Giulianis presidential campaign in 2008 and was a top adviser to Chris Christies in 2016.

Mr. DeSantis is not the only Republican governor whose supporters expect more from him now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. But few have as much at stake: Mr. DeSantiss next move could not only affect his re-election in Florida but also complicate a presidential bid.

Mr. DeSantis was the most popular alternative to Donald J. Trump among Republican primary voters when they were asked about potential 2024 presidential candidates, according to the Times/Siena poll. Mr. DeSantis trailed Mr. Trump 49 percent to 25 percent, but was favored over the former president by younger Republicans, those with a college degree and those who said they voted for President Biden in 2020.

The poll showed that Mr. DeSantis was still relatively unknown, with about one-fourth of Republicans saying they didnt know enough to have an opinion about him. But he was well liked among those who did. Among white evangelical voters, 54 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the Florida governor while just 15 percent said they had an unfavorable view of him.

And abortion opponents are not shy about pressing Mr. DeSantis for bold new action.

Theres an enormous expectation, said John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, a conservative Christian group. I think he realizes this is something that has to be dealt with.

A spokesman for Mr. DeSantiss office would only refer to a previous statement when asked whether a special session of the legislature  or any other move related to abortion  was in the offing.
WASHINGTON  The U.S. military carried out a drone strike in Syria on Tuesday that officials said killed a top Islamic State commander, the third major American counterterrorism operation in the countrys northwest in the past month.

The attack killed Maher al-Agal, the leader of the terrorist groups Syria branch and one of its top five leaders worldwide, and seriously injured another militant, according to statements from the White House and the militarys Central Command. Mr. al-Agal was responsible for aggressively pursuing the development of ISIS networks outside of Iraq and Syria, the military said.

His death in Syria takes a key terrorist off the field and significantly degrades the ability of ISIS to plan, resource and conduct their operations in the region, President Biden said in a statement.
Within six weeks, he had returned home to Miami, and Mr. Garlands team took over.

Mr. Garlands appointees have struggled with many of the same thorny questions about the scope of the investigation as their predecessors did. They were uncertain they could show that the nonviolent activity to thwart the peaceful transfer of power violated criminal law, according to people familiar with the inquiry.

Those concerns seem to have faded, with prosecutors pursuing the investigation into the alternative elector plan, and Mr. Clarks actions.

While there has never been a prohibition, formal or otherwise, against discussing Mr. Trump, top department officials then and now made clear that prosecutors should be focused on the evidentiary road in front of them, not to a road map leading to Mr. Trump.

Until recently, that entailed tightly steering discussion to the details of specific cases being developed  rioters, midlevel ringleaders or Trump associates involved in the state electors scheme, according to current and former officials  not to speculative ones.

If career prosecutors uncover evidence linking Mr. Trump to the crimes that they are investigating, new procedural hurdles make it more complicated for them to look into his actions. In 2016, rank-and-file F.B.I. agents did not need approval to investigate actions by Hillary Clinton and Mr. Trump. But Attorney General William P. Barr issued a memo that requires the attorney general, via the deputy attorney general, to approve such a move, which could place additional pressure on Ms. Monaco.

Even without that clearance, Ms. Monaco runs the departments day-to-day operations and oversees all prosecutions, including the Jan. 6 inquiry. The team that reports to her has repeatedly pressed the House committee for transcripts of hundreds of interviews it has conducted, arguing that the panels reluctance to do so before the hearings conclude was hampering the departments work.
There were questions about his record, but I agree that the A.T.F. definitely needs a permanent leader, Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, said after voting against the nomination on Tuesday.

Mr. Dettelbach, a graduate of Harvard Law School, worked in a series of prosecutorial posts in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Ohio before becoming the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, which includes Cleveland. He held that post under President Barack Obama and served from 2009 to 2016.

Since the spring, he has quietly worked the phones to assure the agencys rank and file that he appreciated their hard work during his under-the-radar nomination process, which has earned him the quiet backing of career officials who had been hostile to Mr. Chipman.

Mr. Dettelbach ran unsuccessfully for Ohio attorney general in 2018 as a Democrat, but he took great pains to portray himself publicly as a career prosecutor who believes that politics play no role in law enforcement, as he put it at his confirmation hearing. That stance was intended to draw a contrast with Mr. Chipman, whose blistering criticism of Republicans and gun rights organizations had provoked a backlash that ultimately forced the administration to pull his nomination.

The bureau that Mr. Dettelbach inherits has long been hamstrung by a series of laws, passed at the behest of the National Rifle Association and other groups that favor gun rights, that have limited the agencys ability to conduct electronic gun traces or share basic firearms data with the public.

But the agency plays an outsize role in putting in place nearly all the gun control steps taken by Mr. Biden through executive authority  including a crackdown on the sale of homemade ghost guns and the administrations promise to more closely scrutinize federally licensed gun dealers, which are often the source of guns used in crimes.
WASHINGTON  World powers agreed on Tuesday to continue a United Nations aid mission to northwest Syria for six more months, bending to a deadline demanded by Russia that will, for now, avoid shutting down lifesaving deliveries for about four million people living amid an 11-year civil war.

Just days earlier, Russia had vetoed a plan at the U.N. Security Council to keep the humanitarian aid corridor, from Bab al-Hawa on the Turkish border into Idlib Province, open for one more year. In response, Western diplomats had then rejected a Russian proposal to instead allow the mission to remain for six months, calling it too short and unacceptable, given that the food, medicine and other supplies would be cut in the middle of winter, when the aid is needed the most.

But with little alternative to help war-weary Syrians  more than one million of whom have been living in tents during the conflict that began in 2011  the council adopted the six-month mission as officials consider how to assist after it ends.
In addition, Pentagon officials have expressed concerns about hurting U.S. combat readiness if the war continues for months or longer. After two decades of mostly supporting counterterrorism missions, Americas defense industry largely stopped making the kinds of weapons Ukraine will need to survive a long war of attrition. The United States has authorized $54 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid for Ukraine and has sent more than $7 billion in weapons drawn from existing Pentagon stockpiles.

Ukraines urgent requests come at a time when the United States appears to have reached the high end of the type of sophisticated arms it is providing. The next shipments are to include truck-mounted, multiple-rocket launchers called HIMARS, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and precision-guided Excalibur howitzer shells. But the fighter jets and advanced armed drones on Ukraines wish list have been shelved for now as either overly provocative to Moscow or too time-consuming for the Ukrainians to learn how to use.

The nearly five-month war is at a critical moment, U.S. officials and others familiar with the intelligence assessments say. As many as 100 to 200 Ukrainian soldiers have died every day since Russia shifted its military campaign in the spring to focus on eastern Ukraine. But overall, about 20,000 Russians have been killed. Injuries have taken about 60,000 more off the battlefield. Nearly a third of Russias equipment has been destroyed in the war, according to Western officials, including several who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

To replenish its military, Russia would have to mobilize more of its population, by making a declaration of war  officially the conflict remains a special military operation  or by moving troops and equipment from Russias Far North or Far East to Ukraine.
Even if Ms. Bottones objection to her traffic ticket for driving alone in a car pool lane seemed unlikely to gain much legal traction, it did raise the prospect of future legal  and philosophical  debates.

I think what this person is saying is more like anticipating where the law may go than where it is now, Professor Ziegler said. I think we will not see the end of these arguments in other conservative states, even if Texas law doesnt yet support this particular woman.

Ms. Bottone, a 32-year-old marketing director and mother of three children, said she was not trying to make a statement about abortion or the Supreme Courts decision. She said she did not consider herself for or against abortion rights, and declined to share her view on the courts overturning of Roe. Ms. Bottone said she was expected to give birth to her fourth child in early August and sees a 34-week-old baby as a person.

Ultimately, Ms. Bottone said she just wanted to know whether she could keep driving in the H.O.V. lane for the remainder of her pregnancy, as she said she had in her previous pregnancies, long before the overturning of Roe. She said she was looking forward to her court date on July 20, two weeks before her baby is due.

Advocacy groups, though, spoke of the case in the context of the broader abortion debate.

Kim Schwartz, a spokeswoman for Texas Right to Life, the largest anti-abortion organization in the state, said in a statement that it supported Ms. Bottone along with the idea that fetuses should be recognized as Texans in all areas of society.

Some abortion rights supporters also posted messages praising Ms. Bottone for seemingly pointing out one possible consequence of last months Supreme Court decision. Ms. Bottone is my new feminist hero, Andrea Harrington, a district attorney in Western Massachusetts, said on Twitter, adding, The absurdity and misogyny behind criminalizing womens health care is inescapable.
Tuesdays Jan. 6 committee hearing is featuring a new kind of witness: For the first time, a defendant who faced criminal charges for taking part in the attack on the Capitol will testify live in front of the panel.

The defendant, Stephen Ayres, was arrested in Ohio and pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Mr. Ayres is expected to tell the panel how former President Donald J. Trump inspired the mob to gather at and ultimately storm into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a person familiar with the matter. He was first reported as a witness for the committee by ABC News.
There are now ideas you cannot touch without losing your freedom, said Avery Ng, secretary general of the League of Social Democrats, a leftist, pro-democracy group in Hong Kong. Its so heartless. If they will send this guy with fourth-stage cancer to jail, what about the rest of us? But thats the new reality those of us in Hong Kong have to accept.

Principal Magistrate Peter Law, who heard Mr. Koos case, said he had already been diagnosed with cancer when he committed the crime, so that would not be factored into his sentencing.

Mr. Koo was not always a government critic. As a young man growing up in Macau, a Portuguese colony that returned to Chinese control in 1999, he was active in a Communist Party-linked labor union and liked to listen to patriotic red songs, said Tsang Kin-shing, a friend and fellow activist. But after Chinas Communist Party sent troops to crush pro-democracy demonstrations around Tiananmen Square in 1989, Mr. Koo turned against Beijing.

Like many opposition activists in his generation, the Tiananmen crackdown shaped Mr. Koos political views. He and others saw the struggle for democracy in Hong Kong as closely bound with such efforts in mainland China. They held annual vigils for those killed in 1989, which were attended by tens of thousands at their peak in Hong Kongs Victoria Park until they were effectively banned in recent years.

In 2012, he was one of a group of activists who landed on uninhabited islets in the East China Sea claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing. They were detained by the Japanese Coast Guard and sent back to Hong Kong, where they arrived to a heroes welcome. The groups members said the protest was meant to show that the Communist Party did not have a monopoly on patriotism in China.
As Russia pushes to find new buyers for its oil to skirt ever tougher Western sanctions, it is cutting into the market share of two of its allies  Iran and Venezuela  and setting off a price war that could hurt them all.

The competition for sales to Asia has already forced Venezuela and Iran to sharply discount their crude to try to hang onto the few available outlets for their own sanctioned exports, according to oil analysts and traders.

And although both Iran and Venezuela profess publicly to remain close to Russia, experts expect that if the oil battle intensifies it will raise tensions with the Kremlin even as its leader, Vladimir V. Putin, works to shore up his alliances. On Tuesday, his government announced he would make a rare trip outside the country next week to Irans capital, Tehran.
Ukrainian forces fighting to recapture territory in the south of the country said they had blown up a Russian ammunition depot in the Kherson region overnight, the latest in a series of missile attacks that Kyiv has claimed on Russian military infrastructure.

Officials loyal to the government in Moscow said the strike, in Nova Kakhovka, instead hit a warehouse containing saltpeter  sometimes used to make fertilizer or gunpowder  resulting in a large explosion that Russia said had damaged residential buildings, a hospital, a market and a humanitarian aid center. At least seven people were killed and dozens more wounded, the Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing a local official.

The competing claims could not be independently verified. Satellite imagery released on Tuesday morning by Planet Labs PBC, an American satellite imagery company, showed a notable impact crater where a missile appears to have struck, surrounded by destroyed buildings and warehouses.
As Russia pushes to find new buyers for its oil to skirt ever tougher Western sanctions, it is cutting into the market share of two of its allies  Iran and Venezuela  and setting off a price war that could hurt them all.

The competition for sales to Asia has already forced Venezuela and Iran to sharply discount their crude to try to hang onto the few available outlets for their own sanctioned exports, according to oil analysts and traders.

And although both Iran and Venezuela publicly remain close to Russia, experts expect that if the oil battle intensifies it will raise tensions with the Kremlin even as its leader, Vladimir V. Putin, is working to shore up his alliances. On Tuesday, his government announced he would make a rare trip outside the country next week to Tehran.
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When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia meet next week in Iran, the two leaders will navigate a sometimes fraught but also symbiotic relationship that has been complicated by the war in Ukraine.

For Mr. Putin, the meetings will offer an opportunity to buttress military and economic support at a time when Moscow is seeking to counter the Wests military assistance to Ukraine and its punishing sanctions against Russia.

For Turkey, a NATO member, the meeting is an opportunity to project its influence as a regional power, while attempting to mediate between Russia and Ukraine and engaging in a delicate and potentially combustible balancing act between Russia and the West.
Even before the constitutional right to an abortion was struck down last month, health insurance coverage for it was spotty. Abortion benefits largely depended on where a woman lived or whom she worked for.

Those factors have become even more crucial now that the Supreme Court has left it to the states to regulate abortion. The existing patchwork of coverage is likely to become more restrictive, and the gulf will widen between states that had already banned abortion-related benefits and those that mandate coverage.

Dozens of large employers are attempting to fill the gaps by paying expenses for workers who need to cross state lines for a legal abortion, though there are still questions about how much risk companies are taking on and how far an anti-abortion state  or an aggressive prosecutor  could go to stop them.
THE pupils, staff, Board of Management, Parents' Association and wider school community of Clonlisk National School in South Offaly finally got an opportunity to mark the retirement of Mrs Anne Kehoe-Cleary recently.

Covid restrictions meant all in Clonlisk NS were unable to come together as a whole school community to wish Mrs Kehoe-Cleary well as she began her next chapter in August 2020 and to give her the send-off that she so truly deserved.

On June 23, Clonlisk National School was decked out in a sea of red and white for the celebratory Mass which was held for Mrs Kehoe-Cleary. In what was an emotional afternoon, glowing tributes were paid to Mrs Kehoe-Cleary after her 38 years of service at Clonlisk NS. The large crowd gathered was testament to the high esteem in which she is held in the community.

Mrs Kehoe Cleary was joined for the celebrations by her husband Joe, her sons Niall, Darragh and Michael, her daughter-in-law Ciara, her parents Brendan and Carmel and by her sisters Mary and Carmel, as well as extended family members.

Former colleagues and principals of Clonlisk NS, Siobhan Doorley and Mary Fitzgerald, and pupils from Mrs Kehoe-Cleary's first class in Clonlisk NS were also in attendance, where the latter helped their former teacher to officially open the library which was created in her honour.

Mrs Anne Kehoe-Cleary with her family (l. to r.): Ciara (daughter-in-law), Niall (son), Michael (son), Anne Kehoe-Cleary, Darragh (son), Joe (husband).

Having taught in Clonlisk NS for 38 years, Mrs Kehoe-Cleary contributed enormously to the school during that period of time, where she was totally committed to improving all aspects of school life. She was appointed Deputy Principal in 2004 and served as a member of the Board of Management on a number of occasions throughout her career as well as being the INTO Staff Representative. She had a reputation for being a dedicated, hardworking and talented teacher.

She spent over 20 years teaching infants and her gentle, caring and kind nature allowed the children to make a very smooth transition from home to school life. She also spent a number of years working in Special Education where she spearheaded many literacy initiatives and taught First and Second Classes for a period of time too.

Presentations were made to Mrs Kehoe-Cleary on behalf of the pupils, staff, Board of Management & Parents' Association. Following the Mass, refreshments, which were kindly provided by the Parents' Association, were served, and all who gathered had an opportunity to wish Mrs Kehoe-Cleary the very best in retirement.

All wish Mrs Kehoe-Cleary a very happy and healthy retirement, with every blessing and good fortune in her future.

Guionn pobal na scoile gach rath ar Aine agus a clann sa todhchai.
An Offaly man was sentenced to three months imprisonment during the July 6 sitting of Tullamore District Court.

James McCarthy, 6 Drumbane, Birr was charged with having no insurance and no driving licence on March 5 2021 and June 4 2021.

The defending solicitor Donal Farrelly told the court that his client was pleading guilty.

Sgt James O'Sullivan said Mr McCarthy had 63 previous convictions.

Mr Farrelly said his client is 74 years of age and has a bad record.

Unfortunately my client is suffering from cancer which might be a terminal condition. Because of his illness there is no possibility of him driving now. Sadly, his life is in a very difficult and chaotic condition. He is remorseful and there is no possibility of him offending again. He is asking for the clemency of the court.

Mr Farrelly handed in two medical letters from St James' Hospital outlining the defendant's health issue.

Judge Patricia Cronin pointed out that there was another charge against McCarthy for no insurance which happened after a court sitting in October 2021 during which a suspended prison sentence was handed down.

Despite having that suspended sentence he still went driving. Therefore, I have to activate that suspended sentence. It has to mean something. This is a serious matter and he has continued to flout the law.

The Judge sentenced Mr McCarthy to three months imprisonment. She also fined him 700 and disqualified him from driving for six years. The judge also imposed a four months prison sentence but suspended it for two years.
AT 11.45pm on Sunday night, July 10, Valentia Coast Guard requested Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat to launch to search for three people and their dog reported missing on Lough Derg, while on Monday the lifeboat was requested to respond to a Mayday call from a sinking vessel with seven people on board. was .

In the incident on Sunday night the three people and their dog were reported to be in a white speed boat. The wind was southerly Force 2/3 It was night but with a full moon and a starlit sky.

At midnight Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat Jean Spier launched with helm Eleanor Hooker, Doireann Kennedy, Keith Brennan and Owen Cavanagh on board. Given the serious nature of the callout, the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter team, Rescue 115, was tasked from their base at Shannon Airport. Galway based Gardai also responded to the emergency and were at Portumna Harbour, having been informed that this was the intended destination for the missing people.

As the lifeboat was launching, Valentia Coast Guard requested it go directly to Portumna Castle Harbour at the very northern end of the lake, that the Gardai had been told that there may be speedboat adrift west of the bay.

Using on-board electronic navigation, RADAR, searchlights and local knowledge the lifeboat made way directly to Portumna Castle Harbour. At 12.26am as the lifeboat approached Terryglass Bay, Valentia Coast Guard gave the RNLI volunteers a specific location to search.

Very quickly the lifeboat volunteers located three people and a dog on board a 12ft speedboat. All three people and their dog were safe and unharmed. They said that having become disorientated and lost, they found themselves in the reeds out of sight of the harbour and out of fuel. To ensure the lifeboat was attending the same people reported missing, Valentia Coast Guard requested the lifeboat let them know the name of the skipper at the scene.

The lifeboat took the speedboat on an alongside tow to Portumna Castle Harbour, where the casualties were met by Gardai who checked that they were not in need of further assistance. Recue 115 was stood down earlier by Valentia Coast Guard.

At 00.50am the lifeboat departed the scene and was back at Station at 01.12am. At 01.29am the lifeboat was washed down and refuelled.

Peter Kennedy, Deputy Launching Authority at Lough Derg RNLI, advises boat users to plan your passage so that you reach safe harbour before nightfall. Carry a means of communication and let others know when you expect to arrive at your destination. Carry sufficient lifejackets and ensure all on board are wearing theirs.

On Monday afternoon, July 11th, Valentia Coast Guard requested Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat to launch to assist seven people on a 60ft vessel which was taking on water and sinking. Valentia Coast Guard gave lifeboat volunteers co-ordinates for the vessel, which was a location south of Mountshannon Harbour on the County Clare shore.

At 2.42pm Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat Jean Spier launched with helm Eleanor Hooker, Owen Cavanagh, Joe ODonoghue and Ciara Lynch on board. The lifeboat was also carrying its salvage pump. The Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter team, Rescue 115, had taken off from their base at Shannon Airport and the Killaloe Coast Guard Rescue Boat was also launched.

The wind was south-westerly Force 4, gusting Force 6. Visibility was good.

En route to the casualty vessel, Valentia Coast Guard informed the lifeboat that a passing vessel was in the process of taking all seven people off the casualty vessel.

As the lifeboat approached the Hare Island, Rescue 115, the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue helicopter, indicated to the RNLI volunteers to follow them as they flew high and ahead of the lifeboat. The passing vessel, having evacuated all casualties to their vessel, reported to Valentia Coast Guard that they were bringing the people to Mountshannon Harbour.

At 2.52pm the lifeboat was on scene. Strong southwesterly gusts had pushed the casualty vessel deep into an area known locally as The Nook of Pages on the County Clare shoreline, northeast of Mountshannon. Valentia Coast Guard asked the lifeboat to make an assessment of the casualty vessel and determine if it posed any environmental risks. With an RNLI volunteer taking soundings off the bow, the lifeboat approached to the casualty vessel in safe water and, using an anchoring and veering technique, came alongside the vessel.

An RNLI volunteer transferred across to the casualty vessel and noted that it had significant water on board, that the electrics were still on but that he was unable to access them, but that there was no evidence of a fuel leak. The lifeboat helm requested he deploy the casualty vessels anchor and return to the lifeboat.

The lifeboat told Valentia Coast Guard of their findings and was stood down.

At 3.56pm the lifeboat departed the scene and was back at Station at 4.11pm. At 4.31pm the lifeboat was washed down, refuelled and ready for service.
CELEBRATE the summer holidays in the great outdoors by climbing Slievenamon on Sunday next July 17th.

The mountain is quite accessible and manageable for most people. It is not a difficult climb at 2,368 feet. What better way to keep fit than by tackling a mountain? Stretch your leg muscles and improve your physical fitness and your mental alertness. Admire the unspoiled views of nature, the environment, the refreshing quality of the air, and the splendid vista over a number of counties from the top of Slievenamon. Bring family members, a friend or a group of friends and make an outing of it.

Historian Dr Thomas McGrath is inaugurating an annual Climb of Slievenamon on Sunday, July 17th, the third Sunday in July, celebrating the mountains history and heritage and is calling on anyone who is interested to join him in climbing Tipperarys most famous mountain on that day. He stated: Slievenamon is one of Irelands best known mountains. Every Tipperary person should be able to say that he or she has climbed Slievenamon more than once.

I am calling on anyone who feels young at heart, on all young people and all those who feel young, regardless of what age they are, to climb Slievenamon. What better time to climb the mountain than in the holidays of high summer. Are you up for a challenge?

The climb has a historical reference point. It will mark the fact that the Young Irelanders held a great meeting on top of Slievenamon on the third Sunday of July 1848. There were thousands of people present who had walked all the way from Clonmel, Cashel, Fethard and places in between. Speeches on the day were made by Thomas Francis Meagher and Michael Doheny, both of whom called for a better Ireland than the one then in the middle of the Famine.

Dr McGrath stated that We are going to remember the past while looking to the future on one of Irelands most iconic mountains. The ancient heroes, the Fianna of early Irish lore knew this mountain. It is associated with Finn McCool and the women of Ireland. It is celebrated in Irish poetry and in the Tipperary anthem by the Young Irelander and Fenian, Charles J. Kickham, who chaired a great meeting on the mountain.

Our ancestors for thousands of years have climbed Slievenamon whether the ancient Fianna or the Young Irelanders and later generations. The climb will be in remembrance of the past and in celebration of the current generation of Young Ireland who are all those who are able to make the climb. Its a free mountain in what the Young Irelanders wanted  an independent Ireland in control of its own destiny - so all are welcome to enjoy the mountain. Climb from Kilcash at anytime during daylight hours from morning to evening.

Dr McGrath who is from Ballingarry stated that he will make the climb starting at 3pm.
HEFEI, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Every morning, Tan Zhangmeng starts up his motorbike and makes his first delivery of groceries to housebound residents in the virus-hit Sixian County, east China's Anhui Province. Carrying dozens of bags of vegetables, fruit and other daily necessities, the 27-year-old delivery driver provides a lifeline to those still living in quarantine after the county suffered a COVID-19 resurgence in June. From June 26 to July 10, a total of 367 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,466 asymptomatic carriers were logged in Anhui, of which 351 confirmed cases were in Sixian, in the city of Suzhou. The county was placed under closed-off management to stem the spread of infections, and local authorities and enterprises made special arrangements to provide daily supplies to those under quarantine. Tan had been working for food delivery platform Meituan since 2019, providing orders to local customers. When the resurgence hit last month, Tan heard that volunteers were needed to run extra deliveries, and he immediately stepped forward. "I just wanted to do something for this fight against the pandemic," said Tan. Having taking on the extra duties, Tan found himself riding through the city streets and alleys from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day. "We typically handle around 50 orders every day, although the number hit 80 at the busiest time. The goods are mainly daily necessities, and the loads can be very heavy sometimes," he said. Despite the scorching summer weather, he says he always does his best to deliver on time. To reduce the risk of infection, Tan usually takes a large bottle of disinfectant fluid with him. The goods are also disinfected before being sent from the supermarket and after arriving at the community. According to Hu Meihai, head of a Meituan station in Sixian, 20 riders from the company have been on duty since the latest COVID-19 emergence began. "All the couriers live in the hotel near the supermarket and take the nucleic acid test and antigen detection each day. We also disinfect their motorbikes every day," said Hu. The orders are often large, but couriers usually deliver them within one hour, with some making use of electric tricycles, Hu added. Thanks to precise and scientific epidemic prevention and control measures, the pandemic in the county has gradually been brought under control in recent days. During the latest round of county-wide nucleic acid testing, Sixian found no COVID-19 infections at the community level for three consecutive days, according to local authorities. "Many more stores have opened to provide supplies. We believe things will return to normal soon and the city will be bustling once more," said Tan.
MBABANE - Farmers who have been contracted by the National Agricultural Marketing Board (NamBoard) are at a great advantage of having increased product sales.

Namboard has engaged and programmed 146 farmers according to their region, to grow vegetables for the market with a total area planted of 66 hectares (Ha) in the first quarter (January-June). This was mentioned by the Minister of Agriculture Jabulani Mabuza in the ministrys first quarter performance report.

Growth

Mabuza said the objective was to achieve production growth of nine conventional vegetables from 3 650 metric tonnes (MT) in 2020/21 to 14 400 MT in 2024/25. We ensured that farmers were advised to plant the correct crop and volume and segmentation of farmer by geological location and commercialisation on potential was carried, he said. The minister also mentioned that 273 MT of vegetables was procured by Encabaneni Market from the 146 local farmers. When asked if the utilisations of local farmers had contributed to increased productivity, the minister said comparative to the 100 MT of vegetable productive targeted for the quarter, local production declined during this period. Climate conditions and high input costs, especially fertiliser, have had a significant impact on performance, he said.

The minister added that the overall wastage of production affected the supply to the market, which prompted them to train the 146 farmers on post-harvest handling and product quality specifications. He said they also negotiated delivery dates, arranged transport effectively, in-time collection of produce and correct storage facilities. The minister said the target was to reduce the wastage of fruits and conventional vegetables by 6 per cent and 15 per cent for baby vegetables. The rejection rate for conventional vegetables was 4 per cent in the quarter. The baby vegetable rejection rate was 18 per cent and collection schedules are coordinated weekly and reviewed daily by the market and extension officers, Mabuza said.

Rejection

The minister also mentioned that overall vegetable rejection had also declined for this quarter to 18 per cent; the previous quarter was at 24 per cent. Mabuza said this was mainly due to the training conducted to farmers to assists them with produce quality and post-harvest handling to reduce produce losses. NamBoard Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mandla Maziya afore urged farmers to focus more on scarce commodities. In an interview with the business desk last month, he said such commodities were easy to sell and could move at a fast rate, and they should check with NamBoard before production. Farmers should focus on scarce commodities because those products are on demand in the market and can be sold quicker, he said. Mabuza also mentioned that if farmers start producing the scarce products, they would make more profit due to the upscale in the movement of the produce in the market and they would decide the selling price.

Product

He said they could regulate the price if the product is in demand in the market. Siphephiso Mdlalose, one of the beneficiaries of the programme said being utilised by Namboard on contract basis had increase confidence in doing business with the governments parastatal. He said one of the challenges farmers had with Namboard was the unregulated price of produce which was low, forcing them to rely on black market. Mdlalose said they now negotiate prices with Namboard based on the market and demand of the produce. We were losing confidence in doing business with the entity because of their pricing which has now since changed because of the negotiation process, he said. The farmer added that they hoped government could review the price of produce especially scarce commodities.
Steve Burton is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Jason Morgan on General Hospital from 1991 to 2012 and 2017 to 2021, and Dylan McAvoy on The Young and the Restless from 2013 to 2017. He also voiced the character Cloud Strife in a wide range of Square Enix products, including Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and the Kingdom Hearts series. In 2017, Burton returned to General Hospital in the role of Jason Morgan using the alias of "Patient 6." In 2019, he also briefly stepped into the role of Jason's twin brother, Drew Cain in various flashbacks with Shiloh Archer.
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The official opening of the Matsapha Link shopping complex was indeed a great achievement for the African Alliance and its partners.

The business genius of Stofeni Ginindza cannot be denied. You may choose to like or hate him, but his contribution towards the development of the country speaks for itself. I am aware that most money managers generally prefer real estate development as a safe place to invest the monies they manage, but my case today if for manufacturing for the promotion of industrialisation.

Consumer nation

The kingdom, just like many countries in Africa, is a consumer. We tend not to invest much in production, yet we are talking industrialisation at every regional developmental forum including the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The opening of the Matsapha Link is yet another shopping complex designed for consuming products which are not manufactured in Eswatini but South Africa. If you were to take a survey as to how much of the produce we consume through Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Spar and others against how much is manufactured locally, you would be shocked.

We are a consumer nation, and this is serious given that the world has become interlinked through globalisation. This is great if you have something to sell to the world market.

The E4 billion announcement made by Ginindza, towards further development of Manzini and other areas, will most likely go towards more consumption projects. These big well-funded South Africa-based franchises basically kill local businesses. All indications are that they are encroaching into rural towns which were the last hope for emaSwati-owned businesses, given that Asian businesses are many in cities and towns.

Producer nation

We tend to be taken by the glamour and glittery of shopping complexes and not realise that we need to produce to have the money to go shopping and that money can only come through the production of the things we consume. As a small nation, globalisation offered us great opportunities given that we dont have a large domestic market; the world can be our market. The Republic of China (Taiwan) has vast experience in manufacturing but has not really shared this experience with Eswatini except the textile industry, which is great for employing emaSwati.

Eswatini has had some experience in the production of fridges through Fridge Master. This company grew very fast and was even listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, only to collapse when it became a threat to South African giants like Joshua Doore. These are the experiences we should be building upon as we now have the global market, not just South Africa but Africa and indeed the world. We could manufacture all types of home appliances for the world market. Our relationship with Taiwan must at least attract assembly plants for resale throughout Africa.

Iron ore mine reopening

The opening of the iron ore mine interests me greatly. His Majesty King Sobhuza II wanted to leave some of the iron ore for future generations. This is the future, and it would be a shame not to process the iron ore but again sell it raw. I can just hear someone saying yes, we should get into the car manufacturing industry  and I say NO. No country manufactures all the components of the car locally but buys them internationally; that is globalisation.

Engine block manufacturing

Imagine if the African Alliance were to team up with Mwelase Mining, the iron ore mining company, and invested the E4 billion in a steel making process to produce car components such as engine blocks for the international market. Iron is the most used industrial metal in the world, with steel production being the key driver of global iron ore demand. If we were just to specialise in manufacturing engine blocks for export, Eswatini would create jobs and sell in foreign currency, thus be a producer nation not a consumer nation. The opening of the coal mine would also help in the smelting and processing of the iron ore. We have an aluminum production company next door in Mozambique, which can be used to source raw material for aluminum engine blocks to complete the production line. This is just a random example of a car component that is vital to the multibillion Dollar car industry.

Steel

Steel materials are expected to account for almost 60 per cent of materials used in the production of a typical passenger vehicles by 2025. HSS (Hollow Structural Sections refers to high-strength welded steel tubing used as structural elements in buildings and other structures and a variety of manufactured products), mild steel, and advanced high strength steel sit at the top of the list of materials used in the manufacture of many products including cars.

Home appliances

We need to invest the billions in manufacturing; we need to generate hard currency. Taiwan is the key to our industrialisation and we cant be the only country in Africa with diplomatic relations and not have a microchip manufacturing company. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is generally considered to be the largest microchip manufacturer in the world. The world relies on Taiwan for its microchips otherwise also known as integrated circuits, or just chips  which power our phones, laptops, cars, watches, refrigerators and more.

Samsung (from South Korean, which was poorer than Zambia in 1965) is a world leader in producing home appliances and electronics with US$208.5 billion revenue. It also happens to be a top refrigerator company that produces various models including energy efficient smart refrigerators.

The 304 stainless is the most expensive typical of grades used by appliance stainless steel handle manufacturers. Eswatini can produce components (like steel handles) and sell them at cheaper rates to Samsung because we can produce in Emalangeni and sell in Dollars. Basically, we have to get into the international market and stop being a consumer nation as we will soon run out of buying power and the shopping malls will have no buyers. Comment septembereswatini@gmail.com.
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Russia's bombardment of Ukrainian towns and cities continued despite the Kremlin's announced pause in the assault, while concerns over energy scarcity continue to grow.
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MANZINI - There is a drug dealers paradise right in the city centre of Manzini and its target market includes pupils.

This was revealed by Ward III Councillor Bongani Shongwe during the Statutory Council Meeting for the Municipal Council of Manzini. The meeting was held last week and the committees and departments were reporting on the performance of May 2022. After the reports had been delivered, Shongwe, whose ward covers Fairview South, Fairview North and Helemisi, said during the month under review, he received a call from one of the police officers based at Manzini Police Station.

Concerned

He said the law enforcer was concerned with substance abuse which was taking place in the city centre, specifically near Siyabonga Bar and Mzimnene River, just beneath Manzini Bus Rank. He reported that according to the police officer, pupils were also found smoking drugs and drinking alcohol in the drug dens. He said the law enforcer told him that the drug dens were makeshift structures and some of them tents. The councillor added that the police officer said he was one of those who were deployed to crack down on the illegal activities which took place at that side of the city, including substance abuse, which affected even schoolgoing children. The law enforcer said he was forwarding the complaint to me because it was difficult to arrest the drug dealers, as there are people who are tasked to alert them when police officers are approaching, the councillor said.

He said these people spotted police officers coming from afar and tipped-off the drug dealers such that by the time they (police) arrived at the makeshift structures, they would not find anyone. Thereafter, he said the police officers concern was the useless makeshift structures, which accommodated the drug dealers and abusers. He said the proposal was that council should get rid of the makeshift structures. In response to the councillors submission, the Municipal Council of Manzini Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lungile Dlamini, said as a council, they were working hand-in-hand with the police, because the law to make arrests was national.

She said following the complaint, they would ensure that in their bilateral meetings, they asked the police to assist them regarding the matter. We are not happy with what we are hearing and we have to address it, the CEO said. It is worth noting that this is not the first time this publication reports on drugs being sold in the city centre. In previous reports, it was highlighted that drugs were sold within the Manzini Central Business District (CBD) and that at night the sellers also delivered to customers in night clubs, especially those located on the outskirts of the city. Some ratepayers suggested that maybe it was high time cities had municipal police to boost the city rangers in cracking down criminal activities, including the selling of drugs.
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MBABANE  Government is shutting down the Revenue Offices to make way for a takeover by the Eswatini Revenue Services (ERS).

This was proclaimed by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, during the debate of the Finance Ministrys first quarter performance report yesterday. This, the minister said, would happen soon. We are shutting down the Revenue Offices and ERS is taking over. We are aiming to absorb the staff into the ministry and trying to get officers transferred before considering retrenchments, said Rijkenberg.

The minister further said the matter of Swaziland Women Economic Empowerment (SWEET) could no longer be addressed by his office as it had now been referred to the security agencies.

He said this in response to a question on SWEET by Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini during the debate. It is difficult to conclude this matter as it has now been referred to security agencies. However, it requires time to recover the money belonging to emaSwati which was lost, said the minister. The Ndzingeni MP had also questioned the minister on the rehabilitation of tinkhundla centres after they were burnt down.

Request

The ministry is awaiting a request from the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development for the budget to fix the centres. However, cash is restricted but effort is being made to avail if need be, stated the minister. The minister further said in terms of the roads rehabilitation budget, the MR2 was on the list of roads which would be included in the budget.
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DENVER (AP)  People have a right protected by the First Amendment to film police while they work, a Western U.S. appeals court ruled Monday in a decision that concurs with decisions made by six of the nations other 12 appeals court.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruling came in the case of a YouTube journalist and blogger who claimed that a suburban Denver officer blocked him from recording a 2019 traffic stop. Citing decisions from the other courts over about two decades as well as First Amendment principles, the 10th Circuit said the right to record police was clearly established at the time and reinstated the lawsuit of the blogger, Abade Irizarry.

A three-judge panel from the court said that Mr. Irizarrys right to film the police falls squarely within the First Amendments core purposes to protect free and robust discussion of public affairs, hold government officials accountable, and check abuse of power.

While bystander video has played a vital role in uncovering examples of police misconduct in recent years, including in the killing of George Floyd, whether or not it is a right is still being determined in courts and debated by lawmakers.

The nation's five other appeals courts have not ruled yet on the right to record police and the U.S. Supreme Court would likely not get involved in the issue unless appeals courts were on opposite sides of the issue, said Alan Chen, a University of Denver law professor and one of the First Amendment experts also urged the appeals court to rule in favor of the right of people to record police.

Meanwhile, Arizonas Republican governor last week signed a law that makes it illegal to knowingly video record police officers 8 feet (2.5 meters) or closer without an officers permission.

In the Colorado case, a lower court had said there was a right to record police but did not think it was clearly established in 2019 so it blocked the officer from being sued because of the controversial legal doctrine called qualified immunity. It shields police officers from misconduct lawsuits unless lawyers can show that the officers were on notice that their actions violated the law at the time.

U.S. government lawyers intervened in Irizarry's appeal to support the publics right to record police in the 10th Circuit, which oversees four western and two midwestern states  Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah  as well as parts of Yellowstone National Park that lie in Idaho and Montana.

Irizarry's lawyer, Andrew Tutt, said the ruling will protect the right of every citizen under the court's jurisdiction to record police carrying out their duties.

Todays decision also adds to the consensus of authority on this important issue, bringing us a step closer to the day when this right is recognized and protected everywhere in the United States, he said.

In his lawsuit, Irizarry said he was filming a police traffic stop in the city of Lakewood when he claimed Officer Ahmed Yehia stood in front of the camera to block Irizarry from recording. The officer shined a flashlight into Irizarrys camera and the camera of another blogger. Then Yehia left the two, got into his cruiser and sped the cruiser toward the two bloggers, the lawsuit said. The cruiser swerved before reaching the bloggers and they were not hit, according to the lawsuit.

A telephone message left in the Lakewood city attorneys office, which represented Yehia, was not returned.

Even though the court said the right to record police existed in 2019, the ruling will mostly have an impact going forward since lawsuits for police misconduct must be brought within two or three years in most states, Chen said.
MBABANE  The Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), the mother body of trade unions which represents the countrys workforce, has reacted to the Prime Minister, Cleopas Sipho Dlaminis statement on the much envisaged national dialogue.

The PM recently said the dialogue was being delayed by violence. In fact, the union said it was illogical for government to say the alleged violence delayed the dialogue - while many other government sponsored activities were announced and were proceeding smoothly. The workers organisation is of the view that the envisaged dialogue is in actual fact intended to resolve the violence. As a follow-up to the prime ministers statement, this newspaper sought the organisations view on unions feelings and stand, taking into consideration that many people, especially the working class, still had grievances, hence they were most likely to continue staging protests actions which according to past experiences, ended up in violence.

Report

The premier, in his presentation of Public Service Office and Cabinets quarterly performance report, said it was time to stop the violence that had been going on in the country.

He said the violence and the killings were only derailing governments plan to host the much envisaged national event. Our view is that the envisaged dialogue is in actual fact intended to resolve the violence. It follows in our view that it can only be the dialogue that can resolve the violence, was the response by TUCOSWA Secretary General Mduduzi Gina yesterday.

He said it was important that the political dialogue be convened in haste as workers rights and the general publics freedom was suppressed under the veil of an alleged toxic political environment. Gina added: Fundamental rights and freedoms of workers including that of assembly, are currently banned. This is causing unnecessary tension in the labour sphere as workers cannot practise their constitutional rights to petition their employers and the government in their state capacity.

Players

The secretary general called upon government to honestly consider engaging all political players in an attempt to resolve the political conflict affecting the country. He said it was at such times that the acumen of political leadership was measured. Meanwhile, the Political Party Assembly, through the voice of its Chairperson Sibongile Mazibuko, is on record as having said the premiers recollection of events where violence was cited, burning of structures inclusive, was not accurate. She blamed government for employing delaying tactics to stall the dialogue process. Chairman of MSF Thulani Maseko, in a recent interview with our sister newspaper, Times of Eswatini Sunday, on another hand, said if the dialogue was held immediately, there would be no reason for some people to use violence.
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP)  A former New Mexico police officer charged with murder in a mans death during a 2020 struggle with officers didnt properly use a chokehold that gradually ended the mans life, a prosecutor told jurors Monday in opening statements at the ex-officers trial.

Las Cruces Officer Christopher Smelser had told investigators he had difficulty in applying the lateral vascular neck restraint on Antonio Valenzuela because Valenzuela kept tucking his chin, but he eventually carried out the maneuver by sliding his arm under Valenzuelas chin when he lifted his head.

A medical examiner concluded Valenzuela, who fled on foot from officers during a traffic stop, died from asphyxial injuries due to physical restraint - and that methamphetamine in his system was a contributing factor in his death.

The defendant knew that the way that he was doing it during the course of time before unconsciousness was rendered was not working, prosecutor Mark Probasco told jurors.

An attorney for Smelser said none of the earlier uses of force were effective in stopping Valenzuela from fighting.

The struggle grew from a traffic stop of a truck in which Valenzuela was a passenger. Valenzuela, who was wanted on a warrant for a probation violation, bolted from officers once he exited the truck.

When catching up with Valenzuela in a dirt lot next to a church, officers took him to the ground, struggled to handcuff him, struck him with their hands and shot at him with a Taser.

Then Smelser used the chokehold. Once Valenzuela stopped moving and was handcuffed, an officer put one of his knees on his back as Valenzuela lay on his stomach. Smelser then took the other officers place, putting a knee on Valenzuelas back.

At one point during the encounter, Smelser profanely told Valenzuela that he was going to choke you out, bro.

An autopsy report said Valenzuela had hemorrhaging in his eyes and eyelids, which is indicative of asphyxiation and may occur when the neck or chest is compressed. His neck had a deep muscle hemorrhage, his Adams apple was crushed and his ribs were fractured. There also was swelling in his brain.

Officers said they feared Valenzuela was trying to access a weapon when he reached toward one of the pockets on his pants, where police found an all-in-one plier set that contained a knife that folded out. The defense characterized it as a knife, while prosecutors called it a tool.

Smelsers attorney, Amy Orlando, described the struggle as a chaotic, explosive fight in which officers repeatedly urged Valenzuela to stop resisting. Orlando said the force used on Valenzuela before the chokehold didnt faze him.

Orlando said physical restraint alone didnt kill Valenzuela, explaining that the autopsy found he also experienced the toxic effects of methamphetamine use.

You cant take the meth out of the equation, Orlando said.

Valenzuelas death led to Smelsers termination and a settlement in which the city agreed to pay Valenzuelas family $6.5 million and ban the use of chokeholds by its police officers.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Prosecutors in Poland's capital questioned witnesses and gathered evidence Tuesday after a 31-year-old man allegedly placed what police have described as a projectile in a busy downtown area of Warsaw.

Investigators were awaiting an expert's opinion on the type and potential range of the explosive, according to Aleksandra Skrzyniarz, a spokesperson for the prosecutors office in central Warsaw.

Skrzyniarz gave no other details of the object the man allegedly took out of a backpack Monday and placed on the pavement a few blocks from the presidential palace and near the city's Old Town tourist area.

Over 300 people were participating in a commemorative march and rally for Polish victims massacred during World War II when the incident occurred.

Videos posted on YouTube of what appeared to be Monday's incident show a man with a backpack approach speakers at a rally with an object in his hand that looks like a rusty artillery shell. He puts the object on the pavement, and the speakers call for security and police.

The man is brought to the ground, and officers at the scene tell people to back away from the object, which a police bomb squad later removed. The police said Monday it was a potentially powerful explosive.

Prosecutors plan to question the suspect Wednesday, Skrzyniarz told The Associated Press.

He could face up to eight years in prison on charges of endangering the lives and health of many people with a potential explosion. The police say he is known to them.

Police initially described the situation as serious, but there was no explosion and there were no reports of anyone being hurt.
LOBAMBA  Members of Parliament (MPs) want government to lift the wearing of masks in public and emulate South Africa.

This was said during the Ministry of Health portfolio committee debate, which took place in Senate yesterday. Although the legislators did not outrightly state that the country should follow suit like South Africa, it is a known that the neighbouring country recently lifted the wearing of masks over a fortnight ago. First to make his submission on the removal of wearing of masks in public places was Manzini North MP Macford Sibandze, who put it to the House that it had been a norm that the kingdom emulated neighbouring countries such that they had been used to it. He said it was about two to three weeks since the neighbouring country lifted the wearing of masks in their country. Sibandze mentioned that most of the time when travelling at the airport, they were advised to remove masks.

Destination

However, he said they were warned to wear them when they got to the other part of certain destinations. So I think Cabinet, with the guidance of the minister, should hasten in this regard because we visit constituency centres timeously and we find that people in communities are being proactive, the majority is no longer wearing masks, the MP said. Sibandze implored the ministers guidance in ensuring the removal of wearing masks. On another note, the MP highlighted that the minister had explicitly stated in her preamble, that the core business of the ministry was quality health for all.

He pointed out that it was compromised by lack of medication in health facilities. Sibandze added that the lack of quality health predominantly affected the poorest in society. Motshane MP Robert Magongo said people were tired of masks. He said neighbouring countries had disregarded them and questioned why Eswatini shouldnt follow suit.
"The List" is PAPER's definitive roundup of the biggest fashion launches, capsules and collaborations of the month. Scroll through, below, to see July's newest arrivals.

Mr. Porter x Throwing Fits Courtesy of Mr. Porter James Harris and Lawrence Schlossman, founders of menswear podcast Throwing Fits (its tagline is "two grown dirtbags just tryna navigate the male zeitgeist"), have collaborated with Mr. Porter on a new capsule collection featuring 13 brands and over 70 pieces of clothing, shoes and accessories, all handpicked by the duo. There's also an edit of exclusive Throwing Fits merchandise. "Whether we've earned this privilege or it's simply karmic justice for a lifetime spent shopping and thinking more about men's clothing than anyone else on the planet is up to interpretation," the pair said of the partnership. "Either way, consider the bucket list checked. Finally garnering the respect of our friends and loved ones is just icing on the cake. Available now at Mr. Porter.com

Tommy Hilfiger Is Returning to NYFW After Three Years NYFW just got a big boost this season. Tommy Hilfiger will show its next see-now-buy-now collection on September 11 in New York City, its first show during New York Fashion Week in three years. It will also be live-streamed on Roblox with avatars dress in virtual pieces from the collection. "This season is all about the collision of my favorite archival inspirations with new live event concepts and virtual worlds," Hilfiger said. "Its the perfect expression of what we stand for as we pay homage to our roots with a return to NYFW."

Anyone Can Attend Diesel's Next Runway Show For the first time, Diesel is opening its upcoming Spring 2023 show to the public, inviting fashion enthusiasts, students, friends, and fans of the brand to attend. Registration to attend the live show in Milan is on a first come, first serve basis starting September 1 at Diesel.com.

Opening Ceremony Launches Collaboration With LUAR Courtesy of Opening Ceremony

New Luar bags just dropped! Well, in new colors anyway. The brand's popular It-bag, the Ana Mini, seen on everyone from Dua Lipa to Troye Sivan, is releasing two exclusive new colorways thanks to a collaboration with Opening Ceremony  ini tobacco pony hair-effect leather and black-and-cream snakeskin-embossed vegan leather. There's also a sweatshirt with artwork from Bony Ramirez's Feeding a Child of the Ocean." The collab is part of OC's 20th anniversary celebrations, which have included collabs with designer Peter Do and punk-rock band The Linda Lindas. Luar's Raul Lopez and OC's designers Humberto Leon and Carol Lim go way back, when the retailer first stocked Hood by Air (which Lopez co-founded) and then Luar. When I started to take my first steps as a designer, OC was the first store to believe in me and support me, Lopez said. OC will forever be family to me.'' Available starting July 12 at OpeningCeremony.com and Farfetch.com

Acne Studios Musubi Bag Campaign by Talia Chetrit Photography: Talia Chetrit/ Courtesy of Acne Studios

Acne Studios tapped New York-based photographer Talia Chetrit, known for her still lifes and nude portraiture, to shoot a new campaign for their Musubi bag. She shot the bags on male dancers bodies which she chose because they resembled the figurative qualities in the bags.

Eckhaus Latta Launches Shoe Collection Courtesy of Eckhaus Latta/ Thomas McCarthy

Eckhaus Latta's first footwear collection, first seen on the brand's Fall 2022 runway, is here and features a mix of silhouettes (all made in Portugal), heel shapes and colors including the Mike boot and Zoe clog. The range builds upon previous collaborations with UGG and Camper Available now at EckhausLatta.com, Farfetch and Nordstrom

Givenchy Launches 101 Dalmations Capsule Courtesy of Givenchy
The Philippine Postal Corporation (Post Office) has partnered with UBX, an open finance platform in the Philippines, to launch Kasama Lahat, a capacity development project which will transform the Post Office into a modern hub that offers financial and data services for everyone in the community.

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Postmaster General Norman Fulgencio and UBX president John Januzczak signed the agreement on July 7 that will transform each post office outlet into community financial centers, promoting financial inclusion, especially in remote areas of the country.

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The Post Office Digital Innovation signifies the commitment and support of the Post Office especially under the new administration of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr in serving the public who deserve no less than the best postal service by global standards, said Fulgencio.

Under the partnership, UBX will provide the necessary technical knowledge in digital finance and open finance to hasten the Post Offices digital transformation journey. Through the Bangko sa Barangay Service of UBX, the Post Office will be able to transform its 1,300 outlets nationwide into financial hubs, offering various types of services such as disbursements, fund transfers, cash withdrawals, loan applications, payments, insurance, and collections, among others.

This groundbreaking partnership with the Post Office reflects our strong commitment to include everyone into the countrys financial system. With its reach and data, the Post Office has the power to drive financial and social inclusion through its digital transformation initiative, Januzczak commented.

The partnership will also empower postmen or letter carriers to become cash agents. They will be trained to provide guidance on how to apply for financial products and services, as well as to supervise the provision of these services.

In the long term, Kasama Lahat aims to establish the Post Office as Open Finance Hubs, which can process data transactions as well, such as validation of customer information for loan applications, asset validation, and even collection or debt restructuring services.

Since it was established in 2019, i2i, an open finance and payments platform, has been connecting institutions, including micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) into the countrys financial ecosystems. Now with thousands of agents and hundreds of financial institutions, it provides fund transfers, bills payments, mobile ATM, insurance and loan services which anyone can access in various banks and merchant locations nationwide.

Millions of Filipinos have been integrated into digital finance through i2i, paving the way forward to the future of open finance. Its Bangko sa Barangay service, which was launched in July of last year, turned branch networks and agent pools to become financial service providers in their communities capable of providing financial and data transactions.

These services, under Kasama Lahat, aim to transform the Post Office by putting customers to the fore through creating and innovating products and services to meet their demands, shifting the agency to a sustainable business culture, reviewing and proposing amendments to the Post Office Charter (RA 7354), and overall contributing to social inclusion in the Philippines.

With this partnership, the Post Office will also be able to establish a product line which will establish its financial independence from the budget provisioned by the government, giving the postal agency a more sustainable business culture. The profit margins will also allow it to continue its vision of modernization.

Our digital transformation journey, powered by UBX, allows us to diversify our services beyond the Filipino peoples postal needs. With our network of over 1,300 outlets and more than 3,500 postmen, we are in a unique position to provide financial services that promote both financial and social inclusion in the country, continued Fulgencio.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) shows that 47% of Filipino adults are still unbanked. The government aims to include at least 70% of Filipino adults to the countrys financial system by 2023.

The challenge for both the public and private sectors to drive financial inclusion is daunting and it requires a strong sense of commitment and partnership to achieve this. Our partnership with the Post Office is just an example of meaningful ways to bring financial services closer to Filipinos, Januszczak added.
Photo: (Photo : Image by JUNO KWON from Pixabay )

Every parent's worst nightmare is getting a phone call that your kid has suddenly gone missing. That is exactly what happened to Georgia mom Monica Gilliam, who shared her anger and frustrations with American Airlines in a phone interview Fox News Digital.

The 39-year-old said she had that scary experience about a week ago after dropping off her 12-year-old daughter at an American Airlines gate inside Chattanooga Airport. Gilliam said her child was flying solo down to Miami, Florida from the Chattanooga airport in Tennessee for a three-week visit with her dad.

According to Gilliam, she paid $150 dollars extra, in addition to the ticket price, to make sure her kid would be escorted directly to her waiting father once the plane landed in Miami, under the "unaccompanied minors" program of American Airlines.

Gilliam's rant goes viral on TikTok

Gilliam, who is a mom of four and professional photographer from Chicamauga, Georgia, posted a video on social media platform TikTok last Saturday, detailing what happened next. She said that almost an hour after her daughter's flight landed, she got a call from an American Airlines manager in Miami, who said that her child is missing and that they have shut down the terminal but they don't know where she is.

Gilliam's video quickly went viral on TikTok, amassing more than 1.8 million views. She said that the trip began smoothly enough for her daughter. Her child was scheduled to depart on a 6 a.m. flight from Chatanooga, so they arrived early at the airport to check the girl in as an unaccompanied minor with the airline.

She said that they gave her a lanyard for her child to wear around her neck and it has got all of the kid's information inside it. That includes her boarding pass, which lets everybody know that her child is not traveling with an adult.

Read Also: Bridgeport Mom Accused of Leaving Toddlers in Hot Car to Get Her Nails Done Granted Court Delay

Airline loses track of unaccompanied minor

After having breakfast at the airport, her daughter was taken by a flight attendant to the aircraft and got her boarded first. Gilliam said that is what they are supposed to do with an unaccompanied minor.

She said she stayed until the plane took off. Gilliam left the airport not thinking that anything was going to go wrong with her child. Unfortunately for her, that was not the case at all. Gilliam said she received a call from her ex-husband two hours later. She knew something was amiss when he told her that she was not going to believe what happened.

According to Gilliam, the flight attendants just waved at her daughter once she deplaned instead of keeping her there as she has an unaccompanied minor lanyard around her neck. American Airlines' guidelines posted on its website say that unaccompanied minor service is mandatory for kids ages 5 to 14 who are traveling alone, as is a guardian contact and a mandatory gate escort.

Gilliam shared that her daughter did not know what to do after leaving the plane so she kept on walking. She added that her child was trying to get ahold of her father through her cell phone. Her ex-husband was in line for his gate pass when he got a text from their kid. He said that he is just going to stand still and if she is comfortable reading the signs, he is going to try to get his daughter to him as quickly as possible.

That is what the father and daughter did and to Gilliam's relief, she did make it to him, confirming that her child made it safely to her dad at the Miami airport.

Related Article: New Jersey Mom Shocked After Autopsy Shows Son's Treatment During Navy Seal Hell Week Training
Photo: (Photo :  /Pixabay)

A Texas mom will face the next eight years without contact with her child after she was convicted of causing harm and injury to her son due to a case of suspected Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Sarah Melgar, 22, was arrested in 2021 because she had lied to doctors about her baby's medical issues. She subjected her son, who was born in the fall of 2020, to various procedures that turned out to be unnecessary within a month of his birth.

Among these procedures included a series of spinal taps, which required needle insertion on her son's vertebrae to determine sepsis. The mom also apparently told family members that her baby had a hearing issue, heart defect, and Down syndrome, per Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

In March 2021, a caseworker from Child Protection Service suspected that the mother was faking her baby's illness when she brought him to the Cook Children's Medical Center and complained that the baby would vomit the food given to him. The hospital staff saw red flags when Melgar gave inconsistent and conflicting accounts of the baby's alleged illness compared to their own interaction with the patient. The staff didn't have problems with the baby's feeding but noticed the mother incorrectly giving the bottle to her son.

By April of that same year, her baby was placed under the care of his great-grandparents and was thriving better without any medical episodes. This led authorities to investigate the mother for suspected Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Read Also: Vegan Florida Mom Convicted of First-Degree Murder for Feeding Toddler Just Fruits and Vegetables

What is suspected Munchausen Syndrome by proxy?

Someone who routinely claims fake medical symptoms for a child or adult they are looking after may suffer from mental health disorder called suspected Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The condition is classified under "factitious disorder imposed on another" (FDIA) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

According to Mayo Clinic, a person with suspected Munchausen syndrome by proxy may be aware of the risks they bring upon their ward but they cannot control their behavior and will not likely think they need medical help as well. There are several factors that could trigger this mental health disorder including trauma from childhood, personality disorder, stress, and depression.

Though FDIA is considered a rare disorder, most cases are not easily identified by medical workers unless they are trained to spot the condition. Unfortunately, the mortality rate for victims of FDIA is high thus the court sees this as a form of abuse.

Tarrant County Detective Michael Weber worked on Melgar's case and interviewed family members who realize she may be faking her baby's symptoms to draw attention. However, the mother isn't facing any criminal liabilities because it's difficult to prove the case as criminal persecution.

The judge granted the mom deferred adjudication, which means that her record with the police could be wiped out after she serves her community supervision.

Daughter's death sparks changes in Colorado

Meanwhile, in Colorado, the conviction against a mother with suspected Munchausen Syndrome by proxy has resulted in state lawmakers creating measures to improve the reporting of cases of potential child abuse in children in the wake of the death of Olivia Gant, 7, under the care of her mother, Kelly Turner.

Turner, who has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, faked her daughter's illness for nearly five years, resulting in the child's eventual demise. The child's grandparents also sued the Children's Hospital Colorado for failing to notice that something was wrong with Turner's claims.

According to The Denver Post, Gov. Jared Polis signed the law that will establish a 34-member task force to ensure that a proper system is in place to prevent more deaths because of carers who claim fake illnesses. The task force is expected to produce reports on their recommendations by January 2024 and January 2025.

The child's extended family welcomes the initiative and hopes that critical policies, education, training, and legal stipulations will be in place after the task force's work.

Related Article: Colorado Mom Kelly Turner, Who Faked Daughter's Illness, Admits Guilt Over Her Death
Photo: (Photo : Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay )

An inquest jury found that two Seattle police officers were justified in fatally shooting a mentally unstable, pregnant, Black mom of four kids inside her apartment when she menaced them with knives back in 2017, NBC News reported.

The six King County coroner's inquest jurors unanimously determined that officers Steven McNew and Jason Anderson, who are both white, had no reasonable alternative to using deadly force. The findings drew an angry outburst from the father of Charleena Lyles, who shouted profanities at the officers, yelling, "You killed my daughter!"

The officers testified during the inquest that Lyles, who had previously threatened other officers with shears and spoke of morphing into a wolf, had been calmly speaking with them after calling to report a purported burglary when she suddenly lunged at one of them with a knife.

King County prosecutor says Lyles' death is a tragedy

As the officers drew their weapons on Lyles, she yelled "Do it!" and cursed at them. The officers repeatedly yelled for the mom to get back before firing, hitting Lyles seven times. According to the Seattle Times, the jury found that even if the officers had a Taser during their encounter with Lyles, it would not have been an effective or appropriate option as she advanced on them in the close confines of her apartment.

The officers recalled in an emotional testimony that Lyles' crying baby crawled over and climbed on top of her as she died. Her son also came out of the bedroom and told them, in tears, "You shot my mother."

Lyles was 15 weeks pregnant at the time of her death. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg issued a statement, saying that he would review the evidence presented at the inquest as well as the findings in deciding whether to press charges against the officers.

He added that Charleena Lyles' death is a tragedy and details of the incident shared at the inquest are heartbreaking. Her death unleashed a storm of public protest in Seattle and has been held up by advocates of police reforms as demonstrating institutional racism by law enforcement and unnecessary police violence.

Read Also: DA Says Nevada Man's DNA Linked to 1982 Murder of 5-year-old California Girl

Family members ask why officers did not use nonlethal methods on Lyles

Family members questioned why the police officers, who had been trained to deal with people showing signs of mental illness or other behavior crises, did not use nonlethal methods to subdue Lyles. Anderson did not have his Taser with him during the encounter, with the officer claiming that the battery was dead. Anderson was later suspended for two days without pay for his violation of department policy.

Under questioning from Karen Koehler, the family's lawyer, a Seattle police detective who helped review Lyles' shooting acknowledged that the officers had made no plan for dealing with her aside from not allowing the mother to get behind them.

Lyles' family settled a civil lawsuit against the officers and the Seattle Police Department for $3.5 million last year, according to King 5.

Related Article: WNBA Star Maya Moore is Now a Mom; Has Baby With Husband She Helped Free From Prison
Photo: (Photo : Luiz Rogerio Nunes/Unsplash)

A teenager incorrectly diagnosed with tonsillitis died within weeks after doctors determined that she was suffering from a rare type of blood disorder.

Leah Rogers, 17, was excited to have her very first holiday in Majorca, Spain without the adults but shortly after coming home from that trip, the teenager fell ill and was diagnosed with tonsillitis because she had a had time swallowing her food. Doctors prescribed antibiotics for the discomfort in Rogers' throat but this did not resolve her medical issues.

After going back and forth for more check-ups and tests, the doctors said that Rogers had glandular fever, which meant her condition will clear on its own. However, the teenager soon experienced liver failure and had to be hospitalized.

She was later moved to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham when her condition deteriorated. There, doctors determined that Rogers was actually suffering from hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a rare blood disorder, per Daily Record.

Read Also: Teenage Cancer Survivors Become Parents Together; They Thought Chemotherapy Affected Their Fertility

Rogers family cannot comprehend her illness

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis or HLH commonly affects children who may have likely inherited the disease. However, it may be triggered in adults due to an infection or an illness like cancer.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, HLH brings down the body's immune system as the white blood cells attack other blood cells. Its symptoms may include fever, enlargement of the liver and spleen, swollen lymph nodes, jaundice, skin rashes, lung problems, and nervous and digestive systems.

Since the condition is quite rare, doctors are still learning about HLH. Treatment will also depend on the case, the patient's age, and the severity of the symptoms. Some cases may need cancer drugs while other cases may require immunotherapy and steroids. There are other cases that need milder treatments like antibiotics or antiviral drugs.

However, Rogers' health spiraled faster than anyone can imagine. After her liver failure, she was placed in intensive care and had to be ventilated. She died within hours of her hospital transfer on June 7, 2022.

The teenager's family said they could not understand what had happened to her. Her friends are also devastated about her sudden death. Those who knew her described Rogers as an intelligent young woman who was passionate about life. She was regarded as the dependable and caring mother of her group. She had a fantastic sense of humor and was a charismatic teenager.

"We all just can't comprehend it," Rogers' father said. "We all think this is just a bad dream that one day we can wake up from and she will be there."

Raising Awareness for HLH

Friends and family members have come up with a fundraiser via JustGiving to help raise awareness for HLH. The money collected will go to HistoUK, a charity that conducts research on hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Rogers was supposed to celebrate her 18th birthday in September. Instead, her family will run a charity event in her honor. Their small community has also been helping out with funeral arrangements.

The family also made it clear that they know and acknowledge the local hospitals that did everything to help the teenager. Rogers' loved ones were able to say their final goodbyes before she died of multiple organ failure due to the HLH.

"There was nothing more hospital staff could do to save Leah and it was time to let her go," the family said.

Related Article: Teen Dies 5 Days After Leukemia Diagnosis as Doctors Dismissed Symptoms
Photo: (Photo : fancycrave1 from Pixabay )

A heartless mom has reportedly been arrested in Russia for selling her newborn baby to pay for a $3,600 nose job. The Daily Star reported that the 33-year-old woman, whose name has not been disclosed by Russian media, was taken into custody in late May by authorities on suspicion of human trafficking.

The mother is said to have given birth to a baby boy at a hospital in the southern city of Kaspiysk on April 25, before selling the infant just five days later to a local couple who wanted to become parents.

According to a statement obtained by Newsflash from Russian officials, the ruthless mom met with a local resident and agreed to hand over her newborn son, who was in a state of helplessness, for a reward of $3,200 USD (200,000 rubles).

Mom waived rights to her son in exchange for cash

She allegedly issued the new parents a waiver for the rights to the boy on the day she handed the child over. She received a small upfront payment of $360 USD in return for that waiver. The woman is believed to have received the rest of the cash less than four weeks later, on May 26, but cops were tipped off a short time later about the illegal activity.

It is still unclear who contacted the police, but the mother was quickly taken into custody, along with the couple who illegally adopted the newborn child, according to the New York Post. The new parents reportedly told investigators that the woman gave them the tot and his birth certificate, but denied paying directly for the baby.

Read Also: Bridgeport Mom Accused of Leaving Toddlers in Hot Car to Get Her Nails Done Granted Court Delay

Russian mom wanted cash for nose job

The pair said the mom subsequently asked for $3,200 USD for the cost of a rhinoplasty for better breathing and they were happy to oblige. The mother was pictured posing in a police photo taken after her arrest and it appears she did not manage to have her nose job before cops caught up with her.

The official Russian statement purportedly read that a series of investigative actions is currently being carried out, aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime committed and consolidating evidence of the suspect's guilt.

Officials further stated that the mom is suspected of committing a crime under paragraph 'h' of Part 2 of Article 127.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which is the purchase and sale committed in relation to a person who is in a state of helplessness, known to the guilty person.

The woman who paid for the infant was also pictured in a police photo. She can be seen cradling the young child in the snap. It is still unclear what charges she and her partner may be slapped with by police. Meanwhile, officials have not disclosed who is currently caring for the young tot, who is now two months old.

Related Article: New Jersey Mom Shocked After Autopsy Shows Son's Treatment During Navy Seal Hell Week Training
MBABANE  Arrest the lawyer and his relatives who concealed evidence.

This statement was made by Save the Children Fund, following reports of a well-known attorney, who allegedly sexually violated four of his own children, his niece and a domestic helper. The lawyer is alleged to have impregnated the children and forced them to use abortion tablets. Two of the minors and his helper gave birth, allegedly to his children. One of the abused children told the police that she tried to commit suicide several times, while another was removed from the lawyers homestead to a place of safety.

Relatives

Advocacy and Communication Officer at Save the Children Fund, Lusito Tsela, said the relatives who did not report the abuse despite being aware of what was happening to the minors, should be charged under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act 15/2018. Tsela said as an organisation, they were appealing for the law to take its course. If anyone commits a crime, regardless of their position, the law should take its course and they should answer for all their crimes. He said it was painful that not only the abused children had suffered, but other people as well. Tsela said the police should speed up their investigations and ensure that the perpetrator was put behind bars where he belonged.

Survivors

Further, he said the survivors also needed to get assistance in terms of therapy. According to Tsela, once a crime was reported to the police, it became of interest to the State and police needed to follow it up until the end. The police should do their job and the perpetrator be arrested, he said. He alleged that the lawyer had violated the rights of the children and also the laws of the country that sought to protect minors. When questioned why the lawyer was not arrested for such a serious crime, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Phila Dlamini, said the case file was received by his office last week and assured that the law would take its course. Once all the evidence is before us, the law will take its course without fear or favour, said the DPP. This, he said, was an assurance to the nation.

However, Dlamini said in cases of a sexual nature, courts were required to treat them with caution. This, he said, was due to the fact that some people were dishonest. The DPP stated that in this case, his office was still consulting with the Sexual and Domestic Violence Unit under the Royal Eswatini Police Services (REPS), to make sure that when they decided to take a step, it was the right one. He said people might blame his office for delaying justice, yet the case was received last week by his office. It is the police who could explain what had caused the delay and not us, stated the DPP. Dlamini said police had informed him that there was consultation between the police and the DPPs Office, since the case was reported them, although they could not explain to the public about the delay.

Meanwhile, when explaining the delay, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said they were still investigating. Vilakati said a suspect was arrested following conclusive investigations, which implicated them to a crime and if they were sure of a conviction, working with the DPPs Office. Deputy Prime Ministers Office Communications Officer Mihla Khumalo requested to be given time to familiarise himself with the matter before responding. He had been asked why the survivors were not rescued in time.
Photo: (Photo : Pixabay)

A Pensacola mom has filed a lawsuit against baby formula company Abbott Laboratories, Inc. Kelli Green said that her newborn daughter caught Salmonella from the company's contaminated formula and was hospitalized, according to the mom's attorney.

Green claimed that Abbott made her daughter sick and that one of the company's sealed baby formula containers had a bug in it. Green's lawsuit alleged that after her daughter drank the formula, she started to experience symptoms of Salmonella, including severe diaper rash, loss of appetite, and bloody stool.

According to Green, her daughter has ongoing ear issues because of it, which led to her hospitalization in June 2022. The physician was unable to treat the ear problems of Green's young girl due to the Salmonella infection, according to WKRG. She alleged in the lawsuit that Abbott knew their product was contaminated and they continued to sell it.

Many lawsuits filed against Abbott since company recalled baby formula

Green said that she entrusted Abbott to produce safe baby formula that would help her infant grow and remain as healthy as she was the day she was born. What happened instead, according to Green, is that she and countless other American families was burdened with not only the heartache and helplessness that comes along with having a sick child but overwhelming anger at how Abbott deceived their families and profited from formula contaminated by deadly bacteria.

Many lawsuits have been filed against Abbott after they recalled baby formula and had to shut down their plant in Sturgis, Michigan, which contributed to the baby formula shortage that occurred in the United States.

A whistleblower claimed in February 2021 that Abbott had purposely covered up dirty and dangerous conditions by producing fake records and hiding information from inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to CNN.

Read Also: Abbott's Michigan Plant Finally Resumes Baby Formula Production After Shutdown Due to Flooding

Abbott's Michigan plant under the microscope

Abbott is one of the four companies in the United States controlling roughly 90 percent of the multibillion-dollar infant formula market. Abbott recalled baby formula products in February after a bacterial contamination was found in infants who consumed the formula.

Two infants died and two became sick after consuming formula manufactured at the Michigan plant, though Abbott states their illnesses did not come from its products. The plant closure contributed to a nationwide shortage of baby formula that has prompted several efforts from the Biden administration, including working to import formula from other countries and using the Defense Production Act to speed up formula production.

The Michigan facility, which is also known for manufacturing Abbott's leading brand Similac, is the company's largest baby formula facility in the United States. After being closed for months, the plant reopened on June 4 but was hit by flooding just nine days later.

Baby formula production resumed at the Michigan factory on July 1 after heavy rains forced the plant to temporarily shut down in mid-June, according to NPR.

Related Article: Biden Administration Wants Overseas Producers to Continue Supplying Baby Formula to the US
Gradiant, a global solutions provider and developer for cleantech water, said it has acquired WaterPark Environment Corp (WaterPark), a design and construction firm based in Taiwan focused on water technologies for advanced manufacturing in the high tech industries of semiconductor and microelectronics.

Announcing the strategic move, Gradiant said the acquisition strengthens its portfolio of proprietary technologies and applications expertise in industrial water, specifically high-rate biological wastewater, advanced oxidation, and ultrapure water.

Gradiants full range of technologies and end-to-end solutions will also become accessible to the leading manufacturers of Taiwans advanced industries that WaterPark serves.

Existing semiconductor and microelectronics clients of the combined business include the worlds most established brands such as Global Foundries, Micron, Intel, TSMC, UMC, AUO, and Chimei.

On its key partnership, Chief Operating Officer Prakash Govindan said: "It will help semiconductor and other advanced industries achieve the purest water at the highest yield while meeting environmental discharge limits and recovering precious resources that would have otherwise been wasted."

"For global industries under pressure from the supply chain shortage, climate change, and rising material costs, our technology innovations are essential to meet business needs for operational continuity, sustainability, and cost," stated Govindan.

"We are experiencing a prolonged global shortage of semiconductors that are required to control everything from automobiles to smartphones to appliances. As the semiconductor shortage persists, manufacturers face increasingly greater pressure to adopt sustainable and efficient practices in their water operations," he added.

WaterPark Chairman Huey-Song You said Taiwan leads the world in regulating industrial water reuse and wastewater discharge. The island is the worlds centre for semiconductor manufacturing and currently holds 65% of the global market share."

"Driven by strategic interests for risk management in the supply chain and self-sufficiency, semiconductor manufacturing is extending to new regions that are leveraging Taiwans best practices in water management in their production," noted Song You.

WaterPark is a spin-off from ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) and since its inception in 1973, its proprietary technologies solve the range of water challenges of industrial clients throughout Asia Pacific using advanced biological, chemical, and physical processes.

"Combining our proprietary technologies and industry expertise with Gradiants total water and digital solutions, we will help advanced manufacturing facilities worldwide best manage their water," he added.

Gradiant was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to deploy sustainable water treatment solutions. Today, with 450 employees, it operates from the global HQ in Boston, regional HQ and global technology labs in Singapore and offices in 12 countries.-TradeArabia News Service
The Sanitation and Pollution Levy of 10Gp per litre on petroleum products has accrued more than GH196.5 million as of the end of May this year, 15 months into its introduction.



The Provost of the College of Education at the University of Ghana, Professor Martin Oteng-Ababio, said notwithstanding the inflow, there was a bleak future for the country's sanitation sector due to policy failures over the years.



For instance, he observed that although the government introduced 10 percent Environmental Excise Tax (EET) on plastic manufacturers earlier in 2011 to mobilize funds to curb the plastic menace, there was no reliable information on how much had accrued to the fund and how it had been utilized to tackle the plastic menace.



The sanitation levy is targeted at raising funds for investment in sanitation sector infrastructure.



Prof. Oteng-Ababio made the observations during an inaugural lecture at the University of Ghana, Legon, dubbed: "Double standards, single purpose: deconstructing the fence wall for sustainable municipal waste management".



Tracing the historical path of Ghanas waste management systems from the colonial era till date while providing critical review of policy options, Prof. Oteng-Ababio said although there were over 136 waste policies in the country, those policies were largely "inappropriate, misplaced, irrelevant and harmful," stressing that most of them were politically skewed.



"I consult for most of the big companies in the sanitation and waste management space. Anytime there is a change in government, they shiver because if you invest in waste management equipment and there are political issues, you are in trouble," he said.



He also examined how waste, in its diverse forms, had been defined, conceptualised, produced and managed in contemporary urban environments and across different cultural practices.



The lecture was anchored on the position that managing municipal waste was inextricably linked to the rate of urban growth, the level of development, climate change dynamics and the prospect of promoting human-centered and environmentally friendlier management futures.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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Workers of Hollard Ghana, with subsidiaries Hollard Insurance and Hollard Life, fondly called Hollardites, last Tuesday, June 28, hit the streets of Accra, Tema, Kumasi, Sunyani, Takoradi, and Tamale to mark the National Insurance Awareness Day.



National Insurance Awareness Day is a day designated annually to increase insurance awareness worldwide. To celebrate the day, Hollardites took to the streets of significant lorry parks and market centres to engage people about the essence of insurance. The visit included 37 Lorry Station, Tema Community One Lorry Station, Sunyani Central Lorry Station, Takoradi Kwesimintsim Taxi Station, Tamale GPRTU Central Station In Shaa Allah, and Harper Road Adum through to the Komfo Anokye stretch.



Speaking on the motivation for the market storm, Group Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Cynthia Ofori- Dwumfuo said:



Every June, in line with global convention, we celebrate Insurance Month at Hollard culminating in World Insurance Awareness Day on June 28th. We dedicate the month to continuous education on the importance of financial literacy within our communities as seen via the nationwide market storms we organised.



At Hollard, we believe in enabling more people to create and secure a better future. So, through these community-focused public engagements, we are helping to make insurance less daunting and more a part of our daily lives. Little by little, we will increase insurance penetration in the country, she added.



The Chairman of 37 Trotro Station, Mr James Addo, urged drivers and passengers to take advantage of insurance policies for a secure future. He also congratulated the management of Hollard Ghana for their initiative to educate the drivers on the need for insurance to lessen their financial burden during unforeseen circumstances.



About Hollard Ghana



The country's favourite insurance group is Hollard Ghana, with subsidiaries Hollard Insurance and Hollard Life Assurance. The group combines its deep local knowledge of the market, having operated in Ghana for 25 years as Metropolitan Insurance with the world-class expertise of an international insurance brand in 18 countries worldwide. With feet firmly planted on Ghanaian soil but headquartered in South Africa, Hollard delivers innovative insurance solutions customised to the unique risks Ghanaians face. Hollard through its subsidiaries offer various life and general insurance products, including funeral, personal accident, motor, business, travel, home, and more, and can be reached via the following means: 0501603967 (Hollard Insurance) and 0501533698 (Hollard Life). Beyond various nationwide office branches and Hollard 2U franchise shops, Ghanaians can find Hollard at Shell Fuel Station Welcome Shops, Melcom stores and online at www.hollard.com.gh and www.jumia.com.gh for all their insurance needs.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Seven people were killed and two injured in an explosion in northern Togo on Saturday night, the army said in a statement late on Sunday.



The victims were all between the ages of 14 and 18, said a medical source at the regional hospital in Dapaong, who asked not to be named.



The explosion occurred in the village of Margba, in the northern Savanes region where Togo declared a state of emergency last month due to rising insecurity.



In May, eight soldiers were killed in the same region in what was thought to be the first deadly spillover of Islamist violence from neighbouring Burkina Faso, where groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State wage frequent attacks. read more



Local media reported that the young people were returning home at night from celebrations of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha when they were killed.



The army did not say whether militant activity was suspected.



"An investigation has been opened to clarify the circumstances of this explosion and identify the perpetrators," said the statement by army chief Dadja Maganawe.

Source: Reuters









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The Ghana National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) says it is not calling its indefinite strike until government makes a tangible proposal to their demands.



The decision by NAGRAT to continue its ongoing strike comes on the back of an appeal by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to NAGRAT and three other teacher unions to call off the strike action declared last Monday.



NAGRATs gender coordinator, Rebecca Ocran Abaidoo, speaking JoyNews said the association appreciates government's invitation to the negotiation table but will not call off the strike.



We are hopeful that we would have something tangible to send to our rank and file so that we would call off the strike. (But) We are still on strike and we have not called off the strike, she said.



She added that there was the need for broader consultation between members and leadership of NAGRAT before the presidents request may be considered.



We have heard His Excellency but we need to consult our rank and file, she said.



All four pre-tertiary teacher unions on Monday, July 4, 2022, declared a nationwide strike over governments failure to meet their demand for a 20% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).



But speaking this years Ed-Ul-Adha national prayers, President Akufo-Addo pleaded with the teacher unions to call off their strike pending the outcome of ongoing negotiations.



According to the president, government finds itself in a difficult place as a result of the current economic crisis confronting the country.



The president, therefore, used the opportunity to appeal to citizens to make some sacrifices to help government weather the storm.







Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Professor Peter Quartey, Director, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana has called for the review of the Government free Senior High (SHS) policy, stating that the initiative was not sustainable.



From time to time, I have supported the review of the policy and I dont subscribe to the Government paying for tuition and boarding fees for everybody.



I think parents should be allowed to pay for boarding, there should be a cost-sharing mechanism for the state and the parents, he said.



Prof Quartey in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the policy was faced with challenges of funding and shortages of foodstuffs, stressing that allowing review of the policy would address these bottlenecks.



Educating the people is one of the priorities of the Government that I strongly support. I am an advocate for free SHS, but not in its current form because it is not sustainable for the countrys revenue strength, he said.



He stated that where the country had reached, there was the need for some revision to be undertaken to sustain the policy and ensure quality education and as well run the school better looking at the countrys finances, the country cannot continue subsidizing everybody.



There are day schools around, many of us attended day School which did not prevent us from achieving our future aim, there are a lot of day Schools around for students who cannot afford the boarding fees, saying where it is practically impossible then the scholarship Secretariat can offer scholarships to selected students who deserved, he said.



The Government, he said, could use part of the free SHS money to support productive areas where the country needed the money most.



The Professor said the free SHS had in a way affected the quality of education because the schools were not getting enough funding to run the schools, stressing that the country needed to streamline the whole process from the contact hours to the double-track system.



He said government funding to education declined or suffered over a decade and not only during the free SHS, calling on governments to prioritize education for sustainable socio-economic development.



Prof Quartey called on authorities to ensure strict supervision in the public schools even though they have trained teachers but the students performed poorly compared to the private schools.







Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has confirmed he will resign, the prime minister's office has said after tens of thousands of protesters stormed the official residences of both men.



Sri Lanka is in a deep financial crisis and the crowds say they won't leave until both men quit their posts.



The parliament Speaker had earlier said the president would resign on 13 July.



Mr Rajapaksa, whose whereabouts are unknown, has not spoken publicly since his residence was stormed on Saturday.



Sources have told the BBC he is on a navy vessel in Sri Lankan waters. He was moved to safety before protesters entered the presidential palace.



The president has been blamed for the country's economic mismanagement, which has caused dire shortages of food, fuel and medicine for months. His resignation was first announced by the Parliament Speaker on Saturday, but many Sri Lankans responded with scepticism to the idea that he would relinquish power.



On Monday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said in a statement it had been informed by Mr Rajapaksa that he would step down on Wednesday.



But under Sri Lanka's constitution, his resignation can only formally be accepted when he resigns by letter to the Speaker - which has yet to happen.



Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had earlier also said he would step down from his position. His house was set on fire during Saturday's unrest.

Source: BBC









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Former Ghanaian Ambassador at Large, Dr Kofi Amoah, said he largely failed to achieve the objectives of his role as ambassador and presidential advisor due to administrative and bureaucratic inefficiencies at the presidency.



A seasoned Ghanaian businessman, Dr Kofi Amoah was appointed an Ambassador at Large in the first term government of President Akufo-Addo.



In an interview with GhanaWeb, the businessman said despite the excitement with which he received the honour to serve his country, he failed to achieve the mandate of his office.



I was appointed by the President as an Ambassador-at-large to use my vast global contacts and associates to attract investments into Ghana like I did with Western Union that made it possible for USD Billions to flow into Ghanas economy.



I was excited that I had been given another opportunity to again assist my nation. Unfortunately nothing came out of this due to the administrative and bureaucratic inefficient machinery at Jubilee House, which I alerted the President to, verbally and in writing, he stated.



In his role as presidential advisor also, Dr Amoah said the president failed to heed to his counsel after he warned Akufo-Addo against excessive borrowing by outlining its effects.



Again I cautioned the president, verbally and in writing, against the huge borrowing in billions and warned that we may not be able to service these debts and cause big hiccups for the nation. and he did not listen and we are all witnessing the unfortunate and embarrassing turnaround to the IMF and the hardships to ensue that will affect every citizen, he said.



According to the man popularly referred to as Citizen Kofi, the time has come for the president to heed to public calls and sack the minister for finance as one of the early measures in dealing with the nations current economic crisis.



Now, several respected voices have advised the President to replace his Finance Minister and give the country a new face and approach that can help the country truly reform instead of a bandage, face-saving reform that will only prop up the country for a re-occurrence of financial breakdown and IMF re-visit in another economic downturn. Ghana now needs a patriotic medicine that will work and not a cure inadequate for the problem cooked up by the same people who pushed us into the valley, he said.



I will appreciate a treatment on this important matter so that Ghanaians will together push for what will work for our nation and not sit on the fence as always, abrogating our future to the whims of a few who have so far demonstrated lack of capacity to help protect and grow our economy, he added.



Citizen Kofi emphasized that his criticism of the president and his government only comes from a place of pain for what Ghanaians have had to endure as a result of failed leadership.



I really do not have any grudge against our sitting president.



I just have pain in my heart for the unnecessary suffering majority of Ghanaians are experiencing due to years of bad and unfocused leadership, he said.



He noted that Ghana, as a country, has been blessed with the resources to develop and it has become more necessary than ever for citizens to speak truth to power.



Ghana has more resources to work with than many ex-colonial countries and yet we keep slipping.



Time has come for all of us to jettison our passive and non-confrontational culture that have not served us well in our history and find a respectable but courageous way to speak truth to power and hope they listen and change this time, Dr Amoah said.



The government of Ghana on Monday, July 1, 2022, announced a decision to seek an IMF financial assistance.



According to the government, the decision has become necessary owing to the current economic crisis witnessed in the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.



However some critics say the government is failing to take responsibility for the current situation. There has been some calls for the head of the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.







Source: ghanaweb.com









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Grapevine reports received indicates that both Senior and Junior Officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), are threatening to embark on a nationwide sit-down strike.



The impending industrial action is over promotional issues and other matters of grave concern which have not been given the needed attention by management of GRA, despite efforts to resolve it amicably.



One of the Senior Officers who agreed to speak under anonymity, revealed that some officers have been denied promotion for nearly a decade. He explained that, unlike other security services such as Ghana Police Service and Ghana Prisons Service, where promotion is given to staff automatically for intake groups, the situation is entirely different for Customs officers.



According to him, Customs Officers due for promotion endure an unnecessarily stressful interview process empanelled with strangers who do not have any technical background in Customs operations.



Meanwhile, officers who make higher marks than the declared minimum marks are denied their promotions which comes on quota bases, a situation which has created a lot of backlogs of outstanding promotion.



Making reference to the recent promotional interview for the position of Assistant Revenue Officers (ARO) to Principal Revenue Officers (PRO) and Principal Revenue Officers to Chief Revenue Officers (CRO), he revealed that GRA management together with the Ministry of Finance, fixed an outrageous pass mark of 70% and 75% respectively.



Our sources revealed that the Management of GRA is refusing to promote the Officers even though they outscored the minimum pass marks of 70% and 75% due to what we learnt is as a result of unscientific and baseless vacancies declared by a leading figure at the head of the Human Resource Department.



This issue, we gathered is severely demoralizing Officers who contribute significantly to mobilising revenue and form an integral part of the security architecture responsible for preventing smuggling of illicit goods across borders. Coming at the time when the country is in dire need of revenues more than ever and at the back of threats of posed by terrorism in the sub-region is of grave concern due to important roles Customs Officers play in securing the borders of the country



Another intriguing issue bothering the Customs Division is the failure of GRA to adhere to the Supreme Court ruling on CEPS vrs National Labour Commission (NLA) and the PSWU of Trade Union Congress (TUC), as well as Ayimbire vrs Attorney General and another, Ayimbire (J12 of 2013){2015}, in which the SC barred Customs Officers from forming or joining any Labour Union.



Despite these judgements, the GRA is said to have ignored calls by the Customs Staff Association to stop deducting Labour Union dues from salaries of Customs Officers for the benefit of the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) and the Ghana Revenue Authority Workers (GRAWU). The situation, we are informed, had led the Association to file a writ in the High Court to enforce the said judgements since 2020.



In a circular signed by the National Secretary of the Customs Staff Association, Mr Gift E. Kofi Tsamah, sighted by us, the Association called on all Officers of the Customs Division to withdraw from the Unions in compliance with the Supreme Court judgements. According to the circular, the Unions have continuously demonstrated lack of interest in specific matters and concerns that affects Customs Officers



The refusal of the management of GRA to take Customs Officers out of the various Labour Unions is contemptuous.



The management of GRA and the Ministry of Finance ought to appreciate the prominent role played by Customs towards national development.



The Officers across the country are determined to embark on a sit-down strike effective next week, if the Management of GRA fails to promote all officers who participated in the recently organized promotion exercise, and failed to immediately comply to the Supreme Court ruling on the status of Customs Officers with respect to Unionisation.



It will be a big blow to the NPP government if they sit aloof for Customs Officers to embark on nationwide strike of any form.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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UNWTO joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Spain in the recent High-Level Meeting on Safe International Travel that focused on the impact of the pandemic on international mobility and tourism.



The progress during these past two years, alongside increased coordination among governments, have prompted the basis for a strong recovery, said Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili.





Underscoring that vaccine equity remains a big challenge, he stressed that implementing what we have learned is critical for how we deal with future pandemics, as we work to consolidating how we grow back better.



Participants recognized that the recovery of cross-border travel requires easing and lifting COVID-related travel restrictions as far as possible, while ensuring public health considerations



The progress during these past two years, alongside increased coordination among governments, have prompted the basis for a strong recovery



Chaired by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Spain, Reyes Maroto, the meeting gathered health and the tourism sector representatives of over 30 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and other UN agencies such as the International Organizational for Migration (IMO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).



The High-Level Meeting on Safe International Travel was held in support of the G20 Indonesian Presidency of 2022. Backed by key stakeholders such as OECD, WHO, ICAO and UNWTO, participants encouraged the Indonesian chair to incorporate the main points into the relevant initiatives of the G20 process,, namely the G20 Health Working Groups priority on Harmonizing global health standards focused on the Harmonization of COVID-19 and other Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD) Certificate Recognition at the Point of Entry.



On the occasion, UNWTO and OECD released an impact assessment of the pandemic on tourism showcasing how the sector was among the most affected.  TradeArabia News Service
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has insisted that the decision by the government to go for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, does not belittle the 'Ghana Beyond Aid' agenda as is being asserted.



According to him, the government is going to the IMF for a loan which it will pay back with interest and not for a grant or a freebee.



The minister further explained that, 'Ghana Beyond Aid' is about the country breaking its overreliance on foreign aid, particularly its reliance on foreign support for key sectors of the economy like education and agriculture.



'Ghana Beyond Aid' is still relevant. What we are going to the fund for is not aid, its a loan. So, it doesnt change the principle of Ghana beyond aid. Loan is not aid. Loan can never be aid. We are going for a loan which we will pay back.



We will mobilise our domestic resources, put it into the productive sectors, grow the economy, when the GDP comes, we have to pay a certain percentage of it to the treasury so that we can service those debt obligations.



The vision of Ghana Beyond Aid is that we should get to the point where we are able to mobilize our own resources to do the things we are looking for and not rely on aid from other countries, Oppong Nkrumah said in a GTV interview monitored by GhanaWeb.



Meanwhile, Pressure group, OccupyGhana has bemoaned the decision of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government to return the country to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.



The group indicated that going to the IMF for a meagre $2 billion is a shame and will solve nothing since the main issue affecting the development of the country is corruption which successive governments have failed to address.



In a statement issued on Friday, July 8, 2022, OccupyGhana suggested that the $2 billion bailout that the government is seeking is even likely to go into the pocket of private individuals since corruption in Ghana is so pervasive.



That is why this return to the IMF for a paltry $2B leaves a bitter taste in our mouths. We would not be submitting ourselves to this forced and humiliating Ghana [is not yet] beyond aid position if we had prevented the losses and thefts in the first place. In the second place, we would not be here if we had taken the simple steps of recovering the monies lost and stolen, portions of the statement said.







Source: ghanaweb.com









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An Accra High Court has dismissed a request by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyabeng, to extend his power to freeze the assets of the late CEO of Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, also known as Sir John.



The Special Prosecutor announced that the assets of the former Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Sir John, have been frozen pending investigations into allegations of unlawful acquisition of state lands.



The OSP stated that it was investigating suspected corruption and corruption-related offences including the alleged improper and unlawful acquisition of state property at the Achimota Forest enclave and the Ramsar catchment at Sakumono in Accra, as stated in late Sir Johns will.



The investigation follows a petition by Corruption Watch, a coalition of anti-corruption civil society organisations, including the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), the Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) requesting the Special Prosecutor to investigate the acquisition of state lands in the Achimota Forest and the Ramsar area in Sakumono by three companies and two individuals as captured in the Last Will and Testament of Sir John.



The companies are Jakaypros Limited, Fasoh Limited and DML Limited, while the individuals are Charles Owusu and Sir John.



The Special Prosecutor then filed processes in court to extend this order.



According to a Myjoyonline.com report, Section 38 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act , Act 959, empowers the Special Prosecutor to direct the freezing of assets if he holds the view that it is necessary for investigations. He is then required to apply to a court within fourteen days for a confirmation of the freezing order.



It was based on this that the SP headed to court but the High Court however took the view that the Special Prosecutor should have initiated the process under Section 54 of the Act.



This provision deals with the procedure where a person dies or absconds. This empowers the SP to make a request for confiscation of such property.









Source: ghanaweb.com









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Convenor to the Ghana Environmental Advocacy Group (GEAG), Mrs Elizabeth Allua Vaah has described the move by the Effutu Traditional Rulers to discourage mining activities on their land as positive.



She said, the Effutu Traditional Rulers led by Omanhen of the Traditional Council, Nenyi Ghartey have demonstrated that they were the real custodians of the land and must therefore have a say in land administration especially when government decides to undertake any mining venture on such ecologically sensitive sites.



Mrs.Allua Vaah expressed these sentiments in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.



It would be recalled that Traditional Rulers in Effutu recently spoke with one voice to resist any attempt by the Minerals Commission to embark on any mining on Ramsar site, a forest Reserve which abounds in lithium and other mineral resources.



Mrs Allua Vaah doffed her hat for the Chiefs in the area for standing firm for their land and their community.



She reminded traditional rulers that no foreigner had the right to mine on their land without their approval or consent.



The Convenor expressed wary over the upsurge in unapproved and destructive mining activities in forest zones and major river bodies in Ghana.



The ungodly practice, she noted, had contributed immensely to land degradation, depletion of the forest belt and pollution of major river bodies thereby depriving Ghanaians of their livelihoods and threatening their very existence.



She also expressed dismay at the way galamsey had assumed an alarming proportion a situation, which had impacted negatively on domestic tourism.



Mrs Allua Vaah called on all other traditional rulers in the country not to allow themselves to be cowed into docility while their lands were being used for improper mining leaving nothing for posterity.





Source: GNA









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The government of Ghana will later today go into another round of talks with the four striking teacher unions and other labour groups demanding a 20% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).



All four teacher unions at the pre-tertiary level have been on strike since July 4, 2022 while several other labour unions are also threatening to follow suit.



The Ghana Medical Association, which is demanding 20% of their basic salary as COLA, has indicated that todays meeting with the government will inform their next line of action.



It is only after the negotiations have ended that the GMA can say these are the outcomes and if they are not okay, then we will have to take a decision.



But for now, the key thing is that negotiations that were due to start, we will partake fully, and we hope that the employer will come to the table with something concrete that will ultimately appease labour in totality, Vice President of the Ghana Medical Association GMA, Dr. Justice Yankson, told Citinewsroom.com.



Last week, a meeting between the leadership of the labour unions and government ended in a stalemate.



The meeting with high-level government representation was attended by officials of the Ministry of Finance, the CEO of Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Benjamin Arthur; Director-General of Ghana Education Service, Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa; Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum and Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah.



The various labour unions are demanding a Cost of Living Allowance over what they describe as the effects of current economic situation within the country.



According to the unions, members are not able to meet the rise in the cost of living.







Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Ghana Nurse and Midwife Trainees Association (GNMTA), has implored the Government not to abolish the Trainee Nurse and Midwifery allowances, as the country negotiates for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.



The Association, according to a statement issued said it is an affiliate of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), and the mouthpiece of all trainee nurses, midwives and interns for the more than 80,000 trainee nurses and midwives spread across the 192 nursing training colleges in the country.



A copy of the statement signed by Pascal Adumbisa, the National President and made available to the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani, urged government to facilitate the payment of the allowances and the nine-month arrears of the trainee nurses and midwives undertaking their one-year mandatory National Service.



The Association is also demanding the payment of four-month allowances and arrears for students who completed in 2021 as well as the 20 months arrears of some of the students, the statement said.



All efforts to get the Ministry of Health to pay these allowances have been fruitless upon meetings and calls to their outfit since 2021. We are, therefore, using this medium to bemoan to the Ghanaian populace, government, our parents and guardians to know exactly that allowances for trainees have come to a standstill since June 2021, it said.



We stand as citizens who contribute much to the health service delivery of this country to crave the indulgence of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Government about the halt in the payment of the trainees' allowances since June 2021 which has posed a lot of menaces and hardships to trainee nurses and midwives, the statement said.



It regretted that most parents and guardians appreciating that the Government was paying trainee nurses and midwives allowances had also stopped paying fees and giving their children and wards money for upkeep with the notion that they received allowances on a monthly basis from the Government.



One can only imagine what these trainee nurses and midwives have been through for all these eleven months without the allowances. In fact staff nurses, trainee nurses and midwives run the same shift at hospitals. Trainee nurses and midwives are liable to equal risks, the statement indicated.



It said a research conducted by GRNMA in 2015 revealed that about 40 per cent of the nation's healthcare forces were trained nurses and midwives, saying these allowances served as a form of appreciation by the government to trainee midwives and nurses.



The statement said the association would advise itself on the failure of the Government to pay the allowances and arrears and added however that the GNMTA would continue to use dialogue and non-violent means in seeking redress for grievances of its members.

Source: GNA









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The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) says it is working around the clock to address the water supply challenges facing residents in some parts of the Kumasi metropolis.



A statement signed by Mr Ebenezer Padi Narh Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer and issued in Kumasi said GWCL engineers and their counterparts from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) were tirelessly working to restore power supply to the Barekese Treatment Plant and Achiase Booster Station.



There had been power outages in these two main water treatment and supply points which served Kumasi and its adjoining communities in the Ashanti region.



The affected areas had since July 06, this year, not had water supply and this is causing serious challenges among residents, some of whom had had to rely on private tanker operators for water supply at exorbitant fees.



The Management of the GWCL wishes to inform our consumers and the public, that our inability to supply water to the Kumasi Metropolis was as a result of ECGs inability to supply power to the Barekese Treatment Plant and Achiase Booster station, the statement said.



According to the statement, engineers of the GWCL and the ECG are working to rectify the challenges as soon as possible.

Source: GNA









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No matter how you look at it, the prices of flagships or high-end smartphones are still a deterrent for many people, especially those on a limited budget. Thankfully, some outstanding affordable alternatives have significantly improved over the past few years. Features such as battery life, charging speed, and display were major differentiators between flagships and mid-rangers over the past couple of years, but even todays entry-level smartphones come with astonishing battery life and impressive displays.



Huawei, the global iconic tech brand is known to deliver across all smartphone categories and it has recently announced the launch of the HUAWEI nova Y70, a new addition that diversifies the HUAWEI nova Y series. At a more comprehensive price range, the HUAWEI nova Y Series is designed to let more consumers enjoy the profound user experience and services of Huawei products at an accessible price point, perfect for youngsters and students. The HUAWEI nova Y70 is Huaweis latest entry-level phone with the longest battery life, it is equipped with a humongous 6000mAh battery with 22.5W HUAWEI SuperCharge, an expansive 6.75-inch display, a versatile 48MP AI Triple camera in addition to 128GB internal storage capacity



Read on to find out why we think it is the top 2022 entry-level smartphone available today in Ghana



Large battery with HUAWEI SuperCharge



The HUAWEI nova Y70 inherits the long-lasting battery life of Huaweis products. It is equipped with a 6000mAh (typical value) large battery, which can last 3 days with one full charge and provide 3 hours of continuous video playback with a 10-minute charge. The HUAWEI nova Y70 can also be used as a power bank that provides an output of 5V/1A to support wired reverse charging for devices such as smartwatches, bands, and smartphones when out and about. The HUAWEI nova Y70 can identify and turn off the power consumption of non-user reserved applications and non-core applications, to provide outstanding battery life in extreme usage scenarios. Turning on Low Battery mode when the battery is at 5%, HUAWEI nova Y70 can standby for up to 12 hours before shutting down. Users can count on it without worrying that the battery might run out at a critical moment.



This smartphone stands out among other devices at the same price point with support of 22.5W HUAWEI SuperCharge. Users can make use of the time finishing their work to charge the HUAWEI nova Y70 for 10 minutes and enjoy 3 hours of video playback. Lastly, the HUAWEI nova Y70 improves charging safety with an integrated 13-layer charge protection system.



A spacious and gorgeous Display



The HUAWEI nova Y70 features a 6.75-inch HUAWEI FullView Display. Whether it is images, videos, or gaming, the HUAWEI nova Y70 can display more content at a larger size. The smartphones screen also supports an industry-leading 10-point Multi-touch technology to provide a fast response even when the user is making multi-finger gestures. This delivers an immersive gaming experience, especially for shooting games.



Smartphones can be used across different scenarios, for example, you may be browsing a website under dim lights or reading e-books for long hours. In this case, to reduce the burden on users eyes, HUAWEI nova Y70 has designed smart dimming, luminous screen, and e-book mode as well as a video quality enhancement feature to further improve the user's viewing experience. Moreover, you can take screenshots easily with knuckle gestures.



48MP AI Triple Camera



The HUAWEI nova Y70 is equipped with a 48MP AI Triple Camera, sporting a 48MP High-res Main Camera, a 120 5MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera, and a 2MP Depth Camera. Thanks to the f/1.8 aperture of the 48MP High-res Main Camera, it brings in more light when shooting. Coupled with the optimized Huawei algorithms, the HUAWEI nova Y70 greatly enhances the quality of captured images, ensuring every shot is of optimal quality even shooting against the light, reduces noise, with a larger dynamic range, and improves the quality of images no matter youre shooting portraits and scenery.



Peace of mind with large internal storage



The HUAWEI nova Y70 comes with a standard 128GB storage capacity for users to easily store up all the content they want. To cater to users who need extra storage, HUAWEI nova Y70 supports up to 512GB storage capacity when using MicroSD cards, allowing users to store everything in their phone freely.



AppGallery: Trusted, innovative, easy to use, and secure



The trusted, innovative, user-friendly, and secure AppGallery is available on the HUAWEI nova Y70 where users can easily navigate, explore, find and download a wide range of high-quality apps.



Briefly, if you are looking for a new entry-level smartphone that truly crosses all the boundaries set by other smartphones in the same market segment with the same price point then the new HUAWEI nova Y70 is your phone. Huaweis latest entry-level phone with the longest battery life easily makes our top pick for 2021 budget smartphones in Ghana.



Buy Huawei nova Y70 now for GHS 1,379 via either the Consumer website, at the Huawei Experience Store Accra Mall, or any Accredited Retail Stores and get gifts valued up to GHS 109.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, is expected to brief Parliament Tuesday, July 12, on the challenges confronting the National Identification Authority in the printing and issuance of the ECOWAS Identity Card.



Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Majority Chief Whip of Parliament, presenting the Business Statement for the Eighth Week ending Friday 15th July, said the Leadership was also in discussions with Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister for Food and Agriculture to brief Parliament on the compensation package by the government for farmers impacted by the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in 2021.



He noted that the appropriate date for the briefing would be communicated to Members in the ensuing week, most probably on Tuesday, July 12, 2022.



"Mr Speaker, Leadership is firming up discussions with the Minister responsible for National Security to brief Parliament at close sitting matters about the security of the state, particularly having regard to the recent spate of terrorist attacks within the West African sub-region.



"The date for the briefing barring any unforeseen developments shall be Tuesday, July 12, 2022," he said on the floor of Parliament on Thursday.



Mr Annoh-Dompreh said under the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, would on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 present the Mid-Year



Review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2022 Financial year.



He urged Members of Parliament to take note and avail themselves of the presentation.







Source: GNA









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The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has said the ongoing economic crisis sweeping through the world must be a wake-up call to African countries to adopt a technological approach to development, especially as the continent seeks to rebuild and rise.



Addressing a high-level African Union-backed "BOMA" event (www.africaboma.com), the Veep cautioned against focusing on the short-term symptoms of the current crisis and forgetting the structural issues that the worst-hit countries are confronted with, which are mostly to do with the lack of competitiveness of their economies. A situation only technological advancement can address sustainably.



The Boma forum brought together global political and business leaders to deliberate on the progress of Africa towards Agenda 2063, the AU's timetable for transforming Africa into a global economic force.



Vice President Bawumia said the twin factors influencing the global economic crisis - the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Ukraine conflict - have exposed gaps in the world's economic and political architecture, which will affect Africa's quest for growth if the continent does not act decisively to build technological industries that are more resilient to global economic shocks. It is clear that countries that depend mostly on primary industries suffer harsher consequences when the global economy takes a nosedive than those that have diversified their economies through higher technology inputs.



"The challenges that have beset the global economy may have been fuelled by temporary crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict. But these challenges are still a wake-up call to Africa that there are deep structural gaps in the global economic and political architecture that can frustrate its rise unless serious concerted efforts are made to plug them," Dr. Bawumia told the forum on Friday.



Plugging the structural gap, Dr. Bawumia observed, is for the African continent to adopt the emerging data-driven, technological approaches to development, which would help create the right structure for African businesses and SMEs and connect them from isolation, to the world of business.



Urging fellow African countries, Dr. Bawumia noted that Ghana has chosen to take a path to economic development marked by increasing technological, especially digital, content in its development programs.



Responding to Meta's (corporate parent of Facebook) President for Global Affairs and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Nick Clegg, Dr. Bawumia conceded to certain ongoing challenges to optimally harness data, talent and improved regulations to advance the course of technological advancement in Ghana and Africa. But he insisted that these matters are being given the necessary attention. Elaborating on the theme, he added, "if the massive shifts currently underway, such as the fast emergence of a new type of internet, are to benefit, rather than further marginalize Africa, the continent must make the right investments now."



He continued: "We are very mindful of these potential pitfalls and are investing in both the institutions and infrastructure that will enable us to both leapfrog our infrastructure and education system limits and rapidly advance the regulatory capabilities we need to deal with complex challenges like balancing sovereignty and efficiency, as we become a data-driven economy."



Dr. Bawumia, while acknowledging efforts some African countries are making in adopting technology-driven development, also shared with the forum some specific areas Ghana has invested in, and how they are expected to boost commerce.



"We have successfully developed a new identity infrastructure that will transform credit scoring for SMEs, remove the bottlenecks in e-commerce and lay the ground for the modernization of business supportive government services," he said.



"We have totally transformed the financial technology landscape and reworked our mobile telecom industry to enable us take advantage of the 5G revolution and the internet of things as they gather pace."



"No one who has followed our policy journey in Ghana can doubt our total commitment to the technological approach to development," added the Vice President.



In addition to Sir Nicholas Clerg, who is the President of Global Affairs of Meta, owners of popular social media sites Facebook and Instagram, the Forum was also addressed by former US President Clinton, former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and many other dignitaries including the Director-General of the World Health Organisation and the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Also participating were several former and serving African Heads of States, the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union (AU), and a number of AU Commissioners.



Reacting to comments by some of these eminent personalities, Dr. Bawumia emphasized the importance of a global mindset shift in technology investments. "The likes of Meta, Google and Amazon must think beyond consumer products and targeted advertising and invest heavily in utility infrastructure on the ground."



He added, "their ability to connect with their customers beyond Facebook posts and tweets and to impact their lives depend on this deeper integration into industrial and enterprise infrastructure. There are also broader issues of equity."



"As much as we recognize that some of the evolving technologies are changing how we do business and bringing down barriers, they also provide the opportunity for us to create the fluid structures and soft infrastructure our SMEs and startups, long isolated from global value chains, need to leapfrog and convert these challenges into opportunities in a broader marketplace shaped by AfCFTA."



ABOUT THE BOMA OF AFRICA



The Boma of Africa (www.africaboma.com) was organised jointly by the African Union, the AfCFTA Secretariat, the Africa CDC and AfroChampions. With support from Afreximbank, Ecobank, IC Publications, the Village Foundation, BADEA, Orango and MTN.



It was instituted in response to a decision in 2019 by the African Union Heads of State that a date in early July of every year should be set aside to mark and celebrate the effort to realize African integration.



Convened at the highest level, the Boma seeks to move beyond mere deliberations and instead delve deep into actions that can inspire Africans in various fields such as science and technology, education and creative arts to hone talents for Africa's common good.



Practical Outcomes of Boma 2022



This year, the African Union launched two main flagship initiatives at the Boma: the African Vaccine Passport and eHealth backbone (www.africacdc.org/trusted-vaccines) and a digital platform for accelerating the 

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Ghanaian urban gospel musician who made headlines with his Amapiano gospel song, Ma Pe K3, Scott Evans, has returned with a new gospel jam dubbed Best Side.



The VGMA nominated artiste is definitely apt for stardom as he didnt disappoint music lovers with the new tune presently starring on Apple Music and other popular music platforms.



I am on the best and I am on the Lords side, the catchy hook preaches through the song as it engulfs listeners to be at peace with their makers.



Scott Evans has been on the lips of many industry players  who have since urged Ghanaians to patronise his songs since his potential is set to put the country on the map.



Meanwhile, Best Side, produced by Nektunez, has already grabbed a spot in Ghana and even Nigeria, where some of his fans were captured singing on top of their voices at a dinner section in Lagos.



In an interview with Scott Evans, he said he has decided to fuse African elements into his songs, adding that, it makes his songs catchy and easy for everyone to relate to.



With the Yoruba lines, running through the song, Scott Evans said Im not certainly projecting Nigerian language but at that moment for the song, no other language could suit best how I wanted to express my thoughts except Yoruba.



Talking about next years music calendar, Scott Evans said he is apt to receive many nods from the various award schemes since he is working hard around the clock.



Listen to Best Side below:



https://youtu.be/bKdxLN2eBX4





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Critically ill Rwandan woman undergoes successful heart surgery in Navi Mumbai hospital

Thane, Jul 12 (UNI) A 47-year-old female national of Rwanda, diagnosed with a severe heart condition that led to several other body malfunctions, has successfully been operated on by a team of doctors at Apollo Hospitals in Navi Mumbai recently.

The patient, Librathe Mukankaka, was diagnosed with dysfunction in both her heart valves (left mitral and right tricuspid), causing severe heart failure. Consequently, she was bedridden, critically ill, and at deaths door.

As a final measure, Librathe was referred to Apollo Hospitals, and was brought to India for treating her ailment, an official release by the Hospital stated on Tuesday.
Ghanaian actress, Nana Ama McBrown is still sharing some intricate details of her journey to having a baby. Nana Ama McBrown, who had her first baby in 2020 at age 41 after many years of trying is sharing her journey to being a mom to encourage women who are looking for the fruit of the womb.



Revealing new details of her journey in an interview on We Got This Africa with Naa Ashorkor, the award-winning actress revealed that she has always wanted a baby since she was 23 years old.



According to Nana Ama, she saw her friends having children day in day out and she yearned for one of her own, but after trying so many times, she finally gave up and focused on her career.



Ive always wanted a baby since age 23, more than 20 years now, way before I started my career but along the line I had to let it go and concentrate on my career hoping for nature to take its course, she told Naa Ashorkor.

I had a smooth pregnancy; there was no sex the entire period- Nana Ama McBrown



Ghanaian actress, Nana Ama McBrown has revealed despite having an emotionally draining journey to getting pregnant, she had a smooth pregnancy.



In a new interview on We Got This Africa with Naa Ashorkor, the award-winning actress revealed after going through two different IVF treatments in order to get pregnant, she was blessed with a smooth and problem free pregnancy.



I had a good pregnancy. It was so smooth, there was no reaction, there was no vomiting, I was sleeping, I was eating, everything. I only stopped having sex, I started googling what to eat, when to sleep, at that point, it wasnt about me anymore but about the baby, she told Naa Ashorkor.



Detailing how she broke the news to her husband and his reaction, she shared; He was ready for any news. He saw me going through the procedures, he saw the anxiety, he was ready for any news. He was hoping for me to get pregnant because he understood that was the one thing he had to do for me to be happy.



When I told him I was pregnant, he was skeptical at first and told me I was lying. I had to snap the results and send to him for him to believe me. He quickly called and closed early and come home. When he came home, you could see the excitement on his face but then I told them we were no longer going to have sex during the period, she added.



Watch full interview below;













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Popular hiplife/highlife artiste, Kwame Nsiah-Appau, aka Okyeame Kwame, has officially been introduced as the brand ambassador for Waylead Ghana Company Limited, a group of companies that specialises in residential, retail, and commercial real estate development.



The unveiling ceremony, which was held at the premises of the company at Lashibi in Accra, was attended by a number of personalities which include immediate past president of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) Bice Osei Kuffour, popularly known as Obour, and a section of the media.



The ceremony also saw the signing of the terms of contract between Okyeame Kwame and Waylead Properties.



Though the management of Waylead failed to disclose details of the deal at the ceremony, the company is expected to use Okyeame Kwames music and brand to market and promote their products.



The Made-In-Ghana hitmaker, who was extremely excited about the ambassadorial deal, will be involved in increasing brand awareness and sales by promoting the products through various media channels.



Speaking after the unveiling ceremony, Okyeame Kwame expressed his appreciation to Waylead Properties for the confidence reposed in his brand to push the fortunes of the company through increased sales by creating loads of attention.



It is, therefore, my singular honour to promise them that everything we have in this document, Im going to stick by it, and Im going to make everything a responsibility of mine plus 1, Okyeame Kwame stated.



The Managing Director of Waylead Properties, Keegan Wang, said signing Okyeame Kwame as brand ambassador was a strategic move to position Waylead in the luxury accommodation space.



According to him, With this collaboration, we aim to make our name known to every Ghanaian that Waylead can deliver a high-quality home regardless of budget and to help bridge the housing needs of the country.



As a reputable estate developer, we wish to promote our name to more Ghanaians, both at home and abroad, to help people discover suitable and quality homes. We believe Okyeame has the means to spread our name very far.



Okyeame Kwame, who has been in the music scene for the past two decades, has received a number of awards for his outstanding achievement in the music industry in Ghana and Africa.

Source: Daily Guide









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Conservative leadership hopeful Patrick Brown takes part in the Conservative Party of Canada French-language leadership debate in Laval, Quebec on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. According to a spokesman for Brown his supporters believe the best choice for federal Conservative leader is Jean Charest now that Brown is out of the race. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
China will push for 1,000 universities to support 10,000 companies with their technological advancement and industrial development in the next five years, a new notice said on Monday.

Issued by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the China National Intellectual Property Administration, the notice called for in-depth integration between universities and enterprises.

Partnership and cooperation should focus on achieving breakthroughs in key bottlenecks and on transferring the scientific and technological achievements of universities to companies.
New Delhi, July 12 (UNI) Former Himachal Pradesh BJP President Khimi Ram Sharma on Tuesday joined the Congress in the presence of party's state in-charge Rajeev Shukla.

Welcoming Sharma, a prominent leader in the Himalayan state, Shukla said his joining the Congress will further strengthen the party ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

"Khimi Ramji was also a Minister and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. His joining the Congress is a clear message what is going to happen in the upcoming Assembly in Himachal Pradesh. The Congress will win with a thumping majority," Shukla said.

The Congress leader also launched a scathing attack on the BJP government in the state.

"The people of the Himachal Pradesh are suffering because of the rampant corruption of the BJP government. We are fighting against the 'misgovernance' of the ruling dispensation," he said.

Talking about his joining the Congress, the former Minister said it was very important for him to do so because of the present situation in the state.

"Today, I am very happy to join the party which played an important role in the independence of the country. In the upcoming Assembly elections, Congress will form the government," he said.

Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh are slated to be held at the end of this year.

UNI DS MR
The body of a North Augusta man last seen in a boat in a pond near Beech Island has been found.

Aiken County Coroner Darryl Ables said in a news release that South Carolina Department of Natural Resources officers recovered the body of Dimitri Carter, 37, of North Augusta, on Tuesday morning.

Carter was last seen Monday in a boat in a pond near the 400 block of Storm Branch Island Road near Beech Island.

He was reported missing and SCDNR officers began to search the pond for him. The search was paused Monday evening due to darkness.

The search began again Tuesday morning and officers recovered the body shortly before 11 a.m., Ables said.

Carter's death is being investigated by the coroner's office and the Aiken County Sheriff's Office.

An autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday morning in Newberry.
EVANS, Ga.  A 90-minute, closed-door meeting among members of Georgias Anti-Gang Network drove home the importance of an inter-jurisdictional response to gang-affiliated violence as well as the need, officials said, of working prevention among youth as young as elementary school age.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr sat with his cross-river counterpart Alan Wilson to his left and Columbia County District Attorney Bobby Christine at his right during Tuesday's meeting.

U.S. Marshals, an FBI agent, county sheriffs, military from Fort Gordon and local police; Department of Corrections officials and those in Juvenile Justice  all the many agencies involved in the network  packed the first-floor conference room of the Columbia County Board of Education Building in Evans, Ga.

When were dealing with gang activity, we know that 60-90% of all violent crime is gang-affiliated; we know its about selling guns or drugs, human beings  whatever it may be, said Carr, speaking with reporters after the summit.

Reporters were permitted inside the conference room at 15 minutes to the session's end and allowed only b-roll footage and still photographs but no audio.

Were coming together to attack the problems, address the problems, because we know gangs dont stop at the city and the county line or the state line," Carr said after the session.

The Anti-Gang Network dates to 2018 and was created as part of Georgias response to a statewide survey that had revealed gang activity in 157 of its 159 counties.

Which just tells me one thing: two counties were lying, Carr said. There are gangs in every community in the state of Georgia. The point is, what are we doing about it?

Tuesdays meeting comes less than two weeks after the start of the other major prong in Georgias anti-gang response.

The states first ever Gang Prosecution Unit took effect July 1. The unit is purposed to work with law enforcement, state agencies and local and federal prosecutors to see investigations of gang-related offenses all the way through to trial.

It had been advocated by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then backed by the state House and Senate, which allocated $1.6 million to its creation and gave AG Carr concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute criminal gang activity statewide, according to the news release announcing that the unit is now active.

But investigations can bleed across the state line.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson was emphatic Tuesday about the need for inter-state cooperation and cited a recent drug bust in South Carolina's Upstate that, with information gleaned from that investigation and then given to officials in Atlanta, helped law enforcement with a second bust in that city.

South Carolinas bad guys are committing crimes in Georgia, and vice-versa, said Wilson: They dont stop at the river.

I drove through a lot of jurisdictions to get here today, he said. Just like any day, you wake up and you might shop in one county and then work in another county; people who are operating outside of the law are also doing that.

Gang activity in Aiken, statewide

Six Aiken County residents were arrested last summer, all of them affiliated with the fastest-growing white gang in the country.

Operation Kibosh charged a total of eight Aiken County members of the Ghostface Gangsters on July 23, 2021, the result of an ongoing investigation begun by the Richmond County Sheriffs Gang Intelligence Unit in 2018.

South Carolina as a state saw gang-related violence increase dramatically between 1998 and 2007, the most recent period for which comprehensive data is available.

The report Gangs and Crime in South Carolina: How Much, How Bad? was published in 2010 by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, the Office of Justice Programs and the Statistical Analysis Center.

That report shows that criminal incidents that could definitively be traced back to gang affiliation numbered just 105 in 1998, or a rate of .27 per 10,000 population.

That figure increased to 1,304 incidents by 2007, a rate of 2.96. Moreover, the incident rate of gang-related violence increased every year from 1999 onward, the report shows.

But the picture varies widely from county to county.

Aiken County in 2007 reported 23 victims of gang-related violence, or an incidence rate of 1.5 in 2007. By contrast, small, suburban Colleton County reported 98 victims of gang-related violence that year, a rate of 25.2.

Recruiting younger

Gangs are recruiting younger than they have before, officials said after last Tuesday's meeting.

"Active engagement with our educational institutions  middle school, elementary school, high school; really, elementary school and up  we need to be engaging these young kids and showing them that an alternative path is available, Wilson said. Because a lot of these young people dont know theres an alternative path, and by the time [] a child is 15, you may have already lost them.

That statewide report, Gangs and Crime in South Carolina, documented that at least for the period of 1998-2007, most of the gang-related violence in South Carolina was occurring at victims homes or on the streets.

But 12.9% was happening in K-12 schools. Schools ranked third of the 12 places of gang-related victimization included in the report, ahead of bars and convenience stores, other commercial businesses and parking lots.

Bobby Christine, formerly U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia and now district attorney for Columbia County, was able to speak directly on efforts that have taken place in that county over just the past year and highlighted the addition of 40 officers within the Columbia County Sheriffs Office.

These officers can be a resource in schools, building a rapport with kids who might otherwise be groomed for future gang activity. They can intercede and, God willing, save that tragedy, Christine said.

Someones getting to them at an early age and bending them a certain direction, added Wilson. Our job is to get them before the bad guys do and make sure they grow up straight.

Endeavors like the At-Promise Center, a project of the Atlanta Police Foundation that offers the wrap-around educational and mental health services, can also be of aid in preventing gang activity, said Carr.

Carr also lauded the mentorship program run by the Georgia Department of Corrections: former gang members can share their experiences and so warn on a more personal and relational level against being involved in gang activity.

Those are the kinds of programs that we need to hear more about, that we need to deploy around the state because again, anti-recruitment has to be a piece of this, Carr said.
SRS and Politics Reporter

I cover the Savannah River Site and politics. I previously covered government and politics for the Morning News in Florence. I am graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law and the University of Charleston (W.Va.).
Colombo, July 12 (UNI) Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is set to resign on Wednesday, and his equally embattled brother Basil Rajapaksa remained in the country on Tuesday after being stopped by immigration officials from flying out, news reports said.

The President, who had to flee his official house on Saturday shortly before thousands of protesters stormed it, was involved "in a humiliating standoff with airport immigration staff" who blocked his exit to safety abroad, international news agency AFP quoted official sources as saying.

The 73-year-old leader wanted to travel to Dubai, officials said.

Speculation mounted that since President Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, he wanted to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.

But immigration officers refused to go to the VIP suite to stamp his passport while he insisted that he would not go through the public facilities fearing reprisals from other airport users, AFP reported.

The President and his wife spent the night at a military base next to the main international airport after missing four flights that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates, the report said.

The President's youngest brother Basil Rajapaksa, who resigned in April as Finance Minister, missed his own Emirates flight to Dubai early on Tuesday after a similar standoff with airport staff.

As the President remains the commander-in-chief of the armed forces with military resources at his disposal, he could still take a navy vessel to either India or the Maldives.

President Rajapaksa is widely accused of mismanaging the economy to a point where the country has run out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports, leading to severe hardships for the 22 million population.

Basil Rajapaksa tried to leave Sri Lanka through the Silk Route Passenger Clearance Terminal but immigration officials at the airport refused to let him leave following the protests by passengers.

The Daily Mirror quoted immigration office sources as saying that the once powerful former Minister arrived at the Badaranaike International Airport at midnight to leave for Dubai.

The reserved flight for Basil Rajapaksa was scheduled to leave for Dubai at 3.15 am on Tuesday.

However, the immigration officers refused to approve Basil Rajapaksa's departure. Later, the Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Officers Association (SLIEOA) decided to withdraw from functioning at the Silk Route Passenger Clearance Terminal.

Basil Rajapaksa had to return to Colombo without being able to proceed, the report said.

SLIEOA President K.A.A.S. Kanugala said the decision was made considering the current unstable and crisis situation in the country and the strong possibility of a large numbers of accused former political VIPs using this Silk Route Clearance Terminal to leave the country.

Sri Lankan VIPs could normally arrange their flight facilities by paying money at the BIA through the Silk Route.

UNI MR PRT
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High 89F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
When a rainy forecast lines up with higher-than-usual high tides, Charlestonians brace for impact.

Such will be the case this week.

King Tides are expected to be close to the 7-foot threshold that brings minor flooding beginning July 11 until July 15, said Steven Taylor, a lead forecaster at the National Weather Service.

Tides were expected to reach 6.9 feet on July 11  just under the flood threshold  but are dependent on wind direction, Taylor said. High tides will occur in the evenings, with tide levels being highest in the following 15 to 30 minutes, Taylor said.

About one inch of rain is expected to fall from July 11 through July 18, according to Rebecca Shaw, a NWS meteorologist. However, the amount of time thunderstorms linger over the area can change those rainfall predictions, Shaw said.

"When we start to get close to 7 feet, all the drainage is full of sea water, and so any kind of rain has nowhere to go, Taylor said. That's why downtown Charleston has such a threat for flooding when it rains."

As this type of flooding becomes a regular headache for residents, city leaders are taking a new approach toward addressing the issue. Instead of tackling flood concerns on a project-by-project basis, the city is looking at ways to stop development that increases flooding and identify which flood projects need to be prioritized first. They are also finding ways to determine how different flood projects may interact with each other. Sometimes a smaller project upstream in a floodplain can reduce the need for a larger project downstream, Charleston Chief Resiliency Officer Dale Morris said.

"Understanding the basin is fundamental," he said.

A new approach to a worsening problem

Scientists have been continuously measuring seas in Charleston Harbor since 1921. Since then, the sea rose about an inch every decade. Part of this increase was because of the natural settling of the land, a process called subsidence. But in the mid-2000s, scientists began to rethink the pace of sea rise.

It wasnt rising in a linear way. Instead it was accelerating, according to researchers with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, who were among the first to pinpoint this trend. Instead of an inch a decade, the pace was 2.7 inches between 2010 and 2020, they found. Its on pace to rise 3.2 inches this decade, or about an inch every four years.

As more saltwater pours in from the sea, its meeting more water from the sky. As the atmosphere warms, it holds more moisture  which translates into more frequent and heavier downpours. The Southeast has seen a 27 percent increase in the number of downpours since the late 1950s, according to the National Climate Assessment.

Those tides and rains met last weekend and are expected to meet again this week.

Jordan Kruse, a real estate agent who was walking along Huger Street to a meeting on July 11, said he saw a small car wash away during flooding when he lived near the intersection of Smith and Morris close to the medical center. Kruse said the forecast sometimes determines whether he heads downtown because he doesnt want to deal with detours or standing water.

I hope the citys going to get really aggressive dealing with it, Kruse said.

Two new strategies could forever change the city's approach to flooding.

Charleston City Council voted on two strategy overhauls toward the end of 2021. One was a comprehensive plan calling to rewrite the city's zoning code. In the new version, officials want the zoning maps  the guide for what can get built where  to be based on elevation. High ground near major roadways will be fair game for high-density development, in most cases. Low-lying areas and wetlands will be restricted to little or no use at all.

City Council is expected to vote in August on a contract with a consulting firm that will draw the new maps.

"This is a unique approach to land use that Charleston is doing," said Jason Crowley, senior program director with the Coastal Conservation League. "There are a lot of people that are looking at Charleston to see how it works because it could become a tool to other coastal cities."

In the fiscal year 2022 budget, Charleston set aside $500,000 to commission a citywide water plan. The plan, the first of its kind for the city, will map out every drainage basin in Charleston and what flooding issues they contain. Doing so will help officials understand the link between flooding problems that may be connected to each other. Doing so will help the city plan more efficient flood control efforts and collaborate with Charleston County when a problem crosses city lines.

"Often flood risk projects look at a particular area with a particular problem," Morris said. "But if you have a problem in one particular part of the basin, you may be able to do something upstream from it that will lessen the impact of the flooding."

In that case, Morris said, the city could pursue two smaller projects at the top and bottom of a basin or combine them into one larger project upstream.

Ongoing efforts

While the paradigm shift in the city's approach to flooding is underway, previously budgeted projects are ongoing.

At King and Huger, a notoriously flood-prone intersection, city crews are working on a two-phase project to increase drainage capacity.

In Charlestons West Side, where King and Huger is located, streets begin to flood when tide levels reach 7 feet. The East Side begins to flood at 7.5 feet. Flooding poses a danger to homes at 8 feet, which is when the National Weather Service would issue a coastal flood warning, Taylor said.

Bennie Kinloch has dealt with standing water in front of his West Side home near Huger and King streets since he first moved here more than 50 years ago. A few times in the past, it crept up onto his porch and through the front door. On July 10, as water stood in the streets once again following afternoon thunderstorms, a man pushed a surfboard past Kinlochs house.

It used to be deep enough to paddle a boat through here, Kinloch said, giving credit to city work meant to reduce the flooding that has plagued this area for decades. It aint as bad as it was.

Full relief from the chronic swampings at that intersection wont happen until the second phase of the drainage project is completed. In that phase, a pump will be installed to move the water into nearby Newmarket Creek. But thats a more complicated step because it requires environmental permitting. The design is finished but it is going through the approval phases needed from the city's board of architectural review and the South Carolina Department of Transportation. In about a year and half, city staff plan to put the project out for a bid.

Meanwhile, a gas station a few doors down at the corner stays open 24/7  even when the parking lot is flooded. Customers sometimes put on waders to trudge to the store when its inaccessible to cars. In the past, water has overturned the ice box and picked up the dumpster before depositing it in a nearby yard.

Kailey Cota, John Ramsey and Tony Bartelme contributed to this report.
Charleston has done it again.

For an entire decade, the Holy City has swept the top spot on Travel + Leisure magazine's annual list of the best cities to visit in the country.

The publication said the Holy City is the No. 1 travel destination in the U.S. for the 10th year in a row on July 12 as part of its annual "World's Best Awards."

College of Charleston hospitality professor Daniel Guttentag said the consecutive string of accolades punctuates what the city has achieved as a visitor destination.

City standings Travel + Leisure readers picked the 15 best cities in the U.S. to visit: Charleston New Orleans Santa Fe Savannah Honolulu New York Chicago Alexandria, Va. San Antonio Boston Austin Williamsburg, Va. Asheville San Diego Nashville

"It's something to get on the list one time, but to be on the list for a whole decade and be No. 1 each time and have a pandemic happen and still remain on top, it's really an achievement to be proud of," said Guttentag, director of the school's Office of Tourism Analysis.

The impact of the streak is hard to quantify, but he said it certainly helps in raising the area's profile among leisure travelers.

"We are no longer a regional destination that people drive to," Guttentag said. "We are attracting people from all across the country and all over the world. The airport has more flights than ever from new places, and it's busier than ever before. People who weren't thinking about Charleston 15 years ago now are."

The award "communicates to people that this is a place your don't want to miss."

Travel + Leisure asked readers to rate cities based on their sights and landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness, shopping and overall value.

"There's a reason people keep going back to Charleston: the city expresses the perfect balance of Southern charm, knockout food and drinks, and walkability," it said in written statement. "Many readers also found the city's history to be a draw. Others appreciated the simple pleasures of strolling the side streets of downtown."

Savannah, down the coast, came in fourth. The Georgia city also captured best domestic airport in the nation.

Also on the list were rankings for overnight accommodations in the U.S.

The 50-room Loutrel Hotel with its "handwritten welcome notes" in Charleston came in at No. 2 while the Wentworth Mansion garnered praise for its outdoor patio and Southern hospitality. It picked up the No. 8 nod.

The Loutrel also ranked No. 20 on the world's best hotels list while Wentworth Mansion came in at No. 99.

Also, on the list of the best islands in the continental U.S., South Carolina claimed two spots with Kiawah at No. 2 and Hilton Head at No. 9.

Newcomer Breeze Airways, which offers flights to multiple cities from Charleston, came in at No. 2 for domestic airlines.

For this year's awards, the leisure magazine noted the rebound in travel as people ventured out during the past year after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted vacation plans in 2020 and part of 2021.

This year's honorees "offer a distinct sense of place  whether your focus is on reconnecting with nature or immersing yourself in local cultures," said Editor-in-Chief Jacqui Gifford.

On NBC's "Today" morning show Tuesday, she said the city's "food scene is amazing" and that "theres so much shopping to do.

I think it really is the full picture," Gifford said.

Charleston's 10-year reign at the top with Travel + Leisure now matches its run with rival Conde Nast Traveler, which honored the city with the top nod for the 10th time in 2020. The streak was broken last year, when Aspen, Colo., grabbed the No. 1 ranking.

With this year's top designation by Travel + Leisure, Charleston is now a World's Best Awards Hall of Fame honoree.
COLUMBIA  Hotel Trundle is spreading out, offering five new rooms for guests on Main Street.

The locally owned boutique hotel currently offers 41 rooms at 1224 Taylor St., and will add a bridal suite and patio as part of its expansion to 1554 Main, the hotel announced July 12.

Guests staying on Main will have their own separate parking when staying in what the hotel will call the Flutter Wing, with valet parking available.

It will cover 2,500 feet plus patio space on the second story at 1554 Main, and is expected to open in 2023.

Were expanding in response to the volume of special event and wedding guests we host consistently at Hotel Trundle, said Marcus Munse, who co-owns Trundle with wife Rita Patel.

Like the Taylor Street portion of Trundle, which opened in 2018, the new wing will take an historic space that has had numerous other uses and preserve its history even as it becomes inviting hotel space, Munse said.

The ground floor at 1544 Main hosts another business with deep roots in Columbia: Drake's Duck-In restaurant.

Dining by the river

Four new places to get something tasty are coming to Cayce and West Columbia.

Breakfast at Ruiz opened at the beginning of July at 116 State St., which formerly was the home of the restaurant called 116 State.

It has a breakfast and brunch-focused menu with shrimp and grits, a classic breakfast featuring a Belgian waffle and a farmer's omelet.

The restaurant also offers a flight of different mimosas to try.

Opening in September in West Columbia is JJs Place Bakery on Meeting Street.

The bakery will offer fresh breads, sweets and coffee. Hannah Wade of Free Times talked with the two friends who are jumping into the restaurant business together.

Also in West Columbia, a new restaurant is going into the space that once held Taco Cid.

A sign on the building says that Perry's Gourmet Flaming Grilled Chicken will be opening soon in the space at 1416 Charleston Highway. No opening date is listed.

Also on the horizon for the area: a new location for Firehouse Subs at 542 Knox Abbott Drive in Cayce, according to the company website.

The sub shop first was reported in The State newspaper.

Added choice for shoes

A Rack Room Shoes is coming to the Rosewood Crossing shopping center, the retail strip anchored by Michael's and Marshalls in the CrossHill Market area of Columbia.

Rack Room will be taking over a space that formerly belonged to Kirkland's, the home decor retailer.

The shoe retailer plans to open in the location this month, according to a sign on the store.

Rack Room currently has locations in Columbiana Centre, the Village at Sandhill and in Lexington.

CVS closure

The CVS drugstore location at 1210 Charleston Highway in West Columbia was slated to close July 12, according to a sign in the store window.

The sign directs customers to instead visit the CVS location at 500 Knox Abbott Drive in Cayce.

Bombshell relocated

Bombshell Beauty Studio, a longtime Five Points business, has relocated to the Vista.

In late June it opened at 1308 Pulaski St. in the Vista.

The salon had been a mainstay at 910 Harden St.

David Clarey and Jessica Holdman contributed to this report.
Two South Carolina entities have been named recipients and members of part of a $6 million, four-year initiative. It supports cultural organizations throughout the Southeast that are led by and serve Black, indigenous and people of color.

The organizations are the Charleston-based Colour of Music Festival and the Rock Hill-based Catawba Indian Nation.

Both are part of a cohort of 17 Southeast organizations that form the first Southern Cultural Treasures initiative. It is administered by South Arts, the nonprofit regional arts organization whose mission is to advance Southern vitality through the arts.

South Arts Southern Cultural Treasures is supported by the Ford Foundation, with additional support from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the Infusion Fund, a partnership between the city of Charlotte, Foundation for The Carolinas, the Zeist Foundation and donors.

Black cultural institutions have never lacked artistic creativity  we have lacked funding," said Lee Pringle, founder and artistic director of the Colour of Music Festival. "The vision of the Ford Foundations generous funding administered by South Arts is one step forward towards what I hope will be equal parity funding moving forward for my community.

Based in Charleston and organized in 2013, the Colour of Music Festival presents a diverse repertoire of baroque, classical and 20th-century music to audiences throughout the Lowcountry, as well as nationally in cities including Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Sacramento, Ca.

The other South Carolina recipient, Catawba Indian Nation, is the only one of the 573 federally recognized tribes in the United States that is located in the state of South Carolina. Modern-day tribal lands are located in York County, and there are currently over 3,300 enrolled members.

With an expectation of running through March 2025, the Southern Cultural Treasures program will provide each organization with up to $300,000 of general operating grants distributed over three years, an additional project grant of up to $7,500, customized consultant services, networking, cohort building and knowledge sharing.

This initial cohort is made up of 17 organizations representing decades of BIPOC arts and community-driven stewardship throughout the nine-state region that includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

South Arts is honored to recognize and support these organizations as Southern Cultural Treasures, said Susie Surkamer, South Arts president and CEO. These groups push the boundaries of creative expression, anchor their local communities and advance the arts in our nine-state region. Our hope is this initiative, with the help of these organizations, will foster a more equitable art community throughout the Southeastern region.

South Arts first announced the Southern Cultural Treasures program in fall 2021. It complements the Ford Foundations Americas Cultural Treasures initiative, which aims to acknowledge and honor the diversity of artistic expression and excellence in America and provide critical funding to organizations that have made a significant impact on Americas cultural landscape.

Among the others are Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in Birmingham; Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator in Miami; Deep Center Inc. in Savannah; Otis Redding Foundation in Macon, Ga.; Asia Institute in Crane House in Louisville, Ky.; Junebug Productions in New Orleans; B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, Miss.; and Jazz Arts Charlotte.

"The South has produced some of the most brilliant minds that have contributed to every arts sector there is," Pringle said. "Either through roots to the South because of ancestors leaving the Jim Crow, oppressive South or leaving for opportunity, Southern Gems have been a part of the American experience."
GEORGETOWN  A forgotten Georgetown community will be remembered and celebrated July 20 when a monument to those buried in Myrtle Grove Cemetery is unveiled.

This is the culmination of a 10-year process, said Steve Williams, one of the volunteers who has been working to see the cemetery  also called Muckle Grove  restored. It began with Tony Nelson recognizing his relatives were buried there.

Nelson came across a memo while researching the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor that had stories of families visiting the graves of their ancestors, buried on the old Myrtle Grove Plantation land. Some of the graves in the cemetery date back to the early 1800s and include the remains of former slaves.

The memo mentioned an old cemetery near the Town Dump located just off Hawkins Street in Georgetown.

Nelson, a 1977 graduate of Howard High School who now lives in Connecticut, collaborated with The Westend Citizens Council to meet with International Paper officials to express their concerns. Company officials were not only sympathetic to their concerns but eager to resolve them.

The company agreed to clean up the gravesite, permit descendants to visit, erect a historical monument and allow local students to utilize the historic site as an educational tool. The company opened the property for guided tours twice a year. The first tours were in 2018.

I can remember hearing stories when I was growing up about how children would venture from Hawkins Street into the area of the town dump, Nelson told the Georgetown Times in 2018. From there, it was easy access to the cemetery.

Sadie Williams, Nelsons aunt, recalled picking blackberries near the cemetery.

Back in the day, we all went there, she told the Georgetown Times in 2018. And there were snakes. Thats why I made sure I carried a stick this time.

Sadie Williams said that her fathers grandparents were buried in the cemetery.

The plantation property was purchased by International Paper in the late 1950s, Steve Williams said, and for years the cemetery was locked behind fences as part of the papermills property. Even today, access to the cemetery is limited, and the graves are still behind locked gates.

Williams said access is limited to escorted visits because the graves are back in the woods. Theres probably snakes and who knows what all back there, he said.

Restricting access to the gravesite was not a malicious act on the part of the company, Williams said. Decades had passed since anyone was buried there and the graveyard had been neglected, not an uncommon condition for many African American cemeteries.

In the early 20th century, there was a thriving African American community in Myrtle Grove. When the plantation was purchased by the paper mill company, residents were relocated to homes off the property, and the company helped them find housing, Williams said.

Now, International Paper has been working with local community groups and at 10 a.m. July 20 there will be a ceremony for the installation of a 6-foot-tall monument honoring those interred in the cemetery.

An International Paper spokesperson said the company was in the process of preparing a release on the project, but no information was immediately available.

There are probably 150 names that will be on the monument, Williams said. The monument is going to be situated on a piece of land International Paper is turning into a memorial park.

Williams said the plans for the monument and park have come to fruition thanks to the efforts of a number of volunteers, including the Westend Citizens Council led by Fred Williams, James Wragg, Viola Holmes-Greene and LaFay Moultrie; Bill Strosnider of Hobcaw Barony; Patti Burns of the Georgetown County Library; students from Dayton University; and a grant from the International Paper Company.

The July 20 ceremony will feature clergy from Dickerson AME Church, St. Stephens AME Church and Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist, as well as city, county and state officials.

Guest speaker Doris Palmer will share stories of her family visits to the Myrtle Grove community.

Enslaved people werent given the best choice of land to live on, in fact, it was usually unusable, Williams said. They werent even considered human. While they werent given that respect in life, it is up to us to give them dignity now.

Williams said the memorial and the park will be a step toward humanizing the hundreds of ancestors who were forgotten for decades.

If we dont memorialize their contribution to our city, our county and our state, who will?
DACUSVILLE  Katie Chaney waved to a passing farmer from the stone porch of a long-vacant historic general store in Pickens County, which will soon serve the community again as a bakery and small grocery.

She felt an immediate connection when she first saw the almost 130-year-old structure perched at the intersection of Hester Store and Thomas Mill roads in Dacusville  an unincorporated community near the Greenville and Pickens county line on the southern edge of the Blue Ridge.

Now she plans to sell locally-grown produce and Americana-inspired pies at her new Hester General Store.

Chaney and her family eat carrots grown by the farmer she greeted at the crossroads in front of store and she uses them in some of her baked goods. The number of farms close by, especially those run and owned by women, drew Chaney to the area.

The two-story structure with a granite facade was built in 1893 by Michael Hester. He ran it as a one-stop-shop for goods and gathering in the post-Civil War era. When Michael passed away, he passed it on to his son Frank.

"Many people here knew Frank," Chaney said. "So, I get stories all the time about Frank and how he sat on the porch in his rocking chair."

Frank Hester and his sisters, Anne and Mae, ran the store, including at one point a dress shop on the top floor. Later, a side room served as a place to wait for the bus to Greenville.

The store has remained vacant for decades but will soon take on its new life  a sweets-oriented storefront Chaney hopes will recapture the historic community feel.

Stress baking to business

Chaney grew up in Anderson County and went to the Governor's School for the Arts in Greenville. She attended Wofford College in Spartanburg, studying art history and German. She had a particular interest in architecture and imagined spending her career researching German art and architecture, but "a bunch of things changed, and I didn't end up doing that," Chaney said. "I ended up on this path."

Her path led her to Germany to work for a study abroad organization. She then moved to Austin, Texas, for four years where she met her wife, Leah, and worked for tech companies.

"I was really stressed out all the time," Chaney said. "One thing I turned to when I was stressed out was baking. And, that's where it started."

Chaney read online kitchen blogs and cookbooks, and explored her family's recipes, but baking was initially only a hobby.

It was after the couple moved to Portland, Ore., that she noticed all the small food businesses. She thought "it would be really cool if I could take my passions and create something with them."

In July 2020, the global pandemic shifted everyday culture and Chaney was pregnant. Still, she and Leah discussed how a small business could be a viable option for their family. Five months into the pandemic, however, Oregon felt far from the important people in their lives.

Chaney's mom drove to Oregon and "rescued us," she said. The couple sold their house in Portland, moved to the Upstate and bought a house in Travelers Rest. They started a consulting agency, but Chaney still felt unsettled in Travelers Rest. She wondered: "Where was I going in life?"

The bakery idea nagged her until she seriously considered it. She consulted a long-term mentor in Greenville, who asked her if she had ever seen the Hester Store, noting that it needed renovations but could become a community spot.

When Chaney saw it, she felt an emotional tie.

"Things clicked into place," Chaney said. "The vision of how I want to live my life."

Bumps on the path

Chaney put in an offer on the building and started construction design last May. At the same time, she looked into private financing through a bank for the renovations. She was near closing on the building deal in October 2021 when the bank pulled out.

"We had started all this momentum and then that put the brakes on everything we were doing," she said.

She negotiated with the bank to help her purchase the building, then went to seek financing elsewhere in November. She emailed South State Bank for a Small Business Administration loan introduction, with help from the Upstate SC LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce.

Nathan Brown, co-founder and president of the chamber, said Chaney was one of the first members of the recently-launched chamber. Brown said when Chaney ran into funding issues, she reached out to the chamber. He sat down with her to create a strategy.

"I love Katie and her work," Brown said. "She is such a fantastic human."

It took eight months, but Chaney closed on the SBA financing in June.

One reason the loan took longer was that Chaney wanted to buy her inventory locally over buying from traditional restaurant supply stores. She works with a small group of farmers close by and has an open invoice with them.

"We'll need pumpkins in the winter, so we're gonna pay them now," Chaney said.

Her loan also requires her to create 10 jobs. Chaney has hired three so far, with one being part-time. Others will be added to match the growth of the wholesale business.

Because the Hester Store is on the National Register of Historic Places, Chaney needed to get her plans reviewed by the South Carolina Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, which took about three months.

"We don't have much intention of changing a lot," Chaney said.

The upstairs will house the kitchen. The downstairs will have a pastry counter, coffee shop and a small grocery. In the center, there will be coolers with grab-and-go items. A new accessible bathroom will be put in. Outdoor seating and a play area for children will also be constructed. A local muralist will paint the side of the building, memorializing its history.

The whole project will cost about $750,000, including the purchase price.

Wanting and needing pies

The store will serve mostly sweets with a splash of local produce. While farmers often go to Greenville or Travelers Rest to sell their crops, she said there's a community here in Dacusville that really wants access to those things.

Chaney is cognizant of how her store will contribute to the food options in Dacusville. She thinks about of how she interacts with her partner farmers, how she incorporates their food into the store and the price of the products. She hopes the store can be a place for access to quality food and education surrounding food preparation.

The pastry counter will serve cake, bread, cookies, pre-made charcuteries and Chaneys best-known baked good  classic pies. A lot of the pies are fruit-based, like her key lime and lemon meringue pies. One of her most popular items is a French silk pie.

At the start, she worked out of her home but to accommodate the growth she currently rents time in the Spatula Kitchen in the Monaghan Mill neighborhood west of downtown Greenville. The Spatula closed its cafe earlier this year, with the owners saying the business is undergoing a restructuring period.

While Chaney sorted out the logistics of the renovation and funding, she worked to get her pies in front of customers. She wanted the public wanting and needing pies so that they'll drive to Dacusville, she said.

She has done pop-ups at local businesses and hosted events. She is also setting up a wholesale program so that she can work with other restaurants. She currently sells her pies at a spot in North Carolina, and at the new Resident Dogs locations in Travelers Rest and at Gather GVL on Augusta Street. Other partnerships are in the works.

Meredith Bost, the owner of Resident Dogs, met Chaney through a mutual friend when working part-time during the pandemic at Bar Margaret in the Village of West Greenville. Bost helped in the bars kitchen and Chaney would sometimes come in to bake bread.

I can't bake," Bost said, "And even if I could, it wouldn't be nearly as amazing as what she does."

On the night of June 30, Bost opened her Travelers Rest shop and said "a lot of pies went out the window."

"Aside from being just a genuinely good human, she's just a dream work collaborator," Bost said about Chaney. "I don't really know how to sing her praises loud enough."

Chaney anticipates Hester General Store will be open sometime in the coming winter.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Mostly sunny skies during the morning hours. Scattered showers and thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High around 90F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

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Widely scattered showers or a thunderstorm early. Then partly cloudy. Low 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Kingstree, SC (29556)

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Mostly sunny early. Scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day. High around 90F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

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Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

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Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 76F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

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HAMPTON  State police have informed family members they plan to bring criminal charges against disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh in the June 2021 double murder of his wife and son.

Agents from the State Law Enforcement Division met with the Murdaugh family on the morning of July 12 to deliver the news as a courtesy, John Marvin Murdaugh, Alex's younger brother, told The Post and Courier.

SLED did not disclose any evidence it has on Alex Murdaugh during the 30-minute meeting, his brother said. The law enforcement agency plans to present its evidence to a grand jury this week and did not mention any other suspects, he said. Relatives of Alex Murdaugh's late wife, Maggie, were in the room, he added.

"The entire family has been consistent that regardless of what goes on, we want the truth," John Marvin Murdaugh said July 12.

SLED spokeswoman Renee Wunderlich said the agency's investigation into the slayings remains "active and ongoing." She declined to comment further. So did S.C. Attorney General's Office spokesman Robert Kittle.

Murdaugh defense attorney Jim Griffin, who has long said Alex Murdaugh did not kill his wife and son, also declined to comment.

News that state police were planning to move forward with charges against Alex Murdaugh was first reported July 12 by Fitsnews.com.

The charges would come some 13 months after Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were found shot to death outside the prominent family's hunting lodge.

It is unclear whether state police plan to present their evidence to the state grand jury in Columbia or the Colleton County grand jury in Walterboro. The county grand jury is scheduled to meet July 14, Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill confirmed to The Post and Courier. State law requires that grand jury proceedings be kept secret.

Any indictments brought by either investigative panel would punctuate more than a year of suspense and suspicion that has swirled around Murdaugh as his life systematically collapsed around him amid admissions of drug use and embezzlement. In all, Murdaugh has been accused of stealing almost $8.5 million from former clients and colleagues.

Murdaugh, 53, faces a mountain of criminal indictments related to the thefts and a failed staged-suicide plot on Labor Day  charges that could put him away for decades.

And the state Supreme Court on July 12 officially stripped the longtime attorney of his law license after suspending him from practicing law in September.

But the 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, have remained a constant source of speculation and intrigue that have spawned podcasts, book contracts, television specials and a growing global army of online sleuths and commentators.

Through it all, Alex Murdaugh, who is currently jailed at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia, has remained the only known person of interest in SLED's investigation of the killings.

Murdaugh reported finding his wife and son shot to death shortly after 10 p.m. June 7, 2021, near a kennel outside the familys property at 4147 Moselle Road in Islandton. Investigators released scant information on the killings, but word soon surfaced that the pair had been slain with different guns  a rifle and a shotgun. No motive was offered.

SLED tried to reassure the public that no ongoing threat existed. But how could that be, people wondered, if the killer was still on the loose? That has only fueled public speculation that the gunman was already under law enforcement scrutiny, and that the culprit might be Alex Murdaugh himself.

The case had all the trappings of a made-for-TV movie. The Murdaughs symbolized wealth, power and prominence in Hampton County. Three generations of Murdaughs have served as 14th Circuit solicitor, the chief prosecutor for the states southern tip. Alex Murdaugh also worked part time for the 14th Circuit Solicitors Office. And the familys powerhouse law firm made a fortune over the years through civil litigation against railroads, multinational companies and other deep-pocket targets.

Still, months passed with no suspects named in the murder case. State investigators soon found more fertile ground exploring Murdaughs alleged financial improprieties.

Murdaughs professional downfall began in earnest over Labor Day weekend, when reports surfaced that he had been the victim of a shooting himself, receiving a head wound.

But investigators soon discounted his version of events and charged Murdaugh with trying to orchestrate his own murder as part of a $10 million insurance fraud scheme. Authorities say the former attorney was shot by former client Curtis Smith, who Murdaugh's lawyers have described as his personal drug dealer. Smith has denied that.

Whats more, his own attorneys acknowledged that the episode had followed Murdaugh being pushed out of his familys legacy law firm after money had been discovered missing. His great-father had founded Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth Detrick in 1910 and built it into a dynasty. Alex Murdaugh's legal team blamed his fall from grace on a long-standing, raging opioid addiction.

In the months that followed, charges rained down on Murdaugh. Authorities accused him of fleecing a host of vulnerable clients whose legal settlements from catastrophic injuries were funneled into a bogus bank account that he used as a personal ATM. Among those whose fortunes he plundered was the family of his late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who died after a slip-and-fall accident at the same hunting lodge where the 2021 fatal shootings took place.

In some instances, Murdaugh channeled settlement money to a fake Forge bank account he created to mimic an Atlanta-based firm that manages client investments from legal payouts, according to indictments. In other cases, he is accused of having checks sent from a trust account with his familys law firm to Palmetto State Bank in Hampton. He allegedly converted some of those funds into money orders, placed others in conservatorship accounts controlled by people to whom he was indebted and used wire transfers to support other financial needs, the indictments stated.

Those who trusted Murdaugh soon became collateral damage in the case, as well.

Beaufort lawyer Cory Fleming, Murdaughs longtime friend and college roommate, was indicted by the grand jury on 18 charges in March and five additional counts in May. Fleming, who is out of jail on bond, stands accused of helping Murdaugh steal nearly $3.5 million from wrongful death settlement proceeds meant for the sons of Murdaughs late housekeeper.

Former Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte was indicted in May by the state grand jury. He also is accused of helping Murdaugh siphon money from his legal clients. Among other things, they were accused of conspiring to pilfer nearly $660,000 in settlement proceeds owed to the family of Hakeem Pinckney, a deaf man who was left severely disabled after a 2009 car accident that also injured several of his relatives.

Laffitte also helped Murdaugh steal nearly $1.2 million from accounts he controlled at Palmetto State Bank, including to pay back loans Laffitte had issued him from a clients account, the jury alleged.

Meantime, officials said little about the murders at the Murdaugh familys hunting lodge, a sprawling property known as Moselle along the Colleton and Hampton county lines.

Rumors became rampant in the void of information. That left Murdaugh family members frustrated that they didn't know more about what led to the deaths. John Marvin Murdaugh in March told The Post and Courier that he worried the investigations of his brothers alleged financial crimes had overshadowed the quest to find out who killed Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

At the time of the killings, Paul Murdaugh was awaiting trial on boating under the influence charges stemming from a 2019 crash in Beaufort County that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, a passenger in the boat. A state grand jury was empaneled last year to investigate how officers investigated the boat crash after records highlighted missteps by law enforcement and questions surfaced about a possible attempt to shift blame away from Paul Murdaugh.

In addition, SLED has opened an investigation into the unsolved death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, whose body was found with blunt-force head trauma on a Hampton County road in July 2015. The agency has said information gathered as part of the Murdaugh double-murder case prompted the new probe.
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.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham must testify next month as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and his allies illegally interfered with Georgia's 2020 election results.

In his ruling certified July 11, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered the South Carolina Republican to appear before a special grand jury on Aug. 2, calling Graham a "necessary and material witness."

The development is a procedural blow to Graham and his two Charleston attorneys, Bart Daniel and Matt Austin. Last week, Graham's lawyers said their client will "go to court, challenge the subpoena, and expects to prevail."

In a July 12 Fox News radio interview, Graham told host Brian Kilmeade plainly, "Well, I think I'll be going to court and fight back."

Asked if he would be giving up his fight, Graham replied, "Good God, no."

"Listen, as a senator, I'm going to vote on whether or not to certify an election. I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. So my job is to figure out what I need to be doing," Graham continued.

Graham's attorneys did not return requests for comment.

Graham's South Carolina Senate office sent a copy of the previous July 6 statement issued by his lawyers when asked about the latest development.

"As noted in the original statement, last sentence, Graham plans to fight the subpoena in court and win," Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop said in an email to The Post and Courier.

News of the Georgia judge's ruling was first reported by WAGA-TV in Atlanta.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis issued a subpoena last week for Graham as part of an investigation that she alleges is a "multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere."

Graham is one of many figures from Trumps inner circle who have been asked to appear before a special grand jury in Fulton County. Others include Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, along with attorneys John Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis.

Graham, who remains one of Trump's closest Republican allies in the U.S. Senate, is being asked to testify about at least two phone conversations he had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Raffensperger's staff in the days after the 2020 presidential election.

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In his ruling, the judge said the 23-person special grand jury deserves to hear from Graham because of both "the substance and timing" of the telephone calls Graham made to Raffensperger "to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome" for Trump.

During one of those calls, Graham reportedly asked Georgia's top elections official if his office had the power to reject certain absentee ballots. Raffensperger, who is also a Republican, later told The Washington Post he had interpreted Graham's question as a suggestion to toss out legally cast votes.

In the same call, Graham also allegedly asked Raffensperger about the state's signature-matching law and whether political bias could have prompted poll workers to accept ballots with non-matching signatures.

In his radio interview on the Brian Kilmeade show, Graham said, "I never suggested to anybody to discount any ballots for any political reason."

After the July 5 subpoena, Graham's lawyers pushed back and promised to fight the subpoena in court. In a statement emailed to reporters at the time, Graham's attorneys insisted the senator was "simply a witness" and is "neither a subject nor target of the investigation."

They also slammed the inquiry by the Fulton County District Attorney's Office as a politically motivated "fishing expedition."

"As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Graham was well within his rights to discuss with state officials the processes and procedures around administering elections," Graham's attorneys wrote. "Should it stand, the subpoena issued today (July 5) would erode the constitutional balance of power and the ability of a member of Congress to do their job."

In his ruling, the Fulton County judge said Graham's anticipated testimony is essential to the Fulton County grand jury investigation because it is "likely to reveal additional sources of information."

The judge said Graham not only "possesses unique knowledge concerning the substance of the telephone calls" but he could also speak to the circumstances surrounding his decision to make the telephone calls, the logistics of setting up the telephone calls, "and any communications between himself, others involved in the planning and execution of the telephone calls, the Trump campaign, and other known and unknown individuals" involved.

The certificate from the judge also notes the state of Georgia will pay for any reasonable and necessary travel expenses and witness fees required to secure Graham's attendance and testimony.
COLUMBIA  A trio of former Chester lawmen will spend nearly a decade combined behind bars for turning their local Sheriffs Department into a self-serving criminal enterprise.

U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs on July 11 sentenced ex-Chester County Sheriff Alex Big A Underwood, 59, to 46 months in federal prison in connection with his April 2021 conviction on corruption, fraud and abuse of power charges.

Childs also sentenced two of Underwoods former top deputies, Johnny Neal and Robert Sprouse, to prison on charges of fraud, abuse of power and orchestrating coverups of their misconduct. She doled out 46 months to Neal and two years to Sprouse.

The former lawmen also will pay a combined nearly $30,000 in restitution for their crimes.

The sentencings end one of the largest public corruption cases brought against S.C. law enforcement officials in recent memory. The case also punctuates an embarrassing string of scandals by South Carolinas 46 elected sheriffs. Underwood was the 13th to be convicted of a crime while in office over the past 11 years.

"Hopefully, today's sentencing sends a clear message that no one  not even the elected sheriff  is above the law, said Jarrod Bruder, executive director of the S.C. Sheriffs Association.

State and federal investigators uncovered a wide array of wrongdoing within Underwoods ranks, much of which was first exposed in reports by The Post and Courier.

Underwood, a Democrat whose 2012 election made him the first Black sheriff in this rural county of 33,000 between Columbia and Charlotte, pulled deputies off their normal duties to build a party barn on his property at the taxpayers' expense. He had them spy on political opponents. He skimmed money for himself that they had earned working after-hours DUI checkpoints, prosecutors told a jury during a nine-day trial last April.

U.S. Department of Justice attorneys also entered into evidence a Post and Courier report that found Underwood and Sprouse had illegally booked first-class plane tickets for themselves and their wives to a 2017 sheriffs conference in Nevada. The flights cost the public $5,627 even before they paid a chauffeur $353 to drive them 2 miles from the airport to their destination.

To cover up the improper spending, Sprouse had an assistant white-out their wives names on county purchase orders and replace them with the names of two deputies who didnt go on the trip.

Prosecutors also detailed Underwoods illegal November 2018 arrest of a 26-year-old Chester resident who had merely taunted the sheriff and recorded video of him as Underwood organized a manhunt nearby.

The jury heard testimony that Neal shoved the handcuffed man, Kevin Simpson, so hard to the ground his shoe flew off. Sprouse, meanwhile, entered Simpsons home and illegally confiscated his phone, investigators alleged.

Prosecutors said the trio tried to cover up their wrongdoing. Deputies did not write a report on the incident for two months. But once the FBI began asking questions about it, they created a bogus narrative of the encounter, lying to federal agents and attempting to shift the blame to another deputy, witnesses testified.

The attempted coverup fell flat because Simpson had livestreamed the entire incident on Facebook for all to see.

Though elected by the people of Chester County to serve the people of Chester County, Underwood instead used the authority granted to him to serve his own interests, treating government resources as his own, using his power for personal vendettas and to violate the rights of an ordinary citizen, and lying to cover it all up, prosecutors wrote in legal filings ahead of the July 11 hearing. Despite having sworn to uphold the law, Underwood time and again acted as if the law did not apply to him.

The sentencing hearings took more than four hours as Underwood and his deputies begged Childs to show mercy. Each said their good deeds and public service far outweighed their mistakes. The defendants' lawyers said they have already suffered enough, having lost their careers in law enforcement.

Underwood's lawyers presented a parade of eight speakers, including Underwood himself, who attested to the former sheriff's character and insisted he doesn't need to go to prison.

They said racists in Chester County, including White politicians, were out to get him from the minute he was elected Chester's first Black sheriff. His wife, Angel Underwood, told the judge that the family's 1-year-old German Shepherd was poisoned by racists soon after her husband took office.

But none explained how the FBI and Department of Justice, whose investigation brought down Underwood, came to be involved in the purportedly racist plot to oust the sheriff.

Childs sentencing came after 14 months of mostly unsuccessful appeals and pleas for leniency from the three men.

Throughout the trial, defense attorneys sought to paint Underwood and his deputies as dedicated public servants whose worst offenses amounted to mere policy infractions. They demonized the DOJ prosecutors as outsiders looking to make a splash by winning flashy convictions against good men.

All three men filed written pleas for lighter sentences ahead of the July 11 hearing.

They argued they are men of strong character who are unlikely to reoffend. They asked for little, if any, prison time.

The destruction of Mr. Underwoods career, along with his reputation in the public and employability, significantly satisfy the need for just punishment and deterrence, Underwood attorneys Stanley Myers and Jake Moore wrote to the judge.

Spartanburg lawyer Andrew Johnston said his client, Neal, is a law-abiding citizen who just did dumb things while following his bosss orders.

The case effectively ends their law enforcement careers. It also likely dashes any political influence Underwood had retained in Chester.

Underwood ran for reelection to a third term in 2020 despite being under criminal indictment and suspended from office.

Chester voters instead picked his opponent, Republican Max Dorsey, by a nearly two-to-one margin.

The public should have full faith and confidence that their law enforcement officers will enforce the law fairly and will hold all offenders accountable, said Bruder of the S.C. Sheriffs Association. Sheriff Dorsey has taken this mission to heart as he has worked tirelessly to rebuild trust and support in communities across Chester County and inside the Sheriff's Office itself. South Carolina's sheriffs remain committed to serving and protecting their communities in the most ethical manner possible and have implemented steps to guard against future unethical and/or illegal acts."
WANG: Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is seen on a screen as he attends a news conference via video link on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, in Beijing, China, on March 7, 2022. Ryan Woo/Reuters
Fuel marketers increased the pump price of petrol in Abuja on Monday, with several stations selling the product above the government-regulated price of N165 a litre.

The development comes as residents continue to face shortages that began in 2021. While the government says it has enough supplies to go round, marketers say several factors have made it difficult to sell at the approved rate.

The president of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Okoronkwo, told PREMIUM TIMES while his members were not selling at a loss, their margin had fallen significantly. He blamed high cost of logistics and the war in Ukraine, although the crisis predates the conflict.

Last week, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, said despite payment of extra freight claims to marketers, they were asking for more. He said the situation in Abuja continued because marketers were closely monitored to ensure they maintain the approved rate, unlike elsewhere where they can sell at higher prices.

A PREMIUM TIMES correspondent who visited petrol stations on Monday in Abuja found that some filling stations in the Lugbe and Wuse areas of the city had started selling to buyers at prices as high as N190.

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At Danmarna Petrol Limited, Police Sign Board junction, Lugbe, and Eyis Global Ltd, Opp Dunamis Church, Airport Road, Lugbe, the product was sold for N185 per litre.

An attendant at Danmarna Petrol Ltd who did not give his name told PREMIUM TIMES that the price was increased last Friday.

An attendant at Eyis Global Ltd said most petroleum stations in the city are now selling the product for N185 per litre.

As you can see, we are selling this for N185. Just go around Abuja and you will find out that many stations have also increased their pump price, the attendant said.

At Shema Petroleum along Airport Road, Lugbe, the product was sold for N190 per litre.

A motorist, Ojo Adejuwo, who on Sunday bought petrol for N190 a litre at Shema, told PREMIUM TIMES that he was happy to get the product nonetheless.

Yesterday, I drove down to Shema Petroleum station and I bought it for N190. Even though I bought the product at N190, I was still happy because I did not have to waste time in queue, Mr Adejuwo said.

Kimchi Apollo, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said he was not aware of the increased rates.

Im not aware of that. I bought fuel yesterday for N165. But with this information, I will escalate it to the office on Wednesday.

Tomorrow at the office, I will find out what is going on, he said.

The NNPC Limited spokesperson, GarbaDeen Muhammad, did not respond to calls and text messages Tuesday morning.
President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of BUA Group, on his reappointment as the President of the France-Nigeria Business Council by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

The President commended Mr Rabiu for his very pivotal role in nudging forward the objectives of the association inaugurated a year ago, and for retaining the trust and confidence of members of the strategic Council.

Mr Buhari noted that under one year of Mr Rabius leadership, the Council has recorded appreciable progress in plans by some of Nigerias biggest banks to set up subsidiaries in France, BUAs partnership with Axes France to build a 200,000bpd refinery in Akwa Ibom State, among others.

President Buhari assured the Chairman of BUA and Pioneer President of the Council of Federal Governments unflinching support as top business leaders continue to build strategic partnerships aimed at improving business relations between the two countries, as well as supporting the economic programme of Government in the areas of infrastructural development, agriculture, power, job and wealth creation.

The President affirmed that the focus of his administrations economic diplomacy is attracting foreign investments into the country which makes the ordinary Nigerian a prime beneficiary.

He, therefore, assured Nigerians and all foreign policy stakeholders that having reaped the benefits of major investments into the country in the last seven years, his administration will continue to vigorously promote Nigeria as a preferred and attractive destination to international investors.
The Defence Headquarters says troops of Operation Safe Haven have sustained offensive against criminal elements and ensured a hitch-free and peaceful Sallah celebration within their area of responsibility.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Bernard Onyeuko, a major general, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mr Onyeuko said the troops had on July 7 and July 8, apprehended two notorious kidnappers  Abdulrazaq Umar and Idris Abdullahi at Heipang in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.

He said the operation was conducted in conjunction with the police.

He added that the suspects confessed to have carried out several kidnapping activities within Plateau and Bauchi states including the murder of Saleh Abdulhamid (Shaba) at Ex Land Village on June 22.

Mr Onyeuko said they also revealed that Buhari Umar was the leader of the gang.

According to him, while enroute the criminals hideout, the suspects attempted to escape and were killed.

Mr Onyeuko added that troops had on July 9, conducted a raid at Mailafia, Nisama, Dogon Filli and Gidan Waya all in Jemaa Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

He said two armed robbers  George Yakubu, 26; and George Joseph, 25, were apprehended during the operation.

According to him, items recovered from the suspects include three AK-47 rifles, one knife, one hoe, one cutter and one spanner, among others.

Also, on the same day, troops responded to a distress call that gunmen attacked a Toyota Hummer Bus with Registration Number LFA 322 YR Nasarawa at Dogon Filli village.

Troops mobilised to the scene and rescued nine passengers who were held hostage.

The military high command commends troops of Operation Safe Haven for their efforts and encourages general public to avail troops with credible and timely information on criminal activities, he said.

(NAN)
All is not well with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). A raging storm may scupper the chances of the main opposition party in the 2023 general elections, especially the presidential election if broken fences within the party are not mended before the elections.

The party had appeared more organised and better prepared than the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) when its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, announced his running mate almost immediately after he won the primary. But all that seems now a facade as there are so many issues disrupting the fragile unity of the party.

The APC, Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) first used placeholder vice-presidential candidates and pending the final substitution which must happen before July 15, the deadline set for such by INEC. The APC and LP have, however, now announced the official running mates for the election.

Mr Abubakar, a former vice president, had announced, on June 16, the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his vice-presidential candidate, two weeks after his own emergence as the flag bearer of the PDP on May 28, thus, putting the lid on speculations on who his running mate would be ahead of the 2023 elections.

The choice of Mr Okowa, a medical doctor and outgoing two-term governor of Delta State of the South-south geo-political zone has, however, triggered an eruption now threatening to tear the party apart and put its chances in 2023 in great jeopardy, if not nipped in the bud.

Before the announcement of Mr Okowa as his pick for VP, Mr Abubakar in consultation with the party had empanelled a 17-person committee which comprised the governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, and others, to screen and recommend a vice-presidential candidate from a short list of three persons  Governors Nyesom Wike, Ifeanyi Okowa and Emmanuel Odom  respectively.

The committee, from sources privy to the internal voting process, recommended Mr Wike to Mr Abubakar as his vice-presidential candidate.

Mr Wike, this newspaper reported, polled 14 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Okowa, who scored three votes when the committee put the decision to vote.

However, much to the chagrin of the majority of committee members and some top shots of the party, Mr Abubakar chose Mr Okowa, saying he is the person he could work with as his deputy and a president-in-waiting should he win the presidential election.

Atiku, Wikes factions on collision course

This newspaper is aware that the choice of Mr Okowa has created two major factions in the PDP  the Atiku Abubakar faction and the Nyesom Wike faction, even as the hope of bridging the gulf created by the backlash of Mr Abubakars choice of VP is still hanging in the balance.

PREMIUM TIMES had also reported how the former Vice President had reached out through an emissary, a former Police Affairs Minister, Adamu Waziri, to talk on his behalf with Mr Wike, who, at the time, was holidaying in Turkey with the governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu. Mr Waziri, who later denied that he was sent by the former VP, confirmed that he met with Mr Wike in the Eastern European country.

The Rivers helmsman reportedly shunned Mr Waziri, thereby shutting the door against Mr Abubakars plea for reconciliation.

So far, Mr Wike seems to have more sympathy on his side, going by the number of PDP big wigs, including some governors and ex-governors, rooting for him. It is understood that these chieftains believe Mr Abubakar has not treated Mr Wike very well despite coming second in the primaries and his recommendation as VP by the committee.

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They believe Mr Wike as VP to Mr Abubakar will be a massive asset to the party in terms of mobilising and galvanising Nigerians to vote for the party in the forthcoming general elections. Their belief is predicated on the huge contributions of the Rivers governor to the party through thick and thin across the political firmament of the country.

Firing the first salvo was Mr Ortom, who implored Mr Abubakar to find a way to placate Mr Wike. When Mr Ortom was asked if he would support the partys presidential candidate in the 2023 election on a live TV programme monitored by this newspaper, he said he was still in hibernation, fasting and praying about whom he would support.

Analysts and political observers have interpreted Mr Ortoms response to mean that he is not on the same page with Mr Abubakar. This newspaper knows that the Benue State governor has a cosy relationship with his Rivers State counterpart.

It is the same thing for a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, who has not hidden where he belongs: in Mr Wikes camp. In a telephone interview with this newspaper, Mr Fayose said whatever Mr Wike does is what he and his supporters will do. He also insisted that it is the turn of the southern zones of Nigeria to produce the president.

Jonah Jang, a former governor of Plateau State and the leader of the PDP in the state, has also called on Mr Abubakar and the leadership of the party to address alleged injustice against Mr Wike, expressing displeasure at the processes that led to Mr Okowas choice as deputy to Mr Abubakar.

Mr Jang lamented that the ongoing discordance within the party, a situation that has led some top shots of the party to distance themselves from the party with some openly speaking against it, was capable of further pulling the party apart if genuine efforts are not made to reconcile the warring tendencies by the party.

To underscore Mr Jangs fear, only two of the 13 governors of the party already pencilled down by the national leadership of the party to be on the national campaign council of the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, showed up when the council was inaugurated. While Mr Okowa and his Taraba State counterpart, Darius Ishaku, attended, the remaining 11 stayed away, offering no explanation for their noticeable absence.

Ayus job on the line

Aside from the emergence of Atiku Abubakar, a northerner, as the presidential candidate of the party, the current configuration of the national leadership of the party is tilting more toward the northern aisle of the opposition party.

The national chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, is from the north, the chairman of its Board of Trustees, Walid Jubrin, is also from the north, while the deputy national chairman of the party (north), Umar Damagun,

who is to act as the national chairman in case Mr Ayu is not available, is also a northerner.

This apparent lopsidedness in the party has further polarised the party along the southern and northern divides.

Mr Ayu had emerged as the national chairman at the national convention of the party in October last year following the removal of Uche Secondus, a southerner from Rivers State.

The convention in the party is that the presidential candidate of the party and its national chairman do not come from the same region of the country.

For this decades-old convention to be sustained, Mr Ayu has to resign to pave the way for a southerner to lead the party into the 2023 elections and beyond.

Meanwhile, Mr Ayu had promised in 2021 to resign as the national chairman of the party should the presidential candidate emerge from the north, to give way for geopolitical balancing in the party.

In an interview with the Vanguard newspaper on October 24, 2021, when asked if he would step down as the chairman of the party should a northerner emerge as the presidential candidate of the party, Mr Ayu said: if the PDP says I should step down after a presidential candidate emerges from the north, I will be very glad to do so because what we want is to take over the government and run the government in the interest of Nigerians. So, Ill sacrifice anything to ensure that my party wins.

However, weeks after the emergence of Mr Abubakar as the presidential candidate, he is yet to resign from his position.

As a pre-condition for a truce in the party, Mr Wikes camp has already demanded the resignation of Mr Ayu, though this newspaper reported that Mr Abubakar is backing him to stay on. Messrs Ayu and Abubakar have been political associates for years, dating back to the aborted Third Republic.

Aligning itself with the position of Mr Wikes camp, the Kano State chapter of the party has also called for the resignation of Mr Ayu.

The state chairman of the party, Shehu Sagagi, on Tuesday, reminded Mr Ayu of the promise he made in Bauchi in 2021 to step down as the chairman of the party should someone from the north win the presidential ticket of the party for a southerner to lead the party.

Mr Sagagi, while pledging the loyalty of the Kano chapter of the party to Mr Abubakar, however, said a southerner must now step in as the chairman of the party in the spirit of equity, fairness, justice and geopolitical balancing.

Before Ayu, theres a precedent  Another PDP Chieftain

Meanwhile, weighing on the raging call for Mr Ayus resignation, a chieftain of the party from Kano State has said there is nothing wrong with Mr Ayu keeping his position.

Yunusa Dangwani, on Wednesday, according to the Daily Independent, denied that Mr Ayu made a promise to step down should a northerner become the presidential candidate of the party.

Mr Dangwani said To set the record straight, Dr Ayu never made such a promise. What he said after he was jointly nominated for the national chairmanship  after some engagements by senior party stakeholders from the three zones from the north, was that he will step aside as national chairman to allow for a chairman of southern extraction once a northern presidential candidate emerges and wins the presidential election. It is instructive that Sagagi was one among five leaders from Kano State present at that occasion.

Mr Dangwani, a former governorship aspirant in the state, however, maintained that There is a precedent in this matter. In 2006/07, our party was led by Sen Ahmadu Ali as National chairman like Dr Ayu, Sen Ali is from the North Central, while President YarAdua emerged as the presidential candidate of the party. He was from the Northwest zone. Interestingly it was the Sen Ahmadu Ali NWC that led the Yaradua/Jonathan presidential campaign up to the point of the election, the inauguration of the new president and the formation of the new federal government.

He said it was months after the YarAdua-led government had firmly been put in place before the Ahmadu Ali-led NWC resigned to allow for new leadership to emerge at a Special National Convention. The convention produced Vincent Ogbulafor from the south as the National Chairman, and Abubakar Kawu Baraje as National Secretary, among others.

Perhaps, Mr Ayu is exploring the privilege of the precedent canvassed by Mr Dangwani to hang in so that he can help Mr Abubakar win the presidential election and then resign for someone from the south to take over the leadership of the party.

But there is a challenge: What if Mr Abubakar wins and Mr Ayu refuses to resign? Whats unclear at the moment is if Mr Wikes faction and others opposed to Mr Ayu will give him the latitude to trudge on as the chair of the party. It is a knotty issue that requires tact and intelligence to resolve.

Moves to placate Wike, others on course  BoT Chair

However, the chairperson of the PDPs Board of Trustees, Walid Jibrin, has said a move was being made to reconcile Mr Wike and other aggrieved stakeholders of the party before the 2023 election.

To that end, he said the party had constituted a high-powered team, including Mr Abubakar, to midwife the reconciliation process. How soon the team will swing into action and how it pursues the mandate will determine the outcome of the peace move and the impact it will have on the party and its chances in the 2023 general elections.

Mr Jibrin, who spoke on Monday, said the party lost the Ekiti gubernatorial election last month because of the disunity in the party, saying for the party to have a chance in the 2023 elections, it must be a formidable and united political family.

We in PDP know how to solve our problems. We know that Governor Nyesom Wike may not be happy. It is the intention of this party to constitute a reconciliation committee that will meet Wike to talk to him, appeal to him, and pray that he will not leave our party, he said.

Mr Jibrin called Mr Wike a great man who has been fighting for the party, and the party will not want to see him move to another party.

We will all visit Wike together and if it means kneeling to Wike, we will kneel for him.

We respect him. We respect his integrity and honesty in supporting the PDP. It is our belief that in any contest, there must be a winner and a loser, he said.

He also said the PDP will meet with all the persons who participated in the primaries to placate them and ensure they all work jointly for the party.

One of the campaign bullets of Mr Abubakar is that he has the Midas touch to unite Nigerians across the board. He is always proclaiming himself as Mr Unifier, yet it remains a big contradiction that as the race to 2023 begins to gather momentum, he is yet to unite and unify the warring factions in his party  the PDP.

To begin the unification within, Mr Abubakar has to placate Mr Wike and bring him fully to his side. That will be the first step to halting the raging storm threatening to consume the party before the general elections.
The Controller General of Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Haliru Nababa, said the countrys prisons are not fortified enough to withstand the kind of attacks they have been subjected to in recent times.

He disclosed this on PREMIUM TIMES Twitter Spaces held on Monday to discuss the implications of jailbreaks on the nations security.

Despite intelligence reportedly provided earlier, Kuje Medium Prison was attacked last week by ISWAP with high explosives to free their members serving jail terms in the facility.

The attack led to the escape of over 800 inmates though a few of them have been recaptured in the last three days.

Sixty-eight of the escapees are members of Boko-Haram terrorist group.

A civil defence officer was killed on the night of the attack but no record of outstanding casualties on the part of the attackers who allegedly found help from insiders.

With Mr Nababa on the spot, the conversation, which lasted for close two hours, addressed some of the concerns of experts and Nigerians on the increasing terrorist attacks in the country.

Why Kuje terrorists succeed

While fielding questions from participants on the spaces, the NCS Chief admitted that they received intelligence on possible attack but the information was not narrowed down to the Kuje Custodial Centre.

He said he boosted the security on ground across prisons in the region but the capacity was not enough.

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported that there were over 30 armed officials on ground during the Tuesday attack reportedly carried out by hundreds of members of the deadly terrorist group.

Mr Nababa stressed the need to fortify the prison facilities not only with highly skilled personnel but also with new structures that could withstand the new trend of crime in the country.

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The jail attacks are new to us since the emergence of ENDSARS. The NCS lacks the personnels. We need the deployment of ICT to see how we can ensure the prevention of the occurrences and the completion of the 3,000 capacity of Custodial centers in the six geographical political zones.

The NCS infrastructure is not built to withstand this new trend of crime that is facing us but the 3,000 capacity will go a long way to forestall some of these attacks and then the procurement of operations vehicles because our guns cannot withstand what those people come with, he said.

Insiders job

In the wake of the debate on the prison, there were speculation that the terrorists were led back into the Kuje prison by former inmates.

This speculation further gained ground when the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, during visit to facility, said the attack could only have been possible with the collaboration of insiders within the nations correctional system.

The attack on this correctional facility is symptomatic of the failure of security failure. The attack is only a culmination of the failure.

We were told that an estimated 300 terrorists attacked this facility. They came on foot, and I believe they should have been detected.

In the first place, three hundred people will not come for an operation like this without planning. Planning must have taken a week, a month or a bit more, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES investigation also revealed how porous the NCS recruitment process can be.

The report detailed how a former member of Boko-Haram, Wilberforce Yohanna, scaled through the prisons vetting and became a staffer of the Yola New Custodial Centre.

The NCS denied knowledge of such staffer even though there was an internal memo indicating such.

Willbeforce is a staff but not to our knowledge that he is a member of Boko Haram. The CG is investigating the member, a deputy CG said during the PT TwitterSpaces.

Calls for CGs resignation

Given the growing trend of jailbreaks under his watch, some attendees of the PT TwitterSpaces joined many more Nigerians to call for Mr Nababas resignation.

A popular cartoonist, Bulama Bukarti, raised concerns on the outcome of investigations conducted in respect to previous prison breaks in the country and number of persons found implicated in the process.

His questions were not adequately addressed by the top officials of the NCS on the spaces.
" " Tail of the Dragon covers 11 miles of US 129 that winds through the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee. Wikimedia/(CC BY-SA 4.0)

There are some beautiful roads in these United States. So if you're itching to get out  and let's be honest, who isn't  why not hit the pavement and just take a thrilling drive? You can plan your next road-trip vacation around it, or just make a day of it.

Whichever you choose, we've highlighted five different roads across the U.S. that are wicked-fun to drive, thanks to their Instagram-worthy scenery and challenging terrain. They're all favorites of car and motorcycle enthusiasts, and they'll probably become some of your favorites, too.

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1. Tail of the Dragon, North Carolina and Tennessee

It's only fitting to kick off this list with one of the best-known routes in the mainland United States, and one that even novices can comfortably enjoy. Tail of the Dragon, also known as Deals Gap, covers an 11-mile (17.7-kilometer) stretch of US 129 that winds through the Great Smoky Mountains and the Cherokee National Forest in North Carolina and Tennessee. Its beauty and accessibility make it a bucket-list road trip for any driving enthusiast.

On any given weekend, expect to share the road with flocks of motorcycles and sportscars racing through its 318 tight curves. If you're counting, that's an average of 29 per mile. It's easy to see why the Tail of the Dragon is a favorite among drivers who appreciate skill as much as speed. But there are also plenty of places to stop along the route, so take your time, stretch your legs, bask in the scenery, and grab a bite to eat and maybe a souvenir or two.

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2. Mount Washington Auto Road, New Hampshire

In the White Mountains of New Hampshire, you'll find the country's oldest continuously operating attraction, the 7.6-mile (12.2 kilometer) road to the summit of Mount Washington. The trip to the top may be short in distance, but it's not an especially quick drive. It takes about 30 minutes to complete the journey  one way.

You'll want to take your time, too, especially since there aren't any guardrails along the switchbacks, which certainly contributes to the exhilaration you'll feel as you climb to the summit. (You'll also feel for the horses who originally pulled the wagons up the mountain during the road's early days in the 1800s.)

Plan your trip carefully, since the road is only open during certain hours, which change seasonally and based on weather conditions. But, once you make it to the top, your efforts will be rewarded with sweeping views of the surrounding mountains. If you'd prefer not to drive, you can book a guided tour, complete with a driver who will offer stories and legends about the ecology and history of Mount Washington. Try the sunrise tour for an awesome way to wake up.

" " The 7.6-mile climb to the summit of Mount Washington has no guardrails, which makes this drive especially exhilarating. Wikimedia/(CC BY-SA 4.0)

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3. Angeles Crest Highway, California

A lot of driving enthusiasts will tell you that the Pacific Coast Highway is one of the best roads in California, and they're not wrong. However, the Angeles Crest Highway has its own distinctive charms, and is our pick to represent California.

Even though you're just outside the city of Los Angeles, this twisty mountain road takes you cruising through the Angeles National Forest for 66 miles (106 kilometers), with plenty of elevation changes to keep things interesting. Numerous turnouts provide opportunities to rest and admire the views. Though weather in Southern California is generally mild, the elevation changes mean you could see some storms. In fact, certain stretches Angeles Crest are regularly closed in winter due to heavy snowfall, which can appear suddenly, as well as avalanche and rockslide hazards.

Aside from the occasional weather events, dangers along this route are minor, making it a good choice for families and motorcyclists. Just stay aware of your surroundings and be courteous both to your fellow drivers and to the forest environment.

" " Angeles Crest twists through the Angeles National Forest for 66 miles. Wikimedia/(CC BY-SA 4.0)

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4. Pikes Peak Highway, Colorado

If you want to tackle a road that's an actual race course, head to the Pikes Peak Highway in Colorado just west of Colorado Springs. You'll ascend more than 14,000 feet (4,267 meters) over 19 miles (30 kilometers) and, once you reach the summit, you're technically at the finish line of the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. Pretty cool. Expect the drive to the summit and back to take a few hours or so.

At the summit, you'll find food, beverages, souvenirs and a stunning scenic spot overlooking the Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak. Along the way, there are hiking and biking trails as well as excellent spots for trout fishing. According to the Pikes Peak website, on a clear day, you can see Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Kansas beyond the borders of Colorado.

" " On a clear day at the summit of Pikes Peak, you can see Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Kansas. Sinisa Kukic/Getty Images

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5. Hana Highway, Hawaii

Even though Maui's Hana Highway  officially known as Highway 36 or the Road to Hana  doesn't look anything like a high-speed expressway, there's no arguing with the "high"ness of it. This stunning roadway that connects the tiny, picturesque town of Hana to the more densely populated areas of Maui, officially starts in Kahului. Its 52 miles (83 kilometers) of roadway thread through the mountains, with about 600 turns and more than 50 one-lane bridges that traverse steep ravines and waterfalls. You'll be gripping your car's steering wheel through the entire drive.

The views of the Pacific Ocean are unforgettable, as the waves slam into the edge of the island and the water shimmers at the horizon. If you're making a day trip of it (and you should) budget at least two hours each way, plus more time to check out the secluded beaches and roadside fruit stands. Motorcyclists from the mainland can rent bikes on the island, but this trip is definitely not one for inexperienced riders, as the margin of error is small and the consequences are extreme.

" " Hana Highway's 52 miles of roadway threads through the mountains, has about 600 turns and more than 50 one-lane bridges that traverse steep ravines and waterfalls. Royce Bair/Getty Images

Just a few more words to the wise: When you do hit any of these roadways, some universal guidelines apply.

Be sure to stay in your lane, because while part of the thrill is the abundance of blind curves, it's your responsibility to ensure you're not crossing into the path of oncoming traffic.

Stay within your driving or riding skill level. This isn't the time to test you or your vehicle's limits of acceleration, turning or braking.

If vehicles are coming up behind you, don't go faster; instead, look for the next spot to safely pull aside to let them pass.

Both cars and motorcycles are allowed on all five of the roads we've highlighted, though some may limit motorcycles in inclement weather.

Even in the best of conditions, keep in mind that tricky routes can turn dangerous in a hurry, particularly on a motorcycle, and are best left to experienced riders.

When in doubt, it's best to sharpen your skills by enjoying an easier trip.

Now That's Interesting I've driven three of these five roads, and to say they're bucket list items is an understatement. Two were on work trips  reviewing a Volkswagen Jetta GLI on Tail of the Dragon and a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 on Angeles Crest Highway  while Hana Highway was a particularly memorable day of my honeymoon. To be fair, my husband did most of the driving in Hawaii, and if you have a fear of heights as severe as mine, you, too, might be better off in the passenger seat.
On July 5, the Boko Haram breakaway faction Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) led a successful attack on a well-secured prison in Nigerias capital, Abuja. The group shot its way into the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre after overpowering security guards in a well-coordinated assault.

The government said 879 detainees escaped, including all 68 imprisoned Boko Haram members. About half the escapees were recaptured, one confirmed to be from the violent extremist group.

The attackers may have responded to Islamic States (ISIS) call in April to free jailed fighters. Detained Ansaru (an al-Qaeda affiliate in Nigeria) members are also believed to have escaped.

This is the latest in a string of high-profile strikes that question the governments ability to protect its citizens. The attack came hours after President Muhammadu Buharis convoy was targeted by bandits in his home state of Katsina. Less than a week before, attackers invaded a mine site, killing about 40 security personnel and abducting four Chinese nationals. And a month ago, unknown shooters killed 40 worshippers in a church in Ondo State.

Last weeks prison break, the fourth in a year, is perhaps the most significant incident for Nigeria, the Lake Chad Basin and beyond, considering that it involved Boko Haram detainees. The region is facing a surge in terror attacks, notably from ISWAP. The group has expanded and become the regions prime security threat.

This isnt the first time Boko Haram has targeted detention facilities. In December 2013, the group attacked the Maiduguri air force base, freeing its members and destroying five aircraft. Three months later, the terrorists bridged Maiduguris well-fortified Giwa army barracks, freeing detained members.

How was ISWAP able to carry out this latest attack? Kuje is one of Nigerias most secure prisons. The Nigerian Correctional Service said that at the time of the attack, the jail was guarded by soldiers, police, Civil Defence Corps, the State Security Service and the prisons armed squad.

The facility is less than 50 km from the Presidency, and over 800 km from ISWAPs comfort zone, Borno State in north-east Nigeria. The operations resources (both human and material), planning and coordination would have been massive. The groups success shows its strength and determination to spread terror beyond Nigerias north-east.

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Could ISWAP have had help from inside the prison or the security forces? Buhari was visibly angry when he visited the prison after the attack. He questioned the intelligence system in place, the attackers easy access to the facility, and their ability to leave without a trace. The arrest of two police officers who allegedly communicated with Boko Haram after their escape suggests there may have been collusion.

Former fighters who had left the group told the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) that while one of the escaped terrorists was in jail, he communicated easily with ISWAP members outside. The detainee  reportedly a pioneer member of Boko Haram  apparently owned a cellphone that he used to send dozens of messages, especially sermons, through voice notes, to ISWAP members.

ISS security monitoring in the Lake Chad Basin shows that over the past year, following Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekaus death, ISWAP has sought to expand its territories beyond the eight Boko Haram-affected regions. These are Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in north-east Nigeria; North and Far North regions in Cameroon; Lac and Hadjer-Lamis regions in Chad; and Diffa Region in Niger.

The growth has seen the group establish new cells in Nigeria  Fufore Forest in Adamawa State, Falgore Forest in Kano State, north-west Nigeria, and an unidentified location in Kogi State, north-central Nigeria.

Already the results are clear. For the first time since its formation in 2016, ISWAP has carried out attacks in Taraba, Kogi and Niger states and Abuja. These were all in 2022 and outside the BAY states (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe), with new cells spearheading the strikes. ISS data reveals that the Taraba State attacks were conducted by the cell in Fufore, while the Kogi, Niger and Abuja incidents were led by the Kogi cell.

Using these cells, ISWAP significantly reduces the risks and logistical requirements associated with attacks far from its Borno State base. For instance, the 200 km distance from Fufore to Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, is less than half the 450 km distance between Borno and Taraba state.

The ISS data also suggests that the Kuje prison break involved a collaboration between Ansaru and ISWAP. Ansaru, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, wants to work with ISWAP. And while ISWAP is receptive, it requires ISIS backing to ally with Ansaru. In the interim, the two groups have maintained informal communication. Ansaru has been touting its reconnaissance on Kuje prison and another facility holding Boko Haram members in Niger State.

ISS has not been able to verify that ISWAP has accepted Ansarus overtures, but the two may have worked together, even if only for the jailbreak. Ansarus familiarity with Nigerias north-west and north-central regions is an advantage. Also, ISWAPs Kogi cell is relatively new and small, according to ISS sources in the area. So joining forces to free their members would be a win-win for ISWAP and Ansaru.

While the jailbreak investigation continues, authorities must consider the attacks implications. ISWAP and Ansaru would see this as a major victory and morale booster, especially as some escapees were pioneer Boko Haram members. These senior figures bring leadership skills that could deliver more recruits and attacks.

The government must urgently work to prevent these violent extremist groups from amalgamating and counter the threat if they do join. Both groups share common enemies  the state and non-Muslims.

So far, officials have responded to the jailbreak with shock, condemnation and the usual promises of bringing perpetrators to justice. That is not enough. The government must review its counter-terrorism strategy, which has proved ineffective and was last assessed in 2016. Every region in the country now faces security threats, and those tasked with protecting Nigerians should be held accountable.

Malik Samuel, Researcher, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Regional Office for West Africa, the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin

Research for this article is funded by the governments of the Netherlands and Norway.

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).
Some Christian political leaders within the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected the partys decision to field Kashim Shettima as the running mate of the presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

Both Messrs Tinubu and Shettima are Muslims  a combination that has triggered varying reactions since the former announced the latter as his running mate in Katsina, on Sunday.

The APC Christian leaders described this move as a display of crass insensitivity to the complexity of modern Nigeria and the entire Church.

They said it is also a betrayal of the advocates of unity and peaceful co-existence with the Muslims including notable Imams who had forewamed the party and the candidate from travelling that treacherous route.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of their meeting in Abuja on Tuesday and signed by Doknan Sheni, a professor.

At the end of the meeting which was aimed at discussing the implications of the Muslim/Muslim ticket on the nation, the leaders said they cannot go back to their various constituencies to campaign for a Muslim/Muslim ticket.

Nigeria, they noted, is a multi-religious and a constitutional democracy and not a theocracy with religion as a major national fault line which cannot be manipulated without dire political consequences on the peaceful co-existence as a people.

They also said the current Nigerian environment and political atmosphere is different from 1993 where Moshood Abiola and Babangana Kingibe, both Muslims, contested as president and vice-president and recalled that there was never a President Abiola nor vice President Kingibe.

The selection of a Muslim running mate is a display of crass insensitivity to the complexity of modern Nigeria and the entire Church. It is also a betrayal of the advocates of unity and peaceful co-cxistence with our Muslim brothers including notable Imams who had forcwamed the Party and the candidate from travelling that treacherous route, the statement read.

Other matters arising

According to the statement, the APC has always come under the suspicion of the Church as pursuing an Islamisation agenda, and a Muslim/Muslim candidature would take ingenious mendacity to prove otherwise.

The leaders accused the party of throwing its Christian candidates across the nation, under the bus.

Citing the fact that the president, the national chairman, deputy chairman north, the senate president, the speaker and deputy speaker, and now both the presidential candidate and running mate, are all Muslims, the leaders wondered if the Muslims would accept the arrangement if the cases were reversed.

The Tinubu-Shettima ticket, they said, has violated a Section of the APC constitution which states that it will guarantee equal opportunity for all mutual and peaceful co-existence respect and understanding, eliminating all forms of discrimination and social injustice among Nigerian.

They therefore urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and ensure justice, equity and fair play in the interest of the peace and stability of the nation and save the party from disintegration.

We are disheartened that someone who wants to be a leader for all sections of the country is resorting to religious exclusivism as a tool for wining an election. This will certainly result in a massive revolt against the party. Leadership is all about inclusiveness, justice and equity.
A former Borno State Governor, Ali Sheriff, says he has given his blessing to the presidential and vice-presidential candidature of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima.

He said this in a congratulatory statement signed by Cairo Ojougboh, the Director-General of the Ali Modu Sheriff Campaign Organisation.

His comment comes about 24 hours after Mr Tinubu announced Mr Shettima, a former governor and serving senator, as his running mate.

Mr Tinubu made the announcement on Sunday in Daura, Katsina State.

His decision to appoint a fellow Muslim as his running mate has generated mixed reactions.

Many Nigerians including the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had warned political parties against having presidential tickets in which the candidate and the running mate are of the same religion.

But Mr Tinubu, in his defence, said his choice of Mr Shettima, does not mean that he is insensitive to the religious concerns of many people.

He said he chose Kashim Shettima as his running mate because he believes he is the man who can help bring the best governance to all Nigerians.

Already, prominent politicians like Senate President Ahmad Lawan; his deputy, Ovie Omo-Agege and lawmakers of the APC North-east caucus have hailed Mr Shettimas emergence as the partys running mate describing it as an excellent choice.

In his statement, Mr Sheriff said Mr Shettima, who served under him as commissioner, had informed him of his nomination as soon as he (Shettima) found out.

Mr Shettima served as a commissioner in Mr Sheriffs administration when the latter was governor of Borno State between 2003 and 2011.

Shettima personally notified me of his nomination as soon as he was informed of it, and I have given my blessings to the Tinubu/ Shettima APC 2023 presidential ticket.

We have given him and his principal our blessings and we implore all hands to be on deck as we work in unity to ensure the partys electoral victory in 2023.

While he urged all the party leaders and members to work together to ensure victory for the party in the 2023 election, the former governor pledged readiness to work with the team.

I will do everything humanly possible to ensure that the APC wins the coming elections landslide, he added.

Mr Sheriff, under whose tenure the Boko Haram became a menace in Borno, was one of the aspirants for the national chairmanship position. He had commenced lobbying and campaigning prior to the partys convention and only stepped down when he realised President Muhammadu Buhari wanted the position zoned to the North-central.

He had said he withdrew from the race to respect the party and the presidents decision to zone the position to the North-central and as a party man who respects the rule of law and the leaders of the party.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has ordered a probe into the boat accident that occurred on July 8 in Lagos.

The state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotosho, in a statement on Monday said the police are probing what went wrong and treating the sad incident as criminal.

The boat accident occurred along Mile 2-Ibeshe. As of Sunday, 17 bodies were recovered.

Mr Omotosho said the unlicensed boat operated beyond the official hours, thereby breaking the no night travel and no overloading rules of the waterways.

Besides, not all of the passengers wore life jackets and the boat did not take off from a government-approved jetty, he said.

The Lagos State Waterways Authority (@TalktoLaswa), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and others are assisting the investigators.

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Anybody who is found to have contributed in any way to this tragedy will surely face the law to ensure that we do not have any such incidents in future.

The waterways rules and regulations are clear; they must be respected by the greatest value that the Sanwo-Olu administration places on human life.

The commissioner expressed condolence to the family of the victims.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families. May The Almighty strengthen them in this difficult time, he said.
Usman Alkali Baba, the Inspector-General of Police on Tuesday said 21,000 police officers would be deployed for the Osun July 16 governorship election.

Mr Baba stated this in Osogbo at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Osun 2022 Governorship Election Stakeholders Meeting.

The IGP, however, said the deployment was not to intimidate residents but to prevent miscreants from highjacking or disrupting the election process.

He said the deployed officers would provide security, protect the electorate, INEC personnel and materials before, during and after the election.

He said the officers deployed had already been trained and made aware of the rules of engagement, adding that the police remained apolitical and they were to ensure free, fair and credible elections.

In his address, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC National Chairman, said the commission was fully ready to conduct the Osun election.

According to him, the election materials have already been deployed to all the state INEC local government area offices.

Mr Yakubu said sensitive materials would be delivered to the wards 24 hours before the election and the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collection would still continue until Thursday, July 14, two days before the governorship election.

Giving the records on PVC collection in the state, Mahmood added that out of the 1,955,657 registered voters in Osun, 1,479,959 voters have collected their PVCs as of the INEC record of Sunday, July 10.

He said INEC would also be setting a record as Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) would also be deployed as ad hoc staff selected from NYSC corps members) for the election, asking the electorate to cooperate and protect them.

He said five INEC National Commissioners, 12 Resident Electoral Commissioners and other senior INEC officers would be in the state to support the Osun office to deliver a credible, free, fair and conclusive election.

(NAN)
Ex-presidential aspirant of the Young Progressives Party, Adamu Garba, has rejoined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Garba, a social media influencer, announced his return to the ruling party Tuesday in a tweet on Tuesday.

Yes, I am fully back to APC. I could do more harm to my country, Nigeria if I did not support a combination of a great strategist and a great tactician on a single ticket.

It is BAT/Hashim that should take over all polling units in Nigeria come 2023. RE-DECAMPED! he tweeted.

Mr Garba left APC in May, after raising N83 million to buy the presidential nomination form of the ruling party but decamped to the YPP where he contested the primaries of the party but lost.

Mr Garba is a controversial figure on social media. In 2020, he sued Twitter and its founder, Jock Dorsey, for supporting the EndSARS protests. He also launched a social media platform called Crowwe.

During the controversial Twitter ban, he offered his platform as an alternative to the microblogging site. However, Crowwe was deleted from App Store after a series of bad reviews from Nigerians and allegations of plagiarism of the terms and conditions of Sporty.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday urged the electorates in Osun State to vote for the party at Saturdays governorship election.

Mr Tinubu spoke at a rally in Osogbo in support of Governor Gboyega Oyetolas re-election.

Come out and vote massively for APC. If you want to vote, remember the future of your children and students, vote because of the better future you want. Mr Tinubu added.

The former Lagos governor used the opportunity to blow his trumpet, saying he is the most qualified presidential candidate.

He also mocked the Labour Party, calling them labourers.

They are labour party, they called themselves labourers, may you not see anything that will turn you to a labourer. Dont follow them in whatever they tell you to do.

He advised the electorate to shun the party and its candidates.

Others who were at the rally include Mr Tinubus running mate, Kashim Shettima; Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State; Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State; Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State; Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; and Babagana Zulum of Borno State.

The APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu; National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore; and other party chieftains were also present at the rally.

In his speech, Mr Oyetola called on the electorate to shun any form of electoral fraud.

Do not sell your votes to anybody, dont be deceived by their plans when they come to you, dont sell your vote.

The Osun gubernatorial election holds on July 16.
A veteran Nigerian actor, Kenneth Okonkwo, has resigned his All Progressive Congress (APC) membership over its Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket for 2023.

The actor made this known on his official Instagram page.

He stated that APCs Muslim-Muslim ticket would permanently destroy the political viability of Christians in the north of Nigeria if allowed to stand.

He added that he resigned his membership in the interest of equity, justice, fairness and peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

Mr Okonkwo, a convener of the Campaign for Equity and Justice in Nigeria, said he joined APC because of its constitutional vow to eliminate all forms of discrimination and social injustice in Nigeria.

He said: These ideals are now alien to the APC, with their unfortunate decision to paint our Muslim brothers in lousy light by insinuating that the Muslims in Nigeria will not accept or vote for a Northern Christian as Vice-President to pair with a Southern Muslim. If Muslims could vote voluntarily for Southern Christian Presidents, it is a fallacy to insinuate that they cannot accept Northern Christian Vice-President.

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This will permanently destroy the political viability of Northern Christians in Nigeria if allowed to stand. This is in addition to their failure to protect the lives and property of Nigerians, which should be their primary responsibility. The economy is also in tatters, he wrote.

Background

The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, named former governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, as his running mate, on Sunday. It has drawn a myriad of reactions from Nigerians.

Explaining the rationale behind his decision further, Mr Okonkwo noted that as a former member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, which resisted the same religion Presidential ticket in the past, he could no longer continue to lend his name to what he termed abnormalities in the interest of mutual peaceful co-existence, integration and progress of Nigeria.

In 2019, the Living in Bondage actor explained the rationale behind joining the APC, which has shaky roots in South-East Nigeria.

In an interview with BBC Igbo, he explained that he told Igbo people to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019 to get a chance at fixing what he termed as 16 years of misrule.

He stated that Nigeria needs a president of Igbo extraction to fix the southeast and engender political inclusion.
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, Olajide Adediran, has picked Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, as his running mate for the 2023 general election.

Mr Adediran, popularly called Jandor, chose Ms Akindele among a list of five nominees which include Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Kolawole Vaughan, Adenike Shobajo, and Rasheed Teslim-Balogun.

Ms Akindele, popularly known as Jenifa, will be officially unveiled in Ikorodu on Tuesday, her hometown.

Jandors decision puts to rest weeks of speculation over his choice of a running mate, as media reports named Ms Akindele as his choice.

The governorship candidates party, as well as his media aide, Gbenga Ogunleye, had described the reports as false.

However, in a video she shared on her official Instagram page on Tuesday, Ms Akindele said her decision to accept the position was an opportunity to help liberate and improve the welfare of Lagosians, particularly the deprived youth, women, and the girl child.

My decision is not only to accept this huge responsibility but also to work tirelessly and complement Jandors burning desire to see our dear state of Lagos live up to its potential with the people as its immediate and direct beneficiaries.
The police in Ogun State, on Tuesday, said they have arrested a 54- year- old man, Dauda Bello, for killing a 71-year-old woman, Mesesi Adisa.

The suspect, who allegedly cut off the victims wrists and ankles, was arrested on July 7, 2022, at Olodo, Imala.

Abimbola Oyeyemi, the police spokesperson in the state, said in a statement that they arrested the suspect following the sudden disappearance of the victim, who left home on June 8 and didnt return.

Mr Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the relative of the victim reported a case of a missing person at Sabo/Ilupeju police station in the town.

He said the case was later transferred to the anti-kidnapping unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.

The anti-kidnapping unit traced the last place visited by the victim to be the house of the suspect, the police said.

The police alleged that both the victim and the suspect are child traffickers.

According to the police, the suspect killed the victim after he discovered she was holding onto a huge amount of money, against the expectation of the suspect considering their last deal.

This made him hit the woman on the head with a heavy wooden stick, which made the woman to be unconscious after which he carried the unconscious body of the victim to the bush where he finally snuffed life out of her, read the statement.

Mr Oyeyemi added that the suspect confessed further that when he searched the womans body, he discovered she only had only N22,000 with her, which he took with disappointment.

Having realised that his aim of getting much money from the victim was in vain, he decided to cut off her two wrists and ankles, which he claimed to have been sold to somebody who is now at large.

The police added that the dismembered body of the deceased has been recovered from the shallow grave where the suspect buried her.

Meanwhile, the states commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, who commended the team for a thorough job, has ordered that the case be charged to court after the investigation.
A new projection from the United Nations (UN) has shown that the global population is expected to reach 8 billion on November 15 even as population growth is at its lowest in decades.

The UN report is titled World Population Prospects and was released on Monday to mark the 2022 World population Day. It projects that the worlds population could further grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050.

It also projected that the population could reach a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s.

The U.N. believes that the globes population will be stagnant at this level until about 2100.

The report details that population growth is caused in part by declining levels of mortality due to advancements in health. Further reductions in mortality are expected to result in an average lifespan of 77 years by 2050, according to U.N. estimates.

Increased population

According to the report, India will surpass China as the most populous country in the world by 2023. This is partly because of Chinas aging population and history of restricting births.

Indias population was 1.21 billion in 2011, according to the domestic census, which is conducted once a decade. The government had deferred the 2021 census due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UN report indicates that countries of sub-Saharan Africa are expected to contribute more than half of the increase anticipated through 2050.

More than half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the United Republic of Tanzania,

It said.

The report shows that the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen under one per cent in 2020.

Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, warned that rapid population growth makes eradicating poverty, the fight against hunger and malnutrition, and increasing the coverage of health and education systems more difficult.

Birth rates in the 21st Century

While the worlds population will reach eight billion after exceeding seven billion 11 years ago in 2011, the UN did highlight that in 61 countries or areas, the population is expected to decrease by at least one per cent over the next three decades

For instance, the report found that two-thirds of the global population lives in a country where lifetime fertility is below 2.1 births per woman  the level required for zero population growth for a population with a low mortality rate.

John Wilmoth, the director of the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), warns that the cumulative effect of lower fertility if maintained over several decades, could be a more substantial deceleration of global population growth in the second half of the century.

The demographic dividend

In most countries of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, recent reductions in fertility have led to a demographic dividend, with a rise in the share of the working age population (25 to 64 years), providing an opportunity for accelerated economic growth per capita.

The report indicates that to make the most of this opportunity, countries should invest in the further development of their human capital, by ensuring access to health care and quality education at all ages, and by promoting opportunities for productive employment and decent work.

It also says the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially those related to health, education, and gender equality, will contribute to reducing fertility levels and slowing global population growth.

World population day

World population day is observed on July 11 every year to raise awareness of global population issues and the effects of overpopulation on the environment and development.

The theme for this years day is A world of 8 billion: Towards a resilient future for all  Harnessing opportunities and ensuring rights and choices for all.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement to commemorate the day said it is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognise our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates.

Mr Guterres said it is also a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another.

Amidst Covid-19, the climate crisis, wars and conflicts, humanitarian emergencies, hunger and poverty, our world is in peril, he said.
Nigerias Electoral body, INEC, has promised to ensure a level playing field for all political parties ahead of the July 16 governorship election in Osun State.

With barely three days to the close of the campaign by political parties, the commissions chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, on Tuesday, said the choice of who leads the state now rests on the electorates.

Mr Yakubu spoke at a stakeholders meeting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital on Tuesday.

For us in INEC, let me reassure political parties, candidates, and the electorate that the choice of who becomes the next governor of Osun State is entirely in the hands of voters.

As I have repeatedly said in previous engagements with stakeholders, INEC will not take any action to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate. Our focus is on the processes and procedures as provided by law, Mr Yakubu reassured parties and candidates.

In a purely male-dominated contest, 14 governorship candidates have been produced by 14 parties to challenge the incumbent, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Saturdays election.

Prominent among the candidates challenging Mr Oyetola are Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Yusuf Lasun of the Labour Party (LP), Oyegoke Omigbodun of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Akin Ogunbiyi of the Accord Party (AP).

With the exception of Mr Adeleke who missed the Arise TV debate last week, many Nigerians again watched the five candidates on Channels TV debate where they rolled out ways to tackle the social and economic issues in the state if elected.

76 per cent of total PVCs collected

Mr Yakubu said 1,479,595 persons out of the 1,955,657 registered voters in the state have picked up their PVCs ahead of the poll.

He appealed to all registered voters that are yet to collect their PVCs to seize the opportunity of the additional measures to do so.

We are also updating our records to provide a detailed breakdown of PVCs collected by polling units. This will be concluded and made available on Friday 15th July 2022, Mr Yakubu said.
A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, has said opponents of Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket ought to consider traditional worshippers if fairness is the motive of the agitations.

Mr Nabena, in a statement on Tuesday, said Nigerians should be more worried about reasons the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) killed fairness and conventional power rotation between the North and the South, and not a Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling party.

The choice of Kashim Shettima, a senator and former governor of Borno State, as running mate to Bola Tinubu, has continued to generate reactions across the country.

While some have condemned it for alleged insensitivity, others have praised the decision.

Speaking on the Muslim/Muslim ticket, Mr Nabena stressed that the same faith governors and deputies in south-south states have failed to deliver good governance.

He noted that Nigeria has produced the same faith leadership in the past and heaven did not fall.

None of those agitating against the Muslim-Muslim ticket on the basis of fairness have considered the African Traditional Worshippers. How fair is it that we are agitating for fairness and equity to share power between Christians and Muslims while completely ignoring and alienating our African Traditional Worshippers, where is justice?

Nigeria should worry more about the zoning arrangement which the PDP has just killed for their selfish interest and desperation of its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar because for Atiku it is the last chance which will become one-chance for him by 2023., Mr Nabena said.

He commended the ruling party for zoning the presidency to the south.

The APC has done the right thing by zoning the presidency to the South. Nigerians must know that religion is a matter of individual race, the most important thing is that the presidency is in the South compared to PDPs unfair treatment to the South.

PDP zoned Presidency to the North while the incumbent President is from the North, a Muslim and Fulani man, just like Atiku. This actually calls for anger and not harmless Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC, Mr Nabena further stated.
Tukur Manu, the Publisher of the Desert Herald newspaper, who negotiated the release of seven hostages from the terrorists who attacked a Kaduna-bound train in March, has insisted he is not aware of the payment of ransom to secure the release of the hostages.

Money cannot achieve what I have done today. And I will never involve myself in any issue that has to do with money, Mr Manu claimed while announcing the release of the hostages.

He was also involved in the negotiation that led to the release of 11 other hostages by the bandits in June.

While reacting to a report by the Daily Trust newspaper that six Nigerian hostages paid N100 million each, while the seventh hostage, a Pakistani, paid N200 million before they were released, told PREMIUM TIMES that the report may have been exaggerated.

The Daily Trust reported that N800 million was paid to the terrorists to secure the release of the captives.

The terrorists collected the ransom in naira and US dollars. Only N200 million was collected in naira, the remaining N600 million was paid in the equivalent of US dollars, one of the sources told Daily Trust.

However, Mr Manu told PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday afternoon that the report of the ransom payment might have been exaggerated, thus not accurate. He also added that he was not aware any ransom was paid.

I mediated the release of the captives on health ground and I was able to achieve that, he said during a telephone interview.

I didnt know how such a huge amount of money was paid as ransom, I dont have any knowledge of that payment, Mr Mamu added.

The terrorists, who are still holding several hostages abducted from the train, have released 20 hostages so far. They have also threatened to kill the hostages if the Nigerian government failed to meet their demands, which include the release of their children being held in a government facility in Nasarawa.

In June President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the countrys security forces to do whatever it take to secure the release of the hostages
The strongest value of democracy is that it offers the people an opportunity to make their own choice. In 2023, it is up to the Nigerian people to vote according to their conscience. There are options on the table. The electoral umpires must provide the enabling environment for the people to vote freely, without any form of hindrance, and every opportunity to ensure that their votes count. In the end, that is all that matters.

The ruckus that has been generated by the announcement of former Borno State governor, Senator Kashim Shettima, as running mate of the presidential standard bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), for the 2023 presidential election, is a perfect illustration and yet another sharp reminder of how religion has driven a wedge among Nigerians. Religion, etymologically, is derived from the Latin word, religare, which means to bind together, but rather than bind the people of Nigeria together, religion has divided them along sectarian lines. It is the oxygen of devious power politics, sectarian politics, mass murder, terror, instability, and the plague of amorality. This is ironic, for Nigeria is clearly one of the most religious countries in the world, with every street, every corner boasting of either a church, a mosque, a shrine or a temple. The business of religion is also perhaps the most lucrative in Nigeria, with many religious groups noted more for commerce, hustling and mass hypnotism, rather than piety, with a yawning gap between private and public morality, as the people commit atrocities in the name of God.

The evidence abounds on the weaponisation of religion, even if the Nigerian Constitution states expressly that the government of the Federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion, the resort to violence on the basis of religion, as it has been witnessed over the years in the Middle Belt, Southern Kaduna and other parts of the country, the politics of Sharia, and the cruel exploitation of religion by political leaders tells a different story. The easiest way to ignite violence in Nigeria is to play the ethnic or religious card, as in Kafanchan, Kano, Jos, Zango-Kataf, Maitatsine riots, Kano, the slaughter of priests, incessant attacks on churches, etc. Many have died for no just cause: Gideon Akaluka, Mrs Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin, Deaconess Eunice Olawale, Mrs Eunice Elisha, Pastor Bolanle Ibrahim, Deborah Yakubu Samuel, all made worse since the return to civilian rule in 1999, by the religion-inspired war unleashed on Nigeria by Boko Haram and a band of terrorists and their international partners. Nor does it matter whether the perpetrators of violence are educated or not. Indeed, once upon a time, the University of Ibadan nearly witnessed an open warfare between Christians and Muslims within the community over the location of a Chapel Cross, which the Muslims asked to be removed because it was visible from the direction of the University Mosque, and hence allegedly hindering the faith of worshippers! Between 1985 and 1986, this became known as the Cross and Crescent crisis in Ibadan. Religion is so sensitive that both Nigerian Muslims and Christians have learnt to live in an atmosphere of mutual suspicion. Such measures and groups as the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), Interfaith Mediation Centre (IMC) and Inter-Faith Dialogues have not necessarily promoted tolerance enough. The fear of likely domination by the other worsens the situation. Every election season, religion plays a major role in the selection of candidates, giving rise to the need for zonal, ethnic, and religious balancing.

This is the general context of the emotions attached to the kind of ticket which politicians present to the electorate, most especially at the presidential and gubernatorial levels. The convention is to have a balanced MuslimChristian ticket or vice versa, while to do otherwise is to exhume and oxygenate religious passions and prejudices. This is exactly what the presidential candidate of the ruling APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done by choosing a fellow Muslim as his running mate. Virtually every Christian group in the country, including the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Arewa Christians and Indigenous Pastors Association, and the Christian Global Network, has kicked against this. No other general election in this country in recent memory has attracted as much religious sentiment. Faced with unprecedented assault in the last few years, the Christian community has been vocal in seeking to defend itself physically, and by mobilising the congregation to vote, and defend Christian choices.

Christians have been advised by some of their leaders to take up arms to defend themselves. Many churches have turned the possession of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) into an access card to church. Those without PVCs have been told to stay away. Some major Christian denominations have also set up Departments devoted exclusively to politics and voter mobilisation. Out of distrust and fear of the havoc that has been wreaked over time in the name of religion, Nigerian Christians want their own men and women in positions of authority. The other political parties that have announced their presidential running mates so far have exercised great caution in this regard, more so as the churches warned before now that in 2023, a same-faith, Muslim-Muslim ticket would not be acceptable. The Bible enjoins Christians to turn the other cheek. Christians in Nigeria have since abandoned that injunction. They are on their way back to the Old Testament.

Tinubu is referring to the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Chief MKO Abiola and Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 1993 presidential election. Tinubu has practically replicated the Abiola-Kingibe model. Kingibe like Shettima, to drive home the appropriation, is a Kanuri, from the same State of Borno in the North-East geo-political zone. But that is only as far as the comparison should go. In 1993, the Muslim-Muslim ticket may not have mattered because Nigerians wanted democracy badly.

Is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC presidential candidate not aware of this? Of course, he is. He has been in politics long enough to know that politics in Nigeria is driven by sentiments. But in choosing a Muslim like himself as running mate, he provides a robust, even if rhetorical, defence that has been questioned by members of his own party and outsiders alike. He has been accused, for example, of promoting the politics of exclusion and discrimination against Christians. An APC member, Daniel Bwala has resigned from the party in protest. Another APC member, Senator Elisha Abbo (Adamawa North) has resigned his membership of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign organisation. Tinubu however says: To re-envision and reshape the nation, I must compose the best team possible, a team put together with but one overriding purpose: to forever establish, just, capable and compassionate governance for the people of Nigeria without regard to religion, region or ethnic origin.

The problem here is that it is impossible to do anything in Nigeria without religion, region, or ethnic origin. Was this part of the candidates statement written by a foreigner? Nigerians, Christians and Southerners, have said they dont want another eight years of Northern leadership or any arrangement that excludes Christians completely. A few paragraphs later, Tinubu says: A dominant theme of my political history and my personal life is my staunch belief in our diversityMy selection of a running mate comports entirely with this longstanding inclination. So, how exactly does a Muslim-Muslim ticket promote diversity? He goes further to state that he is aware of the energetic discourse concerning the possible religion of my running matetoday, I announce my selection with pride because I have made it not based on religion or to please one community or the other. The counter-argument by Christians is that a Muslim-Muslim ticket will definitely please the Muslim community, and make Christians feel alienated. Asiwaju Tinubus attempt to discount the factor of religion is a hard sell. The Nigerian Christian community is not impressed.

Tinubu sells Shettima to the electorate: as a man with the talent, maturity, strength of character, and patriotism and adds that he has my implicit confidence and faith. He obviously feels comfortable with Senator Shettima, and that is fine  compatibility, apart from electoral value, is an important consideration in choosing a running mate. Shettima was a major player in Tinubus emergence as APC presidential candidate. He was director of his campaign. Both men also have a good relationship: Shettima is after all, a major exponent of the Emi Lo Kan  It is my turn  agenda. He is being rewarded for his loyalty. Tinubu further talks about the need to place competence above religious sentiment. There is no doubt that Senator Shettima is a competent man. He is educated, brilliant, experienced, articulate and fit. He holds a B.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Maiduguri, and an M. Sc. in the same discipline from the University of Ibadan. He has worked as a university teacher and as a banker. He also served as a commissioner five times in his home State of Borno in different ministries, a governor for eight years, and senator of the Federal Republic for four years. He can read a book and understand what it says; he can even quote Shakespeare effortlessly. Except that the biggest obstacle is the question of his faith. He is a Muslim, running on a ticket with another Muslim. Tinubu says that should not be a problem. He argues that the spirit of 1993 is upon us again in 2023. I have heard some persons in response to that saying Tinubu should speak for himself. The spirit of 1993 may be upon him as a person, but some people draw attention to the fact that we are in 2022, not 1993, and the times are different.

Tinubu is referring to the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Chief MKO Abiola and Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 1993 presidential election. Tinubu has practically replicated the Abiola-Kingibe model. Kingibe like Shettima, to drive home the appropriation, is a Kanuri, from the same State of Borno in the North-East geo-political zone. But that is only as far as the comparison should go. In 1993, the Muslim-Muslim ticket may not have mattered because Nigerians wanted democracy badly. They were tired of military rule. Besides, religious conflict had not yet assumed its current hydra-headed, octopoid shape. As Simon Kolawole pointed out earlier in a piece titled, The Awkward Muslim-Muslim ticket (ThisDay, June 18), before the late 1980s, religion was not a defining factor in national politics. Under the Shehu Shagari administration, Shagari was a Muslim, and Fulani, but the Senate president, the speaker of the House of Representatives and all his service chiefs were Christians. This was not an issue. In 1979, Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria ran a Christian-Christian, all Southern, Ogun-Anambra ticket with Philip Umeadi. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) picked his running mate from Southern Kaduna, Dr Ishaya Audu, a Christian. That was once upon a time in Nigeria, but not anymore. Some observers have talked about Governor Nasir el-Rufai running a Muslim-Muslim ticket in Kaduna State and getting away with it; but Kaduna is not Nigeria. A State with a population of a little over nine million cannot be compared to a complex country like Nigeria. In todays Nigeria, it will be difficult for anyone to run an entirely Southern or an entirely Northern presidential ticket with the candidates being of the same faith. Such a proposal would be dead on arrival  that is the extent to which religion has divided us. The APC proposal as it is therefore, seeks to test the established order and sentiments. It is a bold move. But what are Tinubus strategic thoughts? How strong are his propositions?

A Muslim-Muslim team is an attempt to woo and win the votes of the Muslim majority in the North. Examined closely, this is a cold-blooded, Machiavellian move. But did Tinubu at any time make any effort to consult the Northern Christian leadership and try to carry them along, before making his announcement? If he has not done so, let him do so now.

No 1: Electoral value. Politicians make choices in order to win, not to lose. Senator Shettima is Kanuri from the North-East. Would it have been better to pick a running mate from the North-West, which has more voters compared to the entire North-East? A running mate to Tinubu from the North-West would have meant picking from the same zone as the outgoing president and from a zone that had previously produced late President Shehu Shagari, late President Umaru Musa YarAdua, former Vice President Namadi Sambo and a couple of former military heads of state (Murtala Muhammad and Sani Abacha). The North-East has till date produced only Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa from Bauchi State. The Kanuris are not as populous as the Hausa-Fulani but would the Northern voter worry about that or be more concerned that the presidential running mate of the APC is a Muslim? Besides, Senator Shettima is from the same geo-political zone as the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. His presence on the APC ticket could swing significant votes in favour of the party and divide Atikus votes. I had in fact argued in a piece titled, June 12, 1993, Running Mates and 2023 (ThisDay, Tuesday, June 14) as follows: If Tinubu must pick a Muslim running mate as has been argued, his best choice is Kashim Shettima, former Governor of Borno State.

No. 2: Religion. We have established that this would remain an issue. The ready argument by those who do not consider it an issue is that Christians constitute a minority in the entire North, where the population is predominantly Muslim. But is that why Northern Christians should be excluded? Are there no Northern Christians who have the clout and the credentials to win big-ticket elections? Or that is competent, reliable, capable and able? By choosing a Muslim as his strategists advised, and as he has done, Tinubu is obviously leaving himself open to the accusation that he has no regard for the Christian community. He is nonetheless considered by many as a liberal Muslim. His wife is even a pastor in a Pentecostal Church. He also knows that whereas it would be easier for him to defeat his major opponents in the South-West and parts of the South, the main battle ground for his candidacy would be in the North. A Muslim-Muslim team is an attempt to woo and win the votes of the Muslim majority in the North. Examined closely, this is a cold-blooded, Machiavellian move. But did Tinubu at any time make any effort to consult the Northern Christian leadership and try to carry them along, before making his announcement? If he has not done so, let him do so now.

No 3: Finally, does religion necessarily make our leaders good men and women? Absolutely not. Religion is that affective thing in our consciousness which may have no bearing whatsoever with our daily conduct or character. Some of the most religious people are also some of the worst human beings ever. Nigerians are looking for good leaders who can address the major issues that affect their lives, and who can make Nigeria a better and safer place for all.

The strongest value of democracy is that it offers the people an opportunity to make their own choice. In 2023, it is up to the Nigerian people to vote according to their conscience. There are options on the table. The electoral umpires must provide the enabling environment for the people to vote freely, without any form of hindrance, and every opportunity to ensure that their votes count. In the end, that is all that matters.

Reuben Abati, a former presidential spokesperson, writes from Lagos.
I am yet to see the mass mobilisation that can dislodge this sedimentary formation that sits atop Nigerian politics, though Id be happy to see it dislodged. It will take tremendous amounts of investments, trust, MONEY, time, and even intellectual engagements at all levels to get this off, all the while fighting betrayers and deceivers and interlopers, and unserious pretenders. And mind you, most of the 10,000 wards are in far-flung places that are poverty and illiteracy wracked  effectively beyond the coverage of the almost-ubiquitous social media.

If you are big on social media, you could already call the 2023 presidential election for Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party. Indeed, he is making some impact, whether we agree with his politics or not. Many young and vocal people I know, and many who would not want to have anything to do with politics (who would usually farm out the responsibility to someone else), are strongly backing him. The crowd behind Obi has turned out to be quite quarrelsome, taking down viciously anyone who does not agree with their opinions, to the level of demonising those they believe to be in opposition. I have had my fair share of their excoriation, for indeed they have no time and no patience for long, convoluted explanations  which indeed are necessary for the right analysis to be done in a democracy, according to those who invented the idea. But that is a discussion for another day really.

Also to be discussed on another opportune day is why the Obi phenomenon is catching on among the urban young, especially. They have every right to be disenchanted with the status quo. The oldies have messed up bigly over time, so anyone who sounds different may be attractive. Obi talks a good game  especially when it comes to lamenting about and comparing Nigeria with other nations, with copious statistics. He has been called out on some of the statistics, but I am not one of those who believe he lies. You can only keep so many numbers in your head. However, when it comes to envisioning a new future for Nigeria, and responsibly allocating responsibility for where we are, I believe the gentleman can do much better.

The concern of this writeup, though, is that many of the young Obi supporters are discounting the sheer import of having a party structure. Like some of us did in 2019, many of these supporters, including Obi and the Labour Party itself, have alluded to the usual refrain that human beings are the structure. I have learnt. And in building a political party and contesting for the office of president in 2019, I acquired some bragging rights, in addition to considerable knowledge of how things work. Human beings may form the structure for Obi on social media, but it reduces on the ground in some urban areas. But as you drill down to the real Nigerian society, the human party structure thing wanes almost into nothingness.

This is how I explained the reality of party structure to some friends on WhatsApp:

There are 774 local governments in Nigeria and almost 10,000 wards. Each ward is made up of between six to 10 villages or small towns. Some are made up of urban areas. In the early 1990s, President Ibrahim Babangida created two political parties  a little to the right and a little to the left. He funded them and called them Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC). He built standard structures (offices) for them in ALL LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. Those structures are still there, though taken over by state governments today. In 1998, Abdulsalam funded the key political parties with billions of naira to show integrity that the military were leaving. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was a major beneficiary, as they brought Obasanjo on board. Alliance for Democratic and the rest also benefited greatly at that time, for it had been written into the Nigerian constitution that government will fund political parties. That funding continued, though reduced, until 2011 when the PDP decided to scrap the idea, as it got ready to rule for 60 years. I believe that the PDP felt sufficiently comfortable and wanted to consolidate its position. It was however a more decent way of pulling the rug from underneath new political ideas, than what the All Progressives Congress (APC) did in 2020 by militarily deregistering parties and getting the courts behind an unconstitutional action, just because it could.

On the side of party structure is history, time, constant funding; add illiteracy and poverty, and the cognitive bias by which human beings are naturally resistant to change or adopting new things out of the blues. The Obi phenomenon can give it a good try, but I believe this kind of coup requires the invest of time to show how serious you are. He has a couple of real disadvantages that may reduce how far his wildfire may go at first try.

So, today perhaps only the two large parties have offices in the 10,000 wards, 774 local governments, 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. In each ward and local government are chairmen and secretaries and their deputies and a handful of really committed members  some of who see the party work as their legitimate work, in an environment of high unemployment. They meet regularly and are occasionally funded  sometimes money comes constantly, depending on how they assert themselves. The funding that comes in from governors and their lackeys may have however led to situations where many of these structures are fraught with factionalisation and infighting (a wise upstart political party may look at exploiting this but has to rely on more than nice words or even saying bad things about the status quo). This constant funding aids mobilisation during elections. And, of course, they are conduits for disbursement of bungs on election day. Each of the 178,000 polling booths thus gets well-funded for elections.

I am yet to see the mass mobilisation that can dislodge this sedimentary formation that sits atop Nigerian politics, though Id be happy to see it dislodged. It will take tremendous amounts of investments, trust, MONEY, time, and even intellectual engagements at all levels to get this off, all the while fighting betrayers and deceivers and interlopers, and unserious pretenders. And mind you, most of the 10,000 wards are in far-flung places that are poverty and illiteracy wracked  effectively beyond the coverage of the almost-ubiquitous social media. Our people cannot understand all the fine grammar beyond Lagos, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Awka, Abuja, and a few other state capitals. All we have to do is activate our imagination. All the farmers, our uncles and old aunties we abandoned in the village. Those ones we avoid seeing when we visit home. The ones we say are witches and wizards. The drunkards and neer-do-wells, the ones who couldnt make it far with their education or lack of it. The ones we complain loudly to when they call us for money. And of course, we have the millions of honest folks who have stayed back in many villages so that they may farm to fulfil our palates in the cities. All those millions have found refuge in these structures.

On the side of party structure is history, time, constant funding; add illiteracy and poverty, and the cognitive bias by which human beings are naturally resistant to change or adopting new things out of the blues. The Obi phenomenon can give it a good try, but I believe this kind of coup requires the invest of time to show how serious you are. He has a couple of real disadvantages that may reduce how far his wildfire may go at first try. One of those is the naivety of most of his supporters, whose newness in political excitement they have interpreted as the right to bully others who may not have seen the light. Ive seen folks lately who repented from their brief spell of Obi-ism after careful consideration away from the gaslighting. Some have decided to stay away entirely, having not found anyone who caught their fancy. Another downside is that Obi has only borrowed a political party, which comes with a baggage. This means that he is likely to hop off if he doesnt win, when glory may be only at the end of another four years of investment of time, intellect, heart, perseverance and money. I know that he does give shishi, contrary to the thinking of his wild young followers. He has to be ready to give a lot more shishis that may end him up in the realm of the same old politicians that we like to blame for Nigerias ills. For it takes billions of shishis to gain the attention of hungry, deprived folks all over Nigeria. Democracy is indeed expensive everywhere in the world. I read one disgruntled labour leader saying that existing labour leaders in Nigeria are APC members and I did a double-take. That must indeed be true. How do you attain labour leadership without being corralled into the ruling party? You will even join willingly. Government must have you on-side. Those guys are unlikely to go out of their ways to mobilise for our man.

In the final analysis, the same issues Obi has tried to avoid by defecting from the PDP will still confront him. He has to invest at least another four years. See how long Buhari had to try (and he doesnt have money). Obi has to maintain his Nigerian-ness and encourage his supporters to remain Nigerians  not something else if they lose the elections. He has to basically take ownership of his political party and show that he is an administrator, working with his chairman. The presidency is not a 100 metres dash. Or is it?

We tried to build a structure in the party that I led and co-formed, the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), starting from December 2016. But I realised early on the limits of youth power as we had envisaged. We couldnt drill below state level, and only in a few states did we manage to create local government structures. We couldnt show much presence at the ward levels. Even our state and local government structures were rather feeble. Many of the guys who accepted positions at federal, state and local levels, upon whom we really relied for sacrifice and mobilisation, simply did not show up for work. Mobilising funds for stuff was a job requiring serious work. We sometimes got some financial support from Diasporan guys and just a handful of locals. The vast majority were either silent, unsupportive at this level, or indeed needy  such that we had to support them. I did an article years ago about how much money is needed to sustain party meetings at every level for a considerable period of time, so as to really cause a revolution. For, you cannot tell a village carpenter or market woman to leave their duties for a whole day, to come and listen to a messiah for free, when their survival is daily. So, money is important in building a structure. You must give shishi. At best, you assemble very kind people but you must feed and buy them drinks or pay their transport. That costs good money (and you will usually be cheated by the same Nigerians shouting The messiah has come!). Yet, this must be sustainable over at least four years to grab their attention. Everybody is looking for a better life. So, they want to put a party in power that will come back to them and favour them, give them positions and make life better.

You have to be able to fund party offices at these levels. 10,000 wards, 774 local governments, 37 states and the federal. You may get donations but that cannot cover all. Conflicts will arise as to who contributes more and who gets more benefits, which must be urgently resolved. For a small party such as ours, some of these issues were almost insurmountable. A presidential candidate cannot ignore the state of his party  except you want to be a Buhari, a dissembler. Before election day, your electoral representatives (hundreds of thousands of them) must undergo training, which need to be paid for. On election day, you need at least two people in 178,000 polling booths. The going rates in 2019 for effective parties was N5,000. That is almost N900 million in one day for only the presidential election. We had an experience at the 2018 Ekiti gubernatorial election in ANRP, where our electoral officers who should man the polling booths abandoned their jobs and went chasing more money from those who paid higher. In fact on that day, many Nigerians vote multiply for different parties. They have to go home rich that night. Who is checking what, if you are not in Abuja municipal council or Lekki? The atmosphere on election day is different. Outside the main cities, any prim and proper person sticks out like a thumb and has to scurry home, else meeting with maiming or worse. Even the security services are in on it. So, it begins to look like an outsider like Obi is on a self-delusion. In the South-East though, if elections are not disrupted, another Nigerian reality will work for Obi. South-Easterners will rally behind their son certainly. He can make a statement there.

In the final analysis, the same issues Obi has tried to avoid by defecting from the PDP will still confront him. He has to invest at least another four years. See how long Buhari had to try (and he doesnt have money). Obi has to maintain his Nigerian-ness and encourage his supporters to remain Nigerians  not something else if they lose the elections. He has to basically take ownership of his political party and show that he is an administrator, working with his chairman. The presidency is not a 100 metres dash. Or is it? He must have to increasingly engage with the grassroots by knowing those 10,000 wards and his message to them cannot be about China, Bangladesh, Egypt and the rest. He must have to understand that no elite in Nigeria can be exonerated from the historical fact of our peoples perennial, generational, and multidimensional poverty and illiteracy  least of all himself, an importer/banker/billionaire. And he will have to give more than shishi.

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.
Its in the memory of Lagosians that Asiwaju started the yearly Prayer and Thanksgiving Service in the Lagos State Government, despite being a Muslim. Lagos also remembers that it was Tinubu who returned missions schools back to their original owners. No, we need not fear a Muslim/Muslim ticket; no, not under Tinubu. As for Shettima, you only need to google the write up from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) president of Borno State telling Christians that they have nothing to fear

A 50-Year Development Plan for Lagos and a Muslim/Muslim Ticket

Tinubu is a man of vision. Can you imagine that when he was voted in as governor of Lagos State, he set up a think-tank through which he was able to develop a 50-year vision for the State. No wonder Lagos is still under the leadership of his disciples till today, long after he stopped being governor. The reason is simple: the whole world will follow the man that knows where he is going. I remember clearly when Tinubu was governor.

My most vivid memories of Lagos were the years prior to his election and the early years of his reign. I was already based in Europe, so each time I visited Nigeria the most glaring image of Lagos were the dead bodies littered all across the streets. The bags of refuse, waste and garbage all across the roads. Surprisingly even a iron-handed man like Abacha could not do anything to change the rots of the then Lagos. This disgusting image of Lagos started during the regime of Babangida after the capital was moved to Abuja.

The state of things got to a despicable height under Abacha, just before Tinubu came. For those who didnt see or remember Lagos of those years, itll be difficult to truly know the value of what Tinubu has done to Lagos and Nigeria at large. Unfortunately, I cant see any other State in the federation that has been so transformed, even after some of the presidential aspirants today ruled those States. To me our country Nigeria is also in a similar comatose state right now in terms of security, safety to lives and property, economy etc. We need a Tinubu to come with his transformational capabilities to help turn things around in Nigeria.

The South-South and the South-East will vote either the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the Labour Party, even if Tinubu selects a Christian running mate. The South-West doesnt really care as much when it comes to religion, its the most tolerant zone in Nigeria in that term, so theyll surely remain with Tinubu, no matter what. The other two zones that will vote the Tinubu/Shettima ticket are Northern states. Theyll rather be excited by that choice.

With the picking of Kashim Shettima as Tinubus running mate, its obvious that this election is already predetermined. As things are Shettima will deliver the North-East, while Buhari and his governors will deliver the North-West to APC. We know the South-West will definitely go to Tinubu. If those three geopolitical regions go the way of Tinubu/Shettima, all other political parties would only be contesting for the second and third positions. So what of a Muslim/Muslim ticket? Yes, that will really be a big issue for some Christians from the South/South and especially the South-East areas of Nigeria. These are regions that dont normally vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) anyway; they cannot be the main factors for consideration, and expediency advises that you mainly consider the opinions of your staunch supporters, those wholl give their vote to you.

The South-South and the South-East will vote either the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the Labour Party, even if Tinubu selects a Christian running mate. The South-West doesnt really care as much when it comes to religion, its the most tolerant zone in Nigeria in that term, so theyll surely remain with Tinubu, no matter what. The other two zones that will vote the Tinubu/Shettima ticket are Northern states. Theyll rather be excited by that choice. I personally dont believe that Tinubu who has been married to a Christian pastor for 40 years will all of a sudden become anti-Christian. If that could be the case, we would have seen the signs in Lagos.

Its in the memory of Lagosians that Asiwaju started the yearly Prayer and Thanksgiving Service in the Lagos State Government, despite being a Muslim. Lagos also remembers that it was Tinubu who returned missions schools back to their original owners. No, we need not fear a Muslim/Muslim ticket; no, not under Tinubu. As for Shettima, you only need to google the write up from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) president of Borno State telling Christians that they have nothing to fear because the Christians in Borno got the most support from Governor Shettima. Even the fiery Father Kukah is calling on Christians not to worry about the Muslim/Muslim ticket because we know the pedigrees of Asiwaju and Shettima. At this juncture I can only say; Nigeria, behold your next president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and may all her haters live long to witness it.

For the love of God, church and nation

Sunday Adelaja, the senior pastor of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, writes from Kyiv, Ukraine.
With no end in sight for the lingering strike action embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa has questioned the sincerity of those that should be finding a solution to the problem.

In a now-viral post made on his Instagram page, Musa submitted that the countrys ruling class doesnt believe in the system they are administering and that is why they send their children abroad to study while the countrys ivory towers remain under lock and key.

Just recently, the internet was flooded with pictures of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike reportedly attending the graduation of his son from a U.K university.

Apart from Mr Wike, some other political office holders and several other politicians have openly celebrated the graduation of their children from foreign institutions of learning.

However, in the past few years, students in the government-owned higher institutions of learning in Nigeria have spent more time at home than in their schools and the Super Eagles captain is unhappy with the anomaly.

He wrote: To our political office holders whose children school abroad. How do you feel visiting your children abroad, taking pictures in their schools and posting online while ASUU is on strike?

Like seriously, how is it ok to you? Youre running a system that you dont even believe in. Show me one Oyibo leader whose child is schooling in Nigeria.

ALSO READ: Ahmed Musa donates N2 million to Atlanta 96 Gold Medalist turned taxi driver

E no dey touch una? And when you return Nigerian youths will still gather and sing praises for una.

In this latest round of industrial action, ASUU has been on strike for over four months after accusing the federal government of reneging on previous agreements including the agreement to increase funding for public universities.

However, on Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari called on all well-meaning Nigerians, particularly those close to the associations leaders and members, to persuade the lecturers to reconsider their position and the ripple effect on an entire generation and the nation.
YAOUNDE, Cameroon, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Bank of Equatorial Guinea BANGE and UnionPay International jointly announced today, the first issuance of UnionPay International-GIMAC co-branded debit cards in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC Region). This significant development will offer the public affordable international financial payment access to a world-class payment network. While BANGE Bank is the first bank to issue UnionPay-GIMAC co-branded cards, UnionPay International was the first to partner with GIMAC by offering cutting-edge digital-based payments services in the region.

The UnionPay-GIMAC co-branded cards provide a hybrid solution in which the local and regional transactions are processed by GIMAC whilst international transactions are processed by UnionPay International.

GIMAC (Groupement Interbancaire Monetique de l'Afrique Centrale), payment switch is fully UnionPay international certified to directly issue UnionPay International cards and offers digital payment solutions to members in six countries in the CEMAC region comprising Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The partnership between UnionPay International and GIMAC was initiated in 2016. Phase one of the partnership was to establish payment infrastructure and an ecosystem for the CEMAC region, including ATM, Point of Sales, Contactless and E-commerce acquiring. The phase is to embark on the issuance of co-branded UnionPay-GIMAC cards within the territory, accelerating financial inclusion of the region. The third phase comprises the rolling out of various innovative payment solutions to accelerate digital transformation and satisfy consumers' changing needs in the region.

Mr. Valentin Mbozoo, the General Manager of GIMAC stated, "We are excited about the opportunities the UnionPay International partnership brings to the region and further payment innovations to support local financial inclusion. This partnership paves the way for local banks in the CEMAC zone to offer international cards to their customers in a cost-effective manner."

"GIMAC is a significant partner of ours, to extend our business in the CEMAC region, the fastest-growing economic zone in Africa," said Mr. Asad Burney, Head of UnionPay International Africa Region. "We are the first in this market to partner with GIMAC and offer cutting-edge digital-based payments in the region. UnionPay as a global payment network is looking forward to participating in developing this economy," he added.

With over 180 million UnionPay cards issued in 75 countries and regions outside mainland China, UnionPay has expanded its global acceptance network to 180 countries and regions in recent years. At present, UnionPay cards are widely accepted in Africa across all sectors, effectively meeting the diverse purchasing needs of UnionPay cardholders visiting and living on the continent. UnionPay cards are issued in 13 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, South Africa, eSwatini, Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius. The Nilson Report (Issue 1154) shows that UnionPay ranks first among all card schemes in card issuance and transaction volume worldwide. UnionPay International has launched various innovative payment products in Africa in response to the worldwide digital transformation and financial inclusion.

SOURCE UnionPay International
LONDON, July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT), a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation, today announced that Jerre Stead, Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer, is retiring from his CEO role effective September 1, 2022, but will continue as Non-Executive Chair of the Board of Directors. During Mr. Stead's tenure as Clarivate CEO, the company has nearly tripled in size both in revenue and colleague population, delivered strong cash flow, completed multiple strategic acquisitions, and aligned into a customer- and colleague-centric enterprise.

With this transition, the board of directors has selected Jonathan Gear to succeed Mr. Stead. Mr. Gear is joining Clarivate as CEO-elect and a member of the board of directors on July 11, 2022. Mr. Gear will become Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2022, at which time Mr. Stead will become Non-Executive Chair.

Mr. Gear brings 23 years of executive leadership experience in technology, data and information services companies, most recently as Chief Financial Officer of IHS Markit, where he helped guide the company through its successful merger with S&P Global. While at IHS Markit, Mr. Gear also served as President of the Energy, Transportation and CMS business segments, leading the P&Ls for approximately $2.6 billion in revenue. Mr. Gear holds a BA in Political Economics from the University of California-Berkeley and an MBA from Stanford University.

Mr. Stead said: "It has been my great honor to lead Clarivate as CEO over the past three years. With a solid strategic plan in place and the acceleration of growth being driven by an amazing team of colleagues around the world, I feel we are well-positioned for the future. I am looking forward to spending more time with Mary Joy, my wife and partner for over 60 years, our wonderful family, and working together to support Clarivate as well as our many charitable and community relationships across the globe.

"I have had the pleasure of working with Jonathan Gear for over 15 years and believe his experience coupled with his leadership capabilities are a perfect match for Clarivate," Mr. Stead added. "He brings a deep understanding of our markets, our business model and the opportunities we have. I look forward to working with Jonathan as we continue our pursuit of excellence at Clarivate."

Mr. Gear said: "This is a very exciting time to join Clarivate and become the company's next CEO. We will continue our efforts to make Clarivate one of the best companies in the world and a valued partner for the customers we serve."

Anthony Munk, Lead Independent Director for Clarivate, said: "Jerre Stead is such a remarkable leader and accomplished CEO, we feel great about the progress he's driven across the company, most notably through the One Clarivate business model and building a leadership team prepared to partner with and deliver for customers, colleagues and shareowners around the word. We are particularly pleased that we have been able to bring a high-caliber executive such as Jonathan Gear to Clarivate as our next CEO as he leads the company into an exciting future."

About Clarivate

Clarivate is a global leader in providing solutions to accelerate the pace of innovation. Our bold mission is to help customers solve some of the world's most complex problems by providing actionable information and insights that reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing inventions in the areas of Academia & Government, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Professional Services and Consumer Goods, Manufacturing & Technology. We help customers discover, protect and commercialize their inventions using our trusted subscription and technology-based solutions coupled with deep domain expertise. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1159266/Clarivate_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Clarivate Plc
Neuraxpharm, the central nervous system (CNS) specialist, to acquire two portfolios of established products for CNS disorders, pain and vascular diseases

DUSSELDORF, Germany and BARCELONA, Spain, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuraxpharm Group ("Neuraxpharm") today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire two product portfolios for CNS disorders, pain and vascular diseases from Sanofi. With the upcoming acquisition, Neuraxpharm will strengthen its position as a leading European specialty pharmaceutical company focused on CNS. The well-established products that Neuraxpharm will acquire are marketed globally in more than 50 countries.

The first portfolio combines 15 products addressing CNS disorders and ranging across psychiatry and neurology. The second portfolio includes two products in pain and vascular diseases. Following the acquisition of these new portfolios, Neuraxpharm's annual gross sales will be around EUR 0.6 billion.

The products benefit patients across a large spectrum of diseases including depression, anxiety, psychosis, alcohol dependence, myasthenia gravis and Parkinson disease. The CNS portfolio notably includes Nozinan, Tranxene, Tiapridal, Dogmatil, Largactil. The pain and vascular portfolio includes Topalgic and Trental.

Combined, both portfolios include 17 molecules representing 38 brands. These global brands will further solidify Neuraxpharm's position as a leading CNS pharmaceutical company in Europe and increase the company's global footprint and business.

Dr. Jorg-Thomas Dierks, CEO of Neuraxpharm, said: "There is significant growth potential in the pharmaceutical sector, especially in the CNS market driven by an ageing population and an increasing awareness of mental health. This phenomenon is a global trend. With the upcoming acquisition, we will not only strengthen our presence in Europe, but also lay the ground for further expanding our international presence."

About the Group Neuraxpharm  the European CNS specialist

Neuraxpharm is a leading European specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of central nervous system disorders (CNS) with a direct presence in 19 countries. Backed by funds advised by Permira, Neuraxpharm has a unique understanding of the CNS market built over 35 years.

With its focus on CNS, Neuraxpharm develops and commercializes established brands, value added medicines, generics, Consumer Healthcare products, medical cannabis and beyond-the-pill solutions and is continuously striving to offer a wide range of effective, high quality and affordable CNS treatment options in Europe.

Present with its products in more than 50 countries, Neuraxpharm also manufactures pharmaceutical products and active pharmaceutical ingredients in its own manufacturing sites, Lesvi and Inke, in Spain.

For more information please visit https://www.neuraxpharm.com

SOURCE Neuraxpharm
OSLO, Norway, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Norwegian Energy Company ASA ("Noreco" or the "Company") announces record quarterly results for Q2 2022.

Noreco today published its second quarter 2022 results, with the quarter delivering strong underlying asset performance and production at top end of the Company's annual guidance, and the strongest financial results since the acquisition of Shell's Danish upstream assets in 2019.

Highlights:

Hydrocarbon production of 26.5 mboepd

Total Revenues of USD 265 million , compared to USD 179 million in Q1 2022

, compared to in Q1 2022 EBITDA of USD 167 million , compared to USD 107 million in previous quarter

, compared to in previous quarter Cash flow from operating activities of USD 183 million , with Free Cash Flow (Pre-Investments) of USD 156 million

, with Free Cash Flow (Pre-Investments) of Total liquidity of USD 342 million at the end of the quarter with cash on balance sheet of USD 242 million

Net hydrocarbon production for the quarter of 26.5 mboepd is at top end of the annual guidance range of 24.5 - 26.5 mboepd. The strong production trend of 2022 continues in second quarter, with Noreco's currently producing hubs delivering overall operating efficiency of 91%.

The Tyra Redevelopment project made significant progress during the quarter, and in April Noreco announced the successful offshore lift and installation campaign of the three Tyra West wellhead and riser platforms, the TEH Accommodation module and two bridges. Over a period of ten days, the world's largest crane vessel, Sleipnir, safely lifted and installed the units in position at the Tyra field. This concluded the 2022 spring offshore campaign moved the project closer to first gas with seven out of eight platforms in position.

In May, the board of directors of Noreco appointed Euan Shirlaw as Chief Executive Officer. Mr Shirlaw joined Noreco in 2019 as Chief Financial Officer, and had previously served as Acting Managing Director since November 2021.

The financial result for second quarter shows a continued strong development with revenues of USD 265 million, and EBITDA of USD 167 million. Noreco in the period generated Free Cash Flow (Pre-Investments) of USD 156 million and total Free Cash Flow of USD 95 million. The Company had total liquidity of USD 343 million at the end of the quarter, with cash on balance sheet of USD 243 million and available undrawn RBL capacity of USD 100 million. The cash flow generation from the producing assets is the strongest since the closing the acquisition of Shell's Danish upstream assets in 2019 and Noreco continues to be fully funded to deliver Tyra II, with significant headroom based on current commodity price levels.

"During the first half of 2022 we demonstrated the significant value proposition of our underlying business with positive operational delivery translating into some of the strongest financial performance since we closed the acquisition of Shell's Danish upstream interests in 2019. While we continue to focus on delivering the start-up of Tyra II mid next year, the results this quarter show the material contribution from our three hubs currently on production. The current commodity price environment is expected to continue to enhance the robust position of Noreco, and this will see a further positive step-change once Tyra II is onstream. As a gas hub that will produce approximately 60mboepd and unlock more than 200 mmboe of gas-weighted potential, Tyra II not only supports the next stage of Noreco's delivery, but also has an important role to play in safeguarding energy security in the EU for decades to come," said Euan Shirlaw, Chief Executive Officer of Noreco.

The report and investor presentation may be downloaded from the Company's website www.noreco.com or www.newsweb.no.

The Company will host an earnings call today at 11:00 CEST.

To join audiocast: https://channel.royalcast.com/hegnarmedia/#!/hegnarmedia/20220712_4

Contact:

Cathrine Torgersen, EVP Investor Relations & ESG

Phone: +47 91 52 85 01

Email: ct@noreco.com

This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation, and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. The stock exchange announcement was published by Cathrine Torgersen, Executive Vice President Investor Relations & ESG, Norwegian Energy Company ASA, at the date and time as set out above.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/noreco/r/noreco-announces-second-quarter-2022-results,c3600001

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/4225/3600001/1603471.pdf Noreco Q2 Report 2022 https://mb.cision.com/Public/4225/3600001/87d5ca6f074319a4.pdf Noreco Second Quarter 2022 Presentation

SOURCE NORECO
In this most recent pilot season, deployments of the Friendly fall armyworm were conducted in commercial corn fields in Sao Paulo state, in partnership with Lagoa Bonita Sementes, and in Brazil's most important corn-growing state, Mato Grosso, in partnership with Fundacao MT.

These operational pilot deployments move the Friendly fall armyworm solution closer towards commercialization in Brazil. Male Friendly fall armyworms were released across this recent corn-growing season over thousands of acres in commercial corn fields, enabling the product team to validate the effectiveness of the technology, validate per-product treatment areas and dosing, solidify distribution and shipping routes, and ramp up manufacturing.

The fall armyworm is a corn-destroying caterpillar that rapidly develops resistance to biotech corn varieties designed to control caterpillars. New biological solutions are urgently needed for more sustainable crop protection. In recent years, fall armyworm has spread beyond the Americas, and now imposes an economic burden of billions of dollars across Africa, Asia and Oceania. As described in a recent mathematical modelling study, releases of Oxitec's male Friendly fall armyworm can provide a highly effective pest suppression tool, and can also delay the spread of resistance to biotech corn to prolong the effectiveness of these important crop protection tools for the long term.

For Grey Frandsen, Oxitec's CEO, "This second season of farm-scale pilots is a major step towards delivering a transformative pest management tool to Brazilian farmers, with the potential to put sustainability at the heart of corn production in this world-leading agricultural economy. Farmers are excited about our technology and about the benefits we offer to growers' livelihoods and the environment, especially in the face of climate change, growing challenges for biotech crops, and the absence of other effective tools. We're working at pace to get this product ready for scale-up, and this set of successful pilots at a commercial scale is a major step forward."

Natalia Ferreira, Oxitec do Brasil's Country Director, says "These large-scale pilots in two of Brazil's centres of corn production have enabled us to validate our solution in real farm settings, under different climatic conditions and with farmers' growing practices. It has been immensely satisfying to conduct these farm pilots with expert partners such as Lagoa Bonita Sementes and Fundacao MT, who  like Oxitec  are committed to delivering positive impact to Brazilian farmers and consumers using a shared commitment to integrity and collaboration. We look forward to expanding these partnerships as we scale towards commercial implementation of this biological solution that is so sorely needed."

Ricardo Batista, an agronomist in innovative projects at Lagoa Bonita Sementes, explains, "We support research in innovative agriculture. In Oxitec's case, the Friendly fall armyworm is an exciting new biological technology with the potential to deliver transformative value to Brazilian agriculture."

Bruno Conti, Fundacao MT's Head of R&D, said that "We are pleased to report another successful pilot season of the Friendly fall armyworm through the partnership between Oxitec and Fundacao Mato Grosso. As an organization with a mission to provide technical, impartial and reliable information to inform growers' decision-making, we're glad to be at Oxitec's side achieving another milestone on the path to delivering large-scale impact for growers in our region."

Read more about the predicted benefits of the Friendly fall armyworm in this recent publication: Link

About Oxitec

Oxitec is the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests that transmit disease, destroy crops and harm livestock. Founded in 2002 at the University of Oxford, Oxitec is led by a passionate team comprised of 15 nationalities and is supported by world-class public, private and non-profit partners.

Learn more at oxitec.com .

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1857512/Oxitec_Ltd.jpg

SOURCE Oxitec Ltd
Rise in incidence of chronic wounds, surge in patient pool of diabetics, and high prominence of wound site infections drive the growth of the global topical oxygen therapy market.

PORTLAND, Ore., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Topical Oxygen Therapy Market by Application (Chronic Wounds, Acute Wounds), by End User (Hospitals, Clinics, Home Care, Post Acute Care Settings): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031." According to the report, the global topical oxygen therapy industry was estimated at $19,889.74 thousand in 2021, and is anticipated to hit $27,721.76 thousand by 2031, registering a CAGR of 3.4% from 2022 to 2031. The report provides a detailed analysis of changing market dynamics, top segments, value chain, key investment pockets, regional scenario, and competitive landscape.

Download Report (150 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/17353

Drivers, restraints, and opportunities-

Rise in incidence of chronic wounds, surge in patient pool of diabetics, and high prominence of wound site infections drive the growth of the global topical oxygen therapy market. On the other hand, lack of awareness in developing countries restrains the growth to some extent. However, introduction of topical oxygen therapy in emerging economies is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the industry.

Covid-19 scenario-

The outbreak of the pandemic provided wound care clinicians with an opportunity to change the wound treatment paradigm in favor of home-based care solutions. It took in essential wound care to prevent amputations, thus offering relief to a hospital system in crisis. An in-home technology for the delivery of supplementary oxygen to wounds was the main focus of the therapy. These factors impacted the global topical oxygen therapy market positively.

Also, removal of strict lockdown and Covid-19 restrictions in 2021 by the majority of the countries coupled with an increase in number of patients visits in hospitals and wound care centers propelled the demand and adoption of wound care devices.

Specific Requirement on COVID-19? Ask to Our Industry Expert: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/17353?reqfor=covid

The chronic wounds segment to lead the trail-

By type, the chronic wounds segment contributed to more than two-thirds of the global topical oxygen therapy market share in 2021, and is expected to lead the trail by 2031. Surge in geriatric population suffering from diabetes and wound site infection propels the growth of the segment. The acute wounds segment, on the other hand, is expected to exhibit the fastest CAGR of 3.8% from 2022 to 2031. Rise in surgical wounds drives the segment growth.

The homecare segment held the major share in 2021-

By application, the homecare segment accounted for more than two-fifths of the global topical oxygen therapy market revenue in 2021, and will dominate by 2031. This is attributed to easy using features of TOT at home. At the same time, the hospitals segment would manifest the fastest CAGR of 4.2% during the forecast period. Growing adoption of these devices in hospitals propels the segment growth.

North America Topical Oxygen Therapy Market to Dominate by 2031-

By region, North America garnered the major share in 2021, holding more than two-fifths of the global topical oxygen therapy market, owing to supportive reimbursement policies in the healthcare system across the province. Simultaneously, Asia-Pacific would cite the fastest CAGR of 4.9% throughout the forecast period. This is due to growing awareness among people regarding benefits of TOT.

Key players in the industry-

Inotec AMD Ltd.

RashEndZ Inc.

GWR Inc.

AOTI, Inc.

EO2 Concepts

Molnlycke Health Care AB

OxyBand Technologies

OGENIX

Key Benefits for Stakeholders

The study provides an in-depth analysis of the topical oxygen therapy Market along with the current trends and future estimations to elucidate the imminent investment pockets.

It offers topical oxygen therapy Market analysis from 2021 to 2031, which is expected to enable the stakeholders to capitalize on the prevailing opportunities in the market.

A comprehensive analysis of four regions is provided to determine the prevailing opportunities.

The profiles and growth strategies of the key players are thoroughly analyzed to understand the competitive outlook of the global topical oxygen therapy Market growth.

We also Offers Regional and Country Reports-

North America Topical Oxygen Therapy Market

Japan Topical Oxygen Therapy Market

South Korea Topical Oxygen Therapy Market

Singapore Topical Oxygen Therapy Market

Australia Topical Oxygen Therapy Market

Europe Topical Oxygen Therapy Market

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"We have also published few syndicated market studies in the similar area that might be of your interest. Below are the report title for your reference, considering Impact of Covid-19 Over This Market which will help you to assess aftereffects of pandemic on short-term and long-term growth trends of this market."

Trending Reports in Healthcare Industry (Book Now with 10% Discount + Covid-19 scenario):

The Bioinformatics Market size generated $8,614.29 million in 2019, and is projected to reach $24,731.61 million by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 13.4% from 2020 to 2027.

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The HIV Drugs Market size was valued at $30,891.48 million in 2019, and is expected to reach $36,495.47 million by 2027, registering a CAGR of 3.8% from 2020 to 2027.

The In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Market size in U.S. was valued at $4,905.46 million in 2020, and is expected to reach $5,563.06 million by 2027, registering a CAGR of 6.8% from 2019 to 2027.

The Menstrual Cup Market size accounted for around $632 million in 2018 and is expected to reach $963 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 5.3% from 2019 to 2026.

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

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help@alliedmarketresearch.com

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SOURCE Allied Market Research
BRESKENS, Netherlands, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloudprinter.com, the Ukrainian- and Dutch-based global print API platform raised 7M in a seed round led by Capital Mills, with participation from Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (BOM) and a Dutch family office. This round follows Cloudprinter.com's early 2019 3M pre-seed round and brings the total funding of the company to 10M.

With a print network consisting of more than 170 print partners, Cloudprinter.com provides local print on demand in more than 104 countries and brings the supply chain closer to the end customer. Cloudprinter.com manages and fulfills print jobs for its customers around the globe and significantly shortens shipping distance which lowers shipping costs and reduces carbon emissions. Furthermore, customers won't deal with import duties, as the products aren't imported anymore.

In the past few years, Cloudprinter.com has built an ecosystem consisting of print providers, eCommerce marketplaces, and print buyers around its platform. Top-notch eCommerce brands are using the platform to grow their business in markets that they otherwise can't fulfill and at the same time support local communities and society.

Cloudprinter.com currently employs 80 people and operates in more than 104 countries. With the funding raised, Cloudprinter.com strives to expand its sales and product teams and sustain its 300% growth rate from 2021 to 2022.

Martijn Eier, CEO and Founder Cloudprinter.com: "We are delighted to accelerate our aim to make global printing more sustainable, together with our trustful investors and partners. It's a great confirmation, especially for our Ukrainian team, that our investors believe in our unique and disruptive approach".

Rene Delsing from Capital Mills says: "Given the tough circumstances Cloudprinter.com has to deal with, it is truly impressive what the team has achieved in the past months. The team morale and growth pace are exceptional. We couldn't be more proud to be part of their journey to disrupt this industry and become a global leader. Customer reviews and market research underpin their growth potential".

Robin Franken from BOM says: "Due to their global and unique approach Cloudprinter.com is able to achieve fast commercial growth which in turn results in a more sustainable print industry by (amongst other things) vastly shortening the shipping distances. We are excited about the progression the venture has made in the last few years and are confident that the team will use these new funds to accelerate its growth even more".

About Capital Mills: Netherlands  based Capital Mills is a venture capitalist founded in 2015 and backed by a group of experienced entrepreneurial investors. Focused on longterm collaboration and active support it invests in fast-growing B2C tech startups and B2B SaaS companies with state-of-the-art technology and ambitious founders.

About BOM: Climate-Neutral Energy Solutions  Together with entrepreneurs BOM focuses on the fossil-fuel-free generation of electricity and heat, energy conservation in buildings and production processes, and the creation of new technologies that help Brabant cut its CO2 emissions and accelerate the energy transition. BOM also supports emerging companies with an impact on Promising Key Technologies, a Healthy Future, and Sustainable Food Systems.  BOM. Catalyzing Change

SOURCE Cloudprinter.com
The first SDR agency to use AI technology to increase training efficiency, Whistle offers unlimited opportunities for independently practicing sales pitches, handling objections

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Second Nature , the automated AI-powered sales training solution, has signed an agreement with global sales development agency, Whistle , to train their SDR/ sales development team using AI-powered sales conversation practice.

The company is the first SDR agency to use this technology which provides natural language simulations, enabling Whistle's sales professionals to hone in their skills with unlimited simulations and receive immediate AI-generated feedback. The training promises a huge improvement in SDR development, which has been commonly delivered via one-on-one role play.

Whistle's team will use Second Nature to fine-tune their SDR methodology and objection handling. In addition, Whistle will incorporate its culture, technology and security awareness training into Second Nature, which will serve as its primary learning management system (LMS). One of the biggest challenges SDRs face is the lack of opportunity to practice within a realistic context before they speak with prospects. Since SDRs are often speaking to prospects with little room for error, sales conversation skills need to be sharp to make the most of interactions on the phone. With Second Nature, sales reps can practice whenever they want, resulting in reduced time spent on training and accelerated development of competencies for specific sales campaigns.

"We're thrilled to be working with Whistle on enhancing their SDRs' learning environment with interactive practice sales conversations," said Second Nature Co-founder and CEO, Ariel Hitron." An SDR might make 100 dials before they reach an actual human being, and by using Second Nature, Whistle ensures that when their SDRs make contact, they will perform at their optimal level to deliver the key messages to achieve the most positive outcome."

"Our customers are fast-growing companies who are looking to build on their momentum and expand their sales," said Whistle CEO, David Zeff." Just as a pilot must complete flight simulation hours to keep their skills sharp, SDRs need to practice often and receive clear feedback on where to improve. By incorporating Second Nature's AI practice conversations into our current SDR onboarding and training programs, we are further investing in our team to ensure that we continue to deliver a world-class service for our customers."

Whistle's new program is based on the strong combination of its methodology, gained from working with dozens of companies and the process they have developed around that, and Second Nature's innovative technology as a learning delivery platform. Whistle has the capacity to scale up its sales training faster compared to using human trainers, giving sellers a chance to acquire new content expertise and skills in the privacy of their own home or office, while offering their managers valuable insights into their sellers' sales readiness.

About Second Nature

Second Nature helps people have better conversations. The company is the first to offer a platform for immersive sales simulations in natural language. By practicing with "Jenny" and other AI-powered conversation partners, sales professionals improve their performance and confidence by gaining real time, personalized feedback. Managers and executives use Second Nature to effectively roll out their strategy and influence their teams' conversations in the field, at scale. The company is based in Tel Aviv and New York. For more information, please visit www.secondnature.ai .

About Whistle

Whistle is a global SDR Agency empowering fast-growing companies with SDR, Sales and Marketing services to drive increased and predictable sales. Whistle's clients include over 50 leading SaaS companies across Israel, the US, UK, Europe, India and Australia. To date, Whistle's clients collectively generate around $50M per month in sales and have raised over $500M in the past year alone. The company is headquartered in London. For more information please visit www.whistle.ltd .

Contact Info

Josh Turner

Si14 Global Communications

[email protected]

+1-917-231-0550

SOURCE Second Nature
This exhibition takes Chinese enterprises as the main body, takes the needs of sellers in Oceania and the South Pacific region as the core, and uses the digital exhibition platform to provide enterprises with online negotiation opportunities and accurate matching services. It is expected that more than 3000 buyers will visit and connect online. The exhibits cover Textile, Clothing and Xinjiang cotton products, Medical devices, Building materials and Hardware, Gifts and office supplies, Home appliances and Furniture, Consumer electronics and other fields. The exhibition also set up 13 exhibition areas, among which the "Chinese Brand" exhibition area highlights Chinese brand enterprises, products and services, and establishes a good image of Chinese Brands. In the "Service Trade" exhibition area, service trade enterprises are preferred, and efforts are made to promote "Chinese services" to go global and deeply integrate into the global industrial chain, value chain and logistics chain.

At present, the digital mode combining online and offline is becoming the new normal of the exhibition industry. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) actively plans to continue to help Chinese enterprises "maintain orders" and "stabilize foreign trade" by relying on the accumulated experience in organizing digital exhibitions, and makes full use of the platform advantages of the "CCPIT cloud Exhibition" to display China's development achievements, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Oceania and the South Pacific region, while introducing the business environment in Oceania, interpreting the relevant free trade agreements and the global economic and trade friction index and other important information. During the exhibition, six industry matchmaking meetings will be held, with themes including Textile, Clothing and Xinjiang cotton products, Medical devices, Hardware and Building materials, Gifts and office supplies, Home appliances and Consumer electronics, to help Chinese enterprises further conduct online exchanges with politicians and businessmen in Oceania and the South Pacific region. The exhibition period of this expo is 10 days and will end on July 21, 2022.

SOURCE ZhongZhan Information Cooperation Data Service Company
Two nonprofits will receive technology-based grants of up to $10,000 each

INDIANAPOLIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Online and event fundraising leader OneCause today announced the opening of the 2023 OneCause Cares Corporate Grants Program entry period. Two nonprofit organizations will receive free 24-month subscriptions to the OneCause suite of fundraising software and services.

This is the second year the Indianapolis-based software company has offered technology-based grants to help rapidly growing nonprofits expand their impact and advance their missions through use of best-in-class fundraising technology. In addition to a two-year fundraising software subscription, grantees will have access to OneCause resources and the services of an award-winning support community, including event and campaign consulting from the company's customer success team.

"Fundraising technology has proven to be a highly effective way to reach more supporters, expand access to philanthropy in underrepresented communities, and increase generosity in new donor segments. And as younger donors who view technology as a given become major players in philanthropy, the importance of online giving continues to grow," said Steve Johns, chief executive officer at OneCause. "But not every nonprofit has the resources to leverage digital transformation to improve giving. There is a critical need for equitable access to technology in the nonprofit fundraising sector  and that's why we launched our technology-based grants program."

The grants program exists under the umbrella of the larger OneCause Cares initiative and brings to life the company's mission of building better tomorrows for nonprofits and the communities they serve. The OneCause Grants Program is open to any registered 501c3 organization in the United States and Canada. Grantees are selected based on the overall need, how technology will help the organization further its mission, and alignment with three core focus areas:

Mental Health & Wellness: nonprofits who promote self-care and wellness or address a critical challenge amongst underserved communities such as hunger, poverty, or social inequities.

nonprofits who promote self-care and wellness or address a critical challenge amongst underserved communities such as hunger, poverty, or social inequities. Community : nonprofits who support the vibrancy of a community, celebration of cultural diversity, preservation of history, or drive local impact.

: nonprofits who support the vibrancy of a community, celebration of cultural diversity, preservation of history, or drive local impact. Sustainability: nonprofits who are working to safeguard the planet, natural resources, renewable energies, and conservation efforts.

Last year, a tie for second place resulted in three organizations receiving grants. OneCause awarded technology-based grants to BIO Girls, First Fruits Farm, and Mental Health America of West Central Indiana to accelerate their fundraising and missions.

The 2023 grant application period will close on November 1, 2022. Grantees will be announced in December 2022.

To read more about the program and apply, visit: https://www.onecause.com/general/grants-program/

For full terms and conditions, visit: https://www.onecause.com/general/grants-program/terms-conditions/

About OneCause

OneCause is driving the future of fundraising with easy-to-use event and online fundraising solutions that help nonprofits improve the giving experience and raise more money. OneCause builds technology that optimizes everyday generosity, making it easier for nonprofit organizations to fundraise and for nonprofit supporters to give. Since 2008, OneCause has helped over 10,000 nonprofits raise more than $4 billion for their missions. Headquartered in Indianapolis, OneCause is committed to driving innovation in the charitable sector, bringing together nonprofit professionals across the world for the annual Raise Conference to exchange ideas that further fundraising. For more information, visit www.onecause.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Media Contact

Sarah Sebastian

[email protected]

863-604-8490

SOURCE OneCause
ST. LOUIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, Anheuser-Busch is teaming up with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) for the fourth consecutive year to donate emergency drinking water to volunteer fire departments nationwide, including more than 77,500 cans to 16 fire departments in Alabama to help them be ready for the 2022 wildfire season.

As wildfire season lengthens and increases in severity each year, clean drinking water remains essential in addressing firefighters' hydration needs  yet many volunteer departments struggle with limited budget and resources. The deliveries of emergency drinking water in Alabama will help address this critical need.

"The recent heat and lack of precipitation in the Western portions of the state have seen a dramatic increase in the size and number of wildfires. In just the past week, the heat index has been over 110 degrees in the area and these water donations from Anheuser-Busch and the National Volunteer Fire Council are critical to keep firefighters hydrated," said Commissioner William Doss, Alabama Fire College.

This year's partnership between Anheuser-Busch and the NVFC will provide more than 1.5 million cans of emergency drinking water to nearly 450 volunteer fire departments across 46 states. It also marks a significant continuation of the brewer's 30-year-strong commitment to disaster relief and supporting local communities in times of need through its emergency drinking water program.

"Our emergency drinking water program is a tremendous source of pride for all of us at Anheuser-Busch as we are able to do our part to recognize and support the heroes who protect our communities from natural disasters," said Colleen Lucas, Vice President of Community Impact at Anheuser-Busch. "By leveraging our production and distribution capabilities as a force of good, we are honored to lend a hand to Alabama's volunteer fire service and first responders across the country."

"Hydration is a vital component to firefighter health and safety, and an important part of keeping firefighters functioning at their best during response," said NVFC chair Steve Hirsch. "We appreciate Anheuser-Busch's ongoing commitment to support our volunteer boots-on-the-ground responders. This is an invaluable program that provides a critical resource to volunteer departments, so they can use their limited budgets on other necessities."

In Alabama, the donations of emergency drinking water will be made to Cuba Fire Department, Ladonia Volunteer Fire Department, Autauga County Rescue Squad, Billingsley Fire Department, Old Kingston Fire Department, Wattsville Fire Department, Cook Springs Fire Department, Robertsdale Volunteer Fire Department, Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department, Barnett Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department, Twin Fire and Rescue, Ricetown Fire Department, Brilliant Volunteer Fire Department, Putnam Fire Department, Pleasantfield Fire Department and Cleveland Fire and Rescue.

Since 2019, Anheuser-Busch and its national network of independent wholesalers  including Adams Beverages, Bama Bud of Montgomery, Birmingham Bud Dist. Co, Budweiser-Busch Dist. Co and Shoals Distributing  have partnered with the NVFC to donate more than 4.9 million cans of clean, safe drinking water to more than 960 fire departments across the country to support wildfire response needs.

The donations of emergency drinking water are sourced from Anheuser-Busch's breweries in Cartersville, Georgia and Fort Collins, Colorado which periodically pause beer production to can emergency drinking water to support disaster relief efforts in partnership with the American Red Cross and the NVFC. Since the creation of its emergency drinking water program in 1988, Anheuser-Busch has donated more than 90 million cans of clean drinking water to U.S. communities affected by natural disasters and other crises.

Learn more about the Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters Program at www.nvfc.org/water.

ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH

At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are always looking to serve up new ways to meet life's moments, dream big to move our industry forward, and make a meaningful impact in the world. We hope to build a future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share. For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 19,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most loved beer brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois, as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is the leading nonprofit membership association representing the interests of the volunteer fire, emergency medical, and rescue services. The NVFC serves as the voice of the volunteer in the national arena and provides critical advocacy, resources, programs, and education for first responders across the nation. Learn more at www.nvfc.org.

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch
Gift will foster academic success for student veterans; Gift made possible by Harvard University's decision to appoint AVG as co-manager on recent bond issue

MELVILLE, N.Y., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- American Veterans Group (AVG), a social impact investment bank and Wall Street's first and only public benefit corporation, has provided a donation to Harvard Undergraduate Veteran Organization (HUVO). HUVO will use AVG's gift to foster academic success among military veterans who are studying as undergraduate student veterans at Harvard College.

The gift to HUVO is a result of Harvard University's decision to appoint AVG as co-manager on its recent $500 million, President and Fellows Harvard College taxable bond issue.

AVG is a rapidly growing investment banking firm that dedicates 25% of its earnings to support veteran causes. The firm directs its philanthropic giving to communities where it and its clients do business.

"At AVG, we make it a priority to support veterans who choose to further their education by studying at colleges and universities after their military service," said Ben Biles, co-founder and CEO of American Veterans Group. "One way we furthered that mission is by directing our investment banking expertise to support bond transactions initiated by institutions of higher learning. Harvard's decision to engage our services points to the success we've had developing expertise managing higher ed bond issues. The related support for HUVO furthers the student organization's worthy mission and aligns perfectly with our commitment to deliver broader social impact for clients such as Harvard University."

HUVO guides military veterans through the process of applying to attend Harvard, fosters their academic success during their years on campus and prepares them for the next steps in their professional or academic careers.

"AVG's generosity will go a long way toward helping student veterans thrive at Harvard," said Hudson Miller, president of Harvard Undergraduate Veterans Organization. "We truly appreciate AVG's support and admire its commitment as a public benefit corporation to improve the lives of veterans and their families nationwide through its philanthropy."

About American Veterans Group

American Veterans Group, PBC, is a military veteran-owned, social impact-focused broker-dealer that delivers value to institutional clients while providing meaningful philanthropic support to the military veteran community. The company reinvests 25% of its earnings in national and local military veteran non-profit organizations that provide worthy services and support to one of America's most vulnerable, at-risk populations. As Wall Street's only public benefit corporation, American Veterans Group empowers institutional clients to partner in its social mission while enabling them to remain focused on key business objectives and goals. To learn more about American Veterans Group, visit their website at www.americanvetsgroup.com.

About Harvard Undergraduate Veteran Organization

Since being established in 2018, HUVO has grown from eight to 49 members. Every undergraduate student veteran who is accepted into Harvard is referred to HUVO. HUVO provides veterans access to information about on-campus events and resources; networking opportunities with other veteran and non-veteran students; transportation to medical appointments and the VA; and assistance for veterans who rely on public transportation to get to campus. HUVO fosters a community of service through its annual Veterans Day Challenge fundraiser, which benefits non-profit organizations in the Boston area that support local veterans. HUVO also arranges mentorships for Harvard ROTC students, matching them with veteran students to share their military experiences with future military leaders.

Media Contacts

For American Veterans Group

Mark Kroeger

The Boldsquare Group

(513) 236-3109

[email protected]

For Harvard Undergraduate Veterans Organization

Hudson Miller

(817) 675-3077

[email protected]

SOURCE American Veterans Group
Rocket Mortgage in Canada will deliver a tech-driven client experience to revolutionize the mortgage process for Canadians, just as its sister company has done in the U.S.

WINDSOR, ON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Edison Financial, a rapidly expanding digital mortgage broker, today announced it will officially change its name to Rocket Mortgage Canada on August 8, 2022, doing business under the brand Rocket Mortgage throughout the country. The move is more than a rebrand, the change reflects the company's mission to revolutionize the Canadian mortgage industry with an emphasis on harnessing technology to simplify the home loan process, just as sister company under the Rocket Companies (NYSE:RKT), Rocket Mortgage, LLC, has done successfully in the U.S.

"Our mission when we launched over two years ago was to use technology to improve the mortgage experience in Canada, making life easier for homebuyers and homeowners," said Hash Aboulhosn, President of Rocket Mortgage in Canada. "Today's announcement is the first step in bringing Canadians a vastly-improved mortgage process through technology, innovation and client service. I'm excited for what's to come as we continue to positively impact the way Canadians view getting a home loan."

Windsor-based Edison Financial began serving clients in March 2020 and has already reached $1 billion (CAD) in annualized submitted volume  making it the first mortgage brokerage in Canada to reach that milestone so quickly.

The company demonstrated the strength of its business model as it expanded from offering home loans in Ontario, at launch, to now providing mortgages in every province  primarily from its headquarters in downtown Windsor. The Edison Financial team has grown along with the company, starting with just four team members in early 2020 to more than 140 at present.

"In America, Rocket Mortgage is synonymous with industry-leading, proprietary technology that creates an unmatched client experience. We've spent the last 37 years defining and redefining the way mortgages should be done in the U.S.  and now we have the opportunity through this rebrand to share everything we've learned with our neighbors to the north," said Bob Walters, CEO of Rocket Mortgage in the U.S. "Our process removes the complexity of getting a home loan  replacing it with a fast, enjoyable experience. This is something that has been lacking in the Canadian market, and we are eager to help our sister company show Canadians just how simple getting a mortgage can be."

Today, Edison Financial is a mortgage brokerage with access to thousands of loan products from more than 50 lenders. The company works closely with banks and lenders to match clients with the best product for their financial needs.

In addition to changing its name, Rocket Mortgage also announced plans to become a direct lender in Canada later this year. The company's agents regularly speak with clients from all walks of life, putting Rocket Mortgage in the unique position to utilize the insights gained from those conversations to develop impactful loan products to meet client needs.

After becoming a lender in Canada, Rocket Mortgage will continue offering options from other lender partners alongside its own products  connecting homebuyers with the best solution for their individual circumstance.

Edison Financial's appetite for growth, and building strong solutions for homeowners and buyers, is a direct reflection of the company's commitment to revolutionizing the Canadian mortgage market. Clients who are currently in the mortgage process will not be affected by the name change.

Canadians can visit RocketMortgage.ca for more information or to apply for a home loan.

About Edison Financial / Rocket Mortgage

Edison Financial is a digital mortgage broker and a part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT). Rocket Companies is a Detroit-based holding company consisting of personal finance and consumer technology brands including Rocket Mortgage, LLC, the largest mortgage lender in the U.S. Founded in 2020, Edison Financial aims to transform and modernize the mortgage experience in Canada by providing a streamlined process for individuals looking to purchase a home or refinance their mortgage. Edison Financial's mortgage agents aim to deliver the highest level of client service. For more information, or to apply for a mortgage, visit EdisonFinancial.ca.

About Rocket Mortgage, LLC

Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage, the U.S.'s largest home mortgage lender and part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), enables the American Dream of homeownership and financial freedom through its obsession with an industry-leading, digital-driven client experience. In late 2015, it introduced the first fully digital, completely online mortgage experience. Rocket Mortgage closed $351 billion dollars of mortgage volume across all 50 states in 2021.

Rocket Mortgage moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010. The company generates loan production from web centers located in Detroit, Cleveland and Phoenix and operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit. Rocket Mortgage ranked highest in the country for customer satisfaction for mortgage servicing by J.D. Power the past eight straight years, 2014  2021.

Rocket Companies, Rocket Mortgage's parent company, ranked #7 on Fortune's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2022 and has placed in the top third of the list for 19 consecutive years.

For more information and company news visit RocketMortgage.com/PressRoom.

About Rocket Companies

Rocket Companies is a Detroit-based FinTech platform company consisting of personal finance and consumer technology brands including Rocket Mortgage, Rocket Homes, Amrock, Rocket Auto, Rocket Loans, Truebill, Lendesk, Edison Financial, Core Digital Media, Rocket Central and Rock Connections.

Since 1985, Rocket Companies has been obsessed with helping its clients achieve the American dream of home ownership and financial freedom. The Company offers industry-leading client experiences powered by its simple, fast and trusted digital solutions. Rocket Companies ranked #7 on Fortune's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2022 and has placed in the top third of the list for 19 consecutive years. For more information, please visit our Corporate Website or Investor Relations Website.

SOURCE Edison Financial
Adds Veteran Industry Executive Scott Parry and Launches Platform to Improve Employer Experience

DRESHER, Pa., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascensuswhose technology and expertise helps millions of people save for retirement, education, and healthcarerecently completed two major steps to continue revolutionizing its state-facilitated retirement program business.

The company announced the appointment of Scott Parry as senior vice president of the company's state-facilitated retirement programs (SFRP) business. He will report directly to Peg Creonte, president of Government Savings.

Parry is responsible for managing all aspects of Ascensus' state-facilitated retirement plan business, which administers state auto-IRA programs that are quickly rolling out across the country. Ascensus was the first company to administer a state auto-IRA program, and currently administers CalSavers and Illinois Secure Choice, which together recently surpassed 382,300 funded IRAs from 104,900 participating employers, maintaining Ascensus' status as the largest provider in the quickly growing market*.

Parry joined Ascensus from Citizens Wealth Management where he led several digital transformation initiatives and brings more than 20 years of experience in the retirement industry to his new role at Ascensus. He has held senior roles including General Manager of Ameritrade Retirement Services, EVP of FIS Retirement Services, CEO of Aon Hewitt Financial Advisors, and President of Reliance Trust.

"We're pleased to welcome Scott to our leadership team, as his decades of financial services and innovation experience will be instrumental in helping our SFRP participants," said Creonte. "He shares our passion for building solutions to the retirement savings gap, and he is joining at a critical juncture as we grow our auto-IRA plans by thousands of employers each month."

Parry's onboarding is timely, as Ascensus' SFRP business recently launched a redesigned Employer Portal for CalSavers and Illinois Secure Choice SFRPs. The new platform improves navigation within an updated, modern design, streamlines the registration process for new employers, and reduces friction during the onboarding process to improve program facilitation. Additional features focus on employee roster management by simplifying the ways in which employers upload and manage employee information and supporting technical integrations to allow for better payroll vendor support.

"This release marks another major milestone in Ascensus' efforts to improve the employer experience," notes Creonte. "As the first-mover and leader in this growing market, Ascensus has leveraged learnings and key insights developed from working collaboratively with our partners, participating employers, and behavioral experts in developing a platform that effectively serves the needs of employers of all sizes. Our research clearly shows that creating a supportive, frictionless employer experience will increase adoption rates, positively impacting millions of people who previously lacked access to retirement savings plans."

*as of 6/30/2022

About Ascensus

Ascensus is a market-leading enabler of tax-advantaged savingsproviding technology, services, and expertise that help more than 15 million people save for retirement, education, and healthcare.

We are a premier savings program service provider, third-party administrator, and government savings facilitator. Our platforms, industry knowledge, and data-based insights enhance the growth and success of our partners, their clients, and savers through co-branded, private-labeled, and governmental partnerships.

Ascensus offers comprehensive qualified and non-qualified retirement plan solutions, third-party retirement plan administration, 529 education and ABLE savings program administration, health savings and COBRA administration, corporate- and bank-owned life insurance solutions, and fiduciary and total rewards services.

The company's brands include Ascensus; Newport, an Ascensus company; PAi, an Ascensus company; and FuturePlan by Ascensus. Ascensus has more than $745 billion in assets under administration and employs more than 5,500 associates as of March 31, 2022.

For more information, visit ascensus.com and newportgroup.com.

SOURCE Ascensus
Focuses on strengthening supply chain operations and information technology

ATLANTA , July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Atlanta Community Food Bank recently announced two new leaders to their Executive Leadership Team. The nonprofit that works to end hunger in 29 metro Atlanta and North Georgia counties named Sharay Erskine as Chief Information Officer and Kenneth Hill as Chief Supply Chain Officer. Their appointments are part of the Food Bank's new strategic plan that focuses on bringing the organization past the impacts of the global pandemic. Erskine and Hill will report directly to President & CEO Kyle Waide.

"As we look to the future of the organization, particularly post-pandemic, we determined that two areas of expertise were immediately critical to resourcing our mission, supply chain operations and information technology, " said Kyle Waide , President & CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. "We are pleased to announce that we have completed our extensive search to bring two new leaders into the Food Bank. Sharay and Kenny bring experience, fresh perspectives, and new capabilities to their respective roles and will be integral as we look to grow our programs and services to meet the increased demands of need."

Sharay Erskine

Sharay Erskine is the new Chief Information Officer for the Atlanta Community Food Bank. In this capacity, she will be responsible for leading the strategic investment in new systems that will enable the Food Bank to enhance their client service model, measure and report on their impact, and drive greater efficiency in all aspects of their operations. Erskine brings more than 20 years of experience in information technology.

Prior to joining the Food Bank, Erskine served as Vice President of IT at Bunzl Distribution, NA in Atlanta. As a solutions-oriented professional, she has a history of working in logistics and supply chain industries. Erskine has successfully built IT strategies for growth, served as a digital technologies leader, and has led major cross-functional programs. She has an established record of driving results through cross-functional teams.

In a role prior to joining Bunzl, Sharay led an after-school center and nonprofit, NuRock Foundation, which was a partner with the Food Bank, helping to distribute meals to families in her community.

Sharay Erskine holds degrees from the University of Phoenix and the DeVry University.

Kenneth Hill

Kenneth Hill joined the Atlanta Community Food Bank as Chief Supply Chain Officer. In this role, he will lead all aspects of food sourcing, warehouse and inventory management, and delivery operations.

Prior to the Food Bank, Hill dedicated 30 years to The Home Depot, where he served in various leadership roles including general manager and district manager. As a multi-unit leader of a team with more than 1,000 associates and $250MM in sales, he received recognition for consistently developing people and improving processes.

During his tenure with The Home Depot, Hill focused on online retail, coordinated freight flow, supply chain enhancement and online delivery systems. He has a long track record of working collaboratively with diverse communities, building consensus, managing ambiguity, and delivering results. His career is spotlighted with operational efficiency, productivity improvement, and servant leadership.

Hill serves on the board of the 100 Black Men of America's South Metro Chapter and is an appointee to the City of Atlanta's Zoning Review Board. He holds a B.A. in Economics from The University of California, San Diego.

"After two challenging years that required us to respond with speed, agility, and perseverance to maintain and increase access to vital food during the pandemic, we now have an opportunity to turn our attention to the future," added Waide. "We are laser focused on building on the foundation we have laid, leveraging our new state-of-the-art building, and striving to achieve our goal of ensuring everyone in the communities we serve has access to the nutritious meals they need when they need them."

For more information about the Atlanta Community Food Bank or to learn how you can help, visit www.acfb.org .

About Atlanta Community Food Bank

The Atlanta Community Food Bank works to end hunger with the food, people and big ideas needed to ensure our neighbors have the nourishment to lead healthy and productive lives. Far too many people in our own community experience hunger every day, including children, seniors and working families. Through more than 700 nonprofit partners, we help more than 715,00 people get healthy food every year. Our goal is that all hungry people across metro Atlanta and North Georgia will have access to the nutritious meals they need when they need them. It takes the power of our whole community to make that possible. Join us at ACFB.org .

Media Contact

Kim Miller

[email protected]

786.605.9228

SOURCE Atlanta Community Food Bank
Unplanned or unexpected power outages in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been on the rise due to factors such as increasingly frequent and severe weather events, an aging grid and interruptions driven by major community construction. Because of the increased automation of operations at Ben E. Keith Beverages' facilities, outages as short as five minutes could result in prolonged and expensive delays. Also, for beverage products that require cold storage at certain temperatures, prolonged grid outages are not an option.

"Though efforts have been made towards improving the quality and reliability of our electric utility, we want to be prepared for any future outage that may occur at this location, and protect ourselves against potential business shut-downs due to utility loss," said Jon Thompson, Vice President of Operations for Ben. E. Keith Beverages. "We were attracted to Enchanted Rock by their track record of helping other major Texas operations maintain power while others experienced outages and operational interruptions. In addition to increased resilience, we are excited by the cleaner and quieter performance of these natural gas generators."

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Enchanted Rock delivers electrical resiliency-as-a-service with natural gas reliability microgrids that exceed the country's strictest emission requirements. By fully managing and monitoring the microgrid 24/7, 365 days a year, Enchanted Rock will provide worry-free reliability for Ben E. Keith Beverages' largest distribution center. The iROC model supplies full-facility resiliency at a fraction of the cost of a standard reliability system, all while producing less than a tenth of the emissions of traditional diesel power backup systems.

"We want to make sure this iconic company can focus on their nationally-respected distribution operations without having to worry about power outages," said Ken Cowan, Senior Vice President of Sales at Enchanted Rock. "Our electrical resiliency-as-a-service model ensures peace of mind for Ben E. Keith, especially with their impressive focus on automating their complex operations. We're proud to ensure that our services are not only reliable, but also more sustainable."

About Enchanted Rock

Founded in 2006, Enchanted Rock is a leader in electrical resiliency-as-a-service, powering companies, critical infrastructure and communities to ensure operational continuity during unexpected power outages from extreme weather, infrastructure failures, cyberattacks and other grid disruptions. Enchanted Rock's dual-purpose microgrids use natural gas and renewable natural gas (RNG) offsets to produce significantly lower carbon emissions and air pollutants than diesel generators, capable of achieving resiliency with net-zero emissions. Additionally, the company's end-to-end microgrid software solution, GraniteEcosystem, provides real-time 24/7/365 system monitoring and optimization, including forecasting of electricity market conditions to ensure worry-free reliable power to customers. For more information, please visit www.enchantedrock.com or visit Twitter or LinkedIn.

About Ben E. Keith Company:

Ben E. Keith Company, established in Fort Worth, Texas in 1906, began selling Anheuser-Busch products in 1928. Today, Ben E. Keith Company's Beverage division is the third largest independent beer wholesaler in the country. With fourteen Sales & Distribution Centers the company operates throughout the state of Texas and distributes import beers, craft beers, spirits, wine products and nonalcoholic beverages. The Food Division is the nation's fifth largest broad line foodservice distributor and operates today with nine divisions shipping to fifteen states throughout the country. For more information, please visit www.benekeith.com.

CONTACT: Carlos Villacis

[email protected]

SOURCE Enchanted Rock, LLC
ST. LOUIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, Anheuser-Busch is teaming up with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) for the fourth consecutive year to donate emergency drinking water to volunteer fire departments nationwide, including more than 18,000 cans to 8 fire departments in California to help them be ready for the 2022 wildfire season.

As wildfire season lengthens and increases in severity each year, clean drinking water remains essential in addressing firefighters' hydration needs  yet many volunteer departments struggle with limited budget and resources. The water deliveries in California will help address this critical need, while supporting communities that Anheuser-Busch's Los Angeles and Fairfield breweries are proud to call home.

"I applaud Anheuser-Busch for taking critically important steps to support volunteer fire departments throughout Solano County and the State of California. We know that California's firefighting season is now 12 months, and these crucial supplies are needed now more than ever. Our firefighters deserve our support, and I thank Anheuser-Busch for answering the call," said Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA).

This year's partnership between Anheuser-Busch and the NVFC will provide more than 1.5 million cans of emergency drinking water to nearly 450 volunteer fire departments across 46 states. It also marks a significant continuation of the brewer's 30-year-strong commitment to disaster relief and supporting local communities in times of need through its emergency drinking water program.

"Our emergency drinking water program is a tremendous source of pride for all of us at Anheuser-Busch  including our nearly 3,500 employees across California  as we are able to do our part to recognize and support the heroes who protect our communities from natural disasters," said Colleen Lucas, Vice President of Community Impact at Anheuser-Busch. "By leveraging our production and distribution capabilities as a force of good, we are honored to lend a hand to California's volunteer fire service and first responders across the country."

"Hydration is a vital component to firefighter health and safety, and an important part of keeping firefighters functioning at their best during response," said NVFC chair Steve Hirsch. "We appreciate Anheuser-Busch's ongoing commitment to support our volunteer boots-on-the-ground responders. This is an invaluable program that provides a critical resource to volunteer departments, so they can use their limited budgets on other necessities."

In California, the donations of emergency drinking water will be made to Madeline Volunteer Fire Protection, Chowchilla Fire Department, Altavilla-Melones Fire Protection District, Timber Cove Fire Protection District, Capay Valley Fire Department, Vacaville Fire Protection District, Suisun Fire Protection District Association, and La Honda Fire Brigade.

Since 2019, Anheuser-Busch and its national network of independent wholesalers  including Blach Distributing, Donaghy Sales, Eagle Distributing, Markstein Beverage, and Matagrano Inc.  have partnered with the NVFC to donate more than 4.9 million cans of clean, safe drinking water to more than 960 fire departments across the country to support wildfire response needs.

"At Markstein Beverage Co. of Sacramento, we are committed to supporting the communities we serve," said Jason Whitworth, Chief Operating Officer, Markstein Beverage Co. of Sacramento. "We're honored to support the Vacaville, Suisun, and Capay Valley Volunteer Fire Departments with this emergency water donation in partnership with Anheuser-Busch. These water donations will provide critical hydration to our local heroes."

The donations of emergency drinking water are sourced from Anheuser-Busch's breweries in Cartersville, Georgia and Fort Collins, Colorado which periodically pause beer production to can emergency drinking water to support disaster relief efforts in partnership with the American Red Cross and the NVFC. Since the creation of its emergency drinking water program in 1988, Anheuser-Busch has donated more than 90 million cans of clean drinking water to U.S. communities affected by natural disasters and other crises.

Learn more about the Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters Program at www.nvfc.org/water.

ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH

At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are always looking to serve up new ways to meet life's moments, dream big to move our industry forward, and make a meaningful impact in the world. We hope to build a future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share. For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 19,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most loved beer brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois, as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is the leading nonprofit membership association representing the interests of the volunteer fire, emergency medical, and rescue services. The NVFC serves as the voice of the volunteer in the national arena and provides critical advocacy, resources, programs, and education for first responders across the nation. Learn more at www.nvfc.org.

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch
The award recognizes Carewell's commitment to supporting the more than 50 million family caregivers across the U.S.

MIAMI, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Carewell , the leading e-commerce resource for caregivers, was announced as a recipient of the 2022 Caregiver Friendly Award by Today's Caregiver, the first national magazine for all family and professional caregivers, and Caregiver.com. The award celebrates the products, services, books, and media created with the needs of caregivers in mind.

"The average caregiver is responsible for over $40,000 in health-related expenditures each year, in either personal or directed fund," says Gary Barg, Today's Caregiver's Editor-in-Chief. "This award is designed to help family caregivers recognize and reward those organizations who will care for them in as committed a manner as they care for their loved ones."

Created by a former caregiver, Carewell's mission is to make life easier for family caregivers by simplifying the shopping process and providing a personalized service that is a rarity within the home health space. Carewell.com offers a wide assortment of expert-vetted home health and wellness products and a library of information and resources to help guide caregivers through their journey.

"We started Carewell five years ago to improve the lives of caregivers after I experienced the utter lack of resources and guidance available for the community and realized that there were millions of families facing the same challenges," says Bianca Padilla, CEO and Co-founder of Carewell. "This recognition is truly an honor and testament to the work that we're doing to ensure that caregivers across the country have a trusted source for information and support."

At the core of Carewell's commitment to caregivers is its 24/7 customer support line. Available in English and Spanish via phone, email, or chat, Carewell's Caregiving Specialists can answer questions about products and how to use them, and can also help with caregiving-related inquiries. The company's Caregiving Specialists undergo over 100 hours of training to provide caregivers with the best possible service. To speak with a Caregiving Specialist by phone, please call (855) 855-1666 or send an email to [email protected] .

About Carewell

Carewell is the leading e-commerce marketplace designed to improve the lives of caregivers and their families. With more than 10,500 affordable and expert-vetted home health products, 24/7 customer support, and a library of resources, we simplify the shopping experience and provide personalized service to make caregivers' lives easier and help people age gracefully. Founded in 2017 by Bianca Padilla and Jon Magolnick after experiencing the lack of support available to caregivers, Carewell was named one of Fast Company's 10 Most Innovative Companies in Retail of 2021; included in Forbes' Top 100 Most Customer-Centric Companies of 2022, and ranked 74th on the Inc. 5000 2021 list of the fast-growing private companies in America. For more information on Carewell, please visit Carewell.com .

About The Caregiver Friendly Awards

Caregiver Friendly Awards are presented by Today's Caregiver magazine to celebrate outstanding books, media, products and services designed with the best interest of the family caregiver in mind. Today's Caregiver magazine, launched in 1995, is published by Caregiver Media Group, which also produces the Fearless Caregiver Conferences, www.caregiver.com and The Fearless Caregiver book which teaches caregivers how to become their loved one's fearless advocates within the healthcare system.

Carewell Contact:

Dora Williams

Public Relations Manager

[email protected]

305-726-6585

SOURCE Carewell
Leading Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Franchise Spreads Across the Golden State, Seizes Opportunity for Continued

West Coast Development

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Carpet and upholstery cleaning franchise leader Chem-Dry recently announced two major signed agreements in California, furthering the brand's presence in the state. One signed agreement covers the Sacramento area, and the other covers Greater San Bernadino. Chem-Dry is on the fast-track for growth in 2022, with 23 signed agreements year-to-date and a goal of adding 70 franchises by the end of the year.

Heading up the recent California development for Chem-Dry in California are franchisees Cliff Mastrolia and Dada Ojeisekhoba. Mastrolia's Chem-Dry territory covers Greater Sacramento, including Placer and El Dorado counties, and Ojeisekhoba's territory includes San Bernadino and Riverside counties.

Mastrolia is a Sacramento-area local with a military background and experience in management and sales, most recently working as a bail bondsman for ten years. Ojeisekhoba is located in Orange County, and has worked in the cleaning industry for over 20 years before finding Chem-Dry. Both franchisees saw potential for growth in their service areas, and chose the brand due to its extensive recognition for quality and success over the past 45 years.

"People have been moving out of the larger hubs in California like Los Angeles and San Francisco, which presents a great opportunity for Cliff and Dada's service areas," said Ed Quinlan, President of Chem-Dry, part of the BELFOR Franchise Group family of brands. "We are thrilled to have them on our team as we continue to increase Chem-Dry's brand presence on the West Coast."

Placer and Sacramento counties have experienced decent growth compared to other areas of the state, with both counties seeing increases in population during the pandemic. San Bernadino and Riverside counties also noted a population increase despite nearby Orange County seeing a decline. Chem-Dry is poised for growth in the state, with over 250 franchises in operation across California.

Chem-Dry, the Healthy Home Authority, currently serves more than 11,000 homes and businesses each day across 55 countries. Over the next six months, the 45-year-old brand aims to further increase its North American coverage by adding 50 franchises across the United States and Canada.

Chem-Dry creates cleaner, healthier indoor environments with its proprietary equipment and solutions for carpet, upholstery, granite countertops and hard floor surfaces, such as wood, tile and laminates. In further testing of its processes, a study conducted by a leading independent laboratory concluded that the Chem-Dry Hot Carbonating Extraction cleaning method removes an average of 98% of common household allergens from carpets and upholstery. Chem-Dry has a national partnership with the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA), working to raise awareness and provide education on the importance of indoor air quality in maintaining the health and safety of homes and businesses.

Since its launch in 1977, Chem-Dry has become the recognized market leader by building a robust network of 1,800 franchises across the country. Most recently, the brand was recognized for the second year in a row by Global Franchise Magazine as the Best Property Maintenance Franchise, validating the premier status of the brand. It recognizes Chem-Dry for what it does best, which is supporting its franchisees while also making homes and workplaces cleaner, healthier and safer. Additionally, Chem-Dry was one of the top 500 franchises in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500, the world's first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking. Chem-Dry ranked on this prestigious list for its outstanding performance in unit growth, financial strength and stability, and overall brand power.

To meet the growing demand for its innovative services, the company is actively seeking community-minded entrepreneurs to join the mission of delivering safer, healthier spaces across the globe. With territories available in prime markets nationwide, Chem-Dry is an industry-leading brand in a large and growing category, that offers its franchise network world-class training and support.

For more information about the franchise opportunity, call 877-450-4874 or visit chemdryfranchise.com

About Chem-Dry

Founded in 1977, Chem-Dry is the world's leading carpet and upholstery cleaning service with a network spanning 55 countries and serving over 11,000 homes and businesses a day worldwide. Its green-certified core cleaning solution and proprietary Hot Carbonating Extraction cleaning process provide a deeper clean, allow surfaces to dry faster, and leave homes and workplaces healthier. In addition to being ranked one of the top three maintenance franchises by Entrepreneur magazine in 2021, and ranked among the top 10 concepts in the magazine's list of Top Home-Based Franchises for 20 consecutive years, Chem-Dry was ranked #39 in the 2020 Top Global Franchises category. Additionally, for the second year in a row, Chem-Dry won the Global Franchise Award for Best Property Maintenance Franchise in 2022, validating the premier status of the brand. It recognizes Chem-Dry for what it does best, which is supporting its franchisees while also making homes and workplaces cleaner, healthier and safer. Chem-Dry is part of the BELFOR Franchise Group family of residential and commercial services brands. For more information about Chem-Dry and to find a local operator, visit www.chemdry.com, or for more information on franchise opportunities, visit www.chemdryfranchise.com.

Media Contact: Anna Pool, [email protected]

SOURCE Chem-Dry
One Lucky Nonmember Will Win a FREE MEMBERSHIP for the Rest of 2022!

TAMPA, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CREW Tampa Bay is pleased to announce their 2022 Summer Social and Mid-Year Member Recruitment Event to take place on Tuesday, July 26th from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm at Port Tampa Bay Cruise Terminal 2. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with new and existing members of CREW Tampa Bay and learn about the various opportunities to join a CREW Tampa Bay committee all while enjoying the view of the channel at Port Tampa Bay. CREW Tampa Bay would also like to thank Phase Integration, a Suddath Company, for being this year's event sponsor.

Committees represented at the event will include the Membership, Sponsorship, Programs, PR/Media/Member Communications, Members Only, Finance, Executive Council, UCREW, CREW Convention & Foundation, Excellence Awards, City in Pink, Go Fish, and Economic Summit.

For more information or to register for this event before it sells out, click here.

With more than 270 members, CREW Tampa Bay is the leading organization for women in the Tampa Bay commercial real estate industry. As part of CREW Network, the industry's premier business organization, CREW Tampa Bay is dedicated to transforming the commercial real estate industry by advancing women globally. CREW Network's membership of 12,000 professionals in 75+ major global markets represents all aspects of commercial real estateproviding our members with direct access to real estate professionals across all geographies and disciplines.

SOURCE CREW- Tampa Bay
COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Demotech, Inc., the first to review and rate independent, regional and specialty insurers, has assigned a Financial Stability Rating (FSR) of A", Unsurpassed, to Prime Insurance Company. This level of FSR is assigned to insurers who possess unsurpassed financial stability, liquidity of invested assets, an acceptable level of financial leverage, reasonable loss and loss adjustment expense reserves (L&LAE) and realistic pricing.

Demotech's President and co-founder, Joseph Petrelli, noted "It is a pleasure to have Prime Insurance Company return to the growing list of Demotech rated carriers. In an industry that is attracted to data analytics and artificial intelligence, the team at Prime Insurance Company recognizes that marketing, underwriting and effective claims handling require natural intelligence as well. This is a distinguishing feature at Prime."

About Prime Insurance Company

Prime Insurance Company is a committed and trusted resource for individuals, businesses and producers, following a bold business model that has inspired forty years of success and growth. By keeping underwriting and risk management teams in-house, Prime has been able to write an endless list of risk classes, and offer a broad range of coverage in specialty classes. Their in-house, expert claims team has handled over 70,000 claims and provides support to insureds throughout the entire insurance process - from risk mitigation to claims handling. Their internal teams support Prime, the producer and the insured to get the most reliable coverage for their liability risk.

Visit www.primeis.com to learn how Prime Insurance Company can assist your efforts.

About Demotech, Inc.

Demotech, Inc. is a financial analysis firm specializing in evaluating the financial stability of independent, regional and specialty insurers. Since 1985, Demotech has served the insurance industry by assigning Financial Stability Ratings (FSRs) for Property & Casualty insurers and Title underwriters. Demotech's philosophy is to review and evaluate insurers based on their area of focus and execution of their business model rather than solely on financial size. Demotech was the first to review and rate independent regional and specialty insurers. Visit www.demotech.com for additional information on how we can assist you.

SOURCE Demotech, Inc.
Since its founding in 2010, DILLING's mission has been to create the best inner layers imaginable for all customers. Born out of a family-owned clothing and underwear business founded in 1916 , the team leverages their rich knowledge of fabrics and manufacturing to provide a diverse selection of high-quality products. DILLING knows that when it comes to digital experiences, just like undergarments, there's no such thing as 'one-size-fits-all.' To increase customer engagement and customer lifetime value, DILLING plans to use mParticle to leverage customer data to deliver more relevant newsletter content and power advanced digital experiences such as loyalty and live shopping.

Although DILLING's manufacturing process was built upon an extensive infrastructure of interconnected systemsorganic wool imported from Argentina, primarily dyed and treated in Denmark, before being cut and sewn in Lithuaniatheir digital experiences lacked the same interconnected customer data foundation. Accessing customer data and using it for personalization required a lot of manual work, which delayed the teams' time-to-value and prevented the launch of more advanced digital experiences.

DILLING chose to implement mParticle as their Customer Data Platform to improve connectivity between marketing tools and make it easier to power personalized experiences. By providing business users with easy access to clean, high-quality customer data and enabling them to connect customer data to third-party tools such as Klaviyo, Algolia, Commercetools, and Google Ads without engineering support, mParticle helps the DILLING marketing team deliver more relevant information to individual customers, ultimately increasing engagement and retention.

"mParticle enables us to power more customer-focused marketing while ensuring that we have a good customer data foundation," explains Mark Nygaard Leth, Chief Information Officer of DILLING. "This also sets us up with the ability to integrate additional tools such as loyalty systems and live shopping more easily in the future."

"DILLING is developing an expansive customer base, with highly-engaged customers across eight European countries and counting," continued Karen Gallantry, Chief Revenue Officer at mParticle. "By using mParticle, DILLING is able to power the delivery of relevant information and offers to customers at speed and scale."

About mParticle

mParticle makes it easy to holistically manage customer data along the entire product and customer lifecycle. Teams across companies like NBCUniversal, JetBlue, Venmo, and Airbnb use mParticle to deliver great customer experiences and accelerate growth by solving the foundational challenges that impede success at scale. mParticle announced a $150M fundraise in October 2021 led by Permira on the heels of strong growth and product innovation.

Founded in 2013, mParticle is headquartered in New York City with employees around the globe. For more information, visit http://mparticle.com .

SOURCE mParticle
Move-In Concierge and Services Dashboard Enhances Agent-Client Relationship

The Platform, Powered by New Valley Ventures' Portfolio Company MoveEasy, Enables Clients to Access Real-Time Personal Assistants for Move-In Resources Recommended by Elliman Agents

NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas Elliman Realty, one of the largest independent residential real estate brokerages in the United States, announced today the launch of Elliman Showroom, a complimentary personal assistant platform that will guide home-buyers through a high-touch and streamlined move-in process.

Powered by MoveEasy, a portfolio company of Douglas Elliman Inc.'s PropTech investment division, New Valley Ventures, Elliman Showroom combines personal assistant services with a dashboard of recommended vendors to help clients with all their move-in and set-up needs, from utility and internet to insurance and home security options.

"Moving into a new home is one of the most exciting parts of the real estate journey, but it can also be overwhelming," said Howard M. Lorber, Executive Chairman, Douglas Elliman. "We created Elliman Showroom to make the experience as seamless and trouble-free as possible for our clients and customers."

In addition to connecting in real time with a dedicated personal assistant, residents can use the Elliman Showroom dashboard to find and access a range of home services, exclusive deals and other resources recommended by their Elliman agent, including movers, architects, designers, and contractors.

"The best real estate professionals understand that helping a client buy a new home is often when the real workand joyof being an agent truly begins," said Scott Durkin, Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Elliman Realty. "Elliman Showroom enables clients to stay in touch with their agents and continue to tap their knowledge, networks, and trusted guidance long after closing. It is just another way we enable our agents to continue to build their businesses."

The latest in a series of products the brokerage has developed to help its agents manage client relationships and market properties more effectively, Elliman Showroom demonstrates the company's commitment to people-centered innovation.

"Real estate is fundamentally about relationships built on trust and experience," said Dan Sachar, Vice President, Enterprise Innovation, Douglas Elliman Inc., and Managing Director, New Valley Ventures LLC. "Elliman Showroom exemplifies the extent to which digital tools and technologies can make interactions between agents and clients not only more efficient, but also more human."

Elliman Showroom will rollout across the brokerage's national regions beginning this month.

About Douglas Elliman Inc.

Douglas Elliman Inc. (NYSE: DOUG, "Douglas Elliman") owns Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC, which is one of the largest residential brokerage companies in the United States with operations in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut, New Jersey, the Hamptons, Massachusetts, Florida, California, Colorado, Texas and Nevada. In addition, Douglas Elliman sources, uses and invests in early-stage, disruptive property technology ("PropTech") solutions and companies and provides other real estate services, including development marketing, property management and settlement and escrow services in select markets. Additional information concerning Douglas Elliman is available on its website, www.elliman.com.

Investors and others should note that we may post information about Douglas Elliman on our website at www.elliman.com or, if applicable, on our accounts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube or other social media platforms. It is possible that the postings or releases could include information deemed to be material information. Therefore, we encourage investors, the media and others interested in Douglas Elliman to review the information we post on our website at www.elliman.com and on our social media accounts.

SOURCE Douglas Elliman Realty
MJ Dixon is battling leukemia and has been searching for a match for the past year

MINNEAPOLIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- July is African American Bone Marrow Awareness Month, and Be The Match is working to raise awareness of a health disparity on the national blood stem cell and marrow registry that affects Black and African American patients in need of life-saving cell therapies. Patients battling blood cancers such as leukemia or blood diseases like sickle cell disease are most likely to find a matching donor in someone who shares their heritage or ethnicity. The odds of finding a match are dependent on a patient's ethnicity, with Black and African American patients least likely to find a matching donor. Black patients find matching donors 29% of the time compared to a 79% chance for white patients.

"We believe every patient deserves an equal chance of finding a matching donor on the Be The Match Registry," said Erica Jensen, Senior Vice President of Member Engagement, Enrollment and Experience at Be The Match. "Many people don't know that ethnicity is a factor in finding a matching donor, and more Black donors are needed to help save Black patients. We have powerful blood stem cells in our bodies that naturally replenish themselves and donating these cells can literally cure someone of cancer."

Ten-year-old MJ Dixon of Killeen, Texas, is a leukemia patient searching for a matching donor. Doctors initially told MJ's mother Chaundra that he was suffering from growing pains when she brought the young boy, just 8 years old at the time, to see the doctor after complaints of leg pain. A month later, the boy was taken to the emergency room because he was lethargic and unable to walk. MJ was diagnosed with leukemia at that time. Doctors are recommending a marrow transplant as his best treatment option, but MJ doesn't have any matching donors on the registry. So he and his mother have become advocates to encourage more Black and African Americans to swab their cheek and join the Be The Match Registry.

MJ will be featured in a public awareness television spot called Health Watch, produced and featured on FOX 5 Atlanta, as part of Be The Match's Cheek Week campaign from July 10-July 16. Cheek Week was launched in 2020 to help increase the diversity of the Be The Match Registry. The event combines virtual and in-person events aimed at educating and registering potential donors within the African American community. In 2022, Be The Match is hosting Cheek Week events in Atlanta and Houston in partnership with Children's Hospital of Atlanta, Texas Children's Hospital and others.

The process to donate is not as difficult as people imagine, and the 85 percent of time blood stem cells are donated in a nonsurgical procedure that resembles a plasma donation. To learn more about the myths and facts of blood stem cell donation or to join the Be The Match Registry visit http://www.BeTheMatchBLK.org/cheek-week. Individuals between the ages of 18-40 years old can register online and a cheek swab kit will be mailed to the registrant's home to complete the registration process. Registry members are only called for further testing if they are identified as a match for a patient.

About Be The Match

Be The Match is a global leader working every day to save lives through cellular therapy. For people with life-threatening blood cancerslike leukemia and lymphomaor other blood disorders like sickle cell, a cure exists. Be The Match connects patients with a matching donor for a life-saving blood stem cell transplant. The Be The Match Registry is the most diverse registry in the world and includes both adult donors willing to donate to a stranger in need and stored cord blood units. In addition, Be The Match provides patients and their families one-on-one support, education, and guidance before, during and after transplant. Be The Match is also a global leader in research through the CIBMTR(Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research)a collaboration with Medical College of Wisconsin, investing in and managing research studies that improve patient outcomes and advance the future of care.

Contact:

Erica Sevilla

Be The Match

740-919-9761

[email protected]

SOURCE Be The Match
When the hospital opens, BJC HealthCare intends to relocate its existing 20-bed rehabilitation unit from Missouri Baptist Medical Center to the new hospital. The hospital will be an expansion of the current joint venture partnership between Encompass Health and BJC HealthCare, which includes three hospitals  The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis , The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis located in St. Peters , and The Rehabilitation Institute of Southern Illinois .

"Encompass Health and BJC HealthCare have been trusted healthcare partners for more than 20 years, and we are excited to expand our presence to serve even more residents of St. Louis County," said Troy DeDecker, president of Encompass Health's Central Region. "This new hospital will allow us to continue providing high-quality, clinical care for rehabilitation patients throughout Missouri and Southern Illinois."

"Our goal is to minimize time spent in the hospital so our patients can safely return to their daily lives as soon as possible," says Joan Magruder, Group President for BJC HealthCare. "Increasing access to rehabilitation services makes it easier for more patients to safely transition from the hospital to the next stage of their healing process and still receive the expertise and compassion of BJC HealthCare.

Complementing local acute care services, the future hospital will offer physical, occupational, and speech therapies and 24-hour nursing care to restore functional ability and quality of life. The hospital will care for patients recovering from debilitating illnesses and injuries including strokes and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations, and complex orthopedic conditions. The hospital will feature all private patient rooms, a spacious therapy gym with advanced rehabilitation technologies, and an activities of daily living suite, cafeteria, dining room, pharmacy, and therapy courtyard.

About BJC HealthCare

BJC HealthCare is one of the largest nonprofit health care organizations in the United States, delivering services to residents primarily in the greater St. Louis, southern Illinois and southeast Missouri regions. Serving the health care needs of urban, suburban and rural communities, BJC includes 14 hospitals and multiple health service organizations plus a relationship with Encompass Health which provides rehabilitation services throughout the system's service region. Services include inpatient and outpatient care, primary care, community health and wellness, workplace health, home health, community mental health, rehabilitation, long-term care, and hospice. BJC's nationally recognized academic hospitals, Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals are affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine.

About Encompass Health

Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) is the largest owner and operator of rehabilitation hospitals in the United States. With a national footprint that includes 150 hospitals in 35 states and Puerto Rico, the Company provides high-quality, compassionate rehabilitative care for patients recovering from a major injury or illness, using advanced technology and innovative treatments to maximize recovery. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For and Modern Healthcare's Best Places to Work in Healthcare. For more information, visit encompasshealth.com, or follow us on our newsroom, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts, such as those relating to the likelihood, timing and effects of the opening of the jointly-owned hospital, are forward-looking statements. In addition, Encompass Health may from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning the matters described herein. All such estimates, projections, and forward-looking information speak only as of the date hereof, and Encompass Health undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Encompass Health's actual results or events may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. While it is impossible to identify all such factors, factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated include, but are not limited to, any adverse outcome of various lawsuits, claims, and legal or regulatory proceedings that may be brought by or against Encompass Health or BJC HealthCare; the continued spread of COVID-19, including the speed, geographic reach and duration of the spread; the actions to be taken by Encompass Health or BJC HealthCare in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; changes in the regulation of the healthcare industry at either or both of the federal and state levels; competitive pressures in the healthcare industry and Encompass Health's response thereto; the hospital's ability to maintain proper local, state and federal licensing; potential disruptions, breaches, or other incidents affecting the proper operation, availability, or security of Encompass Health's or BJC HealthCare's information systems; the ability to attract and retain nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals in a highly competitive environment with often severe staffing shortages and the impact on labor expenses from potential union activity and staffing shortages; changes, delays in (including in connection with resolution of Medicare payment reviews or appeals), or suspension of reimbursement for Encompass Health's services by governmental or private payors; general conditions in the economy and capital markets; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in Encompass Health's SEC filings and other public announcements, including Encompass Health's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2021 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.

Encompass Health contacts:

Media contact: Danielle Hall | 205-970-5912

[email protected]

Investor Relations contact: Mark Miller | 205-970-5860

[email protected]

BJC HealthCare contact:

Media contact: Laura High | 618-304-7854

[email protected]

SOURCE Encompass Health Corp.
Making Solar and Wind Energy Manageable, Efficient and Profitable for Organisations of All Sizes

NANTES, France and SINGAPORE, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Envision Digital, the largest manager of renewable energy in the world with over 400 GW under management and the creator of the EnOS  net zero platform, today announced it has completed the acquisition of QOS Energy, a global leader in the fast-growing renewables Asset Performance Management (APM) category. The acquisition supports the growth plans of Envision Digital as the worldwide demand for energy transition solutions continues to accelerate across all industries.

QOS Energy is a leading energy management software supplier to the Commercial & Industrial (C&I) market segment and has a strong presence in solar energy in Europe, the US and India, with a client portfolio totaling more than 10GW across 8,000 power plants.

As part of the acquisition, the companies will integrate QantumTM, QOS Energy's cloud-based energy management solution, into Envision Digital's product line to enable the company to provide end-to-end support for renewable energy performance management and control, and to better serve clients with small and medium distributed energy systems.

With the addition of Qantum, the EnOS platform provides comprehensive end-to-end support for the net-zero initiatives of all industries and sizes of organisation and government. EnOS capabilities span not only renewable energy management, but also buildings, factories and transportation system optimisation, EV charging systems, compliance reporting, energy trading, and carbon offset market engagement.

All existing QOS Energy customers will continue to be supported by the QOS Energy team, augmented by Envision Digital's global support and security operations.

With this acquisition, which has received FDI approval by the French government, Envision Digital will increase research and development investment in QOS Energy's platform and French-based research and development team, and expand the market for QOS Energy solutions in Asia and the Americas.

Maher Chebbo, Managing Director Europe, Envision Digital said: "QOS Energy has built a robust solution that its customers depend on to manage their renewable energy programs. By adding QOS Energy's solution to our portfolio, we can provide a truly end-to-end solution for renewable energy management and better support renewable energy producers of all sizes to accelerate our net zero mission. We are impressed by QOS Energy's team and processes and their understanding of the needs of the global C&I market and look forward to working together."

Franck Le Breton, Co-Founder and CEO of QOS said: "Constantly adapting to the rapidly changing needs of our customers is an essential part of our approach. Joining Envision Digital will allow us to redouble our efforts and accelerate the development of value-added features to better serve our customers in making data-driven decisions at the right time to maximize their asset portfolio performance. Combining the flexibility of our solution with the EnOS  platform's AI and IOT capabilities will bring a decisive advantage to the market we address. We look forward to joining the Envision Digital family."

About Envision Digital

Envision Digital is committed to becoming the world's leading net zero technology partner for enterprises, governments, and cities, with the goal of accelerating progress towards carbon-free energy and improving quality of life for all of humanity. The company's EnOS net zero platform manages over 220 million devices and 400 Gigawatts of electricity, powering highly configurable, end to end IIOT solutions that use AI to reduce carbon emissions and costs, improve return on capital, and simplify reporting and compliance.

The company has over 1000 employees and 14 offices across the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Japan and the United States, with headquarters in Singapore. For more information, please visit www.envision-digital.com/.

About QOS Energy

Founded in 2010, QOS Energy developed QantumTM, a flexible cloud-based solution that provides customers with advanced features for optimal data-driven decision making. With over 8000 plants under monitoring totaling 10GW and more than 10 million of sensors, QOS Energy is dedicated to delivering superior returns to our clients by maximizing revenue, optimizing contractual KPIs, reducing operational expenses, and minimizing downtimes.

Headquartered in Nantes, France and operating in 23 countries, the company works alongside leading renewable organizations in both Commercial & Industrial and mid-size utility scale segment of Renewable Energy market.

SOURCE Envision Digital
TORONTO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Equitable Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank, has announced a new three-year strategic acceleration with Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform. This will enable Equitable to continue delivering award-winning cloud-based banking services to over 340,000 customers across the country.

"We will be Canada's first, cloud-only bank by 2026, as we continue to explore the best way to integrate forward-looking technology with leading business operating models that support our vision to enrich the lives of our customers," said Dan Broten, Equitable's Chief Technology Officer. "With Microsoft as a trusted partner, we will bring about even better banking solutions for our customers. In late 2019 we launched the first, front-to-back Canadian digital banking platform on the Public Cloud. The timing proved to be critical, as it drove over 100% customer growth and over 400% transaction growth. We wouldn't have been able to scale that fast and that effectively had we not been on the Cloud."

In moving its digital banking systems onto Azure, EQ Bank became the first bank in Canada fully hosted in cloud architecture. Azure powers a majority of Equitable's core business functions and empowers the creation of innovative and secure solutions across all bank functions. Since adopting Azure, EQ Bank has reduced overhead costs which allow savings to be passed on to customers and enjoys the flexibility of a more agile system with "always-on" platform security from Microsoft.

"Equitable Bank and Microsoft have a longstanding relationship, and we are pleased to build on that foundation and accelerate their data modernization journey to help them unlock new insights and opportunities for customers across Canada," said Jason Hermitage, Vice President Enterprise Sales, Microsoft Canada. "Microsoft Azure is empowering financial services institutions with its hyperscale, seamless and modern cloud platform that future-proofs businesses as they continue to manage unprecedented risks and grow rapidly with innovative business models. By trusting Azure as it most strategic and primary cloud platform across all lines of business, Equitable Bank will advance its key business and technology transformation priorities and will continue to pave the way for cloud-based banking in Canada."

About Equitable Bank

EQB Inc. trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: EQB, EQB.PR.C and EQB.R) and serves more than 340,000 Canadians through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank. Equitable Bank has a clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives. Founded over 50 years ago, Equitable Bank provides diversified personal and commercial banking and through its EQ Bank platform (eqbank.ca) has been named the top Schedule I Bank in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks 2022 and 2021 lists. Please visit equitablebank.ca for details.

Investor contact:

Richard Gill

Vice President, Corporate Development & Investor Relations

[email protected] Media contact:

Jessica Kosmack

Senior Manager, Communications

[email protected]

* EQ Bank was the recipient of the Celent 2020 Model Bank Award for Banking in the Cloud

SOURCE Equitable Bank
First and only machine learning algorithm to assist healthcare professionals in identifying structural heart murmurs using a smart stethoscope

OAKLAND, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Eko , a digital health company advancing heart and lung disease detection, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its Eko Murmur Analysis Software (EMAS) for detecting and characterizing murmurs found in adults and pediatric patients. The next generation of Eko's murmur detection capabilities grants Eko the first and only smart stethoscope on the market that can identify and differentiate, between innocent and structural, heart murmurs indicative of valvular heart disease.

First and only machine learning algorithm to assist healthcare professionals in identifying structural heart murmurs using a smart stethoscope

Valvular heart disease is a life-threatening condition diagnosed in more than 8 million Americans1 and is often first identified with a stethoscope. While early detection is critical, millions of patients are expected to be undiagnosed, with as much as 57% of clinically significant valvular heart disease missed.2 By combining murmur analysis AI with its digital stethoscopes, Eko has transformed the traditional stethoscope into an objective, low-cost, and scalable screening tool that can identify significant structural heart disease in seconds on the front lines of care.

"This latest FDA clearance is another way in which Eko is improving access to better heart health through clinically-validated algorithms and best-in-class medical devices," said Connor Landgraf, Co-founder & CEO of Eko. "By making heart disease screening algorithms and digital stethoscopes accessible in exam rooms around the country, we are moving towards a future in which more objective and consistent valvular heart disease screening can become the standard of care."

The EMAS algorithm greatly improves the performance of healthcare professionals to accurately and consistently identify valvular heart disease, with an overall sensitivity of 85.6% and specificity of 84.4%.3 Further analysis showed that among adults 18 years and older, the EMAS algorithm identified structural murmurs with a sensitivity of 90.2% and specificity of 90.6%.4 When using traditional stethoscopes to detect significant valvular heart disease, general practitioners (GPs) were found to have a sensitivity of 44% and specificity of 69%.5

"Combining pathologic murmur detection with the stethoscope, a tool already deeply embedded in the practice of medicine, will allow for more accurate and efficient screening of heart valve disease in the community," said Dr. Patrick McCarthy, Executive Director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine. "Eko's platform will help uncover early valvular heart disease in millions of people worldwide who may otherwise be missed, and make a significant impact on our ability to treat patients with life-saving interventions."

About EMAS

Eko Murmur Analysis Software (EMAS) is a cloud-based machine learning algorithm that analyzes heart sounds, phonocardiogram and ECG signals (when available), captured using Eko's smart stethoscopes. The software uses several methods to interpret the acquired signals, including signal processing and convolutional neural networks. The database used in the training and testing of EMAS is one of the world's largest repositories of clinically validated heart sounds.

EMAS is FDA-cleared to automatically detect murmurs that may be present, and the murmur timing and character, including S1, S2, innocent heart murmurs, structural heart murmurs, and the absence of a heart murmur. The software is not intended as a sole means of diagnosis and is for use in environments where healthcare is provided by clinicians. The interpretations of heart sounds offered by the software are meant only to provide decision support to the clinician, who may use the result in conjunction with their own evaluation and clinical judgment. EMAS is intended for use on pediatric and adult patients.

Healthcare institutions interested in learning how they can use Eko to detect valvular heart disease can visit ekohealth.com/vhd .

About Eko

Eko, a digital health company, is advancing how healthcare professionals detect and monitor heart and lung disease with its innovative suite of digital tools, patient and provider software, and AI-powered analysis. Its FDA-cleared platform is used by hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals worldwide, allowing them to detect earlier and with higher accuracy, diagnose with more confidence, manage treatment effectively, and ultimately give their patients the best care possible. Eko is headquartered in Oakland, California, with over $125 million in funding from Highland Capital Partners, Questa Capital, Artis Ventures, DigiTx Partners, NTTVC, Morningside Technology Ventures Limited, Mayo Clinic, Sutter Health, and others. For more information visit www.ekohealth.com .

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Heart Disease, www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/valvular_disease.htm d'Arcy JL, et al. Large-scale community echocardiographic screening reveals a major burden of undiagnosed valvular heart disease in older people: the OxVALVE Population Cohort Study, European Heart Journal (2016) 37, 3515-3522. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehw229 FDA 510(k) Summary, K213794 Eko Murmur Analysis Software User Manual Gardezi SKM, et al. Cardiac auscultation poorly predicts the presence of valvular heart disease in asymptomatic primary care patients, Heart 2018;104:18321835. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2018-313082

Media Contact:

Alexandra Pony

[email protected]

250.858.0656

SOURCE Eko
Executive Premier Sponsors Are the Major Flash and DRAM Manufacturers

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Flash Memory Summit 2022 (FMS) announces that this year's Executive Premier Sponsors are KIOXIA, SK hynix, Western Digital, Samsung, FADU, and YMTC, companies which include the world's largest manufacturers of flash and DRAM memory as well as advanced controllers. These six companies will all have keynote talks on Tuesday, the opening day of this year's August 2-4 in-person event at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California. The six Executive Premier Sponsors are joined by this year's Premier Sponsors: NEO Semiconductor, Silicon Motion, Marvell, MicroChip, and Intel with Wednesday keynotes, IBM with a Thursday keynote, and Pliops with its sponsorship of Tuesday evening's Chat with the Experts.

As 2022 marks the 35th anniversary of the introduction of NAND Flash, FMS will feature a special celebration sponsored by KIOXIA, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Western Digital. Included will be music, food, and prizes in the Exhibition Area on Tuesday, Aug. 2, from 4-7pm. Executives from these four companies will be led by Stanford University's futurist and forecaster Paul Saffo in a much-anticipated discussion of "NAND Flash and Its Impact on the World" on Thursday, Aug. 4, at noon.

This year's FMS speaker program has expanded beyond flash memory to include all solid-state memory types including DRAM and DNA storage, as well as CXL, cloud storage, artificial intelligence, Chinese markets, edge computing, networked storage, and many other topics within up to nine concurrent tracks throughout the 3-day conference. Our Exhibition Area will include around 100 major and startup companies from around the world.

For more information visit https://flashmemorysummit.com/ and register at https://flash-memory.omnievent.com/ .

CONTACTS

Exhibiting

Kat Pate, VP Exhibit Sales [email protected]

+1.505.238.3208

Program

Tom Coughlin, Program Chairperson

[email protected]

+1.408.978.8184

Press and Analysts

Michelle Suzuki, Public Relations

[email protected]

+1 310.444.7115

About Flash Memory Summit

Flash Memory Summit, produced by Conference ConCepts, showcases mainstream applications, key technologies, leading vendors, and innovative startups driving the multi-billion-dollar high-speed memory and SSD markets. FMS is now the world's largest event featuring trends, innovations, and influencers driving adoption of flash memory and other high-speed memory technologies within demanding enterprise storage applications, high-performance computing, mobile, and embedded systems.

WEBSITE

https://flash-memory.omnievent.com

SOURCE Flash Memory Summit
TAIPEI, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Flat Medical Co., Ltd., a MedTech company specializing in safety solutions for anesthesia and critical care procedures, announced that it has received Medical Device Regulation (MDR) certification from its Notified Body, the British Standards Institution (BSI), for its brand-new innovation, EpiFaith CV, to deliver safe central line placements in European markets.

"This is a super exciting achievement for our team with significantly meaningful value," said Shao-Wei Tseng, the Chief Regulatory Officer of Flat Medical. "As the first Taiwanese Medtech company awarded MDR certification from the BSI, we feel honored to be certified to supply our innovative solution to improve the safety and quality of central venous catheterization procedures."

Central venous catheterization (CVC) is a common procedure in anesthesia, emergency medicine, and intensive care practices. Despite being widely performed by physicians in different specialties, central line placement can sometimes become cumbersome and risky when patients are critically ill or in an emergency setting. EpiFaith CV is an innovative auto-aspiring syringe that helps providers identify and access vessels easily and safely.

As part of its portfolio growth strategy, Flat Medical is announcing the appointment of Dr. Gregory Schearsa Professor at the Mayo Clinic and a world-renowned expert in intensive care and vascular accessto its scientific advisory board. "The EpiFaith is an innovation that has the potential to help make the central line access a much safer procedure with the user-friendly design," said Dr. Gregory Schears. "I am happy that I can be of help on the development of the product and its clinical strategies."

Flat Medical is now organizing a product launch with its local partners in the U.S. and Europe. The EpiFaith CV has been formally introduced at the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) annual meeting this June in Milan and will be shown at the upcoming Association for Vascular Access (AVA) annual meeting in Minneapolis, and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) annual congress in Paris.

About Flat Medical Co., Ltd.

Flat Medical is a MedTech company that focuses on safety solutions for clinical procedures. Supported by key opinion leaders and venture capitalists in the United States, Europe, and Asia, the company is commercializing and developing various applications for its innovative EpiFaith tech.

CONTACT: Karl Tsao, [email protected]

SOURCE Flat Medical Co., Ltd.
The capital will enable FORT to fast-track development of security solutions and broaden the reach of its safety and control platform for smart machines.

PHILADELPHIA, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FORT Robotics (FORT), a pioneer in communications and control for smart machines, today announced the close of a $25 million Series B funding round, led by Tiger Global. The company will use the funds to accelerate the rollout of its machine communications platform, which aims to make autonomous machines safer and more secure.

"Smart machines are transforming the world, but they come with unprecedented safety and security risks," said Samuel Reeves, Founder and CEO of FORT. "There's a massive need for these machines to communicate in a trustworthy way, and it's something that's yet to be addressed in the industry. This investment will allow us to scale up to meet the demands of the next generation of smart machines."

As the world experiences a massive shift toward autonomous and connected machinery in nearly every industry, FORT seeks to address the vulnerabilities of these systems with its platform for trusted machine communications. The FORT Platform fuses functional safety and cybersecurity principles to enable highly-reliable communication to, from, and between machines over any network. Messages sent with FORT's technology are timely, accurate, and secure. This added layer of trust makes it possible for smart machines to perform automated tasks with less risk to people and their environment.

"Working with FORT enables us to have a dedicated system for safety-critical control, which is really important for a large machine like ours. FORT also helped speed up our development and reduced overall risk for our team," said Steve Ilmrud, VP of Hexagon Metrology, a FORT customer since 2019.

FORT's platform technology is the foundation for its hardware solutions, including wireless emergency stops and remote control systems, that are used by industry leaders including Agility Robotics, Hexagon, Moog, and hundreds of others. With the new investment, FORT plans to expand its platform functionality and enhance security offerings to address growing demand from end users.

The company also announced that Sineesh Keshav, Managing Director, Chief Technology Officer of Prologis will join FORT's board. Prologis is an investor in FORT and participating in the Series B funding round. Prior to Prologis, Keshav held senior technology roles at Experian, Safeway, and American Express.

"Through Prologis Ventures, we are focused on supporting innovative and game-changing companies like FORT," Keshav commented. "Over the years, a lot of work has gone into protecting networks, users and critical data in the enterprise from cyber threats. I'm delighted to join the FORT board and help support the company's work to extend the existing cybersecurity boundaries to the smart machine landscape using their deep background in machine safety as a unique differentiator."

In speaking about their investment in FORT, Tiger Global added that "Trust in machine communications is vital as the number of autonomous systems deployed in the real world multiplies exponentially. FORT's platform is already being utilized by some of the biggest names in automation, and we are thrilled to be a part of their continued growth," said Griffin Schroeder, Partner, Tiger Global.

The Series B brings the company's total funding raised to $41.5 million, and includes participation from Lemnos, GRIDS Capital, Creative Ventures, Compound, and Funders Club in addition to Tiger Global and Prologis.

For additional information about FORT, please visit www.fortrobotics.com.

About FORT

FORT helps machine builders and users to reduce risk, accelerate development, and scale autonomous systems by enabling trusted communications and control for smart machines. The company's platform pairs functional safety and cybersecurity principles to ensure that critical information can be sent to, from, and between machines with the highest levels of trust. Founded in 2018 and based in Philadelphia, FORT provides solutions for hundreds of clients, including 60+ Fortune 1000-sized companies, in warehousing, construction, agriculture, transportation, and more.

Julie Prex

FORT

973-713-2374

[email protected]

SOURCE FORT Robotics
Legacy of Valuing Employees and Producing Quality Product Passes from Father to Son

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Local plumbing company Price Brothers, Inc. is getting a new CEO, as founder Bob Price steps down from his position as CEO after 45 years in the business. He now transitions leadership over to his son, Matthew Price, who grew up working at Price Brothers and brings over two decades of industry expertise built from years working in all aspects of the plumbing business.

Price Brothers, Inc., known locally within the Greater Charlotte area as a force for plumbing within the residential new construction market, has built a brand based on its commitment to quality and exceptional customer service, a tone set by Bob Price.

"It is definitely hard to let go after 45 years, but it's with great pride that I step down from my position and entrust it to my son Matt," stated Bob Price, owner of Price Brothers, Inc. "I am confident that the lessons I've shared with him over the years will be invaluable as he continues to grow and evolve the Price Brothers brand. I am leaving this company in very capable hands, and I know great things will come with Matt at the helm."

Matthew Price, a licensed master commercial and residential plumber in both North Carolina and South Carolina, will now serve as the new CEO of the organization. His priority is on ensuring that the company's culture is built around demonstrating its commitment to valuing employees and producing quality product. Price will oversee all aspects of the business, including daily operations and finance, employee engagement, strategic planning and driving company culture. He will align both the company's strategic plan and leadership team to ensure long-term success for Price Brothers.

The new CEO grew up in the Price Brothers business, starting out as a young teen sweeping floors and stocking the warehouse. Early in his career, Matthew Price served in a variety of departments at Price Brothers, including field work, estimating, accounts payable, operations and special projects, before leaving to run a company in a specialized segment of the plumbing industry.

After watching his son successfully run a business, Bob Price brought his son back in 2018 as an Operations Specialist. With experience serving in a wide range of positions to truly understand the plumbing business from the ground up, Matthew Price is in a solid position to lead Price Brothers to continued success.

For more information, visit https://www.pricebrothersinc.com.

About Price Brothers, Inc.

Price Brothers, Inc. is a plumbing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and now led by Matthew Price, CEO. Price Brothers focuses primarily on plumbing projects targeted to the residential market for new home construction and light commercial projects within the Charlotte Metro. Founded in 1977, the company has grown over 45 years to more than 380 employees. For more information, visit www.pricebrothersinc.com.

SOURCE Price Brothers, Inc.
ST. LOUIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, Anheuser-Busch is teaming up with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) for the fourth consecutive year to donate emergency drinking water to volunteer fire departments nationwide, including more than 47,000 cans to 9 fire departments in Georgia to help them be ready for 2022 wildfire season.

As wildfire season lengthens and increases in severity each year, clean drinking water remains essential in addressing firefighters' hydration needs  yet many volunteer departments struggle with limited budget and resources. The water deliveries in Georgia will help address this critical need, while supporting a community that Anheuser-Busch's Cartersville brewery is proud to call home.

"I appreciate Anheuser-Busch's generous donation in support of Georgia firefighters," said Senator Jon Ossoff.

"Georgia's firefighters put their lives on the line every day to keep communities safe across our state," said John F. King, Georgia's Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner. "I am thrilled that Anheuser-Busch and the National Volunteer Fire Council have chosen to include several Georgia volunteer fire departments in this year's emergency drinking water allocation. Our agency is here to support our local fire officials, and we are proud to promote this wonderful program."

This year's partnership between Anheuser-Busch and the NVFC will provide more than 1.5 million cans of emergency drinking water to nearly 450 volunteer fire departments across 46 states. It also marks a significant continuation of the brewer's 30-year-strong commitment to disaster relief and supporting local communities in times of need through its emergency drinking water program.

"Our emergency drinking water program is a tremendous source of pride for all of us at Anheuser-Busch  including our nearly 700 employees across Georgia  as we are able to do our part to recognize and support the heroes who protect our communities from natural disasters," said Colleen Lucas, Vice President of Community Impact at Anheuser-Busch. "By leveraging our production and distribution capabilities as a force of good, we are honored to lend a hand to Georgia's volunteer fire service and first responders across the country."

"Hydration is a vital component to firefighter health and safety, and an important part of keeping firefighters functioning at their best during response," said NVFC chair Steve Hirsch. "We appreciate Anheuser-Busch's ongoing commitment to support our volunteer boots-on-the-ground responders. This is an invaluable program that provides a critical resource to volunteer departments, so they can use their limited budgets on other necessities."

In Georgia, the donations of emergency drinking water will be made to Sumter County Fire & Rescue, Webster County Fire Department, Buena Vista Fire Rescue, North Dade Volunteer Fire & Rescue, Tattnall County Fire, Higgston Fire Department, Ben Hill Fire Department, Wayne County Fire Rescue and Nahunta Fire Department.

The water will be sourced locally from Anheuser-Busch's brewery in Cartersville, Georgia which periodically pauses beer production to can emergency drinking water to support disaster relief efforts in partnership with the American Red Cross and the NVFC.

Since 2019, Anheuser-Busch and its national network of independent wholesalers  including Albany Beverage, B&B Beverage, Eagle Rock Distributing, and Southern Crown Partners  have partnered with the NVFC to donate more than 4.9 million cans of clean, safe drinking water to more than 960 fire departments across the country to support wildfire response needs.

"Albany Beverage Company is proud to partner with Anheuser-Busch and the NVFC to assist our local Volunteer Fire Departments with their hydration needs," said Wes Terrell, Vice President of Sales, Albany Beverage. "The summertime temperatures in South Georgia can be extreme. The water provided through this program is a much-needed necessity to the first responders in our rural communities. This is just one of the ways we get to show our appreciation for what these men and women do to protect us all."

Learn more about the Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters Program at www.nvfc.org/water.

ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH

At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are always looking to serve up new ways to meet life's moments, dream big to move our industry forward, and make a meaningful impact in the world. We hope to build a future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share. For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 19,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most loved beer brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois, as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is the leading nonprofit membership association representing the interests of the volunteer fire, emergency medical, and rescue services. The NVFC serves as the voice of the volunteer in the national arena and provides critical advocacy, resources, programs, and education for first responders across the nation. Learn more at www.nvfc.org.

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch
According to Conservation Science Partners (CSP), over the past two decades, the United States has lost more than a football field's worth of natural land to development projects every 30 seconds. That is a significant decrease of nearly 40% of natural land in the span of 20 years. Green spaces are rapidly shrinking, and direct access to outdoor experiences for young people is becoming more challenging. While green environments have been greatly impacted, outdoor exploration is still possible. GSUSA's programming finds creative ways to take advantage of urban spaces like city streets and sidewalks, civic buildings, public squares, and plazas.

When youth spend time outdoors in early years, their lives are enhanced in the following areas: school readiness, social-emotional learning, physical and mental health, and feeling connected to nature and their communities. Whether it is birdwatching in a local neighborhood, visiting a state park, hiking a mountain, or observing and comparing weather changes, GSUSA has outdoor programming for all environments.

GSUSA is relaunching and adding to their outdoor programing initiatives for girls to explore outdoor activities over the summer. The Girl Scout Climate Challenge is a new initiative made possible by Johnson & Johnson Foundation to engage Girl Scouts and non-Girl Scouts of all ages in outdoor activities to learn about climate science. In a survey conducted by the University of Bath, 60% of youth surveyed around the world reported feeling 'very worried' or 'extremely worried' about climate change. Through the Girl Scout Climate Challenge, participants will understand the impact of climate change in their communities and learn how to spread awareness and advocate for sustainable change and climate justice. The Climate Challenge includes a patch and activities aimed to connect climate science with other spheres of life, such as civil society and outdoor adventures. It also includes citizen science projects curated by SciStarter, an online citizen science hub with more than 3,000 research projects that citizens can participate in.

Girl Scouts Love the Outdoors Challenge is an annual challenge where girls of all ages are inspired and encouraged to connect with the outdoors, regardless of where they live. Some of the revamped challenges within the 50 interactive activities include: practicing yoga outside at sunset, writing a "thank you" note to nature, and connecting with local environmental groups. More than 46,000 Girl Scouts participated in the Outdoor Challenge last year. Social media users can use the hashtag #GSOutdoors to share their adventures and see how others are completing the challenges during the summer.

Made possible by THOR Industries, Girl Scouts Love State Parks weekend is on September 10th and 11th this year. Each year, Girl Scouts explore the natural wonders found across our country through this program. Alongside #PickUpAmerica, to date, Girl Scouts have pledged to pick up over 6.4 tons of garbage as they explore the outdoors. Girl Scouts nationwide, along with their troops, friends, and families, can celebrate getting outside with self-guided tours, family hikes, watersports, stargazing, and more through this exciting challenge! GSUSA has provided an online worksheet (passport) and patch for state park adventures. If one does not have access to a local state park, GSUSA has also included an interactive map for a virtual experience. For more information, visit: girlscouts.org/getoutdoors.

From the city block to the suburban backyard to the backcountry, Girl Scouts has a long and storied history of getting girls from all environments outdoors. There are currently 67 outdoor-focused badges within Girl Scouts programming, along with the Girls Scouts Climate Challenge, Girls Scouts Love the Outdoors, and the Girls Scouts Love the State Parks patch programs. The girls' leadership organization is making sure to embrace inclusivity during outdoor experiences this summer so everyone can get outside and have some fun. Girl Scouts is about having life-changing experiences, building friendships, and making the world a better place by caring for our beautiful planet and those around us. The perfect place to do it all is outdoors.

To begin your outdoor summer experience with GSUSA's programs, visit: girlscouts.org/getoutdoors.

We Are Girl Scouts of the USA

Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs from coast to coast, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challengeswhether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends. Backed by trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alums, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them. To join us, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, visit girlscouts.org.

SOURCE Girl Scouts of the USA
TORRANCE, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Space robotics startup GITAI will demonstrate the capabilities of their autonomous robot mounted external to the International Space Station (ISS) on the Nanoracks Bishop Airlock in 2023.

 Details of the GITAI ISS Technology Demonstration outside ISS

GITAI first demonstrated their robotic technology on board the International Space Station (ISS) in 2021 in collaboration with Nanoracks, meeting all mission objectives. As the next challenge, GITAI's extra-vehicular autonomous robot will be deployed externally on the Bishop Airlock in 2023.

Ground demonstration video of In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing executing by GITAI autonomous robot for the extra-vehicular tech-demo outside of the ISS planned in 2023 (recorded in the [email protected] Tokyo office). GITAI autonomous robot for the extra-vehicular tech-demo outside of the ISS planned in 2023 Overview of Tasks

In this technical demonstration, GITAI's 1.5m-long autonomous dual robotic arm system "S2" seeks to autonomously execute In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing in the vacuum of space.

GITAI has already successfully tested this same model autonomous robot in the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) 8m class thermal vacuum chamber in February this year. The autonomous robot then reached NASA's Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 following this ground system test. By demonstrating this technology in space, GITAI aims to achieve TRL Level 7 (confirmation of the feasibility of the technology as a system in space).

GITAI will establish the In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing capabilities cultivated through this technology demonstration and with the goal to provide it to the US private space stations and orbital services providers.

 Joint announcement from GITAI and Nanoracks

"There are a tremendous number of applications in space that our robotic arm can be used for, including on-orbit servicing and lunar exploration, and we are thrilled to be able to partner with Nanoracks yet again," said Sho Nakanose, founder and CEO of GITAI. "Our vision is to provide a safe and affordable means of labor in space, and this opportunity on the Bishop Airlock brings us one step closer to making that happen."

"This mission is a key stepping-stone towards commercialization of LEO enabling both government and private sectors to obtain robust and high-performance robotics in space," said Amela Wilson, CEO of Nanoracks. "We look forward to completing a successful demonstration of GITAI's space robotics technology."

 About GITAI's business activities

GITAI continues to develop space robotics actively, applying the space robotic technologies obtained through the successful technical demonstration in the ISS last year, as well as the extra-vehicular technical demonstration outside of the ISS planned in 2023. Based on the space-proven technology acquired by the demonstrations in space, we have been contracting various customer missions, such as joint development with TOYOTA Automobile and orders from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. We opened a new office in Los Angeles, CA, for GITAI USA, Inc., and started full-scale recruitment in the United States. We are also actively collaborating with US government institutes and private companies in the US.

 About GITAI

GITAI is a space robotics startup that aims to provide a safe and affordable means of labor in space and reduce operational costs in space by 100 times. GITAI aims to provide highly capable, safe, and reliable robots to help build and maintain satellites, lunar bases and even cities on Mars. GITAI is bringing together the best talents in the world to make this dream a reality.

GITAI is actively seeking highly motivated engineers and business development professionals to support these many endeavors. If you think you have what it takes, come join us to send robots to the final frontier.

GITAI has many exciting projects at various levels of development and testing, from early concepts to laboratory prototypes to our technical demonstration robot currently deployed in a commercial module of the International Space Station;

CompanyGITAI Japan Inc (Headquarters in Tokyo), GITAI USA Inc.LA Office

CEOSho Nakanose

URLhttps://gitai.tech/en

Contact Us[email protected] or 424 999 8091

Press Kit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZN7KX5E1PfIOwj6f4oZyVXqpFdqVbX_m?usp=sharing

 About Nanoracks

Nanoracks, powered by Voyager Space, is a global leader for providing commercial space services. Nanoracks owns and operates private hardware on the International Space Station and has launched over 1,300 research experiments, deployed over 300 small satellites, and installed the Bishop Airlock. Today, Nanoracks leverages over a decade of experience to develop new commercial space systems in direct response to customer needs. These space systems include converting commercial launch vehicle upper stages into functional secondary platforms, building new habitable space stations, supplying payload and crew airlock systems and services infrastructure, and more.

Follow @Nanoracks on Twitter to learn more or visit https://nanoracks.com.

 About Voyager Space

Voyager Space is a space technology company dedicated to building a better future for humanity in space and on Earth. With nearly 20 years of spaceflight heritage and over 1500 successful missions as of April 2022, Voyager delivers space station infrastructure and services and technology solutions to commercial users, civil and national security government agencies, academic and research institutions, and more, with the goal to accelerate a sustainable space economy.

For more information, please visit www.voyagerspace.com

SOURCE GITAI USA Inc.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD said: "Congratulations to the team at Yapstone for reaching this landmark anniversary of 10 years' operating in Ireland. The Drogheda site is Yapstone's International HQ, demonstrating Ireland's position as an excellent strategic choice for global business, both in terms of our geographic location and our wealth of diverse and highly skilled talent. I would like to thank Yapstone for its continued commitment to Co. Louth and the wider North East region. I'm delighted that the company has witnessed such significant growth over the past decade and I wish the team every continued success."

Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Sean Fleming TD said "I want to congratulate Yapstone on their 10-year anniversary and would like to thank them for their commitment to the North East. Yapstone has made a significant contribution to Ireland's growing fintech ecosystem. The Government wants to see future growth in this sector. I would like to wish the firm well and assure them of our continued support".

Over the last ten years, Yapstone has seen significant transformation across the payments industry and has firmly cemented itself as an eCommerce enabler following a rebrand earlier in the year.

Frank Mastrangelo, Yapstone CEO, said: "Since launching in Ireland, Yapstone has undergone significant changes, weathered new challenges, and evolved with the times. This milestone showcases our resilience and agility over the last ten years. I am incredibly proud and grateful to our clients, partners, and above all, our employees based in Ireland, who have helped us reach and exceed our goals over the last decade. I'd also like to extend our gratitude to IDA Ireland for their support and look forward to our continued partnership. Here's to another ten years!"

Yapstone has grown its team in Ireland from two to 71 in the last decade while globally employing over 300 staff members. The payments provider continues to expand its global footprint by adding new members to the leadership team to support new growth in Ireland and worldwide.

CEO of IDA Ireland Martin Shanahan said: "I wish to congratulate Yapstone on reaching its 10-year anniversary in Ireland and indeed the commitment the team here at its international HQ has made to Co. Louth and the North East region. Yapstone acts as an excellent reference site for companies considering choosing to establish or expand in the region. I wish Yapstone continued success for decades to come."

To explore opportunities to join the Yapstone team, visit: www.yapstone.com/careers

About Yapstone:

Yapstone is a global payments company. Our full-stack payments platform enables and amplifies connections between companies and markets across the globe. Whether it's powering multi-party transactions or accepting local payment methods in emerging markets, Yapstone cuts through the payment complexities to enable commerce worldwide.

For more information, go to yapstone.com or follow us @yapstone on LinkedIn , Twitter , and Facebook .

RePro-Free images to follow from www.chester.ie

SOURCE Yapstone
DUBLIN, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Text-to-Speech Market (2022-2027) by Offering, Deployment Mode, Voice Type, Organization Size, Language, Vertical, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Text-to-Speech Market is estimated to be USD 2.29 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 4.66 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 15.27%.



Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Text-to-Speech 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 Acapela Group, Amazon Web Services Inc, Baidu Inc, GL Communications Inc, Google Inc, GoVivace Inc, 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 Text-to-Speech 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 analyst analyses the Global Text-to-Speech 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 Text-to-Speech 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 Rising Preference for Handheld Devices

4.1.2 Increased Government Spending on Education of Differently-Abled Students

4.1.3 Dependence of Growing Elderly Population on Technology

4.1.4 Increasing Number of People with Different Learning Disabilities

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Complexity in Generating Prosody and Pronunciation of Naturally Occurring Speech

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Seamless Communication Between Human Beings and Robots

4.3.2 Growing Artificial Intelligence Market

4.3.3 Text-To-Speech Solutions for Temporarily and Permanently Disabled Students

4.3.4 Growing Inclination Toward Cloud-Based Deployment Mode

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Creation of a Generic Acoustic Database That Covers Language Variations

4.4.2 Slow Network Speed in a Few Regions Limits Adoption of Cloud-Based Text-To-Speech Services



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 Text-to-Speech Market, By Offering

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Software

6.3 Services

6.3.1 Software-As-A-Service

6.3.2 Support, Implementation & Consulting



7 Global Text-to-Speech Market, By Deployment Mode

7.1 Introduction

7.2 On Premises

7.3 Cloud Based



8 Global Text-to-Speech Market, By Voice Type

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Neural And Custom Voice

8.3 Non-Neural



9 Global Text-to-Speech Market, By Organization Size

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises

9.3 Large Enterprises



10 Global Text-to-Speech Market, By Language

10.1 Introduction

10.2 English

10.3 Mandarin Chinese

10.4 Hindi

10.5 Arabic

10.6 Spanish

10.7 Others



11 Global Text-to-Speech Market, By Vertical

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Consumer Electronics

11.3 Automotive & Transportation

11.4 Healthcare & Life Sciences

11.5 Education

11.6 BFSI

11.7 Retail

11.8 Enterprises

11.9 Travel And Hospitality

11.10 Others



12 Americas' Global Text-to-Speech 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 Global Text-to-Speech 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 Global Text-to-Speech 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 Global Text-to-Speech 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 Acapela Group

17.2 Amazon Web Services Inc

17.3 Baidu Inc

17.4 GL Communications Inc

17.5 Google Inc

17.6 GoVivace Inc

17.7 IBM Corp

17.8 iSpeech Inc

17.9 LumenVox

17.10 Meta

17.11 Microsoft Corp

17.12 Nexmo Inc

17.13 NextUP Technologies LLC

17.14 Nuance Communications Inc

17.15 ReadSpeaker Holding B.V.

17.16 TextSpeak Corp



18 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/e4sphf

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has urged young people across the Taiwan Strait to jointly strive for the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Xi made the remarks in a letter replying to young people from Taiwan who are attending the Straits Youth Forum held in Xiamen, Fujian Province, from Monday to Tuesday.

Xi said in the letter that he was glad to learn that the young people from Taiwan have found a stage on the mainland to realize their dreams, witnessed the rapid development and changes of the motherland, and felt the warm feelings between compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait who are all of the same family.

"We will, as always, create favorable conditions for young people across the Taiwan Strait to learn from each other and provide more convenience for young people from Taiwan to study, work, start businesses and live on the mainland," read the letter.

Xi expressed his hope that the young people from Taiwan can share more of their experiences on and feelings about the mainland with those in Taiwan so that more Taiwan youth will get to know the mainland and join hands with mainland youth to strive relentlessly for national rejuvenation.

Founded in 2003, the Straits Youth Forum is an important platform for youth exchanges across the Taiwan Strait. Fifty young people from Taiwan, who have been invited to attend this year's forum, wrote Xi a letter in which they stated their firm resolve to contribute to national rejuvenation and reunification.
The Digital Transformation Will Help the Company Better Serve Customers' Shipping Needs

LOS ANGELES, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, GLS US, a full-service logistics provider specializing in parcel and freight delivery services to states across the Western US, announced that it launched a redesigned version of its website. Featuring an entirely new layout and new site feature with improved technology that offers a range of benefits for users. Furthermore, its refreshed look and feel will help GLS US maintain its position as a leader in the logistics industry across the Western United States.
Programs are offered free of charge, as part of Gray's continued commitment to the growth and success of the higher education community.

CONCORD, Mass., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GRAY Associates today announces the launch of two new services designed exclusively for community colleges: a monthly webcast on markets for academic programs, including student and employer demand trends, and an academic program evaluation and management Boot Camp focused on associate and certificate programs.

Gray helps colleges and universities make data-informed decisions about their academic programs. Gray's software integrates the best available data on academic program economics, student demand, employer needs, and competitive intensity for the precise market served by each institution.

The monthly webinars will share student demand and employer trends for all associate and certificate programs. Student demand data will include Google search volumes by month and National Student Clearinghouse enrollment data (which updates three times per year). It will cover overall trends and changes in demand for the ten largest and the ten fastest growing academic programs. The webinar will also cover job posting trends for the ten largest and fastest growing occupations. In addition to occupations, it will take a deep dive into one program each month, exploring student demand, employment, and competition.

The free four-part Boot Camp will teach participants how to make better-informed and more effective academic program decisions. It will describe the required data, software, and management processes that enable community colleges to pick the right associate and certificate programs. It will also describe the process and participants needed to make and implement decisions with institution-wide support.

Expert instructors in the Community Colleges Boot Camp include Mike Voss, Dean of Instruction, Maricopa Community College system; Olivia Padilla-Jackson, Vice President of Finance and Operations, Central New Mexico Community College; Andrew Dorsey, President Emeritus, Front Range Community College; Karen Hines, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Berkshire Community College; and Robert Gray Atkins, author of Start, Stop, Grow: A Data-Informed Approach to Academic Program Evaluation and Management, and founder of Gray Associates.

Mr. Atkins says, "Community colleges face some unique challenges, but also a good deal of opportunity. They can no longer rely solely on labor market data suppliers to make informed decisions, but they need a complete program evaluation system. In particular, they need more and better data on student demand so they can attract more students and begin to grow again. Gray's new Community Colleges Boot Camp and Community Colleges Demand Trend webinar will provide the broader data and insights to help them do just that."

About Gray Associates

Gray helps colleges and universities make data-informed decisions about their academic programs. Gray's software integrates the best available data on academic program economics, student demand, employer needs, and competitive intensity for the precise market served by each institution. Faculty and administrative leaders use the software to score, rank, and evaluate programs in a collaborative process that builds consensus on programs to start, sunset, sustain, or grow. With Gray's tools and processes, institutions identify paths to increase enrollment, revenue, and efficiency, while investing in their mission and strengthening relationships among faculty and administrators.

Press Contact:

Jackie Lucas

Vera Voce Communication

978-255-1159

[email protected]

SOURCE Gray Associates
During the announcement, Iona University President Seamus Carey, Ph.D., said the change reflects the quality and prestige of an Iona education, and will support the institution's growth as it attracts top talent from across the globe. He was joined at the reveal by students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the Board of Trustees, as well as community partners.

"While this change reflects the growth, structure and direction of Iona, it also carries forward the legacy we have inherited," Carey said. "Our name is different, but our mission and values are the same."

Founded by the Christian Brothers and inspired by the legacy of Blessed Edmund Rice and St. Columba, Iona's success comes despite the headwinds facing others in higher education.

In March 2020, Iona was on the front lines when COVID-19 hit New Rochelle  the epicenter of the pandemic. Hailed as the "first to close, first to reopen," Iona pushed ahead on its path of innovation. Today, Iona University has emerged as an anomaly in higher education.

As enrollment spiked 35 percent in three years, Iona acquired a second campus in Bronxville, N.Y., to expand its programming inside and outside of the classroom.

Most notably, Iona launched a premier new school of health sciences to develop the next generation of health care professionals in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian, ranked New York's #1 hospital by U.S. News & World Report. Supported by a $20 million gift, the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences will open its state-of-the-art facilities in Bronxville this January. Meanwhile, Iona continues to add academic programs across the LaPenta School of Business and the School of Arts & Science, in addition to expanding club sports, performing arts and other activities that empower students to "Learn Outside the Lines" of the classroom.

"Just as St. Columba, Blessed Edmund Rice and the Christian Brothers looked beyond their own interests to address the pressing needs of their times, we understand that our mission has never been more important," Carey said. "Class by class, year by year, we help students realize why it is in their best interest to choose a life of responsible citizenship driven by care and compassion over narrow self-interest. To the extent that we are effective, we not only fulfill our duty as teachers and administrators, but we also meet our social responsibility of contributing to an educated citizenry. These are the values that will continue to be the lifeblood of Iona University in the future."

With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students, Iona is highly accredited, offering a diverse range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The change to Iona University was effective as of July 1, 2022.

SOURCE Iona University
ImpartnerCON, the company's annual customer summit, scheduled for Oct. 19-21, 2022, in Salt Lake City. Tweet this

As one of the world's largest vendor-led channel industry event, ImpartnerCON welcomes everyone back to beautiful Salt Lake City for four days of strategy, best practices, networking and fun. Channel chiefs and executives from companies of all sizes and industries will learn how to optimize their digital transformation and partner experience from presentations by industry analysts, channel luminaries and Impartner executives.

"While we've innovated with virtual events for the past two years, we are ready to bring all the channel chiefs together in-person to learn, collaborate and move partner experience forward," said Brad Pace, Impartner COO. "The past two years have demonstrated the necessity and power of strong partner networks and the digital footprint needed to help them thrive. ImpartnerCON will help channel chiefs move at light speed toward an improved partner experience."

Since the last ImpartnerCON, the company has released three new channel partner solutions, Impartner PartnerExperience PX, Advanced MDF and Custom Objects, which includes code-free data customization to incorporate unique business cases out-of-the-box. Executives will showcase these new technologies to attendees. Impartner PX has already won four awards in 2022 alone.

Impartner maintains its leadership in the industry, being named a G2 leader in PRM for the seventh

consecutive quarter, selected as No. 1 and global winner on its Vendor Selection Matrix for Partner Management Automation (PMA) from analyst firm Research in Action and chosen as a leader in "The Forrester Wave: Partner Relationship Management, Q4 2020."

To learn more about how Impartner helps corporations from the smallest to the largest enterprises like Honeywell, Qualtrics and Vertiv grow their channel revenue by an average of 32.3% in the first year of use alone, click here.



About Impartner

Impartner is the fastest-growing, most award-winning provider of channel management technologies, including its flagship Partner Relationship Management (PRM) and Through Channel Marketing Automation (TCMA) solutions, which help companies worldwide manage their partner relationships, drive demand through partners and accelerate revenue and profitability through indirect sales channels. For more information on Impartner, which is based in Utah's tech hotbed, the Silicon Slopes, visit impartner.com.

Impartner Contact:

Chelsea Rider

Impartner

[email protected]

SOURCE Impartner
Griffin and its Affiliated Companies Establish Foothold in Boston

BOSTON and PHILADELPHIA, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Griffin Financial Group, a lower middle-market investment bank, announced today that Sophea Chau joined the firm as Senior Managing Director, and that the firm will establish a Boston office.

"We are excited to welcome Sophea and look forward to uniting our respective expertise to maximize value for lower middle-market businesses," said Ernie Choquette, Chairman, President and CEO of The Stevens & Lee Companies, a platform of affiliated professional services companies that includes Griffin Financial Group.

"Our new location in Boston will give us the opportunity to strategically expand our platform's full range of professional services and grow in a vibrant new market," said Mr. Choquette.

"Sophea brings us expertise that will strengthen our ability to assist businesses achieve their strategic goals in industries we have not had much depth in previously," said Matt O'Leary, CEO, Griffin Financial Group.

Sophea Chau has nearly 20 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and financial advisory services, and specializes in consumer branded and e-commerce companies.

"Griffin and The Stevens & Lee Companies will be an exciting place to work," said Ms. Chau. "I look forward to collaborating with the team and positioning Griffin as a leader in helping entrepreneurial and family-owned businesses achieve their financial and strategic goals in today's complex economic environment."

About Griffin Financial

Griffin Financial Group is a boutique investment bank providing merger and acquisition advisory, financing and strategic consulting services for both healthy and financially challenged businesses. We also provide private equity placement and due diligence services, and assist clients in public offerings, institutional placements, sales, syndication and other capital markets activities. For more information about the firm, visit www.griffinfingroup.com.

About The Stevens & Lee Companies

The Stevens & Lee Companies is a platform of affiliated professional service firms that independently provide a full range of legal, investment banking, financial advisory, insurance risk management and government consulting services. For more information, visit www.stevenslee.com/our-companies.

Media Contact:

Jeanna Hahn

[email protected]

SOURCE Griffin Financial Group
Against a historical backdrop reminiscent of Watergate, award-winning Kyyba Films Founder Tel K. Ganesan is poised to tell another true-life American hero story.

DETROIT, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kyyba Films founder and producer of the top-rated 2022 film "18 " announces they are seeking the rights to Cassidy Hutchinson's story for a feature film. Hutchinson's surprise testimony on Tuesday, June 28th proved strikingly similar to the plot of "18 ". In fact, dialogue straight out of the movie's script could make for a perfect tagline: "One young woman in the White House has the power to bring down the President and the courage to do it."

Hutchinson's courage, despite great inherent personal risk, pushed her instantly into the realm of an American hero, testifying to a truth so explosive that it makes Watergate seem tame by comparison. Her willingness to put the greater good of her country before her own welfare is such a compelling story that Ganesan and Kyyba Films want to be the ones to bring it to the world.

"I am so moved by this woman's bravery, I am compelled to tell her heroic story," shares Ganesan. "Much like John Dean of the Watergate era, Cassidy introduced an explosive truth, cutting through the lies that led to insurrection. Her name is in the history books now; I want to examine and share the story of how she got here. I feel it is Serendipity leading me to do so!"

Premiered on Friday, June 3rd, "18 " tells the historic story of the infamous 18-minute gap in Nixon's Watergate tapes through the lens of a fictional White House transcriber. Featuring a star-studded cast that includes Willa Fitzgerald (Amazon's "Reacher") and John Magaro ("First Cow"), the film has screened at over 20 festivals, receiving a rating of 100% from Rotten Tomatoes reviewers.

Now - against an eerily similar backdrop to 1974's presidential espionage - "18 " Executive Producer/Kyyba Films Founder Tel K. Ganesan seeks to tell Hutchinson's story - the story of a true American patriot.

Ganesan interviews are available upon request through Jade Umbrella PR.

Contact:

Stacey Barker

[email protected]

SOURCE Kyyba Films
Multiple Award-Winning Musical Group to Elevate Value of Arts

SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Leadership Network is excited to welcome Grammy-Award winning musical artist Lady A to The Global Leadership Summit (GLS) on August 5. Lady A will perform live in front of a studio audience at their headquarters in South Barrington, and via simulcast to more than 500 U.S. sites.

The group composed of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood, shake things up with their release of their new single "Summer State of Mind" (BMLG Records) as they get fans in the mood for good times and great memories. Kicking off the new season with a shades-on sound, a beachball bounce and the trio's golden vocal blend, the carefree jam marks the first look at a new way of releasing music for the group. Determined to share fresh tracks whenever the spirit moves them, the trio plan to spontaneously release new music over the coming months, creating and connecting with fans in real time.

Multi-platinum trio Lady A will elevate the value of the arts at The Global Leadership Summit August 4-5. Tweet this

Ahead of their Request Line Tour, which kicks off on August 13, the multi-platinum trio will elevate the value of the arts into the Summit experience. "When you get to perform somewhere like the GLS, you know people are there to better themselves and the people around them," says Lady A musician Dave Haywood.

The Global Leadership Summit's two-day leadership event is geared to equip participants with high-impact leadership talks from experts, spanning a wide range of fields and backgrounds. Guests may experience the event at a hosted simulcast location, online or in the studio audience at South Barrington, Ill.

About Global Leadership Network

Global Leadership Network, headquartered in the Chicago area, hosts the world's largest annual leadership event, The Global Leadership Summit. Through year-round events and free leadership resources, the GLN combines a blend of leadership education to serve the 2.5 million people who visit GlobalLeadership.org each year. Follow Global Leadership Network on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @glnsummit.

About Lady A

Built around rich vocal harmony, vivid emotional writing and a smooth fusion of country, rock and pop, Lady A has 11 No. 1s, 18 million albums sold, 34 million tracks, five billion digital streams, and a global touring footprint. They have earned CMA "Vocal Group of the Year" awards, five Grammy Awards, Billboard Music Awards, People's Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and a Tony Award nomination. For more information visit ladyamusic.com.

SOURCE Global Leadership Network
TUCSON, Ariz., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Educational Foundation (AAPS) filed a lawsuit today in the federal Southern District of Texas, against three medical special boards for their threatened retaliation against physicians who speak out on matters of public concern. AAPS stands up for First Amendment rights of physicians who, like all American citizens, should be able to speak publicly without risk of retaliation.

"Our freedoms depend on the ability of physicians and all Americans to speak out on important issues of our day," said Andrew Schlafly, who filed this lawsuit. "Entities holding monopolies over board certification should not be retaliating against good physicians."

This new lawsuit asserts that "Defendants wrongly misuse their authority in a politically partisan manner to chill speech critical of positions taken by Dr. Anthony Fauci, lockdowns, mask mandates, Covid vaccines and even abortion." This Complaint seeks injunctive and declaratory relief against several specialty Board Defendants that hold monopolies over board certification, and against the federal government for its newly created Disinformation Governance Board.

"Although only official state medical boards have the proper authority to regulate the practice of medicine, certifications by the Board Defendants constitute a de facto essential credential for practicing in most hospitals or participating in most networks," this lawsuit asserts. "By threatening to revoke board certification of physicians, the Board Defendants improperly chill speech by physicians without the political accountability of official state medical boards," this Complaint adds.

The Board Defendants are the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and the American Board of Family Medicine. Each of these entities, which hold monopolies over board certification in their specialties, have declared their plans to discipline physicians who speak out.

"Criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci should not be a basis for retaliating against a physician for speaking his mind," Andrew Schlafly states. The lawsuit points out that many Republican senators properly rebuked Dr. Fauci for his statements that "I represent science" and that those who criticize him "are really criticizing science."

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Educational Foundation is a national organization that co-sponsors conferences and funds scholarships for attendance by medical students and residents.

SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)
An Omaha native, Volenec started her career in TV news, serving as the main anchor for KPTM in Omaha. She also was the morning news anchor for the No. 1-rated "Todd and Tyler Show" on KEZO radio in Omaha.

"Lisa has excelled in each of her roles with Scripps and proven herself to be a skilled leader," said Local Media President Brian Lawlor. "Her extensive news and sales experience and knowledge of the Omaha market will help drive KMTV's success."

"Omaha is where my career began, and I couldn't be more thrilled to return home and work with the fantastic team at KMTV," said Volenec. "Together, we will serve the Omaha community by continuing our commitment to quality local journalism."

Volenec studied broadcast journalism at Arizona State University.

About Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is a diversified media company focused on creating a better-informed world. As one of the nation's largest local TV broadcasters, Scripps serves communities with quality, objective local journalism and operates a portfolio of 61 stations in 41 markets. The Scripps Networks reach nearly every American through the national news outlets Court TV and Newsy and popular entertainment brands ION, Bounce, Defy TV, Grit, ION Mystery, Laff and TrueReal. Scripps is the nation's largest holder of broadcast spectrum. Scripps runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and is the longtime steward of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the motto, "Give light and the people will find their own way."

SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company
Powered by MyScript.

CUPERTINO, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Iconic notebook producer Moleskine is blazing a new trail with Moleskine Smart, its most powerful notebook ever. Moleskine Smart is a game-changing tech product, with world-beating handwriting recognition software provided by pioneering tech company MyScript.

Moleskine and MyScript collaborate to create Moleskine Smart, the most powerful Moleskine ever

Moleskine Smart brings digital power to analog writing and sketching thanks to its Smart Writing System, which includes 'magic' Smart Paper and a digital Smart Pen. Users can write, draw and doodle in their Moleskine Smart and see every stroke appear simultaneously on a connected digital device, such as a phone or tablet. MyScript's AI-driven handwriting recognition software ensures that every line, shape and character is accurately recognized and swiftly rendered on-screen  making it easier than ever to create a digital archive of handwritten work, or to reuse hand-crafted content in the digital realm.

"The team at MyScript are exceptional collaborators who helped us to take paper note-taking to the next level," says David Nebbia, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Moleskine. "With MyScript's help, Moleskine Smart brings paper and digital closer together than ever before."

With the dedicated app, Notes, now integrating MyScript tech, users can convert handwriting to typed text, transform handwritten notes into emails or typed documents, and effortlessly share hand-drawn sketches to social media or digital painting apps. All content stays digitally editable too  and handwriting can be searched as effortlessly as typed text.

In the words of MyScript Chief Strategy Officer Denis Manceau, "This collaboration saw our companies align perfectly to enhance the Moleskine user experience. Both Moleskine and MyScript were born out of a genuine love of writing and the belief that human, handcrafted content should occupy a central place in the digital future. The Moleskine Smart takes physical notebooks to the next level, giving users the most natural and intuitive experience while offering a technological power boost."

The new Moleskine Smart also offers enhanced performance thanks to faster charging, improved battery life and greater pressure sensitivity. The writing experience is boosted by a lightweight, soft-touch finish and comfort-grip pen that flows beautifully over the page.

The Notes app has also been updated to be more user-friendly and intuitive, and users can now sync their content to the cloud for easy access from other devices.

With the Moleskine Smart, Moleskine's vision and MyScript's digital handwriting expertise come together in a perfect partnership.

Discover the most powerful Moleskine ever at Moleskine.com

High-resolution images are available at this link .

Contacts  Moleskine

UK | BCW | [email protected]

Global PR Manager | Eleonora Kihlberg | [email protected] | M +39 348 604 9577

EMEA | Corina Macnovit | [email protected] | M +39 348 2317015

Germany | Anika Schmidt | [email protected] | M +49 (0)151 20 30 99 35

Americas | Katia Nicita |[email protected]

Asia Pacific | Consuelo Romeo | [email protected] | T +39 342 6267058

Contacts  MyScript

MyScript Global Marketing | [email protected]

MyScript OEM Integrations | [email protected]

MyScript Education Integration | [email protected]

About Moleskine

Moleskine was created as a brand in 1997, bringing back to life the nameless black notebooks used by writers and artists like Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin that had long gone out of print. Today, the Moleskine brand encompasses a family of objects that enhance productivity and creativity including notebooks, diaries, and planners, journals, bags, writing instruments, reading accessories, publishing and digital tools. The Moleskine brand is a worldwide presence thanks to over 80 Moleskine Stores.

About MyScript

Since 1998, MyScript has pioneered the development of AI technology that makes handwriting the basis for powerful human-machine interfaces. Placing ink at the center of the digital world, MyScript's software lets users interact with digital devices in more intuitive and versatile ways, seamlessly integrating handwriting into their workflows. In 2016, the company used this expertise to create Nebo, a note-taking app that employs the accuracy and power of MyScript Interactive Ink to boost users' productivity. With an international team and support for more than 70 languages, MyScript serves customers worldwide from its headquarters in Nantes, France, as well as regional offices in China, Japan, Korea and the US.

Learn more: http://myscript.com

PRESS CONTACT

Giovanni Rodriguez

+33228014950

https://www.myscript.com/

SOURCE MyScript
EOSERA, INC. is hosting the inaugural EmpowHERment pitch competition with partners Simmons Bank, Satori Capital, Fort Worth Report, Tech Fort Worth, and UNT Health Science Center. There are three finalists, and the prize is $10K. Applications are open now and close September 16th. Apply and learn more at www.empowhermentpitch.com.

FORT WORTH, Texas, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fort Worth-based success story EOSERA, INC. wants to pay it forward by hosting the inaugural EmpowHERment Pitch Competition with the help of partners Simmons Bank, Satori Capital, Fort Worth Report, Tech Fort Worth, and UNT Health Science Center. CEO of EOSERA, Elyse Stoltz Dickerson, got her start by winning a pitch competition, and now wants to give another smart, innovative, female-led, Texas-based company that same opportunity.

About the Competition

EOSERA Opens EmpowHERment Pitch Competition Applications for Female-Led, Texas Based Companies

The EmpowHERment Pitch Competition is a once yearly competition held during Global Entrepreneurship Week in November. Of all the applicants, only three finalists will be selected to pitch to a live audience, and three qualified judges will pick one winner to take home the $10K prize. Applications are open now and close on September 16th, 2022 at 11:59 pm.

"This competition is a way for EOSERA to pay it forward to a community who gave so much to us. In this network, there are so many resources available for entrepreneurs that a lot of people don't know about. We hope, during Global Entrepreneurship Week, that entrepreneursespecially female entrepreneurssee how supportive our community is," says CEO, Elyse Dickerson. "So, please, apply if you qualify! We want to see your passion for your business in the application."

About the Application

EOSERA's EmpowHERment Pitch Competition application consists of perfunctory information about your business, 5 essay questions on a variety of topics relating to your business, and a 60-second video submission telling the judges what your business is, about your business, and what inspired you to start your business.

Applications are now open at www.empowhermentpitch.com and close September 16th at 11:59 pm. See website and application for rules, regulations, and frequently asked questions.

About EOSERA:

Eosera, Inc. is a biotech company that develops innovative products that target under addressed healthcare needs in the ear care space and beyond. Co-founded and led by CEO Elyse Stoltz Dickerson, Eosera offers a full line of ear care products that remove earwax, relieve itch and pain, and provide routine cleanings to improve overall ear health. Eosera products are safe, effective, formulated by scientists, and recommended by doctors. The company's products are currently available in over 26K stores nationwide and online, including Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, Kroger, Rite Aid, and Amazon. For more information, visit www.eosera.com.

Media Contact:

Katie Marler

801-376-0547

[email protected]

SOURCE Eosera, Inc.
NEEDHAM, Mass., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Needham Bank announced today that Jack McGeorge, Chairman of the Board of Directors, will retire effective July 27, 2022 and President Joe Campanelli will succeed him as Chairman.

Jack, who joined Needham Bank in 1975, served as President and CEO from 2006 to 2015. He retired from those roles in 2015 and was elected Chairman of the Board. During his tenure, he expanded the Bank's market share and resources as well as its commercial real estate financing business. Jack was instrumental in cementing the Bank's reputation as "The Builders' Bank" thanks to his expertise in construction financing and close relationships with area builders. Today, Needham Bank is one of the area's premier commercial real estate lenders.

Joe Campanelli joined Needham Bank in 2017 as Chief Executive Officer after a long and distinguished career building successful business at commercial banks including Hartford National Bank, Shawmut Bank, Fleet Bank, Sovereign Bank and Flagstar. Joe played a leadership role in the branch acquisition and integration that took place when Sovereign Bank acquired the branches that Fleet Financial Group divested after its merger with Bank Boston Corp., which at the time was the largest branch and business divestiture in US banking history. As Chairman, CEO and Director of Flagstar Bank, Joe led a turnaround to restore the bank to profitability.

An energetic and charismatic leader, Joe has a track record of leading transformational change. At Needham Bank his focus has been on creating a future-ready super community bank offering all of the products, services and technology that businesses and consumers need to build for their futures. Under his leadership, the Bank has significantly increased its commercial lending portfolio, with a focus on small business, middle market and larger corporate entities through a new Structured Finance Division. Today the Bank is able to provide substantial levels of credit and customize cash management services to a wide range of entities in diverse industries including renewable energy, manufacturing and hospitality.

"Joe is a highly qualified, experienced and capable executive who has transformed the bank in his five years as President and CEO. I feel confident in a bright and successful future for Needham Bank with Joe at the helm," commented Jack.

About Needham Bank:

Needham Bank offers an array of tech-forward products and services that businesses and consumers use to manage their financial needs. We have the financial expertise typically found at much larger institutions and the local knowledge and commitment you can only find at a community bank. Known as the "Builder's Bank," Needham Bank has been helping individuals, businesses and non-profits build for their futures since 1892. For more information, please visit https://NeedhamBank.com. Needham Bank is a member of FDIC and DIF.

SOURCE Needham Bank
FORT MYERS, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AngeLink, with headquarters in Florida, is the world's first crowdfunding platform powered by women and built for all. The company recently launched a fundraising campaign to support a Ukrainian refugee mother and her three daughters who now live in Fort Myers.

Single parent Victoria Tonkonoh and her three daughters were forced to flee their home in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, when a bomb struck their apartment building. The Tonkonoh family fled for their lives, leaving everything behind, and arrived in Florida with just a few suitcases of belongings. Ukraine Take Shelter, an online program that assists Ukrainian refugees in finding safe housing, helped the family find temporary living arrangements in Fort Myers.

AngeLink Community Foundation, the company's 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is raising $10,000 to support the family to obtain necessities such as food, clothing, and a more permanent living situation.

The Tonkonoh family and thousands more like them desperately need support in finding their way toward a new life in the United States. In response to the tragic events in Ukraine, AngeLink is leading the effort to help families who are forced to flee their homeland.

To donate to the Tonkonoh family, visit https://angelink.info/SupportUkrainianMom or start a campaign of your own to help other Ukrainian families in need.

AngeLink, founded by CEO Gerry Poirier, was created with the mission to become the world's most lovable, free crowdfunding platform powered by women to connect, engage, and share their stories.

"No fundraising platform existed for women to inspire others and build our own community, so I developed one," Poirier explained. "Our success is based on a profound truth, the golden rule of humanitythat we all rise by lifting others."

AngeLink is a free and safe fundraising platform. Standard credit card processing fees apply. Donors may choose to give a voluntary tip during the donation process. AngeLink relies on tips to support people across a larger global community.

ABOUT ANGELINK

AngeLink is the world's first crowdfunding platform powered by women, dedicated to creating a radically new ecosystem of financial inclusion. The free fundraising platform enables users to raise money for themselves, people they love and causes they believe in. Fundraise, donate and learn more by visiting https://angelink.com/ .

Contact: Heather Cutchin, [email protected] 919-426-2318

SOURCE AngeLink, Inc.
ST. LOUIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, Anheuser-Busch is teaming up with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) for the fourth consecutive year to donate emergency drinking water to volunteer fire departments nationwide, including more than 30,000 cans to 11 fire departments in New Hampshire to help them be ready for 2022 wildfire season.

As wildfire season lengthens and increases in severity each year, clean drinking water remains essential in addressing firefighters' hydration needs  yet many volunteer departments struggle with limited budget and resources. The deliveries of emergency drinking water in New Hampshire will help address this critical need, while supporting a community that Anheuser-Busch's Merrimack brewery is proud to call home.

"Anheuser-Busch is a dedicated community partner here in New Hampshire, lifting up our first responders and frontline workers as they serve our state and keep us safe," said Representative Annie Kuster. "I appreciate Anheuser-Busch's emergency drinking water program to support our Granite State firefighters as they work to protect our communities."

"The Anheuser-Busch and National Volunteer Fire Council Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters program is a valuable resource for New Hampshire fire departments. Wildfire suppression is labor intensive and is done during hot, dry weather and in rugged terrain so staying hydrated is key for safe and successful fire suppression operations. We appreciate the continued support of Anheuser-Busch and the National Volunteer Fire Council and their work to keep New Hampshire firefighters safe," said Steven Sherman, Chief and Forest Fire Supervisor, New Hampshire Forest Protection Bureau.

"Thank you to Anheuser-Busch and the National Volunteer Fire Council for their continued support of New Hampshire fire departments through the Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters program. Providing cans of water for wildland firefighting and other natural disasters is a critical component to keeping our fire service members safe and hydrated during long duration events," said Sean P. Toomey, P.E., New Hampshire State Fire Marshal's Office (FMO).

This year's partnership between Anheuser-Busch and the NVFC will provide more than 1.5 million cans of emergency drinking water to nearly 450 volunteer fire departments across 46 states. It also marks a significant continuation of the brewer's 30-year-strong commitment to disaster relief and supporting local communities in times of need through its emergency drinking water program.

"Our emergency drinking water program is a tremendous source of pride for all of us at Anheuser-Busch  including our nearly 400 employees across New Hampshire  as we are able to do our part to recognize and support the heroes who protect our communities from natural disasters," said Colleen Lucas, Vice President of Community Impact at Anheuser-Busch. "By leveraging our production and distribution capabilities as a force of good, we are honored to lend a hand to New Hampshire's volunteer fire service and first responders across the country."

"Hydration is a vital component to firefighter health and safety, and an important part of keeping firefighters functioning at their best during response," said NVFC Chair Steve Hirsch. "We appreciate Anheuser-Busch's ongoing commitment to support our volunteer boots-on-the-ground responders. This is an invaluable program that provides a critical resource to volunteer departments, so they can use their limited budgets on other necessities."

In New Hampshire, the donations of emergency drinking water will be made to Lyndeborough Fire Department, Sandown Fire-Rescue, New Boston Fire Department, Croydon Volunteer Fire Department, Wilton Fire Department, Plainfield Fire Department, Charlestown Fire Department, Gorham Fire and EMS, East Kingston Fire Department, Lancaster Fire Department and Shelburne Fire Department.

Since 2019, Anheuser-Busch and its national network of independent wholesalers  including local partners, Bellavance Beverage Co. and New Hampshire Distributors Inc  have partnered with the NVFC to donate more than 4.9 million cans of clean, safe drinking water to more than 960 fire departments across the country to support wildfire response needs.

"We are proud to facilitate Anheuser-Busch's emergency drinking water initiative at the local level. It isn't every day that we get to make special deliveries like these, and our delivery team embraced the opportunity to make it happen and meet our community heroes. It is important to let our volunteer firefighters know that we are grateful for all they do and that we support them as they work to protect our communities," said Chelsea Dennis, Marketing Manager at Bellavance Beverage Co.

The donations of emergency drinking water are sourced from Anheuser-Busch's breweries in Cartersville, Georgia and Fort Collins, Colorado which periodically pause beer production to can emergency drinking water to support disaster relief efforts in partnership with the American Red Cross and the NVFC. Since the creation of its emergency drinking water program in 1988, Anheuser-Busch has donated more than 90 million cans of clean drinking water to U.S. communities affected by natural disasters and other crises.

Learn more about the Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters Program at www.nvfc.org/water.

ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH

At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are always looking to serve up new ways to meet life's moments, dream big to move our industry forward, and make a meaningful impact in the world. We hope to build a future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share. For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 19,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most loved beer brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois, as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is the leading nonprofit membership association representing the interests of the volunteer fire, emergency medical, and rescue services. The NVFC serves as the voice of the volunteer in the national arena and provides critical advocacy, resources, programs, and education for first responders across the nation. Learn more at www.nvfc.org.

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch
Year after year, onsite accidents result in expensive medical bills, increased insurance premiums, training expenses, and lawsuits. Beyond workplace-induced hearing damage, struck-by incidents are a leading cause of injury and death. And recent medical studies indicate that excessive noise exposure can potentially be linked to anxiety, depression, increased heart rate, and other health issues. Clear 360 Pro was designed to help solve these real-world problems in one affordable package.

"The best hearing protection is the one that people will actually wear," says Dr. Stan Phillips, noted hearing expert. "Now, you can safely work and communicate around heavy machinery and supervisors can take phone calls without stepping away from the site or losing situational awareness."

"The best hearing protection is the one that people will actually wear," says Dr. Stan Phillips, noted hearing expert. "Now, you can safely work and communicate around heavy machinery and supervisors can take phone calls without stepping away from the site or losing situational awareness."

For decades, workers have been exposed to dangerous noise levels in activities such as civil and vertical construction, mining - quarries, energy operations, agriculture, and factory work. Recreational activities like hunting, shooting, yard work and hobbies also expose people to excessive noise. A wide variety of hearing protection products are available today. People often resist using hearing protection like ear plugs or over-ear electronic hearing protection because they limit your ability to communicate, are uncomfortable to wear, make your experience sound "unnatural," and severely limit your ability to accurately locate important audio cues such as warning sounds, moving vehicles, and verbal warnings. CLEAR 360 PRO effectively addresses all these issues.

"True, 360-degree Auditory Situational Awareness and a natural listening experience has been missing until now" says Joe Butera III, Chief Technology Officer- Bongiovi Acoustic Labs. "CLEAR 360 PRO features proprietary technology advancements in sound immersion, directionality, and speech intelligibility. These features are integrated into one, state-of-the-art, lightweight, in-ear solution that is comfortable to wear even when using protective headwear and eyewear."

Using patented audio processing technology from Bongiovi Acoustic Labs, and direct input from Trimble's SITECH distribution to address construction site challenges, the CLEAR 360 PRO was developed to deliver a one-of-a-kind safety and productivity solution.

"The CLEAR 360 PRO was developed and put through some very harsh jobsite environments". said Paul Thomas, America's Senior Director of Sales & Distribution, Civil Construction, Trimble Inc. "One crew was working on an interstate highway site running a Milling machine and the employees were able to communicate while standing next to the machine in operation. A common response from all the operators who tested the CLEAR 360 Pro on various job sites was: "Wow, I can hear!" They found that it delivers three key jobsite safety solutions in one product: hearing protection, auditory situational awareness, and enhanced communication capabilities"

Clear 360 features:

Premium hearing protection

Uninterrupted, 360-degree auditory situational awareness

Light weight: 2.5 ounces

All-day comfort and ease of use

16-hour battery, rapid recharge

Five custom listening modes for optimized listening in different environments

Patented speech intelligibility enhancement

Bluetooth 5.0 connects to cell phones & radios

Two-year warranty

CLEAR 360 PRO is now available in North America.

For information about the benefits of CLEAR 360 PRO, including independent laboratory testing data, visit www.clear360products.com/construction or Contact your local SITECH Dealer  US + Canada.

Clear360 Ventures, Inc. is a privately held company based in Port Saint Lucie FL, a subsidiary of Bongiovi Media & Technology, Inc.

Media Contact:

Gail Parenteau

[email protected]

SOURCE Bongiovi Acoustics
With enactment of Captive Insurance Companies Act in Alberta, NFP is well-positioned to support clients with alternative risk solutions that lower insurance costs and enhance coverage

TORONTO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NFP, a leading property and casualty broker, benefits consultant, wealth manager and retirement advisor, announced today it has established the NFP Captive Management (Alberta) Corp. and augmented its Complex Risk Solutions Group (CRSG) with the addition of two industry veterans in the captives and alternative risk space. These moves, in conjunction with the recently enacted Captive Insurance Companies Act in Alberta (the Act), will enable NFP to form and administer Alberta-domiciled captive insurance companies for their clients.

The Act has established a regime of captive insurance in Alberta where an organization can insure itself against risk instead of buying insurance from a third party. The Act came into force on July 1, 2022.

"NFP is very excited about this new legislation and the opportunity it creates for Canadian employers to form captive insurance companies domiciled in Alberta," said Joseph Seeger, managing director, co-lead, CRSG, NFP in Canada. "In the face of rising costs and challenging coverage access, we have been preparing for months to be ready to deliver the specialized expertise clients need to evaluate and execute a captive structure. NFP has built an extraordinary team of experienced captive professionals to mobilize our first-mover advantage."

Seeing the tremendous upside of the legislation and newfound ability to help clients structure captives in Alberta, NFP recently recruited two captive industry veterans  Sam Jackson and Paul Young  to join its CRSG. "Sam and Paul possess a deep understanding of the captive market and the structures and processes required to operate a successful captive. They add great value to our organization and clients pursuing alternative risk mitigation opportunities in Alberta," said Seeger.

Jackson arrived at NFP in April with over two decades of service in the insurance industry. He joined from Rogers Insurance, where he served as a senior broking advisor evaluating alternative risk financing opportunities. Jackson spent over a dozen years at the Energy Insurance Group, where he oversaw all operations for their energy clients' insurance programs.

Young also joined NFP in April. His insurance experience spans more than a decade and includes positions with Accommodate Insurance Management, Canadian Energy and Energy Insurance Group.

"Paul and I have been impressed by NFP's strong commitment to solving big problems for clients. With the new legislation in Alberta, we are ready to deliver solutions that enhance cost efficiency and coverage effectiveness for a variety of companies, especially those in natural resources. We are already actively engaging with several NFP clients to help them understand the opportunity, determine if a captive is right for them, and detail the complex processes for establishing and administering a captive in Alberta. This alternative risk transfer mechanism will deliver clients more cost-effective risk mitigation solutions in this environment of rising insurance prices," said Jackson.

About NFP

"NFP is a leading insurance broker and consultant providing specialized business and personal insurance, group benefits, retirement and individual solutions through its licensed subsidiaries and affiliates. NFP enables client success through the expertise of more than 1,000 employees based in Canada, more than 6,900 employees globally, investments in innovative technologies, and enduring relationships with highly rated insurers, vendors and financial institutions. NFP is the 5th largest benefits broker by global revenue (Business Insurance), 10th largest property and casualty agency (Insurance Journal) and 13th largest global insurance broker (Best's Review)."

Visit NFP.ca to discover how NFP empowers clients to meet their goals.

SOURCE NFP Corp.
ZUG, Switzerland, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PraSaga  the non-profit organization building the next generation of Layer One blockchain  today announced its official designation as a Swiss Foundation. This critical step caps off a busy first half of 2022 for PraSaga, which also included attending the Chamber of Digital Commerce's Blockchain Summit in Washington D.C., to help define the future of the crypto industry, and attending Consensus 2022 in Austin, Texas, to introduce SagaPython, a new extension of the popular coding language Python, with an integration into PraSaga's blockchain.

Recognition as a Swiss Foundation means that the PraSaga ecosystem will be governed by majority rule moving forward. Decisions will be based on the authority of majority or super-majority votes, meaning that no single entity will have the ability to gain control. This will help to ensure that PraSaga realizes its goal of creating a blockchain that delivers a better future, with transparent government, efficient markets, and real threat protection.

The news caps a busy H1 2022 for PraSaga, including attendance at the Chamber of Digital Commerce's Blockchain Summit. Tweet this

Michael Holdmann, Founder and CEO of PraSaga stated, "We understand the responsibility that comes with creating a Layer One blockchain and cryptocurrency. Being constrained by profit margins and controlled by a centralized authority are simply not compatible with the goals we are aiming to achieve at PraSaga. Operating as a foundation allows us to pursue our ultimate goal of improving the quality of life for people around the world. By placing control of data in the hands of every individual, and in areas such as creating transparency in tracking carbon emissions and addressing flaws in the global supply chain".

To gain designation as a Swiss foundation, the organization had to comply with government regulations. However, it was a worthwhile journey as Switzerland's legal and political stability, along with its focus on innovation, make the country a unique financial center. The Swiss finance industry is known globally for its banking legacy. Yet, its constant drive to broaden its horizons, and ready adoption of innovations like fintech and sustainable finance, make it the ideal location for a future-facing foundation like PraSaga to base itself.

About PraSaga

PraSaga is a Swiss Foundation building the next generation of Layer One blockchain. PraSaga's technology solution solves many of the limitations that plague first-generation Layer One blockchains. The SagaChain successfully addresses lowering transaction fees, extensibility for supply chains, and significantly lowers development costs.

SOURCE PraSaga
GAPYEONG, South Korea, July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) International, commonly referred to as the "Unification Church," offers heartfelt condolences to the family of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the people of Japan who are grieving Mr. Abe's tragic assassination.

Following the news of Mr. Abe's death, some news media have included uncorroborated rumors about this tragedy in their reports.

Some of these allegations were addressed at a Tokyo press conference convened by our Japanese headquarters. FFWPU International would like to share these verified facts.

What is the connection of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the "Unification Church"?

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent brief remarks to two difference online 'Rally of Hope' events in the past year, which spoke on themes of peace in Asia. The events were hosted by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and other organizations, including FFWPU.

While UPF and FFWPU share the same founders, UPF is an independent NGO in general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

What is the connection between Tetsuya Yamagami and the "Unification Church"?

Mr. Yamagami, is not a member of FFWPU, nor do any of our records show a past affiliation. However, our own internal investigation can confirm that his mother is a member of FFWPU and participates occasionally in church activities.

Mr. Yamagami's reported allegation that his mother's donations to FFWPU caused family problems is a matter to be investigated by the police. Whatever his grievances, we wholeheartedly condemn violence and murder.

We can confirm that Mr. Yamagami test-fired his homemade weapon the night before the assassination at a building that was formerly used as a FFWPU church. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Other than preliminary questions about the association of Mr. Yamagami with FFWPU, the police have not yet contacted us about this criminal investigation. Local representatives of FFWPU will fully cooperate with any inquiries from authorities and make relevant information available to the press as appropriate.

We ask that media organizations maintain their professional commitment to accuracy, impartiality, and objectivity.

FFWPU will redouble its efforts to foster a world of lasting peace. Once again, we are deeply saddened by the loss of one of the world's great statesmen. May God's grace and blessings be with the late prime minister, his family, the Japanese people, and those grieving around the world.

FFWPU Press Contacts:

FFWPU Africa

Mamadu Gaye

+27 (82) 964-0827; [email protected]

FFWPU Asia Pacific

Demian Dunkley

+1 (619) 947-3311; [email protected]

FFWPU Europe & Middle East

Peter Zoehrer

+43 664 5238794; [email protected]

FFWPU Latin America

Mario Salinas

+504 3161-6632; [email protected]

FFWPU North America

Nancy Jubb

212-997-0057; [email protected]

Irving Street Rep - FFWPU North America Representation

Ron Lucas

973-643-6262; [email protected]

SOURCE Family Federation for World Peace and Unification
The acquisition of this portfolio is part of One Family Property's robust pipeline in excess of $175,000,000. Tweet this

The acquisition of this portfolio is part of One Family Property's robust pipeline in excess of $175,000,000 for the remainder of the 2022 calendar year. OFP is committed to providing its partners, investors and clients with unparalleled investment opportunities.

About One Family Property:

One Family Property is a real estate investment firm based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The company is primarily engaged in the acquisition of properties leased to industry-leading tenants with a focus on essential businesses.

Since One Family Property's inception in early 2020, the company and its affiliates have acquired more than $120,000,000 of net-leased investments and seeks to acquire an additional $250,000,000 of real estate assets over the next 24-36 months.

One Family Property is led by its co-founders and managing partners, Jason Fisher and Aaron Baum. Jason Fisher serves as the firm's Chief Executive Officer, where he oversees all aspects of investment strategy, portfolio and asset management, acquisitions, financing and due diligence. Prior to forming OFP, Jason Fisher was a real estate attorney for 10 years and was a partner at Honigman LLP. Aaron Baum serves as the firm's Chief Acquisitions Officer, where he leads all the firm's acquisitions, including identifying, analyzing and acquiring real estate opportunities, portfolio strategy, portfolio management and managing tenant relationships. Prior to forming OFP, Aaron Baum was a founding partner of SAB Capital, a real estate investment sales brokerage firm based out of New York City.

SOURCE One Family Property
Successful connectivity to the RTP network means more financial institutions can deliver instant payments to customers. Tweet this

Using OPN's API, financial institutions and their customers can add instant payments to their existing applications and create entirely new instant payment solutions. From payroll processing to mortgage payments to a myriad of other payment scenarios, financial institutions and customers can build on the OPN technology platform to send and receive payments on the RTP Network.

"Bridge Community Bank is committed to offer the benefits of instant payments to our customers and to offer these benefits early," said Bob Steen, CEO of Bridge Community Bank. "We anticipate leveraging the OPN API to create more payment options that benefit our bank customers."

Real-time payments are next-generation payments that can be initiated by a customer and then clear and settle within seconds, all facilitated today by the RTP network and in the near term by the FedNow service. OPN adds value to its RTP connectivity with fraud controls and directory service. OPN and Bridge Community Bank are also participating in the FedNow pilot and will be testing FedNow real-time transactions within the next few months.

"We are happy to work with Open Payment Network in our efforts to bring the benefits of real-time payments to more financial institutions," said Keith Gray, VP of sales and product development at The Clearing House. "With more companies like OPN providing connectivity to the RTP network, we will dramatically increase the availability to real-time payments to financial institution customers."

The RTP network provides the banking industry with a modern platform for domestic payments, complete with rich data capabilities and immediate payment confirmation. The system enables instantaneous settlement and availability so funds can be used or withdrawn as cash within seconds. The RTP network currently reaches 61% of U.S. demand deposit accounts, and all federally insured depository institutions  regardless of size  can join the network. More than 250 financial institutions are using the RTP network, with more joining weekly. The RTP network offers a flat pricing structure for all depository institutions regardless of size and does not have monthly fees, volume discounts or minimum volume requirements.

About Open Payment Network

Open Payment Network (OPN) helps financial institutions attract and retain more customers and stay ahead of the competition by enabling them to deliver instant payments anytime, anywhere. By connecting to OPN's secure technology platform, financial institutions become the gateway for instant payments via Internet and mobile device. The OPN platform integrates with existing core systems and moves payment value and associated data in real time for immediate settlement. Financial institutions can provide access to the OPN API so business customers, fintech developers and internal teams can create applications such as instant mortgage payments, payroll processing, and peer-to-peer payments. Visit openpaymentnetwork.us .

About Bridge Community Bank

Bridge Community Bank is an employee-owned community bank established in 1903. Serving our customers and communities in East Central Iowa is our core mission. In addition to offering standard banking services from deposit account, IRA, CDs, business products, commercial and personal loans, to mortgage loans, Bridge Community Bank is committed to providing the best that banking technology can offer. Our mobile banking app and P2P payments offerings are now enhanced by the investment made into joining the RTP network and real-time payments.

About The Clearing House

The Clearing House operates U.S-based payments networks that clear and settle more than $2 trillion daily through wire, ACH, check image, and real-time payments. It is the nation's most experienced payments company, with a long track record of providing secure and reliable systems, payments innovation, and strategic thought leadership to financial institutions. Most recently, The Clearing House has revolutionized U.S. payments infrastructure with the RTP network, which supports the immediate clearing and settlement of payments, along with the ability to exchange related payment information across the same secure channel. These RTP capabilities enable all financial institutions to offer safer, faster and smarter digital transaction services for their corporate and retail customers. Visit theclearinghouse.org.

SOURCE Open Payment Network
$360,000 grant to review safety and accuracy of Biosense device aimed at DKA risk mitigation in patients using SGLTi drug class.

ST. LOUIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Readout Health, a medical digital health startup, announces a sponsored research agreement with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis that received a $360,000 research grant from JDRF. The two-year grant is aimed at testing the efficacy of the Biosense handheld breath ketone monitor in persons with type 1 diabetes (T1D) during usual care with insulin and with the addition of a sodium glucose transporter inhibitor (SGLT2i) drug. Janet McGill, MD, a professor at Washington University School of Medicine and the recipient of the American Diabetes Association's 2022 Outstanding Physician Clinician award, will serve as the principal investigator.

Biosense device and health app

Biosense was launched in 2020 as the non-invasive option to capillary blood testing or urine testing for in-home biofeedback of fat oxidation levels based on nutrition and exercise. While metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity have protocols often seeking higher ketone levels, T1D patients can be at a considerable risk with elevated ketones, a problem potentially compounded by medications like SGLT2i if left unchecked. According to Dr. McGill, "Routine monitoring of ketones may alert patients to impeding ketosis and help to prevent episodes of ketoacidosis. Ketone monitoring should be easy, non-invasive, low-cost, and accessible for repeated use to be effective."

Biosense, a class 1 designated breath ketone analyzer, will be tested for its ability to detect ketosis in persons with T1D during usual care and during usual care plus SGLTi therapy. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which is increased when persons with T1D take an SGLT2i. This increased risk of life-threatening DKA has caused the FDA to withhold approval of SGLT2i in persons with T1D, despite proven benefits of drugs in this class for reduction in the risks of elevated glucose levels, progressive chronic kidney disease and hospitalizations for heart failure in persons with and without type 2 diabetes.

According to Jonathan Rosen, PhD, JDRF Associate Director of Research, "SGLT inhibitors are improving outcomes in glucose control, heart disease, and kidney disease in non-type 1 diabetes populations, but are rarely used in type 1 diabetes because they increase the risk of DKA. Development of ketone monitoring technologies like Biosense are a critical part of the strategy to enable safe, effective use of SGLT inhibitors in type 1 diabetes."

The JDRF funded research grant is awarded directly to Washington University School of Medicine at St. Louis with first patients targeted late summer.

About Readout Health

Readout Health is developing digital breath biomarker technologies for chronic disease prevention, management, and reversal. Readout's patented breath sampling technology isolates high concentration samples of breath compounds within handheld medical devices an supportive mobile apps. Targeting behavior modification through precision biofeedback, Biosense, a Class 1 medical device, was launched as an FDA Class 1 medical device after a successful 2019 clinical trial, enabling pharma and academic researchers and clinicians to monitor patient dosing of therapeutic ketosis (area-under-the-curve) in several therapeutic areas, including metabolic, neurocognitive, and oncology. For more information, visit https://mybiosense.com.

About JDRF

JDRF's mission is to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications. To accomplish this, JDRF has invested more than $2.5 billion in research funding since our inception. We are an organization built on a grassroots model of people connecting in their local communities, collaborating regionally for efficiency and broader fundraising impact, and uniting on a national stage to pool resources, passion, and energy. We collaborate with academic institutions, policymakers, and corporate and industry partners to develop and deliver a pipeline of innovative therapies to people living with T1D. Our staff and volunteers throughout the United States and our five international affiliates are dedicated to advocacy, community engagement and our vision of a world without T1D. For more information, please visit https://www.jdrf.org.

Media Contact: Press Team (314)-369-7477 [email protected]

SOURCE Readout Health
LOS ANGELES, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Roland Martin, host of the "Rollin' with Roland" show on the Black Star Network, sits down one-on-one with filmmaker Matty Rich to catch-up. And like in most Matty Rich interviews the question of his strained relationship with filmmaker Spike Lee arises. Rich usually avoids the question. But Martin, who has earned a reputation for bringing people together both on and off camera, was determined to get to the "why."

Matty Rich Matty Rich and Roland Martin

In the early 90's, Brooklyn, New York natives Spike Lee and Matty Rich had a falling out that would turn into years of silence between the two celebrated filmmakers.

"I admired Spike as a kid and was inspired by his work. It bothered me for years that things got so far out of control. But I didn't know how to fix it," says Rich.

When Martin asked Rich if they had ever had a conversation to clear the air, he told him no. That's when the interview takes an unexpected and dramatic turn as Martin reaches for his phone and Facetime's Spike Lee into the interview. The two filmmakers had not spoken in nearly three decades and what happens next is unprecedented.

"I am grateful to Roland Martin. He didn't know the weight I had been carrying around for so many years," says Rich, who got choked up when Lee told Roland to give Matty his cell phone number so they could connect personally.

See the entire interview now on the Rollin' with Roland Martin show on Black Star Network. #RollinWithRoland - Black Star Network

About the #RollinWithRoland Show

#RollinWithRoland is a riveting, high-spirited, bi-weekly one-on-one talk show on the Black Star Network featuring in-depth conversations with a host of iconic Black entertainers and businesspeople. Some of his guests have included Jeffrey Osborne, Richard Lawson, Glynn Turman, Sheila E., Bill Duke, Mario Van Peebles, Johnny Gill, Jackee, Michele Roberts, Richard Roundtree, and others.

Reid Johnson, Sr. Publicist

Infinite Scope PR

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 310-560-1383

SOURCE Roland Martin
TEMPE, Ariz., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SANTE Realty Investments announced today the completion of a $570 million capital formation for its Ground Lease Fund. The funding was procured through investment bank advisor Global Impact Assets.

Jim Small, CEO of SANTE Realty Investments said, "With our firm's focus on ESG and socially responsible investing, we selected Global Impact Assets as our investment bank advisor due to their long history of successfully sourcing "right fit" capital for real assets like our U.S. ground leases."

Sale-Leaseback financing in the form of ground leases has become an important financing option for real estate investors around the country. Separation (or "bifurcation") of the building from the ground, which is then leased back to the building owner, provides greater capital efficiency and ultimately a greater financial return for the building owner. Since the ground lease is guaranteed by the building, ground lease investments are extremely attractive to institutional investors seeking core real estate.

SANTE Realty's building-owner clients are able to use this non-recourse capital for property acquisitions, debt or equity recapitalizations, and even value-add property renovations. By locking in capital costs similar to a permanent interest-only payment, the customers tie up less capital creating a higher cash on cash return, and upon sale of the property, a much higher IRR.

This $570 million will be deployed over the next 24 months to SANTE's building-owner clients on stabilized commercial properties through the firm's SANTE Standard Ground Lease program.

ABOUT SANTE REALTY INVESTMENTS

SANTE Realty Investments is a purpose driven organization delivering private equity in the real estate sector where the firm has high conviction of being able to deliver superior returns to its institutional investors. The firm was founded in 2009 and has grown to be an industry leader in commercial real estate both in the US and Europe by leveraging its proprietary methodology including the SANTE Acquisition Advantage, SANTE Due Diligence Discovery, SANTE Asset Management Method, & SANTE Investor Cash Flow Maximizer programs.

Further information please contact Dave Shaw, Managing Director of Capital Markets for SANTE Realty Investments at 602-753-3538 or via email at [email protected]

Additional background information is available at www.SANTErealty.com.

SOURCE SANTE Realty Investments
Collaborative Effort Aims to Reduce Lower Limb Ulcers and Amputations, and Create PAD Center of Excellence

IRVINE, Calif, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Modulim, a health technology company that delivers point-of-care microvascular and data insights to save limbs and improve lives, announces a strategic partnership with Satellite Healthcare to standardize use of Modulim's Limb Assessment, Management, and Preservation (LAMP) solution. Satellite is a 48 year old non-profit organization providing high quality dialysis services leading the field in the percentage of patients on home therapies. This partnership will establish a first-of-its-kind peripheral arterial disease (PAD) Center of Excellence using Clarifi technology at the Tri-County Vascular Access Center in San Jose, California.

The LAMP solution is being implemented at Satellite's dialysis and vascular access centers over the course of the next 12 months and is aimed at reducing hospitalizations related to foot complications for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. The ESRD patient population is at particularly high risk for complications from peripheral arterial disease. With LAMP we are excited to assist our Nephrologists as they endeavor to take better care of their patients. We hope this technology will allow prevention of ulcers and amputations. The technology and best practices from LAMP help improve upon the standard foot-check protocol. This added technology and microvascular assessment with Clarifi provide clinicians the ability to detect disease progression sooner, enabling earlier intervention. The programmatic data insights and cloud computing capabilities from Modulim Cloud drives timely, coordinated, and proactive care with minimal staff.

"Satellite Healthcare will be deploying the LAMP program to establish a proactive care paradigm to help our patients live their best lives. All of our dialysis patients are at high risk for lower-limb complications, which can tremendously impact how we manage their kidney disease. With LAMP, we can help identify patients with risk factors like PAD who may need specialty treatment to prevent ulcers and amputations," said William Raffo, MD and Satellite's Chief Medical Officer, Innovation.

"The PAD Center of Excellence using Clarifi microvascular assessment marks a turning point in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of lower-limb vascular complications. This is one of many steps we take everyday at Satellite in keeping with our mission of making lives better for those living with kidney disease," said Jeffrey Goffman, Chief Executive Officer of Satellite. "Utilizing the most advanced techniques and technology is core to Satellite's purpose to be a catalyst in the transformation of kidney care. We believe in pioneering tomorrow's breathroughs to improve patients' lives. We are glad to have found a partner in Modulim who shares this value."

"We are delighted to partner with an organization that is just as passionate about bringing the future of healthcare forward. The guiding principles of both our companies are very similar. Core to that is putting the patient's wellbeing at the forefront of every decision," said Charlie Huiner, CEO of Modulim. "This is just the first of many solutions we plan to develop and deploy to revolutionize lower limb care. Sixty-one million patients are at risk for lower limb complications due to chronic conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease and PAD in the United States. This is a widely underappreciated and unmet clinical need in our country and globally. With rising attention from healthcare providers and advocacy groups like the American Heart Association to address the lower limb epidemic, now is the time to be proactive about limb health."

About Modulim

Modulim delivers transformative imaging and data solutions that empower clinicians to better diagnose, treat, and manage lower limb complications. Clarifi, powered by Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging (SFDI) technology, quantifies and maps tissue health at the point-of-care through non-contact rapid microvascular assessment. Modulim Cloud promotes timely, proactive data-driven decisions to better manage patient care by digitally connecting clinicians and healthcare systems. Modulim is based in Irvine, CA, with a team dedicated to delivering powerful healthcare solutions that revolutionize the standard of care for patients with diabetes, kidney disease, and peripheral vascular disease.

Clarifi is a registered trademark of Modulated Imaging (dba Modulim).

About Satellite Healthcare

Satellite Healthcare, Inc. has been among the nation's leading non-profit providers of kidney dialysis and related services since 1974 and is dedicated to maintaining a workforce that mirrors its diverse communities. Through its affiliated entities and services, Satellite WellBound, Satellite Dialysis, and Satellite Research, Satellite Healthcare provides unparalleled kidney care services addressing patient wellness education, chronic kidney care management, and personalized clinical services. It focuses on the imperatives of value-based care, high quality, cost management, access to kidney care services, and emphasizing the importance of Home Dialysis therapies.

Satellite Healthcare has more than 95 kidney care and ancillary centers across seven states and partners with prominent integrated care groups, nephrologists, hospitals, and health care systems in the United States, including an innovative joint venture with CVS Kidney Care. Satellite Healthcare's well-recognized mission of "making life better for those living with kidney disease"includes an enduring commitment to philanthropy and community service, from funding millions of dollars in research grants to sponsoring kidney programs nationwide.For more information, visit https://www.satellitehealthcare.com/

Contacts:

Modulim

Blake Byrne

Director of Marketing

[email protected]

Satellite Healthcare, Inc.

Peggy Krause

Vice President, Strategic Communications

Public Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE Modulim
Freespoke serves users who want to understand all sides of a topic, without bias. News stories are presented and labeled as LEFT, MIDDLE or RIGHT, alerting users of possible slant.

"We are committed to serving the latest news and search results without bias or censorship," stated Freespoke CEO Mr. Ricketts. "Our users are seeking truth and access to all the information out there. They want to think and decide for themselves, and want the facts, even unpopular ones. They value the right to think freely for themselves. Freespoke allows just that."

Mr. Ricketts and co-founder Kristin Jackson believe Americans must be empowered with complete information and free from digital tracking. "Freespoke values privacy as critical. Users are not tracked and Freespoke does not sell your personal information," said Ms. Jackson.

The Freespoke app launched in late May and is available on both Apple and Android. Its rapid growth is driven in part by more than a quarter million early Freespoke.com users and followers who crave an alternative to Big Tech's biased algorithm search engines like Google. Users can sign up at Freespoke.com to receive daily email news updates and breaking news, all presented with the same commitment to showing the full picture that's become synonymous with Freespoke.

About Freespoke

Freespoke is a technology company, providing an unbiased digital platform serving as a search engine and news aggregator without suppression, cancellation of stories, or digital tracking of users. Freespoke believes in empowering Americans with uncensored information and the value of free thinking. For more information visit Freespoke.com.

About Todd Ricketts

Driven by Big Tech's stranglehold on Americans' ability to freely consume information and an assault on our freedoms of speech and debate. Todd Ricketts and co-founder Kristin Jackson created the tech platform and search engine Freespoke as a commitment to Americans that they can access uncensored news, see the whole picture, and think for themselves.

As co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and a member of the Board of Directors for the Charles Schwab Corporation, Todd has worked across the United States business ecosystem. Todd previously served as Chief Executive Officer for Ending Spending, a national advocacy group focused on finding solutions to the nation's fiscal crisis.

In early 2018, Todd was appointed the National Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee. In February 2019, President Donald J. Trump selected Todd to serve as the Finance Chairman for Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee between the RNC and the Trump for President re-election campaign.

Todd sits on the board of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans as well as the Cloisters on the Platte Foundation. He's active with the Churchill Centre and is formerly a Regent at Loyola University Chicago, where he graduated with a degree in Economics.

About Kristin Jackson

Kristin Jackson is an entrepreneur with a passion for presenting news and information in a free and fair way, allowing Americans see and think for themselves on the critical stories that impact their lives.

In 2022, the Freespoke app launched for Apple and Android phones, so more free thinkers (and future Freefolk) can access uncensored studies and articles and reports, unshackled from Big Tech's biased algorithms.

Kristin keeps the tech company charging toward its aggressive mission of being your go-to technology platform that respects your privacy, doesn't track or sell your personal information, and doesn't censor viewpoints. As Chief Operating Officer, she oversees product direction, branding and marketing, legal operations, hiring, and budgets.

She is also the CEO of Paycheckology, a personal finance news organization delivering economic stories from a local paycheck perspective with a humorous twist, helping hardworking Americans understand how the news impacts their bottom line.

Kristin currently serves on the Board of Chicago Hope Academy and previously served as a senior advisor to the Kemp Foundation and The Policy Circle. Earlier in her career, Kristin was a public servant on Capitol Hill and an Associate Program Officer at an institute promoting democracy and combating authoritarian regimes in Latin America.

Kristin has a bachelor's degree in Political Science, Psychology, and Spanish from Missouri State University and a master's in Government from Georgetown University.

Social Media

Facebook

Facebook.com/FreespokeSearch

Twitter

Twitter.com/FreeSpokeSearch

LinkedIn

Linkedin.com/company/freespoke-search

Instagram

Instagram.com/freespokesearch

Downloads

Logo

Product Images

Headshots

Bios

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About Us

SOURCE Freespoke
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Special Needs Group/Special Needs at Sea (SNG), a medical equipment and supply company, and the leading global provider of wheelchair, scooter, oxygen and other special needs equipment rentals, has added to their Ultra-Light Equipment Line  the World's Lightest, with the addition of the Ultra-Light Folding Scooter and Ultra-Light Power Wheelchair.

Special Needs Group has added the Ultra-Light Power Wheelchair to its fleet of ultra-light equipment Special Needs Group adds the Ultra-Light Folding Scooter to its Ultra-Light Equipment Line

Recommended by the world's major cruise lines for superior service and value, SNG also delivers to hotels, resorts, and convention centers. SNG has always prided itself in being a leader in the industry and being on the cutting-edge in offering transcendent services, and equipment. The announcement of the World's Lightest Folding Scooter and Power Wheelchair are additions to SNG's new line of ultralightweight equipment, joining the Ultra-Light Standard and XL Wheelchairs.

The Ultra-Light Folding Scooter supports an individual with a weight capacity of up to 250 lbs., and weighs only 37 lbs. The unit folds within seconds and travels approximately 7.5 miles on a fully charged battery with a maximum speed of 5 mph. The World's Lightest Folding Scooter features: foam-filled tires for a smooth ride, electromagnetic brakes, rear-wheel  differential  driving system, 120W brushless motor, throttle control level to operate the scooter forward and in reverse, a conveniently located charger port under the controller, horn button, key switch, and speed adjustment dial. The FAA-approved folding scooter simply folds into a car for easy transportability. The Ultra-Light Folding Scooter is presently available for those cruising on round-trip sailings or on land-based vacations in the Fort Lauderdale and Miami area, along with Port Canaveral, Galveston, Seattle, and Vancouver, Canada.

Along with World's Lightest Folding Scooter, SNG has added the Ultra-Light Power Wheelchair to its fleet of ultra-light equipment. The World's Lightest Power Wheelchair weighs an incomparable 33 lbs. Akin to the Ultra-Light Folding Scooter, the power wheelchair folds in seconds as one piece, and has a weight capacity of 243 lbs. The lithium-ion battery allows for an amazing 13 miles on a full charge and has a maximum speed of 4 mph. Features of the unit include electromagnetic brakes, padded flip-back armrests, 1" inch seat and back cushions for comfort, and anti-tippers for safety. Furthermore, the unit's controller can be positioned for either right-hand or left-hand use and adjusted for the user's position angle. Presently the Ultra-Light Power Wheelchair is available for those sailing round-trip out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale and Miami as well as for those vacationing in South Florida.

"As a full-fledged medical equipment and supply company with a global reach, we are always looking for innovative products for use at home or while vacationing," stated Andrew J. Garnett, founder, CEO, and president of Special Needs Group/Special Needs at Sea. "We are extremely excited about the additions to our new line of ultra-light mobility equipment, joining the Standard and XL wheelchairs."

In addition to the ultra-light equipment being offered to travelers cruising round-trip or on land-based vacations in certain locales, SNG's fleet of ultra-light equipment is available for purchase on SNG's online shop, www.shopspecialneedsgroup.com to ship anywhere in the U.S. Please call for Canadian sales.

Over time, the ultra-light line of wheelchairs, folding scooters and folding power wheelchairs will be available at additional destinations.

For more information, please contact Special Needs Group at 800.513.4515 or email [email protected].

Editor's note: a Dropbox link of images can be accessed here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j6b5h7vp8nfycav/AADaCHRSITdKUUB5x2MZiNX2a?dl=0

About Special Needs Group / Special Needs at Sea

Special Needs Group / Special Needs at Sea, a medical equipment and supply company, is the leading global provider of wheelchair rentals, scooter rentals, oxygen rentals and other special needs equipment rentals. It also offers a broad range of special needs equipment for purchase. Recommended by the world's major cruise lines for superior service and value, Special Needs Group also services guests visiting hotels, resorts, and convention centers. Special Needs Group is the travel industry's only total special needs travel solution. Special Needs Group provides service in 217 metropolitan areas and cities located in 70 countries. It is located at 302 NW 1st Street, Dania Beach, FL 33004. For more information, visit www.specialneedsgroup.com or call 1-800-513-4515.

Media Contact:

Duree & Company, Inc.

954-723-9350

[email protected]

SOURCE Special Needs Group
MIAMI, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspired culinary artist Chanel Murphy-Lowe, founder and CEO of My Fabulous Food, is taking the retail industry by storm. The fashion forward foodie's ultra-luxe sea salt gift sets made their debut on shelves at Bergdorf Goodman in the exclusive Midtown Manhattan district and are launching online at Nordstrom and Saks Off Fifth in August of this year.

Founder and CEO Chanel Murphy-Lowe My Fabulous Food Gift Box and Sea Salts

These upscale retailers known for stocking exclusive merchandise for the most discerning tastes have opened their doors to Chanel's wares. Nordstrom, a century-old retailer with a nose for what's trending, was the first to sign the progressive Fifteen Percent Pledge to help Black businesses thrive. Chanel is proud to say her African American, female-owned luxury brand is represented at these prestigious venues.

Chanel is reimagining the rich spice market through My Fabulous Food. According to Mrs. Murphy-Lowe, "I have merged fashion with food  literally. My mission is to create products that are healthy for you and are beautiful enough to display in your kitchen." The 5'8" fashionista merges her eye for high style with cuisine, bringing haute couture into the kitchen. My Fabulous Food's products make the perfect gift for special occasions and holidays. Those who appreciate and enjoy the finer things will be impressed with their flavor and luxurious packaging. Home chefs and food aficionados will be especially drawn to these lavish products for their own kitchen.

Chanel's gourmet gambles are taking her places where even the "Queen of All Media" noticed her blends. Chanel launched the My Fabulous Food seasoning line in 2018, and in just two years, her Luxury Black Lava and Alaea Sea Salt gift set was named one of Oprah's Favorite Things. To quote Oprah in her December 2020 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, "The red grains in alaea salt get their color from baked clay and make a fine finish for any dish, while the dark grains in black lava salt come from volcanic charcoal, whose smokiness complements grilled steak. This duo is literally the salt of the earth.''

For more information on My Fabulous Food's collection, visit MyFabulousFood.com and follow the company on social media @MyFabulousFood.

Contact: Chanel Murphy-Lowe

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 704-361-9570

Website: MyFabulousFood.com

SOURCE My Fabulous Food
Jaime Ramirez Stepping Down as Executive Vice President and President, Tools & Storage

Robert Raff, 20-Year Company Veteran to Lead Tools as Acting Executive Vice President and President, Tools

NEW BRITAIN, Conn., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) today announced that Jaime Ramirez, Executive Vice President and President, Tools & Storage, will be stepping down from his role to pursue opportunities outside of the Company, effective July 22, 2022. Robert Raff, a 20-year Stanley Black & Decker veteran and currently Head of Stanley Outdoor Integration, will be appointed Acting Executive Vice President and President, Tools. Mr. Raff will work closely with Donald Allan, President and CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, to help drive execution of the Company's strategy focused on the growth of its core businesses.

Mr. Allan said, "Stanley Black & Decker maintains a strong bench of leaders and we are fortunate that Robert will step in to lead Tools as we continue to drive our business forward. Robert is a long-time veteran executive of the Company who has served in various roles, including leading our Security business transformation and 14 years as a leader in Tools. He knows the business, the team and our customers well, and we are confident in his ability to drive progress in executing our strategy of focusing on our core businesses, including enhanced investments in Tools, to continue to grow our leading franchises."

Mr. Allan added, "Jaime has had a distinguished career with Stanley Black & Decker for more than 30 years. We wish Jaime the best and are grateful for his many contributions throughout his tenure."

Robert Raff currently serves as Head of Stanley Outdoor Integration, a role he has held since August 2021. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Raff has served in various leadership roles across Stanley Black & Decker including President, Stanley Security; President, Convergent Security Solutions; President, North America Commercial Global Tools & Storage; President, Hardware and other roles.

The Company has retained Heidrick & Struggles to conduct an internal and external search for a permanent successor to Mr. Ramirez.

About Stanley Black & Decker

Headquartered in the USA, Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) is the world's largest tool company operating nearly 50 manufacturing facilities across America and more than 100 worldwide. Guided by its purpose  for those who make the world  the company's more than 60,000 diverse and high-performing employees produce innovative, award-winning power tools, hand tools, storage, digital tool solutions, lifestyle products, outdoor products, engineered fasteners and other industrial equipment to support the world's makers, creators, tradespeople and builders. The company's iconic brands include DEWALT, BLACK+DECKER, CRAFTSMAN, STANLEY, CUB CADET, HUSTLER and TROY-BILT. Recognized for its leadership in environmental, social and governance (ESG), Stanley Black & Decker strives to be a force for good in support of its communities, employees, customers and other stakeholders. To learn more visit: www.stanleyblackanddecker.com.

Investor Contacts:

Dennis Lange

Vice President, Investor Relations

[email protected]

(860) 827-3833

Cort Kaufman

Senior Director, Investor Relations

[email protected]

(860) 515-2741

Christina Francis

Director, Investor Relations

[email protected]

(860) 438-3470

Media Contact:

Debora Raymond

Vice President, Public Relations

[email protected]

(203) 640-8054

SOURCE Stanley Black & Decker
NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As per Zion Market Research study, The global animal model market was worth around $1.4 billion in 2021 and is predicted to grow to around $2.5 billion by 2028 at a CAGR rate of 6% over the forecast period.

Key Industry Insights & Finding of the Animal Model Market Reports:

As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the Animal Model Market is expected to grow annually at a CAGR of around 6 % (2022-2028).

(2022-2028). Through the primary research, it was established that the Animal Model Market was valued approximately USD 1.4 Billion in 2021 and is projected to reach to roughly USD 2.5 Billion by 2028.

Billion in 2021 and is projected to reach to roughly Billion by 2028. There are so many health reform policies nudging the growth of research and development on treatment methods based on animal model studies.

Asia-Pacific region is next in line as a significant contributor due to the free hand given by the government for animal model testing.

region is next in line as a significant contributor due to the free hand given by the government for animal model testing. The growth opportunities in the healthcare sector and innovative techniques to achieve precision in the testing results provides lucrative opportunities for the global animal model market.

The expensive animal model experiments and study procedures along with the facilities required for that come across as a challenge for revenue growth.

Zion Market Research published the latest report titled as "Animal Model Market By Animal Type (Pigs, Cats, and Mice), By Technology (Microinjection and Embryonic Stem Cell Injection), By Application (Research, Development, Production, and Quality Control), By End-User (Research Institutes, Educational Institutes, Pharmaceutical Companies, and Contract Research Organizations), and By Region - Global and Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, and Forecasts 2022  2028." into their research database.

Animal Model Market : Overview

Animal model refers to the animals on which biological and pathological experiments are done. They become the testing materials before they are tried in the human body. There are some protocols and guidelines to be followed while leveraging animal models for studies.

Both humans and animals have similar biological and physiological structures. Though animals have a shorter lifespan, they match the genotype resemblance so much that the results are parallel. Even the organic framework of those animals aligns with humans. Scientists and researchers find the cure for any disease by testing those medicinal components on animals until their trial succeeds. They also come up with new products based on the outcome they get out of those experiments.

These drugs that are tested on the animals are also validated for the efficacy of the recovery. The safety quotient of the medications is also determined through these animal model tests. They find applications in all fields like research & development, production, quality control, and academics.

Get a Free Sample Report with All Related Graphs & Charts (with COVID 19 Impact Analysis): https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/animal-model-market

Our Free Sample Report Includes:

2022 Updated Report Introduction, Overview, and In-depth industry analysis

COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak Impact Analysis Included

250 + Pages Research Report (Inclusion of Updated Research)

Provide Chapter-wise guidance on Request

2022 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share & Trends

Includes Updated List of tables & figures

Updated Report Includes Top Market Players with their Business Strategy, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis

Zion Market Research methodology

Industry Dynamics:

Animal Model Market : Growth Drivers

Growth in drug discovery and innovations in the pharmaceutical sectors drives the market growth.

Drug discovery and the emergence of vaccinations have grown exponentially in recent times due to the rise of multiple diseases and chronic illnesses. This has induced scientists and researchers to come up with new treatment methods and medications at a faster pace. Hence animal model testing has increased rapidly due to these factors thereby amplifying the global market rate substantially.

Researchers across the world are focusing on genetically modified models to perfect the outcomes of any testing. The metabolic ways, life processes, and organic structures of the testing animals should match with that of humans to achieve accuracy. This factor contributes to the revenue growth exclusively.

Cancer disease has become more prominent in many regions and medications for treatment require strenuous testing experiments which can be achieved through animal models. Research grants and government initiatives to support such a mission are also boosting the global animal model market growth across all regions. The prevalence of the geriatric population and the prominence of chronical illness amongst them also supports the market exquisitely.

Animal models are being leveraged also to understand the intensity of diseases and the symptoms associated with them. The efficacy of vaccinations and prevention procedures are also deducted with the help of animal models to a large extent. These factors offer a huge surge in the development of healthcare sectors thereby nudging the market growth.

Animal Model Market : Restraints

The cost of animal model study and the strict regulations from the authorities restrain the market growth.

The expensive method of study along with all the regulations implemented by the higher officials regarding animal model testing impedes the market growth. There are also vivid ethical concerns from the animal protection organizations to safeguard the animals which hampers the expansion of the market. The harmful effects of these experiments on the animals disrupt their normal life rendering them physically and mentally impaired. They also lead to lethal impact on the animals which gives a lot of concern thereby restricting the market growth.

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Animal Model Market: Opportunities

Growth opportunities in the healthcare sectors and methods to improve precision of test results provides opportunities for market expansion.

The growth opportunities in the healthcare sector and innovative techniques to achieve precision in the testing results provides lucrative opportunities for the global animal model market. The government support rendered with the development of standard protocols allied with the animal model testing to cure new diseases offers exceptional opportunities for market expansion.

Animal Model Market: Challenges

The high cost associated with the equipment and studies based on animal models poses a challenge to the market growth

The expensive animal model experiments and study procedures along with the facilities required for that come across as a challenge for revenue growth. The demand and leverage of these tests are restricted due to this factor which also impedes market expansion.

Harmful effects on the animals due to these tests challenges market expansion

Many new innovative programs and techniques for animal model testing have been on the rise. However, the impact it causes on the animals being tested results in their death or disruption of their regular lifestyle. This brings a lot of ethical concerns which also challenge the market expansion to some extent.

Global Animal Model Market : Segmentation

The global animal model market is fragmented into animal type, technology, application, end-user, and region.

Animal types consist of pigs, cats, and mice. The applications are classified as research, development, production, and quality control. The end-users include research institutes, educational institutes, pharmaceutical institutes, and contract research organizations.

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List of Key Players of Animal Model Market :

Horizon Discovery Group

Charles River Laborotories International Inc.

Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals Inc.

Trans Genic Inc

Envigo CRS SA

Eurofins Scientific SE

Crown Bioscience INC.

The Jackson Laboratory

Genoway SA.

Key questions answered in this report:

What are the growth rate forecast and market size for Animal Model Market ?

What are the key driving factors propelling the Animal Model Market forward?

What are the most important companies in the Animal Model Market Industry?

What segments does the Animal Model Market cover?

How can I receive a free copy of the Animal Model Market sample report and company profiles?

Report Scope:

Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2021 USD 1.4 Billion Revenue forecast in 2028 USD 2.5 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 6 % 2022-2028 Base Year 2020 Historic Years 2016 - 2021 Forecast Years 2022 - 2028 Segments Covered By Product Type, By Application, and By End Use Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2022 to 2028 Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, and Rest of World Countries Covered U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, GCC Countries, and South Africa, among others Companies Covered Horizon Discovery Group, Charles River Laborotories International, Inc., Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., Trans Genic Inc, Envigo CRS SA, Eurofins Scientific SE, Crown Bioscience, INC., The Jackson Laboratory, and Genoway SA. Report Coverage Market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, Porter's five forces analysis, PEST analysis, value chain analysis, regulatory landscape, market attractiveness analysis by segments and region, company market share analysis, and COVID-19 impact analysis. Customization Scope Avail customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs. https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/custom/2478

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Recent Developments

In April 2021 , Horizon Discovery Group created and developed IgM antibodies and obtained a license for the commercial agreement of animal model testing.

, Horizon Discovery Group created and developed IgM antibodies and obtained a license for the commercial agreement of animal model testing. In October 2020 , Mammoth Bioscience secured a new license for the generation of CHO cells using mice testing procedures.

Regional Dominance:

North America to lead the global market during the upcoming period.

The region that is touted to be a significant contributor to the global animal model market is North America. This is favored by the increasing support and investments made by the government for the improvisation of the healthcare sector. There are so many health reform policies nudging the growth of research and development on treatment methods based on animal model studies. Asia-Pacific region is next in line as a significant contributor due to the free hand given by the government for animal model testing. There is no restriction or strict regulations to curtail this procedure in the region. The rise in the geriatric population and their chronic illnesses also impacts the global market positively.

Global Animal Model Market is segmented as follows:

Animal Model Market : By Animal Type Outlook (2022-2028)

Pigs

Cats

Mice

Animal Model Market : By Application Outlook (2022-2028)

Research

Development

Production

Quality Control

Animal Model Market : By End-Users Outlook (2022-2028)

Research Institutes

Educational Institutes

Pharmaceutical Organizations

Contract Research Organizations

Animal Model Market : By Region Outlook (2022-2028)

North America

The U.S.

Canada

Europe

France

The UK

Spain

Germany

Italy

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Southeast Asia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

GCC

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Press Release For Animal Model Market : https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/news/global-animal-model-market

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Through the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities, North Carolina Humanities honors distinguished individuals whose achievements and contributions have strengthened the educational, cultural, and civic life of North Carolinians. The award has been given since 1990 and is named for its first recipient and a founding member of North Carolina Humanities, the late Dr. John Tyler Caldwell. Recently recognized Caldwell Award recipients include: Alex Albright (2021), James W. Clark, Jr. (2020), Jaki Shelton Green (2019), and Margaret D. Bauer (2018).

This year, the award will be presented during North Carolina Humanities' 50th Anniversary Celebration, set to be held this October in Charlotte. Event registration will open later this summer.

North Carolina Humanities marks its 50th anniversary in 2022 as the leading nonprofit organization charged with advancing public access to and support for the humanities across the state. At the upcoming 50th Anniversary Celebration guests will be invited to reflect on 50 years of community work, honor today's humanities champions, and imagine future possibilities for North Carolina.

Crump was announced as the 2022 recipient on WBTV's QC Morning on July 7, 2022.

About Steve Crump :

Charlotte broadcaster Steve Crump has been a reporter at WBTV, North Carolina's first television station, for nearly four decades. But it is his passion for documentary film-making  largely for public broadcasting  that distinguishes him from his peers and stands as a corpus of work defining the evolution of racial boundaries in Charlotte and the South. Nine Crump documentaries have gone into national distribution to PBS stations.

Of his 30-plus films, eight have won regional Emmys and have covered topics ranging from Martin Luther King Jr.'s last days, to lunch counter sit-ins in the Carolinas, to the perils of Dorothy Counts, who was taunted and spat upon by a white crowd on the first day of school in 1957 when she integrated Charlotte's Harding High School. Over the years, Crump has interviewed a constellation of notables  ranging from Desmond Tutu to Pete Seeger to Angelina Jolie  for his documentaries. His first films grew out of a 1993 WBTV assignment to Somalia to cover famine relief missions.

One 1996 documentary was the poignant "Souls of Passage," which traced the trade route from the slave dungeons of the African coast to the cotton fields of the Carolinas. After the Africa productions, he went on to explore issues as diverse as bebop music, the development of the banjo, black World War II heroes and 19th century black jockeys, all produced on his own time and shoestring budgets.

Many of Crump's productions have captured the last living memories of key Civil Rights figures, their final perspectives memorialized in video before their deaths. Now viewed as vital to the region's historical record, his specials are part of the permanent collections at both UNC Charlotte and the University of South Carolina.

Crump, a Louisville native and 1980 Eastern Kentucky University graduate, has roots that run deep into the bluegrass. He grew up in Louisville's industrial Smoketown district, two blocks from the Louisville Slugger factory and three blocks over from the gym where Muhammad Ali learned to box. Crump moved to Charlotte in the 1980's.

A great-great-grandson of slaves, he credits his storytelling skills to listening at the kitchen table of his childhood home, where three generations of family wove rich tales of their lives. Antebellum reminisces of agrarian life in Kentucky's Bourbon Belt were still crisp in family lore, and through Crump they still are.

Crump was the recipient of the 2013 Martin Luther King Jr. Medallion, which honors a Charlottean who has worked to promote racial equality and social justice. His career reputation is widely recognized for fearlessness, and fairness. Crump and his wife Cathy live in north Charlotte.

- Biography courtesy of Mark Washburn, friend and former Charlotte Observer reporter

About North Carolina Humanities: Through public humanities programs and grantmaking, North Carolina Humanities connects North Carolinians with cultural experiences that spur dialogue, deepen human connections, and inspire community. North Carolina Humanities is a statewide nonprofit and the North Carolina affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Learn more at www.nchumanities.org.

SOURCE North Carolina Humanities
NEWARK, N.J, July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As per the report published by The Brainy Insights, the global sustainable aviation fuel market is expected to grow from USD 216 million in 2021 to USD 14768.43 million by 2030, at a CAGR of 59.91% during the forecast period 2022-2030.

The increased number of aircraft and air passengers is anticipated to expand demand for the sustainable aviation fuel market during the projection period. Further, the rising production of sustainable aviation fuel from wet waste due to inexpensive & widely available food waste, animal manure, and other waste with high water content are the driving factors of the market growth. Moreover, the fluctuations in crude oil costs & contamination of lubricants are the restraining factors of the market growth. Furthermore, developing eco-friendly & safe aviation lubricants & increase in demand for low-density oils for less weight are opportunities for market growth.

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Competitive Strategy

To enhance their market position in the global sustainable aviation fuel market, the key players are now focusing on adopting the strategies such as product innovations, mergers & acquisitions, recent developments, joint ventures, collaborations, and partnerships.

For example, in March 2022 , Neste Company, in collaboration with DHL Express, announced one of the biggest ever SAF deals. This accord is Neste's most prominent SAF and one of the aviation enterprise's most significant sustainable aviation fuel agreements. This partnership will improve Neste's current web by offering seamless connectivity worldwide.

Market Growth & Trends

The growth of the sustainable aviation fuel market is driven by the increasing support from the governments of different nations and the rising efficiency of sustainable aviation fuel. Moreover, the increase in air transportation & consumption of synthetic lubricants is the market growth trend. Thus, the growing number of passengers traveling through air transportation supported the market's growth. Further, air travel is essential in achieving economic growth & development. It donates to the growth of trade, tourism, and job possibilities. The aviation method is growing and will continue to grow, which will act as an essential market growth determinant. Risen expenditure by private & public participants on aviation infrastructure development will also stimulate market growth. Additionally, the continuous R&D in deploying progressive technologies will yet again broaden the scope of change.

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Key Findings

In 2021, the Fischer Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK) segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 27.13% and market revenue of 58.60 million.

The technology segment is divided into Fischer Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK), Hydroprocessed Fatty Acid Esters and Fatty Acids - Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (HEFA-SPK), Alcohol To Jet SPK (ATJ-SPK), Synthetic Iso-Paraffin From Fermented Hydroprocessed Sugar (HFS-SIP), and Catalytic Hydrothermolysis Jet (CHJ). In 2021, the Fischer Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK) segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 27.13% and a market revenue of 58.60 million. Further, by 2030, the hydroprocessed fatty acid esters and fatty acids - synthetic paraffinic kerosene (HEFA-SPK) segment will likely dominate the market as most commercially available biofuels produced are from this technology.

In 2021, the military aviation segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 30.34% and market revenue of 65.53 million.

The platform segment is divided into business & general aviation, commercial aviation, military aviation, and unmanned aerial vehicle. In 2021, the military aviation segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 30.34% and market revenue of 65.53 million. This growth is attributed to the increase in the defence budget and various government initiatives to use sustainable aviation fuel. Further, by 2030, the commercial aviation segment will likely dominate the market due to the increased number of passengers traveling by commercial & aircraft flights.

In 2021, the biofuel segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 32.14% and market revenue of 69.42 million.

The fuel type segment is divided into power to liquid fuel, biofuel, gas-to-liquid, and hydrogen fuel. In 2021, the biofuel segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 32.14% and market revenue of 69.42 million. This growth is attributed to the growing focus of governments of different countries worldwide on addressing the alarming levels of carbon emissions caused by the aviation sector.

In 2021, the 30% to 50% segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 41.16% and market revenue of 88.90 million.

The biofuel blending capacity segment is divided into above 50%, 30% to 50%, and below 30%. In 2021, the 30% to 50% segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 41.16% and market revenue of 88.90 million. This growth is attributed to the moderate blend capacity and the drop-in facility in existing fuel methods.

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Regional Segment Analysis of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Market:

North America (U.S., Canada , Mexico )

(U.S., , ) Europe ( Germany , France , U.K., Italy , Spain , Rest of Europe )

( , , U.K., , , Rest of ) Asia-Pacific ( China , Japan , India , Rest of APAC)

( , , , Rest of APAC) South America ( Brazil and the Rest of South America )

( and the Rest of ) The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa , Rest of MEA)

North America region occurred as the largest market for the global sustainable aviation fuel market with a market share of 47.22% and around 101.99 million in 2021. North America dominates the sustainable aviation fuel market due to increasing air traffic and passengers. Moreover, the rapid adoption of advanced technologies and supportive government initiatives to encourage sustainable aviation fuel adoption also helps drive the region's market growth. Furthermore, the Asia Pacific region is expected to show the fastest CAGR of 63.04% over the projection period. This growth is attributed to the proliferating low-cost airlines and rapid development of infrastructural installations in emerging economies. Moreover, rising public & private expenditure on developing aviation industry infrastructure in the developing economies will probably help the market's growth during the projection period.

Key players operating in the global sustainable aviation fuel market are:

Neste Oyj

Gevo Inc.

SKYNRG

Eni SPA

SG Preston Company

Avfuel Corporation

Sundrop Fuels Inc.

Red Rock Biofuels

Velocys

Aemetis, Inc.

Ballard Power Systems

ZeroAvia, Inc.

SG Preston Company

This study forecasts global, regional, and country revenue from 2019 to 2030. The Brainy Insights has segmented the global sustainable aviation fuel market based on below-mentioned segments:

Global Sustainable Aviation Fuel Market by Technology:

Fischer Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK)

Hydroprocessed Fatty Acid Esters and Fatty Acids - Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (HEFA-SPK)

Alcohol to Jet SPK (ATJ-SPK)

Synthetic Iso-paraffin from Fermented Hydroprocessed Sugar (HFS-SIP)

Catalytic Hydrothermolysis Jet (CHJ)

Global Sustainable Aviation Fuel Market by Platform:

Business & General Aviation

Commercial Aviation

Military Aviation

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Global Sustainable Aviation Fuel Market by Fuel Type:

Power to Liquid Fuel

Biofuel

Gas-to-Liquid

Hydrogen Fuel

Global Sustainable Aviation Fuel Market by Biofuel Blending Capacity:

Above 50%

30% to 50%

Below 30%

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About the report:

The global sustainable aviation fuel market is analysed based on value (USD Million). All the segments have been analysed on a global, regional, and country-level. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each segment. The report offers an in-depth analysis of driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining key market insights. The study includes porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, raw material analysis, supply, demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis.

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Co-Founder and Former CMO and CSO Will Drive Symend's Social Focus

CALGARY, AB, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Symend announced today that Co-Founder Tiffany Kaminsky has taken on the role of chief impact officer. The chief impact officer is a newly imagined position that propels philanthropic and programmatic initiatives along with innovative approaches to maximize a company's desired impact. As the company continues its mission to empathetically help consumers, Kaminsky will ensure purpose-driven behavior and strategy is embedded throughout the organization.

Businesses have a critical role to play in driving meaningful change for people and the planet. The chief impact officer role is paramount to elevating social good and governance priorities, aligning and actioning values, and missioning strategic efforts that elevate trust, inclusion, sustainability and more. Kaminsky will champion these priorities at the highest level at Symend, advocating for its people, community, clients, and end customers, while guiding actions that deliver the greatest impact for all of its stakeholders.

As Symend evolves, it remains committed to putting its customers first and creating hyper-personalized engagement strategies that help enterprises achieve better business outcomes without compromising on a positive customer experience. Kaminsky will help instill this mission-driven focus as Symend partners with global business leaders, serves end customers and attracts world-class talent to the growing team.

Tiffany Kaminsky, co-founder and chief impact officer, said: "We founded Symend with a social mission to help consumers. This has been our north star in guiding the organization from day one and continues to drive our culture, values, and the way we do business. I am incredibly proud that with the support of our board and ambitious team of Symenders we can further advance this commitment on a global scale."

Maor Amar, board member of Symend and partner at Impression Ventures, said: "Symend's mission has always been about building software that would make a positive and lasting impact on the people it serves. The fact that Tiffany, Symend's co-founder, has risen to the challenge of taking on the responsibilities of chief impact officer further underscores Symend's relentless commitment to build a great business by doing good. In this newly created role, Tiffany will ensure that the best ESG practices are woven into all aspects of Symend's business."

Hanif Joshaghani, co-founder and CEO, Symend, said: "We're passionate about diversity in tech and moving the needle for equity and inclusion. As we continue to grow Symend, it's paramount that we stay true to our north star as a mission-driven company committed to a greater social good and improving the lives of customers across the globe. That's precisely what Tiffany will do in this new role, leveraging her experience and knowledge of how to employ philanthropic levers to drive social change."

About Symend

Symend's digital engagement platform uses behavioral science and data-driven insights to empower customers to resolve past due bills. Leveraging advanced analytics, Symend helps enterprises better engage millions of customers by providing deep insight into consumer behavior. Symend continuously optimizes these insights and empathetically nudges customers towards a desired action with personalized communications, self-serve tools and flexible repayment options.

Symend's relationship-based approach keeps enterprises attuned to the changing needs of their customers and empowers them to take action. This increases customer satisfaction, lowers operating costs, and helps resolve past due bills before reaching collections.

Founded in 2016, Symend's platform is purpose built to serve complex global enterprises in telecommunications, financial services, utilities and media. Symend is headquartered in Calgary and privately held, with global operations across Canada, the United States and Latin America. For more information, please visit https://symend.com/ and follow the company on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook and Instagram .

SOURCE Symend
The premier event in Europe for open source code and community contributors features 200+ sessions across 13 micro-conferences, covering the pivotal topics and technologies at the core of open source.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Linux Foundation , the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, today announced the full schedule for Open Source Summit Europe , the leading conference for open source developers, technologists, and community leaders. The event is taking place September 13-16 in Dublin, Ireland and virtually. The schedule can be viewed here .

OS Summit Europe will feature a robust program of 325+ talks across 13 micro-conferences covering the most essential and cutting edge topics in open source: Linux Systems, Supply Chain Security, AI + Data, OSPOs, Community Leadership, Embedded IoT, Cloud, Diversity, Containers, Embedded Linux and more.

2022 Conference Session Highlights Include:

LinuxCon

Containers as an Illusion - Michael Kerrisk , man7.org

- ,

How to Report Your Linux Kernel Bug - Thorsten Leemhuis

- Embedded Linux Conference

Booting Automotive ECUs Really Fast with Modern Security Features - Brendan Le Foll , BMW Car IT GmbH

- ,

From a Security Expert's Diary: DOs and DON'Ts when Choosing Software for Your Next Embedded Product - Marta Rybczynska , Syslinbit



- , CloudOpen

Addressing the Transaction Challenge in a Cloud-native World - Grace Jansen , IBM

- ,

The Challenges and Solutions of Open Edge Infrastructures - Ildiko Vancsa, Open Infrastructure Foundation



- Ildiko Vancsa, OSPOCon

Building a Team for the Upstream: Things We Learned Building InnerSource Teams for Open Source Impact - Emma Irwin , Microsoft

- ,

A Practical Guide for Outbound Open Source - Which Scales and Can Be Adapted Easily for Companies of Different Size - Oliver Fendt , Siemens AG



- , Critical Software Summit

The Unexpected Demise of Open Source Libraries - Liran Tal , Snyk

- ,

Address Space Isolation for Enhanced Safety of the Linux Kernel - Igor Stoppa , NVIDIA



- , Emerging OS Forum

Demystifying the WASM Landscape: A Primer - Divya Mohan , SUSE

- ,

How Open Source Helps a Grid Operator with the Challenges of the Energy Transition - Jonas van den Bogaard & Nico Rikken , Alliander



- & , SupplyChainSecurityCon

Composing the Ultimate SBOM - Ivana Atanasova & Velichka Atanasova , VMware

- & ,

From Kubernetes With  Open Tools For Open, Secure Supply Chains - Adolfo Garcia Veytia, Chainguard



- Adolfo Garcia Veytia, Diversity Empowerment Summit

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome to Become a Conference Speaker! - Dawn Foster , VMware

- ,

Teaching Collaboration to the Next Generation of Open Source Contributors - Ruth Suehle , Red Hat



- , Open Source On-Ramp

Debugging Embedded Linux - Marta Rybczynska , Syslinbit

- ,

Getting Started with Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) - Leonard Sheng Sheng Lee , Computas



- , Open AI + Data Forum

Beyond Neural Search: Hands-on Tutorial on Building Cross-Modal/Multi-Modal Solution with Jina AI - Han Xiao & Sami Jaghouar, Jina AI

- & Sami Jaghouar,

Truly Open Lineage - Mandy Chessell , Pragmatic Data Research Ltd



- , ContainerCon

Evaluation of OSS Options to Build Container Images - Matthias Haeussler , Novatec

- ,

Interactive Debugging of Dockerfile With Buildg - Kohei Tokunaga , NTT Corporation



- , Community Leadership Conference

Panel Discussion: Growing Open Source in the Irish Government - Clare Dillon , Open Ireland Network ; Tony Shannon , Department of Public Expenditure & Reform in Government of Ireland ; Tim Willoughby , An Garda Siochana, Ireland's Police Service ; Gar Mac Criosta, Linux Foundation Public Health ; John Concannon , Department of Foreign Affairs

- , ; , ; , ; Gar Mac Criosta, ; ,

Dev Team Metrics that Matter - Avishag Sahar , LinearB



- , Embedded IoT Summit

Design of an Open Source, Modular, 5G Capable, Container Based, Scientific Data Capture Hexacopter - Mauro Borrageiro & Ngoni Mombeshora, University of Cape Town

- Mauro Borrageiro & Ngoni Mombeshora,

Contributing to Zephyr vs (Linux and U-boot) - Parthiban Nallathambi , Linumiz

Keynote speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Registration (in-person) is offered at the early price of $850 through July 17. Registration to attend virtually is $25. Members of The Linux Foundation receive a 20 percent discount off registration and can contact [email protected] to request a member discount code.

Applications for diversity and need-based scholarships are currently being accepted. For information on eligibility and how to apply, please click here . The Linux Foundation's Travel Fund is also accepting applications, with the goal of enabling open source developers and community members to attend events that they would otherwise be unable to attend due to a lack of funding. To learn more and apply, please click here .

Health and Safety

In-person attendees will be required to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus and will need to comply with all on-site health measures, in accordance with The Linux Foundation Code of Conduct . To learn more, visit the Health & Safety webpage.

Event Sponsors

Open Source Summit Europe 2022 is made possible thanks to our sponsors , including Diamond Sponsors: AWS, Google and IBM, Platinum Sponsors: Huawei and Intel, and Gold Sponsors: Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Codethink, Docker, Mend, Red Hat, and Styra. For information on becoming an event sponsor, click here or email us .

Press

Members of the press who would like to request a press pass to attend should contact Kristin O'Connell .

ABOUT THE LINUX FOUNDATION

Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation and its projects are supported by more than 2,950 members. The Linux Foundation is the world's leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects are critical to the world's infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, Hyperledger, RISC-V, and more. The Linux Foundation's methodology focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at https://linuxfoundation.org/ .

The Linux Foundation Events are where the world's leading technologists meet, collaborate, learn and network in order to advance innovations that support the world's largest shared technologies.

Visit our website and follow us on Twitter , LinkedIn , and Facebook for all the latest event updates and announcements.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see its trademark usage page: www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage . Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Media Contact

Kristin O'Connell

The Linux Foundation

[email protected]

SOURCE The Linux Foundation
DUBLIN, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Gas Chromatography Market (2022-2027) by Instrument, Accessories & Consumables, End-User Industry, Geography, Competitive Analysis, and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Gas Chromatography Market is estimated to be USD 5.5 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 6.56 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.6%.

Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Gas Chromatography 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 Agilent Technologies, Centurion Scientific, Chromatotec, Danaher, 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 Gas Chromatography 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 Gas Chromatography 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 Gas Chromatography 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 Crude & Shale Oil Production

4.1.2 Increasing Food Safety Concerns

4.1.3 Collaborations between Chromatography Instrument Manufacturers and Research Laboratories/Academic Institutes

4.1.4 Increasing Importance of Chromatography Tests in the Drug Approval Process

4.1.5 Development of Policies and Initiatives to Reduce Environmental Pollution Levels

4.1.6 Increasing Adoption of GC-MS

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Cost of Gas Chromatography Equipment

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Improved Gas Chromatography Columns for the Petroleum Industry

4.3.2 Growing Proteomics Market

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Lack of Skilled Professionals



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 Gas Chromatography Market, By Instrument

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Systems

6.3 Detectors

6.3.1 Flame Ionization Detector (FID)

6.3.2 Thermal Conductivity Detectors (TCD)

6.3.3 Mass Spectrometry (MS) Detectors

6.3.4 Other Detectors

6.3.4.1 Nitrogen Phosphorus Detector (NPD)

6.3.4.2 Electron Capture Detector (ECD)

6.3.4.3 Photoionization Detector (PID)

6.4 Autosamplers

6.5 Fraction Collectors



7 Global Gas Chromatography Market, By Accessories & Consumables

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Columns

7.2.1 Packed Columns

7.2.2 Capillary Column

7.3 Column Accessories

7.4 Autosampler Accessories

7.5 Flow Management Accessories

7.6 Fittings And Tubing

7.7 Pressure Regulators

7.8 Gas Generators

7.9 Other Accessories



8 Global Gas Chromatography Market, By End-User Industry

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Oil & Gas

8.3 Environmental Agencies

8.4 Food And Beverages

8.5 Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology

8.6 Others

8.6.1 Academic & Government Research Institutes

8.6.2 Cosmetics



9 Americas' Gas Chromatography 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 Gas Chromatography 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 Gas Chromatography 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 Gas Chromatography 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 Agilent Technologies

14.2 Centurion Scientific

14.3 Chromatotec

14.4 Danaher

14.5 Dataapex

14.6 Gl Sciences

14.7 Hobre Instruments

14.8 Leco

14.9 Merck

14.10 O.I.Analytical(Xylem )

14.11 Perkinelmer

14.12 Phenomenex

14.13 Restek

14.14 Sartorius

14.15 Scion Instruments

14.16 Shimadzu

14.17 Skyray Instruments

14.18 SRI Instruments

14.19 Teledyne

14.20 Thermo Fisher Scientific

14.21 Trajan Scientific

14.22 Valco Instruments Company

14.23 Waters Corporation



15 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hbhh9t

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
The company specializes in window, door, and bath remodeling and replacement, with most projects completed in just one day. Its technology enabled platform allows West Shore Home to serve its customers quickly and efficiently, from the first phone call to the project design phase, and through the day of installation.

"Florida is integral to West Shore Home's story. It is the first state where we operated outside of Pennsylvania. That was 2018 in Tampa," said B.J. Werzyn, CEO, West Shore Home. "We are thrilled to be offering the convenience of our high quality, one-day installations to even more homeowners along Florida's Atlantic coast."

Founded in 2006, West Shore Home has grown into a national brand with 33 operational locations in 15 states. They include Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia. It has continued national expansion plans with a goal of becoming America's Most Admired Home Remodeling Brand.

With a mission of Bringing Happiness to Every Home, the company makes home improvement convenient and hassle-free. With its iPad design app, homeowners can customize their project from dozens of product and hardware combinations.

The Jacksonville branch is located at 1333 Tradeport Dr, Jacksonville, FL 32218. It will add dozens of jobs to the region. Those interested in employment opportunities should visit the careers link on the company website.

About West Shore Home

West Shore Home, headquartered in Mechanicsburg, PA., is a leading technology-enabled home remodeling services provider with an expanding national footprint. Founded in 2006, West Shore Home's national brand promise is Bringing Happiness to Every Home by delivering a fast, easy and convenient home remodeling experience. From the first phone call to the final installation, customers have a streamlined experience and associate the West Shore Home brand with consistent high quality, transparency, and trust. For additional information visit westshorehome.com.

SOURCE West Shore Home
International Software Awards Program Announces Initial Shortlist

NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Now in its seventh year of celebrating software innovation, the Software Awards program accepts entries worldwide, including the US, Canada, Australasia, EMEA and UK.

Categories for 2022 include Best Enterprise-Level SaaS and Best Data-Driven SaaS, alongside new categories including 'Most Agile or Responsive SaaS Solution of the Year'.

The SaaS Awards

Head of operations for the SaaS Awards, James Williams, said: "Innovative technologies have always driven industry forward, and having disrupted the software business, SaaS continues to mature as a key driver for sustained improvement across manifold verticals.

"SaaS technologies are now part of successful business DNA. Continuing to evolve, this year we've seen a raft of truly remarkable software solutions, making it extremely difficult for our team to eliminate candidates at the shortlist stage.

"The shortlisted candidates announced today, however, have proven to be truly innovative thinkers in the SaaS industry, whether they're freshly-funded disruptors or established names.

"Our judges were very impressed with the volume of original solutions for modern business in all industry areas. Stay tuned for our August announcement of category finalists, representing those few solutions who can demonstrate that extra edge in impressing our international panel of judges, who are now left with a next-to-impossible task."

SaaS Awards finalists will be announced on Tuesday 23 August 2022, with the ultimate category winners announced on Tuesday 13 September 2022.

To view the full shortlist, please visit: https://www.cloud-awards.com/2022-saas-awards-shortlist/.

The SaaS Awards program will return with a new program in Spring 2023. Hundreds of organizations entered, with entries coming from North America, Canada, Australia, UK, Europe, and the Middle East.

A sister program to the SaaS Awards, The Cloud Awards' Cloud Computing Awards, will soon accept submissions for a new 2022-23 program, continuing its recognition of excellence in cloud computing, with an October deadline.

Contact:

James Williams

(212) 574-8117

[email protected]

Contact details

[CONTACT DETAILS]

For the SaaS Awards

James Williams  head of operations

https://www.cloud-awards.com/software-as-a-service-awards/

[email protected]

Notes for editors

About the SaaS Awards

The SaaS Awards is a sister program to the Cloud Awards, which was founded in 2011. The SaaS Awards focuses on recognizing excellence and innovation in software solutions. Categories range from Best Enterprise-Level SaaS to Best UX or UI Design in a SaaS Product.

About the Cloud Awards

The Cloud Awards is an international program which has been recognizing and honoring industry leaders, innovators and organizational transformation in cloud computing since 2011. The awards are open to large, small, established and start-up organizations from across the entire globe, with an aim to find and celebrate the pioneers who will shape the future of the Cloud as we move into 2023 and beyond. Categories include the Software as a Service award, Most Promising Start-Up, and "Best in Mobile" Cloud Solution.

Winners are selected by a judging panel of international industry experts. For more information about the Cloud Awards and SaaS Awards, please visit https://www.cloud-awards.com/.

SOURCE The SaaS Awards
CHESAPEAKE CITY, Md., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 28-29, 2022 Maryland auctioneers Alexander Historical Auctions, known internationally for their sale of historical military objects, will be offering an ornately-engraved gold watch presented to Adolf Hitler in 1933 by grateful Nazi Party members. The watch is estimated to bring over $2,000,000.

The bronze desk set and blotter used by Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, and the other signatories to the Munich Pact in 1938 when a portion of Czechoslovakia was ceded to Germany. Chamberlain believed he had obtained "peace in our time." Instead, the agreement only emboldened Hitler, and he invaded Poland a year later, starting World War II. To be offered at auction August 29, 2022 by Alexander Historical Auctions in Maryland. Adolf Hitler's gold Huber reversible wristwatch, presented to him by the Nazi Party in 1933. The watch was discovered by a French soldier in the ruins of Hitler's vacation retreat at Berchtesgaden and has remained in his family ever since. The other side of the case, which can be rotated, displays the time. To be offered at auction by Alexander Historical Auctions in Maryland, U.S.A. August 28, 2022.

The reversible watch is deeply engraved with a 1933 Nazi eagle and swastika, along with the dates of Hitler's birth, his appointment as Chancellor, and the date of elections in Germany which gave Hitler complete control of the country. No other watch owned by Hitler has ever come to market. The Huber watch with LeCoultre movement was discovered by a French soldier who was among the first to reach the dictator's vacation retreat in Berchtesgaden, Germany, on May 4, 1945  four days after Hitler killed himself in his Berlin bunker. The soldier stumbled on this relic as he and his comrades plundered the underground passages beneath Hitler's bombed-out home. The watch remained in the soldier's family for decades until it was sold to another family member in the 1980s.

The auction will also offer a second military watch of great notoriety. On September 12, 1943 German commandos led by Major Otto Skorzeny freed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from imprisonment on an Italian mountaintop. Mussolini thanked the commandos with gifts of engraved gold Swiss watches. At war's end, while under Allied arrest, Skorzeny was convinced by American secret agents that he could trade his watch for a route to freedom  information desired by the agents. In the end, Skorzeny escaped, and an agent kept his Mussolini watch. It is being offered with an estimate of $15,000.

Of special importance is the bronze desk set and blotter used by Adolf Hitler during the signing of the Munich Pact on September 30, 1938. The agreement, signed by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy, ceded part of Czechoslovakia to Germany for what British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain promised would be "peace in our time." Hitler was instead emboldened, and a year later he would invade Poland  and bring on World War II. It would also lead to Chamberlain's ousting and the installation of Winston Churchill as Prime Minister.

Other important lots in the 1,600 lot sale include Hitler's signed declaration that he would remain in Berlin until the end; an original script from Orson Welles' famous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast that terrified the East Coast; Alfred Hitchcock's signed copy of his script for "Strangers On a Train"; an excessively rare letter and envelope signed by Mao Zedong; and historic groupings of maps and documents from the files of the captain of HMS AJAX, describing the battle leading to the sinking of the German battleship GRAF SPEE in December, 1939.

Bidding will be available live, by telephone, and at the auctioneer's web site.

Bidding is also available at websites invaluable.com and liveauctioneers.com. Alexander Historical Auctions may be reached at 203-276-1570, email: [email protected], website: historyauctioneer.com.

SOURCE Alexander Historical Auctions LLC
DUBLIN, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AerCap Holdings N.V. ("AerCap") (NYSE: AER) has announced its major business transactions during the second quarter 2022:

Signed 125 lease agreements, including 11 widebody aircraft, 43 narrowbody aircraft, 2 regional jets, 32 engines and 37 helicopters.





including 11 widebody aircraft, 43 narrowbody aircraft, 2 regional jets, 32 engines and 37 helicopters. Completed 16 purchases for 13 aircraft (including 9 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft and 1 Airbus A220 aircraft for AerCap's owned aircraft portfolio and 3 aircraft for AerCap's managed aircraft portfolio), 1 engine and 2 helicopters.





for 13 aircraft (including 9 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft and 1 Airbus A220 aircraft for AerCap's owned aircraft portfolio and 3 aircraft for AerCap's managed aircraft portfolio), 1 engine and 2 helicopters. Executed 43 sale transactions for 27 aircraft (including 1 Airbus A320 Family aircraft, 2 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, 2 Airbus A330s, 3 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, 5 Boeing 737NGs, 6 Boeing 767-300ERs and 1 Boeing 747-400F from AerCap's owned aircraft portfolio and 7 aircraft from AerCap's managed aircraft portfolio), 12 engines and 4 helicopters.

About AerCap

AerCap is the global leader in aviation leasing with one of the most attractive order books in the industry. AerCap serves approximately 300 customers around the world with comprehensive fleet solutions. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and is based in Dublin with offices in Shannon, Miami, Singapore, Memphis, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Seattle, Toulouse and other locations around the world.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements, estimates and forecasts with respect to future performance and events. These statements, estimates and forecasts are "forward-looking statements". In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "intend," "will," "aim," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negatives thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors, including the impacts of, and associated responses to: the Ukraine conflict; the Covid-19 pandemic; our ability to successfully integrate GECAS' operations and employees and realize anticipated synergies and cost savings; and the potential impact of the consummation of the GECAS transaction on relationships, including with employees, suppliers, customers and competitors, that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate or correct. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future performance or events described in the forward-looking statements in this press release might not occur. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results and we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to, and will not, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For more information regarding AerCap and to be added to our email distribution list, please visit www.aercap.com and follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/aercapnv .

SOURCE AerCap Holdings N.V.
The concept of misting dates back to the Egyptians, who used vessels like porous pots and thin water chutes that allowed water to be sprayed in the air, which would evaporate and provide relief on hot days. aerMist is revamping the ancient method to beat the heat this summer. Consumers from homeowners who enjoy entertaining in their backyards to restaurateurs serving hundreds of diners, can reduce temperatures on outdoor patio spaces by up to 20 degrees with the affordable luxury misting system. With a user-friendly app and energy-saving capabilities, aerMist provides customers with a "smarter way to cool.

3 Misconceptions About Misting Debunked by aerMist:

Misters Leave Furniture, Decor, and Guests Soaked by the End of the Day.

aerMist is uniquely designed as a high-pressure system that produces a controllable amount of fine mist that evaporates quickly. The result is a cooling effect that leaves people, clothes, and furniture dry. Using Misters Makes a Space Humid and Frizzes Your Hair.

There are no bad hair days when using aerMist thanks to the modern system's use of high water pressure. A dry, cool bubble of air is created by aerMist's ultra-fine mist that instantly evaporates, thus leaving hair styled and looking good. Misting Wastes Water and Leads to Expensive Utility Bills.

aerMist misters work on a modulated system, automatically turning on and off and thus operating with less water and electricity compared to other outdoor cooling products on the market. Users can easily adjust frequency settings in the app.

"Consumers can now take back their home's outdoor spaces without melting in the summer heat, thanks to aerMist," says company co-founder Jelena Medic. Visit aerMist.com to see why aerMist is a smarter way to stay cool this summer, no matter how high the temperatures rise. The misting systems can be purchased directly through the company's website.

About aerMist

aerMist is the first high-pressure cooling system for homes and restaurants that offers user-friendly technology to lower the temperature of outdoor spaces up to 20 degrees. The company was founded in 2021 by Boris and Jelena Medic and is based in Plano, Texas. The misting systems provide the best cooling at the lowest cost. In addition, aerMist systems are eco-friendly, minimizing water use with a sleek design that maximizes space. To learn more about aerMist, visit https://aermist.com/.

SOURCE aerMist
The funding round was led by Ahren and brings AI21 Labs valuation to $664 million

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AI21 Labs , an Isareli startup aiming to fundamentally change the way people read and write, announced today the completion of its $64 million series B funding round, bringing the company's valuation to $664 million. The round was led by Ahren with participation from existing investors, including Prof. Amnon Shashua, Walden Catalyst, Pitango, TPY Capital and Mark Leslie. The current round brings the company's total fundraising to $118 million. The funding will be used to invest in R&D and recruit new marketing and sales employees. Ahren will become a founding member of AI21 Labs' Advisory Board.

AI21 Labs specializes in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and has built AI21 Studio, an NLP-as-a-Service developer platform where developers can purchase state-of-the-art pre-trained and custom language models to build text-based applications, serving companies like Publicis and Latitude. AI21 Studio also features the company's newest product, Jurassic-X, an advanced natural language processing system that can handle tasks that lie beyond the reach of neural models alone.

The company has launched several products, including Wordtune, a browser extension with millions of active users that was chosen by Google as one of its favorite extensions for 2021, as well as Wordtune Read, which analyzes and summarizes documents in seconds, enabling users to read long and complex text quickly and efficiently.

"We completed this round during a period of market uncertainty, which highlights the confidence our investors have in AI21's vision to change the way people consume and produce information," said Ori Goshen, co-founder and co-CEO. "The funding will allow us to accelerate the company's global growth, while continuing to develop advanced technology in the field of natural language processing. We are looking forward to growing our team and our offerings."

"NLP has reached a critical inflection point and AI21 has developed unique infrastructure and products to successfully serve a large and rapidly growing market" said Alice Newcombe-Ellis, Founding and General Partner of Ahren. "We consider this team to be of the highest caliber, both technically and commercially, leading a differentiated company in a transformative space".

Since first closing in 2019, Ahren has grown its assets under management to >$800 million and its portfolio to 22 companies across stages including three which have since become unicorns, two which have gone public and one which has been acquired. Ahren recently did a large first close of its successor fund. Core to Ahren's success is a strong partnership between its investment talent and its co-founding Science Partners, an interdisciplinary group who have previously built technologies and companies today worth over $100 billion. They include Professor Zoubin Ghahramani, VP Research at Google AI who previously founded and led Uber AI labs, amongst distinguished others.

About AI21 Labs

AI21 Labs is an artificial intelligence startup whose mission is to reimagine the way we read and write by making the machine a thought partner to humans. The company has built state of the art language models that are publicly available via AI21 Studio. Wordtune, AI21's premier product, is the first AI-based writing companion that understands context and meaning. The company was founded in 2017 by AI pioneers Yoav Shoham, Ori Goshen, and Amnon Shashua. The company's headquarters are in Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit: www.ai21.com

About Ahren

Ahren is a deep tech and deep science investment firm set up by Alice Newcombe-Ellis alongside co-founding Science Partners that have founded companies and/or technologies that are today valued in excess of $100BN combined. The firm was established from first principles with a mission to be disruptive as an investment institution, with a new model  genuine partnership between the creators of deep technology and deep science, and commercially active, long-term capital, to harness tremendous global talent and build and exponentially accelerate the next generation of great enterprises. Ahren's Portfolio companies include AI21 Labs, Graphcore, Zapata Computing, ZOE, Phaidra, Heirloom Carbon, and Bicycle Therapeutics among others. Ahren has >$800M AUM and has team members in Cambridge (UK), London, and Boston. Learn more at www.ahreninnovationcapital.com .

Laura Raanan; [email protected]

SOURCE AI21 Labs
As we inch our way to a new normalhappily seeing travelers' pent-up desire to hop on a planeAlaska is taking a moment to thank each employee for their relentless commitment to caring for our guests for 90 years & counting by giving them 90,000 miles to fly anywhere in the world.

"As we celebrate 90 years of flying, we wouldn't be where we are today without our incredible people who work nonstop to keep things moving, even throughout a global pandemic," said CEO Ben Minicucci. "When you think about how many airlines have come and gone since 1932, it's an amazing achievement that we're still here and stronger than everit's because of the genuine care and hard work our people bring to our operation every day."

The great thing about miles is they never expire and offer flexibility to travel not just on Alaska, but also on our oneworld partners like British Airways, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Finnair and our other airline partners. Travel awards begin at just 5,000 miles, and can be used to book First Class tickets, a relaxing stay at a hotel or tickets to an anticipated eventthere are so many ways to use airline miles!

With 90,000 miles, you can plan a trip to almost anywhere in the world:

For instance, a roundtrip flight from Seattle up and down the West Coast starts at just 10,000 roundtrip, which means you can get you up to nine roundtrip flights!

up and down the West Coast starts at just 10,000 roundtrip, which means you can get you up to nine roundtrip flights! Roundtrips from Seattle to New York start at 25,000 miles, or even visit Hawaii from San Francisco starting at 30,000 miles roundtrip.

to start at 25,000 miles, or even visit from starting at 30,000 miles roundtrip. Want to travel internationally? A roundtrip flight to Europe from the West Coast starts at 60,000 miles through our oneworld partners. Mileage prices do vary so search for your travel dates to see the prices for the dates and cabins you want to travel in.

Media assets:

More info: https://bit.ly/3Rr386R

Dropbox to high-res photos: https://bit.ly/3yALk0q - Photos by Ingrid Barrentine

- Photos by Video of CEO Ben Minicucci message to employees: https://vimeo.com/728976630/cf60e4a7e8

message to employees: https://vimeo.com/728976630/cf60e4a7e8 TikTok featuring COO Constance von Muehlen : https://bit.ly/3yXHiAX (download video)

With oneworld and our additional airline partners, our guests can earn and redeem miles with our highly acclaimed Mileage Plan program to fly on more than 20 oneworld and partner airlines all around the globe.

About Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines and our regional partners serve more than 120 destinations across the United States, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. We emphasize providing low fares for our guests, award-winning customer service and sustainability efforts. Alaska is a member of the oneworld global alliance. With the alliance and our additional airline partners, guests can travel to more than 1,000 destinations on more than 20 airlines while earning and redeeming miles on flights to locations around the world. Learn more about Alaska at news.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).

SOURCE Alaska Airlines
HONOLULU, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) (A&B) will report results for the second quarter 2022, after the market closes, on Thursday, July 28, 2022. In connection with this announcement, A&B will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, July 28, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The call and webcast will feature a presentation on operating and financial performance, followed by questions from sell-side research analysts participating in the interactive portion of the discussion. Parties listening via the webcast will be in a listen-only mode.

Company participants on the call and webcast will be Chris Benjamin, president and chief executive officer, Lance Parker, executive vice president and chief operating officer, and Brett Brown, executive vice president and chief financial officer, along with other members of senior management.

To listen to the conference call, please dial in at least 5 minutes prior to start time.

Domestic: 1-877-870-4263

International: 1-412-317-0790

Please instruct the operator to connect you to the Alexander & Baldwin call.

Access to the webcast will be available via a link on the Investors page of A&B's website at www.alexanderbaldwin.com. Presentation slides will be available for download from A&B's website after the market closes on July 28, 2022.

About Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE: ALEX) (A&B) is the only publicly-traded real estate investment trust to focus exclusively on Hawai'i commercial real estate and is the state's largest owner of grocery-anchored, neighborhood shopping centers. A&B owns, operates and manages approximately 3.9 million square feet of commercial space in Hawai'i, including 22 retail centers, 11 industrial assets and four office properties, as well as 141 acres of ground leases. A&B is expanding and strengthening its Hawai'i CRE portfolio and achieving its strategic focus on commercial real estate by monetizing its remaining non-core assets. Over its 150-year history, A&B has evolved with the state's economy and played a leadership role in the development of the agricultural, transportation, tourism, construction, residential and commercial real estate industries. Learn more about A&B at www.alexanderbaldwin.com.

Contact:

A&B Investor Relations

(808) 525-8475

[email protected]

SOURCE Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.
Second subsidiary to become independent; decisive step to continue unlocking value at ALFA

ALFA will transfer all its Axtel shares to a new, listed entity: Controladora Axtel

ALFA Shareholders will receive one share of Controladora Axtel for each ALFA share they own

Spin-off, listing and share distribution processes expected to be completed before year end

SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCIA, Mexico, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ALFA, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: ALFAA) ("ALFA" or the "Company") held today an Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting where a proposal to spin-off its entire ownership stake in Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: AXTELCPO) ("Axtel") was approved.

On behalf of ALFA's Board of Directors, Armando Garza Sada, Chairman of the Board, presented the proposal through which ALFA will execute the spin-off as a splitting entity. In addition, a new entity would be constituted as the spun-off company ("Controladora Axtel"), which will be listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. ALFA will transfer its entire share ownership in Axtel to Controladora Axtel, as well as certain other assets and capital. ALFA expects to complete the spin-off, listing and share distribution processes before year end.

ALFA shareholders will receive one share of Controladora Axtel for each of their ALFA shares, in addition to retaining their share ownership in ALFA's equity.

"We greatly appreciate our Shareholders' vote of confidence, supporting ALFA's transformational efforts to unlock its extraordinary value potential. This approval reinforces our commitment to continue driving an orderly process, following a balanced capital allocation approach," noted Armando Garza Sada, Chairman of ALFA's Board of Directors.

"Axtel begins today a new stage as an independent business from ALFA and will get all of our support to ensure a successful transition. Axtel's talented and dedicated team has an extraordinary capability to drive growth and extend its long track record as an industry leader," said Alvaro Fernandez Garza, President of ALFA.

Contacts

Hernan F. Lozano

V.P. of Investor Relations ALFA, S.A.B. de C.V.

T. +52 (81) 8748-2521

[email protected]

Carolina Alvear

Corporate Communication Director

ALFA, S.A.B. de C.V.

T. +52 (81) 8748-2521

[email protected]

About ALFA

ALFA manages a diversified portfolio of leading businesses with global operations: Sigma, a leading multinational food company, focused on the production, marketing and distribution of quality foods through recognized brands in Mexico, Europe, United States and Latin America. Alpek, one of the world's leading producers of polyester (PTA, PET, rPET and fibers), and the leader in the Mexican market for polypropylene and expandable polystyrene (EPS). Axtel, a provider of Information Technology and Communication (ITC) services for the enterprise and government segments in Mexico. In 2021, ALFA reported revenues of Ps. 308,060 million (US $15.2 billion), and EBITDA of Ps. 41,050 million (US $2.0 billion). ALFA's shares are quoted on the Mexican Stock Exchange and on Latibex, the market for Latin American shares of the Madrid Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit www.alfa.com.mx

SOURCE ALFA, S.A.B. de C.V.
STAMFORD, Conn, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AmCap, Incorporated, a vertically integrated private equity real estate firm, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Hoffman Plaza, a 146,263 square-foot, high volume grocery-anchored, shopping center in the Chicago, IL suburb of Hoffman Estates, IL. The dominant grocery center adds another well-located asset to AmCap's growing portfolio of premier real estate assets throughout the United States.

Hoffman Plaza is anchored by Jewel-Osco the premier grocer in the Chicago metropolitan and Burlington a Fortune 500 specialty retailer. Jewel-Osco is the #1 grocer in the Chicagoland area by both market and store count and has enjoyed a long and successful operating history of close to 50 years at this location.

Hoffman Plaza is situated on 15.3 acres at 925-1175 N. Roselle and 100 Higgins Rd, Hoffman Estate, IL within one of the largest retail corridors in Illinois. The village of Hoffman Estates was recognized as the "2021 Municipality of The Year". The center serves a population of nearly 240,000  with an average household income of $120,000  within a five-mile radius of the property.

Jake Bisenius, President and CIO of AmCap said, "Hoffman Plaza is an exceptional asset that we were fortunate to acquire. The site captures the essence of our focus on acquiring well-located properties with tenants that are essential businesses that serve daily needs, are internet resistant and are established members of their respective communities. The AmCap team is excited to be a part of the Hoffman Estate community and we look forward to working with Jewel-Osco and other local stakeholders to ensure the continued success at this location."

Hoffman Plaza was purchased through a joint venture with Encore Enterprises. Mr. Bisenius continued, "Forming a partnership with investors who share our views on the importance of investing in communities was also a key part of the deal. Our underlying principle is to be a strong steward of our investor's capital while adding substantial value to the communities and customers we serve.

"Retail brick and mortar is changing, but it is not going away," said Chairman and CEO of Encore Enterprises, Inc., Dr. Bharat Sangani. "According to the National Retail Federation, consumer demand outweighed the pandemic, supply chain shortages, and other factors affecting spending, proving that people still like to get out and shop. We are honored to become a part of the long history of what this particular development will bring to the Chicago area."

President of AmCap's Leasing, Ira Shwartz, added: "Our leasing team is hard at work with Hoffman Plaza. Our focus now is on attracting top retailers, including dining and lifestyle services, to enhance and build on our foundation."

With leasing underway, Hoffman Plaza joins other top AmCap-managed centers in the Chicago area. The center is over 96% occupied, with a few retail spaces for lease available up to 5,651 square feet.

For leasing information or additional information about Hoffman Plaza, please contact Ira Shwartz or Brooke Stevens at [email protected]

About AmCap

Founded in 1979, AmCap is a vertically integrated private equity real estate firm that invests in grocery-anchored and necessity retail properties nationwide, managing over $1 billion of assets on behalf of leading institutional investors. AmCap's 40+ year history gives it unique insight into the drivers of value creation in all facets of the necessity retail property industry. For more information www.amcap.com

Media Contact:

Alice Catalano

203-327-2001

[email protected]

SOURCE AmCap
Industry's most prestigious honor -- the Quest for Quality Prize -- recognizes UH's commitment to quality and safety, care innovations, efforts to address health care disparities and community collaboration to improve health outcomes

CLEVELAND, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Hospital Association (AHA), the premier national trade association representing more than 5,000 hospitals and health systems, has selected University Hospitals health system as the 2022 winner of its most prestigious honor: the Quest for Quality Prize.

The prize recognizes health care leadership and innovation in improving quality and advancing health in communities. AHA first awarded the Quest for Quality Prize in 2002. The association will present the award to UH on July 18 at the AHA Leadership Summit in San Diego.

"We have long known University Hospitals is a jewel in our community, with a 156 year legacy of providing the highest quality care for all," said Cliff A. Megerian, MD, FACS, UH Chief Executive Officer; Jane and Henry Meyer Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair. "We take pride in knowing that AHA also recognizes the exceptional work our UH team has undertaken to provide unparalleled patient-centered care for our community. The fact that our caregivers have earned this highest praise at a time when many were emotionally exhausted by the pandemic and stretched to the limits from staffing shortages, underscores the strength, resilience and dedication of our team to innovate, uphold our steadfast focus on quality and safety, and care for our patients no matter what. Our goal is to be the most trusted health care partner in Northeast Ohio, and this award is proof we are moving the needle in that regard."

A multi-disciplinary committee of health care quality and patient safety experts gave UH the award based on the system's exemplary achievements. Specifically, AHA lauded UH for its maturity and approach to quality, safety and equity. The AHA prize committee believes quality is deeply embedded in UH's culture -- from the board level, to the unit level, and across all sites in the organization.

"University Hospitals has made outstanding contributions in elevating the quality of care they provide each day to their patients and communities throughout Northeast Ohio," said Rick Pollack, AHA's president and CEO. "The important lessons learned from University Hospitals will inspire hospitals and health systems to advance care across the country."

The AHA committee also praised UH's use of "I Will" statements, part of UH's High Reliability Organization program, in which caregivers develop positive statements of belief around their roles. For example, members of the environmental services staff at UH have agreed to stop seeing themselves as housekeepers only. They created their own commitment: "I will start believing that I play a critical part in the safety, well-being and health of all those we serve."

Other departments throughout UH created similar pledges in support of the organization's Zero Harm initiative. The committee considered this practice a powerful tool in establishing a common language and culture around safety, while empowering staff to speak up when an error occurs.

The committee also cited the system's connections to the communities UH serves and its mantra that "the community is our patient." AHA thinks the UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Ahuja Center for Women and Children could serve as a national example of a new, innovative and effective model of patient, family and community support. The committee also viewed UH as an excellent example of a learning organization. Additionally, AHA highlighted UH's efforts around justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, applauding its Food for Life Markets and other non-traditional health care initiatives aimed at improving workforce opportunity and health equity in habitually marginalized communities.

For the past three years, UH has been changing beliefs about patient safety. "The secret sauce to get to zero is that people need to stop believing that harm is inevitable and start believing 'it's preventable and it's my job to do it,'" said Peter Pronovost, M.D., PhD., the system's Chief Quality and Clinical Transformation Officer, who played a pivotal role designing and guiding UH's value journey.

That new mindset is one component of UH's broad initiative to eliminate defects in value. "What's this 'defect' term? It's an action or a behavior that we know we should be doing for a patient to improve quality or reduce costs that we're not doing," Dr. Pronovost said. "Let's make those visible and then design them out."

UH also created a fractal management framework that facilitates the free flow of ideas and the sharing of promising practices across the system.

In winning this award, UH joins an elite group of approximately 20 other health systems and hospitals who have earned this highest honor. UH first won this award 10 years ago for being a champion in transparency, accountability and quality innovation.

About University Hospitals / Cleveland, Ohio Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of more than 20 hospitals (including five joint ventures), more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system's flagship quaternary care, academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Oxford University and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. The main campus also includes the UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, with more than 3,000 active clinical trials and research studies underway. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including "America's Best Hospitals" from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to 19 Clinical Care Delivery and Research Institutes. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with more than 30,000 employees. Follow UH on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org.

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE University Hospitals
ZURICH, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Anjarium Biosciences AG ("Anjarium"), a biotech company focused on creating and delivering a new class of non-viral gene therapies, today announces the expansion of its leadership team with the appointment of Samantha Vieira as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Nate Massari as Chief Business Officer (CBO).

Samantha Vieira, COO

Samantha Vieira brings 18 years' broad experience in the biopharmaceutical industry spanning early- to late-stage R&D and pre-launch planning, within roles across program management, cross-functional leadership, strategy and operations.

Samantha was most recently Global Product Development and Commercial Lead, Retinal Gene Therapy at Biogen. Prior to the Nightstar Therapeutics' acquisition by Biogen in 2019, she served as VP Program Management at the company, having joined Nightstar as one of its first employees. As part of the management team she significantly contributed to defining the company's strategy, expansion and financing.

Nate Massari, CBO

Nate Massari has over 20 years of experience in strategy, sales and marketing, pipeline product development and corporate development across the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, he was the Executive Vice President of Rare Disease Operations at Aytu BioPharma.

Previously, Nate co-founded Rumpus Therapeutics and joined the Aytu executive team upon the acquisition of Rumpus and its lead asset targeting rare genetic vascular conditions. Throughout his career, Nate has completed numerous business development transactions totaling over $6 billion and held various leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Endo Pharmaceuticals and AmerisourceBergen.

Stephen Yoo, MD, Anjarium's CEO, commented: "We're delighted to welcome Samantha and Nate into Anjarium's leadership team. Their appointments showcase our intentions to grow rapidly and our ability to attract high-quality leaders. Their experience in gene therapy and in the development of early-stage biotech companies across the US and EU will be invaluable as we expand in both regions and progress pipeline programs towards clinical development."

Samantha Vieira, COO, added: "Many genetic diseases continue to have high unmet patient need, and novel approaches are needed to overcome the limitations of conventional viral-vector based gene therapies. It's therefore an incredibly exciting time to be joining Anjarium, as the company investigates the potential of its non-viral approach to deliver more predictable, lasting, and inclusionary ways to tackle these diseases."

Nate Massari, CBO, added: "Anjarium's progress over the past year is indicative of the excitement surrounding gene therapy, as the space becomes more established and pharma seeks novel technologies to improve the performance of these therapeutics. With a robust financial position and a promising technology platform, Anjarium is in a strong position to continue scaling up and developing new genetic medicines to help patients."

About Anjarium Biosciences

Anjarium is focused on creating a new class of non-viral gene therapies to deliver more predictable, enduring, and inclusionary ways to tackle genetic disease throughout a patient's lifetime. The Company's versatile platform aims to leverage breakthrough science and expertise at the interface of genetic medicine, synthetic biology and nanoparticle engineering to generate a pipeline of advanced gene therapies with unique competitive advantages over current viral-vector based gene therapies.

Investors in Anjarium include leading international and strategic investors Abingworth, Gimv, Omega Funds, Pfizer Ventures and Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company). www.anjarium.com

Contact:

Anjarium Biosciences

[email protected]

MEDiSTRAVA Consulting

Mark Swallow, George Underwood, Eleanor Perkin

[email protected]

SOURCE Anjarium Biosciences
DALLAS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ATI (NYSE: ATI) will provide live Internet listening access to its conference call with the financial community scheduled for Thursday, August 4, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The conference call will be conducted after the Company's planned release of second quarter results. The conference call will be broadcast, and accompanying presentation slides will be available, at ATImaterials.com. To access the broadcast, visit ATImaterials.com and select "Conference Call." Conference call replay will be available on ATImaterials.com.

ATI: Proven to Perform.

ATI (NYSE: ATI) is a $3 billion global producer of high performance materials and solutions for the global aerospace and defense markets, and critical applications in electronics, medical and specialty energy. We're solving the world's most difficult challenges through materials science. We partner with our customers to deliver extraordinary materials that enable their greatest achievements: their products fly higher and faster, burn hotter, dive deeper, stand stronger and last longer. Our proprietary process technologies, unique customer partnerships and commitment to innovation deliver materials and solutions for today and the evermore challenging environments of tomorrow. We are proven to perform anywhere. Learn more at ATImaterials.com .

SOURCE ATI
BETHLEHEM, Pa., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- B. Braun Medical Inc. (B. Braun), a leader in infusion therapy, announced today the launch of its new Introcan Safety 2 IV Catheter with one-time blood control. The Introcan Safety 2 IV Catheter is the latest development from B. Braun for making IV access safer for the clinician by reducing the risk of needlestick injuries and their exposure to blood.

IV access is a critical element of infusion therapy, and this invasive procedure continues to be associated with potential risks to clinicians. Needlestick injuries are one of the highest risks clinicians face during their daily routine. The CDC estimates 385,000 sharps injuries a year,[1] with over 30% of them from hollow-bore needles like those used in peripheral IV catheters (PIVCs).[2] Studies show that passive, fully automatic safety devices are two times better than a semi-automatic 'push-button' safety shield and three times better than a manually sliding shield.[3] With Introcan Safety 2, clinicians are protected by a truly automatic passive safety device.

Not only are healthcare workers concerned about needlestick injuries, but also mucocutaneous blood exposure when starting an IV. In fact, most nurses reported blood exposure as a concern for their own safety, as well as for their patients' safety.[4] Every blood exposure carries a risk of infection. 69% of healthcare workers experience 1-3 mucocutaneous exposures per month when inserting a PIVC.[5] Anytime there's blood leakage, clinicians are at risk for exposure to various bloodborne pathogen infections including, but not limited to, HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.[6]

Introcan Safety 2 helps to reduce clinician and patient's exposure to blood with its one-time Blood Control Septum, which is designed to restrict the flow of blood from the catheter hub after needle removal until first connection of a Luer access device.

"We are excited to broaden our portfolio within the Introcan family of passive safety IV Catheters," said Chad Laity, Director of Marketing, Vascular Access and IV Systems. "The newly launched Introcan Safety 2 will allow clinicians to experience passive needlestick prevention and a reduced risk of exposure to blood borne pathogens when removing the introducer needle from the Introcan Safety 2. This is all achieved with a product similarly sized to the widely popular Introcan Safety Catheter."

About B. Braun

B. Braun Medical Inc., a leader in infusion therapy and pain management, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative medical products and services to the healthcare industry. Other key product areas include nutrition, pharmacy admixture and dialysis. The company is committed to eliminating preventable treatment errors and enhancing patient, clinician and environmental safety. B. Braun Medical is headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and is part of the B. Braun Group of Companies in the U.S., which includes B. Braun Interventional Systems, Aesculap and CAPS.

Globally, the B. Braun Group of Companies employs more than 64,000 employees in 64 countries. Guided by its Sharing Expertise philosophy, B. Braun continuously exchanges knowledge with customers, partners and clinicians to address the critical issues of improving care and lowering costs. To learn more about B. Braun Medical, explore our website.

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sharps Safety for Healthcare Settings. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/sharpssafety. Last accessed November 3, 2020.

[2] International Safety Center. U.S. EPINet Sharps Injury and Blood and Body Fluid Exposure Surveillance Research Group. Sharps Injury Data Report for 2018. Report available at https://internationalsafetycenter.org/exposure-reports/.

[3] Tosini, et al "Needlestick Injury Rates According to Different Types of Safety-Engineered Devices: Results of a French Multicenter Study", Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, Vol 31, No. 4, April 2010 (p. 402-407).

[4] Reducing blood exposure risks and costs associated with SPIVC insertion. By Deborah Richardson, MS, RN,CNS, and Lois Kaufman, PhD

[5] Jagger J, Perry J, Parker G, Phillips EK. Nursing2011 survey results: Blood exposure risk during peripheral I.V. catheter insertion and removal. Nursing. 2011 Dec;41(12):45-9. doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000407678.81635.62. PMID: 22089909.

[6] Elise M. Beltrami, Ian T. Williams, Craig N. Shapiro, Mary E. Chamberland. Risk and Management of Blood-Borne Infections in Health Care Workers. Clinical Microbiology Reviews Jul 2000. 13 (3) 385-407; DOI: 10.1128/CMR.13.3.385

SOURCE B. Braun Medical Inc.
Ball Aerospace built the mirrors and optics that helped make first images possible

BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ball Aerospace, a business of Ball Corporation (NYSE: BALL), is celebrating with NASA and all of the mission partners, as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shares its first images with the world. The Colorado-based company designed and built the advanced optical technology and lightweight mirror system that make these unprecedented images possible.

This first image from NASAs James Webb Space Telescope is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webbs First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. (Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

"It is awe-inspiring to see these images, which are the culmination of more than 20 years of really hard work by thousands of people across multiple companies, government agencies and academic institutions," said Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Ball Aerospace. "These are just the first of what will be exquisitely-rendered and detailed images that will shed new light on the formation of the universe as well as the galaxies and stars within it."

Launched in December 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) took approximately 30 days to reach its orbit near the second Lagrange point (L2) where it captured these images. During its month-long journey it went through the careful processes of deploying the sunshield and mirrors. Once Webb's main camera cooled-off enough to start supporting telescope alignment activities, Webb's optics team began meticulously moving the 18 primary mirror segments to form a single mirror surface that can capture extremely sharp and detailed images, like those just released.

Ball Aerospace worked with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Northrop Grumman, the prime industry contractor, to innovate the 25 square-meter (~269 square feet) system consisting of 18 beryllium mirror segments working together as one unit. Ball also developed the cryogenic actuators and electronic flight control boxes used to keep the mirror segments properly aligned on orbit.

In addition to its work on Webb, Ball is playing critical roles in other upcoming space observation missions. It is partnering with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to develop the Wide Field Instrument for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and NASA/JPL by providing the spacecraft bus and telescope for the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx). The Ball-built Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) launched last December to study exotic astronomical objects such as neutron stars and black holes. IXPE's first science image of Cassiopeia A, an object consisting of the remains of a star that exploded in the 17th century, was released on February 14.

Powered by endlessly curious people with an unwavering mission focus, Ball Aerospace pioneers discoveries that enable our customers to perform beyond expectation and protect what matters most. We create innovative space solutions, enable more accurate weather forecasts, drive insightful observations of our planet, deliver actionable data and intelligence, and ensure those who defend our freedom go forward bravely and return home safely. Go Beyond with Ball. For more information, visit www.ball.com/aerospace or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

About Ball Corporation

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BALL) supplies innovative, sustainable aluminum packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 24,300 people worldwide and reported 2021 net sales of $13.8 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," and similar expressions typically identify forward-looking statements, which are generally any statements other than statements of historical fact. Such statements are based on current expectations or views of the future and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied. You should therefore not place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements and they should be read in conjunction with, and qualified in their entirety by, the cautionary statements referenced below. 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. Key factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to be different are summarized in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99 in our Form 10-K, which are available on our website and at www.sec.gov. Additional factors that might affect: a) our packaging segments include product capacity, supply, and demand constraints and fluctuations and changes in consumption patterns; availability/cost of raw materials, equipment, and logistics; competitive packaging, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; footprint adjustments and other manufacturing changes, including the startup of new facilities and lines; failure to achieve synergies, productivity improvements or cost reductions; unfavorable mandatory deposit or packaging laws; customer and supplier consolidation; power and supply chain interruptions; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; inability to pass through increased costs; war, political instability and sanctions, including relating to the situation in Russia and Ukraine and its impact on our supply chain and our ability to operate in Russia and the EMEA region generally; changes in foreign exchange or tax rates; and tariffs, trade actions, or other governmental actions, including business restrictions and shelter-in-place orders in any country or jurisdiction affecting goods produced by us or in our supply chain, including imported raw materials; b) our aerospace segment include funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts; c) the Company as a whole include those listed above plus: the extent to which sustainability-related opportunities arise and can be capitalized upon; changes in senior management, succession, and the ability to attract and retain skilled labor; regulatory actions or issues including those related to tax, ESG reporting, competition, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA and other actions or public concerns affecting products filled in our containers, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; technological developments and innovations; the ability to manage cyber threats; litigation; strikes; disease; pandemic; labor cost changes; inflation; rates of return on assets of the Company's defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; uncertainties surrounding geopolitical events and governmental policies, including policies, orders, and actions related to COVID-19; reduced cash flow; interest rates affecting our debt; and successful or unsuccessful joint ventures, acquisitions and divestitures, including the announced sale of our Russian business, and their effects on our operating results and business generally.

SOURCE Ball Aerospace
Throughout his career as a valuation professional, Mr. Graber has completed numerous assignments throughout the United States and abroad for more than a decade, primarily specializing in seniors housing and healthcare properties.

Mr. Graber's expertise includes third-party appraisals, fair market value, fair market rent and feasibility analyses, purchase price allocations, and market studies. His clients included lenders, health systems, physician groups, investment firms, banks, development and operating companies, insurance companies, private equity firms, pension funds and REITS.

Before joining BBG, Mr. Graber served as Managing Director at CBRE, where he led a team that focused solely on valuation and advisory services for seniors housing assets including active adult, independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, and continuing care retirement communities. His team also provided services for acute- and post-care hospitals, surgery centers, psychiatric hospitals, behavioral healthcare facilities and other healthcare properties.

BBG CEO Chris Roach, MAI, CCIM, commented on Mr. Graber's appointment: "We are excited that James will be leading and building out our Alternative Practice Groups, which offer a tremendous opportunity to further drive our leadership in these high-growth markets. James' in-depth industry expertise, a strong track record in building and managing teams, and the ability to think strategically will prove invaluable in providing these services to our growing client base."

Mr. Graber commented on his new position: "I am thrilled to join BBG, a well-respected and innovative brand that has drawn some of the best and brightest professionals in this business. I look forward to providing exceptional client outcomes in these markets and helping BBG further expand its outstanding reputation and presence in commercial real estate."

About BBG

BBG's commercial real estate services include valuation, advisory, assessment, desktop evaluation, energy services, cost segregation, zoning, and ALTA surveys. Headquartered in Dallas, the firm has 48 offices in key US markets and serves more than 4,500+clients. As one of the Big Five national commercial real estate valuation firms, BBG has achieved a reputation for personal attention, on-time delivery and deep expertise in multi-family, office, retail and industrial sectors. For more information about BBG, please visit www.bbgres.com.

Media Contact

Marc Weinstein

Ascent Communications

[email protected]

(908) 967-9958

SOURCE BBG
MDR Foundations Delivers Prevention, Detection and Response, 24x7 Monitoring and Proactive Expert Threat Hunting

BUCHAREST, Romania and SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitdefender, a global cybersecurity leader, today unveiled MDR Foundations, a new managed security service that provides continuous threat monitoring and response, intelligence-based threat hunting and elite security experts designed to provide MDR capabilities specifically tailored to managed service providers (MSPs) and customer organizations with limited resources. The service augments in-house security and IT teams ability to overcome the cybersecurity skills gap and enables faster detection and threat elimination, reduced attacker dwell time, and streamlined security operations for improved cyber resilience.

"MDR Foundations addresses critical gaps in security coverage by delivering managed threat detection and remediation that is affordable, easy to implement, and scales based on the business needs," said Ryan Walsh, chief operating officer at Pax8. "The solution levels the playing field for MSPs and their customers by offering access to top cybersecurity talent without needing a large budget. Bitdefender gives our clients a powerful solution that combines leading-edge technology with some of the brightest minds in security adept at hunting cyberattacks and stopping them at each stage."

Bitdefender MDR Foundations is built to address security challenges presented by digital transformation and the shift towards cloud environments. It adds to the company's existing portfolio of MDR Premium and MDR Enterprise offerings. The service is delivered by leveraging the award-winning Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security Enterprise unified security platform, which incorporates risk assessment and hardening, prevention, endpoint detection and response (EDR), cross-endpoint threat correlation and extended detection and response (XDR) with sensors that go beyond the endpoint.

Unlike many competing MDR offerings which are simply managed anti-virus or managed EDR, MDR Foundations provides any size business a full managed detection and response security service.

MDR Foundations key benefits include:

24x7 threat monitoring, detection and response -- MDR Foundations helps customers harden environments to help prevent breaches and then continuously monitors for and eliminates threats such as ransomware, zero-days, phishing attempts and more across endpoints, networks and cloud environments. Highly skilled security analysts in the Bitdefender security operations center (SOC) lead alert prioritization, threat analysis, recommendations and response actions.

-- MDR Foundations helps customers harden environments to help prevent breaches and then continuously monitors for and eliminates threats such as ransomware, zero-days, phishing attempts and more across endpoints, networks and cloud environments. Highly skilled security analysts in the Bitdefender security operations center (SOC) lead alert prioritization, threat analysis, recommendations and response actions. Proactive human-led threat hunting -- Bitdefender threat hunters actively seek and destroy advanced persistent threats (APTs) quietly residing in systems, investigate anomalous behavior from internal and outside sources (users and applications) and take into consideration each customer's industry, technology environment, and most likely threat actors. Threat hunts apply real-time threat intelligence from Bitdefender Labs and the Bitdefender global network of millions of sensors to guide informed decision-making. With military and law enforcement backgrounds, Bitdefender threat hunters are renowned for having deep insights into advanced adversarial techniques to stop attacks fast.

-- Bitdefender threat hunters actively seek and destroy advanced persistent threats (APTs) quietly residing in systems, investigate anomalous behavior from internal and outside sources (users and applications) and take into consideration each customer's industry, technology environment, and most likely threat actors. Threat hunts apply real-time threat intelligence from Bitdefender Labs and the Bitdefender global network of millions of sensors to guide informed decision-making. With military and law enforcement backgrounds, Bitdefender threat hunters are renowned for having deep insights into advanced adversarial techniques to stop attacks fast. Improved security operations -- MDR Foundations improves defense and response to threats by enabling MSPs and customers to work side-by-side with Bitdefender security analysts. Key pain points such as alert fatigue, running complex tooling, maintaining data compliance, and establishing security procedures are dramatically reduced or eliminated from day one. A dedicated MDR portal allows clients to connect and communicate with their Bitdefender team 24x7, view alerts, manage endpoints and take recommended actions to contain or eliminate threats all from a single dashboard.

-- MDR Foundations improves defense and response to threats by enabling MSPs and customers to work side-by-side with Bitdefender security analysts. Key pain points such as alert fatigue, running complex tooling, maintaining data compliance, and establishing security procedures are dramatically reduced or eliminated from day one. A dedicated MDR portal allows clients to connect and communicate with their Bitdefender team 24x7, view alerts, manage endpoints and take recommended actions to contain or eliminate threats all from a single dashboard. Easy onboarding and service management -- The MDR Foundations onboarding process is automated and straightforward with most businesses up and running in less than a day. For MSP partners, Bitdefender offers the ability to onboard and manage multiple customers simultaneously.

In a recent report, Gartner, a company that delivers actionable, objective insight to executives and their teams, emphasized the need for continuous monitoring in midsize environments, "With 76% of ransomware deployments happening after business hours, organizations cannot stop active monitoring of their environments at the end of the business day. Twenty-four hour monitoring is critical in being able to quickly respond to and contain any security incident."

"Cybercriminals and advanced cyber-attacks are no longer confined to large organizations, as they were in the past. Today, businesses of all sizes are at risk of data theft, espionage, and crippling ransomware attacks. As the threat landscape continues to evolve, organizations with smaller budgets and smaller security teams are finding that protecting themselves and their end customers is increasingly challenging," said Daniel Clayton, vice president, global security operations and services at Bitdefender. "MDR Foundations is a big step forward in innovating for this underserved market to even the playing field with a powerful 'always-on' detect and response service that combines award-winning technology with elite security experts that scales on-demand. Our newest MDR offering reflects our deep commitment to make every business more cyber resilient."

Availability

Bitdefender MDR Foundations is available now for purchase through the Bitdefender extensive network of MSPs and value-added resellers. Bitdefender offers flexible month-to-month and termed contracts depending on customer needs. For more information visit: https://www.bitdefender.com/business/enterprise-products/managed-detection-response-service.html.

Gartner, Paul Furtado "Security Staffing Options for Midsize Enterprises", January 18, 2022"

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

About Bitdefender

Bitdefender provides cybersecurity solutions with leading security efficacy, performance and ease of use to small and medium businesses, mid-market enterprises and consumers. Guided by a vision to be the world's most trusted cybersecurity solutions provider, Bitdefender is committed to defending organizations and individuals around the globe against cyberattacks to transform and improve their digital experience. For more information, visit https://www.bitdefender.com.

Contact:

Steve Fiore

Bitdefender

1-954-776-6262

[email protected]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/833268/Bitdefender_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Bitdefender
Leading small business-focused fintech offers new solution for accountants and bookkeepers, providing secure and streamlined access to enable better service to their clients

JERSEY CITY, N.J., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bluevine , the leading provider of holistic banking solutions designed for small businesses, today announced the launch of its first set of business banking features designed specifically to help accounting professionals more easily serve their small business customers. With the Accountant Role, small business owners using a Bluevine Business Checking account can easily and securely grant their accountants access to selected account information through a dedicated login. Through the Accountant Dashboard, accountants can access all their clients' transactions from one place, easily download bank statements, reconcile transactions and bills, and view all relevant contextual information, saving time and providing superior client service.

Long committed to serving the needs of small businesses, Bluevine aims to ensure success across all parts of the small business ecosystem. Accountants are trusted partners for small business owners with a critical role in ensuring the financial health and growth of small businesses. Yet, many spend significant time and effort tracking down the financial information they need to help their clients, often relying on each client's online banking account information to access data. This creates an experience rife with friction and security concerns. Designed to improve efficiency and client services for accountants and bookkeepers, a secure login to the Accountant Dashboard generates single-pane view access to all client dashboards and offers easy toggling between clients for all relevant banking information and bulk statement downloads.

"We believe partnership with small businesses also means building for accountants and bookkeepers  many of whom are business owners themselves  and the work they do to help small businesses thrive," said Pete Potsos, CPA, Senior Director of Accountant Partnerships at Bluevine. "Bluevine's services offer a more efficient, reliable, and secure option for accountants, and we are committed to building tools to remedy accountants' pain points."

Controlled access and purpose-built tools for accountants that serve Bluevine customers is the latest example of how Bluevine aligns its innovation with the evolving needs of small businesses. Earlier this year, the company unveiled new account features, including Account Access, Bills Management, and QuickBooks integration. Plus, Bluevine Business Checking lets customers earn 1.5% interest if they meet a monthly goal, offering rewards that reflect how small businesses use banking solutions and maximize the impact Bluevine has on business growth.

"Accounting teams face challenges in getting the information they need quickly and easily to provide great service for their clients," said Julie Lepper, Co-founder at Lepper & Company . "In addition to providing easy access to this information, Bluevine tailored the accounting experience on its platform to help accountants bring more operational efficiency to their own workflows and businesses."

Starting today, Bluevine Business Checking account holders can grant accountants access to their Bluevine account information by adding their accountants as an accountant user to their Bluevine account. To learn more about Bluevine's services for small businesses and their partners, please visit www.bluevine.com/accountants-and-bookkeepers .

About Bluevine

Bluevine provides small businesses with fast and simple access to holistic banking solutions built with them in mind. Bluevine's advanced online platform offers an intuitive, convenient solution designed to meet the financial needs of today's business owners with a suite of products including Bluevine Business Checking, Bill Pay, and Line of Credit. Since launching in 2013, Bluevine has served more than 425,000 small businesses and is backed by leading private and institutional investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, Citi Ventures, ION Crossover Partners, SVB Capital, Nationwide Insurance, and M12 (Microsoft's Venture Arm). Lines of credit are issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC. Banking Services provided by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC.

For more information, please visit https://www.bluevine.com/ or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter .

SOURCE Bluevine
ComForCare Franchisees Expands Their Portfolio By Opening Nurse-Inspired Home Health Care Franchise in Culver City, California

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Boost Home Healthcare , a home health company which provides superior in-home nursing, therapy, and home care services, has recently opened its first location in Culver City, California. With years of experience owning a ComForCare franchise, a leading provider of in-home caregiving services, Harry and Maggie Artsvelian expands their services with the addition of Boost, offering clients complete well-rounded care.

"By owning both a ComForCare and Boost franchise, it allows us to provide complete care to our clients in the comfort of their home, offering a range of clinical services to personalized caregiving," said Harry Artsvelian. "Regardless if they need someone to run their errands, prepare meals, care for a wound, help with medication administration or injection, we will be there to help our clients with every aspect of their living."

Boost recently launched a new website to better reflect and educate clients on the company's scope of services. The newly redesigned website offers quick and easy access to essential information with a clean uncluttered design, improved functionality, and enhanced rich content focused on the company's mission to provide its clients with the best home care possible.

"Boost Home Healthcare is dedicated to offering compassionate in-home health care by skilled professionals who respect their patients, address their needs, and work closely with their doctors to promote their physical and emotional well-being," said Jackie Lleverino, brand president of Boost. "The addition of a home health company to Best Life Brands' portfolio complements our existing brands and provides a range of services that are indispensable to a rapidly aging population that prefer to be cared for in the comfort of their home."

To learn more about Boost Home Healthcare, visit https://www.boosthomehealth.com/ .

About Boost Home Healthcare:

Boost Home Healthcare is a home health company which provides superior in-home nursing, therapy, and home care services. Founded in 2021, Boost Home Healthcare was acquired by private equity firm The Riverside Company in 2021 and is now part of Best Life Brands, which has plans for continued expansion of service brands across the continuum of care for aging adults. For more information, visit http://www.boosthomehealth.com.

SOURCE Boost Home Healthcare
PALM BEACH, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FinancialNewsMedia.com News Commentary - From cleaner energy to cancer treatments, Canadian mining companies have been producing the uranium that advances global needs through modern tech. For minerals and metals that come with strong environmental and social standards, Canada's approach is winning friends, followers, and customers. A move towards sustainable mining is a Canadian made, globally recognized sustainability program that supports mining companies in managing key environmental and social responsibilities, enabling mining companies to turn high-level commitments into action on the ground. A recent article in Mined In Canada.ca said that: Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) is a Canadian made, globally recognized sustainability program that supports mining companies in managing key environmental and social responsibilities, enabling mining companies to turn high-level commitments into action on the ground. "The mining sector will play a critical role in supplying the minerals and metals for batteries and other technologies needed in the clean economy and I am pleased to see the actions taken today to do that in a manner that is both responsible and sustainable", said the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources in Canada. It continued: "Canada has all the critical minerals and ESG credentials needed to produce batteries for electric vehicles." said Katie Curran, Interim CEO, Invest in Canada. "Enhancing the ESG performance of our member companies beyond the word of the law is our ultimate goal with TSM. We want to do it right and, with TSM, we are taking the right first step", added Michael T. Toledo, Chairman of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines. Active mining companies in the markets this week include Traction Uranium Corp. (OTCQB: TRCTF) (CSE: TRAC), Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) (TSX: CCO), Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (NYSE: PLG) (TSX: PTM), Baselode Energy Corp. (OTCQB: BSENF) (TSXV: FIND), NexGen Energy Ltd. (NYSE: NXE) (TSX: NXE).

Sustainable mining for many people sounds like an oxymoron. But there's ways to get at it, and it starts with conversation. My experience working in the TSM initiative is what I am proud of and I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to connect and to learn from each other and work for something as important as sustainable mining." Quoting Elizabeth May, MP Saanich-Gulf Islands & Former Green Party of Canada Leader. "My community has been benefiting from the relationships we've developed over many years with companies operating in our territory. It has to come from being truthful, being trusted, and being transparent on the motives and initiatives that are being developed around the project. This is how communities can benefit." Said Glenn Nolan, VP Government Affairs, Noront Resources Ltd, Member of Missanabie Cree. The fact that uranium is now considered a "critical mineral" by the Canadian government confirms the importance of uranium and nuclear as an avenue for governments to meet their decarbonisation and energy security goals."

Traction Uranium Corp. (OTCQB: TRCTF) (CSE: TRAC) BREAKING NEWS: Traction Uranium Collaborates with SRC in Exploring the use of their In-Situ Recovery Technology at its Properties - 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, is pleased to execute a Master Service Agreement with the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) in exploring ISR (in-situ recovery) uranium extraction projects to utilize their core flooding machine post discovery.

SRC is Canada's second largest research and technology organization. With 350 employees, $137 million in annual revenue and 75 years of experience, SRC provides services and products to its 1,500 clients in 27 countries around the world.

Lester Esteban, Chief Executive Officer, stated "SRC has been synonymous with mining in Saskatchewan and around the world for a very long time. Their knowledge and proficiency around mining and uranium is unrivaled and supports our pillars of exploration and expansion being supported by experience and expertise. Conventional mining involves removing mineralized rock from the ground, grinding, sorting and separating out what we want from what we don't. Solution mining otherwise known as ISL (in-situ leaching) or ISR (in-situ recovery) leaves the ore where it is in the ground, recovery is done by dissolving the minerals we want from the ore and pumping up the pregnant solution to the surface where we can recover it resulting in little disturbance and no tailings or waste rock generated. This provides low capital costs relative to conventional mining providing Traction a key technological partner post discovery and supports our plans for adding more properties in North America."

Technological Overview: The uranium in-situ recovery process is proposed to mine deposits that are difficult to justify mine development due to either not enough uranium or too high of radiation. The technology can potentially utilize drilling and cracking to create passage for the lixiviant through the ore body to extract the uranium in-situ potentially utilizing the current freezing technology used at Cameco's Cigar Lake to encapsulate the orebody for the in-situ recovery.

The apparatus at SRC is called the Core Flooding Machine. It can stimulate the overburden pressure and pumping pressure during recovery. It uses drill cores and the evolution of permeability and uranium extraction as a function of time and amount of injection lixiviant are recorded and monitored. CONTINUED Read 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:

Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) (TSX: CCO) released its 2021 Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Report recently. The report illustrates Cameco's integration of ESG principles and practices in its overall strategy and day-to-day operations, including 2021 performance metrics and feature stories highlighting the company's ESG commitments and targets.

In this report, Cameco has incorporated the relevant ESG performance indicators issued by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and continued its progress toward integrating the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The report can be downloaded or read online at www.cameco.com/esg.

Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (NYSE American: PLG) (TSX: PTM) recently announced that it has filed a final short form base shelf prospectus (the "Shelf Prospectus") with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada and a corresponding registration statement on Form F-10 (the "Registration Statement") with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") under the Multijurisdictional Disclosure System established between Canada and the United States.

The Shelf Prospectus and the Registration Statement, when made effective, will enable the Company to make offerings of up to US$250 million of common shares, debt securities, warrants, subscription receipts or a combination thereof of the Company from time to time, separately or together, in amounts, at prices and on terms to be determined based on market conditions at the time of the offering and as set out in an accompanying prospectus supplement, during the 25-month period that the Shelf Prospectus and Registration Statement remain effective.

Baselode Energy Corp. (OTCQB: BSENF) (TSXV: FIND) recently provided an update for the ongoing 20,000 metre diamond drilling program (the "Program") on the ACKIO high-grade uranium discovery ("ACKIO"), Hook project ("Hook"), Athabasca Basin area (the "Basin"), northern Saskatchewan (see Figure 1 and Table 1).

"Four of these reported drill holes now rank amongst the top six in composite radioactivity results, as Baselode continues to expand upon its ACKIO near-surface discoveries. These results demonstrate high levels of radioactivity but also considerable widths of mineralization. Additionally, results from AK22-063 suggest that we've discovered another near-surface zone. The remainder of the drill program will seek to delineate the extent of these near-surface zones as they remain open in all directions. These discoveries are very shallow, with mineralization beginning 25 metres from surface at the overburden contact, similar to the open-pit mines in the Athabasca's history, most notably Rabbit Lake, Cluff Lake, and Uranium City operations," said James Sykes, CEO, President and Director of Baselode.

NexGen Energy Ltd. (NYSE: NXE) (TSX: NXE) recently submitted a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment (ENV) and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), a major milestone in the advancement of regulatory approvals for the 100-per-cent-owned Rook 1 project. The EIS submission included letters of support for the project from each of the Clearwater River Dene Nation (CRDN), Birch Narrows Dene Nation (BNDN) and Buffalo River Dene Nation (BRDN), which all have also endorsed the project through the execution of benefit agreements with NexGen covering the entire lifespan of the project.

The submission of the draft EIS follows the provincial and federal environmental assessment (EA) processes that commenced in April, 2019, following regulatory acceptance of NexGen's project description. The project, located in the uranium-rich district of Saskatchewan's southwestern Athabasca basin, includes underground and surface facilities to support the mining and processing of uranium ore from the Arrow deposit.

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:

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+1(561)325-8757

SOURCE Financialnewsmedia.com
Launching Hemp CBD Wellness Benefits is an Industry First

DENVER, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - (TSX: CWEB) (OTCQX: CWBHF) Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. ("Charlotte's Web," "CW" or the "Company"), the market leader in full-spectrum hemp extract CBD products, is the first company to achieve formulary approval and inclusion of its products in SBM LLC's exclusive employee benefits program. Through this employer-sponsored benefit plan, US employers can now confidently provide employees and their pets with coverage and access to Charlotte's Web products as an alternative health and wellness therapy.

"With almost 4,000 CBD brands for sale in the U.S., we are selecting Charlotte's Web as our flagship full-spectrum hemp extract offering," said Bryan Perry, Chief Commercial Officer. Attaining SBM product formulary inclusion required Charlotte's Web to show proof of clinical human safety data. In addition, Charlotte's Web must demonstrate ongoing good quality manufacturing, lot-specific product labelling matching certificates of authenticity, customer education, and attractive pricing.

In an economy increasingly affected by high levels of employee burnout and resignation, employers are turning to new and meaningful benefits to attract and retain talent. Now more than ever, natural alternatives for wellness are requested by employees to support general health and wellness including: mental well-being, sleep, sports, and recovery or discomfort. Supplement benefit management from SBM provides employers the ability to cover natural therapies and wellness alternatives to improve employee well-being, recruitment and retention, and lower overall healthcare costs. Employers are able to "bolt-on" this benefit as an adjunct to traditional health insurance. This provides employees with trusted products, education, and the ability to track how these therapies affect their health and wellness.

"Through this program, product experience data reveals where natural care and cost choices produce better results for both employers and employees," said SBM Chief Operating Officer Rodney Nuss. "Employee engagement can be some employers' best-practice solution for controlling costs and improving health outcomes. Now employers have the option to add hemp-based wellness coverage with a built-in employee engagement platform to support a healthy workforce and healthy company."

Starting in July 2022, employers can directly enroll in the SBM program and determine the desired level of coverage provided for each employee on a monthly or annual basis. Then employees simply opt-in and gain access to the program through their MySBM app. SBM represents a 'benefit with a real benefit' for those employers who are struggling to attract and retain employees. SBM estimates up to 50,000 employees will participate in the program within twelve months.

"We celebrate our launch into this category as the lead partner with SBM," said Jacques Tortoroli, Charlotte's Web Chief Executive Officer. "Expanding access to CBD through the employee benefits programs is yet another way Charlotte's Web is fulfilling its mission for broad consumer access for everyday hemp wellness. Wider access and visibility for hemp-wellness empower people to make more informed health and wellness decisions."

Employers can learn more about how to lower costs and help employees achieve better health by contacting SBM at 877-726-2363 (877-SBM-Bene) or [email protected].

About SBM, LLC.

Supplemental Benefit Management, LLC (SBM), headquartered in Colorado, is an innovative benefit management company providing voluntary "bolt-on" benefit offering targeting specific health and wellness areas for humans and pets as part of employer sponsored employee benefit plans. Founded by healthcare, technology, and benefit executives with a proven history of disrupting traditional markets, SBM is at the forefront of merging natural products, consumer experience, and workforce needs to provide an industry first solution for controlling costs and improving health outcomes. The SBM offering includes an exclusive product formulary with best-in-class products and pricing, coupled with an employee engagement solution providing products, education and outcomes tracking for meaningful health and wellness areas.

About Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.

Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc., a Certified B Corporation headquartered in Denver, is the market leader in innovative hemp extract wellness products under a family of brands which includes Charlotte's Web, CBD Medic, CBD Clinic, and Harmony Hemp. Charlotte's Web branded premium quality products start with proprietary hemp genetics that are 100-percent American farm -grown using organic and regenerative cultivation practices. The Company's hemp extracts have naturally occurring botanical compounds including cannabidiol ("CBD"), CBC, CBG, terpenes, flavonoids, and other beneficial compounds. The Company's CW Labs R&D division advances hemp science at two centers of excellence in Louisville, Colorado, and the Hauptmann Woodward Research Institute at the University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network. Web product categories include full-spectrum hemp CBD oil tinctures (liquid products), CBD gummies (sleep, stress, exercise recovery), CBD capsules, CBD topical creams and lotions, as well as CBD pet products for dogs. Through its vertically integrated business model, Charlotte's Web maintains stringent control over product quality and consistency with 20+ product lot testing for quality assurance. Charlotte's Web products are distributed to more than 15,000 retail, over 8,000 health care practitioners, and online through the Company's website at www.CharlottesWeb.com. Charlotte's Web's mission is "To unleash the healing powers of botanicals with compassion and science, benefitting the planet and all who live upon it."

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Specifically, this news release contains forward-looking information relating to, among others: the future of Charlotte's Web and the impacts of management changes.

Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's current expectations, estimates and projections regarding the future of our business, future plans, strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of this news release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. The material factors and assumptions used to develop the forward-looking information herein include, but are not limited to, the following: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the regulatory climate in which the Company currently operates and may in the future operate; consumer interest in CBD; successful sales of the Company's products; and the success of sales and marketing activities. Important factors that could cause actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking information include, among others, the factors discussed throughout the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 available on www.SEDAR.com and www.sec.gov , and other risk factors contained in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available on www.sec.gov and filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities available on www.sedar.com. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking information, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

SOURCE Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.
Download an Exclusive Sample Report to gain access to further insights and analysis

Market Dynamics

The decrease in child mortality rate is driving the growth of the child daycare services market. However, factors such as the increased cost of raising children may challenge the growth of the market.

Company Profiles

Some of the companies covered in this report are Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc., Busy Bees Daycare LLC, Cadence Education LLC, G8 Education Ltd., Global Childrens Center, Goddard Systems Inc., Growing Room, JP-Holdings Inc., Kids R Kids International Inc., and KinderCare Learning Centers LLC, etc. The key offerings of some of the vendors are listed below:

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. - The company offers children's daycare services such as Infant Program, Toddler Program, and others.

The company offers children's daycare services such as Infant Program, Toddler Program, and others. Busy Bees Daycare LLC - The company offers children's daycare services such as Summer Program, Full-Time Program, and others.

The company offers children's daycare services such as Summer Program, Full-Time Program, and others. Cadence Education LLC - The company offers children's daycare services such as Infant Care , Preschool, and others.

The company offers children's daycare services such as , Preschool, and others. G8 Education Ltd. - The company offers children's daycare services through its subsidiary, Jellybeans Child Care and Kindergarten.

The company offers children's daycare services through its subsidiary, Jellybeans Child Care and Kindergarten. Global Childrens Center - The company offers before and after care services for 14 elementary schools in Montogomery County.

Competitive Analysis

The report includes the competitive analysis, 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 three years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.

Parent Market Analysis

The global children day care services market has been categorized as a part of the global specialized consumer services market within the global diversified consumer services market. The parent market, the global specialized consumer services market, covers revenue generated by the consumer service providers, including residential services, home security services, legal services, personal services, renovation, and interior design services, consumer auction services, wedding services, and funeral services.

Market Segmentation

By application, the market is classified into center-based and home-based segments. The center-based segment will contribute the largest share of the market. Center-based children's daycare facilities focus on developing the overall personality of children. Their curriculum promotes literacy, language development, personality development, and others. These beneficial factors are increasing the demand for center-based children's daycare facilities.

segment will contribute the largest share of the market. Center-based children's daycare facilities focus on developing the overall personality of children. Their curriculum promotes literacy, language development, personality development, and others. These beneficial factors are increasing the demand for center-based children's daycare facilities. By geography, the market is classified as APAC, Europe , North America , South America , and MEA. APAC will have the largest share of the market.

To learn about the contribution of each segment of the market, View an Exclusive Sample Report

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Emergency Medical Services Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Children Day Care Services Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 9.23% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 176.29 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 8.01 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution APAC at 32% Key consumer countries China, US, India, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc., Busy Bees Daycare LLC, Cadence Education LLC, G8 Education Ltd., Global Childrens Center, Goddard Systems Inc., Growing Room, JP-Holdings Inc., Kids R Kids International Inc., and KinderCare Learning Centers LLC 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 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

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market ecosystem

Value chain analysis

Market Sizing

Market definition

Market segment analysis

Market size 2020

Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

Five Forces Analysis

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

Market Segmentation by Application

Market segments

Comparison by Application

Center-based - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Home-based - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Market opportunity by Application

Customer landscape

Geographic Landscape

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Key leading countries

Market opportunity by geography

Market drivers

Market challenges

Market trends

Vendor Landscape

Landscape disruption

Vendor Analysis

Vendors covered

Market positioning of vendors

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.

Cadence Education LLC

G8 Education Ltd.

Global Childrens Center

Goddard Systems Inc.

Growing Room

JP-Holdings Inc.

Kids R Kids International Inc.

KinderCare Learning Centers LLC

Appendix

Scope of the report

Currency conversion rates for US$

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

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PHILADELPHIA , July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Greystar, a global leader in the investment, development, and management of high-quality rental housing properties, welcomes the renowned Japanese-Peruvian restaurant Chotto Matte's new location to Jessup House, Greystar's flagship community at the corner of 12th and Sansom Streets. Chotto Matte has a targeted opening date in the third quarter of 2023.

Started in London's chic SoHo neighborhood by renowned restauranteur Kurt Zdesar, Chotto Matte combines Nikkei cuisine  a synthesis between the culinary traditions of Peru and Japan  with best-in-class architecture to create a lifestyle experience for patrons. The restaurant is centered around its bar and robata grill that offer a unique and lively atmosphere focused on the highest quality food and the experience of enjoying it. Chotto Matte has locations in London, Miami and Toronto and will be opening stores in Doha and San Francisco in 2022 and in Riyadh, Los Angeles and Nashville in 2023. Jessup House will be the restaurant's fourth U.S. location.

"We are thrilled to have an authentic, innovative restaurant such as Chotto Matte at Jessup House," George Hayward, Senior Director of Development, said. "There is nothing like the Chotto Matte concept in Philadelphia today. Jessup House is a hub that connects several neighborhoods that offer some of the best dining in the city and Chotto Matte will add a new experience for residents and visitors alike."

"We are very excited to bring Chotto Matte's unique offer to Philadelphia," Kurt Zdesar, Chotto Matte Founder, said. "Jessup House, being at the intersection of three lively neighborhoods, is the perfect spot for introducing our vibrant concept to the city."

Jessup House is a 20-story high-rise that broke ground in summer 2021. It sits at the intersection of Midtown Village, the Gayborhood, Market East and Washington Square. The only remaining retail space is approximately 1,200 sq. ft. that that opens into the Jessup House lobby and is targeted for coffee shop or cafe.

Paige Jaffe, Managing Director, and Mallory Scaccetti, Sr. VP, of JLL represented Greystar in the transaction.

About Greystar

Greystar is a leading, fully integrated real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development, and management of rental housing properties globally. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Greystar manages and operates approximately $230 billion of real estate in 215 markets globally including offices throughout North America, Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, manages more than 754,000 units/beds, and has a robust institutional investment management platform with more than $49.9 billion of assets under management, including $22.6 billion of development assets. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 with the intent to become a provider of world-class service in the rental residential real estate business. To learn more, visit www.greystar.com.

About Chotto Matte

Chotto Matte is a global restaurant brand set up in London in 2013 by renowned restaurateur Kurt Zdesar. Chotto Matte restaurants celebrate the very best of authentic and innovative Nikkei cuisine, set in vibrant, stylish architectural spaces, in exciting city locations around the world. Nikkei is a unique blend of Japanese and Peruvian culinary traditions, a lively combination of ingredients and techniques. Chotto Matte's innovative menu stays true to the Nikkei staples  Ceviche, Tiradito, Anticucho BBQ, Sushi, Sashimi and Tempura  while ensuring the ingredients are organic and sustainably sourced.

Links:

www.chotto-matte.com

@chottomattesf

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SOURCE Greystar
FRANKLIN, Tenn., July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE: CHCT) today announced that on Tuesday evening, August 2, 2022, after the market closes, it will report results for the second quarter of 2022.

On August 3, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. Central Time, Community Healthcare Trust will hold a conference call to discuss earnings results, quarterly activities, general operations of the Company and industry trends. Simultaneously, a webcast of the conference call will be available to interested parties via an Internet link at www.chct.reit under the Investor Relations section. A webcast replay will be available following the call at the same Internet site address.

Conference Call Details

Domestic Dial-In Number: 1-888-347-1332

International Dial-In Number: 1-412-902-4278

Canada Toll Free: 1-855-669-9657

Replay Conference Call Details

Domestic Dial-In Number: 1-877-344-7529

International Dial-In Number: 1-412-317-0088

Canada Toll Free: 1-855-669-9658

Conference ID: 1203917

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated is a real estate investment trust that focuses on owning income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services in our target sub-markets throughout the United States. The Company had investments of approximately $843.8 million in 158 real estate properties (including a portion of one property accounted for as a financing lease) as of March 31, 2022, located in 34 states, totaling approximately 3.4 million square feet.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that 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, pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expects", "may", "should", "seeks", "approximately", "intends", "plans", "estimates", "anticipates" or other similar words or expressions, including the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and can include future expectations, future plans and strategies, financial and operating projections or other forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Because forward-looking statements relate to future events, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of the Company's control. Thus, the Company's actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements. Some factors that might cause such a difference include the following: general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of the Company's common stock, changes in the Company's business strategy, availability, terms and deployment of capital, the Company's ability to refinance existing indebtedness at or prior to maturity on favorable terms, or at all, changes in the real estate industry in general, interest rates or the general economy, adverse developments related to the healthcare industry, the degree and nature of the Company's competition, the ability to consummate acquisitions under contract, effects on global and national markets as well as businesses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the other factors described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Readers are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained herein which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company intends these forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of this release and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

CONTACT: David H. Dupuy, 615-771-3052

SOURCE Community Healthcare Trust, Inc.
DALLAS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Crossplane Capital ("Crossplane") is pleased to announce the first and final closing of its second private equity investment fund, Crossplane Capital Fund II, L.P. ("Fund II") above its $325 million target. With the closing of Fund II, Crossplane has raised over $730 million since its founding in 2018, including co-investment vehicles. Fund II will continue to target lower middle market industrial companies that are family and founder owned and seeking an operational and financial partner or are companies going through a complex situation such as a carve-out or a restructuring.

"We are grateful and humbled by the significant interest from existing and new investors in Crossplane, which allowed us to raise Fund II in three months," said Crossplane Managing Partner, Brian Hegi. "Given our focus on the lower middle market, we limited the size of Fund II, which is made up of our existing investors and a select number of new investors that have been close to our firm since our founding."

Since the first closing of Crossplane's inaugural fund in July 2019, Crossplane has closed six platform investments and 20 add-on acquisitions in its target sectors of industrial business services, value added distribution and niche manufacturing.

"Crossplane has built a brand for being a value-added financial and operational partner to families, founders and management teams that seek transformational growth," said Crossplane Managing Partner, Ben Eakes. "Through Fund II, we look forward to establishing new management partnerships where we can leverage our operational and strategic toolkits to create step function improvements in financial and operational performance."

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld acted as fund counsel for Crossplane.

About Crossplane Capital

Founded in 2018, Crossplane Capital is a Dallas-based private equity firm that makes control investments in niche manufacturing, value-added distribution and industrial business services companies. The firm seeks to partner with lower-middle market companies to enhance financial performance and generate strategic value creation. For more information, please visit www.crossplanecapital.com.

SOURCE Crossplane Capital
UofSC and DartPoints Partner to Improve University's IT Agility

COLUMBIA, S.C., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- DartPoints , the leading edge digital infrastructure provider, announces today that it has formed an innovative technology partnership with the University of South Carolina . DartPoints will provide a custom Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) solution, which replaces the university's current data center.

DartPoints' custom SDDC cloud solution will significantly improve the university's IT agility. It adheres to UofSC's compliance requirements while providing the multi-tenancy of a public cloud infrastructure. The solution enables UofSC to reduce capital expenditures while improving functionality, reliability, and security.

"We needed a reputable provider that was readily available to ensure our team always has access to the critical data that keeps our campuses running across the state," said Dan Schumacher, executive director of infrastructure services at UofSC. "DartPoints is the ideal partner for our university and its solution is easy to use, highly configurable, and provides the comprehensive services we require."

Schumacher said moving information into a cloud-based data center will improve the university's disaster recovery capabilities and protect critical applications in the event of a catastrophic event. In addition, hosting compute services and file share services in the cloud improves efficiency and resilience because the time to respond to issues will be significantly reduced since there is no need to wait on shipping times or face equipment shortages that have occurred since COVID-19.

The University of South Carolina is leading the way for cloud-based data centers, as not many universities have fully adopted the model. Doug Foster, vice president for information technology and chief information officer for UofSC, said, "We are committed to the continuous improvement of our services to best meet the needs of our Gamecock community. This is one example of how we offer cutting-edge IT services that evolve with the ever-changing landscape. I am proud to be a part of this adventure with this great university and a talented group of employees."

An SDDC architecture helps organizations accelerate delivery of technology services while retaining control over IT, minimizing complexity, and reducing costs. It is an ideal solution for government agencies, hospitals, higher education institutions, and any organization that needs to respond quickly to demands for IT resources.

"The university had a number of factors that needed to be addressed, including latency, data location, cost, and technical expertise," said Brad Alexander, DartPoints' CTO. "We were able to work with UofSC's team to develop a customized solution that addresses all of their needs, and we believe that similar solutions can help other large institutions."

DartPoints has been providing multi-tenant cloud, network connectivity, and managed services in South Carolina for over a decade, from its four active data centers in the state, located in Columbia , Greenville , North Charleston, and Spartanburg . DartPoints offers unmatched support and technical expertise backed by tenured and continuously upskilled technicians.

About The University of South Carolina

The University of South Carolina is the flagship institution in the state. The public university has seven satellite campuses, in addition to the main campus that is located in Columbia, the state capital. Founded in 1801, the university is a Research 1 institution and offers more than 300 programs of study, from bachelor's to doctorate. The university has an approximate student enrollment of 35,3000 students and awards more than 9,000 degrees each year.

The Division of Information Technology works to help fulfill the academic mission of the University of South Carolina by providing technology services that maximize productivity, increase collaboration, and improve service. We strive to provide repeatable, reliable, and consistent IT services to our constituents, who span across the eight-campus system. More than 170 highly skilled individuals are employed by the division.

About DartPoints

DartPoints is the leading digital infrastructure provider enabling next-generation applications at the edge. By weaving together cloud, interconnection, colocation, and managed services, DartPoints enables edge ecosystems for enterprises, carriers, and cloud and content providers. DartPoints is building tomorrow's distributed digital infrastructure while serving today's cloud and colocation needs  and helping to bridge the digital divide. Visit us online at www.dartpoints.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter .

For media inquiries, please contact:

Jaymie Scotto & Associates (JSA)

+1 866.695.3629 ext. 19

[email protected]

SOURCE DartPoints
SAN DIEGO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Raving Consulting announced that data security experts Stephen Bailey, Vice President of Information Technology at Cache Creek Casino Resort and Andrew Cardno, CTO of Quick Custom Intelligence will be discussing important data privacy and cyber security practices at the Casino Marketing & Technology Conference. The conference will be held at the South Point Casino Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas, July 12th -14th 2022.

Deana Scott, CEO of Raving, said, "Not only are we thrilled to be bringing back an industry event that has informed and motivated thousands of operators since 2003, we are pleased to welcome Stephen Bailey and Andrew Cardno to share their real-world experiences."

Andrew Cardno, CTO & Co-Founder of QCI said, "The Casino Marketing & Technology Conference is an industry leading event where thought leaders from across the industry are able to collaborate, develop ideas and share best practices. The learnings shared at the CMTC provide an invaluable toolset for developing effective business plans in this volatile marketplace."

ABOUT RAVING

Raving was founded in 1998 and is a Native-owned, women-managed organization. For over two decades, Raving has partnered with over 152 Tribal Nations and enterprises and 71 commercial properties along with First Nations throughout Canada and internationally in Europe and Asia. From years on the casino floor, we understand all aspects of your gaming and resort operations and the challenges and sticky situations gaming executives face. We pride ourselves on building custom programs tailored to your needs, utilizing evidence-based methodologies to identify the root cause and create lasting solutions.

Our team of over 20 strategic partners, all experienced gaming and hospitality professionals, support Tribal organizations and commercial casinos worldwide in strategically improving their overall operations. Raving produces several events and publications including Raving Host and Player Development Conference; Raving NEXT: Indian Gaming Analytics and Marketing Conference; Casino Marketing and Technology Conference; Tribal Gaming & Hospitality Magazine. Visit www.betravingknows.com to subscribe to our publications or contact Daniel Wood [email protected], 775-329-7864 to find out more about Raving's products and services.

ABOUT QCI

The QCI Platform aligns player development, marketing and gaming with powerful real-time operational tools developed for the gaming and hospitality industries. QCI has installed their ground-breaking, highly configured software in 55 casino resorts in North America and in over 3,000 sites worldwide. QCI products provide tooling for gaming operators managing over $20 billion in annual gross gaming revenue, these products are built on the QCI Platform, a best-in-class on-premise, hybrid or cloud-based technology that enables fully coordinated activities across gaming or hospitality operations. This data-driven software allows for quick, informed decisions in the ever-changing world of the casino industry and assists casinos in their efforts to optimize resources and profits, manage marketing campaigns and increase customer loyalty. QCI was founded by Dr. Ralph Thomas and Mr. Andrew Cardno. Based in San Diego, QCI also has offices in Las Vegas, St. Louis, Dallas & Phoenix. Main phone number: (858) 299.5715 www.QuickCustomIntelligence.com

SOURCE Quick Custom Intelligence
NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Deerpath Capital Management, LP ("Deerpath"), one of the largest providers of customized, cash-flow based senior debt financing to lower-middle market companies across North America, today announced the reset of Deerpath CLO 2018-1, a $310 million collateralized loan obligation (CLO).

The repricing of Deerpath's CLO 2018-1 represents the sixth CLO issued by Deerpath since 2018 and brings the firm's total CLO assets under management to approximately $1.8 billion. This is the second CLO issued by Deerpath this year, having closed Deerpath CLO 2022-1 at $375 million in May. Like all of the firm's existing CLOs, Deerpath CLO 2018-1 is secured by a portfolio of senior secured loans to middle market, private equity-backed companies, which have been primarily directly originated by the firm.

Deerpath sold securities rated from AAA through BBB- to third-party institutional investors, including insurance companies, pension funds, banks, and asset managers. Deerpath's managed funds purchased 100 percent of the subordinated notes issued by the CLO. The repriced CLO has a three-year reinvestment period.

Derek Dubois, Managing Director and Treasurer said, "Deerpath has continued to access the CLO market during 2022 despite the ongoing volatility in the broader markets. This is a testament to the strength of our growing lending and CLO platform. We are very excited to have locked in attractive long term portfolio financing for our fund investors."

The news also follows Deerpath launching its newest international office last month in London, England, to better serve European institutional demand for Deerpath's differentiated private credit solutions.

GreensLedge Capital Markets LLC served as Lead Placement Agent, Structuring Agent and Bookrunner. KeyBanc Capital Markets served as Co-Placement Agent.

About Deerpath Capital Management, LP

Founded in 2007, Deerpath Capital Management, LP is one of the largest providers of customized, cash-flow based senior debt financing to lower-middle market companies across diverse industries. For more information, please visit www.deerpathcapital.com .

Media

Aidan O'Connor

Prosek Partners (On behalf of Deerpath Capital)

(646) 818-9283

[email protected]

SOURCE Deerpath Capital Management, LP
COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Demotech, Inc., the first to review and rate independent, regional and specialty insurers, has assigned a Financial Stability Rating (FSR) of A, Exceptional, to Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company, Inc. This level of FSR is assigned to insurers who possess exceptional financial stability, readily available, liquid invested assets to honor claims, an acceptable level of financial leverage, and reasonable loss and loss adjustment expense reserves, based upon their commitments.

Demotech's President and co-founder, Joseph Petrelli, stated, "It is our pleasure to add Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company, Inc. to the growing list of Demotech rated carriers. In my opinion, the creation of this company is an enlightened example of a public-private relationship as well as the intersection of the concepts of environmental, social, and governance."

"My board of directors and I are very gratified to get this rating," said Michael Maglaras, Principal of Michael Maglaras & Company, the outsourced management company supplying Superintendent services to CFSIC. "The Demotech assessment process is vigorous and highly detailed. We had no idea about the outcome in advance, and we are enormously pleased with this recognition of our operational excellence."

About Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company, Inc.

Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company, Inc. is chartered and licensed as a captive insurer to assist the State of Connecticut with the fair and equitable adjustment of homeowner claims resulting from the pyrrhotite-affected home foundations natural disaster. Its mission is to use its available resources to adjust and pay claims for the rebuilding of as many pyrrhotite-affected home foundations as those resources will permit. Visit www.crumblingfoundations.org for additional information and disclosures.

About Demotech, Inc.

Demotech, Inc. is a financial analysis firm specializing in evaluating the financial stability of independent, regional and specialty insurers. Since 1985, Demotech has served the insurance industry by assigning Financial Stability Ratings (FSRs) for Property & Casualty insurers and Title underwriters. Demotech's philosophy is to review and evaluate insurers based on their area of focus and execution of their business model rather than solely on financial size. Demotech was the first to review and rate independent regional and specialty insurers. Visit www.demotech.com for additional information on how we can assist you.

SOURCE Demotech, Inc.
TORONTO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Denison Mines Corp. ("Denison" or the "Company") (TSX: DML) (NYSE: DNN) is pleased to announce that it has received approval from the Province of Saskatchewan to prepare, construct, and operate the facilities required to carry out the In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") Feasibility Field Test ("FFT") planned for the Phoenix deposit at the Company's 95% owned Wheeler River project. View PDF version

The approval was granted by the Saskatchewan Minister of Environment (the "Minister") and authorizes Denison to operate "pollutant control facilities"  which is typical for mining operations and allows for the management of material recovered from mineral extraction through to waste water treatment, discharge, and storage (as applicable). The approval followed the completion of a process involving the review of and consultation on the Company's permit application and supporting materials related to the FFT.

Kevin Himbeault, Denison's Vice President of Plant Operations & Regulatory Affairs, commented "We are pleased to have received approval from the Province of Saskatchewan to prepare and operate the Phoenix FFT. This is a significant advancement for the FFT, which is a key step in the process of de-risking the proposed Phoenix ISR uranium mining operation and is expected to provide important details to support the ongoing Feasibility Study. Overall, Denison was pleased with the permit submission, review, and community consultation process  as it reflected a shared objective of all interested parties to ensure the safe and environmentally responsible operation of the facilities required to complete the FFT."

David Cates, Denison's President & CEO, added "The permitting of the FFT is an excellent demonstration of our team's technical and regulatory capabilities. The FFT represents a first-of-its-kind test of a uranium mining method that is new to Canada. Successfully navigating the regulatory environment in Saskatchewan to develop conditions for the oversight of a novel advanced field test is a notable accomplishment for both the Denison team and the regulatory team from the Ministry of the Environment."

With receipt of the Approval to Operate Pollutant Control Facilities from the Minister, preparation and construction of the FFT facilities, described below, are now fully authorized and are expected to commence shortly.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has determined that a Nuclear Substance License is also required for Denison to possess and store a nuclear substance (mineralized solution containing uranium) resulting from the operation of the FFT. The process to obtain this license is well advanced, and the licence is expected to be received before the site preparation and commissioning activities are completed.

This press release constitutes a "designated news release" for the purposes of the Company's prospectus supplement dated September 28, 2021, to its short form base shelf prospectus dated September 16, 2021.

Feasibility Field Test

The FFT is designed to use the existing commercial-scale ISR test pattern ("Test Pattern"), installed at Phoenix in 2021 (see news releases dated July 29, 2021 and October 28, 2021), to facilitate a combined assessment of the Phoenix deposit's hydraulic flow properties with the leaching characteristics that have been assessed through the metallurgical core-leach testing program. Overall, the FFT is intended to provide further verification of the permeability, leachability, and containment parameters needed for the successful application of the ISR mining method at Phoenix and is expected to validate and inform various feasibility study design elements  including the production and remediation profiles expected for the project.

The operation of the FFT is planned to occur in three phases: (1) the leaching phase, (2) the neutralization phase, and (3) the recovered solution management phase.

The majority of the test activities (leaching and neutralization phase) will occur within an estimated 60-day operating time frame, with the construction and placement of temporary facilities commencing approximately two months prior to the commissioning of the test facilities and initiation of the leaching phase.

The leaching phase is designed to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the leaching process in the mineralized zone, at a depth of approximately 400m below the surface. The leaching phase includes the controlled injection of an acidic solution into a portion of the existing Test Pattern within the mineralized zone (the "Leaching Zone") and the recovery of the solution back to the surface using existing test wells. The recovered solution from the leaching phase is expected to contain dissolved minerals, including uranium, copper, iron, molybdenum, and zinc. Once on surface, the recovered solution (up to a maximum of 500 cubic metres) will be stored temporarily in tanks in accordance with approved environmental protection containment measures.

The neutralization phase includes the recovery of the remainder of the leached mineralized solution from the Leaching Zone and is intended to verify the efficiency and effectiveness of the process for returning the Leaching Zone to near baseline conditions. During this phase, a mild alkaline (basic) solution will be injected into the Leaching Zone to neutralize the area and reverse the residual effects of the acidic solution injected during the leaching phase. The recovered solution from the neutralization phase (up to a further maximum of 500 cubic metres) will also be stored temporarily on surface in tanks in accordance with approved containment measures.

The recovered solution management phase involves separating the solution recovered from both the leaching phase and the neutralization phase into (i) mineralized precipitates and (ii) a neutralized treated solution. The mineralized precipitate will be temporarily stored on surface in steel tanks and the neutralized treated solution will be re-injected into a designated subsurface area.

FFT Facilit ies

Temporary surface facilities required to complete the FFT are planned to be installed at the Phoenix site during the third quarter of 2022. The procurement of necessary materials, equipment, and supplies, as well as detailed engineering of the facilities are already well advanced.

The FFT site is planned to include the following facilities and infrastructure:

Tanker pad  for storage of tanker trucks used for delivery of reagents to site.

 for storage of tanker trucks used for delivery of reagents to site. Injection solution preparation module  a modular unit where groundwater will be mixed with reagents to prepare the injection solution.

 a modular unit where groundwater will be mixed with reagents to prepare the injection solution. Test pattern coverall building  a tension-fabric building to be built over the test area.

 a tension-fabric building to be built over the test area. Recovered solution surge tank  the surge tank will receive recovered solution from the test wells.

 the surge tank will receive recovered solution from the test wells. Solution storage tanks  six (6) tanks are expected to be installed to provide a total of 1,000 cubic metres of solution storage. These tanks are designed to receive solution pumped from the recovered solution surge tank for temporary storage before separating the recovered solution into mineralized precipitates and a neutralized treated solution during the recovered solution management phase of the FFT.

 six (6) tanks are expected to be installed to provide a total of 1,000 cubic metres of solution storage. These tanks are designed to receive solution pumped from the recovered solution surge tank for temporary storage before separating the recovered solution into mineralized precipitates and a neutralized treated solution during the recovered solution management phase of the FFT. Piping  double-walled transfer piping will run from the recovered solution surge tank (next to the test wells) to the solution storage tanks.

 double-walled transfer piping will run from the recovered solution surge tank (next to the test wells) to the solution storage tanks. Recovered solution management modules  two modular units will be mobilized to site that contain equipment for managing the recovered solutions.

 two modular units will be mobilized to site that contain equipment for managing the recovered solutions. Mineralized precipitate storage tanks  during the recovered solution management phase, the mineralized precipitate will be transferred into fully enclosed and lockable storage tanks. The mineralized precipitate storage tanks will be placed in a secure fenced area for temporary storage.

 during the recovered solution management phase, the mineralized precipitate will be transferred into fully enclosed and lockable storage tanks. The mineralized precipitate storage tanks will be placed in a secure fenced area for temporary storage. Laboratory  a mobile laboratory will be located on site and equipped for bench-scale testing of samples.

 a mobile laboratory will be located on site and equipped for bench-scale testing of samples. Construction / Operations Centre  a mobile office will serve as a construction office and operations centre as well as the main gate entry point for the site.

 a mobile office will serve as a construction office and operations centre as well as the main gate entry point for the site. W ash car and change room  a mobile facility will allow staff to change and wash before and after each shift at the Phoenix site.

 a mobile facility will allow staff to change and wash before and after each shift at the site. Perimeter fence  the entire area (~8,820 square meters) will be fenced and gated to control access and minimize interactions with wildlife.

All civil earthworks required for the FFT site are expected to occur on previously disturbed areas and no additional land clearing is planned.

Figure 1 provides a plan view of the expected FFT site layout. Figures 2 and 3 provide isometric schematics of the site facilities.

Approval to Operate Pollutant Control Facilit ies

Under the terms of the Approval to Operate Pollutant Control Facilities obtained from the Minister, Denison is authorized to construct and operate various regulated elements associated with the FFT, including pollutant control facilities, mineralized precipitate facilities, radon air pollution abatement equipment, and hazardous substances and waste dangerous goods storage facilities.

The approval includes specific operating conditions related to (a) mineralized precipitate, recovered solution and drill cuttings, handling, and transportation, (b) hazardous substances material storage, handling, and transportation, (c) air management, (d) water/wastewater management, and (e) waste handling, transportation, and disposal. Additionally, the approval includes provisions related to inspections, monitoring, reporting, and decommissioning and reclamation.

About Wheeler River

Wheeler River is the largest undeveloped uranium project in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region, in northern Saskatchewan  including combined Indicated Mineral Resources of 132.1 million pounds U 3 O 8 (1,809,000 tonnes at an average grade of 3.3% U 3 O 8 ), plus combined Inferred Mineral Resources of 3.0 million pounds U 3 O 8 (82,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.7% U 3 O 8 ). The project is host to the high-grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits, discovered by Denison in 2008 and 2014, respectively, and is a joint venture between Denison (operator) and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited ("JCU"). Denison has an effective 95% ownership interest in Wheeler River (90% directly, and 5% indirectly through a 50% ownership in JCU).

A PFS was completed for Wheeler River in 2018, considering the potential economic merit of developing the Phoenix deposit as an ISR operation and the Gryphon deposit as a conventional underground mining operation. Taken together, the project is estimated to have mine production of 109.4 million pounds U 3 O 8 over a 14-year mine life, with a base case pre-tax NPV of $1.31 billion (8% discount rate), Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 38.7%, and initial pre-production capital expenditures of $322.5 million. The Phoenix ISR operation is estimated to have a stand-alone base case pre-tax NPV of $930.4 million (8% discount rate), IRR of 43.3%, initial pre-production capital expenditures of $322.5 million, and industry-leading average operating costs of US$3.33/lb U 3 O 8 . The PFS is prepared on a project (100% ownership) and pre-tax basis, as each of the partners to the Wheeler River Joint Venture are subject to different tax and other obligations.

Further details regarding the PFS, including additional scientific and technical information, as well as after-tax results attributable to Denison's ownership interest, are described in greater detail in the NI 43-101 Technical Report titled "Pre-feasibility Study for the Wheeler River Uranium Project, Saskatchewan, Canada" dated October 30, 2018, with an effective date of September 24, 2018. A copy of this report is available on Denison's website and under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

Denison suspended certain activities at Wheeler River during 2020, including the EA process, which is on the critical path to achieving the project development schedule outlined in the PFS. While the EA process has resumed, the Company is not currently able to estimate the impact to the project development schedule outlined in the PFS, and users are cautioned against relying on the estimates provided therein regarding the start of pre-production activities in 2021 and first production in 2024.

About Denison

Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition to its effective 95% interest in the Wheeler River project, Denison's interests in the Athabasca Basin include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill that is contracted to process the ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest Main and Midwest A deposits, and a 66.90% interest in the Tthe Heldeth Tue ("THT", formerly J Zone) and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake property. The Midwest Main, Midwest A, THT and Huskie deposits are each located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill.

Through its 50% ownership of JCU, Denison holds additional interests in various uranium project joint ventures in Canada, including the Millennium project (JCU 30.099%), the Kiggavik project (JCU 33.8123%) and Christie Lake (JCU 34.4508%). Denison's exploration portfolio includes further interests in properties covering ~280,000 hectares in the Athabasca Basin region.

Denison is also engaged in post-closure mine care and maintenance services through its Closed Mines group (formerly Denison Environmental Services), which manages Denison's reclaimed mine sites in the Elliot Lake region and provides related services to certain third-party projects.

Qualified Persons

The disclosure of scientific or technical information related to the FFT or Wheeler River project contained in this release has been reviewed and approved, as applicable, by Mr. David Bronkhorst, P.Eng, Denison's Vice President, Operations or Mr. Andrew Yackulic, P. Geo., Denison's Director, Exploration, who are Qualified Persons in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this news release constitutes 'forward-looking information', within the meaning of the applicable United States and Canadian legislation, concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Denison. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as 'potential', 'plans', 'expects', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates', or 'believes', or the negatives and/or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will' 'be taken', 'occur' or 'be achieved'.

In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the following: expectations with respect to the FFT program, scope, timing and the anticipated results thereof; the expectation that Denison will receive all required permitting for the FFT, including CNSC approvals; and expectations regarding its joint venture ownership interests and the continuity of its agreements with its partners and third parties.

Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Denison to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For example, the modelling and assumptions upon which the work plans for exploration and/or the Wheeler River Project are based may not be maintained after further work is completed. In addition, Denison may decide or otherwise be required to discontinue exploration, testing, evaluation and development work if it is unable to maintain or otherwise secure the necessary resources (such as testing facilities, capital funding, regulatory approvals, etc.). Denison believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and results may differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information. For a discussion in respect of risks and other factors that could influence forward-looking events, please refer to the factors discussed in Denison's Annual Information Form dated March 25, 2022 or subsequent quarterly financial reports under the heading 'Risk Factors'. These factors are not, and should not be construed as being exhaustive.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking information and the assumptions made with respect thereto speaks only as of the date of this news release. Denison does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the date of this news release to conform such information to actual results or to changes in Denison's expectations except as otherwise required by applicable legislation.

Figure 1: Plan map showing location of FFT facilities

Figure 2: Isometric view of the planned FFT site and associated facilities

Figure 3: Isometric view of the coverall building on the FFT site, including test wells,

injection solution preparation module, and recovered solution surge tank

SOURCE Denison Mines Corp.
Company's continuous monitoring technology and real-time alerts will help DPS detect and mitigate against the harmful effects of CO2, bacteria, toxins, and airborne virus threats

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Senseware , a leader in wireless, sensor-based monitoring systems, announced a partnership today with Denver Public Schools (DPS) to help facilitate a healthier indoor air quality environment for students, teachers, and administrators. Senseware will be deploying its comprehensive Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) monitoring solution in all of DPS' 166 schools. This will provide real-time monitoring of air and ventilation conditions in classrooms and other enclosed spaces to detect unhealthy air quality levels due to bacteria, toxins, or high CO2 levels.

DPS is the largest school district in Colorado, serving more than 90,000 students.

"We recognize that maintaining good indoor air quality contributes to the school district's core mission of providing a first-class education," said Joni Rix, Environmental Program Manager, DPS. "The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on Health and Wellness; we know that a data-driven IAQ management program using Senseware is key to taking action and making improvements now and in the future."

Senseware's IAQ monitoring solution uses a unique set of sensors, coupled with a proprietary ventilation performance index developed by the company, to monitor and measure a number of environmental conditionsincluding Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Temperature, Humidity, Particulate Matter (PM), and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). When healthy air quality levels are not and cannot be maintained, administrators can be alerted automatically, allowing them to take immediate action to mitigate potential threats. IAQ is the only customizable solution of its kind on the market and is designed to meet the specific needs and outcomes of any organization.

"We're proud to partner with DPS in helping them achieve their vision of improving the health and wellness of their students and staff," said Serene Almomen, CEO of Senseware. "We saw how crucial air quality was to enabling a safe return to the classroom during the pandemic and with our 43 technology patents, we are providing a future-proof roadmap that will enable schools and other sectors to bolster indoor protections for people, operate more efficiently and improve productivity, all while safeguarding the environment."

Senseware was selected by DPS after a thorough, request for proposal (RFP) process. More than 300 schools nationwide are using Senseware's IAQ monitoring system, including all the DC Public Schools (DCPS). And more than 50,000 of Senseware's sensors have been deployed throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Mexico.

In April, the Biden administration announced its Building Better School Infrastructure Plan , which includes a $500 million grant program to bolster energy efficiency in schools.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Evidence from Scientific Literature about Improved Academic Performance , indoor air quality and adequate ventilation can improve academic performance for students, while reducing the transmission of "infectious agents". However, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), less than 40% of K-12 public schools in the U.S. had made upgrades to or replaced their HVAC systems since the start of the pandemic and only 28% said they were using portable HEPA filtration systems.

About Senseware :

Senseware is a first of its kind sensor-based technology platform with 43 patents. It provides real-time assurance for schools, office buildings, and hospitals in critical areas such as indoor air quality, energy consumption, risk of water leaks, equipment status, and more. Senseware is the only customizable indoor air quality monitoring solution on the market. Visit: www.senseware.co

Press/Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Senseware
The country's most significant development opportunity in modern history selects partner

DRAPER, Utah, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority (Land Authority) has selected Lincoln Property Company (Lincoln), a top national developer, and their local partners, Colmena Group (Colmena) and Wadsworth Development Group (Wadsworth), to execute the first phase of development at The Point in Draper, Utah. The announcement comes after a months-long competitive selection process to identify a partner with demonstrable experience building large-scale, sustainable communities.

Lincoln and its partners (Lincoln-Colmena-Wadsworth) bring decades of experience developing transformative, leading-edge projects centered around the culture and values of the communities they serve. By leveraging Lincoln's national development expertise and tapping into the team's critical local relationships and knowledge, Lincoln-Colmena-Wadsworth will deliver a vibrant development that serves the needs of the community for generations to come.

"Through a rigorous competitive process that engaged qualified firms from across the country, Lincoln-Colmena-Wadsworth rose to the top as a partner who will build what Utahns say they want at the site," said Alan Matheson, The Point executive director. "Their extensive experience, technical expertise, and passion for Utah uniquely positions them to support development that will directly improve Utahns' quality of life for decades to come."

On December 15, 2021, the Land Authority issued a Request for Qualifications and Request for Proposals. A dozen firms initially submitted responses. In March 2022, The Point's selection committee narrowed the field to three outstanding finalists: Catellus Development Corporation, Boyer-Gardner, and Lincoln-Colmena-Wadsworth. The finalists were asked to demonstrate how their proposed approach for the first phase of development at The Point called "The Hub" would align with the public's vision for the site.

"Lincoln and its partners are honored that the Land Authority chose our team to deliver an innovative, community-centric development that leverages sustainable, transit-oriented solutions and celebrates the area's natural beauty and wealth of outdoor opportunities," said Patrick Gilligan of Lincoln Property Company. "We are committed to Utah for the long-term and look forward to continuing to grow our presence in the market."

In addition to their alignment with The Point's Key Vision Elements, Lincoln-Colmena-Wadsworth stood out for their proven success with public-private partnerships, their ability to maximize the public's return on investment, and their commitment to engage with Utahns throughout the development process.

"The Point represents the single largest development site in the country in recent years. Lincoln and our partners are honored that the Land Authority has chosen our team to deliver an innovative, community-centric development that leverages sustainable, transit-oriented solutions and celebrates the area's natural beauty and wealth of outdoor opportunities," said Abbey Ehman, vice president with Lincoln Property Company and spokesperson for the collective team. "We are committed to Utah for the long-term and look forward to strengthening our relationships in the community."

In addition to their alignment with The Point's Key Vision Elements, Lincoln-Colmena-Wadsworth stood out for their proven success with public-private partnerships, their ability to maximize the public's return on investment and their commitment to engage with Utahns throughout the process.

"We are truly grateful to have a team of national and local experts who will help us develop the site 'The Utah Way,'" said Utah State Representative Lowry Snow, co-chair of the Land Authority. "This land is owned by all Utahns, so we look forward to working with the public and our development partner to ensure The Point's unique heritage and promising future are well represented in everything we do."

About The Point

The 600 acres of state-owned property at the current site of the Utah State Prison in Draper is known as "The Point." The site is owned by all Utahns and represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create an iconic Utah development. It is anticipated that The Point will offer affordable housing options, advance innovation, catalyze robust economic growth, provide parks and regional trail connections, demonstrate sustainable practices, protect the environment, and ultimately enhance Utahns' quality of life. More information, including live-streaming, recordings and materials of all public meetings, is publicly available on The Point website at www.thepointutah.org. Follow The Point on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About Lincoln Property Company

Lincoln Property Company (Lincoln), founded in 1965 by its chairman Mack Pogue, is a privately-owned real estate firm offering a full-service platform that includes real estate investment, development, construction management, property management, leasing, asset management, and accounting services. With offices in all major markets across the U.S. and throughout Europe, Lincoln provides the depth and breadth of expertise needed to deliver successful projects worldwide. Lincoln's cumulative development efforts have produced over 150 million square feet of commercial space and over 225,000 multifamily residential units. The firm is one of the Top 10 U.S. Developers of office, industrial, retail, and mixed-use properties, and the second-largest apartment manager in the country. Visit www.lpc.com for more information.

About Colmena Group

Founded in 2008, Colmena Group (Colmena) is a privately-held real estate development and investment company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The managing partners of Colmena have more than 65 combined years of real estate experience, building their reputation on thoughtful stewardship of investment opportunities. Colmena's mission is to build a legacy of quality, long-lasting communities by investing in various real estate asset classes throughout the Intermountain West. Colmena's portfolio includes multifamily, assisted living, commercial office, student housing, research parks, retail, hotel, industrial warehouses, and mixed-use properties. Since its inception, Colmena has developed and invested in real estate projects that built a current portfolio value of more than $1.6 Billion. More information about Colmena and the team can be found at www.colmenagroup.com.

About Wadsworth Development Group

Wadsworth Development Group (WDG) was founded with humble beginnings in 1996 as a vehicle for alternative investments from the leading civil construction company, Ralph L Wadsworth Construction Co. WDG is now a leading, full-service commercial real estate development and management firm. WDG owns and manages multiple platforms including Alpha Development Group, Roots Management Company, and the Salt Lake City Global Logistics Park wherein we develop and manage industrial, multifamily, mobile home communities, office, and hospitality CRE assets. The family's concrete reputation of integrity and quality is key to its success.

About CRTKL

CRTKL is a global architecture, planning, and design practice that began over seven decades ago, and has evolved into a cultural agency to advance positive outcomes in our communities. Focusing on People, Planet, and Positive Design allows us to realize an equitable, climate-positive future; dedicated to inspiring experiences, human wellbeing, and socially responsible outcomes through research-empowered and data-driven design.

SOURCE The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority
For the second year in a row, Dial has partnered with DonorsChoose , an education-focused nonprofit that allows individuals to support public schools. In 2022, Dial will be donating $100,000 to health and wellness projects and 20,000 bottles of hand soap to public school classrooms to enable teachers to promote healthy hygiene habits in their classrooms.

Dial will strengthen the brand's commitment to supporting teachers through a collaboration with TeacherLists, an organization that makes it easier than ever to create, share, and shop school supply lists. In 2022, Dial will provide 21,000 hand soap bottles to teachers through teacher appreciation month, PTO events, and teacher gift packs.

"At Dial, we will continue to make a meaningful difference by working with organizations who share like-minded values with a goal to drive positive impact on the lives of our consumers," says Nicole Vigue, Marketing Director at Henkel. "We are honored to partner with TeacherLists and DonorsChoose, as it allows us to work directly with teachers and gives us the opportunity to show them our appreciation. We are happy to support teachers through this collaboration to help foster healthy handwashing education and give them access to resources and tools they need to support themselves and their students."

"After another unpredictable year, it's more important than ever to show teachers the appreciation they deserve," said Charles Field, CEO of School Family Media. "Teachers influence everyone in their community, from students to parents to other teachers, and we are thrilled that Dial is joining in our mission to support them. In May, Teacher Appreciation Month, School Family Media activated its trusted network of PTO and PTA school community influencers to enthusiastically provide special gifts from Dial, along with other category leading brands, to 100,000 teachers at 2,000 schools across the US."

Dial also enlisted the support of its recently announced Count on Clean Crew to help spread the news about Dial's collaborations with DonorsChoose and TeacherLists. The Count on Clean Crew consists of experts in their field who will continue to communicate Dial's brand mission and initiatives to promote healthy hygiene habits. One such member is Arielle Fodor, or as she is affectionately known on social media, Mrs. Frazzled. Dial is thrilled to enlist Arielle's support as she shares the brand's activations and encourages her audience to get involved on her social channels @mrs.frazzled.

Dial is proud to help support the wellbeing of teachers, students, and their classrooms with the help of DonorsChoose and TeacherLists. Teachers have the great responsibility of molding and shaping students for the future, and Dial wants to ensure that those who are educating the next generation on topics such as healthy hygiene habits have the tools that they need to succeed.

For more information on Dial's collaboration with TeacherLists, visit DialSoap.com/Teachers @Dial and support TeacherLists by following and tagging @TeacherLists and @PTOToday.

About Dial

America's trusted brand for almost 75 years, Dial delivers clean, healthy-looking skin for you and your family with products for Women, Men, and Kids. From bar soap, body wash, and hand soap, our products provide a variety of benefits, including products that offer moisturization, exfoliation or replenishment. Count on Clean. www.dialsoap.com

About Henkel in North America

In North America, Henkel operates across its three business units: Adhesive Technologies, Beauty Care, and Laundry & Home Care. Its portfolio of well-known consumer and industrial brands includes Schwarzkopf hair care, Dial soaps, Persil, Purex, and all laundry detergents, Snuggle fabric softeners as well as Loctite, Technomelt and Bonderite adhesives. With sales close to 6 billion US dollars (5 billion euros) in 2021, North America accounts for 25 percent of the company's global sales. Henkel employs over 8,000 people across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. For more information, please visit www.henkel-northamerica.com , and on Twitter @Henkel_NA .

About TeacherLists

TeacherLists is the single national source of verified school supply lists. TeacherLists make it easier for school administrators and teachers to enter, update, and share supply lists. Busy parents save time and love the convenience of easily finding and shopping their child's classroom-specific lists as requested by the teacher.

About DonorsChoose

DonorsChoose is the leading way to give to public schools. Since 2000, 5.2 million people and partners have contributed $1.2 billion to support over 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. As the most trusted crowdfunding platform for teachers, donors, and district administrators alike, DonorsChoose vets each request, ships the funded resources directly to the classroom, and provides thank yous and reporting to donors and school leaders. Charity Navigator and GuideStar have awarded DonorsChoose, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, their highest ratings for transparency and accountability. For more information, visit www.donorschoose.org.

About School Family Media

As the back-to-school company, for 20-plus years After School Family Media ("ASFM") has helped parents, teachers, and students kick off back-to-school and have a successful year. TeacherLists and PTO Today, ASFM's nationally recognized platforms for school supplies and parent groups, sit at the center of the school community, connecting the world's top brands with school districts, teachers, and parents to ensure that everyone can win back-to-school.

Photo material is available at www.henkel-northamerica.com/press

SOURCE Dial
Company Recognized for Fintech Innovations to Serve Unbanked Women in Emerging Markets

SAN DIEGO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- DreamStart Labs, an award-winning provider of fintech solutions for emerging markets, is pleased to announce it has been named "Most Empowering Digital Banking Technology" at the 2022 World Finance Awards. The annual awards competition, now in its tenth year, showcases market leading companies that have achieved breakthrough innovations in global financial services.

DreamStart Labs wins Worldwide Finance Award for breakthrough innovations in credit scoring and micro-equity for unbanked women in emerging markets

Judges selected DreamStart Labs from thousands of nominees based on its market-leading achievements in credit scoring, predictive analytics, and behavioral science technology for unbanked women. The award also noted the company's innovative new micro-equity solution for informal community banks in emerging markets.

DreamStart Labs was the only Worldwide Finance Award winner that is also a member of the Inclusive Fintech 50, which recognizes the Top 50 technology startups driving financial inclusion for 3 billion underserved people globally.

The company's DreamSave app also recently won four awards at the World Changing Ideas competition hosted by Fast Company magazine, taking home honors in four categories, including "Best Developing World Technology."

"Our passion is to help unbanked people achieve their dreams of a better life," said Wes Wasson, CEO of DreamStart Labs. "We're honored to be recognized for this award, and grateful to be part of a growing number of fintechs making world-class financial services available to people in emerging markets."

About the DreamSave App

DreamSave is an innovative mobile app that helps people in the developing world create "digital savings groups", which act as informal community banks. When a member needs money to expand her small business, send her kids to school, or buy medicine, she requests a short-term loan from her group. As groups meet, DreamSave generates data-driven credit scores that can be used to offer micro-loans and micro-equity to qualifying members. Collectively, these groups manage billions of dollars each year in some of the world's fastest-growing economies.

About DreamStart Labs

DreamStart Labs (www.dreamstartlabs.com) is a social impact fintech startup that helps people in the developing world achieve their dreams of a better life. The company offers award-winning digital banking solutions for underserved people in emerging markets, 80 percent of whom are women. Founded by former Silicon Valley executives, the company is headquartered in California and has operations in multiple countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

About the Worldwide Finance Awards

The Worldwide Finance Awards are sponsored by Acquisition International magazine, a leading monthly business publication focused on news, trends, and analysis for business and finance leaders. First held in 2013, the Worldwide Finance Awards seek to honor companies and individuals that have made notable contributions to the global financial services industry.

Media Contact: Wes Wasson, 619-320-8256

SOURCE DreamStart Labs
Summary:

DRS Imaging's new high-security document digitization facility in Santa Ana meets SOC 2, HIPAA, and CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services) regulations. High-volume scanning of sensitive records is challenging as data and network security violations attract hefty penalties. The new facility will meet the demand for secure scanning in the Santa Ana region.

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SANTA ANA, Calif. , July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - DRS Imaging LLC has launched its newest scanning and document conversion facility in Santa Ana, California. The state-of-the-art bureau is HIPAA-compliant, meets SOC 2 compliance and Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) norms, and is notably one of the few scanning facilities meeting these standards in California, and specifically in Santa Ana.

Incorrect, incomplete or outdated medical information is the number one cause of low-quality healthcare and poor patient outcomes. HIPAA-compliant digital records are a prerequisite to providing high-quality care.

The Santa Ana document conversion facility addresses this need and will be a boon for the region's hospitals, clinics, and government healthcare agencies. The facility is certified by the State of California to process and convert patient records to HIPAA-compliant electronic health records .

The facility also meets the document digitization needs of law enforcement agencies, police and justice departments, and county records offices which must adhere to strict CJIS compliances.

Cliff Newman, Chief Executive Office of DRS Imaging LLC remarked, "This full-production scanning facility is a secured warehouse location that was formerly occupied by a major public safety agency in Orange County. It is ideal for handling sensitive documents such as medical records and case files in access-controlled systems and secured networks. It will completely transform medical and government records management in the area."

Notably, the facility will also be a focal point for DRS Imaging's ongoing Regional Cooperative Agreement Imaging Services contract for the County of Orange.

DRS follows stringent HIPAA security protocols during the scanning process, establishing a chain of trust which is critical for managing confidential documents.

The facility is staffed with over 65 document scanning professionals, expertly trained on industry compliances and security best practices. It also boasts of the latest production scanners and automated data capture technology .

With the launch of this facility, DRS Imaging is well-positioned to provide specialized medical records scanning , county records management services, and government document conversion projects for medical facilities and government agencies throughout the state of California.

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About DRS Imaging: Founded in 1964, DRS Imaging LLC is one of the oldest and largest scanning bureaus in the United States. With scanning facilities in major cities across the US, DRS offers a complete line of on-site and off-site scanning services, including microfilm scanning, document management solutions, and turnkey Check 21 and EMR systems. DRS Imaging has successfully completed more than 50,000 scanning projects, and several of the team have earned the coveted Certified Document Imaging Architect Award from CompTIA for mastery in document conversion.

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SOURCE DRS Imaging
ZURICH and TORONTO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Endogena Therapeutics Inc. announced today that the first patient has been treated in a phase 1/2a clinical study of its lead product, EA-2353, a photoreceptor regeneration treatment for retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

RP is a group of inherited diseases causing slow and progressive retinal degeneration and loss of vision, for which there is currently no treatment for most patients. It is a leading cause of inherited blindness, with an estimated 1.5 million people worldwide presently affected.

EA-2353 takes a novel, small-molecule approach and selectively activates endogenous retinal stem and progenitor cells, which differentiate into photoreceptors and can hence potentially preserve or restore visual function. This gene-independent treatment approach has significant advantages in RP, which has multiple genetic causes. EA-2353 has been granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May 2021.

The phase 1/2a dose-escalation study will examine the safety, tolerability and the preliminary efficacy of EA-2353 administered by intravitreal injection. A total of 14 patients with RP due to any pathologic genetic mutation will be recruited across up to six sites in the USA.

Principal Investigator, Mark Pennesi, MD, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology at the Casey Eye Institute in Oregon, USA, said: "This is very exciting and I am hopeful that this new treatment has the potential to be a major game-changer for patients with RP who currently have no other options."

Matthias Steger, PhD, MBA, CEO of Endogena, said: "It's a tribute to the Endogena team's dedication and firm belief in this new treatment paradigm that we've reached the significant milestone of commencing the first studies in patients with RP. For the first time, we're able to offer real hope to RP patients."

Endogena's artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery platform, combined with cutting edge knowledge of molecular pathways that regulate retinal stem cells and retinal pigment epithelial cells, provides a potential new treatment paradigm to tackle degenerative conditions related to aging and genetic disorders. Beyond EA-2353, other products in Endogena's pipeline include a treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is approaching IND-enabling studies.

About Endogena

Endogena Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical-stage biotech company that discovers and develops first-in-class endogenous regenerative medicines to repair and regenerate tissues and organs. Its approach has the potential to change the way degenerative conditions related to aging and genetic disorders are treated. The concept is based on selective regulation of endogenous adult stem- and progenitor cells for controlled tissue repair by small molecules. Endogena's most advanced programs target degenerative diseases of the eye, including retinitis pigmentosa and geographic atrophy (secondary to AMD). Registered in San Francisco, USA, Endogena is part of the Rejuveron Life Sciences group of companies, with operations based in Rejuveron's state-of-the-art laboratory facilities in Zurich's Bio-Technopark and at JLABS in Toronto, Canada.

For more information, please visit www.endogena.com

Follow us on LinkedIn

See our YouTube channel for a video explaining how EA-2353 works

For more information on the clinical trial, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov (Reference: NCT05392751)

For media enquiries, please contact:

Free Range Communications  [email protected]

+41 79 500 9824

Charles Consultants  [email protected]

+44 7968 726585

SOURCE Endogena Therapeutics
Engineered Wood Products Market 2021-2025: Scope

The report also covers the following areas:

Engineered Wood Products Market 2021-2025: Market Dynamics

Major Driver:

The key factors driving growth in the engineered wood products market are the increasing residential and commercial construction.

Developed economies, such as the US, are planning to invest billions in infrastructural development. The rising focus on infrastructural and real estate development, as well as the construction of new residences and offices, is expected to increase the sales of new wood products and furnishings

.In addition to new construction, the rising demand for wood products is also complemented by the increase in the number of renovation and modification projects across key countries such as the US, China , and India. The rise in the number of multinational and global companies, as well as technology and business parks due to favorable trade relations between countries and government policies such as FDI relaxation, is estimated to increase the demand for office and commercial wood products during the forecast period.

Major Challenges:

The high volatility in raw material prices will be a major challenge for the engineered wood products market during the forecast period.

The cost of wood has increased considerably in recent times. In addition, the prices of raw materials such as chipboard, timber, foam, polish chemical materials, color paints, and hardware used in making furniture have increased. In the past, the profit margins of furniture manufacturers were negatively affected because of the decrease in the gap between production cost increment and vendors' ability to increase the prices of their products in the market.

The price of average-quality furniture has registered an increase of 25%-30% due to the high cost of wood and its shortage. This, in turn, is hindering market growth due to the low purchase rate as a result of the high cost of wood. All these factors are collectively having a negative impact on the profitability of the engineered wood product market, thus reducing the growth.

Refine your marketing strategies by knowing more about drivers & challenges - Request a sample report now!

Engineered Wood Products Market 2021-2025: Segmentation Assessment

Type

Structural Wood I-beams



Glued Laminated Timber



LVL



Others

Geography

Europe



North America



APAC



MEA



South America

To know about the accurate prediction of the contribution of all the segments - Grab a sample!

Engineered Wood Products Market 2021-2025: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will assist engineered wood products market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the engineered wood products market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the engineered wood products market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of engineered wood products market vendors

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SOURCE Technavio
As a major talent-introducing activity of Suzhou, this year's event has received extensive attention and registrations from global high-level talents. 1,964 projects have been collected on the public platform of the main venue, including 1,045 overseas projects and 919 domestic projects. 91.4% of the participants have a master's degree or above, 42.7% have a doctoral degree, and 58.5% have overseas work and study backgrounds.

At present, Suzhou is focusing on key fields such as electronic information, equipment manufacturing, biomedicine, and advanced materials, laying out the chain of talent, industry, and innovation, vigorously promoting the construction of industrial innovation clusters in the digital economy era, and striving to deep integration of industrial and innovation chain. It will constantly open up the stage for innovation and entrepreneurship.

10 Maker Incubation Centers in the US, the UK, the Netherlands and other places simultaneously hold project settlement and incubation contracts; Suzhou Fund of Angel Funds and well-known venture capital institutions have jointly established 12 sub-funds. During the event, the "Suzhou Digital Economy Advanced Professional and Technical Qualification Review Committee" was also established, and the "Suzhou Key Industries Demanded Talent Catalog" was also established to jointly build China Zhangjiagang Innovation Park and Sino-German Joint Training Base for skilled talents.

Now Suzhou focuses on building the "City for Returned Talents". Entrepreneurship Week has held for 14 consecutive years, and become "Golden Brand" for Suzhou talent: it has attracted more than 30,000 global high-end talents. More than 9,000 projects have settled down, and 154 national-level talents have been introduced and trained. Starting from 2020, Suzhou has designated July 10 every year as the "Suzhou Scientist Day" to express respect and courtesy to scientists and talents.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=425213

Caption: The opening ceremony of Entrepreneurship Week

SOURCE The Organizing Committee of Entrepreneurship Week for International Elites in Suzhou
RICHMOND, Va., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BioMech Holdings, LLC , which develops and distributes real-time motion analytics that quantify and improve patient outcomes in the healthcare, sports, wellness, and industrial sectors, is announcing the appointment of Eraj Shirvani, Chairman - Emerging Markets at Credit Suisse, to its board of directors. In this capacity, Shirvani will act in an advisory role, utilizing his vast experience in global finance to provide strategic counsel as BioMech expands into diverse markets.

Eraj Shirvani, Chairman Eraj Shirvani, Chairman

"Healthcare is a global challenge, and Eraj's considerable expertise in maintaining a dialogue across geographic regions will be greatly valued by our executive team," says Carter Brown, President and CEO of BioMech Holdings. "BioMech's breakthrough technology offers healthcare systems in the United States and around the world, the opportunity to efficiently, cost-effectively and objectively monitor human function. Eraj's decades of experience in corporate leadership will provide our company with an invaluable and practical application of his business acumen and corporate strategy, which is pivotal as BioMech strengthens its global brand."

As Chairman - Emerging Markets at Credit Suisse, Shirvani works across all divisions to build, maintain, and grow relationships and strategic dialogue with key clients, regulators, and sovereign entities. Prior to his current role, he was Head of Global Markets in EMEA and Global Head of Solutions.

Shirvani has also served on a number of boards throughout his tenure, including the Board of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) for 12 years. He has also been on the Board of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) and the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). On the philanthropic side, Mr. Shirvani serves on the Accion Board of Directors, a global non-profit committed to creating a financially inclusive world, with a pioneering legacy in microfinance and fintech impact investing. He is currently the Senior Sponsor of Credit Suisse's Steps to Success Mobility Scholarship Program, which funds outstanding students from underrepresented and underprivileged backgrounds.

"We are very excited and honored to welcome Eraj to our board. He is an incredibly accomplished business leader and an experienced board member in both the public and nonprofit sectors. Eraj will be instrumental in helping BioMech navigate towards further success," said BioMech Chairman and Founder Dr. Frank Fornari.

Mr. Shirvani received his B.A. in International Relations and French from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. from Columbia University.

About BioMech

Headquartered in Richmond, Va., BioMech is a leading-edge biotechnology company that develops and distributes real-time motion analytics and artificial intelligence/machine learning solutions, including BioMech Lab and Coretex that quantify and improve outcomes in healthcare, sports/wellness, and industrial sectors. For more information, visit www.biomech.us .

Media Contact

Michele Nachum

Firecracker PR

[email protected]

1-425-698-744

SOURCE BioMech
LAS VEGAS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Everi Holdings Inc. (NYSE:EVRI) announced today that it will release its 2022 second quarter results before the market opens on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, and host a conference call and simultaneous webcast at 11:00 a.m. ET / 8:00 a.m. PT that day.

The conference call may be accessed live over the phone by dialing (201) 689-8471. A replay will be available beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET that day and may be accessed by dialing (412) 317-6671; the PIN number is 13730679. The replay will be available until August 10, 2022. The call will be webcast live and archived at the Company's website at www.everi.com (select "Investors" followed by "Events & Contact").

About Everi Holdings

Everi's mission is to lead the gaming industry through the power of people, imagination and technology. With a focus on player engagement and helping casino customers operate more efficiently, the Company develops entertaining game content and gaming machines, gaming systems, and services for land-based and iGaming operators. The Company is also a preeminent and comprehensive provider of trusted financial technology solutions that power the casino floor while improving operational efficiencies and fulfilling regulatory compliance requirements, including products and services that facilitate convenient and secure cash and cashless financial transactions, self-service player loyalty tools and applications, and regulatory and intelligence software. For more information, please visit www.everi.com, which is updated regularly with financial and other information about the Company.

Contacts:

Investor Relations

Everi Holdings Inc. Everi Holdings Inc. William Pfund Steven Kopjo SVP, Investor Relations Director, Investor Relations 702-676-9513 or [email protected] 702-785-7157 or [email protected]

JCIR

Richard Land, James Leahy

212-835-8500 or [email protected]

SOURCE Everi Holdings Inc.
"Our goal was first and foremost to find someone who has a genuine passion for tacos, storytelling, and the history and culture of tacos in Texas, and Chris is exactly that," said Jag Bath, Favor CEO. "We've delivered over 11 million tacos across Texas since Favor's launch  and as a Texas-born and Texas-based company, needless to say, we take tacos very seriously. We cannot wait for Chris to share his taco journey with the rest of Texas, and really showcase a core component of our state's cuisine and culture."

Flores is a native Texan, born in the city he still calls home  San Antonio  and believes every city across the state has their own story to tell through their tacos.

"I love Texas because of the melting pot of different cultures that have migrated here and adopted the taco into their cuisine," said Chris Flores, Favor's Chief Taco Officer. "I'm so excited for this opportunity to travel Texas while seeing and tasting the different impact the taco has had on each region."

Flores will begin documenting his travels and taco experiences in July 2022, visiting Dallas-Fort Worth as the first stop on his trip. As part of the Chief Taco Officer's journey, Flores will also travel to the greater areas of Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Houston, Lubbock, Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Waco, and more.

In celebration of Favor's new Chief Taco Officer, the on-demand delivery service is also offering Texans free delivery on tacos today. Get $0 delivery fees on any order from the Free Taco Delivery category in the Favor app on Tuesday, July 12, 2022.

To learn more about Flores and share recommendations for taco restaurants across Texas with Favor's Chief Taco Officer, visit favordelivery.com/CTO . Visit Favor's Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , Twitter and Youtube and follow the hashtag #FavorCTO to follow Flores' journey as Chief Taco Officer.

Favor's taco stats across Texas

Total number of tacos delivered across Texas : Over 11 million

Over 11 million Most popular meal time to order tacos: Breakfast

Breakfast Most ordered breakfast tacos: 1) Bean and Cheese 2) Bacon, Egg and Cheese 3) Potato, Egg and Cheese 4) Migas 5) Chorizo and Egg

1) Bean and Cheese 2) Bacon, Egg and Cheese 3) Potato, Egg and Cheese 4) Migas 5) Chorizo and Egg Most ordered taco meat: 1) Chicken Fajita 2) Chorizo 3) Shrimp 4) Beef Fajita 5) Brisket

1) Chicken Fajita 2) Chorizo 3) Shrimp 4) Beef Fajita 5) Brisket Most popular salsa to order with tacos: 1) Roja 2) Poblano 3) Verde 4) Tomatillo 5) Chipotle

1) Roja 2) Poblano 3) Verde 4) Tomatillo 5) Chipotle Most popular side to order with tacos: 1) Salsa 2) Queso 3) Guacamole

1) Salsa 2) Queso 3) Guacamole Most popular drinks to order with tacos: 1) Sweet Tea 2) Coke 3) Coffee 4) Dr Pepper 5) Lemonade

About Favor

Favor is the easiest way to get anything delivered in under an hour. Whether it's lunch at the office, a household shopping list, or those errands you just don't have time for  your delivery driver (we call them Runners) can deliver it in just a few taps. Founded in 2013, in Austin, Texas, Favor currently operates in more than 200 cities across Texas with over 100,000 Runners, who have delivered more than 60 million Favors to date. For more information, visit favordelivery.com and follow Favor on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , Twitter and Youtube .

MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE Favor
SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global flexible packaging market size is expected to reach USD 373.3 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2022 to 2030. Growing consumer driven demand for packaged food and beverage products owing to its convenience and ease of consumption is expected to drive market growth.

Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report:

Plastics dominated the flexible packaging industry with share of 70.1% in 2021 owing to the property of the material for being modified by co-polymerization to match exact packaging requirements of various products along with easy availability and cost effectiveness.

The food and beverages application segment dominated the market and accounted for revenue share of 56.0% in 2021 as these packaging solution offer easy transportation, convenient storage, and disposal for food and beverage products. Growing consumption of snacks like chips, sausages, and bread, coupled with the expanding food retail industry and new product launches in emerging markets, is expected to increase the demand for flexible packaging.

The bioplastic raw material segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR of 6.0% during the forecast period. Prevalence of stringent government regulations particularly in North America and Europe is expected to positively impact the demand for environment friendly material, thus segmenting the growth for the segment.

and is expected to positively impact the demand for environment friendly material, thus segmenting the growth for the segment. Asia Pacific accounted for highest market share in 2021 and is also expected to progress at the highest CAGR over the forecast period owing to high growth in the application industries. In China and India , the food and beverage industry is expected to grow due to population growth, rising disposable incomes, and rapid urbanization, thus benefitting the sales for flexible packaging in the region.

accounted for highest market share in 2021 and is also expected to progress at the highest CAGR over the forecast period owing to high growth in the application industries. In and , the food and beverage industry is expected to grow due to population growth, rising disposable incomes, and rapid urbanization, thus benefitting the sales for flexible packaging in the region. Key companies are increasingly offering custom packaging solutions to end-use companies; besides, key companies are increasingly focusing on the use of recycled materials as they offer complete sustainability. New product developments, with mergers and acquisitions, and expansion of production capacity are some of the strategies adopted by players

Read 135 page market research report for more Insights, "Flexible Packaging Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Raw Material (Plastics, Paper, Metal, Bioplastics), By Application (Food & Beverages, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030", published by Grand View Research.

Flexible Packaging Market Growth & Trends

Flexible packaging products are lightweight, take less space in transportation, are cheaper to manufacture, and use less plastic, thus present more environmentally friendly profile than rigid products. Increasing emphasis on use of sustainable packaging products globally is expected to bolster the demand for flexible packaging products during the forecast period.

The global cosmetic and personal care industry is characterized by the growing awareness pertaining to health and wellness coupled with increasing demand for natural, chemical-free, and organic products. Thus, rising green consciousness are expected to drive the demand for organic and natural skincare products over the forecast period, which, in turn, is anticipated to boost the demand for flexible packaging solution such as plastic tubes and pouches.

Growing demand for cost effective shipping of commodities is expected to augment growth of flexible packaging products such as flexitanks over the forecast period. Moreover, increase in trade activities in countries of Asia Pacific is expected to drive market growth in the region over the forecast period.

Flexible Packaging Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global flexible packaging market on the basis of raw material, application, and region:

Flexible Packaging Market - Raw Material Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

Plastic

Paper

Metal

Bioplastic

Flexible Packaging Market - Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

Food & Beverages

Pharmaceutical

Cosmetics

Others

Flexible Packaging Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico

Europe

U.K.



Germany



France



Italy



Spain

Asia Pacific

China



India



Japan



Australia & New Zealand

& Central & South America

Brazil

Middle East & Africa

& South Africa

List of Key Players of Flexible Packaging Market

Amcor plc

Mondi

Sealed Air

CONSTANTIA

Coveris

Goglio SpA

ProAmpac

GUALAPACK S.P.A

Huhtamaki Group

Smurfit Kappa

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Cold Chain Packaging Market - The global cold chain packaging market size is anticipated to reach USD 63.1 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 19.4% from 2020 to 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The key drivers attributing to the market expansion include a significant boost in demand for cold chain packaging solutions from the pharmaceutical industry. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the trade and transit of temperature-sensitive drugs, medicines, and test samples are drastically increasing. Along with the pharmaceuticals market, the packaging market is anticipated to witness significant growth. The overall market growth is profoundly influenced by the high demand for perishable goods worldwide and the availability of fresh food and frozen food supplies.

The global cold chain packaging market size is anticipated to reach by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 19.4% from 2020 to 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The key drivers attributing to the market expansion include a significant boost in demand for cold chain packaging solutions from the pharmaceutical industry. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the trade and transit of temperature-sensitive drugs, medicines, and test samples are drastically increasing. Along with the pharmaceuticals market, the packaging market is anticipated to witness significant growth. The overall market growth is profoundly influenced by the high demand for perishable goods worldwide and the availability of fresh food and frozen food supplies. Sealing & Strapping Packaging Tapes Market - The global sealing and strapping packaging tapes market size is expected to reach USD 27.1 billion by 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research Inc. The market is anticipated to expand at a revenue-based CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period. The rapidly emerging trend of folding carton packaging is expected to boost the demand for the tapes, thereby positively influence the overall market growth.

- The global sealing and strapping packaging tapes market size is expected to reach by 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research Inc. The market is anticipated to expand at a revenue-based CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period. The rapidly emerging trend of folding carton packaging is expected to boost the demand for the tapes, thereby positively influence the overall market growth. Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Market - The global anti-counterfeit packaging market size is expected to reach USD 184.87 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing concerns pertaining to the losses incurred by goods manufacturers through the sales of counterfeit products is expected to drive the industry growth.

Browse through Grand View Research's Advanced Interior Materials 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

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Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: 1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
CHICAGO , July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In the increasingly supercharged Mergers & Acquisitions market, Fortis Fire announces their redesigned website and social presence supporting their Family of Fortis Brands. https://fortisfire.com

Fortis Fire is the next generation of Fire Protection companies, providing superior service and a culture that is uniquely people-centric. Fortis is a well-financed, reliable company with a strong track record of satisfied owners. The company has acquired increasing numbers of mid-sized Fire and Life safety companies in the past 2 years, starting with their inaugural acquisition: VFS Fire and Security Services located in Orange, CA, Golden State Fire Protection in Fontana, CA, Meshwrx a wireless alarm central station monitoring services company and Life Safety Management out of Boynton Beach, FL.

"I was contacted by a trusted partner in the industry who said Fortis Fire was not like the other guys. The advice he gave me was, "it doesn't hurt to talk." and he was right. So I contacted Fortis, we met, we talked, I liked what they had to say and I sold my company to Fortis Fire.

The process of selling to Fortis was so smooth, they understood what a big decision this was for me. It was as seamless as transferring ownership to a family member."

- RANDY NELSON

Fortis Co-Founder and President of VFS Fire & Security Services

Fortis founder and CEO Rich Ennis invites all owners of Fire Protection companies to reach out to the team to discuss the unrivaled flexibility and speed of the Fortis acquisition process.

ACQUISITIONS DESIGNED WITH OWNERS IN MIND

The Fortis acquisition process provides an opportunity for the next generation of fire protection to steward Fire and Life Safety company owners' legacy into the future. As a company, Fortis is technologically forward-thinking, flexible, and dedicated to its people. Taking a long-term view, they prioritize investing in people, growth, quality of service, and forward-thinking innovation.

"With Fortis, we continue to operate our business brands as we begin to improve our operational systems to better serve our customers. Being acquired by a larger organization will make a significant difference if your life and the lives of your people. Not only in terms of better benefits such as medical, 401K, etc. It presents more opportunities for career development and advancement."

-JOHN SOLONYNKO

Chief Operation Officer of VFS Fire & Security Services

Fortis Fire aims to become the premier provider of Fire Protection services by always being onSPEC.

SAFETY

To truly be a world-class company we must be committed to zero safety incidents.

PROFESSIONALISM

Pleasant, polite, passionate, and timely are hallmarks of Fortis' professionalism.

EXPERTISE

At Fortis, our people develop elite skills and capabilities for every role.

COMMUNICATION

Fortis understands that good communication is an essential part of any job done well.

From California to Chicago, to Texas and Florida, Fortis Fire is building a national family of brands that is unrivaled in the Fire Protection business.

Contact information: Jeremiah Crocker [email protected] (603) 496-5207

"There is a significant opportunity that comes from being acquired by a larger organization. It presents career opportunities for yourself and for your people. Being part of a larger organization presents greater potential benefits, that could change the overall lifestyle of our employees."

SOURCE Fortis Fire & Safety
FuriosaAI develops high performance AI accelerators targeted at data centers and enterprise customers. The company offers efficient AI hardware with a robust and flexible compiler that makes it easier for customers to deploy their models.

The company targets the NA market with its first generation chip "WARBOY", set to begin volume production in Q1 2023. FuriosaAI is already sampling WARBOY with customers in South Korea.

Bill Leszinske , a former leader at Intel joins FuriosaAI as Senior Advisor. FuriosaAI also appoints former Western Digital VP, Tom Gallivan , as VP of North American Sales and Business Development.

SEOUL, South Korea, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FuriosaAI , the AI accelerator company with a robust and flexible software stack, announces the appointment of Bill Leszinske as Senior Advisor, and Tom Gallivan as Vice President of North American Sales and Business Development. Leszinske and Gallivan will enable the rapidly growing startup to expand its reach into the North American market.

Founded in 2017, FuriosaAI develops high performance AI inference accelerators targeted at enterprise customers and hyperscale data centers. The company is backed by significant clients, including South Korea's largest internet company Naver. So far, FuriosaAI has attracted over USD 100 million in investments. The company has maintained a balance of hardware and software engineers since its establishment, focusing on in-house full stack software development. This comprehensive organizational structure has allowed FuriosaAI to offer a robust and flexible compiler, and an SDK that automatically optimizes and quantizes models.

Since completing development of its first generation chip, WARBOY, in July 2021, FuriosaAI has consistently submitted results to the AI chip benchmark, MLPerf. In the latest round of MLPerf Inference (v2.0), the company enhanced its benchmark performance by 2x on the same silicon compared to previous v1.1 submission purely through compiler enhancements. Naver (KRX: 035420) and Kakao (KRX: 035720) , Korea's two largest tech companies, as well as AI startups in various application fields, have been sampling FuriosaAI's WARBOY ahead of the chip's mass production.

Bill Leszinske, a former Intel CVP, brings more than 30 years of experience running product planning and marketing, including his crucial role in driving revenue growth at Intel's SSD business. Leszinske is also experienced in AI chipsafter leaving Intel, he joined AI chip startup Groq to manage products, software development, and marketing. "I am really excited to be working with the FuriosaAI team," Leszinske stated, "the maturity of FuriosaAI's software stack makes it easier for customers to deploy AI solutions to address their business needs."

Tom Gallivan has more than 30 years of experience in technology sales, with industry success at Seagate, Sun Microsystems, Rackable Systems, and Western Digital. Gallivan has deep industry experience introducing new technologies and building winning sales teams in North America.

FuriosaAI's CEO June Paik commented, "with speedy and robust execution, FuriosaAI is on track to deliver competitive products to the market. Our strength lies in intense co-development of innovative HW architecture and SW stack, including the compiler. We will continue to invite experts like Bill and Tom to build an industry leading team in North America."

Customers sampling WARBOY have given highly positive feedback on the chip's performance and efficiency. WARBOY goes into mass production in Q1 2023. Meanwhile, FuriosaAI is continuing to broaden supported target applications in its roadmap, including transformer-based Foundation models for hyperscale data centers.

For more information visit www.furiosa.ai

SOURCE FuriosaAI, Inc.
TORONTO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Many cancer patients show no symptoms at early stages and receive diagnoses at advanced stages, which can drastically attenuate treatment effectiveness and decrease their quality of life. Healthcare systems implement routine cancer screening programs as the standard of care. However, most methods display detection limits and restricted uptake in clinical practices.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies examine cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as a cancer biomarker, which can be detected in a small volume of a patient's blood sample, has gained popularity over recent years due to its minimally invasive nature.

Geneseeq launched an early cancer detection research program DECIPHER (Detecting Early Cancer by Inspecting ctDNA features) in 2019 to develop a sensitive and affordable cfDNA-based assay.

The program explored the clinical utility of cfDNA fragmentomic features in early screening settings for various cancers including colorectal, lung, and liver cancer. The company's R&D team monitors cfDNA fragmentomic features and develops machine learning algorithms to build an effective and dynamic model for detecting circulating tumor DNA in patient blood.

In the most recent study, the early detection assay was optimized in a multi-cancer cohort of 1,214 participants, including 381 primary liver cancer patients, 298 colorectal cancer patients, 292 lung cancer patients, and 243 healthy volunteers. Most of the patients from this cohort were early-stage patients (stage 0, n=34; stage I, n=799). The detection model showed high performance with an Area Under Curve (AUC) of 0.983 and a sensitivity of 95.5% at 95% specificity.

In fact, the detection model has been consistently yielding a high AUC of over 0.98 across various studies in the early detection program, indicating the assay's promising ability at distinguishing between cancer positive and negative patients.

DECIPHER program associated studies:

Molecular Cancer - multi-cancer study

An ultra-sensitive assay using cell-free DNA fragmentomics for multi-cancer early detection

Journal of Hematology & Oncology - colorectal cancer study

Multi-dimensional fragmentomic assay for ultrasensitive early detection of colorectal advanced adenoma and adenocarcinoma

Hepatology  liver cancer study

Ultrasensitive and affordable assay for early detection of primary liver cancer using plasma cell-free DNA fragmentomics

eBioMedicine  lung cancer study

Sensitive detection of stage I lung adenocarcinoma using plasma cell-free DNA breakpoint motif profiling

About Geneseeq

Geneseeq is a research-driven company that provides cutting-edge genomic profiling technology to accelerate precision cancer care. Our Canadian and Chinese headquarters focus on clinical genetic testing and translational research, covering all cancer and sample types.

SOURCE Geneseeq Technology Inc.
The research, Tech for Progress 360: Accelerating climate action with data-led insight, finds that 58% of senior executives who strongly agree that their companies have embedded environmentally sustainable business practices  the sustainability leaders  have better business performance compared to 40% of other respondents. These leaders also are most likely to say their organizations adopted new technologies over the previous two years (70% vs 45% of other respondents), demonstrating that forward-thinking companies often lead the way on multiple innovation fronts. They understand the necessity of leveraging digital technologies and data across their organizations as well as the importance of putting environmental sustainability practices front and center in their businesses.

For those sustainability leaders, technology plays a critical role in helping them achieve their ambitious goals. Half of the respondents recognize the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and 40% see the potential of advanced analytics to advance their climate-related sustainability goals. Conversely, those who have less established practices are less likely to call out the value of these technologies. This underscores an ongoing and widening gap between those leaders who know how to use AI, data, and analytics to unlock enduring value for their organizations and those who do not.

The research reflects input from 510 senior executives from large global enterprises. It examines the challenges and opportunities businesses face as customers, investors, and employees seek out responsible businesses, and regulators impose more environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting requirements.

"As businesses grapple with economic uncertainties, the time is ripe to identify, manage, and reduce ESG-related risks that can have a significant impact on the environment and a company's long-term sustainability and profitability," said Katie Stein, chief strategy officer and global business leader for enterprise services and analytics, Genpact. "We believe that organizations that lead with smart, agile, and data-driven action plans will be the winners. Combining advanced analytics, AI, and automation with human judgment plays a vital role in helping enterprises drive meaningful transformation that builds resilient companies, a healthier environment, and stronger communities."

Tracking environmental sustainability with data-led insights

Businesses can no longer ignore or play lip service to environmental sustainability. As regulators place more scrutiny on ESG practices, companies need to pay closer attention to how they track both their initiatives and those of their entire supply chain ecosystems, by taking advantage of data-driven insights.

Perhaps not surprisingly, survey respondents whose companies lead with embedded sustainable business practices are also more likely to use data and insights to encourage their partners to make progress towards their sustainability goals (58% vs 47% of other respondents).

However, these sustainability leaders are no more likely to track performance against climate goals, report on emissions, or monitor regulations than other respondents. All companies have more work to do as governments and regulatory bodies continue to require organizations to provide stakeholders with consistent, comparable, and reliable climate-related information.

Leading in the Race Against Climate Change

Genpact's partnership with the Formula E team, Envision Racing, is a prime example of how companies can use AI and analytics to glean faster insights, monitor, and report on sustainability goals. In addition to continuously enhancing the team's performance on the track, the two organizations are collaborating to accomplish ambitious goals off the track, leveraging data and innovation to combat climate change.

As the greenest team on the greenest grid, Envision Racing became the first Formula E team to be certified carbon-neutral by the Carbon Trust in 2020. Genpact's data analytics expertise helps Envision Racing to streamline, analyze, and automate the collection of carbon-emissions data to report on and maintain its carbon-neutral status. With this, the team has been able to cut the time it spends on carbon reporting by 50%. Genpact has also built a carbon calculator that uses AI and analytics to empower the Envision Racing team to make greener travel decisions. It gathers data such as the distance between two locations and uses a machine-learning model to predict what the journey will involve and give the team travel recommendations based on carbon output.

Envision Racing and Genpact's work can be seen in action during the E-Prix in New York City later this week on July 16 and 17, and in London on July 30 and 31.

"Genpact's latest research underscores Envision Racing's deeply held belief: successful organizations can only win if our planet thrives too. For us, combating climate change lies at the heart of what we do," said Jennifer Babington, operations director and general counsel at Envision Racing. "By embedding automation into our carbon reporting process, Genpact not only improved speed and accuracy but also made the approach user-friendly so we can easily access insight into our carbon consumption and offset data, helping us continuously make choices that have a lasting impact on our communities and planet."

Conducted in partnership with FORTUNE Brand Studio, Genpact's report is the second in a three-part series, Tech for Progress 360, analyzing how companies are using technology to drive impact beyond the bottom line. The research examines how businesses are working toward three distinct objectives: enhancing the employee experience; delivering environmental sustainability; and achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion.

For more information, see https://www.genpact.com/tech-for-progress/environmental-sustainability

About the Research

Genpact and FORTUNE Brand Studio conducted an online survey of 500 senior executives across the U.S, U.K, Germany, Australia, Japan, and Canada in the fall of 2021 to study how companies are using technology beyond the bottom line by examining progress toward three distinct objectives: enhancing the employee experience; strengthening communities through diversity, equity, and inclusion; and protecting the environment About 30% of respondents hold C-level positions and the remainder are director-level or above. Respondents represent the finance, IT/technology, supply chain/procurement, operations/ production, compliance/risk, general management, digital innovation, business transformation, sales, marketing, and HR sectors. All respondents report annual company revenue of $1 billion or higher.

About Genpact

Genpact (NYSE: G) is a global professional services firm that makes business transformation real. Led by our purpose  the relentless pursuit of a world that works better for people  we drive digital-led innovation and digitally enabled intelligent operations for our clients. Guided by our experience reinventing and running thousands of processes for hundreds of clients, many of them Global Fortune 500 companies, we drive real-world transformation at scale. We think with design, dream in digital, and solve problems with data and analytics. Combining our expertise in end-to-end operations and our AI-based platform, Genpact Cora, we focus on the details  all 100,000+ of us. From New York to New Delhi, and more than 30 countries in between, we connect every dot, reimagine every process, and reinvent the ways companies work. We know that reimagining each step from start to finish creates better business outcomes. Whatever it is, we'll be there with you  accelerating digital transformation to create bold, lasting results  because transformation happens here. Get to know us at Genpact.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

Media Contacts

Americas:

Danielle D'Angelo

[email protected], +1 914-336-7951

Australia:

Neha Chopra

[email protected], , +61 466-626-580

Europe/UK:

Judith Schunke,

[email protected], +44 (0)7887 661155

India:

Roopanki Kalra

[email protected], +91 9971634388

Japan:

Satoko Hashiba

[email protected], +81 80 4944 3907

SOURCE Genpact
High Count Fiber Network is First Ever Lower Hudson River Crossing Build Through PATH Transit Tunnels

HOLMDEL, N.J., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hylan , a market leading provider of specialized communications engineering, construction, and infrastructure services, announces today that it will partner with Global InterXchange, LLC (GIX) , on a metro dark fiber network build via the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) tunnel.

The new fiber network between 60 Hudson Street and 165 Halsey Street will make GIX the first diverse carrier-neutral dark fiber company to construct through the southernmost Hudson River Crossing Port Authority train tunnels in the last 20 years.

"This critical project will redefine how the dark fiber market is served in Lower Manhattan and Northern New Jersey," says Joe Falco, President of GIX. "Due to the complexity of this build, we needed a general contractor with the experience and in-house resources to go above and beyond the typical fiber pull. Hylan has met all of these requirements and more, serving as a true and highly valued partner throughout the entire process."

GIX is the only private company building redundant dark fiber infrastructure into Lower Manhattan. The team's keen understanding of the geography and terrain allows them to carry out projects with no guesswork. The project provides the southernmost diverse Hudson River crossing. When completed, the tunnel will provide the lowest latency to financial, telecom and colocation facilities in and around Northern New Jersey and lower Manhattan. The deployment is completely buried, protecting it from damage, and it includes double-locking manholes, minimal splicing points and is a direct, end-to-end solution.

"Hylan has built a strong relationship with GIX, and we are honored they trust us to work with their team to carry out this unique and important build," says Robert Bianco, VP of Business Development for Hylan. "By creating this monumental fiber route, we are doing our part to provide fiber connectivity to the underserved New York and New Jersey markets."

About Hylan

Hylan is a leading provider of full-service turnkey communications solutions, electrical infrastructure design and construction services for wireline, wireless and smart city municipal services across the United States. Hylan is the parent company to four divisions that include Hylan Datacom & Electrical, Hylan West, Down Under Construction and Western Utility. Hylan Companies provide an array of comprehensive services, which include communications and electrical infrastructure design, DAS and small cell installations, engineering, construction, and maintenance services, and more. Originally founded as Hylan Datacom & Electrical over 60 years ago in New York City, Hylan now serves a wide variety of end-markets throughout the U.S., with current offices and facilities in New York, New Jersey, Arizona, California, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Texas and Virginia. Visit Hylan.com to learn more.

About GIX

GIX is a dark fiber provider focused on serving Manhattan and New Jersey with diverse routes between major local exchanges. The current focus of GIX is the backbone route from 165 Halsey in New Jersey to 60 Hudson in Manhattan via the southernmost Hudson crossing with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. GIX aims to build all greenfield, buried, secured and direct to enable customers high uptime & resulting low churn, superior load balancing capabilities, and as close to true diversity as possible (2N). Visit www.gixfiber.com for more information.

SOURCE Hylan
BEIJING, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Can you imagine developing new materials and devices for use in a spacecraft with a liquid 100,000 times smaller than a drop of water? This was the research focus of Chinese post-1980 female scientist Xu Nuo in the aerospace sector. Such a tiny, microscopic material that is hard to capture with naked eyes records how this young member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) integrated her scientific pursuits into the great cause of building a modern socialist China.

This innovative frontier technology equips China's micro-nano satellites with advanced and efficient power systems to build satellite networks. Xu's team developed a palm-sized micro-electric thruster that had far better performance than traditional models. The thruster is a key piece of equipment that ensures that the spacecraft can successfully complete its operations.

Inspiring scientific concept boosts creations

In the recent past, the ion-liquid micro-electric thruster developed by Xu's team was launched into orbit with test satellites, realizing technological breakthroughs around the world.

Behind these achievements is the CPC's practice-oriented concept of scientific and technological innovation that continues to inspire Xu.

"Over the past century, the Party led the cause of science and technology from a dismal start, and the Chinese people, with their wisdom, worked out a road of self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology, which has become a global leader in various important fields. This is the pride of every Chinese person, every member of the CPC," Xu told the Global Times.

"We can properly handle the rapidly changing global situation largely because of our technological prowess and confidence," Xu said. She suggested that as a Party member in the aerospace field, she could especially appreciate the confidence brought by scientific and technological breakthroughs, as she has personally experienced and witnessed the growth of China's space industry.

From the Tiangong Space Station, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, the Chang'e lunar probe, to the Tianhe space station core module, the Tianwen Mars probe, and the sun-observation satellite Xihe, for the past nine years, China's aerospace team has continued to make history.

What's behind those glories is the CPC's pursuit of truth, advocacy for science, hard work, self-reliance and self-improvement, and a determination to break through numerous scientific and technological obstacles, Xu added.

In the aerospace sector, China has seen major innovations emerge in large numbers and the country is now leading or is among the leaders in the world on certain frontiers.

As a senior China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation expert, Xu has been engaged in the frontier and basic technology research of intelligent micro-electromechanical field for a long time, and has led more than 10 young PhD students in making breakthroughs in core technologies. In March, she won the 2021 honorary title of the Bearer of the Red Flag on March 8.

The microsystem technology Xu is committed to developing is a typical frontier scientific research field in the world. Can microsystems make stealth technology a reality and spacecraft power systems in deep space more efficient and accurate? These innovations and applications initially fascinated her.

"It is fair to say that whoever masters the most advanced space power solutions can be more competitive in the commercial space sector," Xu was quoted as saying by the Chinese newspaper China Youth Daily.

In order to find hidden problems in the course of the research, Xu's team repeatedly carried out round-the-clock tests. They spent a lot of time sleeping in the laboratories in order to track and analyze test results. She successfully applied these new materials and devices to space propulsion, and further in medical diagnostics, environmental detection, and other fields.

Evolution in sci-tech innovation over past decade

Noting that China boasts a great number of scientific professionals and hefty R&D spending, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed improving the ecosystem for sci-tech innovation and the building of platforms for scientists and scientific professionals to apply their talent excellently, so as to make sci-tech innovations mushroom into a steady flow, at a symposium attended by scientists in September 2020, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xi said scientific and technological development must target global science frontiers, serve the main economic needs, and strive to fulfill the significant needs of the country and benefit people's lives and health.

In the past 10 years, fundamental and pioneering innovation has been highly valued, and so has interdisciplinary integration. The microsystem technology Xu studied is a typical product of multidisciplinary integration, and its application can be translated from the aerospace to the medical field, Xu said.

In the past decade, as self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology have gradually become the strategic support for the country's development, front-line researchers have shifted from single-disciplinary technological innovation logic to a multi-disciplinary mindset, and the management system has shifted from a complex mechanism to a more open, healthier, and innovation-oriented one, Xu said while underlining the changes.

In the past decade, China has witnessed great scientific and technological progress and the fastest improvement of its strength. A large number of core technologies have made breakthroughs, making great strides toward the grand goal of China becoming a global leading power in science and technology, Xu said.

Contemporary young people have to ignite their enthusiasm to strive for and advance China's space industry in the new era to carry on the torch of scientific and technological innovation, she said.

SOURCE Global Times
The Sea Beast tells the story in an era when terrifying beasts roamed the seas and monster hunters were celebrated heroes - and none were more beloved than the great Jacob Holland. But when young Maisie Brumble stows away on his fabled ship, he's saddled with an unexpected ally. Together, they embark on an epic journey into uncharted waters and make history.

Goldfish Swim School's fun-filled events are open to members and non-members alike and are sure to be a totally 'fintastic' family night out! Community members are encouraged to register online to secure their reservation. Those registered to attend will enjoy family-bonding time in Goldfish Swim School's shiver-free 90-degree pool, get creative with The Sea Beast activity sheets, watch the feature film, indulge in snacks and refreshments, take home The Sea Beast lip balm, and have a chance to win a prize pack including a three-month Netflix subscription membership and three months of free Goldfish Swim School lessons.

Goldfish Swim School understands the importance of creating an inviting and safe place where kids can overcome their fears, learn to swim, respect the water and have lots of fun while doing it. Its swim classes for kids are all about giving kids the platform to make BIG waves in life  showing kids they are something, will be something, and celebrating new skills because every little dose of achievement adds up to big self-esteem!

"With an epic new tale taking place on the water, there was a natural synergy to partner with Netflix to help promote the film and showcase a young heroine building essential life skills that will help her make waves in life," said Goldfish Swim School Co-Founder Jenny McCuiston, who has a degree in Early Childhood Education. "Hosting nationwide events around this film promotes the importance of learning and growing, and building courage to dive into life. Our mission is to help all kids learn to be safer in and around the water so parents can raise healthy, happy, holistic little humans."

Goldfish Swim School provides swim lessons and water safety instruction to infants and children ages four months to 12 years, teaching children how to be safer in and around the water. Each school offers swim lessons and programs using a proprietary philosophy, The Science of SwimPlay , to build life skills both in and out of the water using play-based learning in a fun and safe environment. Each school's number one focus and main priority is always the same  educating children on water safety while teaching them how to swim and respect the water.

For more information on Goldfish Swim School, please visit https://www.goldfishswimschool.com/ .

About Goldfish Swim School

Founded by husband and wife team Chris and Jenny McCuiston, Goldfish Swim School provides swim lessons and water safety instruction to infants and children ages four months to 12 years. Classes are offered by specially trained instructors in a safe, child-friendly and fun environment using their research-based philosophy called The Science of SwimPlay. Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, Goldfish Swim School was established in Birmingham, Michigan in 2006, and opened its first franchise location in 2009. Recently, the brand was recognized by Entrepreneur in its Franchise 500 ranking, Franchise Times' Fast & Serious List, and Inc. Magazine's Top 5000. Goldfish Swim School is currently in the process of expanding franchise opportunities throughout North America, with more than 130 schools open, and an additional 130+ in development in more than 30 states and Canada.

About The Sea Beast

From Netflix comes the original film The Sea Beast. In an era when terrifying beasts roamed the seas, monster hunters were celebrated heroes - and none were more beloved than the great Jacob Holland. But when young Maisie Brumble stows away on his fabled ship, he's saddled with an unexpected ally. Together they embark on an epic journey into uncharted waters and make history. From Academy Award winning filmmaker Chris Williams (Moana, Big Hero Six, Bolt), The Sea Beast takes us to where the map ends, and the true adventure begins. Now streaming on Netflix and Rated PG.

Media Contact: Greg Avdoian, Fishman PR, 847-945-1300, [email protected]

SOURCE Goldfish Swim School
DAVIE, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Scientific Labs Holdings Inc. ("Green Scientific Labs" or the "Company"), leading multi-state provider of innovative cannabis and hemp testing technologies and methods, was assessed on Thursday, July 7 by an ISO accreditation body for its initial accreditation. Similar to the previous two audits to its other locations in Davie, Florida and Phoenix, Arizona, the Company's New Jersey laboratory met all expectations, and the inspection did not yield a single negative observation (finding), according to the ISO accreditation body. It was recommended for ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation as outlined by the joint ISO-ILAC-IAF Communique and met the requirements of the AOAC International Guidelines for Laboratories performing Microbiological and Chemical Analyses of Food and Pharmaceuticals (2018).

"The laboratory facility buildout is complete; equipment is being installed and qualified in preparation for scope expansion to include the many methods Green Scientific Labs performs nationwide. We are excited about this accomplishment and looking forward to receiving the certification in the second half of 2022," said Rafael Bombonato, Chief Compliance Officer of Green Scientific Labs.

The laboratory is continuing to meet the New Jersey state requirements for licensure. It is expected to obtain the required licenses soon to start testing medicinal and recreational cannabis samples to ensure accuracy, safety, and quality.

Since its inception, Green Scientific Labs has been diligently working on ensuring it has a corporate culture where laboratory operations have built-in quality and compliance. The hard work has been authenticated by the consecutive perfect audit results and our third ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation.

About Green Scientific Labs

Green Scientific Labs (CSE: GSL) is a leading, multi-state provider of innovative cannabis and hemp testing technologies and methods. The company's labs perform product testing to help cultivators, manufacturers, and retailers stay compliant with state and federal regulations. Green Scientific Labs delivers superior marijuana, cannabis, hemp, and CBD testing services, and provides unmatched customer service for its clients. For more information, please visit https://www.greenscientificlabs.com/.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking information and statements, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding or inferring the future business, operations, financial performance, prospects, and other plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company and statements with regard to the issuance of additional Company Shares in satisfaction of earn-out payments and the expansion of the Company's operations. Words such as "expects", "continue", "will", "anticipates" and "intends" or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current projections and expectations about future events and financial trends that management believes might affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by the Company in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. Forward-looking information and statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information and statements herein. Although the Company believes that any forward-looking information and statements herein are reasonable, in light of the use of assumptions and the significant risks and uncertainties inherent in such information and statements, there can be no assurance that any such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance upon such forward-looking information and statements. Any forward-looking information and statements herein are made as of the date hereof, and except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation and disclaims any intention to update or revise any forward-looking information and statements herein or to update the reasons that actual events or results could or do differ from those projected in any forward looking information and statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the content of this news release.

SOURCE Green Scientific Labs
Zotos Professional supports the positive impact of art education on mental health and provides donation to Art Feeds in honor of Hair Creator's Day

DARIEN, Conn., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to support the positive connection between art and mental health, Zotos Professional, recognized for innovation in the hair care industry, has made a charitable contribution in the amount of $50,000 ;to Art Feeds, the brand announced today. The donation will benefit over 19,000 children by supplying resources for art lessons, helping to foster confidence-building environments where their creativity can flourish.

Zotos Professional recognizes hair enthusiasts as artists and strives to provide a medium that elevates their craft the way Art Feeds provides the color palette to a young artist's canvas. The brand seeks to make self-expression and creativity accessible to all through its affordable, salon-quality hair products, recognizing that hairstyling is a form of art. As an extension of this, the brand has dedicated July 12th as "Hair Creator's Day" to celebrate those who express themselves through their hair, a feature so deeply interconnected with personal identity.

"We are honored to partner with Art Feeds for a second year to help provide children with access to education," said Michelle Ryan, Vice President of Marketing at Zotos Professional. "We value creative expression from our 'Hair Creators' and believe prioritizing self-care through art will help lead our future generation to success," Ryan continued.

Zotos Professional and Art Feeds' shared mission is to make creative expression more accessible and highlight the positive impact art has on mental health, be it painting or hair coloring.

"Creativity finds solutions, sparks innovation, and imagines a better world, explains Meg Bourne, Founder of Art Feeds. "Expression is a vital piece of mental health, and we are thrilled to have the generous support of Zotos Professional to help us support even more children this year," said Bourne.

Darci Burch Cohorst, licensed creative arts therapist, partners with Zotos Professional and Art Feeds to provide counsel for the program. "Self-awareness and self-expression are two of the first steps in supporting mental health. For many individuals, words aren't enough and the ability to express thoughts, feelings, and identity through creation and creativity can be life altering," said Cohorst. "Whether someone has experienced trauma, is exploring their identity, or needs a way to process emotions, art in all forms offers a path to identify and understand the self and others," explains Cohorst.

Art Feeds has proven that art builds confidence in children, something Zotos Professional also sees reflected in the Hair Creators community. The brand's continued observance of National Hair Creator's Day recognizes individuals who embrace and showcase their creativity in styling hair.

About Art Feeds

Art Feeds creates brave spaces where children stay curious, creative, and kind. Kids have big feelings that aren't always easy to express. Art Feeds helps little artists navigate big feelings through fun art lessons that can be done at school, at home, or in the community. Our social emotional focused art lessons make space for kids to create, express themselves, and flourish. Art Feeds Community Assist Program provides training, curriculum and art supplies to schools and community organizations that otherwise wouldn't have these resources. The Community Assist Program has impacted over 125,000 children in communities around the world since 2009. For more information visit www.artfeeds.org

About Zotos Professional

Since 1929, Zotos Professional has been a pioneer in the hair care industry, and is dedicated to research-backed innovations, cutting-edge technology, high-quality ingredients, exhaustive testing, unbeatable value and Green Circle Certified Salons. The company's goal is to provide the support and inspiration to make the dreams of Hair Creators a reality. For more information, please visit

www.zotosprofessional.com .

About Henkel in North America

In North America, Henkel operates across its three business units: Adhesive Technologies, Beauty Care, and Laundry & Home Care. Its portfolio of well-known consumer and industrial brands includes Schwarzkopf hair care, Dial soaps, Persil, Purex, and all laundry detergents, Snuggle fabric softeners as well as Loctite, Technomelt and Bonderite adhesives. With sales close to 6 billion US dollars (5 billion euros) in 2021, North America accounts for 25 percent of the company's global sales. Henkel employs over 8,000 people across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. For more information, please visit www.henkel-northamerica.com , and on Twitter @Henkel_NA .

Photo material is available at www.henkel-northamerica.com/press

Media Contact: Contact: Carly Mehl Phone: 774 212 6213

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Zotos Professional
Adam M. Neary of Albany, NY, was named National Man of the Year, raising $1,095,692, and Emily Lipman Mahar of Atlanta, GA, was named National Woman of the Year, raising $1,001,911. The campaign has helped LLS invest more than $1.5 billion in cutting-edge research worldwide, fueling nearly every critical advancement in blood cancer treatment that spans the most promising cancer research. And as the leading source of free blood cancer information, education, and support, LLS helps blood cancer patients and their families through a wide range of free services.

"These dedicated volunteers are helping LLS invest in groundbreaking research frontiers, including precision medicine, immunotherapy, and links between mutations and blood cancer  advancements that are changing the paradigm of cancer treatment," said Louis J. DeGennaro, Ph.D., LLS president and CEO. "Together, we are reaching new heights in transforming the landscape of blood cancer care and support."

National Man of the Year, Neary, a Principal at WealthOne, LLC ran for Man of the Year in honor of his friend and mentor, Todd Slingerland, who was diagnosed with an aggressive type of lymphoma in spring of 2021. After enduring several months of intense treatment, he is now in remission.

"Todd is a survivor today because of the investment, research, and support for which LLS tirelessly champions," said Neary. "Just because Todd's cancer is dormant, doesn't mean we can be  the fight continues, and it will continue until we find a cure."

National Woman of the Year, Lipman Mahar, a Designer at Emily Lipman Designs, turned her pain into passion by running for Woman of the Year  she lost her mother, Eva Goldberg Lipman, to Hepatosplenic Gamma Delta T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of lymphoma, in November 2020.

"I accepted this nomination knowing it would be difficult, but also I knew this was the way to honor my mother," said Lipman Mahar. "She gave back in so many ways, and now it was my turn. No family should have to experience the devastation of cancer."

Lipman Mahar became the first National Woman of the Year to raise over $1 million in the campaign's over 30-year history.

National Man of the Year Runner-up, David Borowski of West Monroe in Ashburn, VA, raised $595,864. His daughter, Ella, is a two-time survivor of acute myeloid leukemia. In addition to their daughter's heroic journey, Borowski and his wife, Kate, are particularly motivated by LLS's Dare to Dream Project.

The Dare to Dream is a five-year initiative by LLS to transform treatment and care for pediatric blood cancer. Because kids are different and need to be treated differently, Dare to Dream will fund groundbreaking research and the LLS PedAL Master Clinical Trial as well as expand LLS support services and drive advocacy efforts to help all kids with blood cancers get accessible, affordable, quality healthcare.

National Woman of the Year Runner-up, Natasha del Barrio of Bert Ogden Auto Group in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, raised $840,106. "It's truly remarkable what can be accomplished when people come together for a common goal, and for us, our goal was to end blood cancer," said del Barrio.

The Bert Ogden Auto Group exemplified the power in numbers when they ran a successful "Give Back" promotion at their 22 dealerships. They donated $100 from each car sold and this resulted in a more than $600,000 donation from Bert Ogden Auto Group.

National "All Star" Man of the Year, Matt Newsom of Custom Benefit Auctions in Charlotte, NC raised $539,291. Newsom initially ran for Charlotte Man of the Year in 2016, but after losing his mother, Ellen to cancer earlier this year, running for "All Star" had a whole new meaning for him. He ran his campaign in her honor and was humbled by the support he received from his entire team. Notably, Newsom had a few members on his team raise over $50,000 individually.

National "All Star" Woman of the Year, Christine Mills of The Virginia Academy in Washington, D.C., raised $133,485. As a three-time cancer survivor, Mills ran in the All Star campaign to celebrate her survivorship and honor her friend, Brooke, who lost her battle with leukemia in December.

"I know I am one of the lucky ones," said Mills. "We have to keep coming together to fight this horrific disease until we live in a world without cancer."

National "All Star" Man & Woman of the Year runners-up were Thomas Shea, M.D. of Chapel Hill, NC and Halleigh Duff of Atlanta, GA.

In addition to personal inspiration, all candidates compete in honor of local children in their communities who are cancer survivors.

The funds raised through LLS's Man & Woman of the Year candidates are used:

For continuing research of lifesaving therapies like targeted therapies and immunotherapies that are saving thousands of lives.

For blood cancer information, education and support.

To support patients in their communities

To drive policies that increase development of and access to new treatments.

Despite the progress, more than a third of blood cancer patients still do not survive five years after their diagnosis.

Learn more about Man & Woman of the Year and how to get involved here.

Blood cancer patients and their families can contact the LLS Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., ET.

About Man & Woman of the Year

Man & Woman of the Year candidates from across the country compete in honor of local childhood blood cancer survivors to raise the most funds for blood cancer research. Every dollar raised counts as one vote and the titles are awarded to the individuals with the most votes at the end of the campaign. The top local fundraisers in the country win the national titles.

In addition, past participants show that the fight against cancer isn't over until there are cures and access for all by competing again in Man & Woman of the Year's "All Star" competition. This program provides an opportunity for select Man & Woman of the Year alumni to represent their local campaign nationally. Visit the Man & Woman of the Year website (www.mwoy.org) to support a candidate and learn how to become engaged with LLS.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is a global leader in the fight against cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Rye Brook, NY, LLS has regional offices throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org. Patients should contact the LLS Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., ET.

For additional information visit lls.org/lls-newsnetwork. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Media contact:

Kristin Hoose

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

(914) 821-8973

[email protected]

SOURCE The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global hydraulic fluids market size is anticipated to reach USD 12.0 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2022 to 2030. In recent years, industrialization has been on a rise, particularly in emerging economies such as India, China, and Brazil, among others. The share of the manufacturing industry in the GDP is increasing significantly for these countries. Various policies by governments all over the world are being targeted toward the growth of industrial sectors.

Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report:

The mineral oil segment led the market and accounted for 48.9% of the global revenue share in 2021. Mineral-based oils are the most often utilized hydraulic fluids. They are easily accessible and cost-effective. The only significant downside of petroleum-based hydraulic oils is that they are flammable. Mineral-based hydraulic oils are made from fractions of crude oil. They are also polished to the point where they have suitable lubricating properties.

The synthetic oil segment is expected to witness a CAGR of 5.9% over the forecast period in terms of revenue. Synthetic oil can combat varnish and sludge build-up, which are common in high-pressure, high-temperature industrial situations.

The aerospace and defense segment accounted for 8.9% of the global revenue share in 2021. The hydraulic system is a vital aspect of any aircraft. Consumer's increasing preference for air travel and rising demand for cargo flights is expected to drive to hydraulic systems market. In addition, increasing usage of airplanes and helicopters in the defense and commercial sectors is driving the demand for aircraft hydraulic systems which in turn is expected to increase the demand in the sector.

In June 2020 , Gulf Western Oil (GWO) launched SUPERDRAULIC hydraulic fluid products. The high viscosity index products are suitable for harsh conditions and high-temperature applications. The company claimed to have 6,000+ oil hour life for the product.

, Gulf Western Oil (GWO) launched SUPERDRAULIC hydraulic fluid products. The high viscosity index products are suitable for harsh conditions and high-temperature applications. The company claimed to have 6,000+ oil hour life for the product. In February 2022 , South Korea's hydraulic brake fluid exports were USD 791 thousand , while imports totaled USD 618 thousand , creating a USD 173 thousand positive trade balance. Hydraulic brake fluid was predominantly exported to the U.S., India , China , Mexico , and Slovakia and mostly imported from Germany , U.S., Switzerland , Singapore , and the Netherlands .

Read full market research report for more Insights, "Hydraulic Fluids Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Base Oil (Mineral Oil, Synthetic Oil, Bio-based Oil), By End-use (Construction, Oil & Gas, Agriculture, Metal & Mining), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030", published by Grand View Research.

Hydraulic Fluids Market Growth & Trends

The digital revolution, combined with artificial intelligence, has opened numerous new opportunities for fluid power. It will take time to turn into high-power electromechanical solutions. The industry must leverage the inherent capabilities of fluid power technology and expand its reach through technological advancements. In terms of energy efficiency, fluid power technology has huge potential. The focus will soon shift to the development of high-speed switching valves, high-efficiency hydraulic fluids, and more efficient pumps and motors. In 2020, the market was severely affected by the global pandemic. Prices were dropped due to the lack of demand for lubricants and oils from end-user industries such as construction, automotive, marine, and aerospace, among others.

In recent years, a huge fluctuation in the prices of base oil and hydraulic fluids has been experienced by the industries. In 2021, the prices of the market skyrocketed owing to the sudden demand for the product after the revival of the end-user industries. In 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war has resulted in the further increase of the base oil and hydraulic fluids prices.

Hydraulic Fluids Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global hydraulic fluids market based on base oil, end-use, and region:

Hydraulic Fluids Market - Base Oil Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Mineral Oil

Synthetic Oil

Bio-based Oil

Hydraulic Fluids Market - End-use Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Construction

Metal & Mining

Oil & Gas

Agriculture

Automotive

Aerospace & Defense

Others

Hydraulic Fluids Market - Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico

Europe

Germany



France



U.K.



Russia

Asia Pacific

China



Japan



India



Australia

Central & South America

Brazil

Middle East & Africa

List of Key Players in the Hydraulic Fluids Market

Shell plc

Exxon Mobil Corporation

Chevron Corporation

BP p.l.c.

TotalEnergies

PetroChina Company Limited

China Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC)

FUCHS

Valvoline

NYCO

Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.

Dow

Eastman Chemical Company

LUKOIL

Gazprommeft - Lubricants Ltd.

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Drilling Fluids Market - The global drilling fluid market is expected to reach USD 11.3 billion by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3% from 2022 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. This growth is attributed to the increasing demand in the energy industry, which is anticipated to drive growth in the drilling fluid market.

The global drilling fluid market is expected to reach by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3% from 2022 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. This growth is attributed to the increasing demand in the energy industry, which is anticipated to drive growth in the drilling fluid market. Hydraulic Fracturing Market - The global hydraulic fracturing market is expected to reach USD 81.10 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing E&P companies' concern towards declining production rates in conventional hydrocarbon reserves along with shifting focus towards developing unconventional oil & gas blocks globally is anticipated to drive the market growth.

The global hydraulic fracturing market is expected to reach by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing E&P companies' concern towards declining production rates in conventional hydrocarbon reserves along with shifting focus towards developing unconventional oil & gas blocks globally is anticipated to drive the market growth. Injection Molding Machine Market - The global injection molding machine market size is expected to reach USD 20.0 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2021 to 2028. The growing demand for lightweight and complex components in the automotive and electronics industry is projected to increase industry growth over the years.

Browse through Grand View Research's Petrochemicals 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.

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DUBLIN, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Seed Treatment Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global seed treatment market reached a value of US$ 7.37 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 12.35 Billion by 2027, exhibiting at a CAGR of 8.9% 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. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.

The treatment of seeds involves the application of chemical or organic agents for improving the quality and providing protection to the grain. Eco-friendly pesticides and fungicides that prevent pathogens and rodents from damaging the crop are widely used in the process of seed treatment.

These pesticides and fungicides are used in different concentrations according to the requirements of the crop or the soil. The treatment process involves various stages such as exposing the seeds to the sun, immersing them in nutrient-rich water, coating, priming, phytosanitary treatment, pelleting, and microbial inoculation.



With the rapidly increasing global population, there has been a significant rise in the demand for food grains, which calls for the production of higher and enhanced yields. Furthermore, effective seed treatment prevents seed and soil-borne infections, aids in improving the germination time and enhances the overall productivity. It also averts the ill-effects of agrochemical residues in the crop, thus aptly meeting the soaring demand for chemical-free foods.

Moreover, extensive research and development in bio-farming techniques coupled with the production of energy-efficient, environment-friendly and economical means of seed treatment have also catalyzed the market growth.

Competitive Landscape:

The report has also analysed the competitive landscape of the market with some of the key players being Bayer, Syngenta, BASF, DOW Agrosciences, Dupont, Nufarm, FMC, Arysta Lifescience, Sumitomo Chemical, UPL, Incotec, Germains, Advanced Biological Marketing Inc, etc.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global seed treatment market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What are the key regional markets in the global seed treatment industry?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global seed treatment market?

What is the breakup of the market based on the type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application technique?

What is the breakup of the market based on the crop type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the function?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the global seed treatment industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the global seed treatment industry?

What is the structure of the global seed treatment industry and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the global seed treatment industry?

What are the profit margins in the global seed treatment 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 Seed Treatment Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Breakup by Type

5.5 Market Breakup by Application Technique

5.6 Market Breakup by Crop Type

5.7 Market Breakup by Function

5.8 Market Breakup by Region

5.9 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Type

6.1 Chemical Seed Treatment

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Non-Chemical Seed Treatment

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Application Technique

7.1 Seed Coating

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Seed Dressing

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Seed Pelleting

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast

7.4 Others

7.4.1 Market Trends

7.4.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Crop Type

8.1 Corn/Maize

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Soybean

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Wheat

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 Rice

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 Market Forecast

8.5 Cotton

8.5.1 Market Trends

8.5.2 Market Forecast

8.6 Others

8.6.1 Market Trends

8.6.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Function

9.1 Seed Protection

9.1.1 Market Trends

9.1.2 Market Forecast

9.2 Seed Enhancement

9.2.1 Market Trends

9.2.2 Market Forecast

9.3 Others

9.3.1 Market Trends

9.3.2 Market Forecast



10 Market Breakup by Region



11 SWOT Analysis



12 Value Chain Analysis



13 Porters Five Forces Analysis



14 Price Analysis

14.1 Price Indicators

14.2 Price Structure

14.3 Margin Analysis



15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Market Structure

15.2 Key Players

15.3 Profiles of Key Players

15.3.1 Bayer

15.3.2 Syngenta

15.3.3 BASF

15.3.4 DOW Agrosciences

15.3.5 Dupont

15.3.6 Nufarm

15.3.7 FMC

15.3.8 Arysta Lifescience

15.3.9 Sumitomo Chemical

15.3.10 UPL

15.3.11 Incotec

15.3.12 Germains

15.3.13 Advanced Biological Marketing Inc

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xpwvj0

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Insurance Agencies Global Market Report 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global insurance agencies market is expected to grow from $116.43 billion in 2021 to $123.92 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4%. The market is expected to grow to $148.99 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7%.



North America was the largest region in the insurance agencies accounting for in 2021. Western Europe was the second largest region in insurance agencies market. The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa.



Increased awareness about the benefits of insurance coverage is expected to drive the insurance agency's market. The pandemic has alerted the public and made them aware of the uncertainty, which led them towards opting for insurance to protect their and their family's lives.

The demand for insurance plans has seen a significant increase over the last few months, with the percentage of buyers and people intending to buy rising to 55% and 60%. The insurance agencies help the people in obtaining the best insurance policy as per their needs and budget. Hence, a higher awareness rate among the public on the benefits of insurance coverage aids in the growth of the insurance agencies market.



Change in consumers' behavior of approaching the insurance providers directly for availing insurance policies instead of insurance agencies is expected to hinder the market growth. Customers feel empowered to forego agents and brokers as most of the insurance providers are providing online services.

According to Capgemini and Efma's World Insurance Report 2020, people of all ages are now adopting a millennial mentality where they trust their research through a variety of channels, primarily digital channels to gather information and directly purchase insurance products online. Moreover, online term plans offered by life insurance companies are comparatively 20-30% cheaper than offline ones. Thus, changing customer approach towards insurance agencies eliminates the involvement of agencies and brokers in the process of insurance purchase, which in turn is restricting the growth of the insurance agencies market.



Introduction to technology-enabled services and platforms is a leading trend in the insurance agencies market. Insurance and technology companies are assisting insurance agencies by developing technology-enabled services and platforms for enhancing smooth customer experience and versatility.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Insurance Agencies Market Characteristics



3. Insurance Agencies Market Trends And Strategies



4. Impact Of COVID-19 On Insurance Agencies



5. Insurance Agencies Market Size And Growth

5.1. Global Insurance Agencies Historic Market, 2016-2021, $ Billion

5.1.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.1.2. Restraints On The Market

5.2. Global Insurance Agencies Forecast Market, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

5.2.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.2.2. Restraints On the Market



6. Insurance Agencies Market Segmentation

6.1. Global Insurance Agencies Market, Segmentation By Insurance

Life Insurance

Property & Casualty Insurance

Health & Medical Insurance

Other Insurances

6.2. Global Insurance Agencies Market, Segmentation By Mode

Online

Offline

6.3. Global Insurance Agencies Market, Segmentation By End User

Corporate

Individual

7. Insurance Agencies Market Regional And Country Analysis



8. Asia-Pacific Insurance Agencies Market



9. China Insurance Agencies Market



10. India Insurance Agencies Market



11. Japan Insurance Agencies Market



12. Australia Insurance Agencies Market



13. Indonesia Insurance Agencies Market



14. South Korea Insurance Agencies Market



15. Western Europe Insurance Agencies Market



16. UK Insurance Agencies Market



17. Germany Insurance Agencies Market



18. France Insurance Agencies Market



19. Eastern Europe Insurance Agencies Market



20. Russia Insurance Agencies Market



21. North America Insurance Agencies Market



22. USA Insurance Agencies Market



23. South America Insurance Agencies Market



24. Brazil Insurance Agencies Market



25. Middle East Insurance Agencies Market



26. Africa Insurance Agencies Market



27. Insurance Agencies Market Competitive Landscape And Company Profiles



29. Key Mergers And Acquisitions In The Insurance Agencies Market



29. Insurance Agencies Market Future Outlook and Potential Analysis



Companies Mentioned

McGriff Insurance Services

Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC

Aon PLC.

Brown & Brown Insurance Inc.

HUB International Ltd.

USI Insurance Services

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8shisk

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

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Newly Created Organization a Spinoff from the Impact-Weighted Accounts Project at Harvard Business School

BOSTON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The newly formed International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI), a spinoff from the Impact-Weighted Accounts (IWA) project at Harvard Business School, held its inaugural board meeting this past weekend to launch the organization.

The goal of the International Foundation for Valuing Impacts is to drive the global integration of impacts in financial analysis to promote effective resource allocation and achieve long-term financial stability. To do so, IFVI will develop methodologies and valuation estimates, conduct research needed to support impact valuation, increase awareness about the feasibility and importance of full impact disclosure, and build market uptake of impact valuation among corporates, investors, and policy-makers.

The IFVI will build on the IWA's impact frameworks, methodologies, and datasets published to date. Since its inception in 2019, IWA has demonstrated that impact-weighted accounts are feasible, valuable, and scalable. It has published 22 papers, conducted over 2 dozen pilots, and released four open source data sets comprising thousands of companies. It has also drafted key principles underlying the display of impact-weighted accounts in conjunction with the Impact Economy Foundation, building on the internationally accepted frameworks, the Natural Capital Protocol (2016) and the Social and Human Capital Protocol (2018). The IFVI has been launched as an independent organization to implement the recommendation of the G7 Impact Taskforce and its December 2021 report, Time to Deliver, which notes:

"Investment decisions are being taken today with incomplete information. We should be working towards a world in which such decisions are thoroughly informed by risk, return, and impact. For this reason, the ITF urgently calls for mandatory accounting for impact as a destination, stressing that the journey towards this goal must be underpinned by greater transparency, harmonised global standards and strong mechanisms to ensure integrity of data and analysis. The ITF recommends that the G7 countries and partners collaborate with the private sector, standard-setters and academia on approaches to impact valuation. This work is needed to deepen our understanding of how to value impact in a way that allows a meaningful comparison of the impacts and profits of companies, while also revealing the relationship between the two."

IFVI aims to establish a close partnership agreement with the Value Balancing Alliance to provide efficient scale to accomplish the goals set out by the G7 Taskforce. IFVI and the Value Balancing Alliance will continue to work closely within the valuation ecosystem, through the Capitals Coalition's Value Accounting Network and Value Commission. IFVI will accelerate progress through partnerships that promote speed and scale, and will build upon and amplify existing robust research.

Work on teaching, case studies, and executive education will continue at Harvard Business School under the leadership of IWA project faculty co-chairs George Serafeim and Ethan Rouen.

The initial Board of Directors of IFVI comprises five directors; additional representatives will be named once the establishment of the entity has been completed. The directors are:

Sir Ronald Cohen (Interim Board Chair)

Co-founder and Chair, Impact-Weighted Accounts; Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG); G8 Social Impact Investment Task Force; Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, Bridges Fund Management, Big Society Capital. Co-founder British and European Venture Capital Associations, Social Finance

Saori Dubourg

Chair, Value Balancing Alliance Steering Committee; Member, BASF SE Board of Executive Directors

Conor Kehoe

Chairperson, International Integrated Reporting Council; Member, Value Reporting Foundation (VRF) Board, Member, G7 Impact Taskforce; Senior Advisor, McKinsey and Blackrock

George Serafeim

Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Co-Chair, Impact-Weighted Accounts, Harvard Business School

Robert Herz

Former Chair, FASB; Former Founding Member, IASB Board; current member of the Boards of Fannie Mae, Morgan Stanley, and Workiva, served for many years on the Boards of the SASB (and its successor the Value Reporting Foundation) and as an Executive-in-Residence at Columbia Business School

The Board has appointed the following as Officers of IFVI:

T. Robert Zochowski III

President and Chief Executive Officer

Katie Panella

Treasurer and Corporate Secretary

Sir Ronald Cohen, Interim Board Chair, remarked "This is a tremendous step forward in creating more inclusive and sustainable economies based on impact transparency. IFVI will drive the global establishment of standardized monetary valuation of impacts created by businesses and investors to complement existing efforts to standardize physical metrics. We are ushering in the era of impact and profit, where both drive resource allocation and the valuation of companies."

Media contact information  Please contact T. Robert Zochowski III at [email protected] with questions. The existing IWA team and their email addresses will remain at Harvard Business School until December 2022 while IFVI's operations are fully established.

SOURCE Harvard Business School
Shows potent and rapid antibacterial activity against clinical isolates in Europe and Korea both

and Korea both CDL200, a novel endolysin pipeline for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile Infection (CDI)

Infection (CDI) The world's first endolysin in capsule formulation to be administered orally

BOSTON and SEOUL, South Korea, July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- iNtRON Biotechnology ("iNtRON", www.intodeworld.com) announced today that CDL200, a novel biological drug candidate under the development of the world's first enteric colon-targeted capsule formulation for the treatment of intractable and recurrent CDI (Clostridioides difficile Infection), confirmed the strong efficacy against clinical isolates from CDI patients.

A company official explained that the antibacterial activity of CDL200 was evaluated for 20 clinical isolates from patients in Europe and Korea, and rapid lysis effect within few minutes (1-5 minutes) after treatment was confirmed from all of the tested strains. In particular, even though majority of the tested strains are resistant strains to the commonly used antibiotics such as Metronidazole, Vancomycin, and Rifaximin, CDL200 showed very potent and rapid bactericidal activity.

CDL200 is an endolysin-based novel biological drug candidate for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection, a hard-to-treat and recurrent bowel diseases. CDL200 has innovative drug properties that can eradicate bacteria much faster than the conventional antibiotics in the market, and also can be used for the infection caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and/or highly virulent bacteria.

CDI patient population has been increasing globally and resulting in high mortality rate due to resistance to the existing antibiotics and serious complications such as toxic megacolon, sepsis, and intestinal perforation. Although there is growing interest in refractory CDI that does not respond well to primary treatment, there are only few studies on effective treatment yet. The more serious problem is the frequency of recurrent CDI is increasing, since the risk of subsequent recurrence is over 45% in patients who have had at least one recurrence.

The conventional treatment based on Metronidazole and Vancomycin is not effective for CDI with severe intractability and repeating recurrence. And the recently attempted FMT (fecal microbiota transplantation), that is, the treatment of administering donor feces to the patient's intestinal tract, has advantages such as not suppressing the intestinal flora and not creating resistant strains, but the treatment brings objection to the general public and is limited in that there is a possibility that other pathogens from the donor may be transmitted.

The mortality rate of CDI was about 3-4% in the past, but due to intensification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the emergence of highly virulent strain (NAP1/027), the recent mortality rate has been rapidly increased to over 10%, which makes global awareness growing.

Dr. KANG, Sang Hyeon, CTO of iNtRON, said, "We have a number of new endolysin pipelines under the development utilizing our unique itLysin technology for the serious infection that the development of effective therapeutic agents are urgently needed."

Mr. YOON, Kyung Won, CEO of iNtRON added, "Based on the development experience of SAL200, we will strive to enhance the value of our rich itLysin pipelines and will continue to secure global competitiveness in the endolysin field."

About CDL200

CDL200 is a novel endolysin-based anti- Clostridioides difficile causes an infection of the large intestine (colon), which is often referred to as C. difficile or C. diff. CDL200 showed potent and rapid activity against 100% clinical isolates from multi-nation and has no disturbance of the normal flora in human's gut. The potential clinical usage and indications are CDI and IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease), and the targeted administration route of CDL200 is oral in capsule formulation. CDL200 is under non-clinical stage development and IND enabling studies will be conducted throughout the year.

About iNtRON Biotechnology, Inc.

iNtRON is a leader in bacteriophage-based technology with aim to develop and investigate into the 'Immune & Immunotherapeutics' market. While pursuing global research and business development (R&BD) investments since their foundation and accelerated development after entering its IPO in KOSDAQ, the company honed in on innovating BIO New Drugs by developing various 'First-in-Concept' bio-drugs and conducting clinical studies in phases. The Company is committed to development of innovative innovation in the infectious diseases and 'Immune & Immunotherapeutics' area.

About iNtODEWORLD, Inc.

iNtRON has established its wholly owned US subsidiary, iNtODEWORLD, Inc. in 2017. iNtODEWORLD was initially registered in Delaware and the headquarter office is currently located in Boston. iNtODEWORLD provides news, updates and platform development progresses of iNtRON to its potential global partners and collaborators along with its own R&BD works in the US.

Contact Us

YOON, Kyung Won (Kevin) / CEO, Vice President / [email protected]

SHIN, Tae Kyu (TK) / BD Team Leader / [email protected]

BD Team / [email protected]

www.intodeworld.com

iNtRON Biotechnology, Inc.

#708, 148, Sagimakgol-ro, Jungwon-gu, Seongnam-si,

Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea

iNtODEWORLD, Inc.

1500 District Avenue, Suite 2097, Burlington, MA 01803, USA

it is iNtRON.

SOURCE iNtRON Biotechnology, Inc.
Working with brands like Etsy, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, and National Geographic, Issuu is a popular SaaS content publishing and marketing platform that helps creative people grow their businesses and inspire their audience by transforming static designs into high-performance content for every digital marketing channel. It's ideal for marketing collateral, magazines, catalogs and more. Issuu's Story Cloud empowers content creators to transform designs from static files into marketing assets for every distribution channel.

Tia Gordon , Vice President of People

Gordon brings with her over two decades of Human Resources experience. She possesses a proven track record of developing positive company cultures and operational excellence at startups and mature organizations, including Google, Looker, Synchrony Financial and Deloitte. In her new role, Gordon leads the strategic direction and operational execution of all aspects of HR and culture at Issuu.

Kevin Raheja , Vice President of Business Development Sales

Raheja has centered his 13 year career in the tech industry building, managing and growing strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Issuu, his area of expertise included business development, Platform strategy and corporate development for HubSpot, Typeform and Groupon. At Issuu, Raheja will focus his efforts on accelerating partnerships across the content economy and working with other SaaS partners in the martech ecosystem. He will also focus on driving enterprise sales for opportunities across key verticals like real estate, non-profits, and education.

Alessandra Andrenacci , Vice President of Growth Partnerships

Andrenacci brings her ten-year career experience from both large corporations like Dropbox and product lead growth startups like DocSend. As a former product partnerships and operations expert, she has a vast knowledge of how to successfully build and scale revenue driving partnership programs. In her new role, Andrenacci will develop global partnerships and drive partner-led international expansions, helping to better serve agencies and service providers that use Issuu for their clients.

"The most important aspect of a company is the people," said Joe Hyrkin, chief executive officer at Issuu. "Our People team works closely with leaders across the company to help build great teams, define our culture and develop our employees to become the next generation of leaders. Tia's experience will help us continue to attract the best talent around the world to fuel our growth." Joe continued, "Kevin and Alessandra are exactly the kind of people we look for: experienced, capable, enthusiastic and deeply committed to generating fresh thinking and new business opportunities. We are very excited to welcome them to the team."

About Issuu

With 50+ million publications hosted and 2+ billion monthly page views, Issuu is the largest SaaS content publishing and marketing platform in the world. The Issuu Story Cloud empowers content creators to transform designs from static files into marketing assets for every distribution channel - including flipbooks to embed in websites and blogs, mobile-optimized articles, motion-graphic stories for social media, GIFs for email, and more.

Issuu is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif. with offices in Copenhagen, Berlin, and Braga. For more information, please visit: www.issuu.com .

SOURCE Issuu
RENO, Nev., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Itronics Inc. (OTC: ITRO) today reported to its investors on current Company progress through June 2022.

GOLD'n GRO fertilizer sales for the second quarter ending June 30, 2022 totaled $1,081,971 , an increase of 96 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

totaled , an increase of 96 percent compared to the same period in 2021. GOLD'n GRO fertilizer sales for the six months ending June 30, 2022 totaled $1,534,844 , an increase of 60 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

totaled , an increase of 60 percent compared to the same period in 2021. Supply chain disruptions that affected the Company's GOLD'n GRO fertilizer manufacturing in 2021 were reduced significantly this year, improving manufacturing efficiency and delivery during the second quarter.

"The increase in sales reflects our distributor's increasing preference for the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers," said Dr. John Whitney , founder and President. "Our 'Award Winning', environmentally friendly fertilizers improve crop quality and yield which is vital to growers as they focus on maximizing food production during a time of emerging food shortages."

, founder and President. "Our 'Award Winning', environmentally friendly fertilizers improve crop quality and yield which is vital to growers as they focus on maximizing food production during a time of emerging food shortages." Mining company interest in the Company's Rock Kleen tailings processing technology is expanding with one contract for work on two separate projects for an operating gold mining company received late in the second quarter and two more projects with other companies in the proposal stage. Rock Kleen is a revolutionary, emerging technology that recovers residual precious metals, base and ferrous metals, nutrient materials, and industrial minerals from 'sub-ore grade' mine tailings.

Itronics reports that work on the audit of its financial statements is progressing. Once Itronics' U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings are current, trading of the stock will resume for the general public.

"We would like to thank our investors for their continued support," said Dr. Whitney. "Our portfolio of 'Zero Waste Energy Saving Technologies' is making the world cleaner and greener, while the Company continues its drive to profitability."



About Itronics

Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Itronics Inc. is a "Zero Waste Energy Saving Technology" Company that produces GOLD'n GRO multi-nutrient liquid fertilizers, silver bullion, and silver-bearing glass. The Company's environmentally friendly award winning GOLD'n GRO liquid fertilizers are used extensively in agriculture in California.

Follow Itronics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itronicsinc Follow Itronics on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itronicsinc



VISIT OUR WEB SITE: http://www.itronics.com

Contact us (775-689-7696 ), [email protected].



("Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains or may contain forward-looking statements such as statements regarding the Company's growth and profitability, growth strategy, liquidity and access to public markets, operating expense reduction, and trends in the industry in which the Company operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in risks, uncertainties or assumptions underlying or affecting such statements, or for prospective events that may have a retroactive effect.)

SOURCE Itronics Inc.
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Featured products include:

HOOVER SmartWash Automatic Carpet Cleaner

A full-size carpet washer that tackles stains and messes on carpets, stairs and above! This product is one of the easiest and most powerful carpet cleaners in the HOOVER line up. Simply push forward to clean and pull back to dry. Comes with a removable cleaning wand to pretreat stains before you deep clean (save up to 42%).

HOOVER ONEPWR Blade MAX Pet Cordless Stick Vacuum

This lightweight stick vacuum is designed with an efficient High-Performance Digital Motor to deliver the maximum cleaning power you need to clean up after your pets. Plus, the antimicrobial brush roll helps prevent the buildup of odors (save up to 36%).

HOOVER MAXLife Pro Pet Swivel Bagless Upright Vacuum Cleaner

The MaxLife Pro Pet Swivel is ideal for homes with pets. Built to easily get to all the places messes typically hide, this powerful vacuum steers effortlessly while delivering a powerful clean on every floor type. And since it's designed with our new MAXLife System, the MAXLife Pro Pet Swivel not only cleans with the strong suction pet owners rely on, but it also performs like new for 3X longer (save up to 30%).

"We love Prime Day. It gives us the opportunity to provide huge savings to our consumers on some of the best products in our portfolio," says Brittany Doyle, VP of Marketing and E-Commerce of TTI Floor Care North America. "With more consumers looking for real solutions to stay ahead of those unexpected messes, we are excited to offer a range of products that can solve that consumer need at a discounted price point."

About HOOVER 

For more than 100 years, Hoover has been one of the most trusted brands in America, and consumers appreciate how Hoover's innovation can help simplify their lives. HOOVER designs powerful, easy-to-use products that clean the entire home from floor to ceiling. The comprehensive line of products includes cordless stick vacuums, uprights, carpet cleaners, portable spot carpet cleaners, hard floor cleaners, and cleaning solutions. HOOVER is a brand of TTI Floor Care North America, whose portfolio of leading brands also includes Oreck, Dirt Devil and HOOVER Commercial. TTI Floor Care North America is a subsidiary of Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd. For more information, visit www.hoover.com.

###

SOURCE Hoover
Tax preparation company urges taxpayers to do mid-year tax checkup to avoid surprises during tax filing, shares biggest changes this year so far

JERSEY CITY, N.J., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The past few years have been considerably favorable for millions of taxpayers who received a large tax refund, but this tax season will be much different. Jackson Hewitt Tax Services is warning taxpayers that they could risk refund shock and receive a smaller refund this year. Or worse, they might owe the IRS. The tax preparation company is encouraging taxpayers to do a mid-year tax checkup appointment to understand their situation and make possible changes that could benefit them, to avoid experiencing refund shock during filing season early next year.

"While most people don't think about their taxes until the end of the year, July is the perfect time to make a mid-year tax-planning appointment, especially this year, when many taxpayers are at risk of experiencing refund shock," says Mark Steber, Chief Tax Information Officer at Jackson Hewitt. "My advice: Plan now, keep on top of changes that will impact you and your family, and work with an experienced Tax Pro who has your best interests in mind."

To do a mid-year tax checkup, Steber says that taxpayers need to review a few items to better understand their 2022 situation, including last year's tax return, a summary of 2022's current income amount, and an awareness of notable personal changes from the yearlike a change in dependents, change of employment or self-employment pay, getting married or divorcedthat may impact their tax situation. With this information, taxpayers can calculate their mid-year tax estimate for the first half of the year, and compare it to the tax amount they've paid.

"Once someone has their expected results, they should meet with a Tax Pro to understand how to act accordingly," Steber adds. "If taxpayers are seeing they might have a smaller refund than they expect or even a balance due, there is still time to take action. That could mean anything from increasing tax withholdings for the balance of the year, to increasing contributions to qualified retirement plans, to many other strategies. See your local Tax Pro for answers to tax specific questions on your unique circumstances."

In addition to doing a mid-year tax checkup, the Tax Pros at Jackson Hewitt are offering taxpayers insight into the top four things they should know to also help avoid refund shock this tax year:

Unlike 2020 and 2021, 2022 will likely not have additional stimulus checks, also known as Economic Impact Payments or the Recovery Rebate Credit. These checks were part of COVID relief packages, and the IRS issued more than 470 million payments in the past two tax seasons. No new stimulus checks are being discussed in legislation; therefore, taxpayers shouldn't expect an additional $1,200 , $600 , or $1,400 per person in their tax refund. Several tax credits are reverting to pre-COVID levels, which are comparatively smaller or limited to last year. This year, taxpayers will experience the Child Tax Credit (CTC) being worth $2,000 per dependent (down from $3,600 in 2021)as well as no advance CTC monthly payments this year. The Earned Income Tax Credit for eligible taxpayers with no children will go back to $500 from about $1,500 ; and the Dependent Care Credit will go to a max of $2,100 from $8,000 . These credits will also return to other age and income limits, which also means fewer taxpayers will be eligible for these credits. There won't be an above-the-line deduction for charitable donations for those who take the standard deduction. This deduction will revert to pre-COVID rules and only be available to those who itemize. For the past two years, taxpayers could deduct up to $600 on their tax returns. Every year, there are tax law changes that bring new challenges and differences. New to this year will be the impact on those who use third-party payment apps, like Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, Apple Pay, and others. These apps are now required to report users to the IRS who accept more than $600 for the year in total, and will send users a 1099-K form. This income will need to be reported on all tax returns to the IRS, and many taxpayers will need to pay tax on it.

Taxpayers can learn more about avoiding refund shock, as well as get other planning tips for a smoother 2022 tax filing season by viewing Jackson Hewitt's "Tax Talk Live" Facebook Live event series. The first series is taking place the week of July 18, 2022, and will be broadcast each week day from 12:00 to 12:15 p.m. EST: facebook.com/jacksonhewitt.

Visit jacksonhewitt.com for more information and to locate an office to schedule a mid-year checkup appointment.

About Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. is an innovator in the tax industry, with a mission to provide its hard-working clients access to simple, low-cost solutions to manage their taxes and tax refunds. Jackson Hewitt is devoted to helping clients get ahead and stands behind its work with its Maximum Refund Guarantee and Lifetime Accuracy Guarantee (restrictions apply, see Jackson Hewitt's website for more details). Jackson Hewitt has more than 5,500 franchise and company-owned locations nationwide, including nearly 3,000 in Walmart stores as well as online tax prep services, making it easy and convenient for clients to file their taxes. For more information about products, services, and offers, or to locate a Jackson Hewitt office, visit www.jacksonhewitt.com or call 1 (800) 234-1040.

SOURCE Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.
"This represents our buyer's first acquisition of an experience-based retail and sporting goods store." - JRW Realty

With the addition of this 99,279-square-foot sporting goods store, JRW Realty has helped its clients identify and acquire more than 110 properties year-to-date, with more 2.2 million square feet of commercial space, representing over $500 million in total acquisitions.

Melinda Marston, JRW Realty president of single-tenant net lease, said that the tenant's strong track record and the specifics of this location made the property especially attractive.

"This represents our buyer's first acquisition of an experience-based retail and sporting goods store," Marston said. "Similar to many of the other recession-resilient tenants that our buyers have a focus on, Scheels weathered the Great Recession of 20082012 extremely well, without any need to downsize or lay off staff, due to its market positioning and loyal customer base. Furthermore, the tenant has also shown a strong commitment to the store at this location, which features very high sales per square foot."

Marston added that JRW Realty's buyers' specific criteria require diligent sourcing of properties, but once the right kind of property is identified, their buyers are able to move swiftly to close.

"Our clients continue to seek net-leased properties backed by tenants with investment-grade credit ratings that operate in recession-resilient sectors," she said. "Their strong balance sheets and streamlined due diligence processes tend to make for smooth closings, enabling them to close within 28 days of a signed contract."

About JRW Realty

JRW Realty is a commercial real estate brokerage firm that has closed on more than 900 properties valued at more than $3.6 billion on behalf of its clients. JRW Realty's team places special focus on due diligence, reviewing over 100 properties each week and only choosing to source for clients the best 3-4% according to their rigorous acquisition criteria. For more information, visit www.jrwrealty.com.

Single-Tenant Net Lease Sourcing Contact

Melinda Marston, President - STNL

CA DRE #01950977

[email protected]

(626) 696-2910

Multi-Tenant Retail Sourcing Contact

Joel Staffilino, President - Multi-Tenant Retail

[email protected]

(513) 227-4502

Media Inquiries

[email protected]

SOURCE JRW Realty
Investment provides resources to organizations working to increase civic engagement in and support reproductive rights in communities of color

BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Katz Amsterdam charitable entities, today announced $5.25 million in civic engagement grants to be awarded to 29 community-based organizations in six focus states. Each grantee was chosen for their work to strengthen civic engagement within BIPOC communities and how they are developing and implementing community-driven strategies. Katz Amsterdam also awarded an additional $2 million in grants to 11 organizations supporting women's reproductive rights.

Rob Katz, executive chairperson of the board, Vail Resorts, Inc., and his wife, Elana Amsterdam, New York Times bestselling author and founder of Elana's Pantry, launched the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust in 2017 and the Katz Amsterdam Foundation in 2018 to be a catalyst for eliminating barriers to health, increasing access to opportunity, protecting basic rights and improving outcomes for all communities, with particular focus on communities of color.

"These civic engagement grants are an important investment in supporting new generations of civic leaders, deepening civic participation and supporting steps for more equitable outcomes," said Rob Katz, Katz Amsterdam founder. "We selected these outstanding organizations for their civic engagement mission and focus on serving their communities, and we look forward to seeing how they promote and inspire civic engagement where it is needed most."

Through grant-making, Katz Amsterdam aim to support voting rights and long-term efforts that build infrastructure promoting civic engagement and cultivating positive change by:

Investing in organizations and leaders working to prevent harmful voter suppression measures at the state and federal level.

Working to reduce barriers for BIPOC communities to access opportunities to vote by improving election administration.

Supporting strategies that educate voters and increase voter participation in elections.

The 2022 civic engagement grantees are:

ARIZONA

Black Phoenix Organizing Collective - $100,000

Arizona Center for Empowerment - $200,000

One Arizona - $150,000

GEORGIA

Black Voters Matter - $200,000

Fair Fight Action - $200,000

New Georgia Project - $200,000

Pro Georgia - $150,000

MICHIGAN

Michigan United - $200,000

Mothering Justice - $200,000

We The People  MI - $200,000

Michigan Voices - $150,000

Michigan Donor Alliance - $100,000

NEVADA

Asian Community Development Council - $200,000

Make It Work Nevada - $200,000

Make the Road Nevada - $200,000

Silver State Voices - $150,000

NORTH CAROLINA

Down Home North Carolina - $200,000

North Carolina Asian Americans Together - $200,000

You Can Vote - $200,000

- Blueprint NC - $150,000

Imagine NC - $100,000

WISCONSIN

Black Leaders Organizing for Communities - $200,000

NATIONAL

All Voting is Local - $200,000

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC - $200,000

Mi Familia Vota - $200,000

- The Partnership Funds - $200,000

Protect the Sacred - $200,000

Movement Voter Project - $200,000

Way to Rise - $200,000

Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Katz and Amsterdam have awarded an additional $2 million to 11 organizations supporting women's reproductive rights. "We believe strongly that every woman should be able to make her own healthcare choices  and that all reproductive services, including abortion, should be readily available," said Rob Katz. "Reproductive freedom is a basic human right. We are stung by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision. They dismantled a constitutional right all women counted on for nearly 50 years which will have devastating impacts, particularly in communities of color. We hope these funds will help deserving and important organizations serve women and families in their healthcare choices."

Organizations receiving reproductive rights grants include:

National Network of Abortion Funds - $500,000

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective - $350,000

National Abortion Federation - $250,000

Planned Parenthood Federation of America - $200,000

Spark Reproductive Justice NOW - $150,000

Cobalt Foundation  Cobalt Abortion Fund - $125,000

National Women's Health Network, Plan C Pills - $125,000

The Afiya Center - $100,000

Just the Pill - $75,000

If/When/How - $75,000

Apiary for Practical Support - $50,000

With this current round of civic engagement and reproductive rights grants, Katz Amsterdam has provided more than $39 million in funding since 2017. For more information on the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust and Foundation, visit katzamsterdam.org.

About the Katz Amsterdam Foundation

The Katz Amsterdam Foundation strives to be a catalyst for eliminating barriers to health, increasing access to opportunity, protecting basic human rights and improving outcomes for all. The Foundation believes that everyone benefits from living in healthy and cohesive communities, but access to these benefits is unequal. KAF works in partnership with communities to advance just and equitable approaches to accessing mental and behavioral health care and protect civil rights by increasing civic engagement and participation in a multiracial democracy. The Foundation does this work by addressing systemic injustice and the root causes behind racial gaps in health and well-being. KAF's priority is to support community-driven work that meaningfully improves the lives of individuals and the social well-being of our communities. For more information, visit www.katzamsterdam.org.

Media Contact:

Wendy Artman

GroundFloor Media

M: 920-819-8968

E: [email protected]

SOURCE Katz Amsterdam Foundation
DALLAS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) will issue its second quarter 2022 results on Tuesday, July 26 with a news release issued via PR Newswire and First Call at approximately 6:30 a.m. CDT.

In addition to the news release, the company will make available prepared management remarks from Kimberly-Clark's Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu and CFO Nelson Urdaneta at approximately 7 a.m. CDT. These materials, as well as a link to the company's live question and answer webcast for analysts at 9 a.m. CDT, will be provided through the Investors section of Kimberly-Clark's website at www.kimberly-clark.com.

Kimberly-Clark will continue to post the date of future quarterly earnings releases and related webcasts on its website. Interested stockholders and others should monitor the website for these announcements.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what's important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Sweety, Softex, Viva and WypAll, hold the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build stronger communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 150-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com.

[KMB-F]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/648588/Kimberly_Clark_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Large organizations lead the pack with Energy & Utilities, Insurance and Consulting most at risk for social engineering followed by Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals for small and midsize organizations.

TAMPA BAY, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- KnowBe4, the provider of the world's largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, has released the new 2022 Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report to measure an organization's Phish-proneTM Percentage (PPP), which indicates how many of their employees are likely to fall for phishing or a social engineering scam.

With ransomware payments averaging $580,000 in 2021 and business email compromise (BEC) losses topping $1.8 billion in 2020, a cyber attack can wreak havoc on an organization. Yet, according to the baseline testing conducted for the report, without security training, across all industries, 32.4% of employees are likely to click on a suspicious link or comply with a fraudulent request. In some large category industries, such as Consulting, Energy & Utilities, and Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, the percentage is over 50%.

KnowBe4 analyzed a data set of over 9.5 million users across 30,173 organizations, with over 23.4 million simulated phishing security tests across 19 different industries. The resulting baseline "Phish-proneTM Percentage (PPP)" measures the percentage of employees in organizations that had not conducted any KnowBe4 security training, who clicked a simulated phishing email link or opened an infected attachment during testing.

When companies implemented a combination of training and simulated phishing security testing after their initial baseline measurement, results changed dramatically. In 90 days after completing monthly or more frequent security training, the average PPP decreased to 17.6%. After twelve months of security training and simulated phishing security tests, the average PPP dropped to five percent, indicating that new habits become normal, fostering a stronger security culture.

The report underscores the fact that while technology plays an important role in preventing and recovering from an attack, companies cannot afford to ignore the human factor. Verizon's 2022 Data Breach Investigations report states that 82% of breaches this year involved the human element.

"In critical industries like Energy & Utilities and Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals where lives can be severely impacted, we found particularly high levels of cybersecurity risk as a result of simulated phishing test failures," said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO, KnowBe4. "With the steep cost of cyberattacks, this is deeply concerning. Given that most data breaches originate from social engineering, we cannot afford to omit the human element. Implementing security awareness training with simulated phishing testing will help to better protect organizations against cyber attacks and result in a more secure organizational culture."

To download a copy of the KnowBe4 Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report, visit https://info.knowbe4.com/phishing-by-industry-benchmarking-report

About KnowBe4

KnowBe4, the provider of the world's largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 50,000 organizations around the globe. Founded by IT and data security specialist Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness about ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to awareness training on security. Kevin Mitnick, an internationally recognized cybersecurity specialist and KnowBe4's Chief Hacking Officer, helped design the KnowBe4 training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Tens of thousands of organizations rely on KnowBe4 to mobilize their end users as their last line of defense.

Media Contact

Cassandra Cadot, [email protected]

SOURCE KnowBe4
An American secret military program coded 127e has recently come to the fore. American news website The Intercept revealed that between 2017 and 2020, US commandos conducted at least 23 separate 127e programs across the world, at least 14 of which were in the greater Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. These programs relied on foreign and irregular partner forces to carry out the so-called counterterrorism operations against Americas enemies, while the US armed, trained, and provided intelligence to those forces.

Fostering pro-America forces, meddling in regional conflicts, attacking strategic rivals and anti-US countries  these are the usual tricks employed by the US to maintain its hegemony.

According to the latest documents obtained by The Intercept website and revelations from former Pentagon senior officials, the US over the years has waged proxy wars through the secret 127e program in many countries, including Niger, Cameroon, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Tunisia. Many 127e programs were still active in the greater Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region as recently as 2020.

Washingtons addiction to proxy wars showed itself during the Cold War and got worse after the 9/11attacks. Secret military programs such as 127e were spawned in this period as the US rampantly promoted the proxy strategy in the Middle East, West Asia, Africa and other regions. Even today, the US, clinging to the Cold War mindset, is still thinking of fighting a proxy war against Russia.

According to Zhou Fangyin, head of the School of International Relations, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, through decades of practice, the US has developed a system of waging proxy wars. It makes use of major-country competition, regional frictions and ethnic or religious conflicts, provides weapons, intelligence, training and funds, and supports specific countries, opposition parties and mercenaries, all to achieve its own strategic goals. At the same time, the US is good at launching publicity campaigns to dress up its proxies as the force of justice and its meddling in foreign countries internal affairs and regional disputes as just operations preserving world order.

Jiang Tianjiao, associate professor at the Fudan Development Institute, pointed out that compared with directly sending troops, proxy war is more secretive and lacks necessary supervision and restraint, because, not authorized through international law, it usually falls in a grey zone. The US adopts a relatively indirect approach of infiltration. It fosters proxies or assigns special operation forces or mercenaries to conduct secret military operations. Its adept at taking advantage of loopholes in international rules, which is its traditional opportunistic approach as far as foreign relation is concerned, he said.

Another reason why the US is so interested in proxy war is that it can help maintain American hegemony at a low cost. In 1955, the then US President Eisenhower called proxy war the cheapest insurance in the world.

According to Zhou, on the international level, the US waged proxy wars to strain its rivals, reduce its military risks and warfare expenditure, seize influence and strengthen control over specific regions, and make other countries more dependent on it for security. Domestically, proxy wars can in a way assuage the anti-war sentiments at home, mitigate resistance from the opposition party, and leave leeway for policy maneuvering. Always putting its own interests first, the US adjusts its strategic movement according to how the situation changes. If the proxy war goes well, it would provide more support; if anything goes against itself, it would back out any minute. Americas hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan is a perfect case in point.

Americas waging of proxy wars and interference in other countries affairs have created incessant security crises and humanitarian disasters. Zhou said, The US has come to believe that conflict is a good thing for it because it makes other countries feel more clearly the value of its military superiority. Therefore, Washington would take the initiative to make trouble from time to time to realize its own interests. Meanwhile, it is so eager to wage proxy wars because that way it is able to contain and suppress its rivals at a relatively small price.

Editors note: This article is originally published on news.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
Laing O'Rourke has over 150 years of construction and engineering expertise. The company wanted an easy to adopt customer relationship management (CRM) system that would improve relationships with its customers by cleaning and organizing its current database.

"Customer relationships have always been highly valued at Laing O'Rourke. We needed a tool that would give us an improved holistic view of our clients to help strengthen strategic and thoughtful relationships," explained Natalie Petty , Digital Product Owner, at Laing O'Rourke.

Laing O'Rourke worked with Introhive on a strategic rollout plan with multiple touchpoints of communication. Soon after deployment, Laing O'Rourke rolled out Introhive with their Client and Markets department. After understanding the value of the engagement and visibility of their client relationships, the company widened Introhive's scope to include other stakeholder groups including partners within architecture, commercial, and supply chain. Thanks to Introhive, years of client data that lived in various systems were updated, accurate and housed in one accessible place for client management.

By organizing its data with Introhive, Laing O'Rourke was able to remove silos between various departments and divisions within the company and provide ongoing maintenance for customer data.

"Introhive helped drive adoption of our CRM. Colleagues that had been using a semi-purposeful system are now thirsty for all of the client data and intel Introhive provides. Word is spreading across departments and others are eager to get on board," said Petty.

Introhive works with companies across architecture, engineering, legal, accounting, financial services, technology, and more. In 2020, Introhive's platform captured 20 million+ contacts, mapped more than 60 million relationships, and supported 200,000+ customers across 90 countries.

"Companies with as much experience and data as Laing O'Rourke need the right tools to effectively and efficiently organize and manage its data and subsequently, customer relationships," said Simon Steer-Jones , Business Development Director at Introhive.

"Laing O'Rourke trusted Introhive's AI-powered technology and welcomed us to clean and streamline one of its most important revenue generating assets; its data. We are excited to work with Laing O'Rourke because of its innovation and excellence in the engineering and construction sectors," said Steer-Jones.

For more information about Introhive, go here

About Laing O'Rourke

WE'RE LAING O'ROURKE, AND WE DELIVER CERTAINTY THROUGH THE POWER OF EXPERIENCE

Laing O'Rourke is an international engineering and construction company delivering state-of-the-art infrastructure and buildings projects for clients in the UK, Middle East and Australia.

Certainty, reliability, security  that's what our client's want. And, at Laing O'Rourke, we have over 150 years of experience delivering it.

Our highly-trained and committed people understand the challenges of modern construction, the stakeholders involved, and how to work collaboratively to manage the process and achieve our client's aims.

We combine this expertise with purposeful technology, wielding innovations like engineering and AI to yield powerful results.

www.laingorourke.com @laing_orourke

About Introhive

Introhive is the fastest-growing AI-powered sales and relationship intelligence platform, with the single largest revenue acceleration deployment 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.

more at www.introhive.ai

Media Inquiries:

Sabra Rubinstein

Marketing Programs Manager at Introhive

[email protected]

SOURCE Introhive
NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan and PARIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lanner Electronics, a leading uCPE Whitebox Solutions provider, today announced that the company has established a partnership with 6WIND, a high-performance networking software company, to provide a full range of whitebox uCPE solutions pre-validated with 6WIND's Virtual Service Router (VSR) solutions, offering scalable virtualized routing and security at the edge.

Lanner and 6WIND Announce Whitebox uCPE with Scalable Virtual Router.

Integrating Lanner's uCPE appliance with 6WIND's Virtual Service Router (VSR) software provides network service providers a routing and security solution with a superior deployment flexibility, carrier-grade performance, and high availability for enabling quick deployment and operationalization of a powerful IPsec VPN feature in both cloud and hybrid environments.

Lanner delivers the broadest range of pre-validated whitebox CPE appliances that enable different Virtualized Network Functions (VPN, routing, firewall, or CGNAT).

Since 2018, Lanner uCPE Platforms have been deployed in distributed enterprises, branches, and retails more than 200,000 devices. Deployed in diversified environments, these x86 based network appliances are highly customizable to meet customer demands, such as CPU core count, memory, storage, acceleration homologation, LAN configurations, and RF connectivity.

6WIND's VSR product family offers to Service Providers and enterprises a high performance and scalable software network solutions that deploy on bare metal (PNF), virtualized (VNF) or containerized (CNF) in private and public clouds. It delivers high performance IPv4/v6 Forwarding, Static and Dynamic Routing, Policy based Routing, NAT, Firewall, IPSec VPNs, Quality of Service, High Availability and more. Management options include a CLI and NETCONF/YANG-based APIs for a seamless integration with third-party network management solutions.

The scalable virtual router platforms are available as below:

Small Medium Large Extra Large NCA-1515 Intel Atom Denverton NCA-5520 Intel Xeon Cascade Lake SP NCA-5530 Intel Xeon Ice Lake SP NCA-6520 Intel Xeon Ice Lake SP x2 End-user, Branch device, uCPE, SD-WAN, desktop router Border Router, VPN Aggregator, CGNAT Router, vPE Router High end Border Router, VPN, CGNAT Router, vPE Router High end Border Router, VPN, CGNAT Router, vPE Router Up to 10Gbps Up to 80Gbps Up to 200Gbps Up to 400Gbps

About Lanner Electronics

Lanner Electronics Inc (TAIEX 6245) is a world-leading provider of design, engineering, and manufacturing services for SDN and NFV network computing appliances for system integrators, service providers, and application developers.

www.lannerinc.com

About 6WIND

6WIND is a leading high-performance networking software company and the worldwide market leader for Virtual Service Router (VSR) solutions. 6WIND software is deployed globally by Service Providers, System Integrators, Cloud Providers, Enterprises and Tier-1 OEMs, allowing customers to replace expensive hardware with software and virtualization for routing and security use cases.

6WIND has a global presence with Headquarters based in Paris - France, Santa Clara, CA - USA and Singapore.

www.6wind.com

Media Contact

Brian Chen, Senior Marketing Manager, Lanner Electronics

Phone: +886 8692-6060 / E-mail: [email protected]

Neelam Bahal, VP Global Marketing, 6WIND

[email protected]

SOURCE Lanner Electronics, Inc.
MONTREAL, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - The Lion Electric Company (NYSE: LEV) (TSX: LEV) ("Lion" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles, today announced that it will release its 2022 second quarter results on August 5, 2022, before markets open. A conference call and webcast will be held on the same day, at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss the results.

To participate in the conference call, please dial (226) 828-7575 or (833) 950-0062 (toll free) using the Access Code 842480. A live webcast of the conference call will also be available at www.thelionelectric.com under the "Events and Presentation" page of the "Investors" section. An archive of the event will be available shortly after the conference call.

ABOUT LION ELECTRIC

Lion Electric is an innovative manufacturer of zero-emission vehicles. The company creates, designs and manufactures all-electric class 5 to class 8 commercial urban trucks and all-electric buses and minibuses for the school, paratransit and mass transit segments. Lion is a North American leader in electric transportation and designs, builds and assembles many of its vehicles' components, including chassis, battery packs, truck cabins and bus bodies.

Always actively seeking new and reliable technologies, Lion vehicles have unique features that are specifically adapted to its users and their everyday needs. Lion believes that transitioning to all-electric vehicles will lead to major improvements in our society, environment and overall quality of life. Lion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol LEV.

SOURCE Lion Electric
Invests $19.5 Million in Three Existing Portfolio Companies

HOUSTON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Main Street Capital Corporation (NYSE: MAIN) ("Main Street") is pleased to announce that it recently invested a total of $19.5 million in three existing lower middle market portfolio companies, PPL RVs, Inc. ("PPL"), Centre Technologies Holdings, LLC ("Centre") and Nebraska Vet AcquireCo, LLC, dba Heritage Vet Partners, P.C. ("Heritage").

Main Street's follow-on investment in PPL was made to support the acquisition of Four Pages, LLC, dba RV Swap Shop, which provides PPL operations in Central Florida, and to support the company's continued growth initiatives. Founded in 1972, PPL is a provider of used RVs, parts, service and third-party financing from its three Texas dealerships located in Houston, New Braunfels and Cleburne, and its newest location in Summerfield, Florida. The company is the largest consignment RV dealer in the United States and sells RVs on both a consigned and company-owned basis. Main Street originally invested in PPL in June 2010 to support a recapitalization of the company and to provide growth capital. The follow-on investment consisted of an additional first lien, senior secured term loan of $8.0 million.

Main Street's follow-on investment in Centre, together with investments by Centre's founder and CEO, supported the acquisitions of Commercial IT Solutions, Inc. and Texas Systems Group, Inc., two Texas-based providers of IT managed services as part of Centre's ongoing acquisition growth strategy. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 2006, Centre has established itself as a mission critical IT solutions provider offering a full suite of solutions including managed & hosted services, value-added sourcing and integration and project services. Main Street, along with its co-investors, originally invested in Centre in January 2019 in partnership with Centre's founder and CEO and management team to facilitate a minority recapitalization of the company. The follow-on investment consisted of $6.3 million in a combination of a first lien, senior secured term loan and a direct equity investment.

Main Street also recently completed two follow-on investments in Heritage to support the acquisitions of United Veterinary Service S.C. and Animal Clinic of Monett, Inc., two mixed-animal practices that provide veterinary services and products, as part of Heritage's ongoing acquisition growth strategy. Founded in 1985 and headquartered in West Point, Nebraska, Heritage is a leading provider of mixed-animal and large-animal veterinary services and products to livestock producers and companion animal owners throughout the United States. Main Street originally invested in Heritage in December 2020 in partnership with Heritage's existing owners and senior management team to facilitate a minority recapitalization of the company and provide growth capital to help facilitate the company's acquisition growth strategy in the mixed-animal veterinary space. Since Main Street's initial investment in Heritage, the company has now completed four acquisitions. The follow-on investments consisted of additional first lien, senior secured term loans totaling $5.2 million.

ABOUT MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION

Main Street (www.mainstcapital.com) is a principal investment firm that primarily provides long-term debt and equity capital to lower middle market companies and debt capital to middle market companies. Main Street's portfolio investments are typically made to support management buyouts, recapitalizations, growth financings, refinancings and acquisitions of companies that operate in diverse industry sectors. Main Street seeks to partner with entrepreneurs, business owners and management teams and generally provides "one stop" financing alternatives within its lower middle market investment strategy. Main Street's lower middle market companies generally have annual revenues between $10 million and $150 million. Main Street's middle market debt investments are made in businesses that are generally larger in size than its lower middle market portfolio companies.

Main Street, through its wholly owned portfolio company MSC Adviser I, LLC ("MSC Adviser"), also maintains an asset management business through which it manages investments for external parties. MSC Adviser is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Contacts:

Main Street Capital Corporation

Dwayne L. Hyzak, CEO, [email protected]

Jesse E. Morris, CFO & COO, [email protected]

713-350-6000

Dennard Lascar Investor Relations

Ken Dennard | [email protected]

Zach Vaughan | [email protected]

713-529-6600

SOURCE Main Street Capital Corporation
MONTREAL, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Tech-savvy and visionary entrepreneur Ray Junior Courtemanche just announced that his company, SKYBLU Condos Cite Mirabel, will now accept cryptocurrency.

Through the services of Dello, a Montreal fintech company, developer Ray Junior Courtemanche will now allow its customers to purchase their condos using cryptocurrency.

For the Montreal born entrepreneur, the timing was right: you have to keep up with the times and be open to change!

The ever-growing number of crypto holders made it a no brainer to Courtemanche.

"More and more people are turning to cryptocurrency. I was just waiting for a simple and effective way to be able to accept crypto, and today, the solution exists and it's from Quebec! At this point, I was sold on that idea,'' says Courtemanche.

Like him, through Dello's innovative crypto POS systems, businesses will now be able to accept crypto and receive settlement in cash directly to their bank accounts. With such solutions, Cypto paymentsfrom customers around the corner and around the world, are now as simple as any traditional payment methods.

For Ray junior Courtemanche, mass adoption of cryptocurrency should happen soon enough.

"It's secure, it's reliable. In a transaction, it cuts out many intermediaries. At the end of the line, lots of people would benefit from crypto and blockchain technology, including those in real estate,'' affirms the entrepreneur.

About Ray Junior Courtemanche:

Montreal born Ray Junior Courtemanche is a Canadian real estate developer who owns more than forty businesses. He is the founder of Cite Mirabel, one of the most important real estate projects in the province of Quebec with a projected final value of more than two billion dollars.

About SKYBLU Condos :

SKYBLU Condos, located in Cite Mirabel, Quebec, is a high-end residential project consisting of three twin towers. In 2020, its first tower became the highest residential building in the Laurentians region. In 2022, SKYBLU is selected as the winner of the high-rise condos 10 floors or more  category of the "Prix Construire" awarded by the ACQ (Association de la construction du Quebec).

www.investissementrayjunior.com

www.skyblucondos.com

VIDEO : https://youtu.be/7ARsKa1xrF8

SOURCE SKYBLU Condos
E. John Wherry, Ph.D., and James L. Gulley, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.P, named as Co-Chairs

Joined by Lillian L. Siu, M.D., Howard Kaufman, M.D., and Aurelien Marabelle, M.D., Ph.D.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Marengo Therapeutics, Inc., a company pioneering novel immuno-oncology (IO) therapeutics that directly target the V chain of the T cell receptor (TCR) to activate the right T cell subsets to fight cancer, today announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Board Co-Chairs E. John Wherry, Ph.D., and James L. Gulley, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.P, are joined by Lillian L. Siu, M.D., Howard Kaufman, M.D., and Aurelien Marabelle, M.D., Ph.D. This experienced team of scientists, clinicians and thought leaders will bring their invaluable expertise to Marengo as the company advances its pipeline assets towards the clinic and expands its Selective T cell Activation Repertoire (STAR) platform.

"It's a pleasure to announce such an exceptional lineup of seasoned IO experts as members of Marengo's Scientific Advisory Board, many of whom I have had the privilege of working closely with over the past two decades," said Zhen Su, M.D., MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Marengo. "I am confident that our complementary expertise and shared conviction in the power of cancer immunotherapy will accelerate our lead asset into the clinic later this year and advance our portfolio of precision IO therapies."

"It is an honor to co-lead Marengo's distinguished SAB with Dr. James Gulley at this key inflection point for the company," said Dr. E. John Wherry. "Marengo's novel TCR-based approach to T cell activation holds great potential to close the treatment gap for people living with cancer who are in need of effective, durable immunotherapies, and may even have future applications beyond cancer."

"We are delighted to be working with such thoughtful immunologists and oncologists, who will support our progress translating the significant potential of our novel immunology platform into valuable medicines for people living with cancer," said Andrew Bayliffe, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Marengo. "Equally exciting is our opportunity to expand beyond oncology with novel therapies that address significant unmet needs for patients."

Marengo's SAB members include:

Co-Chair Dr. E. John Wherry , Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics in the Perelman School of Medicine, Director of the UPenn Institute for Immunology, and the Barbara and Richard Schiffrin President's Distinguished Professor.

, Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics in the Perelman School of Medicine, Director of the UPenn Institute for Immunology, and the Barbara and Richard Schiffrin President's Distinguished Professor. Dr. Wherry has received numerous honors, including the Distinguished Alumni award from the Thomas Jefferson University , the Cancer Research Institute's Frederick W. Alt Award for New Discoveries in Immunology, and the Stanley N. Cohen Biomedical Research Award from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

, the Cancer Research Institute's Award for New Discoveries in Immunology, and the Stanley N. Cohen Biomedical Research Award from the Perelman School of Medicine. Co-Chair Dr. James Gulley , who brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the oncology field. Most notably, he currently serves as Co-Director of the newly formed Center for Immuno-Oncology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, which focuses on the development of strategies to optimize immunological approaches for effective solid tumor therapies.

who brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the oncology field. Most notably, he currently serves as Co-Director of the newly formed Center for Immuno-Oncology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, which focuses on the development of strategies to optimize immunological approaches for effective solid tumor therapies. Dr. Gulley has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, most recently including the Hubert H. Humphrey Award for Service to America, the NCI Director's Group Award, and the SITC Collaborator Award. He earned his Ph.D. and M.D. at Loma Linda University . He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Emory University , followed by a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute.

Award for Service to America, the NCI Director's Group Award, and the SITC Collaborator Award. He earned his Ph.D. and M.D. at . He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at , followed by a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Lillian Siu , M.D., Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto . Dr. Siu brings over 20 years of experience as a senior medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where she directs the Phase I Clinical Trials Program and co-directs the Tumor Immunotherapy Program. Her main research focus is precision oncology and biomarkers, especially circulating tumor DNA and clinical trials methodology.

Professor of Medicine at the . Dr. Siu brings over 20 years of experience as a senior medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where she directs the Phase I Clinical Trials Program and co-directs the Tumor Immunotherapy Program. Her main research focus is precision oncology and biomarkers, especially circulating tumor DNA and clinical trials methodology. Dr. Howard Kaufman , M.D., who joins Marengo's SAB with over 25 years of experience in cancer immunotherapy and drug development. His expertise in local tumor immunotherapy and oncolytic viruses successfully led the first oncolytic virus to approval as a cancer treatment. Previously, he served as a Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) President and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer at Ankyra Therapeutics. In addition, he served as a Clinical Associate at Massachusetts General Hospital.

who joins SAB with over 25 years of experience in cancer immunotherapy and drug development. His expertise in local tumor immunotherapy and oncolytic viruses successfully led the first oncolytic virus to approval as a cancer treatment. Previously, he served as a Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) President and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer at Ankyra Therapeutics. In addition, he served as a Clinical Associate at General Hospital. Dr. Aurelien Marabelle, Ph.D., a physician scientist who brings vast early-phase clinical trial expertise in oncology and immunology to Marengo . He is currently Director of the Clinical Investigation Center BIOTHERIS, full professor of Clinical Immunology at the University of Paris Saclay, and leader of a translational research laboratory within the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM).

About Marengo Therapeutics

Marengo Therapeutics, Inc, an ATP company, is pioneering first-in-class therapeutics that activate the right immune response to promote lifelong protection against cancer. With a passionate team of dedicated scientists experienced in immunology and oncology, Marengo's proprietary Selective T Cell Activation Repertoire (STAR) platform leverages an extensive biological understanding of T cell function and receptor signaling to create a world in which everyone's immune system can defeat cancer. To learn more, visit www.marengotx.com.

SOURCE Marengo Therapeutics
Together, Maritz Motivation and Bumped will enable Fortune 500 brands to offer their customers fractional shares of stock as part of their loyalty and rewards programs

ST. LOUIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Maritz Motivation , a leader in providing consumer and channel loyalty, today announced a new collaboration with Bumped , the fintech startup powering brands to reward their customers in stock. Maritz Motivation is the first loyalty channel provider to offer stock rewards via Bumped's platform, and will continue to move the industry beyond traditional rewards and into the next-generation of loyalty programs.

With a long history and proven track-record of reinventing the loyalty industry, Maritz Motivation is the first provider to bring a new reward category of stock rewards to the industry. Throughout the last 125 years, Maritz Motivation has led the market and shaped the way Fortune 500 consumer brands approach customer loyalty.

Together, Maritz Motivation and Bumped will power consumer brands to reward their customers in fractional shares of stock and democratize the stock market creating greater financial equity.

"Our decision to work with Bumped to drive the next innovation in the loyalty industry was a no-brainer for Maritz Motivation. Both being first-to-market in our respective industries, we understand what it means to disrupt a space and deliver a product that drives change," said Cindy Willis, Senior Rewards Product Manager of Maritz Motivation. "We believe that stock rewards are the next frontier in loyalty and have the power to not only do good for the businesses that adopt them but for customers and their financial wellness, too. It's super-charging loyalty behaviors."

With more than $48 trillion unspent loyalty points globally , it is clear that the opportunity exists to further evolve the traditional and transactional way of loyalty and drive greater results and behaviors brands strive for. In fact, according to recent findings 45% of loyalty program accounts are currently inactive , meaning consumers aren't tracking, redeeming, or engaging with the program.

When it comes to capturing the attention of the modern consumers, brands need to rethink their loyalty programs and look to new rewards that offer customers greater meaning and value beyond a transaction. According to a recent Bumped survey, nearly 90% of consumers believe that ownership is more exciting than traditional rewards such as points, cash-back, and air miles.

"Once again, Maritz Motivation is the first to broad market with groundbreaking innovation in loyalty, incentives, employee recognition and rewards," said David Nelsen, CEO and Founder of Bumped. "They understand both our mission to create an ownership economy, and the win-win nature of bringing a new loyalty mechanism to market that supports financial wellness while driving incredible results for the business."

About Maritz Motivation

Maritz Motivation creates, manages and delivers programs that help clients meet their business goals. Their employee recognition, sales incentives and loyalty programs reach people all over the world, and are purposefully designed to influence the behavior of the people who matter most to their clients' businesses.

About Bumped

Bumped is a fintech company on a mission to create an ownership economy. Their platform provides the embedded brokerage and technology for brands, financial institutions, and loyalty service providers to deliver ownership to their customers. Bumped helps partners reward loyal customers with financial wellness, increase connection, and drive revenue. Learn more and say hello at bumped.com.

Disclosures

The Bumped app and website are operated by Bumped, Inc. Brokerage services are provided by Bumped Financial LLC, member FINRA /SIPC. More about Bumped Financial LLC on FINRA's FINRA BrokerCheck website.

Investing in securities involves risk, including possible loss of principal: Not FDIC Insured  No Bank Guarantee  May Lose Value. Nothing here should be construed as an offer to purchase or sell securities.

Media Contacts

Cindy Willis, Maritz

[email protected]

Alexandria Plew, Bumped

[email protected]

SOURCE Maritz Motivation
CHICAGO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Daniel Saltzman has joined the Chicago office of McDonald Hopkins LLC as an Associate in the Business Department and growing Executive Compensation and Governance Practice Group.

Saltzman's practice focuses primarily on matters related to executive compensation, governance and corporate issues. He has experience in the financial industry and working with start-up clients, providing guidance on operations and general corporate matters, legal due diligence, and compliance.

"I am thrilled that Dan has joined our growing Executive Compensation and Governance team in Chicago," said Benjamin Panter, Chair of the Executive Compensation and Governance Practice Group. "He is the second addition to our group in the last 30 days, and our third hire in the group this year. Along with the addition of David Strosnider (Member) and Daniel Borek (Counsel), we continue to experience unprecedented growth. Dan's in-house background will add real value to our clients, as he brings a client-centric, business-focused prospective on providing practical legal advice."

Prior to joining McDonald Hopkins, Saltzman provided in-house legal and operations guidance at an early-stage technology start-up.

Saltzman earned his J.D. from Case Western University School of Law. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts from Miami University.

He can be reached at 312.642.2213 and [email protected].

About McDonald Hopkins

Founded in 1930, McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with locations in Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, and West Palm Beach. With more than 50 service and industry teams, the firm has the expertise and knowledge to meet the growing number of legal and business challenges our clients face. For more information about McDonald Hopkins, visit mcdonaldhopkins.com .

CONTACT:

Samantha Schmidt

McDonald Hopkins LLC

600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100

Cleveland, Ohio 44114

Phone: 216.348.5748

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE McDonald Hopkins
BETHESDA, Md., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MidCap Financial, a leading commercial finance company focused on middle market transactions, announced this week it has provided a senior secured credit facility to Echelon Fitness Multimedia LLC and Echelon Fit Canada Inc. ("Echelon"). Proceeds from MidCap will be used on Echelon's business needs by providing ongoing working capital for growth and expansion.

"At its core, Echelon has focused on making fitness accessible to everyone and being an innovator around the world. Our goal is to offer a holistic wellness approach that speaks to the body, mind, and soul and to help make meaningful change achievable for every single member," said Lou Lentine, Founder and Chairman of Echelon Fitness. "Expanding the tools and content we share with our members is a natural progression and MidCap Financial's support will allow us to realign priorities, adjust to the changing and still demanding market and enhance experiences for our members. We couldn't be more excited for the future of Echelon."

"Echelon is a household name with a great product, and it has been a privilege to support their next chapter," said Garrett Fletcher, Product Head of Asset Based Lending at MidCap Financial. "The transaction is yet another example of MidCap Financial's ability to form long-term relationships to step-in as a capital partner when necessary."

About Echelon Fitness

Echelon has revolutionized at-home fitness since 2017 with a range of smart exercise equipment and an immersive membership experience. What began as a mission to make healthy living accessible to all has evolved to a thriving, global brand. Echelon empowers everyone to experience the feeling of elation and accomplishment after achieving their fitness goals. Members connect their Echelon smart bikes, rowers, treadmills, or fitness mirrors to the Echelon Fit app for access to live and on-demand workout classes filmed at Echelon studios around the world and led by professional instructors. Through the app, members track performance and progress in real-time, compete on the interactive Leaderboard and explore more than 2,000 off-equipment workouts to keep them motivated and inspired. For more information about Echelon Fitness, go to https://echelonfit.com/.

About MidCap Financial

MidCap Financial is a middle-market focused, specialty finance firm that provides senior debt solutions to companies across all industries. As of March 31, 2022, MidCap Financial provides administrative or other services for over $40.4 billion of commitments. MidCap Financial is managed by Apollo Capital Management, L.P., a subsidiary of Apollo Global Management, Inc, pursuant to an investment management agreement. Apollo had assets under management of approximately $513 billion as of March 31, 2022 in credit, private equity, and real assets funds. For more information about MidCap Financial, please visit http://www.midcapfinancial.com. For more information about Apollo, please visit http://www.apollo.com.

Contact: MidCap Financial Services, LLC Garrett Fletcher, Product Head  ABL 301-841-6439 [email protected]

SOURCE MidCap Financial
The over $600 billion global dairy industry has yet to experience a major digital transformation, and the finite delivery windows of a perishable product and constantly shifting consumer preferences make the industry ripe for disruption. Milk Moovement's technology platform brings the industry from pen-to-paper and legacy systems to the cloud  creating full supply chain visibility for dairy farmers and their distribution partners to track and route shipments in real-time, optimize delivery schedules, and ultimately create a significant decrease in food waste and loss of profits.

"We constantly seek out the best and brightest talent to join us as we build market-leading products and partner with dairy industry leaders," said CEO and Co-Founder Robert Forsythe. "This latest round of funding is a major win for our employees and investors, but most importantly it allows us to support our incredible partners in getting the right milk to the right place at the right time."

"VMG Catalyst immediately saw the value Milk Moovement brings to the dairy industry, in particular given a heightened focus on the fragility of global supply chains and the corresponding impact on consumer goods," said Carle Stenmark, General Partner at VMG Catalyst. "Real-time data transparency is critical for managing perishables and provides tremendous benefit to all the constituents in the dairy value chain. We're looking forward to seeing even broader adoption of the company's innovative software platform, and the positive change it creates for the industry."

Seed investor and agriculture industry leader, Richard Cargill, is also participating in the company's Series A, "It's been an honor to be a part of Milk Moovement as they provide something truly unique for the industry. The team has been exceeding expectations in their rollout to empower new customers with much-needed data and the company is just getting started. I am looking forward to the acceleration of creating distinctive customer value this new investment will enable."

Jafar Shahwan, Vice President of Supply Chain at California Dairies, one of Milk Moovement's customers says "Adopting Milk Moovement's technology has unlocked our imagination on how dairy supply chains should operate. I am a true fan of the solution and the capabilities it brings to the industry. The software brings all stakeholders together in real-time, which allows for clarity and visibility on key elements of our operations. Milk Moovement is a true partner to California Dairies and has changed the way business is managed, decisions are made, and communication flows." California Dairies is the second largest milk marketing cooperative in the US, with more than 300 farms and produces over 17 billion lbs. of fresh, high-quality milk annually.

Milk Moovement currently has a network of 2,500 dairy farms and over 5,000 users including global Fortune 100 CPG companies. The company manages over 30 billion pounds of raw milk each year, which equates to about 15% of the U.S. dairy market. Over the past year, Milk Moovement saw its annual recurring revenue grow by more than 10x. At the forefront of this growth are early adopters of Milk Moovement including United Dairymen of Arizona, California Dairies Inc, and many more to be announced this year.

Concurrent to the completion of Series A funding round, Ecolab, a global leader in hygiene and infection prevention solutions, made a minority equity investment in Milk Moovement. "We have been impressed by Milk Moovement's cloud-based platform and its potential to connect all players along the dairy supply chain and transform value delivery and stakeholder experience," said Sam Hsu, Ecolab EVP of Strategic Planning.

Milk Moovement previously secured $3.2 million USD in funding from lead investor Dynamo Ventures, alongside Bread & Butter Ventures, Matchstick Ventures, and SOSV. These investors continue to support Milk Moovement in this latest round of funding and are thrilled at the company's impressive rate of growth. The company currently employs 50 people across Canada and the United States.

About Milk Moovement

Founded in 2018 by Jon King and Robert Forsythe, Milk Moovement is a rapidly expanding dairy SaaS company. Milk Moovement is currently in a period of tremendous growth with established clients across Canada, the US, and Australia. Its mission is to get the right milk to the right place at the right time using its proprietary software that tracks all milk shipments and delivers real-time quality and quantity information to all dairy stakeholders. Milk Moovement believes in data-driven food supply chains that are able to feed generations to come. For more information on Milk Moovement, please visit us at www.milkmoovement.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter .

About VMG Catalyst

VMG Catalyst is a venture capital firm that invests in technology that supports consumer businesses. The firm believes that innovative software and technically advanced supply chains will be the differentiating factor behind the next generation of iconic brands and retailers. VMG Catalyst leverages its access to the consumer ecosystem through the VMG Partners franchise, which was founded in 2005, to identify acute pain points and help software founders prioritize their product roadmaps. VMG's large network and strong track record of scaling consumer brands provides the Catalyst team with a unique investment perspective grounded in industry experience, and allows them to facilitate connections between brands, retailers and emerging technology companies. For more information on VMG Catalyst, visit: catalyst.vmgpartners.com

SOURCE Milk Moovement
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lee esta nota de prensa en espanol aqui.

The dawn of a new era in astronomy is here as the world gets its first look at the full capabilities of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

This landscape of mountains and valleys speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASAs new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth. Learn more about this image: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-reveals-cosmic-cliffs-glittering-landscape-of-star-birth. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

The full set of the telescope's first full-color images and spectroscopic data, which uncover a collection of cosmic features elusive until now, released Tuesday, are available at:

https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

"Today, we present humanity with a groundbreaking new view of the cosmos from the James Webb Space Telescope  a view the world has never seen before," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "These images, including the deepest infrared view of our universe that has ever been taken, show us how Webb will help to uncover the answers to questions we don't even yet know to ask; questions that will help us better understand our universe and humanity's place within it.

"The Webb team's incredible success is a reflection of what NASA does best. We take dreams and turn them into reality for the benefit of humanity. I can't wait to see the discoveries that we uncover  the team is just getting started!"

NASA explores the unknown in space for the benefit of all, and Webb's first observations tell the story of the hidden universe through every phase of cosmic history  from neighboring planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets, to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe.

"This is a singular and historic moment," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "It took decades of drive and perseverance to get us here, and I am immensely proud of the Webb team. These first images show us how much we can accomplish when we come together behind a shared goal, to solve the cosmic mysteries that connect us all. It's a stunning glimpse of the insights yet to come."

"We are elated to celebrate this extraordinary day with the world," said Greg Robinson, Webb program director at NASA Headquarters. "The beautiful diversity and incredible detail of the Webb telescope's images and data will have a profound impact on our understanding of the universe and inspire us to dream big."

Webb's first observations were selected by a group of representatives from NASA, ESA, CSA, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. They reveal the capabilities of all four of Webb's state-of-the-art scientific instruments:

SMACS 0723: Webb has delivered the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe so far  and in only 12.5 hours. For a person standing on Earth looking up, the field of view for this new image, a color composite of multiple exposures each about two hours long, is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length. This deep field uses a lensing galaxy cluster to find some of the most distant galaxies ever detected. This image only scratches the surface of Webb's capabilities in studying deep fields and tracing galaxies back to the beginning of cosmic time.

has delivered the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe so far  and in only 12.5 hours. For a person standing on Earth looking up, the field of view for this new image, a color composite of multiple exposures each about two hours long, is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length. This deep field uses a lensing galaxy cluster to find some of the most distant galaxies ever detected. This image only scratches the surface of capabilities in studying deep fields and tracing galaxies back to the beginning of cosmic time. WASP-96b (spectrum): Webb's detailed observation of this hot, puffy planet outside our solar system reveals the clear signature of water, along with evidence of haze and clouds that previous studies of this planet did not detect. With Webb's first detection of water in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, it will now set out to study hundreds of other systems to understand what other planetary atmospheres are made of.

detailed observation of this hot, puffy planet outside our solar system reveals the clear signature of water, along with evidence of haze and clouds that previous studies of this planet did not detect. With first detection of water in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, it will now set out to study hundreds of other systems to understand what other planetary atmospheres are made of. Southern Ring Nebula: This planetary nebula, an expanding cloud of gas that surrounds a dying star, is approximately 2,000 light years away. Here, Webb's powerful infrared eyes bring a second dying star into full view for the first time. From birth to death as a planetary nebula, Webb can explore the expelling shells of dust and gas of aging stars that may one day become a new star or planet.

This planetary nebula, an expanding cloud of gas that surrounds a dying star, is approximately 2,000 light years away. Here, powerful infrared eyes bring a second dying star into full view for the first time. From birth to death as a planetary nebula, can explore the expelling shells of dust and gas of aging stars that may one day become a new star or planet. Stephan's Quintet: Webb's view of this compact group of galaxies, located in the constellation Pegasus, pierced through the shroud of dust surrounding the center of one galaxy, to reveal the velocity and composition of the gas near its supermassive black hole. Now, scientists can get a rare look, in unprecedented detail, at how interacting galaxies are triggering star formation in each other and how the gas in these galaxies is being disturbed.

view of this compact group of galaxies, located in the constellation Pegasus, pierced through the shroud of dust surrounding the center of one galaxy, to reveal the velocity and composition of the gas near its supermassive black hole. Now, scientists can get a rare look, in unprecedented detail, at how interacting galaxies are triggering star formation in each other and how the gas in these galaxies is being disturbed. Carina Nebula: Webb's look at the 'Cosmic Cliffs' in the Carina Nebula unveils the earliest, rapid phases of star formation that were previously hidden. Looking at this star-forming region in the southern constellation Carina, as well as others like it, Webb can see newly forming stars and study the gas and dust that made them.

"Absolutely thrilling!" said John Mather, Webb senior project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "The equipment is working perfectly, and nature is full of surprising beauty. Congratulations and thanks to our worldwide teams that made it possible."

The release of Webb's first images and spectra kicks off the beginning of Webb's science operations, where astronomers around the world will have their chance to observe anything from objects within our solar system to the early universe using Webb's four instruments.

The James Webb Space Telescope launched Dec. 25, 2021, on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, South America. After completing a complex deployment sequence in space, Webb underwent months of commissioning where its mirrors were aligned, and its instruments were calibrated to its space environment and prepared for science.

The public can also view the new Webb images Tuesday on several digital screens in New York City's Times Square and in London's Piccadilly Circus beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT and 10:30 p.m. GMT, respectively.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

NASA Headquarters oversees the mission for the agency's Science Mission Directorate. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages Webb for the agency and oversees work on the mission performed by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Northrop Grumman, and other mission partners. In addition to Goddard, several NASA centers contributed to the project, including the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, and others.

For a full array of Webb's first images and spectra, including downloadable files, visit:

https://webbtelescope.org/news/first-images

SOURCE NASA
SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global negative pressure wound therapy market size is anticipated to reach a value of USD 3.8 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2022 to 2030. Increasing awareness in the developing regions pertaining to advanced wound care is providing a significant opportunity to the key market players to cater to the unmet needs of the target population. The primary driver associated with this market is the cost-effectiveness of single-use Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) devices.

Key Insights & Findings from the report:

Conventional NPWT devices dominated the product segment in 2021 owing to their high cost and availability of favorable reimbursement policies.

Single-use negative pressure wound therapy devices segment is considered to be the fastest growing segment over the forecast period.

Pressure ulcers held the largest revenue share in 2021 owing to the increasing adoption of NPWT for the treatment of Pressure ulcers.

The home care setting is anticipated to witness an attractive CAGR over the forecast period owing to the emerging applicability of single-use NPWT devices in the homecare setting and the cost-effectiveness of the therapy.

North America dominated the market in 2021. This is primarily due to the increased usage of the targeted therapy in this region, which has led to a reduction in hospital stays and contributed to enhanced quality of patient lives.

Read full market research report for more Insights, "Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Conventional NPWT, Single-use NPWT), By Wound Type (Diabetic Foot Ulcers, Venous Leg Ulcers), By End Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030, published by Grand View Research.

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Market Growth & Trends

Major companies are also focusing on education of reimbursement coverage in such regions to further increase the affordability of these devices. However, the current reimbursement policies mostly cover conventional NPWT devices owing to their high cost. Furthermore, the geriatric population is also contributing to a great extent toward increasing the prevalence of chronic diseases. Increasing age is one of the high-risk factors leading to the development of chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis, which is one of the prime cardiovascular disorders prevalent in the geriatric population.

NPWT is one of the commonly accepted therapies employed for the treatment of arterial ulcers, which is one of the major complications of atherosclerosis. Around 50% of the people worldwide are exposed to fire-related traumas, among which, 90% of the cases occur in low to moderate-income countries. Thus, the rising incidence of traumatic events is expected to engender a high demand for negative pressure wound therapy products.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the global NPTW market. Due to the restrictions imposed by regulatory authorities to minimize the spread of the virus, people have been restricted to their homes, resulting in a significant decrease in the incidences causing wounds to people. This has had a negative effect on the market as the demand for wound therapy significantly decreased. Although during the pandemic, diabetic wound therapy was continued due to its severity, other segments suffered a slight impact..

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global negative pressure wound therapy market based on product, wound type, end-use, and region:

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Market - Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Conventional NPWT

Single-use NPWT

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Market - Wound Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Venous Leg Ulcers

Pressure Ulcers

Burn Wounds

Others

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Market - End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Hospitals

Homecare

Others

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



U.K.

Asia Pacific

China



India

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico

MEA

South Africa

List of Key Players of the Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Market

Acelity L.P. Inc.

Talley Group Limited

Nephew plc

Devon Medical Products

Molnlycke Health Care

Medela

DeRoyal Industries, Inc.

ConvaTec, Inc.

Cardinal Health, Inc.

Paul Hartmann AG

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

U.S. Wound Care Centers Market - The U.S. wound care centers market size is expected to reach USD 18.1 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2021 to 2028. The increasing awareness regarding the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), for chronic injuries and the growing geriatric population prone to various conditions, is anticipated to drive the market. According to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau, in June 2020 , the geriatric population grew by around 34.2% over the last decade.

The U.S. wound care centers market size is expected to reach by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2021 to 2028. The increasing awareness regarding the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), for chronic injuries and the growing geriatric population prone to various conditions, is anticipated to drive the market. According to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau, in , the geriatric population grew by around 34.2% over the last decade. Wound Care Centers Market - The global wound care centers market size is expected to reach USD 49.4 billion by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of 4.5%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing prevalence of diabetic ulcers on a global scale, along with rising number of sports-related injuries, is expected to drive the market over the forecast period. In addition, growing awareness regarding the use of modernized wound care products is propelling the market.

- The global wound care centers market size is expected to reach by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of 4.5%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing prevalence of diabetic ulcers on a global scale, along with rising number of sports-related injuries, is expected to drive the market over the forecast period. In addition, growing awareness regarding the use of modernized wound care products is propelling the market. Wound Therapy Devices Market - The global wound therapy devices market size is expected to reach USD 1.78 billion by 2026, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is projected to expand at a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period. Rising geriatric population, introduction of technologically advanced products, and prevalence of chronic diseases are the key factors driving the growth.

Browse through Grand View Research's Medical Devices 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

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SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
NeoSystems to host Deltek's Project Portfolio Management Suite, Costpoint Shop Floor Time, IBM Cognos Full Use and Third-party Customer Applications

RESTON, Va., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NeoSystems, a full-service strategic outsourcer, IT systems integrator and managed services provider to the government contracting market, is once again joining forces with Deltek, the leading global provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses. NeoSystems will host Deltek's Project Portfolio Management Suite and Costpoint Shop Floor Time applications, IBM's Cognos Full Use and third-party customer applications in NeoSystems.Cloud, a Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 7012 and 7021 compliant cloud service offering.

The NeoSystems.Cloud offers Deltek government contracting customers a new option for hosting Deltek on-premises products that integrate with Deltek's Costpoint cloud solutions to help address the necessary controls to meet NIST 800-171, Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) and Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program Moderate equivalent baseline requirements.

"We are thrilled to be named the preferred Deltek Marketplace partner for providing third-party cloud hosting services for businesses that are looking to move their on-premises applications to the cloud," said Michael Tinsley, CEO of NeoSystems. "Given our long and successful history of working together, this new arrangement brings significant incremental value to our mutual customers."

NeoSystems.Cloud Delivers a Purpose-Built Infrastructure

NeoSystems.Cloud provides a purpose-built infrastructure and systems for predictable performance and redundancy for disaster recovery and business continuity and can be used for data warehousing solutions and alternative private communication gateways for wide area networking terminations.

As a managed service, NeoSystems manages cloud deployments from build to application management, including software upgrades and patching, all backed by service level agreements for availability and response time, along with 24x7 proactive monitoring and technical support. NeoSystems also can help clients with Costpoint cloud integrations.

In addition, the NeoSystems.Cloud provides the foundation for the NeoSystems Secure Enclave which includes the security program to manage the sequestration of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and Covered Defense Information (CDI) where authorized users can receive, store, process, edit, and share CUI/CDI while aligning with DFARS, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and CMMC requirements.

"NeoSystems has proven to be a strong partner to Deltek," said Todd Walker, Vice President of Product Management at Deltek. "They deliver incredible value to our mutual customers and can provide additional services that enable them to host and integrate on-premises products with Deltek's Costpoint cloud solutions. This allows customers to focus on their core business, without the need to manage or monitor their own cloud deployments."

NeoSystems currently hosts Deltek's Cobra, winsight Analytics, Open Plan, PM Compass, Costpoint Shop Floor Time and other third-party government contracting applications.

About NeoSystems

NeoSystems, based in Reston, Virginia, is a full service strategic outsourcer, IT systems integrator and managed service provider for the government contracting market. NeoSystems provides core solutions to more than 600 client companies and their 100,000+ client employees with its outsourced services by implementing hundreds of fully integrated financial, business and cyber management systems through best-of-breed technology and in-depth domain expertise in Accounting & Finance, IT, HR, Security and Hosting (SSAE18 SOC1 & SOC2, ITAR). NeoSystems has been named one of America's fastest growing private companies by Inc. Magazine. For more information, visit https://www.neosystemscorp.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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. www.deltek.com

SOURCE NeoSystems LLC
MIAMI , July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Circle Capital Partners -- a new Miami-based real estate investment venture specializing in the acquisition, development, and capital raising for strategic multi-family, retail, short-term rental, and mixed-use projects  has closed deals worth more than $215 million since its launch by industry veterans who have completed more than $3.5 billion in property transactions throughout the United States.

Richard Valdes & Todd Linden, co-founders of Circle Capital Partners.

The new company is headed by co-founders Todd Linden and Richard Valdes, who have more than 30 years combined experience and expertise throughout the real estate and investment sector, institutional capital, general partner equity placement and more. Circle Capital's initial acquisitions include:

 The GPI Apartment portfolio of 1,237 units in Houston for $90 million.

 The Vue, a 314-unit complex in Lexington, Kentucky for $31.7 million.

 The Lacrosse Apartments in Rapid City, South Dakota for $26.4 million.

 Woodlake Apartments in Sioux City, South Dakota for $30 million.

In South Florida, Circle Capital most recently acquired the 178-unit The Vue apartment complex in Davie for $36.5 million.

As part of these deals, the properties undergo comprehensive updates and enhancements, including renovations to individual apartment interiors, as well as to community pools, clubhouses, lobbies and other common areas.

"These first projects as Circle Capital highlight our value-add strategy to best serve investors, maximize resident living experiences and strengthen the communities in which we do business," Valdes said.

"It's been exciting to work together with Richard as new partners on all these recent acquisitions, especially to complete a deal so close to home here in South Florida," added Linden.

Other area projects closed by Linden and Valdes shortly before forming Circle Capital Partners include the Bella Apartments in Sunny Isles for $7.5 million, and 250 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach for $14.6 million.

Linden and Valdes target properties typically built in the 1970s or newer, and would benefit from upgrades and renovations to individual units, as well as enhanced common areas and amenities. To help ensure success in these ventures, the new company has established strategic partners with top companies in financing and property management such as Greystone , Weller Management and others.

Circle Capital focuses on "Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-growth markets" with established competition, high barriers to entry, a growing population, strong employment growth, and otherwise healthy economies.

These markets include the company's South Florida base, as well as throughout the Southeast, Midwest and more. New deals by Circle Capital expected to close soon include properties in New York and South Florida.

"Miami is our headquarters and our home, and we're excited to do business here, as well as build strong ties to all the communities in which we invest," said Linden, who is a native of Miami, a graduate of Florida State University and has served on the board of Make-A-Wish Foundation South Florida and the Nova Southeastern University Young Entrepreneur Council.

In addition to a master's degree in real estate from Georgetown University, Valdes is a graduate of Florida International University in management and international business, and serves on FIU's advisory board for the Hollo School of Real Estate.

"We're committed to establishing strong, earnest relationships across all facets of our work that benefit the broad range of stakeholders," said Valdes. "We look forward to growing and building on this success with dynamic new opportunities as Capital Circle Partners for many years to come."

For more information, visit www.circlecapitalpartners.com .

Media Contact:

Ed Gilhuly

1.305.807.6906

SOURCE Circle Capital Partners
WASHINGTON and SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Washington Media Group (WMG) today announced Crystal Patterson has joined the firm as President, and Bill Romanelli has joined as Senior Vice President, enhancing the firm's roster of public affairs experts and providing "next level" capabilities for the firm's clients.

"Crystal and Bill bring world-class backgrounds and experience in strategic communications and issues management," said Gregory Vistica, WMG's CEO. "What that means for our clients is an even deeper bench of expertise on their policy, competitive, reputation and business development objectives."

Patterson, who joins as company President in Washington DC, is the former head of Global Civic Partnerships, and Government & Politics Outreach Manager at Facebook. At WMG she will provide clients with expertise in strategic communications, crisis communications, digital strategy, policy development and issue management, while also overseeing company direction and growth at WMG.

Patterson's past experience also includes roles as communications director at the Center for American Progress, communications director for Rep. Tim Ryan (OH-17) and digital strategist for Hillary Clinton's historic 2008 presidential run.

Romanelli joins WMG as Senior Vice President and Managing Director in Sacramento, CA. His background includes more than 30 years' experience in public affairs consulting. He specializes in helping clients develop, implement and manage complex political, regulatory and public opinion campaigns. At WMG he will provide expertise in strategy and ally development, grassroots outreach, crisis communications, public participation, litigation support, opinion research, digital communications, and media relationswhere he trains executives on how to work with the press and serves as an on-the record media spokesperson. An award-winning writer, Mr. Romanelli also specializes in helping clients identify and refine the strongest messages with respect to each client's key stakeholders.

About Washington Media Group :

WMG is a trusted advisor to many of the world's most successful companies, institutions and organizations. Since its founding in 2005, the company has provided communications consulting of almost every type and magnitude on four continents for Fortune 100 firms, multi-national corporations, C-Suite executives, start-ups and non-profit organizations. WMG specializes in working with clients to build narratives that helped solve high-profile crises, help them achieve corporate, legislative and policy objectives, and safely enhance their reputations with shareholders, the media, elected leaders and other stakeholders in the Unites States and around the world. More information is available at https://washingtonmedia.com/.

SOURCE Washington Media Group Inc
Free informational event will discuss environmental health and healthy equity issues

COMPTON, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP, (MWA)  a national law firm specializing in Racial & Economic Justice, Class Actions, and Environmental Law  is set to host the fifth event of their free Community and Legal Issues Clinic (CALIC) on July 23, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. This event kickstarts the firm's new 2022 CALIC Tour taking place in Los Angeles County, addressing some of the most important topics relevant to L.A. County residents. Those interested can attend this CALIC event free of charge either in-person at Holy Revival Church (2028 E. El Segundo Blvd., Compton, CA) or virtually via Zoom Webinar.

This event will address the elevation of public health and providing access to the elements that help communities thrive. Our experts will discuss topics like low-cost legal help, accessible healthcare, providing basic needs for those without, natural stewardship, and assisting communities to offer opportunities for meaningful connection and action. The panel of expert speakers at this event will include Public Health expert Dr. Dora Barilla, Dr. PH, MWA Partner and civil rights advocate Joseph L. Richardson, Esq., and Legal Document Assistant Reyna Ventura. MWA believes this conversation can help bridge divides and connect Californians to resources and knowledge they may not have known existed.

Attendees to this event are welcome to ask questions, raise concerns, and connect with the resources provided. "CALIC has already been such a benefit for Riverside and San Bernardino counties," says MWA Partner Joseph Richardson, "We hope we can bring the same educational opportunities to our neighbors in Los Angeles County." As public health, environmental, and social events develop in California, MWA hopes to position CALIC as a go-to resource for all of Southern California to learn more about the situations affecting their communities and ways they can enhance their own well-being. "I am honored to be chosen as a speaker for CALIC events," remarks Public Health Expert Dr. Dora Barilla, "These events are a wonderful opportunity to provide all communities with the resources or assistance they need to thrive. We all need tools to improve our own well-being." If you are interested in learning more about the first event in the 2022 CALIC Tour or want to register to attend virtually or in-person, visit the MWA website here.

CALIC has made it a point to visit locations during its 2022 Southern California Tour whose residents may not have access to the same educational opportunities, resources, healthcare facilities, and environmental activism that wealthier communities may enjoy. Holy Revival Church in Compton is home to Pastor James Thomas who has found immense value in CALIC's approach to helping those in need. "Holy Revival Church is thrilled to host the Community and Legal Issues Clinic as it comes to Los Angeles County," says Pastor Thomas, "Joseph Richardson and I are brothers in spirit and in action, going back more than 2 decades. We are thrilled that we can be part of the dissemination of vital information that will help our community."

About McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP: McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP has a deep history of success for its clients, including a $203 million verdict against Wells Fargo Bank, recovery of over $1 billion for its clients, and over 100 contingency cases with recovery of $1 million or more. MWA maintains California offices in Ontario, San Bernardino, Palm Desert, and Irvine and supports its national practice with offices in Illinois and New Jersey. For over 30 years, MWA has successfully represented clients involved in general complex and commercial litigation, as well as personal injury and class action matters. Visit mccunewright.com for more information.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP
Nondestructive Testing(NDT) Equipment Market: Segmentation Assessment

The nondestructive testing (NDT) equipment market is segmented as - product (ultrasonic testing equipment, radiography testing equipment, visual testing equipment, and others), end-user (oil and gas, power generation, aerospace, automotive, and others), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, South America)

Product Landscape

The nondestructive testing (NDT) equipment market share growth in the ultrasonic testing equipment segment will be significant for revenue generation. Ultrasonic testing equipment is widely used for the testing of metals, plastics, composites, and ceramics. Some of the vendors launched new variants of ultrasonic testing equipment after the COVID-19-related lockdowns were relaxed. For instance, in June 2020 , Eddyfi announced the launch of the Mantis PAUT flaw detector. Such product portfolio expansion by vendors is one of the factors that will help in increasing the sales of ultrasonic testing equipment during the forecast period.

Geography Landscape

38% of the market's growth will originate from North America during the forecast period. US is the key market for nondestructive testing (NDT) equipment in North America . Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in South America regions. The strong presence of the oil and gas and aerospace industries will facilitate the nondestructive testing (NDT) equipment market growth in North America over the forecast period.

To know about the accurate prediction of the contribution of all landscapes including the

end-user segment - Grab a sample!

Nondestructive Testing(NDT) Equipment Market: Vendor Assessment

The nondestructive testing (NDT) equipment market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as organic and inorganic strategies to compete in the market.

Carl Zeiss AG

Eddyfi NDT Inc.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corp.

General Electric Co.

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Mistras Group Inc.

Nikon Corp.

Olympus Corp.

Roper Technologies Inc.

YXLON International GmbH

For in-depth insights into key vendor profiles with complete offerings - Request a sample!

What our reports offer:

Market share assessments for the regional and country-level segments

Strategic recommendations for the new entrants

Covers market data for 2020, 2021, and 2025

Market trends (drivers, opportunities, threats, challenges, investment opportunities, and recommendations)

Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations

Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends

Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments

Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements

Related Reports:

The gasoline direct injection (GDI) system market share is expected to increase to USD 4.16 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 8.35%.

share is expected to increase to USD 4.16 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 8.35%. The welding power supply market share is expected to increase to USD 2.47 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 6.12%.

Nondestructive Testing(NDT) Equipment Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 9.33% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 1.3 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 9.00 Performing market contribution North America at 38% Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Carl Zeiss AG, Eddyfi NDT Inc., FUJIFILM Holdings Corp., General Electric Co., Illinois Tool Works Inc., Mistras Group Inc., Nikon Corp., Olympus Corp., Roper Technologies Inc., and YXLON International GmbH 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 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  Industrial machinery

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 Product

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 15: Product - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Product

Exhibit 16: Comparison by Product

5.3 Ultrasonic testing equipment - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 17: Ultrasonic testing equipment - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 18: Ultrasonic testing equipment - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.4 Radiography testing equipment - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 19: Radiography testing equipment - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 20: Radiography testing equipment - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.5 Visual testing equipment - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 21: Visual testing equipment - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 22: Visual testing equipment - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.6 Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 23: Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 24: Others - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

5.7 Market opportunity by Product

Exhibit 25: Market opportunity by Product

6 Market Segmentation by End-user

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 26: End user - Market share 2020-2025 (%)

6.2 Comparison by End user

Exhibit 27: Comparison by End user

6.3 Oil and gas - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 28: Oil and gas - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Oil and gas - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

6.4 Power generation - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 30: Power generation - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 31: Power generation - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

6.5 Aerospace - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 32: Aerospace - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Aerospace - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

6.6 Automotive - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 34: Automotive - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 35: Automotive - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

6.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

6.8 Market opportunity by End user

Exhibit 38: Market opportunity by End user

7 Customer landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

8.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 40: Market share by geography 2020-2025 (%)

8.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 41: Geographic comparison

8.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 42: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 43: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

8.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 44: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)

Exhibit 45: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

8.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 46: APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 47: APAC - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

8.6 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Exhibit 48: MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million)



Exhibit 49: MEA - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%)

8.7 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

8.8 Key leading countries

Exhibit 52: Key leading countries

8.9 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 53: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

9.1 Market drivers

9.2 Market challenges

Exhibit 54: Impact of drivers and challenges

9.3 Market trends

10 Vendor Landscape

10.1 Overview

Exhibit 55: Vendor landscape

10.2 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 56: Landscape disruption



Exhibit 57: Industry risks

11 Vendor Analysis

11.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 58: Vendors covered

11.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 59: Market positioning of vendors

11.3 Carl Zeiss AG

Exhibit 60: Carl Zeiss AG - Overview



Exhibit 61: Carl Zeiss AG - Business segments



Exhibit 62: Carl Zeiss AG - Key news



Exhibit 63: Carl Zeiss AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 64: Carl Zeiss AG - Segment focus

11.4 Eddyfi NDT Inc.

Exhibit 65: Eddyfi NDT Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 66: Eddyfi NDT Inc. - Product and service



Exhibit 67: Eddyfi NDT Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 68: Eddyfi NDT Inc. - Key offerings

11.5 FUJIFILM Holdings Corp.

Exhibit 69: FUJIFILM Holdings Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 70: FUJIFILM Holdings Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 71: FUJIFILM Holdings Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 72: FUJIFILM Holdings Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 73: FUJIFILM Holdings Corp. - Segment focus

11.6 General Electric Co.

Exhibit 74: General Electric Co. - Overview



Exhibit 75: General Electric Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 76: General Electric Co. - Key news



Exhibit 77: General Electric Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 78: General Electric Co. - Segment focus

11.7 Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Exhibit 79: Illinois Tool Works Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 80: Illinois Tool Works Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 81: Illinois Tool Works Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 82: Illinois Tool Works Inc. - Segment focus

11.8 Mistras Group Inc.

Exhibit 83: Mistras Group Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 84: Mistras Group Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 85: Mistras Group Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 86: Mistras Group Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 87: Mistras Group Inc. - Segment focus

11.9 Nikon Corp.

Exhibit 88: Nikon Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 89: Nikon Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 90: Nikon Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 91: Nikon Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 92: Nikon Corp. - Segment focus

11.10 Olympus Corp.

Exhibit 93: Olympus Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 94: Olympus Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 95: Olympus Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 96: Olympus Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 97: Olympus Corp. - Segment focus

11.11 Roper Technologies Inc.

Exhibit 98: Roper Technologies Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 99: Roper Technologies Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 100: Roper Technologies Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 101: Roper Technologies Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 102: Roper Technologies Inc. - Segment focus

11.12 YXLON International GmbH

Exhibit 103: YXLON International GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 104: YXLON International GmbH - Product and service



Exhibit 105: YXLON International GmbH - Key news



Exhibit 106: YXLON International GmbH - Key offerings

12 Appendix

12.1 Scope of the report

12.2 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 107: Currency conversion rates for US$

12.3 Research methodology

Exhibit 108: Research Methodology



Exhibit 109: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 110: Information sources

12.4 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 111: 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 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
To support demand for faster, more efficient SSDs, SSD manufacturers are taking advantage of the 5 th generation of PCI Express (PCIe), which doubles throughput with data transfer rates of up to 32GT/s. SSD quality and reliability needs to be high, but demand is also high. So, it is also critical that the manufacturing process is not slowed unnecessarily for testing. The OakGate R300 and the OakGate DE200 test appliances provide design and test engineers the means to test the performance and specification compliance of these PCIe Gen5 quickly and efficiently based SSDs. The new modular 8-Bay system provides customers the flexibility to easily interchange all popular SSD connector types and form factors. The new 16-Bay Expansion Enclosures enables the creation of large test configurations, reducing test time.

"Western Digital is committed to SSD portfolio excellence in markets utilizing high performance systems that incorporate PCI Express 5.0 and NVM Express storage. We are confident that strategic partners like Teledyne LeCroy will continue enabling Western Digital and the high-performance storage ecosystem with test solutions that foster rapid industry adoption," said Anuj Awasthi, Senior Director, System Design & Firmware Verification Engineering at Western Digital.

OakGate's PCIe Gen5 test solutions push the boundary for performance and functionality by providing:

Products for any size project  Systems can be configured to match your requirements.

Systems can be configured to match your requirements. Next generation system performance  Operation supports even large, complex test plans.

 Operation supports even large, complex test plans. Double the module density  Save rack space and improve power efficiencies with a 33% increase in density of expansion enclosures.

Save rack space and improve power efficiencies with a 33% increase in density of expansion enclosures. Larger configurations options  Test up to 48 devices with a single rackmount appliance.

Test up to 48 devices with a single rackmount appliance. Support for all standard SSD connectors, types, and form factors - including U.2, U.3, M.2, E3.S/L, E1.S/L and CEM.

including U.2, U.3, M.2, E3.S/L, E1.S/L and CEM. Flexibility and simplicity  Fully swappable modules.

Fully swappable modules. New advanced power features  lowering total overall cost by removing the need for additional power Interposers.

lowering total overall cost by removing the need for additional power Interposers. Single/Dual-port software switching for U.2 and EDSFF SSDs.

"In the past decade, Teledyne LeCroy has pioneered the industry's most advanced SSD validation solutions and we continue to lead with the first validation solution supporting end-to-end PCIe Gen5." said Roy Chestnut, Vice President of Test Appliance Products. "Our PCIe Gen5 test solutions are powered by the industry's most widely used software suite, SVF Pro/Enduro. The 5th generation test software is packed full of advanced power measurement and management features."

Availability

OakGate R300 rackmount test appliances and the OakGate DE200 desktop test appliances for PCIe Gen5 SSD can be ordered now. For additional information, contact Teledyne LeCroy at 1-800-5LeCroy (1-800-553-2769) or visit Teledyne LeCroy's OakGate web site at https://www.oakgatetech.com/platform/gen-5-overview

Visit Teledyne LeCroy's at the Flash Memory Summit 2022 in booth #919 from Aug 2-4 in Santa Clara, California to experience our OakGate PCIe Gen5 SSD Test Solutions!

About Teledyne LeCroy

Teledyne LeCroy is a leading manufacturer of advanced oscilloscopes, protocol analyzers, and other test instruments that verify performance, validate compliance, and debug complex electronic systems quickly and thoroughly. Since its founding in 1964, the Company has focused on incorporating powerful tools into innovative products that enhance "Time-to-Insight". Faster time to insight enables users to rapidly find and fix defects in complex electronic systems, dramatically improving time-to-market for a wide variety of applications and end markets. Teledyne LeCroy is based in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. For more information, visit Teledyne LeCroy's website at teledynelecroy.com.

Technical contact: Rob Dobson, Director of Product Marketing, Test Appliances 916-618-2372 Customer contact: Teledyne LeCroy OakGate Customer Care Center 916-652-5132 Website: https://teledynelecroy.com/OakGate



 2022 by Teledyne LeCroy. All rights reserved. Specifications are subject to change without notice.

SOURCE Teledyne LeCroy
Author Deborah Goodrich Royce Joins Critically Acclaimed Writers in Conversation about their Latest Works

WATCH HILL, R.I. , July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The award-winning Ocean House welcomes best-selling authors and other highly credited writers to Watch Hill, Rhode Island this season.

Contemporary writers showcase and discuss their latest novels at Ocean House alongside Ocean House co-owner and nationally recognized author Deborah Goodrich Royce. Royce's works include Ruby Falls, Finding Mrs. Ford and Reef Road, a psychological thriller set for release next January. The 2022 Author Series is co-sponsored by Savoy Bookshop of Rhode Island and offers opportunities for personalized book signings following each discussion.

Event attendance includes an autographed copy of the featured book, an insightful conversation, wine and delicious bites. Reservations can be made online at oceanhouseevents.com.

Previous authors have included New York Times best-selling authors Mary Alice Monroe, author of The Summer of Lost and Found; Emma Straub, author of This Time Tomorrow; and Carola Lovering, author of Can't Look Away.

Upcoming events and featured authors include:

Wednesday, July 13  Amanda M. Fairbanks , The Lost Boys of Montauk

, Wednesday, July 20  John Kuhns , They Call Me Ischmael

 , Wednesday, August 10  Zain E. Asher, Where the Children Take Us

Wednesday, August 17  Mary Dixie Carter , The Photographer

 , Wednesday, August 24  Annabel Monaghan , Nora Goes Offscript

, Wednesday, August 31  Zibby Owens , Bookends

 , Wednesday, September 7  Joan Hill & Katie Mahon , The Miracle Collectors

& , Wednesday, September 21  William Miller, Steel City

Sunday, September 25 at 11:30  A special "Triller Panel" featuring Aggie Blum Thompson ,

I Don't Forgive You; Casey Sherman , Hell Town; and Luanne Rice , The Shadow Box.

About Ocean House

Located on the scenic Atlantic Ocean shore in historic Watch Hill, Rhode Island is Ocean House, one of only 12 triple Forbes Five-Star properties in the world. Ocean House is an iconic New England seaside resort that originally opened in 1868 and welcomed guests for more than 136 years before being rebuilt. Today's Ocean House, which debuted in 2010, replicates the original exterior design. Well-appointed guest rooms, personal service, and world-class amenities pay homage to New England's golden age of hospitality. Today, the internationally acclaimed Ocean House has 49 luxury guest rooms, 20 signature suites, the Forbes Five-Star OH! Spa, multiple restaurants, the Center for Wine & Culinary Arts, full-service beach services in season, an extensive art collection of more than 250 original pieces, complimentary wine, culinary and croquet classes (in season) and other guest amenities.

Media Contact:

Laurie Hobbs

[email protected]

Mobile (for editorial media): 612.220.1176

Office: 401.584.7014

SOURCE Ocean House
In a community survey, 54% of respondents said they would use technology to improve operations in preparation

SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new survey of its customers and community, OpenSpace , the global leader in 360 jobsite capture and AI-powered analytics, found that 74% of respondents are concerned about a potential economic downturn affecting the construction industry. To prepare, 60% said they wanted to improve project efficiency. Few are looking to freeze or cut jobs (16%) to adapt, while more than half (54%) said that they'd look to technology to optimize operations in order to weather any slowdowns.

In fact, 74% of survey respondents said they thought technology would help their company by improving efficiency, thereby saving time and money. Other popular responses included technology helping to decrease errors or mistakes (62%) and reducing the time spent coordinating among stakeholders or traveling to the site (59%).

One example of technology saving builders time and money today is OpenSpace Capture . According to the survey, 67% of customers reported saving thousands of dollars on average on project costs thanks to OpenSpace, while 74% saved multiple hours per week. These savings are a result of OpenSpace Capture's ability to increase site coordination, reduce rework costs, and provide a trusted, complete record of site status. Customers like RG Construction, a specialty drywall contractor based in Chicago, have seen the benefits of OpenSpace for more efficient construction.

"OpenSpace is the single best tool we've had in terms of jobsite information," RG Construction Principal Brian Garcea said. "Having real-time insight into our progress that lets us quickly adjust how we're working in the field is what lean is all about. It's an invaluable tool for our company."

With OpenSpace Capture, builders attach an off-the-shelf, consumer 360 camera to their hardhat and walk the site as they normally would. Once the video from the walk is uploaded to the cloud, OpenSpace's computer vision technology stitches images together and pins all the images to the floor plan, creating a trusted visual record of site status. Powered by the company's Vision Engine, the site image map is typically ready to view about 15 minutes after upload. The resulting 360 visual document of the construction site aids in coordination among stakeholdersmaking change orders easier, catching errors before they spiral into huge losses, and reducing the need for project managers to travel to the site, among other benefits.

"Throughout the pandemic, we've seen firsthand how technology can advance projects and reduce delays or errors, even when site access is limited," said OpenSpace CEO and co-founder Jeevan Kalanithi. "As the industry continues to evolve, we're focused on finding ways to empower builders with technology to keep projects on time and costs low, in order to help builders adapt amid any larger market shifts."

To learn more about how OpenSpace Capture can help create more efficient projects and decrease costs, visit https://www.openspace.ai/products/capture/ .

About OpenSpace

Founded in 2017, OpenSpace is an AI technology company on a mission to bring new levels of transparency and efficiency to construction and real estate. With our platform, builders automatically capture a complete visual record of the jobsite, providing a single source of truth that increases coordination, drives accountability, and simplifies dispute resolution. To date, our customers have used OpenSpace to capture more than eight billion square feet of imagery from active construction projects across thousands of sites in over seventy-five countries.

Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE OpenSpace
FARMINGTON, Conn., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Otis Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: OTIS) will host a conference call on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Judy Marks, Rahul Ghai and Anurag Maheshwari will discuss the company's second quarter results and the outlook for 2022.

To register for the event click here. A corresponding presentation and news release will be available on www.otis.com prior to the call and a recording of the call will be made available on the website later in the day.

About Otis

Otis is the world's leading elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation and service company. We move 2 billion people a day and maintain more than 2.1 million customer units worldwide, the industry's largest Service portfolio. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, Otis is 70,000 people strong, include 41,000 field professionals, all committed to meeting the diverse needs of our customers and passengers in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. To learn more, visit www.otis.com and follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram , Facebook and Twitter @OtisElevatorCo.

Media Contact: Investor Relations Contact: Katy Padgett Michael Rednor +1-860-674-3047 +1-860-676-6011 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Otis Worldwide Corporation
DUBLIN, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Cryostat Market (2022-2027) by Type, System Component, Cryogen, Industry, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Cryostat Market is estimated to be USD 3.09 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 4.31 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 6.89%.

Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Cryostat 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 Medical and Optical Systems (AMOS), Advanced Research Systems Inc, AMOS Scientific Pty Ltd, Atico Medical Pvt Ltd, Bright Instruments Cryomech Inc, 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 Cryostat 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 analyst analyses the Global Cryostat 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 Cryostat 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 Rising Use of Cryostats in MRI Machines

4.1.2 Increasing in the Production of Liquefied Natural Gas

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Input Power Consumption

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Growing Demand in Aerospace Applications

4.3.2 Increasing Usage of Natural Gas Pipelines

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Leakage of Cryogen Gases

4.4.2 Limited Availability of Helium and Environmental Concerns



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 Cryostat Market, By Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Closed-Cycle Cryostats

6.3 Continuous-Flow Cryostats

6.4 Bath Cryostats

6.5 Multistage Cryostats



7 Global Cryostat Market, By System Component

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Dewars

7.3 Trasfer Tubes

7.4 Gas Flow Pumps

7.5 Temperature Controllers

7.6 High Vacuum Pumps

7.7 Microtome Blades

7.8 Others



8 Global Cryostat Market, By Cryogen

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Helium

8.3 Nitogen

8.4 Others



9 Global Cryostat Market, By Industry

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Healthcare

9.3 Energy & Power

9.4 Aerospace

9.5 Metallurgy

9.6 Biotechnology

9.7 Forensic Science

9.8 Marine Biology

9.9 Others



10 Americas' Global Cryostat 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 Global Cryostat 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 Global Cryostat 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 Global Cryostat 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 Medical and Optical Systems (AMOS)

15.2 Advanced Research Systems Inc

15.3 AMOS Scientific Pty Ltd

15.4 Atico Medical Pvt Ltd

15.5 Bright Instruments Cryomech Inc

15.6 Janis Research Company LLC

15.7 Jinhua Yidi Medical Appliance Co. Ltd

15.8 Leica Biosystems Nussloc GmbH

15.9 Shenyang Longshou Electronic Instrument Co. Ltd

15.10 Slee Medical GmbH

15.11 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc



16 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rwpr8p

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Media Gateway Market (2022-2027) by Type, Technology, Vertical, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Media Gateway Market is estimated to be USD 2.23 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 2.65 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.5%.



Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Media Gateway 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 Aculab, AudioCodes Ltd, Avaya Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, Dialogic Corp, Grandstream Networks, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, Matrix Comsec, 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 Media Gateway 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 analyst analyses the Global Media Gateway 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 Media Gateway 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 Need for High-Quality Communication Over Disparate Networks

4.1.2 Modular Structure of Media Gateways Providing High Flexibility to Legacy Networks

4.1.3 Session Border Functionality of Integrated Media Gateways

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Adoption of Softswitches Declining the Need for Deployment of New Media Gateway Hardware

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Wide Adoption of 4G Technology and the Emergence of 5G

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Lack of Skilled Workforce to Add New Solutions in Existing Network



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 Media Gateway Market, By Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Analog

6.3 Digital



7 Global Media Gateway Market, By Technology

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Wired

7.3 Wireless

7.4 Hybrid



8 Global Media Gateway Market, By Vertical

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Government

8.3 Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI)

8.4 Manufacturing

8.5 Healthcare

8.6 Transportations

8.7 Telecommunications

8.8 Others



9 Americas' Global Media Gateway 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 Global Media Gateway 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 Global Media Gateway 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 Global Media Gateway 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 Aculab

14.2 AudioCodes Ltd

14.3 Avaya Inc

14.4 Cisco Systems Inc

14.5 Dialogic Corp

14.6 Grandstream Networks

14.7 Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd

14.8 Matrix Comsec

14.9 Metaswitch Networks

14.10 Mitel Networks Corp

14.11 Nokia Corp Patton Electronics

14.12 Ribbon Communication (ECI Telecom Ltd)

14.13 Shenzhen Dinstar Co. Ltd

14.14 Squire Technologies Ltd

14.15 Synway Information Engineering Co. Ltd

14.16 TelcoBridges Inc

14.17 Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson

14.18 Yeastar Information Technology

14.19 ZTE Corp



15 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3jkfij

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
Nation's top industry, nonprofit and education leaders call for state leaders to encourage the teaching of computer science in school; CEOs commit to creating new employment opportunities across the U.S.

SEATTLE, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In partnership with national nonprofit organization Code.org, over 500 of the nation's top industry, nonprofit, and education leaders today issued a bipartisan letter calling on state governments and education leaders to "update the K-12 curriculum in each state, for every student in every school to have the opportunity to learn computer science."

The coalition behind this effort is unprecedented in U.S. education, uniting the leaders and founders of large tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon, together with CEOs of companies across sectors, including American Express, Nike, Starbucks, Delta Airlines, AT&T, UPS, Walgreens, and Hasbro, as well as national education organizations such as Khan Academy, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.

"Every industry is impacted by digital technology, yet not every student has the opportunity to learn how technology works," said Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi. "Today, computer science should be a core subject, just like basic biology or algebra. The United States has seen tremendous momentum behind this idea, and today's announcement makes it clear that the time for action is now. We must ensure that standards and the curricula used across the country prioritize computer science so that all students, particularly from underrepresented backgrounds, have the opportunity to participate in our digital economy."

Today's announcement coincides with the culmination of the National Governors Association Chairman's Initiative for K-12 computer science, led by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and supported by a coalition of bipartisan governors . Over the last decade, all 50 states have taken action to expand access to computer science, including allowing computer science to count toward core graduation requirements, funding professional learning to train more teachers, and creating clear certification pathways for computer science teachers. Yet today, the United States has over 700,000 open computing jobs, but only 80,000 computer science graduates a year, and only 5% of high school students study computer science.

"The rapid adoption of technology across our economy means more careers will require an understanding of computer science, and our schools must prepare the next generation for this future. There is a profound urgency to ensure all students, especially Black and Latino students who have been historically underrepresented in upwardly mobile careers, can develop the knowledge and skills critical to succeed," said Robert F. Smith, founder, chairman, and CEO of leading global technology investor Vista Equity Partners who signs alongside 27 of his portfolio company CEOs. "On behalf of myself, Vista and the 27 CEOs within the Vista portfolio who have signed on, we are proud to join Code.org and its coalition of industry leaders and philanthropists not just in calling on states to take action, but in lending our support to drive change."

"Every student should learn computer science in the classroom," said Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube. "When I was young, I didn't see myself as someone who could work in tech, but I took a computer science class in college, and it changed the course of my career. I believe all students should have the opportunity to explore how computer science could impact their lives."

The call to action issued today urges states to expand access by encouraging updates to academic standards and curricula that incorporate computer science as a foundation to prepare all studentsregardless of whether they plan to pursue a career in technologyto thrive in today's evolving workforce. In turn, those who signed on to the letter have committed to creating employment opportunities for computer science students in every American city and in every sector.

"I am excited to see many of our nation's business and nonprofit leaders recognize that it is critical for all students, especially young women and students of color, to develop computer science skills that prepare them for successful futures," said Alberto M. Carvalho, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent. "Los Angeles Unified will build on its longstanding commitment to computer science, and I call on other superintendents to ensure the curricula in our schools give all students the opportunity to build foundational computer science skills."

"Foundational K-12 computer science education is criticalalthough every student may not be bound for a tech career, every student will enter the digital economy, and every part of an organization requires digital skills," said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture. "Business, government and education must come together to design a comprehensive, relevant computer science curriculum that gives our country's students more equal opportunities, prepares them for the jobs of the future, and helps companies across industries continue to meet their rapidly changing talent needs."

About Code.org

Code.org is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by young women and students from other underrepresented groups. Our vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core K-12 education. The leading provider of K-12 computer science curriculum in the largest school districts in the United States, Code.org also created the annual Hour of Code campaign, which has engaged more than 15% of all students in the world.

SOURCE Code.org
FORT WORTH, Texas, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Paragon Energy Solutions, a company focused on providing safety-related parts and components to the nuclear industry, has signed a patent license agreement with NuScale Power. The agreement will enable the widespread use of the advanced Highly Integrated Protection System (HIPS) platform, a protection system architecture jointly developed by NuScale Power and Rock Creek Innovations, a company acquired by Paragon in December 2021.

With the signing of this license agreement, the broader nuclear industry will now have the opportunity to implement the Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved HIPS platform within their existing plants or alongside their developing technologies. The HIPS platform was developed to enable those in the nuclear industry to meet global decarbonization goals via an efficient, cost-effective, and cyber-resistant I&C protection system solution.

Doug VanTassell, President and CEO of Paragon, shared that "HIPS performs with robust, analog-like reliability while providing essential diagnostics for plants to reduce O&M costs. The HIPS technology is a game-changer for nuclear power plant operators who are looking for safety-related systems that work for multiple decades without major upgrades."

"The nuclear community shares a common goal of delivering carbon-free and reliable power to our respective customers and ensuring the highest level of safety," said John Hopkins, NuScale President and Chief Executive Officer. "NuScale and Paragon are thrilled to offer our sophisticated HIPS technology to help our industry advance into a clean energy future."

About Paragon Energy Solutions

For more than 30 years, Paragon has provided an unmatched level of commitment to tackling the nuclear industry's most difficult challenges. Dedicated to quality, safety, reliability, and carbon-free energy, the company delivers premium products to nuclear energy facilities with proven reductions in direct costs, parts inventory, improved process efficiency, and obsolescence solutions. www.paragones.com or (865) 966-5330. Follow Paragon on LinkedIn or Twitter.

About NuScale Power

NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE: SMR) is poised to meet the diverse energy needs of customers across the world. It has developed small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, commercial-scale hydrogen production and other process heat applications. The groundbreaking NuScale Power Module (NPM), a small, safe pressurized water reactor, can generate 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe) and can be scaled to meet customer needs. NuScale's 12-module VOYGR-12 power plant is capable of generating 924 MWe, and NuScale also offers four-module VOYGR-4 (308 MWe) and six-module VOYGR-6 (462 MWe) power plants, as well as other configurations based on customer needs.

Founded in 2007, NuScale is headquartered in Portland, Ore., and has offices in Corvallis, Ore.; Rockville, Md.; Charlotte, N.C.; Richland, Wash.; and London, UK. To learn more, visit NuScale Power's website or follow on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

SOURCE Paragon Energy Solutions, LLC
"As a country, we are shattering record after record for overdose deaths. We need to do everything we can to reverse this epidemic," said Marcia Lee Taylor, Chief External and Government Relations Officer at Partnership to End Addiction. "Our RxAware tool will empower people with information about alternatives to opioids for pain management as well as what they can do to prevent addiction and overdose. Knowledge is power and we are grateful to our partners who are helping us to reach families around the country."

RxAware is a personalized text messaging program that educates parents, caregivers and individuals on opioid medication safety and non-addictive pain relievers. After texting RXAWARE to 55753, participants will answer a short series of questions about their own  or a loved one's  pain management needs. The participant will then receive personalized messages vetted by health professionals that provide educational information, resources and actionable support.

With support from Walmart, RxAware is rolling out this summer in Kentucky, Idaho, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Local organizations in each state, such as Kentucky's Operation UNITE , have partnered with Partnership to End Addiction to share this resource with residents in their states.

"Prevention is the most effective tool to avoid problems resulting from opioid misuse," said Nancy Hale, President & CEO of Operation UNITE. "UNITE is pleased to take the lead for this project in Kentucky. RxAware provides another opportunity to share factual information and resources with the citizens of the Commonwealth through our vast network of partners. This collaboration creates additional avenues to prevent addiction and overdoses, and ultimately to save lives."

Partnership to End Addiction offers a range of free, evidence-based support services for people who are helping loved ones struggling with addiction. Some resources include:

Help & Hope by Text : Personalized support and information provided by text message.

: Personalized support and information provided by text message. Partnership's one-on-one support : Support from trained and caring specialists who are ready to listen, answer questions and help people navigate whatever issues they are facing.

: Support from trained and caring specialists who are ready to listen, answer questions and help people navigate whatever issues they are facing. Online support community : Regular online sessions held by trained specialists who share guidance on addressing substance use and related issues.

: Regular online sessions held by trained specialists who share guidance on addressing substance use and related issues. Peer support program (parent coaching) : Personalized emotional support and expertise from trained parents who have personal experience supporting loved ones with addiction.

: Personalized emotional support and expertise from trained parents who have personal experience supporting loved ones with addiction. Digital and media resources : Original information and guidance, ranging from prevention to recovery.

After contacting the Partnership's helpline, 84% of families report feeling more knowledgeable, 82% say they are more hopeful and 89% feel satisfied with their help. If you need help supporting a loved one struggling with substance use, visit drugfree.org.

About Partnership to End Addiction

Partnership to End Addiction is a national nonprofit uniquely positioned to reach, engage and help families impacted by addiction. With decades of experience in research, direct service, communications and partnership-building, we provide families with personalized support and resources  while mobilizing policymakers, researchers and health care professionals to better address addiction systemically on a national scale. For more information, visit drugfree.org.

About Operation Unite

Operation UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education, Inc.), a non-profit organization serving 32 counties in Southern and Eastern Kentucky, is a collaborative model striving to prevent substance misuse and facilitate recovery. This pioneering holistic approach  creating strategic partnerships, providing leadership, promoting education, coordinating treatment, and supporting law enforcement  has become a model for other states and nations.

UNITE operates the KY HELP Statewide Call Center, which provides resources for Kentuckians seeking help for a substance use disorder and offers comfort, support and guidance to family members confronted with a loved one's addiction. In addition, UNITE created and now serves as the Educational Advisor for the Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit, the most influential annual gathering for stakeholders to discuss what is working in prevention, treatment, and law enforcement.

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE Partnership to End Addiction
"We did not cause the contamination that has worsened water quality in the historic Stibnite Mining District for decades, but we are part of the solution," said Laurel Sayer, CEO of Perpetua Resources. "Today, we put our commitments into action and are demonstrating that when we work together, big ideas can become reality. We are grateful for the coordination of our state and federal agencies who helped shape this visionary solution to revive this historic mine site. We are proud to bring much needed stewardship to Idaho's headwaters."

Perpetua worked with the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA") for more than three years to receive permission to conduct time critical, early action cleanup activities. After consultation with other interested parties, including the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Perpetua Resources, the EPA and USDA signed an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent ("the Agreement") in 2021 paving the way for Perpetua to address legacy issues in key areas of the Stibnite district.

"Idaho's natural resources can contribute a steady domestic supply of the materials we need to advance our economy," said Idaho Governor Brad Little. "At the same time, cleanup projects like you see here at Stibnite are a critical part of the future of responsible mining in Idaho. Idaho has a rich history of collaborative work that balances economic prosperity with environmental stewardship. Perpetua Resources is another great example of this responsible balance, and I applaud their efforts to work with the respective agencies to make cleaning up the historic Stibnite mine site a reality."

"I was pleased to see the EPA and USDA sign an agreement granting Perpetua Resources permission to voluntarily clean up key areas by the historical Stibnite mine site," said Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson. "These time critical actions are long overdue and will focus on addressing the most immediate needs to improve water quality. This work proves that Perpetua is committed to leaving the abandoned mine site better than they found it. It is an important day for Idaho, we are all grateful to Perpetua for taking on this work."

"Water is one of Idaho's most treasured resources," said Idaho Congressman Russ Fulcher. "Today's announcement by Perpetua Resources shows the company shares this belief. By improving water quality in the historic Stibnite mining district through voluntary cleanup activities, Perpetua is showing the way for collaborative mining into the future."

The groundbreaking ceremony involved sixty participants, including the Director of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality Jess Byrne, Kimberly Glineski from the Idaho Department of Commerce, Mayor of Cascade Judy Nisula, residents of the Village of Yellow Pine, IMCO Construction CEO Taylor Kimberly, President and CEO of Perpetua Resources Laurel Sayer and many others.

On the behalf of Idaho Congressman Russ Fulcher, Cascade Mayor, Judy Nisula, presented Laurel Sayer with an American flag flown over the U.S. Capitol Building to commemorate the historic moment. "On behalf of our region, thank you for being good stewards of our community, our state and our environment," said Mayor Nisula.

Early Action, Voluntary Environmental Improvements

Mining in the historic Stibnite Mining District first started in 1899. Stibnite then gained national significance during World War II when the U.S. Government commissioned antimony and tungsten production from the site to help with the war effort. In fact, Stibnite produced the majority of both minerals used by the U.S. during World War II and the U.S. Munitions Board credited the mine for shortening World War II by a year and saving a million American lives.

Unfortunately, most of the mining that occurred at Stibnite took place long before modern protections and regulations were established. As a result, the site was never fully reclaimed. Today, 10.5 million tons of unlined tailings and waste leach arsenic and antimony into ground and surface water, the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River flows into an abandoned mining pit and habitat conditions are degraded. Perpetua Resources has proposed a redevelopment plan to mine the site for gold and the critical mineral antimony, while concurrently restoring the environment.

While the Stibnite Gold Project is currently under regulatory review, early cleanup actions are starting now. Perpetua, the EPA and the U.S. Forest Service have worked together to develop a detailed scope of work for Phase One cleanup activities since signing the Agreement in early 2021. IMCO Construction was selected to oversee water quality improvements taking place this summer which will include:

Lining, improving and rerouting stream channels on site to keep clean water from interacting with old waste dumps on site





Removing the Defense Minerals Exploration Administration legacy waste rock dump from within and along a tributary to the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River and restoring the original streamflow course

About Perpetua Resources and the Stibnite Gold Project

Perpetua Resources Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is focused on the exploration, site restoration and redevelopment of gold-antimony-silver deposits in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho that are encompassed by the Stibnite Gold Project. The Project is one of the highest-grade, open pit gold deposits in the United States and is designed to apply a modern, responsible mining approach to restore an abandoned mine site and produce both gold and the only mined source of antimony in the United States. Further advancing Perpetua Resources' ESG and sustainable mining goals, the Project will be powered by the lowest carbon emissions grid in the nation and a portion of the antimony produced from the Project will be supplied to Ambri, a US-based company commercializing a low-cost liquid metal battery essential for the low-carbon energy transition. In addition to the company's commitments to transparency, accountability, environmental stewardship, safety and community engagement, Perpetua Resources adopted formal ESG commitments which can be found here.

Forward-Looking Information

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, next steps and courses of action including environmental clean up actions by us and our contractors; our ability to comply with and obtain permits related to the Stibnite Gold Project; actions to be taken by the State of Idaho and other government agencies and regulatory bodies; predictions regarding improvements to water quality and other environmental conditions at the site; reduction of the Project footprint and the anticipated benefits and other effects thereof; our and Ambri, Inc.'s ability to perform under the supply agreement, which agreement is subject to certain conditions, including identification of one or more refiners to transform our antimony concentrate into antimony metal, and mutual agreement on certain material terms, including volume and pricing. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases or variations of such words and phrases or statements such as "anticipate", "expect" "plan", "likely", "believe", "intend", "forecast", "project", "estimate", "potential", "could", "may", "will", "would" or "should". In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, Perpetua Resources has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions that the current exploration, development, environmental and other objectives concerning the Stibnite Gold Project can be achieved and that its other corporate activities will proceed as expected; that the review process under the NEPA (including any joint review process involving the USFS, the State of Idaho and other agencies and regulatory bodies) as well as the public review process and SDEIS will proceed in a timely manner and as expected; and that all requisite information will be available in a timely manner. Forward-Looking Information are based on certain material assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Perpetua Resources to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. Such risks and other factors include those factors discussed in Perpetua Resources' public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and its Canadian disclosure record. Although Perpetua Resources has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Perpetua Resources and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. For further information on these and other risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company's business, see the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available at www.sec.gov and with the Canadian securities regulators, which are available at www.sedar.com. Except as required by law, Perpetua Resources does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE Perpetua Resources Corp.
Wealthtech Provider Partners with Industry-Leading Consulting House to Drive Client ROI and Adoption.

CHICAGO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Practifi, a performance optimization platform for the wealth management industry, today announced the addition of Red Rock Strategic Partners ("Red Rock") to their network of consulting partners. Through this partnership, Practifi clients will gain access to a suite of consulting services specifically designed to optimize their use of the platform, ensuring maximum return on investment. Firms will also be able to access the full array of Red Rock services.

Adrian Johnstone, President and Co-Founder of Practifi, said, "With many of our clients having hundreds to thousands of users, we understand their needs may extend beyond what our internal Professional Services team is designed to provide. We're proud to partner with a number of specialist consulting firms for specific client needs and welcome Matt and the Red Rock team into our consulting ecosystem. With partnerships like these, we can help our clients achieve greater outcomes."

Commenting on the partnership, Red Rock Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Matt Johnston said, "Practifi has raised the bar for what's possible in an enterprise-grade CRM. The platform is built with powerful, out-of-the-box tools and features, eliminating the need for extensive custom development unlike any other solution available in the market. This powerful technology coupled with important adoption strategies and tactics will create an accelerated ROI for client firms. We're incredibly excited to partner with Practifi to ensure their clients are able to fully realize the benefits of that power."

Under the partnership, Practifi clients will be able to engage directly with Red Rock across technology, business planning, adoption and corporate strategy services. Specifically targeted at large RIAs, broker dealers and banking groups, this partnership underscores Practifi's move upmarket. "Adoption from larger firms has been a rapidly accelerating trend across our business for the past couple of years. We deliver these firms the underlying platform they want without the pain and expense of the implementation journey experienced by so many in the past. The addition of Red Rock's proven consulting experience with firms of this scale is just another example of our relentless commitment to excellence," said Johnstone.

About Practifi

Practifi is the performance optimization platform purpose-built for the wealth management industry. Practifi empowers teams to automate workflows, create rich client records, and access advanced analytics in a unified experience. With comprehensive APIs, a range of specialist wealth industry integrations, and an ecosystem of hundreds of integrated apps, our platform centralizes data and gives greater visibility across organizations. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices in Sydney, Australia, Practifi enables organizations across the globe to deepen loyalty with their clients and pioneer the future of wealth management. To learn more, visit practifi.com.

Contact: Marie Cunningham, 224 289 5100, [email protected]

SOURCE Practifi
The clinical trial randomly assigned 99 participants between the ages of 18 and 75 into a placebo group or a group receiving buccally absorbed CBD. A day after surgery, patients receiving CBD experienced on average 23 percent less pain compared to patients receiving the placebo, and 22 to 25 percent greater satisfaction with pain control the first two days following surgery compared to those receiving placebo. No major side effects were reported.

President Clinton said, "The Clinton Foundation has worked for years to reduce opioid addiction and deaths. To succeed, we need non-addictive alternatives to pain management. The results of the trial conducted by NYU Langone, with TRP's CBD ingredient, are very encouraging and I'm eager to see the results of the next round."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021 and one million lives were lost to overdoses in the past two decades. The epidemic costs the U.S. more than $1 trillion a year.

Kevin Kaplan, M.D., FAAOS, orthopedic surgeon and head team physician for the Jacksonville Jaguars led the trial for Baptist Health/Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute and helped guide the research. Dr. Kaplan said, "We performed an exhaustive search looking for a manufacturer that could provide consistent and quality raw ingredients, while acknowledging the strict standard under which the FDA and pharmaceutical industry operate. We found that in TRP and thank them for their support."

TRP also appointed Andrea G. Barthwell, M.D. to the company's board of directors. She will also lead TRP's new therapeutics business, which plans to create patentable combinations of its ingredients for drug development across dozens of indications. Dr. Barthwell has more than 30 years' experience in addiction medicine and drug policy, serving the administration of President George W. Bush as deputy director for Demand Reduction at The Office of National Drug Control Policy. She also advised GW Pharmaceuticals in their application for FDA approval of Sativex, a cannabinoid-based drug prescribed for spasticity related to multiple sclerosis.

"I am excited by TRP's focus on responsible development of cannabinoids and believe patients, physicians, and pharmaceutical companies are looking for safe and effective solutions for pain management and general health and well-being," said Dr. Barthwell.

"We are committed to supporting the study and responsible commercialization of isolated cannabinoids, including CBD," said Chris Kanaley, chief strategy officer at TRP. "Tackling opioid abuse and addiction through the development of safer pain management alternatives is the first of many potential uses of our unique processing platform, and we are enthusiastic about the future. Our work has tremendous potential to become precision medicine at its best."

About TR Processing LLC

Based in Golden Valley, Minn., TR Processing is a botanical-derivative manufacturer on a mission to transform health and well-being by proving and commercializing pharmaceutical ingredients. The company powers businesses and institutions that are solving some of healthcare's biggest challenges. The company was purpose built to service the rigid demands of large enterprises and is Fortune 500 audited and approved. With purity, quality, and compliance as core values, the company sources only the best materials for its process, supports strict regulation, and tests every product beyond industry standard. Follow our progress at www.TRProcessing.com.

SOURCE TR Processing
Ron Clark of The Ron Clark Academy joins Promethean to offer insightful discussions and courses for professional development

SEATTLE, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Join Promethean , a leading global education technology company, at its fifth annual Camp Promethean virtual event. Thursday, July 14, 2022, from 9:00 a.m.  8:00 p.m. EDT, Promethean is providing a full day of free, virtual educational courses designed to benefit the professional development of educators and assist them in utilizing Promethean tools as they prepare to return to school and engage with their students.

Promethean is proud to welcome Ron Clark, founder of The Ron Clark Academy as the featured keynote speaker for Camp Promethean 2022. Known to many as "America's Educator," Ron Clark is the 2000 Disney American Teacher of the Year, a two-time New York Times bestselling author, and the subject of a television movie. In his keynote, Clark will share inspiring stories and key strategies to uplift and motivate all educators. The methods shared will include leveraging the ActivPanel to support engaging activities and give teachers the tools to help all of their students achieve high levels of success.

Camp Promethean sessions are led by Promethean's Education Consultant team and offer a wide variety of courses designed to help teachers best utilize the Promethean tools in the classroom in relevant, cutting-edge ways. Sessions include ActivInspire , ClassFlow , Promethean's Classroom Essential Apps, STEM, ActivPanel Orientations, and more. Additionally, there will be fun-filled games and prizes, including gift cards and Distance Learning Bundles .

Event Details

What: Camp Promethean 2022

When: Thursday, July 14, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT

Where: Virtual

For more information and to register for this free training event, visit Camp Promethean .

Make sure you follow us on social media @Promethean and @LearnPromethean and use #CampPromethean22.

About Promethean

Promethean is a leading education technology company working to transform the way the world learns and collaborates. From our founding in Blackburn, England, more than 25 years ago to our global operations in 22 countries today, we've continued to explore, innovate, and inspiredesigning learning and collaboration tools that are built for breakthroughs. Our award-winning interactive display, ActivPanel, and lesson delivery software, ActivInspire and ClassFlow, were designed to engage students, connect colleagues, and bring out the brilliance in everyone. With headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and offices worldwide, Promethean is a member of the NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) group of companies. Visit us at PrometheanWorld.com .

2022 Promethean. All Rights Reserved. Promethean, the Promethean logo, ActivPanel, ActivSync, ActivInspire, ActivConnect, ActivSound, ClassFlow, and Vellum are trademarks or registered trademarks of Promethean Limited in the United Kingdom, United States, and other countries around the world. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Unless specifically identified as such, Promethean's use of third-party trademarks does not indicate any relationship, sponsorship, or endorsement between Promethean and the owners of these trademarks.

SOURCE Promethean
BLUDIGOTM is the first and only indigotindisulfonate sodium injection, USP, drug product approved by the FDA.

MARSEILLE, France and COLLEGEVILLE, Pa., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Provepharm, a French company with operations in the United States of America, specializing in the development of pharmaceutical applications, today announced that it has received FDA New Drug Approval for the marketing of its injectable BLUDIGO (Indigotindisulfonate Sodium) Injection. BLUDIGO is a diagnostic dye indicated for use as a visualization aid in the cystoscopic assessment of the integrity of the ureters in adults following urological and gynecological open, robotic, or endoscopic surgical procedures.

Provepharm filed its application for approval with the FDA in September 2021 and with this new approval, its US affiliate, Provepharm Inc., will market the product directly in the United States of America. Frederick Girard, Provepharm's Chief Medical Officer, said: "BLUDIGOTM is the second product to be granted market authorization by the FDA from Provepharm's R&D group. This new success validates Provepharm's strategy based on a high level of investment in research and development aimed at improving patients' lives and health care professionals' work on a daily basis".

In addition, Mary Jane Helenek, Executive VP and COO of Provepharm, Inc., said: "Provepharm is immensely proud of this accomplishment and approval by the FDA. We will soon make this important product available to clinicians in the US."

Eighty-two percent of ureter injuries occur during pelvic surgery, and 75% of urinary tract injuries are due to gynecologic surgery [1]. Current estimates of urinary tract injury incidence with all types of gynecologic surgery range from 0.2 to 15 per 1,000 cases [2]. If the damage is not identified during the surgical procedure, it may lead to severe post-surgical complications, notably obstruction fistulae and sepsis, with potential impact on the functional prognosis of the kidney and sometimes on the vital prognosis. These complications lead also to the need for reintervention, sometimes in an emergency. Hence, screening for potential iatrogenic ureteral damage during the initial procedure can provide the surgeons with an opportunity of repairing the damage immediately, which may significantly contribute to the reduction of post-surgical complications.

BLUDIGO (Indigotindisulfonate Sodium Injection, USP) INDICATION AND IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

INDICATION AND USAGE

BLUDIGO is a diagnostic dye indicated for use as a visualization aid in the cystoscopic assessment of the integrity of the ureters in adults following urological and gynecological open, robotic, or endoscopic surgical procedures.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

BLUDIGO is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to indigotindisulfonate or any of its components.

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Cardiovascular Reactions : Severe or life-threatening cardiovascular reactions including cardiac arrest, arrhythmia, asystole, atrioventricular block second degree, hypotension, elevation in blood pressure, bradycardia, and tachycardia have been reported. Closely monitor blood pressure and cardiac rhythm during and following the BLUDIGO injection. Interrupt administration if reactions are observed.

Hypersensitivity Reactions : Serious anaphylactic reactions with hypotension, dyspnea, bronchospasm, urticaria, or erythema have been reported. Monitor patients for anaphylactic reactions and have emergency equipment and trained personnel readily available.

Interference with Oximetry Measurements : Anesthesiologists should be aware of the potential for artifactual reduction in SpO 2 when anesthetized patients are administered BLUDIGO.

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

Renal Impairment: BLUDIGO is not recommended for use in patients with eGFR<30 mL/min.

Pediatric Use: The safety and effectiveness of BLUDIGO have not been established in pediatric patients.

Pregnancy and Lactation: Please consult the Full Prescribing Information before using BLUDIGO in a patient that is lactating, pregnant, or may be pregnant.

RECOMMENDED DOSAGE

The recommended dose for BLUDIGO is 5 mL given intravenously over 1 minute.

IMPORTANT ADMINISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS

Monitor blood pressure and cardiac rhythm during and following the injection.

Use immediately after opening ampoule.

Withdraw the contents of the ampoule through a 5 micron or smaller filter straw/filter needle to ensure that the withdrawn solution contains no particulates. The withdrawn solution should be inspected visually for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration.

Do not administer with infusion assemblies used with other diluents or drugs.

Discard any unused portion.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

Clinical Trial Experience: The most common adverse reactions ( 1%) associated with BLUDIGO in clinical trials were: constipation, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, pyrexia, ALT increase, and dysuria.

Postmarketing Experience: The following adverse reactions have been identified following the use of indigotindisulfonate sodium injection products:

Cardiovascular disorders : cardiac arrest, arrhythmia, asystole, atrioventricular block second degree, hypotension, elevation in blood pressure, bradycardia, tachycardia

: cardiac arrest, arrhythmia, asystole, atrioventricular block second degree, hypotension, elevation in blood pressure, bradycardia, tachycardia General disorders and administration site conditions : injection site discoloration

: injection site discoloration Immune system disorders: anaphylactic reactions with hypotension, dyspnea, bronchospasm, urticaria, erythema

Please see the full Prescribing Information for additional important safety information.

To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact PROVEPHARM Inc. at 1833-727-6556 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.

About Provepharm

Provepharm Life Solutions is a privately held, global pharmaceutical company based in Marseille, France, specializing in molecule revitalization. Its long-standing expertise in fine chemistry and high investment in R&D allows it to improve the purity of active pharmaceutical ingredients to the highest standards for the development of drug products and medical devices. Provepharm's strategy has already proven successful through the patented development and approval of Provayblue (methylene blue injection, USP) notably in the European Union and the United States of America.

For more information, please visit www.provepharm.com

References:

Lee, J.S., Urologic Complications Following Obstetric and Gynecologic Surgery, Korean J Urol 2012;53:795-799, AAGL Advancing minimally invasive gynecology worldwide. AAGL Practice Report: Practice Guidelines for Intraoperative Cystoscopy in Laparoscopic Hysterectomy. Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology 2012; 19(4): 407-411

Media Contact

Theresa Brogdon

(610) 601-8600

[email protected]

SOURCE Provepharm Inc.
LONDON and CHICAGO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The talent solutions division of Prytek, a Singaporean multinational technology corporation, has made a significant investment in London-headquartered global executive search firm, TritonExec.

Specialising in leadership hiring for professional, tech services, and fintech, TritonExec will bolster Prytek's HR technology services portfolio, and further its mission of building a tech-enabled talent solutions ecosystem.

This follows a recent investment into Chicago-based talent acquisition provider, Hirewell, who have embedded technology to provide faster, more efficient client and candidate experience.

TritonExec, which pioneered Exec RPO-as-a-service (recruitment process outsourcing) for corporations looking to scale at pace, will create synergies with Hirewell, offering an end-to-end solution powered by technology to clients globally.

The combination of TritonExec's C-level network, and Hirewell's embedded technology with the experience of a combined 250 recruiters spanning the globe creates a unique partnership that will enable both organisations to help clients scale faster.

Prytek's founding entrepreneur and CEO, Andrey Yashunsky, commented, "Our investment in TritonExec is a completion of the value chain, from executive search at board and C-suite, to building out leadership teams two and three levels below - we provide the entire solution on a platform for companies and hyper-scalers. Powered by technology, we can provide data products, Saas, and a licensed platform empowering our clients to do it themselves, improving the efficiency of their own internal talent acquisition teams."

TritonExec, which already had presence in Europe and the US, has recently expanded its global reach to India, Philippines, Japan and Australia, and continues to grow through an approach of hiring leaders and building out teams.

Hirewell's founder and CEO, Matt Massucci, commented, "We are thrilled by the services and cultural alignment between our two organizations. Both organisations are hyper-focused on helping clients hire top talent. We both recognise that our employees are vital to our continued success and are excited to disrupt the talent solutions industry through our combined services, technology, and the capital to scale from Prytek."

TritonExec co-founders Ben Graham and Jonathan Morris commented, "Prytek buy and invest in technology companies in Fintech and EdTech, two core areas we heavily recruit in, as well as HRTech, which will enable us to improve the quality and impact we can have to our clients. Not only does this partnership make sense from an investment and growth perspective, but our understanding of the world and customers are very aligned.

From the moment we met Andrey, his passion for technology and ambition matched ours. He and his team empower the leaders they invest in to support their growth. We look forward to creating end-to-end solutions for our customers through synergies and partnerships across the group."

SOURCE Prytek; TritonExec
MINNEAPOLIS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Millennials, often misrepresented as indulgent and financially unprepared, contradict those stereotypes according to insights from a recent RBC Wealth Management  U.S. survey. The survey of 1,000 high-net-worth (HNW) Millennials found that 84% think frequently about their financial security, but many are unsure of what they need to do to attain it.

Millennials recently surpassed Baby Boomers as the nation's largest living adult population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, with the oldest now age 41. They've also grown their wealth from $4 trillion in 2019 to $9 trillion at the end of 2021, according to data from the Federal Reserve, and they're looking to advisors for help managing that wealth.

"We conducted this survey to understand how financial advisors can address the needs of HNW Millennials, the next big wave of wealth and the future generation of investors," said Angie O'Leary, Head of Wealth Planning at RBC Wealth Management  U.S. "Our data shows they have a high degree of trust in financial advisors, and with many wealthy Millennials expecting to come into money from inheritance or the sale of a business, their advisors will serve as a crucial resource for information and support."

Juggling Responsibilities

That professional guidance is important, as the survey shows 6-in-10 (59%) Millennials reported difficulty finding time to manage their finances while juggling multiple responsibilities, such as buying a home, starting a family, caring for aging parents and saving for their children's education. Another challenge is a lack of knowledge, with nearly three-quarters (72%) of survey participants saying that after paying off debt, saving for an emergency fund, and maxing out their 401(k), they are unsure what to do next.

Planning for the Future

The main goal of those surveyed is establishing long-term security by investing and saving, with 75% saying they want the same things as their parents, but they are simply unaffordable. According to the survey, 38% say investing in the stock market is their top financial goal, compared to 33% who prioritize saving for retirement. More than one-quarter (27%) said their top financial goal is starting a company. "Millennials have an entrepreneurial mind-set, and are looking at ways to create other sources of income through business ownership, investment property or a side-hustle," O'Leary added. "Competing responsibilities and goals make a personalized wealth plan especially important for Millennials, with a focus not necessarily on retirement planning, but instead on planning for their specific life goals, including entrepreneurial endeavors."

Supporting the greater good

As they've built their wealth, Millennials have developed their own priorities when it comes to how they invest. Nearly 85% of survey respondents said it's important to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) data as part of their investment decisions, and that these investments are an integral part of their investment strategy.

To reach those goals, Millennials are searching for financial advisors with knowledge about ESG, with 92% saying it is important that their current or future financial advisor is knowledgeable about how to utilize ESG data while recommending an investment. More than 8-in-10 (83%) investors would choose to leave a financial advisor if they were not knowledgeable about ESG, according to the survey.

Kent McClanahan, Vice President of Responsible Investing at RBC Wealth Management  U.S., said, "Millennials' strong appetite for ESG creates an opportunity for advisors to incorporate ESG data into their investment and wealth planning, as well as advise and educate the younger generation of investors on how to invest with purpose."

About the survey

The 10-minute, online quantitative survey was conducted in December 2021. Respondents included 25- to 40-year-olds (Millennials) across genders, races, and geographies, of which 750 were HNW and 250 HENRY (high earning, not rich yet). HNW is defined as having at least $1 million in investable assets, including 401(k). HENRY is defined as having $250K+ in household income, or between $100K-$999K in investable assets.

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 RBC Wealth ManagementU.S.

In the United States, RBC Wealth Management operates as a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC. Founded in 1909, RBC Wealth Management is a member of the New York Stock Exchange, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, and other major securities exchanges. RBC Wealth Management has $508 billion in total client assets with more than 2,100 financial advisors operating in 184 locations in 42 states.

SOURCE RBC Wealth Management - U.S.
The easy availability of ready-to-drink beverages across the globe is boosting the sales growth in the market

Rise in the consumption of ready-to-drink beverages by the millennial population of Europe is boosting the regional market growth

WILMINGTON, Del., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global ready-to-drink beverages market is estimated to register growth at a CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032, states an assessment report by Transparency Market Research (TMR).

Consumers today are increasing the adoption of healthier refreshing beverages manufactured using versatile ingredients, states a TMR report on the global ready-to-drink beverages market. Moreover, the demand for ready-to-drink beverages is increasing as these products are easily available. These factors are resulting into growth prospects for ready-to-drink beverages market.

The ready-to-drink beverages market manufacturers are increasing their branding as well as packaging efforts in order to attract more customers. This aside, several players are focusing on product innovations and new product launches in order to stay ahead of the competition in the ready-to-drink beverages market. Moreover, surge in the acquisitions and the launch of new product facilities are prognosticated to drive the growth in the global ready-to-drink beverages market.

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Ready-to-Drink Beverages Market: Key Findings

Ready-to-drink beverages are gaining impetus in the recent years owing to their instant nature and ability to offer convenience to the end-user, notes a TMR study. Hence, the demand for these products is being increasing across the globe. This aside, the hectic lifestyles of people in developing and developed nations and changing consumer preferences are expected to create sizable sales growth opportunities in the ready-to-drink beverages market during the forecast period. Hence, the global market for ready-to-drink beverages is prognosticated to be valued at US$ 169.5 Bn by 2032.

by 2032. Coffee is one of the popular beverages consumed by population from almost every region of the world. The rich smell, soothing and savory taste, and caffeine content of coffee are some of the characteristics of this product that makes it one of the most favorite beverages among all age groups. Moreover, the instant nature and energy benefits provided by this drink are resulting into its increased sales around the world. Hence, a rise in the demand for ready-to-drink coffee is fueling the expansion of the global ready-to-drink beverages market, according to analysts of a TMR study.

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Ready-to-Drink Beverages Market: Growth Boosters

Increase in consumer inclination toward fruit juices and flavored drinks is generating promising business avenues in the global ready-to-drink beverages market

Increasing urbanization across many emerging economies around the world is fueling the sales opportunities for players in the ready-to-drink beverages market

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Ready-to-Drink Beverages Market: Regional Analysis

In the global ready-to-drink beverages market, Europe holds approximately 25% of the market share. The Europe market is estimated to expand at prominent pace in the forthcoming years owing to a rise in the demand for ready-to-drink products from the millennial population in the region.

holds approximately 25% of the market share. The market is estimated to expand at prominent pace in the forthcoming years owing to a rise in the demand for ready-to-drink products from the millennial population in the region. The market is expected to gain notable growth prospects in East Asia and South Asia during the forecast period due to factors such as the presence of sizable consumer base and improving spending power of the regional population

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Ready-to-Drink Beverages Market: Key Players

Some of the key players profiled in the report are:

PepsiCo Inc.

Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.

Nestle S.A.

The Coca-Cola company

Suntory Holdings Limited

Kraft Heinz Foodservice

O-AT-KA Milk

Gehl Foods, LLC

Danone S.A.

William B. Reily and Company, Inc.

and Company, Inc. Vitasoy International Holdings Limited

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc

Mutalo Group

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF)  Amul

The Campbell Soup Company

Ready-to-Drink Beverages Market Segmentation

Product Type

Carbonated Soft Drinks

RTD Coffee

RTD Tea

Dairy-based Beverages

Fruit Juice

Distribution Channel

Business to Business (Foodservice)

Business to Consumers

Supermarkets/Hypermarkets



Convenience Stores



Specialty Stores



Online Retail



Departmental Stores



Vending Machine

Regions Covered

North America

Latin America

Europe

South Asia

East Asia

Oceania

Middle East & Africa

Browse More Food & Beverages Reports by TMR:

Europe Wheat Starch Market - Europe Wheat Starch Market is likely to register a CAGR of 4.4% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a Europe wheat starch market share of US$ 3.7 Bn by 2030

PHO Oils Market - PHO Oils Market is likely to register a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a pho oils market share of US$ 45.5 Mn by 2031

Asia Pacific Shrimp Balls Market - Asia Pacific Shrimp Balls Market is likely to register a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a Asia pacific shrimp balls market share of US$ 135 Mn by 2031

Single Cell Protein Market - Single Cell Protein Market is likely to register a CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a single cell protein market share of US$ 24.5 Mn by 2030

North America Potato Protein Market - North America Potato Protein Market is likely to register a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a North America potato protein market share of US$ 67.9 Mn by 2031

Fondant Market - Fondant Market is likely to register a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a fondant market share of US$ 774 Mn by 2030

Weight Management Market - Weight Management Market is likely to register a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a weight management market share of US$ 11.1 Bn by 2030

Energy Supplements Market - Energy Supplements Market is likely to register a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a energy supplements market share of US$ 25 Bn by 2030

About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research, a global market research company registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, provides custom research and consulting services. The firm scrutinizes factors shaping the dynamics of demand in various markets. The insights and perspectives on the markets evaluate opportunities in various segments. The opportunities in the segments based on source, application, demographics, sales channel, and end-use are analysed, which will determine growth in the markets over the next decade.

Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insights for thousands of decision-makers, made possible by experienced teams of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants. The proprietary data sources and various tools & techniques we use always reflect the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in all of its business reports.

For More Research Insights on Leading Industries, Visit our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8e-z-g23-TdDMuODiL8BKQ

Contact Us:

Rohit Bhisey

Transparency Market Research Inc.

CORPORATE HEADQUARTER DOWNTOWN,

1000 N. West Street,

Suite 1200, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 USA

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Blog: https://tmrblog.com

Email: [email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1682871/TMR_Logo_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Transparency Market Research
BE'ER SHEVA, Israel, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rezilion announced today the full availability of its new, automated vulnerability management solution to identify, prioritize, and remediate vulnerable software.

In a software-driven world, the software attack surface is changing rapidly. But as security, development, and infrastructure teams seek to secure their software and deliver it to customers, fast, traditional software vulnerability management solutions can't keep pace. Teams can see only portions of the software attack surface at one moment in time. The massive amount of vulnerability alerts are noisy and confusing and do not allow security to address risk on time. Too much patching takes too much time, but too little patching means patching backlogs grow. Together these factors slow down innovation and open up the window of risk from exploitation by bad actors.

Thus, in the absence of having enough time to both build and secure, teams find themselves in a constant battle between competition and threat.

"Being able to detect and remediate vulnerabilities is a challenge that either results in slower innovation or less security," said a Frost & Sullivan analyst in a recent report on End-to-End Software Attack Surface Management . "Either time spent on ensuring security draws from time spent on innovating, or security suffers as a large number of vulnerabilities remain unaddressed in the pursuit of innovation. Organizations require a software attack surface management approach that considers the many disparate sources of code and actively patches as required."

Find Your True Attack Surface, Patch Only What Matters, Automatically

With the array of new features introduced today, Rezilon's platform now uniquely solves these challenges by applying automation at all of the critical stages in the software security workflow, providing security teams with full-stack assurance and giving developers time back to build. These new features include:

Deep Vulnerability Validation:

"Next Generation Vulnerability Database" (NGVDB) - a proprietary database of thousands of vulnerabilities that were pinpointed to the class/function level, which empowers understanding of not only whether or not a vulnerable file is loaded to memory, but whether the specific vulnerable class or function is actually executed.



Will ultimately allow customers to de-prioritize close to 95% of detected software vulnerabilities and further reduce their patching backlogs.

CI Integrations

Further integrating Rezilion directly into development pipelines, providing customers immediate feedback and saving them time on patching vulnerabilities.

Remediation Workflow Integrations

Facilitating automated ticketing with tools such as Jira and ServiceNow.

Automated Remediation

A fully-automated remediation capability will work in CI Pipelines and will automatically upgrade and test these vulnerable packages that were found to be exploitable.

Powered by continuous runtime analysis, Rezilion's platform detects vulnerable software components on both infrastructure and application layers and determines their exploitability, filtering out 85% of vulnerabilities that require no patching. Backed by new features and capabilities, Rezilion can now automatically mitigate exploitable vulnerabilities across the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), reducing vulnerability backlogs from months to hours, while giving DevOps teams time back to build.

"The enhancements we're rolling out today are not only a revolution for our platform, but are a sign of a more fundamental shift in how our industry is thinking about software attack surface management, as a whole," says Liran Tancman, CEO and Co-Founder of Rezilion. "For too long, companies have had to compromise between the speed and security of their software products, a challenge ultimately caused by a vulnerability management toolset that cannot work as broadly, accurately, or immediately as their business requires. With Rezilion's new platform, we are challenging this standard with a new way of working without silos and bottlenecks. We see this as the future of vulnerability management, and we're thrilled to lead the way forward with this next generation of the Rezilion platform.

Get Started Today

Rezilion's full platform is available now, free for 30 days, with a dynamic Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) in CI. Get started today at www.rezilion.com/get-started.

The company also announced it will host a major activation at the upcoming Black Hat cybersecurity conference, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, August 10-11, 2022. Visit Rezilion at booth 2408 for live demos on the hour, prizes, giveaways, and more. For more information or to book a live, hands-on demo at the show, visit https://www.rezilion.com/lp/meet-rezilion-at-black-hat/ . You can save time and skip the line by booking a demo now here for a chance to win a free Apple Watch.

ABOUT REZILION:

Rezilion's platform automatically secures the software you deliver to customers. Rezilion's continuous runtime analysis detects vulnerable software components on any layer of the software stack and determines their exploitability, filtering out up to 95% of identified vulnerabilities. Rezilion then automatically mitigates exploitable vulnerabilities across the SDLC, reducing vulnerability backlogs and remediation times from months to hours, while giving DevOps teams time back to build. For more information visit www.rezilion.com

Media Contact:

Danielle Ostrovsky

HI-Touch PR

410-302-9459

[email protected]

SOURCE Rezilion
HIALEAH, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Roberto Uriel, MD, is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Top Physician for his distinguished career in Pediatrics and in acknowledgment of his work at South Florida Pediatrics.

Roberto Uriel

Widely known in his community as a caring and compassionate Pediatrician, Dr. Uriel has been a practicing physician for 35 years. He has owned and operated South Florida Pediatrics, Inc for 31 years, located at 2300 West 84th St., Suite 202, in Hialeah, FL. Dr. Uriel recently announced opening a second office location for his practice, at 3905 NW 107th Ave., Suite 412, in Doral, FL.

In addition to general pediatrics, Dr. Uriel also focuses on allergy and asthma treatment. He maintains active affiliation with Nicklaus Children's Hospital, including nearly 800 attending physicians and more than 390 pediatric subspecialties. Founded in 1950, the facility is the only licensed pediatric specialty hospital located in South Florida.

Dr. Uriel completed his Bachelor's degree at Miami-Dade College and the University of Miami. He then earned his Medical Degree at the Universidad Central del Este in the Dominican Republic. He completed his Pediatrics Residency at Rush Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, in Chicago, IL.

A widely respected expert in his field, Dr. Uriel was honored in his community as the recipient of the Patients' Choice Award in 2015, the Compassionate Doctor Recognition in 2015, and the Top 10 Doctor in 2014.

For additional information, please visit www.southfloridapeds.com.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who
HICKSVILLE, N.Y., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Safe Storage Investors, a private equity firm centered around self-storage facilities, is excited to announce opportunities that will help people build recession-resistant generational wealth. Their proven, safe investment strategies have helped countless people protect their finances during difficult times, and the team is confident that they can continue to help customers build a passive income stream and generational wealth regardless of the state of the economy. Their ultimate goal is to bring ultimate value to every location they manage, while generating the highest return possible for investors. With volatile financial markets, protecting capital and creating passive income has become more important than ever.

Safe Storage Investors specializes in self-storage facility acquisitions and they have a wide variety of experience in different types of storage investments. Each of their self-storage acquisitions can be tailored to meet the specific needs of clients, and the team is always looking for new opportunities to help their customers grow their wealth through passive income.

Safe Storage Investors will find the perfect property, negotiate the purchase price, and then take care of all the management and day-to-day tasks associated with being a self-storage owner. This hands-off approach to real estate investing is one of the reasons why so many people choose to invest in storage units. It is a very passive way to earn income, and it can be a great way to build wealth over time.

To take part in an investment opportunity with Safe Storage Investors, investors will need a minimum of $50K. Opportunities are available to U.S.-based accredited and non-accredited investors, meaning that almost anyone can take advantage of their proven investment strategies. Safe Storage Investors is targeting individuals who want to secure their financial future. They serve investors nationwide, but their newest acquisitions are both located in Maine.

The most recent properties acquired are located in Presque Isle, and the second is in Mars Hill. Both properties were purchased on June 2, 2022, and the total square footage is 53,000. There are 375 tenants combined between the two properties, both of which were purchased off-market, and Safe Storage Investors is confident that they can increase revenue significantly by implementing their proven value and business plan.

The team at Safe Storage Investors would like to thank all of its investors who have put their trust in them, and they are excited to continue helping people build passive income and generational wealth. If you're interested in learning more about Safe Storage Investors or their investment opportunities, visit www.safestorageinvestors.com .

This is an exciting opportunity for anyone looking to invest in their future and recession-resistant assets. Safe Storage Investors have the experience, knowledge, and business strategies necessary to create passive income for clients, and they are confident that their investment strategies will help people weather any economic storm. Contact the team today to learn more about how you can get started.

About Safe Storage Investors

Safe Storage Investors is a real estate investment firm that specializes in self-storage facilities. They have years of experience in the industry and are experts at finding, negotiating, and managing storage properties. Safe Storage Investors serves investors nationwide, with opportunities available to U.S.-based accredited and non-accredited investors, meaning that almost anyone can take advantage of their proven investment strategies. They aim to educate people about investment opportunities and passive income strategies.

Contact Information

Name: Russell Nersesov

Email: [email protected]

Phone Number: 15163364884

SOURCE Safe Storage Investors
Nina Johnston, (Emmerdale's)Tom Lister and (Brooksides's) Dean Sullivan will star in the upcoming short film

MANCHESTER, England, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sam Jane Brown, an acclaimed author and new world philosopher, has completed her short film, "Forgotten Word," based on her popular and controversial religious-themed book by the same name. Brown also wrote the screenplay for the film, which is poised to catch the attention of all major global film festivals for the 2022-23 season.

Forgotten Word Sam Jane Brown

Religion has been a central part of the human experience for many years. It has provided comfort in times of trouble and helped people to make sense of the world around them. However, some believe that religion is nothing more than a set of outdated beliefs that have no place in the modern world. In her novel, "Forgotten Word," Brown explored the role of religion in a future world where it has been outlawed. While the book is fiction, it raised some interesting questions about the role of religion in society and the potential impact of a world without it. Brown's second book in the series, "The New System," picks up where "Forgotten Word" left off and continues to explore the implications of a world without religion. These books offer an intriguing look at a potential future for humanity and provoke much thought and discussion.

The film "Forgotten Word" is an intelligent and compelling art house drama with supernatural undertones and intense, metaphoric imagery and meaning. The film stars Nina Johnston ("Outlander" and "Waterloo Road"), Tom Lister ("Emmerdale") and Dean Sullivan ("Brookside") and is directed by Carlton Holder.

Its synopsis is intriguing: First, they banned and burned books. Religion has been outlawed, and the internet has gone offline worldwide. Rumor is that something is coming to replace it  a new system. Will technology replace religion? Will this iteration of the internet become God? As a chilling new order is close to being ushered in, an Irish detective, Zena McGrath, trying to navigate a dark world in transition, finds herself in a surreal, ideological and spiritual struggle between two preternatural entities: a charming blond man and a melancholy teenage girl. The film raises interesting questions about the future of religion and technology and how they might interact.

What conspires is that the One World Religion becomes technology.

"The disgrace of this relates to how this is all happening right in front of our faces, but everyone who has any influence is totally silent," Brown said in an interview with the London Economic. "We have UN meetings and international rules being issued that are clearly intended to wipe out Christian beliefs and replace them with socialist-inspired junk."

Watch the trailer for "Forgotten Word" at: https://youtu.be/G3FMJSZ6gI0

To learn more about Brown, visit samjanebrown.com.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9307862/reference/

Media contact:

Sam Jane Brown

+447878063263

SOURCE Sam Jane Brown
BALI, Indonesia and BANGKOK, July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Annually, over 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted. Meanwhile, 830 million people suffer from starvation globally but many countries have food banks to address this issue. In Thailand, SOS has been tackling the food waste and food insecurity problems by collecting surplus food from food industries and redistributing them to vulnerable communities. Since 2016, over 4 million kilograms of food have been rescued. But with the increasing demand for food from many vulnerable communities, we knew we have to find different ways to raise food.

Scholars of Sustenance, the leading expert in Food Rescue, partnered with Allianz Ayudhya, one of the leading Insurance Companies in Thailand, to launch the first Cloud Food Bank platform in the country that aims to redistribute over 600 tons of surplus food by the end of the year.

The goal of the Cloud Food Bank is to systematically manage surplus food. The platform makes donation and distribution easy and efficient. Through a matchmaking system, SOS can manage food supplies from large businesses and individuals, ensuring all the donations are delivered to the neediest. Using this platform, SOS Thailand aims to establish a national food rescue coalition network, creating environmental and social sustainability.

Mr. Thomas Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Ayudhya said "Throughout Allianz Ayudhya's activities in Thailand, we have committed to the Allianz Group's objective of focusing on socially responsible business practices. The organization strives for long-term success by following ESG principles. Donating food to needy communities across Bangkok has made us aware of the current food shortage, and we're searching for partners to help us meet those requirements. Allianz Ayudhya, a company with competence in technology, offered to provide technology to extend this mission in conjunction with the SOS organization. The Cloud Food Bank platform serves as a central hub for connecting those who want to give food to vulnerable groups of people who are in need. Allianz Ayudhya has invested around 2 million baht to establish this platform, making it more efficient."

Mr. James Leyson, Managing Director of the Scholars of Sustenance Foundation said, "We are delighted that Allianz Ayudhya recognizes the need of fostering societal sustainability. At SOS Foundation, we are constantly focusing on reducing and preventing the negative effects of food waste. Allianz Ayudhya uses technology to expand and digitise our mission, vastly improving management potential in terms of donor access, recipient storage management, and food delivery. Our system currently has over 700 donor organizations and over 1,000 donors in communities across the country. Allianz Ayudhya coming to our aid means we will be able to increase food rescue and distribution by up to 20%. This year, we set a goal of rescuing 1,800 tons of surplus food, which we will be able to distribute more efficiently than ever before."

Those interested in donating or accepting donations should visit the Cloud Food Bank's website at www.cloudfoodbank.org or email [email protected]

SOURCE SOS NC, Thailand (Bangkok) and Indonesia (Bali)
Long-time analyst, author and industry leader brings thought leadership to Techstrong Group's distribution channels for impactful insights into cybersecurity, DevOps, cloud-native and digital transformation

BOCA RATON, Fla. , July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Techstrong Group , the power source for people and technology, expanded its leadership team with the appointment of Mike Rothman as chief strategy officer (CSO) and general manager of Techstrong Research. Rothman will help lead Techstrong Group in all aspects of its business, bringing impactful perspectives and a clear strategic vision to the wide distribution channels Techstrong Group has established. Rothman also will manage the Techstrong Research business unit that provides cutting-edge industry research and strategic advisory expertise.

Rothman joins Techstrong Group after spending 12 years as president of Securosis, a boutique information security research firm. Mike also co-founded DisruptOps, a cloud security operations platform, and served as its president until the company's acquisition by Firemon in September of 2021. He brings 30+ years of experience as a research analyst and security leader and is recognized as a voice of reason for business leaders in an often over-hyped and extremely complex security industry.

"I am elated to work with Mike Rothman to help Techstrong Group achieve its full potential," said Alan Shimel, CEO and founder of Techstrong Group. "I am looking forward to Mike taking an active role in leading our company, driving groundbreaking research and working with our entire team, our communities and sponsors."

Rothman's wide-ranging experience includes nearly every security market over his career, recently specializing in security operations, cloud security and DevSecOps. Time spent in CMO and VP of strategy roles at security companies gives Rothman unique insights on go-to-market planning, messaging architecture, selling strategies and making technology relevant to the business.

In 2007 Rothman published The Pragmatic CSO to introduce technically-savvy security professionals to the nuances of what is required to be a senior security professional. He has an engineering degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.

"I could not be more excited to join Alan and the team at Techstrong Group," said Rothman. "With a laser-focus on DevOps, security and cloud-native infrastructurethe most important markets in technologyand an audience of hundreds of thousands of subscribers and attendees, Techstrong Group is perfectly positioned to be the leading voice of the evolution to this new computing model."

Rothman will join Techstrong Group immediately to begin helping Techstrong Group's audience navigate the current market and technology landscape. He will be contributing content and analysis across all Techstrong Group brands, including DevOps.com , Security Boulevard , Container Journal , DigitalCxO , Techstrong TV and, of course, Techstrong Research .

About Techstrong Group

Techstrong Group is the power source for people and technology. Techstrong Group accelerates understanding of technologies that drive business. With a broad set of IT-related communities and offerings, Techstrong Group is the only media company serving the needs of IT leaders and practitioners with news, research, analysis, events, education, certifications and professional development. Our focus areas are digital transformation, DevOps, cybersecurity, cloud and cloud-native. Techstrong Group business units include: Techstrong Media, Techstrong Research and Techstrong Live!. For technology providers, Techstrong Group business units offer many ways to reach IT professionals and tell their stories.

Techstrong Group is based in Boca Raton, Florida. For more information, visit us on the web and follow us on Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook and Instagram .

For More Information Contact:

Andre Pino

Andre @techstronggroup.com

SOURCE Techstrong Group
Germany is expected to account for nearly 6.2% of the Europe server security market share through 2032. Growing number of cyber-attacks across the IoT ecosystem is driving demand for server security solutions. small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) to Adopt Robust Security Solutions to Avoid Server-based Attacks

NEWARK, Del., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Future Market Insights (FMI), the server security market is expected to grow at a noteworthy CAGR of around 7.1% from 2022-2032.

The report further states that the market is expected to reach a valuation of ~US$ 26.1 Bn by the end of 2022 and US$ 51.7 Bn by 2032. Increasing need to protect enterprise networks from sophisticated cyber-attacks is set to drive growth in the server security market during the forecast period.

Cloud-based server security software solutions allow businesses to improve their network security at a relatively low cost. Sales of such software solutions are projected to surge with increasing need to avoid unauthorized access and misuse of network resources.

Request a Sample of this Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-15149

Moreover, server security software solutions are gaining immense popularity as companies are striving to protect their networks from critical cyber-attacks like denial-of-service (DoS), distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), man-in-the-middle (MitM), SQL injection attack, cross-site scripting (XSS) software attack, TCP SYN flood attack, botnets, and session hijacking attacks.

Thus, to maintain the network security of various systems from such attacks and network hacks, organizations are likely to continue to adopt cloud server security software solutions in the forthcoming years.

Key Takeaways: Server Security Market

By solution, the software segment is expected to dominate the global server security market and exhibit growth at a CAGR of around 7.7% between 2022 and 2032.

By deployment, the cloud-based segment is set to lead the global market with a CAGR of nearly 9.0% between 2022 and 2032.

By enterprise size, demand for server security software solutions in small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) is estimated to grow 2.3x in the upcoming decade.

By industry, the healthcare segment is projected to showcase significant growth at a CAGR of about 10.2% between 2022 and 2032.

By region, the North America server security market was holding the highest share of around 29.6% in 2021.

"Urgent need to prevent misuse of data, accelerate network downtime, and protect enterprise networks from server-based cyber-attacks is expected to push the deployment of server security solutions in the forecast period," says a FMI analyst.

Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report : https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/server-security-market

The global server security market is set to grow steadily due to increasing demand for cybersecurity solutions to protect servers from sophisticated cyber-attacks. A wide variety of services are provided by a server to external and internal users of an organization and thus it is prone to hacking.

Also, various servers like web, email, database, infrastructure management, and file servers process or store sensitive information for an organization. To access these unauthorized files, an organization's servers are frequently targeted by cybercriminals.

To protect an organization's network infrastructure from server-based cyber-attacks, businesses are adopting innovative server security solutions. As a result of the aforementioned factors, the global server security market will witness considerable growth during the forecast period.

Key Players:

IBM

Sophos

Palo Alto Networks

Cloudflare

DDoS-Guard

HaltDos

Endgame

Comodo

Cisco

Nexusguard

Fortinet

Orange

Tata Communication

Checkpoint Software

SAP

Openmind Networks

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Trend of Remote Working to Push Deployment of Server Security Solutions

Server security solutions help organizations to enhance their cybersecurity policies with the help of reporting, monitoring, detecting, and countering threats against cyber-attacks. Increasing trend of remote working culture is creating a big challenge in terms of cyber security.

As employees are working from home and connected with personal internet or Wi-Fi, the network security risk is high. It can in turn hamper a company's confidential data as hackers can easily steal sensitive information. Hence, several organizations are expected to implement innovative server security solutions to protect endpoint devices from cyber-criminals and sophisticated cyber-attacks.

More Valuable Insights on Server Security Market:

Future Market Insights' report on the server security industry research is segmented into five major sections  solution (software and services), deployment (on premise and cloud-based), enterprise size (large enterprises and small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs)), industry (IT & telecom, BFSI, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, government & defense, education, and others), and region (North America, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia & Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa) to help readers understand and evaluate lucrative opportunities in the server security demand outlook.

Global Server Security Market Outlook by Category

By Solution:

Software

Network Firewalls



Unified Threat Management Solution



DDoS Mitigation Solution



Endpoint Protection Platforms



Others

Services

Professional Services



Security Consulting





Implementation Services





Integration Services





Support & maintenance



Managed Services

By Deployment:

On-Premises

Cloud-based

By Enterprise Size:

Large Enterprises

Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

By Industry:

IT & Telecom

BFSI

Government & Defense

Healthcare

Retail

Manufacturing

Education

Others

By Region:

North America

Latin America

Europe

East Asia

South Asia & Pacific

& Pacific Middle East and Africa (MEA)

Speak to our Research Expert: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-15149

About Electronics, Semiconductor and ICT Division at Future Market Insights

Expert analysis, strategic recommendations, and actionable insights the electronics, semiconductors, and ICT team at Future Market Insights helps clients from all over the globe with their unique business intelligence needs. With a repository of over 500 reports on electronics, semiconductors, & ICT, of which 100+ reports are specifically on gaming, the team provides end-to-end research and analysis on regional trends, drivers for market growth, and research development efforts in the electronics, semiconductors, and ICT industry

Table of Content

1. Executive Summary

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand Side Trends

1.3. Supply Side Trends

1.4. Analysis and Recommendations

2. Market Overview

2.1. Market Coverage / Taxonomy

2.2. Market Definition / Scope / Limitations

3. Key Market Trends

3.1. Key Trends Impacting the Market

3.2. Product Innovation / Development Trends

4. Pricing Analysis

4.1. Pricing Analysis, By Solution

4.2. Global Average Pricing Analysis Benchmark

5. Global Server Security Market Demand (in Value in US$ Bn) Analysis 2017-2021 and Forecast, 2022-2032

5.1. Historical Market Value (US$ Bn) Analysis, 2017-2021

5.2. Current and Future Market Value (US$ Bn) Projections, 2022-2032

TOC continued..!

Have a Look at Technology Domain Related Research Reports:

Cyber Security Market Size - The global cyber security market is projected to record a CAGR of 10.5% from 2022 to 2032.

Server Operating Environments Market Shares - Server Operating Environments market is expected to increase significantly due to the rising usage of virtualization solutions.

Smart Personal Safety and Security Device Market Trends - From 2022 to 2032, the global smart personal safety and security device market is expected to expand at a 7.4% CAGR.

Corporate Web Security Market Forecast - The global corporate web security demand is anticipated to top US 3.2 Billion in 2022. Registering a CAGR of 7.0%, the sales of corporate web security solutions are expected to total US$ 7.6 Billion by 2032.

Server Less Computing Market Sales - Server less Computing has enabled organizations to focus more on their core products and services rather than on their IT infrastructure.

Server Microprocessor Market Demand - server microprocessor market in North America is expected to dominate the market, due to increasing enterprise cloud data volumes.

Server Management Software Market Growth - North America dominates the global Server Management Software market as the region is most technologically developed and with the maximum resources

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (ESOMAR certified market research organization and a member of Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) provides in-depth insights into governing factors elevating the demand in the market. It discloses opportunities that will favor the market growth in various segments on the basis of Source, Application, Sales Channel and End Use over the next 10-years.

Contact:

Future Market Insights Inc.

Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive,

Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA

T: +1-845-579-5705

For Sales Enquiries: [email protected]

Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com

Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/server-security-market

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SOURCE Future Market Insights
Enhanced Financial Resources Will Fuel Rapid Expansion of Industry-Leading Home Comfort-as-a-Service Program

BETHESDA, Md., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Service 1st Financial, LLC ("Service 1st" or the "Company") announced today that Forbright Bank ("Forbright") has provided a senior debt facility to support continued growth of the Company's Premier Program. The Premier Program is a worry-free service for homeowners to replace and upgrade their heating, cooling, plumbing, and back-up power systems for a low monthly payment, while eliminating the common pain points associated with owning, maintaining, and repairing such systems. The Premier Program is transforming the way home comfort is purchased in the United States.

"As the cost of home comfort systems continues to skyrocket, industry stakeholders must find ways to make high efficiency home comfort solutions more accessible," said Tom Towe, VP of Business Development at Service 1st. "Technological innovation is critical, but we must also consider innovative business models that facilitate widespread adoption of high efficiency technologies. The Premier Program does just that by providing use of the most advanced home comfort systems without the upfront cost or traditional burdens of ownership. Solving these common consumer pain points encourages more sustainable home comfort purchasing decisions and will help the industry achieve its ambitious sustainability goals."

Adam Weber, SVP of Accounting & Finance at Service 1st, stated "We are grateful for Forbright's trust and support. They demonstrated a keen understanding of both the financial and environmental opportunity presented by our Premier Program. We look forward to working together to accelerate the clean energy transition in the residential home comfort space."

"We are excited to help Service 1st realize its goals, in direct support of our own mission," said Chris Erb, Managing Director of Lender Finance at Forbright. "Forbright takes great pride in its role as a financial partner to a wide variety of businesses who provide goods and services that support a clean energy economy. Since its official launch in 2020, the Premier Program has quickly gained recognition as an innovator from some of the industry's most respected players."

About Service 1st Financial

Based in Bethesda, Maryland, Service 1st Financial is a leading financial technology, innovation, and training company serving residential home service contractors in the United States. Our Premier Program is offered through independent contractors on a full portfolio of home comfort products, including HVAC systems, IAQ products, tank and tankless water heaters, water purification systems, and standby generators. Service 1st is the only independent, unconflicted provider of comprehensive worry-free home comfort programs in the industry. Learn more at: www.worryfreehomecomfort.com.

Media Contact:

Tom Towe, VP of Business Development, Service 1st Financial

[email protected] , 240.800.7568

About Forbright Bank

Forbright Bank is a full-service bank, commercial lender, and asset manager headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, that is committed to accelerating the transition to a sustainable, clean energy economy by financing the companies, investors, and innovators driving that change. With approximately $8 billion of owned and managed assets, the Bank provides lending, banking and asset management services to clients across the United States. Its business banking group provides nationwide lending products, including asset-based loans, working capital, warehouse lines of credit, term loans, real estate loans and forward loan purchase agreements to entrepreneurs, growing middle market companies, and sophisticated investors and operators in FinTech, clean tech, healthcare, financial services, technology, real estate, renewable energy and other industries where a trusted and highly responsive lender is needed. Learn more at: www.forbrightbank.com.

Member FDIC. Forbright Bank is an equal housing lender and makes loans without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, or familial status.

Media Contact:

Aaron Juda, EVP  Chief Strategy Officer

[email protected]

SOURCE Service 1st Financial, LLC
Enterprise-wide data transformation and governance project to help nation's second largest gas distribution company increase organization-wide data usage and meet government's decarbonization objective

SAN MATEO, Calif. and LONDON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Talend , a global leader in data integration and management, announced today that SGN , the UK's second largest gas distribution network company, has selected Talend to drive its cross-organizational data initiatives. The energy company will use Talend to drive a strong data culture throughout its business and power its data transformation and digitalization plans to support the UK government's Net Zero decarbonization objective. Running in an AWS environment, Talend will help SGN operationalize its data governance strategy, supporting regulatory requirements and greater access, understanding, and usage of its data across the organization.

Operating across Scotland and in the south of England, SGN provides gas to 5.9 million homes and businesses. Driven by innovation and customer centricity, the company has been investing in technologies to modernize pipe networks and provide intelligent services through IoT and automation. In 2021, the UK government released its digitalization strategy for the energy sector, highlighting the importance of data and technology to achieve decarbonization and meet its Net Zero objective by 2050 . To realize this goal, SGN selected Talend to control and govern data while enabling access and better usage of data by the business.

To address one of the regulatory requirements around data interoperability, SGN is building a system of trust by creating an enterprise view and catalog of its data. The use of Talend's data governance solutions will support SGN in complying with new and evolving regulatory mandates for energy data, in particular with the digital transformation of the energy networks and the need for robust, credible, and interoperable data to feed these solutions.

"Data will play a key role in the innovation that will drive the future of energy and the future of energy sources. We have a number of innovative projects to identify how we are going to use hydrogen on our networks, how we prioritize our network upgrades so that it supports the Net Zero hydrogen targets, and how we optimize our program, so it is the most efficient for the future of gas and gas networks," explains Shuchi Nagar, Head of Architecture and Data at SGN.

The success of this broader digitalization programme also includes developing greater data literacy across the organization. Bringing the entire organization around data and driving a common understanding of the data is key. The implementation of Talend solutions enables the data team to gain more visibility and provide opportunities for their colleagues to interact with data and provide their insights and knowledge across the business.

"One of the benefits that the Talend platform provides us with is the opportunity to change the perception of data as a conceptual asset that people can't see or touch necessarily, particularly when we are talking in the context of governing and managing our data to deliver value," adds Gabrielle Barnard, Head of Information Management at SGN.

SGN also required a solution that integrates with different internal applications and offers the scalability and power of SaaS. "Our ecosystem is largely AWS and SaaS applications; our best of breed strategy is cloud first and this was a key criterion in selecting Talend," says Nagar.

"Healthy data that is accessible and available to everyone fosters a common understanding of data and helps organizations quickly innovate and meet evolving policies and regulations," said Gareth Vincent, SVP/GM EMEA at Talend. "We're honored that SGN has selected us to play a critical role in ensuring their data supports the drive toward meeting the decarbonization objectives set by the UK government."

For more details on Talend Data Fabric and Talend's complete portfolio of solutions, visit www.talend.com .

About Talend

Talend, a global leader in data integration and data management, is taking the work out of working with data.

Talend offers the only end-to-end platform that combines enterprise-grade data integration, integrity, and governance capabilities to unify data across any cloud, hybrid, or multi-cloud environment. With Talend's no-code and low-code modules, data experts and business users actively collaborate to make data more discoverable, usable, and valuable organization-wide. Over 7,250 customers around the world rely on Talend for healthy data and a healthy business. Top analyst firms and industry media recognize Talend as a leader in data management software.

For more information, please visit www.talend.com and follow us on LinkedIn.com and Twitter @Talend.

SOURCE Talend Inc.
Oscar  winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us . Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope . The film stars Oscar  winner Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Oscar  nominee Steven Yeun as residents of a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery that will have audiences asking the question, "What's in the sky?" Nope arrives in theaters on July 22, 2022.

SKYY Vodka, Universal Pictures and Monkeypaw are joining forces on a co-branded, on- and off-premise nationwide campaign that includes out-of-home, social media , sweepstakes, and experiential activations beginning now and running through August 16, 2022. Retail displays revealing the film's ominous iconography will be installed across the U.S., highlighting a SKYY sweepstakes where fans can text SKYYFRESH to 24272 for a chance to win tickets to see Nope in theaters.

SKYY, Universal and Monkeypaw are also partnering with participating movie theater chains across the nation to bring a full consumer experience through a menu of signature NOPE x SKYY cocktails. Fans at home can also mix up the official Nope x SKYY cocktail, the Cos-NOPE-olitan in preparation for the film to hit theaters. Created as an unexpected twist on the classic Cosmopolitan, the Cos-NOPE-olitan is complete with Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge, a cotton candy cloud and garnished with gold flakes. When watching Nope, be sure to enjoy SKYY Vodka responsibly.

"Jordan Peele's Nope will be lifting audiences' eyes toward the sky all summer, so we knew this major summer event film was the perfect partnership opportunity for SKYY Vodka. We're excited to be able to engage with both new and existing fans in a way that's both unique and relevant to our consumer," Sean Yelle, Senior Category Marketing Director, White Spirits at Campari America said. "We're thrilled to join forces with Universal and Monkeypaw, as audiences discover what's really in the Nope sky on July 22nd. And starting now, fans can enjoy what's in SKYY Vodka, including our reformulated liquid, which is made with water enriched by Pacific Minerals for a fresher cocktail."

NOPE by Jordan Peele will be released in theaters nationwide on July 22, 2022. Visit www.nope.movie to watch the trailer and purchase tickets to see the film.

For more information on SKYY Vodka's NOPE partnership, please visit SKYYVodka.com or follow on Instagram @SKYYVodka .

ABOUT SKYY  VODKA

SKYY Vodka was born in San Francisco in 1992 and is steeped with the innovative and progressive spirit of California. Conceived by a first generation American inventor looking to create the world's smoothest vodka, SKYY revolutionized vodka quality with its proprietary quadruple-distillation and triple-filtration process. SKYY Vodka is made with water enhanced by minerals, including Pacific minerals sourced from the San Francisco Bay Area, and filtered through California Limestone. Like many things that originate in San Francisco, SKYY grew from a tiny startup into what it is today. To learn more, visit SKYY.com.

ABOUT CAMPARI GROUP

Campari Group is a major player in the global spirits industry, with a portfolio of over 50 premium and super premium brands, spreading across Global, Regional and Local priorities.

Global Priorities, the Group's key focus, include Aperol, Appleton Estate, Campari, SKYY, Wild Turkey and Grand Marnier. The Group was founded in 1860 and today is the sixth-largest player worldwide in the premium spirits industry. It has a global distribution reach, trading in over 190 nations around the world with leading positions in Europe and the Americas.

The Group's growth strategy aims to combine organic growth through strong brand building and external growth via selective acquisitions of brands and businesses. Headquartered in Sesto San Giovanni, Italy, Campari Group owns 22 plants worldwide and has its own distribution network in 23 countries. The Group employs approximately 4,000 people. The shares of the parent company, Davide Campari-Milano N.V. (Reuters CPRI.MI - Bloomberg CPR IM), have been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 2001.

ABOUT NOPE

"What's a bad miracle?"

Oscar winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us. Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope.

The film reunites Peele with Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer (Hustlers, Alice) and Oscar nominee Steven Yeun (Minari, Okja) as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.

Nope, which co-stars Michael Wincott (Hitchcock, Westworld), Brandon Perea (The OA, American Insurrection), Wrenn Schmidt (For All Mankind) and Barbie Ferreira (Euphoria), is a Monkeypaw production, written, produced and directed by Jordan Peele and produced by Ian Cooper (Us, Candyman). The film's executive producers are Robert Graf and Win Rosenfeld. Nope will be released by Universal Pictures worldwide.

Nope x SKYY Assets for Media Use

SOURCE SKYY Vodka
"We had wanted to do something to avoid the real problems of losing power for days off and on like we experienced in February 2021," said Patricia Hough, a San Antonio resident, referring specifically to the Texas winter storm that caused power outages for an extended period of time. "After looking into small solar set ups, natural gas generators, etc. we decided to talk to a solar panel installation company."

Patricia reached out to Solar Edge Pros, a San Antonio solar company, in October 2021. After weeks of research, she and her husband decided to go solar with battery backups. "Our system went online in April 2022, and after a few adjustments it has worked perfectly. Our neighborhood had lost power one day for about 9 hours, just days after our system was up and running. I never even knew it because the only thing I could see that indicated that power went out was the blinking numbers on the clock on my electric stove as soon as the utility company went out, our system kicked in without me having to do a thing."

San Antonio has been a hotspot for solar since 2009 when CPS Energy, the local utility company, began incentivizing solar related projects. The Environment Texas Research and Policy Center ranked San Antonio No. 1 in Texas and No. 5 in the nation for solar energy two years in a row. This is due in part to the generous solar rebates CPS Energy offers as well as residents fed up with the aging electric grid. The city will continue to bask in solar energy as Mayor Ron Nirenberg plans to make access to solar power easier for its residents.

About Solar Edge Pros

Solar Edge Pros has done over 5,000 solar installations in the San Antonio area since 2014. Their 100+ five-star ratings on Google shines as a testament to their excellent customer service and dedication to solar done right. To receive a free, no obligation solar evaluation visit their website at www.solaredgepros.com or call (210) 401-9030.

SOURCE Solar Edge Pros
Spiderwort to use funding to advance biotechnology innovations to treat acute spinal cord injuries.

OTTAWA, ON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Spiderwort Inc., the biotech company innovating in cellulose-based tissue scaffolding to treat acute spinal cord injuries, today announced the successful completion of its $13.2 million USD Series A financing. The financing was led by Horizons Ventures and supported by K5 Global, BoxOne Ventures and Break Off Capital.

This investment will support the transition from pre-clinical studies to the clinical trials that are critical to bringing Spiderwort's revolutionary biomaterial to market. As the company focuses on this next phase of trials, it is committed to delivering a transformative treatment option to the medical professionals and patients who need it most.

"We are grateful for the trust and support from our funding partners and investors. We are looking forward to continuing our journey with them," said Dr. Charles M. Cuerrier, CEO, Spiderwort. "With the closing of this financing round, we are now in position to accelerate our product development program to bring CelluBridge and CelluJuve closer to patients. Our biomaterials have the potential to transform lives and we are eager to share them with the world."

Spiderwort, whose innovative biomaterials received a "Breakthrough Device Designation" by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), uses plant-derived scaffolding to create a structure for real tissue to grow. The company has two core products currently under development:

CelluBridge is a proprietary cellulose-based biomaterial that promotes the repair and regeneration of the spinal cord.

CelluJuve is a cellulose-based dermal filler that can address different patient use cases including injury recovery and cosmetic enhancement.

"The results in the lab are very encouraging," said Dr. Andrew E. Pelling, CSO, Spiderwort. "Spiderwort was founded on asking big questions and taking big risks and that work is now paying off. We're looking forward to moving our innovations to the clinic and improving the quality of life of people around the world. I am truly humbled to be working with a broad team of people who all have a remarkable commitment to scientific rigour which is a requirement for addressing devastating unmet medical needs."

"Spiderwort's plant-based approach to develop breakthrough regenerative medicine and treatment options for multiple use cases and patient types is truly transformational." said Patrick Zhang, Investor at Horizons Ventures, "We are encouraged by the boundless potential of its products."

This milestone would not have been possible without the generous support of partners including College La Cite (Office of Applied Research and Innovation: TAC-B), Invest Ottawa, BioTalent Canada and Praxis Spinal Cord Institute as well as advisory services and research development funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP). Investors in the raise also include the Capital Angel Network, Anges Quebec and other undisclosed investors.

ABOUT SPIDERWORT

Spiderwort is transforming biotechnology with a platform of cellulose-based biomaterials that serve as the scaffolds for the regenerative medicine of the future. Spiderwort's biomaterials have shown promise in the treatment of Spinal Cord Injuries and soft tissue regeneration. Spun out as a startup from the Pelling Lab, Spiderwort is led by CEO Charles M. Cuerrier and inspired by the work of CSO and TED Fellow Andrew E. Pelling. Learn more at spiderwortbio.com.

ABOUT HORIZONS VENTURES

Horizons Ventures was co-founded by Solina Chau and Debbie Chang in 2005. It is known for backing era-defining companies making lasting and positive impact in the world. Amongst its string of notable early stage investments are Zoom, Impossible Foods, Perfect Day, Spotify, Siri and DeepMind, reflecting Horizons Ventures' methodical long-term investment approach.

SOURCE Spiderwort Inc.
BOSTON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- STAG Industrial, Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE:STAG) today announced it has successfully completed the sale of two fully occupied industrial real estate properties for gross proceeds of approximately $82.0 million, representing a cash capitalization rate of 5.2%.

The buildings consist of approximately 1.0 million square feet and are located in Dayton, Ohio and Greenwood, Indiana. The Company acquired the buildings in 2017 and 2018, respectively, for a purchase price of approximately $63.3 million, representing a cash capitalization rate of 6.2%. The 100% occupied assets had long-term leases in place, which today have a remaining Weighted Average Lease Term of 10.3 years.

"This portfolio sale of two individually acquired industrial buildings with significant cap rate compression demonstrates the ability of the STAG team to effectively execute on transactions despite the current volatility in the market," said Bill Crooker, Chief Executive Officer of the Company. "This transaction contributes to STAG's ability to accretively recycle capital as opportunities arise through the remainder of the year."

About STAG Industrial, Inc.

STAG Industrial, Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on the acquisition, ownership, and operation of industrial properties throughout the United States. As of March 31, 2022, the Company's portfolio consists of 551 buildings in 40 states with approximately 110.1 million rentable square feet.

For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.stagindustrial.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release, together with other statements and information publicly disseminated by the Company, contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and includes this statement for purposes of complying with these safe harbor provisions. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe the Company's future plans, strategies and expectations, are generally identifiable by use of the words "believe," "will," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "should," "project" or similar expressions. You should not rely on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could materially affect actual results, performances or achievements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, the risk factors discussed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, as updated by the Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Accordingly, there is no assurance that the Company's expectations will be realized. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, the Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

SOURCE STAG Industrial, Inc.
CELEBRATION, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CareStack, a leading cloud-based technology company serving the dental industry, is proud to announce strategic equity investment and commercial partnership with the Straumann Group. As a result of this partnership, CareStack will expand its service offering and presence in the United States market and beyond. Working closely with practitioners around the world, CareStack has developed a streamlined digital practice solution for the modern, growth-ready dental practice. With CareStack, clinicians can now trade multiple service subscriptions for an end-to-end, seamless practice management experience that integrates with and enhances clinical, business, and marketing operations.

"We are steadily marching forward on our mission to empower the entire dental community - whether it's private practitioners, DSOs or dental startups  with powerful software offerings that boost growth and streamline operations," said Abhi Krishna, CEO of CareStack. "Our customer traction to date shows that the industry is ready to fully embrace digital transformation, and we will continue to invest in our people, products, and customers to realize a better future for dentistry."

CareStack's customers span every segment in the dental industry, including doctor-owned private practices, private equity backed dental groups, and dental startups. An increasing number of groups and practices have made the move to CareStack in the past year, as the company continues to displace legacy, "on-premise" dental software with modern cloud based solutions. As an experienced cloud-native service provider, CareStack can offer its customers frequent product innovations, a modern user experience, and world-class, real time customer service.

"This partnership will support dental practices in simplifying treatment planning, scheduling, and payment options, thereby helping Straumann Group clinicians to provide high-quality care in a more efficient way to their patients. Combining our clinical excellence with CareStack's advanced business intelligence and comprehensive practice operations will offer clinicians a seamless, end-to-end experience. CareStack's practice management software is suitable for individual practices, groups and DSOs. Together with CareStack we will drive internationalization of this software which will help increase penetration in different geographies," said Guillaume Daniellot, CEO from Straumann Group.

The strategic partnership with Straumann will help dental practices simplify treatment planning, scheduling, and payment options, helping Straumann Group clients offer their patients high-quality care in a more efficient way. Internationalization and product work across all customer segments will be done jointly by the two companies to penetrate diverse geographies, standardize practice management, enable a consultative approach, and strengthen customer retention.

The partnership is also expected to create additional growth opportunities in oral health management. The organizations will work together closely to generate new demand, address opportunities in existing patient cohorts, sustain clinical excellence by reducing variability in care delivery, and improve operational efficiency by streamlining operations and existing workflows.

CareStack had previously raised capital from leading investors including Steadview Capital, Delta Dental of California, Accel Partners, Eight Roads and F-Prime Capital.

About CareStack

CareStack's mission is to simplify dental practice management and allow dental practitioners to truly focus on things that matter - patient care and business growth. Founded in 2015, the company offers a unique cloud based dental software solution designed for dental practices to simplify operations, elevate patient relationships, improve staff productivity, and accelerate business growth and income. To learn more, please visit www.carestack.com .

About Straumann Group

The Straumann Group is a global leader in tooth replacement and orthodontic solutions that restore smiles and confidence. It unites global and international brands that stand for excellence, innovation and quality in replacement, corrective and digital dentistry, including Anthogyr, ClearCorrect, Dental Wings, Medentika, Neodent, NUVO, Straumann and other fully/partly owned companies and partners. In collaboration with leading clinics, institutes and universities, the Group researches, develops, manufactures and supplies dental implants, instruments, CADCAM prosthetics, orthodontic aligners, biomaterials and digital solutions for use in tooth correction, replacement and restoration or to prevent tooth loss. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, the Group currently employs more than 9000 people worldwide. Its products, solutions and services are available in more than 100 countries through a broad network of distribution subsidiaries and partners.

Contact:

Jim Gerson, CareStack

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Levi Hall, LG Marketing

[email protected]

SOURCE CareStack
The surgeries, known as xenotransplants, were performed on Thursday, June 16, 2022, and Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at NYU Langone's Tisch Hospital. Nader Moazami, MD , surgical director of heart transplantation at the NYU Langone Transplant Institute , led the investigational procedures using hearts procured from a facility hundreds of miles away and transplanted into recently deceased donors maintained on ventilator support.

The transplant surgeries were performed over several hours and heart function was monitored for three days. The first heart xenotransplant concluded on Sunday, June 19, 2022, and the second on Saturday, July 9, 2022. No signs of early rejection were observed in either organ and the hearts functioned normally with standard post-transplant medications and without additional mechanical support. Using a new infectious disease protocol, no presence of porcine cytomegalovirus (pCMV) was detected in either case. Strict protocols to prevent and monitor potential zoonotic transmission of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) were also carried out. The operating room used for this study has been taken offline to be used only for future xenotransplantation research.

The hearts were procured from pigs that had 10 genetic modifications, including 4 porcine gene "knockouts" to prevent rejection and abnormal organ growth as well as 6 human transgenes ("knock-ins") to promote expression of proteins that regulate important biologic pathways that can be disrupted by incompatibilities between pigs and humans. No other investigational devices or medications were used in this NYU Langone Health study. The procurement, transport, transplant surgery, and immunosuppression were aligned with current clinical standards used in heart transplantation.

"Our goal is to integrate the practices used in a typical, everyday heart transplant, only with a nonhuman organ that will function normally without additional aid from untested devices or medicines," said Dr. Moazami. "We seek to confirm that clinical trials can move ahead using this new supply of organs with the tried-and-true transplant practices we have perfected at the NYU Langone Transplant Institute."

Alex Reyentovich, MD, medical director of heart transplantation and director of the NYU Langone Advanced Heart Failure program, said these latest advances in xenotransplantation move the field closer to realizing a new supply of organs for those facing life-threatening disease.

"These are the first steps in developing a deep understanding of the mechanical, molecular, and immunologic aspects of xenoheart transplantation and the feasibility of utilizing standard clinical practice and tools to do so," said Dr. Reyentovich.

Decedent Model Key to Xenotransplant Research

Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, the H. Leon Pachter, MD, Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, said xenotransplant studies with recently deceased donors are critical to gathering the additional human data needed to advance a field that for decades until last year had been tested only using nonhuman primates.

"Our greater purpose is to address the organ shortage and provide another option for the more than 100,000 people nationwide waiting on that lifesaving gift," he said. "The paradigm of whole-body donationwhen organ donation is not a viable optionis critical to this work moving forward. We are so grateful to the families who volunteer to participate in this research, which will lead to saving untold thousands of more lives."

The surgeries led by Dr. Moazami were part of a larger study approved by a specially designated research oversight board at NYU Langone and was performed after consulting the New York State Department of Health. It is the latest step in a research protocol that calls for additional and similar procedures to be performed. Whole-body donation after death for the purpose of breakthrough studies represents a new pathway that allows an individual's altruism to be realized after brain death declaration in circumstances in which their organs or tissues are not suitable for transplant.

"As the organ procurement organization for the greater New York area we are supportive of NYU Langone's research efforts," said Leonard Achan, RN, MA, ANP, president and chief executive officer at LiveOnNY. "Under normal circumstances, one donor can save up to eight lives. But in these special cases, donor heroes have the potential to save countless lives by participating in groundbreaking research. We can never thank these donor heroes and their families enough for saying yes and helping others. It is critically important to continue advancing this research."

Enhancing Infectious Disease Protocol

Dr. Montgomery, who led groundbreaking xenotransplant surgeries using single-gene knockout pig kidneys in September and November of 2021, says one of the critical elements of success to advancing this field is enhanced porcine virus monitoring, which was incorporated in these latest procedures.

"Other studies have shown that pCMV may be a factor in the success of xenotransplanted organs," he said. "More sensitive screening methods have been introduced to detect low-level traces of pCMV in the donor pigs. We have included that additional screening in this heart transplant protocol to give the organ the best chance at long-term survival."

The infectious disease testing protocol developed at NYU Langone Health was led by Sapna Mehta, MD, director of the transplant infectious diseases program and clinical director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute.

The hearts used in these procedures were procured from pigs engineered by Revivicor, Inc., a subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation, which provided funding for this research.

Media Inquiries

Colin DeVries

212-404-3588

[email protected]

SOURCE NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health
DALLAS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) ("SUN") announced that it will release its second quarter 2022 financial and operating results before the market opens on Wednesday, August 3, 2022. Management will hold a conference call that same day at 9:00 a.m. Central Time (10:00 a.m. Eastern Time) to discuss SUN's results.

By Phone: Dial 877-407-6184 (toll free) or 201-389-0877 at least 10 minutes before the call. A replay will be available through August 10, 2022 by dialing 877-660-6853 (toll free) or 201-612-7415 and using the conference ID 13731567.



By Webcast: Connect to the webcast via the Webcasts and Presentations page of SUN's Investor Relations website at www.SunocoLP.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 Sunoco LP

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is a master limited partnership with core operations that include the distribution of motor fuel to approximately 10,000 convenience stores, independent dealers, commercial customers and distributors located in more than 40 U.S. states and territories as well as refined product transportation and terminalling assets. SUN's general partner is owned by Energy Transfer LP (NYSE: ET).

Contacts

Scott Grischow

Treasurer, Vice President  Investor Relations and Mergers & Acquisitions

(214) 840-5660, [email protected]

James Heckler

Director  Investor Relations and Corporate Finance

(214) 840-5415, [email protected]

SOURCE Sunoco LP
The Swim Safely Boston partnership launched in 2021 in response to the tragic rise of drownings in Greater Boston. The initiative increases swim safety by providing free lifeguard training and job placement for Boston teenagers, which is imperative to operating safe pools and swimming facilities across the city. The program also expands access to swimming lessons, especially for those who have faced historic and economic barriers, by offering free swim lessons to children and adults at nine YMCAs across Boston and at the Umana Boston Public School in East Boston.

"This summer, all Boston residents should feel safe and confident at our pools and beaches," said Mayor Michelle Wu. "I am grateful for the leadership of the YMCA of Greater Boston and support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Columbia Threadneedle Investments Boston Triathlon for their help providing critical lifeguard training and expanding access to swim lesson to Bostonians who have historically not had the opportunities to enjoy the water."

Nationwide, drowning is the leading cause of death in children aged one to four and the second leading cause of accidental death in children aged one to fourteen. Black children ages 10-14 are more than seven times more likely to drown than white children of the same age, according to the CDC.

Economic inequities also persist. A 2017 report commissioned by USA Swimming found that in families with an annual household income below $50,000, 79 percent of children have little or no swimming ability.

"Swim lessons save lives, and it is part of the mission of The YMCA of Greater Boston to improve community health and demand equity for all," said James Morton, president and CEO, YMCA of Greater Boston. "We are excited to join with civic and business leaders in this program to meet the growing community need to train lifeguards and teach hundreds of children and adults how to swim so that they can safely enjoy the water as summer arrives and temperatures rise."

The YMCA is focused on increasing the lifeguard workforce by providing free training and certification in collaboration with BPS high schools. These trainings provide an excellent opportunity for youth employment in the city, while also ensuring the safety of Boston area pools and waterfront spaces.

"Providing water safety education to the community is a public health imperative, and we are proud to support Swim Safely Boston so community members can enjoy the health benefits of water recreation," said Jeff Bellows, vice president of corporate citizenship and public affairs at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. "Swimming is a great way to exercise and keep cool in the warm summer months, and this program eliminates the barriers of access and education so that people across the city can safely enjoy our local pools and beaches."

As "America's swim instructor," the YMCA teaches children of all ages from all backgrounds that water should be fun, not feared, if you know how to be safe. Swim Safely Boston instructors emphasize cultural competency, including hosting community conversations led by the Boston Harbor Women of Color Coalition and the provision of Soul Caps, specially designed swim caps for natural hair, to program participants.

"One of the main objectives of the Swim Safely program is to lower racial and economic barriers to lessons and help people of color become comfortable with swimming as part of an effort to reduce swimming accidents," said Michael O'Neil, President of the Boston Triathlon. "We also hope it will spark a love of swimming and an interest in triathlon for those who may never have considered it if they hadn't been given the opportunity to receive swim training and education."

Classes are forming now and interested members of the community should reach out to secure a spot. For more information about the Swim Safely partnership, to receive swim lesson sign-up information, or to learn more about lifeguard training, please email [email protected] .

About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (bluecrossma.org) is a community-focused, tax-paying, not-for-profit health plan headquartered in Boston. We are committed to the relentless pursuit of quality, affordable and equitable health care with an unparalleled consumer experience. Consistent with our promise to always put our members first, we are rated among the nation's best health plans for member satisfaction and quality. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 24, 2022, state authorities approved a proposal to cut water consumption in California by 10 to 20%. Watering luxurious lawns in subdivision living areas and on all commercial locations is prohibited under this proposal.

The regulation states that some irrigation practices will henceforth be prohibited or highly limited. This includes:

A prohibition on watering inactive grass in commercial, industrial, and institutional settings





Restrictions on water consumption must be implemented by local authorities because of the likelihood that water supplies might be reduced by up to 20% during extreme weather

California's officials continue to urge state residents to step up and do their part to aid in this unprecedented drought, as every drop that we conserve counts in the effort of turning things around.

The solution is switching to an environmentally friendly artificial grass. SYNLawn is the first and ONLY turf company that offers USDA certified artificial grass that not only saves and conserves water, but it is also recyclable, plant-based, and made from sugar cane and renewable soybeans.

An average of 50 to 70 percent of home and business water usage can be attributed to outdoor irrigation. A significant quantity of water that results in the loss of thousands of gallons of water yearly to keep your landscape looking luxurious and vibrant.

Our low-maintenance, water saving synthetic grass, maintains its luxurious appearance all year long thanks to their UV stabilized yarns and incorporate exclusive technologies providing superior durability, performance, and eco-friendly benefits including being 20% cooler than the competitions with a limited lifetime warranty.

As the world's leading manufacturer of artificial grass, we think it is our responsibility to contribute to environmental preservation. That is why we have worked tirelessly to make SYNLawn artificial grass, the cleanest, greenest, and safest grass on the earth. This is also why we have total control over the whole manufacturing process, from design and product creation to years after installation. We work in partnership with US soy farmers to ensure that our artificial grass meets our environmental standards and all SYNLawn products are manufactured in Dalton, Georgia, USA, at a 400,000 square foot fully integrated ISO 9001 certified plant.

For more information about all of our services and products, contact SYNLawn Orange County to schedule a consultation today!

SOURCE SYNLawn Orange County
JERSEY CITY, N.J., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the "Global T-cell Lymphoma Market By Lymphoma Type (Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma (Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma, Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, Angio-Immuno-Blastic T-Cell Lymphoma, And Others (Intestinal T-Cell Lymphoma, Follicular T-Cell Lymphoma)) And T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma), Therapy (Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, Immunotherapy, Stem Cell Transplantation, And Others (Antiviral Treatment, Etc.)- Trends, Industry Competition Analysis, Revenue and Forecast To 2030."

According to the latest research by InsightAce Analytic, the global T-cell lymphoma market is valued at US$ 1.44 billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach US$ 2.89 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 8.4% during the forecast period of 2022-2030.

Request for Sample Pages: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/request-sample/1312

Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that develops in the lymphatic system. The body has two prominent lymphocytes that can develop into lymphomas: B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes (T-cells). Recent research has shown that malignant T cells control the inflammatory environment, inhibit anti-tumor responses and cellular immunity and form a chronic inflammatory microenvironment that promotes its expansion.

The growth of the T-cell lymphoma market can be attributed to factors such as the rising prevalence of cancer and autoimmune diseases, the growing elderly population, surge in lymphoma cancer incidence due to radiation. Increasing innovations of T-cell lymphoma targeted therapies, growing awareness among the people regarding T-cell Lymphoma and treatments, rising healthcare expenditure, and increasing R&D activities to develop effective T-cell lymphoma-specific therapies are further expected to drive the market growth. The rising incidence of lymphoma cases has encouraged pharmaceutical companies and researchers to invest more in discovering advanced cancer therapies. For instance, Bristol-Myers Squibb (U.S.) got FDA clearance for Istodax (romidepsin), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, as monotherapy for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) in adults who have undergone at least one previous therapy. Thus, the increasing R&D activities are projected to offer new opportunities for the growth of the T-cell lymphoma market in the forthcoming years.

However, the high cost of T-cell lymphoma therapies, the complex manufacturing processes, and some side effects associated with these therapies are estimated to inhibit market augmentation over the forecast years.

The Asia Pacific region is projected to witness significant growth during the forecast period (2022-2030) due to the increasing research funding, rising prevalence of cancer, and the fast adoption of next-generation therapy techniques.

Enquiry Before Buying: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/enquiry-before-buying/1312

Major market players operating in the T-cell lymphoma market include 4SC AG, Acrotech Biopharma, Affimed, Bausch Health Companies Inc., Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Chipscreen Biosciences, Citius Pharma, CSPC, CStone Pharmaceuticals, Daiichi-Sankyo, Dizal Pharma, Eisai, Elorac, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Genmab A/S, Genor Biopharma, GlaxoSmithKline plc., Innate Pharma, Johnson and Johnson Private Limited, Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd., Merck and Co. Inc., Novartis AG, Pfizer, Seagen Inc., Secura Bio, Shanghai Junshi Bio, SHIONOGI & Co., Ltd., Solasia, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., Takeda, Viracta, and Other Prominent Players.

Key developments in the market:

In October 2021 , Merck (US) announced that the FDA had approved KEYTRUDA, its anti-PD-1 therapy, in combination with chemotherapy, with or without bevacizumab, for the treatment of patients with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer whose tumours express PD-L1 (Combined Positive Score [CPS] 1), as determined by an FDA-approved test.

Merck (US) announced that the FDA had approved KEYTRUDA, its anti-PD-1 therapy, in combination with chemotherapy, with or without bevacizumab, for the treatment of patients with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer whose tumours express PD-L1 (Combined Positive Score [CPS] 1), as determined by an FDA-approved test. In May 2021 , Remitoro (denileukin diftitox) was approved by Eisai for the treatment of relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) and relapsed or refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) (CTCL). Eisai got manufacturing and marketing clearance for Remitoro, also known as Ontak in other countries.

, Remitoro (denileukin diftitox) was approved by Eisai for the treatment of relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) and relapsed or refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) (CTCL). Eisai got manufacturing and marketing clearance for Remitoro, also known as Ontak in other countries. In November 2018 , Seagen Inc. (U.S.) received approval for ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in combination with CHP chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone) for adults with previously untreated systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL) or other CD30-expressing peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL), including angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma and PTCL not otherwise specified.

Seagen Inc. (U.S.) received approval for ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in combination with CHP chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone) for adults with previously untreated systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL) or other CD30-expressing peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL), including angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma and PTCL not otherwise specified. In August 2018 , Poteligeo (mogamulizumab-kpkc) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the therapy of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mycosis fungoides (M.F.) or Sezary syndrome (S.S.), both subtypes of cutaneous t-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

Market Segments

Global T-cell Lymphoma Market, by Lymphoma Type, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma

Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma



Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma



Angio-immuno-blastic T-cell Lymphoma



Others



Intestinal T-cell Lymphoma





Follicular T-cell lymphoma

T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma

Global T-cell Lymphoma Market, by Therapy, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Radiotherapy

Chemotherapy

Immunotherapy

Stem Cell Transplantation

Others (Antiviral Therapy, etc.)

Global T-cell Lymphoma Market, by Region, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

North America T-cell Lymphoma Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

U.S.

Canada

Europe T-cell Lymphoma Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific T-cell Lymphoma Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Australia & New Zealand

Latin America T-cell Lymphoma Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa T-cell Lymphoma Market, by Country, 2022-2030 (Value US$ Mn)

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 T-cell lymphoma market

To receive an industry overview and future trends of the T-cell lymphoma market

To analyze the T-cell lymphoma market drivers and challenges

To get information on the T-cell lymphoma market size (Value US$ Mn) forecast to 2030

To get information on investments, mergers & acquisitions in the T-cell lymphoma market industry

For More Customization @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/customisation/1312

Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic:

Global Regulatory T-Cell (Tregs) Therapies Market

Global Multiple Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies Market

Global CAR T-Cell Therapy For Multiple Myeloma Market

Global Immuno-Oncology Cell Therapy Market

Global Novel T-Cell Immunotherapies 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.: +1 551 226 6109

Email: [email protected]

Site Visit: www.insightaceanalytic.com

Follow Us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/2tBXsgS

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1729637/InsightAce_Analytic_Logo.jpg

SOURCE InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd.
HAMILTON, Bermuda, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Government of Bermuda (the "Government") announced today the pricing terms of its previously announced offers to purchase for cash (the "Tender Offers") its outstanding 4.138% Senior Notes due 2023 (the "2023 Notes") and 4.854% Senior Notes due 2024 (together with the 2023 Notes, the "Existing Notes").

The Tender Offers will expire at 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) today, July 12, 2022, unless extended or earlier terminated by the Government in its sole discretion (the "Expiration Time"). The terms and conditions of the Tender Offers are set forth in the Offer to Purchase, dated July 6, 2022 (the "Offer to Purchase"). Tenders of Existing Notes may be subject to proration, in accordance with the terms of the Tender Offers described in the Offer to Purchase. The Offer to Purchase, as well as other relevant notices and documents, are available on the website for the Tender Offers, http://www.gbsc-usa.com/Bermuda, operated by the Tender and Information Agent.

The table below sets forth the purchase price payable per $1,000 principal amount of each series of Existing Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase (the "Purchase Price"), as calculated at 10:00 a.m. (New York City time) today, July 12, 2022 (the "Price Determination Time") in accordance with the terms of the Offer to Purchase:

Title of Existing

Notes

Principal

Amount

Outstanding

ISIN/CUSIP Numbers

Reference U.S.

Treasury Security

Bloomberg

Reference

Page

Fixed

Spread

(Basis

Points)

Purchase

Price(1) 4.138% Senior

Notes due 2023

$353,905,000

USG10367AA14 / G10367 AA1 (Reg S)

US085209AB07 / 085209 AB0 (144A)





0.125% due December 31, 2022

PX3

+35

$1,004.93 4.854% Senior

Notes due 2024

$402,203,000

USG10367AB96 / G10367 AB9 (Reg S)

US085209AC89 / 085209 AC8 (144A)

0.875% due January 31, 2024

PX4

+35

$1,021.58

_____________________ (1) The applicable Purchase Price payable per $1,000 principal amount of each series of Existing Notes accepted equals (i) the present value on the Settlement Date (as defined below), as determined on the Price Determination Time, of $1,000 principal amount of such Existing Notes due on the applicable maturity date, of such Existing Notes and all scheduled interest payments on such principal amount of Existing Notes to be made from (but excluding) the Settlement Date, up to and including such applicable maturity date, discounted to the Settlement Date, in accordance with standard market practice as described by the formula set forth in Annex A to the Offer to Purchase, at a discount rate equal to the applicable Tender Offer Yield, minus (ii) the applicable Accrued Interest (as defined below), up to but excluding the Settlement Date, per $1,000 principal amount of such Existing Notes. The "Tender Offer Yield" is equal to the sum of the yield, as calculated by the Dealer Managers, that equates to the bid-side price of the applicable Reference U.S. Treasury Security specified in the table above for such series of Existing Notes at the Price Determination Time plus the applicable fixed spread specified in the table above for such series of Existing Notes. Applicable Accrued Interest will be payable in cash in addition to the Purchase Price.

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, payment for Existing Notes accepted for purchase will be made on the Settlement Date, which is expected to occur on July 15, 2022 (the "Settlement Date"). Holders whose Existing Notes are accepted for purchase in the Tender Offers will also receive any accrued and unpaid interest on their Existing Notes from, and including, the last interest payment date for such Existing Notes to, but excluding, the Settlement Date ("Accrued Interest"). Accrued Interest will be payable on the Settlement Date. Settlement of the Tender Offers is conditioned, among other things, on the closing of an offering of new notes by the Government, which is intended to be consummated prior to or concurrently with the Tender Offers.

The Government will determine in its sole discretion the aggregate principal amount of Existing Notes of each series validly tendered in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Tender Offers that it will accept for purchase. The Government will announce the aggregate principal amounts of tenders of each series of Existing Notes that have been accepted for purchase and whether any proration of tenders of each series of Existing Notes has occurred, in a separate press release.

Until the Expiration Time, a holder of Existing Notes may submit such Existing Notes to be tendered through The Depository Trust Company ("DTC"), Euroclear Bank SA/NV, as operator of the Euroclear System ("Euroclear") or Clearstream Banking, S.A. ("Clearstream"). No letter of transmittal or guaranteed delivery procedures are being offered in connection with the Tender Offers. As holders of Existing Notes are authorized to tender their Existing Notes only through DTC, Euroclear or Clearstream, beneficial owners of Existing Notes that are held in the name of a custodian must contact such entity sufficiently in advance of the Expiration Time if they wish to tender their Existing Notes and be eligible to receive the applicable Purchase Price for such Existing Notes.

Holders who tender their Existing Notes will not have withdrawal rights with respect to the Tender Offers, unless required by applicable law.

The Government reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to not accept any tender for any reason or to extend, re-open, amend or terminate the Tender Offers.

Any extension, termination or amendment of the Tender Offers will be followed, as promptly as practicable, by public announcement thereof. The Government will communicate such public announcement by issuing a press release in accordance with applicable law and by an announcement on the website of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (www.bourse.lu) and the website of the Bermuda Stock Exchange (www.bsx.com), which websites are not incorporated herein by reference and on the website for the Tender Offers run by the Tender and Information Agent (http://www.gbsc-usa.com/Bermuda).

The Dealer Managers for the Tender Offers are:

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC 200 West Street New York, New York 10282 United States Attn: Liability Management Group Collect: +1 (212) 357-1452 Toll-Free: +1 (800) 828-3182 HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.

452 Fifth Avenue

New York, New York 10018

United States

Attn: Global Liability Management Group Collect: +1 (212) 525-5552

Toll-Free: +1 (888) HSBC 4LM

Questions regarding the Tender Offers may be directed to the Dealer Managers at the above contacts.

The Tender and Information Agent for the Tender Offers is Global Bondholder Services Corporation.

Global Bondholder Services Corporation 65 Broadway, Suite 404 New York, New York 10006 United States

Banks and Brokers call: +1 (212) 430-3774 Toll-Free: +1 (855) 654-2014 Email: [email protected] By facsimile: (for Eligible Institutions only): +1 (212) 430-3775 Confirmation: +1 (212) 430-3774

Holders of Existing Notes are urged to read the Offer to Purchase carefully. Any questions or requests for assistance in relation to the Offer to Purchase may be directed to the Dealer Managers at their respective telephone number set forth above or to the holder's broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee for assistance concerning the Tender Offers. Requests for additional copies of the Offer to Purchase may be directed to the Tender and Information Agent at the address and telephone number set forth above.

This release shall not be construed as an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any of the Existing Notes or any other securities.

The Tender Offers were not made in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction. None of the Government, the Bank of New York Mellon as trustee for each series of Existing Notes, the Dealer Managers or the Tender and Information Agent makes any recommendation as to whether or not holders should tender their Existing Notes pursuant to the Tender Offers.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Government, to be materially different from any future results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses the Government has made in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. The Government cautions you that a number of important factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. The information contained in this press release identifies important factors that could cause such differences. The Government undertakes no obligation to update any of its forward-looking statements.

SOURCE The Government of Bermuda
TORONTO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (the "Company" or "TGOD") (CSE: TGOD) (US-OTC: TGODF), a sustainable global cannabis company, announces the resignation of Ms. Nichola Thompson from her position as Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") of the Company, effective August 4, 2022.

Ms. Thompson has decided to pursue unique opportunities outside of the cannabis industry. Mr. Sean Bovingdon, Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of the Company, has been appointed Interim CFO, effective August 4, 2022. Mr. Bovingdon was the previous CFO of the Company prior to being appointed the CEO in March 2021. The Company has engaged an executive recruitment firm for the search of a permanent CFO.

"On behalf of myself, and the rest of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Ms. Thompson for her contributions and dedication to the Company since joining following the acquisition of Galaxie Brands Corporation, commented Sean Bovingdon, CEO of TGOD. "We would also like to wish Nichola the best of luck with all of her future endeavours," added Mr. Bovingdon.

About The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd.

The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (CSE: TGOD) (USOTC: TGODF) is a sustainable, global cannabis company with a focus on innovation, quality, consistency, integrity and transparency. By leveraging science and technology, TGOD harnesses the power of nature from seed to sale. The Company is committed to cultivating a better tomorrow by producing its products responsibly, with less waste and impact on the environment. In Canada, TGOD serves the recreational market with a brand portfolio including The Green Organic Dutchman, Highly Dutch Organics, Ripple by TGOD and Cruuzy brands, and the medical markets in Canada, South Africa, Australia, and Germany. All cannabis utilized in products for The Green Organic Dutchman and Highly Dutch Organics brands is grown through a certified organic process, which includes living soil, filtered rainwater, sunlight, and natural inputs.

TGOD's Common Shares and certain warrants issued under the indentures dated December 19, 2019, June 12, 2020, October 23, 2020 and December 10, 2020 trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the symbol "TGOD", "TGOD.WS", "TGOD.WR", "TGOD.WA", and "TGOD.WB" respectively. TGOD's Common Shares trade in the U.S. on the OTCQX under the symbol "TGODF". For more information on The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd., please visit www.tgod.ca .

Neither the CSE nor the CSE's Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of CSE) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd.
DUBLIN, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Industrial Hose Market (2022-2027) by Material, Media Type, Industry, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Industrial Hose Market is estimated to be USD 12.4 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 19.79 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.8%.

Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Industrial Hose 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 Alfagommarity S.P.A., Colex-Hannfin Ltd, Continental AG, Eaton Corp plc, Flexaust Inc, Gates Corp, Kanaflex Corpoaflex Co Ltd, Kuriyama Of Amiyama America Inc, Kurt Manufaturing, 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 Industrial Hose 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 analyst analyses the Global Industrial Hose 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 Industrial Hose 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 Demand for Robust Industrial Hoses for Critical Applications in Several Industries

4.1.2 Growing Infrastructure-Related Developments

4.1.3 Rising Demand for PVC Material

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Shortage of Technical Expertise of Industrial Hoses

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Growing Demand for Automobiles Worldwide Increasing Modernization of Agriculture Processes

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Long Lead-Time

4.4.2 Lack of Product Differentiation



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 Industrial Hose Market, By Material

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Natural Rubber

6.3 Nitrile Rubber

6.4 Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

6.5 Silicone

6.6 Polyurethane



7 Global Industrial Hose Market, By Media Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Water

7.3 Oil

7.4 Hot Water and Steam

7.5 Air and Gas

7.6 Food and Beverage

7.7 Chemical



8 Global Industrial Hose Market, By Industry

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Automotive

8.3 Pharmaceuticals

8.4 Infrastructure

8.5 Oil & Gas

8.6 Food & Beverages

8.7 Chemicals

8.8 Water & Wastewater

8.9 Mining

8.10 Agriculture

8.11 Others



9 Americas' Global Industrial Hose 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 Global Industrial Hose 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 Global Industrial Hose 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 Global Industrial Hose 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 Alfagommarity S.P.A.

14.2 Colex-Hannfin Ltd

14.3 Continental AG

14.4 Eaton Corp plc

14.5 Flexaust Inc

14.6 Gates Corp

14.7 Kanaflex Corpoaflex Co Ltd

14.8 Kuriyama Of Amiyama America Inc

14.9 Kurt Manufaturing

14.10 Norres Schlauchtechnik GmbH

14.11 Pacific Echo Inc

14.12 Parker-Hannfin Corp

14.13 Piranha Hose Panha Products Inc

14.14 Polyhose India Pvt Ltd

14.15 Ryco Hydrolics

14.16 Salem-Republic Rubber Company

14.17 Semperit (Semperflex)

14.18 Titeflex Corp

14.19 Transfer Oil S.P.A. Trelleborg Corp



15 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4kqe49

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The 'Network Devices Market by Connectivity (WiFi, Cellular, LoRa, ZigBee, Bluetooth), Device Type (Router, Gateway, Access Point), Application (Residential, Commercial, Enterprise, Industrial, Transportation) and Geography - Global Forecast to 2027' report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The network devices market is expected to grow from USD 26.4 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 36.4 billion by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period.

The market for WiFI access points to have the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



The network devices market for WiFi access points is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growing inclination towards smartphones, laptops, and tablets is creating a surge in demand for Internet service providers and access point (AP) providers.

This is expected to result in a conducive environment for the access points market. Increasing demand for access points to improve the digital infrastructure across commercial and enterprise sectors in India, China, and Japan is expected to boost the AP market. Favorable government initiatives to promote the digitalization and industrialization of developing economies will also positively influence the market. AP devices have become necessary for many businesses, institutions, and home users. The use of APs can help eliminate the problems of poor WiFi coverage, slow connectivity, dead zones, and weak signals.



The outdoor network devices segment to have higher growth throughout the forecast period.



The vast majority of routers deployed are not rugged and weatherproof and are deployed in indoor settings such as homes, retail stores, manufacturing facilities, and offices. In fact, almost all network devices (especially gateways) are deployed indoors. WiFi is not suitable for long-range outdoor use, and outdoor routers use cellular connectivity.

Outdoor 4G/LTE routers are ideal for delivering optimal network connectivity to outdoor environments such as oil and mining sites, and to serve as reliable communication backbones for critical communication applications.4G LTE routers can also provide an excellent 4G LTE connection enabling instant POS setup for credit card access in remote areas where there is no fixed-line Internet connection. Since cellular and outdoor routers and APs are comparatively more expensive than indoor WiFi routers, the indoor routers segment held the larger share of the market.



The market for industrial applications to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



The market for industrial networking is expected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Industrial applications mainly include utilities (energy and water) and automated manufacturing. Industrial networks deal with the transfer of data on a large scale.

Since the inception of Industry 4.0, the penetration of AI and IIoT technologies in the manufacturing sector has been increasing rapidly. AI-and IIoT-Integrated systems allow optimization of manufacturing processes, send early alerts, contribute to quality control, and forecast equipment failure in machinery. By gathering precise data, manufacturers can develop innovative AI applications to differentiate themselves from their competitors.



Market in APAC to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



The network devices market in APAC is expected to see the fastest growth during the forecast period. The APAC region is a leading industrial hub and an emerging and important market for several other sectors as well. The growing penetration of the Internet across the commercial and industrial spaces, as well as the increasing reach of wireless connectivity and improving IT infrastructure, are among the key determinants of growth for the network devices market in APAC.

In February 2021, China's Ministry of Industry announced plans for a hi-tech transformation of manufacturing to offset rising production costs and consolidate its position in the global supply chain. Beijing will help modernize the sector with advancements in 5G, cloud computing and IoT. China aims to build 30 fully connected 5G factories in 10 key industries by 2023; the country has fast-tracked industrial Internet development through integration with 5G technologies. These initiatives are expected to fuel the growth of industrial Internet in the APAC region.



Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in Network Devices Market

4.2 Network Devices Market, by Device Type

4.3 Network Devices Market, by Connectivity

4.4 Network Devices Market, by Application

4.5 Network Devices Market, by Country

5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Increased Focus on Digital Transformation Across Various Sectors

5.2.1.2 Worldwide Growth in Number of Internet Users

5.2.1.3 Rising Adoption of Cyod Trend due to COVID-19 Pandemic

5.2.1.4 Continuous Development of Wifi Standards

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 Contention Loss and Co-Channel Interference in Wifi Access Points

5.2.2.2 Disruption in Network Devices Hardware Supply Chain due To COVID-19

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Increasing Demand for Carrier Wifi

5.2.3.2 Growing Wireless Networking with Advent of Industry 4.0 and Iiot

5.2.3.3 Increasing Emergence of Connectivity for Smart Homes

5.2.3.4 Rising Adoption of Connected Devices in Hospitality and Education Sectors

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Poor User Experience in High-Density Environments

5.2.4.2 Data Security and Privacy Concerns in Open Networks

5.3 Tariffs and Regulations

5.3.1 Tariffs Related to Network Devices

5.3.2 Regulations

5.3.3 North America

5.3.3.1 Federal Communications Commission (Fcc)

5.3.4 Europe

5.3.4.1 Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (Berec)

5.3.4.2 Ce

5.3.4.3 Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Rohs)

5.3.4.4 International Special Committee on Radio Interference (Cispr)

5.3.5 APAC

5.3.5.1 Voluntary Control Council for Interference (Vcci)

5.3.5.2 Infocomm Media Development Authority (Imda)

5.4 Standards

5.5 Case Studies

5.5.1 Nttpc Communications Deploys Cisco Integrated Service Routers with Ios Embedded Event Manager to Reduce Overall Operations Cost

5.5.2 D-Link Helps Food Processing Company in Washington Eliminate Network Downtime and Enable Round-The-Clock Efficiency

5.5.3 Tp-Link Assists Chase Grammar School with Wireless Optimization for Internet Connectivity

5.5.4 Cisco Helps Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance to Revolutionize Working Style

5.5.5 Southstar Drug Deploys Huawei Wifi 6 Solution for Smooth Wireless Network Experience

5.6 Pricing Analysis

5.7 Value Chain Analysis

5.8 Ecosystem/Market Map

5.9 Technology Analysis

5.9.1 Key Emerging Technologies

5.9.1.1 Wifi 6

5.9.2 Adjacent Technologies

5.9.2.1 Software-Based Routing

5.10 Wifi and Cellular Technology Trends

5.10.1 Wimax

5.10.2 Long-Term Evolution (Lte)

5.10.3 5G

5.11 Patent Analysis

5.12 Trade Data

5.12.1 Import Scenario

5.12.2 Export Scenario

5.13 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.13.1 Threat of New Entrants

5.13.2 Threat of Substitutes

5.13.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

5.13.4 Bargaining Power of Buyers

5.13.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry

5.14 Key Stakeholders & Buying Criteria

5.14.1 Key Stakeholders in Buying Process

5.14.2 Buying Criteria

5.15 Trends and Disruptions Impacting Customers

5.16 Key Conferences & Events in 2022-2023

6 Network Devices Market, by Device Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Routers

6.2.1 Widespread Use of Industrial Routers for Manufacturing and Utilities Applications in Indoor and Outdoor Environments

6.3 Gateways

6.3.1 Ruggedized Industrial Gateways Suited to Severe and Remote Environments

6.4 Access Points

6.4.1 Designed to Connect Wireless Devices in Various Environments

7 Network Devices Market, by Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Indoor

7.2.1 Suited to Several Applications Despite Limited Wifi Range

7.2.2 Indoor: Market Drivers

7.2.3 Indoor: COVID-19 Impact

7.3 Outdoor

7.3.1 Outdoor Devices Help Extend Internal Wireless Networks

7.3.2 Outdoor: Market Drivers

7.3.3 Outdoor: COVID-19 Impact

8 Network Devices Market, by Connectivity

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Wifi

8.2.1 Operates in Frequency Band of Around 2.4 Ghz and 5.0 Ghz

8.3 Cellular

8.3.1 Wide Use of Evolving Cellular-Based Technologies in Network Devices

8.4 Wifi+Others

8.4.1 Wifi+Others Encompasses Wifi Along with Bluetooth, Zigbee, And/Or Lora

8.5 Lora

8.5.1 Explicitly Designed for Long-Range, Low-Power Communications

8.6 Others

8.6.1 Bluetooth and Zigbee Connectivity

9 Network Devices Market, by Application

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Residential Networking

9.2.1 Increasing Demand for Wireless Networking to Control Domestic Devices

9.3 Commercial Networking

9.3.1 Wide Use of Commercial Networks to Improve Retail Operations

9.4 Enterprise Networking

9.4.1 Significant Increase in Demand due to COVID-10 Pandemic

9.5 Industrial Networking

9.5.1 Growing Need for Advanced Wide-Area Networking Solutions

9.6 Transportation Networking

9.6.1 Rising Deployment in Public Road Transportation Systems and Railways

10 Geographic Analysis

11 Competitive Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Strategies of Key Players / Market Evaluation Framework

11.2.1 Product Portfolio

11.2.2 Regional Focus

11.2.3 Manufacturing Footprint

11.2.4 Organic/Inorganic Growth Strategies

11.3 Market Share Analysis: Network Devices Market, 2021

11.4 Historical Revenue Analysis

11.5 Company Evaluation Quadrant

11.5.1 Star

11.5.2 Emerging Leader

11.5.3 Pervasive

11.5.4 Participant

11.6 Competitive Benchmarking

11.7 Start-Up/Sme Evaluation Matrix

11.7.1 Progressive Companies

11.7.2 Responsive Companies

11.7.3 Dynamic Companies

11.7.4 Starting Blocks

11.8 Competitive Benchmarking

11.9 Competitive Situations and Trends

11.9.1 Product Launches

11.9.2 Deals

11.9.3 Others

12 Company Profiles

12.1 Key Players

12.1.1 Cisco Systems

12.1.2 Huawei

12.1.3 Hp Enterprise

12.1.4 Juniper Networks

12.1.5 Sierra Wireless

12.1.6 Cradlepoint

12.1.7 Digi International

12.1.8 Teltonika

12.1.9 Multitech

12.1.10 Inseego

12.1.11 Schneider Electric

12.1.12 General Electric

12.1.13 Extreme Networks

12.2 Other Key Players

12.2.1 Siemens

12.2.2 Moxa

12.2.3 Robustel

12.2.4 Advantech

12.2.5 Lynx Technologies

12.2.6 Lantronix

12.2.7 D-Link

12.2.8 Tp-Link Technologies

12.2.9 Belkin International

12.2.10 Adtran

12.2.11 Asustek Computer

12.2.12 Hms Networks

12.2.13 Casa Systems

12.2.14 Nokia

13 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/umezpu

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
LOS ANGELES, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP announced that Partners Debra James, Pooja Nair, and Vanja Habekovic have been selected as nominees for the Los Angeles Business Journal's "Women's Leadership Awards," honoring them for their impact and accomplishments within their firm and among the Los Angeles business community.

"We are grateful to have some of the top women attorneys in the profession," said Co-Managing Partner Randall Leff. " We laud their commitment to clients, to the firm and to the business community as a whole."

James, a Partner in the Real Estate Department, was selected as a "Mentor of the Year" nominee for her commitment to bettering the careers of women. In her law practice, she concentrates her practice on solving problems on a wide range of real estate transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, development and construction, title work, real estate tax appeals and entity formation and structuring.

Nair, a Partner in the Litigation Department and Chair of the Firm's Food, Beverage and Hospitality Practice, is selected as a nominee for the "Women to Watch" category. She is a go-to attorney for the food, beverage, and hospitality industries and handles partnership disputes, false advertising claims, contract disputes.She also helps clients deal with cities and other local government bodies , including the Brown Act and California Public Records Act issues. Nair focuses on finding strategic, creative solutions to disputes that make business sense.

Habekovic, a Partner in and Co-Chair of the Corporate and Tax Departments, is also selected as a nominee for the "Women to Watch" category. Her clients rely on her dynamic counsel to establish, grow, maintain and sell their businesses and to navigate the important tax consequences that arise when making deals. Habekovic has a reputation of not only working closely and collaborating with her clients on existing matters, but looks long term to further develop strategies to advance a company's future endeavors.

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP is a full-service firm that provides a broad range of business-related legal services including corporate law; litigation; intellectual property & technology law; real estate transactions and finance; construction & environmental law; tax planning and controversies; employment law; health care law; bankruptcy, receivership and reorganization; and estate planning. For more information, visit http://www.ecjlaw.com/

SOURCE Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP
ATLANTA, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Traders Insurance, a privately owned regional insurance company based in Kansas City, Missouri replaced its legacy claim system with Cogitate's Claims Management System to modernize claims operations with the latest technology. Cogitate, a leader in accelerated digital insurance for Wholesale Brokers, MGAs, and Carriers, offers readiness and relevance as the industry quickly transforms.

Traders Insurance, which specializes in auto insurance, was using a home-grown claims system for several decades. While it served Traders very well, the technology did not support the robust integrations and other features that will reduce costs and improve the customer experience that Traders found in the Cogitate solution.

"We look at claims as an opportunity to deliver on our promises to our policyholders. The Cogitate solution supports us in being great at what we do and remain true to our vision and culture.", Mark Concannon, CEO of Traders Insurance explained. "As important as the software itself, we found a partner in the Cogitate team that cares about excellence as much as we do. The new system provides better, quicker claim management, leading to more efficient internal processes and comprehensive reporting."

"Several of our friends in the business use the Cogitate solution. They highly recommended Cogitate for their industry expertise, solution capabilities and their friendly team who work with the customer to solve their issues", said Patrick Concannon, COO of Traders Insurance. "Our new claims system engages users throughout the claim lifecycle. It is helping our team to reinvigorate claims processes to improve customer experience, increase efficiency, and reduce operational cost. It is pre-integrated with various third-party data services and also with our other internal systems for real-time exchange of information."

Samir Salem, Executive Vice President at Cogitate quoted, "The most important need for Traders Insurance was to transfer complete data from the old claim system to the new one. Many solution providers were unsure about delivering this requirement. At Cogitate, we have worked on similar requirements for other insurance providers before. We took up this challenge and delivered successfully. This is the Cogitate culture  we partner with our customers to provide them the required solutions and solve their problems."

About Cogitate Technology Solutions

Cogitate Technology Solutions, Inc., develops modern and innovative technology products and solutions for the Property & Casualty Insurance Industry. It helps insurance companies transform their business models to create a competitive advantage in a time of rapid industry change. Cogitate's next-generation technology products and solutions are helping insurance carriers, brokers, MGAs, and agents to accelerate digitalization and expand their businesses.

2021 Vertafore and the Vertafore logo are registered trademarks of Vertafore. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Additional Resources

Cogitate DigitalEdge Insurance Platform

Cogitate Digital Insurance

Cogitate Distribution Management

Cogitate Intelligent Claims

Media Contact:

Michael Palmisano

954 Digital, Inc.

[email protected]

Web: https://www.cogitate.us/

Blog: https://cogitate.us/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cogitate-technology-solutions/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cogitate-Technology-Solutions-313805012108651

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ctsimumbai

All other registered trademarks, trademarks, or service marks belong to their respective companies.

SOURCE Cogitate Technology Solutions, Inc.
Viking is Also Rated #1 for Both Rivers and Oceans by Conde Nast Traveler Becoming the First Cruise Line Ever to Simultaneously Earn #1 in its Categories from Both Publications

LOS ANGELES, July 12, 2022 Travel + Leisure readers have voted Viking (www.viking.com) first in its categories in the 2022 World's Best Awards, which were announced today by the publication. Viking was named the #1 Ocean Line for ships with 300 to 799 cabins and the #1 River Line, making it the first cruise line ever to top both categories in the same year. Viking is also rated #1 for both rivers and oceans by Conde Nast Traveler; no other cruise line has simultaneously earned #1 in its categories from both publications.

Since 1995, Travel + Leisure, the largest travel magazine brand in the U.S., has invited readers to cast their vote for the World's Best in cruising with considerations in the following features: cabins/facilities, food, service itineraries/destinations, excursions/activities and value. Viking will also be featured in the magazine's World's Best issue, which will be on newsstands in July; the full results of the 27th annual awards can be found at www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best.

"Thank you to the readers of Travel + Leisure for voting us first in these prestigious awards. We are proud to be named the world's #1 for both oceans and rivers. To be the first line ever to receive both awards in the same year is a very special honor. This achievement is the result of the hard work our Viking team members have put in over the last 25 years," said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. "In my view, it is now time to work even harder. They say that when you reach the top, there is only one way to go  at Viking, we say that way is onwards."

Today's announcement follows a year of significant milestones as Viking celebrates its 25th anniversary. In January, the company launched Viking Expeditions and the first of two purpose-built expedition vessels, the Viking Octantis, which is currently sailing its inaugural season in the Great Lakes. In the spring, the company also welcomed eight new Viking Longships and a new ocean ship, the Viking Mars. By the end of the year, Viking will have also welcomed a second identical expedition ship, the Viking Polaris, and another identical ocean ship, the Viking Neptune, as well as new purpose-built vessels for the Nile, Mekong, and Mississippi Rivers.

About Viking

Viking was founded in 1997 and provides destination-focused journeys on rivers, oceans, and lakes around the world. Designed for curious travelers with interests in science, history, culture and cuisine, Chairman Torstein Hagen often says Viking offers experiences for The Thinking PersonSM. Viking has more than 250 awards to its name, including being the first cruise line ever to be simultaneously named the #1 Ocean Line and #1 River Line in Travel + Leisure's 2022 "World's Best" Awards. Viking was also rated the #1 River Line and #1 Ocean Line by Conde Nast Traveler in the publication's 2021 Readers' Choice Awards. For additional information, contact Viking at 1-800-2-VIKING (1-800-284-5464) or visit www.viking.com. For Viking's award-winning enrichment channel, visit www.viking.tv.

SOURCE Viking
Fast-Growing Brand Continues to Make Major Splash with Growth Signing 139 Franchise Agreements and Opening 85 Cafes YTD

ATLANTA , July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a leading fast casual restaurant brand, continued its growth in the second quarter of 2022. From the opening of its 1,100th location to launching a new mobile app and refreshed loyalty program, the fast-causal concept is touting impressive franchise development momentum and technology advancements in Q2.

Franchise Growth

Celebrating milestone mid-year numbers, Tropical Smoothie Cafe fueled development by signing 139 franchise agreements in prime markets across the U.S., including Chicago, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City. Notably, the brand has continued to grow its footprint with operators already in the franchise system, with existing franchisees making up a majority of the executed franchise agreements through Q2 year-to-date.

"Our aggressive and strategic growth has continued nationwide and it is exciting to see the milestones we've achieved already in the first half of 2022," said Cheryl Fletcher, Chief Development Officer of Tropical Smoothie Cafe, LLC. "Seeing triple digit signed agreements and 85 new locations open is a testament to our strong model and incredible franchisees who are eager to share our brand with communities across the country."

Among the brand's most recent signed agreements is a 15-unit franchise agreement in Utah with seasoned multi-brand operators, Jacob Webb and April Miller.

"These 15 locations will fill a major need in the Northern Utah market," said Webb. "Since the Greater Salt Lake City community is no stranger to the brand, we look forward to making Tropical Smoothie Cafe a household name in Weber and Davis Counties. We have many years of ownership experience, and our knowledge of the restaurant industry and passion for getting involved in our community led us to conclude that aligning with Tropical Smoothie Cafe is a natural fit. My business partner, April Miller, and I knew that the strong reputation, established support center team and diverse product range of Tropical Smoothie Cafe made for the perfect investment."

Surpassing 1,100 Cafes Open Nationwide

Following the brand achieving the milestone of exceeding an average unit volume of $1M for the system at the end of 2021, as reported in its 2022 FDD, Tropical Smoothie Cafe continued to achieve new milestones with the opening of the brand's 1,100th location midway through 2022 in Charlotte with local franchisees Stacey and Maurice Pugh.

"We've had an excellent start expanding our footprint in 2022, including the opening of our 1,100th location in Charlotte," said Charles Watson, CEO of Tropical Smoothie Cafe, LLC. "This location marked a significant milestone for the brand as we continue to grow with new and existing franchisees across the country. Stacey and Maurice exemplify the kind of franchise candidates that we are looking for, by embodying our Inspire Better purpose, with an eagerness to impact their community for the better."

Digital Sales and Loyalty

Tropical Smoothie Cafe continued its digital strategy focused on leveraging various activations that reward the brand's most in-the-know, loyal guests through promotions and offers on the mobile app.

The new Tropic Rewards loyalty program launched in June, and includes an updated point system that makes redeeming points easier and faster. Members now earn 10 points for every $1 they spend through the app, online or in-cafe, and can redeem their points on their favorite items. They are also the first to know about new promotions and limited-time menu items and will receive special rewards for birthdays and referring friends.

Notable Rankings and Awards

In the first half of 2022, the brand has continued to receive accolades from top industry publications in the restaurant and franchising space, further solidifying the concept's position as a leader in the fast-casual space. Tropical Smoothie Cafe was named on Technomic's Top 500 for 2022 by Restaurant Business Magazine, ranking as one of the highest-grossing brands in the U.S. Plus, the brand was honored once again with inclusion on the Franchise Times Top 400 for 2021, rising nearly 30 spots from the previous year. Lastly, Tropical Smoothie Cafe was listed within Fast Casual in its 2022 Top 100 Movers & Shakers list and was awarded the TOPSCORE Fund Award with a Fund Score of 910 by FRANdata.

Return of Fan-Favorite LTOs and Summertime Campaigns

On June 17, Tropical Smoothie Cafe kicked off the summer season by celebrating National Flip Flop Day. Participating Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations gave away free smoothies to flip flop-wearing guests across the country. Also, in celebration of National Smoothie Day on June 21, loyalty members received a special free 24 oz. smoothie reward with any food purchase. Combined, cafes across the system gave away more than 310,000 smoothies during the two summertime campaigns and rewarded Tropic Rewards members for their loyalty.

About Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Tropical Smoothie Cafe is a national fast-casual cafe concept inspiring a healthier lifestyle with more than 1,100 locations nationwide. For 25 years, the brand has been serving better-for-you smoothies, wraps, sandwiches and flatbreads. Tropical Smoothie Cafe also offers upgraded app technology and enhanced mobile ordering capabilities to further elevate the digital and dine-in cafe experience and emphasize the brand's focus on convenience. The rapidly growing franchise has received numerous accolades, including a top 10 ranking in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500. It has also been named to Forbes' Best Franchises list, Franchise Times' Fast & Serious list and the Franchise Times Top 400 ranking. Notably, the franchise was also recognized on Fast Casual's Top 100 Movers and Shakers, Nation's Restaurant News' Top 200 and Top 10 Fastest-Growing Chains, Restaurant Business' America's Favorite Chains, and was awarded the TOPSCORE Fund Award and a Fund Score of 910 by FRANdata. Interested Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise candidates should have business experience, along with a minimum net worth of $350,000, which includes $125,000 in liquid assets. Candidates who meet these preliminary qualifications will need to make an initial investment ranging between $277,000 - $584,000. The franchise currently has an average unit volume (AUV) of more than $1,009,803, as reported in its 2022 FDD the highest in the company's 25-year history.

*2022 Entrepreneur magazine "Franchise 500" rankings

SOURCE Tropical Smoothie Cafe
NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

Class Period: November 3, 2021 to May 3, 2022

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 15, 2022

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in TUP:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/tupperware-brands-corporation-loss-submission-form-2?id=29703&from=4

Tupperware Brands Corporation NEWS - TUP NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Tupperware Brands Corporation made materially 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, Tupperware's full-year 2022 guidance was unrealistic and/or unsustainable; (iii) all the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to have a material negative impact on Tupperware's financial condition; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Tupperware you have until August 15, 2022 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Tupperware 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 TUP lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/tupperware-brands-corporation-loss-submission-form-2?id=29703&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
Funding will Accelerate the Rapid Growth of the Company's Infusion Center Platform

MURFREESBORO, Tenn., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TwelveStone Health Partners, a leading provider of comprehensive chronic care medication services, announced today that Heritage Group has made a significant investment to support a broad expansion of Infusion Center services throughout the southeastern United States.

The investment from Heritage Group is perfectly timed to match the aggressive growth TwelveStone is experiencing, driven by multiple industry tailwinds favoring increased access, lower cost sites of care, and enhanced patient experience.

"The TwelveStone mission is to support communities and patients struggling with complex, chronic conditions," says Shane Reeves, TwelveStone's chief executive officer. "With this investment, we will be able to scale the tremendous service delivery offered by our care team to those who deserve a higher level of support across the southeast."

TwelveStone provides holistic pharmacy solutions for patients with complex and chronic conditions. The company's offerings include ambulatory infusion, home infusion, and packaged medication delivery, all of which drive increased access, adherence, and enhance the patient experience. After launching its ambulatory infusion center model in 2019, TwelveStone experienced significant growth and established itself as a differentiated provider of specialty infusion services.

"We are thrilled about the partnership with TwelveStone and the opportunity to transform the patient experience," said Jesse Bland, partner at Heritage Group. "Demand for specialty infusion services remains robust, and the company is well-positioned as the market continues to evolve."

About TwelveStone Partners

TwelveStone Health Partners incorporates the objective of glorifying God into its mission by delivering a higher level of service to partners and patients. As an organization, TwelveStone supports the transition from acute to post-acute care environments and the transition from sickness to health. This is the third evolution in the company's history, beginning in 1980 when Richard Reeves and Ronald Powell created a single retail pharmacy location then called Reeves Powell Saveway Drug Store. In 1994 Shane Reeves and Rick Sain launched Reeves-Sain, and over 20 years grew the organization to include seven companies. In 2015 Reeves Sain Drug Store, Inc., a retail pharmacy, and its specialty pharmacy, EntrustRx were sold to Fred's, Inc. In 2016 Shane Reeves launched TwelveStone Health Partners, intending to continue pursuing the highest professional, business, and community goals set forth by its founders. For more information, visit www.12stonehealth.com .

About Heritage Group

Heritage Group is a Nashville, Tennessee based, healthcare-focused private equity firm with more than 35 years of experience financing and operating healthcare companies. Heritage has over $700 million of assets under management and seeks to make majority and minority investments in high-growth healthcare services and healthcare technology businesses that address the challenges of the U.S. healthcare system. The firm's limited partners include some of the leading healthcare organizations in the nation, including large provider systems, payers, and healthcare service providers, which collectively operate over 600 hospitals and insure more than 45 million lives. For more information, visit www.heritagegroupusa.com

SOURCE TwelveStone Health Partners
NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

This lawsuit is on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired Unilever American Depositary Receipts between September 2, 2020 and July 21, 2021, inclusive.

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 15, 2022

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in UL:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/unilever-plc-loss-submission-form?id=29704&from=4

Unilever PLC NEWS - UL NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Unilever PLC made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: a) in July 2020, the board of Ben & Jerry's, one of Unilever's marquee brands, passed a resolution to end sales of its ice cream in "Occupied Palestinian Territory" ; and b) this boycott decision risked adverse governmental actions for violations of laws, executive orders, or resolutions aimed at discouraging boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel adopted by 35 U.S. states.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Unilever you have until August 15, 2022 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Unilever 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 UL lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/unilever-plc-loss-submission-form?id=29704&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
Fastest-Growing AEC Firm in the U.S. Makes a Strategic Acquisition as Infrastructure Needs Increase and Local Population Booms



DALLAS, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Engineering Sciences (UES), a national leading engineering and consulting company specializing in geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, building code compliance, threshold inspections, and environmental consulting, has acquired Rock Engineering & Testing Laboratory, LLC (RETL), a geotechnical engineering, geotechnical drilling, and construction materials engineering testing firm based in Texas. This acquisition expands UES' coverage and depth in the Texas market.

Rock Engineering & Testing Laboratory has more than 85 team members based in offices in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Austin/Round Rock. The team serves industrial, municipal, infrastructure, and commercial development clients throughout the southern portions and coastal areas of Texas. Significant recent projects include the Multi-Assistance Center at Morgan's Wonderland (The MAC), the San Antonio Spurs Training Facility, and the State Highway 211 Extension.

RETL joins Alpha Testing, LLC, in the Texas Division of UES, led by Brian Powell, P.E., President of the Texas Division. "The value, culture, and client mix between Rock Engineering and UES are a natural fit," said Brian Powell, P.E. "Together, we will be able to significantly strengthen and grow our footprint in Texas, where we see a booming economy, significant infrastructure growth, and a high demand for our services."

Rock Engineering President Roetta C. Rock has led the company since she and husband Mark C. Rock, P.E., founded the firm in 1998. Roetta and Mark will continue in their roles of Co-Presidents of Rock Engineering and the company's leadership team will continue to operate the day-to-day business.

"UES is a national leader in the AEC industry, and we are thrilled to be a part of the company's expansion," said Roetta C. Rock. "By joining UES, Rock will be able to continue supporting the infrastructure growth in our region by providing more geographical penetration, with expansive resources and extensive expertise for our clients, and enhanced career opportunities for our people."

With nearly six decades of experience and recognition as the premier engineering and consulting firm in the geotechnical engineering space, UES is well-positioned to serve the needs of commercial, residential, and civic customers across the country. UES's recent acquisitions include prominent engineering firms such as GFA International, Inc., NOVA Geotechnical & Inspection Services, Contour Engineering, Wallace-Kuhl & Associates, Construction Testing & Engineering, SUMMIT Engineering, Laboratory & Testing, P.C., GEOServices, LLC, McGinley & Associates, Geotechnology, Inc., Alpha Testing, GSI Engineering, Speedie & Associates, and now Rock Engineering & Testing Laboratory, which have made Universal Engineering Sciences one of the largest, most resource-rich organizations of its kind nationwide.

About Rock Engineering & Testing Laboratory

Rock Engineering & Testing Laboratory was established in 1998 by Mark C. Rock, P.E., and Roetta C. Rock in Corpus Christi, Texas. Since then, Rock Engineering has expanded their presence throughout southern Texas, opening offices in San Antonio and Round Rock. Rock Engineering provides geotechnical engineering, geotechnical drilling, and construction materials testing services on projects of varying scale from commercial and transportation to heavy industrial developments. The company is accredited by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as an Engineering Laboratory for testing soils, concrete, and hot asphaltic concrete. For more information, please visit rocktesting.com.

About Alpha Testing

Alpha Testing, LLC, was first established in 1983 as a professional geotechnical engineering firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and provides geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, and environmental engineering. Additional locations include Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas. For more information, please visit alphatesting.com .

About Universal Engineering Sciences

Universal Engineering Sciences is a privately held, rapidly growing engineering and consulting firm with nearly six decades of experience in geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, building code compliance, threshold inspections and environmental consulting. With nearly 3,400 professionals across more than 70 branches in high growth markets in the U.S., UES consults on projects of all sizes for public and private clients in industries ranging from transportation and healthcare to commercial, residential, and education. UES was named the Hot Firm of the Year by the Zweig Group for 2021 and 2022. For more information, please visit universalengineering.com or follow UES on Social Media .

Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Universal Engineering Sciences
BOULDER, Colo., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- There are two enormous obstacles in today's real estate market: competing against all-cash buyers and the certainty of having a home to move into before you sell. Technology is helping buyers and sellers tackle these obstacles by enabling everyday home buyers to make all-cash offers and allowing sellers to buy their next home before selling their current one.

At the forefront of this movement is UpEquity. A tech-enabled lender, UpEquity is revamping the mortgage process by removing barriers for both buyers and sellers.

Tim Herman, CEO and co-founder of UpEquity Lane Hornung, zavvie co-founder and CEO

The Austin-based lender is announcing a new collaboration with zavvie, the nation's first real estate brokerage marketplace connecting broker-agents to buyers and sellers. This partnership will expand UpEquity's solutions to real estate brokerages with thousands of agents nationwide.

Posting a growth rate of over 500% last year, UpEquity is available in 15 states  Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas  with plans to add eight more by the end of 2022.

By becoming part of zavvie's real estate brokerage marketplace, UpEquity significantly expands its ability to partner with top brokerages throughout the U.S. that use zavvie's modern marketplace.

"Most people are stuck buying and selling a home the old-fashioned way, and UpEquity gives buyers and sellers the options they need to make their moves," said Tim Herman, CEO and co-founder of UpEquity.

"Cash buyers are four times more likely to win a deal versus buyers with financing. And homeowners are much more likely to sell when they are certain they have a place to move into.," he added.

Herman explains that UpEquity "democratizes homeownership" by leveraging technology to create a modern real estate experience with less stress and more certainty.

"Selling or buying a home doesn't have to be slow, complicated and uncertain," he noted.

UpEquity provides zero-cost cash offers for well-qualified buyers, boosting purchasing power even for first-time homebuyers. Moreover, sellers can make a cash offer on their new home, then sell their old one.

UpEquity, which also provides permanent financing, uses automated underwriting, powered by a proprietary blend of computer vision and algorithms that ensure low mortgage rates and fast closing  currently averaging 18 days.

"UpEquity is at the forefront of lending innovation," said Lane Hornung, zavvie co-founder and CEO. "While disrupting the traditional mortgage process, they continue expanding partnerships with brokerages and real estate agents. UpEquity knows this is the best strategy to accelerating its continued success."

About UpEquity

UpEquity is a tech-enabled mortgage platform disrupting the U.S. mortgage lending marketplace by providing cash offers for everyone. Founded in 2019 by Tim Herman and Louis Wilson while attending Harvard Business School, UpEquity was created out of a passion to solve the broken home buying process. UpEquity empowers customers to close offers fast by leveraging its proprietary combination of free cash offers, automated underwriting and low mortgage rates. Even first-time homebuyers receive access to the best houses on the market, in turn democratizing the American Dream. Headquartered in Austin with locations around the country, learn more at upequity.com.

About zavvie

zavvie is a software technology company that provides real estate brokerages with a marketplace for buying and selling solutions via their own white-labeled platform that keeps agents at the center of the transaction. Over 65,000 real estate agents in 47 states leverage zavvie's software technology to serve their clients better. Discover more at zavvie.com.

Media Contacts:

Kevin Hawkins | zavvie

206-866-1220 | [email protected]

or

Bryan Sullivan | UpEquity

Brand Experience Manager [email protected]

SOURCE zavvie
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Urban Alliance, a national nonprofit that connects young people to paid internships, workforce training and career pathways, received a $10 million investment from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. This is the organization's largest one-time contribution in its 25-year history.

"We are beyond thrilled about this historic and transformative investment. With this funding, Urban Alliance will grow to reach thousands more young people, primarily from communities of color, and give them access to equitable opportunities that will put them on the path to economic mobility," said Elizabeth Lindsey, Urban Alliance CEO. "I'm so grateful to philanthropist MacKenzie Scott for recognizing Urban Alliance's life-changing work and for her innovative and visionary giving that continues to change the nonprofit landscape for the greater good."

Urban Alliance is nationally recognized for having 25 years of unique and valuable experience creating successful and supportive internship experiences for young adults of color with large and small employers across several industries in the Greater Washington, DC area, Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit. With this investment, Urban Alliance will expand to a fifth city, build out its career pathways internships in high-growth industries, and continue to improve the organization's capacity and infrastructure.

Since 1996, Urban Alliance has connected more than 6,000 young people to paid internships and 23,000 more with workforce training and professional development. Through its flagship High School Internship Program, Urban Alliance connects approximately 500 students annually to paid internship experiences with more than 200 employers across the Greater Washington, DC area, Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit. Over the course of a year, a high school senior can gain 500 hours of paid work experience and receive 100 hours of skills training, professional development, and mentoring. One hundred percent of UA interns graduate from high school with a post-high school plan, and 88% of students plan to attend college. The results from participating in national Randomized Control Trials (RCT) show that UA's program has a significant positive impact on young people. Only two percent of nonprofits ever conduct an RCT, generally regarded as the gold standard of program evaluation. Visit www.urbanalliance.org and follow us @UrbanAlliance on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

SOURCE Urban Alliance
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- JSI will celebrate the Building Healthy Cities (BHC) project's accomplishments with an exhibit on July 29, 2022. Since 2018, BHC has worked to improve healthy urban planning in four rapidly growing Smart Cities in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Nepal. This work is critical because as the world urbanizes, cities must be able to address the urban challenges that affect citizen's health (like infrastructure constraints, pollution, healthcare, and transportation issues) in an organized, coordinated way.

The museum-style exhibit will lead viewers through BHC's project learnings and accomplishments at JSI's Arlington office, 2733 Crystal Drive. Timed tickets are free and available here for slots between 12:00pm to 4:00pm. The average time to view the full exhibit is 30 to 60 minutes, with refreshments and a chance to speak to BHC experts provided at the end. A virtual version of the exhibit will be shared on the JSI website for those who cannot attend in person.

Building Healthy Cities works to improve healthy urban planning in rapidly growing Smart Cities. Tweet this

BHC used an inclusive, systems approach to identify urban health challenges and find the most effective solutions. This is one of the first USAID projects to use systems thinking throughout the project, and it was widely accepted by partner cities. "We can use the systems approach and integrate it with the approaches that we have been using to obtain most effective, efficient, and comprehensive results," said Muhammad Amri Akbar, Head of the Social Culture and Government Department in Makassar, Indonesia. The visualization of each city system will be displayed at the exhibit, and can be explored online.

BHC worked across a wide range of sectors and stakeholders (including government, private sector, citizens groups, academia, and donors). The project built on USAID's agency-wide frameworks of resilience and gender equality by working with and supporting marginalized populations. BHC also advanced USAID initiatives, such as working with local partners, by engaging 29 local organizations throughout the project.

Building Healthy Cities (BHC) is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-17-00028, beginning September 30, 2017. BHC is implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) with partners International Organization for Migration, Thrive Networks Global, and Urban Institute, and with support from Engaging Inquiry, LLC. This project is made possible by the generous support of the American people through USAID. USAID administers the U.S. foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries worldwide.

For more information, contact Amanda Pomeroy Stevens, BHC project director, at [email protected].

SOURCE John Snow, Inc.
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During a year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.

In June of 2022, Vantagepoint AI was called on by the Sunrise Center of Pasco County to provide much needed support for those affected by domestic violence and sexual abuse.

When Vantagepoint AI received the request, it was clear that a contribution of important living supplies would have a positive and immediate impact for the Sunrise Center.

Close to 2,000 items ranging from backpacks, cleaning supplies, toothpaste, child car seats, baby supplies, diapers, cleaning supplies and food were gifted.

"I want to thank everybody on the VantagePoint team for having such a big heart and such compassion! Our company mission is empowering traders daily, but I love how it's morphing into 'empowering people,' because that's what we do," said Lane Mendelsohn, President.

Vantagepoint AI's products, services, and corporate culture along with its dedication to corporate philanthropy have brought international attention to this small, family-owned business in the Tampa Bay region.

"This year, the need so was so much greater in our community as we still are experiencing the ripples of the pandemic. It was such a joy for the entire organization to be able to step up, collect the supplies, and transport them to an organization that is helping people every day," Mendelsohn said.

Vantagepoint AI proudly and continuously donates a percentage of sales to benefit local community organizations, hospitals, and non-profits to help people who need it most (over $754,771.63 to date).

About Vantagepoint AI, LLC.

Vantagepoint AI's software forecasts Stocks, Futures, Forex, Cryptocurrencies, and ETFs using patented Neural Network processes. The company is actively committed to giving back in the Tampa Bay community including regularly donating a portion of revenue to Shriners Hospitals for Children and The Children's Cancer Center.

Contact:

Jordan Youtz

[email protected]

SOURCE VantagePoint Software
Ronopterin significantly reduces lactate levels in brain microdialysate from TBI patients reflecting energetic stability and neuroprotection during the early vulnerable phase

The combined inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis and reduced lactate levels adds further insight into the mode of action of Ronopterin linked to improved outcome

Low lactate levels add to the previously reported decreased glutamate release, lower treatment aggressiveness, and improved eGOS in Ronopterin treated patients after moderate and severe TBI

The lactate-reducing potential of Ronopterin makes this iNOS inhibitor an interesting drug for acute and chronic neurologic diseases with NO-driven energetic impairment

New patent filed for Ronopterin-mediated lactate reduction

WURZBURG, Germany, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- vasopharm GmbH, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focusing on novel therapeutics to treat cerebrovascular diseases, today announces the results of significantly reduced brain microdialysate lactate levels in the phase 2 (NOSTRA) and phase 3 clinical trials (NOSTRA III) of Ronopterin (formerly VAS203) for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). These analyses expand on the improved clinical outcome, reduced aggressiveness of underlying treatment, and reduced brain microdialysate glutamate levels in patients with moderate and severe TBI with early infusion of Ronopterin after TBI. This reduction in lactate reflects biochemical protection from energetic impairment and cell damage caused by the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-mediated increase in peroxynitrite and glutamate levels. Ronopterin has the potential to be the first successful drug therapy for TBI with meaningful signs of biochemical neuroprotection and improvements in neurologic outcome.

Lactate is an important marker of underlying energetic impairment and impaired mitochondrial oxygen use. Within the pathophysiological cascades of brain injury, lactate is tightly linked to glutamate and iNOS. Glutamate activates neurons as part of our normal brain function. Any excessive release of glutamate from cells damaged, e.g. by nitric oxide radicals, as a consequence of increased activation of iNOS induces further cell damage from glutamate-mediated excessive activation of neurons and astrocytes. Glutamate can also activate iNOS, thereby creating a vicious cycle between glutamate and nitric oxide. A crucial consequence of this is evolving mitochondrial damage from the glutamate-driven and iNOS-mediated increase in oxygen and nitrate radicals. This mitochondrial damage in conjunction with radical-induced inhibition of important enzymes results in increased production of lactate.

A decrease in lactate in the context of iNOS inhibition is a beneficial finding.

With early infusion  12 hours, Ronopterin significantly decreased brain microdialysate lactate levels with a lower proportion of lactate levels  2.5 mmol/L (70% vs 76%, OR 0.7, 95% CI 0.6-0.9, p=0.001). This significant reduction was predominant during the actual 2 day infusion phase (63% vs 76%, OR 0.5, 0.4-0.7, p<0.0001) and on the first day after the infusion phase (65% vs 84%, OR 0.3, 0.2-0.6, p<0.0001).

The combination of increased brain microdialysate levels of glutamate  10 mol/L and lactate  2.5 mmol/L, reflecting biochemical impairment from glutamate-induced lactate production, was significantly reduced in the Ronopterin-treated patients (40% vs 79%, OR 0.02, 95% CI 0.01-0.04, p<0.0001).

Dr. Stefan Wolf, Department of Neurosurgery Charite Berlin, Germany said:

"As part of our bedside monitoring we closely follow any increases in lactate levels to identify signs of energetic impairment following TBI. This is important to initiate appropriate counter measures to prevent evolving structural and functional damage from impaired perfusion or insufficient oxygenation. A reduction in lactate is a very important sign of protection from secondary brain injury and preserved energetic stability. The combination of reduced lactate and glutamate levels suggests that lactate reflects glutamate-driven lactate production. This profile of biochemical neuroprotection suggests that iNOS inhibition with Ronopterin is paramount for us to consider in our treatment concept."

Professor John Stover, Chief Medical Officer of vasopharm noted:

"We are very excited to see that Ronopterin aimed at improving the neurologic outcome in TBI patients significantly reduces lactate levels under clinical conditions during the early vulnerable phase. To date, this has only been shown in vitro with acetamidine based iNOS inhibitors and in patients in need of barbiturates, a very aggressive treatment option to reduce otherwise uncontrollably increased intracranial pressure. The combined decrease in glutamate and lactate guides our decision making for the use of Ronopterin and forms a strong basis for us to expand our Clinical development plan for Ronopterin."

Professor John Stover will be attending and presenting at the 15th International Neurotrauma Symposium, 17-20 July, in Berlin, Germany.

Presentation details:

16:00-17:30 (CET), 19th July 2022. In Plenary Session 4 on "Recent clinical trials and global challenges in neurotrauma" Prof. Stover will present an Abstract Lecture on "NOSTRA III- early inhibition of iNOS improves outcome following moderate and severe TBI."

About vasopharm GmbH

vasopharm is a privately held drug development company focused on small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). vasopharm was founded in July 1998 as a spin-off from the University of Wurzburg Medical School by Harald Schmidt, MD, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Ulrich Walter, MD, Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry. For more details please visit www.vasopharm.com

About Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when a sudden external force, such as a road traffic accident or fall, causes damage to the brain. This can impair cognitive, physical, and psychosocial functioning temporarily or permanently. This impairment can lead to disability and loss of independence. TBI is the leading cause of death and disability in young adults in the developed world. Annually, within the US alone, head trauma is the cause of approx. two million emergency room visits, 475,000 hospital admissions, nearly 52,000 deaths and approx. 80,000 cases of severe long-term functional, cognitive, and learning disabilities.

Current approaches are limited to the symptomatic treatment of acute TBI focusing on short term patient mortality (increasing blood pressure and reducing intracranial pressure) with limited impact on reducing long-term physical and cognitive deficits. To date, there is no specific therapy for patients suffering from the consequences of TBI.

Direct costs attributed to the current symptomatic treatment of TBI exceed $10bn p.a. in the US alone. TBI results in more lost working years than cancers, stroke and HIV/AIDS combined. On a global scale, the number of life-years lost due to TBI is four times that of diabetes-related loss. Moderate and severe TBI is associated with a 2.3 and 4.5-fold higher risk of Alzheimer's disease, respectively. See www.center-tbi.eu/ for more information.

About Ronopterin

Ronopterin is an analogue of the natural co-factor, tetrahydrobiopterin involved in the generation of nitric oxide by the Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS) family of enzymes. Ronopterin selectively inhibits the inducible NOS (iNOS) without significantly interfering with the function of other NOS enzymes. iNOS activation with increased release of nitric oxide is significantly involved in the cascade of damaging sequelae following brain injury including increased glutamate and lactate release. Ronopterin-mediated inhibition of iNOS is associated with a significant decrease in glutamate and in lactate levels, a new facet to Ronopterin's mode of action.

Ronopterin has successfully passed phase 1, 2, and 3 trials. Its safety and efficacy profile underscore a positive benefit-risk assessment supporting its use to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. Ronopterin has pharmacologic effects on renal function that allow its controlled use in patients with risk of kidney dysfunction. Also, it does not interfere with neuronal or endothelial nitric oxide synthases (NOS) which are important for normal brain and body functioning. Beyond TBI, Ronopterin carries a development potential for a broad range of acute and chronic diseases characterized by activation of inflammatory cascades with subsequent activation of iNOS.

About NOSTRA

NOSTRA (NOSynthase Inhibition in TRAumatic brain injury) (Phase 2a) was an exploratory placebo-controlled, randomised, multi-centre study comparing Ronopterin to placebo, in addition to standard of care. The trial was conducted in six centres in Austria, France, Spain, Switzerland. and United Kingdom. Ronopterin treated patients had a significantly better clinical outcome than patients given placebo, as assessed by the therapy intensity level (at day 6 after TBI) and the extended Glasgow Outcome Score (at 6 and 12 months after TBI). The primary endpoint was eGOS at 6 months for which the median was 6 with Ronopterin vs 4.5 in the placebo arm. The trial results strongly indicate a neuroprotective role of Ronopterin in patients with moderate and severe TBI. Treatment aggressiveness reflected by the Therapy Intensity Level was significantly reduced (p<0.04).

About NOSTRA III

The NOSTRA III trial entitled "Efficacy of Ronopterin in patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (NOSTRA-III)" (NCT02794168) examined the efficacy and safety of Ronopterin in patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, multi-centre NOSTRA III trial was conducted in 38 centers in 5 European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom) and completed as planned. In total 223 patients comprise the Full Analysis Set with 112 patients randomized to the Ronopterin treatment arm and 111 patients in the Placebo treatment arm. As in the NOSTRA trial, Ronopterin was added to the Standard of Care and the primary endpoint was again extended Glasgow Outcomes Scale at 6 months after TBI.

While the primary endpoint was not met, the prespecified analysis revealed significantly higher eGOS levels in the patients aged 18-39 years vs 40-60 years.

During the entire course of the study, an independent Drug Monitoring Committee (DMC) unanimously recommended to continue the study according to the original study protocol.

The DMC concluded that at no time any safety concerns were identified.

By extending the time to infusion from 12 to 18 hours after TBI to facilitate recruitment, the number of patients with infusion start between 6 and 12 hours was unintentionally reduced, reaching 30% in the NOSTRA III compared to 88% in the NOSTRA trial. This obvious difference forms the basis of the detailed post-hoc analysis. The combined analysis of the two trials with start of Ronopterin infusion within 12 hours after TBI shows improved neurologic outcome in all patients 18-60 years of age with significantly increased proportion of patients with Good Recovery (GOS 5) at 6 months (Ronopterin: 39% vs Placebo: 18%, p=0.03). The proportion of patients with low Therapy Intensity Level was significantly decreased (67% vs 77%, p<0.004).

SOURCE vasopharm
The female-led agency continues its focus on increased engagement with both general market and niche multicultural segments

NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Venus Media Group, a leading Latina-owned, multicultural media buying agency, today announced growth across its practice with the addition of several new clients, including iconic fashion brand Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans, sustainability-centric New York City government program GreeNYC, social network HeyMama and revolutionary pumping bra brand Larken. These fresh clients come on board as Venus Media Group unveils its own new website, showcasing its modern and inclusive approach to media buying, and expands its team with the appointment of Jenny Chow to the role of Chief Operating Officer, as well as Kourtney Edwards and Lina Sands to Account Director positions.

"At Venus Media Group, we know first-hand that today's diverse audiences are more than simply a box to tick; they rather require a niche approach that aligns to their unique identities," said Cathy Murphy, CEO of Venus Media Group. "We are proud to bring over 80 years of combined experience to the table for our new client partners, and deepen their connections to the individuals who need to hear their message most. This effort will undoubtedly also be strengthened with the addition of Jenny, Kourtney and Lina as their expertise adds a new dimension to our offerings."

Serving a diverse mix of clients from women-led disruptors to government organizations, the expert multi-generational agency is known for its high-touch approach to reaching a wide array of audiences, including multicultural, and a proven track-record of generating bottom-line results. Created by the watsons, the agency's new digital destination is proud to showcase these efforts with a sophisticated, refreshed design that captures its clear value proposition for brands aiming to reach a multitude of important, yet often overlooked demographic groups.

"Venus Media Group has been an incredible extension to our team. Combined with an incredible culture that aligns with HeyMama's values, the team's passion, responsiveness and savviness enables us to make data driven and strategic decisions with our media in a unique way," said Erika Feldhus, CEO of HeyMama. "Through our partnership with Venus Media Group, we now have access to 10x more information needed to make critical growth decisions. It is incredible to work with an agency that not only gets us as a brand but feels so invested in our success."

Recent additions to the next-generation agency's client roster include:

Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans : The first major jeans-wear brand launched by a woman, for women, Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans offers a wide range of fits, innovative fabrics, and elevated washes and details.

: The first major jeans-wear brand launched by a woman, for women, offers a wide range of fits, innovative fabrics, and elevated washes and details. GreeNYC: Dedicated to educating, engaging and mobilizing New Yorkers, GreeNYC helps New York City meet its ambitious sustainability goals of sending zero waste to landfills by 2030 and generating net-zero carbon by 2050.

meet its ambitious sustainability goals of sending zero waste to landfills by 2030 and generating net-zero carbon by 2050. HeyMama: A members-only social and professional network for mothers, HeyMama brings together working moms  entrepreneurs, advisors, executives, founders, builders, and makers of all kinds  to provide each other with support, connection, and collaboration at every stage of life and career.

Larken: Born out of a struggle to find a comfortable and simple way to nurse, Larken offers versatile, hands-free breast-pumping bras. While pumping and nursing their daughters, the Larken Co-Founders grew frustrated with the options on the market, they knew there had to be a better way. So they designed it.

To work with Venus Media Group or to learn more about the agency visit venusmediagroup.com.

About Venus Media Group

Venus Media Group is a multicultural, multigenerational media buying agency that partners with clients to reach today's women and multicultural audience. From negotiation to data analysis, Venus Media Groups counsels clients, including healthcare providers, hospitals and DTC consumer brands, throughout the buying process and coaches them on how to tap into relevant nuances to build brand awareness, recognition and recall. For more information, visit venusmediagroup.com.

SOURCE Venus Media Group
MEXICO CITY, July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vesta Real Estate Corporation, S.A.B. of C.V. ("Vesta") (BMV: VESTA), one of the leading industrial real estate companies in Mexico, announced that it has again been included within the S&P/BMV Total Mexico ESG Index for the third consecutive year as further endorsement of Vesta's commitment to environmental, social and governance.

Lorenzo D. Berho, Vestas CEO, commented: "We are honored to have again been recognized by this important distinction, particularly in light of its considerable importance with related strategies throughout our company that are closely linked to the Vesta Level 3 Strategy. We have demonstrated our success in developing green certified buildings through an integrated design process which creates projects that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle and continue to progress towards Vesta's goal of achieving 28% green certified developments within our portfolio by 2030."

Laura Elena Ramirez Barron, Vesta's ESG Director, added: "It is particularly noteworthy that Vesta is included within this index, which only includes 75% of the best rated companies in each sector. We remain steadfastly focused on our environmental, social and governance commitments, enabling Vesta to ensure continued shareholder value and to maintain our standing among this select group as well as within other key indices."

The S&P/BMV Total Mexico ESG Index is designed to measure the performance of stocks within the S&P/BMV Total Mexico Index that meet sustainability criteria. The index applies exclusions based on business activities and United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) requirements and is weighted by S&P DJI ESG Score. The index was initially comprised of 29 companies and has increased a new sample of 30 companies. S&P/BMV Total Mexico ESG Index rebalancing occurs annually in June.

About Vesta

Vesta is a best-in-class, fully integrated real estate company that owns, manages, acquires, sells, develops and re-develops industrial properties in Mexico. As of March 31, 2022, Vesta owned 190 properties located in modern industrial parks in 15 states of Mexico totaling a GLA of 31.4 million ft2 (2.91 million m2). The Company has multinational clients, which are focused on industries such as e-commerce/retail, aerospace, automotive, food and beverage, logistics, medical devices, and plastics, among others. For additional information visit: www.vesta.com.mx

SOURCE Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta, S.A.B. de C.V.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivaris Capital, LLC, a multi-strategy fund offering hybrid hedge and private equity structures, announced today that it has partnered with The IRA Club, a self-directed IRA third party administrator, to provide investors the opportunity to invest via their IRAs.

Through this new partnership, The IRA Club's members will benefit from Vivaris Capital's approach of raising capital and then investing it utilizing a strategy that is primarily focused on building businesses in climate tech and life sciences, where the principals anticipate adoption of new technologies will drive growth and create value.

The IRA Club will guide its members through Vivaris Capital's investment process, complete the necessary filings to keep their account IRS compliant, work with them to be sure their needs are being met, and provide educational resources. The first educational webinar is scheduled for September 6 and registration details will be available mid-August.

Vivaris Capital is led by President and Chief Executive Officer J. Christopher Mizer, a 25-year veteran of the alternative investment industry. He founded the firm in 1998 to invest in and acquire middle-market businesses in a broad range of industries that are leaders in their market niches. He is supported by an eight-member team that includes leading physicians, environmental and climate technology experts, alternative investment professionals, and global finance and business specialists.

"Our intent is to disrupt the financial services industry. Our strategy secures the repayment of principal by investing in a diversified portfolio of investment grade securities that collateralize the portfolio, and the difference between the cost of the principal security portfolio and their face amount at maturity is invested in alternative asset opportunities with high return potential. The partnership with The IRA Club is a win-win for its members," said Mizer.

"It has always been challenging for retirement investors to access institutional-quality alternative investments. A self-directed IRA allows investors to access a wider variety of funds and opportunities than may be otherwise available" said Ramez Fakhoury, Vice President at The IRA Club.

For further information, visit https://www.vivariscapital.com/, call +1.619.727.8497 or email [email protected].

About Vivaris Capital

Vivaris Capital, LLC was founded in June of 1998 to invest in and acquire middle-market businesses in healthcare, life sciences, and technology that are leaders in their market niches. The Vivaris team is led by J. Christopher Mizer who is the chairman of each of the portfolio companies and guides key strategic decisions and their execution. He also serves as the operating president on an interim basis when companies are going through periods of ownership succession and new management team members are being assembled.

Media Contact:



Charlotte Luer

+1.239.404.6785

[email protected]

Disclaimers:

This press release is neither an offer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Only the Private Placement Memorandum can make such an offer. The Private Placement Memorandum must be read in order to understand fully all of the implications and risks of the offering of securities to which it relates.

IRA Club does not offer investment, tax, financial, or legal advice, nor do we endorse any products, investments, or companies that provide such advice and investments. All parties are strongly encouraged to perform their due diligence and consult with the appropriate professional(s) licensed in that area before entering any investment. Performing due diligence helps protect against fraud.If you received this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately by sending an e-mail or by calling.

SOURCE Vivaris Capital, LLC
Seasoned Clinician, Developer and Health System Leader to provide expertise and guidance on development of the Voltron Self Assembling Vaccine platform in Oncology and Infectious Diseases

NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Voltron Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that life science veteran, Dr. Tony Hodges, has joined the Company as Senior Scientific Advisor.

Dr. Hodges brings a wealth of experience in Transplant Medicine, Infectious Disease and clinical trials to help guide further development, and eventual commercialization, of products leveraging its Self-Assembling Vaccine (SAV) platform. Voltron's pipeline is focused on cancer immunotherapy and infectious diseases.

Dr. Tony Hodges is welcomed to Lucius Partners portfolio company, Voltron Therapeutics, as he joins them in the role of Senior Scientific Advisor

Dr. Tony N. Hodges is currently Chief Medical Officer, La Jolla Pharmaceutical. Previously he served as Chief of Transplant Services; Director, Center for Lung Transplantation; Director, Center for Infusion Medicine and Physician Executive Director of Revenue Cycle Operations at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix.

Prior to this he was co-founder and Director of the Center for Thoracic Transplantation and Medical Director of Lung Transplantation at the Norton Thoracic Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, a Top 5 national lung transplant program. Previous experience included roles at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles.

Dr. Hodges received his medical training at the Louisiana State University, Wake Forest University/Baptist Medical Center, and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center / National Jewish.

"Voltron's Self Assembling Vaccine (SAV) platform provides a nimble, adaptive solution to two areas of unmet needpersonalized therapy for immunogenic cancers as well as latent and emerging acquired viral threats. The significant progress made to date in this area of customizable cellular immunity combined with a scientifically robust platform is impressive. I am excited to join and contribute to this world class team to move this robust platform forward."

"The team is very pleased to have Tony bring his considerable clinical, academic and industry experience to bear on the challenges and opportunities we are addressing at Voltron. With potentially 4 to 5 new indications in both oncology and infectious disease starting proof of concept pre-clinical trials in the next 12 months, Tony's expertise will be critical," said Pat Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, Voltron Therapeutics, Inc.

Anthony Zook, Voltron Executive Chairman commented, "The SAV platform has generated product candidates that can provide tremendous benefits to patients with cancer or at risk of dangerous infectious diseases. Voltron's multiple proof of concept programs will significantly benefit from the deep clinical expertise Tony brings in general and in infectious disease, specifically."

James Ahern, Managing Partner, Laidlaw & Company (UK) and Founder of Lucius Partners, "Tony's contribution to the development efforts of Voltron will be highly beneficial to the company's SAV platform's direction and expansion. Further, this addition to the team also underscores the added value Lucius Partners brings to our portfolio companies by procuring top talent to drive success"

About Voltron Therapeutics, Inc.

Voltron Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation, was founded in 2017 to lead and accelerate the development of the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (VIC), and the Massachusetts General Hospital's novel Self Assembling Vaccine technology in a variety of indications, including in Oncology and Emerging Infectious Diseases. Voltron holds an exclusive worldwide license to this technology. With the work of our world class team of researchers and development team, this technology has shown in certain pre-clinical studies initial proof of concept in two infectious diseases (including Lassa Fever) as well as two oncology indications (Ovarian and HPV Related Cancers). For more information, please visit www.voltrontx.com.

About Lucius Partners, LLC

Lucius Partners is a consultancy that provides a broad suite of services to help healthcare companies grow, achieve milestones and generate value for their shareholders.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to the advancement and development of the VaxCelerate Platform, the commencement of clinical trials, the availability of data from clinical trials and other information that is not historical information. When used herein, words such as "anticipate", "being", "will", "plan", "may", "continue", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements or information that refer to expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, performance or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are based upon Voltron's current expectations and various assumptions. Voltron believes there is a reasonable basis for its expectations and beliefs, but they are inherently uncertain. Voltron may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Actual results could differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, market conditions and any Voltron filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Consequently, forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as Voltron's current plans, estimates and beliefs. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Voltron cannot guarantee future results, events, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Voltron does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to update, republish, or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrences of unanticipated events, except as may be required by law.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1846494/Lucius_Partners_Logo.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1857637/Dr_Tony_Hodges_Voltron.jpg

Contact:

Patrick Gallagher, CEO

Voltron Therapeutics, Inc.

Managing Partner

Lucius Partners, LLC

[email protected]

Matthew Duffy, President

Voltron Therapeutics, Inc.

Managing Partner

Lucius Partners, LLC

[email protected]

SOURCE Lucius Partners
NEW YORK, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

This lawsuit is on behalf of persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Wells Fargo common stock between February 24, 2021 and June 9, 2022.

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 29, 2022

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in WFC:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/wells-fargo-wfc-lawsuit-loss-submission-form?id=29707&from=4

Wells Fargo & Company NEWS - WFC NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Wells Fargo & Company made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Wells Fargo had misrepresented its commitment to diversity in the Company's workplace; (ii) Wells Fargo conducted fake job interviews in order to meet its Diverse Search Requirement; (iii) the foregoing conduct subjected Wells Fargo to an increased risk of regulatory and/or governmental scrutiny and enforcement action, including criminal charges; (iv) all of the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to negatively impact Wells Fargo's reputation; and (v) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Wells Fargo you have until August 29, 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 Wells Fargo 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 WFC lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/wells-fargo-wfc-lawsuit-loss-submission-form?id=29707&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
Jordan Gutierrez, COO of Wishpond commented, "Wishpond's new Website Builder is not like other comparable products. This is a website builder that is designed from the ground up to help businesses generate leads and sales, as opposed to other tools where those are afterthoughts. With other website builders, you need a ton of work and pay for extra systems to get the marketing functionality that Wishpond offers out of the box. Businesses can now use Wishpond to build their website and manage all of their marketing campaigns, under one roof. "

The Website Builder is equipped and integrated with all of the marketing tools needed to grow a business and increase online sales. This includes lead tracking and segmentation tools, personalization abilities, advanced forms and pop-ups, integration with Wishpond's email marketing tool, referral marketing, calendar functionality, popups, and more. Businesses can use the Website Builder to create social contests or referral campaigns to generate leads, and a convenient appointments widget that connects to Google Calendar makes it easy to schedule meetings.

Thanks to the user-friendly platform, businesses can create and publish powerful, marketing-optimized websites without needing any web design or coding experience. As a developer of cutting-edge online marketing software solutions, the Website Builder integrates with Wishpond's complete software suite to give businesses all the tools they need to develop an impressive online marketing presence through a single platform.

The Website Builder gives users access to pre-built and optimized-for-marketing templates that can be easily customized with a drag-and-drop editor. Each web page is optimized for all devices with just one click. This allows almost anyone to effortlessly build a high-performance website with complete marketing functionality.

Wishpond's payment integration allows users to add a "buy" button to their websites and booking calendars to receive one-time payments or provide subscription-based services. These features all integrate with Wishpond's Leads Database, allowing businesses to track and score all their leads. Businesses can analyze lead behavior, see what users do and where they converted to maximize the value from each visitor. The Website Builder also works with Wishpond's powerful Email Marketing tool to send newsletters or set up sales automation emails and workflows. Businesses get everything they need to build and promote their online presence as they grow, all in one convenient platform.

"Wishpond's Website Builder is incredibly easy to use. We used it to set up our website from scratch, which we could add forms, popups, and more to. We run our email marketing from the same platform. All of the marketing functions included in the Website Builder make it a lot easier to grow our business. Otherwise, we would have had to subscribe to these different tools separately, which would have been expensive and tricky to manage." said a Wishpond user.

Learn more about Wishpond's Website Builder at: https://www.wishpond.com/website-builder/

On Behalf of the Board

"Ali Tajskandar"

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

About Wishpond Technologies Ltd.

Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Wishpond is a provider of marketing-focused online business solutions. Wishpond's vision is to become the leading provider of digital marketing solutions that empower entrepreneurs to achieve success online. The Company offers an "all-in-one" marketing suite that provides companies with marketing, promotion, lead generation, and sales conversion capabilities on one integrated platform. Wishpond replaces disparate marketing solutions with an easy-to-use product, for a fraction of the cost. Wishpond serves over 3,700 customers who are primarily small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in a wide variety of industries. The Company has developed cutting-edge marketing technology solutions and continues to add new features and applications with great velocity. The Company employs a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model where substantially all the Company's revenue is subscription-based recurring revenue which provides excellent revenue predictability and cash flow visibility. Wishpond is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker "WISH", and on the OTCQX Best Market under the ticker "WPNDF". For further information, visit: www.wishpond.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking information and statements ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "will", "should", "expects", "continue", "estimate", "forecasts" and other similar expressions, and statements related to the features, adoption, usability, performance and results related to the new Website Builder product introduced by Wishpond. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments using the Website Builder may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Company, its securities, or financial or operating results (as applicable). Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking information in this press release are reasonable, such forward-looking information has been based on expectations, factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control, including, but not limited to, risks related to the performance, adoption and market acceptance of Wishpond's new Website Builder and other products and services as well as the risk factors discussed in the public disclosure documents of the Company which such risk factors are incorporated herein by reference and are available through SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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.

SOURCE Wishpond Technologies Ltd.
BEIJING, July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fifth BRICS Media Forum has recently issued the Action Plan of the BRICS Media Forum for 2022-2023, aiming to focus on global development cooperation.

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the forum on Friday in Beijing and delivered a speech.

Huang said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has recently made important speeches on strengthening BRICS cooperation and advancing global development. These speeches have drawn a new blueprint for and injected new impetus into BRICS cooperation and development, he added.

Huang urged efforts to consolidate the foundation of solidarity, promote the pursuit of the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and provide more stabilizing and positive momentum for jointly building a community of security for humanity.

Huang also called for efforts to build a bridge of friendship, carry forward the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, and boost the BRICS cooperation.

The world is enduring a new period of turbulence and transformation, and the international community's pursuit of peace and development, fairness and justice, democracy and freedom, and win-win cooperation has become all the more vital, the plan issued at the Forum says.

Noting that BRICS countries need dialogue and cooperation more than ever, the action plan urges the media organizations of the BRICS countries to play their role as bridges to generate strong synergy for ensuring a high-quality BRICS partnership and strengthening the BRICS mechanism to the fullest extent.

On sharing the BRICS stories and promoting peace and development, the action plan highlights issues such as peace, economic growth, solidarity against COVID-19, food security, climate change and digital governance. We will plan joint interviews, carry out cooperation on special editions, websites, and news feeds, and undertake joint production for special feature films and live broadcasts on trending topics at different locations. We will launch BRICS news cooperation projects, such as BRICS Influencers and BRICS Link, to promote the core theme of peace and development and generate positive synergy that will benefit the five countries, it says.

On promoting the high-quality development of the forum, the action plan says the BRICS Media Forum will implement the XIV BRICS Summit Beijing Declaration, and continue to hold the BRICS international journalism training program.

The BRICS Media Forum was proposed by Xinhua News Agency in 2015 and jointly initiated with mainstream media outlets from Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa.

This year's event was a high-level media dialogue and exchange event following the 14th BRICS Summit. It was attended by nearly 300 representatives of over 170 media outlets and institutions from 73 countries and regions.

SOURCE Xinhua News
KEFI Gold and Copper PLC (AIM:KEFI, OTC:KFFLF) has been awarded two additional exploration licences via its joint venture company Gold and Minerals Limited in Saudi Arabia.

G&M is owned 30% by KEFI and 70% by its partner Abdul Rahman Saad Al Rashid and Sons Ltd, known as ARTAR.

The licences, Jibal Hillit and Qunnah, have been awarded on an initial five-year term.

Gold grades of up to 15.3 grams per tonne (g/t) have been recorded at Jabal Hillit and up to 46 g/t at Qunnah, hosted in quartz-veins.

Jabal Hillit represents the more advanced licence with 20 mapped gold occurrences across five main vein packages cutting across the licence.

Veins have been shown to strike discontinuously for 1,500 metres (m), with widths of up to 2.5m, hosted within meta-volcanic units.

The Qunnah exploration licence area also presents with gold-bearing, structurally controlled quartz veins within three main areas. As with Jabal Hillit, large crush and dump piles can be found across the tenement with ancient miners clearly targeting the quartz-vein gold mineralisation.

The G&M regional exploration team are gearing up for a busy summer of mapping and sampling within these new licences to ground-truth historical data, extend the known limits of mineralisation and define the structural framework controlling mineralisation, ahead of more advanced exploration works this year.

Meanwhile, discussions regarding a mining licence for the Jibal Qutman project are continuing.

G&M has already engaged Lycopodium (ASX:LYL) to complete a detailed feasibility study for Jibal Qutman by December 2022.

"Work in Saudi Arabia is gathering pace on many fronts, said Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, executive chairman of KEFI.

Our Hawiah project is firmly on track for the delivery of the preliminary feasibility study by year end, we have exciting developments on the Jibal Qutman gold project and now the granting of these two additional exploration licenses. The award of the exploration licences, which contain known high-grade gold occurrences, provides an exciting opportunity to make further discoveries at a time where the country is focused on developing its mineral resources.
Kistos/Serica

Proposed Combination of Kistos PLC (AIM:KIST) with Serica Energy plc

Kistos believes that the Proposed Combination will create a leading independent North Sea champion, led by the right team with the right strategy

Kistos believes that the Proposed Combination has strong industrial logic, significant value creation potential and achieves increased scale, relevance and trading liquidity for shareholders of both companies

Kistos considers that the Proposed Combination would position the Combined Company to be a market consolidator, with an optimised balance sheet

It is anticipated that, following completion of the Proposed Combination, the Combined Company would apply for the admission of its shares to a Premium Listing and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, given that, at current market valuations, the Combined Company would rank among companies currently within the FTSE 250 index

Accordingly, this announcement is being made by Kistos to urge Serica shareholders to encourage the Board of Serica to engage in constructive discussions with the Board of Kistos regarding the Proposed Combination

Kistos is today announcing a proposed combination with Serica Energy PLC (AIM:SQZ).

The Proposed Combination comprises a possible cash and share-for-share exchange offer by Kistos for Serica, whereby Kistos would offer for each Serica share (the Proposed Combination Terms):

0.2932 new Kistos shares; plus

cash of 246 pence, comprising: a distribution of capital to Serica shareholders via a cash payment of 67 pence per share (in addition to the already announced dividend of 9 pence per share in respect of the 2021 financial year, which was approved by Serica shareholders at the Serica annual general meeting on 30 June 2022 and is expected to be paid on 22 July 2022 (the Serica Dividend)); and cash consideration equivalent to 179 pence per Serica share.



Based on the closing price of 463 pence per Kistos share on 11 July 2022 (the Latest Practicable Date), the Proposed Combination Terms give an offer value of 382 pence per Serica share, representing a premium of:

25% to the closing price of 305 pence per Serica share on the Latest Practicable Date; and

22% to the six-month volume weighted average price of 312 pence per Serica share on the Latest Practicable Date.

Under the Proposed Combination Terms, Serica shareholders would own approximately 50% of the issued share capital of the combined business, in addition to receiving a significant cash component.

While Serica has stated that its Board can see industrial logic in combining the portfolios of the two companies, the Proposed Combination has been rejected by the Board of Serica.

Accordingly, this announcement is being made by Kistos to urge Serica shareholders to encourage the Board of Serica to engage in constructive discussions with the Board of Kistos regarding the Proposed Combination.

Background on discussions

On 16 May 2022, Kistos approached the Board of Serica in writing, requesting that it engage in discussions regarding the merits of a combination of both companies (the Initial Approach Letter). The Initial Approach Letter contained significant detail on the strategic merits and potential value creation for shareholders of both Kistos and Serica. Two days later, on 18 May 2022, the Board of Serica informed Kistos in a letter that it had rejected the approach as it did not represent, in its view, a specific proposal for the Board [of Serica] to consider.

On 24 May 2022, Kistos approached the Board of Serica again in writing with the Proposed Combination Terms and reiterated Kistos confidence in the strategic merits and potential value creation of the Proposed Combination, expected to be achieved through a re-rating driven by scale, trading liquidity, balance sheet strength and the right team with the right strategy (the Second Approach Letter).

On 1 June 2022, the Board of Serica informed Kistos in writing that it had again rejected Kistos approach. Sericas letter accepted Kistos view regarding the strategic merit of a combination, stating that the Board of Serica can see industrial logic in combining the portfolios of the two companies, and suggested entering into a limited mutual exchange of information under a non-disclosure agreement (the NDA) to explore a transaction, with Sericas letter further stating, we [the Board of Serica] further propose that the default basis upon which those conversations are pursued is that any combination would be affected [sic] through an acquisition of Kistos by Serica.

With an agreement in principle on industrial logic, Kistos accepted the suggestion from Serica to enter into an NDA in order to agree on offer terms and structure. After Serica had conducted due diligence, Kistos received a proposal from Serica on 1 July 2022 (the Serica Proposal).

Under the terms of the Serica Proposal, Kistos shareholders would receive for each Kistos share:

cash of 90 pence; plus

1.29 new Serica shares.

The Serica Proposal represented a premium to the closing price on 30 June 2022 (the day before the Serica Proposal) of 12%  a low premium given the effective change of control implied by the Serica Proposal, which would see Serica shareholders hold approximately 72% of the Combined Company post-transaction. As of the Latest Practicable Date, the Serica Proposal implies a value of 483 pence per Kistos share, a premium of 4% to the closing Kistos share price of 463 pence per share.

On 8 July 2022, the Serica Proposal was rejected by the Board of Kistos on the basis that it was not at a recommendable value as it failed to recognise the inherent value in the existing Kistos portfolio, let alone the potential value creation that the Combined Company could generate. In addition, despite being positioned as a merger of equals, Serica had proposed that no Kistos senior management be retained, and that no Board members of Kistos should join the Board of the Combined Company.

The Board of Kistos believes that the terms of the Serica Proposal are at the wrong price, with the wrong mix of stock and cash (given leverage capacity).

The Proposed Combination by Kistos, in contrast, is at what the Board of Kistos considers to be the right price, with the right mix of stock and cash, and with an intent to put in place the right combined team (drawn from both Kistos and Serica) to drive the Combined Company forward.

Compelling strategic and financial rationale

The Board of Kistos continues to believe that there is compelling industrial logic in the combination of Serica and Kistos, and that the Proposed Combination would create significant value for shareholders of both companies.

The Board of Kistos believes that Serica and Kistos trade on materially lower multiples versus their wider UK and Western European listed upstream independent peers and that the Proposed Combination has the potential to drive a re-rating of the Combined Company as a result of:

1. Achieving scale and relevance: Indicatively the Combined Company would have a market capitalisation of more than 1.8 billion if the Combined Company re-rated in line with the Peer Group median of 1.7x EBITDA[i], and would offer investors access to key market themes, those of energy supply and security, at a crucial moment for the industry. It is also anticipated that following completion of the Proposed Combination, the Combined Company would apply for the admission of its shares to listing on the premium segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (Premium Listing) and to trading on the main market for listed securities (the Main Market) of London Stock Exchange plc (the London Stock Exchange), given that, at current market valuations, the Combined Company would rank among companies currently within the FTSE 250 index; index inclusion would be expected to drive investment flows into the Combined Companys stock and raise its profile with investors;

2. Enhancing operating position: The Combined Company would be expected to create a leading listed North Sea independent, with pro forma combined reserves which are c.86% operated, and strong operational performance and low unit production costs compared to the Peer Group;

3. Optimising the combined balance sheet: The Combined Company would be expected to have the scale and ability to optimise its balance sheet. On the basis of the Proposed Combination Terms, the pro forma Combined Company leverage (net debt divided by December 2022E EBITDA) is anticipated to be well below the Peer Group median;

4. Strengthening the cash flow: The Combined Company would be expected to generate significant and resilient free cash flow, enabling the Combined Company to consider a sustainable dividend policy;

5. Creating a platform for growth: The Combined Company would have optionality for both organic and non-organic growth over time, supported by the optimised balance sheet. The Kistos management team has a proven track record of M&A execution and resource development; and

6. Leading in ESG: In line with Kistos mission statement, and the reality faced today where energy security and a commitment to tackling climate change must be equally balanced, the Combined Company would be well positioned to support the energy transition through its c.85% gas-weighted production, whilst maintaining a focus on becoming an industry leader for its carbon emission credentials.

The Board of Kistos strongly believes that an experienced management team with a clear track record, combined with effective oversight from an experienced Board, is key to delivering the opportunities presented by the Proposed Combination. Kistos would envisage employing a meritocratic approach to selecting the best individuals for the Combined Company drawn from the management teams and Boards of both Kistos and Serica.

Next steps

Kistos is making this announcement in order to provide Sericas shareholders with the opportunity to make their views known regarding the attractiveness of a Proposed Combination, and to urge Serica shareholders to encourage the Board of Serica to engage in constructive discussions with Kistos.

I am away today which may not be such a bad thing, it will give me a chance to listen to the webcast and catch up with both companies today and tomorrow before trying to assess what is best for both sets of shareholders.

However my initial thoughts must be that the Kistos bid for Serica looks like having potentially more upside for shareholders than the other way round. All the numbers are above but I cant quite see how Kistos shareholders (obviously as AA has such a big holding but would be locked in) can get to any significant upside.

As I said Im hoping to catch up with Mitch Flegg and Andrew Austin to see what they are saying, it may not be much and I fear that advisors will make everybody keep schtum. There are a number of factors at play as well, UK gas prices are way lower than TTF levels and of course Serica have just spudded the North Eigg well which will have a marked valuation effect should it come in.

Also the Kistos bid for Serica would seemingly put together the best parts of both managements, which are amongst the best in the sector and yet should Serica win then nobody from Kistos will be in the combined team. The Kistos deal would also commit the combined group to a Premium listing with the possibility of becoming a fast growing, UK based oil and gas company with potential for admission to indices such as the FTSE 250, surely a good move for bigger shareholders?

Finally as I said Im going to try and catch up with both sides in the next 24 hours, I may not get everyone I want but Im sure at some stage Kistos will talk even if they are under strict control by advisors.
The gold miner said its operational turnaround plan is progressing and that its updated life of mine plan remains on track.

Pure Gold Mining Inc (TSX-V:PGM, LSE:PUR, OTC:LRTNF) has announced the finalization of several agreements with its lending partner, a fund managed by Sprott Resource Lending (TSX:SIL) Corp., including a new debt repayment schedule to enhance its liquidity and provide financial flexibility.

The gold miner also unveiled plans for a strategic review process which might involve a potential sale or merger of the company.

PureGold said its operational turnaround plan is progressing and that its updated life of mine plan remains on track.

"We have initiated a strategic review process to explore potential alternatives for maximizing shareholder value and generating the financial strength to allow the PureGold Mine to achieve its potential, Mark O'Dea, president and CEO of PureGold said in a statement.

We remain focused on achieving positive site-level cash flow by Q3 2022, and delivering an updated NI 43-101 technical report and life of mine plan by Q4 2022. If we can maximize the value of the mine, we can also maximize value for our stakeholders, including but not limited to our shareholders, employees, and the local communities surrounding Red Lake."

The strategic review process, which was initiated with the assistance of advisors, might include a potential sale or merger of the company, sale of some or all of the PureGold Mine, or various other potential long-term financing alternatives, PureGold explained.

It stressed that it has not made any decisions related to strategic alternatives at this time, and there can be no assurance that the evaluation of strategic alternatives will result in any transaction or change in strategy.

Any breach of the agreements with Sprott, including an unsuccessful strategic review process could result in an event of default under the credit agreement, it noted.

The company added that, in order to better forecast the PureGold mine's near-term production, it is postponing its 2022 guidance update until August. The update had previously been scheduled for June.

Amendments to the credit agreement and additional credit facility

The company said it has agreed with Sprott on a second amendment of the restated credit agreement (ARCA) dated April 2021.

Pursuant to the second ARCA, and as previously announced, Sprott has provided PureGold with an additional secured, first-priority, non-revolving credit facility up to a maximum principal amount of US$6 million.

Drawdowns on the additional credit facility are permitted for payments owing to Sprott, including interest, gold stream and production payment agreement (PPA) payments. The first such drawdown is expected to be made in respect of amounts owing to Sprott as of June 30, 2022.

The additional credit facility matures on December 31, 2022 and accrues interest at a rate of 14% per annum.

In addition, PureGold has agreed with Sprott to defer the first four scheduled principal repayments, each 2.5% of the total principal amount, originally scheduled for the last day of September 2022, December 2022, March 2023, and June 2023, respectively, to the bullet payment in August 2026.

The bullet payment will increase from 35% of the total principal amount to 45% as a result. This creates approximately C$12 million of additional liquidity for PureGold within the next 15 months that would have otherwise been allocated to debt repayments.

The company has further agreed with Sprott on temporary reductions to the minimum cash and minimum working capital ratio covenants to US$5 million and 0.75x, respectively, for the months ending June 30 and July 31, 2022.

As of June 30, 2022, the company had C$13 million in cash, C$21 million in available liquidity including the full additional credit facility, and a net working capital ratio of approximately 0.85x.

PureGold cautioned that it might not be able to comply with its covenants in the future without further amendments from Sprott. Other amended terms pursuant to the second ARCA and related agreements include removal of the requirement to pass the completion test, removal of the post-completion test interest step-down, and an increase in the PPA amount from US$12 per ounce to US$14 per ounce.

The consideration for these amendments is a payment of US$0.5 million which will be added to the outstanding principal amount with no upfront cash outlay.

PureGold is a Canadian gold mining company, located in the heart of Red Lake, Ontario. It owns and operates the PureGold Mine, which entered commercial production in 2021 after the successful construction of an 800 tpd underground mine and processing facilities.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
12 July 2022

*A corporate client of Hybridan LLP

Dish of the day

Joiners:

Warehouse REIT (WHR.L) has transferred to AIM from the Main Market.

Leavers:

No leavers today.

Whats cooking in the IPO kitchen?

Georgina Energy, an early-stage resource company with a strategy of actively pursuing the exploration, commercial development and monetisation of helium, hydrogen and hydrocarbon interests located in the Amadeus and Officer Basins in Northern and Western Australia intends to join AIM. Georgina Energy has two principal onshore interests. The first, the Mount Winter Prospect is located in the Amadeus Basin in Northern Australia, which the Company has a right to earn an initial 75% interest. The second interest, the Hussar Prospect is 100% owned by the Company and is located in the Officer Basin in Western Australia. Expected late July.

Macaulay Capital is due to join the Aquis Growth Market on 22 July. The Group was formed to originate and manage corporate transactions, raise funds from third parties, invest the Groups own funds alongside those of external investors and to manage the Groups investment portfolio with the aim of maximising its value.

Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Limited, a leading wind turbine manufacturer in China, intends to admit global depositary receipts to and trade on the Shanghai-London Stock Connect segment of the Main Market of the LSE. Each GDR represents 5 A shares of the Company, each with a fully paid nominal value of RMB1.00 each. The Group's mission is to provide accessible green and smart energy, and it aims to become a full lifecycle renewable solutions provider. Through technological and business innovations, the Group has developed into a leading smart energy enterprise in China with global influence, gradually becoming an industry leader in providing integrated wind power, photovoltaics, power storage and hydrogen power solutions. The Offering is expected to raise approximately USD550m. Due 13 July.

Banquet Buffet

Atlantic Lithium Limited (AIM:ALL, OTCQX:ALLIF) 32.9p 190.8

The funded Africa-focused lithium exploration and development company targeting to deliver Ghana's first lithium mine, announces its intention to pursue a listing on the official list of the Australian Securities Exchange. The Board believes that an ASX listing reflects the global demand for a sustainable supply of lithium to facilitate the transition to a lower carbon future and will be beneficial to the Company in a number of ways.

Bens Creek Group PLC (AIM:BEN, OTC:BENCF) 36.5p 129.4m

The owner of a metallurgical coal mine in North America supplying the steel industry, announced that Murat Erden has, with effect from 12 July 2022, been appointed as the Company's Chief Financial Officer and joined the senior management team of Bens Creek. Murat will also be responsible for the development and implementation of the Company's ESG and Sustainability strategy. Murat is a highly accomplished CFO and Non-Executive Director with total industry experience of over 25 years and an extensive background in private equity, banking, technology and resources.

Block Energy PLC (AIM:BLOE) 1.35p 8.9m

The exploration and production company focused on Georgia, has received confirmation from Georgia's State Agency of Oil and Gas that it has completed the minimum work programme (MWP) in the production sharing contract for Block XIF, thus securing the licence to 2043. This represents a major milestone and the Company has now completed all MWP requirements across its entire licence portfolio. The MWP for Block XIF comprised the completion of an environmental impact assessment, extensive 3D-seismic data acquisition and processing, the drilling of a side-track from an existing well and one new well.

Destiny Pharma PLC (AIM:DEST) 38p 27.9m

The clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel, hospital infection prevention and treatment products that address the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), today announces it has received an award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The research project will establish the potential of the Company's proprietary XF-73 drug as a novel treatment for cystic fibrosis patients infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The project will have access to clinical isolates collected from people with cystic fibrosis and the work will be carried out by experienced researchers associated with the Foundation. Financial terms of the collaboration have not been disclosed.

Dewhurst (AIM:DWHT) Group (LON: DWHT) 1,075p 63.0m

The global manufacturer and supplier of quality components to the lift, transport and keypad industries today announces the appointment of John Bailey as Chief Executive Officer effective 1 October 2022. John is an existing Board member of the Company and Managing Director of the Company's A&A Electrical Distributors business. Alongside John's appointment, David Dewhurst will stand down as Group Managing Director and will take up an Executive role as Strategic Advisor. The members of the Dewhurst Group plc Board of Directors remain unchanged.

Great Western Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:GWMO) 0.15p 5.3m

Great Western Mining Corporation has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to create a Joint Venture with an experienced Nevada mining contractor, for processing gold and silver from waste material on its mineral concessions in Nevada. Great Western and its proposed partner are currently negotiating a fully-termed operating agreement which will follow a standard industry format used in Nevada. The JV will process material using both gravity separation and a contained flotation system, full details of which will be announced upon signing of the formal agreement. The JV has now: Secured the use of a suitable mill site on private land; Determined an initial design for a gravity separation plant and a flotation plant, and identified and secured the equipment required.

KEFI Gold and Copper PLC (AIM:KEFI, OTC:KFFLF) 0.63p 24.7m

The gold and copper exploration and development company with projects in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced the award of two additional exploration licenses through the Company's Gold and Minerals Limited (G&M) joint venture in Saudi Arabia. G&M is owned 30% by KEFI and 70% by its partner Abdul Rahman Saad Al Rashid and Sons Ltd. Two additional exploration licences Jibal Hillit and Qunnah have been awarded on an initial five-year term. The Exploration Licences have historically yielded grades of up to 15.3g/t at Jabal Hillit and 46 g/t Au at Qunnah, hosted in quartz-veins. Positive progress has been made in discussions with the Deputy Minister for Mineral Resources relating to the Jibal Qutman Project - anticipated resolution in the current quarter.

MJ Hudson Group PLC (AIM:MJH) 36.5p 62.2m

The specialist service provider to the asset management industry, announced that the Group has continued to trade strongly for the rest of the financial year ended June 2022. In particular, the Group has seen notable outperformance in ESG and Fund Performance Analytics, both part of the Data & Analytics division. The combination of these factors means that management now expects to report results for FY 2022 modestly ahead of prior guidance given on 12 May 2022.

Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) PLC (AIM:MAB1) 865p 493.2m

Following the announcements on 28 March 2022 and 5 July 2022 in connection with the acquisition of 75.4% of The Fluent Money Group, MAB announced the completion of the Acquisition. The total consideration paid at completion was 72.7m. The transaction is expected to be significantly earnings enhancing in the first full year post acquisition, being the year ending 31 December 2023. The Fluent Money Group is a fast-growing mortgage and specialist lending intermediary that has formed strong relationships with aggregators and other national lead sources operating across first charge, second charge and lifetime mortgages, and bridging loan product areas.

Steppe Cement (AIM:STCM) 37p 81.0m

Market update for the first half of 2022: In the first half of 2022, Steppe Cement (AIM:STCM) Ltd sold 837,063 tonnes of cement for 19,579m Tenge, compared with 840,661 tonnes of cement for 16,657m Tenge in the first half of 2021. The volume was maintained but the turnover increased by 18%. The average price for the current period for delivered cement was 23,391 Tenge per tonne (ex-VAT), compared with 19,814 Tenge per tonne in the corresponding period of 2021. The ex-factory price for the current period was 20,485 Tenge per tonne, compared with 16,571 Tenge per tonne in the corresponding period of 2021. The cement market in Kazakhstan in the first half of 2022 remained the same as in 2021. Imports represented 6.0% of the local market as in 2021 but exports from Kazakhstan were reduced by 44% to 0.55m tonnes. Steppe Cement's local market share was 14.6% in the first half of 2022.

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SEED Innovations Ltd (AIM:SEED, OTC:FFRIF) said one of its investee company, Little Green Pharma Ltd (ASX:LGP), has signed a two-year medical cannabis supply agreement with a German pharmaceutical wholesaler.

Australia-listed Little Green Pharma signed an agreement with Ilios Sante, for a non-exclusive white-labelled product, supplied into Germany for a total deal value of A$2mln.

Ilios Sante is a part-owned subsidiary of European medical cannabis healthcare company, Bloomwell Group.

This aligns with LGP's key growth strategy and solidifies Little Green Pharma's growing presence as one of the leading global medicinal cannabis suppliers, developing bespoke high-value white label strains in the European Union with its GMP-licensed Danish facility, said Alfredo Pascual, vice-president of investment analysis at SEED.

SEED owns roughly 7.3mln shares in Little Green Pharma, representing a 3.1% interest in the company.
Power Metal Resources PLC (AIM:POW) told investors that it has confirmed uranium exploration targets across four properties in its portfolio surrounding the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada.

The company, in a statement, said that hyperspectral data analysis utilising Sentinel-2 satellite data on hydrogen and helium gas reflectance has refined the uranium targets.

Data will be used for the next stage ground exploration this summer, it added.

"The Power Metal technical team have been working hard to advance our knowledge across the Athabasca uranium portfolio, said chief executive Paul Johnson.

The outcome of their work for four properties is outlined below, in readiness for planned field exploration this summer.

Notably, the work done has highlighted that the Tait Hill property hosts a geological setting analogous to the Rossing uranium mine, one of the world's largest uranium producing mines.

This is exciting for the team and it's important we get on site as soon as practicable to further analyse the geology in the field."
Poseidon Nickel Ltd (ASX:POS, OTC:PSDNF) says the Black Swan Nickel Project in Western Australia is tracking strongly towards a restart with a resource update and feasibility study progress pointing to the potential to use the maximum available annual plant capacity of 2.2 million tonnes.

The resource update provides a combined underground high-grade and open pit disseminated mineral resource of 29.8 million tonnes at 0.69% nickel for 206,000 tonnes of contained nickel.

Within this, the Black Swan disseminated mineral resource estimate (MRE) now totals 28.9 million tonnes at 0.63% nickel for 181,000 tonnes of nickel metal contained, an uplift of about 10,000 tonnes from the previous estimate.

The updated resource has again improved the confidence in the nickel grade and distribution of the metallurgically important serpentinite and talc-carbonate hosted disseminated mineralisation immediately below the Black Swan open pit.

This increased resource and other developments underpin the opportunity for a study using the maximum available plant capacity.

Suitability of ore types

Preliminary metallurgical test-work shows that concentrates produced from both serpentinite and talc carbonate ore types are suitable for pressure oxidation and refinery feed.

Confirming the distribution of the ore types  and quantifying the talc content  is important, allowing the company to identify mining blocks that will be suitable to produce a smelter-grade concentrate.

The talc-carbonate ore is typically high in talc (magnesium oxide) content, and low in iron-sulphide content, to produce a favourable concentrate feed for conventional smelters.

"Solid progress"

Managing director and CEO Peter Harold said: Over the past three months the company has achieved solid progress on the Black Swan bankable feasibility study on its 1.1 million-tonne-per-annum base case restart scenario to produce a smelter grade concentrate.

The recently announced Black Swan Disseminated mineral resource update together with the previously announced high-grade underground resources update means total resources are now just over 206,000 tonnes contained nickel.

As the quantity and distribution of talc can impact the concentrate quality and nickel recovery, we have undertaken significant metallurgical test-work on the different ore types at Black Swan to determine the most suitable route to market for our nickel concentrate.

Versatile concentrate

"Most importantly the test-work has demonstrated the amenability of concentrate produced from both serpentinite and talc carbonate ore types to pressure oxidation producing a mixed hydroxide precipitate for downstream processing predominantly into the growing battery market.

"This positive outcome supports Poseidons continuing discussions with Pure Battery Technologies on supplying feed to their proposed Kalgoorlie refinery/pCAM hub.

Harold went on to say that the company needs to conduct further feedstock studies to understand the economics of downstream production. It is also obtaining capex and opex estimates to assist in its discussions with potential offtaker Pure Battery Technologies.

Given the nickel price outlook, the projected demand for either nickel concentrates or MHP/pCAM products and internal preliminary economic assessment of the various restart options, the optionality has placed the company in a unique position," he said.

Not only will the company continue with the feasibility on the 1.1-million-tonne-per-annum base case restart scenario, we have now included a 2.2-million-tonnes-per-annum throughput scenario in our feasibility studies.

The latter could unlock long-term value from our large resource base by fully utilising the existing processing capacity to provide feedstocks into the rapidly growing mixed hydroxide/pCAM markets.

Whats next

The company has conducted an internal preliminary economic assessment, which supports various restart options.

There is continued strong interest from potential offtake parties and financiers for the Black Swan restart, with discussions in progress with Pure Battery Technologies on offtake for its proposed Kalgoorlie refinery.

The companys investigation of a direct-shipped-ore option revealed sub-optimal economics for the idea, and this has been shelved.
Tempest Minerals Ltd (ASX:TEM)s Don Smith speaks with Proactives Elisha Newell about the recent downhole electromagnetic (DHEM) survey the company recently conducted at its Orion target at the Meleya Project, where Tempest has previously announced the presence of mineralisation. Tempest is now waiting on results from the survey which are due in August. Smith explains that the DHEM was done to complement recent assays and further understand the mineral occurrence, with initial results confirming favourable geology. He also highlights that while the assays werent as good as expected, preliminary results confirmed the widespread presence of copper and other metals which support the continuation of further aggressive exploration at the project. Additional drilling is planned throughout 2022. Finally, Smith speaks about the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Karara Mining Ltd for an exploration joint venture (JV) over KMLs exploration leases along strike from the Karara Magnetite Iron Mine in Western Australia.
DomaCom Australia Ltd (ASX:DCL) has raised $5 million in an oversubscribed placement that is expected to open the way for the company to resume trading on the ASX.

The company received subscriptions totalling $5,024,203 for the private placement. It issued 11,136,363 ordinary shares at $0.066 per share raising $735,000 (before costs) and followed this with a further 61,957,619 ordinary shares also at $0.066 per share which raised $4,089,203 (before costs).

DCL has also received an application to raise a further $200,000 from the issue of 3,030,303 ordinary shares at $0.066 to a director of the company subject to shareholder approval.

Use of funds

Along with DCL potentially resuming trading, the funds will go towards:

strengthening DCLs balance sheet;

fund working capital requirements and the costs of the offer and the private placement; and

provide additional funding to further develop DomaComs existing product offerings, enhance the technology platform and new product initiatives.

Continued growth

While suspended and in capital raising mode, DomaCom continued to grow the business, with Funds Under Management (FUM) showing impressive growth, recently reaching $134 million.

DomaCom CEO John Elkovich said: The completion of the placement has resulted in a total of $5 million being raised over the past two months in support of our business. It takes us ever closer to our targeted relisting on the ASX.

"While locking in these new capital resources has been important to DomaComs long-term future, we have also been heavily focused on growing the business. The DomaCom team has continued to successfully grow our FUM over recent months with an exciting pipeline of prospective transactions evidencing the pivot of the business to sales.

About DomaCom

DomaCom owns and operates a fractional investment platform that provides solutions for SMSFs, retirees and new home buyers.

Using the DomaCom platform, investors can make fractional investments in a range of asset classes including property-related investments, mortgage-backed securities, renewables, affordable housing, disability accommodation and debt securities via a unique trust structure tailored to them.

Retirees can sell a fraction of their house to investors, possible family members, to help them improve their retirement income.

DomaCom runs a crowdfunding campaign process in which investors can commit as much as they want towards the purchase of assets together with other like-minded investors.

When a campaign is complete, DomaCom purchases the asset, places it in a sub-fund, and issues the investors with units in proportion to the amount they invested.

DomaComs proprietary platform allows Australians to invest in almost any asset class, empowering them to create diversified portfolios with comparatively lower minimum investments and competitive cost structures.
Atlantic Lithium Limited (AIM:ALL, OTCQX:ALLIF) said it intends to trade on the official list of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

The listing reflects the global demand for a sustainable supply of lithium to facilitate the transition to a lower-carbon future, the AIM-traded company said in a statement.

"The ASX market has seen a growing interest in green commodities of late, in line with the global transition to a lower carbon future, and we have seen the valuations of many companies involved in the lithium supply chain benefit as a result, said chairman Neil Herbert.

We feel that listing on the ASX is timely, therefore, to enable a more favourable valuation of the company and its assets."

It said the listing will be beneficial to the company in several ways, including bringing its Ewoyaa lithium project and Cape Coast portfolio to the attention of a robust resources market.

In addition, it will extend its shareholder base, providing greater liquidity, while also allowing existing Australian investors to reposition stock held in the UK to Australia.

Finally, as an Australian company, the listing will allow it to communicate better with its investors in the country.

Atlantic Lithium is hoping to list by the third quarter of this year, although it stressed there is no certainty it will be admitted.

Trading on the ASX will not affect trading of the company's shares on AIM or on the OTCQX Best Market in North America, it said.
Hopes of a sustained crypto rally took a hit on Tuesday as global market cap fell a further 2.47% to US$891.24bln in the early hours.

Bitcoin once again fell below the US$20,000 support line to trade at US$19,931 on the exchanges, while Ethereum dropped 4.83% to US$1,085.

Decentralised finance (DeFi) tokens seem intent of reversing their recently gained momentum:

Aave is down 9.47%; Uniswap is down 8.8%; Convex Finance is down 7.52%; and Compound is down 7.16%.

Somewhat surprisingly, Nexo protocol was among the mornings few positive movers despite the ongoing centralised finance (CeFi) crisis sweeping the market.

The 1.79% bump comes amid ongoing bailout discussions between the Bulgarian crypto lender and Vauld, the fellow crypto lender on the brink of insolvency.

Blockchain projects had a comparatively good Tuesday, with Polygon, Mina Protocol, and multi-chain protocol Quant all posting single-digit gains.

Derivatives trading platform Synthetix gained 1.55% to break into the top-100 club with a market capitalisation of $272.95mln.

GBPT, the first pound-pegged stablecoin regulated in the British Isles, went live on the Gate.io centralised exchange.

Issuer Blackfridge obtained a financial services licence from the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority, to which the organisation is required to file monthly proof of reserves.

Crypto is just complete fraud, over and over and over, according to renowned short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research, making his position clear during a Monday financial fraud conference.

Citron was the subject of a 2021 criminal investigation into short selling instigated by the US Department of Justice.

Creditors of Mt. Gox, the Japanese exchange that folded in 2014, may finally recoup some of their losses as the once-largest Bitcoin trader is set to release US$3bln to the public.

140,000 BTC will be handed out in August, amid fears that creditors could dilute the market in a mass selling spree.
Saga still not over for long-suffering customers

While the multiple ongoing crypto crises  the Terra Labs collapse, multiple insolvencies, Celsius freeze, Ripple securities litigation to name but a few  continue to make headlines, another dark chapter in Bitcoins brief history bears reexamining.

In 2013, when the humble Bitcoin was priced at a mere few hundred dollars, Japan-based exchange Mt Gox held something of a monopoly in the burgeoning centralised exchange scene.

At its peak, Mt Gox was handling over 70% of all global Bitcoin trades before suddenly going offline in February the following year.

On February 28, Mt Gox officially filed for bankruptcy, the reason?

A malicious hack led to 850,000 Bitcoin being syphoned from the platform, 750,000 of which belonged to customers and 100,000 to Mt Gox.

At the time, the value of the attack was some US$480mln and precipitated a 36% fall in the price of Bitcoin.

It was perhaps the first major disaster to hit the cryptocurrency scene.

A post mortem of the attack detailed a melange of multimillion-dollar lawsuits against CEO Mark Karpeles, Homeland Security investigations into money transfer violations, and accusations of severe mismanagement.

History repeating

Definite parallels can be gleaned between the events of 2014 and today.

A then-unprecedented Bitcoin bull run was well underway in the lead up to Mt Goxs collapse.

On November 27 2013, Bitcoin surpassed the US$1,000 barrier for the first time, before hitting an all-time high of US$1,151 on December 4- a 600% month-on-month increase

But by April, 70% had been knocked off and Bitcoin remained below US$500 for the following two years.

Is this Bitcoin's Lehman moment? asked Wall Street Journal in 2014; a question being widely echoed amid the current crisis.

As familiar as that all sounds, the parallels to today go even further.

Probs at @MtGox underscore fact that thoughtful regulation could play impt role in protecting consumers with funds at virtual currency firms  Ben Lawsky (@BenLawsky) February 25, 2014

Mt Goxs collapse sparked a debate on crypto regulation concerning many of the same points still being argued today.

What happened to Mr. Karpeles?

Raised in France before moving to Japan in 2009, Mark Karpeles purchased Mt Gox from Jed McCaleb in 2011, who initially used the mtgox.com domain as a Magic: The Gathering card game site.

A colourful figure in the early days of the crypto wild west, Karpeles stumbled into a fortune after Mt Gox became the world-leading Bitcoin exchange in 2013.

His fortunes soon reversed amid the Mt Gox collapse, numerous investigations, lawsuits and prison time.

Karpeles was even accused by Ross Ulbricht, who is currently serving a life sentence for operating the notorious Silk Road website under the Dread Pirate Roberts pseudonym, of being the true mastermind behind the darknet marketplace.

This is probably going to be disappointing for you, but I am not and have never been Dread Pirate Roberts.  Mark Karpeles (@MagicalTux) January 16, 2015

Karpeles denied any involvement, but was arrested by Japanese police in September 2015 under embezzlement charges relating to Mt Gox.

In March 2019, Karpeles was found guilty of tampering with records, but managed to avoid any further jail time.

Today, Karpeles is leveraging his experience with Mt Gox to advise on crypto-related businesses through his UNGOX ratings agency.

As for Mt Gox customers, they are due to be partially reimbursed under a US$3bln repayment programme from August 2022.
Great Western Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:GWMO) said it plans to create a joint venture (JV) to process gold and silver from waste material on its mineral concessions in Nevada, US.

The companys shares jumped as much as 23% in London after it announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with an experienced Nevada mining contractor.

Great Western and its proposed partner are negotiating a "fully-termed operating agreement", it said.

The JV will initially process material from Great Westerns Mineral Jackpot and Olympic Gold properties and material owned by the JV partner. The two companies will together source additional material from third parties for processing on a commercial basis.

Great Western said it has allocated up to US$100,000 to the JV to facilitate the detailed planning stage and submission to the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection.

The JV will process material using both gravity separation and a contained flotation system.

Most of the mine equipment identified by the JV will be pre-used, with refurbishment costs expected to be significantly lower than the cost of new equipment, and sourced locally, providing for economical start-up costs and a faster lead-time to commissioning, it said.

"At the end of 2020 we successfully produced a dore bar of gold and silver from spoil material at our Mineral Jackpot claims and established the potential for processing such material on a commercial scale, said chairman Brian Hall.

An initial low level gravity separation project was evaluated but this has since expanded as other material has been identified on our concessions, including significant tailings at the Olympic Gold Project.

The ingredients are now in place to create a commercial plant to handle such material from all our concessions, where available, as well as processing material for third parties on a commercial basis.

Great Western shares were up 16% at 0.15 pence by late morning, after touching 0.16p in earlier trading.
Silverton Metals is a Canadian company focused on the exploration and development of quality silver projects

Silverton Metals Corp (TSX-V:SVTN, OTCQB:SVTNF) has announced new appointments to replace officials who have resigned from the company.

The Vancouver-based explorer said Kyle Appleby has been appointed as chief financial officer (CFO) to replace Killian Ruby, who resigned on June 15, 2022, while Scott Margach has been appointed as a director to replace Barry Girling.

A chartered professional accountant, Appleby spent the first 10 years of his career as an accountant in private companies and investment funds but left in 2007 to focus on providing management and accounting services to public companies in a variety of industries including junior mining, food production, agriculture, cannabis, technology, and cryptocurrency.

The company noted that Appleby has been the CFO for numerous public listed companies in Canada, US and London, and has extensive experience in financial reporting, IPOs, fund-raising, and corporate governance for over 20 years.

A member in good standing with the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and Canada, Appleby is also a director of two other public companies.

Meanwhile, Margach is an experienced analyst and portfolio manager with a focus on fixed income and digital assets, having managed both Canadian and US public equities for more than 25 years, Silverton Metals said.

A chartered financial analyst, he has a consulting background in Environmental, Social and Governance issues for public companies.

A Canadian company focused on the exploration and development of quality silver projects, Silverton Metals holds a 100% interest in three significant silver assets in Mexico: Pluton in Durango, Penasco Quemado in Sonora, and La Frazada in Nayarit.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
The product will be available to more than 11,000 pharmacies across Canada in August, and for sale through Medisures website and clinic network

Empower Clinics Inc revealed the launch of its subsidiary Medisures latest blood glucose monitor.

The product will be available to more than 11,000 pharmacies across Canada in August, and for sale through Medisures website and clinic network.

The new blood glucose monitor showcases a number of improvements over previous iterations, Empower said, such as requiring smaller blood sample sizes, support for alternative sites on the body for blood removal, and improved testing strips for more accurate results.

Blood glucose monitors are essential for people with diabetes to help them manage their condition by measuring how much glucose is in their blood. Around 40 million people in the US and Canada have diabetes.

"The launch of this cutting edge medical test device for the millions who suffer from diabetes is another example of Medisure's vision to be a global leader for at-home testing solutions," Steven McAuley, CEO of Empower Clinics, said in a statement.

"We know that pharmacies across Canada have been eagerly awaiting the launch of this product because we've already received pre-launch orders. I'm very proud of the entire team at Medisure as they continue to be innovative and launch new products - like Vitamin D test kits and this new BGM - that have immediate market adoption with pre-launch orders."

Incorporating patient and physician feedback

Medisure president Mario Cortis added that the new blood glucose monitor was designed by leveraging the strengths of the earlier version and incorporating patient feedback.

"We're excited to launch and share this new BGM because it is a product that was built in partnership with patients, pharmacies and distributors, Cortis told investors.

Pre-launch orders is a testament to their belief in their partnership with Medisure. Based on this partnership model and ethos, we look forward to launching many more at-home testing solutions with our partners."

Vancouver-based Empower is an integrated healthcare company that provides body and mind wellness for patients through its clinics, with digital and telemedicine care, a medical device company and world-class medical diagnostics laboratories.

CEO McAuley told Proactive this new system is Bluetooth-enabled and requires a smaller blood sample size. It also has improved testing strips that improve accuracy and faster reaction time for results in less than six seconds.

--Updates with video interview--

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
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Emmerson PLC's (AIM:EML, OTC:EMSNF) Khemisset potash project is best-in-class and is key in ensuring global food security, that's according to stockbroker Liberum, which today repeated a 'buy' recommendation for the London-listed share.



War in Ukraine emphasised the need for reliable potash supply, the broker highlighted in a note spotlighting Emmersons project in Morocco.



With a target price of 14.2p the broker sees substantial upside to the current price of just over 7p.

Liberum's analysts, in a note, said that the company's latest market update has shown significant progress in terms of construction decisions and discussions with banks for financing.

The broker also pointed to advances in infrastructure plans, progress with geotechnical drilling and other work that has unlocked cost-effective construction options which together are expected to yield benefits and capital expenditure savings.

Emmerson also identified a better process water supply, which is obtained from the wastewater treatment plant at Khemisset city.

This is, according to Emmerson, scientifically robust, improves the security of supply and has a lower environmental impact.

Liberum meanwhile commented that 'dry' tailings - a sustainable method of storing filtered tailings - should yield multiple benefits to the company including environmental benefits and lower water consumption.
Nextleaf Solutions Ltd (CSE:OILS, OTCQB:OILFF) has announced the launch of its new CBD 3:1 vape under its award-winning prohibition-era brand Glacial Gold which is expected to hit the British Columbia market this summer and be distributed nationally through medical cannabis distribution partners.

The company said the Glacial Gold CBD 3:1 Vape was launching in a 1-gram format in its signature Berry Lemonade flavour, which the brand said was reminiscent of fresh-picked berries from the Fraser Valley.

The new vape will build off the success of the Glacial Gold Session THC Vape and Anytime 1:1 Vape by offering "an additional tier of potency at the accessible price point and quality the legacy brand is known for," according to Nextleaf.

Nextleaf CEO Paul Pedersen said the company was excited to build on the legacy of the Glacial Gold brand with its new vape product. He said the product filled a gap for consumers looking for a CBD vape that doesnt crystalize and clog like many of the other vapes on the market.

With Nextleaf's multi-patented extraction and distillation technology, we are able to control the quality and price of cannabinoid ingredients and position the Glacial Gold brand as a price-point value leader in all distillate-focused product categories, he said.

The company also announced that it set a monthly record for kilos of high-purity distilled THC and CBD ingredients sold to its licensed manufacturing partners during June, selling more than 100 kilograms of the ingredients to long-term and new partners.

Nextleaf is a federally regulated manufacturer and distributor of cannabis vapes and oils under the Glacial Gold brand.

Contact the author Emily Jarvie at emily.jarvie@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @emilyjjarvie
Konrad Sippel, head of research at Solactive AG joins Proactive to talk about the adoption of EV cars which is slowing down the infrastructure of charging facilities.

Sippel says the EU plan to ban the sale of internal combustion engine cars by 2035 will be a 'big inflection point' for the industry.

He believes this represents a big step for the EU moving towards the net-zero goal, and it also indicates that the market of EVs together with charging infrastructures will continuously expand as expected.
No whiff yet of Zhu and Davies whereabouts

Su Zhu, the aloof founder of bankrupt venture fund Three Arrows Capital, has broken his month-long silence with a combative message to 3ACs liquidators.

Zhus counsel Advocatus Law accused his funds liquidators of baiting our clients in contrast to representations that you were seeking to engage our clients in good faith.

Zhu shared a screenshot of the message in a July 12 Tweet.

Sadly, our good faith to cooperate with the Liquidators was met with baiting. Hope that they did exercise good faith wrt the StarkWare token warrants. pic.twitter.com/CF73xI8r6n  Zhu Su ???? (@zhusu) July 12, 2022

The letter accused the liquidator of reneging on a StarkWare token purchase offer that was allegedly agreed upon on July 8, which Advocatus Law believes may constitute a breach of duty.

The whereabouts of Su Zhu and fellow 3AC founder Kyle Davies remains a mystery after they went into hiding following the British Virgin Island-based funds collapse.

Where in the world is Su Zhu and Davies?

The latest filing from the New York Bankruptcy Court mentioned that they (Zhu and Davies) are rumoured to have left Singapore, although this cannot be confirmed.

Singapore is a small island, but Advocatus Laws note alluded to them still working on Singapore time.

Wherever they are, speculation is bound to circulate until the facts become clear.

Has anyone checked in on Kit Dotcom lately?
United Nations, July 12 : Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern over the recruitment of children by armed groups in India while saying that the UN has verified "54 grave violations against 49 children" in conflict situations in India and the recruitment of 18 boys by terrorist groups in Kashmir in 2021.

A report on children and armed conflict released on Monday asserted that 33 boys were detained by security forces in Kashmir for alleged association with "armed groups" - a euphemism for terrorist organisations - or on national security grounds.

The report said that security forces killed five children and maimed 29, of whom 19 were injured by pellets used by the Central Reserve Police Force.

Four children became victims of "unidentified perpetrators", seven in crossfire between "armed groups, and unidentified perpetrators", and four in crossfire and shelling across the line of control.

The report said that two teachers were killed by terrorists in Srinagar.

Giving a global picture, Guterres's Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, said, "Over 19,100 child victims of grave violations during 2021 in the 21 country and regional situations we monitored".

Guterres said that he welcomed "the legal and administrative framework for the protection of children and improved access to child protection services in Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir, and progress in the creation of a Jammu and Kashmir commission for the protection of children's rights".

"But". he added, "I remain concerned about the risk of child recruitment by armed groups in affected districts".

Guterres said that India may be removed from classification as a situation of concern in his report because of enhanced cooperation between India and the UN.

He cited the interaction between Gamba and the Indian government, including an inter-ministerial meeting in November and the appointment of a national focal point to enhance the protection of children.

He added that he also welcomed the agreement for technical-level meetings with the UN this year "to identify areas of enhanced cooperation for child protection".

The report listed Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the Palestinian Territory, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen as the areas where most of the grave violations took place.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)
Bhopal, July 12 : A BJP mayoral candidate in Madhya Pradesh during the election campaign was seen threatening people of a locality to stop all government facilities to them. A video of the incident went viral on social media.

In the video, Prahlad Patel, who is BJP's mayoral candidate for Ratlam municipal election, was campaigning in a locality in the district on Sunday. He was addressing the gathering of party workers and locals, meanwhile, he noticed Congress' flags were put up in some houses.

Seeing Congress' flags in some of the houses, Patel furiously asked a ward councillor (of BJP) to click pictures of houses where Congress flags are put up and deprive them of all (government) services. "No matter, if 5-10 people do not votes for us. Click picture and deprive them of all services," Patel was heard saying in video surfaced on social media.

Sources told IANS that Patel was upset after seeing Congress flags put up at a locality where he was campaigning after which he issued an open threat.

However, after the video surfaced on social media platform, Patel claimed that video was doctored to defame him. "I have requested district police to investigate the matter and whoever is behind this should be punished," Patel said.

Notably, Patel is facing a close contest against Congress' Mayank Jat in the Ratlam mayoral election. Voting for the last phase of municipal polls to be held on July 13.
Hong Kong: HK sees over 2.5k COVID-19 cases

(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 2,558 additional locally acquired COVID-19 cases, of which 1,103 were directly identified through nucleic acid tests and 1,455 via rapid antigen tests that were verified.

Separately, 211 imported cases were reported.

The centre added that two elderly care homes and two residential care homes for persons with disabilities have identified one positive case each involving residents.

It also received notifications of 369 positive cases from 285 schools.

Amid the recent increase in COVID-19 cases, the Hospital Authority announced an adjustment to its services so as to concentrate resources to cope with the epidemic.

The authoritys Chief Manager (Patient Safety & Risk Management) Dr Sara Ho said: The number of confirmed cases is increasing along a rising trend and the number of confirmed cases at in-patient facilities has reached a thousand already. This has inevitably caused an impact on our hospital services.

In some hospitals and some clusters, we started to readjust the quota for elective surgeries, such as the endoscopy services, elective cardiac interventions and some of the elective surgeries for some benign tumours.

Meanwhile, the Government made a restriction-testing declaration to cover Heng Shing House of Fu Heng Estate in Tai Po, requiring people in the restricted area to undergo compulsory testing before the specified deadline.

As there were positive sewage test results with relatively high viral loads in several residential estates and buildings in North District, Eastern District and Yuen Long, the Housing Department and respective district offices will distribute COVID-19 rapid test kits to relevant residents as well as cleaning workers and property management staff working there.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Governments dedicated webpage.

This story has been published on: 2022-07-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Medical staff of the 9th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Mali transfer Egyptian peacekeepers injured in a bomb attack to the Chinese Level-II Hospital run by the Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent under MINUSMA on July 5, 2022, local time.. (Photo by Sun Zhaoshun)

GAO, Mali, July 12 -- On the morning of July 5, local time, the 9th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Mali successfully rescued five Egyptian peacekeepers injured in a bomb attack.

On the morning of July 5, a detachment of the Egyptian peacekeeping convoy battalion was hit by a bomb while carrying out an escort mission. At 10:15 a.m., the duty office of the 9th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Mali received a notification from the Sector East of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) that the wounded Egyptian peacekeepers would be transferred via helicopter to the Chinese Level-II Hospital run by the contingent for emergency treatment.

After 4 hours of all-out rescue, the vital signs of 4 wounded Egyptian peacekeepers recovered and got stable, and then they were transferred to a hospital in Dakar, capital of Senegal for further treatment in accordance with medical procedures. The other one severely injured by explosives was in critical condition with multiple open fractures throughout the body and soft tissue defect and hemorrhagic shock. After receiving a surgery operation in the German peacekeeping medical contingents Level-I Hospital, he was transferred to the ICU ward of the Chinese Level-II Hospital for monitoring and treatment. His vital signs are stable currently.

Five Egyptian peacekeepers injured in a bomb attack are sent to the Chinese Level-II Hospital run by the Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent under MINUSMA on July 5, 2022, local time. (Photo by Sun Zhaoshun)

Doctors of the Chinese Level-II Hospital run by the Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent under MINUSMA provide emergency treatment to the Egyptian peacekeepers injured in a bomb attack on July 5, 2022, local time. (Photo by Sun Zhaoshun)

Doctors of the Chinese Level-II Hospital run by the Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent under MINUSMA provide emergency treatment to the Egyptian peacekeepers injured in a bomb attack on July 5, 2022, local time. (Photo by Sun Zhaoshun)
Ahmedabad, July 12 : As many as 63 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Gujarat since June 1, of these maximum 33 died due to lightning strikes.

At least eight were killed due to wall collapses, drownings (16), fall of trees (5) and power pole collapse (1), the state Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi said on Monday.

A total of 10,674 citizens from Anand, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Kutch, Porbandar, Chhotaudepur, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad, Narmada and Vadodara districts were relocated by the administration; out of which 6,853 have returned home while approximately 3,821 are at the shelter homes provided by the government.

Addressing a press conference, Trivedi said that a red alert has been issued for heavy rains in Bharuch, Chhotaudepur, Narmada, Surat, Tapi, Dang, Navsari and Valsad districts in the state. A total of 18 teams of NDRF and SDRF are deployed for rescue operations in the rain-hit districts.

Stating that the administration is fully equipped to deal with the rainfall situation in the state, he said that the Chief Minister is constantly reviewing the rainfall situation.

Adequate food and water facilities are being provided to affected residents by the administration. An estimated 508 civilians have so far been successfully rescued from five districts amid heavy rainfall.

A total of 25 houses and 11 huts have been damaged since June 1, the minister said, adding that an estimated 272 cattle have died in the state so far.

Notably, more than nine districts in Gujarat have been witnessing heavy rains for the last 48 hours, affecting almost everyone from these districts. Many people have lost their homes and belongings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to take stock of the situation in the state. The Prime Minister has assured all necessary help, including the NDRF deployment in the rain affected regions of the state.

Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar, during discussions with officials of Bharuch, Tapi, Narmada, Surat, Valsad, Dang and Chhotaudepur districts, has instructed officials to carry out relief operations with an approach of zero casualty.

Health Minister and Minister in charge of Ahmedabad Hrishikesh Patel visited various places in Ahmedabad and assessed the situation.
United Nations, July 12 : A UN population expert has speculated that India becoming the world's most populous country could strengthen its claim to a permanent seat on the Security Council.

UN Population Division Director John Wilmoth said on Monday that India's emergence as the country with the largest population could lead to "certain claims on things".

According to the World Population Prospects report, India's population is projected to be 1.429 billion next year when China's would be 1.426 billion.

Wilmoth was asked about the significance of the change in global population rankings that he said would happen next year four years sooner than earlier projections.

He replied, "I wonder what will happen in terms of the discussion around roles at the UN and the roles of the Permanent Five members of the Security Council if India becomes the largest country (and) they may think that gives them a claim?" "They've been claiming that they should be part of that group (of permanent members) anyway, but, you know, it may strengthen their claim," he added.

While the previous reports had expected India's population to overtake China's in 2027, the timeline changed to next year because of updates to the data about China, he said.

China had conducted its census in 2020, while India could not hold it as scheduled in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

November 15 will mark a milestone for the global population when the eight billionth baby is projected to be born.

Assistant Secretary-General Maria-Francesca Spatolisano said that on that day the world's population will cross the 8 billion-mark.

She said, "This historic moment calls for celebration: population growth is a tangible sign of our collective success in improving the living conditions of everyday people".

But it will also pose challenges for development as the needs of the growing population would have to be met.

Discussing the population dynamics of the two most populous countries, Wilmoth said that India's gradual approach of reducing population growth could be better in the long run.

China's population growth reduction slowed very rapidly because it was done in "a more drastic way" in the 1970s and 1980s and was "very effective", he said.

But "It also inverted the age distribution and now they're concerned in China about the top-heavy nature of the age distribution, more and more older people relative to the rest of the population", he said.A On the other hand, he said, "India had a much smoother transition, it brought the fertility rate down more slowly".

"That means there aren't the same kind of discontinuities in the historical patterns and there hasn't been the same very rapid ageing of the population, although ageing will come there as well, but it's just it will be a more gradual process", he said.

He added, "And in some ways that may be better to manage a better circumstance in the long run, for the economy to have that kind of more gradual demographic change than the very rapid change that's happened in China".

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)
Lucknow, July 12 : A gang that tampers with electricity meters for money got a 'shock' of their lives when they unknowingly called up an executive engineer of the Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA) and offered their services.

Executive engineer, (Restructured - Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme), Arvind Singh, received a call wherein the caller made an offer that if he gives Rs 5,000 cash, his meter would be fine-tuned to show lower reading and his monthly bill would come down.

Arvind lured the caller to visit his residence, where a team of Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA), trans-Gomti, led by executive engineer Indiranagar, Ghanshyam, was waiting.

As soon as the caller, Prashant Gupta, reached there with his aide Deepak Kumar Maurya, the team caught the duo and recovered an ID card of a company, meter sealing billing book, polycarbonate meter seal and two smartphones which had videos of meter tampering.

Prashant is a former contractual staff of a firm which was hired in 2020 to install 28,000 smart meters in Lucknow.

According to the FIR, the firm's project manager Jai Bhagwan Pal identified Prashant as a former employee who had not submitted his ID card.

Pal said, "The equipment recovered from Prashant and Deepak does not belong to the company. Prashant used to work as an electrician in our firm and had left the company a year ago." Chief executive engineer, LESA (trans-Gomti), Anil Kumar Tiwari said, "Tampering of meter is a serious offence and it causes losses to discom. We are yet to ascertain if there are more men in the gang, and if they have really managed to tamper with the meters." The gang has been handed over to the police.
Lucknow, July 12 : In a change of strategy, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is now reaching out to Dalits in a big way in Uttar Pradesh.

RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary has asked his party's MLAs in Uttar Pradesh to ensure that more than 35 per cent of the total spending under 'vidhayak nidhi' (MLA Local Area Development Fund (MLALAD) should be spent for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

The RLD has eight MLAs in the UP Vidhan Sabha, and each MLA or MLC in the state gets an amount of Rs 5 crore every year to spend on development works in his or her constituency.

RLD national spokesman Anil Dubey said that Jayant had written a letter to his MLAs and legislature party leader Rajpal Baliyan, emphasising the need to spend more than 35 per cent of their 'vidhayak nidhi' on the works connected to the welfare of the SCs.

"The RLD chief has also asked Baliyan to direct MLAs to keep a keen watch on the atrocities against the SCs and the Backward Castes and raise their issues in the Vidhan Sabha from time to time," Dubey said.

This is the first time that the RLD is aiming at a vote bank beyond its core Jat vote base.
Varanasi, July 12 : The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), under the aegis of Union Ministry of Culture will celebrate the forthcoming Ashadha Purnima on Wednesday (July 13) the Dharma Chakra Pravartana Divas at Mulagandha Kuti Vihara, Sarnath.

This is the annual flagship event of IBC and the second most sacred day for Buddhists after the Buddha Purnima or the Vaishakha Purnima.

IBC is hosting a grand event at Mulagandha Kuti Vihara where the Sakhyamuni's Holy relic is enshrined.

This is in keeping with the historical legacy of India, the land of Buddha's enlightenment, his turning of the wheels of Dhamma and Mahaparinirvana.

A video address by President of India, Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be presented at the outset of the programme where other speakers include Governor of Uttar Pradesh Anandiben Patel and Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi Many other dignitaries and the patriarchs of Buddhist Sanghas, eminent Masters and Scholars from around the world and IBC chapters, member organisations will be participating in the event.

The focus of the 'Talks and Presentations' will be on the "Significance of Ashadha Purnima".

It will also include a live demonstration of Nalanda Debate which involves two debaters arguing on their understanding of Dharma in the Tibetan language, with a translator explaining each one's arguments. This demonstration will provide a glimpse of the Buddhist version, nuances of the Dharma and its practice in the Monasteries around the country, as a learning method for the young Monks of today.

It may be recalled that it was at Sarnath that Buddha gave his first sermon, setting the wheel of dharma in motion.

The auspicious day of Ashadha Purnima which falls on the full moon day of the month of Ashadha as per Indian lunar calendar is also known as Esala Poya in Sri Lanka and Asanha Bucha in Thailand.

The day marks Buddha's first teaching after attaining Enlightenment to the first five ascetic disciples on the full-moon day of Ashadha at 'Deer Park', (Risipatana Mrigadaya) in the present day Sarnath, near Varanasi.

This teaching of Dharma Chakra Pravartana Sutra (Sanskrit) is also known as the Turning of Wheels of Dharma and comprises the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

The rainy season retreat (Varsha Vassa) for the monks and nuns also starts with this day lasting for three lunar months from July to October, during which they remain in a single place, generally in their temples dedicated to intensive meditation. They are served during this period by the lay community who also observe eight precepts and meditate under the guidance of their teachers.

The day is also observed as Guru Purnima by both Buddhists and Hindus as a day to mark reverence to their Gurus.

The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) was formed in 2012 as a global umbrella Buddhist body with headquarters in New Delhi.

Established under the patronage of the supreme Buddhist religious hierarchy, it currently has a membership drawn from 39 countries, of over 320 organisations, both monastic and lay, that include world bodies, national and regional federations, orders, temple bodies and monasteries and international organizations, institutions etc.

The IBC stands for the preservation, development and promotion of Buddhist heritage, both tangible and intangible worldwide, especially the holy sites like Bodh Gaya in India, where Buddha attained Enlightenment.
Moscow, July 12 : Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the development of bilateral economic cooperation and the situation in Ukraine during a telephone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Both leaders "focused on tasks to further promote economic cooperation, including measures to improve the contractual legal framework, boost trade and use national currencies in transactions, as well as to ensure uninterrupted supplies of Russian energy," the Kremlin said on Monday.

"The two leaders agreed on close interaction in these areas at the level of the co-chairs of the bilateral intergovernmental commission and the leaders of relevant agencies," it added.

Putin and Erdogan also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, including ways in which both countries can coordinate efforts to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea, and the export of grain to global markets, Xinhua news agency reported, The Turkish President said that it is time for the UN "to take action for the plan regarding the formation of secure corridors through the Black Sea for the grain export," according to Turkey's presidential office.

He added Turkey is ready "to provide all kinds of support for the revival of the negotiation process" between Russia and Ukraine.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
San Francisco, July 12 : The younger sister, Tosca Musk, of tech billionaire Elon Musk, said that she is incredibly proud of her older brother, media reports say.

Tosca Musk is the CEO and founder of Passionflix, which is a premium streaming service focusing on romance. It focuses on bringing romance novels to life on the screen.

Tosca said she is proud of her older brother and that his goals to help humanity are beyond what anyone can imagine, citing her interview with The Sunday Times, Teslarati reported.

She also shared that she does not like it when her children hear negative jokes on YouTube about her brother. And they also don't understand why people would say harsh things about their uncle.

"I am incredibly proud of my older brother. He is a phenomenon. He is exceptional in so many ways and his goals to help humanity are beyond anything that anybody can imagine. So there is no taint at all," she was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Musk has recently walked out of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter and the microblogging site is planning to sue him. He had put the deal on hold over the actual number of spam/fake accounts and bots on the platform and sought a reply from Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.

The "board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement," Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor said in a tweet recently.

"We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery," he added.

In reply, Musk poked fun at the microblogging platform .
New Delhi, July 12 : The BJP on Tuesday attacked the Trinamool Congress for not taking action against its MP Mahua Moitra for her controversial remarks on Goddess Kali, and asked whether the party would suspend her.

The BJP also claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's silence over Moitra's comment has angered Hindu Bengalis, both in and outside the state.

Sharing a video, West Bengal BJP co-incharge Amit Malviya tweeted, "Y'day, Suvendu Adhikari, BJP's LoP in West Bengal led a massive march in Krishnanagar, constituency represented by TMC MP, whose obnoxious portrayal of Maa Kaali and Mamata Banerjee's silence on it, has angered Hindu Bengalis, both in and outside WB. When will TMC suspend Moitra?" Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked Goddess Kali during his speech on the birth centenary celebration of Swami Atmasthananda on Sunday.

Referring to Prime Minister's speech Malviya had tweeted, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks reverentially about Maa Kali being the centre of devotion, not just for Bengal but whole of India. On the other hand, a TMC MP insults Maa Kali, and Mamata Banerjee instead of acting against her, defends her obnoxious portrayal of Maa Kali." "Smarting under public rebuke from Mamata Banerjee, TMC MP is using repeat defiance on the issue of Maa Kali to humiliate her, diminish her stature as a leader, knowing fully well that she wouldn't be able to act against her, for fear of angering her Muslim vote bank," Malviya had said.

While responding to a question on a controversial film poster showing a woman decked as Goddess Kaali smoking, Moitra said that "for her Goddess Kaali is a meat-eating and alcohol accepting goddess".
Los Angeles, July 12 : The latest and most contagious versions of Omicron subvariants, known as BA.5 and BA.4, have accounted for more than 70 per cent of new Covid-19 infections in the US, leading to new surge in cases and hospitalisations nationwide.

BA.5 became the dominant variant in the US, making up about 54 per cent of new cases in the week ending July 2, according to data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Another highly transmissible subvariant, BA.4, made up about 17 per cent more, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two subvariants are more contagious than earlier variants of Omicron, and also appear to evade protection from vaccines and previous infections more easily than most of their predecessors, according to health experts.

"These new variants could indeed pose threats to existing protection from previous infections or vaccines. There are many uncertainties," Jeffrey Sachs, Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

David Montefiori, a professor at the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University Medical Center, estimated that BA.4 and BA.5 are about three times less sensitive to neutralising antibodies from existing Covid vaccines than the original version of the Omicron variant, BA.1.

Other research suggested that BA.4 and BA.5 are four times more resistant to antibodies from vaccines than BA.2, which replaced the Omicron variant as the dominant version of the coronavirus in the US in April.

Bob Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said BA.5 manages to at least partially sidestep some of the immunity people may have from prior infections and vaccinations.

"Cases are already rising again in the US, and could rise substantially later this summer or in the fall, when there is a return to offices, schools and other indoor facilities," Sachs told Xinhua.

The country is now averaging about 106,000 new Covid-19 cases and 300 new deaths each day, according to CDC data.

But experts believe the CDC case counts tremendously underestimated the true numbers because some people are no longer getting tested, and some others are testing at home and not reporting the results.

"I think that we will see increased BA.5 activity, hopefully without substantial increases in hospitalisation or death," Stanley Perlman, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, told Xinhua.

"We are still far from over this pandemic. We need intensified global cooperation, most importantly between the US, China and European Union, to ensure that all of the world takes appropriate control measures and has the necessary access to diagnostics, drugs, vaccines and other necessary control technologies," Sachs told Xinhua.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Ramnagar : , July 12 (IANS) The Karnataka Police have arrested eight Bangladesh nationals, including a woman in Ramnagar district.

The accused had sneaked into India and reached Doddaballapur and from there they came to Ramnagar, the neighbouring district of Bengaluru, police said on Tuesday.

According to police, the illegal immigrants managed to get a job in a local garment factory and rented out a house in Ramnagar.

The accused, seven men and two women, reached Ramnagar 15 days ago in search of a job. The police acting on a tip tracked them and took them into custody.

One woman managed to escape from the police and a hunt has been launched to track and detain her. The accused claimed that they are from West Bengal and got the job and rented a house in Ramnagar.

The Karnataka Police recently busted a major racket of accommodating Bangladesh nationals in Bengaluru. The gang, which colluded with the local government officers, was successful in providing all documents to prove that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are Indian nationals.

The gang also created multiple bank accounts across the country to enable Bangladesh nationals to send money to their family members from Bengaluru and surrounding areas.
San Francisco, July 12 : The founders of bankrupt cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) have vanished and the officials charged with liquidating the company were looking for their whereabouts.

The mega fund, founded by Credit Suisse traders Zhu Su and Kyle Davies, once managed an estimated $10 billion in assets.

Now, both Zhu Su and Kyle Davies are missing, reports The Verge.

According to a court document, Zhu and Davies' whereabouts are currently unknown.

Its liquidators said they have not received "any meaningful cooperation" from the duo.

A British Virgin Islands court has tasked business management company Teneo to oversee 3AC's liquidation.

The Singapore-based 3AC filed for bankruptcy in the US earlier this month to protect its assets from creditors.

The bankruptcy came as popular crypto tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum nosedived by nearly 70 per cent from their record highs amid the economic meltdown.

3AC defaulted on a more than $650 million loan provided by crypto broker Voyager Digital, which has also filed for bankruptcy.

Voyager had significant investments in 3AC, which failed to make payments on a loan of 15,250 Bitcoins and $350 million USDCs -- that makes the loan worth more than $650 million.

3AC also reportedly failed to repay $270 million to crypto exchange blockchain.com.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore had slammed Three Arrows for providing false information and breaching an asset under management threshold, the report noted.
Chennai, July 12 : Six fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy near Karainagar on charges of poaching in the waters of that nation.

All the six are from Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu and had set sail from the Jagadapattinam harbour on Monday.

The fishermen, according to information available, ventured into the sea onboard a mechanized vessel on Monday and were arrested late at night.

Those arrested are K. Karthik (24) who is the owner of the vessel and lives in Jagadapattinam, P. Devaraj (35), M. Suresh (43), I. Velmurugan (27), I.Sundaram (47) and K. Thirumeni (31).

Sources in the Tamil Nadu Coastal Police told IANS that according to information available, they were taken to Mayilatti harbour for further questioning.

Many fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and their mechanized boats impounded. The Sri Lankan Navy had even advertised the sale of the confiscated boats in the local newspapers.

In Ramanathapuram, Dhanushkodi, and other coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, fishermen had taken to the streets and blocked the highways earlier against the arrests of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Los Angeles, July 12 : American television star Jen Shah, who is known for her work in the reality TV series, 'The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City', has pleaded guilty on criminal fraud charges.

The charges are linked to an alleged telemarketing scheme, according to court documents obtained by 'Variety'.

Having pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier, Shah entered the plea on Monday morning (Pacific Standard Time) in Manhattan federal court, one week ahead of the planned trial, which was scheduled to begin on July 18.

'Variety' further states that Shah and others were previously accused of scamming hundreds of elderly people through a wide-ranging telemarketing scheme in the US. The situation has been a storyline on Bravo's 'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City', where Shah is known for her over-the-top lifestyle, glitzy fashion, many assistants, crying, screaming, throwing drinks and continuous denials.

In addition to time behind bars, the plea agreement calls for Shah to make restitution in an amount of more than $9 million to victims, as well as forfeiture of $6 million.

At the recent hearing, Shah's attorney, Priya Chaudhry, said the reality star would like to withdraw her plea of not guilty. Shah admitted to wrongdoing, apologised to the judge and said she would not appeal if the sentencing is for 168 months or fewer.

Shah told Judge Sidney Stein in court, reading from a prepared statement, according to 'ABC News' and quoted by 'Variety', "In 2012 to March 2021 in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, I agreed with others to commit wire fraud," "I knew this was wrong. I knew many people were harmed and I'm so sorry." The maximum penalty on the count of conviction is 30 years of imprisonment. Under the terms of her plea deal, Shah's sentencing guidelines are between 135 to 168 months of imprisonment (between 11 and 14 years), though the judge can choose to sentence Shah above or below that timeframe.
New Delhi, July 12 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has confirmed his participation in the first I2U2 leadership summit to be held virtually on Thursday.

The summit aims to encourage joint investments in six mutually identified areas -- water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security.

It also intends to mobilise private sector capital and expertise to help modernise the infrastructure, low carbon development pathways for our industries, improve public health, and promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies.

To strengthen the economic partnership in trade and investment in respective regions and beyond, the leaders will discuss the possible joint projects within the framework of I2U2 as well as the other common areas of mutual interest.

These projects can serve as a model for economic cooperation and offer opportunities for the businesspersons and workers.

The I2U2 Grouping was conceptualised during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the four countries held on October 18, 2021. Each country also has Sherpa-level interactions regularly to discuss the possible areas of cooperation.

Israel Prime Minister Yair Lapid, President of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and President of the USA Joseph R. Biden will be attending the summit.
Mumbai, July 12 : Screenwriter and author Jon Spaihts, who has famously penned the scripts for the 2016 superhero film 'Doctor Strange' and Denis Villeneuve's epic sci-fi movie 'Dune' is heavily impressed with Indian filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli's epic period drama 'RRR', which stars Telugu superstars Ram Charan and Jr NTR in lead roles along with Bollywood actors Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt.

Jon took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the film. Showering praise, he tweeted with the film's still: "Holy hell, RRR. Has any movie ever packed more movie into a movie? What a ride. Still thinking about it a couple days later (sic)." The movie team has shared the same with the world through their social media handle. Not just Jon Spaihts, but several known Hollywood celebs have been lauding the film for its content, ever since it started streaming on Netflix.

Earlier in June, Doctor Strange screenwriter C. Robert Cargill watched the movie and shared his review on Twitter. Sharing his reaction to the period drama, Cargill wrote: "Friends came over last night to initiate me into the cult of RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt) and I'm here to report I am now fully, truly, deeply a member." He also described RRR as "the craziest, most sincere, weirdest blockbuster I've ever seen." Cargill added that he was quite certain that he was going to watch the movie once again with his partner.

RRR opened in theatres worldwide on March 25 this year. It is set in colonial India and narrates a fictional story of two freedom fighters, Komaram Bheem, a tribal rebel leader played by Jr NTR, and Alluri Sitarama Raju played by Ram, who infiltrates the British police forces for a coveted mission.
Mumbai, July 12 : Actor and producer Derek Dauchy, who is known for 'Across the Universe', has co-produced the film,'The Ambush'.

He delves into detail to discuss the shooting of the film and working experience with director Pierre Morel.

While discussing the stunts, and equipment used in the film, Derek said: "We knew we needed to have some top-notch action - vehicles, people as well, so, we had a terrific team in from the UK that worked sort of hand-in-glove with the Emirati military.

"They all worked together to really make sure that the vehicles were kind of the star of the show in addition to our cast, but really those vehicles had to be real and believable. We had to be able to show damage to those vehicles in a real and believable way which is why we had some tremendous special effects team on board from France and George Demetrau, who is a genius as far as effects go." "He was able to really create explosives, RPGs, bullet hits and any number of things that really show these vehicles really being attacked in a way that felt very realistic while still trying to minimise the damage done to the actual vehicle. So, those were really the keys to trying to pull this off and make that work.

"Sharing his experience of working with Pierre Morel, Derek added: "We knew it was going to be a big action movie, you know, a war movie with things blowing up everywhere and guns firing pretty much from the jump." "Pierre's a terrific storyteller, and we've both really worked hard with the writers on the script as well just to really kind of dig down because originally, we spent more time setting up the antagonists in the story, and we kind of both came to the same conclusion that we need to tell the story about the men that were there," Derek concluded.During the Yemen War, the Emirati soldiers headquartered in Mocha, Yemen are dispatched on a mission.

'The Ambush' is about how three of these soldiers are attacked in enemy territory, and their captain organises a daring rescue effort.

'The Ambush' produced by Derek Dauchy and Jennifer Roth, directed by Pierre Morel will premiere on July 15 on Lionsgate Play.
New Delhi, July 12 : The RBI is aiming to de-dollarize global trade and the Indian economy, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a report.

In another move aimed at supporting the currency, the RBI allowed international trade settlement in INR on Monday.

"In order to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of the global trading community in INR, it has been decided to put in place an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports and imports in INR," the press release issued by the RBI stated.

While this seems like a welcome initiative, we believe that it is a long drawn process and is likely to play out fully over decades.

Implementation of this process will require extensive deliberations with trading partners. The success of this measure will depend on how many of them are willing to trade in the INR.

There is a possibility that if India asks for its import settlement in INR, the trading partner may ask for its import settlement in its local currency, which indicates that RBI, along with other central banks, will have to hold their foreign exchange reserves in many currencies. If so, it could further increase volatility and fluctuations in the currency market, the report said.

Foreign exchange reserves held with the RBI comprise four components -- foreign currency assets (FCA), gold, Special Drawing Rights (SDR), and reserve tranche position (RTP) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On an average, 93 per cent of total foreign exchange reserves constitute FCA. The latter is maintained with the RBI as a multi-currency portfolio comprising major currencies (such as the US dollar, Euro, Pound sterling, and the Japanese yen), and is valued in USD terms.

This move can also help reduce the effectiveness of US sanctions recently imposed on Russia on account of its invasion of Ukraine, or sanctions imposed even otherwise. If the INR has to play an international role, it needs to be more freely determined.
Sao Paulo, July 12 : Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has announced his government has reached a deal to begin importing diesel fuel from Russia as part of measures to lower fuel prices at home.

"It is settled. In 60 days diesel can start to arrive in Brazil from Russia," Bolsonaro told journalists from the government headquarters in Brasilia on Monday.

The President defended the decision to import Russian diesel, saying it is cheaper than other foreign suppliers chosen by the state oil company Petrobras, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Brazil imports nearly 30 per cent of the diesel consumed in the country. We must import from those who sell at a better price and not accept the price of those who charge more," Bolsonaro said.

Brazil is neutral in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, he added, adding that he met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow in February, and the two leaders agreed to maintain the supply of fertilisers for Brazilian agribusiness.
San Francisco, July 12 : After experiencing a series of issues in the recent past, several Google Pixel 6 users have now reported black spots that have started appearing on their phones' screens.

On social media sites like Twitter, Reddit, and the Google Support website, several Google Pixel 6 users expressed their concern about the black dot on their smartphone's screen.

"I had some dead pixels from the front-facing camera. I didn't drop the phone or damage the screen so I have no idea how it happened. The repair was free under warranty, it just took forever lol. Been using my work Pixel 6 with my T-Mobile sim in the meantime," a user wrote on the microblogging site.

"I noticed a black dot has appeared next to the inner camera lens. Is this a software or a hardware issue? It is about the same size as the camera but a bit more oval... Already tried restarting. Hasn't solved anything," a user wrote on Reddit.

On the support page, a Pixel 6 Pro user complained about black spots and mentioned that Google support (chat/call) is not helping either.

"The screen has developed a black dot that appears to be growing. The phone has not been dropped and has been updated," the user wrote.

The Google Pixel 6 series never seems to run out of bugs.

Recently, the Google Pixel 6 series appeared to be suffering from another bug as some Pixel owners reported that their phones were failing to ring when there was an incoming call.

Pixel 6 and 6 Pro were automatically rejecting some phone calls from their saved contacts without even ringing their devices.
United Nations, July 12 : The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution on strengthening connectivity between Central and South Asia.

The resolution signed on Monday recognises the importance of cooperation in establishing safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport networks with a view to achieving transport connectivity across Central and South Asia, Xinhua news agency reported.

It encourages the continuation and advancement of cooperation between Central and South Asia by expanding transport and information and communications technologies infrastructure and creating new international transport corridors that open convenient, sustainable, commercially viable, affordable, accessible, inclusive and safe routes to sea ports.

It recognises the importance of Afghanistan's potential role in connecting Central and South Asia, as well as its economic development and integration into interregional economic processes for lasting peace and stability.

The resolution emphasises the importance of developing potential tourist routes covering the historical and cultural centers of the Central and South Asian states, and supports the efforts of Central and South Asia to further strengthen relationships between the regions and their people, including in the fields of education, science and technology, innovation, tourism, culture, art and sports.

It recognises the importance of energy connectivity between Central and South Asia.

It recognises the significant potential of regional economic integration and interconnectivity to promote inclusive growth and sustainable development, commits to strengthening regional cooperation and regional trade agreements, and encourages multilateral development banks, in collaboration with other stakeholders, to address gaps in trade, transport and transit-related regional infrastructure.

The resolution was drafted by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Jaipur, July 12 : Ajmer Dargah Committee on Tuesday issued a notice banning any kind of statement, slogan, photo and video display from Dargah Sharif. This notice has been pasted at Nizam's Gate.

"Wrong comments, slogans and statements hurt the dignity of the dargah. Legal action will be taken for making controversial remarks from Dargah," said the notice.

It comes at a time when provocative statements/slogans raised by clerics are going viral.

Recently, the Chairman of the Chisti foundation in Ajmer and the Gaddi Nashin-Dargah Ajmer Sharif, Haji Syed Salman Chishti denounced 'anti-Islamic' and 'anti-humanity' slogans. "We completely denounce the slogans which are anti-Islamic & anti-humanity. They are the real culprits who are bringing these slogans of violence, death & destruction," he said.

"To hear such slogans which aren't attached to Dargah Ajmer Sharif & some individuals who have raised these slogans - we denounce & boycott them completely. The world should know that this has nothing to do with Ajmer Dargah Sharif or the community of Ghareeb Nawaz," Chishty added.

"Such slogans & call for violence are un-Islamic, anti-Islamic, anti-humanity & anti-society. The authorities should take note of such individuals & exemplary punishment should be given to them. This is an issue of radical ideology which has been creeping up," Chishty noted.

Tuesday's notice and Salman Chishty's denouncing comes in the backdrop of provocative statements issued by dargah clerics over the controversial statement given by Nupur Sharma on Prophet Mohammad.
Colombo, July 12 : The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) on Tuesday denied social media reports that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is currently staying in a private house belonging to Air Force Chief, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana.

The SLAF said a video released by Ajith Dharmapala, a former police officer who claims to be the President of the International Organisation to Devoid Sri Lankan Police from Politics, claimed that the President is staying in a private house belonging to the Air Force Commander, the Daily Mirror reported.

The SLAF Spokesman Dushan Wijesinghe said that there is no truth behind the reports and it was a "propaganda" to tarnish the image of the SLAF and its Chief.
Gandhinagar, July 12 : The Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) has seized 70 kg heroin worth more than Rs 375 crore from the container freight station at Mundra port.

Director General of Police (DGP) Ashish Bhatia said in a media briefing, "There was specific intelligence input that few containers imported from Dubai carrying 'clothes' were lying at the Mundra container freight station for some time. Since India is a leading textile exporter, the police got suspicious as to why should somebody import clothes in large quantity from Dubai. On inspection, the ATS personnel unearthed the large quantity of drugs from the containers." The containers were reportedly meant to be taken to Punjab.

"We got suspicious as the containers were filled only one third, which seldom happens. There were 540 textile rolls, out of which 64 carried heroin. To bypass the X-ray machine, plastic rappers were used to conceal the drugs, while cello tapes were used to cover the plastic layer," Bhatia said.

The officer said the investigating team is is on the lookout for the persons who booked the containers and made the payment.

In 2021, the state police had seized 67 tonnes of heroine, which was almost six times more that the 12 tonnes seized in 2020.
Kolkata, July 12 : Acute rainfall shortage in the farming belts of Gangetic West Bengal is posing a major threat to crop production in the state.

According to statistics of the state agriculture department, till July 11, there had been a 62 per cent deficit in normal rainfall in Gangetic West Bengal.

"Till date, the average rainfall in this pocket has been 65 mm, as against the normal average of 170 mm, thus resulting in a deficit of 62 per cent," said a senior official of the state agriculture department who refused to be named.

As a result of this massive rainfall deficit, around 95 per cent of the farmland has remained arid during the current farming season. The worst-affected on this count has been paddy farming.

It is learnt that during the current season, the target for paddy sowing was for 42 lakh hectares of land. However, till date, paddy is sown only in 2.08 lakh hectares.

Again, out of 2.08 lakh hectares of land, sowing of Aus paddy has been possible for 1.1 lakh hectares of land, thus posing grave uncertainty for production of this particular variety of paddy during the current farming season. On the other hand, till date, Aman paddy can be sown in 97,000 hectares of land.

What has really kept the state agriculture department worried is the rate of rowing in East Burdwan district, which is traditionally considered as West Bengal's granary.

Rowing for Aman paddy has been possible only on 3,280 hectares of land in this district, while the figure for Aus paddy is just 1,697 hectares.

According to agriculture expert and leader of All India Kisan Sabha, Samar Ghosh, the condition is really alarming as the seedbeds in majority of the farmland have totally dried out.

"To my opinion paddy production in West Bengal, especially Aus paddy, is heading for a massive shortfall this reason," he said.

However, the principal agriculture advisor to the state government, P Majumdar feels that all hopes are not gone since generally in West Bengal, the work for rowing of paddy seeds continues till the middle of August and hence sufficient rainfall in the next few days can make up for the shortfall to a great extent.

Economist PK Mukhopadhyay feels that this change in the rainfall pattern will render sharecroppers of the state jobless this season.
New Delhi, July 12 : Almost a week after asking the edible oil associations to cut down on MRP by at least Rs 15 per litre in line with the reduction in international prices, the Centre has issued a strict reminder, warning that it is keeping a watch on prices of edible oil.

One of the prominent associations said on Tuesday that it takes about 10-15 days of buffer for the prices to cool down and cannot happen overnight.

Secretary in the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), Sudhanshu Pandey, on Monday wrote a strong reminder to the prominent edible oil associations such as the Solvents and Extractors Association of India (SEAI), Indian Vegetable Oil Producers' Association (IVPA) and Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA), asking those who have not yet reduced prices to immediately do so.

The DFPD had held a meeting last week with the various associations after edible oil prices in the international markets spiralled down, prompting the government to direct them to reduce the MRP by at least Rs 15 per litre.

First the Russia-Ukraine war and then the ban on export of palm oil by Indonesia had led to price escalation. Things started changing in the international market when Indonesia lifted the ban and also there was an increase in availability of sunflower oil from Ukraine by road.

"Pandey's letter on Monday reminded the associations of that meeting and again directed those companies which have not yet reduced oil prices to immediately take action so that the benefits of reduced prices in the international markets are passed on to the common consumers," sources said.

The Centre also suggested involving board members from the industry in the process of deciding price ranges so that it is beneficial to both the industry and the DFPD.

B.V. Mehta of Solvent and Extractors Association of India told IANS that the prices cannot be cooled down overnight.

"We have forwarded the ministry's letter and asked our members to act accordingly. But one must understand that we do not send our goods to the market on a daily basis. Those that are already in the market will be sold at old rates only. The new rates would be effective within 10-15 days," Mehta said.
Kiev, July 12 : On July 12 morning, 34 people were found dead under the rubble of a five-storey residential building in Ukraine's Chasiv Yar which suffered a Russian attack on July 9.

Nine civilians sustained injuries in the attack, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, Head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram.

"Rescue workers have pulled out 34 people who were killed and nine who sustained injuries from under the rubble of the destroyed multi-storey building in Chasiv Yar. There is one child among those killed in the attack." The Head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration said that State Emergency Service rescue workers had cleared away nearly 70 per cent of debris as of 6:30 a.m. on July 12. Rescue operations are continuing, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Kyrylenko added that one civilian was killed in Mariinka on July 11. Another two civilians in Donetsk Oblast sustained injuries, Overall, at least 602 civilians have been killed and 1,552 have been injured in Donetsk Oblast since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Kyrylenko stressed again that it remains impossible to determine the number of casualties and fatalities in Mariupol and Volnovakha.

Russia used Iskander missiles in an attack on Chasiv Yar on July 9 evening, hitting a five-storey residential building.

The local authorities reported at the time that more than 30 people might be trapped under the rubble, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The Russian Defence Ministry stated that "over 300 nationalists" were killed in the missile strike on Chasiv Yar.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
London, July 12 : Heathrow Airport on Tuesday introduced an unprecedented 100,000 limit on daily departing passengers until September and ordered airlines to stop selling summer tickets as airports battle against a staffing crisis, the media reported.

The dramatic move will impose a maximum limit on the number of passengers allowed to leave the airport between July 12 until September 11, the Daily Mail reported.

Airlines had planned to operate flights with a daily capacity averaging 104,000 seats over that period - meaning further cancellations are likely, Daily Mail reported.

Heathrow said it has ordered airlines to 'stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers'.

The measure will lead to more cancellations on top of the thousands of flights axed in recent months.

Affected passengers will not be entitled to compensation as the reason for the cancellations will be classified as being outside the control of airlines.

Passengers have been hit by delays and cancellations at airports across the UK due to a shortage of staff after thousands were laid off or left the industry during Covid. Yesterday (Monday), Heathrow cancelled another 61 flights at the last minute - disrupting 10,000 passengers, Daily Mail reported.

And in a fresh sign of chaos, easyJet passengers 'mutinied' after being forced to wait for four hours on the Gatwick Airport runway yesterday. The plane never even departed and they had to wait 'until midnight' to collect their luggage after being returned to the terminal.

Announcing the passenger cap, Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said on Tuesday: "Over the past few weeks, as departing passenger numbers have regularly exceeded 100,000 a day, we have started to see periods when service drops to a level that is not acceptable." Problems include long queue times, delays for passengers requiring assistance, bags not travelling with passengers or arriving late, low punctuality and last-minute cancellations, Holland-Kaye said, Daily Mail reported.
Chennai, July 12 : The release of director Vinoth Kumar's action entertainer, "Laththi", starring Vishal and Sunainaa in the lead, has been postponed to September 15.

The film was originally scheduled to hit screens on August 12.

Sources close to the unit say that the release of the film has been pushed because of two reasons -- one, the several injuries that Vishal has sustained while shooting for the stunt sequences in the film and two, the heavy VFX work required for the fight scenes in the film.

Vishal plays a constable and the father of a seven-year-old boy for the first time in his career in this film.

He has suffered serious injuries twice while shooting for this film.

The actor sustained multiple hairline fractures while shooting for some high-octane action sequences for the climax portion of the film a few months ago.

He had to undergo treatment for a few weeks at an ayurvedic treatment centre in Peringode, Kerala before being able to shoot again.

More recently, the actor sustained another injury to his leg while shooting for an action sequence for the same film.
Los Angeles, July 12 : The prosecutor's office in the southern Italian city of Brindisi has requested that Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis is placed back under arrest after a judge last week ruled that he should be released following charges of sexual assault.

Haggis' lawyer Michele Laforgia on Tuesday confirmed to Variety that the prosecution and lawyers for the alleged victim have filed an appeal against the decision made last week by judge Vilma Gilli, who after a special evidence pre-trial hearing during which the accused and accuser came face to face, ruled that Haggis should be freed after spending 16 days under house arrest in a hotel.

The judge in the ruling had noted an "absence of constricting violent behaviour" on Haggis' part toward the alleged victim who, according to Italian press reports, is a 28-year-old British woman.

The judge also underlined in the ruling that the woman's decision to be with Haggis, who is 69, in his lodgings was "spontaneous," according to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

After last week's ruling, prosecutors didn't immediately say if they would move to drop the investigation or pursue it further. It's now clear that they are still determined to go to trial.

Laforgia in a text message on Tuesday told Variety that the next step will be a review and discussion of the case in front of another judge in the city of Lecce, which will take place 'several weeks' from now.

Haggis, who won two Oscars for 'Crash' and is also known for writing 'Million Dollar Baby', was arrested on June 19 in Ostuni, in the southern region of Puglia on the heel of the Italian boot, on charges of sexual assault allegedly inflicted over the course of two days.

According to an Italian police report, the alleged victim was subsequently taken by Haggis to the Papola Casale airport in Brindisi and left there at the crack of dawn, despite her precarious physical and psychological conditions.

In an interview on Tuesday with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Haggis reiterated his claims of innocence and his belief that Italian courts will 'ascertain the truth', he said.

Asked by La Repubblica if he had made some mistakes, Haggis said: "My first mistake was to allow someone I did not know to come visit. That was stupid." "The second mistake", Haggis added, "took place on the last morning, when something happened that I found particularly unpleasant and I decided to abruptly end this situation. I took this woman to the airport several hours before her flight." Asked if there could be a connection to the Church of Scientology, from which the director split acrimoniously in 2009 and subsequently criticised in a New Yorker piece and by appearing in the documentaries 'Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief' and 'Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath,' Haggis did not rule this out.

"I don't have proof. But from what I've learned from Scientology, I know that they are capable of anything," he told La Repubblica.

"If you speak against them, they will use any means to destroy your reputation, your career, and your family," he said.

Haggis is also facing court proceedings in the US where he is being sued by film publicist Haleigh Breest, who reported that Haggis raped her in January 2013.

Breest originally filed suit in December 2017, although proceedings were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A trial date has now been set for October 11 in Manhattan. Haggis says the encounter with Breest, which allegedly took place after a premiere, was consensual.
Bengaluru, July 12 : The two separate incidents of attack on Bajrang Dal activists in Shivamogga district of Karnataka have raised serious questions about the police department and its failure to control such anti-social elements.

Two incidents of attacks have been reported from Shivamogga in the last two days.

In the first incident, a college student and Bajrang Dal activist Harsha was attacked by a gang of seven to eight persons on Sunday.

He tried to stop several men indulging in eve-teasing, following which the latter attacked him while he was returning to his house from college.

In another incident, Kantharaju, a friend of another Bajrang Dal activist Harsha, who was killed after an attack by a gang of unknown persons, was attacked on Monday evening.

Kantharaju claimed that he was attacked since he was a friend of the deceased Bajrang Dal activist.

He was also at the forefront of protests that were organised after the murder of Harsha.

"They (miscreants) had a specific intention of killing me, but somehow I managed to escape," says Kantharaju, who is being treated at a hospital.

Locals have complained that the police have failed to take action and stop anti- social elements who have been attacking Hindu group activists after the murder of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha.

Sri Ram Sena founder Pramod Muthalik has said that the inability of the ruling BJP government to take action against anti-social elements is resulting in attacks on Hindu group activists in Shivamogga.

"These incidents will rise. The politicians will be sleeping until their sons are attacked with machetes just like Hindu group activists are attacked right now," he added.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested three persons in connection with the attack on Kantharaju and launched a hunt for the other accused persons.

Hindu group activists are saying that if the state police fails to take action against miscreants now and prevent attacks on them, it will lead to a major uproar not only in Shivamogga but across the entire state.
New Delhi, July 12 : The Delhi Police is taking all steps, including anti-terror measures, to prevent any untoward incident during the 'Kanwar Yatra' that will pass through the national capital, officials said on Tuesday, just two days ahead of the annual pilgrimage.

"We'll make sure that there is no scope for trouble-makers that is why we are also taking some anti-terror measures and keeping a strict vigil," Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast district), Sanjay Kumar Sain said.

This year, Kanwar Yatra, an annual pilgrimage which had been halted for the past two years due to the pandemic, will begin on July 14 and go on till July 26.

The pilgrimage sees thousands of Lord Shiva devotees, most of whom travel on foot and, more recently on trucks, to Haridwar in Uttarakhand to collect holy water from the Ganga river. The pilgrimage mostly begins in late July and goes on till the first week of August.

A heavy rush of people is expected this year as the Yatra is being held after a gap of two years. Sain said that the local residents have been asked to alert the police immediately if they spot any unusual activity in their area.

The Delhi Police has also initiated the registration process for this year's 'Kanwar Yatra'. The databank of devotees will enable better coordination among the authorities to provide assistance and facilitation for the pilgrimage. The devotees can register themselves at kavad.delhipolice.gov.in through their mobile phones.

"A databank of devotees will help in providing facilities and identifying devotees in case of any mishap. Registration is not mandatory. We're aware of all sensitive incidents across India and are alert," Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said.

A few days back, a meeting of the members of various Aman Committees, Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai Ekta Committee, spiritual leaders and other prominent people of the east district was convened by the police. DCP (East) Priyanka Kashyap briefed the participants about the anti-terror measures as well as precautions to be taken during the celebration of festivals and requested them to continue their cooperation in reaching out to the public, making them aware and thereby help in maintaining peace and communal harmony in the area.
Mumbai, July 12 : Bollywood star Ranveer Singh, who recently appeared on the show 'Ranveer Vs Wild with Bear Grylls' to brave the Serbian wilderness in search of a rare flower, is being roasted by the netizens after a clip of Ranveer kissing Grylls went viral.

Many users on the Internet, expressed how Ranveer's over-exciting personna made Bear Grylls feel uncomfortable in front of the camera. In the viral clip, one can see Ranveer saying, "Arre mere mowgli (oh my mowgli), arre mere Tarzan (oh my Tarzan)" as he lands pecks on a visibly awkward Bear Grylls' cheeks and neck.

Pointing out the 'Bajirao Mastani' star's behaviour, many people on the Internet called the act, "borderline assault". Sharing the clip, one user wrote in their tweet, "There's a term called "personal space." I can see how much it's infringed." While the clip is quite weird in its content, it has also sparked a meme fest with creators having a field day on the Internet courtesy Ranveer's antics.
Mumbai, July 12 : On expected lines, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday announced that it will support the NDA's Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu vis-a-vis the non-BJP Opposition's contender for the top post, Yashwant Sinha.

Sena President Uddhav Thackeray made the formal announcement after a series of consultations with the party MPs, MLAs and other leaders including tribals.

"There have been absolutely no pressures from the MPs, as claimed in the media. However, many Sena leaders and office-bearers from tribal communities have requested usa We have taken a decision to support Draupadi Murmu for the President's elections," Thackeray told mediapersons.

The Sena chief recalled that in the past when it was with the NDA, it had supported the rival candidates in Presidential polls.

"For the first time a tribal woman is slated to occupy the country's top post... We are not small-minded and we shall back her candidature. Even in the past we had supported the candidature of Pratibha Patil (2007), Pranab Mukherjee (2012) when we were with the NDA," said Thackeray.

Earlier on Tuesday, Shiv Sena MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut had given strong indications to the party's possible stance while interacting with the media.

"Backing Murmu does not mean supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party. The decision will be taken keeping in view public sentiments," Raut made it clear, amid a clamour from its former saffron ally Bharatiya Janata Party to toe its (BJP) line.

Raut said on Monday, Thackeray had discussed the Presidential polls issue and other matters in detail at a meeting of most Sena MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha besides some other top leaders.

"In the past even Balasaheb Thackeray used to hold such consultations with party leaders on major issues and the decisions were made on the basis of the view of the colleagues. At yesterday's meeting, the candidature of Murmu was also discussed," said Raut.

While emphasising that supporting Murmu doesn't imply backing the BJP, he said the Sena has all the goodwill for Sinha.

"A majority of our MPs were present at yesterday's meeting barring Shinde's son, Dr. Shrikant Shinde and Bhavana Gawali. The party does not take any decisions under pressure and whatever is finally decided, would be binding on all MPs and MLAs," Raut said.

Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, the other Maha Vikas Aghadi - of which the Sena is a part - have not yet reacted to the developments, though sources indicate both parties are not too surprised by its ally's decision.

Meanwhile, both Murmu and Sinha are expected to be in Mumbai this week to campaign for the Presidential elections and are likely to meet the top leaders of all political parties to seek their support.
New Delhi, July 12 : Counsel representing the Amrapali home buyers on Tuesday opposed the decision of the Supreme Court-appointed receiver asking the home buyers to deposit an additional amount at Rs 200 per square feet for their flats to meet the shortfall for the construction of housing projects.

Counsel informed the apex court that a total of Rs 11,320 crore was ordered to be recovered from various sources as per the top court's judgment in 2019, yet home buyers are being burdened with this extra amount. However, the receiver has sought clearance from the top court for the decision regarding the additional amount of Rs 200 per sq. feet for flats.

In a note submitted in the apex court, advocate M.L. Lahoty, representing the Amrapali home buyers, said: "On July 23, 2019, the judgment was delivered of which page 331 summarises the total recovery to be made from various sources to the tune of Rs 11,320 crore and that as per NBCC proposal dated September 4, 2018, a total of Rs 8,500 crore (reduced thereafter to Rs 8,000 crore (approx..) is required to complete all projects involving 46,474 units and connected facilities." According to notice by the top court-appointed receiver, a sinking cum reserve fund shall be created to make provision of shortfall in construction cost and interest cost, if any. All the home buyers across shall be asked to deposit a sum calculated at Rs 200 per square feet for booked units in that and such funds if not utilised, shall be refunded back to them on overall completion of the projects, said the notice, adding that since the initial booking made by the home buyers, the construction cost has increased.

Counsel's note added, "As of June 30, 2022, NBCC has constructed a total 3,334 units (as per the receiver's website) which is less than 10 per cent of the total construction, out of the required fund of Rs 8,000 crore (approx..), NBCC has already received Rs 2,750 crore (approx..) which is almost 33 per cent." Of a sum of Rs 11,320 crore, the note said Rs 3,624.25 crore was supposed to be recovered from homebuyers, out of which Rs 1,100 crore approximately has been received, the unsold inventory was for Rs 1,991.69 crore, out of which Rs 23.4 crore was approximately received (10 percent of Rs 234 crore from 408 units sold). And, Rs 4056.81 crore was supposed to be recovered from former Amrapali promoters, directors, CFO etc. However, Rs 745.37 crore was approximately recovered so far (Rs 600 crore through recoveries + Rs. 145.37 crore through DRT & MSTC," added the note.

Kumar Mihir, counsel representing the homebuyers, said "Rs 825 crore have been received out of the total Rs 2,150 crore funded by SBI Caps (Rs 650 crore) and bank consortium (Rs 1,500 crore)... therefore, homebuyers should not be burdened with this extra Rs 200 per sq. feet to meet the shortfall." Lahoty's note further added that significantly, from the promoters, directors, CFO, statutory auditor and family members, over Rs 913 crore were to be recovered of which only a miniscule amount of Rs 13.25 crore has been recovered till date, although more than 15 orders were passed from October 14, 2019 to March 14, 2022.

It said to expedite the sale of 5,229 unsold flats and FAR, NBCC was appointed by the order dated October 29, 2020, however, large number of flats and FAR are still lying unsold.

On July 12, the top court-appointed receiver, senior advocate R. Venkataramani also submitted a note in the top court. "As regards the decision namely creation of a Reserve cum Sinking Fund and the demand of payment of Rs 200/ square feet of the area, the unit concerned from each home buyer (which will go into the sinking fund), several responses have come, questioning the same. It is submitted that all decisions including the above have been taken in view of several challenges and issues in the matter of realistic realisation of amounts due from various sources including payments from homebuyers," it said.

The note further added: "It is submitted that the decisions taken by the committee and the receiver be cleared by this court, at this point of time, instead of exposing the Committee, the receiver, the banks and the home buyers to unresolvable situations leading to stalemate in the execution of the projects at a later point of time." The receiver's note said it is found appropriate not to burden the court with the details regarding sale of properties and related issues. "This court may deem fit to observe that it will be entirely within the scope and the work of the committee and the receiver to act on the best of their judgment and assessments to take final decisions on all such matters," it added.

Speaking to IANS, Lahoty said home buyers' should not be burdened with this extra amount, and instead money should be recovered from erstwhile promoters and directors of the Amrapali group who siphoned off the money.

The top court is likely to take up the matter for consideration on July 25.
London, July 12 : The governments across the globe have wasted more than a billion doses of the Covid vaccines, even as many people, including health workers, particularly in the low-income countries are yet to get at least a single shot, according to a report.

The report, by science and data analytics company Airfinity, assumed a 10 per cent wastage rate from June 2021 when global dose sharing began.

Public reports of vaccine waste and expirations from around the world showed that some 158 million doses have been discarded throughout the world.

Pointing out to a significant underreporting of vaccine wastage, the report highlighted few drugmakers.

With 25 million doses, Russia's Sputnik V has the highest wastage figures, followed by AstraZeneca, with claims of 19 million wasted jabs, the report said.

The company noted that of the 14 billion vaccine doses supplied globally to date, 1.1 billion have been wasted and gone unused.

Further, the new estimate shows that around 8 per cent of the 1.1 billion doses reportedly disbursed until now have gone unused. These are within the recommended range of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which assumed the wastage rate for Covid vaccines could be as high as 10 per cent, the report said.

At the same time, the estimates also reflect a certain level of uncertainty toward the under-reporting of vaccine wastage in terms of individual reports from nations' public health systems.

"Despite countries' best efforts to avoid wastage, some degree is inevitable," said Dr Matt Linley, analytics director of Airfinity.

"Large multi-dose vials can make efficiencies more challenging, as well as cold chain storage and predicting daily demand or simply a vial being dropped or left out too long. Vaccines in single-dose vials with a longer shelf life, which can be transported and stored more easily, will reduce wastage over time," he added.

Various organisations, including the WHO and UNICEF had called out countries to share vaccines equitably during the pandemic. Several rich countries also dumped about 100 million Covid-19 vaccines that were near expiry to the third world nations.

"The vaccines were developed with unprecedented public funding and should be global public goods. But instead, vaccine monopolies have concentrated manufacturing and distribution in a handful of countries. And the needs of developing countries have been treated as an afterthought," said Julia Kosgei, policy advisor to global health campaigners the People's Vaccine Alliance.
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagvat interacts with Dalit, backward religious seers in K'taka, says if India is to remain as India, we have to be what we are Image Source: IANS News

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagvat interacts with Dalit, backward religious seers in K'taka, says if India is to remain as India, we have to be what we are Image Source: IANS News

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagvat interacts with Dalit, backward religious seers in K'taka, says if India is to remain as India, we have to be what we are Image Source: IANS News

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagvat interacts with Dalit, backward religious seers in K'taka, says if India is to remain as India, we have to be what we are Image Source: IANS News

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagvat interacts with Dalit, backward religious seers in K'taka, says if India is to remain as India, we have to be what we are Image Source: IANS News

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagvat interacts with Dalit, backward religious seers in K'taka, says if India is to remain as India, we have to be what we are Image Source: IANS News

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagvat interacts with Dalit, backward religious seers in K'taka, says if India is to remain as India, we have to be what we are Image Source: IANS News

Chitradurga : , July 12 (IANS) Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Tuesday that "if India is to remain as India, we have to be what we are".

"If not, India won't be what it is. The presence of religion must be ensured everywhere in the country," said Bhagwat while addressing a gathering of religious seers from the Dalit community and backward classes at the Shiva Sharana Madara Chennaiah Mutt in Karnataka's Chitradurga district.

"Religious conversion will lead to separation among ourselves. Those who get converted will go far away. We need to prevent religious conversions," he stressed.

Bhagwat also said that the Sangh relates itself with spirituality and religiousness, and that politics does not suit the outfit.

"That is why religious seers are closer to us than politicians," he said.

"In our society, certain sections have remained backward. This happened as the connection was cut off. It is our duty to keep all sections of Hindu religion in good stead. It can be achieved only by repeated unison. This is what harmony stands for, and the Sangh is making these attempts," the RSS chief said.

"If we meet often, mutual awareness will be more and it will ward off lack of trust and suspicion. The RSS, religious mutts and seers must come together repeatedly," Bhagwat said.

He also said that the evils of untouchability, inequality and hatred are rooted in our minds.

"There is no problem in the religious scriptures. These evils are rooted in our minds for centuries and it will take some time to fix it. We must be patient. It is going to happen for sure and we are on it," he said.

Bhagwat stressed that the society has to focus on etiquettes like respecting elders and women.

"The new generation has to be taught these qualities. Modern education is helping students to get educated, but they often forget about the etiquettes," he added.

Urging the religious seers to build a society based on service and etiquettes, he said, "Whatever be the challenge, the RSS is with you. We have a way of functioning and we will do the job on that basis." "We are with you, not because we are an organisation but because it is our duty. That's why make an attempt to know the Sangh... We are all part of Hinduism," Bhagwat said.

Bhagwat had reached the Shiva Sharana Madara Chennaiah Mutt in Chitradurga on Monday night and held a meeting with seer Basavamurthy Madara Chennaaiah Sree.

Bhagwat's outreach has created a buzz in the political circles of the state with Karnataka set to go to the polls next year.

Many view the RSS chief's move as an attempt to draw backward and oppressed classes into the fold of BJP.
Chennai, July 12 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday fined Ola Financial Services Private Ltd over Rs 1.67 crore for non-compliance of regulations.

Announcing the penalty of Rs 1,67,80,000, the RBI said Ola Financial Services did not comply with its Know Your Customer direction.

The penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in the central bank under Section 30 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

"This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the entity with its customers," the RBI said.

According to it, Ola Financial Services was non-compliant with the directions issued by the RBI on KYC requirements.

Accordingly, notice was issued to the entity advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions, the RBI said.

After considering Ola Financial Services' response, the RBI concluded that the charge of non-compliance of its directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty.
Chennai, July 12 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has isolated himself after testing Covid-19 positive.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Chief Minister's office said Stalin tested positive after he complained of tiredness and fever.

Stalin has appealed to the people of the state to wear masks and get vaccinated and stay safe.

It may be noted that there was an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases for the past few days and the presence of Omicron and its sub-variants.

The state's Public Health Department has directed people of the state to wear masks, keep safe distancing, and sanitise regularly.

The department also said that while the number of people taking treatment at the hospital is very less and only 5 per cent of the total Covid positive cases are under treatment at hospitals. The department in the statement said that 95 per cent of the people are taking treatment at home.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Washington, July 12 : The authorities in Xinjiang sent local cadres to celebrate an Islamic holiday with Uyghurs in Chinas far-western region amid ongoing repression of the predominantly Muslim minority group, in what Uyghur rights leaders said was a further effort to cover up the real situation there, RFA reported.

Known as the Feast of Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha (Qurban Eid) is a major Islamic holiday that marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

China's state media reported about work teams of local cadres who "visited" Uyghurs with gifts of food and helped them work in their fields in celebration of the holiday.

The state media also released a video of Uyghurs dancing in what some observers said were staged performances, RFA reported.

A report on Tengritagh (Tianshan), the official website of the XUAR government, told how visitors spent the holiday celebrating with Uyghurs and delivering gifts of rice, noodles, cooking oil and milk.

China's attempts to deceive the international community by portraying 'happy Uyghurs' as part of its propaganda are becoming "evermore naked", said Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, a political analyst based in the US, who's also the vice-chairman of the executive committee of the World Uyghur Congress, RFA reported.

"It's clear from its latest propaganda blitz featuring Uyghurs 'happily' celebrating the Qurban Eid under the watch of fang huiju officials," he said, referring to the cadres dispatched by the regional government to monitor Uyghurs in their homes and report their activities to the authorities.

"Their job is to surveil, manipulate and even threaten the Uyghurs by forcing them to smile, look happy and perform for the state media to deceive the world," Kokbore told RFA, adding, "In fact, this is an intensive form of state repression that we're witnessing. This inhuman treatment of Uyghurs is more than shocking, but pure evil." Rushan Abbas, executive director of the US-based Campaign for Uyghurs, said that "China's manipulation and orchestration of Uyghur happiness during the Eid" would not fool anyone.

"The international community is fully aware that China has been committing an ongoing genocide against the Uyghur people and rooting out Uyghur people's belief in Islam for the past six years," she told RFA.

"No amount of Chinese propaganda and manufactured happiness of Uyghurs will change the fact that China is actively destroying the very foundation of Uyghur people's religious beliefs and practices," she added.
New Delhi, July 12 : Many talented brains from developing nations like India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have been immigrating to economically progressive and highly developed nations for many years. They migrate in search of a good quality of life, world-class education for their children, and social security perks, including disability and maternity benefits, unemployment allowance, employment insurance, and other attractive benefits.

This is primarily why many choose to become permanent residents of developed nations such as Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. But the youth and skilled professionals who have moved to these nations have also brought in foreign remittances and a good deal of foreign exchange that helps boost the economy and development of a country that is still wanting and in its development stage.

Contributing back home Many immigrants with well-paying jobs in these overseas nations help their relatives, parents, and near and dear ones by sending them money for assistance. Even students who study in developed nations return home with great knowledge and expertise. They even impart their expertise and aid in medicine, engineering, technology, and other professions.

Immigrants in other nations make it up to their home nations by keeping the foreign remittances flowing. Many of these remittances help ease the constraints of credit in rural areas. It helps accelerate human capital with improved health and educational facilities besides a good lifestyle. Many immigrants who return to their nations build hotels, hospitals, schools, and places of public worship or institution.

In many cases, they make significant donations to charities, which greatly help uplift the poor and marginal areas back in their home countries. Because of their contribution, many needy and underprivileged people find a vehicle and means to make their dreams come true. Immigration has been an excellent life-changer for many people who cannot find adequate help, but through the financial assistance from these immigrants, they find a way to live the life they deserve.

(Ajay Sharma, President and Founder of Abhinav Immigration Services)
Srinagar, July 12 : An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police was killed and two other policemen injured when militants attacked a 'naka' (checkpost) party in Srinagar on Tuesday evening, police said.

Police sources said militants attacked the 'naka' in Lal Bazar area of the city.

"ASI Mushtaq Ahmad was killed and two policemen were injured in this attack. The injured have been shifted to hospital and the area has been cordoned off for searches," a source said.
Kolkata, July 12 : The recent controversial comments about Goddess Kali made by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra is a reflection of Trinamool's appeasement politics, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Tuesday.

"Although certain comments were made about Goddess Kali recently, there was no attempt to restrain those comments. This is because appeasement politics is going on in West Bengal, where people from a particular community are patronised and provided with all benefits and financial assistance. This appeasement politics is against the democratic nature of the country and ultimately will ruin the society and the state," Dhankhar said.

Just before the Governor held a press briefing on this count, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, met Dhankhar along with a group of seers and complained about the recent comments about Goddess Kali.

The Governor said that whenever anyone in the family or anyone in the society goes in the wrong direction, it is the duty of others in the family or the society to take action and bring that person back on track.

"What is necessary is to accept what is wrong as wrong. But nothing on those lines is happening in West Bengal right now," the Governor said.

Dhankhar also launched a scathing attack on the state government over the law and order situation in West Bengal.

"There is no rule of law in the state. Illegal syndicates and mafias are ruling everywhere. There is acute fear in the minds of the people. What is urgently necessary is freedom from that fear," the Governor said.

Reacting to Dhankhar's comments, Trinamool spokesman Kunal Ghosh said that if the Governor forgets his Constitutional responsibility and behaves like the spokesman of a particular political party, it is his choice. "But I would like to assure him that the Trinamool Congress is quite respectful about the sentiment of the people associated with Goddess Kali," he said.

Last week, Moitra had triggered a row while addressing a conclave where she said that she had every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess, as each person had his or her unique way of worshipping deities.

Following her comments, the BJP filed FIRs against Moitra at a number of police stations in different states, including West Bengal. Even the Trinamool Congress censured her for her comment.
New Delhi, July 12: "There is a Pakistan in Uzbekistan" my Central Asian friends would joke. Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region in Uzbekistan became a part of it in 1936, when Soviet Russia ceded it. A once fertile land it is now arid, with resultant lower standards of living.

Karakalpakstan has been an autonomous region, with its relations with the Uzbek state regulated by agreements and treaties. Technically, it has the right to secede but which has to be ratified by a referendum. Yet this year has unleashed forces in the region raising the specter of secessionism and bringing issues of territorial sovereignty upfront.

The year began with unprecedented nationwide protests in Kazakhstan. Neighbouring Uzbekistan was naturally alarmed, especially with news of infiltration by radical external forces. But it was indignant when Russia-led CSTO forces were deployed there. Uzbek strategists, in fact, rooted for a regional security architecture, unwilling to allow Russia to expand its footprint in the region. Uzbekistan, with the largest military in the region, had withdrawn from the CSTO in 2012.

Next came the Russian special operations in Ukraine which are still on -going. Uzbekistan was one of the Central Asian states which refused to recognise the sovereignty of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Like neighbouring Kazakhstan, it was haunted by the spectre of similar secessionism on its own territory. The country has fought a long-drawn secessionist insurgency with Islamist radicals in its densely populated and conservative Ferghana Valley. It has had border issues with neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan which were finally settled after lengthy negotiations. The regions of Samarkand and Bukhara have been contested by another neighbour Tajikistan, while the threat perception from neighbouring Afghanistan is always high. Recently, a barrage of missiles was fired into Uzbek territory from across the border in Afghanistan. Interestingly, while there were reports of similar firing earlier this year, the Uzbek authorities had denied it.

That is why it was not surprising when then Foreign Minister Abdullah Kamilov said: "Firstly, the military actions and violence must be stopped right away. The Republic of Uzbekistan recognizes Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. We do not recognize the Luhansk and Donetsk republics.... Taking into account its national interests, Uzbekistan will continue mutual cooperation with both countries." Uzbekistan has not recognised the accession of the Crimea to Russia either. There were even solidarity meetings held in Ukraine.

It is this fear that in part drove provisions for amending the status of Karakalpakstan in the new constitutional reforms that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is steering in. On June 20 he put forward an initiative to hold a nationwide consultation and referendum. The following day during discussions with representatives of Karakalpakstan, proposals to amend constitutional provisions concerning the region were put forward. One such provision is scrapping Karakalpakstan's right to holding a referendum for secession, and bringing in more centralised rule from Tashkent. On June 24 Uzbek parliament the Oliy Majlis decided to submit the draft constitutional law to the national debate, which took place the next day.

As news filtered in that unrest broke out in Karakalpakstan against the proposed changes, protesters on July 1 tried to take over government buildings in the capital Nukus. Mass disturbances broke out, with damage to public property.

Uzbek authorities acted firmly and swiftly. And with reason. Just recently the Gorno Badakshan Autonomous (GBAO) region in neighbouring Tajikistan had seen similar protracted violence of a similar nature - regional leaders instigated local protests, even violently, based on some real and other perceived grievances against central authorities in Dushanbe. Like in Kazakhstan, so in Tajikistan there were reports of radicals, including from across the border from Afghanistan, infiltrating the GBAO protests. As now with Uzbekistan, Tajikistan had also faced a barrage of missiles shot into its territory from Afghanistan during the recent unrest in GBAO.

The violent protesters turned on Uzbek security forces too. Uzbek authorities say they have evidence that there has been a massive flow of messages from outside the country to instigate the "illegal activities" in Karakalpakstan, pointing to foreign interference. Alcohol, drugs, and money was made available to the rioters. Though the Uzbek president announced on July 2 that Karakalpakstan's constitutional status would remain unchanged, the violence continued. There were attempts to storm the buildings of the Nukus police department and the National Guard Department in order to seize weapons from there. A state of emergency was declared in Karakalpakstan, and Mirziyoyev visited Nukus to assure the people. Life is slowly limping back to normal.

According to the government, 18 people died and 243 others were wounded as a result of clashes between security forces and protesters. More than 500 were detained. India has offered condolences to families of the deceased and extended sympathies to the injured. The Ministry of External Affairs' spokesperson Mr. Arindam Bagchi said "We have seen the steps taken by the Government of Uzbekistan to restore law and order and prevent any further escalation. As a close and friendly partner of Uzbekistan, we hope for an early stabilization of the situation." Karakalpakstan, situated in the northwest of the country is an impoverished region of almost 2 million, who are roughly divided into three equal ethnic groups: Karakalpaks, Kazakhs, and Uzbeks. It would be next to impossible for the region to survive on its own. Secession is, therefore, ruled out. Uzbekistan, on the other hand, is a vibrant thriving country, which having embarked on a slew of reforms across sectors, is enthusiastically marching ahead into the future. Karakalpakstan's very violent response to the proposed reforms, when a mechanism was already in place for feedback and to address concerns arising from the proposals, remains something of a mystery. But it falls into a pattern sweeping across the region -- witnessed just this year in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and now Uzbekistan.

(Aditi Bhaduri is a columnist specialising in Eurasian geopolitics. Views expressed are personal and exclusive to India Narrative) (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
New Delhi, July 12 : Hitting out at TMC Rajya Sabha member Jawhar Sircar, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said that he hopes that one can free the mind from the shackles of pseudo secularism and appeasement politics. He added that for the Congress party, TMC, Communists and pseudo-secular parties, minorities in India mean only Muslims.

Sharing a screenshot of Sircar's tweet, Rijiju said, "Muslims & Christians? I hope one can free mind from the shackles of pseudo secularism & appeasement politics. Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains & Parsis have been notified as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992." "For Congress Party, TMC, Communist and pseudo-secular parties, minorities in India means only Muslims. Because Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Sikhs are not large vote banks. They have been using Muslims and to some extent Christians, for electoral purpose only," he added.

On July 6, Jawhar Sircar had tweeted, "Smriti Irani assigned charge of Ministry of Minority Affairs after Naqvi resigns. Hardcore Hindu, married to a Parsi given charge of Muslims, Christians. Is this BJP's brand of secularism?" Irani was given additional charge of the Minority Affairs Ministry after Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi resigned from the Union Cabinet a day before his term in the Rajya Sabha ended.
New Delhi, July 12 : As the Congress averted a possible revolt by its MLAs in Goa for time being, the BJP has claimed that the opposition lawmakers are still in touch for defection.

All the Congress MLAs except former chief minister Digambar Kamat attended a meeting called by senior party leaders Mukul Wasnik and Dinesh Gundu Rao.

The Congress has 11 MLAs in the current Goa assembly and 10 had attended the meeting.

For any possible defection in Congress Legislative Party, rebels need support of eight MLAs. Calling an internal matter of Congress, a senior saffron party functionary asked why BJP would plan defection in the opposition camp.

"Will Congress party answer, why would we do this (defection)? Is BJP short of majority in Goa? The BJP government is comfortably placed in the Goa assembly. We have 25 MLAs in the 40 Members Goa assembly," he said.

However, he said that some Congress MLAs are in touch with the BJP as they are not happy with their leadership.

"It looks that the crisis in Goa Congress may have been resolved for the time being but some of their MLAs are still in touch with us," he said.

The Congress, meanwhile, requested Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar to issue notice to former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and former Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo, against whom it has filed disqualification petitions over 'anti-party activities'.

Congress had removed Lobo as Leader of Opposition alleging he is one who hatched conspiracy, along with former Chief Minister Kamat, with the BJP to split Congress MLAs. Another senior BJP functionary said that the Speaker will decide on Congress plea to disqualify Lobo and Kamat.

When asked would BJP give tickets to Congress MLAs if they resign from Assembly and join the party, he said, "It is all speculation and politics is not done on speculation. First, let them resign and join the BJP. Ticket is decided by the Central Election Committee after considering all the electoral equations," he said.

Congress' Goa in charge Rao on Sunday had claimed that the BJP was trying for a two-third split in the Congress' 11 member legislative party.

"In spite of offering huge money, six of our MLAs have stood firm. I am proud of them. BJP was trying for a two-third split in Congress," he had said.
Kolkata, July 12 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sprang a surprise on Tuesday during her visit to Darjeeling in North Bengal, when she stopped by a roadside stall and served 'golgappas' to children.

While returning from the swearing-in ceremony of the new board of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) on Tuesday, the Chief Minister suddenly stopped by a roadside snacks shop run by an all-women self-help group. The main attraction of the shop was golgappa, which is popularly known as 'fuchka' in Bengal.

Without caring for the security protocols, she started preparing golgappas, taking the shop-owners by surprise. Within minutes, a crowd gathered around her, which included many local children.

Banerjee was then seen distributing golgappas among the children. She also gave a brief lecture on how to prepare the filling of golgappas out of smashed potatoes. She did not forget to pay the shop-owners before leaving.

Banerjee then paid a visit to the Coffee House in Darjeeling, accompanied by newly-appointed GTA Chairman Anit Thapa and Bengali filmstar Saheb Chattopadhyay.

On the request of the Chief Minister, Chattaopadhyay sang a song by Rabindranath Tagore during which Banerjee was seen humming a few lines along with him.

The last time she visited the hills of North Bengal in April, Banerjee had stopped by a roadside momo stall and prepared the Tibetan delicacy with the assistance of the shop-owner.
New Delhi, July 12 : A group of former judges and bureaucrats on Tuesday disapproved the remarks of a section of civil society, which criticised the Supreme Court's condemnation of activist Teesta Setalvad.

The group, in a statement, said since the lodging of FIR and arrest of Setalvad, "a politically motivated section of civil society has made attempts to cast aspersions on the integrity of the judiciary at large".

"Also, this section has attempted to pressurise the judiciary to expunge remarks which are unfavourable to Setalvad and the two guilty IPS officers who have fabricated evidence." The group, besides veterans, said the registration of an FIR against the activist and others is strictly in accordance with the law and the accused can always take recourse to judicial remedies.

"There is no prejudice to anyone in view of the robust judicial system in the country. Neither Teesta Setalvad, R. B. Sreekumar nor Sanjiv Bhatt can selectively use court proceedings against others and not face the process of law themselves," it added in the statement.

Last month, the apex court upheld the SIT's clean chit to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 Gujarat riots and junked a plea by slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri's wife Zakia Jafri. The apex court came down heavily on Setalvad and police officers, saying they made revelations -- false to their knowledge -- just to keep the pot boiling, and such people need to be in the dock.

The signatories of the letter said they are law abiding citizens having faith in the legal system, urged the Supreme Court to not expunge any of its remarks in the case of aZakia Ahsan Jafri v. State of Gujarat and Anr or be intimidated by the tactics of such institutional disruptors.

The statement, titled 'Interference in judiciary not acceptable'-- from 13 retired judges, 90 formed bureaucrats and 87 ex-armed forces officers - said: "This section should realise that SCI acted in a matter which was within its jurisdiction and any action for modification of Court proceedings, like its 'clarification' etc., must take form of a regular motion, not merely by the asking of it, and even as they pretend that the Citizens are 'totally disturbed and dismayed', so also the law abiding Citizens are disturbed and dismayed at the former's attempt to disrupt the Rule of Law".

The signatories include: former high court judges S.N. Dhingra, M.C. Garg, R.S. Rathore, former IPS officers Sanjeev Tripathi, Sudhir Kumar, B.S. Bassi and Karnal Singh, former IAS officers G Prasanna Kumar and Prema Chandra, and Lt Gen V.K. Chaturvedi (retd).

Recently, some human rights groups and civil society members criticised the apex court's remarks against Setalvad and others, which led to registration of an FIR against her and former state DGP Sreekumar.
New Delhi, July 12 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday lodged an FIR against Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, his nephew Abdul Razak and a Colombo-based firm SRT General Merchant Import and Export in connection with corruption and irregularities in various departments of Lakshadweep administration related to export of Tuna fish.

On June 24, a 25 member team of the CBI led by a DIG had conducted joint surprise check along with vigilance officials of Lakshadweep administration at various places.

Lakshadweep Co-operative Marketing Federation (LCMF), Fisheries Department, Public Works Department, Khadi Board and Co-operative Society and Animal Husbandry Department were raided by the CBI.

"It was alleged that some public servants of LCMF, Department of Public Distribution, Lakshadweep Administration, in collusion with the Public Representatives and public Servants caused loss to LCMF in the matter of export of Tuna Fish to a Sri Lanka-based company without following the requisite tender process and other formalities," the official said.

LCMF procured a huge amount of Tuna fish from local fishermen under the influence of Faizal, the MP.

The Tuna fish was then exported by LCMF to a company based in neighbouring country which did not make payments to LCMF. It thus caused huge losses to the LCMF.

Razak, the nephew of Faizal, under whose influence LCMF procured Tuna fish, later exported to Sri Lanka-based firm in which he himself is a representative.

Some unknown public servants from Department of Fisheries, Lakshadweep Administration in connivance with others swindled huge amount of subsidy by illegally registering a large number of boats in the name of poor residents of the Lakshadweep island. These boats are being run with subsidised diesel meant for poor fishermen.

"A majority of beneficiaries of the houses being constructed by the Lakshadweep Building Development Board under the schemes meant for poor people are ineligible persons. In Khadi Board and Co-operative Society Lakshadweep, several local leaders are loan defaulters. There is an alleged scam of several crores of rupees in the Animal Husbandry Department, Lakshadweep in purchase of low quality medicines and poultry feeds," said the source.

During the raid, copies of several relevant documents were obtained, which were scrutinised.
London, July 12 : Jasprit Bumrah's sensational and career-best show with the ball (6/19) helped India bowl out England for a paltry 110 in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Kennington Oval here on Tuesday.

Bumrah with his career-best ODI figures of 6 for 19 became the first Indian pace bowler to take six wickets in an ODI in England. He was supported well by Mohammed Shami, who bagged 3 for 31 en route to becoming the joint third-fastest to 150 wickets, and Prasidh Krishna (1/26).

Skipper Jos Buttler (30 off 32) was the highest scorer for England, who kept losing wickets at regular intervals. David Willey (21 off 26), and Brydon Carse (15 off 26) were the other main contributors for the hosts.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl first in bowling-friendly condition, India had a dream start as Bumrah bowled a double-wicket maiden in the second over of the innings to rattle England.

The pacer first troubled Jason Roy with a couple of deliveries swinging in sharply and then bowled one slightly wide and the batter ended up inside-edging it onto the stumps. Joe Root, who came to bat at No. 3 was troubled by some extra bounce as he outside-edged it to Rishabh Pant.

England were in more trouble as Ben Stokes also departed without scoring -- the second occasion of three ducks among the top four for England in an ODI -- after the left-hander got an inside edge to the 'keeper while trying to defend Shami who came in from round the wicket.

Soon, Bumrah picked his third wicket by getting rid of Bairstow. Liam Livingstone also departed for a duck after getting bowled by an in-swinging delivery from Bumrah.

Hardik Pandya, who was playing an ODI game after a long time, nearly picked up a wicket in his first over when Buttler rode the bounce and almost chopped it on. Bumrah, given a fifth straight over, would have picked up the wicket of Moeen Ali had Pant not put down a tough chance down the leg side.

After getting reduced to 26-5, Buttler and Moeen played their shots and tried to build a partnership to resurrect England. They added 27 runs before Moeen got out to Prasidh Krishna. From there on, the onus was on Buttler but he also got out to Shami while playing the pull. In the same over, Craig Overton was also bowled as England were in shambles at 68/8.

However, England managed to cross the 100-run mark courtesy of a useful ninth wicket association between David Willey and Brydon Carse. Their 35-run partnership in 41 balls came to an end when Carse was removed by Bumrah with a crushing yorker. Reece Topley hit a six off Yuzvendra Chahal but Willey was bowled by Bumrah as England were bundled out for 110 -- their lowest ODI total against India.

Brief scores: England 110 all out in 25.2 Overs (Jos Buttler 30, David Willey 21; Jasprit Bumrah 6/19, Mohammed Shami 3/31) vs India
Guwahati/Agartala, July 12 : After a gap of several months, new Covid cases are rising in almost all the northeastern states with the authorities in most states yet to take any precautionary measures, including making wearing of the face mask mandatory.

However, the Tripura government has once again made wearing of face mask mandatory in public places from Tuesday.

The Tripura High Court issued an order asking everyone present in the court premises to maintain social distancing norms strictly and mandatorily and to adhere to all safety measures, including wearing of face mask in proper manner.

"In view of the sudden surge in Covid-19 positive cases in the state of Tripura and for the purpose of containing the spread of coronavirus within the state, all health advisories issued by the Central and state government from time to time must be followed in letter and spirit at all times. No person with symptoms of fever shall be allowed to enter into the High Court premises under any circumstances," High Court Registrar General Data Mohan Jamatia said.

In his order, he also said that as regards to the district courts, including family courts, it is hereby ordered that the district judge, and family court judge concerned shall ensure that all safety norms and health advisories issued by the Central and state government from time to time are implemented and or strictly adhered to.

In Tripura, the positivity rate increased to 10.02 per cent from 9.87 per cent on July 4. In all, 112 people tested positive during the past 24 hours.

In Assam, the positivity rate of fresh Covid cases increased from 9.87 per cent on July 4 to 11.58 per cent on Monday night.

An official of the National Health Mission, however, said that the increase of positivity rate in one week is not alarming.

In four districts - Darrang (98), Dibrugarh (187), Kamrup Rural (243), Kamrup Metro (742) - the active Covid cases are higher than other districts with the state's active cases standing at 1858.

In Manipur, 45 people tested positive for Covid-19 during the past 24 four hours increasing the total number of active cases in the state to 172.

In Mizoram, the Covid-19 positivity rate on Tuesday was 24.94 per cent with the total active cases standing at 729. Around 500 people have been infected during the past one week.

The Covid cases are increasing marginally in the other northeastern states too.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Patna, July 12 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that if you love Bihar, the people of the state will return the same multiple times.

Modi is in Patna for the inauguration of the Bihar Bhavan memorial column inside the premises of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha after it completed 100 years. He also inaugurated another building and a guest house inside the Vidhan Sabha. He noted that he was the first prime minister of the country to enter the premises of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha.

The PM mentioned that when the rest of the world was discussing the structure of democracy, the leaders here were organizing democratic procedures in Vaishali. States like Lichwi and Vajji Sangha were on the top and practicing democracy.

The Bihar Vidhan Sabha has a long history with its first governor Satyendra Prasanna Sinha who promoted domestic (Swadeshi) industries and urged people to adopt the Charkha.

"Whenever, I go to global platforms, I proudly say that the mother of democracy is our country India," Modi said.

"Bihar has a great history and contribution to the country. It has given the first president Dr Rajendra Prasad, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan, Karpoori Thakur, Babu Jagjivan Ram and many other top leaders. When people had tried to mow down the constitution of the country, Bihar stood against it (During the Emergency period) and initiated massive protests," Modi said.

"It was the Bihar Vidhan Sabha which abolished the Zamindari Act. The Nitish Kumar government has gone a step ahead and brought 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj," Modi said.

"The 21st century belongs to our country. It is a century of duty for the people of the country. We have to work hard to bring our country to a golden period in the next 25 years. We have to walk on the path of duty for the next 25 years," Modi stated.

"Every lawmaker has their responsibility to deal with problems coming in front of our democracy. We will defeat the problem together by putting aside the thinking of ruling and opposition parties. Our voice should come in the interest of our country," he added.
Bengaluru, July 12 : Karnataka police have arrested 67 persons in connection with illegal transportation of cows and rescued 707 cattle from going to the slaughter houses across the state during the Bakrid festival, the police said on Tuesday.

Prabhu B. Chouhan, Minister for Animal Husbandry, said that due to the efforts of the state government, cow slaughter during Bakrid has come down.

Chouhan said that after the enactment of the Anti-Cow Slaughter Bill by the BJP government, the officials claim that 20,000 cows have been rescued before being transported to slaughter houses illegally. The authorities have also lodged more than 900 cases across Karnataka.

"Our sole aim is the protection of 'Gau Mata'. Illegal slaughter houses in Karnataka must cease to exist. There are plans to create self-reliant 'Gaushalas' in the state. It has been decided to produce gobar gas (biogas) and give farmers Rs 2 per kg cow dung. We are seriously discussing this issue," he said.

Chouhan stated that 60 FIRs have been lodged in connection with violations of the Cow Slaughter Bill during the Bakrid festival. The rescued cows have been sent to different Gaushalas.

Among the rescued cattle, there were 551 cows, 144 buffaloes and 12 camels. The most number of cows have been rescued in Kalaburgi district. The district authorities have lodged 16 cases and arrested 18 persons in this connection, he stated.

The authorities have rescued 193 cows and 4 buffaloes in Kalaburgi district, 92 cows and 35 buffaloes in Bidar, 90 cows and 20 buffaloes in Tumakuru, 66 cows and 11 buffaloes in Bengaluru, and 33 cows and 15 buffaloes in Mysuru.

Twelve camels were rescued in Uttara Kannada and Vijayapura districts, he said.
New Delhi, July 12 : Pay parity across states and facilities on par with paramilitary forces for the frontline forest staff, especially those who are martyred in line of duty, are among the main recommendations of a report about the working condition of those staffers submitted to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday.

It is the committee on 'Improving and strengthening the working conditions of Forest Frontline Staff' that the Centre had constituted in September 2020 after the IFS Association had written a letter to the then Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

The committee was chaired by Keshav Varma, founding director of the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative and its mandate was to look into the concerns related to the work conditions of the frontline forest staff on protection duty. It was also to come up with suggestions regarding forest martyrs, i.e., forest personnel who are killed on duty while engaged in forest protection work.

The important recommendations include treating the forest personnel who died in line of duty as a forest martyr and offering government facilities to his / her families; pay parity with paramilitary forces; same pay scale and other facilities across states, forest bravery medal on lines with police bravery medal and infrastructure facilities for forest staff in remote areas of their posting.

Asked what the issue with pay parity across states was, a senior official explained: "Across states our ground staff has different pay scales. Work is the same but the pay they get is different. We have recommended that there should be parity." The letter was a result of frustration on part of the forest officers because of lack of support from the government for their welfare and protection while in line of duty and therefore they had sought a number of measures through their letter and highlighted the problems faced by them. The forest field staff often works in remotest of the locations in difficult conditions with which they ensure the "ecological security of the nation, even at high personal costs," it had said.

As many as 162 foresters had lost their lives in India while on duty between 2012 and 2017, the highest in the world, as per the International Ranger Federation.
Bastad : , July 12 (IANS) Former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem battled to a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) first-round victory against Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland at the Nordea Open here on Tuesday.

It was the Austri'n's first tour-level win for 14 months, nine of which the 2020 U.S. Open champion spent out of action due to a wrist injury.

"It's a long time. My last victory was in Rome in 2021, it feels like a different world somehow. Many, many things happened. It was tough, but it was also a very good experience, I think, for life in general. I'm so happy that I got this first victory here today," said Thiem in his on-court interview.

Thiem was under pressure early against the World No. 43 Ruusuvuori in the pair's first ATP head-to-head meeting. The Finn raced to an unassailable 5-1 lead in the opening set, but Thiem raised his level to roar back into contention by reeling off five games in a row in the second set to level proceedings.

Despite some nervous moments in the deciding-set tie-break, Thiem stayed solid to clinch just his second win at any level in 2022 having saved eight from 12 break points against the clean-hitting Finn.

"It was a very difficult match. I didn't have a very good start and then I fought really well, but I had a really tough period with many losses and not many wins, so it was really difficult for me to close out the match. Even though I played pretty good in the second and third sets. I have to control the nerves a little bit better, especially when it gets to the end," he said.

Thiem's next opponent on his debut appearance in Bastad will be fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
Colombo, July 12 : As Sri Lanka awaits President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit on Wednesday, court orders have been sought to prevent him from leaving the country together with his two brothers -- former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and ex-Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

With a thumping two-third Sinhala Buddhist majority, Gotabaya was elected as President in 2019 for a five-year term.

Amid agitation and public storming of his official residence and office on Saturday, the President officially announced that he would quit his post on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, three civic rights activists filed a motion to a fundamental rights petition they had filed earlier, seeking court orders preventing three Rajapaksas and former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who are allegedly responsible for ruining of the country's economy, from leaving Sri Lanka.

In the early hours of Tuesday, Basil Rajapaksa, who was attempting to leave for the United States where he has a resident visa via Dubai, was prevented by the public and the immigration officers.

Claiming that politicians with questionable corrupt records were trying to leave the country, officials of the Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Officers' Association (SLIEOA) on Tuesday withdrew from all duties at the VVIP Terminal.

Sri Lanka, which is facing the worst ever economic crisis, is now facing a political deadlock with virtually no leader. In over 90 days of public agitation, Sri Lankan people have ousted Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his younger brother Basil Rajapaksa and entire cabinet and replaced it ex-PM Ranil Wickremesinghewho as the Prime Minister.

However, on July 9, the protesters took over the President's house and the Prime Minister's official residence, thus symbolically taking over the government.

The protesters allowed the public to view the colonial era houses with archeologically valuable buildings and artifacts, where thousands of Lankans from far away villages thronged freely.

The protesters cooked food for public on either side of the green lawns of the Prime Minister's official residence while others made merry playing music.

The protesters also arranged to distribute food to those visiting the President's house and said that they would vacate the public premises once the President and the Prime Minister leave their seats.
Kolkata, July 12 : Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the student wing of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) will soon start a state-wide signature campaign demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the mysterious death of student leader, Anis Khan.

The family members of Anis Khan have already approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court against the earlier decision by a single-judge bench of the same court ruling out a CBI probe into the matter.

According to the DYFI state secretary in West Bengal, Minakshi Mukherjee, while the legal battle will be on, the youth wing will simultaneously carry out a mass campaign.

On Monday, the special investigation team of the West Bengal police filed its final chargesheet into the matter ruling out murder as alleged by his family.

Reacting to that report of the special investigation team, Anis Khan's father Salem Khan told mediapersons on Tuesday that he will see it through to the end to ensure CBI enquiry into the matter.

"When the police personnel are themselves responsible for the murder of my son, how can we expect justice and proper investigation of the special investigation team of the state police," he questioned.

According to Minakshi Mukherjee, certain questions have remained unanswered in the final chargesheet.

"The first question is on why a police team went to the residence of Anis Khan so late at night in February this year. although no complaint was filed against the victim at the local police station. The second question is whether hounding the victim at his residence was justified just because of a social media post made by him." Khan was found dead on February 19 under mysterious circumstances at his Atma residence in Howrah district of West Bengal.

His family alleged that he was killed by policemen in uniform. The police started investigation by forming an SIT under the leadership of Additional Director General of CID, Gyanwant Singh.

The SIT members also arrested a home guard and a civic volunteer in this connection. However, both are out of bail now.
After the Mahaparinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha, his profound non-sectarian, universal teachings were not confined to the borders of India but rather travelled throughout Asia, crossing the paths of oceans, deserts and mountains and reaching to the rest of the world.

In the North-West of India, a network of ancient trade routes popularly known as Silk Route originated during the 2nd century A.D. It was used by different sections of people like merchants, traders, scholars, monks and missionaries etc. with which different ideas, culture, art and scriptures also travelled along.

One of the essential philosophies that transmitted through this route was the Buddha Dharma. The dissemination of Buddhism and Buddhist art was launched from northwestern India to modern Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Xinjiang (Chinese Turkistan), China, Korea and Japan.

The transmission of Buddha Dharma from the North-West region of the Indian sub-continent to other land is incomplete without mentioning the royal patronage of King Ashoka of Maurya Empire, King Menander and King Kanishka of the Kushan Empire.

In Buddhist history, King Ashoka is considered as the first great royal patron of Buddhism post the Mahaparinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha. It was through his efforts and determination that Buddhism came to occupy a prominent position in both India and abroad. Buddhism was the first religious philosophy that transmitted along the Silk Route from India to Gandhara region, Central Asia up to China.

According to Buddhist historical sources, King Ashoka organised the Third Buddhist Council under the chairmanship of Moggaliputta Tissa at Pataliputra (now Patna) in 247 B.C.

This council was conducted to preserve Buddha's teaching in its purest form. Post this council, it was decided to send Buddhist religious missionaries to different parts of the world. Consequently, King Ashoka sent out Buddhist missionaries to countries outside India through land and sea routes, thus reaching the lands west of India in Central Asia and South costal countries like Sri Lanka.

Historical sources mentioned that he deputed monk Majjhantika to travel to Kashmir and Gandhara region though which Buddhism eventually reached China and thereafter further flourished up to Korea and Japan. Besides, he also sent his son Mahindra and daughter Sanghamitra to the southern countries as far as Sri Lanka.

As Ashoka's empire extended to the northwestern borders of Punjab, the Buddhist monks were free to move throughout the region.

An ancient Khotanese tradition credits Vijayasambhava, a grandson of King Ashoka, for introducing Buddhism in Khotan. According to this tradition, Arya Vairocana, a Buddhist scholar from India, came to Khotan and became the preceptor of the Khotanese King.

With this the first Buddhist monastery in Khotan was erected in 211 B.C. Thus, during the Ashokan period, Buddhism emerged as a distinct religion with great potential for expansion.

After the decline of the Mauryan Empire, the Greeks established its suzerainty over Afghanistan and the north-western region of India. Among the Greek rulers, the account of King Menander (also known as Milinda) is found in the Pali Buddhist literature called Milinda Panha (Question of Milinda). This text records a dialogue between King Menander and Indian Buddhist monk Nagasena where the latter through his masterly skill was successful in resolving the doubts of the King that ultimately led him to embracing Buddhism.

It says the King made donations to Sangha and also built a monastery called Milinda-vihara and gifted it to Nagasena. Besides, the Buddhist wheel of Dharmachakra was found on the coins of Menander period and the king remained a great patron and supporter of Buddhism till his last breath.

Subsequently, the foundation of Buddhism along the Central Asian route was further strengthened by King Kanishka of the Kushana Empire whose suzerainty was stretched from today's Hindu Kush to Kabul, Gandhara, northern Pakistan and north-west India.

Therefore, a ceaseless missionary activity was carried out from north-west India to the regions along the Silk Route. Buddhist history records that King Kanishka played a vital role in the history of Buddhism. Under his patronage, the fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir was convened, which was presided over by Vasumitra and Ashvagosha.

Also, during his period a new style of Indo-Greek art known as Gandhara Art was developed that flourished mostly in Punjab and north-western India. An example of this art is very much alive in the form of Buddhist paintings and statues in the Himalayan region of Ladakh.

Thus, the ancient trade route played a significant role in disseminating Buddhism beyond the Indian territory. Buddhist art that originated on the Indian subcontinent played a vital role in the proliferation of Buddha Dharma to Central Asia and Far East countries, thereby adapting the local style and norms in each new host country.
New Delhi, July 12 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted searches at nine locations in Rajasthan in connection with the brutal murder of a tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur.

Two assailants armed with sharp weapons killed the tailor at his shop situated in Maldas Street in Udaipur.

The case was initially registered on June 29 at Dhanmandi police station at Udaipur in Rajasthan.

The NIA had re-registered the case, and taken over the investigation.

During the searches conducted on Tuesday at the premises of accused and suspects in the case, digital devices (mobile phones, laptop and SIM cards) and other incriminating materials have been seized.
Aurangabad, July 12 : The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and other parties took out a huge procession with thousands joining to protest the move to rename Aurangabad as 'Sambhajinagar', here on Tuesday.

Leading the procession, state AIMIM President and MP Syed Imtiaz Jaleel condemned the decision -- taken in the final Cabinet meeting of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, when its countdown had begun.

Later, the new government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis indicated that they would honour the previous regime's decision on the issue, as a large number of people are in favour of renaming the city.

"Our question is, why the name-change was not done when the BJP-Shiv Sena were in power (2014-2019). The decision was taken for political reasons, nobody has any love for Chhatrapati Sambhaji," Jaleel said, attacking the MVA, Sena, BJP and Nationalist Congress Party.

He alleged how for the past two decades, the Sena-BJP had kept the issue burning alive for their political motives and finally it was taken only for 'protecting the chair'.

"If they believe that this renaming decision will be acceptable to all the people now, they must remember that the country can be run only as per the Constitution of Babasaheb Amedkar," Jaleel said.

Slamming the Congress-NCP, he reiterated that after allying with the Sena, "both parties have been saffronised" and they are only making a pretence of secularism.

Targeting NCP President Sharad Pawar, Jaleel said first he had said that the NCP was a party to the decision, and then backtracked saying he (Pawar) had no knowledge of the renaming move.

Slamming the AIMIM, Shiv Sena MLC Ambadas Danve asked why the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party has so much love for emperor Aurangzeb, and issued a veiled warning that "if they take one step, we will take two".

On Tuesday afternoon, thousands of AIMIM supporters and commoners marched in a procession waving the Tricolour and posters, and raised slogans opposing the renaming of Aurangabad to 'Sambhajinagar'.

On June 29, at the MVA's final Cabinet meeting, the crucial decision was taken to rechristen Aurangabad as 'Sambhajinagar', Osmanabad as 'Dharashiv', and the upcoming new international airport in Navi Mumbai after prominent leader D.B. Patil.

At that meeting presided over by Thackeray, the Congress had put forth demands to rename Pune as 'Jijaunagar' (in memory of the mother of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj), and the upcoming Mumbai Trans Harbour Link after late Chief Minister A.R. Antulay.
New York, July 12 : The Congress Senate House Committee says its heading for the final push to wrap up a year-long investigation into the January 6 Capitol Hills "insurrection" in which former US president Donald Trump stands accused of leading ultra-right wing groups Oath Keepers and Proud Boys to attack the citadel of democracy in the US.

The senate has lined up probably just two more hearings from two-star witnesses -- White House counsel Pat A Cipollone witness to January 6 events, before, during and after and Steve Bannon, white house strategist, media executive and banker, advising Trump what to do -- to corroborate top aide to Trump's administration Cassidy Hutchinson devastating testimony of the wrongdoings of the ex-president that fateful day.

The January 6 committee is hitting the home stretch of the public hearings phase of its historic, yearlong investigation into the attack on the Capitol -- and American democracy, says NBC news.

The senate house has claimed gathering damning evidence of Trump's involvement through a closed-door testimony from one of the members of the Oath Keepers asking Trump's aide on phone to tell ex-president to "send more militia" to help overrun the 2020 verdict of (current US President) Joe Biden's election to the high office.

After a half-dozen hearings, committee members are building momentum with a pair of back-to-back panel meetings this week to give the final push for constituting a special House panel with the main purpose of officially establishing a record for the history books, but also to demonstrate Donald Trump's role in the plot to overturn the 2020 election, and to warn the public about ongoing threats to the election system.

"I know they'll make a very coherent closing argument," said Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., who was trapped in the House chamber on January 6 and has attended all but one of the hearings as an observer. "Any good trial lawyer knows that you need a clear opening, a clear arc and a very clear summary.

"I think the facts are what power the summary -- you don't have to add to it, you don't have to decorate it," Dean said in an interview.

"The facts are so damning about a president who cared nothing for people as high up as the vice president or as low down as an election worker or election volunteer, and didn't care about destroying lives or killing people in the violence." Tuesday's meeting is focusing on on what some panel members called the "marshaling of the mob", including evidence of coordination between Trump, his top aides and associates, and white nationalist or militia groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers who members say led the assault on the Capitol that day.

The committee will examine how Trump's "pressure merges with the physical violence" that his supporters carried out at the Capitol, said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., who will lead part of Tuesday's hearing, ABC News reports.

The final planned hearing is expected on Thursday and will zero in on Trump's actions -- or inactions -- as his vice president, Mike Pence, House and Senate lawmakers and hundreds of police officers came under attack. There were "187 minutes where people were pleading with him to take action, and he failed to do so," Dean said.

Thursday's hearing is likely to be set for prime time, just like the first hearing, seeking a bigger televised audience. But it's not clear whether the Cipollone testimony will actually be televised because it's a testimony and not a deposition that could last for hours and hours not possible to televise live throughout.
Bhopal, July 12 : The show-cause notice issued to a junior food supply officer for offering 'cold tea' and 'substandard breakfast' to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the Khajuraho airport was withdrawn following a public uproar over the matter.

The show-cause notice was issued to food supply officer Rakesh Kanhua, who was responsible for arranging tea and breakfast during the Chief Minister's transit visit to the airport on Monday.

The notice issued by Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) D.P. Dwivedi said, "Indecent behaviour of the district administration has put a question mark on the handling of CM's protocol. This happened as the VVIP services were taken casually." However, following outrage on social media over the notice, Chhatarpur District Collector Sandeep G.R. cancelled the notice served by Dwivedi.

"It is clarified that the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister did not make any comment regarding breach of protocol. Therefore, ensure that the show-cause notice issued is withdrawn," read a circular issued by Sandeep G.R.

After the notice was withdrawn, the SDM said, "Tea and breakfast arranged by Kanhua were not served to the Chief Minister as he didn't make a halt at the airport, but only changed the aircraft at the airstrip." Notably, the development came after the state BJP office intervened in the matter. After facing criticism on this issue, the BJP termed the SDM's notice as 'personal grudge of an employee'.

"The officer who issued the notice should understand that such acts cannot be tolerated. It is not possible that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who likes simplicity, will complain about tea," said state BJP media in-charge Lokendra Parasar.

"We have learnt that the Chief Minister was served substandard food (breakfast). Also, the tea offered to him was cold. Indecent behaviour of the district administration has put a question mark on the handling of CM's protocol. This happened as the VVIP services were taken casually," the issued to Kanhua read.

"Why no disciplinary action should be initiated against you. You are directed to submit your reply within three days after receiving the notice," it added.

Chouhan and state BJP chief V.D. Sharma were on a transit visit to Khajuraho on Monday. After meeting party workers at the airport, the duo left for Katni to campaign for the ongoing urban body elections.
Hong Kong, July 12 : Hong Kong authorities have sentenced an activist with stage four cancer to nine months in jail for his attempt to protest against the Beijing Winter Olympics, media reports said.

Koo Sze-Yiu, 75, was arrested by police in February before he could carry out a solo demonstration criticising China, BBC reported.

The veteran campaigner had planned to display a coffin with slogans outside Beijing's liaison office on the first day of the Winter Games.

He was charged with sedition, which he has denied.

The charge carries a maximum two-year prison sentence. The court sentenced him to nine months but Koo said he would appeal the sentence.

Police said Koo had planned to hold up a coffin and signs bearing messages including: "Democracy and human rights are above the Winter Olympics".

Judge Peter Law said those actions constituted a threat to national security, independent news outlet Hong Kong Free Press reported.

Koo is expected to be eligible for early release next month, according to news site SCMP, as he has been in custody since February. He has been arrested for his political activism nearly a dozen times before.

He is the latest activist to be sentenced in Hong Kong, which has over the past few months seen numerous pro-democracy activists sentenced - many of whom were charged with breaking the controversial national security law (NSL).

Beijing enacted the NSL in July 2020 to "restore order and stability" to Hong Kong, following massive pro-democracy demonstrations and riots the previous year.

But critics say the broadly worded criminal law has in effect suppressed all political dissent against China's increased control over the city. They say it has also severely curtailed civil freedoms - like freedom of expression and the right to protest - previously allowed in Hong Kong, BBC reported.
New Delhi, July 12 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a plea seeking a DNA test of the child of a minor, who was allegedly raped.

A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna, in its order, said: "We are not inclined to entertain the Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution. The Special Leave Petition is accordingly dismissed. Pending application, if any, stands disposed of." During the hearing, the bench noted that the identity of the child's father is immaterial to the case. It added that in the offence under the Indian Penal Code's Section 376, the identity of the father has no relevance.

Counsel representing the accused contended that his client moved the top court against the Allahabad High Court order dated June 25, 2021, which set aside the sessions court order, allowing the DNA test of the child. The accused, in the plea in the apex court, claimed that it is being alleged that he is the father of the child.

Declining to entertain the plea, the bench further added that it does not allow a child's DNA test at the drop of the hat and pointed out that if the accused were not to be the father of the child, would it obviate rape? The top court order came on a plea by the rape accused, who is facing trial in a juvenile court, which also declined to entertain his plea for DNA testing. The accused filed the plea through advocate Robin Khokhar.

It has been alleged that seven months ago from the registration of the case, the accused raped the minor girl in front of his family members. The mother of the victim lodged an FIR at police station Kotwali Dehat in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur against the accused and his family members. During the trial, the accused was declared juvenile and trial is in progress before the juvenile justice board.

The high court had noted determining paternity of the child is irrelevant, as the matter is whether the accused raped the victim or not.
Guwahati, July 12 : The house of a man who was allegedly involved in the abetment of suicide of an animal activist Vineet Bagaria was demolished in Assam's Dibrugarh on Tuesday.

Dibrugarh district administration has claimed that Baidulla Khan's double-storey house was illegally constructed, violating all norms, and he was served notice to vacate the house on July 8.

Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police, Shwetank Mishra told IANS: "We have taken action as per the law." On July 7, Bagaria committed suicide at his residence in Dibrugarh town just after recording a video wherein he had accused Baidulla Khan, Sanjay Sharma, Nishant Sharma, and Izaz Khan of physically and mentally harassing him and his family.

It has been alleged that Bageria along with his father had approached the police and district administration with a written complaint against Khan and three others but no action was taken.

The situation, however, changed when Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the house of Bageria and expressed deep sorrow over the family's loss.

The Chief Minister also pulled up the Superintendent of Police and Deputy Commissioner in this case. Sarma was also heard pronouncing the accused Baidulla Khan's name several times.

Following that, the Special DGP (law & order) of Assam police, G.P. Singh went to Bageria's house, and also instructed the police to take stern action against the accused. "We will not allow 'Bahubali' culture to run in any city of the state," he told the media.

The police had earlier arrested Baidulla and Sanjay, but the other two are still absconding. One Samsull Khan was also taken into the custody in this case.

Singh said: "The progress of the investigation has been thoroughly discussed and efforts are on to nab the remaining accused person. We have issued 'Look Out' notice against them." Meanwhile, Dibrugarh Sadar police station officer-in-charge has been transferred.

Notably, in May, the administration in central Assam's Nagaon district ran bulldozers on the houses of five people who were alleged to be part of a mob that had set afire a police station. The villagers had then accused the police of the custodial death of a local fisherman.
Kolkata, July 12 : A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday rejected a plea moved by the West Bengal government to dismiss a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers against financial consideration involving ministers of the state government and leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

A person named Tapan Ghosh had filed the PIL with the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj, claiming that a number of ministers in the state Cabinet and leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress recommended jobs in their letterheads to ineligible people.

Submitting some such recommendation letters to the court as supporting documents, the petitioner alleged that the recommendations were made against financial considerations.

The state government's counsel opposed the admission of the PIL and argued that since the case was related to primary teachers' recruitment way back in 2014, it was too late to entertain the PIL.

However, on Tuesday, the division bench dismissed the petition of the state government and admitted the PIL filed by Ghosh. The bench also asked both the petitioner and the state government to file their arguments in the form of affidavits within four weeks. The next hearing on the matter is scheduled on August 16.

A single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay has already ordered a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in primary teachers' recruitment.

The bench also removed the President of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, Manik Bhattacharya, from his chair. The CBI sleuths have already questioned Bhattacharya and the board secretary, Ratna Bagchi Chakraborty, in this connection.

Bhattacharya is also a Trinamool MLA who got elected from the Palashipara Assembly constituency in Nadia district in 2021.
New Delhi, July 12 : Two Delhi Police personnel were injured on Tuesday while trying to nab a man who was chasing someone with a shaving blade allegedly to assault him, an official said.

The accused, identified as S.K. Masaraf, a resident of J.J. Colony Pappan Kalan, has been arrested.

The incident took place around 6.45 p.m. when Head Constables Jitender and Mukesh were patrolling in the Dwarka area of the city.

"They spotted one person running behind another person to assault him with a shaving blade. The alert patrolling staff then caught hold of him but in the process, the accused assaulted both the police personnel," Deputy Commissioner of Police M. Harsh Wardhan said.

Head Constable Jitender suffered an injury on his head while Head Constable Mukesh was stabbed on his hand.

"Head Constable Mukesh was discharged after treatment but Head Constable Jitender is still under treatment," the DCP said, adding his condition is stable.
Colombo, July 12 : Protesters in Sri Lanka on Tuesday declared a deadline for a peaceful resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa amid rumours that he would not step down from his post if his family was not allowed a safe passage from the country.

The protesters have demanded, through social media announcements, that Rajapaksa must resign by 1 p.m. on Wednesday and warned that the people would be summoned to Colombo once again if he retracts the promise he has given to quit.

A representative of the protesters, who occupied the entrance to the President's House for over three months, has urged public to gather at the main protest site by 1 p.m.

As people took over the President's official residence on Saturday despite heavy deployment of police and military who fired water cannons, tear gas and even used life bullets, injuring over 100 people, Rajapaksa announced that he would resign from his post.

However since Saturday, his whereabouts are unknown as the Speaker once announced he was out of the country and in a neighbouring nation but later withdrew his statement.

Protesters have announced that they would hand over the President's house as soon as Rajapaksa resigns. They who have occupied Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's official residence, the Temple Trees, also have demanded the exit of the PM together with Rajapaksa.

Early on Tuesday, the President's brother and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa tried to leave for the US but was prevented from leaving the country through the VVIP lounge of the main airport in Colombo. Rajapaksa was forced to leave the airport thereafter.

The south Asian island nation is going through a unprecedented economic crisis, which the public blames on the Rajapaksa family who reigned over the country for most of the last two decades.
London, July 12 : Two candidates out of the eight who have made the cut for Wednesday's first round ballot in the ruling Conservative party's leadership contest, are of Indian origin - Rishi Sunak and Suella Fernandes Braverman. The final outcome of this race will throw up Britain's next Prime Minister.

A total of 11 contestants had entered the fray. But Sajid Javid and Rehman Chishti, both of Pakistani descent, who had thrown their hats into the ring, failed to secure the support of 20 fellow MPs - a pre-condition to proceed further in the competition.

Others among the eight who made the short-list were former Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt, Kemi Badenoch, who is of Nigerian extraction and was a minister of state in the outgoing government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who lost the confidence of his party's MPs, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, former Foreign and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, backbench MP Tom Tugendhat, and Nadhim Zahawi, who is of Kurdish background and now the Chancellor of the Exchequer after Sunak resigned from this post.

In a survey carried out by Conservative Home, 19.6 per cent of Conservative party activists preferred Mordaunt as their future Prime Minister, followed by 18.7 per cent in favour of Badenoch, 12.1 per cent for Sunak, 11.1 per cent for Braverman and 10.9 per cent for Truss.

Priti Patel, the Home Secretary in Johnson's outgoing cabinet, brought up the rear with 1.7 per cent. Though enjoying the experience of a senior minister, albeit now in a caretaker capacity, she chose not to enter the race.
Hyderabad, July 12 : A top health official of Telangana has blamed "pani puri" for the large number of typhoid cases being registered across the state.

Director of Public Health Dr G. Srinivasa Rao on Tuesday said typhoid can be called 'pani puri' disease, and advised people to avoid it and other street food during the current rainy season to protect themselves from typhoid and other seasonal ailments.

Referring to the habit of many people who gulp down several pieces of 'pani puri' at the roadside shops, he urged them not to ruin their health. "You may get pani puri for Rs 10-15 but tomorrow, you may end up spending Rs 5,000-10,000," he said.

He said vendors should also pay special attention to hygiene and ensure use of safe drinking water.

Rao pointed out that this year, more typhoid cases are being reported. During May, 2,700 cases were reported while this number stood at 2,752 during June.

Contaminated food, water, and mosquitoes are identified as the main causes for seasonal diseases including malaria, acute diarrheal diseases (ADDs), and viral fevers, which have been reported in the past few weeks.

This month alone, 6,000 diarrheal cases were registered across the state. Rao advised people to consume fresh food and boil their drinking water.

He said since January, a total of 1,184 dengue cases have been reported in the state. Hyderabad alone accounted for 516 cases. Almost all the districts reported dengue cases.

As many as 563 dengue cases were registered in June while in the first 10 days of this month, 222 cases were reported.

The state is also reporting malaria cases. He said district medical and health officers have been directed to intensify anti-larval operations. He also urged people to observe every Friday as dry-day to eradicate mosquito menace.

Rao also said though the number of Covid-19 cases has gone up during the last six weeks, people should not panic. He stated that Covid has entered an endemic stage, and the symptoms are common cold and fever.

He also remarked that Covid has also become a seasonal disease. He said if anybody has Covid like symptoms, he should quarantine himself for five days. There is no need for Covid test if a person has no symptoms.

The director of public health said only those Covid patients who have difficulty in breathing should be admitted to hospitals. He also cautioned private hospitals against doing platelet transfusions unnecessarily.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Ranchi, July 12 : The weekly holiday in more than 100 government-run schools in the Muslim-dominated areas in Jharkhand's Jamtara district has been changed to Friday from Sunday apparently without any permission from the authorities.

The revelation -- to which Jharkhand Education Minister Jagarnath Mahto took a strong exception -- came after an investigation was initiated into the matter, following which it was learnt that a similar trend was being followed in some Muslim-dominated areas in Palamu and Pakur districts as well.

In fact, the teachers of these schools also take week-offs on Friday instead of Sunday. However, the education department of the state government seemed clueless about it.

When Jagarnath Mahto interacted on this issue with the officials of the Education Department posted in various districts through a video-conference, he sought to know how such a system was implemented without any orders of the government.

Some officials submitted that the teachers introduced it under the pressure of the village education committees formed to look after the schools.

Responding to this, the minister said that "such village education committees should be dissolved immediately".

"This proves that you do not inspect the schools. How can the village education committees enforce their rules and regulations ignoring the government order," Mahto asked.

Jharkhand Director of Primary Education, Dilip Toppo, has sought a report within a week from all the district education officers of the state regarding the weekly holiday in schools, the modalities of prayer and change of names of schools without permission.

He said that action would be taken against the teachers of the schools and village education committees that violated the rules, once he receives the reports from the districts.

It was first reported in Jamtara district that under the pressure of the local (Muslim majority) population, weekly holiday of Friday instead of Sunday was implemented in more than 100 schools, and it has been going on for the last one-and-a-half years. Surprisingly, the officials of the Education Department remained oblivious.

It is being said that the Muslim population of these areas is about 70 per cent. On their pressure, the village education committees have suffixed "Urdu school" along with the names of many schools, and some of the schools eben installed boards to this effect.

Some people arguing in favour of this submitted that "if 70 per cent Muslim students study in schools, Friday holiday is justified for Friday prayers".

Meanwhile, a political slugfest has began over the issue.

Several BJP leaders, including former Chief Ministers Babulal Marandi, Raghubar Das, state BJP President Deepak Prakash, and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey have accused the Hemant Soren-led state government of allowing changes in the government rules for appeasement.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Jamtara, Irfan Ansari, has said that Friday has been "ear-marked" as holiday according to the convenience of the local people.

He accused the BJP of giving unnecessary importance to the matter, and trying to disturb social harmony.
New York, July 13 : Star witness White House counsel to former US President Donald Trump has testified that Trump should have conceded the 2020 election verdict to the winner democrat Joe Biden and he has mostly corroborated and did not deny previous testimonies of witnesses including Cassidy Hutchinson on what happened on the January 6 Capitol Hill's insurrection.

Cipollone testified in closed doors on Friday before the committee and the video was made public on Tuesday at the crucial hearings of the senate committee which has now lined up another star witness Stephen Bannon, former white house strategist to Trump, media executive and banker, who stands trial for criminal charges on July 18 and he had prior knowledge of January 6 events as he had said in a message on January 5 "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow".

Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone testified before the January 6 committee on Friday. Rep. Zoe Lofgren said that he "did not contradict" previous witnesses, and the committee had "learned a few things." The panel subpoenaed Cipollone last week following Cassidy Hutchinson's bombshell testimony.

Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone "did not contradict" testimony of previous witnesses when he appeared on Friday before the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Rep. Zoe Lofgren said.

Lofgren, a Democratic congresswoman and member of the panel, told CNN that the committee had also "learned a few things" after interviewing Cipollone for nearly eight hours. The Congresswoman said details of Cipollone's testimony would be rolled out in upcoming hearings. She noted that Cipollone appeared voluntarily and said that he answered various questions in a candid, careful, and honest way.

However, she said that just because he did not contradict previous testimony, it did not mean he confirmed all of it, particularly Cassidy Hutchinson's bombshell testimony. Lofgren said that there were situations in which Cipollone was not present or "couldn't recall with precision".

Cipollone, a sought-after witness for the panel, was reported to have expressed concerns about then-President Donald Trump's actions around January 6 and resisted schemes to overturn the 2020 election.

Cipollone was subpoenaed by the panel last week following Hutchinson's testimony, after having already spoken with the committee during an informal interview in April.

Hutchinson said in her testimony that Cipollone warned that Trump would be charged with "every crime imaginable" if he went to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, along with thousands of protesters.

It was reported earlier this month that Cipollone was in talks to testify about the riot publicly. He indicated that his testimony revolved around Jeffrey Clark, a former top Justice Department official, who used his position to aid Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, it is alleged, according to the Business Insider that tracked today's hearings.

Legal experts previously told Insider's Camila DeChalus that Cipollone's first-hand account of whether Trump was aware that he was potentially engaging in criminal activity could strengthen a case against him by the Justice Department. Trump has criticized Cipollone testifying in front of the panel, arguing that it could discourage future presidents from having "candid" conversations with a White House counsel.

"Why would a future President of the US want to have candid and important conversations with his White House Counsel if he thought there was even a small chance that this person, essentially acting as a 'lawyer' for the Country, may someday be brought before a partisan and openly hostile Committee in Congress," Trump wrote on his social-media platform, Truth Social, on Wednesday.
Panaji, July 13 : After the Opposition raised the issue of retrenchment notices served to mining workers, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday that the government will ask mining companies winning the auction to retain the existing workforce working on those mining leases.

Sawant was replying to an attention motion moved by Congress MLA Michael Lobo on the need to protect mining workers. Lobo raised the concern as mining companies have started the process to retrench the workers.

The mining issue has been hanging in fire in Goa ever since the apex court banned extraction and transportation of iron ore from 88 mining leases in March 2018, while also directing the state government to re-issue mining leases.

"The Directorate of Mining and Geology will ask these companies (who win the auction) to employ the existing workforce," Sawant said.

Lobo said that many people are directly and indirectly dependent on mining, hence there is a need to resume mining.

"After auctioning the leases, what are going to be conditions (to be set by the government for the companies), will they respect the local people? Will the contractors engage the local workforce? How many Goans will be employed? Will they engage Goan trucks or will they bring trucks from other states," Lobo asked.

He said that the government should make it mandatory that locals get the first preference.

"One company has given retrenchment notice to the workers, while the other companies have also kept their notices ready. If they don't win the auction, they will sack the workers. Around 5,000 workers will be affected," Lobo said.

Sawant in his reply said that in order to restart mining activity in the state, the government is gearing up for auctioning the mining blocks on priority.

"As the first round of the auction process is proposed to be completed in the next 3-4 months, the experienced workforce available in Goa is expected to get employment once the mining activity resumes in the state. The state will explore the possibility of giving preference to the existing workforce after the auction process is completed and mining activity is resumed," Sawant said.

He said that in order to auction the mining blocks expeditiously, the state has entered into an MoU with the Mineral Exploration Consultancy Limited (MECL), a Government of India enterprise, for providing geological reports.
Ahmedabad, July 13 : Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, brought from Palanpur on transfer warrant to Ahmedabad, was arrested on Tuesday evening by the Ahmedabad police's Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) team.

Bhatt was arrested in connection with a case lodged against him for allegedlly submitting forged/fabricated/ manipulated documents before the Nanavati Commission, constituted to inquire into the 2002 Gujarat riots.

He is in Judicial custody of the Palanpur sessions court in connection with 1996 Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS). Allegation against him is that he had planted drugs in an advocates house and illegally arrested him.

On June 25, DCB Police Inspector D.B. Barad has registered the case against Bhatt, former DGP R.B. Sreekumar and human right activists Teesta Setalvad -- accusing them of submitting forged documents in front of Nanavati Commission and misrepresentation of funds.
New York, July 13 : Senate Committee Vice Chair and Republican Rep. Liz Cheney has said that Donald Trump's White House counsel Pat Cipollone's testimony that the former President should have conceded elections, and that there was no widespread election fraud as claimed by Trump has more or less met the expectations.

The Wyoming Republican, at the center of the party's ire and fighting for her lone seat from the state to Trump-backed Ms Hagemann, said the recent testimony former White House Counsel Cipollone gave to the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection "met" their expectations. "If you've watched these hearings, you've heard us call Mr. Cipollone to come forward to testify. He did, and Mr. Cipollone's testimony met our expectations," she said during the house select committee's seventh public hearing.

On queue, the House panel then aired several clips of Cipollone's sworn testimony at the start of their seventh hearing as part of a push to further show that then-President Donald Trump's aides disagreed with his push to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Cipollone told the January 6 committee that he agreed Trump should concede the 2020 election and that he lost to Democratic nominee Joe Biden fair and square. He also cited Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's floor remarks where he congratulated Biden and said that the process was "done".

"That would be in line with my thinking on these things," Cipollone testified.

The committee later played a clip where Cipollone was asked if Trump would need to heed the court rulings that had come down since he lost the 2020 election; Cipollone replied, "Of course, Everybody is obliged to abide by the rules." When Cheney was asked whether the former President had "a particular obligation" to ensure US laws are "faithfully executed", the former White House counsel responded, "That is one of the President's obligations, correct." Legal experts have previously told Business Insider that Cipollone's testimony could potentially heighten Trump's legal exposure in several investigations into the former President. His testimony could provide more insight into Trump's state of mind during the January 6 insurrection and whether he intended to commit a crime.

"The most important and compelling witnesses in a real trial, where the rules of evidence apply, could be people who spoke directly to the former President and can tell a jury what he said and thus what he intended. That could be someone like Pat Cipollone. It could be any number of people. We just don't yet know," Chuck Rosenberg, a former federal prosecutor, previously said.

Cipollone's first-hand account of what Trump did and said on January 6 has become an important part of the January 6 committee's investigation. It came after former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified that Cipollone expressed concerns about the criminal charges they could face if Trump planned to go to the US Capitol building with his supporters on January 6. During an earlier January 6 committee hearing, Hutchinson recalled Cipollone saying at the time, "We're going to get charges of every crime imaginable if we make that move".
Inspirus LLC, a Sodexo Group company, and leader in elevating employee experiences and employee engagement through rewards and recognition is pleased to welcome new additions to the Inspirus Sales team. Michael C. Haas and J.R. Robinson have both joined the organization as Business Development Executives. They will be leading the sales effort as Inspirus continues to grow and expand after the launch of its flagship product, Inspirus Connects, last year.

Michael C. Haas comes to Inspirus with over 20 years of sales experience. Most recently Michael was an Emerging Technologies Consultant that led business acceleration and transformation for companies in the healthcare, financial services, and bio-sciences industries. Prior to that, he was a Business Development Executive for an HR technology consulting firm where he led the North American SaaS sales team to seven straight record quarters of revenue growth. He was responsible for developing and executing channel and partner strategies, programs, and processes for enterprise solutions. Michaels previous positions include SaaS Business Development Director at TriNet, co-founder Finespun Technologies, Inc., and Internet Sales Director for Think Big Media. He is currently on the Executive Leadership Council of Octane, a technology accelerator group in Orange County, California, and an active member of the National Venture Capital Association. Michael holds a BS in Management Information Systems from the University of Arizona.

J.R. Robinson joins the team with over 14 years of experience in the rewards and recognition industry. J.R. is best known for being a dynamic, results-oriented sales professional, helping organizations enhance their profitability while increasing employee retention and productivity. In his previous position, he specialized in strategic consulting for all aspects of employee recognition and engagement programs. J.R. was honored 9 times within 10 years for his sales excellence, including 5 awards for quickly delivering new business and two awards for exceeding new business sales goals. J.R. is a graduate of Angelo State University.

Im excited to add these two individuals to our dynamic team, says Craig Sukenic, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Inspirus and Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services, USA. Although their styles are uniquely their own, they share a very valuable trait of listening to gain insight into customer needs before recommending solutions. That aligns with our cultural values of exceeding expectations through integrity and professionalism.

About Inspirus

Employees play a large part in defining a companys culture: their everyday experiences create the foundational structure that drives an organization to be strong, high-performing, and ultimately successful. Inspirus helps organizations harness the full potential of their greatest resource  their people  ensuring they feel valued and connected, fostering greater loyalty, performance, productivity, and success. Through our technology, integrated solutions, and award-winning customer service, we elevate the employee experience and optimize organizational culture by providing a holistic approach throughout the entire employee journey.

As a vital part of the multinational Sodexo Group, our efforts are strengthened by Sodexos global reach, and something more: a guiding principle for positive change  improving the quality of life for everyone. Inspirus aims to bring joy to work, one experience at a time. Visit inspirus.com for more information.

Inspirus is part of the Sodexo Group. Visit us.sodexo.com to learn more.

About Sodexo

Founded in Marseille in 1966 by the late Pierre Bellon, Sodexo is the global leader in services that improve Quality of Life, an essential factor in individual and organizational performance. Operating in 55 countries, Sodexo serves 100 million consumers each day through its integrated offering of On-site Services, Benefits, Rewards Services, and Personal and Home Services, developed using 50+ years of experience. Sodexos success and performance are founded on its independence, its sustainable business model, and its ability to continuously develop and engage its 412,000 employees throughout the world.
The Department of Energys selection of hydrogen hubs is key, but now the real challenge is to put critical infrastructure in place

GenH2, a leader in hydrogen infrastructure, announced today that the company will be a headline sponsor of the North American Hydrogen Summit 2022 in San Francisco, California, on July 14-15, 2022. The event, which is hosted by H2View in partnership with California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), is themed Building Bridges: Hydrogen Hubs and Investment.

GenH2 Founder & CEO Cody Bateman is scheduled to speak Friday, July 15 at 7:00pm during the summits Networking Dinner. His topic is The Production and Storage of Liquid Hydrogen. He will also chair Session 4 titled Fueling the Mobility Market.

According to H2View, the two-day conference will specifically touch on the following:



What happens next following the Department of Energy and Biden Administrations investment in hydrogen?

With the U.S. giving chase in a race to green hydrogen now dominated by Europe and Asia-Pacific, why is now the time for the U.S. to take the lead?

California and Texas are vying to be Americas hydrogen capital today - where are the hubs of tomorrow?

What can other states and countries learn from Californias hydrogen success story and how can the industry build bridges to a successful flow of international investment?

Exploration of todays investment climate and a look at the various area of mobility.

The Department of Energys selection of hydrogen hubs is key, but now the real challenge is to put critical infrastructure in place, said Bateman. As an industry, we are at risk of doing too little, too late if we dont address the big picture surrounding infrastructure immediately. Now is the opportunity for the U.S. to move ahead in the global hydrogen race.

As Founder and CEO of GenH2, which is focused on the mass production of hydrogen infrastructure solutions necessary for the transition to a clean energy economy, Bateman is an industry leader. Widely recognized as a visionary and expert in this industry, Bateman leads the GenH2 team, which includes former NASA researchers and developers that possess decades of experience researching, engineering, and producing hydrogen solutions.

GenH2 has announced plans to mass-produce mid-size modular systems to support a variety of end-use cases for land, air, sea, and space. Its products are designed to be flexible and scalable and controlled by an integral central processing capability for a new generation of safe, reliable gaseous and liquid hydrogen-based solutions. The company is rapidly expanding and intends to be a key player in the clean energy future.

Headquartered in Titusville, Florida, GenH2 recently announced the opening of an office in Houston, Texas. The company is opening this satellite location to align with plans announced by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to build up to six hydrogen hubs across the country.

About GenH2 GenH2 is an industry leader in hydrogen infrastructure solutions. The Titusville, Florida-headquartered technology company was founded by Cody Bateman, who is widely recognized as a visionary and expert in this industry. The GenH2 team includes former NASA researchers and developers that possess decades of experience researching, engineering, and producing hydrogen solutions. GenH2 is focused on the mass production of infrastructure solutions necessary for the transition to a clean energy economy. GenH2 technology will allow safe onsite production and storage of pure liquid hydrogen, making the product accessible for everyday use. GenH2 has plans to deliver its product to hundreds of locations across the country in the coming years. Learn more about GenH2 at http://www.DiscoverHydrogen.com.
Plus+ Consulting has announced its acquisition by iVision, a full-service IT firm based in Atlanta, GA.

Since its founding in 1999, Plus+ Consulting has been dedicated to helping clients thoughtfully establish their digital future. By teaming up with a strategic partner like iVision, Plus+ is able to immediately offer enterprise-level managed services and other technical expertise that set our clients up for success.

iVision has spent the past 18 years helping clients future-proof their businesses through consulting services, managed services and product resale. Their breadth of experience and expertise of emerging technologies will expand our portfolio and help guide our clients into a new age of digital success.

Both companies display the utmost respect and appreciation for clients, employees and the community alike, and joint emphasis on culture will pave the way for a successful integration.

In having started Plus+ Consulting almost 23 years ago, this business is very personal to me, said Steve Smith, Founder at Plus+ Consulting. In having spent a lot of time with iVision in the strategic planning process for Plus+s next phase of growth, it became clear that our cultures aligned well, and iVisions broader services portfolio, depth of expertise, managed services business and leadership team would ensure that the Plus+ Consulting team and clients are extremely well positioned for additional growth opportunities for the future. This is a huge milestone for Plus+ and our clients, and I am very excited about this phase.

As the IT industry continues to evolve, its crucial that Plus+ Consulting continues to evolve by capitalizing on opportunities to better serve our team and our clients. We have been considering growth opportunities for well over a year and coming together with iVision is a natural partnership. Teaming up with iVision, which has a larger services portfolio including an enterprise-level Managed Services business, expands our expertise and skillsets, all while maintaining our people-based company culture, said Mark Husnick, CEO at Plus+ Consulting. Were thrilled with this next step with iVision for our people and for our clients, and I'm personally excited to play a role in this next chapter.

Plus+ Consultings expertise and team are a tremendous addition to iVision. Their Microsoft Cloud and cybersecurity capabilities will strengthen our service capabilities for clients, and I'm excited to see our teams come together to better serve our clients, each other and our communities, said David Degitz, CEO at iVision. "Our cultures and people have a lot of similarities, and well be able to reach new heights together. Additionally, having previously lived in Pennsylvania and spent time in Pittsburgh, its a special city with wonderful people. Establishing a market presence in Pittsburgh is a major milestone for iVision.

About Plus+ Consulting

Plus+ Consulting is a digital transformation consultancy specializing in Microsoft cloud along with cybersecurity, strategy and staffing solutions suited to enterprise companies. Since 1999, our business strategists and technologists have brought extensive industry and IT experience to leaders in a wide range of industries to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies to improve their businesses. Learn more at plusconsulting.com.

Follow Plus+: Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube

About iVision

iVision is a technology solutions company with the purpose of earning clients for life by providing innovative solutions with exceptional customer service. iVision engineers success for its clients through objective recommendations, process and technology expertise, as well as best-of-breed guidance. The firm provides infrastructure and application solutions through its consulting, managed services and product resale lines of business. iVision's technology practices include: Cybersecurity, Cloud, Network, Data Center, Digital Workspace and IT Workflow. Learn more about iVision at ivision.com.

Follow iVision: Twitter,, LinkedIn and Facebook
We are in the business of creating value for our clients, and Nipuns whole career has been focused on creating massive differentiated value for his clients.

BP3 Global, Inc. an Austin, Texas-based provider of intelligent automation services and solutions, today announced the appointment of Nipun Sharma to its executive leadership team as the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Sharma will lead overall sales strategy, business development, and strategic partnerships. Sharma will be charged with continuing BP3s rapid growth in process automation and intelligent automation.

Sharma has more than 20 years of experience leading sales, business development, and global account management initiatives at leading tech businesses, spanning products, services, and SaaS, with a heavy focus on disruptive strategies that help accelerate rapid international growth. He has a deep and far-ranging international profile, having lived and worked in Singapore, Nordics, the US, and India. Reporting to Chief Executive Officer Scott Francis, Sharma will play an essential role at the intersection of marketing and sales to generate new growth opportunities and oversee the corporate go-to-market strategy to drive organic growth for the organization.

We found Nipun to be a strategic thinker who understands our market, and who has great international experience - critical for our international growth strategy, remarked Scott Francis, CEO of BP3 Global. We are in the business of creating value for our clients, and Nipuns whole career has been focused on creating massive differentiated value for his clients.

Prior to joining BP3, Sharma worked at UiPath (A leading RPA software company) for four years in various roles, starting with leading global industry practices, managing large GSIs (channel business) and, global expansion of key strategic accounts. Before joining UiPath, he was the Director of Intelligent Automation at Accenture/Avanade, where he managed strategy, sales, delivery, and product portfolio for the Americas South Central business. He also led the go-to-market alignment with key partners across the intelligent automation ecosystem. Sharma was also a client partner of Infosys and had been serving the banking and financial services industry for many years, helping significant clients reshape their businesses through digital transformation.

About BP3 Global

BP3 gives people faster ways to get things done. We streamline and automate the processes that drive your business, with clients across a number of industries including healthcare, financial services, manufacturing telecommunications, hospitality, and travel. We have achieved an unprecedented 99% success rate, bringing more focus, more foresight, and more follow-up to every project. It is how and why some of the world's more respected brands such as Charter Communications, Keller Williams, and Eli Lilly  rely on BP3. BP3 is a leader in Forresters Q3 2020 Wave of Digital Process Automation Service Providers and has recently won partner of the year honors from Automation Anywhere and Camunda. For more information, please visit bp-3.com
Mavyn.com, a Tele-Help service that provides on-demand assistance to customers with needs in plumbing, pet care, fitness, interior design, general handy, basic auto repair, IT help, repair and service cost estimation, and even beekeeping launched in Austin, Texas.

Mavyn.com, a Tele-Help service that provides on-demand assistance to customers with needs in plumbing, pet care, fitness, interior design, general handy, basic auto repair, IT help, repair and service cost estimation, and even beekeeping launched earlier this year. The Austin, Texas based startup is rooted in the same concepts of telemedicine. Mavyns founder, Alex Mason, says we see a gap in how people get answers at home and in life. They either spend time searching the internet or youtube for non-specific, often incorrect advice, or call and make an appointment for an expert to come to their home. Both can be time consuming and the latter can be expensive. Mavyn seeks to bridge that gap. He went on to say, Mavyn gives customers the ability to get answers and DIY with confidence. With Mavyn you do not have to wonder if youre doing it wrong or missing something. Our experts are experienced and can guide customers to success and solutions from a computer or smartphone.

What does Mavyn offer: Mavyn offers expert advice and guidance in three main areas: pet care, plumbing, and fitness. Via its website or the app to connect customers with experts by video, text, or voice to help guide them to solutions. Services can be on demand or scheduled, based on what the customer needs.

Why did Mavyn choose Austin, Texas: Mavyn chose Austin, Texas for its founding and launch location because of the vibrant community, known to be early movers in technology and innovation. The people of Texas are self-reliant and our service platform supports this mantra enabling them to do it themselves.

About Mavyn: Grown from roots in tele-medicine, Mavyn launched in Austin, Texas in 2022 with a mission to connect modern DIYers, savvy task-masters, and lifestyle enthusiasts with experts who can help empower them with solutions that get them back to personal bettermentall from a tech-enabled platform.
"Being named an Elite Doctor by Orlando Style Magazine is an honor and I am very proud of the entire team at Azad Plastic Surgery." Dr. Kamran Azad

Azad Plastic Surgery announces that Orlando Style Magazine has named Dr. Kamran Azad an Elite Doctor for 2022. Orlando Style is considered the #1 Magazine in the area for Lifestyle content and has been in operation since 2003.

Dr. Kamran Azad, one of Orlandos top plastic surgeons, is honored to be recognized as an Elite Doctor. He has practiced in the Orlando area for nearly five years and has earned this recognition through proven results. He has also been recognized by Orlando Magazine and is considered a Top Doc by OrlandoTopDoctors.com.

Our entire team at Azad Plastic Surgery is ecstatic about this recognition," Dr. Azad said. The team is amazing and while I am the surgeon, my team is imperative to the overall success of the practice.

Orlando Style Magazines article on Dr. Kamran Azad was released recently and can be found by visiting this webpage on their site. This publication is best in class in our area, and the demographics align well with our target audience, so I am excited for them to learn more about me and Azad Plastic Surgery, added Dr. Azad.

About Azad Plastic Surgery

Dr. Kamran Azad is one of the few plastic surgeons in Orlando, Florida, with additional aesthetic fellowship training. Performing procedures such as Brazilian Butt Lift, Breast Augmentation, Tummy Tuck, Breast Lift, and Liposuction. Dr. Azad is Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He is an active member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

Visit Dr. Kamran Azads website at http://www.kamranazadmd.com
The shortlisted candidates announced today have proven to be truly innovative thinkers in the SaaS industry.

AccuLynx, the leading provider of all-in-one business management software for roofing contractors, today announced it has been recognized in the 2022 SaaS Awards program shortlist for Best SaaS Product for the Construction Industry.

The SaaS Awards program, which celebrates software innovation across the US, Canada, Australasia, EMEA, and the UK, annually recognizes the best solutions in each category. AccuLynx demonstrated its leadership position in the roofing industry through years of innovative software development and proven success across thousands of customers.

The shortlisted candidates announced today have proven to be truly innovative thinkers in the SaaS industry, said James Williams, Head of Operations for the SaaS Awards.

We are delighted to be recognized by the SaaS Awards program as one of the best SaaS products for the construction and roofing categories, said Mike Stein, CEO of AccuLynx. Weve continued to put innovation and customer satisfaction at the forefront, and this award underlines those efforts.

This recognition follows a stream of recent awards for AccuLynxs roofing software in the Construction Management Software and Construction Management CRM categories from large software review sites including Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice. To read more about the SaaS Awards and other recognized solutions, visit the awards page.

###

About AccuLynx

AccuLynx is the leading provider of cloud-based business management software for roofing contractors. Recognized as a pioneer in the industry, AccuLynx has helped thousands of companiesfrom rapidly-growing start-ups to multi-location operationsstreamline their processes and grow their business. Used by more contractors than any other roofing software, AccuLynxs simple business management tools include CRM, estimating, production scheduling, project management, aerial measurements, material ordering, photo sharing, payment processing, custom reporting, and homeowner financing, and more. AccuLynx has direct integrations with Beacon Building Products, SRS Distribution, ABC Supply, QuickBooks, HomeAdvisor, GAF, GreenSky, EagleView Technologies, and others. For more information, visit acculynx.com.
Being recognized across so many categories in G2s latest reportsespecially for the ease in working with Transcend, as endorsed by our customersis incredibly humbling.

Transcend, the privacy platform that makes it easy to encode privacy across a companys tech stack, has been recognized across five categories by G2  the worlds largest and most trusted software marketplace  in its Summer 2022 reports. This recognition is based on verified reviews Transcend customers left on G2.

Transcend was recognized as a Leader in the Data Privacy Management category, and received badges for being Easiest to Do Business With in the Data Subject Access Request, Consent, Data Mapping, and Data Governance categories. In addition, Transcend also received badges for Easiest Admin, Easiest Setup, Easiest to Use, High Performer, Best Meets Requirements, and more.

Being recognized across so many categories in G2s latest reportsespecially for the ease in working with Transcend, as endorsed by our customersis incredibly humbling, said Ben Brook, Transcends CEO and co-founder.

When we founded Transcend, we set out to make it simple for companies to give their users control over their data, and that isnt possible without new data infrastructure that turns the most complex privacy operational challenges into easy solutions for our customers, regardless of the regulation or requirement. Were incredibly proud that our customers are seeing that value being delivered, said Brook.

Transcends first product, automating the orchestration of data subject access requests(DSARs), was launched in 2017. The companys Consent Management and Data Mapping offerings were launched in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

You can read more about Transcends performance in G2s Summer 2022 reports on the Transcend blog, or read Transcends G2 customer reviews on our G2 profile.

About Transcend

Transcend is the privacy platform that makes it easy to encode privacy across a companys tech stack for complete personal data observability, governance, and compliance. Backed by Accel and Index Ventures, the company is the data privacy partner of choice for brands such as Robinhood, Clubhouse, Eventbrite, CircleCI, and more. Transcend customers go beyond the patchwork compliance and manual offerings of yesterday to realize an easy, efficient, and secure privacy program at scale, with industry-leading technical solutions for the most urgent data mapping, consumer request, and consent management challenges. By future-proofing its technology, Transcend also enables customers to confidently address new or future regulatory requirements, whatever they might be. In addition, Transcends privacy platform incorporates a standard-setting secure by design architecture that security-conscious brands have come to expect, including an on-premise security gateway, E2EE (end-to-end encryption), and more.

Founded in 2017, Transcend is headquartered in San Francisco.

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Clint Rachal, CEO of MINT dentistry The chief executives on this years list have fostered company cultures that embrace diversity and inclusion, as shown by the feedback from their female employees, said Comparably CEO, Jason Nazar. The consensus is that these top-rated CEOs lead with empathy and emotional intelligence.

MINT dentistry, the industry-leading dental company known for making Sexy Teeth, today announced the business was honored for its leadership and diversity by the workplace culture site Comparably. MINT was selected out of 70,000 large companies across the U.S. and won in two categories including Best CEO for Women and Best CEO for Diversity.

The chief executives on this years list have fostered company cultures that embrace diversity and inclusion, as shown by the feedback from their female employees, said Comparably CEO, Jason Nazar. The consensus is that these top-rated CEOs lead with empathy and emotional intelligence.

Comparably Awards are derived from sentiment ratings anonymously provided by employees about their workplaces in multiple categories on Comparably.com during a 12-month period. Winners are then determined based on 20 core culture metrics, ranging from work-life balance and environment to compensation and career growth.

Love and generosity are core values instilled in MINTs identity as a company, MINT CEO, Clint Rachal explained. We love our employees, our patients, and the communities we serve. We make it a priority to create a work environment that celebrates diversity and reflects the communities we serve. It's one of the many ways we bring those values to life.

The best companies have leadership that value the growth of their employees as much as the growth of the business. Clint is one of those leaders. He is one of the most experienced and balanced executives in dentistry and under his leadership MINT is poised for hyper-growth as we expand our company of brands nationwide," said Dr. Field Harrison, Founder and Chairman of MINT dentistry.

MINT is rapidly expanding and hiring for positions in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Miami. If you are passionate about dentistry and interested in joining one of the best places to work, visit MINTdentistry.com/careers to learn more about current opportunities.

About MINT dentistry

MINT dentistry provides exceptional dental services at affordable prices for everyone. The company also offers free teeth whitening with PPO dental insurance. For more information about MINT dentistry, please visit http://www.mintdentistry.com or call 833.879.6468 to schedule an appointment.
Mary Beth Rogalsky, Vice President of Marketing of 66degrees [Mary Beth's} previous experience in marketing showcases her ability to drive strong marketing initiatives that reinforce our mission of being the partner companies need for their digital transformation," says Matt Kestian, CEO of 66degrees.

66degrees, a Google Cloud Premier Partner, has announced that Mary Beth Rogalsky has been hired as Vice President of Marketing.

In her new role, Rogalsky is responsible for overseeing marketing strategies, bringing together creativity, analytics and business acumen to deliver and exceed business goals.

Mary Beth consistently delivers innovative and unique marketing strategies. Her previous experience in marketing showcases her ability to drive strong marketing initiatives that reinforce our mission of being the partner companies need for their digital transformation," says Matt Kestian, CEO of 66degrees. I am thrilled to welcome her to the 66degrees team.

66degrees is a Premier Google Cloud Partner focused on guiding clients along their journey of adopting and implementing Google Cloud. 66degrees supports this journey by leading clients through the modernization of their infrastructure, applications, data, and day-to-day collaboration using Google Cloud  while making sure everything is done securely.

Prior to joining 66degrees, Rogalsky was Marketing Manager at Slalom and Head of Global Digital Marketing at TRI-K Industries. Preceding her Marketing career, Rogalsky managed a genetic and infectious disease testing lab. Rogalsky graduated from Towson University with a BS in Biology and received an MBA from Centenary University with a concentration in management.

I am overjoyed to join 66degrees and oversee the Marketing team. I am in awe of the dedication 66degrees has to not only its clients, but employees as well, says Rogalsky. 66degrees is a tremendous company to work for and I am inspired to plan strategic marketing initiatives to propel the company as the top Google Cloud Premier Partner to collaborate with.

For more information about 66degrees, please visit https://66degrees.com

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About 66degrees

66degrees helps organizations modernize their infrastructure, applications, data, and day-to-day collaboration using Google Cloud  while making sure everythings done securely. In the current environment, so many companies are looking to modernize that its hard to find the Google-specific skills or experience needed. To achieve their business objectives, it takes a consulting partner who brings a build stronger, innovate faster, optimize together approach. This is why companies ranging from born-in-the-cloud disruptors to world-class enterprise brands all rely on 66degrees  an award-winning Google Cloud Premier Partner. 66degrees. Lets get you there.
The generous financial and in-kind support from American Family Insurance brings us another step closer to our goal of helping our four pilot school districts meet their challenge grant match, said WEA Member Benefits Foundation Executive Director Steve Goldberg.

The philanthropic arm of a statewide insurance and financial services organization for educatorsWEA Member Benefits Foundation, Inc.has launched a pilot project with four Wisconsin school districts to test a funding model for expanding private philanthropic support for school-based mental health programs throughout the state. The American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation and the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact have committed to supporting this pilot project, joining a growing list of corporate philanthropic organizations.

The WEA Member Benefits Foundation announced it will help their four pilot districts, Appleton, Racine, Sun Prairie, and Watertown, approach potential funders in their local communities to meet their challenge grantprovided by the Foundationpotentially doubling the total for each district. The generous financial and in-kind support from American Family Insurance brings us another step closer to our goal of helping our four pilot school districts meet their challenge grant match, said WEA Member Benefits Foundation Executive Director Steve Goldberg. We are grateful for their generosity and hope that other corporate foundations will follow their lead to help the school districts strengthen their mental health programs.

We are strongly committed to supporting equity in healthy youth development, especially mental health, said Shayna Hetzel, American Family community and social impact director. More than ever, young people having easy access to mental health resources is critical  and thats what innovative school-based programs such as this one help to cultivate.

We are thankful for American Familys philanthropic support of our four pilot school districts. School-based mental health, especially during these stressful times, is so important to the success of our students. We hope others will join us in this effort, said WEA Member Benefits President and CEO, David Kijek.

Initial funding for WEA Member Benefits Foundations student mental health pilot grant program has come from WEA Member Benefits, WEA Trust, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), GenRe, Empower Retirement, Delta Dental of Wisconsin, Parnassus Investments, Newport Group, Wisconsin Mutual Insurance, Velcor, Strom Ballweg, von Briesen & Roper, and T. Rowe Price.

More information about the WEA Member Benefits Foundations school-based mental health initiative and ways you can help support can be found at weafoundation.org.

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About the WEA Member Benefits Foundation, Inc.

The WEA Member Benefits Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity supporting public education through grants and charitable donations to public educators, public schools, and the communities they serve. More information can be found at weafoundation.org.

About WEA Member Benefits

WEA Member Benefits has been helping Wisconsin public school employees and their families achieve their financial goals for over 50 years by providing personal insurance, retirement and investment, and financial planning programs. Learn more at weabenefits.com.

About the American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation, Inc.

The American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation builds on our long-standing commitment to communities by offering unrestricted, general operating grants to eligible non-profit partners. Were committed to using trust-based values to create meaningful, impactful relationships and reduce the inherent power imbalances of traditional funding models. Like our community partners, were also committed to learning, listening and changing through collaboration and trust. Grant funding priorities are Academic Achievement and Education, Healthy Youth Development, Economic Opportunity, and Community Resiliency. These priorities align with our organizations efforts to close equity gaps, invest in and improve communities.

About the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact

The American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact is a venture capital firm and partner of choice for exceptional entrepreneurs who are building scalable, sustainable businesses in a long-term effort to close equity gaps in America. It also recognizes that capacity building and supporting organizations and experts that have been working toward social causes are equally important in making a positive impact within our communities around the country.
Due to increasing demand and the growing competitiveness of the Tax Credit market, we firmly believe that Workforce Housing projects like this will play a major role in affordable housing for the foreseeable future.

Churchill Stateside Group, LLC (CSG), a real estate and renewable energy financial services company, is pleased to announce the closing of financing for a new-construction workforce housing project in Flagler Beach, Florida. Preserve at Flagler will consist of 240 units catering to family tenancy. The capital stack consists of a USDA Rural Development 538 Option 3 Construction Advance Loan and Private Equity. CSG is providing the USDA Rural Development 538 Loan totaling $42,600,000. According to USDAs online data, this is the largest 538 loan in the programs history and shatters the previous record of almost $31 million which is a project also financed by CSG and developed by the same development team.

Dan Duda, Senior Vice President and National Director of Originations and Acquisitions for CSG, said, We are proud to be a financing partner on Preserve at Flagler as it will significantly help fill the need for workforce housing in the community of Flagler Beach, Florida. We very much appreciate our partnership with the development team consisting of Piedmont Private Equity, Portage Real Estate, and American South Real Estate Fund on this transaction. In addition, we appreciate our partnership with USDA Rural Development as this is through USDAs 538 Loan Guarantee Program. USDA recently reduced its ongoing and annual guarantee fee which helped make the financing more affordable for the sponsor.

Lead project developers, Eric Conkright with Piedmont Private Equity and John Cattano with Portage Real Estate, said, Our development team has noticed an underserved tenant base between high-rent class A and low-income tax subsidized apartment projects. Threading this needle is quite challenging without willing construction and permanent debt partners like Churchill and USDA-RD. Weve found a great niche by turning our focus towards high quality projects aimed at the workforce in high-growth, emerging markets in the Southeastern US, such as the Flagler County submarket in Florida, as developers have focused more on the Jacksonville and the Del-tona (Deland/Daytona Beach) MSAs, bypassing Flagler County leaving a gap in housing supply. A Class-A housing project like the 240-unit Preserve at Flagler Beach apartment community, drew praise and support by both the City Council and the local community, in an area where less than 1% of the housing supply is for-rent housing, and will provide housing for hospitality and retail workers closer to local employers. Projects such as ours will not only attract the workforce, but empty-nesters and other residents looking to relocate to the funky-little-beach-town as locals call the City of Flagler Beach, where the project will be approximately one mile from the ocean and include a weekend shuttle service for residents.

Keith Gloeckl, Chief Executive Officer of CSG, added, Due to increasing demand and the growing competitiveness of the Tax Credit market, we firmly believe that Workforce Housing projects like this will play a major role in affordable housing for the foreseeable future. We are pleased to partner with USDA-RD on this transaction and appreciate their efforts to work alongside Churchill to produce much needed work force housing in the Flagler Beach, Florida community.

For more information about CSGs multifamily finance programs and services, please contact Dan Duda, SVP and National Director of Originations and Acquisitions, at (727) 269-5198 or via email at dduda@csgfirst.com.

About Churchill Stateside Group

Churchill Stateside Group and its wholly owned affiliates (CSG) serve the affordable housing and commercial renewable energy industries. CSG sponsors tax credit equity investment funds for institutional investors and provides a variety of construction, permanent, and bond financing solutions. With over $3 Billion of assets under management, CSG has long-standing and successful investment relationships with numerous corporate investors and pension funds. The companys investor and developer clients benefit from our experienced staff, prominent and proactive senior leadership, and attractive debt and equity platforms. The company, through its subsidiary Churchill Mortgage Investment LLC, is an approved USDA Rural Development and HUD/FHA MAP and LEAN lender and Ginnie Mae Issuer.

For more information, please visit http://www.CSGfirst.com.
We are proud to provide RAM customers with an abundance of offerings designed to further their digital evolution.

ComTec Solutions, LLC, a leading Epicor Platinum Partner and enterprise resource planning (ERP), IT managed services (MSP) and cybersecurity provider based in Rochester, New York, announces the acquisition of RAM Software Systems, a Richardson, Texas-headquartered business consultancy focused on helping small and midsize manufacturers and distributors maximize long-term business growth. The purchase will allow for the expansion of ComTecs operations throughout the Southwest.

In business for over 40 years, RAM Software Systems is a certified ERP value chain specialist, empowering small and mid-market manufacturers and distributors with Epicor and other expert software solutions. ComTecs acquisition will create opportunities for RAMs customers to access a deeper bench of services, including consulting and technical expertise with a geo-growth advantage, concentrated on small and midsize businesses.

We are proud to provide RAM customers with an abundance of offerings designed to further their digital evolution, said Rob Moyer, owner, and president of ComTec Solutions. Additionally, this acquisition will aid us in reaching our aggressive growth goals faster and with more precision to continue providing unmatched IT solutions through technology and best-practice approaches.

RAM is excited to be joining forces with ComTec Solutions. With almost 20 years experience servicing our Epicor customers, in addition to our expertise, we will be able to offer more resources and a broad array of IT services as we work together to grow the ComTec presence in the Southwest, said Mike Greene, owner of RAM Software Systems.

The acquisition is part of a 10-year growth plan set by ComTec, with plans to hire 10 new employees by the end of 2022 for its growing services. RAM also brings 30 Epicor clients of its own, all of which ComTec will now serve while helping to onboard new ones and offering more resources tailored to IT-related needs and modernization of their operations.

Our channel business continues to see strong growth and momentum, and this partnership between ComTec and RAM Software is yet another great example of two solutions-focused Epicor providers coming together to support our hardworking customers with Industry ERP Cloud solutions that help solve their unique challenges, said Lisa Pope, president of Epicor.

For more information on ComTec, visit http://www.comtecsolutions.com.

About ComTec Solutions

ComTec Solutions has been providing technical expertise to a diverse client base for over 25 years. The company is a Platinum Partner with Epicor ERP Software and a leading IT managed services and cybersecurity solution provider, working with US-based manufacturers, corporations, and government agencies to help them achieve business outcomes that matter most to their financial growth. ComTec is headquartered in Rochester, NY, and maintains offices in East Berlin, CT; Richardson, TX; and Philadelphia, PA. For more information, visit comtecsolutions.com.
We expect our aggressive product enhancements in the areas of data management, support analytics and self-service enablement to be the key to optimizing service delivery for all IT organizations.

CrushBank, developers of an artificial intelligence (AI) solution purpose-built for IT support, today announces that Arthur Ventures has invested $5.5M in a Series A round that closed in June 2022. ConnectWise Co-founder David Bellini, a prior investor, joined Arthur Ventures in this round with a vote of confidence for CrushBanks strategic direction.

CrushBanks AI and ML powered platform, CrushBank Resolve, dramatically increases the productivity of IT support by presenting them with a list of recommended solutions when they first open a customers trouble ticket. Recently, the company expanded its focus to develop similar solutions based on auto-categorization, the automated classification of incidents into well-defined, manageable categories and concepts.

Arthur Ventures clearly understood the transformative effect of our products on traditional IT support delivery, said Evan Leonard, CEO of CrushBank. We expect our aggressive product enhancements in the areas of data management, support analytics and self-service enablement to be the key to optimizing service delivery for all IT organizations.

Arthur Ventures exclusively invests in early growth technology companies creating business-to-business software and solutions.

As weve watched CrushBank, weve been impressed with the companys ability to solve complex IT Help Desk challenges with deceptively simple applications of advanced knowledge technologies, said Ryan Kruizenga, general partner, Arthur Ventures. This investment will enable CrushBank to capitalize on and exploit the substantial market momentum driving demand for AI- and ML-powered solutions that is coming from IT services firms across the country.

CrushBank will use the Series A round to accelerate time to market for significant extended data quality, workflow and customer self-service product enhancements to its proven product portfolio. These enhancements will enhance customers ability to move past search and into re-engineering data workflow, the bedrock of organizational efficiency and productivity.

About Arthur Ventures

Based in Minneapolis, Arthur Ventures leads investments in high-growth, capital efficient B2B software companies in every region across North America. Learn more at https://www.arthurventures.com

About CrushBank

CrushBank is the only application that uses Machine Learning and AI across multiple tools in the IT tech stack. CrushBank unlocks a firms proprietary content and historical ticket notes to provide invaluable support information and then uses that same technology to categorize and classify client interactions for improved decision-making. Founded by industry leaders, CrushBank decreases escalations to Level 2, increasing productivity and customer satisfaction. CrushBank searches and categorizes more than 25,000 tickets every day. For more information, visit http://www.crushbank.com.


Check out the 2022 Nissan Pathfinder at Don Williamson Nissan in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Priced at a starting MSRP of $34,640, the 2022 Nissan Pathfinder was recently added to the inventory at Don Williamson Nissan. The dealership houses around ten Pathfinder models with a towing capacity of 6,000 lbs. and a mileage of 21 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on the highway.

Key features of the 2022 Nissan Pathfinder include a 3.5-liter DOHC V6 engine, a nine-speed automatic transmission with manual mode, the Standard Nissan Safety Shield 360, Apple CarPlay integration, LED fog lights, heated steering wheel, Intelligent Around View monitor, leather-appointed seats in the 1st and 2nd row, and tri-zone automatic temperature control.

Prospective buyers can schedule a test drive of the 2022 Nissan Pathfinder on the dealership's website at http://www.dwnissan.com. They can also choose to visit Don Williamson Nissan, located at 310 Western Blvd. in Jacksonville, North Carolina 28546, or contact the dealership's sales representative at 855-894-5827 for more assistance.

Feel free to reach out to the dealership for further information regarding the 2022 Nissan Pathfinder.
The lower courts findings create a legal presumption that any time Republicans pass commonsense election rules that make it harder to cheat, they are invariably discriminatory, but if Democrats do the same, they are not."

Today, the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) filed an amicus curiae legal brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in support of Florida and its commonsense election integrity law, Senate Bill 90 (SB 90).

FGA asks the Court to reverse the lower courts ruling which not only struck down three of Floridas commonsense election reforms but imposed preclearance on the state, requiring Florida to obtain the permission of the federal government for the next 10 years before it may pass election reforms that are otherwise legal. If the ruling is not reversed, Section 3(c) preclearance will become a new legal strategy employed by the Left across the country to oppose any meaningful election reforms designed to prevent election fraud and inspire voter confidence. FGAs brief notes that Floridas election reforms strike a lawful and proper balance between making it easy to vote, but hard to cheat and argues that it is time for courts to put an end to preclearance, once and for all.

In March, a lower federal court found three reforms in SB 90 to be acts of intentional racial discrimination, placing Florida under the strictures of preclearance. On May 6, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order halting enforcement of the lower courts ruling which improperly found those provisions of Floridas election integrity law to be unconstitutional.

The lower courts findings create a legal presumption that any time Republicans pass commonsense election rules that make it harder to cheat, they are invariably discriminatory, but if Democrats do the same, they are not. Such a legal presumption, though certainly beneficial to the Left, could never survive judicial review, said Madeline Malisa, Senior Policy Fellow.

"In its ruling, the lower court claimed that 'the right to vote, and the VRA particularly, are under siege.' The lower court was wrong, said Stewart Whitson, Legal Director. Neither the right to vote nor the VRA are under siege, but rather, it is the equal sovereignty of the states and their right to regulate their own elections in accordance with the Constitution that is under siege. FGA stands ready to continue to help states across the country as they defend their constitutional right to pass commonsense election integrity laws.

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The Foundation for Government Accountability is a non-profit, multi-state think tank that specializes in health care, welfare, work, and election reform. To learn more, visit https://TheFGA.org
Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley's newly renovated lobby We're very excited about this renovation and the updates it brings to the hotel. Guest satisfaction has always been our top priority and we're looking forward to guests enjoying property updates now that the renovation is complete.

Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley has completed a $4-million renovation to its 178-room property. Led by Remington Hotels, the project includes updates to guestrooms, meeting space, restaurant lounge, lobby, and hotel technology.

Josh Belcher, General Manager of Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley said, We're very excited about this renovation and the updates it brings to the hotel. Guest satisfaction has always been our top priority and we're looking forward to guests enjoying property updates now that the renovation is complete.

Owned by Ashford Hospitality Trust and managed by Remington Hotels, Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley welcomes guests to a mountain retreat location only a short drive from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Quality services and amenities include on-site dining, complimentary Wi-Fi and parking, business center, fitness center, and a relaxing outdoor pool. With each stay guests enjoy a guestroom that includes a 42-inch LCD TV with premium channels, refrigerator, and Hilton Serenity bed. Pet-friendly and Pure Wellness rooms are available as an added option to fit any guests' preference or need. Pure Wellness rooms are treated with the latest technologies available and 99.9% free from allergens.

Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley is part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hiltons 18 world-class brands. Hilton Honors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels have instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that allows members to choose nearly any combination of Points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount that cant be found anywhere else, and free standard WiFi. Members can access contactless technology exclusively through the industry-leading Hilton Honors mobile app. Hilton Honors members can check in, choose their room, and access it using Digital Key.

For more information or to make reservations, please visit Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley or call +1 831-440-1000.

Read more about Hilton Hotels at http://www.newsroom.hilton.com.

About Hilton Hotels & Resorts

For over a century, Hilton Hotels & Resorts has set the benchmark for hospitality worldwide, providing new product innovations and services to meet guests' evolving needs. With nearly 600 hotels across six continents, Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties are located in the worlds most sought-after destinations for guests who know that where they stay matters. Experience a positive stay at Hilton Hotels & Resorts by booking at hiltonhotels.com or the industry-leading Hilton Honors app. Hilton Honors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels have access to instant benefits. Learn more about Hilton Hotels & Resorts at newsroom.hilton.com/hhr, and follow the brand on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Feet and Toes: On a Path That Pleases God: a thoughtful opportunity for reflection that encourages spiritual growth. Feet and Toes: On a Path That Pleases God is the creation of published author Jack Sorg, a dedicated husband and former president of International Christian Youth who served in Bangladesh and Brazil by providing medical care and training.

Sorg shares, The author has served as a cross-cultural missionary around the world. He found that many believers and church fellowships wrestle with questions surrounding liberty issues and legalism. They have confusion over how holiness and love join together. They struggle to understand the true meanings of self-control, patience, and godliness in their relations with others. They are unsure with whom they should have spiritual fellowship and from whom they must separate.

To solve the issues, many believers and churches create a list of dos and donts. That list too often reflects cultural bias, traditions, and preferences. What is lacking is a distinctly scriptural view that gives insight beyond such a list. This book is for those who seek the answer to What does the scripture say?

Feet and Toes is a short but clear description of the biblical principles for the common issues that confront believers and their churches. Almost every sentence is documented by scripture. Only a third of the book is the authors writing while the rest is printed out scriptural references. After laying the groundwork for a path that is pleasing to God, the book covers the steps to true maturity in the Gospel.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Jack Sorgs new book presents inspiring messages balanced with relevant scripture.

Sorg draws from his own personal journey and the individuals hes met along the way to provide carefully detailed guidance based on Gods word.

Consumers can purchase Feet and Toes: On a Path That Pleases God at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Feet and Toes: On a Path That Pleases God, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Merlot Marketing has been named Agency of Record for Jimboys Tacos and will support the fast casual restaurant chains marketing, communications and advertising. We know that Merlot aligns with our company values, and that their partnership will help us to continue elevating our brand with our loyal customers and eventually reach those who have never experienced The Original American Taco.

Merlot Marketing, Inc. (Merlot) has been named Agency of Record for Jimboys Tacos, a Sacramento-based fast casual restaurant chain with locations in Northern California, Reno and Dallas/Fort Worth. Merlot will support Jimboys Tacos marketing and communications strategy, including the development and execution of advertising, social media and public relations campaigns.

Jimboys Tacos is a family-owned business that started in 1954 with a small trailer in Lake Tahoe, Calif with the now famous The Original American Taco, a ground beef taco dusted with Parmesan cheese on the exterior of the shell. Jimboys Tacos has since grown to over 40 restaurants in California, Nevada and Texas and offers an extensive menu of fresh, made-to-order tacos, burritos, quesadillas and more.

TWEET THIS: Merlot has been named Agency of Record for @jimboystacos. @MerlotMarketing will support the #Sacramento based fast casual restaurant chain in its marketing and communications strategy. Learn more about Jimboys: https://jimboystacos.com/our-story/

Weve come a long way from starting in a food trailer on Kings Beach in 1954, said Erik Freeman, CEO of Jimboys Tacos and great-grandson of the founder, Jim Jimboy Knudson. We know that Merlot aligns with our company values, and that their partnership will help us to continue elevating our brand with our loyal customers and eventually reach those who have never experienced The Original American Taco.

When you take a look at what Jimboys Tacos has accomplished since 1954, it is both impressive and delicious, said Debi Hammond, CEO of Merlot Marketing. Were honored to work with, and promote, this iconic brand that has been woven into the fabric of the Sacramento region for nearly 70 years. Fresh, made-to-order ingredients and a signature recipe has people coming back for more, and each new menu item is just as tasty as the one that started it all.

In close collaboration with Jimboys Tacos, Merlot will lead all facets of marketing and advertising strategy and creative development. The agency will execute media planning and buying, advertising campaigns and manage social media. Merlot will target local and national media utilizing Social Media News Releases (SMNR) and pitching. Creative development of advertising and point-of-purchase elements will also be managed by Merlot.

For more information about Jimboys Tacos, visit jimboystacos.com. To learn more about Merlot Marketing, visit https://merlotmarketing.com/.

About Merlot Marketing

Celebrating 21 years of articulating and sharing brand stories, Merlot Marketing is an award-winning, national marketing agency that focuses on public relations (PR.0), brand strategy, social media, advertising and digital communications. Headquartered in California, with satellite offices located across the country, Merlot promotes brands throughout North America and Canada. The agency specializes in the home and building products category, and has helped numerous companies rediscover their brand position and promise through its proprietary REDiscover Process and then promotes it through PR.0. Discover our passion, creativity and results at http://www.merlotmarketing.com.

About Jimboys Tacos

Jimboys Tacos started out in 1954 as a food trailer in Lake Tahoe, CA when founder Jimboy Knudson debuted his signature Original Ground Beef Taco dusted with Parmesan cheese. Jimboys has grown to over 40 locations in California, Nevada and Texas, with a commitment to using fresh, premium ingredients, cooked in small batches to insure freshness and great flavor. Welcome to the Fold. For more information, visit JimboysTacos.com.
Small businesses have unique banking needs and leading banks are responding with enhancements that ensure their small business customers have multiple payment options and effective money management tools via their digital banking experience, said Susan Foulds, managing director, Keynova Group.

Keynova Group, the principal competitive intelligence source for digital financial services firms, today announced the results of its 2022 Small Business Banker Scorecard. The annual Scorecard measures the digital user experience of small business customers at 10 national and regional banks. Bank of America has retained the lead position, placing first for Overall Score. The 2022 Small Business Banker Scorecard revealed key industry trends, including advances in payments and money movement user interfaces and more personalization.

Small businesses have unique banking needs and leading banks are responding with enhancements that ensure their small business customers have multiple payment options and effective cash flow and money management tools via their digital banking experience, said Susan Foulds, managing director, Keynova Group. Banks are starting to offer small businesses Real Time Payments with instant delivery; together with invoicing and ACH receivables, customized reporting and personalized digital options, these banks offer powerful capabilities.

Key Findings:

More and Faster Money Movement Options

Todays small businesses increasingly expect expedited receipt and credit of funds or instant payments. While Real Time Payments (RTP) reach 61% of U.S. consumer accounts, fewer banks are currently offering it to small businesses. Only two of the 10 banks in the Scorecard  Chase and Citi  offer RTP with instant payment delivery to individuals and other businesses. Like larger corporate businesses, sending ACH payments directly to the accounts of employees, suppliers or vendors is an essential money movement option that many small businesses need. Yet just 60% of the banks provide small businesses outgoing ACH and only 30% allow them to request payments via ACH for receivables, a feature that can be particularly useful when integrated with invoicing. 30% of the reviewed banks - Bank of America, Citizens and PNC  also support invoicing from their online small business banking sites, enabling them to create and send invoices and track receivables.

Cash Flow and Expense Analytics Important to Small Business Bankers

As cash flow management is of particular importance for businesses, Bank of America and PNC offer reporting tools designed specifically for small businesses including generating default reports and advanced settings for more customized analysis. Overall, 40% of the banks evaluated offer projected cash flow by day, week or month, and 70% offer the option to generate a spending report based on transaction history. As customizing these reports for various business types can be helpful, 60% of banks enable small business customers to categorize or edit transactions versus using bank assigned categories and 40% allow them to create custom categories. Nearly half (40%) of banks enable the spending report or cash flow transactions to be exported into a categorized spreadsheet and provide a print-friendly version of the online report.

Personalization of the Small Business User Experience Adds Value

Personalizing the small business user experience encompasses enabling both the ability to choose interface options with desired information or navigation links to frequently used tasks and providing accessible business-oriented customer support channels. Today, 30% of the reviewed banks  including BMO Harris, Huntington and Truist - enable small businesses to customize their dashboard summary screens to various degrees by selecting information to display or adding links via widgets or tiles. Near real-time chatbot messaging is also trending, creating an inquiry and response thread that authenticated customers can reference later rather than waiting for a chat response or live agent supportand often replacing the legacy message center. Currently only 20% of banks offer two-way messaging to their small business customerswhile twice that percentage of banks offer it in consumer online banking, according to the Q2 2022 Online Banker Scorecard. Live real-time chat is provided to online small business banking users by 40% of banks and Citi is the lone bank to offer video meetings with business customers. Proactive notifications about account activity is another emerging service to inform customers. Bank of America stands out by providing proactive balance or overdraft notifications to its small business customers via its mobile app.

About the Small Business Banker Scorecard

Syndicated for more than two decades, Keynova Groups annual, fact-based Small Business Banker Scorecard objectively evaluates the digital banking services offered by leading U.S. banks that provide small business-focused capabilities to identify best practices, evolving trends and insights. These banks include: Bank of America, BMO Harris, Chase, Citi, Citizens, Huntington, PNC, Truist, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. For more information please visit: https://www.keynovagroup.com/scorecards/#banking

About Keynova Group

Keynova Group is the nations foremost competitive intelligence firm providing trusted benchmarking insights and analysis of consumer and small business digital financial services, including banking, credit card, home lending and insurance. Since 1999, Keynova Groups Scorecards have served as the go-to source for leading financial services firms to obtain reliable competitive intelligence and actionable insights. The firms proven methodology and highly detailed results help its clients maximize the value of their digital channels to deliver a premier experience to customers and prospects.


Were proud of our global achievement in crypto fund admin services, said Rajat Jain, NAV Vice President  Fund Accounting & Digital. Our technology, experienced team, and competitive pricing offer a superior choice for comprehensive services and a stable partner during periods of volatility.

NAV Fund Administration Group, a leading provider of administrative services to alternative asset managers, was announced as Best Fund Administrator at the inaugural European Digital Assets Awards, hosted by industry publication Hedgeweek in London on June 29. The firm also won Best Fund Administrator honors at the Hedgeweek US Digital Assets Awards earlier this year.

Were proud to have been recognized for global achievement in crypto fund administration services, said Rajat Jain, NAV Vice President  Fund Accounting and Digital. Our proprietary technology, experienced team, and highly competitive pricing offer crypto fund managers around the world a superior choice for comprehensive, flexible services and an established, stable partner during periods of change and volatility.

Nominations were based on annualized performance over a 12-month period from September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2021. More than 100 fund managers and other key industry participants were surveyed to compile a nominee shortlist, followed by an online poll to determine the winner. The poll included nearly 10,000 total votes cast comprised of 45% fund managers, 35% service providers, and 20% investors.

NAV is an industry leader and the largest and most experienced cryptocurrency fund administrator, said Sumit Sharma, NAV Assistant Vice President. We currently work with more than 600 crypto funds and offer connectivity to 140+ exchanges and counterparties. Our range of cost-effective benefits to crypto fund managers include detailed reporting and prompt delivery timelines, proven institutional appeal, and superior client services. CLICK HERE for more info about NAV Cryptocurrency Services

Beyond crypto fund support, NAV has offered fund administration services across all alternative asset fund types and strategies for more than 30 years. The latest award marks NAVs fourth Best Administrator award this year to date  including Best Fund Administrator for Small/Start-Up Funds at the Fund Intelligence Operations & Services Awards in March and Best Fund Administrator at the HFM US Quant Services Awards in February  in addition to the Hedgeweek Best Fund Administrator honors at the US Digital Assets Awards in March.

About NAV Fund Administration Group

Founded in 1991, NAV is a privately owned fund administrator recognized for its innovative and cost-effective fund administration solutions. A dynamic team of more than 2,250 professionals provide services to 2,000+ funds across the globe -- including hedge fund, private equity fund, and cryptocurrency fund clients -- while maintaining a 99% client retention rate. The company is headquartered in the United States, with four facilities in India supporting Back Office and Middle Office services, and locations in Australia, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. NAV ranks among the top 10 global hedge fund administrators by number of funds, servicing more than $180 billion AUA.

About Hedgeweek

Launched in 2002, Hedgeweek covers hedge fund industry news for investors and fund managers. It provides news, features, research, awards and events for the global hedge fund industry. Hedgeweek is part of Global Fund Media Ltd, which publishes six specialist newswires covering all asset classes within the institutional investor marketplace.
Noldor, an insurtech redefining how carriers, reinsurers and reinsurance brokers connect with program data to optimize performance, recently closed on a $10 million seed funding round from a group of well-established insurance investors. According to CEO John Horneff, Noldors seed funding positions the company for long-term growth in using data to deepen relationships between coverholders and insurers.

Founded in D. E. Shaws venture studio DESCOvery in 2021, Noldors technology integrates with any entity with delegated underwriting authority regardless of their existing tech stack. This integration allows Noldors platform to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to aggregate data, uncover hidden drivers of loss ratios and automate back-office functions like reporting.

Noldor is currently working with dozens of MGAs and across multiple carriers and reinsurance brokers responsible for billions of dollars in gross written premiums. Active in both London and Bermuda (and across multiple lines of business), Noldors data platform is being developed to improve efficiency and reduce expense ratios of all stakeholders associated with delegated authority.

This funding was designed to ensure Noldor will continue to grow and adapt to new use cases alongside the enterprises we work with, said Horneff. Technology is shifting what the efficient frontier of program administration looks like, so were actively investing to enable the next generation of carriers, MGAs/MGUs, and reinsurance brokers.

The funding round was led by the DESCOvery group at D.E. Shaw, a global investment and technology development firm based in New York City with participation from several other strategic investors.

John and his team have designed a platform that meets MGAs/MGUs where they are, using their existing systems and data repositories to optimize capacity without requiring investment in tech that only works with one specific insurtech provider or carriers system, said David Shainok, head of reinsurance and DESCOvery at D.E. Shaw. The potential to drive down expense ratios while improving profitability of program business has never been more mission critical for our industry and were excited about what Noldor is building.

ABOUT NOLDOR

Noldor is an insurtech that reimagines how carriers, reinsurers, and brokers connect with program data. Rather than handling MGA reporting inhouse or aggregating data within a closed system, Noldor takes a data agnostic approach that allows for the turnkey integration of MGA data  enabling our partners to spend time acting on data rather than processing it. To learn more, please visit Noldor.com.

ABOUT DESCOVERY AND THE D.E. SHAW GROUP

The D. E. Shaw group is a global investment and technology development firm with more than $60 billion in investment capital as of September 1, 2021, and offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since its founding in 1988, the firm has earned a reputation for successful investing based on innovation, careful risk management, and the quality and depth of its staff. The firm has a significant presence in the world's capital markets, investing in a wide range of companies and financial instruments in both developed and developing economies. DESCOvery is the D. E. Shaw group's venture studio. DESCOvery builds innovative, technology-oriented businesses and ventures in fintech, insurtech, data analytics, and other areas.
R. Renan Williams, DDS in North Richland Hills, TX Dental technology has made tremendous progress over the last several decades. My goal with any procedure is to ensure patient comfort and outstanding results.

Dr. R. Renan Williams is proud to announce that his dental practice in North Richland Hills, Texas now provides complete smile restorations, utilizing the most advanced dental technologies available.

Since earning his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1985, Dr. Williams has stayed at the forefront of technologies and innovative techniques to provide comprehensive dental treatment to patients of all ages. Today, his practice provides complete cosmetic dentistry, sedation dentistry, oral surgeries, and restorative treatments including dental implants.

"I have stayed committed to ongoing education throughout my practice," Dr. Williams said. "Dental technology has made tremendous progress over the last several decades. We are able to provide complete smile makeovers and full mouth reconstructions including replacing missing teeth with implants that not only look like natural teeth but function like natural teeth. State-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment tools such as digital X-rays, intraoral cameras, ultra-quiet handpieces, and handheld implant devices result in better results, with less noise, anxiety, or damage to healthy tissues. My goal with any procedure is to ensure patient comfort and outstanding results," he said.

To that end, Dr. Williams provides all restorative and cosmetic treatments available including teeth whitening, teeth alignment, porcelain veneers, cosmetic bonding, dental crowns, and bridges. He also performs oral surgeries including crown lengthening, gum grafting, ridge preservation, bone grafting, and wisdom teeth removal. For patients who experience dental phobia or anxiety, Dr. Williams offers a variety of sedation options.

Dr. Williams has also ensured that scheduling and education are easily accessible to new and existing patients by launching a new website, which patients can access from any device. The new website, https://www.familydentistnrh.com, also provides information about the Dental Membership Program offered by Dr. Williams which includes all preventive care for a low annual fee.

Now in his third decade of dental practice, Dr. Williams has played an integral role in raising the bar of excellence in the field of dentistry in the North Richland Hills area. He is a member of the teaching faculty at the Center for Aesthetic Restorative Dentistry and a member of the Honorable Order of the Good Fellow in the Texas Dental Association. Dr. Williams has also opened his practice to low-income residents of the North Richland Hills area annually to provide free dental care. In addition, he has performed mission dentistry in various locations around the world. Dr. Williams' practice participates in the American Dental Association's Give Kids a Smile program, and the Texas Dental Association Smiles Foundation, both of which provide free dental care to those in need.

About R. Renan Williams, DDS

Dr. R. Renan Williams provides comprehensive general dentistry, restorative dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, oral surgery, and more at his North Richland Hills practice. He earned his bachelor's degree from Texas Wesleyan University and his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the School of Dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He is an active member of the American Dental Association and the Texas Dental Association. To learn more, visit https://www.familydentistnrh.com or call 817-281-4801. The dental practice of R. Renan Williams, DDS is located at 5104 Eldorado Drive, North Richland Hills, TX 76180.
This years prizes are just a portion of the tens of thousands of dollars of scholarship money NPG has awarded in recent years as part of their Youth Outreach program.

Negative Population Growth leaders have announced this years winners of the organizations Annual Essay Scholarship Contest. Thirteen students from across the U.S. will receive checks ranging from $5,000 to $1,000 to put toward their annual tuition.

The winning students competed for their scholarship awards by writing an original 450-600 word essay addressing the following topic: The 2000 United States Census counted a total U.S. population of 281.4 million people. In 2020, just twenty years later, the U.S. population stood at more than 331.4 million people. That increase of 50 million is roughly the population of New York state and Texas combined. Is this growth good or bad for the United States? Give 5 reasons to explain your answer. The contest was open to high school seniors, as well as currently enrolled college undergraduates.

Harrison Hall, a rising junior at Liberty University, will receive the grand prize of $5,000 through The Donald W. Mann Memorial Scholarship for Population Studies, named in honor of NPGs late founder and president, who passed away on May 1, 2021. Theresa Mickendrow, who worked with Don for more than 28 years, stated: Don believed deeply in our efforts to reach young people with our critical message regarding the need for policies designed to slow, halt, and eventually reverse population growth. He fully understood that by reaching the younger generations, before they begin to marry and start families, we have the greatest opportunity to encourage them to really consider family size and the desirable number of children. Fortunately, most young couples are having only one or two children. Creating a scholarship in his name is a great honor to his legacy, and to the organization to which he devoted so much time and energy.

Other winners include Jadon Lau from Northwestern University, who won $2,500. Six students each won a $1,500 scholarship: Aaron Chan from Elon University, Conner Daehler from Valparaiso University, Yihan Deng from Georgetown University, Matthew Doty from the University of Notre Dame, Najya Gause from Harvard College, and Lily Ogburn from Northwestern University. An additional five students received scholarships of $1,000: Taylor Gollhofer (University of Northern Colorado), Shamona Joseph (University of Central Florida), Ethan Pellicane (California State Polytechnic University), Roniel Rivera-Garcia (Iowa State University), and Maryanne Thomas (North Carolina State University).

This years prizes are just a portion of the tens of thousands of dollars of scholarship money NPG has awarded in recent years as part of their Youth Outreach program. This multi-faceted program is designed to get Americas young people focused on the disastrous future that awaits their generation if our nations leaders fail to soon recognize and act on putting forth workable, responsible, common sense solutions to todays ever-growing population crisis.

In addition to sponsoring the annual student scholarship competition, NPG has worked through the years with thousands of teachers nationwide who help bring its population message to Americas classrooms. These efforts are funded through the generous support of NPG members who are especially interested in leaving a livable world to their children and grandchildren.

Founded in 1972, NPG is a national nonprofit membership organization dedicated to educating the American public and political leaders regarding the damaging effects of population growth. We believe that our nation is already vastly overpopulated in terms of the long-range carrying capacity of its resources and environment. NPG advocates the adoption of its Proposed National Population Policy, with the goal of eventually stabilizing U.S. population at a sustainable level  far lower than todays. We do not simply identify the problems  we propose solutions. For more information, visit our website at NPG.org, follow us on Facebook @NegativePopulationGrowth or follow us on Twitter @npg_org.
Holy Heist: an enjoyable fiction that finds a long-lost friend suddenly home without warning. Holy Heist is the creation of published author Peter Andriet, a loving husband and father who grew up in Canada and attended high school in Sao Paulo, Brazil. After earning a business degree from TCU, he landed in California to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

Andriet shares, Derek Revson is back in town after leaving several years ago. He misses his long-lost friends who, at this point in time, are all maturing in lifes important categories.

Derek still revels in old habits, living life faithless and lonely, a choice he feels a nudge to somehow change.

In a divinely appointed moment, his group of friends reunite on a yachting venture out to an island to celebrate an engagement and he joins in.

Derek smiles for the first time in a long time while enjoying the lavish weekend getaway. But in all its fun and camaraderie, a plan is devised and lives will change.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Peter Andriets new book offers readers a nostalgic and encouraging message of faith and friendship.

Andriet presents readers with a cast of affable characters and genuine connections within the pages of this entertaining fiction.

Consumers can purchase Holy Heist at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Holy Heist, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The use of XchangePoints targeting capabilities will allow us to quickly filter through patients that meet a desired criterion

Physicians East is the newest partner to choose PharmaPoints XchangePoint platform to promote improved patient outcomes through pharmacy interventions. In addition, PharmaPoint will manage the accreditation process for Physicians Easts in-house specialty pharmacy.

XchangePoint will be used to monitor Physicians Easts Accountable Care Organization (ACO) population to ensure optimal adherence to medication treatment plans for high-risk patients.

The use of XchangePoints targeting capabilities will allow us to quickly filter through patients that meet a desired criterion, says Kim Sugg, Chief Financial Officer for Physicians East. The end user will then be able to focus patient engagement efforts to identify barriers in keeping with medication treatment plans and drive improved outcomes.

A phased rollout will encompass chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and congestive heart failure. ACO patients with these diagnoses will have their medication fill histories reviewed and monitored to ensure there are no gaps in therapy resulting in nonadherence to a prescribed treatment plan and possible adverse events.

PharmaPoint has managed Physicians Easts retail pharmacy, Pharmacy East, since 2016 and will now guide facility leadership through the accreditation process for specialty pharmacy from the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC).

ACHC is one of the top recognized accreditation bodies for specialty pharmacy, says Mike Plaia, CEO of PharmaPoint. We are honored the Physicians East team chose us to lead their organization in this endeavor.

The accreditation process will take eight to 12 months to complete. Once specialty pharmacy status is granted by ACHC, Pharmacy East will gain new and expanded access to patients across the care continuum.

After being granted ACHC accreditation, Physicians East will use XchangePoints new platform and functionality to track patients whose treatment plans require specialty medications, says Valerie Seidel, Vice President of Product Solutions for PharmaPoint. Timed follow-up worklists and call lists for the targeted patient population are created to consistently identify and combat any adherence barriers and help ensure compliance.

About PharmaPoint

PharmaPoint is an innovative, technology-enabled pharmacy management and software company. Through the management of outpatient retail pharmacies for hospitals, health systems and physician groups, our commitment to completing the care continuum results in improved patient health and satisfaction, reduced healthcare costs, and provides clients with a source of ancillary income. Additionally, XchangePoint, our proprietary integrated workflow management system supporting medication management across care transitions, is designed for pharmacy and care team members to drive medication optimization for at-risk patients in the acute, post-acute and ambulatory care settings. PharmaPoint has been recognized as one of the most innovative, inspiring and fastest growing private companies for six consecutive years (2013-2018) by Inc. Magazine. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., we are currently managing pharmacies across the United States. For more information about our company, please visit http://www.pharmapoint.com.

About Physicians East

Physicians East is Eastern North Carolinas largest private, medical-surgical multispecialty health care practice with over ninety providers caring for patients in Greenville, Farmville, Winterville, Kinston, and Beulaville. Our offering includes cardiology, critical care, dermatology, diagnostics, endocrinology, endoscopy, gastroenterology, gynecologic oncology, hematology & oncology, integrative medicine, laboratory & pre-op, nutrition, pharmacy, primary care, pulmonary & critical care, rheumatology, sleep medicine, surgery, urgent care, urogynecology, and urology. Since 1965, Physicians Easts physicians and staff have worked together to build a reputation of excellence in individualized, comprehensive, patient-focused health care. Through its dedicated and committed staff, Physicians East sets the benchmark for providing the highest quality and most innovative medical care available. For more information about Physicians Easts services, visit http://www.physicianseast.com or call 252-752-6101.

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Phoebe Muga Asiyos memoir It is Possible: An African Womans reflections on a life-long political journey (published by Archway Publishing) chronicles her life as a Kenyan woman who played an instrumental role in bringing reform for women in her country.

Pre-independence from the British Asiyo lived an idyllic, innocent life on the shores of Lake Victoria. The conflict between church and tradition was muted. During the turbulent period when independence was imminent the conflict between the British colonizers and the Kenya freedom fighters was open and bloody. In 1952 (10 years before independence) she joined Maendeleo Ya Wanawake, an organization that worked to address the needs of rural women. In 1958 the author was elected the first African president of Maendeleo Ya Wanawake.

Post-independence Asiyo realized that women had not gained as much as they should have. The inequity, injustice, and limitations that women faced had not changed much from the pre-independence period. She realized that things were not going to change for women until they were part of the decision making over things that affected their lives. Asiyo vied for political office and won, despite the odds.

This book is about the invisible ordinary women who are the backbone of socio-economic affairs of their communities. The book attempts to give the microphone to these critical members of society so that they can articulate what their wants and needs are. Listening to this majority minority will help create, appropriate, high-impact solutions to development challenges, the author says. All these thoughts can be made reality. Some of the issues that I have raised should be applied. They can be written into policies and they can help and I believe communities will be better off for it.

It is Possible is available for purchase online at the Archway link above, from Barnes & Noble, and on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Possible-African-Reflections-Life-Long-Political-ebook/dp/B09QPC1L3V.

It is Possible

By Phoebe Muga Asiyo

Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 372 pages | ISBN 9781665714907

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 372 pages | ISBN 9781665714891

E-Book | 372 pages | ISBN 9781665714914

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Phoebe Muga Asiyo became a Kenyan member of Parliament, the first United Nations Women (formerly UNIFEM) Goodwill Ambassador, a member of the United Nations Womens Commission on Peace in Israel and Palestine, and a commissioner for the review and draft of the 2010 Kenya Constitution. Her passion is getting more women into elected office.

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.
A 2% decline in GDP has a disastrous impact on machinery companies that aren't prepared. Now is the time to prepare!

There's a recession coming, and for industrial manufacturers in the capital equipment industry that traditionally means a deep cyclical decline in sales. It doesn't have to be that way, and taking four important preparatory steps now will help to ensure success when the recession bites.

On Thursday, July 28th at 11:30 AM EDT Ed Marsh will present a webinar "Four Steps to Take Today to Grow Industrial Sales During a Recession" for senior executives of capital equipment manufacturing firms and their manufacturing marketing and machinery sales leadership. The webinar will cover specific, actionable recommendations to proactively optimize business strategy, manufacturing marketing and machinery sales over the next 90 days.

The last several years have been good ones for machinery builders. Most have sold capacity months or even years in advance. That's led executives, preoccupied with supply chain and labor availability challenges, to shift focus from process excellence in top line revenue growth functions to operations.

That neglect of consistent revenue growth improvement will likely exacerbate the normal cyclical decline in capital equipment sales that occurs during a recession. But it doesn't have to. There's a window of opportunity to take specific actions, now while orders are still shipping, that will help to ensure success even amidst market declines.

"I've been in capital equipment industries through declines in 2001 and 2008," says Ed Marsh, a strategy, manufacturing marketing, and industrial sales consultant that works with senior managers of middle-market manufacturers to help grow top-line revenue. "A 2% decline in GDP has a disastrous impact on machinery companies that aren't prepared. Now is the time to prepare!"

The free webinar will cover four important areas of preparation and a number of actionable steps that execs can take today including:



refining strategy and ideal customer targeting

sales improvements including training, recruiting and scenario planning

manufacturing marketing improvements to boost lead generation, drive more meetings, and create powerful sales enablement content

implementing technology to improve prospect experience, boost marketing effectiveness, and improve sales efficiency

Marsh will outline specific steps that companies can implement over the course of the next 90 days to refine strategy, optimize the capital equipment sales team, focus on specific industrial marketing tasks, and boost the tech stack to improve efficiency.

Industrial manufacturing executives and leaders who attend will leave with a clear framework of actionable steps that can be reasonably implemented in a manageable time frame.

The 40-minute webinar is free to attend and it will be broadcast at 11:30 am EDT on Thursday, July 28th. Seats are limited and registration is available here.

About Consilium Global Business Advisors: Consilium assists American manufacturers in applying process excellence to their business development. In other words, we help lean, well-managed companies with rock-solid bottom lines effectively and consistently grow their top lines to match. We work primarily with mid-size industrial manufacturing and capital equipment companies, guiding them through a journey toward Overall Revenue Effectiveness.
The Prosecco DOC Consortium has revealed promising data from recent market research, carried out by Nomisma. The study focused on the consumption of Italian sparkling wines in the US market, with a particular focus on sales of Prosecco.

According to Nomismas results, the value of Italian sparkling wines imported in the US reached about 519 million dollars, an increase of 19.1 percent compared to 2019.

California imported more Italian sparkling wine than any other state in 2021, by value, at approx. 79 million dollars, followed by Pennsylvania (approx. 63 million dollars), Florida (approx. 61 million dollars), Texas (approx. 59 million dollars), New Jersey (approx. 56 million dollars), and New York (approx. 55 million dollars).

Pennsylvania became the second most important state in terms of the value of imports of Italian sparkling wine, with a 120 percent increase over 2019. An opposite trend emerged for New York, where the categorys imports dropped by 19.1 percent. However, regulations and trade relations between different states can affect the data, as Pennsylvania could have potentially redistributed bottles in New York.

The Prosecco Denomination was particularly preeminent in the US market as exports in 2021 greatly exceeded previous volume and value records. The study revealed that 25,5 million gallons of Prosecco PDO were exported to the US in 2021 - an increase of 44.3 percent over the previous year and of 40.30 percent over 2019 - and today the country absorbs 17.4 percent of the total production of Prosecco.

This is a remarkable result considering that the total volume of Proseccos exports amounted to 17,6 million gallons in 2019 and decreased by 2.72 percent in 2020. Italy was the second largest exporter of sparkling wines with a total export value of over 1.8 billion dollars, with Prosecco performing best within the category. Prosecco accounted for over 1.3 billion dollars with a growth in value of 26 percent compared to 2019.

Prosecco DOC Rose has played a crucial role in the growth of the denomination, and in 2021, according to data officially released by the Prosecco DOC Consortium, 71.5 million bottles were produced.

These achievements are attributed to the tireless work that the Consortium has carried out consistently over the past ten years to improve the quality of the production, as well as addressing social sustainability and environmental issues, elevating the territory and the image of the denomination.

The plan for the future is ambitious with new goals and visions, which will allow the Prosecco DOC Consortium to involve as many players as possible.

On the horizon is another initiative for the Consortium, the fifth National Prosecco Week  a nationwide campaign developed with Colangelo & Partners  taking place from July 18 to 24, 2022, with both digital and in-person experiences. National Prosecco Week is a unique occasion to learn more about these extremely versatile wines. The campaign will showcase the versatility and pairability of each wine within the category, elaborate on the growing Prosecco DOC Rose category, and educate media, trade and consumers on how to identify authentic Prosecco DOC.

About Prosecco DOC

Prosecco DOC wines come in Spumante (sparkling), Frizzante (semi-sparkling) and Tranquillo (still) varieties. The wines are made from mainly the Glera grape, native to North East Italy for thousands of years, and can be combined with a maximum of 15% of the following grapes: Verdiso, Bianchetta Trevigiana, Perera, Glera lunga, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Nero. Prosecco Frizzante and Spumante varieties get their famous bubbles using the Secondary Fermentation production method, bottled under high pressure after fermentation in bulk tanks called autoclaves, as opposed to the traditional method, which bypasses the autoclaves and is used for other sparkling wine varieties. The end result is a brilliant straw yellow wine with fine, persistent perlage and aromas of white flowers, apple and pear. It is fresh and elegant on the palate with moderate alcoholic strength.

From August 11, 2020, the competent bodies (Italian Ministry of Agriculture) have allowed the production of Prosecco DOC Rose, made from at least 85% Glera and 10-15% Pinot Nero only in the Spumante (sparkling) version and with the drier styles (from Brut Nature to Extra Dry). Prosecco DOC Rose undergoes a longer second fermentation in the autoclaves (60 days as opposed to 30 days for Prosecco DOC), has a pale pink color and a fine and persistent perlage, and features aromas of white flowers, notes of apple and citrus, and scents of strawberry and raspberry. For more information regarding Prosecco DOC and Prosecco DOC Rose, visit http://http://www.casaprosecco.com.
Dr. Ellen Burov Her practice is dedicated to both cosmetic and medical dermatology with her special interest being in Womens dermatology.

Dr. Ellen Burov joins Haute Beauty Network as a skin expert representing the Manhattan, NY market.

After receiving her MD and Ph.D. degrees in the former Soviet Union, Dr. Ellen Burov immigrated to the US. Upon arrival, she passed all qualifying exams and started her internship at Mount Sinai/Beth Israel Hospital in NYC. Dr. Burov completed her residency in Philadelphia where she served as a chief resident in her senior year and then stayed on faculty at Allegheny University Dermatology Department. She served as chief of Dermatology Service at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia for three years. Dr. Burov became one of the founders and a director of the Russian Outreach program for immigrants from the former Soviet Union to assist them with their dermatological needs. She returned to NY In 1999 where she accepted the position of Assistant Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and started her own private practice on the Upper East Side.

Dr. Burov was quoted in the media and was featured on the radio and in various magazines. Her practice is dedicated to both cosmetic and medical dermatology with her special interest being in Womens dermatology. Dr. Burov has published a number of papers in respected dermatological journals.

Her practice incorporates lasers, Radio-Frequency and Plasma devices, body contouring technology, Platelet Rich Plasma for hair restoration, etc, providing cutting-edge treatment options. Dr. Burov was rated as NY Top Doctor by New York Times, New York magazine. She has been Castle Connolly Doctor for a number of years.

Learn more about Dr. Ellen Burov by visiting: https://hauteliving.com/hautebeauty/member/dr-ellen-burov/

ABOUT HAUTE BEAUTY NETWORK:

Haute Beauty is affiliated with the luxury lifestyle publication Haute Living. As a section of Haute Living magazine, Haute Beauty covers the latest advancements in beauty and wellness, providing readers with expert advice on aesthetic and reconstructive treatments through its network of acclaimed doctors and beauty experts.

For more about Haute Beauty, visit https://hauteliving.com/hautebeauty/
Matt truly embodies the core values that StevenDouglas was founded on. He is always committed to doing whats best for our employees, clients, and candidates, as well as his community."

StevenDouglas, one of the nations leading boutique Executive Search and Interim Resources firms, founded in 1984 and headquartered in South Florida, is officially appointing Matt Shore as CEO, and Steve Sadaka will assume the role of Chairman and Founder. Shore joined StevenDouglas in 2006, playing an integral role in the companys significant expansion, and becoming a true partner with Sadaka as they worked together to create over 2000% growth since 2005, making StevenDouglas one of the fastest-growing firms in America. Shore has been a dynamic leader at the firm, initially coming in to launch the highly successful Interim Resources Practice and after one year was promoted to President to help scale the Search business as well. Since then, Matt has helped the firm opportunistically expand from 1 office and 15 employees when he joined, into a national firm with 22 offices and 150 professionals, providing exceptional services to their clients.

Moving forward, while titles have changed, Shore and Sadakas roles within the firm will continue as they have been over recent years. Sadaka remains committed to his firms reputation as an employer of choice that cares about people, work culture, and creating exceptional outcomes for their clients and candidates. Shore will lead the firm into the future as CEO, and will collaborate with Sadaka on strategy, vision, and purpose, as it evolves into one of the leading firms in the United States.

Matt truly embodies the core values that StevenDouglas was founded on. He is always committed to doing whats best for our employees, clients, and candidates, as well as his community. Sadaka went on to say, I couldnt think of a better partner as we continue to expand StevenDouglas while keeping our amazing culture intact.

StevenDouglas is forecasting over $125 million in revenue for 2022, more than doubling in size since its pre-pandemic peak in 2019. The national recruiting firm is reporting strong numbers across the board, including 70% revenue growth YoY in their Search business and an astounding 90%+ increase in its IT Staffing and Project Resources divisions. Ascending into the Top 25 Executive Search firms in America in 2021 was accomplished through the firms triple-digit growth last year, which also placed StevenDouglas in the top 10 fastest growing firms on the Top 50 list by Hunt Scanlon Media, as well as the #1 Executive Search firm based in the Southeast United States.

These last 18 months have been some of the most successful in the companys 38-year history. A confluence of factors contributed to this success, none more important than the decision to refrain from laying off employees, like many of their competitors did early in the pandemic. Instead, they decided to lean into the initial downturn in 2020 and take advantage of a sudden availability of highly talented, experienced recruiting and client services talent to expand into new markets and add key staff and leaders in high-demand areas. This strategy had the firm poised to better service clients across the U.S. when the job market rebounded in 2021, and has contributed to an expansion into new markets, such as Nashville, Dallas, Austin, and St Louis.

I am honored and humbled to officially take on the CEO role, and extremely proud of the incredible team we have built here at StevenDouglas, said Matt Shore. He continued, Steve is really the soul of this firm, and without his vision and influence wed never be in this amazing position. I am so grateful for the opportunity, and truly committed to maintaining our exceptional culture while helping guide our teams to create successful outcomes for our clients and candidates.

About StevenDouglas:

StevenDouglas, one of the nations leading boutique Search and Interim Resources firms, has been a recognized leader in identifying and providing access to top talent for clients since 1984. Our client base is industry agnostic and ranges from emerging middle-market to Fortune 500 companies, private equity and venture capital firms, hedge funds, family offices and wealth management firms. Recognized as a Top 25 Executive Search firm, our footprint has expanded to over 20 offices and in excess of 150 professionals committed to creating successful outcomes for both clients and candidates.

The firm has been connecting premier candidates to their client base that spans an array of high- demand disciplines, and a broad range of industries. StevenDouglas is nationally known for search expertise in Finance & Accounting, Human Resource, Information Technology, Executive Leadership, Financial Services, Operations, Sales & Marketing, Legal, Risk & Compliance, Supply Chain & Logistics; As well as providing interim resources and staffing for Information Technology, Finance & Accounting, and Human Resources.
This celebration will recognize the industrys next generation of leaders while honoring those who paved the way.

The Bond Buyer, Arizents essential resource serving the municipal finance community, has announced they are now accepting nominations for their seventh-annual Rising Stars program, which showcases the brightest young minds in the municipal bond industry. The publication will also launch their first-ever Hall of Fame to celebrate individuals whose achievements have left an indelible positive impact on the industry at large and the clients or constituents they serve.

This year, for the first time, the Rising Stars will be honored at a special awards dinner on Tuesday, November 15 at the conclusion of The Bond Buyers Infrastructure event November 14-15 at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C.

The awards dinner will also include inaugural inductions into The Bond Buyer Hall of Fame of municipal finance. This new honor will celebrate unparalleled accomplishments in the sector, as well as exemplary leadership and mentorship skills.

The Rising Stars initiative identifies municipal finance professionals under the age of 40 whose knowledge, collaborative spirit and creativity have enabled them to make an overwhelmingly positive contribution to the community. The celebration on November 15 will recognize the industrys next generation of leaders while honoring those who paved the way.

These honorees have positioned themselves as future  or, in some cases, current  industry leaders, says Mike Scarchilli, Editor in Chief at The Bond Buyer. Theyve driven the industry forward while navigating a transformed sector. These Rising Stars will undoubtedly inspire the generations that follow."

Nominees for both awards are sought across all areas and specialities of municipal finance. For the Rising Stars awards, honorees from previous classes are ineligible, but resubmissions of previous nominees who were not chosen and remain age-eligible are accepted. For the Hall of Fame, candidates need not be partially or completely retired, but they must have amassed a body of work extensive enough for a lifetime achievement honor. All submissions will be judged by a panel comprising The Bond Buyers editorial leadership as well as a diverse set of muni finance leaders.

Nominations for both honors close on Friday, August 12. The Bond Buyer's 2022 class of Rising Stars will be unveiled at the start of the Infrastructure conference.

Nominations for the Hall of Fame can be submitted at https://arizent.formstack.com/forms/bb_hall_of_fame_2022

Nominations for Rising Stars can be submitted at https://arizent.formstack.com/forms/bb_rising_stars_2022

Visit bondbuyer.com/rising-stars to see last years Rising Stars honorees.

About The Bond Buyer

The Bond Buyer is an independent information resource serving the entire municipal finance community. Its comprehensive paid-subscription package of news, analysis, research and data is unique in the industry, serving a complete spectrum of senior professionals, through its website, newsletters, Leaders content platform and daily print edition.

About Arizent

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Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council Joins the Rhode Island Purchasing Group by bidnet direct Registered vendors can access bids, related documents, addendum and award information.

The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council announced it has joined bidnet directs Rhode Island Purchasing Group and will be publishing and distributing upcoming bid opportunities on the system. The Rhode Island Purchasing Group connects participating agencies from across Rhode Island to a large vendor pool and streamlines the bid and vendor management process. bidnet directs Rhode Island Purchasing Group provides notifications to registered vendors of new relevant solicitations, as well as any addenda and award information from participating agencies across Rhode Island, and can be accessed at http://www.bidnetdirect.com/rhode-island/wrwc.

The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council joined the purchasing group in June, and will utilize the system to publish and distribute upcoming bid opportunities. The Rhode Island Purchasing Group is a single, online location that manages sourcing information and activities and provides local government agencies throughout Rhode Island the tools needed to minimize costs and save time throughout the purchasing process.

With so many upcoming projects, WRWC is excited to have a platform where we can reach potential project partners in an easy and streamlined way, stated Mark Pereira, Civil Engineer for the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council.

Registered vendors can access all open bids, related documents and files, additional addenda and award information. In addition, the Rhode Island Purchasing Group offers a value-added service to notify vendors of new bids targeted to their industry, all addenda and advance notification of expiring term contracts. Registered vendors have access to not only the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council bid opportunities, but all participating agency bids.

Vendors may register on the Rhode Island Purchasing Group at: http://www.bidnetdirect.com/rhode-island/wrwc. bidnet directs vendor support team is available to answer any questions regarding the registration process or the bid system at 800-835-4603 option 2.

Other local government agencies in Rhode Island looking to switch from a manual bid process, please contact the Rhode Island Purchasing Group for a demonstration of the no-cost sourcing solution.

About the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council:

The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council (WRWC) sparks economic development through our work restoring the Woonasquatucket River and communities around it, and by enhancing, extending and bringing people to the Woonasquatucket River Greenway.

The WRWC is a successful model of community revitalization that helps people discover this local American Heritage River and its natural resources, channeling life and economic development into neighborhoods.

About bidnet direct:

bidnet direct, powered by mdf commerce, is a sourcing solution of regional purchasing groups available at no cost to local government agencies throughout the country. bidnet direct runs regional purchasing groups, including the Rhode Island Purchasing Group, across all 50 states that are used by over 1,500 local governments. To learn more and have your government agency gain better transparency and efficiency in purchasing, please visit https://www.bidnetdirect.com/buyers


Founded in Rennes, France, in 2018 by a team of video industry experts with more than 100 patents, Quortex offers a pay-as-you-stream model designed to optimise resources and reduce energy usage. The service is designed for any live streaming provider including telcos, cable operators, direct-to-consumer (DTC) players, and broadcasters. Current customers include beIN Group Media, M6 and Red Bee Media.Quortexs multi-tenant SaaS technology also builds video streams on-the-fly, based on the end users requirements and matched to viewers locations, devices and time zones. It is designed to adapt to unpredictable network, infrastructure and audiences, and automatically scales cloud resources up and down, using spot instances that take advantage of spare cloud capacity at what is said to be a fraction of the typical cost, while maintaining quality of experience.The also company sees its just-in-time technology as providing exactly the resources required at any given time. If no-one is watching a channel, it simply frees up those resources. It believes that such a methodology provides time to market and considerable cost advantages over existing cloud approaches, while ensuring that every deployed resource has a purpose. For example, Quortex calculates that for long tail content technology its platform reduces cloud costs up to 67%.Through the acquisition, Synamedia says it will enhance its cloud video network capabilities, complementing its VIVID Workflow as-a-Service (WaaS) with a set of solutions for OTT content processing, disaster recovery, long tail content processing for large service providers and live events. Quortex employees in France and the UK will be joining Synamedia and the company will continue to operate under its own brand while taking advantage of Synamedias customer base, financial strength and global presence.By pioneering just-in-time video streaming processing and delivery, Quortex has broken new ground with live services that dynamically spring to life when processing a user request, commented Julien Signes, EVP and general manager of video network at Synamedia. This radical change in the economics of cloud processing will accelerate the migration of live video services to the cloud. We see enormous potential as we expand Quortexs reach globally - for the fast-growing DTC live streaming market as well as our traditional service provider customer base who want to reduce infrastructure costs and meet their CO2 reduction commitments.Marc Baillavoine, CEO and Founder of Quortex, added: With our breakthrough just-in-time approach, we have turned the live streaming model on its head, ditching the need to wastefully provision streaming resources just-in-case. We believe that with Synamedias global reach and complementary product lines, we can accelerate our mission to transform the agility and cost of streaming and slash its carbon footprint.
Russian Cabinet approves initiative on new residence permit for foreign students

MOSCOW, July 12 (RAPSI)  The Government Commission on Legislative Activities has approved an initiative introducing a special temporary residence permit for educational purposes issued to foreign students, including graduate ones, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia (ALR) Vladimir Gruzdev has told RAPSI.

The proposed permit which has yet to be adopted by Russian parliamentarians would be issued upon request to a foreign student after confirmation of their enrolment and be revoked as they are expelled from universities. The issuance process would imply an obligatory fingerprinting, Gruzdev noted.

He drew attention that the initiative would give power to impose heavy fines on research institutes if they violate a 3-day notice period regarding foreign students educational status changes. The Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation would be appointed to receive those notes.

According to Gruzdev, the proposed measures are aimed to strengthen control on migration processes.




James Franco has joined the cast of the new film Me, You.

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The 44-year-old actor will have a leading role in Me, You, a post World War II-drama from Danish director Bille August.

Franco will star with Tom Hollander (The Night Manager) and Daisy Jacob (Vanity Fair).

Me, You is based on the Erri De Luca novel Tu, Mia, a coming-of-age drama that takes place in the Italian island of Ischia in the 1950s.

The story follows Marco, a 16-year-old on break from his Scottish boarding school who befriends Nicola (Franco), a U.S. soldier-turned-fisherman who regales Marco with tales of war and oceans.

Marco then meets the mysterious Caia (Jacob), a 20-year-old whose childhood was stolen by the SS. Marco plans to avenge Caia by attacking a group of German tourists.

"I am excited to board this phenomenal project and to be working with the legendary Bille August," Franco said. "I'm a huge fan of his work, and Me, You is a truly brilliant script.

Me, You marks one of Franco's first projects since he agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle his sexual misconduct lawsuit. The actor will also star in The Long Home and Mace.
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Investigators from the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit collect evidence at 484 Scofield Mountain Road, in Winchester, on Thursday, July 14, 2022, after the shooting death of Timothy Hill. Winchester police were called to the residence on Wednesday for a welfare check and found th
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A sign at Walgreens in Manchester informed customers that the pharmacy was closed until further notice and directed customers to its sister pharmacy in Rutland.
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A Swedish company that provides live casino games for online betting sites has opened a new studio in Fairfield that has already hired 140 workers and expects to add 260 more, Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday.

Evolution AB began operating in the state at 11 a.m. Monday, providing live dealer games on both the FanDuel and DraftKings online casino platforms offered in Connecticut.
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP)  Gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on Pakistani police escorting a team of polio workers Tuesday during a door-to-door inoculation campaign in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold, killing two policemen and a polio worker, police said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in North Waziristan, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The attack came a day after the government launched another nationwide anti-polio campaign amid a spike in attacks.

A passerby was also wounded, said Aziz Ullah, a local police official. The attackers fled the scene.

Since April, Pakistan has registered 11 new polio cases  all in North Waziristan, where parents often refuse to inoculate children. The outbreak has been a blow to the Islamic nations efforts to eradicate the disease, which can cause severe paralysis in children.

Pakistans anti-polio campaigns are regularly marked by violence. Islamic militants often target polio teams and police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic. In 2021, Pakistan reported only one case, raising hopes it was close to eradicating polio.

North Waziristan was a base for myriad militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, until a massive military offensive in recent years claimed to have cleared the region, forcing many militants to flee to Afghanistan. But attacks have been increasing lately, adding to concerns the assaults could further jeopardize anti-polio campaigns.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the attack and ordered an investigation.

The U.N. children's agency took to Twitter to condemn the attack, saying @UNICEF joins @GovtofPakistan in condemning the attack which reportedly killed a polio worker & security personnel & injured a child in North Waziristan. Those killed were among hundreds of thousands of heroes who work selflessly to #EndPolio. We express our sympathy to families".

Earlier, UNICEF posted an appeal on Twitter, urging parents to inoculate their children. The goal of the latest campaign was to vaccinate 12.6 million children under the age of 5 across Pakistan.

Together, we can #EndPolio! Please make sure that every child is immunized against this deadly virus," UNICEF said.

Shahzad Baig, a coordinator for Pakistan's polio program, also urged all parents and caregivers to get their children vaccinated instead of hiding them or refusing to (let them) take the necessary drops."

It is important to realize that the polio virus still exists in our surroundings and no child is safe until all children are truly vaccinated," Baig added.

Shuja Khan, a Pakistani father whose son was stricken by polio in North Waziristan, posted a video message on Twitter. Holding his boy in his lap, he appealed on parents to inoculate their children and avoid his family's ordeal.

Until this week, Pakistan's health authorities had carried out three nationwide anti-polio drives this year  in January, March and in May. During the March campaign, gunmen in northwestern Pakistan shot and killed a female polio worker as she was returning home after a day of vaccinations.

And in January, gunmen shot and killed a police officer providing security for polio vaccination workers, also in the countrys northwest.

___

Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this story.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)  The Memphis City Council approved a resolution Tuesday urging that law enforcement and the district attorney in Tennessee's most populous county refrain from investigating and prosecuting doctors who perform abortions.

Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial candidate and council member JB Smiley Jr. sponsored the resolution and proposed it at a committee meeting. Council members approved the resolution in a vote at the full council meeting later Tuesday.

The resolution is mostly symbolic  the council does not have authority over Shelby County District Attorney General's Office  but it does shine light on how a large Southern city is addressing laws restricting abortion in Tennessee, particularly by appealing to prosecutors who have wide discretion over whom to charge with crimes. It also outlines Smiley's opposition of GOP-supported abortion laws as part of his campaign to win the Democratic nomination in the race challenging Republican Gov. Bill Lee.

The resolution says Shelby County district attorney Amy Weirich should not use resources and personnel from local law enforcement and her office for investigations and prosecutions for decisions that should be left up to a person and their medical provider," Smiley said.

Smiley cited last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the holding from the decades-old Roe v. Wade case, which found that the right to abortion was protected by the U.S. Constitution. The ruling reverts the issue to states.

The resolution also comes in response to Tennessee laws restricting abortions that are supported by Lee. A federal court has already allowed Tennessees ban on abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy to take effect.

Meanwhile, a trigger law set to take effect in August would essentially ban all abortions statewide. It would make performing an abortion a felony and subject doctors to up to 15 years in prison if convicted. The resolution also seeks to shield people who get abortions from prosecution, but that group is not mentioned in the state trigger law.

In Tennessee, a resolution is an expression of the opinion of a City Council but does not have the effect of law. Also, while the Memphis City Council does not have authority over the Shelby County district attorneys office, Smiley said he hopes that Shelby County commissioners will echo his demand.

Nationally, attempts to protect abortion rights have come as tighter restrictions and bans go into effect in conservative states such as Tennessee. Several states have restrictions already in place since the Supreme Court ruling, and more are pressing to do so.

Smiley said other cities were looking at Memphis to see how the council voted on the resolution.

Local leaders are the last line of defense, Smiley said. If we don't stand up for the people, who will?

Smiley also asked the council to withhold funds from the Memphis Police Department if it tries to criminalize abortion cases, which is in the council's purview.

Smiley's fellow Democratic gubernatorial candidates also have voiced support for protecting abortion access following the Supreme Court's June 24 decision. Jason Martin, a Nashville doctor, has called Lee's abortion policies unacceptable," while Memphis community leader Carnita Atwater has said that "a woman should have total autonomy over her body. Especially when it comes to rape or incest.

Tennessees six-week abortion ban halts abortion once cardiac activity is detected. It only makes an exception when an abortion is necessary to prevent the womans death or serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function. However, it specifies that a womans mental health does not qualify for an exemption.

Tennessees trigger law would ban all abortions statewide, with essentially the same limited exceptions as the six-week ban.

Weirich, the district attorney, has not said outright whether she will or won't prosecute doctors who perform abortions. Weirich, a Republican who is running for reelection in August, said it would be a violation of Tennessee code for her office to issue a broad and hypothetical statement without an actual charge or case.

Meanwhile, in Nashville, the city council has approved a resolution asking the police department to consider abortion investigations the lowest priority. While the action is not legally binding, Nashvilles police department issued a statement that it is not the abortion police. The city's district attorney, Glenn Funk, has also promised not to prosecute medical practitioners who perform an abortion nor any pregnant woman seeking the procedure.

Separately, Nashville Mayor John Cooper and some council members are considering covering out-of-state travel for medical procedures.

___

Kruesi reported from Nashville, Tennessee.
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UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Brazils foreign minister said Tuesday the country wants to buy as much diesel fuel as it can from Russia following a deal with Moscow.

Carlos Franca called Russia a strategic partner and said Brazil is in short supply of diesel.

Of course, we have to make sure that we have enough diesel for the Brazilian agribusiness and, of course, for Brazilian drivers, he said. So thats why we were looking  for very reliable suppliers of diesel and Russia is one of them.

The minister was responding to a question about President Jair Bolsonaros comments on Monday in Brasilia that Brazil has a deal and Russian diesel can start getting here within 60 days. Earlier, the president told supporters that Brazil was about to get cheaper diesel from Russia.

Russia continues to trade with all of the world, Bolsonaro said.

Franca noted Brazil and Russia are partners in the BRICs group of major emerging economies that also includes India, China and South Africa.

In addition to diesel, the foreign minister said, we rely heavily on fertilizer exports from Russia and from Belarus as well.

Russia is also a great provider of oil and gas, he said, adding: You can ask Germany about that, and ask Europe about that.

Russia accounts for 40% of Europes imports of refined product and 55% of those products are diesel and gasoil, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Asked how much diesel Brazil would buy from Russia, the foreign minister said, As much as we can.".

Franca, who chaired a U.N. Security Council meeting earlier Tuesday on strategic communication in U.N. peacekeeping missions, was asked whether Brazil is getting any pushback from Western countries that have imposed sanctions over Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

He replied, Oh, no."

Franca also noted a Canadian government statement Sunday that it will allow delivery of refurbished equipment used in a key Russia-Europe natural gas pipeline that has undergone maintenance.

Russias Gazprom cited the absence of the equipment last month as a reason for more than halving the flow of gas in mid-June. Siemens Energy said that allowing the gas turbine to be sent to Germany was a first step toward returning it to the pipeline that it operates.

I think we're in the same page," Franca said.

Pressed again about having dealings with Russia, he said that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz should be asked first about Germany still buying Russian gas. Then, he said, I answer.

___

Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.
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WATERBURY  A Torrington woman was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries Monday night, after police said she got on Route 8 going the wrong way and hit another car head-on, according to officials.

State police said the 43-year-old woman was driving north in the southbound side of Route 8 around 11:50 p.m., when her SUV collided with a Honda Pilot near the Exit 35 on-ramp.
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NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Louisiana authorities have once again been blocked from enforcing a near total ban on abortion, this time under a judge's order released Tuesday by a state court in the capital.

Judge Donald Johnson's order halts enforcement temporarily while lawyers for a north Louisiana clinic and other supporters of abortion rights pursue a lawsuit challenging the legislation. Johnson set a hearing for next Monday.

State Attorney General Jeff Landry criticized the ruling in a series of posts on Twitter.

To have the judiciary create a legal circus is disappointing, Landry wrote in one post.

The rule of law must be followed, and I will not rest until it is. Unfortunately, we will have to wait a little bit longer for that to happen," he added.

Kathaleen Pittman, director of the north Louisiana clinic that was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, expressed relief in a phone interview. Pittman said the Hope Medical Group for Women clinic in Shreveport is ready to resume counseling and abortions. Louisiana's two other clinics are in the capital, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans.

We look forward to arguing for a preliminary injunction before Judge Johnson next Monday and, in the meantime, we take solace in the fact that crucial healthcare for women has been restored in the state of Louisiana, Joanna Wright, an attorney for the clinic, said in an email.

The suit originated in New Orleans, where a judge issued a temporary order blocking enforcement on June 27, just three days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling establishing nationwide abortion rights.

But a second New Orleans judge sent the case to Baton Rouge on Friday, saying state law required that it be heard in the capital. Judge Ethel Julien then said that because the case was no longer going to be heard in her court, she did not have the authority to extend the temporary restraining order blocking the laws enforcement.

Prior to Johnson's ruling, which was dated Monday, July 11, attorneys for Landry had argued in a filing in Baton Rouge that the temporary restraining order could not be renewed once it expired.

Louisianas law includes trigger language that made it effective when the Supreme Court reversed abortion rights.

The lawsuits plaintiffs dont deny that the state can now ban abortion as a result of the Supreme Court ruling, but they say current state law is unconstitutionally vague. They contend that Louisiana now has multiple, conflicting trigger mechanisms in the law. They also argue that the state law is unclear on whether it bans an abortion prior to a fertilized egg implanting in the uterus.

And while the law provides an exception for medically futile pregnancies in cases of fetuses with fatal abnormalities, the plaintiffs note it gives no definition of the term and that state health officials havent yet provided a list of conditions that would qualify. The suit claims the state law is unclear on when the ban takes effect and on medical exceptions to it.

___

Associated Press writer Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.
Many say they face financial ruin as their crops dry up and die.

Farmers pump water from a pond to irrigate their rice fields amid an ongoing drought in northwest Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province, July 2022.

A severe drought in northwest Cambodia has destroyed at least 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of rice and farmers are calling on the government to provide irrigation and other assistance.

Chak Mao from Mongkol Borey district of Banteay Meanchey province told RFA that thousands of hectares of rice are drying up due to the four-month drought.

She said her six hectares will be destroyed and her family would be forced to seek jobs in neighboring Thailand if there is no rain or assistance from the Cambodian government.

We have a serious drought, Chak Mao said, adding that villagers are praying for rain.

She urged the government to help the farmers by providing irrigation systems or reservoirs.

A farmer who declined to be named said he stands to lose a significant sum of money because he hired workers for 20 hectares of land his family owns in addition to the three hectares they farm themselves.

We have some irrigation systems, but we dont have reservoirs to store water, so when there is no rain," he said. "We dont have water."

Farmers in Thailand have access to stored water so their crops dont dry up during periods without rain, he said.

Hoeuk Heng said farmers like him face financial ruin: If we dont have rain, we will abandon it. We will abandon it, and it will die."

As she watched her husband pump water onto her rice field, Chhun Sory said they had collected some rain from a shower the night before. But they still need help.

Im afraid that we dont have any more seedlings to farm, she said. I want an irrigation system and for the government to help us so we have water for farming."

Commune head Chea Ty said he will continue to work to get the water for farmers.

Roth Da Sinong, governor of Mongkol Borey district, said the drought has affected three communes there, though he did not know exactly how many hectares of crops were destroyed.

Theng Savoeun, cofounder of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community, urged the government to prepare long-term measures and to provide seedlings free of charge.

During the drought with a lack of water and lack of markets, local authorities must play a vital role to resolve the crisis for the people, he said.

Translated by Samean Yun for RFA Khmer. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Son Chhay said the National Election Committee had stolen votes in the June 5 local communal elections.

Son Chhay takes photos with his supporters in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in this file photo.

A senior official for Cambodias main opposition party accused of defamation for claiming there were irregularities in the June 5 local commune elections said his trial is a waste of time after testifying before the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday.

On June 17, the National Election Committee (NEC), a supposedly impartial election monitor, filed a lawsuit against Son Chhay, vice president of the Candlelight Party, for telling journalists that the NEC stole votes to allow Prime Minister Hun Sens Cambodian Peoples Party to win more races than it should have.

CPP candidates won roughly 80 percent of the 11,622 contested commune council seats, outpacing Candlelight contestants by five to one.

The suit claims that Son Chhays comments damaged the NECs reputation. It asks that he publicly apologize to the monitoring body.

I want to know what is not right about [my comments], Son Chhay said outside the court. Many NGOs who monitored the elections also said the same thing. Which parts are not true? It is strange. This is a bad example of the democratic process.

Son Chhay said that he continues to stand by his statements and will not apologize for them. His criticism of the NEC should be protected by Cambodias freedom of speech laws, he said.

RFA was not able to reach NEC spokesperson Hang Puthea as of Tuesday evening.

Son Chhay is next due in court on Friday to testify in a similar lawsuit filed by the CPP, which is seeking U.S. $1 million in damages.

Son Chhay must reveal evidence of the election irregularities or be held responsible before the law, CPP spokesperson Chhim Phal Virum told RFAs Khmer Service.

The court should clearly explain what is covered under freedom of expression protections and what is considered a crime, Am Sam Ath, chief of general affairs for the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (Licadho), told RFA.

Most politicians express their political views, so we should consider that, he said.

In 2017, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which at that time was the main opposition party, was dissolved by Cambodias Supreme Court, a move that paved the way for the CPP to win every seat in the National Assembly in the 2018 general election.



Following the dissolution, three CNRP members who were serving on the NEC resigned, leaving it without legitimacy according to observers. The ban on the CNRP kicked off a five-year crackdown on political opposition, with many of those affiliated with the party arrested and detained on charges like conspiracy, incitement, and treason.

Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Chinese-American author Geling Yan has hit out at the companies involved in releasing a Zhang Yimou film based on one of her novels outside China without crediting her.



Yan's name was removed from Zhang's 2020 film "One Second" despite it being an adaptation of part of one of her novels, after she made an outspoken social media post about a trafficked woman from rural China who was found chained by the neck in an outhouse belonging to her "husband."



Now, the movie is being shown outside China with the collusion of overseas companies not bound by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s strict censorship policies, a move that incenses Yan, who staged a protest with her husband outside the Berlin movie theater where the film premiered at the weekend.



"If this issue was confined to China, it would be totally understandable," she said. "But it's going too far for them to ignore my intellectual property rights and my moral rights across the whole world."



"And I think that for these companies that are colluding with them to do this, it is a particularly shameful manifestation of their double standards," Yan said after Sunday's protest, which was attended by entrepreneurs, musicians, economists, poets, artists, and human rights activists from China.



"Civilization [should be] based on allowing people to think freely and publish the results of their thinking freely," she said.



Yan said she had condensed 30 years of lived experience and national trauma into her novel "The Criminal Lu Yanshi," on which "One Second" is based.



"How many works like 'The Criminal Lu Yanshi' can a person write across a lifetime? I place huge value on it, then they just strangle and cancel my intellectual property, killing a part of my intellectual life," Yan said.



"A human being needs to fight for her human rights, and a writer needs to fight for her intellectual property rights if they are violated," she said.



Before her comments on social media about the chained woman, Yan's work was already being banned because of her criticism of the CCP's response to the pandemic.



Yan said she is highly unlikely to start praising the current regime in China, preferring to focus on the dignity and freedom of the individual.



"I can pay a higher price and fight for the truth, whether it's about a virus or a woman in chains," Yan said. "Or that one of my works has been strangled and castrated."



A scene from Zhang Yimou's film "One Second," which was adapted from Geling Yan's novel "The Criminal Lu Yanshi." Credit: Geling Yan Censorship victim

Yan said she views Zhang Yimou as a victim of the CCP's censorship system, but she couldn't accept his taking credit for her work overseas.



"There has been enforced censorship of movies for too long in China," she said. "Every movie includes a very painful process of trying to pass this test."



"Every film-maker has had work banned, and Zhang Yimou [said] he wouldn't do such a thing to an author if there was any other option; he was forced into it," Yan said.



"But I told him that wasn't good enough ... this helpless attitude of 'they made me do it'," she said. "I don't forgive him for that."



Yan and her husband and agent Lawrence Walker are now suing Zhang's Beijing Huanxi Chuan Media Group, as well as the film's international distributors and U.S., French and German producers.



"We sent a lawyer's letter but nothing came of it, and the movie was released anyway," Walker told RFA. "So we started taking to the streets."



He said China may be a powerful nation, but the CCP shouldn't be allowed to export their censorship practices, threatening free speech overseas.



Chinese citizen journalist Li Tingyu protested alongside Yan and Walker.



"Geling Yan has been my favorite author since high school," Li said. "I read "Lu Yanshi" while I was in the detention center."



"Her books are very popular ... but now, because she spoke out for women, and for justice, her name is disappearing and her voice has been obliterated [in China]," she said.



Employees who answered repeated calls to the Beijing Huanxi Chuan Media Group on Monday declined to comment.



Repeated calls to the personal number of the film's producer, Zhao Yijun, also rang unanswered.



Edits and deletions

The saga began with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and Yan signing an agreement in 2011 giving Zhang the movie rights to her novel "The Criminal Lu Yanshi," which tells the tale of a man sentenced to labor camp for the political crime of being a "rightist."



Zhang then made a movie based on the book called "Coming Home." However, he also completed a second movie based on the novel titled "One Second," but deleted any reference to Yan or her work of fiction from the publicity materials.



In February 2019, the crew of 'One Second' traveled to Berlin for the Berlin International Film Festival. They met at Yan's house, looking forward to seeing it presented in competition for a Golden Bear award, and entered the venue on the red carpet together with her.



But the movie was withdrawn abruptly just one hour before its scheduled media screening, allegedly for "technical reasons."



Further delays ensued before the film was eventually released in November 2020 after Zhang made a number of edits and deletions to satisfy Chinese officials.



When the film finally did appear, there was no mention of Yan.



Yan and Walker have contacted the Hollywood Screenwriters' Guild, of which Yan is a member, French film distribution company Wild Bunch of Paris, online platform Mubi, the Toronto Film Festival and the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.



Mubi has since reinstated a reference to Yan as the author of the novel that inspired "One Second."



Producer Zhao has told the couple that Yan's name was removed for political reasons, on orders from the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), and that Huanxi was obliged to implement that order.



Zhao also tried to threaten Yan if she tried to speak out about the movie overseas.



Yan's outspoken criticism of official cover-ups in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan has made her persona non grata in Beijing.



Yan once referred to CCP leader Xi Jinping as "also a human trafficker" in connection with the Jiangsu chained woman incident, not realizing that the conversation she was having was being streamed live online.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Hong Kong will impose a China-style COVID-19 app on the city's seven million residents, sparking fears of ever-increasing state control over the movements of individuals.

The city will start putting electronic bracelets on those who test positive for the virus from July 15, health secretary Lo Chung-mau told a news conference on Monday.

In China, red codes banning movement in public places have already been used to target people for political reasons that have little to do with their health.



Chief executive John Lee said the city needed to "be realistic" about the kind of risks it could be facing, citing average daily infections of around 3,000 with hospitalizations rising rapidly.



"That is why we are thinking of designing methods that will be able to allow us to react more quickly, to respond more precisely, and at the same time, allow more people to be not so restrictive in their activities," Lee told journalists on Tuesday.



He added: "There may be some misinformation which we will need to address very quickly so that everybody knows what we are doing."



Health secretary Lo said the LeaveHomeSafe app would be updated soon, and would require people to register using a verified form of ID.



"We must do real-name registration, so we can mainly use it for identification rather than tracking," Lo said. "We need to identify high-risk people to ensure that they don't endanger the health of other citizens, especially high-risk groups."



Lo said a person's health code would turn red, preventing them from going to public places, on confirmation of a COVID-19 positive result, while new arrivals to the city would be given an amber code, restricting entry to certain places deemed high risk.



A Hong Kong resident surnamed Mak said the app will function as a tool for those in power to monitor and control citizens.



"It divides people into different categories, and people with a red code are denied the right to use any facilities or services, including withdrawing money from the bank," Mak said.



"Is it an exaggeration to think that one day, you could also get a red code if you are a dissident? ... I think the government is easing into total control."



A Hong Kong resident surnamed Liu said she has similar concerns.



"If they do this with the health code, then I will worry about being monitored," she said. "What's worse is that it seems they can integrate their system with that of mainland China."



"They don't seem to think Hong Kong has any special privileges," Liu said.



A resident of the central Chinese provicne of Hubei surnamed Gao said he has been subjected to China's health code app for two years now.



"A red code means you stay isolated at home, and the yellow code means you can't take the bus or go to a shopping mall," Gao said, adding that the app is being used for "stability maintenance" as well as COVID-19 prevention.



Several Chinese rights defenders have had their health code turn red or stop working for no reason, preventing them from going to Beijing, Shanghai or other places.



Rights lawyer Xie Yang said his health code turned red after he made plans to visit the mother jailed citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, against the wishes of the Changsha police.



Hong Kong commentator Sang Pu said depositors at rural banks in Henan province had also been given red codes when they planned to protest a ban on withdrawals of their savings.



"The so-called infected people have no freedom to go anywhere, which is terrible," Sang said. "Today they can decide that you can't go everywhere because of COVID, and tomorrow they may decide that you can't go anywhere because of a disease such as a cold."



"Then it could be that you have a mental health problem and can't go anywhere ... They want to act in line with the wishes of the CCP, rather than considering science, truth or rationality."



The LeaveHomeSafe app is already required to access any government-controlled premises, and is currently based on an individual's vaccination status.



Meanwhile, authorities in Shanghai have resumed local lockdowns, barricading some residents into their apartment buildings, amid a rise in the highly transmissible omicron BA5 variant of COVID-19.



Photos and video clips uploaded to social media by Shanghai residents showed steel sheeting in place at the entrances of alleyways to prevent people from restricted areas from leaving.



In one video, the move prompted an angry altercation between COVID-19 enforcement officials and residents.



"Why are you blocking this?" a resident asks. "Because we are managing this community," the official replies.



"Where are you sending us?" the resident says. "We're not here to argue with you," the official replies.



A Shanghai resident surnamed Liang said her residential compound was locked down for two days because one resident was identified as a close contact of an infected person.



"Our community was closed for a couple of days because there was a close contact," she said.



"I heard that they have to go ahead with restrictions because this [variant] is more damaging than the last one," Liang said. "Wherever there are cases or contacts, they will lock down the building."



The return to partial lockdowns comes after Shanghai ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chief Li Qiang announced on June 25 that the "battle to defend Shanghai has been won."



Similar restrictions are in place in the northwestern city of Lanzhou, where authorities have told people not to leave their homes unless necessary, and implemented three waves of mass, compulsory COVID-19 testing.



"They don't call it lockdown any more, but temporary restrictions," Lanzhou resident Ma Guoqiang told RFA. "At midnight, they put steel gates outside our community gates, and locked them from the side facing the street."



"This time it's for at least seven days," Ma said. "Takeout is allowed, but dine-in is not. We are all cooking and eating for ourselves at home."



He said the restrictions had scuppered the Lanzhou Trade and Investment Fair, prompting many potential investors to turn around and leave after just two days of the event.



"A lot of people turned around and left as soon as they got to Lanzhou," Ma said. "They arrived at the train station, saw the situation, then bought tickets and left."



The city reported 28 new asymptomatic cases in Lanzhou, with more than 2,000 contacts, on Monday.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Wang Yi appeared to position Beijing as being on the side of ASEAN, a stance that critics have questioned.

The Chinese foreign minister urged ASEAN countries Monday against becoming pawns in rivalries between big powers, a day after his U.S. counterpart visited Bangkok as part of the Biden administrations intense diplomacy to counter Beijings engagement in Southeast Asia.

In a speech in Jakarta, Wang Yi appeared to position Beijing as being on the side of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a stance that critics have questioned over frequent Chinese incursions into Asian claimant states waters in the disputed South China Sea.

We should insulate this region from geopolitical calculations and the trap of the law of the jungle, from being used as chess pieces in major power rivalry, and from coercion by hegemony and bullying, Wang said during his policy speech at the ASEAN Secretariat.

The future of our region should be in our own hands.

Wang called on the region to reject attempts to divide it into confrontational and exclusive groups, an apparent reference to U.S.-led security initiatives such as the Quad and AUKUS.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, comprises the United States, Japan, Australia and India. AUKUS is a security pact under which the United States and Britain will help Canberra build nuclear-powered submarines.

We should uphold true regional cooperation that unites countries within the region and remain open to countries outside, and reject the kind of fake regional cooperation that keeps a certain country out and targets certain side, Wang said.

But, critics say, alleged incursions by Chinese vessels in the exclusive economic zones of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia in the South China Sea have threatened stability in Southeast Asia.

China has never accepted a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that found Beijings expansive historical claims in the South China Sea to have no legal basis.

And for the Biden administration, Southeast Asia is a top priority, it has stressed time and again. It sees the area as crucial, and analysts said Washington scored a win in its efforts to counter Beijings influence by getting most members of the ASEAN bloc to join the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity deal in May.

Now, Wang is on a tour of the region to promote Chinas Global Development Initiative, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

On Monday he described the former as a solution to the global peace deficit and security dilemma. BRI is an estimated $1 trillion-plus infrastructure initiative to build a network of railways, ports and bridges across 70 countries, which critics say has led many countries into a debt trap, a charge Beijing has hotly denied.

Wangs visit to Jakarta followed the G7 summit in Germany late last month, where leaders announced that their governments together would raise $600 billion funds over five years to finance infrastructure in developing nations to counter the BRI.

On Saturday, Blinken said that Washington was not asking others to choose between the United States and China, but giving them a choice, when it comes to things like investment in infrastructure and development systems.

What we want to make sure is that were engaged in a race to the top, that we do things to the highest standards, not a race to the bottom where we do things to the lowest standards.

While in Thailand, Blinken and his Thai counterpart, Don Pramudwinai, signed the U.S.-Thailand Communique on Strategic Alliance and Partnership on Sunday.

Our countries share the same goals  the free, open, interconnected, prosperous, resilient and secure Indo-Pacific. In recent years, we worked together even more closely toward that vision, Blinken said.

According to Agus Haryanto, an analyst at Jenderal Soedirman University in Purwokerto, China is concerned about U.S. reengagement with Southeast Asia after being perceived as lacking interest in the region during the years of the Trump administration (2017-2021).

The United States under President Biden is paying attention again to Southeast Asia, including a focus on democracy issues in Myanmar and strengthening cooperation with Thailand, Agus told BenarNews.

China supported Russia in the UN

On Sunday, Blinken urged ASEAN members and China to push Myanmars junta to end violence against its people and move back toward democracy.

More than 2,065 civilians have been killed in Myanmar since the military overthrew the democratic government in February 2021, according to Thailands Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Blinken also accused China of supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, despite Beijings professed neutrality.

We are concerned about the PRCs alignment with Russia, Blinken told reporters after a meeting with Wang in Bali, where they had attended the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting.

I dont think that China is in fact engaging in a way that suggests neutrality. Its supported Russia in the U.N. It continues to do so. Its amplified Russian propaganda, he said.

Meanwhile on Monday, Wang met with Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo and praised Jakarta for its initiative to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.

The PRC once again appreciates Indonesias various efforts to seek a peaceful settlement to ongoing situation in Ukraine, including specifically mentioning the Presidents visits to Kyiv and Moscow, Retno said in a statement released by Jokowis office.

Retno said Wang and Jokowi discussed priority projects, including the China-backed Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, the countrys first, and part of the BRI projects.

In a statement following a meeting between with Indonesias most senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan on Saturday, Wang said Beijing and Jakarta agreed on building a community with a shared future and forging a new pattern of bilateral cooperation covering the political, economic, cultural and maritime sectors.

Indonesia supports and stands ready to actively participate in the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, both put forward by President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

China is ready to work with Indonesia to continue taking the lead in solidarity and cooperation among regional and developing countries, and forge an exemplary model of mutual benefit, win-win results and common development, as well as a vanguard of South-South cooperation, so as to make greater contributions to maintaining regional stability and promoting world peace, it said.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.
A protester holds a sign in the form of a paper boat cutout while taking part in a demonstration over Philippine territorial rights in the South China Sea, outside the Chinese consulate in Makati, the financial district in Metro Manila, July 12, 2022.

Filipino nationalists and activists pressed new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to actively assert their countrys territorial rights, as the Philippines marked the sixth anniversary on Tuesday of an arbitration courts ruling that invalidated Beijings sweeping claims in the South China Sea.

About 50 activists assembled outside Chinas consulate in Makati, the financial district of the Philippine capital, where they carried signs demanding that Chinese ships and boats stay out of the West Philippine Sea, Manilas name for its South China Sea territories.

The issue of the territorial dispute is not just an abstract question of sovereignty, of access to resources, Benjamin Miguel Alvero, a spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Coalition, the group that led the protest, told BenarNews.

Last month, officials reported that 100 Chinese ships were seen swarming in the Julian Filipe Reef alone  one of the areas inside the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ)  but they did not update those figures on Tuesday.

The militarization of the West Philippine Sea has concrete repercussions for thousands of ordinary Filipinos, of fisherfolk communities that are unable to work and pursue their livelihood because of the threat of harassment, especially from Chinese military forces, Alvero said.

The Philippines, he said, must confront what he called the expansionist ambitions of a rising China.

We challenge the newly elected administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to prove its commitment to serving the Filipino people (by) pursuing a principled foreign policy, unlike the last six years under the Duterte government, he said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) and his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, cross paths at the Malacanang Palace grounds during the official handover ceremony, June 30, 2022. Credit: BenarNews/FOCAP pool Enrique A. Manalo, the new Philippine secretary of foreign affairs, marked the occasion with a statement that did not hold back on the Marcos administrations stance on the landmark 2016 verdict by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

The findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal, and are conclusive as they are indisputable, he said. The award is final. We firmly reject attempts to undermine it; nay, even erase it from law, history and our collective memories.

The courts award on July 12, 2016, along with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), are the twin anchors of Philippine policy and action in the sea, Manalo said.

The court authoritatively ruled that the claim of historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the nine-dash line had no basis in law and is without legal effect, the foreign secretary added, referring to Chinas insistence that it historically owned much of the disputed sea.

Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos immediate predecessor who took office in mid-2016, was long criticized for being perceived as soft on Chinas military expansionism in the waterway.

Shortly after Duterte came to power, the arbitration court ruled in favor of Manila over Beijing after Chinese ships had refused since 2012 to leave Scarborough Shoal, a South China Sea territory within the Philippines 200-mile EEZ. Ever since the courts decision, Beijing has refused to leave the area and has carried on with its expansionist maritime activities.

During most of his time in office, Duterte engaged Chinese President Xi Jinping in friendlier ties while pulling the Philippines away from Chinas traditional rival, the United States. Washington, in the meantime, refused to buckle under pressure and frequently sailed its naval ships into the contested waters under the doctrine of freedom of navigation.

However, late into his term, Duterte declared in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly that the arbitration ruling was beyond compromise and that we firmly reject attempts to undermine it.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.
But residents say they want the government instead to focusing on easing ongoing economic hardships.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un addresses a special lecture for officials in the country's Organization and Guidance Department in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) July 7, 2022.

North Koreas Organization and Guidance Department, which spreads the directives and teachings of Kim Jong Un, is working to reaffirm loyalty to the dictator at a time of growing hardship for many citizens.

Residents who heard news reports about a special lecture held by the department told RFA that the message came across as tone-deaf, given that the government has done little to improve the economic conditions in the country, which have worsened in the coronavirus pandemic.

Party members and residents were outraged when the content of a special lecture held  in Pyongyang from June 2nd to 6th was reported by the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee, a resident of Musan County in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The lecture was for the officials of the Organization and Guidance Department  and was presided over directly by the highest dignity, said the source, using an honorific term for Kim. It focused on how they must establish a discipline in which all party members are absolutely obedient to the partys sole leadership.

At a time when the economy is in shambles due to the closure of the border and suspension of trade with China, along with international nuclear sanctions, many North Koreans are focused on finding their next meal rather than proving their loyalty to Kim.

They criticize the authorities for their ignorance of the lives of the people, the source said. The

authorities are not seeking measures to improve peoples lives but merely forcing the party members and residents to obey the party unconditionally.

The officials of the Organization and Guidance Department already hold great power and were given even more authority to strengthen control over the thoughts and lives of party members. The intent is to suppress any divergence in public sentiment which has been aggravated by COVID-19. They will strengthen the autocratic powers of the party organization, the source said.

A resident of the South Pyongan province, north of Pyongyang, told RFA that people there are frustrated that the government is taking time for the special lectures when the rainy season is approaching, threatening crops.

That proves that the Central Committee [and Kim Jong Un] are not prioritizing the stability of our livelihoods and instead try to enhance and maintain his dictatorship, said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.

More and more members of the lowest organizations in the party, which support the Central Committee, are leaving the party. And a growing number of party members are absent from the weekly self-criticism sessions which are a required duty of a party member, he said.

Known as saenghwal chonghwa, the sessions are public meetings in which every citizen must individually confess their shortcomings to the party each week.

If you miss the partys self-criticism session more than three times, you receive a warning. Failure to attend for more than six months will result in removal from the party, the second source said.

The current situation in North Korea is similar to the situation in which residents openly criticized the authorities during the Arduous March, the second source said, using the Korean term for the 1994-1998 North Korean famine that killed millions of people, possibly as much as 10 percent of the population.

During the famine, the authorities were focused on controlling public opinion by dispatching officials to report on citizens, but now even the secretaries of local party cells are themselves experiencing hardships and are increasingly disillusioned with authorities, the second source said.

In the end, the special lecture held in Pyongyang showed the governments intent to forcibly suppress and block the voices of dissatisfaction among party members and residents who defy them, he said.

This is why they are strengthening the autocratic powers of the Central Committee. The people are outraged.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung O. Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
The group urged US and allies to pressure Bangkok to step up diplomatic efforts.

Refugees who fled fighting between the Myanmar army and insurgent groups and temporarily settled on the banks of the Moei River along the Thai border receive aid in Mae Sot, Thailand, Jan. 7, 2022.

UPDATED at 1:02 P.M. EST on 2022-07-12

Thailand should allow delivery of cross-border humanitarian aid into Myanmar and not push back people seeking refuge from threats to their life and freedom in that country, a U.S.-based NGO is urging in a new report.

Thousands of Burmese have crossed into Thailand along the porous 2,400-km (1,500-mile) frontier to flee the conflict in the wake of a military coup that toppled an elected civilian-led government and installed a junta in Naypyidaw early last year.

The military junta has committed widespread atrocities and blocked international humanitarian groups from delivering aid to areas that desperately need it, Refugees International, a Washington-based group, said in its report released Tuesday.

In the meantime, delivery of international aid through Myanmars neighbors, particularly through local groups active along the Thai-Myanmar border, presents an underutilized path for getting assistance to those in need.

The report comes two days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a visit to Bangkok, urged Thailand, other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China to press the Burmese junta into ending violence against Myanmars people and moving that country back toward democracy.

Led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmars military toppled the democratically elected government in February 2021 and has thrown its civilian leaders in jail. Fighting between junta forces and opposition groups across the country has forced mass displacement amid growing humanitarian needs.

Thai authorities must also live up to their commitments to non-refoulement and refrain from pressuring people fleeing violence in Myanmar from returning before it is safe to do so, Refugees International said.

Thailand, long considered a linchpin in relations between ASEAN and member-state Myanmar, has been criticized as being relatively soft on the post-coup crisis that has divided the 10-member regional bloc.

Thailand is reluctant to do anything to incentivize more refugees coming into the country, but failure to allow cross-border aid  and thus allowing conditions for people across the border to deteriorate  could do just that, Refugees International said.

Myanmar refugees walk across the river to enter Thailands Mae Sot district, Jan. 15, 2022. Credit: AFP Myanmar crisis

During the fighting inside Myanmar, the juntas forces have detained more than 14,000 people, while more than 2,000 civilians have been killed, according to Thailands Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

About 1.1 million people have been displaced in Myanmar, including 758,500 forced to flee their homes as of June 20, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). An estimated 14.4 million people, or a quarter of the countrys population, need humanitarian assistance due to the conflict.

In recent months, the most intense fighting has occurred in Chin, Sagaing and Magway states in northwestern Myanmar and in Karen and Karenni states in the southeast that borders Thailand.

Junta forces have burned thousands of homes while fighting and airstrikes have caused more than 500,000 to flee their homes, said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

For its part, Thailand has restricted cross-border aid, Refugees International said in the report, adding that the Burmese junta controls main roads and has allegedly seized or destroyed aid while attacking humanitarian workers.

Similarly, Refugees International said, Myanmars rugged terrain limits informal aid for thousands who need humanitarian assistance in the interim and those living in areas not under junta control.

Thailand-linked cross-border organizations have been providing some aid to residents in Karen and Karenni states. These groups have been operating since the 1990s when ethnic armed groups were fighting the Myanmar military.

Myanmar refugees ride on a boat after receiving aid in Mae Sot, Thailand, Jan. 4, 2022. Credit: Reuters Aid barrier

One of the Thai governments main challenges in delivering aid across the border is Bangkoks concern with its relationship with the junta, Refugees International said, alleging that officials are seeking to balance economic and security interests by refusing cross-border aid officially.

The NGO called on the Thai and other governments to get involved.

The largest and most consistent barrier to humanitarian assistance is the lack of funding, it said.

While a few governments are supporting local groups involved in aid efforts, donor countries should step up support for these underutilized and low-profile mechanisms, it said.

A Thai foreign ministry spokesman explained his governments assistance efforts.

Our policy is to give humanitarian assistance to displaced people who fled to Thailand.  From government to government, we never change our policy on the displaced people from Myanmar, spokesman Tanee Sangrat told BenarNews.

The media and a few countries have concerns lately perhaps due to the changes of the situation in Myanmar and along the border, he said.

Refugees International also said Thailand should provide protection and rights to thousands of people who have crossed the border from Myanmar to seek temporary or long-term refuge since the coup.

Salai Bawi, a research fellow at Chiang Mai University, said the Thai government had not taken the call for aid seriously because Thai people do not see the need to help the refugees as urgent.

For decades, the Thai government left the burden and responsibility of Myanmar refugees to international organizations, while it remained just a facilitator, he told BenarNews.

In the past, Thai authorities stressed that they had not forced refugees to return, adding that many had chosen to go back to Myanmar. Local media, NGOs and human rights activists, on the other hand, have alleged that Thai authorities pressure displaced Myanmar people into returning to their country, Refugees International said.

As of February 2022, the Thai government estimated that 17,000 Myanmar refugees had crossed into Thailand since the coup, but according to a report published by UNHCR in June, only 246 refugees remain in two Thai military-controlled sites where conditions are reported to be deplorable.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service. Kunnawut Boonreak in Chiang Mai, Thailand, contributed to this report.

This article has been updated to include comments from the Thai foreign ministry spokesman.
But even with talks, they say stakeholders are too far apart to find common ground.

Myanmars junta is unlikely to sign off on an all-inclusive dialogue to resolve the countrys political crisis unless additional pressure is applied, observers said Monday, following calls by both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China to allow all stakeholders to the negotiating table.

But sources in Myanmar told RFA Burmese that even if all sides of the political spectrum were represented at talks, compromise would be difficult because of how far apart their views are on how the country should be governed.

It could happen if more international and domestic pressure mounted, political analyst Than Soe Naing said of the likelihood of all-inclusive talks.

Under the present circumstances, when [the junta has] some control over the country, they do not seem interested.

Than Soe Naing noted that the junta is adamant about maintaining Myanmars 2008 Constitution, which grants the military 25 percent of parliamentary seats, giving it an effective veto on constitutional reform. The countrys shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and Peoples Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group say they will only negotiate with the junta if it completely withdraws from politics.

They would have to reconcile that and I don't think it will be easy. So I think [all-inclusive talks are] unlikely at the moment, he said.

Additionally, Than Soe Naing said, there is nobody who can represent the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) at negotiations with the junta because all of the partys top officials were arrested in the aftermath of the militarys Feb. 1, 2021 coup.

The military claims voter fraud led to a landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyis NLD in the countrys November 2020 election. The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide protests calling for a return to civilian rule, killing 2,076 people and arresting 14,544 over the last 17 months, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing agreed to pursue talks with all of Myanmars stakeholders following an emergency ASEAN meeting on the situation in the country in April 2021, but has yet to do so. Calls for such a dialogue were reiterated by ASEAN Special Envoy for Myanmar Prak Sokhonn during his June 29-July 2 trip to Myanmar and again, days later, by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting with his junta counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thailand along with ASEAN members and China to push the junta to end violence against its people and follow through on its pledge at last years ASEAN meeting, following a meeting in Bangkok with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha.

Protesters hold posters during a motorcycle rally demonstration against the military coup near the royal palace in Mandalay, Feb. 7, 2021. Credit: AFP Up to the people

Nai Than Shwe, a spokesman for the Mon Unity Party (MUP) who met with Sokhonn during his visit, told RFA on Monday that the junta must have a desire for dialogue if all-inclusive talks are to take place.

If the junta takes the initiative, anything is possible. But its up to the junta whether or not a dialogue will happen, he said.

An abbot of the Mandalay Sangha Union of Buddhist monks told RFA that ASEAN and China are advocating for all-inclusive talks in the hopes of a return to the status quo in Myanmar.

The dialogue that both ASEAN and China are pushing for is, in short, nothing more than a return to quasi-military rule we used to have before the coup, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

However, the kind of negotiations called for by the NLD cannot end there. If they do, the people will not accept it.

He noted that the military, the NUG, and the PDF have all said they have no interest in negotiations, so it is up to the people to make it happen.

A spokesman for the anti-junta Peoples Defense Battalion No. 2 in Mon states Thaton township, who also declined to be named, echoed the abbots suggestion that the people of Myanmar must push for an all-inclusive dialogue.

Most of our PDF units  do not want discussions or negotiations with them, he said.

Given our military momentum and the participation of the people, as well as growing international pressure, we have no reason to discuss anything with them at this time. They are actually looking for a way out  But if the people want us to do it, we will do it.

Junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun had earlier told RFA that the junta would not hold talks with those facing trial or with the NUG and PDF, who it has labeled terrorists. However, following the visits of the ASEAN and Chinese envoys, he told the BBC in an interview that nothing is politically impossible.

The NUG is adamant that it will not hold talks with the junta. Attempts by RFA to contact Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the office of NUG President Duwa Lashi La, for comment on the shadow governments latest position went unanswered Monday.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The Gambia has accused the military of murder, rape and torture of the Muslim ethnic minority.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) plans to deliver its judgement on Myanmars objections to the genocide case brought against it by The Gambia, on July 22.

In a statement issued Monday the ICJ said a public sitting of the court will take place at 3 p.m. at the Peace Palace in the Dutch city of The Hague. The President of the Court, Judge Joan E. Donoghue, will read out the ICJs decision.

A Rohingya Muslim in Buthidaung Township in northern Rakhine State, who was subjected to human rights abuses by the military, told RFA that the perpetrators should be brought to justice.

There is evidence of genocide against Rohingya Muslims by Myanmars army in 2017, he said. On-site inspection is available. The villages of Buthidaung and Maungdaw were destroyed. The residents fled to Bangladesh in fear of being killed by Myanmars army. No matter how much they deny it, we know our people suffered. Therefore, we want effective action against their genocide in accordance with the law.

The Gambias parliament approved the plan to bring genocide charges in July 2019, after the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) proposed to the West African Nation that it should prosecute Myanmar. It instituted proceedings in November of the same year alleging genocide through acts adopted, taken and condoned by the Government of Myanmar against members of the Rohingya group. The Gambia has not denied that it received funding for the legal action from the OIC.

In the initial hearing The Gambia said that from around October 2016 the Myanmar military and other Myanmar security forces began widespread and systematic clearance operations  against the Rohingya group. The genocidal acts committed during these operations were intended to destroy the Rohingya as a group, in whole or in part, by the use of mass murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as the systematic destruction by fire of their villages, often with inhabitants locked inside burning houses. From August 2017 onwards, such genocidal acts continued with Myanmars resumption of clearance operations on a more massive and wider geographical scale.

The military councils delegation protested at a hearing on Feb. 25 this year, saying the ICJ has no right to hear the case.

Christopher Staker, a lawyer hired by the military council, argued the international community should not be allowed to prosecute Myanmar and the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case.

Calls to the military council spokesman by RFA went unanswered Tuesday. Some local media outlets quoted an unnamed senior foreign ministry official as saying Myanmars delegation to the ICJ, led by the Military Councils International Relations Minister Ko Ko Hlaing, plans to travel to The Hague to hear the ICJs judgment.

The ICJ said the hearing at the Peace Palace will be closed to the public to observe Coronavirus restrictions. Only members of the Court and representatives of the States party to the case will be allowed to enter the Great hall of Justice. Members of diplomatic corps and the public will be able to follow the procedures on a live webcast on the Courts website as well as UN Web TV.

The Gambia has called on Myanmar to stop persecuting the Rohingya, punish those responsible for the genocide, offer reparations to the victims and provide guarantees that there would be no repeat of the crimes against the Rohingya.

The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and was established in 1945 to settle disputes in accordance with international law through binding judgments with no right of appeal.

The U.S. has also accused Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ruled in March this year that Burmas military committed genocide and crimes against humanity with the intent to destroy predominantly Muslim Rohingya in 2017.

That was the year the military cleared Rohingya communities in western Myanmar, killing, torturing and raping locals. The violent campaign forced more than 740,000 people to flee to squalid refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh.

The State Department said the military junta that seized power in the Feb. 2021 coup continues to oppress the Rohingya, putting 144,000 in internal displacement camps in Rakhine state by the end of last year. A State Department report last month noted that Rohingya also face travel restrictions within the country and the junta has made no effort to bring refugees back from Bangladesh.
Myanmars junta chief Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for what Russias Embassy in Myanmar called a private visit, only two days after U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken vowed to ramp up international pressure on the military regime.

Since Min Aung Hlaing led the military to seize power in Feb. 1, 2021, Myanmar has plunged into a deep economic and political crisis only worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the West quickly moved to impose sanctions on the military, both Russia and China have supported the junta.

Russia has continued to supply the Tatmadaw, as Myanmars military is known, with weapons and helicopters despite its continued and documented crackdown on civilians, killing at least 2,077 since the coup. The military has also launched a wide-ranging military operation in Sagaing region, where anti-junta militias have formed in rural areas. RFA has documented extensive targeting of civilians and the burning of wholesale villages as part of the militarys clearance operations in Sagaing.

Min Aung Hlaing notably hosted Russias Deputy Defense Minister Lt-Gen Alexander V. Fomin in Myanmars capital Naypyidaw in March of last year, less than two months after ousting the democratically elected government.

[Min Aung Hlaing] plans to take part in the opening of a Myanmar cultural center," the statement from Russias Embassy in Myanmar said. But Russian state media reported that he would meet with officials from Moscows space and nuclear agencies. The visit was not heavily publicized by Myanmars junta-controlled media. It is unclear if Min Aung Hlaing will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin or any other high-ranking Russian officials while in Moscow.

Lin Thant, a representative of the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), told RFA Burmese that Min Aung Hlaing doesnt have much success in the international arena and so, he would be losing more face by making this trip because the junta leader is one of the few who had supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine while the rest of the world was condemning Russia. I see it as two evils forming an alliance.

An announcement issued by the military on Monday night said the junta leader would attend religious ceremonies at the Shwezigon Pagoda in Ethnomir, a cultural museum in Moscow. It added that Min Aung Hlaing had met with the Chairman of Russia Myanmar Friendship Association and discussed further cooperation in economic and education sectors, tourism, and training for military and civilian officials.

The two sides also discussed electric power generation, nuclear energy production and the latest agricultural methods for oil crops and import-exports matters, the statement added. Russia, for its part, has warmed up to Myanmars junta since launching the invasion of Ukraine, and Myanmar has launched a recent bid to secure an energy deal from Russia to offset fuel shortages caused by the sanctions.

According to a June 20 report by the pro-military Myanmar Alin Daily, a junta delegation met with Russian Minister of Energy Shulginov Nikolay on the sidelines of the June 15-18 International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg to discuss energy cooperation.

The two sides reportedly held talks on Russian oil drilling in Myanmar and the export of oil and petroleum products, as well as the construction of a nuclear power plant, it said. They also discussed the possibility of direct exchanges of currencies between the two countries central banks and the purchase of fuel from Russia.

But analysts have repeatedly raised doubts about the extent of Russias willingness to provide Myanmar with a major energy deal, and the juntas ability to manage it.

Myanmar-based analyst Than Soe Naing said the junta is only in the beginning phase of negotiations with Russia to deal with its ongoing energy crisis and will need to overcome several obstacles before moving towards an agreement that will solve its problems.

Cooperation with Russia over a nuclear program is unlikely without Chinas support. In addition, the junta, which is facing a foreign exchange crisis, cannot afford to spend money on nuclear energy, he said.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Written by Nawar Nemeh.
Sources say that the military has planted mines in areas specifically meant to target civilians.

Maung Hla Tun (L) lies in a hospital after losing his leg in a landmine explosion in Rakhine state's Minbya township, July 6, 2022.

UPDATED at 9:55 A.M. EDT on 2022-07-13

Six people were killed and at least 11 others injured in nearly 30 landmine explosions over the past two months in Myanmars Rakhine and Chin states, an ethnic Rakhine group said Tuesday, amid reports of clashes between the military and Rakhine rebels.

The Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC), which documents the casualties from landmines used in the war in Rakhine, said in a statement that landmine blasts have been reported in areas of intense fighting between junta troops and the ethnic Arakan Army (AA), including the townships of Myebon, Ann, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya and Rathedaung.

An uneasy truce between the military and the AA had lasted for more than a year, but tensions have increased between the two sides since May. In roughly two months, landmines have killed three people and injured one in Kyauktaw; killed two in Ann; killed one and wounded another in Myebon; injured four in Mrauk-U; injured two in Rathedaung; injured one in Minbya; and injured two in Chin states Paletwa township, the group said.

On July 9, a 14-year-old boy named Sithu Kyaw Lin, who was known as Lin Lin, was killed in an explosion near Ann townships Zu Kaing village. His family told RFA Burmese that he triggered a landmine planted by the military on his way to a hill located about a mile east of the village.

Lin Lins father, Moe Lwin, said he tried to retrieve his sons body with the help of some village elders and two junta soldiers that same day, but was prevented from doing so when two additional mines were discovered along the way. He said the two soldiers removed the mines, which they said had been planted by the militarys 66th division, before taking them away to be disposed of.

The 66th division was stationed there following a plane crash in the area, he said.

[The junta soldiers] said there were many more mines around and that we mustnt go near the hill [where Lin Lins body lay]. They said that if I went, I would likely die. I wish the authorities would search for and destroy these mines.

Moe Lwin, who is also the father of three young daughters, told RFA that he was compelled to retrieve his sons body the following day.

The next morning, I decided to go. They still tried to stop me but I went there alone and found my sons body and I brought it back, he said. As a father, I was devastated. My son was not even 15 years old  an 8th grade student. I cry every day.

Another landmine explosion on July 8, near an area of Mrauk-U township where the militarys light infantry battalions (LIB) 377 and 378 had established a camp, injured three Muslim Rohingya minors from Paung Toke village and a young man from Kyauktaw townships Ba Laung Chaung village, according to Ann Thar Gyi, who is assisting the wounded.

The Muslim boys triggered landmines in a spot they normally gather, and it is close to the [military] camp, he said, adding that the group had been tending cattle when the incident occurred.

The mines were planted in the shade of trees, and so we can say they were meant to hit civilians. All the mine blasts in Rakhine state have occurred in the vicinity of Myanmar military bases, so we are demanding that mines not be planted in a way to harm civilians.

Ann Thar Gyi told RFA that two of the injured boys were taken to Mrauk-Us Myaung Bwe Hospital with serious injuries.

Residents assist a person injured by a landmine in Rathedaung township's Thar Si Htaunt village, June 17, 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist Other incidents

In Kyauktaw township, a resident of Myar Li Kan village and another of Wet Hmaing village were killed by landmines on July 1 and 4 respectively, while they tended cattle near the LIB 377 military camp, according to the REC.

On June 14, two refugees from the Sahin Refugee Camp in Myebon township were killed and another injured when a landmine exploded while they were digging bamboo shoots in the forest for food, the group said.

And on June 17, a couple from Rathedaung townships Thar Si Htaunt village were injured when a landmine exploded while they worked in the fields.

REC Secretary Zaw Zaw Tun said that both the military and the AA should use the relative calm of the ongoing ceasefire to clear mines in Rakhine.

In this situation, both sides should do something for the benefit of the people. Reducing the risk of landmines must be a priority. Therefore, both sides need to help in finding ways to effectively reduce landmine accidents, he said.

Each side could work on their own to clear mines. If both sides do this, the harm to the people will be reduced. Isnt that possible because there isnt fighting anymore? I want them to think about that. If they can do that, the risk of landmines will be reduced.

AA spokesman Khaing Thukha responded to inquiries from RFA by saying that the victims were killed and injured from landmines left by the military.

It's all because of the Myanmar army. They planted mines around all of their camps, as well as the bases and battalion headquarters, using the excuse that they were for security reasons, he said.

The mines planted in those areas where they were stationed were not taken away when they left. These are abandoned mines  that are now causing harm to local civilians.

Khaing Thukha did not respond to questions from RFA about whether the AA has used landmines in its fight against the military.

Repeated attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Minister of Information Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun went unanswered Tuesday.

A bloody campaign

The AA fought a fierce campaign against Myanmars military from December 2018 to November 2020, demanding autonomy for ethnic Rakhines.

More than 300 civilians were killed and more than 700 injured during the fighting, according to figures compiled by RFA.

The two sides agreed to an informal ceasefire shortly before the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup, and the truce has held for more than a year. However, residents say tensions have risen in Rakhine due to arrests and the arrival of military reinforcements.

Tensions are simmering even outside Rakhine since the AA also has a presence in Chin, Kayin and Shan states.

The REC says 63 civilians have been killed and 77 injured in landmines and explosive remnants of war since fighting broke out in Rakhine State.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs nearly 78,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Rakhine and Chin states as of March 6 this year due to fighting between junta forces and the AA.

CORRECTION: The previous version incorrectly identified the Myanmar junta soldiers in paragraphs 5 and 7 as Arakan Army troops.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Chinese authorities havent said if they will pay to restore the Gyalrong Tsodun Kriti Monastery.

Tibetans and monks displaced by an earthquake set up tents and makeshift shelters in Barkham in the Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 2022.

UPDATED at 6:45 P.M. EST on 2022-07-12

Monks from the Gyalrong Tsodun Kriti Monastery in northeastern Tibet do not know if they will receive help from local Chinese officials to rebuild after the structure was destroyed by an earthquake last month, a person with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday.

The temblor that rocked Barkham (in Chinese, Maerkang) in the Ngaba (Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture on June 10 displaced more than 25,000 residents, locals told RFA in an earlier report. Buddhist temples, senior living facilities, schools, stupas and more 150 monastic residences were also damaged or destroyed.

The destruction of the Gyalrong Tsodun Kriti Monastery, which is about 85 kilometers (53 miles) from Barkham, forced 290 monks who reside there to move to a temporary makeshift location, the Tibetan source said. Neither monks nor residents know if the local Chinese government will provide assistance to rebuild the monastery, the Tibetan added.

With assistance from nearby monasteries and towns, the Tsodun Monastery has now completely moved to a temporary tent, and all daily religious activities are being performed [there], the source said, adding that wet weather conditions have made the situation tougher.

Many local Tibetans in the region still continue to live in temporary tents, said the source.

Government rescuers did not reach Barkham until June 13, three days after the initial quake. After they arrived, Chinese authorities dismissed Tibetan civilians and monks who provided food, water and tents to survivors, RFA reported earlier.

Authorities then imposed a strict clampdown on information from the area, forbidding residents to post reports or photos about the earthquake on social media.

Chinese state media on June 10 reported one resident had been injured in the quake, with 25,790 survivors transferred and resettled.

Earthquakes are common on the Tibetan plateau. Last year a 7.3-magnitude quake struck Matoe (Maduo) county in the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province, killing 20 people and injuring 300 others.

At that time, authorities 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 for RFA Tibetan. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

The story's lede was updated to include additional information.
Work teams of local cadres spend the day with families to monitor them.

Uyghurs and other members of the faithful pray during services at the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as seen during a government organized visit for foreign journalists, April 19, 2021.

Authorities in Xinjiang sent local cadres to celebrate an Islamic holiday with Uyghurs in Chinas far-western region amid ongoing repression of the predominantly Muslim minority group, in what Uyghur rights leaders said was a further effort to cover up the real situation there.

Known as the Feast of Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha (Qurban Eid) is a major Islamic holiday that marks the end of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This year, the holiday began at sundown on July 8 and ended in the evening of July 9.

Chinas state media reported on huiju work teams of local cadres who visited Uyghurs bearing gifts of food and who helped them work in their fields in celebration of the holiday.

State media also released a video of Uyghurs dancing in what some observers said were staged performances.

A report on Tengritagh (Tianshan), the official website of the XUAR government told of how visitors spent the holiday celebrating with Uyghurs and delivering gifts of rice, noodles, cooking oil and milk.

One huiju work team from the Jinghe County Water Conservancy Management Office organized a celebration with the theme National Unity, One Family, and Eid al-Adha in which people gathered to sing and dance at a farm in Jinghe county in Xinjiangs Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture (in Chinese, Bortala Menggu), the report said.

Everyone dressed in festive costumes and danced gracefully, it said. There are well-choreographed folk dances and modern dances, as well as poetry readings and calligraphy displays. Everyone actively participated in the national unity knowledge quiz, and the activity scene was filled with the passion of unity and progress.

Another report on the Tengritagh website cited instances of Uyghurs expressing gratitude to the Chinese Communist Party on the holiday.

A huiju team from the State Grid Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture Power Supply Company in Shalatala village in Artush (Atushi) visited the homes of the poor and went deep into the fields and helped the villagers to do farm work, the article said.

An elderly villager named Ani Abriz expressed gratitude for the help the team offered and was quoted as saying, Thanks to the party and the government for their care and concern for us. The first secretary also paid for the exterior wall of our house. Our whole family was very moved.

Chinas attempts to deceive the international community by portraying happy Uyghurs as part of its propaganda are becoming evermore naked, said Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, a political analyst based in the U.S. and vice chairman of the executive committee of the World Uyghur Congress.

Its clear from its latest propaganda blitz featuring Uyghurs happily celebrating the Qurban Eid under the watch of fang huiju officials, he said, referring to the cadres dispatched by the regional government to monitor Uyghurs in their homes and report their activities to authorities.

Their job is to surveil, manipulate and even threaten the Uyghurs by forcing them to smile, look happy and perform for the state media to deceive the world, Kokbore told RFA. In fact, this is an intensive form of state repression that were witnessing. This inhuman treatment of Uyghurs is more than shocking, but pure evil.

Rushan Abbas, executive director of the U.S.-based Campaign for Uyghurs said that Chinas manipulation and orchestration of Uyghur happiness during the Eid would not fool anyone.

The international community is fully aware that China has been committing an ongoing genocide against the Uyghur people and rooting out Uyghur peoples belief in Islam for the past six years, she told RFA.

No amount of Chinese propaganda and manufactured happiness of Uyghurs will change the fact that China is actively destroying the very foundation of Uyghur peoples religious beliefs and practices, she said.

Earlier this year on Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, China portrayed Uyghurs in Xinjiang as enjoying religious freedom with public celebrations, contradicting documented reports by rights groups of state-backed human rights violations inside the region.

Residents of Kashgar (Kashi) said authorities allegedly paid Muslim Uyghur men to dance outside the most famous mosque in Xinjiang to celebrate the May 1-2 holiday in a performance that was recorded and released by state media ahead of an anticipated visit by the United Nations human rights chief later that month.

Since 2017, Chinese authorities have ramped up their repression of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities throughout Xinjiang, detaining up to 1.8 million members of these groups in internment camps. The maltreatment also includes severe human rights abuses, torture and forced labor as well as the eradication of linguistic, cultural and religious traditions.

Credible reports by rights groups and Western media documenting the widespread abuse and repression in the Xinjiang have prompted the U.S. and some parliaments in Western countries to declare that the Chinese governments action amount to a genocide and crimes against humanity.

Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Regional commanders are accused of smuggling, accepting bribes and helping people flee the country.

A member of the Vietnamese Coast Guard observing a ship in the South China Sea on May 15, 2014

The wife of a former Coast Guard regional commander has been prosecuted for accepting bribes for her husbands role in smuggling oil from Singapore to Vietnam.

The indictment from the Central Military Procuracy accused Phan Thi Xuan, wife of former commander of the 3rd Coast Guard Region Maj. Le Xuan Thanh, of receiving the equivalent of U.S.$80,000 from gasoline smuggler Phan Thanh Huu in 11 installments, state media said on Monday.

On Tuesday the military court of Military Zone 7 was set to open a first-instance court hearing, to hear charges of smuggling, accepting bribes, and helping those involved flee abroad.

The defendants include Le Van Minh, former commander of the Vietnam Coast Guards Fourth Region and former Third Region commander Le Xuan Thanh

Others facing prosecution include Maj. Luu Duc The, former deputy head of Reconnaissance 2 at Coast Guard Command; Col. Nguyen The Anh, former commander of the Border Guard of Kien Giang Province; and Col. Pham Van Tren, former commander of the Border Guard of Tra Vinh province. All have been charged with accepting bribes.

Col. Nguyen The Anh and one other person have also been charged with helping people flee Vietnam.

Col. Phung Danh Thoai, former Head of the Petroleum Departments Logistics Department at the Coast Guard Command was charged with smuggling.

The charges date from between March 2020 and Feb. 2021 when the director of Phan Le Hoang Anh Trading, Phan Thanh Huu, and his accomplices smuggled about 200 million liters of gasoline, worth about U.S.$130 million, into Vietnam.

Col. Phung Danh Thoai is said to have helped finance the operation and share in its profits to the tune of U.S.$941,000.

Former commander Le Van Minh was accused of abusing his position and power to receive U.S.$295,000 paid by Phan Thanh Huu to his wife and children.

Investigations into all the defendants recovered more than $1.5 million. The former commanders of Coast Guard Region 3 and Coast Guard Region 4 returned all the money they are accused of receiving.

The Procuracy of Dong Nai province also recently cracked down on oil smugglers, issuing an indictment against Phan Thanh Huu and 72 accomplices. It prosecuted Cpt. Ngo Van Thuy of the Team 3 Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department of the General Department of Customs for taking bribes.

The case dates back to Sept. 2019 when Phan Thanh Huu and Ocean Hai Phong Director Dao Ngoc Vien conspired to smuggle petroleum from Singapore to Vietnam. Col. Phung Dah Thoai and his accomplices are said to have contributed $2.3 million to finance the operation.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine is now capable of inflicting "significant losses" on the Russian invaders thanks to an influx of modern Western weapons that is slowly shifting the battlefield balance, as officials reported missile strikes on the port city of Odesa wounded a number of civilians.

Zelenskiy announced in his nightly video message late on July 18 that 1,028 settlements in Ukraine had been liberated from Russian forces, and another 2,621 were still under Russian control.

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, Western military aid, worldwide reaction, and the plight of civilians and refugees. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces "have been able to inflict significant logistical losses on the occupiers," making it increasingly difficult for the Russian Army to hold positions on captured territory.



"Step by step, we advance, disrupt supplies for the occupiers, identify and neutralize collaborators. The prospect is obvious: the Ukrainian flag will be in all our towns and villages. The only question is time," he said.



Valeriy Zaluzhniy, the Ukrainian military's top commander, said the "timely arrival" of longer-range artillery such as the U.S.-made HIMARS system was helping to change the situation on the battlefield.



"We managed to stabilize the situation. It is complex, intense, but completely controlled," Zaluzhniy said.

"An important factor contributing to our retention of defensive lines and positions is the timely arrival of M142 HIMARS, which deliver surgical strikes on enemy control posts, ammunition and fuel-storage depots," CNN quoted Zaluzhniy as saying.



Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on TV that "today, we really have a completely different situation than it was a month ago. Now, thanks to the fact that we receive enough weapons from our partners, we have established a certain parity in certain positions."



Serhiy Hayday, the head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said on July 19 that "Western weapons work not at 100 percent but at 200 percent because [Russian] warehouses are blown up. Command posts are also blown up."



Russian missiles, meanwhile, struck the port city of Odesa in southern Ukraine, wounding at least six people, including a child, Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman of the Odesa military administration, said in a Telegram post on July 19.



Bratchuk said Odesa was targeted by seven Kalibr cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea, and six of them evaded Ukrainian air defenses and hit areas with a "civilian population."



Earlier, Russian shelling of the eastern Ukrainian city of Toretsk on July 18 killed six people, according to emergency services in the town. Toretsk, a town with an estimated population of 30,000 people, is located some 50 kilometers south of Kramatorsk, one of the last Ukrainian-controlled towns in the industrial east.



Ukrainian and U.S. defense officials discussed the situation on the ground on July 18 ahead of a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group scheduled to take place later this week.



Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Twitter that he had a telephone call with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the framework of the upcoming meeting.



"We agreed on the agenda, shared information on the control of arms arriving to Ukraine etc. Also, @SecDef (Austin) has some very good news, but details will come a little later," Reznikov said.



The next meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group will take place on July 20. At the group's last meeting in May, a total of 47 countries took part and 20 of them announced security assistance packages for Ukraine.



The British Ministry of Defense said on July 19 in its daily intelligence bulletin that Russia's "stated" immediate goal is to fully capture the eastern region of Donetsk.



The Ukrainian military also said that Moscow was preparing for the next stage of its offensive with the goal of fully capturing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.



However, British intelligence said that while Russians may still occupy more territory, "their operational tempo and rate of advance is likely to be very slow without a significant operational pause for reorganization and refit."



Kyiv has said in recent days that its forces are themselves preparing for a massive counteroffensive to reclaim land previously lost, especially in the south.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and TASS
Iranian authorities have renewed their crackdown on dissent amid rising antiestablishment sentiment and near daily protests across the Islamic republic.

Prominent government critics have been arrested in recent days, including reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh and acclaimed filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasulof. Other activists have been summoned for questioning by the authorities in recent days.

Analysts say the wave of recent arrests by authorities is a response to rising public discontent over the poor state of the economy, which has been devastated by crippling U.S. sanctions and years of mismanagement. Protests over economic grievances in recent months have often turned political, with protesters directing their fury at the clerical establishment.

The protests come amid a protracted deadlock in attempts by Iran and the United States to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, which curbed Tehran's sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the deal and reimposed sanctions.

'Under Pressure From All Sides'

Authorities have resorted to intimidation, arrests, and force to quell the protests in some cases. Prominent Iranian dissidents have expressed their support for the demonstrators and called on law enforcement to lay down their weapons.

Paris-based analyst Reza Alijani said the authorities are trying to sow fear.

"In order to prevent a flare-up of protests and keep things under control, the Islamic republic is targeting those who have civil courage and impact," he told RFE/RL.

"The Islamic republic knows that the economic situation will get worse," he added. "There's also no hope for an opening in the nuclear negotiations. Therefore, [authorities] further securitize the atmosphere, as they know that they are likely to face more protests."

Tehran-based journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi suggested the recent arrests of high-profile dissidents was an act of desperation.



"Iranian officials find themselves under pressure from all sides," Zeidabadi said on Twitter on July 9. "I think this has made them angry and they have made decisions out of anger."

Wave Of Arrests

Tajzadeh was arrested on July 8 on charges of "conspiracy to act against the country's security" and "publishing lies to disturb public opinion."

A vocal critic of the clerical establishment, Tajzadeh had served as deputy interior minister under reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who was in power from 1997 to 2005.

Tajzadeh had blasted the authorities on Twitter and Clubhouse, where he attracted thousands of listeners. An audio-based social media application, Clubhouse has become a major platform for dialogue among Iranians, who join virtual chat rooms to hear from analysts, journalists, and dissidents.

In a recent post on Twitter, Tajzadeh said that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should be held responsible if talks aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement fail. Observers have said that a restored deal could offer Tehran significant economic relief.

Panahi was arrested on July 11 outside a Tehran court where he was following up on the cases of Rasulof and Mostafa al-Ahmad, another activist filmmaker. Rasulof and Ahmad were arrested on July 8 and charged with "association with counterrevolution" and "inflaming and disrupting the psychological security of society."

Open Letter

Panahi was among more than 300 filmmakers and cultural activists who issued a statement on July 9 condemning the arrests of Rasulof and Ahmad.

The three were among scores of Iranian filmmakers who penned an open letter in May that called on security forces to "lay down their arms" in the face of outrage over the "corruption, theft, inefficiency, and repression" following the violent crackdown of those protesting a building collapse in the southwestern city of Abadan that killed 41 people that month.

After the letter was released, many of the signatories were threatened by authorities. Some rescinded their signatures.

Also on July 11, authorities arrested the family members of several protesters who were killed during a deadly state crackdown in November 2019, when tens of thousands of people rallied across the country to protest a sudden rise in the price of gasoline.

Nahid Shirpisheh, who has campaigned for justice over the killing of her 27-year-old son, Puya Bakhtiari, was among those taken into custody.

Several activists have also been summoned by authorities for questioning in recent weeks, including 83-year-old Kurosh Zaim, a pro-democracy activist and a leading member of the banned National Front of Iran political party.

"The authorities are on the attack because they're afraid," Zaim, who has been jailed in the past for his activism, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda by telephone from Tehran. "Fear is what is driving them."
Iranian women's rights activists posted videos of themselves publicly removing their veils on July 12 to coincide with National Day of Hijab and Chastity.

The videos appeared on social media networks as women -- and in some cases men -- expressed their opposition to Irans law mandating that women wear a hijab in public.

Some videos showed women leaving scarves and shawls in the street and throwing them away. Some women appeared on public transport and in stores without a hijab, and some women wrote about their personal experiences or shared their observations on the hijab.

July 12 is Hijab and Chastity Day on the calendar of the Islamic republic, and government institutions and agencies are supposed to promote this for a week.



Iranian state television on July 12 aired a video of a Hijab and Chastity ceremony showing 13 women wearing green hijabs and long white robes as they danced to a narration that quoted verses from the Koran and stressed the importance of women being covered. The video was met with ridicule on social media.



Previously, several women's rights activists and civil activists had asked male and female Iranian citizens to show their opposition to the mandatory hijab in the country on the National Day of Hijab and Chastity. Following this call, videos and images started appearing on social media networks on the morning of July 12.

The New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) said on July 11 there were "serious concerns over more potential violence and detentions on July 12."



The semiofficial Fars news agency said several people were arrested on July 11.



The hijab became compulsory in public for Iranian women and girls over the age of 9 after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.



Many Iranian women have flouted the rule over the years and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable clothing.

With writing and reporting by Ardeshir Tayebi
BISHKEK -- A well-known Kyrgyz jazz musician who was arrested in Kazakhstan during deadly anti-government protests in January says investigators in his country concluded that he was severely beaten by Kazakh law enforcement.

Vikram Ruzakhunov wrote on Facebook on July 11 that police in Bishkek's Lenin district had completed his case and concluded that Kazakh authorities had inflicted severe injuries.

"The complied materials will be sent via the Prosecutor-General's Office of the Kyrgyz Republic to the relevant authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice," Ruzakhunov wrote.

Ruzakhunov said earlier that he had suffered a chest injury, broken ribs, a concussion, and multiple bruises while in Kazakh custody.

Anti-government protests sparked by a fuel price hike erupted in Kazakhstan in early January. Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has publicly blamed what he said were extremists trained abroad for attacking Kazakhstans largest city, Almaty, during the unrest. He has not produced any evidence to back up the claim.

Ruzakhunov's situation was amplified when a Kazakh television channel showed a video in which he said he was recruited by an unspecified group to take part in the unrest for $200. In the video, severe bruises can be seen on Ruzakhunov's face.

The video sparked protests in Kyrgyzstan, where Ruzakhunov was immediately recognized by his fans. The Kyrgyz government demanded Kazakhstan release him, and he was freed. He arrived in Bishkek on January 10.

Kazakhstan's deputy prosecutor general, Aset Shyndaliev, said in June that six people were tortured to death after being arrested for taking part in the protests, and 232 people died during the protests, which were violently dispersed by law enforcement and the armed forces.

Shyndaliev said at the time that eight officers of the Committee of National Security (KNB) and a police officer had been arrested on charge of torturing suspects. Overall, he said, 15 officers are suspected of using torture and illegal methods of interrogation.

The Prosecutor-General's Office said earlier that 25 people were officially considered victims of torture by hot irons used by investigators during interrogations.

Human rights groups insist that the number of killed during the unrest may be much bigger, presenting proof that many peaceful demonstrators and persons who had nothing to do with the protesters were killed by police and military personnel following an order from Toqaev to "shoot to kill without warning."
A human rights group that monitors the treatment of inmates at Russian penitentiaries says hundreds of men at a prison in the North Caucasus region of Adygea have agreed to be sent to fight in Russias war against Ukraine as a result of aggressive recruiting.

The founder of the organization Gulagu.net, Vladimir Osechkin, told RFE/RL on July 11 that two sources told him that some 300 inmates at Correctional Colony No. 1 in the town of Tlyustenkhabl had been recruited by the private military company Vagner, which has ties to the Kremlin and is involved in the war in Ukraine.

A day earlier, Gulagu.net issued a video it said was taken in the penitentiary in Adygea, where former law enforcement officers are incarcerated, in which an apparent inmate talks about his friends being recruited to go "either to rob or to fight."

Osechkin, who left Russia several years ago and is based in France, said that there had been "a flow" of complaints in the last two weeks from relatives of inmates and recently released former inmates at penitentiaries in some 20 regions of Russia who reported recruitment campaigns behind bars.

"About two and a half months ago, we began receiving information indicating that the FSB (Federal Security Service) started visiting penitentiaries for former law enforcement officers, to recruit inmates. They were interested in inmates who had experience taking part in military operations, promising early release in exchange of readiness to go to the war, Osechkin said. Almost nobody among those who really have had such an experience wished to go to [fight in] the war."

Osechkin's group has said that such recruitment campaigns have been reported at prisons for former law enforcement officers in the town of Shakhty, in the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine; in the southern city of Krasnodar; and in St. Petersburg.

Facing heavy casualties in a war whose end may be months or years away, Russian President Vladimir Putins government and the military have taken numerous steps to bolster recruitment without, at least for now, ordering a general mobilization that could be politically risky.

Ukrainian authorities have claimed that Russia has lost more than 37,400 soldiers and officers since it launched the large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, while Western intelligence agencies have said the number probably exceeds 20,000. The Russian Defense Ministry last released casualty figures in late March, saying that 1,351 of its personnel had died.

Another human rights group, Free Buryatia, said earlier that some 150 soldiers in Russia's Republic of Buryatia quit the armed forces after they took part in the war in Ukraine, despite pressure imposed on them.
Calling Moscow's February 24 invasion of Ukraine a war is a criminal offense in Russia. Yet Russian anti-war protester Vitaly Tsitsurov has for months been picketing Russia's war in Ukraine with a sign that reads "No *ar!" While some Russians support Vitaly's anti-war protest, he's been detained and brutally beaten on the streets of Smolensk for his actions.
"My brother was sent for 333 exercises," said a woman from the south Siberian region of Buryatia about her relative serving in the Russian military in Ukraine. "He didn't sign up for a war in another country. It was basically a deception. Only on the eve of the invasion were they informed they would cross the border."

The woman, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions for her anti-war activities, is one of a growing number of mothers, sisters, and partners of Russian soldiers from poor regions like Buryatia and Tyva who are coming together to press officials to let their loved ones return home.

When my son filed his appeal saying he didn't want to fight anymore, they began to threaten him. They told him he'd face a tribunal and get sent to prison for eight years."

"He called me from Belarus [on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February]," the woman continued. "He complained that their 'arms were being twisted,' but I could tell he was scared to refuse. Apparently, he was threatened not just with a tribunal but with physical harm."

Using closed discussion groups on the secure Vyber direct-messaging app, the women are sharing information and legal advice on how their relatives serving in Ukraine can legally avoid further combat.

Ailana, a soldier's mother from the south Siberian region of Tyva (sometimes written Tuva) whose name has been changed for this report, says her son had a similar experience. His unit was moved to Belarus for exercises in January and sent into Ukraine on February 24 with orders to capture Kyiv in two days.

He was only able to speak with his mother again in mid-March, when his unit was pulled out of Ukraine to regroup. During that conversation, her son told her how his unit had been deceived and how many of the soldiers were seeking ways to avoid being sent back. Ailana consulted with lawyers, but, in the meantime, her son was sent back for another tour in Ukraine.

For weeks, Ailana heard nothing from her son -- a period she described as one of the worst of her life. In June, however, she found a lawyer who explained to her how a contract soldier could officially refuse combat duty.

"When my son filed his appeal saying he didn't want to fight anymore, they began to threaten him," Ailana recalled. "They told him he'd face a tribunal and get sent to prison for eight years. He called me and said, 'Mama, what should I do?' But I had spoken with lawyers and I told him that it was just a bluff."

Later, she said, her son and 13 other soldiers who had taken the same step were shamed in front of their unit and labeled "traitors." However, in part because of Ailana's advice, all 14 withstood the humiliation and threats and were released. They have since returned to Trkto Tyva.

He arrived without any ammunition for his rifle. My son looked at him in shock and said, 'Where do you think you are? This is a war."

The rights group Free Buryatia reported on July 11 that about 150 soldiers from that region had successfully refused further deployment to Ukraine and had returned home on July 9. Before being sent back, the soldiers were reportedly held at a closed military base and threatened with criminal prosecution. The head of Free Buryatia, Aleksandra Garmazhapova, congratulated the soldiers in a post on Facebook, telling them they had "saved their own lives and the lives of others."

At the end of June, more than a dozen wives and mothers of Buryat soldiers issued a video appeal to Buryatia Governor Aleksei Tsydenov, urging him to bring home their loved ones from Ukraine.

"They have been participating in the 'special operation' since February 24," the women said in the video. "They are exhausted morally and physically."

An activist from Tyva, who asked to be identified as Vasily, says he is aware of at least 20 more soldiers from the region who have refused further combat but have not been allowed to return home. He and his wife are actively involved in Vyber and Instagram groups dedicated to helping soldiers escape their military contracts.

"Lately, women in these groups have been discussing how their men can refuse to participate in the 'special operation,'" Vasily told RFE/RL, using the term for the Ukraine war that the Kremlin insists upon. "Apparently, they are becoming aware of the enormous losses in the war. Earlierthey just exchanged information when one would get a phone call."

Women from Tyva have also begun gathering money to buy food and other supplies for their troops after receiving information about chronic shortages, Vasily said. He added that he had heard of cases of local residents collecting money to send radio transmitters and drones to their loved ones in Ukraine.

"We are in contact with the 55th Motorized Infantry Brigade," Vasily said. "There, 29 men have submitted refusals to be sent again to Ukraine. They have not yet been released from the army, but have been sent to work in a funeral detachment. But most of them have returned to Tyva. They told us that out of about 100 men who were sent back to the front last week, 10 have been killed and 20 injured."

Since the early days of Russia's invasion, analysts and activists have noted that impoverished, non-ethnic Russian regions like Tyva and Buryatia, including North Caucasus regions like North Ossetia and Daghestan, have suffered disproportionate per capita casualties in the war. Although the Russian authorities have not released comprehensive casualty figures, RFE/RL has recorded 159 military deaths from Buryatia. More than 100 have been officially acknowledged in Tyva.

According to an analysis by U.S. political scientist Adam Lenton in April, North Ossetia, Buryatia, Tyva, Daghestan, Ingushetia, and Chukotka are among the top nine Russian regions in terms of military deaths per 100,000 population.

Young men from such regions often see military contract service as their only escape from poverty. Average income in Tyva is 10,000-15,000 rubles ($170-260) a month.

The exact number of Russian troops killed in Ukraine in more than four months of the war remains unknown.

Ukrainian authorities claim that more than 35,000 Russian troops have been killed, while the Russian Defense Ministry last commented on the subject in March, saying that 1,351 of its personnel had died.

Ailana said that when her son was sent home, another soldier, also from Tyva, took his place.

"He arrived without any ammunition for his rifle," she told RFE/RL. "My son looked at him in shock and said, 'Where do you think you are? This is a war.' And the new guy just blinked and stared."

Ailana said her son gave the new soldier his helmet, his bulletproof vest, and all his remaining ammunition.
Russian authorities have launched a criminal case against Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian Army, his lawyer said on July 12.

Vadim Prokhorov said on Facebook that he had received a call from an investigator and said that Yashin's home was being searched.

The case was initiated by the Russian Investigative Committee, according to Prokhorov.

Yashin was charged under a new law making it a crime to spread false information about the military, Prokhorov said. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Another lawyer, Mikhail Biryukov, is quoted by the watchdog organization OVD-Info as saying the case was launched over Yashin's broadcast on YouTube on April 7 in which he spoke about the killing of civilians in Bucha near Kyiv. Yashin blamed Russian soldiers for carrying out the killings and quoted from a BBC video filmed in Bucha.

Yashin is currently serving a 15-day jail sentence he received in June for disobedience to police, a charge that he and his supporters denied. He was set to be released on July 13.

Yashin, 39, is an outspoken Kremlin critic and one of the few prominent opposition politicians still in Russia after a wave of repression against supporters of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and people who have spoken against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He has been fined four times in recent weeks on charges of discrediting the Russian military over his open opposition to the war in Ukraine.

He said last month after his arrest on the disobedience charge that he did not exclude that a criminal case may be launched against him after he serves his jail term.

Yashin also said that the authorities are trying to force him to leave Russia, which he refuses to do.

Navalny, who has been imprisoned since January last year, wrote last week on Telegram that he fears for the fate of Yashin.

Now he is in a cell under arrest for 15 days. But this arrest looks like a classic situation when they imprison for a short time, so that during this time they can make documents and imprison for a long time, Navalny said.

With reporting by AFP
A watchtower being built on the Afghan-Tajik border that is manned by members of the "Tajik Taliban" has caught the attention of Tajik officials.

The Taliban and Tajik militants who have joined forces with the Taliban are building a new observation post directly across the river from Tajikistan's Darvaz district.

The inscription "M. Arsalon," written in graffiti at the foot of a mountain right next to the watchtower, is viewed by Tajik authorities as a "deliberate provocation."

M. Arsalon is Mahdi Arsalon, the nickname of Muhammad Sharipov, a 27-year-old Tajik citizen from the Nurabad district who the Taliban put in charge of managing the border along the Darvaz district.

Arsalon has been wanted by the Tajik authorities for eight years on terrorism charges. Officials say Arsalon and more than 200 Tajik citizens are in the ranks of the Taliban, forming a group known as the "Tajik Taliban."

A border-guard official in Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, which borders Afghanistan, told RFE/RL on July 4 that the graffiti was a symbolic threat of unrest that the Taliban militants sent to Tajikistan.

"Mahdi Arsalon's name has been demonstratively written in a large font that can be easily read on the soil of Tajikistan, and with this they want to annoy and provoke us," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official added that the Tajik fighters, citizens of Tajikistan and many of them wanted by police, walk demonstratively along the banks of the Panj River that separates the two countries.

"They come with their cars almost every day to this new observation tower and yell loudly and ostentatiously with a loudspeaker in a Tajik dialect, insulting Tajik authorities," he said.

The official said Arsalon had been responsible for the Taliban-run border guard in five districts of Afghanistan's Darwaz Province, but that he and a group of his fighters had since been transferred to Khwahan district, in the northeastern Badakhshan Province.

Khawan is located just across from Tajikistan's Shamsiddin Shahin district, which is considered the most troublesome area along the Afghan-Tajik border.

Tajik authorities say the Taliban's granting of official duties to the Tajik fighters as they are doing along the border increases distrust in the militant organization and gives the sense of a threat from Afghanistan.

The Taliban does not confirm or deny the presence of Tajik fighters in Afghanistan but emphasize that no groups will use Afghanistan territory to threaten Tajikistan.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an interview with RFERL's Tajik Service on July 4 that Tajikistan should not worry about the graffiti on the mountain or the presence of any groups there and to send its security concerns to Kabul.

"We will not allow Afghanistan to [be used by groups to] threaten neighboring countries," Mujahid said. "If the Tajik side has any issues or concerns, if they talk to us officially, God willing, they will be satisfied and we will remove the threats.

"Secondly, in any border post where the name [of Arsalon] is written...there is someone who is abusing his power or causing problems. From that point of view, we want the government of Tajikistan to enter into official dialogue with our government, to enter into contact, so that there is trust between the two sides."

But Tajikistan does not recognize the Taliban government and, like other Central Asian countries, has not announced it will cooperate with the militant group since it came to power in August 2021 after ousting the pro-Western government.

Tajik officials have also angered the Taliban by not returning Afghan military jets that flew to Tajikistan last year to avoid capture by the Taliban.

Tajikistan is also host to several Afghan opposition leaders who oppose Taliban rule, including National Resistance Front of Afghanistan leader Ahmad Masud.
Ukrainian officials say there was sustained Russian shelling across the eastern Donetsk region on July 13 as Russian forces continue their push to capture of the Donbas.



In the adjacent Luhansk region, Ukrainian soldiers battled to retain control of two villages as they came under Russian shelling, said Serhiy Hayday, the governor of Luhansk.



The Russians are "deliberately turning Donbas into ashes, and there will be just no people left on the territories captured," Hayday said.

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, Western military aid, worldwide reaction, and the plight of civilians and refugees. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Russian state news agency TASS quoted an official with the Russian-backed separatists, Vitaly Kiselyov, as saying Russian and proxy forces had entered the town of Soledar in Donetsk and could take it in a couple of days.



It was not possible to independently verify the claims of either side.



The city of Bakhmut faced heavy shelling as the current focus of Russia's offensive, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration.



Kyrylenko said Russian shelling also hit a granite factory in Slovyansk. There were no injuries, but the destruction was extensive, he said on Telegram, where he posted videos of the bombed factory.

Russia also struck 28 settlements in the Mykolayiv region bordering the Black Sea, killing at least five civilians, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office.



Russian missiles also struck the city of Zaporizhzhya, injuring 14 people at a factory. Law enforcement officers opened an investigation to determine whether the attack violated the laws of war.

In Kharkiv, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov accused Russian forces of trying to "terrorize civilians" in the capital, Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city.



Russia, which says it does not target civilians, said it had shot down four Ukrainian military jets, an assertion the Ukrainian Air Force dismissed as propaganda.



The British Defense Ministry in its daily intelligence briefing early on July 13 said the Kremlin's troops were nearing the towns of Siverskiy and Dolyna, with the urban areas of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk "the principal objectives for this phase of operation."



British intelligence also said anti-Russian sentiment in the occupied parts of Ukraine had led to Russian and pro-Russian officials being targeted, noting that the Russian-appointed administration in Velykiy Burluk acknowledged one of its mayors was killed on July 11 in a car bombing.

The State Emergency Service of Donetsk region said the number of people confirmed killed in a rocket attack over the weekend on an apartment block in the city of Chasiv Yar in the region increased to 48.



Crews have been searching through the rubble since the rocket struck on July 9 and caused the five-story apartment block to collapse. Moscow claims it does not target civilians despite evidence to the contrary.



As battles raged in the east and south, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ruled out ceding any territory to Russia should peace talks ever resume and he made clear that no such negotiations were taking place.



"The objective of Ukraine in this war...is to liberate our territories, to restore our territorial integrity and full sovereignty in the east and south of Ukraine," Kuleba told a briefing on July 13.



"This is the end point of our negotiating position."



Russia has taken control of wide swathes of Ukrainian territory in the south along the Black Sea coast and in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions that make up the Donbas.



Russia in 2014 also captured and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and has backed separatists occupying parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions since that time.

In Luhansk, Andrei Marochko, an official for the Kremlin-backed separatist group that calls itself the Luhansk People's Republic, said the Ukrainian military had used U.S.-supplied high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) to hit several settlements in the region.

This comes a day after Ukrainian forces hit what they said was an ammunition depot in the southern town of Nova Kakhovka, about 55 kilometers east of the key Black Sea port city of Kherson. Russian officials said civilian sites were hit in the attack.

The claims could not be independently verified.

The Ukrainian government has not commented on whether the newly acquired HIMARS were used in any attack.

The strike on Nova Kakhovka followed statements by the Ukrainian military that it was preparing a massive counterattack in the south to recapture territory while Russian forces were occupied with action in eastern regions.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
Alexander Butterfield knows what the first line of his obituary will say. He was the guy who lit the fuse.

On July 16, 1973, with much of the nation watching on television, Butterfield testified before a Senate committee investigating Watergate and revealed the existence of a secret voice-taping system in the Nixon White House. The tapes provided evidence of the presidents role in the cover-up and led to his resignation.

 Microphones in the Oval Office during the Nixon Administration

Now 89, Butterfield lives in La Jolla, where more people seem to know him as the longtime companion of Audrey Geisel, Dr. Seuss widow, than as an important figure in one of the nations most famous political scandals.

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That may change with the publication of a new book, The Last of the Presidents Men, written by Bob Woodward, the legendary Washington Post journalist and best-selling author. The two will be at UC San Diego on Friday for a sold-out event.

The book uses Butterfields four years in the White House (deputy assistant to the president) as another window into the motivations and machinations of Richard M. Nixon  his keen mind and strategic discipline, but also his festering hatreds and social awkwardness. And ultimately, his abuse of power.

Its always good to know more about our presidents, Woodward said in a phone interview from his home in Maryland. This book is about Nixon, but I think its a reminder, a warning, that who we elect as president is really important, especially now, during what I would call the Age of the Presidency, when we have this incredible concentration of power in the Oval Office.

Butterfield has long thought he had something to say about Nixon  he worked on a memoir in the 1990s that was never published  so hes comfortable seeing his story told now, even as he quibbles with some of the books details. (Hes read it twice, filling the margins with critical comments.)

Hes less comfortable with what happened after the book was published in October. The FBI called, and agents came to his condominium to collect classified documents that Butterfield, a self-confessed pack rat, took with him when he left the White House. Butterfield had loaned them to Woodward, who used several in the book.

In a way, the activity swirling around Butterfield again is a reminder of the intrigue that surrounded his disclosure in 1973 of the taping system. That moment changed his life, and not for the better. He was forced out as head of the Federal Aviation Administration and couldnt find work for two years. He lost friends who considered him a traitor for undermining the commander in chief. Even today, he said, people dont understand why he did what he did.

 Alexander Butterfield describes inner conflict about revealing secret tapes

I wasnt going to tell anyone about the tapes, but if I was asked a direct question I wasnt going to lie, Butterfield said. I didnt want to be in that position. I was conflicted.

Its a word he uses often.

A rough start

Butterfield came to the White House as an outsider. In late 1968, he was a colonel in the Air Force, frustrated about being assigned to a desk job in Australia, when he noticed a newspaper article about a college acquaintance who was going to be the newly elected presidents top aide: H.R. Bob Haldeman.

Desperate for a career move that would get him back in the thick of things, back to what he called the smoke, he wrote Haldeman a letter and then flew to Washington for a meeting. Weeks later came the job offer of a lifetime, to be Haldemans deputy.

He got off to a rough start. Nixon mumbled at him the first time they met, clearly uncomfortable around someone he didnt know. The next day, when Butterfield brought in some correspondence to be signed, Nixon ignored him. A few days after that, the president belittled him in front of Defense Secretary Melvin Laird.

Butterfield was ready to quit. But things got better, and by the end of 1969 he had moved into the office right next to the presidents, their desks only 20 steps apart. He became a witness to, and extension of, Nixons strategies, likes, dislikes and whims, Woodward writes in the new book. Butterfield was the first to see him in the morning and the last to see him at night.

What Butterfield saw was a president who reacted to the My Lai massacre by going after the journalists who had reported the atrocities, not the soldiers who did the killing. A president who ordered all the photos of John F. Kennedy removed from the Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House. A president who referred to himself in the third person in memos to his wife.

But also a president who, upon learning that Butterfields daughter had had her front teeth knocked out in a car accident, invited the girl to the White House to boost her spirits. Tapping his own front teeth, he shared a secret: Theyre not mine.

Said Butterfield: I loved him for that.

Early in 1971, Nixon decided to install a taping system in the Oval Office. Butterfield was put in charge of the project. He called Secret Service technicians, who hid five voice-activated microphones in the surface of the presidents desk and others in lights by the mantel.

 The secret voice-taping system in the Nixon White House

When he briefed Nixon on the set-up, the president said he wanted the tapes available as a way to correct the record if need be and to provide detailed accounts of major administrative and policy decisions that were hashed out in the office.

But he didnt want anybody to know about the recordings. This has got to be a well-kept secret, he said, according to an account in the Woodward book. This cannot get out. Later, in his own memoirs, Nixon wrote that he believed existence of the tapes would never be revealed.

They might not have been, except for Watergate. Butterfield, who was never implicated in the scandal, had moved to the FAA after Nixon was re-elected, a move he requested as a way to better position himself for a future appointment, perhaps as head of one of the armed forces.

In the summer of 1973, Senate Watergate Committee investigators were tracking down possible witnesses. They contacted Butterfield for a preliminary interview. They showed him a document he had never seen before, one containing what seemed to be verbatim quotes from a meeting between Nixon and White House counsel John Dean in the Oval Office.

Butterfield was asked if the document could have come from someones notes.

No, Butterfield said, it seems too detailed.

Where else might this have come from? an investigator asked.

I dont know, Butterfield said. But he did know. It had to be from the tapes.

Before the meeting, he had told himself he would not volunteer information about the recordings. But he also wouldnt lie about them. So he felt cornered when one of the investigators zeroed in on the possible existence of a taping system in the presidents office.

Im sorry you asked me that question, Butterfield said.

Two days later he was called to testify in front of the Watergate committee, on national television. Then the whole world knew.

Exploring motives

When Woodward and Washington Post colleague Carl Bernstein were unearthing the Watergate story  reporting that won the Pulitzer Prize  they tried to interview Butterfield. Woodward went to his house in Virginia in early 1973, knocked on the door and got no answer.

Regrettably, I didnt go back, Woodward said.

In July 2011, he decided to correct the oversight. Butterfield was in Washington, D.C., for a meeting, and Woodward picked him up at his hotel. They went to Woodwards home in Edgewater, Md., and talked for five hours.

There were other long conversations, and then in July 2014 Woodward came to La Jolla. Butterfield showed him the files he had, boxes and boxes of documents from the White House. A book was born.

Butterfield said he had no idea it was going to be about him  and Woodward didnt either. I wasnt sure what it was until I started writing it, he said. Then I realized it could be a short book (182 pages) that would really explain his role and what he saw and provide a new dimension to our understanding of Nixon.

The book has some interesting discussions about what motivated Butterfield to disclose that the tapes existed. Woodward thinks it was a combination of factors: lingering resentment over how rude Nixon was in the beginning, guilt over being dragged into what Butterfield called a cesspool of corruption in the White House, the thrill of knowing a devastating secret and then sharing it.

Hes a complex figure, Woodward said.

Butterfield disputes the whole notion of motive. He didnt have one, he said, beyond maybe subconsciously wanting the truth to come out.

 The fallout from revealing secret tapes

When it did, it cost him his FAA job and any hopes of a future in the government or military. Because of the tapes disclosure, Woodward writes, Butterfield was radioactive. He finally found work with a flight-service company in San Francisco, then moved to Los Angeles to run a financial holding corporation, and then started his own business-productivity consulting firm, Armistead & Alexander, named after two ancestors who were military heroes.

He moved in 1992 to San Diego, an area he knew because he spent parts of his childhood in Coronado, the son of a Navy officer. Now retired, Butterfield stays busy on various corporate boards around town. He got a masters degree in history at UC San Diego and is working on a doctorate, also in history. His dissertation is on the presidents pardoning powers and how theyve been used.

Nixon, of course, was pardoned, so its probably no coincidence that Butterfield is interested in the subject. Even though he never spoke to Nixon again after he dropped the bombshell about the tapes, he and the late president will always be in some way intertwined.

At his home, Butterfield has several books by and about Nixon. On one hallway wall, there are dozens of black and white photos from the White House days. Nixon is in many of them. Theres also a photo from a book of Butterfield after his Watergate testimony, with a caption that identifies him as a Nixon loyalist and says, It must have wounded him deeply to have to be the one to reveal that information.

It sure did, Butterfield said.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-2236
An apparent explosion of the Super Heavy booster while testing at the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas, may constitute a significant setback for SpaceX, which is now building its Starship rocket for its first orbital launch.

There was an explosion that was both severe and unexpected around 5:20 p.m. ET, Gizmodo reported. There has been no information yet on what caused the abnormality or whether anyone was wounded. After the explosion, there was a substantial amount of fire in the area of the massive booster rocket. An hour later, flames and smoke could still be seen rising from the launch pad, but the situation at the test site didn't seem to be getting worse.

Elon Musk Responds After SpaceX Booster 7 Exploded During Ground Test

Booster 7 rocket testing resulted in an explosion when the spaceship showed firing its Raptor engines, as shown in a video captured from NASA Spaceflight's live stream. The SpaceX Starship operations center and current Texas headquarters, Starbase, Boca Chica, is where the rocket tests were conducted.

The Super Heavy Booster concentrates on the first stage launch of the Starship missions and would assist in launching the spacecraft into orbit before it separated and came back to Earth. However, it appears that the accident will force SpaceX to return to its testing facilities before it becomes operational.

It was one of SpaceX's initial tests following approval to move forward with the spacecraft and mission's next steps following a thorough environmental review by the FAA.

SpaceX did not anticipate the rocket explosion as they were testing its capability and various stages to determine whether it would be ready for use right now. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded to a tweet asking the tech billionaire if his event was scheduled by saying that the Booster engine testing is a step toward the Starship mission.

It was unclear, though, whether Musk was referring specifically to the test or whether the magnitude and force of the explosion were anticipated.

"Yes. Booster engine testing," Musk wrote (per Space.com) in a since-deleted tweet as a response to a follower who had asked if the firing was intentional.

"Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage," Musk tweeted after the deleted response to a netizen asking about the incident.

Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2022

ALSO READ: SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Soars High With 46 Starlink Satellites in Just 63 Minutes!

Here's How The Recent Explosion Affected July Launch

According to Insider, SpaceX has stated that it intends to launch a Starship rocket into orbit on a Super Heavy booster as early as July. However, the business has not yet finished all the tasks required by a recent Federal Aviation Administration review.

The rocket booster will have to successfully complete several tests before it can fly safely, including the one on Monday.

At SpaceX's South Texas facilities, which are used for testing early rocket prototypes, the catastrophic explosion is far from the first. The company's first four Starship prototypes launched from its Texas facility blew up after reaching a height of a few miles. The prototype successfully flew, landed, and cooled down on the fifth try.

RELATED ARTICLE: SpaceX to Reuse Dragon Spacecraft Fleet After Rocket Booster from NASA Crew-1 'Leaned'

Check out more news and information on SpaceX in Science Times.
UPDATE: Here are the latest updates on COVID in the Bay Area and California.

COVID-19 vaccine uptake among babies and toddlers in the Bay Area appears to be far outpacing statewide and national rates of 2.4% and 1.5%, respectively, according to early figures provided by several local health departments. Coronavirus hospitalizations in California and the Bay Area have reached their highest point since February, when the region was still coming out of the winter omicron surge.

Here are the latest updates:

White House urges renewed caution as BA.4 and BA.5 gain ground

The Biden administration is calling on people to exercise renewed caution about COVID-19, emphasizing the importance of getting booster shots for those who are eligible and wearing masks indoors as two new highly transmissible variants are spreading rapidly across the country. The new variants, labeled BA.4 and BA.5, are offshoots of the omicron strain that has been responsible for nearly all of the virus spread in the U.S. and are even more contagious than their predecessors, the Associated Press reports. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the U.S. have doubled since April, though deaths have remained steady at around 300 per day. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, said, We should not let it disrupt our lives, but we cannot deny that it is a reality that we need to deal with.

California COVID hospitalizations projected to peak in late July

COVID hospitalizations statewide, which have been gradually increasing the last several weeks, appear poised to peak toward the end of July at roughly 4,000 to 4,500 people, California state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said Tuesday, citing state modeling projections. Those are considered manageable levels of COVID hospitalizations and are considerably lower than hospitalization levels during previous surges, Pan said during a virtual update on COVID and monkeypox. Im really glad a lot of our tools, especially vaccines, are working, she said. About half of hospitalizations may be incidental, meaning people were hospitalized with COVID, not for COVID  they went in for something else and tested positive while there. Such cases still require hospital infection control measures. Statewide, deaths continue to trend downward. We have seen very low levels of deaths so vaccination and immunity is holding up in California, Pan said.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in California up 63% in a month

There were 4,227 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in California as of Tuesday, according to state data, marking more than a 63% increase in the past month. Bay Area hospitals reported 796 patients, according to data from the California Department of Public Health, also a substantial uptick from June. About half the hospitalizations may be incidental, according to state officials, meaning patients were hospitalized for another reason but tested positive while there. Californias coronavirus test positive rate has increased to 16.1%, compared to 8.7% on June 10. The state is averaging 21 deaths per day due to COVID-19, having now surpassed 92,000 total pandemic deaths. COVID-19 cases remain stubbornly high, with California reporting 43 daily cases per 100,000 residents  a figure that has fluctuated little since early June. The highly transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of omicron make up about 4 out of 5 sequenced cases in the Northern California region, according to CDC data.

COVID-19 pandemic nowhere near over, says WHO head

Evolved versions of the coronavirus are driving another wave of COVID-19 infections globally and putting further pressure on stretched health systems and health workers, according to the head of the World Health Organization. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday that while the world is better prepared to handle new surges, people should not let their guard down. As the virus pushes at us, we must push back, he said. Hospitalizations are on the rise due to more transmissible subvariants of omicron, and deaths are also increasing in some regions as mitigation measures have largely been discarded, allowing for new, fitter variants emerging, with different degrees of virulence, transmissibility, and immune escape potential. Ghebreyesus concluded, New waves of the virus demonstrate again that the COVID-19 is nowhere near over.

Opinion: The BA.5 variant doesnt care about your big back-to-office plan

A monumental battle over remote work in San Francisco and elsewhere is heating up this summer as traditional business leaders pressure employees to come to the office much or all of the time, writes business consultant Gleb Tsipursky in an Open Forum essay. But while leaders from Elon Musk to London Breed are urging staff to return in person, they are failing to appreciate the threat posed by the new BA.5 subvariant of omicron, which the Biden administration predicts could lead to 100 million infections in the fall. Read Tsipurskys analysis of why a coercive approach to office work hurts employees and companies.

Waiting for variant-specific boosters is not a good plan, says CDC

With highly contagious omicron variants rising concerns for another virus surge, White House officials on Tuesday stressed the importance of getting booster doses, even if you were recently infected. All Americans ages 5 and over should get a booster five months after their initial primary series, according to the CDC, and those aged 50 and over  or who are immunocompromised  should get second booster four months after their first. Tens of millions of eligible Americans havent received their first booster, and of those over 50 who got their first booster, only 28% received their second. If youre over 50 and you havent gotten the shot this year, you should go get a shot, said White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. Its going to save your life. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the agency, added that those who are eligible for a booster but havent received one shouldnt wait for forthcoming vaccines targeted at the omicron strain. The U.S. has ordered 105 million of those updated shots that studies show should provide better protection against omicron variants, but they wont be available until the fall. There are many people who are at high risk right now. And waiting until October, November for their boost... is not a good plan, she said. We really do want to say now get your boost. We have every anticipation that the data will suggest that you will be eligible for a boost in the fall.

San Mateo County warns of increased COVID risk in region

Health officials in San Mateo Couny are asking residents to stay up to date on their vaccinations and wear masks in high-risk settings as COVID-19 cases continue to rise due to the prevalance of the BA.5 omicron sub-variant. As the variants outcompete their predecessors, we see that they are even more transmissible and able to evade the immune response of both vaccination and prior infection, prolonging this period of high community transmission, Louise Rogers, the countys health officer, said in a briefing on Tuesday. All Bay Area counties are currently classified as having high COVID-19 levels, based on metrics used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rogers said individuals should wear masks indoors, increase ventilation, and test frequently. As we have needed to accept the many aspects of COVID-19 risk mitigation that are part of our daily lives, we want to keep you and the public informed about the changing context that underlies our current situation so that everyone can protect themselves and the community as much as possible, Rogers said.

BA.5 makes up 65% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

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The BA.5 sub-lineage of the omicron variant was responsible for 65% of the sequenced cases in the United States last week, with BA.4 making up an additional 16.3% of cases as the more contagious variants rapidly crowd out previous strains of the virus. BA.2.12.1 made up 17.33% of the cases, according to data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Emerging research suggests reinfections could put people at higher risk for health problems. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the agency, noted at a briefing Tuesday that data shows that about a third of Americans are living in areas the agency classifies as experiencing a high level of COVID spread, where the agency recommends people wear masks in public indoor spaces. Another 41% live in the CDCs medium level, where it recommends that people consider their own individual risk and consider masking.

White House plans to offer second booster shots to all adults, report says

The Biden administration is working on a plan to roll out a second coronavirus vaccine booster shot to all U.S. adults as COVID-19 hospitalizations reach their highest level since March, according to a report by the Washington Post. With the highly transmissible, immune evasive BA.5 subvariant of omicron rapidly becoming the dominant virus strain nationally, public health officials are concerned reinfections will drive another surge of cases. Second boosters are currently available only to those over 50 and those 12 and older who are immunocompromised. White House coronavirus coordinator Ashish Jha and Anthony S. Fauci, the governments top infectious-disease expert, have already endorsed the plan to expand the availability of booster shots to those under 50, according to officials who spoke to the newspaper. But regulators and public health officials will have to sign off on the plan before it goes into effect.

BA.2.75 subvariant has been in the Bay Area since last month

Seven cases of the BA.2.75 subvariant of omicron were detected in the United States in June, according to data from GISAID, a global genomic sequencing database. COVID-19 cases tied to the subvariant have been identified in at least 12 countries, including India, where it is driving a new surge. Nationally, two cases were found in California and one each in Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington. The California cases were picked up in Bay Area wastewater samples from mid-June. The World Health Organization has categorized BA.2.75 as a variant of concern  lineage under monitoring, which means the agency is closely observing the omicron offshoot. There are still limited sequences to analyze but this subvariant seems to have a few mutations on the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein, so obviously thats a key part of the virus that attaches itself to the human receptor, said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, in an update. So we have to watch that.

Special day in NYC for couples whose nuptials were spoiled by COVID

Hundreds of couples whose had to scale back or cancel their wedding ceremonies because of the pandemic got a second chance Sunday at a New York City landmark. The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts hosted Celebrate Love: A (Re)Wedding for 500 couples in the centers outdoor pavilion, the Associated Press reported. According to the Lincoln Centers website, it was a special day for newlyweds, those whose weddings were canceled or diminished, and people who want to recommit their love to their partners and the city we love. The festivities included an informal multicultural ceremony, music, dancing and remarks from Mayor Eric Adams.

U.S. orders 3.2 million doses of Novavax vaccine

The Biden administration will buy 3.2 million doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine after federal regulators give it the green light, the Department of Health and Human Services and the drugmaker announced Monday. The shot will be the fourth brand of coronavirus vaccine offered for free in the U.S. after the Food and Drug Administration authorizes it for emergency use and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends it, Reuters reported. Novavaxs version, used in more than 40 countries, is a more traditional, protein-based vaccine than the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA shots most widely used in the U.S. Maryland-based Novavax is hoping to make inroads with the 27 million U.S. adults who have not yet received vaccines.

Some COVID survivors have disabling symptoms for months, federal officials say

Some people infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can experience long-term effects from their infection for weeks, months, or years, according to an update on post-COVID conditions published Monday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency said symptoms of long COVID are more common in people who have a severe illness because of the virus but can also occur in those with mild symptoms or none at all. According to the most recent data, about 13.3% of people who had COVID-19 reported long-haul symptoms after one month, with that proportion jumping to more than 30% for 6 months or longer among patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Ashish Jha, the White Houses COVID response coordinator, said in an interview with NPR that the Biden administration is working on a coordinated response to the growing health crisis. The estimates here are hard but in the single digits, 5, 10% of people who end up having significant symptoms, sometimes disabling symptoms, that last months. Of course, there are some people who have had it now for two years. That is a real problem.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has ordered a review of dozens of drug cases in which the office extended plea offers under her predecessor and may revoke some of those pending offers, she said in an interview Monday.

When I gave my acceptance speech... I indicated to the public that on day one, I will begin enforcing drug crime law, said Jenkins. That is something that I wasnt just saying because it sounded great in a speech, but because thats what I meant.

The move by Jenkins, a former assistant district attorney who was sworn in Friday after her appointment by Mayor London Breed, signals that she may quickly seek to boost jail sentences or other punishments after she campaigned in favor of the successful recall of Chesa Boudin, whom she called too lenient.

Revoking plea offers that have been extended but not accepted would likely draw criticism from supporters of Boudins progressive agenda and could affect some defendants immigration status.

Under Boudin, San Francisco convicted many alleged drug dealers of the felony crime of accessory after the fact, rather than possession with the intent to sell, in order to avoid potential immigration consequences. Under federal law, felony drug-dealing convictions can be deportable offenses.

Jenkins said Monday that prosecutors will continue to consider defendants immigration status when deciding how to resolve their cases, as is required by California law, noting that the issue is personal to her.

My father is not a citizen of the United States; hes from El Salvador, Jenkins said. She said her father now lives in Germany because of the civil war in his native country. So this is a very sensitive issue for me and something that will be considered. But we have to still have accountability in some form or fashion.

Jenkins said its possible prosecutors could take off the table a deal for a plea designed to protect a defendant from deportation. An accessory charge carries a sentence of up to three years imprisonment, while a charge of possession with intent to sell carries a sentence of up to four years.

However, she said, San Francisco remains a sanctuary city and is generally prohibited from using city resources or funds to assist federal immigration agents.

Theres a lot of chatter about making someone deportable, Jenkins said. But the reality of it is that (deportation) is  unlikely.

Jenkins issued the directive in a Friday meeting with about two dozen senior staff members, the first of what could be a series of reviews of policies and practices enacted under Boudin  a national figure in the progressive prosecutor movement until San Franciscans voted him out of office last month.

Jenkins quit Boudins office last year over frustrations with her former boss policies, and rocketed to prominence as a leading voice of the recall campaign. Jenkins said before Breed appointed her, many of Boudins policies needed to be rolled back, including limitations on the use of gang enhancements and charges under Californias three strikes law.

In her Monday interview, Jenkins said the review provides a way for her to get her arms around how the office handles drug cases, particularly those involving fentanyl dealing.

What Im interested in ... is whether or not what I saw from 2021 is whats still happening, Jenkins said, referring to her time as a prosecutor in the office. Which is, misdemeanors being offered, people being sent to diversion or dismissals. I want to get a lay of the land of what is currently going on in the cases where we have made offers.

Jenkins said there might be some revocations of plea offers.

I have to know what is there, she said. Im not trying to make any suppositions of what that is, other than I know what happened in 2021.

Jenkins said she does not plan to install a blanket policy on how to handle drug crimes, and believes in giving prosecutors some discretion to make decisions on a case-by-case basis.

But we have to restore accountability, she said. I need to see if the cases where we have been making offers actually promote accountability, or is it something else?

Jenkins said she did not know many cases would qualify for the review, but estimated 50 or 75.

Boudin declined to comment.

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Jenkins, who plans to run for district attorney in November to finish the remainder of Boudins term before another election in 2023, faces political landmines navigating the offices drug policies. More than 1,300 people died from drug overdoses in San Francisco in 2020 and 2021, and Mayor Breed has pushed for crackdowns on drug markets. But the citys progressive leaders say the answer is to fight the causes of addiction.

Complicating matters is the legal mandate that prosecutors throughout California consider a defendants immigration status before negotiating pleas.

The idea is that defendants shouldnt be doubly punished for one crime  a jail sentence plus a deportation to a country where, in some cases, they could be harmed or killed. Many defendants arrested for drug crimes in San Francisco are not American citizens  young Honduran men make up a large percentage of street dealers in the city, authorities say  and could face deportation if convicted of drug dealing.

Bill Hing, a professor of law at the University of San Francisco and director of the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic, said that while there is some subjectivity in the immigration status statute, the purpose of the law was to err against deportation.

As a district attorney, Hing said, you can achieve the interests of justice without having to incorporate a deportation penalty.

This could include a district attorney tacking on other felonies or misdemeanors, or allowing a defendant to plead to an offense that would increase a prison sentence but spare them from a deportable conviction.

Liz Camacho, a felony unit manager in the San Francisco Public Defenders Office, said defense attorneys fear Jenkins will attempt to thrust the office into a new war on drugs.

The message that we have at the San Francisco Public Defenders Office is that were ready to hold her accountable to make sure every San Franciscans rights are upheld, Camacho said. If she rescinds offers, what were going to do is were going to demand that we go to trial.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy

@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
A familiar suspect was arrested in connection with a 30-year-old murder case Saturday as he arrived at JFK Airport in New York, authorities said Monday.

John Kevin Woodward, 58, president and CEO of online training company Readytech, was arrested after arriving from the Netherlands, where hes lived since he was unsuccessfully tried twice in the strangulation murder of 25-year-old Laurie Houts, a computer engineer.

Houts body was found near a garbage dump, about a mile from her workplace in Mountain View, in 1992, with a rope around her neck and footprints on the interior of the windshield, the Santa Clara County District Attorneys office said  a sign of her struggle with Woodward.

Prosecutors alleged that the tech executive killed Houts, the girlfriend of his roommate, with whom he had developed an unrequited romantic attachment, the District Attorneys Office said.

Woodward will be extradited to Santa Clara County and will be arraigned for the third time on a charge of murder, District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. New DNA evidence, collected in 2021 using new techniques, and new fingerprints will be used to to tie Woodward to the case, police and the District Attorneys Office said.

An email sent to Readytechs general information address was not immediately answered.

Woodward was tried twice for the murder of Houts in the late 1990s, with both trials ending with the jury unable to reach a verdict. After the second hung jury, the judge dismissed the case for insufficient evidence and said that new evidence would be required for a new trial.

I want Ms. Houts family and friends to know that we never gave up on her, Rosen said in a statement. Neither time nor distance will stop us from finding out the truth and seeking justice.

This case is the culmination of incredible determination by our detectives over the decades and with phenomenal teamwork with our agency partners here in Santa Clara County and in New York, said Chris Hsiung, Mountain Views police chief.

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I am honored that our agency finally gets to give hope to Lauries family that they can see a successful prosecution carried out. It bears repeating  we do not give up on justice for victims, no matter what.

Woodwards arrest came after Homeland Security officials tipped off investigators from the District Attorneys Office that he was arriving in New York. Dutch authorities also obtained a warrant and searched Woodwards home and business in the Netherlands, seizing computers and USB drives as evidence.

The victims family described Houts as an energetic and endearing person with a good sense of humor and a big heart.

The way Laurie lived and treated people was a stunning example of what was right in the world, the family said in a statement. She was a gem to so many, but her bright life was taken from us at the age of 25. We are hopeful that justice can finally be served for Laurie and incredibly appreciative of the law enforcement agencies who have never given up on her.

Michael Cabanatuan (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
Four elementary schools in the East Bay were vandalized for the second weekend in a row, according to law enforcement and school officials.

Over the weekend, vandals caused extensive damage to Lincoln Elementary, Nystrom Elementary and Richmond Charter Academy, said Lt. Matt Stonebraker, a spokesman for the Richmond Police Department.

Bayview Elementary in San Pablo was also vandalized this weekend, Dr. Kenneth Chris Hurst, superintendent of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, wrote in an email to families this week.

It is unconscionable that anyone would want to intentionally do so much damage to a place that serves as a safe haven and place to learn for so many young people, Hurst wrote in the email.

This was the second consecutive weekend that officials reported schools being vandalized. Last weekend, vandals broke into Sylvester Greenwood Academy in Richmond, Stonebraker said.

This past weekend, Lincoln Elementary bore the brunt of the damages, law enforcement and school officials said.

Exterior and interior windows were broken, school and office supplies were thrown onto the floor and into hallways, officials said. Paper glue, paint, you name it, was thrown everywhere, said Stonebraker.

The vandals also destroyed the schools furniture, appliances and computers, school district officials said. The potential cost of repairs was not immediately known, said Ryan Phillips, a spokesperson for the West Contra Costa Unified School District.

Cleanup efforts have begun at two schools, but not at Lincoln Elementary because it was still considered a crime scene on Tuesday, said Phillips.

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.

Alarms at some schools went off but they werent reported to police throughout the weekend, said Stonebraker.

Stonebraker said surveillance video appears to show that juveniles broke into the schools but no one has been arrested yet.

Jessica Flores (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
Claude the Claw is making a comeback.

If you havent had the pleasure, Claude is a fried chicken sandwich with its crispy claw peeking out of a potato bun. When the pandemic temporarily shut down their two-Michelin-starred restaurant, the owners of San Franciscos Birdsong introduced this striking takeout sandwich through a pop-up they called Birdbox. Now, with Birdsong back open for its usual tasting menu, couple Chris Bleidorn and Aarti Shetty are turning their pandemic pivot into its own restaurant. A standalone Birdbox opens this month at 680 Second St. in San Francisco, a block from Oracle Park.

Claude the Claw will be on the menu, juicy from a double marinade (pickle juice brine, then several days in buttermilk) and crispy from a spiced flour breading. Claude arrives on a potato bun, made using Birdsongs own recipe by Firebrand Bakery in Oakland, smeared with a mayonnaise sauce flavored with a blend of nutritional yeast, toasted yeast and smoked yeast. Customers will have their pick from two other flavor variations built from the yeast blend: a spicy version, and a tangy one.

Half and quarter fried chicken meals  a hit during the coronavirus shutdown  will also return at Birdbox. They come with cornbread and sauces. Look for new dishes, too, like chicken salads. After opening, Bleidorn and Shetty plan to serve their spin on a lacey-edged smashburger, made with a chicken patty instead of beef. To prevent the burger from drying out, they will grind mozzarella cheese and chicken skin into the patties.

Courtesy Annamae Bafia

For dessert, there will be shaved ice that incorporates seasonal fruits, jams and soft whipped cream. Bleidorn described it as Louisiana-style, snow cone-esque shaved ice that you dig into with a spoon.

The two-level, 50-seat restaurant will serve local beer and wine. Birdbox will be open for lunch and dinner and also offer takeout and delivery.

Though Claude the Claw went viral during the pandemic, generating his own hashtag and media attention, hes not meant to be a social media fad. Bleidorn and Shetty keep the chicken foot on as a reminder to diners of where their meal came from, and what it took to serve it. They source head-on, feet-on chickens from Marys Free-Range Chicken in Fresno and Pasturebird in Southern California. They scrutinize the heads and feet as indicators that the chickens have been raised well, like chefs check for clear eyes and bright gills when purchasing whole fish.

Courtesy Annamae Bafia

A lot of folks are scared or they dont want the claw, Bleidorn said. But what people should really be frightened about is all the chickens without the feet because then you dont really know what youre getting.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

In fact, no chicken part will go to waste at Birdbox, Bleidorn said: Bones, necks and leftover skin will be rendered down to make schmaltz, which the kitchen will infuse with alliums and garlic and use to add more flavor to its chicken dishes.

Bleidorn and Shetty never planned to open a fast-casual fried chicken restaurant, but the pop-ups sustained success during much of 2020 turned them on to the idea. And if that success continues, this wont be the only Birdbox: They hope to open more locations, first in San Francisco and then Bay Area-wide.

Birdbox. Opening July 2022. 680 Second St., San Francisco. instagram.com/birdboxsf

Elena Kadvany (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com
One of the Bay Areas most popular natural wine bars is opening a new Oakland bar next week, a gathering place where miso-flavored scallops, organic wines and late-night DJs all belong.

Slug, from the team behind the perpetually packed Snail Bar in Oaklands Temescal, will open July 22 at 102 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, at Broadway and 14th Street. Andres Giraldo Florez, who opened Snail Bar last summer to much acclaim and previously cooked at Michelin-starred Saison, is bringing Slug to life with chef Spencer Horovitz, formerly of Italian restaurant Itria in San Francisco, and general manager and wine buyer Jake Michahelles.

Given the hour-long waits common at Snail Bar, Florez said he hopes people will head to Slug if they cant get into the Temescal spot. Its a larger space with indoor and outdoor seating, although tables will also be first come, first served.

Slug will serve simple but thoughtful dishes prepared by chefs with fine-dining chops, like those raw scallops with miso aioli and sumac or crudites with a Japanese roe dip. Fans of Snail Bars popular ham and cheese sandwich will find it at Slug, as well as a spin on the bars bread and butter. (Here, the cultured butter from Normandy in France will be flavored with yuzu and black pepper.)

Provided by Slug

To drink, there will be about 12 natural wines by the glass and plenty of bottles. Natural wine doesnt have a strict definition, but here it will mean wines made with as little intervention and added sulfites as possible. On weekends, Slug will host DJs until midnight  not unlike San Franciscos clubby natural wine bar Bar Part Time.

Like Snail Bar, Slug will be open on Mondays to serve restaurant workers on their day off.

Its just like a dream industry venue. This is for the industry, Florez said.

Horovitz has come up with several new dishes, many of which highlight local, small producers. San Franciscos Fatted Calf will produce boudin blanc and boudin noir sausages for Slug, which will always be on the menu with seasonal, ever-changing garnishes. Think boudin blanc with a brown butter and corn puree and fresh stonefruit, or boudin noir with heirloom tomatoes, Chinese black vinegar and lovage oil. Florez, who called the sausages slugs of the land, grew up eating his grandmothers homemade boudin noir for breakfast in Colombia and got to know boudin blanc while working at San Franciscos Verjus.

Shared Cultures popular miso, a fixture at Snail Bar, will add umami to many dishes at Slug. A slightly acidic urfa chile miso will go in the aioli for the scallops, and there are plans to use a Cheetos miso for chips and dip. Horovitz will also tap Shared Cultures peach miso to make a sauce for sticky toffee pudding served with creme fraiche ice cream made for Slug by pop-up De La Creamery.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle 2021

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

The wine list will lean French, Michahelles said, but will also pull from California, Italy, Georgia and Austria. Theyre excited about working with organic producers like Stagiaire Wine in Santa Cruz and Chateau Fiasco in Lodi.

Slug can serve about 45 people inside, including at a bar and at the same standing wine barrels used at Snail Bar, plus several tables outside. The space is decorated with local art (including by Snail Bar staff), handcut mirrors, pottery and vintage china. Wine glasses are decorated with the image of a slug pouring wine for a snail.

The owners hope Slug will be something to everyone  a place to grab a snack and a glass of wine, to eat a full meal or to dance to music with a sausage in hand.

Slug. Opening July 22. 5 p.m. to midnight. Thursday-Monday. 102 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. instagram.com/slugbaroak

Elena Kadvany (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com
WASHINGTON (AP)  In a heated, unhinged dispute, Donald Trump fought objections from his White House lawyers to a plan, eventually discarded, to seize states' voting machines and then, in a last ditch effort to salvage his presidency, summoned supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol for what turned into the deadly riot, the House Jan. 6 committee revealed Tuesday.

In another disclosure, raising the question of witness tampering, the panels vice-chair said Trump himself had tried to contact a person who was talking to the committee about potential testimony. And still more new information revealed that Trump was so intent on making a showing at the Capitol that his aides secretly planned for a second rally stage there on the day of the attack.

Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel's vice chair, said it had notified the Justice Department that Trump had contacted the witness who has yet to appear in public.

We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously, said Cheney, a Wyoming Republican.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley declined to comment when asked if the department was investigating the call.

The hearing Tuesday was the seventh for the Jan. 6 committee, which is portraying the defeated Trump as detached from reality, clinging to false claims of voter fraud and working feverishly to reverse his election defeat. It all led to his be there, will be wild tweet summoning supporters to Washington.

The panel delved into a critical three weeks of secret planning in the run-up to the Capitol attack and heard remorseful testimony from an Ohio father who believed Trumps election lies and answered the defeated presidents tweet to come to Washington. The panel also heard form a former spokesman for the extremist Oath Keepers who warned of the far-right groups ability for violence.

I think we need to quit mincing words about just talk. ... What it was going to be was an armed revolution, said Jason Van Tatenhove. I mean, people died that day.

Tuesday's session focused in part on December 2020, a time when many Republicans were moving on from the November election Trump lost to Joe Biden. Testimony brought out details of a late night Dec. 18 meeting at the White House with Trump's private lawyers suggesting he order the U.S. military to seize state voting machines in an unprecedented effort to pursue his false claims of voter fraud .

The panel featured new video testimony from Pat Cipollone, Trump's White House counsel at the time, recalling the explosive meeting when Trump's outside legal team brought a draft executive order to seize the states' voting machines  a terrible idea, Cipollone said.

That's not how we do things in the United States, he testified.

Another former White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, called the meeting unhinged in separate video testimony.

Cipollone and other White House officials scrambled to intervene as Trump met late into the night with attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, retired national security aide Michael Flynn and the former head of the online retail company Overstock. It erupted in shouting and screaming, another aide testified.

Where is the evidence?" Cipollone demanded of the claims of voter fraud.

"What they were proposing, I thought, was nuts," testified another official, Eric Herschmann.

But Trump was intrigued and essentially told his White House lawyers that at least Powell and outside allies were trying to do something.

As night turned to morning, Trump tweeted his call for supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6, when Congress would be tallying the Electoral College results. Be there. Will be wild, Trump wrote.

Instantly, the extremists reacted.

The panel showed graphic and violent text messages and played videos of right-wing figures, including Alex Jones, and others vowing that Jan. 6 would be the day they would fight for the president.

Messages beaming across the far-right forums laid out plans for the big day that they said Trump was asking for in Washington. It would be a red wedding, said one, a reference to a mass killing in Game of Thrones. Bring handcuffs.

Several members of the U.S. Capitol Police who fought the mob that day sat stone-faced in the front row of the committee room.

Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups are now facing rare sedition charges over the siege. Nine people died the day of the attack and in its aftermath.

This tweet served as a call to action -- and in some cases a call to arms, said one panel member, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.

The committee revealed new details about what happened next, as planning was underway for Trump's big rally on the Ellipse outside the White House, and aides scrambled to secretly set up a second stage outside the Capitol complex across the street from the Supreme Court.

In a Jan. 4 text message from rally organizer Kylie Kremer to Trump ally Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO, Kremer explains: This stays only between us, we are having a second stage at the Supreme Court again after the Ellipse. POTUS is going to have us march there/the Capitol.

Kremer warns that if the information gets out, others will try to sabotage the plans and the organizer will be in trouble with the National Park Service and other federal agencies.

But POTUS is going to just call for it unexpectedly, Kremer wrote.

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.

On the morning of Jan. 5, Trump ally Ali Alexander sent a similar text to a conservative journalist saying: Ellipse then US capitol. Trump is supposed to order us to capitol at the end of his speech but we will see.

And the panel showed a draft tweet from Trump, which was obtained from the National Archives and never sent, calling on supporters to arrive early for the rally and expect crowds.

March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal! the draft Trump tweet said.

Committee member Murphy said, This was not a spontaneous call to action, but rather was a deliberate strategy.

Tuesday's was the only hearing this week, as new details emerge. An expected prime-time hearing has been rescheduled for July 21.

Cheney said the Trump team is shifting its strategy in dealings with the committee, and is now trying to shield the former president from blame, suggesting he received bad advice from crazy advisers or was otherwise incapable of understanding some of the details of the situation.

Trump is not an impressionable child, Cheney said. Just like everyone else in our country he is responsible for his own actions.

The panel also heard from a sorrowful Stephen Ayres, the Ohio father who said he got caught up in social media after the election, but has since lost his job and his house after joining the mob at the Capitol. He pleaded guilty last month to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.

When Trump summoned supporters to Washington, I felt like I needed to be down here, he testified.

Ayers hugged and apologized to the police officers after the hearing.

The problem of politicians whipping up mob violence to destroy fair elections is the oldest domestic enemy of constitutional democracy, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md..

___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Nomaan Merchant and Michael Balsamo in Washington and Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland, contributed to this report.

___

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
Regarding Democrats do nothing (Letters to the Editor, July 10): Democratic Party figures are getting called out, for a wide variety of reasons, for promising great positive change and failing to deliver. But letter writer Brian Kleins reaction, to not vote for Democrats anymore, misses the point and portends disaster.

Voting is a strategic activity. The choices are: vote Democratic, vote Republican, vote third party or independent, or dont vote. Unless you want your vote to have little or no power, or you want to advance Republican aims, you are simply left with voting Democratic, and this is the only choice Klein should embrace.

Here in California, we may have valid choices between two Democrats, but casting a protest vote or opting out of the process altogether will never result in any positive change at all.

Daniel Fernandez, Hayward

Environment is at stake

Regarding A climate close-up on Yosemite tour (Front Page, July 7): The congressional delegation touring Yosemite included Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Roseville (Placer County), one of the most strident climate science deniers in Congress, a proponent of clear-cutting to thin forests, and a supporter of the fossil fuel and logging industries.

McClintock consistently blames poor forest management on California environmental policies yet neglects to mention that most of the states forests are on federal land. Should Republicans regain the majority in the House, McClintock will likely again be the chair of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. During his previous tenure, he was instrumental ensuring that few bills funding park maintenance or wildfire management passed.

Tragically, McClintocks newly drawn district will retain him as Yosemites representative. If you need another reason to keep a Democratic majority in Congress, maintaining McClintocks back-bencher status is a good one.

Barbara Smith, Auburn, Placer County

Unite behind Biden

Regarding For kids, future is scary (Insight, July 10): Reading Vedika Jawas brilliant essay made me even more furious at the many Democrats who have become a pathetic herd of Eeyores moaning how the party is doomed to lose control of Congress in the midterms.

If Jawa, a recent high school graduate, can maintain hope and resolve to fight for abortion rights and gun control, why are so many older Democrats just giving up?

The 2022 midterm election is just as important as 2020 was. What should unite us is not the fear of a second Donald Trump presidency but the threat of a reactionary Supreme Court run amok and a Congress run by Trump enablers, who have no qualms at destroying our democracy as long as they stay in power.

Come on Democrats, moderates and progressives, focus on what unites all of us. Give President Biden a big enough margin in both houses in Congress to fulfill the promises he made in 2020. Its the least we can do for our children, terrified of what the future holds, if we just give up and give in to the tyranny of the right.

Nancy Ginsburg Gill, Los Altos

Its time to fight back

It was 1969 in Los Angeles. I was 20 years old. I went on a date that went badly. I was raped, but alive. I became pregnant. I did not want this child. In desperation I turned to my mother who turned to my brother. He owned a hair salon and knew lots of women. He got the name of an abortionist. I miscarried a few days later. I was lucky to survive. It negatively affected the course of my life.

Now that a right to an abortion has been severely curtailed or removed by the overturning of Roe v. Wade, I want to implore everyone, but especially young women who will be directly affected by this move, to act, vote, organize. Fight back. This is your fight! Please, let us not return to those draconian times.
The monumental battle over remote work in San Francisco and elsewhere is heating up this summer as more traditionalist business leaders are demanding that employees come to the office much or all of the time. Google Maps workers, asked to come back to the office full-time recently, fought back with a petition and threats of a strike, and won a reprieve of 90 days. Elon Musk demanded that all Tesla staff come to the office full-time, resulting in Tesla workers getting recruited by other companies. And big city mayors like San Franciscos London Breed and New Yorks Eric Adams are pushing their workers to get back to the office, including by writing stern and reprimanding letters.

Yet what these traditionalist executives are failing to realize is that the drama, stress and tensions caused by their demands wont matter. Remote work will win this fall.

Thats because of the new coronavirus variants, which the Biden administration predicts may lead to 100 million infections in the fall. One of the most dangerous is BA.5, which is much more resistant than previous variants to vaccinations or immunity from prior infections. Its capacity to escape immunity combines with what appears to be increased transmissibility and ability to induce a worse disease. Thus, it led to a rise in hospitalizations in Portugal, Israel and other countries where it became dominant. We can expect the same in the U.S. as BA.5 continues its spread. Scientists are also worried about the emergence of BA 2.75, which may be just as or even more infectious than BA.5.

The implication is clear: There will be a major COVID surge in the fall. Moreover, well be more vulnerable than before, given the lack of government funding for vaccines and treatments, and the vaccine escape of BA.5. And the idea that we can all permanently and safely return to offices once more is delusional.

During the delta surge and the original omicron surge, traditionalist companies that tried to force their employees back to the office experienced extensive drama and stress over this coercive approach and had to roll back their plans, with all that effort wasted. Furthermore, the yo-yoing of going from home to the office and back home seriously undermined productivity, harmed engagement and morale, and impaired retention and recruitment.

Well see the exact same yo-yoing at Tesla, Apple, Google and other companies led by traditionalist executives in a few months. And Breed and other big city mayors should start making more realistic plans around the loss of business and tax revenue from their downtown business districts going forward.

So why do these traditionalist leaders pursue this doomed effort to push their staff into the office this summer and fail to make realistic plans about the future? The key lies in what makes these executives feel successful and feeds their identity as leaders. In fact, one leader admitted as much in a Fortune magazine op-ed, saying that theres a deeply personal reason why I want to go back to the office. Its selfish, but I dont care. I feel like I lost a piece of my identity in the pandemic.

By honestly saying the quiet part out loud, this op-ed reveals how other leaders use false claims about remote work undermining productivity, innovation and social capital to try to cover up their true concerns. This personal, selfish orientation speaks to a mental blindspot called the egocentric bias, an orientation toward prioritizing ones own perspective and worldview over others.

Following this personal and selfish predisposition will hurt the bottom lines for their companies. What works much better is a hybrid-first, team-led model: a flexible approach where individual team leads consult with their team members to decide what works best for them.

That goes for large companies, such as Applied Materials, a Fortune 200 high-tech manufacturer. It adopted an Excellence from Anywhere modality that focuses on deliverables rather than where someone works. That also goes for middle-size organizations, including the Information Sciences Institute, a 400-person data science and machine learning research center at the University of Southern California.

Team members at Applied and Information Sciences Institute come to the office when they want to socialize or need to collaborate more intensely. Otherwise, team members stay at home, since studies show workers are substantially more productive working remotely. And as COVID cases increase in their area, the teams flexibly adapt their approach to collaborate and socialize fully remotely.

This team-led, hybrid-first approach provides the best of all worlds. It fits the desires of employees, whose biggest non-salary demand is flexibility, according to surveys. It also maximizes profits for companies, since it boosts retention, recruitment, collaboration, innovation and productivity. And finally, it addresses the risks associated with coronavirus variants and other emergencies.

The only obstacle is the personal, selfish orientation of traditionalist leaders, who need to recognize the danger they are posing to the success of their companies if they pursue their backward-looking coercive efforts to get their staff to return to the office.

Gleb Tsipursky helps tech and insurance executives seize competitive advantage in hybrid work by driving employee retention, collaboration and innovation through cognitive science as the CEO of the future-proofing consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. He is the author of Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage.
California residents, the state attorney general and local governments will be able to sue gun companies for harm their products cause under a new state law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Tuesday.

The gun industry can no longer hide from the devastating harm their products cause, Newsom said in a news release. Nearly every industry is held liable when people are hurt or killed by their products  guns should be no different.

The measure, AB1594, would make gunmakers liable if they sell assault weapons and do not take reasonable steps to ensure those weapons are not used for illegal purposes in California. It would also allow people to sue gunmakers over marketing that targets children or encourages people to use their products for illegal purposes in California.

The firearms industry has enjoyed federal immunity from civil lawsuits for far too long, providing them no incentive for them to follow our laws, Assembly Member Phil Ting, the San Francisco Democrat who wrote the bill, said in a news release. Hitting their bottom line may finally compel them to take every step possible to prevent illegal sales and theft to reduce gun violence.

The new law is to take effect on July 1, 2023.

The National Rifle Association opposed the bill, arguing it aims to drive gunmakers out of business. The organization also criticized the legislation for not defining the steps manufacturers must take to ensure their products are not used illegally.

AB1594 is the second law Newsom has signed this month that aims to prevent gunmakers from marketing their products to children. He previously signed AB2571, which bans gun companies from marketing firearms to children, in response to a company advertising a JR-15 gun targeted at children. Two gun groups are challenging that law in federal court in Los Angeles, Reuters reported.

On Tuesday, Newsom also signed AB2551, which requires the California Department of Justice to notify local law enforcement when a person prohibited from buying a gun tries to do so.

Newsom signed the measures shortly before leaving for Washington, D.C., where Republican opposition has stalled all but the most incremental gun control legislation. The day before, President Joe Biden was heckled at an event celebrating a new federal gun law by the parent of a teen killed in the 2018 Parkland, Fla., high school shooting. The parent interrupted Bidens speech by shouting that the president was not doing enough to curb gun violence with the new law, which takes small steps toward getting guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

Sophia Bollag is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sophia.bollag@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophiaBollag
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A tech CEO has been arrested for the third time on suspicion of murdering his roommate's girlfriend 29 years ago.

Laurie Houts, 25, was living in San Jose and working at Adobe Systems on Sept. 5, 1992. That evening, she left work and never got home. She was found by a passerby on the 1300 block of Crittendane Lane in Mountain View  now the site of Google's campus  strangled to death in the front passenger seat of her car. It was parked about two miles away from Adobe's offices on Charleston Road. A nylon rope was still around her neck.

Police quickly narrowed their focus on Oracle engineer John Kevin Woodward, then 28. Woodward, who lived with Houts' boyfriend, had known Houts for about two years. Investigators said they found three of Woodward's fingerprints on Houts' car, resulting in his arrest for murder in October 1992.

But a conviction remained elusive for the Houts family. Woodward was tried twice in the 1990s, but proceedings ended in hung juries both times. In order to bring the case to trial a third time, a judge told the prosecution they would need to introduce new evidence.

In late 2020, detectives in Santa Clara County began seeking that new evidence. Items were submitted to the Santa Clara County Crime Lab for DNA testing, and the sheriff's office took a fresh look at the fingerprint evidence collected in 1992. According to Mountain View Police, they found a match for Woodward's DNA at the crime scene and discovered even more of his fingerprints on the car.

After his two trials. Woodward relocated to the Netherlands. Despite being based in Europe, he served as the CEO and president of ReadyTech, an Oakland company that provides online training software. "The news of Kevin's arrest was a jolt to all of us," ReadyTech said in a statement to SFGATE. "We have the utmost empathy for the families involved."

On Saturday, Woodward entered the United States via John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Law enforcement was awaiting him when he got off the plane.

"We were given information that the suspect would be flying back to the United States," Mountain View police Sgt. David Fisher told KGO. "We learned that several days prior to his flight. So we made arrangements for all the authorities in New York to assist us with arresting him."

Woodward was taken into custody when he landed and is being held in New York until his extradition to the Bay Area on murder charges. Investigators and Houts' family are hopeful a third trial will result in a conviction.

Mountain View Police/Handout

"Although she was only five feet tall, she had a huge heart and her humor and spunk were endearing to all," Houts' family said in a statement. "The way Laurie lived and treated people was a stunning example of what was right in the world. She was a gem to so many, but her bright life was taken from us at the age of 25.

"We are hopeful that justice can finally be served for Laurie and incredibly appreciative of the law enforcement agencies who have never given up on her."

SFGATE assistant news editor Joshua Bote contributed reporting.
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KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP)  As Russian missiles struck a key Ukrainian city, Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded a fast-track procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians on Monday, another effort to strengthen Moscow's influence over war-torn Ukraine.

Until recently, only residents of Ukraine's separatist eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as residents of the southern Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson regions, large parts of which are now under Russian control, were eligible to apply for the simplified passport procedure.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Klueba said Putins signing of a passport decree, which also applies to stateless residents in Ukraine, was an example of his predatory appetites.

Russia is using the simplified procedure for issuing passports to tighten the noose around the necks of residents of the temporarily occupied territories of our state, forcing them to participate in the criminal activities of the occupying administrations and the Russian army of aggression, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry added in a statement.

Between 2019, when the procedure was introduced for the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk, and this year, more than 720,000 people living in the rebel-held areas in the two regions  about 18% of the population  have received Russian passports.

In late May, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the fast-track procedure was also offered to residents of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

The Russian passport move appears to be part of Putins political influence strategy, which has also involved introduction of the Russian ruble in occupied territory in Ukraine and could eventually result in the annexation of more Ukrainian territory into the Russian Federation. Russia already annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

The Russian president set the stage for such moves even before Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, writing an essay last summer claiming that Russians and Ukrainians are one people and attempting to diminish the legitimacy of Ukraine as an independent nation. Reports have surfaced of Russian authorities confiscating Ukrainian passports from some citizens.

The passport announcement came hours after Russian shelling of Ukraine's second-largest city Monday killed at least six people and injured 31, prosecutors and local officials said. Russian troops launched three missile strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in an attack one official described as absolute terrorism.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the attacks struck at the points of deployment for Ukraine's nationalist battalions." Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram that the shelling came from multiple rocket launchers, and those wounded and hospitalized included children aged 4 and 16.

Only civilian structures  a shopping center and houses of peaceful Kharkiv residents  came under the fire of the Russians. Several shells hit the yards of private houses. Garages and cars were also destroyed. Several fires broke out, Syniehubov wrote.

Earlier, he said one missile destroyed a school, another hit a residential building, while the third landed near warehouse facilities.

All (three were launched) exclusively on civilian objects. This is absolute terrorism! Syniehubov said.

Kharkiv resident Alexander Peresolin said the attacks came without warning, with a blast so fierce he lost consciousness. Neighbors carried him to the basement, where he regained consciousness.

I was sitting and talking to my wife, he said. I didnt understand what happened."

The strikes came two days after a Russian rocket attack struck apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine. The death toll in that attack on the town of Chasiv Yar rose to 31 on Monday. Nine people have been rescued from the rubble but more are still believed trapped, emergency officials said.

The attack late Saturday destroyed three buildings in a residential quarter used mostly by people who work in factories. Russia's Defense Ministry insisted Monday that the Chasiv Yar target was a Ukrainian territorial defense brigade, and that more than 300 nationalists" were killed. The town is also the hometown of Ukraine's president.

Russian attacks continued in eastern Ukraine, with Luhansk regional Gov. Serhiy Haidai saying Monday that Russian forces carried out five missile strikes and four rounds of shelling, hitting settlements on the border with the Donetsk region.

The Luhansk and Donetsk regions make up Ukraines eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, where separatist rebels have fought Ukrainian forces since 2014. Earlier this month, Russia captured the last major stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, the city of Lysychansk.

Ukrainian forces continued attacks on what they said are Russian ammunition depots, in a prelude to a possible counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territory.

Ukrainian officials said on social media late Monday that an ammunition depot in Novy Kakhovka, in the mostly Russia-occupied Kherson region, was destroyed.

Russia's Tass news agency offered a different account, saying that the target was a mineral fertilizer storage facility that exploded and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged. Some of the ingredients in fertilizer can be used as ammunition.

Tass said there casualties, without providing an estimate, and claimed the weapon used in the strike was fired from a U.S-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. Ukrainian officials didn't comment on the type of weapon used.

Also Monday:

 The main Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany began a 10-day closure for maintenance, heightening European fears that Moscow may not turn the flow back on after its completion. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany and is the latters main source of Russian gas. Gas is usually sent onward to other countries as well. It is scheduled to be out of action until July 21. German officials are suspicious about Russias intentions, particularly after Russias giant energy firm Gazprom last month reduced the gas flow through Nord Stream 1 by 60%. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address Monday, There can be no doubt that Russia will try not just to limit as much as possible, but to completely shut down the supply of gas to Europe at the most acute moment. This is what we need to prepare for now, this is what is being provoked now.

 Western nations pledged more support and military supplies to Ukraine. In Kyiv, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Zelenskyy that his country would supply self-propelled howitzers and artillery shellsn. Rutte also pledged financial support for Ukrainian teachers, doctors and retirees. Zelenskyy said he spoke with Rutte about the Netherlands potential role in the reconstruction of Ukraine.

 The White House on Monday said it believes Russia is turning to Iran to provide hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, including weapons-capable drones, for use in its invasion of Ukraine. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided the systems, but said the U.S. had information indicating Iran was preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

___

Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Recently I saw this question posted on social media:When you are fighting a culture war who is the enemy?

As I am sure it was intended, this question made me pause and think about what is going on right now in the political world around us. Our political world is so filled with those politicians and TV talking heads spreading lies, misinformation and blame while touting fear and division that it is almost impossible to get any meaningful legislation done in either Lansing or Washington.

It is time to stop the madness!

We have too many important kitchen table issues and challenges facing young families in Manistee County to be concerned about the slim possibility that an LGBTQ+ person may have some negative influence in your life.

We should be willing to accept and celebrate the courage these people have shown living and loving in an open and authentic manner. Legislating against medical and mental health needs of transgender youth and adults is purely a waste of time and is obviously intended to discriminate against people who really need and deserve assistance.

Our elected officials and politicians should be more focused on providing a helping hand to raise children in Manistee County out of poverty by supporting Gov. Whitmers plan to increase the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income families.

Why should we be concerned about Critical Race Theory (CRT), a theoretical subject that has been exclusively taught only in law schools?

Our public schools in Manistee County are very fortunate to have extremely professional and dedicated educators who care deeply about the future success of the young people who enter their classrooms. We must keep state tax dollars focused exclusively on funding public education to ensure that every student in Michigan has the best opportunity to succeed regardless of their economic situation.

Our teachers deserve more respect and recognition for the work they do every day delivering the skills our young people need to succeed in life. Therefore, we are pleased to see the huge increase in public school funding that has been consistently advocated by Gov. Whitmer and recently included in the bipartisan state operating budget agreement. This was accomplished with no additional tax burden to anyone in Manistee County.

Access to safe and responsible use of guns and ammunition for hunting and sport shooting is certainly important to many residents of Manistee County. Stop worrying and stop spreading the lie. No one is advocating taking your sporting guns away.

All we want is meaningful, common sense gun safety regulations. Why should it be easier to buy a gun than it is to get a drivers license? Our politicians need to stop bowing to the big money lobbying power of organizations like the NRA and take action to make it more difficult for evil people to take innocent lives with a weapon that was designed exclusively to kill other human beings.

Senior citizens in Manistee County are much more concerned about how they can continue to maintain their lifestyle on a fixed income provided by pensions, retirement savings and Social Security than they are about what is happening at our southern border.

The fact that so many refugees and asylum seekers leave loved ones and everything they own behind to pursue the opportunity for a better life for themselves and their families should reinforce that the American Dream is alive and well.

Instead of worrying about those who try to enter illegally, we should be thanking the professionals in the Customs and Border Protection who are using state of the art technology instead of flimsy walls to apprehend and detain them in record numbers.

Seniors in Manistee County should be telling our representatives in Lansing to support Gov. Whitmers plan to eliminate the state income tax on pensions. This legislative action will put an average of $1,000 per year in the pockets of Manistee County pension holders.

Many Manistee County women are righteously upset with the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn a womans right to choose to have a safe and legal abortion. This is the result of a very long-term campaign by the male-dominated Republican Party to recruit single-issue voters and give these men in Washington, D.C. the ability to stack the court with justices who have extremely narrow and antiquated interpretations of our Constitution.

Right now, the only recourse we as voters have is to elect Michigan state representatives and senators who will go to Lansing and work with Gov. Whitmer to codify in state law the right of a woman to choose to have a safe and legal abortion.

Fortunately, Manistee County voters will have just that opportunity on Nov. 8 by voting for their Democratic candidates on the ballot. That is how we can all work together to stop the madness and do the important work of governing for the greater good of everyone.
Helltown: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer on Cape Cod by Casey Sherman (Sourcebooks)

True crime is all the rage these days. Books, movies, documentaries, streaming series, podcasts  even streaming series about podcasts  are everywhere as Americans continue to obsess over the genre.

Author Casey Sherman is no stranger to true crime, having penned books about mobster Whitey Bulger, the Boston Strangler and the assassination of John Lennon.

Sherman, who grew up on Cape Cod, returns to both his true crime roots and hometown with his latest written effort.

"Helltown: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer on Cape Cod focuses on the case of Antone Tony Costa, a counterculture figure who was convicted of murdering two Providence, Rhode Island, women in 1969, and is suspected in at least two other slayings in the Massachusetts tourist hotspot.

The Costa case was sensational at the time due to the grotesque nature of the killings that took place in such an idyllic setting  authorities say Costa had sex with the corpses, cut them into pieces and buried the remains in holes he dug in a wooded area. But it was quickly eclipsed in notoriety later that year when followers of another counterculture guru, Charles Manson, slaughtered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in southern California.

While much has been written about Manson and his family," Sherman shines a light on the less well-known Costa killings, and he does so in a unique and compelling way.

'Helltown' is a work of fact told with elements of fiction storytelling, Sherman writes in the author's note, adding that he had never married journalism with narrative storytelling before.

And he does so to great effect. Helltown  the nickname given to the Cape Cod community of Provincetown in the 1600s due to drinking, gambling and other vices common at the time  reads like a novel.

Sherman places readers not only on the Cape before, during and after the murders, but he puts them inside Costa's troubled mind. And he beautifully develops a host of characters beyond the killer, including Costa's disciples, the police who eventually discover his wrongdoing and the lawyers who battle it out during the 1970 murder trial. Not to mention American literary icons Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut, both Cape Cod residents who find themselves fascinated by Costa's brutality.

The whodunit portion of the book is perhaps the most potent. First, as law enforcement tries to figure out what happened to the missing 23-year-old friends, Patricia Walsh and Mary Ann Wysocki, an elementary school teacher and college student, respectively, who were visiting Provincetown for the weekend. And later, the cat-and-mouse game between police and Costa following the gruesome discovery of their bodies.

Helltown is an immersive and captivating journey into the mind of a serial killer. Sherman relied in part on an unpublished manuscript written by Costa, who hanged himself in a Massachusetts prison in 1974.

The majority of what you read here really happened, sadly, Sherman writes.

And is laid out in such a way that should satisfy most true crime aficionados.
Applicants from Bridgeport, Middletown, Stamford, and Waterbury are among the first to be recommended to grow marijuana in Connecticut.

The states Social Equity Council met Tuesday to review applications for social equity cultivator licenses. In total, 41 applications were submitted to the state. The accounting firm CohnReznick, which the council hired to vet the applications, determined 25 did not comply.

Social equity applicants must meet the income, residency and ownership requirements established by the council. At Tuesdays meeting, the council recommended 16 equity applicants for cultivator licenses. The council denied eight applications for failing to meet residency and income requirements, and another 17 based on ownership and control issues.

The 16 applicants must next be approved by the state Department of Consumer Protection to get a provisional license. Two are residents of Bridgeport; five hail from Hartford; three live in New Britain; one each in Manchester, Middletown, Southington and Stamford, and two are in Waterbury. The applicants, who will be identified after DCP approval, do not have to open their grow operations in the municipalities in which they live.

The social equity cultivator licenses are reserved for equity applicants who want to operate grow facilities in a so-called disproportionately impacted area, which tend to be urban and low-income, and were identified based on past cannabis convictions and unemployment rates.

The head of the Connecticut Cannabis Chamber of Commerce applauded the councils decision in a written statement Tuesday.

This decision will generate $48 million in income to advance the social equity program in Connecticut and create hundreds of good-paying jobs in our state, said the chambers president Adam Wood. The vote will also bring needed economic development, opportunity, and tax-base growth in some of our state's most disproportionately impacted communities in cities such as Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven.

Most people who want to operate in Connecticuts adult use cannabis market must win a license through a lottery process. But the states cannabis law provides several exceptions including for equity applicants interested in growing marijuana. The intention behind that provision of the law is to give people who were targeted by the past criminalization of marijuana an opportunity to get into the legal market.

In total, the state received nearly 37,300 applications for the various types of cannabis licenses ranging from retail to cultivator across equity and non-equity applicants. Retail received the most interest with more than 15,600 applications received followed by micro-cultivator with more than 8,460 applications.
Drowning is far and away the leading cause of death for tourists in Hawaii.

The state's Department of Health data shows that between 2009 and 2018, over 45% of tourist deaths on the islands came from drowning. (The second most frequent cause of death was motor vehicle accidents, at around 10%.) The data shows that of 206 snorkeling-related deaths over that decade, 189 were non-residents.

Many of those deaths occur while snorkeling, with the number of fatalities increasing sharply over recent years. At Maui's idyllic Puu Kekaa, pressure has recently been put on authorities to increase the presence of life guards after the beach was described to SFGATE by authorities as the No. 1 drowning capital in Hawaii.

Last month, a California man was found dead in the water while snorkeling near Maui's Kaanapali Beach.

But a mystery around the specific cause of death in these snorkeling fatalities  wherein the victim is often found to have not struggled or shown any distress signals before succumbing to the water  has now been revealed.

A three-year study by a subcommittee established in 2019 by the state Department of Health found that tourist snorkeling deaths are largely not due to the inhalation of water, but instead the result of low oxygen levels in body tissues prompted by excess fluid buildup in the lungs. The condition is known as hypoxia induced by rapid onset pulmonary edema, or ROPE.

The study rebutted the common thought that drownings were caused by inexperience on the part of the swimmer, who may have inhaled water. Factors that may cause a fatal case of ROPE include increased exertion, the snorkeling equipment's resistance to inhalation and pre-existing conditions, the study found. This last factor explains why many snorkeling deaths are found among middle-aged men with an increased chance of heart conditions.

The study also states that data "strongly support that possibility" that recent long-distance air travel may also increase the chances of hypoxia. This conclusion goes some way to explaining why snorkeling deaths are more prevalent among tourists.

"It is not unusual to find a snorkeller motionless in calm conditions, and not very long after entering the water. Often there are no signs of distress," the study said.

The Snorkel Safety Study describes the difference between drowning by aspiration and ROPE: "Drowning by ROPE does not necessitate either submersion in or inhalation of liquid. Rather, it is a respiratory impairment that can be triggered by snorkeling," the research group states. "Its progression is quick and quiet."

Project director Carol Wilcox told Honolulu Civil Beat that she herself experienced ROPE while snorkeling the day after taking a seven-hour flight from Canada. I started to hear this huge heartbeat in my ears, like deep drums  I knew I was going to die, Wilcox told the outlet. She survived thanks to a beachgoer pulling her out of the water.

The typical sequence of a ROPE-induced drowning is a shortness of breath and loss of strength, followed by a feeling of panic or doom, followed by diminished consciousness.

The study published multiple accounts of tourists who had near-misses while snorkeling around the islands that corroborated the ROPE theory.

"About 20 yards offshore I was struggling to catch my breath. I was unable to call out or wave," an unnamed visitor who had snorkeled 20 times told the researchers. "My arms were leaden...a wave pushed me to shore. I went unconscious." That incident occurred in calm waters. A beach attendant applied oxygen on the sand before the individual recovered in hospital.

Of 131 survey participants who had near-misses in the ocean, only one was found to have inhaled water.

The study advised several cautionary steps that can be taken to avoid snorkeling accidents, including swimming with a buddy and staying where you can comfortably touch the bottom. It also states that "it may be prudent to wait several days after arrival in Hawai'i by air before snorkeling."

Find the full report here.
San Francisco Unified School District's finicky payroll system is yet again causing major issues for teachers.

SFUSD confirmed to SFGATE that 48 summer school employees abruptly, mistakenly had their health care canceled this month due to an error by Empower, the district's $14 million all-in-one payroll system that was rolled out at the beginning of 2022.

Empower has caused a litany of problems since January, including a significant delay in delivering paychecks. In March and April, some teachers were owed thousands of dollars in backpay; in one case reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the principal of an elementary school loaned money to one of the school's teachers so she could pay rent. (SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by the same parent company, Hearst, but operate independently of one another.)

Empower's latest snag harms a more limited pool of employees but is raising alarm bells among members of the United Educators of San Francisco, the union that represents 6,500 SFUSD employees. Of the 48 people affected, the union has heard from employees who are currently dealing with COVID, as well as the mother of a newborn, all of whom are now without health care. This reporter spoke to another teacher who didn't realize they were without health care until they took their child to the doctor for a routine appointment that was unexpectedly billed at hundreds of dollars.

"The thing that we're trying to emphasize is that this is an issue of understaffing in the long-term," says Frank Lara, vice president of UESF. "We need people to be processing tickets quicker, and we need on-boarding for trained professionals to actually deal with these cases."

SFUSD tells SFGATE that it's trying to swiftly, retroactively restore health care benefits to the 48 employees in question and that those employees will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket charges incurred due to the error.

"We are following up with all impacted employees today [Monday], and we have implemented new measures so that no additional employees will be impacted by this issue," a spokesperson wrote. "Like many sectors, we are experiencing limited staffing and sustainability challenges, and we are working hard to hire additional payroll and HR staff and invest more resources in these operations. While we know it doesnt feel fast enough, we are making progress."

Lara says he's worried that a larger health care cancellation error could occur at the start of the new school year when there are far more employees actively in the system than during the summer session. "The on-boarding of hundreds of people to a system that's been failing is very concerning to us," he told SFGATE.

SFUSD didn't quite assuage those worries, noting to SFGATE that "as we work through all of our cyclical/annual processes for the first time, we anticipate that we may continue to experience issues, but we are better positioned now as we continue to identify, respond to and resolve them."

Lara is also troubled by the potential reimbursement timeline for the 48 summer school employees. In theory, they'll receive full reimbursement for out-of-pocket health care costs within one pay cycle. But in practice, given SFUSD's staffing shortages, that could stretch on for much longer, Lara warns: "SFUSD doesn't have the staff to process the accumulating tickets. We could be seeing months for this to be dealt with, and we as a union need to keep emphasizing that's not acceptable."

UESF is considering the next steps about how to address Empower and the serious problems it's created. "If our concerns aren't taken seriously, we have every right to demand a different payroll system," Lara says.

But SFUSD is preaching patience  a spokesperson acknowledged the system hasn't functioned properly so far and pledged to work diligently to fix that.

"Resolving Empower issues remains a top priority," the spokesperson wrote. "We know that having to experience issues or confusion with the pay one deserves for their hard work and service has created significant hardships for many of our employees. ... The team continues to work furiously to address technical and process issues, resolve individual employee cases, and put in place systems and processes to minimize issues and provide greater clarity and information to our employees to help rebuild trust and confidence in us and the district, so that we can move into a stronger new school year in the fall."
A Waymo car nearly met its maker when a group of young people with skateboards, White Claws and red flags swarmed it and danced on top of it by Dolores Park Saturday evening, videos show.

Motherboard reported that the car, which was not in driverless mode and had a real person operating the vehicle, got ensnared in a hill bomb event: a common, often word-of-mouth gathering where skateboarders launch themselves down steep hills by the park while large crowds watch. (A Waymo spokesperson told Motherboard that the driver got out safely.)

The video, posted on the popular Bay Area Instagram account, itsthebay, has gathered nearly 500 comments and reactions from mostly supportive users. Waymo just got WAY MO LIT, said one user.

Board Rap, an independent skateboarding magazine, says that it's a significant part of skateboarding history, especially in a city known for its notoriously steep hills. And while the local skating community celebrates this underground sport and the parties that follow, longtime residents who live near Dolores Park are unhappy about hill bombing around their neighborhood.

Were just very, very angry, lets put it that way, Linda Rothfield, a neighborhood resident, says. Like whats going on? Rothfield says she was in an Uber passing 18th Street around 10 p.m. when she saw what she described as a mob of young people obstructing the road and detonating fireworks. Despite making multiple calls to authorities, she said San Francisco police never showed  even after local supervisors warned them ahead of time.

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, we suspected the annual 'Dolores Hill Bomb' would happen last weekend and reached out in advance to SFPD and SFMTA to be prepared, wrote a representative from District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelmans office. It appears that law enforcement were overwhelmed by the crowds and not able to safely resolve the situation what with the staffing resources they had available.

A spokesperson for SFPD denies this and says that they had extra staffing on hand and responded to a "number of calls," including a medical call for a skateboarder who was injured, a car crash, and two reports of vandalism. "Mission Station is aware that this event typically occurs in the month of July and worked with city agencies and local stakeholders to prepare for the incident, should it occur," the spokesperson wrote.



SFGATE news director Amy Graff contributed to this report.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  One million gallons of oil have been collected since April 2019 from the site of the nations longest oil spill, in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana, the Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.

The spill began when when Hurricane Ivan caused an underwater mudslide in September 2004, collapsing an oil production platform 11 miles (27 kilometers) from shore. Owner Taylor Energy Co. LLC capped nine wells but said it couldn't cap the other 16 at Mississippi Canyon Block 20, or MC-20 for short. They have now been leaking for nearly 18 years.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Since Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee won his election in 2018, the Republican has led the state during a global pandemic, uprisings over racial injustice across the country, mass shootings nationwide and the Supreme Court's end to the constitutional right to abortion.

Three Democrats are running for Lee's job in hopes that the national political landscape, combined with some controversies over his time running the state, could open some inroads for voters to consider a switch. It wont be an easy ask in Tennessee, which has elected only Republicans statewide for more than 15 years.

Even in the most tumultuous times, Lee has continued to poll strong and positioned himself for reelection, with little expectation that voters would start changing course from the GOP now.

Jason Martin, a critical care physician from Nashville, announced his bid for governor as a lead critic of Lee's COVID-19 pandemic approach. JB Smiley, a Black city councilman and attorney in Memphis, is vying for the nomination as well. The Democratic field rounds out with Carnita Atwater, a former nurse and community leader in Memphis.

They've had to adjust as Lee's hands-off approach to the pandemic went from top-of-mind to a lesser priority, given the public's fatigue over COVID-19 issues and the rise of other imminent controversies. Some of those include the ongoing fallout of the elimination of constitutional abortion rights and recent comments disparaging teachers by a charter school operator for whom Lee wants to help set up dozens of schools in the state.

Martin said Lee's handling of COVID illustrates a broader context of leadership deficiencies  from not speaking up while on stage during the controversial comments on teachers, to declining to veto a bill that imposes harsher sentencing, despite his focus on the need for criminal justice reform.

Im just as tired of COVID as everybody else, believe me, Martin said in an interview with The Associated Press, noting the 26,000-plus COVID deaths tallied in the state. But what we talk about is leadership, and COVID was an example of failed leadership, a fend-for-yourself approach by the governor.

Smiley says he's hoping to capitalize on the simmering voter outrage by not shying away from his Democratic Party affiliation he feels past candidates have done to woo those uneasy backing a Democratic hopeful.

Teachers are angry, women are angry, young people are angry and that anger turns to action and activism, Smiley said. It will cause the Democratic Party to rise up again and say you know what, were right on the issues.

So far, the candidates have focused on criticizing Lee rather than attacking one another due to largely sharing similar policy positions. These include approving restoring and protecting the right for a woman to get an abortion and LGBTQ rights, expanding Medicaid eligibility, legalizing marijuana and funneling more money toward teachers' salaries.

Yet Smiley, 34, who was elected to the Memphis city council in 2020, points out that he's the only Democratic candidate who has been elected to a government office. In an interview with The Associated Press, Smiley grouped his opponent Martin with Lee and former President Donald Trump as examples of people who have sought top elected offices with no prior experience.

Weve already seen what its like when someone with no government experience, he said, adding that he believes working class people deserves a working class governor who understands the issues that were facing.

Martin said in response that you dont have to be a career politician to be a public servant, noting his track record in health care of caring for underserved communities. He touted a series of endorsements from Democratic state lawmakers and said he's traveled to all 95 counties to help inform his policy platform.

Atwater did not return emailed requests for comment. She's raised roughly $2,000 since she announced her campaign and had not spent any of it, according to the last campaign filing report filed in April.

Smiley had raised about $46,000 and spent nearly all but $1,700 of it by April, according to campaign reports. Meanwhile, Martin raised nearly $212,500 as of April and had approximately $108,500 leftover.

Lee defeated a Democratic opponent by 21 percentage points in 2018.

Tennessee history does not bode well for those trying to oust a sitting governor. The last defeat was in 1938, when Prentice Cooper beat then-Gov. Gordon Browning in the Democratic primary, though from 1953 to 1978, governors had to sit out for a term before seeking another run, according to legislative historian Eddie Weeks.

The same year, Democrats thought they had a chance to win an open U.S. Senate seat with former popular Gov. Phil Bredesen, a moderate and the last member of his party to win statewide, in 2006. But Bredesen ended up losing by about 11 percentage points to Republican Marsha Blackburn, with the race turning into a referendum on whether to give Democrats the chance to take a Senate majority.

In recalibrating from that loss, Democrats took an unexpected path in 2020. Another open Senate race saw primary voters decidedly vote against a well-funded candidate backed by Democrats' congressional campaign arm. Instead, they opted for Marquita Bradshaw, a Black progressive community activist from Memphis who was little known and underfunded. She wound up losing by 27 percentage points to Republican Bill Hagerty.
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LANSING  Abortion rights are poised to come before Michigan voters in November after an abortion rights campaign turned in a record-breaking number of signatures Monday for a ballot initiative to the secretary of states office.

Volunteers in mid-Michigan helped collect 4,500 of the high total 753,759, according to Allison Wilcox, Women of Michigan Action Network Leader.

"I think (the record-signatures) it shows overwhelming support in the state for this effort," she said. "Going forward, we're going to be working to educate people and getting out to vote because it's going to be important."

The effort will further increase attention on Michigan's elections, where the battleground states Democratic governor and attorney general have made abortion rights a centerpiece of their reelection campaigns.

The push to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution comes weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and gave states the power to decide whether to ban the procedure. The ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

Michigan is among several states with a pre-Roe abortion law that was set to take effect if Roe was overturned. However, a judge issued an injunction that temporarily blocked it. The 1931 law would make abortion a felony in all cases, except when necessary to preserve the life of such woman.

"The politicians of our state legislature, dominated by Republicans because it's been gerrymandered that way, won't listen to the people  most of us want abortion care," Wilcox said, adding more comments about medical decisions being made between professionals and patients, among other efforts to protect reproductive rights.

The constitutional amendment would affirm the right to make pregnancy-related decisions without interference, including about abortion and other reproductive services such as birth control. The total signatures turned in by the campaign was close to double the 425,059 needed and the most ever collected by a Michigan ballot initiative.

The number of signatures showed that here in Michigan we trust women. We trust people. We trust doctors, not politicians, to make decisions about our body, our pregnancy and parenthood, Reproductive Freedom for All spokesperson Shanay Watson-Whittaker said during a news conference in Lansing.

The signatures still must be verified by the Bureau of Elections and validated by the Board of State Canvassers before the proposed amendment can appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The effort in Michigan comes amid a push in Kansas by abortion opponents to amend that states constitution to declare that it does not grant a right to abortion and that lawmakers can regulate it as they see fit  opening the door to a ban. The Kansas Supreme Court declared in 2019 that under the states Bill of Rights, access to abortion is a fundamental right.

Kansas is the first state to consider such a change in its constitution since the decision, but Kentucky voters will decide on a similar initiative in November. Voters in four other states added similar provisions to their state constitutions: Tennessee in 2014; Alabama and West Virginia in 2018; and Louisiana in 2020. Lawmakers in Iowa and Pennsylvania are pushing for similar measures.

Michigan's Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit with the Michigan Supreme Court in May asking it to make a permanent ruling on abortion in the state. She has said that the state's 1931 law is invalid under the due process and equal protection clauses of the state constitution.

The injunction, which stems from a Planned Parenthood lawsuit, remains in place but could be revoked any day. Republicans who control the states House and Senate appealed the injunction on July 6 on behalf of the state's attorney general, Dana Nessel, who has said she wont appeal the injunction or enforce the 1931 ban.

Decisions regarding abortion and reproductive rights could also hinge on the results of the upcoming election, with highly contested races expected for governor, attorney general and the U.S. House. Last month, a Republican lawmaker introduced a bill in the legislature that would create 10-year prison sentences for abortion providers.

Supporters of the ballot initiative have said it will clear up uncertainty in the courts and bring the decision on abortion directly to the voters.

Doing this through a constitutional amendment ensures that legislators cant just undo this with a simple majority, Democratic state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky told The Associated Press.

The Citizens to Support MI Women and Children coalition, which was formed to oppose the initiative, has said the current language creates an anything goes proposal that would allow abortions at any age.

"Words matter and thats especially true when those words will become a permanent part of our state constitution. However you feel about abortion, the consequences of this proposed amendment are too dangerous for women and children, said Christen Pollo, spokesperson for the coalition.

The drive began in January and was led by Reproductive Freedom for All, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, Michigan Voices and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan.

Julie Falbaum, a lead volunteer for the group in Ann Arbor, said the response following the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe was unlike anything shes experienced.

"People who normally dont get involved were saying, This is too important not to do something, she said.
ALTON  An Alton woman has been seriously injured on Saturday, July 9 in an auto accident in Jamaica.

Yvonne Campbell, the owner of My Just Desserts at 31 E. Broadway in Alton, is currently in a Jamaican hospital unresponsive after a Saturday afternoon car accident.

Lexi Groves, an employee for My Just Desserts, said the accident occurred while Campbell and her family were on vacation in Hanover, Jamaica. Groves said the family was in a taxi on their way back to their resort when the accident occurred.

All family members were transferred to a nearby hospital, she said. Campbell remained in the hospital on Monday afternoon; other family members are currently in recovery.

Nakiyah Jackson, Campbell's oldest daughter, has established a GoFundMe page to help cover the medical expenses

"We are trying to get her back into the states for surgery and aftercare plans," she said of Campbell. "If you know Yvonne, you know shed never enter a room without leaving you with a laugh, smile, or without giving you the biggest hug. She now needs your help, anything is greatly appreciated."

As of Monday afternoon The GoFundMe page had raised more than $26,000 toward a $30,000 goal. To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/yvonne-campbells-medical-expenses.

Groves said My Just Desserts is maintaining its normal business hours Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Customers can leave donations at the restaurant. People also can also send donations to Groves directly by calling 618-979-6325 or via email at alexisgroves14@yahoo.com.

According to the Jamaica Observer, the taxi was a mini tour bus that collided head on with a truck Saturday afternoon. Two people involved in the accident were trapped and had to be extricated from the wreckage by firefighters.

A total of eight people, six of whom were tourists, were rushed to hospital with severe injuries.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Ann Shulgin, who together with her late husband Alexander Shulgin pioneered the use of psychedelic drugs in psychotherapy and co-wrote two seminal books on the subject, has died at the age of 91.

Shulgin had been in ill health because of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, her daughter, Wendy Tucker, said. She died Saturday at the farm, a sprawling San Francisco Bay Area residence she shared with her chemist husband until his death in 2014, surrounded by loved ones, Tucker said.

Shulgin had a deep understanding of Jungian psychoanalysis and collaborated with her husband, who in the 1970s rediscovered the MDMA compound, better known as ecstasy, and introduced it as a possible mental health treatment. The couple tested the substances on themselves and a small group of friends.

He was the scientist, and I was the psychologist, Shulgin said of their partnership in a 2014 interview with The Associated Press. He was a genius.

Born in New Zealand to an American diplomat and New Zealand mother, Shulgin grew up in different parts of the world. The family settled in San Francisco after her father's retirement. A professionally trained artist, Shulgin drew and painted all her life and worked as a medical transcriber.

In 1978, she met Alexander Shulgin, who created more than 200 chemical compounds for use in psychotherapy.

The couples home, where Alexander Shulgin also had his lab, in Lafayette, California, about 22 miles (35 kilometers) east of San Francisco, for decades was a gathering place for students, teachers and those working with psychedelics.

Though she was not a professionally trained psychotherapist, she was always the one who people talk to and you always felt like you could open up to her. She called herself a lay therapist, Tucker said.

The couple took copious notes of their experiences and of what they observed in others and co-wrote two books. PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story, which was published in 1991, and TiHKAL: The Continuation, published in 1997.

In PiHKAL, Shulgin wrote about her first experience with psychedelics when she was in her 20s.

I saw something forming in the air, slightly above the level of my head. I thought that it was perhaps a few feet from me, then I realized I couldnt actually locate it in space at all. It was a moving spiral opening, up there in the cool air, and I knew it was a doorway to the other side of existence, that I could step through it if I wished to be finished with this particular life I was living, and that there was nothing threatening or menacing about it; in fact, it was completely friendly. I also knew that I had no intention of stepping through it because there was still a great deal I wanted to do in my life, and I intended to live long enough to get it all done. The lovely spiral door didnt beckon; it was just matter-of-factly there," she wrote.

Publishers were afraid to print their first book about MDMA so the couple, who were against ecstasy being used outside of therapy, self-published it because they wanted to share their experiences and knowledge with the world, Tucker said.

They were the ones pushing to do all the PTSD work with veterans with MDMA because they saw people who had severe trauma could really break through. They were so brave to publish their work because that really opened the door and paved the way to all that is happening now, Tucker said.

In the U.S., several states have approved studying the potential medical use of psychedelics, which are still illegal under federal law. A string of cities have also decriminalized so-called magic mushrooms, and an explosion of investment money is flowing into the arena.

Experts say the research is promising for treating conditions ranging from PTSD to smoking addiction, but caution that some serious risks remain, especially for those with certain mental health conditions.

We lost years and years of research ability because of the attitude and fears around psychedelics. But we wouldnt be where we are if it wasnt for Ann and Sasha, she added.

Shulgin is survived by four children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A memorial is being planned for later in the year.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Biden on Tuesday hosted hundreds of lawmakers, their families and aides for the first congressional picnic at the White House in three years, speaking fondly of a bygone era in which Democrats and Republicans could get along, despite differing political views.

I wish we were able to do more of this so that you all got to know one another well, Biden said, casually dressed without a jacket or tie. The president reminisced of an increasingly quaint time on Capitol Hill, when lawmakers would spend considerably more time socializing and becoming acquainted with one anothers families.

Those interactions, Biden said, helped lawmakers get along better. The president, who spent 36 years in the Senate, recalled advice that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., gave him when he arrived in Washington as a young senator: spend time in the Senate Dining Room, which is for senators only, and get to know new colleagues.

Its hard to dislike a colleague when you know he or she has a wife or husband that has cancer, Biden said. Its hard to look at someone who you strongly disagree with and make it personal when you know they have a son or daughter that has a problem.

Though the White House picnic was cut short by an impending thunderstorm, Biden had plenty of time to mingle with lawmakers and their families, taking selfies and greeting them shortly before he was to leave for the Middle East.

The hundreds of guests on the South Lawn, which included White House aides, noshed on fried chicken, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, smoked barbecue brisket, vegetable sandwiches and Dove ice cream bars with wrappers adorned with the presidential seal.

But Biden could not escape questions about his poor political standing, highlighted this week by a New York Times/Siena College poll that found just 26 percent of Democratic voters believe he should be renominated by the party in 2024.

They want me to run, Biden said of Democrats when asked about the poll results during the picnic. That poll showed that 92 percent of Democrats, if I ran, would vote for me. The 92 percent figure in the poll referred to the percentage of Democrats who said they would support Biden if former President Donald Trump were the Republican nominee.

The White House said more than 250 lawmakers, including dozens of House and Senate Republicans, attended the picnic along with a smattering of Cabinet officials and scores of congressional aides. Among the GOP lawmakers were Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Michael Turner of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.
PHOENIX (AP)  The leader of Arizona's largest abortion provider said Tuesday her organization will not resume the procedures in one county even though a federal judge has blocked a fetal "personhood" law they feared could lead to criminal charges against doctors and others.

Brittany Fonteno, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, blamed vague and confusing statements from Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich about a near-total pre-statehood ban on abortions for the decision.

That law has been on the books since at least 1901 but has been blocked since shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. That injunction covers Pima County, home to Tucson, and the attorney general, so the judge's decision on the personhood law left open the possibility they would resume in Tucson.

The high court overturned Roe last month, saying women do not have a constitutional right to abortion, allowing states to limit or even ban all abortions.

Brnovich announced last month the pre-1901 law was enforceable and that his office would seek to have that injunction lifted, although it has not yet done so.

We are not going to put our patients, staff and communities at risk especially when a majority of our frontline providers and patients identify as POC (people of color), LGBTQ or immigrants and we know that the criminal justice system is particularly cruel to those communities, Fonteno said in a statement.

The medical director of the second large abortion provider in Tucson did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Choices Women's Center, like other Arizona providers, stopped abortion care after the Supreme Court's June 24 ruling.

The other major issue worrying providers was a 2021 so-called personhood" law that grants all rights to pre-born children. Providers worried that the state could bring criminal charges against doctors and others for otherwise legal abortions, and asked a federal judge last month to block it as unconstitutionally vague.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes did just that on Monday, saying in a written ruling that the groups that sued to block the law are right  it is anyones guess, as the state acknowledged, what criminal laws abortion providers may be breaking if they perform otherwise-legal abortions.

At least four other states have similar personhood laws on the books, including Missouri, Georgia, Alabama and Kansas, although the Kansas Supreme Court declared in 2019 that access to abortion is a fundamental right under the states Bill of Rights and its personhood law has no effect.

Rayes had refused to block Arizona's personhood law last year, but abortion rights groups renewed their request after Roe v. Wade was struck down.

They argued that providers fear they could be charged with child abuse, assault or a litany of other crimes, and that the law was too vague. There is also concern of civil and regulatory action.

The attorney general's office told the judge that the personhood law created no new criminal laws, but admitted in its court filings that prosecutors and courts could have a different view.

Abortion rights groups that challenged the personhood law hailed the ruling, while a spokesperson for Brnovich said it was based on an interpretation of the law the office disagreed with and was considering what to do next.

The personhood law says all other state laws should be interpreted to bestow all rights to an unborn child. Rayes' ruling blocks enforcement of the law while the challenges precede though the court, including a possible trial.

Medical providers should not have to guess about whether the otherwise lawful performance of their jobs could lead to criminal, civil, or professional liability solely based on how literally or maximalist state licensing, law enforcement, and judicial officials might construe the Interpretation Policys command, Rayes said.

States now have wide-ranging rights to limit abortion, and many laws limiting or blocking all abortions that were previously blocked can now be enforced. That has led to battles in many states over which laws are now enforceable.

Arizona is in that position, with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey saying a ban on abortions after 15 weeks that he signed in March takes precedence over the pre-1901 law Brnovich said is in effect.

There were just over 13,000 abortions in Arizona in 2020, according to the most recent report from the Arizona Department of Health Services. Of those, fewer than 650 were performed after 15 weeks of gestation.

___

This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Brittany Fonteno's last name in one reference.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Gun makers and dealers in California will be required to block firearms sales to anyone they have reasonable cause to believe is at substantial risk of using a gun illegally or of harming themselves or others, under a new law that Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that he had signed.

It's a subjective requirement that goes farther than current background checks or prohibitions on selling guns to people prohibited from owning them.

The regulation is part of the new law creating a good conduct code for gun makers and dealers that also allows anyone who suffers harm from violations to sue.

The bill was one of more than a dozen adding to California's already strict gun regulations that were sent to Newsom, a Democrat, by state lawmakers before they left for their monthlong summer recess.

The National Rifle Association said the requirements are vague and represent an attempt to hold gun dealers and makers liable for the actions of others. The new law, the group said, seeks to frustrate law-abiding gun owners with the goal of driving gun makers and dealers out of business with frivolous litigation.

The state's firearm industry standard of conduct, starting in July 2023, will require those making, importing or selling guns to take reasonable precautions to make sure the weapons don't fall into the wrong hands through sales or thefts.

That includes having reasonable controls to prevent sales to arms traffickers, straw buyers, those prohibited from owning guns, and anyone deemed to be at substantial risk of using the gun improperly.

The law is patterned after a New York measure that took effect last year to skirt a 2005 federal law blocking most liability lawsuits against gun-makers or dealers.

The New York measure declared such violations a public nuisance, taking advantage of a federal exemption that allows lawsuits when gun makers break state or local laws regulating the sale and marketing of firearms.

Delaware and New Jersey just enacted similar laws, and all contain provisions requiring firearms dealers to act responsibly, said Tanya Schardt, senior counsel and director of state and federal policy at the Brady gun control advocacy organization that sought the laws.

There may be indicators or things that you see beyond just passing the background check that indicate to the dealer that they shouldn't sell the gun, she said.

I would say the California law is more specific," Schardt said. "But substantively I think it creates the same set of requirements, the same standards with regards to engaging in safe business practices.

It's not asking someone to be psychic, she added, but to take reasonable precautions in the same way that an automobile dealer could be liable for selling to a customer who is clearly drunk, for instance.

Its not creating liability, its not expanding liability beyond whats reasonable ... which is really the same standard that every other industry is measured against, she said.

A federal judge in May rejected a challenge to the New York law by gun manufacturers and sellers.

Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, expects the California law will be challenged on the argument that it violates the federal law.

The ability to be sued for doing something bad is already there, he said, noting that gun makers and dealers are liable for any illegal activity. This is the anti-gun sides way of looking for a deep pocket.

The law will allow the California attorney general, city and county attorneys and victims of gun code of conduct violations to sue gun retailers or manufacturers for civil damages.

Nearly every industry is held liable when their products case harm or injury. All except one  the gun industry, Newsom said in a video Tuesday announcing that he had signed the bill on Monday.

With the new law, he said, gun makers will finally be held to account for their role in this crisis.

Californias law allows gun makers and dealers to also be sued for alleged violations of other laws, including false advertising, unfair competition or deceptive acts or practices.

Hitting their bottom line may finally compel them to step up to reduce gun violence by preventing illegal sales and theft, said the bill's author, Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting.

The law will also prohibit manufacturers and retailers from making, importing or selling guns or related products that are abnormally dangerous and likely to create an unreasonable risk of harm.

That could include kits for building untraceable  ghost guns,  bump stocks  that increase the rate of fire for semi-automatic weapons, or  bullet button  assault weapons that allow for rapid reloading.
SACRAMENTO, Calif.  Less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against restrictions on carrying firearms in public in a substantial victory for Second Amendment advocates, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed at least three major gun control measures into law to restrict access to the weapons and create an avenue for private citizens to sue the industry.

On Tuesday, Newsom signed one of the highest-profile bills on a list of more than a dozen he prioritized this year amid a nationwide surge in gun violence. Assembly Bill 1594 establishes a firearm industry standard of conduct and allows local governments, the state Department of Justice and gun violence survivors to sue for egregious violations of state sales and marketing regulations.

Assembly Member Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, and other Democratic lawmakers said they crafted the legislation, which was sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta, to work within the boundaries of a federal law that shields manufacturers and dealers from certain lawsuits.

To the victims of gun violence and their families: California stands with you. The gun industry can no longer hide from the devastating harm their products cause, Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement. Our kids, families and communities deserve streets free of gun violence and gun makers must be held accountable for their role in this crisis. Nearly every industry is held liable when people are hurt or killed by their products  guns should be no different.

The new law will go into effect on July 1, 2023, while others will be implemented immediately due to an urgency clause, which required a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of the Legislature. Two bills Newsom signed June 30 will limit firearm advertising to minors and add restrictions against already highly regulated ghost guns.

Newsom signed the laws in the midst of deep national division over whether more firearms restrictions are needed to stem a crisis of gun violence, including two recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas that left dozens dead, including 19 children.

Following those tragedies, Newsom and top legislative Democrats pledged swift action on a package of proposals to further strengthen the states firearm regulations, already the strongest in the country. Since then, another seven people died in a mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill., during a July 4 parade, the same day five people were shot, one fatally, in downtown Sacramento near the state Capitol.

With public opinion swinging in favor of gun control, Congress passed bipartisan legislation that prevents abusive intimate partners from buying firearms and encourages states to pass so-called red flag laws. President Joe Biden signed it into law on June 25.

Two days before, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a New York law that requires people to prove a special need for self protection in order to bring guns outside their homes. The 6-3 ruling creates legal jeopardy for a range of state firearms laws nationwide, and looms over the bills Newsom has signed.

Sam Paredes, executive director of the Gun Owners of California, said many of the bills likely violate the 1st, Second and 14th Amendments.

None of this stuff, none of the bills that are going to the governors desk that he is going to sign pass that [constitutional] test, from our opinion. And I think we will find out in court if our opinion is correct, Paredes said.

Daniel Reid, western regional director for the National Rifle Association, also raised serious concerns with restrictions on youth advertising, which he said were clearly unconstitutional on 1st Amendment grounds. Reid said that these regulations could hamper conservation and hunting efforts, as well as firearm training and educational opportunities for young people.

While gun rights advocates argue that the Supreme Courts ruling now makes it harder for states to pass new rules, experts say theres still some legal wiggle room to test constitutional limits.

Its unclear where the court is going to draw the line, said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley Law. I think theres a strong argument that all of these are constitutional. Theres also going to be an argument that they are unconstitutional. I think its important to adopt the laws and then see where the court is going to draw the line.

Eugene Volokh, a UCLA School of Law professor, said the Supreme Courts decision limits how expansive laws can be, but that certain restrictions could remain permissible.

Unsurprisingly, legislatures may continue trying to regulate (guns), Volokh said. They will have to act more cautiously, he added, recognizing that firearms are now in a zone of considerable constitutional protection.

Newsom is expected to sign more gun bills this month and in August, after lawmakers return from their summer break and adjourn this years legislative session. Among them is Senate Bill 1327, a closely watched proposal to increase legal liability in the industry by authorizing private lawsuits against anyone who imports, distributes, manufactures or sells illegal firearms such as assault weapons, .50 BMG rifles and so-called ghost guns.

Newsom attracted national attention in December when he called for the legislation as a way to test the Supreme Courts legal logic in declining to block a Texas law that allows private people to sue anyone who aids and abets in an abortion.

California has long required that applicants prove good cause to obtain a concealed carry gun permit, but the Supreme Courts New York decision rendered that requirement unconstitutional, Bonta said soon after the ruling. Even so, Newsom said that he had been working closely with the attorney general and legislative leaders for months on Senate Bill 918, which would update and strengthen our public-carry law and make it consistent with the Supreme Court ruling.

The bill aims to specify where guns are prohibited in California, including on school grounds and universities, public transportation, bars and public parks. Firearm owners who want to obtain a concealed carry license would also face a more stringent application process and additional storage and training requirements. Lawmakers approved the bill during a key committee hearing last month.

This is critical legislation to strengthen our existing concealed carry laws and ensure every Californian is safe from gun violence, said state Sen. Anthony Portantino, a La Canada Flintridge Democrat and author of SB 918. We must be diligent in addressing the gun violence epidemic in our country, and concealed carry laws are a key component of this effort.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  In a story published July 8, 2022, about Greece and Bulgaria marking the completion of a new pipeline, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the future capacity of the pipeline could be expanded to 5 million cubic meters a year. The correct figure is 5 billion, not 5 million.
MIAMI (AP)  U.S. immigration officials say 25 Cuban migrants landed in South Florida on Tuesday, the latest arrival which is part of a mass migration from the island to escape political and economic troubles.

The group was seen sitting off the side of the road by a beachside park in Key Biscayne, Florida, in the early morning and included women and a few children, who were all taken into custody.
Michigans largest district court and bail reform advocates agreed Tuesday to settle a federal class-action lawsuit over cash bail practices, which activists say routinely and unconstitutionally jail poor and working class defendants despite evidence of their inability to pay.

Both sides say the reforms strike at racial inequality in the criminal legal system. On any given day in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, the nation's Blackest city, nearly three-quarters of those jailed are Black, a proportion much higher than their share of the population.

The agreement requires the court to reform bail practices, including limiting its ability to impose unaffordable bail on defendants. Advocates say it could be a model for court systems nationwide, where race and wealth are significant factors in the administration of justice.

Detroits 36th District Court, the American Civil Liberties Union and The Bail Project, a nonprofit that pays bail for people in need, said the status quo wreaks unnecessary havoc on defendants jobs, homes and families.

This is a historic agreement that we believe can and should be a template for how courts around the country can adapt their bail practices to what is lawful, constitutional and sensible, said Phil Mayor, senior staff attorney for the Michigan ACLU.

Chief Judge William McConico of the 36th District Court said settling the class-action lawsuit, filed in 2019 just before he became the chief, presented an opportunity to show that law enforcement and activists can work together to change the criminal legal system.

Other African American cities will be able to point to what one of the largest district courts in the country is doing to address this issue, said McConico, who is Black. Thats why it is so important that this is starting in a major Black city, that it is not being rolled out in a suburban city or a small court.

The reforms, shared with The Associated Press exclusively ahead of Tuesday's announcement, do not bar judges from imposing cash bail, especially if defendants are deemed a flight risk or a danger to the public. However, all Detroit judges and magistrates must say on the record how imposing bail would protect the community or prevent a failure to appear. Judges must also make an on-the-record determination as to how much a defendant can afford to pay.

The parties also agreed that any defendant who is at 200% of the federal poverty level or less is to be assumed unable to post cash bond. According to the 2022 federal guidelines, 200% of the poverty level is annual earnings of roughly $27,000 for an individual and $55,000 for a family of four.

This should largely eliminate the practice of imposing what may seem to some like small amounts of cash bail, which effectively serve as a jail sentence for somebody who hasnt yet been convicted of a crime, Mayor said.

The sides also agreed to new rules stipulating when and what triggers a bail redetermination hearing, if a defendant's bail has been set but goes unpaid. The hearing would allow for a bail amount to be reduced or withdrawn altogether if it is later deemed unaffordable.

The reforms in Detroit come as some states and local jurisdictions across the U.S. have either rolled back or are considering rollbacks of bail reforms in response to a pandemic-era increase in crime. From San Francisco to New York City and cities in between, rhetoric around the uptick in violence and nuisance crimes has slowed political momentum despite bipartisan agreement that mass incarceration is expensive and has no proven positive effect on public safety.

We are still moving forward in a very thoughtful way, to say that the presumption of innocence matters, that mass incarceration of pretrial people needs to be reversed, and that racial disparities at the pretrial stage need to be addressed in a very real way, said Twyla Carter, The Bail Projects outgoing national legal and policy director.

The ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, The Bail Project and the law firm Covington & Burling LLP sued the chief judge, court magistrates and the Wayne County sheriff in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 2019, on behalf of seven Black plaintiffs. The plaintiffs alleged the only reason they remained in jail was because they couldnt afford bail.

At the time of her incarceration in April 2019, one plaintiff, Starmanie Jackson, an impoverished single mother of 2- and 4-year-old children, had her bail set at $700 over outstanding traffic tickets and a charge alleging domestic violence. Because she could not afford to pay, Jackson, who had never been arrested before, was separated from her children for the first time in their lives.

I was devastated, said Jackson, 27. It was nerve wracking, scary and disappointing, because we depend on our justice system to keep us safe and on track.

She said her family couldnt locate her for two days, as jail officials struggled to confirm where she was being held. As a result of her incarceration, Jackson, a certified nurses assistant, said she lost a new nursing home job when she didnt show up for her first shift and was evicted from her apartment after she used her rent money to help pay her bond. The domestic violence charge was ultimately dropped and Jackson never served another day in jail.

The settlement makes for a happy ending to what ended up being a nightmare, said Jackson, now a mother of four children.

Im ecstatic because Im able to help people to overcome some of the difficulties in our justice system, which is already jacked up, she said.

As part of the settlement, Jackson and the other plaintiffs will split a payment of $14,000. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the amount was agreed to with the knowledge that the court would also spend money to track bail and pretrial detention. The court did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

According to a 2020 report of the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, between 2016 and 2018, Black men made up 29% of the jail admissions in the counties the task force sampled, even though they were just 6% of the resident population in those counties. Between 2018 and 2019 in Wayne County, Black people represented 70% of those detained in the local jail on any given day, even though they were only 39% of the resident population.

Nationwide, recent studies show Black defendants make up a majority of people in pretrial detention. However, the jail incarceration rate for Black people had been on the decline between 2008 and 2019, according to the latest federal data.

Former U.S. Attorney Gen. Eric Holder, who is senior counsel at Covington & Burling, commended the Detroit district court for reaching the agreement on reforms. This is how our criminal justice system should work, he said. "It can, and should be, a model for other jurisdictions across the country.

Ezekiel Edwards, vice president of pretrial criminal justice at Arnold Ventures, a philanthropic organization supporting research and policy work on justice issues, said bail systems in the U.S. have become more reform-minded over the last decade. But the policy landscape is still a patchwork, he said.

Cash bail is still used in most jurisdictions around the country and without the necessary regulations or limitations, Edwards said.

As for achieving racial justice in Detroit, McConico said there will be a racially diverse bar association and a majority Black bench of judges and magistrates working together under the new administrative policies to ensure they have a chance of succeeding.

It wont just be symbolic, the chief judge said. There will be African Americans making a change on the criminal justice system that disproportionately impacts African Americans.

____

Morrison is a New York City-based member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.
CONROE, Texas (AP)  A man executed more than two decades ago has been identified through DNA testing as the person who killed a Texas girl in 1979, authorities have announced.

The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office said Monday it had spent decades investigating the September 1979 strangulation death of 12-year-old Lesia Michell Jackson. She went missing after going swimming in her Conroe neighborhood, and her body was found six days later. An autopsy concluded she was sexually assaulted before her death. Conroe is located about 40 miles (64 km) north of Houston.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  Physicians and researchers are urging New Mexico legislators to allow the use of psychedelic mushrooms in mental health therapy aimed at overcoming depression, anxiety, psychological trauma and alcoholism.

A legislative panel on Tuesday listened to advocates who hope to broaden the scope of medical treatment and research assisted by psilocybin, the psychedelic active ingredient in certain mushrooms.

Oregon is so far the only state to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin.

Recent studies indicate psilocybin could be useful in the treatment of major depression, including mental suffering among terminally ill patients, and for substance abuse including alcoholism, with low risks of addiction or overdose under medical supervision.

Physician Lawrence Leeman, a medicine professor at the University of New Mexico, urged legislators to move forward without waiting for federal decriminalization or regulatory approval to expand responsible therapies using doses of psilocybin.

Leeman and other advocates outlined emerging psilocybin protocols, involving six-hour supervised sessions and extensive discussions about the experience in subsequent counseling. He warned legislators that public interest is spawning illicit, underground experimentation without safeguards.

I do think there is a lot of promise from these medications, said Leeman, who also directs a program providing prenatal and maternity care to women with substance abuse problems. If this does go ahead, let's do this really safely, let's make sure we have people who are well trained (to administer the psychedelics) ... Let's make sure that people have counselors to see afterward.

It was unclear whether any New Mexico lawmakers will seek legislation for the medical use of psychedelics, which are still federally illegal. The Democratic-led Legislature convenes its next regular session in January 2023.

The study of psychedelics for therapy has made inroads in states led by Democrats and Republicans alike, including Hawaii, Connecticut, Texas, Utah and Oklahoma. And psilocybin has been decriminalized in the cities of Washington and Denver as well as Ann Arbor, Michigan; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Oakland and Santa Cruz in California.

In several states, military veterans are helping to persuade lawmakers to study psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic use in addressing post-traumatic stress.

Currently in New Mexico, lawful access to psilocybin-assisted therapy is available mostly through clinical trials.

Yale University psychiatrist Gerald Valentine said that leaves out people with low incomes and severe afflictions. He said the University of New Mexico is expanding its expertise in psychedelics-based therapies, and that a supportive environment can be found in communities such as Santa Fe, known as a progressive hub for healing and the arts.

These questions are starting to be answered about who might benefit from this therapy," Valentine said. I just feel very fortunate to be in a position to really bring this forth into real world situations.

Classic psychedelics include LSD, mescaline, psilocybin and ayahuasca. Plant-based psychedelics have long been used in indigenous cultures around the world.

At least one New Mexico church group uses hallucinogenic ayahuasca tea from the Amazon as a sacrament. A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision ensured access to ayahuasca imports for a temple on the outskirts of Santa Fe affiliated with the Brazil-based Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal.
MACON, Ga. (AP)  A Georgia man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in February to sexually assaulting a girl while a missionary in Uganda.

U.S. District Judge Marc. T. Treadwell sentenced Eric Tuininga, 45, of Milledgeville last week. He was ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution and spend a lifetime on supervised release as a registered sex offender after getting out of prison.

Prosecutors have said that an American citizen had contacted the U.S. embassy in Kampala, Uganda in June 2019 to tell officials that Tuininga was having sex with Ugandan girls as young as 14 who were under the care of the U.S.-based Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Mbale, Uganda.

Tuininga was one of the churchs ministers. Authorities said they found Tuininga had already returned to the United States, but federal agents identified the minor and kept investigating. Tuininga admitted to the conduct, with prosecutors saying he told them that the victim would often visit the church property in Mbale.

The recommended sentence for Tuininga was seven to nine years, The Telegraph of Macon reported. But Treadwell sentenced him to a decade in federal prison after hearing testimony from the victims caretaker and some of Tuiningas family members. Tuiningas defense attorney had objected to some of the evidence at sentencing and requested a sentence of five years.

I want to recognize the true bravery displayed by the Ugandan girl for speaking out when she was assaulted by a trusted person of power from another country, courageously seeking justice across continents, U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said in a statement. Law enforcement  both abroad and here at home  took on a challenging international case.

Mark Bube, general secretary of the denominations committee of foreign missions, has said Tuiningas misconduct was reported by other Orthodox Presbyterian missionaries in Uganda and that he was removed from missionary work in 2019. Bube said Tuininga was later removed entirely from ministry and excommunicated from the church based in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.

Tuininga joined the church from a separate but affiliated denomination in Oregon. A website chronicling Tuiningas work in Uganda said he began working there in 2012 after previously working as a minister at Immanuels Reformed Church in Salem, Oregon.
STOCKHOLM (AP)  The killing of a woman at an annual political event in Sweden earlier this month is now being investigated as an act of terror, authorities said.

Swedens domestic security agency, known by its acronym SAPO, said that the 32-year-old man who is in custody over the July 6 knife attack is now suspected of "terrorist crimes through murder, meaning SAPO has now taken over the investigation.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  New Hampshire's commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, who helped lead the state through the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after she started in 2020, said Wednesday that she is stepping down in December.

Lori Shibinette tendered her resignation at the meeting of the Executive Council.
COVID-19 cases are quickly increasing across the nation due to the B.A.4 and B.A.5 variants of the virus.

Health officials say the new variants are highly contagious but overall cause mild infection.

At-home tests go unreported to local health officials, so case counts across the U.S. are undercounted.

"We know that the counts we have on our dashboard are an estimate," said Dr. Olivia Kasirye, a public health officer in California explained. "We just know that it's not counting everybody because a lot of people either don't get tested or are using the at-home kits."

She said at-home testing is important because it's available and allows people to test and isolate quickly should they be infected with the coronavirus.

To help fill the case count gap left behind by at-home testing, health officials say testing wastewater for the virus that causes COVID-19 can serve as an early warning detection system for the virus in a regional area.



Kasirye said Sacramento County has been using wastewater surveillance since early on in the pandemic.

Testing wastewater can prove especially helpful in rural areas, regions with limited resources, and places where testing rates are low.



Watch the video above for the full story.
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Jumana Zakir knows who she is going to be for Halloween this year. Hint: Her new favorite superhero is a lot like her  female, teen, Muslim, American and totally awesome.

Kamala Khan is me, said the exuberant 13-year-old from Anaheim, California. She is just like me.

Khan is the Marvel Cinematic Universes first Muslim superhero to headline her own television show. Ms. Marvel, which launched on Disney+ June 8, has struck a chord with South Asian Muslims in the West because of its relatability and how it portrays Muslim families. Advocates for inclusion and representation hope the show will open the door to more nuanced on-screen portrayals of Muslims and their rich diversity.

The show tells the story of Khan, played by Pakistani Canadian actor Iman Vellani, getting her powers from a magical bangle that allows her to walk on air and conjure glowing light shields. But she is also a regular South Asian Muslim teen who goes to mosque, performs wudu or ritual ablution before praying, sometimes wears traditional attire called shalwar kameez, dances to Bollywood numbers at her brothers wedding, and breaks curfew to hang out with her buddy Bruno Carrelli at AvengerCon.

The final episode of the series is expected to drop Wednesday.

Munir Zamir, who is British Pakistani and grew up in East London, said seeing a brown, Pakistani Muslim girl from New Jersey in the comic books and, now, watching Ms. Marvel with his teenage children -- has been powerful. Zamir, 50, has been a Marvel fan since he was 7 and has followed the evolution of Kamala Khan since Ms. Marvel's inception in comic books in 2014.

For Muslims in particular, representation matters a lot because, for many years, misrepresentation has mattered too much, he said.

Zamir points out that there are other Muslim superheroes in the Marvel universe like Sooraya Qadir also known as Dust. She wears a flowing black outfit, covers her hair and face, and can transform her body into a cloud of dust.

Even in that description there are some classic tropes, Zamir said. But Kamala Khan is not some exotic woman from a Muslim country. That instantly sets her apart in the Marvel universe.

The diverse experiences of Muslim women in Ms. Marvel are among aspects that stand in contrast to findings of a report published last year examining Muslim representation across 200 top-grossing movies from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand that were released between 2017 and 2019.

The study found women were particularly underrepresented, with just 23.6% of Muslim characters in these movies being female. Conducted by the University of Southern California's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, with support from others, it also found that 90.5% of these films didnt feature Muslim speaking characters and yet 39% of primary and secondary Muslim characters were perpetrators of violence.

Making Ms. Marvel more relatable was intentional, said Sana Amanat, one of Kamala Khans creators and an executive producer on the show. She wanted to portray a Muslim character who feels like someone you know."

She is not put on a pedestal, she said. She is awkward. She is funny. She is a sweet person who ultimately wants to do better.

Amanat and her co-creators felt it was important to show Khan's everyday life as a Muslim American teen.

That idea of normalcy resonated with Hiba Bhatty, a Pakistani American fan of the show. She particularly liked how Khans father, Yusuf, was portrayed as a loving dad," as opposed to a scary stereotype.

Bhatty, a Los Angeles-based architect, previously displayed Ms. Marvel comics on her desk at work as conversation starters. Now, she is getting ready to give co-workers a Ms. Marvel" presentation. To her, it exemplifies how many in her community have moved beyond wanting to just be portrayed as normal Americans, to actually telling their own nuanced stories.

Ms. Marvel is also reclaiming language that has been weaponized against Muslims, said Arij Mikati, managing director of culture change for the Pillars Fund, which supports Muslim civic leaders and artists.

In one scene, Khan and her family joyously break into chants of Allahu akbar, or God is great, in celebration of her brothers wedding.

When you hear the call to prayer, thats usually a sign that youre somewhere unsafe on television, Mikati said. And all of these things are being reclaimed in this show.... Thats really beautiful because those day-to-day, small moments of our faith have really been taken from us in the media.

Pillars Funds initiatives include a Muslim artist database, created in collaboration with and support from The Walt Disney Company, to bring more Muslims into the filmmaking process.

A superhero story is not a genre where you expect a Muslim to be, and I love that this story is changing that, Mikati said.

The show touches on issues from surveilling mosques to what wearing head scarves means for some. Khan's friend, the hijab-wearing Nakia Bahadir, is played by Yasmeen Fletcher. One of the most important conversations between Khan and Bahadir happens in the girls restroom, where Bahadir talks about how she feels like herself, with a purpose, when she dons her hijab.

Jumana, the teen from Anaheim who plans to wear a hijab in a year or two, said she appreciated the show's portrayal of what the hijab means to some young girls like her.

My non-Muslim friends already know about my decision and respect it, she said. But if more people can realize that by watching this show, thats great.

Fletcher said she has been touched by such powerful responses.

The whole point of Nakia's character is to break down the stereotypes around hijabi women, she said.

For the shows seven writers  four of whom are Pakistani  representing Muslims and South Asians realistically was crucial, said the show's head writer Bisha K. Ali, who is British Pakistani.

We felt a hunger for being seen in a way that was celebrated and beautiful, and comes from a place of love and compassion, she said.

While it's impossible to capture the experience of nearly 2 billion Muslims, Ali said the writers leaned into telling the story of this one family in an authentic way.

The show takes a similar approach to talking about the Partition in 1947 when British India was divided along religious lines into India and Pakistan, triggering one of the largest mass migrations in history. The violence from tensions between Hindus and Muslims led to a refugee crisis, which the show weaves in as part of Khans family history.

Ali said the shows goal was not to point fingers in any direction, but to tell one familys story of the inter-generational trauma triggered by this chapter of history, and convey a sense of empathy for the amount of pain on all sides.

Ali described the mood in the writers room as incredibly emotional, as they talked about what their mosques were like growing up and contacted relatives on WhatsApp to gather more details.

Sitting in the belly of Marvel Studios in a windowless conference room, Ali said she had lost count of the number of times the writers looked at each other as if to ask: Are we really here? Are we really doing this?

___

Fam reported from Winter Park, Florida.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Has the world entered a time of unusual turbulence, or does it just feel that way?

Scanning the headlines, its easy to conclude that something has broken. The pandemic. Global grain shortage. Russia's war on Ukraine. Political and economic meltdown in Sri Lanka. A former prime ministers assassination in Japan. And, in the United States: inflation, mass shootings, a reckoning over Jan. 6, and collapsing abortion rights.

That sense of chaos can be difficult to square with longer-term data showing that, on many metrics, the world is generally becoming better off.

War is rarer today, by some measures, than it has been for most of the past 50 years  and, when it does occur, is significantly less deadly. Genocides and mass atrocities are less common all the time, too. Life expectancy, literacy and standards of living are all rising, on average, to historic highs.

Also steadily declining: hunger, child mortality and extreme poverty, liberating hundreds of millions from what are, by sheer numbers, among the preeminent threats facing humanity.

So why does it often feel like, despite all the data, things are only getting worse?

SERGEY PONOMAREV/NYT

There are a few reasons for this seeming disparity  some more reassuring than others  not to mention one important measure: the state of democracy, by which the world is not improving at all.

Subtle Gains Versus Obvious Crisis

The ways in which the world is most significantly improving tend to be gradual, unfolding over generations.

Hundreds of millions might live healthier and safer lives than their parents did. But those often subtle changes will lift entire societies at a time, making it harder for individuals to notice the change.

We tend to judge how we are doing compared to those around us, or compared to our own recent past  not compared to abstract bench marks or previous generations.

And many of the positive changes are about prevention. No one notices the wars that dont happen, the family members who arent claimed by disease, the children who dont die in infancy.

Still, try visiting a society in turmoil  Hong Kong amid encroaching authoritarianism, say, or Lebanon in economic free-fall  and telling people that they live in an age of rising well-being and receding threats. You are likely to be met with incredulous glares.

And thanks to the internet, with news consumption far greater than it once was, even those who live far from crises now live in a digital world of constant, dire updates. A major story, like a mass shooting or the war in Ukraine, can feel ever-present in our lives.

Armin Durgut/AP

If your social media feeds and home screens serve up a steady stream of calamities, they can feed an overwhelming  if sometimes misplaced  sense of threat, as if the world itself were caving in.

When people express that theyre feeling as if the world is falling apart, they are not talking about long-view metrics like life expectancy. Rather, they tend to sense that humanity is besieged by upheaval and emergencies to a degree that it has not been before.

But there is an argument, albeit one that would only comfort an economist, that todays crises are both rarer and less severe than those of even the recent past.

Consider the mid-1990s, a time that Americans tend to remember as one of global stability and optimism. If today were really a time of exceptional turmoil, then surely that world would look better in comparison?

In reality, the opposite is true. The mid-1990s saw genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia. Years of war in Europe amid Yugoslavias collapse. Devastating famines in Sudan, Somalia and North Korea. Civil wars in over a dozen countries. Crackdowns and coups too numerous to mention.

Such events were in fact more common in the 1990s than today. Prior decades were, in most ways, even worse.

But you are unlikely to remember every decades-old disaster as vividly as you might be able to recount, say, a terror attack or political crisis from this week.

And reductions in such crises have only reduced the worlds problems, not erased them. No one wants to cheer a famine that is less severe than it might have been in the past, especially not the families whom it puts at risk, and especially knowing that future conflicts or climate-related crises could always cause another.

Uneven Optimism

Still, the feeling that the world is getting worse is not universal. In fact, it is mostly held by residents of rich countries like the United States.

Survey after survey has found that a majority of people in low-income and middle-income countries like Kenya or Indonesia tend to express optimism about the future, for both themselves and their societies.

Such countries represent most of the worlds population, suggesting that optimism is, believe it or not, the prevailing global mood.

Those countries, after all, are where those long-term gains in health and well-being are most pronounced.

Many of these regions also experienced decades of civil conflict and unrest during the Cold War, when the United States and Soviet Union treated them as battlegrounds, propping up despots and insurgents.

But these same surveys also tend to find that in wealthy countries, most respondents express pessimism about the future.

Much of this may come down to economic mobility, rather than global headlines. People in low-income countries tend to believe they will be better off financially in the future, whereas those in wealthy countries consider it unlikely.

But pessimism about ones personal circumstances can easily become pessimism about the world.

Polls in the United States have found that people who see little hope of personal financial advancement also feel the country as a whole is getting worse, and disapprove of political leaders. The erosion of secure working-class jobs, as manufacturing work flees overseas and labor unions wither, is thought to have precipitated much of the Wests populist backlash.

Its little wonder, in this view, that Americans saw the 1990s as a time of global peace and prosperity  even if this was mostly just a time of peace and prosperity for Americans.

But stalled economic fortunes are hardly the only reason for pessimism in wealthy countries.

For all the metrics that show steady improvement in the world, there is one on which the world really is facing a dramatic and destabilizing erosion: democracy.

An Era of Democratic Decline

For seven decades, the number of countries considered democratic grew. The average quality of these democracies  the fairness of elections, the rule of law and the like  also improved steadily.

That rise began to slow about 20 years ago, though. And beginning five or six years ago, researchers have since found, the number of democracies in the world has shrunk for the first time since World War II.

Existing democracies are also becoming less democratic, as well as more polarized and more prone to political dysfunction or outright breakdown.

Consider the rise of strongman rule in Hungary, the Philippines or Russia, attacks on the courts in Poland, Hindu extremism in India, fears of a power grab in Brazil.

These may be especially severe cases, but they are vanguards to a global trend. So is the United States, which democracy monitors broadly describe as experiencing a sustained erosion.

Because wealthier countries are likelier to be democratic, they are likelier to be afflicted by this trend. This may speak to rising pessimism in those countries.

It may also help explain why, for Americans, it can feel as if the world as a whole were disintegrating.

For Americans who got to spend most of their lives in a safe and stable society, the shift to seemingly unending political crisis is destabilizing. It can make the world feel darker and more alarming, which might make far-off events feel scarier or more upsetting, too.

People naturally look for patterns in the world. Experience something once, especially if that experience is traumatic, and you will start to see it everywhere.

For Americans suddenly attuned to say, domestic threats of election theft or civil unrest, similar events playing out overseas will suddenly feel much more visceral.

That can add up. A handful of far-off crises that Americans mightve dismissed as unrelated to one another 30 years ago can, today, seem connected. It might even feel like proof of a global breakdown.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Far-right Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson's trial starts this week on one count of felony riot in connection with a brawl outside a Portland, Oregon, bar in 2019.

Jury selection began Monday and is scheduled to continue through Thursday, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

Prosecutors allege Gibson instigated a street fight between Patriot Prayer and antifascists on May 1, 2019, at the now-closed bar Cider Riot. In an arrest warrant affidavit, Deputy District Attorney Brad Kalbaugh says video of the brawl shows Gibson and his two co-defendants, taunting and physically threatening members of the Antifa group in an effort clearly designed to provoke a physical altercation.

Three other brawl participants with the Patriot Prayer group, Chris Ponte, Ian Kramer and Matthew Cooper were indicted and pleaded guilty.

Kramer, who knocked a woman unconscious and fractured her vertebrae with a baton, pleaded guilty to riot, assault and unlawful use of a weapon. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison and five years of probation.

Ponte, who prosecutors said threw a rock and hurt a woman, pleaded guilty to a riot charge in a plea deal. He was sentenced to three years probation and 10 days in jail. Cooper pleaded guilty to riot and was sentenced to three years probation.

Gibson founded the Vancouver, Washington, based Patriot Prayer in 2016, and has held pro-Trump and other rallies repeatedly in Portland and other West Coast cities.

Cider Riot has since closed, but former owner Abram Goldman-Armstrong filed a civil lawsuit against Gibson and other Patriot Prayer members alleging Gibson used his platform to make the bar a target for far-right violence. That lawsuit is still open in the Oregon court of appeals.
HELSINKI (AP)  Latvias president said Tuesday that he supports a plan to reinstate national conscription for men, and for women on a voluntary basis.

The draft could be reintroduced next year after a hiatus of over 15 years.

President Egils Levits, who is the supreme military commander of Latvia  a NATO member that borders Russia  said in an interview with Latvian broadcaster TV3 that he favors the idea floated by the Baltic countrys defense minister last week to create an 11-month mandatory military service for men aged 18-27 from the beginning of 2023.

We have really, really good, high-level armed forces, professional armed forces  you could say one of the best in NATO, Levits told TV3. The conscription, he said, is needed because there are not enough reservists with military training in the nation of 1.9 million.

Latvia abolished compulsory conscription in 2007, switching to a fully professional military service. Levits said the biggest limitation in the countrys current professional military is its small size.

The new geopolitical situation ... requires a larger number of people who, if necessary, can participate in the defense of their country, and who are not professional soldiers and are reservists, Levits said, referring to Russias Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

He added that women should also be ready to defend their country but refrained from saying whether female conscription should become compulsory. Levits also urged officials and politicians to come up with ways to get Latvians living abroad to participate in the defense of their native country.

Under the Latvian defense ministrys initial, unconfirmed plan, some 1,000 conscripts would be recruited annually in drafts twice a year. The conscription model would be phased in during a five-year period starting next year.

Latvia's Baltic neighbor, Lithuania, abolished compulsory conscription in 2008, but reinstated it in 2016 in response to Russias aggression of Ukraine. Estonia, the northernmost of the three Baltic states, has maintained conscription, supported by the Estonian Defense League, created after independence in 1991.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
BATON ROUGE (AP)  Despite some Louisiana Republicans hoping to overturn the governor's recent vetoes, including legislation that would have implemented tougher criminal sentences and banning COVID-19 vacciation status checks to enter certain buildings, the GOP-dominated legislature voted not to hold an override session this week.

Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards rejected 29 pieces of recently passed legislation, all but one authored by Republican lawmakers.

Under Louisiana state law, an override session is automatically scheduled when a governor vetoes legislation, unless a majority of lawmakers in either chamber say its not necessary. Historically, a majority of representatives and senators send in ballots saying that the session is not needed. However, since 2021, the Republican majority Legislature has returned to the Capitol twice to override the governors vetoes.

Lawmakers had until the end of Monday to send in ballots opposing an override session. Twenty-five of the 37 senators and 39 of the 105 representatives returned ballots. With a majority of the Senate voting against the session, it was cancelled, Senate President Page Cortez and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder announced in a letter Tuesday morning.

Bills vetoed by Edwards, following the 2022 regular legislative session, included legislation that would have toughened criminal sentences and banned government entities from denying building entry based on a persons COVID-19 vaccination status.

One of the rejected bills would have established the crime of resisting a police officer with force or violence. Edwards described the proposed new crime as antithetical, saying it would backtrack on 2017 reforms that pushed to change Louisianas status as the state with the highest incarceration rate in the country.

Edwards also vetoed two education-related bills that would have allowed students to leave public schools and use state money to attend private schools or to pursue other education options. And he rejected a bill that would have required anyone over age 17 convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine to register with local law enforcement.
NEW BERN, N.C. (AP)  One man was killed and a second man was wounded in a shooting outside a North Carolina courthouse, police said Tuesday.

New Bern police said in a news release that they received a call about a shooting near the Craven County Courthouse around 10:50 a.m. Officers responding to the scene found two men with gunshot wounds, the news release said. The two men were taken to a local hospital.
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP)  A Rhode Island man who engaged in a gunfight with police officers responding to reports of an armed man inside a Massachusetts church has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Eric Lindsey, 45, of Coventry, Rhode Island, was sentenced Monday in Superior Court after pleading guilty to armed assault with intent to murder, breaking and entering, and several gun charges, the Bristol district attorney's office said in a statement Tuesday.
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While some county prosecuting attorneys in Michigan have publicly announced their intentions to enforce or to not enforce a 1931 state law banning abortion, Midland County Prosecuting Attorney J. Dee Brooks is awaiting more clarity on the issue.

The Michigan law was rendered invalid by the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision, but could go into effect again after the high court reversed Roe v. Wade last Friday and returned the regulation of abortion to the states.

For now, though, abortion is still legal in Michigan, pending decisions by two judicial bodies and a possible statewide ballot proposal.

"Im trying to analyze the new decision," Brooks told the Daily News on Tuesday when asked whether his office would enforce the 1931 law, which is part of Chapter III of Act 328.

On May 17, the Michigan Court of Claims granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood of Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union that challenges the constitutionality of the 1931 law, which only allows abortion when it is deemed necessary to save the life of the mother.

The state legislature, which has Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House, has joined that lawsuit as a defendant in hopes of upholding the 1931 law, and is challenging the preliminary injunction.

"Obviously, I cant do anything until that (lawsuit) is resolved," Brooks said.

More Information Following is the text of the 1931 Michigan law outlawing abortion that was rendered invalid by the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade and could again go into effect pending appeals to the Michigan Supreme Court and the Michigan Court of Claims. Act 328 of 1931 CHAPTER III ABORTION 750.14 Miscarriage; administering with intent to procure; felony, penalty. Administering drugs, etc., with intent to procure miscarriage-Any person who shall wilfully administer to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, substance or thing whatever, or shall employ any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of any such woman, unless the same shall have been necessary to preserve the life of such woman, shall be guilty of a felony, and in case the death of such pregnant woman be thereby produced, the offense shall be deemed manslaughter. In any prosecution under this section, it shall not be necessary for the prosecution to prove that no such necessity existed. See More Collapse

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also filed a lawsuit asking the Michigan Supreme Court to recognize a right to abortion under the due process clause of the Michigan Constitution and to stop enforcement of the 1931 law.

After the Supreme Court ruling last week, Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald, Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym Worthy and Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney Eli Savit told the Detroit Free Press that they would not enforce the 1931 law if it is upheld in court. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has also said she would not enforce the 1931 law.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, on the other hand, said in a written statement that it is his job to enforce the laws that are on the books.

"I do not believe it is proper for me to simply ignore a law, any law, that was passed by the Michigan Legislature and signed by the Governor," Becker wrote on Monday.

As for Brooks, he said he feels conflicted in terms of the 1931 law.

"I do believe on one hand it is my obligation to enforce the law as written by the legislature," he said. "I am troubled by the fact that the 1931 law does not provide exceptions for rape and incest."

Brooks noted that he must look at both the U.S. Constitution and the Michigan Constitution when considering enforcement of any law.

"The bottom line is theres a number of issues that need to be resolved before we could consider any enforcement of (the 1931 law). I dont believe we can enforce any current laws until we get decisions by the Michigan Supreme Court, and the Court of Claims as to the injunction," Brooks continued. "Really, we need guidance from the legislature."

When asked whether the 1931 law only holds abortion providers criminally liable and not mothers who undergo an abortion, Brooks said that is how he interprets the law.

"Yes, I read that statute as applying only to those that would perform an abortion procedure," he said. "There are some that read it otherwise. But thats not the way I interpret the statute."

State senate candidate, Oakland County prosecutor discuss future of abortion rights in Michigan

On Monday evening, the Women of Michigan Action Network and Karen McDonald co-hosted a public webinar titled "SCOTUS Ruling Impact: Repercussions of Losing Roe," which featured 35th District Democratic state Senate candidate Kristen McDonald Rivet and McDonald, who is her sister.

McDonald said she believes the Michigan Supreme Court will rule that the 1931 law is unconstitutional.

"In the Michigan Supreme Court, we have justices that we believe will strike that (law) down and uphold our right to choose. That could happen in a matter of weeks," McDonald said.

But McDonald emphasized that the key to preserving abortion rights is through the state legislature, and she said McDonald Rivet's race is key in Democrats' effort to supplant Republicans as the majority party in the Senate.

"If we dont flip this seat and three others (from Republican to Democrat), we will not be able to secure our right to choose," McDonald said.

McDonald said that, based on history, the Supreme Court's decision will not stop abortions from happening, and that it will have a disproportionate impact on people of color.

For her part, McDonald Rivet, who is running unopposed in the primary election, said she encourages people who support abortion rights to sign the Reproductive Freedom For All petition, to support pro-choice candidates such as herself, and to vote in the August 2 primary election and Nov. 8 general election.

That petition, which would amend the Michigan Constitution to guarantee the right to an abortion, already has the needed 425,059 signatures required for it to become a proposal on the November ballot.

State Rep. Glenn firmly against abortion

State Rep. Annette Glenn, R-Midland, who is vying against three others for the Republican state Senate nomination to face McDonald Rivet in the November election, told the Daily News that she will always vote against abortion.

"As the mother of five and grandmother to nine, and somebody whos been endorsed by Right To Life in every election and by Black Americans For Life, I am solidly pro-life. I have a very opposite belief on this than my (potential) Democratic opponent," Glenn said.

Glenn does not anticipate that any new abortion-related legislation will be introduced from the Republican side. She is hopeful that the 1931 law will be upheld as constitutional.

"Michigan has a long history of protecting unborn children and being pro-life," she said.
WASHINGTON - In a city where the hottest new restaurants feature globe-trotting flavors, creative cocktails and menus that change with the seasons, the Washington location of Morton's the Steakhouse feels like a relic. Its lobster bisque and porterhouse chops recall a time when the nation's capital was still thought of as a steakhouse town. But the downtown location of the national chain is suddenly finding itself relevant, though probably not as it might have liked, as the first known D.C. restaurant dragged into the protests over the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Days after a handful of people gathered outside to protest Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was dining inside and left via a side door to avoid the crowd, the steakhouse is feeling the heat: A Morton's corporate executive warned managers around the country to prepare for "a massive wave ... of negative response," according to a report by Politico, as well as callers tying up the phone lines and people making fake reservations.

The Post could not independently verify the memo reportedly sent to managers by Scott Crain, the company's senior vice president and chief operating officer. He did not return an email for comment. He also did not answer phone calls to a cell number connected to his name. His silence mirrored the advice he reportedly gave managers.

"As I stated yesterday, our comment is always 'No Comment.' We don't respond, we don't retweet, we don't post on Instagram or Facebook, we don't do anything. Please remind your teams (especially the hourly employees) of this policy," he wrote managers, according to Politico.

As of Monday morning, Morton's was requiring a credit card for reservations on OpenTable, though it wasn't clear if that was a policy it put in place in response to the flood of table-bookers with no intention to show up.

The backlash Morton's is experiencing mirrors what several other restaurants felt after similar incidents - and it probably won't be the last establishment to get thrown into the mix. The activist group ShutDownDC tweeted that it would pay restaurant workers to tip them off if they spot any of the six justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested that more protests are likely. Asked about the Morton's incident during a Fox News interview on Sunday, Buttigieg said public officials should "expect" to encounter people angered by the Roe decision - and he suggested that they had his support. "Any public figure should always, always be free from violence, intimidation and harassment but should never be free from criticism or people exercising their First Amendment rights," he said.

ShutDownDC organized the Morton's protest last week. The activist group Ruthsentus.com received a tip that Kavanaugh was dining at Morton's, and ShutDownDC activated its network. The first protester arrived at Morton's within 35 minutes of receiving the tip, according to a ShutDownDC source who exchanged messages with The Post on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing tensions around Roe v. Wade.

Like Morton's, the group is likely to be inundated with bogus messages. Fox News host and leading conservative commentator Tucker Carlson urged his viewers to "flood them with reported sightings until they give up." The group vowed to press on, though. "Honey DC could be literally under water (#climatechange) and we'd still be out here organizing for a better world," ShutDownDC tweeted. "We're not the giving up type."

The protest networks may not be as tapped into the restaurant industry as they would like to be. Ashok Bajaj told The Post that SCOTUS justices dined outdoors at Rasika West End last week. He declined to provide their names.

"Nobody bothered them," said Bajaj, founder of Knightsbridge Restaurant Group, which includes Rasika, Bindaas, the Bombay Club and Annabelle.

Dealing with protesters (and the sometimes long-term fallout from protests) is just one more thing for restaurateurs who, over the past two-plus years, have also had to confront supply line issues, labor shortages, hostile diners and the ever-changing guidance from public health authorities. Bajaj doesn't yet have plans in place for handling protests at his restaurants, but he said his company handbook prohibits staff from using their phones during service, which theoretically would keep them from contacting organizers should a justice show up for dinner.

But "how much can you control anybody?" Bajaj asks rhetorically. It's particularly fraught for restaurateurs right now, Bajaj says, when staff is in short supply and they can easily find another job. He isn't sure how he would handle protesters should they appear at his front door.

"Each situation would be different. The first thing is, he's a guest. We have to protect the guest. I don't look at what his or her politics would be," Bajaj says. If protesters are "going to go to the tables and try to harass them, we have to call the authorities. We don't want to have a fistfight in the restaurants."

Four years ago, after Stephanie Wilkinson politely asked Sarah Sanders, then press secretary for President Donald Trump, to leave her Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, the owner had to deal with a lot of blowback, including conservative protesters outside her business.

"As long as the protesters are outside, they're exercising their rights," she wrote in an email to The Post. "If it is really causing a disturbance - more than just a rubber-necking disturbance, let's say, but a genuine 'I can't hear my dining partner speak' - I would do what we do when there are other unexpected external impacts on the dining room, like loud construction in the street or a storm that takes out the air conditioning or a table that isn't available at the appointed time - give a sympathetic ear, apologize for their discomfort and offer them a little something as compensation."
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  Commissioners in a northern New Mexico county urged U.S. forest managers on Tuesday to do a more comprehensive environmental review of plans to restore large swaths of forest that border the capital city, passing a resolution fueled by frustrations that have been mounting in the wake of a devastating wildfire sparked by the government's planned burns.

The Santa Fe County Commission unanimously approved the resolution, but not before some of the elected officials and members of the public blasted the U.S. Forest Service for not taking into consideration the exceptionally dry conditions that have plagued many parts of the West for the last two decades.

Numerous missteps by the agency resulted in prescribed fires erupting this spring into the largest wildfire in New Mexicos recorded history. The blaze has yet to be fully contained after more than three months, and firefighters most recently have been focused on reseeding some of the blackened areas and trying to mitigate post-fire flooding.

Santa Fe resident Valerie Gremillion told the county commissioners that she has been reviewing the report that outlines mistakes made by the agency, including its failure to use updated fuel models, to take into account the extreme drought conditions or to follow through with other protocols.

I would not let them run a carnival in my backyard, much less set a fire to the back of the Santa Fe National Forest, she said.

U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in a statement released along with the report acknowledged the heartbreak among New Mexico families and communities. Several hundred homes were burned, thousands of people were forced to evacuate and farmers, ranchers and municipal officials are worried about the environmental and social consequences that will be felt over the coming decades.

Fires are outpacing our models and, as the final report notes, we need to better understand how megadrought and climate change are affecting our actions on the ground, Moore wrote, adding that the agency must learn from the fire.

The resolution aims to push the agency further in that direction, specifically calling for forest officials to respond to a full and fair discussion of significant environmental impacts, examine alternatives that include preserving forests in their natural condition and document unavoidable adverse effects prior to starting any project aimed at clearing out overgrown and dead vegetation.

I think it's very timely that we bring this forward and encourage the Forest Service to rethink its practices in a big way, said Commissioner Hank Hughes.

Moore halted his agency's prescribed burn operations pending a formal review, but Commissioner Anna Hansen, who introduced the resolution, said prescribed burns should be ceased until federal officials address the concerns of both community members and independent scientists.
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP)  A New Mexico police officer got emotional on the witness stand Tuesday at his former professional partners murder trial when recalling the danger that he believed he faced in trying to arrest a man who died in a 2020 struggle with officers.

Las Cruces Officer Andrew Tuton said he believed Antonio Valenzuela had a gun and was reaching for it during his struggle with Tuton and Officer Christopher Smelser, who is charged with murder in the death. In the end, though, no gun was found on Valenzuela.

Tuton, who paused to gather himself when describing the dangers in the encounter, said he became concerned about a gun when he felt one of Valenzuelas hands moving around. I knew in that moment I was going to get shot, Tuton said.

Smelser eventually put Valenzuela into a chokehold that prosecutors alleged gradually ended his life. Smelser was later fired.

A medical examiner had concluded Valenzuela died from asphyxial injuries due to physical restraint  and that methamphetamine in his system was a contributing factor in his death.

The autopsy found Valenzuela had hemorrhaging in his eyes and eyelids, which is indicative of asphyxiation and may occur when the neck or chest is compressed. His neck had a deep muscle hemorrhage, his Adams apple was crushed, and there was swelling in his brain.

The struggle grew from a traffic stop of a truck in which Valenzuela was a passenger. Valenzuela, who was wanted on a warrant for a probation violation, bolted from officers once he exited the truck.

When catching up with Valenzuela in a dirt lot next to a church, officers took him to the ground, struggled to handcuff him, struck him with their hands and shot at him with a Taser.

Then Smelser used the chokehold. Once Valenzuela stopped moving and was handcuffed, Tuton put one of his knees on his back as Valenzuela lay on his stomach. Smelser then took Tutons place, putting a knee on the back of Valenzuela, who was unconscious.

At one point during the encounter, Smelser profanely told Valenzuela that he was going to choke you out, bro.

Tuton also said Valenzuela had reached for pockets on his pants, where police found an all-in-one pliers set that contained a knife that folded out. The defense characterized it as a knife, while prosecutors called it a tool.

When Tuton was getting emotional during his trial testimony, prosecutor Zachary Jones commented that he didnt remember the officer getting so upset at an earlier hearing in the case.

Under questioning from Smelsers attorney, Amy Orlando, Tuton denied he was faking his emotional reaction.

Orlando had previously told jurors that officers repeatedly urged Valenzuela to stop resisting and that the force used on Valenzuela before the chokehold didnt faze him.

Orlando said physical restraint alone didnt kill Valenzuela, explaining that the autopsy found he also experienced the toxic effects of methamphetamine use.

Valenzuelas death led to Smelsers termination and a settlement in which the city agreed to pay Valenzuelas family $6.5 million and ban the use of chokeholds by its police officers.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvania's governor tweeted he had big news on Tuesday, announcing the state budget passed in recent days includes funding for three new state parks.

Gov. Tom Wolf's press secretary, Beth Rementer, subsequently said the park sites haven't been chosen, but work to identify and purchase the land is underway by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
LITHONIA, Ga. (AP)  A Georgia man became trapped while trying to crawl down through a vent from a strip mall roof into a pizza restaurant on Tuesday, forcing firefighters to slice open the vent to free him, police said.

The man was taken to a hospital and the extent of his injuries was unclear.

Police told local news outlets that emergency responders cut open the vent where it extended upward from a pizza oven at a Little Caesars outlet in suburban Lithonia, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) east of downtown Atlanta.

Brittany Davis, a U.S. Army recruiter, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she could hear the man yelling for help when she arrived for work at a neighboring recruiting office.

I looked on the roof but couldnt see anybody, Davis said. She called 911.

Davis said a Little Caesars employee told her he could hear the man's voice coming from inside the oven. Davis said she went inside the pizza restaurant and spoke to the man, who reported he was in pain and having a panic attack.

Im not sure what time the restaurant closes at night but the oven still gives off heat after they close I imagine, DeKalb County Fire Cpt. Jason Daniels told WXIA-TV. For him to get down into the pipe ... he had to do it in a certain window of time when the oven was cool enough and obviously nobody was there.

The man walked to an ambulance shortly after being removed and was taken to a hospital. Police did not identify him or announce any criminal charges.

Photographs showed the vent broken off and laying on the roof and firefighters cutting away the sheet metal vent while standing atop the oven.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  A Utah man is in custody after police say he admitted hanging a man and killing another man as part of a purge that he claimed was directed by a higher power.

Christian Francis Taele, 28, was arrested after police responding to a report of an assault found the 23-year-old victim hanging from a piece of gym equipment at an apartment complex in Ogden on Saturday evening. It's unclear if Taele has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
MASON, Ohio (AP)  A member of a law enforcement tactical team shot and killed an escaped prison inmate on Tuesday after the team entered an Ohio hotel room where authorities said he was holding a woman at knifepoint, prosecutors said.

Authorities in Hamilton County had been seeking Thomas Cromwell, 27, and another inmate since they were reported to have escaped early Saturday through a broken window at the River City Correctional Center in Cincinnati.
LONDON (AP)  A BBC investigation alleged Tuesday that British special forces killed dozens of detainees in suspicious circumstances during counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan a decade ago.

Citing newly obtained military documents, the broadcaster alleged that one SAS unit may have unlawfully killed 54 people in the southern Helmand province in 2010 to 2011. It also alleged that the former head of U.K. special forces knew about the alleged killings, but didn't pass on the evidence to a murder inquiry.

The Ministry of Defense said the report jumps to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have already been fully investigated.

The ministry said two independent investigations have looked into the conduct of British forces in Afghanistan and that neither found sufficient evidence to prosecute.

Insinuating otherwise is irresponsible, incorrect and puts our brave Armed Forces personnel at risk both in the field and reputationally, it said in a statement.

The Ministry of Defense of course stands open to considering any new evidence, there would be no obstruction, it added.

British forces were deployed to Afghanistan since 2001 as part of a NATO-led international coalition after the Sept. 11 attacks. Thousands of British troops were sent to Helmand from 2006 to help with providing security for reconstruction projects, but they were soon drawn into combat operations.

The BBC investigation focused on one six-month deployment by an SAS squadron that operated in Helmand from late 2010. It said the unit carried out kill or capture raids to detain Taliban commanders and disrupt bomb-making networks.

The investigation reported that intelligence flaws meant innocent civilians were sometimes caught up in the operations.

Citing operational reports detailing the special forces' accounts of night raids, the BBC said it found a pattern of similar reports of Afghan men being shot dead because they pulled out weapons after they were detained.

Officials were concerned that more people were killed than weapons were reportedly recovered during some raids  suggesting the SAS soldiers were shooting unarmed people, the report said.

The report said internal emails showed that senior officials were concerned but failed to report the suspicions to military police.

Opposition lawmaker John Healey described the allegations as deeply disturbing, and urged Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to explain to Parliament what action he would take to verify the claims.

The last U.K. forces and their NATO allies withdrew from Afghanistan last summer, nearly 20 years after the first Western soldiers were deployed there.
MILWAUKEE (AP)  Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels once led an organization that fought a proposal to get tough on people who were living in the country illegally, but he's campaigning as someone opposed to illegal immigration.

Michels, a co-owner of the construction company Michels Corp., is in a tight battle with former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch in the Republican primary race for governor. The winner of the Aug. 9 primary will advance to face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in November.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday on Michels' positions on immigration.

When Michels was president of the board of the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association during the 2007-2008 legislative session, the group's lobbyists opposed an Assembly bill that would have prevented companies that employ illegal aliens from getting government contracts, tax exemptions and loans. The bill died in committee.

Michels spokesman, Chris Walker, said Michels was unaware of the lobbying being done by the group, which represents road builders in Wisconsin.

To Tims knowledge, the associations position on every single one of the bills introduced every legislative session is not brought to the board of directors, Walker said. Tim is against illegal immigration.

Michels, who has been endorsed by Donald Trump, is running multiple television ads detailing his opposition to illegal immigration.

Tim Michels blueprint to stop illegal immigration, one ad says. No drivers license, no benefits, and no tuition. Sign now if you agree!

Kleefisch's campaign criticized Michels over the inconsistency, also referring to Michels' ties to groups that had advocated for higher gas prices. Her campaign is running two ads attacking Michels over the gas tax, including one that launched this week and features former Gov. Scott Walker.

Tim Michels wont take responsibility for his companys campaign contributions for a higher gas tax, and now he wont take responsibility for a group he was president of lobbying to allow illegal immigrants to work on government contracts, said Charles Nichols, Kleefischs campaign manager.

Michels also said he supports Wisconsin's 2015 right-to-work law, which places a ban on requiring non-unionized workers to pay dues to their workplace union. But Michels Corp. was part of the Wisconsin Contractor Coalition that opposed the states right-to-work law. The construction companys employees were also a part of protests against that proposed law at the time.

We cant speak for Michels Corporation, but when with them, he never specifically encouraged or granted time off for Michels employees to protest for or against anything, including right-to-work, said Walker, the Michels spokesman. How employees express their First Amendment rights on their own time is up to them.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  The family and friends of an Indianapolis man missing with his three young children are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to their whereabouts, his sister said Tuesday.

Kyle Moorman, 27, has been missing since July 6, when he left to go to his brothers house with plans to go fishing with his children: 1-year-old Kyran Holland, 2-year-old Kyannah Holland and 5-year-old Kyle Moorman II. The disappearance was first shared by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on Sunday.
CAIRO (AP)  Several dozen organizations Tuesday called on Egypt to end its crackdown on civil society and allow people to exercise freedom of expression ahead of the Egypt-hosted U.N. summit on climate change.

In a joint statement signed by 36 groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, they expressed concern that Egypt will largely keep in place its prohibition on protests during the conference in November.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who is also the president-designate of the next annual Conference of the Parties, told The Associated Press in a May interview that a facility is being developed next to the conference venue where demonstrations can take place. He also said activists would be given access, as is customary, to negotiations in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. He did not elaborate on whether protests would be allowed elsewhere.

The Egyptian government effectively banned all public protests in 2013 shortly after President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, then a chief in the country's army, led the militarys overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president. In the years that have followed, el-Sissi was elected president and any demonstrators that dare to take to the streets have been quickly arrested. Many have received years-long prison sentences. Authorities claim that any gathering needs their approval.

In the statement, the groups also called on other countries to hold Egypt accountable to international human rights laws and standards and said they should not limit protests to a particular space.

UN member states, particularly those attending COP27, should urge the Egyptian authorities to end limitations on freedom of assembly, association, and expression and take other meaningful steps to address concerns by civil society and ensure their safe and meaningful participation that can contribute to a successful COP27, the statement said.

In the statement, the organizations also said that the government should halt its relentless assault on human rights defenders, civil society organizations, and the independent media, and stop using draconian laws to detain people for expressing opinions or exercising their basic rights.

El-Sissi has overseen an unprecedented political crackdown, silencing critics and jailing thousands. Shortly after the military took power in 2013, a sit-in by Islamists was broken up by security forces in an operation that left hundreds dead. Since then, a handful of small protests have been met with force and their participants detained, often for months or years without a trial.

Egypt is the worlds third worst jailer of journalists, following China and Myanmar, according to a 2021 tally from the Committee to Protect Journalists, a U.S. based non-profit.
Authorities are searching for a single-engine plane that did not arrive in Sutton Monday night as expected.

The report of the overdue aircraft with one person aboard was made to Alaska State Troopers, who alerted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
An American tourist in Italy survived a fall into the crater of Mount Vesuvius after he tried to reach for his phone to take a selfie, according to Italian police and local officials.

A 23-year-old man from Baltimore was hiking on the famed volcano with his family Saturday when they accessed the top of Vesuvius through a forbidden trail, Naples police told local media. When the family reached the top of the volcano, known for destroying the Roman city of Pompeii, the man, identified by NBC News as Philip Carroll, reached for his phone to commemorate being atop the 4,000-foot-high volcano.

But when the man's phone fell into the crater about 3 p.m., the situation worsened, Paolo Cappelli, president of the Presidio Permanente Vesuvio, a base at the top of Vesuvius where guides operate, told NBC. Instead of recovering the phone and snapping the perfect photo for Instagram, the man slipped and dropped a few feet into the crater.

"This morning a tourist for reasons still to be determined . . . together with his family they ventured on a forbidden path, arrived on the edge of the crater and fell into the mouth of #Vesuvius," wrote Gennaro Lametta, a government tourism official, on Facebook.

Cappelli told Il Mattino, a Naples newspaper, that a team of volcano guides on the other side of the rim used binoculars to realize that the man "had slipped inside the crater and was in serious trouble," noting that the American tourist was stuck.

"Four volcanological guides were set in motion instantly and, arriving on-site, one of them was lowered with a rope for about 15 meters to allow them to secure the unwary tourist," Cappelli said, according to a Google translation. He noted that Carroll could have plunged 300 meters, or nearly 1,000 feet, into the crater.

A photo Lametta posted to social media shows the man with bruises on his legs, arms and back, as well as bloody scrapes on his elbows. Lametta wrote that the man was unconscious when the guides recovered him. Police told CNN that the man was treated in an ambulance farther down the mountain but refused to go to a hospital.

Cappelli told local media that Carroll was taken into custody by the local police. It's unclear what charges he may face.

Attempts to reach Carroll and his family Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Nearly two millennia after a deadly eruption in A.D. 79 left the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis and Stabiae blanketed in ash, Mount Vesuvius remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. While Vesuvius technically remains an active volcano, the last eruption was in 1944, and the volcano is in a state of repose, according to Vesuvius National Park's website. The highest point of the volcano is about 4,190 feet. Vesuvius's crater is nearly 1,000 feet deep, with a diameter of about 1,500 feet.

The Baltimore man survived, but some others who have tried taking photos of themselves in picturesque but dangerous locations haven't been so lucky. A 2018 study by researchers associated with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a group of public medical colleges based in New Delhi, found that more than 250 people worldwide had died while taking selfies over a six-year period. Of the 259 deaths reported between October 2011 and November 2017, researchers found the leading cause to be drowning, followed by incidents involving transportation - for example, taking a selfie in front of an oncoming train - and falling from heights. Other causes of selfie-related deaths include animal attacks, firearm discharges and electrocutions.

"The selfie deaths have become a major public health problem," Agam Bansal, the study's lead author, told The Washington Post at the time.

A study published last year in the Journal of Travel Medicine estimated that 379 people had died while taking selfies from January 2008 to July 2021.

There are more recent examples of deaths linked to selfies. Richard Jacobson, a 21-year-old hiker in Arizona, fell hundreds of feet to his death in January after he walked toward the edge of a cliff to take a selfie in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix. Police told local media that an investigation into Jacobson's death showed no signs of drug use or foul play, and concluded that the death was "just a very tragic accident."

Cappelli and Lametta praised the volcano guides for quickly recognizing that the American tourist was in danger of plummeting farther into Vesuvius's crater.

"Having spoken directly with the rescuers, I can safely say that last Saturday on Vesuvius they saved a human life," Cappelli told Vesuvio Live, according to a translation.

- - -

The Washington Post's Allyson Chiu contributed to this report.
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KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP)  Burned-out cars and splintered trees smolder in the aftermath of a missile strike on Kramatorsk, a city in eastern Ukraine. A body lies on the ground, covered by a sheet. Wounded residents sit dazed and covered in blood. A crater has been gouged in the center of a once-calm, sunlit courtyard.

Across the beleaguered city, Valerii Ilchenko sits under the shade of the trees, working on a crossword puzzle. The 70-year-old widower now has difficulty walking, and this daily ritual in the fresh air gets him through the day.

Just last week, the governor of Donetsk province urged its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine. But like many other civilians who have come under fire in the nearly 5-month-old war, Ilchenko has no intention of leaving  no matter how close the fighting gets.

I dont have anywhere to go and dont want to either. What would I do there? Here at least I can sit on the bench, I can watch TV, he told The Associated Press in an interview in his one-room apartment where he lives alone.

Moscow and Kyiv are battling for control of the Donbas, a fertile and industrial region in eastern Ukraine where a conflict with Russia-backed separatists has raged since 2014. In recent weeks, Russia has made significant gains and is poised to fully occupy Luhansk province, which along with Donetsk province makes up the region. Attacks on key cities like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk have increased dramatically, killing and wounding scores of civilians weekly.

Since the war began, Ilchenko has been unable to call his son and grandson, who live in Moscow. Although he is still somewhat self-sufficient, Ilchenko is nearly immobile. Volunteers make sure he gets regular deliveries of bread, water and cigarettes; neighbors call in from time to time.

The windows of his apartment were blown out in an earlier attack. As he spoke, an air raid siren wailed. But Ilchenko smiled and shrugged.

Where would I run to when the sirens start? I have no basement, so where? In this building, we all stay right here, he said.

In urging the evacuation, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said it would allow the Ukrainian army to better defend towns, adding that about 80% of the region had departed by Monday.

Once there are less people, we will be able to concentrate more on our enemy, Kyrylenko said, adding that shelling had intensified and was very chaotic.

Observers say Sloviansk and Kramatorsk could end up like Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, cities now under Russian control after bombardment so ferocious that they are practically uninhabitable.

I will be more severe this time -- people should leave, Kyrylenko said.

Yet for many, the urge to stay is strong, because they are retirees or have incomes so low that they fear they cannot support themselves away from what Kyrylenko called their "comfort zone.

Others worry they won't be welcome in western Ukraine  a concern based on a perception that some of their countrymen resent the predominantly Russian-speaking easterners and blame them for the war.

A few harbor pro-Moscow sympathies  either from nostalgia for their Soviet past or from watching Russian state TV. Still others don't believe their lives will change significantly under a Russian or a Ukrainian flag.

Sloviansk Mayor Vadym Liakh told AP that whatever the motivations are for those who stay, "we see that when their homes are ruined, having only the slippers on their feet with one plastic bag, they leave. They do not think about the money.

Like Ilchenko, Maria Savon has no plans to leave Kramatorsk. Waiting in line for food under a blinding sun, the 85-year-old is a stooped and fragile figure. When she speaks, however, her high voices rings out across the square.

Why should I leave? Where one is born, one must die. This is our land. We are not needed there, from time immemorial. Old people, as far as I know, even ask for their native earth before they die, she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Savon said she wants to live in a country ruled by Ukrainians  not Russians  but she also is suspicious of the West. She wants President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to cut ties with Europe and the U.S. President Joe Biden, and agree to a cease-fire with Moscow.

Her feelings illustrate the complexity of public opinion in the Donbas.

Ill tell you honestly, I feel sorry for the young people, the young men who are dying. I would take that Zelenskyy and tear him apart, along with Biden, with America, with all those fascists, she said.

A retiree fishing on the Kazennyi Torets River said he loves his hometown but is too old to fight.

Of course, it would be a shame to leave. Without the apartment, what would I leave my children? We will wait until this ends," said the man, who identified himself only as Viktor for fear of reprisal.

Then there are those like 38-year-old Lena Ravlis  both terrified to stay and terrified to go.

Of course it is very dangerous here, but the road out is very dangerous too, she said, citing the horrific attack in April on Kramatorsk's train station that killed 59 civilians and wounded over 100, including children.

Still, as Russian troops march west, a steady flow of people are leaving towns caught in the crosshairs of war. Hundreds depart daily on a train from Pokrovsk. Liakh, the Sloviansk mayor, said they are given food and places to stay in western Ukraine and can register for compensation.

One woman who asked to be identified only by her first name, Olena, also for security reasons, said that when she fled Sloviansk last week with her small child, she was shocked by the destruction.

We waited too long. But finally I decided to save my child and myself. They were shelling us with every weapon in existence, she said.

The streets of Kramatorsk are eerily quiet. Most shops have closed and the last working cafes are boarded up. This once-vibrant city with a prewar population of about 150,000 is mostly empty in anticipation of the Russian advance.

Ilchenko said he sometimes feels lonely. Its bad when the blues gets you, and then other times its fine, he said sadly.

A former soldier in the Soviet army, he's furious at the Russians and wants them expelled as soon as possible."

As Ilchenko spoke, his neighbor, also a solo pensioner, got ready to cook potatoes for lunch on a makeshift outdoor stove since there is no cooking gas in the district. Another woman lives on the building's top floor.

Thats it, the rest are gone, Ilchenko said.

Let them leave. Its better than getting bombed," he added. "I only wish they knew where they were going. What if its the same there as it is here? You can run from the bombs. But bombs are bombs, they dont pick and choose.

___

Follow all AP stories on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
CARROLLTON  A North Greene High School social studies teacher will share his deep knowledge of Thomas Jefferson as part of the next meeting of Greene County Historical and Genealogical Society.

North Greene High School teacher David McGraw will present "An Afternoon with Thomas Jefferson" at 2 p.m. Sunday. The event will be at the Lee-Baker-Hodges Building on the northeast corner of the Carrollton square.
SIOUXFALLD, (AP)  Sioux Falls police fired numerous gunshots at a man who threatened officers with a shotgun, according to the city's police chief.

No one was hit by the gunshots fired Monday afternoon in a car wash parking lot, said Chief Jon Thum.
WASHINGTON - When the Social Security Administration's inspector general investigated allegations earlier this year that one of the agency's senior leaders was routinely impaired on the job, six witnesses painted an alarming picture.

Theresa Gruber, a deputy commissioner overseeing around 9,000 employees and a $1.2 billion budget in the hearings and appeals operation, displayed "significant anomalies" at work over the course of at least a year, including slurred speech in which she "appeared intoxicated," leaving meetings without notice, slouching in her chair and aggressive behavior, witnesses told investigators.

But five months after acting Social Security commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi was presented with the internal report, which The Washington Post obtained, Gruber remains on the job. The allegations by witnesses were corroborated to The Post by three members of Gruber's senior staff, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

In recent months, Inspector General Gail Ennis's office has received more formal complaints about Gruber's conduct, according to people with knowledge of the communications. She has continued to act erratically, three agency employees said, and in recent weeks has missed several meetings of her leadership team.

Gruber, who was not interviewed by investigators contrary to standard practice in administrative probes, declined to comment for this story.

Staff members told investigators that while they did not directly witness Gruber consuming alcohol on the job, her comportment led them to wonder if she had been drinking. Gruber, 53, is also diabetic, the report notes, a condition that, when poorly treated, can cause irritability, disorientation or slurred speech. She told a close circle of colleagues that she was dealing with medical issues stemming from the condition, according to the report.

Witnesses told investigators that whatever the cause, Gruber's conduct has affected her management of the agency's Office of Hearings Operations, which runs one of the largest administrative judicial systems in the world.

One high-ranking official interviewed by The Post described a "rudderless" department under Gruber, who sometimes does not communicate with her staff for days at a time, the official said. "She is MIA, and they're not holding anyone accountable," said this person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss matters publicly. Another official described "delays to decision-making" and important meetings and difficulty getting Gruber's attention - factors they say threaten the department's mission to conduct impartial hearings and issue decisions on appeals involving retirement and survivor and disability benefits for poor and elderly Americans.

"If you can't do this job anymore, honestly, you should be raising your hand to say, 'I can't do 100% anymore,' " said another person on Gruber's staff, who expressed frustration that "nothing has been done."

The investigation, designated a "preliminary inquiry" before it was sent to Kijakazi in February, took place as Social Security faces heightened scrutiny on Capitol Hill, with the agency struggling to fully restart its field operations after a more than two-year closure during the pandemic and its inspector general facing multiple probes into huge fines the office imposed on disabled and elderly people.

Kijakazi, whom President Joe Biden named acting commissioner a year ago, has also had a strained relationship with Ennis, whose office is charged with oversight of the agency that distributes retirement benefits to 69 million Americans and monthly disability checks to about 15 million others, according to people familiar with their association.

Kijakazi's staff is investigating Ennis's management of an antifraud program that inflated penalties as high as hundreds of thousands of dollars against poor, elderly and disabled claimants accused of taking benefits they were not entitled to. The acting commissioner announced she would investigate following a report by The Washington Post in May. The program has been paused indefinitely.

Mark Hinkle, a Social Security spokesman, wrote in an email that "due to privacy mandates we cannot comment on any supposed circumstance" of the contents of the inspector general's report on Gruber.

"When we receive allegations relating to potential personnel issues, including those involving executives or managers, we take appropriate action, as necessary," he wrote.

Hinkle defended the work of Gruber's department during her tenure, writing that "wait times for disability benefits hearings have steadily decreased from a high in 2017 and the number of hearings pending is approaching a 21-year low."

He added: "Given this and the information available, we have confidence in the Office of Hearings Operations' leadership."

Experts on federal government operations said the apparent inaction could lead employees to hesitate to report management problems in the future.

"The leadership of Social Security is clearly protecting one of their own," Nick Schwellenbach, a senior investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, which monitors the work of federal inspectors general and advocates for reforms to the system, said after The Post described the allegations to him. "If you're just sweeping the problem under the rug, that's the kind of thing that kills public confidence in federal agencies."

The inquiry was launched by Ennis's staff in December, the report notes, after the watchdog's office received a complaint about Gruber, a career civil servant who has worked in Social Security for 31 years, making her way from claims representative at a Minnesota field office to a promotion in 2015 to one of the agency's most powerful roles.

Her department manages half a million hearings and appeals a year for claimants seeking disability, retirement and survivor benefits, with more than 1,500 administrative law judges and staffers in 10 regions and close to 170 local hearing offices.

Gruber's staff members described to The Post an at times innovative, decisive and empowering leader who won praise for overseeing efforts to reduce a well-publicized backlog of disability hearings and more recently for transitioning her employees to remote work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Those staffers also called her an outspoken manager who can be gruff and more recently crossed a line into "intense anger...often for unimportant issues," the report said. The witnesses described escalating problems at work, conduct that "appears to have been common knowledge" in her department, investigators wrote. Her demeanor would sometimes improve, though only sporadically.

Some on Gruber's staff witnessed her unable to recall things that were just stated or decisions she had recently made, according to the inspector general's report. They described needing to remind her of meetings on her calendar or her not showing up to meetings altogether. Sometimes she would get upset during meetings, log off, then fail to return phone calls or emails when staffers tried to contact her.

One employee told investigators that some of Gruber's aides would resort to preventing her from "making significant decisions" on days when she acted impaired. Others said she had begun delegating decisions.

The behavior was witnessed in meetings large and small on Microsoft Teams, the videoconference software Social Security has used to communicate during the pandemic. In attendance were regional chief judges, regional management officers and administrative law judges, the report said. Some employees were so alarmed during gatherings that they would send instant messages questioning her behavior and speculating about whether she had been drinking, according to investigators.

One person on Gruber's staff told investigators that her behavioral changes extended "beyond their professional interactions" and involved after-hours personal calls in which she seemed impaired, the report said.

It is unclear why Ennis's staff did not interview Gruber, a customary practice in an inspector general investigation, three federal watchdogs said.

The report concluded by referring its findings to the agency "for any administrative action deemed warranted" and asking for a written response explaining "the final disposition or administrative action to be taken." The report said the inspector general's office took "no position" on "the imposition of administrative actions" against Gruber.

The investigation was not released publicly.

Inspectors general have varying practices on disclosing reports on senior leaders as they seek a balance between protecting staff privacy and exposing harmful conduct. If a leader can't perform their job, it violates one of the key principles of the federal merit system to "manage employees efficiently and effectively." The more senior the leader, the less privacy they tend to be afforded, said several inspectors general who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

In cases when an employee displays conduct that affects their ability to work, it is standard practice at federal agencies for managers to ask their personnel departments to do an internal review, then recommend that the employee take medical leave to address the issue, particularly in cases of drug or alcohol abuse, according to experts on federal government operations and written policies.

Ennis's office gave Kijakazi 60 days to respond in writing to its report on Gruber. For reasons that are unclear, the inspector general did not complete its investigation to produce a full report.

A spokeswoman for Ennis declined in an email to "confirm or deny" the report. The spokeswoman, who refused to be named, wrote that Social Security "is solely responsible for any personnel actions" stemming from an investigation of an agency employee. Asked why Gruber was not interviewed, the spokeswoman wrote that the office "does not disclose techniques and procedures related to its law enforcement investigations."

Investigations conducted by the inspector general are "not public documents," the spokeswoman wrote, a policy at odds with major watchdog offices in the federal government.

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites contributed to this report.
A former Twitter employee told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that the company gave former president Donald Trump more lenient treatment because it enjoyed the "power" his stature lent to the social network.

The testimony Tuesday marked the first time a former Twitter insider has testified under oath about the company's role in giving Trump the megaphone he used to marshal an angry mob to attack the Capitol.

Trump had 88 million followers when Twitter "permanently suspended" him two days after the riot, citing fears he could incite further violence. But the suspension followed years of calls to ban his account due to tweets that featured harassment, conspiracy theories and viral lies.

The former Twitter employee said the company considered adopting a stricter content-moderation policy after Trump, at a September 2020 presidential debate, told the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by."

"My concern was that the former president, for seemingly the first time, was speaking directly to extremist organizations and giving them directives. We had not seen that sort of direct communication before, and that concerned me," the former employee said.

But Twitter, the former employee said, ultimately decided against the change, allowing Trump to continue to tweet without restriction. Many of those tweets - including one in December 2020, in which he wrote, "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!" - were regarded by pro-Trump supporters as calls to war, the committee said.

"Twitter relished in the knowledge that they were also the favorite and most used service of the former president and enjoyed having that sort of power within the social media ecosystem," the employee said. If Trump had been "any other user on Twitter, he would have been permanently suspended a very long time ago."

Rep. Jamie B. Raskin, D-Md., said the former employee had worked on a team responsible for platform and content-moderation policies in 2020 and 2021. The person was not named and their voice was cloaked with voice-modulating software.

Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, Twitter's vice president of public policy for the Americas, said in a statement that the company is "clear-eyed about our role in the broader information ecosystem" in regard to the Jan. 6 attack but that it "took unprecedented steps and invested significant resources to prepare for and respond to the threats that emerged" during the 2020 election.

The company, she said, has deployed "numerous policy and product interventions to protect the public conversation," including declaring the Proud Boys a violent extremist group in 2018 and permanently suspending accounts related to the group and organizers of the Capitol siege.

But the former employee said they had pleaded with Twitter managers for months "attempting to raise the reality that  if we made no intervention into what I saw occurring, people were going to die."

"And even as hard as I had tried to create one or implement one, there was nothing," the former employee added. "We were at the whim, at the mercy of a violent crowd that was locked and loaded."

The former Twitter employee said that, on the night before the riots, they had tried and failed to get the company to intervene by again flagging content from violent extremists on the site.

"When people are shooting each other tomorrow, I will try and rest in the knowledge that we tried," the former Twitter employee said they wrote in an internal Slack message the night of Jan. 5, 2021. "I don't know that I slept that night, to be honest with you. I was on pins and needles."

The former employee's attorneys, Alexis Ronickher and Debra Katz of the law firm Katz, Marshall & Banks, in a statement Tuesday praised the committee for allowing their client to remain anonymous given the force of violent extremism.

The revelation inspired major anger among some tech advocates. Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change, tweeted that the hearing showed that Twitter, YouTube and other social media platforms were complicit in helping Trump supporters organize the bloody insurrection. Big Tech "enabled insurrectionists to plan their violence," he tweeted.

In a later interview with The Washington Post, Robinson said social media companies' decisions to shield Trump and other powerful leaders from enforcement after they had broken rules against problematic speech had led to real-world damage.

"That is a choice that these companies are making. They can explain it away saying there is newsworthiness to it but they are absolutely making a choice," he said. "There is always going to be a reason or an excuse to it. But often times the reason or excuse is because they are looking for an easy out from actually doing the right thing. They are putting their hands on the scale of powerful people who create harm."

Facebook came under similar criticism last year when it was revealed that it maintained a separate program that allowed Trump and others exemptions from the platform's posting rules. Facebook's own Oversight Board criticized the platform for downplaying the scope of the program until it was revealed by a trove of internal documents shared by a whistleblower to the Wall Street Journal.

Twitter insiders have argued that the company's platform was only one way in which Trump amplified his rhetoric on a global stage. But Twitter was by far his most prominent: His Facebook account, which was also suspended after the Jan. 6 riots, has 34 million followers. His account on Truth Social, the fledgling Twitter clone he created after his ban, has about 3 million.

Trump's 56,571 tweets between 2009 and 2021 were often retweeted hundreds of thousands of times. Trump tweeted 600 times during his first impeachment and, after losing the 2020 election, used the platform for weeks to spread false claims about how he was the victim of an international vote-stealing conspiracy.

The hearing Tuesday, which focused on how Trump had helped drive far-right groups to Washington before the riots, revealed that Trump's Dec. 19 tweet had followed an "unhinged" meeting between White House attorneys and Trump acolytes.
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Washington (AP)  A Twitter employee told the House committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol that he spent a sleepless night on Jan. 5, 2021, worrying that people might die the next day during a rally that former President Donald Trump regularly promoted with angry rhetoric on his social media accounts.

The Twitter employee's worst fears were confirmed when nine people were left dead during and in the aftermath of the ensuing riot that broke out when Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

He raised repeated concerns with his employer about Trumps tweets leading up to the rally, the Jan. 6 committee revealed during its latest public hearing Tuesday. The employees voice was altered and his name was withheld to protect his identity in a prerecorded interview. His testimony did not indicate whom he told of his concerns about Trumps tweets.

After Trump tweeted a Dec. 19 invitation for his followers to gather in Washington to protest the U.S. election results, a torrent of responses, including violent threats, followed, the Twitter employee testified.

It felt as if a mob was being organized and they were gathering together their weaponry and their logic and their reasoning behind why they were prepared to fight, he said.

Responses to Trumps tweets included references to being locked and loaded and calls for civil war, the employee noted.

Twitter said in an emailed statement that it took unprecedented steps to respond to threats during the 2020 election and suspended accounts linked to far-right extremist groups. The company said it has had ongoing, productive engagement with the House committee.

In the days leading up to Jan. 6, Trump regularly used Facebook and Twitter to encourage his followers to travel to the Capitol to protest the election results. Last year, The Associated Press identified a series of responses to the presidents posts, which included multiple calls to fight and references to militias.

By then, after four years in office, the president had regularly violated the platforms policies around misinformation and inciting violence. Both Twitter and Facebook had removed or covered some of Trumps most egregious posts, but they did not go as far as kicking him off their platforms until after the Capitol riot.

In Twitters case, the employee told the committee, that was because they enjoyed the attention Trumps tweets brought the platform.

I believe Twitter relished in the knowledge that they were also the favorite and most used service of the former President and enjoyed having that sort of power within the social media ecosystem, the employee said.

But those messages had power over everyday people, too, including Ohio man Stephen Ayres, who pleaded guilty last month to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.

I was pretty hardcore into the social media, Ayers told the committee Tuesday. I followed President Trump on all of the websites. He basically put out: Come to Stop the Steal rally. I felt like I needed to be down here.

The day before Ayers and hundreds of others stormed the Capitol, the Twitter employee described to the committee a deflated message he sent to another colleague:

When people are shooting each other tomorrow, Ill try to rest in the knowledge that we tried."

___

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.
LONDON (AP)  British health officials say there have now been 1,735 confirmed cases of monkeypox and that three-quarters of those cases are in London, according to data released on Tuesday.

In a review of the outbreak published last week, Britain's Health Security Agency said there were no signs of a decline in the monkeypox epidemic and that the virus continues to be transmitted primarily in interconnected sexual networks of gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men. The agency said 97% of cases fell in that category and that there was no evidence of sustained transmission beyond that.

Scientists warn that anyone who is in close physical contact with someone who has monkeypox or their clothing or bedsheets is at risk of infection, regardless of their sexual orientation.

British scientists estimate the outbreak is doubling in size about every two weeks and said it's likely cases are being undercounted. They said that in nearly 80% of cases, there is no information about whether or not the person had contact with a confirmed case, meaning the virus is spreading undetected.

Scientists have noted that people with unusual symptoms, including only a single lesion, have been detected in the outbreak and say there have also been reports elsewhere of people with no symptoms carrying monkeypox. About 10% of infected people in the U.K. have been hospitalized, but there have been no deaths reported.

British experts said the virus has been spreading through close or sexual contact and that there has been no evidence of airborne transmission.

The Health Security Agency said the number of cases and countries identifying monkeypox continues to increase steeply," saying that infections beyond Africa have also been primarily seen in gay and bisexual men. It said there had been three cases of monkeypox in children, who are more likely to suffer serious disease.

Last month, the World Health Organization declined to declare monkeypox a global health emergency, but said it would revisit its decision soon. It said its evaluation of the outbreak could change if there are cases among sex workers, if the virus continues to spread rapidly or if more severe disease is seen.

People with monkeypox often experience symptoms like fever, body aches and a rash; most recover within weeks without needing medical care.

In central and west Africa, where the disease has been endemic for decades, the disease mostly affects people who come into contact with infected wild animals, like rodents or primates. There have been about 1,500 reported cases of monkeypox, including 70 deaths, in Congo, Cameroon and the Central African Republic.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 9.600 cases of monkeypox worldwide in nearly 60 countries, most of which had not previously reported the disease.
Continued demand for copper and aluminum is fueling an increase in air conditioner and catalytic converter thefts across the country. However, west-central Illinois is avoiding a similar spike, at least for now.

Over the past couple of weeks, there have been two reports to the Jacksonville police of stolen window air-conditioning units and one report of a stolen generator from a business on West Morton Avenue. Over the past year, thefts of air conditioners and catalytic converters have been periodically reported.

Jacksonville Police Chief Adam Mefford said those types of crimes have yet to become a huge problem.

Stealing air conditioners and catalytic converters are related because the theft is geared to stripping nonferrous metals such as copper and aluminum from them for resale. Mefford said people are not stealing them and putting them in their home or selling units on the street.

Beardstown Police Chief Martin Coad said he has not seen much in the way of air conditioners being stolen, but catalytic converters continue to be a target. His department has seen quite a few catalytic converter thefts over the past few months.

"It's something that has been off and on," Coad said. "Right now, it's the price of copper and aluminum."

"We have arrested some people responsible for other crimes and, after they were off the street, the thefts slowed down quite a bit," Coad said.

Mefford credits his officers for being vigilant on patrol as well as businesses having good security measures. Often, stealing catalytic converters is a rural crime.

"We have a more urban setting in Jacksonville," Mefford said. "It is more noticeable if someone grabs a Sawzall and starts cutting away here. And if we did have a rash of them, the thieves would have to take them elsewhere to sell the metal because we do check those records," Mefford said.

High demand for metals such as copper and aluminum tend to encourage metal thefts. Statistics from the Department of Energy show the amount of copper stolen exceeds $1 billion annually. While copper prices have fallen as the global economy has slowed, copper wire can fetch upward of $3.30 per pound. Illinois is one of the five leading states for copper thefts.

Earlier this year, the Brown County Sheriff's Department said there had been a steady rise in catalytic converter thefts. Chief Deputy Justin Oliver said it has been a problem in the tri-state area for some time. "Adams and Pike (counties) have had a lot more," he said.

Waverly Police Chief Chris Johnson said he hoped he wasnt jinxing anything, but there have been no reported thefts of either air conditioners or catalytic converters in his jurisdiction.

"From what I've seen, thieves look for areas of opportunity," Johnson said. "We are a close-knit community. There are several camera stations around and residents have cameras, too. That cuts down on the opportunity."

The best thing property owners can do is to be vigilant.

"Watch your neighborhood. If you see something, report it. Make sure you have security cameras, so we have video evidence," Coad said. "Without video, its hard to prosecute."

Mefford said proper installation of window air-conditioning units is a deterrent.

"Use the brackets they come with and attach them properly to make a potential theft harder than just grabbing it and leaving," Mefford said.

Good record-keeping helps in deterring the theft of generators and other construction equipment.

"Keep track of serial numbers," Mefford said. "It's much harder to sell when it has those markings."
President Joe Biden is scheduled to hold a White House briefing July 11 at 5 p.m. eastern/6 p.m. central to release one of the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope.

The telescope, billed as the most advanced space telescope ever built, launched Dec. 25, 2021 under a partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsin's bipartisan elections commission couldn't agree Tuesday on what guidance, if any, to give the state's more than 1,800 local clerks to help them understand how to implement a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling outlawing absentee ballot drop boxes.

The commission, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, repeatedly deadlocked on what to tell clerks about what the decision meant and how to interpret it ahead of the Aug. 9 primary. Commissioners said they may consider giving guidance later.

The primary will set the field for the Nov. 8 election where Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson are both on the ballot in high-stakes races. Johnson and Republican candidates for governor have called for disbanding the bipartisan elections commission and overhauling how elections are run in the state.

Republican members of the commission argued that it owed it to the clerks who run elections to help them understand the court's ruling, while Democrats said the guidance proposed went too far, would confuse clerks and only invited more lawsuits. Not taking any action means the commission is telling clerks go out and figure it out for yourself, said Republican commissioner Bob Spindell.

The conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday ruled 4-3 that absentee ballot drop boxes are illegal and voters must return their ballots in person either to the clerk's office or an alternate site. The Supreme Court did not address the question of who can put an absentee ballot in the mail. State law says an absentee ballot shall be mailed by the elector but federal law allows for disabled people to receive assistance with their ballot.

Democrats, voting rights groups, advocates for the disabled and others all decried the ruling as making it more difficult for people to vote, particularly the elderly and disabled. They argue that ballot boxes are safe and secure and a better option than relying on the post office, which can be slow in delivering ballots and unreliable.

The elections commission rejected a Republican-backed motion that would have said voters have to present a photo ID when returning an absentee ballot. It also rejected guidance that quoted state law saying that the elector must be the one to mail a ballot.

It would be inappropriate for us to start making stuff up and I think thats what this memo does, unfortunately," Democratic Commissioner Mark Thomsen said of proposed guidance written by commission staff.

Conservatives hailed the court's ruling as a step toward making elections more safe and secure, even though many Republicans in the past had supported and advocated for the use of absentee ballot drop boxes. Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted, without evidence, that absentee voting in Wisconsin was rife with fraud and fueled his loss in 2020.

Biden beat Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin, a result that has withstood recounts in the two most heavily Democratic counties, numerous lawsuits, a nonpartisan audit and a review by a conservative law firm.

Also on Tuesday, state Rep. Tim Ramthun, a Republican candidate for governor, reintroduced a resolution for the GOP-controlled state Legislature to decertify Biden's victory. Trump also renewed his call for decertification on Saturday, citing the Supreme Court ruling.

Ramthun is only calling for the presidential race to be decertified  not his race or anyone else elected in 2020. He's also not calling for decertification of the 2016 presidential race that was won by Trump and where ballot drop boxes were in use. Ramthuns earlier decertification resolution was not taken up.

Im not a conspiracy theorist. I am not," Ramthun said at a Capitol news conference as his supporters responded with Amen."

Ramthun also suggested that ballot drop boxes, voting machines and other equipment may need to be seized by law enforcement.

Ramthun has been one of the loudest advocates in Wisconsin for decertifying Biden's win. Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who was hired by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos under pressure from Trump to investigate the 2020 election, also told lawmakers to consider decertification and then later backed away from it.

Vos and other Republican leaders have rejected decertification as not being legally possible. Attorneys, including conservatives, have also said decertification is unconstitutional and pointless.
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YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP)  A famed grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park survived its first wildfire in more than a century, thanks to efforts to regularly burn the undergrowth beneath the towering trees, a forest ecologist who toured the site said Tuesday.

Small, intentionally lit fires over the past 50 years essentially stopped the fire in its tracks when it hit the Mariposa Grove and allowed firefighters to stand their ground and prevent flames from doing more than charring the thick bark on the world's largest trees, Garrett Dickman said.

Weve been preparing for the Washburn Fire for decades, said Dickman, who works for the park. It really just died as soon as it hit the grove.

The fire that started Thursday near the grove had burned 5 square miles (13 square kilometers) Tuesday, but was 22% contained and moving away from the largest grove of sequoias in the park. Based on prevailing winds, it was unlikely to return to the grove.

The blaze started near a trail. Authorities said it wasnt from lightning and wouldnt comment on whether it was sparked accidentally, intentionally or through negligence.

Hundreds of visitors and residents were evacuated from the nearby community of Wawona on Friday and the grove and southern entrance of the park were closed. The rest of Yosemite remained open, though it has been blanketed in heavy smoke at times.

Some of the sequoias were charred by flames that reached 70 feet up their trunks, but Dickman said he surveyed the grove and did not think any of the trees would die. The Galen Clark tree, a large tree at the top of the grove named for the park's first guardian, was one of the few named trees that burned.

It got a little bit of heat, Dickman said. But from the pictures Ive seen it, too, is gonna survive.

The sequoias are adapted to fire  and rely on it to survive. But more than a century of aggressive fire suppression has left forests choked with dense vegetation and downed timber that has provided fuel for massive wildfires that have grown more intense during an ongoing drought and exacerbated by climate change.

So-called prescribed burns  most recently conducted in the grove in 2018  mimic low intensity that help sequoias by clearing out downed branches, flammable needles and smaller trees that could compete with them for light and water. The heat from fires also helps cones open up to spread their seeds.

While intentional burns have been conducted in sequoias since the 1960s, they are increasingly being seen as a necessity to the save the massive trees. Once thought to be almost fire-proof, up to 20% of all giant sequoias  native only in the Sierra Nevada range  have been killed in the past five years during intense wildfires.

Fighting fire with fire, however, is a risky endeavor and has occasionally gotten out of control.

In New Mexico, firefighters were working Tuesday to restore mountainsides turned to ash by the largest wildfire in the states recorded history that broke out in early April when prescribed burns by the U.S. Forest Service escaped containment following missteps and miscalculations.

The Santa Fe County Commission in an afternoon meeting blasted federal officials and unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Forest Service to conduct a more comprehensive environmental review as it looks to reduce the threat of wildfire in the mountains that border the capital city.

The Mariposa Grove, home to over 500 mature giants, and Yosemite Valley were protected by President Abraham Lincoln in 1864  almost a decade before Yellowstone became the first national park in 1872 and decades before Yosemite was added to the system in 1890.

Dickman said the grove had not seen a wildfire in over 100 years. Several large blazes have come close in the past decade but they stopped before reaching the grove.

The current fire remains small by those standards and has not been driven by wind. But it is burning in forest littered with dense stands of trees killed by bark beetles and drought, as well timber blown down in a powerful windstorm last year that also toppled more than two dozen sequoias.

The previous prescribed burns in the grove gave firefighters a chance to set up sprinklers to protect trees that have lived longer than 3,000 years and grow above 300 feet (90 meters) in height.

So far in 2022, over 35,000 wildfires have burned nearly 4.7 million acres (1.9 million hectares) in the U.S., according to the National Interagency Fire Center, well above average for both wildfires and acres burned.

In Utah, smoke and ash emanating from a growing wildfire in rural Tooele County blew into Salt Lake City on Saturday. By Monday night, the Jacob City Fire had grown to 6.4 square miles (16.6 square kilometers), with 19% containment, officials said.

Elsewhere in Utah, firefighters contending with heavy winds battled the 15.9 square-mile (41-square-kilometer) Halfway Hill Fire in Filmore. Law enforcement on Saturday arrested four men who investigators said abandoned a campfire that ignited the blaze.
By Caroline Crawford

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is in the midst of its first full season since 2019, with five plays on the boards and two more opening in October. Shakespeare, a song-and-dance extravaganza, a brilliant monologue, a provocative contemporary work -- all this and more make it worth it to make the trek from the Bay Area to Ashland, Oregon, for the esteemed West Coast theater festival. Here are mini-reviews of four plays running now.

'unseen' (through July 31)

The most unusual play at Oregon Shakespeare Festival is Mona Mansour's 2017 "unseen," a one-act drama that looks at the effects of violence on those who photograph wars and the difficult choices they make. American photographer Mia is recovering from an attack in the Middle East, where she is on assignment, that was so gruesome she can't recall it. She has been trying to recover her mental stability in the company of her Turkish lover Derya and her mother Jane, who has come to take care of her.

Director Evren Odcikin handles the stop-start episodes with precision, and the morality of conflict reporting is the discussion: Should the public see the worst? Should the suffering be made public? The play's most poignant moment comes when in a film clip of a bereaved mother asks Mia if she sees her subjects. "You see us and then you forget us."

The brief scenes and flashbacks are prefaced by brilliant projections of battle, of destroyed buildings and victims of war, and the actors manage to steer clear of stereotypes: Mia (Helen Sadler) is more than a do-gooder with a high-minded mission, Jane (Caroline Shaffer) is more than just a ditzy mother and Derya (Nora el Samahy) is a caring, if rather glib, lover. The cast and creative team bring the play home with nuance and power.

'The Tempest' (through Oct. 15)

As for the single and very solid Shakespeare production, Nicolas C. Avila stages "The Tempest" in a lean and uncluttered manner, a staging Elizabethans would have readily understood. No trendy updates or tampering with the language to make it "more accessible." The upshot of traditional staging is that audiences can better decipher not only what the Bard wrote but also the many common parallels between the playwright's time and our own, in this case family dissension, betrayal, forgiveness.

Kevin Kenerly is excellent, a good-hearted Prospero, a duke who has been exiled to an island with his daughter after having his dukedom usurped by his brother. He plays the role with warmth and humor rather than the bitterness often shown, generous in forgiving, not overly rough with Caliban or Ariel, the spirit he has enslaved to do his bidding.

The play is the last wholly written by Shakespeare, who tells us that his work is substantially finished: "Now my charms are all o'erthrown, and what strength I have is now mine own." It is thought that the author decamped from London for Stratford after writing the epilogue to the play and collaborated on only two more works after that.

Outstanding in the cast are Geoffrey Warren Barnes II as an exceptionally high-spirited Ariel, James Ryen as a somewhat sympathetic Caliban and Grace Chan Ng and William Thomas Hodgson as daughter Miranda and her husband-to-be.

'Once on This Island' (through Oct. 30)

"Once on This Island" is a musical fantasy set in the Caribbean, with song and dance so exuberant it's easy to miss the sadness of its narrative. What drives the plot of the show is the inequity between rich and poor, white and Black, and other racial and economic disasters leftover from colonialism, ostensibly in Haiti. Ti Moune (Ciera Dawn) and Daniel (Dominique Lawson) are in love, but as an aristocrat, he must marry within his circle, and she must remain on the wrong side of the island. The gods go crazy to sort things out, and there is gorgeous singing, especially by Ti Moune, her rival Andrea (Hannah Rose Honore) and Erzulie (Camille Robinson).

Based on a novel, "My Love, My Love" by Rosa Guy, the music (composer Stephen Flaherty/lyricist Lynn Aherns) flashes from calypso to ballad to Vodou ritual, with an all-star cast that dances as if inspirited by the lwa/gods themselves. Lili-Anne Brown's direction is to the point, and Breon Arzell's choreography is dazzling. This 90-minute, one-act show, which premiered on Broadway in 1990, won the 2018 Tony Award for best musical revival. The storytellers bring the play to a somber close, underscoring as they go the power of the oral tradition to fortify a community.

'How I Learned What I Learned' (through July 30)

In "How I Learned What I Learned," August Wilson explores his life and times in a rapid-fire eponymous monologue, remembering the tough streets of Pittsburgh's Hill District, where he grew up and which he described in his American century cycle plays, among them "Fences," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," "Jitney" and "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." Wilson performed the monologue in 2003, shortly before his death 2005.

Steven Anthony Jones owns the work entirely in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley artist director Tim Bond's fine staging: forceful, humorous, and challenging our ideas about race, sexuality and just about every other facet of American life.

As he enters and hangs up his hat and coat and settles into an armchair, he says his ancestors arrived early in the 17th century and, for the first 200 years, "never had a problem finding a job. But since 1853," referring to the end of slavery, "it's been hell."

Jones is so completely engaged with Wilson's stories -- jobs aborted because of racism, an encounter with the husband of a woman he is involved with, a brief prison term -- that it would appear that Wilson himself has taken the stage. The most poignant episode is about his discovery of John Coltrane and the power and passion of music. The entire monologue has a jazzy cadence to it. It is a masterful performance that shouldn't be missed.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival takes place in the three theaters in the festival's complex at 15 S. Pioneer St., Ashland, Oregon. For tickets and more information, visit https://www.osfashland.org/.

Copyright  2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2022 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Amid a growing population of youth experiencing mental health crises, as well as another spate of mass shootings around the country, Pennsylvania lawmakers are prioritizing mental health services in this years budget by approving a first-time line item of $100 million for in-school support.

Invoking the recent tragedies in Texas and Illinois, Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York, said that through the funding, the state will try to tie together mental health and safety and security "so there are not people who fall through the cracks.

Every school district in the state will receive $100,000 as a base grant and charter school entities will receive $70,000.

In addition, the states Safety and Security fund, which was established in 2018 to improve physical school safety after the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, will also receive $100 million. The funds have historically been used for upgrading security  including adding cameras, safe entrances and personnel to school buildings.

For educators, addressing mental health is necessary to ensuring children are in a good place to learn, said John Callahan, chief advocacy officer for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. The funding from the state will help schools address mental health proactively and preventatively, as a way to engage students before it rises to the level of a crisis.

Callahan said that school districts have been addressing mental health needs in various ways, including increasing the number of school counselors and school psychologists, which can be pricey with salary and benefits. Others rely on contracting out those services, including one district that is using a telephone service to provide student support.

Many schools districts, he said, also work closely with their counties behavioral health services. But with strain placed on staffing at the county level, service wait times can stretch to three weeks.

The mobile crisis unit in Bucks County, for example, was gutted over the course of the pandemic, and operating at significantly lower capacity, according to Donna Duffy-Bell, administrator of the Bucks County Behavioral Health/Development Programs.

Im sure the schools, as well as the general community, felt the impact of that limited capacity, she said.

Pennsylvania's need for more mental health support has grown in recent years.

In 2021, youth crisis hotlines, mobile crisis response teams and walk-in crisis centers statewide all saw an increase in the number of people seeking care over the previous year, according to data from the Department of Human Services.

Furthermore, 40% of Pennsylvania students in grades six, eight, 10 and 12 surveyed in 2021 said they felt sad or depressed most days over the past year  a slight increase over 38% of students who were surveyed in 2017 and 2019.

More children also seriously considered suicide or planned suicide in 2021 as compared to the two previous survey years, and reported self-harm also increased. The data, collected by the state agencies biennially from 1,908 eligible schools, reflects what officials say is a growing trend of increased mental health issues among Pennsylvania youth.

We know this is going to be an ongoing collective effort, said Monica Stefanik, childrens services director for Bucks County. Were continuing to see an increase and want to pull together as a community to support youth on many levels. That will help to improve mental health over time if were all working together.

In addition to mental health funding for schools, lawmakers also set aside $42.6 million for county mental health offices providing at-home and community based behavioral health services.

Another $100 million in federal relief funding will support adult behavioral health care.

___

Marc Levy contributed to reporting. Brooke Schultz 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 Brooke Schultz on Twitter.
Kelly Neidert, founder and leader of the North Texas-based anti-LGBTQ organization Protect Texas Kids, organized a protest Sunday of Hamburger Marys drag brunch in downtown Houston. A few dozen anti-LGBTQ protestors gathered with her across the street from the LGBTQ-friendly restaurant, while100-or-so counter-protestors lined the sidewalk in front of its doors.

"We're out here today...because theyre allowing kids into all their weekend drag shows," Neidert said, while flanked by multiple armed men wearing masks depicting the iconic Buc-ees grinning beaver.

The popular Texas brand's logo and mascot have been adopted as a marker for members of the white supremacist group the Proud Boys in recent months, according to reports from Texas Monthly and Salon. Men in Bucky masks appeared to stand guard over Neidert throughout her protest at the Houston drag event Sunday, however, the men declined to respond to questions about their membership in the Proud Boys or clarify whether they were affiliated with any specific group.

Tracy Shannon, the Houston-based leader of the Texas chapter of Mass Resistancewhich bills itself as a "leading pro-family activist organization" with aims to "confront assaults" on traditional valuesinformed her friend Neidert of Hamburger Mary's Sunday Drag Brunch and urged her to bring her anti-trans activism from the Dallas area to Houston, Neidert said. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled Mass Resistance an anti-LGBTQ hate group since as early as 2017.

Both Neidert's and Shannon's groups believe that the LGBTQ communityand drag performers especiallyaim to indoctrinate young kids into liberalism and coerce them into sexual activity with pedophilic adults using LGBTQ identity as cover.

One of the men wearing Buc-ees masks hovered close by as Neidert spoke with Chron at the event, and trailed close behind Neidert as she moved among her supporters afterwards. Other men donning Buc-ee's masks appeared to stick close to Neidert during the remainder of the protest, alongside other armed men wearing a variety of different face masks and regalia.

"I wouldnt be surprised if those were some of them," Neidert said, when asked whether the men in Buc-ees masks were Proud Boys there to protect her during the event. "But I didnt really like speak with them about it, or like I couldn't confirm that."

Neidert has been linked to the Proud Boys in the recent past: While facing backlash for her anti-trans demonstrations during her time as a student at the University of North Texas at Denton near Dallas, former Proud Boys lawyer Jason Lee Van Dyke voiced support online and offered her legal representation if it was needed. A Denton resident told the Daily Beast that they saw Neidert and Van Dyke at dinner together at a Denton Thai restaurant in February. However, Neidert told the Daily Beast that Van Dyke was not providing legal services for her in March.

Members of the Proud Boys have donned the Bucky face mask at events across Texas in recent months. Masked members crashed an LGBTQ pride event near Dallas in June, brandishing weapons and shouting that the attendees were pedophiles and "groomers." Buc-ees masks were also spotted among groups of anti-LGBTQ activists outside a drag brunch event in Arlington, Texas and at a May Frisco City Council meeting designating June as a Pride month.

Buc-ee's has kept its distance from any affiliation with the Proud Boys. "We have never had contact with these people and do not know who they are," Buc-ee's general counsel Jeff Nadalo told Texas Monthly in June, adding that, No third party is going to prevent us from providing clean bathrooms equally to all people."

The Buc-ees mask wasnt the only symbol associated with hate-groups that was visible among anti-trans protestors on Sunday. At least one man wore an SS hat and a necklace with a large silver swastika while shouting anti-gay slurs at counter protestors. Another wore a skull and crossbones mask associated with the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, while flashing the "OK" hand gesture at counterprotestors. The gesture has been appropriated to mean white power in recent years.
In a recent commentary, I discussed the visit to China of the UNs chief human rights official on what proved to be a seriously misguided and rather naive attempt to improve the conditions of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang province. An important element in that mass internment of innocent civilians is Chinas ubiquitous surveillance system, which has facilitated the roundup of Chinese Muslims.

That system is not confined to the Uyghurs. It is a many-layered nationwide network designed to collect personal data for police and security units on every Chinese citizen whose behavior or personal characteristics might be troublesome to the authorities. In a word, no one is above suspicion.

Now, a New York Times investigative group has acquired over a hundred thousand [Chinese] government bidding documents. They call for companies to bid on the contracts to provide surveillance technology, and include product requirements and budget size, and sometimes describe at length the strategic thinking behind the purchases.

The documents make perfectly clear why China is often called the surveillance state: Its facial recognition technology, DNA analysis, and other tools that intrude into peoples identity go far beyond anything other countries use  or George Orwell imagined.

Chinas ministry of public security announced plans to obtain the DNA via blood samples of tens of millions of male adults and children, with Xinjiang and Tibet the starting point for creating a data base to cover virtually the entire population. Cameras with facial recognition capability are literally everywhere. Western publications on genetics abetted Chinese efforts to identify Uyghurs (as well as Tibetans) by carrying many articles that had a co-author from the Chinese police, the military, the judiciary or some such government institution, according to a Belgian geneticist.

What do the Chinese authorities have to say about criticisms of the surveillance state?

On one hand, they defend it by insisting its necessary to protect against terrorism and crime. There are no abuses of human rights in Xinjiang, only reeducation to bring its ethnic majority into the modern age.

On the other hand, the authorities say the criticisms are based on misinformation and disinformation, leading to sanctions on Xinjiang products that seek to contain Chinas growth, disrupt the international trade order and destabilize global industrial and supply chains.

Think that the Chinese surveillance state is of no consequence for us? Intrusive technologies embedded in social media are already part of our daily lives, monitoring our movement, personal tastes, social views, and even future plans.

Closed-circuit cameras track ordinary citizens and criminals alike. Now, consider how the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade decision might deepen the surveillance state here. If, for example, women must cross state lines, in violation of local law, to obtain an abortion or pills to induce abortion, will they be subject to official tracking for prosecution? Might every pregnant woman in a red state be forced to install a tracking device on her phone? Might anti-abortion states be able to access apps some women use to track their menstrual cycles, nabbing those women believed to be in the early stages of pregnancy?

Im inclined to say that in states where abortion is outlawed  and, even worse, if the Supreme Court makes abortions illegal nationwide  the tools of a police state will be endorsed as necessary for full implementation of the law, just as in China.

In China, ordinary people have no recourse if the surveillance system catches them. The days of private lawyers occasionally able to defend people in court are numbered. The police are all-powerful; few safeguards of privacy exist. Xi Jinping has provided a model of high-tech authoritarianism that can exist side by side with consistent economic growth.

We should beware.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 24, concerning the case of Dobbs, State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health, Et Al. versus Jackson Womens Health Organization Et Al, the issue of the permanence of court rulings has come into question.

The debate concerns the June 24 current Supreme Court decision to overrule a previous Supreme Court decision. That original decision was in the 1973 case of Roe versus Wade, in which the Court ruled the U.S. Constitution generally protects a pregnant womans liberty to choose to have an abortion. Since original decision identified a new constitutional right, this ruling would rise above states or Congressional authority to significantly alter it. Opponents to this constitutional right claim the decision invented a previously non-existing constitutional right. A key point of conflict is the interpretation of identify versus invent.

This article does not consider whether the original Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade should have been overruled, but considers the question of whether a previous Supreme Court ruling can be overruled. This question has been raised by many who expressed disappointment, frustration and outrage over this overruling. The basic claim from the disappointed group is that this latest decision retracts a previously identified constitutional right, therefore breaking the chain of judicial precedent.

Laws and rights in the United States are basically established in three ways. Laws are created from bills passed by Congress a or states legislative body and signed by the president or the appropriate governor. The highest level of establishing of a law or a right is to amend the Constitution. Amendments have happened only 27 times. Notable amendments include No. 1 (1791) rights to freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition; No. 2 (1791) right to bear arms; No. 18 (1919) prohibition, or making the sale of the alcoholic beverages illegal; No. 19 womens right to vote; No. 21 (1933) the repeal (or removal) of amendment No. 18; No. 26 (1971) the right to vote at age 18

A second way to establish a right is through a judicial court ruling. In this situation, two or more parties present conflicting legal arguments to a court which then renders a decision. While technically not a law, such a ruling has the same affect by creating a precedent that is intended to be followed by all future court decisions.

Once a precedent has been established, can it be reversed? Specifically, in the case of an identification or invention of a right, can a higher or future court reverse this decision? This is what happened between the Dobbs and Roe v. Wade cases. The Supreme Court in effect repealed a precedent set by a previous Supreme Court when it established a new right. In effect, the Supreme Court ruled that the earlier court invented rather than identified a constitutional right. This reversal decision was based on the legal concept that when a claimed right does not exist within the constitution, it therefore needs to be established by state law, federal law or Constitutional amendment. On the Roe v. Wade original case, no such federal law existed. Therefore, the right in question needs to be codified by law, meaning a law or laws needs to be established for the right to exist in U.S. law.

A third way is by executive order, in which case the president issues an executive order by authority of that office that will carry the weight of law even though it is not one that was passed as outlined above. One of the most famous examples of an executive order is the Emancipation Proclamation, officially known as Proclamation 95, signed by President Abraham Lincoln Sept. 22, 1862, and announced nationally on Jan. 1, 1863. The executive order stated that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free. The slaves were then technically free, but the right was not formally recognized until the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress Jan. 31, 1865, and ratified Dec. 6, 1865, permanently abolishing slavery in the United States. However, even Constitutional Amendments can be reversed, as can be seen when Amendment No. 21 reversed Amendment No. 18. So then what is permanent? To protect the citizens from a lack of legal stability, the Founding Fathers made Amending the Constitution very difficult.

A final example is when an upper level court reverses the ruling of a lower court, issues a stay of execution, which is a temporarily suspension of an execution of a court judgment or court order by a higher court.

All of these examples support the concept that the Constitution, the foundational law of the land upon which all other laws are based, is a living document, as Distinguished Law Professor David A. Strauss stated in his article titled The Living Constitution at the University of Chicago Law School.

So, does settled law really exist? The answer is no. The law is alive. Throughout the history of the United States laws have been changed, amended, overridden, the Constitution amended then reversed. What happened before is no guarantee for the future. It is up to every American to be vigilant in protecting their rights, be aware of what is happening in the courts and legislative bodies, and stay active in their communities. Thomas Jefferson told us of the need for each citizen to do this, and do it constantly.

Kevin McEvoy, PhD is a retired faculty member at the University of Connecticut, Stamford. He is a multi- award winning professor at UConn, and hold degrees in political science and marketing from Boston College, and a PhD from NYU.
A Berkeley Law professor accused Sen. Josh Hawley of being transphobic and said his rhetoric could endanger the lives of transgender people during a heated exchange at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, which was held in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last month.

The exchange began when Hawley asked the professor, Khiara Bridges, to clarify what she meant when she referred to "people with the capacity for pregnancy" during her testimony.

"Would that be women?" Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, asked.

Here, Hawley is invoking a belief that's widely seen as transphobic  the idea that only cisgender women, and not transgender men and nonbinary people, are capable of becoming pregnant. Bridges clarified what she meant.

"Many women, cis women, have the capacity for pregnancy, [and] many cis women do not have the capacity for pregnancy," she said. "There are also trans men who are capable of pregnancy as well as nonbinary people who are capable of pregnancy."

Hawley's initial question was clearly a setup for his next point.

"So this isn't really a women's rights issue," he said, referring to abortion.

This is where the exchange became tense. Bridges interrupted Hawley's line of questioning to point out that, while trans men and nonbinary people are capable of becoming pregnant, the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade would disproportionately impact cis women. When Hawley then asked what Bridges thought the "core" of the issue surrounding abortion was, she accused the senator of being transphobic.

"I want to recognize that your line of questioning is transphobic," she said. "And it opens up trans people to violence by not recognizing them."

The exchange quickly dissolved into a quasi shouting match, with Bridges and Hawley talking over one another. Hawley seemed indignant at Bridges' suggestion that his questions could lead to violence, and Bridges responded by citing data that one in five trans young people attempted suicide in 2021  a phenomenon that she attributed to the "injurious" idea that transgender people don't exist.

Im denying that trans people exist by asking you if you're talking about women having pregnancies? Hawley asked in response to Bridges' point.

Bridges answered his question with a question, asking, So you believe that men can get pregnant?

No, I don't think men can get pregnant, Hawley answered.

So youre denying that trans people exist. Thank you, Bridges said while smiling.

From there, Hawley tried to end the sparring a with a personal jab when he asked, Is this how you run your classroom? Are students allowed to question you or are they also treated like this?

We have a good time in my class, Bridges answered. You should join. You might learn a lot.

Oh, I bet. ... Ive learned a lot just by this exchange, Hawley replied. Extraordinary.
WFO MEDFORD Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

HEAT ADVISORY

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Medford OR

1221 AM PDT Tue Jul 12 2022

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...High temperatures of 90 to 101 degrees expected.

* WHERE...Eastern Klamath County and much of Lake County. In

California, central and Eastern Siskiyou County and much of

Modoc County. This includes the communities of Summer Lake,

Paisley, Lakeview, Adel, Bly, Beatty,Crescent Alturas, Tulelake,

Yreka, and Mt Shasta City.

* WHEN...From 11 PM Monday to 11 PM PDT Tuesday.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Overnight temperatures will be warm as

well, limiting overnight relief from hot daytime temperatures.

* View the hazard area in detail at

https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/map/?wfo=mfr

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.

* WHAT...High temperatures of 95 to 105 degrees expected, with

up to 110 expected in the hottest areas.

* WHERE...Much of Jackson County in Oregon. In California, central

and Siskiyou County. This includes the Rogue and Shasta Valleys

and the communities of Medford, Ashland, Yreka and Weed.

* WHEN...From 10 AM Monday to 11 PM PDT Tuesday.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The hottest temperatures are expected

Monday for areas west of the Cascades, with similar or hotter

temperatures expected Tuesday for areas east of the Cascades.

Overnight temperatures will be warm as well, limiting

overnight relief from hot daytime temperatures.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO ALBANY Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Northern Litchfield County in northern Connecticut...

Southeastern Berkshire County in western Massachusetts...

* Until 615 PM EDT.

* At 509 PM EDT, severe thunderstorms were located along a line

extending from Middlefield to Millerton, moving east at 40 mph.

HAZARD...70 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect considerable tree damage. Damage is likely to

mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings.

* Locations impacted include...

Torrington, New Hartford, Becket, Norfolk, Otis, Canaan,

Sandisfield, Falls Village, Winsted, New Hartford Center, Ashley

Falls, Northwest Harwinton, Barkhamsted, Salisbury, New

Marlborough, Colebrook, Monterey, South Norfolk, West Torrington

and Sodom.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with these storms, and may lead to

flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.

Please report hail size...damaging winds and reports of trees down to

the National Weather Service by email at Alb.Stormreport@noaa.gov...

On Facebook at www.facebook.com/nwsalbany or twitter @nwsalbany

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO ALBANY Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

Severe Weather Statement

National Weather Service Albany NY

222 PM EDT Tue Jul 12 2022

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 230 PM EDT

FOR NORTHEASTERN WARREN COUNTY...

At 221 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Huletts

Landing, or 9 miles northwest of Whitehall, moving east at 40 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

Locations impacted include...

Graphite.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

If on or near Lake George, get away from the water and move indoors

or inside a vehicle. remember, lightning can strike out to 15 miles

from the parent thunderstorm. If you can hear thunder, you are close

enough to be struck by lightning. Move to safe shelter now! Do not

be caught on the water in a thunderstorm.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to

flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of central Broome, west

central Delaware and southern Chenango Counties through 315 PM EDT...

At 224 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near

Sanitaria Springs, or 10 miles east of Greater Binghamton Airport,

moving east at 45 mph.

HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects.

Sidney, Walton, Coventry, Port Dickinson, Bainbridge, Masonville,

Afton, Franklin, Chenango Forks and East Sidney.

This includes the following highway exits...

Interstate 88 between 1 and 11.

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect until 700 PM EDT for

central New York.

LAT...LON 4207 7510 4214 7590 4231 7588 4233 7540

4231 7540 4232 7538 4231 7534 4232 7531

4234 7529 4235 7508

TIME...MOT...LOC 1824Z 270DEG 41KT 4222 7579

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN

MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

The National Weather Service in Burlington has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Southeastern Essex County in northern New York...

Southwestern Addison County in central Vermont...

Northern Rutland County in southern Vermont...

Northwestern Windsor County in southern Vermont...

* Until 315 PM EDT.

* At 225 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Benson

Landing, moving east at 50 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to trees and powerlines.

* Locations impacted include...

Rutland, Castleton, West Castleton, Sudbury, Hubbardton,

Killington, Orwell, Stockbridge, Proctor, Benson, Brandon,

Chittenden, Mendon, Pittsfield, Pittsford, West Haven, Fair Haven,

West Rutland, Rutland City and Goshen.

Boaters on Lake Champlain should seek safe harbor now! Strong winds

will cause higher waves and sudden wind shifts may overturn boats.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO ALBANY Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

Severe Weather Statement

National Weather Service Albany NY

428 PM EDT Tue Jul 12 2022

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR SOUTH CENTRAL SCHOHARIE COUNTY

IS CANCELLED...

The severe thunderstorm which prompted the warning has moved out of

the warned area. Therefore, the warning has been cancelled.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect until 700 PM EDT for

east central New York.

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM EDT

FOR NORTHEASTERN ULSTER AND SOUTHERN GREENE COUNTIES...

At 428 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near North-South

Lake Campground, or near Saugerties, moving east at 40 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

Locations impacted include...

Catskill, Saugerties, Woodstock, West Hurley, Saugerties South,

North-South Lake Campground, Woodland Valley Campground, Kenneth L

Wilson Campground, Lake Katrine, Phoenicia, Mount Tremper,

Lanesville, Cairo, Veteran, Shandaken, Centerville, Tannersville,

Glenford, Manorville and Katsbaan.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to

flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.

...Strong thunderstorms will impact portions of northeastern Erie,

southeastern Orleans, northern Genesee and central Monroe Counties

through 500 PM EDT...

At 427 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along

a line extending from near Greece to 6 miles northwest of Byron to

near Pendleton. Movement was east at 35 mph.

HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects.

Rochester, Greece, Irondequoit, Clarence, Chili, Batavia, Brockport,

Brighton, Gates-North Gates, Pembroke, Spencerport, Akron, Alden,

Byron, Churchville, Oakfield, Riga, Clarendon, Alabama and Charlotte.

This includes Interstate 90 between exits 48A and 47.

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with some of these storms.

While there will be a non zero chance for very localized poor

drainage flooding, many areas could pick up a beneficial half inch

of badly needed rain. Keep in mind not to drive your vehicle through

flooded roadways.

These storms may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio

stations and available television stations for additional information

and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

LAT...LON 4304 7871 4309 7851 4308 7847 4310 7846

4329 7767 4316 7738 4290 7854

TIME...MOT...LOC 2027Z 271DEG 32KT 4323 7776 4313 7817 4303 7868

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN

MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO BINGHAMTON Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Binghamton has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Northern Oneida County in central New York...

* Until 100 PM EDT.

* At 1207 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Camden,

moving east at 45 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage

to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Camden, Boonville, Steuben, Florence, Ava, Delta Lake, Taberg,

Stokes Corner, Hawkinsville and Delta Lake State Park.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Heavy rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to flash

flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO BURLINGTON Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Burlington has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Northwestern Franklin County in northern New York...

Northeastern St. Lawrence County in northern New York...

* Until 315 PM EDT.

* At 221 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Waddington,

moving east at 45 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor hail damage to vehicles is possible. Expect wind

damage to trees and powerlines.

* Locations impacted include...

Potsdam, Massena, Ogdensburg, Norfolk, Lisbon, Louisville, Moira,

Bangor, Parishville, Fort Covington, Bombay, Morley, Massena

International Airport - Richards Field, Helena, Burke, Waddington,

Madrid, Brushton, Lawrenceville and Malone.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to

flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, July 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Austin San Antonio has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

East central Bastrop County in south central Texas...

* Until 745 PM CDT.

* At 639 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Circle D-KC

Estates, or 8 miles northeast of Bastrop, moving south at 10 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and nickel size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Bastrop, Smithville, Camp Swift, Paige, Circle D-KC Estates, Upton,

Bastrop State Park, Hills Prairie, Buescher State Park and Alum

Creek.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of central El Paso

County through 615 PM MDT...

At 541 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over

East El Paso, moving west at 15 mph.

HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and half inch hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is

possible.

Locations impacted include...

Central El Paso, East El Paso, Northeast El Paso, Far East El Paso,

Mission Valley, Fort Bliss, Socorro, Sparks and Biggs Field.

This includes Interstate 10 in Texas between mile markers 20 and 36.

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

LAT...LON 3168 10634 3171 10637 3173 10638 3175 10641

3176 10646 3175 10648 3175 10649 3187 10644

3180 10622 3167 10623

TIME...MOT...LOC 2341Z 096DEG 12KT 3175 10632

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN

MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX

819 PM CDT Mon Jul 11 2022

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT

TUESDAY...

* WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with high temperatures ranging

from 105 to 108 and afternoon heat index values up to 110

expected.

* WHERE...Portions of south central Texas, mainly along and east

of Interstate 35.

* WHEN...Until 7 PM CDT Tuesday.

* IMPACTS...Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase

the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those

working or participating in outdoor activities.

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.

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT TUESDAY...

* WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with high temperatures

ranging from 101 to 108 and afternoon heat index values up to

110 expected.

* WHERE...Val Verde, Edwards, Real, Kerr, Bandera, Gillespie,

Kendall, Blanco and Kinney Counties.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat

illnesses to occur.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO CORPUS CHRISTI Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT

Special Weather Statement

National Weather Service Corpus Christi TX

328 AM CDT Tue Jul 12 2022

...HEAT INDEX VALUES BETWEEN 105 AND 109 DEGREES ARE EXPECTED TODAY...

The combination of warm temperatures and high dewpoints will

produce heat indices between 105 and 109 degrees today. Residents

with outdoor activities planned are urged to drink plenty of water,

wear light weight and light colored clothing and take frequent breaks

from the heat. Young children and pets should never be left

unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. This is especially

true during warm or hot weather when car interiors can reach lethal

temperatures in a matter of minutes.

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM CDT

THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...Heat index values up to 108 expected.

* WHERE...Portions of central and west central Louisiana and

southeast Texas.

* WHEN...From noon to 7 PM CDT Tuesday.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat

illnesses to occur.

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.

...FLOOD ADVISORY HAS EXPIRED...

The Flood Advisory has expired north central Hartley and eastern

Dallam Counties, including the City of Dalhart.

The heavy rain has ended. Flooding is no longer expected to pose a

threat. Please continue to heed remaining road closures.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO HOUSTON/GALVESTON Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, July 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in League City has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Central Waller County in southeastern Texas...

Western Harris County in southeastern Texas...

* Until 530 PM CDT.

* At 503 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Hockley, or 7

miles east of Prairie View, moving southwest at 15 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Prairie View, Hockley, Waller and Pine Island.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
Logo of the exhibition



The exhibition takes place from July 11  14. Not only does this mark the first exhibition in Vietnam held by the art and cultural frontier, but the public event also manifests as one of the largest Indochine Art exhibitions ever staged in the country.

The non-selling exhibition features over 50 works by Le Thi Luu, Le Pho, Mai Trung Thu and Vu Cao Dam, the four renowned early generation graduates from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine (EBAI) who migrated to France in early 20th century.

The works in this exhibition are like a slice illustrating the period of composition in foreign countries by four artists, expressing the attitude of always looking to the homeland through familiar themes, originating from the historical circuit. Each person's memories and nostalgia such as flowers and landscapes, family and customs, culture and architecture.

This is a non-commercial exhibition sponsored by Sotheby's, the second-largest auction floor in Asia and the world, under the organization of guest curator Ace Le, an Editor-in-Chief at Art Republik Vietnam - a prominent figure in the local art community who facilitate discussions on the authentication, valuation, and identification of Vietnamese modern art.

Sotheby's is holding the record for the highest price for a Vietnamese painting, which is Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong (rough translation: Portrait of Ms. Phuong) by artist Mai Trung Thu, for US$3.1 million in the auction in April 2021.





By Kim Loan  Translated by Anh Quan
Laos promotes construction of the Laos - Vietnam railways section. (Photo: VNA)

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) just signed by the Lao government with the Lao Petroleum Trading Lao Public Company (PetroTrade), the LVRP, which is a high-speed electrified railway project, has a length of about 452km, with a total investment of US$5 billion.

In the first phase, the railway will connect Thakhek town with Vung Ang seaport of Vietnam with a length of about 139km. Meanwhile, the second phase will be a 312-km route connecting Thakhek to Vientiane.

The LVRP, which has been under consideration since 2015, will allow the connection of logistics supply routes between Laos and Vietnam.

This is part of the Laos Logistics Link (LLL) project, connecting Vung Ang seaport with the Laos-Vietnam Railway, Thanaleng Inland Port and Vientianes logistics area.

PetroTrade said it will hire independent domestic and international consulting firms in collaboration with relevant government agencies to carry out the work, which is expected to be completed and approved within 24 months.

Vietnamplus
The Centre should privatise all public sector banks (PSBs), except the State Bank of India (SBI). This is because private banks have emerged as a credible alternative to PSBs with substantial market share. Also, government ownership hinders the ability of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to regulate the sector, according to a report by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

Barring SBI, most other PSBs have lagged behind private banks in all the major indicators of performance during the last decade. They have seen soured loans and operational costs soar, the report authored by NCAERs Poonam Gupta and economist Arvind Panagariya said.

These PSBs have also attained lower returns on assets and equity than their private sector counterparts.

PSBs have lost ground to private banks, both in terms of deposits and advances of loans. Since 2014-15, almost the entire growth of the banking sector is attributable to the private banks and the SBI, it said.The under-performance of PSBs has persisted despite a number of policy initiatives aimed at bolstering their performance during this period.

These initiatives are recapitalisation, constitution of the Bank Board Bureau to streamline and professionalise hiring and governance practices; prompt corrective action plans; and consolidation through mergers, which helped reduce their number from 27 in 2016-17 to 12 currently, the report said.

The non-performing assets (NPA) of PSBs remain elevated as compared to private banks even as the government infused $65.67 billion into PSBs between 2010-11 and 2020-21 to help them tide over the bad loan crisis.

The market valuation of PSBs, excluding SBI, remains hugely below the funds infused in such banks as May 31, 2022.

Meanwhile, private banks have sped ahead by miles in terms of market valuation. The steady erosion in the relative market value of PSBs is indicative of a lack of trust among private investors in the ability of PSBs to meaningfully improve their performance, the report said.

The market cap of PSBs, except SBI, is about $30.78 billion as compared to the recapitalisation amount of $43.04 billion.

The report suggests that the first two banks chosen for privatisation should be the ones with the highest returns on assets and equity, and the lowest NPAs in the last five years.

It also said that the PSBs with lower government ownership would be easier to privatise. This is because the first two banks chosen for privatisation should set an example for the success of future privatisations. The markets must see value in the chosen banks to attract two or more buyers.

Even as NITI Aayog suggested privatisation of the Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank, the report recommends Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda as the two top choices for privatisation.

These two have been shortlisted based on the criteria of return on assets, return on equity, NPAs, government stake, and asset base. Between these two, Bank of Baroda would be easier to privatise since the government will need to divest by only 15 percentage points to lower its stake below 51 per cent.

Suggesting the sale strategy, the authors have stated that if the Centre chooses to keep its stake near the 50 per cent cap, it can sell its shareholding in the open market on the 15th of each month to lower its stake to 50 per cent.

The commitment will have the immediate impact of raising the share price in the market, and as the government makes good on its commitment, the price will move towards its expected post-privatisation level. The government will thus be able to reap much of the benefit of the higher post privatisation price on the shares it chooses to divest, it said.

The second would be selling to a large strategic buyer or a consortium of buyers. However, this would lead to one constraint in seeking a single large buyer. This is because the current regulations require the shareholding by a single entity to be brought down to 26 per cent or less within 15 years of initial acquisition.

If the government takes this route and needs to divest 30 per cent stake or more, it may have to look for a consortium of buyers. Or, it has to sell some shares in the market to retail investors beforehand, according to the report.

NCAER also makes a case for corporate ownership in banks with due diligence as there is scarcity of potential large-scale investors in banks.

The government must allow foreign investors, including foreign banks and domestic investors, as well as corporate houses to enter the auctions with due diligence, the report said.

Any potential risk associated with corporate ownership or foreign banks may be minimised by letting a consortium of corporations enter the bidding with the stake of any single corporation capped. It would ring-fence the Indian banking operations of a foreign firm through appropriate regulation and supervision, it added.
When it comes to building a website, there are two main aspects to consider i.e., consumers and search engines. It is necessary to have an SEO-friendly website that shows up on Google when consumers are looking for the products.

On the other hand, if you want that consumers can find easily find what they want to buy then have a creative and user-friendly website. Whenever it comes to a website, you must never ignore the importance of SEO and web design because they assure online success.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the procedure of boosting a website so that it can rank high in search engines. In case, your website does not pop up in the search rankings in the first two pages, then your existing and potential new customers will not be able to find your website.

For the most effective outcomes, your new website should be designed by a renowned website designing company Mumbai along with an effective SEO strategy.

Keep one thing in your mind, people often go online in order to search for different types of information. This makes it significant for your company or business to have a strong online presence because most users conduct searches before making a purchase.

Understand The Value of SEO

SEO and web design go hand in hand, and most web designers like to incorporate SEO while creating a website. As a business owner, you must understand the value that SEO contributes to your design process and how crucial it is to web design.

A website with an SEO-friendly design will probably receive more visitors. Even if you think a website is amazing and beautiful, if it is not search engine friendly, you are restricting how easily important search engines can access your material.

Your website won't rank highly in the search results if the material is difficult for search engines to access. The appropriate implementation of SEO into your website design takes into account a number of factors, including navigation, technology, linking, and content.

Keep one thing in your mind, web design directly has an impact on the user experience which is important to good SEO practices. An SEO web design company helps in creating a basic structure of the website, particularly how search engines crawl and identify the site & its content.

Finally, this makes it easy for the website pages to be indexed by search engines.

In this blog, you will know crucial web design and SEO principles that all businesses must integrate into their website design.

Having a clear and focused sitemap

If you wish search engines to be smarter about how they crawl your website then a sitemap is an important element. Your sitemap is responsible for providing search engines with a guide of pages and content available on the website.

This further gives you the chance to tell search engines what pages are essential to your site. Along with their benefit to search engines, sitemaps also help in user navigation. A new visitor to your website can take the help of a sitemap for getting around it.

Sitemaps also contain the main metadata about your web pages, giving them chance to rank higher.

Make sure that your website has an accurate speed for browsing

One of the major things that most SEO Expert in India consider is that your website design affects how fast your site loads for visitors. There are certain design elements that are responsible for slowing down the business site load time, leading to damaging UX as well as higher bounce rates.

You might find large images and animation very attractive on your website, but very less users are interested in seeing them. For increased bounce rates, slow-loading speed is one of the major reasons.

Uploading valuable content

Like to experience SEO success? If yes, then pay attention to the content present on your web pages. At the time of creating your website, a web designer needs to have knowledge about what your business entails.

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The design of your homepage is extremely necessary because it is the very first impression of your website & business that 98% of visitors notice. Take the help of an experienced web designer that can create eye-catchy web design, leaving a positive and lasting impression.

It is always recommended to have a clean and clutter-free home page so that your visitors do not leave the website as soon as they enter. Responsive design is a prevalent concept nowadays because it indulges designing for different devices.

Making your website user-friendly

The poor usability of your website often leads to bad UX. Good usability simply means that your users are going to stay for a long time on the website and convert finally, like purchasing your products and availing services.

For a user-friendly website design, there are certain factors that need to be considered:

Contact forms

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Site search

To assure your visitors spend some time on your website and explore all the products & services, you need to have a user-friendly website.

Therefore, SEO is best done in association with web design, and enhancing your web design doesnt need to be difficult. Keeping in mind the above-stated pointers can help you to enjoy higher rankings in search engines.
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San Mateo, CA (94402)

Today

Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 73F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear skies. Low 54F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
An industrial dispute has led to the shutdown of Shells Prelude floating LNG facility 475 kilometres off Australias north-west coast.

A Shell spokeswoman confirmed production on the facility had been suspended and much of its 350-strong workforce was being demobilised due to work bans in force from industrial action.

Shells Prelude floating LNG facility off the WA coast is the largest vessel in the world. Credit:Boiling Cold

Production on the Shell-operated Prelude floating LNG facility has been temporarily suspended due to work bans currently in force under protected industrial action by members of the Australian Workers Union and Electrical Trades Union that prohibit offtake activities, the spokeswoman said.

Until the bans on the offtake of cargoes are lifted and the plant can be safely restarted, staff required to perform safety-critical functions will remain on board while all other workers will be demobilised.
The Undeclared War 

Stan

Melanie Gutteridge, Simon Pegg, Andrew Rothney and Alex Jennings in The Undeclared War. Credit:Stan

British espionage thrillers are like old-timey London buses. If you miss one, dont worry  therell be another along in a minute. This one, though, sets itself apart with riveting contemporary relevance as it examines the whole suite of offensive cyber capabilities available to an extremely hostile Russia.

Were not just talking about the hacking and disabling of military and civilian infrastructure  terrifying though that is. Theres also a look at how Moscows dedicated troll factories use social media to spread misinformation and exacerbate division, and at how deepfake technology could be used to create convincing fake news footage and even fake interviews with real people.

Its all exceedingly well-made too, with director Peter Kosminsky (Wolf Hall, The State) drawing what should be a career-making performance out of young lead Hannah Khalique-Brown while maintaining tension and great visual style across the six episodes.
The past two years for sleep treatments maker ResMed reads more like a movie script than a report from an Australian Securities Exchange-listed company.

A global pandemic hits, disrupting its sleep treatments business. Then, staff find themselves at the centre of a major coronavirus crisis response, as ResMed ventilators are shipped to desperate hospitals around the world, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue.

Credit:Kathleen Adele

As those COVID-19 tailwinds fade, a major recall of a competitors technology positions ResMed once again in a period of extraordinary demand for its products.

The company has spent the past two years showing how valuable Australian-developed intellectual property can be. Even so, the companys shares are down 12.3 per cent for the year.
Our stomachs start to churn with anger because of what happened and how it happened, said Holroyd, a former nurse. Loading Smiths death is one of four potentially preventable deaths uncovered by a Herald investigation where the coroner wasnt notified or chose not to investigate. There was no internal investigation either, until two years later, when the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) received an anonymous complaint. A spokesman for the Western NSW Local Health District said after the complaint was made Dubbo hospital engaged an independent surgeon from a tertiary hospital outside the LHD to review the case.

This review did not find any deficiencies in care, the spokesman said. Loading The spokesperson noted Smith was not in the care of Dubbo Hospital when clinicians decided her death was not reportable to the coroner, and such decisions were based on criteria in the NSW Coroners Act. These criteria state that deaths that are not the reasonably expected outcome of a health-related procedure must be reported. The Herald was alerted to Smiths death by whistleblowers unhappy with how it was handled.

The Herald contacted three senior surgeons from other parts of NSW, who agreed to review the case anonymously because they are not authorised to speak to the media. The surgeons were also fearful of repercussions from the NSW Health bureaucracy, saying it punished clinicians who spoke out about patient deaths and safety issues. Their comments echoed damning findings from a recent parliamentary inquiry, sparked by a Herald investigation. It raised serious concerns about the governance of the health bureaucracy and found hospital staff were operating in a culture of fear. NSW Health has since insisted it has a just culture, where staff are openly encouraged to report problems. The surgeons were highly critical of Smiths care at Dubbo, and incredulous that local health districts chose not to investigate.

They argued the case raised serious questions about whether regional hospitals like Dubbo were adequately resourced to recognise and intervene to save patients deteriorating as a result of complications from surgery. The surgeons said the fact the investigation was commissioned by Dubbo Hospital and not the HCCC raised broader questions about self-regulation and failure to investigate appropriately. A spokeswoman for the HCCC said upon receiving the complaint it obtained significant information from the Local Health District which generated further actions by the LHD. She said the HCCC was still reviewing material obtained as a result. Home to Gilgandra

After family and doctors in the RPA agreed the most compassionate thing they could do was cease the treatment keeping Heather Smith clinging to life, they told her she was going home to Gil. Loading She said that was wonderful, Holroyd recalled. When she woke up, I think she thought she was in Gil. And she died. She thought she was home. Smiths procedure, known as a laparoscopic hiatus hernia repair with fundoplication, carries a mortality rate of 1 per cent or less according to several studies, and perforation of the oesophagus is a rare complication.

After the surgery, Smith struggled to keep food down, suffering nausea, pain and low blood pressure. She also developed a productive cough and was diagnosed with hospital-acquired pneumonia. One doctor noted she looks miserable and was dry-retching during my review. She rallied enough to ask, tongue in cheek, why there was no The Bold and the Beautiful on television. On a day when Smith was experiencing 10 out of 10 pain, she refused to participate in mobility and breathing exercises with the physiotherapist. Smith received a firm education on the necessity of the exercises, records show. The explanations for her poor recovery always put it in her basket, such as the lack of deep breathing, Holroyd recalled. Never that something had gone wrong with their work. Holroyd becomes tearful as she recalls feeling powerless to challenge the staff, despite her nursing experience.

The honour board at Dubbo Hospital bears Holroyds name after she completed her training there 40 years ago. The decline is so sad to see, she said. The spokesman said the Western NSW Local Health District offered sincere condolences to Smiths family and was committed to reflecting and making improvements where possible when patient outcomes or experiences did not meet expected standards. Dubbo Hospital provides outstanding and high-quality care to thousands of people every year, he said. Its team of healthcare workers is caring, professional and well-regarded. The rescue

The surgeons who reviewed the case for the Herald said the biggest factor determining survival of a perforated oesophagus was time taken to detect and repair it, as the mortality rate increases exponentially after the first 24 hours. Loading I dont believe that any rural facility is suited to repair a perforated oesophagus, one added. The surgeons said Smiths death was a classic example of failure to rescue  a delay in recognising and responding to a patients deterioration after complications arising from surgery. One of the surgeons interviewed by the Herald explained that poorer-performing hospitals tended to lack large teams of experienced staff and specialists, well-equipped ICU facilities and 24-hour radiology cover, which all contribute towards diagnosing and treating complications.

A 2014 study by researchers at the University of NSW explored rates of failure to rescue according to the patients home address, across 153 local government areas in NSW. Smiths hometown of Gilgandra was among 31 LGAs identified as hot spots with elevated rates of failure to rescue between 2002 and 2009. One surgeon said patients who underwent hernia repair procedures usually went home after two nights. He would be horrified if a patient was vomiting and in severe pain on day 10. He believed there should have been a root cause analysis investigation. For RPA to say there was a hole that appeared necrotic, there was a missed diagnosis.

The surgeon said the case reflected the Swiss cheese model of risk where several holes aligned to result in a bad outcome. He argued hospitals needed appropriate back-up when performing challenging operations. Transferring someone from Dubbo to RPA is not back-up, he said. You need to have a couple of surgeons who have a specialty interest in this area available 24/7 to troubleshoot any problems. The Western NSW LHD spokesperson noted that Smith had been informed she was at increased risk of known surgical complications because she was in her mid-80s and living with serious, complex medical conditions and history. This included medications that suppressed her immune system. The surgeons also questioned the appropriateness of the patient selection. A healthy, fit patient having a fundoplication in Dubbo is one thing, another surgeon said. This lady was never that.

The spokesman for the Western NSW LHD said decisions about whether patients would be transferred to tertiary facilities for surgery were made by treating physicians and specialists after extensive investigations and patient consultation. The spokesman noted the independent reviewer found it was not necessary for Smiths procedure to be performed at a tertiary hospital and given her comorbidities, the outcome was very unlikely to be different if it was. The spokesman said the procedure was performed at Dubbo Hospitals new surgical unit after the hospitals $306 million redevelopment and that in the 2019-20 financial year alone it performed more than 9100 surgical procedures. Mistakes were made Smiths death bears striking similarities to the death of another patient at Dubbo Hospital in 2010.

Kylie Greenaways small intestine was perforated during surgery on a hernia. It took staff four days to transfer the 29-year-old to Sydney, where she died from sepsis. Deputy Coroner Hugh Dillon found staff did not recognise the gravity of some of Greenaways symptoms as she deteriorated, and appropriate action was delayed. They did have the decency to acknowledge that mistakes had been made and that Kylie had died as a result, he said. Two experts gave evidence Greenaway should have been immediately transferred to a high-volume hospital in Sydney once she developed sepsis. Management told the inquest the patient transport system would buckle if that was standard practice. The Herald understands the NSW Coroner has also been investigating, after a patient deteriorated five weeks after surgery in Dubbo Hospital and was transferred to RPA, where he died from sepsis.
NSW public schools promised hundreds of millions of dollars in last years budget are still waiting for much-needed upgrades, amid concerns from parents the classrooms are substandard and putting the health and safety of students at risk.

P&C secretary at Randwick Girls High School Leanne Bergan will tell a NSW parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday that despite $5 million being allocated to the adjoining boys and girls high schools for upgrades, classrooms and halls are unsafe, neglected and rundown.

Classrooms and halls at Randwick Boys and Girls high schools.

Randwick Boys and Girls high schools are the only single-sex comprehensive government schools in the eastern suburbs that are home to more than 20 private secondary schools across the area.

The buildings were designed last century, the spaces are poorly arranged, ventilation systems no longer work, the facilities are dated, with unflued gas heaters, poor lighting and emergency systems and concrete cancer, Bergan said.
The Andrews governments flagship Suburban Rail Loop project risks monopolising public transport spending for decades and delaying other more urgent and beneficial infrastructure, transport experts have warned.

Independent transport think tank the Rail Futures Institute is calling for the $35 billion rail loop to be delayed in favour of a proposal it calls the East-West Rail, which would create a third cross-city tunnel and connect Melbournes booming outer western suburbs with the CBD, Parkville and Fishermans Bend.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Transport Minister Jacinta Allan at the site of the Suburban Rail Loop station at Clayton last month. Credit:Andrew Henshaw

A growing chorus of transport experts is urging the Andrews government to rethink the Suburban Rail Loop. Infrastructure Victoria and local councils say Melbourne desperately needs a third tunnel  the long-anticipated Melbourne Metro 2.

Rail Futures president John Hearsch said: Were saying to the government, slow [Suburban Rail Loop] down  it doesnt have the urgency that these projects do. What were proposing is something that has been badly needed for a long time.
A school for autistic children is demanding action to improve child safety after an intellectually disabled girl fled on Tuesday, exiting through a shared gate that is left open during school hours for members of the public to attend two community groups on the site.

The girl, who was found by police at the Mernda railway line and taken in a distressed state to hospital, was the latest of a number of students from the Northern School for Autism who have run away through the open gate.

Lyndell Farha, Marwan Farha and Teresa Pilone, whose children Pia and Robbie attend the Northern School for Autism. Credit:Simon Schluter

The school community is pushing for the Andrews government to fix a security problem it says puts the safety of almost 200 vulnerable children at risk.

Students enter the school via a secure door, buzzed open from inside the front office. But there is an unsupervised pedestrian gate on the campus southern boundary.
Suva: Australia will press ahead with plans to co-host the UN climate summit with the Pacific to boost its climate change credentials after regional leaders backed its proposal in Fiji.

The Pacifics support for the conference, which came on the same day that coal became Australias most valuable export, will heap pressure on Labor to raise its climate change ambitions in time for the summit in 2024. Australias emissions targets remain among the lowest in the developed world.

Penny Wong says it is entirely legitimate for Pacific nations to urge Australia to do more. Credit:Joe Armao

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in her private discussions with leaders at the Pacific Island Forum leaders meeting that there had been a sense of relief that finally, Australia is prepared to do something on climate.

I know it is completely legitimate for island states which are already experiencing and have for many years the effects of climate change to urge us to do more, said Wong.
The risk of the devastating foot and mouth livestock disease entering Australia is so great Agriculture Minister Murray Watt cannot rule out mandatory border checks on every tourist returning from Indonesia, as he pleads with travellers to play their part in stopping a biosecurity outbreak.

An outbreak on Indonesias main island of Java has spread to the popular tourist island of Bali, which is visited by more than 1 million Australians a year, ramping up the risk of a first-ever outbreak Down Under.

Australians who have visited Bali are being urged to play their part in stopping a biosecurity outbreak. Credit:AP

The disease infects cloven-hoofed animals and does not affect the health of humans. But people can carry it on their shoes, clothes or in their noses  where it can survive for up to 24 hours. Flights from Denpasar to Darwin are only 2.5 hours long.

Watt will visit Indonesia on Wednesday to extend Australias support for local authorities to supply technical experts, train biosecurity officers and offer of foot and mouth vaccines.
Australian software giant Atlassian will donate all future revenue generated from Russia to Ukrainian causes as it faces fresh pressure from activists to exit the country altogether.

After internal and external anger in March, Atlassian announced it was making humanitarian donations, stopping new sales to Russia in protest at President Vladimir Putins illegal war, and cutting off licenses to entities linked to the conflict.

Ukrainian and Lithuanian activists protest at Atlassians office in Sydney on Tuesday.

But the $US56 billion firm, which makes workplace collaboration software, allowed ordinary Russian businesses to keep renewing existing subscriptions, arguing they were caught up in a war they could not stop.

Ukraines ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, will meet with Atlassian on Friday for a better insight. He praised its steps aiding Ukraine so far, but said the benchmark for all Australian companies was the graphic design software giant, Canva, which blocked Russia entirely last month.
Chinese authorities will start repaying most of the victims in the nations biggest bank scam after hundreds of angry customers took to the streets to ratchet up pressure on the government.

Clients from the four rural banks in the central province of Henan and one in Anhui will be repaid in advance starting on Friday, according to statements by local branches of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. Individuals with deposits of up to 50,000 yuan ($11,000) will be repaid first, with arrangements for the rest subject to further notice.

Angry bank customers protest at the entrance of a branch of Chinas central bank in Zhengzhou on Sunday. Credit:AP

Hundreds of bank customers protested on Sunday after similar demonstrations broke out in May and again in late June in Zhengzhou, a city of some 10 million people, calling on the authorities to return tens of billions of yuan of deposits in a suspected financial scam. That has prompted the banking watchdog to speed up drafting a plan to resolve risks even as a police investigation is still ongoing.

An official probe into the case had found that Henan Xincaifu Group Investment Holding Co, a private investment firm with stakes in the five lenders, colluded with bank employees to take deposits and marketed financial products via other online platforms and then transferred money by fabricating lending agreements. Accounts at the banks were frozen as part of the investigation, and depositors have been unable to access their savings.
Kharkiv: Russian President Vladimir Putin has expanded a fast-track procedure for granting Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians, not just those in Russian-occupied areas, in another effort to strengthen Moscows influence over the country, Ukraine says.

Until recently, only residents of the separatist eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, southern Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson regions, large parts of which are now under Russian control, were eligible to apply for Russian passports using the simplified procedure.

Rescue workers put out the fire of a destroyed car after a Russian attack in a residential area in Kharkiv. Credit:AP

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Klueba said Putins signing of the passport decree, which also applies to stateless residents in Ukraine, was an example of his predatory appetites.

Russia is using the simplified procedure for issuing passports to tighten the noose around the necks of residents of the temporarily occupied territories of our state, forcing them to participate in the criminal activities of the occupying administrations and the Russian army of aggression, Ukraines Foreign Ministry added in a statement.
Over the past few days, the Twittersphere has been expounding on the impact that several HIMARS rocket artillery systems are having in Ukraine. These systems have provided the Ukrainian armed forces with a new long hand with which to attack the Russian invaders. However, some perspective is required before expectations for their impact get too overblown. There is no such thing as a silver bullet solution in war.

A HIMARS launch from a truck during training in the US. The new weapon is predicted to play a significant role in the Ukraine wars next phase. Credit:AP

HIMARS, short for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, is an American truck mounted rocket launch platform. It is a lighter, more deployable version of an older tracked launcher that used the same rockets. HIMARS fires rockets in either six round configurations, with a range of 80 kilometres, or a longer-range single missile that can hit targets out to 300 km. And because it is mobile, it can shoot and move quickly, making it a very survivable platform in an era of short times between detection and destruction.

The HIMARS, because of its range and accuracy, is a weapon that is designed to attack targets deep in the enemys rear. Unlike artillery howitzers, which are used in a tactical role to attack troops and other targets close to the front line, HIMARS is used to destroy critical communications nodes, command posts, airfields, and important logistics facilities.

Of note, the Ukrainians so far have only been provided with the shorter-range 80 km rockets. But they have been quick to use them in the war since their provision by the Americans just a few weeks ago.
Oceanagold Provides Notice of Second Quarter 2022 Results Release Date and Conference Call / Webcast

OceanaGold Corporation (TSX: OGC) (ASX: OGC) (the aCompanya  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/oceanagold-corp/ ) will release its financial and operational results for the quarter ending June 30, 2022, after TSX market close on Thursday July 28, 2022 (North America, Eastern Daylight Time). The results will be available on the Companya?s website at www.oceanagold.com .A A A

The Company will also host a conference call / webcast to discuss the results at 5:30 pm on Thursday July 28, 2022 (North America, Eastern Daylight Time) / 7:30 am on Friday July 29, 2022 (Australia, Eastern Standard Time).A

Webcast Participants

To register, please copy and paste the link below into your browser:

https://produceredition.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1556541&tp_key=03fffaed56

Teleconference Participants

Local (toll free) dial in numbers are:

Canada & North America: 1 888 390 0546

Australia: 1 800 076 068

New Zealand: 0 800 453 421

United Kingdom: 0 800 652 2435

Switzerland: 0 800 312 635

All other countries (toll): + 1 416 764 8688

If you are unable to attend the call, a recording will be made available on the Companya?s website.

Authorised for release to the market by Company Secretary, Liang Tang.

For further information please contact:

Investor Relations:

Brian Martin, Senior Vice President, Business Development & Investor Relations

Sabina Srubiski, Director, Investor Relations

Tel: +1 604-351-7909

ir@oceanagold.com

Media Relations:

Melissa Bowerman, Group Manager, Communications

Tel: +61 407 783 270

info@oceanagold.com

www.oceanagold.comA |A A Twitter: @OceanaGold

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

About OceanaGold

OceanaGold is a multinational gold producer committed to the highest standards of technical, environmental and social performance. For 31 years, we have been contributing to excellence in our industry by delivering sustainable environmental and social outcomes for our communities, and strong returns for our shareholders. Our global exploration, development, and operating experience has created an industry-leading pipeline of organic growth opportunities and a portfolio of established operating assets including Didipio Mine in the Philippines; Macraes and Waihi operations in New Zealand; and Haile Gold Mine in the United States of America.

Cautionary Statement for Public Release

Certain information contained in this public release may be deemed aforward-lookinga within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information relate to future performance and reflect the Companya?s expectations regarding the generation of free cash flow, execution of business strategy, future growth, future production, estimated costs, results of operations, business prospects and opportunities of OceanaGold Corporation and its related subsidiaries. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as \expects\ or \does not expect\, \is expected\, \anticipates\ or \does not anticipate\, \plans\, \estimates\ or \intends\, or stating that certain actions, events or results \may\, \could\, \would\, \might\ or \will\ be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements and information. They include, among others, the accuracy of mineral reserve and resource estimates and related assumptions, inherent operating risks and those risk factors identified in the Companya?s most recent Annual Information Form prepared and filed with securities regulators which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under the Companya?s name. There are no assurances the Company can fulfil forward-looking statements and information. Such forward-looking statements and information are only predictions based on current information available to management as of the date that such predictions are made; actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks facing the Company, some of which are beyond the Company\-s control.A Although the Company believes that any forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release is based on reasonable assumptions, readers cannot be assured that actual outcomes or results will be consistent with such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements and information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The information contained in this release is not investment or financial product advice.A A

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES AND NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWSWIRE SERVICES.A
ION Energy Receives Highly Encouraging Geophysics Results from Urgakh Naran Lithium Brine Project

ION Energy Limited (TSXV: ION) (OTCQB: IONGF) (FRA: 5YB) (aIONa or the aCompanya  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/ion-energy-ltd/ ) is very pleased to announce the results of a TEM (Transient Electro Magnetic) survey on its Urgakh Naran project. The TEM survey detects high conductivity and low resistivity across the basin, and to predict extensions, faults, and displacements affecting the aquifer. The program was highly successful in meeting all objectives.

aThe Company is extremely pleased to report TEM results that suggest that the Urgakh Naran projecta?s aquifer is large in size and shows low resistivity. On the back of at surface samples of 918 Mg/L Lithium as announced by the Company on May 9, 2022, these geophysics results further advance the hypothesis of a potential significant lithium brine deposit at the Companya?s Urgakh Naran site.a said Ali Haji, CEO & Director of ION Energy.

Summary

ION Energy has successfully completed an 82 line-km TEM survey on its Urgakh Naran project in Mongolia.

The survey identified very low resistivity northeast structures narrowing from the southwest to the northeast direction in the central licence.A

ION Energy is currently assessing the data to determine suitable drill monitoring well locations to test the conductive zone at depth. A three hole monitoring well drill program is planned that will be announced to market in order to obtain samples for lithological description and porosity testing, flow rates and depth-specific brine samples that include chemical assays to allow the Company to achieve an early resource estimate. Figure 1 illustrates the highly conductive zone on the resistivity sections.

Survey Results

All lines show resistivity beginning at a highly encouraging 0.2 Ohm, with a maximum resistivity of 500 Ohm, drawing similarities to assets in the Lithium Triangle.

Going Forward

ION Energy is highly encouraged by the results of the TEM survey. Surface brine sampling at 918 Mg/L Li at Urgakh Naran along with the 1502 ppm Li seen at the White Wolf Prospect at A Baavhai Uul continue to display high prospectivity. The TEM results, geophysics at Baavhai Uul have confirmed the potential for the development of a potentially large, deep highly conductive zone in the central part of the Urgakh Naran concession supporting the geological exploration model and thesis developed by the company.

All technical information disclosed in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Khurelbaatar Lamzav, P.Geo., an independent consultant to the Company and a aQualified Persona under National Instrument 43-101.

About ION Energy Ltd.

ION Energy Ltd. (TSXV: ION) (OTCQB: IONGF) (FRA: 5YB) is committed to exploring and developing Mongoliaa?s lithium salars. IONa?s flagship, 81,000+ hectare Baavhai Uul lithium brine project, represents the largest and first lithium brine exploration licence award in Mongolia. ION also holds the 29,000+ hectare Urgakh Naran highly prospective Lithium Brine licence in Dorngovi Province in Mongolia. ION is well-poised to be a key player in the clean energy revolution, positioned well to service the worlda?s increased demand for lithium. Information about the Company is available on its website,A www.ionenergy.ca, or under its profile on SEDAR atA www.sedar.com.

For further information:

COMPANY CONTACT: Ali Haji, ali@ionenergy.ca, 647-871-4571

MEDIA CONTACT: Siloni Waraich,siloni@ionenergy.ca, 416-432-4920

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Companya?s future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as abelievesa, aanticipatesa, aexpectsa, aestimatesa, amaya, acoulda, awoulda, awilla, or aplana. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet managementa?s expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Companya?s objectives, goals or future plans, statements, potential mineralization, exploration and development results, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from ION Energya?s expectations include, among others, uncertainties relating to availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, risks related to international operations, the actual results of current exploration activities, delays in the development of projects, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as future prices of lithium, and ability to predict or counteract potential impact of COVID-19 coronavirus on factors relevant to the Companya?s business. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and 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.
Granted I didn't watch this episode until after midnight, but it exhausted me. Watcing this episode was like treading water or running in circles. More specifically, the Liz and Max of it all is exhausting me. The writers are running their relationship in circles; it feels like filler. And as such, it was the least interesting part of the episode, but about it, I have a lot to say.

Let Me Show You Love

Somebody Who Can Love Me At My Worst

Can I Call You Baby?

And Then There's Michael

Dallas and Maria discovering the alien tree in the barn and connecting it to Mimi's message added a fun bit of mystery to a messy plot. It also managed to bring two sidelined characters into the main story. I think? No matter what, I'm interested, and for the moment, I'm willing to ride this Dallas and Maria as investigator buddies train. Let's hope they tread carefully. Luckily, the writers anticipated some of my questions about Dallas helping his father plant trees during olden times, but they didn't answer them all. For instance, how did Dallas find himself back in a pod? And by that I mean, who was around to place him in a pod while his father was being tortured and ultimately murdered by the government? Also, why was it safe for Dallas to live outside of the pod in 1947? Another way of asking, why were Michael, Isobel, and Max so precious? I suspect these questions like so many others aboutwill never be answered.Despite being an absolute ass this season, Max is indeed the Savior. This would have been an excellent opportunity to go with the father and son trope, making Michael the true savior  alas. By the by, do we know if Max ever told Michael he was actually the child scribbling all over the walls and effectively stole Michael's life from him? Anyway, being the Savior comes with a special blue flame power, The Flame of the Savior. I'll be honest, I don't know what's special about the blue flame. It seems like you can use it to crush organs. Whatever it is, Max mastered it rather easily considering he needed someone to hold his hand a few weeks back to lift a truck. I guess he's an example of Oasian Exceptionalism.After Max encountered Tesca in her Cam suit, he didn't tell his live-in love, Liz, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Liz and Cam recognized his lame halftruths, but Liz didn't call him on it because she trusts her man. Plus, she had to cure Cam in the time it takes most doctors and scientists to drink their morning coffee. We couldn't have let it take a day or two? Cam could have told her FBI friends that she was trying something new with her eyes, or better yet, to mind their own business about what she does with her body.Even Michael, a man working though his own trust issues, told Max he should share with Liz. It's here that we get our obligatory Alex mention. Thankfully, we have Cam who has always felt comfortable calling Max on his crap, but he didn't listen to her either. He never listens. I guess his growth arc is coming during Season 5.Ignoring all the advice he'd been given, Max confronted Tesca on his own, raged out, and accidentally stabbed his girlfriend with a piece of flying shrapnel. I think Tesca won. Liz did what she always does, made excuses for Max's behavior, going so far as to share the blame with him. I suppose during her time with Maria she did express some bit of hesitation. Girl, do better.Guess what? Eduardo has a secret daughter, which means Kyle has a secret prima. By the way, Underwear Eduardo did not successfully escape from Bonnie and Clyde. Michael promised Bonnie he'd help her stay on Earth if she gave him Eduardo. Is anyone else thinking about how long Eduardo has been wearing the same underwear? It can't just be me.Kyle is preparing to surgically remove his cousin from the pod when Isobel shows up. Why is it a surgerical procedue? We all know that he just has to melt down some silver, slather his arms with the liquid metal, and slide her right on out of there. Although, I doubt that's what Tesca did, so there is clearly another way.So it turns out, the Valenti family, in Careyes, have been protecting the alien secret since 1947. Kyle's cousin reveals a rift with her father and a secret compartment, but Tesca has already taken whatever goodies it was hiding. From the description, it sounds like the baby console Clyde showed Michael.Later, Kyle and Isobel dance, confess, kiss, and possibly do what everyone has been waiting for them to do since Season 2. The chemistry between Lily Cowles and Michael Trevino was, as always, incredible, but I found the moment anticlimactic, which is a writing problem because of the rushed and messy way they dealt with the Isobel and Anatsa's relationship this season. And we know it won't be smooth sailing from this point forward, cue the complications.He didn't talk to Alex because Alex is still, unbeknowest to his friends and lover, missing. However, he did talk Bonnie into joining forces against Tesca. He also gave Clyde the final piece of the rock controller, which led to a snazzy light show, showing both Earth and then Oasis. Oh, he also lost his powers. If you've seen the preview, you know how that happened. Feel free to specualate why it happened.I feel like I'm forgetting something. I talked about Jedi Master Tesca teaching Max stuff, Max being an ass, Liz being Max's enabler, Michael losing his powers, Maria and Dallas' discovering interesting connections, Alex being missing, Cam having bodily autonomy, Isobel and Kyle getting it on all sexy like, Eduardo wearing the same underwear for possibly a month, Bonnie and Clyde being Bonnie and Clyde. I think that's it.Until next week.
Lisbon, 11 July 2022 (SPS) - No less than 677 personalities and organizations sent an open letter to the Portuguese government to address Western Sahara issue, inviting it to defend "clearly" and "explicitly" the right of Sahrawi people to self-determination, in accordance with international law, in order to contribute to a "lasting" solution to the conflict.



In the letter sent to Prime Minister Antonio Luis Santos da Costa, and his Minister of Foreign Affairs, the signatories (677: 651 personalities and 26 civil society organizations), invite the Portuguese Government to "keep the Western Sahara issue on its agenda," in accordance with international law, the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and the support previously given to the Timorese people, and to defend "clearly" and "explicitly" the right of Sahrawi people to self-determination.



The letter also calls for "the support and involvement (of the government) by all means to stop human rights violations in Western Sahara by supporting, in particular, the setting up of a monitoring mission as part of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)."



The letter highlights the importance of "the rigorous application of the decisions of the European Union court (EU) on trade agreements signed between the EU and Morocco, and the non-involvement of Portugal in projects in the non-autonomous territory of Western Sahara."



062/SPS/APS
Dunedin (New Zealand) 12 July 2022 (SPS)- Citizens of Dunedin gathered on Monday in the city harbour to unwelcome and farewell the Sea Breeze, a ship carrying hundreds tons of blood phosphate stolen from Western Sahara, SPS correspondent reported from the ground.

The demonstrators wanted to condemn the Moroccan illegal occupation of Western Sahara and the theft of its natural resources, as well as to tell New Zealand companies that by purchasing the stolen blood phosphate they indict themselves as War Criminals.

They also wanted to underline that by continuing to import these stolen goods even after Morocco violated the 30 year ceasefire last November 2020, they are actively funding the Moroccan regime violent suppression of the Sahrawi people.

On another hand, New Zealand citizens called on Ravensdown, which imported the stolen Phosphate, to stop this illegal purchase, and consequently to stop funding an ongoing war and allow the Sahrawi people to have an independent UN referendum liberating them from Moroccan illegal occupation.

The spokesperson of the protesters said We are here to acknowledge the pain of the Saharawis, who have been under brutal military occupation for over 45 years and our message to Ravensdown that they are war criminals in this situation.

We know that the company is amongst the last companies in the world that are still funding this illegal and brutal war, he said.

He also added New Zealand stands strong in its convictions and values to not be willing participant in the active genocide against the Sahrawi nation. (SPS)

090/500/60 (SPS)
WASHINGTON (AP)  A veteran Afro-Colombian politician who studied in the Soviet Union and fled his homeland after being kidnapped by a paramilitary group has been tapped to become Colombia's first Black ambassador to the United States.

In a brief message posted on Twitter on Tuesday, leftist President elect Gustavo Petro wrote that Luis Gilberto Murillo would take Colombia's most important diplomatic post when he's sworn into office next month.

Murillo, 55, has a long record maneuvering in Washington's power circles, having established himself there more than two decades ago when fleeing death threats from right wing paramilitary groups.

Among his powerful supporters is Rep. Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who helped craft aid programs for the traditionally marginalized Afro-Colombian population as part of negotiations over a U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement.

Murillo also has U.S. citizenship  something he'll have to renounce to take up his diplomatic post.

But as ambassador for Colombia's first leftist government, he'll need more than deep connections to stabilize a bilateral relationship in what some fear could be a rocky transition.

During the hard fought presidential campaign, Petro, a former guerrilla, took aim at forced coca eradication and extradition  centerpieces of the U.S.-backed drug war in Colombia  as well as the free trade agreement with the U.S. he blames for impoverishing local farmers.

He's also vowed to immediately re-establish diplomatic relations with Nicolas Maduro's socialist government in neighboring Venezuela.

Murillo's own background could help ease any tensions, according to Adam Isacson, a longtime observer of Colombia for the Washington Office on Latin America

During Colombias latest presidential election, Murillo ran as the vice presidential candidate for Sergio Fajardo, a centrist politician from Medellin. He only endorsed Petro after his own candidate failed to get enough votes to qualify for a run-off vote.

His appointment is probably reassuring to a lot of people in the Biden administration, said Isacson. Hes not a hard leftist and hell be able to maneuver pretty well to show people that Petro isn't a radical either.

Murillo was born into a poor family in the largely Afro-Colombian province of Choco, along Colombias Pacific Coast. The region is one of Colombia's poorest and home to a large population of descendants of African slaves who have long been underrepresented in business and politics.

He studied engineering in the Soviet Union on a scholarship, along the way meeting his Russian wife. He served twice as governor of his home province and has also been Colombias environment minister.

In 2000, Murillo was kidnapped by paramilitary groups and later fled to Washington with his family. One of his first jobs in the capital was to work as a bouncer at a night club. Eventually he found work in several international development agencies including the World Bank.

It is a great responsibility to lead bilateral relations with the US, Murillo said on Twitter. We will work to strengthen the paths of peace and carry out coordinated work to bring greater prosperity to our two nations.
Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday he was frustrated last fall when he suggested, wrongly, that Annie Lamont, a successful venture capitalist, preferred investing in Tennessee over Connecticut due to the political and potential ethical complications inherent in doing business in a state led by her husband.

Unfortunately, thats it for Connecticut companies, Lamont said on Nov. 30, responding to criticism that his wifes firm, Oak HC/FT, had early investments in two companies that later did business with the state. Annies in Nashville setting up companies there, because Connecticuts pretty complicated.

In a brief interview Monday, Lamont dismissed that quote as an offhand comment.

Whether offhand or not, the remark went uncorrected for seven months and now is the basis for a video from Republican candidate Bob Stefanowski that paints the Democratic incumbent as a hypocrite for recently urging businesses that support abortion rights to consider Connecticut as a new home.

Ned Lamont wants businesses to move to Connecticut because of our abortion laws. But where does Lamonts family set up its new business? a narrator asks in Stefanowskis video. In Nashville, Tenn., where a new law will prosecute doctors who perform abortions and jail women who get them.

In between the question and the answer is the clip of Lamont talking about Nashville being a less complicated place for his wife to do business.

Lamont said Monday he was frustrated in November by Stefanowskis suggestion the governor had a conflict arising from Oak HC/FTs investment in Sema4, a company that did COVID-19 testing for the state, and in Digital Currency Group, a financial technology company that moved to Stamford with state assistance.

We just had six weeks of him attacking my wife and my wifes company. So I made that offhand comment in that context, Lamont said.

Pressed several times, Lamont said his wife was not setting up a new business when he spoke last November.

Oak HC/FT did make an investment years ago in Aspire Health of Nashville, a company acquired by Anthem. A Democratic source said Annie Lamont may have had a client meeting relating to the investment last fall, putting Nashville top of mind for the governor.

There is no evidence, as claimed in the ad, that Lamonts family set up its new business in Nashville. Asked for a source supporting the assertion, Liz Kurantowicz of the Stefanowski campaign simply pointed at Lamont: The quote from the governor. The governor in his own words.

In other words, if the spot is wrong, it is the product of an unforced error by the governor.

The assertions in Stefanowskis campaign may be problematic. But so is Lamonts reluctance to talk about Oak HC/FT and his imprecise description of what his wife does: Oak HC/FT invests in companies, often at crucial junctures that can bring them to life  but it does not create them, as he implied in November.

The video is posted on YouTube and is not airing on television, Kurantowicz said. The spot weaves disparate threads  abortion, Connecticuts business climate, and Ned and Annie Lamonts investments into a 39-second jab.

No one from Oak HC/FT responded to requests for comment Monday about whether Annie Lamont had any business in Nashville when the governor made his remark, or the degree to which the firm was taking a cautious approach towards investments in Connecticut.

The Lamont campaign issued a written statement that shed no additional light.

Annie Lamont is a successful venture capitalist who has invested in transformative companies nationwide. Governor Lamont has made creating jobs and bringing companies to Connecticut one of his top priorities. said Jake Lewis, a spokesman for Lamonts campaign. While the governor has worked tirelessly to attract companies to grow jobs, Bob Stefanowski has proudly laid off workers and fired them. Connecticut deserves a champion who will welcome businesses to grow and expand here.

Not then a declared candidate, Stefanowski was running hard last fall over the states two COVID-19 testing contracts with Sema4, a company in which Oak HC/FT was a minority investor. Sema4 was one of four companies with federally approved testing that responded to Connecticuts request for proposals in the early days of the pandemic.

The Lamonts have relied on a 16-page advisory opinion from the Office of State Ethics that offers guidance in navigating the difficulties inherent in the marriage of a governor intent on growing the tech sector in Connecticut and a venture capitalist who makes a good portion of her living there.

In an interview on Nov. 23, a week before he made the Nashville comment, Lamont noted that his wifes investments were less complicated in other states.

Annie has helped create dozens of great companies representing thousands of good-paying jobs, Lamont said. And its a lot easier to locate those jobs out of state so theres no optics, no perception, no problems. And thats what were doing.

Going beyond the requirements of the ethics code, the Lamonts have given ethics officials a list of companies in which Oak is invested and the Lamonts should play no role in dealings with the state. According to the advisory opinion, the list is meant as a checklist on a case-by-case basis to assist in identifying instances where recusal by the Governor or Mrs. Lamont would be necessary.

Stefanowski has criticized Annie Lamont for filing a separate tax return from her husband, shielding her income from public view. The governor has released his returns.

Stefanowski, meanwhile, has his own transparency issue. He has yet to release his tax returns, and he already has indicated that the clients of his lucrative consulting business will remain anonymous.

Stefanowski and Lamont each are largely self-funding their campaigns, a rematch of the 2018 race won that the Democrat won by three percentage points. Campaign finance reports for the quarter that ended June 30 were due by midnight Monday.

In a press release issued Monday evening, the Stefanowski campaign reported raising $650,000 from outside donors, without disclosing the full report. Stefanowski, who spent $3 million of his money four years ago, has deposited $10 million of his funds into his campaign account.

Lamont spent $15 million four years ago.

Democrats have pressed Stefanowski to disclose the source of his funds. In an interview last month, Stefanowski said he has a business consulting practice with worldwide clients. He promised to release his tax returns but suggested that the identity of his clients were protected by non-disclosure agreements.
MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the U.S. warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine.

During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putin's visit to Iran will follow U.S. President Joe Bidens trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, where Irans nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.

Peskov told reporters that on the visit to Tehran, Putin will also have a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In March, Erdogan helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, Turkey. Peskov said there was no discussion about a new round of such negotiations.

The White House said Monday that it believes that Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with hundreds of drones, including those capable of carrying weapons, for use in Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the vehicles to Russia, but said the U.S. has information that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline, Sullivan told reporters Monday, referring to drones by the acronym for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Nasser Kanaani did not deny the U.S. claim in comments on Tuesday.

Irans cooperation with Russia in some sophisticated technologies dates to before the Russia-Ukraine war, he said. There has not been any special development in this regard recently.

Iran long has worked on the development of drones, including so-called loitering munitions, the kamikaze drones like the Switchblade that the U.S. has delivered to Ukraine.

The U.S. decision to publicly reveal that the two countries chief regional rival was helping to rearm Russia comes as both Israel and Saudi Arabia have resisted joining global efforts to punish Russia for its action in Ukraine due to their domestic interests.

In Tehran, Mohammadrez Pourebrahimi, the head of the Iranian Parliaments economic committee, told state-run news agency IRNA that Putins trip would seek to improve economic relations between the two sanctions-hit nations.

___

Zeke Miller and Josh Boak in Washington and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The United Nations announced Monday it will start monitoring the war in Ukraine and conflicts in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Africas central Sahel region for violations against children, including killings, injuries, recruitment, rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his annual report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict that those four new conflicts have been added to 21 conflicts that the U.N. already is monitoring for violations of the rights of children. He said the latter conflicts saw a high number of grave violations in 2021.

The U.N. chief said the protection of children was severely affected by escalating conflicts, the multiplication of armed groups, land mines and improvised explosive devices, explosive weapons in populated areas, intensified humanitarian crises, and violations of humanitarian and human rights law.

Virginia Gamba, the U.N. special envoy for children and armed conflict, said at a news conference that forays of extremely violent armed groups, military coups and instability, and violent electoral processes in fragile states, left 19,100 child victims of grave violations during 2021 in the 21 country and regional situations we monitored.

The U.N. said it verified nearly 24,000 grave violations" against children in 2021, including over 1,300 committed previously.

The highest numbers of violations last year were the 2,515 killings and 5,555 injuries tinvolving children, followed by the recruitment and use of 6,310 youngsters in conflicts, the report said.

Last year, it said, the number of child abductions rose by over 20% and cases of sexual violence against children continued to rise, also by over 20%.

The highest number of grave violations verified by the U.N. were in Afghanistan, Congo, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, it said.

While 70% of grave violations were against boys, that number decreased and the number of girls who were casualties of killing and maiming, or subjected to abduction and sexual violence, increased, particularly in the Lake Chad Basin," the report said.

Guterres said in the report that Ukraine was being added to the monitoring effort because of the high intensity of this conflict and in view of the violations against civilians, including children. He asked Gamba to urgently engage with all parties to address the protection of children and prevention of violations against them.

He said Mozambique was being added because of the gravity and number of violations reported, including recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and abductions.

The U.N. chief said Ethiopia was being added in view of the gravity of clashes in 2021 between government forces and police, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front and other parties including militias and regional forces. He cited violence against children including killings, rapes, sexual attacks, abductions and attacks on schools.

Gamba said the central Sahel region covering parts of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger was being added to the monitoring and reporting list for grave violations against children.

Human Rights Watch and the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, a coalition of non-governmental groups, both criticized Guterres for failing to provide any significant information on violations against children in Ukraine, Ethiopia and Mozambique.

Human Rights Watchs Jo Becker also criticized the secretary-general for failing to include any perpetrators in the armed conflicts in the three countries on the U.N. blacklist of those committing grave violations against children. The Watchlists director, Adrianne Lapar, said Guterres squandered an opportunity to shed light on abuses and hold parties accountable.

Both organizations also strongly criticized the U.N. chief for omitting Israel from the list of shame for the deaths of 78 Palestinian children and injuries to 982 in 2021.

In the report, Guterres said that if the high numbers of violations by Israel in 2021 are repeated in 2022, it should be added to the list. He also said if a significant increase in the number of cases of violence against Israeli children last year is repeated this year that alestinian armed groups including Hamas al-Qassam Brigades and Palestinian Islamic Jihads al-Quds Brigades should be listed.

Becker called the failure to list Israel another missed opportunity for accountability, saying other armed forces or groups have been listed for far fewer violations. Lapar said year after year Israeli government forces have gotten away with committing serious crimes against children, with virtual impunity and the secretary-general needs to hold the Israeli government to the same standard as any other warring party.

The U.N. sanctions blacklist in the report's annex adds some new armed groups, including the dissident Colombian group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army for recruiting and using children and Burkina Fasos militant group Jama Nusrat Ul-Islam wa Al-Muslimin for grave violations.
As many as 41 nationals from various states from Africa and Asia, who were illegally trying to cross the border into Hungary, hidden in three trucks charged with detergent, europallets and bicycles, were identified by the Arad Border Police.

According to the Oradea Border Police Inspectorate (ITPF), two Romanian citizens presented themselves to carry out the border formalities at the exit point, at the Nadlac II Border Crossing Point, who were driving a vehicles registered in Romania. The drivers were transporting, according to the cargo manifest, detergent and europallets, for Italian companies.

Following a thorough verification of the means of transportation, 33 foreign citizens were found hidden in the cargo hold.

The persons were picked up and transported to the headquarters for investigation, where the border police established that these are citizens from various states in Africa and Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Algeria), with ages between 18 and 40.

Furthermore, at the Varsand Border Crossing Point, the Border Police carried out a thorough investigation for a vehicle driven by a Bulgarian citizen, who was transporting bicycles for a company in Germany.

Following the search of the means of transport, 8 foreign citizens were found hidden in the cargo hold. The Border Police established that these are citizens from Afghanistan and India, most of them seeking asylum in our country.

In all cases, the Border Police are carrying out an investigation to establish the entire criminal activity, and will apply the necessary legal measures.AGERPRES
The Bucharest court on Tuesday ordered the preventive arrest for 30 days of five drug traffickers - two Romanians, two Colombians and an Israeli - who set up the first clandestine laboratory in Romania in a cottage in Bihor County.

According to DIICOT (the Directorate Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism), at the beginning of June this year, a group of two Romanian citizens and an Israeli citizen was formed, which was later joined by two Colombian citizens, whose goal was to bring cocaine from Colombia, the drugs being disguised in packages of coffee.

On July 1, the two Colombians, who had in the group the role of carriers and chemists specialized in extracting cocaine from apparently legal goods, brought to Romania, by plane, six kilogrammes of cocaine.

The members of the group rented a cottage located outside the inhabited areas in Bihor County, where they brought the necessary means to carry out drug extraction operations, respectively the necessary chemicals and reaction vessels.

On July 10, DIICOT prosecutors and judicial police officers from the Anti-Drug Service carried out an operation at the cottage in Bihor, where they caught traffickers in the process of extracting cocaine from coffee chemically. Thus, the first secondary cocaine extraction laboratory in Romania was identified.

"Following the house search, a one-kilogramme pressed block containing procaine, 148 grammes of brown cocaine, which had not been crystallized, and a mixture of cocaine and coffee weighing five kilogrammes were discovered and seized. Various plastic containers used to extract cocaine have also been identified, with approximately 40 litres of brown matter being a mixture of typical chemicals for extracting cocaine from ground coffee, one litre of acetone, a 20-litre can of petrol and ten sealed coffee bags," informs the Romanian Police.

The five traffickers were detained for 24 hours, and on Tuesday a judge from the Bucharest Court ordered their pre-trial detention for 30 days.

AGERPRES
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu said on Tuesday that Romania wants to build a real strategic partnership with Hungary.

"Romania wants to build a real strategic partnership with Hungary, our priorities, parameters, expectations regarding the trajectory of this relationship are particularly important and we have a direct dialogue with our Hungarian partners. (...) We have common interests and objectives as neighboring states, members of the EU and the North Atlantic Alliance, and this is becoming even more evident in the current, very complicated regional and international context," Aurescu said after meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

He announced that he would pay a visit to Hungary at the end of November to mark the 20th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership with Hungary.

The talks of the two top diplomats also focused on the visits of Hungarian officials to Romania and the upcoming Tusnad Summer Camp.

"Together we stressed the need and importance of a public narrative in the logic and spirit of our Strategic Partnership and the basic political treaty," Aurescu said.

He said it had been agreed that a new meeting of the joint economic committee should take place by the end of this year, showing also that the economic relationship with Hungary is on a growing trend, with 11 billion-euro worth of trade last year, up by over 22 percent compared to the previous year.

"We have agreed to complete by the end of the year the project of the Romanian-Hungarian Joint Chamber of Commerce, which will be based in Budapest," said Minister Aurescu.

The two officials also discussed energy.

"It is a complex situation at European level for which we need to find solutions. Unfortunately, Hungary is much more dependent than other countries on external energy sources and solutions must be found in this regard. There is an important concern in the European Union - the Empower EU plan, which is currently under discussion at Union level and will provide a number of solutions, but we must continue to increase our interconnection capacity and we discussed today about increasing the interconnection capacity of our bilateral gas connection project, we need to strengthen our storage capacities inside the EU. We also need to find alternative sources," Aurescu said.

The two officials also agreed that a new meeting of the Joint Committee on National Minorities should take place by the end of the year.

"We also discussed issues related to the difficulties faced by the Romanian minority in Hungary and I have the promise of Mr. Minister that these issues will be addressed in the near future, especially those related to the media and mother tongue education," added Aurescu.

The talks also focused on the situation at the common border between the two countries, but also in Ukraine. "We also discussed the support provided to the Republic of Moldova in its European course. (...) We reiterated together the support for the enlargement policy of the EU. We support, both Romania and Hungary, the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and with North Macedonia," Minister Aurescu also said.

The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, pointed out that Hungary and Romania face similar challenges, namely security, economic risks and difficulties in terms of energy supply.

"In addition, Hungary, geographically, is in a situation where in a moment we have come under double pressure, because on the eastern side more than 830,000 refugees have arrived from Ukraine to Hungary. Certainly, we welcome everyone and help them. I express my admiration for Romania and Romanians for having provided a chance for 1,500,000 refugees from Ukraine. In Hungary, in addition to the refugee crisis, we also have a very severe crisis of migrants from the south, as more than 110,000 illegal migrants have arrived at the borders of Hungary and we had to stop them. (...) Migrant groups have weapons that they sometimes use against each other, and usually to threaten the forces defending Hungary's borders. (...) It may happen that Romania will end up in a similar situation. Our message is: we offer help to all refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, but illegal migrants should not come, we will not let them in no matter how aggressive they are," said Peter Szijjarto.

In terms of economic cooperation, the Hungarian Foreign Minister encouraged Romanian companies to invest in Hungary.

He also said that both Hungary and Romania use nuclear energy, pointing out that it is "sustainable, clean and cheap". Peter Szijjarto stated that, in terms of natural gas, the southern transport routes need to be strengthened for Hungary. AGERPRES
Over 22,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania on Monday, through border crossing points nationwide, the Border Police Inspectorate General (IGPF) informs in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday.

In the last 24 hours, approximately 226,800 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, with over 54,600 means of transport, underwent control formalities (both on the outbound and on the inbound) through the border crossing points at the level of the whole country.

There were 107,026 persons on the inbound, including 22,130 Ukrainian nationals (up by 93.9% from the previous day).

Thus, starting with February 10 (pre-conflict period) and until Monday, at 24:00, nationwide, 1,544,897 Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania.

As part of the specific activities at crossing points and the green border, the border police found 43 illegal acts (30 infractions and 13 contraventions) committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens. Undeclared goods (which were to be smuggled into the country) were discovered, independently or in collaboration with other staff, exceeding the customs ceiling allowed or suspected to be counterfeit, amounting to approximately RON 10,000.

Fines worth over RON 63,000 were also issued.

15 foreign citizens who did not meet the legal requirements were denied entry to the country, and 34 Romanian citizens were also not allowed to leave the country for various legal reasons.AGERPRES
Over 31 tonnes of plastic waste from Greece, meant for Romanian companies, was stopped by the Giurgiu Border Police, for incomplete cross-border transfer documents, at the Giurgiu Border Crossing Point, informs a press release sent by the Giurgiu Border Police Inspectorate (ITPF) on Tuesday.

"In the last 24 hours, at different times, the Giurgiu Border Police have denied the entry of several means of transportation. On this occasion, the border police, along with commissioners from the Giurgiu Environmental Guard, have discovered two means of transportation loaded with plastic waste. The two vehicles were driven by two Bulgarian citizens, aged 32 and 57," says the cited source.

It was established that the means of transportation were carrying the quantities of 8,810 and 22,510 kilograms of plastic waste, loaded in Greece, the destination being companies from Romania.

The Border Police noticed that the cross-border transportation documents were incomplete, and the legal provisions were not met.

As such, the authorities denied entry to the two means of transportation into Romania, the waste being returned to the sender.AGERPRES
Romania will have enough natural gas in its national storage facilities to meet its energy demand for the winter, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday.

He said that on Tuesday a record percentage of 70% of domestic natural gas output was sent to the national storage facilities.

"At the moment, the country's methane gas storage facilities are 47% full, which means that our country has acted much faster than the timetable set by the European Commission for the member states. The target for August 1 is 46%, and Romania has already surpassed it in the first half of July. We are ahead of the European timetable for the stockpiling of winter reserves due to the fact that a large part of the methane gas extracted in Romania is stored. Today, a record percentage of 70% of domestic gas output was sent to the national storage facilities," Ciuca wrote on Facebook.

According to Ciuca, Romania will be able to achieve before the November 1 deadline the goal set at European level for the storage facilities of all the member states to be at least 80% full.

"By keeping up the pace, we will be able to reach the percentage just ahead of schedule," said Ciuca. AGERPRES
As many as 4,044 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the last 24 hours in Romania, with over 21,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Tuesday.

Of the new cases, 792 were in re-infected patients, who tested positive more than 90 days after the first time they recovered from the disease.

Most of the newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Romania since the previous reporting were recorded in Bucharest City - 931, and in the counties of Cluj - 280, Brasov - 235, Constanta - 222, Timis - 189, Iasi - 132, Prahova - 124, Ilfov -119 and Mures - 106.

As of Tuesday, 2,946,174 cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Romania.

- Hospitalisations -

As many as 1,361 people with COVID-19, including 187 children, are hospitalised in Romania at specialist care facilities - down 49 from the previous reporting.

Out of the total number of hospitalised patients, 90 are in intensive care, of whom 69 are unvaccinated against COVID-19.

- Deaths -

According to the ministry, another nine Romanians infected with SARS-CoV-2 (seven men and two women) are reported dead in the last 24 hours.

According to the Ministry of Health, one of the deaths was registered in the 50 - 59 years age category, two in the 60 - 69 years age category, one in the 70 - 79 years age category and five deaths in the 80+ age range.

All deaths were in patients who had comorbidities, three vaccinated and six unvaccinated.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 65,797 people diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection have died in Romania. AGERPRES
An important question about the future of the war in Ukraine is whether Russian President Vladimir Putin, even if he does not have the necessary capabilities, will decide to send troops to Kyiv again, US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said on Tuesday.

Visiting Bucharest, she spoke at a roundtable with Romanian journalists about the exchange of information about the Russian Federation's plans to invade Ukraine, about the results of the NATO Summit in Madrid, but also about Romania's role in the region.

Smith pointed out that the US decided early, towards the end of last year, to exchange "intensely" intelligence, for the first time, with allies and partners, so that there would be "the same picture of the situation" and the same intervention plans for a possible war in Ukraine.

She confessed that beyond the intelligence effort, what followed was more difficult, because once Russians entered the country, one could only try to figure out what Putin's plans were.

Julianne Smith presented an analysis of the evolution of aggression against Ukraine and spoke about future challenges in this context.

US Ambassador to NATO said that what we learned is that there is a difference between Russian possibilities and intentions. Russia thought it would enter Kyiv and conquer Ukraine in a few days. It could not do so for lack of means and because Ukrainian forces were extraordinary in their fight against Russian aggression. So Russia had to give up its original goal, it focused on eastern Ukraine, and now the big question is not just about how this war will end, when Russia stops its aggression against Ukraine and also what happens next. Will Putin, even if he does not have the necessary capabilities, decide to send troops to Kyiv again? This is a question that many would like to know the answer to.

As to the recent NATO Summit in Madrid, the US ambassador stressed that the Alliance had to adapt its doctrine, strategy, position and even composition due to Russia's actions. Therefore, she believes that the Alliance currently has the perfectly appropriate approach and the Strategic Concept reflects the environment in which we find ourselves today.

Julianne Smith recalled that in the current Strategic Concept NATO refers to the Black Sea "clearly as an area of interest to the Alliance".

It is a new issue and it is important for the Alliance, in addition to highlighting Russian aggression and what is happening in Ukraine, to focus on individual regions such as the Black Sea, where the Alliance wants to bring more forces, organize training and exercises, where it intends to have several high-level visits, she said.

Smith described as "an important moment" the announcement of President Joe Biden at the Madrid Summit on the additional deployment of US military personnel in Romania at the level of a combat brigade. Currently, approximately 3,000 American troops are deployed in Romania, by rotation, the US ambassador to NATO indicated.

She noted that each NATO member state is currently providing some form of assistance to Ukraine. Some allies only wanted to provide humanitarian aid, others provide financial aid and many provide military aid. Some allies provide all these types of aid, said Julianne Smith.

The US Ambassador to NATO noted the way in which people fleeing the war in Ukraine were received in our country.

Julianne Smith said she was particularly impressed by the warmth with which Romania received the refugees, hundreds of thousands of people. She added she was deeply grateful for this support and the US supports Romania's leading role in the Alliance to make sure that NATO backs Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

AGERPRES
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Goedekers, the old mom-and-pop appliance store, wont be Goedekers much longer.

The retailer, founded in St. Louis in 1951, announced on Tuesday that it has a new name: Polished.

Its yet another way the New York executives now running the company are working to turn a regional online appliance seller into a national e-commerce powerhouse. The change is set to take effect July 22.

We believe this rebrand is another major step in our transformational journey, CEO Albert Fouerti said in a statement.

The company still plans to use the old Goedekers name in some settings: Customers will be able to shop at Goedekers.com, for instance. But executives said the Polished brand will be the companys primary banner when it launches its own site later this year.

The announcement marks an end to a yearlong rebranding effort following the companys acquisition of Appliances Connection, a much larger competitor. It also strips away yet another vestige of the old family company, well-known for commercials asking locals to Give us a chance, any day but Sunday  a day the Christian owners wanted employees to have with their families.

Other St. Louis companies have undergone similar rebranding in recent years. Union Electric became Ameren. Brown Shoe Co. renamed itself Caleres. Laclede Gas is now Spire. But those companies stayed here. Since New York investors took over Goedekers three years ago, the old family management has retired, the superstore on Manchester Road has been emptied, dozens of employees have been laid off and the headquarters have moved to Brooklyn, New York.

Former CEO Steve Goedeker, the son of the companys founder, said he was glad to hear his family name would remain in use in some way with so much else gone. But he wasnt sure how it would work, and he wasnt impressed with the new brand. You and I could have had a drink and come up with something just as good, he told a reporter.

Goedekers, founded as a television repair shop in south St. Louis, sold to New York private equity firm 1847 Holdings for $6.2 million in April 2019. Initially, the company retained much of its hometown presence. CEO Steve Goedeker stepped aside, but his replacement, Sears veteran Doug Moore, kept an apartment in St. Louis.

But in December 2020, the company announced plans to buy Appliances Connection, a firm several times its size, and things began to change. Moore decamped for Brooklyn, where Appliances Connection had its showroom and offices. And in June, he told investors that the combined company would only need one name  and it wouldnt be Goedekers. Within weeks, the company had shuttered the old store on Manchester Road in St. Louis County.

Moore resigned a couple of months later. Fouerti, who founded Appliances Connection, took his place.

Two months later, the company laid off half of its St. Louis workforce in what it called a reorganization. Positions were added in New York, New Jersey and Florida, where Goedekers acquired another retailer last summer.

Shares of Goedekers fell on Tuesday by a cent-and-a-half, or about 1%, to close at $1.21.

From Highway 40 to Riverport, St. Louisans just don't like using official names St. Louisans have their names for things, and dislike it when those names officially change. That means that, for decades, we refer to landmar
MONDAY, July 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Early in the pandemic, scores of Americans bought pulse oximeters to help determine how sick they were while infected with COVID-19, but new research finds the devices often miss dangerously low blood oxygen levels in Black veterans.

This is not the first time such inaccuracies have been spotted in Black patients: The problem is serious enough to have prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to announce it will hold a public meeting of its Medical Devices Advisory Committee to discuss the accumulating evidence and make recommendations for the use of pulse oximeters. No date has been set for the meeting yet.

The latest research, which culled data from over 100 VA hospitals throughout the United States, follows up on the team's original study in 2020.

In the new study, the oximeters were recorded as being off by at least 4 percentage points from arterial blood gas readings, on average. Blood gas readings, where blood is drawn from an artery to measure blood oxygen levels, was used by the University of Michigan researchers to compare against oxygen levels read by the pulse oximeters.

The study authors likened the inaccuracies to grades in school: if you're scoring high A's, a couple of points don't matter much  a 96 and a 100 are still an A grade. But there's a big difference between an 88 and a 92, a B+ and an A-, respectively. With blood oxygen levels, any reading below 92 is considered dangerous.

"This is about your brain not getting enough oxygen," said senior study author Dr. Theodore Iwashyna, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan.

Still, some experts argue that the data might be biased because of the nature of its control group.

"In some ways, I would say the blood gas [reading] is not an appropriate control," said Dr. Arjun Venkatesh, chief of the section of administration of emergency medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, in New Haven, Conn. Venkatesh noted that the ideal setting for this test would be in a clinic or hospital using people with normal breathing rather than those in critical care.

"Otherwise, we're looking at a very select group of people who happened to get an arterial blood gas when there's some sudden rapid change happening or when you're already on a ventilator, he explained.

Venkatesh also suggested that this kind of data isn't always clean.

"We did a study early in the COVID pandemic on those thermometers that are used on peoples' heads," Venkatesh explained. "We did the same thing, we took a lot of electronic health records data, but we found that the data lined up terribly."

But the University of Michigan researchers said they've faced similar criticism with each study they have published, which is why their latest effort turned to the VA health system, honing in on more than 30,000 veterans who received both a pulse oximeter reading and an arterial blood gas test within 10 minutes of each other.

Their new findings were published online July 6 in the BMJ.

Bad blood oxygen readings can also hamper care, research shows.

In another study, published online July 11 in JAMA Internal Medicine, investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston found pulse oximeter inaccuracies may also be associated with disparities in care. The researchers found that Black, Hispanic and Asian patients treated in the ICU not only had greater discrepancies between pulse oximeter readings and blood gas tests, but they also received less supplemental oxygen than white patients.

"It's important to keep in mind that pulse oximeters give us an estimate, but it's more than just a number. We use that estimate to make clinical decisions, such as how much supplemental oxygen to give a patient," corresponding author Dr. Eric Gottlieb, who completed the research while a fellow in the renal division at Brigham, said in a hospital news release. "It has real meaning for the patients that we care for because we can track back racial disparities in treatment to these differences in measurements."

The problem with pulse oximeters is certainly not new to federal health officials.

In February 2021, the FDA issued a warning that advised against making clinical decisions based on one pulse oximeter reading alone.

"As someone who does a lot of consultation with patients on the floor, I'm terrified by the number of times I've been reassured by a number on a pulse-ox or blood gas and possibly missed the real cause of the problem altogether," Iwashyna said. "We use this as a vital sign."

But, "573,000 times in the seven years of our data there were cases where we recorded a pulse oximeter reading on a Black veteran that missed occult hypoxemia which we wouldn't have missed if the device worked as well on the Black vet as it does on a white vet," Iwashyna said. "That number haunts me."

But Venkatesh warned against drawing any conclusions that involved changing health care practice.

"The only solution here is to figure out if there's an engineering solution on the device," Venkatesh said. "We shouldn't be changing practice on this, we should be changing the device."

More information

Visit Johns Hopkins for more on pulse oximetry.

SOURCES: Theodore J. Iwashyna, MD, PhD, professor, internal medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Arjun Venkatesh, MD, associate professor, Yale Medicine, New Haven, Conn.; Brigham and Women's Hospital, news release, July 11, 2022; BMJ, July 6, 2022, online; JAMA Internal Medicine, July 11, 2022, online
NEW YORK  A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit by a Georgia man claiming Bayer AGs Roundup weedkiller caused his cancer, the latest in a string of legal defeats for the company as it seeks to avoid potentially billions of dollars in damages.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Montgomery, Alabama, rejected Bayers argument that federal law shielded it from state law claims like the one brought by John Carson, who said he was diagnosed with a type of cancer called malignant fibrous histiocytoma in 2016 after using Roundup for 30 years. Carson said the company should have warned of cancer risk on the products label.

Bayer said it disagreed with the ruling and would consider its options. It said any cancer warning would be inconsistent with the label approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Bayer continues to stand fully behind its Roundup products, said the company, which acquired the weedkiller line with its $63 billion purchase of Creve Coeur-based Monsanto in 2018.

The German conglomerate has said that decades of studies have shown Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe for human use.

A lawyer for Carson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another federal appeals court, the 9th Circuit, rejected the same argument in a California lawsuit in 2020.

Bayer had hoped that a victory in Carsons case would create a conflict between appeals courts that would make the U.S. Supreme Court more likely to take up the issue, potentially limiting its liability in thousands of lawsuits.

The court has so far rejected the companys petitions to hear Roundup lawsuits.
ST. LOUIS  The St. Louis Department of Health reported a probable case of monkeypox on Tuesday in an individual who had recently traveled out of state.

The health department said the person had minimal contact with other people in the community, and the individual's close contacts have been notified. The department is awaiting confirmation of the case from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Through this individual's cooperation with the Department of Health, we believe their minimal contact with other individuals will help contain the spread of this virus within our community," city Health Director Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis said in a statement. "At the same time, it is important that if anyone develops symptoms of monkeypox, they should contact their medical provider immediately and avoid direct contact with others."

Monkeypox is part of the same family of viruses as smallpox. Illness typically lasts two to four weeks, and it can spread through intimate physical contact, touching personal items like clothing or linens, or person-to-person contact with rash, scabs or bodily fluids.

The disease has been endemic for decades in some countries, but in May international health authorities began tracking an outbreak of monkeypox cases in countries where it has not historically been reported, including the U.S. As of late Tuesday morning, the CDC had counted 866 cases across the country, including three confirmed in Missouri.

Missouri's first probable case was reported on June 18, in a Kansas City resident who had recently traveled out of state.

Kansas City later reported a second case, which was unrelated to the first, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Lisa Cox said Tuesday.

On July 5, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department reported one probable case.

Cox said Missouri has been allotted 450 doses of vaccine, as of July 1. Some individuals have already been vaccinated, largely through local public health departments, Cox said.

More information about monkeypox is available on the CDC website.

Symptoms can include fever, headache, muscle and back aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and a rash. The rash can look like pimples or blisters that appear on the face, inside the mouth. The rash can also appear on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals or anus. The rash goes through different stages before healing completely. Some people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms, while others only experience a rash.
Joe Holleman Joe Holleman is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Joe Holleman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

If politics still holds a place for honesty, then Tony Lovasco has earned his spot with a fundraising letter, of all things.

Lovasco, a Republican state representative from OFallon, Missouri, recently mailed a missive to potential voters in his district (the 64th), which covers mainly St. Charles County.

First elected in 2018, Lovasco faces two opponents, Deanna Self and Mike Swaringim, in the GOP primary on Aug. 2.

But this is not your basic boilerplate appeal for people to pony up dollars, a fact that becomes evident with the greeting:

Dear (Name of Human)

It then declares up front that this is a form letter.

Saying he has no intention of wasting anyones time, Lovasco cuts right to the chase:

This is probably not the most important election of your lifetime. But it is the most important election of my lifetime. Because if I lose, I will no longer be a State Representative.

So please send a donation so that I wont lose.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Lovasco said he sent the letter out Saturday.

Yeah, I wrote it myself, said Lovasco, whose day job is selling computer equipment.

I hate those standard (fundraising) letters. I just couldnt bring myself to write one. Theyre so terrible and boring, he said.

The letter closes with a classic P.S.: Yes, I know this letter is pretty ridiculous. So is government.
DES PERES  Prosecutors on Monday charged a 40-year-old man after they say he randomly attacked a Walgreens employee by slashing their neck with a knife.

Alfred Pierce of the 5000 block of Queens Avenue is charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in connection to Sunday's stabbing.

On Monday he was in custody without bail.

Investigators said Pierce can be seen on surveillance video attacking the employee, according to the court documents.

He was arrested near the store soon after the attack, police said. He had a knife when he was taken into custody.

Police described the attack as random in the probable cause statement.
BRIDGETON  A nurse and a paramedic were stabbed and seriously injured Monday morning at SSM Health DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton, officials said.

Prosecutors charged Jimissa Rivers, 30, of Dellwood, with two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action.

Court documents said Rivers was captured on video stabbing the two victims before multiple bystanders restrained her. A knife was recovered from the scene.

Officials at SSM Health wrote in a statement Monday evening that the system was deeply saddened and shaken by the incident.

Our priority is the health and safety of all our team members, patients and the community we serve, the statement said.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell vowed to do everything in our power to protect our nurses and all medical providers, starting with holding this individual accountable.

Rivers is being held in St. Louis County on $2 million cash bond, prosecutors said. An attorney was not listed in court documents.
JEFFERSON CITY  After an eight-month hiatus, a second cross-state train is returning to Amtraks Missouri River Runner service.

Beginning Monday, the nations passenger rail provider will resume twice-daily service, with departures in St. Louis at 8:15 a.m. and 3:05 p.m.

The trains stop in Kirkwood, Washington, Hermann, Jefferson City, Sedalia, Warrensburg, Lees Summit and Independence before reaching Kansas City.

We appreciate the endorsement of our Missouri River Runner service at the state and local levels, and we will work hard to regain the ridership momentum we had before the pandemic and the service reductions, said Ray Lang, the Amtrak vice president for state-supported services. With new locomotives in the past five years and new railcars making their debuts across our Amtrak Midwest network, this summer is a great time for us to showcase our service in the Show-Me state.

Some of the communities on the route are celebrating the expansion, which comes as high gas prices have left some travelers searching for other transportation options.

In Sedalia, for example, city officials are encouraging people to come to the train station Monday to wave to passengers on the morning train, which stops in the central Missouri city at 11:40 a.m.

The restoration of the service came after Missouri lawmakers underfunded Amtrak last year, resulting in the second train being discontinued in January.

In the states new budget, which took effect July 1, lawmakers and Gov. Mike Parson boosted the funding to $13.25 million, up from $10.8 million in the previous fiscal year.

It comes as Amtrak is on track to expand nationally. In November, President Joe Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that earmarks $66 billion for Amtrak, representing the largest investment in passenger rail in about 50 years.

For travelers, the addition of a second train will make it easier for daytrips on the train.

For example, a passenger could leave St. Louis at 8:15 a.m. bound for Hermann and its wineries and return to the city on the 7:52 p.m. train, arriving back at the station at 9:40 pm the same day. A round-trip fare costs $40.

In addition to funding for the two trains, lawmakers also included money to restore the building that formerly housed the Jefferson City station.

The historic structure was deemed unstable in 2019, forcing passengers to wait for trains in a converted mobile office building.

Ridership on the line was affected by the pandemic and, in 2019, by flooding on the Missouri River.

Typically, an estimated 170,000 people ride the route, but service cuts and COVID-19 restrictions reduced that number to 58,000 last year.

While new railcars debuted in Missouri in May on the existing train, the additional train is not expected to have the new features until later this year.

The new cars are outfitted with ADA-compliant aisles and restrooms, free Wi-Fi, power and USB ports at all seats, reading lamps for each seat and increased bicycle storage.

Posted at 4:22 p.m. Tuesday, July 12.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated its vast territorial claims in the South China Sea. He warned that Washington is obligated to defend treaty ally Philippines if its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters. Blinkens statement, issued by the U.S. Embassy in Manila, was released on the sixth anniversary of the 2016 decision by an arbitration tribunal set up under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea after the Philippine government complained about Chinas aggressive actions in the disputed sea. China rejected and continues to defy the ruling.
Democrats are asking Gov. Mike Parson to call a special legislative session to clarify that Missouris stringent new anti-abortion law doesnt prohibit other treatments and medication. Its a reasonable ask, because the new law is so vaguely worded that medical providers are uncertain about the legality of even routine birth control or potentially life-saving procedures during problem pregnancies.

Since Parson has already announced a yet-unscheduled special session for later this year to address tax cuts, it wouldnt even require any extra travel for lawmakers to conduct a parallel session regarding the abortion law. Would Parson really like the look of legislators gathering in Jefferson City to pass out tax cuts while refusing to address the potentially dangerous quandaries theyve created for women?

The law as written outlaws all abortions except in cases of medical emergency. A doctor who is brought up on charges has the burden of persuasion that it was a legitimate medical emergency. Should that defense fail, penalties include loss of medical license and up to 15 years in prison.

The term medical emergency is squishy enough in itself to give pause, especially given Missouris radicalized political environment. Can anyone assume good-faith restraint by all prosecutors, given the tenor of their legislative allies in the forced-birth movement?

Some of the same lawmakers who created this law have recently pursued even more extreme ideas, like hindering womens ability to seek abortions out of state and prohibiting drug-induced abortions in cases of ectopic pregnancy  that is, when a fertilized egg lodges outside the uterus, meaning the fetus cannot survive and the womans life could be endangered. These and other radical proposals could get new life with the end of Roe v. Wade.

The legality of some contraception also remains in doubt, to the point that one Missouri hospital system last month briefly stopped providing emergency contraception. Anti-choice advocates like Attorney General Eric Schmitt have assured critics that the law wont affect contraception but, again, good faith cannot be assumed.

Schmitt, a U.S. Senate candidate, has already shown a willingness to risk lives in his politically motivated war on pandemic-safety measures. And he certified Missouris full abortion ban literally minutes after Roes demise, then took to Twitter to boast that Missouri was the first state to do so. This is one of the public officials whom women must now assume wont push the boundaries of this poorly written law?

Theres a simple way to ease the legitimate fears that Missouri women have about another shoe dropping: Parson could, with the stroke of a pen, call a special session for the express purpose of either amending the existing law or passing followup legislation to provide more specificity that contraception and other legitimate treatment cannot be threatened. Should Parson refuse that simple step, it will confirm fears that Missouris assault on female biological autonomy  and, potentially, womens lives  has just begun.
Regarding the editorial Japan assassination is the exception that proves the rule: Gun restrictions work." (July 9): After the shooting death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, there has been much discussion about the gun-culture difference between the United States and Japan. In Japan in 2018, there were nine gun deaths; in 2021 there was one. In the U.S. in 2018, there were 39,740 gun deaths. Japan has a population of about 125 million. The United States has about 330 million. Gun restrictions in Japan are extremely strict. In this country, not so much.
Regarding "Gun violence in America: A long list of forgotten victims" (July 6): In 2003, President George W. Bush and his administration declared war on Iraq under the false assumption that dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. More than 650,000 people were killed during that war. In 2004, Bush and the Republican Congress intentionally let the 10-year-old assault weapons ban expire. Is there some irony now that we have become a nation of people with our own legal weapons of mass destruction, and the death toll has become never ending?
Last week saw some potential gains for air travelers: an announcement of new consumer-interest initiatives by the Department of Transportation (DoT) and recommendations for additional legislation by the nation's leading consumer advocates. Although the immediate results are underwhelming, they're at least encouraging.

DoT Weighs In.

Last week's actual accomplishment was minor: publication of an Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights. This bill shows those travelers what their rights are and how to enforce them. This bill contains nothing new; it's just a convenient and useful summary in plain language. Still, travelers with disabilities will likely find it helpful.

Of more potential impact is a notice from the DoT Office of Aviation Consumer Protection urging airlines to make sure that minor children are seated next to an accompanying parent or guardian without requiring them to pay extra for seat assignments. It has been a mystery to me why airlines haven't long since solved a problem they could easily fix by themselves, but this time, if they don't, DoT is prepared to take "potential actions." About time!

DoT also announced increased staffing to cope with the high volume of complaints, especially about refunds, the number one consumer gripe. And it announced it was pursuing possible violations of excising refund rules.

Consumer Advocates Make a Pitch

A hui (I love that Hawaiian pidgin term for an ad-hoc association) of the country's A-list consumer advocacy groups submitted a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the relevant House and Senate committees proposing a list of consumer-benefit issues for inclusion in the upcoming 2023 FAA Reauthorization legislation. Specifics range from "do as you've been told" to "in your dreams" to "beware what you ask for" proposals. They fall into six categories:

Do what Congress has already told you to do. Take action to assure no-fee family seatingas noted, an issue DoT is finally tackling. Study possible minimum airline seat-size standards for safe evacuation.

Protect what we already have. Assure that full-fare advertising rules remain in force. Renew the charter of the Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory Committee.

Require and enforce better airline performance. Establish and enforce minimum standards of acceptable numbers of delays and cancellations. Forbid "excessive" fees not based on cost. Establish minimum service standards for minimum-fare tickets. Require airlines to answer phones within 30 minutes. Reinstate a reciprocity requirement (the former "Rule 240") that airlines transfer delayed and canceled travelers to other airlines having available seats.

Assist funding and constructing essential infrastructure. Ease barriers to new airport construction. Require that airline "optional" fees be subject to the same taxation as base airfares. Require consumer representatives on airport boards.

Increase consumer access to legal recourse. Limit the Airline Deregulation Act to the reduced scope that congress originally intended. Assure consumers the private right of action against airlines. Allow state attorneys general to enforce state consumer protection laws and rules on airlines.

Improved notification. Prominently post plain-language summaries of air passenger rights and recourse options under U.S. and international laws. Notify consumers of impending frequent-flyer benefit devaluations at least 60 days in advance.

It's easy to nit-pick individual items. I'm pretty sure that no matter how many tests, DoT will never mandate more seat room than you get now. Some fees that far exceed cost are actually beneficial to consumers. And 60 days notice is too short for major frequent-flyer devaluations.

Overall, however, I strongly support this ambitious list. But I'm not holding my breath until any items make it into actual legislation. Clearly, airlines will lobby heavily against any firm proposalsalthough they may not be very good at running reliable operations, they're great at lobbying. In addition, Rep Peter de Fazio, chair of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, lost consumer cred when he co-sponsored that strongly anti-consumer bill with the Orwellian name, Transparent Airfare Act of 2014, that would have killed DoT's very beneficial full-fare advertising rule.

Still, I'd be reasonably happy even if a few items overcome those barriers. Don't give up hopeat least, not yet.
Russian GDP will shrink at least 15 percent in 2022. Its worse in Ukraine, where deliberate Russian missile and artillery attacks on economic targets are causing long-term economic damage. In Russian occupied Ukraine there is no effort to repair economic damage and useful economic assets are shipped back to Russia. Russia is following the ancient strategy of creating a desert and calling it peace. Russia is also trying to mobilize its economy for wartime production despite senior government economic officials pointing out that Western sanctions emphasize crippling weapons production. Russian supreme leader Putin insists Russia will find a solution, as it did during World War II. This assessment ignores how Russia lost the Cold War and its empire literally fell apart because of economic mismanagement. The last war Russia won was World War II or the Great Patriotic War. That victory was made possible by massive economic aid from the United States and a few other countries not occupied by the Germans. In 2022 Russia is the German aggressor and Ukraine is the Russian defender. This perception is anathema to senior Russian leaders but makes unpleasant sense to Russians closer to the situation. Its against new Russian laws to contradict the official interpretation of the war. Yet the government has not jailed any of the increasing number of critics with front line experience who assess the war more as Russian aggression than the official explanation that Russia was protecting Ukraine from NATO Nazis.

Reality asserted itself for the Russian occupation forces in parts of Ukraine that were seized early on and are still under Russian control. The occupation was supposed to emphasize winning over the locals without resorting to mass murder and similar atrocious behavior that Russians endured under Nazi occupation. The main occupation zone is north of Crimea and centered around the city of Kherson, which is the capital of Kherson province. Kherson City was captured during the first week of the invasion and Russia has held onto most of the province ever since. The city is a major port because it is located near the mouth of the Dnieper River and the Black Sea. The Dnieper is a major navigable river for Ukraine and has long been used to handle the movement of cargo, especially wheat being exported. Russia is blocking such exports and burning Ukrainian crops before they can be harvested.

Ukraine has been trying to recapture Kherson City and province ever since March, and is making progress, aided by a growing partisan movement inside Kherson province and passive resistance to Russian occupation by most Ukrainians there. Some Ukrainians agreed to work for the Russian occupation, including pro-Russia Ukrainian politicians that were so unpopular in post-2014 Ukraine that they fled to Russia. These officials returned to administer the occupied territories and were soon the targets of attacks by Ukrainian partisans. Some of the turncoats were killed but more worrisome to the Russians were indications that other Ukrainian officials quietly agreed to work for the partisans. The Russians now believe that many of their Ukrainian administrators were working with the resistance from the beginning. At the same time the Russian occupation forces still have their orders to try and win over the Ukrainians or at least discourage them from joining an armed insurrection. To help with that the Russians sought to Russify the province as quickly as possible. That meant replacing the Ukrainian cell phone service with a Russian one. Ukrainian TV and radio transmissions are blocked. Russian ID documents became mandatory and use of any currency but the Russian ruble was forbidden. Russia controlled utilities (especially water and electricity) and every effort was made to link Kherson to the Russian economy. The initial reason for pacifying the population was to make life safe for Russian troops in Kherson. That was never fully achieved and now Russian troops have to worry about roadside bombs or anti-vehicle mines as well as sniper fire and assassination via pistol or a bomb planted in a vehicle. Russian efforts to impose conscription on Ukrainians in Crimea, Donbas and other occupied areas failed, often violently in places like Crimea and Donbas.

The Russian goal in the newly occupied territories was to hold elections that could be depicted as honest and show a majority of Kherson residents supporting annexation by Russia. The Ukrainians are not cooperating and doing so in clever ways that Russian Information War specialists could recognize but struggle to counteract. The Ukrainian resistance is both armed and dangerous but also mindful of the importance of outperforming the Russian Information War campaign.

Russia already had experience with how Ukrainians respond to military occupation. This occurred in the portions of Donbas that Russia occupied since 2014. Since April Russia has been fighting to gain control over all of Donbas. By the end of June Russia controlled nearly all of Luhansk province, which is the northern half of Donbas. Russian experiences with occupied areas of Donbas since 2014 are repeating themselves. In 2014 Donbas comprised about nine percent of Ukrainian territory, 13 percent of the population and 15 percent of the GDP, and was about 38 percent ethnic Russian. The two provinces comprise the Donets Basin (or Donbas) which was originally an economic powerhouse for Soviet Russia. That began to decline in the 1980s and accelerated when the Soviet Union fell (and Ukraine became independent) in 1991. Between 2014 and 2016 over two million people fled rebel-controlled parts of the Donbas, most heading for Ukraine and only about three million remain in rebel-controlled areas by 2022. About half of those people are ethnic Russian pensioners who lose their pensions if they leave. Russia held illegal elections in 2014 and created the Donetsk Peoples Republic and Luhansk Peoples Republic in the portions of those two Ukrainian provinces they controlled. Russian sponsored violence in Donbas has reduced economic activity to less than a third of what it was in 2013. Many businesses moved to Russia and Russia had to supply money to pay over 100,000 military and civilian employees of the new governments. Russian-occupied Donbas was and is sustained by money and supplies trucked in from Russia. This was costing Russia several billion dollars a year. Where Russian occupation forces controlled the Ukraine/Russia border, the border ceased to exist. The Russians controlled only about half of Donbas from 2014 to 2022 and that area gradually became part of Russia. Only the Russian currency is used and any foreign trade is with Russia. Some rebuilding was financed by Russia. Until the 2022 Russian invasion, the Russians offered peace in Donbas if Ukraine recognized the loss of the Russian-occupied Donbas, which would then be free to become part of Russia.

Russia ignored or failed to accurately assess how, since 2014 Ukraine had been expanding and reforming its Soviet-era military. In early 2019 Volodymyr Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine by a large margin. He was not a politician but proved to be a lot more capable than the Russians expected. Worse, Zelensky quickly demonstrated that he was more of a threat than the professional politician he replaced. Since taking power in 2019 Zelensky quickly replaced notoriously corrupt or incompetent government and military officials. Zelensky tried to get negotiations going between himself and Russian leader Putin. The Russians did not want that, and their response was an invasion threat that became real in February 2022. Zelensky didnt flinch because he could do the math. Ukraine could win if it obtained enough military support from nations also threatened by Russia, especially new NATO members who had joined since the 1990s and shared Zelenskys assessment of Russian goals and the relatively poor state of the Russian economy and military forces. Ukrainian forces stopped the Russian 2022 invasion and forced Russian troops back towards the Russian border. The Russian threat to Europe was revealed as very real, and this prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held neutrality and join NATO. Russia justified its 2022 invasion by claiming NATO was conspiring to attack Russia and that part of that conspiracy was NATO installing anti-Russian politicians in Ukraine so that Ukraine would become an involuntary NATO member. This was quickly revealed to be a lie as the invading Russian troops were being defeated by better armed and motivated Ukrainians who wanted nothing to do with Russia. That reality slowly got back to Russia despite Russian efforts to deny it and describe such information as another clever NATO lie.

The Russian government is losing the support of its own people, including a growing number of senior officers who speak out, usually via encrypted messages on Telegram, a popular cell phone app in Russia and Ukraine. Early on many of these Russian Telegram based military blogers (mil-blogers supported the invasion and were supplied with information by the Russian government, including opportunities to spend some time with the troops inside Ukraine. By June the Russian mil-blogers were no longer reporting the official Russian version of events in Ukraine, but what was being reported by Russian veterans of the fighting in Ukraine.

After Russia announced a pause in offensive military operations in early July, one of these mil-blogers, a former general who had served in occupied Donbas before the invasion, reported a different reality. He insisted that Russia had suffered higher losses in Luhansk than the Ukrainians, who were conducting a classic attrition defense. The Russians had suffered far more losses in men and equipment than the Ukrainians who were not driven out of Luhansk but withdrew deliberately to encourage Russia to keep attacking and losing troops and combat vehicles that could not be replaced. Meanwhile the Ukrainians were receiving more weapons and equipment from NATO and forming new units, including armed resistance groups in Russian occupied Ukraine. This was not the official Russian assessment but it was the reality that Russian troops in Ukraine were experiencing and some Russian mil-blogers were reporting.

All this was nothing new. When the most modern and effective Russian forces were assembled to invade Ukraine in 2022, they quickly discovered they were not facing an inept, poorly trained and armed foe but one that was far more effective. The main offensive in the north against the Ukrainian capital took heavy losses and within weeks was forced to retreat. Russian troops were told by their government that they had encountered NATO troops who were in Ukraine preparing to invade Russia. The surviving Russian troops knew better because all they encountered were Ukrainians, usually armed with weapons similar to what Russia used as well as more effective ones they had received from NATO. The Ukrainians used more effective tactics and some new weapons that were based on Western models but Ukrainian- made. The Russian state-controlled media was ordered to ignore reports like this and stick with the official story that this was all a secret NATO operation to attack Russia via Ukraine.

While this information war played on, the Russian military ordered everything Russia had, short of nuclear weapons, into use in an effort to salvage the situation. Russia was at war with a near-peer opponent and losing. Many Russians, civilian and military, figured out what was happening and were openly criticizing and sometimes physically attacking their government because of the mess in Ukraine that was killing a lot of Russian troops. These Russian critics were often well-educated professionals in regular contact with Westerners, including more than a million Russians who had left since 2014 because of fears Russia was headed for what actually happened in 2022.

NATO countries believed the Russians had the edge in some areas, like electronic warfare, but the Ukrainians were coping by using their own ingenuity and the help of Western technologies that no one believed had military potential. Chief among these was the American Starlink satellite-based Internet service that Ukrainian engineers and electronics experts believed, even before the 2022 invasion, had military potential. Ukrainians also developed new equipment and s0ftware. One striking example was artillery fire-control software and tactics that were far more effective than anyone, Ukrainian, Western or Russian, imagined.

Russia encounters major problems trying to control information made available to its people. This became a critical problem after the invasion of Ukraine and the government wants to conceal the extent of their military failures. Passing new laws against disclosing such information and shutting down the last few media operations that were not state-controlled has not been enough. The ban on casualty information created a lot of public protest that found ways to get past the censorship.

July 11, 2022: Iran has offered to supply Russia with UAVs of various types and capabilities. Iran is one of the few countries that support the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has already sent the Russians some weapons via the landlocked Caspian Sea, which borders Russia and Iran. The UAVs are expensive and the economic sanctions on Iran and cash flow problems have already limited foreign military operations Iran supports, especially those against Israel in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza.

July 10, 2022: In eastern Ukraine (Kharkiv province) Russian forces have been pushed out of most of the province and now control only about 30 percent of the province and about ten percent of the population. Russian occupied areas are all near the Russian border. Russian forces continue to launch attacks that fail. Desperate to maintain a presence in the province Russia, over the last four days, established a separatist government in the province, declared martial law and announced that this government was declaring independence from Ukraine. Russia simultaneously declared Kharkiv province, like Donbas, was actually part of Russia and efforts were under way to officially annex the province and reincorporate into the Russian state. Russia has already done this in Crimea and threatens to do it in Donbas. In 2014 Russia sought to stage a takeover in Kharkiv province, which had many ethnic Russians and a number of separatists, including some prominent politicians. While the separatist takeover was partially successful in the two Donbas provinces, the Russian backed separatists in Kharkiv province failed and known separatists were driven out, most heading for exile in Russia, while a few went to Russian occupied Donbas. The Russian government in Crimea is increasingly becoming Russian occupation forces.

July 9, 2022: Ukrainian president Zelensky fired the Ukrainian ambassadors to Germany, India, Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary. Replacements were not immediately announced. Zelensky was dissatisfied with Ukrainian diplomatic efforts to obtain more foreign support for the fight against the invading Russians and Russian efforts to evade economic sanctions. For example, Russia and China have already organized a method for conducting trade in Russian rubles and Chinese yuan. A few other nations are willing to join this network, but none of them can help with the Russian airliner spare parts problem. China sees the situation as a useful and low risk challenge while for Russia it's more a matter of life and death for airline passengers facing lower flight safety levels and Russian officials responsible for the war crimes in Ukraine. Substitute spares can keep the airliners flying for a year or so but then the need for more difficult to counterfeit components will make this massive improvisation more difficult and unsafe. China is involved but Russia is committed to making this work and willing to risk lives to make it happen.

July 8, 2022: In Moscow Alexei Gorinov, a Russian lawyer, who is also an elected member of the Moscow City Council, was convicted of calling the Russian war in Ukraine a war and sentenced to seven years in prison for that. Calling this war, a war was outlawed soon after the war began and Gorinov criticized that law as well as the continued fighting in Ukraine, which he kept calling a war. During his trial Gorinov was, as is customary, in a glass box to restrict unauthorized outbursts. Gorinov had brought with him a folded-up sign saying Do you still need this war and displayed it to the dozens of people attending the trial. The sign was greeted by applause from the people in the courtroom. The judge ordered the sign seized and the courtroom cleared. Several people in the courtroom had used their cell phones to take videos of the sign and those applauding the sign. Only three people have been tried for violating the law and Gorinov was the first to be sentenced to prison.

July 7, 2022: Not all Ukrainians are steadfast in their support for the war against Russia. After 2014 Ukrainian intelligence services detected and arrested a growing number of Ukrainians who were working for Russian intelligence, regularly passing on information about current Ukrainian military operations. Some do it for the money, others do it to obtain better treatment of family members in Russian occupied portions of Ukraine. Russia depends on these local agents for information on where new NATO weapons are being stored. With such information they can use their shrinking supply of ballistic missiles to guided rockets to destroy these weapons before they can be used. Ukrainians have since become more cautious about moving these weapons and where they are stored. These agents use the Telegram app to report what they have found and Ukraine counterintelligence (spy catcher) efforts have improved their ability to detect Russian agents using Telegram or other encrypted apps to communicate. This probably benefited from advice provided by Western intel and counterintelligence agencies. This is particularly important as Ukraine receives more HIMARS trucks that carry and launch six GPS guided rockets. Ukraine has also received its first shipment of GPS guided 155mm artillery shells. These guided weapons are responsible for accurate missile and artillery fire, often deep in Russian occupied territory. The targets are often key weapons systems or military headquarters. Ukraine has access to superior NATO satellite and electronic surveillance of Russian forces, especially those in Ukraine.

July 5, 2022: The United States considers the Kerch Strait Bridge a legitimate target for Ukrainian forces. Ukraine has been receiving more long-range guided rockets that could hit the Kerch Bridge. Russia is aware of that as it adds defenses against missile attacks. In 2019 railway link across the new Kerch Strait bridge connecting Russia with Crimea was opened for service. This enabled the bridge to move 13 million tons of freight and 14 million passengers a year. The bridge cost $3.5 billion and is mainly a prestige and diplomatic project as it enables Russia to control the Sea of Azov. In April 2018 Russia declared the Sea of Azov, reached from the Black Sea via the 4.5-kilometer-wide Kerch Strait, was now under Russian control. The Crimean Peninsula, when it was part of Ukraine, was separated from Russia by the Kerch Strait. Maximum depth of the strait is 18 meters (59 feet) and there had long been talk of building a bridge between Crimea and the Kerch Peninsula (now and always part of Russia). Once Russia seized Crimea in 2014 proposals that a bridge be built actually turned into reality. The Kerch Bridge opened in March 2018, at least the highway part, the sturdier railroad section took longer to complete. With that Russia declared the Sea of Azov under Russian control and no foreign ship could enter with Russian permission. The Russians seized ships trying to reach the Ukrainian ports of Berdiansk and Mariupol that are on the shore of the Sea of Azov. Russia is putting these two ports out of business. Ukraine accuses Russia of violating international law as well as a 1990s Russia-Ukrainian treaty by seizing Crimea, building the bridge and restricting access to the Sea of Azov. Another problem with the bridge is that it only allows about 30 percent of the large bulk carrier ships that visit Ukrainian ports to get into the Sea of Azov. Taking down that ship access portion of the bridge would reopen the Sea of Azov to large ships.

July 2, 2022: Russian forces took control of Lysychansk, the last city in Luhansk province the Ukrainian forces occupied. Luhansk was one of the two provinces Russia tried to seize in 2014, Russian forces seized less than half of Luhansk and Donetsk and Russian advances halted until February 2022 when Russia launched a major offensive in northern (Kyiv), eastern (D0nbas) and southern (north of Crimea) Ukraine. The most effective Russian forces were sent against Kyiv and took heavy losses and found themselves cut off from resupply. Rather than risk further losses, Russians forces in the north withdrew by the end of March and the remaining combat-ready units were moved to Donbas for a renewed offensive there, or kept away from the front like to be rebuilt. In early May Russia resumed its Donbas offensive by going after the port city of Mariupol. It took weeks of heavy fighting before Mariupol was finally captured on May 17th. After that the fighting shifted to Luhansk province and more than a month of heavy fighting Russia had all of Luhansk. Then Russia declared a pause in its offensives. This was because so many Russian combat units were no longer fit for combat. Russia hopes to conscript or recruit Ukrainians from recently captured territories.

The Russian military has a manpower problem in Ukraine, where heavy losses among officers and combat troops have been difficult to replace. This includes senior commanders. Not only have more than a dozen generals been killed in combat, but even more senior generals have been fired (relieved and often forced to retire) for lack of success. The senior generals are often replaced by recently retired generals who, while older, have more experience and a record of success in combat situations. But no Russian generals alive today faced a situation like modern Ukraine, where the opposition is composed of fellow Slavs who are better prepared, armed, led and more numerous than the Russian invaders. Worse, Russia doesnt consider Ukraine a combat situation but rather an internal security matter as Russia seeks to pacify what Russian leaders consider part of Russia. The rest of the world and many, if not most Russians disagree with this fantasy and are not willing to die trying to make it work. This is a rather unique, and tragic situation that Russian history is full of. Russian leaders, especially the current president-for-life Vladimir Putin make it work by observing a few rules to prevent Russia from blowing up in their faces. Post-Soviet Russia only works if the leaders comply with certain public demands. One such here involved an end to conscription. That was supposed to happen gradually as Russia hired more contract (volunteer) soldiers. Eventually all Russian troops were to be better paid volunteers with conscription retained only for use in a national emergency, which invading Ukraine is not. For the Ukrainians the Russian invasion was a national emergency and conscription was not needed because there were so many volunteers. Russian troops in Ukraine are outnumbered a Ukrainian force that is about fifty percent larger than what the Russians have in Ukraine. The better led and motivated Ukrainians face reluctant and often poorly led Russian troops who suffer higher casualties.

Russia still depends on obtaining about a quarter million conscripts a year, who serve for a year and are banned by law from being sent into combat unless it is a national emergency. Putin refuses to declare Ukraine a national emergency because it isnt, and too many Russians will actively oppose such a move. Putin was supposed to have more contract troops in the Russian military by now but he is short of cash because his initial 2014 land grabs in Ukraine got him Crimea and Donbas. The international response was economic sanctions on Russia and military and economic aid for Ukraine. Putins response was not to back off but to attempt to seize all of Ukraine in February 2022. This brought more economic sanctions on Russia and substantial military aid for Ukraine.

June 30, 2022: The United States has added five Hong Kong based firms to the growing list of Chinese companies sanctioned for violating Ukraine-related economic sanctions. Russia discovered it was more dependent on Western component suppliers than realized. Cut off from these suppliers has halted production of many Russian missiles, guided weapons, and aircraft. Russian airlines are grinding to a halt because they can no longer obtain spare parts. China manufactures some of these spares under license but many other unauthorized (counterfeit) components continue to be made and quietly sold. The Chinese counterfeits have improved their quality levels because one of these components causing an accident in a Western built airliner used by a Russian airline causes major problems for the airlines involved. The Chinese counterfeits also show up with U.S. airlines and even American military aircraft. This is where Chinese counterfeit parts are usually discovered because the American military is much more diligent about authenticating the source of components. Russian counterfeits are not as reliable nor are those from outlaw manufacturers in several other countries. China had driven many of the other counterfeit manufacturers out of the business.

China is taking risks violating sanctions to keep Russian military and commercial aircraft flying. The risk is seen as acceptable because China is now building locally designed airliners and is better at it than Russia. In the future China will be an alternative to Boeing and Airbus for airliners. China has always had a marketing edge because they will sell to anyone who can pay. No political or ideological background check required. Despite that, the international pressure to not violate the sanctions is causing China problems. Despite the generally low-key assistance to Russia, more such assistance is being investigated and resulting in sanctions on China. Too much of this is more that China is willing to do for Russia. China advised against the 2022 invasion but Russia ignored that and went ahead.

June 29, 2022: The United States announced that it is moving its U.S. Army 5th Corps (aka as Fifth or V Corps) headquarters to Poland and build support facilities, including storage for prepositioned military equipment that enable U.S. combat brigades to fly in their personnel and use the prepositioned equipment to be combat ready within 24 hours. The 5th Corps headquarters will assume many of the functions it performed for decades in Germany during the Cold War. Poland is the most powerful of the new (since the 1990s) East Europe NATO members. Poland is equipping its armed forces with American M1 tanks and F-35 stealth fighters. Poland, the Baltic States, Rumania, Slovakia and the latest to join NATO; Finland and Sweden, all agree that their warnings of Russian aggression came to life in Ukraine, a nation that wanted to join NATO to provide additional protection from Russian attack. By invading before Ukraine could join NATO, the Russians do not have to fear Article 5 of the NATO charter which defines an attack on one member as an attack on all members who are expected to supply forces to deal with that attack. Without NATO membership, Ukraine has to depend on the voluntary contributions of military assistance to defeat the Russian attack. The initial NATO response was massive and demonstrated the superiority of NATO weapons. It also revealed that NATO nations had underestimated the need to stockpile sufficient munitions to fight this kind or war and nations manufacturing most of these weapons had not paid attention to how long it would take to achieve wartime production levels. Also neglected were the problems of additional economic burdens placed on NATO member civilian populations. The new NATO members had warned of the growing possibility of a Russian attack, even though that was dismissed as unlikely because of Article 5. But it happened in pro-NATO Ukraine and the new NATO members see doing everything they can to support Ukraine as essential to prevent future attacks on NATO members. Taking Ukraine is part of Russias plan to rebuild the Russian empire in spite of Article 5 and Ukraine is the place to prove the plan works. Some of the original (Cold War era) NATO members do not believe the Russians are that reckless. The new NATO members suggest that all NATO members review the long and violent history the new NATO members have had with Russia in light of the current war in Ukraine and Russian plans for continuing their aggression after they conquer Ukraine.

June 27, 2022: Russia and Iran signed a new agreement that expanded economic and political cooperation between the two nations. This agreement ignores that sanction currently imposed on Russia and Iran and formalizes the cooperation between the two oil producers to evade Western efforts to prevent Iran and Russia from exporting its oil. The new agreement also confirms joint efforts to support each other militarily. Iran has supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine while Russia backs Iranian threats to other Middle Eastern oil producers. This does not include unofficial Russian agreements in Syria that keep Israel and Russia from going to war because of continued Israeli attacks on Iranian forces in Syria. Russia continues to support Iranian efforts to expand its influence over the Iraqi government.

June 26, 2022: China is disappointed with the poor performance of Russian forces in Ukraine and the long-term damage done to the Russian economy. This means Russia is no longer as powerful a component of the Chinese coalition facing the West. China has provided as much economic support to Russia as it can without incurring crippling sanctions. This provides long-term economic benefits for China by providing a major source of oil and natural gas delivered via pipelines rather than ship. These energy supplies will also be cheaper than any other source. Until Russia invaded all of Ukraine in 2022, Russia was still hurting from low oil prices. These were headed up in 2018, peaking at $74 a barrel in early October then falling over 40 percent (to $43) by the end of 2018. Oil prices recovered a bit in 2019 but the prospects of much more price growth in 2019 were not good. The major customer for oil, China, continues to reduce use because Chinese economic growth continues to decline and it is feared China might even suffer a major recession because of the continued economic problems. Because of the sanctions Russia has to sell its oil and gas at a discount to China, which China is willing to trade with Russia using rubles and yuan (the Chinese currency) rather than dollars. This means Russia receives less value for its oil and gas sold to China. Meanwhile, other nations are able to replace Russia as a supplier of oil and natural gas. These alternate suppliers provide LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) at a lower cost than Russia provides via pipeline. European customers dont trust Russia, partly because of the war against Ukraine but also because of the increasing belligerence against NATO. This is all about an imaginary NATO scheme to weaken Russia. Russians seem quite capable of doing that all by themselves. European nations are turning away from Russia for oil and natural gas and the only alternative for Russia is China, which is willing to invest in new or expanded pipelines going to China as well as provide modern oil and gas technology for upgrading Russian production facilities. This increased dependence on China limits long-term economic and military prospects for Russia, which is becoming a subsidiary of the Chinese economy. This is not a positive development for China, where the economy is already in trouble and the side effects are becoming obvious. There is the growing exodus of foreign entrepreneurs and tech specialists. This is the result of China cracking down on Chinese entrepreneurs who had built huge fortunes and showed signs of independent thinking. Chinese government officials value obedience above all else even though that contradicts the economic reforms of the 1980s that turned the Chinese economy loose and resulted in the second-largest economy in the world. Now the economic growth is stumbling, mainly because of bad government decisions. This includes establishing closer links with Russia and turning on anyone criticizing the government. This is a reminder that China is still a communist police state and by law the security forces and military are committed to protecting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), not China. Economic growth was achieved by loosening the traditional right government control over everything. Independent thought and action have served its purpose but are now seen as a threat to CCP power, especially the power to make bad, and very expensive economic and political decisions. Closer economic and political links with Russia are hurting the economy and criticism of that by anyone, especially Chinese, is seen as an attack on the legitimacy of the CCP. Economic growth continues to decline and is now under two percent a year and getting worse. That means more unemployment and lower living standards for most Chinese.

June 25, 2022: Russia finally completed its delayed (by covid19) census. These are carried out every ten years and Russia had some good news which, on closer examination, was anything but. Before providing details of the census, Russia announced that the population increased 1.4 percent since 2010. This was unexpected because the trend since 1991 has been falling birthrates and growing death rates. Russia solved this problem by seizing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and later annexing it and its 2.3 million people. These involuntary new citizens of Russia were included in the 2020 census and many Russians did the math and realized that without the conquered Ukrainians in Crimea, Russian population would have shown a continued decline since 2010.

June 22, 2022: The Russian commander of forces in Ukraine, four- star general Aleksandr V. Dvornikov, was relieved (removed) for failure to do what he did in Syria. Dvornikov was the first commander of all operations in Ukraine. Previously all Ukrainian operations were commanded by Stavka (the Russian General Staff) and civilian officials in Moscow. Dvornikov was free to do whatever it takes to turn the defeats in Ukraine into a victory. He was ordered to achieve a victory in eastern Ukraine by June 10th and failed. Dvornikov was the first commander (for a year) of Russian forces that entered Syria in 2015 to rescue their long-time Middle Eastern ally the Assad clan, which was a large and loyal customer for Russian weapons. A major insurrection against the Assads began in 2012 and by 2015 they were facing defeat. Dvornikov noted that one Assad tactic seemed to work was attacking pro-rebel civilians with artillery and air strikes in order to compel migration to neighboring countries. Dvornikov helped with that while also bringing in tech support to rebuild heavily used Russian tanks and artillery and supply ammunition. Russian special operations troops and aerial surveillance aircraft were brought in to find and attack the Islamic terror groups that now dominated the rebel forces. For his achievements in Syria Dvornikov was put on the fast track for promotions and key defense jobs. This included the command of all forces in Ukraine. Suddenly there were more Russian attacks against Ukrainian civilians even though Dvornikov realized that Ukraine was a lot different from Syria. There was no beleaguered Assad government nor were their many Ukrainians who supported the Russian invasion. While the Assads received more Russian weapons, the Ukrainians were not only producing superior versions of Russian weapons but receiving huge quantities of Western weapons from NATO nations that border Ukraine. Dvornikov supported the shift of Russian forces from northern Ukraine, where most Russian units suffered heavy casualties and were stalled, to eastern Ukraine. Here they were to take part in a major offensive to expand Russian control of Donbas and gain control of the entire Ukrainian Black Sea coast. The offensive stalled and in some areas Russian forces were being pushed back and local partisan groups were appearing in many areas that Russia technically controlled. Dvornikov reported that more unified and effective resistance by locals and the poor quality of the troops he was sent made it unlikely that he could deliver a victory. In Syria, Dvornikov had the most effective and enthusiastic Russian troops available, including special operations forces, many of them training and advising dispirited Syrian troops. Russian pilots were eager to serve in Syria where the targets were numerous and unable to shoot back. The air was free of hostile warplanes. Ukraine was very different and Dvornikov was following orders and trying to come up with a plan that would enable Russia to hold on to some Ukrainian territory and thus claim a victory. This was not acceptable and he was ordered to continue the Russian offensive and do it successfully and with lower losses. The Ukrainians are defeating every new attack plan Dvornikov came up with. This is partially due to the declining capabilities of Russian troops who have suffered nothing but defeat for 90 days and are less enthusiastic about staying in Ukraine.

June 21, 2022: In southern Syria (Daraa province) more Russian backed Syrians are dying. There have been 260 attacks (leaving 214 dead and many more wounded) so far this year against Syrian military personnel, most of them carried out by Iran. This level of violence remained fairly constant for three years until 2022. This is part of the undeclared war between Iranian and Syrian forces going on there since 2018. Anonymous assassins use pistols and hidden bombs to kill those who work, or worked for government forces or Russia and Syria backed local militias. There are also attacks against former members of ISIL and other militant groups. These victims had accepted amnesty. Russian and Assad forces openly force Iran-backed groups and individuals out of the area. There is no open violence because Iran, Syria and Russia are still officially allies. Israel sometimes fires on Iranian forces operating in Daraa, especially near the Israeli border. Israel also shares intel with Russia and Syria about Syrian officers who are secretly working for Iran. The Iranians pay well, and in dollars. Israel will sometimes release evidence of this to the media, so that Iranians back home have another reason to oppose Iranian foreign wars. Negotiations have been underway between Iran and Russia/Syria since 2020 but have not made much progress. The covert Iranian violence is just another incentive for Syria to get the Iranian agents out of the area. In 2022 much of the violence is from other groups, some of them criminal gangs retaliating against those who refuse to pay for protection from the violence.

June 17, 2022: Lithuania began restricting Russian train traffic to Kaliningrad and announced it would tighten the restrictions as more sanctions were imposed on Russia, Lithuania is calling on NATO to block ships from bringing sanctioned goods to the city. Recently Russia responded with a major Cyber War attack on Lithuania and threats against other NATO members, especially Poland and Germany if they cooperate with Lithuania.

Kaliningrad has been a threat to NATO for a long time. In 2020 Russia admitted that it had moved several batteries of satellite-guided RS30 MRL (multiple rocket launchers) into Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave bordering Poland, and Lithuania. These are in addition to several Iskander ballistic missile launchers moved to Kaliningrad in 2018. Russia has also moved more air defense batteries into Kaliningrad. Poland purchased eight Patriot air defense batteries from the United States to protect itself from this threat. Russian city of Kaliningrad itself has long been a threat, especially for its neighbors. Kaliningrad and the area around it used to be part of the ancient German province of East Prussia, which disappeared after World War II. Most of East Prussia went to Poland, but Russia retained the city of Konigsberg and its environs (15,100 square kilometers, about the size of Northern Ireland.) Konigsberg became Kaliningrad and was turned into a major naval base. After 1991 Kaliningrad continued as the headquarters of the Russian Baltic fleet and was guarded by a large force of troops and warplanes. In 2012 Russia activated a new early warning radar in Kaliningrad. Most Russians see bolstering the defenses of Kaliningrad as quite reasonable. You never know when those Western Europeans will invade again. The population of Kaliningrad is 400,000, nearly all of them Russians as the Germans were expelled at the end of World War II. When the Soviet Union fell apart Russia kept Kaliningrad, in part because Kaliningrad is a special place, a reminder of the great (and costly) World War II victory over ancient foe Germany and decades of Russian domination of East Europe that followed. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 Kaliningrad found itself nestled between newly independent (and very anti-Russian) Poland and Lithuania and an ideal place to station a new missile like Iskander.
New High Grade Au Vein in the Northwest Extension and C4A Au-Ag Zone Extended

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Meridian Mining UK S (TSX:MNO)(Frankfurt/Tradegate:2MM)(OTCQB:MRRDF), ("Meridian" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that another high-grade gold vein set overprinting the VMS copper-gold layer of the Cabaal Northwest Extension ("CNWE") has been delineated (Figure 1). CD-147's high-grade gold vein assayed 2.3m @ 16.7g/t Au, and provides yet another example of a new high-grade domain found within the prospective 1,250m strike length of the CNWE. Meridian is also pleased to report that its C4-A gold-silver discovery[1], has been extended from the discovery hole CD-139[2] by 50m to the northwest, with CD-142 returning 10.7m @ 1.8g/t Au & 33.7g/t Ag from 45.7m. The C4A gold-silver discovery is 2km from the Cabacal mine and is open in all directions. The Company is also reporting further assay results from the ECZ, SCZ & CNWE zones[3] from its ongoing drill program at the Cabacal copper-gold VMS project ("Cabacal") located in Mato Grosso Brazil. Referenced images are presented at the end of this release as well as on the Company's website. Further results are pending.

Highlights Reported Today:

Meridian intercepts another high-grade gold vein overprinting the Cabacal Northwest Extension; 2.3m @ 2.2% Cu , 16.7g/t Au & 3.6g/t Ag from 21.0m (CD-147) -CNWE; Multiple high-grade sub-vertical gold veins now defined along the CNWE;

Cabacal's major new gold-silver discovery C4A, extended 50m along strike, remains open; 10.7m @ 1.8g/t Au & 33.7g/t Ag from 45.7m (CD-142) -C4A;

along strike, remains open; Cabacal's results continues to confirm, and extends layers of strong copper-gold mineralization;

54.2m @ 0.9% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.9g/t Au & 1.6g/t Ag) from 11.0m (CD-147) - CNWE; Including 2.3m @ 12.3% CuEq (2.2% Cu, 16.7g/t Au, 3.6g/t Ag) from 21.0m; Emerging strong copper zone from 58.3m; Assays 7.0m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.9% Cu, 0.3g/t Au & 5.9g/t Ag) from 58.0m;

19.2m @ 0.6% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.4g/t Au, 2.0g/t Ag & 0.1% Zn) from 58.3m (CD-143) - CNWE; Emerging strong copper zone from 58.3m; Assays 7.8m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.8g/t Au & 3.5g/t Ag) from 58.3m;

from 58.3m (CD-143) - CNWE; Meridian expands locally gold dominate layer overlying the CNWE VMS system; 9.5m @ 0.2% Cu, 1.3g/t Au & 0.3g/t Ag from 63.2m (CD-127) -CNWE; 39.9m @ 0.5g/t Au & 0.1g/t Ag from 30.1m (CD-132) CNWE;

41.4m @ 0.8% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.8g/t Au & 0.9g/t Ag) from 62.4m (CD-128) - SCZ, and Including 6.6m @ 3.2% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 4.4g/t Au & 2.2g/t Ag) from 66.8m.



Dr Adrian McArthur, CEO and President comments : "The Cabacal Northwest extension is now confirmed to host multiple vein sets of very high-grade gold overprinting the copper-gold VMS system, and we are confident more veins will be delineated. The strength of a new 2.3m gold vein grading at over half-an-ounce gold is significant, in being one of a new array of structures identified over the length of the CNWE. We will be releasing our first resource statement in September, and todays high grade veins, infill drilling and the emerging layer of gold dominate mineralisation, again in the CNWE, via CD-127 and CD-132 will all be contributing to Cabacal's tonnage potential. C4-A, our major new precious metal discovery has a high-grade gold-silver core that has been extended 50m to the northwest and is open in all directions. C4-A's high grade precious metal zone found running along the surface has a large alteration zone in the footwall and we see further potential along strike and at depth to repeat or even intercept higher grades, potentially along the lines of those gold intercepts of the CNWE. The C4-A discovery has the footprint to potentially become a major contributor to the Cabacal project's significant upside potential.

Today's results further confirm Cabacal's incredible potential to deliver new discoveries in this under-explored greenstone belt."

Cabacal Drilling Continues to Intersect Broad Widths, Hosting Robust Grades of Copper-Gold-Silver

Infill-drilling results reported today, continue to extend the footprint of copper-gold mineralization into sparely drilled areas. Three rigs continue to remain active, with a particular focus on extensions to the Cabacal Mine area. Results continue to deliver broader than expected extensions of mineralization beyond historical resource[4] envelops, within which higher-grade structures continue to be encountered.

Across-strike drilling in the CNWE continued to define extensions to the gold-dominant trend previously reported CD-099, CD-110 and CD-113[5]. New results have extended this zone-dominant zone to 200m strike length:

CD-127 intersected 54.4m @ 0.4% CuEq (0.1% Cu, 0.4g/t Au & 0.3g/t Ag) from 26.9m, including a gold-dominant layer of 9.5m @ 0.2% Cu, 1.3g/t Au & 0.3g/t Ag from 63.2m; and

& 0.3g/t Ag from 63.2m; and CD-132 intersected an upper gold-dominant layer of 39.9m @ 0.5g/t Au & 0.1g/t Ag from 30.1m, and a lower base metal - gold zone of 39.9m @ 0.4% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.1g/t Au, 1.7g/t Ag & 0.2% Zn) from 76.9m.

Extensions to the trend continue to the south, with broader intersections of gold-dominant or mixed copper-gold mineralization, amongst which further higher-grade intervals have been returned:

CD-138 intersected 20m @ 0.5% CuEq (0.5% Cu, 0.1g/t Au & 0.5g/t Ag) from 31m, 19.6m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.8% Cu, 0.4g/t Au & 4.8g/t Ag) from 78.4m;

(0.8% Cu, 0.4g/t Au & 4.8g/t Ag) from 78.4m; CD-141 intersected 28.2m @ 0.2% CuEq (0.1% Cu, 0g/t Au & 0.2g/t Ag, 0% Zn) from 18.8m, 31.3m @ 0.3% CuEq (0.2% Cu, 0.1g/t Au & 1.0g/t Ag) from 55.0m, 23.2m @ 0.5% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.2g/t Au, 1.4g/t, Ag & 0.1% Zn) from 113.8m;

CD-143 intersected 19.2m @ 0.6% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.4g/t Au, 2g/t Ag & 0.1% Zn) from 58.3m, including 7.8m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.8g/t Au & 3.5g/t Ag) from 58.3m; and

(0.6% Cu, 0.8g/t Au & 3.5g/t Ag) from 58.3m; and CD-147 intersected 54.2m @ 0.9% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.9g/t Au & 1.6g/t Ag) from 11.0m, including 2.3m @ 12.3% CuEq (2.2% Cu, 16.7g/t Au & 3.6g/t Ag) from 21.0m and 7.0m @ 1.1% CuEq (0.9% Cu, 0.3g/t Au & 5.9g/t Ag) from 50.0m.

The broad intervals of Cu-Au mineralization encountered in the drilling is significantly in excess of the narrow mineral historical resource envelopes that were previously projected into these areas, or into areas where no historical resource envelopes where previously modelled, providing additional upside for Cabacal's first resource definition program (Figure 2). Drilling is planned to continue and will necessarily need to include holes to close out the limit of mineralization to optimize the definition of resources accessible to potential open-pit development.

Within the immediate Cabacal mine environment, CD-128 returned a strong interval of 41.4m @ 0.8% CuEq (0.3% Cu, 0.8g/t Au, 0.9g/t Ag) from 62.4m, including 6.6m @ 3.2% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 4.4g/t Au, 2.2g/t Ag) from 66.8m in the SCZ, from an area where historical records were incomplete. Final resource definition drilling in the Cabacal area will include shallow drilling in unsampled areas. This drilling will continue past the planned September resource update and will be incorporated into a further update towards the end of Q1 in 2022.

Further Gold-Silver Mineralization Intersected at C4-A Discovery, Extended 5O to the Northwest

Diamond drill holes CD-139 and CD-142 were collared down dip and along strike from Trench 20's 44.0m @ 1.5g/t Au (Figure 1). CD-139 first confirmed a precious metal bedrock mineralization system, returning 26.4m @ 0.6g/t Au & 25.2g/t Ag from 56.2m. CD-142 was drilled as a 50m step-out hole to the northwest, with results now received confirming extensions to the precious metal discovery at shallow depths, returning 10.7m @ 1.8g/t Au, 33.7g/t Ag, 0.1% Zn from 45.7m. High silver assays coupled with the gold mineralization continued to characterize this new mineral system, with peak silver assays of 164.6 g/t Ag encountered[6]. CD-142 was extended to a depth of 253.0m, continuing to intersect strong alteration with periodic sulphide mineralization (Table 1; Figure 3). The results indicate a broad halo of base metal mineralization ("Halo"), which may point to the emergence of a new VMS centre requiring additional geological and geophysical follow-up. This gold-silver discovery is part of a larger 3.5km trend that hosts multiple soil geochemical and anomalies and coincident induced polarization geophysical anomalies[7]. This discovery, only 2km southeast of the Cabacal Mine, reflecting the Project's upside and scalability and will be incorporated into Future resource development programs for the Cabacal project, with mineralization open along strike and at depth. Additional geophysical surveys are being scheduled to extend coverage to the northwest of the CD-142 intersection.

About Cabacal

In November 2020, Meridian signed a Purchase Agreement[8] to acquire 100% ownership certain tenements covering the historical Cabacal and Santa Helena lines and the along strike tenements from two, private, Brazilian companies ("Vendors"). Subsequently, Meridian expanded its land tenure to today's 55km of strike length. Cabacal had two historical, shallow, high-grade selectively mined underground mines that cumulatively produced ~34 million pounds of copper, ~170,108 ounces of gold, ~1,033,532 ounces of silver and ~103 million pounds of zinc via conventional flotation and gravity metallurgical processes.

Meridian has defined an open 2,000m trend of shallow copper-gold mineralization centred on the Cabacal Mine. This mineralization trends northwest-southeast, sub-crops along its northeast limits and dips to the southwest at 26 and is up 90m thick; presenting excellent open-pit geometry and mineral endowment. Meridian is currently focused on infilling this 2,000m zone.

Cabacal's base and precious metal-rich mineralization is hosted by volcanogenic type, massive, semi-massive, stringer, and disseminated sulphides within units of deformed metavolcanic-sedimentary rocks ("VMS"). A later stage sub-vertical gold overprint event has emplaced high-grade gold mineralization truncating the dipping VMS layers. It was explored and developed by BP Minerals/Rio-Tinto from 1983 to 1991 and then by the Vendors in the mid 2000's. This historical exploration database includes over 83,000 metres of drilling, extensive regional mapping, soil surveys, metallurgy from production reports and both surface and airborne geophysics. The majority of Cabacal's prosects remain to be tested.

Cabacal has excellent infrastructure with access by all-weather road, industrial electricity provided by the adjacent hydroelectric power station supplying this clean energy grid, and local communities provide a large population to draw employees from. Cabacal consists of 1 mining license, 1 mining lease application and 4 exploration claims which total 28,324 hectares. A further three licences totalling 15,941 Ha are awaiting formal transfer from the ANM following the licence auction system.

About Meridian

Meridian Mining UK S is focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development activities in Brazil. The Company is currently focused on resource development of the Cabacal VMS copper-gold project, exploration in the Jauru & Araputanga Greenstone belts located in the state of Mato Grosso; exploring the Espigao polymetallic project and the Mirante da Serra manganese project in the State of Rondonia Brazil.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining UK S

Dr. Adrian McArthur

CEO, President, and Director

Executive Chairman

Meridian Mining UK S

Email: [email protected]

Ph: +1 (778) 715-6410 (PST)

Qualified Person

Dr Adrian McArthur, B.Sc. Hons, PhD. FAusIMM., CEO and President of Meridian as well as a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

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Further information can be found at www.meridianmining.co

Figure 1: Location of drill holes reported in today

Figure 2: Perspective view filtered to show holes reported today from Cabacal and the CNWE, in relation to mineralization envelopes of the historical resource.

Figure 3: Cross sections of CD-142 (top) and CD-139 / TR-020 (bottom). Traces are coloured by Cu-Eq (%), with Cu (%) grade plotted to the left and Au and Ag (ppm) grade plotted to the right

Table 1: Cabacal Assays reported today.

Hole Id Zone* Intercept Grade From CuEq Cu Au Ag Zn Pb (m) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (m) CD-121 CNWE 58.7 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.6 0.0 0. 0 8.4 CD-122 ECZ 21.0 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 10.0 33.4 0.5 0.4 0.2 1.5 0.0 0.0 37.7 Including 3.8 1.5 1.2 0.4 7.3 0.1 0.0 65.0 CD-123 CNWE 50.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 1.2 0.1 0.0 25.7 CD-124 ECZ 34.0 0.4 0.3 0.2 1.4 0.0 0.0 14.0 Including 1.3 1.7 0.3 2.3 3.5 0.0 0.0 18.2 12.3 0.5 0.4 0.1 2.0 0.0 0.0 52.0 8.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 2.8 0.2 0.0 70.1 CD-125 ECZ 70.3 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.8 0.0 0.0 13.5 Including 3.1 1.5 1.1 0.5 6.0 0.0 0.0 58.0 CD-126 CNWE 2.4 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.0 0.0 16.0 11.5 0.3 0.1 0.1 1.4 0.3 0.1 25.7 CD-127 CNWE 54.4 0.4 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.0 26.9 Including 9.5 N/A 0.2 1.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 63.2 12.3 0.4 0.2 0.2 1.0 0.2 0.0 98.5 CD-128 SCZ 14.0 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.9 0.1 0.0 34.0 41.4 0.8 0.3 0.8 0.9 0.0 0.0 62.4 Including 13.2 1.9 0.5 2.3 1.5 0.0 0.0 66.8 Including 6.6 3.2 0.6 4.4 2.2 0.0 0.0 66.8 CD-129 CNWE 5.8 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.0 0.0 44.1 3.3 0.3 0.1 0.0 1.2 0.7 0.1 59.0 CD-130 CNWE 25.0 0.5 0.4 0.1 1.3 0.1 0.0 18.0 Including 4.0 1.8 1.4 0.5 4.3 0.2 0.0 35.1 18.0 0.3 0.3 0.1 1.3 0.0 0.0 54.0 CD-131 CNWE 5.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 36.8 11.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 1.2 0.5 0.1 55.0 CD-132 CNWE 11.1 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 16.4 39.9 N/A 0.0 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 30.1 39.9 0.4 0.3 0.1 1.7 0.2 0.0 76.9 Including 5.7 1.2 1.1 0.2 2.8 0.0 0.0 87.0

Hole Id Zone* Intercept Grade From CuEq Cu Au Ag Zn Pb (m) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (m) CD-133 CNWE 15.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.2 0.0 24.5 7.7 0.3 0.1 0.0 3.7 0.6 0.1 46.8 CD-134 CNWE 25.0 0.4 0.3 0.0 1.3 0.0 0.0 10.0 Including 1.6 1.5 1.4 0.1 4.7 0.0 0.0 16.4 12.0 0.4 0.2 0.3 1.4 0.0 0.0 51.7 CD-135 CNWE 29.4 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 16.0 10.5 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.2 0.0 0.0 55.0 21.7 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.7 0.0 0.0 72.0 13.6 0.5 0.3 0.1 1.5 0.2 0.0 119.7 CD-136 CNWE 40.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.5 0.0 0.0 14.5 7.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.2 0.1 54.9 CD-137 CNWE 5.2 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.0 53.5 20.7 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 69.6 4.7 0.6 0.4 0.1 3.9 0.1 0.0 95.6 CD-138 CNWE 20.0 0.5 0.5 0.1 0.5 0.0 0.0 31.0 19.6 1.1 0.8 0.4 4.8 0.0 0.0 78.4 34.7 0.2 0.2 0.1 1.1 0.1 0.0 105.6 CD-140 CNWE 3.4 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.0 0.0 34.2 20.9 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.0 0.0 43.0 CD-141 CNWE 28.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 18.8 31.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.0 0.0 0.0 55.0 23.2 0.5 0.3 0.2 1.4 0.1 0.0 113.8 CD-142 C4-A 6.6 N/A 0.0 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.0 12.4 4.0 N/A 0.0 0.3 0.7 0.0 0.0 32.0 10.7 N/A 0.0 1.8 33.7 0.1 0.0 45.7 Halo 7.5 N/A 0.0 0.0 1.8 0.0 0.0 62.0 Halo 2.6 N/A 0.0 0.2 1.3 0.0 0.0 99.0 Halo 10.4 N/A 0.2 0.0 0.9 0.0 0.0 140.2 Halo 8.0 N/A 0.2 0.0 1.4 0.0 0.0 170.0 Halo 7.0 N/A 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.3 0.0 197.0 Halo 19.4 N/A 0.2 0.0 2.1 0.0 0.0 214.0 Halo 14.8 N/A 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.3 0.0 237.5

Hole Id Zone* Intercept Grade From CuEq Cu Au Ag Zn Pb (m) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (m) CD-143 CNWE 19.2 0.6 0.3 0.4 2.0 0.1 0.0 58.3 Including 7.8 1.1 0.6 0.8 3.5 0.0 0.0 58.3 CD-144 Pending CD-145 Pending CD-146 Pending CD-147 54.2 0.9 0.4 0.9 1.6 0.0 0.0 11.0 Including 2.3 12.3 2.2 16.7 3.6 0.0 0.0 21.0 Including 7.0 1.1 0.9 0.3 5.9 0.0 0.0 50.0 7.8 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.7 0.3 0.0 74.9

NA: Not applicable

Drill Details Hole Id Dip Azimuth EOH CD121 -48.6 59.2 87.0 CD122 -55.0 46.3 100.1 CD123 -49.2 58.9 90.4 CD124 -59.5 55.3 94.5 CD125 -59.7 44.5 100.7 CD126 -47.8 59.6 71.5 CD127 -49.0 60.5 175.1 CD128 -90.0 0.0 125.2 CD129 -45.0 60.0 88.3 CD130 -48.3 61.2 106.6 CD131 -49.4 59.4 88.8 CD132 -50.0 60.0 148.4 CD133 -50.0 60.0 90.9 CD134 -50.0 60.0 102.3 CD135 -50.0 60.0 151.4 CD136 -52.0 60.0 93.5 CD137 -50.0 60.0 121.3 CD138 -55.0 60.0 160.8 CD140 -51.0 60.0 88.3 CD141 -50.0 60.0 172.4 CD142 -45.0 45.0 253.0 CD143 -50.0 60.0 138.4

Drill Details CD144 -48.0 60.0 97.7 CD145 -50.0 60.0 113.2 CD146 -51.0 60.0 109.3 CD147 -50.0 60.0 120.0

Technical Notes

True widths are approximately 80-90% of downhole lengths and assay figures and intervals rounded to 1 decimal place. Holes have been drilled HQ through the saprolite and upper bedrock and then reduced to NQ. Mineralized intervals represent half HQ or NQ drill core. Samples have been analysed variably at the accredited ALS laboratory in Lima and SGS laboratory in Belo Horizonte. Gold analyses at ALS have been conducted by Au-AA23 (fire assay of a 30g charge with AAS finish). High-grade samples are repeated with a gravimetric finish (Au-GRA21). Base metal analysis is by methods four-acid digestion and ICP-AES finish (ME-ICP61a; Cu-OG62 for over-range samples). Gold analyses at SGS have been conducted by FAA505 (fire assay of a 50g charge), and base metal analysis by methods ICP40B and ICP40B_S (four acid digest with ICP-OES finish). Visible gold intervals are sampled by metallic screen fire assay method MET150-FAASCR.Samples are held in the Company's secure facilities until dispatched and delivered by staff and commercial couriers to the laboratory. The Company submits a range of quality control samples, including blanks and gold and polymetallic standards supplied by ITAK and OREAS, supplementing laboratory quality control procedures.

*Copper Equivalents ("CuEq") have been calculated using the formula CuEq = ((Cu%*Cu price 1% per tonne) + (Au ppm*Au price per g/t) + (Ag ppm*Ag price per g/t) + (Zn%*Zn price 1% per tonne)) / (Cu price 1 % per tonne). Commodity Prices: Copper and Zinc ("Zn") prices from LME Official Settlement Price dated April 23, 2021 USD per Tonne: Cu = USD 9,545.50 and Zn = USD 2,802.50. Gold & Silver prices from LBMA Precious Metal Prices USD per Troy ounce: Au = USD 1781.80 (PM) and Ag = USD 26.125 (Daily). The CuEq values are for exploration purposes only and include no assumptions for metallurgical recovery

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information or forward-looking statements for the purposes of applicable securities laws. These statements address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in under the heading "Risk Factors" in Meridian's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. While these factors and assumptions are considered reasonable by Meridian, in light of management's experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, Meridian can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Meridian disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or results or otherwise.

--

[1] Meridian news release April 5, 2022

[2] Meridian news release June 21, 2022

[3] ECZ: Eastern Copper Zone, CCZ: Central Copper Zone, and SCZ: Southern Copper Zone.

[4] Meridian news release August 26, 2020

[5] Meridian news releases March 22, 2022, April 26, 2022, 11 May 2022,

[6] Sample CBDS19295 (164.6 g/t Ag, 4.7 g/t Au, 0.0% Cu, 0.2% Zn over 0.5m from 53.0m)

[7] Meridian news release June 28, 2022

[8] Meridian news release November 9, 2020

SOURCE: Meridian Mining UK S

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Dollar General (NYSE: DG) Chief Executive Todd Vasos will retire from his position effective November 1, the company announced Tuesday.

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He joined the company in 2008 as Executive Vice President, Division President, and Chief Merchandising Officer and became Chief Operating Officer from 2013 until being named CEO.

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Jeffery Owen, Dollar General's Chief Operating Officer since 2019, will succeed Vasos as CEO, effective immediately. Owen became Dollar Generals Chief Operating Officer in 2019 after previously holding serving as Executive Vice President, Store Operations from 2015-2019 and Senior Vice President, Store Operations from 2011-2014.

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Dollar General shares are down just under 1% Tuesday.

By Sam Boughedda
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About Academy Securities

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005524/en/

Academy Securities

Michael Boyd, 646-736-3995

Chief Compliance Officer

[email protected]

Source: Academy Asset Management
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BAE Systems has delivered advanced M-Code GPS receivers for ground-based missions to Germany via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process. Under a contract with U.S. Space Systems Command, BAE Systems is delivering its Miniature Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver Engine  M-Code (MPE-M), providing precise geolocation and positioning capabilities in complex and contested operational environments for ground-based soldiers and vehicles and other space-constrained applications.

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BAE Systems has delivered advanced M-Code GPS receivers to Germany via the Foreign Military Sales process. (Credit: BAE Systems)

BAE Systems MPE-M is a small, high-performance GPS receiver providing assured Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) for applications where size, weight, and power are all critical factors, including handheld devices, ground vehicles, and unmanned aerial systems.

Germany is the first country to receive M-Code GPS capabilities via FMS, leading the way among our allies, said Greg Wild, director of Navigation and Sensor Systems at BAE Systems. Accelerating the delivery of M-Code capabilities to allied warfighters around the globe is critical to ensuring trusted PNT in the face of modern threats from our adversaries.

MPE-M acquires signals rapidly, and is compatible with the advanced military M-Code GPS signal, which is hardened against signal jamming and spoofing and provides next-generation cryptography for improved security. The receiver has the same form factor as its predecessor, accelerating and simplifying the M-Code upgrade process for existing military GPS user equipment and accommodating future growth and changes in GPS operational needs.

Work on BAE Systems military GPS products is conducted in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where the company is building a modern engineering and production facility. The companys Navigation and Sensor Systems business has delivered thousands of M-Code GPS receivers to the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S.-based systems integrators, and more than 1.5 million GPS devices globally.

For additional information about BAE Systems military GPS products, visit: https://www.baesystems.com/en-us/product/gps-products.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220707005848/en/

For more information, please contact:

Mark Daly, BAE Systems

Mobile: 603-233-7636

[email protected]



www.baesystems.com/US

@BAESystemsInc

Source: BAE Systems
40% Increase in Indicated Gold Equivalent (AuEq) ounces

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- HighGold Mining Inc. (TSX-V:HIGH, OTCQX: HGGOF) (HighGold or the Company) is pleased to announce an updated NI43-101 mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Johnson Tract Deposit (JT Deposit) at the Companys Johnson Tract polymetallic Gold Project (Johnson Tract, JT or the Project) located in coastal Southcentral Alaska, USA. The updated MRE (previous estimate Q2-2020) is based on new diamond drilling completed by the Company in the second half of 2020 and 2021 (Table 1 and Figure 1).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005547/en/

Figure 1. JT Deposit Long Section, Johnson Tract Project, Alaska (Graphic: Business Wire)

JT Deposit Mineral Resource Highlights

Updated Indicated Resourc e  3.49 million tonnes (Mt) grading 9.39 g/t gold equivalent (AuEq) for 1,053,000 oz AuEq

e  3.49 million tonnes (Mt) grading gold equivalent (AuEq) for Updated Inferred Resource  0.71 Mt grading 4.76 g/t AuEq for 108,000 oz AuEq

 0.71 Mt grading for Growth  40% increase in Indicated AuEq ounces and 54% increase in total tonnes (+60% Ind and -19% Inf) over the 2020 MRE ( See Company news release dated April 29, 2020 )

 (+60% Ind and -19% Inf) over the 2020 MRE ( ) High Confidence  91% of the total AuEq ounces in the Indicated Resource Category

 91% of the total AuEq ounces in the Indicated Resource Category Peer-Leading Thickness  Indicated resource averages 40-meter horizontal width , roughly 10 times the mineable width of most high-grade (+5 g/t) underground gold deposits

 Indicated resource averages , roughly 10 times the mineable width of most high-grade (+5 g/t) underground gold deposits Ideal Geometry for Low-Cost Methods of Underground Mining  thick, subvertical deposit with potential for lateral development from the valley floor to access the deepest and highest-grade portions of the deposit first and for gravity-assisted, bottom-up mining

 thick, subvertical deposit with potential for lateral development from the valley floor to access the deepest and highest-grade portions of the deposit first and for gravity-assisted, bottom-up mining Excellent Metallurgy  high metal recoveries, including global gold recovery up to 97% , utilizing conventional processing at a coarse grind size ( See Company news release dated June 22, 2 022)

 high metal recoveries, including global , utilizing conventional processing at a coarse grind size ( 022) Expansion Potential  open to expansion along strike/down-dip/down-plunge with numerous high-priority property-wide targets including the Difficult Creek (DC) and Milkbone prospects

We are delighted to establish a high-grade Indicated Resource of more than 1 million ounces gold equivalent at Johnson Tract, commented CEO Darwin Green. The JT Deposit stands well above the crowd for grade, thickness, and a geometry which will enable lower-cost mining. It also benefits from being close to tidewater with CIRI Alaska Native Corporation land title and strategic energy metal co-products. In concert with recent metallurgical results, this new resource provides an excellent foundation for future engineering and economic studies. Meanwhile, with drills back turning on the Project, we look forward to continuing to expand the JT Deposit and test several other targets in the extensive exploration pipeline at Johnson Tract, including the exciting high-grade DC and Milkbone prospects. Please CLICK HERE to hear additional commentary by CEO Darwin Green.

Table 1. JT Deposit Mineral Estimate at 3.0 g/t AuEq Cut-off

(Effective date July 12, 2022)

Category Tonnes Au Ag Cu Pb Zn AuEq (000s) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (%) (g/t) Indicated 3,489 5.33 6.0 0.56 0.67 5.21 9.39 Inferred 706 1.36 9.1 0.59 0.30 4.18 4.76 Contained Metal Category Au Ag Cu Pb Zn AuEq (k oz) (k oz) (M lb) (M lb) (M lb) (k oz) Indicated 598 673 43.1 51.5 400.8 1,053 Inferred 31 207 9.2 4.7 65.1 108

Notes

Includes all drill holes completed at JT Deposit, with drilling completed between 1982 and as recently as October 2021 Assumed metal prices are US$1650/oz for gold (Au), US$20/oz for silver (Ag), US$3.50/lb copper (Cu), US$1/lb lead (Pb), and US$1.50/lb for zinc (Zn) Gold Equivalent (AuEq) is based on assumed metal prices and payable metal recoveries of 97% for Au, 85% for Ag, 85% Cu, 72% Pb and 92% Zn from metallurgical testwork completed in 2022 AuEq equals = Au g/t + Ag g/t  0.01 + Cu%  1.27 + Pb%  0.31 + Zn%  0.59 Average bulk density value of 2.84 used as determined by conventional analytical methods for assay samples Capping was applied to assays to restrict the impact of high-grade outliers, resulting in the removal of 8.4% Au, 10.1% Ag, 2.8% Cu, 6.2% Pb, and 1.3% Pb from the resource block model as compared to an uncapped version The economic underground mining cut-off is estimated to be 2.5 g/t AuEq derived from assumed operating cost of $65/t for long hole open stope mining, $35/t processing and $20/t G&A and accounting for transport and smelter charges. HighGold elected to report this mineral resource at a higher cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t Au, given the high-grade nature of the deposit. Preliminary underground constraints were applied, including the elimination of isolated or scattered blocks above cut-off grade to define the reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction for the Mineral Resource Estimate Mineral resources as reported are undiluted Mineral resource tonnages have been rounded to reflect the precision of the estimate Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability

JT Deposit Geological Model

Mineralization at the JT Deposit forms a roughly tabular silicified body that contains a stockwork of quartz-sulphide veins and breccia surrounded by a widespread zone of anhydrite alteration. The JT Deposit is hosted by andesite to dacite volcaniclastic rocks. A robust geological model has been developed for the JT Deposit based on 120 drill holes, detailed surface mapping, a well archived and high-quality database, extensive re-logging and re-sampling of historic drill core, and drilling by HighGold since 2019. A total of 57 holes (26,364 meters) were completed in the JT Deposit environment by HighGold since the resource was reported in the second quarter of 2020, including 35 holes (15,128 meters) within the MRE.

The mineral resource block model is constrained by three dimensional (3D) geologic wireframes, constructed by Nathan Steeves, PhD, Chief Exploration Geologist, and reviewed by QP Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng., Senior Vice President, Exploration. The domains are controlled primarily by geology to include significant mineralized, silicified, and veined rock. In general, domain extents are limited to material that can be correlated within geologically continuous, definable zones. The majority of the mineral resource is contained within the JT Deposit High Grade (HG) domain. The JT Deposit HG domain is a steeply dipping, 25 to 70 meters thick, heavily veined and brecciated silicified zone extending 125 to 200 meters along strike and 250 meters vertically, with a moderate to steep plunge to the northeast, surrounded by the lower grade silicified or anhydrite-altered JT Deposit LG domain. A texturally and mineralogically distinct copper-rich zone underlies these two domains and is composed of the FWCZ HG and FWCZ LG domains. A fifth domain, JT EXT, captures silicified and mineralized zones extending to the northeast along strike and down-plunge in a sparsely drilled portion of the JT Deposit.

The southeastern margin of the JT Deposit is constrained by the steeply southeast-dipping Dacite Fault zone. Where not constrained by drilling or faulting, domains were extended approximately 25 meters from a drill hole, except where geology supports extension between holes in the trend of mineralization.

JT Deposit Resource Model Estimate Background

The mineral resource estimate, prepared by James N. Gray of Advantage Geoservices Ltd., is reported in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators' NI 43-101 and conforms to the Canadian Institute of Mining "Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practices" guidelines. A total of 120 NQ and HQ sized diamond drill holes (42,575m) were used in generating the geological model for the JT Deposit, 75 of which intersected the interpreted mineralized zones in 7,633 meters of core with a total 5,078 assays inside the mineralized solids. Capping of outlier assays for the different metals was completed by geological domain. All assays within the mineralized zones were composited to 1.5-meter lengths. Metal grades were estimated by ordinary kriging in the JT Deposit HG and LG domains and by inverse distance weighting in the other mineralized zones. Greater than 85% of the total reported resource is in the JT Deposit HG Domain. Block dimensions are 6 x 6 x 6 meters.

Indicated Resources include the core of the JT Deposit, where drill density and confidence in the geological model are highest. Blocks were initially classified as Inferred Mineral Resource where drill spacing was to a maximum of 100 meters or where within 30 meters of the closest sample. Indicated Resource blocks meet the criteria of being drilled at a maximum hole spacing of 40 meters. All indicated blocks have three holes within a maximum distance of 50 meters; 88% on inferred blocks have three holes within a maximum distance of 75 meters.

The complete NI 43-101 Technical Report will be released within 45 days of this news release.

Qualified Persons

Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng, Senior Vice President of Exploration, is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 for the Johnson Tract Project. James N. Gray, P.Geo of Advantage Geoservices Ltd. is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 for the mineral resource estimate discussed above. They have reviewed and approved the contents of this release.

Next Steps at Johnson Tract

The Company recently commenced a US$ 9M exploration program at Johnson Tract with plans to complete 13,000m of diamond drilling with two drill rigs currently on site. The focus of the 2022 drilling is two-fold: (1) to continue expanding the JT Deposit; and (2), to explore high-priority property-wide targets, including the high-grade DC and Milkbone prospects. Plans include commissioning an onsite sample preparation facility for crushing and pulverizing drill core samples, which is expected to significantly reduce assay turn-around time and enable more efficient follow-up of positive results during the 2022 drill program.

In addition to drilling, the Company plans to conduct preliminary engineering and environmental baseline studies to support Project planning and future economic evaluation work.

About the Johnson Tract Gold Project

Johnson Tract is a poly-metallic (gold, copper, zinc, silver, lead) project located near tidewater, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, USA. The 21,000-acre property includes the high-grade JT Deposit and at least nine (9) other mineral prospects over a 12-kilometer strike length. HighGold acquired the Project through a lease agreement with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI), one of 12 land-based Alaska Native regional corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. CIRI is owned by more than 9,100 shareholders who are primarily of Alaska Native descent.

Mineralization at Johnson Tract occurs in Jurassic-age intermediate volcaniclastic rocks and is characterized as epithermal-type with submarine volcanogenic attributes. The JT Deposit is a thick, steeply dipping silicified body (20m to 50m average true thickness) that contains a stockwork of quartz-sulphide veinlets and brecciation, cutting through and surrounded by a widespread zone of anhydrite alteration. The Footwall Copper Zone is located structurally and stratigraphically below JT Deposit and is characterized by copper-silver rich mineralization.

Prior to HighGold, the Project was last explored in the mid-1990s by a mid-tier mining company that evaluated direct shipping material from Johnson to the Premier Mill near Stewart, British Columbia.

About HighGold

HighGold is a well-funded mineral exploration company focused on high-grade gold projects located in North America. HighGolds flagship asset is the high-grade Johnson Tract Gold (Zn-Cu) Project located in Southcentral Alaska, USA. The Company also controls a portfolio of quality gold projects in the greater Timmins gold camp, Ontario, Canada that includes the Munro-Croesus Gold property, which is renowned for its high-grade mineralization, and the large Golden Mile and Timmins South properties. HighGolds experienced Board and senior management team, are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital, and environmentally/socially responsible mineral exploration.

Qualified Person and Quality Assurance

Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng., Senior VP Exploration for HighGold Mining Inc. and a qualified person (QP) as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release.

On Behalf of HighGold Mining Inc.

Darwin Green

President & CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward looking statements: This news release includes certain forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively forward looking statements). Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as seek, anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, forecast, expect, potential, project, target, schedule, budget and intend and statements that an event or result may, will, should, could or might occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Companys 2022 exploration plans and potential future engineering and economic studies are forward-looking statements that involve various 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. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Companys expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005547/en/

For further information, please visit the HighGold Mining Inc. website at www.highgoldmining.com, or contact:

Darwin Green, President & CEO or Naomi Nemeth, VP Investor Relations

Phone: 1-604-629-1165 or North American toll-free 1-855-629-1165

Email: [email protected].

Website: www.highgoldmining.com

Twitter: @HighgoldMining

Source: HighGold Mining Inc.
University Engineering Students from Across Poland Spend Summer in Nuclear Industry

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Westinghouse Electric Company has selected 15 university students with outstanding academic and leadership credentials from Poland to participate in a summer internship program. The interns are engineering students from various Polish technical universities and while in the United States, they will work at the corporate headquarters and the companys offices in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005806/en/

Patrick Fragman, President & CEO of Westinghouse, welcomed the interns at our global headquarters in Cranberry Township. (Photo: Business Wire)

We are excited to welcome our first class of Polish interns to our U.S. offices as these future nuclear professionals train alongside our talented teams to promote and expand industry knowledge across the Polish workforce, said David Durham, President, Westinghouse Energy Systems. As Poland takes steps to transition to a clean energy economy, while reinforcing its energy independence and security, we are pleased to further advance in-country nuclear power skillsets for safe, reliable and secure operation.

The internships are part of the overall Westinghouse commitment to advance nuclear technologies in Poland. The interns will have a unique opportunity to learn from industry-recognized professionals who have best-in-class experience in designing and supporting operating nuclear reactors worldwide.

Westinghouse Electric Company is shaping the future of carbon-free energy by providing safe, innovative nuclear technologies to utilities globally. Westinghouse supplied the worlds first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 and the companys technology is the basis for nearly one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. Over 135 years of innovation makes Westinghouse the preferred partner for advanced technologies covering the complete nuclear energy life cycle. For more information, visit www.westinghousenuclear.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005806/en/

Cathy Mann, [email protected]

Source: Westinghouse Electric Company
PRESS RELEASE

Paris La Defense, 12 July 2022

For the attention of pure registered shareholders: Practical details for participating in the takeover bid

As part of the takeover bid (the Bid) for KKR, which began on 23rd June and which concludes on 27th July 2022, Albioma provided clarifications today to aid pure registered shareholders who wish to bring their shares to the Bid.

Only shares registered as bearer shares or administered registered shares can be brought to the Bid. Therefore, pure registered shares must be converted in order to be brought to the Bid.

Albioma invites the shareholders in question wishing to bring their shares to the Bid to find out more as soon as possible by visiting the dedicated section on its website.

About Albioma Contacts An independent renewable energy producer, Albioma is committed to the energy transition thanks to biomass, photovoltaics and geothermal energy.



Albioma operates in Overseas France, France metropolitan, Mauritius and Brazil.



For 30 years, it has developed a unique partnership with the sugar industry to produce renewable energy from bagasse, the fibrous residue of sugar cane.



Albioma is the leading producer of photovoltaic energy in Overseas France, where the company builds and operates innovative projects with storage, Albioma has strengthened its position in mainland France.



In 2021, the Group acquired its first geothermal energy power plant, in Turkey. This activity is being ramped up in 2022, via the acquisition of a second GEPP in the same region.



Albioma shares are listed on NYSE EURONEXT PARIS (sub B) and eligible for the deferred settlement service (SRD) and PEA-PME plans (ISIN FR0000060402  ticker: ABIO).



The Group is also included in the Gaia-Index, an index for socially responsible midcaps. Investor

Julien Gauthier

+33 (0)1 47 76 67 00







Media

Charlotte Neuvy

+33 (0)1 47 76 66 65

[email protected]



Brunswick Group



Guillaume Maujean



+33 (0)6 67 74 36 89



[email protected]



Aurelia de Lapeyrouse



+33 (0)6 21 06 40 33



[email protected] www.albioma.com





Attachment
Centennial, Colo., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of our commitment to supporting the continued growth, development and overall wellness of our 21,000 incredible caregivers across Colorado and western Kansas, Centura Health is pleased to introduce student loan assistance for full-time and part-time associates.

Beginning in August, Centura will make student loan assistance payments through Candidly, our education assistance partner. Full-time caregivers are eligible to receive $200 per month, while those who are part-time are eligible to receive $100 per month. Caregivers may elect to participate at any time throughout the year.

This investment is in response to direct feedback from our caregivers, and we want them to know we hear them loud and clear, said Sebastien Girard, Centura Health Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer. Financial wellbeing is an important part of feeling whole and healthy, and it is important that we support those in our ministry who have sought higher education to grow their careers and, in turn, better serve our communities.

Centura regularly hosts town hall sessions and focus groups, and distributes engagement surveys, to gather thoughts and feedback from caregivers, and it was in these forums that caregivers expressed interest in student loan assistance.

Centura also offers tuition reimbursement to support our caregivers educational goals. In 2022, our annual tuition reimbursement benefit increased to $5,000 per year for full-time caregivers and $2,500 per year for part-time caregivers.

Anyone who may be interested in exploring a career in health care with Centura can learn more by visiting our Careers page.

###

ABOUT CENTURA HEALTH

Centura Health connects individuals, families and neighborhoods across Colorado and western Kansas with more than 6,000 physicians and 21,000 of the best hearts and minds in health care. Through our 19 hospitals, two senior living communities, neighborhood health centers, physician practices and clinics, home care and hospice services, and Flight For Life Colorado, our caregivers make the regions best health care accessible. Were on a mission to build flourishing communities and whole person care. Were Centura Health, and were your dedicated health partner for life. For information on Centura Health or any of the facilities in our network, please visit the Centura Health website.

Lindsay Radford Centura Health 720.215.9662 [email protected]

Source: Centura Health
VICTORIA, British Columbia, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadas unions welcomed the Council of the Federations call for increased federal health transfers but Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, warned Canadas premiers that new funding must take action to fix the health worker crisis and improve patient access and care.

Canadas health care workers are looking at yet another summer without a break as terrible staffing shortages put an unbearable strain on the people who deliver care, said Bruske, who was in Victoria this week to engage the premiers. Canadas unions support the premiers call for increased investments from the federal government. But new funding must include accountability and be tied to strengthening public health care and addressing the dangerous shortage of health workers.

Bruske said new investments must also be linked to action that ensures all Canadians have access to affordable medicines and dental care; establishes standards and gets profits out of long-term care; and fights back against creeping privatization, so quality public health care is there for generations of Canadians to come.

Frontline health care workers have been warning for years about the damage chronic underfunding has been doing to our public health care system, damage laid bare by the pandemic. Sadly, governments failed to heed these warnings, continued Bruske. Now, only provincial, territorial and federal governments working together with health care workers can fix this crisis.

Bruske added that Canadas unions wanted to thank B.C. Premier John Horgan for putting health care front and centre for the Council of the Federation.

Let me add a sincere thank you to John Horgan, concluded Bruske. As chair of the Council, Premier Horgan has put strengthening health care at the centre of the premiers agenda. His positive and constructive leadership will be missed.

To arrange an interview, please contact:CLC Media Relations[email protected]613-355-1962

Source: Canadian Labour Congress
MIAMI, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Miami, Florida-based Summit Aerospace, Inc. is an industry leader in aircraft maintenance and repair, with a sterling reputation built upon extraordinary workmanship, state-of-the-art facilities, and uncompromising business ethics.

It has come to Summit Aerospace, Incs attention that there has arisen confusion regarding its name and that of wholly unrelated persons and entities. Specifically, on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, an indictment was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn charging a number of individuals with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. The entities allegedly involved in the scheme include a Summit Aviation Supply LLC, also known as Summit LLC, and Summit Corp.

Summit Aerospace, Inc. is not related or affiliated with any of those entities or any of the individuals identified in the indictment. In short, Miami-based Summit Aerospace, Inc. has not been implicated, in any way, with the wrongdoing referenced in the indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn. Any similarities in name are purely coincidental.

Miami-based Summit Aerospace, Inc. remains a company held in high regard in the industry and is committed to its mission of providing first-rate maintenance and repair for major commercial, military, and regional aircraft.

If you have any questions pertaining to Miami-based Summit Aerospace, Inc., contact attorney David A. Rothstein, with Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A.

Contact:David A. Rothstein, Esq.[email protected] 2665 S. Bayshore Drive Penthouse 2B Miami, Florida 33133 (305) 374-1908.http://www.dkrpa.com

About Summit Aerospace Inc: Summit Aerospace Inc. is an MRO company based in Medley, Fla. For several years it has provided repair and overhaul services to reputable customers and airlines. Summit Aerospace Inc has been voted Topshop for three consecutive years by The145 Awards.

Source: Summit Aerospace Inc.
OCEAN TOWNSHIP, N.J., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire  Advisors Mortgage Group (Advisors or the Company), based in Ocean Township, New Jersey, today announces recognition by NJBIZ as one of the best places to work in New Jersey. This is the 10th year in a row the Company has been awarded this accolade.

NJBIZ collects the data through a survey provided by the BridgeTower Media Firm, Best Companies Group. The data is collected confidentially allowing employees to share feedback. The 2022 NJBIZ Best Places to Work honorees are across small (15  49 employees), medium (50  249 employees) and large (more than 250 employees) companies.

Advisors takes great pride in treating employees like family. When I started this company in 1999, says Steven Meyer, president of Advisors Mortgage Group, my goal was to create a space where people enjoy coming to work and realize they are appreciated. Promoting our core values of care, respect and collaboration among our diverse workforce is one of my top priorities. Being this is the 10th year in a row on the NJBIZ best places to work list, it seems our employees are embracing what we set out to do.

The Company holds various employee-appreciation events throughout the year. This includes a family day at the races every August at Monmouth Racetrack, a family Thanksgiving dinner in November, a holiday gift swap in December, and Spirit Weeks throughout the year to keep everyone connected, so important now that most employees are back in the office.

Advisors mantra is: We take care of our family, who helps us take care of our customers, which allows us to give back to our community. The Company is a supporter of several non-profit organizations including Free Wheelchair Mission, NEADS Word Class Service Dogs, Marys Place by the Sea, and Trees for Troops.

To learn more about Advisors Mortgage Group, visit its website at: https://advisorsmortgage.com/ or call 1-855-LOANS-USA.

About Advisors Mortgage Group

With big dreams and even bigger determination, Advisors Mortgage Group, LLC was founded in October 1999 by a single loan officer in a 400-square-foot office in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. In the years since its formation, Advisors has grown to serve not only the greater New Jersey area but also a vast portion of the United States. With branch offices up and down the East Coast and its corporate office in Ocean Township, New Jersey, Advisors Mortgage has established itself as a pillar of excellence in the mortgage industry. Our immense experience is our greatest asset and is the foundation of the success of the Company and every Advisors branch and loan officer.

In 2005, Advisors Mortgage Group was designated by the Federal Housing Authority as a Full Eagle FHA Underwriter. As a Full Eagle, Advisors has been able to expand its loan volume by approving loans, which a majority of the competition could not dream of. We have built a platform for a seamless and stress-free mortgage process for all of our customers, and we have that same mission throughout all of our offices. We understand that success cannot be attained without teamwork and communication, two of our most important strengths.

Wire Service Contact:InvestorWire (IW) Los Angeles, Californiawww.InvestorWire.com212.418.1217 Office[email protected]

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NJBIZ Recognizes Advisors Mortgage Group as One of New Jerseys Best Places to Work in 2022 Pictured: Advisors Mortgage Group, LLC headquarters located in Ocean Twp, NJ

Source: Advisors Mortgage Group
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ultimus LeverPoint Private Fund Solutions, a leading tech-driven private fund administrator, is pleased to welcome Lori Shupak, Christina Haas, and Erin Whyman to its relationship management team. The relationship management team is responsible for providing enhanced client services, serving as a senior point of contact for new and existing clients, and supporting the firms service teams. The addition of three relationship managers at the Senior Vice President level within the last year is a direct reflection of the firms commitment to hiring experienced talent for high quality and strategic client service.

Kelly Ramsey Gooch, EVP, Client Relationship Officer, Ultimus LeverPoint, notes how relationship managers are essential to client satisfaction, retention, and growth. The relationship management team supports our clients and the internal teams that service them, she says. Reinforcing our relationship management team allows clients to not only benefit from the firms technical proficiency in private equity administration and accounting but to access our relationship managers varied experience and skillsets, including strategic insights, onboarding project management, business updates, and views on current trends and best practices. I have no doubt that Lori, Christina, and Erins unique strengths will be indispensable to our clients and colleagues.

Lori Shupak, SVP, Relationship Management, has more than thirty years of experience as a seasoned financial services professional with senior leadership and client-facing roles. Her prior position as Senior Vice President at SS&C Technologies, Inc., formerly known as Citi Private Equity Services, led her to develop and execute strategies to drive client satisfaction, retention, and growth.

In addition, Christina Haas, SVP, Relationship Management, possesses over fifteen years of experience in private markets with a deep focus on cultivating internal and external relationships contributing to organizational growth and revenue. In her former role as Practice Growth Leader at FD Fund Administration, which was recently acquired by Ultimus, she utilized her relationship and organizational skills to direct strategic vision, growth, and talent development. Prior to that, Haas worked in investor relations for both real estate and private equity investment funds.

Furthermore, Erin Whyman, SVP, Relationship Management, brings fourteen years of experience in the financial services industry with an emphasis on client service, experience, strategy, and methodology. In her previous role at BNY Mellon, she utilized her skills as Vice President of FX Transitions and Client Onboarding to lead fifteen team members in creating successful, client-centric outcomes.

Notably, Ultimus LeverPoint recently received recognition for its client-centric culture and commitment to excellence. Last year, the firm obtained the highest overall score in Global Custodians 2021 Private Equity Fund Administration Survey. The independent survey also recorded a resounding consensus among Ultimus LeverPoints clients, with the firm receiving a score of 6.83 out of 7 in the client service category and outperforming the 5.76 industry average.

Ultimus CEO Gary Tenkman notes the importance of the firms survey scores in tandem with its investment in relationship management. Our clients are our utmost priority, and Ultimus is unwavering in its commitment to meeting their evolving needs, he says. The firms client service score and our growing relationship management team demonstrates our continual investment in top industry talent to develop strategic client relationships and custom solutions. Kelly is putting together a fantastic group, and we are pleased to welcome Lori, Christina, and Erin to the team.

About Ultimus LeverPoint

Ultimus LeverPoint Private Fund Solutions is a leading fund administrator committed to providing a complete spectrum of solutions to private equity, venture capital, real estate and hedge fund clients. We provide accounting and fund administration solutions to over 245 firms with over $150B in AUA, representing a diverse range of alternative fund types and structures.

Whether outsourcing a new fund, or transitioning existing funds, Ultimus LeverPoint serves as a seamless extension of your firm  a partner in growth. From traditional to complex structures, our team of over 325 associates provide operational excellence, to meet every need and dedicated to helping investment managers keep pace with the constantly changing regulatory and market demands, while providing quick solutions to new challenges. For more information, visit www.ultimusleverpoint.com.

About Ultimus

Ultimus Fund Solutions (Ultimus) is a leading provider of full-service tech-enhanced fund administration, accounting, middle office, and investor solutions to support the launching and servicing of registered funds, private funds, and public plans. The company also offers customized structures designed for the unique needs of pensions, endowments, foundations, and other large institutions. Ultimus deep commitment to excellence is achieved through investments in best-in-class technology, compliance programs, organization-wide cyber security efforts, and hiring seasoned professionals.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio with offices in other major cities such as Chicago, Denver, New York and Boston, Ultimus employs more than 825 seasoned accountants, attorneys, paralegals, application developers, fund administrators, compliance specialists, and many others with years of experience in the financial services industry. Servicing over 1,600 total traditional and alternative funds, Ultimus helps investment managers and fund families flourish in todays increasingly sophisticated and dynamic investment landscape. For more information, visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com.

CONTACT: [email protected]

ULP 15310249 07/08/2022

Source: Ultimus LeverPoint
Magmatic Nickel Mineralization Now Confirmed Over a Strike of 315 Meters and Remains Open Along Strike Both North and South

2,400 km Heliborne Transient Electromagnetic Survey Also Completed

Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Fathom Nickel Inc.(CSE: FNI) (FSE: 6Q5), (OTCQB: FNICF) (the "Company" or "Fathom") is pleased to provide an update on its summer exploration program at the Company's Albert Lake Property. The summer drill program has been designed to extend the conductivity zone and associated ultramafic Ni-Cu-Co+PGE mineralization south of drillhole AL22057 identified during the winter drill campaign (Press Release, April 28, 2022) (the "Winter Program"). During the Winter Program Fathom identified the Bay Area Conductive Corridor, a zone of electromagnetic conductivity measuring up to 300m in length. Within this conductive corridor individual assays returned up to 3.07% NiEq. The Bay Area Conductive Corridor was defined through the utilization of a number of current and historic exploration tools and techniques that included a 2008 VTEM survey, surface TDEM surveys (2021, 2022) and borehole EM (BHEM) surveys within historic and current (2021/2022) drillholes. The Company confirmed in the Winter Program that magmatic sulphide mineralization is associated with electromagnetic conductivity occurring within the Bay Area Conductive Corridor.

Observations to date from the Summer Drill Program include:

Upon completion of the program, between 12 and 15 drillholes amounting to approximately 1,500 meters of drilling will have been drilled on a trend south of drillhole AL22057 in the Bay Area Conductive Corridor;

To date, several drillholes have intersected mineralized ultramafic and magmatic sulphide textures similar to the magmatic textures recognized in the Winter Program;

Magmatic nickel mineralization occurring in ultramafic, pegmatite and sediments in favourable stratigraphy has been recognized in drillhole intervals of up to 16 meters;

This type of favourable mineralized stratigraphy has now been recognized 140 meters south of drillhole AL22057, thus confirming that the Bay Area Conductive Corridor extends for more than 300 meters along strike and remains open along strike both north and south;

Ongoing modeling of mineralized intercepts along with conductive plates determined by BHEM surveys demonstrates continuous conductivity along the corridor as well as localized areas of increased conductivity;

The Company has no assays to report to date. Assay results will be released once received and analyzed.

AirTEM survey completed:

Balch Exploration Consulting Inc. has completed a heliborne transient electromagnetic survey ("AirTEM") over three individual grid areas totaling 2,447 l-km;

A detailed grid at 50m line spacing was flown over the Bay Area Conductive Corridor and Rottenstone Mine area;

A detailed grid (50m line spacing) was flown over the recently acquired Tremblay Olson area;

A third grid (100m line spacing) was flown east/southeast of the historic Rottenstone Mine to compliment existing soil geochemistry and gradient MAG survey results.

The Company awaits the final results of the survey and anticipates that zones of identified favourable conductivity will align with soil geochemical anomalies (historic and those defined by Fathom in 2018 and 2021), and with favourable MAG anomalies as defined by the gradient MAG survey conducted in the spring of 2021.

Ian Fraser, VP Exploration, commented: "Drilling to date, and in particular our BHEM surveys demonstrates the continuation of strong conductivity south of the Winter Program drilling discoveries in drillholes AL22052 and AL22057. The winter and summer drilling has confirmed and traced this conductivity over a strike length in excess of 300m and remains open north and south. Summer drilling has encountered robust BHEM signatures and mineralized ultramafic - very similar to signatures and mineralization that lead us to the discoveries in AL22052 and AL22057."

The Bay Area Conductive Corridor occurs 400 to 500m west-northwest of the historic high-grade Ni-Cu-Co+PGE Rottenstone Mine and represents the first ever discovery of magmatic nickel mineralization on the Albert Lake property - post production of the Rottenstone Mine (1965 - 1969). The Rottenstone deposit, in combination with the developing mineralization in the Bay Area Conductive Corridor, is conclusive evidence the Albert Lake Property is host to a significant magmatic nickel system.

Qualified Person and Data Verification

Ian Fraser, PGeo., VP Exploration and a Director of the Company and the "qualified person" as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101, has verified the data disclosed in this news release, and has otherwise reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of the Company.

About Fathom Nickel Inc.

Fathom is a resource exploration and development company that is targeting high-grade nickel sulphide discoveries for use in the rapidly growing global electric vehicle market.

The Company is accelerating exploration on its flagship Albert Lake Project, host to the historic Rottenstone mine, which is recognized as one of the highestgrade (Nickel, Copper, Platinum group metals) deposits of its type ever mined in Canada. The Albert Lake Project consists of over 90,000 ha of mineral claims located in the Trans-Hudson Corridor of Saskatchewan, which is home to numerous world-class mining camps.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Brad Van Den Bussche"

President and CEO, Director

For Further Information Please Contact:

Brad Van Den Bussche, President and CEO

or

Manish Grigo, Director of Corporate Development

+1-416-569-3292

Email: [email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" that are based on expectations, estimates, projections and interpretations as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "seek", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, and include, without limitation, statements regarding the enhancement of the Company's geologic model and extending the areas of known mineralization and the Company's work towards defining a resource base. 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 may include, but are not limited to, the results of exploration activities; the ability of the Company to complete further exploration activities; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130654
Newly launched high-pressure misting system company revamps ancient method to beat record heat

PLANO, Texas, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Above-normal temperatures are likely to bake a vast majority of the United States through the end of August, according to a recent climate trend report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This means the need for air-conditioned spaces is only going to increase, and people will also be looking for other waysincluding misting systemsto cool off this summer. Fortunately, aerMist, a new high-pressure misting system, is debunking common misconceptions about patio misters to spotlight how the innovative systems make it easier for people to cool down in outdoor spaces.

The concept of misting dates back to the Egyptians, who used vessels like porous pots and thin water chutes that allowed water to be sprayed in the air, which would evaporate and provide relief on hot days. aerMist is revamping the ancient method to beat the heat this summer. Consumers from homeowners who enjoy entertaining in their backyards to restaurateurs serving hundreds of diners, can reduce temperatures on outdoor patio spaces by up to 20 degrees with the affordable luxury misting system. With a user-friendly app and energy-saving capabilities, aerMist provides customers with a "smarter way to cool.

3 Misconceptions About Misting Debunked by aerMist:

Misters Leave Furniture, Decor, and Guests Soaked by the End of the Day.aerMist is uniquely designed as a high-pressure system that produces a controllable amount of fine mist that evaporates quickly. The result is a cooling effect that leaves people, clothes, and furniture dry. Using Misters Makes a Space Humid and Frizzes Your Hair.There are no bad hair days when using aerMist thanks to the modern system's use of high water pressure. A dry, cool bubble of air is created by aerMist's ultra-fine mist that instantly evaporates, thus leaving hair styled and looking good. Misting Wastes Water and Leads to Expensive Utility Bills.aerMist misters work on a modulated system, automatically turning on and off and thus operating with less water and electricity compared to other outdoor cooling products on the market. Users can easily adjust frequency settings in the app.

"Consumers can now take back their home's outdoor spaces without melting in the summer heat, thanks to aerMist," says company co-founder Jelena Medic. Visit aerMist.com to see why aerMist is a smarter way to stay cool this summer, no matter how high the temperatures rise. The misting systems can be purchased directly through the company's website.

About aerMist

aerMist is the first high-pressure cooling system for homes and restaurants that offers user-friendly technology to lower the temperature of outdoor spaces up to 20 degrees. The company was founded in 2021 by Boris and Jelena Medic and is based in Plano, Texas. The misting systems provide the best cooling at the lowest cost. In addition, aerMist systems are eco-friendly, minimizing water use with a sleek design that maximizes space. To learn more about aerMist, visit https://aermist.com/.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aermist-busts-misting-myths-to-cool-down-this-summer-301584390.html

SOURCE aerMist
Second subsidiary to become independent; decisive step to continue unlocking value at ALFA

ALFA will transfer all its Axtel shares to a new, listed entity: Controladora Axtel

ALFA Shareholders will receive one share of Controladora Axtel for each ALFA share they own

Spin-off, listing and share distribution processes expected to be completed before year end

SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCIA, Mexico, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ALFA, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: ALFAA) ("ALFA" or the "Company") held today an Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting where a proposal to spin-off its entire ownership stake in Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: AXTELCPO) ("Axtel") was approved.

On behalf of ALFA's Board of Directors, Armando Garza Sada, Chairman of the Board, presented the proposal through which ALFA will execute the spin-off as a splitting entity. In addition, a new entity would be constituted as the spun-off company ("Controladora Axtel"), which will be listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. ALFA will transfer its entire share ownership in Axtel to Controladora Axtel, as well as certain other assets and capital. ALFA expects to complete the spin-off, listing and share distribution processes before year end.

ALFA shareholders will receive one share of Controladora Axtel for each of their ALFA shares, in addition to retaining their share ownership in ALFA's equity.

"We greatly appreciate our Shareholders' vote of confidence, supporting ALFA's transformational efforts to unlock its extraordinary value potential. This approval reinforces our commitment to continue driving an orderly process, following a balanced capital allocation approach," noted Armando Garza Sada, Chairman of ALFA's Board of Directors.

"Axtel begins today a new stage as an independent business from ALFA and will get all of our support to ensure a successful transition. Axtel's talented and dedicated team has an extraordinary capability to drive growth and extend its long track record as an industry leader," said Alvaro Fernandez Garza, President of ALFA.

Contacts

Hernan F. LozanoV.P. of Investor Relations ALFA, S.A.B. de C.V.T. +52 (81) 8748-2521[email protected]

Carolina AlvearCorporate Communication DirectorALFA, S.A.B. de C.V.T. +52 (81) 8748-2521[email protected]

About ALFA

ALFA manages a diversified portfolio of leading businesses with global operations: Sigma, a leading multinational food company, focused on the production, marketing and distribution of quality foods through recognized brands in Mexico, Europe, United States and Latin America. Alpek, one of the world's leading producers of polyester (PTA, PET, rPET and fibers), and the leader in the Mexican market for polypropylene and expandable polystyrene (EPS). Axtel, a provider of Information Technology and Communication (ITC) services for the enterprise and government segments in Mexico. In 2021, ALFA reported revenues of Ps. 308,060 million (US $15.2 billion), and EBITDA of Ps. 41,050 million (US $2.0 billion). ALFA's shares are quoted on the Mexican Stock Exchange and on Latibex, the market for Latin American shares of the Madrid Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit www.alfa.com.mx

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alfa-shareholders-approved-proposal-to-spin-off-axtel-301585255.html

SOURCE ALFA, S.A.B. de C.V.
CENTENNIAL, Colo., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AlloSource, one of the largest allograft providers in the U.S., creating innovative cellular and tissue allografts to help surgeons heal their patients, today announced the addition of a quadricep tendon to its AlloConnex line of tendons, ligaments and fascia.

AlloSource is introducing a new AlloConnex quadricep tendon, available with or without the bone block.

The use of a quadricep tendon for ligament repair has gained popularity in recent years. AlloSource's AlloConnex quadricep tendon is a robust option for cruciate ligament procedures and is available with or without the bone block for various surgical techniques.

"As a provider of tendons to the surgeon community for close to 30 years, we know how important it is to have a consistent supply of the allografts they need," said Kevin Whitten, AlloSource Chief Commercial Officer. "AlloSource has always been about being the best, most reliable allograft partner to do what's best for patient healing. The addition of a quadricep tendon to our product offerings supports that goal."

The AlloConnex tendon and ligament portfolio supports a multitude of procedures surgeons perform. In addition to the new quadricep tendon, specific allografts in the AlloConnex portfolio include the Achilles, anterior tibialis, gracilis, peroneus longus, posterior tibialis and semitendinosus tendons, as well as patellar ligaments. AlloSource's tendon supply includes single strand, double strand and pre-shaped configurations.

AlloConnex tendons, ligaments and fascia are cleansed in AlloSource's unique, proprietary, patented cleansing process, AlloTrue. The process is designed to penetrate deep within donor tissue, removing blood and lipids, as well as reducing viable microorganism load, while maintaining biomechanical properties of the tissue.

To learn more about AlloSource's AlloConnex tendons, ligaments and fascia, please visit allosource.org/products/alloconnex or visit us at the annual AOSSM meeting in Colorado Springs, July 14-16, 2022, booth 616.

About AlloSource

Founded in 1994, AlloSource is a nonprofit leader in providing allografts that maximize tissue donation to help surgeons heal their patients. The company has grown into one of the largest tissue networks in the country creating more than 200 types of precise bone, skin and soft-tissue allografts for use in an array of life-saving and life-enhancing medical procedures. As a leading manufacturer of cartilage tissue for joint repair and skin allografts to help heal severe burns, AlloSource's products bridge the proven science of allografts with the advanced technology of cells. The company is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks and is headquartered in Centennial, CO. For more information, please visit allosource.org.

Media ContactCindy MasonAlloSource720. 873. 4744[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/allosource-adds-quadricep-tendons-to-its-alloconnex-line-of-tendons-ligaments-and-fascia-301585144.html

SOURCE AlloSource
The abstract suggests that BBT-176 has shown its capability of inducing clinical tumor responses in EGFR triple mutation-containing patients

Further exploration of the drug efficacy and safety profiles at RP2D is planned

The abstract is now available on the IASLC 2022 WCLC website

SEONGNAM, South Korea, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridge Biotherapeutics (KQ288330), a South Korean clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel drugs for cancer, fibrosis and inflammation, announced that interim clinical data from an ongoing Phase I study of BBT-176 has been selected for a mini oral presentation at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2022 World Conference on Lung Cancer (IASLC WCLC 2022), Aug. 6-9 in Vienna.

The oral presentation, to be delivered by Sun Min Lim, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, will discuss interim clinical data from the Phase I study of BBT-176 in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients harboring an EGFR mutation who were previously treated with at least one epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR TKI). According to the published abstract, the presentation will cover potent anti-tumor efficacy of BBT-176 explored with radiological improvements in both target and non-target lesions from two patients harboring EGFR triple mutations of exon 19 del/T790M/C797S.

One patient from the 320mg dosing cohort exhibited 30.3 percent shrinkage of the target lesion, according to the abstract. Another patient from the 480mg dosing cohort exhibited 26.3 percent shrinkage of the target lesion. Investigators will explore the recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D) based on the overall safety, efficacy and tolerability information collected in the Phase 1 clinical study.

The abstract for the presentation (MA07.09) is now available at https://bit.ly/3uv2StQ.

Session and Presentation InformationTitle: BBT-176, a 4th-generation EGFR TKI, for Progressed NSCLC after EGFR TKI Therapy: PK, Safety and Efficacy from Phase 1 StudySession Title: Overcoming Resistance to EGFR InhibitorsSession Number: MA07.09Presentation Session: August 8, 2022, 12:52 pm CETPresenting Author: Sun Min Lim, M.D., Ph.D., Yonsei University College of MedicineSession Discussant: Pasi A. Janne, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

About Bridge Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc., based in the Republic of Korea, US, and China, is a publicly-traded, clinical-stage biotech company founded in 2015. Bridge Biotherapeutics is engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics, focusing on therapeutic areas with high unmet needs including ulcerative colitis, fibrotic diseases, and cancers. The company is developing BBT-401, a first-in-class Pellino-1 inhibitor for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, BBT-877, a novel autotaxin inhibitor for the treatment of fibrotic diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and BBT-176, a potent targeted cancer therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with C797S triple EGFR mutations.

About BBT-176

BBT-176 is under development as a novel, fourth-generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) that inhibits the signaling pathway of EGFR with C797S containing triple mutations. In April 2021, the company initiated the dose escalation part of its Phase I/II trial, which is being conducted in three sites in the Republic of Korea. The study aims to assess the safety, tolerability, and anti-tumor efficacy of the drug candidate in a group of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. After determining the maximum tolerable dose (MTD) and recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D), the dose expansion study will be initiated in both the U.S. and the Republic of Korea. It is estimated about 10,000 to 20,000 new NSCLC patients will be diagnosed each year with EGFR triple mutations by the mid-2030s. BBT-176 is currently the first-in-class, fourth-generation EGFR TKI candidate targeting C797S triple mutation variants. Bridge Biotherapeutics acquired the exclusive global license for BBT-176 from the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), a Korean government research institute, in 2018. The Phase I clinical study of BBT-176 was partially supported by the Korea Drug Development Fund (HN21C0859), which is funded by Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, and Ministry of Health and Welfare, of Republic of Korea.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bridge-biotherapeutics-to-present-interim-clinical-data-from-ongoing-phase-1-study-of-bbt-176-at-the-world-conference-of-lung-cancer-301585247.html

SOURCE Bridge Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Continues rapid global growth serving enterprises seeking to revitalize their websites and applications with a cloud-first approach

AUSTIN, Texas, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Contentstack, the Content Experience Platform (CXP) category leader, today announced the hire of Jerry Nott as APAC Regional Director. Nott's hire is the first of many in Australia as Contentstack increases its investment in the region to better serve local customers and maintain the company's nearly 99% customer retention rate. Contentstack currently supports 30+ brands across APAC, with the majority in Australia, including Baby Bunting, Pepperstone Group, and Koorong.

Nott previously served as Regional Director at Uniform and Sales Leader at Optimizely, educating and helping customers implement progressive MACH  or Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless solutions  technologies. He brings more than two decades of experience, including companies such as Salesforce and Sitecore, and will be reporting to Ramon Weterings, Vice-President of EMEA and APAC.

"The chance to assist local customers looking to leverage the most innovative CMS in the market is a privilege," said Nott. "The cloud model, enterprise features, and unparalleled customer support make Contentstack the catalyst for game-changing digital transformations."

Contentstack will soon expand its Australian presence with sales, marketing, and customer service roles. The continued investment will ensure that Contentstack's pioneering Care without Compromise program works seamlessly in the region. Through Care without Compromise, Contentstack and its Catalysts partners cooperate, communicate, and cross-train support staff to deliver joint solutions to customers.

"APAC's leading enterprise organizations are adopting MACH principles to modernize and accelerate the way they do business at MACH speed," said Weterings. "To help these frontrunners achieve their ambitious goals and to further educate the market, we are doubling down on our local presence and will continue to build the team under Jerry's excellent and renowned leadership."

Companies can learn more about MACH and its benefits at the first MACH Alliance event in Sydney on July 29. The event is tailored for enterprise businesses looking to future-proof their brands and will provide support to make MACH easy.

Follow ContentstackBlog: https://www.contentstack.com/blog LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/contentstack Twitter: @Contentstack

About ContentstackContentstack  the Content Experience Platform (CXP) category leader  empowers marketers and developers to deliver composable digital experiences at the speed of their imagination. Companies such as Chase, Express, Holiday Inn, Icelandair, Mattel, McDonald's, Mitsubishi, Riot Games, Sephora and Shell trust Contentstack to power their most critical content experiences with uncompromising scale and dependability. Famous for its Care without Compromise, Contentstack has achieved the industry's highest customer satisfaction rating. Contentstack is also a founder of the MACH Alliance, setting the industry agenda for open and composable technology that is Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless. Learn more at http://www.contentstack.com.

Media ContactChelsea Horn[email protected] (210) 378-8580

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/contentstack-announces-new-apac-regional-director-jerry-nott-first-australia-based-hire-of-2022-301585099.html

SOURCE Contentstack
PITTSBURGH, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GrapeCity, a global provider of award-winning enterprise software development tools, is thrilled to partner with Weavy, the in-app collaboration API and SDK, on its latest hackathon, Striking Balance 2022. Wijmo and Weavy believe that the experience and knowledge of developers using technology to come up with real-world solutions to modern problems enable them to create better products with fresh perspectives. Starting June 23, 2022, interested teams between 1 and 4 can enter the free three-part hackathon  the jury of industry experts and innovators will announce first to third place winners on August 27, 2022.

Two industry-leading organizations unite to foster creativity and growth among the developer community.

The Wijmo and Weavy teams are asking developers to create something inspirational that will help make a change where a change is needed using simple systems thinking methodologies. By picking single or multiple topics, the jury will supply teams with a few sources for data sets. Entrants will then build an application that visualizes the data collaboratively using Wijmo and Weavy, demonstrating the approach for solving the chosen topics. In the final phase, teams will pitch their project to the expert jury panel in a live-streamed event where first through third place winners will be crowned and badge of honor winners. Visit the website for more details on the event.

"Good hackathons are more than nice prizes," said Weavy Chief Community Officer, Kris Ledel. "They are an exchange of creativity, growth and iterations between different skillsets.Together with Wijmo, I am looking forward to learning how our participants leverage our tools to utilize critical data, that hopefully can raise a wide awareness."

The partnership between Wijmo and Weavy is a fantastic opportunity for developers of all skill levels to become familiar with integrating collaboration and social features with data visualization components  two areas that are becoming increasingly important in the application development world. In addition to connecting with other developers and creating solutions to real-world issues, all winning team members will receive a prize of their choosing (team members must attend the live finals to be eligible). The Wijmo and Weavy teams hope participants find this hackathon fun, insightful, and a great way to demonstrate their skills. Visit the website for more details on the event.

"Wijmo and Weavy are two complimentary developer tools that jump-start application building," said Wijmo Global Product Manager, Chris Bannon. "I look forward to seeing some interesting projects from the participants. I can't wait to see some cool visualization with Wijmo and meaningful collaboration with Weavy."

About Weavy

The in-app collaboration API & SDK. Enable your users to engage each other to make faster, better decisions through contextual collaboration using in-app chat, activity feeds, and document collaboration. Weavy allows you to add collaboration features in minutes using their low-code backend tool. Visit the Weavy website for more company information.

About Wijmo

A set of JavaScript UI components that save developers time when building applications, Wijmo offers datagrids, charts, and much more to help developers jump-start their enterprise applications. Wijmo is one of five product lines from GrapeCity, an award-winning Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and one of the world's largest providers of developer components. The company has over 850 employees and hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide. For over 30 years, GrapeCity has provided enterprises around the world with state-of-the-art developer tools and components, software services, and solutions. For more company information, visit the GrapeCity website.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grapecitys-wijmo-and-weavy-partner-to-deliver-striking-balance-2022-hackathon-301583486.html

SOURCE GrapeCity, Inc.
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the Month of July 2022

SHINHAN FINANCIAL GROUP CO., LTD.

(Translation of registrant's name into English)

20, Sejong-daero 9-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul 04513, Korea

(Address of principal executive offices)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will

file annual reports under cover of 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______

If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the

registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- n/a .





Please refer to Exhibit 99.1.





EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No. Description 99.1 Shinhan Financial Group 2022 2Q Earnings Release Conference





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, thereunto duly authorized.

Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. (Registrant) Date: July 12, 2022 By: /s/ Lee Tae-Kyung Name: Lee Tae-Kyung Title: Chief Financial Officer

Exhibit 99.1

Shinhan Financial Group 2022 2Q Earnings Release Conference

Shinhan Financial Group will be holding its 2022 2Q Earnings Release Conference on Friday, July 22, 2022. The conference will be aired through live streaming on the internet  both PC and mobile. Investors are welcome to participate during the Q&A session, which will follow the presentation.



Details of the Earnings Release Conference are as follows:

- Agenda: 2022 2Q Earnings Release and Q&A

- Date: July 22, 2022 (Friday)

- Time: 10:30 (Seoul Time)

- Format: Live streaming on the internet

- Language: Korean and English

(Simultaneous translations will be available for English-speaking participants)

- To participate in the Conference Call:

Log into Zoom  Join a Meeting  Enter Meeting ID (876 0652 1040)  Enter Password (220722)  Enter your affiliation and name  Join  Click EN button at the bottom of the screen  Click Raise hand to request a question

- A recording of the business presentation will be available at the following URL:

URL: http://www.shinhangroup.com/en/invest/finance/performance_file.jsp
0001520512 false 0001520512 2022-07-07 2022-07-07 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:

il2m INTERNATIONAL CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Nevada (State of incorporation) 333-176587 (Commission File No.) 27-3492854 (IRS Employer Identification No.)

10333 HARWIN DRIVE. Suite 305

Houston , TX 77036

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(725) 255-8895

(Registrants telephone number, including area code)

370 Amapola Ave., Suite 200-A Torrance, CA 90501

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

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:

[X] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act

o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act

Item 5.01 Changes in Control of Registrants.

On June 28th, 2022, il2m International Corporation, (ILIM) a Nevada corporation, controlled by Frank I Igwealor sold its control block preferred stock of the Company, to Mrs. Kristin Simpson-Oloso, the owner of Aamani Healthcare Group, LLP Subsequent to the sale, Mr. Frank I Igwealor who was the sole member of the Board and President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Company resigned from these positions. Mrs.Oloso, the controlling shareholder of the Company, took over all the positions that were previously held by Mr. Igwealor.

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers. Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On June 28th,2022, following a change of control transaction that was completed on July 07, 2022, the Company appointed Mrs. Kristin Simpson-Oloso as the sole member of the Board, Chairman, President, CEO, Secretary and Treasurer of the Company.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date: On July 7th, 2022
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 13D

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No. 13)

PEOPLES FINANCIAL CORPORATION

(Name of Issuer)

Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share

(Title of Class of Securities)

71103B102

(CUSIP Number)

Mr. Joseph Stilwell

200 Calle del Santo Cristo

Segundo Piso

San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

Telephone: (787) 985-2193

(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person

Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)

July 8, 2022

(Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)

If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of 240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the following box. 

The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be filed for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Act) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 2

1. Names of Reporting Persons. I.R.S. Identification Nos. of above persons (entities only). Stilwell Value Partners VII, L.P. 2. Check the Appropriate Box if a Member of a Group (See Instructions) (a) x (b) 3. SEC Use Only 4. Source of Funds (See Instructions) WC, OO 5. Check if Disclosure of Legal Proceedings Is Required Pursuant to Items 2(d) or 2(e)  6. Citizenship or Place of Organization:

Delaware Number of

Shares

Beneficially

Owned by

Each

Reporting

Person

With 7. Sole Voting Power: 0 8. Shared Voting Power: 524,545 9. Sole Dispositive Power: 0 10. Shared Dispositive Power: 524,545 11. Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person: 524,545 12. Check if the Aggregate Amount in Row (11) Excludes Certain Shares (See Instructions)  13. Percent of Class Represented by Amount in Row (11): 11.2% 14. Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions)

PN

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 3

1. Names of Reporting Persons. I.R.S. Identification Nos. of above persons (entities only). Stilwell Activist Fund, L.P. 2. Check the Appropriate Box if a Member of a Group (See Instructions) (a) x (b) 3. SEC Use Only 4. Source of Funds (See Instructions) WC, OO 5. Check if Disclosure of Legal Proceedings Is Required Pursuant to Items 2(d) or 2(e)  6. Citizenship or Place of Organization:

Delaware Number of

Shares

Beneficially

Owned by

Each

Reporting

Person

With 7. Sole Voting Power: 0 8. Shared Voting Power: 524,545 9. Sole Dispositive Power: 0 10. Shared Dispositive Power: 524,545 11. Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person: 524,545 12. Check if the Aggregate Amount in Row (11) Excludes Certain Shares (See Instructions)  13. Percent of Class Represented by Amount in Row (11): 11.2% 14. Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions)

PN

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 4

1. Names of Reporting Persons. I.R.S. Identification Nos. of above persons (entities only). Stilwell Activist Investments, L.P. 2. Check the Appropriate Box if a Member of a Group (See Instructions) (a) x (b) 3. SEC Use Only 4. Source of Funds (See Instructions) WC, OO 5. Check if Disclosure of Legal Proceedings Is Required Pursuant to Items 2(d) or 2(e)  6. Citizenship or Place of Organization:

Delaware Number of

Shares

Beneficially

Owned by

Each

Reporting

Person

With 7. Sole Voting Power: 0 8. Shared Voting Power: 524,545 9. Sole Dispositive Power: 0 10. Shared Dispositive Power: 524,545 11. Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person: 524,545 12. Check if the Aggregate Amount in Row (11) Excludes Certain Shares (See Instructions)  13. Percent of Class Represented by Amount in Row (11): 11.2% 14. Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions)

PN

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 5

1. Names of Reporting Persons. I.R.S. Identification Nos. of above persons (entities only). Stilwell Value LLC 2. Check the Appropriate Box if a Member of a Group (See Instructions) (a) x (b) 3. SEC Use Only 4. Source of Funds (See Instructions) n/a 5. Check if Disclosure of Legal Proceedings Is Required Pursuant to Items 2(d) or 2(e)  6. Citizenship or Place of Organization:

Delaware Number of

Shares

Beneficially

Owned by

Each

Reporting

Person

With 7. Sole Voting Power: 0 8. Shared Voting Power: 524,545 9. Sole Dispositive Power: 0 10. Shared Dispositive Power: 524,545 11. Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person: 524,545 12. Check if the Aggregate Amount in Row (11) Excludes Certain Shares (See Instructions)  13. Percent of Class Represented by Amount in Row (11): 11.2% 14. Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions)

OO

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 6

1. Names of Reporting Persons. I.R.S. Identification Nos. of above persons (entities only). Joseph Stilwell 2. Check the Appropriate Box if a Member of a Group (See Instructions) (a) x (b) 3. SEC Use Only 4. Source of Funds (See Instructions) n/a 5. Check if Disclosure of Legal Proceedings Is Required Pursuant to Items 2(d) or 2(e)  6. Citizenship or Place of Organization:

United States Number of

Shares

Beneficially

Owned by

Each

Reporting

Person

With 7. Sole Voting Power: 0 8. Shared Voting Power: 524,545 9. Sole Dispositive Power: 0 10. Shared Dispositive Power: 524,545 11. Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person: 524,545 12. Check if the Aggregate Amount in Row (11) Excludes Certain Shares (See Instructions)  13. Percent of Class Represented by Amount in Row (11): 11.2% 14. Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions)

IN

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 7

Item 1. Security and Issuer

This is the thirteenth amendment (this Thirteenth Amendment) to the original Schedule 13D (the Original Schedule 13D), which was filed on November 23, 2020, and amended on December 23, 2020 (the First Amendment), on February 9, 2021 (the Second Amendment), on March 12, 2021 (the Third Amendment), on March 17, 2021 (the Fourth Amendment), on March 29, 2021 (the Fifth Amendment), on April 5, 2021 (the Six Amendment), on April 8, 2021 (the Seventh Amendment), on April 20, 2021 (the Eighth Amendment), on May 5, 2021 (the Ninth Amendment), on February 7, 2022 (the Tenth Amendment), on March 15, 2022 (the Eleventh Amendment), and on April 4, 2022 (the Twelfth Amendment). This Thirteenth Amendment is being filed jointly by Stilwell Value Partners VII, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (Stilwell Value Partners VII); Stilwell Activist Fund, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (Stilwell Activist Fund); Stilwell Activist Investments, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (Stilwell Activist Investments); Stilwell Value LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (Stilwell Value LLC), and the general partner of Stilwell Value Partners VII, Stilwell Activist Fund, and Stilwell Activist Investments; and Joseph Stilwell, the managing member and owner of Stilwell Value LLC. The filers of this statement are collectively referred to herein as the Group.

This statement relates to the common stock, par value $1.00 per share (Common Stock), of Peoples Financial Corporation (the Issuer). The address of the principal executive offices of the Issuer is Lameuse and Howard Avenues, Biloxi, Mississippi 39533. The joint filing agreement of the members of the Group is attached as Exhibit 1 to the Original Schedule 13D.

Item 2. Identity and Background

(a)-(c) This statement is filed by Joseph Stilwell with respect to the shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by Joseph Stilwell, including shares of Common Stock held in the names of Stilwell Value Partners VII, Stilwell Activist Fund, and Stilwell Activist Investments in Joseph Stilwells capacities as the managing member and owner of Stilwell Value LLC, which is the general partner of Stilwell Value Partners VII, Stilwell Activist Fund, and Stilwell Activist Investments.

The business address of Stilwell Value Partners VII, Stilwell Activist Fund, Stilwell Activist Investments, Stilwell Value LLC, and Joseph Stilwell is 200 Calle del Santo Cristo, Segundo Piso, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901.

The principal employment of Joseph Stilwell is investment management. Stilwell Value Partners VII, Stilwell Activist Fund, and Stilwell Activist Investments are private investment partnerships engaged in the purchase and sale of securities for their own accounts. Stilwell Value LLC serves as the general partner of Stilwell Value Partners VII, Stilwell Activist Fund and Stilwell Activist Investments, and related partnerships.

(d) During the past five years, no member of the Group has been convicted in a criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations or similar misdemeanors).

(e) During the past five years, no member of the Group has been a party to a civil proceeding of a judicial or administrative body of competent jurisdiction and, as a result of such proceeding, was or is subject to a judgment, decree or final order enjoining future violations of, or prohibiting or mandating activities subject to, Federal or State securities laws or finding any violation with respect to such laws.

(f) Joseph Stilwell is a citizen of the United States.

Item 3. Source and Amount of Funds or Other Consideration

Since we last reported purchases and sales of Common Stock (see the First Amendment), Stilwell Value Partners VII has expended a total of $583,143.77 to acquire 38,900 shares of Common Stock. Such funds were provided from Stilwell Value Partners VIIs working capital and, from time to time, may be provided in part by margin account loans from subsidiaries of Interactive Brokers extended in the ordinary course of business.

Since we last reported purchases and sales of Common Stock (see the First Amendment), Stilwell Activist Fund has expended a total of $82,887.95 to acquire 5,500 shares of Common Stock. Such funds were provided from Stilwell Activist Funds working capital and, from time to time, may be provided in part by margin account loans from subsidiaries of Morgan Stanley extended in the ordinary course of business.

Since we last reported purchases and sales of Common Stock (see the First Amendment), Stilwell Activist Investments has expended a total of $232,489.75 to acquire 15,500 shares of Common Stock. Such funds were provided from Stilwell Activist Investments working capital and, from time to time, may be provided in part by margin account loans from subsidiaries of Morgan Stanley extended in the ordinary course of business.

All purchases of shares of Common Stock made by the Group using funds borrowed from Interactive Brokers or Morgan Stanley, if any, were made in margin transactions on their usual terms and conditions. All or part of the shares of Common Stock owned by members of the Group may from time to time be pledged with one or more banking institutions or brokerage firms as collateral for loans made by such entities to members of the Group. Such loans generally bear interest at a rate based on the brokers call rate from time to time in effect. Such indebtedness, if any, may be refinanced with other banks or broker-dealers.

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 8

Item 4. Purpose of Transaction

We are filing this Thirteenth Amendment to report that members of the Group have purchased shares of Common Stock.

We believe management and the directors have ill served the Issuers shareholders. We believe the Issuer should explore all possibilities to maximize shareholder value.

Our nominees for election as directors at the Issuers 2021 and 2022 annual meetings were not elected. Subsequent to the 2022 annual meeting, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve notified us that it would not object to our proposal to buy additional shares of the Issuer up to 14.9%. On May 31, 2022, pursuant to Mississippi law, we asked to examine the Issuers books and records related to, among other things, reported losses and the employee(s) responsible for the losses associated with the Issuers securities portfolio. We believe the Issuer should explore all possibilities to maximize shareholder value.

Our purpose in acquiring shares of Common Stock of the Issuer is to profit from the appreciation in the market price of the shares of Common Stock through asserting shareholder rights. We do not believe the value of the Issuer's assets is adequately reflected in the current market price of the Issuer's Common Stock.

Members of the Group may seek to make additional purchases or sales of shares of Common Stock. Except as described in this filing, no member of the Group has any plans or proposals which relate to, or could result in, any of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) through (j), inclusive, of Item 4 of Schedule 13D. Members of the Group may, at any time and from time to time, review or reconsider their positions and formulate plans or proposals with respect thereto.

Since 2000, members or affiliates of the Group have taken an activist position in 71 other publicly-traded companies. Currently, members or affiliates of the Group file Schedule 13Ds to disclose greater than 5% positions only in SEC-reporting companies. For simplicity, these affiliates are referred to below as the Group, we, us, or our. In each instance, our purpose has been to profit from the appreciation in the market price of the shares we held by asserting shareholder rights. In addition, we believed that the values of the companies assets were not adequately reflected in the market prices of their shares. Our actions are described below. We have categorized the descriptions of our actions with regard to the issuers based upon certain outcomes (whether or not, directly or indirectly, such outcomes resulted from the actions of the Group). Within categories I through III below, the descriptions are listed in chronological order based upon the completion date of the investment; within categories IV through VII below, the descriptions are listed in chronological order based upon the respective filing dates of the originally-filed Schedule 13Ds, or, in limited instances, the acquisition date of the 5% position of a non-reporting company.

I. After we asserted shareholder rights, the following issuers were sold or merged:

Security of Pennsylvania Financial Corp. (SPN) - We filed our original Schedule 13D to report our position on May 1, 2000. We scheduled a meeting with senior management to discuss ways to maximize the value of SPNs assets. On June 2, 2000, prior to the scheduled meeting, SPN and Northeast Pennsylvania Financial Corp. announced SPNs acquisition.

Cameron Financial Corporation (Cameron) - We filed our original Schedule 13D to report our position on July 7, 2000. We exercised our shareholder rights by, among other things, requesting that Cameron management hire an investment banker, demanding Camerons list of shareholders, meeting with Camerons management, demanding that Cameron invite our representatives to join the board, writing to other shareholders to express our dismay with managements inability to maximize shareholder value and publishing that letter in the local press. On October 6, 2000, Cameron announced its sale to Dickinson Financial Corp.

Community Financial Corp. (CFIC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D to report our position on January 4, 2001, following CFICs announcement of the sale of two of its four subsidiary banks and its intention to sell one or more of its remaining subsidiaries. We reported that we acquired CFIC stock for investment purposes. On January 25, 2001, CFIC announced the sale of one of its remaining subsidiaries. We then announced our intention to run an alternate slate of directors at the 2001 annual meeting if CFIC did not sell the remaining subsidiary by then. On March 27, 2001, we wrote to CFIC confirming that CFICs management had agreed to meet with one of our proposed nominees to the board. On March 30, 2001, before our meeting took place, CFIC announced its merger with First Financial Corporation.

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 9

Montgomery Financial Corporation (Montgomery) - We filed our original Schedule 13D to report our position on February 23, 2001. On April 20, 2001, we met with Montgomerys management and suggested that they maximize shareholder value by selling the institution. We also informed management that we would run an alternate slate of directors at the 2001 annual meeting unless Montgomery was sold. Eleven days after we filed our Schedule 13D, however, Montgomerys board amended its bylaws to limit the pool of potential nominees to local persons with a banking relation and to shorten the deadline to nominate an alternate slate. We located qualified nominees under the restrictive bylaw provisions and noticed our slate within the deadline. On June 5, 2001, Montgomery announced that it had hired an investment banker to explore a sale. On July 24, 2001, Montgomery announced its merger with Union Community Bancorp.

Community Bancshares, Inc. (COMB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on March 29, 2004. We disclosed that we intended to meet with COMBs management and evaluate managements progress in resolving its regulatory issues, lawsuits, problem loans, and non-performing assets, and that we would likely support management if it effectively addressed COMBs challenges. On November 21, 2005, we amended our Schedule 13D and stated that although we believed that COMBs management had made progress, COMBs return on equity would likely remain below average for the foreseeable future, and it should therefore be sold. We also stated that if COMB did not announce a sale before our deadline to solicit proxies for the next annual meeting, we would solicit proxies to elect our own slate. On January 6, 2006, we disclosed the names of our three board nominees. On May 1, 2006, COMB announced its sale to The Banc Corporation.

Jefferson Bancshares, Inc. (JFBI) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on April 8, 2013. Our shareholder proposal requesting the board seek outside assistance to maximize shareholder value through actions such as a sale or merger was defeated at JFBIs 2013 annual meeting. We met with management and the board of directors and told them that we would seek board representation at JFBIs 2014 annual meeting if JFBI did not announce its sale. JFBIs sale to HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. was announced on January 23, 2014.

FedFirst Financial Corporation (FFCO) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on September 24, 2010. After several meetings with management, FFCO completed a meaningful number of share repurchases, and on April 14, 2014, FFCO announced its sale to CB Financial Services, Inc.

SP Bancorp, Inc. (SPBC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on February 28, 2011. On August 9, 2013, we met with management and the chairman to assess the best way to maximize shareholder value. SPBC completed a meaningful number of share repurchases, and on May 5, 2014, SPBC announced its sale to Green Bancorp Inc.

TF Financial Corporation (THRD) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on November 29, 2012. We met with the CEO and the chairman, encouraging them to focus only on accretive acquisitions and to repurchase shares up to book value. They subsequently did both. On June 4, 2014, THRD announced its sale to National Penn Bancshares, Inc.

Fairmount Bancorp, Inc. (FMTB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on September 21, 2012. On February 25, 2014, we reported our intention to seek board representation at FMTBs 2015 annual meeting if FMTB did not announce its sale. However, due to the appointment of our representative to another board in the local area, we were unable to nominate our representative at the 2015 election of FMTB directors. We reiterated our intent to seek board representation at the earliest possible time if FMTB was not sold. FMTBs sale was announced on April 16, 2015.

Harvard Illinois Bancorp, Inc. (HARI) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on April 1, 2011. In 2012, we nominated a director for election at HARIs 2012 annual meeting and communicated our belief that HARI should merge with a stronger community bank. Our nominee was not elected, so we nominated a director at HARIs 2013 annual meeting and stated our position that HARI should be sold. We communicated to stockholders our intent to run a nominee every year until elected, and we nominated a director at HARIs 2014 annual meeting. Our nominee was not elected, so in April 2015, we began soliciting stockholder votes for our nominee for HARIs 2015 annual meeting. On May 21, 2015, HARI announced the sale of its subsidiary bank to State Bank in Wonder Lake, IL. We subsequently withdrew our solicitation of proxies for the election of our nominee at HARIs 2015 annual meeting. The sale of HARIs subsidiary bank was completed on August 1, 2016. On August 10, 2016, we entered into a settlement agreement with HARI whereby two legacy board members stepped down, and we agreed not to seek board representation through 2017. HARI implemented a plan of voluntary dissolution.

Eureka Financial Corp. (EKFC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on March 28, 2011. We encouraged EKFC to pay special dividends to shareholders and repurchase shares. Management and the board did both, and on September 3, 2015, EKFC announced its sale to NexTier, Inc.

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 10

United-American Savings Bank (UASB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reporting our position on May 20, 2013. We believe management and the board acted in good faith to position UASB to maximize shareholder value. After we encouraged them to sell, UASB announced its sale to Emclaire Financial Corp on December 30, 2015.

Polonia Bancorp, Inc. (PBCP) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on November 23, 2012. After several conversations with the Chairman and CEO, we publicly called for PBCPs sale. On June 2, 2016, PBCPs sale to Prudential Bancorp, Inc. was announced.

Georgetown Bancorp, Inc. (GTWN) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on July 23, 2012. We encouraged GTWN to maximize shareholder value through share repurchases, and we supported management and the boards consistent efforts to do so. On October 6, 2016, GTWN announced its sale to Salem Five Bancorp.

Wolverine Bancorp, Inc. (WBKC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on February 7, 2011. We encouraged WBKC to maximize shareholder value through share repurchases and payments of special dividends, and we supported management and the boards consistent efforts to do so. On June 14, 2017, WBKCs sale to Horizon Bancorp was announced.

First Federal of Northern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. (FFNM) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on March 10, 2016. We believed FFNM was positioned to repurchase shares, and we urged management and the board to do so. On January 16, 2018, FFNMs sale to Mackinac Financial Corporation was announced. FFNM deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2016.

Jacksonville Bancorp, Inc. (JXSB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on July 5, 2011. We supported JXSBs consistent efforts to maximize shareholder value through share repurchases and payments of special dividends. On January 18, 2018, JXSBs sale to CNB Bank Shares, Inc. was announced.

Anchor Bancorp (ANCB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on May 7, 2012. We previously urged ANCB to maximize shareholder value by increasing share repurchases or selling the bank. We called for ANCBs sale to the highest bidder on July 7, 2016. On August 29, 2016, we agreed not to seek board representation at the 2016 annual meeting in consideration of ANCB appointing Gordon Stephenson as a director. We believe the board acted in good faith to maximize shareholder value through ANCBs announced sale to Washington Federal, Inc. on April 11, 2017. That acquisition was delayed due to regulatory issues at Washington Federal, Inc. On July 17, 2018, ANCBs sale to FS Bancorp, Inc. at a higher price was announced.

Hamilton Bancorp, Inc. (HBK) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on October 22, 2012. Having met with management over the years, we believe management and the board acted in good faith to maximize shareholder value through HBKs announced sale to Orrstown Financial Services, Inc. on October 23, 2018.

Ben Franklin Financial, Inc. (BFFI) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on February 9, 2015. We urged management and the board to repurchase shares as soon as BFFI was permitted. We subsequently believed BFFI should be sold, and on December 3, 2018, announced our intent to seek board representation at BFFIs 2019 annual meeting. On February 22, 2019, we served our notice of intent to nominate Ralph Sesso for election as a director on BFFIs board. On July 16, 2019, BFFIs sale to Corporate America Family Credit Union was announced. BFFI deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2018.

Alcentra Capital Corp (ABDC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on December 28, 2017. We informed management at a meeting on January 5, 2018, and reiterated several times throughout the year, that if ABDC did not repurchase 10% of its shares in 2018, we would aggressively seek board representation. They did not do so. On January 25, 2019, we announced our nominees and alternate nominee for ABDCs 2019 election of directors. On August 13, 2019, ABDCs sale to Crescent Capital BDC, Inc. was announced.

First Advantage Bancorp (FABK) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on March 20, 2017. We believe management and the board acted in good faith to maximize shareholder value over the long term. On October 23, 2019, FABKs sale to Reliant Bancorp, Inc. was announced. FABK deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2013.

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 11

Central Federal Bancshares, Inc. (CFDB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on January 25, 2016. We urged management and the board of CFDB to repurchase shares as soon as CFDB was permitted. On May 21, 2019, we met with management, the board and its attorney at CFDBs annual meeting, and followed up with a letter to the board calling for CFDBs sale if it did not repurchase a meaningful number of shares. On January 17, 2020, CFDBs sale to Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. was announced. CFDB deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2019.

Carroll Bancorp, Inc. (CROL) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on March 17, 2014. On March 6, 2020, CROLs sale to Farmers and Merchants Bancshares, Inc. was announced. CROL deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2017.

II. After we seated directors on the boards of the following issuers, the issuers were sold or merged:

Oregon Trail Financial Corp. (OTFC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on December 15, 2000. In January 2001, we met with the management of OTFC to discuss our concerns that management was not maximizing shareholder value, and we proposed that OTFC voluntarily place our representative on the board. OTFC rejected our proposal, and we announced our intention to solicit proxies to elect a board nominee. We demanded OTFCs shareholder list, but OTFC refused to give it to us. We sued OTFC in Baker County, Oregon, and the court ruled in our favor and sanctioned OTFC. We also sued two OTFC directors alleging that one had violated OTFCs residency requirement and that the other had committed perjury. Both suits were dismissed pre-trial but we filed an appeal in one suit and were permitted to re-file the other suit in state court. On August 16, 2001, we started soliciting proxies to elect Kevin D. Padrick, Esq. to the board. We argued in our proxy materials that OTFC should have repurchased its shares at prices below book value. OTFC announced the hiring of an investment banker. Then, the day after the 9/11 attacks, OTFC sued us in Portland, Oregon and moved to invalidate our proxies; the court denied the motion and the election proceeded.

On October 12, 2001, OTFCs shareholders elected our candidate by a two-to-one margin. In the five months after the filing of our first proxy statement (i.e., from August 1 through December 31, 2001), OTFC repurchased approximately 15% of its shares. On March 12, 2002, we entered into a standstill agreement with OTFC. OTFC agreed to: (a) achieve annual targets for return on equity, (b) reduce its current capital ratio, (c) obtain advice from an investment banker regarding annual 10% stock repurchases, (d) re-elect our director to the board, (e) reimburse a portion of our expenses, and (f) withdraw its lawsuit. On February 26, 2003, OTFC and FirstBank NW Corp. announced their merger, and the merger was completed on October 31, 2003.

HCB Bancshares, Inc. (HCBB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on June 14, 2001. On September 4, 2001, we reported that we had entered into a standstill agreement with HCBB, under which HCBB agreed to: (a) add a director selected by us, (b) consider conducting a Dutch tender auction, (c) institute annual financial targets, and (d) retain an investment banker to explore alternatives if it did not achieve its financial targets. On October 22, 2001, our nominee, John G. Rich, Esq., was named to the board. On January 31, 2002, HCBB announced a modified Dutch tender auction to repurchase 20% of its shares. Although HCBBs outstanding share count decreased by 33% between the filing of our original Schedule 13D and August 2003, HCBB did not achieve the financial target. On August 12, 2003, HCBB announced it had hired an investment banker to assist in exploring alternatives for maximizing shareholder value, including a sale. On January 14, 2004, HCBB announced its sale to Rock Bancshares, Inc.

SCPIE Holdings Inc. (SKP) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on January 19, 2006. We announced we would run our slate of directors at the 2006 annual meeting and demanded SKPs shareholder list. SKP initially refused to timely produce the list, but did so after we sued it in Delaware Chancery Court. We engaged in a proxy contest at the 2006 annual meeting, but SKPs directors were elected. Subsequently on December 14, 2006, SKP agreed to place Joseph Stilwell on its board. On October 16, 2007, Mr. Stilwell resigned from SKPs board after it approved a sale of SKP that Mr. Stilwell believed was an inferior offer. We solicited shareholder proxies in opposition to the proposed sale; however, the sale was approved, and our shares were converted in a cash deal.

American Physicians Capital, Inc. (ACAP) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on November 25, 2002. The Schedule 13D disclosed that on January 18, 2002, Michigans Insurance Department had approved our request to solicit proxies to elect two directors to ACAPs board. On January 29, 2002, we noticed our intention to nominate two directors at the 2002 annual meeting. On February 20, 2002, we entered into a three-year standstill agreement with ACAP, providing for ACAP to add our nominee to its board. ACAP also agreed to consider using a portion of its excess capital to repurchase ACAPs shares in each of the fiscal years 2002 and 2003 so that its outstanding share count would decrease by 15% for each of those years. In its 2002 fiscal year, ACAP repurchased 15% of its outstanding shares; these repurchases were highly accretive to per share book value. On November 6, 2003, ACAP announced a reserve charge and that it would explore options to maximize shareholder value. It also announced that it would exit the healthcare and workers compensation insurance businesses. ACAP then announced that it had retained Sandler ONeill & Partners, L.P., to assist the board. On December 2, 2003, ACAP announced the early retirement of its president and CEO. On December 23, 2003, ACAP named R. Kevin Clinton its new president and CEO.

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On June 24, 2004, ACAP announced that it had decided that the best means to maximize shareholder value would be to shed non-core businesses and focus on its core business line in its core markets. We increased our holdings in ACAP, and we announced that we intended to seek additional board representation. On November 10, 2004, ACAP invited Joseph Stilwell to sit on the board, and we entered into a new standstill agreement. This agreement was terminated in November 2007, with our representatives remaining on ACAPs board. On May 8, 2008, our representatives were re-elected to three-year terms expiring in 2011. Upon the passage of federal healthcare legislation in 2010, ACAP became concerned about the fundamentals of its business and promptly acted to assess its strategic alternatives. On October 22, 2010, ACAP was acquired by The Doctors Company, and our shares were converted in a cash deal.

Colonial Financial Services, Inc. (COBK) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on August 24, 2011. On December 18, 2013, we reached an agreement with COBK to have a director of our choice appointed to its board of directors. Our representative, Corissa B. Porcelli (formerly Corissa J. Briglia), joined COBKs board of directors on March 25, 2014. On September 10, 2014, COBK announced its sale to Cape Bancorp, Inc., and the cash/stock deal was completed on April 1, 2015.

Naugatuck Valley Financial Corporation (NVSL) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on July 11, 2011. On February 13, 2014, we reported our intention to seek board representation. On March 12, 2014, we reached an agreement with NVSL for our representative to join NVSLs board of directors and for NVSL not to seek approval for stock benefit plans. On June 4, 2015, NVSL announced its sale to Liberty Bank in Middletown, CT, and the cash deal was completed on January 15, 2016.

Fraternity Community Bancorp, Inc. (FRTR) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on April 11, 2011. We reached an agreement with FRTR, and on November 18, 2014, our representative, Corissa B. Porcelli (formerly Corissa J. Briglia), was appointed to the board of directors. On October 13, 2015, FRTRs sale was announced, and the cash deal was completed on May 13, 2016.

Sunshine Financial, Inc. (SSNF) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on April 18, 2011. We reached an agreement with SSNF, and on February 5, 2016, our representative, Corissa B. Porcelli (formerly Corissa J. Briglia), was appointed to the board of directors. On December 6, 2017, SSNFs sale to The First Bancshares, Inc. was announced, and the cash/stock deal was completed on April 2, 2018.

Delanco Bancorp, Inc. (DLNO) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on October 28, 2013. We reached an agreement with DLNO, and in May 2017, our representative, Corissa B. Porcelli (formerly Corissa J. Briglia), was appointed to the board of directors. On October 18, 2017, DLNOs sale to First Bank was announced, and the stock deal was completed on April 30, 2018.

Poage Bankshares, Inc. (PBSK) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on September 23, 2011. We believed PBSKs board was not focused on maximizing shareholder value and nominated a director for election at PBSKs 2014 annual meeting. Our nominee was not elected, so we nominated a director at PBSKs 2015 annual meeting. On July 21, 2015, our nominee, Stephen S. Burchett, was elected as a director with a mandate to maximize shareholder value. Subsequently, the CEO left the company. We publicly called for PBSKs sale, and on July 11, 2018, PBSKs sale to City Holding Company was announced. The stock deal was completed on December 7, 2018.

HopFed Bancorp, Inc. (HFBC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on February 25, 2013. At HFBCs May 2013 annual meeting, we nominated a director for the board of directors and strongly opposed HFBCs agreement to purchase Sumner Bank & Trust. Our nominee won by a two to one margin, and the proposed Sumner deal was subsequently terminated in August 2013.

On May 1, 2017, we sent a letter to stockholders (filed as Exhibit 13 to the Twelfth Amendment to our Schedule 13D) detailing the extensive real estate holdings of HFBCs CEO, John Peck, as well as numerous other conflicts of interest of both Mr. Peck and HFBCs counsel, George M. (Greg) Carter, of which HFBC board members were apparently unaware. Subsequently, HFBC formed a Special Litigation Committee to investigate. On February 23, 2018, HFBC filed a Form 8-K reporting that although the Special Litigation Committee did not dispute the facts in the May 1 letter, it declined to recommend HFBC bring a lawsuit or remedial action against John Peck.

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On May 4, 2017, we filed a complaint in the Delaware Court of Chancery against HFBC, the then current members of the board of directors and one former board member, asking the Court to declare that HFBCs prejudicial bylaw was invalid and that the directors breached their fiduciary duties. On October 4, 2017, HFBC announced it had amended the bylaw thus mooting that case. Subsequently, we filed a motion to recover our attorneys fees and expenses, which Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster granted in its entirety on February 7, 2018, awarding us $610,312. In his ruling on the motion, the Judge excoriated the conduct of HFBCs board; the full court transcript is filed as Exhibit 14 to the Fourteenth Amendment to our Schedule 13D.

On February 23, 2018, we formally demanded that HFBCs board of directors take action against the Issuers attorneys, Edward B. Crosland, Jr., of Jones Walker LLP and Greg Carter of Carter & Carter Law Firm, for legal malpractice and seek damages in excess of $1 million to HFBC; our demand letter is attached as Exhibit 15 to the Fifteenth Amendment to our Schedule 13D.

Following our nomination of Mark D. Alcott in March of 2018 for election to HFBCs board of directors to replace John Peck, we entered into a Standstill Agreement with HFBC dated April 10, 2018, whereby Mr. Alcott would be appointed to the HFBC board. The board also adopted revised compensation policies requiring HFBC to reach at least average annual performance relative to that of its peer group, or its executive officers would not receive salary raises, bonuses or perquisites.

Mr. Alcotts appointment to the HFBC board became effective on April 18, 2018. On January 7, 2019, HFBCs sale to First Financial Corporation was announced, and the cash/stock deal was completed on July 27, 2019.

MB Bancorp, Inc. (MBCQ) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on January 9, 2015. We urged management and the board to repurchase shares, and on March 30, 2016, MBCQ announced and subsequently completed its plan to repurchase an initial 10% of its shares outstanding. We urged management and the board to complete the existing 5% share repurchase plan and put MBCQ up for sale when permitted in January 2018. On February 20, 2018, we reached an agreement with MBCQ, and our representative, Corissa B. Porcelli (formerly Corissa J. Briglia), was appointed to the board of directors. On September 5, 2019, MBCQs sale to BV Financial, Inc. was announced, and the all-cash deal was completed on February 29, 2020. MBCQ deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2019.

III. After we asserted shareholder rights, we believe the following issuers took steps to maximize shareholder value, and we subsequently exited our activist positions:

FPIC Insurance Group, Inc. (FPIC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on June 30, 2003. On August 12, 2003, Floridas Insurance Department approved our request to hold more than 5% of FPICs shares, to solicit proxies to hold board seats, and to exercise shareholder rights. On November 10, 2003, FPIC invited our nominee, John G. Rich, Esq., to join the board, and we signed a confidentiality agreement. On June 7, 2004, we disclosed that because FPIC had taken steps to increase shareholder value, such as multiple share repurchases, and because its market price increased to reflect fair value in our estimation, we sold our shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%. Our nominee was invited to remain on the board.

Roma Financial Corp. (ROMA) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on July 27, 2006. Prior to its acquisition by Investors Bancorp, Inc., in December 2013, nearly 70% of ROMAs shares were held by a mutual holding company controlled by ROMAs board. In April 2007, we engaged in a proxy solicitation at ROMAs first annual meeting, urging shareholders to withhold their vote from managements slate. ROMA did not put their stock benefit plans up for a vote at that meeting. We then met with ROMA management. In the four months after ROMA became eligible to repurchase its shares, it announced and substantially completed repurchases of 15% of its publicly held shares, which were accretive to shareholder value. In our judgment, management came to understand the importance of proper capital allocation. Based on ROMA managements prompt implementation of shareholder-friendly capital allocation plans, we supported managements adoption of stock benefit plans at the 2008 shareholder meeting. In our estimation, ROMAs market price increased to reflect fair value, and we sold our shares in the open market.

First Savings Financial Group, Inc. (FSFG) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on December 29, 2008. We met with management, after which FSFG announced a stock repurchase plan and began repurchasing its shares. In December 2009, we reported that our beneficial ownership in the outstanding FSFG common stock had fallen below 5%.

Prudential Bancorp, Inc. of Pennsylvania (PBIP) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on June 20, 2005. Most of PBIPs shares were held by the Prudential Mutual Holding Company (the MHC), which was controlled by PBIPs board. The MHC controlled most corporate decisions requiring a shareholder vote, such as the election of directors. However, regulations promulgated by the FDIC previously barred the MHC from voting on PBIPs management stock benefit plans, and PBIPs IPO prospectus indicated that the MHC would not vote on the plans. We announced in August 2005 that we would solicit proxies to oppose adoption of the plans as a referendum to place Joseph Stilwell on PBIPs board. PBIP decided not to put the plans up for a vote at the 2006 annual meeting.

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In December 2005, we solicited proxies to withhold votes on the election of directors as a referendum to place Mr. Stilwell on the board. At the 2006 annual meeting, 71% of PBIPs voting public shares were withheld from voting on managements nominees.

On April 6, 2006, PBIP announced that just after we had filed our Schedule 13D, it had secretly solicited a letter from an FDIC staffer (which it concealed from the public) that the MHC would be allowed to vote in favor of the management stock benefit plans. PBIP also announced a special meeting to vote on the plans. We alerted the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) about this announcement, and PBIP was directed to seek Fed approval before adopting the plans. On April 19, 2006, PBIP postponed the special meeting. The Fed subsequently followed the FDICs position in September 2006. In December 2006, we solicited proxies to withhold votes on the election of PBIPs directors at the 2007 annual meeting. At the meeting, 75% of PBIPs voting public shares were withheld. Also during the annual meeting, PBIPs President and Chief Executive Officer was unable to state the meaning of per share return on equity despite Mr. Stilwells holding up a $10,000 check for the charity of the CEOs choice if he could promptly answer the question. On March 7, 2007, we disclosed that we were publicizing the results of PBIPs elections and its directors unwillingness to hold a democratic vote on the stock plans by placing billboard advertisements throughout Philadelphia.

In December 2007, we filed proxy materials for the solicitation of proxies to withhold votes on the election of PBIPs directors at the 2008 annual meeting. At the 2008 annual meeting, an average of 77% of PBIPs voting public shares withheld their votes. Excluding shares held in PBIPs ESOP, an average of 88% of the voting public shares withheld their votes in this election.

On October 4, 2006, we sued PBIP, the MHC, and the directors of PBIP and the MHC in federal court in Philadelphia seeking an order to prevent the MHC from voting in favor of the management stock benefit plans. On August 15, 2007, the court dismissed some claims, but sustained our cause of action against the MHC as majority shareholder of PBIP for breach of fiduciary duties. Discovery proceeded and all the directors were deposed. Both sides moved for summary judgment, but the court ordered the case to trial, which was scheduled for June 2008. On May 22, 2008, we voluntarily discontinued the lawsuit after determining that it would be more effective and appropriate to pursue the directors on a personal basis in a derivative action. On June 11, 2008, we filed a notice to appeal certain portions of the lower courts August 15, 2007, order dismissing portions of the lawsuit.

We entered into a settlement agreement and an expense agreement with PBIP in November 2008 under which we agreed to support PBIPs management stock benefit plans, drop our litigation and withdraw our shareholder demand, and generally support management; and in exchange, PBIP agreed, subject to certain conditions, to repurchase up to three million of its shares (including shares previously purchased), reimburse a portion of our expenses, and either adopt a second step conversion or add our nominee who meets certain qualification requirements to its board if the repurchases were not completed by a specified time. On March 5, 2010, we reported that our ownership in PBIP had dropped below 5% as a result of open market sales and sales of common stock to PBIP.

United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UIHC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on September 29, 2011. On December 17, 2012, we disclosed that we sold shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

Home Federal Bancorp, Inc. of Louisiana (HFBL) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on January 3, 2011. We believe management and the board acted in good faith and took steps to increase shareholder value, such as multiple share repurchases. In our estimation, HFBLs market price increased to reflect fair value; on February 7, 2013, we disclosed that we sold shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

Standard Financial Corp. (STND) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on October 18, 2010. We believe management and the board acted in good faith and took steps to increase shareholder value, such as multiple share repurchases. In our estimation, STNDs market price increased to reflect fair value; on March 19, 2013, we disclosed that we sold our shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

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Alliance Bancorp, Inc. of Pennsylvania (ALLB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on March 12, 2009. When we announced our reporting position, a majority of ALLBs shares were held by a mutual holding company controlled by ALLBs board. However, on August 11, 2010, ALLB announced its intention to undertake a second step offering, selling all shares to the public. The plan of conversion and reorganization was approved by depositors at a special meeting held December 29, 2010. We strongly supported ALLBs action. Following completion of the conversion of Alliance Bank from the mutual holding company structure to the stock holding company structure, we increased our stake with the belief that shareholders and ALLB would do well if management focused on profitability. We believe management and the board acted in good faith and took steps to increase shareholder value, such as multiple share repurchases. In our estimation, ALLBs market price increased to reflect fair value; on November 21, 2013, we disclosed that we sold shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

ASB Bancorp, Inc. (ASBB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on October 24, 2011. On August 23, 2013, we met with management to assess the best way to maximize shareholder value. We believe management and the board acted in good faith by cleaning up non-performing assets and repurchasing shares, and ASBBs market price increased to reflect fair value. On July 18, 2014, we disclosed that we sold our shares to ASBB.

United Community Bancorp (UCBA) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on January 22, 2013. We believe management and the board acted in good faith and took steps to increase shareholder value, such as multiple share repurchases. In our estimation, UCBAs market price increased to reflect fair value; on November 9, 2015, we disclosed that we sold shares to UCBA, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

West End Indiana Bancshares, Inc. (WEIN) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on January 19, 2012. We believe management and the board acted in good faith and took steps to increase shareholder value, such as multiple share repurchases. In our estimation, WEINs market price increased to reflect fair value; on November 12, 2015, we disclosed that we sold our shares in the open market.

William Penn Bancorp, Inc. (WMPN) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on May 23, 2008. A majority of WMPNs shares are held by a mutual holding company controlled by WMPNs board. We met with management and the board to explain our views on proper capital allocation and following the financial crisis, we continued to urge WMPN to take the steps necessary to maximize shareholder value. On December 3, 2014, WMPN announced and subsequently completed its plan to repurchase 10% of its shares outstanding and further completed several additional share repurchases. We believe management and the board acted in good faith to maximize shareholder value through shareholder-friendly capital allocation; on April 11, 2016, we disclosed that we sold shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

First Financial Northwest, Inc. (FFNW) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on September 12, 2011. At the Companys 2012 annual meeting, we solicited an overwhelming majority of shareholder votes for our nominee based on our position that Victor Karpiak (then Chairman and CEO) should be removed from the Company and board. After the Company pushed to have our votes invalidated, we sued to enforce our rights. In 2013, we settled with the Company. Our nominee, Kevin Padrick, was seated on the board, and Mr. Karpiak resigned as Chairman. The board later replaced Mr. Karpiak as CEO. We filed two additional lawsuits arising from the invalidation of our votes at the 2012 election, both of which we settled.

Since 2013, we believed management and the board acted in good faith by cleaning up non-performing assets and reaching a moderate level of profitability, and they maximized shareholder value by repurchasing in excess of 40% of FFNWs shares. In our estimation, FFNWs market price increased to reflect fair value; on October 11, 2016, we disclosed that we sold our shares in the open market. Kevin Padrick continued to serve on the board.

Alamogordo Financial Corp. (ALMG) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on May 11, 2015. We urged management and the board to provide meaningful returns to shareholders either through a second-step conversion or by effectuating a shareholder-friendly capital allocation program. On March 7, 2016, ALMG announced and later completed a second-step conversion which we believe maximized shareholder value. On October 14, 2016, we disclosed that we sold shares of the converted Company, Bancorp 34, Inc., in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

Malvern Bancorp, Inc. (MLVF) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on May 30, 2008. When we announced our reporting position, a majority of MLVFs shares were held by a mutual holding company controlled by MLVFs board. On October 26, 2010, we demanded that MLVF pursue a derivative action against its directors for breach of their fiduciary duties. MLVF failed to pursue the action and, on June 3, 2011, we sued MLVFs directors in Chester County, Pennsylvania, demanding that the court, among other things, order the directors to properly consider pursuing a second step conversion. On November 9, 2011, Judge Howard F. Riley Jr. overruled the director defendants preliminary objections to the derivative lawsuit.

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On January 17, 2012, MLVF announced its intention to undertake a second step conversion and we withdrew the lawsuit. The conversion and stock offering were completed on October 11, 2012, and our shares were converted into shares of Malvern Bancorp, Inc. On September 5, 2013, we notified MLVF of our intention to nominate John P. OGrady for election as a director at its 2014 annual meeting, but we later reached an agreement with MLVF for Mr. OGrady to join its board of directors and executed a standstill agreement. Subsequently, MLVFs long-standing CEO resigned, its chairman of the board stepped down and several directors resigned from the board of directors. On November 25, 2014, we terminated our standstill agreement with MLVF, including the agreements performance targets. John P. OGrady continued to serve as an independent director on the board but no longer as our nominee.

After meeting with the new CEO and the new chairman of the board, we believed that management and the board of directors were focused on maximizing shareholder value and were successful in doing so. On December 7, 2016, we disclosed that we sold shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

FSB Community Bankshares, Inc. (FSBC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on October 26, 2015. We urged management and the board to provide meaningful returns to shareholders either through a second-step conversion or by effectuating a shareholder-friendly capital allocation program. On March 3, 2016, FSBC announced and later completed a second-step conversion which we believe maximized shareholder value. On December 9, 2016, we disclosed that we sold shares of the converted Company, FSB Bancorp, Inc., in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

Pinnacle Bancshares, Inc. (PCLB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on September 23, 2014. On November 14, 2014, PCLB announced the continuation of its share repurchase plan and announced a new repurchase plan on May 25, 2016. We believe management and the board acted in good faith to maximize shareholder value through multiple share repurchases. On December 13, 2016, we disclosed that we sold our shares in the open market.

Sugar Creek Financial Corp. (SUGR) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on April 21, 2014. We believe management and the board acted in good faith to maximize shareholder value through share repurchases. In our estimation, SUGRs market price increased to reflect fair value; on July 28, 2017, we disclosed that we sold our shares in the open market.

Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (PROV) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on October 7, 2011. We supported PROVs consistent efforts to maximize shareholder value through a meaningful number of share repurchases. In our estimation, PROVs market price increased to reflect fair value; on September 25, 2017, we disclosed that we sold shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

West Town Bancorp, Inc. (WTWB) - We believe management and the board acted in good faith to maximize shareholder value, and on July 18, 2019, we sold our shares to WTWB. WTWB deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2003.

IF Bancorp, Inc. (IROQ) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on March 5, 2012. We urged management and the board to maximize shareholder value through share repurchases. We believe IROQ acted in good faith to do so and, in our estimation, IROQs market price increased to reflect fair value. On September 24, 2019, we disclosed that we sold shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

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NorthEast Community Bancorp, Inc. (NECB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on November 5, 2007. A majority of NECBs shares were held by a mutual holding company controlled by NECBs board. We opposed the grant of an equity incentive plan for the NECB board, and the board and management never received such a plan while they remained an MHC.

In July of 2010, we delivered a written demand to NECB demanding to inspect its shareholder list, but NECB refused to supply us with the list. We sued NECB in federal court in New York seeking an order compelling compliance. In August of 2010, NECB produced the list of shareholders to us. In the fall of 2011, we sent a letter to NECBs board of directors demanding that NECB expand the board with disinterested directors to consider a second step conversion. In October of 2011, we filed a lawsuit in New York state court against NECB, the mutual holding company, and their boards of directors, personally and derivatively, for breach of fiduciary duty arising out of failure to fairly consider a second step conversion and alleging conflict of interest. During the course of a protracted litigation, we deposed every named director including a former director. Although the New York trial court judge agreed with us in partially granting our motion for summary judgment and finding that upon trial the defendants would bear the burden of the entire fairness standard, the First Department reversed on other grounds; the New York Court of Appeals declined to hear our appeal.

After years of urging NECB to become fully public, the company announced on November 4, 2020 that it would undertake a second-step conversion. We supported NECBs decision to do so, and on July 12, 2021, the company completed its second-step conversion. We sold shares in the open market, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

NECB shares of common stock were deregistered from 2016 to 2021.

Parkway Acquisition Corp. (PKKW) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on May 27, 2020. On November 24, 2021, we disclosed that we sold our shares in the open market.

Wayne Savings Bancshares, Inc. (WAYN) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on October 8, 2010. In 2014, we supported H. Stewart Fitz Gibbon IIIs appointment as CEO and as a director on the board. We believed management and the board were acting in good faith to position WAYN to maximize shareholder value. When the board announced Mr. Fitz Gibbons unexplained resignation on December 20, 2016, we nominated a director for election at WAYNs 2017 annual meeting. We lost by a narrow margin.

We nominated a director for election at WAYNs 2018 annual meeting with the belief that there have been multiple suitors interested in acquiring WAYN, and that the board has a duty to evaluate strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value. Our nominee was not elected.

Due to projected and achieved Return on Equity (ROE) targets since WAYNs 2018 annual meeting, we did not seek board representation in 2019.

In our estimation, WAYNs market price increased to reflect fair value; on May 23, 2022, we sold shares to WAYN, decreasing our holdings below 5%.

WAYN deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2018.

IV. We exited the following activist position without maximizing shareholder value:

Garrison Capital, Inc. (GARS) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on January 21, 2020. In April 2020, we sold our stake with the belief that the global pandemic made activism in a business development company problematic for the next couple of years.

V. After successfully seeking board representation, we seated directors who currently serve on the board of the following issuers:

Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (KFS) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on November 7, 2008. We requested a meeting with KFSs CEO and chairman to discuss ways to maximize shareholder value and minimize both operational and balance sheet risks, but the CEO was unresponsive. We then requisitioned a special shareholder meeting to remove the CEO and chairman from the KFS board and replace them with our two nominees. On January 7, 2009, we entered into a settlement agreement with KFS whereby, among other things, the CEO resigned from the KFS board and KFS expanded its board from nine to ten seats and appointed our nominees to fill the two vacant seats. By April 23, 2009, the board was reconstituted with just three of the original ten legacy directors remaining. Also, Joseph Stilwell was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of one of our nominees, and our other nominee was elected chairman of the board. In addition, the board fired the CEO and CFO for incompetence and insubordination. By November 3, 2009, all of the legacy directors had resigned from the board.

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Since then, Joseph Stilwell has remained on the board, and KFS has sold non-core assets, repurchased public debt at a discount to face value, sold a credit-sensitive asset, disposed of its subsidiary Lincoln General, substantially reduced its expenses, and reduced other balance sheet and operations risks. On May 24, 2018, we announced that we would withhold our proxy votes on the re-election of the then current CEO at the KFS annual meeting. Although the CEO was re-elected to the board, the board announced on September 5, 2018, a CEO transition in which he would no longer serve as CEO. The KFS board appointed John T. Fitzgerald as the new CEO to execute its warranty segment strategy.

On September 21, 2020, our representative, Corissa B. Porcelli, was elected to the board of directors.

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. (WHLR) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on July 3, 2017. On December 4, 2017, we announced our nominees and alternate nominee for WHLRs 2018 election of directors. On January 17, 2018, we called for Jon Wheelers removal from WHLR, and he was fired by the board on January 29, 2018.

We ran three nominees for election as directors at WHLR's 2018 annual meeting. They lost. On October 24, 2019, we announced our nominees, Joseph D. Stilwell, Paula J. Poskon and Kerry G. Campbell, for election as directors at WHLRs annual meeting. Several of WHLRs legacy directors did not stand for reelection. On December 19, 2019, we defeated the three legacy directors that stood for reelection by more than a 7 to 1 margin and our three nominees were elected to WHLRs board. Later that day, WHLR announced that its CFO had resigned, and twelve days later, the only remaining legacy director resigned. The CEO was fired on April 13, 2020. On July 15, 2021, our representative, E. J. Borrack, was elected to the board of directors.

VI. We hope to work with management and the boards of the following issuers:

Sound Financial, Inc. (SFBC) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on November 21, 2011. We urged management and the board to pursue a second step conversion. On August 22, 2012, Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (SFBC) announced completion of its second step conversion and our shares of SNFL were converted into shares of SFBC. We support maximizing shareholder value at SFBC.

Seneca-Cayuga Bancorp, Inc. (SCAY) / Generations Bancorp NY, Inc. (GBNY) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position in SCAY on September 15, 2014. We believed SCAY was positioned to provide meaningful returns to its shareholders either through a second-step conversion or a shareholder-friendly capital allocation program. We encouraged management and the board to choose the path that would maximize shareholder value, but they refused. On January 29, 2018, we served a letter to the board demanding that SCAY undertake a second-step conversion. Instead, SCAY announced its merger with a smaller mutual. We re-served a demand for a second-step conversion on June 12, 2019, and in furtherance to that, we served a demand for inspection of SCAYs books and records on September 4, 2019. When SCAY refused to permit the inspection of its books and records, we filed, on November 11, 2019, a motion to compel the production of those books and records in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. SCAY filed a motion to dismiss, which the Judge denied on April 7, 2020. The Judge ordered SCAY to begin the production of board materials for our inspection by June 1. SCAY announced its intention to second-step on May 6, 2020, and we discontinued our lawsuit. On January 12, 2021, SCAY completed its second-step conversion and ceased to exist. The new stock holding company, Generations Bancorp NY, Inc. (GBNY), began trading on January 13, 2021. We believe GBNY should begin repurchasing shares as soon as regulations permit it to do so.

CIB Marine Bancshares, Inc. (CIBH) - We believe management and the board are acting in good faith to maximize shareholder value. CIBH deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2012.

U & I Financial Corp. (UNIF) - We have met with management and believe we can work with management and the board to maximize shareholder value. Although UNIFs common stock trades publicly on the OTCQX U.S., UNIF does not file reports with the SEC.

Cincinnati Bancorp, Inc. (CNNB) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on May 7, 2020.

ICC Holdings, Inc. (ICCH) - We filed our original Schedule 13D reporting our position on December 28, 2020. We believe management has done an ineffective job at maximizing shareholder value to date.

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 19

VII. We intend to gain board representation and work to maximize shareholder value at the following issuer:

Brunswick Bancorp (BRBW ) - We met with the President, CFO and Chairman of the Board to express our views on BRBWs capital allocation, and they have indicated that they would rather grow than repurchase shares below book value. Therefore, in the absence of material share repurchases, we nominated Corissa B. Porcelli (and Kerry G. Campbell as the alternate nominee) for election as a director at BRBWs 2021 annual meeting. She was not elected. BRBW deregistered its shares of common stock effective in 2007.

Item 5. Interest in Securities of the Issuer

The members of the Group beneficially own an aggregate of 524,545 shares of Common Stock. The percentages reported herein for the Group are calculated based on the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock, 4,678,186, reported as the number of outstanding shares as of as of April 29, 2022, in the Issuers Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 13, 2022. The purchases and sales of Common Stock reported in this item, if any, were made in open-market transactions.

(A) Stilwell Value Partners VII (a) Aggregate number of shares beneficially owned: 524,545

Percentage: 11.2%

(b) 1. Sole power to vote or to direct vote: 0 2. Shared power to vote or to direct vote: 524,545 3. Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition: 0 4. Shared power to dispose or to direct disposition: 524,545

(c) Within the past 60 days, Stilwell Value Partners VII purchased shares of Common Stock as set forth in Schedule A attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

(d) Because he is the managing member and owner of Stilwell Value LLC, which is the general partner of Stilwell Value Partners VII, Joseph Stilwell has the power to direct the affairs of Stilwell Value Partners VII, including the voting and disposition of shares of Common Stock held in the name of Stilwell Value Partners VII. Therefore, Joseph Stilwell is deemed to share voting and disposition power with Stilwell Value Partners VII with regard to those shares of Common Stock. (B) Stilwell Activist Fund

(a) Aggregate number of shares beneficially owned: 524,545

Percentage: 11.2%

(b) 1. Sole power to vote or to direct vote: 0 2. Shared power to vote or to direct vote: 524,545 3. Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition: 0 4. Shared power to dispose or to direct disposition: 524,545

(c) Within the past 60 days, Stilwell Activist Fund purchased shares of Common Stock as set forth in Schedule A attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

(d) Because he is the managing member and owner of Stilwell Value LLC, which is the general partner of Stilwell Activist Fund, Joseph Stilwell has the power to direct the affairs of Stilwell Activist Fund, including the voting and disposition of shares of Common Stock held in the name of Stilwell Activist Fund. Therefore, Joseph Stilwell is deemed to share voting and disposition power with Stilwell Activist Fund with regard to those shares of Common Stock.

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 20

(C) Stilwell Activist Investments (a) Aggregate number of shares beneficially owned: 524,545

Percentage: 11.2%

(b) 1. Sole power to vote or to direct vote: 0 2. Shared power to vote or to direct vote: 524,545 3. Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition: 0 4. Shared power to dispose or to direct disposition: 524,545

(c) Within the past 60 days, Stilwell Activist Investments purchased shares of Common Stock as set forth in Schedule A attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. (d) Because he is the managing member and owner of Stilwell Value LLC, which is the general partner of Stilwell Activist Investments, Joseph Stilwell has the power to direct the affairs of Stilwell Activist Investments, including the voting and disposition of shares of Common Stock held in the name of Stilwell Activist Investments. Therefore, Joseph Stilwell is deemed to share voting and disposition power with Stilwell Activist Investments with regard to those shares of Common Stock. (D) Stilwell Value LLC

(a) Aggregate number of shares beneficially owned: 524,545

Percentage: 11.2%

(b) 1. Sole power to vote or to direct vote: 0 2. Shared power to vote or to direct vote: 524,545 3. Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition: 0 4. Shared power to dispose or to direct disposition: 524,545

(c) Stilwell Value LLC has made no purchases, sales or transfers of shares of Common Stock.

(d) Because he is the managing member and owner of Stilwell Value LLC, Joseph Stilwell has the power to direct the affairs of Stilwell Value LLC. Stilwell Value LLC is the general partner of Stilwell Value Partners VII, Stilwell Activist Fund, and Stilwell Activist Investments. Therefore, Stilwell Value LLC may be deemed to share with Joseph Stilwell voting and disposition power with regard to the shares of Common Stock held by Stilwell Value Partners VII, Stilwell Activist Fund, and Stilwell Activist Investments.

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 21

(E) Joseph Stilwell (a) Aggregate number of shares beneficially owned: 524,545

Percentage: 11.2%

(b) 1. Sole power to vote or to direct vote: 0 2. Shared power to vote or to direct vote: 524,545 3. Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition: 0 4. Shared power to dispose or to direct disposition: 524,545

(c) Joseph Stilwell has made no purchases, sales or transfers of shares of Common Stock.

Item 6. Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships With Respect to Securities of the Issuer

There are no contracts, arrangements, understandings or relationships among the persons named in Item 2 hereof and between such persons and any person with respect to any securities of the Issuer, including but not limited to transfer or voting of any of the securities, finders fees, joint ventures, loan or option arrangements, puts or calls, guarantees of profits, divisions of profits or losses, or the giving or withholding of proxies, except for sharing of profits. Stilwell Value LLC, in its capacity as general partner of Stilwell Value Partners VII, Stilwell Activist Fund, and Stilwell Activist Investments, and Joseph Stilwell, in his capacities as the managing member and owner of Stilwell Value LLC, are entitled to an allocation of a portion of profits.

See Items 1 and 2 above regarding disclosure of the relationships between members of the Group, which disclosure is incorporated herein by reference.

CUSIP No. 71103B102 SCHEDULE 13D Page 22

Item 7. Material to be Filed as Exhibits

Exhibit No. Description 1 Joint Filing Agreement, dated November 23, 2020, filed with the Original Schedule 13D. 2 Letter to the Shareholders of the Issuer, dated February 9, 2021. 3 Nominee Agreement, dated February 16, 2021, with Nominee Peter Prickett, filed with the Fourth Amendment. 4 Letter to Shareholders of the Issuer, dated March 16, 2021, filed with the Fourth Amendment. 5 Letter to Shareholders of the Issuer, dated March 29, 2021, filed with the Fifth Amendment. 6 Letter to Shareholders of the Issuer, dated April 8, 2021, filed with the Seventh Amendment. 7 Letter to Shareholders of the Issuer, dated April 19, 2021, filed with the Eighth Amendment. 8 Letter to Shareholders of the Issuer, dated May 5, 2021, filed with the Ninth Amendment. 9 Nominee Agreement, dated February 1, 2022, with Nominee Rodney H. Blackwell, filed with the Tenth Amendment. 10 Nominee Agreement, dated February 2, 2022, with Jonathan W. Briggs, filed with the Tenth Amendment. 11 Nominee Agreement, dated February 2, 2022, with Ronald Wade Robertson, Jr, filed with the Tenth Amendment. 12 Nominee Agreement, dated February 3, 2022, with Gregory H. Browne., filed with the Tenth Amendment. 13 Letter to Shareholders of the Issuer, dated March 14, 2022, filed with the Eleventh Amendment. 14 Letter to Shareholders of the Issuer, dated April 4, 2022, filed with the Twelfth Amendment.

SIGNATURES

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of our knowledge and belief, we certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

Date: July 12, 2022

STILWELL VALUE PARTNERS VII, L.P. By: STILWELL VALUE LLC General Partner /s/ Megan Parisi By: Megan Parisi Member

STILWELL ACTIVIST FUND, L.P. By: STILWELL VALUE LLC General Partner /s/ Megan Parisi By: Megan Parisi Member STILWELL ACTIVIST INVESTMENTS, L.P. By: STILWELL VALUE LLC General Partner /s/ Megan Parisi By: Megan Parisi Member STILWELL VALUE LLC /s/ Megan Parisi By: Megan Parisi Member JOSEPH STILWELL /s/ Joseph Stilwell* Joseph Stilwell

*/s/ Megan Parisi Attorney-In-Fact





SCHEDULE A

Transactions by Stilwell Value Partners VII

Nature of Transaction Date Number of

Securities Price Per

Share Total

Purchase or Sale

Price Purchase of Shares of Common Stock 07/06/2022 9,000 $ 15.2000 $ 136,800.00 Purchase of Shares of Common Stock 07/07/2022 9,000 15.0500 135,450.00 Purchase of Shares of Common Stock 07/08/2022 20,900 $ 14.8753 310,893.77

Transactions by Stilwell Activist Fund

Nature of Transaction Date Number of

Securities Price Per

Share Total

Purchase or Sale

Price Purchase of Shares of Common Stock 07/06/2022 2,500 $ 15.2000 $ 38,000.00 Purchase of Shares of Common Stock 07/07/2022 1,500 15.0500 22,575.00 Purchase of Shares of Common Stock 07/08/2022 1,500 14.8753 22,312.95

Transactions by Stilwell Activist Investments
(Tribune News Service)  A rescue team called on the help of the Army National Guard to assist a hiker who had fallen ill with a life-threatening condition on Mount Madison in New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon.

A helicopter flight crew flew out of Concord to assist the hiker with an unknown medical condition on the Valley Way Trail.

Eva Mok, 36, of Bloomfield, Conn., and a hiking companion made it to the Madison Spring Hut where she rested and attempted to recover, according to a news release. Several hours later, the two attempted to hike down, but Mok only made it three-tenths of a mile before she could not continue.

Her condition worsened as rescuers hiked 3.5 miles to reach her, prompting the request for the helicopter, which was able to conduct a nighttime rescue operation. Mok was hoisted into the helicopter around 10:45 p.m.

Along with Fish and Game, volunteers from the Appalachian Mountain Club, Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue and Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue also assisted.

"Due to fuel limitations, the helicopter landed at Gorham Airport where Mok was transferred to the Gorham Ambulance and transported to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin with a life threatening condition," the release reads. "From there she was transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical center in Lebanon."

(c)2022 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.)

Visit at www.unionleader.com

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SALEM, Mass. (Tribune News Service)  Many veterans return home to a new battle, one that U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton personally experienced at the end of his military career. It's something Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, a fellow Marine killed in the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, would never get to know.

"On behalf of our entire community and the U.S. Congress, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Johanny's family and assure you, her legacy will live on," Moulton, D-Salem, said Monday morning at Salem State University, addressing Rosario Pichardo's mother Colasa Pichardo, seated in the audience.

"Veterans have been hardened by some of the toughest experiences on Earth, like what I just described, what Johanny went through.

"But the truth is, we all need help sometimes, especially when it comes to our mental health," Moulton said, looking to students of Salem State's Upward Bound program who gathered to honor Rosario Pichardo. "We all deserve that."

The event honored Rosario Pichardo's military service, including a presentation of colors and playing of taps to close the ceremony.

It was also an opportunity to discuss 988, a national mental health crisis hotline Moulton got through Congress that will launch this weekend. The hotline, which works similarly to 911 across all phone devices, serves as an opportunity for those lost in the dark to find a friend with a flashlight.

Organized by Salem State and held in an O'Keefe Center gymnasium, the service at times felt like a clash of separate priorities: Remembering a Marine from Lawrence killed violently by an act of terrorism, and advocating for mental health services. There was no indication from Moulton or others that the latter was part of Rosario Pichardo's story.

But the ceremony was an opportunity for Upward Bound to honor one of its own. The program offers tutoring and academic programs to Lawrence Public Schools students. Those in attendance, several hundred students of color wearing black T-shirts with a heart logo and #stopthestigma hashtag, are members of the SSU program.

Salem State also used the event to unveil an Alumni Plaza brick honoring Rosario Pichardo's status as a past Upward Bound student and six-year member of the Marine Corps. It carries the Marine Corps insignia above her name.

Rosario Pichardo, a Lawrence native, was among 13 American military and 169 Afghan civilians killed in a terrorist blast and ensuing gunfire at Kabul Airport's Abbey Gate on Aug. 26, 2021. She was also known in the Marine Corps as "Rosie."

Rosario Pichardo was working to screen women and children attempting to flee Afghanistan from the expanding control of the Taliban government when the deadly attack occurred. She was helping two women who were being trampled by a massing of people outside the gate at the time of the blast, according to the Foundation for Women Warriors.

Her commanding officer, Capt. Pascal DeMeo, recalled her final words before entering the crowd was "they need me sir," the Foundation reported in a blog post on Rosario Pichardo.

"I visited Afghanistan just a few days before the attack that took Johanny and 12 other service members' lives," Moulton said. "What those Marines were doing at Abbey Gate, the famous gate at Kabul Airport, where they were working to save the lives of allies who had served alongside us for over 20 years in Afghanistan  what they were doing at Abbey Gate was the most extraordinary thing I've seen in my life.

"They were given an impossible task, to literally sift through a sea of humanity  thousands and thousands of people struggling, crying for help," Moulton continued. "They had to sift through the sea, go out into this sea of Afghan people, and find the ones that had worked for us, literally pluck our allies and friends and their families out of that crowd. These brave Marines would take the Afghans by their hands, their husbands and wives, put their little boys and girls on their backs, and literally carry them to freedom."

Moulton then turned to Rosario Pichardo's mother.

"What an incredible, deep commitment to service," he said.

The event ended with a Q&A session between Upward Bound students and Moulton.

"Why am I so passionate about 988?" Moulton asked, then recalling his experience feeling lost after military service and the eventual diagnosis of experiencing post-traumatic stress. "It was younger brains, some of the guys I served with in my platoon, and young Marines like those here who started to deal with their mental health issues first.  They set an example for me, so my hope for 988 and other parts of my mental health program is it sets an example for other people, so other people feel like they can get help."

Since returning from Iraq, Moulton has lost two Marine friends to battles with mental health. That, he said, is what he seeks to change: "I want to make sure we don't lose more American lives to mental health."

DLuca@salemnews.com

(c)2022 the Gloucester Daily Times (Gloucester, Mass.)

Visit at www.gloucestertimes.com

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A three-week exercise in northern Australia is testing U.S. and Australian forces ability to move troops and equipment across hundreds of miles in the event of a regional crisis or humanitarian disaster.

Exercise Koolendong, which runs through Aug. 2, kicked off Monday in the Northern Territory. The U.S. Marine Rotational Force-Darwin, the Australian Armys 1st and 13th brigades and the Royal Australian Air Forces 36th, 37th and 75th Squadrons are simulating a crisis response, Australias Defense Department announced Monday.

The exercise allows Australian forces and the Marines to practice combined arms littoral combat, Australian Army Col. Marcus Constable, commander of Headquarters Northern Command, said in the statement. Littoral combat takes place close to or on shore.

We are deploying significant forces by land, air and sea to training areas in both [Western Australia] and the [Northern Territory] including Mount Bundey Training Area, RAAF Base Curtin and Yampi Sound Training Area, Col. Christopher Steele, who leads the Marines in Darwin, said in the statement.

The entire 2,200-strong Marine rotational force is taking part; it began a six-month rotation to the Northern Territory in March, according to Capt. Joseph DiPietro, a spokesman for the force.

The drills call for moving troops and vehicles 650 miles from Darwin to Broome, 1,000 miles north of Perth in Western Australia, he said in a telephone interview Tuesday

The distances that we are exercising in Koolendong replicate the long distances and austere environments we might operate in throughout the Indo-Pacific, he said.

Koolendong is likely a test of the logistics behind deploying units such as the newly formed Marine Corps littoral regiment to defend archipelagos in the Indo-Pacific region, Ross Babbage, a former Australian assistant defense secretary, said in an email Tuesday.

This would probably involve company-sized units (100-120 troops) inserted with real or simulated anti-shipping and shorter-range anti-aircraft missile systems together with all of the situational awareness systems  that would be required to make the concept work, he said.

The vast Australian exercise areas are particularly useful for this type of test, he said.

The exercise prepares troops to respond to a security crisis or major natural disaster in Southeast Asia, including the South China Sea, in which Australian and American forces deploy from Darwin, according to Carlyle Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales and lecturer at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

The most logical forward base for these forces would be in the Philippine archipelago, he said in an email Tuesday.

The U.S. Armys Logistics Support Vessel-3, the Gen. Brehon B. Somervell, will move vehicles and troops from Darwin to Broome, DiPietro said.

The rotational forces MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft are also moving personnel beyond the range of the Marines helicopters, he said.

This is important tasking and there is a lot to test and sort out to ensure that it can be made to work, Babbage said.
(Tribune News Service)  Move over, "Top Gun: Maverick." The real deal will be in Ypsilanti, Mich., this weekend.

Thunder Over Michigan returns Saturday and Sunday to Ypsilanti's Willow Run Airport for four shows, two featuring the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and two with the U.S. Air Force's F-16 Demo Team.

The F-16 Demo Team has participated in Thunder Over Michigan in the past, said Thunder Over Michigan Spokesman Scott Buie, but this year's show will be the first time the F-16 "Viper" Demo Team will perform with female pilot, Captain Aimee "Rebel" Fiedler in the cockpit. The same team just performed July 2-3 at the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City.

Thousands flock to see Thunder Over Michigan every year, an annual fundraiser for the Yankee Air Museum in Ypsilanti. Approximately 30,000 are expected to attend.

After being canceled in 2020 because of COVID, the air show returned last year but with a drive-up format where patrons purchased tickets per car rather than per person and can spread out on the grass around their car. That format will continue this year with $225 car passes, up from $185 last year.

And while capacity was capped at 1,800 cars last year, that won't be the case this weekend. Buie said they're expecting 7,000 vehicles this weekend.

And leading the F-16 Viper Demo Team will be Fiedler, who was installed as the team's commander and pilot in early March. The team, which will perform morning shows Saturday and Sunday, has been crisscrossing the country for its 2022 show schedule since March. After Ypsilanti, it'll do shows in Dayton and Cleveland.

The Blue Angels, meanwhile, which started in 1946, will perform Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Gates open at 1 p.m. each day for a 2:30 p.m. show. Separate tickets are required for each show.

Besides the high-flying acrobatics at Thunder Over Michigan, there will also be displays, a chance to meet Warbird pilots, Huey helicopter rides, and a special KidZone area. There will be food on site.

Detroit Navy Week

Also, Navy Week is taking place now through Sunday, July 17, bringing sailors to Detroit to share the significance of the Navy to the area.

Since 2005, the Navy Office of Community Outreach has hosted Navy Weeks across the country, giving American citizens the chance to learn about the importance of the Navy. This program has been the Navy's flagship outreach effort in parts of the country, similar to Detroit, that do not have a strong Navy presence.

This year, Detroit's Navy Week will be one of 13 Navy weeks across the country.

The organizations that will participate in the week-long program are USS Detroit (LCS 7), Navy Band Great Lakes, Naval Oceanography Operations Command, U.S. Navy Parachute Team, Navy Talent Acquisition Group Heartland, U.S. Fleet Forces, Unites States Naval Academy, Naval History and Heritage Command, Naval Reserve Center Detroit and University of Michigan NROTC.

Lt. Andrew Johns is the navigator aboard USS Detroit (LCS-7). In this role, he ensures safe navigation for the ship by creating all of the navigation plans. He explained the importance of Navy Week in educating cities without a strong Navy presence.

As a Detroit native participating in Navy Week for the first time, Johns shared that he is most looking forward to the tour of Little Caesars Arena and being back home.

"I am excited to see the new arena, because they broke ground after I had left," Johns said. "I'm really excited to see how that looks, and then also just being back home, seeing family, and seeing ow the city has changed in the last six years since I've been gone."

mfeighan@detroitnews.com, kluckoff@detroitnews.com

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PASCAGOULA, Miss. (Tribune News Service)  Amphibious transport dock ship USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) sailed away from its berth at Ingalls Shipbuilding Monday, headed for the Florida city for which it is named and commissioning into the U.S. Navy fleet.

Watching Fort Lauderdale sail away to join the Navys fleet is a very proud moment for our entire LPD shipbuilding team and our skilled workforce, said Ingalls LPD program manager Mike Pruitt. Our shipbuilders have done an outstanding job building a mission capable ship for these sailors and our country.

LPD 28 is named in honor of the Florida city and its long ties to the U.S. Navy, dating back to the mid 1800s and including its service as a naval training center during World War II.

It is scheduled to be commissioned in Fort Lauderdale on July 30. Christening ceremonies for LPD 28 were held last August.

Ingalls Shipbuilders take great pride in knowing that each and every amphibious ship that leaves this shipyard will support our Navy and Marine Corps team defending our nation, said Ingalls president Kari Wilkinson. We at Ingalls remain committed to this partnership and consider it a privilege to serve those who serve.

Fort Lauderdale is the 12th of the San Antonio class of warship built by Ingalls and was delivered to the U.S. Navy in March following successful completion of acceptance sea trials.

Two other LPDs are currently under construction at Ingalls  Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) and the first Flight II amphibious ship in the class, Harrisburg (LPD 30). Fabrication for the 15th San Antonio-class ship  Pittsburgh (LPD 31)  is set to begin later in 2022.

Amphibious transport dock ships are a major part of the Navys 21st century expeditionary force, deployed with a U.S. Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force for amphibious and expeditionary crisis response operations that range from deterrence and joint-force enablement to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

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Ramstein, Germany, Nov. 25, 1970: Warren T. Lee, AFTV news director, receives the first load of stateside news film. AFTV began showing stateside TV news film for the first time, and less than 24 hours after it had been seen on TV in the United States. The service, arranged by USAFE with the American Broadcasting Company, brought film aired on the 6 p.m. (EST) news in the States to be screened the next evening on the AFTV broadcasts.
CANBERRA, Australia  Australias foreign minister on Tuesday urged Pacific island neighbors to unite on their shared challenges of U.S.-China strategic competition, climate change and COVID-19.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong addressed reporters in the Fijian capital Suva ahead of a leaders summit of the Pacific Islands Forum.

She said Pacific leaders have talked with her about the challenges of climate change and COVID-19  "which have fallen harder on this region than on many other parts of the world and, of course, strategic competition, Wong said.

All the nations are seeking to navigate those challenges. And we do it best when we can do it together, she added.

Australia and New Zealand are the wealthiest forum nations and share a concern over a security pact signed this year between China and the Solomon Islands.

The Micronesian state of Kiribati has reportedly split from the 18-nation body in a major blow to regional unity.

Wong said the door remains open to Kiribati returning.

Both the Solomon Islands and Kiribati recently changed their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing. Kiribatis withdrawal from the forum is being interpreted as a deepening of Chinas influence in the region.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who arrived Monday in Fiji, described Kiribatis withdrawal as disappointing.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a speech in Washington, D.C., that Australia and the Unites States will need to do more to counter a growing number of threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

He said Chinas rise had complicated issues across the Pacific and that Australia and the United States would have to work more closely together in coming years.

We cant afford to stand still, because in the years ahead the U.S.-Australia alliance will not only have to operate in a much more strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific, it will need to contribute to a more effective balance of military power aimed at avoiding a catastrophic failure of deterrence, Marles said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who will travel to Fiji on Wednesday, said his government was committed to spend at least 2% of Australias gross domestic production on defense.

National security and our security in the Indo-Pacific is about more than just defense spending. And tomorrow Ill be traveling to the Pacific Islands Forum, where our neighbors in the Pacific understand that climate change is a national security issue, Albanese said in Sydney.

Indeed, they regard  just as the United States does  as it being at the center of national security and I look forward to the discussions that Ill have with the leaders in the Pacific, Albanese added.

Albaneses government was elected in May with a promise to reduce Australias greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2030.

The previous government only committed to reducing emissions by 26% to 28% by the end of the decade.

Due to the pandemic, the Suva summit will be Pacific leaders first opportunity for face-to-face meetings since 2019 when the forum met in Tuvalu.

In May, China fell short on a bold plan to have 10 Pacific nations endorse a sweeping new agreement covering everything from security to fisheries as some in the region expressed deep concerns. But there were plenty of smaller wins for Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his island-hopping tour of the region.

Wang was in Fiji on May 30 to co-host a key meeting with the foreign ministers from the 10 island nations. At an unusual news conference afterward, Wang and Bainimarama spoke for about 30 minutes and then abruptly left the stage as reporters tried to shout out questions. That left many details of what transpired at the meeting unanswered.

It was clear the nations hadnt endorsed Chinas plan. But Wang managed to sign smaller bilateral agreements with the Pacific nations during his tour.
The Navy has identified the sailor who died aboard the USS Carl Vinson on Sunday as Petty Officer 2nd Class Darren Collins, 22, an information systems technician, the service said in a news release Monday.

Collins was found unresponsive early Sunday morning aboard the aircraft carrier, which was docked at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif.

The Navy is investigating the circumstances of Collins death and there are no indications of suicide or foul play, the news release said.

Collins was a native of Broken Arrow, Okla., and joined the Navy in 2019, the news release said. He attended information warfare training in Pensacola, Fla., and then reported to the Carl Vinson in October 2020.

As shipmates we grieve the untimely passing of a talented young man, Capt. P. Scott Miller, the carriers commander, said in the news release. My deepest condolences go out to the Collins family in this time of tragic loss.

The Carl Vinson has been on the West Coast since returning in February from an eight-month deployment.

A month earlier while the ship was in the South China Sea, a F-35C Lightning II fighter jet crashed on its flight deck during landing, injuring seven sailors. The jet fell into the sea, and the Navy recovered it in March.
MANILA, Philippines  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing's vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and warned that Washington is obligated to defend treaty ally Philippines if its forces, vessels or aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters.

Blinkens statement, issued by the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Tuesday, was released on the sixth anniversary of the 2016 decision by an arbitration tribunal set up in The Hague under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea after the Philippine government complained in 2013 about Chinas increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

China did not participate in the arbitration, rejected its ruling as a sham and continues to defy it, bringing it into territorial spats with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian claimant states in recent years.

We call again on the PRC to abide by its obligations under international law and cease its provocative behavior, Blinken said, using the acronym for Chinas formal name, the People's Republic of China.

We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, Blinken said.

There was no immediate reaction from Beijing. But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference in Malaysias administrative capital of Putrajaya that China is speeding up talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines and three other claimant states, to come up with a nonaggression pact called a code of conduct to turn the South China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation.

We will oppose bloc confrontation and Cold War mentality, Wang told journalists after meeting his counterpart in Malaysia, the last stop in his five-nation swing through Southeast Asia. He did not take any questions.

In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have had overlapping claims in the busy waterway, where an estimated $5 trillion in goods passes each year and which is believed to be rich in undersea gas and oil deposits.

The potential flashpoint has become a key front of U.S.-China rivalry.

Washington lays no claim to the disputed waters but has deployed Navy ships and Air Force jets to patrol the waterway for decades and says freedom of navigation and overflight is in the U.S. national interest. That has provoked angry reactions from China, which has accused the U.S. of meddling in a purely Asian dispute and warned it to stay away.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said Tuesday that the arbitration ruling will be a pillar of his new government's policy and actions in the disputed region and rejected attempts to undermine the indisputable decision.

These findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal and are conclusive as they are indisputable. The award is final, Manalo said in a statement.

We firmly reject attempts to undermine it  even erase it from law, history and our collective memories, said Manalo, who did not directly name China.

New Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office June 30 after a landslide electoral victory.

Marcos Jr.s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, put the arbitration ruling on the backburner for years after taking office in 2016 and nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping while criticizing U.S. security policies.

In 2019, Duterte said he finally asked Xi to comply with the ruling but was flatly told, We will not budge.

Marcos Jr. has upheld the arbitration ruling and said he would not allow even one square millimeter of Philippine waters to be trampled upon.

But he said in January before winning the presidency that since China has refused to recognize the ruling, Dutertes policy of diplomatic engagement is really our only option.

Dozens of left-wing activists and workers protested in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manilas Makati financial district on Tuesday, asking Beijing to respect the arbitration ruling and for Marcos Jr. to defend the countrys territory and sovereign rights in the South China Sea.

Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
(Tribune News Service)  A private funeral is being held Tuesday for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose assassination last week shocked a nation and brought renewed attention to his key policies such as bolstering the nations defenses.

The funeral in Tokyo is for the family and close associates of Abe, who was fatally shot at close range last Friday as he was making an election campaign speech outside a train station in the western city of Nara. Larger-scale memorial services are to be held at a later date.

Thousands of politicians, diplomats and business leaders attended a wake for Abe on Monday night at a Buddhist temple in the capital. Mourners have also flooded places including his ruling Liberal Democratic Partys headquarters in Tokyo and the spot where he was gunned down, offering notes and flowers for the politician who shaped the countrys economy and its diplomatic course during his record-long run in office that ended in 2020.

I will take up the issues that former Prime Minister Abe was passionate about, but wasnt able to bring to fruition, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a news conference Monday. That would include trying to change Japans pacifist constitution to clarify the legality of its military, Kishida said.

Police said the suspected gunman  a 41-year-old unemployed man from Nara who once served in the Japanese navy  blamed an unspecified religious group for his familys financial woes after his mother became an enthusiastic member and made large donations, resulting in her bankruptcy. He targeted Abe in the belief that he had close ties with the group, and denied any political motivation, public broadcaster NHK and other media said, citing police.

The Japanese affiliate of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church, has confirmed that the suspects mother was a member.

Leaders from around the world have paid tribute to Abe, who was a defining and sometimes divisive figure for Japan as the country navigated economic stagnation and Chinas rise next door during his two terms, from 2006-07 and 2012-20. He was a security hawk, a fiscal dove, a defender of Japans alliance with the US and an advocate for maintaining the postwar global order.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a brief stop in Tokyo on Monday en route home from a trip to the region to deliver a letter of condolence from President Joe Biden to the Abe family. I shared with our Japanese colleagues the sense of loss, the sense of shock that we all feel, the American people feel at this horrific tragedy, Blinken told reporters.

Taiwanese Vice President William Lai also visited to pay his respects Monday, according to the Asahi newspaper, becoming the highest-level official from the democratically governed island since Tokyo severed formal ties with Taipei a half a century ago. Abe had been increasingly vocal about the prospect of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan since leaving office.

Kishidas LDP scored big in an election Sunday, increasing the number of seats it holds in the upper house of parliament. More than two-thirds of upper house seats were taken by lawmakers in favor of changing Japans pacifist constitution, drafted under U.S. occupation at after World War II.

Abe, Kishidas former boss, was one of the most outspoken proponents of a stronger military and of revising the constitution to add an explicit reference to Japans Self-Defense Forces. The idea of changing the document, which has been unchanged for more than seven decades, remains divisive among voters.

The prime minister said he would make a proposal as soon as possible on constitutional change and expects debate to kick up on the matter in the fall. There has been talk for decades of changing the constitution but successive leaders including Abe have struggled to reach a consensus.

Following the funeral, the hearse carrying Abes body is to be driven past the prime ministers residence and the parliament building in a final farewell, broadcaster NNN reported.

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CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  South Korean Army Gen. Kim Seung-kyum, the new chairman of his nations Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his first visit Tuesday to the largest U.S. overseas military base.

Kim, accompanied at Camp Humphreys by U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Paul LaCamera, inspected a troop formation and said he felt the fiery camaraderie here.

South Korean President Yoon Seok Youl selected Kim for the nations highest military post. Appointed July 5, he replaced air force Gen. Won In Choul, who served in the position since 2020.

In a speech during a ceremony at Barker Field, LaCamera described Kim as smart, cordial and physically tough.

Kim most recently served as the deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, and previously as the South Korean army vice chief of staff and commander of the armys 3rd Corps.

Kim described the welcome as a great honor and referred to increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula fueled by North Koreas record-breaking run of missile tests, 17 rounds so far this year.

The security situation around the Korean Peninsula recently is grave, Kim said. North Korea continues to refine its nuclear and missile capabilities, thereby posing a significant threat to the regional security order.

Despite that threat, South Korea holds the most powerful key, he said. And that key is none other than our steadfast [U.S.-South Korea] alliance.

That alliance is a blood bond forged in the crucible of war, Kim told an audience of about 100 South Korean and U.S. military leaders and guests.

South Korea, which has military conscription, has about 625,000 service members on active duty and about 3 million in reserve, according to a U.S. Defense Department report in 2017. USFK has about 28,500 troops on the peninsula.

Military relations between the U.S. and South Korea are pivotal to deterring regional threats, LaCamera said during his address.

War is a brutal business  we cannot afford to forget our professions grim realities, he said. We all hope that doesnt happen, but we must continue to train and be ready.

Since 2015, the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division has combined U.S. and South Korea troops, the first formation of combined forces at that scale in the U.S. Army, according to its commander at the time, Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal.

True to his character, I know Gen. Kim will continue to give 100% and then some, LaCamera said Tuesday. Thats another reason why the [South Korea]-U.S. alliance can rely on his dedication of taking care of the sons and daughters entrusted to us.

Yoon, a member of the conservative People Power Party, took office in May. He campaigned on closer ties to the U.S. and a firmer response to North Korean weapons tests. Meeting with top South Korean military officials on July 6, Yoon vowed to punish North Korea swiftly and adamantly if the regime chose to destabilize the region.
CANBERRA, Australia  U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will announce new investments in the Pacific and the opening of two embassies when she addresses a summit on Wednesday of island nations that are increasingly coming under Chinese influence.

Harris will speak virtually at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji. Her invitation from Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama to speak is remarkable given that the forum's dialogue partners  including the United States, China, Britain and France  have not been invited to this year's summit.

She will propose new embassies in Tonga and in Kiribati, a Micronesian state that split this week from the 18-nation forum in a major blow to regional harmony, a White House statement said.

Harris will also propose requesting that Congress triple funding for fisheries assistance to $60 million a year and the appointment of the first U.S. envoy to the forum.

The United States and the forum's wealthiest nations, Australia and New Zealand, are concerned about a security pact signed this year between China and the Solomon Islands.

The United States proposes reopening the embassy it closed in the Solomon Islands in 1993.

Both the Solomon Islands and Kiribati recently shifted their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing. Kiribati's withdrawal from the forum is being interpreted as a deepening of China's influence in the region.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday urged forum nations to unite on their shared challenges from U.S.-China strategic competition, climate change and COVID-19.

"All the nations are seeking to navigate those challenges. And we do it best when we can do it together," Wong said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who arrived Monday in Fiji, described Kiribati's withdrawal as "disappointing." Wong said the "door remains open" to Kiribati returning.

The forum's secretary general, Henry Puna, on Tuesday addressed "our brothers and sisters from Micronesia" and appealed for reconciliation.

"I acknowledge again the breakdown in our connections of the past two years," the former Cook Islands prime minister said.

"My hope is that through our dialogue mechanism and the resolutions that we are working towards, you continue to find value and indeed belonging within the forum," Puna added.

Puna was elected secretary general last year over a Micronesian candidate, deepening the rift between Kiribati and the other nations.

The Fiji Sun newspaper reported that Prime Minister Bainimarama, who is currently the forum's chair as this year's host, was unable to reach Kiribati President Taneti Maamau on Monday for a possible rapprochement.

Maamau did not reply to AP's email or phone call on Tuesday.

In his opening address at the forum, Bainimarama said Pacific nations had a choice.

"The most important consideration for us this week is this: How will we, the Pacific Islands Forum, choose to navigate these challenges and opportunities as we voyage into the future?" he asked. "Will we forge ahead together? Will we take individual paths? Will we be assertive or will we leave it to others to decide our fate?"

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a speech in Washington, D.C., that Australia and the Unites States will need to do more to counter a growing number of threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

Due to the pandemic, the Suva summit will be the Pacific leaders' first opportunity for face-to-face meetings since 2019, when the forum met in Tuvalu.

In May, China fell short on a bold plan to have 10 Pacific nations endorse a sweeping new agreement covering everything from security to fisheries as some in the region expressed deep concerns. But there were plenty of smaller wins for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his island-hopping tour of the region, including bilateral agreements.

Wang was in Fiji on May 30 to co-host a key meeting with the foreign ministers from the 10 island nations. At an unusual news conference afterward, Wang and Bainimarama spoke for about 30 minutes and then abruptly left the stage as reporters tried to shout out questions. That left many details of what transpired at the meeting unanswered, but it was clear the nations hadn't endorsed China's plan.
UNITED NATIONS  The United Nations announced Monday it will start monitoring the war in Ukraine and conflicts in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Africa's central Sahel region for violations against children, including killings, injuries, recruitment, rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his annual report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict that those four new conflicts have been added to 21 conflicts that the U.N. already is monitoring for violations of the rights of children. He said the latter conflicts saw "a high number of grave violations" in 2021.

The U.N. chief said the protection of children was severely affected by escalating conflicts, the multiplication of armed groups, land mines and improvised explosive devices, explosive weapons in populated areas, intensified humanitarian crises, and violations of humanitarian and human rights law.

Virginia Gamba, the U.N. special envoy for children and armed conflict, said at a news conference that "forays of extremely violent armed groups, military coups and instability, and violent electoral processes in fragile states, left 19,100 child victims of grave violations during 2021 in the 21 country and regional situations we monitored."

The U.N. said it verified nearly 24,000 "grave violations" against children in 2021, including over 1,300 committed previously.

The highest numbers of violations last year were the 2,515 killings and 5,555 injuries tinvolving children, followed by the recruitment and use of 6,310 youngsters in conflicts, the report said.

Last year, it said, the number of child abductions rose by over 20% and cases of sexual violence against children continued to rise, also by over 20%.

The highest number of "grave violations" verified by the U.N. were in Afghanistan, Congo, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, it said.

While 70% of grave violations were against boys, that number decreased and "the number of girls who were casualties of killing and maiming, or subjected to abduction and sexual violence, increased, particularly in the Lake Chad Basin," the report said.

Guterres said in the report that Ukraine was being added to the monitoring effort "because of the high intensity of this conflict" and in view of the violations against civilians, including children. He asked Gamba to urgently engage with all parties to address the protection of children and prevention of violations against them.

He said Mozambique was being added because of "the gravity and number of violations reported," including recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and abductions.

The U.N. chief said Ethiopia was being added in view of "the gravity of clashes in 2021" between government forces and police, the Tigray People's Liberation Front and other parties including militias and regional forces. He cited violence against children including killings, rapes, sexual attacks, abductions and attacks on schools.

Gamba said the central Sahel region covering parts of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger was being added to the monitoring and reporting list for grave violations against children.

Human Rights Watch and the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, a coalition of non-governmental groups, both criticized Guterres for failing to provide any significant information on violations against children in Ukraine, Ethiopia and Mozambique.

Human Rights Watch's Jo Becker also criticized the secretary-general for failing to include any perpetrators in the armed conflicts in the three countries on the U.N. blacklist of those committing grave violations against children. The Watchlist's director, Adrianne Lapar, said Guterres squandered "an opportunity to shed light on abuses and hold parties accountable."

Both organizations also strongly criticized the U.N. chief for omitting Israel from the "list of shame" for the deaths of 78 Palestinian children and injuries to 982 in 2021.

In the report, Guterres said that if the high numbers of violations by Israel in 2021 are repeated in 2022, it should be added to the list. He also said if a significant increase in the number of cases of violence against Israeli children last year is repeated this year that alestinian armed groups including Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades and Palestinian Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades should be listed.

Becker called the failure to list Israel "another missed opportunity for accountability," saying "other armed forces or groups have been listed for far fewer violations." Lapar said "year after year Israeli government forces have gotten away with committing serious crimes against children, with virtual impunity" and "the secretary-general needs to hold the Israeli government to the same standard as any other warring party."

The U.N. sanctions blacklist in the report's annex adds some new armed groups, including the dissident Colombian group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army for recruiting and using children and Burkina Faso's militant group Jama Nusrat Ul-Islam wa Al-Muslimin for grave violations.
MOSCOW  Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the U.S. warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine.

During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putin's visit to Iran will follow U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, where Iran's nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.

Peskov told reporters that on the visit to Tehran, Putin will also have a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In March, Erdogan helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, Turkey. Peskov said there was no discussion about a new round of such negotiations.

The White House said Monday that it believes that Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with "hundreds" of drones, including those capable of carrying weapons, for use in Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the vehicles to Russia, but said the U.S. has "information" that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

"Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline," Sullivan told reporters Monday, referring to drones by the acronym for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Nasser Kanaani did not deny the U.S. claim in comments on Tuesday.

"Iran's cooperation with Russia in some sophisticated technologies dates to before the Russia-Ukraine war," he said. "There has not been any special development in this regard recently."

Iran long has worked on the development of drones, including so-called loitering munitions, the "kamikaze" drones like the Switchblade that the U.S. has delivered to Ukraine.

The U.S. decision to publicly reveal that the two countries' chief regional rival was helping to rearm Russia comes as both Israel and Saudi Arabia have resisted joining global efforts to punish Russia for its action in Ukraine due to their domestic interests.

In Tehran, Mohammadrez Pourebrahimi, the head of the Iranian Parliament's economic committee, told state-run news agency IRNA that Putin's trip would seek to improve economic relations between the two sanctions-hit nations.

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Zeke Miller and Josh Boak in Washington and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Russian fossil fuels have long helped power American military bases in Europe.

Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the largest hub for U.S. troops and military supplies on the Continent, consumes Russian gas to the tune of more than $4 million yearly, according to an April analysis by Brown Universitys Climate Solutions Lab. Collectively in Europe, U.S. installations have relied on Russian natural gas, oil and coal for 30% of their energy needs.

That dependency is now partly fueling Russias war effort against Ukraine and a renewed push in Congress to reduce the U.S. militarys reliance on Russian-sourced energy. The Houses draft of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, an annual must-pass bill that sets policy and spending priorities for the Defense Department, singles out Russian fuel consumption by American forces in Europe and spurs the Pentagon to pursue total energy independence from Moscow.

In every way possible, we should hinder Russias economic and military capability. Thats why it becomes exceedingly important that at the very minimum, the United States military is not engaging in any activity that would support or help the Russian economy, Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., said Monday. The consumption of Russian fuel by the United States military directly helps the Russian economy and thereby the Russian ability to continue to engage in Ukraine.

The House legislation requires all main bases in Europe to adopt installation energy plans by June 2023 to reduce reliance on Russian fossil fuels and asks the Pentagon to eliminate the usage of Russian energy entirely no later than five years after the plans are completed.

It is the sense of Congress that reliance on Russian energy poses a critical challenge for national security activities in the area of responsibility of the United States European Command, the provision states.

The Defense Department also would be required under the legislation to factor in energy security and resilience when opening any new U.S. military bases in Europe. Additional amendments proposed by lawmakers last week call for assessments of a bases capacity to replace Russian energy with energy produced in the U.S. and the establishment of a program to help wean Europe off Russias fossil fuels.

Garamendi, who is the chairman of a House subpanel overseeing military installations, said he is confident Europe is moving in the right direction after meeting with representatives from several countries  including Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and Sweden  at an annual session last week of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Congressional directives to divest from Russian energy are meant to complement Europes efforts to do the same, he said.

The overarching issue here is that the United States military will be working in a coordinated way with our NATO allies in reducing and eliminating the consumption of Russian fuel, Garamendi said.

Last year, Russia provided 45% of the European Unions natural gas imports and 27% of the blocs oil imports, Amos Hochstein, the State Departments senior adviser for energy security, said last month in testimony to senators. Some European countries are almost entirely dependent on Russian energy sources, he said.

Researchers estimated in April that Russian energy use on U.S. military bases could mean American taxpayers are inadvertently funneling $1 million to Russias war machine per week. That figure has fluctuated in the last few months as Russia cuts off gas supplies to nations that do not comply with Russian President Vladimir Putins demand for payment in rubles.

The money we spend to run our bases, to keep our troops heated, keep them cool, keep our machines running, the money were spending to do that, some of it is going to Russia, said Alexander Gard-Murray, a post-doctoral fellow at the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University. As long as were dependent on fossil fuels, were going to aid Putin and were going to have this Achilles heel.

Lt. Col. Theodore Shanks, an Air Force officer and former defense fellow with Brown University, said Russian fuel dependency on military bases is most pronounced in Germany, which is home to the highest number of U.S. troops in Europe. Germany relied on Russia for almost half of its gas prior to the war in Ukraine and still draws 30% of its gas supplies from Russia despite sanctions against Moscow.

U.S. military installations overseas are heavily dependent on their host nations for energy sources, Shanks said.

Any requirements for your war-fighting capability that are outside of your control, especially something as vital as an energy source, is very concerning, he said. Regardless of how its being withheld or how its out of our control, its something that should demand attention.

Lawmakers have worried for years that Russia would leverage its fossil fuel exports to intimidate countries and manipulate or disrupt energy supplies, potentially compromising power on U.S. bases. The 2018 NDAA directed the defense secretary to ensure installations could sustain operations in the event of a disruption. In the 2020 version of the legislation, Congress prohibited certain bases in Europe from hiring contractors who source energy from Russia.

The Kremlins offensive in Ukraine brought a heightened urgency to build on those efforts. Garamendi said House lawmakers want the military to rapidly develop alternative energy sources for its installations and ultimately transition all 1,100 American bases around the world to clean energy.

By reducing reliance on fossil fuels, that also reduces the demand for Russian fuel or any fuel for that matter, Garamendi said.

The Defense Department already has demonstrated a willingness to make that switch through investments in solar panels and other forms of sustainable energy, Shanks said. The Air Force is notably piloting a small nuclear reactor system at the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska that would allow the base to function independently of a 70-year-old, coal-fired power plant, he said.

Other technology, such as microgrids, can allow a military base to isolate from a civilian power grid and avoid giving a foreign country control over its energy supply, Gard-Murray said.

We need to invest in alternative energy sources, power more of our bases with renewables, shift more to electric vehicles and to electric appliances on bases, he said. Only if we make a serious effort to shift away from fossil fuels can we reduce that dependence on Russia.

Congress will need to take on a more aggressive role to make that happen, Gard-Murray added. Politicians seldom discuss the extent to which the military depends on fossil fuels and how that creates vulnerabilities with a hostile supplier such as Russia, he said. They have also delayed addressing the issue with the speed that it requires.

The best time to start was 30 years ago but the second best is today, Gard-Murray said. We can still make our bases energy independent.  Congress just needs to pony up the money so it actually happens quickly. Its not too late but we need urgency.
KYIV, Ukraine  The Ukrainian military on Tuesday reported destroying a Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine, resulting in a massive explosion captured on social media, while rescuers said the death toll from a weekend Russian strike in the country's east grew to 45.

An overnight rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, the Ukrainian military's southern command said. Nova Kakhovka is about 35 miles east of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.

The precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used U.S.-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. Ukraine indicated in recent days that it might launch a counteroffensive to reclaim territory in the south as Russia bombards the eastern Donbas region.

Russia's Tass news agency offered a different account of the blast in Nova Kakhovka, saying that a mineral fertilizer storage facility exploded and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged. Some of the ingredients in fertilizer can be used for ammunition.

A satellite photo taken Tuesday and analyzed by The Associated Press showed significant damage. A huge crater gaped precisely where a large warehouse-like structure once stood.

Ukraine now has eight of the HIMAR systems, a truck-mounted missile launcher with high accuracy, and Washington has promised to send four more.

Explosions were reported late Tuesday in Luhansk, a city in the Donbas that has been under the control of Russian-backed separatists since 2014, with videos posted on social media. A spokesman for the separatist forces, Andrei Marochko, said the Ukrainian army had dealt a "massive blow" to the air defense system in Luhansk, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. He said there was no word yet on any casualties. There was no immediate information from the Ukrainian government or military.

"The occupiers have already felt what modern artillery is like, and their rear will not be safe anywhere on our land that they have occupied," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. "They have felt that the operations of our intelligence officers for defending their homeland are of an order of magnitude greater than any of their special operations."

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian shelling over the past 24 hours killed at least 16 civilians and wounded 48 more, Ukraine's presidential office said in its Tuesday morning update. Cities and towns in five southeast regions came under Russian fire, the office said.

Nine civilians were killed and two more wounded in Donetsk province, which makes up half of the Donbas. Russian rocket attacks targeted the cities of Sloviansk and Toretsk, where a kindergarten was hit, the presidential office said.

The British military said Tuesday that Russia was continuing to make "small, incremental gains" in Donetsk, where heavy fighting led the province's governor last week to urge its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine.

The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that struck a Donetsk apartment building Saturday rose to 45, the emergency services agency said late Tuesday. It said workers found more bodies and also rescued nine people as they dug through the rubble of the five-story building in Chasiv Yar throughout the day.

Yet many in the Donbas, a fertile industrial region in eastern Ukraine consisting of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, refuse  or are unable  to flee, despite scores of civilians being killed and wounded each week.

In northeaster Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and its surrounding region, Russian strikes hit residential buildings, killing four civilians and wounding nine, Ukrainian officials said.

"The Russians continue their tactics of intimidating the peaceful population of the Kharkiv region," Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote Tuesday on Telegram.

Russian fire also struck the southern city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday morning, hitting residential buildings. Twelve people were wounded as the result of the Russian shelling, with some of the rockets hitting two medical facilities, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

Air raid sirens sounded Tuesday in the western city of Lviv  the first daytime sirens there in over a week  and in other areas of Ukraine as Russian forces continued to make advances.

In eastern Luhansk, "fighting continues near the villages" on the administrative border with neighboring Donetsk, Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"The Russian army burns down everything in its way. The artillery barrage doesn't stop and sometimes continues for four to six hours on end," Haidai said.

The British Defense Ministry's intelligence briefing said Russia had seized the town of Hryhorivka and continued to push toward the Donetsk province cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

"Russian forces are likely maintaining military pressure on Ukrainian forces whilst regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future," the intelligence briefing said.

However, Russia may be relying more heavily on private military contractors, like the Wagner Group, to avoid a general mobilization, the British ministry said. Western officials have accused Wagner of using mercenaries to fight in Africa and elsewhere.

In other developments:

 The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Iran next week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin will travel to Tehran next Tuesday to attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, a format for Syria-related talks. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday that Russia was seeking hundreds of surveillance drones from Iran, including weapons-capable ones, for use in Ukraine.

 Russian and Turkish military representatives plan to meet in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the transport of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said. Pyotr Ilyichyov, head of the ministry's department for international organizations, told Russian news agency Interfax that "representatives of Ukraine, as well as U.N. (officials) in the role of observers" are also expected to take part in the talks. Ilyichyov reiterated that Moscow was ready "to assist in ensuring the navigation of foreign commercial ships for the export of Ukrainian grain."

 Germany's justice minister said investigating war crimes in Ukraine would likely take "many years" but he was confident it ultimately will be successful. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said there will "probably be hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of pieces of evidence that have to be sifted through, documented and evaluated." The German federal prosecutor's office said in early March that it had started looking into possible war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Buschmann spoke Tuesday in Prague, where he and his European Union counterparts were meeting.

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Jon Gambrell in Lviv, Ukraine, and Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine  Burned-out cars and splintered trees smolder in the aftermath of a missile strike on Kramatorsk, a city in eastern Ukraine. A body lies on the ground, covered by a sheet. Wounded residents sit dazed and covered in blood. A crater has been gouged in the center of a once-calm, sunlit courtyard.

Across the beleaguered city, Valerii Ilchenko sits under the shade of the trees, working on a crossword puzzle. The 70-year-old widower now has difficulty walking, and this daily ritual in the fresh air gets him through the day.

Just last week, the governor of Donetsk province urged its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine. But like many other civilians who have come under fire in the nearly 5-month-old war, Ilchenko has no intention of leaving  no matter how close the fighting gets.

"I don't have anywhere to go and don't want to either. What would I do there? Here at least I can sit on the bench, I can watch TV," he told The Associated Press in an interview in his one-room apartment where he lives alone.

Moscow and Kyiv are battling for control of the Donbas, a fertile and industrial region in eastern Ukraine where a conflict with Russia-backed separatists has raged since 2014. In recent weeks, Russia has made significant gains and is poised to fully occupy Luhansk province, which along with Donetsk province makes up the region. Attacks on key cities like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk have increased dramatically, killing and wounding scores of civilians weekly.

Since the war began, Ilchenko has been unable to call his son and grandson, who live in Moscow. Although he is still somewhat self-sufficient, Ilchenko is nearly immobile. Volunteers make sure he gets regular deliveries of bread, water and cigarettes; neighbors call in from time to time.

The windows of his apartment were blown out in an earlier attack. As he spoke, an air raid siren wailed. But Ilchenko smiled and shrugged.

"Where would I run to when the sirens start? I have no basement, so where? In this building, we all stay right here," he said.

In urging the evacuation, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said it would allow the Ukrainian army to better defend towns, adding that about 80% of the region had departed by Monday.

"Once there are less people, we will be able to concentrate more on our enemy," Kyrylenko said, adding that shelling had intensified and was "very chaotic."

Observers say Sloviansk and Kramatorsk could end up like Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, cities now under Russian control after bombardment so ferocious that they are practically uninhabitable.

"I will be more severe this time -- people should leave," Kyrylenko said.

Yet for many, the urge to stay is strong, because they are retirees or have incomes so low that they fear they cannot support themselves away from what Kyrylenko called their "comfort zone."

Others worry they won't be welcome in western Ukraine  a concern based on a perception that some of their countrymen resent the predominantly Russian-speaking easterners and blame them for the war.

A few harbor pro-Moscow sympathies  either from nostalgia for their Soviet past or from watching Russian state TV. Still others don't believe their lives will change significantly under a Russian or a Ukrainian flag.

Sloviansk Mayor Vadym Liakh told AP that whatever the motivations are for those who stay, "we see that when their homes are ruined, having only the slippers on their feet with one plastic bag, they leave. They do not think about the money."

Like Ilchenko, Maria Savon has no plans to leave Kramatorsk. Waiting in line for food under a blinding sun, the 85-year-old is a stooped and fragile figure. When she speaks, however, her high voices rings out across the square.

"Why should I leave? Where one is born, one must die. This is our land. We are not needed there, from time immemorial. Old people, as far as I know, even ask for their native earth before they die," she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Savon said she wants to live in a country ruled by Ukrainians  not Russians  but she also is suspicious of the West. She wants President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to cut ties with Europe and the U.S. President Joe Biden, and agree to a cease-fire with Moscow.

Her feelings illustrate the complexity of public opinion in the Donbas.

"I'll tell you honestly, I feel sorry for the young people, the young men who are dying. I would take that Zelenskyy and tear him apart, along with Biden, with America, with all those fascists," she said.

A retiree fishing on the Kazennyi Torets River said he loves his hometown but is too old to fight.

"Of course, it would be a shame to leave. Without the apartment, what would I leave my children? We will wait until this ends," said the man, who identified himself only as Viktor for fear of reprisal.

Then there are those like 38-year-old Lena Ravlis  both terrified to stay and terrified to go.

"Of course it is very dangerous here, but the road out is very dangerous too," she said, citing the horrific attack in April on Kramatorsk's train station that killed 59 civilians and wounded over 100, including children.

Still, as Russian troops march west, a steady flow of people are leaving towns caught in the crosshairs of war. Hundreds depart daily on a train from Pokrovsk. Liakh, the Sloviansk mayor, said they are given food and places to stay in western Ukraine and can register for compensation.

One woman who asked to be identified only by her first name, Olena, also for security reasons, said that when she fled Sloviansk last week with her small child, she was shocked by the destruction.

"We waited too long. But finally I decided to save my child and myself. They were shelling us with every weapon in existence," she said.

The streets of Kramatorsk are eerily quiet. Most shops have closed and the last working cafes are boarded up. This once-vibrant city with a prewar population of about 150,000 is mostly empty in anticipation of the Russian advance.

Ilchenko said he sometimes feels lonely. "It's bad when the blues gets you, and then other times it's fine," he said sadly.

A former soldier in the Soviet army, he's furious at the Russians and wants them "expelled as soon as possible."

As Ilchenko spoke, his neighbor, also a solo pensioner, got ready to cook potatoes for lunch on a makeshift outdoor stove since there is no cooking gas in the district. Another woman lives on the building's top floor.

"That's it, the rest are gone," Ilchenko said.

"Let them leave. It's better than getting bombed," he added. "I only wish they knew where they were going. What if it's the same there as it is here? You can run from the bombs. But bombs are bombs, they don't pick and choose."
ST. GOAR, Germany  American and German service members teamed up in this Rhine River town known for its panoramic views and the nearby Lorelei rock to clear forest debris and protect residents from potential flooding.

About two dozen U.S. soldiers with the Kaiserslautern-based 21st Theater Sustainment Command and a similar number of German troops and town workers on Monday helped unclog two creeks that flow into the Rhine at St. Goar.

They sawed through broken limbs, hauled away the debris and helped restore a waterfall by the end of the day.

The citizens of St. Goar will know next time it starts to rain that its less likely their basements and living rooms will be full of water, Mayor Falko Honisch told troops at a ceremony following the cleanup. People are safer than they were before you came here.

The job was deemed too difficult for this town of about 3,000 people to do alone after concerns about potential flooding began to grow in recent months.

Mark Cox, a retired Air Force major and St. Goar resident, discussed the problem with his neighbor, Honisch, and they agreed to ask the militaries for help.

The cleanup project was billed as a way to strengthen the relationship between U.S. and German service members, who used to collaborate more, Cox said.

Now were trying to rekindle that relationship, said Cox, who works in plans and operations for the 21st TSC in Kaiserslautern, about 75 miles south of the town. We want to use the waterfall as a symbol of working together toward peace.

The ties between the two militaries initially grew out of postwar necessity. But on March 26, 1945, this was the site of brutal fighting, as the U.S. Army 89th Division, based in St. Goar, attacked well-fortified positions across the Rhine in St. Goarhausen.

After allowing an initial crossing, the Germans lit up the assault boats with machine gun and artillery fire.

To this day, survivors recall this scene as one from hell, the 89th Divisions historical website said.

Despite numerous casualties, the Americans destroyed the German emplacements and established a foothold in St. Goarhausen the next day.

Following the cleanup, 21st TSC Adjutant General Lt. Col. Raul Sandoval handed a command coin to Kurt Mebus, a former mayor of St. Goar who had been shot by German fire from St. Goarshausen when he was 11 years old.

There were no cars in the town at the time, Mebus recalled, and U.S. troops, who had occupied St. Goar with the French, transported him to the nearest hospital, where his leg had to be amputated.

Mebus told Stars and Stripes through a translator that it was good to see U.S. and German troops working together, which he used to see more often.

The 21st TSCs Sgt. Maj. Eric Riding said the importance of U.S. and German soldiers working together in an informal setting could not be overstated.

It helps you build those relationships up, and then when something happens, were just that much closer, Riding said, adding that soldiers on both sides were taking photos and exchanging contact details.

Staff Sgt. Erik Lee, a human resources specialist, said his German counterparts were like a new family in a way.

Most of the Germans who participated in the event were soldiers from the German armys medical regiment stationed in Koblenz, and they expressed similar sentiments.

German Chief Petty Officer Nico Reitz, who was raised near St. Goar, said it was important for residents to see both militaries out helping the community as they can come across as somewhat secretive at times.

The military in the foreground is a good thing, Reitz said. I think thats a good thing for the whole region.
A U.S. Army Air Corps pilot who had been deemed unrecoverable decades ago after being shot down on D-Day was laid to rest this weekend at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

Family members of William J. McGowan were present at Saturdays interment ceremony and participated in the placement of a bronze rosette on the cemeterys Walls of the Missing, indicating that he is now accounted for.

When we were asked where we wanted the final resting place of our uncle to be, we did not hesitate, McGowans nephew, Paul Stouffer, told the American Battle Monuments Commission regarding the choice of the American burial ground in Normandy.

On the momentous day of June 6, 1944, McGowan was a 23-year-old second lieutenant in the 391st Fighter Squadron. His P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed in a field near Moon-sur-Elle, France, and burned for a full day, witnesses said subsequently.

Investigators from the American Graves Registration Command were dispatched to the area three years later and were told that the plane was embedded deep in the ground. The team removed wreckage but didnt find McGowans remains.

But In 2010, another investigative team traveled to Moon-sur-Elle to interview witnesses and survey the crash site. Searchers found numerous pieces of aircraft debris and recommended the site for excavation.

Eight years later, in partnership with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the St. Marys University forensic aviation archaeological field school in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia sent a team to excavate at Moon-sur-Elle.

Human remains uncovered by the team were sent to a lab for identification. Dental and anthropological analysis confirmed that they were McGowans.

McGowan was a Minnesota native who studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He had worked at a news service in Madison, Wis., and served as editor of his fathers newspaper before joining the military.

He was posthumously awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

It is the American Battle Monuments Commissions mission to care for those individuals who gave their lives in service to our nation, no matter how many years have passed since they made the ultimate sacrifice, said Scott Desjardins, superintendent of the Normandy American Cemetery, said in a statement.

McGowan now joins more than 9,000 service members who are buried at the cemetery, which was dedicated in 1956.
JERUSALEM  Shortly after taking office, President Joe Biden ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to declassify their assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi government.

Biden was eager to distinguish himself from former president Donald Trump, who had been criticized for his closeness with the Saudis and had cast doubt on the conclusion that the crown price had ordered the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist. Biden pointedly took a step Trump would not, imposing sanctions and travel bans on Saudis connected to the killing.

But Biden did not actually sanction the crown prince, the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom. That obvious omission signaled an early decision by Biden that, despite his campaign pledge to make Saudi Arabia a pariah and notwithstanding the countrys brutal human rights violations, he would end up engaging with the country, according to White House officials.

Now Biden finds himself in an uncomfortable position as he visits Saudi Arabia later this week, trying to signal simultaneously that he values the country as an ally and that he harbors significant reservations about visiting. That discomfort has created uncertainty around what, exactly, will be the outcome of the presidents four-day swing through Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The Biden team, and President Biden himself, are fumbling their articulation of why theyre even going, said Brian Katulis, the vice president for policy at the Washington-based Middle East Institute. There seems to be almost a sense of chagrin about going. Thats unfortunate, because that sends messages over to the region and makes the likelihood of success in their trip lower.

White House officials say the trips goals are clear: to help integrate Israel further into the region; to solidify a delicate cease-fire between Saudi Arabia and Yemen; to align Saudi Arabia, Israel and other Arab partners on a stalled nuclear deal with Iran; and to counter China and Russias influence in the Middle East.

Biden will sit down face-to-face with the crown prince, but only as part of larger meetings with Saudi King Salman, who at 86 is the countrys nominal head, and leaders of other Persian Gulf nations, White House officials said.

But when asked about the meeting last month, Biden said, Its in Saudi Arabia, but its not about Saudi Arabia. And so theres no commitment that is being made or  Im not even sure; I guess I will see the king and the crown prince, but thats  thats not the meeting Im going to. Theyll be part of a much larger meeting.

Bidens visit is part of his first trip to the Middle East since taking office. On Wednesday, Biden will arrive in Israel, marking his 10th trip to the country. He has long been an ardent supporter of Israel, often touting his relationships with its leaders dating back to Golda Meir, who was prime minister in the early 1970s.

On Friday, Biden is to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. Biden will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq while in Saudi Arabia, according to a senior White House official.

The engagement with Saudi Arabia, however, will be his most complicated diplomatic test.

Discussions about a possible presidential visit to Saudi Arabia began in February, when Biden told his national security team he wanted to visit the Middle East, a senior White House official said. Over months of sometimes contentious internal discussions, Biden and his senior aides concluded that the United States security and energy relationship with Saudi Arabia was too important to isolate the country, according to the White House official and two other top administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversations.

Still, Biden had reservations about meeting with the crown prince, hesitant to reward a leader who has an extensive record of human rights violations, according to two of the officials.

Biden sent Brett McGurk, his chief Middle East adviser, and Amos Hochstein, his special envoy for energy affairs, to Saudi Arabia to determine whether a presidential visit would be justified. By May, Biden and his aides had decided that he would visit the country, the White House official said.

But Bidens ongoing discomfort was reflected in his public refusal to acknowledge the decision, telling reporters in early June that he had no direct plans at the moment to visit Saudi Arabia.

The importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship came into sharp relief after Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the United States and its allies to ban imports of Russian oil, causing domestic gasoline prices to spike.

Saudi Arabia has so far increased oil production by only a limited amount, prompting leading Democratic lawmakers to complain in a letter last month that its refusal to stabilize global energy markets is helping bankroll Vladimir Putins war crimes in Ukraine, while inflicting economic pain on everyday Americans. Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries have expressed only tepid support for the Western campaign to isolate Russia.

Biden hopes to change that, but the visit will require engaging an indisputably harsh regime. According to human rights activists, Saudi authorities regularly repress and torture dissidents and human rights activists. The country does not tolerate public worship by followers of religions other than Islam and even discriminates against Muslim minorities, and its judges sanction people suspected of having sex outside marriage, activists say.

The crown prince has implemented modest reforms, such as allowing women to drive. But the Saudis brutal record was punctuated by the 2018 murder of Khashoggi, who investigators have concluded was killed and dismembered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Human rights activists have criticized Biden in part because the White House has scheduled no news conference for the visit to Jiddah, which would have allowed him to voice his criticism on Saudi soil. Some Democratic senators called on Biden to set conditions for his meeting with Mohammed, including an admission of wrongdoing for the killing of Khashoggi and progress on the fragile cease-fire in the Yemen war.

Biden and his aides defend their record on Saudi Arabia, pointing to Bidens moves to declassify the U.S. intelligence report on Khashoggis killing; impose sanctions on Saudis tied to the killing; encourage the Saudi-Yemeni cease-fire; and reverse Trumps blank check policy toward the kingdom.

In a column published Saturday in The Washington Post, Biden said a top goal is to ensure that Saudi Arabia does not fall into the orbit of a hostile power. We have to counter Russias aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outcompete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world, Biden wrote. To do these things, we have to engage directly with countries that can impact those outcomes. Saudi Arabia is one of them.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said administration officials had been in touch with Khashoggis family, although Biden personally had not. Sullivan said Biden would make a major statement on his vision for the Middle East before the end of the trip.

Asked whether Biden regretted his comments promising to make Saudi Arabia a pariah, Sullivan said no.

The president has not expressed regret about his statements, Sullivan said. Hes been focused on his view that the United States has important interests to advance and protect, including the partnership with Saudi Arabia, and among other things the need to increase the prospects of peace in the region.

As a candidate, Biden vowed to restore U.S. global leadership on human rights after the Trump era and said he found very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia. Given such comments, even some of the presidents top aides initially harbored reservations about this trip.

But once in office, Biden found himself battling an ascendant China for global influence while seeking to fend off Russias growing aggression. At the same time, Biden has taken a political hit from the sharp increase in the price of gas, although it has come down in recent days.

McGurk, a longtime Middle East hand who was deeply involved in the fight against extremists in the region, was instrumental within the administration in arguing that Saudi Arabia was too important to isolate. Sullivan has also long pushed for increased engagement with the kingdom, as has Hochstein, whose influence and portfolio have grown tremendously in recent months, White House aides said.

The nations of the OPEC Plus bloc announced last month that they would increase production by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August, a modest acceleration of existing plans to reverse production cuts related to the pandemic. But the decision is seen by many energy analysts as likely to have only a modest impact.

Bidens broader Middle East priorities have been vague, as he took office determined to avoid getting bogged down in the intricacies of the regions diplomacy that had enmeshed previous administrations.

Biden made clear that countering China was his administrations top foreign policy goal. That was reflected inside the White House, where the directorates overseeing the Indo-Pacific region and China were enlarged in comparison with those offices in past Democratic administrations, and fewer spots at the National Security Council were allocated for staffers working on the Middle East, according to officials familiar with the strategy.

But very quickly, it became clear that simply staying away was not an option.

Just a few months after Biden took office, a violent conflict broke out in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. After 11 days of fighting, the two sides agreed to a cease-fire, but it took a flurry of diplomatic activity, including more than 80 calls and contacts among U.S., Israeli and Arab officials  and six direct conversations between Biden and then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The crisis was tamped down, at least temporarily, but that did little to clarify Bidens longer-range goals in the Middle East.

I havent heard an articulation of the objectives for the trip, and it may be theyre not confident about what response they might get from the other side  certainly from Saudi Arabia, so they are being cautious about setting expectations, said Evelyn Farkas, a former Obama administration official who is executive director of the McCain Institute. It would be really helpful if the president could articulate a clear Middle East strategy, so that our allies and partners could help the United States in achieving those objectives.
JERUSALEM  Israel said Tuesday it would increase the number of work permits issued to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and allow thousands more Palestinians to gain legal status ahead of President Joe Biden's visit to the region later this week.

Israel portrays such moves as confidence-building measures aimed at reducing tensions. Critics say they merely entrench its 55-year military rule over millions of Palestinians in the absence of any peace process. The last serious peace talks broke down more than a decade ago.

The latest measures were approved by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank last week to discuss coordination ahead of Biden's visit. Abbas' Palestinian Authority has limited rule over parts of the West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security matters.

Israel will allow an additional 5,500 Palestinians to be added to the Palestinian population registry  which it effectively controls  so they can get ID cards. Rights groups say tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza lack such status, forcing them to live under severe movement restrictions.

Israel said it would grant another 1,500 permits for Palestinian laborers in Gaza to work inside Israel, bringing the total number to 15,500  the highest since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power in Gaza from Abbas' forces 15 years ago. Israel and Egypt have imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza since then,

Israel says the blockade is needed to keep Hamas  which is opposed to its very existence  from arming itself. The Palestinians and rights groups view the blockade as a form of collective punishment of Gaza's 2 million Palestinian residents.

Israel has also approved six zoning plans for the West Bank. Israeli authorities heavily restrict Palestinian construction in the 60% of the West Bank that is under full Israeli control and routinely demolish homes and other structures built without hard-to-get Israeli permits. Authorities also said they would open a new vehicular crossing in the northern West Bank.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.

The Biden administration says it supports an eventual two-state solution. But it has largely stood by as Israel expands its West Bank settlements, where nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers with special legal status live alongside some 3 million Palestinians.
WARSAW, Poland  Poland and Israel have taken a step toward normalizing diplomatic ties, the Polish president said Tuesday, as the Israeli ambassador officially presented his credentials in Warsaw.

President Andrzej Duda tweeted that he and Israeli President Issac Herzog have "agreed that it's time to return to normal relations."

He said the "first step" was taken when Israeli Ambassador Yacov Livne officially presented his credentials on Tuesday.

Israel expects Poland to appoint an ambassador too, and Duda said he hopes it would happen "soon."

Herzog thanked Duda on Twitter for receiving Livne's credentials, calling it an "important first step to advancing Israeli-Polish relations" and added he expects to receive formal documentation from Poland's ambassador soon.

Livne noted on Poland's private TVN24 that the warming of relations comes at a time of many challenges around the world, including instability in the Middle East and Russia's war in Ukraine, which borders Poland.

"We believe (that) friendly countries such as Poland and Israel can and should work together to counter the challenges" that appear in security and economic spheres, Livne said.

"The Jewish people and the Polish people, we have a huge richness of historical ties, historical contacts, this is also something we need to work on," he said.

One of the issues requiring to be solved urgently is the program of annual educational trips to Poland by thousands of young Israelis. Israel suspended the Holocaust study visits during the pandemic and said this year they wouldn't be resumed because Poland's right-wing government was trying to control the curriculum.

Poland is objecting to the presence of armed guards on such visits, saying that creates an unnecessary impression of danger. Warsaw would also like the visitors to meet with their Polish peers and jointly debate the history of both nations that spans many centuries, and to establish personal ties.

Relations between the two nations soured in recent years amid spats over Poland's laws that were seen as whitewashing the deeds of some Poles during the Holocaust and banning claims for restitution of seized property by Holocaust victims and their relatives.

Israel recalled its ambassador in the autumn of 2020 and Poland's ambassador to Israel was instructed to end his mission prematurely last summer.

Ties have since improved in the wake of Israel-Polish cooperation on the Ukrainian refugee crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, whose late father was a Holocaust survivor, thanked Poland for its help in rescuing Jewish refugees from Ukraine.
UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Tuesday extending humanitarian aid deliveries to 4.1 million people in Syria's rebel-held northwest for just six months in a victory for Russia.

The vote was 12-0 with the United States, Britain and France abstaining. The three veto-wielding council members had backed a resolution for a year-long extension that was supported by almost the entire 15-member council but vetoed by Russia last Friday.

Ireland and Norway, which sponsored the vetoed resolution, circulated a new draft Monday that provides for a six-month extension of deliveries through Turkey's Bab al-Hawa crossing until Jan. 10. As Russia demanded, a further six-month extension after that would require a new Security Council resolution.

Ireland's U.N. ambassador, Geraldine Byrne Nason, said before the vote that after difficult negotiations the two countries redoubled efforts to find a way to allow aid "to continue to reach those in dire need in Syria."

Kenyan Ambassador Martin Kimani, speaking on behalf of the council's 10 elected members who serve two-year terms, said they wanted a year-long extension but supported six months "to put foremost the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people."

The resolution adopted Tuesday is almost identical to the Russian draft for a 6-month resolution that failed to get council support last Friday. Russia only got support from its ally China in the 2-3 vote with 10 abstentions.

Russia, a close ally of Syria's government, remained adamant that it would only support a six-month extension. It has repeatedly called for stepped up humanitarian aid deliveries to the northwest from within Syria, across conflict lines. This would give Syrian President Bashar Assad's government more control.

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills lashed out at Russia, saying: "The vote we took this morning is what happens when one council member takes the entire security council hostage, with the lives of Syrian men, women and children hanging in the balance."

With the humanitarian needs in Syria today "greater than they have ever been," he said Russia chose to ignore calls by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, U.N. agencies and over 30 non-governmental organizations for a yearlong renewal of cross-border deliveries.

He accused Assad's regime "of corruption, of stealing aid and denying it to communities in need," saying this is why the cross-border aid deliveries exist. He said Russia knows that some of the dire needs in Syria are "a direct result" of its invasion of Ukraine and the shocks to food and fertilizer deliveries around the world.

"And the simple truth is, Russia does not care," Mills said.

Russia's deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said after the vote that it was time for Washington, London and Paris "to get used to respecting the interests of other states first and foremost  who are impacted directly by the Security Council decisions."

Guterres called the renewal of cross-border aid "a matter of life and death" for many people in Idlib, adding: "I strongly hope that after six months it will be renewed."

Turkey's Foreign Ministry said the U.N. cross-border operation is vital for providing assistance to millions of people in Syria's northwest and continuing it is essential to respond "to the humanitarian crisis in Syria as well as regional stability."

Humanitarian and human rights organizations said a six-month extension is not enough.

Dr. Houssam al-Nahhas, a researcher with Physicians for Human Rights and a former emergency room doctor in eastern Aleppo, said the compromise leaves humanitarian workers with little time to plan their missions in Syria.

"It's gravely imprudent to have to revisit this debate again so soon, in January, when humanitarian needs are likely to increase in response to harsh winter conditions in the north, he said, saying "more permanent, long-term solutions are critical."

The new draft calls for secretary-general Guterres to provide a report on humanitarian needs in Syria by Dec. 10 to assess the impact of a possible border closing in January if the resolution isn't renewed.

The draft also calls for Guterres to brief the council monthly and issue reports at least every 60 days on the progress of cross-line deliveries, humanitarian assistance delivered from Turkey, and "early recovery projects" in Syria that Russia has pushed for.

Polyansky said Russia will be monitoring progress on implementing the resolution "so as to decide on the ultimate fate of the cross-border mechanism" in six months. He also called for increased aid deliveries across conflict lines.

Northwest Idlib is the last rebel-held bastion in Syria and a region where an al-Qaida-linked militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is the strongest. The U.N. said recently that the first 10 years of the Syrian conflict, which started in 2011, killed more than 300,000 civilians, the highest official estimate of civilian casualties.

In early July 2020, China and Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution that would have maintained two border crossing points from Turkey for humanitarian aid to Idlib. Days later, the council authorized the delivery of aid through just one of those crossings, Bab al-Hawa.

In a compromise with Russia, that one-year mandate was extended on July 9, 2021, for six months, with an additional six months subject to a "substantive report" from Guterres. This was effectively a year-long mandate because a second resolution wasn't needed.

Before last week's votes, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 800 trucks went through the Bab al-Hawa crossing every month last year, reaching about 2.4 million people, and 4,648 trucks crossed in the first six months of this year.

___

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Turkey contributed to this report.
The family and friends of a U.S. military veteran who went missing in Ukraine have accused the Biden administration of inaction, saying any hope for finding him alive hinges on diplomacy between Washington and Moscow but that so far the government's efforts are lacking.

Grady Kurpasi, 50, was last seen April 26 in southern Ukraine, where his team of international volunteers was engaged in combat with Russian forces. His loved ones fear he has been killed or captured  and they are mindful of the Kremlin's recent declaration that Americans taken off the battlefield shall not be granted protections afforded to prisoners of war.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the administration is closely monitoring the situation and seeking information for the family, but stopped short of saying what more the government may do. Neither the Russian Embassy in Washington nor the Ukrainian Defense Ministry responded to requests for comment.

The mystery surrounding Kurpasi's whereabouts presents a unique dilemma for President Joe Biden, who has rallied Western support for Ukraine while ruling out direct military intervention and strongly cautioning Americans against getting involved. At least two U.S. citizens are believed to have been killed in the fighting, and another two are known to be captured.

Kurpasi is a retired Marine Corps infantry officer and Iraq War veteran. The day of his disappearance, he and a British man, Andrew Hill, had left their position in a makeshift observation post to investigate the source of incoming fire, a member of the group told The Washington Post. Hill was captured by Russian forces, and another two members of their unit were killed soon after.

The State Department made contact with Kurpasi's wife, Heeson Kim, soon after he was reported missing. Last month, a group of veterans who served with him in the Marines provided officials with a 46-page document detailing, among other information, the coordinates of his last known location and where his phone had been detected after his disappearance.

In a statement, the State Department said U.S. officials are in contact with Ukrainian and Russian authorities regarding American citizens "who may have been captured by Russia's forces or proxies while fighting in Ukraine." The agency declined to address questions about Kurpasi's disappearance specifically.

His wife and friends said they are upset by what they characterized as a lack of urgency from the administration. In an email, Kim said, "I don't have confidence that they invested or are going to invest any resources" to help track down what happened to her husband.

Biden has faced public pressure from the families of other Americans held by Russia, including WNBA star Brittney Griner, who on Thursday pleaded guilty in a drug case that has magnified the diplomatic standstill between the world powers over the war in Ukraine.

Griner's case has been elevated to an office within the State Department that deals with citizens it decides are wrongfully detained, and the president has told her wife that he is working to secure her release. That drew a rebuke from the family of Paul Whelan, a Marine Corps veteran sentenced by a Russian court to 16 years in prison over espionage charges he has denied. Whelan's sister told CNN last week she was "astonished" her brother's case has not received such attention. Biden called her following the report, vowing to secure his release, a White House official said.

The lack of a strong public response to Kurpasi's disappearance may suggest the administration has made a distinction in how it views such cases. Griner was arrested while working in Russia whereas Kurpasi joined the war in Ukraine on his own accord.

Kurpasi's friends said that Biden has not spoken to the family and that the U.S. government rarely shares anything illuminating about the case. Rather, they contend, the State Department appears dependent on them for information. "The response I got back was, 'He was fighting under another flag, so keep digging and doing what you're doing to help,'" said George Heath, one of Kurpasi's friends.

The two U.S. military veterans captured in Ukraine, Alexander J. Drueke and Andy Tai Huynh, are being held by Russian-backed separatists. Drueke's aunt Dianna Shaw said the family is encouraged by the efforts of State Department personnel and lawmakers in Alabama. U.S. and Ukrainian diplomats are working to get both men on a list of captives potentially eligible for negotiated release, she said.

"When you have good civil servants, you get good results," Shaw said.

Kurpasi, who lives with his wife in North Carolina, was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States. He enlisted in the Marines at age 29 and served three tours in Iraq, according to his military service record provided by the Marine Corps.

In 2007, Kurpasi was wounded along with several other Marines when an insurgent detonated a suicide vest during a mission in the city of Ramadi, said Don Turner, a fellow veteran who served with Kurpasi and Heath.

Kurpasi was later commissioned as an officer after graduating from UCLA, where he received a scholarship from the Pat Tillman Foundation. The group provides education grants to promising leaders with a military background. He retired from the military in 2021.

Although the U.S. government has warned American citizens not to join the war, Kurpasi, friends say, was compelled to help the Ukrainians fight back and felt his leadership experience would be valuable. He arrived in mid-March and participated in battles outside the capital, Kyiv, before assembling a team that was dispatched to the south, near Mykolaiv.

The events surrounding Kurpasi's disappearance were recounted by a surviving member of his unit, Team Raven, which had been tasked with holding an observation post to blunt Russia's advance outside the coastal town of Oleksandrivka and buy time for civilians to escape.

The team members received fire from an area they believed was a Ukrainian position, but they did not have radio communication with nearby units, a German volunteer named Pascal told The Post. He spoke on the condition that his full name not be disclosed, citing a fear of reprisal.

Kurpasi and Hill, the British fighter, left to investigate. They radioed back, saying they were receiving artillery and small-arms fire, and needed covering fire to return. Russian units shelled the position in response.

Willy Joseph Cancel, another U.S. Marine Corps veteran who was part of Kurpasi's team, was hit along with a Dutch volunteer. Pascal said he tried to treat their wounds but was unsuccessful. He described having to crawl more than a half-mile before running toward a friendly unit.

Pascal said he could not retrieve the bodies of those slain and did not see what became of Kurpasi and Hill after they walked away.

Hill was captured and later charged with fighting as a mercenary by officials in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, a Russian-backed zone within eastern Ukraine. Russian state media has reported that he could face the death penalty.

Photos taken from Hill's phone and distributed to his contacts on the WhatsApp messaging platform after his capture appear to show a Russian fighter with a camouflage tarp used by Kurpasi, his wife said. It has led his family and friends to believe that Hill may have information about what happened to Kurpasi, and they have urged the State Department to work with British counterparts to see if they can glean anything from him.

Kim told Kurpasi's friends that a State Department official told her that they would try. A spokesperson for Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the department will not discuss individual cases.

There are many military veterans working to uncover what happened to Kurpasi, Turner said, adding that their friend would do the same if the roles were reversed.

"When you served with somebody, you have a bond," he said. "And that bond is unbreakable."

The Washington Post's Missy Ryan contributed to this report.
(Tribune News Service)  Forty years after a 5-year-old girl was raped and killed in a small city on the Monterey Peninsula, authorities have charged a former soldier with her murder.

Robert Lanoue, 70, of Reno was charged last week with one count of first-degree murder with special circumstance allegations that he killed Anne Pham while committing kidnapping and a lewd act on a child younger than 14, according to the Monterey County district attorney's office.

Anne was kidnapped Jan. 21, 1982, while walking to her kindergarten class at Highland Elementary School in Seaside, near Monterey Bay. Two days later, her remains were found outside Ft. Ord, a now-closed U.S. Army post east of the town.

The Seaside Police Department, FBI and U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Division investigated the killing before the case went cold for nearly 40 years.

Anne was the child of refugees from Vietnam who fled the country after the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975, the Mercury News reported. Anne's father, Tuong Pham, moved to Seaside to make a living as a fisherman, according to the Mercury News. She was killed four years after the family moved to the Monterey Peninsula.

Lanoue was 29 at the time of Anne's killing and lived in Seaside, according to the district attorney's office. He was a soldier stationed at Ft. Ord.

The case was reopened in 2020 by the Monterey County district attorney's office's newly formed cold case task force.

Investigators used "a new type of DNA testing not previously available to earlier investigators" to identify Lanoue as a suspect, the district attorney's office said.

A $535,000 federal grant that the cold case task force received includes provisions that allow investigators to use private laboratories that trace family genealogical data, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. A similar method was used in 2018 to track down the Golden State Killer, one of the country's most notorious cold cases.

Lanoue is a registered sex offender and was convicted in 1998 of lewdness with a minor as well as possession of child pornography, according to Nevada prison records. He spent about 20 years in prison in Nevada.

He is being held in a Washoe County, Nev., jail, and authorities are awaiting his extradition to California.

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Jonathan Maitland (25) travelled to the scene of the riot after consuming 12 cans of Harp lager

Rioting at Lanark Way in April 2021.

A rioter who was caught with a bag of petrol bombs which he said he thought were bottles of booze has avoided being jailed.

Jonathan Maitland was arrested during violent sectarian clashes at a west Belfast peaceline in April last year.

The 25-year-old had drank 12 tins of Harp before making his way to Lanark Way, off the Shankill Road, after seeing footage of the disturbances being shared on social media.

At Belfast Crown Court last week Maitland, from Avoca Street in the city, was given a two-year probation order.

The judge decided against jailing Maitland after considering a pre-sentence report ordered after he entered guilty pleas in January.

Rioting at Lanark Way in April 2021.

He admitted riotous assembly, aiding and abetting the throwing of a petrol bomb and to possessing petrol bombs in suspicious circumstances, all on April 8.

Maitland denied the offence of possession of petrol bombs and the prosecution asked for it to be left on the books.

When the case was first heard at the citys magistrates court, his solicitor said he provided police with a full account of his whereabouts until 10.45pm on the night of the alleged offences, including alibi witnesses.

The lawyer said Maitland was arrested at 11.05pm and given his house is 15 minutes from the scene, that would give him a very short window of involvement.

He said Maitland claimed he travelled to the scene after seeing footage of the rioting on Facebook and having consumed 12 cans of Harp lager.

The lawyer explained that Maitland went there with another man and CCTV footage from the scene shows him picking up a Russell Cellars bag which he thought might contain alcohol.

Maitland saw what was in it but he was then approached by a man wearing a balaclava who asked, Are you going to do anything with that?.

He replied that he wasnt and the man took it from him, adding that Maitland wasnt seen throwing anything and could be seen walking away before police rushed forward and arrested a number of people.

The solicitor said Maitland required an appropriate adult during police interview and had been deeply affected by his time in custody.

More than 90 police officers were injured during the disturbances across Northern Ireland in March and April last year.

Loyalist paramilitaries were blamed for instigating the violence under the cover of it being a protest about the Irish Sea border.

But at the time the Loyalist Community Council (LCC)  an umbrella group which includes UVF and UDA leaders  insisted that none of its associated organisations have been involved either directly or indirectly in the violence witnessed in recent days.
Jake, (now 15) of Rathfarnham, Dublin had sued Aer Lingus over the accident on the Dublin to Malaga flight on October 3, 2018

Jake Hegarty Murphy was 11 and travelling with his grandmother to a family wedding in Malaga when the accident happened on board the Dublin to Malaga flight four years ago.

His Counsel Aedan McGovern SC told the court it was their case that Jake was instructed to remove the lid of the hot chocolate cup so he could put in milk.

However, the liquid spilled on the boys upper thigh area, he said. A nurse who was travelling on the flight applied a burn gel on the burns and stayed with him for the duration of the flight, he said.

After the plane landed in Malaga, he was brought to hospital where he was diagnosed as having suffered second degree burns. He was kept in hospital overnight and treated with pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication.

Counsel said for the duration of the holiday the boy couldnt swim and also had difficulty walking.

He attended his GP on return home and he was put on further painkillers.

For a number of weeks, he had to have his wounds dressed every three days.

Counsel said the boy has been left with a pale scar on his thigh.

Jake of the Stocking Wood estate in Rathfarnham, Dublin had sued Aer Lingus over the accident on the Dublin to Malaga flight on October 3,2018.

It was claimed there was a failure to provide a safe method of service of hot beverages in particular hot chocolate.

It was further alleged there was a failure to warn the boy of the known danger posed by the temperature at which the chocolate was served.

The court was told liability was not at issue in the case.

Approving the settlement Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was fair and reasonable and he wished the boy well for the future.
Robert Politi (23) was ordered to serve half in jail and half on licence, but he has already been freed because of time spent on remand

Former soldier Robert politi who was jailed for sexual assault but who is already freed due to time spent on remand.

Although Robert Politi was ordered to serve half in jail and half on licence by Judge Gordon Kerr QC, the 23-year-old has already been freed because of time spent on remand.

Politi, originally from the Wirral in north west England but whose address is given as c/o Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn, had been in custody since last Autumn as a result of multiple bail breaches and a warrant was issued for his arrest when he was a no show at court.

At one stage, Politi went AWOL with a chick and confined to barracks, he had tried to smuggle himself out of the Army barracks in the boot of his own car with a mate behind the wheel.

Former soldier Robert politi who was jailed for sexual assault but who is already freed due to time spent on remand.

On the day his trial was due to begin earlier this year, he confessed to three counts of sexually assaulting the woman on 21 June last year.

Last Monday, Newry Crown Court heard that Politi was at a party and ended up in bed beside his victim who Judge Kerr said was drunk and in essence, unconscious.

For whatever reason, but not for any lawful reason, he took advantage of that, said the judge who outlined that Politi took off both his and the sleeping victims lower clothing before grinding himself against her and touching her private parts.

This activity was seen by another lady who was there and she challenged him and as a result, he left, said the judge.

Lodging his plea in mitigation, defence QC Dessie Hutton said the offence was entirely out of character for Politi whose time spent on remand in Maghaberry had been difficult as he had the subject of abuse in prison.

While he submitted that there had been some encouragement from the victim and that Politi had been reckless when he misread the signs, Judge Kerr was scathing and told the senior barrister the gravamen of this case isnt that he misread the signals, the gravamen of this case is that this girl was dead to the world and asleep when he did this.

He deliberately chose to sexually assault her when she wasnt in a position to give consent, thats intentional, not reckless, declared the judge.

While prosecuting counsel Fiona OKane had applied for a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, and Hutton argued that was not necessary as Politi is a low risk of further offences and there are no safeguarding issues.

Although Judge Kerr declined to impose a SOPO, he did impose a restraining order barring Politi from contacting his victim and ordered him to sign the police sex offenders register for ten years.
Orla Murphy and Oxford University student Zachery Lumley, both from Co Cork were each fined 2,000

Two Extinction Rebellion activists have been spared jail for an audacious live-streamed graffiti attack at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.

Orla Murphy, 21, with an address at Ballinacarrig, Whitechurch, Co. Cork and 23-year-old Oxford University biology student Zachery Lumley, from South Lodge Ballinlough, Cork City, were each fined 2,000, and both must pay 2,000 in compensation to the State before December 1.

Gardai arrested them on the afternoon of March 19 last year.

Orla Murphy

They were charged with criminal damage at Simon Coveneys department building, Iveagh House, St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.

Lumley filmed as Murphy splattered and sprayed red and pink paint on the front of the building.

Posters were also stuck to the wall of the building, and the incident caused 4,300 worth of damage.

They pleaded not guilty at Dublin District Court and used a "lawful excuse" defence based on a sincerely-held beliefs their actions were necessary to protect lives at risk from the climate crisis.

However, on Tuesday, Judge John Hughes rejected their points and held it was "an audacious and shocking act which did cause damage to one of the finest buildings in the country".

He said they acted in a joint enterprise. Convicting them, he held they live-streamed the premeditated 10-minute incident "to get notoriety and publicity". He noted that public members were shocked by what they saw and attempted to intervene to no avail.

Zachary Lumley

Arresting gardai Philip Farrissey and Paul Cummins told the court they received reports of the incident and arrested the pair at the scene. Statements were taken from shocked eyewitnesses. Murphy told one of them that spray painting was the only way "to get the message out" about the planet's future.

Gardai obtained CCTV evidence from the building and seized Murphy's paint-stained clothing, and Lumley's shoes also had matching paint underneath.

Garda Farrissey said Lumley filmed and "egged on" Murphy, who also had paint tins in her backpack.

He asked them why and was told it was about climate change. There had been a letter-writing petition to the Department of Foreign Affairs, "but nothing came of that".

Zachery Lumley told the court he had been terrified of the climate crisis since he was 10 when he obsessively began switching off taps and lights. He said he had become a member of Extinction Rebellion and other environmental groups.

He explained that they chose Simon Coveney's department because Ireland was on the UN security council, which has a role in preventing loss of life. But he maintained that "climate change is the greatest risk to human life".

Murphy, who has completed two years in a media course, told the court she learned about protesting and civil resistance first in school and later from books. She believed throwing paint was a proportionate form of "direct action" due to the number of people dying due to the climate crisis.

Cross-examined, they disagreed with the prosecution that their actions would not have protected anyone.

The State also submitted that the defence argument was a vandals charter.

They had no prior convictions.

Pleading for leniency, defence counsel Katie Glennon said the defendants had suffered from depression but had bright futures and caused no permanent damage.

Lumley, who works part-time in a restaurant, offered to pay the cost of repairs and to stay away from "more radical elements".
Mum-of-one Kirstie Reynolds (31) forwarded images she was sent on Whatsapp of a catalogue of cars

Kirstie Reynolds (31) forwarded images she was sent on Whatsapp of a catalogue of cars that had originated on the garda PULSE system and was part of an investigation.

Judge Treasa Kelly adjourned the case at Dublin District and said she would apply the Probation Act if Reynolds paid 200 to charity.

Reynolds, a mother-of-one of Barnewalls Way, Drimnagh, Dublin, pleaded guilty to disclosing personal details under the Data Protection Act on May 14, 2020.

The case was heard previously and came back before Judge Kelly for finalisation. The court heard the accused had no prior convictions.

Defence solicitor Tony Collier said the gardai had accepted there was no intention on the part of his client to use this material in any nefarious manner.

Reynolds, who was also a hospital worker, had limited means and lived in private rented accommodation, Mr Collier said.

Judge Kelly told her to pay 200 to the Society of St Vincent De Paul. Remanding Reynolds on continuing bail to October 24, she said she would dismiss the charge under the Probation Act if this was done.

Kirstie Reynolds

Previously, Detective Garda Michael Dunne of the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) said three screenshots from PULSE were sent to Reynolds, who then sent them on to a friend.

The court heard she did not have a criminal intention to undermine an investigation and it would have been obvious that the images came from the garda computer system.

Det Gda Dunne was satisfied Reynolds would not know the identity of the information originator. The source of the pictures was the subject of a "larger investigation".

The images contained information about a "catalogue of cars" on an individual's profile and their date of birth and address.

Reynolds had seen the images as "salacious information" and it did not benefit the person who received it or give anyone an advantage over gardai.

She was foolish and should have deleted the message instead, Mr Collier said.

The investigation resulted in a "large file", but his client had entered an early guilty plea without seeking disclosure.

Reynolds worked full-time and did not associate with negative peers, Mr Collier said. She was a member of "a prominent gym", helped others with fitness and was "a brand ambassador for a certain fitness clothing line".
Kenneth McDonald (56), of Wexford town had complained he did not receive a fair trial

A paedophile who complained he did not receive a fair trial after he was found guilty of raping his then girlfriend's seven-year-old sister has failed in his bid to have his conviction quashed.

Kenneth McDonald (56), of Wexford town, had pleaded not guilty to the rape and indecent assault of the girl at locations in Co Wexford on dates between January 1987 and November 1994.

However, a jury found him guilty following a trial at the Central Criminal Court and in October 2019 he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by Mr Justice Alex Owens.

McDonald later launched an appeal against his conviction on the grounds that the judge had interrupted the cross-examination of the complainant more than 200 times.

His lawyers argued that constant interruptions by Mr Justice Owens as his barrister questioned the complainant meant he did not receive a fair trial.

It was further claimed that the trial judge had erred in refusing a defence request to provide the jury with a corroboration warning before asking them to consider their verdict.

A corroboration warning may be given by a judge to a jury to highlight the dangers of convicting a defendant on the basis of uncorroborated evidence.

But in a judgement issued on Monday, the appeal was dismissed.

At the Court of Appeal, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy  sitting with Mr Justice John Edwards, presiding, and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy  said the trial judge had intervened in proceedings in order to clarify questions, either of the judges own volition or where the witness indicated she did not understand the question asked or where counsel asked several questions rolled into a single question, or in order to ensure questions were posed with accuracy.

But the three-judge court, Ms Justice Kennedy said, did not consider that the interventions by the judge in the present case rendered the trial unfair.

Regarding the refusal by the judge to provide a corroboration warning, Ms Justice Kennedy noted that Section 7 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 vests a discretion in the trial judge as to the necessity for a corroboration warning.

Where a trial judge has a discretion to exercise, an appellate court will be slow to intervene unless it is apparent that the discretion has been incorrectly exercised, she commented.

It is apparent that the trial judge was very conscious of the fact that he had a discretion and he carefully and conscientiously exercised that discretion, the judge added as she dismissed the appeal.

At a hearing in March, John Peart SC, for McDonald, said he only became aware of the extent of the judges interruptions after he studied the transcript of the trial, which he said speaks for itself.

Mr Peart said he didnt want to cast aspersions on the trial judge, and had wanted to stay out of the fray, but he believed it correct to bring the matter before this court and for this court to decide.

Michael Delaney SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said no one from the defence had raised any issues regarding the extent of the judges interruptions during the trial.

A number of the interventions were completely innocuous and were simply the trial judge asking the witness to repeat what she said because he hadnt heard her clearly, Mr Delaney said.

At the sentence hearing in October 2019, Mr Justice Owens said that it was clear from the evidence that McDonald had a paedophilic sexual interest in the victim which had left her terrified.

In a victim impact statement the victim, who had waived her right to anonymity, told the court the abuse destroyed her childhood and has haunted her adulthood.

I felt terrorised in my childhood bedrooms, in ways I cannot describe, my words would do no justice to the devastation it caused. My family life, my relationships, my education and my career have all suffered immensely as a result, she said.

She described feelings of rage, fear, shame and confusion and a feeling that her body was not her own.

My sense of self and self-worth was taken from me, she said. She finished her statement by saying I may always be this victim but I am also a survivor.

Garda Ian Doyle told the court that the first incident occurred in the summertime shortly after the victim had started primary school.

The man came into the child's bedroom in the evening time, lay her face down on the bed and put his hand inside her clothes. He molested her, telling the child you will enjoy it.

On another occasion at a similar time, the man again entered the child's room in the evening time and raped her.

The court heard the father of two sexually assaulted the girl in her bedroom when she was aged ten. He later molested her in his own home while she was babysitting his baby child.

The final sexual assault occurred when the victim was around 13 or 14. She was cleaning her brother's car when McDonald came up behind her and put his hand up her shorts.

McDonald had given evidence during the trial that he had never been upstairs in the victim's house unless accompanied by her sister and that the victim had never babysat for them.
Apart from a small number of dissident Republican criminals, the Ballyfermot area is also a significant base for drug gangs such as The Family and the Dee Dee ODriscoll crew.

There has been no arrests so far in the case which is being investigated by Ballyfermot gardai but a senior source said today that a prominent line in the investigation is that the items were connected to terrorism rather than gangland crime.

The weapon was in very good condition and it was seized at a location in which there are no particular links to any groupings, a senior source said.

Gardai are keeping an open mind on this and the matter will be investigated thoroughly, the source added.

Gardai announced details of the seizure this morning.

Gardai have seized a firearm and ammunition following an intelligence led operation in the Ballyfermot area of Dublin 10 on Monday morning, 11th July 2022, a spokesman said.

The search, which was carried out by the Detective Unit attached to Ballyfermot Garda Station, led to the discovery of an Uzi machine gun, two magazines and a silencer.

All of the seized items will now be sent to the Garda Technical Bureau for further examination. No arrests have been made. Investigations ongoing, he added.

Speaking about yesterdays seizure, Superintendent Anthony Twomey of Clondalkin Garda Station remarked: "This is another example of the excellent work being carried out by members of An Garda Siochana in the Ballyfermot area who are committed to keeping the people of Ireland safe.

Apart from a small number of dissident Republican criminals, the Ballyfermot area is also a significant base for drug gangs such as The Family and the Dee Dee ODriscoll crew.

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There has been a major decrease in arrests for terrorist related offences in recent years.

According to an official Department of Justice report arrests for this type of offence dropped from rom 182 in the year ending May 2016 to 34 in the year ending May 2021.

So far this year there has been just seven arrests for these type of offences which are normally investigated by the Special Detective Unit (SDU).

The report also stated that dissident Republicans remain active in this State, carrying out fundraising and planning and preparatory activities to support attacks in Northern Ireland.

The annual report was published on the operation of the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 which brought in a number of stricter measures against dissident suspects after the Omagh Bomb attack which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
A garda spokesman said todays search was part of an international effort to tackle organised crime gangs.

Officers at the scene of today's search in Lanzarote. Photo: An Garda Siochana

A close associate of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch was the target of a joint police operation in Spain, the Sunday World can reveal.

Earlier today, a team of Irish detectives searched the residence of an Irish citizen in Lanzarote suspected of involvement in in an organised crime gang based in Spain.

Sources have revealed that specialist officers from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation have been working with Spanish detectives in an investigation into illegal travel documents.

The investigation has been ongoing for a number of months and gardai said the search was a result of an ongoing intelligence led operation.

There were no arrests in today's searches but a number of electronic devices were seized for examination.

The Lanzarote property targeted today in the joint operation is not the home where 'The Monk' had been living in recent years living before the outbreak of the Hutch/Kinahan feud

However, it is believed the property has been used by one of Hutchs close junior associates.

A garda spokesman said todays search was part of an international effort to tackle organised crime gangs.

An Garda Siochana conducted a search operation in Spain this morning in conjunction with European partner services as part of an ongoing commitment to tackle international organised crime gangs.

This morning, Tuesday, 12th July 2022, as a result of an ongoing intelligence led operation by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, a team of Irish detectives searched the residence of an Irish citizen residing in Lanzarote, Spain who is suspected of involvement in an organised crime gang based in Spain.

The search was a result of international cooperation between An Garda Siochana and the Spanish Guardia Civil, specifically the elite Unidad Central Especial Numero 3 de la Jefatura de Informacion (UCE3 - Central Intelligence Unit of the Guardia Civil) and with the assistance of the Grupo de Informacion de Las Palmas (Regional Intelligence Unit of Las Palmas (Regional Intelligence Unit of Las Palmas).
Antoinette Smith went missing following a David Bowie concert in 1987. Her remains were discovered at Glendoo Mountain

Gardai have issued a renewed appeal for information in connection with the murder of Antoinette Smith, a young mother-of-two, who went missing following a David Bowie concert in 1987.

Ms Smiths remains were discovered at Glendoo Mountain, near the Lemass monument close to Glencree/Enniskerry, on April 3, 1988.

In a statement issued on Monday, a garda spokesperson said gardai at Bray garda station are investigating the murder of Ms Smith who was from Clondalkin in Dublin.

On Saturday 11th July, 1987, Antoinette and a friend attended the David Bowie concert at Slane, Co Meath, the spokesperson said.

They returned to Dublin by bus, arriving at Parnell Square at around 11pm. They went to the La Mirage Discotheque on Parnell Street. While in the club they met two men that they knew.

They joined the mens company and remained with them until they all left shortly after 2am. Antoinettes friend parted company when they left the club.

"Antoinette remained for some time and spoke to the two men until all three walked the short distance to the taxi rank on OConnell Street.

The men got a taxi to the Ballymun area, while Antoinette continued to walk by the Gresham Hotel on OConnell Street towards OConnell Street Bridge.

Ms Smith was subsequently reported missing to gardai by her husband. She remained missing for nine months until her remains were discovered at Glendoo Mountain.

She was a mother of two young daughters, Lisa and Rachel, who were aged seven and three respectively at the time of her disappearance.

It is now 35 years since Antoinette Smith was last seen on OConnell Street, Co Dublin.

Gardai are appealing to those who may have information since 1987, or who have come into possession of information in the intervening years to come forward.

The spokesperson said gardai urge individuals, who more than 30 years on, may want to come forward to do so, especially if relationships or associations may have changed over the years.

Gardai are anxious to assure the public that they will treat anyone assisting the investigation in a sensitive manner, the statement concluded.

Anyone with information can contact gardai in Bray at 01 666 5300, or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
He told the court, which was attended by the victims mother, Therese, that he expected to be able to schedule a date for the full hearing of the inquest into Mr Fowlers death when the case comes up for mention in October.

A Garda investigation into the gangland murder of Eric Fowler in the driveway of his home in west Dublin four years ago is near completion, an inquest has been told.

Inspector Liam Donoghue told a sitting of Dublin District Coroners Court that a file in relation to the killing of Mr Fowler was expected to be ready within the next four weeks.

However, it is understood that nobody is likely to face criminal charges arising out of the fatal shooting.

Mr Fowler (34) died after being ambushed by one or more gunmen who shot him several times, including once in the head, as he got out of his car after arriving back at his home in Blakestown Cottages, Coolmine on December 22, 2018.

A car which is believed to have been used as a getaway vehicle by his killers was found burnt out a short distance away at Rusheeney Green in Clonsilla.

Mr Fowler had links to the Kinahan cartel, although he had family connections which linked him to both sides of the Hutch-Kinahan feud.

He is believed to have been the 18th victim of the deadly feud between the two criminal gangs which began with the murder of Gary Hutch in Spain in 2015 by the Kinahan cartel.

The father of two had been investigated for his suspected role in organised crime before his death but he had never been charged with a serious offence.

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Mr Fowler, who operated a car wash and valeting business near his home in Coolmine, had been warned on at least two occasions by gardai that his life was in danger.

Insp Donoghue sought and was granted an adjournment of the inquest into the death by the coroner, Aisling Gannon.

He told the court, which was attended by the victims mother, Therese, that he expected to be able to schedule a date for the full hearing of the inquest into Mr Fowlers death when the case comes up for mention in October.

Last year, Mr Fowlers father, Stephen was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for his role in the attempted murder by the Kinahan cartel of rival Hutch gang member, James Mago Gately.

Fowler (62) was convicted by the non-jury, Special Criminal Court after he pleaded guilty to a single charge of having knowledge of a criminal organisation and enhancing its ability to commit a serious offence, namely the murder of James Gately, on dates between December 7, 2016 and April 4, 2017.

The court heard that Fowler had collected an Estonian assassin, Imre Arakas, who was brought to Ireland to murder Gately, from a hotel in Dublin city centre and brought him to his home at Blakestown Cottages where both men were arrested.
The drugs bust was made in the airport yesterday after a man disembarked a flight having travelled to Ireland from Brazil via Germany

Two Dublin Airport workers are being quizzed on suspicion of drug trafficking after gardai seized over 1m worth of cocaine.

The drugs bust was made in the airport yesterday after a man disembarked a flight having travelled to Ireland from Brazil via Germany.

Its understood that gardai swooped on the suspects when the drug consignment was picked up in a toilet after being transported into the country.

TheSunday World has learned that two of the men in custody are Dublin Airport workers who are employed through a third party contractor.

The DAA confirmed that none of its employees were involved in the incident.

A third man detained is the individual who flew into Dublin. He is understood to be a Brazilian national.

Read more Three men quizzed after more than 1.1m worth of cocaine is seized at Dublin Airport

The suspects are currently being held at Blanchardstown and Coolock garda stations in the capital.

They are being detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 and can be questioned for up to seven days.

After that period of detention expires they must either be charged or released from custody pending a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

A Garda spokesman said: The seizure was made as a result of a joint operation conducted by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), Revenues Customs Service. Assistance was also provided by law enforcement agencies in Germany and South America.

The spokesman added that investigations are ongoing.

Detectives are attempting to establish if the drugs are linked to the Kinahan cartel or another major Irish-based crime group.

They will also try and determine how long the suspected smuggling ring has been operating for.

Last March, a 33-year-old Irishman travelling a similar route was arrested after 15kg of cocaine was found in his luggage in Zurich.

He had flown from Sao Paulo to the Swiss city, and intended to travel onwards to Dublin via Frankfurt before being detained.

Gardai are investigating any potential connections between the two incidents but no links have yet been confirmed.

In recent years gardai have increased their international cooperation with police forces across the globe by posting garda liaison officers in various countries.

This included sending a senior detective to the Colombian capital Bogota to assist in the investigations of transnational drug trafficking from South America.

In a separate seizure on Monday, also carried out by the GNDOCB and Revenue, almost 7m worth of cannabis was seized following an operation at a business premises at Ballyhale, Co Kilkenny

Two English nationals, aged in their 30s and 40s, remain in garda custody in relation to the seizure for drug trafficking offences.
Garda search | Uzi machine gun, magazines and silencer seized in Ballyfermot arms raid

This is another example of the excellent work being carried out by members of An Garda Siochana in the Ballyfermot area

The Uzi machine-gun seized in Garda raid

Sunday World Tue 12 Jul 2022 at 11:57







An Uzi machine gun, two magazines and a silencer were seized in Ballyfermot yesterday morning in what gardai described as an intelligence-led operation.
Women must feel looked after and have faith in the justice system

An Italian court has reportedly acquitted a man of rape after it ruled that the woman leaving her toilet door open was an invitation and gave him hope.

The incident was said to have happened in the toilet of a bar in Turin in 2019. The woman asked the man to show her where the bathroom was, left the door ajar, and asked him to pass her some tissue, according to local newspaper CronacaQui.

The man was originally convicted for sexual assault but the Court of Appeal has overturned the conviction after finding the alleged victim gave him hope by her actions.

The womans deposition had previously said she had repeatedly said no and what the f*** are you doing?, according to Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.

The ruling has sparked outrage across Italy, with politicians slamming the decision.

Maria Edera Spadoni, vice-president of the Five Star Movement, said the fight against gender-based violence risked being undermined by such rulings.

Women must feel looked after and have faith in the justice system, she tweeted.

Laura Ravetto from the right-wing League party discussed the case in parliament, saying it was unacceptable.

Meanwhile Amnesty Italia said the ruling showed stereotypes continue to exist in the halls of justice.

The 25-year-old man had previously been sentenced to two years and two months for in 2021.

The Court of Appeal has now reportedly referred to these events in its decision to overturn the conviction.

We cannot exclude the possibility that the young woman had given the man hope, getting him to accompany her to the bathroom, pass her some tissue, keeping the door half-open, an opening certainly read by the accused as an invitation to go ahead.

It comes just several years after a court in Turin acquitted a man of rape because the woman did not scream.
A total of 125 other members of the gang were locked up on various charges

Korey Lee Smith was a high ranking member of the Irish Mob

Korey Lee Smith (33) from Stillwater, Oklahoma was handed down a 15-year prison sentence on charges of conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine.

The jury trial came to an unexpected end in May after he suddenly and unexpectedly decided to plead guilty to the charge that carried a possible sentence of life behind bars.

At sentencing, Smith told Payne County District Judge Phillip Corley that joining the Irish mob was the biggest mistake of his life.

Looking at my past, you may not think I deserve mercy. Ive been to prison three times. I made the biggest mistake of my life  I joined the Irish Mob prison gang. In these gang units, I get deeper, he said.

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I dont want to be associated with the Irish Mob. Allow me at least to get a program where I get classes to overcome my addiction. I know I look bad on paper.

Judge Corley told him that he understands his predicament and sentenced him to 15 years for the meth conspiracy charge as well as a concurrent 10 years for possession with intent to distribute.

He was also given a further one-year jail term for driving while suspended.

Korey Smith was arrested on December 3rd 2020 after he was stopped by police.

It came after they received intelligence that he was staying in different hotels and selling meth.

During a search of his person, $1,050 was found in his wallet. A further search of his motel room led to the discovery of drug paraphernalia and a large zip-lock gallon bag with a small residue of the drug.

An affidavit revealed details from a police interview in which Korey discussed his role within the Irish Mob.

Lil Korey told the officers that he is on the council for the mob and is in charge of all business in the 405 area code.

He got involved with the gang and trafficked drugs for them as part of his initiation. He also stabbed someone in county jail in a bid to get his Shamrock, official membership in the gang.

Korey told me he was involved in stabbing a member of the Aryan Brotherhood in the Cimarron Correctional Facility resulting in the inmates death, because the inmate hurt a child, the police officer stated in the affidavit.

Korey said the charges were dropped because a video of the assault was released on YouTube and it was decided an impartial jury would be impossible to find.

He also gave officers access to his phone and sat with them as they sifted through his text messages, many of which showed how he facilitated the movement of large amounts of methamphetamine.

Smith was previously convicted of four counts of attempted conjoint robbery, three counts of kidnapping and one count of first-degree burglary in 2009 for which he served a three-year jail term.

He also served a further 19 months behind bars when he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute a drug in 2018.

In April, 125 people were convicted for drug trafficking and other criminal activities as part of an investigation into the Irish Mob.

The prison gang were subject to a five-year state-wide investigation which resulted in the defendants being convicted across multiple federal cases.

READ MORE:125 people convicted after mass investigation into Irish mob gang in US prison

READ MORE:Man cleared of rape in Italy after woman gave him hope by leaving bar toilet door open

READ MORE:Gardai seize cannabis worth estimated 6.9m and arrest two men in Co Kilkenny

Crimes for which they were convicted included drug trafficking, drug conspiracy, money laundering, witness retaliation, witness tampering, maintaining drug premises, illegal firearms possession, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia and more.

The head of the gang, David Postelle (39), ran the drug trafficking ring from his maximum security state prison cell using contraband phones.

He was sentenced to life in prison for his part in the cartel.

113 of the other defendants were collectively sentenced to 1,350 years in federal prison, seven lower-level defendants collectively received 33 years of probation, and two defendants received 15 years of deferred sentences.
Street battle | Shocking video showing bare-chested men brawling in Galway is probed by gardai
Gardai said they were alerted to the scene at around 7.30pm on Burrow Beach in Sutton

Gardai said they were alerted to the scene at around 7.30pm on Burrow Beach in Sutton, when the teen was removed from the water.

He was taken to Beaumont Hospital and then later to CHI at Temple Street in Dublin, where he later passed away, a garda spokesman said.

It is understood the alarm was raised after the boy got into difficulty while swimming with a friend.

The Coast Guard was involved in the rescue operation and the boy was airlifted to Beaumont Hospital before being transferred to CHI at Temple Street in Dublin, where he later died.

A Coast Guard spokesman said the second boy was rescued from the water by lifeguards and members of the public.
There's no way you are stopping, she told us

A couple take a selfie photograph in front of the completed Loyalist bonfire in Craigyhill which is claiming a new world record on July 11, 2022 in Larne (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)   Getty Images

John Steele, a father aged in his 30s, was confirmed by the PSNI to be assisting in the building of the bonfire when he died after falling in Antiville, Larne on Saturday night.

The bonfire was dismantled on Sunday night and a vigil was held in respect of the deceased.

Builders of the nearby Craigyhill bonfire last night revealed they had been planning to call off the attempt to build the worlds highest bonfire following the incident until Mr Steeles mother contacted those involved, the Irish News reports.

We all knew him up here and that's why we had a meeting and were going to pull the plug on it, a spokesman said.

She told us we had to go on and beat the record. 'There's no way you are stopping', she told us herself, that there was no way we were allowed to stop, we had to do it for him.

The Craigyhill bonfire was measured today using lasers and a drone and stands at 202.3 ft high, beating the current world record at 198ft, which was built in Austria more than 3 years ago.

It is expected to be topped out by a 45ft beacon and platform before being lit tonight.

The spokesman said the bonfire will now be dedicated to Mr Steele.

He added that Mr Steele had been involved in building his local bonfire for years and years.

It's unfortunate, it's a tragic accident, what happened, our condolences go to the family, he said.

The spokesman stressed that safety was a top priority after concerns were raised about the structure last week.

We were harnessed up here, the safety up here is paramount, and that's the reason why, he added.

Mr Steeles death has shocked the loyalist community in Larne over the past few days.

Speaking during their morning service on Sunday, Craigy Hill Presbyterian Church minister Ben Preston told those gathered: I am sure you have heard the tragic news of what happened last night.

"Our deepest condolences are with the family and indeed with the whole community. We will be here for you, we will be all too pleased to read God's word, to pray and to offer a cup of tea.

We will plan for something maybe here in the afternoon, to offer ministry at the bonfire. I understand from council they are going to be taking the bonfire down which is wholly appropriate.

"We are numb and we are in shock at such an accident and such a tragedy. Continue to hold the family, the community and each other here in your prayers.

Ulster Unionist Party MLA John Stewart said it was tragic news for the area.

"My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the mans family, friends and the entire community at this really difficult time, he said.

This was a terrible accident and the local community will rally round to give the family as much support as possible.

I would appeal to everyone to cooperate with the investigation into what happened.

Meanwhile, other bonfires across Northern Ireland paid tribute to the man, including oragnisers of the Craigyhill bonfire, who wrote on social media: It is with deepest sympathy the tragedy that happened tonight to a fellow bonfire builder in the Antiville estate in Larne.

It is with his family wishes that the Craigyhill bonfire carries on and beats the world record in his memory.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his immediate family circle.
For the first time in almost 40 years, the man who used to fly the McDonalds Taupo DC-3 has climbed back in the cockpit - and it will be fair to say a small tear ran down his cheek.

The popular plane is usually locked but the McDonalds franchisees made an exception for Neville Worsley, who had a flying career that spanned more than six decades and included being torpedoed out the windscreen of a topdressing plane.

Before Friday, the last time Worsley had sat at the controls of ZK-CAW was when it was a top dresser in 1983, though hed visited it at McDonald's a few times.

The aircraft has a colourful history which includes wartime service, crop spraying and being on display in a car yard.

Neville says he loved flying DC-3s, doing more than 7000 hours in them during his time as a pilot for Fieldair, and it felt wonderful to be back in one.

Now 82 years old, Neville says he started flying Tiger Moths as a 16-year-old and spent his life flying as a top dressing pilot, instructor and tourist pilot  and has loved every minute of it.

Ive been very fortunate that my favourite hobby turned into a career, its just amazing.

The DC-3 was my favourite, Ive never heard anyone speak badly about them. They were great, low maintenance, easy to control and were just a lovely aircraft to fly.

He says his visit to McDonalds Taupo brought back memories of his old mates and the fun they all had.

Neville has written a book about his aviation exploits called Tiger Moths to Topdressing DC-3s, dedicating it to fellow top dressing pilots who died doing their jobs.

Unfortunately theres too many to mention, I lost quite a few mates in accidents over the years.

He had his fair share of mishaps, he says, the worst being when he ploughed into dense bush while flying a Fletcher top dressing aeroplane near Pahiatua in the Wairarapa.

I was unconscious for six to eight hours and came to outside still wearing my harness  I got torpedoed out the windscreen into the bush.

I ended up with a concussion and a few scratches, but no broken bones. I guess I was a bit lucky that day.

Born and bred in Taranaki, Neville did most of his flying outside the district and spent about 20 years in Rotorua as an instructor and part owner and operator of White Island Airways.

He moved back to Stratford to retire with his wife but still continues to fly his own homebuilt aircraft and both of his sons are also qualified pilots.

Many Kiwis will have seen the vintage aircraft outside McDonalds Taupo, but few will know its rich history.

McDonalds Taupo franchisee Eileen Byrne says she's very protective of their world-famous DC3, and it's a real treat to sit and talk with a former pilot.

We get enthusiasts from all over the world come to see it. We had to lock the cockpit in the end because people would try and steal the knobs and things from inside.

Eileen says their DC-3 was instrumental in McDonalds Taupo being named the Worlds Coolest McDonalds back in 2013.

The history of the aircraft is as colourful as the people who flew her ,but in a nutshell, it rolled off the production line in California in October 1943 and saw service in the Pacific until the end of World War II before being sold to Australian National Airways in 1947.

It eventually made its way to New Zealand in December 1961, was registered as ZK-CAW and flew as part of the South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand fleet.

ZK-CAW also flew as a mail carrier before it was bought by Fieldair and converted into a crop sprayer and top dresser in 1971.

The DC-3 was finally withdrawn from service in October 1984 after completing a total of 56,282 flying hours.

It arrived in Taupo in 1989 after being bought by former Taupo mayor Rick Cooper who displayed it in his car yard, and when McDonalds Taupo expanded in 1990 it was made part of the restaurant and has remained there ever since.

-Stuff/Matthew Martin.
The Department of Conservation has underspent its budget for kauri dieback mitigation by $5.7 million over the past seven years.

But the department says it will continue with kauri protection work, with projects this year including more track upgrades, disease surveillance and developing a national pig strategy.

Kauri are one of the largest and longest-lived tree species in the world but they are threatened by a fungus-like pathogen, Phytophthora agathidicida or PA, which causes fatal kauri dieback.

The pathogen is invisible to the naked eye and can be spread in less than a pinhead of soil.

The Department of Conservation has prioritised kauri protection since PA was first identified as a problem in 2008 and it has received dedicated funding for this work since 2015, plant pathogens team says manager Carol Rolando.

The majority of funding had gone to help stop the spread of PA on conservation land, such as building boardwalks, new track surfacing and installing hygiene stations.

Some tracks and parks have had to close because mitigation work is too difficult and expensive, she says.

From July 2014 to June 2021, the department had a budget of $28.9m for kauri dieback mitigation, but it only spent $23.2m, according to information received under the Official Information Act.

Ben Reddiex, DOCs director operations issues and programmes, says the $5.7m underspend is mainly due to the challenge of finding contractors prepared to do track upgrade work to the required standard, particularly in 2016 to 2018.

Track upgrades and maintenance also could not be done in wet and muddy conditions due to the water-borne nature of PA, he says.

The remote locations of track work, additional hygiene and building requirements for working with kauri dieback and unfavourable weather delayed or prevented work from proceeding.

The money spent included $9.9m on capital works like building boardwalks, upgrading tracks with materials to protect kauri roots, installing hygiene stations, fencing and signs.

A further $5.5m was spent on cleaning, repairing and refilling the hygiene stations and maintaining track surfaces.

Other operational costs included $1.2m on kauri ambassadors, who educate the public about kauri protection in local communities and at track entrances.

A further $1.8m was spent specifically on Northlands Waipoua Forest  which includes the iconic Tane Mahuta  for ambassador programmes there, pig control, monitoring and disease surveillance.

Reddiex says some kauri protection work could not be specifically costed, such as ranger time, track inspectors, technical specialists or manager time.

The department was developing a business case for further track upgrades and work under way this year included developing a national pig strategy, developing guidelines for road construction in kauri lands, a research scholarship and other kauri protection, he says.

Snow Tane, general manager of Te Roroa iwi which is kaitiaki for Waipoua Forest, says Te Roroa is grateful for the resources DOC has put into Waipouas kauri dieback programme.

Should they be investing more? Yep, and there is a project [application] currently under way, but its only for a specific amount, he says.

Snow believes Waipoua received extra attention because it's Aotearoas largest kauri forest and contains some of the countrys largest trees, like Tane Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere.

Te Roroa had also developed its programme, so it could provide clarity on what money is spent on, he says.

A National Pest Management Plan for PA is set to be launched in August, managed by Biosecurity New Zealands newly formed Tiakina Kauri (Kauri Protection) agency.

-Stuff/Denise Piper.
The Health Minister says he has heard the "despairing comments" doctors have made and insists the government is responding to the very difficult situation in healthcare.

A survey of 900 doctors by the Women in Medicine Charitable Trust found clinicians overwhelmingly agreed there is a healthcare workforce crisis.

The Trust called on political leaders to acknowledge that there is a workforce crisis and a need for immediate innovative solutions on retention, recruitment and equity in all areas of healthcare.

Health Minister Andrew Little says he acknowledges the "really tough winter" after two years of pandemic and it's continuing work to fill staffing gaps.

"We have a chronic staffing shortage and we are having one of the worst winters we have ever had because of Covid ... because of the flu season we are having at the moment," Little told Morning Report.

The workforce is also stretched thinly as staff themselves are ill.

"In terms of the long-standing staff shortages the work is ongoing to full those gaps. Nothing stops in that respect - that work continues.

"I acknowledge that this is a really tough winter and this comes on the back of two tough years of responding to and dealing with Covid where the workforce has been stretched really thinly.

"I saw the quite despairing comments [in the survey] ... I get that, I hear that, I understand that."

In the last five years the government had added 5500 doctors and nurses to the public health system, made record investment in this year's Budget, and changed the health system, he said.

"I have confidence the people who are leading the system now, the initiatives that are put in place are addressing the very issues that were raised in yesterday's report."

In its letter to the Little and other leaders, the Trust says its survey discovered many doctors are working in unsafe conditions with widespread understaffing and under-resourcing.

The pandemic had exposed long-standing staffing issues rather than being the cause, it says.

Comments in the survey revealed the toll this is taking on staff, GP and Trust chair Dr Orna McGinn told Checkpoint.

"It was very upsetting to read some doctors describing themselves as broken or feeling that they had to leave their jobs, some had already left their job."

There's not a single specialty which is not suffering a crisis in workforce staffing, McGinn says, and denying it is a crisis would be "gaslighting our patients" who are waiting for appointments and surgery.

Little says the government has put in additional resources to deal with many difficult situations during the pandemic.

"I was asked to declare a crisis in ED in April last year, I was asked to declare a crisis in ICU in the middle of last year. I was asked to declare a crisis when Delta broke out and people had to be stretched between vaccinations and responding to Delta, I was asked to declare a crisis when Omicron came about and we had care in the community and people being stretched thinly.

"We put additional resources into all of those things, we got through those very, very difficult situations and yes it did mean people had really tough days at work tough weeks, tough months at work, I get that.

"I hear what the health practitioners are saying, and we responded to it, and we continue to respond to the current situation.

When asked if there was no way out of this? Little says absolutely not, "there is a way through it".

The survey of 911 people was evenly across primary and secondary care, and within secondary care 34 specialties were represented.

In the survey, 93.5 per cent said there was "definitely" a healthcare workforce crisis in New Zealand, and another six per cent said there was probably a crisis. Asked if there were currently any specific workforce issues in their workplace, 97 percent responded 'yes'.

-RNZ.
Today, the Ministry of Health is reporting 11,548 community cases, 710 current hospitalisations, and 19 deaths.

The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 9550.

Today's reported cases are a sharp increase on Monday, when 8395 Covid community cases were reported.

"Today we are sadly reporting the deaths of 19 people with Covid-19. All these deaths occurred in the past four days," says a spokesperson for the ministry.

"The Ministry of Health and Te Whatu Ora  Health NZ are closely monitoring the continued increase in Covid-19 positive hospitalisations as part of our ongoing review and updating of the response to the current community outbreak.

"The increase in hospitalisations also emphasises the importance of everybody doing the basics well to help New Zealand get through winter in good shape.

"In particular, people should stay home if they are unwell, take a rapid antigen test (RAT) and upload the result on MyCovidRecord, and isolate if positive or while still symptomatic.

"And now is the time to ensure you are up to date with your Covid-19 vaccinations, including those who are eligible for a second booster dose, as well as having a flu vaccination, which is free for many people."

With the increase in cases numbers, people are being urged to wear a mask when out in public.

"The more layers of protection we put in place - such as mask wearing, vaccinations, and staying home when sick - the more we reduce the risk of spreading respiratory viruses.

"Even if youre fully vaccinated, or have had Covid-19, continuing to wear a face mask is important in keeping you, your whanau and your community safe.

"As a general rule, we urge people to wear a mask in public indoor settings outside the home and in poorly ventilated spaces, or when it is hard to physically distance from other people.

"You must wear a mask on public transport and at transport hubs like airports and bus stations, inside public venues like museums and libraries, when visiting a health care service, and inside retail businesses like supermarkets and shopping malls."

The ministry says masking up is particularly important when around more vulnerable members of the community, especially those who are older, those in aged residential care and healthcare settings where appropriate.

It says wearing a mask also helps protect healthcare and aged residential care staff, reducing their chances of becoming unwell and supporting them to continue to provide care to those that need it.

"There are many tips to help reduce your chance of serious illness this winter."

See the information in the links below.

Covid-19 hospitalisations

Covid-19 Cases in hospital: total number 710: Northland: 16; Waitemata: 141; Counties Manukau: 59; Auckland: 85; Waikato: 58; Bay of Plenty: 36; Lakes: 9; Hawkes Bay: 25; MidCentral: 26; Whanganui: 13; Taranaki: 13; Tairawhiti: 4; Wairarapa: 11; Capital & Coast: 37; Hutt Valley: 27; Nelson Marlborough: 16; Canterbury: 78; West Coast: 2; South Canterbury: 17; Southern: 37.

Weekly COVID-19 Hospitalisations - 7 day rolling average: 613 (This time last week 436)

Average age of current COVID-19 hospitalisations: 64

Cases in ICU or HDU: 17

Vaccination status of new admissions to hospital*: Unvaccinated or not eligible (56 cases); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (79 cases); received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (339 cases).

*These are new hospital admissions in the past 7 days prior to yesterday who had Covid at the time of admission or while in hospital, excluding hospitalisations that were admitted and discharged within 24hrs. This data is from Districts with tertiary hospitals: Auckland, Canterbury, Southern, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Capital & Coast, Waitemata and Northland.

Covid-19 vaccinations administered

Vaccinations administered in New Zealand

Vaccines administered to date: 4,028,776 first doses; 3,981,373 second doses; 33,421 third primary doses; 2,689,610 first booster doses: 107,468 second booster doses: 264,762 paediatric first doses and 137,800 paediatric second doses

Vaccines administered yesterday: 35 first doses; 43 second doses; 51 third primary doses; 1,029 first booster doses; 16,507 second booster doses; 74 paediatric first doses and 618 paediatric second doses

More detailed information, including vaccine uptake by District, is available on the Ministry website.

Tests

Number of PCR tests total (last 24 hours): 3,336

Number of Rapid Antigen Tests reported total (last 24 hours): 19,414

PCR tests rolling average (last 7 days): 3,286

Number of Rapid Antigen Tests dispatched (last seven days as of 11 July 2022): 2.5 million

Covid-19 cases

Total number of new community cases: 11,548

Covid re-infection in community cases 435, of which 122 were cases between 29 and 90 days of a previous infection

Number of new cases that have recently travelled overseas: 311

Seven day rolling average of community cases: 9,550

Seven day rolling average of community cases (as at same day last week): 7,246

Number of active cases (total): 66,803 (cases identified in the past seven days and not yet classified as recovered)

Confirmed cases (total): 1,441,186

Location of new community cases by district over past 24 hours

Please note, the Ministry of Healths daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a District or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO.

Covid-19 deaths

Todays reported deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 1707 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 17.

Of the people whose deaths we are reporting today: one was from the Auckland region, three were from Bay of Plenty, one was from Taranaki, two were from Whanganui, one was from Hawke's Bay, four were from MidCentral, one was from Lakes, three were from the Wellington region, two were from Canterbury, and one was from Southern.

One was in their 40s, two were in their 60s, three were in their 70s, five were in their 80s and eight were aged over 90. Of these people, ten were women and nine were men.

"This is a very sad time for whanau and friends and our thoughts and condolences are with them. Out of respect, we will be making no further comment on todays reported deaths," says the ministry.
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Frontline and Euronav sign combination agreement to create global independent oil tanker operator

Transaction structured as a voluntary conditional registered exchange offer initiated between Frontline and Euronav

HAMILTON, Bermuda and ANTWERP, Belgium, 11 July 2022  Frontline Ltd. (FRO or Frontline) (NYSE: FRO - OSE: FRO) and Euronav NV (EURN or Euronav) (NYSE: EURN & Euronext: EURN) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive Combination Agreement for a stock-for-stock combination based on an exchange ratio of 1.45 Frontline-shares for every 1.0 Euronav-share (the Combination), which was unanimously approved by all the members of Frontline's Board of Directors and by all members of Euronav's Supervisory Board. The agreement memorialises the principal aspects of the previously announced term sheet that was signed on 7 April 2022. The combined group will create a leading global independent oil tanker owner and operator with the management, capabilities, resources and scale to successfully capitalise on the opportunities presented by the new era in the sustainable shipping industry. With its complementary platforms, financial strength and skills, the combined group will be particularly well placed to provide innovative, clean and sustainable oil shipping solutions in a highly competitive environment. The combination of the two organizations will create a single best-in-class, highly competent and experienced team. The enlarged fleet will enable the combined group to provide better service to customers on a global basis. Additionally, and in view of rapid technological changes, including digitalisation and new low carbon fuels adoption, the combined group will be able to mobilise more resources and achieve meaningful scale to meet these challenges and opportunities from the energy transition. Commenting on the transaction, Mr. John Fredriksen said: This transaction creates a clear market leader in the tanker market and will position the combined group for continued, sustainable shareholder value creation and the realisation of significant synergies. Frontline, with a fleet of 146 vessels, will be able to offer value enhancing services for our customers and increase fleet utilisation and revenues which will benefit all stakeholders. I am very excited and give my full support and commitment to this combined platform. Mr. Hugo de Stoop, CEO of Euronav said: The proposed Combination is a huge opportunity to take a leading position in the tanker industry as we seek to master the transition to a world of clean, safe and sustainable shipping. This transaction represents a unique opportunity to deliver substantially better service to our customers, enhanced returns to our shareholders, and to provide a unique platform where people can fully express their talents while advancing our ambitious sustainability strategy towards decarbonisation of the shipping industry. Mr. Lars H. Barstad, CEO of Frontline said: "Frontline believes this transaction will form a powerful combination at an exciting point in the cycle. We are amalgamating a strong operational, technical and commercial platform to enhance shareholder value."
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Authorised dealer workshop not allowing dashcam | What should I do?



Hyundai India is no longer the customer centric company that it used to be. It has now issued an official statement to its service centers that no photos or videos allowed inside. I even saw the internal circular in print. Why is this new rule being implemented and Could the below thread be the reason for this new rule?



https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showt...errerid=131749 (Kia dealer fraud caught on dashcam | Frontier Kia swaps headunit with demo car's)



I visited Chandra Hyundai, Coimbatore for getting my wife's Santro serviced yesterday. The ASM asked me to remove the dashcam if I need to get the car serviced. I politely refused & said that in case of any mishap to the vehicle during service the footage from dashcam acts as a evidence in the court of law as well as insurance companies in case of a claim. So I was taken to AGM Mr Suresh Kumar who was so arrogant & disrespectful and said this is a private property and you cannot film here using a dashcam. He also questioned my morality by saying that they have lady staff working in their concern and I might doctor the footage of the dashcam having them in the video feed and I might use it for other illegal purposes. My wife hearing this felt humiliated and asked me to remove the dashcam and leave their premises leaving the car for service. There was a point where Mr. Suresh was implying remove the dashcam and get your car serviced or take your car and leave as it's Chandra Hyundai's private property.



I tried reaching out to Hyundai Customer Service through call and twitter but it is being redirected to Chandra Hyundai CRM Mr. Shanmugam who doesn't seem to understand my concern at all. My trusted Vista's replacement next year was either i20 or Altroz but Hyundai themselves have solved my confusion. In 11 years of Vista & 7 years of XUV ownership never ever have I faced even a 10% of such harsh & rude treatment at their respective service centers.



Were any other fellow Hyundai car owners forced by your respective service centers to take off the dashcam in order to get the car serviced? I know Bhpians like to see pictures, snaps or pictorial description of things happening with our cars but unfortunately I won't be able to provide those in this post. Read on to know more.Hyundai India is no longer the customer centric company that it used to be. It has now issued an official statement to its service centers that no photos or videos allowed inside. I even saw the internal circular in print. Why is this new rule being implemented and Could the below thread be the reason for this new rule?I visited Chandra Hyundai, Coimbatore for getting my wife's Santro serviced yesterday. The ASM asked me to remove the dashcam if I need to get the car serviced. I politely refused & said that in case of any mishap to the vehicle during service the footage from dashcam acts as a evidence in the court of law as well as insurance companies in case of a claim. So I was taken to AGM Mr Suresh Kumar who was so arrogant & disrespectful and said this is a private property and you cannot film here using a dashcam. He also questioned my morality by saying that they have lady staff working in their concern and I might doctor the footage of the dashcam having them in the video feed and I might use it for other illegal purposes. My wife hearing this felt humiliated and asked me to remove the dashcam and leave their premises leaving the car for service. There was a point where Mr. Suresh was implying remove the dashcam and get your car serviced or take your car and leave as it's Chandra Hyundai's private property.I tried reaching out to Hyundai Customer Service through call and twitter but it is being redirected to Chandra Hyundai CRM Mr. Shanmugam who doesn't seem to understand my concern at all. My trusted Vista's replacement next year was either i20 or Altroz but Hyundai themselves have solved my confusion. In 11 years of Vista & 7 years of XUV ownership never ever have I faced even a 10% of such harsh & rude treatment at their respective service centers.Were any other fellow Hyundai car owners forced by your respective service centers to take off the dashcam in order to get the car serviced? Last edited by Gannu_1 : 11th July 2022 at 12:31 . Reason: Grammar; thru > through.
The big picture: The crypto winter spells terrible news for everyone who has built racks upon racks of mining rigs. For gamers, it creates the right conditions for a price war between retailers and miners. At least in China, GPU prices are dropping below MSRP across the board, and it's only a matter of time before this becomes a global trend.

Used graphics card prices fell 50 percent recently, primarily thanks to a sharp decline in cryptomining profitability. Companies like Asus have seen demand for GPUs used to mine Ethereum and other tokens diminish to the point where the impact on their bottom line is non-existent.

Analysts estimate that Ethereum miners spent around $15 billion over the past 18 months, grabbing more than a third of all available GPUs from Nvidia's RTX 3000 series and AMD's RX 6000 series. Now they're trying to sell them as fast as they can before prices reach a floor.

As one would expect, this has caused a flood of used Ampere and RDNA 2 cards on the second-hand market when retailers are sitting on healthy inventories of new cards. With next-gen graphics card launches on the horizon, gamers aren't rushing to buy current models, some of which are almost two years old.

In China, this is causing a price war between retailers and miners. Both have gradually lowered their prices over the past few weeks. According to a Baidu forum post, the average selling price of GPUs in the region has dropped to around 20 percent below MSRP.

Nvidia's RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti now cost 29 percent and 38 percent below their manufacturer-suggested prices, respectively. That means the RTX 3090 Ti is going for around $1,415, which is still high but much more affordable than a month ago. A Founder's Edition model is now $1,600 at Best Buy  another sign that the crypto winter is putting enormous downward pressure on GPU pricing, especially for the higher-end models.

The same trend has been observed somewhat on AMD cards. Team Red typically prices its GPUs lower, but even the mighty RX 6900 XT is now priced 37.5 percent below MSRP.

Overall, choosing the best value GeForce or Radeon GPU is still highly dependent on your region and whether or not you have an urgent need for a GPU upgrade or replacement. If you can wait, prices will likely deflate even more in the coming months.
Is there life on Mars?

The Red Planet has been a constant subject of interest for scientists and common people as SpaceX looks forward to colonizing Mars in the future. For NASA's Mars Life Explorer, it will have to dig deep to resolve this long-standing question.

Top Priority: Finding Life on Mars

The most current planetary science decadal survey, a report provided by the U.S National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in April, earned resounding support for the deep-diving MLE, which would concentrate on searching for clues of existing life on Mars.

The major priorities for planetary science research over the next ten years are outlined in decadal assessments of the field, and at the top of the list is searching for life on Mars.

The paper recommends Mars Life Explorer as its next priority medium-class mission for the Mars Exploration Program following the Mars Sample Return mission's peak-spending phase.

If signs of extant life are there, the Mars Life Explorer might be able to find them in ice forms near the surface of the Red Planet. As planned, the lander would burrow into that ice, take samples, and conduct analyses on them from the actual site.

MLE might launch in the 2030s, touch down within a vertical meter (3.3 ft) of Martian mid-latitude ice, drill for samples up to 6.5 feet below the surface, and examine those samples on the spot, according to Space.com's report.

According to Philip Christensen, a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and co-chair of the National Academies' steering group for the decadal study, NASA's Mars program has been successful, making it a "scientific success story."

Read also: NASA Perseverance Rover's MEDA Sensor Damaged by Mars Rocks-Reducing Its Efficiency! Can It Still Be Used?

"Rose To The Top"

When the panel considered mission concept studies, the decadal study's recommendation to launch the MLE mission "rose to the top," according to Christensen, who spoke to Space.com. The mission, he claimed, made the greatest sense to the decadal committee.

The sample return program, a joint NASA-European Space Agency effort to transport samples gathered by NASA's Perseverance Mars mission to Earth in 2033, could perhaps function in parallel with the MLE lander, according to scientists.

Space.com further noted that Amy Williams, an assistant professor of geological sciences at the University of Florida in Gainesville, is one of the main scientific advocates for MLE.

Williams noted that since the Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers' search for extant Mars life in the late 1970s and early 1980s, NASA has gone a long way to get to its current Mars Exploration Rovers: Curiosity and Perseverance.

If the mission is approved by NASA, Perseverance and Curiosity's earlier discoveries will surely help MLE to accomplish its goals.

Related Article: [LOOK] China Releases Astonishingly Detailed Photos of Mars for the First Time

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The iPhone sales ban is now effective in Colombia. Ericsson, a Sweden-based 5G network provider, sued Apple because of 5G patent infringement. It is expected that the Cupertino tech firm will be facing another series of bans in other countries.

Apple vs. Ericsson: The Origin of Dispute

(Photo : Youssef Sarhan from Unsplash)

The sales of iPhone and iPad Pro with 5G technology is now prohibited across Colombia because of patent infringement issue.

According to Patently Apple, the iPhone maker is currently "tied" to a new legal case because of patent infringement. This means that the sales and import ban for the handsets, as well as the iPad models supported by 5G capability, is now effective at the moment.

Speaking of the sour relationship between Apple and Ericsson, the Swedish company accused the former of infringing its patents when it came to implementing 5G to the handsets.

Ericsson should not be confused with another smartphone brand Sony Ericcson which originates from Finland. For those unfamiliar with the latter, it's the famous manufacturer of the Nokia brand.

Going back to the dispute, Ericcson said that the Cupertino titan has no plans of renewing the licenses upon using patented technology. The company expected that Apple would present a better deal when it came to 5G rollouts.

The case became more intense when the iPad maker filed a lawsuit against Ericsson in late 2021. Apple said that the 5G firm had bypassed the FRAND terms. In short, the Cupertino company said Ericsson was too unfair in charging fees for the patent license.

As a response, Ericcson hit back at Apple with a new legal suit. The tech giant responded with another filing back to the 5G network provider.

As a result, the two companies punished one another with an import ban on their products.

Related Article: Sweden's New Smartphone Ban Law Will Prevent Students From Using Handsets in Classrooms!

5G iPhone Sales Ban

As per 9to5Mac, Apple could not sell iPhones and iPads with 5G technology in Colombia. Additionally, the company could not import the products, as well, to the same nation.

Outside the stoppage of 5G device selling, Apple should further communicate with retailers and other platforms and warn them about the implementation. This will guarantee that the iPhone pioneer will comply with the terms.

Apple could rely on an "antisuit injunction," which means that it could void the current ruling for the iPhone sales ban in Colombia by communicating to other countries.

To entirely suppress Apple, the Colombian court decided to give a final judgment so it could not resort to this legal tactic. Through an "anti antisuit injunction," Apple could no longer use it.

Apart from that, Ericsson accused Apple of doing "double standards" for some reason. Here's what Foss Patents wrote.

"In one or more of its filings with a court in the Colombian capital of Bogota, and in Friday's filing with the U.S. court, Apple criticized Ericsson's tactic of filing multiple Colombian patent infringement actions with different courts (one action per patent). A sworn declaration by Apple's Colombian counsel (Brigard Castro's Juan Pablo Cadena Sarmiento) describes this as "an improper attempt of forum shopping until [Ericsson] obtains a favorable decision allowing Ericsson to exclude Apple from the Colombian market" [...]

Apple tried to deny Ericsson with an emergency injunction and accused the latter of dodging a jurisdiction from the Eastern District of Texas. To avoid the decision, the iPad maker shut down two stores in the district.

In the future, the iPhone sales ban in Colombia would mean a huge disaster for Apple. Since Ericsson succeeded in banning the import and sales of the company's devices, it is expected that the decision will soon be effective in other countries outside South America.

Read Also: Federal Judge Dismisses Apple Lawsuit About Ethnically Diverse Emoji Characters



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Amazon is a fan of autonomy, and this is something which they observed for their latest ventures on a Whole Foods store in Massachusetts, where the company brought its "Dash Cart" for all. It sounds like this version of the cart is a high-speed grocery wheels, but its main purpose is to track everything that users place on the basket, and a system tallies everything to avoid the checkout line.

Amazon 'Dash Cart' is a Smart Grocery Tool that Tracks Everything

(Photo : Amazon)

Amazon announced its latest venture for its self-checkout stores that will help in a contactless, cashless, and hassle-free experience when buying groceries for one's needs. The Dash Cart is coming to the public for actual uses, and it will be available thanks to the efforts by the e-commerce company for a better experience in Whole Foods.

The company said that it will soon be available to Whole Foods in Westford, Massachusetts, northwest of Boston. Before this, the Dash Cart was introduced by the company in September 2020 when it first rolled out in an Amazon Fresh store, and since then, the cart went under testing for the public to enjoy.

Read Also: Amazon Prime Day 2022: Best Products Available from Reviews

Amazon 'Dash Cart': No Need for Checkout Line, Just Walk Out

The Dash Cart brings a lot of new features like a larger version it has for the grocery vehicle, and it provides more room for the items to help in more items to bring. According to CNBC, the Massachusetts branch is only the first upgrade, and other locations are coming for more Dash Carts and the Just Walk Out feature for all.

Amazon and its Grocery Innovations

Amazon brought the world some of the first experiences regarding a self-checkout establishment that gives the public a chance for a faster setup without the need to queue and have it scanned one after the other. The so-called "Just Walk Out" technology is a cashier-less store in different locations already, where people only have to grab what they need and may go out immediately.

Of course, people with accounts on the Amazon's cashierless tech that connects their payment system would have the chance to access this feature. Things and items from these stores are not free, rather Amazon will charge the payment from there and let the person go on and do what they need to do for the day, saving them minutes in buying stuff.

The e-commerce company is looking out to expand in more locations this year, and in the following times to come.

Now, the Bezos-owned company is adding a new technology that would help them feature more of the services that will bring a better experience to their stores. The Dash Cart is an ingenious way to help the public on getting more time for their needs and less time queueing up or waiting for a checkout employee to finish.

It is as easy as walking out of the store with the cart to bring the groceries to a person's needs.

Related Article: Amazon Cashierless Tech Now Wants To Share User Data With Advertisers! Here's What It Plans To Disclose

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On Monday, July 11, the White House told reporters that it believes Russia is tapping the support of Iran in its ongoing conflict with Ukraine by sending them "hundreds" of unmanned aerial vehicles, including drones with weapons, according to Nikkei Asia's report.

U.S. Claims Holding 'Information' About Russia and Iran

Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor for the United States, stated that it is unknown whether Iran has already delivered to Russia any of the unmanned systems. However, he claimed that the U.S. holds "information," implying that Russia's military will be trained by Iran as early as this month.

Sullivan further claimed that Moscow's heavy barrages of weapons against Ukraine, which helped it solidify victories in the east of Ukraine recently, is evidence that was hurting the sustainment of its weaponry.

As noted by Nikkei Asia, Sullivan's announcement follows President Joe Biden's travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel, where Iran's nuclear program and nefarious activities in the area will be a significant topic of conversation.

As Israel and Saudi Arabia have refused to embrace international efforts to penalize Russia for its invasion of Ukraine owing to their personal interests, the U.S. has decided to openly disclose that the two countries' main regional rival was aiding Russia in its war weapons.

The Houthi rebels in Yemen used similar unmanned aerial vehicles backed by Iran to strike Saudi Arabia before a halt was negotiated earlier this year, according to Sullivan.

Nikkei Asia further reported that Iran is the inventor of so-called loitering munitions, or "kamikaze" drones comparable to the Switchblade that the U.S. has given Ukraine.

Read also: U.S. Military Will Use 'High-Altitude Hot Air Balloons' to Prevent Hypersonic Missiles Against China and Russia

Iran's Track Record of Flying Drones

Iran is a reasonable choice for Russia to acquire drones from, according to military expert Samuel Bendett of the CNA think tank. Iran has been honing its drone warfare force for at least 20 years, and they have engaged in more conflict with drones than the Russians.

Bendett added in his statement with Nikkei Asia that Iran has a solid track record of flying drones hundreds of kilometers and nailing their aims, including breaching air defenses provided by the U.S. and attacking Saudi oil installations.

He also claimed that the Iranian drones could target Ukrainian power plants, refineries, and other vital infrastructure with great efficiency.

Before the conflict in Ukraine, Russia had obtained a drone license from an established supplier Israel for its Forpost UAV, according to Bendett. Moscow no longer has access to that supply since the Jewish state has maintained its neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Since the Russian invasion broke out in February, the U.S. and several allies have supported Ukraine with weapons that are worth billions of dollars. Sullivan assured that the U.S. would continue its "effective defense of Ukraine."

Related Article: U.S. Military's 'World's Only Reusable Spaceplane' Has Been Flying for 781 Days - New Endurance Record Achieved!

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(Photo : Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images)

Could robotic fishes solve our problem with plastic pollution in the oceans?

According to a group of Chinese researchers from Sichuan University in southwest China, robot fish that sucks up microplastics could one day help in cleaning up the world's plastic-polluted oceans.

Microplastic-Eating Robo-Fish

The fish are smooth to touch and only measure 1.3 centimeters or 0.5 inches in length, yet they can already ingest microplastics in shallow water, according to Reuter's report.

Wang Yuyan, one of the scientists who designed the robot, told Reuters that the team wants to give them the ability to gather microplastics in deeper water and deliver data to assess marine pollution in real-time.

According to Yuyan, his team has created a lightweight, miniature robot. She claimed that it could be utilized in a variety of settings, including biomedical or risky operations. One example he cited is a small robot that can be localized to a specific area of your body to assist in the treatment of any kind of sickness.

The dark-colored robot fish is exposed to light, which stimulates the robot to move its body and fins. In order to prevent the fish from striking other fish or ships, scientists can regulate it using its light.

Since it is constructed of polyurethane, which is also biocompatible, Wang claimed that if another fish accidentally consumed it, it would be harmlessly digested.

Reuter's report further noted that even if the fish is injured, it can still take in toxins and heal. It can swim faster than most artificial soft robots at a rate of up to 2.76 body lengths per second.

The robot has the ability to collect adjacent microplastics while swimming is particularly impressive. According to The Guardian, the materials used to make the robot engage with the heavy metals, medicines, and dyes that are linked to microplastics.

Nature served as some of the inspiration for the robot's materials, according to BBC Science Focus Magazine. Researchers specifically drew inspiration from mother-of-pearl, the substance covering clam shells' interior.

Read also: 'Microplastics in Meat': Lab Test Shows Microplastic Contamination in Pork, Beef, Milk, and Feed

Robot Fish For Invasive Fish Species

The Sichuan team is not the first scientists to create a robot fish to solve eco-related problems. In fact, in December 2021, a robo-fish was designed to scare invasive fish species from particular ecosystems.

The fish, a brainchild of scientists from New York University and the University of Western Australia, was created to combat a mosquitofish pest. It is made to move and appear like the largemouth bass, a mosquitofish's deadliest adversary.

Every time the robot fish goes to feed on tadpoles, it employs a technology known as "computer vision" to recognize mosquitofish. The robot ultimately scares the little predators away with the way it moves and appears.

Related Article: 'AI Bumblebees:' These AI Robots Act Like Bees to Pollinate Tomato Plants

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The Russian government has decided to fine Apple $33,900 for allegedly breaking the law that requires its Russian consumers' iCloud data to be stored in the country's own servers.

Russia Fines Apple for iCloud Data

According to Reuters, Russia introduced the law back in September 2015, and it was reported at the time that the iPhone maker had partnered with a local data center in order to comply with the government's requirements.

In 2019, it was claimed that the tech giant was only about to comply, delaying it for four years.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple is still not following Russian laws over online data storage and has now been fined because it refused to do it.

A court in Moscow levied a fine of $33,900 on the tech giant.

The Russian court has not released additional details about the case, so it is still unknown if this is a one-time fine or whether Apple will have to keep paying the fine until it is forced to follow the law.

Also Read: Russia Hits Apple With $12 Million Fine for Antitrust Violation Allegedly 'Worsened Conditions for Competitors'

Apple has still not commented on the decision of the Russian government.

The tech giant has previously acceded to Russian laws and demands. It recently disabled its Private Relay feature for Russian consumers, and it was the first massive tech company to open a local office in Moscow.

Also, Apple has been sued by a Russian law firm over its suspension of Apply Pay in the country.

Apple Pay Suspended in Russia

In February, a Russian law firm filed a lawsuit against Apple after the tech giant suspended the use of Apple Pay in Russia. The said law firm is seeking $1.26 million in damages.

According to Apple Insider, Russian law firm Chernyshov, Lukoyanov & Partners claims that the tech giant has violated Russian consumers' rights after the Cupertino tech giant spotted the Apple Pay services in Russia.

The lawsuit is requesting $1.26 million as compensation for moral damages, Reuters. The lawsuit also seeks the restoration of Apple Pay services in the country.

In the same month, Apple also pulled out Apple Pay in certain sanctions-hit Russian banks, and Google Pay was also discontinued.

Apple later fixed a loophole that allowed Russian consumers to use Apple Pay by utilizing Mir card payment systems.

Effects of the Ukraine Crisis

The sanctions on Russia were imposed by the United States and the European Union as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russian consumers are now unable to use any cards issued by sanctions-hit Russian Banks with US-based payment systems, like Apple Pay or Google Pay.

The banks affected by sanctions include Sovcombank, VTB Group, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, and Otkritie.

Also, Business Insider pointed out that Russian consumers will not be able to use their credit cards when they travel abroad.

The consumers will also be unable to make online payments to companies registered in countries that have imposed sanctions.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has started a crash in the stock market, resulting in the sell-off of Apple, Bitcoin, and other massive tech stocks.

Furthermore, if the United States government forbids any hardware or software sale to Russia, it will affect any tech company that does business in the country.

For example, Apple would not be able to sell the iPhone and its other devices, provide operating system updates, or continue managing the Apple App Store.

Related Article: Apple Takes Russia to Court Over App Store Alternative Payments Issue

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Urgent | Kamal Kharazi to Al-Jazeera: It is no secret that we have the technical capabilities to manufacture a nuclear bomb, but we have no decision to do so
Louisianas law banning abortions has once again been blocked by a court, the latest in a back-and-forth legal battle over abortion access in the state.

19th Judicial District Judge Don Johnson temporarily blocked the law Tuesday while an ongoing high-profile legal challenge plays out in East Baton Rouge Parish. The order comes after a New Orleans judge transferred the case to the capital city on technical grounds Friday, dissolving a previous restraining order that prevented the ban from being enforced.

The decision again opens the door for the states three abortion clinics to resume services, as the legal saga continues over whether the laws passed in 2006 and again this year are constitutional.

The Shreveport clinic at the center of the case, Hope Medical Group, halted abortion appointments after Friday's ruling. But Kathaleen Pittman, administrator of the clinic, said it would resume providing abortions after the new ruling. She said the clinic was calling people whose appointments were canceled and would resume abortions on Thursday.

Louisianas law, which contains no exceptions for victims of rape and incest, has taken now taken effect twice and been blocked twice in the less than three weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending a half-century right to an abortion.

Johnson, a Democrat first elected to the bench in 1999, granted a temporary restraining order blocking Attorney General Jeff Landry and Louisiana Department of Health Secretary Courtney Phillips from enforcing the law pending a hearing set for Monday.

The Hope clinic and a nonprofit group with New Orleans chapters that provides abortion services are suing the state over the law, claiming it is unconstitutionally vague and would hurt medical care in the state.

The case, which is part of a wave of legal battles that have erupted across the country since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, has drawn in high-profile doctors and protestors clamoring for continued access to abortion. Its playing out in a state where voters and elected officials are more anti-abortion than in nearly every other state, but where a majority of the public stlll wants there to be some access to the procedure, according to polls.

New Orleans Health Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno and former Louisiana Department of Health Secretary Rebekah Gee were among a host of doctors who filed affidavits warning maternal mortality, already poor in Louisiana compared to other states, would be harmed by the law. They argued doctors would be put in tough positions deciding between providing life-saving care and facing up to 15 years in prison for providing an abortion.

Louisianas trigger law banned abortions the moment Roe v. Wade was overturned late last month. But three days after the seminal Supreme Court decision, Orleans Parish Judge Robin Giarrusso granted a temporary restraining order barring it from taking effect, which allowed clinics to continue providing abortions. On Friday, the clinics were shut down again.

Two separate Louisiana judges have now rightly found that irreparable harm will occur if the trigger bans are enforced, said Joanna Wright, a lawyer for New York-based Boies Schiller Flexner, who is representing the plaintiffs. We look forward to arguing for a preliminary injunction before Judge Johnson next Monday and, in the meantime, we take solace in the fact that crucial healthcare for women has been restored in the state of Louisiana.

Landry, an anti-abortion Republican who is expected to run for governor next year, is defending the states law in court. In a letter, his lawyers argued the judge can't issue a temporary restraining order twice in one case, but Johnson apparently disagreed.

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Landry declared victory after the court hearing Friday, in which Judge Ethel Simms Julien sided with Landry on the procedural question of whether the case should be heard in Orleans or East Baton Rouge parish. Typically, challenges to state laws and statewide elected officials are heard in the 19th Judicial District in Baton Rouge.

Landry accused the plaintiffs of venue shopping, and took a shot at the state Supreme Court, which declined to take up the case, saying it was too early in the process. He also said if people didnt like the states ban, they could move to (a state) which you like.

Landry said on Twitter Tuesday that the judge created a "legal circus," which "discredits the institutions we rely upon for a stable society."

"The rule of law must be followed, and I will not rest until it is," he tweeted. "Unfortunately, we will have to wait a little bit longer for that to happen."

People on both sides of the issue largely agree abortion will become illegal in Louisiana soon, either if the state Supreme Court upholds the law or lawmakers pass a new one banning abortions. Republicans hold a tight grip on the Legislature, and some Democrats have joined them in passing anti-abortion laws over the years.

Whats less clear is whether the state will be able to enforce its laws banning abortion medication, which could be shipped in from states where abortion is legal. New Orleans officials have also said they wont enforce the states ban, but it is unlikely that will keep the citys lone abortion clinic open, given the legal peril doctors who perform the procedure would face.

Louisiana has only three such clinics, in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport. The Baton Rouge and New Orleans clinics, which already only operate a couple days a week, didnt have abortions scheduled for this week. A spokesperson didnt respond to questions Tuesday.

The directors of LIFT Louisiana, an abortion-rights group that is helping challenge the law, said in a statement the new ruling restored the right to privacy and bodily autonomy for all people who can become pregnant, if only temporarily.

Every day that the TRO is in effect means another day people who need and deserve abortion services can access it, co-executive directors Michelle Erenberg and Lakeesha Harris said.
From left, Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre and Louisiana State Police Col. Lamar Davis at a Press conference at LSP HQ Monday Oct. 11, 2021, in Baton Rouge, La, about Louisiana State Police Master Trooper Adam Gaubert who was shot to death early Saturday morning inside his patrol car, during a massive multi-parish manhunt for Matthew Mire, the suspect in that shooting and several others.
Over the years, other inventors have been credited in Le Princes stead with inventing motion pictures. In the US, its often Thomas Edison, whose labours previously led to the electric light and the phonograph; or sometimes the British-born Eadweard Muybridge, who invented the zoopraxiscope, which famously captured still photos of horses and human figures in motion.

Inside, theres a still from the first moving images ever shot, a two-second epic showing three members of his family and a female friend moving around outside their home in Leeds. He called it Roundhay Garden Scene. The year was 1888. Two years later, he was gone. While travelling on family business in the South of France, he vanished without trace and his disappearance remains officially unsolved.

Out of the past comes a mystery, one that asks who is responsible for the disappearance of the man who invented motion pictures. The sketch on the cover of Paul Fischers engrossing book introduces him: a man dressed in the style of an 18th-century gentleman, his mutton chops and beard avouching him as a man of the world as he proudly directs his gaze forward, his elbow resting on his box-like invention, a device he called a taker or receiver of animated photographs. His name is Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince.

Inventor of cinematography Louis Le Prince, who vanished under bizarre circumstances. Credit:Getty

In France, its the Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, who made and screened a series of (very) short films in the latter half of the 1890s, including The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station. Brilliantly referenced in Martin Scorseses 3-D Hugo (2011), it lasted for 50 seconds, showing a train heading in the general direction of the camera and reportedly causing audiences to flee for their lives.

Fischer, however, leaves little room for doubt about who was responsible. What makes his book different from a conventional film history is that its essentially a whodunit. It asks: what happened to Le Prince? Was he murdered and, if so, by whom? Or did he commit suicide and end up as one of the many unidentified corpses that used to turn up each year in the Paris morgue?

Drawing on old newspaper accounts, the unpublished memoirs of key participants, the written testimony of Le Princes research team and other witnesses, as well as legal files from the archives, Fischer presents what he reasonably describes as a ghost story, a family saga and an unsolved mystery. The style he brings to it is novelistic, his narrative beginning with Le Princes disappearance and then moving back in time to flesh out the profiles of various individuals who, directly or indirectly, were a part of his life  and who might or might not have been directly involved in what happened to him.

At the heart of it all, though, is the impact on Le Princes wife, Lizzie, of her husbands dedication to his work and his disappearance. The book traces the growth of their relationship as they moved between Paris during la belle epoque and Leeds, where she grew up and they eventually made a home together. Her struggles to cope with the emotional and financial stresses of being the wife of an inventor are at least as important to the story Fischer has to tell as her husbands work.
Four years after Thomas M. Wright made his film debut at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) with Acute Misfortune, the director is back at his hometown festival with the Australian debut of his second movie. The Stranger had its world premiere in Cannes earlier this year, where it was met with a seven-minute standing ovation.

Its a great thing to be part of this, says Wright, whose tense crime thriller will screen at IMAX, which is a major MIFF venue this year. The festival this year is 70 years old, and Cannes is only 75. We have one of the oldest film festivals in the world with such a rich history and I hope people really embrace it.

Thomas M. Wright in a laneway in Collingwood, near where he grew up and where he launched his Black Lung theatre company before seguing into film. Credit:Scott McNaughton

Wrights film is inspired by the manhunt for Daniel Morcombe, the 13-year-old who was abducted in Queensland in December 2003 and whose killer was convicted 11 years later after one of the most extensive and expensive investigations the country has ever seen. But its a fictionalised account that doesnt show the boy or the crime, focusing instead on the relationship between the suspect (played by Sean Harris) and the undercover cop who befriends him (Joel Edgerton).

Wright, who founded theatre company Black Lung and worked as an actor before turning to film when he realised this is the only thing I ever wanted to do, says fictionalising the tale while staying close to the reality of the manhunt was a moral choice.
Los Angeles: Succession received a leading 25 Emmy nominations on Tuesday, but the satirical drama about the rich and ruthless has a landmark rival in Squid Game, the first non-English language series to vie for televisions top honour.

Netflixs Squid Game, a South Korea-set drama in which the poor are fodder for brutal games, has earned a best drama nomination and 13 other bids for Septembers Emmy Awards. HBOs Succession captured the best drama trophy and six other awards when it last vied for the Emmys in 2020.

Successions Brian Cox has been nominated for best actor in a drama series while the show is up for best drama. Credit:HBO

Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said he appreciated that Squid Games nomination was a milestone for Hollywood and signalled a change of attitude in the US.

Instead of just exporting the content around the world, it is now shifting to become a participant in the global content realm to facilitate exchanges of cultures around the world, he told The Associated Press through a translator.
Global energy security is under increasing threat by Chinas overwhelming dominance of the renewable supply chain, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol have warned the Sydney Energy Forum.

As the world seeks alternatives to Russian fossil fuels, Granholm said in her address that the world needed to make sure, we are not under the thumb of petro-dictators... [or] the thumb of those who strategically would like to control aspects of the supply chain.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen and US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the Sydney Energy Forum. Credit:Flavio Brancaleone

Later in a press conference with Energy Minister Chris Bowen, she said she was concerned that China was big-footing renewables technology and supply chains.

From an energy security point of view, it is imperative that nations that share the same values to develop our own supply chains, not just for the climate, which of course is very important, but for our own energy security.
Tens of thousands of people had lined Canberras Lake Burley Griffin to watch what had been billed as a spectacular implosion when part of the building exploded instead of collapsing inwards, sending chunks of metal and concrete flying up to a kilometre from the hospital site.

Two investigations were launched last night after the demolition of an old Canberra hospital building went horribly wrong, leaving a young girl dead and nine other spectators injured by flying debris.

First published in The Age on July 14, 1997

Police had created a 200-metre exclusion zone around the site after a series of risk assessments had recommended 50 metres was a safe distance.

The 12-year-old victim was standing with family and friends about 400 metres across the lake from the hospital when she was struck, dying instantly from head wounds in front of horrified onlookers.

Others nearby were hit in the chest and face. Australian Federal Police confirmed last night that nine people were receiving treatment for injuries and shock. Vehicles parked across the lake were also damaged.

Other pieces plunged into the lake among small spectator craft. One canoe capsized, but the occupants were not hurt.

Last night the ACT Chief Minister, Mrs Kate Carnell, appointed a former senior federal bureaucrat, Mr Noel Tanzer, to investigate the processes leading up to yesterdays disaster.
Rupert Murdochs News Corp was surprisingly muted in its coverage of the companys acquisition of online small-cap stock-picker Stockhead a couple of months ago, and the little coverage that appeared in the empires official organ was scant on detail.

The company line was that News Corp subsidiary Nationwide News had picked up a strategic stake in Stockhead  it actually bought 60 per cent of the websites holding company AG Media Investments  with the boss of Murdochs Australian operation Michael Miller telling his own newspaper that Stockhead was an attractive investment on a number of fronts.

Rupert Murdoch. Credit:Abacapress.com

It would want to be, with people close to the deal whispering to CBD that News paid about $30 million for a site that hasnt exactly made itself a household name since its launch in 2017 by David Greer and Jonathan Younger, is free to subscribers and features a fair dollop of sponsored content.

It reminds us of the time News, under the ill-fated stewardship of Kim Williams, swallowed up Alan Kohlers Eureka Report and Business Spectator, also for $30 million, delivering multimillion-dollar paydays to Kohler  who called it an offer I couldnt refuse  and fellow founders John Wylie and Mark Carnegie.
Vulnerable Australians will lose access to free rapid antigen tests by the end of this month just as health authorities warn the risk of reinfection with the virulent subvariants is just 28 days.

Pharmacists have criticised the federal government for refusing to extend the free RAT scheme for concession card holders amid the accelerating spread of the B.4 and B.5 omicron subvariants and a new directive from NSW Health that symptomatic people retest themselves four weeks after contracting COVID and isolate again if positive.

Concession cardholders have just over two weeks to claim the last of their free tests before they must pay full price for the test from August 1.

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia national president Dr Fei Sim said the decision not only puts at risk elderly pensioners and disadvantaged families, but it also sends the wrong message to the public.
Penny Wong calls for unity with Pacific nations

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Police hunt for culprits of arson attack on Sydney home

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A young man charged with murder over a stabbing at Fortitude Valley train station will remain behind bars and was not brought up from the cells to face a magistrate on Tuesday.

The case of Seyram Kwami Djentuh, 20, was briefly heard in Brisbane Arrests Court after he was charged on Monday afternoon with killing 24-year-old Lauie Michael Tagaloa.

Lauie Michael Tagaloa Credit:Facebook

It will be alleged by police that two groups of young men first confronted each other in Brunswick Street Mall about 4am on Monday. It is not known who started the altercation. The argument then continued inside Fortitude Valley stations shopping complex.

Footage of the confrontation and the alleged fatal stabbing has circulated on social media.
Here is a proposition thats akin to asking Daniel Andrews to stop breathing: we must take politics out of public health.

We must put people ahead of politics. We must focus on holding together a crippled hospital system rather than finding excuses. We must explore new strategies around this pandemic and we must demand some basic honesty, something else that may challenge the premiers breathing.

Premier Daniel Andrews has ignored advice from health experts. Credit:Joe Armao

But perhaps its too late. Yesterday the world changed.

After being told for two years that all the ugly decisions like locking toddlers out of playgrounds and sending people scurrying home by 8pm lest they be stopped by police after curfew were simply following health advice, the government decided to reject it.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has blamed the Greens political party for a decade of inaction on climate change, and challenged them to back Labors target of a 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.

Albanese has also left the door ajar to the federal opposition being invited to the jobs summit in September, promising to consider those things in the fullness of time.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday delivered a blunt warning to the Greens over climate policy. Credit:Louie Douvis

The prime minister said Labor had a mandate for the 43 per cent target to be legislated, that it would consider sensible amendments to the legislation, and ultimately every member of the House and every member of the Senate should vote for it. If they dont. Theyll be held accountable for it.

But it was his criticism of the Greens, who want 75 per cent emissions reduction by 2030, that will potentially reignite the political fight over climate change policy  even as Labor insists it wants to end the climate wars.
A sick-leave safety net for self-employed Australians and staff in small businesses has been proposed by big business as pressure mounts on the government to bail out a strained workforce suffering from Omicrons resurgence.

Business Council of Australia head Jennifer Westacott, who represents Australias major brands and financial institutions, said while Labor was right to axe the $750 pandemic leave disaster payment, there was scope for a more targeted scheme to bolster the workforce as daily COVID-19 cases soar.

Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott has suggested a sick-leave safety net targeted the self-employed and small businesses. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

This is a big challenge for smaller businesses and the self-employed, so it makes sense to look at targeted ways to ensure they can protect their teams and keep their doors open, Westacott said.

Health Minister Mark Butler defended Labors decision to follow through with the former governments plan to end the paid pandemic leave scheme on June 30, saying due to the $1 trillion debt, the government cant continue to borrow money to fund emergency payments forever.
Witness K had been an ASIS officer involved in the surveillance operation. He was troubled by it, so he lodged a complaint with the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security suggesting that the surveillance may have been illegal. The Inspector-General agreed Witness K could disclose relevant information as evidence in any related legal proceedings. Information regarding the secret surveillance operation made its way progressively into Australias and Timor-Lestes media. Attorney-general Mark Dreyfus. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In 2013, Timor-Leste sought to reopen proceedings with respect to the maritime boundary issue in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. It briefed Collaery to represent its interests, as he had a long history of representing the interests of the country. Then, in an extraordinary action in late 2013, the Australian Federal Police raided Witness Ks and Collaerys homes and offices.

At Collaerys office, the police uncovered a detailed legal memorandum containing his advice to Timor-Lestes government with respect to the location of the maritime boundary. Things went quiet for five years. Then, in late 2018, out of the blue and for reasons that remain unclear, former Attorney-General Christian Porter approved the criminal prosecution of Witness K and Collaery. Porter alleged they had disclosed classified information illegally. Former Attorney-General Christian Porter. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Legal argument with respect to the conduct of the prosecution continued for four years, to Collaerys great personal and financial detriment. There are several matters concerning the prosecution that warrant close consideration.

Its highly likely the Australian government itself acted unlawfully. ASIS undertook an act of criminal trespass in Timor-Leste by planting surveillance devices to monitor the Timor-Lestes Cabinets deliberations. As in every other democratic country, Timor Lestes cabinet deliberations are, by law, secret. Under a United Nations convention (the Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property), states and their property are immune from the domestic jurisdiction of another country. Australia clearly broke international law by raiding Witness Ks and Collaerys offices and confiscating documents that were the property of the government of Timor-Leste.

In Australia, the law protects communications between lawyer and client. By effectively stealing Collaerys extensive legal advice to the Timor-Leste government, ASIS transgressed the confidentiality of lawyer-client communications. Next, Porter made application after application to the ACT Supreme Court to ensure Collaerys trial would be conducted in secret. Loading The government argued that should documents revealing ASIS operations become public, foreign intelligence agencies into whose hands such documents fell may be able  when combining them with other sources of information  to construct an intelligible mosaic from which the processes and methods of Australian secret surveillance activities could be ascertained. In this case, however, the documents in question related to a single intelligence operation conducted in a tiny country 18 years ago. It would come as a surprise to any informed lay observer, and probably to any capable intelligence analyst, if historical methods of surveillance used in 2004 could cast even the remotest light on the technological methodology of contemporary intelligence practice.

A secret trial constitutes a radical attack on the fundamental principles of open justice and fair trial. There was a certain Alice in Wonderland quality about all this. Everything had been turned upside down. The two people who acted in the national interest by disclosing unlawful activity undertaken by Australias overseas intelligence service in bugging East Timors Cabinet were the defendants in the criminal case. Those in government who initiated the unlawful, covert operation, through their successors in government, had become the prosecutors. Something had gone very wrong. Had Collaerys case proceeded to trial, the ramifications of the case for freedom of expression, journalism and governmental accountability would have resonated through Australian law and society for years.
Apartment owners claim theyre under siege from telcos determined to install broadband services in their buildings  whether residents want them or not.

And they say theyre being forced to hire lawyers to try to stop them and protect their common property from potential damage caused by subcontractors when companies bully their way in.

Derek Graham is vowing to fight telcos seeking access to apartment buildings. Credit:Flavio Brancaleone

Its just like the movie The Castle all over again, said Derek Graham, the treasurer of a scheme at Cape Cabarita in Sydneys inner west. Weve been told we are powerless to stop them if they want to come in and install a system, even though the NBN we already have is perfectly sufficient.

They apparently have the right to access our building, and we dont have any rights to stop them.
Tokyo: With prayers, flowers and flags draped in black ribbons, Japan on Tuesday said farewell to Shinzo Abe, a polarising figure who dominated the countrys politics, before being gunned down at a campaign rally last week.

Crowds packed pavements lined with a heavy police presence as the hearse carrying Abe departed from a central Tokyo temple in early afternoon. People shouted, clapped and waved as it passed, some holding flowers.

The vehicle carrying the body of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe leaves Zojoji temple after his funeral in Tokyo on Tuesday. Credit:AP

Hundreds filed into the temple on Monday evening and Tuesday morning to pay their respects to Abe, who died aged 67. He was the countrys longest-serving prime minister and an influential figure in the ruling party. Abe was assassinated as he campaigned for its local candidate at a rally in Nara, western Japan, on Friday.

His killing by an unemployed man wielding a homemade gun stunned a nation where both gun crime and political violence are extremely rare.
This week, AARP launched the updated Veterans and Military Families Health Benefits Navigator to bring together valuable information and resources to help veterans, military families and their caregivers navigate their health care options. The tool provides Wyomings veterans with critical information about what is required to qualify for health care benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or Department of Defense (DoD).

Veterans and military families faced many difficulties serving our country; accessing health care benefits they earned shouldnt be a challenge, says AARP State Director Sam Shumway. This free, one-stop resource will help make the process less confusing and overwhelming for veterans and military families as they navigate the best path for their health care needs.

The AARP Veterans and Military Families Health Benefits Navigator has just been expanded to help veterans and their families access VA Specialty Care Programs and Services in the following areas:

Women Veterans Health Care Program

Specialty Emotional and Mental Health Services

Specialty Dental, Oral, Hearing and Vision Services

Family Caregiver Assistance Program

Nearly 60% of all veterans are eligible for VA health care services, yet less than half of those eligible veterans use VA health benefits, according to a RAND study. And a survey conducted by the VA Center for Women Veterans found women veterans age 50-plus are the least likely group to use their earned benefits. In addition, of the 50,852 veterans living in Wyoming, only 37% have utilized their earned benefits at VA health care, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Quality of care delivered by the VA is generally equal to or better than care delivered in the private sector, according to a RAND study. Frustration with the application process and confusion about qualification requirements keeps many veterans from receiving their health benefits.

AARPs Veterans and Military Families Health Benefits Navigator is available at www.AARP.org/VetsHealthNavigator. For more information and other resources for veterans, visit www.aarp.org/veterans.
Cheyenne, WY (82001)

Today

Sunshine in the morning followed by partly cloudy skies and gusty winds during the afternoon. High 93F. Winds NW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. NNE winds shifting to WNW at 10 to 20 mph.
According to TikTok's so-called "experts," the pheromones in your vag are supposed to make potential lovers go wild.

Vabbing was first introduced on an episode of the 'Secret Keepers Club' podcast, hosted by Carly Aquilino and Emma Willmann.

The two comedians mentioned their friend who used his ball sweat as a fragrance, which then sent listeners on their own journey to try it out for themselves.

Why you would post that on the internet is beyond me but the trend took off and people have been vabbing themselves like crazy ever since.

One gal even shared her basic rules of vabbing dos and donts.
The countrys enduring history brought to life

The hall is grand, with hardwood floors and a high ceiling. A large portrait of George Washington greets visitors from the center of the main wall. The countrys first president looks regal, majestic. After all, he and a few leaders of the American Revolution penned a constitution that has given the United States a democratic legacy and history.

Many places around this country celebrate America, but down in Alabama near a small town called Montevallo, American Village beckons visitors to the countrys past with live demonstrations. American Village is a snapshot of our country, said Public Relations Manager Jeremy Ward. Our history is for all of us. We are passionate about telling how our country came to be. As Americans, we all share the same story, and we want to tell this story here at American Village.

American Village sits on 188 acres in central Alabama with 20 historically inspired sites and structures. Founder and President Emeritus Tom Walker dreamed up the project back in the 1980s. The popular attraction opened its doors on November 30, 1999, with a specific mission in mind.

Staff at the American Village keep history alive through period costumes and battle reenactments. (Courtesy of American Village)

We are here to teach American history and create informed citizenship. American Village helps make our history more exciting and meaningful, said Ward. We do this with eight historical interpreters who approach this job with academic vehemence. They take on the roles seriously, dive in, and research to make their representation of these historical figures authentic.

American Village hosts two to three school groups per day on its campus. These groups come from all over Alabama and the surrounding Southern states. Each year, 35,000 students get to experience our exciting history come alive, and another 35,000 public visitors come to learn about our countrys founding.

Over the past 22 years, we have served around 800,000 students from schools in Alabama and surrounding states, and many more public visitors. We have also entertained high-profile people. Laura Bush wrote a message to our annual prayer breakfast one year, and Condoleezza Rice came and spoke another time, noted Ward.

The assembly room at American Village. (Courtesy of American Village)

The mission statement for the nonprofit American Village Citizenship Trust says it all: The American Village serves the nation as an educational institution whose mission is to strengthen and renew the foundations of American liberty and self-government by engaging and inspiring citizens and leaders, with a special emphasis on programs for young people.

At the end of a visit to American Village, folks may pass again through the grand hall where George Washingtons huge portrait hangs; this time though, their appreciation and understanding of what this man and his compatriots did will endure.

(Karim Shamsi-Basha for American Essence)

Historical Interpretation

I have done this for five years, and I love it. Performing and teaching kids is so rewarding, and seeing them get involved in our historical plays is a lot of fun. I came here when I was their age, and I remember how engaging it was. It made me more attached to our history. Experiencing our history like this is so unique.

Richard Evans, who plays John Tazewell, Clerk of the 1776 Virginia Convention

My favorite part of this job is bringing these historical characters to life by telling their stories, which connect our visitors with the human side of history. When that connection is made, I can see the students stepping into the shoes of these people who made sacrifices to give us the liberties we enjoy today. By bridging this gap between Americas past and its present, we can create a better future for all of us.

Nancy Moore Estes, Officer of Interpreted Programs A figure representing liberty stands outside the Veterans Shrine, a memorial for those who gave their lives to the country. (Courtesy of American Village)

The Woman on the Ship

Sarah Bradlee Fulton was a crucial player in many critical events during Americas fight for independence. She lived in colonial Boston before moving to Medford in 1762.

While in Boston, she observed firsthand many struggles and conflicts between the colonists and Great Britain before the war began. She was visiting her family in Boston upon the night of the infamous Tea Party. Sarah was at her brother Nathaniels home, where she and Nathaniels wife, Ann, created crude Indian disguises for her brothers and husband, John. Sarah followed them to the Boston harbor and afterward helped them get rid of their disguises.

During the Battle of Bunker Hill, Sarah served as a nurse in a field hospital in Medford, right across the street from her house.

Her most notable act of service happened in March 1776. Maj. John Brooks came to her home needing urgent dispatches from Gen. Washington to be delivered behind enemy lines into Boston. Sarahs husband could not go, so Sarah volunteered to go in his place. She hid the message in the hem of her skirt, successfully delivered it, and made it safely back to her family. No one knows what the letter said, but it must have been of great importance. Soon after that, Dorchester Heights was fortified, forcing the British out of Boston.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
The Australian and Aboriginal flags fly on Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of Australia Day celebrations on Jan. 26, 2021 in Sydney. (Wendell Teodoro/Getty Images)

Aboriginal Flag to Replace New South Waless on Sydney Harbour Bridge

New South Wales (NSW) Premier Dominic Perrottet announced on July 11 that the Aboriginal flag would fly permanently on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, replacing the states own flag on the iconic structure.

From today, one of Australias most recognisable landmarks will celebrate our Indigenous people and provide an everyday reminder of our nations rich history, Perrottet said in a statement.

Honouring this commitment is part of our ongoing commitment to recognise the history, culture, excellence and achievements of Aboriginal people.

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Ben Franklin said this would save taxpayers A$25 million (US$16.9 million) to install an additional flagpole for the Aboriginal flag, and the money would instead be reallocated to initiatives for the Indigenous people.

The Aboriginal flag is seen alongside the Australian flag on top of the Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 26, 2022. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

This builds on the NSW Governments commitment to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people across NSW, following a $716 million investment in this years Budget to prioritise Closing the Gap initiatives, Franklin said.

I am proud to be part of the Government that will permanently fly the Aboriginal flag above the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and I am happy that a further investment will be made to deliver real outcomes for Aboriginal people across NSW.

The Downgrade of NSW Flag Strange Politician Says

However, not everyone has been happy with the decision, with NSW One Nation Leader Mark Latham saying that Perrottets move to recognise the Aboriginal people was at the expense of his own state.

It seems strange that a political leader who is supposed to honour and serve the NSW Flag has now kicked it off the Harbour Bridge, replacing it with the Aboriginal flag, he wrote in a Facebook post on Monday.

Latham said other problems the Indigenous people are facing need attention.

In Western NSW, there are towns where the police work on the assumption that every Aboriginal child over the age of 5 has been sexually abused, Latham said.

Fear of Stolen Generation allegations keeps them locked in dangerous homes, preyed upon by drunk Uncles.

Its an insult to these children and the human tragedy they suffer in our State, under deliberate government policies, that Premier Perrottets top priority is a piece of cloth on a bridge.

Meanwhile, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags remained in the centre.

The NSW flag will be downgraded to a redeveloped precinct in the citys business district on Macquarie Street.

Minister for Metropolitan Roads Natalie Ward said that the NSW flag had to be replaced to recognise the Aboriginal people as quickly as possible.

As has been outlined all along, the process of installing a third flagpole high above one of the busiest traffic corridors in Australia was always going to be difficult, Ward said.

The Macquarie Street East precinct redevelopment will now be expanded to include a prominent NSW State flag, which recognises the important and rich history of Macquarie Street to the heritage of NSW.
Celebration for the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong handover to China took place in Victoria Park on July 1, 2022. (Yan Wu/The Epoch Times)

After 25 Years of One Country, Two Systems, Can Hongkongers Still Believe in a Better Tomorrow?

News analysis

On July 1, 2022, the day of the 25 anniversary of Hong Kongs handover, Hong Kong was welcomed by typhoon Chaba; as it swept through areas of Hong Kong.

Despite the governments official July 1 celebration, the Hong Kong public shrugged it off with a shiver. The two scenarios presented a unique reality to the world.

Since Hong Kong was returned to Beijing in 1997, the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP)s policy towards Hong Kong has undergone major changes.

After the 2019 Anti-extradition Movement, the implementation of the National Security Law (NSL), and the perfected electoral system, the CCP attempted a second handover in Hong Kong. Many questioned whether one country, two systems has disappeared in this cross-era experiment. Is there still a future for Hongkongers in the next 25 years, as they witness the second half of the two systems?

Two Systems Challenges Began in its Early Days

As the clock struck midnight on July 1, 1997, Hongkongers watched the live broadcast of the handover ceremony, wishfully thinking that they would witness a smooth transition in Hong Kong. However, just a few months later, a global economic crisis swept through Asia and Hong Kong; the Hang Seng Index plummeted by 13 percent on Oct 28, 2017. It continued to plunge until August 1998 dropping to around 6,500 points. Property prices tumbled alongside the stock market during the year, to about 30-50 percent of their previous level.

Investors and homeowners alike lost their lifelong savings overnight and ended up with negative equity.

The Hong Kong government had to use its foreign exchange reserves to intervene in the market to repel speculators and successfully kept the exchange rate link to the US dollar. Former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa mentioned in a 2017 public speech that he had suggested to Beijing at that time, to send officials to aid Hong Kong, but the late, former CCP official, Qian Qichen rejected the proposal as it did not align with the principles of one country, two systems.

Although one country, two systems seemed to keep its shape during the financial catastrophe, the ruling over the right of abode in Hong Kong for children who were born to unmarried Hongkongers on the mainland, sparked disputes and almost triggered a constitutional crisis. That was when two systems finally faced its first challenge.

In January 1999, the Court of Final Appeal ruled that children born to Hongkongers on the mainland could have the rights of abode in Hong Kong, even if their parents had not yet become permanent residents of Hong Kong at the time of birth. The judgment triggered the CCPs rubber stamp legislature to overturn the judgment of the Court. This stirred dissatisfaction in the judicial circle of Hong Kong as the peers believed that it would seriously impact the authority of the Court of Final Appeal.

The Policy of Governing Hong Kong Gradually Changed

In July 2002, the then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa implemented the Senior Officials Accountability System in Hong Kong. However, the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law, and disputes such as vehicle sales tax, led to the resignations of former Secretary for Security, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yi, and former Financial Secretary, Antony Leung Kam-chung.

Former Secretary for Health, Welfare, and Food, Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong, who was criticized for claiming that there was never a SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, resigned about a year later under the pressure from public opinion.

The public began to question the efficacy of the whole accountability system.

In 2003, SARS tormented Hong Kong, killing a total of 299 people. The unemployment rate hit a record high, and citizens grievances against the Hong Kong government eventually erupted.

On July 1, 2003, about half a million Hongkongers rallied and demanded Tung Chee-hwa step down.

After that, the CCP established The Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs. That was viewed as the opening of Beijings intervention in Hong Kongs autonomy.

Despite the noises of Returning governance to Hongkongers growing louder, in 2004, Beijing denied Hong Kongs 0708 universal suffrage (that is universal suffrage for selecting the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council members of 2007 and 2008 elections). Instead, the CCP approved a delay in implementing universal suffrage to 2017 and 2020.

As One Man, One Vote was pushed back, the Liaison Office became more proactive, with evidence of their muddling in Hong Kongs self-governance.

Press and Education Interference by CCP

Since the 2008 Legislative Council Election, candidates supported by the Liaison Office won more and more votes each time. Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Limited, owner of the three main publishers in Hong Kong: Joint Publishing HK, Chung Hwa Book Company, and Commercial Press, which together had monopolized the entire book distribution market in the city, became wholly-owned by the Liaison Office, through a company registered in Guangdong Province.

Beijing was criticized for putting its hands implicitly on Hong Kongs freedom of publishing, and the freedom of the press.

Contradictions Between HK and China Flared Up

Although the Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong will remain unchanged for 50 years, the frequent traffic between Hong Kong and China, frictions, and disputes arose due to cultural differences.

That included, but was not limited to the non-permanent resident children issue, and illegal parallel-goods sellers. Statistics from the Census and Statistics Department (CSD) show that between 2003 and 2013, among the babies born to mainland Chinese women in Hong Kong, more than 210,000 were from spouses who were undeclared or non-Hong Kong permanent residents.

In 2012, former Chief Executive CY Leung Chun-ying announced that local hospitals would stop accepting doubly non-residentdelivery appointments on or after Jan 1, 2013.

CCPs shutting down Hong Kongs own decisions on city policies, further intensified Hongkongers hesitation about the CCPs willingness to fulfill its commitments under the Basic Law.

In mid-2014, the CCP put forward the concept of full governance, and rejected proposals such as civic nomination, for the candidates for chief executive. The CCPs rubber stamp legislature passed and reinforced the 8.31 Decision. Pro-democracy groups questioned whether it was equivalent to assigned candidacy, which triggered the Occupy Central Movement on Sept 28, 2014. Riot police fired tear gas to disperse protesters, while protesters resisted the police brutality with umbrellas, a prelude to what later was called the Umbrella Movement. The Umbrella Revolution lasted 79 days in total and profoundly impacted Hong Kongs political development.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year in 2016, when the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) expelled unlicensed cooked-food hawkers in Mongkok, there was a conflict between the public and the police, which escalated to a situation of police officers drawing their guns and protesters setting fire to debris. Among them, Edward Leung Tin-kei, a former spokesperson for the Hong Kong Indigenous, was sentenced to a 6-year prison term for rioting and other crimes during the said incident in 2018.

Hongkongers realized with Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor becoming the Hong Kong Chief Executive in 2017, it was the beginning of the era of authoritarianism.

Extraditions became more realistic when in August 2019, Simon Cheng Man-kit former British Council employee was abducted from the West Kowloon High-Speed Rail Station, interrogated, and tortured in executive detention in Shenzhen for 15 days. He had been accused of prostitution. Chengs kidnapping confirmed Hongkongers worries, that Chinese law enforcement coud make arrests on Hong Kong soil and extradite citizens to China.

The Beginning of the End

Fast forward to June 2020, the National Security Law (NSL) for Hong Kong was passed by the CCPs rubber stamp legislature and took effect immediately, which made demonstrations disappear on the streets like quicksand. The authorities cracked down on democratic or human rights organizations and individuals by accusing them of inciting social hostility. Trade unions and organizations were disbanded one after another.

By 2022, only patriots are allowed to become members of the Legislative Council, and the chief executive is selected by a group of pro-Beijing loyalists, while everything and everyone that is pan-democratic is trodden into the ground.

Every June 4 and June 12, Hong Kong is turned into a police state, where thousands of policemen patrol and terrorize everyday people on the streets of Hong Kong.

As Hong Kong stepped into a new political era, civil society also suffered. Everything becomes one-noted: CCP-loyalty is a must.

Whether Hong Kongs journey into the next 25 years will be smooth and whether 2047 will be an end game for Hong Kong, is hard to predict from the moves of typhoon Chaba or Xis speech.

Under the current framework of self-governance and a high degree of autonomy, it is best to leave it to the readers to make their judgments.
How a cedar slab from James Madisons estate was artfully transformed into a celebration of the American Constitution

Eric Horton, manager of the Klingspors Woodworking Shop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was in for a surprise the day his lumber buyer came across some original tree slabs from Founding Father James Madisons estate. The slab that really piqued Hortons interest was a cedar one allegedly gifted by the Marquis de Lafayette to James Madison when he visited America in 1824. Oral history suggests that Lafayette brought cedar seeds with him as a gift to Madison from the country of France. Cedar trees are not native to North America, which makes the slab that much more special.

The slabs arrived rough sawn and completely unfinished. They estimated to be around three inches thick. By the time Horton was done, they were two inches, flattened, leveled, and completely finished.

Illustration of the Liberty Bell is etched into the copper panels of the table. (Jason Byers)

Horton explained that it took him six or seven months of contemplating to decide the best project for the wooden slab. However, he always knew that he wanted it to be Constitution-themed. And so I knew that somewhere I wanted to inlay We the People, I just wasnt sure what I was going to inlay, he said. He finally kick-started the project in early April 2021 and decided on a copper inlay, inspired by Paul Revere, a coppersmith and significant figure in the American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party. Horton explained he had never dabbled in metalwork but was determined to make his vision come true. Thats where the idea of the copper We the People came from on the top of the table, he said. But that wasnt all. Horton had to also learn acid etching in order to illustrate the copper panels with images from the Revolution and the Constitution. That summer, he taught himself acid etching and created custom-made, hand-cut stencils featuring all of the images.

Illustration of the U.S. Supreme Court is etched into the copper panels of the table. (Jason Byers)

Every design was carefully chosen, highlighting a particular part of Americas story. Key images incorporated into the Madison table include a central copper panel illustrating drummer boys and flag bearers, chosen to represent the American Revolution. A preamble to the Constitution is acid etched in constitutional script on a panel on the left, inner end of the table, while the right, inner side has an image of the Liberty Bell, representing Independence Hall. The outer three sides of the table portray all three branches of the federal government: the Supreme Court, the Capitol dome, and the White House. Accompanying these symbols are copper butterflies flowing across the top of the table. Half an inch thick, they are made of solid copper and outline the 10 amendments of the Bill of Rights.

The entire project lasted seven months, and Horton dedicated nearly 500 hours to crafting the table. It often meant getting up early in the morning to work on the project. While challenging, it meant he would still have enough time in the day to attend to his family and work duties.

As a history lover, Horton explains his dream job would be to someday start a woodworking business specialized in repurposing historic, sentimental pieces. Three years ago, Horton received a message from a lady who asked him to repurpose her sons old, broken piano into something more practical. I tore that piano apart and turned it into an entryway hall bench. She absolutely loved it because it still had hints of a piano but was actually useful and not just taking up space in her home, he said.

Horton considers the Madison table as his most time-consuming and expensive piece to date and wishes to someday sell it to the right person.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
The U.S. national flag waves on the territory of the embassy of the United States of America in Moscow on April 2, 2018. (Vasily Maximov/AFP via Getty Images)

Americas Energy Independence

Commentary

The United States is a big country with lots and lots of natural resources, but our energy independence is complicated.

For instance, with oil, it was a much different story 140 years ago. Official numbers vary, but in 1880 the United States was responsible for 8595 percent of world oil production and refining. John D. Rockefeller was the undisputed oil king and during this time the New York World called his company, Standard Oil, the most cruel, impudent, pitiless, and grasping monopoly that ever fastened upon a country. Standard Oils grip on oil lasted until 1906, when the U.S. government sued to break up the concern citing the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

In 1914 the United States imported oil from Mexico due to shortages from the first World War; then between 1943 and 1950 the United States became a net importer of oil. This was largely due to the strain on energy commodities from two world wars and the ever-growing automobile industry.

Fast forward to 1960 and the United States finds itself competing with the newly formed OPEC, which at the time consisted of about 80 percent of global crude exports.

However, since 2018 the United States has reclaimed its energy dominance, largely from fracking. In 2020 America became the largest exporter of refined oil products (though it was still importing crude oil). Regardless, the last 100-plus years have been quite a ride for oil, gas, and natural gas.

An article this year from The Atlantic states, Since 2018, the United States has been the worlds largest producer of oil and natural gas. On paper, we are energy independent, John Hess, the CEO of Hess, said yesterday at CERAWeek, the energy industrys annual conference. But what a funny kind of independence it is. As he spoke, Russias invasion of Ukraine pushed U.S. gas prices to more than $4.10 a gallon, setting a new all-time high. Energy independence has neither insulated the economy from geopolitics nor provided the U.S. with more industrial capacity in an emergency.

Oil, gas, and natural gas are fine and well, but what about the future of energy? What about the future of energy in the United States?

Renewables, such as wind and solar, recently hit an all-time high of 28 percent. According to USA Today, the percentage of U.S. electricity produced by renewable energy from wind, solar and hydroelectric dams has been steadily rising, from 8.6% in April 2001 to this Aprils 28%. However, for renewablesoil, gas, and nuclear asidea lot of the future of energy rides on lithium-ion batteries.

To quote Simon Moores, CEO of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the energy revolution is here and its called the lithium ion battery. Used in everything from medical devices, mobile phones, laptops, electric vehicles and power tools; the majority of supply exists abroad.

Simon is right, we are in a new economy with new energy needs and it is not just smartphones and computers. Recently, Chinese automaker BYD, which makes EVs and hybrids, recently surpassed Tesla in electric vehicle sales. Moreover, Stellantis, the global automaker of Jeep, Maserati, and Chrysler, has invested in Australian lithium miner Vulcan Energy Resources. Stellantis paid $76 million for an eight percent stake in Vulcan.

The United States is the worlds largest oil producer, the worlds largest natural gas producer, and the worlds third-largest coal producer. At this juncture the United States can either maintain its energy status quo, which entails a mix of importing oil and devoting energy to produce energy products domestically (refining, natural gas, etc.); or it can focus on developing a robust energy security program while developing worthwhile international energy sources and partnerships.

But that wont help us with raw materials to make lithium-ion batteries.

As I stated earlier this year, China controls 80 percent of all battery cell manufacturing capacity and with capacity only expected to increasein fact, its expected to double to more than two terawatt-hoursChina will have enough capacity for more than 20 million electric vehicles (EV) within five years.

It is obvious that the United States needs a robust energy policy for the future, one in which the United States emerges as a domestic and international leader in fossil, renewable, battery power, and energy research and development.

For the next few decades, the supply of raw materials for lithium-ion batteries is king. America had best get ahead of the curve so as not to lose the race, or we stand the risk of becoming embroiled in another energy economics fiasco.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A 'now hiring' sign in a Manhattan store in New York City on May 6, 2022. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Fewer Americans Are Working as Payrolls Grow: Data Paradox

Company payrolls have expanded in recent months, even as the number of employed Americans has declined, according to the findings of two different government surveys. The paradoxical results might indicate that U.S. job growth has been somewhat weaker than it has appeared.

Non-farm companies added more than 1.1 million employees in April, May, and June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) establishment survey. In the same period, the total employment level in the country declined by nearly 350,000, the Census Bureau household survey said.

The discrepancy could indicate that the labor market hasnt been as hot as the establishment survey indicated. That could have significant consequences because the state of the labor market informs businesses, traders, investors, and policymakers decisions. The Federal Reserve uses employment statistics as a crucial input toward whether to expand or tighten the money supply, which has tended to cause stock markets to rise or fall.

In recent months, the Fed has been gradually tightening monetary policy, acting on the assumption that there are too many job openings.

The two employment surveys dont track each other perfectly because they measure somewhat different things.

The household survey asks people whether they are currently working, and BLS uses those results to come up with its monthly unemployment rate. However, the survey only measures employment within a margin of error of about a half-million workers.

The establishment survey asks companies how many people they employ. Diverging from the household survey, it excludes farm workers, those who are self-employed but not incorporated, household workers, and unpaid family workers. Its results have a margin of error of about 120,000 employees.

The margin of error itself can explain why the numbers dont always rise and fall in tandem, but in this case, the discrepancy is nearly 1.5 million workers. It has seldom reached this size in the past half-century.

Another cause could be found in the groups excluded from the establishment survey. If the number of these workers goes up or down, it only affects Census Bureau survey results, not the BLS survey.

Usuallyover timethe results of the two surveys snap more closely back together.

Some economists have pointed out that the current employment situation isnt so much a product of excess job openings as it is of people leaving the jobs market.

In May, there were an estimated 11.2 million job openings and fewer than 6 million people classified as unemployed. However, the unemployment figure excludes people who werent looking for a job in the prior four weeks.

If the pre-COVID-19 pandemic economy only managed to keep up with population growth, adding about 74,000 jobs per month on average, the United States should have had about 2.8 million more people employed in May.
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari addresses troops at an airforce base at Maiduguri on Dec. 23, 2021, at which four people were killed by jihadist rockets hours before he arrived. (Audu Marte/AFP via Getty Images)

Attacks Near Nigerias Capital Threaten National Elections

Terrorists ambush president's motorcade in his home state

ABUJA, NigeriaA series of terror attacks near Nigerias seat of power has embarrassed officials and threatened to disrupt the countrys general elections in 2023.

Three prominent incidents near the capital Abuja on July 5 shocked President Muhammadu Buhari and exposed his administrations failure to end terrorism during his seven years in power.

In 2015, the former army general claimed Islamist terrorists besieging the countrys northeast had been technically defeated.

But in a brazen show of power, a large band of terrorists on July 5 attacked a prominent prison 29 miles from the countrys presidential house in Abuja.

More than 800 inmates, including Boko Haram and ISIS fighters, escaped in the evening attack at the medium correctional center in Kuje, according to officials.

ISIS terrorists have claimed credit for the breakoutthe latest in a series in recent months.

United States officials in Abuja have issued an instant advisory to their citizens in the country amid fears of a terror spike.

Analysts speaking to The Epoch Times fear attacks that are displacing hundreds of communities could lead to an anti-West empire in Africas most populous nation.

Police Ambushed

The breakout came hours after gunmen ambushed a fleet of police cars leading a presidential motorcade in Buharis home state of Katsina earlier on July 5.

Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu wrote in a statement, that the ambush injured two people before it was repelled by police and secret service agents.

Buhari was traveling to his hometown of Daura when the ambush occurred, Shehu wrote.

The scene of the attack was located close to a forest where two police officers had been killed hours before.

A spokesman for the Katsina police Superintendent Gambo Isah wrote in a statement that more than 300 terrorists on motorcycles ambushed a police team that was raiding bandit hideouts in an area called Zakka.

The leader of the police in DutsinmaAssistant Commissioner Aminu Umar and one other were killed in the attack, according to Isah.

Both incidents occurred exactly a week after more than 30 soldiers were killed in Niger state about 180 miles from Abuja.

Within the preceding weeks, several attacks had seen dozens of villagers killed and many more kidnapped in Kaduna state, which also borders Abuja.

In the prison attack the night of July 5, 886 inmates escaped when 300 terrorists overpowered entrance guards and blasted through prison walls with explosives, according to officials.

One member of the security team was killed and four others injured said Umar Abubakar, the spokesman of the Nigerian Correctional Service in a statement.

Four inmates were also killed and 16 others injured, he said.

ISWAP Claims Responsibility

Hours after the attack, the ISIS West Africa Province released a video claiming responsibility.

The terrorists released the video on July 6 with the caption: Fighters of Islamic State attacked Kuje prison in Abuja yesterday and succeeded in freeing dozens of prisoners.

In the 38-second video, a group of civilians are seen strolling in an open field with cars burning behind them. Male voices are heard in the video shouting Allahuakbar accompanied by sounds of gunshots.

As of July 9, 444 escapees had been recaptured according to police and prison officials. But only one of 69 Boko Haram escapees has been identified.

Boko Haram and its breakaway faction ISWAP entered a deadly rivalry in 2016 after IS appointed Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the son of the late Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf, as its representative in West Africa.

Leader of the Boko Haram group, Abubakar Shekau reportedly blew himself off during a feud with ISWAP fighters in May 2021.

But shortly after, a new video showed members of the two groups forging an alliance.

Recruitment Source

The Kuje attack could prove to be a pivotal moment for ISWAP in Nigeria according to Tomasz Rolbiecki, a Polish researcher on jihadi violent extremist organizations in sub-Saharan Africa.

Now that the terrorists have succeeded in freeing dozens of their fellow fighters, they will be capable of doing more. Not immediately, but I expect a rise in ISWAP attacks in north-central [NIgeria]  some time from now, wrote Rolbiecki in a post on Twitter.

The attack was carried out to free detained terrorists and recruit fighters said David Otto, a London-based military consultant in a phone interview with The Epoch Times.

Officials of the United States, United Kingdom and United Nations in Abuja have warned of a possible terror spike in and around the city.

The U.S. embassy on July 6 specifically advised that U.S. citizens should maintain a high state of personal security awareness in the following weeks.

Terrorist groups and those inspired by such organizations are intent on attacking U.S. citizens abroad, the alert says.

Illegitimate Government

In recent years, bandit terrorists specialized in kidnap-for-ransom have been in charge of armed attacks in the northwest and north-central regions according to Murtala Rufai, a scholar at the Usman Danfodio University Sokoto.

The Epoch Times reported in April how large bandit gangs led by a feared warlord known as Ali Kawaje had set up camps near Abuja.

The gangs, which mainly come from the Fulani tribe, are now in communication with previously northeast-based Boko Haram and ISWAP according to Greg Stanton, the founding president of Genocide Watch.

Both groups might be aiming to intimidate politicians and influence the outcome of the countrys general elections in 2023, said Otto.

The message they are trying to pass is that if they can attack the presidents convoy; if they can attack the symbol of the countrys criminal justice system, then they are capable of toppling the government, Otto said.

They might not exactly topple the government, but they will push the country to a certain level of uncertainty.

The implication is that citizens will not have the confidence to select their president in 2023. And if citizens can not select their president, what you have is a government that is illegitimatea government that is not backed by the people, he said.

Government Complicit

Lawmakers speaking to The Epoch Times have accused Buhari of complicity with the terrorists.

When some of us insisted from the onset that government should be decisive and swift in tackling terrorism at its formative stage, the calls fell on deaf ears, wrote Istifanus Gyang, a senator from Plateau state.

The implication is that ISWAP and all the terrorist groups have become more emboldened and determined in their quest and dream to turn Nigeria into an Islamic state as in the manner of Afghanistan.

Simon Mwadkwon, a member of the House of Representatives, also said in a telephone interview, He [Buhari] has encouraged them and they are now everywhere in the country.

This is all linked to the 2023 election. If they cannot have members of their own faith in government, they will want to take the country by force, he said.

Anti-Western Alliance

If Nigeria becomes an Islamic country, American activist Judd Saul told The Epoch Times, The oil industry and all the resources [in Nigeria] will now be controlled by Islam and Islam has a history of working many times with enemies of the West, enemies of the United States, enemies of NATO.

And well see some very bad alliances happening. And there will be government interests from adversaries of the United States, and government interests of people in NATO that find Nigeria a very strategic interest.

The regime that they would want to cooperate with is definitely going to affect all of Africa. If Nigeria falls, all of Africa falls.
Australia Introduces New Rules to Curb Rising SMS Scams

Australian authorities have registered new rules requiring telecommunications companies in the country to identify, trace and block SMS scams to protect customers.

The latest move by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) was to counter the rapidly rising number of SMS scams reported by people.

Apart from blocking scam text messages, the new rules developed by ACMA and industry peak body Communications Alliance also require telecommunications companies to publish information to help customers manage and report scams.

In particular, telcos are now responsible for sharing scam information with each other and reporting identified scams to authorities.

According to ACMA chair Nerida OLoughlin, the new rules would make it harder for scammers to carry out their schemes.

SMS scams can be highly sophisticated and have devastating financial and emotional impacts for victims, she said in a statement.

These scam messages are deeply frustrating to Australians because they are received on devices that are an essential part of our social and economic lives.

Almost every Australian adult and business is affected.

Australians Lose Over $6.5 Million To SMS Scams

Data from Scamwatch showed that Australians had lost over $6.5 million (US$4.37 million) to SMS scams so far, an increase of 188 percent compared to a year earlier.

In addition, SMS scams accounted for nearly one-third of all reported scams in 2022, and the total losses suffered by scam victims amounted to over $257 million.

We shouldnt have to screen messages and adopt workaround behaviours to be able to feel safe and stay connected, OLoughlin said.

There is no silver bullet to stop scams, but we know enforceable laws can have a significant impact, and every blocked scam is a win for consumers.

Meanwhile, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the new rules were well received by the federal government.

Most Australians have either received a scam text message or know someone who has, and know how easy it can be to fall into the trap, she said.

These new rules aim to disrupt scammers business models, which will help to protect vulnerable Australians against scammers accessing their bank account, social media and online businesses.

As the new code comes into effect, Australian authorities will impose penalties of up to $250,000 on any telcos not complying with the directions.
Avi Yemini speaks to the protesters on September 17, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Rebel News Avi Yemini Gets Apology From Victoria Police After Wrongful Arrest During Protests

Victoria Police has apologised to Rebel News chief Australian correspondent Avi Yemini for arresting him while reporting on the COVID-19 anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne.

The apology, which was issued on June 27 and published on Canadian media outlet Rebel News on July 7, comes after Yemini filed his case in the Victorias Supreme Court in September 2020 to accuse Victoria Police of false imprisonment and imprisonment hindering his ability to report as a journalist.

Yemini was arrested at the Lockout Law Rally at Albert Park on Sep 5, 2020, while conducting interviews and recording events.

On Jan. 26, 2021, the conservative commentator was again detained when recording the anti-mandate rally in Melbourne CBD. In both incidents, Yemini protested the polices decisions and insisted that he had media accreditation.

The commentator was also arrested and escorted while reporting on the Pay the Rent protest on Jan. 26, 2020, for interrupting a speech by an Aboriginal speaker. The protest saw Aboriginal activists rallying against Australia Day, which commemorates the arrival of the British in 1788.

Protesters march against lockdowns in Melbourne, Australia, on Aug. 21, 2021. (Getty Images)

Victoria Police said they sincerely apologise for the hurt and embarrassment suffered by Yemini on those occasions as a consequence of the arrests and subsequent detention.

On each occasion, Mr Yemini was wrongfully arrested and detained by members of Victoria Police whilst reporting for Rebel News, the statement said.

In response, Yemini said that all he wanted was a simple sorry so that it wouldnt happen again.

I was never after a payout, and I consistently demanded an apology, he told Rebel News.

My objective from the start was to ensure that I could do my job like any other reporter, even if people are threatening me and they dont like what Im saying.

Legal Fight for Media Access

A former Israeli soldier, Yemini has also sued the Victoria parliament for denying him media access to the parliament and presiding offices.

His solicitor, William Houghton QC, argued that Yemini being allowed into parliament was in the public interest.

It seems his application was refused because hes not employed by conventional or traditional media outlet, Houghton told the Supreme Court on Dec. 8, 2021.

Hes not a member of the mainstream media. If you are a mainstream journalist, it seems almost as a matter of course that you get media accreditation to the Parliament of Victoria if you are reporting on political news.

Victorias COVID-19 lockdown, which was regarded as one of the longest in the world, has seen more than tens of thousands of people hitting the streets in Melbourne in 2020 and 2021 to oppose the restrictions and mandates.

While the rally was conducted in a largely peaceful fashion, some police responded by using pepper spray and firing rubber bullets at protesters.
BBC Alleges UKs Special Forces Repeatedly Killed Afghan Detainees

Defence Ministry denies allegation, accuses BBC of jeopardising troops

The UKs special forces operatives repeatedly killed detainees and unarmed men in suspicious circumstances in Afghanistan, the BBC alleged on Tuesday before airing a documentary on its investigation into the subject.

In two articles published on Tuesday about its Panorama programme scheduled to be aired later in the day, the BBC alleged that a Special Air Service (SAS) unit may have unlawfully killed 54 people in one six-month tour that began in November 2010, citing documents, ballistic analysis, and witness accounts.

But the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the BBC had jumped to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have already been fully investigated. It also accused the broadcaster of being irresponsible, incorrect, and putting our brave Armed Forces personnel at risk both in the field and reputationally.

The BBC said its investigation started with a cache of internal emails from within the headquarters of UK Special Forces (UKSF) that was included in court documents, but didnt have a breakthrough until the team obtained hundreds of contemporaneous military reports from an unnamed whistleblower.

A Pattern of Suspicious Killing

After reviewing the documents, which contained detailed accounts of the SASs night raidsoperations designed to detain Taliban commanders and disrupt bomb-making networksthe BBC said it had found a pattern of suspicious killing.

The broadcaster listed a number of examples where detainees were said to have been killed after pulling out hidden weapons and trying to engage SAS troops with them.

Citing an unnamed senior officer who worked at UK Special Forces headquarters, the BBC said there had been real concern at the UKSF as the number of such incidents was considered unusually high.

The report said senior officials were aware of the concern but didnt report the suspicions to the Royal Military Police (RMP).

The BBC also said it was told by individuals who served with the SAS squadron on that deployment that they had witnessed SAS operatives kill unarmed people and plant weapons at a scene.

In another article, the BBC cited family members of individuals who were killed in a few of the incidents, who denied that those who were killed had been armed.

The Panorama team photographed bullet holes at a scene, which it said were clustered near the ground. The BBC report said a UKSF weaponry expert who saw the photos said the positions of the bullet holes suggest people were shot when they were lying down or sitting against the wall.

The BBC also suggested that the intelligence-gathering process that led to the raids and the killings was rushed and could have led to the killing of civilians.

The RMP in 2014 launched an investigation dubbed Operation Northmoor to examine alleged offences by British forces in Afghanistan, including some killings by the SAS squadron, between 2005 and 2013.

The investigation has not led to any prosecutions. But according to the BBC, RMP sources said the police force was not able to interview senior Special Forces officers owing to a lack of cooperation from UKSF.

MoD: No Sufficient Evidence to Prosecute

In an email to The Epoch Times on Tuesday, an MoD spokesperson said: We believe that BBC Panoramas episode about SAS operations in Afghanistan, scheduled for broadcast Tuesday 12 July 2022, jumps to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have already been fully investigated.

The spokesperson said the MoD had provided a detailed and comprehensive statement to Panorama, unequivocally how two Service Police operations carried out extensive and independent investigation into allegations about the conduct of UK forces in Afghanistan.

Neither investigation found sufficient evidence to prosecute, the spokesperson said. Insinuating otherwise is irresponsible, incorrect, and puts our brave Armed Forces personnel at risk both in the field and reputationally.

The spokesperson added that the MoD stands open to considering any new evidence and that there would be no obstruction.

But in the absence of this, we strongly object to this subjective reporting, the statement reads.

The BBC said in an email to The Epoch Times that it stands by its journalism, arguing that the documentary is the culmination of a four-year investigation including new evidence and eyewitness accounts and that its firmly in the public interest.

Asked about the allegations on Tuesday, armed forces minister James Heappey told MPs on the House of Commons Defence Select Committee that the MoDs investigations into the allegations didnt cross the evidential threshold.

But lets be clear. If there are new allegations, new evidence, that comes to light as a consequence of the Panorama investigation, and that is then passed to the Service Police, we will absolutely investigate it. Nobody in our organisation, no matter how special, gets a bye on the law, Heappey said.

In Australia, similar allegations led to the removal of one SAS squadron in November 2020.
Pedestrians cross a road in front of buildings in the central business district in Beijing, China, on Nov. 23, 2021. China's marked economic slowdown in the year's second half is testing the central bank's policy mettle and dividing economists over whether more aggressive action is needed to avoid a deeper downturn. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Beijing Shows a Hint of Desperation

China's leadership takes largely predictable and perhaps doubtful steps to spur Chinas lagging economy

News Analysis

Beijing is beginning to look desperate. Months ago, it reduced its real growth target of 2022 to only 5.5 percent. Severe restrictions to deal with COVID-19 make even that reduced number look unattainable.

Beijing also needs to overcome the natural tendency for any economy to see slower growth as it achieves higher levels of development. Chinas leadership understandably worries over the growth in unemployment, to over 6 percent of the workforce recently and almost 20 percent of the youth population. Now policymakers seem to have pulled out just about all the stops to get things going, and it is not apparent that will be enough.

Premier Li Keqiang recently laid out the stimulus measures favored by Chinas cabinet, called the State Council. Titled Policy Measures Package to Stabilize the Economy, the plan is massive, totaling some 800 billion yuan ($120 billion) and consisting of 33 separate initiatives, though exactly how many depends on how one counts.

To finance this initiative, Beijing has pressed local governments to issue so-called special purpose bonds. Because COVID lockdowns have strained local government budgets, Beijing has also leaned on state-owned banks to extend credit.

The program has too many bits to itemize all here. A summary should be sufficient.

An elderly woman pushes a cart after searching through rubbish bins to collect recyclable items to sell along a street near the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on March 5, 2021. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images)

Some 14 of the measures aim to offset the ill effects of the anti-COVID lockdowns and quarantines. In these, Beijing has concentrated on what it refers to as micro-, small-, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs).

Policy aid includes relief on taxes and fees, measures to defer social security premiums and payments to the housing provident fund, and some principal and interest payments on liabilities owed to state-run banks. This part of the program extends this relief to some larger businesses in select areas, including manufacturing, technology services, energy, transportation, and ecological protection. The State Council has also offered MSMEs some preferences on government contracting and loan support, especially in transportation, catering, accommodation, and tourism.

The rest of the program, the bulk of it, aims at infrastructure, Chinas longstanding go-to area when seeking economic growth. Here, the emphasis is on water conservancy, flood control, and refurbishing urban pipelines. The State Council also emphasizes energy. This part of the plan includes wind, solar, and hydroelectric, but it also looks to increase coal production.

The State Council goes out of its way to acknowledge the long-term environmental concerns of coal. Still, it emphasizes an immediate need to provide energy, understandable after the devastating effect of 2021s electricity shortfalls.

Logisticstransportation, warehousing, and urban hubsalso receive emphasis, as do auto and aviation production, largely by lifting local and national regulations that might interfere with sales.

An aerial view of bullet trains on the newly built high-speed railways in Nantong, eastern Chinas Jiangsu Province, on Dec. 15, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Though, in many respects, this latest stimulus effort looks very much like past such efforts, the emphasis on MSMEs is novel. Past such efforts have largely ignored smaller businesses, concentrating almost exclusively on grand projectsroads, bridges, ports, rail links, and the likethat naturally drew the government support to larger firms, especially state-owned firms.

The seeming lack of concern for so-called MSMEs in the past had less to do with government hostility than that smaller firms have little presence in the areas of government interest. Their inclusion this time has less to do with a change in Beijings economic emphasis than with a pressing need to offer relief from the ravages of anti-COVID strictures. Even with Beijings acknowledgment of this need, little else in the State Councils program speaks to any fundamental shift in economic priorities.

One seemingly small aspect of the package is particularly telling. The State Council designates foreign investment as critical to Chinas growth.

Beijings latest plan makes clear that the government prefers such investment monies to flow to less developed areas of the country, such as the central, western, and northeastern provinces. It also looks for foreign investment in advanced manufacturing, robots, technological innovation, and tech research and development.

Just about every country in the world makes invitations for foreign investment to its underdeveloped regions, usually to relieve poverty and unemployment. But Chinas emphasis on technological transfers from abroad announces, albeit obliquely, that despite strides in homegrown tech, China still needs help from the developed worldor at least Beijing seems to think it does.

The State Councils Policy Measures Package to Stabilize the Economy clearly says two things. First, Beijing is now desperate to achieve even its reduced 5.5 percent real growth target for 2022. Second, Chinas leadership plans to achieve that growth using largely the same policies it has relied on in the pastinfrastructure projects and reliance on foreign technology transfers.

Many thoughtful observers believe that even with this package, China will fail to make its target. The International Monetary Fund looks for 2022 real growth to come in at only 4.5 percent. Economists at Japans huge broker-dealer, Nomura, are even more pessimistic. They look for real growth of only 3.9 percent.

Chances are that however reality comes out, Beijing will announce success, even if it requires some legerdemain with the statistics.
Xiao Jianhua, a Chinese-born Canadian billionaire, reads a book outside the International Finance Center in Hong Kong in December 2013. (Next Magazine/AP Photo)

Beijings Secret Trial of Chinese-Canadian Billionaire Indicates Power Struggle Within CCP: Analysts

News Analysis

A Chinese-born Canadian tycoon with reported links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) elites was recently on trial in Shanghai after five years of forced disappearance. China observers say the situation indicates a power struggle among political rivals within the CCP system.

Xiao Jianhua, 55, appeared in a Shanghai court on July 4. The Canadian billionaire faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison for illegal fundraising and a fine, according to Chinese laws and regulations.

However, Chinese state media outlets did not specify the trials location and his lawyers names. Nor were Canadian diplomats allowed to attend the hearing despite repeated requests, according to a Canadian government statement.

Xiao, the founder of Tomorrow Group in Chinas financial sector, expanded his business to banking, securities, insurance, and others before he was disappeared. He was last seen at a hotel in Hong Kong in January 2017 and allegedly taken to the mainland by Chinese secret agents, according to Hong Kong police. The Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao reported that Xiao denied he was taken against his will.

Xiao was worth nearly $6 billion at the time of his disappearance, making him Chinas 32nd wealthiest person, according to the Hurun Report, which follows the countrys wealthy individuals.

Amid CCP leader Xi Jinpings anti-corruption campaign, Tomorrow Group has been linked to regulators anti-corruption prosecutions and seizures of financial companies. Xiao vanished amid a flurry of prosecutions of Chinese businesspeople accused of misconduct.

That fueled fears the CCP might be abducting people outside the mainland. At that time, Hong Kong prohibited Chinese police from operating in the former British colony, which had a separate legal system.

Since then, Beijing has tightened control over Hong Kong, prompting complaints it is violating the autonomy promised when the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The CCP imposed a national security law in 2020 and has imprisoned pro-democracy activists.

A Warning to Xis Opponents

Australia-based China expert Yuan Hongbing told The Epoch Times on July 5 that the timing of the trial, ahead of the CCPs 20th Congress, serves as a warning to senior Chinese officials opposed to Xi securing a third term.

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and other leaders applaud during the closing session of the rubber-stamp legislatures conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11, 2022. (Leo Ramirez/AFP via Getty Images)

Yuan believes that Xis political faction is behind Xiaos demise. The corruption probe would allow Xi to gain evidence of shady dealings between Xiao and top officials. Xi can then use this evidence to take down his rivals.

Xiao had served members of the elite ruling class as a behind-the-scenes financial trader, according to the China expert.

The scope of Jianhua Xiaos laundering covered many CCP [ruling] families, he noted.

Xiaos partnership involved the families of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, and his political ally, Zeng Qinghong, and many others, according to the expert.

Yuan said he first met Xiao at Peking University in the 1980s. Yuan was a teacher and a counselor for first-year students admitted in 1986, including Xiao, who later became president of a student union. Xiao made connections with students whose families were part of the ruling class.

Canada-based commentator, Sheng Xue, viewed Xiaos trial as an indicator of an intense power struggle between high-level officials ahead of the upcoming Party Congress in October. She said Xiao would serve as a new scapegoat for CCP elites.

Sheng emphasized that Chinas chance of transitioning to democracy is undermined by the CCPs infighting, which has continued for decades since the Party took control of China in 1949 under Mao Zedong.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai (R), places a flower on the jacket of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken following remarks to the press after a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, Thailand, July 10, 2022. Stefani Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS

Blinken Calls on China, ASEAN Countries to Hold Burma Accountable

BANGKOKU.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday urged China and members of the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN to put pressure on the rulers of Burma (also known as Myanmar)

to return to democracy and to hold it accountable to a peace deal agreed with the group.

It is incumbent on China and in Chinas interest to see Burma move back to the path it was on, Blinken said, using the countrys former name.

Speaking at a news conference in Bangkok during a tour of Asia, Blinken called on members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to hold Burmas government accountable to five-point consensus peace agreement.

Regional support for the regimes adherence to the five point consensus developed by ASEAN is criticalthat has not happened, Blinken said.

The ASEAN countries need to hold the regime accountable for that  continue to demand the cessation of violence and release of prisoners, he added.

ASEANs nine members and Burmese junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in April last year signed an agreement that included immediate cessation of violence and dialogue among all parties.

There has been no positive movement on that.

Burmas military has increased pressure against ethnic minority armies since a coup last year and is encountering resistance on multiple fronts, including militia groups allied with the ousted government.

Last week, Thailand scrambled fighters after a Burma jet breached its airspace in the countrys northwest.

Burma shares a 1,500-mile border with Thailand, its longest with any neighbor.

The United States and Thailand on Sunday signed agreements to deepen the countries already strong ties as Washington steps up its efforts to counter the Chinese regimes expanding influence in Asia.

Thailands Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai (R) and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken display flowers on their jackets following remarks to the press after a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 10, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/Reuters)

Blinkens visit comes a day after he met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Indonesia on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G-20) foreign ministers meeting.

Wang has been engaged in intense diplomacy across Asia in recent weeks and met Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on July 5.

Blinken last year postponed a trip to Thailand, the oldest U.S. ally in Asia, after halting a regional tour when a COVID-19 case was found in the press corps accompanying him.

After meeting Blinken, Prayuth said the relationship between the two countries continue to increase in momentum.
Protesters hold slogans to mark the 6th anniversary of the 2016 international ruling that declared China's claims in the South China Sea illegal during a rally outside the Chinese consulate in Makati, Philippines on July 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Blinken Vows US Will Defend Ally Philippines From Chinas Intimidation

The United States would defend its ally the Philippines if the latter were attacked by China, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Manila July 12, Blinken warned Chinas communist leadership explicitly that Washington was obligated to defend the Philippines if its forces, vessels, or aircraft came under attack in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

We call again on the PRC to abide by its obligations under international law and cease its provocative behavior, Blinken said, using the acronym for Chinas formal name, the Peoples Republic of China.

We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments.

Those commitments include the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, which dictates that the United States and the Philippines will defend one another if either is attacked. The Philippines also has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the United States. MNNA is a designation under U.S. law that provides foreign partners with benefits in defense trade and security cooperation.

Blinkens comments came on the sixth anniversary of a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijings vast and illegal territorial claims in the South China Sea. The arbitration was conducted in The Hague under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea after the Philippine government complained about Chinas increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

China did not participate in the arbitration and rejected its ruling. The United States, meanwhile, has affirmed the ruling and issued numerous reports finding that Chinas claims have no legal basis.

Chinas continued efforts to expand its control of the South China Sea through the creation of artificial islands and deployment of maritime militia forces to harass and intimidate others have brought it into frequent confrontations with other nations in the region, including the Philippines.

That makes the region a potential flashpoint for conflict given the United States close relationship with the Philippines.

Indeed, the United States relationship with the Philippines is one of its oldest in the region, and the Philippines time as a U.S. colony is the reason why the United States initially developed a military presence in the Indo-Pacific to begin with.

Since the recognition of the Philippines independence on July 4, 1946, the United States has not maintained territorial claims to the South China Sea. It has, however, consistently deployed its military to patrol the waterway and ensure freedom of navigation and overflight for all in the region.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei have all made their own overlapping claims in the Sea, where it is estimated $5 trillion in goods passes each year. It is also believed that there are rich gas and oil deposits in the region.

In alignment with Washington, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said that the 2016 ruling would be a pillar of his governments policy in the region and rejected what he characterized as attempts to undermine the indisputable decision of The Hague.

These findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal and are conclusive as they are indisputable, Manalo said in a statement. The award is final.

We firmly reject attempts to undermine it [to] erase it from law, history and our collective memories.

Relatedly, a poll conducted in June found that about 90 percent of Filipinos wanted the government to assert its maritime claims and increase its defense capability. The Philippines has thus far been unable to enforce the ruling, however, and has since filed hundreds of formal protests concerning Chinas ever-expanding encroachment.

Blinken subsequently reaffirmed the United States commitment to the ruling and to the Philippines more broadly on social media.

Six years ago today, an Arbitral Tribunal rejected the PRCs expansive South China Sea maritime claims as having no basis in international law, Blinken said in a tweet. We stand by our ally, the Philippines, in defending its rights and in opposing the PRCs provocations and intimidation.
Two Texas police officers were aided by a good Samaritan when a stolen car led to a chase in the Fort Worth suburb of White Settlement.

A motorist stepped up and gave one of the officers a lift while chasing down the suspect, which ended in his arrest.

On June 18, a license plate camera located a stolen car, and the two officers responded. Dashcam footage shows both policemen intercepting a male suspect in a red Ford Focus. The man got out, and led the officers on a foot chase for about a half mile through the neighborhood.

But with Texas temperatures soaring into the high 90s, one officer, Corporal Jon Porter, fell behind; his partner, Officer Samuel Brown, continued the pursuit.

A bystander in his car then stepped up and lent Porter a lift. Bodycam footage shows the motorist offering a ride, the officer accepting, and him getting into the back seat.

(Courtesy of White Settlement Police Department)

Dashcam and bodycam footage show the two officers and good Samaritan pursuing the suspect. (Courtesy of White Settlement Police Department)

Within 20 seconds, they caught up with Officer Brown, who  despite having just one arm  had taken the suspect to the ground and was placing him in handcuffs.

I look over my shoulder trying to see who is coming up on me, and then I see Porter jump out of the car, Officer Brown later told Fox 4. It was pretty funny.

The suspect, Joshua Taylor Brown, 31, was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, possessing a stolen credit card, and evading arrest.

Police Chief Chris Cook later sought to identify the good Samaritan who helped the officers. Turning to social media, he found former security guard Jimmy Davis.

Davis had seen the suspect run past his house and decided to intervene.

Officer Brown arresting the suspect; (Inset) Joshua Taylor Brown, 31, who was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, possessing a stolen credit card, and evading arrest. (Courtesy of White Settlement Police Department)

I told my wife, Im gonna get in the car and follow, he said. My intention was to stop the guy from going any further. I did what I had to do, and I would do it again, too, if I had to.

Chief Cook acknowledged Daviss actions and presented him with a token of appreciation. Its not every day that someone jumps in and lends a helping hand like this, said Chief Cook.

A rookie just over four months into his tenure, Officer Brown recalled seeing Davis and Porter pull up during the arrest, I wasnt even thinking about it much until after we got back here, and Im like, Did you really get into someone elses car?

Previously, in Southern California, Officer Brown was told that police work was out of his reach.

He told Fox 4, Its a boring story. I was born with one arm.

Now, in Texas, hes in his element.

I was excited the whole time, he recalled. I live for this kind of stuff.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Mo Farah of Great Britain competes in the Muller Anniversary Games at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London on July 23, 2016. (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

British Olympic Champion Mo Farah Reveals Secret Identity as a Trafficked Child

The UKs Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, has praised Mo Farah as a truly inspirational role model after the four-time Olympic champion revealed his true identity and that he was actually trafficked into Britain under a fake name at the age of nine.

The 39-year-old won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres race at the 2012 Olympics in London and then successfully defended both titles at Rio de Janeiro four years later, but he has now revealed he was actually born Hussein Abdi Kahin.

In a BBC documentary he revealed he was brought to Britain from Somalia illegally at the age of nine and was given the nameMohamed Farahof a dead child.

In the documentary Farah said: Most people know me as Mo Farah but its not my name or its not the reality. The real story is I was born in Somaliland, north of Somalia, as Hussein Abdi Kahin. Despite what Ive said in the past, my parents never lived in the UK.

Britains Mo Farah gesturing on the podium as he waits to receive his gold medal for the mens 5,000-metre race at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 20, 2016. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

He said the truth was that his father was killed in Somalias civil war in 1987, when he was four, and he was taken from his mother and brought to Britain illegally from Djibouti by a woman he had never met before.

Farah says he did not go to school for three years but was eventually enrolled at Feltham Community College by the woman, who told staff he was a refugee from Somalia.

He says he kept up the pretence, including using the name Mo Farah, for decades and became a British citizen, eventually winning gold for Britain at two Olympic Games.

I Dont Think I Was Ever Ready to Say Anything

In the documentary Farah said, I dont think I was ever ready to say anything, not because you want to lie, but because youre protecting yourself.

The Home Office is not planning to take any action against Farah and its guidance makes clear, If the person was a child at the time the fraud, false representation or concealment of material fact was perpetrated (that led to citizenship), the caseworker should assume that they were not complicit in any deception by their parent or guardian.

Farahwho is now thought to be worth 3 million ($3.5 million), mainly through endorsementsset up the Mo Farah Foundation in 2011, which funds mobile health units in Somalia.

Zahawi, whose parents brought him to Britain from Saddam Husseins Iraq as an 11-year-old, told the BBC on Tuesday: I salute Mo Farah. What an amazing human being to go through that trauma in childhood, and to come through it and be such a great role model is truly inspirationaland exemplary.

Cases such as Farahs are believed to be extremely rare, but occasionally children do enter Britain under false pretences.

In 2017 Prashad Bullet Sothalingam, 26, was jailed for life for murdering a gang rival with an axe in Mitcham, south London. The court heard Sothalingam had come to Britain as an illegal immigrant at the age of 15 and lied about his pastclaiming both his parents died in the 2004 tsunamiin order to stay in the country.
Gas prices over $7.00 a gallon are displayed at a Chevron gas station in Menlo Park, Calif., on May 25, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

California Cities Ban New Gas Stations as Price Tops $6.10 per Gallon

An increasing number of California cities are banning the construction of new gas stations despite critics saying that stations are necessary for the vast majority of drivers and commuters.

We didnt know what we were doing, actually, Petaluma Councilwoman DLynda Fischer told the Los Angeles Times Monday of a citywide ban on new stations. We didnt know we were the first in the world when we banned gas stations.

Since that ban, four other cities in the Bay Area have done the same. They include Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, American Canyon, and Calistoga.

And some elected officials in Los Angeles County are pushing to bar the construction of gas stations in the county, which has 13 million residents.

We are ending oil drilling in Los Angeles. We are moving to all-electric new construction. And we are building toward fossil fuel free transportation. Our great and influential city, which grew up around the automobile, is the perfect place to figure out how to move off the gas-powered car, Councilman Paul Koretz, a Democrat, told the LA Times.

Koretz, in the interview, claimed that a ban would be a step toward Gov. Gavin Newsoms proposal to end the sale of gas-powered vehicles in California by 2035.

Given Gov. Newsoms timeline to end the sale of gas vehicles by 2035, gas stations are a dying business, Koretz said.

But Kevin Slagle, a spokesperson for Western States Petroleum Association, told the paper that the ban will likely have unintended consequences. Bans on gas stations will only make it more difficult for motorists who use gas-powered vehicles.

Taking what were facing todaya lot of demand and not a lot of supplyif you start taking stations out, new and existing, if you make a commodity tougher to find, that often means higher costs, he said.

The average price per gallon in California stands at $6.058 as of Tuesday, according to data from automotive club AAA. Mono County, which is located in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, has $7.11-per-gallon prices on average, the data show.

A recent survey from Consumer Reports, which said it asked around 8,000 Americans, found that 61 percent said they wouldnt seek to own an electric vehicle because of charging logistics while 55 percent cited the number of miles a vehicle can go per charge.

Another 52 percent said that the costs of buying and maintaining an electric vehicle are cost-prohibitive. Another 46 percent of the respondents stated they have not heard of any financial incentives available for owners of electric vehicles.
Khiara Bridges, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley speaks during a hearing in Washington on July 12, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

California Law Professor, Senator Clash Over Whether Men Can Get Pregnant

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and a California law professor on July 12 clashed during a Senate hearing over whether only women can get pregnant.

Khiara Bridges, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley who was called as a witness by Senate Democrats, used the phrase people with the capacity for pregnancy several times during the hearing, which focused on legal concerns following the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade.

Hawley asked if Bridges was referring to women, prompting the exchange.

Many women, cis women, have the capacity for pregnancy. Many cis women do not have the capacity for pregnancy. There are also trans men capable of pregnancy, and nonbinary people, Bridges claimed.

Cis is a word used by activists to describe people who identify as their natural sex from birth. Transgender refers to people who identify otherwise.

This isnt really a womens rights issue then, Hawley said.

We can recognize that this impacts women while also recognizing that it impacts other groups. Those things are not mutually exclusive, Bridges said.

I want to recognize that your line of questioning is transphobic and it opens up trans people to violence by not recognizing them, she added.

Youre saying Im opening up to violence by asking whether or not women are the folks who can have pregnancies? Hawley asked.

Bridges said that a number of transgender people commit suicide, which she pinned on people denying trans people exist and pretending not to know they exist.

Do you believe that men can get pregnant? she asked Hawley.

No, he said.

So youre denying that trans people exist. Thank you, she responded.

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) looks on during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on voting rights on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 20, 2021. (Evelyn Kockstein/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

And that leads to violence? Is this how you run your classroom? Are students allowed to question you or are they also treated like this, they told that theyre opening up people to violence? Hawley wondered.

Theyre allowed to question me. We have a good time in my class. You should join, Bridges said.

I bet, Hawley said.

You might learn a lot, Bridges said.

I would learn a lot. Ive learned a lot through this exchange. Extraordinary, he said.

Following the hearing, Hawley took to Twitter.

The Democrats say what they really think: men can get pregnant and if you disagree, you are transphobic and responsible for violence, Hawley wrote on the social media website. For todays left, disagreement with them = violence. So you must not disagree.

Others said Bridges made sense, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).

Its the excellence, knowledge & the truthtelling by Prof. Khiara Bridges for me, Pressley wrote, sharing a clip of the interaction. Her testimony is a masterclass. This is a must watch.
A woman wearing a mask walks past a wall bearing a graffiti asking for rent forgiveness on La Brea Ave. in Los Angeles on May 1, 2020. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)

California State Eviction Moratoriums Expire, Some Remain Locally

LOS ANGELESState and local moratoriums on evictions in California enacted at the beginning COVID-19 continue to send temblors through the housing market. The state evictions, extended multiple times, expired on June 30. Some local moratoriums have continued.

On Jan. 25, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors extended its COVID-19 Tenant Protections Resolution to Dec. 31 (pdf).

For rent incurred on or after July 1, low-income tenants gained protection for nonpayment of rent if household income is below 80 percent of the Area Median Income. According to the Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, for a family of four, thats $95,300.

The board also launched a program, Stay Housed LA County, offering legal services to tenants facing eviction.

Homeowners seeking tenants have become more careful during the application process, Daniel Yukelson told The Epoch Times; hes the executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles.

He said tenants easily can get away with that under tenant protection.

Anybody living in LA County is covered if they dont pay their rent, he said. Say the word COVID. Theyre scot-free. They still have our local government babysitting these tenants who cant seem to pay their rent.

The recently released 2022 Court Statistics Report: Statewide Caseload Trends 2011-12 through 202021 highlighted the dire situation. Although it covered the previous fiscal year ending on June 30, 2021, the statistics still paint a picture of enduring COVID-19 hardships.

Statewide, 35,727 unlawful detainer lawsuitseviction noticeshit tenants. More than a quarter of those, 9,676, were served in Los Angeles County. Another 3,285 were filed in Orange County and 2,796 in San Bernardino County (pdf).

Nearly 60 percent of these lawsuits in California were filed in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Riverside counties. Thats because Southern Californias population comprises about two-thirds of the states.

Yukelson said people were evicted not only because they couldnt afford the rent, but due to multiple other reasons including violating rental agreements and damaging the property.

Eviction fraud also exists, he said, and adds to the numbers.

We saw a great deal of fraud during the eviction moratoriums. We still see it today, he said. Members of his association showed him pictures from things like Facebook of tenants traveling all over the country or Europe, not having paid rent for over a year and claiming that theyve been impacted by COVID.

Eviction always is the last resort for property owners, he said. Costly legal fees make it challenging for landlords to chase after the rent.
Calls Grow to Drop Murder Charge for NYC Bodega Worker in Self-Defense Stabbing

Calls are growing across New York City to drop the charge of murder against a Manhattan bodega worker for killing an assailant who was attacking him inside his store on July 1.

Store video shows that Jose Alba was at work in a modest bodega in Upper Manhattan when Austin Smith came behind the counter and physically accosted him. During the alteration, Alba stabbed Smith multiple times with a knife, killing him.

It is outrageous. The surveillance video makes it very clear that Mr. Alba was defending himself from an aggressive, violent attacker. He should not have been charged, New York Citys 44th District Councilman Kalman Yeger, a Democrat, told The Epoch Times.

Yeger and six other city lawmakers signed a bipartisan letter urging Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to drop all charges against Alba.

This case is particularly jarring because you routinely drop charges and waive bail for violent offenders, the letter stated. You are simply rewarding the guilty and punishing the innocent.

Mario Messina, president of Manhattans 29th Street Neighborhood Association, told The Epoch Times: This is self defense. I dont think [Alba] should be reprimanded. What they are doing to him is too severe.

Messina, an advertising professional, said he has never seen crime so bad during his 40 years in New York City.

We see the same actors going and robbing the same stores day in and day out. We receive complaints left and right about people afraid of going out. I dont think our district attorney has moved swiftly to meet the challenges of the time, Messina said.

On July 12, United Bodega Workers (UBW) representatives met with Bragg to press the point that Alba acted in self-defense. After the meeting, Braggs office told The Epoch Times in a statement, Since taking office, D.A. Bragg has met with numerous business owners, community leaders, and other stakeholders about public safety. Todays conversation centered on how to keep bodega owners and workers safe, including in a post-Bruen world when more people may legally obtain and carry firearms.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, visited the bodega about a week after the incident, saying that Alba was a law-abiding citizen and should not have been attacked in the manner shown on the video. But he added that it was beyond the function of a mayor to influence the decision of an elected district attorney.

Initially, Alba faced bail of $250,000. That amount was later lowered to $50,000, which Albas boss and relatives helped to cover. Alba was released from Rikers Island on July 7.

Smith reportedly was on parole for a police assault offense at the time of the attack. He confronted Alba after Smiths girlfriend failed to pay for a bag of chips.

The video also showed Smiths girlfriend cutting Alba during the altercation, but she was not charged. Jennifer Sigall, a prosecutor assigned to the case, said the girlfriend was justified in stabbing Alba because she wanted to stop Albas assault on Smith, according to a police report obtained by Fox News.

Braggs office reportedly will take Albas case to a grand jury on July 20. Under New York law, all felonies must be presented to a grand jury unless a defendant waives the process.

New York criminal defense attorney Todd Spodek told The Epoch Times that given the strong video evidence, it is very likely the grand jury will not indict Alba.

Under New York law, a defendant can be justified in using deadly force if he believes it necessary to defend himself from deadly danger, Spodek said.

The two key elements of self-defense are proportionality and reasonableness, which means the protective force must be proportional to the danger and the beliefs of danger must be reasonable, he said.

I believe that, based on the evidence, this is certainly a very strong self-defense case, Spodek said.

Bragg, a former federal prosecutor, was elected in 2021 on a progressive platform to drive down the population behind bars and put more resources into social services.

On his first day in office, he ordered his staff to stop charging a slew of low-level crimes, downgrade a group of offenses to lesser charges, and only recommend pre-trial detention for the most severe crimes.
President Joe Biden held a White House celebration Monday to tout a gun control bill he signed into law last month. But Biden wants more restrictions on guns.

The First Amendment is back in the spotlight with Elon Musk backing out of his bid to buy Twitter. As social media continues to ban and censor, some are saying the front lines of the war against free speech are not on social media but on colleges campus throughout the country.

A new poll finds a shocking majority of Democrats dont want Joe Biden to run again in 2024. What are their top concerns, and what are some Americans telling us?

Former President Donald Trump blasts Elon Musk at a rally in Alaska, accusing him of inconsistency.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken offers condolences on Bidens behalf, ahead of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes funeral. The murder of Abe stunned the world last Friday.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued a policy directing a return to working in person by July 5. And Virginia state workers are resigning rather than going back to work in person.

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In this file photo, Chinese gather around a crater of what used to be the Jingxin Mining company which produced and processed quartz sand in Fengyang, in China's Anhui province. China is the world's largest producer of rare earth minerals. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey Discovers Second-Largest Rare Earth Reserve

A rare earth supply chain independent of China is being created

Turkey has disclosed that it has found a huge rare earth reserve of an estimated 694 million tons in the central Anatolia region.

It is understood to be the worlds second-largest raw earth reserve, with the biggest being an 800 million ton site in China.

According to Turkish media Turkiye, the rare earth deposit was discovered in the Beylikova district of Eskisehir.

Metin Cekic, a member of the board of directors of the Istanbul Mineral Exporters Association (IMIB), said that Turkey has now found enough rare earth reserves to meet the worlds demand for 1,000 years.

The report also said that of the 17 rare earth elements known in the world, 10 are contained in the newly discovered reserve.

Industrial Vitamins

Rare earth elements have excellent optical and electromagnetic properties and can be used to form new materials, most notably to improve the quality and performance of other products, hence why they are nicknamed industrial vitamins.

Rare earth elements also play a crucial role in the clean energy transition. Neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium are key raw materials for the production of electric vehicles and neodymium magnets (permanent magnets in wind turbines); yttrium and scandium are used in certain types of hydrogen electrolysis cells.

Matt Green, mining/crushing supervisor at MP Materials, displays crushed ore before it is sent to the mill at the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., on Jan. 30, 2020. (Steve Marcus/Reuters)

Since the end of the last century when China used a lower-price strategy to outcompete MountainPass, the worlds then biggest source of rare earth, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has taken control of the global rare earth industry, supplying more than 90 percent of the worlds rare earth at one point. Although the supply rate fell to nearly 60 percent in 2020 it is still dominant.

China currently ranks first in the world in terms of both reserves and production. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the worlds rare earth reserves were approximately 120 million tonnes in 2020, of which China had 44 million tonnes (37 percent).

However, there is no detailed resource description for the new reserve in Turkey, so it is unclear how much of the nearly 700 million tonnes of ore reserves are mineable rare earth ore.

Turkiye also reports that IMIBs Cekic has revealed that the newly discovered Beylikova mine is the best grade of ore in the world. He said that a pilot plant would be set up at the site in the first phase with a processing capacity of 1,200 tonnes of ore per year. At the end of the initial phase, the site will have a processing capacity of 570,000 tonnes of ore per year.

Chinese State Media Responds

Following the announcement of the new rare earth discovery in Turkey, CCP-controlled media such as NetEase, Sohu, and Global Times reacted cynically to the news.

These media questioned the actual amount of Turkeys new rare earth resources, they say that if a tonne of rare earth minerals produces between 1 kg and 4 kg of rare earth, the actual amount of rare earth in the new mine in Turkey is only between 700,000 and 2.8 million tonnes. The articles also claim that the fears of Chinese rare earth companies that their dominance is being challenged are just a false alarm.

In reality, however, years of reckless over-exploitation have resulted in a significant decline in Chinas rare earth reserves. According to the USGS, from 2013 to 2020, Chinas rare earth reserves dropped from 55 million tonnes to 44 million tonnes, a 20 percent decrease.

In addition, Chinas retaliation against Japan by halting the supply of rare earth in 2010 caused widespread concern in the international community about Chinas control of rare earth supply, and countries began to build a reliable supply chain.

A general view of Steenkampskraal (SKK) rare-earth mine on July 29, 2019, about 80Km from the Western Cape town of Vanrhynsdorp. (Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the USGS database, significant rare earth resources have been discovered in Greenland, Brazil, Canada, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Norway, and several African countries since 2009. From 2010 to 2020, 261 companies in 37 countries outside of China initiated a total of 429 rare earth projects, adding between 80,000 and 100,000 tonnes of rare earth production capacity.

But according to the Global Times, China is currently the only country in the world with a complete chain of rare earth production, and this processing advantage will not be undermined by the discovery of other rare earth.

Yet, noted in a survey published in March 2021 by Chinas Acta Geoscientica Sinica, China is not the only global source of rare earth smelting and separation products. The United States has now built a supply chain consisting of the Mountain Pass mine, the Mount Weld mine in Australia, and its plant in Kuantan, Malaysia, which produces nearly 60,000 tonnes of rare earth ore and 20,000 tonnes of fractionated products per year, creating an initial supply chain of rare earth resources independent of China.
Chinese Nationals Are Attempting to Resolve Debt Lawsuits Through New York Courts

In recent years, more and more Chinese people and China-based companies have filed lawsuits in the civil courts of New York, hoping to get help enforcing the judgments of Chinese courts that have failed to hold debtors accountable.

For instance, Shenzhens Yipiao Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd., filed a lawsuit to the civil court in Manhattan, New York, asking it to confirm a 2014 judgment made by the Second Intermediate Court of Shanghai. The legal basis for the transnational filing is the Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act enacted by the U.S Uniform Law Commissioners in 1962, and New York State Civil Enforcement Code CPLR Article 53.

The plaintiff is seeking the repayment of 398 million yuan ($59.2 million) from the defendantsShanghai Haibo Xinhui International Trade Co., Ltd., Shanxi Haixin Industrial Co., Ltd., and an individual surnamed Li.

According to court records viewed by The Epoch Times, there have been many such court filings made recently, such as the maritime shipping contract dispute between the White Periwinkle Shipping Company and Chongqing Red Dragonfly Oil Company. The plaintiff, the shipping company, filed the lawsuit in March this year in New York, asking the local judge to recognize and enforce judgments made by Chinese courts.

There is also a stock dispute case: Northeast Securities Co., Ltd. vs. Sichuan Hengkang Co., Ltd. where the plaintiff filed the case with the Manhattan Civil Court in New York on July 7 seeking to recognize and enforce the judgment of Chinas Jilin Court involving a debt amount of 500 million yuan ($74.5 million).

Enforcing Foreign Judgments

But why are plaintiffs filing their lawsuits from China in New York courts to enforce foreign judgments? Its because in many cases, both the defendants and the subpoena recipients are now living in New York. Many Chinese high-net-worth families have chosen to settle in the megacitythe financial center of the worldafter emigrating to the United States. Moreover, almost all major banks and financial institutes have branches in New York, making the city a good place to start asset tracking.

Then why should New York courts recognize foreign judgments? Take the above-mentioned Shenzhens Yipiao case as an example. The plaintiff did not seek any additional repayment, or a new judgment, against the defendant from the New York court, but only required the court to recognize a foreign money judgment based on the summary judgment in lieu of complaint procedure.

Once the Chinese judgment is converted to a summary judgment in New York, the plaintiff can use the state-permitted Post-judgment Discovery process to pressure the debtor and compel a third party to comply with the subpoena seeking the debtors bank records, financial records, real estate assets, and so on.

However, if the foreign judgment was obtained by fraud, or the cause of action on which the judgment was based is contrary to U.S. public policy, or other scenarios such as the foreign courts failure to form an impartial tribunal, improper judicial procedures, and court decisions that violate U.S. constitutional principles including freedom of speech in the First Amendment, foreign court judgments cannot be recognized and enforced in the United States.

Therefore, plaintiffs of such cases usually articulate how their foreign judgment meets the legal requirements of the United States. For example, Shenzhen Yipiao affirms that the Chinese court judgment is the final and conclusive judgment and that Chinas civil law system is a fair system that provides impartial tribunals and is compatible with the requirements of due process of law afforded litigants in the United States.

Is Chinas Legal System Fair?

So will the New York court fully recognize judgments from Chinese courts? At present, its still hard to say. There are currently two cases in New York State that have been adjudicated by courts.

On Jan. 6, 2020, Queens County Supreme Court recognized the financial debt case of Liu Huizhi v. Guan Guoqing and Fang Xidong Fang in Zhuhai Court of Guangdong Province.

However, Guan and Fang, the two defendants, immediately appealed, citing a number of reasons, including the U.S. State Departments 2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which fully demonstrated that Chinas legal system did not meet the U.S. due process requirements. The case is still on appeal and has not yet been closed.

In the second case, on April 30, 2021, Queens County Supreme Court refused to recognize and enforce the Beijing High Courts judgment concerning Shanghai Yongrun Investment Management Co., Ltd. v. Kashi Galaxy Venture Capital Co., Ltd. and an individual surnamed Xu, on the ground that Chinas judgment was rendered under a system which does not provide impartial tribunals or procedures compatible with the requirements of due process of law, and substantial problems with the independence of the judiciary, particularly in politically sensitive cases.

In the preamble to the judgment, Judge Arthur Engoron first quoted Churchills famous remark about democracy in his 1947 Veterans Day speech: Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

After 30 years in the judicial trenches (12 as a law clerk, 18 as a judge), this Court feels roughly the same about the civil justice system in New York: it is not, by any means, perfect; but, by and large, it strives to, and in most instances (probably the vast majority of instances) it does, produce results that are fair and just, Engoron continued.

The great engine, the open secret, of the American legal system is the requirement that all parties receive due process. Legal historians trace the origin of that phrase back to Clause 39 of the Magna Carta: No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any other way ruined, nor will we go against him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

Judge Engoron used seven pages, almost the length of a legal paper, to argue that Chinas litigation system as a whole does not meet the requirements of due process of law in the United States.

The U.S. Department of States human rights reports concluded that in China, Courts deciding civil matters faced the same limitations on judicial independence as criminal courts.

Chinese justice looks good on paper, but in practice leaves much to be desired, Engoron concluded.

However, on March 10, the Supreme Court of the State of New York overturned the first-instance judgment by Queens County Supreme Court, arguing that the U.S. State Departments 2018 and 2019 Country Human Rights Reports should not be used to assess Chinas entire judicial system.

In any event, the reports, which primarily discuss the lack of judicial independence in proceedings involving politically sensitive matters, do not utterly refute plaintiffs allegation that the civil law system governing this breach of contract business dispute was fair, the supreme court ruled.

It remains unknown whether the defendants have appealed to a higher court after the overturn.
Chinese State-Run Media Jumps on New Zealand PMs Softening Stance Towards Beijing

Chinese state-run media has noted New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns softer stance towards China in her recent major foreign policy speech.

The Global Times, a Chinese regime mouthpiece, claimed in an article that this softer language towards Beijing signalled that Australias wishful thinking to rally New Zealand against China had stalled.

Ardern said in her speech to the Lowy Institute on July 7 that despite the increasing assertiveness of Beijing, there were still shared interests on which we can and should cooperate.

The prime minister also argued that many countries, including China, had played a role in the Pacific region for many years.

It would be wrong to characterise this engagement, including that of China, as new, she said. It would also be wrong to position the Pacific in such a way that they have to pick sides.

These are democratic nations with their own sovereign right to determine their foreign policy engagements. We can be country neutral in approach but have a Pacific bias on the values we apply for these engagements.

The Chinese media seized these comments, claiming they exposed the illusion that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was a newcomer to the Pacific.

It also cited a researcher from a Chinese university that New Zealand was often pressured by Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, to align its comments and stance against the CCP.

New Zealands Position

The New Zealand government had appeared to become increasingly firm against the Chinese regime.

During a visit to the White House in May, Ardern told reporters that New Zealand was in an increasingly contested region and engagement in the area had to be on our terms, respectively, and not in response to Beijing.

Later, during the NATO summit in Madrid in June, Ardern said the CCP, in recent times, had become more assertive and more willing to challenge international rules and norms.

We must respond to the actions we see, she said.

In response to both speeches, Beijing rejected Arderns comments warning that they were not helpful for deepening trust between the two countries.

However, earlier in April, Ardern had said she stood by her governments relationship with the CCP, saying there was still a need to work together in areas of mutual interest, despite its growing assertiveness in the region.

China is a very important trading partner for us, but its also a mature relationship for us, Ardern told the BBC.

Where there are areas we can work together, we willbut there will always be areas in which we will not necessarily agree, and when those areas arise, we are very forthright and clear on our position.

The small island nations economy is reliant on its biggest trading partner, China, and the government has usually strayed from taking a strong stance against the Chinese regime.
War correspondent Michael Yon in an interview for EpochTV's "Crossroads" program on July 2, 2020. (Screenshot via EpochTV)

Climate Mandates Imposed on Dutch Farmers Will Ruin Their Livelihoods: War Correspondent

'If you control the food supply, you control that population'

The livelihoods of Dutch farmers are under attack due to the Dutch governments proposed nitrogen policy, which could necessitate the mass slaughter of livestock and potentially shut down almost a third of the countrys farms.

If this policy is implemented, it will have major security consequences, not just for the Netherlands, but for all of Europe and the world, said Michael Yon, a war correspondent who has recently arrived in the Netherlands to report on the ground from the Dutch farmers protests.

The Netherlands is a small country in Europe with a population of 17 million people, but it is the second-largest food exporter in the world, Yon said in a recent interview for EpochTVs Crossroads program. They have the most efficient farmers in the world.

In 2021, the Netherlandss coalition government proposed slashing livestock numbers in the country by 30 percent to meet nitrogen greenhouse gas emission targets.

The country has already implemented stringent restrictions on new construction, intending to curb nitrogen emissions.

Dutch bank Rabobank has argued that those new hurdles have slowed home building in the Netherlands, intensifying a housing shortage in the densely populated coastal nation.

On June 10, Christianne van der Wal, the Dutch Minister for Nitrogen and Nature Policy, unveiled a plan to reduce nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands, according to a statement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Dutch Provinces are responsible for developing corresponding measures to reach the nitrogen emission reductions between 12 and 70 percent, depending on the area, the statement said.

Farmers in some provinces will be particularly hard hit  and the Dutch government acknowledged there is not a future for all {Dutch} farmers within [this] approach.'

The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce says that nitrogen environmental pollution comes from burning fossil fuels but also from manure produced by livestock and fertilizers used in farming. It is estimated that to implement the proposed plan, farmers would need to reduce their cattle herds by 30 percent, according to Barrons.

But Yon said Dutch farmers are not polluting the environment and that theyve been farming the land for thousands of years.

Nitrogen is being labeled as a pollutant and used as a decoy by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to put the farmers out of business and control the food supply, Yon said.

Dutch Farmers Protest Against Climate Policy

The proposed measures sparked protests among Dutch farmers in June, with a large protest joined by truckers which started on July 4.

Dutch farmers, truckers, and others have used social media in a decentralized way to organize blockades of food distribution hubs across the northwest European country, which resulted in empty shelves in supermarkets.

The protesters also planned to demonstrate at many of the nations airports, specifically mentioning Schiphol Airport and Eindhoven Airport.

Dutch farmers and truckers realize that their government is following the recommendations of the WEF, which has been trying to take their land and control their food supply, Yon said.

If you control the food supply, you control that population completely, he said.

Dutch farmers are very educated, and they are both businesspeople and farmers, Yon said. They know that if they lose, they will lose their livelihood, and the consequences of their loss will be felt for many generations, he said.

The farmers are rising up. They know theyre going to be put out of business  which would put all of Europe on its knees, foodwise, Yon said.

Similar policies are being introduced in Germany and some other countries, Yon said. Some German farmers who want to show their solidarity are also involved in the Dutch protest, he added.

World Economic Forum Recommendations

According to a 2019 white paper (pdf) commissioned by the WEF, livestocks contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions varies between 7 and 18 percent. With technical and financial support to adopt improved practices, producers could reduce their livestock emissions by up to 30 percent.

The paper proposes some ways to meet future demands for livestock-derived foods.

Livestock production in large industrial-scale enterprises may have a lower footprint of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product than small or medium farms with a mixture of crops and livestock, or livestock production farms that are less efficient, the paper said. Therefore, in developing countries, industrial-scale livestock production facilities should be a preferable solution, the WEF paper states.

Another way of meeting the demand for protein while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, proposed by the WEF paper, is exploring and promoting alternative forms of protein, such as plant-based foods and proteins made from plants, insects, and lab-cultured proteins.

Many Dutch people understand the implications of their governments policies and support the farmers, but there are a lot of people who are not yet tracking with whats going on and need to wake up, Yon said.

[They] are going to get hit sooner or later, he said. Would you rather have your shelves empty now for just a really short time or be under the thumb of the beast forever?

If these farmers are knocked out after one or two generations pass, the chain of knowledge will be broken, and this expertise will be gone, Yon said. Peoples food security will always be controlled by somebody else, he added.

Farm Buyout Program

The Dutch government policy will also focus on reducing nitrogen deposited in soils, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dutch agriculture accounts for 45 percent of soil nitrogen deposits, the report said.

Although Dutch provinces are required to devise measures to address the issue, the Dutch government will step in if provinces do not come up with their solutions within a year.

The government has already allocated funds to buy out farms from their owners, the report said. Those who do not want to be bought out will be asked to innovate, scale up, or move their farms, and the government also has an option to confiscate their farms, according to the report. Several scientists have already pointed out that there are 20,000 farms in the Netherlands, and the allocated funding may be insufficient to buy out even a couple thousand of them, the report stated.

Yon said that this policy divides people by accusing the farmers of poisoning the land with their farming activities and advocating opening farms to development.

Thats how Stalin did it when he eliminated the kulaks, Yon added.

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered the collectivization of agriculture in Ukraine when it was a Soviet republic. Most Ukrainian farmers resisted the collectivization, but the Soviet regime forced small or subsistence farmers to surrender their farms to the government and work on government-owned collective farms as workers.

The wealthy and successful farmers were labeled kulaks and declared enemies of the state by the Soviet regime, according to a study by the University of Minnesota. The regime imposed unfeasibly high quotas on villages for the amount of grain they were required to contribute to the Soviet state.

When villages could not meet the quotas, the regime confiscated all crops and food the farmers had stored at their farms, causing a man-made famine known as the Holodomor, which claimed several million lives from 1932 to 1933.

As a result of collectivization, farmers who resisted were either deported, sent to gulags, or executed.

In the face of global famine, taking a top food exporter like the Netherlands out of the equation will set up the worlds people for massive starvation, Yon explained.

Only the biggest psychopaths in history could possibly even consider doing that, he said. And thats what theyre doing.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.

Ella Kietlinska Reporter Follow Ella Kietlinska is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S. and world politics.
Dr. Malone Warns of Immune Imprinting After Fauci Floats Second Booster Shots

Dr. Robert Malone is warning of immune imprinting after Dr. Anthony Fauci signaled his backing for second COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all Americans aged 5 and older.

I couldnt design a vaccine if I wanted to, to be more likely to drive immune imprinting, Malone, who helped invent the messenger RNA technology the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are built on, told The Epoch Times.

Immune imprinting refers to a phenomenon whereby initial exposure to a virus strain may prevent the body from producing enough neutralizing antibodies against a new viral strain.

The COVID-19 vaccines currently in circulation are based on the Wuhan strain of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Also known as SARS-CoV-2, the virus causes COVID-19.

A number of strains have emerged and become dominant since the Wuhan strain was prevalent, including the currently dominant Omicron variant.

Researchers with Imperial College London and the United Kingdom Health Security Agency found that people who received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and were infected with the Wuhan strain had a lower level of protection against later strains when compared to people who had not been infected. Other groups, including researchers with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, have found the vaccines much less effective against Omicron subvariants than the Wuhan strain.

A number of studies have found negative effectiveness among vaccinated groups. That means those who get vaccinated are more likely to get infected.

In some areas, the vaccinated account for a majority of those infected or in hospitals or dying with COVID-19. In Louisiana, for example, 70 percent of the deaths recorded between June 23 and June 29 were among the vaccinated.

Second Booster Push

The vaccines were originally promoted as two-shot primary regimens (Pfizer and Moderna) or a one-shot immunization (Johnson & Johnson). They were said to have efficacy as high as 100 percent against symptomatic infection.

Due to waning effectiveness against the emerging variants, U.S. officials authorized booster doses. In March, because the effects of the boosters against infection didnt last long, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cleared and recommended second boosters for all adults over the age of 50.

Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Bidens top medical adviser, is now saying Americans 5 to 50 should be allowed to get a second booster dose.

Fauci told the Washington Post that the United States need[s] to allow people who are under 50 to get their second booster shot, since it may have been months since many of them got their first booster.

If I got my third shot [in 2021], it is very likely the immunity is waning, he added.

Fauci has no authority over authorizing or recommending boosters, but has signaled major changes in U.S. vaccine policy in the past.

White House, FDA Respond

Dr. Ashish Jha, the White Houses COVID-19 response coordinator, told reporters on July 12 that we have conversations all the time about what are possible things we could be doing to better protect the American people but that the decision on second boosters will be made by the FDA and the CDC.

Fauci uttered a similar statement during the briefing.

The FDA is evaluating the current situation, including the emerging epidemiology indicating increased hospitalization, and will be open to all potential options to address this, if necessary, an FDA spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.

Vaccine makers and the FDA are working together to develop variant-specific shots for the fall, which they say will offer better protection. But the updated shots arent yet on the market.

Many U.S. adults have received a primary series of a vaccine, including 91 percent of those 65 and older and 77 percent of those 18 and older. But booster doses have been a harder sell. Only 70 percent of elderly persons who got a primary series have received a first booster, along with just 51 percent of those 18 and older, according to CDC data. A second booster has only been administered to 28 percent of the population 50 and older.

Few of the COVID-19 vaccine mandates included a booster, and most of the mandates have been rescinded due to factors like plunging COVID-19 metrics and the waning effectiveness of the vaccines.

The new BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariantswhich have been edging out other strains in the United States and are thought to be more transmissible, but do not seem to cause more severe illnessare more likely to lead to vaccine breakthrough infections, researchers with Columbia University found.

Vaccine-driven Disease

The COVID-19 metrics in the United States have been creeping up in recent weeks, with the weekly average of cases jumping by 75 percent since late March and hospitalizations with COVID-19 doubling since April.

Officials blame the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants, which have been edging out other strains in the United States and are thought to be more transmissible, but do not seem to cause more severe illness.

People should get a booster as soon as theyre eligible, which is typically about five months after their last shot, Jha and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. Dont delay, Jha said.

But Malone is among the scientists who are challenging the idea that the old vaccines are the solution.

You got a major problem with the new Omicron, thats the BA.5. The people that are getting infected chronically and hospitalized and dying are predominantly the vaccinated. Its happening all over the world, Malone said. Now theyve got a problem because they have driven this because of immune imprinting. This is increasingly becoming a vaccine-driven disease.

Fauci, a major vaccine proponent, has basically created a situation through the insistence on the hyper vaccination where hes actually driving the disease in the United States, he added.

Government officials disagree. Walensky said CDC data show that people who either have not received a vaccine or have not been boosted have less protection than those who have been boosted, including against infection, even as studies show the boost against infection quickly drops after the first and second booster.

Fauci said that people who were previously infected, or have natural immunity from surviving COVID-19, dont have a lot of protection against the new subvariants.

Neither mentioned how natural immunity, according to a new study, remains stronger than the protection from vaccines even with boosters, particularly against severe disease.

Meiling Lee contributed to this report.
CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party in Austin, Texas, on April 7, 2022. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)

Elon Musk Channels Chuck Norris as He Girds Up for Twitter Court Fight

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk shared a meme on social media evoking determination to win his battle against Twitter in court even if the odds are stacked against him as the social media giant looks to sue to force him to go through with a $44 billion buyout bid.

Chuckmate, Musk wrote in a post on Twitter that features an image of iconic action movie star Chuck Norris sitting behind a chess board, smiling even though his opponent has a crushing advantage in the number of chess pieces.

Musks single-word caption is a play on the word checkmate, a winning move in chess. By featuring Chuck Norris, whos the subject of numerous internet memes that evoke the idea of winning against all odds, Musk seems to be expressing confidence that whatever legal battle with Twitter awaits, hell emerge victorious.

Confident We Will Prevail

Musks message, posted on July 11, came as media headlines were thick with speculation about how Twitters much-anticipated lawsuit against Musk might play out.

Initially, Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, which is well above the current intraday market price of $33.65 and puts the total value of the buyout at around $44 billion.

But the Tesla chief has since moved to abandon the deal, making a formal filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (pdf) that claims Twitter has repeatedly refused to provide information regarding how many bots and automated accounts are on the platform and the companys financial condition.

Twitter has reacted to the filing by accusing Musk of knowingly breaching their contract for the purchase of the platform.

Bret Taylor, chairman of Twitter, said in a July 8 social media post that the company plans to sue Musk in the Delaware Court of Chancery to force him to follow through with the deal. There has been media speculation that a filing could come as soon as early this week.

While Musk has nominally agreed to a $1 billion breakup fee if he backs out of the deal, Twitter seems determined to try and force the deal to go through.

We are confident we will prevail, Taylor said in his post.

Everest-Like Uphill Climb for Twitter

But some analysts arent so sure that Twitter will end up getting its way in the dispute.

What are they going to do if there is a judgment and he says, Well, Im still not going to buy it? Zohar Goshen, professor of transactional law at Columbia Law School, told The Wall Street Journal. They dont really have tools to force him to go through with it. You dont put people in jail because they dont buy something.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note on Monday that the situation will be a challenging one for Twitter to emerge from and be able to claim victory.

For Twitter this fiasco is a nightmare scenario and will result in an Everest-like uphill climb for [Twitter CEO] Parag [Agrawal] & Co. to navigate the myriad of challenges ahead around employee turnover/morale, advertising headwinds, investor credibility around the fake account/bot issues, and host of other issues abound, Ives said in the note, which slashed Twitters price target to $30 from $43.

Ives later took to Twitter to say that, whatever the outcome of the lawsuit, both sides will be left bruised from the battle.

Our view is there is no winner in the Twitter and Musk saga. Its been a fiasco for Twitter, a black eye for Musk, and an overhang for Teslas stock since April. A very frustrating situation for all stakeholders in a deal that was a head scratcher from the beginning in April, he said.

Other experts said theres sure to be one group of winners from the spatlawyers.

The only sure winners in this situation are the lawyers, Joseph Grundfest, a law professor at Stanford and former commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, told NPR. Because a lot of money is going to be spent litigating this question.
Tesla head Elon Musk (L) talks to the press near Berlin on Sept. 3, 2020. Former U.S. President Donald Trump (R) arrives to give remarks during a Save America Rally in Illinois on June 25, 2022. (Maja Hitij/Getty Images; Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Elon Musk Reacts to Trumps Criticism, Shares Take on a TrumpDeSantis 2024 Run

Elon Musk has taken to Twitter after former U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Tesla CEO at a rally over the weekend.

Trump called Musk another bull [expletive] artist, saying that Musk had once told him privately he had won Musks vote in 2016, which would conflict with Musks public statement in mid-June about having just voted Republican for the first time in the midterm primaries.

You know what he said the other day? Oh, Ive never voted for a Republican, Trump said to a full house at the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday. I said, I didnt know that. He told me he voted for me. So hes another bull [expletive] artist.

Trump made the comments as a side note while talking about Musks recent decision to not acquire Twitter.

I dont hate the man, but its time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset, Musk wrote on Monday night in response to a video of Trumps comments. [Democrats] should also call off the attackdont make it so that Trumps only way to survive is to regain the Presidency.

TrumpDeSantis Ticket

On the same night, Musk shared his thoughts about a potential TrumpDeSantis ticket in 2024.

Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America, Musk wrote in another post, replying to a suggestion from another Twitter user about a potential Trump-DeSantis run in 2024 and two terms of DeSantis presidency in 2028 and 2032.

But on a potential DeSantis 2024 run, Musk echoed his earlier comments that he would lean towards supporting the Florida governor.

If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily winhe doesnt even need to campaign. the billionaire said.

Musks Monday comments continue a series of high-profile political statements the billionaire has made in 2022, which included describing the Democratic Party as the party of division & hate and identifying himself as a part of a massive red wave in 2022 by revealing his vote for Republican candidate Mayra Flores (R-Texas).

Trump: I Think I Would Win

While Trump has not explicitly announced his intention to run for commander-in-chief in 2024, he has teased it enough for spectatorsincluding Muskto consider it a serious prospect.

I ran twice, I won twice  And now with the approval of the great people of Alaska, we may have to do it again, Trump said over the weekend in Alaska, claiming that he received many millions more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016 when he defeated Hillary Clinton.

When asked about how well he would perform against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a presidential race, the former president was confident.

I dont know if Ron is running, and I dont ask him. Its his prerogative  I think I would win. Trump told The New Yorker in June. He told Newsmax later in the month that he would not rule out DeSantis as a running mate while saying that he was very responsible for [DeSantiss] success.

Meanwhile, Republican figures have been positive that Trumps political influence in the GOP is nothing close to insignificant.

I dont delude myself into thinking I have a big swath of the Republican Party, Trump critic Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told Politico in May about his thoughts on Trump. Its hard to imagine anything that would derail his support.

So if he wants to become the nominee in [2024], I think hes very likely to achieve that, Romney said.
Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk speaks during a gaming convention in Los Angeles on June 13, 2019. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

Elon Musk to Increase Childcare Benefits at His Companies Amid Underpopulation Crisis

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that he plans to significantly increase childcare benefits at his companies as part of his plan to help tackle the underpopulation crisis that he believes poses a threat to civilization.

Musk runs Tesla and SpaceX alongside smaller startups Neuralink Corp. and The Boring Company.

The businessman took to Twitter on July 7 where he wrote, Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis. A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far.

The post garnered a reply from a Twitter user who asked him, Whats your response to those who say they shouldnt have a lot [of] kids for cost reasons?

Television host Nick Cannon, who is welcoming his eighth child in 2022, also joined in the discussion, commenting on Musks original post, Right there with you my Brother!

Late on July 8, billionaire Musk responded to both Cannon and the other Twitter user, explaining that he plans on boosting childcare benefits at the companies he owns.

Kids are worth it if at all possible, Musk wrote. Im planning to increase childcare benefits at my companies significantly. Hopefully, other companies do the same.

The Tesla CEO, who himself is a father to nine children, added that his Musk Foundation plans to donate directly to families, details of which will be announced in August.

No Further Details

Musk did not provide further details as to exactly what the increases to childcare benefits would look like or when he plans to start implementing them.

Currently, Telsa provides up to 16 weeks of paid family leave and six weeks of paid time off for new parents who have worked for the company for at least 12 consecutive months (pdf). The company also covers up to $40,000 for fertility services.

Meanwhile, job listings for Neuralink state that the company provides parental leave along with flexible time off and paid holidays.

Job postings for SpaceX and The Boring Company do not provide details about family-related benefits.

The Epoch Times has contacted Tesla for comment.

Musks comments come following a July 6 Insider report, which cited court documents and revealed that Musk had fathered twins with one of his top Neuralink executives, Shivon Zilis, in 2021.

Musk has not publicly commented on the report.

According to a report (pdf) by the United Nations released on July 11, the global population is expected to continue growing in the future, reaching 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. By 2100, the UN expects the global population to reach 10.4 billion.

A report (pdf) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in May also found that the U.S. birthrate increased in 2021 for the first time since 2014, moving up one percent from a year earlier.

However, the same report showed that the number of births declined by an average of 2 percent per year from 2014 to 2020, and dropped by a further 4 percent from 2019 to 2020, the same year the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Twitter Deal Over

Musks promise regarding the boost to childcare benefits at his companies comes after the South African tycoon walked away from his multibillion-dollar deal to acquire Twitter amid concerns over spam accounts, or automated bots.

Musk filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 8 to exit the deal, which stated that the social media platform has not complied with its contractual obligations when it comes to providing the businessman all data and information that Mr. Musk requests for any reasonable business purpose related to the consummation of the transaction.'

Twitter has claimed that spam accounts make up just 5 percent of its monetizable daily active user base, but Musk has argued that this figure is much higher.

The social media platform has said it plans to pursue legal action against Musk and that Twitters board of directors is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk.
ESG Has Hit the Human Rights Iceberg

Commentary

Throughout my career, I often said corporate responsibility is social responsibility. Nothing exemplifies an attempt to make that a reality today as much as ESG, or Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria, that an increasing number of companies and corporations are signing up for.

Essentially, if a company signs up for ESG, it agrees to conduct itself in a way that respects the environment, contributes to local communities, and is honest and transparent in its financial practices. This enables conscientious investors to invest their money in companies that dont violate their values and contribute to making the world a better place.

ESG began approximately fifteen years ago with companies operating by its standards collectively worth around $17 billion. Today, that number is nearly $20 trillion. The power of the ESG community cannot be underestimated.

But theres a huge flaw in how ESG is currently structured, and I can sum it up in one word: China.

Americans Unwittingly Fund Communist Genocide

The reality is that China, under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is engaged in genocide of the Uyghur people in its Xinjiang province. As Under Secretary of State, I wrote three letters to CEOs, the governing boards of American universities, and civil society partners on this tragedy, and their responsibility for ensuring their organizations were not unwittingly supporting it with their investments or supply chains.

Keith Krach testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 27, 2019. (Screenshot via Keith Krach)

The blunt reality is that the average American investor is unknowingly financing the CCPs human rights abuses, surveillance state, and military-civil fusion because the CCP has infiltrated American capital markets through the back door. Theyve managed to get around the financial transparency laws that American and other companies must follow in order to enjoy the same access, and are often buried in various index bonds, which are then incorporated into hundreds of products, ETFs, and mutual funds.

The Hole in ESG

During my time at the State Department, we championed the Trust Principle. The idea is simple: if you are going to participate in our markets, you must also agree to abide by a set of trust principles that we, in the free world, respect. This includes things like transparency, integrity, respect for human rights, the environment, rule of law, etc.

The authoritarian alternative is the Power Principle, which relies on bullying, cheating, and coercion.

By insisting that all participants in our markets abide by the Trust Principle, we were able to defeat China, Inc.s 5G master plan, which was on the brink of wresting control over international 5G networks and handing it to the CCP. The bully backed down.

ESG must now do the same thing. That will mean simply living up to its own standards. When you think about it, ESG itself is based on the Trust Principle. For a company to qualify for ESG, it must comply with ESG standards. In many ways, those standards align with the Trust Principle I championed at the State Department.

But among those principles are transparency and reciprocity. If were going to shine the light of transparency on Xinjiang, we must reciprocate and also shine it on ourselves.

After the Holocaust, the world said, never again. Did we mean it?

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) recently observed about corporate sponsors of the recent Beijing Olympics, If we dont speak out against human rights violations in China for commercial reasons, we lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights anywhere. Thats a polite way of saying theres a conflict of interest, and it seems that for some corporations theres simply too much money on the table to do anything about genocide.

An Appeal to the World Economic Forum

Then there are forums like the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is the preeminent gathering for government and corporate leaders who seek to uphold the high standards outlined in ESG.

WEF asset managers collectively manage trillions of dollars. They have the power, the wealth, and the prestige to speak out.

But theyve said nothing.

Why isnt the Uyghur genocide among the lengthy list of topics the WEF is actively addressing? Indeed, its own mission, as stated on its own website, declares that the Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.

Is remaining silent on Xinjiang in the global public interest? Can any of us claim moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything we do when we not only turn a blind eye to genocide, but passively profit from it?

The WEF has done great work on many fronts. But when it comes to human rights, let alone genocide, it hasnt stood by its espoused principles. Its been silent when it comes to China.

Call to Action: Wake Up ESG!

The truth is many have been silent for decades. The free world not only turned a blind eye to the CCPs crimes, but we financed them by providing access to our capital markets. We not only sent over a treasure trove of our best investment bankers, lawyers, money managers, private equity investors, and venture capitalists, but we funded China, Inc. through our pension funds, university endowments, foundations, mutual funds, and bond portfolios. We all didon a bipartisan basis. We espoused the Trust Principle with our words, but constantly sat by as it was violated and abused by those who only value the Power Principle.

Now, we must do something about it.

So I call upon the ESG community, the World Economic Forum, and financial managers like Black Rock, to wake up, to be consistent, and to practice what you preach with respect to China. Do not turn a blind eye to the CCP bully. Stand up to the Power Principle with the Trust Principle.

The ESG communityincluding the World Economic Forumis a powerful group, one that has a great human heart. If it spoke out against CCP human rights abuses with one voice, the world would take notice.

As one former CEO to other CEOs, I call on you to make your supply chains clean.

Keith Krach, during an interview on Fox Business. (Fox News/Screenshot via Keith Krach)

To financial institutions: you have a moral responsibility, and a fiduciary duty, to disclose if youre investing in Chinese companies, particularly ones that are involved in the surveillance state, human rights abuses, and military-civil fusionespecially if they are involved in an emerging index like the MSCI or FTSE emerging index funds, as they recently added 250 Chinese companies to the mix as of last June.

And finally, to my fellow citizens: let your voice be heard. Theres strength in numbers, especially when pocketbooks are involved. Use yours to bring awareness about this issue. If you have a pension plan, contribute to your universitys endowment fund, or are invested in a mutual fund or ETF (especially an emerging market index fund), ask if they follow ESG guidelines on human rights. Ask if they disclose their Chinese investments. If they dont, ask them when they will. If they dont have a good answer, consider putting your money elsewhere.

As I wrote with my colleague Ellie Cohanim, the sound of emptying the cash register will be heard loud and clear on the other side of the world in Xinjiang.

Whether or not we meant never again will be confirmed in Xinjiang.

No one should bend the knee to the CCP. We have the moral high ground of democratic values. Our Trust Principle is greater than their Power Principle.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive and negative" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Exclusive: English Primary School Closes Class Owing to Monkeypox

A primary school class in England has been closed until the end of term, owing to an outbreak of monkeypox in what appears to be a first in London.

The Grand Avenue Primary and Nursery School, in Surrey, told parents in a letter seen by The Epoch Times that their child had been in contact with someone with monkeypox. The UK Health Security Agency has confirmed this.

Precautionary Guidelines

In a letter, the school said that we have been assured that there is an extremely low risk to our community and that it was following all precautionary guidelines from public health which includes closing the reception classes until the end of term.

Pupils in reception are usually aged between 4 and 5.

The school apologised that this is very short notice but they only received this advice from the UK Health Security Agency and are obliged to follow these precautionary guidelines.

The London health protection team of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it has worked with the school and local authorities to undertake a risk assessment and is advising precautionary measures.

This includes their child being offered the vaccine and the child being asked to stay at home and not come into school for the remainder of the school term.

Authorities told parents to monitor their child for any symptoms up to and including July 28, 2022.

It added the recommendation to postpone any non-essential health care appointments (e.g. dentists, non-urgent medical appointments) and avoid attending these settings. Try to avoid very close contact (e.g. hugging) with friends/family.

These measures are precautionary but are important for the health and safety of your child and family, the wider school community, and anyone else that your child may have contact with, even if the risk is low, they wrote.

Siblings are classed as secondary contacts and can continue to attend school as normal.

Louise Bishop, consultant in health protection at the UK Health Security Agency London said, Were working with Kingston Council to provide public health advice to Grand Avenue Primary and Nursery School following a confirmed case of monkeypox in the school community.

When cases of monkeypox are identified we rapidly investigate and carry out detailed contact tracing to assess who may have come into contact with them and what their contact was.

Following our risk assessment, the appropriate health information and advice is provided to the contacts so that they know symptoms to look out for and what action to take, such as self-isolating, avoiding contact with those at increased risk of severe illness and vaccination.

Any parents concerned with unusual rashes or blisters on any part of their childs body should contact NHS 111, whilst adults can contact NHS111 or their local sexual health service. Both adults and children should avoid contact with others until they receive advice.

Early in July, Stockport Council announced that a case of monkeypox was identified at Thorn Grove Primary School and contacted parents advising them that some children at the school should remain home until July 15.

Monkeypox

The UKHSA has said that the majority of the cases identified to date have been among men who are gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men.

The disease, first found in monkeys, can be transmitted from person to person through close physical contact, including sexual intercourse, and is caused by the monkeypox virus.

The virus is usually found in west and central Africa.

Symptoms are generally mild and the illness is spread through close contact with someone already infected. Most people recover within a few weeks.

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that British health officials say there have now been 1,735 confirmed cases of monkeypox and that three-quarters of those cases are in London, according to data released on Tuesday.

The UKHSA said the number of cases and countries identifying monkeypox continues to increase steeply, saying that infections beyond Africa have also been primarily seen in gay and bisexual men. It said there had been three cases of monkeypox in children, who are more likely to suffer serious disease.
Pro-Life demonstrators gather at the California state capital building in Sacramento on April 19, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Federal Abortion Clinic Plan Likely Illegal, Pro-Life Coalition Says

A Democrat-backed attempt to dodge state abortion laws using federal land wont work, pro-life leaders say.

After the end of Roe v. Wade, 10 states have already banned abortion and its likely that about half of the states will ban or heavily restrict abortion soon.

In some areas where pro-life states border abortion states, bans will likely be less impactful. Pregnant women can take a short trip across state borders and abort their babies.

But in the South, where several pro-life states share borders, women might be hundreds of miles from the closest abortion state.

Democrats including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have suggested destroying this defense by distance using federal land. They argue that the government can lease federal land to abortion clinics.

The federal government owns about a third of Americas land. If Warrens plan works, states that ban abortion will likely still have abortion clinics within their borders.

Democratic leaders should explore just how much we can start using federal lands as a way to protect people who need access to abortions in all the states that either have banned abortions or are clearly on the threshold of doing so, said Warren.

According to a letter by pro-life group Students for Life Action (SFLA), its illegal for the government to operate abortion clinics on public land. Thirty-six other pro-life groups have also signed the letter.

Rather than respecting the rule of law as detailed in both our Constitution and in state law, many abortion radicals immediately began looking for ways to circumvent them and, by extension, the rights of pro-life citizens to protect life in law, the letter reads.

It calls abortion on federal land a coercive abuse of power and a proposed misuse of federal property.

The Federal Land Fight

The SFLA letter argues that Congress lacks the power to lease abortion clinics federal land.

According to the Constitution, Congress can control land ceded by the states. But this change doesnt mean state laws dont apply, the letter reads. Past cases clearly show that state law often has force on federal land.

States certainly can enforce state law that it cedes to the federal government, the letter reads. In fact, Georgia conveyed land to the federal government for national parks but specifically reserved criminal jurisdiction to the state of Georgia, and the Supreme Court acknowledged that jurisdiction for crimes remained with the state.

Moreover, the constitutional provision for federal control of state land allows the government to create needful buildings. But this provision doesnt include abortion clinics, the SFLA argues.

National parks and other federal lands might become a key theater of the political war over abortion. Photo of Sunrise at Cathedral Valley Badlands in Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. (Bill Swindaman/Moment/GettyImages)

Abortion clinics were not considered needful buildings when the Enclave Clause was adopted. Utilizing federal land that was acquired from states for abortion thus violates original intent, the groups letter states.

But there are counterarguments to the SFLAs claims.

According to a forthcoming Columbia Law Review paper, there is no general federal abortion prohibition. Federal law even has rules on abortion that might overrule state rules on federal land.

We make an argument in our paper that because there is a lot of federal law on abortion, in particular, federal law on abortion pills, that state law should not apply, said David Cohen, one of the papers writers and a law professor at Drexel University.

Finally, only federal prosecutors can prosecute crimes on federal land. Under President Joe Biden, these prosecutors could just not do so.

However, the next Republican president could prosecute abortion providers for performing abortions on federal land. Cohen suggested that the Biden administration offer pardons to prevent this possibility.

Vice President Kamala Harris said on June 27 that the Biden administration isnt currently discussing providing abortion on federal lands.

Its not right now what we are discussing, she said.

Harris also stated that the Biden administration would do everything we can to empower women to not only seek but to receive the care where it is available.

Warren and 24 other senators have signed a letter asking Biden to use federal property and resources to increase access to abortion.

The Department of Justice and all relevant agencies could analyze the types of reproductive health services that could be provided on federal property, especially in states where such services are limited by state law or regulation, the letter reads.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican candidate in the Aug. 2 primary for U.S. Senate, in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Brnovich for Senate, Inc.)

Federal Judge Blocks Arizonas Personhood Law That Recognizes Life Begins at Conception

A federal judge on July 11 temporarily blocked Arizonas personhood law, which recognizes that human life begins at conception, preventing it from being used to take legal action against abortion providers.

The legal drama comes as states across the nation, including Arizona, are trying to adjust in light of the Supreme Courts June 24 decision that theres no right to an abortion to be found in the U.S. Constitution, sending the regulation of abortion back to the states.

Attorney Jessica Sklarsky, a lawyer at the Center for Reproductive Rights who argued the case, told The Associated Press that the federal district court made the right decision today by blocking this law from being used to create an unthinkably extreme abortion ban.

The Supreme Courts catastrophic decision overturning Roe v. Wade has unleashed chaos on the ground, leaving Arizona residents scrambling to figure out if they can get the abortion care they need, Sklarsky said.

Brittni Thomason, a spokesperson for the office of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, said the state is centered on bringing clarity to the law for Arizonans.

Todays ruling was based on an interpretation of Arizona law that our office did not agree with, and we are carefully considering our next steps, Thomason told the media outlet.

Abortion providers reportedly stopped performing the procedure in Arizona after the high court made its ruling, fearing that a 1901 state law banning all abortions could place them in legal jeopardy. That law is currently blocked in Pima County, the states second-most populous county, where Tucson is located.

Same Constitutional Rights

The Arizona law at issue, enacted in April 2021, isnt specifically about abortion. The personhood statute declared that the laws of the state shall be interpreted to protect unborn children at every stage of the development, acknowledging that they possess all the same constitutional rights as human beings who have been born. The Arizona law is similar to laws in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, and Missouri.

The Arizona statute doesnt cover individuals who perform in vitro fertilization and women who indirectly harm their unborn children by not taking proper care of themselves.

The same federal judge refused to put the personhood law on pause last year, but abortion groups reapplied for an injunction after the Supreme Court ruling.

Arizona argued that the state should be allowed to enforce the law. In a brief filed with the federal district court on July 1, the state argued that the proposed injunction should be denied because the challengers hadnt demonstrated that theyll suffer irreparable harm from enforcement of the statute, noting that the court had previously concluded that the vagueness challenge brought by the plaintiffs fails as a matter of law and that therefore their rights hadnt been violated.

The challengers said the law was overly vague. How the statute might be applied is anyones guess, the abortion providers said in court. They argued that the statute burdens the rights of women to terminate pregnancies before fetal viability, at least as those rights stood before the Supreme Court ruling, and abridged the freedom of speech between doctor and patient.

In his order (pdf), U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes, an Obama appointee, wrote that even though the case came in the context of abortion care, it is not about abortion per se.

It is about giving people fair notice of what the law means so that they know in advance how to comply, Rayes wrote.

The law is vague and makes it impossible for the medical doctors challenging it to do their work, the judge said. The court declined to express a view at this time on whether a law defining person to include the unborn for all purposes and without exception would be constitutional.

The lawsuit, Isaacson v. Brnovich, is still before the U.S. District Court in Arizona.

Rayes issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the state from enforcing the law as applied to abortion care that is otherwise permissible under Arizona law while the case remains pending. The state was also enjoined from retroactively enforcing the law against those who performed otherwise lawful abortions during the time that this preliminary injunction is in effect.
President Joe Biden unveiled this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as "Webbs First Deep Field," during a White House event Monday, on July 11, 2022. (NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

First Image by James Webb Space Telescope Shows Deepest Ever View of Universe

NASA chief Bill Nelson and U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday released the first image from the new James Webb Space Telescope showing a cluster of thousands of galaxies known as SMACS 0723 in overflowing detail as they existed billions years ago.

This is the oldest documented light in the history of the universe from 13 billionlet me say that again, 13 billionyears ago, Biden said.

The image is called Webbs First Deep Field and is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. It is a composite made from images taken at different wavelengths exceeding the Hubble Space Telescopes deepest fields.

The president and Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, were briefed by officials from NASA and Space Telescope Science Institute on Monday, when they previewed the images.

Thousands of galaxiesincluding the faintest objects ever observed in the infraredhave appeared in Webbs view for the first time, NASA said in a release.

This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arms length by someone on the ground.

A full set of images will be released over the coming days. The image will include an exoplanet outside our solar system, stellar nurseries where stars form, galaxies that interact and trigger star formation, and black holes, and a glimpse into how stars die, according to the White House.

Just One Little Speck of the Universe

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told Biden that if he held one grain of sand at arms length, that is the part of the universe that youre seeing in the image.

Just one little speck of the universe, he added.

Nelson said the image showed how the light from some galaxies was bent around other galaxies.

He noted that 100 years ago, scientists thought there was only one galaxy but now they know there are countless billions.

Were getting our first glimpseas you said, Mr. Presidentwere looking back more than 13 billion years. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second, and that light that youre seeing on one of those little specks has been traveling for over 13 billion years, he said.

Nelson also declared that the telescope will be so precise that scientists will be able to see from the chemical composition of planets if they are habitableeliciting a whoa from Biden.

We are going to be able to answer questions that we dont even know what the questions are yet, Nelson said.

The Webb Space Telescope was launched from French Guiana in December 2021 and is now orbiting the Sun one million miles away from Earth at what is known as the second Lagrange pointa point of high gravitational stability that helps objects maintain their orbit. The Earths orbit is approximately 93 million miles from the Sun.

NASA is leading the joint program with its partners at the ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

NASA will release the full set of Webbs first full-color images and spectroscopic data during a televised broadcast at 10:30 a.m. EDT (14:30 UTC) on July 12 from NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Policies restricting fertilizers, nitrates, and farming practices are tied to the Sustainable Development Programs being rolled out under the United Nations Agenda 2030. Organizations including the World Economic Forum and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are playing key roles in realizing these agendas. To learn more about the goals and what they mean for the world, weve invited special guest Alex Newman, an award-winning international journalist, to speak with us.

Meanwhile, cases of the deadly Marburg virus are being reported in Africa, and an alleged new variant of COVID-19 is now spreading. Both cases are causing governments and health regulators to raise alarms; and in New York City, health officials are already telling residents to start wearing face masks again.

In this live Q&A with Crossroads host Joshua Philipp, well discuss these stories and others, and answer questions from the audience.

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Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) has been nominated by New Jerseys new Moderate Party as its candidate in Novembers election against Republican Tom Kean, Jr., in a file photo from 2022. (Ken Cedeno/Getty Images)

Fusion Voting Touted as Way to Break Polarized Partisan Paralysis

FORKED RIVER, N.J.Founders of New Jerseys fledging Moderate Party are vowing to continue their efforts toward ending the states century-old ban on fusion voting after their petition to place a candidate already endorsed by one of the two major parties under their banner as well on Novembers ballot was rejected in early June.

That candidate, two-term U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), is being challenged by Republican Thomas Kean Jr., in a rematch of their 2020 7th Congressional District (CD 7) race decided by 5,329 votes, or less than 1 percent, in one of the nations most-watched elections.

In a July 6 New York Times guest essay titled A Viable Third Party Is Coming, and Its Starting With a New Jersey Lawsuit, Malinowski wrote that there is momentum across the country for centrist alternatives that would empower swing voters to save our democracy from toxic polarization engendered by Democratic and Republican parties hijacked by extremists on the left and the right.

But five weeks after state Secretary of State Tahesha Way rejected the nascent Moderate Partys petition to place Malinowski as its 7th District candidate on the Nov. 8 ballot, time is running out for legal action to produce a decision before vote-by-mail ballots must be dispatched on Sept. 24.

Inaction over a vowed lawsuit has fostered ridicule from Republicans and the Kean campaign who see the newly minted party as a stunt designed to distract voters from the fact that Malinowski is a Democrat who supports Biden administration policies that they say have failed and are out-of-step with the districts voters.

Fusion voting isnt the same as voting for third party hopefuls placed on ballots against candidates sponsored by the two major parties. Under this system, multiple parties can nominate the same candidate, who can appear more than once on the ballot, and their vote totals are combined.

Fusion voting is standard in Europe, where multiple parties form alliances and coalitions to cross-nominate common candidates in national and European Union elections. In May, a constellation of minor parties and independents in Australia banded together to elect Labor leader Anthony Albanese as prime minister.

Fusion voting was common in the United States from the 1800s until the 1920s when, under pressure from the two major parties, more than 40 states banned candidates from being placed more than once on the same ballot.

Only eight states now allow fusion voting: Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Mississippi, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, and New York.

Fusion voters have affected numerous races in these states. In the 2010 Connecticut governors race, Democrat Dannel Malloy, who was also listed on the Working Families Party ballot line, garnered an additional 26,000 votes, which proved to be the key to his victory.

Fusion voters are a crucial constituency in New York, where the two largest third parties dont usually run their own entries but can influence what candidates are nominated by the two major parties by placing them on the ballot under their banner as well.

New Yorks Working Families Party usually aligns with Democrats, and the states Conservative Party usually supports Republicans. These cross-nominations can significantly influence success in general elections.

Legal efforts to eliminate bans on fusion voting have been thwarted over the last 30 years by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows states to ban the practice, and in state court rulings that upheld prohibitions on cross-party nominations.

In 1994, the Twin Cities Area New Party petitioned the Minnesota Secretary of States Office to allow a state House candidate who was running on the DemocraticFarmerLabor Party line as the New Partys candidate.

The party sued when the petition was denied, claiming the prohibition violated First and 14th Amendment free association rights. After a district court ruled in favor of Minnesota, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, which the state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled 63 in favor of Minnesota, finding in Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party that the ban on fusion voting didnt unduly burden the free association rights of citizens.

We conclude that the burdens Minnesotas fusion ban imposes on the New Partys associational rights are justified by correspondingly weighty valid state interests in ballot integrity and political stability, the majority opinion written by Chief Justice William Rehnquist stated.

The ruling offered no views  concerning the wisdom of fusion, the opinion said. It may well be that, as support for new political parties increases, these arguments will carry the day in some States legislatures. But the Constitution does not require Minnesota, and the approximately 40 other states that do not permit fusion, to allow it.

It is, the court ruled, a state matter. In a 2019 challenge to Pennsylvanias fusion ban, the Working Families Party sued after its petition to cross-nominate a Democratic Party candidate was denied. The states Supreme Court upheld the prohibition in a 43 ruling.

Amid polarization where increasingly a significant component of voters registered with the two major parties are unhappy with what they perceive to be extreme ideological driftsand the number of independent voters unaffiliated with either continues to grow nationwidethe idea of fusion voting and coalition-building is gaining traction as an alternative to simply voting for a third-party candidate who usually has little chance to win.

In Utah, for instance, Evan McMullin is running against incumbent GOP Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) as a center-right independent endorsed by the Utah Democratic Party, which isnt fielding its own candidate in the race in the deep-red state.

The former chief policy director for the House Republican Conference is a coalition candidate backed by divergent groups fused to halt the rightward shift of the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, New Jerseys Moderate Party claims in a statement to have been formed by a group of New Jersey Republicans, Independents, and Democrats turned off by both major parties drift to ideological extremes and says it will appeal to pragmatic, middle-of-the-road voters committed to protecting our democratic institutions.

The partys co-founders include prominent Republicans such as former East Amwell Mayor Richard Wolfe and former Alexandria Mayor Michelle Garay, and an array of mostly Democratic-leaning nonprofits, including Protect Democracy, the New America Foundation, and the New Jersey Working Families Alliance.

Its the nations only formally registered Moderate Party. The Moderate Party of Rhode Island was recognized as a ballot-qualified political party in that state between 2009 and 2018 but failed to qualify in 2019 or since.

A Moderate Party candidate could, however, appear as a multi-party endorsed entry in at least one stateNew Yorkwhere its not even a recognized party.

Among Democrats vying for their partys nomination in New Yorks 21st Congressional District on Aug. 23, Matthew Castelli also has filed as the Moderate Party candidate and will appear as such on the November ballot.

New Yorks election laws permit candidates to devise their own party names when they petition to be placed on ballots if they collect enough voter signatures to qualify. Castelli said in a statement that he presented more than 6,500 signatures on his Moderate Party petition from 21st District voters with the help of over 250 Democratic, Republican. and independent volunteers.

The winner of the Democratic CD 21 primary will face incumbent Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who will appear on the ballot under the Republican and Conservative party lines. She faces no opposition in either partys primaries.

Castelli said voters signed the petition because they want a lawmaker who will focus on the issues they are concerned with rather than be paralyzed by partisan ideology.

His campaign will continue in building the broad coalition of volunteers and voters, he said, because this broad coalition of voters is how we will defeat Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.
Hawaii Is Depopulating: A Crisis on Americas West Flank

Commentary

Ive done a series of articles on Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Panama. Puerto Rico is an American territory and is in grave distress. The Bahamas, right off Miami, is broke and impoverished and is being overrun with Chinas Belt and Road operations. It doesnt even have a U.S. ambassador. Panama is doing well and does business with China because the Americans have disappeared. China and Russia are now announcing overt, joint military exercises in the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is ignoring the Monroe Doctrine and is obsessed with establishing abortion enclaves on federal facilities and ensuring that men can compete against little girls in skateboarding contests.

Paradise Lost

Now, for the good news. Our western flank is in trouble also. Hawaii is in open societal crisis, and the media is ignoring the opening phases of the collapse of society in that state. I have several Hawaiian relatives and close friends in Hawaii, and the situation is distressing, but the topic is locked behind an iron curtain of callous lack of media interest.

Ive traveled to Hawaii routinely for official duties and for family visits. The first thing I noticed in 2008 was the aging condition of Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. On my first visit in 1983, the terminal was a stunning architectural facilitymodern, efficient, and embracing symbols of Hawaiian heritage. On my later visits, the facility was aging and worn, with faint traces of its former brilliance.

Worn infrastructure is an immediate sign of bloated and inefficient local governance. Another indicator is a declining population and a population exodus. Hawaii is the third-fastest depopulating state in the union. This is dangerous and destabilizing. Mainlanders still have images of a beautiful, growing populace with Elvis surfing on Waikiki Beach, but thats ancient history and a gross illusion foisted upon them by powerful tourism interests. Long-term residents with actual Hawaiian heritage are departing. They cant afford the cost of living and the lack of jobs.

In addition to the power of the tourist industry is the relatively large Department of Defense (DoD) presence, which is still expansive and influential. But the jobs are either uniformed military, civil service, or contractors who are often highly trained and technical. There isnt broad, ready access to these positions for the citizens of Hawaii.

Hawaii is the critical location for command, control, and logistically support of the large deterrence effort against China across the vast Pacific, including support of Taiwan. The DoD facilities in Hawaii are in woeful shape. Pearl Harbors last drydock was built in World War II and is a critical facility for regenerating Navy ships in case of conflict. Missile defense is lagging, the Red Hill fuel storage facility is a mess, and war reserve stocks of munitions are being depleted to support the conflict in Ukraine.

The DoD presence along with the tourism interests camouflage the real state of affairs in Hawaii, but theres a third part to this accelerating disaster in Hawaii. Its the blue monopoly that has established crushing control in the Aloha State.

Hawaiian Living Standard Crushed by Blue Governance

The bloated and stifling state and local governments have become the killer of economic growth in Hawaii. Starting or operating a small or medium-sized business in Hawaii is like trying to be a new, flourishing construction company in New York. Its an overwhelming obstacle course to navigate.

The Democrats are dominant in Hawaii. And this dominance continues despite allegations of corruption. How can this be? Well, I would suggest, like many Americans learned in 2020, we assumed that someone else was taking care of the election process. Americans were right: Somebody else was taking care of the process, and in at least 30-plus counties in America, it wasnt personalities with the public interest in mind.

Hawaiians need to assertively volunteer and swarm election offices to become election officials so that theres more equivalency behind the counter in the process to bring transparency and integrity to Hawaiian elections.

Job No. 1: Make Hawaii Great Again

The accelerating decline of Hawaii should be highly visible in the American news cycle. There are combined forces that appear to be happy to drive Hawaii into the ground, or below the water line in the Pacific.

America Firsters should unite with Hawaii Firsters to make Hawaii great again as both an American state and a reborn Hawaiian republic. My wife has educated me over the years on the history of the less-than-ethical absorption of Hawaii into the union. Right now, we need to save Hawaii from total collapse. We need to save Hawaii as a state of the union and rapidly recognize a rebirth of Hawaiian heritage and sovereignty. Im confident that with resolve and determination, we can do this.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Suitcases are seen uncollected at Heathrow's Terminal Three baggage reclaim, west of London on July 8, 2022. (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

Heathrow Airport Caps Passenger Numbers, Orders Airlines to Stop Selling Summer Tickets

Londons Heathrow Airport has imposes a cap on passenger numbers and has ordered airlines to stop selling tickets for summer flights, as the UKs aviation sector struggles to cope with the soaring demand for air travel.

No more than 100,000 daily departing passengers are permitted from July 12 until Sept. 11, the airport announced.

Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said, Our assessment is that the maximum number of daily departing passengers that airlines, airline ground handlers, and the airport can collectively serve over the summer is no more than 100,000.

To give our passengers a better, more reliable service this summer and to keep our colleagues safe  well be implementing a departing passenger cap of 100k from today to 11 Sept. Read more from our CEO about why were doing this here: https://t.co/kf3WdJeLbe pic.twitter.com/bJSlf3L95f  Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) July 12, 2022

But, he said, the latest forecasts indicate that daily departing seats over the summer will average 104,000, which will be 4,000 seats above capacity.

Therefore, he said, the airport is asking airlines to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers.

Staff Shortages

The travel chaos has lasted for months in the UK as the aviation industry suffers from severe staff shortages. Airlines and airports made thousands of employees redundant during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, but are now struggling to recruit new workers and have their security checks processed.

Last month, the British government and the Civil Aviation Authority ordered airlines to make sure their timetables are deliverable after the sector proved unable to cope with demand during the Jubilee half-term school holiday period.

The new 100,000 cap on passenger numbers is significantly lower than Heathrows pre-COVID-19 capacity. Around 131,000 passengers departed on Aug. 4, 2019, which was Heathrows busiest day on record.

Holland-Kaye admitted there are some critical functions in the airport which are still significantly under-resourced, such as ground handling.

Virgin Atlantic said the airline is ready to deliver its full schedule this summer but supports proactive measures being taken by Heathrow to reduce disruption.

But a spokeswoman warned that the proposed action should not disproportionately impact home carriers at the airport.

Guy Hobbs, acting editor of consumer magazine Which? Travel, said: Thousands of people will now be worrying about whether their flight or holiday plans are about to fall apart.

Heathrow must work with airlines to quickly provide clarity on which flights are being cut, and airlines need to be upfront with those passengers affected about their right to be rebooked at the earliest opportunity, including on services from other airlines.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Highly-Decorated Army General Suspended After Appearing to Mock Jill Biden on Twitter

The Army has allegedly suspended a highly-decorated three-star general after he appeared to poke fun at First Lady Jill Biden in a social media comment following the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Retired Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky served as a former spokesman for the Army as well as a highly qualified expert senior mentor, in which he won a $92-an-hour contract with the Army to advise top military officers and other personnel on war games strategy and other military activities, according to USA Today.

During his lengthy career, the three-star general commanded soldiers at all levels, including the Armys I Corps, one of its top formations, as well as the 101st Airborne Division. He was also deployed to Iraq for multiple operations, including the fight against ISIS, and to Liberia to provide humanitarian assistance.

Volesky received multiple awards and medals during his time in the Army, including the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star (4 OLC), Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, and more.

Volesky was the chief of the Armys Public Affairs division from 2012 to 2014 and retired from the Army in 2020.

However, the general has reportedly been relieved from his duties after responding to a June 24 statement posted to the first ladys Twitter account regarding the Supreme courts decision to overturn the 1973 precedent that legalized abortion in the United States.

In a 63 ruling, the court upheld a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and overturned Roe v. Wade, handing the power back down to states which can now make the rules around abortion laws.

Today, That Right Was Stolen From Us

In response to the courts decision, Jill Biden wrote that for nearly 50 years, women have had the right to make our own decisions about our bodies. Today, that right was stolen from us.

And while we may be devastated by this injustice, we will not be silent. We will not sit back as the progress we have already won slips away, the Twitter post continued.

Glad to see you finally know what a woman is, Volesky responded, according to USA Today, which first reported the story.

Voleskys post appeared to echo an exchange in March between Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Judge Ketanji Jackson Brown at the justices confirmation hearing, according to reports. During that exchange, Blackburn asked the judge to define the word woman in the context of transgender rights.

Senior uniformed officers generally tend to shy away from making political statements and Voleskys post has since been deleted.

Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith confirmed to USA Today that Volesky had been suspended from his consultancy role pending the outcome of an inquiry into whether the Twitter post in question violated decorum rules for retired officers.

Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told The Epoch Times: Lt. Gen. Theodore Martin, commanding general of the Combined Arms Center, has suspended retired Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky from performing duties as an HQE-SM pending the outcome of the commanders inquiry. An HQE-SM (Highly Qualified Expert  Senior Mentor) is a retired flag,

general or other military officer or senior retired civilian official who provides expert experience-based mentoring, teaching, training, advice and recommendations to senior military officers, staff and students as they participate in war games, warfighting courses, operational planning, operational exercises and decision-making exercises.

The latest incident is not the first time that Volesky has aired his views about politics. In 2021, he responded to a post by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) about the investigation into the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S Capitol, according to USA Today.

Im honored to serve on the January 6th select committee. Our oath to the Constitution must be above partisan politics, Cheney wrote on Twitter at the time.

This is all about partisan politics, Volesky wrote in response, according to USA Today.
First Lady Jill Biden speaks at the unveiling of the Met Museum Costume Institute's exhibit "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" in New York on May 2, 2022. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Hispanic Group Fires Back After Jill Biden Compares Latinos to Tacos

First lady's office later apologizes for the speech

First Lady Jill Biden received criticism from a Hispanic organization on Monday for comparing the Hispanic community to tacos, prompting her to apologize.

Biden made an appearance at a San Antonio event called the LatinX IncluXion luncheon, which uses the often-ridiculed term latinx.

Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength, she said at the event, commenting on UnidosUS President Raul Yzaguirres work. Biden was also criticized for mispronouncing the word bodega.

At 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Bidens press secretary Michael LaRosa wrote on Twitter that the First Lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists on Monday responded and said her comment about tacos was inappropriate.

We are not tacos, wrote the organization in a statement, adding that it encourages  Biden and her speech writing team to take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities.

And Janet Murguia, the head of UnidosUS, wrote that the group was honored to have Biden speak before saying: She has been a great educator in, and a great amiga to, our community for years. Privileged to call her a friend.

Some conservative figures also responded to Bidens comments on social media, saying that the reaction to her remarks would have been stronger if she was a Republican.

No wonder Hispanics are fleeing the Democratic Party! wrote Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) on Twitter. Imagine the regime media meltdown if a conservative called Hispanics breakfast tacos like Dr. Jill Biden did at the Latinx Luncheon today. Democringe, wrote Christina Pushaw, press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Bidens comments come as the White House and Democrats are trying to reach out more to Hispanic voters amid polls suggesting that his approval rating has tanked among that demographic.

Newly elected Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas) won a special election for her district last month, taking a seat that Democrats had held for decades. The 34th Congressional District is primarily Hispanic.

The event that Biden attended is one of the largest gatherings of Hispanic advocates, local San Antonio media reported.

Each year the UnidosUS Annual Conference is the premier event devoted to the diverse Hispanic community that is moving our country forward, it notes on its website.

The first ladys office has not responded to a request for comment.
A poster used by Hongkonger groups around the world to promote their Global Joint Campaign to urge cities to cut ties with their sistercites in China. The campaign started on July 1, 2022. (Yellow Power NZ)

Hongkonger Groups Worldwide Urge Cities to End Sister-City Relationships With CCP

A total of 19 Hongkonger groups around the world launched a Global Joint Campaign on July 1, urging 163 cities to sever sister city relationships with the Beijing regime.

Hongkongers in Deutschland e.V.(HKDEV), one of the organizations involved in the Global Joint Campaign, issued a petition, in which the group mentioned the atrocities perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and called upon the 58 cities in Germany to end their sister city relationships with the CCP.

In the letter, it explained that the sister-city relationship is a tool used by the CCP for its direct interference, on the sovereign affairs of other countries.

For example, Zdenek Hrib, Mayor of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, once asked the Beijing government to remove a statement in their sister-city agreement which indicates Prague must abide by the One China Policy in speeches. Beijing ignored the request and retaliated economically.

HKDEV pointed out in its petition that the Chinese association involved, manages the sister-city agreements through the United Front system to influence and promote CCP propaganda. The group called on local governments to defend justice and democratic values.

Radio Free Asia reported on July 9, that Aniessa Andresen, president of Hongkonger in Deutschland e.V., said that the association had emailed 58 cities in Germany but only received two replies; these were from Rothenburg and Worms.

Cut Ties with CCP and Their Sister-Cities

The Global Joint Campaign, is calling on 163 cities all over the world to break ties with their sister cities in Cjhina. The 163 cities are in seven countries: Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

HKDEV issued a statement earlier, stating that sister-city agreements are used by China for foreign diplomatic infiltration strategies. It is a tool designed by the CCP, to manipulate the world and expand its influence of totalitarian rule.

The statement continued to criticize that the Beijing government has continuously eroding Hong Kongs high degree of autonomy; not only did it brutally suppress democracy and trample on freedom of the press, but it has also violated the Sino-British Joint Declaration, resulting in thousands of Hongkongers becoming political prisoners.

The statement mentioned that, since 2014, Muslim Uyghurs have been detained in re-education camps in Xinjiang and many escapees have suffered torture and even death at the hands of the CCP.

However, against solid evidence, CCP mouthpieces refute these allegations.



The statement also states, Chinas notorious record of human rights violations and non-compliance with international treaties, highlight its totalitarian nature. Yet many countries choose to turn a blind eye for economic benefits.



Daniel Kwok Tsz-kin, founder of Scottish Hongkongers, told the Epoch Times that they would meet with members of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) regarding the issue.

Nottingham Stands with Hong Kong

Another participating organization in the Global Joint Campaign is Nottingham Stands With Hong Kong (NSWHK), a Hongkongers organization in the UK midlands.

They had launched a petition urging the Nottingham city council to end its sister-city relationship with Ningbo, China.

On June 12, the group initiated a march with thousands of Hongkongers joining in. The protest ended at the city council offices to submit its petition to the city council.

NSWHK also referred to Russias invasion of Ukraine, urging the Nottingham City Council to cut sister-city ties with Krasnodar in Russia, and Minsk in Belarus.
By Jeff Ostrowski

From Bankrate.com

Before the coronavirus recession, Utahs housing market was on fire. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which sent residents of Northern California and Seattle in search of affordable homes and more space, and an already-hot market grew hotter.

Dave Robison, past president of the Utah Association of Realtors, sums up the activity simply. Its insane, says Robison, a real estate broker in Salt Lake City.

His assessment isnt just salesmanship. Utah home prices have been soaring as Californians stream into the state. Utah boasts the nations strongest pace of job growth, along with rock-bottom unemployment, few mortgage delinquencies and low state and local taxes.

All those factors pushed Utah into first place in Bankrates Housing Heat Index when it debuted in 2020. Utah continues to hold the top spot for the first quarter of 2022. Residential real estate boomed during the coronavirus recession, and Utah has emerged as a particularly desirable market.

Other states in the Mountain time zone also are thriving. Montana, Arizona, and Nevada rank second, fourth and eighth, respectively, in Bankrates index.

At the opposite end of the list is Louisiana, where price appreciation is among the slowest in the nation and mortgage delinquencies are among the highest. Hawaiia state that was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemicclimbed from the bottom of Bankrates ranking. It rose from dead last in the first-quarter ranking to 12th in the index based on winter economic data.

The 5 States With the Hottest Housing Economies

The Housing Heat Index shows how states real estate markets are faring in the coronavirus-fueled housing boom, and how they might perform in the future. To calculate the ranking, Bankrate analyzed six data points: annual home price appreciation, share of mortgages past due, unemployment, annual job growth, statewide cost of living index, and state-by-state tax burdens.

These five states had the strongest housing economies in the first quarter of 2022:

UtahIts home values jumped 26.8 percent in the 12-month period that ended March 31, third-best among U.S. states, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Utah posted the lowest unemployment rate in the nation in March 2022, according to a Bankrate analysis of Labor Department data. Whats more, Utahs tax burden is among the lowest in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation. MontanaHome values climbed 25 percent, and Montana posted top-five finishes in past-due mortgages, job growth, and tax burden. FloridaThe Sunshine States home values jumped 30 percent, job growth is strong and taxes are low. ArizonaHome values surged 28 percent, the best in the nation, and few homeowners have fallen behind on their loans. TennesseeHome values are up 26 percent, job growth is strong and the cost of living is moderate.

Homebuyers Seek Affordability, Space

The prominent rankings of states in the Mountain time zone illustrate a shift in the housing market: Americans are still drawn to healthy labor markets, but even before the coronavirus pandemic, they were growing less willing to pay up to live in places like San Jose, Seattle, and Boston.

COVID-19 has pushed manyespecially those who can work remotelyto leave the priciest areas for more affordable regions.

We are seeing the makings of a renewed affordability migration, says Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo. The beneficiaries of that shift have largely been the midsized metros in the mountain states of the West.

The median price of a single-family home sold in Silicon Valley during the first quarter was a whopping $1.88 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. The typical price in Salt Lake City was $556,900above the national median, but not dramatically so, and just a fraction of the price paid by residents of Northern California.

The price gap has spurred many in high-cost markets to consider moving. The notion is especially appealing to workers who can take their high-wage jobs to areas with lower costs of living.

People suddenly have the ability to choose where they live, because theyre not tethered to an office, says Alicia Holdaway, an agent at Summit Sothebys International Realty in Draper, Utah, and past president of the Salt Lake City Board of Realtors. Weve had a net in-migration thats been happening for years, and thats only increased.

Every boom brings its disadvantages, of course. In some cases, new arrivals to Utahs housing market are flush with cash and willing to bid up prices.

Theres always a flip side, Holdaway says. Weve been seeing housing affordability become a crisis.

The 5 States With the Coolest Housing Economies

As a nationwide housing boom rages, every state saw property values increase during the 12 months that ended in September. However, some state economies are struggling with weak job growth and other challenges. The bottom five on our index:

ConnecticutThis state posted poor showings across the board. Washington, DCThe districts score was brought down by weak appreciation, high unemployment, and a hefty tax burden. AlaskaTepid job growth and high unemployment weighed down the northernmost state. MarylandThe state posted comparatively weak appreciation of 11 percent, along with a high level of past-due loans and a sputtering job market. LouisianaIt ranks worst in past-due loans, with 6.8 percent of homeowners behind on their mortgage payments. Louisiana also fares poorly on price appreciation, job growth, and tax burden.

Methodology

To calculate the Housing Heat Index for the first quarter of 2022, Bankrate analyzed six data points:

Annual home price appreciation for the first quarter as reported by the Federal Housing Finance Agencys Home Price Index;

Share of mortgages past due for the first quarter as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association;

The unemployment rate for March from the U.S. Labor Department;

Annual job growth as of March from the U.S. Labor Department;

The cost of living index for 2021 from the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness;

State-by-state tax burdens for the 2020-21 fiscal year as reported by the Tax Foundation.

The index overweights home price appreciation, the metric that most clearly conveys a housing markets desirability. And the index underweights the cost of living and tax burdenhome prices can soar despite those factors, but a new wave of remote work makes those factors more relevant than they were in the past.

2022 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Epoch Times Copyright  2022 The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.
El jefe de Estado, @PedroCastilloTe, se reunio con la secretaria general de la @UNCTAD, @RGrynspan, en Palacio de Gobierno. Este encuentro permitio fortalecer la relacion de cooperacion tecnica entre el Peru y esta instancia de las Naciones Unidas. #SiempreConElPueblo pic.twitter.com/PuRYBHxhky
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump with then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the start of talks at the venue of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28, 2019. (Kimimasa Mayama/Pool/Getty Images)

Indo-Pacific Peace Strategy Is Abes Legacy to Combat Threat From Communist China: Experts

As global leaders continue to extend condolences to the family of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on July 8 while delivering a speech on the campaign trail for his party, experts are remembering Abe for his efforts in spearheading the Indo-Pacific strategy that is to continue shaping the world long into the future.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken extended his travel to Asia in order to visit Tokyo to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and offer in-person condolences on behalf of U.S. President Joe Biden and the American people following the tragic event.

Blinken described Abe as a staunch supporter of the United States-Japan alliance, according to NHK. He praised him for upholding a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and cementing ties with the United States and other like-minded countries.

In his time in office, Prime Minister Abe did more than anyone to elevate the relationship between the U.S. and Japan to new heights, Blinken said.

Abe the Visionary

Former advisory member of Taiwans National Security Council, Wong Ming-hsien, told The Epoch Times on July 10 that Abe had long recognized the threat from the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing.

Abe launched the Indo-Pacific strategy respectively in 2014 and 2016, which exerted direct impact on former U.S. President Trumps declaration in Tokyo in November 2017 and a U.S. Department of Defense report on the strategy in September 2021, according to Wong, who is also a professor at Tamkang Universitys Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.

Taiwan strategist and associate research fellow at Taiwans Institute for National Defense and Security Research, Su Tzu-Yun, said that Abe designated the CCP as the ultimate threat to global peace while in office, despite debates between leftists and rightists. His vision was a China-countering Into-Pacific framework, which went unanswered during the Obama era, however.

It was during the Trump presidency that American and Japanese leaders reinvigorated the QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue), which has now become part of Americas strategic architecture.

This highlights Abes vision on security issues, which has proven significantly effective in curbing the output of the CCPs authoritarianism, the researcher said.

A Self-Reliant Japan

Meanwhile, Abes peace legacy includes his advocacy to amend the Constitution of Japan, seeking normalization of the countrys military.

His idea that peace needs to be guaranteed by armed forces has not been accepted until recently, Su said, though he proposed it nearly 15 years ago.

The expert noted Abes aims of constitutional amendment and the enhancement of Japans military capabilities were based on his understanding that the CCP is unlikely to change its authoritarian system. That, in turn, will precisely create threats for Japans domestic and regional security.

Japans Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) escort ship Kurama sails through smoke during a fleet review off Sagami Bay, Kanagawa prefecture, on Oct. 18, 2015. Thirty-six MSDF vessels and navy ships from Australia, India, France, South Korea and the United States participated in the fleet review. (TORU YAMANAKA/AFP via Getty Images)

While condolences flood to the late Japanese leader and his family, a large number of Chinas internet users have attempted to deride and humiliate him on Chinese social media platforms WeChat and Weibo, citing accusations that the CCP used in its previous propaganda campaigns against the former prime minister and his fellow Japanese politicians.

Su attributed the cyberbullying to long-term indoctrination by the CCP.

The CCP misinterprets defensive attitudes that all democracies take towards its authoritarian regime as anti-China, he said. [The partys] always adding fuel to the flame of nationalism domestically is the biggest threat [to regional peace].

Lin Cenxin and Yi Ru contributed to this report.
A vehicle carrying the body of the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe leaves after his funeral at Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan, on July 12, 2022. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

Japan Bids Sombre Farewell to Slain Shinzo Abe, Its Longest-Serving Premier

TOKYOWith prayers, flowers and flags draped in black ribbons, Japan on Tuesday said farewell to Shinzo Abe, a polarising figure who dominated politics as the countrys longest-serving premier, before being gunned down at a campaign rally last week.

Crowds packed pavements lined with a heavy police presence as the hearse carrying Abe, who died at age 67, departed from a central Tokyo temple on a procession through the city.

With nearly a dozen helicopters circling overhead, people bowed deeply, their hands clasped in prayer, as the hearse passed in a procession carried live on broadcaster NHK. Others clapped, cheered, or waved.

Thank you very much for your work for our country, one man repeatedly shouted.

Hundreds had filed into the temple where Abes funeral was held on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, prior to the private ceremony, to pay their respects. His killing on Friday by an unemployed man wielding a homemade gun stunned a nation where both gun crime and political violence are extremely rare.

The funeral procession passed through the capitals political heart of Nagatacho, where hundreds had lined up in front of the parliament building Abe first entered as a young lawmaker in 1993, after the death of his politician father.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and a group of cabinet ministers waited quietly in front of the office from which Abe, Japans youngest prime minister when he first took office, led the nation for two stints, the longest from 2012 to 2020, when he resigned due to health problems.

As the hearse slowly passed, Kishida bowed his head, a set of Buddhist rosary beads around his clasped hands. Abes widow, Akie, bowed back from the front seat of the hearse.

A hearse transporting the body of Japans former prime minister Shinzo Abe makes a brief visit to the Prime Ministers Office after his funeral ceremony, as Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, officials and employees offer prayers in Tokyo, Japan, on July 12, 2022. (Eugene Hoshiko/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Paying Respects

From early morning, long lines of people dressed in black, mixed with others in informal clothing with backpacks, formed outside the temple in the sultry summer air.

Keiko Noumi, a 58-year-old teacher, was one of many who came to offer prayers and flowers to a large photograph of Abe set up inside the temple grounds showing him in a simple white shirt, laughing with his hands on his hips

There was a sense of security when he was the prime minister in charge of the country, she said. I really supported him, so this is very unfortunate.

Others queued in front of ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters to make offerings at a makeshift shrine that will be in place until Friday. Party staffers come out to offer cold barley tea to mourners sweating in the sultry air.

Tributes have poured in from international leaders, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken making a brief stop en route to the United States from Southeast Asia on Monday morning to pay his respects. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Taiwan Vice President William Lai, on a private visit as a family friend, also joined mourners.

Nearly 2,000 condolence messages arrived from nations around the world, Kyodo news agency said.

People watch the hearse transporting the body of late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe as it leaves Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan, on July 12, 2022. (Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images)

Great Courage, Audacity

French leader Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences in footage posted on the countrys official presidential Twitter account after he visited the Japanese embassy in Paris.

I remember all our meetings and work together, especially during my visit (to Japan) in 2019  Ive lost a friend, said a solemn Macron.

He served his country with great courage, and audacity.

The suspected killer, arrested at the scene and identified by police as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, believed Abe had promoted a religious group to which his mother made a huge donation, Kyodo news agency has said, citing investigators.

The Unification Church, known for its mass weddings and devoted following, said on Monday the suspects mother was one of its members. Reuters could not determine whether the mother belonged to any other religious organizations.

Yamagami shot Abe from behind, unloading two shots from a 40-cm-long (16-inch) improvised weapon wrapped with black tape.

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe lies on the ground after apparent shooting in Nara, western Japan, on July 8, 2022. (Kyodo via Reuters)

A man, believed to be a suspect in shooting former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is held by police officers at Yamato Saidaiji Station in Nara, Nara Prefecture on July 8, 2022. (The Yomiuri Shimbun/via Reuters)

Chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference on Tuesday that the Japanese government will consider whether there is a need to further regulate handmade guns.

We are aware that current regulations strictly restrict firearms, whether handmade or not, he said.

Satoshi Ninoyu, head of the National Public Safety Commission, told a Tuesday news conference he had directed that a team be established to investigate the security situation around Abes assassination.

We take this incident extremely seriously, he said.

A farewell ceremony was set to be held in Abes election district in the distant southwest Yamaguchi prefecture, as well as Tokyo, in the future, the Mainichi newspaper said.

Out on the capitals streets, Japans mourning continued.

He was my favourite prime minister, said Akihito Sakaki, 58 and self-employed. So I came here to say goodbye.

By Elaine Lies
Judge Orders Sen. Graham to Testify to Georgia Grand Jury in Election Probe

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) must testify to a grand jury in Georgia investigating possible election-related crimes, a Georgia judge ruled on July 11.

Graham is a necessary and material witness to the Special Purpose Grand Jury investigation, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said in his ruling.

Graham made at least two phone calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, and members of Raffenspergers staff in the weeks following the 2020 presidential election, according to state officials. During the calls, Graham asked questions about reexamining mail-in ballots in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump and referenced allegations of widespread voter fraud, McBurney said.

Graham possesses unique knowledge concerning the substance of the telephone calls, the logistics of setting up the telephone calls, and any communications between himself, others involved in the planning and execution of the telephone calls, the Trump Campaign, and other known and unknown individuals involved in the multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere, the judge said. Finally, the Witnesss anticipated testimony is essential in that it is likely to reveal additional sources of information regarding the subject of this investigation.

A lawyer representing the senator did not respond to a request for comment, but Graham is likely to fight the ruling.

Expects to Prevail

Grahams attorneys said in a recent statement that the subpoena would erode the constitutional balance of power and the ability of a Member of Congress to do their job, adding, Senator Graham plans to go to court, challenge the subpoena, and expects to prevail.

Graham and six others linked to Trump, including his former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, were subpoenaed on July 5 in the probe, which concerns efforts that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, has described as potential unlawful interference in the 2020 election.

Willis said in January that her office received information indicating a reasonable probability that the State of Georgias administration of elections in 2020  was subject to possible criminal disruptions. She also said that a number of witnesses had refused to cooperate, including Raffensperger, absent a subpoena.

Willis requested a special grand jury, which was approved by a majority of Fulton County Superior Court judges.

Graham has denied wrongdoing. He said on CBS earlier this year that he spoke with Raffensperger about how the system worked when it came to mail-in voting.
Kentucky Man Indicted on 20 Charges in Slaying of 3 Officers

PRESTONSBURG, Ky.A Kentucky man charged with killing three officers in an ambush while police were serving a protective order has been indicted on 20 charges.

Lance Storz, 49, was indicted by a grand jury Monday on three counts of murder of a police officer and six counts of attempted murder of an officer, according to media reports. Storz opened fire on a group of officers on June 30 at his home in Floyd County, a rural hilly county in Appalachia, according to police.

Storz was also indicted on seven counts of wanton endangerment against a police officer, three counts of assault, and one count of assaulting a service animal. A police dog was also killed in the ambush.

The slaying of three officers was the deadliest for law enforcement in a single incident in Kentucky since a prison riot left three guards dead in 1923.

Storzs wife had sought to get away from him, according to an emergency protective order, and he became irate and wouldnt let her leave, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

She was able to sneak out when officers went to check on her, but when police returned with a protective order, Storz allegedly opened fire.

Storz is charged with killing Floyd County sheriffs Deputy William Petry, Prestonsburg police Capt. Ralph Frasure, and Officer Jacob Chaffins. The officers were laid to rest last week.

Officers close the casket for Floyd County Deputy William Petry at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Ky., on July 5, 2022. (Silas Walker/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)

Officials said Storz fired on officers with a .308-caliber rifle and AR-15 rifles. Chaffins was hit by a shot fired from more than 200 yards away and died the next evening at a hospital. Storz later surrendered.
Ian Lipkin is the one behind the movie Contagion. He worked in Beijing as an intermediary between the World Health Organization and the Chinese regime. He also worked closely with Chinese Communist Party United Front leader Chen Zhu.

But we all got to know him as co-author of Proximal Originthe infamous article that was conceived by Dr. Anthony Fauci and his group of scientists to push the false narrative that the COVID pandemic had a natural origin.

And now it emerges that Lipkin also worked for Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance through whom Fauci funded the Wuhan lab.

Thats quite a resume. The problem is that Lipkin didnt tell anyone about the last part. When he wrote in Proximal Origin that we do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible, he had a duty to disclose that he was affiliated with Daszak and had worked for Daszaks EcoHealth.

But the name Lipkin does not appear in the articles conflicts declarationsnot in 2020 when the article first came out and not since.

Thats a big problem and its not the only problem for Lipkin and his crew of Fauci scientists.

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Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to an audience at the "American Freedom Tour" event in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 18, 2022. (Karen Pulfer Focht/Reuters)

Life Begins at 80: Trump Rejects Age Concerns Related to Bidens Performance

Former President Donald Trump says that life begins at 80, dismissing claims that attribute President Joe Bidens job performance to his old age. It comes as Democrat polling shows Bidens age is undermining his leadership and can cost his reelection chances in 2024.

Trump, 76, wrote on his social media start-up Truth Social on July 10: President Biden is one of the oldest 79s in History, but by and of itself, he is not an old man. There are many people in their 80s, and even 90s, that are as good and sharp as ever.

Biden is not one of them, but it has little to do with his age, he continued. In actuality, life begins at 80!

His remarks followed a poll published by the New York Times in conjunction with Siena College, finding 64 percent of Democratic voters said they would prefer a new partys presidential nominee in 2024, not Biden. 33 percent of them cited the presidents age as their main concern, according to the poll.

Early this year, a national Quinnipiac University poll shows voters nationwide gave Biden a job approval rating of 33 percent, driven by concerns over the economy, foreign policies, and COVID-19 handling.

The White House didnt immediately reply to a request for comment.

Bidens cognitive state has been in question given his so-called gaffesboth before and after taking officehave triggered officials to walk back on his comments shortly after. On March 26, Biden made a comment amid the Ukraine crisis saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power, causing confusion as to whether the United States was seeking to topple the Russian regime.

The president had also conducted fewer unscripted interactions with the news media as of nearly his first full year in office, compared to any of his six most recent White House predecessors at the same point in their presidencies, the Associated Press reported, citing an analysis by Martha Joynt Kumar, a longtime scholar of presidential media strategy.

The president did 22 interviews during the time with the media and held nine formal news conferences. Trump, who regularly pilloried the media, did 92 interviews in his first year in office.

Under his age issue, last month, the news of Biden falling off his bicycle during a ride near his Delaware home became one of the top stories of the time, although the president appeared to be uninjured and the White House said medical attention was not in need.

Biden is turning 80 in November. Yet the 79-year-old commander in chief was already the oldest president in U.S. history when he beat Trump last January and was sworn in as the 46th president. The president has repeatedly floated the possibility of a second run in 2024, which would see him at his 86 at the end of the term.

Trump, who is four years younger, has teased another run for the presidency, despite not formally announcing plans. The former president will be 78 on Election Day 2024.
France's President Emmanuel Macron addresses a plenary session at the European Parliament to present the program of activities of the French Presidency as France currently holds the European Union rotating presidency, in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Jan. 19, 2022. (Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images)

Macron Pulls the Indo-Pacific Closer to Paris With New Ministerial Appointment

French President Emmanuel Macron has moved to pull the French Indo-Pacific closer to Paris with the appointment of Sonia Backes, president of New Caledonias Southern Province, to his enlarged 42-member government.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne officially appointed Backes to the post of secretary of citizenship in the Interior Ministry on July 5, reported RNZ.

This is the first time in 50 years that a politician from New Caledonia has been appointed to the French government after former New Caledonian politician Roger Frey was made French Minister of State between 1959 to 1972.

Backes said she intends to maintain her post as the president of the Southern Province of New Caledonia.

The appointment comes after both of New Caledonias seats in Paris were won by candidates from a newly formed coalition groupspearheaded by Backescomprised of four pro-France political parties.

The merged group threw their support behind President Emmanuel Macrons Renaissance Partyformerly La Republique En Marche!in Junes election.

Renewed Pacific Focus

The decision to include Backes will cement the interests of Frances Pacific territories within Macrons government after the French president launched his countrys Indo-Pacific Strategy (pdf) amid Beijings increasing influence in the region in 2018.

Seven of Frances 13 overseas departments, regions, and communities are situated in either the Indian Ocean or the South Pacific, which comprise 1.5 million French citizens and 8,000 soldiers.

French territories in the Indo-Pacific include New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Fortuna, La Reunion, and Mayottethey also account for 93 percent of Frances exclusive economic zone.

According to Frances Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Indo-Pacific is one of the priorities of the European and international actions of France.

Indo-Pacific is the new global centre of gravity, representing 60 percent of global GDP and home to 4.5 billion people, the Ministry said.

It is also where the future of a rules-based international order is at stake, along with our ability to address major current challenges such as climate change, biodiversity, and global health.

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Bormes-les-Mimosas during World War II, in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southern France, on Aug. 17, 2021. (Eric Gaillard/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Frances shift in focus to the Indo-Pacific region comes after ongoing tensions with the Chinese Communist Party, which has engaged in island-building in the South China Sea and economic coercion of Australia.

The French government called Beijing a systemic rival saying it had a vision of the international order that was profoundly different, particularly as regards human rights.

Appointment Met With Mixed Reactions

Meanwhile, the appointment has been met with mixed reactions in New Caledonia, with one of Backes supporters, pro-France politician Nicolas Metzdorf, saying this will benefit the province.

Sonia Backes will be present in the government, which is excellent news for our territory because it allows Caledonia to be supervised from two angles, one from the overseas territory ministry and the other from the Cabinet.

However, pro-New Caledonian independence politician and president of the Caledonian Union Daniel Goa said the nomination blurs the political landscape.

Doesnt this nomination of Ms. Backes add more confusion to the political message? She is already president of the Southern Province and of the political group that she represents, and then she becomes also secretary of state? Goa said reported RNZ on July 9.
Police tape is shown in Toronto on May 2, 2017. (Graeme Roy/The Canadian Press)

Man Faces Murder Charge After Woman Set on Fire on Toronto Bus

A first-degree murder charge has been laid against a man after a woman was set on fire on a Toronto bus and died of her injuries weeks later.

The fatal alleged assault of Nyima Dolma occurred on June 17 at around 12:20 p.m. aboard a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus near the Kipling Subway Station area, according to a statement released by Toronto Police Service (TPS) on July 11.

Tenzin Norbu, the 33-year-old suspect from Toronto, allegedly poured a flammable liquid on Dolma and set it on fire, causing the woman to burn. The fire was put out and the victim was sent to hospital but suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.

In an update on July 11, police said Norbu is now charged with first-degree murder after Dolma succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased on July 5.

Norbu was previously charged with attempted murder, assault with a weapon, common nuisance endangering the lives, safety, or health of the public, and mischief over $5,000 interfering with property.

The TPS Homicide Squad has taken over the investigation, police said.

Dolma, 28, was a professional caregiver and was on her way to work when the tragic events occurred, according to her sister, Dawa.

On July 6, Dawa confirmed her sisters death in a message on a GoFundMe campaign set up a week prior to collect donations for Dolmas medical treatment. The donation campaign was paused on July 7, as Dawa said the nearly $40,000 raised was enough to cover the expenses, and the funds would now be used for Dolmas funeral.

To my sister, we love you and we miss you. We wish her soul to rest in peace, Dawa said.

Police said their investigations found no relationship between the victim and the assailant.

While the police didnt comment on a motive, they previously said that the case was being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence, after consulting TPSs specialized hate crime unit.

Norbu appeared in a Toronto court on the morning of July 11 via video link.
Mountain Retreat for the Liberal Elite Holds Invitation-Only Summit on ESG

Aspen Institute asks, '(How) should ESG leaders support democracy?'

The Aspen Institute is holding an invitation-only event, the Aspen ESG Summit, at a time when rising energy prices, novel climate mandates, and growing global instability have made environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) a subject of controversy.

Speakers on the three-day summits agenda include Securities and Exchange Commissioner Allison Herren Lee, who recently voted for sweeping new climate disclosure requirements for public companies.

Headquartered in the upscale mountain resort town of Aspen, Colorado, the Aspen Institute aims to turn ideas into action and impact for individuals and society, according to its mission statement.

In 2020 alone, the Aspen Institute received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, BlackRock, the Crown family, the Ford Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Bloomberg Family Foundation, among other billionaires and billionaire-founded nonprofits.

It also received at least a million or more dollars from the U.S. State Department and Walmart, respectively.

The Aspen Institute describes itself as values-based but non-partisan. It doesnt fund political candidates or parties.

We do not engage in electoral politics or any activity that would require registration under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, and do not engage staff or contractors as lobbyists as defined by the Act, it states on its website.

Some sources have characterized the organization as left-leaning. In 2019, The Economist described it as the mountain retreat for the liberal elite.

Data from Open Secrets show that individuals employed by or closely connected with the Aspen Institute have donated overwhelmingly to Democrats in recent election cycles. During the 2022 cycle, for example, 98.26 percent of the money that those individuals donated to federal candidates went to Democrats. During the 2018 cycle, all of their money went to Democrats.

Fox News Tucker Carlson has also taken aim at the Aspen Institute. In his current Twitter bio, he sarcastically calls himself a frequent visitor to the Aspen Inst.

In an April monologue, Carlson alluded to its influence when criticizing former President Barack Obamas Stanford University speech on disinformation.

So me and my friends at the Aspen Institute need to be in complete control of every word uttered, or else its not democracy, he opined.

Team Aspen Rules on Pro-Democracy Commitments

ESG was recently slammed by Elon Musk, who described it as a scam after the S&P Global Index removed his pioneering electric car company, Tesla, from its ESG Index. In addition, the treasurers of many energy-producing states in the United States believe they have been unfairly penalized by new ESG ratings.

Representatives of the United States largest banks and other companies are also slated to speak at the Aspen Institutes summit, which runs July 11July 14.

Those speakers include individuals affiliated with Citi, Microsoft, Starbucks, Putnam Investments, Prudential, GE, and Danone.

One dialogue stream at the event is titled, (How) Should ESG Leaders Support Democracy?

Threats to democracy have upended business as usual domestically and abroad. Why should ESG leaders care? Are ESG leaders playing a role in operationalizing the pro-democracy commitments their firms have madeor how might they, while still doing their day job? the agenda states.

In a 2021 set of Predictions for Business and Society in 2022, the Aspen Institutes Judy Samuelson praised employees who, in the wake of January 6th, were the ones to connect their companys PAC [political action committee] to support of elected officials engaged in anti-democratic behavior.

As we move toward midterms, concern for our democracy will only growand businesses, particularly those that are active in the pay-to-[play] system that dominates our political systemwill again be under the microscope of employees, she wrote at the time.

The Aspen Institute didnt respond by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.
An image from the NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows the Carina Nebula. (NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

NASA Unveils More Pictures Captured by Webb Space Telescope

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on July 12 unveiled more images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, including one showing a cluster of galaxies.

One of the new pictures shows the edge of a star-forming region called NGC 3324, located in the Carina Nebula.

This stunning vista of the cosmic cliffs of the Carina Nebula reveals new details about this vast, stellar nursery, Amber Straughn, a NASA astrophysicist, said during an unveiling event. Today, for the first time, were seeing brand new stars that were completely hidden from our view.

Scientists said the image will help them explore how stars are formed.

NGC 3324 is located about 7,600 light-years away from Earth.

An image from the NASAs James Webb Space Telescope shows Stephans Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies. (NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

Stephans Quintet had been captured beforeit was shown in Its a Wonderful Lifebut the Webb telescope image shows it in a level of detail never seen before, according to NASA.

The image shows a group of five galaxies clustered together.

At the time it was captured, one of the galaxies, NGC 7318B, was crashing into the others.

The Southern Ring Nebula. (NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

In a set of images from the telescope, the Southern Ring Nebula, or NGC 3132, is seen in detail.

This is a planetary nebula. Its caused by a dying star that has expelled a large fraction of its mass in successive waves, said Karl Gordon, a NASA astronomer.

The nebula is located about 2,500 light-years away.

Astronomers hope to learn more about planetary nebulae by examining the images.

A gas giant planet and the atmosphere surrounding it. (NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

The final image released on Tuesday shows the atmosphere surrounding a gas giant planet as it orbits a star located about 1,150 light-years away.

The image provides evidence of clouds and haze in the atmosphere around WASP-96 b, an exoplanet in the Milky Way, indicating there could be water there.

Its exciting because it covers infrared wavelengths of light that we have not had access to before, NASA astrophysicist Knicole Colon said.

The spectrum captured will enable researchers to measure the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, as well as take other measurements.

The first image from the telescope was unveiled on Monday by President Joe Biden. It showed the distant universe.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told Biden that if he held one grain of sand at arms length, that is the part of the universe that youre seeing in the image.
People wearing protective masks walk at Shibuya district in Tokyo on Jan. 19, 2022. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images)

No Restrictions for Japan Despite 7th Wave of COVID-19: Expert Panel

Japan is experiencing the seventh wave of coronavirus infections, but no restrictions are necessary at this time, the head of a government COVID-19 expert panel said on Monday.

Shigeru Omi, head of the panel, said there is no doubt that Japan has now entered the seventh wave of outbreak, with 37,143 new cases reported on Monday, broadcaster NHK reported.

Omi attributed the increase in cases to the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant and the waning of the vaccines efficiency over time. He had also briefed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida about the situation.

Its important for everyone to take basic measures, such as testing, vaccines, and [other prevention measures], he told reporters.

However, Omi said he believes that there is no need to reinstate restrictions for the time being. He said the expert panel recommended the government implement pandemic preparations and response plans.

Tokihiro Nakamura, governor of Ehime Prefecture, said the number of new patients during the week ending July 5 increased by 1.7 times from the previous week, exceeding the national average.

We have entered an expansionary phase for infections, he said, adding that the virus transmission was primarily due to individuals eating at restaurants for extended periods and conversing without wearing masks indoors.

Nakamura noted that Japan has not yet reached the point of imposing stringent restrictions on socio-economic activities, The Asahi Shimbun reported.

Japan has lifted most of its COVID-19 measures and resumed accepting foreign tourists from 98 countries and regions since last month, but only for package tours.

COVID-19 Wave in EU

The European Medicines Agencys Marco Cavaleri said last week that several nations in the European Union (EU) are seeing a new wave of the novel coronavirus virus, driven by mutations of the Omicron variant.

Speaking at an online press briefing, Cavaleri said the BA.4 and BA.5 mutations of the Omicron variant are expected to become dominant across the continent, likely replacing all other variants by the end of July.

He said that while there is no evidence the variants make people sicker than earlier strains of the virus, the increase in transmission among older age groups is starting to translate into severe disease.

As this new wave is unfolding over the EU, it is essential to maintain protection of vulnerable groups and avoid any postponement of vaccination, he said.

The World Health Organization said on June 30 that the number of new COVID-19 cases rose by 18 percent in the previous week, with more than 4.1 million cases reported globally.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Not a Whisper of Alleged Rape of 10-Year-Old After Reports Claimed Girl Crossed State Lines for Abortion: Ohio AG Dave Yost

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said there is no evidence that showed a 10-year-old girl was raped and impregnated, following reports that claimed a girl in such a predicament was forced to travel across state lines to get an abortion.

The story said that the girl was reportedly denied an abortion in Ohio and had to travel to Indiana to have the procedure. The Indianapolis Star published the story on July 1 and attributed the story solely to an Indianapolis-based obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. Caitlan Bernard.

When asked by Fox News host Jesse Watters in an interview on Monday about whether there were any alerts about investigations into such a case, such as police reports, Yost responded: Not a whisper.

Yost said that his office has regular contact with prosecutors, local police, and sheriffs, but there was not a whisper anywhere of a case involving a raped 10-year-old girl.

The Ohio attorney general, a Republican, also said that his office runs the state crime lab, but also did not come across any case reports resembling the story.

Any case like this, youre going to have a rape kit, youre going to have biological evidence, and you would be looking for DNA analysis, which we do most of the DNA analysis in Ohio. There is no case request for analysis that looks anything like this, he said.

Yost also acknowledged that it is illegal in Ohio to not report the rape of a minor and that if any doctor in Ohio failed to report such a case, they should be prosecuted.

He also noted that Bernard, the OBGYN in Indiana, isnt in the jurisdiction of Ohio law enforcement.

We dont know who the originating doctor in Ohio wasif they even exist. But the bottom line is, it is a crime if youre a mandated reporter to fail to report, Yost said.

Its also the fact that in Ohio, the rape of a 10-year-old means life in prison. I know our prosecutors and cops in this state. Theres not one of them that wouldnt be turning over every rock in their jurisdiction if they had the slightest hint that this occurred there.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on reproductive rights as (L-R) Vice President Kamala Harris, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra listen during an event at the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, on July 8, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Biden Mentions Rape Story in Address

President Joe Biden referenced the story on July 8 while pushing for access to abortions across the country.

Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim in Ohio10 years oldand she was forced to have to travel out of the state, to Indiana, to seek to terminate the [pregnancy] and maybe save her life. Thatsthe last part is my judgment, Biden said, adding later, A 10-year-old girl should be forced to give birth to a rapists child? I can tell you what: I dont. I cant think of anything as much more extreme.

The story drew skepticism, however, after a reporter for The Washington Post, in an analysis published on July 9, said the story was very difficult to verify.

Fact-checking website Snopes separately said it hasnt been able to independently corroborate the abortion claim.

Bernard, who is an abortion provider and professor at Indiana Universitys School of Medicine, has not shared additional details pertaining to the story such as where the alleged rape took place, who the girls doctor is, or whether the case has been reported to law enforcement, and if so, whether charges have been filed.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on July 8 she had no information to share on the matter when asked about whether the White House has confirmed that local law enforcement knows the identity of the alleged 10-year-old girl.

Bernard has not immediately responded to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

Bill Pan contributed to this report.
Members of the Oath Keepers are seen during a protest against the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Jim Bourg/Reuters)

Oath Keepers Leader Asks Court to Dismiss January 6 Indictment

Kelly Meggs says DOJ engaged in selective prosecution

A Florida Oath Keepers leader charged with seditious conspiracy for alleged actions at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, filed a motion to have the indictment against him dismissed, alleging selective prosecution compared to participants in the George Floyd riots and protests against the nominations of two U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Attorneys for Kelly Meggs of Dunnellon, Florida, filed the dismissal motion on July 12 in Washington before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. The judge has ruled against most Oath Keepers motions filed in the case, including a recent request for a change of venue from Washington to Virginia.

Meggs is one of nine individuals charged in a June 22 superseding indictment with seditious conspiracy and other counts related to an alleged plot to prevent the counting of Electoral College votes from the 2020 presidential election. All the defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Attorneys Stanley Woodward Jr. and Juli Haller said that under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment, criminal prosecution cannot be based on a suspects exercise of constitutional rights through participation in political activity.

Jan. 6 vs Portland Riots

They contrasted the seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding charges lodged against Meggs with the handling of riots in Portland, Oregon, in the spring and summer of 2020.

Not a single protester from Portland was charged in the George Floyd riots with obstruction of justice under 1512 despite burning courthouses, or sedition despite yells of F the United States while burning federal property, the motion said.

The riots led to 74 people being charged with federal crimes including assaults on officers, arson, attempted arson, failing to obey lawful orders, and improper use of a drone, the motion said. Rioters tried to force their way into the U.S. Courthouse in Portland, chanting [expletive] the United States, the document said. They later set fire to the courthouse entrance.

Nearly all of these charged were dismissed or marked nolle prosequi, with one action pending (and who was dismissed because he died before they could dismiss); and for the few that remained, the government agreed to recommend probation, the motion states.

The U.S. Department of Justice joined as a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit against the Trump administration for damages and relief for arrests of Portland protesters, who were described as people merely expressing grief, the motion said.

By contrast, Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said after January 6, I wanted to ensure, and our office wanted to ensure, that there was shock and awe that we could charge as many people as possible before the 20th.

And it worked because we saw through media posts that people were afraid to come back to D.C. because theyre like, If we go there, were gonna get charged, Sherwin said.

This statement makes a bias clear, Woodward and Haller wrote in the motion.

Hundreds of protesters occupy the center steps of the East Front of the U.S. Capitol after breaking through barricades to demonstrate against the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh Oct. 06, 2018, in Washington.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

During rioting in Washington in late May 2020, President Donald Trump was moved by the Secret Service into the bunker beneath the White House. Over five days, nearly 430 people were arrested, including 61 for felony rioting, six for assaulting a police officer, and 55 for burglary. None were charged with seditious conspiracy or obstruction of an official proceeding, the motion said.

During the 2018 U.S. Senate hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court, protesters blocked hallways, unfurled banners, and prevented a senator from closing an elevator door, the motion said. Nearly 230 people were arrested. The document stated that most were charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing, or crowding, and paid fines between $35 and $50.

None of the nearly two dozen people who staged a sit-in during the confirmation hearings of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020 was charged with obstruction of an official proceeding or seditious conspiracy, according to the motion.

In a separate motion filed July 12, Meggs asked the court to dismiss the charges of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding (aiding and abetting), and destruction of government property.

Jan. 6 Committee Influence

A group of six Oath Keepers defendants earlier filed a motion to dismiss the June 22 superseding indictment based on alleged prosecutorial misconduct. The motion alleged that prosecutors knew the pool of grand jurors would be heavily influenced by publicity surrounding the U.S. Houses Jan. 6 Select Committee, yet still sought a new superseding indictment against the Oath Keepers.

The government opted to do so when the government knew the milieu of the District of Columbia is such that jurors or grand jurors cannot be presumed to be immune from the prejudicial influences of the Congress of the United States, reads the motion, filed by attorney William Shipley.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler rejected the accusation of misconduct.

Defendants in the case have not identified any authority indicating that the government commits misconduct by obtaining an indictment in a case that has received extensive pretrial publicity, Nestler wrote in reply to the motion. Indeed, if that were the case, the government would be hamstrung in its ability to promptly indict the most heinous and notorious crimes.
A 3D-printed oil pump jack is seen in front of the OPEC logo in this illustration picture taken on April 14, 2020. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

OPEC Expects to Increase Oil Output by 1 Million Barrels per Day in 2023

OPEC expects to increase oil output in 2023 by nearly 1 million barrels per day due to rising global demand.

In 2023, expectations for healthy global economic growth amidst improvements in geopolitical developments, combined with expected improvements in the containment of COVID-19 in China, are expected to boost consumption of oil, the organization said in its monthly report released on July 12.

Year over year, world oil demand is anticipated to rise by 2.7 million barrels per day (bpd), and overall demand is projected to reach 103 million bpd, OPEC said in its report.

Non-OPEC supply is expected to increase by 1.76 million bpd in 2023, with OPEC having to chip in an additional 940,000 barrels daily. In total, OPEC production is expected to be at 30.1 million barrels per day in 2023, up from 29.2 million barrels in 2022.

For 2022, total global oil demand is estimated to increase by 3.36 million bpd, with OPEC having to release an extra 1.1 million barrels of oil each day.

In the first quarter of 2022, OPEC was supposed to release 28.63 million bpd but could only produce 28.36 million bpd, a shortfall of 270,000 barrels. Things improved in the second quarter after OPEC produced 610,000 bpd more than expected.

In June, OPEC oil output rose by 234,000 bpd, driven by production increases in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Iran, and Angola.

With regard to the United States, OPEC expects total oil output to rise by 700,000 bpd in 2023, a slower growth when compared to the 880,000 bdp increase estimated for 2022.

Increasing Oil Output

President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Persian Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss raising oil output to ease gasoline prices. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated on July 11 that OPEC members have the capacity to boost oil production.

However, some experts do not agree with such a view.

I think that a surge in Saudi production seems unlikely. I expect some anodyne statements from Saudi Arabia about helping to balance the global oil market, meet global demand, support economic growth and stability among the import countries, Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters.

On the sidelines of the G7 summit in June, French President Emmanuel Macron was heard telling Biden about a call he had with UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan regarding the difficulty in raising output, according to Reuters.

The UAE leader told Macron that his country was at maximum oil production capacity and that the Saudis are also struggling.

Reuters contributed to this report.
People hold banners and chant slogans during a protest at the entrance to a branch of China's central bank in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province, on July 10, 2022. (Yang/AP Photo)

Outrage After Henan Protestors Violently Removed From Outside Bank

A large number of Chinese bank customers protesting over frozen deposits were attacked by security forces in plainclothes in the capital of Chinas central Henan Province on Sunday. Its one of the biggest protests being suppressed in recent years.

Photos and videos of the violence that the depositors suffered have spread quickly on Chinese social media, sparking public outrage.

Since April, the funds of four rural banks in Henan and two in Anhui have been frozen by the state, resulting in about 400,000 depositors being unable to withdraw money online, involving 40 billion yuan (US$5.95 billion) in deposits. The bank customers have showed up in person in front of the banks to demand their money.

A smaller protest in May was also crushed by police. In that case, Henan authorities used a health code for preventing the spread of COVID-19 to restrict the depositors travel and gathering.

On Sunday, about 2,0003,000 depositors were peacefully demonstrating in front of Zhengzhou branch of the Peoples Bank of China. Many were holding banners and chanting, Henan Bank, return my deposit!

Along with their demands, the protestors also voiced their opposition to the violent treatment of depositors by Henan police  the beating of depositors by the Henan provincial government in collusion with the local gangs

The protestors further demanded serious investigations into the officials who are responsible for turning the depositors health code red in Henan, and the depositors also named the provincial Chinese Communist Party committee member Lou Yangsheng over the red health code incident.

Brutal Suppression

Around noon on Sunday, groups of people in plainclothesdressed in white and blackviolently dragged and beat many of the depositors up, forcefully putting them in buses with uniformed police inside sending them to multiple locations for detention.

A bank customer named Zhang Jie (alias) told The Epoch Times on Sunday that the local authorities didnt show up to communicate with them, but a large number of plainclothes police were dispatched to surround them. There were about three or four thousand uniformed and plainclothes policemen who surrounded us, Zhang said.

She said groups of people dressed in white and black came. I couldnt tell whether they were gang members or plainclothes police, Zhang said.

They came at us, dragged all the depositors down the steps, kicked, and beat us up. Some of the depositors were injured in the eyes, and some were injured in the nose, she said.

The depositors were angry because they want is to get back their legal deposits, and they were seeking to protect their rights, Zhang said. They are vulnerable people, but these plainclothes policemen treated them all violently, she said.

There were elderly people, children, handicapped people, and pregnant women among us. Those men in white and black come over, dragged everyone no matter who they were. There was a person in a wheelchair who was also being violently carried away, and a pregnant woman was also taken away by police by force, Zhang said.

Almost 2,000 of us were arrested, and then they dragged us onto the more than 40 buses at the scene, and then the uniformed (police) on the buses started to restrain us, she said.

No Trust in the Regime

The videos of the police violence on the depositors have been widely circulating on Chinese social media Weibo, triggering public anger.

Its horrific that the group of men in white beat people with iron rods. Handicapped people were beaten unconscious, and some peoples eyes were bleeding. They didnt spare women and pregnant women. Heaven is watching, and every revolution starts with bloodshed, one Weibo post said.

Other netizens said that the actions of the Henan authorities were like that of a triad. In broad daylight, several unidentified persons beat and kicked depositors! This is an atrocity; Henan triad!; They dont treat ordinary people as human beings; This is similar to the Tangshan violent incident; It turns out that the biggest gang is themselves (authorities).

There are also many people who saw what happened to Henan bank customers and their legally deposited funds and started to question whether their deposits were safe. So, is it still safe to save money in the bank? Or shall we all keep money at home?

One said in a post, They have lost peoples trust and can never regain it.

Lin Cenxin and Chang Chun contributed to this report.
Pageant of the Masters, "Festival of Arts" venue in Laguna Beach, Calif., on July 7, 2022. (Carol Cassis/The Epoch Times)

Pageant of the Masters Takes Audiences on a Trip Around the World

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.Pageant of the Masters, a world-famous theatrical celebration of art through the magic of tableaux vivantsliving picturesbrings another year of iconic art to life using people dressed and posed identically to the originals.

This summers show, themed Wonderful World, includes live re-creations of art from all over the world including works by Swedish painter Carl Larsson, Italian painter Tiepolo, French artist Jean Beraud, Edvard Eriksen from Denmark, Japanese woodblock artist Chikananobu, and many more.

This is our favorite summer tradition, Laguna Beach resident Nelly Vargas told The Epoch Times. I just love this theme  I think it might be my new favorite!

Pageant of the Masters recreation of 19th century Italian artist Gerolamo Indunos Kiss on the Hand at the Festival of Arts venue in Laguna Beach, Calif. (Courtesy of Pageant of the Masters)

Adding to the 90-minute theatrical artwork performance is a live narrator guiding the audience through each pieceoften with humor and profound reflectioncomplete with music by a full orchestra.

The world awaits, Pageant narrator Richard Doyle proclaims as the show opens in the Festival of the Arts open-air amphitheater.

As the cool air washes over the audience under the star-lit night, the stage illuminates in color bouncing off the digital screen surrounding it.

Spectators lean forward, craning their necks to get a better view of the artistic recreations, while others peer through special binoculars. They are soon transported to 17 different countries without ever leaving their seats.

The journey starts out in Paris, the city of light and love, Doyle says, featuring uncanny recreations of seas of 1880s Parisians strolling the citys famous Champs Elysees and the banks of the Seine River in Jean Berauds famous oil paintings.

Resounding wows can be heard as each installation is wheeled onto the 2,600-seat amphitheater, each bearing a striking resemblance to the original piece it seeks to replicate. Even with the magnification of binoculars, the live volunteers posing as the subjects in each piece remain unmoving to the audience.

Pageant of the Masters, Festival of Arts venue in Laguna Beach, Calif., on July 7, 2022. (Carol Cassis/The Epoch Times)

Using one of Giovanni Battista Tiepolos oil paintings as a canvas, the narrator breaks down the intricate steps behind bringing each piece of art to life with its live volunteers.

Volunteers in the installations first go through makeup, often having their entire bodies covered to match the different hues and strokes depicted in the original work. From there, they quickly put on identical clothing and headpieces, already pre-made and customized months before for an exact match.

Because subjects are often depicted standing on narrow surfaces or lying down, they are fastened into the work with safety belts hidden from spectators. After one final check by directors to ensure an identical match to the original, the painting is smoothly wheeled out on stage.

Pageant of the Masters, Festival of Arts venue in Laguna Beach, Calif., on July 7, 2022. (Carol Cassis/The Epoch Times)

Paintings arent the only artworks on display during the show, however. Audiences are also given live dance performances featuring global music and culture, including Japanese Geisha, colorful glow-in-the-dark Dia De Los Muertos Mexican dancing, and the recreation of tribal statues from China, Thailand, and various regions in Africa.

This years installation also pays tribute to Nellie Bly, a female journalist who challenged notions of her time. Her escapades led her to take a 72-day solo trip around the world in the late 1880sa prospect of great intrigue during the timewhich was reenacted for the audience along with art featuring her journey for a seamless integration into the shows 2022 theme.

Spanning July 7 through Sept. 2, the show also features access to the Festival of Arts Fine Art Show, featuring live music and local artists selling their own work. Tickets for the Pageant provides unlimited access to the Festival of Arts all summer long.

Pageant of the Masters, Festival of Arts venue in Laguna Beach, Calif., on July 7, 2022. (Carol Cassis/The Epoch Times)
Afghan miners work in a coal mine in 100 km east of the western city of Herat in Afghanistan on June 26, 2010. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Pakistans Plan to Import Cheaper Coal Backfires as Afghanistan Hikes Prices

The Taliban moved to increase Afghanistans coal prices after Pakistans prime minister announced plans to import coal from Afghanistan using local currency to save foreign reserves.

Coal prices in Afghanistan were raised from $90 per tonne to $200 per tonne last week as the Taliban seeks to generate revenue from its mining sector amid a lack of direct foreign funding.

The Taliban announced the move just hours after Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the import of coal from Afghanistan using rupees as opposed to dollars to save foreign reserves.

Sharif made the decision against the backdrop of rising coal prices in the international market. He said importing coal from Afghanistan could help Pakistan save more than $2.2 billion annually on the import bill.

This will not only generate cheap electricity but also help save the countrys precious foreign exchange, he said, according to his office.

In response, the Taliban raised Afghanistans customs duties from 20 percent to 30 percent, a move that Finance Ministry spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal described as a coincidence with Pakistans decision.

[The timing] was coincidence. Any country would be irresponsible to suddenly lift the price without giving it consideration and study, Haqmal said.

Haqmal said the Talibans technical staff had spent weeks studying regional markets, the domestic situation, and rising global coal prices in the wake of the war in Ukraine before they settled on the price.

The coal price was determined with the intention of maximizing profits for Afghan dealers while preventing Pakistani traders from pursuing alternative choices, he added.

Pakistan has reconsidered its plan to purchase fuel from Afghanistan following the increase in coal prices, saying that it will only proceed in the presence of a business deal to ensure affordable fuel prices, The News reported, citing top official sources.

The prices of Afghan coal have increased more than double in the last few days. Hence, Islamabad will have to explore all its options before moving ahead, the unnamed official said.

Pakistan mainly imported coal from South Africa but South African coal prices have been rising in recent weeks due to higher demand from Europe.

Afghanistan exported 12,000 to 14,000 tonnes of coal per day, the majority of which went to Pakistan.

Customs duties from coal exported to Pakistan are a key source of revenue for cash-strapped Afghanistan. Sanctions on the banking sector and a cut in development aid since the Taliban took control last August have severely hampered its economy.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Books on a shelf in the Great Valley High School Library in Chester County, Penn. in 2022. (Courtesy of Fenicia Redman)

Pennsylvania Mom to Use Obscenity Law to Get Explicit Books Removed From Schools

Unable to convince local officials to remove sexually explicit materials from her childs school library, a Pennsylvania mom intends to take the issue to federal court.

She will ask a judge to remove obscene materials from all U.S. schools.

I want a nationwide emergency injunction before these kids go back to school, Fenicia Redman told The Epoch Times. I am the mother of a child who is being criminally victimized.

Sex-themed school library materials run afoul of the federal obscenity law, making it illegal to show to minors, says Redman, mother of a high school student at Great Valley School District in Chester County, near Philadelphia.

Obscenity Law

According to the U.S. Department of Justice website, the courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, use the three-pronged Miller Test to determine whether material is obscene. The criteria are as follows:

1) Whether the average person finds the material, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interests, that is, an erotic, lascivious, abnormal, unhealthy, degrading, shameful, or morbid interest, in nudity, sex, or bathroom activities.

2) Whether the average person finds that the material depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way.

3) And, whether a reasonable person finds the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Any material that meets the criteria in the test may be found obscene.

The federal obscenity law bans obscenity involving minors.

Section 1466A of Title 18, prohibits anyone from knowingly producing distributing, receiving, or possessing with intent to transfer or distribute, visual representations, such as drawings, cartoons, or paintings that appear to depict minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and are deemed obscene.

A first-time offender convicted under this statute faces fines and at least 5 years to a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Section 1470 of Title 18, prohibits anyone from knowingly transferring or attempting to transfer obscene material using the U.S. mail or any means or facility of interstate or foreign commerce to a minor under 16-years-old. Those convicted face sentences of up to 10 years in prison.

I have a fire in my belly and the only thing that will quench it is to see these people in jail, Redman told The Epoch Times, referring to school officials who have ignored her pleas to remove the materials from school libraries.

Instead of getting the offending books removed, she has been labeled a homophobe and says she was assaulted by other parents at a school board meeting.

Redman says she left a book with one school official so the person would understand the level of sexual detail described in it. The official had it for a month but didnt read it, explaining they have an adult child who is gay and it would have been good for the child to have support in school.

But Redman does not object to content that offers support to the LGBTQ community.

Ive said in a school board meeting, To the LGBTQ students, your parents love you. And students, be kind to your peers. Ive never been opposed to LGBTQ, Redman said. It is the graphically sexual content she opposes. It is criminal to show this material.

To make clear what content Redman considers inappropriate for children, she enlarged images and text from school library books and made posters which she showed to the school board several times.

Not Suitable for Children

When she got no satisfaction at the school board, Redman brought the posters to the Pennsylvania Capitol building in Harrisburg, with a team of concerned parents and grandparents.

In Harrisburg, a Capitol security guard told them to remove the signs because the guards had received a complaint and there may be children walking in the halls.

He said the posters were inappropriate, Redman said. All were showing content from the school library.

The posters showed excerpts from books, including, The Complete Idiots Guide to Tantric Sex, which has drawings on most pages of couples engaged in sex, including explicit instructions on how to perform oral and anal sex.

The book takes a spiritual tone likely to offend parents wishing to guide their childrens faith journey. The book describes body parts as Sacred sectors and sex participants as healers.

One diagram shows the Star of David with each point labeled for a private body part.

The star of David, commonly identified as a symbol of the Jewish religion, is actually a meditation design, with the two intersecting triangles representing male and female, mind and body, the book teaches. The points on the Star of David also represent the male and female sex organs.

Posters with excerpts from the book Gender Queer show two young males engaging in sex; the book Push describes in vivid detail, a child being sexually abused by her father; and All Boys Arent Blue intimately describes homosexual sex acts.

Redman is preparing the obscenity suit on her own. She has already served the Great Valley School District school board with notices of intention to sue.

The districts media relations office did not respond to our request for comment.
Political Battle for Texas Heating Up With Soaring Temperatures

Democratic gubernatorial candidate slams Abbott over electrical grid strain

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto ORourke supports green energy, but that didnt stop him from attacking Gov. Greg Abbott over potential blackouts tied to the states reliance on wind power.

With temperatures forecast to be well over 100 degrees in Texas on July 11, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued a conservation appeal to the public.

ERCOT, which is in charge of the Texas electrical grid, asked residents and businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity on July 11 between 2-8 p.m., when a reserve capacity shortage was predicted.

Wind turbines were projected to produce less than 10 percent of their capacity, according to the agency.

The decrease in wind production combined with extreme heat and record demand prompted the call for Texans to cut back on electricity use. The agency stated that no widespread outages were expected.

Then Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks after former Rep. Beto ORourke (D-Texas) endorsed him at a campaign rally in Dallas on March 2, 2020. (Richard Rodriguez/AP Photo)

ORourke, who has vowed to fight climate change by working to remove all emissions from the oil and gas industry, wasted no time in blaming Abbott for the strain on the Texas electrical grid, which is unique in its independence from the rest of the United States.

We cant rely on the grid when its hot. We cant rely on the grid when its cold, ORourke posted on Twitter. We cant rely on Greg Abbott. Its time to vote him out and fix the grid.

Abbotts campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, he supports oil and gas production in Texas along with its jobs. He has vowed to protect the industry from federal government climate overreach.

ORouke supports the Texas Climate Jobs Project, which is akin to the Green New Deal. The project wants to transition oil and gas jobs into green energy jobs and eliminate dependence on fossil fuels.

He also wants to rid Texas reliance on its own grid. Instead, he wants Texas to connect to the national grid to draw down power when needed.

Pursuing green energy would only make matters worse for the Texas grid, according to some.

David Blackmon, an independent energy analyst and consultant based in Mansfield, Texas, told The Epoch Times the national grids have their own problems with demand.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at a press conference at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on June 8, 2021. (Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)

I laugh when I hear that, he said, adding Texas problem comes from relying on unreliable energy such as wind.

Democratic policies that have stifled oil and gas production would only exasperate Texas grid problems, Blackmon said.

Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain (R) told The Epoch Times in a text that a plan is afoot for the next legislative session to look at building more natural gas plants in Texas.

The Lone Star State produces the most natural gas in the United States and holds vast oil and gas reserves.

Wind farms are a scam, Cain texted.

So how did Texas, with its energy might, get to the point of begging for its citizens to conserve energy?

Incentives for developing more wind power have increased, but the same cant be said of thermal-power generators that typically use natural gas.

Cain noted that federal production tax credits made wind farms too lucrative not to build.

Pike Electric service trucks line up after a snow storm in Fort Worth, Texas, on Feb. 16, 2021. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

The Texas grid is powered mainly by natural gas.

In 2020, it generated 46 percent of the states electricity. But the grids share of renewable power has been increasing over the past decade with wind power now accounting for about 23 percentsurpassing coal (18 percent), nuclear (11 percent), and the remainder comes from solar and other sources.

Blackmon said the legislature wanted to add more gas-powered plants after Winter Storm Uri brought death and destruction to Texas in February of 2021. But that provision from the bill that ended up passing, he said.

Gov. AbbottI dont know what hes thinking, Blackmon said. Were making the same mistake California did. Wind gives you nothing.
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki appears at a House of Commons committee in Ottawa on May 7, 2018. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

RCMP Commissioners Reversal on Releasing Gun Information Suggests Political Interference, Conservatives Say

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Luckis reversal on releasing information about the types of firearms used in the Nova Scotia mass shooting incident suggests she was under political pressure, the Conservatives say.

When the Commissioner of the RCMP tells the government that releasing certain information would compromise an active investigation, that should be the end of the conversation, MPs Raquel Dancho and Pierre Paul-Hus wrote in a July 12 statement.

Clearly, that wasnt the end of it and somewhere in those five days, the Commissioner was worn down. It is not believable that the Commissioner suddenly changed her mind without influence.

The MPs were reacting to the latest revelation from the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) looking into the April 2020 tragedy that left 22 dead.

The MCC released emails from Lucki dated April 23, 2020, which indicate she wrote to then-public safety minister Bill Blairs chief of staff and deputy minister.

In an email, Lucki provided the models of firearms used by the killer but cautioned against sending the information to anyone else other than the prime minister and minister Blair.

She said the information is directly related to this active investigation.

Five days later, Lucki allegedly scolded RCMP staff in Nova Scotia during a teleconference for not following her directive to release the information on firearms to the public.

The MCC previously released internal documents from two RCMP employees suggesting that Lucki had been pressured by the Liberal government to release the information.

The commissioner went on at length saying that she was sad, disappointed and that we disrespected her by not providing these details to the media, said the handwritten notes of Superintendent Darren Campbell who attended the teleconference.

Campbell wrote that Lucki had made a promise to Blair and the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) that the information would be released, and that this was tied to pending gun control legislation.

Lia Scanlan, the Nova Scotia RCMP strategic communications director at the time, provided a similar retelling of events in an email to Lucki sent a year after the tragedy.

Eventually, you informed us of the pressures and conversation with Minister Blair, which we clearly understood was related to the upcoming passing of the gun legislationand there it was, wrote Scanlan.

At the time, the Liberals were about to ban 1,500 models of what they referred to as assault-style firearms.

Dancho and Paul-Hus say the government needs to reveal what led Lucki to change her mind about releasing the information during the active investigation.

This coverup cannot continue any longer, said the Torys statement.

The government has defended its handling of the issue.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on June 23 that his government did not put any undue influence or pressure on the RCMP.

At no point did our government pressure or interfere with the operational decisions of the RCMP, Blair said on June 22.

Meanwhile, the MCC issued a subpoena to the RCMP on July 4 over concerns that the federal police service could be withholding documents.

The federal Justice Department had previously withheld the four pages of Supt. Campbells notes on the teleconference with Lucki in order to determine if they were privileged.

Change in Stance

Its not the first time that Lucki has changed her public stance on a controversial issue.

On June 10, 2020, a few days after George Floyds murder in Minneapolis, Lucki was asked if her organization was systemically racist.

I cant say for sure. We put in policies and procedures to make sure we dont have systemic racism and I think, for many of our members, are doing great work every single day, Lucki told Global News at the time, while acknowledging there could be instances of racism that should be dealt with.

Two days later, Lucki issued a statement to say definitively that systemic racism exists in the RCMP.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
A victim of the St. Francis Catholic Church attack receives treatment at St Louis Catholic Hospital in Owo, Nigeria, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP Photo)

Report Shows Attacks on Christians In Nigeria Are Surging After US Drops Concern Tag

More Christians have been killed in Nigeria since President Joe Bidens administration declared there were no religious freedom violations in the country in October 2021, according to watchdogs and church leaders speaking to The Epoch Times.

In the first half of 2022, more than 2,543 Nigerian Christians were murdered by Islamists, according to the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety).

The figure represents an 8.6 percent increase from a total of 4650 Christian murders reported by Open Doors International.

It includes 350 murders by government security forces propagating an Islamic agenda, says the report signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, the board chairman of Intersociety, and five others.

Also included are 140 Christian hostages killed by their Muslim abductors.

Analysts speaking to The Epoch Times have called for global action to avert an Islamic caliphate in Africas most populous nation.

US Senators Charge

Last October, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken dropped Nigeria from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) sparking criticism from around the world.

Blinken had ignored recommendations from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and global rights groups that pointed to endemic violations in the country.

The USCIRF, an agency that monitors the state of global religious freedom, is tasked with issuing recommendations as to the countries it believes should be designated as countries of concern for their religious liberty violations.

Nigeria had been designated in the previous year by then-president Donald Trumps administration on such recommendations.

The delisting of Nigeria means that the country had improved its religious conditions and would no longer face sanctions on the basis of it.

On the contrary, the situation in Nigeria has grown worse, argued five U.S. senators in a memo demanding the countrys redesignation.

Senators Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Mike Brawn (R-Indiana), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), and James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma)in a joint memo described the decision as misguided.

Given the abysmal state of religious freedom in Nigeria, it is incumbent upon you to reverse last years decision and redesignate the country as a CPC. The moment demands that you do so without delay, the memo adds.

The senators cited the recent blasphemy lynching of Deborah Emmanuela Christian college student murdered in northwest Sokoto stateand the massacre of more than 40 parishioners at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, in southwest Ondo state.

They also acknowledged Nigerian authorities crackdown on religious minorities and detain individuals indefinitely on blasphemy-related charges.

Killings Not Persecution

Nigerias information minister Lai Mohammed admitted on July 5 that ISIS terrorists attack churches and Christians in the countrys northeast.

Mohammed rehashed claims by genocide deniers that killings in other regions are not religious.

Nobody in Nigeria is being persecuted, but we have issues of criminality going on and the criminals really do not make [a] distinction of any religion, Mohammed told reporters in London.

But Salihu Garba, a native of Sokoto state in northwest Nigeria who currently lives in the United States and serves as a minister with the Evangelical Church Winning All in Maryland, told The Epoch Times Christians are the targets of Nigerian Muslim extremists.

They occasionally attack nominal Muslims as well as ethnic and religious minorities whom they perceive to have sympathy for Christians, said Garba in a phone interview.

On April 2, a popular Islamic cleric in Nigerias capital city Abuja, Sheikh Muhammad Nuru Khalid was fired by his mosque for condemning the killings.

Khalid, a member of the Hausa ethnicity, told The Epoch Times he was threatened after being fired for his comments.

But I am not intimidated because the killings are real and I am called to build and not destroy humanity, he said.

Vice-chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the countrys north, Rev. Joseph Hayab told The Epoch Times that Mohammeds prolonged denial of the murders was encouraging impunity in the country chiefly ruled by Fulani Muslims.

Nigerian Christians are not safe and are constantly living in fear, wrote Hayab in a text message. Today, many pastors are afraid to take pastoral work in some communities, he wrote.

Surging figures

Open Doors International, a group that monitors worldwide persecution of Christians, reported in 2021 that 4,650 Christiansor 80 per cent of the worlds Christians killed for their faithdied in Nigeria.

That means 13 Christians a day were murdered according to William Murray, the president of Religious Freedom Coalition.

A new report by Intersociety, said attacks on Christians have increased in the past six months.

The 2,543 Christian killings or deaths indicated that 14 [Christians] were killed daily and 420 monthly, says the report obtained by The Epoch Times and confirmed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, the board chairman of Intersociety.

The report shows the top three states include northwest Kaduna with 323 deaths, followed by central Niger (264 deaths). Plateau also in the central region trails closely with 229 deaths.

Figures include 140 murders of kidnapped Christians in terrorist hands. Also included are what are said to be 350 targeted religious murders by security forces.

The figures could be a lot higher, said Mark Lipdo, the programme coordinator of Stefanos Foundation, an organization that tracks religious killings in Nigeria.

We can count the number of Christians killed in Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Benue, and other places but can you count the number of Christians killed in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and other parts of the north? asked Lipdo in a telephone interview with The Epoch Times.

Nobody goes there to cover the stories, said Lipdo.

The Epoch Times has reported how terrorists and officials are suppressing press freedom through targeted attacks and intimidation of reporters.

Epoch Times reporter Luka Binniyat was the latest journalist to be jailed in Kaduna for reporting attacks.

Islamic Empire Fears

The attacks causing population displacements across the country are aimed at religious and political domination, said Lipdo.

Their target is to create an Islamic empire, he said.

Garba gave a parallel opinion: The plan is to exterminate Christianity in the whole of Nigeria. Where they dont succeed with that, they will reduce Christianity to a level where it will no longer be a threat to Islam, he said.

According to a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives Solomon Maren as many as a quarter of Nigerias 200 million population has been displaced by radical Islamists in recent years.

In fact, local governments have been displaced, said Maren in a telephone interview with The Epoch Times. Many of the communities have been taken over by the attackers.

After the brazen attack on Catholic worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo town in Ondo State, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) noted the significant spread of violence against Christians and new threats in Nigeria that cannot be ignored.

Previously, Ondo had not seen major militant activity, and the attack indicates the southward migration of terror towards Christian-majority regions as well as Nigerias oil-producing areas, said Smith in a letter to Victoria Nuland, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs.

A former Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, the capital of southeast Imo state, Anthony Obinna told The Epoch Times several territories in the region have been seized by Islamic militants.

Those areas have become no-go zones for Christians, said Obinna in a phone interview.

Local officials have confirmed the annexations.

No End in Sight

In a statement on June 7, Abia state governor Okezie Ikpeazu ordered a military raid of forests allegedly seized by terrorists in the state.

The Prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria Dr Kalu Samuel Uche was recently kidnapped near one of the forests known as Isuochi.

The large tropical rain forest located in the Umunneochi county of Abia borders all nine states in Nigerias southeast.

As long as the perpetrators can continue with impunity theres no indication that there will be an end to the killings, wrote British parliamentarian Baroness Caroline Cox to The Epoch Times.

Theres an urgent need for the Nigerian government and the international community to call the perpetrators to account, Cox wrote in a text message.

Until and unless they do so, they can be seen to be complicit, she wrote.
Telecommunications company Rogers Communications signage is pictured in Ottawa on July 12, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

Rogers Outage: What Happened and Whats Being Done

The Rogers network outage that began on July 8 affected government services, businesses, banking systems, and in some cases, even 911 emergency calls.

Many Canadians were unable to make phone calls or use the internet, and incoming travellers couldnt access the governments ArriveCan app to submit the information required to go through customs.

Heres a look at what happened, and what the company and the government are doing in response.

Timeline of the Outage

The outage started early in the morning of July 8, with the Toronto-based telecommunications service provider confirming the issue at roughly 9 a.m. EDT.

In a Twitter post, Rogers customer support said the company was aware of the outage and working to resolve the problem but couldnt provide a specific time as to when its services would be restored.

At approximately 11:30 EDT, the company released a statement saying the outage had hit both its wireline and wireless networks.

We acknowledge the impact our outage is having on your life. We have every technical resource and partner fully deployed to solve the problem, a follow-up Twitter post read.

By the morning of July 9, Rogers said it had restored its services to the vast majority of customers, while it continued to bring services back to the rest of the country.

Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said in an interview with CTV News on July 9 that pretty close to 100 percent of the affected network had returned to normal, while less than one percent of customers still had intermittent issues.

In a statement issued the same day, Staffieri said Rogers narrowed down the cause of the nationwide outage to a network system failure that followed a maintenance update to its core network that caused a malfunction in some routers.

We disconnected the specific equipment and redirected traffic, which allowed our network and services to come back online over time as we managed traffic volumes returning to normal levels, Staffieri said.

Impact

Rogers didnt disclose the number of customers who were affected by the outage, though internet tracking website NetBlocks said a quarter of Canadas observable connectivity was knocked out.

According to the companys annual report for last year, Rogers had approximately 11.3 million wireless subscribers and 2.7 million internet subscribers in 2021.

People use electronics outside a coffee shop in Toronto on July 8, 2022 amid a nationwide Rogers outage that affected many of the telecommunication companys services. (The Canadian Press/Cole Burston)

The outage affected emergency call services in several provinces, including Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

Government services and call centres were also impacted.

On July 8, Service Canada said on Twitter that call centres and passport offices were unavailable due to the outage. In an update on July 10, the agency confirmed its services were up and running.

Employment and Social Development Canada was also affected, along with Employment Insurance, the Canada Pension Plan, and some passport offices.

On July 8, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) warned travellers coming into Canada that they may not be able to complete their ArriveCAN submission.

All travellers are required to use the governments mobile app to submit information about their COVID-19 vaccination status before entering the country. Anyone affected by the outage was asked to instead complete a Traveller Contact Information Form prior to their arrival.

Financial institutions reported issues with online payment and e-transfer systems, including TD Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, and INTERAC.

Public transit and related services like Metrolinx, Go Transit, and the Presto card system experienced disruptions to their operations. Hospitals in some parts of the country also reported issues with their online and telephone services.

Response

On July 11, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne met with Staffieri and other CEOs of major telecom service providers in Canada to demand they provide a framework to improve the resiliency and reliability of their networks.

The companies were given 60 days to reach agreements on several aspects: emergency roaming, mutual assistance during outages, and establishing a communication protocol to keep the public and authorities informed in any future telecommunications emergencies.

Champagne also said that Canadas broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), will be investigating the Rogers outage.

The national outage of telecom services that millions of Canadians experienced in the last few days is unacceptable. Full stop. It affected people across the country, emergency services, small and medium size businesses and payment systems.  Francois-Philippe Champagne (FPC)  (@FP_Champagne) July 11, 2022

In his July 9 statement, Staffieri released a three-pronged action plan to improve Rogers network that includes monitoring network stability as the company works to restore all services, completing a root cause analysis and testing of its systems, and making any necessary changes.

We will take every step necessary, and continue to make significant investments in our networks to strengthen our technology systems, increase network stability for our customers, and enhance our testing, he said.

Rogers said it will proactively credit all customers automatically although it didnt give a dollar amount that customers would be reimbursed for.

The company also warned of spam text messages sent to customers concerning fake credit offers.

We are aware of scam text messages being sent claiming to offer credits in the wake of yesterdays service interruptions. We will apply the credit proactively to your account & no action is required, Rogers said in a July 9 tweet.

Calls for More Competition

Rogers is one of the three largest wireless providers in Canada and has been seeking regulatory approval from the government to purchase Shaw, the fourth largest telecom provider in the country, in a $26 billion merger.

The deal is currently being fought by the Competition Bureau, while the recent outage has added momentum to calls for more competition in Canadas telecom industry.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner said in a statement on July 8 that the outage underscores potential additional risks of Canadas current approach to telecommunications regulation, which she said is highly regulated by the federal government.

Many in my community have expressed concerns over the years related to the high costs of cell phone and wireless services due to limited competition enforced by Canadas current regulatory structure, she said.

When critical infrastructure is impacted, Canadians need answers. I am calling for an immediate explanation to Canadians with respect to the cause of the Rogers outage. I believe that an emergency parliamentary committee meeting may be beneficial to look into this matter and to ensure it doesnt happen again.

Garners concerns were echoed by some of her parliamentary colleagues, including Conservative MP and leadership contender Pierre Poilievre, who called for more competition in the sector.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said on Twitter on July 8 that the outage highlights the dangers of our monopolized industry.

After his meeting with the telecom executives on July 11, Champagne weighed in on the issue.

Ive said very clearly and openly that I will not allow the wholesale transfer of licences from Shaw to Rogers, and I think this is well understood, he told reporters in Ottawa.

It says very clearly, what is in my mind, in terms of what needs to happen in Canada, which is additional competition, and always striving for more affordability.
Steven Dettelbach testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing to be the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 25, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Senate Confirms Biden Nominee Dettelbach as ATF Director

Two Republicans voted for the nominee

The Senate voted on July 12 to confirm Steve Dettelbach as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

The 4846 vote broke down mostly along party lines.

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) joined Democrats to confirm Dettelbach, who was appointed by President Joe Biden.

They had also helped advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The nomination faced potential challenges after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) contracted COVID-19. Senate president pro tempore Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is also out of commission due to recovery from hip surgery.

Dettelbach is the first Senate-confirmed ATF director in seven years.

Former President Donald Trumps picks were never voted on because of opposition from senators in his own party.

Bidens first choice, former gun control activist David Chipman, faced pushback from Bidens party.

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), along with moderate Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) signaled strong skepticism toward the nominee. Biden eventually withdrew the nomination.

Lawyer, Former US Attorney

Dettelbach is a lawyer who served as a U.S. attorney during the Obama administration.

During his confirmation hearing in May Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) noted that Dettelbach, while running for attorney general of Ohio, once called for a ban on assault weapons. Dettelbach said that he could not provide a definition.

Dettelbach said in a written statement that he believes the regulatory scheme should be fair, consistent, and effective. He said he would work to prevent and respond to violent crime if confirmed.

Dettelbach also said that he supports lawful gun ownership.

I promise to do everything that I can do to enforce the law, respect the Constitution, and partner with federal, state, Tribal, and local law enforcement to protect the safety and rights of all law-abiding Americans consistent with the Second Amendment, he said. If confirmed, I will take an oath, as all Department employees do, to support and defend the United States Constitution, including the Second Amendment.

Republicans say Dettelbach was too radical for the ATF post.

I will always reject activist, extreme nominees, with policy positions that infringe on [West Virginia]s 2nd Amendment rights, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said in a statement after the vote.

Democrats describe Dettelbach as the right person for the job.

Im confident Steve Dettelbach is up to the task & I was proud to vote to confirm him, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said.

Joseph Lord Follow Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers speaks to the media during a press conference on day eight of the 2022 federal election campaign, in Brisbane, Australia, on April 18, 2022. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Skills Migration Visa Boost Not the Only Answer to Labour Crunch: Australias Treasurer

Australias Treasurer Jim Chalmers argues a short-term boost in migration numbers is not the silver bullet to workforce shortfall as an industry leader urges the government to allow up to 200,000 overseas migrants to come to Australia a year to fill job vacancies.

It comes as more than 100 business leaders, unions and state governments prepare to meet in a two-day summit to be held at the beginning of September at Parliament House in Canberra. Chalmers has revealed that the suggestions raised at the summit will likely impact the October federal budget.

Amid calls for an increase in skilled migration visas to address the labour crunch, Chalmers said that was not the only solution to the issue.

As we emerge from that period of COVID-19, where the migration tap was largely turned off, that should be an opportunity to talk about the best mix of migration as the program gathers speed again, he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

I would caution people against thinking that migration is the solution to all of our economic challenges. Thats part of the story, but its not the whole story, and it shouldnt be a substitute for training Australians for roles.

Workers pack up at a cafe in Brisbane, Australia, on June 29, 2021. (Jono Searle/Getty Images)

Calls to Address Labour Shortage

Andrew McKellar, chief executive Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who suggested that the government expand the migrant program to 200,000 places a year, told Sky News on July 7 that the Australian economy was the worst its been in nearly 50 years.

He noted that Australias current national unemployment rate is 3.9 percent, while the number of vacancies is 480,000, which is almost up to the same level as the unemployment number.

In those circumstances, one of the most viable options is obviously to reduce the burden, the bureaucracy, the red tape, the extra expense that theyre facing, to respond quickly and get people into the country, he said.

The sentiment was echoed by Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott, who argued that businesses crying out for almost half a million workers to fill roles and keep their doors open, more than double pre-pandemic levels.

You cant employ hundreds of Australians on a construction job if you dont have a surveyor, you cant deliver an infrastructure pipeline without engineers, and you cant open your restaurant or cafe if you dont have the staff, she said on June 30.

We need both targeted migration to fill critical shortages at every skill level right now and a skills system that lets workers easily and quickly train with the skills employers need for the longer term.

A waitress is seen delivering cutlery at a cafe in Mosman, Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 3, 2021. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Summit to Bring Government and Business Leaders Together

Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus on July 11 said the September summit is an opportunity to fix a neglected skills sector and address a broken bargaining system.

Treasurer Chalmers agreed, adding that the tearing up of agreements has been a problem in our industrial relations architecture for some time.

If we can get agreement on some of these issues, and we can get some sense of consensus,  if theres an opportunity to move quickly, and thats appropriate, then well do that, he said.

I wanted [the summit] to be soon enough so that if there were opportunities for the October budget or the second budget in May or other opportunities to legislate in the parliament, that we give ourselves that flexibility.

AAP contributed to this article.
South Korea to Restart Nuclear Power Plant Exports Under Yoons Leadership

South Korea has been actively pursuing talks with some nations for nuclear energy projects, as its president aimed to revive the countrys nuclear energy industry and boost nuclear powers contribution to 30 percent by 2030.

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang visited the Czech Republic and Poland last month to promote South Korean nuclear power plants.

The meetings resulted in South Korea signing 10 memorandums of understanding with the Czech Republic on nuclear energy and hydrogen cooperation, and nine agreements with Poland on nuclear energy.

South Koreas Foreign Minister Park Jin also met with the U.S. secretary of energy in Washington last month to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in the overseas market of nuclear plants.

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power signed an agreement with Kazakhstan on June 28 to build two nuclear power plants with a capacity of up to 2,800 MW. The project is expected to commence in 2029, Business Korea reported.

These projects follow President Yoon Suk-yeols goal to revive South Koreas status as a key exporter of safe nuclear reactors and export 10 nuclear reactors by 2030.

The government said on July 5 that it will restart construction on two nuclear reactors at the Shin-Hanul nuclear plant and continue to operate nuclear energy facilities that are already running.

Nuclear Phaseout Idiotic

Boosting nuclear energy marks a sharp policy reversal from that of the previous government, led by then-President Moon Jae-in, who had pushed to phase out nuclear power over some 45 years.

Construction work on the two nuclear reactors had been stalled since 2017 when Moon took office.

During his visit to Doosan Enerbility in Changwon last month, Yoon criticized his predecessors nuclear phaseout decision as idiotic and pledged to boost South Koreas competitiveness in the nuclear energy industry.

If the people who were pushing the nuclear phaseout had actually seen the industrial ecosystem for themselves, I doubt they could have made that decision, he was quoted as saying by local outlet Hankyoreh.

Korean nuclear power plants are recognized as being the best in the world in terms of their safety and technological prowess. The door to the nuclear power plant export market is wide open, Yoon added.

Nuclear power currently makes up roughly 27 percent of the countrys energy mix. According to the World Nuclear Association, South Korea currently has 25 nuclear reactors in operation. It also constructed four nuclear reactors in Barakah, the United Arab Emirates.

A 2011 earthquake and tsunami that damaged three nuclear reactors at Japans Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant triggered a global downturn in the nuclear power industry.

Public sentiment around nuclear power leaned further toward caution in 2016 after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit the southeastern region of the Korean Peninsula, where most of the countrys nuclear plants are located.

Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.
Starbucks Closing 16 Stores Nationwide Due to Employee-Safety Concerns

Starbucks Corp. announced on Monday that more than a dozen stores will be closed across the nation over employee-safety concerns related to drug use, theft, and assault.

Coffeehouses that will be permanently closed include five stores in Seattle, Washington, that have reported high rates of crime, a spokesperson for the coffee giant told The Seattle Times, the first to report the plan.

The locations where the company is closing stores in the largest city of the Pacific Northwest state are Capitol Hill, Central District, the Roosevelt neighborhood, as well as at Union Station and Westlake Center.

Other cities where coffeehouses will close include Los Angeles, Portland, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. In total, 16 U.S. stores will shut doors, and all of the closures are based on a rise in crime-related complaints.

Starbucks also said that store managers will be given the liberty to modify operations, close restrooms to the public, and limit seating in relation to safety concerns.

In a message to Starbucks partners, senior vice presidents of U.S. operations, Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson, said they have read every incident report filed and heard the challenges employees are facing, noting that the modifications in coffeehouses are in response to the crime-related complaints.

Youre  seeing firsthand the challenges facing our communitiespersonal safety, racism, lack of access to healthcare, a growing mental health crisis, rising drug use, and more, they wrote in the memo to employees. With stores in thousands of communities across the country, we know these challenges can, at times, play out within our stores too.

The company said those who work at stores that will be permanently closed can ask to be reassigned to neighboring coffeehouses if they choose to.

According to The Seattle Times, those who are currently working at the Union Station and E. Olive Way storestwo stores that are unionizedwill continue to receive union representation if their new store is also unionized.

The closure of stores and changes to how the coffee giant will operate come as part of a reinvention of the multinational chain as Howard Schultz, who has returned for a third stint as chief executive officer, announced five goals in a statement for the next chapter of the company.

Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz speaks during Starbucks annual shareholders meeting in Seattle, Wash. on March 18, 2015. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

Its clear were living in a changing world where economic, societal and operational pressures are colliding, Schultz wrote. Today, we find ourselves in a position where we must modernize and transform the Starbucks experience in our stores and recreate an environment that is relevant, welcoming and safe, and where we uplift one another with dignity, respect and kindness, he added.

Starbucks workers across the nation have recently complained of an increased workload, further exasperated by the companys mobile app and other food services.

In March, employees in Seattle, where the company is headquartered, voted unanimously to unionize, giving the Starbucks Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, one of its most high-profile wins to date.

Starbucks runs nearly 9,000 company-owned stores in the United States and has pushed back against petitions filed for union electionscomprising over 6,600 workers in over 30 states.

In a statement, the company previously said it was listening and learning, and added that it respects partners right to organize.

A Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, became the first U.S. store to unionize late last year. The company has more than 34,000 stores worldwide.

From NTD News
A new study in 2022 found that a neutrophil-associated cationic protein contained in saliva can prevent COVID-19 infection. This image shows a 3D print of a spike protein of SARS-CoV-2the virus that causes COVID-19 (Front)and a 3D print of a SARS-CoV-2 virus particle (Back). (Courtesy of The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/RML)

Studies on Saliva Show Its Many Beneficial Properties

Several studies on saliva show that it has many beneficial properties including preventing viruses from binding to cells and promoting wound healing.

Saliva Prevents Virus Adherence to Human Cells

A study by a Japanese research team has shown that a specific protein in saliva has the function of preventing adherence of the CCP virus that causes COVID-19.

On July 6, a research team from Osaka Public University, Japan published a study in The Journal of Biochemistry and the Journal of the United States National Library of Medicine, respectively, demonstrating that neutrophil-associated cationic proteins contained in saliva can prevent CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus infection.

Pathological studies have found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects the human body through binding its spike protein to the receptor protein on the surface of human cells. A research team led by professors MatsuBara Misako and Yoshizato Katsutoshi, who specialize in cell and molecular biology, applied diluted saliva to the surface of human cells, then introduced a virus with the same infection mechanism as the COVID-19 virus for observation. The results showed that proteins in saliva coated the ACE2 receptors so that they werent available to bind the virus, thereby blocking the infection. The higher the concentration of saliva, the harder it is for the virus to bind to the receptors on the cell surface.

The study also found that histone H2A and neutrophil elastase in saliva can block the binding of viral proteins to the surface of human cells.

The research team said that infants and young children secrete more saliva than adults, as the amount gradually decreases as we age, and production of specific proteins also decreases. This may be one of the reasons why elderly people are prone to disease and the cases are a lot more severe when they become infected.

Professor Matsubara said that he hopes to enhance the human bodys innate capabilities, rather than relying on drugs that attack viruses.

Saliva Promotes Wound Healing

The University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands has discovered two small-molecule peptides, histatin 1 (Hst1) and Hst2, in saliva, which have several effects including promoting wound healing.

The researchers cultured epithelial cells obtained from the cheek inside the human mouth (a buccal swab) in several petri dishes, allowed the cells to proliferate until they covered the entire surface of the petri dish, scraped off a small piece of the cell layer to create an artificial wound, then added saliva to one dish and an isotonic solution that could maintain the cells to another.

After 16 hours, the wound in the cell layer soaked in human saliva was almost completely healed, while the control group cell layer still had an open wound.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Regards Saliva as Treasure

Traditional Chinese Medicine gives saliva a special name which means Essence Body Fluid. In practice, Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that the Essence Body Fluid is transformed by the essence of the human body and plays a very important role in the human body, including digesting food, lubricating the oral cavity, and fighting bacteria.

Tao Hongjing, an ancient health-preserving expert, suggested that one should often consciously swallow saliva. Doing so has a nourishing effect on the trachea, esophagus, and stomach, and it can cure diseases, strengthen the body, and prolong life, he said.
Subway Can Be Sued Over Allegations About Its Tuna, Judge Rules

Subway can be sued for allegedly misleading consumers about its tuna products after plaintiffs claimed that Subways tuna allegedly contains other fish species, chicken, pork and cattle instead, a federal judge in California has said.

The order from U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco on July 7 comes in a lawsuit that was originally filed in January 2021 where the plaintiffs initially alleged that Subways tuna products do not contain tuna nor have any ingredient that constitutes tuna.

The plaintiffs amended their allegations twice. In their latest complaint, filed in November 2021, the plaintiffs alleged that Subways tuna products partially or wholly lack tuna as an ingredient, and that they contain other fish species, animal products, or miscellaneous products aside from tuna.

The allegations are based on testing performed by a biologist at a marine biology laboratory in UCLAs Barber Lab. According to the complaint (pdf), marine biologist Paul Barber had tested 20 tuna samples from 20 different Subway restaurants in southern California and found that 19 samples had no detected tuna DNA sequences while all 20 samples had chicken DNA, 11 had pork DNA, and seven had cattle DNA.

Subway, in asking the court to dismiss the case, argued that any non-tuna DNA found during testing of its tuna products could come from the eggs in mayonnaise or from cross-contact with other Subway ingredients.

Although it is possible that Subways explanations are the correct ones, it is also possible that these allegations refer to ingredients that a reasonable consumer would not reasonably expect to find in a tuna product, Tigar wrote in his order on July 7 (pdf).

Tigar also said that it is premature to accept the argument at this stage of the litigation.

He added: Moreover, even if the Court accepted Subways statement that all non-tuna DNA must be caused by cross-contact with other Subway ingredients, it still would not dismiss the complaint on this basis. Whether, and to what extent, a reasonable consumer expects cross-contact between various Subway ingredients is a question of fact.

One of the plaintiffs, Nilima Amin, who lives in Alameda County, stated in the case that she ordered Subway tuna products more than 100 times from 2013 to 2019 and always checked to make sure she would be eating only tuna.

Tigar rejected plaintiffs argument that reasonable consumers would expect only tuna and nothing else, saying that a reasonable consumer will not disregard the well-known facts of life that a tuna sandwich, salad, or wrap likely contains ingredients other than tuna.

But the judge said Amin can try to prove that the tuna products wholly lack tuna as an ingredient, because a reasonable consumer would expect that a product advertised as tuna to contain at least some tuna as an ingredient.

Tigar also said that Amin and her attorneys may file an amended complaint within 21 days solely to correct the deficiencies he had identified in the complaint and stated in the order.

The judge also dismissed a plaintiff, Karen Dhanowa, from the case, after Subway noted that the amended complaint against the company does not allege that she purchased any Subway products, does not allege that she relied on any statements that Subway made and does not allege that she suffered any harm.

The lawsuit seeks damages for fraud and violating California consumer protection laws.

A Subway spokesperson said the company serves 100% tuna.

We are disappointed the Court felt it couldnt dismiss the plaintiffs reckless and improper lawsuit at this stage, the Subway spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

However, we are confident that Subway will prevail when the Court has an opportunity to consider all the evidence. To learn more about Subways real wild-caught tuna, please visit SubwayTunaFacts.com.

Subway, which has more than 24,500 locations in the United States and over 40,900 locations worldwide, has defended its tuna products and maintained that no changes were needed.

Amins lawyers did not immediately respond to The Epoch Timess requests for comment.

Update: This article has been updated with a statement provided by Subway.
(L-R) Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms president John Carpay, Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich, and Justice Centre chairman of the board Jonathan Allen, at the George Jonas Freedom Award ceremony in Toronto on June 16, 2022. (Ramona Diaconescu, Justice Centre photographer)

Tamara Lich Is Canadas Prisoner of Conscience

Commentary

According to Amnesty International, a prisoner of conscience is someone who has not used or advocated violence or hatred in the circumstances leading to their imprisonment but is imprisoned solely because of who they are (sexual orientation, ethnic, national or social origin, language, birth, colour, sex or economic status) or what they believe (religious, political or other conscientiously held beliefs).

Does Tamara Lich fit that description?

Tamara Lich has not used violence or advocated hatred. Was she arrested and jailed because of her conscientiously held belief that the governments mandatory vaccination and lockdown policies are unjustified violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and for acting on this belief through involvement in the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa this winter?

On Feb. 17, Ms. Lich was arrested after the Trudeau government declared the peaceful truckers protest to be a national emergency. She was charged with interfering with the lawful use and enjoyment of property (mischief), counselling to commit mischief, and obstructing police. Just 10 days prior to that, however, Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean had ruled, in a civil court action brought by Ottawa residents to stop honking horns in the downtown area, that Ms. Lich and other defendants were at liberty to engage in a peaceful, lawful and safe protest.

Parking a vehicle in the wrong place at the wrong time might earn you a parking ticket, but its not a crime. Significantly, Ms. Lich had no truck with her in Ottawa when peacefully protesting with other Canadians against charter violations by the federal and provincial governments. In a country that supposedly honours the rule of law as a constitutional principle, Ms. Lich was charged criminally while peacefully exercising her charter freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.

Violent offenders with long criminal records are routinely granted bail while awaiting trial. Ms. Lich was denied bail and spent 19 days in jail. In light of the fact that this mother and grandmother had no criminal record and was not charged with a violent crime, this denial of bail reeked of raw politics. In March, Ms. Lich was released on harsh and repressive terms that limited her charter freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. One of her bail conditions states that she cannot communicate with convoy spokesman Tom Marazzo (and certain other individuals), except in the presence of legal counsel.

But on June 27, Ms. Lich was arrested again for allegedly breaching her bail conditions by allegedly communicating with Marazzo at a dinner in Toronto on June 16.

Hosted by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a legal charity, the dinner was held to honour Ms. Lich with the 2022 George Jonas Freedom Award in recognition of her significant contribution to defending Canada as a free society. Importantly, a judge had already decided that accepting this award was not a violation of her bail conditions.

Yet on July 5, Crown prosecutor Moiz Karimjee presented the court with a video clip from the dinner, showing Lich in what was described as a three-second congratulatory interaction with Marazzo.

Is this worthy of a Canada-wide warrant for arrest?

At the bail hearing, Ms. Lichs defence counsel Lawrence Greenspon asked the Crowns only witness, Ottawa homicide detective Chris Benson, if he was aware that some lawyers from the Justice Centre were present at the June 16 dinner, and that Lich may have had criminal defence lawyers present at the dinner. The detective replied he did not know who Ms. Lichs lawyers were and stated he could not identify them. When questioned, Benson was also unable to identify Justice Centre president and lawyer John Carpay, who was seated at the table with Ms. Lich.

The detective also stated that this was the first time in his experience that a country-wide warrant had been issued for someone who had been accused of breaching their bail.

As of July 12, Ms. Lich has spent a total of 35 days in jail, despite having no criminal history or record, on charges that do not involve violence. After Ms. Lich was arrested in Medicine Hat on June 27, two homicide detectives from Ottawa were sent to Alberta to retrieve her, and she was flown to Ontario for a second bail hearing.

When criminally accused persons out on bail (not jailed while awaiting trial) are charged with breaching their bail conditions, they are often released immediately after their arrest, unless they committed a violent act. Keeping Ms. Lich in jail appears to be a political move of the kind one expects in corrupt dictatorships that do not respect the rule of law.

Indeed, anyone who thinks that Lichs treatment is normal does not understand how the system really works. For example, as Cory Morgan pointed out recently in these pages, Christopher Watts in Kingston, Ontario, was released from jail in June. He was convicted of raping and killing a 13-year-old girl along with repeatedly violating past release conditions. Police feel he is at a high risk to re-offend, but apparently it is impossible to keep him behind bars. In similar fashion, Winston George Thomas, a violent sex offender, was released into the population in Winnipeg on June 18. The Winnipeg Police Service says he is at high risk to re-offend in a sexual and/or sexually violent manner against all females, both adults, and children.

By comparison, the extent to which the Crown is obsessively and relentlessly persecuting Ms. Lich is outrageous. The fact that the homicide detective who forcibly brought Lich back to Ottawa knew nothing about the event where the alleged breach occurred, or that her lawyers were present at the dinner, is incredibly troubling.

Politicizing prosecutions to punish opponents of the regime repudiates the rule of law. We must ask ourselves, Is this the kind of Canada we want to live in?

Ms. Lichs next court appearance is on July 14.

I just came back from Romania, my first time leaving the country since the COVID-19 pandemic began. I never thought I would feel so claustrophobic living in Canada. I also never thought I would feel freer in Romania than in Canada. Think about that for a minute: Romania was long known as the place where the secret police grabbed citizens from the street for offending communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Do we really want to follow that example?

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Rep. Jim Cooper (C) meets with former President Barack Obama in a file photograph. Cooper is stepping down from the 5th Congressional District in Tennessee. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Tennessee GOP US House Candidates to Debate on EpochTV

Republicans are striving to regain control of the U.S. House and the party believes that one of the seats it can flip is Tennessees 5th Congressional District.

The seat is currently occupied by Rep. Jim Cooper (D), who has represented the district since 2003 but announced in February that he would not seek reelection.

Nine candidates are vying for the Republican nomination.

The list includes attorney and former Tennessee National Guard joint staff director Brig. Gen. Kurt Winstead, former Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell, retired small business owner Geni Batchelor, West Point graduate and U.S. Army combat veteran Jeff Beierlein, Homeschool academy operator Natisha Brooks, entrepreneur and Maury County mayor Andy Ogles, former legislative senior policy and research adviser Tres Wittum, real estate professional Stewart Parks, and medical professional Timothy Lee.

The winner will face State Sen. Heidi Campbell, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary; and independent candidates Derrick Brantley, Daniel Cooper, and Rick Shannon, in the Nov. 8 general election.

The district is rated as solid Republican by the Cook Political Report, safe Republican by Sabatos Crystal Ball, and likely Republican by Inside Elections.

Presented by EpochTV, the 5th district candidates will take the stage for a debate on July 12 at 6:45 p.m. (CST).

Hosted by the Nashville Republican Women, the Nashville Young Republicans, and the Williamson County Young Republicans, the forum will be live-streamed from Landmark Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

The debate will feature questions asked by an expert panel in election integrity, economics, healthcare, education, foreign policy, and immigration.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundations Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and a former member of the Federal Election Commission, will serve as the panel expert on election integrity.

Gordon Chang, an attorney and the author of The Coming Collapse of China and The Great U.S.China Tech War, will ask questions related to China and foreign policy.

Jeffrey Tucker is an economist and founder of The Brownstone Institute, which was launched to improve healthcare policy after the COVID-19 lockdowns. He will serve as the panel expert on economics.

Wilfred Reilly, a Kentucky State University assistant professor and the author of Hate Crime Hoax: How the Left is Selling a Fake Race War, will serve as the panel expert on education.

Democrats have held the 5th District congressional seat since 1875, but the redistricting announced in February split Davidson County through downtown Nashville, shifting portions of the former 5th District to the mostly rural and historically Republican 6th District and 7th District.

When the new congressional maps were approved in February, Cooper announced he would not seek another term.

In April, the Tennessee Republican Party voted to remove Donald Trump-endorsed Morgan Ortagus, Baxter Lee, and Robby Starbuck from the primary ballot.

A month earlier, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law enacting residency requirements in congressional primaries designed to target transplant candidates who recently moved to the state.

Ortagus and Lee did not fight the decision, but Starbuck appealed, citing that the Tennessee Republican Party violated the states Open Meeting Act, which gives citizens the right to attend public meetings.

The GOPs executive committee decided to remove the candidates from the ballot in a private meeting, Starbuck alleged.

On May 12, federal judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled that the state GOP might have violated their bylaws but refused to restore Starbuck to the primary ballot.

Starbuck appealed, and on June 3, Davidson County Chancellor Russell Perkins restored Starbuck to the ballot.

Tennessee GOP leaders appealed that decision to the state supreme court, which on June 10 overturned Perkins ruling, leaving Starbuck off the ballot.

Starbuck will not appear on the August 4 Republican primary ballot, but he is running for the 5th District congressional seat as a write-in candidate.
YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS. A new village will be built in Armenias Shirak province. The cause is the construction of the Kaps Reservoir, as a part of Jradzor village will appear under water after the construction of the reservoir. Therefore, the village, that will be built for the resettlement of the village residents, will be ready in spring 2026, and the residents will be provided with houses as a compensation. The government will provide renovated modular houses, they will be earthquake-resistant, energy-saving. The village will have a pedestrian path and a cattle road.

Recently Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan talked about the construction of this new village at the Cabinet meeting.

Ashot Khachatryan, director of water economy program implementation branch at the Armenian Territorial Development Fund (ATDF), which implements the village resettlement program, presented details about the initiative in an interview to ARMENPRESS.

As a result of the construction of the Kaps Reservoir, a part of the village of Jradzor will appear under water, therefore, a decision was made to move the whole village to another place, that is about 5km away from the village, near the reservoir, he said.

The works on transferring the village have started since December 2021. At the moment the designing works of the new village are underway. The initial master plan of the new village is already ready, and the main designing works will launch after its examination. The designing works will last for 18 months, and the construction of the village will last for another 2 years.

We expect we will end the designing works in July 2023. And the construction tender will last for a few more months, and the construction will begin at the end of 2023. There are winter pauses during construction, so we believe that the village will be ready in spring 2026, Ashot Khachatryan said.

During public hearings different territories were presented to the village residents and they approved that territory. Khachatryan said the village residents wanted to move to a new village and they all denied the offer of getting financial compensation.

He stated that the new village will be bigger in size than the current one. According to the project, the compensation will be a house for a house, in other words, all those people who have houses in that village, will get houses in the new village. At the moment, 74 families are registered in the village, but only 39 actually live in the village. All these 74 families will be provided with houses, he said, adding that the village residents will be provided with renovated modular houses.

The new village will have a road to the old village because the cemeteries in the old village will not appear under water, they will be preserved and people will have a chance to visit cemeteries.

Khachatryan said that the new village will have a residential zone, a rest zone, a production zone, a teaching zone, as well as its clear road network, a separate road for cattle, and pedestrian paths.

The village will be have water supply, drainage and a biological sewage treatment plant.

It is also planned to create a production zone where there will be a milk procurement plant.

The new village will have a view to the reservoir. According to Ashot Khachatryan, there is a very good opportunity to develop agrotourism and tourism there.

The construction of the Kaps Reservoir started back in 1985 [later it stopped]. And the village residents have been waiting for the reconstruction of the reservoir, for the construction of a new village so that they can move. And this situation is reaching its end, and the residents are very excited for these works to end soon, he said.

He said that the village residents will also be provided with compensation for the lost corps. If there will be other territories than houses, compensation will also be provided.

Asked whether other people can also move to live in the new village, he said that the project also envisages expansion of the village. Everyone can use it, buy a land in the village and build, he said.

The village resettlement program is implemented with the state budget funds. 4 billion 950 million drams will be spent on the project.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan
The Constitutions Rules for Relations With Indian Tribes: Part II

Commentary

The previous installment in this two-part series described the Supreme Courts current interest in the law of Indian tribal sovereigntythat is, the law governing how federal, state, and tribal governments relate to each other. One result is the courts 2020 decision (pdf) that led to 43 percent of the state of Oklahoma (pdf), including most of the city of Tulsa, being classified as Indian country. (Indian country is a legal term that includes Indian reservations and some additional territory.)

Other recent SCOTUS decisions have partially upended state laws on taxation (pdf) and land use (pdf). A pending case will decide whether Congress can override state child placement laws and dictate rules to state court systems.

All of the recent cases were decided by 54 majorities, and one of those was really 324. As I stated in the previous installment, one reason the justices divide as they do is that the law in this area is chaotic. It is also quite divorced from the Constitutions actual rules on the subject.

This installment outlines how the Constitution addresses the relationships between branches of the federal government, the states, and the tribes. To understand this, though, we must begin before the Constitution was adoptedwith the Articles of Confederation.

The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation were a defensive treaty arrangement among the American states, somewhat comparable to todays NATO. The Continental Congress proposed the Articles to the states in 1777, and the last of the 13 states (Maryland) ratified them in 1781.

Under the Articles, each state sent delegates to an assembly known as the Confederation Congress, where each state had one vote.

The Articles granted the Confederation Congress authority over all affairs with the Indians. However, the grant was narrowed substantially by exceptions allowing states to manage relationships with Natives residing within state borders. Thus, the Confederation Congress could manage relationships with Indians in federal territories and outside the United States, but Congress needed state cooperation to deal with any in-state tribes.

The Constitution Becomes Effective

The Constitution was written in 1787, but the new government did not displace the Articles until 1789. Initially, that new government represented only 11 states. However, North Carolina joined later in 1789, Rhode Island in 1790, and Vermont in 1791.

The Constitution granted more authority to the federal government than the Articles had granted the Confederation Congress. But under the Articles all the authority had been unified in Congress; under the Constitution it was split among different governmental branches. This is called separation of powers. Functions not allocated among the branches of the federal government were reserved to the states.

This also was true of Indian affairs: The new federal government received more authority over relations with the Natives than the old Confederation Congress had enjoyedbut that authority was split up. Heres how:

First: The president was assigned responsibility for diplomacy and for fighting wars.

Second: The president, with the approval of two-thirds of the Senate, was assigned the duty of making treaties with the tribes (Article II, Section 2, Clause 2). Treaties defined U.S.tribal relationships. They could address almost any subject. Within the United States, a treaty had the same legal force as a congressional statute.

In those days, the state legislatures elected senators, so the requirement that two-thirds of the senators consent to any treaty protected the states against proposed pacts that might invade the sphere of government reserved to the states.

Third: For a treaty to be binding on a tribe, the tribe had to accept it. This preserved some freedom for the tribes; how much freedom they enjoyed would depend on their military power and on other circumstances.

Fourth: The Constitution empowered Congress to

declare war (Article I, Section 8, Clause 11);

govern federal territories outside state boundaries (Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2);

regulate the law of nations, particularly the movement of people across the boundaries of Indian country (Article I, Section 8, Clause 10);

regulate commerce with the Indian Tribes (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3); and

pass laws to aid the president in negotiating and executing treaties (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18).

Congress also had the recognized prerogative of repealing treaties.

Fifth: To the extent federal officials (following the rules set forth above) did not regulate an aspect of Indian affairs, the states could (Amendments IX and X). For example, a state legislature could pass laws governing Natives living within its borders. Of course, enforcing state laws might not be practical if an Indian nation was strong enough.

State Indian affairs powers were limited in two ways: States could not make treaties (Article I, Section 10, Clause 1), and any state law was subject to being overridden by a properly enacted federal measure.

How This System Worked in Practice

Lets see how these rules worked in practice.

After the Constitution came into effect, the president negotiated frequently with Indian nations and sometimes carried out military operations. The president also hammered out treaties with individual tribes and submitted them to the Senate for approval. Often the parties to a treaty agreed that the tribe would interact solely with the federal government and not with any state, and that no state had jurisdiction over the tribe.

In addition, during the 1790s, Congress passed statutes addressing Native affairs. These measures regulated trade, facilitated the negotiation and operation of treaties, governed Indian affairs within federal territories, and (pursuant to its constitutional authority to define  the Law of Nations) regulated travel to and from Indian country. The states also enforced their own laws against Natives residing within their boundaries.

A Legal Myth: The Constitution Gives Congress Plenary Power Over Indian Affairs

Unfortunately, many writers on Indian law are not familiar with the wider context of constitutional law and history. They are usually unfamiliar with 18th-century legal concepts and how we analyze constitutional meaning. And many of them also have political agendas. As a result, the modern law of U.S.Indian relations has been infected by misunderstandings and myths.

The most important of these misunderstandings or myths is that the Constitution gives Congress plenary (absolute) authority over Indian affairs. The primary source of this authority is, supposedly, Congresss constitutional power to to regulate Commerce  with the Indian Tribes. Some writers even make the unlikely claim that the phrase regulate Commerce changes meaning when applied to Indian affairs.

Naturally, Congress has seized upon the plenary power myth to justify its own overreaching. Andas Ill document in a forthcoming articleliberal academics have tortured the evidence to support congressional pretensions.

But as we have seen, the Constitution separated Indian affairs powers. The Constitution did not make any government, or any branch of government, absolute. Congresss power to regulate commerce is limited to administering a traditional body of jurisprudence called the law merchant, which includes governing such activities as trade across political boundaries, navigation, and marine insurance.

It certainly does not encompass plenary authority over Indians.

Robert G. Natelson, a former constitutional law professor who is senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver, authored The Original Understanding of the Indian Commerce Clause (pdf) and is now composing a soon-to-be-published update of that article.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
According to a recent report by the American Legislative Exchange Council, Californias unfunded pension liabilities are estimated to be at $1.5 trillionabout $38,000 of debt for each Californian.

What are unfunded pension liabilities, and why do we have so much of it?

We guarantee that our government employees will receive a set income at the time of retirement. In some cases, people get up to 90 percent of their current pay for the rest of their life, and there as adjustments for the cost of living. This promise to the employees requires cities to invest enough money into their retirement accounts now, and also requires these investments to perform according to plan. Most of the time neither is achieved. Since Californias pension benefits are very generous, it is hard for cities to keep up with the costs.

Are these pension payments realistic, or will California face a pension crisis in the near future?

To understand more about the pension liabilities we are facing, I sat down with former California state Sen. John Moorlach. He served on the California Senate Public Employee Retirement Committee.

He discussed with me the impact of unfunded pension liabilities on cities, and why he believes we are not dealing with the liabilities.

* Click the Save button below the video to access it later on My List.

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Learning to read the local landscape yields sweet, satisfying rewards

When visiting family in the Boston area, Ill do some eating, to put it mildly. The way a hungry coyote finds time for a wounded rabbit, Ill make time for the farmers markets to see whats in season, and for the old world markets for dolmas, hummus, and Aleppo peppers. Ill carve out a block of time to discover a bowl of duck soup at a new pho joint in the next town over, and drive to Fall River for Portuguese seafood.

But the sweetest discovery of all has been learning how to make a Boston berry parfait.

Black raspberries. (Alex Coan/Shutterstock)

Found Treasures

When I left this region for college, never to return for more than a visit, my naturalist skills had reached the point where I could avoid poison ivy, a skill that has served me well upon my return. Meanwhile, Ive added some new plants to my list of local flora. Most of these plants have edible parts, thanks to an old lady I met in the bushes.

I was walking along a bike path that had recently replaced an old set of train tracks. When I called out to her with a question about it being early for blackberries, she regarded me with a skeptical side-eye. In an accent that was German or Swiss or AustrianI imagined somewhere in the Alpsshe reluctantly explained they were black raspberries. I held out my phone with a picture of a haul of wild morels that a friend had harvested and told her, This is what we forage in Montana.

Amazingly, my bragging had the desired effect. She recognized me as a member of the foraging tribe and thus someone who deserved a chance.

Theres a mulberry tree down the path on the left, right before it gets sunny, she said.

I walked until I saw purple stains on the sidewalk, and looked up at a canopy of dangling juice bombs. The tree was growing out of a seam between the asphalt parking lot and a retaining wall, and had partially absorbed a chain-link fence in its trunk. The fruit resembled elongated blackberries, very sweet and juicy and so ripe I had to pick them with two fingers at once or risk knocking them off.

I saw her leave the black raspberry patch and decided to give it a try, but she had completely cleaned it out. I started to head home, wondering if she was gone, when she called out from beneath another tree, this one sporting blueberry-like orbs at the end of long stems.

Juneberries, she said with her thick accent.

My forager friend had shown me enough food along a 200-yard stretch of bike path to practically feed myself. Alas, she was wise to be suspicious of me, as I returned a few days later, receptacle in hand, and on that day it was I who cleaned out the black raspberries. The juneberries, in turn, had been cleaned out by the birdsevery last one, even from the flimsy top. But the mulberries were as abundant as ever.

As I strode that self-serve berry buffet, I took note of the conditions that had produced it: a disturbed habitat alongside a bike path, close to water, and in partial shade. Armed with this information, thereafter I was able to find more berries elsewhere in my travels.

Learning the Landscape

As a youngster, I had flown the coop before bonding with my home landscape the way that I now know such a bond can happen. Instead, I bonded with Montana.

In the process of hunting large mammals and foraging for huckleberries, gooseberries, and wild mushrooms, I learned how to read landscapes. Now, I passively note things like how a watershed drains, where north is, what kind of trees make up a particular forest, what the animal tracks look like, and what the hoots and howls sound like. In the process of becoming native to Montana, I learned how to understand Massachusetts.

My children have similarly learned to read landscapes. Put them in any airport, and they can find parfait within seconds. And they love parfait, which happens to mean perfect in French. So imagine the satisfaction of being able to prepare them homemade, home-gathered parfaits. Its a point of pride to me, like returning from a hunting trip with meat. But sweeter.

On the way back to my moms house with my berries, I stopped at the dolma store for yogurt, cream, and labne, a kind of extra-thick yogurt thats like solid cream on top. The store didnt stock any oats or granola, but I found a box of Petit Beurre, a type of vanilla cookie from Nantes, France. Then I bought a carton of fresh strawberries from a local farm, as perfectly ripe as those mulberries.

Whether foraged in the hills or at the market, or grown in your backyard, strawberries belong in this parfait. Along with the vanilla cookies, they help push it over the edge into shortcake territory, which is a good place to be.

Since I cant divulge where I found my berries, and you probably dont live in Boston anyway, youre going to have to learn your own landscape, wherever you are, and find some yourself. In a field, by a road, in the hills, by a river, in an alley, or at the farmers market. Become native to where you are, even if youre only there for a visit. The process is its own reward, and the parfait will follow.

Boston Berry Parfait

Any mix of berries will work, but they should include strawberries. If you cant find labne, substitute a full cup of Greek yogurt.

Serves 4

1/2 cup labne

1 cup yogurt

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon maple syrup

4 cups berries

1 packet Petit Beurre cookies

Wash, stem, trim, and generally prepare your berries for consumption. Allow them to air dry.

Mix the labne, yogurt, cream, and maple syrup until totally smooth. Place a spoonful in the bottom of each of four parfait glasses. Layer in the berries, yogurt mixture, and cookies, so that everything is touching the yogurt and the fruit is pressed against the glass. Finish with a bunch of berries on top. Let it sit for 30 minutes for the cookies to soften, and serve.

Alternatively, top a bowl of yogurt mixture with mixed berries, and scoop it out with the cookies, like chips and salsa.
The Sovietization of Mentalities

Commentary

The West prides itself on having won the Cold War, but, in fact, a case could be made that, in a certain respect, the Soviet Union won it. That respect is the Sovietization of mentalities, which is proceeding apace in many institutions, not the least of them the American Medical Association.

That august body recently issued a statement about how it thinks that medical dezinformatsiyaoops, I meant disinformationshould be tackled. Perhaps the most sinister paragraph in this statement, which suggests what should be done, is the following:

Ensure licensing boards have the authority to take disciplinary action against health professionals for spreading health-related disinformation and affirms that all speech in which a health professional is utilizing their credentials is professional conduct and can be scrutinized by their licensing entity.

In other words, medical licensing boards should act as censors with police powers.

Now, I need hardly say that Im not in favor of doctors deliberately propagating untruth among the public, nor do I assert that a medical degree by itself prevents its possessor from lying egregiously in public for any number of possible reasons, including, but confined to, financial advantage.

But science, above all a science as inexact as that of medicine, isnt a body of doctrine, from which any and all derogation is heresy. Anybody who has attended a trial in which theres opposing medical testimony will grasp this straight away. The evidence of the experts may be contradictory, but that doesnt mean that any of them is saying what he does t believe to be true. The very notion of a second opinion suggests that more than one view of a case is possible by people of equal scientific training or standing, even in something supposedly as cut and dried as the interpretation of a pathology slide.

The best way of proceeding in a complex case is often a matter of judgment and opinion rather than of perfect deduction from indisputable premises. Semmelweis in 1840s Vienna suggested that it was doctors who were spreading puerperal infection in the maternity hospital that killed so many mothers, and he ended up in a lunatic asylumbut he was right.

Let me give a small example from my own experience. Once in Africa (now nearly 40 years ago), I had a patient with cerebral malaria, a fatal condition when untreated. I gave him appropriate antimalarials, and from the point of view of his fever, he improved. But, unexpectedly to me, he remained comatose.

I had just read a paper in The Lancet (if I recall correctly) that reported a trial of the use of hydrocortisone in cases of cerebral malaria. The results were entirely negative: Hydrocortisone was of no use in the condition, at least according to the double-blind controlled trialsuch a trial being what doctors call the gold standard of medical evidence, which economists would no doubt regard as a symptom of the mental backwardness of doctors.

With my patient still comatose after a week, however, I decided to try hydrocortisone, and hey, presto! and glory be! he recovered in no time at all. He picked up his bed and walked.

I dont claim this as any kind of scientific evidence, though perhaps it suggests the occasional advantages of mental flexibility. But would-be inquisitors or apparatchiks of the medical profession could accuse me of two great offenses: First, knowingly having given treatment to a patient that wasnt in accord with the latest scientific evidence, and second, by having described the case in a public way, spreading or encouraging the spread of medical disinformation.

A much more dramatic case than mine is that of professor Didier Raoult in France. Hes a man of considerable eminence, a specialist in bacteriology and infectious diseases. He has discovered previously unknown microorganisms; he was asked by the Burundian government to control and end an epidemic of typhus, which he did; and he and his team established beyond reasonable doubt that the epidemic in Marseilles in 1720 that killed a third of the population of Provence was the plague.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, he appeared practically daily in the French media, promoting hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as the sovereign remedies and protection against the disease, on the basis of his own research that was clearly inadequate and scientifically nugatory. Nevertheless, he achieved the status of guru, and hundred of thousands, if not millions, became his ardent followers.

Raoult was well-suited to the role of guru. He looked like an ancient Gaul, he was boastful, arrogant, and libelous, accusing his fellow doctors who didnt agree with him (who, in my view, were quite right) of everything from cowardice and stupidity to corruption.

But though I thought that his scientific ideas were misplaced, though I thought that his conduct was in many respects disgraceful, and though I thought that overall his practical effect was deleterious, it never occurred to me that he should be silenced, not allowed to publish, or driven out of the profession (unless, for example, he was guilty of potentially dangerous and patently unethical experimentation, of which in fact he now stands accused). Surely the world is large enough for a professor Raoult or two.

The problem with freedom is that people use it to say things that arent true or are even worse than merely untrue; they also use it to take foolish decisions that harm themselves. The people who put their trust in Raoult to an almost religious extent were, in my opinion, foolish to do so, but it was their decision, unimposed by anyone else.

But the dangers of a society in which the commissars of the American Medical Association, or any other such body, forbid and punish what they think is heresy are far greater than one in which the Raoults of this world blaze across the historical firmament for a moment. Freedom is desirable in itself; its also the necessary condition of that self-correcting activity that we know as science.

The American Medical Association isnt alone in society in wishing to impose its reign of fear, arrogating to an apparatchik class an immense and irresponsible power. The same is true in many other fields: and thats because the Soviet Union won the battle for the hearts and minds of much of the intellectual class.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Pro-life signs are seen outside the All Womens Health Center of Clearwater on May 3. The Supreme Court has struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that recognized a Constitutional right to an abortion. States can now ban the procedure. (TNS)

The Supreme Courts Decision Could Have Ramifications in Australia

Commentary

As expected, since the leaking of Associate Justice Samuel Alitos draft opinion in early May, the American Supreme Court has now overturned the nearly 50-year precedent of Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v Casey.

Since Roe v Wade was decided in 1973, America has been fiercely divided into pro-life and pro-choice camps, the opinions of which did not leave much wiggle room for compromise or accommodation. But the Supreme Court has now cut the Gordian knot, ruling that the liberty provision in the Constitution does not protect a right to privacy, which had been relied upon in Roe v Wade to find a constitutional right to abortion.

The 14th Amendment stipulates that No state shall  deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The case that enabled Roe v Wade to be overturned, Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization, involved a constitutional challenge to the Mississippi Gestational Age Act 2018, which prohibited abortion of human foetuses beginning at 15 weeks.

The Ruling

Alito said that Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the peoples elected representatives.

Thus, Alitos decision does not outlaw the abortion procedure but merely finds that the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion and that, therefore, this issue comes within the legislative competence of the States legislatures. For him, the view that even a wrong decision that has been entrenched as a precedent should be slavishly followed is an untenable proposition.

Pro-life activists demonstrate outside the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington on June 13, 2022. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Alito Jnrs confident assertion that Roe v Wade, rather than settling the vexed issue of abortion, is actually responsible for deepening divisions and enflaming debate in the United States is prophetically accurate. Indeed, his prediction of enflamed debate and deepened division has certainly eventuated since the judgment was released on June 24.

Aggressive Response

For example, following the decision, the pro-life office of Mountain Area Pregnancy Services in Asheville, North Carolina, was vandalised by hard-line pro-abortion vandals. Windows were smashed, and the building was graffitied with red paint. But menacingly, the activists also left behind a disturbing message: If abortions arent safe, neither are you.

Kristen Waggoner of the Alliance Defending Freedom, reporting on this incident, reveals that, since the leaking of the draft opinion, there have been near 50 acts of vandalism and violence aimed at pro-life pregnancy centres, churches, and individuals in the last month.

The response by sections of the pro-choice lobby to the Supreme Courts decision is an unfortunate and worrying development because gratuitous violence and intimidation have replaced rational debate, expected in a mature democracy. The situation is deemed so serious that the residences of the justices of the Supreme Court are protected by police, and a non-scalable fence now surrounds the imposing Supreme Court, which, until recently, was freely accessible to the public.

The violence reveals that rational debate is not likely to bridge the divide between the pro-choice and pro-life factions. As the pro-life lobby celebrates the momentous decision, its detractors avail themselves of violent means to protest the Courts judgment.

So, the endless demonstrations against the Supreme Court and its concomitant violence indicate that the pro-choice lobby is unwilling to use its right to free speech to constructively analyse and criticise the judgment without resorting to violence. The judgement has been simply dismissed on the ground that one cannot trust the judgment of the peoples representatives! America is divided as never before.

A message written on the wall of a pro-choice pregnancy resource center that was set on fire in Longmont, Colorado, on June 25, 2022. (Longmont Police Department)

Will Australia Also Be Divided by the Abortion Debate?

It was in this context, Australian writer Phillip Adams recently wrote in The Australian newspaper that the United States was a failed state. He could well have written this about his own country because Australias own societal norms around abortion will also be shaken by the judgment of the American Supreme Court.

This is because the American abortion debate is likely to sharply divide the allegiances of Australians.

Although there is no violence on the scale experienced in the United States, the ready availability of abortion services is dividing Australia, with woke legislators discriminating against those who are pro-life.

An example is the case of Dr. Mark Hobart, who was approached to terminate a 19-week pregnancy on sex selection grounds by an Indian couple who wanted a boy, not a girl.

Under the Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic), Hobart was obliged to refer the couple to a doctor willing to perform the procedure after he refused on religious grounds, and he was subsequently accused of medical malpractice.

The judgment of the American Supreme Court has generated an intense, ferocious reaction in the United States. Using the language of Associate Justice Clarence Thomass concurring opinion, although almost 50 years have passed since Roe v Wade, abortion advocates still cannot coherently articulate the right (or rights) at stake and fail to comprehend that the right to abortion is ultimately a policy goal in a desperate search of a constitutional justification.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Brendan Carr, commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, speaks at the CPAC convention in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 29, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

TikTok Poses Threat to Every American User: FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr

A lot of people view the Chinese app TikTok as a platform for sharing funny videos, but it poses a data security risk, according to Brendan Carr, a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

They just see TikTok for what it appears to be on the surface, but thats just the sheeps clothing, Carr recently told Epoch TVs China Insider.

If you look beneath it, theres an awful lot of data thats being pulled from your device, and apparently sent back to China. Underneath that, its pulling biometrics, including face prints and voice prints, keystroke patterns and rhythms, search and browsing history, location information.

Carr referred to a June BuzzFeed report based on leaked audio from 80 TikTok internal meetings that revealed that engineers in China had repeatedly accessed U.S. data. U.S. user data flowing back to the Chinese regime is concerning, according to the commissioner.

Once data hits China, they have a national security law there that compels all of those entities there to assist them in espionage activity, he said.

TikTok has repeatedly denied that the Chinese regime can access users data.

Carr said China runs the worlds most sophisticated data analytics operation, meaning that all sorts of nefarious conduct could take place should the communist country get its hands on the sensitive data of millions of app users.

They have a history of business and industrial espionage, blackmail. And so the concern is really when youre taking that much data on that many international users  thats really where the threat vector begins, he said.

Carr also raised concerns about the content transmitted on the Chinese video app.

Engineers in Beijing are working on the algorithms very actively  deciding what is displayed to users in the U.S. and globally, he said. Whether its a foreign influence campaign or other content, its noteworthy that China does not allow Tik Tok inside of China, but yet they allow these types of influence campaigns to take place globally.

Countering the Threat

Given that the Chinese app poses an espionage risk, Carr called for a concerted effort to counter this threat.

We need to go to all fronts there, he said, referring to a recent request by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to the Federal Trade Commission, urging it to formally investigate the relationship between the Chinese regime and ByteDance, TikToks Beijing-based owner.

The Federal Trade Commission should take up that bipartisan call for a swift investigation. We cant afford a year-long process. And Id be encouraged and happy to have Congress step in as well.

Weve engaged in a pretty concerted effort to look at entities tied to CCP.  I think TikTok is the next one that we should be focusing on.

TikTok didnt return a request from The Epoch Times for comment.

Hannah Ng Reporter Follow Hannah Ng is a reporter covering U.S. and China news. She holds a master's degree in international and development economics from the University of Applied Science Berlin.
Top ISIS Leader Killed in Successful US Drone Strike

The leader of the ISIS terrorist organization in Syria was killed in an American airstrike, according to a statement released Tuesday by the U.S. Central Command.

Maher al-Agal was killed in a drone strike in northwestern Syria and his close associate was injured, said Central Command in the statement. ISIS, which is sometimes known as ISIL, has not issued a public comment following al-Agals reported death.

Extensive planning went into this operation to ensure its successful execution. An initial review indicates there were no civilian casualties, the statement added.

U.S. Central Command said al-Agal was responsible for developing ISIS networks outside of Syria and Iraq, where the group has its strongest presence.

The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organizations ability to further plot and carry out global attacks, CENTCOM spokesman Joe Buccino said in a statement to news outlets Tuesday before adding, ISIS continues to represent a threat to the U.S. and partners in the region.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has chronicled the Syrian civil war for about a decade, confirmed that al-Agal was killed, according to a post on its website. It described al-Agal as a former senior ISIS commander who was in command of a Turkish-backed faction.

And the Syrian Civil Defense Force wrote on Tuesday morning that one person was killed and another injured in an airstrike that targeted a motorcycle near Aleppo. No names were provided, however.

Other Leaders Killed

About five months ago, a U.S. raid in Atme in northern Syria led to the death of top ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi. Officials said that al-Qurashi died after detonating a bomb to avoid being captured.

A smoke cloud rises moments after an air strike on the compound of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the Idlib region of Syria from video taken Oct. 26, 2019. (U.S. Department of Defense/Reuters)

Under the Trump administration, U.S. military forces carried out a raid targeting former ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019. He also died after detonating a bomb.

The airstrike comes just one day before President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the Middle East, where he will speak with Saudi, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders. Biden is slated to touch down in Israel on Wednesday.

The United States, meanwhile, has roughly 900 troops in Syria, mostly in the east of the country splintered by a decade of civil war, although the Biden administration has yet to detail its long-term plan for the eight-year-old mission.

At the peak of its power from 2014 to 2017, ISIS ruled over millions of people and claimed responsibility for or inspired attacks in dozens of cities around the world. Al-Baghdadi had declared a caliphate over a quarter of Iraq and Syria in 2014, saying that the Syrian city of Raqqa was its capital.

The U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS said in mid-2019, after the groups battlefield defeat, that it retained 14,000 to 18,000 members, including 3,000 foreigners, though precise numbers are as elusive as ISIS itself.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Transgender MP Banned From Driving but Faces No Action From Conservative Party

An MP who was disqualified from driving for six months on Monday after being convicted of three traffic offences will not face any further action and will be free to vote in the first round of the Conservative Party leadership contest on Wednesday.

Jamie Wallis, 38, came out as a transgender woman in March 2022. He told Cardiff Magistrates Court on Monday he had been raped in September last year and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when he fled the scene of a crash on Nov. 28, 2021.

Walliswho won the previously safe Labour seat of Bridgend at the December 2019 general electionwas convicted of failing to stop, failing to report a road traffic collision, and leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position after he crashed his Mercedes car into a telegraph pole in the village of Llanblethian in south Wales.

He was acquitted of driving without due care and attention by District Judge Tan Ikram, who said there was no way of telling how the accident had happened.

But Ikram went on to say: I am going to be upfront: I didnt find the defendant credible in the evidence he gave. When I watched him give evidence it seemed to me not only was he fitting his own behaviour around the behaviour of PTSD, and his actions on the night do not suggest he was overwhelmed and acting out of fear that night.

Having PTSD is not a defence. What the prosecution have proved to me he was able to make decisions that nighthe made bad decisions. I am sure he was not prevented through PTSD to give details or particulars and report the accident soon after, added the judge.

Tories Will Offer MP Welfare Support

But a spokesman for the Conservative Whips Office said: Jamie Wallis MP has been found guilty of various offences and it is right that he has been punished. We will not be taking any further action and will continue to provide welfare support.

The crash happened at 1 a.m. and Wallis was not arrested until 7 a.m., when he was detained at his parents home.

Ikram pointed out that if Wallis had remained at the scene he could have been tested to see if he had been driving while intoxicated.

The judge warned him that if he were to ignore the driving ban and get behind the wheel of a car in the next six months he would be committing a serious offence and would almost certainly go to prison.

Wallis was also fined 2,500 ($2,970) and was ordered to pay additional costs of 620 ($736) and a victim surcharge of 190 ($225) within 14 days.

The court heard how a witness saw a man in a dress and high heels get out of the car and walk away from the crash scene.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Twitter Accuses Elon Musk of Knowingly Breaching $44 Billion Deal

Twitter has accused Elon Musk of knowingly breaching their contract for his purchase of the social media platform after he filed to pull out of the $44 billion deal.

This comes days after the Tesla CEO on July 8 filed to exit the deal with Twitter over concerns about its spam bots, claiming Twitter breached their agreement.

In a letter to Musk on Sunday and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, Twitter demanded that Musk follow through on the deal.

Twitter called Musks termination of the deal invalid and wrongful, while denying the social media company breached its obligations under their contract.

Twitter has not suffered and is not likely to suffer a Company Material Adverse Effect, the letter reads.

Twitter also said that Musks termination of the deal is invalid because he intentionally, willfully, and materially breached the Agreement, including but not limited to Sections 6.3, 6.8, and 6.10 thereof.

The company said it would take steps to hold Musk to the deal after the worlds richest man said on July 8 in documents filed with the SEC that Twitter had not complied with its contractual obligations.

While Section 6.4 of the Merger Agreement requires Twitter to provide Mr. Musk and his advisers all data and information that Mr. Musk requests for any reasonable business purpose related to the consummation of the transaction, Twitter has not complied with its contractual obligations, the SEC filing reads.

For nearly two months, Mr. Musk has sought the data and information necessary to make an independent assessment of the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on Twitters platform.

But Twitter denied this, saying that it had and would continue to provide information reasonably requested by Mr. Musk under the Agreement and to diligently take all measures required to close the transaction.

Twitter officials have said that bot accounts only comprise around 5 percent of the companys accounts. However, Musk has sought data to verify this claim, saying that it may materially change the companys value if the number were many times higher.

Musk Mocks Move

Musk appeared to mock Twitters move on Monday by posting an image meme on the platform.

The meme shows Musk in four image frames beside four blocks of text. With each frame, the image of Musk changes from joy to outright laughter.

The text reads, They said I couldnt buy Twitter. Then they wouldnt disclose bot info. Now they want to force me to buy Twitter in court. Now they have to disclose bot info in court.

Twitters chairman, Bret Taylor, said that the company would take Musk to the Delaware Court of Chancery to enforce the merger.

The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement, he wrote on Twitter on July 9. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.  Bret Taylor (@btaylor) July 8, 2022

Twitters shares were down 11.4 percent on Monday to $32.65. Musk offered to purchase the company for $52.20 per share.
Twitter Sues Musk Over Pullout From $44 Billion Deal

Twitter Inc. filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk after the tech billionaire opted to pull out of the $44 billion deal to purchase the social media firm.

The San Francisco-based company, which last week threatened to sue Musk over the deal, filed the lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court on July 12. The court specializes in corporate disputes.

Rather than bear the cost of the market downturn, as the merger agreement requires, Musk wants to shift it to Twitters stockholders, Twitters lawyers write.

Since signing the merger agreement, the suit alleges, Musk has repeatedly disparaged Twitter and the deal, creating business risk for Twitter and downward pressure on its share price.

Musk hasnt issued a public comment about the lawsuit. On the evening of July 12, his normally active Twitter account included no comments about the company.

Musk apparently believes that heunlike every other party subject to Delaware contract lawis free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away, the lawsuit states.

It adds that Twitter also negotiated for itself a right to hire and fire employees at all levels, including executives, without having to seek Musks consent while claiming the Tesla CEO refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.

Twitter also highlights some of Musks Twitter posts as alleged evidence that he was working to violate their contract.

Musks Tweets on May 13 and 14 violated his obligations under the merger agreement, including the provisions prohibiting public comments not consented to by Twitter, disparagement, misuse of information provided under Section 6.4, requiring best efforts to consummate the merger, the filing says.

More Details

In a bombshell filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 8, Musk said he wants out of the deal, citing claims that Twitter is awash in spam bots and automated accounts. For months, Musk asserted that hes sought data about the bots, but Twitter has refused to comply.

The Twitter logo outside the companys headquarters in San Francisco on April 26, 2022. (Amy Osborne/AFP via Getty Images)

At the same time, the worlds richest man has often criticized Twitter for explicitly using content moderation policies that favor left-wing users and for censoring conservative voices. After Twitter and Musk announced their deal in April, Musk suggested that he would curb Twitters controls and allow it to foster free speech.

But, Twitter alleges, Musks recent repudiation follows a long list of material contractual breaches by [him] that have cast a pall over Twitter and its business.

Twitter filed the lawsuit to hold Elon Musk accountable to his contractual obligations, Twitter board Chairman Bret Taylor wrote in a post on the website.

The company is now asking the Delaware court for an expedited trial in September. In prior filings with the SEC, the two parties had set a deadline for Musk to close the deal by Oct. 24.

The social media companys shares plunged even farther to $34.06 on July 12. Thats down about 35 percent from the April 25 announcement, when Twitters shares were trading higher than $50.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is bringing fresh energy to Pacific talks after landing in Fiji for a key meeting of regional leaders.

Mr Albanese touched down in Suva on Wednesday for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders summit, holding bilateral meetings ahead of Thursday's leaders retreat.

The prime minister attempted to draw a contrast to his predecessor Scott Morrison's approach in the Pacific, pointedly saying Australian support "does not come with strings attached".

"We understand that we have a responsibility as an advanced economy in the region to provide support to our Pacific island neighbours and indeed that is in Australia's interest," he said.

Mr Albanese added that he brought "positive energy" to the forum.

"I've spoken about treating countries with respect. What that means is not just talking but listening," he said.

"We have, as human beings, two ears and one mouth for a reason - because we should use the ears twice as much as we use our mouth. If you do that, you'll learn from each other."

Australian government officials believe their new climate policies have been seen as "refreshing" in the Pacific after the Morrison government's unwillingness to listen to other nations' concerns.

However, activists note Australia's carbon emissions targets still fall short of Paris Agreement goals to restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees.

In the afternoon, Mr Albanese held bilateral meetings with leaders from Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.

With Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, he launched a $83 million joint defence facility in Lami, near Suva.

The Maritime Essential Services Centre will house Fiji navy headquarters, bolster naval capabilities and natural disaster response.

Mr Albanese met with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare after a period of strained relations between the two countries over the Pacific nation's security tie-up with Beijing.

Story continues

He told Mr Sogavare there was more Australia and the Solomon Islands could do to develop "relationships of trust and mutual understanding" of joint benefit.

In response, the Solomon Islands leader said there was a friendship between the countries that continued to grow stronger.

"We are family; there are maybe issues, and that makes families stronger," Mr Sogavare said.

At the height of the diplomatic spat, Mr Sogavare said relations with Australia had "soured" - but Mr Albanese earlier said the meeting would be cordial.

"I'll be honest with them. I'll develop a relationship of trust with them, and that means not necessarily agreeing with them the whole time but being able to have an open dialogue," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, US Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the forum via a videolink, announcing new embassies in Kiribati and Tonga, a renegotiated South Pacific Tuna Treaty worth $US600 million to the region and a new US Pacific strategy.

The address was a rare honour given to a greater power, afforded to the US by Fiji as chair, and supported by Australia.

The red-carpet treatment for the US contrasts with China, which was shut out of the summit.

On Thursday, leaders will spend the whole day in a "retreat", with forum unity, climate change and regional security high on the agenda.

Four members won't be there, including Kiribati, which withdrew from the forum with complaints of a lack of power-sharing with Micronesian nations.

Other member states to miss the summit include Nauru, absent due to a COVID-19 outbreak, Cook Islands, which is holding local elections within weeks, and Marshall Islands, due to legal issues.
A Columbia Fire Department's vehicle in Columbia, S.C., in January 2022. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

2 Railway Employees Hospitalized After SC Train Derailment

COLUMBIA, S.C.Two trains collided Monday morning in South Carolina, causing one of them to derail and leaving two railway employees hospitalized, according to the Columbia-Richland Fire Department.

No additional injuries are expected. A diesel fuel leak was contained and poses no danger to the public or environment, Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey D. Jenkins told The Associated Press.

The incident occurred in a wooded area in southeast Columbia with no nearby homes. The derailment will not negatively affect traffic or the environment, Jenkins said.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is working with the fire department, private contractors and rail officials to reopen the rail line. It could be hours until the line is active, according to Jenkins.

Fire crews arrived on the scene shortly after the incident occurred around 8:20 a.m.
A general view of the Uber logo in London, on March 17, 2021. (Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

Uber Had Access to Joe Biden During Obama Administration: Leaked Documents

President Joe Biden was among a group of world leaders that Uber had access to, when the ride-sharing company was aggressively expanding its global presence, according to leaked company files.

The Uber filescontaining more than 124,000 emails, memos, text messages, company presentations, and other documents dating from 2013 to 2017were leaked to British newspaper The Guardian. The outlet then shared the files with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its media partners.

The person who leaked the files is Mark MacGann, Ubers former chief European lobbyist.

According to an ICIJ report on the Uber files published on July 10, the files showed how Uber executives, including co-founder Travis Kalanick, lobbied and courted politicians around the world for favors, during its dramatic expansion.

In total, Uber executives held more than 100 meetings with public officials from 17 countries and the European Union, according to the report. Among those meetings, 34 were with European Union officials, and 9 were with European Commissioners. Twelve of the meetings with European Commission representatives had not been publicly disclosed.

Former Uber CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick stands on a balcony above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during the companys IPO in New York City, on May 10, 2019. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Biden met with Kalanick in Davos, Switzerland, in 2016, just before the then-U.S. Vice President delivered a speech at the World Economic Forum, according to the report.

Kalanick was apparently not pleased that Biden showed up late at their meeting in Bidens suite at the InterContinental Hotel.

Ive had my people let him know that every minute late he is, is one less minute he will have with me, Kalanick wrote in a text message to a colleague.

At their meeting, Biden was impressed by what Kalanick said, how Uber was transforming cities and the way people work for the better, that the then-Vice President tweaked his keynote speech, according to the report.

Biden did not name Uber or Kalanick in his speech.

Ride-sharing companies employ tens of thousands of new people. I met with the CEO today of one of those companies, Biden said in the speech. He said he is gonna add two million new jobs this year, allowing them freedom to work as many hours as they wish, manage their own lives as they wish.

Then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden gestures during his speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on Jan. 20, 2016. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Uber took special care to keep Kalanicks meeting with Biden confidential, the report said, before adding that the meeting was arranged through a chain of former Obama staffers.

In response to ICIJs questions in June, a White House spokeswoman said Biden was committed to combating employee misclassification which deprives workers of critical protections and benefits, including minimum wage, overtime, and family and medical leave, according to the report.

Kalanick served as Uber CEO from 2010 to 2017 before he resigned amid scrutiny over Ubers treatment of female engineers and questionable business practices. However, he held on to his seat on the companys board of directors until the end of 2019.

Europe

The report also named French President Emmanuel Macron, specifically about how he was an Uber ally when he was the countrys finance minister.

Ubers service was partially suspended in Frances city of Marseille on Oct. 20, 2015, the report said, following protests by local taxi drivers.

Could you ask your cabinet to help us to understand what is going on? MacGann wrote to Macron.

Less than a day later, Macron responded, Ill look into this personally. Send me all the facts and well decide by tonight. Lets stay calm at this stage, I trust you.

Hours later, authorities in Marseille said they would revise the suspension order, according to the report.

The report said the exchange between MacGann and Macron was one of more than a dozen undisclosed communications between Uber representatives and Macron.

French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with the Hungarian Prime Minister in Budapest on Dec. 13, 2021. (Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)

Marcons office has responded to the Uber files, saying the economy minister had frequent contacts with companies disrupting the service industry at the time, and it was appropriate to facilitate the lifting of red tape, reported French newspaper Le Monde.

Kalanick also met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in 2016.

Right now you are seen as aggressive, Rutte told Kalanick according to meeting notes cited in the report.

Rutte suggested that Kalanick change the way people look at the company by emphasizing the companys positives.

This will make you seem cuddly, Rutte said.
Ukrainian Rockets Hit Russian-Controlled Area as Kyiv Claims It Readies Southern Counter-Attack

KYIVUkraine said on Tuesday it had carried out a long-range rocket strike against Russian forces and military equipment in southern Ukraine, as it says it is planning to retake in a counter-offensive using hundreds of thousands of troops.

According to Ukraine, the strike hit an ammunition dump in the town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region and killed 52 Russians. It came after Washington supplied Ukraine with HIMARS mobile artillery systems which Kyiv says its forces are using with ever greater efficacy.

A Russian-installed official in Kherson gave a different version. He said at least seven people had been killed and that civilians and civilian infrastructure had been hit.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

The area Ukraine struck is one that Russia seized after launching on Feb. 24 what Moscow called a special military operation and is of strategic importance with Black Sea access, a once thriving agricultural industry, and a location just north of Russian-annexed Crimea.

Ukrainian government officials have spoken of efforts to marshal up to 1 million troops and of their aim to recapture southern parts of the country under Russian control.

Based on the results of our rocket and artillery units, the enemy lost 52 (people), an Msta-B howitzer, a mortar, and seven armoured and other vehicles, as well as an ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka, Ukraines southern military command said in statement.

Unverified videos posted on social media showed smoke and sparks, followed by an immense fireball erupting into the night sky. Images released by Russian state media showed a wasteland covered in rubble and the remains of buildings.

An official from the Russian-installed local administration said that Ukraine had used HIMARS missiles and that they had destroyed warehouses containing saltpetre, a chemical compound which can be used to make fertilizer or gunpowder, resulting in a large explosion.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the kind of weapon used.

Vladimir Leontyev, head of the Russia-installed Kakhovka District military-civilian administration, was cited by Russias TASS news agency as saying that at least seven people had been killed in the attack and around 60 wounded.

There are still many people under the rubble. The injured are being taken to the hospital, but many people are blocked in their apartments and houses, Leontyev was quoted by TASS as saying.

He was also cited as saying that warehouses, shops, a pharmacy, gas stations, and a church had been hit.

Firefighters remove debris after a military strike hit a building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 11, 2022. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Counter Attack Plans

Russia has accused Ukraine of shelling its own people in territory that it has lost control of. Ukraine claims it evacuates as many people as possible from areas controlled by Russian forces.

Russia has tried to introduce the ruble in Kherson and is offering Russian passports to locals. Russian-installed officials say they also plan to hold a referendum on the region becoming part of Russia but have not yet set a date.

Ukraines deputy prime minister on Sunday urged civilians in Kherson to urgently evacuate as Ukraines armed forces were preparing a counter-attack there.

Its clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling  and we therefore urge (people) to evacuate urgently, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television.

She said she could not say when exactly the counter-offensive would happen.

Ukraine is itself bracing for what it expects will be a massive new Russian offensive in the east of the country where Moscow says it is determined to take control of all of the industrial Donbass region.

Russian forces have for weeks been striking parts of the Donetsk region, which is part of Donbass.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk region, told a briefing there was a significant buildup of Russian troops, particularly in the Bakhmut and Siversky areas, and around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

The whole front line in the region was under constant shelling as Russian troops tried to break through but were being repelled, he claimed

TASS reported separately that Russian and Russian-backed forces were encircling the town of Sieversk.

Other locations in Ukraine were also under attack.

At least 12 people were wounded in shelling of the southern city of Mykolaiv overnight, the regional governor said, and the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraines second city, told Ukrainian TV it was under pressure too.

By Tom Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk
Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline in Lubmin, Germany, on March 8, 2022. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

Ukrainian President Criticizes Canada for Allowing Return of Gas Turbines to Germany

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is criticizing Canada for allowing repaired gas turbines to return to Germany, which will be used for Russian gas delivery.

In an address on July 11, Zelenskyy announced that his foreign ministry summoned Canadas envoy to Ukraine to be admonished over an absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia.

This decision on the exception to sanctions will be perceived in Moscow exclusively as a manifestation of weakness, he said.

If a terrorist state can squeeze out such an exception to sanctions, what exceptions will it want tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?

Canadas Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said on July 9 that Russia was intent on further destabilizing the energy sector in Europe.

Wilkinson said that in that context, the Canadian government has been engaged with partners on the issue of the Siemens turbines currently in Montreal.

Following these engagements, Canada will grant a time-limited and revocable permit for Siemens Canada to allow the return of repaired Nordstream 1 turbines to Germany, he wrote in a statement.

The minister said that without proper gas supply from Russia, Germanys economy and people will suffer.

On the same day, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) announced further sanctions on Russias oil, gas, and chemical sectors.

The new sanctions will prohibit Canadian services to contribute to the production of goods made by these sectors, says a GAC statement.

These sanctions add to a long list of measures targeting the Russian economy and officials.

The Epoch Times contacted GAC for comment on Zelenskyys summoning of the Canadian envoy but didnt immediately hear back.

Reactions

The Conservative opposition has decried the move by the Liberal government, saying that by returning the turbines to Russian state-owned company Gazprom the government is circumventing its own sanctions.

Instead of circumventing the global sanctions package meant to punish Putin, the Liberal government should approve new pipelines and liquid natural gas terminals so that Canadian natural gas can displace Russian energy supplies in Europe, Conservative MPs Michael Chong, James Bezan, and Pierre Paul-Hus wrote in a statement on July 10.

The U.S. State Department has backed Canadas decision, despite citing the need to move away from Russian energy.

In the short term, the turbine will allow Germany and other European countries to replenish their gas reserves, increasing their energy security and resiliency and countering Russias efforts to weaponize energy, said spokesperson Ned Price in a July 11 statement.

Nordstream 1

Last month, Gazprom cut the supply of gas through Nord Stream 1 down to 40 percent of the pipelines capacity, citing the need for maintenance and the delay in the return of the turbine held in Canada due to sanctions.

Moscow has maintained that the reduction in the supply of Russian gas to Europe is not politically motivated.

We know that there are issues with turbines, with their maintenancea turbine is not being returned and was blocked somewhere, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmity Peskov on June 14. This is a consequence of sanctions, there is nothing intentional there.

The pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea, transports 55 billion cubic metres of gas every year from Russia to Germany.

The flow has now trickled down to zero for annual maintenance that started on July 11 and is expected to last for ten days.

This has prompted worries in Europe that maintenance could be prolonged for political purposes.

Based on the pattern weve seen, it would not be very surprising now if some small, technical detail is found and then they could say now we cant turn it on any more, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in late June.

Germany is currently in stage 2 of 3 in its emergency gas plan, with stage three triggering the rationing of fuel.

Reuters contributed to this article.
VRBPAC voted 19-2 in favor of recommending booster shots that are Omicron-specific, even though panel members expressed uncertainty and guesswork surrounding the booster rollout

Pfizer stands to profit significantly from the contract and has forecast that its COVID-19 shot sales will reach $32 billion in 2022

The decision came after a June 28 meeting of the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), which recommended that an Omicron-specific component be included in COVID-19 booster shots in the U.S.

The contract is intended to supply shots for a coming fall injection campaign and includes options to purchase up to 300 million doses

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it, in partnership with the Department of Defense, agreed to purchase another 105 million doses of Pfizers COVID-19 shot  for $3.2 billion

The US government has agreed to purchase another 105 million doses of Pfizers COVID-19 shots for $3.2 billion. Theyre intended for a fall vaccination campaign, even though millions of COVID-19 doses have already been wasted, as demand plummets amidst news of their ineffectiveness.

In a news release quietly published June 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it, in partnership with the Department of Defense, agreed to purchase another 105 million doses of Pfizers COVID-19 shot  for $3.2 billion.1

The contract is intended to supply shots for a coming fall injection campaign and includes options to purchase up to 300 million doses. The decision came after a June 28, 2022 meeting of the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), which recommended that an Omicron-specific component be included in COVID-19 booster shots in the U.S.2

We look forward to taking delivery of these new variant-specific vaccines and working with state and local health departments, pharmacies, health care providers, federally qualified health centers, and other partners to make them available in communities around the country this fall, Dawn OConnell, HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said in the news release.3

Billions More Dollars Directed Toward Failed Injections

The shots, which include both adult and pediatric doses, cost more than $30 per dose, on average, which is a more than 50% increase from the $19.50 per dose rate in the U.S. governments initial contract with Pfizer.4 Some of the adult doses are now in single-dose vials, which cost more to produce but are intended to reduce waste that often occurs from open multi-dose vials.

Pfizer stands to profit significantly from the contract and has forecast that its COVID-19 shot sales will reach $32 billion in 2022.5 Its the U.S. public that stands to lose in this deal, as theyre inundated with a new push to get injected with yet another COVID-19 shot, despite their continued failures.

Current COVID-19 booster shots lose effectiveness rapidly, with protection plummeting by the fourth month post-shot.6 The eye-raising data, presented by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, follows the same dismal pattern of effectiveness displayed by the primary mRNA COVID-19 shot series, whose effectiveness also wanes in a matter of months.

Adding insult to injury, research conducted by the New York State Department of Health7 analyzed outcomes among 852,384 children aged 12 to 17 years, and 365,502 children aged 5 to 11 years, who had received two doses of the shots, from December 13, 2021 to January 24, 2022.

Effectiveness again declined rapidly among 5- to 11-year-olds, falling from 68% to just 12%. Protection against hospitalization also dropped, from 100% to 48%. Among 11-year-olds alone, vaccine effectiveness plunged to 11%.8 The lackluster response was blamed on the dosage discrepancies among the age groups, as 5- to 11-year-olds receive two 10-microgram Pfizer shots, while 12- to 17-year-olds receive 30-microgram shots.9

Panel Acts as Crystal Ball in Guessing Which Booster to Use

Its well known that spike protein mutates rapidly, which essentially destroys virtually any protection that COVID-19 shots provide shortly after theyre given. The end result is a seemingly never-ending series of annual shots and boosters.

Pfizer claimed that its new booster candidates would work better than their past versions. One option being considered targets only the Omicron variant, while the other option targets the strain in the original shot along with the Omicron variant.10 Two doses  one including 30 mcg of mRNA and one including 60 mcg  were also tested, despite earlier safety concerns with a higher-dose shot.11

While Pfizer cited strong antibody responses from the retooled boosters, the booster shot studies do not reveal whether the shots prevent COVID-19 cases or how long they are effective.12 VRBPAC voted 19-2 in favor of recommending booster shots that are Omicron-specific, but the FDA will ultimately decide what formulation will be in the winning shot.

Under discussion was whether the shots should target the original Omicron strain BA.1 or the subvariants that have emerged  known as BA.4 and BA.5, which appear to be spreading in the U.S.13

Dr. Paul Offit, who is notoriously pro-vaccine, was one of the two people who voted against the booster recommendation, because he didnt agree with the variant being included and believed there was a dearth of data regarding the level at which the bodys immune response to antibodies corresponds to sound protection.14

Im still not comfortable enough that we have the information we need to essentially support this new product, Offit said.15 The move highlights the uncertainty and guesswork surrounding the booster rollout. Committee member Adam Berger, with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, also stated, Im not sure we have enough evidence to support a change today, but he voted in favor of the recommendation anyway.16 NBC News also reported:17

Dr. Peter Marks, the FDAs top vaccine regulator, acknowledged that the question before the committee was challenging and would require guesswork, saying that the federal agency was essentially asking the panel to act as a sort of crystal ball.

 Committee member Dr. Cody Meissner, a pediatrician at Tufts University School of Medicine, suggested that the bivalent vaccine only be made available to adults at first, noting that scientists dont know what the potential side effects are, if any, from multiple doses of the Covid vaccines.

FDAs Future Framework Does Away With COVID Shot Trials

The FDA supplied the agenda for the VRBPAC committee meeting,18 along with an 18-page briefing document that included just 19 references, none of which was peer-reviewed.19 To base the entire future of COVID-19 shots on this glorified undergrad term paper is madness, wrote political economist Toby Rogers, who explains that a Future Framework is being presented that exempts future COVID-19 shots from clinical trials:20

The briefing document literally states: The evaluation of modified vaccines for the purpose of vaccine strain composition decisions will need to rely mainly on comparative immunogenicity data due to the time constraints involved in vaccine manufacturing and clinical efficacy evaluation.

Did you catch that? The evaluation will need to rely on (no decision to be made here) measures other than actual health outcomes because of time constraints. Ah, $cience! Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax are all developing reformulated COVID-19 shots. But they know that the FDA is not going to look at health outcomes so they are going to great lengths to jack up the antibody response.

 But the VRBPAC admitted on April 6 that there are no known correlates of protection (meaning: antibody levels do not tell you who will be immune) so these antibody measures are medically meaningless.

Sane people realize that if you turbo charge the immune response, you may also turbo charge adverse events. But the Future Framework allows pharmaceutical companies to skip clinical trials altogether.

Whats more, Rogers revealed that its actually the World Health Organization and Bill Gates who are behind this push to roll out new formulations of COVID-19 shots without adequate clinical trials. This entire Future Framework is actually coming from the WHO. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the biggest voluntary contributor to the WHO.

So Gates is likely directing the play, he explained, noting that WHOs Kanta Subbarao  who formerly worked at Faucis National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 14 years  presented at the VRBPAC meeting on the topic of Considerations for Vaccine Strain Composition from the WHO TAG CO-VAC [Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition].

VRBPAC Shot Approval Will Increase Harm to the US Public

The gist of her presentation was that strain selection for COVID-19 shots must be coordinated globally similar to what occurs for influenza. Sounding an alarm over the VRBPACs essential approval of the future framework with their move to recommend new COVID-19 booster shots for the fall, Brian Hooker, Ph.D., Childrens Health Defense chief scientific officer and professor of biology at Simpson University, told The Defender:21

The proposed move by VRBPAC will increase the harm to the U.S. public to unprecedented levels, as this action will further circumvent necessary clinical trials even beyond the slapdash testing of COVID-19 vaccines under Emergency Use Authorization. This adds to a foundation of lies used to authorize the original COVID-19 vaccines without anywhere near proper testing.

VRBPAC also has a history of allowing members with conflicts of interest to vote. When VRBPAC voted on allowing COVID-19 shots for children as young as 6 months, Dr. James Hildreth, who had received a waiver allowing participation in the meeting, declared a number of financial interests related to clinical trials for the pediatric COVID-19 shots being voted on, both personally and related to his employer.

Despite the conflicts, he was allowed to vote at the session, voting favorably for all three pediatric COVID-19 shots.22

Millions of COVID-19 Doses Wasted in the US

The U.S. continues to stockpile COVID-19 shots, wasting billions of dollars on the shots even as demand fizzles. An ABC News investigation found that millions of shots have gone unused as the demand for the injections plummeted. In speaking with health department officials in all 50 states, they found millions of instances of COVID-19 shots going to waste, sitting unused or set to expire in coming weeks. This includes:23

1.7 million doses wasted in Michigan since December 2020

619,000 doses unused in Colorado

3.6 million shots sitting in a stockpile in California

Close to 760,000 doses deemed nonviable, spoiled or expired in Oregon

More than 850,000 doses wasted in Wisconsin 24

As word continues to get out that COVID-19 shots are failing, and adverse effects can be severe  even deadly25  reluctance to get the shots is growing. In May 2022, only 18% of parents said they were willing to get their under-5-year-old child a COVID-19 shot, while 27% said they definitely would not get them the shot.26

Such caution is wise, as artificially inflated antibodies caused by repeated booster shots signal to your body that youre always infected, and the resulting immune response comes at a cost and could prove to be detrimental to your health, potentially accelerating the development of autoimmune conditions such as Parkinsons, Kawasaki disease and multiple sclerosis.27

Further, training your body to produce singular antibodies for one spike protein cannot compare to the protection provided by natural immunity, which occurs after recovery from an illness. According to Michael Yeadon, Ph.D., a former vice-president and chief scientific adviser for Pfizer, the human body mounts its best immune responses after natural COVID-19 infection, not exposure to the spike protein in the shots.

He stated that 90% of the immune response mounted after natural COVID-19 exposure is not to the spike protein at all,28 raising more concerns about COVID-19 shots validity. The U.S. government is forging ahead with more shots nonetheless. You can expect a renewed push for boosters to hit the airwaves soon, as HHS expects its first deliveries of the latest COVID-19 shots to arrive in early fall.29

Originally published July 12, 2022 on Mercola.com
U.S. and Australian special operations forces (SOF) conduct a high-altitude low-opening (HALO) parachute jump from a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-27J Spartan of the 35 Squadron during Talisman Sabre in Queensland, Australia, July 17, 2019. Talisman Sabre is a bilateral exercise that tests the two forces combat training, readiness and interoperability. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Lance Cpl. Nicole Rogge)

US Troop Expansion Needed to Avoid Catastrophic Failure in Indo-Pacific: Defence Minister

Defence Minister Richard Marles has warned that the U.S.-Australia alliance will need to step up its efforts to counteract Beijing in an increasingly challenging strategic environment.

The Australian deputy prime minister made the comments in a speech to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. during a four-day trip to the United States.

Marles message comes as U.S. leaders ramp up their response to Beijings encroaching influence in the Pacific.

He spoke of the value of alliancesand in a veiled reference to recent comments by the Chinese Foreign Ministryspoke against claims that partnerships were Cold War relics unsuited to contemporary statecraft.

Australias new Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles smiles during a swearing-in ceremony at Government House in Canberra on May 23, 2022. (Photo by Saeed Khan / AFP via Getty Images)

In a more contested world, those countries that are able to pool their resources and combine their strengths will not only have a competitive advantage, they will be less vulnerable to coercive statecraft, he said.

Notwithstanding our strong foundations, we cant afford to stand still. Because in the years ahead, the U.S.-Australia alliance will not only have to operate in a much more challenging strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific; it will need to contribute to a more effective balance of military power aimed at avoiding a catastrophic failure of deterrence.

Events in Europe underline the risk we face when one countrys determined military build-up convinced its leader that the potential benefit of conflict was worth the risk.

Meanwhile on July 12, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced the Biden administration would be dispatching the Peace Corps to the region, establishing new embassies in Kiribati and Tonga, appointing the first-ever U.S. Envoy to the Forum, and is looking at reestablishing a U.S. Agency for International Development Regional Mission for the Pacific to deal with natural disasters and humanitarian aid.

Labor Government to Continue Defence Build-Up

Marles said the Australian Labor government would continue investing and pushing ahead with defence projects started by the previous government, including long-range weapons, cyber capabilities, dealing with grey-zone threats, and progressing the nuclear-submarine project under AUKUS.

He also noted Australias investment in defence capital infrastructure to support the growing number of Australian and U.S. troops in the region, saying there would be a shift from interoperability to interchangeability.

The defence minister also said he would be proposing measures to help streamline Australias engagement and information exchange with the U.S. National Technology and Industrial Base.

We all recognise that integration cannot come at the expense of robust security which protects sensitive information and technology.

Marles also said the Albanese government would increase its focus on ASEAN and the Pacific Islands nationspromising greater climate change action.

The Pacific has been clear in saying that geopolitical competition is of lesser concern to them than the threat of rising sea levels, economic insecurity, and transnational crime. Australia respects and understands this position, he said.

However, democratic leaders were dealt a blow earlier this week when Kiribati pulled out of the Pacific Islands Forum.

The Forum was a mechanism supposed to give the 20 Pacific nations a voice to discuss and implement major initiatives and reforms across the region.

Leaders typically worked on a consensus basis and rarely engaged in new policies on their ownthis would have been a key bulwark against Beijings creeping influence.

Yet, according to some experts, the decision by Kiribati proves that some Pacific leaders felt there were greater benefits to working with the Chinese Communist Party than with traditional Pacific partners.
An elderly woman casts her ballot as she votes at home during Uzbekistan's presidential election in Tashkent on October 24, 2021. (Vyacheslav Oseledko/ AFP via Getty Images)

Uzbekistan Sets State of Emergency in Protest-Hit Region

ANKARA, TurkeyA western region of Uzbekistan remained under a state of emergency on July 11, following violent clashes early this month that left at least 18 people dead.

Sparked by government proposals to curtail its autonomy, Karakalpakstan was the site of the worst bout of violence seen in the former Soviet republic in 17 years.

Plans by the central government to abolish the regions constitutional right to vote on secession appear to have triggered local residents, Kursad Zorlu, a prominent Turkey-based political commentator, told The Epoch Times.

Although Karakalpakstan has been an integral part of Uzbekistan since 1936, Zorlu said that it has long nursed a desire for independence.

More than a week after the initial unrest, the region remains under a government-imposed state of emergency, while both the United States and the European Union have called for investigations into the incident.

On July 1, news of the proposed constitutional changes sparked angry demonstrations in the city of Nukus, Karakalpakstans regional capital. Thousands of local residents clashed with security forces, who deployed water cannons, tear gas, and stun grenades to put down the protests.

According to a government tally, 18 people were killed in the violenceincluding four security officersand more than 240 were injured. Hundreds of others were reportedly detained, including one local journalist who allegedly issued an online appeal calling for national independence.

Foreign human rights groups say dozens of people still remain unaccounted for.

On July 2, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev flew to Nukus, wherein an apparent effort to restore calmhe vowed to scrap the proposed constitutional changes pertaining to Karakalpakstans semi-autonomous status.

According to Zorlu, the main bone of contention concerns Article 74 of the national charter, which grants the region the right to secede from Uzbekistan based on the results of a popular referendum.

This article wasnt included in the amended version of the constitution, he said.

The central government has since imposed a wide-ranging information blackout, including internet outages, making it difficult to determine who started the violence on July 1. But according to officials in Tashkent, Uzbekistans capital city, demonstrators in Nukus at one point had tried to storm government buildings, prompting the harsh security clampdown.

It was the countrys worst bout of violence since 2005, when Uzbek authorities crushed a wave of protests that erupted in the eastern city of Andijan. At least 187 people were killed in that incident, for which the government blamed Islamic radical groups.

According to Eurasia experts, the complex political history of Karakalpakstan, which accounts for roughly one-third of Uzbekistans territory, has served to foster separatist tendencies in the region.

Under the Soviet Unions rule, it existed as an autonomous Soviet republic for four years before being merged with the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936.

Stalin divided Greater Turkestan [i.e., Turkish-speaking Central Asia] into five distinct regions, including Uzbekistan, Ilber Ortayli, a history professor at Istanbuls Galatasaray University, told The Epoch Times. But these artificial divisions entirely ignored longstanding demographic realities.

For example, ethnically and linguistically, the Karakalpak people are much closer to the Kazakhs than they are to the Uzbeks, Ortayli said.

According to Zorlu, the Soviet policy of demographic rejiggingknown as korenizatsiya or indigenizationwas an effective means of maintaining control over subject populations.

These Soviet-era divisions and mergers remain the root cause of many problems today, he said.

In 1993, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Karakalpakstan agreed to remain part of Uzbekistan, with the understanding that it would maintain relative autonomy. It also reserved the right to secede from Uzbekistan, as stated in Article 74 of the countrys constitution, if its people ever voted to do so in a popular referendum.

Socioeconomic Factors

Zorlu believes that the separatist sentiments that recently came to the fore in Karakalpakstan have less to do with ethnicity than with longstanding socioeconomic factors.

Rather than political independence, most Karakalpaks simply want a fair share of the regions potential prosperity, he said.

Karakalpakstan is rich in natural resources, especially natural gas. But the indigenous population, most of which ekes out a living from agriculture, continues to face poverty, underdevelopment, and general neglect by central authorities.

The region has suffered from chronic neglect and lack of development since the Soviet Era, Ortayli said.

According to Zorlu, the recent unrest in Nukus could prompt Tashkent to acknowledge Karakalpakstans longstanding grievances and funnel more investment into the region.

This could provide a unique opportunity to shore up the loyalty of the Karakalpaks and prevent similar outbursts in the future, he said.

Mirziyoyev appears to have shelved the proposed constitutional changesat least for now. But he also recently started to blame shadowy outside forces for the recent outbreak of violence.

On July 6, a presidential spokesman repeated the claim, pointing the finger at malicious foreign forces that are seeking to undermine Uzbekistans territorial integrity and provoke ethnic conflict.

He didnt provide any evidence to support the assertion, however, nor did he say which countryor countrieshad provoked the unrest.

While opposition figures insist the claims are unfounded, Zorlu said concerns about foreign provocation are not entirely without justification.

Throughout its history, Uzbekistan has faced difficulties due to demographic, political, and social factorsfactors that foreign powers have occasionally exploited for their own advantage, he said.
Traders, brokers, and clerks shout and gesture on the first day of in-person trading at the London Metal Exchange (LME) on September 06, 2021, in London, England. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Why China Acquired the London Metal Exchange: Banker

In early March, nickel futures on the Chinese-owned London Metal Exchange (LME) surged by nearly 250 percent. The LME then made the unusual decision to suspend nickel trading for over a week, which canceled thousands of trades worth billions of dollars.

That debacle resulted in a probe and several lawsuits.

Recently, a Chinese banker explained why China was eager to acquire the LME in 2012.

China wants pricing power, and the best way to do that is to buy a commodity exchange, Charles Li Xiaojia, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) between 2010 and 2021, explained in an interview with China Fund News on July 4.

China thinks that exchanges are a rare infrastructure facility, according to Li. When the HKEX acquired the London Metal Exchange, the worlds largest metals trading market, Li called it a once in 100 years opportunity.

Li said that China has been looking for opportunities to acquire exchanges in order to have commodity pricing power. So when it found that the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) was planning to acquire LME, the HKEX rushed to step into the deal.

Now looking back, acquiring LME doesnt only have strategic significance but its also a rather successful business opportunity, Li said. In the past 10 years we did not have any opportunities to acquire another exchange.

Nickel Trading Suspended to Save Chinese Company

A few months before Li boasted about this acquisition, the HKEX-owned LME suspended nickel trading and canceled trading contracts when prices of nickel rose to a record peak on March 8. This controversial action saved Tsingshan Holding Group Company Limited, a multibillion-dollar mining and steel-making company. Its founder, Xiang Guangda, nicknamed The Big Short in Chinas commodities circle, made a huge bet on shorting nickel yet managed to walk away with his business intact and even growing.

On March 10, Brokerage China quoted sources that LMEs suspension of trading was effectively the result of the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) initiative and was the most proactive measure the CCP pushed LME to do.

Between March 7 and 8, the price of nickel futures on the LME surged by nearly 250 percent, surpassing $100,000 per tonne. Russias invasion of Ukraine caused the price of nickel to skyrocket and Tsingshans bet on falling nickel prices went spectacularly wrong, leading to a potential loss of $8 billion.

The LME then suspended nickel trading activities for over a week, until March 16, citing price volatility and set the daily price limit for nickel at 5 percent. It also cancelled all trades executed on and after 00:00 GMT on March 8 and deferred delivery of all nickel contracts entered before March 16 to March 23.

On March 15, Tsingshan issued a statement saying that it had reached a silent agreement with JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Standard Chartered, meaning no additional margin was required, and Tsingshan would not be forced to liquidate.

Tsingshan was ranked in 14th place among Chinas top 500 private companies in 2021. The Wall Street Journal cites sources familiar with the matter, saying CCP regulators intervened in the matter after the nickel short squeeze, asking domestic banks to support the company because Tsingshan has strategic significance to Chinas metal industry.

The LMEs emergency halting of nickel trading cancelled thousands of trades worth nearly $4 billion. This led to complaints from many investors and traders.

On April 4, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of Englands Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) issued a joint statement saying that they launched a probe into the LME nickel market after the March 8 suspension of nickel trading.

On June 1, the hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. filed a lawsuit against the LME and LME Clear, the exchanges clearing house, in Englands High Court. The suit alleges that LMEs cancellation of nickel trades was unlawful on public grounds and/or constituted a violation of the claimants rights. On June 6, market maker Jane Street Global Trading LLC also sued the LME for $15.34 million.

Matthew Chamberlain, chief executive officer of the LME, admitted that the LMEs response to the nickel trading fiasco has damaged the LMEs reputation.

After Charles Li Xiaojia revealed in his interview that the reason the CCP acquired the LME is to control commodity pricing power, U.S-based, private investment adviser, Mike Sun told The Epoch Times that he hopes the UK can acquire the London Metals Exchange back to maintain market order and fairness.
Earlier this year, there began an upsurge in monkeypox cases, and talks of vaccination for the disease quickly followed. On June 23, the World Health Organization convened an emergency committee to discuss the global outbreak, which was not defined as a public health emergency at the time.

What is the effectiveness and safety of the monkeypox vaccines? Is it possible for governments to start mandatory vaccination against monkeypox?

What is the R0 Value of Monkeypox? It is Relatively High in Homosexual Males

As of early July, there are more than 1,000 cases in Europe, and Canada and the United States each have several hundred cases. It is noteworthy that there are multiple simultaneous outbreaks across these two continents, which may be caused by mutations in the virus or environmental changes. And this is a cause for concern.

Monkeypox has two major variants, including the Central African clade and the West African clade. Since 2000, the number of monkeypox cases has been on the rise. However, it was not a major concern in the past as the previous outbreaks were of small scales and endemic in Africa primarily. No studies have been done to explain why this outbreak in multiple continents is occurring right now.

The R0 value is an indication of the rate of transmission of the virus.

The transmissibility (R0 value) of the monkeypox virus in the general population is around 0.8; however, among homosexual males, it is greater than 1, with a high risk of transmission.

The WHO emphasized that the monkeypox virus is transmitted through close sexual contact. It is not certain if it is sexual conduct between males that poses a higher risk of infection, but homosexual males do belong to a high-risk group. And it is not proven yet whether the current monkeypox is a sexually-transmitted disease (STD).

Is This Why the Virus Has Adapted to Rapidly Spread in Humans?

Analysis of the viral sequences shows that the current epidemic strain is closer to the West African (Nigerian) strain than to the Central African strains.

Being a type of DNA virus, monkeypox virus also mutates, but its mutation is slower than RNA viruses, such as the SARS-COV-2 virus. In general, monkeypox virus produces one to two mutations per year. However, a comparison of the current monkeypox virus with the virus at the beginning of the 2019 outbreak shows that it has accumulated 47 to 50 mutations, which is a rather strange phenomenon.

One potential factor related to the faster transmission is that the mutations accumulated in the current monkeypox virus strains are beneficial for their adaptation of human and was a result of less stop-codon mutations generated in the offsprings of the virus replication when virus replication was countered by intrinsic APOBEC3 antiviral mechanism in infected cells.

The Apolipoprotein B mRNA Editing Catalytic Polypeptide-like3 (APOBEC3) is a family of cytidine deaminases that play important roles in intrinsic responses to infection by retroviruses and have also been implicated in the control of other viruses such as parvoviruses, herpesviruses, papillomaviruses, hepatitis B virus, and retrotransposons. The genomes of humans and other primates encode five to seven APOBEC3 proteins (named from A to H), all of which are encoded by a single gene cluster on chromosome 22. These APOBEC3 proteins play an important role in innate immunity in the human body. They can interfere or aberrate viral replication when APOBEC3 proteins bind to viral mRNA and cause missense or stop codon mutations.

A recent study has found that many of the observed mutations in the 2022 monkeypox virus genome sequences were 5 GA-to-AA, which is indicative of Apolipoprotein B mRNA Editing Catalytic Polypeptide-like3 (APOBEC3) activity. In addition, there was no evidence for an enrichment of G-to-A mutations in West African monkeypox virus clades prior to 2017 or central Africa monkeypox virus clades. They found a profound enrichment of G-to-A mutations in the more recently sampled West African monkeypox virus sequences (2017 to 2022) a total of 156 GA-to-AA mutations in an APOBEC3A motif. This is different from the GG-to-AG motif which was generated by APOBEC3G.

In addition, the expression levels of APOBEC3 family proteins varies among patients, which also affects the outcome of missense mutations and different stop codons (either UAA or UAG). Therefore, this indicates that accumulation of certain types of APOBEC3-related mutations would be related to the immunity of infected individuals, which favorably harbors certain types of mutations.

It has also been discovered that drugs targeting retroviruses, such as anti-HIV drugs, also affect the expression of APOBEC3A and G in different cells in immune systems.

That is, the immune status of people who take antiviral drugs for a long time may prevent the monkeypox virus from being completely eliminated.

Instead, the virus could mutate and become better adapted to spread in humans.

This phenomenon may be similar to the emergence of the alpha variant of the SARS-COV-2 virus, which also originated in the immune-deficient individual who was on long-term antiviral medications and several months of treatment against COVID-19.

The human bodys own immune function is very important for defense against viruses. And it would be alarming if some of the immune-deficient populations favors particular monkeypox viral variants that were more suitable for transmission. This would be an important area that warrants more research.

Will the Next Vaccination Mandate Take Place?

Due to the rapid increase in monkeypox cases, the U.S. government has also begun preparing a vaccine strategy for monkeypox. In the past two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the worlds first large-scale mandatory vaccination strategy has been implemented. This has led many people to worry about the possibility of another vaccination mandate for monkeypox.

The global vaccination strategy presently relies heavily on the WHOs judgment on whether or not the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.

Following the World Health Assembly in May 2022, the WHO is revising its definition of an emergency to broaden it. Events such as climate change and gun control can be defined as public health related. At the same time, the WHO has been given greater ability to intervene, including to determine whether or not certain information is correct.

This is a cause for alarm, because the WHO is now in a position to declare less serious matters as emergencies and to elicit a positive response from countries. In this case, there is a real possibility of vaccination mandates by governments, and many countries are indeed buying large quantities of vaccines and antivirals.

The United States has currently ordered 2.5 million doses of the Jynneos vaccine and hopes to distribute 1.6 million doses in the next few months. Jynneos is a third-generation smallpox vaccine that was not developed for the monkeypox virus, but still offers cross-protection against it.

In some places, where the local governments didnt stock or purchase any Jynneos vaccine, the second-generation smallpox vaccine ACAM2000 may be used. However, this vaccine has more severe side effects and is explicitly contraindicated for use in pregnant women.

How effective is the Jynneos vaccine against monkeypox? There is no clinical data on how well the vaccine protects against the ongoing epidemic, and little is known about its safety.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, there are three major types of people recommended to receive monkeypox vaccines. They are mainly people who have had close contact with someone infected with monkeypox a short while ago, and people who have no known history of exposure but are at some risk (such as people frequenting nightclubs). Monkeypox can be transmitted through broken skin and sexual contact, and its virus can also enter the body through the respiratory tract, eyes, nose, or mouth. There is also a higher chance that healthcare workers and laboratory personnel who care for people with monkeypox will be exposed to the virus.

The CDC recommends that the Jynneos vaccine be administered within four days from the date of close contact with an infected person, in order to prevent the disease. And if the vaccine is administered within 4 to 14 days after the contact, it will not completely prevent the disease, but only reduce its symptoms. Two doses of the vaccine are required, with a 4-week interval in between, in order for the overall immune effect to be strongly activated.

Its worth noting that the Jynneos vaccine was only approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for people over the age of 18, and the vaccine cannot be administered to people under the age of 18 at the moment.

Is Vaccination the Only Way We Have to Fight Off Epidemics?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the effectiveness of vaccines has been overstated at the expense of the importance of the bodys own immunity.

The human body has multiple defenses against external viruses and bacteria.

The human body has the defenses of the skin, mucous membranes, innate immunity, and different cellular tissues. In addition, our genes have various defenses against viruses, including destroying their reproductive function.

In contrast, a vaccine is a single human intervention into the human immune system, by using a small part of a virus to stimulate the immune system to produce memory.

It may produce some antibodies against the virus in the short term, but it may not be a comprehensive defense and may instead upset the balance of the bodys own immune system.

However, currently, there seems to be a tacit agreement in the medical community that vaccines are the first choice to defend against infectious diseases. Doubts about the effects and side effects of vaccines are discouraged and silenced. It is a reasonable doubt that these phenomena are scientifically flawed, and that a more open-minded approach should be taken to treat different voices objectively and encourage open and transparent discussion.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.
Tommy Douglas, known as the father of Medicare, receives a standing ovation while arriving at the Palace Theatre to address an NDP rally in Hamilton, Ont., on June 11, 1968. (The Canadian Press)

William Brooks: A Canadian Doctor Examines the Corpse of Socialized Medicine

Commentary

For centuries health care was, for the most part, privately delivered by independent physicians. But during the Wests 20th-century collectivist moment, medical care became a common priority for reform by liberal and socialist governments.

One of the first models for modern health-care systems dates back to Otto von Bismarcks compulsory health insurance, introduced in the German Empire in 1884. Britains National Insurance Act of 1911 was the first step toward universal health care within the British Empire.

Socialized medicine arrived in Canada in the wake of World War II. In 1947, the government of Saskatchewan introduced a province-wide universal hospital care plan and other provinces soon followed suit.

In 1966, over the objections of many practising physicians, the Canadian government passed the Medical Care Act. Within a short time, all the provinces and territories came under universal medical insurance plans.

In the late 1960s and 70s this was seen to be one of the greatest blessings of our time. Today, the system is becoming increasingly regarded as an unsustainable curse.

Despite the promise of free universal care, Canadians have begun to ask: Why do so many citizens not have access to a family doctor? Why do aging Canadians wait so long for specialized care or necessary surgery? Why do we hear horror stories about hospital room shortages and hallway medicine, and why is the system constantly strapped for cash?

Canadians are never told how many of their tax dollars go to health care.

An Insightful Look at a Failing Vision

Ontario physician Shawn Whatleys recent book provides an insightful examination of Canadas transition to socialized medicine.

Dr. Whatley, a past president of the Ontario Medical Association, raises serious issues that trouble millions of Canadians. He contends that health care will not improve until we determine how and why the system fails so many patients.



The title of Whatleys book is unambiguous: When Politics Comes Before Patients: Why and How Canadian Medicare is Failing. Why, he asks, are politicians and public opinion-makers trapped by a vision that does not produce what it promised but forbids criticism?

In the early stages of Medicare development, progressive academics and politicians wrongly presumed ordinary Canadians were being deprived of affordable medical care by greedy, profit-seeking doctors. Whatley asserts that the left viewed Medicare as another means of achieving social equity. For socialists, almost all supply difficulties are seen as market failure. Free care for all, they insisted, had to become part of Canadas grand national vision.

Whatley examines the inevitable deficiencies in the socialist worldview that leads to the breakdown of universal care. Like most experiments in social engineering, he says the result is inequity, less access, less efficiency, and more waste, including the waste of the motivation and talents of doctors and nurses. The late John Robarts, premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971, described the emerging system as one of the greatest political frauds that has been perpetrated on the people of this country.

In the salad days of Medicare, between 1968 and 1977, everything from trivial complaints to traumatic injury or disease was paid for with no questions asked. But, as Margaret Thatcher used to say, nanny state governments eventual run out of other peoples money. Today in Canada, centralized management, bureaucratic miscalculations, years of cutbacks, and political squabbling has left doctors and patients with little input into how health dollars are allocated and spent.

Citizens with treatable knee and hip conditions are being left to suffer for months, sometimes years. In some localities it can take up to eight months to see a dermatologist. Whatley points out that waiting lists are the norm rather than the exception. Health-care professionals and hospital managers have come to accept this as essential triaging. Whatley says Canada is actually rationing care by cutting corners on technology, hospital beds, and staff.

Defining Myths and Tommy Douglass Leg

Grand narratives, says Dr. Whatley, always need a defining myth, a story to capture the essence of a broader vision.

In Canadas case it was the incredible tale of the late Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglass childhood leg infection. According to Whatley, the story had everything: conflict suffering, victims, and villains.

At the age of 6, young Tommy fell and scraped his knee in Falkirk, Scotland. The wound became infected and invaded the bone. After multiple surgeries the boy narrowly avoided amputation. He finally recovered with the help of a famous Winnipeg surgeon who offered to operate for free. The doctor asked only that his medical students be permitted to watch and learn from the operation.

Douglas grew up to become leader of the Canadian Commonwealth Federation. In 1944, he formed the first socialist government in North America. Soon after his election, he invited a Johns Hopkins professor, Henry E. Sigerist, to survey health-care needs in Saskatchewan. Sigerist was a recognized expert on the health system in the Soviet Union.

Douglas declined to let his childhood medical crisis go to waste. He prompted parents to imagine themselves without sufficient funds to pay for a childs operation. He used his boyhood trauma and leveraged the charitable care he received to fuel his campaign for socialized medicine.

Packaged as an appeal to compassion and the utopian belief that health services ought not to have a price tag, Douglas indicted the medical profession as so cruel and corrupt we should marvel that it could have existed in a democratic society.

Overlapping accusations implied that only the rich could afford good care. No one thought to question him, said Whatley. But the truth was entirely different. For three thousand years, he wrote, medicine has survived by treating people first and accepting payment later.

During interviews with several doctors who had practiced in the 1950s and 60s, Whatley asked: Did patients who could not pay go without care in the days before Medicare? Every physician he spoke with confirmed with passion and dignified outrage that all patients got great care regardless of their ability to payin the same way that Tommy Douglas himself did.

Many lower-income working-class families, including my own, who lived through the period prior to socialized medicine also recall family doctors who routinely visited our homes.

Taking On Conventional Wisdom

In the second chapter of his 1958 book The Affluent Society, the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith argued that long-established opinions present obstacles to fresh thought and human progress.

For the clever Canadian-born Harvard professor, our capacity to satisfy authentic human needs and protect vital public interests was being obstructed by a conventional wisdom which falsely celebrated the material productivity and superfluous affluence of American capitalism.

From the 60s onward, Galbraiths mood captured the imagination of progressive North American policy-makers. It became widely argued that the realities of our age called for mixed economies and more government services.

But by the time Galbraith wrote The Affluent Society, his philosophical adversaries were mostly imaginary. Since FDRs New Deal, the managerial imperative to regulate free markets had become central to the thought of academics and politicians throughout the West. For Western progressives, audience approval always trumped the search for truth; and intellectuals like Galbraith were master performers.

Too often, Whatley contends, cynical forms of anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism are invoked to shut down critics of Canadian Medicare. For progressives, the idea of free health care has become the ultimate Canadian value. Its a defining myth that endeavours to satisfy the collectivist spirit of the nation.

But medical care does not flourish in a political science laboratory, he says. Patients must be permitted to re-establish a connection with their doctors that transcends episodes of government-supplied service. Interacting with interchangeable state-mandated providers will never support excellent care.

Whatleys examination of Medicare takes thoughtful readers on a road less travelled. He argues that the heavy hand of ideology is preventing Canadians from questioning a deeply flawed status-quo. We are, he writes, stuck in a worldview that invites panic and outrage if anyone questions it.

Challenging conventional wisdom requires commitment, courage, imagination, knowledge, and dedication to the truth. Whatley offers all of the above in Politics Before Patients.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Nicaraguan migrants travelling through southern Mexico to the US on 8 June

Noe was somewhere on the outskirts of the gritty southern Mexican city of Tapachula when he realised how difficult his journey to a new life in the US would be.

Just days after crossing the border from Guatemala, the meagre supplies in Noe's small rucksack had dwindled, and he had gone with barely any food for several days as he bussed and trudged across the humid, forested landscape of Mexico's Chiapas state, where temperatures rose to a sweltering 34 C during the day.

Already reeling from exhaustion and an empty stomach, Noe then faced another hazard: corrupt and abusive members of Mexico's security forces, who he said repeatedly strong-armed migrants for "mordidas" - a Mexican term for "little bites", or bribes - at roadblocks.

"Mexico was very hard," he said. "The police were bad. They looked for people to take their things and chased us. They charged us bribes when we were already all hungry and tired".

This, despite having paid a group of smugglers several thousand dollars for the 2,000-mile (3,332km) trip from his home on the banks of the San Juan River in southern Nicaragua through Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico - a small fortune for a man from a country where the average income per person stands at around $1,850 (1,533) per year.

Several weeks after his journey began, Noe - a stocky and muscular figure whose sun-beaten face and reserved demeanour makes him seem older than his 38 years - was crossing the murky green waters of the Rio Grande into Texas aboard a small rubber raft alongside migrants from as far afield as Ecuador and Colombia, including young children and their mothers.

"It was very scary," he said. "I can swim, but the river is stronger than it looks. And it was dark."

Safely on the US side, Noe voluntarily surrendered to Border Patrol agents. Detention came as a relief. After a few weeks, he was released into the country to wait for a court date to decide his future in the US.

"Here one feels protected. They [US authorities] even fed us well," he told the BBC at a migrant shelter in Texas. "It was hard, but I couldn't have stayed in Nicaragua".

Story continues

Noe is not alone in feeling this way. Privation and poverty have been known to many Nicaraguans like Noe for a long time.

But a recent crackdown on civil society, a faltering economy and an atmosphere of terror instituted by the country's long-serving president, Daniel Ortega, is now driving many to leave.

The Rio Grande as seen from the border town of Roma, Texas

US Border Patrol figures highlight the growing flood: a record number of nearly 19,000 were taken into custody in May, up from 12,600 in April and 16,000 in March. All told, a record high number of about 111,000 Nicaraguans have been detained entering the US so far in the 2022 fiscal year, compared with 50,722 in all of 2021 and just 3,164 in 2020.

Soon after being released from custody, Noe joined dozens of other migrants in temporary housing at a non-profit humanitarian shelter in Laredo, nestled in a quiet residential neighbourhood just 1.5 miles (2.4km) from the Mexican border.

On a sweltering hot Monday morning in late May, he was among dozens of people - mostly men in their 20s and 30s - milling around a courtyard. Some were stretching in the Texas sun, while others used mobile phones to call friends and family back home or in the US.

While a smattering of Colombians and Venezuelans were there, the vast majority were Nicaraguan.

A climate of fear

A homeless man walks past a mural of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua in April 2020

The stories shared by Nicaraguans at the shelter have two common themes: a struggling economy and fear of the government of Daniel Ortega, the leader of Nicaragua's 1979 Sandinista revolution who earlier this year was sworn into a fourth consecutive term as President.

Affectionately known as Comandante Daniel to his supporters, Mr Ortega has long been accused of abandoning the revolution's ideals by turning into a dictator, harshly suppressing any opposition.

These crackdowns have become more pronounced since Mr Ortega was returned to office in November, in an election that saw opposition candidates arrested or exiled alongside prominent regime critics, journalists, business leaders, human rights advocates and students.

Since then, the clampdowns have continued and escalated, with the UN's human rights chief warning that new criminal legislations are being used to persecute perceived opponents of the Ortega government.

In one week in early June alone, almost 200 civil society and non-governmental organisations were shut down in what the Paris-based Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders said was an attempt to eliminate "all social and political vision that differs from that established by the regime".

The harsh measures imposed by the Ortega regime prompted the US government to announce that Nicaragua would not be invited to the recent Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. A senior administration official cited a "lack of democratic space" as the reason.

The Nicaraguan American Human Rights Alliance, which helps citizens who have fled the country, has been inundated with daily inquiries from citizens who've drawn the ire of Mr Ortega's government, according to its president, Anita Wells.

Nicaraguan police arresting an anti-government protester in 2019

Any opposition - real or imagined - is considered a "sin" by the authorities, she said, often with disastrous economic consequences for working class Nicaraguans.

"They don't let you work if you're part of the opposition," explained Ms Wells, herself part of an earlier wave of Nicaraguan refugees from the 1980s. "They won't renew your business license. Or, if you're a farmer, they won't buy your product to be exported. That's part of the reason Nicaraguans are leaving the country".

The Nicaraguan government did not respond to a BBC request for comment.

Ms Well's comments were echoed by a Nicaraguan academic who asked not to be identified, citing fears of retaliation from the government.

"The reality is that ordinary, working-class people have been the most exposed to the full brunt of regime oppression," he said. "The threshold for being subject to retaliation is extraordinarily low".

The consequences of crossing the government vary widely. In some cases, workers are fired by their employers who deem the risk of having potential dissidents on their payrolls too high. In other cases, government agents harass customers and employees.

"Or maybe you're just picked up by paramilitary forces and threatened with death," the academic said. "You don't even need to be personally victimised. It might just be the case that you saw family members subjected to this and you feel it's not safe to stay".

A dangerous journey

A swimming class for would-be migrants in the Nicaraguan town of Esteli

Faced with these conditions, an increasing number of Nicaraguan citizens are choosing to leave. Comments on Nicaraguan news outlets - mostly those now operating from outside the country - are peppered with questions from those seeking to go.

Some are taking practical steps to prepare. According to Reuters, dozens of would-be migrants in the Nicaraguan town of Esteli have been signing up for swimming classes offered on social media in anticipation of crossing the fast-moving waters of the Rio Grande at the end of a long trek to the United States.

But many migrants have little idea of the dangers that they may face.

The risks were starkly highlighted on 1 May by the death of Calixto Nelson Rojas, a Nicaraguan radio host, whose death by drowning in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass was caught on video by a Fox News cameraman.

About two weeks later, a three-year-old Nicaraguan girl went missing after her 25-year-old mother drowned crossing the river. While the mother's body was recovered, the little girl has still not been found.

Justine Ochoa, a Texas-based Nicaraguan activist, told the BBC that her group is aware of nearly 30 Nicaraguan citizens who have perished since the start of the year.

"Smugglers tell them it's a good time, or that people are crossing over easily. But that's not the truth," she said. "We know that a one or two people this year have died in accidents. Two were murdered by criminals on the Mexican side. But they mostly just drown in the river".

Ms Wells said that even those who understand what is at stake are likely to continue to take enormous risks to pursue "the myth of the American dream". She often advises people still in Nicaragua to not go.

"It is a myth, because it's not easy, even if you do cross the border. People sometimes have the wrong impression, that this is Disneyland," she said. "I always ask them if it was worth itthey say that if they die, they die, but at least they'd have tried. Imagine the desperation. They'd rather die than return to Nicaragua."
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TOKYO (AP)  Assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was perhaps the most divisive leader in recent Japanese history, infuriating liberals with his revisionist views of history and his dreams of military expansion. He was also the longest serving and, by many estimations, the most influential.

For current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, this complicated legacy will loom large as he considers taking up his mentor's unachieved policy goals after a big win for their ruling Liberal Democratic Party in parliamentary elections Sunday, just days after Abe's death.

Kishida has gained considerable political strength, riding a surge of emotion and vows of resilience from voters after the assassination, but hes also lost the most powerful force in his party  Abe.

Kishida now faces an increasingly murky political situation, the liberal-leaning Asahi newspaper said in an editorial. The death of Abe, who headed the largest LDP wing, will certainly change the partys power balance.

Kishida made his immediate priorities clear after the election: Party unity is more important than anything else."

But he must also make quick progress on growing worries over rising prices and a stagnant economy even as he tries to figure out how to boost Japans defense in the face of an aggressive China, Russia and North Korea.

And then there's Abes polarizing nationalistic agenda, much of which was left unfinished, including his attempts to boost patriotism in schools, to revoke the apologies made in the 1990s over Japanese aggression during World War II and the controversial and divisive plan to revise Japans war-renouncing constitution to give the military more power.

How Kishida deals with Abe's still considerable political presence may determine his success as leader.

At the heart of Abe's lingering influence  he left the top job in 2020  is a paradox.

He alienated many in Japan, as well as war victims China and the Koreas, with his hawkish foreign and security policies, as well as his ultraconservative  sometimes revisionist  stance on the so-called history issues related to Japan's wartime actions.

Abe pushed back against postwar treaties and the verdicts of the tribunal that judged Japanese war criminals and was a driving force in efforts to whitewash military atrocities and end apologies over the war.

The Japanese electorate, however, carried him to power in six elections. And his work to strengthen the alliance with the United States and to unify like-minded democracies as a counterweight to China's assertiveness endeared him to U.S. and European elites.

His long grip on power even amid criticism over his more extreme views can be explained by voters desire for stability and an improved economy, Abes stranglehold on the conservative wing of his party and the haplessness of the opposition.

His first period as prime minister, which began in 2006, ended in failure after a year, partly because of a backlash to his nationalist policy goals.

After three years of opposition rule, a rare interruption in decades of LDP dominance, Abe returned to power with a landslide victory in 2012.

After his first stint failed, he learned that his nationalistic agenda of building a beautiful nation cannot move forward unless he has another agenda to balance it out, like two wheels of a cart," said Koichi Nakano, a Sophia University professor of international politics.

While still chipping away at enacting his nationalist policies, Nakano said, Abe also began championing economic revitalization and compromised on issues such as promoting women's advancement and accepting unskilled foreign labor to help boost a dwindling workforce  moves that allowed him to be seen as a realist.

He understood in his second term that "he needed to improve his narrative and policy focus on the economy. He convinced much of the public that Abenomics was a necessary reform path, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Abe also exercised institutional discipline over the government bureaucracy and his political party in ways that no opposition leader has yet been able to match.

Abe was the grandson of rightwing former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, which helped him win support from rightwing groups. He also was favored by younger people, experts say, many of whom are more conservative than their counterparts in other parts of the world because of their deep interest in a steady economy so they can get work at major companies.

It seems that voters preferred the stability Abe promised over the disorganized leadership that the (opposition party) provided during its three years in power, said Jeffrey Hall, a professor at Kanda University of International Studies specializing in Japanese politics and nationalism. To international observers, Abes support for historical revisionism looms larger than it did for domestic voters.

While Abes eagerness to boost Japans military power was more than most Japanese citizens wanted, according to Easley, "he was right about Tokyo having to adjust to a challenging security environment that includes China, Russia and North Korea."

Kishida enjoys something of a political mandate after Sundays election, and will likely be in office until scheduled elections in 2025. He has said he wants to explore ways to make more progress on Abe's push for constitutional revision, but there's no detail now about what, exactly, that means or how he'll try to do it.

Changing the constitution is a top party platform that Kishida will not want to risk, according to Ryosuke Nishida, a sociology professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, so he may delay the effort until he can forge a compromise with rightwing party members on the best way to proceed.

Abe was one of the strongest voices for constitutional revision and a more proactive security policy. Now that he is gone, others will try to fill his shoes, but it will be difficult, Hall said.
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FAIRFIELD  Police said a 15-year-old boy was shot at a birthday party on Saturday has died.

Officials identified the victim on Sunday as Zion Burton, of Bridgeport. Police said he was gunned down just six days before his 16th birthday.

The shooting unfolded around 10:30 p.m. at a banquet hall on Kings Highway East in Fairfield where 150 to 200 people were gathered for a 13-year-olds birthday party.

The victim, initially identified only as a male juvenile, was brought to St. Vincents Medical Center where he died from a single gunshot wound, Police Chief Robert Kalamaras said at a news conference Sunday morning.

Our department sends its deepest condolences to the family of the victims, Kalamaras said.

The shot also injured a female victim in the jaw. She has since been released from the hospital and is in stable condition, Kalamaras said. No other information was immediately provided about the extent of her injuries.

Police said the shooting stemmed from an argument in the building that led to a physical fight. It is unclear whether the victim was involved in the argument.

Three additional people sustained minor injuries as people fled the scene immediately following the shooting, police said.

Officials have not identified the shooter, but dont believe there is any danger to the public.

Our investigators are working diligently, pursuing several leads to apprehend the person(s) responsible, Lt. Michael Paris wrote in a news release.

As of noon Sunday, both lanes of Kings Highway had been blocked off with caution tape, and police officials milled around the area.

Both the neighboring houses and the Nissan dealership across the street were also blocked off. The church appeared to be closed and no service was taking place on Sunday morning.

The incident follows another prominent shooting in Fairfield at the Wafu Asian Bistro last month.

Its frustrating for us, Kalamaras said. We do our best to keep our community safe and more importantly, try to keep the fear of crime at a minimum.

The banquet hall is part of Calvin United Church of Christ, which rents it out. Police said the hall was rented to an adult for the event on Saturday night. They did not say where the renter was from, but said the person was not a Fairfield resident or a member of the church.

Church officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Effective Aug. 1, it will cost Maryville residents and business owners to have the village water and sewer department come to their homes or business after hours, on weekends or holidays.

The village board approved a new after-hours call-out policy at its July 6 meeting. The new fees are $100 per call-out, per employee and $75 per turn-on for a previous turn-off.

"There are no after-hours charges now," Mayor Craig Short confirmed Monday. "We've been eating the cost and we can't afford to do that anymore."

He said people have been calling for services after-hours that should have been done during regular business hours, like repairs to water softeners or an old basement leak.

For example, water that is turned off during normal business hours would cost $175 to be turned on after hours, starting next month. Shut-offs for non-payment can only be turned on during business hours after payments are verified. All applicable fees will appear on the customer's water/sewer bill.

Some fees may be waived later if, after a review by the water superintendent or mayor, the call-out was the department's responsibility. If there is a disagreement between the department and a customer, then an appeal may be made to the mayor or village board.

Short noted that Edwardsville and Glen Carbon have similar fees in place and Troy has a reconnect fee for after-hours service. The next village caucus meeting (discussion but no votes) is Wednesday and the next board meeting is July 20. Both are at 6:30 p.m. in village hall, 2520 N. Center St., Maryville.
Russian prosecutors on Tuesday brought criminal charges against another opposition figure who has criticized Russias military campaign in Ukraine, his lawyer said.

Ilya Yashin was due to be released after spending 15 days in jail on charges of failing to obey police. Instead, Yashin was charged under a new law making it a crime to spread false information about the military, said his lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov. It carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
A few weeks ago, The New York Times published a story about college students back on their campuses after months of distance learning. Many were reported to be tired, disoriented, unable to do their assignments. Some wondered what college was for. However, students in other schools seemed to be working more or less normally. If there is anything good about the ruptures in routine caused by the pandemic, its that they make us rethink what we have come to consider normal. So, What is college for?

As recently as 1940, few people had the four-year college experience. My forebears, from German states and what was then Bohemia, came here in the 1850s. My father, born in 1905, attended Townsend Harris High School in New York, and later got an accountants certificate from the City College of New York; my mother, born a year earlier, attended Merchants and Bankers Secretarial School after high school, and became a secretary. A majority of their generation went right to work after high school.

To make up for lack of higher education, this generation read a lot. My father was always bringing books  both fiction and non-fiction  home from the bookstore in the building where he worked. Its just my impression, but it seems books were more common in homes then than they are today.

Most American colleges were founded in the 18th and early 19th centuries to train ministers for Protestant churches. The curriculums emphasized Attic Greek, Latin and math. Nevertheless, in most schools there was usually a sprinkling of students who intended to go into business. If a graduate did want to preach, three years of seminary were required.

Initially these early schools were very small, with half a dozen faculty and 20-30 students, and their existence was precarious. The college president was a minister. Faculty and students were all male. Daily chapel  often at a dark hour in freezing weather  was obligatory. After the industrialization brought about by the Civil War, higher education began to change.

Charles William Eliot, a Harvard professor, was convinced that a new kind of education was needed for the new age. Scholar Cathy Davidson, on the City University of New York faculty, in her book, "The New Education," describes how Eliot, after studying various European models  especially the German university  came up with the idea of the modern research university. Specialized academic departments, faculty hierarchies, the credit hour concept, the lecture method, classes in the sciences, humanities and modern languages, plus a diverse student body including Jews, Roman Catholics, African-Americans and women  all these were part of Eliots vision.

The goal was to produce graduates who would be professional managers for the new industrial state. Eliot expressed his ideas in a book, "The New Education," published in 1869. Davidsons book is meant to be an updating of Eliots, and well look at it in next months article*.

Eliot did not bring about these changes alone. Andrew D. White at Cornell, Woodrow Wilson at Princeton and Benjamin Rush Rhees at Rochester, among many other leaders, worked in the same direction. Rush Rhees, modeling the role of college president as fundraiser, cultivated a relationship with George Eastman, who previously had no interest in higher education, that resulted in an entirely new campus for Rochester. Woodrow Wilson, an historian, brought Princetons curriculum into the modern age. He lost his battle to transform the elitist eating clubs into residential colleges, but he tried. Unfortunately, Wilson, brought up in Georgia, had a blind spot when it came to accepting Black students.

Progress was uneven. Many colleges accepted only men. Some schools had a quota for Jewish students. Princeton did not accept black students until the 1940s. Yale didn't accept women as undergraduates as late as 1969. To get a Ph.D. degree, American scholars had to study in Germany. The first three American Ph.D.s were awarded by Yale in 1861, in physics and classics.

The South lagged behind the North. Well-off southern families sent their sons north, especially to Princeton, southernmost of the Ivy schools. Nevertheless, with federal government help, the post-Civil War years saw the creation of around 90 Black colleges in the South, in addition to the four Black colleges founded in the North before the war. In 1862 Lincoln, through the Morill Act, created the land-grant colleges, public institutions except for two, Cornell and M.I.T. These offered free or low tuition to men both men and women, an unheard-of situation today.

*This is the first of a series of articles on American higher education.
When you think of public service, what comes to mind? Most likely politicians and people in appointed positions. Kudos to you; that is generally what public service encompasses. As the name implies, public servants are just people that decided to serve the public. My friend would say, Public Service is a thankless job, and I agree. Now before you argue, I am not here to justify the actions of Nigerian politicians and public servants, I am just sharing my perspective. You dont have to like it but at least hear me out.

In Nigeria, public servants are regarded as different things to different people. To some, they are mini-gods who have come to rescue them from the trenches. To most Nigerians, they are looters, thieves and plain menace to society. Unfortunately for the latter, society cannot function without public servants. They exist to serve the people and without them, a key component of society; the government, cannot function. It is just very sad that the typical Nigerian politician did not get the service part.

Fun fact; the laziest Nigerian politician more than likely works for an average of 14 hours a day. In most cases, they wake up by 5 am or 5:30 am and will not have a proper rest until 2 am or 3 am. In this span of time, they might attend 6-10 meetings in 2-3 cities. Make no mistake, Nigerian politicians are very hardworking people. The problem is what exactly this hard work translates to. More often than not, they are very busy working on cleverer ways to remain in the top 1% and evade the watchful eyes of the media and the anti-graft agencies.

You might wonder why the average Nigerian politician would not employ their brilliance and dedication to making the country work and rather use that gift to loot until we are at the brick of destruction.

Let me tell you why.

I have explained in my previous pieces how financially tasking elections are. But let me paint a better picture. In the course of my journey, one of the major stakeholders my then employer consulted with, made a statement. He said, to run this election, you have to spend at least N10 billion. At this stage, my employer was yet to even get his ticket. At this stage also, he was expected to spend about 70% of the purported N10 billion. This was the strategic advice he was given to prove he was ready.

Another case is the interview of the National Chairman of a political party. During the interview, he was asked why the cost of expression of interest and nomination forms were so high; he said if you cannot afford it, it proves you do not have the financial muscle needed to contest elections. In fact, you are not ready. What that tells you is that to contest elections in Nigeria, you literally have to be or have access to multi-billionaires.

Theres more.

After spending billions to legally win an election, you might have court cases that will lead to spending more billions of naira. Assuming you are met with a good fate, remember the billions you spent during the elections were not your resources, and the reaper must come to collect. This is what leads to questionable deals, contracts and mediocre performance of an otherwise exceptionally brilliant politician.

Before you exclaim or nod your head; that was not the worst of it.

Regardless of the social media agitations, Nigerians see their public servants as mini-gods. Most will deny this, but it is the unpopular truth. When the reaper is satisfied with his harvest, he leaves the public servant in a desiccated state, but with some time to actually serve the people. At this point, the politician if dedicated, can still do good work, no matter how little. This is also when the politician looks around and sees that he actually does not have to work so hard to fulfil the campaign promises.

Why?

Simple. We love and applaud mediocrity. So why should the promises be kept when the bare minimum is celebrated with so much fervour?

The average Nigerian will struggle, hustle and finally make it to the presence of a public servant. Rather than demand a better school for the community, we would ask for school fees for our children to attend a better school elsewhere. Instead of asking for better healthcare for the town, we beg for N2000 to go to a pharmacy to buy drugs. We ask for aid to bury our mothers, fathers, and children rather than query why the road they died on has not been fixed. We apologize for not running fast enough when we are summoned to the Local Government headquarters with murmurs of sorry my battery died instead of questioning what the power supply budget released was used for. The people we have allowed to be in charge of agitations; the educated people that can explain to the big men better, will go to these offices, present awards and a portrait and collect N20,000. If they are kind, they give a thousand naira to their five-man entourage and receive God bless you sir/ma.

I digress.

I was explaining why public service is a thankless job.

Let me illustrate what a righteous politician is likely to face. In the best-case scenario, such a politician is a millionaire and has donations from family, friends and the right network to aid the political ambition. Such a person has the best interest of the people at heart and really intends to work for development. This will not prevent the never-ending demands of urgent financial aid requests from the people. Bear in mind such righteous politician has personal needs of their own. This public servant will still have to cater to the financial burden that comes from that office.

They would build schools and still pay school fees from personal funds. They will renovate hospitals and still pay bills for every person who comes knocking. They would provide laptops for people to learn relevant skills and still have to pay for data subscriptions for the majority of the beneficiaries.

The thing is, most humans in general prefer to receive handouts and the best people to target for such are public servants. After all, they are there to serve the public. God forbid such righteous politician is allowed to perform their duties without the financial burden of almost everyone he/she has come in come into contact with. Remember, all these are done from the personal funds of such righteous public servants.

What happens?

At some point, such politicians will get tired and the temptations of making easy money that can be moved without being accounted for will surpass a less than concrete moral code. Thus the looting begins.

The Nigerian system makes it extremely difficult for the public servant not to steal. If anything, it is easier to spend 14 hours thinking of better ways to clean your plate after consuming the national cake.

Is public service a thankless job? Sure. But remember when performing a service, appreciation is not a right, it is the dividend of good performance. So you do not need to rack your brain about why Nigerian politicians are yet to receive the gratitude they assume they deserve.
It is exactly one week today (Tuesday) that the arrested Anambra-born Abuja-based journalist and media practitioner, Mr. Ikenna Ezenekwe, has been in police detention without any known move or resolve by his arrestors to free him.

Mr. Ezenekwe, the editor of the online newspaper 247ureports ( www.247ureports.com ) was said to have been arrested last week Tuesday on the instruction of the former Chief of Staff to ex-governor Willie Obiano, Mr. Primus Odili, over a publication he said he (Mr. Ezenekwe) made against him sometime in May this year.

It was gathered that the policemen in mufti stormed the site where Ezenekwe was inspecting work in Abuja at about 12:43pm on Tuesday, arrested and whisked him away immediately.

He, however, has remained in detention at a police station in Maitama, Abuja since then, simply because he refused to mention the person or persons (sources) who supplied him with the information he used to write the said report.

Mr. Ezenekwe's wife had recently cried out that his husband is perishing in the police detention, without being granted bail or allowed access to his medications, as he was seriously sick and was on medication before his arrest.

This arrest and continued detention have also elicited and continued to elicit reactions of many other individuals and groups, including human rights groups, who condemned and described it as unconstitutional.

The Civil Liberty Organization (CLO) had also recently called for Ezenekwe's immediate release from police detention.

The group in a statement signed by its South-east Chairman, Comrade Aloysius Attah, reminded Ezenekwe's arrestors and detainers of certain relevant portions of the Constitution and international human rights laws that are opposing to their decision to arrest the journalist, deny him access to his medications, and continuously detain him because he refused to reveal his source to them.

Part of the press release reads: The right of detainees while in custody must be maintained to the maximum by the police and the police is mandated by law to not only give Ezenekwe unfettered access to his medication and his lawyers but also ensure that they release him on bail timeously and continue their investigation with a resort to the law courts for adjudication if need be.

Apart from the specific provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, there are the Universal Instrumentsof the law as enshrined in Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, 1988 and The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, 1981 which Nigeria is a state party to, which all made provisions for the rights of anyone under the custody of the police or in detention.

The United Nations (UN) Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment states it clearly in Principle 1 that All persons under any form of detention or imprisonment shall be treated in a humane manner and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person

Principle 2 succinctly states that Arrest, detention or imprisonment shall only be carried out strictly in accordance with the provisions of the law and by competent officials or persons authorized for that purpose. while in Principle 6 No person under any form of detention or imprisonment shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. No circumstance whatever may be invoked as a justification for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

The police, while handling Ikenna Ezenekwes matter should bear in mind the expression of his inalienable right to freedom of expression as a journalist, contained in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) : everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the rights includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

The right to freedom of expression is also contained in chapter IV section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and other International Human Rights Instruments which Nigeria is a party.

Section 39 expressly provides for the protection of this right because of its importance and relevance to the enhancement of personal liberty and democracy.

While the CLO is also aware that this right to freedom of expression is not absolute and also comes with consequences if abused, we still urge the police to refrain from any arbitrariness while handling this matter.

Section 35 (4) (5) of the same chapter four of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended made provisions for the time frame for the release on bail for a detainee or charging to court.

Section 61 (1) of the Nigeria Police Act 2020 agrees with the provisions of this constitution while stating that a suspect arrested without a court warrant, other than a capital offence, should be granted bail, where it is impracticable to charge to court within 24 hours.

We therefore call on the police to release Ikenna Ezenekwe on bail without further delay while the matter takes its normal route in law and course of justice for all parties in the matter- Justice for the accused, justice for the accuser and justice for the society at large.
The ethnic national militias manipulated by dark forces from outside and inside the country want to make sure that Ethiopia is permanently destabilized, an American political-economic analyst told ENA.

Lawrence Freeman strongly argues that the recent massacre against civilians in the Oromia region is a result of ethnic polarization used as a weapon by people inside Ethiopia, governments outside the country, and intentional forces.

The massacre that occurred against the Amhara in Oromia (Region) is committed by ethnic national groups manipulated from outside of the country and inside the country by dark forces that want to make sure that Ethiopia is permanently destabilized, the analyst noted.

According to him, the dark forces outside of Ethiopia and inside the country which do not want to see a stable, prosperous, and sovereign Ethiopia have exploited this.

The analyst contends that as a result of a project to destabilize Ethiopia, ethnicity is being manipulated in Ethiopia because there are political forces that want to weaken Ethiopia and you should not discount the fact, Freeman pointed out.

Asked about the recent attacks in Wollega against civilians by militias, he responded that foreign forces are using these militias to destabilize the nation.

Given the perspective regarding the recent ethnic-nationalist forces that are being supported by outside and inside enemies of Ethiopia to threaten the country, the analyst pointed out that the third-filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) could be an immediate cause.

Within weeks ahead, it is going to be the third filling of the Grand Renaissance Dam, which has been opposed not just by Egypt and Sudan but also by the West. This dam produces electricity and could become a game-changer in the Horn of Africa and some people dont want that to happen. If you have people fighting each other and constant internal conflict, then you have an unstable government that can easily be manipulated for outside political purposes.

Speaking on the commitment of the Ethiopian government to peace and to solve the conflict in northern Ethiopia, the analyst is doubtful about the seriousness of the terrorist TPLF which demands concessions.

He blamed Western nations and media outlets for their failure to support the government from the outset. They instead supported the TPLF.

He further stated that there is also a belief among the people that those powers might have changed their position now to having a weakened government in Ethiopia.

The ethnic-nationalist terrorists and militia like the OLF-Shene and TPLF are now carrying out these attacks and disruptions which are all intended to weaken the nation-state of Ethiopia, Freeman elaborated.

Ethiopias leadership needs to embark on a process, actual discussion on the cultural-political history of Ethiopia and what the nation-state means to citizens of Ethiopia, the analyst recommended.

Freeman explained that it is because right now there has been an eruption of conflicts going on between extremists and various militias based on ethnic identity.

As a strong nation-state is now essential for the continuation of Ethiopian society and its economic development for generations, the government needs to have a much broader approach to this dialogue conception.

First, people are going to have to discuss the difference between an ethnic grouping and the citizens of the nation. They are fundamentally different since theres no equality between the ever. The discussion has to be also held throughout the country. The second thing is to unite the people. Ethiopia has a mission for its nation. That would unite people together.

In his statement about the attack in western Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Tuesday that there is zero-tolerance for horrific acts claiming lives recently in both Benishangul Gumuz and Oromia regions by elements whose main objective is to terrorize communities.

Earlier he told the House of Peoples Representatives that his government wants peace with everyone and revealed for the first time that a study committee has been formed under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen.Tags: Lawrence Freeman)

Watch excerpts of my video interview below on Addis Media Network

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. He is also the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com. Mr. Freemans stated personal mission is; to eliminate poverty and hunger in Africa by applying the scientific economic principles of Alexander Hamilton.
The successionist group, Indigenous People of Biafra, has warned the All Progressive Congress (APC) led government against any attempt to islamize Nigerian people, saying no individual, government or ethnic groups is capable, or have the capacity to make part of Nigeria a Fulani colony.

The group also warned that any government, ethnic group or individual that insist on Islamizing and attempting to turn all parts of Nigeria into Fulani colony will be consumed in the process.

It added that intimidation of any religion by other religious groups or ethnic group by others, no matter how small or big the number of such religious faithful and ethnic group may be, it can never be achieved as it has never been achieved in the world and can never be achieved, not even in Nigeria.

IPOB said that irresponsible and non responsive governments across the world have come up with all kinds of oppressive political, economic and social and even cultural policies and somehow had their ways, but have never succeeded with it on religion, urging those thinking in the direction of Islamizing and making every part of Nigeria Fulani colony in Nigeria to drop such idea because it will not sail, but its rather a time bomb that will consume them if they are not careful.

This comment was contained in a statement by IPOB's Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, entitled, No religion can consume the other, Nigerians can never be all Muslims.

These reactions came following the APC muslim-muslim presidential ticket.

Emma alleged that since the inception of the President Mohammadu Buhari led All Progressive Congress, APC, Federal Government of Nigeria, the party has applied all sorts of tricks, intimidation, harassment and policies to achieve their Islamization plans, but have not succeed, saying that IPOB will never succumb or allow them to succeed in that path.

The statement read, That the attack of Christians in Church across Nigeria, using Fulani herdsmen, bandits and terrorists to attack communities in the country and sacking them from their ancestral homes, killing of their men, women, youths and raping their young ladies, are all plans aimed at taking over the communities and foisting strange religions on them, are all pointer to the dubious islamization and fulanization agenda.

The antecedents of the present administration, the big wigs in the party, APC, that calls the shorts in the government and the state governors who are popular and have the ears of Mr. President are more or less Islamic fanatics and Fulani footsoldiers for jihad who have no apology or ready to render one when people with different religious view feel hurt and complain.

For us in IPOB, and we have always said it to every one that cares to hear in Nigeria, that the present administration in Nigeria, came to empower, enrich and to lord a particular ethnic group on others, and to promote a particular religion, which is Islam and and foist it on other Nigerians. Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu said this on February 6th 2014 and it is now happening.

We are however asking them to perish their devilish plans which ever way they want to achieve it or be ready to be consumed with their families in the futile process of achieving it. Islamizing and fulanizing Nigeria is not possible, sacking people completely from their ethnic groups and ancestral land is a task unachievable, and therefore they should rest such plans.

For us in IPOB, it is not a rumour that there are plans to Islamizing and fulanise Nigeria, because we have seen it far beyond and shouted when others have not started seeing it and broadcasted it on radio Biafra London. However, our consolation has been that we are sure that the promoters of the evil agendas will fall and be consumed with it.
Edo State Police Command has confirmed that its operatives have killed a notorious armed robbery suspect and recovered one pump action gun and 5 live cartridges following a gun duel in Benin, the state capital.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) ASP Jennifer Iwegbu, disclosed the incident on Tuesday.

Iwegbu said the operation followed a distress call to the Divisional Police officer in charge of the Ugbor division that there was an ongoing armed robbery operation along Abuja quarters by Benson Idahosa University, Ugbor GRA, Benin.

The DPO personally led operatives to the scene with the aim to arrest the suspects.

On arrival at the scene, the suspects on sighting the police engaged them in a gun duel.

However, the superior firepower from the police operatives neutralized one of the suspected armed robbers, she said.

Items recovered from the suspect included one pump action gun and 5 live cartridges.

She said that effort was ongoing to arrest the fleeing gang members.
Approximately 200 NYSEG customers in the town of Sennett have had their natural gas service interrupted.

The utility company is making emergency repairs to the delivery system, according to a press release issued late Monday afternoon.

NYSEG said, "gas operations crews will work throughout the overnight hours to make safe the situation, repair damage to its infrastructure and complete necessary pressure checks of the system."

Crews have already begun disconnecting natural gas service to impacted customers to complete the necessary repairs. To restore service once repairs are complete, crews will have to access each customers home to safely re-light customer appliances.

Restorations are expected to be completed within 24 hours, with the exception of customers who are not home to allow access to appliances. Those customers are encouraged to call 800.572.1121 to schedule a time for NYSEG personnel to restore service.

The company said it recognizes the inconvenience caused by the outage. NYSEG will provide updates on its website and social media channels (Facebook and Twitter). Customers can also sign up for outage alerts and download the NYSEG mobile app to get the most up-to-date information.
Government official surrenders in abuse enquiry

BANGKOK: The deputy director-general of the Department of Children and Youth and a Surat Thani Shelter for Children and Families official, who are alleged to have been involved in child sex trafficking, turned themselves in yesterday (July 11).

crimepolicesex

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 12 July 2022, 10:15AM

Police discuss the child sex trafficking case in Surat Thani province in May. Photo: Supapong Chaolan

Phisit Poonpipat, 55, and Suwat Phaophan, 33, were implicated in the scandal after police teams raided 18 locations across Surat Thani linked to a sex trafficking ring in November last year.

The deputy director-general, Phisit, allegedly phoned children at the shelter and persuaded them to provide sexual services, reports the Bangkok Post.

Since then, a number of officials have been implicated in the case, including Phisit, other state officials as well as soldiers, teachers and doctors in the area.

The chief of the shelter lodged a complaint against the pair over injuries suffered by children at the shelter and threats made against him not to divulge information that might lead to further arrests.

Their malfeasances were un- covered between December and February, after Phisit attempted to interfere with the police investigation by ordering the shelter chief to hamper attempts to identify victims and customers, while Suwat also physically punished the victims for cooperating with police officials.

Phisit has been charged with obstruction of justice while Suwat faces the same charge as well a charge of duress by physical abuse.

Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, assistant chief of the national police said Saengroj Uan Kanchana, 48, son of local politician Chumpol Kanchana, is facing further charges of interfering with the investigation into abuse involving two girls, aged 17 in the Muang Surat Thani area and five victims, aged 14, 13, 15 in the Khun Thale area.

Saengroj has already been charged over allegations he had sexual intercourse with a girl under 15 years of age who was not his wife and taking away a child from their guardian for sexual purposes.

Police said that Saengroj will be remanded in custody at Surat Thani Provincial Court until the trial due to concerns over potential interference in the investigation.

After investigation, the two suspects will be released without any surety as they surrendered voluntarily before being summoned.
Kyiv warns Russia will step up Donbas fight

KYIV: Ukraine warned yesterday (July 11) that Russian forces were preparing to intensify their fight for key cities in the Donbas, as President Volodymyr Zelensky bitterly accused Canada of undermining sanctions against Moscow.

RussianUkraineviolencedeathmilitarypolitics

By AFP

Tuesday 12 July 2022, 10:46AM

Firefighters work to put out a fire in a house after a suspected missile attack of a residential area in Kharkiv yesterday (July 11). Photo: Sergey Bobok / AFP

In eastern Ukraine - the focal point for a grinding Russian offensive - the death toll from a weekend shelling of an apartment building in the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region rose to 33, according to emergency services.

Dozens of rescuers could be seen working amid the ruins of the partially destroyed building yesterday, aided by a mechanical digger.

Earlier in the day deadly Russian rocket strikes slammed Kharkiv, the countrys second city, in a targeted attack on a shopping centre and civilian residences, regional chief Oleg Synyegubov said.

Prosecutors in his region said six civilians were killed, including a 17-year-old and his father, who were driving past at the time of the attack, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

The Ukrainian army warned, meanwhile, that Russian troops were likely planning to launch some of their heaviest attacks yet in the Donetsk region.

There are signs of enemy units preparing to intensify combat operations in the direction of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut, it said, referring to two main cities still under Ukrainian control.

The latest attacks in Ukraine came as Europe braced for deeper cuts in gas supplies from Russia.

Yesterday Russian gas giant Gazprom began more than a week of routine maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline - with Germany and other European countries watching anxiously to see if the gas comes back on.

Over the weekend, Ottawa agreed to deliver to Germany a turbine that was undergoing maintenance in Canada, whose absence Russia had blamed for a decrease in supplies.

The move by Canada, which came despite sanctions in place against Russia and appeals from Ukraine, prompted Kyiv to summon Ottawas ambassador.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to summon Canadas envoy to our country due to an absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia, Zelensky said in his daily address on Telegram.

Germany and other European countries are casting a worried eye on energy supplies after Italys Eni and Austrias OMV said Gazprom was further reducing the supply of gas.

After Russias invasion of Ukraine in February, Germany suspended certification of a second pipeline, Nord Stream 2, as fears grew over Europes massive dependence on Russian gas.

No safe place

Russian state-run news agency TASS reported meanwhile that the pro-Moscow head of the Russian-occupied village of Velikiy Burluk in Kharkiv had been killed after his car was blown up.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed more than 300 Ukrainian combatants had been killed in a Russian strike near Chasiv Yar, without giving a date.

Moscows slow advance into the east - despite fierce Ukrainian resistance emboldened by recent deliveries of Western-supplied artillery - contrasts with their failure to capture the capital Kyiv at the start of the invasion.

In Bucha, a town outside Kyiv, 36-year-old web designer Maxim said just three months ago, Russian soldiers were rummaging through his home and sleeping in his childrens bedroom.

In this atmosphere, I feel like nothing can happen and that life is normal, he said, sitting with his family outside his home.

But we know theres a war and theres no place safe in Ukraine right now.

With no end to the fighting in sight, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a visit to Kyiv said his country would supply Ukraine with more long-range artillery and an aid package worth 200 million euro ($201 million).

Western weapons - in particular precision, long-range artillery - were already changing the course of the war, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said earlier yesterday.

But Moscow was also receiving a weapons boost, with Iran planning to supply hundreds of drones with combat weapon capabilities to Russia for use in Ukraine, a top US official said.

Another encroachment

In a bureaucratic swipe at Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree yesterday to fast-track citizenship for all Ukrainians.

The foreign ministry in Kyiv hit back calling it another encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, incompatible with the norms and principles of international law.

The decree builds on previous orders - including one issued earlier in the invasion - making it easier for Ukrainians living in Moscow-occupied territory to receive Russian passports.

Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, strongman Alexander Lukashenko, meanwhile discussed possible joint measures against neighbouring Lithuania over its illegal transit restrictions affecting Moscows exclave of Kaliningrad.
Swiss sailor adrift off Koh Yao Yai declines assistance

PHUKET: A Swiss sailor on a yacht diasbled by engine failure off Koh Yao Yai has declined assistance from a Royal Thai Navy patrol to be towed back to safe harbour.

marineSafety

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 12 July 2022, 10:09AM

Navy patrol boat Tor 233 was informed of the sailing yacht adrift without engine power at midday yesterday (July 11) and arrived to find the yacht halfway between Koh Naka Yai and Koh Yao Yai, east of Phuket, at about 1:30pm.

Strong winds and the swell of 1-1.5 metres prevented the Navy boat from pulling alongside due to concerns of damaging the yacht, the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command reported.

On board the yacht was a Swiss national named by the Navy report only as Mr Oliver, and his daughter.

Mr Oliver confirmed that he had informed the VTS operations at Chalong Pier of the yachts condition. His engine had overheated and failed. Parts had been ordered and were due to arrive in the coming days, said the Navy report.

Mr Oliver declined to be towed to port.

After confirming that Mr Oliver had enough supplies and drinking water on board, Navy boat Tor 233 resumed its normal patrols at 2:15pm, the Navy report concluded.
The Tops Markets store on Jefferson Avenue will reopen Friday, two months and one day after a racist mass shooting there killed 10 people, injured three and stunned the predominantly Black community.

The day prior, Tops officials and local dignitaries and guests will gather at the location for a memorial ceremony to mark the two-month anniversary of the tragic events of May 14.

They also will offer a moment of silence and prayer at 2:30 p.m. to honor all victims and affected Tops associates and community members, Tops said in a statement. A preview of the store will be held for guests and members of the media that day.

The reopening of the store at 1275 Jefferson Ave. on Friday will be done quietly and respectfully, Tops officials said.

Tops opened its Jefferson Avenue supermarket 19 years ago after residents for more than a decade had been calling for a full-service grocery store in their neighborhood, which has long been considered a food desert.

We desperately need a supermarket open to ensure that we are addressing food insecurity and because of the fact that this area of East Buffalo is a food desert, said Ulysees O. Wingo Sr., who represents the Masten District, where the Tops is located.

Based on the conversations Ive had, Tops is being as intentional as I believe they can possibly be in reopening to ensure theyre not disrespecting anyone and trying to ensure they are showing compassion and sensitivity to what transpired, he said.

Tops officials had said last month they were hoping to have the Jefferson Avenue store reconfigured and reopened by the end of July. Work on the interior and exterior has been ongoing since then.

Despite calls from some community members and local leaders for Tops to open in another location on the East Side, sparing people from going into the same place where so much carnage occurred, store officials have been steadfast in their vision to reopen and refurbish the current store.

John Persons, president of Tops, has said if the highest priority for Buffalos East Side is to provide the community with fresh food options as soon as possible, the best way to approach that is to remodel the Jefferson Avenue store.

We sort of internally coalesced around that thought early on, because the process for us or anybody to open a new store in that area would be years, Persons said in an interview last month.

Frank DeRiso, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local One, representing Tops workers, said the employees at the store are excited about returning and most of them will be back. But that excitement doesnt come without some apprehension, he added.

DeRiso recalled that some of the employees who were in the store during the shooting got upset while on site for the renovations when hearing jack hammering going on, but since theyve been able to come back and settle in.

Its going to be a completely different store, DeRiso said. Im sure theres going to be some apprehension but all in all, the way I understand it, the company has committed to everyone coming back to work.

Wingo said hes also spoken with several of the employees of the Tops on Jefferson Avenue, including someone who attends the same church he does, and believes they are ready to get back and see all the familiar faces that frequent that store  considered by many in the community as a gathering place.

The staff is looking forward to regaining the fellowship they have with residents, Wingo said. Its going to be difficult, but at the same time, theyre looking forward to getting back to a sense of normalcy."

"This has never happened to our community before so because this is unchartered territory," he said, "I dont believe anyone could possibly have a fair assessment to whats too soon or too long.

DeRiso said that the company and union have made sure employees have been offered sufficient counseling. Tops has also paid employees during the two months the store has been closed. He also complimented Tops on contacting other grocery stores where this has happened, like in Boulder, Colo., and Collierville, Tenn., to have discussions about what it takes to reopen.

Ten people were killed March 22, 2021, at the King Soopers in Boulder, after a man opened fire inside the store. It opened more than 10 months later, but that timing was also affected by a workers strike. Then on Sept. 23, 2021, one person was killed and 13 injured at a Kroger supermarket in Collierville, and that store reopened about seven weeks after the mass shooting.

I think weve done everything we could, and I can only say that I hope contract negotiations go as well between me and the company as they did when it came to handling this issue, DeRiso said. Tops stepped up to the plate.

VOICE Buffalo has been one of the local organizations outspoken in saying that there are residents who will never go back into the Tops store at that location after all that happened there. Some say there should be only a memorial at the site and a new Tops should be built at another location in the community.

Sending people back into that place where people were massacred is the height of insensitivity, Deacon Jerome Wright, vice chair of the organizations board, said during a press conference in May.

Persons has said he understands the concern but building a new store would have taken years and been much more costly  all the while leaving the neighborhood without a grocery store.

In practical terms, thats just a very complicated endeavor if we want to service the community quickly, he said.

The best Tops could have done in opening a new store would have been getting it completed in two to three years, and that would be doing it pretty quick, Persons said.

For us, it was an easy decision, he said.
Today

Sunny skies. Gusty winds in the morning. High near 90F. Winds NW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 54F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.

Tomorrow

A mainly sunny sky. High near 95F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
An educator with local ties is set to be the new principal for Cato-Meridian Jr.-Sr. High School.

Jennifer Kelly was approved as the new leader of Cato-Meridian Jr.-Sr. High School by the Cato-Meridian Central School District Board of Education at a meeting Thursday, according to a district news release. Kelly most recently served as principal of Clyde-Savannah High School.

A Cato resident, Kelly has volunteered for district drama productions, strategic planning work and different committees. She is also the mother of a district alumnus and has a child currently in the junior-senior high school.

"Ms. Kellys passion for our community and school district was felt by our search committee," Dr. Terry Ward, the Cato-Meridian superintendent, said in the news release. "We are very excited for her to start as our Jr.-Sr. High School Principal."

The school board agenda for Thursday's meeting said Kelly's starting salary will be $108,000 a year, with a probationary appointment from Aug. 8, 2022 to Aug. 8, 2025.

Kelly replaces Amy Molloy, who was recently hired as an elementary school principal in the Oswego Central School District.
Have an interesting bit of news you'd like to see mentioned in the Along the Way column? Email it to Natasha Connolly at news@thesunchronicle.com.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- In the first half of 2022, German auto giant Mercedes-Benz witnessed its auto sales climbed up 6% over a year ago in the worlds largest auto market, China.

Photo credit: Mercedes-Benz

In the past six months of the year, Mercedes-Benz delivered over 985,200 vehicles worldwide. With at least 355,800 vehicles delivered, the Chinese auto market accounted for 36.11% of the groups global deliveries in the period.

In the second quarter of 2022, sales of the Mercedes-EQ series jumped 28% from the first quarter. In the meantime, the sales volume of the S-Class sedans saw an increase of 13% over a year ago, while sales of the Mercedes-Maybach luxury vehicles soared 62% compared to the same quarter of 2021, refreshing the same-period sales record.

Mercedes-Benz plans to launch 21 new models to the Chinese market in 2022, including 8 new energy vehicle models. The first China-made Mercedes EQE model, which recently rolled off the production lines in the automakers Shunyi factory, will hit the market within the year. Meanwhile, Chinese consumers will also see the first 7-seater EQ series SUV, the battery-electric EQS, on the market over the next several months.
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Wood River detention project advances WOOD RIVER  The East End Detention Project in Wood River is beginning to take shape after months...

Dry fields found throughout state SPRINGFIELD  More than a quarter of the state's corn and soybean fields need rain, according to...
CARLINVILLE  A Macoupin County man has pleaded guilty to a 2021 stabbing death in Virden.

On Tuesday Macoupin County State's Attorney Jordan J. Garrison announced that Dalton M.K. Obermark, 21, has pleaded guilty to first degree murder in the Feb. 1, 2021, stabbing death of John W. Rennie, 58, of Virden. Judge Joshua A. Meyer scheduled a sentencing hearing for Sept. 28.

"Mr. Obermark brutally killed John Rennie in his own home," stated Garrison. "While there is nothing we can do to bring John back, perhaps today's plea will help John's family and friends gain some measure of closure on this horrible chapter in their lives."

On Feb. 1, 2021, Virden Police responded to the 700 block of North Dye in Virden for a welfare check on Rennie. Upon arriving at the residence Virden Police Officers Harold Gist and Phyllip Kennedy found the garage door open and entered the residence where Rennie was found deceased, according to court documents.

Illinois State Police Zone 6 Investigations was contacted and took over the case, determining that on Feb. 1, 2021, Obermark met Rennie and went to his residence where Obermark stabbed Rennie multiple times in the head, neck, and torso.

According to court documents, Obermark took Rennie's car but ran out of gas in Tennessee and was taken into custody. He was extradited from Tennessee and has been held in the Macoupin County Jail.

Garrison thanked the Virden Police and Illinois State Police Zone 6, specifically Colin Subick, for their efforts in the case.
The arrival of a new baby is all-consuming. In the early weeks, your waking hours are a cycle of feedings, diaper changes and Googling Is it normal for a baby to (fill in the blank).

Mustering the energy  and attention span  for otherwise routine tasks like showering and paying bills can feel like a tall order. Youll be lucky to remember what day it is, much less when your next credit card payment is due.

Do your future, sleep-deprived self a favor and start prepping your finances early into your pregnancy so things can run on autopilot for a while after the baby arrives.

If you dont already have a budget, start there, says Cecilia Williams, a mother, certified financial planner and the chief operating officer of Halbert Hargrove, a financial planning firm.

Outline all your current income and expenses so you and your partner have a solid understanding of where your money goes each month, Hargrove says. This will absolutely need to be adjusted as you get closer to your due date, so having a starting point is priority No. 1.

Then build a plan for managing the other costs, large and small, that come with having a baby.

RESEARCH THE COST TO DELIVER YOUR CHILD

The price tag for childbirth is steep. The average cost for delivery can range from $10,000 to $20,000, depending on where you live. Even with insurance, new parents can expect to pay several thousand dollars out of pocket for maternity care.

Contact your insurer or the hospital where you plan to deliver to get more specific numbers. Then take a deep dive into your health care coverage to understand your coinsurance, deductible, maximums and coverage limits.

Anthem, United Healthcare and other major insurers have tools you can use to get estimates of total and out-of-pocket costs, based on your plan. Use these figures to set a realistic savings goal to cover them.

Have access to a flexible spending account? If timing allows, set your contributions to save incrementally, tax-free for your hospital bills. When hospital bills start rolling in, you can pay directly from your FSA or use a rewards credit card and submit for reimbursement.

PLAN AHEAD FOR PARENTAL LEAVE

Paid parental leave is far from guaranteed. In fact, only 11 states and Washington, D.C., have paid leave laws, some of which wont take effect for several years. And only 25% of employers offer some form of paid leave, according to a 2019 survey of employer health benefits by KFF, the nonpartisan health care think tank formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.

If you have paid leave through your employer, ask questions early. Find out how many weeks are covered and at what percentage of your salary. Do you need to use vacation and sick time first?

You also want to know when and how your benefits will be paid out, especially if theyll come from multiple sources. Trust me, you dont want to be one week postpartum emailing your benefits provider to unravel the logistics of your leave payments.

If you dont have access to paid leave, or youre planning to take additional unpaid time, practice living on the reduced income to the extent possible. This will help you identify optional expenses to reduce or eliminate and help you build a savings cushion before your babys arrival.

START PAYING FOR CHILD CARE

Child care is the single largest monthly expense for most new parents. Get a jump start by paying for day care well before your baby arrives.

Put the money into a separate savings account  ideally one that earns interest  every week or month. This helps you adjust to the new expense and allows you to bank a few months of child care costs that you can tap for upfront costs like deposits and application fees.

Not sure what child care costs in your area? Ask around your friend group or local parent group to get a sense of what day care, a nanny or other arrangements cost.

You can also build other baby essentials, like diapers, formula and wipes, into your budget now, making an educated guess. It doesnt need to be perfect; you can adjust down the road.

AUTOMATE BILLS AND CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS

Set any recurring bills to autopay, ideally from one account or credit card. If you can, go one step further and set that card to autopay, too.

Carly Campbell , a blogger and stay-at-home mother of two, says this was one of the best things her family did before welcoming their first child.

All the various bills were taken care of without our active attention, she says. We only had to check the bank account once per month to make sure there was enough for the lump-sum payment.

_____________________________________

This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Kelsey Sheehy is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: ksheehy@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @kelseylsheehy.

RELATED LINKS:

NerdWallet: Budgeting for New Parents: How to Build a Baby Budget
ALTON  Backpacks full of school supplies will be offered at Verizon stores in Alton, Granite City and Colllinsville on Sunday, July 31.

Round Room, LLC., the nations largest Verizon Authorized Retailer, is donating 140,000 backpacks full of school supplies as part of its 10th annual School Rocks Backpack Giveaway.
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JERSEYVILLE  Officials have extended a visa for Kateryna Savienkova, an exchange student from Ukraine attending Jersey Community High School.

Savienkova attended the school last year while living with her host family of Jim, Carla and Roanna Newton of Grafton. Her junior year in Jersey County included the usual school items, such as honor rolls, cross country and bowling. But her future remained uncertain because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Last month officials with the federal government and the organizations that support her exchange program announced Savienkova's visa has been extended. She will be allowed to attend Jersey Community High School for the 2022-23 academic year and continue to participate in the Future Leaders Exchange Program.

She now has a new host family. Zoe Chin is a teacher at Jersey Community High School who lives in Jerseyville with her husband, Tony, and their two children, Abby, 14, and Connor, 16.

We are honored to host Kateryna this year," said Zoe Chin. "She has fit right into our family as if she has always been here.

The Borderless Friends Forever (BFF) exchange organization works closely with host families, high schools and students.

"Kateryna is surrounded by love and grace in Jerseyville, said Crystal Allis, BFF executive director in Cary, North Carolina. We have been so impressed by the community there and the beautiful way in which you have all supported her. She has already grown so much throughout this year thanks to your support."

The images from Ukraine have been devastating, according to Savienkova.

Sometimes it was unbearable. she said. "The continuous anticipation of seeing your own community, school, favorite park or cafe being destroyed  the first few weeks I couldnt believe it was true. It is so horrible how you can get used to it.

Fortunately her family is safe. Her parents and grandparents on her mothers side are in the Ivano-frankivsk region of western Ukraine. She said they are amazingly strong and positive people who left their home in Kharkiv a couple of weeks after the war started and are now living in a friends summer house.

They did not expect any of this to happen," she said. "The war has made them mad, confused and sometimes lost.

In 2014 the family was forced to flee their home in Luhansk when Ukraine came under attack. Eight years later, they were forced to flee again.

Savienkova said her family was happy when they learned she would be staying in Jersey County.

"We are very thankful because right now there is no proper education or life for me in Ukraine," she said. "Sadly, it's easier and better for us to be separated for another period of time."

It's harder for her to learn about her classmates, friends and teachers. She doesn't know where exactly they are, but believes they are all over Europe  some still in Ukraine and some in the regions of the war.

Im wishing them all the luck," she said. "What I know is that all of them are optimistic about our future. Theyre planning to win, to come back and build up our beautiful Ukraine.

Savienkova said the Jerseyville area has embraced her in ways she never expected. On April 8 the school and community celebrated United with Ukraine Day.

"All these people gathered together to show that Ukraine is in their thoughts and souls," she said. "We were one strong body working together and relying on each other. We were world citizens on this day.

"It was not easy to open up to strangers and share my pain," she said. "I learned how relationships work, and how people can change your life when they want to."

Her move to Jerseyville will allow Savienkova to spend more time after school with friends and participate in additional activities that the distance living in the country with the Newtons wouldnt allow.

We are excited for the Chin family and know that Kateryna is in good hands," said Carla Newton. "Having an exchange student is very rewarding. Our experience with Kateryna has been memorable in so many ways.

"The war in Ukraine could never have been anticipated and under the circumstances these last many months have been extremely emotional," she said. "But we would do it all over again in a heartbeat. We were there for Kateryna during a time when she truly needed us. We are bonded and will be a part of her family forever.

When she does return to Ukraine, Savienkova said she will have a powerful message based on her Jersey County stay.

Ill tell them that I learned a very important lesson: people are powerful," she said. "People can get together and literally change this world. And we, Ukrainians, need to learn this from them, my Jerseyville family. Dont blame others and dont keep suffering from injustice. Be kind and go for it; take some actions. Its amazing how much we can do together, just amazing.

"These people entered my life and brought so much love," she said. "I will never let them go. We have so many great things to do together in the future, this is only the beginning.

I love these people so much," she said. "Not only my host family, but the entire Jersey community has become my big real family. I have friends, mentors and people who I will look up to forever.
Job Title: Consular Associate (Fresher High School Diploma Jobs)

Organisation: United States US Embassy, US Mission in Uganda

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

Salary: USD $38,894

Position Number: Kampala-2022-024T

About US Embassy:

The United States Embassy in Kampala, Uganda has enjoyed diplomatic relations with Uganda for over 30 years. Ambassador Natalie E. Brown currently heads the U.S Mission to Uganda. The Mission is composed of several offices and organizations all working under the auspices of the Embassy and at the direction of the Ambassador.

Among the offices operating under the U.S Mission to Uganda are:

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Peace Corps

Job Summary: Under the direct supervision of the Consular Officer, the Consular Associate is assigned a wide range of responsibilities in the American Citizen Services (ACS) Unit, Nonimmigrant Visa (NIV) Unit, Immigrant Visa Unit, and Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU). The jobholder provides consular services to U.S. citizens, conducts non-adjudicatory visa processing, and assists in investigation and validation studies. Incumbent also handles correspondence with the public, attorneys, U.S. and host governments, Congress, and other parties. Must be able to secure and maintain a Secret level security clearance.









Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

NOTE: All applicants must address each selection criterion detailed below with specific and comprehensive information supporting each item.

The applicants for the United States US Embassy Consular Associate job opportunity should have completed a High School. Required.

At least two years of office administration.

Must be able to input data in consular systems with minimum errors, and spot and correct errors made by others (applicants and fellow staff).

Demonstrated skills in MS Office Suite and general computer skills including information and database management.

Organizational skills, including task management and filing skills; communication skills including writing skills appropriate for drafting official correspondence and reports.

Ability to obtain and maintain a DOS Secret Security clearance.

Tact and good judgment in dealing with the public, often under difficult and sensitive circumstances.

Sensitivity in evaluating evidence and applying complex regulations correctly.

Ability to learn applicable U.S. and host country laws, regulations, legal precedents, and court decisions.

Good interpersonal skills.

Language: Level IV (Fluent) Speaking/Reading/Writing of English is required.

How to Apply:

All those interested in working with the United States Embassy, US Mission in Kampala should send their applications online at the link below.

Click Here

Deadline: 14th July 2022

For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- XPeng announced today its ecological chain member, XPeng Pengxing (formally known as "Pengxing Intelligence"), had signed an agreement for its Series A round with over $100 million raised.

According to XPeng, IDG Capital served as one of the leading investors of the fresh round, while XPeng also took part in this round.

Focusing on consumer-facing scenarios at first, XPeng Pengxing is dedicated to developing bio-inspired intelligent robots that can live with humans and popularizing them in numerous families, said XPeng.

Photo credit: XPeng

In early September 2021, XPeng Pengxing launched the third-generation prototype of its first intelligent robotic pony, which was internally code-named Xiaobailong ("little white dragon") and claimed as the world's first rideable intelligent robotic horse.

This unveiling of the smart robotic horse made technological breakthroughs over the previous four-legged robots in terms of power modules, motion control, intelligent driving, and intelligent interactions.

Founded in 2016, the Shenzhen-headquartered XPeng Pengxing has built R&D centers in Guangzhou, Beijing, and the Silicon Valley. It has made layouts in such fields as robot power modules, motion control, autonomous driving, human-machine interaction, and robot intelligence. As of June 2022, the company has more than 300 staff members, over 80% of which are R&D talents.
FILE - In this Aug. 18, 2011 file photo, commuters wait on the platform as a Metro-North train arrives in Bridgeport, Conn. Connecticut has boosted service along two Metro-North rail lines, a move that comes as ridership on the commuter railroad that serves Connecticut and New York moves closer to pre-pandemic levels. Gov. Ned Lamont announced six new express trains on the New Haven Line and seven new weekday trains on the Waterbury Branch Line began service on Monday, July 11, 2022.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has ordered U.S. and state flags lowered to half-staff in honor of a longtime Newtown fire chief who died after returning home from a call
The University of Maine System chancellor who came under criticism for his handling of staffing and restructuring will keep his job for another year
The well-remunerated chief executive of Heathrow, John Holland-Kaye, lives in a parallel universe.

As Britains busiest airport removed a further 61 flights from Mondays schedules, Holland-Kaye was extolling the virtues of his team in giving excellent service to the vast majority of passengers.

Many people travelling through the airport in recent days will have a different version of events.

Flight of fantasy: Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye said his team was giving 'excellent service to the vast majority of passengers'

At the weekend, I went to Heathrow to pick up a close family member arriving from Austin.

The BA flight left Texas late but made up the delay on the ten-hour red-eye to Heathrow. When it arrived at the UKs premier airport, the plane was held up for 20 minutes on the tarmac waiting for a place to disembark.

Passports were cleared rapidly. The same could not be said for baggage at Terminal 3. There was a two-hour wait for the first cases to trickle onto the belt.

At no point did the airport make any announcement as to what was happening, nor did the airline reassure passengers that their bags were on the way. If that is excellent service, one hates to think what happens on a bad day.

Holland-Kayes solution is to create more misery by cutting flights yet again. This is the same airport operator which has been seeking to raise landing charges, imposed difficult to navigate and challenge drop-off fees (the chief executive of a major FTSE 100 company was splitting blood about this last week) and higher parking charges.

The slower the baggage handling, the more outrageous the parking fees.

Heathrow is able to escape the slings and arrows of UK-based-and-owned infrastructure, as owners Ferrovial and a bunch of wealth funds are beyond the reach of most consumers.

Holland-Kaye says the inconvenience has not been acceptable. Nor is the slapdash operation of the airport, or the fact that last year Holland-Kayes remuneration package was 1.5million.

Adjustment to surging travel demand is difficult for all carriers and airlines. Wizz Air announced that it is cutting its summer flight plans by 5 per cent causing sending its shares lower.

But while so many operators are struggling, the no-frills carrier Ryanair, which decided to keep its staff intact during the pandemic, is proving the real winner in the sector.

Heathrows incapacity is bad for passengers, airlines and post-Brexit Britain.

The UK is an economy dependent on global services. Heathrow needs to be best of class if business travel, lifeblood of the City, is to grow.

Digital divide

Fintech is an area where Britain is a leader. It is unfortunate that many of the stars in this bright firmament are losing their dazzle.

Revolut operates with a Lithuanian banking licence and is struggling for UK approval. Kristo Kaarmann, chief executive of brilliant money transfer service Wise, is under investigation over chaotic personal taxes.

And buy now, pay later champion Klarna has suffered a calamitous decline in its worth. A year ago it was flying high with a funding round which lifted its valuation to 38billion.

After its latest fund-raising it is valued at 5.66billion. Klarna rode the ecommerce bubble in the pandemic and is suffering from declining discretionary spending on eplatforms.

In that it is still able to raise funds suggests the model is still seen as viable. Claims by chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski that the latest fund-raising is a testament to its strength, have to be taken with a large pinch of salt.

In much the same way as Wise has challenged the whole structure of overseas financial transfers, so Klarna is disrupting the opaque credit card market dominated by Visa, Mastercard et al.

Confidence that it is going to be the Amazon or Apple of finance is fading fast. Its best future may well prove to be as a cyber-banking arm of a Silicon Valley player or a consumer bank.

Keep tunnelling

Tory tax cuts, necessary to keep the economy running through global energy disruption, will have to be paid for.

Predictably, the enemies of 72billion HS2 are taking aim at the high-speed link from London to Birmingham and Manchester.

Public spending savings, if they are to be made, should come from spending not the capital account. The value of visionary investment is there for all to see in Eurotunnel and now the Elizabeth Line.

World-class infrastructure is a no-brainer for the nations future.
There is a deeply troubling example of the appalling way some firms treat bereaved customers doing the rounds on Twitter this week.

Four months after writer George Monbiot's mother died, Vodafone still hadn't cancelled her account.

He and his sister hold power of attorney for his elderly father, but Vodafone insisted on speaking to his dad. It demanded he provide his late wife's mobile phone number and the date the contract started.

Hardest time: A recent report by consumer group Fairer Finance found that many firms are still making it nigh on impossible for people to wrap up their loved ones' affairs

He didn't know this information and became extremely distressed. But without these details, the telecoms giant refused to help.

When the family finally cancelled the direct debit instead, Vodafone appointed a debt recovery agent to chase money they didn't owe.

'At no time, even in the first phone call, was there any expression of commiseration or sympathy, just outright hostility and aggression,' said Mr Monbiot. He has nearly half a million followers on Twitter, so you can imagine how quickly the firm's social media team leapt into action to solve his case.

But what's telling is the number of people who have posted similar tales on the site in response. One wrote: 'It was the threat of a debt recovery letter that broke me after my husband's death.'

Another shared: 'When my father-in-law passed away last year, I called up a network only to be asked if I wanted to upgrade.'

And it beggars belief how many people claimed firms had repeatedly asked to speak to the deceased account holder.

Money Mail has long campaigned for better treatment of the bereaved. We've made some good progress, with the launch of the Death Notification Service, which allows families to notify several companies with just one alert.

But we are still waiting for utility firms and insurers to sign up  which we were told would happen years ago.

A recent report by consumer group Fairer Finance found that many firms are still making it nigh on impossible for people to wrap up their loved ones' affairs.

Some companies still do not have dedicated bereavement helplines; others won't allow you to close an account online. And a number of investment firms even charge hundreds to pay out benefits.

Fairer Finance is calling on the Government and regulators to outlaw ongoing charges for customers when they die. It is also asking that firms provide quicker, easier ways for the bereaved to close family members' accounts.

It is surely not too much to ask.

Time for action

Thank you for all your emails and letters about rip-off tax rebate firms. As we reveal, the evidence you've provided is absolutely damning. It seems there really is no limit to the depths these companies will sink in order to prey on unassuming taxpayers.

So while I'm relieved HMRC has launched a consultation aimed at stamping out unscrupulous practices, as your experiences demonstrate, we can't afford to wait any longer for action.

Internet giants (namely social media) and the advertising watchdog must intervene  and fast.

If we can clamp down on misleading adverts, it will help stop these firms once and for all. In the meantime, keep your letters coming so we can continue to build a powerful dossier for the taxman.

It pays to fight

Finally, a good reminder of why you should always challenge banks if they refuse to refund money stolen by fraudsters.

One 90-year-old reader from Kent lost 2,000 after scammers convinced her she was helping to catch a crook at her building society.

She was instructed to make a series of withdrawals at her local branch. On her second visit, staff smelled a rat and called the police.

But she was denied a refund because she had withdrawn the cash herself. It was only after reading an article in this newspaper that she discovered she could complain to the Financial Ombudsman  which promptly ordered the building society to pay up.

She says: 'I feel fortunate, but it was because of the Daily Mail's advice and my persistence. I wish to thank you for all the work being done by reporters to clear this plague confronting everyone  especially the elderly.'

Thank you for your kind words.

v.bischoff@dailymail.co.uk
An activist investor who has built up a 4 per cent stake in troubled Purplebricks could push for an emergency meeting to force out the chairman if he does not stand down.

Lecram Holdings, an investment vehicle for investor Adam Smith, argued that urgent action is now essential to stabilise the [online estate agent] and restore its credibility within the investment community.

A letter to chairman Paul Pindar accused him of presiding over a highly unsatisfactory performance which has seen the share price plunge by 97 per cent from nearly 514p in 2017 to just under 15p on Friday.

Lecram Holdings, an investment vehicle for Adam Smith, argued that urgent action is now essential to stabilise Purplebricks and restore its credibility within the investment community

Shares climbed 2.3 per cent, or 0.34p, to 15.14p yesterday after the disclosure of Lecrams stake.

If the holding rises to at least 5 per cent, Smith will be able to call an extraordinary general meeting.

Lecram said it would if necessary use the statutory and regulatory mechanisms available to seek the support of shareholders for resolutions which we intend to lay before them in due course.

A Purplebricks spokesman said: We sought to meet with Lecram Holdings to discuss their concerns. They declined.

Its disappointing that they chose to go to the media rather than engage with us.

The spokesman said the company had implemented a number of initiatives to turn the firm around.

Purplebrickss next full-year figures have been delayed until August with the company pointing to an underlying loss of 8.8million.

Earnings have been dented by claims related to failings in how it dealt with tenants in its lettings business  an issue that cost the company 3.6million.
Twitter shares tumbled to their lowest level in four months as the row over Elon Musks aborted 37billion takeover of the platform continued to escalate.

The social media site dropped 11 per cent to $32.65 on Wall Street following reports it had drafted in lawyers to prepare for what is expected to be a nasty legal battle after Musk said last week he was walking away from a deal.

Twitter has hired New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to battle the founder of electric car maker Tesla and is preparing to file a lawsuit in the Delaware courts this week.

No deal: Twitter fell 10% on reports it had drafted in lawyers to prepare for what is expected to be a nasty legal battle after Elon Musk (pictured) walked away from a 37bn takeover

Musk, the worlds richest man, said he had decided to abandon his takeover of Twitter due to what he claimed were false and misleading representations from the social media site, particularly regarding how many of its user accounts are fake.

Wachtell is considered one of the best law firms in the world for litigating disputes when mergers and acquisitions turn sour.

Its lawyers are no stranger to Musks antics, with Wachtell previously defending the billionaire against a shareholder lawsuit relating to a bailout of energy firm SolarCity, part of his corporate empire.

Firms including auction house Sothebys and private equity giant KKR have also sought the services of Bill Savitt, one of the law firms partners.

Representatives for Musk claim that Twitter had failed to provide information on how it assessed the number of spam accounts on the platform.

The billionaire said as many as 20 per cent of Twitters 330million accounts were counterfeit, not the 5 per cent figure that Twitter claims.

But Twitters co-chief executive Bret Taylor insisted the board was committed to closing the transaction and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger.

In a note, analysts at US broker Wedbush said the situation was a nightmare scenario for Twitter and that its management team would face an Everest-like uphill climb to navigate the legal fight, which could last into next year.

This is going to be a long and ugly court battle, and casts a dark cloud over Twitters head in the near term, Wedbush said.

But the broker added the debacle would also be a black-eye moment for Musk, 51, and that many investors would continue to view the situation as a moment of buyers remorse.

In a nutshell, this is a code red situation for Twitter and its board, as now the company will go head to head against Musk in a Game of Thrones court battle, said Wedbush analysts.

Under the original agreement, Musk will need to pay Twitter a $1billion break fee for terminating the deal.

But the company may be looking to extract a higher price from the billionaire through the courts. Twitters stock surged in mid-April when it was revealed Musk had offered to buy the group for $54.20 per share.

But doubts about the high cost and market turmoil mean the share price has fallen by 24 per cent since the bid was announced.

Meanwhile, shares in Tesla, through which Musk derives most of his wealth from a 15.7 per cent stake, are worth 26 per cent less than before the saga began amid investor worries that owning Twitter would distract the billionaire from his duties as chief executive.

While Twitter and Tesla investors will be cursing Musk for their losses, short sellers, who make money by betting a companys stock price will fall, are likely to be sitting on profits.

One of them is Hindenburg Research, which in May warned there was a significant risk the price of the takeover would be reduced and that Twitters share price could fall by 50 per cent if the deal was scrapped.
The UKs largest care home chain paid out a 1.8million dividend to its private equity owners last year  despite losses deepening to 83million.

HC-One, which cares for more than 14,000 residents in 321 homes under the Kind Care Company brand, ramped up its average weekly fees by 22 to 792 in the year to September 2021.

The average resident is paying more than 41,000 per year  most with help from their local authority. But losses still grew to 83million from 68million a year earlier.

HC-One, which cares for more than 14,000 residents in 321 homes under the Kind Care Company brand, paid out a 1.8m dividend to its private equity owners last year

Despite tumbling further into the red, HC-One forked out 592,000 for its highest-paid director  almost double the 332,000 handed over a year earlier.

The package is thought to have gone to chief executive James Tugendhat  cousin of Tom Tugendhat, the MP running to be next leader of the Tory party  though HC-One did not disclose the recipient in its accounts.

Tugendhat took the reins at HC-One in 2020 from Sir David Behan, who became executive chairman following the departure of boss Justin Hutchens.

HC-One said the 332,000 paid a year earlier was not comparable, because it was not for a full years service.

In 2019, Hutchens was paid 809,000, and 469,000 the year before. But HC-One also handed a 1.8million dividend to its backers in the year to September 2021.

Its majority owner is US private equity firm Safanad. Investment firm Court Cavendish and another private equity house Formation Capital both own minority stakes.

Former Tory work and pensions secretary Baroness Altmann said: Its astonishing that a company thats making big losses, in an industry thats responsible for the very lives of some of the most vulnerable and frail people in our society, should be siphoning money offshore when the sector is in crisis.

There must be risks that some elderly people may lose their homes if the company is forced to either close homes or restructure in some way.

A spokesman for HC-One said: We have not paid a cash dividend to shareholders since 2017.

The 1.8million payment was an inter-company transfer used to pay off a previous loan, the spokesman added.

HC-One said its results for the year had been hampered by a fall in occupancy, as care homes slowed admissions during the second peak of Covid in January to March 2021.
Online trading platform Plus500 has once again lifted profit and revenue expectations as it continues to benefit from recent market volatility.

The FTSE 250-listed Israeli firm told investors that, despite lower volumes across financial markets, it had continued to attract and retain 'value customers' in the first half.

The company, which lets investors trade on complex financial instruments such as contracts for difference (CFDs) through its website and mobile app, saw a massive jump in the gains it makes on customers' trading positions.

It said that so-called 'customer trading performance' jumped 420 per cent to $171.6million, from $33million last year - landing it with 116million more from this at current exchange rates.

Plus500 is targeting more acquisitions 'with entry planned in a number of new markets'

The company closed the half year to the end of June with revenues up 48 per cent to $511million, while profit before nasties was up 63 per cent to $305.3million after a 118 per cent jump in the second quarter.

Customer numbers have fallen sharply from the heights of the pandemic, which triggered a meteoric rise in online trading.

Plus500 attracted 57,275 new customers during the half, compared to 136,980 in the same period a year earlier, with active customers also declining to 216,928 from 333,940 in the first half of 2021.

Plus500 said its push into the fast-growing US futures market was paying off, with the firm helping institutional clients 'in their trading, clearing and settlement activities'.

It is also about to launch a new trading platform for retail investors, it added.

The company entered the US last year after striking a $30million deal to buy American futures and options broking business Cunningham, which allowed it to branch out into this type of derivates.

In March this year, it also made its entry into Japan with the acquisition of EZ Invest Securities.

Today, it said it would continue to 'actively' target acquisitions, 'with entry planned in a number of new markets'.

Chief executive David Zruia, said: 'Plus500 continued to outperform in the first half of 2022, supported by positive momentum achieved in recent years and by the power of our market-leading proprietary technology.

'We made significant progress in delivering against our strategic priorities, in particular the major growth opportunities in the US, where we continue to make substantial investment.'

'The Board remains highly confident about the Group's performance for FY 2022, and therefore anticipates that Plus500's revenue and EBITDA for the current financial year will be ahead of current market expectations,' the company said.

It is the second upgrade from the company, which had already forecast in May that full-year revenue and profit would exceed market expectations.

Plus500 shares rose 2.3 per cent to 15.97 in early trade on Tuesday. They are up by around 15 per cent compared to last year.

The company handed investors some $60million in dividends and $105million through share buybacks.
The town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, is famous for its oysters, its beaches and its Interdependence Day parade. The parade takes place on the Fourth of July as neighboring Cape Cod towns are hosting their own celebrations, but only in Wellfleet is the notion of independence scrapped for the higher ideal of interdependence. It seems to me, especially given a recent turn of fortune that has put me on crutches, we could all use a little more acknowledgment of our interdependence.

A Vietnamese monk named Thich Nhat Hanh called it interbeing, this profound connection we have with one anothers actions, words and thoughts. Its not intentional, its a given. The Chilean butterfly flapping its wings stirs the sails of the boat on Hudson Bay. Indras net is a more familiar term. Its the weave of energy that binds all phenomena. Its invisible to many, though some of us have seen it. I have, and its stretchy and springy like a spiderweb. It fills a room, yet it cannot be perceived through touch.

Why bother with this? Why write about it? Because our minds understand us incorrectly when they understand us as being, acting and thinking alone. When a man pulls out a gun and starts shooting, he blasts a hole in the net, in the fabric, and trust and innocence slip through and seem to disappear. This might be an adequate definition of that ever-popular word trauma: The tearing of the fabric of trust that binds us.

But what can be rent can be sewn. This is the healing part of the equation. Recognizing the connection we have to the community of all things is, in Thich Nhat Hanhs words, Like a drop of water trusting the river. The man with the gun is part of that river, too. Hes the one who expresses the vitriol and self-hatred we all carry. Hes not outside us. Hes inside us, and hes sharing with us the torn fabric of his life.

Whats torn in my life right now has a name: the Achilles tendon. Dont ask, but yes, I did it playing Pickleball, a game invented for the older generation, I was told, though I saw no evidence of that on the court. Burly people stood in close proximity across a net and slammed a wiffle ball at one anothers heads and bodies. We could have been gladiators in the Roman Colosseum where the crowd-pleasing matches ended in deathor in my case, a limp off the court and a trip to the Emergency Room for confirmation that the largest tendon in my body was no longer in one piece. What about interbeing, I wondered, when calf muscle and heel ceased talking to one another? When leg and foot, such cooperative comrades in the fine art of walking, finally went their separate ways?

The story goes that the goddess Thetis, who gave birth to Achilles, exercised her motherly love by dipping her mortal son in the river Styx to make him invulnerable. This dipping wasnt foolproofshe had to hold him by the heeland that was where a mothers love failed him. Prince Paris, the bad boy responsible for starting the Trojan War, shot Achilles in the heel with a poisoned arrow and that was the end of him. But our hero found immortality after all, thanks to his heel and the metaphor that goes with it.

The story of Achilles teaches about weakness in spite of overall strength, but I see it differently. I see our strength arising from our weakness, our vulnerability. I see our vulnerability giving rise to our strength. Theres a new openness in me these days. In the two weeks since I became injured, Ive become noticeably more vulnerable. I cry more easily, I take almost nothing for granted. Too often I think about my next injury. Right now Im away from home but surrounded by family. They carry things for me, they cook, they take me to surgery and home again and assure me I can sit out this summer because there will be others. Dozens of friends in Arizona have offered to sweep and shop and drive for me when I return.

Theres a world of difference in sitting still. I feel my injury knitting up, the rules of interbeing at work in my body as well as my mind. I cant say too much about this because it doesnt form easily into words, but I feel the span of my life, its arc toward closing, and instead of filling me with fear this feels right and good to me. Theres a deep satisfaction and yes, a sense of interdependence. The fawn hopping through the field looking for its mama is at the beginning, and I am a good long way below the curve at the top, but the arc is the same, the arc is shared. All along that arc we have each others company, like it or not. Drops of water learning to trust the river. A butterfly flexing its wings to fill the belly of a sail.
Petropavlovsk has requested its shares be suspended on the London Stock Exchange after filing an administration order in efforts to protect the business.

The gold miner has appointed Opus Business Advisory Group to oversee the process, having been hit by financial sanctions placed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February.

Petropavlovsk, which is based in London but has most of its operations in Russia, has struggled to repay loans to sanctions-hit lender Gazprombank and signalled on Tuesday it is 'very unlikely' to do so.

The Russian miner has requested to suspend trading in London and Moscow following its application for administration

The miner, which is based in London but has most of its operations in Russia, has also requested to suspend trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

Petropavlovsk said it is unable to repay a $201million (170million) loan it owes to Gazprombank, which asked for immediate repayment in April, and will be unlikely to even service the debt in the near future.

It is also unable to meet obligations to note and bond holders, which are still owed $304million and $33million, respectively.

Petropavlovsk is currently in discussions to sell all of its subsidiaries and is in discussions with one potential buyer, while another has expressed interest in the sale.

However, the board has warned that there is no guarantee of a deal and even if a sale goes through there will be no return to shareholders given the level of the Groups indebtedness.

Over the past month the companys shares on the London Stock Exchange have fallen 13.04 per cent.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the international sanctions that followed, the firm has lost most of its value, with Petropavlovsk shares down 93.7 per cent since the start of the year.

The application for administration will be heard at the High Court in London in the coming days, although an exact date is not yet known.

According to evidence filed to the Court, at the end of June the Company had assets (listed at book value) amounting to $1.62billion; liabilities (including contingent and prospective liabilities) of $1.7billion; and net liabilities of $84million.

The Group has assets of around $1.68billion; liabilities (including contingent and prospective liabilities) of $1billion; and net assets of $673million, at the end of May 2022.
Softcat said Graeme Watt would become chairman in August

Softcat has been accused of acting like an old boys club after promoting its chief executive to chairman.

The software seller said Graeme Watt would become chairman in August next year, succeeding Martin Hellawell.

The move breaks the UK Governance Code set out by the Financial Reporting Council which says the same person should not be chief executive and chairman of a firm.

It is the second time Softcat has broken the code  Hellawell himself became chairman in 2018 after being chief executive.

A spokesman for Softcat acknowledged its decision was not in line with the code but the board was unanimous that Watts deep knowledge of the business, Softcats culture and its markets made him the ideal candidate.

But analysts said the company should widen its search, adding that the appointments resembled an old boys club.

Neil Wilson, analyst at Markets, said: Im surprised a tech company thinks this is acceptable any more.
Neil Woodford and his business partners appear to have given up on their venture.

Just two years after they launched Woodford Capital Management  also known as WCM Partners  the firm has applied to be struck off Britains register of companies, according to filings.

A string of long-time Woodford employees had left the business  some to join Curated Capital, an investment firm founded by Woodford ally Jonathan Adair.

Neil Woodford's recent venture Woodford Capital Management  also known as WCM Partners - has applied to be struck off Britains register of companies

The failure of WCM will come as another blow to the disgraced fund manager, whose original investment empire Woodford Investment Management (WIM) imploded in 2019.

He is still facing an inquiry from the Financial Conduct Authority into the debacle.

And angry savers who lost more than 1billion after his flagship fund was shuttered have launched a lawsuit against Link Fund Solutions, which was supposed to supervise Woodfords management of his funds. A spokesman for WCM did not respond to the Mails request for comment.

Adair, who previously held a technology position at WIM, initially reprised his role when Woodford made his comeback with WCM.

But he left last year and set up Curated Capital, which is registered to do business in the United Arab Emirates. WCM had been scoping out investors in the Middle East and Asia, City sources told the Mail.

But two sources said the firm was unable to gather enough support to get off the ground. WCMs relationship manager, Kristian Penttila, swapped WCM for Curated Capital earlier this year.

And Gavin Petken, another director of WCM, also left at the start of 2022. Yvonne Pownall, who had been head of human resources for WIM and did the same job at WCM, resigned at the same time and went to work for an analytics business.

Woodford himself was never registered as a director of WCM, despite the firm bearing his name.

He fell from grace when his flagship Woodford Equity Income Fund was suspended in 2019.

Link made the decision to shut down the fund, sell its assets and return the money to savers, after a string of decisions from Woodford caused a run of poor performance, which triggered investors to try and pull their money out.
Money Mail can today lay bare the devious tactics used by rebate firms to prey on unassuming taxpayers.

These unregulated companies operate with impunity  charging huge fees for tax refunds that customers could have claimed for free.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has finally pledged a clampdown and last month launched a consultation aimed at eliminating widespread, concerning practices. But it could be many months before any action is taken.

Unregulated companies operating with staggering impunity are charging huge fees for valuable tax refunds that customers could have claimed for free

In the meantime, these firms continue to shamelessly exploit online platforms to snare around 500,000 taxpayers every year.

We can also reveal the advertising watchdog is now so concerned about misleading tactics it is poised to launch its own investigation.

Last week we called on readers to share their experiences so we can submit a dossier to the taxman.

We were inundated with emails and letters  and your evidence of how firms target taxpayers is damning. Our investigation reveals how unscrupulous tax agents:

Pay for adverts to appear above HMRCs official website on major search engines.

Flood social media sites with misleading questionnaires that tie customers into iron-clad contracts.

Charge punitive fixed fees that can see taxpayers receive as little as 6.69 of a 218 refund.

Wrongly claim people have signed contracts and use signatures from old claims without their knowledge.

Bury crucial information about hefty charges within reams of confusing small print.

Hound customers with demands for payment and threaten court action.

Refuse to pass on refunds and ignore customer calls and emails.

Misleading ads

Scores of tax rebate firms pay to promote their services online via search engines and on social media. When Money Mail typed claim tax refund into Bing, the top four results listed  above HMRCs own website  were for third-party firms.

One agent, Fast Track Reclaim, charges a fee equivalent to 36 per cent of any refund claimed.

After searching for these firms, our social media accounts were soon flooded with more adverts. Many ads are masquerading as questionnaires that customers can use to find out if they are eligible to claim.

But we have heard from readers who discovered they had been locked into a contract without their knowledge after filling them in.

Some companies also use branding that bears an uncanny resemblance to government websites. One Facebook advert uncovered by Money Mail used the same green claim button as the official gov.uk site.

The firm in question, My Money Back, run by Ropto Ltd, was promoting work from home tax relief.

Short changed: Sylvia Windows received a miniscule 6.89 of her 218.43 marriage tax allowance rebate

It asked customers which years they worked through Covid and invited them to select one of three options. Anyone claiming a refund through the site would pay a 48 per cent fee.

Meanwhile, Salford-based Brooksdale Ltd, features a happy customer on its website, named Judith Black.

But Money Mail has found the same image being used online to promote dental clinics. These examples have been referred to the advertising watchdog.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirmed it is investigating another advert on the grounds it was falsely implying it was a government service. The regulator will launch a special project to tackle the wider issue of claims firms.

An ASA spokesman adds: Were in close discussion with HMRC on this issue and are aiming to launch a proactive project later this month to tackle misleading ads of this nature. As part of that, we will consider the examples Money Mail has sent us alongside other examples weve been collecting.

In the meantime, readers can report deceptive adverts to the regulator by calling 020 7492 2222.

HMRC adds that it has seen incidents of claims firms using its logo, a breach of crown copyright.

Unclear terms

Failing to show their terms and fees prominently is a fundamental flaw among rebate firms.

In some cases, the details of punitive charges are buried in thousands of words of small print.

HMRC itself found there was strong evidence that many taxpayers do not understand the terms they are signing up to.

Some firms also lock customers into contracts that allow them to claim refunds for up to four tax years. One firm, Tax Returned Ltd, claims to have won customers 11.5million since it launched in 2014.

Crackdown: HM Revenue & Customs last month launched a consultation aimed at eliminating widespread, concerning practices

A Facebook advert for the firm directs customers to an online form, which takes just a few minutes to complete. However, there is no mention of the fact it will pocket the greater of 50 or 28 per cent of any refund owed, plus VAT, until the final page of the form.

Even then, this information is in a pale grey font on a grey background which could be all too easily missed.

On the same page, it states customers are committing to the firm carrying out a yearly check to determine if they have overpaid tax.

It will then take a chunk of any valid claim in these future years.

Tax Returned says its fees are set out clearly and it is impossible for a client to submit an online application without ticking a checkbox agreeing to them.

Meanwhile, some firms only display fees if customers click through to a separate webpage. On one site, workingfromhometax relief.uk, which belongs to Total Tax Claims, you need to scroll to the bottom of the page and select pricing or terms.

Under terms, customers would find a 1,668 word document. My Money Back buried fee details in 4,000 words of small print.

Frightful fees

HMRC has no plans to limit the fees charged by rebate firms. However, some are so high they can strip away more than half the original payout.

This is because some refunds are relatively small but many firms charge minimum fees as high as 120.

Others charge seemingly arbitrary admin fees on top. Brooksdale Ltd and Victor Hydon Ltd, which trades as Your Claim Matters, both charge a 12 admin fee after taking 48 per cent of customers payouts.

In this scenario a taxpayer due a 150 refund would only receive 66 if they used the firm to make a claim.

Tax Returned advertises a minimum 60 fee, leaving a taxpayer with 40 out of a claim worth 100.

Shady tactics: Rogue firms are paying for adverts to appear above HMRC's official website on major search engines

Money Mail reader Sylvia Windows received just 6.69 of her 218.43 marriage tax allowance rebate from firm Mortgagesmiths Ltd.

The 66-year-old grandmother of one, from Rothwell, Northamptonshire, says she was unaware that the firm would pocket 42 per cent of any refund plus a 120 administration fee.

She does not remember signing a contract or seeing any terms and conditions. I was in absolute shock, she says. These companies are definitely taking advantage of peoples vulnerability at the moment. Im just so angry about it.

Beryl Gevaux was floored when she realised how much she had lost.

The 82-year-old grandmother of six, from East Sussex, had made a claim for missold payment protection insurance (PPI) with agent U Claim 4 Me in 2019. She was charged 20 per cent of the compensation paid plus VAT, which came to 168.

After being bombarded with letters and emails from the same company informing her she could also be owed a tax refund on her PPI payout, she agreed to make a claim and assumed the fees would be similar. Instead, she received just 368.61 of her 731.94 refund.

I expected to pay something for the service, but I did not expect that she says. I was gobsmacked.

Sneaky signatures

Several worrying reports have come from readers claiming they have been sent contracts they do not remember signing.

When challenged, firms provided documents with signatures that are unrecognisable to those who have supposedly supplied them. Derek Ansell, 73, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, says he did not recognise the signatures used on a contract with Total Tax Claims.

He says his signature used the wrong initials for his name and his wife Lindas looked nothing like how she usually signs her name.

Derek Ansell was due a 960 marriage tax allowance but was paid just 460.67 after falling foul of a rebate company in September 2021

It stunk from start to finish, he says. I question everything now.

Total Tax Claims pocketed 40 per cent of his refund plus a 100 fee  460.67 of the 960 owed. A Total Tax Claims spokesman says it had received a completed online application from the couple, and that it was done electronically which explains the discrepancy with the customers signature.

In some cases, it is suspected agents access signatures via affiliate companies linked to previous claims.

This is what happened to David Curtis, who received a letter from HMRC saying he was owed a 31.17 tax rebate for the financial year ending in 2019  but the cheque would be sent to Brooksdale Ltd.

The company name was completely unfamiliar to the 68-year-old from Treherbert, Wales. The firm emailed asking for his national insurance number and date of birth. David was so concerned he contacted HMRCs fraud department.

After Money Mail got in touch, Brooksdale Ltd contacted David.

The company explained he had made a PPI claim with their affiliate company The Claims Guys, which is how they had his information.

David says he does not remember agreeing to his details being shared.

He refused to provide his online banking details, so the firm agreed to send him a cheque for 16.21 after taking a cut of 48 per cent.

A Brooksdale spokesman says it cannot comment on individual cases. But he acknowledges the firm has a number of partnerships with claims management companies which refer customers.

David Curtis was due a 31.17 tax rebate, but was paid: 16.21 after Brooksdale Ltd took 48%

Alternatively, customers may have been asked to provide an electronic signature as part of an online application.

This is then replicated on a contract, which in many cases the taxpayer has never seen.

Meredith McCammond of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) says: People may think they are just giving their signature as part of the process of applying for a particular refund, but then that electronic signature is transposed onto other documents.

She adds that there is a serious question mark about whether documents created in this way are even valid and argues HMRC should not accept them.

One couple, who want to remain anonymous, say they were sent letters threatening legal action despite not making a claim.

They had entered their names, address and dates of birth into an online eligibility checker. But they later abandoned the enquiry and closed the website.

A few weeks later, they received a letter claiming they had broken their contract. The agent demanded the couple pay 300 or face court action. Yet when they asked to see the contract, they did not recognise the signatures.

Ms McCammond says LITRG has received reports of companies threatening taxpayers with legal action where the individual says they did not sign up for their services. It is an extremely concerning state of affairs, she says.

Left in the dark

You have complained in your droves about struggles to contact rebate firms.

Some agents do not have a direct phone number to call, or trade under a multitude of different company names. And many of you say you have not received a penny of your rebate despite calling and emailing.

RAF veteran Geoffrey Restall waited for over a year for a marriage allowance tax rebate from Touchstone Consultants Group Ltd after applying in June 2021.

The 79-year-old pensioner from Wythenshawe even visited the companys registered address in Manchester to get to the bottom of his missing cash.

He was told that it was just a satellite office and managers only visited once a week to collect post.

RAF veteran Geoffrey Restall waited for over a year for a marriage allowance tax rebate of 249

Although the company did then get in touch, he says they soon went cold on him and he had all but given up on the 249.20 owed.

A Touchstone Consultants Group Ltd spokesman says it had not received the money from HMRC but has paid Geoffrey the full amount as a gesture of goodwill.

Marilyn Duffield, on the other hand, has not received any of the 362 she is owed from a tax rebate offered to people working from home.

The 65-year-old from Tyne and Wear was shocked to discover the taxman already had a signed authority for a firm called Tax Credits Limited to claim on her behalf when she contacted HMRC. She says that she does not remember signing a contract or filling in an online questionnaire.

During the pandemic she was made redundant from her role as a business support administrator for a recruitment company. She says that the money would really help now she is approaching her retirement.

It is a worry, she adds. That 362 would go a long way. I would never have agreed for a company to take half of what I am due.

Reaping rewards

There are thought to be as many as 200 tax reclaim companies touting their services in the UK.

And firms highlighted by our readers are raking in hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

Quickly Finance Ltd, which trades as Fast Track Reclaim, made a 656,195 profit in the year to February 2021.In the previous 12 months, it made 669,018.

Its founder and director Colin Hartness, 59, previously told a local paper he drove a BMW 7 Series four years after launching his business in 2010.

Meanwhile, Lancashire-based Claim My Tax Ltd boasts of securing tens of thousands of claims in the past five years. Tax Returned Ltd says it has claimed back more than 320,000 refunds in the eight years it has been operating.

However, in 2018 it was fined 200,000 by the Information Commissioners Office for sending 14.8 million spam text messages.

moneymail@dailymail.co.uk
A stylish new banking hub in Essex was supposed to offer a glimpse into the future.

The concept was simple  five banks would share one High Street store where locals could pay their bills and deposit cheques free of charge.

It was seen as a lifeline for the market town of Rochford, which was left without any bank branch when Barclays closed its doors in 2017.

Checking out the service: Money Mails Helena Kelly visits the shared banking hub in Rochford, Essex

A similar hub was set up in Cambuslang, near Glasgow, with dozens more planned for towns up and down the country.

Yet the roll-out has been mired by delays  prompting even the City watchdog to admit it is frustrated.

The slow progress risks undermining an initiative that was meant to play a crucial role in protecting the nations access to cash.

As of this month, any community that has lost all its bank branches can apply for a hub of its own via cash machine network group Link.

The scheme is part of banking trade body UK Finances Community Access To Cash project, with day-to-day running of the sites managed by the Post Office.

But experts fear it may struggle to handle an influx of applications. It has been around 14 months since the hub in Rochford launched.

In December, Link said a further five were in development. Yet, eight months on, we are still waiting.

The painfully slow roll-out is at odds with the lightning speed at which banks are closing their doors. So far this year, 314 branches have shut down, according to Link. This is on top of 736 closures in 2021.

And, as I step into the Rochford Bank Hub, it is clear the project is facing teething issues.

It is a Friday morning and today is HSBCs official day. I am visiting with representatives from the Post Office and the Financial Conduct Authority to discuss the merits of community banking.

Outside, the store looks slick and professional. It is painted black but is emblazoned with the familiar red Post Office logo. Inside, it is clean and welcoming  if slightly dark.

There is a counter in the left-hand corner and an ATM opposite. At the back of the room is a door leading to a second office where two HSBC employees sit.

I think it needs to be better advertised, one worker says.

And we need better technology. We dont even have a landline at the moment.

Some basic services  such as cash deposits  are available to all customers throughout the week. Each of the five major banks send representatives to help with more complicated inquiries on its appointed day.

On Monday its NatWest, on Tuesday Lloyds, Wednesday is Santander, Barclays has Thursday and HSBC Friday. Each firm pays towards the hubs running costs.

Closures: So far this year, 314 branches have shut down, according to figures by cash machine network group Link. This is on top of the 736 closures in 2021

Barclays day is by far the most popular  largely because it had such a big presence in the town previously.

HSBC employees are frustrated they do not draw the same crowd, claiming locals are unaware of what services the hub can offer.

One elderly HSBC customer, for example, travels for more than an hour to her nearest bank branch in Rayleigh  even though she lives closer to the Bank Hub.

As we speak, a man pops his head around the door. He asks the adviser if he can print out a bank statement to which he receives a firm No.

We dont have any printers here, says Ross Borkett, head of banking at the Post Office. Hed have to go to a branch for that.

Mr Borkett defends the scheme. He says: This is designed to get the conversation started. We know there are teething issues but if we prove a project like this works then we can convince the banks to invest more into it.

Indeed, the Bank Hub does have some very enthusiastic fans.

Local resident Barbara Cranfield, 67, says: My generation find it really helpful. I do use online banking but I like being able to go in and speak to somebody.

Customers using the service in Essex and Scotland made more than 11.6 million of cash withdrawals and deposits in the first year it launched.

Kelly Fossett, 50, who works behind the till at the Rochford branch, says: The community loves it. One lady comes in every day just for a chat.

However, when I ask Kelly, who previously worked at a Barclays branch nearby, if the hub works as well as a traditional bank, there is an uncomfortable silence.

Eventually she asks: Do I have to answer that?

In town, it is clearly making a difference. One coffee shop owner in Rochford says he was going to stop accepting cash but changed his mind after the hub was launched.

Jason Macaree, a butcher, adds: A project like this will save a lot of High Streets.

Campaigner Derek French, who has been calling for community banking services for decades, says: The Bank Hub roll-out is far too slow. If the banks can get away with closing branches without having to pay their individual shares of hub costs, they will be laughing all the way to the bank.

My visit to the site here in Rochford was amid a turbulent week for the banking sector. Halifax had found itself at the centre of a culture storm after revealing its employees would be kitted out with pronoun badges specifying which gender they prefer. When customers complained, the bank said they were welcome to close their accounts.

Its easy to see why people feel frustrated. On the one hand, banks are falling over themselves to prove how right-on they are about social issues.

At the same time, they are shutting down branches in their droves, ignoring the catastrophic effect this has on local communities.

I mention this disconnect to Sheldon Mills, a director at the FCA, who is accompanying me on my visit to the Bank Hub.

He says: We can see that this type of community banking service is needed. Things are moving in the right direction but we know we need to go faster.

h.kelly@dailymail.co.uk
MONDAY, July 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- As the coronavirus continues to evolve, a new highly contagious omicron variant is appearing in India and other nations, including the United States, experts say.

This new mutation -- dubbed BA.2.75 -- is concerning scientists because it appears to spread fast, bypassing the protection offered by COVID-19 vaccines and immunity from previous infection, the Associated Press reported Monday. But whether it can cause more serious disease than other forms of COVID-19 is not clear, the experts said.

"It's still really early on for us to draw too many conclusions," Matthew Binnicker, Ph.D., director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told the AP. "But it does look like, especially in India, the rates of transmission are showing kind of that exponential increase."

Shishi Luo, Ph.D., is head of infectious diseases for the company Helix, which supplies viral sequencing information to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Luo told the AP that seeing this new variant popping up around the world "is an early indication it is spreading."

In addition to India and three recent cases in the United States, BA.2.75 has been detected in 10 other countries, including Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

Experts worry that this variant can more easily bind to cells and evade the body's protective antibodies. But vaccines and boosters are still the best defense against severe COVID-19, the news report noted. Reformulated vaccines that target more recent omicron variants should be available in the United States this fall.
Lucinda Andreani, Coconino County deputy manager, and Neil Chapman, City of Flagstaff Wildland Forest Health Specialist, have been named to the federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission (WFMMC) to assist in improving federal policy surrounding wildfire management.

This commission was established in December 2021 as a provision of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is comprised of federal and non-federal representatives. More than 500 people applied to the 36 non-federal seats that represent the state-level, tribal, local and private sector. Andreani has been named the commissions primary country government representative, and Chapman has been named the alternate municipal government representative.

These appointments were applauded by Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who helped introduce legislation that established the WFMMC alongside Utah senator Mitt Romney.

Our state and country are fortunate to have these talented Arizonans named to the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, Kelly said via press release. As we face yet another devastating wildfire season, our work to establish this commission will give Arizonans a larger voice on how the federal government can better prevent and combat damaging wildfires.

In 2021 alone, more than 500,000 acres burned in Arizona, damaging homes, small businesses and agricultural properties, according to the National Interagency Fire Council. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also shaped by Kelly, will invest $8.25 billion to protect communities against wildfires, support wildfire recovery efforts, and reduce hazardous fuels on federal, state and tribal lands.

According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, the WFMCC will be tasked with forming federal policy recommendations and strategies on ways to better prevent, manage, suppress and recover from wildfires, and provide recommendations for aerial firefighting equipment needs.

When it comes to recommendations for federal policy, the City of Flagstaff has a lot to offer, Chapman said. He points to the innovative partnerships such as those embodied in the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project (FWPP). According to the project site, the FWPP is one of only a handful of examples in the country where forest restoration work on the National Forests is being funded by a municipality, and the only known instance where such an effort is funded from municipal bonds.

Chapman also notes that the Flagstaff Fire Department implemented Arizonas first Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) and has been a core member of the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network (FAC Net) since 2019.

We look forward to continuing the TREX and FAC Net programs while sharing lessons learned from our municipal fire department perspective to help federal agencies better manage the fire adapted landscapes that surround our community, Chapman said.

Andreani sees her appointment as an opportunity to influence numerous federal policies that can support expediting forest restoration projects, which are critically needed to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires and severe and repetitive post-wildfire flooding to our communities.

I also hope to gain insights from the broad range of experts on the commission, Andreani said, adding that she hopes such insight will benefit our Flood Control District's Forest Restoration Initiative to be as successful as possible.

Other members of the WFMCC include representatives from a broad range of backgrounds, such as tribal governments, public utilities, social sciences and more. Representatives hail from an equally broad range of states including California, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Montana, North Carolina, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Massachusetts and New Mexico. Recommendations from the commission will be due in a report within a year of its first meeting, which has yet to happen.
Ukraine said on Tuesday it had carried out a successful long-range rocket strike against Russian forces in southern Ukraine, territory it says it is planning to retake in a counter-offensive using hundreds of thousands of troops.

According to Ukraine, the strike hit an ammunition dump in the town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region and killed 52 Russians. It came after Washington supplied Ukraine with HIMARS mobile artillery systems which Kyiv says its forces are starting to use with ever greater efficacy.

A Russian-installed official in Kherson gave a different version. He said at least seven people had been killed in the Ukrainian attack and that civilians and civilian infrastructure had been hit.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

The area Ukraine struck is one that Russian forces seized after launching on Feb. 24 what Moscow called a special military operation and is of strategic importance with Black Sea access, a once thriving agricultural industry, and a location just north of Russian-annexed Crimea.

Ukrainian government officials have spoken of efforts to marshal up to 1 million troops and of their aim to recapture southern parts of the country under Russian control which they have said are important for economic and political reasons.

Based on the results of our rocket and artillery units, the enemy lost 52, an Msta-B howitzer, a mortar, and seven armoured and other vehicles, as well as an ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka, Ukraines southern military command said in statement.

Unverified videos posted on social media showed smoke and sparks, followed by an immense fireball erupting into the night sky. Pictures showed rubble strewn across streets and scorched buildings.

Images released by Russian state media showed a wasteland covered in rubble and the remains of buildings.

An official from the Russian-installed local administration said that Ukraine had used HIMARS missiles in the strike and that they had destroyed warehouses containing saltpetre, a chemical compound which can be used to make fertilizer or gunpowder, resulting in a large explosion.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond a request for comment about the kind of weapon used.

Vladimir Leontyev, head of the Russia-installed Kakhovka District military-civilian administration, was cited by Russias TASS news agency as saying that at least seven people had been killed in the attack and around 60 wounded.

There are still many people under the rubble. The injured are being taken to the hospital, but many people are blocked in their apartments and houses, Leontyev was quoted by TASS as saying.

He was also cited as saying that warehouses, shops, a pharmacy, gas stations and a church had been hit.

Unverified reports on social media said the strike had killed several senior Russian military commanders.

COUNTER ATTACK PLANS

Russia has accused Ukraine of shelling its own people in territory of which it has lost control. Ukraine says it evacuates as many people as possible from areas seized by Russian forces in what it and the West have cast as an unreconstructed attempted imperial-style land grab by Moscow.

Kyiv and the West say Russias own strikes have been indiscriminate, killing civilians and levelling city districts.

Moscow denies targeting civilians but many Ukrainian cities, towns and villages have been left in ruins as Europes biggest conflict since World War Two grinds towards the five month mark.

Russia has tried to introduce the rouble in Kherson and is offering Russian passports to locals who will take them.

Russian-installed officials say they also plan to hold a referendum on the region becoming part of Russia but have not yet set a date.

Ukraines deputy prime minister on Sunday urged civilians in Kherson to urgently evacuate as Ukraines armed forces were preparing a counter-attack there.

Its clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling and we therefore urge (people) to evacuate urgently, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television.

She said she could not say when exactly the counter-offensive would happen.

I know for sure that there should not be women and children there, and that they should not become human shields, she said.

Ukraine is itself bracing for what it expects will be a massive new Russian offensive in the east of the country where Moscow says it is determined to take control of all of the industrial Donbas region.

Russian forces have for weeks been shelling parts of the Donetsk region, which is part of Donbas, and are expected to launch an assault on the eastern city of Sloviansk.

After Russia failed to quickly take Ukraines capital Kyiv, its forces turned to the Donbas, whose two provinces Donetsk and Luhansk have been partly controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

Russia now controls all of the Luhansk region and some of the Donetsk region. Russian President Vladimir Putin aims to hand control of the Donbas to the separatists whom Kyiv says are Russian-controlled puppets, a charge they deny.

SOURCE. REUTERS
MALTA  GlobalFoundries, which is expanding its microchip-making footprint in Saratoga County, is also partnering on a new factory in Crolles, France.

The company is joining Swiss-based STMicroelectronics to build the new plant, which will be partially funded by the French government.

It will use much of the $6.8 billion that French President Emmanuel Macron plans to spend on boosting his countrys chip capacity, according to the Reuters news service. GlobalFoundries and STM announced the deal on Monday.

Both the U.S. and European Union are pushing for more chip factories to ease global supply chain shortages and reduce dependence on Asian-made chips. Governments on both sides of the Atlantic are looking at large subsidies to get this done.

The new French plant will be next to an existing STM facility and is expected to create up to 620,000 silicon wafers annually when it reaches capacity in 2026.

The precise amount that the French government is kicking in hasnt been disclosed and it will be combined with money from the EU.

Chipmakers globally fell behind demand following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when people started working from home and consequently began purchasing more computers and electronics.

A variety of industries, including auto manufacturing, have been slowed by the shortage of computer chips.

In Malta, GlobalFoundries is expanding, with plans for a new plant, dubbed Fab 8.2. The company plans to buy the remaining available land at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County as part of its expansion.

Fab 8.2 is expected to cost between $6 billion and $8 billion.

Those plans come amid a push in Congress to pass a subsidy package to help U.S. chip makers compete globally.

Lawmakers from New York and the Capital Region have been urging their colleagues to pass the stalled $52 billion CHIPS act, which would move the subsidies forward.
ALBANY  We all want to put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror. No sane person has any desire to relive all that COVID-19 wrought.

A problem, though, is that many unanswered questions remain about New York's infamous order that pressured nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients  and about the state's response to the pandemic more broadly. New York can't just sweep all that happened under the rug and pretend everything went well. It didn't.

So, it was heartening when Gov. Kathy Hochul finally confirmed in May that her administration would be working with outside consultants to examine "every aspect" of the state's response to the pandemic.

And yet, as recent reporting by the Gotham Gazette has noted, there are no outward signs of progress in the days since. The lack of action has led, quite reasonably, to allegations that a certain someone is dragging her gubernatorial feet.

"This is stall-ball," state Senator James Tedisco, a Republican from Glenville, told me Monday. "There's an election coming and they don't want to talk about difficult things."

The calculation, from Tedisco's view, is obvious: Since Democrats were in charge of the Legislature during the pandemic and granted former Gov. Andrew Cuomo the powers he abused, any honest, independent investigation will help the GOP in November. So delay, delay, delay.

Of course, we already know much about the scandal in which the Cuomo administration underreported nursing home deaths in an apparent attempt to deflect criticism from the state Department of Health order  issued March 25, 2020  that pressed the facilities to accept COVID-19 patients, even though they were expressing concerns about the potential impact of doing so.

For months and months, Cuomo's crew refused to say how many nursing home patients had died, until a scathing report from Attorney General Letitia James called them on the carpet for the undercount. We subsequently learned that the administration even scrubbed the accurate fatality number from an official state Department of Health report.

Most troubling, and scandalous, is that the effort seems to have been about burnishing Cuomo's reputation just as he was working to secure a $5.1 million deal for his pandemic memoir. An impeachable offense, for sure.

Yet as you've probably heard, Cuomo is no longer governor. And he isn't running for anything.

Meanwhile, the James investigation was followed by another from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli that nicely detailed how the administration misled the public.

What's the point, then, of investigating anew?

I asked Bill Hammond about that. As the senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy, he's followed this stuff as closely as anyone and believes there is still much we don't know about the nursing home scandal and the state's overall pandemic response.

Among the lingering questions: Why were nursing homes pressured to take COVID-19 patients when hospitals were not overwhelmed? Were alternative plans discussed? And if so, why were they dismissed?

Hammond also mentioned other questions that, to his mind, are more significant. Such as: Why did New York's COVID-19 cases go undetected for so long in the early days of the pandemic, allowing the virus to spread unchecked? Why did the reporting system for viral infections in nursing homes break down?

And what, exactly, happened with the state's stockpile of medical supplies, including the many materials that were beyond their expiration dates at the start of the pandemic? Why was New York so poorly prepared?

Those and many other questions need answers, Hammond said, but he is among those worried that the governor's office is seeking to avoid the task. (According to a Hochul spokesperson, the administration is "currently finalizing the scope of the Request for Proposal to achieve a meaningful review.")

"I thought it would be one of the first things she did when she got into office, to clear the air," Hammond said. "It is a really important thing to do."

Indeed, failing to thoroughly investigate would be an unconscionable act of malpractice, in part because COVID-19 will not be our last novel infectious virus. To avoid repeating mistakes, we need the honesty and transparency required to fully understand what went wrong and why  the sooner, the better.

But honesty and transparency have rarely been hallmarks of state government. And as noted by Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Democrat from Queens, powerful interests and campaign contributors often are served poorly by transparency.

"Nothing has changed in terms of who the big players are and who has the governor's ear," said Kim, who joined with Tedisco to introduce a bill that would have mandated an investigation into the state's handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes. Alas, it stalled in committee.

Will Hochul's promised investigation also stall?

At the risk of naivety unbefitting a newspaper columnist, I'll give our governor the benefit of the doubt. Snicker if you want, but I'm going to assume she really does want a thorough investigation of the state's pandemic response and how it impacted nursing homes.

Given what New York's been through and what's at stake, no governor could possibly duck such an important task. Right?

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
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ROTTERDAM  The biological father of the 6-year-old boy on the autism spectrum who drowned Sunday in a pond near his Washington County home learned of his sons death by watching the local news.

Brian Hall, 40, said he put Onnex Hall and his older brother, who also has a disability, up for adoption just months after Onnex was born. At the time Hall was a single father with custody of both boys. He knew he couldnt care for both of them properly, he said

The adoption was an open one, which meant Hall could visit and see his son. Hall said his son enjoyed drums and animals but loved fishing. The adoption paperwork was finalized just weeks prior to the boy's death.

Hall said Monday afternoon he had not spoken with Onnex's adoptive parents.

Ive called three times, he said. I just wish someone had called me, I wouldve driven up there and helped look for him."

The Times Union has been unable to reach the child's adoptive parents.

Hall said he has questions, including why it took law enforcement so long to find the boy and why no one searched the pond, given his sons love of fishing. Onnex was wearing an ankle monitor that is meant to help searchers find missing children with autism and other special needs.

State forest rangers found the boy just before 6:30 p.m. on Sunday in a pond near his home.

On Tuesday, State Police confirmed the boy was wearing a Project Life Saver bracelet when he went missing. The troopers and Washington County sheriff's deputies were unable to locate the radio frequency the bracelet gave off, though it is unclear why.

State Police referred other questions about the bracelet to the sheriff's office.

Searchers relied on information from Onnex's adoptive parents and witnesses who saw the boy, who was barefoot and wearing only a diaper when he disappeared around 10:40 a.m.. After searchers were unable to get a signal from the Project Life Saver bracelet, a K9-officer tracked the boy's scent to a large pond. State forest rangers followed footprints in the area toward a smaller pond where they found the boy's body.

Monday evening, about 20 people gathered in a park near the school Onnex attended in Rotterdam to pay their respects.

The group of women and children, as well as a police officer involved in the search, lit candles and talked among themselves.

Shawna Karwan, who organized the vigil, said she didnt know Onnex or his family but one of her sons is on the autism spectrum.

It really just hit home, she said. My son is autistic and hes not much older than that little boy.

Onnex's biological mother stopped at the vigil briefly to light a candle. She did not speak with the media.

Darlene Geloso, whose 35-year-old son is on the autism spectrum said she felt compelled to come to the vigil as a show of support for the family. Geloso said many people dont realize how common drownings are for children with autism.

They like the water and they go in and they just somehow get stuck  they don't have the safety awareness and that's how the accidents happen, she said.

The Crossroads Center for Children in Schenectady posted on social media Sunday that Onnex was a student there and has set up a fundraiser to help the family with funeral expenses.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the New York State Police Troop G Headquarters at 518-583-7000.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  Hershel W. Woody Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin said.

Afterward, Williams will be recognized at a wreath-laying ceremony at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall.

Williams, who died on June 29 at 98, was a legend in his native West Virginia for his heroics under fire over several crucial hours at the battle for Iwo Jima. As a young Marine corporal, Williams went ahead of his unit in February 1945 and eliminated a series of Japanese machine gun positions. Facing small-arms fire, Williams fought for four hours, repeatedly returning to prepare demolition charges and obtain flamethrowers.

Later that year, the 22-year-old Williams received the Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman. The Medal of Honor is the nations highest award for military valor.

The ceremonial arrival for Williams casket will begin at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. From 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Congressional leadership will speak, and West Virginia lawmakers Manchin and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito will present a wreath.

At 3:30 p.m., Williams' casket will depart the Capitol, followed by the wreath-laying ceremony at the National Mall. Both ceremonies will be live-streamed on YouTube.

Williams remained in the Marines after the war, serving a total of 20 years, before working for the Veterans Administration for 33 years as a veterans service representative. In 2018, the Huntington VA medical center was renamed in his honor, and the Navy commissioned a mobile base sea vessel in his name in 2020.
HAVANA (AP)  A year ago, thousands of people filled Cuba's streets and public squares in the country's largest outpouring of protest in decades.

On Monday's anniversary, its main cities looked relatively normal  students sat in schools and people went to work, and as usual there were long lines of people looking for food or waiting for a bus as the island faces shortages in an economic crisis.

Hundreds were arrested during the unrest last July, and some have been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. That is about all the two sides agree on.

Critics of the government said the events showed Cubans fighting against oppression. The authorities portrayed it as a moment when Cuba avoided a soft coup fomented by the U.S.

On July 11 and 12, 2021, protesters took to the streets to vent their frustrations over shortages, long lines and a lack of political options. Some were drawn to the marches by calls on social media, while others joined in spontaneously when marchers passed by.

The economy is still in crisis, with rising prices for what goods are available, and there has been a spike in migration to the U.S.

Cuba's economy also remains hobbled by U.S. sanctions. Despite his promises while campaigning to end the sanctions, President Joe Biden has only eased some, including allowing U.S. residents to send more money to Cuban relatives.

Since the protests, relations between the two countries have been tense.

In a message to Cubans on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Americans watched with admiration on July 11, 2021, as tens of thousands of you took to the streets to raise your voices for human rights, fundamental freedoms and a better life. He said the U.S. stand with the marchers.

Cuba's government offered a different take.

"There was vandalism, some with cruelty and tremendous belligerence, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in comments published in official media Monday. If there's anything to celebrate it is the victory of the Cuban people, of the Cuban revolution, before the attempts of making (the protests) into a soft coup."

Responding to Blinken, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said his message was a confirmation of the direct involvement of the U.S. government in attempts to subvert order and peace in Cuba.

Authorities havent said how many people were arrested during the protests, but an independent organization formed to track the cases, Justice 11J, has counted more than 1,400. In June, Cuba's prosecutors office said courts had imposed sentences on 488 protesters, ranging up to 25 years in prison.

The government insists protesters were not arrested for political reasons but for violating laws against public disorder, vandalism or sedition. It says many acted at the instigation of U.S.-based opposition groups using social media to attack Cuba's communist system.

Saily Nunez's husband, Maikel Puig, was among the protesters. He has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

More than a sad day, I feel proud that my brave (husband) was there on the streets, Nunez said on her Twitter account Monday.
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SCHENECTADY  A former sewer worker and felon allegedly drove a car with a secret compartment and regularly made out-of-state drug runs  including at least two trips to California  while under police surveillance in a marijuana-trafficking investigation, according to court papers and the prosecutor who handled the case.

Under a plea deal, Thomas Moore pleaded guilty Friday in a Schenectady County courtroom to one count of first-degree criminal possession of cannabis, a felony, in exchange for five years of probation, Assistant District Attorney Eric Gorman said.

He said Moore must also forfeit $15,000 cash and other items to the State Police that the prosecutor declined to detail. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 13.

Attorney John Seebold, identified as Moores lawyer, did not return calls to his office Monday.

Court records detail the lengthy State Police investigation, explain why investigators said they targeted Moore, and hint at the involvement of other city workers, though there is no indication others face charges.

The application by a State Police investigator for a search warrant for Moores two-story home on Campbell Avenue in the citys Bellevue neighborhood offers insight into what began with information received by the Schenectady Police Department about city employees, specifically Thomas Moore, who were involved with marihuana trafficking while at work. The information ended up in the hands of the State Police special investigations unit.

It was requested that SIU Albany assist with the investigation as it involved city employees, along with other allegations of public corruption, according to court papers.

Moore, a 50-year-old with prior convictions for drug sales and felonies, was being watched by Schenectady police and then later by State Police for more than 18 months before authorities raided his residence and arrested him in October.

He was subsequently indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of cannabis.

Court documents indicate that police discovered two switchblade knives and seized more than 10 pounds of cannabis during a search a judge signed off on.

State law allows adults 21 years of age and older to possess up to 3 ounces of cannabis and up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis for personal use in New York.

Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy and Police Chief Eric Clifford declined to comment on the matter.

Since May 2020, police had seized over a dozen pounds of vacuum-sealed marijuana coming from Moores home on Campbell Avenue in the citys Bellevue neighborhood, Shannon Sullivan, a veteran investigator with the special investigations unit, wrote in the search warrant application.

In order to not compromise the investigation, it was decided that it would be unwise to continue to arrest customers and would be more fruitful to monitor the daily actions of Moore, the investigator wrote.

Sullivan stated that toward the end of 2020, Moore and another city worker were taking trips to various areas outside the Capital District, including downstate and out of state and returning with duffel bags and boxes indicative of illicit goods.

In December 2020, a Subaru Tribeca that Moores live-in girlfriend drove over the summer disappeared for several months and then was back on the road with a new registration.

Police, the court filings indicate, intercepted a call from the county jail as Moore and his girlfriend were driving to California in the Subaru. One of the people involved in the conversation mentioned "that James Bond sh-t."

It does not say who was on the other line with the couple.

While it is generally lawful to build and use secret compartments to store valuables and other items, the use of hidden compartments is illegal when used to conceal drugs in a vehicle.

Moore told the individual that he was driving to Sacramento, Calif., for work, and is always working.

As Moore was a city of Schenectady sewer maintenance worker, it can be inferred that the 'work' he is talking about is illegal in nature, Sullivan stated, adding that based on her training, experience coupled with the final destination that Moore was headed to California, a hub for marihuana trafficking to transport money and/or narcotics.

Once Moore returned to Schenectady, police say he was met by yet another city employee, who helped him unload duffel bags from the car into Moores residence.

The pair, police said, were also observed filling two large black contractors garbage bags with items from the back seat where it appears the trap was located.

The other person's identity is unclear from the court records.

Over the next few months in early 2021, Moore made multiple trips to a home in northwestern New Jersey and another road trip to California. When he returned home, Moore in what became a familiar pattern got help from men in removing either cardboard boxes or large black contractors garbage bags from the car and into his home, the investigator detailed.

In March 2021 alone, police documented nine trips to that same New Jersey home.

Its unclear if any of the other men, some of whom were city employees who police say assisted Moore, will face criminal charges.

Police also confiscated Moores iCloud account, which they said had several photos he took showing large amounts of marihuana and large amounts of concentrated cannabis, all packaged for sale as well as stacks of cash that the investigator estimated was easily over $100,000 in each of the photos.

In June 2021, Moore resigned from his city job, according to the court filings.

Theres no reason given, but around the same time he quit, police said the trips to Jersey decrease(d) in frequency.

In August 2021, police stopped a car with Moore and his girlfriend inside. Investigators said they got conflicting accounts of the couple's travels and reason for the ride. They refused to let the police search the car.

By the next month, there were no discernable trips to New Jersey.

This is highly unusual for Moore and coincided with development in another criminal case being conducted by a separate agency, Sullivan wrote. He offered no details about the other criminal matter but surmises that Moore was laying low to avoid detection after a known law enforcement (presence) is perceived.

This is not the first time the city has had workers on the payroll run afoul of the law.

In 2019, city worker Jason Lee Sellie was charged with first-degree assault and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with a double shooting on a city street.

At the time, Sellie worked in the Waste Collection & Recycling department.

Police later said the shooting was retribution by Sellie against the man who shot and killed his stepdaughter. Sellie was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for the crime.

Sellie got the job despite at least two prior felony convictions, including one connected to the shooting death of a man in 2002 years ago.

McCarthy, who acknowledged at that time that he had interviewed Sellie before he was hired, said Sellie disclosed his prior convictions.

The mayor said Sellie was looking for a new start and he was comfortable giving him a chance.

In 2017, the city promised to overhaul its hiring practices after it was revealed that a registered sex offender was working in the Waste Collection & Recycling Department.

Back then, city officials said Matthew Clark did not disclose his misdemeanor conviction for forcibly touching a 15-year-old girl.

At the time, city officials said there was no background or fingerprinting for lower entry-level jobs like Clark's post at the city's waste collection and recycling department.
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ALBANY  An Albany County jury deliberated less than two hours Monday before convicting Paul Barbaritano of the 2019 throat-slashing murder of a woman he claimed was accidentally killed in a sexual game.

The 55-year-old Barbaritano, a former state correction officer who more recently worked in a warehouse, is facing 25 years to life on the other side of the bars when he is sentenced for the July 5, 2019, murder of 29-year-old Nicole Jennings in his apartment on Brevator Street, near the state office campus.

The jury in this case delivered a swift verdict today after less than two hours of deliberations, which shows just how clear the evidence in this case is, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer McCanney, the lead prosecutor, said in a statement. She prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Ariel Fallon.

Paul Barbaritano intentionally killed Nicole Jennings in July of 2019, McCanney said, and since then, has repeatedly tried to cover for his actions. Todays verdict wont bring Nicole back, but it will give some sense of comfort to her loved ones that justice was served.

Barbaritano and Jennings, who met the year before, planned to spend the Fourth of July weekend in 2019 smoking crack and having sex. At some point Barbaritano became angry and slashed Jennings' throat, McCanney told jurors.

On Friday, when Barbaritano testified in his own defense, McCanney suggested a possible motive.

Did Nicole smoke your last bit of crack? she asked Barbaritano

No, Barbaritano replied.

Barbaritano became combative under the prosecutor's questioning, saying, "You're really good at trying to get my goat, but it doesn't change the fact that she's my friend ... this was an accident."

Police went to the apartment the next morning because Barbaritano had sent a text message to his sister in Utica, concerning her. They found Barbaritano naked and asleep. Jennings' body was between the bed and wall. Retired forensic pathologist Jeffrey Hubbard, who conducted the autopsy on Jennings, said the cause of death was blood loss from a slicing wound to the neck, which McCanney said was inconsistent with Barbaritano's version of events.

Ironically, Barbaritano was convicted on the 26th anniversary of the date Barbaritano testified was the "worst day of my life" -- the day he first tried crack cocaine.

Barbaritano, speaking in a pained voice, testified he once served in the U.S. Army in Germany, worked as a state correction officer in multiple locations, and had a wife before he slipped into crack cocaine addiction after trying it on July 11, 1996.

He struggled to describe the events of July 5, 2019, saying he made a frantic attempt to save Jennings. Barbaritano testified that he and Jennings were high and were engaged in an erotic asphyxiation "game" when Jennings appeared to be choking on the karate-style cloth belt wrapped around Jennings' neck. He claimed he tried to cut it off, they fell off the bed between the bed and wall and, by accident, the knife slashed Jennings' throat.

Nobody was supposed to get hurt," Barbaritano testified. "We just wanted to have a good time.

But in the fastest murder verdict in the Capital Region in recent memory, jurors were not moved. They convicted Barbaritano of second-degree murder.

"We are extremely disappointed and plan to appeal the verdict," defense attorney Rebekah Sokol told the Times Union.

Barbaritano will be sentenced by acting Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough on Aug. 26.
BALLSTON SPA  Nineteen people took advantage of Saratoga County's first day of its monkeypox vaccination clinic Tuesday - the only vaccination clinic local health officials are running in upstate New York.

Another 95 people received a vaccine at a second clinic held at county offices Wednesday.

Saratoga County is part of the state's push to get vulnerable populations vaccinated against monkeypox, a previously rare illness outside of Africa that was first found in the U.S. nearly two decades ago. However, the virus that causes sores and flu-like symptoms and can be spread through close contact has reemerged at concerning levels and, at least initially, cases are most quickly spreading among men who are intimate with other men.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's count of monkeypox cases nationwide is lagging behind real-time state data. But as of Tuesday New York leads the nation in cases, followed by California. As of Monday, New York has seen a total of 238 confirmed monkeypox cases - the majority of which have been in New York City.

Nassau, Suffolk, Saratoga and Westchester counties are the only counties outside New York City where the state is providing vaccine. Confirmed cases north of Westchester have been sparse; one has been found in Sullivan, one in Chemung, and one in Rockland County.

Saratoga County said in a release Monday that it is being given monkeypox vaccine because of its status as a "tourist" destination. The information did not mention the Saratoga Race Course. However, the track's summer meet, as well as associated events and parties, starts Thursday.

"The state specified Saratoga County as a high tourist destination that may see an influx of visitors from areas that are currently seeing increased cases of monkeypox," Saratoga County wrote in its statement.

The county is only giving the vaccine by appointment.

The illness, which looks like smallpox because of the sores it can create all over the body, is not sexually transmitted and anyone can get it. It is contracted when someone touches the sores of an infected person; the degree to which it can be spread through respiratory droplets is still up for debate.

"While many of those affected in the current global outbreaks are gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men, anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has monkeypox can get the illness," the CDC states.

Saratoga County was initially slated to receive 300 doses to be used for the first of the two-shot regiment. On Tuesday, the state announced Saratoga will get another 620 doses, both to be used for the second shot of the regimen, and for providing vaccine to new patients. Health officials say getting vaccinated shortly after an exposure reduces the risk of developing monkeypox, and can reduce symptoms for those who do get it.

Sore-like blisters can cover the body or only be in certain places. Flu-like symptoms are also common, which can lead to severe illness. Incubation of the virus is typically seven to 14 days before symptoms arrive; however, it can take up to three weeks before illness can hit. And, someone is contagious until the sores are gone - making containing the virus that much more difficult.

On Tuesday, New York announced distribution plans for the latest federal allocation of the monkeypox vaccine called JYNNEOS. The majority of the vaccine, 14,500 doses, is going to New York City's five boroughs.

The federal stockpile of monkeypox vaccine, however, is limited, so health officials are asking only those with the following risk factors to seek out the shot:

 Individuals with recent exposure to monkeypox within the past 14 days.

 Those at high risk of a recent exposure to monkeypox, including men who have sex with men, gay men, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming and other communities who have sex with men and who have engaged in intimate or skin-to-skin contact with others in the past 14 days areas where monkeypox is spreading.




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STILLWATER  State Police say they've found a 13-year-old girl who went missing on Monday.

On Tuesday, troopers asked for the public's help in the search for the teen but announced Tuesday afternoon that she'd been located and "is safe."
ALBANY  Gov. Kathy Hochul, citing a surge in patients coming to New York from other states, announced an additional $25 million in funding for abortion clinics to expand staffing here.

The monies will be distributed in two grants, Hochul said, adding that the $10 million has been made available to 13 organizations with 63 facilities and clinics in New York.

An additional $15 million in a second phase of grants will be given to independent clinics, which will be open to solicitations next week.

The governor's office later clarified that the information from providers in southern and western New York was anecdotal and they do not yet have data on any apparent increase in out-of-state patients.

Hochul said theres been an increase of women coming from Ohio and Pennsylvania, where abortion is more restricted. More people are expected to come to New York as states with trigger laws banning abortion outright are enacted, she added.

"We're at the very beginning of what we believe will be a major influx of people in search of sorts of women's health care," the governor said.

In June, Hochul signed six bills into law establishing additional protections for abortion patients and providers, some specifically for individuals coming from out of state.

Its still unclear if new laws that seek to protect patients who travel across state lines for abortions  as well as the providers who treat them  will shield those individuals and organizations from any laws enacted in other states that may seek to prohibit that practice. Missouri recently considered a bill that would make it illegal to assist in an out-of-state abortion, though the legislation did not advance.

The governor acknowledged the legal questions on Tuesday, calling it "uncharted territory."

She emphasized her support for a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to an abortion in New York. She noted that in 1973 a Republican dominated state Legislature ensured that women had the right to choose whether they wanted to terminate a pregnancy.

Hochul also recently allotted $35 million to expand abortion access. Approximately $10 million of that is intended to fund security at abortion clinics. Some legislators have pushed for a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to an abortion in New York.

"It is hard for me to stand here as the grandmother of a 2-month-old and realize that my granddaughter has fewer rights than I had," the governor said.

State health Commissioner Mary Bassett, who recently wrote an op-ed in ELLE magazine about her own abortion, said, "Every person, every woman, every girl, who comes to New York seeking an abortion should know that they continue to have these rights here."
NYRA photo

SARATOGA SPRINGS  The Taste NY Pavilion at Saratoga Race Course returns this year, featuring food and alcoholic beverages made by manufacturers from around the state, including a number from the Capital Region. Select products will also be showcased in other areas of the track facility, including bars, restaurants and elsewhere food and beverages are available.

Located inside Gate A at the top of the stretch, the Taste NY Pavilion will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.


Funding of up to 18,000 is being provided by Government to support agricultural shows in Tipperary this summer, a Fine Gael Senator has said. Clonmel, Bansha and Nenagh Agricultural Shows are set to receive a funding boost.



Senator Garret Ahearn welcomed news from Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, that up to 6,000 will be provided to 119 Agricultural shows taking place nationwide this summer.



Senator Garret Ahearn said: Agricultural shows in Tipperary are returning to normal after much disruption caused by the covid pandemic in previous years, much to the delight of organisers and spectators alike.



These shows mean so much to rural communities across Tipperary with competitions, music, best of cattle and dog shows which keeps families and individuals entertained , aswell as showcasing all that is good about the communities of Clonmel, Bansha and Nenagh and the local produce that is made here.

Funding of up to 6,000 is being provided to each show to support them in meeting the costs of putting the shows together - on the back of huge voluntary endeavour.



This funding will support the show committees and the vital work that they do, as well as the excellent work of their volunteers. I am encouraging everyone to get out and enjoy Tipperary shows taking place this summer, Senator Garret Ahearn concluded.



Minister Humphreys also welcomed the approval of over 313,000 in LEADER programme funding to the Irish Shows Association, which will be used to support the roll out of a National Shows Management software system for use by agricultural and rural shows nationwide.



Minister Humphreys said: I recently announced increased funding of 700,000 to support the Irish Shows Association, and I am delighted to today confirm the individual allocations for shows all across rural Ireland.



I am particularly pleased to announce funding of up to 6,000 to each show to assist each meet the costs of putting them together - on the back of huge voluntary endeavour.



I believe it is of vital importance to our rural communities that we support the efforts of the show committees and the work of their volunteers. I hope that this funding will help put the shows on a firmer financial footing and provide vital support to the committees.
At 11.45pm on Sunday night, July 10, Valentia Coast Guard requested Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat to launch to search for three people and their dog reported missing on Lough Derg.

They were reported to be in a white speed boat.

At midnight Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat Jean Spier launched with helm Eleanor Hooker, Doireann Kennedy, Keith Brennan and Owen Cavanagh on board.

Given the serious nature of the callout, the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter team, Rescue 115, was tasked from their base at Shannon Airport.

Galway based Gardai also responded to the emergency and were at Portumna Harbour, having been informed that this was the intended destination for the missing people.

As the lifeboat was launching, Valentia Coast Guard requested it go directly to Portumna Castle Harbour at the very northern end of the lake, that the Gardai had been told that there may be speedboat adrift west of the bay.

Using on-board electronic navigation, RADAR, searchlights and local knowledge the lifeboat made way directly to Portumna Castle Harbour.

At 12.26am as the lifeboat approached Terryglass Bay, Valentia Coast Guard gave the RNLI volunteers a specific location to search.

Very quickly the lifeboat volunteers located three people and a dog on board a 12ft speedboat. All three people and their dog were safe and unharmed.

They said that having become disorientated and lost, they found themselves in the reeds out of sight of the harbour and out of fuel.

To ensure the lifeboat was attending the same people reported missing, Valentia Coast Guard requested the lifeboat let them know the name of the skipper at the scene.

The lifeboat took the speedboat on an alongside tow to Portumna Castle Harbour, where the casualties were met by Gardai who checked that they were not in need of further assistance. Recue 115 was stood down earlier by Valentia Coast Guard.

At 00.50am the lifeboat departed the scene and was back at Station at 01.12am. At 01.29am the lifeboat was washed down and refuelled.

Peter Kennedy, Deputy Launching Authority at Lough Derg RNLI, advises boat users "to plan your passage so that you reach safe harbour before nightfall".

"Carry a means of communication and let others know when you expect to arrive at your destination.

"Carry sufficient lifejackets and ensure all on board are wearing theirs."
On Monday afternoon, July 11, Valentia Coast Guard requested Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat to launch to assist seven people on a 60ft vessel which was taking on water and sinking.

Valentia Coast Guard gave lifeboat volunteers coordinates for the vessel, which was at a location south of Mountshannon Harbour on the county Clare shore.

At 2.42pm Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat Jean Spier launched with helm Eleanor Hooker, Owen Cavanagh, Joe ODonoghue and Ciara Lynch on board.

The lifeboat was also carrying its salvage pump. The Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter team, Rescue 115, had taken off from their base at Shannon Airport and the Killaloe Coast Guard Rescue Boat was also launched.

The wind was south-westerly Force 4, gusting Force 6. Visibility was good.

En route to the casualty vessel, Valentia Coast Guard informed the lifeboat that a passing vessel was in the process of taking all seven people off the casualty vessel.

As the lifeboat approached the Hare Island, Rescue 115, the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue helicopter, indicated to the RNLI volunteers to follow them as they flew high and ahead of the lifeboat. The passing vessel, having evacuated all casualties to their vessel, reported to Valentia Coast Guard that they were bringing the people to Mountshannon Harbour.

At 2.52pm the lifeboat was on scene. Strong southwesterly gusts had pushed the casualty vessel deep into an area known locally as the Nook of Pages on the County Clare shoreline, northeast of Mountshannon. Valentia Coast Guard asked the lifeboat to make an assessment of the casualty vessel and determine if it posed any environmental risks. With an RNLI volunteer taking soundings off the bow, the lifeboat approached the casualty vessel in safe water and, using an anchoring and veering technique, came alongside the vessel.

An RNLI volunteer transferred across to the casualty vessel and noted that it had significant water on board, that the electrics were still on but that he was unable to access them, but that there was no evidence of a fuel leak. The lifeboat helm requested he deploy the casualty vessels anchor and return to the lifeboat.

The lifeboat told Valentia Coast Guard of their findings and was stood down.

At 3.56pm the lifeboat departed the scene and was back at Station at 4.11pm. At 4.31pm the lifeboat was washed down, refuelled and ready for service.

Peter Kennedy, Deputy Launching Authority at Lough Derg RNLI, advises boat users "if in danger on the lake please call 999 or 112 and ask for marine rescue or using your VHF radio request assistance on channel 16".
Independent TDs must choose between a Government with a plan or a Marxist regime in this evenings confidence vote, the minister for the Office of Public Works has said.

Speaking on RTEs Today With Claire Byrne, Patrick ODonovan said the confidence vote is a cynical stunt by Sinn Fein to get attention at the end of a Dail term.

In fairness to the independent TDs, as well, they now have to make a decision, he said.

Do they want to go with a Government that has a plan? Or do they want to go with some sort of untrusted, leftist, Marxist, populist regime?

This afternoons motion is nothing about what the motion is actually about. Its just a cynical stunt at the end of a Dail term to try and promote Sinn Fein.

This morning, up and down the country, the national and local radio stations, its what theyre talking about  so in a way it has actually worked.

He added that Sinn Fein has switched from calling for an emergency budget to calling for a general election in the space of a week.

But to the people that are listening, last week they wanted an emergency budget, they said there was a crisis and it needed to be addressed now in an emergency budget, he said.

Today theyre proposing a general election, which would have a budget some time in October or November.

So actually, none of these two things were about what they said they were about, and they were just cynical propositions to promote their party at the end of a Dail term.

On Tuesday, independent Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice told RTEs Morning Ireland that he would not vote for the Government in the confidence vote.

I have made it very clear over the weekend that I wont be supporting the Government, he said.

For the simple reason, while there are some things it has done good, and Ill be the first to say that in the line of employment and all of that, I cannot bring myself to vote  or for the people that I represent  for some of the stuff thats about to come in in the line of agriculture that the Greens are basically driving through in this agenda, he said.

The coalition has gradually seen its majority whittled down over the past few months, finally losing it when Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh resigned the whip over the Governments controversial Bill to provide redress to home owners in counties affected by defective building blocks.

The loss of Mr McHugh saw the number of Government TDs drop to 79  one short of a Dail majority.

Sinn Fein tabled the motion, with party president Mary Lou McDonald saying independent TDs face a big call on whether they are going to back bad government or stand up and be counted to secure a change in administration.

In response, the Irish Government is set to table a motion of confidence in itself in the Dail this evening, confident that it has the numbers to win the vote.

That would supersede the Sinn Fein motion, with the debate and vote held on the Governments confidence motion instead.

On Monday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin branded the confidence vote a cynical exercise by Sinn Fein.

The Irish people do not want a general election, he said.

We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, we have a war on the continent of Europe. Last week Sinn Fein were looking for a cost-of-living package and an emergency budget, this week theyre looking for a general election.

A general election would mean no budgetary package over the next while, and would lead to paralysis.

In my view its just a cynical exercise.
The Government has won a motion of confidence after losing its Dail majority last week.

The Governments majority has dropped to 79  one short of a Dail majority  after Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh resigned the party whip.

After Sinn Fein tabled a motion of no confidence, calling on independent TDs to vote against the coalition, the Government tabled a motion of confidence in itself on Tuesday.

The final tally in the confidence motion was 85 in favour, with 66 against.

Speaking ahead of the vote, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said that this was a good time to take stock after the last two years, and outlined policies implemented across health, housing and education.

He said: Fundamentally, this is a debate between those who believe in tackling problems and those who believe in exploiting them.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald accused the coalition of being a do-nothing government that sits on your hands and turns a blind eye in relation to housing, and is failing to make progress on healthcare reform.

She added: Rather than lining up to vote confidence in yourselves, you might, for once, do some self reflection, because this housing disaster was created by you and it is sustained by you.

So the message from your government to the ordinary person is clear: dont get sick, dont need an operation or treatment, and for Gods sake, dont need support services because bad government policy ensures that you are not guaranteed the care you need when you need it.

A heated debate ensued, with Housing Minister Darragh OBrien telling Ms McDonald that her arrogance had not just gone stratospheric, its gone intergalactic.

Youd need Nasas Webb telescope to be able to track it, Mr OBrien said.

The coalition has gradually seen its majority erode in the last year.

In May, Green TDs Neasa Hourigan and Patrick Costello had the whip removed from them after they voted against the Government to call for the National Maternity Hospital to be built on publicly owned land.

That came after Marc MacSharry quit Fianna Fail last year.

Mr McHugh and Mr MacSharry voted confidence in the government on Tuesday evening, as did both Green Party TDs.
The Irish Government is to go ahead with the largest increase in the defence budget in the history of the state.

Following Tuesdays Cabinet meeting, the Minister for Defence Simon Coveney announced the Government has approved a move to Level of Ambition 2 (LOA2), as set out in the capability framework devised by the Commission on the Defence Forces.

This will result in the defence budget rising from 1.1 billion to 1.5 billion euro by 2028.

It will allow for the required transformation and investment in recruitment and equipment that were identified by the commission.

The move to LOA2 will require an additional 2,000 civil and military personnel over and above the current establishment of 9,500.

Some specific initiatives include the immediate commencement of planning for military radar capabilities, including primary radar, and the establishment of an Office of Reserve Affairs with the priority objective of developing a regeneration plan for the Reserve Defence Force.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said: The action plan we are launching today makes a clear commitment about our ambition for defence  just as our Defence Forces strengthen the nation, we must ensure that we strengthen our Defence Forces.

This single biggest investment in the history of the state shows the Governments strong commitment to urgently support the Defence Forces transition into a modern military force that is agile, with the appropriate capability, culture and values that reflect modern workplace and todays Irish society.

A High Level Action Plan (HLAP) that sets out the Governments response to the recent report of the Commission on the Defence Forces was also approved.

Minister Eamon Ryan said the commission had identified an urgent need for HR and cultural transformation within the Defence Forces.

He said: In order to provide momentum to the HR and cultural change process, Minister Coveney has requested military management to progress, as a matter of priority, an open recruitment process to fill a number of new positions including two civilian posts of Head of Transformation and Head of Strategic HR to drive the transformation and cultural change that is urgently required within the Defence Forces.

Mr Coveney added: The implementation and oversight structures that are set out in the HLAP are significant, and a detailed implementation plan is to be produced before the end of this year.

The Government also noted ongoing work in a number of areas referred to in the commission report, including.

 The establishment of an Independent Review Group (IRG) on dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces.

 Opportunities to develop defence capabilities and joint procurement offered by participation in PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) and the European Defence Agency.

 Consideration of associate membership of ICTU (Irish Congress of Trade Unions) for the Defence Forces Representative Associations.

 Liaison with the Ombudsman for Defence Forces on the possible enhancement of the remit of his office.
Fan Advisory Board meets for the first time

Sunday, 10 July, 2022



Everton's Fan Advisory Board held its inaugural meeting on Friday, with representatives of ESSG and the club in attendance.

Members of the Fan Advisory Board were elected from sanctioned supporters groups that had been assembled with the club's blessing as the Everton Stakeholder Steering Group (ESSG), including developing Terms of Reference and a Memorandum of Understanding that defines the relationship between the club and the FAB.

The mission of the ESSG now being complete, it will be dissolved. The FAB confirmed they will meet as a group monthly, and will hold joint meetings with the club quarterly, with the CEO attending at least two of these meetings and Graeme Sharpe attending them all as liaison with the Everton Board of Directors.

A summary of the meeting has been posted on the Club Website.

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

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In this quick post we gather news of the day concerning local allegations, ongoing cases and police action.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

Life-threatening injuries reported in shooting near Red Bridge Road, Hickman Mills Drive in south KC One person has been rushed to a hospital after a shooting Monday afternoon in south Kansas City, Missouri.Kansas City police dispatch confirms authorities were called to a business near Red Bridge Road and Hickman Mills Drive shortly before 2 p.m.

JaxCo Sheriff's Office locate body after searching for lost hiker at Lake Jacomo KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Jackson County Sheriff's Office located a dead body while searching for a lost hiker in a wooded area at Lake Jacomo near Blue Springs, Missouri. Many resources were deployed to help their search including boats, a drone, search and rescue K9s and park rangers.

KC-area man charged with shooting brother, 2 women Sunday PECULIAR, Mo. - A Kansas City-area man is charged with shooting his brother and two women early Sunday morning in Peculiar. Thomas B. Parrish, 40, faces charges of domestic assault, three counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon while intoxicated, and other related crimes.

Mother says son died after Kansas City Police Department agility test in heat KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A local mom is calling for changes in the Kansas City Police Department. Kayla Edmond said her son, Brelande Edmond, died after a department agility test in the heat last month. "He was signing up to protect people, and that facility couldn't protect him," Edmond said.

Driver in critical condition after pickup truck overturns and slides off road in Kansas City Kansas City, Missouri, police say a driver is in critical condition following a rollover accident on Monday. Officers and investigators reported to the scene of an Injury Accident with critical injuries just before noon.Authorities say an investigation revealed that a green Dodge Ram pickup truck was traveling eastbound on 18th Street at a very high rate of speed.

Man forced open door of Lenexa home and fired gun inside early Sunday, police say A man was arrested after allegedly forcing open the door of a Lenexa home and firing a gun at someone inside, according to police. At 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning, officers responded to the 9100 block of Renner Road, where they learned a man shot into the home after forcing his way in, according to a news release from the Lenexa Police Department.

Police investigate whether fake information was received about active shooter at Warrensburg hospital Warrensburg police are investigating the possibility that fake information was received about an active shooter on Friday, which prompted an evacuation of Western Missouri Medical Center.Two phone calls received within a minute from staff members at Western Missouri Medical Center prompted a large police and EMS response to the hospital, according to interim Warrensburg police Chief Andy Munsterman.

Local security expert weighs in following uptick in church vandalisms KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - An act of kindness at the Kansas City United Church of Christ comes days after an act of vandalism. The nonprofit group Seven Days offered a "kindness basket" to the church Monday, complete with tokens like snacks, books and stickers as a gesture of goodwill.

Developing . . .




The ruling coalition in Japan, led by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, won a clear majority of parliamentary seats in Sunday's election. It now has enough votes to move ahead with the lifting of the constitutional restrictions on Japan's rights to develop and maintain war potential. A change which requires the approval of two-thirds of both houses of Parliament.

Following the ruling coalition's victory in the parliamentary election, Kishida said that the lawmakers should accelerate the discussions on the revision.

The attitude of the US, a country that still has large amounts of troops stationed in Japan, toward the move is acquiescent, even if it is aware that once the Constitution is revised, an important foundation of the postwar order in the Asia-Pacific will be shaken.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Tokyo on Monday to offer condolences over the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, felt no qualms about giving an open endorsement to what the Kishida administration is about to do, even though the drawing up of Japan's Constitution came at costs of millions of lives including those of US servicemen.

The Constitution of Japan was written by the United States during its occupation of the country after Japan's surrender brought an end to World War II. Article 9 of that document forbids the nation from engaging in war and states military forces will never be maintained by the country.

Many nationalists in Japan feel the restrictions are a humiliation for the country and they have always maintained the dream of removing the constitutional fetters. Japan already boasts of the necessary advanced high-end manufacturing industries and technologies to upgrade its already modern self-defense forces to a world-class full-fledged military.

That calls for attention of the Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world as revising the Constitution would undoubtedly give a shot in the arm to the militarists and expansionists in the country that have long desired the country having the autonomy to wield force.

Since the rightists in Japan have refused to conduct any serious soul-searching about the country's wartime past, their uncaging of Japan from what it deserves would only brook trouble for the region somewhere down the line.
Kansas City needs more space for criminals far more desperately than a new house for ballers.



Here's a peek at the effort to speed up the process . . .



Kansas City council members will vote on a resolution telling the city manager to negotiate with the county, according to Jackson County Legislator Dan Tarwater.



So, it looks like they want to move forward and I know they had a meeting with the administration, and thats great. But, they want to partner with us and they may have not just a little contribution, but a very substantial contribution to partner in a regional facility, Tarwater said during a meeting Monday morning.



I understand that it definitely will pass. I think they said they had at least nine votes out of the 12, Tarwater said.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Generally . . . News of more voters rushing to the ballot doesn't bode well for conservatives hoping that the "Value Them Both" amendment will start a Kansas abortion crackdown.

Again . . . We warn . . .

SINGLE-ISSUE VOTERS ON "ABORTION RIGHTS" THREATEN TO DISRUPT AMERICAN POLITICS AND SPARK OVERWHELMING CHANGE!!!

Sorry . . . The genie is out of the bottle and there's no way to convince Americans that horrific abortion-as-birth-control technology should be forbidden.

But that's really not the scary part . . .

Here's the danger . . .

SINGLE-ISSUE PRO-CHOICE VOTERS COULD TIP THE SCALES FOR PROGRESSIVES ON ISSUES LIKE GUN CONTROL, IMMIGRATION, FOREIGN POLICY AND EVEN THE ECONOMY!!!

This is why MODERATE Republicans . . . RINOS . . . Are, in fact, a valuable part of the political ecosystem and should probably think about some better branding.

GOP hardliners won't admit this fact of life and that's probably a good thing as our "drunk uncles" seemed to be getting a bit too confident going into midterms.



Take a peek at white ladies TRUMPING their white dude bosses . . .



Voter turnout in Johnson County, Kansas, for a primary is typically 20-30%. However, election officials believe the numbers for this primary will be more like a general election.



So, we are forecasting  its not a prediction but a forecast in terms of planning and resources  a 66% voter turnout rate, said Fred Sherman with the Johnson County Election Board.



That translates to 300,000 votes cast in the county, which would be more than the 2016 general election.



Wyandotte County is also preparing for high turnout.



Average turnout for primaries in Wyandotte County is about 25% of registered voters. They are planning for a 60% turnout, but realistically expect a 40-45% turnout.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Kansas primary vote could be record-breaking for turnout KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) - Historically, voter turnout for primary elections is far lower than for general elections. However, that will likely be different in Kansas in August. That's because Amendment 2 is on the ballot; the first vote on abortion rights since Roe vs. Wade was overturned last month.

Voter registration up more than 1,000% in Kansas since overturn of Roe v. Wade KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Voter registration is increasing at astronomical rates according to the group, Vote.org. "For Kansas and Missouri registrations, comparing Friday, June 17 to Friday, June 24, we saw a 1,038% increase in Kansas and a 627% increase in Missouri," Nick Morrow, director of communications for Vote.org, said in an email Monday.

Advance voting in major Kansas counties opens this week KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Advance voting in key Kansas counties opens this week, with Douglas County starting both advance in-person and mail voting on Wednesday, July 13. Until July 29, regular weekday advance in-person voting will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Douglas County Elections Office.

Developing . . .
Actually, it's neither.



Disappointing as that might be to activists on both sides of the aisle . . . Here's why . . .



Now refurbished to the best of its ability, the Johnson County District Attorney and Overland Park Police Department are working to find some answers explaining why this not a freedom of speech, but a crime.



The first amendment of the Constitution does not protect criminal behavior, Steve Howe, the Johnson County District Attorney, said.



However, the stains in red left at the Church of the Ascension are not considered a hate crime, according to Howe. Well under the laws of the State of Kansas, there is not quote hate crime," Howe said. It can be an enhancement factor to increase the penalties, if it is motivated based on hate of a certain group. So it could be eligible for that type of enhanced sentence.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Officials explain how vandalism at Church of The Ascension can be prosecuted OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - On Sunday, Church of The Ascension in Overland Park, Kansas, was vandalized with red paint. The alleged suspect painting explicits words, the phrase "My Body My Choice," along with the defacing a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

'Jesus never promised us easy' - The Leaven Catholic Newspaper by Moira Cullings moira.cullings@theleaven.org OVERLAND PARK - When Sharon Weems arrived at Church of the Ascension here on the morning of July 10, she was stunned. "I was just sickened," she said. "It's dirty and ugly. It's sad. It's just really sad."

Developing . . .
This bit of political theater has already incited anger and a barrage of angry tweets for the midday.

Hint . . .

The Missouri Senator was actually rather impressive for his calm . . . The idea of pregnant dudes makes most Show-Me state men throw a fit. His line of questioning was appropriate despite the hyperbolic reaction and allegation.

Also . . . This is much more fun than thinking about Hunter Biden banging hookers two at a time.



He's a brief description . . .



"Prof. Khiara Bridges, pushing back against Sen. Josh Hawley's (R-MO) line of anti-abortion questioning: I want to recognize that your line of questioning is transphobic, and it opens up trans people to violence.

More . . .



"Do you believe that men can get pregnant?" she asked.



"No! I dont think men can get pregnant," Hawley replied, leading Bridges to state that this means he denies the existence of trans people.



"Wow, you're saying that I'm opening up people to violence by asking whether or not women are the only folks who can have pregnancies?" Hawley asked.



Take a look . . .

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Berkeley professor to Hawley: 'Your line of questioning is transphobic' Berkeley law professor Khiara Bridges rebuked Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, accusing him of peppering her with a line of transphobic questioning. Bridges during an exchange with Hawley at the hearing cited suicides by trans people, and accused Hawley of asking questions that could lead to violence against that community....

Hawley, law prof clash in heated exchange over who can get pregnant: 'Is this how you run your classroom?' A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on abortion and the legal consequence of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization blew up during a tense back and forth between Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Berkeley Law Prof. Khiara Bridges when the senator questioned her characterization of who can get pregnant.

Developing . . .
A lesson in fair play this evening . . .

We typically jest at the expense of these racial justice bloggers but today they stumble upon a valuable truth.

People forget.



Accordingly . . .

Despite outrage and protest . . . This blogging group seems frustrated that schools, officials and the public don't really want to create systemic change . . . This Summer. Most people are just trying to find a way to make it to the pool.

Check-it . . .



Last summer, the consortium along with Black Archives of Mid-America In Kansas Citys leadership and school staff and supporters from around the metro took to the streets to show that the community is behind racial equity and teaching truth.



But two years out from the racial uprisings and the 12 demands, there are only 5 school districts or charter schools actively working with the consortium: Kansas City Public Schools, Brookside Charter School, Kansas City, KS Public Schools, Park Hill, and Academy For Integrated Arts.



Other school officials made initial contact, but have recently stopped responding to requests for data . . .

The blog group's thesis . . .



A large part of what the anti-racist group has been fighting is just that, districts with no vision or appetite for systemic change.



Park Hill, Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley, and Olathe have all had overt racist acts committed by white teachers and students and all chose not to dial up their commitment to the demands. While each district again made statements, they took no meaningful systemic action in response. Park Hill chose to allow a white teacher, who repeatedly used the N-word, to retire, rather than take action to fire him. This despite protests led by Black students among other public actions.



Still, the racial equity consortium has kept working to elevate and support stakeholders who have close connections to their districts.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
A woman is being sought in an arson investigation in the Weston neighbourhood. Toronto police allege a woman set fire to four vehicles parked on Weston Road near Victoria Avenue and set an object on fire on the front porch of a house on nearby Sykes Avenue, resulting in the house being engulfed in flames, around 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
After a fatal shooting near the Scotiabank Arena around 8 p.m. Saturday, Toronto police locked down and evacuated Union Station. Police said they located a man with gunshot wounds near York Street and Bremner Boulevard, where the man died.
The Thai Tourism Authority (TAT) has just announced that Thailand is open to international visitors. Bangkok Airport Ride is ready with Bangkok Airport Transfer to Bangkok City transportation service.



(TRAVPR.COM) THAILAND - July 12th, 2022 -

The new tourism campaign, "Thailand Open for Tourism," aims to promote tourism in Thailand, especially in the country's popular tourist destinations like Phuket, Pattaya, and Khao Yai. Thailand is one of the most stunning destinations for tourists and travelers. The country is open to tourism, which is evident from the many tourists who visit the country every day. Bangkok is a superb destination that attracts thousands of tourists worldwide.

Bangkok, Thailand is one of the most prominent cities in Asia. It remains popular among tourists and travelers. The city has many tourist attractions and historical places to visit, such as the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho, and many other places. The city also offers a wide range of eateries and restaurants that serve mouth-watering food. Besides Bangkok has a lot to offer, there are numerous things tourists need to know about before they plan their trip to Thailand.

"Traveling around Thailand has been easy with cheap flights from several companies. However, once you arrive in Bangkok, you will require other transportation facilities, like Bangkok Airport Transfer to Bangkok City. If you are traveling alone, then it is highly recommended that you book a private car service to travel across the city while enjoying your trip without any hassle or stress," said a Bangkok Airport Ride representative.

Bangkok Airport Ride is pleased to announce that they have recently opened an office in Samut Prakan, Thailand, and they are now able to offer transfers between Bangkok Airport (Suvarnabhumi International Airport) and any hotel in the city center as well as between other popular Thai destinations like Chiang Mai and Phuket. As Thailand continues to flourish as an international travel destination, Bangkok Airport Ride aims to be there for tourists from all across the globe who come here for business or pleasure. The company's expert team of transfer specialists can advise clients on all matters.

The Bangkok Airport Ride explained, "The Thai government has put measures in place to protect tourists and ensure their safety throughout their stay here in Thailand. That's why we are here with our trusted partner, who can provide a safe and convenient transportation service for you and your loved ones to get around while you're here in Bangkok. With the help of our carefully chosen partners, we can make sure you are safe and comfortable during your time in this beautiful country."

About Bangkok Airport Ride

Bangkok Airport Ride is a leading Bangkok airport transfer service where tourists can get a chauffeur-driven car at affordable prices or choose from a wide range of vehicles, from cars, vans, mini busses, or even buses. You can rest assured that you will be delivered safely and comfortably to the destination within Thailand's cities. For more information, please visit https://www.bangkokairportride.com.

Contact

Bangkok Airport Transfer Service

Address: 999  1 Nong Prue, Bang Phli District, Samut Prakan 10540, Thailand

Phone: +66 81 855 4803

https://www.bangkokairportride.com

###
 Austin Texas-  Seattle- -best retirement 

Austin Texas: growing city, more stable and high pay jobs, good econimc enviroment, reutrn on investment is stable supported by inflow of population and job opportunity.. Beautiful weather in winter.

Seattle: Similar to Austin, inflows of population, good economy and job opportunity, beautiful weather in Summer

The money to buy a retirement house in California good area is enough to buy one home in Austin and another home in Seattle areas. Then You may enjoy your life and potential to appreciate your investment.

my 2 censts
As stewards of the land and livestock, producers give their all to ensure the health and well-being of their crops and animals while providing a healthy and safe product for consumers. Yet, many farmers lack the personal care to manage stress that may be brought on by the industry. Stresses can pile up and cause physical and mental health concerns. Learning stress management during times of drought, high feed costs, and low market prices will ensure the overall health of your operations most important asset, you. A farmers most important assets are the farmers themselves, their families, and employees.

What is stress?

Farming and ranching have always been one of the more stressful and dangerous occupations. Even in good times, agriculture is a stressful occupation. And it holds true that when it rains, it most certainly pours. Keeping yourself under heavy strain for long periods of time or experiencing many stressful events at once can cause a major toll on your body. A few ways to manage stress include control the events, control attitudes, and control responses.

Managing stress

Planning ahead and being prepared for an upcoming, key season of agriculture will minimize stress in the event of something going wrong, like machinery breaking down or blowing a tire the morning of moving cattle to pasture. These are obviously things that we dont have control over but being prepared for these situations will minimize stress on ourselves and livestock. Set priorities and plan your time accordingly. What needs to be done immediately and what task can wait until tomorrow. View the situation as a big picture rather than fixating on the problem itself. Good thing that tire blew before we had the cattle loaded. This will ease the stress of the producer and others involved. Setting realistic goals for the operation can also shift the attitude for events that take place. The weather, grain prices, and cattle market are never going to be perfect. Recognize stress and respond to it accordingly. Take breaks to ease your body and mind. Find a healthy balance of work and play. Most importantly, sleep!

Resources

Find an outlet to relieve stress. Communicate with your family and loved ones to let them know the effects of stressful events. Reach out to your neighbors and take time to listen.

Utilize resources such as UNL Beef Watch to educate yourself on drought management, coping with high grain prices, and when to market commodities.

The University of Nebraska Lincoln offers resources to aid in rural wellness and help farmers stay on their feet. Nebraska AgrAbility is a program supported by the USDA with the purpose of enhancing quality of life for farmers, ranchers, and other agriculture workers with disabilities, so that they, their families, and their communities continue to succeed in rural America.
On July 11, 2022, the Ukrainian military eliminated over 50 Russian occupiers and hit ammunition depots in southern Ukraine.

The relevant statement was made by the South Operational Command on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Ukraines attack aircrafts struck enemy ammunition depots near Mykolaiv Regions Snihurivka and Liubymivka three times. Ukrainian helicopters fired at Russias fortified strong point near Pravdyne and rashists positions around Oleksandrivka. The enemys losses are yet to be checked.

Ukraines rocket and artillery units destroyed 52 Russian occupiers, Msta-B howitzer, mortar system, seven armored and motor vehicles, as well as an enemy ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka.

In southern Ukraine, Russian troops continue to follow artillery and mortar shelling tactics, launch air and missile strikes on the rear positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and settlements all over the contact line.

In particular, in the morning, a pair of Russian Ka-52 helicopters struck near Zarichne, Kherson Region. No losses were reported. Three times during the day, they also fired missiles at Odesa Region, having hit a detached civilian house, port infrastructure facilities, fields and agricultural lands. No casualties were reported.

In the afternoon, an enemy aircraft fired a Kh-59 missile at Bereznehuvate. The missile exploded in the air. No casualties or destructions were reported.

When conducting supplementary reconnaissance in the district bordering with liberated village of Potiomkine, the Ukrainian military found the military equipment and ammunition, which were fully operational but abandoned by Russians, namely: one -72B3 tank, two BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, one BMD-2K infantry fighting vehicle and one BTR-D armored personnel carrier.

Meanwhile, Russias naval group in the Black Sea remained unchanged. It continues to struggle against the storm, blockade civil shipping and pose a threat of 16 missile strikes.

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Ukraines Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov met with his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht.

Thats according to Reznikovs tweet, seen by Ukrinform.

I had a fruitful VTC meeting with my colleague German DefMin Christine Lambrecht. We discussed the provision of German armament to Ukraine that will strengthen our defence capabilities, Minister Reznikov tweeted.

The defense chief thanked Ukraines German partners for "steadfast commitment" to support the embattled nation.

Were waiting for good news soon, Reznikov concluded, stopping short of providing any details of new supplies.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, speaking in a video address, said that Russia's terrorist actions can be stopped only with modern, high-precision and potent weapons.
To recruit more citizens for its war with Ukraine, Russia uses private military companies and sets up the so-called patriotic battalions.

Thats according to Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraines Defense Ministry, who spoke at the national telethon, Ukrinform reports.

"Today, the Russian Federation uses various methods of mercenarism and recruitment. Recently, they began to really actively involve a private military company, the notorious Wagner, or Liga, and deployed recruitment points throughout Russia. They launched such a new mechanism as setting up the so-called patriotic ethnic battalions  across the whole country, including Kostroma and Orenburg, where these rifle battalions are formed before being sent to our territory. So their resources are being depleted and the understanding comes that sooner or later, mobilization will have to be announced, in order to maintain the pace of the offensive that the Russian Federation now seeks to keep up," Skibitskyi said.

According to the intelligence official, now, despite the efforts on the part of Russian authorities to cover up their casualties in the war with Ukraine, such reports are spreading as the number of KIAs and WIAs returning to Russia is increasing.

In addition, Russia is seeing a shortage of military specialists in various fields, such as mechanics, gunners, and drivers, while the quality of the newly-formed units remains low.

Also, the high pay promised by commanders is not a solid recruitment driver anymore, the official added, noting that in many cases, the soldiers never receive the money vowed.

Thus, the fact that its an actual war and you can die there is gradually coming upon Russian servicemen," said Skibitskyi.

He also partially confirmed the reports that inmates are being recruited into the Wagner PMC from penitentiary facilities. "First of all, it is confirmed that recruitment into the Russian army units is taking place in all regions and in all possible places, including prisons. But it should be noted that this is done for a reason: newly-formed units are in many cases deployed in the hottest spots, and it has already been calculated by the Russian command that most of them will be killed there. And accordingly, the government, and even more so the Russian defense ministry, wont be held accountable for their deaths," Skibitskyi said.

Also, according to the intelligence spokesman, no compensation will be paid for such mercenaries. That is, they are set to become pure cannon fodder, utilized to keep the war going.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, referring to Ukraines defense intelligence, Russian officers are increasingly unwilling to go to war in Ukraine, while generals are urgently transferring their relatives to "safer" spots, including Syria.
The Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom has shared a video of how Ukrainian servicemen get trained to operate different British-manufactured armoured vehicles.

The relevant video was posted by the UK Ministry of Defence on Twitter, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Meet the Ukrainian soldiers who took part in training exercises earlier this year, operating armoured vehicles. The UK-led programme allows Ukrainian Forces to scale-up their resistance as they continue to defend their nation against the Kremlin, the report states.

 Meet the Ukrainian soldiers who took part in training exercises earlier this year, operating armoured vehicles.



The UK-led programme allows Ukrainian Forces to scale-up their resistance as they continue to defend their nation against the Kremlin.



 #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/J6N9xlNCI8  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) July 12, 2022

The video depicts the British instructors teaching the Ukrainian military to operate six different types of armoured vehicles, namely Spartan, Mastiff, Husky and Wolfhound.

A reminder that the first group of Ukrainian soldiers have recently arrived in the United Kingdom to take part in a new military training programme. Up to 10,000 Ukrainian servicemen will undergo training in the next several months.

Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob discussed the issue of providing Ukraine with heavy weapons during negotiations in Berlin.

"We discussed the issue of the joint transfer of weapons to Ukraine... We are considering various options for resolving the situation," Golob said at a press conference after the negotiations, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He recalled that Slovenia had already sent a batch of heavy weapons to Ukraine but the further process was "somewhat delayed", partly due to the change of government in the country. The Prime Minister expects the process to speed up.

Scholz, for his part, also expressed his belief that the countries "will achieve rapid progress together." The Chancellor pointed out the readiness of partners to comprehensively support Ukraine  politically, economically, humanitarianly, militarily, as well as with the help of sanctions against the Russian Federation.

As reported, Slovenia sent 35 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine in June.

Slovenia planned to transfer 30 T-72 tanks to Ukraine, receiving new equipment from Germany as part of the so-called circular deliveries. However, Berlin offered only 15 Leopard-2A4 tanks. Negotiations have been going on for over two months.

Photo credit: @Bundeskanzler

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Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany and Japan will defend the rules-based international order and help organize grain exports from Ukraine.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock said this after their talks in Tokyo, Ukrinform reports, citing Kyodo News.

"The foreign ministers of Japan and Germany pledged Monday to work together to support the rules-based international order threatened by Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, while keeping economic sanctions on Moscow," the article reads.

According to Hayashi, Tokyo and Berlin will support exports of Ukrainian grain. However, the minister did not specify what exactly both countries are planning to do.

Read also: Japan PM announces additional sanctions on Russia

According to the report, both ministers also agreed that "the two countries should further strengthen defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, where China is intensifying its maritime assertiveness."

"We need to be united with like-minded nations to deal with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which undermines the foundation of the international order," Hayashi said.

Photo: Kyodo News
Security issues will remain a key element of Ukraines position at the meeting of Ukraine, the UN, Turkey, and Russia delegations on July 13.

Thats according to Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, who provided a comment to Ukrinform.

"Ukraine advocates that the issue of unblocking Ukrainian grain be resolved under the UN auspices. In this context, we are grateful to Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his active efforts to find a solution that will guarantee the security of our countrys southern regions," the spokesman emphasized.

Nikolenko noted that a quadripartite meeting involving experts from Ukraine, the UN, Turkey, and Russia had been scheduled to be held in Istanbul on July 13. The parties will discuss the modalities of functioning of maritime corridors for grain exports. At the same time, security issues will remain a key element of the Ukrainian side's position, the diplomat emphasized.

As reported, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that a meeting of the military delegations of Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia, as well as the UN delegation, regarding the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, will be held in Istanbul on Wednesday, July 13.

Earlier, on July 11, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held talks with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two leaders discussed the importance of unblocking Ukrainian ports and resuming grain exports, as well as preventing Russia from exporting Ukrainian grain from captured territories.
On July 13, at 14:30, a briefing will be held on the topic: "The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the front of the Russian-Ukrainian war."

Organizers: Media Center Ukraine  Ukrinform.

Speaker: Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (online).

Event format  offline (Hall 1)

Journalists will be able to ask questions offline (Hall 1) and in the chat of the YouTube broadcast.

Journalists are requested to arrive half an hour before the event.

Accreditation of media representatives will be carried out before the event at the agency.

The event will be broadcast on Ukrinform's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/UkrinformTV

Address of Ukrinform: 8/16 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Str., Kyiv.

The use of any materials from the official Ukrinform YouTube channel is possible only if the copyright established by the channel is respected. When showing a clip during a live broadcast, it is necessary to refer to the author, Ukrinform, display its name on the screen and pronounce it out loud.
Bert Kreischer, who partied so hard in college he became the inspiration for "National Lampoon's Van Wilder," will bring his comedy stylings to Billings for a show at the First Interstate Arena at MetraPark on Wednesday, November 9.

Kreischer is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and host who performs to sold-out crowds across the country. His newest stand up special Hey Big Boy, as well as Secret Time and The Machine are currently streaming globally on NETFLIX. Bert recently debuted his new Netflix docu-series The Cabin, which shot straight to the top 10 within 24 hours and was the most-watched unscripted series on the platform the week it premiered.
The decision on sanctions exemption will be perceived in Russia exclusively as a manifestation of weakness.

That's according to a video address by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine

Ukrainians!

All our defenders!

Today was a difficult day.

First, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to summon Canada's representative to our country due to an absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia. It's not just about some Nord Stream turbine that Canada shouldn't have, but still decided to hand over. Hand over actually to Russia. This is about common rules.

If a terrorist state can squeeze out such an exception to sanctions, what exceptions will it want tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? This question is very dangerous. Moreover, it is dangerous not only for Ukraine, but also for all countries of the democratic world.

The decision on the exception to sanctions will be perceived in Moscow exclusively as a manifestation of weakness. This is their logic. And now, there can be no doubt that Russia will try not just to limit as much as possible, but to completely shut down the supply of gas to Europe at the most acute moment. This is what we need to prepare for now, this is what is being provoked now.

Because every concession in such conditions is perceived by the Russian leadership as an incentive for further, stronger pressure.

Of course, this decision on one turbine, which leads to many other problems, can still be revised. Russia has never played by the rules in the energy sector and it will not play now unless it sees strength.

Debris clearance continues all day in the city of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region. The day before yesterday, Russian terrorists hit two high-rise buildings, and as of now 31 people are known to be killed. Nine were saved.

Kharkiv faced new brutal attacks by the Russian army. Another rocket hit a residential building - one block was completely destroyed. In the morning, the occupiers shelled the Saltivka and Kyiv districts with rocket artillery  five people were killed.

The Odesa region was hit by missiles, extremely violent hostilities continued in the Donetsk region and on the territory of the Luhansk region.

My condolences to all relatives and friends of the deceased

And against such a background, it's just a shame to see people lacking the courage to honestly deal with one turbine.

Today I submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a very important draft law - on legal and social guarantees for Polish citizens residing in Ukraine. In fact, this is a response to the law that was adopted by the Polish state in the spring in the interests of our citizens. In particular, I propose to give our Polish brothers the opportunity to legally stay in Ukraine for 18 months, the right to employment, economic activity, study at our universities, medical care.

I ask the people's deputies of Ukraine to consider this draft law as conscientiously as possible.

In relations with Poland, we have reached the highest level of trust and cooperation not just in decades, but in the lifetime of many generations of our nations. And we must increase it, we must further strengthen our ties in all spheres and on the basis of a clear understanding that Ukraine and Poland can be free only together - in brotherhood.

Today, I also signed a decree conferring the honorary title of the Rescuer City upon the city of Przemysl. For the extremely significant contribution of the city authorities, volunteers and residents to help our people and our defense. Let me remind you that this is the second such decision  the Polish city of Rzeszow was the first to receive this title.

I held important negotiations with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte in Kyiv. We discussed our defense cooperation, financial assistance for Ukraine and the further progress of our country on the European path. I am thankful for the strong support, which is currently the largest in the entire history of Ukrainian-Dutch relations.

I had a conversation with President of Turkey Erdogan. The key issue is the restoration of our export routes through the Black Sea. We are working on making it possible. The sooner this happens, the fewer people in the world will feel the impact of the food crisis that was so carefully prepared by Russia.

In the evening, I signed another decree on awarding our heroes. 287 combatants received state awards.

I am grateful to everyone who defends the people and the state!

I am grateful to everyone who works for the victory!

I believe that thanks to you, the sun will rise in Ukraine.

Glory to Ukraine!
On Wednesday, July 13, the military delegations of Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia, as well as the UN delegation will meet in Istanbul to discuss the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.

"Tomorrow in Istanbul, the military delegations of the defense ministries of Turkey, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine and the delegation of the United Nations will hold negotiations on the safe shipment of grain, which is waiting at Ukrainian ports, to international markets by sea," reads the statement by Minister of Defense of Turkey Hulusi Akar, published on the Ministry's website.

Akar notes that he had held negotiations on the settlement of the food crisis with the defense ministers of Ukraine and the Russian Federation, after which a permanent communication channel was created at the level of the ministries. In addition, Turkeys Defense Ministry delegation visited Moscow, while the Ukrainian military delegation visited Ankara.

As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone conversation with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 11, during which they discussed the importance of unblocking Ukrainian ports and resuming grain exports, as well as preventing the export of Ukrainian grain by Russia from the occupied territories.

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In the future, UkrainePoland relations will develop, and the countries will become even closer.

"The Ministry of Defense of Poland supports the Ukrainian army, the strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This confirms that we are together in the current difficult situation - in this tragedy that is happening now in Ukraine due to Russian aggression," President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense of Poland Mariusz Baszczak, the President's Office informs.

The President expressed his belief that in the future, already in peacetime, relations between Ukraine and Poland will develop and the countries will become even closer.

The Head of State is also confident in the strengthening of defense cooperation between the two states.

Moreover, Volodymyr Zelensky on behalf of the Ukrainian people and personally thanked Poland for supporting the citizens of Ukraine who found refuge from the full-scale Russian war in the territory of the neighboring country.

For his part, Mariusz Baszczak thanked Volodymyr Zelensky and the entire Ukrainian people for their resilience in confronting the aggressor.

"Thank you, Mr. President, for your position, because the freedom and independence of Ukraine is the freedom and independence of Poland. Thank you for protecting us," said the Deputy Prime Minister.

As reported, the President of Ukraine submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on legal and social guarantees for Polish citizens in Ukraine and awarded Przemysl the Rescuer City honorary title.

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The United States is in continued contact with the Ukrainian side regarding the accounting and safeguarding of American weapons handed over to Ukraine.

The relevant statement was made by Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs Bonnie Denise Jenkins during an online briefing in Brussels, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The US very seriously takes our responsibility to protect American origin defense technologies and prevent their diversion or illicit proliferation, Jenkins told.

In her words, the US is in continued contact with the Ukrainian side to ensure control over the aid delivered to Ukraine.

We are confident in the Ukrainian governments commitment to appropriately safeguard and account for US [weapons], Jenkins stressed.

At the same time, Jenkins noted that the most effective way to reduce the risk would be for Russia to stop the war and withdraw troops from Ukraine.

A reminder that Russia makes every effort to prevent Western partners from supplying arms to Ukraine, including through information campaigns and spreading lies about the new systems seized or illegally purchased from Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry emphasizes that any movement of weapons, either into Ukraine or out of Ukraine, is closely monitored and supervised both by Ukraine and international partners.

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New development in the old Women's and Family Shelter on 1st Avenue North in downtown Billings will get a $250,000 boost to help it convert the old space into new apartments.

The three story building was purchased last year by the Widmyer Corp., a real estate company out of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The company has since converted some of the space into apartments and hopes to finish the project in the next year.

Wydmyer has dubbed its project the Lincoln Apartments, drawing on the building's original name  the Lincoln Hotel, built in 1916.

"This building is intended for what I call workforce housing," Steve Widmyer told Billings City Council members Monday night.

Currently, the apartments rent for between $500 and $700 a month.

Council members unanimously approved $250,000 in tax increment finance help; the overall project will cost just over $2 million and will include five ground floor apartments with patios, a corner shop or restaurant and 23 apartments on the second and third floors.

The $250,000 awarded to the Lincoln Apartments project comes through downtown Billings' tax increment financing district, a special zone where some commercial property taxes are diverted into public/private urban renewal projects within the boundaries of the district.

The goal is for the renewal projects to lift property values in the entire district, thus generating more growth and more taxes to renew the TIF fund.

The project was met with mostly enthusiasm by council members, many of whom pointed to the significant need for more affordable housing downtown.

"Love the proposal," said council member Kendra Shaw, who represents part of downtown Billings. "I'm so in favor of workforce housing."

Widmyer is a property management and development company that specializes in residential and commercial property. It owns four buildings in downtown Billings, including the Babcock and its floor of apartments.

At the meeting Steve Widmyer explained his company understands the need for affordable housing as a method for revitalizing the downtown area. If people can afford to live in the areas where they work, those areas become a vibrant, thriving community, he said.

"It's an exciting development," Mayor Bill Cole told Widmyer. "We wish you the best."
A teen was convicted of spotlighting and shooting two mule deer bucks and taking them to BLM's Ah-Nei Recreation Area where he removed antlers and backstraps, then left the rest of the animals to waste.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) The European Commission on Tuesday approved a $407.9 million support scheme for filling up Dutch gas storage facility Bergermeer.

"The European Commission has approved an up to 406.4 million ($407.9 million) Dutch scheme to support the filling of the gas storage facility Bergermeer in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The scheme was approved under Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ('TFEU'), recognising that the EU economy is experiencing a serious disturbance," the statement published by the Commission read.

According to the statement, the package will incentivize Dutch companies to store natural gas in the facility, thus contributing to European energy security and protecting Dutch companies from the price spikes.

Since 2021, energy prices in Europe have been surging as part of a global trend. After the beginning of Russia's operation in Ukraine and the adoption of several packages of sanctions against Russia by the West, the situation with energy prices has exacerbated further.

Russia's energy giant Gazprom has significantly reduced its Nord Stream 1 gas supplies, citing delays in maintenance work on turbines by German and Canadian companies, forcing EU countries to tap into the gas volumes normally reserved for winter, with some countries considering returning to coal production.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) The oil production in OPEC countries has increased by 234,000 barrels per day to 28.7 million barrels per day in June, the OPEC report said on Tuesday.

"According to secondary sources, total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 28.

72 mb/d in June 2022, higher by 234 tb/d m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, IR Iran, Kuwait and Angola, while production in Libya and Venezuela declined," the report read.

According to the report, the OPEC countries have fulled the oil deal by 229% in June by cutting output by 1.058 million barrels per day in excess of obligations.
PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) Slovakia's defense expenditures under favorable circumstances could reach 2% of GDP required by NATO as early as this year, Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said on Monday.

"I can confirm that the initial draft of the defense budget for 2023 is already geared toward 2% of GDP. I am not as confident yet, but it is possible that we will reach 2% of GDP already this year in the event of favorable dynamics in the republic's budget," Nad told a briefing.

Furthermore, the minister intends in the nearest future to appeal to his cabinet colleagues and lawmakers to raise the defense budget in the light of the military action taking place in Ukraine, which has drastically shifted the security situation in Slovakia and the entire region, he said.

"As well as other nations on NATO's eastern flank, we must take adequate steps in response to the events in Ukraine.

At the same time, we must remember that all other NATO countries on the eastern border of the alliance have already met that 2% of GDP allocation for their military needs. In 2023, these figures will be as follows, Poland - 3% (of GDP), Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Romania - 2.5% each, Bulgaria, Hungary and, I assume, Slovakia - 2-2.1% each," Nad added.

In 2014, NATO members set a target to increase defense spending up to 2% of GDP by 2024. Back then, only three NATO allies allocated 2% of their GDP or more on defense, but in 2021 this number increased to eight. Furthermore, last year appeared to be the seventh consecutive year of rising defense spending among European allies and Canada, accounting for 3.1% in real terms compared to 2020.
TOKYO, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2022 ) :A funeral was held on Tuesday in central Tokyo for Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot dead while delivering a speech last week.

The ceremony took place at the Zojoji Temple at the foot of the iconic Tokyo Tower.

Besides Abe's wife Akie, Japanese Prime Minster Fumio Kishida, some lawmakers as well as foreign dignitaries and business leaders attended the funeral.

Memorial services are scheduled to be held later in Tokyo and in his constituency in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
(@FahadShabbir)

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2022 ) :Family and friends of assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe gathered at a Tokyo temple Tuesday for a private funeral, as mourners outside condemned the leader's "despicable" murder.

Abe was shot at close range on Friday while giving a campaign speech in the city of Nara, days ahead of upper house elections that saw his ruling party strengthen its hold on power.

The murder suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, is in custody and has told police he targeted Abe because he believed the politician was linked to an organisation he resented.

Although the funeral rites were for family members and close associates only, long lines of people, some dressed in black, came to the Zojoji temple to pay respects to Japan's longest-serving prime minister.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Kramatorsk, Ukraine, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2022 ) :Ukraine warned Monday that Russian forces were preparing to intensify their fight for key cities in the Donbas, as President Volodymyr Zelensky bitterly accused Canada of undermining sanctions against Moscow.

In eastern Ukraine -- the focal point for a grinding Russian offensive -- the death toll from a weekend shelling of an apartment building in the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region rose to 33, according to emergency services.

Dozens of rescuers could be seen working amid the ruins of the partially destroyed building Monday, aided by a mechanical digger.

Earlier in the day deadly Russian rocket strikes slammed Kharkiv, the country's second city, in a targeted attack on "a shopping centre and civilian residences", regional chief Oleg Synyegubov said.

Prosecutors in his region said "six civilians were killed, including a 17-year-old and his father, who were driving past" at the time of the attack, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

The Ukrainian army warned, meanwhile, that Russian troops were likely planning to launch some of their heaviest attacks yet in the Donetsk region.

"There are signs of enemy units preparing to intensify combat operations in the direction of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut," it said, referring to two main cities still under Ukrainian control.

The latest attacks in Ukraine came as Europe braced for deeper cuts in gas supplies from Russia.

On Monday Russian gas giant Gazprom began more than a week of routine maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline -- with Germany and other European countries watching anxiously to see if the gas comes back on.

Over the weekend, Ottawa agreed to deliver to Germany a turbine that was undergoing maintenance in Canada, whose absence Russia had blamed for a decrease in supplies.

The move by Canada, which came despite sanctions in place against Russia and appeals from Ukraine, prompted Kyiv to summon Ottawa's ambassador.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to summon Canada's envoy to our country due to an absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia," Zelensky said in his daily address on Telegram.

Germany and other European countries are casting a worried eye on energy supplies after Italy's Eni and Austria's OMV said Gazprom was further reducing the supply of gas.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, Germany suspended certification of a second pipeline, Nord Stream 2, as fears grew over Europe's massive dependence on Russian gas.

- 'No safe place' - Russian state-run news agency TASS reported meanwhile that the pro-Moscow head of the Russian-occupied village of Velikiy Burluk in Kharkiv had been killed after his car was blown up.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed "more than 300" Ukrainian combatants had been killed in a Russian strike near Chasiv Yar, without giving a date.

Moscow's slow advance into the east -- despite fierce Ukrainian resistance emboldened by recent deliveries of Western-supplied artillery -- contrasts with their failure to capture the capital Kyiv at the start of the invasion.

In Bucha, a town outside Kyiv, 36-year-old web designer Maxim said just three months ago, Russian soldiers were rummaging through his home and sleeping in his children's bedroom.

"In this atmosphere, I feel like nothing can happen and that life is normal," he said, sitting with his family outside his home.

"But we know there's a war and there's no place safe in Ukraine right now." With no end to the fighting in sight, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a visit to Kyiv said his country would supply Ukraine with more long-range artillery and an aid package worth 200 million euro ($201 million).

Western weapons -- in particular precision, long-range artillery -- were "already changing the course of the war," Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said earlier Monday.

But Moscow was also receiving a weapons boost, with Iran planning to supply hundreds of drones with combat weapon capabilities to Russia for use in Ukraine, a top US official said.

- 'Another encroachment' - In a bureaucratic swipe at Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Monday to fast-track citizenship for all Ukrainians.

The foreign ministry in Kyiv hit back calling it "another encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, incompatible with the norms and principles of international law."The decree builds on previous orders -- including one issued earlier in the invasion -- making it easier for Ukrainians living in Moscow-occupied territory to receive Russian passports.

Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, strongman Alexander Lukashenko, meanwhile discussed possible joint measures against neighbouring Lithuania over its "illegal" transit restrictions affecting Moscow's exclave of Kaliningrad.
Signal Peak Mine opponents have asked the nations top surface mine enforcement agency and the U.S. attorney for Montana to pause activity at the southcentral Montana coal operation until it can be investigated for compliance with federal mining laws.

The groups cite the federal governments own data about criminal activity at the mine, as well as a leaked U.S. State Department cable about stakeholder Gunvor Groups alleged ties with Russia. An Ohio bribery scandal involving the mines other major stakeholder, First Energy, was also referenced. The point of the letters, opponents argued, is that when making enforcement decisions, federal officials must consider what they know about the operator and its owners.

The meat of the argument centers on the federal governments successful prosecution of Signal Peak for environmental and safety violations in 2021. That prosecution resulted in an admission of guilt by the company, which was placed on probation for five years and fined $1 million. The violations included pumping mine waste into abandoned sections of the mine without preapproval from federal regulators.

The U.S. attorney has an obligation to investigate, said Anne Hedges, Montana Environmental Information Center co-director. The office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement also has an obligation to investigate. Nobodys done it and its just mind boggling that this mine has gotten away with what its gotten away with for as long as it has," she said. Everyone, I think, is hoping somebody else will take care of the problem.

MEIC, Billings-based Northern Plains Resource Council, Sierra Club, WildEarth Guardians, Western Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice are the groups asking OSMRE and the U.S. attorney to act. Specifically, the groups ask OSMRE to perform a federal inspection within days of receiving the complaint, which is backstopped by the enforcement requirements of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

Contacted for this article, Signal Peak chose not to comment, as the company is involved in ongoing litigation with the petitioning groups over the expansion of the underground mine, located roughly 26 miles north of Billings.

In April, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Department of Interior under President Donald Trump greenlighted the expansion without effectively considering the greenhouse gasses released when the coal was eventually burned. The ruling, in which the justices were divided, remanded the case to U.S. District Court. In late June, the Department of Interior, Signal Peak, and 15 state attorneys general, Montanas included, asked the 9th Circuit Court as a whole to reconsider the panels decision.

Attempts to reach OSMREs regional office for this article were unsuccessful. The U.S. Attorneys office for the District of Montana said it had received the letter, but declined further comment at this time.

The requests for closer scrutiny by the U.S attorney, are sorted into three categories of previous investigations and suggests that federal investigators have shown the mine and its owners have a disregard and disrespect for the law.

The first category, concerns the environmental and safety violations at the mine, as well as the criminal activity of previous mine managers, namely Larry Wayne Price, former vice president of surface operations and former Signal Peak President Brad Hanson. Price was convicted in 2020 of stealing roughly $40 million from Signal Peak and private investors. In the process, he aided Hanson with a scheme of overbilling and fake equipment sales at the mine. At his sentencing, Price told the court he had told Signal Peak founder Wayne Boich, Jr. about Hanson defrauding the mine, but that the comment was ignored. The Gazette's reporting of the sentencing is cited in the letter to U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich.

Prices case made headlines, first because the Tazewell, Virginia, man attempted to fake his own kidnapping, hiding with a waitress from a restaurant he owned before eventually surrendering to law enforcement. He alleged a motorcycle gang was behind the abduction. Later, it was revealed that an $11 million stone castle built by Price in Billings was an asset caught up the scam and was seized by creditors.

Price was sentenced to five years in federal prison. Hanson, 59, died at his home in Nokomis, Florida, and was never charged.

After Price was convicted in 2020, Signal Peak officials distanced the mine from the years of illegal activity under Hanson and Price, saying that with new management the activity had ended.

The second category concerns global commodity trading company Gunvor Group, which became a Signal Peak owner though a subsidiary in 2011. One of Gunvors founding owners, Russian Gennady Timchenko, was identified in March 2014 by the U.S. Treasury as providing material support to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the period in which Russia took Crimea from Ukraine. Treasury identified Putin as having investments in Gunvor and possibly access to Gunvor funds.

It worth noting that the same month as the Treasury announcement, Gunvor announced that Timchenko had sold his interest in the company in anticipation of sanctions, which never impacted Gunvor.

The petitioners also referenced a more recent instance in which Gunvors name surfaced in the federal prosecution of Raymond Kohut, convicted in July 2021 of a bribery scheme to secure petroleum contracts in Ecuador. In Kohuts case, Gunvor told the Associated Press it was cooperating in the investigation and described Kohut as a former agent. The company hasnt been charged in connection to Kohuts crimes.

The third category raised involves FirstEnergy Corp. a Signal Peak corporate founder. In a 2019 bribery scheme concerning the Ohio Legislature, FirstEnergy admitted, in a deferred prosecution agreement, to funneling tens of millions of dollars to then Ohio House speaker, Republican Larry Householder, and a chairman of the state utility commission, who in return advanced a law creating a customer-funded bailout of aging nuclear, and coal-fired power plants. Two other energy companies were involved in the scheme. The case against Householder is ongoing.
Bamako, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2022 ) :Mali on Monday declared that 49 troops from the Ivory Coast were "mercenaries" after earlier detaining the soldiers on arrival in the country, the Malian government said.

"It has been established that the 49 Ivorian soldiers were illegally on the national territory of Mali," government spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga said in a statement read on state tv, calling the men "mercenaries".

"The transitional government has decided to refer this case to the relevant judicial authorities." Maiga added that the soldiers were armed, carried ammunition and had no mission order or authorisation, saying they had the "dark aim" of stopping the protection and reform of Mali and its return to a constitutional order.

An Ivorian diplomat previously said some of the soldiers had been sent to join the UN's peacekeeping mission MINUSMA.

The force said it believed they were part of a unit that provided routine logistical support to the Ivorian military contingent of MINUSMA.

MINUSMA spokesman Olivier Salgado said the transfer of the troops would have been notified to the Malian authorities in advance.

An Ivorian diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity that some of the soldiers came to work for German company Sahelian Aviation Service (SAS) on MINUSMA's behalf.

But the Malian government said its foreign ministry had not been informed via official channels, highlighting a "flagrant violation" of its penal code relating to territorial integrity.

It added that the Ivorian soldiers provided four different reasons justifying their presence in the country, including carrying out a "confidential mission" and the protection of Germany's MINUSMA contingent.

The government said it had decided to end immediately the involvement of foreign forces in SAS's protection.

As of Monday evening, Ivorian authorities had provided no official reaction.

The Ivorians who arrived in Mali on Sunday are being held at a gendarmerie school in the capital Bamako while the checks were carried out, a gendarme said.

News of the arrest spread quickly on social media, with some accusing the troops of arriving to carry out a coup.

The incident takes place against a backdrop of tensions in Mali, one of the poorest and most unstable countries in Africa.

Colonels angry at the government's handling of a long-running jihadist insurgency seized power in August 2020 and carried out another coup in May the following year.

The military junta has adopted a timetable allowing a return to civilian rule in 2024.
Belfast, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2022 ) :"Orange Order" members began to parade through Belfast under tight security on Tuesday marking the 1690 victory of Protestant King William III over his Catholic rival.

Almost immediately crowds of spectators clutching union flags gave way to a heavy police presence -- armoured white cars and officers in dark green uniforms -- as the pro-UK marchers passed a nationalist, pro-Ireland neighbourhood, a reminder of the sectarian divisions which come to the fore as during unionists celebrate "The Twelfth".

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland estimates half a million people will take part in events at 18 locations across Northern Ireland to celebrate the culmination of the "marching season".

Long a flashpoint for sectarian tensions, the July 12 marches and lighting of massive bonfires commemorate William of Orange's rout of the deposed Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and comes as the restive province wrestles with political crisis.

Northern Ireland is in its third month without a functioning government following May elections.

And in London, the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has created further instability, with Conservative Party candidates bidding to succeed him staking out positions on the post-Brexit trading rules for the territory, as agreed in the Northern Ireland Protocol.

As Orange members, dressed in dark suits, bowler hats and orange sashes marched to the sound of fifes and drums past Belfast City Hall, Ian Crozier told AFP the order was "very clear that it's robustly opposed to the protocol".

"It's about long-term political and economic divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK," the Orangeman from north Belfast explained.

The 43-year-old said discussion of the protocol was "clearly central" to the ongoing Conservative Party leadership contest. "It's good to hear that people are saying the right thing, but doing the right thing is much more important," he added.
(@FahadShabbir)

Istanbul, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Jul, 2022 ) :Russian and Ukrainian delegations were due to meet with UN diplomats in Istanbul on Wednesday in a bid to break a months-long impasse over stalled grain deliveries across the Black Sea.

The four-way meeting with Turkish officials comes as food prices soar around the world due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine is one of the world's biggest exporters of wheat and other grain.

But its shipments have been blocked by Russian warships and mines that Kyiv has laid across the Black Sea.

NATO member Turkiye -- on good terms with both Russia and Ukraine -- has spearheaded efforts to resume the grain deliveries.

Turkish officials say they have 20 merchant ships waiting in the Black Sea that could be loaded quickly with Ukrainian grain.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Tuesday that the meeting would involve the three countries' military delegations and a team from the United Nations.

"Military delegations from the Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian defence ministries, and a delegation of the United Nations, will hold talks tomorrow in Istanbul on the safe shipment to international markets of grain waiting in Ukrainian ports," Akar said.

- 'Still a way to go' - A Russian foreign ministry spokesman stressed that Moscow was entering the meeting with a list of firm demands.

"Our understandable conditions include the possibility to control and search the ships to avoid the contraband of weapons, and Kyiv's commitment not to stage provocations," ministry spokesman Pyotr Ilyichev was quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency The Russian spokesman added that the UN team would act as "observers" at the talks.

But Ukraine stressed the UN's importance to the negotiations and said it wanted its own set of security guarantees.

"We are grateful to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his active role in reaching for a solution that could guarantee the security of our southern regions," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine.

Guterres played down expectations heading into the talks.

"We are working hard indeed, but there is still a way to go," the UN chief told reporters.

- Putin-Erdogan talks - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to use his good relations with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Kyiv's Western-backed leaders to thrust Ankara into the centre of negotiations about Ukraine.

Erdogan is due to meet Putin for the first time since Russia's invasion when the two leaders are hosted by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran next Tuesday.

The talks are officially due to focus on the situation in war-ravaged Syria.

But the Kremlin said Putin and Erdogan will also hold a separate meeting that is almost certain to focus heavily on Ukraine.

Turkiye has been sending defence delegations to both Moscow and Kyiv in a bid to break the deadlock over Ukraine's grain.

A plan proposed by the United Nations would see the shipments start along specific corridors that avoid known locations of mines.

- Snake Island - Ukraine has refused to de-mine the area out of fear that Russia might then stage an amphibious assault on cities such as the Black Sea port of Odessa.

Ukraine's port authority said last week that Kyiv's recapture of Snake Island in the Black Sea has allowed it to resume shipments into neighbouring Romania along the Danube River.

But those deliveries can only cover a small fraction of the 20 to 25 million tonnes of grain believed to be blocked in Ukraine.

The negotiations are complicated by mounting suspicions that Russia is stealing and exporting grain from farmers in Ukrainian regions now under its control.

Ukraine summoned Ankara's ambassador to Kyiv after Turkiye last week failed to seize a Russian-flag ship suspected of carrying confiscated grain.

The ship returned to a Russian port after spending nearly a week anchored off Turkiye's Black Sea coast.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said it was "deeply disappointed" with Turkiye.
Amsterdam, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2022 ) :It was 10:30 pm on a Friday when Arthur Brand got the delivery he was nervously expecting.

His doorbell rang, and when he opened the door no one was there. Instead, a cardboard box was waiting for him at the door in the dark.

In that box he said was one of the most sacred artefacts ever stolen from the Catholic Church: the "Precious Blood of Christ" relic.

"(My) heart was beating in (my) chest," the Dutch art detective told AFP in an interview about the recovery of the stolen treasure.

Brand is dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the Art World" for his remarkable recoveries of stolen art, including the "Hitler's Horses" bronze statues, a Picasso painting and a ring that once belonged to Oscar Wilde.

At 52, he is one of the most famous art sleuths in the world, trusted by both thieves and police for his unprecedented access to the criminal trade in stolen art.

But getting his hands on the "Precious Blood of Christ" relic was a particularly special experience for him.

"As a Catholic myself, this is about as close to Jesus and the legend of the Holy Grail you can get." "It was a religious experience," he said.

- 'Massive shock' - When he opened the box, he discovered what he hoped he would: the relic perfectly intact.

The ornate container, about 30 centimetres (11 inches) high, has two metal bulbs inside and is said to hold drops of Jesus' blood collected in the Holy Grail during the crucifixion.

It is held in a heavily gilded copper box with encrusted precious stones and depictions of Christ on the cross and other saints.

The holy relic is believed to date back to the death of Christ and has been a source of worship for Catholic pilgrims for more than 1,000 years.

It was held by the Fecamp Abbey in France's Normandy region until the night of June 1-2, when it was stolen, just two weeks before the annual "Mass of the Precious Blood" celebration.

"The thief most likely got inside by being locked in after hours and made off with the artefact," Brand said.

"It was a massive shock that this famous piece, this legendary piece was stolen," he told AFP in his home, the relic on display nearby.

- 'The real thing' - The relic and its copper box were not the only objects waiting in the cardboard package on Brand's doorstep on that fateful July evening.

There were several copper liturgical plates, depictions of saints and an ornate goblet, which were also stolen from the abbey in June.

Brand carefully showed AFP the ornate and heavy copper box with a miniature roof and four angels on its corners, called a reliquary.

AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the objects, and they have not yet been examined by police or experts. The abbey could not immediately be reached for comment.

But Brand is certain about their authenticity.

"I have no doubt in my mind that it is the real thing. Religious objects are almost impossible to forge." The sacred relic will be handed to Dutch law enforcement once they receive a request for mutual assistance from France, Dutch police said Tuesday.

Once Dutch police receive the object, they will investigate the authenticity of the object and try to identify the thief.

"After the investigation, our conclusions and the relic will be returned to the French police," Dutch national police spokesman Dennis Janus told AFP.
Amsterdam, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2022 ) :It was 10:30 pm on a Friday when Arthur Brand got the delivery he was nervously expecting.

His doorbell rang, and when he opened the door no one was there. Instead, a cardboard box was waiting for him at the door in the dark.

In that box he said was one of the most sacred artefacts ever stolen from the Catholic Church: the "Precious Blood of Christ" relic.

"(My) heart was beating in (my) chest," the Dutch art detective told AFP in an interview about the recovery of the stolen treasure.

Brand is dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the Art World" for his remarkable recoveries of stolen art, including the "Hitler's Horses" bronze statues, a Picasso painting and a ring that once belonged to Oscar Wilde.

At 52, he is one of the most famous art sleuths in the world, trusted by both thieves and police for his unprecedented access to the criminal trade in stolen art.

But getting his hands on the "Precious Blood of Christ" relic was a particularly special experience for him.

"As a Catholic myself, this is about as close to Jesus and the legend of the Holy Grail you can get." "It was a religious experience," he said.

- 'Massive shock' - When he opened the box, he discovered what he hoped he would: the relic perfectly intact.

The ornate container, about 30 centimetres (11 inches) high, has two metal bulbs inside and is said to hold drops of Jesus' blood collected in the Holy Grail during the crucifixion.

It is held in a heavily gilded copper box with encrusted precious stones and depictions of Christ on the cross and other saints.

The holy relic is believed to date back to the death of Christ and has been a source of worship for Catholic pilgrims for more than 1,000 years.

It was held by the Fecamp Abbey in France's Normandy region until the night of June 1-2, when it was stolen, just two weeks before the annual "Mass of the Precious Blood" celebration.

"The thief most likely got inside by being locked in after hours and made off with the artefact," Brand said.

"It was a massive shock that this famous piece, this legendary piece was stolen," he told AFP in his home, the relic on display nearby.

- 'The real thing' - The relic and its copper box were not the only objects waiting in the cardboard package on Brand's doorstep on that fateful July evening.

There were several copper liturgical plates, depictions of saints and an ornate goblet, which were also stolen from the abbey in June.

Brand carefully showed AFP the ornate and heavy copper box with a miniature roof and four angels on its corners, called a reliquary.

AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the objects, and they have not yet been examined by police or experts. The abbey could not immediately be reached for comment.

But Brand is certain about their authenticity.

"I have no doubt in my mind that it is the real thing. Religious objects are almost impossible to forge." The sacred relic will be handed to Dutch law enforcement once they receive a request for mutual assistance from France, Dutch police said Tuesday.

Once Dutch police receive the object, they will investigate the authenticity of the object and try to identify the thief.

"After the investigation, our conclusions and the relic will be returned to the French police," Dutch national police spokesman Dennis Janus told AFP.

- 'A curse' - Brand said his involvement in the case started a few days after the theft, when he received a protected email from an anonymous writer, claiming to have the stolen loot in their possession.

"This person was approaching me on behalf of another, at whose home the stolen relics were being stored," said Brand.

But "to have the ultimate relic, the blood of Jesus in your home, stolen, that's a curse," he said.

"When they realised what it was, that you in fact cannot sell it, they knew they had to get rid of it." Brand showed AFP an email written in Dutch in which the person asked him to take back the stolen property, as it was too risky to return it to the abbey itself.

Brand was told that the stolen artefact would be delivered to his home, but no date or time was given.

"I was virtually a prisoner in my own home for a week. I could not leave," he said, laughing.

Finally the objects turned up, delivered by an anonymous sender.

Asked why the thieves would return the stolen art to Brand, he said "it would be too dangerous to involve the police".

"These people know my reputation and that the most important thing is to return this to the church. Hopefully it will stand for another thousand years," Brand said.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2022 ) :Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf and Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani have said that the people of Occupied Kashmir have made eternal sacrifices for the sake of independence.

They said that the blood of unarmed Kashmiris who were martyred by the Indian forces would not go in vain and the day was not far when the people of Kashmir would see the dawn of freedom in occupied Kashmir through their struggle for their right to self-determination, said a news release issued here on Tuesday.

They said that the Kashmir issue is an unfinished agenda of partition of the subcontinent without which lasting peace in South Asia is impossible. They expressed these views in their separate messages on the occasion of Kashmir Martyrs' Day which is observed on 13th July every year.

On this occasion, the Speaker said that the day reminds us of a great tragedy in the history of Kashmir when the army of Dogra Maharaja martyred 22 protesters due to the recitation of Adhan.

He said that the blood of innocent Kashmiris who were martyred by the forces of Dogra Maharaja on July 13th, 1931 would never go in vain.

The Speaker further said that thousands of innocent children have been martyred in Occupied Kashmir for the last 75 years and thousands of incidents of desecration and rape of women have taken place.

He said that the hands of the so-called democratic government of India were stained with the blood of thousands of Kashmiri martyrs.

He urged the international community to take stern notice of the atrocities perpetrated by India in Kashmir and play its role in ending the ongoing human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.

Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the resolution of the Kashmir issue was essential for the establishment of lasting peace in the region. He called on the United Nations to play its role in finding a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue in accordance with Security Council resolutions.

Reiterating Pakistan's principled stand for the struggle of the Kashmiri people for independence, the Speaker said that Pakistan would continue to provide moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination at every forum. He said that the present Parliament has passed several resolutions to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and to stop the atrocities committed by Indian forces in the Occupied Territories. He said that the forcible occupation of Kashmir by India was against the moral values of a civilized society and the basic right of the people to self-determination.

On this occasion, Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani said that today is a reminder of the brutality of Dogra Maharaja's forces when they martyred 22 Kashmiri soldiers on July 13, 1931, for giving the call to prayer. He said that the blood of the martyrs of July 13, 1931, would never go in vain.

He also expressed confidence that the Kashmiri people would soon see the dawn of independence and have a chance to breathe freely.

The Deputy Speaker said that the Government and people of Pakistan have always stood by their Kashmiri brothers and sisters and would continue their moral, political and diplomatic support.

He urged the international community to take stern notice of the atrocities perpetrated by India in Kashmir.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) Roscosmos said it had not yet received any official notification from the European Space Agency (ESA) about the termination of cooperation on the ExoMars project.

ESA chief Josef Aschbacher said Tuesday that the European Space Agency would not resume cooperation with Roscosmos on the ExoMars mission.

"The Russian side has not yet received official notification from the European Space Agency about the complete cessation of cooperation on the ExoMars-2022 project, so we have to respond only to Twitter diplomacy," Roscosmos said.

Roscosmos recalled that its chief Dmitry Rogozin had repeatedly stated that he did not expect a positive decision from the ESA, given the political pressure in Europe on scientists and experts who care about the scientific result of the mission.

"It is unfortunate that the search for signs of life on Mars turned out to be less important for Europe than the political ambitions of individual European officials and countries. Russia can implement its part of the ExoMars project at the national level or with the involvement of partners from friendly countries," the Russian space agency added.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2022) NASA is going to release the first images of Jupiter taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) later this week and they will be followed by lots more "sensational" images already recorded and transmitted to earth, space agency officials told a press conference at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Beltsville, Maryland on Tuesday.

"We have already pointed (the Webb Telescope) at Jupiter," NASA astrophysicist Jane Rigby told reporters. "There are programs to study Jupiter as well (in the first year of telescope operations) ... The first Jupiter images will go public this week and they are beautiful.

"

European Space Agency scientist Klaus von Pontoppidan said the Jupiter and other Solar System images would be released on Thursday this week and that would be remarkable.

"There have already been solar system observations taken. These will be released on Thursday. No doubt we will be seeing sensational things in the Solar System soon," he said.

Canadian Space Agency exoplanets expert Professor Rene Doyon told the press conference the telescope would focus on far off images of the earliest observable galaxies in the Universe and that unexpected new discoveries were certain to come in great numbers with "a lot of surprises" among them.
DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) The Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, has accused Saudi Arabia of violating the truce and shelling border areas in Yemen, which resulted in the death of dozens of people.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said on social media on Monday that the death of "dozens of people" as a result of Saudi shelling of the border areas over the past week is a "huge violation" of the ceasefire agreement and a permanent obstacle to the truce.

He accused the Saudi-led coalition of not issuing permits for flights from the Yemeni capital to Arab countries and detaining ships with fuel and other essential goods in the Red Sea. According to the Houthi spokesman, since the beginning of the truce, only 15 flights have been made from the Sanaa airport, despite an agreement on two flights per week.

The conflict between Yemen's government forces and the Houthis aggravated in 2015 after a coalition led by Saudi Arabia joined the conflict on the side of Yemen's government and started conducting air, land and sea operations against the Houthis. The latter have retaliated by attacking Saudi forces and firing missiles into Saudi Arabia.

At the start of April, a two-month ceasefire was agreed upon in Yemen under the auspices of the United Nations and supported by all parties to the conflict, including the Ansar Allah movement.

At the beginning of June, UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced a truce extension in the country, under the same conditions as the original document.
(@FahadShabbir)

KHERSON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) The dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station near Kherson was not damaged as a result of a strike by Ukrainian troops on Nova Kakhovka, a source in the military-civilian administration of the city told Sputnik.

According to previous preliminary information, the strike did not hit the hydroelectric power plant, but it is possible that separate buildings of the power plant could have been affected.

"According to preliminary information, the dam is intact, some parts or buildings of the plant could have been hit," the source said.

Earlier, a source in the military-civilian administration of the city told RIA Novosti that Ukrainian troops had attacked Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region, as a result, residential buildings were damaged, casualties are being specified.
Three plaintiffs who allege they were assaulted in July 2021 outside a bar in Virginia City filed a civil lawsuit early last month seeking compensation and punitive damages from several defendants.

Plaintiffs Cody and Maggie Monaghan, husband and wife, and Chase Monaghan, Codys brother, filed suit June 9 in Madison County District Court in Virginia City.

The three were customers of the Pioneer Bar on the night of July 10, 2021, when they were involved first in a brief scuffle inside the bar. Surveillance video in the bar appears to show a man later alleged to be Christopher Michael Kase start the conflict inside by grabbing Chase Monaghans sunglasses, court records show. Pushing and shoving ensued.

The bartender cleared the bar and the scuffle turned into a brawl outside on the boardwalk. Cody Monaghan suffered serious injuries when he was knocked to the ground and kicked, witnesses said. The other Monaghans were also injured, court records show.

Lawyer Larry Henke of Butte is representing the plaintiffs.

"The Monaghans were forced into a terrible situation where a lawsuit became necessary due to the unlawful actions of others, Henke said Monday. The level of injuries and the extent of the medical care to date, as well as the uncertainty of future medical needs, creates a situation where they have been impacted physically as well as financially.

Henke said the Monaghans will ask the jury for compensation for out-of-pocket costs past and future, as well as compensation under the law for pain and suffering, emotional distress, the permanent physical scars and the emotional hardships to come.

He added, Those amounts are significant, but not capable of precise valuation.

Henke said his clients seek statutory damages available to them against the Pioneer Bar under the Montana Dram Shop Act, which includes a $250,000 noneconomic damage cap and a $250,000 punitive damage cap for the Pioneer Bar.

Montana law holds that a bar can incur civil liability for injuries involving alcohol consumption for serving alcohol to a person who is visibly intoxicated.

In addition to the Pioneer Bar, which plaintiffs allege served alcohol to men already intoxicated, defendants in the lawsuit include the Heroes and Horses non-profit organization, which has a ranch nearby, and men associated with that ranch  either as veterans participating in programming there or as an employee of the ranch  who were at the bar that night.

The individual defendants include Kase, William Robert Haley, Dalton Fish, Ethan Jacob Choate and Karson Edward Yuan.

These individual defendants in the civil case also have faced criminal charges tied to the fight.

Choate, originally charged with misdemeanor assault, recently pleaded no contest to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Kase, Haley, Fish and Yuan have been charged with felony assault. Haleys lawyer has filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against his client. Among other things, the motion suggests that surveillance footage from the bar does not show Haley assaulting anyone. Instead, the motion contends that Haley was, in fact, assaulted by at least one of the alleged victims.

Witnesses of the fight told deputies with the Madison County Sheriffs Office that they believed the men who were allegedly involved in the assault of the Monaghans were affiliated with the Heroes and Horses ranch west of Virginia City. That prompted investigators to visit the ranch and interview potential suspects there.

The non-profit organization offers veterans who have been emotionally scarred by military service non-traditional approaches to healing  such as backcountry horse packing.

Heroes and Horses started in 2014. CEO Micah Fink, a former Navy SEAL, has said he was motivated to help establish the organization after recognizing that suicide and addiction rates continued to rise among veterans in spite of the work of thousands of PTSD-related nonprofits and billions of dollars spent annually.

On Monday, Mark Davis, chief operating officer for Heroes and Horses, said the organization could not comment on ongoing litigation.

Meanwhile, criminal cases are in various stages of potential resolution.

The civil lawsuit refers to the five criminal defendants as the Mob, and alleges their actions caused damages, injuries and emotional distress, for which they are individually and jointly and severally liable.

The plaintiffs allege the men were drinking at the Heroes and Horses ranch before continuing to drink at the Pioneer Bar. Their lawsuit alleges negligence by Heroes and Horses to allow drinking by the veterans in the organizations care.

The lawsuit alleges that Choate, an employee of Heroes and Horses, delivered the men to the Pioneer Bar, which resulted in the foreseeable consequence of drunks assaulting a bar patron.

To date, two of the defendants, Pioneer Bar and Karson Edward Yuan, have filed responses to the lawsuit.

The Pioneer Bars response, filed June 20 by lawyer Calvin Stacey of Billings, denies all allegations of negligence and other wrongdoing. Among other responses, the Pioneer Bar countered that plaintiffs have acted negligently, causing their own injuries or reducing their award pursuant to Montana law. And it suggested that plaintiffs alleged damages were caused by the conduct of others, not within the control of this defendant, thus barring plaintiffs from any recovery as against this defendant in this matter.

Yuans response was handwritten. He essentially denied all allegations that he and companions from the Heroes and Horses ranch delivered beatings to the Monaghans and that he, specifically, did not participate in the beating of Cody Monaghan.

The plaintiffs have requested a jury trial. No date has been set.
UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) Russia compares the existing Nazism in Ukraine to a widespread cancer tumor in a body, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Monday.

"I am... showing this for you to realize that Nazism in Ukraine is a widespread cancer tumor, which requires the most serious attention, and that's one of the purposes of our meeting," Polyanskiy said during a side-event on Nazism in Ukraine organized by the Russian mission to the United Nations.

Polyanskiy said that Nazism in Ukraine is a result of historical developments and the Nazism 2.

0 virus has contaminated the entire Ukrainian society with extreme national-chauvinsm and Russophobia.

During the meeting, diplomats from the Russian mission to the UNited Nations showed photographs from World War II of Ukrainian women and men welcomed Hitler and the Nazi military, pointing to the historical roots of today's problem.

On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine whose two main goals are to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.
KHERSON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) The Ukrainian strike on the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region resulted in at least two deaths, while at least four people are still missing, the head of the city's military-civilian administration, Vladimir Leontyev, told Sputnik.

"At the moment, we know of two deaths, but in total, these warehouses were guarded by six people, the remaining four are currently missing," Leontyev said.

A strike on Nova Kakhovka was carried out late on Monday night, causing explosions at warehouses with saltpeter and damaging a local hospital and "hundreds" of apartments in residential buildings, according to Leontyev.

The head of the city's military-civilian administration told Sputnik that the attack was carried out using the US-supplied multiple rocket launcher HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System).

"Apart from the two dead and four missing, dozens more were injured, hundreds got cuts from (broken) glass, windows were shattered in half of the city, many people are still under the rubble," Leontyev told Sputnik.

Earlier in the night, he told Sputnik that a disabled teenager who was on duty at a warehouse with humanitarian aid, was among those killed in the attack.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) The UK Ministry of Defence has condemned the BBC for alleging that the UK Special Air Service (SAS) committed numerous war crimes during the operation in Afghanistan, saying the unsubstantiated report endangers the lives of British soldiers.

"We believe that BBC Panorama's episode about SAS operations in Afghanistan, scheduled for broadcast Tuesday 12 July 2022, jumps to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have already been fully investigated," the defense ministry's press office said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, an "extensive and independent investigation" into the conduct of UK troops in Afghanistan has not revealed any abuses, with the ministry informing the BBC accordingly, the statement added.

"Neither investigation found sufficient evidence to prosecute. Insinuating otherwise is irresponsible, incorrect and puts our brave Armed Forces personnel at risk both in the field and reputationally," the ministry said.

According to the Times newspaper, the forthcoming episode of BBC Panorama is the culmination of a four-year-long investigation, which will unveil new findings and witness testimony. The BBC alleges that it has discovered 54 suspicious killings by the UK SAS unit during a single six-month tour to Afghanistan in 2010-2011.

The BBC said that the episode entitled "SAS Death Squads Exposed: A British War Crime?", which is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday, will divulge the results of the investigation of a series of raids, in which UK SAS fighters killed unarmed people after they surrendered, suspecting that these killing were in fact extrajudicial executions.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) The fourth meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), headed by the United States, will be held online on July 20, the US Department of Defense said.

On Monday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke by telephone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov, and discussed US military assistance to Kiev and current situation on the ground.

"Secretary Austin and Minister Reznikov also discussed the agenda for the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) to be held virtually on July 20," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The most recent meeting of the contact group on bolstering Ukraine's military capabilities was held on June 15 in Brussels on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial.

It gathered defense representatives from about 50 US-allied nations. The inaugural talks in this format took place in April at the US air base Ramstein in Germany. Austin later said that similar high-level meetings would be held each month.

Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The US and other Western countries have since been pressuring Moscow with sanctions and supplying arms to Kiev.
ENERHODAR (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) A building close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) was attacked by two Ukrainian drones overnight, a spokesperson of the military-civilian administration of the city of Enerhodar told Sputnik.

"Today at 0:26 a.m. (21:26 GMT on Monday), two strike UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine dropped two 120-mm caliber mines on a building located near the Zaporizhzhia NPP. There is damage to the roof and glass, no casualties," the spokesperson said.

Russian forces took full control over the Zaporizhzhia NPP in March, as part of the special military operation in Ukraine.

The Kherson Region and most of Zaporizhzhia Region of Ukraine are now controlled by Russia's military forces and local military-civilian administrations have been formed there.

A strike on the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region was carried out late on Monday night, causing explosions at warehouses with saltpeter and resulting in civilian deaths. The city's military-civilian administration told Sputnik that the Ukrainian strike on the city was carried out using the US-supplied multiple rocket launcher HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System).
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

SIMFEROPOL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) Ukrainian terrorists and saboteurs operating in Zaporizhzhia Region could be "eliminated" upon arrest, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the military-civilian administration of the region, told Sputnik.

"More and more of (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy's militants, who dare to encroach on peaceful life in our region, are eliminated during detention," Rogov said, adding that the property of the families of terrorists and their accomplices could be confiscated.

Rogov told Sputnik that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is experiencing difficulties in recruiting people to carry out terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage in Zaporizhzhia despite the fact that "the price tag has risen sharply."

Earlier, Rogov told Sputnik that Ukrainian troops had made an unsuccessful attempt to carry out an offensive in the Zaporizhzhia Region, but met a tough rebuff, and were forced to flee.

He added that the city of Zaporizhzhia, currently under the control of Ukrainian troops, is waiting to be liberated.

The Kherson Region and most of Zaporizhzhia Region of Ukraine are now controlled by Russia's military as a result of the special operation that began on February 24, after the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics requested help from Russia amid intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops.

Local military-civilian administrations have already been formed in the two regions, the broadcasting of Russian tv channels and radio stations has been launched, and trade ties with Crimea are being restored. Both regions have announced plans to hold referendums for accession to Russia.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

SIMFEROPOL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) The deputy head of the Kherson regional military-civil administration, Kirill Stremousov, has described the Ukrainian strike on the city of Nova Kakhovka as "a terror tactic" and "pure Nazism."

A strike on Nova Kakhovka in Kherson Region was carried out late on Monday night, causing explosions at warehouses with saltpeter and damaging a local hospital and "hundreds" of apartments in residential buildings, according to the head of the city's military-civilian administration, Vladimir Leontyev. He told Sputnik that the attack was carried out using the US-supplied multiple rocket launcher HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System).

"The victim count is underway, clearly there are fatalities, probably more than six people. The exact number will be announced later... They (Ukrainian troops) are hitting civilian targets," Stremousov told Sputnik on Tuesday, adding that Kiev's goal is "to sow fear" by using "a maximum terror tactic" and repeating the Donbas scenario, "hitting their own people and destroying their homes. This is pure Nazism."

Leontyev told Sputnik on Tuesday morning that the attack on Nova Kakhovka resulted in at least two deaths, while at least four people are still missing and dozens more were injured.

Many people are still under the rubble, Leontyev said.

Earlier, he told Sputnik that a disabled teenager who was on duty at a warehouse with humanitarian aid, was among those killed in the attack.

Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine.

The newly formed government of the Kherson Region, which has recently gone under the control of Russian and allied forces, began to operate on July 5. Both Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have announced plans to hold referendums for accession to Russia.

In response to Russia's operation in Ukraine, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden authorized a new $400 million drawdown of additional military assistance to Ukraine. The US Defense Department said the aid package includes four HIMARS, 1,000 rounds of 155 millimeter artillery munitions with greater precision capabilities, counter battery systems and other equipment.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) US military killed a leader of the Islamic State (IS, a terrorist group banned in Russia) during an airstrike in Syria, NBC reported on Tuesday, citing the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

The airstrike killed Maher al-Agal, who was one of the top four leaders of the entire IS, the report said.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) Syrian checkpoint military guards and residents of al-Salihiya village on the outskirt of the northeastern city of Qamishli, have managed to push back a convoy of five US armored vehicles, the Syrian Arab news Agency (SANA) reported on Tuesday.

The US convoy included one car of Kurdish militia from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the report said, citing local sources.

A similar episode of local resistance took place last Tuesday, as local residents prevented a US military convoy from entering al-Mujaibra village.

Syria has been engulfed in an armed conflict since 2011, with President Bashar Assad's forces fighting different insurgent groups.

In late 2017, the Islamic State (IS, a terrorist group banned in Russia) was declared defeated in the country, but counterterrorism operations have continued in an effort to eliminate remaining cells.

Washington has supported Kurdish armed formations in Syria despite Assad's protests. US forces are currently controlling parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Deir Ez-Zor and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located. Damascus calls the presence of the US military on its territory an occupation and state piracy with the aim of siphoning off its oil resources.
USM Names Senior Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management

Tue, 07/12/2022 - 16:44pm | By: Van Arnold

Longtime collegiate administrator Dr. Randall Langston aims to bolster student engagement and excitement at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) as the new Senior Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management.

Langston, who began his USM duties earlier this month, comes to Hattiesburg from the University of Central Missouri where he had served as Executive Vice Provost for Enrollment Management since 2020. A native of Houston, Texas, Langston has amassed 26 years of extensive expertise in enrollment management at public and private four-year universities nationwide.

I am very excited to join such a tremendous university as USM at this important time in its history, said Langston. I am looking forward to elevating USMs already stellar reputation and put it on the map for more students in Mississippi, regionally, and nationally.

USM had 14,146 students enrolled for the Fall 2021 semester. That figure is slightly above the total of 14,133 in Fall 2019, the semester preceding the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Universitys enrollment was 14,606 in the Fall 2020, when it was one of only two public universities in the state of Mississippi to achieve an enrollment increase.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reports that undergraduate enrollment fell by 3.2 percent last fall and that since Fall 2019, undergraduate enrollments have dropped by 6.5 percent.

Langston has some specific ideas in mind to help USM enrollment continue an upward path.

My immediate vision would be to maximize technology and personalization as well as leverage data in order to position USM as a student-centered institution that authentically communicates our identity and culture in a way that excites students and results in increased institutional enrollment, said Langston.

He points out that nationally, since the pandemics onset in 2020, higher education enrollment has been declining and is forecast to decrease further as universities approach what is termed the enrollment cliff starting in 2025-26.

While some of this can be attributed to changing enrollment patterns during the pandemic, current enrollment declines are also being driven by lower birth rates starting back in the mid-2000s during the Great Recession, said Langston. Despite this, many strategies exist to engage students in the college exploration journey. An institution must have a competing message to share with prospective students. Continuing to promote USM effectively will be key.

Langston is serving in a newly created role at USM. In an effort to broaden the scope of enrollment management, this new position will coordinate recruitment and outreach work to all prospective student populations, including new freshman, undergraduate transfer students, and graduate students, for both in-person and online programs.

At Southern Miss, we offer many outstanding educational degree paths to meet the needs of both traditional and non-traditional students, said Dr. Amy Chasteen, Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at USM. We are excited about Dr. Langstons leadership in this new position and look forward to the energy and expertise he will bring to the role.

Langstons career in higher education also includes serving as Vice President for Enrollment Management at Texas Womans University, 2017-2020; Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management, Acting Director of Undergraduate Admissions at The College at Brockport  State University of New York (SUNY), 2012-2017; Executive Director of Enrollment Management at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado, 2008-2012; Director of Admissions Services, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 2007-2008; and Associate Director of Admission,/Southern Regional Director and Assistant Director of Admission (based in Austin, Texas) for the University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, 1999-2004.

He earned a masters degree in education at Texas Tech University in Lubbock and a Ph.D. at the University of The Free State  Republic of South Africa. He began his formal higher education at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, where he earned a bachelors degree in political science.

Langston has presented at numerous national conferences during his distinguished career on topics related to enrollment management, statistical data analytics, and predictive modeling. He is also a two-time National Student Clearinghouse Research Center Award recipient for excellence related to quality in presentations.

Langston and his wife, Jill, are the parents to daughters  Hannah (19) and Abigail (14).
A Bismarck woman on probation for child neglect and drug offenses was arrested at her apartment Monday after police said they found more than $24,000 cash and 1,500 fentanyl pills that were hidden in a fake Bible.

Chelsea Taken Alive, 30, is also accused of illegally possessing firearms, one of which had the serial number removed, and using drugs while two children were in the apartment, according to a police affidavit.

Officers from the Metro Area Narcotics Task Force and North Dakota Probation Office conducted a search at Taken Alives Simle Drive apartment about 3 p.m. They found 1,530 fentanyl pills hidden in a safe and in a fake Holy Bible and fake energy drink and lubricating spray cans, the affidavit states. Taken Alive allegedly had $24,256 in cash, two handguns and a gram of fentanyl powder. The pills could sell for as much as $80 each, officials say.

Police said they found evidence that Taken Alive was smoking a pill just before they arrived. Tin foil with a burned surface and a glass pipe were on the floor within reach of the children, the affidavit states.

Taken Alive made her initial court appearance Tuesday. She is charged with felony drug possession with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a firearm and child neglect. She also faces a misdemeanor charge of prohibited alterations to a firearm, court documents show. An attorney isnt listed for her.

Taken Alive in May was placed on probation for two years after she pleaded guilty to felony child neglect and tampering with physical evidence, and to misdemeanor charges of drug and paraphernalia possession and DUI with a minor. The charges followed an arrest in August 2021 after police said she performed poorly on field sobriety tests. Police further alleged they found marijuana, paraphernalia and oxycodone pills during a search of the vehicle. Children ages 2 and 8 were in the back seat.

Taken Alive agreed to provide a urine sample at the Bismarck Police Department building, then allegedly flushed a plastic bag while doing so, according to authorities. Staff at the Burleigh Morton Detention Center found more paraphernalia and the remnants of another pill when she was booked.
Austin, TX  The Austin woman accused of killing world class cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson May 11 has been captured in Costa Rica. The U.S. Marshals Office of International Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, working with authorities in Costa Rica, located and arrested Kaitlin Marie Armstrong June 29 at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas. Armstrong, 34, will be deported and returned to the U.S. Members of the U.S. Marshals-led Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations recently discovered that Armstrong, using a fraudulent passport, had boarded United Airlines Flight 1222 from Newark International Airport at 5:09 p.m. EST on May 18 and arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica, at 8:27 p.m. EST. The Marshals Service elevated the Kaitlin Armstrong investigation to major case status early in this investigation, which likely played a key role in her capture after a 43-day run, said U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas Susan Pamerleau. This is an example of combining the resources of local, state, federal and international authorities to apprehend a violent fugitive, bring an end to that run and hopefully a sense of closure to the victims family. The U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force located Armstrongs black Jeep Grand Cherokee last week and learned that Armstrong sold the vehicle May 13 to a CarMax dealership in south Austin for $12,200 dollars. Armstrong was provided a check from the dealership a day after being questioned by Austin authorities. She departed the Austin airport on May 14. Investigators learned that Armstrong was dropped off at the Newark Liberty International Airport on May 18, a day after Austin police issued a homicide warrant for her arrest. She is suspected of the May 11 murder of Anna Moriah Wilson. Police responding to a call at an east Austin residence May 11 discovered Wilson bleeding and unconscious from multiple gunshot wounds. They performed CPR on her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Wilson, 25, a Vermont native and world class cyclist, had been in Austin for a race.



The Austin Police Department requested assistance from the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force  Austin Division to locate and apprehend Armstrong. On May 17 Austin police issued a homicide warrant for Armstrong. During the investigation it was learned through an interviewed source that Armstrong was provided transportation to the Newark Liberty International Airport on May 18. Investigators searched outbound flights at the Newark Airport and found no flight reservations under her name. On May 25 investigators obtained an arrest warrant in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas for an Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. Investigators believe Armstrong was at the Austin Bergstrom International Airport on May 14 at approximately 12:30 p.m., and that she boarded Southwest Airlines Flight WN2262 from ABIA to Houston Hobby Airport, where she boarded a connecting SW Flight WN30 to New York LaGuardia Airport. Media wishing to arrange an interview on this case are to contact Deputy U.S. Marshal Brandon Filla at Brandon.Filla@usdoj.gov.

Members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force in Austin: Austin Police Department-Tactical Intelligence Unit

Georgetown and Round Rock Police Departments

Travis, Caldwell, Hays, Williamson, and Bastrop County Sheriffs Offices

Texas Attorney Generals Office

Texas Department of Criminal Justice OIG

Texas Department of Public Safety

U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement

U.S. DHS/Homeland Security Investigations. Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov. ####



Americas First Federal Law Enforcement Agency


A delegation lead by the President of Caritas Europe arrived on Monday, 11 July, to express solidarity to the East European country where thousands of Ukrainian refugees continue to flow in.

By Vatican News staff reporter

A delegation of Caritas Europe is in Moldova for a four-day solidarity visit to the East European country which is currently hosting more than 83,000 refugees from bordering Ukraine.

Moldova's support to Ukrainian refugees

We want to express our solidarity with Moldova, which has been heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine. Considering the size and economy of the country, this impact has been disproportionate. Moldova needs greater support from the EU, said Austrian Bishop Michael Landau, President of Caritas Europe, who is leading the delegation with Silvia Sinibaldi, International Cooperation and Humanitarian Director.

The small Republic of Moldova, the poorest nation in Europe, home to a population of some 2.5 million people, has been hosting more refugees from Ukraine per head than any other country.

Caritas Moldova's work



Since the beginning of the conflict the local minority Catholic Church has been on the frontline of humanitarian relief efforts in collaboration with State authorities, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and many volunteers from all walks of life.

In this time Caritas Moldova has been assisting more than 100,000 people providing shelter, food, money and psychological support. It has provided at least one hot meal a day to over 42,000 beneficiaries in eight different national refugee centres.

Read also 07/03/2022 Moldovan Catholic Church supporting Ukrainian refugees The small Catholic Church in Moldova has responded immediately to the influx of refugees from Ukraine in collaboration with the local government and many volunteers, promising to ...

The visit of Caritas Europe

On Tuesday 12 July, the Caritas Europe delegation visited several projects in the capital Chisinau and at the border with Ukraine where Caritas Moldova provides support to children from vulnerable backgrounds.

On Wednesday 13 July, the team is scheduled to visit Caritas Moldovas Cash Centre in Moldexpo, through which more than 60,000 refugees have been receiving financial support since March 2022. It will also visit the Fides Refugee Centre in Chisinau, which was set up at the beginning of the war and which hosts, on average, 110 refugees from Ukraine every day. In this centre the guests receive accommodation, meals, and emotional, legal and medical support.

The visit will end on Thursday, 14 July, with the opening ceremony of a new Refugee Centre in Chisinau, which is run by Diaconia in collaboration with Caritas. The inauguration will be attended by local civil authorities and by the Orthodox Metropolitan of Bessarabia, Archbisop Petru Paduraru.
Despite joining those forced to flee their home city ahead of Russias capture of the southeastern Ukrainian city, Caritas Mariupol continues to serve displaced persons from Zaporizhia, according to Fr. Rostyslav Spryniuk.

By Svitlana Duckhovych

Everything that the people of Mariupol experienced during the Russian shelling of the city was an insult to their dignity, and the first gesture of mercy to those people who managed to flee the violence must be aimed at restoring their dignity, both by ensuring shelter, food, and medicine, and by offering spiritual and psychological support, and offering them the opportunity to earn money.

Fr. Rostyslav Spryniuk, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest, thus summed up his work in Zaporizha, the city to which he was forced to flee but from where he continues to work to help internally-displaced people.

Speaking to Vatican News, Fr. Rostyslav describes how he has led the Caritas outfit in Mariupol since 2010, and how he was forced to flee with his family on 16 March.

Going there where there is need

"I went where there was need," Fr. Rostyslav says, recounting the beginning of his mission in one of the areas of Ukraine where a "post-Soviet spiritual vacuum" reigned.

He hails from the Ivano-Frankivsk region in the west of Ukraine, and had to ask permission from the local Church authorities, who "agreed and so I came to Mariupol, because I believe that the priest should go where he is needed.

There he served a small community of about 50 people. The numbers were low, he explains, because there was no proper church building: celebrations were held in a chapel set up in the priest's house, but local people always wished to build a proper house of worship.

"Recently, we started building the church; we laid the foundation and put up the second floor. The parish was growing..."

Caritas Mariupol

The first catechesis - gestures of mercy

The mission in Mariupol has never been easy. After the start of the war in 2014, the city was taken by pro-Russian separatists, and two months later the Ukrainian army retook control. The Donetsk Regional Administration was temporarily relocated to the city, as the regional capital remained under occupation.

"Despite the fact that the front line was only 12 kilometers from the city," Fr. Rostyslav recounts, "life in our parish continued: celebrations were held regularly; we had catechesis; we had our Caritas, which, among other things, helped people in the buffer zones.

For the priest, who comes from the west of Ukraine, where the Soviet regime had failed to completely suffocate people's faith, carrying out pastoral work in Mariupol was a challenge.

"First of all, I had to explain to people who Christ is, to convey to them what the Church is and what it does, he says. And we did it in a very simple way: through love, through the manifestation of God's merciful hand, which Caritas expresses through humanitarian aid. And the people responded, a great many started attending church, and they wanted to establish communities in their villages. The people there are simple and hardworking; they have always been very open. In fact, it was very fulfilling to work with those people."

Caritas Mariupol

An insult to human dignity

Although up to 24 February the danger in Mariupol had been close and constant, Fr. Rostyslav says that after that date, he realized that the situation could become much worse than what everyone had already become accustomed to.

"Around 4:30 in the morning," he recalls, "my friend woke me up and told me that the war had started. I said the war had been there for a long time, and he replied, 'You don't understand; turn on the TV. After that, life in Mariupol became what can be described with one word: a living 'hell.' It was an insult to human dignity, an insult to the people, the destruction of human identity itself: people were willing to do anything to get something to eat, to get water, medicine, wood to light a fire and make food. And everything had to be done very quickly, because the shelling did not stop for even a minute, it came both from long-range artillery, from the sea, from where missiles were launched, and from the sky: three to ten planes were constantly flying over Mariupol, dropping bombs on civilian neighborhoods."

As he recalls these events, Fr. Rostyslav pauses a few times to catch his breath. Although almost four months have passed since then, the pain is still very real and it pains him to relive what he sometimes calls "a living hell."

"But the worst thing," he says, "was that people got used to the bombing and paid less attention, which is why so many people lost their lives. My 17-year-old son saw two of his classmates and his girlfriend die. By a miracle he survived unharmed. I want to tell you this: what we experienced is indescribable; I cannot find the right words. One has to experience it to understand it, but I certainly wouldn't wish it on anyone."

Caritas Mariupol

Escape from Mariupol

In Mariupol, Fr. Rostyslav Sprynyuk lived with his wife and two of their children, ages 17 and 9. The couple also has another older son, who is currently working in Cherkasy.

The priest shares his recollection of the moment when he decided to leave Mariupol.

"I felt that I had to stay with my parishioners: this is the duty of a priest. And I also talked about it with the bishop. But at some point, the situation in Mariupol became untenable: there was no gas, no electricity, no heating, no Internet connection. Mariupol is quite a large city; 500,000 people lived there. And, when I saw that my community had already dispersed, that I could not reach parishioners in any way, and it was also dangerous, then we decided to join the first possible humanitarian corridor and on 16 March I left with my family. I tried to convince them to leave even earlier, when it was less dangerous; however, my wife refused, because once, at the beginning of the war in 2014, she had left for the west of the country and for two and a half years we lived at a distance and she did not want to leave me again. But this time, when the situation got much worse, she also realized that it would have been better to leave earlier. For me it was very difficult, because I had a double concern: I was worried not about myself, my attention was focused not only on helping the parish, but also my family."

The pastor of Mariupol recalls the plight of his parishioners with bitterness. "Many of them have left, many others are missing. No one knows whether they are alive or have been taken away, deported to Russia. I have established contact with about 10 people who managed to leave from there, but I have no information about the others.

Caritas Mariupol

Caritas Mariupol: restoring dignity to people

In Mariupol, Fr. Rostyslav was directing the activities of the local Caritas office that was struck by a Russian missile in mid-March. Seven people, including two of the staff, lost their lives.

Now this office has moved to Zaporizhia. In cooperation with the local branch, "Caritas Mariupol" takes care of refugees from this city and others.

"Now people are in need of everything," the priest explains, "because they have been practically torn from their lives; they are stripped of their dignity. Our state tries to help, but it cannot reach everyone, because now the main focus is on the military branch engaged in defending the state from the Russian advance. And charitable foundations, such as Caritas and others, do everything to help people."

The Caritas director says about 350 people come every day for food, clothing, hygiene products, medicine.

"In every town and village in the unoccupied part of Ukraine there are refugees, who have lost everything: someone had a business, someone else had a doctor's office, another was a notary. Now they have nothing left, and they feel disoriented; they don't know what will happen tomorrow, how we will be able to stop the Russians, how to find food for their family. They need everything, but first of all, in my opinion, apart from spiritual support, they need psychological support. Secondly, we need to help them regain their dignity by giving them the opportunity to work and earn money. For example, we are already doing this through the Cash for Work program. We also need to help entrepreneurs resume their businesses or promote retraining."

According to Fr. Rostyslav, great attention must be paid at this time to supporting children, and in particular, children with disabilities.

"Children need psychological assistance to feel safe, so that they become children again, he says. We have some counselors, but they are too few; we need many specialists in the field who could come and work here. Of course, they have to know the language."

Caritas Mariupol

Overcoming trauma to live moments of joy

"How do you manage such traumatic memories?" the priest is asked.

"I try not to think about them, he answers. I try to work and help people, because if you start thinking about it, everything becomes very difficult. And then, my prayer is constant, prayer helps a lot."

Hope also springs from the mercy offered to others.

"Joy comes when I see that people, receiving any help from us, begin to believe in the future," he says. They show it by talking to us, thanking us for the help, because we also take care of finding them housing, giving it free to the elderly or people with disabilities. When I see that people feel good, I feel good too.
Pope Francis expresses his condolences to the family and to the religious community of Sister Luisa DellOrto, who was killed in Haiti on Saturday

By Vatican News staff reporters

Sister Luisa DellOrto made her life a gift to others, even to the point of martyrdom, Pope Francis said on Sunday at the Angelus, as he offered his condolences to the family and religious community of the Italian nun who was killed Sunday in Haiti.

Just last year, in a letter to a missionary group, Sister Luisa had written of her decision to continue her work in Haiti. You will tell me I am a bit crazy. Why stay here? Why expose yourself to risk? What is the point of living in such discomfort? Wouldnt it be better for people to solve their own problems?

We cannot keep silent about what we have seen and heard.

"To be able to count on someone is important in order to live! And witnessing that you can count on the solidarity that comes from faith and love of God is the greatest gift we can offer.

On Saturday, Sr Luisa was seriously injured during an armed attack in the streets of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. She was rushed to hospital, but died shortly afterwards, just two days shy of her 65th birthday.

Sister Luisa was a member of the Little Sisters of the Gospel, a religious community inspired by St Charles de Foucauld, and had lived in Port-au-Prince for more than two decades, dedicated above all to the service of street children, as Pope Francis recalled on Sunday.

Here, yes, she really gave her life for the work, that is certainly a fact, said Maria Adele DellOrto, Sister Luisas biological sister, in remarks to Vatican News. She was aware that something might happen... because its obvious, even in her last letter she said so, that the situation was very difficult. But she was keen to stay and bear witness.

Maria Adele was comforted by the fact that her sister had followed path taken by St Charles. In these hours, I think of how she always lived in the footesteps of Charles de Foucauld, and today I think that she died like him.

In his own remarks at the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis commended Sr Luisas soul to God, and prayed for the people of Haiti, especially for the little ones, that they may have a more serene future, without misery and violence.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith encourages Sri Lankan political leaders to make good on their promises to give up power this week, and expresses hope that a new government will bring the country out of its current difficult situation.

By Vatican News staff writer

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo has urged the political leaders of Sri Lanka to keep to their word to resign this week, amid weeks of protests over the countrys severe economic crisis.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Rani Wickremesinghe said that they would resign after tens of thousands of protesters stormed the home and offices of both the president and the prime minister on Saturday, and set fire to one of the buildings.

The parliamentary speaker, Mahinda Abeywardena, said that the beleaguered president would step down on 13 July to ensure a peaceful transition of power.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he would leave office once an all-party government has been formed.

The countrys parliament will reconvene on 15 July and a new president is set to be elected by the MPs by 20 July.

Appeal to authorities

In the wake of the weeks of unrest and protests, the Cardinal told the Crux news agency that the people have made their leadership understand that they dont have any confidence in them, and therefore the leadership was forced to make a decision.

However, the Cardinal expressed doubt that the Sri Lankan leaders will make good on their promise to resign, noting that the leadership in the country has a bad record of promises being kept.

As the country sunk further into its worst crisis in recent months, the Sri Lankan Cardinal has been vocal in calling on the government to take responsibility for the current situation.

The economic crisis in Sri Lanka has resulted not only from the Covid disaster, but also from a series of decisions, unfortunate decisions, made by the president and his government, Cardinal Ranjith said, noting that leaders in the banking sector, especially, have made serious mistakes and as a result, our foreign reserves have gone down to zero, and our gold reserves have reduced drastically.

Last week, in a press conference held in his residence, the Cardinal suggested that the Rajapaksa family had lost its public credibility and further attempts by them to bring about any changes in the country appear to have been rejected by the public.

"On behalf of the suffering people, he said, what I strongly ask the president and the government of Sri Lanka is to take responsibility for the sad situation and resign from their positions since they no longer have the moral right to remain in office.

Cardinal Ranjith, in this regard, expresses hope that a new government will be able to bring the country out of its current difficult predicament.

Sri Lankan protests

Months of protests have trailed the government of President Rajapaksa, who has been blamed by Sri Lankans for the current economic situation of the country. Rajapaksa has been president since November 2019, and alongside several other members of his family who held senior political posts, has been accused of economic mismanagement and corruption.

According to the UN, Sri Lanka is facing a humanitarian crisis as its foreign currency reserves have run dry and it has been unable to import food, fuel, and medicines. The ensuing massive economic decline of the country has been made worse by soaring fuel prices and power cuts.

Since March, there have been widespread protests calling for the resignation of the Rajapaksas, including a demand that he be held accountable for the dire situation in which the countrys 22 million population finds itself.

The storming of the official residences of the president and prime minister on Saturday was the culmination of months of mainly peaceful protests. Images shared online showed protesters pouring through the official residence of the president, with some taking advantage of some amenities, including the swimming pool. Others rifled through personal belongings.

The Church in the service of those in need

As the country wades through these difficult times, the Church has been present and active in providing support for those in need, through Caritas at both the diocesan and international levels.

Through Caritas, the church in Sri Lanka has arranged programs to identify the most affected families in the areas of our dioceses, and to organize immediate support for sustenance, as well as short-term support for self-help programs in order to generate food and other items they need, Cardinal Ranjith said.

Noting that many hospitals have no medicine to provide proper healthcare for those who are sick, the Cardinal appealed for support from the international community, calling on governments and organizations to purchase some of the medicines necessary for our people, especially our children, and to send it down to Sri Lanka as donations.

The Cardinal also said that leaders from other religious communities, including Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus, are working together to provide aid to the population, and they plan to form a relationship with any government that is formed in order to keep social acceptance and social peace.

Pope Francis, during the Angelus on Sunday, expressed his closeness to the Sri Lankan people who continue to suffer the effects of political and economic instability and urged the leaders not to ignore the cry of the poor and the needs of the people.
Ukraines defense minister says his nation plans a "million-strong army" equipped with weapons of the western NATO military alliance to retake parts of the country now occupied by the Russian military. His comments came as Russia makes progress in taking territory in the eastern Donbas region, where dozens died over the weekend in a missile strike on an apartment block.

By Stefan J. Bos



Ukraines Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov says Kyiv wants to focus its efforts first on retaking the country's south.

He explains that a million-strong army equipped with NATO weapons must recapture the areas around the Black Sea, which he claims are vital to the country's economy.

The minister estimates that Ukraine has some 700,000 men in the armed forces, backed by the national guard, police, and border guard, which will increase to a million-strong force.

However, commentators caution that his remarks published by The Times newspaper are a sign of desperation as Ukraine rapidly loses territories in the east.

Civilians suffer in the region. Authorities say a Russian missile strike on a five-story apartment building in the eastern town of Chasiv Yar killed at least two dozen people over the weekend. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilian sites, despite witnesses suggesting otherwise.

There has also been concern about strikes around the capital Kyiv where Russian troops were forced to withdraw after facing fierce resistance.

No end yet in sight

Among those commanding troops around Kyiv is an Afghan refugee, Jalal Noory, who is in his 40s.



The man who previously worked for a security company and has lived in Ukraine since 1998 says he was 100 percent sure that the Russians would reach Kyiv.

Now commanding 12 soldiers, he adds: I didnt want to surrender and see a Russian flag over my head. I had two options defend or die.

His fellow commander Andrew Klishchuk admits he had doubts about working with an Afghan refugee. First I thought: Oh my God, what did guy his doing here? But I get to know him, and sometimes he knows more than Ukrainians do.

Yet while fighters of different nationalities have been able to push back Russian forces here, isolated attacks continue around Kyiv.

And with Russian forces capturing territories in the east and south, it has become clear there is no end yet to a war that killed tens of thousands of people.

Mounting pressure

There is also mounting pressure from Moscow on Western nations not to support Ukraine militarily and end European Union sanctions.

On Monday, Germany, the EUs largest economy, said Russian gas supplies to Germany via the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 have been halted for ten days.

The pipeline's Russian-backed operators claim the move is because of annual maintenance work.

But German ministers believe the shutdown is politically motivated to put pressure on Berlin.

Last month, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Russian President Vladimir Putin was using gas "as a weapon" in response to EU sanctions.
Hong Kong: Deputy FS chairs task force meeting

Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong today chaired the first meeting of the Task Force on Public Housing Projects, during which members discussed the overall direction for its work and issues to be considered.

Mr Wong said representatives from relevant bureaus and departments reviewed the overall public housing supply for the next 10 years at todays meeting.

From 2022-23 to 2026-27, the public housing production will be about 100,000 units. In the second five-year period or 2027-28 to 2031-32, production will increase significantly to over 230,000 units.

To this end, one of the task forces main focuses is to explore how to increase the public housing supply in the first five-year period, Mr Wong said.

The deputy finance chief said the task force will explore the further application of Modular Integrated Construction and other technologies.

It will also consider how to expedite the construction and completion of public housing by strengthening collaboration among various departments and streamlining the procedures.

The task force will formulate practical measures, such as implementing the Public Rental Housing (PRH) Advance Allocation Scheme put forward by the Chief Executive through phased completion of PRH, in order to enable early intake of PRH flats by the applicants.

As there will be a significant increase in public housing production in the second five-year period, the task force will consider how to prepare for the increase in production by raising the overall construction capacity through various methods, Mr Wong added.

This story has been published on: 2022-07-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection wont restore hours of operation to pre-pandemic levels at some ports of entry in North Dakota, despite pressure from Gov. Doug Burgum.

In a letter to the agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent Friday, Burgum said the reduced hours at several North Dakota port crossings along the U.S.-Canadian border causes significant hardship on the movement of citizens, goods and tourists between our two nations.

In a statement to The Associated Press Friday, the federal agencies said longer opening hours cannot be justified because of the shrinking volume of traffic at the border crossings  a decline that began even before the pandemic.

For several years, pre-COVID, CBP documented a reduction in vehicles and pedestrian traffic along our northern border, and CBPs obligation is to utilize all available resources responsibly to perform our mission of safeguarding the homeland, the statement said.

North Dakota has 17 border crossings and the one at Pembina on Interstate 29 in the northeastern part of the state is the busiest. In April 2020, hours of operation were reduced by several hours in the evening at 10 of crossings. Hours also were shortened at some ports of entry in Montana, Minnesota, Idaho and Washington, and will remain that way, agencies said.

The federal government said at the time that the reduction in hours would be temporary.

On April 1, 2022, the federal government rescinded the requirement for fully vaccinated travelers into the U.S. to be tested for the coronavirus.

Burgum said in his letter that the relaxed rule spurred a 40% increase in the number of people entering the U.S. through North Dakota. But Burgum said the number of people crossing the border is still half of pre-pandemic levels.

North Dakotans and Canadians in these areas are forced to cope with hours that do not accommodate the average persons daily routine, Burgum wrote. A North Dakotans day does not begin at 9 a.m. nor end at 5 p.m. Such limitations are unacceptable and cause significant hardship for people who wish to cross the border beyond these limited hours.

The Republican governor estimated North Dakota lost more than $283 million in Canadian visitor spending due to the pandemic.

Spending by these Canadian visitors constitutes nearly 10% of North Dakotas annual visitor spending, and the importance of these international dollars to our economy cannot be overstated, Burgum wrote.

Burgum sent a similar letter to the agencies earlier in the year, and he spoke with CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus in June to request extra hours. Magnus, who reports to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, is a former Fargo police chief.

In the tiny town of Noonan, just 7 miles from the U.S.-Canadian border, Donna Fagerland said there is a noticeable drop in the number of Canadians who visit her town of about 180 people.

We used to be strangers in our own hometown, said Fagerland, a 76-year-old former cafe owner in Noonan. Weve always had Canadians here, but not as many are coming down.

The shorter hours at the port of entry, which opens at 9 a.m. but now closes at 5 p.m. instead of 10 p.m., has created a hassle for people on both sides of the border, Fagerland said.

Most visitors come from Estevan, Saskatchewan, a city of about 14,000 people about 20 miles from Noonan, she said.

Many come to North Dakota to hunt and fish but Noonans biggest draw is its two bars and post office, Fagerland said. Several Canadians own homes in town and many have their mail and packages shipped to Noonan because the postal rates are less expensive in the U.S., she said.

They like to come down and pick up their mail and visit, she said. The drinks are cheaper, too.
An international lawyer representing hundreds of victims of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in a special tribunal has resigned because the United Nations-backed court failed to provide enough funding for the participation of Cambodians bringing charges in the trials.

In a letter to the Supreme Court Chamber, International Civil Party Lead Co-Lawyer Megan Hirst resigned, stating that the courts Office of Administration did not fund communication between the victims and their lawyers and cut funding for her position in 2021.

Since the trials began, 3,865 victims of the 1970s regime have been registered as so-called Civil Parties in the trials. They are represented by a team of 20 international and local lawyers. The Khmer Rouge killed nearly 2 million people through starvation, torture, forced labor or bludgeoning as the regime tried, and failed, to turn Cambodia into a self-sufficient agrarian utopia envisioned by the regimes founder, Pol Pot who died in 1998.

[O]ur team has lost essential human resources, with a significant impact on our ability to represent the Civil Parties. However, the decisive issue has been another, even more fundamental matter. We are without resources to enable meetings between the Civil Parties and their legal representatives, Hirst wrote in a letter seen by VOA Khmer.

She continued in the letter to say lawyers were able to meet with only some 5% of victims. The overwhelming majority of Civil Parties do not know what has occurred at the ECCC over the past few years, or what will happen after the final judgment, she wrote.

The court, which is officially called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), is expected to wrap up all proceedings this year after the Supreme Court Chamber makes a decision on the final appeal by Khieu Samphan, the former Khmer Rouge head of state, against the verdict in Case 002/02. He is the last surviving Khmer Rouge leader and has refused to accept his 2018 conviction for genocide against Cambodia's Muslim Cham and ethnic Vietnamese.

Hirst said the lack of communication had also prevented lawyers from consulting the victims on the important issue of archiving and public access to court documents, which include personal details about the crimes and traumas they suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Lack of funding, contact with Civil Parties

Since its inception in 2006, the hybrid Cambodian and international tribunal has cost more than $300 million. It sentenced three defendants  torture center chief Comrade Duch in 2010 and top Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan in 2018  to life imprisonment for war crimes, genocide, torture and other crimes.

Duch, convicted of overseeing the mass murder of at least 14,000 Cambodians at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, died in prison in September 2020. Nuon Chea died protesting the charges in August 2019.

But the ECCC had a record of failing to provide funding for the lawyers to meet the Civil Parties and only three lawyers were remunerated by the court for their judicial work.

The lawyers were expected to raise external funds for their work on behalf of victims. This latter task became harder after the ECCC cut back funding for the few lawyers it does pay and because of diminishing international donor interest, according to Hirst.

This year, lawyers were able to meet only some 200 Civil Parties after they obtained external funding from GIZ, the German governments development agency, wrote Hirst. She had worked as Civil Party lead co-lawyer since 2019.

The Office of Administration provided no explanation for its lack of support, according to her letter, and court judges earlier ruled that the funding issues were not within their legal purview.

In a reaction, ECCC spokesman Neth Pheaktra told VOA Khmer that the ECCC continues to support civil parties and the important role they play in judicial proceedings. He offered no explanation as to what the court was doing to resolve the lack of funds for Civil Parties communication with their lawyers.

Peter Maguire, an American law professor and author of Facing Death in Cambodia, said the ECCC had introduced an experimental element of victim participation, which had tested the claims by some legal experts that courts can provide therapeutic restorative justice for victims.

Hirsts resignation, he said, comes as no surprise and provides further evidence that the ECCC has failed that test. Maguire asserted that including therapeutic mechanisms for victims had made the court proceeding overly complicated and said the mechanisms should be provided outside of courtrooms instead.

To ask any court, much less a war crimes court, to heal societies or teach historical lessons is asking too much, Maguire said.

Consistent rejections

Hong Kim Suon, a national Civil Party co-lawyer since 2008, supported Hirsts complaint and said his requests for funds to the Office of Administration had been consistently rejected.

When I protested, they told us that they didnt have that budget allocation  even though they still have remaining budget, he said. His tribunal work is funded by his employer, a local NGO called the Cambodia Defenders Project.

There are many civil parties, but we dont go to meet them all  We are very frustrated that we dont have money supporting our work, he said.

Yun Bin, a Khmer Rouge survivor who is among the Civil Parties, said he rarely heard from his lawyers. The court doesnt care much about Civil Parties. They dont even want to invite Civil Parties [to meet], he said. Now two Civil Parties at my home village died already. Another one is seriously sick.

Yun Bin, 67, survived after he was beaten by Khmer Rouge cadres and left for dead in a pit. He said lawyers had collected testimony about his experience and he had received ECCC funding to attend trial proceedings in Phnom Penh.

But, he said, I want to meet lawyers and talk more about the suffering. Meeting more often could make me forget the torture that I faced. He also sought financial reparations for victims and the building of Buddhist stupas to commemorate the deceased victims and relieve their souls.

Yun Bin said the main source of help with his lifelong trauma was the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization, a mental health care and psychosocial support NGO that regularly provided him with medicine.

Unfulfilled innovation

The ECCC is among a small number of international criminal court trials and tribunals created in the past two decades that granted victims recognition through a role as Civil Parties in the trial proceedings. Civil Parties are formal participants in the proceedings against those allegedly responsible for the crimes under investigation by the ECCC, and they enjoy rights broadly similar to the prosecution and the defense, according to the tribunals website. Becoming a Civil Party not only gives victims the right to actively participate in the proceedings, but it also allows victims to ask the court for collective and moral reparations from the convicted persons.

The ECCCs website continues to state that in this capacity, they are recognized as parties to the proceedings and are allowed to seek collective and moral reparations. This reflects the commitment of the ECCC to its mandate of helping the Cambodian people in the pursuit of justice and national reconciliation.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which provided historic documents for the ECCC and raises public awareness about the trials, wrote in an open letter on July 4 that Hirsts resignation letter of June 13, underscores an overall failure in living up to the promises we made to the victims in the justice process for the Khmer Rouge.

One of the great innovations of the ECCC, compared to previous international criminal courts, is a recognition of the victims in the proceedings, he wrote, adding that they had the right to be informed about the trials so they could use the ECCC's work as an opportunity to process their experiences and find some sense of personal closure.
In the days leading up to Thailands much-hyped legalization of cannabis on June 9, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul was still preaching the profit power of an herb that would soon be like gold for the country.

Last month was the culmination of a years-long campaign to turn the potent plant into Thailands next big cash crop and pave a new path out of poverty for struggling farmers.

From his political base in the countrys rural northeast, Anutin made that campaign the crux of his Bhumjaithai partys run in the 2019 elections and parlayed a strong finish at the polls into his post as minister of health.

Recent opinion polls suggest the policy remains popular. But some still believe the ministers bold predictions are less prophecy than bluster and that small farmers may end up reaping few of the rewards.

Unphased by the critics, Anutin doubled down on his predictions for cannabis at a panel discussion on the plants legalization in Bangkok, the capital, last week, projecting a $3 billion industry by 2027.

Beneficiaries from this policy are among the people of every classification, from farmers to industrialists, from workers to entrepreneurs, he said.

Cannabis, he promised, would help transform Thailand into the wellness and medical hub of Asia and beyond.

Profit potential

At JSP Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing, chief executive Sittichai Daengprasert said revenues could double by next year thanks to the governments move to strike cannabis from the countrys narcotics list. His company harvests the plant for its valuable extracts, selling them on to local hospitals and adding them to its own line of products, from traditional medicines to health supplements and cosmetics.

Legalizing cannabis, Sittichai told VOA, gives local doctors and pharmacists more options to develop new medications and treatments, which will in turn spur demand for the plant from farmers, giving it plenty of cash crop potential.

I agree, really, really agree, he said. Growing rice, growing sugarcane, growing tapioca, its no profit, but ... growing hemp and cannabis is really good for our government income and really good for the Thai people.

He sees promise, too, for Thailands medical tourism sector, another prong of the governments plans for cannabis.

Than Global Travel has been running medical cannabis tours across Thailand for the past two years. Its patients can stroll through fields of the pungent plant, dine on pot-laced meals and consult with specialist doctors ready to prescribe just the right course of herbal remedies.

Owner Kattikamas Thanyajaroen says business is booming. Shes exploring new markets, including India, where there is already a waiting list for her latest tour package.

Most customers ask if they can smoke the pot, too. With a comprehensive Cannabis and Hemp Bill meant to clarify the new dos and don'ts for the plant still moving through parliament, she has been telling them no  for now. For cannabis to truly give the countrys tourism sector a boost, she said the government should set aside areas where people can smoke openly in peace, starting with a few of the countrys travel hotspots like Phuket.

For tourism, of course its good for [the] economy if you can do that, but it should be like [a] sandbox zone or separate zone ... for tourists, she said.

Pock Petthong, who grows a few hundred pot plants out of his home in southern Thailands Prachuap Khiri Khan province, has been quietly stoking the tourist scene on Phuket and elsewhere for years through contacts at local bars and clubs. Now that its legal, he has been getting more calls for seeds, seedlings and buds than he can handle.

I have 500 messages that I havent read, he said.

Palm and rubber tree farmers around him are thinking of jumping into the market, too, he added, excited by talk of prices for a single kilogram of marijuana topping what some of them earn in a year.

It will help Thailands business in every way if local people can get access to growing it or [get] involved in any of it without losing their leg or arm, said Pock, and so long as there is no backstabbing.

That is just what some are worried about.

Risky business

Chokwan Chopaka, a longtime advocate for legalizing cannabis who runs her own dispensary in Bangkok, says the costs that small and medium enterprises, or SMEs, would have to face to start up and sell what they grow under current and proposed rules are more than many can afford. She said fees would include about $1,390 for a commercial growers license, $1,390 for a farm audit, and another $1,390 for anyone who wants to move into extracts.

They always say that it will deliver people out of poverty; I dont see this, she said. Thailand is built with SMEs and filled with small businesses, so if the bill goes through, I think were kind of screwed.

She and others are proposing lower fees and other steps to help SMEs. They have an ally in Taopiphop Limjittrakorn, a lawmaker for the opposition Move Forward party involved in fine tuning the legislation.

More than the fees, though, Taopiphop said he worries about the many regulatory hoops small farmers will have to jump through as dictated by committees of unelected bureaucrats. He said theres a common perception, which he shares, that these committees have already given politically connected businesses a head start in the cannabis market while tying up most everyone else in thickets of red tape. Taopiphop said he would rather give more power over setting the coming rules to elected officials directly accountable to voters.

Viroj Na Ranong, who heads the Thailand Development Research Institutes health economics and agriculture team, has his doubts about the governments forecasts for the cannabis industry, too.

He said the domestic market is too small to make cannabis a true cash crop, and that exports would be hampered by inadequate quality controls and the many countries that still treat the plant as an illegal drug. A few big, well-connected farm operators will manage to cash in, he said, but may have already driven market prices too low for most small farmers to start now and make a windfall. Promises that the plant can drive an exodus out of poverty, Viroj added, may have more to do with winning votes than sober analysis.

It can be very lucrative for a big firm and a big plantation, but for general small farmers, I dont think they will make a lot of money, he said. The market has not been well established and ... they will not be able to make substantial production, at least for now.
Olympic champion Mo Farah revealed in an article published Monday that he was brought to Britain illegally under the name of another child to work as a domestic servant.

Farah told the BBC that he was given the name Mohamed Farah by a woman who flew him to the UK from the East African country Djibouti when he was 9.

The 39-year-old, whose father was killed in Somalia when he was 4, said his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin and claimed he was made to look after another family's children in Britain.

"The truth is I'm not who you think I am," he said as part of a documentary to be aired Wednesday.

"Most people know me as Mo Farah, but it's not my name, or it's not the reality.

"The real story is I was born in Somaliland, north of Somalia, as Hussein Abdi Kahin. Despite what I've said in the past, my parents never lived in the UK.

"When I was 4 my dad was killed in the civil war, you know, as a family we were torn apart.

"I was separated from my mother, and I was brought into the UK illegally under the name of another child called Mohamed Farah."

Farah, who became the first British track and field athlete to win four Olympic gold medals, said his children have motivated him to be truthful about his past.

"I've been keeping it for so long, it's been difficult because you don't want to face it, and often my kids ask questions, 'Dad, how come this?' And you've always got an answer for everything, but you haven't got an answer for that," he said.

"That's the main reason in telling my story because I want to feel normal and don't feel like you're holding on to something."

'Just being honest'

Farah's wife, Tania, said in the year leading up to their 2010 wedding she realized "there was lots of missing pieces to his story" but she eventually "wore him down with the questioning" and he told the truth.

During the television program, Farah said he thought he was going to Europe to live with relatives and recalled going through a UK passport check under the guise of Mohamed at the age of 9.

"I had all the contact details for my relative and once we got to her house, the lady took it off me and right in front of me ripped them up and put it in the bin and at that moment I knew I was in trouble," he said.

Farah eventually told his physical education teacher Alan Watkinson the truth and moved to live with his friend's mother, Kinsi, who "really took great care" of him, and stayed seven years.

It was Watkinson who applied for Farah's British citizenship, which he described as a "long process" and on July 25, 2000, Farah was recognized as a British citizen.

Farah, who named his son Hussein after his real name, said: "I often think about the other Mohamed Farah, the boy whose place I took on that plane, and I really hope he's OK.

"Wherever he is, I carry his name and that could cause problems now for me and my family.

"The important thing is for me to just be able to look, this is what's happened and just being honest, really."
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Video from the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency showed workers freeing a man from the rubble of a destroyed apartment block on July 10, 2022, in the Donetsk region. (Reuters)
A strategy outlined this month by China for Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island, shows the Communist government's resolve in unifying the two sides without making any new threats, experts say.

The Taiwan Affairs Office statement mainly amplifies China's previously stated ambitions, said Denny Roy, senior fellow at the East-West Center think tank in Hawaii.

Liu Jieyi, head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the strategy would resolve risks related to Taiwan by creating a "favorable environment," the South China Morning Post reported.

China prefers peace over conflict with Taiwan and promises it a degree of autonomy under a "one country, two systems" model of government if unified, Liu said.

He said the Chinese government's "comprehensive strength" would help unify the two sides and that tension between them would fade as that strength builds. Unification "should be promoted as part of the country's rejuvenation," Liu said.

"Anything that makes Beijing think time is on its side is good, Roy said, because that strengthens the case for patience rather than attacking in the near future out of a belief that the trends are unalterably averse to China."

Military muscle flexing

The biggest challenge to the strategy, Liu said, is Taiwan residents pushing for independence. "We do not promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking all necessary measures," he said.

Taiwan should expect more shows of military strength, especially after China's mid-June statement that the ocean strait between them is territorial rather than international, said Brian Hioe, founding editor with Taiwan-based media outlet New Bloom.

"This has sparked concerns that China may step up gray-zone warfare or measures targeting outlying islands of Taiwan," Hioe told VOA.

China has claimed sovereignty over the self-ruled island since the Chinese civil war in the 1940s, when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists lost to Mao Zedong's Communists and rebased in Taiwan, also called the Republic of China. Beijing has said it would use force, if needed, to unite the two sides. China and Taiwan lack formal diplomatic relations and have not spoken since 2015.

Since mid-2020, the People's Liberation Army Air Force has flown fighters and bombers over part of the Taiwanese air defense identification zone almost every day.

Last week, as a reaction to Florida Senator Rick Scott's visit to Taiwan, Wu Qian, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, said its Eastern Theater Command organized a "joint combat readiness security patrol and combat training exercises" around Taiwan's airspace "in response to the vicious acts of collusion and provocation by the U.S. and the Taiwan region" according to state media China Military Online.

Follow-up to past pledges

Communist Party leaders had said in November they would produce a Taiwan strategy based on statements by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the Taiwan office's statement offers follow-up ahead of the 20th Party Congress in late 2022, Roy said. The congress meets every five years.

That Taiwan Affairs Office statement poses no new threat, said Joanna Lei, CEO of the Chunghua 21st Century Think Tank in Taiwan.

"If we read the tea leaves and believe that it sends a signal of intensified military threat, I don't think so," she said. "I think that would be too much."

Liu's remarks lay a foundation for the Cross Strait Forum exchange of cultural and economic issues between the two sides, Lei said. The event organized by Beijing is scheduled for Tuesday and expected to draw 2,000 people.

Taipei's response

In Taipei on Wednesday, the government's Mainland Affairs Council rejected China's strategy.

"Officials in Beijing do not wish to look correctly at the basic fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not affiliated with each other," council spokesperson Chiu Chui-cheng said.

Most Taiwanese oppose unification and should decide on their own what kind of relations they want with China, Chiu told a news briefing.

A survey released earlier this year by the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University found more than half of Taiwan's residents combined want to either keep the status quo indefinitely or decide later the question of unification with China.
This case study outlines how a large research-focused university relies on open networks to support learning and collaboration among students, professors and researchers internally and with other organizations worldwide.

But with this expanded network surface, comes increased vulnerability to cyberattacks.

With Bitdefender GravityZones simplified structure, the university managed to concentrate their efforts onto a single center of control that could monitor and secure the entirety of their wide-reaching infrastructure.

Read the full case study to gain deeper insights into the real-world applications of GravityZone.
Cameroon President Paul Biya says the government will increase funding to grow more wheat after protests over wheat shortages and price spikes sparked by Russias invasion of Ukraine. Before Russias Black Sea blockade, Cameroon imported 60 percent of its wheat from Ukraine. The cut-off has led to a nearly 50 percent increase in the price of bread.

Cameroon government says President Paul Biya on Monday ordered an immediate disbursement of over $15 million to grow wheat in the central African state.

Cameroons agriculture minister, Gabriel Mbairobe, says Biya responded to pleas from civilians that the cost of living is becoming very high, and many Cameroonians are finding it very difficult to put food on the table.

Mbairobe says Russias war in Ukraine has completely disrupted supply chains of consumer goods, especially wheat, which is the main staple food in Cameroon. He says investing in wheat production is a wise decision because each Cameroonian consumes 33 kilograms of wheat each year which is far more than 23 kilograms of rice each Cameroonian eats annually. He says wheat can be grown in several places in Cameroon.

The government says Cameroon produces less than one-fourth of the 1.6 million tons of wheat it needs each year. Last year, the government imported more than 850,000 tons from Russia and Ukraine. Now, according to the Cameroon Importers Union, up to 25,000 tons have been imported since January 2022.

Mbairobe says while the nation waits for its own newly planted wheat to be harvested before the end of the year, local substitutes like sweet potato, cassava and yams should replace the wheat Cameroon imports from Russia and Ukraine.

Cameroon says while baking bread, backers should replace imported wheat with local substitutes such as cassava, yams and potato.

Biya's instructions for more than $15 million to be invested to grow more wheat comes after several weeks of nationwide protest against cereal shortages. The shortage of wheat has led to a close to 50 percent increase in the price of bread.

Delor Magellan Kamseu Kamgaing, the president of Cameroons Consumers League, says his league organized the protests to force the government to take immediate actions that will reduce growing hunger and anger among civilians.

Kamgaing says after COVID-19, Russia's war in Ukraine is leading to severe food shortages and unprecedented hikes in the prices of imported staple foods like cereals. He says people are hungry and unable to afford bread which is consumed by a majority of households in Cameroon. Kamgaing says the government should dialogue with its citizens and take measures that will stop a looming famine.

Kamgaing said the government should provide fertilizers and subsidies to local farmers to increase plantain, rice, yam and cassava production.

Kamgaing said the war in Ukraine though causing sufferings, should provide an opportunity for Cameroon to invest in its local industries and stop over dependency on imports.

The government says the money ordered by Biya will either be used in buying fertilizers or paid out as subsidies to wheat farmers. Some of the money will be used to purchase tractors.

The U.N. reports that 1.7 billion people in 107 economies including 41 African countries are exposed to either rising food prices, rising energy prices or tightening financial conditions as a result of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Chinese authorities on Monday confirmed that a case of cholera had occurred in the central city of Wuhan where the outbreak of COVID-19 began before spreading globally. State media acknowledged that the case has sparked public worries in a society still coping with the COVID outbreak.

Chinas official media Xinhua published the news on the front page of its website Monday evening local time, citing a public announcement issued by Wuchang district governments center for disease control. Wuchang is a district with a little more than one million residents in the city of Wuhan and is home to Wuhan University where the case was reported.

The news item is no longer on Xinhuas front page as of Tuesday morning local time, nor can it be found in the Local News section of the website, a category it fell under previously.

Wuhan University announced on Monday that a graduate student with gastro disease history was admitted at the universitys hospital on July 8 after experiencing fever, vomiting and diarrhea. The student has since been transferred twice, each time to a higher-level hospital, and is currently in quarantine, the university said.

The dormitory where the student stayed, as well as the lab where the student worked, had both been locked down beginning the evening of July 9, the university said. Three close contacts, including two roommates, and a third person who had dined with the student prior to the students hospitalization, have been quarantined.

Between the evening of July 9 and early morning the next day, 254 students who lived in the same dormitory building plus three dormitory building managers and 15 vendors have been tested. Potentially affected areas are temporarily locked down, relevant personnel have been quarantined according to regulation and have been given preventive medicine, the university said.

The university has also taken environmental samples of public areas of the dormitory building, dormitory rooms, bathrooms, waste disposal channels, and the building where the student worked. The areas have also been disinfected.

Staff at the hospitals who came into contact with the student have been tested.

The university reported that its hospital has treated 19 additional cases of diarrhea between July 1 and 10, and that tests for cholera were being performed.

The university said on Monday that up until July 10 evening local time, no other O1 or O138 strain, which was confirmed in the student, has been detected among 264 closely monitored individuals.

O1 and O138 are the only two strains of the cholera bacteria that cause outbreaks, according to the World Health Organization.

Cholera is only the second infectious disease classified by the Chinese government as Type A infectious disease, the other is plague. COVID-19, AIDS, Rabies, bird flu and malaria are among dozens classified as Type B, a less severe category.

The English-language Global Times, part of Chinas state media, reported the Wuhan University case on Monday. The article quoted the universitys report that the patient was symptom-free after being treated and that the more than 200 students who lived in the same dormitory building all tested negative.

The report acknowledged that While COVID-19 outbreaks are not over in China and the flu has hit provinces in South China, the newly found cholera case has sparked public worries [in China]. The same report also quoted a director at Wuhan University saying, Theres no need for panic.

Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the pathogen biology department at the university, was quoted by Global Times as saying that with largely improved sanitary conditions and medical treatment, cholera in China has been under control since 2000 and only sporadic cases have been reported in recent years.

According to the World Health Organization, cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with cholera bacteria. WHO describes cholera as an extremely virulent disease that can cause severe acute watery diarrhea.

According to the WHO, it takes between 12 hours and 5 days for a person to show symptoms after ingesting contaminated food or water. Cholera affects both children and adults and can kill within hours if untreated.

Most people infected with cholera bacteria do not develop any symptoms, according to WHO, although the bacteria are present in their feces for 1-10 days after infection and have the potential to affect other people.
A five-hour meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi set the stage for gradually improving relations, analysts told VOA on Monday, though immediate progress is not expected.

Wang and Blinken met Saturday at the G-20 talks in Bali, Indonesia, their first in-person encounter since May when Blinken first publicized President Joe Biden's strategy to compete with China.

They exchanged views on a list of issues that have troubled the two superpowers over the past five years.

Blinken and Wang pressed each other on core issues of disagreement, with Blinken lamenting that China had aligned with Russia during the war in Ukraine, and Wang telling the U.S. not to make an "overwhelming mistake" on Taiwan  a self-ruled island and informal American ally that Beijing claims as its own.

Those issues, along with trade, Chinese military activity in the disputed South China Sea and U.S. perceptions of human rights problems in China, have kept ties icy since former President Donald Trump's term.

"I think Blinken is signaling very clearly that he is not satisfied towards China's actions in the South China Seas, and as well as (in) East Asia and Taiwan," said Sean Su, an independent political analyst in Taiwan. "All these are indicative of continued U.S.

interest in the East Asian area, and (that) is not going to be giving too much space for the Sinosphere to expand its power."

The duo reached no deals Saturday, but the fact that they met could augur an eventual warming of relations, some experts believe. The two governments are now planning a virtual meeting between their leaders as soon as the end of July, VOA reported Monday

"I don't see evidence that either side is making serious compromises or concessions, but dialogue is important," said Timothy Heath, senior international defense researcher at the U.S.-based Rand Corp. "It is helpful to hear that message from the other side."

Both sides hope to "de-escalate" the tension, Heath said, as they recognize each other's role in improving their economies and the world's. "Neither side is eager for a fight," he said.

A senior State Department official said the simultaneous interpretation during Saturday's meetings allowed for longer discussions, including a "pretty in-depth exchange, more specifically on areas that we disagree, including human rights and concerns over the stability across the Taiwan Strait."

The next move could come from a third party, said Satu Limaye, vice president of the East-West Center in Hawaii.

"I am watching to see if U.S. domestic legislation to compete with China moves (ahead) and how key allies and partners assess ongoing high-level U.S.-China discussions," Limaye said. By itself, he said, "the Blinken-Yi visit has not moved the dial on the troubled state of U.S.-China relations."
The leaders of Eritrea and Somalia have announced the signing of an agreement covering defense, security, diplomatic and political cooperation.



The agreement, finalized by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, was reached following a four-day visit to Asmara by the new Somalia leader.



In a seven-point memorandum of understanding released Tuesday, the two leaders said they have agreed to enhance defense and security cooperation to safeguard peace, stability and security. They also have agreed to strengthen diplomatic and political cooperation, to protect and advance their national interests, and to promote relations between their two peoples, they said.



Afwerki and Mohamud said the memorandum they signed is based on historical and fraternal ties and common interests they share and on recognition that the successful fight against terrorism in Somalia is a prerequisite for peace, stability and security, not only in Somalia but in the Horn of Africa.



Eritrea has been training thousands of Somalia forces for nearly three years. Most of the military has received regular and specialized training, including the naval force, as well as mechanized units.



VOA Somali has reported the number of Somali troops trained in Eritrea at 5,167, a figure later confirmed by former president of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, who sent the troops to Eritrea.



The first wave of Somali soldiers was flown from Mogadishu to Eritrea on Aug. 19, 2019. There were second and third waves in February and June 2020, respectively.





The training of the soldiers was a clandestine operation hidden from the public and the media. The program was criticized by Somali parents of the soldiers and opposition politicians. It attracted controversy after unverified media reports alleged their participation in the conflict in Tigray, a claim strongly denied by the previous Somali government. VOA Somali did not find evidence backing their alleged link to the Tigray war.



During this weeks visit, Mohamud attended a parade by the Somali forces and congratulated them for completing their military training.



According to a statement issued by the presidents office, Mohamud renewed his pledge to return the troops to Somalia and said he has told them about his plans to stabilize the country and to liberate areas still under al-Shabaab control.



The Somali people will be excited by your sight, and the enemy will be demoralized by [your] strength, Mohamud told the soldiers, thanking the Eritrean government.



Earlier this month, the new Somali government reported that some Somali soldiers died during the training, and some died of natural causes. No exact figure was given, but some of the soldiers who defected last year gave mixed figures, with one deserter reporting that four died, and a second soldier saying seven soldiers died.



According to one soldier who deserted and arrived in Somalia in July of last year, one died of dehydration from severe diarrhea, one was electrocuted and a third drowned in a lake while escaping from Eritrean guards.



Ali Said Faqi, the Somali ambassador to the European Union who is among just a few Somali officials to visit the soldiers training camp in late 2019, said the troops received tough training and most of them were trained as special forces. He said the original plan was that Eritrea would train them and arm them.



That was the plan, and I believe that is still the decision, he said.



Faqi said its the new presidents call to determine a policy of operation and decide about how specifically the soldiers will be deployed.



They can participate in the fight against terrorism; they can participate in opening the highway between Afgoye and Baidoa; they can participate in the opening of the highway between Mogadishu and Kismayo, he said. These are young personnel who obtained the best military training.



Somali President Mohamud last week introduced a new security strategy to counter al-Shabab, comprising a military, ideological and economic approach toward the militant group.



Meanwhile, the leader of al-Shabab, Ahmed Umar Abu Ubaidah, vowed in a new audio threat to fight the new government, asserting the group will never allow a government that is not founded upon Islam and an administration that doesnt fully implement Sharia [law].
As parts of Europe endure sweltering heat, fears are growing of a cold winter ahead after Russias Gazprom energy company cut off a key pipeline to Germany this week  ostensibly for routine maintenance. The move has sparked alarm and is intensifying European Union efforts to slash energy consumption and find alternatives.

Officially, Gazproms maintenance work on its Nord Stream I pipeline was long expected and unlikely to last very long. But German officials say anything is possible.

Moscow has already curbed gas deliveries to nearly a dozen European Union countries in recent months, as they pass ever-tougher sanctions over its war in Ukraine. The bloc has agreed to end Russian coal imports and phase out Russian oil this year.

Doing so with Russian gas is tougher, however. It accounts for 40 percent of the EUs overall consumption  and even more when it comes to countries like Austria and Germany.

Here in France, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne says Gazproms latest cut should accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. The French government also plans to nationalize its EDF energy company  partly over fears of a looming power crisis.

Now the race is on to find solutions. The Paris-based International Energy Agency has released a 10-point plan on how the EU can reduce its reliance on Russian gas  and climate emissions.



"We need a very broad suite of low-emission technologies, IEA energy expert Brent Wanner says that suite should include nuclear power and other energy sources.

Wind and solar are now two of the cheapest options for new electricity, new sources of electricity.ultimately we need to have multiple options in order for countries to choose their own path, within their own circumstances.

The EUs executive arm has also outlined 2030 energy savings targets of 13 percent, which a bloc of powerful European Parliament parties wants to make more ambitious.

But that doesnt solve Europes immediate energy headaches, as prices soar and a potential wintertime heating crunch looms. Brussels research group Bruegel says Germany, for one, will have to cut its natural gas consumption by nearly one-third to ensure it will have enough supplies during the cold months...if Gazproms "temporary" cutoff becomes permanent.
Spain and Portugal were sweltering in their second heat wave in a month Monday, with scorching temperatures also expected in France and Britain in the coming days.



People in Spain baked with the temperature in the central town of Candeleda hitting a stifling 43.3 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit) shortly after 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), according to Spain's meteorological agency AEMET.



The mercury meanwhile hit 42.4C in the southern city of Seville.



The southwestern cities of Badajoz and Merida also saw temperatures of 42C.



AEMET forecast 46C in Badajoz on Thursday and Friday with Seville predicted to swelter in 45C on Wednesday and Thursday.



"This heat wave really has the potential to be exceptional," said AEMET representative Ruben del Campo.



The current temperature surge began Sunday and could "last nine or 10 days, which would make it one of the three longest heat waves Spain has seen since 1975," he told AFP.



Heat waves have become more frequent due to climate change, scientists say. As global temperatures rise over time, heat waves are expected to become more intense.



June had already seen Spain grapple with temperatures above 40C in swathes of the country.

The previous month was Spain's hottest May since the beginning of the century.



In August 2021, Spain recorded its highest ever temperature when the mercury reached 47.4C (117 degrees Fahrenheit) in the small southern town of Montoro.



Meteorologists did not rule out the prospect of that record being broken in the coming days.



The heightened temperatures have been accompanied by a lack of rainfall.



Reservoirs in Spain stood at 45.3% of capacity Monday, well below the average of 65.7% recorded during the same period over the past decade.



In neighboring Portugal temperatures topped 44C over the weekend, fueling wildfires and vast smoke clouds which were visible in the capital Lisbon.



Firefighters brought the largest blaze under control Monday after it had burned through swathes of the central municipality of Ourem, local officials said.



'Maximum risk'

While temperatures eased somewhat in Portugal on Monday, they were expected to soar again in the coming days with 44C forecast for the southeastern city of Evora.



"In the coming days we will experience conditions of maximum risk," Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.



"The slightest lapse in vigilance could result in a fire of significant proportions."



A front of hot air began pushing into France Monday, with the mercury rising above 30C across much of the country, according to national weather forecaster Meteo-France.



Temperatures could hit 39C in some parts of France Tuesday, Meteo-France added. The heat wave should reach its peak between Saturday and next Tuesday, said Sebastien Leas of Meteo-France.



Britain on Monday issued an extreme heat warning, with temperatures predicted to hit more than 30C across large parts of England and Wales.



The extreme heat warning was classified as "amber," the second-highest alert level, indicating a "high impact" on daily life and people.



Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Rebekah Sherwin said the U.K. highs would continue into early next week.



"From Sunday and into Monday, temperatures are likely to be in excess of 35C in the southeast (of England), although the details still remain uncertain," she said.
Grieving Japanese paid their final farewells to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday.

Scores of everyday people lined up outside Tokyos Zojoji Temple to bring flowers and other tokens of respect for Abe, who was gunned down last Friday in the western city of Nara during a campaign rally. Many of the mourners cried as they bowed in prayer in front of the temple.

Zojoji Temple was the site of a private ceremony for the 67-year-old Abe that was limited to only his close friends and family. Abes casket was then removed from the temple and placed in a hearse for a long processional through downtown Tokyo to Kirigaya Funeral Hall for cremation with thousands of residents lined up along the route to wave their final goodbyes.

The hearse was slated to drive by several significant venues from Abes political career, including the prime ministers official office, the Parliament building and the headquarters of his Liberal Democratic Party.

The suspected gunman in Abes assassination, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, was immediately seized after he shot the ex-prime minister was taken into custody.

Japanese news outlets say Yamagani, a former member of the countrys Self-Defense Forces, wanted to kill Abe because he believed him to be part of an unspecified religious group he blamed for his mothers financial ruin.

The Unification Church, a global religious movement founded in South Korea in the 1950s by the late Reverend Sun Myung Moon, confirmed Monday that Yamagamis mother was a member, but did not comment on any donations she may have made.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:

11:50 p.m.: Ukraine sparked hopes Tuesday for an increase in grain exports despite Russia's blockade of Black Sea ports, noting that ships had started to pass through an important mouth of the Danube River.

The ministry said 16 vessels were now waiting to be loaded with Ukrainian grain for export to foreign markets, while more than 90 more vessels were awaiting their turn in Romania's Sulina canal.

Only four ships could be received per day along the Sulina route, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yuriy Vaskov said, while a rate of eight per day was needed. If such conditions were met, and with the opening of the Bystre, he said Ukraine expected this ship congestion would end within a week and that monthly exports of grain would increase by 500,000 tons.

11:30 p.m.: Russia has blocked the exits from the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol for the second day in a row, according to city mayor Ivan Fedorov, CNN reported.

Russian forces were "so afraid of the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that they have covered themselves with thousands of civilians as human shields," said Fedorov, who is not in Melitopol.

The whole city is held hostage," he added.

Fedorov said the Russians had closed the checkpoint at Vasylivka, the main crossing point for civilian traffic trying to reach other parts of Ukraine

10:30 p.m.:

9:20 p.m.: The Ukrainian military on Tuesday reported destroying a Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine, resulting in a massive explosion captured on social media, while rescuers said the death toll from a weekend Russian strike in the country's east grew to 45, The Associated Press reported

An overnight rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, the Ukrainian military's southern command said. Nova Kakhovka is about 55 kilometers (35 miles) east of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.

The precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used U.S.-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. Ukraine indicated in recent days that it might launch a counteroffensive to reclaim territory in the south as Russia bombards the eastern Donbas region.

8:51 p.m.: LeBron James is publicly criticizing the Biden administrations handling of Brittney Griner's case in a trailer for an upcoming episode of his television show: "The Shop: Uninterrupted."

The WNBA All-Star is on trial in Russia for drug possession. She pleaded guilty last week and will appear again in court on Thursday.

"Now, how can she feel like America has her back?" James said in the trailer.

8:12 p.m.: Vitaly Tsitsurov has been protesting for months for protesting Russia's war in Ukraine, but calling it a war is a criminal offense, so he edited his sign to read: "No *ar!" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has the story.

7:22 p.m.: "Unsanitary conditions are growing" in Severodonetsk and "there is not enough water and not enough food" in the city, said Roman Vlasenko, head of the city's regional administration, CNN reported.

Vlasenko added that there are also issues with gas and electricity supplies.

He described the living situation as very sad for those that have remained even though "there are not many people left there."

Vlasenko said that "pressure continues on pro-Ukrainian activists" and that they continue to face serious challenges.

6:55 p.m.: Ukrainian soldiers have been training in the United Kingdom, with up to 10,000 troops to be trained eventually.

6 p.m.: There have been several unexplained explosions and reports of gunfire in the Ukrainian town of Enerhodar in the past day, according to social media accounts and the Russian-installed mayor, CNN reported

"Enerhodar did not sleep tight tonight," said Dmytro Orlov, the mayor of the town, who is now in nearby Zaporizhzhia.

"At first, people were awakened by the sounds of several explosions that were heard either in the city itself or somewhere outside of it," he added. "And then during the second half of the night, weird chaotic shots were heard in various residential neighborhoods."

Unofficial social media accounts  reposted by Ukraine's state nuclear enterprise Energoatom  claimed that the Russians had staged a firefight that damaged the local Security Services (SSU) building.

5:12 p.m.: Russian prosecutors on Tuesday brought criminal charges against another opposition figure who has criticized Russias military campaign in Ukraine, The Associated Press reported.

Ilya Yashin was to be released after spending 15 days in jail on charges of failing to obey police. Instead, Yashin was charged under a new law making it a crime to spread false information about the military, said his lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov. It carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Russia has cracked down on those who criticize what it calls the special military operation in Ukraine. Vladimir Kara-Muza, a well-known opposition figure, was arrested in April and charged under the same law.

Yashin, a member of a Moscow municipal council, was detained in late June in a city park.

4:30 p.m.: Ukrainian military intelligence says that its troops have rescued five Ukrainians in a special operation in the Kherson region, Agence France-Presse reported.

It says a military serviceman, a former police officer and three civilians were freed, and that one of those released has "a serious combat wound."

The Ukrainian army has for several weeks been waging a counter-offensive to recapture Kherson, which was taken by Russian troops early in the invasion of Ukraine.

The deputy head of the pro-Russian authorities in Kherson, Ekaterina Gubareva, said Ukraine had used long-range, precision artillery systems supplied by the United States in the strikes in Nova Kakhovka.

3:40 p.m.: Ukraine is getting $1.7 billion more in aid from the U.S. government and the World Bank to pay the salaries of its beleaguered health care workers and provide other essential services.

The money coming Tuesday from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Treasury Department and the World Bank is meant to alleviate the acute budget deficit caused by Russian President Vladimir Putins brutal war of aggression, USAID said in a statement, The Associated Press reported.

Since the Russian invasion, many medical staffers have left Ukraine, some hospitals have shut down and other hospitals have been bombed. The health workers who remain in Ukraine do their jobs under dire circumstances.

To date, USAID has given $4 billion in budgetary support to the Ukrainian government. These funds have been used for keeping gas and electricity flowing to hospitals and schools, getting humanitarian supplies to citizens and paying the salaries of civil servants and teachers, the organization said.

2:22 p.m.: Ukraine is itself bracing for what it expects will be a massive new Russian offensive in the part of the country that Moscow says it is determined to take control of all of the industrial Donbas region, Reuters reported

Russian forces, which captured Luhansk province in the Donbas, have for weeks been shelling parts of neighboring Donetsk province.

Regional Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said there was a significant buildup of Russian troops, particularly in the Bakhmut and Siversky areas, and around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

The entire front line in the region was under constant shelling as Russian troops tried to break through but were being repelled, he said.

12:14 p.m.: Military delegations from Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey will meet with UN representatives to discuss the safe export of Ukrainian grain, which has become disrupted because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, RFE/RL reported.

The meeting will take place on July 13 in Istanbul, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on July 12.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 11 discussed Ukrainian grain exports in separate phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukraine and its allies have pushed for the reopening of Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which Kyiv says are shut because of a Russian blockade.

10:47 a.m.: The U.N. human rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday that more than 5,000 civilians had been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, adding that the real toll was likely much higher, Reuters reported.

OHCHR, which has dozens of human rights monitors in the country, said in its weekly update that 5,024 people had been killed and 6,520 injured.

10:00 a.m. Lego is closing its business in Russia indefinitely and laying off its 90 Moscow-based employees, owing to "extensive disruption" in the country, the Danish toymaker said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Lego has terminated its contract with franchisee Inventive Retail Group (IRG) which owned and operated 81 stores on Lego's behalf.

IRG, which also operated shops in Russia for Western brands such as Nike and Samsung, said earlier on Tuesday that the contract with Lego had been terminated.

Companies including Nike and Cisco have announced their departures from Russia in recent weeks as the pace of Western firms leaving accelerates after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February.

9:08 a.m.: European Union member states have so far frozen Russian assets worth $13.8 billion since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders has said, according to RFE/RL.

"For the moment, we have frozen -- coming from oligarchs and other entities -- 13.8 billion euros [$13.8 billion], so it's quite huge," Reynders told reporters in Prague on July 12 ahead of an informal meeting of EU justice ministers.

"But I must say that a very large part of it, more than 12 billion...is coming from five member states," he added.

He did not specify the five countries, but he urged other EU members to step up efforts to identify and freeze assets under their jurisdictions.

7:59 a.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the U.S. warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported.

During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

While in Tehran Peskov said Putin will also have a separate meeting with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan had earlier helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, Turkey.

6:30 a.m.: Ukrainian and Russian officials gave differing accounts Tuesday of a Ukrainian attack in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian side, a long-range rocket struck a Russian ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka, killing 52 Russian troops.

Russia said the Ukrainian strike instead hit civilian infrastructure.

6 a.m.: A Moscow court fined U.S. tech giant Apple million roubles ($33,900) on Tuesday for allegedly refusing to store the data of Russian citizens on Russian territory, the Interfax news agency reported.

Moscow has clashed with Big Tech over content, censorship, data and local representation in a simmering dispute that has erupted into a full-on battle since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine on February 24, Reuters reported.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

5:30 a.m.:

5:15 a.m.: Russian foreign ministry said a fresh round of talks between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations over grain exports from Ukraine will take place on Wednesday in Istanbul, Reuters reported citing Interfax news agency.

Ukraine is a key agricultural exporter and its inability to ship vital grain supplies has caused a surge in food prices, aggravating concerns about a global food crisis.

4 a.m.: Interfax on Tuesday quoted a separatist official as saying decisions on the appeals of British and Moroccan fighters sentenced to death by the Russian-backed Donetsk Peoples Republic in eastern Ukraine will be taken within a month, Reuters reported.

Two Britons and one Moroccan citizen captured fighting with the Ukrainian army were sentenced to death as mercenaries by a Russian-backed separatist court last month. All three have appealed their sentences.

Ukraine and Western countries have said that the men are prisoners of war, entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions.

3:30 a.m.: The head of the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday the G-7 proposal to impose a price cap on Russian oil should include refined products as well, Reuters reported.

The Group of Seven rich nations are considering imposing a price cap on Russian oil in an effort to keep oil flowing and curb inflation, while still limiting revenue to Moscow for the war on Ukraine that it calls a "special military operation."

"My hope is that the proposal, which is important to minimize the effect on the economies around the world, gets buy-in from several countries," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Sydney Energy Forum. "And if it is pursued, it is not only focused on crude oil, as refined products are also an important challenge for the economies and will be more of a challenge in the next months to come," he said.

Prices of refined products, such as gasoline and diesel, have soared even more than crude oil in the wake of the loss of Russian supply, because of a global refinery capacity crunch following the closure of several plants around the world.

3 a.m.: As a Russian offensive intensifies in eastern Ukraine, authorities there are urging residents to evacuate for other, safer cities and towns in the west of the country. And yet, there are still people who refuse to leave. Many of them are pensioners living alone.

Some say they don't earn enough money to support themselves away from home. Others have more complex reasons, including a dislike of the current government in Kyiv or believing that life under a Russian flag won't be much different than it is now.

Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko has urged residents to evacuate, saying it would allow the Ukrainian army to better defend towns. He added that about 80% of the region had left by Monday. The Associated Press has the story.

2 a.m.: In its battleground report, the U.K. ministry of defense said Tuesday that Russia continues to make "small incremental territorial gains in Donetsk oblast with Russia claiming to have seized control of the town of Hryhorivka." Russia also continued its "assault along the E-40 main supply route towards the cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk."

Personnel shortage might force Russia to "turn to non-traditional recruitment," the ministry said. That means recruiting from Russian prisons for the Wagner Private Military Company, the ministry added.

1:15 a.m.: Ukraine expects a fresh assault by Russian ground forces, following widespread shelling which killed more than 30 people, as Kyivs Western allies brace for a worsening of the global energy crisis if Russia cuts its supply of oil and gas, Reuters reported.

Ukraines general staff said the shelling across the country amounted to preparations for an intensification of hostilities as Russia seeks to seize Donetsk province, and control the whole of Ukraines Donbas industrial heartland.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had carried out 34 air strikes since Saturday, one hit a five-story apartment killing 31 people and trapping dozens.

Moscow denies targeting civilians but many Ukrainian cities, towns and villages have been left in ruins. And the human cost of Russia's invasion, Europes biggest conflict since World War Two and now in its fifth month, mounts.

Russia said a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson region left an unknown number of casualties.

12:30 a.m.: A celebrated Ukrainian medic who was held captive by Russian forces said she thinks about the prisoners she left behind constantly. Yuliia Paievska, who is better known as Taira, was freed on June 17.

She was captured on March 16 in the besieged city of Mariupol, a day after a team of journalists with The Associated Press smuggled out a data card on which shed recorded 256 gigabytes of bodycam footage showing her medical teams desperate efforts to save wounded civilians and troops, including Russian soldiers.

Taira credits the release of the video by AP with helping win her freedom. Taira is trying now to regain her health and plans to write a sort of self-help book about enduring captivity.

12:01 a.m.: The global price of oil could surge by 40% to around $140 per barrel if a proposed price cap on Russian oil is not adopted, along with sanction exemptions that would allow shipments below that price, Reuters reported citing a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Tuesday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will discuss implementation of the proposed oil price cap with Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki when they meet later on Tuesday, the official said.

The goal was to set the price at a level that covered Russias margin cost of production, so Moscow is incentivized to continue exporting oil, but not high enough to allow it to fund its war against Ukraine, the official said.

Japanese officials had expressed concern about the price cap being set too low, but had not rejected a potential price range of $40 to $60 per barrel outright, the official said.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Mali's military government has arrested nearly 50 Ivorian troops who provide support to a contingent of the U.N. mission, calling them mercenaries.



Malis military government has arrested 49 soldiers from Ivory Coast on their arrival at Bamakos airport Sunday evening, accusing them of being mercenaries.



Government spokesperson Abdoulaye Maiga read an official statement on state TV ORTM Monday night, which was posted to the stations Facebook page.



He says the transitional government considers them mercenaries, as defined by the African Union Convention on the Elimination of Mercenaryism in Africa.



Maiga says the soldiers were working for Sahelian Aviation Services, a company contracted by Malis U.N. mission. He asked during the address that the company leave Malian territory immediately.



Rumors circulated on pro-government social media accounts Monday of an attempted coup detat, which the military government did not address or clarify, only accusing the soldiers of planning to "break the dynamics of the refoundation and security of Mali."



Maiga references a 1977 African Union convention aimed at eliminating mercenaries on African soil due to the grave threat which the activities of mercenaries present to the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and harmonious development of African Union member states.



Malis military government itself has been accused of working with mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group. They have continually denied the presence of mercenaries, claiming to work only with Russian instructors.

However, in multiple incidents in central and northern Mali, locals have attested to journalists and human rights groups witnessing Russian mercenaries committing human rights abuses while working with the Malian army.



Olivier Salgado, spokesperson for the U.N. mission to Mali (MINUSMA), tweeted on Monday the soldiers are not part of one of the contingents of MINUSMA, but are logistical support on behalf of one of our contingents.



MINUSMAs mandate was renewed last month, though the Malian representative to the U.N. expressed during a security council meeting the government will not allow them to carry out investigations of human rights abuse accusations, a part of their mandate.



Sanctions imposed by ECOWAS, the regional bloc, in January, were lifted in July after the junta proposed a 2024 election plan. The lifting of sanctions allowed ambassadors from neighboring states to return to Bamako, and opened up borders between Mali and ECOWAS countries, including Ivory Coast.
Rights defenders are demanding an urgent inquiry into reported allegations that British special forces executed dozens of detainees and unarmed men in suspicious circumstances during anti-insurgency operations in Afghanistan a decade ago.



A BBC investigation, citing newly obtained military documents, alleged Tuesday that 54 people were unlawfully killed in the southern Afghan province of Helmand by a single unit of the Special Air Service (SAS), a special forces unit of the British army.



The broadcaster said its four-year inquiry also found evidence suggesting the former head of the special forces failed to pass on evidence to a murder inquiry.



The alleged war crimes reportedly occurred between 2010 and 2011 when British troops were still fighting Taliban insurgents alongside allies in the South Asian nation.



Unarmed Afghans were routinely shot to death in cold blood by SAS troops during nighttime raids, and weapons were planted on them to justify the crimes, the report said.



In a statement, Amnesty International called for an effective and transparent investigation into the allegations made against U.K. special forces.



Amnestys South Asia researcher, Zaman Sultani, said the BBC findings are horrifying and clearly depict an alarming level of impunity and lack of accountability of U.K. troops who operated in Afghanistan.



The suggestion that theres been a high-level cover-up compounds the moral outrage and suggests an unwillingness on the part of the U.K. to pursue independent and effective investigations into the allegations.



In response to the report, Shaharzad Akbar, former head of the now-defunct Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), denounced what she said was a culture of impunity and lack of accountability in her country for decades.



There was little transparency & no accountability for abuses by the international forces, Akbar tweeted. It is still not late for transparency, accountability & reparations, she said.



The British Ministry of Defense said the report "jumps to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have already been fully investigated. It said in a statement that two independent investigations have looked into the conduct of British forces in Afghanistan and that neither found sufficient evidence to prosecute.



"Insinuating otherwise is irresponsible, incorrect, and puts our brave Armed Forces personnel at risk both in the field and reputationally," the ministry said, adding it stands open to considering any new evidence.



British forces were deployed to Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led international coalition after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States that Washington said were plotted in Afghanistan by al-Qaida terrorists who were harbored by the then-Taliban government.



The BBC investigation focused on one six-month deployment by an SAS squadron that operated in Helmand from late 2010. It said the unit carried out "kill or capture" raids to detain Taliban commanders and disrupt bomb-making networks.



Opposition lawmaker John Healey described the allegations as "deeply disturbing," and urged Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to explain to parliament what action he would take to verify the claims.



The final British forces and their NATO allies withdrew from Afghanistan last August, days before the Taliban insurgents retook control of the country.



The Taliban captured Kabul on August 15 and now governs Afghanistan.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Nature always tells us the truth, even if we dont want to hear it. So begins the latest cinematic offering from the Daily Wire, What Is a Woman? The documentary is stirring up controversy with its sarcastic cultural analysis and skillful showcasing of extreme social absurdity. Conservative political commentator Matt Walshs dry style of comedic narration carries him from a therapists office to the halls of American academia to the Womens March to Kenya and back, all in a quest to answer the seemingly simple question, What is a woman? The documentary provides a broad selection of interviews with everyone from physicians to psychologists, all dedicated to a single narrative premise: many elite figures in Americas major institutions, including those dedicated to science, academia, and therapy, are either unwilling or unable to answer simple questions about basic biology. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the perspective Walsh brings, its hard to argue that his pointthat this state of affairs is odd, to say the very leastisnt made in a persuasive fashion.

Be it a therapist discussing gender-affirmation therapy or a professor becoming visibly frustrated and upset at the use of the word truth, the documentary shows the bleeding edge of modern gender philosophythe affirmation of individuals inner feelings about themselves, leading to the prescription of controversial new medical procedures on patients as young as teenagers. The films interviews range from heartbreaking stories of trans individuals who regret the surgeries and therapies theyve undergone to disturbing conversations with physicians and activists who seem either ignorant of or unwilling to admit the long-term consequences of the medical advice they give. The film also highlights some of the victims of modern gender ideology, including an interview with a father in British Columbia who was jailed after misgendering his daughter, an act now considered criminal in Canada. In contrast, Walsh travels to the Masai tribe in Kenya, where questions about gender and a man trapped in a womans body are greeted with incredulity and mockery by local tribesmen.

The documentary also lays out the philosophical groundwork for modern gender theory, introducing its audience to some of the fields significant thinkers, such as biologist Alfred Kinsey and psychologist John Money, the latter of whom coined the term gender identity. It also exposes examples of ethically questionable research performed in the name of gender theory, such as Moneys experimenting with the sex reassignment surgery of David Reimer, a man raised as a girl after genital mutilation, who committed suicide at 38 after undergoing the surgery

So  What is a woman? Answers run the gamut from I dont know to Marry one and find out, the latter provided by renowned author and psychologist Jordan B. Peterson. In the end, Walsh returns to his home to ask his wife the films titular question, to which he receives the answer an adult human female. The case the documentary seeks to make is simple: left-leaning Americans cant even say what a woman is, including academics and therapists. Theyre so unwilling to answer that question that theyll encourage dangerous medical treatments for young people with gender dysphoria. Meanwhile, these Kenyan tribespeople can answer it without hesitation and seem not to care about gender theory. How absurd is this contrast?

If thats the only thing viewers take away from the film, then so be it. What Is a Woman functions as an alarm bell meant to draw attention to modern philosophies of sex, gender, and the way people with gender dysphoria are expected to pursue relief. Maybe the experts answers to these the questions raised, which are as political and sociological as they are medical, arent correctbut what are the correct answers?

Carl Trueman, who appears in the documentary and is the author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, points out that personal happiness is the key to individual well-being in the world that modern gender philosophy has created. The question the trans person is asking is a legitimate one: How can I be happy? The current answer is clearly not working; we need a more humane way. But again, what is the more humane way?

Thats not the question What Is a Woman? intends to answer. But, after viewing the documentary, its the question that thoughtful viewers will likely be left with. One of the most heartbreaking moments in the documentary is Walshs interview with Scott Newgent, a transgender man (female at birth) who spoke openly about regrets from multiple surgeries, as well as health crises including a pulmonary embolism, a helicopter life flight, and sepsis. The truth is that medical transition is experimental, says Newgent, a parent of three teenagers. After catastrophic issues connected with transition surgeries, Newgent now works to educate the public on the dangers of transition surgeries, particularly for children.

This and many other tragic stories in What Is A Woman? raise questions that, again, extend beyond the scope of the film. How are communities to relate to individuals who struggle with gender confusion? How is the church to demonstrate the love of God to church members who deal with this form of dysphoria? It is neither loving nor useful to treat transgender individuals as merely some strange other and ignore their struggles, anymore than it would be to do so in the case of anyone suffering from another mental, physical, or emotional challenge. As the country continues to wrestle with issues of gender and sex, and with 5% of young adults identifying as trans or nonbinary, what is the caring way forward? Its truly absurd and sad that professionals within Americas key institutions cant answer basic questions about biology; but its also not as simple as that. Yes, we do know what a woman is. But, as people with answers, how should we then communicate them in a way that reaches hurting and confused and broken people who struggle with this issue? What Is a Woman? powerfully demonstrates how we got in the predicament were in: smart people abdicated their responsibilities in the name of identity politics and elevated feelings above common sense. As for the next question Where are we going?answering that will require courage.
In the aftermath of two weekend tavern shootings in South Africa that left 19 people dead, communities are asking what needs to be done.

At an informal settlement in Soweto, a township in Johannesburg, hundreds of people are trying to make sense of the brutal killing of 15 people at a tavern this weekend.

Mass killings are rare in South Africa, although gun violence is not.

Tim Thema, a leader in the informal settlement, said theres been multiple deadly shootings in the area over the past year.

"Everybodys got a gun in Soweto," he said. "Whether youre a foreign national, you are a citizen of this country, all of them, theyve got guns and you ask yourself, what kind of country is this? We cannot live in a society where everybodys just got guns and do wherever he pleases."

This weekends violence was not isolated.

Another four people were killed by gunmen in Pietermaritzburg, a city in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal.

While two people have been arrested in connection with that shooting, the assailants from the Soweto tragedy remain at large.

Government authorities said the events are not linked.

Bheki Cele, South Africas police minister, spoke to reporters while visiting grieving residents in Soweto Monday.

They were about plus-130 empty cartridges of AK-47, which means those people that were there really meant business of killing," Cele said. "We dont believe it was terrorism. So, its a group of people we believe we will get the motive as soon as we find them.

Crime has overall been on the rise in the country.

The first quarter of this year saw over 6,000 murders  the highest rate for any quarter in the last five years, according to police statistics.

Crime experts say gun control campaigns in the 1990s and early 2000s to confiscate and destroy illegal weapons resulted in a decline in violence.

But in the last decade, the progress has reversed.

Lizette Lancaster is the manager of the crime hub at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria.

We have seen problems in policing and law enforcement where corruption has become quite rife, especially at places like the central firearms registries, where destruction of firearms were not  or often resulted in guns being sold back into the hands of criminals, she said.

Lancaster said there are signs of improvement, with efforts to tackle corruption bringing in new, more qualified people into leading law enforcement positions.

But curtailing gun violence isnt just about policing, she added. The countrys socioeconomic issues also need to be a priority.

Poverty doesnt make you a criminal. There needs to be other factors. And the growing inequality is one of that, but also just the proliferation of these organized groups are stoking the fires simply by having more people that are willing to engage in organized crime in order to feed their family.

Soweto residents fearful of future attacks say these solutions cant come fast enough.
Amid economic and political collapse, Sri Lankan lawmakers have agreed to choose a new president next week, but they have yet to decide on the makeup of a new government as the country deals with the crises.

Lawmakers have said they would elect a new president by July 20 to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose resignation is expected Wednesday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also agreed to resign once a new government is established.

On Saturday, protesters stormed the residences of both President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and said they would remain on the properties until both resignations take effect.

They accuse the president and his family of stealing money from the government and sparking the economic collapse. The family denies the accusations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged some of his policies contributed to the meltdown.

Meanwhile, news reports say Rajapaksa and members of his family were blocked from leaving the country for the United Arab Emirates because he did not want to go through the regular customs checks at the airport, where staff refused to stamp his passport in a VIP lounge. According to the French news agency, a top defense source said Rajapaksas closest military aides were discussing the possibility of taking him and his entourage overseas aboard a naval patrol craft.

Sri Lanka, a nation of 22 million, is heavily in debt, making it unable to purchase basic goods on the global markets.

Reports also say people are skipping meals and lining up for hours to get fuel in the island nation.

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press and Reuters.
Ukraine said Tuesday 52 Russians were killed in a long-range missile attack on an ammunition dump in southern Ukraine. Moscow disputed the claim, saying seven civilians had been killed.

Kyiv said the attack in the town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region came after the United States supplied Ukraine with advanced HIMARS mobile artillery systems, which Ukraine said its forces were using with greater accuracy.

"Based on the results of our rocket and artillery units, the enemy lost 52 (people), a Msta-B howitzer, a mortar and seven armored and other vehicles, as well as an ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka," Ukraine's southern military command said in a statement.

The region Ukraine hit is one that Russia seized after launching its invasion on February 24. With access to the Black Sea, the area is of strategic importance.

A Russian-installed official in Kherson gave a different version of events, saying at least seven people had been killed and that civilians and civilian infrastructure had been hit.

Russias TASS news agency quoted Vladimir Leontyev, head of the Russia-installed, Kakhovka district military-civilian administration, as saying at least seven people had been killed in the attack and about 60 wounded.

"There are still many people under the rubble. The injured are being taken to the hospital, but many people are blocked in their apartments and houses," Leontyev said in the TASS account. He was also quoted as saying that warehouses, shops, a pharmacy, gas stations and a church had been hit.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of indiscriminately killing civilians in the war. The United Nations human rights office said Tuesday that 5,024 civilians had been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began, while adding that the actual toll was likely much higher.

Ukraine's deputy prime minister on Sunday urged civilians in Kherson to evacuate, as Kyiv's armed forces were preparing a counterattack.

"It's clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling ... and we therefore urge (people) to evacuate urgently," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television.

Meanwhile, fighting continued in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops were shelling Ukrainian-held positions in Donetsk province.

Regional Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told a briefing there was a significant buildup of Russian troops, particularly in the Bakhmut and Siversky areas, and around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

The whole front line in the region was under constant shelling as Russian troops tried to break through but were being repelled, he said.

Britains Defense Ministry said Russian forces continued to make incremental territorial gains in Donetsk.

The British statement said Russia is likely maintaining pressure on Ukrainian forces while regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future.

Officials in the Donetsk town of Chasiv Yar said the death toll from a Russian missile strike last Saturday on an apartment building rose to 34, with nine people having been safely rescued from the rubble.

Chasiv Yar is about 20 kilometers southeast of Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be a major target of Russian forces as they push farther westward into Donetsk province after claiming victory more than a week ago in the adjoining Luhansk province. Donetsk and Luhansk make up the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, near Russias border.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
A U.N. aid operation from Turkey into opposition-held areas of northwest Syria may now resume for six months  with the possibility of six additional months  after its authorization expired Sunday due to disagreements within the U.N. Security Council.

What is most important today is that the council, with this resolution, keeps the cross-border mechanism open and operating, Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason said. That humanitarian assistance continues to reach those in need.

Ireland and Norway hold the humanitarian file on Syria in the council and led the difficult negotiations.

We recognize that a six-month renewal is shorter than we, as penholders, aimed for when we started this negotiation, Byrne Nason added. We recognize also that the vast majority of the council shared that view, and the view of humanitarian actors on the ground, that a 12-month mandate was needed.

Although the border crossing will remain open for humanitarians for another six months, the outcome was essentially a diplomatic victory for Russia.

Moscow used its veto in the council on Friday to block the extension of the operation for one year, something 13 of the 15 council members voted for (China abstained). Russia then put forward its own text that called for six months, with the possibility for six more with a new resolution. Their envoy later told reporters that his delegation would veto any proposal that did not follow that formula.

Negotiations ran through the weekend and into Monday. The final compromise has the Russian 6+6 month formula, but also includes a demand from other council members that the U.N. secretary-general provide a special report on the humanitarian needs in Syria a month before the extension expires in January.

The United States, Britain and France abstained during Mondays vote because they were not satisfied with the six-month extension.

The vote we took this morning is what happens when one council member takes the entire Security Council hostage, with the lives of Syrian men, women and children hanging in the balance, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills told the council of Russias actions.

Russia has long sought to end the operation, which Damascus does not like. It has used its veto or the threat of it in recent years to shut down three other border crossings used by humanitarians to reach vulnerable Syrians.

The Assad regime prefers to control all relief supplies coming into the country and says the cross-border operation was a temporary and exceptional measure that is no longer needed. About 800 trucks each month carry relief supplies via Bab al-Hawa into the opposition-held northwest.

Russias deputy ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said Tuesday the six-month extension would give the council time to decide the ultimate fate of the cross-border operation, and by January it would have arrived at a well-considered decision. He also urged the expansion of aid deliveries across conflict front lines in Syria  known as crossline operations  and the lifting of western sanctions on the Assad regime.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had personally appealed to council members to renew the cross-border mechanism for another year. On his way into another meeting, he told reporters the relief operation is essential for the people living in northwest Syria.

It is a matter of life and death for many of them, he said, adding he hopes the resolution will be renewed again in January.

More than 4 million Syrians benefit from humanitarian assistance that comes through Turkey at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. The U.N. and its aid partners reach 2.4 million people each month in the northwest with food and other aid.

A year gives humanitarians planning and procuring space, and it would have gotten the people who rely on the aid through the coming winter. Now, they risk losing assistance during the harshest months when council members must repeat negotiations in January.

Needs are highest now than at any other time during the conflict. The U.N. says 14.6 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance, of which 12 million are food insecure. The U.N. has appealed for a staggering $10 billion this year to assist people both inside the country and those who have sought safety in neighboring countries. The U.N. says nothing short of a permanent cease-fire will end the suffering.
The congressional panel investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol last year alleged Tuesday that former President Donald Trump ignited the mayhem with an "explosive invitation" for supporters to come to Washington to try to block certification of his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.



The committee said the tweet Trump issued in the early hours of Dec. 19, 2020, came after he ignored repeated advice from his White House advisers that he accept the reality that he had lost and that there was no evidence of fraud that was sufficient to upend the outcome.



Instead, after a lengthy, profane meeting at the White House with aides supporting his continued fight against the election outcome and those who advised acceptance of his loss, Trump tweeted, "Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!"



The committee showed snippets of videos from some of Trump's most ardent right-wing supporters urging fellow adherents to meet in Washington to try to block Congress from certifying that Biden had won the election.



In one clip, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told his viewers, "He is now calling on the people. The time for games is over."



Congressman Jamie Raskin, one of the committee members, said Trump's tweet "reverberated pervasively online."



The committee showed a clip from Steve Bannon, a onetime White House aide to Trump, saying the day before the January 6 insurrection, "All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. All I can say is, 'Strap on.'"



The committee played a voice-altered clip from a Twitter employee, who said Trump's tweet "was a mob being organized. The leader of their cause was asking them to join him."

One of the convicted rioters at the Capitol that day, Stephen Ayres, a former supervisor at a cabinet-making company in the Midwestern state of Ohio who since has been fired, testified that he came to Washington because he believed Trump's erroneous claim that the election had been stolen from him.

"I was hanging on every word he said," Ayres said, describing himself as "pretty hardcore into social media."

But he said he may not have gone to Washington for Trump's rally near the White House before the confrontation at the Capitol if he had known that Trump and his associates, despite their claims, had not compiled any evidence of election fraud.

Now, he advised, "Take the blinders off and see what's going on." Ayres said he realized Trump's contention of election fraud was unfounded when he subsequently learned that the former president had lost 60 out of 61 lawsuits claiming election irregularities.

In videotaped testimony, Trump's White House counsel Pat Cipollone said he agreed that Trump should concede defeat, as did Trump's daughter Ivanka, a White House adviser.

Instead, Trump, after the tumultuous Dec. 18, 2020, meeting at the White House, accepted the advice of two of his legal advisers, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, and business executive Patrick Byrne, to continue to fight the result to remain in power for another four years.

Other testimony focused on the role played by the Proud Boys, a neofascist group, and the Oath Keepers, another right-wing group supporting Trump's reelection. Five Proud Boys leaders have been charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the insurrection at the Capitol and are awaiting trial later this year. The same charge has been filed against 11 Oath Keepers, three of whom have already pleaded guilty.

The investigative panel showed scant direct links between Trump and the extremist groups, but noted that in a September 2020 debate with Biden, Trump, when asked to condemn white supremacists, had told the Proud Boys to "Stand back and stand by."

Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesman for the Oath Keepers, described the group as white nationalists, "a dangerous militia."

He said the group saw the riot at the Capitol as a moment that "could have been the spark that started a new civil war" in America, but also one that gave the Oath Keepers "a path forward that would have given them legitimacy."

Trump has derided the committee's investigation, calling its nine members  seven Democrats and two vocal anti-Trump Republicans  "political thugs and hacks."

The committee has no power to charge Trump with any criminal offenses, although the Justice Department is conducting a lengthy investigation of how the riot unfolded. At the end of Tuesday's hearing, Liz Cheney, the committee's Republican vice chairwoman, said Trump had attempted to call one witness who has spoken to the committee but has not yet been called for public testimony.

Cheney said the witness refused to take Trump's call and that the committee had referred the incident to the Justice Department as a possible case of witness tampering.



The protesters who stormed into the Capitol ransacked congressional offices, scuffled with police and for hours blocked the certification of Biden's victory. Eventually the Capitol building, a symbol of American democracy, was cleared of protesters, and Biden won the Electoral College vote by a 306-232 count.



In the United States, presidents are effectively chosen in separate elections in each of the 50 states, not through the national popular vote. Each state's number of electoral votes is dependent on its population, with the biggest states holding the most sway.



More than 800 of the protesters have subsequently been charged with an array of offenses from trespassing to assaulting police officers, and more than 300 have pleaded guilty or been convicted in trials. Sentences have ranged from a few weeks in prison to more than four years. The sedition charges filed against the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers carry substantially longer terms.

At a June 28 hearing, the panel heard testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, the top assistant to Mark Meadows, Trump's last chief of staff, that Trump in the waning weeks of his presidency became increasingly angry and volatile regarding his reelection loss.



She testified that Trump knew some of his supporters at a rally near the White House were armed but still urged them to walk to the Capitol.



Hutchinson said Trump berated his Secret Service detail for not driving him to the Capitol, and in December 2020, threw his lunch against a wall of a White House dining room when he learned that then-Attorney General William Barr had concluded there was no election fraud.



After her dramatic testimony, Trump derided her as a "total phony" and "bad news." But committee member Raskin on Tuesday told NBC News that "Cipollone has corroborated almost everything that we've learned from the prior hearings. I certainly did not hear him contradict Cassidy Hutchinson."



Witnesses at earlier hearings told the investigative panel that there were minimal voting irregularities, not enough to overturn Biden's Electoral College victory.



In addition, Trump was told it would be illegal for then-Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally block Biden's victory as Pence presided over the congressional Electoral College vote count. Still, Trump privately and publicly demanded the vice president block certification of Biden's win. To this day, Trump contends he was cheated out of another White House term.



Over the weekend, Trump said in a letter that he would allow Bannon to testify before the investigative panel. He also said the committee had "allowed no Due Process, no Cross-Examination, and no real Republican members or witnesses to be present or interviewed. It is a partisan Kangaroo Court."



Republicans blocked a full-scale probe that would have been patterned after the investigation of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Mexico's president makes his second White House visit in eight months, a trip that comes after he conspicuously snubbed President Joe Biden by skipping the Summit of the Americas last month. The two leaders are expected to discuss challenges and disagreements, both old and new, including how the continent should face Russian aggression in Ukraine. VOA's Anita Powell reports from the White House.
Zanu PF administration secretary, Obert Mpofu, has lost an appeal against a High Court order, which compelled him to vacate Esidakeni Farm, owned by the son of a national hero and his colleagues in Nyamandlovu, about 60 kilometers north-west of Bulawayo.

In their judgment, Justice Hlekani Mwayera and Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza ruled that Mswelangubo Farm (Private) Limited, Obert Mpofu and Sikhanyisiwe Mpofu took the law into their hands when they took over the farm last year despite having an offer letter obtained from the Ministry of Lands.

Mpofu took over Kershalmar Farms (Private) Limited  owned by Siphosami Patrick Malunga, academic Zephania Dhlamini and businessman Charles Moyo claiming that he had the right to own the land.

Mwanyera and Gwaunza ruled that from case law it is apparent that even if one is not the rightful owner, if they are in undisturbed and peaceful possession due process and not self-help ought to be followed to evict the possessor.

In court documents in the possession of VOA Zimbabwe Service, the judges said, The respondents, who had been despoiled therefore, had to approach the court seeking a mandament van spolie (spoliation) order. The court a quo (the court in which the matter was first heard) granted the spoliation order. What is at stake as highlighted in case law is the lawfulness or otherwise of the actions of the incoming possessor. The court in restoring the status quo ante will be seeking to uphold essential rationale for the remedy which is that the rule of law does not countenance resort to self-help.

The appellants in this case by descending on Esikadeni Farm and starting land preparations, disrupted the respondents peaceful and undisputed possession. The fact that the appellants had an offer letter does not entitle them to resort to self-help in taking over possession without due process of law. It is this disregard of the law which prompted the respondents to approach the court a quoa for redress. The court a quoa correctly granted the spoliation order in favor of the respondents. In so doing, the court a quoa was buttressing the core values and objectives of protection of possession of property against unlawful dispossession.

In their judgment, the Supreme Court judges further noted that the mere fact that the appellants hold an offer letter is not sufficient basis for them to take the law into their own hands and seek to dispossess the respondents who were in possession immediately prior to being despoiled. It is the brazen invasion by the appellants to the farm which disrupted the respondents who were in peaceful and undisturbed possession, which calls for spoliatory sanction.

The appellants, without following due process, imposed themselves on the respondents possession. The dispossession of the respondents by the appellants was unlawful and it was done without the respondents consent. The court a quo, properly frowned at self-help which is repugnant to our constitutional values. It thus properly restored possession to the respondents by granting the spoliation relief. The requirements for a spoliation order were clearly satisfied. The decision of the court a quo is unassailable. The appeal is without merit and must fall.

Mswelangubo, Mpofu and Sikhanyisiwe Mpofu were ordered to pay the legal costs.

Mpofu, his wife and the owners of Esidakeni Farm  Dhlamini, Malunga and Moyo - were unavailable for comment. The three, who have been barred from entering Esidakeni Farm since December last year, say they lost property and crops worth millions of dollars.
The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar reached 30 on Monday, even as another attack killed three more in the second-largest city of Kharkiv.

The civilian deaths punctuated the human cost of the war for Ukraine, now in in its fifth month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy contended that Russia has a "big advantage" in artillery despite the shipment of billions of dollars in munitions from Western governments to Ukraine.

The five-story apartment building was demolished by a rocket attack Saturday. Nine people were rescued from the rubble, but many more were trapped.

Chasiv Yar is about 20 kilometers southeast of Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be a major target of Russian forces as they push farther westward into Donetsk province after claiming victory a week ago in the adjoining Luhansk province.

The attack was the latest strike in recent weeks that left mass civilian casualties, although Russia contends it only targets Ukrainian military operations. A late June attack killed at least 19 people at a shopping mall in Kremenchuk, and an attack on an apartment building and recreation area in the southern Odesa region killed 21 this month.

Further north in Kharkiv, regional Governor Oleh Synehubov said Monday's strikes with artillery, multiple rocket launchers and tanks injured 31 people, including two children, in addition to the three deaths. At least one of the strikes hit a residential building in the city, where a column of flats collapsed into rubble.

"I saw lights, the headlights of rescuers, and I started screaming, 'I am alive. Please get me out,'" survivor Valentina Popovichuk told Reuters on a nearby Kharkiv street.

She was asleep when her building was hit three or four times in the early morning.

"The rescuers entered the hallway, knocked down the door, and took me out," Popovichuk said.

The Russian attacks are part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's effort to take control of the eastern industrialized Donbas region after failing earlier in the war to topple the Zelenskyy government or capture the capital, Kyiv.

But Zelenskyy said Russia "indeed unfortunately has a big advantage in artillery" in the eastern Ukraine fighting.

"With all the partners who are ready to give support, I talk about artillery. There is indeed not enough."

A spokesman for Ukraine's International Legion, a fighting unit of foreign troops, said Ukraine's heavy artillery was outnumbered roughly eight to one by Russian guns.

Moscow denies targeting civilians, but many Ukrainian cities, towns and villages have been left in ruins. Since the February 24 invasion, attacks on a theater, a shopping center and a railway station have caused dozens of civilian deaths.

Zelenskyy said Russia had carried out 34 airstrikes since Saturday, while his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Moscow should be designated a state sponsor of terrorism over the apartment bombing.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
Zanu PF administration secretary, Obert Mpofu, who lost an appeal against a High Court order compelling him to vacate a highly-productive farm owned by Siphosami Malunga and his business partners, says he will abide by the Supreme Court ruling.

Responding to a Supreme Court ruling condemning him for taking the farm without following the law, Mpofu said, We will as we have always done abide by the Supreme Court decision as we await for the main case on the farm ownership  The main case on the ownership of the farm which is still pending between government and the Malunga.

Its uncertain if Mpofu will leave the farm soon, which he occupied last year claiming that it was offered to him by the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture.

Malunga, a son of national hero Sydney Malunga, academic Zephania Dhlamini and businessman Charles Moyo own Esidakeni Farm in Nyamandlovu, about 60 kilometers north-west of Zimbabwes second largest city, Bulawayo. They bought it from a white commercial farmer, who now lives outside Zimbabwe.

Malunga and partners claim that they lost crops worth over US$500,000 following the illegal occupation of the farm by the Mpofu family.

In their judgment, Justice Hlekani Mwayera and Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza ruled that Mswelangubo Farm (Private) Limited, Obert Mpofu and Sikhanyisiwe Mpofu took the law into their hands when they took over the farm last year despite having an offer letter obtained from the Ministry of Lands.

Mwanyera and Gwaunza ruled that from case law it is apparent that even if one is not the rightful owner, if they are in undisturbed and peaceful possession due process and not self-help ought to be followed to evict the possessor.

In court documents in the possession of VOA Zimbabwe Service, the judges said, The respondents, who had been despoiled therefore, had to approach the court seeking a mandament van spolie (spoliation) order. The court a quo (the court in which the matter was first heard) granted the spoliation order. What is at stake as highlighted in case law is the lawfulness or otherwise of the actions of the incoming possessor. The court in restoring the status quo ante will be seeking to uphold essential rationale for the remedy which is that the rule of law does not countenance resort to self-help.

The appellants in this case by descending on Esikadeni Farm and starting land preparations, disrupted the respondents peaceful and undisputed possession. The fact that the appellants had an offer letter does not entitle them to resort to self-help in taking over possession without due process of law. It is this disregard of the law which prompted the respondents to approach the court a quoa for redress. The court a quoa correctly granted the spoliation order in favor of the respondents. In so doing, the court a quoa was buttressing the core values and objectives of protection of possession of property against unlawful dispossession.

In their judgment, the Supreme Court judges further noted that the mere fact that the appellants hold an offer letter is not sufficient basis for them to take the law into their own hands and seek to dispossess the respondents who were in possession immediately prior to being despoiled. It is the brazen invasion by the appellants to the farm which disrupted the respondents who were in peaceful and undisturbed possession, which calls for spoliatory sanction.

The appellants, without following due process, imposed themselves on the respondents possession. The dispossession of the respondents by the appellants was unlawful and it was done without the respondents consent. The court a quo, properly frowned at self-help which is repugnant to our constitutional values. It thus properly restored possession to the respondents by granting the spoliation relief. The requirements for a spoliation order were clearly satisfied. The decision of the court a quo is unassailable. The appeal is without merit and must fall.

Mswelangubo, Mpofu and Sikhanyisiwe Mpofu were ordered to pay the legal costs.

Mpofu, his wife and the owners of Esidakeni Farm  Dhlamini, Malunga and Moyo - were unavailable for comment. The three, who have been barred from entering Esidakeni Farm since December last year, say they lost property worth millions of dollars.
TUESDAY, July 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The White House is weighing whether to offer a second COVID booster shot to American adults under 50.

The new push comes in response to the latest, highly contagious Omicron variants, which have increased hospitalization rates and raised new concerns about waning immunity in people who were vaccinated six or more months ago.

Expanding eligibility requirements for a fourth dose of the vaccine would require regulatory approval. Discussions with both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are slated for the near future, The New York Times reported.

In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved second booster shots for adults 50 and older, along with immunocompromised young adults. But Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser, has forcefully argued that all younger adults should be eligible for a second booster.

Dr. Ashkish Jha, the White House coordinator for the pandemic response, is also in favor of the approach, the Times reported.

In an interview on Monday, Fauci said that while the clinical data to support a second booster shot for those under age 50 is not there, many in this age group got their last booster shot six or more months ago, and that their immunity is likely dwindling.

The final decision is up to the FDA and the CDC, but Fauci said, I think there should be flexibility and permissiveness in at least allowing a second booster for younger adults.

But others in the federal government are still waiting on more data to justify the decision, the Times reported. Some argue that the White House isn't working hard enough to persuade Americans to accept the original round of COVID-19 vaccines, rather than pushing to boost immunity among groups that have already received at least one dose and are more protected.

Others worry that in the attempt to promote booster shots now, new Omicron-specific booster shots will be a tough sell in the fall. On June 28, the FDA recommended that the vaccines be redesigned for the latest fast-spreading Omicron variants of the disease, BA.4 and BA.5. As of July 2, the variants accounted for just over 70% of all U.S. infections.

Some experts have cautioned against a second booster shot for more Americans for different reasons.

Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA's vaccine advisory panel, has criticized federal officials for what he has called booster mania.

I do think [a second booster shot] does make sense for certain groups, but a universal boosting strategy doesnt make sense, Offit told the Washington Post on Monday, citing data showing that three doses of an mRNA vaccine provided long-lasting protection against severe disease.

At some level, were going to have to get used to mild illness and moderate illness as part of this virus -- which is going to be with us for the rest of my life, the rest of my childrens lives, the rest of their childrens lives," he said.

But there's another potential problem: Offit warned that repeatedly administering the same vaccine could lead to a phenomenon known as imprinting, where a person's immune system develops a highly targeted response to earlier versions of a virus and fails to adapt to new variants.

As you continue to boost with the same ancestral strain, you lock yourself into that response, Offit explained. Should there ever be a virus that is truly resistant to protection against serious illness  you need to start all over again and give that vaccine.

The White House plans to hold a briefing Tuesday on the threats posed by the new variants, which have driven up hospitalization and death rates in Britain, France, Portugal, Belgium and Israel, the Times reported. Still, rates fall far below those seen last winter when the original Omicron variant took over the world.

More information

For the latest on the availability of booster shots, check out the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCE: The New York Times; Washington Post
From a Samuel Huntington (the political scientist) book I first heard of Dibdin,

where a villain character in one of his crime novels is quoted asserting "There

can be no true friends without true enemies. Unless we hate what we are not, we

cannot love what we are..." It ringed unmistakenly Tao. 30 years ago, I would

have tried to memorize such a maxim to impress others with it as I did with pop

lyrics and WuXia passages. Most of what I once swore by have faded with the

years and yet the quote above seems to age well. In two weeks, I have devoured

five of the Aurelio Zen series: Ratking, Back to Bologna, Dead Lagoon, Cabal,

and And Then You Die (ATYD), and I am onto the sixth, The Long Finish.

A middle-aged peripatetic Italian policeman, Zen is sent to investigate crimes

all over the country. Each story brings me to a different corner, Perugia,

Bologna, Venice, Vatican/Rome, and Lucca, so far. Italy is not on my list of

places to visit before I die despite that I cook and enjoy 'saucici e fagioli'

every week. From the novels, however, I cannot help picking up a few things about

the cultures of that state, those not often covered by travel brochures. E.g., I

am suprised to learn from a Rome restaurateur's rant that over the 1.9 mile-wide

strait, there is not a bridge linking Sicily to the mainland! Meanwhile, half a

globe away in the Orient, the Bohai Strait tunnel project is proposing a 76-mile

new world wonder. It is also amusing to read Zen's view on the two main branches

of Christianity (ATYD)

Maybe Los Angles wouldn't be so bad after all, he thought. It sounded like a

pleasant, old-fashioned sort of place, and at least the people would all be

Catholics. Although by no means a committed believer, Zen preferred to be

surrounded by his own sort. Protestants were an enigma to him, all high ideals

one minute and ruthless expediency the next. You knew where you were in a

Catholic culture: up to your neck in lies, evasions, impenetrable mysteries,

double-dealing, back-stabbing and underhand intrigues of every kind. With which

comforting thought he lowered the blind again and doze off.

The plots were as intriguing as any mystery I read but that was a given from an

acclaimed detective storyteller. To an English-language junkie like me, the

author's way with words brought extra delight. It was the first time, e.g.,

after I learnt 'haute' from the dictionary, I met it in Cabal. Little gems such

as 'pall,' 'riffraff,' 'panache,' 'minder,' etc., brought such thrills. Besides

the stories, I was entertained by new and interesting terms and phrases on

almost every page. Out of habit, I kept jotting them down for revisiting. Here's

a sample when I was reading ATYD.

page

49. port, cavort, aft, precipitate

50. ornithologist, capo, limpid

51. idyll, roll call

52. waffle, veer, point-blank, silenced pistol

54. cool his heels, trolley, shunt

55. spate

56. marked man, decant, restive

Most were not entirely new. I was just happy to see them. Dibdin wrote 11 Zen

stories and I need to loot another library for the next five.
LIVINGSTON, MT- The state of Montana is in recovery mode following June's flooding.

The message that rings through across Paradise Valley, despite Yellowstone National Park not being totally accessible through the north entrance, is to come to Montana.

Its well known that the gateway community of Livingston makes the bulk of the money the community needs to support itself between May and late September.

Ever since the flooding hit, close to a month ago the question became how do you move forward.

The owners of Yellowstone's Edge RV Park, Chan and Pam Libbey, who are multi-generational Montanans say they received close to 1000 cancellations since the flood.

I just met with Yellowstone's Edge RV Park they tell me that this is just a fraction of the canceled reservations since the flooding.Theyre making a plea please travel to the area.Livelihoods are on the line and many are fearful they could lose their business. pic.twitter.com/VhzNZiVbIX  Bradley Warren (@bradmwarren) July 12, 2022

Pam explained that some people have been unkind on the phone, saying the park's closure has ruined their summer, and theyre upset they lost their vacation.

Pam says shes explained multiple times the park's closure is out of her control.

Her husband, Chan, said that the first 10 days following this were sleepless nights for the family.

Theyve operated for close to two decades and say theyve never experienced anything like this.

They opened the campsite soon after graduating Montana State University. The husband and wife team say this was their way of staying in their home state, theyre fearful if cancellations continue they might have to return to construction and retail.

Their hope is that regardless of the park the country will continue to travel to Paradise Valley. Their plea, come to Montana, party in Livingston, and help keep the small family businesses alive.
The French, who have historically been the forerunners of political change in Europe, surprised their neighbours in the presidential election (April 10 and 24,2022) and the legislative elections (June 12 and 19,2022).

Only 47% of voters participated in the fourth round, a very surprising result in a country with a long tradition of political activism.

Although 38% of registered voters elected Emmanuel Macron, only 14% elected MPs were in favour of him, forcing him to cohabit with his opponents.

In fact, the National Assembly, which was already no longer a place for debate but a recording chamber for the presidents will, has become a barnum where deputies cut each other off and take each other to task. As a result, not only the Executive, but also the Legislative has become inoperative.

How did it come to this and how can a regime be rebuilt?

The destruction of institutions

In my opinion, it all started in 1986 with the appointment of a "Secretary of State for Human Rights". What seemed like a good idea was in fact a challenge to the achievements of the 1789 Revolution. Until then, a distinction had been made between the French tradition of Droits de lhomme et du citoyen and the Anglo-Saxon tradition of Droits de lhomme. The former guarantees rights to those who engage in politics, while the latter guarantees rights provided that the People do not engage in politics. The former is emancipatory, the latter merely puts order without violence.

The French are unaware today that the most widely read book during the 1789 Revolution was by the Anglo-American-French Thomas Paine on this debate. It is at the heart of the difference between French and Anglo-Saxon culture. By accepting the term "Rights of Man", the French gave up their heritage.

The second step was the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, which erased the No vote of the French in the 2005 referendum on the European Union Constitution. The French ruling class, believing that it could guarantee its citizens their "human rights", considered that it alone knew how to make politics and that it could therefore overturn the will of the People.

The third step in 2018 was the new interpretation of the motto of the Republic by the Constitutional Council. The Constitution refers to the "common ideal of liberty, equality and fraternity". According to the wise men, this principle gives rise to "the freedom to help others, with a humanitarian aim, regardless of the legality of their stay on national territory". Fraternity is no longer the fraternity in arms of the 1848 Revolutionaries, on which universal suffrage was based, but a simple form of charity.

Please note that I am not questioning human rights, the Lisbon Treaty, or the right to help immigrants. I am simply observing that in order to justify these decisions, we have abandoned what was the basis of the French social contract. Or rather, that noble decisions have been used to trample on our political heritage.

The evolution of the political class

Once these betrayals were made, the political class shrank. Fifty years ago it comprised four-fifths of the citizens, but now it comprises less than half of the registered voters.

Registered voters who abstain are not only showing their contempt for the electoral offer that is being made to them. They also and above all refuse to be co-responsible for the decisions taken by the regime. In a democracy, each voter must assume the decisions of the majority. But this is only possible if all citizens respect the social contract.

When we see the state today sending soldiers to the Sahel to protect neo-colonial interests or militarily supporting a racialist regime in Ukraine, we can only observe that there is a gulf between our practices and our noble speeches.

Rewriting recent political history

In order to justify the destruction of the values of the 1789 and 1848 revolutions, politicians and the media have rewritten recent history based on appearances rather than facts.

 Thus, during the last presidential campaign, we heard a candidate, claiming to follow the example of Charles De Gaulle, forget that there were "left-wing Gaullists" and affirm that the General was of the right and had always fought against the communists and the USSR. However, De Gaulle organised the Resistance to the Nazi invasion by relying above all on communists. Then, in 1954, he scuppered the Anglo-Saxon project of the European Defence Community with the votes of the French Communist Party (PCF). Similarly, he relied on the left to give Algeria independence in 1962, on communist workers to build up a defence industry and on PCF deputies to get out of NATOs integrated command in 1966. And it was the PCF that saved him in May 1968.

Charles De Gaulle, who came from the extreme right, always governed in the interest of the nation and not as a right-wing leader. He fought the communists in domestic policy, but supported them in foreign policy. He participated in the Allied landing in Normandy, but considered it an Anglo-Saxon attempt to colonise France and always refused to commemorate it. He was the only Western head of state to address the peoples of the USSR on Soviet television and has always regarded Russia as a European country.

- Monarchy. However, the Republic means governing according to the common interest, whereas the Monarchy is a regime that assigns power to a single man appointed hereditarily or elected by a few nobles. It is quite possible to be both a republican and a monarchist. Thus Henry IV (1589-1610) declared himself the first republican king of France by guaranteeing freedom of religion.

This issue is far from marginal insofar as it is the origin of secularism (and not the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State, which, on the contrary, took up the struggle of Philip II Augustus (1180-1223) against the Pope). On the basis of this falsification, a battle was waged against citizens of the Muslim religion, who were equated with supporters of an Islamic policy. It is true that Muhammad was both a spiritual example and a warlord. Historically, Arab culture has always mixed religion and politics, but French culture has not and there is no reason to do so. Muslims are citizens among others, Islamics are opponents of universality.

One candidate, who had rightly begun by denouncing the privileges granted to foreigners, continued his campaign by advocating that social benefits should not be granted to those who had already paid into social organisations, but according to nationality. This xenophobia was immediately punished in the ballot box. The French population is particularly open to others, as shown by the high rate of marriage to foreigners.

 Also during the election campaign, Jean-Marie Le Pen and the party he led, the Front National (now Rassemblement National), were presented as opponents of the Republic. Indeed, the FN had many former officials of Philippe Petains regime and opponents of Algerian independence among its leaders. However, in 1998-99, I provoked the constitution of a parliamentary commission of enquiry into a possible factional conduct of the FN. The elements that we brought to the attention of the parliamentarians were quite different: Jean-Marie Le Pen was an agent of the head of the Gaullist secret services, Jacques Foccart. He was in charge of bringing together all the extreme right-wing groups and ensuring that they did not initiate anything detrimental to the Republic.

The FNs order service, the DPS, was handled by the DPSD (now DRSD), a military secret service. The director of the Front Nationals security service was simultaneously the personal security officer of President Mitterrands second wife and his daughter Mazarine. He was also a French secret service agent involved in the elimination of Chechen jihadists.

 Moreover, President Francois Mitterrand was not the socialist he claimed to be. Deeply schizophrenic, he divided himself between two families, one official with his left-wing wife, the other unofficial with his far-right mistress. Similarly, he divided his cabinet at the Elysee between left-wing and far-right advisers. For example, Francois de Grossouvre had created the first Klu Klux Klan cell in France during the inter-war period.

I am only mentioning old and symbolic facts here. It would be possible to continue this narrative by evoking the way in which France supported the jihadists against Libya and against Syria, and then the racial Banderites against Russia. These are all events that directly contradict the image the French have of themselves.

None of these facts reach their consciousness, yet everyone suspects them when you talk to them.

In order to unblock the situation, it is urgent that the French discuss among themselves what they hold as certainties, even though they are disputed. Only by unifying their memories will they be able to build their future. Until then, the French are no longer citizens, but consumers concerned with their purchasing power. They are divided into distinct communities, an "archipelago" as one sociologist put it.

How to deal with the countrys problems

The French agree that it is urgent to restore the authority of the state and to raise the level of compulsory education. These are structural measures that require firstly a consensus on the role of the state and secondly, strong investment.

In the meantime, it is possible to tackle the most important problem facing the country, as well as other Western countries, namely the impoverishment of workers in the face of the incredible accumulation enjoyed by a very few. Today, the five largest fortunes in France own as much as the 27 million poorest citizens. Never, even in the Middle Ages, has such a disparity been known. This makes any democratic procedure illusory.

This sociological transformation corresponds to the phenomenon of economic globalisation, which has nothing to do with technical progress, but only with Anglo-Saxon imperialism. It will obviously be very difficult to dismantle all the international treaties that structure this development. But it is possible, as of now, to put an end to this game of massacre by subjecting all imports to the same regulations as local products.

For example, it is forbidden in France to produce hormone-treated veal, but it is legal to import it and sell it at a lower price than that of local farms. Or it is forbidden in France to make children work 10 hours a day, but it is legal to import textiles made under these conditions and sell them much cheaper than local products.

Everyone agrees on these principles, they just need to be put into practice.
The Jewish Agency reproved the Jerusalem Post article reporting that the Russian Justice Ministry had exhorted it to halt its operations in Russia.

However, according to our correspondents in Russia, an intervention by Moscow did indeed take place without, however, identifying the thrust of it.
In the midst of a cabinet reshuffle, on 9 July 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed several of his ambassadors. In particular, he recalled those posted in Hungary, Norway, the Czech Republic, India and especially his representative in Berlin, Andreij Melnyk.

The latter could become Deputy Foreign Minister; however, his opinions and actions have given rise to much controversy.

Melnyk is a disciple of Stepan Bandera (our hero) whom he celebrates at every possible opportunity and whose role in the massacres during World War II he vehemently denies. Furthermore, he has claimed that the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) was not involved in the killing of Jews, which elicited a scathing response from Israel, in addition to downplaying the massacre of Poles, thus provoking an equally scathing response from Poland. Melnyk also accused German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of working for Russia, which sparked outrage from the entire German political class. Finally, he never ceased to denounce the lack of enthusiasm displayed by Germany, France and Italy for delivering to Ukraine the weapons they promised.

As for his actions, Melnyk failed to prevent Siemens restoration of a Russian turbine, which enables Gazprom to transit its gas to Europe. Melnyk also failed to unlock Germanys $9 billion financial aid package, being withheld by Finance Minister Christian Lindner in retaliation for Ukraines humongous debt in the context of Brussels Pan-European debt collection procedure.
While traveling to Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada, my head must have been in the gutter because the first time I saw Bear Grass flowers, I distinctly heard Broad City's Abbi & Ilana yelling "BEWBS" and then we all giggled.

I swear on a stack of Gideon's a mile high, despite growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I somehow had managed to have never seen Bear Grass before our trip to Alberta. The Canadian side of the Glacier National Park we had visited was in the process of recovering after a previous fire, and like a white lotus rising from the mud, Bear Grass flourished in the blackened landscape with flowers drooping heavily from the weight of the rain.

Down south across the border, more Bear Grass could be found in abundance in Glacier National Park.

To the west we found whole slopes of Mt. Spokane covered with Bear Grass, leading us to seek out a local volunteer that told us first that it's called "Bear Grass" (I knew that Bewb Flower couldn't have possibly been the name but I wished desperately it was so), and second that they are always around, but every 4-7 years Bear Grass pop up in droves like it is now on Mt. Spokane.

Without the rain, Bear Grass flowers stand tall and proud for the most part, and some look like long berries.

According to Russ Holmes:

Bear-grass is capable of surviving light and moderate fire and regrowth after fire and can serve an important role in soil erosion and site revegetation.

The sight of whole fields of Bear Grass, swaying incandescently in the sun is as Yee Sook Ree said in Better Off Dead: "Truly, a sight to behold."
President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered his defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov (pictured), to build up a million-strong army to take back occupied territories from Russia.

The Russian army has committed only about 200,000 troops in Ukraine. By contrast, Ukrainian forces before the war consisted of 200,000 regular army soldiers, to which it was necessary to add 100,000 men drawn from the Banderite militias. Over the past eight years, on a rotational basis, 400,000 men, consisting for the most part of Banderites, have fought against their fellow citizens of Donbass. Currently, there are 700,000 engaged in combat on the Ukrainian side.

Oleksii Reznikov is neither a soldier nor a politician, but a jurist. He owes his position as Minister of Defense to his wife, television anchor Yulia Zorii.
While Liz Cheney, daughter of the former U.S. Vice President, was expelled from the Republican Party because of her battle against former President Donald Trump, it is the major donors of the Democratic Party that came to her rescue.

Film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, City Group director Jane Fraser, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Baupost Group hedge fund manager Seth Klarman are said to have already made very large donations to her.

According to the polls, Liz Cheney is  for the time being  lagging far behind Republican lawyer Harriet Hageman in the legislative elections.

Liz Cheney was assistant to her father on September 11, 2001. Thereafter, she headed the Iran Syria Policy and Operations Group (ISOG).
There seems to be an ongoing feud between self-driving cars and the citizens of Tempe, AZ. Uber began testing self-driving cars in late 2016 and then suspended the program for a few months after a March 2017 collision between an Uber self-driving SUV and another car caused the Uber to flip over. It closed the program altogether shortly after a March 2018 incident when Tempe pedestrian Elaine Herzberg was struck and killed by a self-driving Uber. The car had been in self-drive mode, with a backup driver riding in the backseat.

The New York Times reported:

On Sunday night, an autonomous car operated by Uber  and with an emergency backup driver behind the wheel  struck and killed a woman on a street in Tempe, Ariz. It was believed to be the first pedestrian death associated with self-driving technology. The company quickly suspended testing in Tempe as well as in Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.

Waymo began piloting its self-driving cars in Tempe and surrounding areas in 2016 and in 2020 began operating fully autonomous (no driver) vehicles. While many people love the service, it has also come under scrutiny and criticism. In January 2020, a Waymo car (with a driver) got into a car crash with another vehicle. AZ Central reported on that case:

Waymo said another driver swerved in front of one of its vehicles that was being operated manually and hit the brakes, causing an accident late Thursday that injured the Waymo driver. "One of Waymo's self-driving vehicles was involved in an incident in Tempe late on the evening of January 30 when another vehicle erratically swerved in front of our vehicle, braking aggressively and abruptly slowing down to a full stop on a 45 mph road," Waymo said in a prepared statement Friday.

And just a few days ago, a Waymo vehicle was involved in another incident. The Verge reports:

An "erratic" pedestrian attacked a Waymo autonomous vehicle late Tuesday evening in Tempe, Arizona, smashing the windshield and injuring the safety driver, the company said. It was the latest incident of people in Arizona attacking Waymo vehicles  and occasionally their safety drivers  as the company ramps up its commercial service in the state. According to the company, a Waymo vehicle was traveling down the street in autonomous mode at 3AM on July 5th when a pedestrian ran out in front of it. The safety driver saw the pedestrian and switched the vehicle into manual mode, bringing it to a full stop before the person leaped onto the hood. The person, whom Waymo spokesperson Nick Smith described as "erratic" then punctured the windshield, injuring the driver.

Funny how in each of those incidents Waymo spokespeople always describe the other car or person as "erratic." Such incidents have made Waymo persona non grataor should I say something more like robota non grata?around these parts (I live in Tempe), and people remain angry. As The Verge explains:
Third strike by airline workers in Italy in recent weeks.

Flight attendants and pilots from low-cost airlines Ryanair, easyJet, Volotea and Malta Air, along with staff from cabin crew agency CrewLink and air traffic control agency ENAV, are to stage a four-hour strike in Italy on Sunday 17 July.

The industrial action - the third in a month - will be held from 14.00 until 18.00 and has been co-ordinated by Italy's Filt Cgil and Uiltrasporti trade unions in protest over working conditions and employment contracts.

ITA Airways has cancelled 122 flights on Sunday as a result of the strike, reports newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.

"To date, in the absence of concrete initiatives towards improving working conditions and adjusting wages, the strike of Ryanair pilots and flight attendants remains confirmed for Sunday 17" July, said the national secretary of Filt Cgil, Fabrizio Cuscito, following talks with officials from Italy's ministry of sustainable infrastructure and mobility.

The strike was criticised by consumer rights associations including Assoutenti whose president Furio Truzzi said: "It is right for workers to stand up for their rights but blocking air travel during the summer is unacceptable. Suspending flights when millions of citizens travel by plane to reach their holiday destinations is a hostile act towards travellers who risk unjustly losing vacation days and money."

Italian consumer rights group Codacons slammed the "irresponsible" strike, which would see "citizens used as hostages" during the peak summer holiday period, and called on all sides to engage in urgent discussions to find a resolution.

Italy's civil aviation authority ENAC reminds air travellers that flights are guaranteed during strikes from 07.00-10.00 and 18.00-21.00.

This article was updated on Friday 15 July.
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Bill Ackmans decision to return $4 billion to investors rather than pursue a suboptimal SPAC deal shows admirable restraint. But its unlikely to mollify the punters who piled into his Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd. (known to most as PSTH). Not only did he fail to pull off an attractive merger but amateur investors got burned speculating in PSTH securities hoping he would. Ackmans offering them a consolation prize: its just not clear yet how viable and valuable that gift is.

Ackman isnt the first SPAC sponsor to realize that blank-check firms have reached a dead end, but as PSTH is the largest ever raised its still a grim milestone for the asset-class.

More than half a dozen blank-check firms have been liquidated so far this year, according to SPAC Research data, and I anticipate plenty more will fold in the coming months. The Securities and Exchange Commission has made banks leery of facilitating mergers, and shareholders are increasingly asking for their money back rather than funding transactions. Many of these cash-shells are also running up against the two-year deadline they have to complete a deal.

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Its ironic that Ackmans vehicle met this fate, as he was early in identifying many of the problems that have proven SPACs undoing, in particular the skewed sponsor incentives and the tendency of investors to pull their money out (aka redeem).

Listed in July 2020, PSTH tried to correct for these faults  Ackman declined the traditional free shares SPAC founders award themselves, and he offered additional warrants to shareholders who agreed not to redeem. And yet PSTH ended up being tarnished by the same negative connotations as other SPACs.

The deal he tried to do with Universal Music Group NV last year was shot down by the SEC. This was much to the chagrin of retail investors who felt they were being deprived of a good opportunity (Universal Music ended up dealing with Ackmans hedge fund instead). The flop also contrived to make PSTH the target of (in my view, spurious) shareholder litigation that contended it was acting as an illegal investment company, which PSTH has denied.

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The upshot of all this drama is PSTH shareholders who bought at the IPO price will later this month get their money back, plus interest. That isnt such a bad outcome, when you consider how much some SPACs have lost for their shareholders in ill-conceived deals. An index of former SPACs has declined more than 75% in the past year. Unfortunately, many retail investors unwisely bought at a premium to the $20 per share value: those who dabbled in PSTH options or warrants will have lost even more.

They wont be left empty-handed. Ackman is offering them rights, known as SPARs, to participate in an unspecified future deal. In theory, Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, Ltd. is an improvement on a regular blank-check firm. Investors wont have to park money at a low rate of return until the SPARC finds a target, which might take years. Instead theyll be invited to opt in once Ackman finds something to buy. Hence the SPARC saves on underwriting fees (about 7% for a tradition IPO and 5.5% for a SPAC).

IPOs are moribund and SPACs reputation is in the gutter, so a company wanting to go public might find the deal price certainty offered by the SPARC quite attractive.(2) PSTHs public warrants are due to expire worthless so the fact theyre trading a little above $0 implies investors have some faith in Ackmans dealmaking prowess. (1)

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But SPARs have to be blessed by the SEC and at least initially, theyll trade over-the-counter rather than on the New York Stock Exchange. That could limit their price and liquidity.

Convincing a unicorn to take a punt on a novel listing structure wont be easy and investors once bitten by Ackmans financial innovations will also tend to be twice shy. Only by serving them up a juicy deal will he earn their forgiveness.

More From This Writer and Others at Bloomberg Opinion:

 Bill Ackman Doesnt Want Your $4 Billion Anymore: Chris Bryant

 Bill Ackman Has a SPARC: Matt Levine

 Lets Hope Bill Ackman Doesnt Mellow Too Much: Chris Hughes

(1) The SPARC is also backed by a chunk of committed capital from Pershing Square.

(2) PSTH warrant holders will receive a full SPAR, while shareholders will get half

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies in Europe. Previously, he was a reporter for the Financial Times.

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Supporters of outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have turned on him after his downfall, accusing him of a breezy disregard for truth and integrity in public life. But no one can pretend that this fatal trait was previously unknown. Share with The Post: Whats one way youve felt the impact of inflation? ArrowRight If Johnsons journalistic career was distinguished by fake news and fabricated quotes, as well as racist and Islamophobic jibes, his personal life has been dogged by allegations of official favors to mistresses. A political career boosted by the falsehoods of Brexit and tainted further by almost every kind of scandal has confirmed that Johnson is little more than a posh rascal.

For people around the world who were consistently perplexed by his success, the questions always were: How did he manage to receive the biggest electoral mandate in decades in the worlds oldest democracy? How did the countrys once-respectable newspapers as well as its notorious tabloids become cheerleaders of a near-perfect embodiment of upper-class roguery?

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The answer lies in part in the elite culture of empire  a social pathology that has uniquely stultified Britain, committing its political and media class, in the absence of empire, to empty, repetitive performances of the power and authority that leaked away long ago.

To gain a quick impression of it, you only have to glance at the image of Johnson preening, together with former Prime Minister David Cameron (a fellow alumnus of Eton), in tailcoats and bow ties at the Bullingdon Club, a riotous drinking club of privately schooled undergraduates at Oxford. This is a snapshot of Britains imperial style in its late and most decadent phase. Parodic and exaggerated, it is the source of such devastating acts of national self-harm as Brexit; Johnson represents its apotheosis.

The original embodiment of the over-promoted public-school boy  famously described by the writer Cyril Connolly as a case of permanent adolescence  was of course the imperial proconsul. Forged on the playing fields of Eton, this representative of the British empire often possessed no other quality than confidence in his ability to rule much of the world.

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The numerous victims of his arrogance and incompetence in the colonies could clearly see his main vice: emotional aridity, an inability to empathize with or understand people other than his peers. Accordingly, Mohandas K. Mahatma Gandhi designed a method of anti-colonial resistance that aimed to reconnect Indias British overlords to their ethical and emotional lives, and to help them heal the damage caused by long years of isolation and abuse at boarding schools.

In Britains class-damaged society, however, the persona of imperial patrician turned into an ideal for the rest  a prerequisite for membership of the ruling elite. Indeed, a prodigious belief in ones abilities, and fluency in expressing them, became the essence of an iconic and increasingly exportable Britishness as empire faded from view.

Expensive private schools and Oxbridge trained young men for a life of successful bluffing and posturing. In his new book, Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK, the Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper confesses disarmingly that Oxford trained him primarily to write and speak for a living without much knowledge.

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Johnsons seemingly erudite (and often inaccurate) invocations of Greek and Roman classics are one such late and quintessentially British performance of patrician power. It has certainly become globally seductive in an age of meritocratic aspiration. Opening branches of British boarding schools in their own countries, the elites of Asia seek to initiate their own children into the deportment of the British chumocracy.

With its lax regulations, Britain has also become Butler to the World  the title of a compelling recent book that describes how Britain became the servant of tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals. Recent revelations about the Emir of Qatar giving suitcases of cash to a royal charity, or Boris Johnsons meetings with a rich ex-KGB agent, underscore how foreigners with money help polish the gloss on Britains imperial heritage.

The unavoidable problem is that the empire itself no longer exists. In the absence of its original source of power, wealth and prestige, Britain has trapped itself in a life of make-believe. As a result, the countrys ruling class keeps helplessly manifesting the same symptoms of imperial-era delusion, whether volunteering to quell the insurgent natives of Basra during the war in Iraq, promising to recreate Global Britain through Brexit, or offering to help Ukraine reclaim Crimea from Russia.

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Meanwhile, the pseudo-imperial style rapidly coarsens as deep-rooted economic problems are laid bare, and the working classes and minorities become more assertive. Certainly, the British media prosecutes Johnsons culture war against wokeness with crude vitriol rather than wit and elegance.

In a country where many people have come to fear loss of power and status, a proven scoundrel seemed the ablest upholder of the ancient right of entitled white men to say or do whatever they want, regardless of consequences. He seemed the best safeguard against a likely future of economic enervation and demographic diversity.

Of course, Johnsons project for a grand confidence-boosting restoration  a mendacity-fueled Brexit  was always doomed to accelerate national decline and unleash mass immiseration and suffering of the kind once known in countries misruled by British imperialists. One can only hope that Johnson was the last expression of an imperial-era insouciance that long ago passed its sell-by date and turned toxic.

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More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:

 Johnsons Exit is Populisms Latest Fallout: Adrian Wooldridge

 Successor Beware! Boris Johnson Has a Real Legacy: Martin Ivens

 Johnson Exits But Damage to the UK Will Linger: Max Hastings

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Pankaj Mishra is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is author, most recently, of Run and Hide.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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Poison pork sliders, dodgy finances and pistol-packing waitresses have all featured in the news, but no more: it would appear that screamy US Congressperson from Colorado Lauren Boebert's storied 'Shooters Grill' is closing before losing its lease. A new landlord has objected to the business and was considering yanking the lease, this has hastened a decision to close the place.

Colorado Pols:

As readers know, Shooter's Grill lost hundreds of thousands of dollars during its few years of operation according to tax filings, and the eatery never lived down the 2017 incident in which Boebert's food truck sickened dozens of spectators at a local rodeo. Quality food and service was never the draw of Shooter's Grill, of course, bringing in customers (at least once for the novelty) with their armed and generally young female wait staff.

Boebert reportedly waited until after the June 28th primary to make the decision about closing Shooter's Grill after the building's landlord signaled his intention to cancel Boebert's lease at the end of August. With Boebert's Republican primary opponent dispatched, Boebert's cash flow from her newfound fame looks secure enough to dispense with the dirty work of running a small-town greasy spoonmanagement of which Boebert had reportedly already farmed out to political supporters.
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It might have been a scene from a perverse Persian-language Keystone Cops remake. Last Wednesday, Irans state-run Press TV aired footage that, it claimed, showed Britains deputy ambassador taking soil samples in a desert location close to where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conducts missile exercises. Share with The Post: Whats one way youve felt the impact of inflation? ArrowRight The report said the IRGC had caught Giles Whitaker spying on military sites, along with the spouse of the Austrian Embassys cultural attache and a Polish university professor. The British diplomat, Press TV added, was expelled from the city after apologizing.

The event seemed certain to ignite a major international diplomatic flare-up, until the British ambassador, Simon Shercliff, tweeted that Whitaker had left the country in December when his posting ended. The Austrian Embassy said none of its staff or their relatives had been detained. Polands foreign ministry confirmed that a scientist had indeed been deprived of his freedom in Iran not last week, but last September.

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Tehran offered neither explanation nor apology for the bizarre episode. Nor did it provide clarity on the fate of the Polish scientist. The Copernicus University in Tolun named him as Maciej Walczak, head of its environmental microbiology and biotechnology department.

By weeks end, the regimes spycatchers had returned to their traditional trade of locking up Iranians  in this instance, two filmmakers who had dared challenge the security establishment on social media. In London, perplexed officials were just glad to be spared a reprise of the 2020 diplomatic dust-up over the brief detention of the then-British ambassador during a spasm of anti-government protests in the Iranian capital.

But the Brits shouldnt exhale just yet. Indeed, the events of last week should put all Western governments on high alert for diplomatic theatrics and threats from Tehran as Iran is backed into a corner by crises at home and abroad. Arresting high-profile foreigners, or even claiming to, and parading them on TV allows the regime to shift blame for what ails the country onto perfidious outsiders and gives it bargaining chips for negotiations with the West.

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Rights groups say Iran has anywhere between 20 and 40 foreigners and Iranians with dual nationality in captivity. The exact number is hard to gauge because it sometimes suits both sides in a hostage situation to keep things under wraps. As with the Polish scientist, news of an arrest can be withheld for months, even years, and announced only when the regime wants to distract its domestic audience or needs to show its hand in negotiations abroad.

It will likely feel the need to do both, in large measure, in the months ahead. In street protests and on social media, Iranians are increasingly giving voice to their economic distress, caused by chronic corruption and mismanagement as much as US sanctions. The regimes hopes of having those restraints removed are fading in tandem with the chances of the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers.

The latest round of negotiations, in Qatar, were a failure. The US and European signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the nuclear pact is known, are signaling that their patience is wearing thin. The Biden administration has announced new sanctions, targeting the smuggling networks through which Iran exports oil. (Those exports are already being squeezed by cheaper Russian supplies.)

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If the Western signatories conclude that negotiations are futile, they may exercise the JCPOAs snapback clause, which would add United Nations sanctions to those already imposed by the US.

This is not the first time the Iranians have found themselves in this bind, and their tried and tested response has been what can only be described as hostage diplomacy  seizing foreigners or Iranians with dual nationality and expecting cash or concessions for their release. This is a practice going back to the fall of 1979, when 66 Americans were taken hostage in the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran; 52 of them were held for 444 days.

The regimes demands then  mainly, the return of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to Iran  were unfulfilled. But it has had more success recently, swapping several American hostages for $400 billion in 2016, and receiving $530 million for the British national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe earlier this year. (Washington and London denied these payments amounted to ransom, but their timing leaves little doubt that they were relayed quid pro quo.)

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Encouraged by these successes, Iran has grown more aggressive and opportunistic in using hostages as carrots or sticks. Earlier this year, it arrested a Belgian even as Belgian lawmakers debated a proposed prisoner-swap treaty that would allow an Iranian diplomat sentenced to 20 years for plotting a bomb attack near Paris to be sent back to Tehran.

Just last month, Tehran threatened to hang a Swedish-Iranian and arrested a Swedish tourist as a Stockholm district court deliberated in a case implicating a high-ranking member of the Iranian regime in war crimes. That same week, Iran arrested a French couple ahead of a European Union envoys visit to Tehran pressing the regime on nuclear negotiations. Sweden and France have warned their citizens against traveling to Iran.

There is neither the pretense of subtlety in these arrests nor the plausible deniability invoked in previous years, when the detentions were attributed to hard-line elements in the judiciary and security services to embarrass a supposedly moderate president. Since the elevation of Ebrahim Raisi to the presidency last year, all branches of the government are controlled by hard-liners.

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In his previous role as head of the judiciary, it was part of Raisis job to provide legal cover for the taking of hostages. Now, hes hoping to collect the ransom. Western governments should expect more Walczaks than Whitakers in the months ahead.

More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:



Biden Can Unite Israel and Saudi Arabia to Meet Iran Threat: Hussein Ibish



Netanyahu Doesnt Need Trump Anymore. He Should Say So. Zev Chafets



People Power Has Brought Down Sri Lankas Strongman. What Now?: Ruth Pollard

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.

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A new strain of drought-resistant wheat is helping to set the record straight on GMOs  a plant breeding technology that has long been considered at odds with sustainable agriculture but may be essential to its future. Share with The Post: Whats one way youve felt the impact of inflation? ArrowRight The Food and Drug Administration recently determined that HB4, developed by the Argentinian company, Bioceres, is safe for humans to eat, bringing this new variety closer to commercial development in the United States. HB4 has already been approved for production in Argentina and Australia, but still requires sign-off from the US Department of Agriculture  which is likely, pending reviews of the crops environmental impact.

This would be an agricultural milestone for two key reasons: First, whereas most GMO crops now grown in the US are used for livestock feed or derivatives such as corn syrup, HB4 would be directly consumed by humans. Second, it would be the first major food crop designed for drought tolerance. Its hard to understate the importance of a crop that can better endure the kind of record-breaking drought and heat that is ravaging farms from the American West to Italy and Somalia. Just ask India, which recently banned most wheat exports to preserve adequate supplies for its own people, worsening a worldwide shortage already made critical by Russias war on Ukraine.

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Yet many consumers and investors  especially those who arent among the 53 million food-insecure Americans currently relying on food banks to survive  remain skeptical of the value and safety of GMO wheat. I get it  Ive been among those who recoil at the prospect of eating genetically modified bread  or GMO anything, really. But when I examined the scientific basis for my concerns, I found that there is none.

For decades, human consumption of genetically modified organisms has inspired misbegotten fear in consumers because few of us understand the technique, which uses bits of DNA from other plants, animals or even bacteria to create desired traits in crops.

Critics have raised spurious concerns ranging from cancer and allergies to loss of nutritional value in GMO foods. Others worry about the modified genetics escaping into the wild, wreaking havoc on ecosystems. Many distrust the Big Ag companies creating new GMO crops to prioritize human safety over profit. As a result, GMO foods have been largely banned in Europe and much of Africa.

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But no evidence has ever been found proving that GMOs harm human health. In fact, every major scientific organization, including the National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization, has attested to the safety of this plant breeding technology. And while GMO crops can cause genetic drift in nearby fields, measures can be taken to avoid this. Consumers need to understand that GMOs arent inherently dangerous to human health or the environment any more than a television inherently damages your intelligence. GMO breeding is simply a technological platform: The danger or benefit lies in how it is applied.

Humans have been altering plant DNA for millennia  selecting and breeding ever bigger, softer grains, less-bitter vegetables and fatter, sweeter fruits. Before GMO, those traits were acquired by cross-breeding the same or similar species of plants. GMOs dramatically widen the possibilities by pulling from different organisms and producing swift results. Rather than taking a decade or more with conventional breeding methods, gene-editing tools can yield new plant varieties in two to three years. Gene-editing tools like Crispr, which can delete unwanted traits in a genome, can produce results even faster and more affordably.

One of the most powerfully beneficial traits integrated into commercial crops today is derived from a common soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (or Bt), which enables the plant to produce its own internal insecticides that are benign to humans. The development of Bt-integrated corn, now cultivated worldwide, and Bt-integrated eggplants grown in Bangladesh, have significantly reduced applications of chemical pesticides, saving farmers money and improving soil health.

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To develop its drought-resistant wheat, Bioceres scientists added genetic material from a sunflower that determines how the plant uses the moisture it channels and stores. Discovered by Argentinian scientist Raquel Chan, HB4 is among the sunflower genes that govern water efficiency. After Chan and her teams lab experiments showed crops including soybeans could thrive in hot, dry conditions with infrequent waterings, Bioceres licensed the gene.

The company reports that in field trials its GMO wheat varietal has boosted yields by an average of 20% in water-limited conditions. These numbers need to be corroborated by an independent analysis and far more research needs to be done to identify other genes that can help confer drought-tolerance to food crops. But this progress offers some hope to millions of farmers worldwide facing harsh conditions that will only get hotter and dryer.

History has shown us the consequences of genetic engineering in agriculture when its application is flawed. Monsantos Roundup Ready seeds  the crop that has become nearly synonymous with GMOs  contained genetics that made them immune to chemicals that kill virtually every other kind of plant. These herbicide-tolerant plants now account for 90% of all the corn, cotton and soybeans in the US, and many of the products have backfired, leading to the emergence of superweeds resistant to the chemicals, which require the use of more and stronger weed-killing sprays.

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And thats the notable concern I have about the Bioceres product: In addition to the HB4 drought-tolerant gene, it has added a gene for herbicide tolerance. I understand the purpose, given how widely accepted the trait has become in agricultural markets. But the harmful impacts of herbicides undermine the core value of the HB4 innovation and its game-changing climate benefits. That isnt enough reason to reject the new crop, though, and shouldnt stop the USDA from approving HB4 wheat for commercial production.

We must move beyond the question of whether GMO crops should be developed at all, and instead focus on which applications will bring the most value to our world. Scientists are working to develop genetically modified crops with wider, deeper roots that can significantly improve carbon storage in soil. Research is also underway to develop GMO and gene-editing crop varieties of staple grains and specialty foods  from coffee and cacao to citrus and wine grapes  that are tolerant not only of heat and drought, but of the many other climate pressures bearing down on farmers worldwide: flooding, invasive insects, bacterial blights and shifting seasons.

Some of these efforts will fail, but those that succeed will bring life-sustaining benefits to the most food-insecure populations in the most vulnerable climates. The bottom line: Rising environmental pressures have begun to justify the use of controversial agricultural tools that can help change the balance back in favor of humanity  as long as the technology is applied responsibly.

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A Global Famine Is a Still-Avoidable Disaster: Leonid Bershidsky



Pollutions Impact on Crops Is Ominous for China: Adam Minter



The World Can Stave Off Putins Food Fight: Clara F. Marques

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Amanda Little is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering agriculture and climate. She is a professor of journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University and author of The Fate of Food: What Well Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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When Foxconn Technology Groups Young Liu toured Asia last month, he avoided speaking about the one client for which the Taiwanese company is most famous. In meetings with the leaders of India, Indonesia and Thailand, the chairman focused on developing semiconductors and building electric vehicles instead of churning out Apple Inc. iPhones.

Thats a stark contrast to eight years ago, when Lius predecessor, company founder Terry Gou, met with then-Governor of Jakarta Joko Widodo  known as Jokowi  and promised to invest $1 billion into Indonesia. Though not explicitly stated, the expectation was that the Southeast Asian nation with a population then at 255 million might become a new hub for iPhone manufacturing. That Foxconn deal helped solidify Jokowis business credentials and get him elected president later that year  though the money never came.

Wherever Foxconn goes there has always been the implication that the worlds biggest electronics manufacturing company will set up a factory to assemble the planets hottest gadget, and with it create thousands of jobs. On only a few occasions has that happened. Both India and Brazil host iPhone factories. Indonesia and the US do not.

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Today, that narrative has shifted. In meetings with Jokowi, Indias Narendra Modi and Prayuth Chan-Ocha of Thailand, the conversation has been much more about Foxconns new products, and what role those nations can play in developing them. The iPhone wasnt a feature.

India, for example, has dreams of creating a semiconductor industry. Having trained millions of brilliant engineers  many of whom find better opportunities overseas  and watched rival China climb the ranks of the global chip sector, New Delhi wants to be part of the action. This is not a new fantasy. Various Indian governments have floated plans and put aside funds to achieve that goal over the past two decades. Theyve gotten nowhere.

But now Foxconn has inked a deal with Vedanta Ltd., part of billionaire Anil Agarwals resources empire, to develop and manufacture chips. Vedanta has no background and no obvious reason to be in semiconductors, and the agreement signed in February is merely a memorandum of understanding. Yet it speaks to Foxconns recent strategy to establish local research and development partnerships, rather than simply set up factories to leverage low-cost labor.

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The three countries also have policies to cultivate a local electric-vehicle industry. Production of EVs in India would dovetail with Modis plans to build up that sector and move toward a stated goal of net zero emissions by 2070, a plan that necessitates homegrown development and solutions.

In February, Thailand passed laws that will help the country transform 50% of its vehicle production to electric models by 2030. That policy includes tax exemptions and subsidies. Foxconn has already signed on. Last year, it agreed to collaborate with state-owned oil-and-gas conglomerate PTT Pcl to make both the software and hardware the goes into EVs, with total investment of $1 billion to $2 billion. Vehicle production could commence as early as 2024.

Foxconns Indonesia plans may be bolder yet. This year, the company announced it would work with Taiwan electric scooter maker Gogoro Inc. as well as Indonesia Battery Corp. and PT Indika Energy to make batteries as well as two-wheelers, four-wheelers and buses. Investment there could top $8 billion. More importantly for Indonesia, and Jokowi, the company looks ready to help build out the countrys putative new capital  Nusantara  which will be built on Borneo island. Plans for the city were announced in 2019, and envision an environmentally friendly capital to replace smoggy, sinking Jakarta. Foxconn is willing to set up training institutions and provide technology to local partners, Liu was quoted as saying.

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Skepticism toward all these announced programs is warranted. Foxconn has a less-than-stellar track record when it comes to following through on its reported investments. Its debacle in Wisconsin, originally slated to be a leading-edge display-panel factory but which will be much less, is perhaps its most famous example. (Foxconn scaled back that facility, citing a change in market conditions). Many plans also depend on local partners and governments, which are out of Foxconns control.

The key reason in favor of believing at least some of these projects will come to fruition is that Foxconn needs them to, as much as local politicians do. While the company has good reason to open new iPhone factories around the world to reduce its reliance on China, it never truly needed to look beyond its key manufacturing hubs of Shenzhen and Zhengzhou. Even amid the global pandemic and supply chain disruptions, Foxconn and Apple have managed to keep churning out gadgets with relatively little disruption.

Its chip and vehicle plans are different. Foxconn has bet its future on EVs, in part to reduce dependence on Apple  which accounts for half its revenue. Vehicles, due to both their size and local regulations, are better-suited to local manufacturing, while semiconductors are a relatively new business for the company but can help boost profit margins. The company expects its first electric car to hit production in 2024, with a goal of taking 5% of the global market within three years.

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At the same time, foreign governments are no longer clamoring to have an iPhone factory in their backyard. Theres nary a politician who wouldnt love to churn out the iconic gadget, and provide the thousands of employment opportunities that come with it. But EVs and chips have the potential to bring far more than simple factory jobs. Terms like ecosystem and R&D are more than buzzwords. By focusing on both manufacturing and development, these economies can hope to create both blue-collar and white-collar jobs.

Its possible that a homegrown electric vehicle will never be as cool as a domestically assembled iPhone. But for local economies, and Foxconn, they could be far more valuable.

More From This Writer and Others at Bloomberg Opinion:

 Curb Your Enthusiasm on Indias Next Chip Venture: Tim Culpan

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 The Wheels Have Come Off Electric Vehicles: Anjani Trivedi

 When the Weather Is Hot Enough To Kill: Fickling & Pollard

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.

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In some respects, Congresss response to the Covid-19 pandemic amounted to a striking bipartisan success. Amid crisis conditions, legislators passed six laws doling out more than $5 trillion in relief measures, helping to keep businesses open, households afloat, and the economy from outright collapse. Share with The Post: Whats one way youve felt the impact of inflation? ArrowRight Unfortunately, it also wasted money on a historic scale.

A recent study by the Labor Departments inspector general examined just one aspect of Covid relief: enhanced unemployment benefits. At the pandemics US onset in mid-March of 2020, initial unemployment-insurance claims stood at 282,000. That figure surged to more than 6 million in the first week of April. The Cares Act compounded the workload by expanding eligibility for benefits, extending compensation deadlines, and adding additional weekly supplements.

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Such generosity was surely defensible at the time. But the result, as the study put it, was a perfect storm. Overloaded state unemployment offices were forced to rely on self-certifications of eligibility. The immense sums being dispersed proved irresistible for criminal gangs, while the sheer volume of claims meant that even rudimentary fraud controls were often ignored. As time went on, the report found, one fraudster could have been issued several UI debit cards, with tens of thousands of dollars on each card.

All told, at least $163 billion out of $873 billion in total outlays was improperly spent, with a significant portion attributable to fraud. Outside estimates have put the figure at nearly 2.5 times higher. Meanwhile, as of March, the government had recovered just $4 billion or so. Most of the misbegotten funds are likely gone for good.

Nor was this the only program subject to such waste. One study analyzed 11.5 million loans disbursed under the Paycheck Protection Program. It found that about 1.4 million  or fully 12%  showed some indication of fraud. The authors estimate that total suspicious lending may have exceeded $117 billion. Another inspector general report found that the Small Business Administration may have approved $78.1 billion in improper loans. Thats to say nothing of the workaday waste  from antiquated IT, poorly trained staff, duplicative processes and so on  that marred the wider pandemic response.

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Now the government is attempting to claw back some of its misplaced cash. The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee  a panel of 21 inspectors general charged with oversight of relief funds  has been using machine learning to examine data for signs of fraud. A task force of federal agents has been empowered to act on its findings and track down suspected crooks. Its a good start: Combined with other law-enforcement efforts, this approach has been helping to bring charges against a steady stream of offenders.

But what about the money?

Last month, a group of House Republicans introduced a bill that would allow states to keep 25% of any recovered funds from Covid programs so long as they directed it toward improving their unemployment systems and administration. This approach would have two benefits. It would finally offer states a real incentive to track down misappropriated federal funds, and it would help address glaring weaknesses in the US unemployment system  which even before the pandemic had been neglected to the point of obsolescence, as one analysis put it. Again: not a comprehensive solution, but progress all the same.

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Any big federal outlay will lead to attempted scams and swindles. Yet even by government standards, the sheer scale of Covid fraud has been remarkable. Congress owes it to taxpayers to find out what went wrong  and to recoup as much of their money as it can.

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Congress Needs to Fund More Covid Research: Faye Flam



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The Editors are members of the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.

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If theres something the leaked Uber Technologies Inc. documents show  aside from the questionable ways in which the company sought to break into new markets in Europe  its just how much the European political establishment has soured on doing business with US tech firms. Share with The Post: Whats one way youve felt the impact of inflation? ArrowRight Although previous years were marked by friendly encounters between American executives and European officials hoping to benefit from new jobs, the relationship these days is far from cozy. The European Union argues US tech has become too dominant, in part due to little oversight, and its aiming to fix that. It wants to tax companies more, regulate more heavily and build its own technology champions.

Take, for example, French President Emmanuel Macron, whose personal messages to former Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick and other senior Uber executives feature extensively in the leaks.

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Back in 2014, he was a fresh-faced minister in the Socialist government of Francois Hollande. At the same time, Uber was intensifying lobbying efforts to break into the highly regulated French market. Macron, per the texts shown in the leaks, sought to facilitate business for the company. He is said to have worked on amending legislation to ease licensing requirements for Uber drivers, according to revelations published by the newspaper Le Monde based on the leaks. That may sound brash to the French, but its exactly what most finance ministers do in exchange for jobs and foreign investment.

For a relatively unknown Macron at the time, hanging out with high-flying CEOs and playing palace intrigue to bolster his own profile and influence must have been enticing. After all, he based his early image on breaking conventions and turning France into a nation of risk-takers and innovators. The rookie mistake, however, was in failing to grasp how much social backlash the model he wanted to bring about would face down the road.

Fast forward to Macron as president today. His pitch for a nation of startups still plays well  so long as it involves La French Tech and works for French unicorns, something of a personal obsession. But rather than turn the country into a subsidiary of an American tech firm, his clear goal now is getting a piece of the pie for France. Macron, who sees homegrown technology as a vehicle to modernize his economy, is aiming for at least 100 French billion-dollar startups  there are currently 28, depending on whos counting  by 2030. He says Europe should aim to develop 10 tech giants of its own able to compete with American and Chinese technology in the next five years.

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And he has managed to wage his vision across Brussels. His government led EU efforts to make American firms operating in European jurisdictions pay more tax, while Germany, the blocs largest economy, was more timid in its approach. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has made minimum corporate taxation his battle horse in every international summit I can remember.

In Brussels, which acts and thinks more French under Macrons influence, a string of new legislation would make amends for years of allowing the US to dominate a market the Europeans did not bother building for themselves. Consider the forthcoming Digital Markets Act, which aims to curb anticompetitive behavior and could see repeat offenders be broken up in the most extreme cases, or the Digital Services Act, which would force tech companies to better patrol their content moderation or face penalties of up to 6% of annual revenue.

Theres also the Chips Act, which aims to mobilize billons of euros to bolster Europes chip production. The EU has described it as a fundamental step in securing value chains for semiconductors and technologies. A key figure in getting it passed is Thierry Breton, a former French executive appointed to the role of EU Commissioner for the European single market by none other than Macron. Breton likes to take on American CEOs: He told Meta Platforms Inc. boss Mark Zuckerberg that he carries personal responsibility for the content published on his platforms. And hes suggested that while Tesla Inc. chief Elon Musks radical free speech may work in America, there are different standards to uphold in Europe. Here, you have to respect the rules, he likes to say.

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To be sure, the so-called Uber Files do not make the French president look good, and the lack of transparency around the types of meetings between government officials and corporate executives that the leaks exposed should be scrutinized and fixed. But I wouldnt assume that getting on a first-name basis with Macron guarantees an easy ride for Uber, or any tech giant, in the future, especially if they dont play by his rules.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 The Price of Not Buying Twitter: Matt Levine

 Havent Had Covid Yet? Maybe Youve Just Been Lucky: Faye Flam

 Twitter Wants You to Build a Bot. So I Did: Tim Culpan

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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The most predictable story in the world gets recycled whenever a first-term president becomes unpopular and his jittery party starts wondering whether other options are better than nominating him for re-election. So with President Joe Bidens approval ratings sagging below 40%, here comes a column by Ed Kilgore at New York magazine asking whether Democrats are stuck with Biden in 2024.

To answer, set aside (legitimate!) questions about whether Biden, now 79, is too old for a second term. Tune out consideration of whether Democrats believe he would be a good second-term president. Turn to the way electoral politics actually unfolds.

Unpopular presidents have lost re-election bids  Donald Trump, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford. The last two times an unpopular president who was eligible dropped out of a re-nomination fight, in 1952 and 1968, his party lost anyway. This is hardly surprising. If a president is unpopular, then his party will be unpopular. George W. Bush couldnt run for a third term in 2008, but given his low approval ratings, Republicans never had a chance that year.

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All of this suggests that if Biden remains unpopular, the Democrats are probably doomed whether they nominate him or not. Indeed, given partisan polarization, its unlikely that candidates matter much in most presidential elections. But we dont and cant have side-by-side comparisons, and its not surprising that party actors would be wary of re-nominating an unpopular president, regardless of what the evidence suggests.

Which gets back to the question whether the 2024 Democratic nomination is Bidens if he wants it. Party actors have no formal veto over any candidate. But they do control many of the resources  money, expertise, party-aligned media  that are critical to winning primary elections. If a united party wanted to dump an incumbent president, it surely could at least severely injure him.

After all, most White House staffers, and almost all presidential appointees in the executive branch, have backgrounds as loyal Democrats, not mainly as Biden supporters. Imagine if Bidens cabinet threatened to walk out unless he agreed to end his campaign for re-election. He could go on anyway. But its hard to imagine him doing so. Similarly, Biden would be hard-pressed to continue if enough major Democratic donors refused to support him, or if he had difficulty staffing his campaign with experienced party operatives. Of course, if things came to that point, it might not matter anyway, since a president that unpopular among party actors would probably be trounced in primaries.

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But realistically, even the least popular presidents keep the support of half or so of their partys voters, and its likely that many party actors would stick with Biden if he tried to run. His cabinet and White House staff would probably do so because they like holding their jobs, if for no other reason. In the era of campaign finance abundance, its hard to believe that even an unpopular president would fail to raise plenty of cash. And some organized groups within the party would want to reward even unpopular presidents for their support. That was even true for Jimmy Carter, the president with the fewest ties to his party after four years in the White House; one reason he was able to defeat Senator Ted Kennedy and win re-nomination in 1980 was that some unions and other organized groups choose to back him.

The real question, then, isnt whether Democrats are stuck with Biden. Its about a scenario in which enough party actors want a second term for him that he has a solid chance for re-nomination, but enough others want a new candidate that its also possible that he could lose. If thats the situation, it really comes down to whats in one politicians head, and thats always difficult for outsiders to predict.

Remember this about Joe Biden, however: His talent has always been to adjust his positions to remain right in the center of the Democratic Party. If the center of that party wants him gone, hell probably go.

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There are no guarantees; no politician drops out of a winnable presidential election casually, and theres nothing easier for a politician and those around him or her than to convince themselves that they are indispensable. Biden surely could make that case to himself. But he also has a built-in excuse for bailing out  age  that few presidents have had. And he really is a party man. So my best guess is that if enough party actors push, he would back away.

Its also possible that he intends to retire anyway, and just isnt ready to say so.

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

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Japans former leader, Shinzo Abe, was always a polarizing figure. But the fissures that emerged during his return to power in 2012 were largely brushed aside as the world united in grief over his murder. Share with The Post: Whats one way youve felt the impact of inflation? ArrowRight At the time, a Japan specialist at the Obama-era state department said that one would need a microscope to find one iota of an upside in Abes becoming prime minister again after his first term in office six years earlier. John Kerry, then secretary of state, named Japan as the biggest problem in Asia rather than its more aggressive neighbors(1).

And they were far from outliers. The Economist termed his cabinet dangerously nationalistic, while the New York Times fretted that his nationalist fantasies would pose challenges for the US. After Abes assassination Friday, such arguments were back in fashion: One take deemed him a divisive arch-conservative; another called him the most divisive leader in recent history, who left a complicated legacy.

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Such skepticism of Abe should be a relic of a bygone age. He wanted no more than to make Japan a normal country  one not beholden to the legacy of events that took place before more than 90% of the countrys population was born. Abe sought a nation that could stand up for itself in a hostile part of the world, surrounded by three belligerent neighbors, rather than depending entirely for its security on its occasionally flaky ally in Washington.

Fretting about Japanese remilitarization might have made sense in 2006, when Abe first became prime minister in his abortive initial term. In 2022 though, its wholly out of place. Abe dreamed of revising Japans pacifist constitution, but subsequent events show how necessary that is. Since then, we have seen North Korea come into possession of not just regular nuclear weapons but hydrogen bombs; Russia has annexed Crimea and then invaded Ukraine; and the regime in China has let its mask slip with its determination to extinguish basic freedoms in Hong Kong.

To say that Japan, which counts these countries among its closest neighbors, does not need a more aggressive posture is an argument that should carry very little water. It was Abe who pushed for a structure to preserve the rule of law in the Asia-Pacific region; Abe who recognized the threat that a growing China posed when most other nations saw only dollar signs before their eyes.

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He sought to throw off the shackles of wartime guilt that many of Japans neighbors use for politically convenient purposes. Yet he also worked to improve relations with almost all those countries. Abe helped repair relations with China: Even though his meeting with Xi Jinping in 2014 began with a legendarily lackluster handshake, it led to a visit to Beijing in 2018. He was still preparing to host Xi in 2020 until Covid struck.

Japans relations with its ostensible ally South Korea have always been sensitive. Abe sought to draw a line under the awful history of comfort women  the women and girls who had been forced into sexual slavery during Japans occupation of Korea  reaching an agreement with the administration of President Park Geun-hye that was meant to finally and irreversibly resolve the issue.

The late prime minister is often dubbed revisionist for his refusal to wallow in Japans past. His thoughts are perhaps best summed up by his statement on the 70th anniversary of World War II in 2015, which was one of several contrite statements he offered during his time in office.

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As well as expressing eternal, sincere condolences and a deep repentance for the immeasurable damage and suffering Japan caused, Abe said that Japan must not let our children, grandchildren, and even further generations to come, who have nothing to do with that war, be predestined to apologize.

Fundamentally, he wanted Japan to move on, and to have rights that most other countries take for granted  a military with which to defend itself, a country that can be proud of itself despite its brutal and violent past. In any other country, he would likely be an average center-right politician.

In death, it seems the attitude may be starting to shift. It was a surprise to see the largely liberal Washington Post now backing Japans quest to revise its constitution and urging the US to endorse the move. Support for Abe was evident across Asia in the days after his death. Taiwan sent its highest-level official in decades for the funeral. India declared a day of mourning.

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Beyond his tendency to divide opinion, the mood Tuesday was captured best by the throngs of people who packed Tokyos Nagata-cho, looking to bid farewell as his hearse circled Japans centers of political power in a final goodbye before he was cremated. One woman was heard repeatedly shouting words of thanks to the former prime minister, while another man angrily berated bemused police for what is seen as their failure to protect him.

The worlds dangers have only increased since Abe first came to power. Right now, it could use an Abe-like figure, wise to its threats and skilled in diplomacy.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Kishida Must Achieve Abes Great Unrealized Dream: Gearoid Reidy

 Abes Biggest Legacy Is Military, Not Economic: James Stavridis

 Abes Greatest Achievement Was Forging a New Asia: Mihir Sharma

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(1) Both incidents are detailed in Tobias Harriss biography of Abe, The Iconoclast.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Gearoid Reidy is a Bloomberg News senior editor covering Japan. He previously led the breaking news team in North Asia and was the Tokyo deputy bureau chief.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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The candidates for the Conservative Party leadership are strikingly diverse. Six of the 10 declared candidates are members of ethnic minorities; three (Suella Braverman, Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid) are the children of immigrants; two (Nadhim Zahawi and Rehman Chisti) were born abroad, in Iraq and Pakistan respectively; and one (Kemi Badenoch) was brought up in Nigeria. Four are female. Only two are White men. Javid and Chisti pulled out just before the ballot deadline but the Tory list to succeed Boris Johnson remains remarkable.

Whatever happened to the party of the White patriarchy?

The presence of prominent women candidates should come as no surprise given the party has already produced two female prime ministers  Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May  to zero for opposition Labour. The Tory membership can think of nothing better than a return to the glorious days of Thatcher (which is why one of the leading candidates, Liz Truss, is forever striking Maggie-like poses).

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The prominence of minorities is new. In 2005, the Conservatives had only two non-White MPs. Thats changed dramatically  all the way to the top ranks of the party, including the last three chancellors of the exchequer in a row: Javid, Sunak and Zahawi. Before the recent party ructions they also held the jobs of home secretary (Priti Patel), health secretary (Javid), business secretary (Kwasi Kwarteng) and education secretary (Zahawi).

The Conservative Party has done a much better job of diversifying than other parts of the British establishment, which has focused instead on the politically correct trappings of rainbow flags and diversity courses. The civil service has always been run by a White man. The armed forces have not yet produced a BAME chief of staff. A tiny slither of FTSE 100 chairs, chief executive officers, chief financial officers and company directors are from minority backgrounds. The intelligence services are still the same color at the top as they were in the days of George Smiley, John Le Carres fictional spymaster.

Few other right-of-center parties around the world come close to what the Tories have done. Indeed, under Donald Trump, the Republican Party was in danger of becoming the party of White reaction against an increasingly diverse society. Among GOP up-and-comers, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley dropped her first name, Nimrata, and converted to Christianity from Sikhism; and former Louisiana governor Piyush Jindal called himself Bobby and converted to Christianity from Hinduism. In the UK, Sunak took the oath of office as chancellor with his hand on the Bhagavad Gita and placed Diwali candles on the steps of his office on Number 11 Downing Street.

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How did this extraordinary revolution come about? The Tories grasped the enormous power of sponsored mobility  that is, spotting potential superstars when they are still young and promoting them rapidly through the party ranks. The Labour Party should have far more potential ethnic minority leadership candidates than the Conservatives, given that Labour won some 62% of that demographic at the most recent election compared with the Conservatives 24%. But Labour relies on talent bubbling up on its own rather than being given a helping hand. The result is that many Labour minority MPs are unimpressive machine politicians and a few are self-dealers. Labours leader, deputy leader and shadow chancellor are all White.

The Tory breakthrough came in 2005. David Cameron came up with the idea of the partys central office nominating A-list candidates for local districts to consider. That preserved the constituencies much-prized sovereignty but forced them to consider people different from the White men theyd traditionally favored. Sunak wowed the voters in Richmond, Yorkshire, despite the fact that he was practically the only South Asian face in the constituency.

The left might instinctively think of minorities as victims of structural oppression who bristle at the sight of a union flag or a statue of Winston Churchill. That tells us more about the delusions of White university lecturers than it does about the beliefs of immigrants. Many revere the symbols of the country that they have chosen as their home and loathe the virtue-signaling version of equity, inclusion and diversity that is institutionalized on the left.

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Javid likes to point out that he made it to the top of British society despite the fact that his father worked as a bus driver. Britain provided him with a first-class education and a career as a banker before he became a politician. In her maiden speech as an MP, Kemi Badenoch thanked her chosen country for giving her a chance to live the British dream. Shes so anti-woke that, at her launch event, her staff used masking tape to divide the unisex lavatories into male and female.

The Conservative Party is particularly appealing to two groups of upwardly-mobile minorities: scholarship boys and girls who won places in Britains great public (i.e, private) schools, on the one hand, and the children of small business people, on the other. Sunaks parents  a doctor and a pharmacist  had to scrimp and save to send him to Winchester College. He repaid their efforts by becoming head boy, going on to Oxford and Stanford Business School, and eventually making a fortune in finance. The ranks of ethnic minority Old Etonians include Kwarteng and, a future star, Bim Afolami. Patels parents were refugees from Idi Amins Uganda; they established a chain of newspaper shops in the UK. Badenoch grew up in Nigeria and returned to Britain at 16 where she supported herself working at McDonalds.

The Conservative Partys diversity contains big warnings to the left. One is that you need to fight the opposition that you have rather than the one that you wish you had. Jolyon Maugham, a prominent leftist Queens Counsel, recently made a fool of himself, not for the first time, by asking Sunak, the current front-runner and former chancellor in a tweet, Do you think the members of your party are ready to select a brown man, Rishi? Today, a poll by Conservative Home shows Rishi among the top three contenders  the other two being, a White woman, Penny Mordaunt, and a Black woman, Badenoch.

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The diversification of the Conservative Party is a good thing for both Tories and the UK. Its obviously good for the party because it provides it with a stream of talent while also increasing its appeal to other minorities (and White liberals). But its also good for the country because it prevents politics from polarizing along racial lines  and also because it prevents the left from having a monopoly on questions such as assimilation and diversity.

Britain has plenty of serious problems at the moment  not least, the fact that the countrys long-standing problem with productivity was, at the very least, allowed to fester thanks to the combination of Brexit and the incompetence of Johnson. But the UK remains a global example when it comes to assimilation. Britain was the first country to have a Jewish prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli; the first to have a female one, Thatcher; and may well be on the verge of becoming the second major Western democracy to have a non-White leader. All three achievements will belong to the Conservatives.

More From This Writer and Others at Bloomberg Opinion:

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How Brexit Winnows the Candidates to Succeed Boris Johnson: Adrian Wooldridge



Boris Johnson Exits, But the Damage to the UK Will Linger: Max Hastings

 Britains Imperial Nostalgia Should Follow Johnson Out: Pankaj Mishra

(Updates in first paragraph with Javid and Chisti pulling out of the contest.)

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Adrian Wooldridge is the global business columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. A former writer at the Economist, he is author, most recently, of The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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8 nominated in race to succeed Johnson Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Eight candidates will be on the ballot Wednesday in the first round of voting for Boris Johnsons successor as Conservative Party leader and British prime minister. Britains next leader will be selected by Conservative members of Parliament and dues-paying members of the Conservative Party, which will remain in power. Conservatives are aiming to announce their next leader on Sept. 5, with that person installed as prime minister soon after.

To stand, candidates needed to meet a Tuesday deadline to get the support of at least 20 fellow Tory lawmakers.

The contenders include Rishi Sunak, whose resignation as chancellor of the exchequer helped launch the revolt against Johnson; Penny Mordaunt, a junior trade minister who served as Britains first female defense chief; and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

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Also in the running: Conservative backbench lawmaker Tom Tugendhat; former health secretary Jeremy Hunt; YouGov polling founder and newly appointed chancellor Nadhim Zahawi; Attorney General Suella Braverman; and former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch.

 Karla Adam

Renowned filmmaker arrested in crackdown

Iran has arrested an internationally renowned filmmaker, several newspapers reported Tuesday, the third Iranian director to be locked up in less than a week as the government escalates a crackdown on the countrys celebrated cinema industry.

The arrest of award-winning director Jafar Panahi and the wider pressure on filmmakers follow a wave of recent arrests as tensions escalate between the hard-line government and the West. Security forces have detained several foreigners and a prominent reformist politician as talks to revive Tehrans 2015 nuclear accord with world powers hit a deadlock and fears grow over the countrys economic crisis.

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Panahi had gone to the prosecutors office in Tehran on Monday to check on the cases of two colleagues detained last week when security forces scooped him up, as well, the reports said.

A colleague who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals said authorities sent Panahi to the notorious Evin prison to serve out a term dating to 2011. Panahi received the six-year sentence on charges of creating anti-government propaganda and was banned from filmmaking for 20 years. However, the sentence was never really enforced.

 Associated Press

Israel grants more Palestinian permits ahead of Biden visit: Israel said it would increase the number of work permits issued to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and allow thousands more Palestinians to gain legal status ahead of President Biden's visit to the region this week. Israel will allow an additional 5,500 Palestinians to be included in the Palestinian population registry so they can get ID cards. Rights groups say tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza lack such status, forcing them to live under severe movement restrictions. Israel said it would grant an additional 1,500 permits for Palestinian laborers in Gaza to work in Israel, bringing the total number to 15,500.

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Man convicted in 2015 Paris attacks reportedly won't appeal: The only surviving attacker from the November 2015 massacre in Paris has renounced the right to appeal his murder conviction and his sentence of life imprisonment without parole, his attorneys said. Salah Abdeslam was found guilty last month of murder and attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise, among other charges, for his role in the attacks, which killed 130 people. His attorneys said he decided "to give up his right to appeal for reasons only known to him."

Mali arrests nearly 50 troops from Ivory Coast: Malian authorities arrested nearly 50 troops from Ivory Coast who came to Mali to work for a contractor for MINUSMA, the United Nations mission there. Mali called the Ivorians "mercenaries." The arrests could raise tensions between the two West African countries. A U.N. mission spokesman said the Ivorians "are not part of one of the MINUSMA contingents but have been deployed for several years in Mali as part of logistical support on behalf of one of our contingents." He said their arrival as relief would have been communicated beforehand to Malian authorities.

 From news services

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PARIS  President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday dismissed critics who questioned his close dealings with Uber executives and business lobbyists when he was Frances economy minister, saying he was extremely proud of his achievements in that role. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Macrons political opponents on the left and the right lashed out at the president Monday while lawmakers considered a no-confidence motion against his government. They accused him of representing the interests of multinational companies instead of struggling workers in France.

The barrage of criticism came after an international conglomerate of investigative journalists, including Frances Le Monde newspaper, revealed Macrons meetings and communications with Uber executives and their lobbyists between 2014 and 2016. At the time, Macron was minister of economy and finance.

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I was the minister and I was doing my job, he told reporters during a Tuesday visit to southeastern France. I am extremely proud (...) to have fought as economy minister to attract foreign companies. He added: We have created thousands of jobs.

Uber has operated in France since 2011. The appearance of the ride-hailing app caused furious resentment among French taxi drivers and years of legal battles over regulations and protections for Uber drivers.

Far-left lawmakers said Monday that parliament might open an investigation into Macrons action as a minister. Some members of the French assemblys most powerful opposition bloc, known as Nupes, accused Macron of wheeling and dealing with Uber executives and lobbyists behind the back of fellow government members.

His allies dismissed allegations of wrong-doing.

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Macron acknowledged meeting with Uber executives and many other business leaders when he was economy minister. He said that while in that role, he helped bring foreign companies to the country and to break down administrative barriers faced by French entrepreneurs.

We empowered young people in (economically) deprived neighborhoods and got them employed for the first time in their lives, Macron said.

Macron was first elected president in 2017. He won his second five-year term in April.

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Jill Biden is sorry for referencing bodegas and breakfast tacos as highpoints of Latino culture in a speech at the annual meeting of Latino civil rights and advocacy organization UnidosUS. Raul Yzaguirre, the former president/CEO of the organization, recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. From ABC News:

The first lady noted in her remarks that the group's longtime leader, Raul Yzaguirre, had "helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community  as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio  is your strength."

Republicans pounced on social media, saying she was comparing Latinos to tacos, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists also clapped back, sending a message to the first lady to "not reduce us to stereotypes."

"NAHJ encourages @FLOTUS & her communications team to take time to better understand the complexities of our people & communities. We are not tacos. Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by various diasporas, cultures & food traditions. Do not reduce us to stereotypes," it said.
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Iran has arrested an internationally renowned filmmaker, several newspapers reported Tuesday, the third Iranian director to be locked up in less than a week as the government escalates a crackdown on the countrys celebrated cinema industry. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The arrest of award-winning director Jafar Panahi and wider pressure on filmmakers follows a wave of recent arrests as tensions escalate between Irans hard-line government and the West. Security forces have detained several foreigners and a prominent reformist politician as talks to revive Tehrans nuclear accord with world powers hit a deadlock and fears grow over the country's economic crisis.

Panahi, one of Irans best-known dissident filmmakers, had gone to the prosecutors office in Tehran on Monday evening to check on the cases of his two colleagues detained last week, when security forces scooped him up as well, the reports said.

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A colleague of Panahi, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, told The Associated Press that authorities sent him to Irans notorious Evin Prison to serve out a prison term dating back years ago.

In 2011, Panahi received a six-year prison sentence on charges of creating anti-government propaganda and was banned from filmmaking for 20 years. He was also barred from leaving the country.

However, the sentence was never really enforced and Panahi continued to make underground films  without government script approval or permits  which were released abroad to great acclaim.

Panahi has won multiple festival awards, including the 2015 Berlin Golden Bear for Taxi, a wide-ranging meditation on poverty, sexism and censorship in Iran, and the Venice Golden Lion in 2000 for The Circle, a deep dive into womens lives in Irans patriarchal society.

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The Berlin International Film Festival said it was dismayed and outraged to hear of Panahis arrest, calling it another violation of freedom of expression and freedom of the arts.

His detention came after the arrest of two other Iranian filmmakers, Mohamad Rasoulof and Mostafa al-Ahmad.

Authorities accused Rasoulof and al-Ahmad of undermining the nations security by voicing opposition on social media to the governments violent crackdown on unrest in the countrys southwest.

Following the catastrophic collapse of the Metropol Building that killed at least 41 people in May, protests erupted over allegations of government negligence and deeply rooted corruption. Police responded with a heavy hand, clubbing protesters and firing tear gas, according to footage widely circulating online.

Rasoulof won the Berlin Film Festivals top prize in 2020 for his film There Is No Evil that explores four stories loosely connected to the themes of the death penalty in Iran and personal freedoms under tyranny. In 2011, Rasoulofs film Goodbye won a prize at Cannes but he was not allowed to travel to France to accept it.

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Cannes sharply condemned the arrests of the three filmmakers and the wave of repression obviously in progress in Iran against its artists.

PEN America, a literary and free speech organization, said their detention marks a brazen violation of their human right to free expression and speech.

Several foreigners have also landed in Iranian prison in recent weeks, including two French citizens, a Swedish tourist, a Polish scientist and others, spurring concerns that Iran is trying to leverage them as bargaining chips in negotiations.

Its a tactic Iran has used in the past, including in 2014 when authorities arrested Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian. He was released a year and a half later in a prisoner swap with the United States as the landmark nuclear accord took effect.

On Monday, the family of a Belgian humanitarian worker being held in Iran, Olivier Vandecasteele, appealed to Brussels to do everything to secure his release from Evin Prison. They said he was arrested in late February after working for more than six years in Iran to help its Afghan migrant community.

The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the AP on Tuesday it had asked Iran for his release on several occasions and still had no information on the reasons of his arrest. It said the government was providing him with consular assistance.

__

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

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MOSCOW  Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the U.S. warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine. During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putins visit to Iran will follow U.S. President Joe Bidens trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, where Irans nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.

Peskov told reporters that on the visit to Tehran, Putin will also have a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In March, Erdogan helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, Turkey. Peskov said there was no discussion about a new round of such negotiations.

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The White House said Monday that it believes that Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with hundreds of drones, including those capable of carrying weapons, for use in Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the vehicles to Russia, but said the U.S. has information that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline, Sullivan told reporters Monday, referring to drones by the acronym for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Nasser Kanaani did not deny the U.S. claim in comments on Tuesday.

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Irans cooperation with Russia in some sophisticated technologies dates to before the Russia-Ukraine war, he said. There has not been any special development in this regard recently.

Iran long has worked on the development of drones, including so-called loitering munitions, the kamikaze drones like the Switchblade that the U.S. has delivered to Ukraine.

The U.S. decision to publicly reveal that the two countries chief regional rival was helping to rearm Russia comes as both Israel and Saudi Arabia have resisted joining global efforts to punish Russia for its action in Ukraine due to their domestic interests.

In Tehran, Mohammadrez Pourebrahimi, the head of the Iranian Parliaments economic committee, told state-run news agency IRNA that Putins trip would seek to improve economic relations between the two sanctions-hit nations.

___

Zeke Miller and Josh Boak in Washington and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

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Unions and researchers are calling for a ban on engineered stone benchtops as new modelling predicts thousands of Australian workers could develop lung cancer after being exposed to silica dust.

Curtin University researchers say more than half a million Australian workers are currently being exposed to the dust, which is linked to the deadly lung disease silicosis as well as lung cancer.

There are calls to ban engineered stone benchtops as modelling predicts thousands of Australian workers will develop lung cancer or silicosis due to exposure to silica dust. Credit:

In a study released on Tuesday, commissioned by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, lead researcher Dr Renee Carey said modelling predicted more than 10,000 Australians would develop lung cancer and up to 103,000 silicosis after being exposed to silica dust at work.

Carey said a ban on engineered stone could prevent about 100 lung cancer cases and 1000 silicosis cases.
Colorado Congressquack Lauren Boebert, who once confused what state she represented, says her husband was the victim when he displayed his allegedly tattooed penis at a bowling alley. In her new memoir, she claims that in 2004, Jayson Boebert, who was 24 at the time, had been harassed and pressured by a woman bartender, and apparently had no other choice but to unzip his pants and whip out his pee pee (for which he spent four days in jail).

According to Raw Story, the failed "poison pork slider" vendor, known for her outlandish ghost stories and other drivel, wrote, "The two of them went to the Rifle bowling alley and got to chatting over drinks," referring to her stepfather and Jayson Boebert, forgetting that she was there too.

"The female bartender flirted with Jayson, having heard previously from his friends what a catch he'd be," she continued. "They even teased her by saying he'd gotten a great tattoo in a private area, which made her curious, so she pressed Jayson to show it to her right there at the bar. He ignored her and was embarrassed she was doing it in front of my stepfather. She wouldn't stop." So he finally complied, she said, just to make it all go away.

This is quite a different story from what was in the police report, according to Raw Story:

However, one of the women named as a victim in the sheriff's report told police that Jayson Boebert came up behind her and pulled his penis from his pants after bragging to her and another woman about the tattoo, and a second young woman told investigators a nearly identical account.

And reported by Salon last August:
Small businesses are loosening requirements that force employees to visit the office a set number of days each week, as concerns over a worsening winter COVID-19 wave prompt health authorities to call for a return to widespread remote work.

Major business groups have hit out at calls from state and federal chief health officers for companies to encourage employees to work from home again due to rising COVID-19 case numbers, arguing such a move would threaten the economic recovery.

Some offices have already begun relaxing their hybrid work policies amid the latest Omicron wave. Credit:Brook Mitchell

Larger employers contacted by this masthead said they would not change their existing work policies. Some such as the Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank said they would retain existing hybrid policies that require staff to visit the office a set number of days each week. Others, such as tech firms Atlassian and Canva and accounting giants Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC, said they would maintain complete flexibility.

Some small- and medium-sized firms contacted by this masthead have indefinitely loosened return-to-work policies that had required workers be in the office for a minimum number of days.
When he eventually obtained the hospitals internal investigation report, he was blindsided to discover the biopsy that killed his mother was unnecessary and only happened because of a communication breakdown. Matthew Haynes said he had to fight tooth and nail for answers over his mums preventable death. Credit:Rohan Thomson Carmel Haynes death is one of four potentially preventable deaths in regional NSW hospitals uncovered by a Herald investigation that have not received any external scrutiny beyond the local health districts they occurred in. In all cases, the Coroner was either not notified or chose not to investigate. They include the death of a man who fell out of bed after a mandatory falls risk assessment was not carried out, the death of a woman with a torn oesophagus following elective surgery and the death of a man with fatally high potassium levels after hospital staff did not act on abnormal pathology results.

A recent parliamentary inquiry into regional health, sparked by a Herald investigation, recommended a new Ombudsman be created with powers to independently investigate preventable deaths. However, senior clinicians have expressed concerns the role would not be adequately resourced to investigate the cases in a systematic way. The families have expressed deep unhappiness with the way the deaths had been handled, and lack confidence in the local health districts internal investigations, known as a root cause analysis or serious adverse event review. That was unsurprising to Newcastle-based medical negligence lawyer Catherine Henry, who also acts as the Australian Lawyers Alliances spokesperson on regional health. She describes the deaths uncovered by the Herald as terrible. The root cause analysis, its often useful, and makes the bureaucrats feel like theyve done something, Henry said.

But its ultimately not satisfactory to people who have been through the serious injury or death of a family member. Loading She said families were usually seeking accountability and changes in processes that would prevent the same thing happening to others. The root cause analysis is performed by people employed by the local health district which is responsible for this thing happening in the first place, she said. Its not an appropriate complaint model.

A spokesman for the Western NSW Local Health District described Carmel Haynes death as a devastating event and offered condolences to her family. He said the local health district had an absolute commitment to clinical safety. Health services in NSW are subject to stringent requirements to review and act when serious, unexpected patient outcomes are experienced. The spokesman said all recommendations of the internal review had been implemented and a meeting had been held with Carmels family. NSW Health policy specifies that review team members should not have been central to the patients care or directly involved with the incident, and at least one team member should be external to the facility.

A cherished sister Carmel Haynes relished the simplicity of life in her rural hometown of Forbes, in the NSW Central West. Days working at the local retirement village were punctuated by evening strolls along the grassy banks of the Lachlan River with her twin sister, Rose Carroll. The pair, who sported matching tattoos on their arms, were inseparable. We had babies together, we got divorced about the same time, we worked together, said Carroll, crying. I cant explain my loss. After abnormal blood test results in January 2021, Carmel underwent a scan which showed a large mass in her lung.

Orange Health Services cancer services team arranged a biopsy via ultrasound on January 25, which confirmed a diagnosis of lung cancer. Carmel was then booked for a second biopsy a fortnight later  the CT-guided procedure that killed her. An internal investigation into Carmels death, known as a serious adverse event review (SAER), found clinicians who booked the second biopsy were unaware of the first. The SAER team determined a breakdown in communication to be a contributing factor in the patients death as the CT-guided lung biopsy was not necessary to guide future treatment, the review said. It recommended systems improvements so that previous results were obvious to parties booking biopsies.

The clinician who booked the second procedure was covering for a colleague on leave and may have been suffering cognitive overload, the review found. Carroll recalled being called in with other family members to see her sisters body in the immediate aftermath, while doctors were justifying what happened. They were talking so matter of fact, and Carmel was laying dead next to us, she recalled. We were in total disbelief. It was a simple biopsy and now shes dead. Two police officers arrived and offered an autopsy, to be carried out in Newcastle.

The family was later informed there would be no autopsy because the assistant coroner was satisfied the death was due to natural causes. The family was also denied an inquest in a letter from the State Coroners office. Approximately 6000 deaths are reported to the Coroner each year and only a very small proportion can proceed to inquest, it said. Matthew Haynes said: It went from everythings got to be done by the book, to the book is closed and heres your mum. The hospitals internal review found Carmel died from a known albeit rare complication of the procedure and her internal bleeding was managed proficiently but without success. While it was unable to identify a root cause for Carmels death, it found communication breakdowns contributed and there were multiple opportunities for systems improvement.

The review noted a screen monitoring Carmels vital signs was not visible to all the clinicians in the room, which had no bearing on the outcome but should be remedied. Clinicians also told the reviewers that the medical imaging department was understaffed, and that while two clinicians were present for Carmels procedure, that was not always the case. The review team found staffing was not a contributing factor in Carmels death and staffing levels were adequate. The review also played down the relevance of another death during the same procedure at another hospital in the local health district in 2019, finding it occurred in different circumstances. Carmels death certificate listed the cause of death as complications of lung malignancy and the treatment thereof, infuriating Matthew who pointed out she never began treatment because of time wasted performing unnecessary tests.

Mum should have been able to go on her own terms and if the treatment wasnt working, then thats a decision that mum could have made herself, he said. She didnt get that chance. He expressed frustration that the family had been forced to rely on the hospitals account of events. Time just goes by and the wounds heal, but theres always that thing in the back of your mind. Like, I wonder what happened that day? Well never know. Carmels niece, Ayleen Tisdell, said she felt the family had been totally robbed of their goodbyes to their mum. Youve got to fight

Lawyer Catherine Henry said inquests were pivotal for questionable deaths where lessons need to be learnt by institutions. However, she had observed dwindling numbers being held during her decades of practice. Once upon a time inquests were relatively commonplace, she said. Now youve got to really fight. Loading Henry drew attention to evidence to a recent parliamentary inquiry, which heard that in regional areas, coronial work is shouldered by local court magistrates who hold few inquests and rarely make recommendations. She described it as scandalous that NSWs expenditure on coronial services was $6.9 million in 2019/2020, compared with $21.5 million in Victoria and $12.4 million in Queensland, according to a productivity commission report.

In some instances, unexpected deaths are not referred to the coroner at all, such as the death of an Aboriginal man, 74, at Cobar hospital in Western NSW. The Herald has not named the man at the familys request. A damning internal investigation report, known as a root cause analysis, details a litany of failings in the care of the man, who presented to emergency with shortness of breath in November 2018. The report found the patient went into cardiac arrest and died after the hospital failed to recognise and adequately manage high potassium levels in his blood, a condition known as hyperkalaemia. The investigation found the hospital had no formal process for review and actioning of abnormal pathology results and handover processes between staff were not in line with minimum standards set by NSW Health.

The patients medication chart and Webster pack were placed on a desk away from him in another room, alongside medications belonging to another patient. This resulted in the incorrect medications being prescribed and administered to the patient and his usual medications being missed that morning, the report said. This was not in line with best practice. The medication error was subsequently recognised and corrected by staff, and was not found to have contributed to the patients death. A spokesman for the Western NSW Local Health District offered its sincere condolences to the patients family and said it enacts strict processes and procedures to review any serious, unexpected patient outcomes.
In 1998, Debs had a new criminal protege in Roberts, then aged 17 and the boyfriend of his daughter. The bandits were on a roll. Wearing masks and carrying loaded guns, they terrified customers and staff at restaurants and shops from Carrum Downs to Kew, where Debs demanded cash from managers while the apprentice taped peoples legs and hands together. Jason Roberts leaves court on Monday after being acquitted of murdering Gary Silk and Rodney Miller in 1998. Credit:Jason South So cocky was Debs on the 10th hold-up, at the Green Papaya restaurant in Surrey Hills, he told staff: Tell the police Lucifer was here. Debs was also prepared to do anything to avoid detection.

So, when Silk and Miller pulled over the Hyundai  having followed it from when the hatchback drove in and out of the Silky Emperor car park  Debs didnt hesitate to fire his revolver. There was no dispute about Debs involvement in the murders, leaving this jury to answer: Were there two offenders? Was Roberts one of them? Was he criminally involved? On Cochranes Road, police officers Darren Sherren and Frank Bendeich drove past the stationary cars and saw Silk, Miller and one other man, but couldnt see into the Hyundai. They thought the interception was routine and pulled into a side street. There, they heard bursts of gunshots but their view was obscured. Seconds later, a carload of Elvis fans drove past after attending a tribute concert when one of them, Kimberley Connell-Sculli, saw a man with arms outstretched.

It looked to me like he was holding a gun, she told the trial. Wracked with fear, she told her friend to drive away fast. After Sherren radioed in the gunfire, police from across Melbournes south-east sped to the frantic scene. Silk lay dead, Miller was missing, the Hyundai was gone, sirens blared and the radio operator urged officers to put on bullet-proof vests. Amid the chaos, police officer Colin Clarke heard a noise carry on the wind. Help me, help me, a man cried out. Clarke dropped the witches hats he was holding, yelled to colleagues to follow and ran along Warrigal Road, where the group found Miller outside the Silky Emperor.

Miller was dying but could talk and, according to six officers who were there, spoke of two offenders. Clarke broadcast that information over the radio. Most of those with Miller didnt include what they said they heard in their witness statements, which prompted questions about reliability. In some cases, investigating police amended statements to include Millers words, but backdated the documents to make them appear as if they were made hours after the shootings. Prosecutor Ben Ihle, QC, outside the Supreme Court. Credit:Paul Jeffers It was this misconduct that the Court of Appeal based its 2020 decision on to quash Roberts original convictions and grant a retrial. In Roberts retrial, prosecutor Ben Ihle, QC, conceded investigating police acted inappropriately, but urged the jury to accept what the police witnesses said they heard.

Former officer Michael Steendam said he would never forget Millers words as he was loaded into an ambulance: Make sure you get those c---s. Graham Thwaites was asked if he could have been mistaken about what he heard. He replied: Get them c---s. Its going to haunt me until my death. Defence counsel David Hallowes, SC, outside the Supreme Court. Credit:Paul Jeffers Defence counsel David Hallowes, SC, argued the stench of police misconduct hung over the case and infected the dying declaration evidence. In addition, he said, some police witnesses previously lied about the statements. But Ihle said some of it was insurmountable, including the evidence of Bradley Gardner, the most junior officer with Miller, who, at 12.38am, wrote in his notebook: Two, one on foot, dark Hyundai.

It was the shattered glass shot out from the Hyundais back window that eventually led police to the make of the car and an Excel registered to Nicole Debs. During an exhaustive investigation into Debs and Roberts, police put listening devices in houses and cars connected to the pair. In one conversation, Debs used us and we when detailing what happened in Moorabbin with Malik Debs, the man Bandali considered a father figure and whose surname he took when he was a young man. In another conversation, Bandali Debs asked Roberts: Remember this set of lights? And in another, Roberts told Debs police had no idea about what happened on Cochranes Road. Prosecutors argued these discussions indicated Roberts was one of two offenders, but Hallowes argued the conversations were inconclusive, and the young man was parroting back what the older one said.

Roberts maintained he and Nicole were at the Debs family home in Narre Warren that night. He gave evidence Debs said he alone went to Moorabbin and killed both officers himself. Roberts told the jury he helped Debs cover up the shootings and lied to police to distance himself from the hold-ups and protect his mentor. A memorial plaque for Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller. Credit:Joe Armao Ill keep saying it to you: I was not there, he said, with strain in his voice during Ihles cross-examination. He said he lied to others, including his mother and Nicole, about what he knew. Despite being Roberts alibi, Nicole didnt give evidence.

It is unclear how much the Debs family knew at the time. In February 2000, Debs and daughter Joanne discussed the police hunt, and the father suggested killing another two officers to make the investigation spread stupidly. He also asked Joanne if he should get rid of Millers wife, Carmel, and toddler son. Joanne said no. In his evidence, Debs continued speaking of evil in a casual manner. Without remorse, he admitted to the separate murders of Kristy Harty and Donna Hicks, sex workers he shot dead years before the Cochranes Road shooting. Just a cold-blooded execution? Hallowes asked of the Hicks murder.

Yes, Debs replied. Debs told the trial he shot Miller first and then Roberts shot Silk. Jason Roberts (left) outside the Supreme Court in 2002. Credit:Simon Schluter Could the jury accept Roberts or Debs version? The court was told they were both habitual liars and their different accounts meant at least one lied under oath. Although Debs was a prosecution witness, Ihle said the killer lied to minimise his involvement. He said forensic evidence  the position of Silks body and the .357 and .38 bullets in his body meant there were two guns and Miller fired in two directions  showed Roberts most likely shot Silk first, Debs shot at Miller through the Hyundai window, ultimately fatally shooting him, and Debs then killed the incapacitated Silk.

Hallowes said Roberts had explained his past lies, and his knowledge of the sequence was based on what Debs told him. Loading The Crown case fell short of proving Roberts guilt, Hallowes said, as it was possible Debs was on solo surveillance and shot two officers with two guns. Just because Debs and Roberts did hold-ups together didnt make the then-teen a murderer. Ihle said if there were two, then the tendency of the hold-up evidence proved that it was Roberts with Debs. He said both were culpable in the murders, either by Roberts aiding and abetting Debs or by them working towards the same objective: evading detection. The two of whom Miller spoke were Debs and the accused, the prosecutor said.

The two of them had worked in conjunction, the two ... armed robbers. The two who together planned their targets. The two who went to the Silky Emperor that night. The two who talked about the investigation. The two who discussed how they will throw the police off their scent. The two who thought they knew better. The two who lied to their families. The two who thought theyd gotten away with it. The two on Cochranes Road. On Monday, the jury found Roberts not guilty on both charges of murder. Juries are not required to reveal how they come to their decisions. But based on the verdict, which came after five days of deliberations, the jury was not satisfied Roberts was there. Debs says he knows what really happened in Moorabbin, but Hallowes successfully portrayed him as someone whose evidence couldnt be relied upon.
We are Mardudhunera and Kuruma Marduthunera traditional custodians of Murujuga, also known as the Burrup Peninsula, in Western Australia.

This week, we travelled to the United Nations in Switzerland to bring awareness of the destruction and desecration that industry has already, and is intending to, inflict on Murujuga and the sacred rock art there. We use the word inflict as it best describes the way we feel about the impact of industry on the area  it is an attack on our culture, the plants, animals, water and air of Ngurra (Mother Earth).

Murujuga is home to over a million petroglyphs and rock art engravings, tens of thousands of years old. It is currently nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but this Country and world heritage have not been protected. Government and industry have acquired land under duress, creating division and chaos. Industry has removed and destroyed our rock art in another form of cultural genocide.

This has caused loss of our traditional livelihoods, traditional Indigenous knowledge and our spiritual relationship with the land. There has been displacement and ecological degradation.
The pilot of a flight from Perth has been forced to turn the plane around and make an emergency landing because the tyres on the landing gears were overheating.

The Scoot flight took off around 8pm on Monday night and was packed with passengers headed to Singapore. They only made it as far as Rottnest before the plane changed course.

The plane reached a height of 8000 feet before doing laps of Rottnest to dump fuel and wait to get the correct flight path back to Perth.

Flying back over the suburbs, the plane dropped again to about 2000 feet.
The latest update of the UNs World Population Prospects confirms we are now in sight of a time when the human population will cease to grow and be in ongoing decline.

In its 2017 update, the UN projected the worlds population would reach 11.2 billion in 2100 and still be growing. The 2019 revision indicated the worlds population may peak at 10.9 billion by 2100. The latest revision indicates the worlds population may peak at 10.4 billion by 2080.

The UNs World Population Prospects indicates the worlds population may peak at 10.4 billion by 2080. Credit:Jacob Ammentorp Lund

In other words, the UN has reduced its projected peak world population by about 800 million and brought forward the date for this peak by 20 years.

The UNs projections are now much closer to those by researchers at the University of Washington, who suggested two years ago that the human population would peak at significantly less than 10 billion by 2065, decline to less than 9 billion by 2100 and keep declining  the current world population is about 8 billion.
Trade Minister Don Farrell has outlined an ambitious plan to finalise a free trade deal with the European Union by mid-2023, declaring he wants the deal done as quickly as we can.

New Zealand signed off on a deal with the EU less than two weeks ago, but Australias negotiations with the bloc, a huge market of more than 440 million people, had stalled after French President Emmanuel Macron delayed discussions in his fury over the cancelled submarines contract.

Trade Minister Don Farrell is looking to do a free trade agreement with the European Union. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In an interview with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Farrell said: Id like to have an agreement by mid-2023 and the prime minister would too.

Last month, ahead of a series of meetings in the EU, Australias second-largest trading partner, Farrell said he was optimistic of a deal by the end of the year, but the deal would require approval from the EUs peak council and parliament.
Last Wednesday, standing next to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said something increasingly obvious to everyone. Were seeing these events which we call one-in-1000-year flood events or one-in-100-year flood events now becoming one-in-one-year flood events.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gets a briefing from emergency personnel on the flooding situation in NSW with Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday. Credit:James Brickwood

This is no criticism: politicians regularly fail, even in the face of dogged questioning  particularly in the face of dogged questioning  to state the obvious. This is a fact often missed in the debate, last week, over whether Scott Morrisons secret, lied-about holiday to Hawaii could be compared to Albaneses trip to Ukraine. The whole debate was petty, in part because it mostly skipped the context of that debacle. There was a sense that Morrison had gone missing (Labors term), not only by virtue of his literal absence, but by his refusal to engage on honest terms with the role of climate in natural disasters. He was, in other words, missing from the only discussion that mattered because he took too long to describe an event in terms that had long been obvious to everyone else.

Changes in language are often fraught; their effects are not straightforward. We lose something, too, when we move away from the now-inaccurate one-in-100-year description. We risk normalising disaster, in the way that we have normalised too many other worrying features of our world. But in part because those effects are hard to assess it is usually better to stick with the simple principle of attempting accuracy at every moment. In this case, one-in-one-year provides an honest answer to the question most Australians have begun asking themselves: is this the new normal? Yes, it is.

In general, though, politicians language is to be distrusted. It is too carefully constructed: too obviously an attempt to make us think a particular thing, as when the Coalition suddenly began describing asylum seekers as illegal maritime arrivals. In the case of the one-in-one-year floods, there is no reason to be suspicious: the evidence is visible.
Bizarro anti-vax doctor Simone Gold, who was sentenced to prison for 60 days for storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, posted a video expressing her indignance at having to serve a sentence for committing a crime.

The judge who sentenced Gold in June made it clear why she deserved prison time. From Medpage Today:

As he issued the penalty for one count of trespassing, a misdemeanor, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper said that he did not believe Gold was remorseful, as she testified she was. He said he found it "unseemly" that she and her website, America's Frontline Doctors, raised some $433,000 from supporters by claiming the court's charges against her were politically motivated.

"Sitting here today, I don't think you have truly accepted responsibility," he told her. "Your organization has used your notoriety to raise money to garner support for you in connection with the sentencing and for its general operations by mischaracterizing what this proceeding is all about  telling your supporters that this is a political prosecution of a law-abiding physician that's designed to threaten and intimidate any American who dares to exercise their First Amendment rights."

The judge also disputed Gold's contention that she was just a peaceful bystander during the riots.

"It is obvious from the video that we watched today that you were part of an angry and aggressive, I would say mob, crowd of people intent on getting past law enforcement and entering the East Rotunda through those doors," he said.

"Regardless of how the door got opened, the police were obviously trying to keep people out."
When people complained about Japans economic triumphalism in the 1980s, Singapore founder Lee Kuan Yew told them to be content. Let the Japanese have the satisfactions of mercantile success because they were greater warriors than they are merchants. Dont misjudge them. I do not think they have lost those martial qualities.

Fumio Kishida, Japans prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), surveys election results in Tokyo on Sunday. Credit:Bloomberg

In other words, be happy that theyre making money so long as theyre not making war. Japans pacifist constitution, imposed on the defeated nation by the US in 1947 during the Allied occupation, forbids it: The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation says its famed Article 9.

The lifes work of Shinzo Abe, assassinated on Friday, was to change that. Abe wanted Japan to have prosperity as the worlds third-biggest economy as well as the ability to make war.

As prime minister, and then afterwards as the leader of the biggest of the five factions in the ruling party, he devoted himself to removing the constraint, to making Japan a normal nation.
London: New Zealand has become fearful, inward and negative as a result of its COVID settings and owes its expatriates an apology for locking them out during the pandemic, Christopher Luxon, the man vying to oust Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, has said.

New Zealands opposition leader made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in London.

New Zealand National Party leader Christopher Luxon at the London office of Kiwi digital creative agency TG on Friday. Credit:Domenio Pugliese

Both Ardern and Luxon have been hitting the world stage in the past week.

Luxon said his trip to Singapore, Ireland and the UK had been a fact-finding mission on how to re-engage with the rest of the world, and that New Zealands trading relationships had suffered as a result of its closed border policy mentality and mindset.
Cedarland Development Group, owned by Dr. Fadi Dagher and Kevin Dagher, has purchased three historic Allentown apartment buildings with 35 units, paying $4 million for a portfolio that includes a building once owned by the neighborhoods namesake.

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The purchase from Azzaher Real Estate and 273 Richmond LLC includes:

A 12,136-square-foot building at 26 Irving Place, with 15 apartments

A 14,827-square-foot building at 273 Richmond Ave., with 12 units

An 8,499-square-foot building at 159 College St., with eight apartments

The buildings include studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

The deal marks the first time that Cedarland allowed community members to participate in one of its deals, with 10 local investors using its investment platform through Cedarland Capital.

Cedarland  which is currently building the 38-unit Michigan Place Apartments at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Best Street, and previously built The Grid on Main Street  said it plans some renovation work to "highlight the character of the properties while bringing each unit up to date with interior and exterior updates."

The firm is also undertaking several other residential, mixed-use and industrial projects in the city.

We have always seen the utmost potential in Buffalo and look forward to expanding our reach by continuing to fix properties, add new development, and invest back into our community, said Kevin Dagher, Cedarland's vice president, and son of Dr. Dagher.

The Irving Place building was once owned by Lewis F. Allen, uncle of former President Grover Cleveland, and namesake of Allentown. And 273 Richmond was once owned by Joseph Dart, who invested the machine-powered grain elevator that was used worldwide and drove the city's earlier economic growth.
The fourth general manager at WIVB-TV in five years has one thing on his resume that is eye-opening.

Joe Abouzeid is a journalist school alumnus and former news director in Providence when most general managers come from the sales or business side.

But more importantly to Western New York, he is looking to buy a home here and have a bigger presence in the community than his last three predecessors.

The last two WIVB general managers, Brien Kennedy and Dominic Mancuso, rented and lived above a popular Elmwood Avenue restaurant, which indicated they didnt plan to stay here long. Rene LaSpina, who came before them as the stations general manager, also rented here.

LaSpina left in 2017, Mancuso in 2019 and Kennedy last month.

Unlike the last three people in his role, Abouzeid apparently plans to stay in Buffalo longer.

I cant tell you what has happened here before, but I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to have this job," said Abouzeid in a recent interview over lunch. "It is a great opportunity to work at a great station with a long history of connection to the community and success. And I feel lucky to be the latest steward of this great tradition in the city of Buffalo.

He arrived at WIVB after working 10 years at a Nexstar owned station in Dayton, Ohio, which is the No. 65 TV market in the country, only 12 spots lower than the Nexstar station in Buffalo.

Abouzeid acknowledged it is only a slight upgrade in market size, but he took the job partly because he wanted a new challenge and to be closer to family in his native New England.

He has a lot on his plate at WIVB. The station needs a new news director after the firing of Lisa Polster, a new morning co-anchor after Melanie Orlins left in late May, a new Call for Action reporter after the retirement of Al Vaughters. He also eventually will need a new primary anchor team since Jacquie Walker and Don Postles cant go on forever.

The interim news director, Josh Roy, has been at the station for about 20 years, most recently as operations manager.

We are actively looking to fill that job as soon as possible with the right candidate, said Abouzeid.

He said Roy has applied to make the job permanent.

He is an experienced guy who has been around a long time, said Abouzeid. He started at the station as a news photographer and is doing a good job on an interim basis right now. Hell certainly be considered.

Abouzeid said Vaughters certainly will be replaced. Were looking to fill all our open positions as soon as possible.

That includes on Wake Up!, where regular co-anchor Kelsey Anderson has comfortably teamed with Chris Horvatits on an interim basis since Orlins left. They are so comfortable together it wouldn't be a bad idea if they became a permanent morning team.

She is doing a great job, said Abouzeid of Anderson. Were actively looking to fill that morning position as well. It is a crucial, important position for us.

Wake Up! has had a lot of anchor changes over the years, when stability is a key component of morning success. WGRZ-TVs Daybreak, which has been a model of stability with Melissa Holmes and Pete Gallivan and Holmes and John Beard before that, is No. 1 in the morning.

I cant speak to what happened here before of course, but our goal would be to hire the right person for the job who ideally would really resonate with the viewers of Buffalo and be here for a long time, said Abouzeid.

He studied journalism at Boston University, which could be a good thing for the news department if he doesnt meddle too much.

I hope it is, said Abouzeid. Journalism is a vital part of what we do, an important part of what we do. My background as a journalist hopefully will be viewed as a way to help us keep producing the quality journalism weve been doing all along.

Will he be in the newsroom all the time?

I make my presence known in the newsroom, he said with a smile. My goal is to hire a news director quickly, a capable smart news director who is able to make their own decisions. I will just be there to help with any questions they have for me.

He undoubtedly realizes his primary anchor team cant work forever. But it sounds like Walker and Postles will get to decide when they retire.

All I can tell you it is my sincere hope that the great people we have at our station are around for as long as possible, said Abouzeid. We will be encouraging that and hoping for that.

My goal coming into this position is threefold. To make sure we produce the best local journalism and content on any platform. To be the best place for local businesses to sell their goods and services. And to be the best community partner.

Fresh from two Emmy nominations from when he was working as a WIVB meteorologist, Andrew Baglini is now freelancing for KWY-TV, the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. He is a Penn State graduate and native of Upper Darby, Pa., which means his relatives can see his weather forecasts. Baglini left WIVB in late July when sources said he was offered a very small raise after seven years at the station. He now works as a marketing specialist for 26 Shirts. Baglini also has been freelancing for WGRZ-TV, the local NBC affiliate in Buffalo.

Correction: WNED-TV was nominated for two New York State Emmy awards in the historical documentary category, but only one of the nominations was produced by the public broadcasting station and I gave credit to the wrong one. It was nominated for Discovering New York Suffrage Stories." Lynne Bader was the producer and John Grant and Bader co-wrote the script.

WNED was just the presenting station for another nominee in the category, A Bridge to Justice: The Life of Franklin H. Williams. Neither Grant or Bader had anything to do with that production.
Two motorists were injured, one seriously, when their vehicles collided Tuesday morning on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Wheatfield.

State police reported that when they arrived at the scene at Niagara Falls Boulevard and Witmer Road shortly before 7:30 a.m., multiple civilians and personnel from the Niagara Falls Air Base were rendering medical aid to one of the operators.

Both drivers were taken to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo. One of them with serious injuries was transported by Mercy Flight.

Troopers said a 2004 Ford Ranger and a 2006 Honda were involved in the collision, which is still under investigation.
Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi are among the prominent figures assassinated in the 21st century. Abe was shot to death as he delivered a campaign speech on a street in western Japan on Friday. Haitian President Jovenel Moise and Chad President Idriss Deby Itno were killed in 2021. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed when militants stormed the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. Two British lawmakers have also been assassinated recently, a Conservative in 2021 and a Labour Party lawmaker in 2016. Gadhafi was hunted and summarily killed by insurgents after being toppled in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
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Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Humid with limited sunshine. Scattered showers and thunderstorms, most widespread later in the afternoon. Watching for gusty winds, heavy downpours and possible localized flooding. .

Tonight

An evening shower or thunderstorm; otherwise, mostly cloudy and muggy. There might be some clearing late.
Nick Langworthy's new ad for his 23rd Congressional District campaign hits the airwaves Tuesday morning, signaling his media entry into an expected high intensity effort against Republican rival Carl P. Paladino.

As the Aug. 23 GOP primary approaches, Langworthy launches his "introductory" spot on broadcast and cable TV aiming to familiarize his candidacy through a vast swath of the Southern Tier where he is not as well known as Paladino, the 2010 candidate for governor. Christopher M. Grant, Langworthy's media consultant, said the 30-second spot highlights his three years as state Republican chairman.

"The ad is basically about Nick's time as chairman and the wins he has delivered for his constituents," Grant said, including lawsuits stopping Democratic efforts to expand voting rights to non-citizens and to gerrymander congressional districts during reapportionment.

"The conservative who wins" is now emerging as a theme in the candidate's early statements and advertising. The statement concludes the ad he begins on Tuesday.

In addition, Langworthy does not shy away from his association with Donald Trump. The ad notes that when the former president sought new leadership of the state GOP in 2019, he turned to Langworthy. And it portrays their 2014 handshake on the tarmac of Buffalo Niagara International Airport when Langworthy, then the Erie County Republican chairman, was among those urging the then-Manhattan real estate developer to run for governor of New York.

"I took on Andrew Cuomo, Kathy Hochul and the radical Democrat bullies, and I delivered results," Langworthy says in the ad.

Langworthy seeks to succeed retiring Republican Chris Jacobs, who said on June 3 he would not seek a second term. Since Langworthy announced soon after Jacobs' bowed out of the race, he has remained mostly behind the scenes as he raises the considerable funds he will need to compete throughout a district that extends from southern Erie County and across the Southern Tier to Chemung County.

Grant said Monday that Langworthy will file documents with the Federal Election Commission indicating he raised about $307,000 in the three weeks since Jacobs' decision to not run again and his own announcement of candidacy.

"It shows we will have more than enough resources to win," Grant said.

Paladino's team had not yet filed its financial statement on Monday, but the candidate has already deposited $1.5 million of his personal funds into the campaign account and began airing his own ads earlier this month.
A preservation organization has returned to court seeking to reverse a recent State Supreme Court decision upholding the City of Buffalo's emergency demolition order of the Great Northern grain elevator.

The Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture, which sued to block the demolition, also urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to intervene by seizing the property by eminent domain and creating a state park by the Buffalo River.

"Whether we win or lose in the courts, the Great Northern over the last seven months has shown that it is not going to fall over because a section of curtain wall fell off, and that, as eminent engineering organizations and documentary architectural historians have found, the building was designed to stand even without any walls at all," said Tim Tielman, Campaign for Greater Buffalo's executive director.

"What endangers it is the neglect of its owner," he said. "We therefore propose a new owner, the State of New York. That would help secure the future of the last of its species, the technological marvel of the steel-chassied, brick-jacketed grain elevator."

The preservation organization filed its appeal to the Appellate Division on Friday, seeking to overturn Justice Emilio Colaiacovo's July 5 decision allowing the demolition to proceed.

Judge, once again, clears way for razing Great Northern grain elevator A State Supreme Court justice has once again cleared the way for razing the Great Northern grain elevator.

That July 5 decision was the second time Colaiacovo issued a ruling allowing the emergency demolition.

On Jan. 5, in a written decision, Colaiacovo found then-Buffalo Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services James Comerford made a "rational" decision in ordering an emergency demolition of the grain elevator after a Dec. 11 windstorm damaged the north wall.

The preservation group appealed that ruling, and the Appellate Division in Rochester in April said Colaiacovo erred in an earlier hearing by permitting only the testimony of the commissioner. The appellate judges ordered Colaiavoco to hold another hearing and consider the Campaign for Greater Buffalo's evidence.

Colaiacovo held the hearing and then issued a ruling allowing the demolition.

Colaiacovo reiterated that Comerford acted rationally and not arbitrarily in issuing an emergency demolition of the 1897 brick box-style grain elevator with steel bins.

"After the hearing, the facts show that this building, while historic and of sentimental interest, cannot survive with a huge gaping hole in the northern wall," Colaiacovo wrote in his July 5 decision. "This is further illustrated by its overall poor condition, cracked facade and failures in the structural integrity of the building."

The judge described architect Paul McDonnell, the preservation group's president and court witness, as biased in his testimony that assessed Great Northern owner Archer Daniels Midland's claims about the building's condition.

Tielman said that is one of the issues the preservation organization is challenging in its appeal.

"We won the (first) appeal based on the fact that we were not allowed to offer testimony," Tielman said. "And then when we offered it, the judge declared our primary witness as being biased and discounted his testimony."

Among the other arguments the preservation organization will make is that more than a century of documentary evidence on how the building was designed was ignored and incorrectly interpreted by ADM's engineers.

"We want to get before a judge as soon as possible," Tielman said. "We have a great sense of urgency."
TOKYO (AP)  Japanese bid their final goodbye to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday as his funeral was held at a temple days after his assassination shocked the nation.

Abe, the country's longest-serving prime minister, remained influential even after stepping down two years ago for health reasons. He was gunned down Friday during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.

Hundreds of people, some in formal dark suits, filled sidewalks outside Zojoji temple in downtown Tokyo to bid farewell to Abe, whose nationalistic views drove the governing party's conservative policies.

Mourners took photos and some called out Abe san! as a motorcade with the hearse carrying his body accompanied by his widow, Akie Abe, slowly drove by the packed crowd.

I believe there were many things he left unfinished as a politician, public broadcaster NHK quoted Akie Abe as saying. But he planted many seeds and Im sure they will sprout.

Abes long-time ally and mentor, Finance Minister Taro Aso, described him as the most talented politician in postwar Japan who raised Japans international profile.

About 1,000 people, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, governing party leaders and foreign officials, attended the funeral at the temple.

Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te also attended in a private capacity, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported, prompting a formal protest from China. Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and objects to any expression of its independent political identity.

The hearse traveled through Tokyo's main political district, Nagata-cho, where Abe spent more than three decades after being first elected to parliament in 1991. It then drove slowly by the governing party headquarters, where senior lawmakers in dark suits stood outside and prayed, before heading to the prime minister's office, where Abe served a total of nearly a decade.

Kishida and Cabinet members pressed their hands before their chests as they prayed and bowed toward the hearse heading to a crematorium.

On Sunday, two days after Abe's killing, his Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner won a landslide victory in elections for the upper house, the less powerful of parliament's two chambers.

That could allow Kishida to govern uninterrupted until a scheduled election in 2025. But Abe's death also opens up a period of uncertainly for his party. Experts say a power struggle within Abe's party faction is certain and could affect Kishida's grip on power.

Kishida has stressed the importance of party unity after Abe's death.

Abes assassination has shaken Japan, one of the world's safest nations with some of the strictest gun laws.

The suspect, Tetsyua Yamagami, was arrested on the spot Friday and is being held at a local prosecutors office for further investigation. They can detain him for up to three weeks while deciding whether to formally press charges.

Police said Yamagami cited a rumored link between Abe and an organization the suspect hated as the motive for the killing. Media reports said the organization was the Unification Church and that Yamagami disliked it because donations made by his mother to the group had bankrupted his family.

The head of the Japanese branch of the South Korean-based church, known for its anti-communist stance and mass weddings, confirmed on Monday that the mother was a member. He said Abe was not, but may have spoken at groups affiliated with the church.

Police this week inspected a building related to the church in Nara after the suspect told investigators that he had test-fired a homemade gun there the day before the assassination. They found several holes in the building believed to be bullet holes, NHK and other Japanese media reported.

On Tuesday, National Police Agency chief Itaru Nakamura said police failed to fulfil their responsibility to protect Abe. I feel deep regret and shame, he said. He told reporters that the agency will set up a taskforce to review guarding procedures.

Abe, the son of an earlier prime minister, became Japan's youngest leader in 2006 at age 52. He left after a year in office due to health reasons but returned to power in 2012.

He vowed to revitalize the nation and lift its economy out of its deflationary doldrums with his Abenomics formula, which combines fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms.

His long-cherished goals, shared by other ultraconservatives, were to revise Japan's pacifist constitution drafted by the United States after World War II and transform Japan's Self Defense Force into a full-fledged military.
This standoff over the future of Erie Community College has been debated ad nauseum. In the land of free speech, all opinions have been voiced. There is little doubt policy mistakes have been made by past and present administrations, and seemingly clueless politicians have thrown their two cents into the pot.

A recent citizen voice complained that County workers are currently taking advantage of the public taxpayers. I trust she was not referring to the colleges faculty. Having taught full time at ECC since January 2004, I can assure my fellow citizens that I and my departmental colleagues have earned every penny we have been paid. University teaching is not an endeavor one gets into to take advantage of anyone, in a physical or a monetary sense. Go get your masters degree and join us; if you were expecting a free ride at taxpayer expense, you will be quickly shocked at the high toll taken on faculty, often working in adversarial conditions. You will realize that faculty are the core of the institution, without them, there is no college.
MADRID (AP)  Spain's second heat wave in less than a month and the year's first for neighboring Portugal is expected to last at least until the weekend, weather forecasters said Tuesday. With temperatures in both countries already elevated, the outlook magnified wildfire worries.

Surf students ride their boards at Carcavelos Beach, outside Lisbon, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. Portugal is experiencing a heatwave that led the government to declare a state of alert from Monday through Friday due to the heightened risk of forest fires. Temperatures are forecast to reach 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country by Wednesday. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

MADRID (AP)  Spain's second heat wave in less than a month and the year's first for neighboring Portugal is expected to last at least until the weekend, weather forecasters said Tuesday. With temperatures in both countries already elevated, the outlook magnified wildfire worries.

Portugal could get the highest temperatures. The central Alentejo region is expected to reach 46 C (115 F) on Wednesday and Thursday.

Spain's State Meteorological Agency said southern cities such as Cordoba and Seville could reach 42 C (107.6 F). Pontevedra in northwest Spain, a region less used to such extreme heat, could hit a record 41 C (105.8 F).

Meteorologists said an overheated mass of air and warm African winds are driving temperatures in the Iberian Peninsula beyond their usual highs.

A local resident uses a bucket to try to stop a forest fire from reaching houses in the village of Figueiras, outside Leiria, central Portugal, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. Hundreds of firefighters in Portugal continue to battle fires in the center of the country that forced the evacuation of dozens of people from their homes mostly in villages around Santarem, Leiria and Pombal. (AP Photo/Joao Henriques)

Portugal and Spain started the week battling a number of wildfires in both countries, and authorities said the sweltering conditions could worsen the danger.

Civil protection services in Spain helped evacuate 400 people from seven different villages near Las Hurdes, in the central-western Extremadura region, owing to a wildfire that scorched about 2,500 hectares (6,200 acres).

Regional agriculture chief Begona Garcia Bernal said the fire that started Monday wasn't expected to be brought under control soon. She said it appeared to have been started by lightning.

The Spanish army's emergency unit deployed 100 soldiers to help around 300 firefighters and other response teams battle the fire.

Hundreds of firefighters in Portugal tried to tame blazes in the center of the country that forced the evacuation of dozens of people from their homes, mostly in villages around Santarem and Pombal.

On Saturday, Portugals government declared a state of heightened alert that was set to run from Monday through Friday.

The danger of more fires led Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa to postpone a visit to Mozambique this week. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also canceled a trip to attend a United Nations event in New York.

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 European Union has said climate change has the continent facing one of its hardest years for natural disasters such as droughts and wildfires.

Spain experienced a heat wave in mid-June that lasted a week and was said to be the earliest recorded in almost 40 years.

___

AP video journalist Helena Alves reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

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Follow AP's coverage of climate issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate
HALIFAX - A former neighbour of the man who carried out the 2020 Nova Scotia mass killing stood by her story on Tuesday that RCMP did "nothing" when she reported a violent domestic assault years before the rampage.

Brenda Forbes, a former neighbour of Gabriel Wortman in Portapique, N.S., is questioned by commission counsel Emily Hill, right, at the Mass Casualty Commission inquiry into the mass murders in rural Nova Scotia on April 18/19, 2020, in Halifax on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. Wortman, dressed as an RCMP officer and driving a replica police cruiser, murdered 22 people. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

HALIFAX - A former neighbour of the man who carried out the 2020 Nova Scotia mass killing stood by her story on Tuesday that RCMP did "nothing" when she reported a violent domestic assault years before the rampage.

Brenda Forbes said, "You bet," when she was asked at a public inquiry if she still holds that view, despite a differing story from the RCMP investigating officer at the time.

Forbes, a military veteran in her 60s, testified under oath at a public inquiry that she'd told two "young" constables about a violent assault by the killer against his spouse, Lisa Banfield, in the summer of 2013, and that she and her husband had seen weapons at the killer's home.

In previous statements to media after the April 2020 murders of 22 people, Forbes had said the RCMP didn't follow up after hearing her account when she met them at her workplace in Debert, N.S.

Forbes told the inquiry Tuesday that she'd been told about the assault by the killer's uncle, Glynn Wortman. She said she'd called Glynn Wortman in front of the officers, put him on speakerphone, and that the uncle refused to speak directly to them because he feared Gabriel Wortman would kill him.

"Nothing was ever done. Nothing. Zip," she testified on Tuesday.

Retired RCMP constable Troy Maxwell told the public inquiry in an interview that when he spoke to Forbes on July 6, 2013, it was a complaint about the killer "tearing around" the neighbourhood in an unmarked police car. Maxwell hasn't yet testified under oath.

"When I look back at this instance, and remember everything that I remember, there was no allegation of any kind of domestic. There was no allegation of any other kind of complaint other than him driving around in the old, decommissioned police car," Maxwell told the inquiry's interviewers on April 29.

However, his handwritten notes from July 6, 2013, entered as evidence include the name of Glynn Wortman as well as those of Forbes and Gabriel Wortman, with "Lisa" written in brackets in the margin. Questioned by inquiry investigators, Maxwell said he didn't know who Glynn Wortman was and that he wrote down "Lisa" because Forbes had said that was the name of Gabriel Wortman's wife.

Glynn Wortman provided police with an account of the assault when he spoke to them in May 2020, saying he and a couple of friends were drinking beer at Wortmans property, and he left after Wortman made a crude comment about Banfield.

The uncle said he went to check on Banfield a while later, because he knew Wortman was "off the rails," and as he approached through the woods to Wortmans property he saw him straddling on top of her, "strangling her, choking the s--t out of her."

During cross-examination by a lawyer for the federal Justice Department  which represents the RCMP  Forbes said that though the killer threatened her after she reported the assault, she didn't call police again.

"The reason I didn't report this to the police was ... I lost a lot of respect for the police. I didn't think anything would ever get done," she testified.

Forbes also testified her first awareness of Wortman's domestic violence was in the years after they moved to Portapique in 2002, when Banfield came to her door and asked for help after she'd been assaulted by the killer. Forbes said she encouraged her neighbour to seek help but recalled that she was frightened of her partner, who had threatened her family.

"She was definitely afraid he would go after her," she said, testifying from her home in Alberta.

George Forbes, Brenda's husband, hasn't given sworn testimony. However, he has said in an interview that at one point when the couple were in Wortmans garage in 2002 or 2003, Wortman opened up "a couple of boxes" containing firearms. He said the weapons "werent your normal weapon youd buy at a gun show," and they looked like handguns.

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The RCMP did not seek a search warrant for weapons at Gabriel Wortman's residence before the mass shooting, according to evidence presented to the inquiry to date.

Evidence has been presented that in 2010, after Glynn Wortman reported to police that his nephew was threatening to kill his parents in Moncton, N.B., police decided against seeking a search warrant because it had been more than five years since the killer's father, Paul Wortman, had seen weapons in the residence.

Brenda Forbes testified that after she reported the assault of Lisa Banfield to police, her fear of the killer grew, and she and her husband decided to sell their home, moving first to Truro, then to Halifax and  after encountering the killer in Halifax  to Alberta.

Forbes became emotional as she testified over her regrets at not telling the purchasers of her home, John Zahl and Joanne Thomas, about the danger she believed Gabriel Wortman posed to the community.

"The people that bought it, he killed them and he burnt the house down," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2022.
WASHINGTON - Shortly after an "unhinged" White House meeting with his motliest unofficial advisers, Donald Trump invited his Twitter followers to what would become the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill  a violent, deadly clash that one extremist leader had hoped would spark a "new Civil War."

A video showing Pat Cipollone, the former White House counsel, speaking during an interview with the Jan. 6 Committee, is shown as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Doug Mills/Pool via AP

WASHINGTON - Shortly after an "unhinged" White House meeting with his motliest unofficial advisers, Donald Trump invited his Twitter followers to what would become the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill  a violent, deadly clash that one extremist leader had hoped would spark a "new Civil War."

Tuesday's hearing of the congressional committee investigating the riots once again lived up to the promise of the previous six, adding key brush strokes to a portrait of a chaotic, collapsing Oval Office that was all too aware of the dangers posed by its commander-in-chief.

It told the story of an unscheduled, volatile meeting Dec. 18, 2020, between Trump and some of the fringe characters who by then had become the standard-bearers of his bid to stay in power: former campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, retired general Michael Flynn and longtime confidante Rudy Giuliani.

There was a new face, too, as it turns out: Patrick Byrne, the former chief executive officer of Overstock.com, an online discount retailer.

"The first thing I did when I walked in was I looked at him and said, 'Who are you?'" said White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who according to Powell's testimony had "set a new land speed record" racing to break up the meeting.

"I don't think any of these people were providing the president with good advice, so I didn't understand how they had gotten in."

He quickly learned Powell had come armed with a draft executive order that would have made her a special counsel with the power to order the Department of Defense to seize the voting machines that were central to her bogus claims of election fraud  and that the president had at that point already agreed to do so.

By that point, 60 of the 61 cases Giuliani and Powell had filed in key states in an effort to convince the courts to block the electoral voting process had been summarily rejected for a lack of evidence. Trump was rapidly running out of options.

"To have the federal government seize voting machines? It's a terrible idea," Cipollone said in his own recorded testimony.

"That's not how we do things in the United States. There's no legal authority to do that, and there is a way to contest elections that happens all the time."

One of the primary take-aways from the testimony of Cipollone and others Tuesday was that virtually everyone with a White House credential and the president's ear was telling him that with the Electoral College having voted, it was time to concede defeat.

The meeting continued for hours, with various White House officials  Cipollone, lawyer Eric Herschmann, presidential counsellor Derek Lyons  getting into escalatingly profane shouting matches with the outsiders that at times nearly dissolved into physical fighting. A text message from White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson called it "unhinged."

It broke up in the early hours of Dec. 19, shortly before Trump issued what's now arguably his most infamous tweet: an invitation to his supporters to take part in a protest in D.C. on Jan. 6, the very day a joint session of Congress was to convene to certify Joe Biden's election win.

"Be there, will be wild," Trump tweeted.

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, one of two rogue Republicans on the committee, capped the hearing with a bombshell: that Trump himself had tried unsuccessfully to contact a witness who has yet to be called to testify.

"This committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice," Cheney said. "Let me say one more time, we will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously."

Testifying in person Tuesday was Stephen Ayres, a former Trump supporter who attended the rally, entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 and ultimately pleaded guilty to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a federal building.

Ayres said he had only been planning to listen to Trump's speech at the Ellipse outside the White House and had no plans to go to the Capitol. But that changed after he heard what the president had to say.

"The president, you know, he got everybody riled up, told everybody to head on down (to the Capitol)," Ayres testified. "So we basically, we just followed along with what he said."

In that speech, Trump ad libbed a number of references to Vice-President Mike Pence and marching to the Capitol, said Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy, who shared Tuesday's questioning duties with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin.

He also said he would march with the protesters  something the committee demonstrated was meant to sound spontaneous, but was actually part of his plan all along, according to testimony.

"I think everybody thought he was gonna be coming down," Ayre said. "He said in his speech, you know, kind of like he's going be there with us, and I believed it."

It all points directly to what is widely considered to be the committee's ultimate goal: demonstrating Trump's own liability and responsibility for what happened on Capitol Hill following the speech.

Sitting next to Ayres was Jason Van Tatenhove, a former freelance journalist who signed on with the far-right paramilitary group the Oath Keepers as a national spokesman back in 2014. Both the Oath Keepers and the extremist Proud Boys were out in force on Jan. 6.

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Van Tatenhove described Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes as the driving force behind a group he described as a "violent militia," one that he said was drifting further towards white nationalism and racism in the time he was inside their fold.

The events of Jan. 6, he said, comprised precisely what Rhodes and his acolytes had been waiting for: the chance to circumvent the rule of law and advance an extremist agenda through deceit, intimidation and violence.

"They saw opportunity, in my opinion, to become a powerful paramilitary force," Van Tatenhove said.

"What it was going to be was an armed revolution  This could have been the spark that started a new Civil War, and no one would have won there. That would have been good for no one."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2022.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version described Patrick Byrne as the current chief executive of Overstock.com.
City council will consider an action plan that aims to ensure its buying power can help meet clear community goals.

City council will consider an action plan that aims to ensure its buying power can help meet clear community goals.

The proposed sustainable procurement action plan pitches changes meant to help Winnipeggers overcome employment barriers and get hired, and/or achieve key social and environmental goals.

The plan recommends the city pursue community benefit agreements for construction projects, which have specific social outcomes for hiring, training and other factors.

It also calls for the city to earmark certain contracts for Indigenous businesses and social enterprises, including some "Indigenous-only" bid opportunities.

The plan would see the city eventually award bidding points to companies that incorporate desired social benefits while competing for city contracts, though targets and rewards have yet to be set.

Coun. Markus Chambers, who has long pushed to add social goals to procurement, said the call to earmark some contracts for Indigenous bids would complement the citys reconciliation efforts.

"I think its a great and noble action in the sense that these are the calls to action that we have been receiving through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission," said Chambers. "I also think that the City of Winnipeg ought to take some leadership in that as well and provide opportunities for Indigenous only bidding to occur."

Chambers said its an ideal time to improve access to employment because of high demand for workers.

"Theres a lot of opportunities out there, its just a matter of getting our workforce trained," said Chambers.

The plan to achieve the citys goals includes hiring a full-time staff member to oversee procurement, which is expected to cost the city $121,000 each year, beginning in 2023. The city expects to spend $168,000 on consulting services over three years to further develop the plan.

Chambers said he sees clear value in that investment, should council approve it.

"Its going to level the playing field for those equity-seeking groups that want to be part of this process and that can provide a benefit back to the community that will offset costs in other areas If were providing opportunities for individuals to become trained and find employment theres an immediate benefit," said Chambers.

The action plan notes the City of Winnipeg spends about $400 million each year on goods, services and construction.

It sets several key goals for the city to strive for through sustainable procurement, including: increasing employment of First Nations, Inuit and Red River Metis peoples; raising (the number of) organizations that pay a living wage; aligning education and training programs with sustainable procurement jobs; reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making it easier to access to local, sustainable food.

If the plan is approved as is, the city will design a pilot plan to identify 10 to 15 upcoming contracts suited to the procurement goals.

Following a trial period and evaluation, the city would try to apply criteria for contracts to attract sustainable practices, though that process isnt expected to begin until at least September 2023.

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Darryl Harrison, the director of stakeholder engagement for the Winnipeg Construction Association, said a questionnaire of bidders will take place before that change occurs, so the city has a better idea of how companies currently contribute to the citys social goals.

"We have to have an understanding of the base case right now The danger in putting in any sort of target (right now) is the target might not be realistic or it might not be reaching far enough," said Harrison, a member of the citys social procurement working group.

He said the construction industry hopes to attract more workers through the procurement changes.

Council is expected to cast a final vote on the action plan later this month.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
A syrupy, sweet message from Manitobas health minister left a sour taste with some after she encouraged people to head to 7-Eleven for a Slurpee sugar rush courtesy of the convenience store chain.

A syrupy, sweet message from Manitobas health minister left a sour taste with some after she encouraged people to head to 7-Eleven for a Slurpee sugar rush courtesy of the convenience store chain.

On Monday, Health Minister Audrey Gordon was criticized for a social media post promoting the frosty, sugar-laden drinks amid higher-than-average obesity rates and as the federal government considers warning labels for sugary and fatty foods.

TWITTER A tweet from Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon Monday for 7-Eleven Day.

"Happee 7-Eleven Day! I stopped by my local 7-Eleven on the corner of Elizabeth Rd/Archibald St (Windsor Park) to celebrate and enjoy a Frog Water Watermelon Lime Slurpee," Gordon posted to Twitter, along with three photos at the store. "Stop by your local 7-Eleven today and enjoy a Slurpee!"

The minister was rapped for her choice to promote the drink over healthier lifestyle choices by social media commentators, opposition MLAs and the Manitoba Nurses Union.

"It is so disheartening to see the continuous two steps forward, and one step back, politics of this government," MNU president Darlene Jackson said in a statement to the Free Press.

TWITTER Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon stopped by her local 7-Eleven Monday.

On Monday, Jackson met with Premier Heather Stefanson in Victoria during the annual premiers conference. Jackson said the pair discussed the crisis in the health care system.

"Hours later the minister of health is tweeting about drinking a Slurpee. There is clearly a disconnect here," Jackson said.

While some Manitobans are proud to live in the so-called "Slurpee capital of the world", with residents buying more of the beverage than in any other jurisdiction for 22 years, Jackson said she would rather the province be known for positive change.

As of 2018, Manitoba had the third-highest obesity rate in Canada, with 30.8 per cent of adults considered to be obese, according to Statistics Canada. The national average was 26.8 per cent.

"Instead of promoting unhealthy choices, or dragging a sofa around town, imagine if Minister Gordon worked on being known for developing a strategy to attract nurses to Manitoba. Or helping to decrease PTSD on the front line? Or being someone who works to improve the health of all Manitobans," Jackson said, referencing the Southdale MLAs plan to take a sofa to parks and open spaces this summer to visit with constituents.

Meanwhile, the federal government will require manufacturers of foods high in sugar, sodium and saturated fat to include clear warning labels, in an effort to promote healthier choices and reduce health risks, by 2026.

TWITTER Gordon tweeted that she purchased a Frog Water Watermelon Lime Slurpee.

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the government must spend hundreds of millions each year to respond to the "diabetes epidemic" in the province, and all people living with Type 1 diabetes still do not have coverage for insulin pumps and continuous glucose-monitoring systems.

"If the health minister wants to promote free anything, it should be insulin pumps and supplies for people of all ages," Lamont said in a statement to the Free Press. "We could be preventing everything from blindness and kidney disease to amputations, strokes and heart attacks."

Opposition health critic Uzoma Asagwara said the health minister ought to focus her time on fixing health care, not posing at a convenience store chain.

"It sounds like something that will get some play on social media and have literally no impact in the real world."  University of Manitoba professor of political studies Royce Koop

"While many nurses and other front-line health-care staff are working mandated overtime today, the health minister had time to promote getting a free Slurpee," the Union Station MLA said.

University of Manitoba professor of political studies Royce Koop said politicians use social media to build up their personal profile in addition to communicating with the public about government policy and the work of their ministry.

Koop described the health ministers post promoting 7-Eleven and the free Slurpees as innocuous and as a subject of interest to residents  including parents with kids  in her suburban constituency.

"It sounds like something that will get some play on social media and have literally no impact in the real world," Koop said.

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However, Manitobans also want to know that the health minister is well briefed on their portfolio and able to guide the department out of the pandemic, Koop said. Gordon has also faced criticism in the past for her handling of media questions on matters related to the health system.

"She has a dual role. Shes the minister but shes also the MLA for Southdale," Koop said. "The view that shes spending time buying a Slurpee (and) shes not spending time doing ministerial work, people have to make their own decisions about these kinds of things.

"She is an MLA for her constituency and I wouldnt begrudge her trying to do that role," Koop said.

A spokesperson for the health ministers office did not answer questions about whether she was invited by the convenience store chain to participate in a photo opportunity for 7-Eleven Day.

In a statement to the Free Press, Gordons office said the minister supports "all businesses in her community and is proud to promote Manitoba in all aspects including our title as the Slurpee capital of the world."

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
OTTAWA  It appears no one is immune to travel chaos gripping Canadian airports, with even Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson grappling with an eight-hour delay that resulted in her missing a networking dinner with her peers.

OTTAWA  It appears no one is immune to travel chaos gripping Canadian airports, with even Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson grappling with an eight-hour delay that resulted in her missing a networking dinner with her peers.

"There were some challenges for sure; we finally arrived around 1 a.m.," Stefanson told the Free Press from Victoria, B.C.

The premier was set to fly from Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon through Calgary to Victoria, for a Monday-Tuesday premiers summit focused on health care, affordability and labour gaps.

Her original WestJet flight was to arrive in the B.C. capital just before 5 p.m., in time for a Sunday dinner with her fellow premiers.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Premier Heather Stefanson had an eight-hour travel delay Sunday on her way to the premiers summit in Victoria, B.C.

"Im very disappointed that I couldnt make it there; its those times where you really get a chance to interact and get to know the other premiers," said Stefanson.

WestJet reported ground crew staffing issues, meaning her flight to Calgary was expected to take off from Winnipeg more than an hour late, nixing plans for the Victoria connecting flight.

Stefanson rebooked herself on a flight to Vancouver, with hopes of catching a ferry to Victoria if no flight was available.

"We ended up getting the last flight out," said Stefanson.

The delay meant missing out on a Sunday evening group photo Quebec Premier Francois Legault posted to Twitter. It shows 11 of the 13 premiers hamming it up in a hotel suite; the only other absence, outgoing Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, was attending the Calgary Stampede.

Ironically, thats one of the items Ill be spearheading tomorrow with our discussion (between premiers) on labour-force immigration and labour supply."  Premier Heather Stefanson

"I was sorry to miss that, but I did get caught up with them this morning at breakfast and lunch, so its all good," said Stefanson.

The delay was caused by unfilled jobs, she noted.

"Ironically, thats one of the items Ill be spearheading tomorrow with our discussion (between premiers) on labour-force immigration and labour supply," she said.

"Were seeing that right across the country, from what Ive been hearing out there."

The Winnipeg Airport Authority did not have readily available data on delays, but says the entire sector is affected. Tightly scheduled staff have to be reassigned tasks when flights show up late, at which point they cant assist new passengers.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Travellers at the Winnipeg James Armstrong International Airport in Winnipeg.

"Any time there is a delay or cancellation anywhere across the country  anywhere in the (global) network really  youre going to see that trickle-down, ripple effect here at the airport in Winnipeg," said spokesman Michel Rosset.

He said travellers should check their flight status regularly for delays or changes.

On Monday afternoon, a few Winnipeggers were waiting to pick up delayed passengers. Arrival and departure boards showed a handful of delayed flights, most of which were late by less than an hour.

JP Salvosa waited for his wifes Air Canada flight from Vancouver for an extra 40 minutes.

Any time there is a delay or cancellation anywhere across the country  anywhere in the (global) network really  youre going to see that trickle-down, ripple effect here at the airport in Winnipeg.  Michel Rosset, WAA spokesman

"Im glad I dont work or have anything else to do today. There are a lot of things I couldve done with that time," said Salvosa, who said the plane appeared to arrive on time, but took a while to reach the gate.

"When flights get delayed you start to worry; its my wifes first time flying into Winnipeg," Salvosa said.

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In a statement, WestJet apologized for Stefansons delay, saying it was caused by a third party company that cleans planes at the Pearson airport in Toronto.

"In preparation for peak summer travel, we have been meticulously planning for our operations to meet the anticipated demand and to proactively mitigate any challenges," wrote spokeswoman Denise Kenny.

"As the No. 1 carrier in Manitoba, we appreciate the continued support of our services as we work to restore back to 100 per cent capacity," she wrote, noting that the airline cancelled just 24 of its 1,629 flights this past weekend.

"We understand how frustrating it can be when travel does not go as planned and when a guest does experience a delay, our team makes every effort to accommodate them on the next available flight."

 with files from Bryce Hunt

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
A new leader will helm the Free Press and its sister papers starting this month.

A new leader will helm the Free Press and its sister papers starting this month.

Mike Power is set to begin as FP Newspapers Inc.s president and CEO July 25. He replaces both Bob Silver, the companys president and CEO, and Bob Cox, the publisher.

SUPPLIED Mike Power is set to begin as FP Newspapers Inc.s president and CEO July 25. He replaces both Bob Silver, the companys president and CEO, and Bob Cox, the publisher.

The two are stepping down from their roles; Cox announced his plan to do so last November.

"I have big shoes to fill," said Power, whos been a publisher since 1998.

Power, 56, comes from Postmedias Atlantic Canada division, where he held the role of vice-president of editorial and sales operations.

The news giant bought Brunswick News Inc.  the paper Power had led as publisher  in March, and he transitioned to the Postmedia role.

Power has been publisher for the Toronto Sun and the Barrie Examiner, among others.

"The Free Press has a tradition of quality journalism, and thats at the heart of what we do," Power said. "I will ensure that we continue on this path."

He said hed focused on growing digital subscriptions in his past workplaces.

"I see opportunity," he said of FP Newspapers Inc. "On the business side, were going to look at, What are other opportunities for new revenue streams?"

Silver, 72, will continue to chair FP Newspaper Inc.s board of directors.

"The Free Press deserves a more active and hands-on president," Silver said. "I have not dedicated the time that I think the Free Press deserves."

Age also factors into his decision, he said.

Silver co-owns the newspaper company with Ron Stern. Silver is president of Western Glove Works, which owns Silver Jeans, and he volunteers on a number of boards, including the Pan Am Clinic Foundation, CentrePort Canada and the University of Winnipeg Foundation.

"Thats after cutting back," Silver noted.

Traditional media face a variety of challenges  namely adapting to the way people consume information  and a full-time leader is necessary, Silver said.

"The Free Press management has been very, very good at adapting to the changes that are needed in this media business," he said. "Many other newspapers have gutted their content to survive, and that is not the (route) that the Free Press has taken."

The greatest challenge for the business going forward will be to deliver content in the form consumers want, in an increasingly digital age.

"Its information first  its not digital first or print first," Silver said. "Its understanding your customer."

Power is absorbing the publishers responsibilities while acting as president and CEO. Its not due to cost-cutting, Silver said.

The board chose Power because "he is a forward thinker who understands all of these issues the importance of content, the importance of local information, the importance of maintaining a printed product as long as possible," Silver said.

"Were not going to do it like some of our competitors by gutting the company," he said. "Were going to invest where it makes sense, and were going to grow where it makes sense."

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Cox, 61, will sideline as an adviser as Power adjusts.

"I feel I had a really good run, and Im happy about that," Cox said.

He was publisher for nearly 15 years  the second-longest run in the 150-year history of the Free Press. During his tenure, the readership has shifted from print-only to majority digital.

"Weve changed a lot, and well continue to change (and) reach people in the way they want to be reached," he said, adding the company has "stayed true to itself."

Cox has held various roles with the newspaper for more than 20 years. He said he plans to do something else, though he doesnt have concrete plans yet.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com
OTTAWA  Nurses have joined the premiers in pushing the federal government to boost health funding, after delays in negotiations under the Trudeau government.

OTTAWA  Nurses have joined the premiers in pushing the federal government to boost health funding, after delays in negotiations under the Trudeau government.

"We need to look at it at a national level, because its not just something thats unique to Manitoba, and I think thats where the federal government can really help out," Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson told the Free Press in between meetings at the premiers conference, where she was joined by Manitoba Nurses Union head Darlene Jackson.

In Manitoba and elsewhere, nursing unions have sparred with provincial governments over staffing and compensation during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, they were united to raise the alarm about Canadas hospitals.

"Health care is on the brink of disaster. Canada needs our leaders  the prime minister and every premier  to step up," reads a statement from the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.

Stefanson said she spoke with Jackson about how Ottawa could help create more capacity for colleges and universities to train nurses, and integrate nurses who have been educated abroad.

"We really honed in on that," Stefanson said.

Jackson said Stefanson offered to meet more regularly, and the union plans to take her up on that offer.

"Todays meeting was a step in the right direction," Jackson wrote.

"It is certainly my hope that it will be the beginning of a collaboration between two stakeholders who care about the patients in this province. We are long past the point of niceties."

Yet the national union group said provinces wont make much progress unless Ottawa loosens its purse strings.

"No one province or territory can solve this on their own. Bringing the federal government to the table is the key to creating and funding solutions," the federation wrote.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, premiers had pressed the Trudeau government to change its funding formula for health care. The Liberals agreed in 2021 to revisit the issue as the pandemic abated.

Yet on Monday, the Liberals pushed back, noting that provinces havent used taxing powers Ottawa devolved in 1977 to help them raise money for health care.

B.C. Premier John Horgan argued that should be part of negotiations that Ottawa refuses to start, which should also include regulatory changes.

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"We need to have a human-resources strategy right across the country, so that Quebec is not poaching from B.C., (and) B.C. is not poaching from Manitoba  (that) we have a national plan to recruit, retain and train the next generation of health-care workers," he said.

Indigenous leaders also met with the premiers Monday, to touch base on efforts to commemorate children who died while attending residential schools, and economic empowerment for First Nations and Metis communities.

Stefanson said that could entail more mining in Manitoba, and projects that emulate the April transfer of Hudsons Bay Co.s downtown Winnipeg store into an Indigenous-run housing and services centre.

"There was a real recognition around the table, that that has set the stage nationally, for what that can look like in other provinces."

On Tuesday, the premiers will discuss labour gaps, affordability and immigration.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Gasoline thieves have stolen Mary Lou Milhausens vacation plans.

Milhausen was all set to take her 26-foot RV from Winnipeg to campsites at Steep Rock and near The Pas and Flin Flon this week, until she discovered a thief had bored through her metal gas tank and drained out all the gasoline.

Now Milhausens vacation plans are on hold for now and, possibly, the entire summer while she waits to have the tank replaced.

"I just wish (the thief or thieves) ill will," she said Monday.

ETHAN CAIRNS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mary Lou Milhausen next to her RV parked at a self-storage facility where she was the victim of gas theft leaving her RV stranded at the facility.

Milhausen said she knows how much gas was in the 247-litre tank; she just filled it a few days ago and it was stored in a storage compound after that.

It means, based on recent gas prices, that there was the equivalent of $496 in the tank.

But Milhausen said what makes it worse is she believes, from the smell under her vehicle, that a lot of the gas went to waste because of the way the theft was committed.

My gas cap is not covered or locked. The thief could simply have siphoned the gas instead of putting a hole in the gas tank... and, because they wouldnt have taken enough jerry cans, I bet most of the gasoline just went into the ground.  Mary Lou Milhausen

"My gas cap is not covered or locked," she said. "The thief could simply have siphoned the gas instead of putting a hole in the gas tank.

"And, because they wouldnt have taken enough jerry cans, I bet most of the gasoline just went into the ground."

ETHAN CAIRNS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Milhausen says she knows how much gas was in the 247-litre tank which was just filled a few days earlier.

Its not the first time Milhausens RV has been attacked by thieves. Two years ago her vehicles catalytic converter, along with those from several other vehicles in the Transcona storage compound, were stolen.

MPI spokeswoman Kristy Rydz said gasoline is considered as part of a vehicles contents, so it is not a claimable loss.

"However, if the vehicle was damaged during the fuel theft  fuel tank, broken fuel door or broken windows  then MPI will treat it as vandalism," Rydz said.

John Vernaus, president of Vernaus Autobody, said Milhausen isnt the only vehicle owner he knows of who has a damaged fuel tank.

"Theres people doing it because gas is not cheap," he said. "It costs me about $200 to fill my truck."

SUPPLIED Milhausen's RVs gas tank which had a hole drilled in it by the gas thieves.

Vernaus said the vandalism usually means a replacement gas tank is needed.

"Lots of times we can put in a temporary plug, but it is not reliable so a new tank is needed," he said, adding a new tank costs between $500 and $600 for a standard car or truck.

Milhausen said the RV hadnt been in the outdoor storage compound long, because she just returned from a camping trip in the Badlands of South Dakota a week earlier.

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She said she took the vehicle to a repair shop to fix one of the doors and, after filling up the gas tank, she returned it Wednesday afternoon. When she went back Saturday to prepare it for the road trip she smelled gasoline. When she turned the ignition key, the low-fuel light illuminated.

"I went outside and looked underneath and I saw a fuel stain on the ground. Then I saw a hole in my gas tank," she said.

Milhausen said she is now waiting for the RV to be towed to a compound so police and MPI can check it over. She doesnt know when it will be repaired.

"Its a short season for camping," she said. "Instead of going on a holiday Im stuck dealing with Autopac."

She has decided to move her RV to a new, more secure, storage compound elsewhere.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
The recent wave of both peaceful and violent protests in the wake of the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade is incontrovertible evidence of the ignorance of a large swath of the American public. These residents of the U.S., some citizens even, seem unaware of the vaguest notion of what the U.S. Constitution actually says and, further, the actual opinions of the justices supporting their decision.

It might help if the wailing witless masses were to read the ruling which, in essence, states that abortion is neither protected nor prohibited under the Constitution, but is a matter for the states to decide for their respective residents.

The defenders of womens rights, ever the most thoughtful among the populace, even attacked the state Capitol of Vermont in a paroxysm of moronic mischief. Had they taken the time to learn anything about this issue, rather than riot in a state of Pavlovian ecstasy, they would have learned that Vermont already has on its books H.57, which guarantees the right to abortion in that state, no matter the U.S. Supreme Courts future actions. Further, Vermont has a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to protect abortion. Well, I guess its burn, baby, burn as long as progressives yearn for expression.

Of course, under the current slipshod nature of law and order in America, the protesters will be rewarded with spots on TV with the ever-lovely Rachel Maddow instead of incarceration. May they all live forever.

Lee Broad

Depew
If only our leaders at the time had paid more attention to what Jim Collinson was saying eight years ago. If they had, Manitoba, Alberta and western Europe would be in a much different position than they are today.

Opinion

If only our leaders at the time had paid more attention to what Jim Collinson was saying eight years ago. If they had, Manitoba, Alberta and western Europe would be in a much different position than they are today.

Collinson is an energy expert with a deep knowledge of the workings of Manitoba Hydro. In 2014, he authored an op-ed published in this newspaper (Reimaging Manitoba energy, March 29, 2014), in which he predicted the energy supply problems much of the world is currently experiencing and suggested measures to prevent them from occurring.

That piece is still available on the Free Press website and is well worth reading.

In it, Collinson wrote that During Putins first reign as czar, he threatened Ukraine with cutting energy supplies. With his takeover of Crimea, he once again might use energy supply and price to leverage concessions from other EU countries dependent on Russian sources.

He added that [i]f supply of Russian energy, particularly natural gas, were cut off (or faces significant price increases as is happening), parts of Europe would suffer. Russia is already increasing shipments to China and raising prices to Ukraine.

Like many of us, Collinson saw the threat Vladimir Putin posed to world peace and prosperity and, in particular, the leverage the former KGB agent had over western Europe because of that regions growing dependence on Russian oil and gas.

Like few at the time, however, Collinson had a viable plan to limit that leverage and vulnerability.

He wrote that Canada and the United States have increasing and abundant natural gas supplies they could export. LNG (liquefied natural gas) could be shipped from the Bakken formation in the southwest corner of Manitoba to Europe via Churchill. The same applies to hydrogen, which is easily extracted from water by electrolysis. Hydrogen could be produced at a dam on the Nelson (River).

Manitoba is well-positioned to enter the global energy supply chain, he added. There is latent capacity on the Nelson River, water is in abundant supply, the rail line exists and the Churchill port can easily be modified to accommodate LNG and hydrogen-carrying ships.

He ended by saying that Manitoba would have a reliable market for its northern electricity and natural gas. Processing would add value, not require new transmission lines and avoid price and demand volatility in U.S. markets beyond the short term. Neither product would represent a threat to land and water ecosystems en route to Europe.

Collinsons plan made sense in 2014; it makes even more sense now. Just imagine the economic growth and prosperity northern Manitoba, Churchill in particular, would be experiencing today if the investments had been made at that time. The entire region would be booming.

That said, the opportunity still exists, and it has found an ally in Alberta.

Danielle Smith is a front-runner in the contest to become leader of Albertas governing United Conservative Party. If she wins, she will immediately become premier of that province.

During an interview last week, Smith told the Globe and Mail that, under her leadership as premier, Alberta would work with First Nations to negotiate economic corridors to ports such as Churchill, giving her province access to shipping lanes out of Hudson Bay. Lets get a couple of LNG icebreakers and start moving, she said. These are the kinds of things we need to do.

That should be music to the ears of northern First Nations, northern Manitobans and, most of all, the Manitoba government.

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The plan Smith is proposing would result in hundreds of millions of dollars in investment (maybe more), creating thousands of jobs throughout the North. It would transform Churchill into a viable, year-round pathway to Europe for products and commodities from all over North America.

It would be an economic game-changer for every corner of this province, creating new tax revenue streams for the province and income for Manitoba companies and their employees. Most of all, it would dramatically improve the lives of northern Manitobans, who have endured countless boom-and-bust cycles.

Collinson was right in 2014, but few of us shared his sense of urgency. We do now, though.

Western Europe needs a reliable supply of natural gas and other products and commodities. It needs Manitoba to be that supplier.

deverynrossletters@gmail.com

Twitter: @deverynross
Bribery was only half the story. The police headquarters building that cost Winnipeg taxpayers $50 million more than the promised $105 million was built by a committee of officials apparently ill-equipped to manage such a large and complex project.

Bribery was only half the story. The police headquarters building that cost Winnipeg taxpayers $50 million more than the promised $105 million was built by a committee of officials apparently ill-equipped to manage such a large and complex project.

Glenn Joyal, Chief Justice of Manitobas Court of Queens Bench, has already determined that Phil Sheegl, the citys chief administrative officer, took a generous bribe from Caspian Construction, the general contractor for the police headquarters project. That finding should have been enough to prompt provincial government intervention to protect city taxpayers.

A steady trickle of revelations, unearthed by an ongoing Free Press investigation, has brought to light fresh evidence of project maladministration under the leadership of Sam Katz, who was then mayor, and Mr. Sheegl.

But a steady trickle of revelations, unearthed by an ongoing Free Press investigation, has brought to light fresh evidence of project maladministration under the leadership of Sam Katz, who was then mayor, and Mr. Sheegl. Most recently, this newspaper learned of an October 2011 memo by Pat de Jong, a police department employee on the headquarters project team, showing the police department representatives on the team had no good basis for approving or disapproving design changes.

The five police department officials knew what the department needed in a headquarters, but they knew nothing of the history of the project or the impact of decisions they were asked to make. The general contractor, the police department and the design team were constantly at loggerheads, producing an ongoing crisis requiring daily attention. Money and time were wasted because the people involved were out of their depth.

Also begging for explanation is the curious role of the AECOM design firm that took part in January 2010 city management meetings about the project and was hired in August of that year to produce engineering drawings.

The drawings AECOM eventually provided were deemed to be incomplete and of doubtful value. After debate, the city paid the firm nearly the full amount they had been promised and agreed not to mention AECOM or make disparaging comments about its work. An outside expert reviewing the matter concluded the city had been sold a set of incomplete, noncodecompliant and nonfunctional drawings for $5.6 million.

The drawings AECOM eventually provided were deemed to be incomplete and of doubtful value. After debate, the city paid the firm nearly the full amount they had been promised and agreed not to mention AECOM or make disparaging comments about its work. An outside expert reviewing the matter concluded the city had been sold a set of incomplete, non-code-compliant and non-functional drawings for $5.6 million.

Litigation may eventually produce answers as to who should pay what to whom for the money wasted on the police headquarters project. The courts, however, cannot correct irresponsibility and incompetence in municipal administration.

Winnipeg needs an authority with relevant construction experience to shine a bright light on the municipalitys management of the police headquarters project and identify the reasons why it kept going off the rails and costing far too much taxpayer money.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Premier Heather Stefanson and her ruling Progressive Conservative party seem strangely hesitant to dig into the mysterious corners of this massive and notorious waste of money.

The city cannot usefully investigate itself. Its up to the Manitoba government to create a commission of inquiry, empower it to demand answers and get to the bottom of this whole sad story.

Premier Heather Stefanson and her ruling Progressive Conservative party, normally so anxious to defend the interest of taxpayers and uphold careful use of public funds, seem strangely hesitant to dig into the mysterious corners of this massive and notorious waste of money. Their passivity in the face of accumulating evidence is starting to look too much like participation in a cover-up.

Mayor Brian Bowman and the council have asked the province for an inquiry. Evidence of the need for an inquiry has accumulated. The KPMG accounting firm was stymied in its audit of the project when senior city staff concealed relevant documents which have now come to light.

Enough evasion. The premier should call the inquiry and let the public learn how their money was thrown away.
July programs at the Horicon Marsh

HORICON  The Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center, N7725 Highway 28, Horicon, offers outdoor programs, weather permitting.

Saturday: 10:30 a.m. to noon, Metamorphosis Madness: Hands-on exploration of some of the amazing changes made by Horicon Marsh animals growing up.

Saturday: 8:30-10 a.m., Weekly Nature Walks: An informal guided walk exploring the best of what Horicon Marsh has to offer at a relaxed pace with good company. Every week brings a different experience as the busy summer season moves on. Head out on the trails early and beat the summer heat. Exact routes and distances vary week to week.

Tuesday: 10-11 a.m., Seasonal Wild Edibles: Wisconsins native plants offer a lot, natural beauty, homes for wildlife, and even a tasty treat. Special guest and Wisconsin Master Naturalist Chris Lilek will be the guide as we taste our way through Horicon Marsh.

Wednesday: 9 a.m. to noon, Nature Detectives Drop-in: Much of what happens in nature takes place when and where we cannot see it. People must often use clues left behind by wild animals to understand what is happening around them. Drop in anytime to test your detective skills in solving some wild animal mysteries.

Thursday: 10-11 a.m., Stories at the Marsh: Diary of a Worm: This program for children 10 and younger explores how everything in nature is connected to each other, and how even tiny animals can have a very big role to play.

July 23: 1-4 p.m., Nature Detectives Drop-in: Much of what happens in nature takes place when and where we cannot see it. People must often use clues left behind by wild animals to understand what is happening around them. Drop in anytime to test your detective skills in solving some wild animal mysteries.

July 23: 8:30-10 a.m., Weekly Nature Walks: An informal guided walk exploring the best of what Horicon Marsh has to offer at a relaxed pace with good company. Every week brings a different experience as the busy summer season moves on. Head out on the trails early and beat the summer heat. Exact routes and distances vary week to week.
A Baraboo woman was ordered to serve probation Monday after pleading guilty to stealing more than $17,000 from her employer in less than two months.

Christine L. Mahoney, 55, entered a guilty plea for a single felony count of theft up to $100,000 in a business setting during the plea hearing. Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Michael Screnock ordered Mahoney to serve four years of probation in exchange for the guilty plea.

Conditions of the probation require Mahoney to pay restitution as well as court costs. Mahoney must also provide a DNA sample and undergo any counseling ordered by her probation agent.

According to the criminal complaint filed with the case, Mahoney admitted to having a gambling problem once her employer, Wells Fargo Bank of West Baraboo, discovered she had taken nearly $18,000 to fund her addiction.

The theft was discovered in November. The branch manager told police Mahoney confessed to taking the money from her drawer after being confronted by staff to audit it. The manager said Mahoney likely avoided counting the money because she knew it would not be right.

An investigator noted that staff found Mahoneys drawer balanced in October, which meant that in 49 days Mahoney took more than $17,200.

During an interview in February, Mahoney admitted to taking the money because of negative mental health and a gambling addiction. It started with small amounts but escalated and knowing it had gotten to that amount made her feel sick to think about, Mahoney said.
Five candidates are being interviewed over the next few days as the city of Beaver Dam narrows the search for its first city administrator.

Beaver Dam has traditionally had a full time mayor. However the Beaver Dam City Council decided last September to shift to a form of government with an elected part-time mayor, hired city administrator and elected council starting in 2022. The mayors salary will be reduced from $60,000 to $20,000, beginning in 2023 after the spring election.

The candidates are Kyle Ellefson, Jerry Gabrielatos, Richard Hough, Lou Leone and Nathan Thiel.

Ellefson is the city administrator in Columbus.

Gabrielatos left his position as the West Linn City Manager in Oregon last month.

Hough is the director of public works in Walworth County.

Leone was the past city administrator for New London.

Theil was recently the village administrator in Pleasant Prairie.

The search firm GovHR USA originally reviewed the candidate pool and narrowed it to these candidates who were forwarded on to an administrative sub-committee made up of Alderpersons Kay Appenfeldt, Mike Wissell, Bobbi Marck and Zach Zopp.

The five candidates were interviewed Monday with interviews continuing today.

The city administrator will be appointed by, and report to, the mayor and City Council. The starting salary range is $128,000  $142,000, plus benefits.
The residents of duplex on South Spring Street were displaced over the weekend following a fire starting in the basement of the house.

According to a press release from the Beaver Dam Fire Department, the call in at 1:14 a.m. on Sunday about smoke in the basement of the home at 715 S. Spring St. Beaver Dam Fire department responded immediately and found smoke visible from the roof of the two story duplex with occupants already evacuated. The first arriving crews quickly deployed a 1 hose line to the rear entrance and made their way inside.

Crews found moderate smoke on the first floor as they made their way to the basement. Crews were able to quickly knock down and extinguish the fire once located. Crews remained on scene just under three hours to conduct overhaul, ensure the fire was completely extinguished and to ventilate the building.

All residents were displaced due to smoke and/or water damage. The American Red Cross is assisting with temporary housing. No civilian or fire personnel were injured during this incident. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time.
Ambitious, enthusiastic and outgoing are some of the attributes the Dodge County Fair Association looks for when selecting an individual as Fairest of the Fair, and they found all those traits and more in Leah Weninger of Rubicon.

Alexis Luedtke, the 2021 representative, named Weninger the 2022 Dodge County Fairest of the Fair during the annual fair press banquet held Monday night at Bayside Supper Club in Beaver Dam.

Following a round of interviews, live radio commercials and impromptu questions, a panel of three judges made up of Tom Murphy of Watertown, Tracy Propst of Beaver Dam and Kelly Brusveen of Hustisford chose Weninger for the honor from a slate of six contestants.

Other young women vying for the title included: Jaime Anderson of Burnett, Kelley Braun of Beaver Dam, Morgan Kjornes of Juneau, Natalie Siedschlag and Michelle Stangler, both of Watertown.

Weninger earned an associate degree from Fox Valley Technical College in agribusiness science and technology. In her spare time, she enjoys making social media content about her life as a farmer in Iron Ridge, where she manages a dairy herd and does field work. She said her future plans involve opening her own farm camp to educate youth on where their food comes from.

Luedtke took a few moments to reflect on her reign before announcing the latest winner. She said one of the contestants asked her about her favorite part of being Fairest of the Fair.

After much thought, my overall answer was just talking to everyone, especially exhibitors and hearing their stories, their passions and their goals, she said.

She drew laughter from the crowd when she noted that winning the cream puff eating competition was also near the top of her list of favorite memories.

Upon receiving a crown, sash and a bouquet of flowers, the newest Fairest of the Fair expressed gratitude to the Fair Board and her fellow contestants and said she appreciates the opportunity to promote the fair this year.

The 2022 Fairest of the Fair represents the Dodge County Fair Association as the hostess of the Dodge County Fair, and participates in media and promotion events for the fair.

Weninger will conduct radio interviews, emcee main stage and 4-H events and assist in the planning of the next Fairest of the Fair contest. She also has the opportunity to participate in the 2022 Wisconsin Fairest of Fairs contest at the Wisconsin Association of Fairs Annual Convention.

The 2022 Dodge County Fair kicks off Aug. 17 and runs through Aug. 21.
A Chicago-based renewable energy company has filed an application to build a large solar project in southern Columbia County. Representatives with Invenergy say the project could lead to over 600 temporary construction jobs and over $1.2 million in tax revenue annually.

Solar projects like this one have been a trending topic especially since Alliant Energy announced it was closing the Columbia Energy Center in Pacific. The plant is set to retire by 2026; the date was recently pushed back two years by Alliant.

When the Columbia Energy Center closes, the county will lose about $1.7 million in annual utility aid funds along with the 1,100 megawatts of energy generated since opening in 1975.

High Noon Solar Energy Center, in the Arlington area, is one of two current large solar projects in the proposal phase in Columbia County; the second is the Langdon Mills solar project near Cambria.

Cooper Johnson, Manager of Renewable Development at Invenergy, answered a number of questions via email regarding the proposed High Noon Solar project.

Johnson said the site could be as large as 2,000 acres pending site approval and engineering. It could generate as much as 300 megawatts of solar energy with a capability of storing 165 megawatts of renewable energy.

Our project will generate enough energy to power 58,000 homes, Johnson said.

High Noon filed their application with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) last week. The PSCW reviews large scale solar projects to ensure they follow state guidelines for safety procedures. The PSCW process includes input from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources staff as they review the application and other additional information like public hearings.

Johnson said the project is being overseen by Invenergy, the same company that will develop, construct and operate the project if it is approved by the PSCW. The company opened a field office for the High Noon Solar Project at 415 N. Main Street in Poynette. It is open to the public on Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Invenergy is planning to lease land from area farmers in Arlington, Leeds, Lowville, and Hampden. These leases allow the developer five years to develop the project and then another three years for construction. The leases then allow Invenergy 50 years to operate the solar project. However, Johnson said he anticipates the life of this project will be 35 years.

When asked about the effect on the soil the solar panels and other equipment could have he said the project will improve the soils.

Our proposed project is a long term but ultimately temporary proposal that will improve soils on the ground beneath solar equipment and provide participating landowners a meaningful rental payment to sustain their operations with steady income over the life of the project, Johnson said. After the lease ends, farmers will have the option to return the land to agricultural use.

Johnson said the process for getting an application approved could take a year. If approved, construction could begin in late 2023 and operation by December 2025.

We are excited about the many benefits the project will bring including stable incomes to local farmers, over 600 jobs during peak construction and $1.2 million in annual tax revenues High Noon can bring to the towns and Columbia County, Johnson said.

Both the Langdon Mills and High Noon solar projects have received public speculation and worries about turning the rural farmland into solar projects. Earlier this year there were several public comments made during a Columbia County Board of Supervisors meeting speaking against the project and asking the board to do something about the proposed project.

We have fielded a lot of great questions from the community about how Invenergy develops projects across Wisconsin and what we are specifically proposing here in Columbia County, Johnson said. We are ready and excited to deliver on this investment, replacing a significant portion of the revenues from the nearby coal plants closure with a cheap, reliable solar project.
SAs entire infrastructure is on the verge of total collapse

South Africa now does not have a functioning integrated public logistics infrastructure anymore, with roads, rail, and ports all in disarray.

The lack of infrastructure maintenance, corruption in which dodgy black economic empowerment companies have been gifted tenders and often build flimsy infrastructure and cadre deployees without the necessary technical skills who have poorly looked after public assets have now snowballed into the breakdown of the entire public infrastructure - causing a system failure.

This means South Africans will begin to see the rapid collapse of infrastructure, the damage from disasters will be multiplied and the cost of repairs will now be more than building new infrastructure.

South Africa is now experiencing system failure  where the entire public infrastructure system across the country is likely to collapse over the coming period, and if disasters like floods happen, the impact will be disproportionally damaging in terms of lives lost, damage and the cost of repairs.

The damage  lives lost, infrastructure collapse and repair costs - from the floods in KwaZulu-Natal could have been less, if the public infrastructure had been better maintained, better build and better managed. The KwaZulu Natal floods have claimed over 400 lives, close to a 100 people are not accounted for and damage to property, infrastructure and movable estimated for now as upwards to R50 billion.

South Africas public rail, roads and state infrastructure have been totally captured at almost all levels  policies have been corrupted, contracts have been given to unqualified politically connected BEE contractors and incompetent cadres have been appointed to manage critical assets. Maintenance budgets for public transport infrastructure have also been captured at almost every level.

A National Treasury investigation in 202o found that between 2012 and 2015 only 13 out of 216 contracts awarded that exceeded R10m were above board at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).

South Africas water system across the country is also on the verge of full collapse because of a lack of infrastructure maintenance, corruption in which dodgy black economic empowerment companies have been gifted tenders and build flimsy infrastructure and cadre deployees without the necessary technical skills who have poorly looked after the public water assets. South Africa is likely to soon experience water outages across the country because of system collapse. Water delivery infrastructure at municipal level has collapsedf across the country.

South Africas municipal sewage infrastructure system has now almost collapsed also. Out of the 824 water treatment plans across the country, only 60 release clean water. More than 60% of the countrys sewage and wastewater treatment works have been classified as in a poor or critical state. There must be urgent intervention by the ANC government to stop the system failure of the countrys public infrastructure system.

Chronic instability, incompetence and corruption at state-owned rail, port and logistics state-owned company have decayed South Africas rail, port, and logistics infrastructure into decay. This has made South Africas exports uncompetitive, with many local exporters looking to new parts in the region, in Mozambique and Namibia. There are costly delays at Durban port.

The overall result is that South Africa now does not have a functioning integrated public logistics infrastructure anymore, with roads, rail, and ports all in disarray. There is now a system failure in the integrated public logistics infrastructure system.

Such is the inefficiency in state infrastructure planning and implementation, that plans to get to work on two key projects to increase the capacity of Durban port has been perpetually pushed back. The development of the delayed Durban dig-out port to reduce congestion, which was conceived a decade ago, will see its first phase only completed by 2037.

By then, fast-growing neighbouring country ports would have long taken over the role of Durban port. Subsequently, a new government initiative to replace the delayed dig-out port development, with a berth-deepening project at the Durban container terminal and an infill development at Salisbury Island, have not even come out of the starting blocks yet. These planned projects were to increase the capacity of Durbans contain terminal to service the new generation ships of 20 000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The tender for the Durban berth development project was canceled after it was found that it was allegedly corruptly awarded.

Despite the lack of port capacity, Transnet has closed the Dom Pedro Quay liquid bulk terminal in Port Elizabeth. The development of a liquid bulk terminal in the Port of Ngqura, in nearby Port Elizabeth  which was aimed at reducing the pressure on Port Elizabeths harbour, was put on hold for a long period in 2020  leaving oil companies in the lurch, and must make alternative arrangements. Transnet is reviewing all major tenders, contracts, and concessions it awarded over the past few years, because of an avalanche of allegations of corruption, nepotism, and fronting.

The road network, beyond the toll roads, have collapsed, and even the toll roads, are buckling under the increased cargo on it, because the rail system has broken down. Roads now move more than 70% of SAs industrial cargo, because of the collapse of the rail system. Another example of poor infrastructure project planning and delivery is the Moloto rail project, a developed already planned in 2004, to ease congestion on the 160km Moloto road that stretches through Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga. In 2014, government announced R34bn was allocated for the Moloto rail corridor project, however, not a stone has been turned to get the project going.

In 2020, Thamsanqa Mabena, a member of the parliamentary portfolio committee said: That project is not going to happen, that project is not even budgeted for in the Department of Transport budget. Ive asked questions in Parliament, and I said to the minister, tell us in the next three years what the department is budgeted for the Moloto rail corridor, his response was we did an application through the national treasury and the project we were told that it will not be funded.

The collapse of rule of law across the country, has led to South Africas rail network, including its commuter rail infrastructure, being wantonly vandalised. Already ailing commuter rail stations and infrastructure were decimated during Covid-19. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula blames the vandalism and theft on corrupt and incompetent Passenger Rail Association of SA (Prasa) managers.

Mbalula said: The mismanagement here at Prasa has brought this mess wherein people were allowed to encroach and without any security, and here we are, we are stuck with people who have built shanties on top of the tracks.

Taxi associations have been alleged to deliberately destroy commuter rail networks, to channel passengers to taxis rather than trains. In April this year, a taxi employee in Eerste Rivier, Ricardo Khan, was sentenced to 20 years in jail after burning a train and admitting he did so to disrupt commuter passenger services so passengers should use taxis instead. In May this year the long-distance company Intercape wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene saying that taxi operators were violently attacking long-distance bus operators, to get them off the road, so that passengers will use taxis instead.

System failure because of the capture of maintenance funds, dodgy BEE deals and incompetent cadre deployees and capture of energy policy are the reasons why power outages will continue for at least the next five years or longer unless there is genuine political will  which is glaring absent now - from the governing ANC to tackle the corruption, appoint competent non-cadres and let go of ideological driven policies.

Power outages are likely to continue for the coming decade unless there is the political will from the ANC government to get rid of powerful tenderpreneurs connected to its leadership at Eskom who are incompetent but charge inflated prices. And for the ANC to muster up the will to fire allow the firing of unproductive Eskom workers who are members of trade unions who are aligned to the ANC and therefore cannot be fired because their votes are needed at the ANCs national elective conference in December 2022.

For another, for the ANC leadership to allow the Eskom management to fire incompetent ANC deployees in management positions who are also politically connected to the ANC leadership and therefore cannot be gotten rid of. The corruption of energy policy, whereby influential ANC leaders deliberately slow down the introduction of renewable energy, unless ANC cadres get the deals and to protect the coal industry, which is closely linked to the ANC leadership and ANC aligned trade unions, the energy system failure will continue.

To start with, corruption by those in government who are connected to the ANC leadership will have to be genuinely dealt with, not only in public statements and rhetoric. Government contracts must be given based on merit  not on blackness and political connectedness. Appointments to the public sector must also be on merit. Public assets must be treated with greater care by those who manage it. The capture of infrastructure development policies must end. Maintenance of public infrastructure should not be viewed as an extra  it is critical to prevent infrastructure system failure.

William Gumede is Associate Professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and author of Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times (Tafelberg). This article was first published on Timeslive/Sunday Times.
Northampton, MA --News Direct-- CNH Industrial

Demonstration of Case IH Coffee Harvester in field to Angolan coffee growers. Photo credit: Multiauto LDA

Angolan coffee growers now have access to a world-leading coffee harvesting machine thanks to the availability of the Case IH Coffee Express 200 Multi harvester.

Thirty-five farmers from coffee growing regions in Angola, as well as five farmers from Ethiopia, recently attended the launch of Case IH self-propelled coffee harvester at Vissolela Farm in Quibala, situated in Cuanza Sul province in the subtropical highlands of central Angola.

Coffee Express harvesters have been manufactured by Case IH, a CNH Industrial brand, for many years, and are well-proven in other markets around the world, such as in Central and South America.

Gentle handling

During the demonstration farmers were particularly impressed by the gentle handling, which meant there was low defoliation of the plants throughout the high performance harvesting operation. Minimal wastage and the outstanding quality of the coffee cherries picked also earned the growers admiration.

The brands coffee harvesting equipment employs a professional bean harvesting technology. Its unique system also provides greater versatility, giving the producer the option to do selective or full harvesting. Equipped with a fuel-efficient engine and easy maintenance, Case IH harvesters benefit from reduced operating costs, increasing the producers productivity and profitability.

The machines incorporate a pair of vertical rollers, revolving at up to 0.5 turns/minute, which are fitted with nylon fingers to gently remove the coffee cherries, minimising the risk of plant damage. The rollers are fitted with 1,248 fingers which are 576mm long and 480 fingers which are 520mm long, a blend that provides the best levels of harvesting performance and minimum crop and plant damage.

A swift and dependable machine

The self-propelled Coffee Express 200 is powered by the new 3-cylinder FPT S8000 TIER 3 engine producing 75hp (56 kW), supplied by a 75-litre tank.

Story continues

According to Enio Miranda, General Manager of the host farm in Quibala, world class mechanization has become a necessity in the highly competitive worldwide coffee production industry. The Case IH Coffee Express 200 Multi harvester ensures swift, efficient harvesting and contributes to more accurate and reliable results.

Yonas Kebede Megersa, farmer and coffee consultant in Ethiopia, commented on the dependability of Case IH products: The Case IH network for service and parts sets the CE 200 Multi apart from its competitors. As Case IH is the only supplier with a capillary network of service points and spare parts depot in the proximity makes me feel I can go through an entire season of harvesting no matter what may eventually happen to the machine. This gives me peace of mind, knowing I can always deliver on promises to my customers too.

View original content here.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from CNH Industrial on 3blmedia.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/case-ih-coffee-harvester-boosts-efficiency-for-angolan-growers-752162328
Rare earths have thousands of interesting and wide reaching applications, some of which are extremely high profile such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, fighter jets, medical equipment, cell phones and computers

As the name suggests, Canada Rare Earth Corp (TSX-V:LL). is in the business of providing the world with rare metals, vital in such things as electronics, wind turbines and electric vehicles - in other words, for the green energy revolution.

The industry has huge, global customers but few producing participants - and herein lies the quandary and the opportunity.

Canada Rare Earth aims to establish its own mining, concentrating and refinery capabilities and it is already selling products that could be redirected as feedstock to its own processing/refinery operations. It is also selling oxide products that are the same as would be produced by the refineries. A priority focus is to expand its trading activities for increased positive cashflow and in anticipation of its own proprietary property portfolio and value-add processing.

With Chinas (80%) dominance in the supply of critical minerals, including rare earths, and todays geo-political uncertainties, there is a strong global demand pull to regionalize and secure supply chains, Canada Rare Earth is well positioned to address the strong demand for its products and to capture a sizeable amount of the multi-billion dollar market for rare earths which are critically incorporated into the US$7 trillion downstream market.

Canada Rare Earth has a 20% ownership interest and management control in a stockpile in Brazil comprising 70 million metric tons of tailings containing cassiterite (a source of tin), zircon, ilmenite and rare earths. As part of its management control responsibilities, the company is assessing the scale and suite of products to be produced and how best to implement the operations in the most effective and profitable manner. The company is looking to form a mining and processing hub centered on this stockpile and extending its capabilities to process materials from other sources in the region, both proprietary and third party.

Other ongoing, mid- to long-term initiatives include acquiring or developing additional near term production properties and downstream processing capabilities.

Proactive recently sat down with CEO Tracy Moore who explained more about the mechanics of the company.

Proactive: Why is it important to establish rare earth supply chains?

Tracy A. Moore: Rare earths have thousands of interesting and wide reaching applications, some of which are extremely high profile such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, fighter jets, medical equipment, cell phones, computers, etc as well as lessor known applications such as refrigeration, night vision googles and cracking of oil. There are estimates of US$7 trillion of products highly dependent on the continuing, reliable and secure supply of rare earths. Over the course of the past 40 years, Chinese businesses have come to dominant global supply and while the supply may continue, the rest of the world is looking to diversify the supply chain, for basic business reasons  to minimize dependency on a sole supplier. Current geo-political tensions emphasize this point. The rest of the world is hopeful of continuing supply but there is no guarantee. Hence the push to establish alternate supply, whether partial or in entirety. Meanwhile, China is looking to leverage its strong position by capturing more of the downstream market.

Why are you focusing in South America and Southeast Asia?

We have conducted business and studied opportunities in many parts of the world and have gravitated to South America and Southeast Asia for a number of reasons including proximity to natural resources and to our customer base. We are continually approached with new opportunities for additional supply and to form joint ventures for processing. We consciously place most of our attention to business at hand.

What is your aim as a company and what do you bring to the rare earth space?

Our immediate focus is two-fold: generate positive cash flow from sourcing and selling mineral concentrates while we develop and commission the processing system for the tailings. We are also mindful of acquiring and developing properties to add synergies and economies of scale to the immediate focus.

Our plan involves sourcing critical minerals from proprietary and excellent third party sources; adding value through processing; and selling mineral products such as concentrates, intermediates and oxides.

Property ownership is very important to us. With third party supply we will be able to balance capital costs, operating costs, volumes, working capital requirements and assurance of supply. The processing capability can range from fairly simply gravity systems to much more complex rare earth processing.

Rare earths continue to be a mainstay for our business. The mineral trading has allowed us to extend our reach and diversify with poly-metallic properties containing multiple commercially interesting minerals.

Who are your customers currently and what products are you selling?

Currently, we have two primary types of products: mineral concentrates and rare earth oxides. Concentrate customers are based in Asia where the vast majority of processing takes place. We expect this to continue for the foreseeable future until additional refining capability is established, either with Canada Rare Earths refineries or by others. We have sold oxides to customers in six different countries.

What is the difference between oxides and concentrates?

A concentrate is generally a sand like mixture that contains rare earths in a mineral form. The rare earth content of a concentrate we deal with is generally between 20% and 97%. The concentrate must be further processed to allow the individual rare earth elements to be extracted and sold in an oxide powder form.

Is there any rare earth processing capability in the US currently?

Yes, there are a number of small operations but most are in development stage. Additionally, there are at least two mining operations with the vast majority of the concentrate materials exported to China.

Can you outline your likely near- to mid-term news flow and your plans for the next year or so?

We have a number of complementary and simultaneous initiatives which will generate news. One of our immediate focuses is on increasing positive cash flow from trading activities. This entails increasing supply volumes from existing suppliers and on-boarding new sources;

We are progressing with action plans for developing and commencing processing operations for the Bom Futuro tailings property in the near term. Our team has studied the commercial mineral content under a variety of scenarios, considered the desired output products (whether a mixed concentrate, individual mineral products, or combinations of minerals). Also, the scale of operation is being finalized which affects the duration of the processing operation. We have team members with directly related experience and we will be adding to the team as we approach commissioning.

We are also looking to increase our proprietary property portfolio; and we are looking at establishing downstream processing capabilities through development, acquisition and joint ventures.

Youre working towards owning your own refinery at some point. What will that mean for the company?

Owning our own refinery will allow us to become one of the few players in the rest of the world that is capable of creating rare earth oxides. This is a significantly unique proposition and in high demand by companies in the rest of the world.

What do you bring to the company as CEO?

My background is corporate finance, strategic and business planning and international business development.

I work very closely with Peter Shearing, Canada Rare Earths chief operating officer. Together we developed the companys vision and goals and together we execute the plans. Peter focuses on operations, systems and technical aspects whereas I work on forging new relationships, financings and reporting. Peter and I have worked in over 25 countries while based in Canada.

What would you say is the scale of the opportunity here for the company?

To answer the question, we need to look at three parts of our business: Trading revenues are a function of sourcing mineral concentrates for a customer base that will accept $20 million to $30 million of product per year, and likely much more. Additionally, we have an oxide product line to generate revenues. The Bom Futuro stockpile, based on previously commissioned 43-101 report, contains hundreds of millions of dollars of commercial minerals, of which Canada Rare Earth owns 20%. Rare earth refineries, if we were to own and start operations, would each generate annual revenues in the order of $100 million or more.

As you can see the business is extremely scalable. With additional human and financial resources we will be able to accelerate the business at an even faster pace.

Contact the author: giles@proactiveinvestors.com
Caring mothers of Hongshan Women's Federation present gifts to Tibetan students during Spring Festival holiday 2022.

Hongshan High School, in Wuhan, in Central China's Hubei Province, in February held the annual program during which it pairs its Tibetan students with local families. Ten students from Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region arrived in Wuhan in February to begin their senior high school education. Eight families in Wuhan volunteered to "adopt" the Tibetan students during their three years of high school studies.

"I've been in Wuhan for only a few months, but it already feels like home to me. We are very grateful to our 'moms' and 'dads' in Wuhan. They have made Wuhan become our second hometown. We'll study hard, go to universities and contribute to society," says Danzeng Jinzha, one of the Tibetan students.

The annual program was implemented in Wuhan's Hongshan District five years ago. To date, 57 Tibetan students have paired with Han families, and 25 of those students have been admitted to universities.

A Home for Tibetan Children

The program was proposed by Hou Boyun, a member of the Hongshan District Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

To promote cultivation of ethnic minority talents, many Tibetan students have been selected to study at schools in other regions of China in recent years. Hongshan High School was among the first group of high schools in Wuhan to accept Tibetan students.

To create a good living and educational environment for the Tibetan students, Hou proposed that each Tibetan child should be paired with a family in Wuhan.

In 2018, Hongshan Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, Hongshan Women's Federation and Hongshan Education Bureau launched the program, at Hongshan High School, under which Tibetan students are paired with Han families.

"We encourage caring people to join our program and give Tibetan students a home in Wuhan, and to contribute to ethnic unity and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," read the program's proposal.

On holidays and weekends, the host parents invite the Tibetan students to their homes to enjoy home-cooked food, take them to visit local scenic spots, and participate in various activities with them. It has become tradition that all host parents and Tibetan students make dumplings together to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Ciren Yuzhen, a 19-year-old Tibetan student, from Nyingchi, is a beneficiary of the program. She began studying at Hongshan High School in 2019. She was paired with Zhang Jiuhong's family.

"I spend almost every weekend at her home. They not only prepare hearty foods for me, but also take me to visit museums. She often calls me to ask about my studies and life at school," Yuzhen says. The family's care and kindness give her a sense of home-like warmth and comfort.

"My parents think it is a good choice for me to study here. There are good educational resources, and many people who care about me. My parents are very relieved and pleased," Yuzhen adds.

'Home-like Warmth'

Hongshan Women's Federation has been instrumental in the program's implementation. The federation has mobilized outstanding women to serve as "caring mothers" to the Tibetan students. After being recommended by the federation, more than 30 women, including entrepreneurs and executive committee members of women's federations, have become "caring mothers."

In October 2019, Wan Xun, an entrepreneur, fulfilled her dream of visiting Tibet. After she returned to Wuhan, she learned the federation was looking for caring mothers for Tibetan students. She volunteered, without a second thought. She also encouraged her entrepreneur friends to join her.

Wan was paired with a girl, Bianba Yangla, from Shigatse. With the school's consent, Wan often takes Yangla out for meals, shopping, sightseeing, and to meet new friends. After the COVID-19 epidemic broke out in Wuhan, in 2020, Wan donated beef and mutton, worth 2,000 yuan (US $307), to Yangla's school.

Yangla is now preparing to sit for the college-entrance examination, which she will write this summer. "She is a diligent student, with a good academic performance. I hope her dream of entering Wuhan University will come true," Wan says.

"Mom Wan is busy running her company, but she still manages to take time out of her busy schedule to care about my studies and living needs. We bonded through love, not blood. Mom Wan loves me like her own child. I will always cherish her love for me, study hard and be a useful person, and pass on the love to others in need," Yangla says.

"Hongshan Women's Federation has offered training and guidance to caring mothers in parenting skills. We have learned how to get along well with the Tibetan children. We are their families in Hubei, and we must give them home-like warmth," says Wan.

Wan Xun (R) and her Tibetan "daughter" Bianba Yangla

Promoting Healthy Growth

Hongshan Women's Federation recommended two doctors to be caring mothers this year. One was Wang Yijie, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Wuhan Zhen'ai Maternity Hospital. She was paired with Bumu, a girl from Jiangda County.

"I take good care of her, like my own daughter, and I pick her up from school to live with my family on weekends and holidays. Adolescents go through physical, psychological and emotional changes during puberty. So, I give special care to her physiological and psychological health. I hope she will live a healthy and happy life in Wuhan," Wang says.

Wang Yijie (L) pairs with Bumu.

Zhu Lingyu, Wang's colleague, was the other doctor paired with a Tibetan girl. "I give you a sandalwood comb. May it comb out all your troubles and worries, and may our 'mother-daughter' bond last a lifetime," Zhu said when she presented a sandalwood comb to Ciren Sangmu, the 15-year-old Tibetan girl with whom she was paired.

"Sangmu is a shy girl. I want to help her become more confident, and to bravely express herself. I will take her to participate in social activities and tour around the city, and I will help her blend in with the local life," Zhu says.

Zhu Lingyu (L) pairs with Ciren Sangmu.

As doctors, Zhu and Wang are fully aware of the psychological, physical and emotional needs and problems faced by adolescent girls. They will care for the Tibetan girls, and they will help ensure the girls experience healthy growth during puberty.

"The local governments cover the tuition fees and living expenses of the Tibetan students, and the living conditions at the school have also been improved. As caring mothers, what we need to do is give the students more emotional care," says Zhu. Zhu and Wang's children have befriended both Sangmu and Bumu.

Wang and Zhu have urged their colleagues to join the program, and to set up a "Caring Moms Group" at their hospital. They are committed to providing long-term support to the Tibetan students.

"When conditions permit, we will give health knowledge lectures and psychological courses in their classes, and we will set up a psychological health hotline for them," Wang says.

Passing Baton of Love

Xiao Yuping, Vice-President of Hongshan Women's Federation, is one of the caring mothers. Since 2018, whenever a caring mother has quit, due to unexpected reasons, Xiao and her colleagues have accepted the baton and cared for the Tibetan children. In 2019, Xiao was paired with Pingcuo Quzhen. Now, Quzhen is a student of Huazhong Agricultural University. She and Xiao stay in touch.

Xiao remembers she was the first person Quzhen contacted for advice about college. "Quzhen's parents were far away, in Tibet, and they hadn't received much education. She came to me at such an important time, and I was touched by her trust in me. My husband and I advised her to apply to Huazhong Agricultural University, in Wuhan. We were happy that she made it, and realized her dream of staying in Wuhan for further studies," Xiao says.

Xiao has accumulated rich experiences in her capacity as an organizer of the program, and as a caring mother, and her experiences have built a solid foundation for her future work.

"We recommend caring mothers who are patient, attentive, and who have happy families. Only with love and patience, can they give warmth and help to a child for three consecutive years. Only being careful, can they identify children's needs and problems, and offer help in time. Only from a happy family, can they pass on their family warmth to Tibetan students," Xiao says.

In the future, Hongshan Women's Federation will select more caring mothers for the program. "I hope caring mothers will influence children with their abilities, personality, and harmonious family atmosphere, and they will educate the children to love the Party and the country, and play a positive role in promoting national unity," Xiao says.

Caring mothers and Tibetan students make dumplings together.

Photos Supplied by Interviewees

(Women of China English Monthly May 2022 issue)
The left parts of this combo photo taken on Dec. 11, 2019 by Wang Pu show an exterior view of National Library of China (NLC) in Beijing, capital of China (upper left) and the French-language version of "An Introduction to The Analects of Confucius" collected by the NLC (lower left); the right parts of this combo photo taken on Nov. 27, 2019 by Han Qian show an exterior view of the Arsenal site of the French National Library (BnF) in Paris, France (upper right) and another French-language version of "An Introduction to The Analects of Confucius" kept at the BnF (lower right). [Xinhua]

BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua)  Among the cornucopia of valuable collections in the National Library of China (NLC), there is a precious copy of the original French version of "An Introduction to The Analects of Confucius" published in 1688. It is a national gift Chinese President Xi Jinping received from French President Emmanuel Macron.

In the book, a line of writing by its author Francois Bernier reads: "To readers  the book serves as the key or introduction to reading Confucius."

Featuring classic bookbinding styles from the Age of Enlightenment in France, the work sheds light on the political, ethical, and moral ideas of the great Chinese philosopher Confucius, who lived more than two millennia ago.

In March 2019, Xi and Macron met in Nice, France. There at a century-old house, Macron presented the book to Xi and told him that the early translations of "The Analects of Confucius" had inspired French thinkers Montesquieu and Voltaire.

Hearing Macron's introduction to the book, Xi said that he would take this precious gift back to China's national library.

Following the meeting between the two leaders, the book was subsequently shipped back to China, the place of its intellectual origin. As the first complete foreign manuscript from the Age of Enlightenment collected by the NLC, it is now well-curated in a constant temperature and humidity depot.

As many people from the two countries believe, the ancient book serves as not only a testament to the long-standing cultural communication between China and France but also as a witness to the increasing bilateral cooperation in cross-civilizational exchanges.

As a classic of traditional Chinese culture, "The Analects of Confucius" was introduced to Europe as early as the 17th century, and the status of Confucius in Chinese civilization has constantly been put on par with that of philosophers such as Socrates in the West.

Apart from "An Introduction to The Analects of Confucius," the NLC is also in possession of about 260 translations of "The Analects of Confucious" in 24 languages.

To introduce these precious works to the public, the NLC has held a special exhibition featuring the book's translated versions in French, Italian, German and English from the 17th Century to the 19th Century.

The pride of the visitors was evident in the messages they left. One of the messages read "Confucian classics are a key for the world to understand the Chinese civilization."

The rich content of "The Analects of Confucius," as well as the values and philosophical thinking it epitomizes, revealed to European scholars the height of Chinese civilization, said Xiong Yuanming, director of the NLC.

Xi has always attached great importance to the endeavor of carrying forward fine traditional Chinese culture and remained a champion of cultural exchanges with the world.

On Sunday, Xi and his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella respectively sent congratulatory letters to a cultural exhibition titled "Tota Italia: Origins of a Nation" held in Beijing.

In the letter, Xi reiterated that mutual respect, solidarity, and harmonious coexistence are the right path for the development of human civilization.

China is willing to work with the international community to promote equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness among civilizations, to replace estrangement with exchange, clashes with mutual learning, superiority with coexistence, and to build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said.

(Source: Xinhua)
Elko is a small city situated in northeastern Nevada, United States, against the backdrop of the Ruby Mountains. Being historically associated with the California Trail and the Central Pacific Railroad, Elko is recognized for its cowboy culture. It is the birthplace of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which is iconic to the city's image. With the allure of being a four-season destination, there are many recreational activities from rock climbing, hunting, fishing, and rock hounding for geodes or garnets that are widely found in the mountains nearby.

Geography And Climate Of Elko

View of downtown Elko, Nevada. Image Credit: Famartin via Wikimedia Commons

Elko is the largest city situated in Elko County in the northeastern corner of the State of Nevada. The city occupies a land area of 46.26 sq. km around the Ruby Mountains. The Ruby Dome can be found 21 miles southeast of Elko, and at 11,378 feet high, it makes up the skyline. The capital Carson City is about 320 miles to the southwest; Reno is about 290 miles west southwest, and Las Vegas is roughly 420 miles south. Of the day trips from Elko, Glenns Ferry, Idaho is about 225 miles north, the Black Rock Desert is approximately 215 miles east, and the Ruby Valley is about 54 miles southeast.

According to the Koppen Climate Classification, Elko experiences a semi-arid climate. It has four seasons, with hot and dry summers and freezing and snowy winters. The average annual temperature is 46.7 F, with an average temperature of 70.2 F seen in July and an average temperature of 25.1 F seen in January. The coldest month is January, which sees a low of -43.0 F, and July is the hottest month which sees a high of 107.0 F. Over a year, Elko collects precipitation over 73.9 days. This includes an annual rainfall total of 10.7 and a snowfall total of 38.9. Alternatively, there are 231 days of sunshine with a median UV index of 4.1.

History Of Elko

Afternoon view of the Elko County Court House in Elko, Nevada. Editorial credit: Kit Leong / Shutterstock.com

Upon the completion of the western end of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1868, the rail workers moved eastward to join the Union Pacific Railroad and set up a small tent community along the Humboldt River. Before this time, Elko served as a thoroughfare that was a part of the California Trail and saw migrants, gold miners, and wagons pass through. Although the community housed rail workers, it quickly attracted settlers, cowboys, gamblers, miners, and men with vices. At the same rate that Elko was expanding, with plots going for $300-$500 in 1869, it had also become a western town of violence, including acts of murder. Due to its rapid expansion, the city became established as a ranch supply center while branching out in mining and freighting. Of the industries, gambling, tourism, and mining would remain. In 1917, Elko was incorporated as a city. The Airmail Act of 1925 would see the first commercial airmail flight in the United States land at the would-be Elko Regional Airport.

The Population And Economy Of Elko

The iconic "White King" at the Commercial Casino in downtown Elko, Nevada. Editorial credit: Kit Leong / Shutterstock.com

As per the latest US Census, Elko has a population of 20,564 inhabitants and a population density of 442.09 inhabitants per sq. km. This is an increase of 12.33% from the 2010 census, which saw a population of 18,392. The average age of a resident is 32.6-year-old, with females accounting for 48.50% overall and males making up 51.50%. The median household income is $91,484, and there is a gross monthly rent of $1,040. Nevertheless, 12.36% of the population lives below the poverty line. Of the racial/cultural background, 82.44% are identified as white, 5.39% are of another race, 4.10% are of two races or more, 3.80% are Native American, 2.45% are Asian, 1.81% are African American, and 0.01% are Hawaiian Native or Pacific Islander.

As of May 2022, the unemployment was 2.60%, whereas the national unemployment rate was 3.6% reported for that same period. The top industries that makeup Elkos economy are mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction with 28.5% overall, retail trade at 9.2%, and accommodation and food services at 9.1%. The top-paying jobs came from the following industries: mining, quarrying, gas, and oil extraction grossing $81,506; agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, and mining, with $80,085; and utilities with $77,083. Of the 10,500 employed, 2,525 work in mining, quarrying, gas, and oil extraction, 1,246 in retail trade, and 963 in healthcare and social assistance.

Attractions Of Elko

Afternoon view of the beautiful Great Basin College at Elko, Nevada.

Western Folklife Center

The Western Folklife Center hosts the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, an annual event that promotes all things arts and the American West. It is one example of the Westerns Folklife Center core purpose of having a platform to connect visitors to its cowboy culture. Of the online and in-person exhibits, the most popular are the Contemporary Gear exhibit with hand-carved saddles and the Wiegand Gallery, which features numerous art pieces.

Northeastern Nevada Museum

With 20,000 feet of exhibit space, six galleries, and awe-worthy dioramas, the Northeastern Nevada Museum has everything for all ages. Notable exhibits include the original Pony Express Cabin, 40 showcases of artifacts depicting the regional history of Elko, and the Wanamaker Wildlife Wing, which has life-sized animal displays.

Elko is a four-season destination best known for its cowboy culture, which draws many curious and intrigued visitors. Stationed against the backdrop of the Ruby Mountains and the Humboldt River, outdoor recreationists and nature lovers will enjoy everything that Elko has to offer. It delivers all the appeal of Reno or Las Vegas with casinos found throughout its city but with the added allure of art and poetry. Elko is one of the last true western towns, a proud identity enshrined from its history, and serves as the gateway to northeastern Nevada.
The Johnson Tract Deposit stands well above the crowd for grade, thickness, and a geometry which will enable lower-cost mining," said CEO Darwin Green

HighGold Mining Inc (TSX-V:HIGH, OTCQX:HGGOF) has announced an updated NI43-101 mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Johnson Tract Deposit (JT Deposit) at the companys Johnson Tract polymetallic gold project located in coastal southcentral Alaska.

The Vancouver-based mineral exploration company's updated MRE is based on new diamond drilling completed in the second half of 2020 and 2021. The previous estimate was completed in the second quarter of 2020, added the firm.

We are delighted to establish a high-grade Indicated Resource of more than 1 million ounces gold equivalent at Johnson Tract, HighGold Mining CEO Darwin Green said in a statement. The JT Deposit stands well above the crowd for grade, thickness, and a geometry which will enable lower-cost mining. It also benefits from being close to tidewater with CIRI Alaska Native Corporation land title and strategic energy metal co-products. In concert with recent metallurgical results, this new resource provides an excellent foundation for future engineering and economic studies.

Green noted that the company looks forward to continuing to expand the JT Deposit and test several other targets in the extensive exploration pipeline at Johnson Tract, including the exciting high-grade DC and Milkbone prospects.

The company reported the following JT Deposit Mineral Resource highlights:

Updated Indicated Resource  3.49 million tonnes (Mt) grading 9.39 grams per ton (g/t) gold equivalent (AuEq) for 1.05 million ounce AuEq

Updated Inferred Resource  0.71 Mt grading 4.76 g/t AuEq for 108,000 ounce AuEq

Growth  This signifies a 40% increase in Indicated AuEq ounces and 54% increase in total tonnes (+60% Indicated and -19% Inferred) over the 2020 MRE

High Confidence  The company said 91% of the total AuEq ounces is in the Indicated Resource category

Peer-Leading Thickness  Indicated resource averages 40-meter horizontal width, roughly 10 times the mineable width of most high-grade (+5 g/t) underground gold deposits

Ideal Geometry for Low-Cost Methods of Underground Mining  The thick, subvertical deposit represents potential for lateral development from the valley floor to access the deepest and highest-grade portions of the deposit first and for gravity-assisted, bottom-up mining

Excellent Metallurgy  High metal recoveries, including global gold recovery up to 97%, utilizing conventional processing at a coarse grind size

Expansion Potential  Open to expansion along strike/down-dip/down-plunge with numerous high-priority property-wide targets including the Difficult Creek and Milkbone prospects

HighGold Mining recently started a US$9 million exploration program at Johnson Tract with plans to complete 13,000 meters of diamond drilling with two drill rigs currently on site. The focus of the 2022 drilling is two-fold: to continue expanding the JT Deposit; and to explore high-priority property-wide targets, including the high-grade Difficult Creek and Milkbone prospects.

The company said its plans include commissioning an onsite sample preparation facility for crushing and pulverizing drill core samples, which is expected to significantly reduce assay turnaround time and enable efficient follow-up of positive results during the 2022 drill program.

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive
Appeal over refusal of housing plans at former Wrexham Polish hospital site dismissed

An appeal over the refusal of plans to build houses on a former Polish hospital site has been thrown out.

Llannerch Panna in Penley, Wrexham, was one of three field hospitals set up in the old Maelor district in 1946 after World War Two.

It came after Winston Churchill pledged to provide free care for Polish war veterans settling in the UK.

Most of the buildings at the site off Tudor Drive have since been demolished and an application was submitted towards the end of 2020 to build 17 houses on it.

The proposals were refused by Wrexham Council officials because of the land being located outside the villages settlement boundary, the loss of an area of woodland and the impact on wildlife.

Landowner James Sadowski appealed to the Planning Inspectorate in June last year a bid to have the decision overturned.

However, the inspector appointed to oversee the case has now upheld the local authoritys verdict due to the impact it would have on the appearance of the area.

In a report, Richard Jenkins said: Despite incorporating some areas of hardstanding and some structures associated with its former use, the site generally appears to form part of the rural landscape beyond the built-up area of Penley.

This assessment is consistent with the fact that it forms part of a woodland subject of a tree preservation order and reflects the fact that the evidence of the former use is not clearly apparent from outside of the appeal site.

The vegetation and tree clearance that would be necessary to facilitate the development, coupled with the erection of some 17 dwellings, would without doubt injuriously alter the existing rural characteristics of the appeal site.

As such, despite being largely screened from the north and west, I consider that the proposed development would represent an unacceptable incursion into the protected woodland and wider rural landscape.

Consultants acting on behalf of Mr Sadowski said permission for the plans should be granted due to a claimed shortage of houses in the area.

They also said the site had a limited ecological value and would be a logical extension to the village.

But Mr Jenkins highlighted that Wrexhams local development plan was close to being adopted and would address the housing shortfall.

After considering all the issues raised, he therefore decided to dismiss the appeal

By Liam Randall  BBC Local Democracy Reporter
Public outrage in the small Pennsylvania borough of Tioga forced the police officer who murdered 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 to quit his new job Thursday, just two days after being sworn in by the boroughs council.

In 2014, officer Timothy Loehmann, then a member of the Cleveland, Ohio police force, shot and killed Rice while the boy was playing in a park with a toy gun on a cold and rainy November day.

Timothy Loehmann [Photo by WEWS]

Public outcry against the hiring of Loehmann started as soon as the Tioga borough announced his hiring on its Facebook page July 5. The next day about 50 residents of the community of 700 in north central Pennsylvania rallied outside the Tiago Borough building.

Michelle Appleby, who joined the rally, told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, I am here to protest the hiring of the police officer who shot Tamir Rice. Appleby had seen the news earlier in the day on Facebook and said that she was absolutely shocked that anyone would hire Loehmann.

Appleby told the Gazette the story resonated with her in 2014 when it happened. Ive got kids, they play and they play with airsoft guns and they play with BB guns. I saw the video of that police officer get out of the car and shoot that kid with no warning and that has stuck with me ever since.

Tioga Borough Mayor David Wilcox took part in the rally and has told media outlets that he was not given Loehmanns resume or information about his background before his hiring.

Tioga County, with fewer than 41,000 people, is over 97 percent white and less than 1 percent black. Yet in opposition to the notion that seeks to portray police violence in simply racial terms, residents were so outspoken in their outrage over Loehmanns hiring that he was forced to resign within two days.

Borough Council President Steve Hazlett, who was behind the hiring of Loehmann, resigned along with his wife, who is also a council member. The office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General has sent a letter to the borough stating that the hiring of Loehmann without a complete background check was illegal.

Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, publicly condemned Loehmanns hiring in Tioga, telling the Washington Post that the borough should never have hired him.

He shouldnt be a police officer anywhere in the United States, said Rice. Im actually shocked that anybody would give him a job knowing what he has done to my family.

Loehmann shot and killed Rice on November 22, 2014. Rice had been playing with a toy airsoft gun in a park near his home. At 3:30 in the afternoon, a 911 caller reported that a boy was playing with a gun in the park, adding that it was probably a toy.

Tamir Rice

Loehmann and his partner Frank Garmback, who was driving, drove into the park and up to where Rice had been sitting. Both Loehmann and Garmback claimed that Rice reached into his pants, but surveillance video shows that Loehmann shot Rice twice within a second and a half of arriving, almost immediately as he was getting out of the car. It is not possible to tell if the car had even stopped moving before Loehmann opened fire.

As in the overwhelming majority of police killings, neither Loehmann nor Garmback were ever charged with Rices murder. A grand jury was convened but did not issue an indictment.

Throughout the grand jury investigation, the district attorney continually worked to see that charges were not brought against Loehmann. Jeffrey Noble, a retired police officer and use-of-force expert, told GQ Magazine, Ive definitely never seen two prosecutors play defense attorneys so well.

The Obama administrations Justice Department opened its own investigation of Loehmann, but did not bring any charges and the investigation was closed in the waning days of the Trump administration.

Lawyers for Rices family have filed a request for the Biden Justice Department to reopen the investigation, which it has so far refused to do.

Loehmann was eventually fired by the Cleveland Police Department in 2017, almost three years after killing Rice. Loehmann was not fired for his role in the murder but because he lied on his job application.

No official figures are kept of police killings. Media outlets and groups which tally the numbers by tracking press reports have shown that over 1,000 people, on average over three people each day, are killed by police every year in the United States.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, the police are never charged with a crime, fired or even disciplined. In the few cases in which the officers are charged, more often than not they are able to get off by claiming that they feared for their safety.

In Akron, Ohio, just 40 miles south of Cleveland, eight police officers shot and killed Jayland Walker on June 27 as he ran from police. Police fired over 90 rounds, hitting Walker over 60 times. Video shows police continued to fire even as Walker fell to the ground, with his body flinching each time he was hit.

Police, with the full backing of Akrons Democratic mayor and the Biden administration, have gone on a rampage against peaceful protesters of police violence while the eight officers involved have not even been fired, let alone arrested.

The case of Loehmann shows that in the few cases where police lose their jobs they will often get hired by other police forces.

The protests that erupted in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers were among the largest protests in US history. The demonstrations were multi-ethnic and spread throughout the world. They reflected the broad hatred within the population for the treatment meted out to minorities, the working class and poor by police.

However, the protests were largely diverted by the Black Lives Matters movement and pseudo-left organizations into identity politics and support for the Democrats in the 2020 elections, including the election of Joe Biden as president. These forces claimed that police violence could be ended with the election of Democrats, who would in turn carry out reforms of policing and police departments. Instead the Democrats have funneled millions of dollars worth of COVID-19 pandemic relief aid to the police, and Biden has used every opportunity to push for even more funding for the police.

The struggle against police violence cannot be conducted along racialist lines. The role of police is to defend the capitalist system. The use of the police against poor and minority communities is part of the state terror aimed against the entire working class. With the continued growth of inequality between the wealthy and the working class, and as more and more workers enter into struggle to defend their democratic rights and living standards, the police are the thin blue line deployed to defend the rich.

The enormous and growing opposition within the working class to police violence must not be channeled into voting for Democrats and their promises of reform. Rather the working class must break from the two capitalist parties and build the Socialist Equality Party as part of an international movement aimed at eliminating the source of police violence, war and inequalitythe capitalist system.
Guaranteed sick pay arrangements for workers in the National Health Service (NHS) who catch COVID-19 have been ended, along with leave entitlements for staff self-isolating due to household members testing positive. The Johnson governments criminal edict coincides with a surge of the pandemic that is overwhelming hospitals.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) withdrew its COVID-19 staff guidance on July 7, ending sick pay for new episodes of COVID-19 and access to special leave for self-isolation. The move places the lives of health workers and patients at increased risk and has been met with anger by nurses, doctors and other NHS staff.

Dr Alison Twycross, who founded the advocacy group Long Covid Nurses and Midwives UK, said the new rules are a slap in the face. She told Nursing in Practice, We are the ones on the front line nursing these patients and now we will be penalised for that. This government has got this wrong and is playing with our lives.

The COVID-19 staff guidance on sick pay and self-isolation was introduced at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. It ensured payment for absence due to COVID-19 illness or self-isolation for all NHS staff regardless of length of service. Any illness due to COVID-19 was not added to already accrued absences.

Under the new guidelines, staff with COVID-19 will only receive standard contractual sick pay, which is dependent on length of service. Newly employed nurses and other NHS staff will receive no sick pay if they become infected, and neither will many agency workers. Permanent staff who are off with Long-COVID will drop down to half-pay after six months.

Staff in their first year of service are currently entitled to one months full pay and two months half pay for sickness annually. After completing five years of service, they are entitled to six months full pay and six months half pay.

Those staff currently off with long-term illness due to COVID-19 will have a one-to-one interview to look at transition arrangements through August, returning to contractual sick pay from September 1. For many, this will mean a cut-off point of full pay at six months instead of twelve and dropping down to half pay. NHS Employers chief executive Danny Mortimer said, This is a sensible step given where we are now in relation to the pandemic as we learn to live with Covid over the long term

Learning to live with Covid has meant nearly one in ten infected workers being forced to return to work by their employers. A poll published by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) found 9 percent of employees displaying symptoms had been forced into workplaces, and, in the past 12 months, 10 percent have been asked to work alongside colleagues who had tested positive.

The Observer cited the case of Mandy Green (not her real name) who was told to work on a supermarket deli counter even though she was still testing positive. She refused and was threatened with disciplinary action when she returned to work 10 days later. My manager called me on the third day and told me to come in because they were short [of staff]. But I was still testing positivethe line was still strong. I was really ill. I had to get an asthma pump because I couldnt breathe, she said. I said no to them because we work with the public and older staff.

Some of her colleagues came in after falling ill with the virus. A couple of people said they were positive but they had been told to come in, she said. [The supermarket] was not bothered about our welfare... or Covid.

In the week that COVID-19 sick-pay for health workers was scrapped, cases of COVID-19 rose sharply, with 2,154,000 infections in England, 149,700 in Wales, and 312,800 in Scotland, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for June 23-29. This was an increase of almost twenty percent in a single week. In England this equates to 3.95 percent of the population or 1 in 25 with COVID-19, 1 in 20 in Wales and 1 in 17 in Scotland.

Professor Tim Spector tweeted last week, Omicron BA.5 is now past 395,000 per day setting new records for Scotland and Wales and due to smash UK records within a week.

Hospitalisations in England due to COVID-19 have reached nearly 12,000, an increase of 33 percent from the week before. NHS Trusts are reporting that wards and bays in some hospitals are having to close due to high rates of infection and staff absence.

Admissions to hospital and intensive care units are at their highest since mid-April.

Many hospitals are reintroducing mandatory face masks for staff, patients and visitors. The Johnson governments scrapping of this measure in healthcare settings has been disastrous. Dr David Strain, senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter medical school told the Guardian that changes in policy around the testing of patients and mask wearing had contributed to rising infections. This wave, which is driven by the highly transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants, started to hit us at exactly the same time that there was a significant government pressure to stop wearing masks in hospital because of the way it appeared. And therefore, for a very brief period, there was a fair amount of in hospital transmission as well, he said.

There are ongoing discussions about extending the roll-out of the fourth booster jab from over 65s to over 50s and bringing this forward from the autumn.

The DHSCs updated staff guidance states that Covid and Long-COVID will now be treated like any other illness. It is a declaration that COVID-19 will continue to impact the livelihoods of thousands of nurses and other health staff who have worked on the frontline throughout the pandemiconly now they will be stripped of even minimal financial protections.

Karen, 60, a clinical support worker on the wards from Bedfordshire, told PA News, Colleagues have caught Covid several times since the pandemic began. Now we are going to have to consider if we can even afford to be off sick when we catch it or suffer from long Covid.

In April, research by public services union Unison found healthcare staff with Long-COVID are returning to work early because they are afraid of losing their jobs. Of 1,916 healthcare workers who had Long-COVID, 68 percent said they were back in the workplace while still suffering with symptoms such as breathlessness, fatigue, brain fog and aching joints, while 8 percent said they had been too ill to return to work.

Julie Taylor, 43, a nurse from Yorkshire, who is now working from home due to Long-COVID told the Yorkshire Post, Long Covid is a work-acquired injury for many of us. Nothing has changed  we have no effective treatment and no cure, so how are people with long Covid able to get back to work safely and effectively?

An estimated two million people in the UK are currently suffering from Long-COVID, with the latest data showing women and those working in health and social care more likely to be affected.

At least 122,000 (or 3.6 percent) of healthcare workers are experiencing Long-COVID, according to self-reported data from the ONS as of April 2021the highest rate among any occupational group. That figure excludes agency staff and those working in primary care but does include community nurses and midwives.

Dr Alison Twycross told Nursing in Practice, People have been treated abominably. Union support can be patchy, managers dont always understand about long Covid, HR doesnt always understand and neither do colleagues.

RCN England director Patricia Marquis told the Independent, NHS pay is barely enough to make ends meet at the best of times, and this will be another blow for some struggling with Covid-19 related health issues. But the RCN and other health unions have done nothing to mobilise their members against this fundamental attack on workplace health and safety.

As super spreader events continue to take place throughout the summer and with no restrictions in place, the likelihood is that the anniversary of Freedom Day, July 19, when all public health measures to contain the virus were lifted, will see the highest number of cases ever.

Stephen Reicher, Wardlaw Professor of Psychology at the University of St Andrews and Vice-President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh tweeted Friday, When the number of people with Covid is equivalent to the entire populations of Belfast and Cardiff and Edinburgh and Manchester and Birmingham combined, when any pub or train carriage or bus you enter is likely to have an infected person, shouldnt we be doing something?
A Tory government in disarraywhose deposed leader squats inside 10 Downing Streethas passed new laws aimed at breaking strikes and imposing crippling fines on unions for taking industrial action.

On Monday night, the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022 passed in the House of Commons. It allows for the use of agency workers as a scab workforce to break strikes. It was moved by Jane Hunt, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who was appointed by Boris Johnson on Friday.

Maximum fines against unions are quadrupled for taking industrial action deemed illegal. Fines on large unions have been raised from 250,000 to 1 million. It is the first increase since Margaret Thatchers Conservative government introduced a battery of anti-strike provisions, including a ban on secondary boycotts and pickets, in the Employment Act 1982.

The new laws were passed as thousands of train drivers voted to strike. Drivers across eight train operating companies delivered a resounding yes in postal ballots for industrial action.

Great Western Railway's Swansea to London Paddington is seen at its destination [Photo by Jeremy Segrott / Flickr / CC BY 4.0

At Arriva Rail London, drivers voted 98.9 percent to strike, Chiltern Railways by 92.3 percent, Great Western 86.1 percent, LNER 88.5 percent, Northern 95.2 percent, Southeastern 91.6 percent, TransPennine Express 94.2 percent, and at West Midlands Trains 89.6 percent. They join 40,000 RMT members who have voted to strike against plans to cut thousands of jobs and overturn conditions, pensions and safety as part of the governments Great British Railways scheme.

A ban on employment agencies recruiting strike-breakers has been in place since 1973. The new law paves the way for specialist recruitment agencies to hire strike-breakers among former military personnel, police and far-right forces. The British ruling class created civilian scab armies in the lead-up to the 1926 General Strike.

During the debate, the government linked its repressive amendments to last months rail strikes by the RMT. Hunt said the strikes had held the country to ransom, while fellow Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis declared, What we have seen from the RMT is a politicisation from the communists and Putin apologists who want to use this opportunity to bring this country to a halt.

Rail strikes are not the only target of the new measures. Tory MPs railed against threatened industrial action by teachers, nurses and airline workers.

The proceedings were a graphic exposure of Labours role in propping up a hated Tory government. In this first session of parliament since Johnson was deposed as party leader, Labours leader Sir Keir Starmer was absent, with his Deputy Angela Rayner refusing to move a vote of no-confidence in the government that would be linked to a defence of the right to strike. Johnsons hastily assembled cabinet of Thatcher clones and stand-ins was therefore able to push through a major attack on the right to strike.

Labour MPs described a government in chaos. Rayner likened Tory MPs to strikers withdrawing their labour to bring about Johnsons removal. The Minister now finds herself, much like agency workers under the regulations she proposes, filling in at short notice as a desperate last resort, with no time to prepare, in an organisation reduced to chaos.

She spoke of a prime minister cling[ing] to his desk by his fingernails, but her attack on Johnson centred on the complaint that the Tories measures were ripping up decades of national consensus.

They will not prevent strikes; they will provoke them she declared.

She appealed to a deposed and absent Johnson to honour his (non-existent) pledge to outlaw fire and rehire tactics that saw 800 P&O Ferry workers sacked in February and replaced by poorly paid and untrained agency staff, the company broke the law and the government implied that they were going to do something about it Will the prime minister keep the promise that he made before he loses office?

Labours Lloyd Russell-Moyle said the governments charter for agency scabbing was deeply anti-British and also likened it to P&Os mass firing of UK-based ferry workers.

Labours vaunted cross-party alliance against fire and rehire was exposed during the debate when Tory MP for Dover Nathalie Elphicke declared her support for the governments anti-strike provisions. During the P&O dispute, Elphicke was promoted by the RMT as an ally against fire and rehire. Elphicke spoke attacking the rail strikes and making clear she fully supports trade unions partnering with business. She recalled her role in having helped with the negotiations between the unions and the P&O management through two previous restructures during the COVID pandemic.

It was Jeremy Corbyns political ally, former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who most clearly spelled out the right-wing corporatist basis of Labours opposition to the Tories anti-strike laws. He warned, it will exacerbate industrial relations across the whole of the country, adding, I say to honourable Members from all parts of the House to be careful what they wish for. I am fearful about what this legislation could do.

McDonnell, whose Hayes and Harlington constituency includes Heathrow airport, explained that workers grievances were best suppressed via the unions. Pointing to British Airways, he said, We negotiated a deal. The union accepted that there would have to be some jobs reduced in the short term and wages reduced to ensure that the company survived. BA had subsequently reneged on reimbursing a 10 percent pay cut, Members can imagine how angry those workers were We did the normal thing that we do at the airport: we went into negotiations and we settled the dispute.

These measures will cause animosity and division, McDonnell concluded. He opposed the raising of maximum fines on unions for illegal strikes on a similar basis, explaining that unions are meticulous in the way they go forward on these matters, but where they are not, the injunction route for the employer has worked effectively.

Labours Barry Gardiner, author of the partys failed bill against fire and rehire, warned explicitly that higher fines would undermine employers ability to secure court injunctions against illegal strikes.

Amid an historic crisis of the Tory government, and growing opposition to the cost-of-living crisis, with falling wages, austerity, a resurgent pandemic and the most dangerous war in Europe since 1945, the working class is being politically prevented by the Labour and trade union bureaucracy from asserting its social power and class interests.

Labour and the TUC are not even calling for a general election. They are just as determined as the Tories to keep the governments conspiracy against the democratic and social rights of the working class behind closed doors. They are backed by trade unions determined to block, delay and suppress strike mandates by millions of workers.

Following last months three-day national rail strikes, RMT officials are back in talks with the rail bosses this week. They have refused to set further strike dates despite RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch confirming that the Johnson government is refusing to budge on its agenda for slashing jobs, pay, terms and conditions.

In the face of a growing wave of strike votes by train drivers, ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan stated that strike days would not be scheduled to coincide with any further action by the RMT or TSSA, Theres no reason why wed call them all out together, but at some point it could coalesce.

ASLEF is dividing train drivers on a company-by-company basis, and along with the RMT is blocking a political struggle to bring down the Johnson government and defeat its historic assault on rail workers jobs, pay, terms and conditions.
We encourage all West Coast dockworkers to contact us to share your stories, speak on the current contract negotiations and learn more about forming independent rank-and-file committees.

The Port of Tacoma looking north-west. [Photo by Sea Cow / CC BY 4.0

The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke with a Port of Tacoma dockworker, who will be referred to as Bill to protect his identity. Bill spoke about his working and living conditions, the tier system and the role of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in blocking a strike. The ILWU has kept workers on the job without even a formal contract extension after their contract expired on July 1.

Bill started as a casual dockworker or C Tier in 2005 which he continued until 2015, when he finally was approved to join the B Tier. He is currently an A Tier worker. Casual workers are paid significantly lower wages, are not guaranteed hours, and do not get any benefits or rights from the union, including the right to vote on the contract.

While I was a casual, I worked anywhere from 60 hours a week to none. I mean, during 2008-09, it was like maybe once a month, if you were lucky. He continued, We had to stand outside of the hall. We weren't allowed in the hall except for dispatch, so we waited on the sidewalk.

We arent compensated for pick [waiting for work assignments]. I get picked at 4:00. I dont start until 6:00. So Im pretty much stuck for two hours with nothing to do, and Im not getting paid. I cant go anywhere because its a traffic island.  And we dont get paid for transit time and costs. I know people that live out 45 or 50 minutes away, and especially when I was a casual, I mean, you could drive in twice a day and not get work. So you wasted all that gas. You wasted all that time. And thats nothing compared to my uncles and dad. They literally peed where they had to stand all morning waiting for a job.

3-tier system since 1960 drove down wages and conditions

In the Los Angeles-Long Beach port system, nearly 50 percent of the labor pool is casualized. The three-tier system was established in 1960 with the Mechanization & Modernization (M&M) Agreement passed by the ILWU, facilitating a decades-long campaign to drive down the wages, conditions and job security of dockworkers. While the working class has paid the price for these defeats, the port and logistics corporations have made trillions.

[As a casual] you dont get support at all. Youre pretty much told, This is a great opportunity and suck it up. McDonalds is always hiring. And when I was the casual, the union guys were super mean to you and people in general. They just wanted to keep it to themselves.

If we said anything, they [the union reps and managers] would threaten us, saying theyll just hire more casuals. We were told, basically, We dont need you. You need to learn the job and the operation. When the recession happened, they made us work so many hours before getting to B status. I had 11,000 hours as a casual, but now they take people in with like 1,000. Since I became B in 2015, I think theyve taken over 500 B men, where the prior 10 years they took 108. I dont mind that at all, but like these people dont know their jobs, and its dangerous. They need proper training.

Casual workers also do not receive any health care or pension benefits, adding to the economic hardships of precarious work. We didnt get Obamacare, and we didnt get union benefits, Bill explained, even though we were working just as much as the A and B guys, if not more.  So my friends and I were paying like five grand in fees because we couldnt get health care. And we didnt qualify for any of the lower cost ones because we had employment.

The union makes it so hard to advance to A. They go out of their way to make rules, to make it hard for you to advance. You have to be B for five years. Then they constantly change the rules. Sometimes the contract with PMA says you need to have 70 percent of the average hours as a B personnel, but then randomly the locals make backdoor deals with the PMA that say B men need 20 shifts a month now.

Then they have this archaic doctors note that you have to fill out. If its not filled out the exact way they want, theyll kick you out, or theyll give you six months back. That means they extend the period of time that you have to be working as a B. And you only get one chance for six months back. The second time, youre de-registered, and you can get back on a last chance program where you gotta go to treatment, you gotta jump through all their hoops, and you restart your B career. They just put the rules under glass. If you dont read it and dont keep up on it, you could be penalized for it. Even though there was no mail or direct communication with you, especially the casuals. Theres no backing as far as the people, like the actual officers.

After 17 years working at the docks, Bill has lost all confidence in the ILWU to defend workers and carry out a struggle. He said that workers have not received any serious information about the status of negotiations between the ILWU and PMA, even when he has asked about what is going on.

The union totally leaves us in the dark. Its a good old boy club. I dont go to meetings; I cant deal with the bureaucracy and all the upper people in the union. They tell you to sit down and shut up. We know everything, you know nothing, so just do what youre told, and well keep doing a good job.

For instance, I went to a meeting about the contract. They talked about the crane drivers for two hours, which affects 2 percent of the workers. Then when they wanted to talk about the contract, they pretty much said, We got it covered. Dont ask questions, just keep doing what youre doing. This is a militant union, you just need to listen to us, keep your head down and your mouth shut. Thats the gist of it. And thats just pretty much how its been run for a long time, and its not right, because thats not the way its supposed to be. I know it started out very democratic, but its not that way any more.

Since the walkout in 2002, the workers themselves have been just a political ploy. Because of getting locked out for 10 days, everything changed then. Like we just dont have a strike option. Its so politicized now. [The media] paints us as these well-paid horrible people that hold the economy in lock. They blame all the supply-chain issues on us. Our job is very hard. Its very difficult. Its very time consuming. I have skills that no one else in the world has. People will say if we dont do our jobs, mom and pop in Minnesota have to shut down. But its like, they should support us!

I have a family. ... I cant do 10-hour shifts

Thats really frustrating to me because I feel like our contract has been so politicized over the last 20 or so years. In 2014, we worked with an extended contract for almost two years, and then Obama finally stepped in and the union lost all the footwork because the negotiators normally side with the PMA and say we just need to get cargo moving. So Im worried this year, especially about the proposal for 10-hour shifts. I base my whole life off working eight-hour shifts. I have a family. I watch my kids during the day. I cant do 10-hour shifts so that they want the gates open earlier.

We already do night gates. But the truckers dont come because the truckers employers are too cheap to pay them night wages. So they stand by all night. It doesnt make any sense. A trucker could get from Tacoma to Olympia seven times a night compared to maybe two during the day. Then the railroads have just as much to do with all the supply chain issues. After the pandemic, all the trains got stuck in the Midwest, and we couldnt get them back to the West Coast. Then theres only so many cars that can fit on a train. Because of profits the railroad barons prioritize oil shipments over containers. Then that just creates more backlog.

Bill agreed with the WSWS reporter that truckers and rail workers are powerful allies of dockworkers, but added that We have been taught they are the enemy. The first chance they get the media puts some trucker on there saying how the rich elitist longshoremen are hurting his family. But we have common issues.

This once-in-a-generation financial crisis has happened to my generation, to millennials in general. Ninety percent of my generation cant buy a house because the prices went from less than $100,000 to over five or six in 20 years. Our wages didnt go up. Theres no transfer of wealth through the generations anymore. People with two good jobs cant buy a house. A teacher and a firefighter cant buy a house. And its because of the predatory banks and the corporations.

If the economy crashes, its not gonna affect the Chase family or the Morgan family. They dont care. All they want is cheap labor and to keep us in enough debt to keep us working but never get to a middle class level. Ive read a lot of articles about how, like the capitalist system is way more oppressive than the old caste system of India and Europe and stuff.

Its just this constant lie of the American Dream. I dont care if youre a grocery checker or a car washer, you should be able to afford at least an apartment for yourself and food and gas and insurance, and not have to rely on food assistance. Thats another way they keep workers in poverty, the welfare state. Theres no step system. If you get a job and you make more than $1,000 a month, you lose all benefits.

Its constant corporate greed. And theres no stop. Its frustrating because the billionaires will never have to worry about anything. Elon Musk is never gonna be worried about climate change, because if worse comes to worse, hes going to put a bubble over his head, then its not gonna affect him. You have a billion dollars to spare. You could feed the entire world if you want, but you choose not to. Elon Musk could invest in his own company and get our grid off fossil fuels in five years, but its not profitable to do that, so he doesnt.

Im definitely a democratic socialist. I dont like this system. Its the elite that own the railroads and everything else. It has nothing to do with helping people and working class families. Its the elite and what they want.
When Mike Rowe Sr. of Husker Steel put in the winning bid on the grand champion steer at the Platte County Fair's July 10 livestock auction, he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Well, my grandson was showing it," Rowe said.

Rowe's grandson, Zach Anderson, a senior at Lakeview, received the grand champion steer title for the crossbreed at the Platte County Fair on July 8, the first in the family to do so.

"My children all showed cattle when they were in school and my grandchildren have shown them. I don't know if we've had a grand champion steer in the family before, though," Rowe said.

The steer went for $11,500, which goes to the showman. Those graduating, like Anderson, may use the money for college, or reinvest in their animals.

The animal may either be processed or kept by the showman, as well. Such was the case with the champion broiler chicken, which was bought by Hy-Vee and sent home with Levi Finn, the 4-H'er who raised it.

Columbus Store Manager Casey Schwarting said the auction is a great way to encourage kids interested in agriculture.

"The reason we do it every year is those kids do a ton of work, we just want to reward them as much as we can and help 4-H as much as we can every year," Schwarting said.

This is Anderson's last year to show as a 4-H showman, according to Rowe, so it's fitting it be his best year.

"If he didn't get it this year, he wasn't going to get it," Rowe said.

Rowe noted that competition is tough at the Platte County Fair, tougher than other counties he's seen.

"When my kids were showing, you had to really be on your toes to hang in there. My daughters and son came up through those ranks. We got reserves, but no grand champion. It's quite an accomplishment for him," Rowe said.

Rowe added that this area is particularly strong in breeding and raising animals in general, outside of the show environment.

"It doesn't matter if it's hogs, sheep, goats, cows, any breed. There's a lot of good animal husbandry people around here who know what it takes," Rowe said.

Schwarting said that level of involvement on the part of farmers is another reason Hy-Vee supports 4-H: to support future farmers.

"It's the livelihood of so many people in the community, and 4-H teaches life lessons, added to the things the parents teach them," Schwarting said. "It's our business, farmers produce the things we carry in store."

In total, 13 grand champion animals were auctioned off, ranging from steers to sheep, gilts, goats and boiler chickens. Pinnacle Bank, Bank of The Valley and Pillen Family Farms bid on most of the grand champion animals.

In the reserve champion category, 26 purple ribbon sheep, 21 purple ribbon goats, 40 purple ribbon swine, 4 broiler chickens, and 23 steers were auctioned off as well.
Fiji is hosting the 51st Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (PIF) from 1114 July in the capital, Suva, chaired by Fijis Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.

The meeting is billed as one of the most significant in recent history, amid explosive geo-strategic tensions as the United States and its allies, Australia and New Zealand, seek to reassert their dominance and push back against Chinas growing influence. At the same time, the climate crisis and rising sea levels remain the urgent existential issues for forum leaders.

Pacific Forum Island members in dark blue (Source: Wikimedia)

The PIF is the Pacifics peak diplomatic body. Leaders from 14 countries, including the two local imperialist powers Australia and NZ, are gathering face-to face for the first time since 2019, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, are attending. Both have just returned from Europe where they addressed the NATO summit, giving full-throated support for the US-NATO war against Russia over Ukraine and fully endorsing the militarist organisations expansion into the Asia-Pacific to confront China.

Indicating the deepening concern over intensifying geo-strategic rivalries and militarization, the PIF will for the first time not hold an in-person meeting for its 21 dialogue partners, who usually attend as observers. China, the US, Japan and others will all be effectively excluded.

The PIF itself is increasingly divided and unstable, with at least four leaders announcing at the last minute that they will not attend this weeks summit.

Kiribati President Taneti Maamau confirmed he was withdrawing from the PIF over dissatisfaction with the organisations leadership. Immediately, unsubstantiated allegations that China had engineered the exit appeared in the international media.

Massey University lecturer Anna Powles told TVNZ that having an ally outside of the forum would benefit Beijing. The pro-NZ Labour Party Daily Blog declared Kiribati had walked into the open arms of China. The Sydney Morning Herald stated that Kiribati is seen as a potential partner for China in the region.

In fact, Kiribati is one of five members of the Micronesian subgroup of countries which last year threatened to leave the PIF, ostensibly over the appointment of former Cook Islands prime minister Henry Puna as secretary general, instead of a Micronesian leader. The fiveKiribati, Nauru, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesiahave traditionally been aligned with Washington, although Kiribati switched its diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China in 2019.

An agreement to stay inside the PIF, reached last month following talks with the Micronesian leaders in Fiji, appears to be breaking down. It cannot be ruled out that the crisis was provoked by the United States or one of its allies, in order to break apart the PIF and intensify the confrontation with Beijing.

In addition to Kiribati, the Marshall Islands government announced this week that it is not taking part in the PIF summit, and confirmed that it is no longer a member of the Forum. The Marshall Islands has close ties with US imperialism and hosts a US Army base.

Radio NZ (RNZ) reports today that Naurus Lionel Aingimea [is] also understood to not be attending [the summit], ostensibly because of the soaring levels of Covid-19 in his country. Nauru and the Marshall Islands are among a handful of countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan and have no relations with China.

The current Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown has also pulled out, and said he wants to focus on the election, which is to be held in three weeks, according to RNZ. The Cook Islands is a semi-colony of New Zealand, which controls the Cooks foreign and defence policy.

The PIF meeting follows a recent ten-nation tour of the region by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The visit included the formalisation of a security deal with the Solomon Islands, prompting hysterical threats by Washington and Canberra of a possible regime change operation against the government of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.

Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in early June 2022 (Image: Senator Penny Wong Facebook)

Australias new foreign minister Penny Wong was dispatched to the Pacific to shore up relations. While her visits were couched in terms of regional engagement and friendship, in reality Canberra and Wellington have been delegated by the Biden administration to aggressively counter Beijing and line up island states throughout the Pacific behind the anti-China offensive.

Washington then announced the creation of a Partners in the Blue Pacific initiative involving the US, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Japanall historic colonisers in the regionto address growing challenges to the regional rules-based order, i.e. the order established by the US by which it sets the rules globally.

The program declares it will strengthen the PIF while upgrading US diplomatic facilities, and very likely military bases, across the region. It has promised more contact with Pacific countries that at times receive lesser attention, and claims Washington will work in partnership with them.

However, as a commentary by the Development Policy Centre on July 5 noted, in the manner of its establishment the project runs roughshod over Pacific leaders while seeking to impose a new hierarchy of preferred partners from outside. The project appropriates for its own purposes the PIFs Blue Pacific narrative while pretending to share Pacific Islands agendas.

Canberra and Wellington have been active in the lead-up to the PIF, meeting with the principal leaders and heavily promoting regionalism and the Pacific family against the outsider China. In fact the construct of a regional family is a pure invention. Behind the hypocritical phrase-mongering lies over a century of imperialist domination over the impoverished island countries, including interfering in their domestic affairs.

Following a meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Wellington last month, Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa said the PIF meeting would provide the opportunity for leaders to consider security issues in a wider context and test the usefulness of current arrangements. Ardern added that while every PIF member has the sovereign right to make their own decisions, as a forum well come together, well discuss these issues and build a consensus.

One of the arrangements referred to by Mataafa is the Biketawa Declaration, signed in 2000 under intense pressure from Australia and New Zealand. The declaration states that in time of crisis, including when countries face threats to their security, broadly defined, the PIF must urgently take action together as a familyeffectively overriding the principle of non-interference in the affairs of member nations. It provides a mechanism to rubber-stamp diplomatic, economic and military intervention anywhere in the region, at the behest of the major powers.

The Solomon Islands government is standing its ground over the agreements reached with China, setting the stage for a tense and divided summit of the PIF. Speaking to the Guardian last month, Collin Beck, the countrys permanent secretary of foreign affairs, said the China deal was needed to maintain internal security and help fight climate change.

Beck hit out at the international criticism that the deal had provoked. We have various alliances that exist within the Pacific, which talk about the Pacific but the Pacific is not in the room, he said, listing the Quad (a quasi-military alliance of the US, Australia, India and Japan) and the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and US.

In a further sign of deteriorating relations, on July 11, the Australian newspaper said that five Australian aid workers, who had been employed to work as advisers on development projects in the Solomons, had been blocked from entering the country.

Meanwhile, many present and former Pacific leaders are insisting that the climate crisisnot Chinais the biggest threat to the region. Pacific countries are already suffering from king tides, catastrophic cyclones, sustained droughts and the loss of low-lying islands to sea level rise.

In a statement in April, the Pacific Elders Voice group, which includes former leaders of the Marshall Islands, Palau, Kiribati and Tuvalu, as well Meg Taylor, the former PIF secretary general said that the primary security threat to the Pacific is climate change, adding that it was time that the international community focus on these insecurities.

Last week former Tuvalu prime minister and Pacific Elders Voice spokesman Enele Sopoaga sharply criticised the Australian Labor governments target for greenhouse gas emissions to be cut by 43 percent, saying it was far from being adequate. They need to do much more, they need to do not just these minimal targets, but move towards meeting more like 75 percent targets to catch up with the rest of the world, Sopoaga warned, urging the PIF to discuss the issue.
Will Lehman, a Mack Trucks worker in Macungie, Pennsylvania who is running for president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), spoke with Indian and German Ford workers at a meeting on Sunday against plant closures that was sponsored by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC).

Will Lehman, worker at Mack Trucks in Macungie, Pennsylvania and candidate for president of the United Auto Workers

Lehman is running to develop a rebellion by UAW members against the bloated union bureaucracy and to establish the power of the rank and file on the shop floor. His participation in the meeting of Ford workers from the threatened plants in Tamil Nadu, India and Saarlouis, Germany underscores that the foundation of his campaign is the fight for the international unification of the working class against the attacks on jobs and living standards by Ford and the other transnational auto giants.

In every country, the biggest obstacles to a unified struggle are the nationalist and pro-capitalist union bureaucracies, which have imposed one concession after another in the name of making their own capitalist corporations more competitive and supposedly saving jobs. This policy has only pitted one section of workers against another in a fratricidal race to the bottom and has never saved a single job. In the US, the number of hourly Ford workers has fallen from 191,400 in 1978 to barely 55,000 in 2021.

Lehman was invited to the meeting to speak about the significance of his campaign for the UAW presidency. He made the following remarks, which were translated into German and Tamil.

Im proud to be among you in this meeting of international workers. Im Will Lehman, and Im running for the office of international president of the United Auto Workers trade union.

My campaign is not for a seat at the trade union bureaucracys table, but to oppose the national isolation program of the UAW bureaucracy. For decades, UAW officials have told us that our enemies are not the corporations that have been attacking our jobs and conditions, but our fellow workers in other countries. Workers are increasingly seeing that it is the companies and the union bureaucracies that are the enemy, and workers in other countries as our brothers and sisters, not our enemies.

I want to make workers aware of the vastly more powerful stance of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) and highlight the betrayals of the UAW to dispel any notion of reforming the union by replacing one bureaucrat with another. My campaign advances the call for the complete abolition of the union bureaucracy and putting power into the hands of the workers, who I urge to form rank-and-file committees.

In America, workers are entering back into struggle, with many going on strike for the first time in decades. The workers at Mack Trucks, where I work, went on strike for the first time in 35 years in 2019. The situation is very similar for many other autoworkers in America.

Last year saw the strike of New River Valley Volvo Trucks workers in Virginia. Through the work of the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee, they were able to reach out to Volvo workers in Belgium, Canada and other countries for international solidarity. John Deere workers went on strike, workers at auto parts manufacturer Dana rejected their contract and their struggle was diverted by the UAW, and cereal makers at Kelloggs went out on strike for weeks to abolish tiers. This year, auto parts workers are attempting to enter into struggle at the Ventra plant in Evart, Michigan.

Workers in the US are continuing to find that the old methods of reliance on the unions are not adequate in confronting corporations for adequate pay and working conditions.

My campaign seeks to point the way forward for these workers through international struggle. Ford workers in the US will need to recognize that Ford workers in any other country are also their allies. Ford is not an American company, it is an international company. If it is to be fought successfully it must be fought by workers internationally; the same for Mack Trucks parent company, Volvo, and the rest. The global nature of production will be made clear in my campaign. The only valid method of struggle of workers will be through international solidarity.
No matter what is happening in the world, one can always count on the New York Times to lie about it. In this spirit, the Times published an article Tuesday telling its readers that people around the world are better off than ever and that the many millions who are risking their lives protesting against shortages of basic goods and the rising cost of living are simply ignorant of all the data showing how grateful they should be.

Is the world really falling apart, or does it just feel that way? reads the headline. Dr. Pangloss from Voltaires Candide couldnt have posed the question any better. The Times writes: if one merely scans the headlines, its easy to conclude that something has broken, but that sense of chaos can be difficult to square with longer-term data showing that, on many metrics, the world is generally becoming better off.

According to the author, Max Fisher, War is rarer today, by some measures, than it has been for most of the past 50 yearsand, when it does occur, is significantly less deadly. Genocides and mass atrocities are less common all the time, too. Life expectancy, literacy and standards of living are all rising, on average, to historic highs. Also steadily declining: hunger, child mortality, and extreme poverty, liberating hundreds of millions from what are, by sheer numbers, among the pre-eminent threats facing humanity. The article contains one passing reference to the pandemic.

In recent years, the Times has been held up as a model authentic news source, while the World Socialist Web Site has faced censorship and journalists like Julian Assange are rotting in jail for telling the truth. Nevertheless, we submit the following statements by the Times to basic fact-checking.



War is rarer today and is significantly less deadlyLIE

The United States and NATO allies are presently waging a war against Russia in Ukraine, bringing the world closer to the brink of nuclear catastrophe than at any point since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The US government has poured tens of billions of dollars into backing the Ukrainian government in a war that Joe Biden said was aimed at removing Vladimir Putin from power. The conflict escalates every week and threatens to emerge into open world war between nuclear powers.

The US has been permanently at war for over two decades. The US invasions and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan killed over 1 million civilians. The US-backed Saudi invasion of Yemen had killed an estimated 377,000 by the end of 2021. The US-instigated war in Syria has killed an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 more. The number of people displaced by war has never been higher in world history.

How convenient that the New York Times, which supported each of these wars and helped initiate them, declares they are significantly less deadly!

Life expectancy is risingLIE

A study published in March 2022 in the journal Population and Development Review reports that global life expectancy declined by roughly 0.92 years in 2020 and another 0.72 years in 2021 due to the pandemic and worsening social inequality. These are the first declines in global life expectancy since the United Nations began tracking this figure in 1950. According to a study published in the Lancet, global excess deaths in the last two years stood at 18.2 million by the end of 2021.

Literacy is risingLIE

A series of studies in late 2021 and early 2022 note that a third of children in the United States are missing benchmarks for readinga far higher rate than before the pandemic. A study from the University of Virginia showed that early childhood reading skills are at a 20-year low, and that 60 percent of children at impoverished schools are at high risk for functional illiteracy.

On a global scale, the World Literacy Foundation reported in 2020 that the pandemic is causing a [c]atastrophic rise in illiteracy. The organizations CEO said, 770 million people in the globe cant read or write a single word and a further 2 billion people struggle to read a sentence. We are now witnessing a rapid downward spiral in literacy standards and sadly many children will not return to their education and will face lifelong poverty.

Hunger is decliningLIE

In 2020, even before the outbreak of the pandemic, 2.3 billion people lacked regular access to food, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, while more than 700 million experienced severe food insecurity that year.

War and the pandemic greatly exacerbated world hunger, according to a recent UN report, which explains the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms.

According to the head of the UNs World Food Program, the US/NATO war against Russia in Ukraine has meant that a record 345 million acutely hungry people are marching to the brink of starvation. Forbes recently noted that this figure is nearly triple the 135 million who were in the process of dying of starvation before the pandemic hit. Food prices have reached all-time highs. The US cannot even provide children with sufficient baby formula.

Child mortality is decliningLIE

A UN report published days before the Times article warned that a staggering 22 percent of the worlds children under age five (150 million children) are so deprived of food that they have stunted growth and development. Some 45 million children under age five6.7 percent of the totalsuffer from wasting, which means they are actively dying of starvation. A remarkable 4,357 children died of gun violence in the US alone in 2020. Tens of thousands of children have died of COVID-19.

Extreme poverty is decliningLIE

In the last three months, 71 million people in the developing world have fallen into poverty, according to a July report from the World Bank, which estimates that the combined crises of war and pandemic will lead to an additional 75 million to 95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022.

During the pandemic, 1 billion full time jobs were lost, according to the International Labor Organization, and hundreds of millions of informal workers lost their sources of income. An additional 275 million people were thrown below the international poverty line of $3/day. On top of this, the IMF has planned a new wave of austerity that will negatively impact over 6 billion people in 2022.



The Times explains that the billions of people whose stomachs are grumbling, whose wallets are empty, who cannot receive a decent education and whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by coronavirus, war and environmental catastrophe, simply do not understand how good they have it under capitalism.

We tend to judge how we are doing compared to those around us, or compared to our own recent pastnot compared to abstract benchmarks or previous generations. And many of the positive changes are about prevention, the Times sagely explains. No one notices the wars that dont happen, the family members who arent claimed by disease, the children who dont die in infancy.

What an absurd and staggering statement! Twenty million people have died in an ongoing pandemic. Over 10 million children have lost a parent to COVID-19. One in 500 children in the US has been orphaned. All of this has happened in the span of just three years, with no end in sight. And in the midst of it all, as the Times advocates policies that will guarantee more death, the newspaper of record tells working people to be grateful for the family members who arent claimed by disease?

In May, the New York Times wrote a similarly stupid and delusional article claiming that economic conditions for American workers havent been this bright since men landed on the moon. At the time, the WSWS replied by quoting Leon Trotskys description of the self-delusional social outlook of the Russian Tsarina on the eve of the Revolution of 1917, which bears repeating:

When Alexandra Feodorovna, three months before the fall of the monarchy, prophesies: All is coming out for the best, the dreams of our Friend mean so much! she merely repeats Marie Antoinette, who one month before the overthrow of the royal power wrote: I feel a liveliness of spirit, and something tells me that we shall soon be happy and safe. They both see rainbow dreams as they drown.
This article was originally posted on Twitter.

The New York City Emergency Management Department has posted a public service announcement advising residents what they should do in the event of a nuclear attack.

Incredibly, the video begins: So theres been a nuclear attack. Dont ask me how or why. Just know that the big one has hit. Then comes the advice:

1) Get inside; 2) Stay inside, stay away from windows, and shower if exposed to radioactive fallout; 3) Stay tuned.

Just think how many lives might have been saved if the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had taken these steps! What the fantasists who created the video fail to mention is that a hydrogen bomb strike would reduce most of New York City to flaming rubble within seconds.

Tens of thousands of people would be instantly vaporized. At least 80 percent of NYC residents would be dead within minutes of the nuclear strike. All public services would be dysfunctional. Most of those who survived the initial blast would be dead within a few days.

NYC and its environs would be uninhabitable for decades. The scale of the resulting destruction is beyond description. Tsar Bombaa hydrogen bomb detonated by the Soviet Union in a nuclear test 60 years ago produced devastation within a 60 mile radius.

An attack on NYC would be just part of a worldwide nuclear exchange. According to a new study using computer simulations by Louisiana State University, a nuclear war would result in a global ice age leading to the extinction of life on the planet.

Even worse than the delusional advice is the statement: Dont ask me how or why. But those are precisely the questions that must be asked if a catastrophe is to be stopped. The concise answer to why? is that the reckless policies of Washington triggered a nuclear war.

The release of the public service message can only mean that NYC officials, acting on information they have received from Washington, believe that a nuclear war is now a distinct and even imminent danger.

Rather than pulling back from the brink, Biden is escalating the reckless war against Russia. The public service announcement is in line with recent efforts by the US government and media to downplay the consequences of a nuclear war and portray it as a survivable event.

In a recently published book on the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, historian Serhi Plokhy writes that a nuclear war was averted, despite numerous blunders and miscalculations, because American and Soviet leaders recognized the catastrophic consequences. He writes:

Kennedy, Khrushchev, and their generation of world leaders and the citizens of their countries came of age in the shadow of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki That generation was keenly aware of the destruction that atomic and especially hydrogen bombs could wreak on their countries and humankind as a whole. Every move of the two leaders ... was dictated by their fear of the use of nuclear weapons... There is little doubt that today there are world leaders prepared to take a more cavalier attitude toward nuclear weapons and nuclear war than Kennedy and Khrushchev had in 1962.

This is true. But the recklessness is not merely a problem of the leaders psychology.

The conditions of intense capitalist crisisproducing a sense among leaders that desperate measures are necessary and unavoidableresult in actions that would in normal times be rejected out of hand as insane.

The only effective and rational response to the insane policies of the capitalist regimes is their overthrow by the working class and the unification of humanity on a progressive basis through socialism. The alternatives, Rosa Luxemburg wrote, are socialism or barbarism.

Make the decision to stop war and fight for socialism! Read the World Socialist Web Site! Join the Socialist Equality Party! Build the Fourth International as the World Party of Socialist Revolution.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) held a well-attended online public meeting on Sunday, Oppose British extradition order: Fight to free Julian Assange! More than 200 people tuned in from across Australia, as well as Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The meeting is available to view in full below.

Oppose British extradition order: Fight to free Julian Assange!

The meeting was called in response to British Home Secretary Priti Patels announcement that her government had approved the extradition of Assange to the United States, where he faces 175 years imprisonment for exposing US-led war crimes. With almost all legal avenues in the British courts exhausted, the announcement underscores that the fight to free the WikiLeaks founder is increasingly urgent.

The following resolution was passed without opposition at the meeting:

This meeting condemns the persecution of Julian Assange by the American, British, Australian and Swedish governments for exposing the war crimes of the US and its allies. We demand that the Australian government end its collaboration with the legal travesty to railroad Assange into the US courts and instead use all its diplomatic and other powers to secure his immediate and unconditional release.

SEP National Secretary Cheryl Crisp chaired the meeting, with reports delivered by World Socialist Web Site writers Eric London and Oscar Grenfell. Following the speakers, the meeting featured a lively discussion as the panel responded to questions and comments from the diverse and highly engaged audience.

Crisp emphasised that what must be fought for, as the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and SEP have done from the outset, is the mobilisation of the working class to come to the defence of this courageous journalist.

Crisp and the other speakers explained that this is the opposite of the bankrupt perspective of making plaintive appeals to official politicians, including the newly elected Labor government in Australia, former UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn or Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

These layers are all in agreement over the need to silence figures like Assange in order to suppress opposition to the war agenda, under conditions where the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is rapidly advancing towards a global conflagration.

Crisp drew the critical parallel between Assange and Dr. David Berger, an Australian general practitioner whose medical registration is under threat due to his criticism of the homicidal let it rip COVID-19 policies embraced by all Australian governments.

London, a national committee member of the SEP in the United States and a writer for the WSWS, declared: The institution that is primarily responsible for everything that has happened to Assange is the government of the United States and its two component parts, the Democratic and Republican parties.

The population, London explained, cannot be allowed to come within a ten-foot pole of the truth, under conditions where the US fight for democracy means bringing the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe with Russia, starving billions of people and triggering mass hunger in the midst of the worlds worst pandemic in centuries.

The assault on democratic rights by the US ruling elite is no less acute in the domestic arena. Eighteen months on from Trump and the Republicans January 6, 2021 attempt to establish a fascistic presidential dictatorship by force, London noted, all the main conspirators are free and plotting a second attempt for the next elections in 2024.

The Democrats, London said, insist on saving the Republican Party and promoting illusions of national unity, which are completely shattered by the reality of life in the US: Daily mass shootings, police killings and reactionary decisions from the courts.

For these reasons, London explained, such a political establishment cannot tolerate freedom for the likes of Julian Assange.

London stressed the need for the fight for Assanges freedom to be based on a fight to mobilise the international working class, in which there is an unprecedented upsurge in response to rapid increases in the cost of living and widespread shortages of food and other essentials. This was sharply expressed in developments over the weekend in Sri Lanka, where masses of protesters occupied the presidential palace, forcing the resignation of President Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe.

Oscar Grenfell, a member of the SEP (Australia) national committee and a writer for the WSWS, warned that any illusions that the newly elected federal government of Anthony Albanese will do anything to aid Assange are a complete dead end.

Labors position on Assange is very clear, Grenfell said. Its identical to that of the former Liberal government.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Defence Minister Richard Marles have all refused to employ the diplomatic powers they have to free Assange, although such powers have been used in the past to aid Australian citizens being persecuted abroad.

Grenfell explained that Labors refusal to defend Assange was based on its full support for American imperialisms plans to dominate the world through conflict with Russia and China.

Grenfell noted that Labor and Coalition governments could not have thrown Assange to the wolves as they did, without political assistance. This came from the Greens and the pseudo-left, who promoted the frame-up of Assange through the Swedish sexual misconduct investigation, which was always a sham.

The critical issue for defenders of Assange, Grenfell concluded, is to turn to the emerging movement of the global working class, and to explain the connection between Assanges plight and the social and democratic rights of the working class.

In response to questions and comments from attendees, the panelists reiterated the necessity to understand the persecution of Assange in its political and historical context.

Grenfell said: Weve never viewed the Assange case as a single issue, separate from whats taking place more broadly.

None of the increasing attacks on the working class, including war, the pandemic or the persecution of Assange, could be understood as the product of individual proclivities or moral failings, he continued.

The most basic social and democratic rights of working people are incompatible with a society dominated by the banks, big business and a vast military intelligence apparatus. This, Grenfell explained, meant the only solution was a struggle against the capitalist system itself.

In response to a question about the silence of the unions on the persecution of Assange, Crisp noted the refusal of the unions to raise the protection and defence of their own members from COVID-19, just as they have they no concern for the health and wellbeing of Assange.

Crisp explained: These are not organisations that defend the interests of the working class, so they do not defend the interests of Julian Assange, who speaks the truth and speaks to inform broad sections of people about what goes on behind closed doors, what goes on that the media refuses to report.

In response to questions over whether the fight to free Assange could be taken forward through appeals to left figures such as Jeremy Corbyn, London noted, Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020, a period during which Julian Assange was in London, in the embassy.  We have to be ruthless in exposing all of those who had any opportunity and refused, as Corbyn did, to lift a finger to help Julian Assange.

Rather than appeals to such figures, London stressed, what is required is a powerful united movement of the working class that aims to defend democratic rights and the likes of Julian Assange by attacking the source, capitalism. That requires socialist revolution. Thats the only way that Assange can be protected, thats the only way that world war can be prevented and thats what the perspective of the Socialist Equality Party is aimed at achieving.

The SEP urges all defenders of democratic rights and opponents of imperialist war to get involved and join the fight to free Julian Assange. Contact the SEP today and sign up for the Free Assange Newsletter below.
The House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 coup attempt by Donald Trump will resume public hearings this week after a 10-day break, on Tuesday afternoon. Another hearing, initially set for Thursday evening, has been put off until next week.

Members of the Oath Keepers on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington [Credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta]

According to committee members who appeared on Sunday television interview programs, Tuesdays hearing will focus on the role of fascist groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, who acted as the spearhead of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The goal was to shut down the certification of Democrat Joe Bidens victory in the Electoral College and enable Trump to remain in office as a dictator-president after his term expired on January 20.

Of the five Sunday television interview programs, only Fox News, predictably, did not have a guest from the House Select Committee and did not devote even a single minute to discussing the January 6 investigation. Each of the other four networks interviewed a member of the committee.

The two who will lead the questioning Tuesday, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Stephanie Murphy of Florida, both Democrats, appeared on CBS and NBC respectively. Both emphasized the significance of Trumps December 19, 2020 tweet urging his supporters to come to Washington on January 6 and promising them that the event will be wild, a pledge that was certainly fulfilled.

People are going to hear the story of that tweet, and then the explosive effect it had in Trumpworld, and specifically among the domestic violent extremist groups, the most dangerous political extremists in the country at that point, Raskin said. Murphy called the tweet a siren call to these groups to join a last stand to keep Trump in power.

Murphy said that the goal of the series of hearings was to establish a coherent narrative of the events from the election to the attack on the Capitol. The overall message that we have been gathering out of all of these witnesses is that the president knew he had lost the election, or that his advisers had told him he had lost the election, and that he was casting about for ways in which he could retain power and remain the president, despite the fact that the democratic will of the American people was to have President Biden be the next elected, she said.

California Democrat Zoe Lofgren said on CNN that it was a logical conclusion to draw that Trump was aware of the role which groups like the Proud Boys would be playing. We are going to be connecting the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who are trying in government circles to overturn the election, she said.

Thursday nights hearing, scheduled during prime time to draw a larger viewing audience but now postponed, was to lay out a minute-by-minute account of Trumps actions in the White House during January 6, including any contacts with congressional leaders trapped inside the Capitol and with aides who were in direct contact with the fascist groups, including his attorney Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon, the former White House political adviser.

Bannon has been defying subpoenas from the committee and was found in contempt of Congress. The U.S. Department of Justice decided to prosecute this charge, and Bannon has a hearing set for July 18 when a federal judge will consider his effort to postpone his trial until October. The timing suggests that the offer to testify may be an effort to delay or forestall the trial.

Bannon has been claiming executive privilege, even though any discussions he held with then President Trump from September 2017 on, when he left his White House post, were as a private citizen, not as a presidential aide. On Saturday morning, Trump issued a statement releasing Bannon from any claim of executive privilege, a gesture that appeared to serve two purposes: allowing Bannon to drop his refusal to testify, and allowing Trump to maintain that executive privilege was still a valid claim, but one that he was waiving voluntarily.

It is not clear when, or even if, Bannon will appear before the committee in a closed session to give a deposition, but it is highly unlikely that he will appear at either public hearing this week, since these have been highly choreographed affairs relying mainly on pre-recorded testimony, with a handful of live witnesses whose testimony has been devastatingly unfavorable to Trump.

The other new high-profile witness is former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who was the in-house lawyer for the president during the final two years of his term and led his defense in the trial of his first impeachment in early 2020, on charges relating to his efforts to use the government of Ukraine to gather political dirt on his likely Democratic opponent, Biden.

Cipollone had declined to be questioned by the committee on the record and under oath, citing executive privilege. But under increasing public pressure, particularly from the Republican vice chair of the committee, Liz Cheney, and after the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, depicting Cipollone as an opponent of the January 6 attack on the Capitol, he shifted his position.

On Friday, July 8, Cipollone sat for an eight-hour deposition behind closed doors. Few details of his testimony have leaked out, but House Select Committee members interviewed Sunday said that he did not contradict Hutchinsons testimony about Trumps determination to join and lead the mob in its attack on Congress. Portions of his testimony will be part of the material presented at future hearings, committee members said.

Tuesdays hearing is also to examine a meeting held December 18, 2020 at the Willard Hotel, where several top Trump allies involved in promoting the stop the steal lie campaign discussed extraordinary and illegal measures to block the congressional certification of the votes of the Electoral College. The members of the Electoral College elected November 3 had assembled in each state capital on December 14, as prescribed by law, and cast their ballots, giving Biden a victory over Trump by a margin of 332 to 206.

The December 18 meeting included, among others, attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell and retired general and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. One action they discussed was an executive order to seize voting machines in a number of key battleground states, including Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada, to conduct either a recount or an entirely new election under military supervision.
Last Friday, Labor government Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced that he was ending the prosecution of Bernard Collaery, a lawyer who had been charged with breaching national security laws by allegedly exposing Australian spying on East Timor.

The end of the prosecution, which was launched in 2018, is no doubt welcome news to Collaery and his supporters.

Bernard Collaery (Image: collaerylawyers.com.au)

The 78-year-old, who is a widely-respected barrister and prominent political figure, has been subjected to state harassment and persecution for the best part of a decade. His only supposed crime was bringing to light the unlawful actions of the intelligence agencies, as part of Australias neo-colonial bullying and thuggery in the Pacific.

Dreyfus order, however, will do nothing to end the onslaught against whistleblowers as well as journalists who publish information deemed to be of national security significance.

In a press conference outlining the decision, Dreyfus made this plain. Governments must protect secrets, and this government remains steadfast in our commitment to keep Australians safe by keeping secrets out of the wrong hands, he declared.

The attorney-general emphasised that he was not establishing any sort of precedent for an end to whistleblower prosecutions. The Collaery case was exceptional, he insisted.

The government has given no indication that it will drop other such cases. David McBride, a former military lawyer, is being prosecuted for allegedly exposing Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. Charges carrying a maximum-sentence of ten years imprisonment remain against Richard Boyle, who is accused of revealing the aggressive debt-collection practices of the Australian Taxation Office.

Labor is also fully committed to the draconian legislation under which Collaery was being prosecuted.

The barrister faced five charges under the Intelligence Services Act, passed in 2001 by Labor and the Liberal-National Coalition. The laws aim to outlaw any exposure of the activities of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), the countrys foreign spy agency.

Collaerys defence lawyers argued that the legislations secrecy provisions were voided, by the fact that the conduct of ASIS that had been revealed was unlawful. The prosecution insisted that there was no such public interest defence. In other words, even illegal actions by the spy agency were protected on national security grounds.

The federal Liberal-National Coalition government and the prosecution also attempted to hold most of Collaerys trial in complete secrecy. They invoked provisions of the National Security Information Act, which permits court proceedings to be entirely closed, if national security material is being discussed. The attorney-general has sweeping powers to recommend a case be heard in such a Kafkaesque manner. That legislation was also passed by Labor in 2004.

While in opposition, Labor did not oppose the Collaery prosecution, giving the Coalition government a green-light to proceed with it.

More broadly, the Collaery case has highlighted militarist policies and dirty-tricks operations, implicating the entire political and state apparatus, including Labor.

Collaery first became involved in the matter, when he represented an ASIS employee known only as Witness K, in a 2008 workplace dispute. Witness K, a lifelong intelligence agent, allegedly revealed to Collaery that in 2004 he had been involved in a spying operation against East Timor.

ASIS had secretly bugged cabinet meetings of the East Timorese government. The material was then used by the Australian government, on behalf of major corporations, in negotiations aimed at securing favorable access to massive oil and gas deposits in the Timor Gap.

The material was particularly explosive because it exposed the predatory, imperialist character of Australias military intervention into East Timor in 1999. At that time, the Howard Coalition government, Labor and the entire official media, insisted that it was necessary to send troops to the Pacific nation to protect civilians against Indonesian militias.

The Collaery revelations made clear that in reality, all of Australias dealings in East Timor had been aimed at securing dominance over the strategically-important nation and its significant natural resources as East Timors nominal independence was established.

The spying information was reported in the media in 2013, with Collaery accused of passing on the revelations to Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalists. The same year, Collaery and Witness K testified at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, providing evidence in support of an East Timorese legal case against the bugging.

The then Coalition government responded with 2013 police raids against Witness K and Collaery. Witness K was prosecuted under national security laws, pleading guilty last year after court proceedings held entirely in secret.

Most significantly, Dreyfus decision was not motivated by any intention to end Australias dirty-tricks operations and meddling in the Pacific. Instead, Dreyfus and the Labor government as a whole are intensifying Australias aggressive intervention in the region, directed against China.

Dreyfus stated that All prosecutions involve a balancing of interests. The balance of interests can change over time. This is such a case. He added, My decision was informed by the government's commitment to Australia's national security and our relations with our neighbours.

The language is vague and includes the usual rhetoric about neighbours. But what Dreyfus was really raising was that the prosecution of Collaery, which East Timor has consistently denounced, risked complicating the Labor governments drive to dominate the Pacific on behalf of American imperialism.

Since coming to office less than two months ago, this has been a major focus of the new government. During the May election itself, Labor led the charge in a hysterical frenzy over the signing of a security pact between China and the Solomon Islands. This was the greatest foreign policy failure in the Pacific since World War Two, Labor declared.

It made those statements, under conditions where the US administration of President Joe Biden and the Liberal-National Coalition government threatened the Solomons with military intervention, if China were to establish a permanent defence presence there.

Labors new Foreign Minister Penny Wong has continued this line. In a series of visits throughout the Pacific, she has threatened the impoverished Pacific Islands with consequences if they turn away from the US and Australia and orient to China.

The kind of intrigues exposed by Witness K, are no doubt integral to this aggressive campaign. The Pacific is viewed as a central arena of the US-led confrontation with China, the key front in American imperialisms drive to dominate Eurasia and hence the world.

This militarist program is incompatible with democratic rights. Labor supported the intelligence legislation, under which Witness K and Collaery faced prosecution, as it did all of the anti-terror laws associated with the war on terror and the neo-colonial occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Then in 2018, as part of the current war policies against China, Labor joined with the Coalition to pass sweeping foreign interference laws. In addition to potentially illegalising much anti-war activity, the legislation contained expanded provisions for the prosecution of whistleblowers, as well as journalists who expose national security material, with penalties of up to life imprisonment (see: Australias new espionage laws target whistleblowers and political opponents).

In a 2018 interview, Andrew Hastie, then the Coalitions chair of the joint parliamentary intelligence and security committee, said the laws were necessary to prevent radical transparency and to stymie those seeking to get secrets from the United States.

Hastie added: Radical transparency is Julian Assange dumping a whole bunch of Commonwealth secrets out for public consumption.

Labor did not differ from this attack on WikiLeaks publisher Assange, as it passed laws specifically designed to prevent the sort of journalistic exposures with which he was identified.

Since then, Assange has been charged with 17 Espionage Act offenses by the United States, which is seeking his extradition from Britain. He faces 175 years in a US prison, for exposing US-led war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Labor government has rejected demands that it secure Assanges freedom, as a persecuted Australian citizen and journalist.
The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is continuing to receive statements for Dr. David Berger, an Australian physician and dedicated Zero-COVID advocate, who is facing disciplinary action from the Australian Health Practitioners Regulatory Authority (AHPRA) because of his exposure of government and corporate lies about COVID-19.

Dr. David Berger (Photo: Supplied)

Since the publication of our first article, which calls on scientists, health workers and other sections of workers to speak out in defence of Dr. Berger, the WSWS has published two articles compiling these statements and will continue publishing others throughout this week. These articles have been read by many thousands of people throughout the world.

We urge readers to speak out in Bergers defence by emailing your statements here. Please indicate in the email how you would like to be identified in our next article, and if you want to include a photo, please attach one to the email.

Associate Professor of Medicine & Public Health in New South Wales



Dr. Bergers defence has my full support. The silencing of Dr. David Berger is an anti-democratic act by AHPRA, a medical body who has a responsibility of overseeing the well-being of patients. This development is also hypocritical considering the advancing COVID-19 pandemic and the relentless truth telling of Dr Berger.

There have been at least 10,000 COVID-19 deaths in Australia to date, and this number is set to increase with the new surge due to new variants. This is directly due to both Labor and Liberal Government policy forcing the population to live with this virus, causing both acute and long-term illness, the latter in the form of Long COVID to which there are many concerning unanswered questions.



All provisions to minimise the spread of the virusproven to be effective and to which Dr. Berger has been so outspokenare of no concern to those that wish to punish a physician who has stood by his words with scientific fact. This silencing sends a clear message as to what capitalist governments stand forhuman life is expendableand the economy and profit are not. This has to change. Workers, students, scientists and medical staff need to rally behind Dr. Berger and provide him the relentless voice he has given us. The cost for not doing so is ongoing death and illness that is fully preventable.

Sydney nurses on strike - February 15, 2022

Gary, a junior doctor in Queensland

I am a practicing doctor and want to strongly register my support for Dr. David Berger and voice my opposition to his persecution by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Dr. Berger is a principled doctor who has a spent a distinguished career serving communities in rural and remote areas and the third world. He has advocated for the rights and healthcare needs of working people, including immigrants and refugees, and since the start of the COVID pandemic, he has fought for a scientific approach to saving lives from the deadly virus, correctly demanding its elimination. Such a position is scientifically justified, and a moral imperative for any health worker to advocate.

For AHPRA to censure him on bogus grounds of being unprofessional is absurd and malicious. It is a warning that any health worker who stands up for the health and safety of the public will suffer the loss of their jobs and probably worse. In this third year of the COVID pandemic, when lies and negligence characterize the response of governments, the defence of Dr. Berger is an essential responsibility of anyone calling themselves a health worker.

The old adage that truth is the first casualty of war very much applies to the disastrous pandemic policies that have been pursued by all capitalist government the world over, except China which is still following Zero-COVID.

The bureaucratic attempt by AHPRA to gag Dr. David Berger, an outspoken advocate of a scientific approach to containing the deadly COVID virus, is the further extension of the suppression of truth, replaced by misinformation and disinformation pumped out to the public daily. This has cost the lives of some 20 million people around the world and still counting.

The suppression of information of the danger of COVID was typified by the revelation that Trump withheld from the public the airborne nature of the virus for six months, after he was warned by the Chinese president that it was in fact airborne.

As the WSWS pointed out among some of the claims by government and senior health authorities were that children did not get COVID-19, the virus is not airborne, schools are safe, vaccine only policies would stop the coronavirus, the highly contagious Omicron was mild, and that the pandemic would become endemic. Dr. Berger, along with other dedicated scientists, has exposed these claims as lies.

As a healthcare worker I call for the withdrawal of AHPRAs requirements for Dr. Berger. We have a duty of care for our patients and the general public to see an end to the pandemic.

Kathryn McKeen, an enrolled nurse in New South Wales

The attack on Dr. David Berger by the Medical Board of Australia and AHPRA is an outrageous attack on one of the basic democratic rights, freedom of speech. By AHPRA demanding he undertake a disciplining education program, what they are really demanding is that he refute his well-researched, scientific approach to COVID-19 and quash his own refutation of the misinformation and lies propagated by government and media, in order to keep his job.

This is a travesty. Dr. Berger is a highly experienced remote area general practitioner, with a real understanding of the challenges facing residents, indigenous and non-indigenous, in rural and remote communities, in the struggle to protect themselves against infection and death from COVID-19 and for good health generally.



As a health worker myself, vehemently opposed to the murderous, let-it-rip policies of state and federal governments. I strongly condemn AHPRAs disciplinary action against Dr. David Berger, and demand they withdraw it immediately.

Send us your statements of support for Dr. Berger and we will publish them in the coming days.
The Socialist Equality Party calls on workers and youth to demand the immediate removal of the Conservative government and the calling of a general election.

The Tories are using the political crisis leading to the downfall of Boris Johnson to engineer a further lurch to the right. They are doing this through a leadership contest in which candidates compete over who can best deliver massive tax cuts for big business, continue a herd immunity agenda as the pandemic surges, and step up the war against Russia and Chinaall paid for through the destruction of jobs, wages and essential services.

This is only made possible by the political and industrial suppression of the working class by the Labour Party and the trade unions.

On Wednesday, a no confidence motion moved by Labour should have been debated in parliament, but the government refused to allow it. Longstanding convention dictates that a no confidence motion tabled by the leader of the opposition must be debated and voted on. But this is a government that will do whatever it takes to keep in office so it can continue with its relentless assault on the working class.

The Tories are so hated that a general election would sweep them from power. That is why when Johnson threatened to call a snap election at the height of his efforts to fend off a leadership challenge, there were demands for the queen to block him.

But Labour has no intention of seriously opposing this. Even when demanding a vote of no confidence, Sir Keir Starmer made clear he was not seeking a general election but to persuade the Tories to remove Johnson immediately, declaring were challenging them to put their constituents first and put the country first.

Now this manoeuvre has been blocked, Labour will let the Tories get on with whittling down the list of leadership challengers to two, so that the next prime minister can be in place for the reopening of parliament in September.

This must not be allowed to happen! The Tories cannot be left free to resolve their political crisis and establish a new government that would be a right-wing, authoritarian regime of warmongers, ruling on behalf of the financial oligarchy.

Every day they remain in power deepens the threat posed to the working class. On Monday, even with leadership candidates briefing against one another, the government was united in passing legislation allowing the use of agency workers as scabs to break strikes in essential services and quadrupling to 1 million the maximum fine on trade unions for industrial action deemed illegal.

Last months rail strikes by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union were cited as the pretext for this legal offensive, but Tories lined up to threaten the same treatment for teachers, doctors and nurses.

As for the war in Ukraine, UK ambassador to NATO David Quarrey told the Financial Times that Johnsons departure would have no impact on Britains leading role in providing weapons for use against Russia. It hasnt just started. And I dont think it is just about to end, he said. There is no doubt also that the decision by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace not to stand as party leader was taken in discussion with Washington to ensure continuity in a conflict that threatens a new world war.

The demand for a general election provides a means for the working class to intervene into political life and bring its independent interests to bear. It must be fought for in opposition to all the parties of big business now conspiring to keep workers politically disenfranchised.

The Tory and Labour Parties are de facto a single party of herd-immunity, social reaction, militarism and war. For the five years up until 2019, workers were told that Jeremy Corbyns leadership of Labour would see a left rebirth. Instead, constant retreats and betrayals ended with Corbyn handing the party back unscathed to Starmer.

Under Starmer, Labour members, including Corbyn himself, have been ruthlessly witch-hunted and driven out through lying allegations of anti-Semitism. The party fully supported Johnsons herd immunity agenda throughout the pandemic and acted as a loyal partner in the war in Ukraine. For months, its response to the crisis over lockdown drinks parties was to appeal to the Tories to do the right thing. Even as he urged decent, honourable members on the Tory benches to put their country first and remove Johnson, Starmer was threatening his own MPs with expulsion should they either criticise NATO or attend a picket line.

Should Labour come to power, it would seek to form a government of national unity, encompassing not only the Liberal Democrats but possibly some of the Tory MPs it has tried to convince to abandon Johnson. And Starmer has already made clear that such a government would continue to impose Tory policies to the letter.

The pseudo-left groups such as the Socialist Workers Party and Socialist Party have come out in opposition to the demand for a general election, claiming this would divert from the struggle outside parliament and play into the hands of Starmer. But it is they who once again do the dirty work of the Labour and trade union bureaucracy by insisting that workers abstain from political struggle and leave the Tories and Labour unchallenged.

The SWP tells workers. Dont play their parliamentary games We have to look elsewhereaway from parliament and the Labour Partyto bring them down But what they describe as forcing our way in through the cracks leaves the trade union leaders who stand fully behind Labour free to continue their efforts to suppress the class struggle.

Confirming the SWPs rejection of any possibility of workers challenging either the Tories or the Labour and trade union bureaucracy, SWP leader Alex Callinicos writes, Who knows whats coming next?  The Tories tradition of renewing themselves by decapitating unpopular leaders may work for them.

The Socialist Party admits that the central problem facing workers seeking an end to Tory rule is that waiting for a Labour government to act in workers interests is a pipe dream. But its answer is also to leave Labour in charge and the Tories in office until the next general election in 2024, when they hope to persuade the trade union leaders or potentially Jeremy Corbyn to solve the problem of working-class political representation.

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) raises the demand for a general election because posing the question of who rules the country addresses workers to the fundamental political tasks they face. And if replacing the Tories with Labour is no answer then now is the time for the working class to begin the building of its own socialist party.

The SEP is that party.

The conditions are rotten ripe for the working class to bring down the Tory government. Johnsons own downfall came just two weeks after national rail strikes threatened to act as a catalyst for an eruption of strike struggles by millions of workers facing a cost-of-living catastrophe. Only on Monday, train drivers employed by eight separate operating companies voted overwhelmingly for strike action.

The ruling class and its media speak constantly of a Summer of Discontent, while workers on picket lines talk of the need to unify all these struggles in a general strike. But the fight for such a mass mobilisation of the working class cannot bypass the central questions of political perspective and leadership.

Bringing down the Tories is not a perspective for parliamentary struggle. It demands a rank-and-file rebellion against the trade unions, which are working with Labour to suppress and betray every effort by the working class to take on the government and the employers to ensure the crisis is resolved safely within Westminster and in the interests of the capitalist class.

The fight of the working class against the Johnson government poses the necessity of a political mass movement, independent of and opposed to both the Tories and Labour, and against the capitalist system and its state. We will utilize any election campaign to fight for a programme expressing the interests of the British and international working class, uniting the struggle against austerity and herd immunity with the demand for an end to war through a struggle against capitalism and for socialism.

This fight for an anti-capitalist, internationalist, anti-imperialist and socialist perspective must be centred on building an interconnected network of rank-and-file workplace and neighbourhood committees to wrest control of the class struggle out of the hands of the pro-capitalist labour bureaucracy.

Above all, we will make clear that defending workers livelihoods, bringing an end to the pandemic and opposing militarism and war requires the unification of the working class in every country against the common enemy.
On Sunday, the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) hosted a meeting of Indian and German Ford workers, who are fighting to stop the closure of their factories by the US-based transnational corporation.

Attending the meeting were Ford India workers involved in the five-week wildcat strike against the closure of their factory on the outskirts of Chennai, the capital of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Working in collusion with Ford management and Tamil Nadus DMK government, the Chennai Ford Employees Union (CFEU) called off the militant strike by 1,500 mainly young workers on July 2, giving the company a free hand to move ahead with plans to shutter the plant by July 31. The closure would destroy 4,000 jobs at the plant and as many as 40,000 in related industries.

Workers occupying Fords Maraimalai Nagar assembly plant. (Supplied to the WSWS by a Ford worker)

Ford workers at the Saarlouis plant, near the French border in Germany, also participated in the meeting. With the assistance of the World Socialist Web Site, the Saarlouis Ford workers have established an independent action committee to defend jobs. The Ford Workers Action Committee has fought to unite German workers with their counterparts in Spain against the bidding war the unions and works councils in their respective countries have conducted to secure production of a new electric vehicle in 2026.

The IG Metall union in Germany and the UGT (Union General de Trabajadores, General Union of Workers) in Spain submitted competing offers to gut the wages, benefits and working conditions of their members. Last month, Ford executives announced they had selected the plant in Almussafes, Spain to produce the new EV, condemning 4,600 workers at the Saarlouis plant and another 1,500 workers in the adjacent supplier park to unemployment. The plant is slated to close at the end of 2025.

Ford workers demonstrate after the announcement of the closure of the Saarlouis plant, June 22, 2022 [Photo: WSWS]

Also attending Sundays online meeting was Will Lehman, a Mack Trucks worker in the United States who is running for president of the United Auto Workers (UAW). Lehman is fighting to mobilize workers to break the stranglehold of the UAW bureaucracy and build a powerful rank-and-file movement to defend the jobs and living standards of workers in every country.

In opening the meeting, WSWS Labor Editor Jerry White said, Autoworkers need a global strategy to fight the global strategy of Ford. Under Fords Global Redesign project, he said, the company is ending operations in India, Brazil and Russia. It has cut 12,000 jobs and sold or closed six plants in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Russia and the Czech Republic in the last three years alone.

Ford is redirecting $30 billion towards electric vehicles and has teamed up with Volkswagen to fight for control of the expanding EV market. It has also hired a former Tesla executive to run its newly separated EV business. In the coming months and years, White said, the automaker plans to accelerate its attack on workers at factories making internal combustion engine vehicles, while working with the unions to create a new, low-paid and contingent workforce in their EV and battery factories.

The courageous fight by Indian and German Ford workers was part of the growing resistance of autoworkers around the world to these attacks, including the GM strike in the US and the revolt by Mexican workers in 2019, the 2021-22 strikes at Volvo Trucks, John Deere and CNH in the US, and the recent strike vote by 50,000 Hyundai workers in South Korea. The purpose of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC), which was founded last year, is to coordinate the movement of the working class across national borders.

Speaking first in the discussion was a young worker at the Chennai Ford plant who was involved in the recent wildcat strike. I am happy the WSWS has been organizing the international workforce, he said. At the point that the union, management and the government tries to throw us down, your organization is trying to give us a perspective and program.

Ford announced it would shut the plant last September, but due to the continuous struggle by workers they were forced to extend that deadline, now to July 31. This struggle by workers for job security was isolated and defeated by the unions. The government and the labor commissioner have been working hand in hand with Ford management. Now the union is saying that the severance settlement has been increased from 115 to 121 days pay, just six days.

Striking Ford Chennai workers voice their support for building a rank-and-file committee to spearhead their struggle for job security. (WSWS Media)

After we complete production of the backlog of cars, the union says, then they will talk further with management about increasing the severance pay package. In this way, the union has never won any of the demands of the workers, he said, which was to preserve their jobs and incomes. Ford management has not called back the full workforce, only 1,200 workers, and we have not been told if other workers will receive their pay. The union has also called on [Tamil Nadus Chief Minister MK] Stalin from the DMK to intervene, he said, but the government has proven again and again to be on the side of Ford, not the workers.

Another Tamil Nadu autoworker at the nearby Renault-Nissan plant said, We are going through the same issues. The fact that the WSWS is organizing this meeting is a very good initiative. The unions never talk about the issues in other industries; they are not happy about workers uniting in different industries. The trade unions are working to isolate the working class. For example, our union is United Labor Federation, but even in the other industries where they have that union, they are not uniting the workers, even at other automobile companies. But they claim to be United Labor, thats their namesake, but they are not uniting, they are blocking workers from fighting back.

For the past three years we have not had a new wage agreement at Renault-Nissan. The union knows workers are suffering, but they are working hand in hand with management. I appreciate the WSWS because we workers believe that the trade union is the only way to fight our issues, that the trade union is in support of workers. But that perspective has broken down, and we agree with your analysis. We can see the role of the unions throughout the globe when we talk to workers in other countries. So I believe that this international alliance proposed by the WSWS should be expanded, and it should reach greater numbers of workers.

The Ford Chennai worker responded briefly to these comments, stating, Ford workers are being thrown out of our jobs. This same situation is expected to come to Renault-Nissan workers. I believe the unions are going to let us down, so I believe the WSWS through the international unity can fight for workers rights. I hope that the WSWS reaches the workers in Tamil Nadu and India because the workers here are not exposed to this international perspective. They still believe in the unions and courts, and those illusions need to be shattered.

Will Lehman, a Mack Trucks worker in Macungie, Pennsylvania, in the United States, was invited to speak about the significance of his campaign for presidency of the United Auto Workers.

Im proud to be among you in this meeting of international workers. My campaign is not for a seat at the trade union bureaucracys table but to oppose the national isolation program of the UAW...

Workers are increasingly seeing that it is the companies and the union bureaucracies that are the enemy, and workers in other countries as our brothers and sisters. I want to make workers aware of the vastly more powerful stance of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees...

Ford is not an American company; it is an international company. If it is to be fought successfully, it must be fought by workers internationally; the same for Mack Trucks parent company, Volvo, and the rest. The global nature of production will be made clear in my campaign. The only valid method of struggle of workers will be through international solidarity, he concluded.

Shift change at Ford Saarlouis (Photo: WSWS)

A German worker from Fords Saarlouis plant then spoke. Competition between the works council between Germany and Spain was a perfidious maneuver. Saarlouis did not have a chance, and we were simply used to push down conditions for our Spanish colleagues and to extract concessions from them. In the works council we have a real Mafia that intimidates workers and tells them that it is illegal to strike. IG Metall has also done everything to prevent a strike.

I want to express my deep respect for my Indian brothers and sisters and would like to know: How were you able to organize and carry out a strike?

A reporter from the WSWS who has reported on the struggle in India replied, The union never called for the strike. They also said it was illegal to strike. But the young workers initiated the strike from the beginning and kept the momentum going. In September when the plant was due to be closed, the workers demanded a vote on what they wanted to do.

The union was forced to carry out a vote, and the majority of workers in Chennai voted to demand job security. By the next month, October, the union tried to convince the workers that job security was not possible, and the young workers accepted that initially. Ford claimed they were going to bring an electric vehicle into the Chennai plant, but this was to hoodwink the workers into completing the production of 40,000 cars before it closed the plant.

The unions knew the electric vehicles were not going to come, but they convinced the workers to complete the production. After workers reduced the backlog from 40,000 to 1,400 cars, management said that no electric vehicle was going to come, and you are going to get a low-wage severance package. The workers got alerted and mounted a wildcat strike in defiance of the union leadership.

From the beginning of the strike on May 31, the unions tried to isolate the struggle, concealed its talks with management and tried to liquidate this protest. The key thing to note is that the Stalinist unions never raised anything about the loss of more than 2,300 workers because they are in an alliance with bourgeois parties and the bourgeois parliament.

Through the intervention of the WSWS from the beginning, we exposed what the unions were doing and urged the workers to demand to know what was happening in the secret talks with management and the labor commissioner. We distributed articles about what was happening to the Ford workers in Germany and Europe, and this had a powerful impact on the workers. It was both their militancy and the intervention of the WSWS explaining the isolating role of the unions which brought the consciousness to workers about forming a rank-and-file committee, and this kept the momentum going on.

The meeting also heard a report about the revolutionary upheaval in Sri Lanka, across the Palk Strait from southern India, where months of mass protests by workers and youth against crushing price hikes and food and fuel shortages have forced the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapakse. The capitalist opposition parties, with the full backing of the unions, are now trying to cobble together an interim government to impose a brutal IMF austerity program.

The Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka has rejected any participation in this political trap and is fighting for the expansion of action committees, workers control over the distribution of vital necessities, the repudiation of foreign debt, and the replacement of the capitalist government with a government of workers and peasants, committed to socialist policies.

The meeting concluded with the unanimous passage of a resolution declaring a commitment to developing the fight against the closure of the Chennai and Saarlouis plants and the restructuring of the global auto industry at the expense of the working class:

This meeting of rank-and-file workers from the closure-threatened Ford assembly plants in Tamil Nadu, India and Saarlouis, Germany, calls on all autoworkers to join us in fighting for a global workers counter-offensive against the drive of Ford and the other transnational automakers to restructure the industry at the expense of our jobs, wages and working conditions. The nationally based, pro-capitalist trade unions are adamantly opposed to such a struggle. That is why we are fighting to build a network of rank-and-file committees as advocated by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees. We welcome the initiative taken by our fellow autoworker Will Lehman in standing for president of the US-based United Auto Workers (UAW) union. In fighting for a rank-and-file rebellion against the bureaucratic union apparatus and fighting for the international unity of the working class, Brother Bill Lehman is showing the way forward for all workers.
South Korea Ready to Test its CBDC with Commercial Banks, But Says Launch Is a Long Way off

Source: Adobe/Pavel Ignatov

South Koreas central Bank of Korea (BOK) says it is now ready to commence real-world testing for its prototype digital won  but is refusing to say whether or not it actually intends to roll out the token.

Aju Kyungjae reported that 10 domestic commercial banks have already announced their intention to participate in the next stage of the BOKs central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot. As of late last year, the BOK has been conducting behind-closed-doors tests with private sector firms including subsidiaries of the internet giant Kakao.

But the BOK has stated that in the second half of the year, it wants major domestic commercial banks to join the testing process.

This next part of the multi-stage pilot, the bank said, will focus on remittance and payments in real financial service environments. As such, the BOK has sent most of the nations banks a letter asking for help. The 10 that have already signaled they are keen to work with the BOK include the banking giants Shinhan Bank and Nonghyup (NH) Bank.

The BOK also briefed banks on its digital KRW progress late last month.

The central bank wants to know whether its digital KRW prototype is compatible with various banks IT platforms and wants to investigate possible interoperability-related issues.

The BOK will then follow up this (final) stage of testing with a comprehensive report that it wants to share with overseas central banks and international financial organizations.

However, the report noted, the BOK still considers that it should take a cautious attitude toward digital token issuance. And even if the digital won proves to be usable, it is expected that it will take a considerable amount of time before it is actually introduced, per the report.

It added that a social consensus on a digital currency rollout would be needed prior to launch, while the BOK also wants time to ensure its tokens technical stability against cyber attacks. Security-related matters, it added, are also not problems that can be solved in a short period of time.

Aju Kyungjae quoted a spokesperson at the BOK as stating:

Even if we complete our research into a CBDC, it will take a long time [for us to] actually launch it.

____

Learn more:

- CBDCs An Investment to Protect the Fiat System, Cash Will Disappear, Swedish Central Banker Says

- Use of Digital Euro as Form of Investment Can be Prevented - ECB Official



- CBDCs Are Likely to Make You Less Anonymous

- Central Bankers' Attack on Crypto is a Legacy Vision, Failure to Recognize Revolutionary Benefits of DeFi - Analysts
The Wisconsin Supreme Court banned the use of election ballot drop boxes Friday. In a 54 ruling the court decided that absentee ballots may only be delivered to an election office and that they must be delivered by the voting person themselves. The ruling comes just a month before the August 9 primary elections in Wisconsin.

Jefferson E. Davis, spokesman for a group pushing for a broad review of the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin, holds up a copy of the Declaration of Independence before leading a group of about 100 people into the state Capitol offices of Republican state leaders asking them to sign subpoenas for access to voting machines, ballots and other election material, on Sept. 10, 2021, in Madison, Wis. [AP Photo/Scott Bauer]

Advocates for the elderly and disabled have sharply criticized the ruling, noting that it will make it far more difficult for these groups to cast their ballots. While the ruling does not bar someone else from helping mail the ballot, this method has also been attacked by Republicans and may be targeted by lawmakers or the court next.

The Wisconsin ruling is the latest in a long line of attacks on voting rights by Republican legislatures and courts following the defeat of former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Following his electoral loss, Trump and his fellow coup plotters in the Republican Party invented false claims of massive voter fraud, targeting ballot drop boxes and mail-in ballots in particular.

Joining in these unsubstantiated allegations, Republican legislators in 39 states have proposed nearly 400 bills with restrictive provisions on voting. So far, 18 states have passed 34 laws imposing restrictions on the right to vote since the start of 2021. Additional laws include provisions that make it easier for partisan interference to tamper with how elections are conducted and determined, opening the door for Republicans to disrupt or undermine the electoral process.

Fundamentally, the Republican assault on absentee voting is an attack on the democratic rights of the working class. The Republicans are using false claims of fraud to restrict voting options, impose partisan interference in elections and roll back decades of voting rights won by the working class through bitter struggle.

In this particular case, there are notable parallels to how the far-right majority of the US Supreme Court has based its efforts to roll back democratic rights and regulations on big business.

In both the courts rulings overturning Roe v. Wade and curtailing the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) ability to regulate the fossil fuel industry, the court argued that any right or regulatory power not explicitly enumerated by law is effectively invalid.

In the EPAs case, the Supreme Courts conservative majority claimed that the regulator did not have the specific authority to regulate power plants as an industry and that only Congress could create such regulations.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is making the same argument. In the ruling, the conservative majority argued that the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) did not have the explicit authority from the state legislature to establish hundreds of ballot drop boxes and regulate ballot submission protocols.

In her opinion, Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote, WECs staff may have been trying to make voting as easy as possible during the pandemic, but whatever their motivations, WEC must follow Wisconsin statutes. Good intentions never override the law.

The 114-page decision also featured bizarre references to Shakespeare and hip-hop artist Kanye West. Bradley quoted Wests 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, saying No one man should have all that power, and Shakespeares play Henry IV, comparing the WEC directing county election offices to offer ballot drop boxes to the dictates of a tyrant.

When the mouth of an employee at the WEC supplants the legislature of Wisconsin, we are left with sore or stinking laws, irredeemably infected by their promulgation in violation of the constitution by an executive branch agency, and impervious to correction by our constitutional lawmakers, wrote Bradley in the decision.

This counters the decision of Trump v. Biden by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2020 that rejected the claims of the Trump campaign that Wisconsins balloting system was illegal and so 220,000 votes should be placed on hold or struck.

Throughout her 2022 opinion, Bradley argues that Trump v. Biden should be overruled and frequently states that the ballots cast under the WECs pandemic guidance are illegal.

The ruling itself only applies to the legality of the WECs election guidelines, not retroactively to the validity of the 2020 election results. However, it is possible that additional lawsuits or legislative action may challenge the legitimacy of the 2020 election results in Wisconsin using this ruling.

Trump himself seized on the decision, calling for Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to overturn the 2020 election results. Its now up to Robin Vos to do what everybody knows must be done. We need FAIR and HONEST Elections in our Country, said Trump. Speaker Robin Vos has a decision to make! Does Wisconsin RECLAIM the Electors, turn over the Election to the actual winner (by a lot!), or sit back and do nothing as our Country continues to go to HELL?

Vos has publicly supported the court ruling but has not yet come out in support of retroactively declaring Trump the true winner of the presidential election in his state.

Trump also spoke on the ruling during a rally in Anchorage, Alaska, saying Thank you very much  to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin A court was finally willing to do something and say it like it is.

He also referred to drop boxes as illegal and that I call them unlock boxes, because you just unlock them and dump in the votes.

Christina Bobb, an attorney and supporter of Trumps legal challenges to the election results, told the conservative Right Side Broadcasting Network that she believed the ruling could lead to a Trump takeover after the midterms.

She suggested that Republican victories in Congress and state legislatures could result in states withdrawing their 2020 electors for Biden. This would then result in resolutions sent to Congress calling for the reinstatement of Trump as president, which a Republican-led Congress could approve.

Such a move would be patently illegal and unconstitutional, but it must be stressed that bourgeois legality is crumbling beneath the weight of the global crisis of capitalism. Despite the claims of the Wisconsin Supreme Court that laws must be upheld to the letter, these far-right justices are increasingly demonstrating a willingness to support a fascist coup to reinstate Donald Trump as president.

Rebecca Bradley is a far-right ideologue appointed by the arch-conservative Republian Governor Scott Walker. Before her appointment she was head of the far-right Wisconsin Federalist Society. While in college she wrote articles disparaging homosexuals, drug addicts and those suffering from AIDS.

The events in Wisconsin expose and invalidate the pathetic and cowardly Democratic Party, which has refused to mount any serious defense against the rise of fascism within the Republican Party. It has consistently attempted to channel popular resistance behind its own self-serving electoral campaigns, which have failed to result in any progressive outcome.

Now the very right to vote is in question, and the Republican Party and its judges are preparing the ground for a second Trump coup that would not only challenge the results of an election but depose a democratically-elected government.

Even if the Republicans fail to secure a majority in the 2022 elections, it is entirely plausible that they will cry voter fraud again and attempt to reinstate Trump anyway. The fight against fascism cannot be placed into the hands of the same decaying bourgeois institutions that are pledging their allegiance to Trump and fascist insurrection.

Only the working class, with a revolutionary program for socialism, can combat these fascist forces and defend democratic rights in a country plagued by war and capitalist crisis.
Venezuelan Crime Gang Was Stealing Crypto from Retirees

Source: AdobeStock/kayasit

A Venezuelan police agency says it has caught criminals who have allegedly stolen cryptoassets from pensioners by misusing the Patria crypto remittance platform.

Per an Instagram post from Douglas Rico, the Director of the Scientific, Penal, and Criminal Investigation Service Corps (known locally as the CICPC), the agency has arrested members of a criminal gang he claimed had been operating in Maturin, a city in the state of Monagas. Rico wrote that the police had arrested three individuals  a man and a woman in their mid-30s and a man in his 20s.

The police claimed that the group was calling itself the Hackers from the East and was targeting retirees, with a view to stealing their cryptoassets. The government-run Patria platform allows Venezuelans based overseas to send tokens to relatives and friends back home. The state also uses the platform to distribute benefits to individuals  such as pensioners  using its petro (PTR) cryptoasset.

Rico stated that the case has now been sent to the judiciary, and published mugshots of the trio, in addition to four cellphones and a computer that he said the police had seized.

The CICPC chief said that the agency had found evidence that the gang had managed to obtain login details from the victims they allegedly preyed upon. They also appear to have created Patria accounts in the name of individuals who had deceased  and attempted to trick the state into paying out pensions to them.

Once on the Patria platform, the police said the gang proceeded to transfer the pensioners cryptoasset holdings into wallets that had been opened at a range of different financial entities. The police said that the gang also used fake documents and successfully usurped the identity of deceased people.

After getting their hands on the tokens, the gang members allegedly swapped their coins for fiat bolivars. This fiat was then transferred to the gangs personal accounts in order to obtain a profit, Rico concluded.

Both the CICPC and SUNACRIP, the national crypto regulator, have warned about the danger of fraudsters who pose as managers that help pensioners who need to make use of the Patria platform.

Such individuals, officers warned, offer to take care of the whole process of withdrawing PTR payouts and converting the tokens to cash  but in fact, hope to gain the data they need to steal assets from vulnerable pensioners.

____

Learn more:

- Venezuelan Vice Minister Tells Investors to Pay in Crypto to Dodge Sanctions

- Man Fakes Own Kidnapping and Runs Off with USD 1.15M in Clients Bitcoin



- In Venezuela, USD, Not Bitcoin, Still Reigns Supreme  Report

- Spanish Police Spends USD 115K on Crypto Monitoring Technology to Fight Drug Smuggling
Many conservative state legislators cheered when the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion that an earlier court had affirmed in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

The 6-3 majority also overturned the 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, under which the justices at that time further affirmed the abortion right but found that there is a legitimate public interest in regulating abortion.

Pennsylvania is not among the 13 states that immediately will outlaw and, in some cases, criminalize, abortion within the next 30 days. But there is no doubt that some Pennsylvania lawmakers will move that quickly to introduce such measures.

In doing so, they will answer the question raised by Gov. Robert P. Casey when he crafted the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act, the law that led to the Supreme Court decision in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey.

Casey was condemned from the left of his own Democratic Party due to the laws restrictions on abortion, and from the right, which wanted him to push a law that would lead to a direct challenge of Roe at the Supreme Court.

Though Democrats to his left viewed Casey as a conservative, he argued that eliminating abortion should be an aspect of progressive social policy.

He argued that abortion policy and expansive family-sustaining social policies regarding health care access, education, affordable day care, livable wages and similar policies were of one piece. Asked at a press conference during the 1992 Democratic National Convention why he did not just become a Republican due to the abortion issue, he replied that he and Republicans parted company at birth.

Here in Pennsylvania  the land of corporate tax cuts and gas industry subsidies, the $7.25 hourly minimum wage and woefully underfunded public schools in poor communities  the question for GOP legislative majorities is if, 30 years later, they still part company with Casey at birth.

Tragically, the answer to that is just as predictable as this conservative court supermajoritys decision to overturn what two of its members, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, had assured Sens. Susan Collins and Joe Manchin was settled law as they sought confirmation of their appointments.

Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice, June 26
Information is from police reports and may be incomplete depending on the status of an investigation. Phone numbers are nonemergency.
Equipped with nearly half a year to ready himself for the horsepower jump, intuitive braking and addition of power steering compared to the Indy car he knows so well, Colton Herta impressed his potential future Formula 1 bosses during his two-day test in an MCL35M in Portugal this week.

Over the course of his two-day TPC (testing of a previous car) program with the McLaren F1 team, running the teams 2021 car with a variety of tire compounds and fuel loads, Herta logged 162 laps (80 Monday and 82 Tuesday) totaling nearly 470 miles. In short order, hell switch back into IndyCar mode for the opening practice of the Honda Indy Toronto on Friday afternoon on the streets of the Canadian city.

Colton Herta tested McLaren F1's 2021 car this week on the Portimao circuit in Portugal as part of McLaren's 'testing of a previous car' program.

But given what Herta called a quite quick acclimation to his first time in an F1 car, he doubted there would be any sort of hangover as he continues his duties for Andretti Autosport later this week.

I feel like I got acclimated to the F1 car quite quickly, Herta said Tuesday in a media call. The biggest thing was putting a lap together. I felt like I got to the limit (of the car) midway through the (first) day, but that was just separate corners being put together. By the end of the second day, I was pretty confident in putting a lap together.

Letting off the pitlane speed limiter with all that torque was incredible  even in such low RPMs. That was the biggest thing for me, just the straight-line speed, the acceleration and the braking. Obviously the cornering speeds were higher than you get in IndyCar, but that didnt stick out to me. It is a completely different feel  a lot of that from a lack of power steering. I had to get used to slowing my hands down with the speeds a lot higher.

What an amazing 2 days! First taste of a Formula One car was sweet. Thank you @McLarenF1 for the opportunity pic.twitter.com/2eYO8dbOja  Colton Herta (@ColtonHerta) July 12, 2022

Both Herta and McLaren F1 team principal Andreas Seidl were rather coy when asked how the 22-year-olds lap times compared to those when F1 visited the Portimao circuit in 2020 and 2021, given how much and how quickly wind speeds and directions in the port city can change the track conditions. Temperatures, Herta added, were cooler than those weekends, and the tire compounds he ran werent identical to those F1 teams utilized the last couple years.

Story continues

Over the next couple days, Seidl said, McLarens engineers will be able to parse through the loads of data pulled from Hertas 162 laps and use their own skills and parameters to decide for themselves how the seven-time IndyCar race-winner stacks up against McLarens current driver tandem of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, as well as McLarens IndyCar driver Pato OWard, who ran a young driver test day at Abu Dhabi late last year.

More on Colton Herta's F1 future:

The team was quite impressed with how Colton was able to deal with all these challenges and his professional approach. What was great to see was his physical preparation that enabled him to keep going over the two days, knowing how challenging this can be in an F1 car, Seidl said. It allowed him to build up confidence and helped him find the right balance between taking risks and still keeping the car on-track, which is important as well.

Were very happy with how the test went.

Colton Herta tested McLaren F1's 2021 car this week on the Portimao circuit in Portugal as part of McLaren's 'testing of a previous car' program.

What may follow from this test for Herta and McLaren is still unclear. So far, the team has announced three drivers for its TPC program, Herta, Will Stevens (the F1 teams simulator driver) and OWard  though McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told IndyStar last week that OWards test is likely to come after the IndyCar season ends in mid-September. Per F1 regulations, all teams must run prospective drivers in Free Practice 1 sessions on Friday of at least two F1 weekends this season. Seidl said McLaren plans to begin exploring those options following the four-week break between the Hungarian Grand Prix (July 31) and the Belgian Grand Prix (Aug. 28).

Importantly for Herta and OWard, regarding their F1 prospects, each of those FP1 sessions awards hopeful drivers one point toward their 40 needed to obtain a super license to be eligible to run in F1. Taking into account their previous three IndyCar seasons, Herta has 32 points towards a license, OWard 30. Typically the system takes into account a drivers three previous racing seasons, though its been temporarily adjusted to three of the last four if the span includes the pandemic-altered 2020 season.

Leading into Toronto, Herta sits 10th in IndyCars title chase. Hed need to make a significant jump up to 3rd-place (20 points) to ensure himself a license by the end of this year. Finishing 4th (10 points) would leave him at 38, presumably two FP1 sessions off the points threshold. Finishing 5th (8 points) or 6th (6 points) would require several more practice runs.

His current IndyCar deal with Andretti Autosport runs through the end of the 2023 season, though Michael Andretti hasnt made it clear in various interviews this year whether his deal with Herta would allow the young driver to leave early, should he get an offer to run in F1 in 2023. Late last year and throughout 2022, its often been assumed Herta would be linked in an F1 endeavor with Andretti, but McLaren has made it clear theyre seriously looking at Herta in regards to their future  not just testing him as a favor to Browns longtime friend Andretti.

Colton Herta tested McLaren F1's 2021 car this week on the Portimao circuit in Portugal as part of McLaren's 'testing of a previous car' program.

Who has ever been in a bidding war thats never been in an F1 car for an F1 seat? Yeah, thats like the ultimate positive, Herta told IndyStar earlier this year. I have no clue what I would even think about doing. Theres a lot more unknown on the Andretti side, but maybe theyre more lenient on me. For sure, Zak is cutthroat. Hes a businessman, but I know hed give me a fair shot.

Officially, McLaren wont have an F1 seat available until the 2024 season, after Ricciardos current deal expires in roughly 18 months. But in May, after hed made some critical public comments of the Australians results through more than a year with the team, the CEO revealed McLaren may have the ability to make a switch early.

There are mechanisms in which (McLaren and Ricciardo) are committed to each other and mechanisms in which were not, Brown said. Were not getting the results weve both hoped for, but were both going to continue to push. He showed at Monza (in 2021) that he can win races, and we need to continue to develop our car. Its not currently capable of winnings races, and wed like to see it further up the grid.

Well see how things develop and what he wants to do.

For what its worth, Mario Andretti, Michaels famous racing father and vocal partner through much of the public F1 business in recent months, told IndyStar hed be supportive of Herta getting to F1 by any means necessary, even if it wasnt with Andretti Global.

The way I see it, Colton should take the best opportunity for himself, the elder Andretti told IndyStar. Of course for Michael, you want to latch onto the talent he thinks hes cultivated, but as a driver, you have to look out for yourself.

You only have one career, and whatever comes along, he needs to look at it very strongly. I think everybody will understand. The clock is ticking, and if McLaren says, Okay, Colton, well put you alongside Lando  go.

Should he get that opportunity, Herta said hes ready for the challenge, even if hed require several more days in the car to get race-ready. Seidl said Tuesday, To get ready as an F1 rookie to do an F1 season, I would say you cant have enough days (in the car).

Yeah, you cant say no to that, or else you wouldnt be a professional driver. I do think Im fast enough, Herta said. Whether they agree or not, time will tell, and hopefully I get some more chances in the car. I did feel the limit of the car, though maybe not the consistency that would come from a few more days, but I felt like I was close.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: McLaren F1 'quite impressed' with Colton Herta's 2-day test at Portimao
John McCain. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Mark Leibovich told Insider that the days of high-profile lawmakers serving as bipartisan institutions are largely over.

The late Sen. John McCain worked across the aisle on a slew of major bills during his tenure.

Leibovich in his forthcoming pointed to McCain's funeral as a display of the old Washington.

Mark Leibovich told Insider in an interview that the days of big-name institutional figures like the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona commanding bipartisan consensus in Congress are "absolutely" over, reshaped by the sharpened political climate in Washington, DC.

McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee who was known to cross the aisle to work with Democrats on major legislation, passed away in August 2018 after battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Leibovich, a staff writer at The Atlantic and author of the forthcoming book, "Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission," pointed to McCain's funeral service in the nation's capital as a display of the sort of Washington of yesteryear  with the attendance of former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, and other luminaries like former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary William Cohen.

"There's a big scene in the book, at John McCain's funeral, where it was sort of seen as the funeral for the old Washington with old senators," he said. "Trump wasn't invited. And you had Barack Obama and George W. Bush being the two eulogists  two people who defeated McCain pretty bitterly in two separate presidential elections."

"I don't know how the fever will break, but I don't think we're here," he added.

As gerrymandering has reduced the number of competitive districts in recent years and split-ticket voting has become less prevalent than even a decade ago, there is less of an incentive for many members to work together to pass consequential bills, as they often become mired in political squabbles or attack advertisements.

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President Joe Biden  who spent 36 years as a United States senator representing Delaware before serving as vice president for eight years  began his tenure on Capitol Hill in the early 1970s, when Congress boasted an array of liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats.

Now, those sorts of federal lawmakers  who defied the traditional divide between the left and the right  are a rarity.

While lawmakers passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a gun reform bill since Biden entered the White House last year, other large bills  like the now-scrapped Build Back Better Act  have often passed the House and stalled in the Senate due to the threat of a legislative filibuster.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Minnehaha County commissioner Jeff Barth speaking in public comment against Summit's $4.5 billion CO2 pipeline, planned to run 2,000 miles through South Dakota, at a public meeting with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and Summit Carbon Solutions. Photo taken on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022 at the Ramkota Conference Center in Sioux Falls.

Minnehaha County commissioner Jeff Barth is leveraging landowner frustrations on eminent domain to run against South Dakota Public Utilities Commission head Chris Nelson this upcoming November.

With roots in Minnehaha County for more than 16 years as a public official, Barth has been an outspoken opponent to a multi-billion dollar CO2 pipeline project, by Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions, that has exacerbated fears of land being taken away from owners who don't want to sign onto the pipeline.

More: Experts question cost and viability of proposed CO2 pipeline projects in South Dakota

Barth officially announced his run against Nelson this past weekend at the South Dakota Democrat convention.

"[Nelson] has the power to not approve the project... this is empowering private companies to take anything they want," Barth told the Argus Leader.

The long-time county commissioner has also accused his challenger of taking money from pipeline investors to push the project through.

Allegations of "unfettered power" are untrue, says PUC chair

Nelson, in response to Barth's allegations, reiterates PUC is following a process that is laid out and regulated by South Dakota law.

"Any suggestion that we have unfettered power or that we can operate like a king is simply not true," said Nelson, who has more than a decade of experience at PUC.

In a written statement addressing Barth's statements, Nelson said eminent domain is not one of the specified criteria in granting or denying a siting permit application.

Commissioner Chris Nelson of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission took notes and listened to landowners, as they lined up one by one, to field their concerns on Summit's Midwest CO2 pipeline, at a public meeting located at Ramkota Conference Center on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

"Rather, state law outlines what types of projects are eligible to exercise eminent domain," read the statement. "The PUC simply does not have jurisdiction under law to adjudicate eminent domain disputes."

Those eminent domain disputes must be adjudicated in a court of law, according to Nelson. But Barth says if all the PUC does is fill out paperwork and approve a project that endangers families and damages land, the system is "clearly not working."

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More: McPherson Co. landowners' lawsuit claims Summit surveys without consent are unconstitutional

In response to allegations of being in the pocket of pipeline investors, the PUC chair said his salary is public record.

"It shows that I am a farmer... and it shows my wife is a retired state employee," Nelson said.

Nelson emphasized the legislature puts forth PUC's jurisdiction to operate under, and he's dedicated to making sure the public is informed about that process.

PUC allows Summit "indefinite extension" to finalize route

As of June 13, PUC gave Summit an "indefinite extension" to come up with a finalized route for the planned CO2 pipeline, said Nelson.

"Without that finalized route, we could not have stayed on the one-year timeframe provided in state law," explained Nelson on the decision to grant an indefinite extension.

Summit filed its application in February, starting the clock for the timeline PUC has to review and give its final decision for the permit.

South Dakota Utilities Commission and Summit Carbon Solutions representatives listening to heated feedback at a public meeting for a proposed 2,000 mile CO2 capture pipeline held at the Ramkota Conference Center in Sioux Falls on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

The Iowa-based energy company initially came to PUC asking for a five-month extension, but Nelson said it was determined by the commission that an indefinite extension was a "more appropriate way of dealing with the circumstance."

"We don't know the extent to which the final route will deviate from the route that was initially proposed," he explained.

More: Hundreds gather to push back against new CO2 pipeline through South Dakota

If those deviations are significant, PUC will need time to make sure everyone involved and affected has ample opportunity to be a part of the process, said Nelson.

"We wanted to leave that as open question, given the fact we don't know how extensive those changes may or may not be," he stated.

Email human rights reporter Nicole Ki at nki@argusleader.com or follow on Twitter at @_nicoleki.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: PUC head dispels allegations of 'unfettered power' by Democrat opponent ahead November elections
When director Maris Curran (Five Nights in Maine) and Pulse Nightclub shooting survivor Jeannette Feliciano met while working on an anti-discrimination campaign in the wake of the Pulse massacre, the two could not have anticipated the friendship and trust that produced an intimate documentary five years later.

Jeannette, which premieres at Outfest in Los Angeles on July 20, tells a story of resilience through Feliciano, a competitive bodybuilder, trainer and queer single mother, who tackles her trauma with determination and love. Composed with voice-over audio-only interviews, the verite film follows Felicianos healing process as a survivor as she navigates relationships with her mother and son, prepares for bodybuilding competitions and returns to Puerto Rico to help her family and community repair their home after Hurricane Maria.

The film is a very intimate look at the aftermath of violence, of what it takes to survive after experiencing something this tragic, Curran told TheWrap, And I was really interested in this place that we dont explore very often in this country of when the camera trucks pack away and when the news is no longer focused.

Also Read:

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The film opens with Felicianos account of the Pulse massacre on June 12, 2016, when Feliciano went to Latin Night with her friends. Describing the rumbling, the heat and the chaos after the gun shots that followed the bars last call, Feliciano recalls her realization that she was a target. It was a gay club, Feliciano says in the film, we were all the targets.

Following the tragedy, Feliciano turned to her combined passion and work: training. Using the physical release as a form of therapy, training enabled Feliciano to let go of negative energy and reset her mindset before returning to the outside world. I cant tell you how many times I come into my personal gym, and either Im crying through my whole workout, or Im angry, Feliciano told TheWrap, But one thing that is for certain is once that session is over, it gives me that opportunity to breathe again.

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Curran immediately recognized Felicianos training as both an inward coping mechanism as well as a tool for community building, even focusing on a phrase Feliciano used frequently during training  Whats your number?  as the films mantra. Similar to how Feliciano returns to fitness as a core part of her life, the mantra becomes a fundamental element of the film to showcase how Feliciano help[s] others not only find their strength, but to really work through to gain confidence to see their best selves within them, according to Curran.

Beyond her personal healing and professional pursuits, Feliciano shared that throughout this period, additional challenges were constantly being thrown at her, including a difficult break up and complex familial relationships. How do I protect my son? Feliciano asked. How do I develop this relationship with my mom? How do I help my sister out in Puerto Rico? How do I continue to be this strong positive figure? How do I make sure that I dont let hate enter into my heart?

Also Read:

The Summer I Turned Pretty Author Jenny Han Explains Why She Made Jeremiah Queer in the Show

When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in Sept. 2017, the film stayed true to its verite form and production followed Feliciano as she traveled back to her home island to help her sister, her sister-in-law and her community recover from the natural disaster that left more than 3 million people without electricity.

Curran suggested there was a deep connection between Hurricane Maria and Pulse that hit on a very similar wound, noting that similar communities were impacted by the events and there was a great deal of neglect in the wake of both tragedies. Feliciano echoed this similarity through her instinct to help out when her community is in need that was activated during both events. What happened the night of Pulse when I was sticking my hands in people who were bleeding just to stop the bleeding, taking off my shirt to wrap peoples legs and arms, Feliciano said, It was no different when it came to my sister having no electricity, no food and things like that.

Although Curran could not have imagined flying out to Puerto Rico at the films start, this tendency toward service reflects the truth of Felicianos life. Not imposing my idea was really important and going with what was actually happening and the emotional energy of her life and of her healing, Curran said. That was huge in terms of the trajectory of healing in her life.

Also Read:

50 Years Ago Today, The Corner Bar Made History With TVs First Out Gay Character (Guest Blog)

As the film premieres at Outfest next week, Feliciano hopes that audiences will replace Jeannette with their name, recognizing their own strength and their commitment to keep fighting. For Curran, the films release coincides with a time of collective trauma and hopes that the film gives viewers an opportunity to voice what they are going through as well as have conversations about violence and trauma that can become a bridge to talk about healing, and how we can be better together in community.

Jeannette will premiere at Outfest with an in-person screening on Wednesday, July 20, and will be available to stream online July 21 through July 23 .
Donald Trump will travel to Arizona later this month to campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, escalating an emerging proxy fight between the former president and Gov. Doug Ducey, who has endorsed a rival GOP candidate.

Trumps Saturday rally in Prescott Valley, which was announced Monday night, comes ahead of the Aug. 2 primary. Lake is running against a field that includes Karrin Taylor Robson, a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents and a wealthy GOP donor who last week received Duceys support.

The primary is the latest point of contention between Trump and Ducey. The former president has repeatedly assailed the Arizona governor for refusing to overturn the 2020 election outcome in Arizona, which President Joe Biden won narrowly. After the election, Ducey was famously seen putting the former president to voicemail while signing papers certifying Bidens victory.

The contest to succeed the term-limited Ducey as governor has revolved around the 2020 campaign. Lake, a former local TV news anchor, has echoed Trumps ongoing lie that the election was stolen and made it the centerpiece of her campaign. Robson, meanwhile, has not joined other Arizona Republicans in falsely saying Trump won the state.



During a recent debate, Lake challenged Robson and the other candidates to say the election was stolen. Robson refused to say so, instead remarking that she wouldnt play into Lakes stunt. Lakes campaign later called Robsons answer sickening.

Ducey on Monday morning held a conference call with donors in which he encouraged them to get behind Robson, a person familiar with the call confirmed. The call was first reported by the Washington Post.

While Trump has largely proven successful in endorsing winning House and Senate candidates in the midterms, he has had much more trouble bending gubernatorial primaries to his will. In Georgia, the Trump-endorsed David Perdue suffered a lopsided defeat to Gov. Brian Kemp, who, like Ducey, has been attacked by Trump for refusing to intervene in the 2020 vote count.

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In Idaho, Trump-backed Janice McGeachin lost the primary to the incumbent governor, Brad Little.

And Trumps endorsed candidate in Nebraska, wealthy agricultural executive Charles Herbster, fell short to a candidate backed by the incumbent Republican governor, Pete Ricketts.

Like Ducey, Ricketts is a co-chair of the Republican Governors Association, which lent its support to Kemp in the Georgia primary.

Trump and another sitting governor are embroiled in a different primary proxy war to be settled later this month. In Maryland, the former president has backed state legislator Dan Cox, while Gov. Larry Hogan has lined up with Kelly Schulz, a former official in his cabinet.

Trumps Arizona rally is also expected to bolster his endorsed Senate candidate, Blake Masters. Masters, who was once the de facto chief of staff to tech billionaire Peter Thiel, is running in a competitive primary that also features state Attorney General Mark Brnovich and wealthy solar company executive Jim Lamon. The winner will face Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in November.


A woman has revealed that her partner had a vasectomy following the reversal of Roe v Wade, which eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion in the United States.

In a recent video posted to TikTok, Karah, @karahmatanic, showed footage of her partner dancing outside of a car, with the man seen with his arms outstretched and holding a piece of paper in his hand.

In the text of the video she claimed that, because the couple live in a state that usually votes in favour of the Republican party, her significant other decided to get a vasectomy.

When he gets a vasectomy for you because you reside in a red state, she wrote.

As of 12 July, the video has more than 4m views, with TikTok users in the comments applauding Karahs partner for undergoing the surgical procedure. According to Healthline, a vasectomy is a form of birth control, as the procedure stops sperm from leaving the body during ejaculation.

Immediately a 10, one person wrote, while another added: Hes a whole vibe!!

A third person added: This is amazing. I love men who truly step up, not just talk the talk.

Other viewers shared that they were in similar situations, revealing that their partners had also undergone vasectomies or were in the process of consulting with their doctors to do so.

The video also prompted a few people to question why Karahs significant other didnt have the operation sooner. Regardless of what colour your state is, why not get one when your family is complete? Mine had one years ago, one person wrote.

In a follow-up video, Karah responded to a comment on her original clip that said: He looks too young for thatdamn rip, with the TikToker explaining that she is the mother of three children.

She also noted that, when she had wanted to get tubal ligation, a surgical procedure to prevent pregnancy, her doctor had told her that she was too young.

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Thank you for bringing the same energy that they bring into the doctors office when I wanted to get my tubes tied, she sarcastically said, in response to the TikTok users comment.

According to a CBS News report published earlier this month, several clinics that offer vasectomies said that they had been receiving increased calls from men about getting the procedure.

We generally see about 12 per cent in our practise, men who are child-free. And then we generally see about 12 per cent of men who are under the age of 30. But the number of both, young and child-free, nearly doubled, Dr Doug Stein, a urologist at a Florida-based clinic, told the publication.

As a result of theSupreme Courts 24 June ruling eliminating constitutional abortion rights, it is now up to each state to determine if it wants to ban the procedure or not. According to The New York Times, abortion has already been banned in at least 10 states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Wisconsin.
Colleen Friend has come full circle in her pride for the community that raised her and the home school district that nurtured her career in education.

As a little kid in Carlisle, I was the student begging the teacher for extra worksheets to take home and play school with my friends, she said.

In my high school days during the summer I was a Red Cross swimming instructor and lifeguard for many years, Friend said. It felt natural for her to be around students, she said.

As of July 1, Friend is the new superintendent of the Carlisle Area School District. She replaced Patricia Sanker, who served as the acting superintendent after Christina Spielbaurer stepped down in late December.

For Friend, her appointment by the school board was the culmination of 28 years in education. But her career path had its start in the inspiration she drew as a student from her former teachers.

I attended Bellaire Elementary School, the old one on the hill, Friend said. Her class was one of the earliest to attend Wilson Middle School.

A 1988 graduate of Carlisle High School, Friend earned a bachelors degree in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a masters degree in school administration from East Carolina University and her doctorate in educational leadership and her superintendent letter of eligibility from Shippensburg University.

Her first job out of college was as a regular education initiative teacher for two years in North Carolina. She then taught sixth grade at Central Elementary School in Currituck County for six years before becoming an instructional specialist at the Currituck County Middle School.

I returned to Carlisle in 2004 as a curriculum specialist, Friend said. I moved to the high school to serve as an assistant principal for the 10th grade and eventually the 12th grade. In 2008, I moved to Wilson Middle School as an assistant principal and then took over as principal in 2009.

Not only did her children graduate from Carlisle Area School District, but her husband, John Friend, served as the superintendent from 2009 to 2017. With his departure, Spielbauer took over as acting superintendent with Colleen Friend serving as acting assistant superintendent. Friend signed a contact in 2018 as assistant superintendent and served in that capacity until this July 1 when she realized her dream job.

In todays 5 Questions, The Sentinel gave Colleen Friend a chance to reflect on her experiences and her future role.

Q: What made you decide to pursue the job of chief executive?

A: Being the superintendent in Carlisle is my dream job. When the position became available, there was never a doubt that I would apply. I am so proud of our students, faculty, and administrative team, and feel privileged to serve as their leader. We have incredible work to continue in Carlisle and new ideas to consider and implement. It is an exciting time of possibilities and opportunities. And imagine, the education that I received in CASD started my track to return as superintendent. It is a very powerful feeling of pride.

Q: What lessons learned from prior jobs have prepared you for this new role as chief executive?

A: Communication, communication, communication.

A former principal would ask me over and over again, Who else needs to know the decision you are making? Additionally, it is important that we tell our story and share the incredible work that our students, faculty and administration are doing. We need to share our successes.

I had many incredible models in both North Carolina and Carlisle. I was also taught to take my work seriously, but not to take myself too seriously. Being relatable to faculty and staff is important. Relationships are critical in education. As educators, we often underestimate the power we have in the lives of our students. As leaders, we can forget that sometimes too. Connection and engagement with students and faculty/staff matter significantly.

Q: What are your thoughts now that you are officially the superintendent?

A: Ill be honest, when July 1st rolled around, I took a deep breath. I had an overwhelming moment or two. But it was similar to the night at commencement when I looked at the stadium filled with people and it was my turn to speak. Then I told myself, just focus on and talk to the graduates.

Moving forward, I keep reminding myself to stay focused on our students. As educators, we need to attend to how we provide the best experiences and opportunities for them.

Q: What will be the biggest challenges facing the school district/public education in the new school year?

A: Setting the pandemic to the side, staffing and recruiting is likely the biggest challenge. Although this has been a good year in CASD for teacher retention, we still have some specialized positions that need filled. Also, we are still trying to recruit instructional aides and substitutes.

Q: How do you plan to tackle the challenges?

A: Instructional aides  We have increased our daily rates for instructional aides, and are planning to offer four-day training at the start of the school year. Instructional aides that participate in all four days will receive an additional five dollars to their daily rate for the 2022-23 school year.

Substitutes  We will start the year with an incentive similar to last year. If they work 73% of the time over three months, they receive a bonus and an additional $15 per day. The daily rate for our building substitutes that work every day will remain at $140.

Teachers/professional staff  CASD needs to get the word out about how great our district. Recruitment is critical. Im also interested in how we can work with our high school students who may be considering teaching as a career path. How can we better support them and keep them interested in teaching in CASD. Also, later this year, I would like to roll out an idea for a video from the voices of our current faculty, staff, administration and potentially students about our district and why it is so great.
Three men were arraigned Tuesday on charges they conspired to illegally possess and sell 100 pages of notes and lyrics from the Eagles album "Hotel California," including Don Henley's lyrics to the songs "Hotel California," "Life in the Fast Lane" and "New Kid In Town."

A band biographer allegedly stole the handwritten manuscripts in the 1970s and, in 2005, sold them to Glenn Horowitz, a rare books dealer and one of the three people charged Tuesday.

Horowitz then sold them to Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

MORE: Glenn Frey: Stars react to Eagles icon's death at 67

The charges include conspiracy, criminal possession of stolen property and hindering prosecution.

"New York is a world-class hub for art and culture, and those who deal cultural artifacts must scrupulously follow the law. There is no room for those who would seek to ignore the basic expectations of fair dealing and undermine the public's confidence and trust in our cultural trade for their own ends," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.

PHOTO: In this Oct. 25, 2017 file photo, artist Don Henley performs at 'All In For The Gambler: Kenny Rogers' Farewell Concert Celebration' at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. (Laura Roberts/Invision/AP, FILE)

Henley filed police reports upon learning that Inciardi and Kosinski were trying to sell parts of the manuscripts. He also told them the materials were stolen and demanded they return his property.

Prosecutors say the defendants responded by engaging in a yearslong campaign to prevent Henley from retrieving his manuscripts.

In a joint statement, the lawyers representing the three men -- Jonathan Bach (representing Horowitz), Stacey Richman (representing Inciardi) and Antonia Apps (representing Kosinski) -- said they would fight the charges.

MORE: Cindy Crawford's daughter posted a cover of The Eagles' 'Take It Easy' with her dad

"The DA's office alleges criminality where none exists and unfairly tarnishes the reputations of well-respected professionals," the lawyers said. "We will fight these unjustified charges vigorously. These men are innocent."

The men also allegedly sought to sell the manuscripts through Christie's and Sotheby's auction houses and requested that Sotheby's hide Henley's claims from potential buyers prior to offering the manuscripts for sale at public auction in 2016.

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PHOTO: Glenn Frey, Don Felder and Joe Walsh of The Eagles perform live onstage during the Hotel California tour. (Richard E. Aaron/Redferns/Getty Images, FILE)

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office retrieved Henley's stolen manuscripts from Sotheby's and from Kosinski's New Jersey residence, including 84 pages of songs from the album "Hotel California."

Horowitz allegedly attempted to exploit the 2016 death of founding Eagles member Glenn Frey to prevent criminal prosecution, claiming the material originated from Frey.

"[Frey] alas, is dead and identifying him as the source would make this go away once and for all," the indictment quoted an email allegedly from Horowitz as saying.

3 men charged with possessing, trying to sell stolen handwritten manuscript for the Eagles' 'Hotel California' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Liz Cheney resumes January 6 hearings by saying Trump is 'not an impressionable child'

A transcript of a phone call between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State, appears during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The House Select Committee resumed its January 6 hearings on Tuesday.

A hearing scheduled for Thursday night has been postponed.

Rep. Liz Cheney started off by promising to hold former President Donald Trump accountable.

At the start of the seventh House Select Committee hearing on the January 6 insurrection, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming set the stakes for the hearing and hearkened back to the evidence presented about what Trump knew about the lack of evidence to back up his election fraud claims.

"President Trump is a 76-year-old man. He is not an impressionable child. Just like everyone else in our country, he is responsible for his own actions and his own choices," Cheney, the Republican co-chair of the committee, said. "As our investigation has shown, Donald Trump had access to more detailed and specific information showing that the election was not actually stolen, than almost any other American. And he was told this over and over again. No rational or sane man in his position could disregard that information and reach the opposite conclusion. And Donald Trump cannot escape responsibility by being willfully blind."

Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida said the hearing would focus on the planning leading up to the January 6 protests and the Trump White House's last efforts to overturn the election ahead of the Capitol siege.

The committee showed video clips from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone's video deposition, taken behind closed doors on Capitol Hill last Friday.

Cipollone, like several other former top Trump White House officials, declined to testify to the committee. However, the former White House counsel came forward following former aide Cassidy Hutchinson's bombshell testimony.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Health officials are once again raising the alarm about the threat of a resurgence of COVID-19 infections across the country, as concerns grow about the new omicron subvariant, BA.5, which is now the dominant viral strain in the U.S.

The BA.5 variant, first detected in South Africa earlier this year, is currently estimated to account for more than half -- 53.6% -- of all new COVID-19 cases in the states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

BA.5 appears to have a growth advantage over the original omicron variant, according to the World Health Organization, and scientists are closely monitoring the increase in reported cases observed in many countries across the globe.

At this time, BA.5 does not appear to have increased in severity, but officials have previously stressed that research on the new subvariant is still in its "early days," and much remains to be learned about it.

As BA.5 spreads, a growing proportion of U.S. counties are seeing increases in infections and related hospital admissions.

PHOTO: Northwell Health Labs Executive Director Dwayne Breining poses in the COVID-19 testing area of Northwell's core laboratory in Lake Success, New York on June 7, 2022. (Newsday via Getty Images, FILE)

Nearly three-quarters of the U.S. population is now living in a county with a high or medium community risk level for COVID-19, as defined by the CDC, federal data shows. About one-third of those people -- 31.9%-- are living in a high-risk community, while 41.6% are living in a medium-risk county.

A high community level suggests there is a "high potential for health care system strain" and a "high level of severe disease," and the CDC recommends that people wear a mask in public indoor settings, including schools. A medium-risk level suggests there is "some impact on [the] health care system," and "more people with severe disease." Under the CDC's official guidance, individuals considered at "increased risk" are advised to speak with their health care provider about whether to wear a mask.

Counties on both coasts -- most notably in California, Montana, New Mexico and Oregon -- are moving up and entering the high-risk level. In Florida, nearly every county is currently considered high risk. Puerto Rico and California currently lead the nation in new cases per capita, followed by New York City, where officials are once again urging residents to wear high-quality masks in indoor public settings and around crowds outside, amid a renewed surge of infections in the city.

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MORE: Health officials plan for updated vaccines with an eye on COVID's unpredictability

"We're currently seeing high levels of COVID-19 in NYC. To help slow the spread, all New Yorkers should wear a high-quality mask, such as an N95, KN95 or KF94 in all public indoor settings and around crowds outside," the New York City Health Department wrote in a tweet on Friday, after the city moved back into the high-risk level.

The average number of new cases across New York City is up by 25% in the last two weeks, according to federal data. City data also shows that an average of 15% of reported tests are now coming back positive, marking the highest seven-day positivity rate in months.

Nationally, the country is currently reporting an average of more than 100,000 new cases each day. However, health officials say that the total is likely significantly undercounted.

PHOTO: A man is tested at a COVID-19 testing van in Times Square, New York, June 06, 2022.ress) (Corbis via Getty Images, FILE)

As previously reported, dozens of states have moved to shutter public testing sites, with more at-home COVID-19 tests now available in pharmacies and through the federal testing program. Most Americans are not reporting their results to officials, and, thus, experts said infection totals are likely significantly undercounted.

Last week, White House COVID Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told NBC News that hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 infections are likely going undercounted.

"There's no question in my mind we are missing the vast majority of infections right now," Jha said. "The truth is there are probably several hundred thousand -- 400,000; 500,000 infections a day happening across the country."

The concerns over BA.5 come amid the nation's continued push to get people vaccinated. Although the U.S. is set to roll out new bivalent vaccines in the fall, which will address omicron, millions of eligible Americans are still without their additional shots.

MORE: Health officials plan for updated vaccines with an eye on COVID's unpredictability

To date, less than half of eligible Americans -- 49.5% or 108.6 million people -- have received their first booster. Similarly, less than one-third -- 29.5% or 42.2 million -- of eligible Americans over the age of 50 have received their second booster.

Overall hospitalization numbers and death rates have yet to see a significant resurgence, though experts say metrics may also be undercounted, due to a lack of reporting from states.

As of July 5, about 34,000 patients are currently receiving care in U.S. hospitals across the country. This still marks one of the highest numbers of patients hospitalized with the virus since March.

MORE: Fauci says he's taking 2nd course of Paxlovid after experiencing rebound with the antiviral treatment

On average, more than 5,200 virus-positive Americans are entering the hospital each day -- the highest number of daily admissions since February. Hospital admissions in the Southwest and the South are up by more than 10%, respectively, in the past week.

The average number of daily COVID-19-related deaths remains just below 300 reported each day. Totals are still much lower than during prior COVID-19 surges.

However, thousands of Americans are still losing their lives every week. Over the last seven days, the U.S. has reported nearly 2,000 deaths.

Omicron subvariants threaten COVID-19 resurgence across US originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
From the stretches of golden sand along the Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland coasts to Pennsylvania's ski slopes and rolling hills, the mid-Atlantic states have long drawn families on vacation. Visitors especially like the area's endless supply of outdoor activities and wonderful hotels, including our 2022 World's Best Awards-winning mid-Atlantic resorts.

Every year for our World's Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe  to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Hotels (including safari lodges) were rated on their facilities, location, service, food, and overall value. Properties were classified as city hotel, resort, or safari lodge based on their locations and amenities.

This year, the outstanding service and amenities at Nemacolin resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania, springboarded the property from the No. 4 to the No. 2 spot. One World's Best Awards voter recounted how the team at the resort pulled out all the stops for a wedding anniversary, saying "the evening exceeded every expectation." That same respondent said that "Nemacolin is our home away from home."

Exterior facade of The Reeds at Shelter Haven

Courtesy of The Reeds at Shelter Haven

Another repeat winner in the mid-Atlantic was the elegant Inn at Perry Cabin, set along the Miles River. T+L readers described the hotel as "romantic" and "one of a kind," with one praising it for being both family-friendly and a perfect couple's retreat. "I love the luxury feel but also that we can bring our family. In 2019, we went for our 'mini moon' for a week, and it was amazing," said another Inn at Perry Cabin fan.

The WBA newcomer this year is River House at Odette's (No 3.) in New Hope, Pennsylvania, which opened in 2020 amid the pandemic. Named after French American actress Odette Myrtil, the hotel has already won over travelers with its opulent interiors and atmospheric, Old World-chic piano lounge.

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Read on to find which hotel was named the best in the mid-Atlantic by T+L readers and the properties that made the top 10.

1. The Reeds at Shelter Haven, Stone Harbor, New Jersey

Interior of the lobby at The Reeds at Shelter Haven

Sophie CeCile Xu/Courtesy of The Reeds at Shelter Haven

For the second year in a row, the Reeds at Shelter Island topped the list of best mid-Atlantic hotels, winning over T+L readers with sophisticated interiors, expansive views of Shelter Haven Bay, and its signature restaurant, Water Star Grille. "Fantastic hotel that delivers on everything a person could want in a vacation spot," one World's Best Awards voter commented. Of all the property's high-end amenities, the standout is the spa, which offers wellness and beauty services, a Turkish bath, and a brine light inhalation lounge.

Score: 90.33

More information: reedsatshelterhaven.com

2. Nemacolin, Farmington, Pennsylvania

Exterior facade and outdoor pool at Nemacolin

Courtesy of Nemacolin

Score: 90.03

More information: nemacolin.com

3. River House at Odette's, New Hope, Pennsylvania

The front exterior of River House at Odettes

Don Pearse/Courtesy of River House at Odettes

Score: 88.93

More information: riverhousenewhope.com

4. Inn at Perry Cabin, St. Michaels, Maryland

Aerial of the Inn at Perry Cabin in the summertime

Courtesy of Inn at Perry Cabin

Score: 88.76

More information: innatperrycabin.com

5. Asbury Ocean Club Hotel, Asbury Park, New Jersey

An ocean view suite at Asbury Ocean Club Hotel

Nikolas Koenig/Courtesy of Asbury Ocean Club Hotel

Score: 87.54

More information: asburyoceanclub.com

6. Congress Hall, Cape May, New Jersey

View of Congress Hall from the water

Courtesy of Congress Hall

Score: 87.29

More information: caperesorts.com

7. The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, Pennsylvania

The Hotel Hershey Outdoor Pool Complex

Courtesy of The Hotel Hershey

Score: 84.27

More information: thehotelhershey.com

8. Omni Bedford Springs Resort, Bedford, Pennsylvania

The Historic Bedford Springs Resort in Pennsylvania.

Richard Nowitz/Courtesy of Omni Hotels & Resorts

Score: 83.05

More information: omnihotels.com

9. Wave Resort, Long Branch, New Jersey

Exterior facade and outdoor pool at Wave Resort over the beach

Liz Clayman/Courtesy of Wave Resort

Score: 82.67

More information: waveresort.com

10. Bungalow Hotel, Long Branch, New Jersey

Interior of a room at The Bungalow Hotel

Matthew Williams/Courtesy of The Bungalow Hotel

Score: 82.62

More information: bungalowhotel.net
Photo credit: Hearst Owned

It's a cruel, cruel summer indeed now that it's been reported that a hummus shortage could be coming in the very near future. According to The Guardian, the potential hummus shortage is due to a decrease in supplies of chickpeas, which is the result of weather conditions and a shift in production caused by the war in Ukraine.

The world's chickpea supply could drop as much as 20% this year, according to the Global Pulse Confederation. Even though the demand for chickpeas rose following the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, the supply took an exponential hit when Russia, one of the biggest exporters of chickpeas, was unable to export the goods due to sanctions.

Russia is exporting about 200,000 to 250,000 tonnes, minimum, a year. When the war started in February, the supply was destroyed, totally, Jeff Van Pevenage, the chief executive of Columbia Grain International, a grain and pulse merchandiser and supplier headquartered in Portland, Oregon, told Reuters. When the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, the demand boomed. We saw strong demand from China, then it was calls from customers in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In addition to the sanctions in Russia, farmers in the United States reportedly planted 5% fewer acres of chickpeas this year due to difficult weather conditions and the prioritization of cash crops, such as wheat and corn.

The price of chickpeas has fluctuated across the globe, but in the states, chickpeas are now 12% more expensive than they were last year. It's unclear what immediate effect the dwindling chickpea supply could have on the price of hummus and chickpeas in the United States.

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Pieces of Russian military equipment that were captured or destroyed by the Ukrainian armed forces during the ongoing war are being displayed at an exhibition in Prague.

The display, organised by Ukraines internal affairs ministry, was unveiled on Monday at Letna Plain, a large open space a short distance from Prague Castle. It shows a damaged T-90 tank, Buk air defence system and a Msta howitzer, among other weapons.

The exhibition of war trophies is aimed at showing the horrors of war and highlighting the resistance Ukrainian soldiers have put up, officials said.

With this exhibition, we hope to show once again the horrors of war that Russias aggression has brought to Ukraine, Ukrainian embassy spokeswoman Tetiana Okopna told Czech Television.

But we also want to show how Czech weapons are being used, she added.

Both neighbouring countries, Czech Republic and Poland, along with the US and the UK, have sent weapons and aid to Ukraine over the months to bolster its defence against Russias attacks.

Sharing the image of a Russian T-90 tank on display at the exhibition in Prague, the Ukrainian defence ministry wrote on Twitter: Czechs have bitter memories of Russian tanks in Prague, 1968. Now they can see them from a different angle.

The tweet was referring to Russias invasion of Czechoslovakia more than 50 years ago to crush the Prague Spring reform movement under Czechoslovak communist leader Alexander Dubcek.

Czechs have bitter memories of russian tanks in Prague, 1968. Now they can see them from a different angle. Today an exhibition of rus weapons destroyed by  warriors opens in the capital of .Ukraine is a shield in the East of Europe.

Give us the tools and we will end the war! pic.twitter.com/QObw3B1skp  Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) July 11, 2022

Ukraine is a shield in the East of Europe. Give us the tools and we will end the war! the tweet added.

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Rockets and shells that have hit Ukrainian buildings since the Russian attack on the largest European nation began on 24 February were also displayed in the exhibition, according to BBC News.

Ms Okopna said similar exhibitions have been planned in Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.

This exhibition proves how vital support from partner countries is to us, Ukraines minister of internal affairs Denys Monastyrsky said.

Russian propaganda likes to scare people that their tanks could reach Prague, Berlin or Paris. Ukrainians demonstrate  only in the form of scrap, he added.
Twitter has sued Elon Musk after he said he was dropping his takeover bid for the social media platform.

Social media platform Twitter has sued Elon Musk, seeking to force him to go through with the $44 billion takeover of the company that the billionaire entertainer has said he is dropping.

Twitter filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Chancery Court in Delaware, setting up what is expected to be a lengthy legal battle.

Musk  the world's wealthiest person and CEO of Austin-based automaker Tesla  said Friday that he was calling off the deal because Twitter has failed to provide enough information about the number of fake accounts on its service. Twitter responded with a letter that claimed Musk's purported termination is invalid and wrongful" and that the company has continued to provide the information he reasonably requested.

Musk in April announced he had bid $44 billion to acquire the social media platform, a deal that was agreed to by Twitter's board. But Musk has increasingly spoken out against spam bots and fake accounts on the platform in recent months. In a May tweet, he accused the company of undercounting them, claiming that at least 20% of Twitter's accounts were fake.

More:Elon Musk says Tesla's factories in Austin, Berlin are losing billons of dollars

More:Twitter board unanimously endorses sale to Tesla CEO Elon Musk

In its lawsuit, Twitter alleges that Musk "refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests. Musk apparently believes that he  unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law  is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.

Its not clear if Musk can actually walk out of the bid. The agreement to buy the company said that the deal has to go through unless there is a major change to Twitter's business.

In the lawsuit, Twitter argued that Musk had repeatedly disparaged the company on the Twitter website, and said he had an attitude of disdain creating business risk for Twitter and driving its stock price down.

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Musks exit strategy is a model of hypocrisy, the complaint said.

The stock price has dropped for both Twitter and Tesla in after plans for the deal were announced. Twitter, which Musk had offered to buy at $54.20 a share, has dropped to around $34 a share. Tesla, which has dropped nearly 30% in recent months since the deal was announced, closed Tuesday at about $699 per share. Musk sold 9.6 million shares of Tesla, worth about $8.5 billion, to help pay for the Twitter purchase.

The lawsuit pointed to a Wall Street Journal report that the stock value of Tesla, where much of the billionaire's personal wealth is tied, has declined by more than $100 billion from its peak in November 2021.

So Musk wants out. Rather than bear the cost of the market downturn, as the merger agreement requires, Musk wants to shift it to Twitters stockholder, the complaint said.

The lawsuit also pointed out that because much of Musk needed to sell millions of his Tesla shares to fund his equity in the deal.

The structure of Musks financing meant that the merger could become significantly more expensive for him if Teslas stock price were to decline (and significantly less expensive if Teslas stock price were to rise), it said.

Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said in a research note that the legal fight is a disaster scenario" for Twitter and its board, saying the company will now battle Musk in an elongated court battle to recoup the deal and/or the breakup fee of $1 billion at a minimum.

Ives said the deal could bring some relief for Tesla's stock, which has been affected by the "will they or won't they" situation, but the carmaker's stock could still see effects as the court battle between Musk and Twitter plays out. The electric car company moved its headquarters to Austin last year.

"This soap opera has seen many twists and turns and now ultimately Twitter (and its Board) goes back to the drawing board," Ives said. "From the beginning this was always a head scratcher to go after Twitter at a $44 billion price tag for Musk and never made much sense to the Street, now it ends (for now) in a Twilight Zone ending with Twitter's Board back against the wall and many on the Street scratching their head around what is next."

On Tuesday, following news of the lawsuit being filed, Ives said Twitter's board is holding Musk's feet to the fire to finish the deal at the agreed price.

"Overall this has been a black eye for Musk and horror movie for Twitter (and its employees) with no winners since the soap opera began in April," Ives said. "There are a range of possibilities that can come from the Delaware court including settlement, breakup fee paid, deal enforced, and a myriad of other outcomes."

Musk, who moved to Texas in 2020, has located headquarters or opened offices for many of his other companies in Central Texas, and had the Twitter deal gone through, some experts had speculated that Musk could have opened a Central Texas office or even moved Twitter's headquarters to the region. One Central Texas rancher even offered the CEO free land to move the headquarters to rural Williamson County.

Additional material from American-Statesman wire services.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Elon Musk sued by Twitter after dropping $44 billion takeover bid
Photo credit: Colin Miller

Bringing the outside in is a common theme in interior design, but its usually in the context of a proper house, not an apartment in an upscale condominium building in New York City. But thats how ELLE DECOR A-List designer Rodney Lawrence described his vision for the model apartment he designed in the Cortland, a new luxury development in West Chelsea.

Robert A.M. Stern was the architect of the 26-story structure, clad in over a million hand-laid bricks in a distinctive five-color blend, creating one of the few new buildings in this borderline overdeveloped neighborhood with a historic feel (the design was partially inspired by the iconic London Terrace apartment block, just a few blocks away). Its a quietly elegant building that doesnt scream to be noticed.

The same could be said for the interior architecture of the Cortlands residences, by Olson Kundig, which features an open-plan kitchen, living, and dining area, marble fireplaces, cabinets finished in hand-brushed artisanal Italian metallic lacquer, and Statuario Belgia marble imported from Carrara, Italy. It was one such space that Lawrence was tasked with reimagining.



Olson Kundigs work is very restrained, with rigorous lines and a limited palette. I wanted to do something that would be different from the base they gave me but in the spirit of their work, Lawrence recalls of his design strategy.

I researched [the firms] projects, and there would always be minimal structures surrounded by natureset in the middle of a beautiful field of flowers or built out of the side of a cliff or a mountainso I wanted to put nature inside one of their structures, the designer adds.

Photo credit: Colin Miller

How? By adding a plethora of color and layered organic shapes to the 1,500-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath apartment, for a hypothetical client: a young family with maybe a young child who are drawn to cool, but not unapproachable, design, Lawrence explains.

Nowhere is this more evident than the combined living and dining area, a veritable study in curvaceous silhouettes, as seen in a custom sofa in a velvety Elitis fabric, a Crate & Barrel three-legged cocktail table, dining chairs from Burke Decor, and a quietly dramatic banquette (also custom) that snakes around the dining space. Working from home has become the new normal, so things have multiple functions, Lawrence notes. The dining table, for instance, can also function as a workspace; a console as a desk or bar.

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Lawrence found several steal-this-idea ways to subtly connect the living and dining zones. He sourced a chandelier from Trueing Studio and hung the glass link chains so that each bulb was above a focal point of the respective areas. He commissioned a custom wallpaper from Trove in an ombre gradient that, depending on ones point of view, simulates distant water or fog. I knew the view would be of other buildings, not landscape or horizon, so I wanted to create a horizon inside the apartment, he says.

Photo credit: Colin Miller

In the main bedroom, Lawrence created the illusion of a horizon by floating the platform bed with lighting behind the custom headboard. The wall behind the bed is upholstered in an azure satin fabric from Coraggio, a shade that is picked up in lacquered, built-in side tables. Curvaceous forms reoccur in the dramatic channel-tufted banquette nestled into the bay window, as well as in a pair of pendant lamps by Brooklyn artist Yuko Nishikawa.

One of Lawrences favorite pieces in this aerie is a charcoal drawing hung above a textured credenza from Burke Decor. Its by the late Belgian-American artist Jan Yoors, a man whom Lawrence describes as an amazingly prolific artist, with an archive of tapestries, drawings, and photographs.

I was able to get the estate to do a print of a recent edition for this space, the designer continues. Its a beautiful figure that is very abstract. (Two Yoors photographs from the 1960s, depicting graffitied walls, hang in the kitchen, and a piece by his son Kore occupies a prominent space in the living room).

Photo credit: Colin Miller

The hypothetical kids room, with its fortlike bunk and work area, is a visual delight themed around creatures of the sea. Lawrence clad the walls in a wave texture covering, dotted it with 3D-printed fish that seem to leap out of this proverbial sea, and draped jellyfish paper lamps from the ceiling. Plump poufs from RH give a buoy effect, albeit with elevated style and comfort, and a Trish Andersen Studio rug reads as an abstract two-dimensional coral reef.

Lawrence admits that the lockdown greatly influenced the design of this apartment: From the allocation of space to the items chosen to decorate it, all reflect a collective new normal. Everyone needs to be able to be together, in one apartment, comfortable and not crowded, he notes. People are now going into buying places with these requirements at the top of their list.

Those considering the Cortland should note that his dreamy design of this model apartment can be recreated in other units with similar layouts. The rest of us can take notes from this A-List talent.

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Stephen Ayres speaks to Harry Dunn following testimony before the US House Select Committee to investigate the January 6 Attack (REUTERS)

One of the officers former Oath Keeper Stephen Ayres hugged and apologised to after the most recent January 6 hearing said he is not sure if he is ready to accept his apology.

Mr Ayres was a rioter who testified before the House select committee that is investigating the Capitol riot on January 6. During the hearing, Mr Ayres told the committee that everybody thought that former president Donald Trump would join them at the US Capitol that day.

He said in his speech, you know, kind of like hes gonna be there with us, he said. The president got everybody riled up, and told everybody to head on down, so we basically were following what he said.

Eventually, Mr Ayres said that his life was ruined by taking part in the riot.

Basically, I lost my job since this all happened, you know, pretty much sold my house, he said. I mean, it definitely ... it changed my life, you know, not for the good. Definitely not for the, you know, for the better.

Afterwards Mr Ayres went up to officers who defended the Capitol that day, including retired Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone, Sgt Aquilino Gonell  who sustained long-term injuries that mean he will have to retire from the Capitol Police  and officer Harry Dunn and apologised.

But Mr Dunn told The Independent he is not sure how he feels yet.

I haven't processed that yet, he said. It just seemed kind of seemed like the right thing to do. But I don't know if I accept that. It is hard to extend sympathy to an individual like that yet, maybe, but that's all I got.

Mr Dunn, Mr Gonell, Mr Fanone and officer Daniel Hodges testified before the select committee last summer in a preliminary hearing. Mr Dunn, who is Black, specifically spoke about the racial abuse rioters hurled at him.

In the days following the attempted insurrection, other Black officers shared with me their own stories of racial abuse on 6 January, he said last year.
The Coast Guard attempt to put out a power boat fire near Charlevoix on Saturday.

CHARELVOIX  As Lake Michigan and local waterways were filled on Saturday with Boyne Thunder festivities, two vessels needed to be rescued after a power boat burst into flames and a pontoon began to sink.

Both instances happened on Saturday after the power boats paraded through Charlevoix; an annual occurrence that brings thousands of people to watch as the speedsters cruise through Charlevoix's Pine River Channel and roar out into Lake Michigan.

Boats crowd together at the end of Charlevoix's pier to watch the Boyne Thunder power boats speed into Lake Michigan.

The area surrounding the channel was particularly congested with boat traffic, with dozens of power boats and spectator boats crowding along the route and gathering at the end of Charlevoixs lighthouse pier.

Around 2:30 p.m. one of the power boats participating in the Boyne Thunder Poker Run burst into flames.

The engine compartment of the 2002 36 Douglas Marine Skater caught fire not far from Charlevoixs Big Rock Point and within three minutes the entire boat was completely engulfed in flames, according to Charlevoix Fire Chief Dan Thorp.

Burnt out remnants of a Boyne Thunder power boat are seen on Saturday. The boat burst into flames near Big Rock Point.

Although the exact cause of the fire is unknown, the boats built-in fire suppression system was unable to counter the intensity of the blaze. The three passengers on board leaped out of the vessel and were rescued by nearby Boyne Thunder power boat participants. No one was injured in the incident.

The flames roared for three hours and proved to be a challenge for local firefighting efforts, who had no fire boat or nearby hydrant, reported Thorp.

We were trying to get close enough to the boat to put the fire out," he said. "There was just no easy access to it."

Charlevoix Stations Coast Guard assisted on the lake with their fire pump, but were ultimately unequipped to tame the flames.

Charlevoix Stations Coast Guard assist with a power boat fire on Saturday near Charlevoix.

There was about 100 gallons of fuel on the boat that kept reigniting, Thorp said.

As the wind blew the blazing vessel closer to the shoreline, the Charlevoix Fire Department was able to extinguish the inferno as firefighters waded into the water and dowsed the boat with lake water sucked into their portable water system.

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As of Monday, July 11, the burnt-out remnants of the boat remain on the shoreline near Big Rock Point. There are removal efforts being coordinated with the boat owners insurance company and the salvage company Lyons Marine Construction.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, a sinking pontoon boat who had joined the throngs of others at the end of the Charlevoix pier was also rescued by the Coast Guard.

A pontoon boat is escorted through Charlevoix's channel after taking on water in Lake Michigan. The U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes notified the public of the event via Twitter on July 9, the day of the Boyne Thunder Poker Run.

The U.S. Coast Guard Charlevoix Station assisted in the rescue of the 27' boat with six people on board that was taking on water in Lake Michigan.

The boat was able to progress at a higher speed, but would flood at slower speeds. The Coast Guard swiftly towed the pontoon through Charlevoixs channel with their 45 response boat and moored it in the Charlevoix marina, according to Coast Guard Chief Brad Bishop.

The Coast Guard had a busy day on Saturday, but nothing they couldnt handle, said Bishop.

We have some outstanding and motivated personnel on our team, Bishop said. We always find a way to make it work.

The Coast Guard station in Charlevoix has two boats, a 29 and 45 response boat. On Saturday, three Coast Guardsmen were on the smaller vessel and four were on the larger one. An additional three guardsmen, including Bishop, were running the command center, which coordinates everything from the bridge operations to emergency services.

Both boats were necessary to manage the crowds and the emergency calls on Saturday.

Bishop said the summer brings especially high volumes of boat traffic to the Charlevoix area, and he urges caution to all boaters.

The message is preaching safety ... make sure you have your safety equipment before you leave the dock, he said.

Although we are capable of saving lives and property, we want to put you in the best situation possible to help you boat safely.

More: Subscribe to get the latest developments

Contact reporter Annie Doyle at adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Coast Guard, fire department help rescue boats in Charlevoix
J&M Foods is recalling a select number of Lavender Shortbread Cookies that were erroneously packaged with chocolate chip cookies. With the switch, the ingredient label does not indicate soy or eggs in the product, which could result in an allergic reaction. There have been no reported illnesses.

The recalled product was sold in 7-ounce packages with best by date of April 18, 2023, and UPC of 085239286098. The product was distributed nationally at Target.

The company became aware of the issue after a consumer complaint. Consumers who purchased the product can contact Target at 1-800-440-0680 or J&M Foods at 1-800-264-2278 for a refund.

Natreve is recalling batches of its Vegan Protein Powder French Vanilla Wafer Sundae flavor because it contains trace amounts of undeclared milk due to an external manufacturing production error, according to the FDA.

The issue is isolated to two batches with lot codes of 46359 and 46360 with best before dates of February 2025. The powder came in 10 servings (13.1 ounces) or 18 servings (1.47 pounds).

One illness has been reported, according to the company.

The FDA said a whey-derived flavoring ingredient was inadvertently used in the blend, and whey is derived from milk and may trigger an allergy.

Those who purchased the products can return them to the store for a full refund, and consumers can also email quality@natreve.com to request a refund.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that ShelterLogic is offering new assembly instructions on the RIO-branded swinging hammock chairs because the improper insertion of pins can cause the chairs legs to collapse, posing an injury hazard.

The company has received 24 reports of injuries such as bruises, aches and pains, head lacerations, back strain, concussions and abrasions.

The chairs were sold with or without a drink holder in gray, navy, blue, red and camouflage at Costco, Lowes, Tractor Supply Co. and other stores nationwide, as well as online at Amazon, Camping World, Costco, Lowes and Walmart from January 2020 to June 2022.

Consumers should stop using the chairs and contact the company at 888-635-3359 to receive new instructions on how to properly assemble the chair.

Samson International is recalling its Universal Broadmore Cayden Gentlemans 9-drawer chests because the chests are unstable if they are not anchored to the wall. The company has received one tip-over incident report involving a 10-year-old child.

The chests have a model/item number of M71C3180 and were sold exclusively at Costco nationwide and online from December 2019 to April 2020.

Consumers should stop using the chests if they are not anchored to the wall and contact the company at 800-357-0701 for a full refund or a free tip-over restraint kit.

Samson will provide free in-home installation of the restraint kit upon request. Consumers can also return it to any Costco for a full refund.

Deere & Co. is recalling its John Deere X380 and X390 lawn tractors because the wheel hubs were not manufactured to specifications and can fail, causing the tractor to lose braking and propulsion.

The company has received three reports of the tractor not braking properly, including one injury resulting in bruises and abrasions.

For serial number ranges of affected models, check out the commissions website at www.cpsc.gov. Affected models were sold at John Deere dealers nationwide and online from April 2022 to May 2022.

Consumers should stop using the lawn tractors and contact an authorized dealer for a free repair.

The commission also reported that Scholastic is recalling its Shake Look Touch books because the pom poms on the book can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children. The company has received two reports of the pom poms detaching, though no injuries have been reported.

The recall involves the book that was sold at bookstores, big box stores and other stores nationwide and online at Barnes & Noble, Home Goods and Books-A-Million from January 2020 to April 2022.

Consumers should take the book away from young children and cut the pom poms off the book.

Consumers can receive a $10 gift card as a refund by registering online at www.recallrtr.com/slt, submitting a picture of the book with removed pom poms and affirming that the pom poms will be disposed of.
Chief Judge William McConico, of the 36th District Court, speaks at a news conference announcing a move to limit the use of cash bail. The district court and civil rights groups settled a 2019 lawsuit that argued that the 36th District Court discriminated against poor people for not being able to pay bail.

Michigan's busiest district court will limit the use of cash bail, saying the practice disproportionately burdens poor people and puts them behind bars.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, the National ACLU and law firm Covington & Burling joined 36th District Court judges on Tuesday to announce that the Detroit court will not detain people for being unable to pay bail unless a judge determines  after reviewing evidence  that their release poses a flight risk or danger to the public.

The announcement, in front of the 36th District Court, settles a 2019 federal class-action lawsuit, filed on behalf of seven Black plaintiffs, against the court for discriminating against low-income people because they were unable to post bail. It argued that poor defendants didn't have access to lawyers during arraignment hearings when bails were set. The suit called for an overhaul of the bail system.

"This is a historic day for Detroit and a day that will be important for justice in the city for years to come. For decades, thousands and thousands of people presumed innocent were needlessly locked in jail simply because they were too poor to pay bail," said Phil Mayor, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan, at a news conference.

More: New Washtenaw County prosecutor will stop seeking cash bail

More: Prosecutors worry after Michigan Supreme Court decision on rare 1-man grand jury

The cash bail system requires that those accused of a crime pay in order to get out of jail while their trial is pending. If they show up to court, they get the money back. If they skip court, the court keeps it. The system is meant to ensure defendants come back to court and face the charges against them, but proponents of bail reform say it has harsh consequences.

They say it unfairly punishes people who can't pay the money, who then wind up in pretrial detention. The system places an unfair financial burden, disrupting housing, families and employment and costing taxpayers money by keeping people who have not been convicted in jail, Mayor said.

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A report released earlier this year from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights said that people of color and those with low income are disproportionately impacted by being unable to afford bail. More than 60% of those unable to pay bail bonds fall within the poorest third of society and 80% land within the bottom half, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

"Throughout Michigan and the nation, it has morphed into mass incarceration of the poor, it punishes people, not for what they've done but for what they don't have," Mayor said.

Pretrial incarceration can impact the outcome of a case  spurring guilty pleas, higher conviction rates and longer sentences, according to the Michigan Bar Journal.

Judge William McConico, chief judge of the 36th District Court, said the policy shift has been in the works for three years.

"No longer will being poor result in disparate justice," he said. "This agreement preserves judicial discretion, while ensuring that judges are exercising that discretion lawfully and wisely."

The move, McConico said, will also mean the pressures of being in jail don't result in plea bargains.

"We believe this agreement will serve as a model (for) courts in Michigan and indeed throughout the nation. It is possible to develop policies and practices to reduce unnecessary incarceration associated with cash bail, while still protecting the public," McConico said.

Judge Larry Williams, of the 36th District Court, said the court recognized there was a problem with people being in custody for low-level offenses, like civil and traffic infractions.

Michigan's busiest district court will limit the use of cash bail for low level offenses, saying the practice disproportionately burdens poor people and puts them behind bars.

"Judges will not impose cash bail without first making a finding about how much the person can afford," Mayor said.

Among the reforms under the new agreement, which would be in place for two to five years, according to a news release:

The 36th District Court will release a defendant on a personal recognizance bond, with some conditions, unless there's evidence that the person is a flight risk or a danger to the public. If a defendant does pose such a risk, the court will consider "non-cash conditions" like protective orders or probation.

The court will assume that anyone making below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines  or $55,000 for a four-person family  cannot pay cash bail.

Those arraigned at the district court will have access to a court-appointed lawyer.

Defendants who miss a hearing for most misdemeanor cases, for the first time, will automatically have their hearing rescheduled instead of an arrest warrant.

When cash bail is used, the court will look into the defendants' ability to pay. The bail can be set at an unaffordable amount if the court deems that pretrial detention is the best way to protect the public and ensure they show up to court.

"This agreement will allow people charged with low-level, low-risk offenses to return to work and to family. This will give some relief to our deputies who are burdened with processing individuals who don't pose a public safety or flight risk," said Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington.

McConico said the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office and Detroit Police Department were not part of the negotiation of the settlement, but noted that the Wayne County Sheriff's Office was a partner in the policy shift because that department runs the jails.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Tuesday in a statement that she doesn't have an issue with no cash bond for lower-level and nonviolent offenses and traffic violations with the exception of drunk driving, domestic violence, civil infractions and ordinance violations.

"It is unfortunate that (the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office) was not part of the process when 36th District Court and the ACLU were discussing this," Worthy said. "The agreement is a bridge too far when it comes to violent crime. We have recently seen disturbing results when defendants with violent crimes are given inappropriate bonds. I am not at all convinced this is the solution for serious felonies.

The Detroit Police Department said in a Tuesday statement that the department has not thoroughly reviewed the agreement and cannot yet comment.

"It is important, however, that appropriate bonds are fixed for individuals who commit serious offenses to better ensure public safety," the statement reads.

Starmanie Jackson, a plaintiff in the 2019 ACLU suit, spent time in jail because she was unable to pay $500 bail. It left long-lasting scars. She was never asked if she could afford the amount, she said. At the time, she had two kids at home, ages 2 and 4.

"I had never been separated from my children for that length of time. It was devastating for all of us," Jackson said in a video statement. She described the experience as torture and said her children suffered separation anxiety, seldom allowing her to leave their sight when she returned.

Jackson was arrested on a misdemeanor charge related to an alleged domestic violence dispute and it was her first time arrested, she said. Appearing before a judge during the bail hearing was confusing and she had no legal representation.

Her friends and family took care of her kids and put together the cash to get Jackson out of jail.

"Unable to call into work, I lost my job at a nursing home. Because I could not pay my rent, we lost our home," she said. The agreement means others will be spared the hardships she faced, Jackson said.

Plaintiff Davontae Ross said a week in jail cost two years of being in his kids' lives, because he was unable to make a custody hearing while locked up.

"Losing your kids like that is like having your heart ripped out of your chest," he said in a statement. He missed holidays and birthdays and his daughter's first steps.

Three years ago, he was arrested for failure to appear in court after getting a ticket for being in a city park after dark, he said. Cash bail was set at $200, which he could not afford. Ross said he was not asked if he could pay that amount. He said he was only released because of overcrowding at the jail.

"I never had to serve any time because of the ticket, only because of bail," he said. "Emotionally it was very difficult to deal with, just functioning was hard. At times, I even considered suicide."

Ross was able to get back on track and has a steady job at a sandwich shop. He has since reunited with his children.

"No one should have to sit in jail and have their world turned upside down just because they are too poor to buy their freedom."

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the criminal justice system can promote fairness while also protecting the public. Detroit, he said, is a national leader.

"The practice that we're dealing with here today harms defendants, their families, but it also harms our communities and, in particular, communities of color and as a result, it further risks eroding the public's trust in the criminal justice system," Holder said.

Mayor, of the ACLU, said the 2019 lawsuit was brought against Detroit because it was the busiest court.

"The knee-jerk use of cash bail, the inequities that it causes, is unfortunately widespread throughout the state," he said.

Michigan lawmakers have introduced legislation to reform the cash bail system, but those bills haven't had committee hearings yet, Mayor said.

Last year, Washtenaw County prosecutor Eli Savit announced his office won't seek cash bail in criminal cases, saying that it perpetuates racial inequities and disparately harms poor people. The policy shift was regarded as the first of its kind in Michigan.

In 2021, lawmakers adopted a slate of jail reform bills inspired by recommendations from a statewide task force, including eliminating driver's license suspensions for unpaid tickets and court fines unrelated to safe driving.

The task force in a 2020 report found that the number of people in Michigan jails tripled from 1975 to 2016. And while Black men make up 6% of the state's population, they account for 29% of jail admissions, according to a sample of jails the task force analyzed.

A number of states, including New Jersey and Georgia, have passed bail reform laws.

Nushrat Rahman covers issues related to economic mobility for the Detroit Free Press and Bridge Detroit as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA.

Contact Nushrat: nrahman@freepress.com; 313-348-7558. Follow her on Twitter: @NushratR. Sign up for Bridge Detroit's newsletter. Become a Free Press subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit's 36th District Court to limit the use of cash bail
Several highly contagious COVID-19 strains have sent cases climbing again, and health experts are urging Oklahomans to take precautions, especially when traveling.

While case counts are still much lower than the height of the original omicron variant wave in late 2021 and early 2022, cases statewide are over five times higher than they were this time last year and have been steadily rising since April.

In Oklahoma County, infections are now 10 times higher than they were a year ago, said epidemiologist Kunle Adesigbin, with the Oklahoma City-County Health Department.

Oklahoma added 9,200 cases to its statewide count this week. But the true number of infections is almost certainly much higher, since at-home test results arent included in official numbers.

Hospitalizations also have risen in recent weeks, but are still relatively low compared to previous waves.

Nearly all cases in the region are coming from three subvariants of the omicron COVID-19 variant: BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5.

All are more contagious than the original omicron variant. And whats more troubling about those three subvariants is a mutation they each carry that helps them evade antibodies someone may have from a previous omicron infection.

In December and January, we saw this huge number of Oklahomans get infected with omicron, said Dr. Dale Bratzler, chief COVID officer with the University of Oklahoma. We're seeing lots of  fully vaccinated people breaking through and being infected with one of these variants.

BA.5 seems to be the most contagious of the three, Bratzler said. It now makes up about 50% of cases in our region, which also includes Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana and Arkansas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Phil Maytubby, chief operating officer of the Oklahoma City-County Health Department, said he expects to see higher case rates in the fall. He's especially concerned about infections causing disruptions at schools and day cares.

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"Even though people aren't ending up in the hospital, we're having a lot more people come down with COVID. If you have COVID, guess what? You can't work. If you have kids in day care, you can't put them in the day care anymore," he said. "It's gonna have an impact on us, and it probably already is, we just aren't really able to see it yet."

He urged residents to be aware of their surroundings and to make choices that can lower their risk of getting or spreading COVID.

"You need to be smart about what you do," Maytubby said. "If you're in a situation where you know the cases are rising in our area, and you're around people you don't know, maybe you want to put (a mask) on."

And if someone's coughing, "you might want to give them some distance," he said.

Precautions for traveling

Precautions like hand-washing, mask-wearing and distancing are important in any mass gathering, but especially when traveling, said Dr. David Holden, president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association. Holden said he's heard anecdotally of more people getting sick after traveling.

While masks are no longer required in airports and on planes, experts have said a well-fitting mask can offer protection for the wearer and can prevent someone who may not know they're sick from spreading the virus to others.

"I think masks are going to be more and more important right now in airports, airplanes, any kind of mass transit," Holden said.

Staying up to date on vaccinations and booster doses also is important, Holden and Bratzler said.

"My recommendations for people as they're getting ready to take their summer trips and do things like that is, first, make sure you're vaccinated," Bratzler said. "That gives you by far the best protection."

Booster doses are recommended for anyone 5 years old and up, after they've had their initial vaccination series. People 50 or older or immunocompromised adults of any age are encouraged to get a second booster.

When to test

As infections rise, testing is crucial, Holden said.

If people feel ill, they should test right away, either with an at-home kit or at a testing location, he said.

If you have symptoms of COVID-19 but get a negative result  especially with rapid antigen tests like the ones in the at-home testing kits  have a "high level of suspicion," Holden said.

Sometimes a test may need to be repeated a day or two after the first test, he said. In other words, one negative COVID-19 test isn't always a sure-fire sign that you're in the clear.

"Since the outset of using the rapid antigen tests, we've known that they are not as sensitive," Bratzler said. "If somebody thinks they've been exposed or they have symptoms that they're concerned could be consistent with COVID and they get a negative test, we strongly recommend that they repeat in 24 to 48 hours ... because early false negatives have been widely reported with the antigen tests."

The Oklahoma City-County Health Department has COVID-19 vaccines available at three clinic locations. For information, go to vaxokc.com, or search for vaccines by your ZIP code at vaccines.gov.

The city-county Health Department also has testing resources available on its site, testokc.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: COVID-19 cases rising in Oklahoma with arrival of BA.4, BA.5 strains
Amid historically low unemployment in Stanislaus County, Modestos Vintage Faire Mall will host a regional job fair this week that seeks to help some of the areas biggest employers find new workers.

The hiring event, sponsored by the Modesto Chamber of Commerce and Barrett Business Services, Inc., will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, July 14, in the malls Center Court.

The event will feature some of the regions largest employers, including Frito Lay, Sysco, Del Monte Foods and Blue Diamond Foods. Those companies are hiring for everything from seasonal winery workers to forklift operators, warehouse workers, administrative assistants, welders, production workers, route drivers and general laborers. Temporary and permanent jobs are available.

The fair will have on-site interviews and hiring. In addition, some Vintage Faire retailers and restaurants will have tables outside their storefronts for applicants to apply, said mall spokeswoman Annie Amies. The event will include free promotional items for job seekers and hourly door prize raffles that include a $35 gift card.

Applicants should bring a resume and are encouraged to reserve interview appointments by visiting bbsistaffingmodesto.com/home/apply. Walk-ins are also welcome.

The hiring event comes as Stanislaus County posted a record low unemployment rate for May of 4.5%. Its the lowest recorded since tracking started in 1990, according to the California Employment and Development office. By comparison, the prepandemic unadjusted unemployment rates in May for 2019 and 2018 were 5.7% and 6%, respectively.

The areas previous all-time low was recorded in September 2019, when the unemployment rate hit 5.0%. Its risen as high as 19.7%, in February 1993.
Boone County Circuit Judge Jeff Harris on Monday denied a University of Missouri motion to suppress a subpoena filed by the defense attorney for Thomas Shultz.

Shultz, of Chesterfield, and Ryan Delanty are each charged with a felony under Missouri's anti-hazing law in the October 2021 incident at Phi Gamma Delta that related to the alcohol poisoning of freshman pledge Danny Santulli. Shultz is also indicted for felony tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution.

Santulli has severe brain damage and is blind and unable to walk or talk. He is with his family in Minnesota where he requires around-the-clock care.

Former University of Missouri Fiji pledge Daniel Santulli is back in the care of his parents, but his condition hasn't improved, the family's attorney said.

MU attorney Nicholas Beydler filed the motion to quash the subpoena on behalf of Julie Drury, MU assistant dean of students. The subpoena filed by Shultz's attorney, Brent Haden, seeks Drury's communication with staff and media, a list of people interviewed related to the incident and all her communication with MU police about the incident.

MU has imposed sanctions on 13 students involved in the hazing incident. The fraternity, known as Fiji, has been kicked off campus.

More: Danny Santulli's family on 'Good Morning America': Prosecute the Fiji brothers responsible

A storm begins to roll over the Francis Quadrangle on the University of Missouri campus in late October.

"The subpoena is overly broad and burdensome," Beydler said.

Drury doesn't have any direct evidence, he said.

"Ms. Drury doesn't have first-hand knowledge of the underlying events," Beydler said.

The subpoena was proper, Haden said.

"The university is trying to prevent us from getting information that is essential to the case," Haden said.

More: Former Missouri Fiji pledge Danny Santulli is back home but 'blind' and 'unable to walk or communicate,' attorney says

Everything listed in the subpoena is related to his defense of Shultz, Haden said.

"I think it's entirely feasible she will eventually be a witness in the case," Haden said.

Harris denied the university's motion, allowing the subpoena to proceed.

"I think these requests that are made are reasonable," Harris said. "I believe they're tailored adequately. I don't believe they're overly broad."

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An MU banner is taken down as a storm rolls over the Phi Gamma Delta house during their move-out day Oct. 24.

The courtroom discussion also addressed privacy interests of students not involved in the criminal case.

The attorneys disagree on the time frame for Drury to produce the documents, with Beydler asking for 60 days and Haden asking for 30 days.

Harris granted 41 days, until Aug. 22, the date of the next status hearing in the case. Drury also must participate in a deposition within 30 days of producing the information.

Shultz appeared by video. He has posted $50,000 bond, which Haden said is a record amount in Boone County for a class D felony.

Haden waived formal arraignment and entered a "not guilty" plea on his client's behalf. He plans to request a change of venue for the case, he said.

Harris imposed more conditions to Shultz's bond. He ordered Shultz to surrender his passport and avoid any place where intoxicating substances are available.

Shultz isn't a flight risk, Haden said.

"I'm just imposing a bond condition, I'm not suggesting anything untoward will happen," Harris said.

Delanty had been designated as a kind of mentor to Santulli, or "pledge dad." Shultz was vice president and treasurer of the fraternity.

Delanty's next hearing in his case is scheduled for Aug. 15.

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: Judge: MU official must produce documents in Phi Gamma Delta case
Police respond to the scene of the shooting and attempted robbery (Click2Houston)

Two teenagers have been taken to hospital in Harris County, Texas, after a father of two young children pulled his gun on them during an attempted robbery, officials said.

At about midnight on Monday, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez shared on Twitter that a man and his wife were driving home then they were approached by two would-be thieves.

The two alleged thieves tried to open the back door of the car outside the familys home on Feather Creek Drive, when the father pulled the trigger.

Sheriff Gonzalez said an infant child had been seated in the back of the car when the attempted robbery took place.

The adult male feared for the safety of his family and fired shots and struck both suspects, Mr Gonzalez said. The wife was driving and drove away after the shooting to get away from the suspects.

A video taken by a nearby doorbell camera showed the car pulling-up and four shots being fired to the rear of the vehicle.

KHOU, who obtained the footage, said the man had fired through the cars rear window to strike the would-be thieves. What sound like cries for help can be heard after the family vehicle speeds off.

The teenagers, who were both aged 16, were both injured and taken to hospital in private vehicles who arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting, officials said.

Their conditions were described as stable and fair by Mr Gonzalez.

An investigation is ongoing and no names have been released.
Hailing from Algonac, Jennifer Rochon makes her way as the newest district court judge for the southern district of New York.

Algonac native Jennifer Rochon was confirmed as a district court judge for the Southern District of New York.

Growing up, Rochon thought she would follow in her fathers footsteps and become a math teacher. However, she found it fascinating how legal precedents fit together like puzzle pieces. After graduating from the University of Michigan and completing two years in the Peace Corp, Rochon went to New York for law school.

I thought of all the good things that the law can do for people and how it can make a difference in peoples lives, she said.

Rochon was recommended for the district court judge position by New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, with the support of New York Senator Chuck Schumer. President Joe Biden signed Rochons commission on June 13.

Judges have an important role in society in terms of making sure people get a full and fair process, Rochon said. As a litigator, I experienced that in advocating for my clients, but I always thought it would be fantastic to be able to be in a position to make sure people receive that type of process.

Rochon said receiving this position is an honor.

Before being confirmed as a judge, Rochon was a litigation partner for the Kramer Levin Naftalis and Frankel LLP law firm in New York. Since 2013, she was the first general counsel of the Girl Scouts. At both of those positions, Rochon said her focus was on advocating for her clients and ensuring them the best legal representation possible. Her focus will be different now that she is working as a judge.

As a judge, youre not representing a client, youre not loyal to a client, Rochon said. Instead, youre loyal to the law and in that respect, you do what the law requires and make sure people get a just process.

Rochon said she never imagined she would get this position when she was younger. She said other Algonac residents should take whatever opportunity comes their way.

If you do what you love and just keep reaching higher and higher, you will obtain whatever it was you set out to get, she said.

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Rochon will be seeing federal civil and criminal cases. Her courtroom and chambers are located in downtown Manhattan.

Contact McKenna Golat at mgolat@gannett.com or (810) 292-0122.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: From Algonac to Manhattan: Jennifer Rochon confirmed as New York judge
An educational program for restauranteurs in sun-soaked Italy takes a chaotic turn in Spin Me Round, director Jeff Baena's latest comedic collaboration with Alison Brie.

Brie stars as the manager of an Italian restaurant chain who wins an all-expensed trip to the company's institute in scenic Florence, where she meets the chain's wealthy and charismatic owner (Alessandro Nivola) alongside a group of eccentric American franchise owners. She hopes for romance and adventure but is soon met with pandemonium (and possibly murder...?), per EW and PEOPLE's first look trailer, below.

Aubrey Plaza, who also frequently collaborates with husband Baena, stars as Nivola's assistant, a mysterious figure who appears to play a central role in the chaotic adventures that ensue. "I think something weird might be going on," a character played by Zach Woods says in the trailer. The star-studded cast also features Molly Shannon, Ayden Mayeri, Ben Sinclair, Tim Heidecker, Debby Ryan, Fred Armisen, and Lil Rey Howery.

Spin Me Round

IFC Films Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie, Alessandro Nivola, and Ayden Mayeri in 'Spin Me Round'

Brie, who co-wrote the script, previously worked with Baena on The Little Hours (also filmed in Italy), Horse Girl, and Joshy. She tells EW of the recent collaboration, "I really admire Jeff's commitment to telling unique, character-driven stories. There is a great creative freedom that comes with collaborating with him. And I can think of no better place to explore the beauty and complexity of the human experience than in the stunning Italian countryside."

Spin Me Round arrives in theaters, VOD, and streaming on AMC+ on Aug. 19. Watch the kooky pasta-filled trailer above.

Related content:
A scheduled discussion about an alleged sexual assault on Block Island was abruptly called off during a town council meeting on Monday night, prompting a tense exchange between two council members.

Details about the alleged incident are scant, but New Shoreham Town Manager Maryanne Crawford issued a statement last week indicating that the Rhode Island State Police are "investigating a report of an alleged sexual assault reported in the town on July 4th."

The Block Island Times reported on Friday, "There is enough anecdotal evidence to lend credence to the rumor that there was a second rape, or 'sexual assault' occurring at a commercial venue. The victim, who was supposedly under-age, declined to file a police report and press charges, so that incident would not have been included in the police report."

The agenda for Monday night's council meeting stated that interim police chief Peter Chabot would give an "update" about the July 4th weekend. However, after the public comment period of the meeting concluded, First Warden Andre Boudreau said that there would be no such update.

"Everything that needs to be discussed was discussed at the last meeting, and there's no updates on the topic," he said.

That prompted some pushback from council member Keith Stover, who said he had planned to ask if the council could schedule a "show cause" hearing for Ballard's Beach Resort. (Show cause hearings are typically a response to public safety concerns about a bar or restaurant that has an active liquor license.)

"We've all heard how out of control the place has been," Stover said. "I think we have a responsibility to at least have calendared a public meeting about how out of control it is."

"We don't have facts. I think its premature to even discuss what youre discussing," Boudreau said, noting that there was an active police investigation. "This is very much not our business right now."

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"Oh, it is very much is our business," Stover countered. Boudreau cut him off before he could continue.

Ballard's and the New Shoreham Police Department did not immediately return phone calls on Monday night.

How much did they make?: Police, fire top the biggest East Providence salaries in 2021

Crawford, in her Friday statement, said there had been a handful of arrests over the holiday weekend, including two arrests for domestic assault, two arrests for simple assault, and one arrest for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

During the last council meeting, on July 5th, Chabot had provided a rundown of the arrests and said that there were some "open investigations" that he could not speak about.

'Critically important to democracy': Lawsuit aiming to protect abortion rights hits RI

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Block Island councilor wants hearing amid sexual assault investigation
Kruk sounds off on Rodon, Webb's All-Star snubs: 'It stinks' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

When the 2022 MLB All-Star Games full rosters were announced on Sunday, many couldnt believe Giants pitchers Carlos Rodon and Logan Webb were left off the list.

Add to that group Mike Krukow, who went on an epic rant about the co-aces snubs before the Giants game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park on Monday night.

Well, it stinks, the longtime San Francisco broadcaster told the Giants Pregame Live crew. They both deserve to go. Theyve had brilliant first halves, and theyve really, really given the team a chance to win, regardless of how well the team is playing.

I think thats the sign of an All-Star, is that he elevates those around him. And I think both those guys do. When they go out there, its Win Day.

Rodon was snubbed despite currently leading all NL pitchers in WAR and ranking second in strikeouts, while Webb has been another reliable bright spot in the midst of the Giants inconsistent season.

Instead, Joc Pederson will be the lone Giants representative at Dodger Stadium on July 19.

Krukow made it clear he believes both pitchers are deserving of a spot on the National League roster, but that he especially feels for Webb.

I think the problem with it is, now look, Rodon was an All-Star last year [with the Chicago White Sox]. The rest of his life, hes always going to be introduced as a major league All-Star, Krukow continued. Well, that hasnt happened yet for Logan Webb and it should. You cant 25 years from now go, Heres a guy whos going to be here tonight. Please welcome a guy who almost made the All-Star team. Please welcome Logan Webb.

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You cant do that. It aint the same. So it stinks.

While all hope isnt lost, Krukows words likely resonate with Giants fans.

Rodon still could be named to the team as a replacement, but Webb is scheduled to pitch next Sunday, making his chances unlikely.

In the meantime, they can both rest assured knowing Krukow has their back.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast
Jul. 11IUKA  Authorities arrested an Alcorn County man, charging him with the death of a man whose body was found in a burned-out truck in late April in rural Tishomingo County.

Gavin Cole Stanton, 24, of Corinth, was booked into the Tishomingo County Jail at 3:44 p.m. July 8. He was charged with first degree murder and third degree arson in the death of Jerry Wayne Thrasher, whose remains were found April 28 inside a burned truck on County Road 388 in Sharps Bottom. During his initial appearance in Tishomingo County Justice Court, bond was set at $500,000

Tishomingo County Sheriff John Daugherty said a passerby spotted the truck in the northwest corner of the county and contacted his department. The responding deputies inspected the vehicle, which had a Tippah County license plate.

Thrasher was last seen in Booneville around 8 p.m. April 27 driving a red Chevy pickup with a Tippah County tag. Coroner Mack Wilemon sent the remains to the state crime lab in Pearl for positive identification.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Tishomingo County Sheriff's Office at (662) 423-7000, via email at tips@tishso.org or contact Crime Stoppers of Northeast Mississippi at (800) 773-8477.

william.moore@djournal.com
When OJ Stapleton's daughters were 4 and 3 years old, he and his wife, Becky, took them on a cruise for the first time.

"We thought, we'll try out a cruise and see how it goes," the newspaper editor from Russellville, Kentucky, told USA TODAY.

After trying out a few different cruise lines and itinerary lengths, the Stapletons figured out what worked for them as a family  from which amenities Emily and Molly liked most, to which school breaks fell at the best times for cruising.

Stapleton, 46, said that as they grew up, "pretty much every year we went on at least one cruise with them."

Stapleton and his wife, Becky, and their daughters Molly and Emily, pictured here, have been on a dozen cruises together.

Is the cruise industry coming back?: After more than 2 years under a COVID cloud, the answer is yes.

Solo cruising: Is it worth it to go on a cruise by yourself?

They are now 18 and 16, and the family has taken a dozen cruises together. And while cruises can make for great family vacations, taking a voyage with kids may require extra planning, from the type of cruise you choose to the items you pack.

"There's just definitely more to think about when you're traveling with kids," said Jen Campbell Boles, founder of the travel agency Explore More Family Travel, who has taken her twin boys on a family cruise. USA TODAY spoke to travelers and travel experts who have sailed with their kids to get their tips.

How to choose a family cruise

When booking your cruise, Boles said, consider whether you want to prioritize the ports and excursions offered or the activities on board.

"You know, a kid that might be really into whales might care more about the programming around whales in Alaska versus if there's a big water slide on board," Boles said.

If your kids are under 12, Boles recommended Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line, "because those are just better set up for kids."

Heidi Allison, editor-in-chief of AllThingsCruise.com and president of the cruise-finder website CruiseCompete.com, echoed Boles' recommendations, adding that Celebrity Cruises and Princess Cruises also have programming for kids but "it's not going to be the water slide and everything crazy where you're never going to see your children." She also noted that some lines don't allow children at all.

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Stapleton suggested booking at least a four-day cruise.

"Anything less than four days, you're getting into a lot more of a booze cruise, just kind of party atmosphere," he said. In the case of a child that is getting antsy, Boles said booking a cruise with minimal days at sea is probably best.

Boles recommended booking a room with extra space, like a balcony, as well, so you can have some alone time if the kids are winding down or fall asleep early.

What to do, pack before a cruise with kids

Think about what you need to bring and what you can get on board, Boles said. For instance, she said, "Will your kids sleep in any Pack 'n Play? Can you use the ones provided by the ship, or do you need to bring your own with you?"

If your child still wears diapers and you run out, however, Boles said family-friendly cruise lines offer those and other supplies, such as baby food.

Leslie Harvey, founder of the family travel blog Trips With Tykes, said in case of seasickness, she brought Sea-Bands for her daughter and son when their family went on a Disney cruise.

Leslie Harvey with her kids, Charles and Virginia. Their family took a Disney Cruise Line cruise in 2017.

If you are planning to make frequent use of the kids clubs on board, Kristi Marcelle, senior travel adviser at family-focused travel agency Ciao Bambino!, urged passengers to pre-register their children, so they will be ready to use the facilities at the start of the cruise.

She also suggested asking for its weekly schedule  or the schedule of kids activities  as some require you to sign up.

"I missed sign up for a 'Ratatouille' cooking class for my then 5-year-old on a Disney Cruise, and she still remembers that ... and she is 16 now," she said in an email.

Boles also recommended bringing items a deck of cards or books, and downloading digital games, shows, or movies ahead of time as Wi-Fi may not be reliable, to help keep kids entertained if you have a day at sea for instance. "Be prepared," she said. "What if it rains? You can't be in the pool that day."

Tips to keep kids safe during a cruise

Allison, whose sons have been on at least 15 cruises with her, and now have kids of their own, said she's "kind of a nervous mother, grandmother," and got her oldest granddaughter a GizmoWatch, with features like a GPS tracker and voice calling when she started preschool.

"I want to know where everybody is," she said. She said passengers could invest in that or an Apple Watch, or give their kids walkie-talkies.

She also recommended going over any safety rules with children, and using the buddy system if you have a larger family.

'More than I hoped for': This is what it's like cruising with a disability right now

Disney Wish: Disney Cruise Line's newest ship christened at Port Canaveral

Boles suggested steps including making sure kids know where to go in the event of an emergency on the ship and how to identify a crew member for help.

"Just have that little talk at the beginning so it's fresh in their minds, because sometimes you take for granted what your kids remember about safety because you don't think about them being separated from you in an unfamiliar environment," she said.

Stapleton, for his part, has found that cruise ships offer a means of both bonding as a family, and giving his kids some independence as they got older.

"I feel safer with them on a cruise ship than I do with them going to Sonic at 11 o'clock at night or whatever," he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to take a cruise with kids from travelers who have done it
Jul. 12A typical day for Kristina Kvien as a U.S. Department of State employee consists of brokering peace between the United States and a foreign country.

But Kvien, who was recently the acting ambassador to Ukraine, paid a brief visit to her aunts residing in Bear Valley Springs while on vacation Monday, and recounted being in a war-torn country in an interview with The Californian.

"We are very proud of her," said Ingrid Lindquist, Kvien's aunt and a resident of Bear Valley Springs. "She's very accomplished. I love listening to her interviews because she comes across so poised and so knowledgeable."

Kvien, a Fresno native, spent the last three years in Ukraine and was most recently its charge d'affaires, or an acting U.S. ambassador. She sat at the table while attempting to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion. The State Department sought to address the concerns Russia had that were actionable, she said. But despite their attempts to reach a diplomatic agreement, she added, Russia still launched a war.

Her embassy was evacuated in February, which Kvien recalls was an ordeal that changed by the hour.

It was difficult for her to leave the country she had lived in for three years, she added. Throughout her time, she said she forged relationships with close friends and government officials, such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She worried about those left behind and for Ukraine.

"It's just very sad that Russia decided to take this ... unilateral aggression," Kvien said.

After leaving Ukraine for Poland, her group still attempted to help Ukrainians. But helping across the border was unlike being there in person, she said. In May, their entire group trooped back to Kyiv, Ukraine  the nation's capital  to further provide aid to residents.

The winding road to the capital was riddled with damage wrought from war, but the city looked generally how they left it, Kvien recalls. Kyiv had suffered some missile damage at that point.

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"But it was still the city I knew and that I loved before I left," Kvien said. "Even though the character of the city was more subdued, for sure, it was still a beautiful city."

The resiliency of the Ukrainians shined despite dire circumstances, she said. Some bars and restaurants opened up amid the fighting, a sign of life returning to the city.

Back in the country, she worked to ensure humanitarian aid for Ukrainian residents, while helping the government shore up its defense.

It was a "little scary" when she heard air sirens indicating an imminent missile strike.

"It's a little ... unsettling to hear it because it's not something I'm used to," Kvien said, adding she became accustomed to the sound and eventually could fall asleep even as the alarms blared.

Kvien recently stepped down from her post, and has been nominated by President Joe Biden to be the ambassador to Armenia. She must get confirmed by the U.S. Senate before she's able to assume this role.

Lindquist said they spent Sunday and Monday simply spending time together. They caught up with friends, and Kvien regaled them with stories about her time abroad. Though, Lindquist noted, their family was in constant communication with Kvien and knew when each family member had evacuated, down to Kvien's cat.

"We are glad she's safe and out of there for now and taking (some) rest," Lindquist said.

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
Abortion rights advocates in Michigan are one step closer to securing a ballot measure that would let voters decide whether abortion remains legal.

A coalition of advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, said it secured nearly 754,000 signatures to put an abortion rights constitutional amendment on the ballot in November.

Michigan requires a little more than 425,000 voter signatures for an issue to qualify for the ballot.

The groups said the reproductive freedom ballot measure is the first of its kind nationwide and a blueprint for other states to preserve or restore reproductive freedom post-Roe.

The amendment would define the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including birth control, abortion, prenatal care and childbirth, in the Michigan Constitution.

A clear majority of Michiganders want to keep abortion legal. Supporters from every corner of this state, from every walk of life, are signing up to volunteer, donate, and share their stories to ensure politicians cant interfere in our most personal medical decisions. That momentum will power us toward victory in November, Nicole Wells Stallworth, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, said in a statement.

The coalition first launched in January after oral arguments at the Supreme Court and saw a massive surge of interest and volunteers after a draft of the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked. More than 30,000 people got involved following the leaked draft, the groups said.

The vast majority of Michiganders know that abortion is healthcare: Michigan is on the right side of history as we lead the way with Reproductive Freedom for All and intend to ask Michigan voters on November 8 to protect abortion and reproductive rights in Michigan, ACLU of Michigan Executive Director Loren Khogali said in a statement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A corn field is at the corner of Township Road 1193 and Township Road 1186, west of Ashland. It's been wet, then dry in the past month. The key for farmers now is to get steady rain the rest of the growing season.

Parched plants should enjoy the rain they received shortly after July 4, because things could stay crispy for the remainder of July.

Nearly all of the rain the area received in the last month came in just two days: July 5 and 6.

And that isnt likely to change until at least Sunday, according to the National Weather service, which notes the Ashland area will see a high of 80 degrees today, with a slight chance of shows later in the day. The forecast for the remainder of the week is much the same, with highs near 80 and no rain expected until Sunday, with a chance of showers in the afternoon and evening, according to the NWS.

Since meteorological summer started June 1, a total of 6.96 inches of rain has fallen in Ashland, Richland and Crawford counties, according to David Marsalek, a meteorologist with the Cleveland office of the National Weather Service.

However, if you go from June 17 to July 4, you only had .07 for that period, Marsalek said. It was a pretty good dry spell without any soaking rain to speaking of.

'There's some potential loss'

The lack of rain left farmers feeling like they were in a drought even if it wasn't technically a drought, according to Jason Hartschuh, Ohio State University Extension agent for Crawford County.

Then when the rain did show up, it all came at once.

"We got between 1.3 and 6.4 inches, depending on where you were," Hartschuh said.

July Supermoon: Everything you need to know about the 'buck supermoon' coming Wednesday

The official average for the region was 2.17 inches on July 5 and 0.64 inch on July 6.

"The distribution was not all that even," Marsalek said.

The crops needed water, but it may have been too much, too quickly.

"There's some potential loss there," Hartschuh said.

Bent corn will stand back up

Heavy rains can knock over plants, especially when they're extremely tender.

Then, ponded water can drown root systems.

Many farmers throughout the region have seen swaths of their corn fields bent over this week after the recent storms.

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"It will stand back up," Hartschuh said. "It might have a goose neck to it, but it will stand back up."

More: Bucyrus grain truck driver electrocuted in Ashland County

For standing water, the safe period for root systems is about 48 hours.

"More than that, it starts to be a problem," Hartschuh said.

Flowing water is safer, as it allows the roots to collect more oxygen than standing water.

'We really dont need rain'

The recent rainfalls delayed this summer's wheat harvest, which normally would have finished sometime around Independence Day.

Farmers should be able to get that harvest finished in the next few days, once Friday morning's rains finally dry out.

It's likely the only crops lost from the roller-coaster weather patterns will be ones that have been sitting under standing water for the past few days, but it's still too soon to know how much damage has been done.

The key for farmers now is to get steady rain the rest of the growing season.

"We should have enough moisture to take us a couple more weeks," Hartschuh said. "We really dont need rain."

It's good the plants are stable for a while, because they won't be getting any more soaking rains anytime soon.

ztuggle@gannett.com

419-564-3508

Twitter: @zachtuggle

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Heavy rains broke the drought conditions but may have been too much
ComEd will deliver $434 million in tax refunds to its customers over three years beginning in January.

The refund represents excess deferred income taxes collected by Illinois electric utility as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.

The utility, which serves more than 4 million residential and business customers across northern Illinois, wanted to distribute the refund over 39 years, but state regulators favored an accelerated schedule backed by consumer advocates and the Illinois attorney generals office.

Theres no reason that we should wait 39 years, said David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, a nonprofit watchdog group. It makes way more sense just to get money back to consumers faster.

Over the course of three years, the average ComEd customer will receive about $3 per month through the tax refund, Kolata said.

The Illinois Commerce Commission approved the plan last week to credit nearly $485 million in tax refunds to the states electric customers beginning in 2023, including $434 million from ComEd and nearly $51 million from Ameren. The refunds will show up as a line item on customer bills through 2025.

ComEd will distribute $65 million in 2023, between $195 million and $282 million in 2024, and the remaining amount in 2025, according to ComEd spokesman David ODowd. The credit will vary by customer, based on distribution charges, and will increase in the second year to reflect the larger amount refunded.

ComEd forecasts that the average monthly residential bill for distribution charges will be $35 in January of 2023, resulting in a benefit of more than 80 cents, ODowd said. Larger (commercial and industrial) customers could realize a benefit in the hundreds of dollars.

The Republican-backed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law by then-President Donald Trump in December 2017, lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, and creating a windfall for companies large and small. It also reduced the tax rate for utilities, which had already collected the federal income tax from consumers at the higher rate, built into the monthly bills.

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The Illinois utilities wanted to give the excess income tax collected to consumers over decades, while the attorney generals office pushed for a quicker timetable. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in September, added a provision requiring the electric utilities to issue the refunds by the end of 2025.

ComEd customers began receiving a carbon mitigation credit in June, which was also provided for through the states climate act. The average customer is getting a $20 monthly credit generated through profits at the states nuclear plants. The carbon mitigation credit appears as a new line item on ComEd bills through May 2023.

When the tax refund shows up on customer bills, it may be more than offset by ComEds proposed $199 million increase in electricity delivery charges. If approved by state regulators, the utilitys largest rate hike in nearly a decade would add $2.20 per month to the average residential customer bill beginning in January 2023.
There's an end in sight for the $9.2 million project that has wreaked traffic havoc on an infamous X-shaped intersection in the Twin Aire neighborhood.

But first, a summer of closures.

The city expects the project on Southeastern Avenue, Rural Street and English Avenue  which includes a new roundabout  to be fully open to traffic by the end of this year. To complete the home stretch, a portion of Southeastern Avenue that was previously restricted to one lane of traffic is now closed for six months.

There is no shortage of equally and more significant closures these summer months, including a crucial cross-river connection, the historic 30th Street bridge.

Here is where to expect to detour in Indianapolis in July:

Downtown streets under I-65/I-70 (North Split)

Central Avenue: July 11 through mid-August.

Delaware/11th Street ramp to I-70 East: Expected to reopen in early July.

Lewis Street: Through mid-July.

Ohio Street: Through mid-July.

10th Street: July 18 through mid-September.

TRAFFIC SHIFT ALERT

The BIGGEST bridge on the North Split project is opening soon!! In the next few days, I-70 EB traffic will shift onto the new flyover bridge. We can't wait to have you drive on the highest point of the project and experience part of the new interchange. pic.twitter.com/0P0hEEj8t2  North Split (@NorthSplit) June 29, 2022

College Avenue bridge

Where: Over Central Canal, north of Broad Ripple Avenue.

When: Through the fall.

Why: Bridge maintenance, including partial replacement of the bridge deck, a new overlay and widened sidewalks.

Detour: Use Kessler Boulevard, Meridian Street and 71st Street.

West Market Street

Where: The westbound lane from Illinois Street to Monument Circle and the eastern two lanes of Illinois Street near the intersection with Market Street.

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When: Until later this year.

Why: Reconstruction of the roadway and sidewalks, similar to a completed portion of east Market Street.

Detour: Take Illinois to Ohio to Pennsylvania to rejoin Market Street.

30th Street bridge

Where: Over the White River.

When: Until fall 2024.

Why: A historic bridge rehabilitation project, which will include a reinforced concrete arch, road and sidewalk replacement, added railing between sidewalks and vehicle lanes.

Detour: Drivers will have to go up north to 38th Street to cross the river, then Kessler Boulevard or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, back south to 30th Street. Pedestrians and cyclists can use the White River Trail and Cold Springs Road to cross the river at 16th Street.

Monon Trail

Where: From 22nd to 25th Streets, 29th Street to Sutherland Avenue, 49th to 56th Streets.

When: Segments will shut down for construction in phases throughout the summer. These are the segment closures slated for the period spanning June, July and August.

Why: A $1.7 million widening project.

Detour: The pedestrian detour follows College Avenue to the Fall Creek Parkway Trail, then west on 38th Street and north on Winthrop Avenue to rejoin the Monon. The bicycle detour uses 19th Street, New Jersey Street, the Fall Creek Parkway Trail, then a series of neighborhood streets to rejoin the Monon at 56th Street. Full detour maps are at indy.gov/activity/major-transportation-projects.

More: Indy begins widening its portion of the Monon Trail for first time in decades

38th Street

Where: Westbound lanes from Keystone Avenue to Emerson Avenue.

When: Beginning on or after July 11, lasting up to 130 days.

Why: Storm sewer construction in preparation for the Purple Line.

Detour: Westbound traffic will be detoured via Emerson Avenue, 46th Street and Keystone Avenue. An eastbound lane will remain open.

Southeastern Avenue

Where: Between Trowbridge Street and a railroad crossing at about 3400 East Southeastern Avenue, except for the intersection with Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive, where east-west traffic can cross Southeastern Avenue. Rural Street remains closed at English Avenue.

When: Until the end of the year.

Why: Road, sidewalk and drainage improvements near the Community Justice Campus, including a two-lane roundabout at Southeastern Avenue and Rural Street.

Detour: North to Washington Street via State Avenue and Sherman Drive. It's recommended that pedestrians use sidewalks along local roadways: Trowbridge Avenue, Graydon Street, Meredith Avenue, Gray Street and English Avenue.

Previously restricted to one lane of traffic, Southeastern Avenue is now closed through the end of 2022 to allow crews to finalize work on roadway infrastructure upgrades near the Community Justice Campus.

South Madison Avenue bridge

Where: Over I-465.

When: Through mid-July.

Why: Demolition and replacement.

Detour: Follow Thompson Road, Keystone Avenue and Hanna Avenue.

Fort Wayne Avenue

Where: Between Delaware and Alabama Streets.

When: Through late August.

Why: A project to convert the street from one-way to two-way traffic.

Detour: Use Alabama, North and Delaware streets.

South Franklin Road

Where: Between Southeastern and Troy avenues.

When: Through late August.

Why: To replace the bridge over Miller Ditch.

Detour: Via Southeastern Avenue, Northeastern Avenue, Post Road and East Troy Avenue.

East 71st Street

Where: The road beneath I-465, between Avalon Trail Court and Shadeland Avenue. The multi-use trail is open, but will see intermittent closures for bridge work.

When: Through late this year.

Why: To install steel supports for an expanded I-465 bridge over 71st Street as part of the Indiana Department of Transportation's Clear Path project.

Detour: Shadeland Avenue, 75th Street and Binford Boulevard.

Binford Boulevard ramp

Where: The northbound loop ramp onto I-465 westbound.

When: On or after July 5, lasting through 2025.

Why: To keep I-465 westbound traffic flowing through the work zone of INDOT's Clear Path project and to allow for the completion of temporary ramps at the I-69 and I-465 interchange.

Detour: Drivers should expect to find alternate routes for a couple years, INDOT says.

Dr. Andrew J. Brown Avenue

Where: Between Sutherland Avenue and 32nd Street.

When: July 13 through the end of September.

Why: A $16.4 million stormwater infrastructure project.

Detour: Via 30th Street, Keystone Avenue and 34th Street.

Minnesota Street bridge

Where: Between South Butler and Spencer avenues.

When: Through late July.

Why: Bridge rehabilitation, resulting in expanded travel lanes and 6-foot sidewalks.

Detour: Follow Southeastern Avenue, East Raymond Street and Arlington Avenue.

Emerson Avenue bridge

Where: Between Southeastern Avenue and Raymond Street.

When: Through late summer.

Why: Bridge rehabilitation, resulting in 11-foot travel lanes, 6-foot sidewalks and drainage improvements.

Detour: Use Raymond Street and Southeastern Avenue as alternate north- and southbound routes.

East Banta Road

Where: Between Derbyshire Road and Twin Brooks Drive.

When: Through late July.

Why: To replace the bridge over Derbyshire Creek, including new guardrails and pavement approaches on either side.

Detour: Via McFarland Road, Southport Road and Madison Avenue. Residents will be able to access their homes.

Beecher Street and East Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive

Where: Beecher Street between East Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive and East Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive; East Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive between Beecher and Raymond streets; and the Pleasant Run Trail access in these parts.

When: Through the end of 2023.

Why: For the Pleasant Run Tunnel project, which is part of Citizen Energy Group's larger DigIndy tunnel project.

Detour: Signs will detour motorists to Iowa Street, East Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive, Shelby and Raymond streets.

East Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive

Citizens Energy Group is continuing its work on Indianapolis' wastewater systems through two projects impacting this road:

Between Keystone Avenue and Prospect Street.

When: Through approximately mid-July.

Detour: Take Keystone north to Prospect, or Prospect west to Keystone.

Between South Meridian Street and Pagoda Drive.

When: Through approximately early August.

Detour: Use Meridian, Raymond and Shelby streets and Southern Avenue. Madison Avenue will not be affected.

Mann Road

Where: The bridge over I-465.

When: Through approximately the beginning of October.

Why: Bridge replacement as part of the I-69 Finish Line project.

Detour: Take Thompson Road, High School Road and Kentucky Avenue to cross I-465. The I-465 westbound exit ramp will remain open to northbound Mann Road, and the I-465 on ramp will remain open from Thompson Road and northbound Mann Road.

German Church Road

Where: between Brookville Road and Washington Street.

When: July 5 through about July 9.

Why: Emergency railroad repairs at a crossing near 2155 South German Church Rd.

Detour: Post Road.

62nd Street

Where: Between Winnpeny Lane and Allisonville Road.

When: 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays beginning July 5 and lasting four weeks.

Why: Citizens Energy Group project to install a new water main.

Detour: Use Allisonville Road, Kessler Boulevard East Drive and Binford Boulevard.

Kessler Boulevard West Drive

Where: The bridge over the White River.

When: July 11-16.

Why: To set bridge beams as part of an ongoing, multi-year project to reconstruct the bridge.

Detour: Via Meridian Street, West 38th Street and Michigan Road.

Bridgeport Road

Where: Between West Morris Street and Mellen Road.

When: July 11-15.

Why: To install three pedestrian bridges along the west side of the road, as well as new sidewalk and ADA-compliant ramps.

Detour: Through traffic will follow Morris Street, Raceway Road, Washington Street and Porter Street. Residents will be able to access local roads and driveways.

Vandergriff Road

Where: Between Davis and Pentecost roads.

When: July 11-29.

Why: To replace the culvert at around the 9700 block.

Detour: Through traffic will follow Senour and Pentecost roads. Residents will be able to access their homes and local roads, up to the culvert.

Contact IndyStar transportation reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis Traffic: Road closures to watch for in July 2022
Santiago Ochoas reporting for the Yakima Herald-Republic is possible with support from Report for America and community members through the Yakima Valley Community Fund. For information on republishing, email news@yakimaherald.com.
People walk in and out of the Starbucks on the corner of 23rd Avenue South and South Jackson Street in Seattles Central District. Starbucks announced Monday it would be closing the store and four others in the city, citing safety concerns.
U.S., Japan agree to address Ukraine war-driven FX volatility, economic challenges U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki agreed on Tuesday to further strengthen bilateral ties and work together to address rising food and energy prices exacerbated by Russia's war in Ukraine.

They said the war had increased exchange rate volatility, which could have adverse implications for economic and financial stability, and pledged to continue to consult closely on foreign exchange markets and "cooperate as appropriate" on currency issues, in line with their commitments as part of the Group of Seven (G7) and Group of 20 economies.

The two leaders also urged China and other non-Paris Club creditors to cooperate "constructively" in working out debt treatments for low-income countries facing debt distress, and underscored the need for coordination to ensure fair burden-sharing among creditors of Sri Lanka and other vulnerable middle-income countries.

Their joint statement also touched on issues ranging from climate change to global tax reforms and a price cap on Russian oil that the United States has proposed to prevent Moscow from benefiting from using higher oil prices to fund its war in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal And Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
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Today

Mostly sunny skies. High 112F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Mainly clear early, then a few clouds later on. Low 88F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunshine along with some cloudy intervals. High 112F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
VILLANOVA, Pa.Villanova University has announced a $1 million gift from L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: LHX), towards the expansion of its College of Engineerings primary academic building. In recognition of this gift, the College of Engineerings new Heterogeneous Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory (HAVLab) will be named the L3Harris Technologies HAVLab. Since 2013, L3Harris has now contributed more than $2.5 million to Villanovas College of Engineering.

L3Harris is a key partner for Villanova Engineering, said Michele Marcolongo, PhD, the Drosdick Endowed Dean of the College of Engineering. From the unique summer INNOVATE program to internships and job opportunities for our engineering students and now the support of our new world-class robotics laboratory, we are thankful for the contributions of L3Harris for helping us to advance engineering education.

The L3Harris Technologies HAVLab will provide the College with a unique world-class laboratory facility for development, implementation and testing of innovative robots and drones, including small-scale unmanned air, underwater, surface, ground and amphibious vehicles. The lab will facilitate development and testing of algorithms for cooperative missions between intelligent vehicles operating in different mediumsfor potential use in search and rescue, mine sweeping and fighting forest fires. It will include a cage/fly space equipped with netting and a motion capture system. A control room with workstations will be located adjacent to the lab. It will also include a 4.5 deep, 16 x 10 in ground research vessel on one side and solid ground for the remainder.

This gift and L3Harris legacy of supporting Villanova highlights our shared belief in the power of innovation and the strength of the Universitys engineering program, said Jim Girard, L3Harris Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. We are proud of our partnership and of the many former Villanova students who have joined L3Harris and are making tremendous contributions to the companys success and our customers critical missions.

In 2017, the College of Engineering received a $1.25 million donation from L3Harris$1 million of which endowed a summer innovation incubator program to help propel the next generation of Villanova engineers. INNOVATE: The L3Harris Summer Program exposes students to advanced real-world engineering challenges and fosters innovation and an entrepreneurial approach to problem solving. It has also created a pipeline for employment opportunities for Villanova students at L3Harris.

A total of $36.7 million has now been raised for the expansion project, which includes 15 seven-figure gifts.

About the Project

In October 2021, the University unveiled plans for a 150,000-square-foot addition to transform its College of Engineerings primary academic building, the Center for Engineering Education and Research. This project will more than double the existing 90,000-square-foot building, allowing for an expansion of engineering lab space of more than 60 percent, as well as the creation of state-of-the-art instruction spaces for hands-on, problem-oriented and team-based learning.

The addition will include flexible laboratory spaces designed for multi-disciplinary teams to work together on topical areas of research; classrooms that can adapt to various teaching and lecture formats; and a two-story Innovation Lab, which will include workspaces, tools and equipment for building, and space to accommodate large-scale project work. The University broke ground on the $125 million project in Spring 2022, with the expansion scheduled to be completed by Fall 2024. The project was designed by BLTaA Perkins Eastman Studio and Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP.

For more information on the building expansion project, visit villanova.edu/CEERexpansion.
In the first half of this year, the number of foreigners interested in Hungarian residential properties for sale increased by 10%, which is also due to the weakening of the forint against the euro, according to a recent analysis by ingatlan.com.

Cities that are industrially developed or are home to significant foreign investments and settlements along the border are popular with prospective foreign buyers.



Prospective foreign buyers are primarily interested in real estate in Budapest, as more than 50% of the demand is concentrated in the capital.



Towns and villages in the counties around Lake Balaton are also sought after; they cover 11% of the demand linked to foreigners.
In the Aug. 2 primary, voters in St. Francois County will make a decision on what is called Prop P, a proposed internet sales tax that is designed for additional funding of the county sheriffs department, emergency management and infrastructure.

If passed, the majority of the funds will be used to increase wages, hire more deputies and upgrade equipment for the sheriffs department, all needed to combat an increasing crime problem.

Sgt. Tim Harris of the St. Francois County Sheriffs Department spoke in depth to the Daily Journal about the needs of the agency he serves.

On a day-to-day basis, were running short staffed, he said. We have roughly 70,000 citizens to maybe three to four patrol deputies in an eight-hour period. Night shift faces its own problems where more criminal activity takes place than it does in daylight. Sometimes I have two guys working on night shift; its completely unsafe for them, but what do we do? We cant throw up a white flag and surrender to crime.

"Its not just the fact that we are short staffed. Its the fact that the men know we are short staffed because theyre overworked. They are answering upwards of 55 calls a day. It is hit and miss sometimes. One shift, in a four-hour span, three guys answered 35 calls themselves. I came out early to help them catch up on calls, we had calls waiting for us. The response time to those calls was extended and thats not fair to those citizens; it puts them at risk, it puts them in danger. We didnt sign up to put anybody in danger because we cant get there fast enough.

Being overworked on calls during a shift creates the problem of writing reports for the calls responded to. Harris says it adds to the stress load of his deputies to try and prevent errors and sometimes needing them done almost immediately.

A lot of times its a criminal activity that theyre reporting, we cant hold them in our jail for more than a book and release if we dont plan on getting warrants, he said. If we plan on getting warrants, thats a rush job. You go in there, write down the facts as they happen and get it ready to be approved and sent out. If they miss something, a detail in their reports, the prosecutor can look at it and deny charges, because it doesnt meet the criteria.

"If they are working a vehicle accident report, they get the first detail wrong, thats the difference between you being at fault or the other person being at fault. Were held to such a high standard because we try not to make these mistakes. Those reports are absolutely critical, if you completely mess up on that report and you send that over and it somehow gets through, how do you testify on something that you made a mistake on? Youll lose the case.

In the case of these cases moving forward, thats not the end of it for the officer. The deputies build up a lot of comp time because that deputy must do follow ups on the investigation and spend time in court. Harris states that these officers may have a lot of workload that happens outside of their scheduled shift.

Thats a big problem because most of our court appearances are done by our evening shift officers, he said. They handle the biggest caseload we have. People are getting off from work, domestics often happen before 10 p.m., people are going to bed, thats where we catch most of our cases.

"Those evening shift guys are getting subpoenaed to court at 9 a.m. in the morning and having to stay there until 10-11 a.m. or get subpoenaed at 2 p.m. when their shift starts. Theres been times when we have one person cover all the calls on evening shift and if we (the supervisors) are listening, we have to run out, throw on a uniform and go on the street and help with calls until other people can come in and help out.

Answering the calls like the other deputies is a bit unusual for someone in Harris position, who as a sergeant normally would be in a supervisor role, answering only calls of high importance and handling department internal issues. The same goes for Lieutenant Mike Ryan, who oversees the patrol division.

I answer all these calls like all the other guys, said Harris. Ryan is probably the first lieutenant that weve had that actually puts on a uniform and comes to work and goes and answers calls. I just made the schedule next month and hes going to have to come in and fill in a couple of days because of vacations and training. Mike (Ryan) never complains.

Including Harris and Ryan there are 19 patrol deputies, a coverage of 1 deputy per 3,600 citizens in St. Francois County. The national average in 2011 was 3.4 per 1,000. Harris says that the number for the best safety of his officers and citizens in the county is 35-40 patrol deputies, still below the national average.

Realistically, what this Prop. P would do is add 10 men, he said. Give me 10 men and I will set the county on fire going out and combating crime. If we get downtime, every one of my guys is out performing traffic stops in troubled areas. We are not a big ticket-writing agency, my guys are out there and getting probable cause to find drugs or weapons or other crimes.

"They have done a phenomenal job as short staffed as they are making arrests and getting drugs off the streets. We handle more evidence now than we ever have  the last year and a half the amount of drugs these guys are taking off the streets is unbelievable.

Having those more deputies means much more presence in the county at any given time with more visibility and as importantly, reduced response time. With enough deputies, Harris would eventually look at sectioning the county into four zones for patrolling.

This county is easy to divide up north, south, east and west with a supervisor in the middle to be able to respond to all these calls as they come in, he said. It would dramatically reduce response time. Thats the big thing, the people outside doing their yard work that see speeders and dont call it in. All of a sudden, they are seeing more patrol cars that are flooding their areas on a regular basis. Say you have Doe Run, Pendleton Road down to H Highway and AA. You can filter in and out of all of those roads in your shift, waving at people.

"We know that officer presence dramatically reduces crime. People are less apt to crawl under your vehicle and cut your catalytic converters off if they know that pretty soon theres going to be a deputy driving by.

As part of their budget woes, the sheriffs department is also working with vehicles that have a lot of wear and tear in a time when cars of any kind are hard to get, especially law enforcement vehicles that are specially equipped.

Weve gone through phases  like with the Crown Vics  where we go get new cars, he said. They were no longer available, so we bought used Explorers from the Highway Patrol. Theyve already got 60,000 hard miles on them.

"Luckily, we have a top class mechanic. He keeps these vehicles running on a daily basis and I dont know how. Ive got guys out there with 200,000 miles on a vehicle. These guys are running around with outdated equipment and outdated vehicles at 100 miles an hour.

Unfortunately, the crime rate is also going up with more serious crimes rising rapidly. The amount of calls increased from 14,450 in 2018 to 19,547 calls in 2021 with an increase of only three deputies in 23 years, putting a much heavier strain on the overworked deputies that Harris oversees.

We had five shootouts in over a month or month and a half, he said. Bonne Terre, Lane Burns paid the ultimate price for that. Desloge, they were forced to do a job that day. Washington County had a standoff with a man. Right after that was the deal at Iron Mountain Lake. Those incidents were closely followed by an incident in western Ste. Genevieve County where a suspect was shooting at officers.

Harris was involved in a harrowing shootout at the Iron Mountain Lake incident. My deputy had been a year on patrol  22 years old  has a 7-month-old baby and a 20-year-old wife.

Harris is a 22-year veteran. The two deputies and the suspect traded intense gunfire while trying to call for backup.

Iron Mountain Lake, in general, you are not going to get good service, especially with a handheld radio, he said. The nearest car is Bismarck Police Department. They have no idea what is going on and they have to figure out where we are. Its a needle in the haystack with officers frantically trying to get there.

We have no backup, weve radioed in and Ive listened to the tapes. I can hear my partner, Send cars! Send help! Theres nobody. It was 15-20 minutes for the response time to get to a deputy being shot at. I know that my men went as fast as their cars could go; one guy wrecked his car on the way there.

Detective Summer Bess of the Park Hills Police Department is supporting the ballot measure. Bess was at a meeting about Proposition P and had put together some of the costs involved in hiring an officer and outfitting that officer for duty. In speaking to the Daily Journal she says that 80-95% of a police budget is spent on payroll alone. The other costs are on specialized equipment that equates to high cost.

We have ITI which does our police reporting, to add a module for fingerprinting that automatically sends them to the state is $6,000 a year, she said. We are probably up to around $12,000 a year for the report writing system.

To outfit an officer is around $3,900. Thats two uniforms, their belt, bulletproof vest and their weapons. We are always buying uniforms for maintenance to keep the guys going. Thats not including their cars.

Bess states that all the law enforcement in the area is on the same team. The departments use each others resources continuously.

Our resources are limited, she said. The phone dump system, we have criminals that we have a search warrant for their phone, Farmington has that system, so we use theirs. The county also has a different one we use. The lie detector training, not everyone has that, so we may run one for Desloge or other surrounding agencies because they dont have that. If they get (Prop. P), its going to benefit everybody in the long run.

Bess brought up the hiring and retention problem that police departments in general are having.

Officers are leaving at an alarming rate, she said. I have been doing this for 22 years and nobody can keep anybody. I hope the county passes this, because even with passing it, its going to be very hard to keep people. People have just had it with law enforcement, theyre not staying. Its hard to keep officers anyway and if theyre not making enough pay, this is going to give them a boost.

Harris echoed the hiring and retention problem.

Law enforcement, we have a lot of guys that are good at it, he said. These guys are actively sought, people know how good these guys are. They pay better; they have backup, enough people on an everyday basis to cover all shifts. It is a competitive market now. If we start losing these quality deputies, what are we going to replace them with? Whos going to respond to your call in Wortham or Blackwell and know what they are doing?

The numbers of people that are going to the academy have dropped dramatically. The appeal to be a police officer is not what it was thanks to politicians and news media; we are the scapegoat. Its easy to paint us as the black sheep. These guys strap up their guns every day and leave their families and do their job regardless of what people think or what the media says.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been invited to give an opening address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, USA, on August 4, Bertalan Havasi, the PMs press chief, said on Monday.

Orban gave a speech at the first CPAC Hungary conference in May, the first such event held in Europe. CPAC was founded in 1974, and has grown into an event drawing tens of thousands of conservatives every year.



The Centre for Fundamental Rights, the organiser of CPAC Hungary, said it welcomed the news that Orban will be a keynote speaker at the event.



The Hungarian prime ministers presence at CPAC demonstrates the strength and influence of the Hungarian right wing, the think-tank said.



They said the prime ministers address to CPAC Hungary had resonated strongly with conservatives worldwide.





Photo: MTI / PM's Press Office Zoltan Fischer
YORK  Brennan J. Wycoff of Waukee, Iowa, has been convicted for the second time in York County of drug-related offenses. This time, it involved hiding methamphetamine in an orange stuffed animal.

This past week in York County District Court, Wycoff pleaded no contest to a reduced offense as part of a plea agreement.

According to court documents, a trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol was on regular duty on Interstate 80 when he saw a traffic violation and he initiated a traffic stop. The trooper noted it took longer than normal for the vehicle to come to a stop.

Wycoff, 31, was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle.

According to court documents, the trooper said he detected a strong cover-up odor emitting from the vehicle.

A criminal history check showed that Wycoff has an active past of offenses  which included prior drug violations and possession of drug money violations in York County in 2019.

During their conversation, the trooper said Wycoff admitted to having some THC wax and a bong in the vehicle.

During a probable cause search, troopers found the items Wycoff had admitted to.

In the back seat, they found an orange stuffed animal with a zipper on the back. When it was unzipped, they found plastic bags with one containing 1.4 grams of methamphetamine.

He was initially charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony. That was amended to attempt of a Class 4 felony, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor which carries a possible maximum sentence of one year in jail.

Sentencing has been set for Aug. 29.
The new Deoghar Airport in Jharkhand will be connected to Delhi via direct to and fro flights starting July 25, Ministry of Civil Aviation informed in a tweet. As a key step to provide direct connectivity to Baba Baidyanath Dham, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the much awaited newly-built Deoghar Airport today on July 12. It has been constructed at an estimated cost of around Rs 400 crore. The Terminal Building of the airport is equipped to handle over five lakh passengers annually. IndiGo airline will operate the maiden flight from the airport to Kolkata today.

Deoghar Airport, Jharkhand will have daily to & fro flights from Delhi from 25th July 2022, connecting it with the rest of India. pic.twitter.com/0pJV9jc9hI July 11, 2022

The Ministry of Civil Aviation earlier tweeted about the newly-built Deoghar airport and has laid emphasis on how it will give a big boost to Baba Baidyanath Dham-centric tourism in the region. The newly constructed airport at Deoghar is a big boost to Baba Baidyanath Dham-centric tourism in the region. Jharkhand's second airport after Ranchi will add to the prosperity of the state, the tweet read.

The airport is ready to become operational as two flight run trials have been successful, officials earlier said. The Indian low-cost airline IndiGo recently announced that it will start flight operations between Jharkhands Deoghar and Kolkata from July 12. The Deoghar-Kolkata flights will operate four times each week from July 12, the airline said in a statement.

Aviation regulator DGCA had on June 29 granted an aerodrome licence to the newly-built airport in Jharkhand, allowing it to handle narrow-body aircraft such as A321 and B737. The licence has been upgraded from 3C to 4C, which permits commercial operations up to Airbus 321, Boeing 737 type, and equivalent aircraft. A 3C license allows an airport to only handle regional aircraft like ATR-72. It will also facilitate easy connectivity to pilgrims coming to Baidyanath Dhaam.

When operational, the airport will be the second of international standards in Jharkhand after the Birsa Munda international airport in Ranchi and will provide air connectivity to Jharkhand, northern West Bengal, and south-eastern Bihar.

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Due to a nose wheel problem on the Boeing B737 Max aircraft, SpiceJet's flight from Dubai to Madurai was delayed. The event marks at least the ninth technical failure of a SpiceJet aircraft in the last 24 days. Following eight instances of technical issues with SpiceJet's aircraft since June 19, the DGCA sent a show-cause notice to the airline on July 6. The oversight body for aviation claimed that the low-cost carrier had "failed" to set up dependable, efficient, and safe flight services.

The Boeing B737 Max aircraft with registration number VT-SZK operated the Mangaluru-Dubai flight, DGCA officials noted. After the aircraft landed, an engineer did a walk-around inspection and found the nose wheel strut was compressed more than usual, they said. The engineer, therefore, decided to ground the aircraft, the officials noted.

The airline sent another aircraft from Mumbai to Dubai to operate the return Dubai-Madurai flight, they stated. Asked about the matter, a SpiceJet spokesperson said, "On July 11, 2022, SpiceJet flight SG23 operating from Dubai to Madurai was delayed due to a last-minute technical issue. Alternate aircraft was arranged immediately which brought passengers back to India."

Also read: SpiceJet denies claims of windshield crack on plane, says no surprise audit by DGCA

"Flight delays can happen with any airline. There has been no incident or a safety scare on this flight," the spokesperson added.

With inputs from PTI
PANAJI: Congress on Tuesday managed to avert a major crisis and a possible split in its Goa unit for the time being after ten out of the total 11 party MLAs attended a meeting chaired by senior leader Mukul Wasnik in Panaji. According to sources, except former chief minister Digambar Kamat, all the other Congress MLAs, including Michael Lobo, attended the meeting on Monday which went on for over two hours at the state party headquarters here.

Congress Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao and state party president Amit Patkar were also present during the meeting. Wasnik claimed some people with bad intentions were trying to create a rift in the Goa Congress, but the legislators scuttled it by showing they are united.

CLP meeting of @INCGoa at our office in Panjim in the presence of Shri @MukulWasnik.

9 of our 11 MLA's were present.

The attempt by @BJP4India to split has flopped, however sad to say they still haven't stopped trying. pic.twitter.com/Hk5lqhmZju  Dinesh Gundu Rao/  (@dineshgrao) July 11, 2022

He said during the meeting, discussions were held with the MLAs on how to work aggressively in the House and strengthen the party in the coastal state. On Sunday, five Congress MLAs, including Kamat and Lobo, went incommunicado. They, however, attended the Goa Assembly proceedings on the first day of its Monsoon session on Monday and claimed there was nothing wrong and that they were with the party.

The Congress had accused Lobo and Kamat of "conspiring and hobnobbing" with the ruling BJP to engineer a split in the grand old party's legislative wing.

The party also removed Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition in the 40-member Assembly.

After some of the Congress Legislature Party members did not attend a press conference called by Rao on Sunday, Patkar filed a disqualification petition against Kamat and Lobo before Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Monday.

Asked if the disqualification petition would be withdrawn, Wasnik said, "You don't ask all questions now, let us keep something for later. After the meeting on Monday night, Lobo told reporters that he was with the Congress and there was a misunderstanding by the party as he could not attend the press conference called on Sunday.

All the Congress MLAs are with the party. I had told them that I didn't want to continue as the Leader of Opposition because I would not be able to do justice to the post, he said.

Senior leaders like Digambar Kamat or Sankalp Amonkar can be elected as the LoP in the Assembly, he added.

(With Agency Inputs)
A tweet by Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has once again increased the political stir in Maharashtra. He made a tweet today tagging Uddhav Thackeray, Priyanka Gandhi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, after which many speculations have started. Actually, Raut wrote while tweeting that, "Ab nahi koi baat khatre ki... Ab sabhi ko sabhi se khatra hain...", although it is not clear what he is trying to say in this tweet. The thing to think about in this tweet is that why did he tag CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis along with Uddhav Thackeray and Priyanka Gandhi?

Shiv Sena Crisis: Many Meanings Of Raut's Tweet

Meanings of Sanjay Raut's tweet are being extracted. An indication from this tweet is that Shiv Sena can take a big decision in the coming time. That is, the Shiv Sena will either make an agreement with the BJP or it will start from a new level. On the other hand, if we talk about other signs, then it can also be about the future of Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Also Read: Shiv Sena Crisis: 'Thanks for not BOWING down to...' read Uddhav Thackeray's EMOTIONAL message for THESE MLAs

Maharashtra Political Crisis: Government not according to the constitution

While talking to a news agency yesterday Raut had said that the way one government was imposed in Maharashtra, it is completely illegal. This government is not formed according to the constitution. It is an issue of disqualification of MLAs. A decision is being taken in the Supreme Court, it will be known whether there is a constitution, law in the country or it has been murdered.
Slamming the BJP over rising prices in the country, TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee has said that India's condition will soon be like that in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. The TMC leader launched a sharp attack on BJP and slammed the Centre over rising fuel prices. Abhishek said that petrol is currently priced at Rs 106 a litre, while even kerosene has seen a massive price hike over the years. Banerjee reportedly warned that soon, people in the country will face a shortage of food and fuel and India's situation will become like that of conflict-torn Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

While the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal is giving money in the hands of women through a scheme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking it away from them by raising cooking gas prices to nearly Rs 1,100 per cylinder, he claimed. Petrol and diesel prices are also rising steadily, he said. "What happened in Sri Lanka and Afghanisthan, I believe the people of India will create a similar situation against the BJP," Banerjee said while addressing a public meeting in Dhupguri in West Bengal.

Abhishek's comments come on the heels of controversial remarks made by Trinamool Congress MLA from West Bengal Idris Ali against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ali had said that PM Modi will meet the same fate as that of his Sri Lankan counterpart."Whatever happened with the President of Sri Lanka, will happen with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here. Looking at the things in India, I say that Prime Minister Modi is a total failure. It will be even worse here. Prime Minister Modi will also resign and flee," TMC MLA Idris Ali said.

Earlier on Saturday, protesters stormed into Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa`s official home and later broke into Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe`s private residence and set it on fire. Both President Rajapaksa and PM Wickremesinghe have announced to step down from their posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts.The worsening economic situation in the country has led to increasing tensions and over the last few weeks, there were reports of several confrontations between individuals and members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations where thousands of desperate members of the public have queued for hours and sometimes days. Police have used tear gas and water cannons at times in a disproportionate manner. On occasions, armed forces have also fired live ammunition.

'There is only West Bengal and no south or north Bengal'

Meanwhile, Abhishek Banerjee also said that those north Bengal leaders of the TMC because of whom voters turned away from the party in the last Lok Sabha and assembly elections will not get tickets in the next panchayat polls. Referring to the demand for a separate state comprising the northern districts of West Bengal by a section of BJP leaders, Banerjee who is considered no. 2 in the Trinamool Congress asserted that nobody will dare to divide the state till Mamata Banerjee is the chief minister. "Because of a few leaders, voters of north Bengal had turned away from the TMC in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 assembly elections. The party has identified them and none of such people will be given tickets in the panchayat polls (due next year)," Abhishek Banerjee said. The saffron party has fared well in those two elections in the northern districts such as Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar.

Also read: Kaali Poster Row - Suvendu Adhikari registers protest against Mahua Moitra; ANGRY BJP asks, 'When will Mamata...'

Abhishek said he does not like the term 'north Bengal' as it appears that the region is different from the rest of the state. "There is only West Bengal and no south or north. If anyone thinks of dividing Bengal, we will prevent it with the last drop of our blood," he said. Demand for a separate state or Union territory for the northern part of the state has been raised by the BJP in the last several years alleging that the region did not have any development.

He claimed that the Left Front during its 34-year-long rule had done nothing for the development of north Bengal while the TMC, after coming to power in 2011, has bridged the gap to a large extent. Admitting that the TMC's leadership in the north Bengal districts has committed some errors, Banerjee said, "I have come to seek your pardon and to give you my word that I will visit these places regularly."

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: In the extradited gangster Abu Salem's case, the Supreme Court on Monday said that the Centre is bound to advise the President of India on the issue of an extradition treaty between India and Portugal on completion of Salem's 25 years of the detention period. An apex court bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh said, "The criminal law of the land does not have any extraterritorial application. Thus, what happens in another country for some other trial, some other detention, in our view, would not be relevant for the purposes of the proceedings in the country."

Hearing the extradited gangster's petition, the top court also made it clear that it tends to agree with the submissions of the Additional Solicitor General on the larger conspectus, i.e., the separation of Judicial and Executive powers and the scheme of the Indian Constitution cannot bind the Indian courts in proceedings under the Extradition Act, said an ANI report.

Disposing of the petition filed by Abu Salem, who cannot come out of jail till October 2030, the Supreme Court ruled that his detention commenced on October 12, 2005, when his custody was handed to Indian authorities by the Portugal government.

"In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, we conclude that the detention of the appellant commences from 12.10.2005 in the present case. On the appellant completing 25 years of sentence, the Central Government is bound to advice the President of India for exercise of his powers under Article 72 of the Constitution, and to release the appellant in terms of the national commitment as well as the principle based on comity of courts," ANI quoted the top court as ruling.

Also read: Gangster Abu Salem's plea seeking parole for marriage rejected by Bombay HC

According to the SC, in view, thereof, the necessary papers be forwarded within a month of the period of completion of 25 years sentence of the appellant. In fact, the government can itself exercise this power in terms of Sections 432 and 433 of the CrPC and such an exercise should also take place within the same time period of one month," the Court said.

Also read: Abu Salem sent to seven years in jail in 2002 extortion case

In the 44-page order, the apex court said, "A reference to the solemn sovereign assurance on 17.12.2002 itself makes it clear that the assurance, which was given on behalf of the Executive in India was that if the appellant was extradited by Portugal for trial in India, he would not be visited with the death penalty or imprisonment for a term beyond 25 years, " adding "To achieve this objective the methodology placed before the Portugal Courts was that Article 72(1) of the Constitution conferred power on the President of India to grant pardon, reprieve, respite or remit punishment or suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any convict person convicted of any offence."

It further observed, "This was with the assurance under Sections 432 and 433 of the Cr.P.C. which conferred the power on the government to commute the sentence to life imprisonment with terms not exceeding 14 years. It is also the subsequent solemn assurance of the Ambassador of India given on 25.05.2003 that on the appellant being extradited, he will not be prosecuted for offences other than those for which the extradition was sought and he will not be extradited to any third country."

The Supreme Court in May had reportedly reserved its July 11 order regarding extradited Abu Salem`s plea raising the issue that as per the extradition treaty between India and Portugal, his jail terms cannot extend beyond 25 years. Salem`s advocate had apprised the Supreme Court of India that the Supreme Court of Portugal had stated that if the requesting state (India) exceeds the terms of the agreement, then the accused (Abu Salem) shall be extradited again back. Salem`s advocate has also apprised the SC that there is a violation of the terms of the agreement and assurance given to Portugal.

Supreme Court had observed that the exercising of power by the executive and by the court is different. Abu Salem`s advocate also apprised the court that his client was in custody in Portugal since 2002, adding that Salem was arrested on the virtue of a red corner notice. The lawyer also apprised the court that Salem's extradition started in 2003 and went on for almost 2 years and custody was handed over in 2005.

The central government had earlier submitted that the Union of India honouring its assurance will arise only when the period of 25 years is to expire. The Centre had said the compliance of the assurance given to the Portugal government during the extradition of gangster Abu Salem will be done at an "appropriate time" and the judiciary, as the Constitution of India envisages, is independent in deciding all cases in accordance with the applicable laws.

The plea of Abu Salem contended that as per the extradition treaty between India and Portugal, his jail terms cannot extend beyond 25 years. The Home Secretary has also clarified that the Government of India will abide by the assurances in accordance with the law and subject to the remedies as may be available at that stage.

Salem has raised issues that the 2017 judgment of a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) Court sentencing him to life imprisonment was against the terms of the extradition treaty. Salem`s advocate Rishi Malhotra had said that on December 17, 2002, the Government of India gave a solemn sovereign assurance to the Government of Portugal that if the appellant Salem is extradited for trials in India he would neither be conferred with the death penalty nor be subjected to imprisonment for a term beyond 25 years.

He had also said that the TADA Court were not according to the extradition order, adding that the government can exercise its powers under section 432, 433 CrPC to commute the sentence of Life imprisonment in order to bring it down within the ambit of assurance of the sentence of not more than 25 years as the execution of the sentence was purely in the domain of government.

The petitioner had also said that the government should ensure to bring down punishment consistent and commensurate with the assurances but it cannot be said that the court`s hands were tied in not awarding punishment to Salem for more than 25 years.

Explaining the Extradition Act, 1962, the Centre's affidavit stated that it is an Act enabling the executive of one State [the term "State" being used in the parlance of international law] to deal with another State to extradite accused /convict persons and these powers are executive powers and while exercising such powers, it is an inherent understanding that it would bind the executives of the respective states. The Centre remarked that the contention of the petitioner about non-compliance of assurance is premature and based on hypothetical surmises and can never be raised in present proceedings.

(With ANI Inputs)
New Delhi: Taking a veiled barb at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday (July 12) said anarchy is not caused by population but by the destruction of democratic values." Yadav wrote in a tweet in Hindi, "Anarchy does not arise from the population, but from the destruction of democratic values." The SP chiefs remark comes in the wake of UP CM Adityanath saying that population control programmes must not create an "imbalance" by focusing on "native" residents even as the growth rate of "some community" remains high, a probable reference to Muslims, PTI reported. He also expressed concern over the possibility of "anarchy" at some point if there are "imbalances" in a country.

   ,         Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) July 12, 2022

On World Population Day on Monday, Adityanath said that "population stabilisation" should be uniform across different sections of people. "It should not happen that the speed of population growth or the percentage of some community is high and we stabilise the population of the 'moolniwasi' (natives) through awareness or enforcement," the UP CM and senior BJP leader said.

Such situation could have an adverse impact on religious demography and after some time 'disorder' (avayvastha) and 'anarchy' (arajakta) could begin in that country, he added.

SP MP Shafiqur Rehman Barq also targeted the UP government accusing it of seeing the population growth from a "particular angle".

Giving birth to a child is up to the almighty. When a child is given by Allah, the risk attached with him are also sent by the almighty, the Sambhal MP told reporters on Monday night. He also advised the Yogi Adityanath government to pay attention to education instead of mulling a law on population control.

"Instead of contemplating a law to check the growth in population, the government should pay attention to education and make proper arrangements for everyone, be they are poor, big or small, Barq added.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also attacked Yogi Adityanath over his remarks and asked if Muslims were not natives of India. "Are Muslims not natives of India? If we see the reality, natives are only tribals and Dravidian people. In UP, without any law, desired fertility rate would be achieved by 2026-2030," he was quoted as saying by ANI.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Amarnath Yatra, which was resumed on Monday after a two-day suspension following cloudburst and flash flood near the cave shrine that killed 16 people and injured 37, continued on Tuesday (July 12, 2022) as another batch of 7,107 pilgrims moved from Jammu base camp towards the Valley.

The officials informed that the Yatra was resumed on Monday from Pahalgam base camp while it was not resumed from Baltal base camp because the 14 km long north Kashmir trek is damaged at three places.

"Helicopter services for the Yatris continued from both the base camps to the cave shrine," officials said.

Another batch of 7,107 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu in two escorted convoys for the Valley on Tuesday. "Of these, 5,158 are going to Pahalgam while 1949 are going to Baltal," officials said.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha on Monday visited Chandanwari and reviewed the arrangements, medical facilities and preparations regarding Amarnath Yatra. He also inspected DRDO hospital.

It may be noted that over 1,20,000 pilgrims have so far had Darshan inside the holy cave shrine. The 43-day long Amarnath Yatra 2022 started on June 30 and will end on August 11 on Shravan Purnima coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival.
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New Delhi: As Congress stares at a political crisis in Goa, state Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday (July 12) denied BJPs role in the rebellion by the grand old partys MLAs. Let me reiterate that the BJP has nothing to do with the rebellion in the Congress Legislature Party, PTI quoted the Goa CM as saying. Sawant made the remarks outside the Assembly complex when asked about developments in the Goa Congress.

After the rebellion in Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, speculations of a split arose in Goa Congress after five of the total 11 party MLAs Michael Lobo, Digambar Kamat, Kedar Naik, Rajesh Faldesai and Delialah Lobo went incommunicado on Sunday. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi immediately dispatched senior party leader Mukul Wasnik to Goa in the wake of the development.

The Congress also accused Lobo and former chief minister Digambar Kamat of "conspiring and hobnobbing" with the ruling BJP in the state to cause a split in the party's legislative wing. As a consequence, Congress also removed Lobo from the post of leader of opposition in the Goa Assembly.

However, these Congress MLAs attended the monsoon session of the Goa Assembly on Monday, claiming there was "nothing wrong" in the grand old party. Ten Congress MLAs were also present at a meeting chaired by Wasnik in Panaji on Monday night.

Lobo, who was removed from the LoP post, clarified that he was with the Congress and there was a misunderstanding. All the Congress MLAs are with the party. I had told them that I didn't want to continue as the leader of opposition because I would not be able to do justice to the post, he said, adding that Digambar Kamat or Sankalp Amonkar can be elected for the post.

(With agency inputs)
Dispur: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited flood and erosion-hit areas of Hojai district and took stock of relief measures taken by the district administration. Sarma inspected the erosion-hit areas of Dakhin Kenduguri in Hojai and assessed the damage caused by flood waters of river Kopili at the site.

The Chief Minister interacted with local people at Dakhin Kenduguri Bornamghar and assured them of all the necessary steps to check erosion and construction of an embankment to protect the area from the flood.

Sarma also visited a flood-relief camp at Pub Nabhanga in the Hojai district and inspected facilities provided to the inmates at the camp.He also interacted with the local people taking shelter there to have an understanding of their situation.

Later he also took part in a meeting at Dakhin Jugijan in Hojai with senior officials of the district and reviewed the measures that have been taken to deal with floods by the administration.

He instructed the PWD officials to immediately submit reports on damaged roads so that repair work can be taken up early.

Sarma also asked the district administration to initiate steps for the construction of six high lands in the area, which could be used by local people to take shelter during floods.

Further, he directed officials of the Agriculture Department to supply paddy seedlings to affected farmers on a priority basis.

MLAs Ramkrishna Ghosh and Sibu Misra, DC Anupam Choudhury and other senior officials of the district were present during the visit of the Chief Minister.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Zee News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: A day after World Population Day, Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq has raised eyebrows with his latest statement as he retorted to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's comments on population control and not letting an 'imbalance' emerge while handling an area's population. While speaking to reporters on Monday (July 11), he said, "Giving birth to a child is up to the almighty. When a child is given by Allah, the risk attached with him are also sent by the almighty."

Samajwadi Party MP accused UP govt for viewing population growth from 'certain angle'

Further, the SP MP attacked the UP government for looking at population growth from a 'particular angle'. He also advised the Yogi Adityanath government to pay attention to education instead of mulling a law on population control.

"Instead of contemplating a law to check the growth in population, the government should pay attention to education and make proper arrangements for everyone, be they are poor, big or small," Barq added.

SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav's dig at UP CM

Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav also took an indirect dig at CM Yogi Adityanath through a tweet in which he said anarchy is not caused by population but by the destruction of democratic values." Yadav wrote in a tweet in Hindi, "Anarchy does not arise from the population, but from the destruction of democratic values."

The SP chiefs remark comes in the wake of UP CM Adityanath saying that population control programmes must not create an "imbalance" by focusing on "native" residents even as the growth rate of "some community" remains high, a probable reference to Muslims, PTI reported.

"It should not happen that the speed of population growth or the percentage of some community is high and we stabilise the population of the 'moolniwasi' (natives) through awareness or enforcement," he said.

(With agency inputs)

Live TV
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear the Bhima Koregaon case accused P Varavara Rao's plea for permanent medical bail on July 19 and extended his interim protection till further orders. The 83-year-old, who has challenged the Bombay High Court order rejecting his appeal for permanent medical bail, is currently on bail on medical grounds and was to surrender today. "At the joint request made by the counsel appearing for the parties, this matter be posted as the first item on July 19," a bench headed by Justice U U Lalit said. "The interim protection enjoyed by the petitioner shall continue... Till further orders," it said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had requested the bench that the matter be taken up for hearing on Wednesday or Thursday. "If it can be, subject to your lordship's convenience, kept tomorrow or day after tomorrow and whatever is the protection may continue," Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices S R Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Rao, said the petitioner has to surrender today and the court may extend the interim protection. "What he (Mehta) says is that the protection can be extended," the bench told Grover. Mehta requested the bench that the interim protection be extended till July 19. "If for some reason or the other, the matter is not taken up, we do not want a situation where the man is picked up," the bench said.

Also read: Bhima Koregaon case: Probe panel to summon chiefs of 6 political parties in Maharashtra

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city. Pune police had also claimed that the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links. The National Investigation Agency later took over the probe in the matter.

In his plea filed against the April 13 order of the Bombay High Court, Rao has said, "The petitioner is an 83-year-old renowned Telugu poet and orator, who has undergone over two years of incarceration as an under-trial." The plea submitted that "any further incarceration would ring the death knell for him as advancing age and deteriorating health are a fatal combination".

It said Rao had challenged the high court order as he was not granted an extension of bail despite his age and precarious health condition, and his prayer to shift to Hyderabad was also denied. Rao was arrested on August 28, 2018, from his Hyderabad residence and is an under-trial in the case for which an FIR was lodged by Pune police on January 8, 2018 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Also read: Bhima Koregaon accused Sudha Bharadwaj released from Byculla jail in Mumbai

Initially, Rao said he was put under house arrest following an order of the apex court. On November 17, 2018, he was taken into police custody and later shifted to the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai. On February 22, 2021, the Bombay High Court granted him bail on medical grounds and he was released from jail on March 6, 2021.

Giving extensive details of his health condition, including his suffering in jail, Rao said the high court order dated February 22, 2021, had contemplated that the petitioner could be on medical bail for an extended period and even permanently on medical grounds, depending on his condition supported by medical examination reports.

"The judges in the impugned judgement and order committed a serious error in proceeding on the footing that because the earlier order had granted bail for a limited period of time, namely six months, it (the earlier bench) was not prepared to grant the bail for an unlimited period of time," the plea said. It added that after being granted bail, the petitioner's health had deteriorated and he had developed an umbilical hernia for which he had to undergo surgery.

He needs to be operated on cataract in both eyes, which he has not undertaken as the cost is prohibitive in Mumbai, the plea said, adding the petitioner has also been suffering from neurological problems. "It is submitted that in the totality of circumstances, the trial will take not less than 10 years. In fact, one of the accused in the case, Father Stan Swamy, who was suffering from similar ailments as the petitioner, passed away even before the trial could start," it said.

The high court rejected the plea but extended the time for the activist to surrender before the Taloja prison authorities by three months to enable him to undergo cataract surgery. The high court had said it had found substance in several claims made by Rao's counsel on the lack of medical facilities at the Taloja prison and the poor hygienic conditions there. The court had directed the Maharashtra inspector general of prisons to submit a "candid" report on the state of such facilities at the "Taloja prison in particular" and also at all prisons across the state.
New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Ashadha Purnima celebrations that will take place at the Mulagandha Kuti Vihara in Uttar Pradeshs Sarnath on Wednesday (July 13) via video message. Ashadha Purnima is the second most sacred day for Buddhists after the Buddha Purnima or the Vaishakha Purnima. The celebrations take place at Mulagandha Kuti Vihara which houses the holy relics of Buddha.

The event will also see the presence of Governor of Uttar Pradesh Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Culture Gangapuram Kishan Reddy and Minister of State for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal. Governor Anandiben Patel will seek blessing from the Holy Buddha Relics with senior Venerable Monks before the commencement of the programme.

The event is being organized by International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) and high-level representation shows India's continued outreach to Buddhism. PM Modi visited Lumbini in Nepal on Buddha Poornima, emphasising on the shared cultural linkages between the two countries. Modi had also participated in the "Shilanyas ceremony for the construction of a centre for Buddhist culture and heritage at Lumbini which is the birthplace of Lord Buddha and a key pilgrimage site.

Not just visits but engagement has continued in other ways, including the Indian government co-hosting an event on Buddha Purnima which saw 24 Buddhist spiritual leaders, including Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama participating. India also sent four Holy Kapilvastu Relics of Lord Buddha to Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar for an 11-day exposition. The Buddha Relics also known as the Kapilvastu Relics since they are from a site in Bihar first discovered in 1898 which is believed to be the ancient city of Kapilvastu.
CISCE result 2022: Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations is expected to announce the ICSE, ISC result 2022 semester 2 soon. The board will announce the CISCE result 2022 10th, 12th on official website, cisce.org. However, the Board officials have not announced a specific date and time for the declaration of class 10th and 12th results and an official notice is awaited. Students will be required to enter their Index number, and UID along with the given captcha code to check the result.

ALSO READ: CUET PG 2022 correction window 2022 opens TODAY

CISCE Result 2022: Here is how you can check ICSE, ISC 12th result 2022 Semester 2

- Go to the ISC, ICSE board result official website, cisce.org 2022 result.

- Now click on Result 2022.

- This will open a new result window.

- Enter your UID and Index number.

- Fill the given captcha.

- Click on the Show Result button.

- The ISC, ICSE 12th result 2022 will appear on the screen.

- Download and save the ICSE 10th result and ICSE 12th result 2022.

The CISCE exams were conducted from April 25 to May 23, 2022. Along with that, the board will also announce the ISC results 2022 semester 2 for the exam conducted from April 25 to June 6, 2022. Earlier, ICSE Semester 1 Results were announced on February 7, 2022. Note, the final board exam result will be released after compiling the results of both semesters.

ALSO READ: Symbiosis SLAT Result 2022 releasing TODAY
IMPHAL: Amid a sharp increase in the new cases of Covid-19, the Government of Manipur on Tuesday ordered the closure of all schools across the state till July 24. A notification issued by the Manipur government said, As Covid-19 cases increase and the test positivity rate ratio is over 15% in the state, all schools (Govt/Private) of the state will remain closed till July 24.

As Covid-19 cases increase and the test positivity rate ratio is over 15% in the state, all schools (Govt/Private) of the state will remain closed till July 24: Govt of Manipur  ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2022

The order came in the backdrop of reports of a rising test positivity rate ratio, which is over 15% at present. On Monday, 47 persons tested Covid-19 positive, taking the tally of active cases in the state to 172. However, no new deaths were reported in the state, keeping the cumulative death toll at 2,120.

India on Tuesday recorded 13,615 new coronavirus infections in a day while the active cases rose to 1,31,043, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The country's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,36,52,944 and the death toll climbed to 5,25,474 with 20 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.50 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 330 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.
CUET PG 2022: Common University Entrance Test Postgraduate, CUET PG Correction Window 2022 opens from today - July 12, 2022 as per the schedule released by National Testing Agency, NTA. Candidates can edit their CUET PG application forms on the official website - cuet.nta.nic.in. CUET PG Correction Window 2022 will be available for candidates till July 14, 2022. Everyone is informed that they can edit their CUET PG forms till July 14 2022 (11:50 pm). After this, the facility would be withdrawn and no more changes will be allowed.

ALSO READ: Symbiosis SLAT Result 2022 releasing TODAY

CUET PG 2022: Here is how you can edit the application

- Applicants must visit the official website of the Common University Entrance Test - cuet.nta.nic.in.

- On the homepage, click on the CUET PG 2022 candidate's login link.

- Access your forms and make changes wherever necessary.

- Save and submit these changes and also print a copy of the form for future references.

No Confirmation on Exam Dates

Applicants are reminded that CUET PG 2022 exam dates have not been officially announced yet. However, it is likely that the exam will be held at the end of July 2022.
NEW DELHI: Famous writer Mark Twain once said that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes. This implies that a lie spreads so fast that the real truth is left far behind and slowly the whole world starts believing this real 'truth' to be a lie. This has happened several times in the history of our country. In today's edition of DNA, Zee News anchor Rohit Ranjan unravels the truth behind the discovery of the holy Amarnath Cave - one of the most sacred places linked with Lord Shiva.

We all know that the Amarnath Cave shrine holds a special place in Hinduism, it has been reiterated many times by historians and a certain section of our society that this holy cave was actually discovered in the year 1850 by a Muslim shepherd named Buta Malik.

Though our Puranas tell a different story about the Amarnath cave, it has been established that the revered cave was discovered by the Shepherd, Buta Malik who met a saint while his cattle were grazing in the field. After receiving a bag full of coal from the saint, he went back to his home and when he opened it; to his surprise, he found the bag full of coins of Gold. Shocked and surprised to receive this unexpected gift from the saint, he immediately went back to the place where he had met him to thank him. But instead of the saint, he found the sacred cave and the Shiva Linga. This led to the discovery of the Amarnath cave in 1850. Since then, the Amarnath cave became a major place for pilgrimage among Hindus.

This story establishes that the Amarnath cave - the centre of the Hindu faith - was discovered by a Muslim shepherd and therefore, the Hindus should remain eternally grateful to this man for discovering one of the holiest places in Hinduism.

But before we explore the real story of the Amarnath cave, let us look at some very interesting facts - the Amarnath Cave is located in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. It's situated five thousand 486 meters above sea level. The length of this cave is around 19 meters and the width is 16 meters.

The legend about the Amarnath starts with Goddess Parvati asking her husband, Lord Shiva about the beads (Rudra) that he donned on his head. Lord Shiva explains to her that he first started wearing the beads as a symbol of her birth. Every time she is born, a bead is added. To which the Goddess replies why do I die and reborn every time, whereas you are immortal?

And it is for this reason, that Lord Shiva found an isolated cave to narrate the story of immortality to his consort Goddess Parvati. On his way to the cave, he gave up all his ornaments, elements and even his chief disciple Nandi. After reaching the cave, on his command, Kalangi burnt the place around the cave so that no living creature survives and sneaks into the story.

In the cave, Shiva underwent meditation and narrated the story of immortality to his wife. Amarnath also finds a mention in the Linga Purana, which was written in the fifth century. In the 12th chapter of Linga Purana, there is a verse on page number 487, which states that 'Amareshwar' or Lord Shiva is seated in the Amarnath cave. If the Linga Purana, written in the fifth century, mentions Amarnath cave, how can the story of Buta Malik discovering the holy cave in 1850 be true?

Let us tell you some more facts - in the 12th century, a treatise was composed by Kalhana, the ancient historian of the ruler of Kashmir, which is popularly known as Rajatarangini. The 267th verse of Rajatarangini is related to this Amarnath cave.

Ain-e-Akbari, which was composed in the 16th century by Abul Fazl, one of the Navaratnas of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, states that there is an ice figure in a cave, which is called Amarnath. This is a holy place and at the time of the full moon, snowdrops form a unique ice structure, which people consider to be the divine form of Lord Mahadev and this snow structure starts melting slowly after the new moon.

Besides this, a book by a famous 17th-century French Physician, Francois Bernier, also mentions the Amarnath cave. Bernier was one of the physicians of the Mughal rulers and stayed in India during the 17th century for about 12 years. During this time, he travelled to Kashmir with the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb and also visited the Amarnath cave. He had mentioned this in his book - Travels In The Mogul Empire.

Apart from this, the famous British explorer Godfrey Thomas Vigne also came to India and toured Kashmir from the year 1835 to 1838. In one of his books written in the year 1842, he had written about his journey to the holy Amarnath cave. This book is written in two parts. While Pahalgam and Amarnath cave is mentioned in the first volume of the book, pages number 7 and 8 of the second part describe how to reach the Amarnath cave via Pahalgam.

In his book, he narrates that on the 15th day of the auspicious month of Sawan, devotees come to the Amarnath cave and offer prayers to Lord Shiva. This book was written in 1842  nearly eight years before the so-called discovery by Buta Malik.

Ignoring all these historical facts, historians in India have repeatedly tried to establish that the Amarnath cave was discovered by a Muslim shepherd, and no one knew about it before that.

What is even more startling to know is that the descendants of Buta Malik have been the custodians of the Amarnath cave for several decades and they used to get one-third of the offerings made by the devotees here. This continued until the year 2000 when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government constituted the Amarnath Cave Shrine Board and the donations to Buta Maliks descendants were stopped.
Panaji (Goa): Michael Lobo, who was removed by Congress as Goa Leader of Opposition for conspiring with the BJP to engineer defection in the party, on Monday denied any "hobnobbing" with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and asserted that he is still with the grand old party and mere not attending a press conference cannot be a ground for disqualification. Amid claims and counterclaims over the spilt in the Goa Congress, Michael Lobo said, "No, there is no hobnobbing (with BJP). I think somebody wants to become the leader of the opposition and that`s why they are doing it." "This (meeting with Mukul Wasnik) was not a CLP meeting. The senior Rajya Sabha member of Congress had come here to discuss the happenings in the state. I have told him that we are with the Congress party," he added.

"Not attending a press conference cannot be a ground for disqualification," said Michael Lobo. He was removed by Congress as Goa LoP on Sunday on the accusation of conspiring with the BJP on the disqualification petition against him. "Deputy CLP Sankalp Amonkar mentioned in the House that all 11 MLAs (of Congress) are there inside. But out of them, 7 attended our meeting yesterday and today. We`ve called a CLP meeting again this evening, Let`s see how many members come to that," said Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar.

Congress leader Mukul Wasnik, who is in Goa to oversee the latest political developments in the state, said that he had a meeting with all the MLAs of the Congress party in Goa where they discussed how to strengthen the Congress party in the state. "I had a meeting with all the MLAs of the Congress party in Goa. There were discussions on how to strengthen the Congress party in the state," said Mukul Wasnik.

Also read: Goa Congress crisis: Sonia Gandhi sends Mukul Wasnik over 'defections' in the state unit

According to him, the Congress MLAs have shown BJP that they can`t be broken. "Some people want to break the MLAs of different political parties especially Congress. They tried to do the same with our party in Goa, but Congress MLAs have shown them they are going to fail here miserably," added Wasnik.

"Congress has the responsibility to look after its MLAs. We`ve not asked anyone to come. As state president, no one is in touch with me. It`s their internal fighting. We have nothing to do with it," said Goa BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade.

Concerned over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conspiring to engineer defection in the party as five party MLAs go incommunicado, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has asked party MP Mukul Wasnik to rush to the coastal state to oversee the latest political developments.

Congress on Sunday also sacked Michael Lobo as the Leader of Opposition in the Goa Assembly for alleged conspiracy to engineer defections. Congress said that the BJP trying for a 2/3rd split and offered huge amounts of money to party legislators.

Earlier, Congress MLA Sankalp Amonkar said, "It`s a murder of democracy. BJP govt wants to finish opposition. They wanted 2/3 of our MLAs to merge with them but our MLAs didn`t let it happen. We have a meeting now to choose a new CLP leader. As of now, all 11 MLAs are in Congress."

Congress alleged that Lobo along with Digambar Kamat hatched a conspiracy to engineer defections in "total coordination" with the BJP. On Sunday, Congress MLA and wife of Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo was seen leaving the residence of CM and BJP leader Pramod Sawant. On being asked if Congress MLAs came to meet him, Goa CM Pramod Sawant said, "As CM, many people come to meet me. Tomorrow is Assembly, people came to meet me regarding that. I am busy with my Assembly work... Why will I comment on issues related to other parties?"
Amtraks midday train to Roanoke entered the station for the first time Monday before a crowd of enthusiastic onlookers.

With two Amtrak trains now serving the city daily, one transportation official predicted that local ridership will at least double to 10,000 monthly trips within a few years.

For indication of the current level of ridership, with one train in service, April data is instructive. During that month, a combined 2,859 passengers left Roanoke on the single, daily outbound Amtrak train and 2,782 riders arrived in Roanoke on the daily incoming train, according to spokeswoman Gerica Goodman with the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. Thats more than 5,600 total trips, counting each leg.

Monday afternoon, Amtrak began operation of Roanokes long-sought second daily train, with convenient daytime service. The head of the state authority told a crowd of people who witnessed its arrival what to expect.

If you double the frequency, you will more than double the ridership, DJ Stadtler said.

Off stage, Stadtler said it will take a couple of years  certainly fewer than five  for the doubling to occur, given national trends.

Thats what the passenger industry in North America has seen, he said.

Folks in the regional tourist trade like the sound of that.

It is our intent to keep both of these trains full of visitors coming to Virginia, said Landon Howard, president of Visit Virginias Blue Ridge.

Jeff Mann, an Amtrak senior executive, reminded the crowd that the the service extension to Roanoke, which occurred in 2017, is part of one of Amtraks most successful ventures.

This will add to that, he said.

City officials plan to establish an Amtrak waiting room in a building adjacent to the platform, but not until 2026. There is no ticket booth, either. Amtrak sells tickets online.

Rail service has largely returned to pre-pandemic levels. The train service connecting Roanoke and Washington, D.C., known as Route 46, posted a ridership of 19,605 total trips in April or about 600 more than in April 2019.

Norfolk Southern, which owns the track used by Amtrak, also endorsed the project. Jackie Corletto, the companys assistant vice president of strategic planning, said the railroad is thrilled by Amtraks results and sees the partnership as a model for how to launch and operate intercity passenger rail. It was done in a way that meets the needs of both freight shipping and passenger travel, she said.

Mass transit is a force for change in downtown. As rail advocates spoke into a public address system, heavy equipment noisily tore down the last of the former Valley Metro bus station across the street from the gathering. A new bus station is under construction on a nearby lot.
New Delhi: Days after a vertical split in the Shiv Sena propelled BJP to power in Maharashtra, the Congress in neighbouring Goa received a rude shock after some of its MLAs briefly went incommunicado and were said to be in touch with the saffron camp. Though Congress insiders believe a split has been averted for the time being, the leadership is convinced that Operation Lotus in Goa is not over yet.

Incidentally, the BJP is in a majority in Goa, and the Congress has just 11 seats in the 40-member House. However, those who have observed the BJP for long will assert that the saffron camp leaves no stone unturned to woo powerful dissenters from other parties  whether in power or not.

The Goa Congress was unprepared for the crisis more so because Operation Lotus  a colloquial term coined by the Opposition  has mostly been undertaken in states where the BJP was not in power. Since 2016, the Congress has lost Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra after largescale desertions by opposition MLAs, and survived a scare in Rajasthan.

Lets have a look at how Operation Lotus has played out in the last few years:

Arunachal Pradesh, 2016

In the 2014 assembly elections in Arunachal, the Congress won 42 seats and the BJP 11 in the 60-member House. In 2016, a major political crisis saw a battery of chief ministers taking office one after the other. Then Congress CM Pema Khandu first joined the Peoples Party of Arunachal and later BJP with 32 MLAs, helping the saffron camp to come to power. He remains the BJP CM till date.

Goa, 2017 and 2019

The 2017 assembly elections in Goa saw Congress emerge as the single largest party with 17 seats; the BJP won 13. The Grand Old Party looked all set to return to power with the help of Goa Forward Party (3) and NCP (1). However, the GFP switched sides at the last moment after campaigning alongside the Congress throughout the elections. With the help of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (3) and Independents (3), BJP formed the government in the state. CM Manohar Parrikar died in 2019, and then Speaker Pramod Sawant was appointed in his place. A floor test followed in March.

The Goa assembly had 36 MLAs at the time  Parrikar and BJP MLA Francis DSouza had died and two Congress MLAs had resigned. The Congress had 14 MLAs, BJP 12, GFP and MGP 3 each and NCP 1; there were 3 Independents. Sawant won the floor test with the support of 20 MLAs after all GFP, MGP and Independent MLAs supported him. Barely four months later, 10 Congress MLAs and 2 MGP MLAs defected to the BJP, cementing Sawants position.

Karnataka, 2019

The 2018 elections in Karnataka threw up a hung verdict with the BJP emerging as the single largest party in the 224-member House. The BJP won 104 seats, Congress 80, JD-S 37 and Independents 3. The Congress and JD(S) formed a post-poll alliance to come to power and HD Kumaraswamy became the CM.

The next year in July, 17 MLAs (14 from Congress and 3 from JD-S) sought to quit the Assembly, citing differences with the CM and the government. The ruling coalition accused the BJP of engineering the crisis. The Governor ordered a floor test in the truncated House of 208, and the Kumaraswamy government fell. BJPs Yediyurappa returned as CM with the support of 105 MLAs against the Congress and JD-S combine of 99.

Madhya Pradesh, 2020

Elections in Madhya Pradesh were held in November 2018, with the Congress winning 114 seats in the 230-member assembly  just two short of majority. It formed the government with the help of SP, BSP and Independent MLAs.

A little over a year later, influential Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party along with 22 legislators. Scindia joined the BJP soon after, while CM Kamal Nath announced his resignation in March 2020 ahead of the Supreme Court-mandated floor test as he did not have the numbers. BJPs Shivraj Singh Chauhan returned as the CM of Madhya Pradesh.

Maharashtra, 2022

Shiv Senas Uddhav Thackeray had allied with traditional rivals Congress and NCP to become the CM after winning the 2019 assembly elections in alliance with BJP. However, midway in his tenure, Uddhav faced a major embarrassment when influential Sena leader Eknath Shinde broke off with around 40 of the 55 party MLAs and joined hands with the BJP in Maharashtra.

When Operation Lotus failed

Uttarakhand, 2016

In 2016, Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat of the Congress faced a major revolt by his own MLAs. Rawat was removed and Presidents Rule imposed on the state. However, he was reinstated two months later after court intervention. Congress had accused BJP of orchestrating the crisis.

Maharashtra, 2019

The Shiv Sena joined hands with Congress and NCP following the 2019 assembly elections in Maharashtra, in which BJP had turned out to be the single largest party. But in another twist, the BJP conducted an early morning swearing-in with Devendra Fadnavis as CM and NCPs Ajit Pawar as his deputy. NCP supremo Sharad Pawar immediately swung into action and avoided a split in the party.

Upon realising that he doesnt have the required numbers, Fadnavis resigned shortly after the Supreme Court ordered a floor test.

Rajasthan, 2020

In Rajasthan, influential Congress leader Sachin Pilot was nursing a grudge at being overlooked for the CMs chair after his party won an emphatic victory in 2018. Things came to a pass in July 2020 when he rebelled along with 18 other Congress MLAs. The Pilot faction stopped attending meetings, while CM Ashok Gehlot put up the other MLAs in hotels fearing poaching by the BJP.

Finally, the central leadership intervened and worked out a truce between the Pilot and Ashok Gehlot factions. Here too, the Congress blamed the BJP for trying to topple the government.
Srinagar: A Jammu and Kashmir police officer was shot dead while two cops were injured after terrorists attacked a naka party near GD Goenka school in Lal Bazar area of Srinagar on Tuesday (July 12) evening. ADGP Vijay Kumar said that terrorists fired upon a naka party at Lal Bazar area, resulting in the on-spot death of an ASI and injuring two other policemen.

The martyred assistant sub-inspector (ASI) has been identified as Mushtaq Ahmad, while the head constable and SPO who were injured have been evacuated to a nearby hospital.

Earlier, Kashmir zone police had said in a tweet that terrorists fired upon a police team, injuring three policemen.

Terrorists fired upon police Naka party at Lal Bazar area of Srinagar city. In this terror incident, three police personnel got injured & they have been shifted to hospital. Area has been cordoned. Further details shall follow, Kashmir zone police had tweeted.

Later, the Kashmir zone police informed, "ASI Mushtaq Ahmad succumbed to his injuries & attained martyrdom. We pay rich tribute to the martyr for his supreme sacrifice made in the line of duty. Other two injured personnel are being treated. Further details shall follow. Soon after the attack, the whole area was cordoned off and a search operation was launched to nab the terrorists.

ALSO READ: Jammu and Kashmir announces transgender welfare board for protection of community
Krishnanagar: Leader of Opposition in Bengal and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari on Monday took out a rally in TMC MP Mahua Moitra's Krishnanagar constituency to protest against her recent remarks on Goddess Kali. Adhikari and several BJP leaders, during the rally, raised slogans against Moitra and sought her arrest for "hurting sentiments" of Hindu devotees.

Addressing the rally, he said, "Despite several complaints, the police and the state administration have been mute spectators. The people of this country and the Hindu devotees won't tolerate the insult of Goddess Kali."

"The TMC government and the state police have been very active in seeking action against Nupur Sharma. But they have not taken any step against Moitra. There can't be a different set of rules for BJP and TMC leaders. We will wait for a few days and then move the court," the saffron camp MLA said.

The parliamentarian triggered a controversy last week as she said that she had every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess and that each person had his or her unique way of offering prayers.

The TMC had condemned the remark and said that it did not endorse the TMC MP's views in any way.

Taking to Twitter, Adhikari said, "We reverentially worship Goddess Kaali as Shakti - primordial, nurturing, destructive (towards evil forces) also loving & benevolent. @AITCofficial MP Mohua Moitra's abhorrent comments & her obnoxious portrayal & characterization of Maa Kaali has offended all Hindus devotees."

He claimed that the police inaction against Moitra went on to show Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party's "disregard for Hindu Bengali sentiments".

"@WBPolice's inaction against her proves @MamataOfficial's acquiescence & brazen disregard for Hindu Bengali sentiments. To protest against disrespect to Maa Kaali & shielding Ms Moitra, led a procession & addressed a rally today at Krishnanagar; Nadia, her Electoral Constituency." Adhikari wrote.

@WBPolice's inaction against her proves @MamataOfficial's

acquiescence & brazen disregard for Hindu Bengali sentiments.

To protest against disrespect to Maa Kaali & shielding Ms Moitra, led a procession & addressed a rally today at Krishnanagar; Nadia, her Electoral Constituency. pic.twitter.com/v41uzjVjud  Suvendu Adhikari (@SuvenduWB) July 11, 2022

On Sunday, too, BJP's IT cell chief and the party's Bengal unit co-incharge Amit Malviya accused the CM of defending Moitra's "obnoxious portrayal" of the deity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks reverentially about Maa Kaali being the center of devotion, not just for Bengal but whole of India. On the other hand, a TMC MP insults Maa Kaali and Mamata Banerjee instead of acting against her, defends her obnoxious portrayal of Maa Kaali... pic.twitter.com/6O4vYGkasi  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 10, 2022

The Krishnanagar MP, without taking any name, had hit back saying that she "would advise BJP Troll-In-Charge for Bengal to tell his masters to stop commenting on things they have no clue about".
Kolkata: The Kali poster controversy shows no signs of abating, now with Leader of Opposition in Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari calling upon Bengal Governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, with a delegation of Hindu seers to register their protest against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitras remarks on Goddess Kali. Earlier, the West Bengal Governors official Twitter handle said in a tweet, "To register their protest at unacceptable ignoble affront and outrage against Goddess Maa Kali #MAAKaali Sadhu Sant Samaj 200+ Delegation accompanied by President, Mecheda Sankhanad Temple @SuvenduWB would call on Guv Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhawan Kolkata today at 4.45 PM (sic)".

To register their protest at unacceptable ignoble affront and outrage against Goddess Maa Kali #MAAKaali Sadhu Sant Samaj 200+ Delegation accompanied by President, Mecheda Sankhanad Temple @SuvenduWB would call on Guv Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhawan Kolkata today at 4.45 PM.  Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) July 12, 2022

Meanwhile, the BJP on Tuesday attacked the Trinamool Congress for not taking action against its MP Mahua Moitra for her controversial remarks on Goddess Kali, and asked whether the party would suspend her. The BJP also claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's silence over Moitra's comment has angered Hindu Bengalis, both in and outside the state.

Sharing a video, West Bengal BJP co-in-charge Amit Malviya tweeted, "Y'day, Suvendu Adhikari, BJP's LoP in West Bengal led a massive march in Krishnanagar, the constituency represented by TMC MP, whose obnoxious portrayal of Maa Kaali and Mamata Banerjee's silence on it, has angered Hindu Bengalis, both in and outside WB. When will TMC suspend Moitra?"

Yday, Suvendu Adhikari, BJPs LoP in West Bengal led a massive march in Krishnanagar, constituency represented by TMC MP, whose obnoxious portrayal of Maa Kaali and Mamata Banerjees silence on it, has angered Hindu Bengalis, both in and outside WB. When will TMC suspend Moitra? pic.twitter.com/S9Do4TiNdp  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 12, 2022

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked Goddess Kali during his speech on the birth centenary celebration of Swami Atmasthananda on Sunday. Referring to Prime Minister's speech Malviya had tweeted, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks reverentially about Maa Kali being the centre of devotion, not just for Bengal but the whole of India. On the other hand, a TMC MP insults Maa Kali, and Mamata Banerjee instead of acting against her defends her obnoxious portrayal of Maa Kali."

"Smarting under public rebuke from Mamata Banerjee, TMC MP is using repeat defiance on the issue of Maa Kali to humiliate her, diminish her stature as a leader, knowing fully well that she wouldn`t be able to act against her, for fear of angering her Muslim vote bank," Malviya had said.

Also read: Mamata Banerjee serves paani puri in Darjeeling - WATCH!

While responding to a question on a controversial film poster showing a woman decked as Goddess Kaali smoking, Moitra said that "for her Goddess Kaali is a meat-eating and alcohol accepting goddess".

(With inputs from IANS)
A few days ago, Nagaland Higher Education Minister Temjen Imna Along came to the headlines with a funny remark about his 'small eyes'. Once again, the people of the country were shocked by his tweet.

A few days ago, a video of him went viral. In that video, Temjen Imna Along was heard saying that he was happy enough with his small eyes. Even if he falls asleep on the stage, no one can understand him from a distance. In a matter of moments, the video was viewed by millions of people. When the education minister himself went to search for the video on Google, his eyes widened. He sees that many people have googled his wife's identity. At that moment, he took a screenshot of the search engine and tweeted. As written above, he himself is looking for a 'wife'!

Moments after the tweet, Anupam Mittal, the founder of a Wedding website, responded to the higher education minister's tweet. "We have to do something," he wrote, tagging his company on Twitter. In response to Anupam Mittal, the Naga minister wrote, "After Salman Khan's marriage, he will take the Saat phere." In response, the head of the marriage agency wrote, 'It would not be right to wait for Salman. It may be too late.'

Bhai filhal hum bindas hai



Waiting for Salman Bhai  Temjen Imna Along (@AlongImna) July 10, 2022

Monday, July 11 was World Population Day. According to UN figures, India is overtaking China in terms of population. "We need to control the problem of population growth," he wrote in a photo of himself on Twitter that day. One should be aware of giving birth to a child. In my opinion, being 'alone' is the only way to reduce this problem.
Darjeeling: From taking her political rivals head-on to making explosive comments, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has always been a newsmaker. And now, she is once again in news for a unique reason - on her three-day visit to the hill town of Darjeeling in West Bengal, Mamata was seen dishing out tasty phuchkas - or paani puri - to the people! And from kids to senior citizens, a crowd had gathered and they were served phuchkas by none other than the chief minister.

#WATCH | West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee serves panipuri to people at a stall, during her visit to Darjeeling. pic.twitter.com/07o8lsxdKN July 12, 2022

Mamata Banerjee began her three-day visit to Darjeeling on Monday (July 11). The main purpose was to attend the oath-taking ceremony of 45 newly elected members of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), a senior official had said. The CM arrived at Bagdogra Airport near Siliguri in the afternoon, and attend the swearing-in ceremony at Darjeeling Chowrasta, popularly known as Mall, on Tuesday, he said. "The CM is scheduled to return to Kolkata on Thursday," the official said.

As per reports, after the swearing-in ceremony, CM Mamata was headed from Richmond Hill towards the Darjeeling zoo. On the way, she came across a paani puri stall and that's when the CM decided to serve paani puris or phuchkas to the people there. Obviously, seeing Mamata in the role of 'paani pui seller', a crowd gathered near the stall. The CM didn't disappoint and was seen handing over the paani puris - after filling them with the aloo-matar stuffing and tamarind water - to the kids and others gathered there! She also spoke to the people there.

Meanwhile, the 10-month-old Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), helmed by former GTA chairman Anit Thapa, emerged victorious in the recently held GTA elections, winning 27 seats in the 45-member semi-autonomous council. BGPM is a breakaway faction of the Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) which boycotted the GTA polls held after a decade in the hills.

Another newly floated outfit, Hamro Party, and the Trinamool Congress bagged eight and five seats respectively, while five independent candidates emerged victorious in the GTA polls held on June 26. Thapa formed BGPM in September last year. He shares a cordial relationship with the TMC, the ruling party of West Bengal, and even met Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata recently extending an invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
Kolkata: The man who was arrested for intruding into West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence here last week earlier recced the locality at least seven times, a senior Kolkata Police officer said on Monday. Investigations revealed that during those visits, the accused allegedly clicked photos of her residence using his mobile phone and lured local children with toffees to get information about the house in the Kalighat area, said the officer who is part of the SIT formed to probe the matter.

On the intervening night of July 2-3, Hafizul Mollah sneaked past the security arrangements and got into Banerjee's residence with an iron rod. He had stayed there till he was discovered by security guards in the morning.

"This man has been visiting the locality for quite some time. He has been there at least seven times. Every time he was there, he had given toffees to children and tried to get information from them regarding the CM's residence. We have found several photographs of the CM's house on his mobile phone," the officer said.

Man who intruded into Mamata Banerjee's residence used 11 SIM cards, made calls to Bangladesh

Investigations also revealed that Mollah has been using at least 11 SIM cards and made calls to numbers based in Bangladesh as well as Jharkhand and Bihar. However, the nature of the conversation is yet not known, he said.

He had swum across the border to Bangladesh during last year's Durga Puja and stayed there for a few days. He is being interrogated to know about his activities in the neighbouring country.

To a question, the police officer said, "There are indications that Mollah might be linked to a terror outfit. But nothing has been established as yet."

Meanwhile, a city court on Monday extended Mollah's police custody till July 18.

The intrusion triggered a security scare with questions being raised about how he went past the Z-Plus security cover that the chief minister gets.

Following the incident, the authorities enhanced security in and around the CM's residence and removed director (security) Vivek Sahay from his post.
Chennai: The fight between ousted AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam and party interim head Edappadi K Palaniswami is now with the Election Commission and banks, with both sides determined to establish their rights. While interim General Secretary Palaniswami has apprised the EC about the July 11 General Council meeting and the changes effected, Panneerselvam has written to the poll panel arguing that the proceedings and its decisions were null and void.

Palaniswami was elevated to his present position of interim chief and Panneerselvam and two of his supporters were expelled in the party's highest decision-making body on Monday.

Besides urging the Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretariat to not accept or effect any changes in the AIADMK's legislative party's current composition, Panneerselvam has also written to banks. In the Assembly, Palaniswami is the leader of opposition and Paneerselvam is the deputy leader.

Panneerselvam has informed banks that he is the AIADMK's 'coordinator and treasurer' and that no transactions could be made without his authorisation, party sources said. The party has various accounts including Fixed Deposits with at least 2 banks.

Palaniswami has written to banks that party veteran and former Minister, Dindigul C Srinivasan is the new AIADMK treasurer. Srinivasan is also the party's organising secretary and Dindigul (West) district secretary.

Panneerselvam loyalist Vaithilingam told reporters: "Coordinator O Panneerselvam and Joint Coordinator K Palaniswami were elected by primary party members through a single vote as per norms and this cannot be nullified by the General Council. Their tenure is for 5 years. Not a single resolution passed in the (July 11) General Council is valid."

Vaithilingam said Panneerselvam continued to be the party's 'coordinator' and 'treasurer' and this is the official position as per records with the EC as well, he said adding a letter has been sent to authorities underscoring this aspect. Authorities have been urged not to accept the submissions of Palaniswami group.

Rejecting claims of Palaniswami supporters that it was Panneerselvam's loyalists who resorted to violence, Vaithilingam said EPS followers were 'camping' for 5 days in the locality and violence was unleashed only by them. Palaniswami camp asserted that they would legally face issues that crop up.

V K Sasikala, confidante of late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, who is also trying to wrest control of the party said the current happenings in the party is a big mockery.

In the party history, its bylaws have not been amended so often, that too within a year, she said. "Whatever they are doing will not be legally valid. I would like to tell you that there will be a good solution soon," she told her supporters in an event that saw the merger of her brother V Divakaran-led outfit with the team led by her. She said her only ambition is to 'unifying' everyone and leading the party towards victory. Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam is a separate outfit led by TTV Dhinakaran, who is nephew of Sasikala and Divarakan.

In December 2021, the AIADMK tweaked bylaws to strengthen the dual leadership structure and on July 11, it scrapped it and anointed Palaniswami as interim chief.

Political commentator M Bharat Kumar said the emerging scenario is on expected lines. "The matter is now with the Election Commission. As we have seen in the past, the authorities will look into the matter and may seek explanation from Palaniswami or Panneerselvam or both of them before they come to a conclusion." Also, now that the party headquarters in Chennai is sealed and in the wake of police case against men belonging to both sides for violence, verbal duel shall be the order of the day for a considerable period of time. Connected party matters would also go to court, he added.
New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the national emblem cast on the roof of the new Parliament building, Opposition parties and activists has accused him of distorting the national emblem by replacing the "graceful and regally confident" Ashokan lions with those having ''menacing and aggressive'' posture and sought immediate change.

Leading the Opposition charge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said on Twitter, "Narendra Modi Ji, please observe the face of the Lion, whether it is representing the statue of Great Sarnath or a distorted version of GIR lion. Please check it and if it needs, mend the same.

@narendramodi Ji, please observe the face of the Lion, whether it is representing the statue of Great #Sarnath or a distorted version of GIR lion. please check it and if it needs, mend the same.  Adhir Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) July 12, 2022

The solo show of unveiling the national emblem by PM @narendramodi Ji, has already drawn a flurry of questions including constitutional propriety, let alone democratic values. We are all familiar with our PM's "#Who_Cares_Whom" attitude.  Adhir Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) July 12, 2022

Hitting out at the PM for flouting constitutional norms and not inviting the opposition leaders to the event, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Jawahar Sircar said on Twitter shared two different images of the national emblem.

"Insult to our national symbol, the majestic Ashokan Lions. Original is on the left, graceful, regally confident. The one on the right is Modi's version, put above the new Parliament building - snarling, unnecessarily aggressive and disproportionate. Shame! Change it immediately," the TMC MP tweeted.

Insult to our national symbol, the majestic Ashokan Lions. Original is on the left, graceful, regally confident. The one on the right is Modis version, put above new Parliament building  snarling, unnecessarily aggressive and disproportionate. Shame! Change it immediately! pic.twitter.com/luXnLVByvP  Jawhar Sircar (@jawharsircar) July 12, 2022

Echoing similar views, noted historian S Irfan Habib also objected to the national emblem unveiled atop the new Parliament building. "Meddling with our national emblem was totally unnecessary and avoidable. Why should our lions look ferocious and full of angst? These are Ashoka's lions adapted by independent India in 1950," Habib said.

"From Gandhi to Godse; From our national emblem with lions sitting majestically & peacefully; to the new national emblem unveiled for the top of the new Parliament building under construction at Central Vista; Angry lions with bared fangs. This is Modi's new India," senior lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan said while criticisng the Centre.

From Gandhi to Godse; From our national emblem with lions sitting majestically & peacefully; to the new national emblem unveiled for the top of the new Parliament building under construction at Central Vista; Angry lions with bared fangs.

This is Modi's new India! pic.twitter.com/cWAduxPlWR July 12, 2022

The row erupted a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the cast of the national emblem atop the new Parliament building in the presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh on Monday.

However, the ruling BJP has categorically rejected the Oppositions charge of meddling with the Constitution and distorting the national emblem.

"It is unfortunate that the opposition parties have come out with another set of unfounded allegations, which smacks of their political motive," BJP chief spokesperson and national media in-charge Anil Baluni said. Once the construction work is complete, the building will be handed over to the parliament administration, he said.

"Opposition parties questioning the unveiling ceremony should understand the administrative process. Right from parliament's design to funds and constructions supervision, entire work comes under the ambit of the urban development ministry," he said. "Even the foundation laying was done by the Prime Minister," Baluni added.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be participating in the first Leaders` Summit of I2U2, along with leaders of Israel, UAE and the US on July 14 virtually. According to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement, "Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be participating in an I2U2 Summit, along with Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid, President of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and President of the USA Joseph R. Biden."

Notably, the I2U2 Grouping was conceptualized during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the four countries held on October 18 last year. The I2U2 is aimed to encourage joint investments in six mutually identified areas such as water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security.

Also read: PM Modi inaugurates Deoghar Airport, to have flights to Patna, Kolkata, Delhi

The MEA said, "Each country also has Sherpa-level interactions regularly to discuss the possible areas of cooperation," adding that it intends to mobilize private sector capital and expertise to help modernize the infrastructure, low carbon development pathways for our industries, improve public health, and promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies.

PM Modi will be participating in an I2U2 Summit, along with Israel PM Yair Lapid, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US President Joseph R. Biden. The first Leaders Summit of I2U2 will be held virtually on 14 July 2022. pic.twitter.com/wKwgbwB5NV  ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2022

The leaders will reportedly discuss the possible joint projects within the framework of I2U2 as well as the other common areas of mutual interest to strengthen the economic partnership in trade and investment in our respective regions and beyond. These projects can serve as a model for economic cooperation and offer opportunities for our businesspersons and workers, according to the statement.
The suspension of two fraternities from the University of Virginia campus for hazing violations comes as no surprise. Despite multiple hazing deaths and injuries across the country, the culture among Greek-lettered social organizations in many American universities remains a deadly combination of middle-school maturity fueled by alcohol.

So when Phi Gamma Delta  known as FIJI  and Kappa Alpha Order got banished temporarily from UVa, the behavior was predictable.

It was also reportable under a Virginia law aimed at discouraging hazing. The existing law just got a boost from Adams Law. This legislation passed in the 2022 General Assembly in reaction to the alcohol-poisoning death of 19-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman Adam Oakes in 2021. Legislators refused to make hazing a felony as Oakes parents wanted. But lawmakers extended the reporting period for campus hazing and added details to the reporting requirements.

UVa penalized FIJI for having new fraternity members engage in a binge-eating race from food crates filled with milk, bananas, soda, mayonnaise, and broccoli. One participant vomited, according to the hazing report.

A FIJI pledge master also made new members blindfold themselves and sit against a basement wall while other fraternity members pelted them with eggs.

At Kappa Alpha, the misbehavior included making new members carry cigarettes, lighters, condoms, beef jerky, chewing tobacco and smokeless nicotine patches at all times. Two incidents were more potentially dangerous. In one, fraternity members placed pledges in a bathroom and kept them there until all of them had smoked all the cigarettes in their pledge packs. A second activity was a team race to drink 30 cans of beer.

Those who remember a time when pledges suffered beatings with paddles and mandatory binge-drinking games might see this as childs play. But the current discipline sends an important message about gaining control of hazing before it escalates. And if one thing is clear about hazing, it is this: as people get progressively drunker, behavior almost always escalates.

In one notorious case in 2017, Penn State University freshman pledge Timothy Piazza participated in a binge-drinking ritual where he had to chug a combination of wine, vodka and beer. He became so drunk he fell down some steps. Piazzas fraternity brothers ignored him for hours as he died of a fractured skull and a lacerated spleen.

Piazzas parents desperately wanted his death to be a tragedy that inspired a change in fraternity behavior. Sadly, given the immaturity of the Greek culture and young peoples illusions of invincibility, a hauntingly similar tragedy struck at VCU in February 2021 when Oakes died.

Four of 11 members of the Delta Chi fraternity have pleaded guilty to hazing in Oakes death. Prosecutors say an autopsy showed that Oakes died of alcohol poisoning with a blood alcohol level of .42, more than five times the legal limit for drunkenness. Oakes parents told journalists their son was asked to drink 40 shots of whiskey.

FIJI and KA did not come close to anything like that. But every Greek-lettered group on the UVa campus and across the country would do well to reconsider their view of brotherhood and sisterhood.

Making people sit blindfolded under a barrage of eggs does nothing to build relationships. Racing to drink 30 cans of beer actually puts people at risk.

Chain-smoking a pack of cigarettes in a packed bathroom is just plain unhealthy, not to mention stupid.

Crucibles of stress can create lifelong bonds. But they do so by sharing a common goal and gaining respect and inspiration from the way individuals selflessly suffer in behalf of each other. The U.S. Marine Corps may have the best formula for developing brotherhood and sisterhood. New recruits face ferocious challenges in boot camp. What they eventually learn from all the sweat and swearing is the real meaning of Semper Fi: One persons failure is everyones failure. The whole chain disintegrates when the weakest link breaks.

If fraternities and sororities want to connect with new members, they should think about the way teams actually build loyalty and commitment. It is through having each others backs, not by beating each others backsides.
Deoghar: A poster war has broken out between rivals BJP and JMM, with both political parties splashing this sleepy little pilgrim town with rival saffron and green posters both welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP's saffron-coloured posters have only Prime Minister Narendra Modi on them with the image of Deoghar Jyotirlinga on it. While Jharkhand state government and JMM posters have Prime Minister Modi along with Chief Minister Hemant Soren figuring prominently on green coloured posters, the colour preferred by the tribal party.

JMM's posters say "Johar (Santhali for welcome) PM Narendra Modi", BJP has chosen the Sanskrit word "Swagatham" which also means welcome. The `war' over welcoming the Prime Minister seems to be an exercise in muscle-flexing between the two rivals, where neither wishes to concede exclusive eye-ball space to the other.

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets the crowd during his roadshow in Deoghar, Jharkhand. pic.twitter.com/oizPa3ouQe  ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2022

JMM is an ally of Congress and has formed a government in alliance with it. While states routinely put up posters and buntings welcoming the Prime Minister or the President to their states, rival parties rarely put up their own posters welcoming the PM.

JMM has also put up its green coloured flags with its founder Shibu Soren along with its bow and arrow symbol along the route of Modi's road show.

To counter this, the BJP has set up many stages with performers across the route featuring its several wings - youth, women, and farmers. Several stages have also been put by local communities such as tribal, Sahu Samaj and others with support from the BJP.

Among these posters, another regional outfit, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), once an ally of the BJP has also put up its tricoloured green-red-blue flags to mark its presence.

PM Modi inaugurates Deoghar airport

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 657-acre Deoghar airport, constructed at a cost of Rs 401 crore. He also flagged off the Deoghar-Kolkata IndiGo flight from the new airport, which has a 2,500-metre-long runway to handle the landing and takeoff of Airbus A320 planes.

PM Modi laid the foundation stone of Deoghar airport on May 25, 2018.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced that Jharkhand is set to get three more airports, adding that 14 new air routes will be made available in the state to increase connectivity.

Scindia, who is accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Jharkhand, said "Jharkhand will soon have five airports. After Ranchi and Deoghar, we will set up airports in Bokaro, Jamshedpur and Dumka. Also, 14 new air routes will be introduced in the state to increase connectivity."

(With ANI/PTI Inputs)
While there is a demand for making laws for population control in the country, politics has also intensified on it. BJP leader and former Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has advised people to change mindset by tweeting on this matter. He has written by tweeting that, "the big population explosion is not a danger for any religion, it is a danger for the country, it is not fair to associate it with caste and religion."

Population Row: Yogi Adityanath's Remark

Let us inform that earlier Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also given his statement on population control. He had said that along with population control, there is also a need to create demographic balance. Family planning should be taken care of but the situation of demographic imbalance should not arise. For this every sect, religion, class, sect should be equally linked with the efforts of population stabilization. In a function on World Population Day, the CM said on Monday that in the efforts of population control, it should not happen that the rate of increase of population of any one section should be high and those who are indigenous people, their population should be stabilized and awareness efforts on them be controlled. In countries which have more population, the demographic imbalance becomes a matter of concern because there is an adverse effect on religious demographics, then after a time there is chaos. Therefore, efforts for population stabilization should involve all sections equally.

Population Row: Giriraj Singh's Statement

Union Minister Giriraj Singh expressed concern that in the last three decades, India has lagged behind China in the pace of economic progress. But in terms of the pace of population growth, it has overtaken the neighboring country. Singh said that we have limited resources. There is also a need to curb the perverted mentality that produces ten children. He said that the demon of increasing population is stopping India from becoming a super power.
New Delhi: A day after many Shiv Sena MPs urged Uddhav Thackeray to extend support to NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, instead of the Opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha, the party on Tuesday (July 12, 2022) indicated that it will back her. However, the party clarified that it does not mean it was supporting the BJP.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut, in an interview with The Indian Express, said, The Shiv Sena does what it thinks is right. In the past also we have extended support to Congress nominee T N Seshan and UPA nominees like Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee. The Sena has the tradition of going beyond politics. We believe in backing people in the national interest.

He said that the Shiv Sena party chiefs do not take any decisions under any pressure. Shiv Sena spokesperson also informed that the party is likely to make a decision in this regard will be announced soon by party chief Uddhav Thackeray. Today or tomorrow, you can expect the decision, he said.

While clarifying his partys stand, Raul said, Droupadi Murmu is the first tribal woman likely to be the President of India. There is a lot of tribal population in Maharashtra. There are a lot of Shiv Sainiks who come from tribal areas. There are MLAs tooThe decision of supporting Draupadi Murmu doesnt mean we are supporting the BJP.

Earlier, on Monday, in a meeting called by Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshree in Mumbai, sixteen MPs of Shiv Sena urged Uddhav Thackeray to support Draupadi Murmu. While talking to media, Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar had said that all sixteen MPs agreed that Droupadi Murmu is a tribal woman and thats why they should vote for her.

It may be noted that the party has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha. The presidential elections will be held on July 18.
Madhubani: Congress workers in this north Bihar district were bewildered when an invitation, to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's function in the state capital, arrived in the name of a deceased leader. The invitee, Abdul Hai Payami, had represented Laukaha assembly segment in the 1980s and he breathed his last four years ago.

"We were taken aback when the invitation card arrived in the name of Payami sahib. Vidhan Sabha authorities must be aware that he is no more," said Sheetalambar Jha, district president of the Congress.

Also Read: PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Deoghar Airport, to have flights to Patna, Kolkata, Delhi

Vidhan Sabha secretariat said that "all sitting and former MLAs and MLCs" have been invited to the function being held as part of the centenary of assembly premises.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, they however conceded that inclusion of a deceased person in the list of invitees, which had been approved by the Special Protection Group, was a "serious lapse".

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At a difficult time when one MLA after another was leaving his camp and joining Eknath Shinde's camp, they were by his side. They have been given many threats. Greed has also been shown. Even after that they did not leave the company of Uddhav Thackeray. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has therefore written a letter of thanks to 15 such Shiv Sena MLAs.

Also Read: Aaditya Thackeray in BIG Trouble! NCPCR asks Mumbai Police to register FIR against Shiv Sena MLA for violating THIS

Recently, there has been a political uproar in Maharashtra. The Uddhav government has collapsed. Shinde camp has joined hands with BJP and formed government in Maharashtra. After Shinde was sworn in as Chief Minister, the Shinde-BJP government won by a wide margin in the Maharashtra Assembly by a vote of confidence. Uddhav has also publicly thanked those who were with him in the end. Balasaheb-Son has said before, "I am proud of the 15-16 MLAs who were with us despite all the threats. This country has survived on Satyamev Jayate, Asatyamev Jayate has no place here."

Also Read: Shiv Sena Crisis: Only 10-12 MPs reached Matoshree so far, BIG 'Test' for Uddhav Thackeray amid Maharashtra political row

Incidentally, Uddhav has called on all party MPs in Matoshri on Monday to discuss next week's presidential election strategy. Already, several Shiv Sena MPs have demanded support for NDA's presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu. Shiv Sena sources said that this could be discussed in the meeting on Monday.
MUMBAI: In a big boost to Draupadi Murmu's candidature, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that his party will fully support the NDAs presidential candidate. Shiv Sena will support Draupadi Murmu for the upcoming Presidential elections, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was quoted as saying by ANI.

Shiv Sena will support Droupadi Murmu for Presidential elections: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray pic.twitter.com/Y6LrGWdlVc  ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2022

It may be noted that a majority of Shiv Sena MPs had earlier appealed to their party president to announce support for Draupadi Murmu since she was a tribal woman and a good candidate for the top Constitutional post.

Earlier, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut, in an interview with a leading daily, had said, The Shiv Sena does what it thinks is right. In the past also we have extended support to Congress nominee T N Seshan and UPA nominees like Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee. The Sena has the tradition of going beyond politics. We believe in backing people in the national interest.

Murmu, in all probability, is most likely to be elected since the ruling NDA has the required numbers. She will then be the first tribal woman to be President of India. Murmu's Tribal identity is a big factor in Maharashtra, where nearly 10 per cent of the population is of Scheduled Tribes. The point also reflected in Sanjay Raut's reply to a question on Shiv Sena supporting Murmu.

While clarifying his partys stand, Raul said, Draupadi Murmu is the first tribal woman likely to be the President of India. There is a lot of tribal population in Maharashtra. There are a lot of Shiv Sainiks who come from tribal areas. There are MLAs tooThe decision of supporting Draupadi Murmu doesnt mean we are supporting the BJP.

However, Raut also made it clear that support for Murmu does not mean support for its estranged former ally BJP.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde today announced support for Draupadi Murmu for the Presidential elections. "All our MLAs will vote for her under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi," CM Shinde said.

The presidential elections will be held on July 18. NDA nominee Murmu faces Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 12) extended interim bail granted to Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair till further orders. The apex court directed Zubair's plea be listed for a hearing on September 7. The interim bail was granted to Alt News co-founder in an FIR lodged in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

The top court granted four weeks' time to the Uttar Pradesh government to file a response to the plea of Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair. The court earlier heard the plea of Zubair challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which refused to quash the FIR registered against him by UP Police for a tweet in which he allegedly called three Hindu seers as 'hate mongers'.

Supreme Court extends interim bail granted to Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair till further orders. Court

lists Zubair's plea for a hearing on September 7. https://t.co/JeiEADDm58  ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2022

Delhi court to hear Zubair's bail plea on July 14

In a case related to an "objectionable tweet" Mohammed Zubair had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity, a Delhi court on Tuesday posted for July 14 hearing on a bail plea filed by him. Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala adjourned the hearing for Thursday after the prosecution sought time for a detailed argument in the matter, said a PTI report.

Appearing through video conference, SPP Atul Srivastava urged the court to adjourn the matter, saying that a separate case against Zubair was scheduled for hearing before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Appearing for the accused, advocate Vrinda Grover urged the court to take up the matter on Wednesday.

The prosecutor, however, said he was in Bhopal and will not be available for an appearance before the court on Wednesday. Grover then said that some other prosecutor may argue the matter in case Srivastava was not available.

"He can appear via VC. This bail was filed. It's a man's liberty. Let it be taken up tomorrow. He may appear on VC," Grover said. Srivastava then urged the court to post the matter for July 14, which was allowed by the judge.

Earlier on July 2, a magisterial court had dismissed Zubair's bail plea and sent him to 14-day judicial custody (JC) in the case. The court cited the nature and gravity of the offences against the accused and observed that the matter was at the initial stage of the investigation.

The court had sent him to JC after his five-day custodial interrogation. In its order, the court had also noted the submission of the public prosecutor that the investigation was at an initial stage and that there was every likelihood that police custody remand of the accused would be required. The judge rejected the bail application and considered the addition of new sections during the course of the investigation.

(With ANI/PTI Inputs)
SLAT 2022: Symbiosis International University (SIU), Pune will declare the result for Symbiosis Law Admission Test (SLAT) 2022 exam today, July 12, 2022 at 5 PM. Candidates can download the SLAT 2022 Result through the official website, www.set-test.org. SET/SLAT/SITEEE 2022 was conducted in computer based mode on Sunday July 03, 2022.

SLAT 2022: Here is how you can Download SLAT 2022 Scorecard

- Visit the official website  set-test.org.

- On the homepage, click on the Download SLAT scorecard link.

- Enter your login credentials such as registration ID and password.

- The SLAT scorecard will be displayed on the screen.

- Download the SLAT 2022 Scorecard and take a printout of it for future reference.

Candidates who qualify the Symbiosis University's SLAT exam will be shortlisted for writing ability test (WAT) and personal interaction (PI) rounds, which will be conducted separately by all participating law schools. The SLAT exam scores are accepted by four law schools who offer around 1,080 seats in 5-year integrated LLB programmes.
New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Tuesday (July 12) that he has tested positive for coronavirus. The Tamil Nadu CM wrote on Twitter that he was feeling tired and after testing he was found out to be positive for Covid-19. "Today, I experienced mild fatigue. When tested, the result was positive for COVID-19. I have hence isolated myself," Stalin tweeted.

He also urged everyone to wear masks, get vaccinated and stay safe.

The DMK chief has tested positive amid Tamil Nadu reporting a decline in fresh Covid-19 cases since Saturday last week. Around 2,448 new coronavirus cases were logged in the southern state, including a returnee from New Delhi, the Tamil Nadu health department said on Monday. The caseload in the state stands at 35,03,977 while with no fresh Covid-19-related fatalities, the death toll remained unchanged at 38,028.

Notably, Tamil Nadu which had been witnessing a rise in Covid-19 cases has been reporting a decline since Saturday, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, an expert has raised concerns over the recent Covid-19 surge in many states and warned that the infection cannot be left unchecked". Co-chairman of National Indian Medical Association Covid-19 task force Dr Rajeev Jayadevan told ANI, "The Covid infection cannot remain unchecked as virus is constantly mutating. We can`t let this infection run unchecked, however, we do not know if the virus will change more or will it change the main infection.

He also said that people must remain vigilant. "There are concerns whether the older Delta version would come back. Nobody knows the future for sure. So, we must be really guarded. When we say everything is fine, it is true that everything is fine from one angle-- that is the number of people dying per 1000 infections is lower. In other words, if 1,000 infections happened, the number of people dying is lower than it was two years ago. But it would be a wonder if we could prevent it as well, Jayadevan said.

(With agency inputs)
Howrah: Union minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday hit back at the TMC's criticism of the national emblem atop the new Parliament building, asserting that it is not unexpected from a party which insults Goddess Kali and has scant regard for Constitution. Her comments came after bureaucrat turned Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar claimed that the Asokan lions in the original national emblem were 'graceful' while those put atop the new Parliament building were 'aggressive'.

"Those leaders who have either disregarded or discarded the Constitution over the years are expected to oppose the national emblem. Today they are afraid of the national emblem, which is the pride of our country. It is not unexpected from the party and its leaders who insult Goddess Kali to insult the national emblem," Irani told a press conference at Howrah.

Sharing photographs of both versions of the emblem in a tweet, Sircar has said, "Insult to our national symbol, the majestic Ashokan Lions. Original is on the left, graceful, regally confident. The one on the right is Modi's version, put above the new Parliament building  snarling, unnecessarily aggressive and disproportionate. Shame! Change it immediately!"

Insult to our national symbol, the majestic Ashokan Lions. Original is on the left, graceful, regally confident. The one on the right is Modis version, put above new Parliament building  snarling, unnecessarily aggressive and disproportionate. Shame! Change it immediately! pic.twitter.com/luXnLVByvP  Jawhar Sircar (@jawharsircar) July 12, 2022

His party colleague and Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra also tweeted two images of the national emblem comparing the past structure with the one installed atop the new Parliament building.

By claiming the TMC insulted Goddess Kali, Irani referred to Moitra's statement made at a conclave here on July 5 that she had every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting deity, as each person has his or her own unique way of offering prayers.

Police complaints accusing her of hurting the religious sentiment of the Hindus have been made in various states against Moitra for the remarks.

Reacting to Irani's allegations, the TMC supported what its MPs said about the national emblem.

"It is a disaster. The four lions, which should be magnanimous and regal, appear aggressive and disproportionate. This is what happens when opposition leaders are not taken into confidence and consulted. This is against the spirit of cooperative federalism," TMC national spokesperson and senior minister Dr Shashi Panja said.

Slamming Sircar also for questioning her appointment as the minority affairs minister following the resignation of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Irani said as a cabinet minister she is serving the country and all the communities in it.

"We had many heads of state who belonged to different religions. It is our constitutional responsibility to ensure we serve all and appease none. As minister of minority affairs, I serve India and all the communities, especially those communities that the Constitution has deemed fit for my office to serve," she said.

The portfolio of the minority affairs minister generally goes to a leader belonging to a minority community. Sircar had tweeted: "Hardcore Hindu, married to a Parsi given charge of Muslims, Christians. Is this BJP's brand of secularism?" To a question, Irani claimed that if the TMC does not support NDA Presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu, it will prove that the party is against tribals and the poor.
Virginia Republicans cant wait to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to birth. So theyre proposing an end run around democracy. The GOP only controls the House of Delegates. Democrats control the State Senate. No total abortion ban is likely to pass the senate.

So the men who want to control womens most personal decisions must look for non-legislative routes to get what they want. Among them is Del. Dave LaRock of Loudon County. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, LaRock suggests that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin withhold state funds from state medical facilities like the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University if they provide abortion services.

Youngkin played coy with the reproductive rights issue during his gubernatorial campaign in 2021. He refused to say whether he wanted to force women to bear children against their will. Now, as he gears up for a presidential run, he continues his disingenuous game. Over the weekend, Youngkin refused to say on network TV whether he supported a complete abortion ban.

This is doubletalk from a man who said on the campaign trail that he believed in life at conception. Life at conception bestows legal protections on fertilized eggs that overrule the rights of the woman without whom the zygotes could not exist.

Charlottesville and Albemarle Republican Congressman Bob Good offered his two cents Saturday at an anti-abortion rally of about 100 people in Richmond. Good called for the state to pass a life at conception bill. Women do not realize they are pregnant until they miss a menstrual period. So effectively, it will be a crime to end any pregnancy without an exception decided by the good ole boys.

Make that good ole White boys. They are mostly the ones driving this train to male chauvinism. Sadly, an equivalent form of repression for a male-only, life-wrenching, deeply private health care decision does not exist. If politicians who knew nothing of an individual mans personal circumstances tried to force men to do with their bodies what those men believed to be wrong, their anger would be visceral. Turnabout would surely breed the kinds of protests that so many Virginia women now undertake in hopes of regaining reproductive rights.

Cutting state funding to state medical facilities to compel them to submit to a political agenda is dystopian. It signals how rabid the forced pregnancy movement has become now that its members have been empowered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The justices logic in turning womens privacy and personal health into an issue of states rights echoes too many of the assumptions that led to separate but equal laws that segregated schools and public restrooms. Congress could not pass a federal anti-lynching law until 2022 because southern politicians blocked earlier attempts in the name of states rights.

Gallups May tracking poll showed that 50% of Americans favored the availability of legal abortion in certain circumstances. Roughly 35% favored abortion rights in any circumstance. Another 13% said abortion should be illegal in all cases and 2% were undecided.

Those numbers do not support the kind of radical action being pondered by some Republicans in the General Assembly. Yet one delegate and one senator have already promised to introduce life at conception bills in the next session.

In Virginia, a certain irony attaches to LaRocks plan to cut off state money to medical facilities that provide legal, safe abortions. LaRock thinks the governor could encourage public hospitals to stop providing abortions by giving them state money to buy more contraceptives.

We wonder if he has checked with leaders of the forced pregnancy movement who already plan to ban over-the-counter emergency contraception and are looking at outlawing some other kinds of birth control.

A kind of reductio ad absurdum reigns over this scramble to deny women control of their bodies. It is anything but funny. It is, however, consistent. If the likes of Bob Good and Dave LaRock get their way, the only contraceptive left for the state to pay for will be condoms.

These, of course, will be used mostly by men.
TS POLYCET Result 2022: The Telangana State Polytechnic Common Entrance Test, TS POLYCET Result 2022 is expected to be announced soon. As per local media reports Telangana SBTET (State Board of Technical Education and Training) the TS POLYCET Result 2022 is expected on July 13 or 14, however, an official confirmation is yet awaited. TSBTET Hyderabad has already released the TS Polycet 2022 answer key on the official website-- polycetts.nic.in. Candidates who appeared for the TS POLYCET can check their scores by downloadng the answer key from the official website.

TS Polycet 2022: Here's how to download your Manabadi TS POLYCET results

Once released, candidates who appeared for TS POLYCET 2022 can check their results by following the steps given below-

Visit the official website at polycetts.nic.in On the home page, click on the "TS POLYCET Result 2022" link Entre TS POLYCET login credentials like Roll number, date of birth etc. Submit, Your TS POLYCET Result 2022 will be displayed on the screen for download

"All the students, who appeared POLYCET-2022 examination on 30-06-2022, are informed to go through the respective key ( QP Code-A/B/C/D) of POLYCET-2022 and send the objections/corrections, if any, to this office through email- jtsecy-sbtet@telangana.gov.in on or before 02-07-2022 by 04.00 PM," stated the board on its official website.

ALSO READ- Agnipath Recruitment 2022: Indian Navy Agniveer registration begins, direct link to apply here

Here's how to download TS Polycet 2022 answer key

Visit the official website-- polycetts.nic.in.

On the appeared homepage, click on the TS Polycet Answer key link 2022

TS Polycet Answer key PDF 2022 will appear on the screen

Check the answer key

The TS POLYCET examination is conducted for admissions into diploma courses (Engineering & Non-Engineering) offered by State Board of Technical Education & Training, Hyderabad and diploma courses in Agriculture, Veterinary and Horticulture.

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New Delhi: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in its latest forecast has predicted more heavy rains for the state of Maharashtra on Tuesday (July 12, 2022), while Delhi will witness moderate intensity showers along with thunderstorm. The weather department has issued a red alert for heavy rainfall today in the coastal district of Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra and Vidarbha.

Heavy rainfall is expected all across the southern states of India. IMD has warned of heavy rains in Karnataka for four more days and has issued red alert for several districts till July 13. Telangana will also see very heavy rainfall at isolated places in Nalgonda, Suryapet, Mahabubabad, Jangaon, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri districts.

Mumbai rains

The weather office has issued an orange alert for Mumbai for the next 3 days. Moderate to heavy rain in city & suburbs. Possibility of very heavy rainfall at isolated places. Occasional gusty winds reaching 40-50 km/h very likely, said BMC.

Moderate to intense spells of rain very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Mumbai, Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ghat areas of Pune & Satara, Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani, Latur during the next 3-4 hours, IMD Mumbai informed on Tuesday.

Heavy downpour lashes parts of Delhi

Heavy rains lashed parts of Delhi and its adjoining areas on Tuesday morning, bringing respite from heat and humidity. RWFC New Delhi in its latest forecast has predicted thunderstorm along with light to moderate intensity rain in several parts of Delhi-NCR today.

Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain would occur over and adjoining areas of entire Delhi and NCR (Loni Dehat, Hindon AF Station, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Chhapraula, Noida, Dadri, Greater Noida) Narwana, Barwala, Charkhi Dadri, Mattanhail, Jhajjar, Farukhnagar, Kosali, Mahendargarh (Haryana) Nazibabad, Bijnaur, Chandpur, Amroha (U.P.) Mahawa (Raj.) during next 2 hours, said RWFC New Delhi in a tweet.

Heavy rains in Telangana

The MeT Centre of IMD on Monday said heavy to very heavy with extremely heavy rain is very likely to occur at isolated places in Nalgonda, Suryapet, Mahabubabad, Jangaon, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri districts till 0830 hours of July 12.

Heavy to very heavy with extremely heavy rain is very likely to occur at isolated places in Siddipet, Sangareddy and Medak districts from 0830 hours on July 12 to 0830 hours of July 13, it said. Following incessant rains, rivulets and other water bodies were in spate at several places.

Heavy rains cause flood-like situation in parts of Gujarat

Heavy rains pounded several parts of south and central Gujarat districts, causing a flood-like situation in many areas. The Met department has issued a warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rains in Dang, Navsari, Valsad, Tapi and Surat during the next five days.

"Seven persons died in rain-related incidents in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll due to rain-related incidents like lightning, drowning, wall collapse etc in Gujarat to 63 since June 1," state Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi told reporters.

He said 18 platoons each of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed at strategic locations for rescue and relief operations as and when required.

Heavy rains in Karnataka

IMD has warned of heavy rains in Karnataka for four more days. Red alert has been issued in Chikkamaglur, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts till July 13. Yellow alert has been issued in Hassan district till June 14. North Karnataka districts of Bidar, Belagavi, Dharwad, Haveri, Kalaburagi have been issued orange alert till June 12.

The experts have warned that the speed of the wind in the next 48 hours in coastal districts will be 45 to 55 kilometers per hour and it might reach up to 65 kilometers per hour.

Heavy rainfall in parts of Rajasthan

Heavy showers occurred at isolated places in east Rajasthan while a few other parts of the state recorded light to moderate rains, the weather department said. The department has forecast heavy rain in parts of Banswara, Sirohi, Rajsamand, Pratapgarh, Jhalawar, Chittorgarh, Barmer, Pali, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Nagaur districts till tomorrow morning.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: The much-loved TV actors and real-life couple Tejasswi Prakash and Karan Kundrra, who are gearing up for their new music video `Baarish Aayi Hain` said that they are expecting the song to be a superhit.

Produced by VYRL Originals, the song is performed by Shreya Ghoshal and Stebin Ben.

Talking about appearing in the music video Tejasswi said: "It's really encouraging to see the response of our fans on the song even before its released. I believe it will be this season's best monsoon song. Working with Shreya Ghoshal, Stebin Ben, and VYRL Originals makes me feel fortunate. I can only hope that this song is loved and appreciated by the people, like the past two Baarish songs had, by VYRL Originals."

Earlier, the music label released two beautiful music videos that achieved huge success. Last year (2021) VYRL Originals produced `Baarish Ban Jana` featuring Hina Khan and Shaheer Sheikh. In 2020 the label released `Baarish` featuring Shivangi Joshi and Mohsin Khan. The new song is part of their Baarish song franchise.

"Baarish Aayi Hai is a beautiful song. The last two Baarish songs of VYRL Originals were chartbusters, and we are expecting that this song will complete the hat trick," added Karan Kundrra.

'Baarish Aayi Hai' will be released on July 14 on VYRL Originals YouTube channel.

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New Delhi: Bollywood couple Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor are expecting their first child together. The father-to-be, Ranbir is currently busy promoting his upcoming film Shamshera. The actor in one of his interviews opened up on how he plans to divide parents duties with Alia. He also shared that he wants to be a hands-on dad and be involved in his child's upbringing. Ranbir also wants that Alia should not have to sacrifice her dreams just because they are having a baby.

Talking about fatherhood, Ranbir told Indian Express in an interview, Alia and I have been talking about it for some time now, how were going share our responsibilities and how were going to share our time. We grew up in a generation where our fathers were quite busy with work and were not around us, so more or less weve been brought up by our mothers, so we were close to our mothers. I want to have a different dynamic with my children, I want them to be close to me also."

Alia and Ranbir tied the knot on April 14 and the actress recently took to Instagram to share the happy news of their upcoming baby with a picture of her ultrasound session. While Ranbir is actors Neetu Kapoor and Rishi Kapoors son, Alia is filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdans daughter.

Ranbir also spoke about how he wants Alia to continue her professional journey after embracing motherhood. The Gangubai Kathiawadi actress is an A-list star and is currently at the peak of her career. Alia is a very busy working star in this film industry and I dont want her to sacrifice her dreams because she has a child. So we have to somewhere plan out a balanced life where we both can enjoy our personal life and our professional life, so it is one day at a time, one step at a time, but I have a lot of expectations from it, said her husband.

Alia recently returned to Mumbai after filming for her Hollywood debut Heart of Stone in London. Ranbir surprised her as he came to the airport to pick her up. While, Ranbir is awaiting the release of Shamshera, Alia will next be seen in her maiden production Darlings that will be available on Netflix.
New Delhi: Bollywood actors like Shatrugan Sinha, Tanuja, Paresh Rawal, Pratik Gandh and others are hooked to author Reeta Ramamurthy Guptas biography on Sanjeev Kumar. Late actor Sanjeev Kumars journey as an actor has inspired many to foray into acting yet it is the least talked about quest so far. Sanjeev Kumar, who gave us films like Mausam and Aandhi has always been a common mans superstar. The roles he played were widely related to the masses and without a doubt, the actor deserves to be written about.



His beloved nephew Uday Jariwala and author Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta together present a biography Sanjeev Kumar- The Actor We All Loved that takes us through his journey of becoming Bollywoods biggest star ever.

Some of the biggest names from Bollywood like Paresh Rawal, Shatrughan Sinha, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, Tanuja, Pratik Gandhi, Sarita Joshi, Anju Mahendru and Sachin Pilgaonkar not only are endorsing the book but they have given their special inputs about Sanjeev Kumar for it as well.

Shatrughan Sinha posts, Very happy to receive this book on one of the most loved, admired actors as well my friend, philosopher and guide #SanjeevKumar on my wedding anniversary and his birthday which we always celebrated together. Shot by my son @luvsinha.

Talking about the response the authors are receiving from the film fraternity and the readers, Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta says, I am so grateful for the support the book has received from actors and the veterans of the industry who knew Haribhai. And I am also elated that readers are enjoying Sanjeev Kumars journey. Most of all, Im grateful to my co-author Uday Jariwala, who was just 12 years old when he performed Haribhai's last rites. He has been the force behind the book."

Sanjeev Kumar - The Actor We All Loved book was launched on the late actors birth anniversary- on 9th July. Book lovers are already in awe of the book. The book is well researched and is thoroughly entertaining to read and is getting all kinds of appreciation on social media as well.
New Delhi: Former Miss Universe and actress Sushmita Sen is currently enjoying her vacation time. In her latest post, Sush can be seen soaking up some Italian sun in Sardinia as she wore a sexy-looking printed Kaftan. The leggy lass flaunted her toned legs, bringing back the original 'Dilbar' vibes.

Sushmita Sen wrote in the caption: La Dolce Vita #sardinia I love you guys!!! #duggadugga Pic courtesy my gracious friend @itsalways_. Many dropped their comments on the post including her daughter Renee Sen.

Looks like Sushmita has been out on a long vacation as before Italy, she went to the picturesque Maldives, posting photos, and videos from there. Sushmita is a single mother to two beautiful girlsRenee and Alisah respectively. She is also an avid social media user and keeps her Twitter/Instagram family with regular updates and posts.

On the work front, Sushmita will next be seen in the third season of the Ram Madhvani series Aarya on Disney+ Hotstar. The web series that broke records has had two successful seasons so far and has been renewed for the next one. Her daughter Renee also recently made her debut in the short film Suttabaazi.
New Delhi: The deadline to file this year's income tax is July 31. Filing Income Tax Return (ITR) is an annual ritual by individuals and other category of taxpayers. This year's income tax return will be filed for the Assessment Year 2021-22 or FY 2020-21.

The ITR this year is applicable for income earned between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022. While the majority of the people might have already filed their Income Tax Return, it is possible that a lot of us are yet to file it.

Here is all about the Tax Slabs for AY 2021-22 for filing income tax return for Salaried Individuals. The slab is for Individual (resident or non-resident) less than 60 years of age anytime during the previous year:

Existing Tax Regime New Tax Regime u/s 115BAC Income Tax Slab Income Tax Rate Income Tax Slab Income Tax Rate Up to Rs 2,50,000 Nil Up to Rs 2,50,000 Nil Rs 2,50,001 - Rs 5,00,000 5% above Rs 2,50,000 Rs 2,50,001 - Rs 5,00,000 5% above Rs 2,50,000 Rs 5,00,001 - Rs 10,00,000 Rs 12,500 + 20% above Rs 5,00,000 Rs 5,00,001 - Rs 7,50,000 Rs 12,500 + 10% above Rs 5,00,000 Above Rs 10,00,000 Rs 1,12,500 + 30% above Rs 10,00,000 Rs 7,50,001 - Rs 10,00,000 Rs 37,500 + 15% above Rs 7,50,000 Rs 10,00,001 - Rs 12,50,000 Rs 75,000 + 20% above Rs 10,00,000 Rs 12,50,001 - Rs 15,00,000 Rs 1,25,000 + 25% above Rs 12,50,000 Above Rs 15,00,000 Rs 1,87,500 + 30% above Rs 15,00,000

It is to be noted that individuals and HUFs can opt for the Existing Tax Regime or the New Tax Regime with lower rate of taxation (u/s 115 BAC of the Income Tax Act). The taxpayer opting for concessional rates in the New Tax Regime will not be allowed certain Exemptions and Deductions (like 80C, 80D,80TTB, HRA) available in the Existing Tax Regime.
After much fiasco between TMC and BJP over the inauguration of Sealdah Metro Station in Kolkata, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Monday inaugurated the underground station of East West Metro corridor. The first Metro train from Sealdah, which is among the busiest railway stations in the country, rolled towards Sector V in Salt Lake, the IT hub of the city, after she pressed the button to unveil the plaque virtually. The Indian Railways has shared some stunning images of the swanky new station terminal, which get modern amenities and features. "The full length of the East West Metro corridor will be completed by 2023," she said at the function.

The extended service of the East West Metro up to Sealdah on its 9 km truncated route will start commercially from Thursday, an official said. The service is now available between Sector V and Phoolbagan in the city and will be extended by 2.33 km.

Aspiration to Reality: Take a look at the brand new, aesthetically designed Sealdah Metro Station, fulfilling the dreams of the city of joy, Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/eoCUo7rd8B

 Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) July 11, 2022

Irani said that the extension to Sealdah, a terminal railway station in the city, will help around 35,000 passengers in their daily commute from adjoining districts.

Congratulating all those who played a role in constructing the 2.33 km Metro railway stretch between Phoolbagan and Sealdah at a cost of Rs 1,250 crore, Irani said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making all endeavours for the all round development of infrastructure in West Bengal, including railways and the Metro system.

"Government of India has done everything to provide impetus to infrastructure building of the Railways and the Metro services in view of increasing population," Irani said in her address before the inauguration.

Reaching out to the people, Irani said that her maternal grandfather's house is in Salt Lake and that it is her fortune to be able to inaugurate the Metro run from Sealdah to Salt Lake.

Out of the 16.6 km long section of the East West Metro route, the underground corridor constitutes 10.8 km between Howrah and Phoolbagan with the tunnel passing below the Hooghly river, while the rest is elevated corridor, according to the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, the executing agency of the project.

Also read: Hyderabad Rain Update: MMTS trains cancelled for 3 days in view of heavy rains

The Sealdah-Esplanade link faced bottleneck as several houses developed cracks during underground work at Bowbazar area in central Kolkata in May, nearly three years after a similar incident there. This has delayed the completion of the project from its slated date of December, 2021.

The Metro authorities are now pinning hopes on the extension of services up to Sealdah to increase the number of passengers in the partially operational East West Metro corridor as it is suffering from low patronage.

A Metro official said that it will take only 21 minutes to cover the distance, which is generally a one hour travel time by road.

Live TV
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted searches at nine locations in Rajasthan in connection with the brutal day-light killing of a tailor in the Udaipur district last month. The anti-terror agency carried out searches on the premises of suspects in Udaipur. Digital devices (mobile phones, laptops and SIM cards) and other incriminating materials were claimed to have been seized by the NIA during the searches.

The case pertains to the killing of Kanhaiyya Lal Teli, 47, at his shop in Maldas Street in Udaipur on June 28. The victim was killed as he reportedly had shared a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma - former BJP leader who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad.

The case was initially registered on June 29 at Udaipur`s Dhanmandi Police Station. The NIA re-registered the case on June 29 and took over the probe. The NIA has so far arrested seven individuals in the killing of Kanhaiyya Lal Teli, who was hacked to death. On July 9, the anti-terror agency said it arrested 7th accused Farhad Mohammad Sheikh alias Babla, 31, from Udaipur.

Mohammad was a close criminal associate of one of the main killers Riyaz Attari and was an active part of the conspiracy to kill Kanhaiyya Lal.

Earlier six accused persons were arrested in this case on June 29; July 1, and July 4. The main killers involved in the case - Riyaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad - were taken into custody on June 29 by police and then by the NIA during the investigation of the case.

The NIA, however, has not shared the details about the accused arrested on July 1 and July 4.NIA FIR mentions that "assailants involved in the brutal murder of Kanhaiyya Lal, circulated a video of the assault with assertion to promote "enmity on religious ground" and to create "panic and terror" amongst the masses across the country.

The FIR is based on the complaint of Kanhaiyya`s son Yash Teli, a resident of Rajasthan`s Housing Board Colony, regarding the brutal killing of his father by two assailants - Riyaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad - armed with sharp weapons at his shop `Suprim Tailor`, Bhoot Mahal Maaldas street, Udaipur.

Two workers of the shop were also injured by the assailants in the incident, mentions the FIR. The brutal killing took place on June 28 (Tuesday) between 3 pm and 3.30 pm, and the information was received at NIA through an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs` Counter-Terrorism and Counter Radicalization Division (CTCR) on June 29.

Soon after committing the crime, the two accused, both residents of Udaipur, posted a video on social media boasting about the "beheading" and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s life as well.
New Delhi: Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday said that it is time for former US President Donald Trump to "hang up his hat and sail into the sunset".

Musk's jibe comes after Trump called the Tesla CEO "another bull s*** artist". The spat began with Trump claiming that Musk voted for him. However, Musk has denied the claim, saying it is "not true". Read More: WhatsApp Users Alert! WhatsApp head warns users against fake WhatsApp apps

Earlier, Trump called Musk "another bull s*** artist" and reiterated that he voted for him. Read More: WhatsApp to let you react with more emojis

"You know what he (Elon Musk) said the other day that he never voted for Republicans. You know he told me he voted for me. So he is another bull s*** artist," he said at a Save America rally in Anchorage, Alaska.

The former US President also commented on the ongoing legal battle between Twitter and Musk. "Elon is not going to buy Twitter. Where did you hear that before? From me...He has got himself in a mess," Trump said.

Trump's comment comes in the wake of an American billionaire's decision to back off from the Twitter deal which has led to a lawsuit from the social media giant. Last week, Musk said he is terminating his USD 44 billion deal to buy Twitter citing multiple breaches of the purchase agreement, according to a letter sent by the billionaire Tesla chief's team to Twitter.

Responding to a report on Trump's remarks on Twitter, where Musk has more than 100 million followers, the Tesla CEO wrote, "Not true".

Donald Trump: Elon Musk Told Me He Voted for Mehttps://t.co/bs0FCw8Wir  Bongino Report (@BonginoReport) July 11, 2022

In another tweet, he said, "I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Dems should also call off the attack - don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency."

Trump Rips Elon Musk: "Another Bullsh*t Artist" pic.twitter.com/kiuGp7xTEu  Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 11, 2022

Twitter's board chair Bret Taylor said on Saturday the company will file a lawsuit against American billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk to force him to buy the social media company on the agreed terms.

In April, Musk reached an acquisition agreement with Twitter at USD 54.20 per share in a transaction valued at approximately USD 44 billion. However, Musk put the deal on hold in May to allow his team to review the veracity of Twitter's claim that less than 5 percent of accounts on the platform are bots or spam.

Twitter Inc shares witnessed a sharp decline after Tesla CEO Elon Musk terminated USD 44 billion takeover deal, setting the stage for a legal battle.

Shares currently stand at USD 33.31 each, significantly lower than Musk's offer of USD 54.20 per share, according to FactSet data published by The Wall Street Journal on Monday, The Hill reported.
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: Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro features listed on ecommerce website: Details here)

Check out the Garena Free Fire Redeem Codes for July 12, 2022

FT5D-BJU0-W2RY

3G4B-R7NV-987D

Y6TE-G89E-B56K

7L8U-IJ9N-8B7V

B7JI-KJ8H-E9DC

P5XI-U8YT-AGF9

VEB0-R5TM-GHLB

O987-X6Z5-AR4Q

FGE5-9S4X-32ZA

Q9ZQ-XVBJ-TY7U

HY9H-V8XX-3S1K

IRF8-GZ27-Y2CR

F6ZV-D4FN-TGMY

KI2H-7BY6-VTG9

(Also read: Shocking! Ex-Amazon Web Services engineer hacked data of 10 crore customers)

How to Redeem Garena Free Fire codes for today, July 12 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: WhatsApp has issued a strong warning to users, urging them to be wary of fake versions of the messaging app. Will Cathcart, the CEO of the instant messaging service, has asked people on Twitter not to use the modified version of WhatsApp because users could get into severe problems. WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging programmes in the world, making it easier for scammers to deceive consumers using various strategies.

The company's security research team discovered certain fraudulent apps that promise to provide features similar to WhatsApp. Cathcart warned that apps like "Hey WhatsApp" from a developer called "HeyMods" are harmful and should be avoided. The researchers noticed that many apps pretend to provide users with additional functions, but this is just a ruse to collect personal information from people's phones. Read More: WhatsApp to let you react with more emojis

While modified or fraudulent versions of WhatsApp may offer features similar to the genuine version of the messaging app, keep in mind that they do not provide end-to-end encryption. This protects your chats and personal data, ensuring that no one, not even WhatsApp, has access to them. Read More: Garena Free Fire redeem codes for today, 12 July: Check website, steps to redeem

The new fake WhatsApp version is not visible on the Play Store, however users who attempt to get the apps from unauthorised sources should proceed with caution before putting them on their phone. It is recommended that users download the official version of WhatsApp from the company's website or from trusted app stores such as Google Play.

"Of course, we will continue to work to detect and prevent these types of apps in the future." We're also taking enforcement action against HeyMods to prevent more harm, and we're looking into legal possibilities to hold HeyMods and others like them accountable," Cathcart wrote on Twitter.
Bangkok: In a bid to tackle sex crimes, Thailand on Tuesday passed a bill that allows the voluntary chemical castration of convicted sex offenders. According to ANI, the Thai Senate passed the bill allowing the voluntary chemical castration of recidivist (a convicted criminal who reoffends) sex offenders, reported Bangkok Post.

Under the bill, medication can be prescribed only with the approval of a psychiatric specialist and an internal medicine specialist, and with the consent of the sex offender in question. Convicts who agree to receive the treatment, injections that reduce their testosterone levels, will in return have their prison terms shortened, reported the Bangkok Post.

The "Violence-Related Reoffending Prevention Bill" was proposed by the Justice Ministry and has already sailed through three readings in the House of Representatives. After winning overwhelming support from MPs, this more punitive approach to sex offences was passed by the Senate. The bill passed its third reading in the House of Representatives in February.

The Senate unanimously approved the bill, which applies to repeat and violent sexual offenders, by 145-0 votes, with two abstentions, reported Bangkok Post. Health authorities will decide the procedures. The bill will become law when published in the Royal Gazette, at a date to be decided by the cabinet, reported Bangkok Post.

Which countries allow Chemical castration?

Chemical castration is not a new form of punishment. It has been used in South Korea, Pakistan, Poland, and at least eight states in the US. Other countries - including Norway, Denmark, and Germany - have opted for surgical castration of serious sexual criminals.

However, there are arguments regarding the castration process being violative of human rights. Many experts are of the view that castration will stop sex. The castrated person may become more violent and may become a misogamist. A castrated person may start hating girls. The castrated person may start harming girls because of extreme anger.

Moreover, intercourse is not the only way of violence. Those who exhibit violence against girls may use other ways of violence.

Meanwhile, there is another section of experts, who believe that the rising cases of rape across society have made strict punishment the need of the hour. Castration will reduce the rate of crime in society due to fear. People will think twice before doing such a crime.
Malala Day 2022: International Malala Day is celebrated every year on July 12 on the occasion of young activist Malala Yousafzais birthday. This date was designated by the United Nations (UN) to honour the young woman who has been advocating for female education. The 24-year-old activist, who currently works for women's right to education globally, was never allowed to enter school as a young girl.

The day is used as an opportunity to appeal to world leaders to ensure compulsory and free education for every child across the globe.

History and significance of Malala Day:

On July 12, 2013, Malala moved the people by delivering a peech at the headquarters of United Nations. At that time she was just a 16-year-old Pakistani activist. In her speech, Malala highlighted the need for access to women's education globally and called the world leaders to reform their policies. She had received rounds of standing ovations for her commendable speech.

Since July 12 was her birthday, therefore the UN promptly declared that the day will be celebrated as Malala Day to honour the young activist.

Here are the interesting facts about Malala:

- Yousufzai was the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize since it came into existence in 1901. She was just 17-years-old at the time.

- In 2009, the Pakistani activist started working with BBC and blogging about living under Taliban rule, which made her a national figure in her country, appearing on television advocating for girls' education.

- In 2012, Malala was aboard a bus, campaigning for girl education in Pakistan, when the Taliban reportedly hijacked the vehicle and singled her out, shooting her in the head and the neck.

- An asteroid was named in honour of Malala Yousufzai in 2015.

- The young activist joined Oxford University to study Philosophy, Economics and Politics IN 2018. Earlier, Malala had plans to become a doctor but has now taken an interest in politics.

- The activist was designated as a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2017 by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
New Delhi: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday (July 11, 2022) released the first picture from its James Webb Space Telescope, an image of a galaxy cluster revealing the most detailed glimpse of the early universe ever seen. The image is the "deepest" and "sharpest" infrared image of the distant universe to date. Thousands of galaxies  including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared  have appeared in Webb's view for the first time. Known as Webb's First Deep Field, the picture of a 4.6 billion-year-old galaxy cluster named SMACS 0723 was released by US President Joe Biden in a preview event at the White House in Washington.

NASA, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will release the full set of Webb's first full-color images and spectroscopic data during a televised broadcast on Tuesday.

The images on tap for Tuesday include a view of a giant gaseous planet outside our solar system, two images of a nebula where stars are born and die in spectacular beauty, and an update of a classic image of five tightly clustered galaxies that dance around each other.

It's herethe deepest, sharpest infrared view of the universe to date: Webb's First Deep Field.



Previewed by @POTUS on July 11, it shows galaxies once invisible to us. The full set of @NASAWebb's first full-color images & data will be revealed July 12: https://t.co/63zxpNDi4I pic.twitter.com/zAr7YoFZ8C  NASA (@NASA) July 11, 2022

At least one of the faint, older specs of light appearing in the "background" of the photo - a composite of images of different wavelengths of light - dates back more than 13 billion years, NASA chief Bill Nelson said. That makes it just 800 million years younger than the Big Bang, the theoretical flashpoint that set the expansion of the known universe in motion some 13.8 billion years ago.

'A historic day': Joe Biden on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's infrared image of universe

"When this image is shared with the world, it will be a historic moment for science and technology, for astronomy and space exploration, for America and all of humanity," Joe Biden said before James Webb Space Telescope's picture was unveiled.

"It's a new window into the history of our universe," he said.

Join me and Vice President Harris as we receive a briefing from NASA officials and preview the first images from the Webb Space Telescope  the highest-resolution images of the infrared universe ever captured. https://t.co/PbOIyIeXw9 July 11, 2022

"And today we`re going to get a glimpse of the first light to shine through that window: light from other worlds, orbiting stars far beyond our own. It`s astounding to me," the US President added.

He was joined at the Old Executive Office Building of the White House complex by US Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the US National Space Council.

James Webb Space Telescope rocketed away in December 2021

James Webb Space Telescope, the world's biggest and most powerful space telescope, rocketed away in December last year from French Guiana in South America. It reached its lookout point 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth in January, following which the lengthy process began to align the mirrors, get the infrared detectors cold enough to operate, and calibrate the science instruments, all protected by a sunshade the size of a tennis court that keeps the telescope cool.

Its objective is to peer back so far that scientists will get a glimpse of the early days of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with sharper focus.

It is noteworthy that at 21 feet (6.4 meters), Webb's gold-plated, flower-shaped mirror is the biggest and most sensitive ever sent into space.
New Delhi: A Pakistani journalist has made an explosive claim about his past visits to India. Nusrat Mirza, in an interview with journalist and political analyst Shakil Chaudhary revealed that he has passed on key information to Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence after his many visits to India. He spoke about the process in detail in his recent interview and boasted about how he was able to collect the information.

'Was invited by former India's Vice President Hamid Ansari': Mirza

He recalled that at the time of this incident, he was invited to India by Vice Presidentship of Mohammad Hamid Ansari. Ansari had served as the 12th vice president from 2007 to 2017. For his visits, he received several perks from the Pakistan foreign affairs department, he said.

Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza received perks from foreign affairs dept. of Pakistan

He explained, "Usually when you apply for a visa to India, they only allow you to visit three places. However, at that time, Khurshid Kasuri (Pakistani politician and writer who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan between November 2002 till November 2007) was the foreign minister who helped me to get a visa for seven cities."

"I have visited India five times. I have visited Delhi, Banglore, Chennai, Patna and Kolkata as well. In 2011, I also met with the Milli Gazette`s publisher Zafarul Islam Khan, Mirza said as quoted by ANI. Zafarul-Islam Khan is a former Chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission and Founder-Editor of the Milli Gazette, Indian Muslims` leading news source.

Mirza had also shed light on his 2010 visit to India in the interview during which he attended a seminar on terrorism. In his 2011 visit, he met Zafarul Islam Khan - the Milli Gazette`s publisher. After both these visits, he provided information about them to the ISI, as per his recent claims.

He said that though he handed down the information to the Pakistani leadership however no one seemed to pay any attention to it due to leadership issues.

(With angency inputs)

Live TV
London: Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Attorney General Suella Braverman are the two Indian-origin members of Parliament to make the initial shortlist of eight candidates in the race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister at the close of nominations on Tuesday evening. The others to make it on the ballot paper include Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, former Cabinet ministers Kemi Badenoch and Jeremy Hunt and Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat.

Also Read: Rishi Sunak, former UK finance minister, launches bid to succeed Boris Johnson as PM

Sunak, who formally launched his campaign earlier, remains the frontrunner in the race with reportedly the highest number of MPs behind him.

"I am running a positive campaign focused on what my leadership can offer our party and our country," the 42-year-old Conservative leader said at his campaign launch.

The candidates needed the backing of at least 20 MPs to make the first cut and all eight will now face the first round of voting on Wednesday and only those with the backing of at least 30 MPs "or just under 10 per cent of Tory MPs" will progress to round two.

Candidates Sajid Javid and Rehman Chishti out of the PM race

Just as the nominations closed, the two Pakistani-origin hopefuls former Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Foreign Office Minister Rehman Chishti had withdrawn from the race, not having met the 20-MP mark.

"There is an abundance of both ideas and talent in our party. One of the candidates will be given the honour of becoming Prime Minister," said Javid.

A second ballot on Thursday will narrow down the field further as candidates with the least votes keep getting knocked out. There is provision for further ballots next week if the race to get to the final two candidates does not conclude by the end of this week.

The deadline to narrow down the shortlist to just two remaining candidates is July 21, when the 1922 Committee Chair Sir Graham Brady will also seek an assurance that both finalists will remain in the race to face the wider party membership ballot.

The 1922 Committee, in charge of the timetable for the leadership race, has said that the new Tory leader will be announced on September 5 and address their first Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament on September 7.

After the field is whittled down to the final two candidates, the duo will tour parts of the UK for hustings to campaign the estimated 200,000 Tory party members who will then cast postal ballots for the winner based on a one member, one vote system.

The candidate who receives the most votes will win the race and be declared the new Tory leader and UK Prime Minister.

Live TV
Colombo: Basil Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's former finance minister and younger brother of embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was turned back at Colombo airport on Tuesday as he attempted to leave the country through the VIP terminal, an immigration officer said, amid mounting anger against the powerful family for mishandling the worst economic crisis.

Basil Rajapaksa, 71, tried to leave the crisis-hit island nation, a day before Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is expected to publicly announce President Rajapaksa's resignation to the nation.

President Rajapaksa signed on Monday his resignation letter, dated for July 1, and and it was later handed over to a senior government official who will hand it over to the Parliament Speaker.

Basil, a US passport holder, resigned as finance minister in early April as street protests intensified against shortages of fuel, food and other necessities and quit his seat in parliament in June.

The Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Officers Association said its members declined to serve Basil at the VIP terminal of Colombo airport.

"Due to the crisis situation in the country, it has been decided to withdraw from activities at the Silk Route/CIP passenger clearance activities until further notice, the trade union said in a statement, according to Economy Next website.

"We decided to withdraw from serving the silk route passenger clearance terminal from mid night yesterday, said K.A.S Kanugala, the chairman of the association.

He said the corrupt people were trying to leave the country using the service.

The immigration officials objected to serve him at the VIP clearance line and even the passengers of the Emirates flight to Dubai had objected to his leaving.

Basil is being widely held responsible for the country's worst economic crisis which has heaped misery on the people.

The political uncertainty prevails in Sri Lanka where the distribution of cooking gas has resumed alongside the delivery of fuel to retailers by the Indian Oil Company after a stoppage on Sunday. Long queues are still seen at fuel pumps.

The protesters continue to occupy the three main buildings in the capital, the President's House, the presidential secretariat and the prime minister's official residence, Temple Trees.

Police near the Temple Trees said a clash had erupted between two groups of protesters, injuring 6 people.

With President Rajapaksa's resignation due on Wednesday, Sri Lanka's political parties on Monday initiated steps to form an all-party government and subsequently elect a new President on July 20 to prevent the bankrupt nation sliding further into anarchy.

President Rajapaksa has officially conveyed to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will resign on July 13 as previously announced, the PM Office said on Monday, days after protesters stormed both leaders' homes in rage over the government's mishandling of the country's worst economic crisis.

Parties have begun campaigning for the support of possible candidates. The main opposition SJB said they will campaign for the appointment of Sajith Premadasa as the interim President.

Premadasa said on Monday that Sri Lanka's main opposition the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) was ready to lead the country at the presidential and prime ministerial level and develop the economy.

Premadasa said his party is ready to lead a programme aimed at bringing stability to the country.

We will appoint a government headed by a president and a prime minister. There is no other alternative. If anyone opposes this or tries to sabotage it in parliament we will see it as a treacherous act, he said.

The Sri Lankan Parliament will elect the new president to succeed Rajapaksa on July 20, Speaker Abeywardena announced on Monday.

Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, if both the president and prime minister resign, the Speaker of parliament will serve as acting president for a maximum of 30 days.

The Parliament will elect a new president within 30 days from one of its members, who will hold the office for the remaining two years of the current term.

Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.

Schools have been suspended and fuel has been limited to essential services. Patients are unable to travel to hospitals due to the fuel shortage and food prices are soaring.

Trains have reduced in frequency, forcing travelers to squeeze into compartments and even sit precariously on top of them as they commute to work.

In several major cities, including Colombo, hundreds are forced to stand in line for hours to buy fuel, sometimes clashing with police and the military as they wait.

The country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had 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.
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Health reporter

Seth Klamann is the health reporter for the Gazette, focused on COVID-19, public health and substance use. He's a Kansas City native and a University of Missouri alum, with stops in Wyoming, Omaha and Milwaukee before moving to Denver.
Chinese smartphone vendor Vivo requested the Indian government to unfreeze its bank accounts to resume operations as raids on the company jeopardised its very existence.

The Economic Times reported, Vivo wrote to government agency the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to request its Indian bank accounts be resumed, after it was raided for allegedly violating remittance laws and money laundering.

Vivo said in its letter: The direction of debit freeze of all the bank accounts of Vivo will lead to a situation of commercial and civil death, and while we are committed to cooperating with the investigation, such an irreversible action, even if temporary, jeopardises the very existence of Vivo.

The situation is further aggravated as there are immediate payments to be made towards statutory dues, salaries, rent, monies for daily business operations, including refund of monies to consumers who have cancelled online orders and servicing of finance facilities from various banks.

Vivo also stated it was not aware of the allegations against and highlighted its achievement in creating jobs in India, which was in line with the governments Make in India manufacturing initiative.

The Chinese brand wrote to the ED stating it has INR2.5 billion (US$31.4m) frozen in its accounts.

The ED revealed in a social media post it had seized INR4.6 billion of assets from 119 bank accounts belonging to Vivo. Assets included 2kg of gold bars and INR730 million in cash.
ICT network solutions, satellite connectivity and infrastructure company the Paratus Group has said it is on the verge of establishing a highly sophisticated network hub in Angola.

The company has said that this hub is the culmination of several years of telecommunications infrastructure investments in a number of African countries as well as the expansion of fibre and microwave coverage across Angolas 18 provinces.

Local telecommunications services provider Internet Technologies Angola (ITA) was recently officially rebranded as Paratus Angola. The official brand launch for Paratus Angola was held on 8 July at the companys Angolan headquarters in Luanda.

The companies say the brand repositioning will provide access to additional resources and seamless integration across Paratus transcontinental network in Africa.

Quoted in a number of news outlets, Director General for Paratus Angola, Francisco Pinto Leite, said: Digital transformation is essential not only for the Southern African region but for the continent at large. By continually expanding our networks, we hope to positively impact the lives of millions of our people through the potential that increased connectivity brings with it, especially in health, education, and job creation.

The Paratus Group serves customers in over 35 African countries and says it has access to skilled teams across the seven countries where it has an operational presence.

Its recent work in Africa includes the establishment of fibre connections to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the inauguration of a new data centre in Namibia and work on a number of new submarine cables such as as the Google Equiano Cable, for which Paratus was the landing partner when the cable landed in Namibia on 1 July.
For 20 years, the First Baptist Church (FBC) of Orlando Mission Team has sacrificed their vacation time and resources to help on the Baptist College of Florida (BCF) campus. This year, it was the second full week of June that the Orlando volunteers caravanned to Graceville.

According to FBC Orlando Mission Team Coordinator Jim Wortham and his wife, Pat, this years Mission Team consisted of 77 volunteers.

The team started each day with breakfast and a time of prayer and devotion, followed by a few words of instruction from Wortham.

From 8:30 a.m. until after 5 p.m. each day, with only a brief lunch break in the middle, the mission volunteers worked on projects.

For instance, they cut two large trees that unexpectedly fell during an afternoon thunderstorm. They also trimmed and shaped bushes, painted buildings inside and out, remodeled buildings, pressure washed some of those, and cleaned apartments.

Several got up early to prepare cold rags, ice water, and Gatorade for the crews. Most of the team members have children who come along with their volunteer parents and learn first-hand the meaning of mission service. The youngsters also had a chance to participate in a Bible school experience on campus. Those activities were held in the BCF Wellness Center and led by several team members and older children in the group. Additional activities for the kids were provided by Bill Keller, including a scavenger hunt, a Graceville 3K, and the design of the team t-shirts.

BCF President Thomas A. Kinchen and first lady Ruth Ann usually host a dinner for the mission team at their home but this year, with thunderstorm overhead, the meal  including tastings of Mrs. Kinchens 14-layer chocolate cake  was relocated to the campus dining facility, the Deese Center.

The visit from our FBC Orlando family is a homecoming in the best sense of the word, stated Dr. Kinchen. We have literally watched some of these children grow up during our journey together. Each year, we look forward to the time when we can renew old friendships and begin new ones. This year was especially bittersweet as we celebrate twenty years together. The milestone comes on the eve of Kinchens upcoming retirement in December of this year.

The group presented the Kinchens with the team t-shirt (this year it had Kinchen and Wortham on it driving work vehicles) and a memory book of pictures taken over 20 years.

For twenty years, the hard work and campus improvements completed by these servant volunteers save the college enormous resources that can instead be reallocated to send more students on mission trips and provide scholarships to train (students,) BCF stated.

For more information on campus mission projects or to learn more about the degrees offered through BCF, contact 800-328-2660 ext. 460 or visit the website at baptistcollege.edu.
One of the newest businesses in Marianna is OSANA. Dr. Lettica Highsmith opened the clinic to integrate emotional and physical healthcare into wellness solutions for the community.

Dr. Highsmith was born in Marianna and raised by her maternal grandparents on Poplar Springs Road near Jackson Blue Springs. Her grandparents were responsible for ensuring the young girl attended Popular Springs Community Church every week, which has played a role in her professional life.

As a young adult, Dr. Highsmith was attracted to the healthcare profession. She began her career as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at Jackson Hospital in Marianna. At eighteen, her goal was to leave Jackson County for Miami-Dade University. After graduating from ATI Health Institute with a Respiratory Therapy degree, she worked at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami as a Respiratory Therapist in the pediatric immunology department. HIV and AIDS were becoming known to the public at this time. Dr. Highsmith described this work as freshly engraved into her memory. She returned to school to earn her licensed practical nurse (LPN) and registered nurse (RN) degrees. Then, Dr. Highsmith earned her Bachelors of Science, Masters of Science, and Doctorate degrees in nursing. As if having every degree in nursing wasnt enough, Dr. Highsmith is a Professor at National University in California, where she teaches family and psychiatric nurse practitioner programs.

She now lives in Richmond, Texas. Many would find commuting between Texas, California, and Florida exhausting. However, when asked about her schedule and traveling, Dr. Highsmith chuckled and said, it is fun! I love it! This is my best life!

According to Dr. Highsmith, OSANA means God saves. In her Christian-based business, she embraces everyone to share the example of Jesus, who came in love. Dr. Highsmith explained, as Christians, we draw our strength from Jesus. People who dont believe draw their strength from themselves, other people, drugs, or alcohol. Since they have that imbalance, they must depend on the world, not their savior. Dr. Highsmith believes this imbalance is damaging to ones health. I think that every person who comes to my practice, who is not a believer, was probably sent my way because I pray for them after they leave.

Dr. Highsmith is interested in each individuals total health as a double board-certified family nurse practitioner and a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Mental health and physical health are together, she continued. On the first visit to her practice, a full-physical assessment with labs occurs. Then, she gives the patient a health plan to follow.

She explained how her son being diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes at age five led her to continue in nursing. She recalled looking at her son and seeing him fading away. When the physician checked his glucose, it was 1100. She remembered the doctor saying, Weve got to get this kid to the hospital now, as the world moved quickly around her younger self. Ill never forget that day, she explained.

Dr. Highsmiths son continued to have behavioral issues, leading to his diabetes diagnosis and pushing her towards nursing. Quoting scripture throughout the interview, she explained how she had to go through the pain and emotions to understand what was happening. I always wanted to be a nurse, but the entry exams were very competitive.

However, her respiratory therapy background came in handy later when she worked as a dialysis nurse. I became very successful with hemodialysis, which involves purifying the blood of a person whose kidneys are not working correctly. This is just one example of how unplanned portions of her training and life came together to make up who she is today.

One of the most significant populations Dr. Highsmith cares for is children. Many have autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other emotional problems. She is certified in autism, ADHD, and similar conditions and some of her certifications were issued by Vanderbilt University. In addition, she operates a very successful program in Houston that focuses on behavior modification and school academics. As a result, she explained, The children come out doing very well for the next school year.

When she works with children, Dr. Highsmith has a different approach. First, she builds a trusting relationship with the child. Then, she has an after-hours phone number where they can call and text her until 7:30 pm. After about 15-20 minutes of a therapy session with a child, she brings in the parents. The parents have to have 100% participation, she points out. Then, the team determines the best way for the family to work on issues. Why take away the people who need to be brought together. Those people live with that child, and they all have to return home to that environment. So, lets figure it out in a safe environment here that is a nonjudgmental place so that they can go home and live a great quality life.

Dr. Highsmith stated, the biggest mistake the United States of America ever did was allow these smoke shops. Thats what is causing all of these psychosis, hallucinations, and delusions. They are putting something in that vaping juice. She continued, its not even just the marijuana. Its hybrids and many different varieties. They have marijuana to make you wake up. They have marijuana to make you sleep. She compared it to candy, where you can choose your flavor. You are having children getting addicted to drugs at an alarming rate and a very young age. They are as young as seven or eight years old now.

Punishment in schools is something Dr. Highsmith encourages. She recalled how Mr. Phillip Clikas kept her in line as a child. I loved Mrs. Sareta Russ. She was the most influential person in my life. I would get in trouble all the time. But I had to go through that, Dr. Highsmith enlighted. For every loss, you have to have a gain, and for every gain, you have to a loss. Thats called life. But, she continued, Every person has struggles. Accept where you are. Learn from where you are. Prune and polish yourself. Figure out where did I go wrong. What if there wasnt a mistake? What if I had nothing to do with it? Embrace and rest.

Mental illness has been going on for so long, and I am just so happy to mend the gap and take it back home, she added. Dr. Highsmith spoke about all the technology and information she had learned. The multiple resources available provide options for ending substance abuse, targeting society as a whole. Its ruining our community and affecting all of our children, she continued explaining how everyone in the community needs to come together to address these issues. Im bringing mental health home and want to knock it out of the park!

Dr. Highsmith loves children but also treats adults. My youngest patient in Texas is four, and my oldest is 99. Having never held a job outside of healthcare, she is an autonomous nurse practitioner in Florida. Ive been a registered nurse for 29 years, a family nurse practitioner for about eight years, and a psych nurse practitioner for five, she added.

One concern for many patients is how to pay for healthcare services. Dr. Highsmith takes insurance. However, for those who do not have insurance, she provides a payment plan option. I truly believe people should not be denied services because they cant afford them, she explained. Dr. Highsmith is in town monthly but sees patients Monday through Friday through telehealth. In addition, she has therapists employed to be physically available during regular business hours. However, Dr. Highsmith will manage all medication and treatment plans and ensure everything is smooth sailing.

A proponent of telehealth, Dr. Highsmith has many unique options for her clients. I do a lot of walk-and-talk therapy. We can visit. We can go to the gym. We can go for a walk in the park and just kind of hang out. I do lunch. I love that. And just kind of relax. Its non-threatening. We have a really, really, really good interesting time.

Dr. Highsmith loves medicine and technology. She expressed her thankfulness for bringing her life experiences and therapy to make positive changes in the community.

Dr. Highsmith is married. She has two sons and a daughter. God is so perfect. You just have to trust him! Her grandmother, Joyce Ann Freeman, still lives in the community, which is a plus for Dr. Highsmith, who is eager to spend more time with her.

In the future, she would like to coordinate with Jackson Hospital and all the urgent care centers to help intervene in crisis mode. In addition, she would like to slow down the frequency of trips to Emerald Coast Hospital and take care of the mental health needs at home.

Also, in Texas, she works with targeted case management to ensure the patients have their medication and transportation and live in clean conditions. Because in mental health they need support in the home also to make sure everything is coordinated at home. She wishes to ensure this type of case management is available in Jackson County.

If you are looking for an integrated approach to wellness, OSANA might be your choice. What a great business to have in Marianna! Osana is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 4469 Clinton Street, Suite A. Look for the white building with the brown awning behind Winn-Dixie. Find out more by calling 850-394-4930.
JULY 14

The Troy University Dothan Community Band will hold its summer concert on Thursday, July 14, at 7:30 p.m. at Landmark Park.

A Women in Leadership panel discussion presented by Dothans Zonta Club will be held Thursday, July 14, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce, 102 Jamestown Blvd., Dothan. The event is free to the public, and lunch is $10. Seating is limited, and those who want to reserve a seat and boxed lunch can call or text 334-618-2791 or email tpage@habitat.org. Panel members include: Adrienne Goolsby, senior vice president, U.S. & Canada Habitat for Humanity International; Tracy Andrews, mayor of Chipley and external affairs manager of Florida Power & Light Co.; Mary Beth Meadows, senior executive vice president, Personnel Resources; Tammie Potter, entrepreneur and business owner; Karen McCauley, CEO and president, Clemson University Foundation; Charlene Thomas, microbiologist and manager at Alabama Department of Health.

JULY 15

All of Gods Children, 912 Andrews Ave., Ozark, will host a dinner on Friday, July 15, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., with the choice of a fish sandwich combo or a pulled pork sandwich combo. Plates are $10 and include chips and soda with the sandwich. For more information, call Sandra Edwards at 334-828-3149.

Deutscher Club will meet Friday, July 15, at Mural City Coffee Company, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Participants will talk and share in German. Trainieren Sie Deutsch mit dem besten Kaffee und Tee der Stadt! Beim Troy-Universitatsbanner. Kostenlos, fur alle zuganglich. Kontakt: vossr@troy.edu.

JULY 16

Grimes Gospel Lighthouse, 1512 County Road 25, Grimes, will host local talent on July 16 with dinner at 6 p.m. before the music; Ken Robertson of Panama City Beach, July 23; David Frost of Ozark on July 30; Billy Gene Dickerson of Ashford, Aug. 6; Southern Harmony of Panama City, Aug. 13; local talent on Aug. 20 with 6 p.m. dinner; and Walter Wilson of Dothan, Aug. 27. Music starts at 7 p.m. A love offering will be taken. Call 334-983-4654 or 334-714-4658 for more information.

Enterprise Aglow Community Lighthouse meets Saturday, July 16, at 10 a.m. at The Gathering Room located at 217 S. Main St. in Enterprise. Guest speaker is Dr. Ginger Mayer of Headland. For more information, call 334-406-9683.

The Ashford/Grimsley Grand Reunion and Scholarship Banquet will take place on July 16 at the Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center in Dothan at 6 p.m. Tickets are $50 for the event with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Wallace L. Smith Jr. Scholarship Fund. Students who attended or graduated from Ashford Colored High School, Essie R. Grimsley, and Ashford High School from 1950s and later are invited to attend. Tickets for the Grand Reunion can be purchased by mail with a check or money order for $50 to be sent to: Jacquline Vester, P.O. Box 1493, Dothan, AL 36302. A banquet ticket will be reserved in your name. Donations for scholarships can also be sent to the same individual and address. Call 334-714-4108 for more information.

JULY 17

Hawk-Houston Youth Enrichment Center will observe its 2022 annual meeting and recognition banquet on Sunday, July 17, at 2 p.m. at 329 Chickasaw St. in Dothan. The event will recognize the 2021 donors, volunteers and grantors. The 2021 honorees are: Youth of the Year, Adrianna Koonce; board volunteer of the year, Alexis J. Smith; board leadership, Sean J. Davis; staff of the year, Anastasia L. Cole; Alveta Houston Hawk Family of the Year, Sue and Shelia LaRue; Alveta Houston Hawk Friend of Youth and Volunteer of the Year, Tajah Stringer and Jeannette Ellis; Alveta Houston Hawk Legacy of Community Service, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Kappa Beta Beta Chapter; Alveta Houston Hawk Community Partnership, John H. Watson Charitable Trust Foundation; Alveta Houston Hawk Legacy of Service and Lifetime Achievement Award, Jesse Nelson. Also, Dr. W. Charles Lewis will be signing copies of his book 28 Black History Makers, Dothan, AL. For more information call 334-792-4618.

JULY 21

Art After Hours at the Wiregrass Museum of Art will be held Thursday, July 21, from 5:30-8 p.m. for the opening of B22: Wiregrass Biennial. The juried exhibition features work created in the last three years from 38 artists across seven states in the Southeast. Enjoy a live performance from local musician Alice Nelson, artmaking, and a cash bar. Free for museum members; $5 for nonmembers.

JULY 22

Club Italiano will meet Friday, July 22, at Mural City Coffee Company, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Participants will talk and attempt humor in Italian. Esercitate litaliano con il miglior caffe e te della citta. Cercate la bandiera dellUniversita di Troy. Gratuito, aperto a tutti. Contatto: vossr@troy.edu.

JULY 24

Anderson Baptist Church, located on Anderson Church Road, Clio, will hold Homecoming on July 24 at 11 a.m. Speaker will be Robbie Daniels with music by Jean Self. A covered dish lunch will be served. Everyone is welcome.

Union Freewill Baptist Church, 4635 County Road 57 S., Abbeville, will celebrate Homecoming on Sunday, July 24, with the Rev. Jeff Hines, pastor of First Baptist Church in Fort Gaines, Georgia, bringing the message at 11 a.m. A covered dish lunch will be held at the service. The church will hold revival services Monday, July 25, as well as Tuesday, July 26, and Thursday, July 28, with speakers and special music each night. The Rev. Van Cooley of First Baptist Church in Columbia will speak Monday; the Rev. Tom Chesnut of Sardis Church in Hartford will speak Tuesday; and the Rev. George Bryan of Sardis Baptist Church in Abbeville will speak Thursday.

JULY 25-29

Archdiocese United Christian Fellowship International will host its Sixth Annual Convocation on July 25-29 at the Daleville Christian Fellowship Worship Center, located at 1 Martin Luther King Jr. Circle in Daleville. A midday service will be held Tuesday, July 26, at noon with worship, foot washing, and Communion. Morning seminars will be held July 27-29 from 10 a.m. to noon and nightly services will be held July 25-28 at 7 p.m. The guest minister for the nightly services is the Rev. Darryl Caldwell, pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Brundidge. A celebration banquet will be held July 29 at 6:45 p.m. with tickets $15 per person. All other services are free and open to the public. For more information, call 334-598-6279.

JULY 28

The German Coffee Club will meet on July 28 at 9:30 a.m. at the Landing on Fort Rucker. Schnitzel will be on the menu. Reservations are needed by Monday, July 25. For more information call Chris at 334-475-6388.

The Disabled American Veterans Wiregrass Chapter 99, located in New Brockton, will meet Thursday, July 28, at 6 p.m. The meeting will take place in the New Brockton Senior Center and will include elections for chapter officers for the upcoming year. All members that can attend are asked to attend. For more information, contact Charles Lobdell at 334-718-5707 or Mike Doran at 334-406-6700.

The Entrepreneurship Council will hold a seminar Thursday, July 28, at the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Topic will be Financing Opportunities for Small Business, with Jeff Williams of SmartBank, Brent McMahan of SBA, Beau Strong of Southern Development, and Rachel Armstrong of Southeast Alabama Regional Planning. Open to everyone; $10 donation. The council is a 501(3) organization. Sign up at entrepreneurshipcouncil.org.

JULY 29

Esperanto-Klubo will meet Friday, July 29, at Mural City Coffee Company, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Attendees will talk and share in Esperanto. Ekzercu la esperantan kun la plej bonaj kafo kaj teo en la urbo. Sercu la flagon de Universitato Troy. Senpaga, malfermita al ciuj. Kontakto: vossr@troy.edu.

AUG. 9

A free question and answer seminar for veterans seeking answers about benefits will be held Tuesday, Aug. 9, from 9-10:30 a.m. in the fellowship hall of Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Dothan at 1231 Fortner St. The seminar is for veterans who are having difficulty filing VA claims, for those seeking answers about dependent eligibility for spouse or widow, or those wanting to know if they have a disability eligible for a VA claim. Other subjects may be open for discussion. Any active duty or veterans are welcome and there is no charge. For more information, contact CW4 (Retired) Michael Hipwell at 334-790-8344.

AUG. 13

St. Paul AME Church Lay Organization of Ozark will hold a Men and Women Conference on Saturday, Aug. 13, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration is $20. The Conference will be held at All of Gods Children Inc. at 912 Andrews Ave. in Ozark. For more information, call Sandra Edwards at 334-828-3149.

AUG. 14

Friendship African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church will observe its 138th anniversary and homecoming on Sunday, Aug. 12, at 2 p.m. Everyone is invited but especially former members and those from sister churches and with ties to the Klondyke community. Theme: Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Guest speaker is Presiding Elder Willie E. Marshall, Ozark-Troy District. Alvin L. Flowers will be the master of ceremony. Dinner will be served after the program. The church is located in Ozark on Dale County Road 30. For more information, call 334-299-0030.

ONGOING

The Dothan Ballroom Dance Club will be teaching The Waltz at the Cultural Arts Center on Tuesdays in July. The fun starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Choreography Room. Cost is $2 per week. Call or text 501-766-4845 with any questions. Wear shoes that slide easily.

Kiwanis Club of Dothan hosts a monthly gathering on the last Tuesday of every month at The Thirsty Pig, 257 S. St. Andrews St., Dothan, from 6-7 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

Land of Cotton Smocking Guild meets the second Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. at Piney Grove Assembly of God Church, 206 County Road 9 in Wicksburg. The guild is involved in a Wee Care Project, creating preemie gowns, garments for infants in NICU, and bereavement pouches. For more information, contact Carol Ann Pileggi at 850-516-9960 or Joann Carpenter at 334- 790-8328.

Enterprise Military Support Group will not meet in June and July. If anyone needs to talk, call Dr. Granger at 334-447-2252 or John Logsdon at 334-806-2636.

The Kiwanis Club of Dothan meets every Wednesday from 12-1 p.m. at the Dothan Country Club, located at 200 S. Cherokee Ave. in Dothan. Anyone may attend as a guest of the Kiwanis. If you plan to attend, contact the club via kiwanisdothan.com or call 334-355-6877.

The Columbia Historical Society meets every third Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Train Depot on Highway 52. All guests are welcome.

The Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary Dothan Unit #87 will meet every third Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. at Harvest Church, located at 2727 Fortner St. in Dothan. The group will meet in the Main Cafe located in the churchs Building A. Call 334-596-9610 for more information.

Dothan Newcomers Club, a social organization, meets the first Thursday of the month in the fellowship hall of First Christian Church, 1401 N. Cherokee Ave. Social time begins at 9:30 a.m., followed by the business meeting at 10 a.m. The club is open to individuals who have moved into the Dothan or Wiregrass area within the past five years or who have faced a change in status (retirement, death of a spouse, divorce) within the past five years. For more information, visit www.dothannewcomers.com, or Facebook @DothanNewcomers, or contact Elaine Brackin, president, via email at dncpresident3@gmail.com.

Alcoholics Anonymous holds regular meetings in the Wiregrass including Ashford, Dothan, Eufaula, and Headland under the organizations District 10 (www.aadothan.org) meeting locations and Andalusia, Daleville, Enterprise, Level Plains, Opp, Ozark, and Troy under the organizations District 11 (www.district11aa.com) meeting locations. Visit www.aaarea1.org for a complete list of districts for Alabama and Northwest Florida.

A Disabled American Veterans chapter service officer will be located at the New Brockton Town Hall every Wednesday from 9-11 a.m. Any veteran needing help with a VA claim is welcome. This is on a walk-in basis; no appointment is needed. For more information, contact Mike Doran at 334-406-6700.

The DAV van service for local veterans will make runs to Montgomery and Tuskegee on Mondays and Fridays. The van will leave from the Hardees restaurant on Rucker Boulevard in Enterprise at 5 a.m. and from the Dothan Civic Center at 5:30 a.m. Due to COVID restrictions, there is only space for four riders each trip. Veterans who need rides to VA hospitals in Montgomery or Tuskegee can call 334-308-2480 to reserve a seat on the Enterprise van or 334-446-0866 for the Dothan van.

Square Dancing will be held every Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Enterprise YMCA, located on Highway 27 across from Hobby Lobby in Enterprise. Singles and couples welcomed. Never danced? Theyll teach you. For more information, call 334-237-0466 or 334-347-4513.

The Gen. William C. Oates Chapter No. 1342 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy meets the second Thursday from September through May. Women ages 18 and older who have ancestors who fought in the Civil War are eligible for membership, and help will be provided to prove your first Confederate ancestors lineage. For meeting locations and information, call Ceya Minder at 334-794-7480 or email ceya.minder@gmail.com.
FORT PIERRE, S.D. (AP)  South Dakota Democrats picked their candidate in what they hope will be a winnable race for Secretary of State but opted not to name a challenger for state Attorney General.

The delegates to the state convention chose former journalist Tom Cool, who ran for auditor in 2018, to challenge Republican Monae Johnson who beat out incumbent Steve Barnett, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Johnson based her campaign around election integrity in a nod to Republican fears that were instigated by former President Donald Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

They keep whining about election integrity, which we know are their code words for voter suppression, said Cool, of Sioux Falls. They dont just want to go along with the Supreme Court and go back to the 1950s, they want to return to the 1850s when it was only white men controlling this country.

The Democrats didnt nominate a candidate to challenge Marty Jackley, the former South Dakota attorney general running to reclaim his old job after his successor was removed from office last month.

The Democrats also backed retired public administrator John Cunningham for state treasurer and military veteran Stephany Marty for state auditor.

State Rep. Jennifer Keintz received enthusiastic support to be Jamie Smiths running mate in his campaign to beat Republican incumbent Gov. Kristi Noem.
A prisoner who prompted a nationwide manhunt when he disappeared this spring from an Alabama jail has been charged with killing the corrections official authorities said helped him escape.

Casey White, 38, has been indicted on a murder charge for the shooting death of Vicky White, Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly announced Tuesday. The pairs disappearance from an Alabama jail in April sparked a national manhunt that came to a bloody end in Indiana where Casey White was captured and Vicky White died.

The indictment alleges that during the escape, White caused the death of Vicky White, who died from a gunshot to the head. The indictment does not specify who pulled the trigger. Authorities have said Vicky White died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

An attorney for Casey White did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. The defense previously pointed blame at Vicky White for the escape, saying Casey White was in her care and custody the entire time of his disappearance from jail.

Casey White in April walked out of an Alabama jail in handcuffs in the custody of Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections at the facility, prompting a national manhunt for the pair. On the day of the escape, Vicky White, 56, told co-workers she was transporting the inmate to a mental health evaluation but authorities later learned no such appointment existed.

The two were eventually discovered in Indiana where Casey White was captured. Authorities said Vicky White shot herself in the head.

Alabama law allows a murder charge if someone, causes the death of any person while engaging in certain other felonies such as escape or if the person, recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person.

Friends and colleagues had said they were bewildered by the involvement of Vicky White, who had worked for the sheriffs office for 16 years, with the inmate who was already serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other crimes.
In 2001, Chris Freund founded Mekong Capital - a Vietnam-based private equity investment firm.

Mekong Capital's first six years were a struggle, and the company's investments were unsuccessful.

"At first, we did not have any activities to engage our team members; instead, we focused on imparting information and technical abilities to our staff. The lack of internal connection and clear communication resulted in everyone working in silos and lots of fighting as Mekong Capital started expanding rapidly.

In the end, very few or no one took responsibility for any outcomes, and everyone offered an excuse that it was someone else's fault," Freund said.

Chris Freund, founder of Mekong Capital. Photo by Mekong Capital

Building corporate culture

Freund revealed that in mid-2007, he was ready to give up on himself as managing partner of Mekong Capital. In the midst of a deadlock, he registered for The Landmark Forum, a three-day transformation course in Singapore.

"I realized that I was the source of all the problems that had happened before. However, I had the opportunity to transform into to be the future leader of Mekong Capital," Freund said.

He decided to partner with Landmark Education to organize comparable courses led by Jerome Downes, head of Landmark in Asia, for Mekong Capital's entire team.

The transformation of the Mekong began with the launch of the first transformation projects in Vietnam in December 2007.

However, the firm faced several obstacles at first. People who were not excited about the new culture left.

Freund saw that it was also an opportunity for Mekong Capital to attract new talents who were very interested in the new future and culture.

Mekong Capital had been completely transformed by 2010. Over the years, the firm has grown a stable and well-balanced team, strongly empowered by its core values to deliver breakthrough results to Mekong Capital and its investee companies.

Vision Driven Investing

In 2009, the company introduced a framework called Vision Driven Investing.

The framework has been back-tested against the previous 42 investments of the company since 2001 to ensure that it is highly connected with what has led to the best performance among investments to date.

Based on extensive analysis and insights into what works best, the framework is evaluated and updated on a regular basis.

According to Mekong Capital's founder, "Vision Driven Investing" is not a set of best practices or solutions. Instead, it is a framework with 15 elements to provide a vivid and complete view of what it takes for a company to achieve its vision and provide access to the necessary transformation.

After that, Mekong Capital became a successful and value-added investor, investing early in firms including MobileWorld, Golden Gate, Masan Food, Phu Nhuan Jewelry, PharmaCity, F88, etc.

In 2021, Mekong Capital announced its fifth fund, Mekong Enterprise Fund IV (MEF IV), with a total committed capital of $246 million, after Mekong Enterprise Fund III successfully invested in nine companies.

MEF IV is following in the footsteps of MEF III and is presently making investments in Vietnamese companies that meet the fund's criteria.

Freund saw that Mekong employees and the CEOs of their investee firms were interested in hearing stories, remembered them, and sometimes took on new activities as a result. Similarly, he noted that the best business books included a lot of interesting stories to explain the author's points.

Thus, in early 2022, Freund published "Crab Hotpot" which contains vital advice for businesses about change, leadership competencies, and focusing on a clear goal.

Crab Hotpot Story has a colorful cover and cartoon-style brushstrokes. Photo by Mekong Capital

"Crab Hotpot might appear to be a fictional story, but it is all mostly based on people and situations that occurred in Mekong Capital.

Each crab is based on a real person who works with Mekong Capital now or in the past. Many individuals, including me, can see aspects of ourselves in the various crabs," said Freund.

Crab Hotpot Story is available at the bookstores in Vietnam. Photo by Mekong Capital
A close up shot of extruded aluminium. Photo by Shutterstock/asharkyu

Australian Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) recommended an end to anti-dumping duties imposed on Vietnamese aluminum extrusions.

"[...] the evidence does not support a recommendation to continue the anti-dumping measures," the ADC reported.

"Whilst dumping is likely to continue (for some exporters), dumping had little, if any, impact on the Australian industry in the inquiry period," it added.

Therefore, it suggested authorities expire the duties of 1.9 percent imposed on aluminum extrusions imported from Vietnam on June 27.

The anti-dumping probe into Vietnamese products was initiated last September after a petition by Australian aluminum producer Capral Limited.
Two patients who had bone necrosis after getting infected with Covid-19 will soon be discharged from HCMC's Cho Ray Hospital following successful treatments, July 11, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Le Phuong

Eleven former Covid patients were admitted to Ho Chi Minh City's Cho Ray Hospital over the past two months with inflammation and avascular necrosis, with two later dying.

Tran Anh Bich, deputy head of Cho Ray Hospital's otorhinolaryngology department, said all 11 patients had symptoms like pain in their heads, faces and mouths during the time they had Covid-19. These symptoms didn't subside even after they recovered from Covid-19, and they were subsequently diagnosed with other conditions like sinusitis or abscesses. However, despite various treatments, their health didn't improve.

The first two admitted patients had surgeries to their nasal cavities and eventually got better, but a scan revealed abnormal avascular necrosis sites. Doctors recommended more surgeries, but the patients refused because they felt their health had returned to normal. Later, they succumbed to multiple organ failure and died despite treatments.

When the other patients began to show similar symptoms, doctors discovered a pattern.

"Their condition was abnormal and has never been seen before. There is currently no treatment regimen for them," a doctor said.

The head of Cho Ray Hospital, the largest public facility in southern Vietnam, then consulted various departments to decide on a solution, and finally chose to conduct surgeries before their conditions grew worse. But six patients refused to comply, leaving only three willing to proceed, despite doctors warning they are "not sure about the rate of success."

Nguyen Ngoc Khang, deputy head of the neurosurgery department, said that in his 30-year-long career he has never seen anything similar.

Normally, bone inflammations in the skull are rare because the area often receives sufficient blood supply and is unlikely to become necrotic. But for these patients, what appears to be common conditions like sinusitis or jaw diseases actually have necrosis involved.

Doctors from multiple departments have cooperated to perform surgeries due to the necrosis having spread too widely.

"To perform surgeries on cases we have never seen before, especially difficult ones, makes us feel worried and confused. But we would try our best until the very end to save their lives," said Khang.

Fortunately, the surgeries were successful, and following treatments using antibiotics and antifungals, all three patients are recovering and would soon be discharged.

A 43-year-old patient in HCMCs District 8, whos unnamed, said she had Covid-19 in November last year. She experienced symptoms for around three days, including toothache and a swollen face. She went to a hospital for her tooth problems to be fixed, but her face remained swollen. After several more rounds of diagnoses, a CT scan revealed she had avascular necrosis and she was transferred to Cho Ray Hospital for a surgery.

"At first I thought it was a simple disease, until a doctor at Cho Ray told me that what I had was rare and abnormal. Before the surgery, doctors told me to inform my family because the condition is so new, doctors would try their best buy they dont know whether I would live or die. Fortunately, Im still here," she said.

Tran Minh Truong, former deputy director of Cho Ray, said what the patients went through have already been recorded in medical documents around the world. The condition is very rare, but has become more prevalent from May last year, with 80 reports, mostly in India, China and certain countries in Asia, Europe and America. Most of them had underlying conditions like diabetes, and all had Covid-19 when the Delta variant was still rampant. Treatments often included surgeries to remove the necrotized tissues, then getting rid of infections using antibiotics and antifungals.

Le Quoc Hung, head of the tropical disease department, said the link between the condition and Covid-19 has yet to be confirmed. Necrosis often happens due to a lack of blood supply, causing living tissues to die without nutrients. It can also happen due to infections that trigger inflammation. Among the three patients who received surgeries, two had fungal infections in their skull tissues, similar to international reports.

Avascular necrosis can happen to those with diabetes, but they are usually rare. But ever since Covid-19 showed up, more cases have been recorded around the world.

"It could be because Covid-19 patients suffer from immunological disorders, and when combined with their underlying conditions, it allows fungus infections to thrive in their body," said Hung. He said out of the 11 patients admitted to the hospital, five had diabetes.

"We don't know yet if this condition is common, but it is likely that patients are admitted to medical facilities and died after being diagnosed as having brain abscesses or meningitis," he said, adding that these causes of death might not be the true underlying reason.
Major General Le Van Minh (2nd, R), Commander of the Coast Guard Zone 4, stands trial in Hanoi on July 12, 2022 for taking bribes from a gasoline smuggling ring. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Lam

Two Coast Guard commanders are standing trial in Hanoi after being charged with accepting VND8.7 billion ($372,000) in bribes from a gasoline smuggling ring.

The trial of Major General Le Van Minh, 57, Commander of the Coast Guard Zone 4 and Major General Le Xuan Thanh, 61, Commander of Coast Guard Zone 3, is expected to last three days.

Minh is accused of taking VND6.9 billion from Phan Thanh Huu, the leader of the ring accused of smuggling gasoline from Singapore, while Thanh is said to have taken VND1.8 billion.

Minh said he'd known Huu for a long time but had thought that he was a genuine businessman.

He admitted that he had exchanged information about ship coordinates with Huu but did not realize that he was helping him with the smuggling.

According to prosecutors, Huu came to know Thanh and his wife Phan Thi Xuan through Minh.

He had his son bring cash to Xuan at the latters house in Vung Tau many times between March 2020 and January 2021.

Xuan let her husband know the first time the cash was delivered. Since he did not comment on it, she did not inform him about the other occasions.

"After seeking help and giving money to Thanh and his wife, Huu's people were no longer inspected or arrested by the Coast Guard Zone 3 under Thanhs management," prosecutors said.

The gasoline was smuggled from Singapore into Vietnam through the southern and central coasts that the Coast Guard Zones 3 and 4 are in charge of.

After their arrests in the case, Minh and Thanh paid back the money they have been accused of accepting as bribes.

Huu and 72 others in his ring were prosecuted early this month for smuggling. They were not investigated for giving bribes as they reported it before being discovered.

The ring smuggled more than 204 million liters of gasoline between March 2020 and February 2021, making hundreds of billions of dong in profit. Huu himself pocketed more than VND105 billion, the court heard.

Vietnam has disciplined nearly 168,000 Communist Party members in its 10-year anti-corruption campaign since 2012. High-ranking officials including ministers and military commanders, and business tycoons have been jailed.
Taxis wait for customers in downtown Hanoi. Photo by Shutterstock/TK Kurikawa

Transport inspectors in Hanoi have fined a taxi driver VND13.5 million ($580) for overcharging a foreign tourist by five times the normal fare.

Pham Thi Ngoc also had her driving license revoked for two months.

On July 1 she had driven Dabrowska Malgorzata from Apricot Hotel in Hoan Kiem District where the latter was staying to Times City urban area in Hai Ba Trung District.

The normal fare for the six-kilometer trip is around VND80,000, but Ngoc asked the Polish woman for VND400,000.

Dabrowska reported the incident to her hotel manager, who complained to local authorities.

Transport inspectors tracked down the driver. At a meeting with them on Monday Ngoc admitted to cheating the passenger and returned the excess money.

Gouging tourists has been a problem for a while now, affecting Vietnam's reputation as a safe and friendly tourism destination.
After helping a French woman find her birth mother three years ago, Do Hong Phuc started to help others too reconnect with relatives back in Vietnam.

One evening in HCMC in late June, instead of going home after work, Phuc rode his motorbike from Go Vap District to Binh Thanh.

He had agreed to help a woman living in France get information about her birth mother from who she has separated more than 20 years ago, using the address she had provided.

Unlike other cases where he only had the name of a father or mother or the area where they lived, Phuc believes he will be successful this time because the information in the residency book the girl gave him is very detailed.

But he was mistaken. No one in that neighborhood knows the woman named in the residency book because she had sold her home and moved elsewhere a long time ago.

There was no other lead.

But he is confident nevertheless: "This is my second unsolved case this month. But if she's still in Saigon, I strongly believe I will be able to find her."

Over the past three years the 27-year-old architect has faced numerous dead ends in his searches.

But he says he never gives up, saying the joy of helping overseas Vietnamese find their parents and relatives in Vietnam is "priceless" to him.

Hong Phuc (L) poses for a photo in March with a member of a family whose daughter was separated 24 years ago. The family has since been reunited. Photo by courtesy of Phuc

In 2019, he assisted a Vietnamese woman in France who had created online posts asking someone to help her look for her biological mother in HCMC.

Based on the information provided by her, he managed to track down her mother after a few days of searching.

The moment he connected the phone for mother and daughter to speak for the first time after many years was an epiphany: he knew what he was doing was meaningful and should be continued.

After that on his personal page he shared his desire to help reunite families, and many Vietnamese in France, the U.S. and elsewhere began to contact him for assistance.

He explains, "Most of these people moved abroad after being adopted in the 1990s for a variety of reasons, but when they grow up they want to return to their roots."

The cases have been of all kinds: some people still had their parents' address and other information, but in many cases they only knew their neighborhood, district or orphanage, making it very difficult for him.

On average, he receives two or three requests for assistance a month. Depending on the difficulty level, each takes a few hours to several weeks of work, but he prioritizes cases with clear addresses.

Phuc makes sure this does not interfere with his day job but frequently spends his free time searching.

He is often accompanied by friends who assist him with his searches and interpretation.

Besides searching in Saigon, he also drives down to places like Dong Nai, Long An and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces and sometimes even further to the Mekong Delta to gather information.

The worst part he says is traveling a long distance and then discovering the information is inaccurate.

"But the thought of giving up never occurs to me. I'll keep doing this as long as I have the energy and others ask me to."

Asked about the quickest reunion, he mentions the case of Lisa, birth name Ngoc Lan, who moved to France after being adopted in 1998.

She contacted him in February 2021 and asked to find her mother in HCMC.

Based on the registration book information she provided, Phuc went to her grandmother's address, but the family had relocated. Fortunately, a neighbor in that alley knew their new location and he was able to locate the woman within seven hours.

"Though there was a language barrier, the emotions and expression on the mother's face when video calling her child after 24 years of separation said it all," he recalls.

However, some reunions do not have a happy ending.

In April he received a request from a girl living in France to locate her parents in HCMC.

She had herself visited Vietnam in 2018 to search for her family, but was unsuccessful. She approached Phuc for help after being introduced by friends.

"I was able to track down her family. Sadly the mother had been killed in a car accident in 2016."

The girl was nevertheless grateful to Phuc: "I didn't get to see my mother, but I'm glad I found my family."

Phuc with Pham Van Duoc (C) and Pham Thi Ngoc Hue (2nd R) during his trip to Long An Province in March 2021. Photo courtesy of Phuc

Phuc has successfully reconnected 20 families in the last three years.

Many people ask him to locate families from which they had been separated before 1975, but this is usually a big challenge since there is no clear address or the persons they were looking for had died or moved away.

Phuc says: "I don't mind if my efforts go in vain. I am just afraid of not being able to find people or inform my interlocutors about the good news at the end of the day."

Pham Thi Ngoc Hue, 54, of Long An Province, is one of the 20 lucky people Phuc managed to reunite with a missing relative, in her case a lost son who was in France.

She will never forget the fateful day in March 2021 when a stranger came to the house and inquired about her son from whom she had been separated in 1996.

"I did not believe him at first because I was afraid of being cheated. However, when he showed me my son's picture and told me about him, I was taken aback."

The 54-year-old and her son have maintained contact since then, but have yet to meet in person due to Covid.

"My mother and I were able to reunite thanks to Phuc," he says, choking with emotion.

Pham Van Duoc, 53, the head of Hamlet 6 in Long An Province's My Thanh Dong Commune, says this was the first time he had seen someone like Phuc.

"The young man helps whole-heartedly," Duoc said.

While some people praise Phuc, others believe it is madness to spend so much time and effort on something that does not benefit him.

Some also believe he gets paid a lot of money for his efforts, but he rejects this.

"I do not accept money or thank you gifts from others. When I see the family members reconnect after many years apart, the only thing I receive is joy and happiness."

He hopes to get more support from the authorities in finding information about separated families.

"Documents sent back include old ID cards, household registration books and birth certificates, but I can't track people with them. But if I get help from authorities, it will be easier to locate them.

"[But] as long as I have the right information, I will look myself.

"I hope many more families will be able to reunite."
Pacific leaders struggle to keep focus on climate at key summit

This year's Pacific Islands Forum is the most important meeting in years. Photo by AFP/William West

U.S.-China rivalry and an inter-island rift overshadowed the start of a landmark Pacific summit Tuesday, hampering efforts to focus world attention on the islands' dire climate crisis.

This year's Pacific Islands Forum is the region's most important meeting in years, coming after a Covid-enforced hiatus and as low-lying tropical isles run out of time for climate action.

Fiji president and forum chair Voreqe Bainimarama opened Tuesdays first meeting with a warning that the "runaway climate change crisis" threatened the security and sovereignty of many Pacific nations.

But instead of a singular focus on the threat of rising sea levels and ever-more-powerful storms, a shock decision by Beijing-allied leaders in Kiribati to quit the forum altogether, revealed on the eve of the summit, loomed over proceedings.

Geopolitical jostling between the United States and China has been building since Solomon Islands controversial signed a security pact with Beijing in April.

United States Vice President Kamala Harris announced Tuesday that she would make an unprecedented video appearance at the summit -- usually restricted to Pacific nations, Australia and New Zealand.

'Fight this emergency'

Leaders gathered at Suva's luxurious Grand Pacific Hotel will discuss a strategy to guide the Pacific through to 2050, keenly focused on the existential threat posed by climate change.

They will also debate announcing a climate emergency in the Pacific and whether to endorse a push, spearheaded by Vanuatu, to ask the International Court of Justice to weigh in on nations' climate obligations.

Vanuatuan prime minister Bob Loughman said Tuesday that the people of the region "are calling on us, Pacific leaders, to take action to fight this emergency".

But Kiribati's exit from the forum has sparked concerns about a fracturing of the Pacific's closely held unity, which gives the region of small island states heft in global climate negotiations.

Tuvaluan foreign minister Simon Kofe told AFP he was "surprised and saddened" by Kiribati's departure, but was optimistic the nation could be enticed to rejoin.

Last year, Kofe made headlines when he addressed the COP summit standing knee-deep in water to draw attention to the threat climate change poses to his low-lying nation, which may disappear below rising seas in the next 50 years.

Faced with such a threat, his priority at the summit is climate change -- Tuvalu will be pushing for a focus on statehood and climate financing.

Concerns about regional security -- brought to the fore by the Solomons-China pact -- "draw a bit of attention away from climate change", Kofe said.

Security versus climate

The summit will be a test of Australia's newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has pledged to do more on climate and to heal his country's fractured relationship with the Pacific.

At the last Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting, held in 2019, negotiations descended into shouting and tears as Australia's former government attempted to muzzle leaders who wanted to issue a global call for climate action.

But Albanese also wants to use the summit to raise his concerns about security developments in the region in the wake of the Solomons-China deal.

Speaking to media Tuesday, the leader sought to knit the issues of climate and security together.

"Our neighbours in the Pacific understand that climate change is a national security issue," he told a press conference in Sydney.
The United States remains dedicated to strengthening freedom and human rights for the people of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols.

The detention and politically motivated trials of peaceful protesters in their home countries continue as an affront to democracy, he said.



In Cuba, rather than addressing the needs of its people amidst an ongoing economic crisis, the government last year launched another round of political crackdowns, charging protestors with sedition, and sentencing them from between 7 and 30 years in prison.



Similarly, in Nicaragua, the Ortega-Murillo regime has orchestrated a brutal crackdown on human rights in response to widespread opposition to the regimes policies, resulting in the death of more than 320 Nicaraguan citizens, added Assistant Secretary Nichols.



The United States continues to promote democratic governance throughout the hemisphere, including in Venezuela. As the countrys general elections approached in November 2021, the regime of Nicolas Maduro imprisoned more than 40 political opponents as well as several journalists, effectively rigging the outcome of the elections.



These political prisoners have been denied access to basic needs such as food, water, and medical care. Additionally, [p]risoners have been tortured by beatings, submersion in water, electric shock, and exposure to cold temperatures. Female prisoners report suffering sexual violence by security forces, said Assistant Secretary Nichols.

The United Sates, joined by partners and allies across the globe, continues to press for the release of all those unjustly detained for political reasons . . . and conditions for free and fair elections that allow Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans to choose their leaders for themselves, said Assistant Secretary Nichols.



We remain a steadfast partner of the Venezuelan, Cuban, and Nicaraguan people as they strive to build a better future for their country, one in which their leaders respect the human rights and freedoms of all citizens.



The United States will continue to use the diplomatic and economic tools at our disposal to support Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans in their quest for greater freedom, government accountability, and democracy.
VANCOUVER  Calibre Mining Corp. posted gold production of 59,723 ounces in the second quarter, up 37% from gold production of 43,506 ounces in the second quarter of 2021, with Nevadas portion at 10,913 ounces.

The Vancouver-based company stated on July 12 that gold production of 48,810 ounces came from operations in Nicaragua. The gold ounces from Nevada come from the Pan Mine in White Pine County, where Calibre also has the Gold Rock Project.

I am very pleased with the companys second quarter performance, delivering a record 59,723 ounces, positioning the company well to deliver its full year guidance of 220,000  235,000 ounces, said president and chief executive officer Darren Hall.

Calibre also announced that year-to-date gold production totals 111,621 ounces, and that cash on hand at the quarter ending June 30 totaled $92.3 million, an increase of $15 million from the end of the first quarter on March 31.

Our demonstrated quarter over quarter delivery and continued robust operating cash flows provides the opportunity to self-fund all growth opportunities and reinvest into exciting exploration across all the assets while maintaining a strong treasury, Hall said.

He said the company continues to see the benefits of exploration with the exciting results across the board, citing the Limon site in Nicaragua where there were bonanza grades from drilling and reporting that Calibre has received the environmental permit to develop and operate the Pavon Central open pit mine, also in Nicaragua.

Hall said that with the permit approval and the companys gold reserves, Calibre now expects gold production to reach 300,000 ounces a year in 2024.

Calibre also earlier in the quarter announced drilling results at Pan Mine that demonstrated resource expansion and higher-grade potential and high-grade results from drilling at Gold Rock nearby. The company also owns the Illipah land package in White Pine County.

Calibre acquired Fiore Gold and its Nevada properties on Jan. 12 of this year.
BOULDER CITY, Nev. (AP)  Six employees were injured, including one man with serious burns, after an explosion and fire Monday at a manufacturing facility outside of Boulder City, authorities said.

City officials said the explosion occurred just before 10 a.m. at Armorock Polymer Concrete, located in a remote desert area some 7 miles southeast of Boulder City.

The resulting fire was extinguished within 90 minutes and the plant was evacuated, according to city officials.

Boulder City Deputy Fire Chief Greg Chesser said firefighters initially had to wait for a HAZMAT crew to assess the situation before they went in to knock down the fire.

All the walls are blown out. All the windows are blown out. Even on the opposite side where the administration section is, all the ceiling is down, he said. It was a pretty massive explosion.

The cause of the explosion wasnt immediately known and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will conduct an investigation.

Chesser said work was going on at the facility at the time of the explosion that involved polymer-type chemicals.

City officials initially tweeted that seven employees at the facility were injured and transported to area hospitals, but Chesser said there were only six injuries.

Chesser said one man was within the blast and fire area and suffered significant burns and a second injured person had minor chemical burns.

Three other employees had minor concussive injuries due to the explosion and another had heat-related injuries, he said.

Calls to Amorock Polymer Concrete officials for comment on the explosion werent immediately returned Monday afternoon.
RENO -- A 70-year-old Nevada man has been charged in the 1982 killing of a 5-year-old girl who disappeared while walking to her kindergarten class in California after detectives solved the case using DNA evidence, authorities said.

Robert John Lanoue, of Reno, Nevada, was charged last week in the killing of Anne Pham and was due in court Monday in Washoe County for a hearing about his extradition to Monterey County in California.

Pham disappeared while walking to her kindergarten class at Highland Elementary School in Seaside, California, on Jan. 21, 1982. Her body was found two days later in the former Fort Ord.

The child had been kidnapped, sexually assaulted and strangled, California authorities said.

Lanoue, who is a registered sex offender in Nevada, was 29 years old at the time of the girls killing and lived near her home in Seaside, said Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni.

The case was reopened in 2020 when investigators with the Monterey County District Attorneys Office Cold Case Task Force worked with the Seaside Police Department to submit evidence from the case for DNA testing after receiving a grant to reopen cold cases.

Lanoue was charged with one count of first-degree murder, with special circumstance allegations that he murdered Pham while committing kidnapping and a lewd act on a child under the age of 14, said Pacioni.

It was not immediately known if Lanoue has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

On July 6, California investigators obtained a warrant for Lanoues arrest, Pacioni said. Lanoue was already in the Washoe County jail where he was booked on June 8 for a parole violation, records showed.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Visitors to the Fremont Street Experience will be required to go through metal detectors, bag checks and be subject to age requirements to enter the Las Vegas pedestrian mall in a new step to curb increased violence.

Metal detectors, bag checks, a curfew for unaccompanied minors and 18- to 20-year-olds, and increased law enforcement presence will be used on weekends until further notice, according to Fremont Street Experience officials. The security measures come in response to increased aggravated assaults and a recent homicide at the downtown tourist spot.

The safety and security of our guests, employees and tenants has been and will always be our priority, Andrew Simon, Fremont Street Experiences president and CEO, said in an emailed statement. Everything else is secondary. The incidents from the past week cannot and will not be tolerated. Our tourism, jobs and safety will not be threatened by these actions.

Public safety officials have noticed the increase in violent crime on and around the five-block district, where visitors often gather to visit casinos, see concerts, drink and gawk at the canopied video screen.

Metro Capt. Hector Cintron, who runs the downtown area command for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said there have been 45 aggravated assaults reported so far in 2022, compared with 27 at this point last year. Five of those related to firearms and most others related to injuries sustained from fighting. And, there have been 20 reported robberies so far this year compared to 14 by the same time in 2021.

Police measure crime related to the Fremont Street Experience within the east-west borders of Eighth to Main streets and the north-south borders of U.S. 95 to Bridger Avenue to include foot traffic to and from the attraction, Cintron said.

We havent pinpointed exactly what the difference is from last year to this year, pertaining to specific individuals, Cintron said. We just seem to be having an uptick in violent crime out there.

Scrutiny intensified this week, when shots were fired during a fight early Monday. And, a June 19 armed fight on the mall ended in a 16-year-old fatally shooting a man and wounding a bystander.

The Review-Journal reviewed data from the department on investigations into reported crimes closer to the Fremont Street Experience, including the businesses leading to the pedestrian mall and one block east of the malls entrance, to Sixth Street, where visitors may keep walking to many other popular restaurants and bars.

That data show reported aggravated assaults and robberies are up so far this year compared with 2021. Metro investigated seven reported robberies in the first half of 2021 and four in the second half; it investigated 11 through June of this year. The department also investigated 34 reported aggravated assaults so far this year, compared to 39 in all of 2021.

Fremont Street Experience has, really, thousands of people on it, especially Friday and Saturday nights, Cintron said. The stages down there have very large crowds around them. Alcohol consumption contributes to peoples loss of their ability to think rationally at some point. And a majority of these calls stemmed from an altercation or verbal exchange that may lead to a fight and thats where we were having this.

Metro began an increased incident plan on Thursday night, Cintron said. That included more officers on-site between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. and more interaction between the gang unit, homeland saturation team and flex teams from other area commands.

Earlier this week, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said she and Fremont Street stakeholders were considering increased security measures at the attraction, including a potential curfew for anyone under 21.

The city already has a curfew for anyone under 18 years of age. Minors cannot be unaccompanied between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. of the next day, Sundays through Thursdays, and midnight through 5 a.m. of the next day on Fridays and Saturdays. City officials confirmed that curfew applies to the Fremont Street Experience as well. The expanded curfew proposal would capture 18- to 20-year-olds and possibly have different hours, spokesman Jace Radke said.

Fremont Street officials support the expanded curfew idea as a city ordinance, which will likely not apply to a minor with a parent or guardian or someone lawfully working at the attraction. Simon said the organization believes the proposal will be essential in our efforts moving forward.

In the meantime, Fremonts increased security wont allow patrons under 21 without a parent or guardian after 8 p.m. during special events on weekends, Simon said.

It may be several weeks until a new city curfew takes effect, if at all. Goodman directed the city attorney to look into the idea, and a proposal must go through the City Council before approval.

Simon also noted that the attraction uses 300 cameras for surveillance across the five blocks for security. The FSE security officers wear HD cameras, he said, and the entity installed the multi-million-dollar Shotpoint system, a gunshot detection system, under the canopy in 2020.

Officials say the goal of increased police presence is about having more officers available to react to crowds or violence, and to make visitors feel safe while downtown. Business owners in the surrounding area have been involved in the security planning. Derek Stevens, who runs three downtown casinos, said in a statement that he fully supports the coordinated action plan.

There is no question we will clean up Fremont Street, Stevens, CEO of Circa, The D Las Vegas and the Golden Gate, said in a statement.

Veronica Roque works at a kiosk selling bags and other accessories to Fremont Street visitors. She said she supports a larger law enforcement presence at night.

I like it here, but sometimes its a little dangerous, Roque said, referring to the recent gun violence and panhandlers. I see a lot of security here all the time. Always when I ask for security, theyre here with me. I have a number to call if something happens, so I dont have much to complain about.

Others worry about how officers could react or be perceived. Chase, a graphic designer at a Fremont Street kiosk who declined to share his last name, said he expects some people may feel uncomfortable around police, though he personally would feel safer. He said he supports solutions that address crowd control such as metal detectors and barriers.

Still, hes concerned that a sanitized Fremont Street will lose its appeal because some visitors like the rowdy nature.

I saw a fight just outside the gift shop here, he said. Someone choked someone out and then just left them there. Then, I saw tourists just walking by, filming it. Im not any better just sitting here, but Im not making it a whole social media thing thats like, Oh, look what I saw back in Vegas.
In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). To date, 149 countries and 32 international organizations have now joined the initiative in the spirit of win-win cooperation and the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

As the well-known Chinese saying goes, "If you want to get rich, build a road first." Since China adopted its reform and opening-up policy in 1978, it has experienced tremendous development in all major sectors. As part of the reform and opening-up policy, China has been developing viable transport alternatives. The recent China-Europe freight rail is an excellent example.

The fundamental necessity of advancing modern infrastructure in the forms of electrical power and modern transport systems, both road and rail, are the bottlenecks that need to be overcome in developing countries, to overcome global poverty.

At present, the problem with the traditional international financial institutions, in the West primarily, has failed to achieve the necessary infrastructure investment in developing countries in Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world.

The BRI is the foundation for global development and the elimination of poverty. Since the launch of the BRI, new forms of international institutions have emerged to finance infrastructure development, such as the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, the Silk Road Fund and the BRICS New Development Bank. These are important alternatives to the existing insufficient financing of the present global system.

In my view, the BRI is a pathway that represents a bright future for mankind. The world has reached a point in which power struggles between countries and people will only bring about the destruction of everyone. The old formulas of geopolitical games lead eventually to no mans land. Instead, nations working together for the common aims of peace and development must become a new chapter in mankinds history. This is what the BRI provides, a whole new direction for cooperation between East and West.

The Global Development Initiative, another global public good proposed by President Xi last year, further complements the essence of the BRI. It further points out that China will work tirelessly with all countries to achieve the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The progress of human society needs cross-cultural cooperation between Chinese and Western civilizations. This will set the cast for much deeper and profound cooperation. That deeper cooperation between nations and peoples will lead humanity to a new era of human progress and development. The BRI has put forward an opportunity for cooperation that would be mutually beneficial to Sweden and Europe.

Founded in 2018, the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden (BRIX) is a non-profit organization with the purpose to enlighten the significance and benefits of the BRI and promote cooperation between Sweden and China.

The author is the Chairman of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden (BRIX).
Photo for illustration. (Source: vietnamhoinhap.vn)

In order to further promote the value of the mango industry, the Cao Lanh City Peoples Committee has coordinated with the Dong Thap Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to launch the Vietnam Mango Association.

The Vietnam Mango Association was established by the Chairman of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, and is directly under the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association. The association is an organization without an account and without a seal, with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and localities with mango material areas.

The Executive Committee of the Union has 11 members, including one Union branch president, four vice-chairmen and six members.

Mango accounts for 33.7% of the total fruit tree area of Dong Thap (more than 14,000ha) and ranks second in the Mekong Delta in terms of output. Main mango varieties include: Cat Chu, Cat Hoa Loc, and Green skin statue. Mangoes are now being exported to markets such as the Republic of Korea, Japan, USA and Australia.

In 2013, mango products were granted the trademark Cat Chu Cao Lanh and Cao Lanh by the National Office of Intellectual Property.

In 2019, the National Office issued a certificate of geographical indication registration Cao Lanh for mango products. This year, for the first time, Dong Thap mango was exported to the US market after more than 10 years of technical exchange to agree on phytosanitary treatment measures. In early 2022, the first batch of Cat Chu mangoes of Dong Thap was exported to the European market./.
Media Group Ukraine will return to the state only the broadcasting licenses it previously received from it, Natalia Yemchenko, the director of communications of SCM, the largest Ukrainian private investment company, which includes the group, said.

"We return to the state only licenses (which it issued to us) for broadcasting. That's all. We do not transfer any other assets of the media group (apart from these licenses) to the state - neither brands, nor libraries," she noted on Facebook.

Yemchenko said that on Tuesday, July 12, SCM will issue a release with certain details about the exit from the media business.

She also noted that the group does not know how the state will dispose of these licenses.

"Perhaps it will decide to hand them over to someone, perhaps not," she described the options.

As reported, earlier on Monday the owner of SCM, businessman Rinat Akhmetov, announced that SCM would leave media business and transfer the licenses of all its mass media to the state due to the entry into force of the anti-oligarchic law.

Media Group Ukraine has been created since 2000, the total volume of investments exceeded $1.5 billion, the number of employees is about 4,000, and Ukraine and Ukraine 24 TV Channels have become leaders in Ukraine in terms of viewership.
Ukraine will be represented at the largest European real estate exhibition Expo Real for the first time, which will be held in Munich from October 4 to October 6 2022, Anna Nestulia, director of Invest in Projects, told Interfax-Ukraine.

"Ukrainians have already realized how important strong international partners are for us in building a sustainable future and overcoming all the challenges associated with the war. The Expo Real team, which has significant experience in cooperation with international market players and strong reputation, is such a partner for us," she said.

According to Nestulia, Expo Real is Europe's largest real estate exhibition covering all sectors of the market. It has been taking place for more than 20 years in Munich at the 75,000 square meter exhibition center Messe Munchen. Last year, about 20,000 participants from 52 countries took part in it, projects of more than 1,000 companies were presented.

"Ukraine will be represented by a stand at Expo Real in Munich for the first time. Kyiv is a sister city of Munich. We see the point in creating a forum not only for the capital, but also for the country as a whole, to provide information about the possibilities of the upcoming reconstruction, to establish cooperation," Claudia Boymanns, director of Expo Real exhibitions, said.

According to her, the Ukrainian booth with an area of 132 square meters with a small stage offers opportunities for meetings and discussions. The concept of the Ukrainian stand at Expo Real, as well as the program of events, is coordinated by the Invest in Projects team, which specializes in the international promotion of real estate and investment projects.

The three-day program will include an opening with the participation of officials and businesses, fundraising events, discussions and thematic meetings with international players dedicated to the restoration of Ukrainian cities.

"The range of planned events is wide and is intended, first of all, to deepen the understanding of the country, its geography, history and culture, which are still little known to many, and advertise the possibility of participating in the reconstruction of Ukraine in the future," Boymanns notes.

The Ukrainian law firm AVELLUM acts as an exclusive adviser to the Ukrainian delegation at Expo Real. The organizers invite Ukrainian companies to join Expo Real at https://bit.ly/3afkL8C.
On Tuesday, July 12, Ukraine's state budget received a grant from the United States in the amount of $1.7 billion, the Ministry of Finance reported.

"These funds were provided from the Single-Donor Trust Fund established by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development [IBRD], the International Development Association (IDA) and the United States Agency for International Development [USAID]," the press release states.

It quotes Finance Ministry Serhiy Marchenko's words of gratitude to the United States, "which have long been Ukraine's key and reliable partner, especially in this difficult historical period for us."

The funds will be used to cover the expenses of the state budget's general fund, to pay for medical services under the Medical Guarantee Program in the amount of the necessary wages with accruals.

The Ministry of Finance recalled that on June 29 the state budget had already received a grant from the United States for $1.3 billion.

In May, the U.S. Congress passed a bill on the allocation of assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $40 billion, including $7.5 billion to finance the state budget.

The government of Ukraine estimates the budget's monthly deficit financing needs at $5 billion. Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko previously predicted that Ukraine's international financial support would rise to $4.8 billion in June from $1.5 billion in May. In practice, thanks to the funds received at the end of the month, it turned out to be close to $4 billion.

According to the Minister of Finance, in July the government expects to maintain the same significant volumes of external financing as in June. In particular, an EU loan of EUR 1 billion is expected.
Ukraine is to receive EUR 1 billion of exceptional macro-financial assistance from the European Union by the end of July, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said.

"Today, the finance ministers of the EU countries supported this proposal of the European Commission. The European Parliament did it earlier. Today, we also approved a draft decree at the government to raise these funds and authorized the signing of a memorandum by Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and Governor of the National Bank Kyrylo Shevchenko," Shmyhal said in Telegram channel.

According to him, the financial support of international partners is one of the four levers of victory  along with sanctions, weapons and European integration. "The EU macro-financial assistance will help maintain financial stability in our state in the face of Russia's large-scale aggression," he said.

The government also adopted a resolution that will allow raising up to EUR 200 million on favorable terms from Italy, and the funds will be provided through the IMF administrative account to the general fund of the state budget to cover expenses.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has called Canada's decision to transfer a turbine for the Nord Stream gas pipeline to Russia "dangerous".

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to summon Canada's representative to our country due to an absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia. It's not just about some Nord Stream turbine that Canada shouldn't have, but still decided to hand over. Hand over actually to Russia. This is about common rules, " he said in his traditional video address on Monday evening.

According to him, if a terrorist state can squeeze out such an exception to sanctions, what exceptions will it want tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? This question is very dangerous. Moreover, it is dangerous not only for Ukraine, but also for all countries of the democratic world.

"The decision on the exception to sanctions will be perceived in Moscow exclusively as a manifestation of weakness. This is their logic. And now, there can be no doubt that Russia will try not just to limit as much as possible, but to completely shut down the supply of gas to Europe at the most acute moment. This is what we need to prepare for now, this is what is being provoked now," he said.

"Because every concession in such conditions is perceived by the Russian leadership as an incentive for further, stronger pressure," he added.

"Of course, this decision on one turbine, which leads to many other problems, can still be revised. Russia has never played by the rules in the energy sector and it will not play now unless it sees strength," Zelensky stated.
Zelensky calls on Rada deputies to treat bill on status of Poles in Ukraine as conscientiously as possible

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has called on deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to consider the draft law on the status of Poles in Ukraine "as conscientiously as possible".

"Today I submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a very important draft law - on legal and social guarantees for Polish citizens residing in Ukraine. In fact, this is a response to the law that was adopted by the Polish state in the spring in the interests of our citizens," he said in his traditional video address on Monday evening.

"In particular, I propose to give our Polish brothers the opportunity to legally stay in Ukraine for 18 months, the right to employment, economic activity, study at our universities, medical care, " he said.

"I ask the people's deputies of Ukraine to consider this draft law as conscientiously as possible," Zelensky stressed.

According to him, in relations with Poland, we have reached the highest level of trust and cooperation not just in decades, but in the lifetime of many generations of our nations. And we must increase it, we must further strengthen our ties in all spheres and on the basis of a clear understanding that Ukraine and Poland can be free only together - in brotherhood.

"Today, I also signed a decree conferring the honorary title of the Rescuer City upon the city of Przemysl. For the extremely significant contribution of the city authorities, volunteers and residents to help our people and our defense. Let me remind you that this is the second such decision  the Polish city of Rzeszow was the first to receive this title," the president said.
The questions addressed to head of the Presidents Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak are related to solving a number of problems in Ukrainian-American relations, in which other persons refer to him, said U.S. Congresswoman Victoria Spartz.

"We are spending billions of dollars. Anti-corruption institutions have been established in Ukraine, and we are concerned when we see that these institutions cannot work. They tell me that it's because of Yermak and the people he appoints. I do not know if this is true, but President Biden, when he spends money in Ukraine, must report to Congress for this," Spartz said in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda published on Monday.

According to her, the American side has no opportunity to audit weapons after they crossed the Ukrainian border, and this is a serious problem.

"If the Congress now establishes oversight mechanisms at the level of the Congress itself, it will be such a bureaucracy that it will be very bad for the course of the war. Therefore, we have offered you an idea of how to do this, so as not to create unnecessary bureaucracy, and supplies went to the front. I will not disclose the details of this proposal, but your government rejected it, and I was told that it was because of Mr. Yermak," the congresswoman added.

Regarding Yermak's ties with the Russian Federation, she said that "this is the question that everyone has, but no one wants to solve it." "It is not for us to decide who holds this or that position in your country. We will communicate with the appointed ones. But this does not mean that there will be more trust if these people have problems with their reputation," concluded Spartz.

As reported earlier, Spartz appealed to the U.S. president with a request "to provide explanations on the supervision procedures related to the head of the Presidents Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak." The publication referred to her letter by publishing it. Part of the letter is hidden from publication, closed with a black bar, but in the text there is a brief mention of the alleged presence of "various intelligence information about Mr. Yermak's actions in Ukraine and his possible ties with Russia." These theses are not displayed in the open part of the letter.

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur criticized statements of Spartz and urged not to stop aid to Ukraine. In addition, the position of Spartz was sharply criticized by the Ukrainian Congress Committee.
As a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, 348 children were killed, more than 650 were injured, the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) reports.

"As of the morning of July 12, 2022, almost a thousand children were injured in Ukraine as a result of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation. According to the official information of juvenile prosecutors, 348 children were killed and more than 650 received injuries of varying severity. Children were most affected in Donetsk region  348, Kharkiv  190, Kyiv  116, Chernihiv  68, Luhansk  61, Mykolaiv  53, Kherson  52, Zaporizhia  31," the message published on the Telegram channel says.

These figures are not final, as work is underway to establish them in the places of active hostilities, in the temporarily occupied and liberated territories.

On July 11, as a result of massive shelling by the Russian occupiers of the civil infrastructure of Kharkiv, a 17-year-old boy was killed, two boys aged 4 and 16 received injuries of varying severity.

Due to the bombing and shelling by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, 2,121 educational institutions were damaged, 216 were completely destroyed.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) reported on a special operation, during which five Ukrainians were released from Russian captivity.

"During the special operation carried out by the forces of the special units of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson region, five citizens of Ukraine, who were held captive by the Russian occupiers, were released. A serviceman of the Ukrainian Navy, a former police officer and three civilians are among them," the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports on the Telegram channel.

It is noted that one of the released has a serious combat wound.

Now all those released are under the care of the Ukrainian authorities and receive proper treatment.
Humanitarian aid from Japan has arrived in Zhytomyr region for the first time, Deputy Head of the Presidents Office of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko has said.

"Zhytomyr region. Japan's humanitarian cargo was received in the region for the first time. This is 60 tonnes of medicines and equipment that will be transferred to medical institutions of Zhytomyr region. Part of the aid will be transferred to other regions," Tymoshenko wrote on the Telegram channel.

In addition, "the benefactors handed over 1,000 military tactical first aid kits to the 95th separate airborne assault Brigade."
Since the beginning of the war, the American company American Technology Network (ATN), a manufacturer of night vision devices, thermal imagers, binoculars and tactical optical systems, has supplied thermal imagers for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the amount of $13.2 million, accepting payment in cryptocurrency, defense supply expert Kostiantyn Tymonkin has said.

"For the first time in the history of cryptocurrencies and the market for military goods, such an agreement took place with payment in cryptocurrencies directly to the manufacturer. In this case, since cryptocurrencies are fully legalized in the United States, it became possible to pay for deliveries directly in cryptocurrencies fully within the framework of legislation of Ukraine and the United States," Tymonkin said.

According to him, the supplies were paid for by donations of IT entrepreneurs made in cryptocurrency, as well as by a charitable contribution from ATN itself and private donors without attracting funds from Ukrainian or American taxpayers.

Tymonkin said the delivery has been completed and the recipients of assistance are the AFUs General Staff, military special forces units and Defense Intelligence Agency of Ukraines Defense Ministry.

He said, in total, more than 15,000 defenders of Ukraine were equipped with the gear.

At the end of May, the purchase of Binox 4T binoculars, optical instruments and accessories from ATN for a total of $4.5 million was announced by the Techiia Foundation.

American Technology Network was founded by Kyiv-born Marc Vayn in 1995. In 2014, ATN was one of the first Western companies to supply Ukraine with thousands of thermal imagers and night vision devices.

"I am a U.S. citizen, but I have Ukrainian blood and Ukrainian spirit in me. From the first days of the war, we mobilized to help Ukraine - we donate to humanitarian aid, we collected direct donations on our website, and now we have done what we are best at  producing a large batch of innovative optics ordered by Techiia Foundation," Vayn said of the delivery.
On July 13, a quadripartite meeting is scheduled in Istanbul with the participation of experts from Ukraine, the UN, Turkey and the Russian Federation on the unblocking of Ukrainian grain, security issues will remain a key element of the position of the Ukrainian side, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko has said.

"Ukraine stands for the issue of unblocking Ukrainian grain to be resolved under the auspices of the UN. In this context, we are grateful to Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his active efforts to find a solution that will guarantee the security of the southern regions of our state. A quadripartite meeting is scheduled in Istanbul on July 13 with the participation of experts from Ukraine, the UN, Turkey and Russia," Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

According to him, the modality of the functioning of sea corridors for the export of grain will be discussed, while security issues will remain a key element of the position of the Ukrainian side.
The Finnish chain of fast food restaurants Hesburger is resuming the work of four establishments in Kyiv and Kyiv region in July, and three more in August, according to the chain's website.

"We had a conversation with the managers of each restaurant and the chain management in Ukraine. Ukrainians want to return to normal life as soon as possible. That is why we decided to open restaurants at the request of the managers of our establishments. According to our employees, local customers also hope and expect the opening of restaurants," Hesburger CEO Kari Salmela was quoted as saying.

He stressed that the safety of customers and employees remains a priority, so the company is closely monitoring the development of the situation in Ukraine in connection with Russia's military aggression.

According to the report, Hesburger continued to pay salaries to all employees, despite the closure of establishments due to Russia's military invasion. In addition, the company, through charitable organizations, donated free food to orphanages, nursing homes, social workers and the Ukrainian army.

Earlier in March 2022, Hesburger made the decision to close all 38 restaurants in Russia and four in Belarus.

Hesburger was founded in 1980 in Finland. The network has more than 450 restaurants and is also represented in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Germany.

The Hesburger chain in Ukraine has seven restaurants in Kyiv and Kyiv region. The company has 100 employees.
The amendments to the regulations of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly proposed by the Ukrainian delegation to expel the aggressor country from the institution will be put to the vote during the OSCE PA Autumn Meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Yevhenia Kravchuk (the Servant of the People faction), who is also a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the OSCE PA, has said.

"The OSCE does not have a mechanism of expulsion of either a country, or even a parliamentary delegation from this organization. [] We have submitted an application. It will be put to the vote in Bulgaria (Sofia) in October. In fact, these are amendments to the regulations of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly [], which allow the OSCE PA leadership to terminate the powers of a delegation if its country wages aggression against another OSCE member country," she told a Tuesday press briefing in Kyiv.

The MP added that "the fight for the amendments to the regulations" will be uneasy.

If the OSCE PA does not expel the Russian delegation, it will be very bad for the organization, Kravchuk said.

"I think there will be a boycott by various delegations and this will obviously cast doubt upon the legal capacity of the organization in general," she said.
Russian shelling in battle-scarred east Ukraine on Monday left six dead, Kyiv said, as the country was reeling from President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to sack two senior law enforcement officials.
The Islamic State jihadist group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi in a statement Thursday and named Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi as his replacement.

The announcement came more than a month after the IS chief died during a US raid that saw troops flown by helicopter into northwest Syria, in an area controlled by rival jihadists.

IS personnel have "pledged allegiance" to "Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi as an emir over believers and the caliph of Muslims," the group's spokesperson said in an audio recording released on its social media channels.

The recording confirmed the death of the former IS chief along with the group's ex-spokesman.

"Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi and the official Islamic State group spokesman... Abu Hamza al-Qurashi... were killed in recent days," said the new spokesperson, identified as Abu-Omar al-Muhajjir.

Little is known about the new leader, who will serve as the group's third chief since it's inception.

According to the White House and US defence officials, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi died when he detonated a bomb to avoid capture.

His demise, on February 3 in the town of Atme, was the biggest setback to IS since his own predecessor, the better-known Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a US commando raid in the same Syrian region of Idlib in 2019.

According to the IS audio statement, Abu Hasan al-Qurashi was endorsed by Abu Ibrahim before his death and had his appointment has been confirmed by the group's senior leaders.

The recording did not offer further details.

Abu Hasan al-Qurashi rises to the helm at a time when the group has been weakened by US-backed operations in Iraq and Syria aiming to thwart a jihadist resurgence.

IS' self-declared caliphate, established from 2014, once stretched across vast parts of Syria and Iraq and administered millions of inhabitants.

A long and deadly military fightback led by Kurdish-Syrian and Iraqi forces with backing from the United States and other powers eventually defeated the jihadist proto-state in March 2019.

The remnants of IS in Syria mostly went to desert hideouts from which they continue to harass Kurdish-led forces and Syrian government troops.

The jihadists also continue to mount attacks in Iraq from hideouts there.

A UN report last year estimated that around 10,000 IS fighters remained active across the two countries.

Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi's death in February came two weeks after IS launched an attack on a northeast Syria prison housing fellow jihadists.

The jail break attempt from the sprawling Ghwayran complex in the northeastern city of Hasakeh triggered a week of clashes inside and around the facility, leaving hundreds dead.

But hundreds of IS prisoners, including senior leaders, are thought to have escaped, with some crossing to neighbouring Turkey or Turkish-held territory in Syria's north, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

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Fresh data from the UN health agency showed that every corner of the globe is dealing with air pollution, although the problem is much worse in poorer countries

A full 99 percent of people on Earth breathe air containing too many pollutants, the World Health Organization said Monday, blaming poor air quality for millions of deaths each year.

Fresh data from the UN health agency showed that every corner of the globe is dealing with air pollution, although the problem is much worse in poorer countries.

"Almost 100 percent of the global population is still breathing air that exceeds the standards recommended by the World Health Organization," the agency's environment, climate change and health director Maria Neira told reporters.

"This is a major public health issue."

In its previous report four years ago, WHO had already found that over 90 percent of the global population was affected, but it has since tightened its limits, it said.

"The evidence base for the harm caused by air pollution has been growing rapidly and points to significant harm caused by even low levels of many air pollutants," WHO said.

While UN data last year indicated that pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions caused short-lived improvements in air quality, WHO said air pollution remains a towering problem.

"After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have seven million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution," Neira said.

'Healthier energy systems'

WHO's study provides air quality data from more than 6,000 cities and other settlements across 117 countries -- representing around 80 percent of urban settings.

In addition, Neira said WHO used satellite data and mathematical models to determine that air quality is falling short basically everywhere.

The poorest air quality was found in the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia regions, and Africa, she said.

The findings were alarming, the organisation said, and highlighted the importance of rapidly curbing fossil fuel use.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that worries over soaring energy prices, due in part to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, should help propel change.

"Current energy concerns highlight the importance of speeding up the transition to cleaner, healthier energy systems," he said in a statement.

"High fossil fuel prices, energy security, and the urgency of addressing the twin health challenges of air pollution and climate change, underscore the pressing need to move faster towards a world that is much less dependent on fossil fuels."

Worse in poorer countries

The report provides data on concentrations of dangerous particulate matter with a diameter of between 2.5 and 10 micrometres (PM10), and particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5).

PM2.5 includes toxins like sulfate and black carbon, which pose the greatest health risks since they can penetrate deep into the lungs or cardiovascular system.

And for the first time, the report also provides ground measurements of annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a common urban pollutant, which is associated with respiratory diseases, particularly asthma.

The report found problems related to particulate pollution were far worse in poorer countries, but that most cities had trouble with nitrogen dioxide.

While the air in 17 percent of cities in high-income countries fell below WHO's air quality guidelines for PM2.5 or PM10, less than one percent of cities in low and middle-income countries complied with the recommended thresholds, the report said.

Out of the around 4,000 cities across 74 countries that collected NO2 data, measurements meanwhile showed only 23 percent of people breathed annual average concentrations of the gas that met levels in WHO's recently updated guidelines.

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The Senate  Egypts consultative upper house of parliament  decided on Sunday to refer a report on the problem of the countrys overpopulation to President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi.

The Senates decision came at the end of a two-week discussion of a study prepared by Senator Soheir Abdel-Salam on the problem of overpopulation in Egypt and what measures are necessary to contain it.

The report, prepared by the Senates committees on health, population, human rights and social solidarity, recommends that an independent entity, the National Authority for Population and Family Development, be established to replace the existing National Population Council which was created in 1985, said Senate Speaker Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Razek, adding that the new independent authority shall be granted adequate powers in order to take serious and collective action in tackling overpopulation. Overpopulation has become like a very dangerous disease blocking the states efforts in achieving comprehensive development, and we hope that the new authority will be the medicine to relieve the country of this disease, Abdel-Razek said.

The report indicated that the authority will be composed of a council of trustees, a board of directors and a secretariat-general. The authority will be affiliated with the presidency rather than with the Ministry of Health and Population. The president of the republic will be named chairman of the council of trustees, the prime minister as deputy chairman and all concerned cabinet ministers and public figures with expertise in population policies as members, the report said.

Abdel-Razek said a new strategy for population growth in Egypt has been a priority since 2015. During this period, the National Project for Developing the Egyptian Family was launched in a bid to stem the tide of population growth, Abdel-Razek said, adding that additional measures are still necessary to tackle the problem.

Abdel-Razek also indicated that measures on tackling population growth are in line with Article 41 of Egypts 2014 constitution which states that the state shall implement a population programme aimed at striking a balance between population growth and available resources, and shall maximise investments in human resources and improve their characteristics in the framework of achieving sustainable development.

Mohamed Gazzar, chairman of the Senates Health Committee, said the proposal to establish a National Authority for Population and Family Development came upon the recommendation of many experts who agreed the authority should be independent of financial and administrative affairs, and having adequate powers to implement a new strategy for containing overpopulation.

Abdel-Salams study, which the Senate began discussing on 28 March, warns that Egypts population will reach 128 million by the year 2030 and 183 million by 2050.

This runaway growth of population poses a serious threat to the countrys future, economic development, and national security, said the study, asking that the role of the National Population Council be restructured and replaced by an independent and more powerful entity by the name of the National Authority for Population and Family Development, in addition to the fact that new and urgent measures that can reduce population growth to just 110 million by 2030 should be adopted. But it seems that it will be difficult to achieve this target as babies born during the boom years between 2010 and 2015 will reach the age of marriage in 2030-2040, consequently resulting in Egypt becoming 183 million in 2025, said the study, adding that this number will exert heavy pressure on the countrys economy and natural resources. It suggested that all that can be done now is to follow a new strategy based on strict birth control and marriage measures. This, it said, was important to achieve Egypts 2030 vision on sustainable development which seeks to control the population in Egypt soon.

Egypts population currently stands at 102 million people. According to the study, the population is currently growing at a rate of 1.94 per cent, a rate that adds about two million people to the population every year. Egypt has a relatively young population; 60 per cent are under 30. This rapidly increasing population poses a threat to the Egyptian economy in which one-third live below the poverty line and the unemployment rate is around 10 per cent, the study said.

The study pointed out that population growth in Egypt significantly slowed down in the 1990s when the National Population Council was affiliated with the presidency, but began to increase rapidly after the year 2000 when the council was put under the purview of the Ministry of Health. We recommend that the new National Council for Population and Family Development be affiliated with the presidency to be able to achieve the serious objective of controlling population growth in Egypt, said the study.

The study said all workers currently affiliated with the National Population Council and other concerned ministries which cover population issues shall join the new authority under one umbrella to maximise the benefit from their performance and experience.

Senator Maya Morsi, head of the National Council for Women, said early marriage is one of the main reasons causing population growth, particularly in Upper Egypt. We hope that the proposed authority in collaboration with the national project for family development will be able to fight the negative phenomenon of early marriage, said Morsi, adding that other tough measures are expected in controlling population growth.

President Al-Sisi said last year that the new measures on tackling population growth do not aim to prevent childbearing but seek to control birth rates.

Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, minister of higher education and the minister in charge of health affairs, said that more than 5,000 medical units across Egypt will start offering services on family health and birth control.

Minister of Waqf (religious endowments) Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said there was a pressing need for more serious action on checking population growth in Egypt. In this respect let me indicate that mosques affiliated with the Ministry of Waqf will use doctors to raise awareness of the issue of overpopulation, birth control and family planning, said Gomaa, adding that Egypt is increasing by two million or two and half million every year and this is too much, let alone a big burden for a country struggling to offer high-quality services to its citizens.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 14 April, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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An Ethiopian rebel group on Tuesday denied accusations it was responsible for a massacre of civilians in the restive far west of the country, and pointed the finger of blame instead at government-allied militias.

Violence has been on the increase in the Oromia region in recent months, with one rights group suggesting the situation there had been overshadowed by the brutal conflict that erupted in Tigray 20 months ago.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday that the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) had committed mass killings in the Qellem Wollega area of western Oromia, without giving further details.

But OLA spokesman Odaa Tarbii retorted on Twitter: "The regime thinks it can just point fingers & escape accountability".

"Two divisions of the ENDF (Ethiopian National Defence Force) along with allied forces are occupying the towns of Qellem Walaga, including Machaara where civilians were killed en masse by the regime's militias as security forces did nothing," he wrote.

"Both local & international entities have to demand independent investigations and hold Abiy and co accountable for their cruelty."

The OLA is a shadowy group that gained new prominence last year when it struck up an alliance with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) that has been at war with government forces in northern Ethiopia.

Both have been designated terrorist groups by Addis Ababa. Abiy on Monday vowed to "eradicate" the OLA, although he has opened the door to possible peace talks with the Tigrayan rebels.

The US-based Amhara Association of America said Monday's attack targeted ethnic Amharas in Mender 20 (Village 20) in Qellem Wollega in the west of Oromia, the largest and most populous region of Ethiopia.

It said the killings began at dawn and lasted several hours.

A survivor quoted by the regional state-run Amhara Media Corporation said at least 300 bodies had been collected in the village.

It was not possible to verify the information as access to the area in western Oromia, which borders South Sudan, is restricted.

In a country comprising dozens of ethnic groups, the Amharas are the second largest after the Oromo.

'Cycle of violence'

Last month, the Ethiopian authorities accused the OLA of killing several hundred mainly Amhara people in the village of Tole in West Wollega, an area adjacent to Qellem Wollega.

The OLA, which has been fighting the federal government in Oromia since 2018, denied the claims.

No official toll from the Tole massacre has been published, but Abiy's spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said last week that 338 victims had so far been identified.

On June 30, several days after the Tole attack, government spokesman Legesse Tulu told reporters that districts of Qellem Wollega, Western Wollega and Horo-Guduru Wollega were "under the complete control of our joint/coordinated security forces".

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, a state-affiliated independent body, on Monday called for an "urgent reinforcement" of government security forces in the area to prevent further civilian deaths.

"The continued insecurity in the area and what appears to be the ethnically targeted killing of residents must be put to a stop immediately," EHRC chief commissioner Daniel Bekele said in a statement.

US-based Human Rights Watch said on Monday it had documented serious abuses in Oromia, including in the west where an "abusive" government campaign against the OLA had trapped civilians in the crossfire.

It said the Tigray conflict, which has witnessed a lull in recent months after the government declared a "humanitarian ceasefire", was overshadowing a "persistent cycle of violence" against civilians by security forces and armed groups in Oromia.

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Ethiopian police and soldiers are dying on a ``daily'' basis as the country grapples with insurgencies in Oromia and elsewhere, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Thursday.

Abiy in a parliamentary address repeated a vow to destroy the Oromo Liberation Army, a rebel group his government blames for two recent massacres targeting members of the Amhara ethnic group.

"As a government, the fact we are not able to prevent the acts they committed, we feel quite sad,'' Abiy said. "Daily police officers die, security forces die'' while fighting the Oromo rebels, he said.

In a rare admission of government losses, Abiy also said that "hundreds'' of district officials have been killed in attacks.

The increase in violence in Oromia comes as the 20-month-long conflict with the Tigray People's Liberation Front appears to be reducing. Last month Abiy revealed a committee has been set up to negotiate with the TPLF, but if the talks fail he suggested his government is ready to renew military efforts.

"The unity and the interests of our country, if it becomes difficult to secure it peacefully, we will pay sacrifices with our lives,'' Abiy told lawmakers. "Outside of that, we believe there is hope. Our door will remain open for peace.''

In Oromia, the latest killings occurred on Monday, resulting in the deaths of an unknown number of civilians in the unstable West Wellega area. It followed a separate attack in the region last month that witnesses said killed hundreds.

The Oromo Liberation Army, or OLA, an outlawed group that the government refers to as Shene, denies carrying out the killings.

In response to the violence, regional and federal forces have stepped up their offensive against the OLA. Abiy said counterinsurgency efforts have been "95%'' successful in saving civilian lives and compared the recent ethnic-based killings to gun violence in the United States.

"The security forces serve the country at a high cost, so the parliament should recognize their efforts,'' Abiy said, describing the mass killings as "inhumane acts'' perpetrated by "destructive, evil forces.''

On Wednesday Ethiopia's parliament set up a special body to investigate the killings in Oromia, where regional government forces have also been accused of human rights abuses.

Human Rights Watch in a statement this week said a "culture of impunity'' has "emboldened unaccountable security forces'' that it says are responsible for a spate of extrajudicial killings in Oromia.

The killings are putting pressure on Abiy's government to do more to protect civilians as waves of ethnic unrest persist in Africa's second-most populous country with a population of 115 million people. Ethiopia has more than 90 different ethnic groups, according to its census. The Oromo are the largest group with an estimated 34% of the population followed by the Amhara with 27%.

Violence between various ethnic groups has increased in recent years as a result of longstanding rivalries.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded on Thursday a staff-level mission to Egypt  through a team led by IMF mission chief for Egypt Celine Allard  to discuss a new loan programme with Egypt, the Fund announced on Friday.

In March, Egypt submitted a request to the IMF for a new loan in order to keep the gains of the first wave of the countrys economic reforms and meet the countrys financial needs in response to the global economic challenges amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The IMF said that the visit lasted from 26 June to 7 July to discuss IMF support for the Egyptian authorities comprehensive economic reform program.

The IMF staff team and the Egyptian authorities had productive discussions on economic policies and reforms to be supported by an IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF). In the period ahead, we are continuing our close engagement with the authorities towards reaching staff level agreement. As is always the case, final agreement on a program arrangement would be subject to approval of the IMF's Executive Board, said Allard.

The IMF team would like to thank the Egyptian authorities and the technical teams at the Central Bank of Egypt and the Ministry of Finance, and other interlocutors for their hospitality and the constructive and candid discussions, Allard said.

Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said in June that the anticipated deal with the IMF could be under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for four years, but a programme under the Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) and the Financial Programming and Policies are also on the table, Egypts Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait told Bloomberg TV.

During June, Fitch Solutions expected the loan amount to come to $6.5 billion, while BNP Paribas projected it at $10 billion in May.

The first wave of Egypts economic reforms (2016-2019) was backed by a $12 billion IMF loan to Egypt under the EFF facility in 2016 over three tranches.

The EFF is designed to provide assistance to countries experiencing serious payment imbalances because of structural impediments or slow growth and an inherently weak balance-of-payments position.

It also provides support for comprehensive programs including the policies needed to correct structural imbalances over an extended period.

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Egypts Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said EGP 40 million of loose coins and new banknotes were issued in July, at a 10 million pounds rise, on the occasion of Eid El-Adha.

The action was meant to meet people's needs to facilitate selling and buying operations, he said.

The Egypt Mint Authority witnessed an unprecedented leap over the past period in the digitisation domain and this helped in securing small-denomination currency before the Greater Bairam season.

For his part, the authority's head, Hossam Khedr, said the authority is keen on securing this category of money to be enough to meet people's needs for one year and half.

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The Ministry of Social Solidarity announced on Tuesday that the first batch of Egyptian pilgrims that were sent by NGOs is set to return to Cairo on Thursday after performing their Hajj (pilgrimage) rituals in Saudi Arabia.

The batch  which comprises 225 Egyptian pilgrims that arrived in the kingdom on 2 July  is scheduled to arrive in Cairo coming from King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on Thursday, a statement by the ministry read.

A total of 3,000 Egyptian pilgrims  divided into two groups  travelled from Egypt under the sponsorship of various NGOs.

The first group included 1,100 pilgrims  who travelled first to Al-Medina then to the Holy city of Mecca to perform their Hajj rituals  is planned to return to Cairo from King Abdulaziz International Airport.

The second group, however, includes 1,900 pilgrims  who started their trip from Mecca first then travelled to Al-Medina  is scheduled to return to Cairo from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Al-Medina, the ministry added.

The second group are set to be transported to Al-Medina on Wednesday 13 July and will be staying there till next week, the statement quoted Ayman Abdel-Mawgod, the assistant minister of social solidarity and head of the Hajj Mission for NGOs.

Last week, EgyptAir said it will operate as of Tuesday 114 flights  80 from Jeddah and 34 from Al-Medina  to carry back home nearly 16,000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, according to Egyptian state news agency MENA.

Slightly over 35,000 Egyptians performed their Hajj rituals this year.

In 2020, the pandemic prompted Saudi authorities to allow only 1,000 domestic pilgrims to participate in the yearly Hajj  one of the worlds largest religious gatherings. The number, however increased to 60,000 fully vaccinated citizens and residents chosen through a lottery in 2021.

This year, Saudi Arabia allowed a total of 899,353 pilgrims to perform the rituals, 119,434 of which are from inside the kingdom.

However, the number is still lower than pre-pandemic rates. Some 2.5 Muslims participated in 2019s Hajj season.

All able Muslims are required to perform a Hajj  one of the five pillars of Islam  once in their lifetime. The Hajj consists of a series of religious rites that are completed over five days in Islams holiest city, Mecca, and the surrounding areas of western Saudi Arabia.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the US warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine.

During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putin's visit to Iran will follow U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, where Iran's nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.

Peskov told reporters that on the visit to Tehran, Putin will also have a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In March, Erdogan helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, Turkey. Peskov said there was no discussion about a new round of such negotiations.

The White House said Monday that it believes that Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with ``hundreds'' of drones, including those capable of carrying weapons, for use in Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had already provided any of the vehicles to Russia, but said the U.S. has ``information'' that indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use them as soon as this month.

``Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline,'' Sullivan told reporters Monday, referring to drones by the acronym for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Nasser Kanaani did not deny the U.S. claim in comments on Tuesday.

``Iran's cooperation with Russia in some sophisticated technologies dates to before the Russia-Ukraine war,'' he said. ``There has not been any special development in this regard recently.''

Iran long has worked on the development of drones, including so-called loitering munitions, the ``kamikaze'' drones like the Switchblade that the U.S. has delivered to Ukraine.

The U.S. decision to publicly reveal that the two countries' chief regional rival was helping to rearm Russia comes as both Israel and Saudi Arabia have resisted joining global efforts to punish Russia for its action in Ukraine due to their domestic interests.

In Tehran, Mohammadrez Pourebrahimi, the head of the Iranian Parliament's economic committee, told state-run news agency IRNA that Putin's trip would seek to improve economic relations between the two sanctions-hit nations.

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The Pentagon said Tuesday that it killed a leader of the Islamic State group in Syria in a drone strike.

U.S. Central Command said in a news release that Maher al-Agal was killed Tuesday and an unidentified senior official in the Islamic State group was seriously injured. The Pentagon said there were no civilian casualties, though it wasn't possible to immediately confirm that information.

The U.S. carried out the strike outside Jindaris, a town in northwest Syria close to the Turkish border.

The Islamic State group at the height of its power controlled more than 40,000 square miles (103,600 square kilometers) stretching from Syria to Iraq and ruled more than 8 million people. While the group's territorial state collapsed in 2019, its leaders have turned to guerilla tactics and have been able to ``efficiently restructure themselves organizationally,'' according to the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonpartisan think tank.

The strike on al-Agal comes months after the head of the group, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, killed himself during a raid of his hideout by American special forces. The U.S. said Al-Qurayshi blew himself up along with members of his family.

According to a war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, al-Agal was a former prominent commander of the Islamic State group during its control of Raqqa and had since moved farther north to Afrin in 2020 under Turkish-backed factions. He was most recently a commander in a Turkish-backed faction called Jaysh Al-Sharqiyyah.

U.S.-led coalition forces have also targeted al-Qaeda-linked militants in Syria over the years. Last month, a U.S. drone strike killed a senior leader of the Horas al-Din group, Abu Hamzah al Yemeni.

The U.S. Central Command has said that violent extremist organizations ``continue to present a threat to America and our allies, and that al-Qaeda-affiliated groups have used the rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria as a safe haven.``

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing's vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and warned that Washington is obligated to defend treaty ally Philippines if its forces, vessels or aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters.

Blinken's statement, issued by the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Tuesday, was released on the sixth anniversary of the 2016 decision by an arbitration tribunal set up in The Hague under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea after the Philippine government complained in 2013 about China's increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

China did not participate in the arbitration, rejected its ruling as a sham and continues to defy it, bringing it into territorial spats with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian claimant states in recent years.

``We call again on the PRC to abide by its obligations under international law and cease its provocative behavior,'' Blinken said, using the acronym for China's formal name, the People's Republic of China.

``We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments'' under the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, Blinken said.

There was no immediate reaction from Beijing. But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference in Malaysia's administrative capital of Putrajaya that China is speeding up talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines and three other claimant states, to come up with a nonaggression pact called a ``code of conduct'' to turn the South China Sea ``into a sea of peace and cooperation.''

``We will oppose bloc confrontation and Cold War mentality,'' Wang told journalists after meeting his counterpart in Malaysia, the last stop in his five-nation swing through Southeast Asia. He did not take any questions.

In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have had overlapping claims in the busy waterway, where an estimated $5 trillion in goods passes each year and which is believed to be rich in undersea gas and oil deposits.

The potential flashpoint has become a key front of U.S.-China rivalry.

Washington lays no claim to the disputed waters but has deployed Navy ships and Air Force jets to patrol the waterway for decades and says freedom of navigation and overflight is in the U.S. national interest. That has provoked angry reactions from China, which has accused the U.S. of meddling in a purely Asian dispute and warned it to stay away.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said Tuesday that the arbitration ruling will be a pillar of his new government's policy and actions in the disputed region and rejected attempts to undermine the ``indisputable'' decision.

``These findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal and are conclusive as they are indisputable. The award is final,'' Manalo said in a statement.

``We firmly reject attempts to undermine it . even erase it from law, history and our collective memories,'' said Manalo, who did not directly name China.

New Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office June 30 after a landslide electoral victory.

Marcos Jr.'s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, put the arbitration ruling on the backburner for years after taking office in 2016 and nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping while criticizing U.S. security policies.

In 2019, Duterte said he finally asked Xi to comply with the ruling but was flatly told, ``We will not budge.''

Marcos Jr. has upheld the arbitration ruling and said he would not allow even one ``square millimeter'' of Philippine waters to be trampled upon.

But he said in January before winning the presidency that since China has refused to recognize the ruling, Duterte's policy of diplomatic engagement is ``really our only option.''

Dozens of left-wing activists and workers protested in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manila's Makati financial district on Tuesday, asking Beijing to respect the arbitration ruling and for Marcos Jr. to defend the country's territory and sovereign rights in the South China Sea.

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Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday that their forces targeted a Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine with overnight, resulting in a massive explosion captured on social media.

The Ukrainian military's southern command said a rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.

The precision of the strike suggested Ukrainian forces used U.S-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, to hit the area. Ukraine indicated in recent days that it might launch a counteroffensive to reclaim territory in the country's south as Russia devotes resources to capturing all of the eastern Donbas region.

Russia's Tass news agency offered a different account of the blast in Nova Kakhovka, saying a mineral fertilizer storage facility exploded, and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged in the strike. Some of the ingredients in fertilizer can be used for ammunition.

A satellite photo taken Tuesday and analyzed by The Associated Press showed significant damage. A massive crater stood precisely where a large warehouse-like structure once stood in the city,

Ukraine now has eight of the HIMAR systems, a truck-mounted missile launcher with high accuracy, and Washington has promised to send another four.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian shelling over the past 24 hours killed at least 16 civilians and wounded 48 more, Ukraine's presidential office said in its Tuesday morning update. Cities and towns in five southeast regions came under Russian fire, the office said.

Nine civilians were killed and two more wounded in Donetsk province, which makes up half of the Donbas. Russian rocket attacks targeted the cities of Sloviansk and Toretsk, where a kindergarten was hit, the presidential office said.

The British military said Tuesday that Russia was continuing to make ``small, incremental gains'' in Donetsk, where heavy fighting led the province's governor last week to urge its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine.

Yet many in the Donbas, a fertile industrial region in eastern Ukraine made of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, refuse _ or are unable _ to flee, despite scores of civilians being killed and wounded each week.

The death toll in a Russian rocket attack that struck an apartment building in Donetsk province on Saturday has risen to 34. The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, made the announcement on social media, saying nine wounded people had been rescued from the building in Chasiv Yar.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and its surrounding region, Russian strikes hit residential buildings, killing four civilians and wounding nine, Ukrainian officials said.

``The Russians continue their tactics of intimidating the peaceful population of the Kharkiv region,'' Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote Tuesday on Telegram.

Ukrainian authorities also said that Russian fire struck the southern city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday morning, hitting residential buildings. Twelve people were wounded as the result of the Russian shelling, with some of the rockets hitting two medical facilities, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

Air raid sirens sounded Tuesday in the western city of Lviv _ the first daytime sirens there in over a week _ and in other areas of Ukraine as Russian forces continued to make advances.

In eastern Luhansk, ``fighting continues near the villages'' on the administrative border with neighboring Donetsk, Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

``The Russian army burns down everything in its way. The artillery barrage doesn't stop and sometimes continues for four to six hours on end,'' Haidai said.

The British Defense Ministry's intelligence briefing said Russia had seized the Ukrainian town of Hryhorivka and continued to push toward the Donetsk province cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

``Russian forces are likely maintaining military pressure on Ukrainian forces whilst regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future,'' the intelligence briefing said.

However, Russia may be relying more heavily on private military contractors, like the Wagner Group, to avoid a general mobilization, the British ministry said. Western officials have accused Wagner of using mercenaries to fight in Africa and elsewhere.

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RTHK: US drone kills Islamic State Syria chief: Pentagon

A man US officials called the leader of the Islamic State militant group in Syria was killed on Tuesday in a drone strike, the Pentagon said.

Maher al-Agal was killed while riding a motorcycle near Jindires in northern Syria, and one of his top aides was "seriously injured", Pentagon Central Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed Agal was killed in a drone strike. The volunteer Syrian Civil Defense Force, known as the "White Helmets", said one person was killed and another injured in a strike that targeted a motorcycle outside Aleppo, but did not identify the victims.

There was little information available about Agal, whom the Observatory called the Islamic State governor for the Levant.

The US Central Command called him "one of the top five" leaders of Islamic State overall.

"In addition to being a senior leader within the group, Al-Agal was responsible for aggressively pursuing the development of IS networks outside of Iraq and Syria," it said in a statement.

According to a spokesman for the US-allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, both the men who were targeted had links to Ahrar al-Sharqiya, an armed group operating in northern Syria.

The group has integrated former leaders and members of Islamic State and other jihadist groups, and has conducted attacks against Kurdish targets inside Turkish-controlled areas of northern Syria.

The US Treasury placed Ahrar al-Sharqiya on its sanctions blacklist in July 2021.

"Ahrar al-Sharqiya has committed numerous crimes against civilians, particularly Syrian Kurds, including unlawful killings, abductions, torture, and seizures of private property," the Treasury said.

It said the group controls a large prison complex outside of Aleppo "where hundreds have been executed since 2018."

The strike came five months after a night-time US raid in the town of Atme, which led to the death of the overall Islamic State leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-07-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Turkey said it will host Russian and Ukrainian delegations together with UN diplomats on Wednesday to discuss the resumption of stalled grain deliveries across the Black Sea.

The four-way meeting with Turkish officials comes with food prices around the world soaring because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine is one of the world's biggest exporters of wheat and other grain.

But its exports have blocked by Russian warships and mines that Kyiv has laid across the Black Sea.

NATO member Turkey has been spearheading efforts to resume the grain deliveries.

Turkish officials say they have 20 merchant ships waiting in the Black Sea that could be loaded quickly with Ukrainian grain.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar on Tuesday announced the meeting in a statement that did not specify who will represent each side.

"Military delegations from the Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian defence ministries, and a delegation of the United Nations, will hold talks tomorrow in Istanbul on the safe shipment to international markets of grain waiting in Ukrainian ports," Akar said.

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The school had told the commission that its actions were justified since they were based on the opinions of students, teachers and parents.

The commission reviewed the matter after a high schooler filed a petition complaining about it. "We have recommended the principal of the school end the absolute ban on mobile phone use and to make revisions," the commission added.

"We have decided that collecting students' mobile phones at the start of the school day and returning them at the end violates the freedom of action and communication guaranteed by the Constitution."

"In today's society, mobile phones are important tools that enable people to form, maintain and develop social relationships," the commission said. It added that schools need to "consider other measures that minimize violation of basic rights" by not confiscating phones without students' consent and allowing them to use them during lunch and break times.

But the commission said switching the devices on when collecting them to see if they are genuine mobile phones cannot be viewed as an invasion of privacy.

Teachers at the school in question check each mobile phone to see if students are turning in fake handsets while holding on to their real ones.

This is the third time the commission ruled that a ban on students' mobile phone use violates their rights. Earlier, the commission recommended two middle schools revise their total ban. The commissions recommendations are not legally binding.

Teachers and other school officials insist that the commission's recommendations "do not reflect reality." Teachers are complaining that it is unrealistic to collect phones at the start of every class and return them during breaks.

Park Jeong-hyun, a teacher in a middle school in Incheon, said, "If you allow mobile phone use in schools, we will see a surge in illegal photography and cyber-bullying on social media. We already have a lot of problems with students using mobile phones, and the commission's recommendation will only make things more difficult."

Others warned the recommendation will only worsen the problem of mobile phone addiction among students.

The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations said the commission "continues to make recommendations that violate the rights of teachers to teach and the rights of students to learn" and urged it to stop. It told the commission to consider that teachers are "at war" with mobile phone use at school.
Teachers and school administrators are grumbling because the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has become a favored conduit for disgruntled kids to file complaints about their schools and educators.

According to the NHRC last week, 15 percent of all complaints it received last year were filed by schoolkids. They are filing complaints at the drop of a hat -- from having to stand outside the classroom to having their precious phones confiscated. Teachers say it has become increasingly difficult to discipline students because the commission has repeatedly ruled in their favor.

The commission seems to regard most of the disciplinary measures used by Korean schools as violating students' human rights. The Busan office of the NHRC sided with students back in 2018 after they complained about having to write letters of apology for their misconduct or stand in front of their classmates holding placards listing their infractions.

The commission opined that one could violate their freedom of conscience and the other their right to safety and study. Last year, the commission said confiscating students' phones every morning and returning them after school violates their freedom of action. Its solution? To let them use their phones in their lunch break.


But the "celebration" Monday morning at the White House came a week after a gunman in Highland Park, Illinois, killed seven people at an Independence Day parade, a stark reminder of the limitations of the new law in addressing the American phenomenon of mass gun violence. And it comes as Democratic governors have taken up the mantle of offering outrage in the face of gun violence.

The bill, passed after recent gun rampages in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, incrementally toughens requirements for young people to buy guns, denies firearms to more domestic abusers, and helps local authorities temporarily take weapons from people judged to be dangerous.

President Joe Biden on Monday hailed a new bipartisan law meant to reduce gun violence as "real progress," but said "more has to be done" after just 16 days in effect, that legislation already has been overshadowed by yet another mass shooting.

Biden hosted hundreds of guests on the South Lawn, including a bipartisan group of lawmakers who crafted and supported the legislation, as well as local officials -- including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering -- as well as the families of victims of both mass shootings and everyday gun violence. "Because of your work, your advocacy, your courage, lives will be saved today and tomorrow because of this," Biden said.

Biden on Saturday invited Americans to share with him via text -- a new White House communications strategy -- their stories of how they've been impacted by gun violence, tweeting that "I'm hosting a celebration of the passage of the Safer Communities Act." He told some of their stories on Monday of people traumatized by shootings and kids left orphaned by gun violence.

The law is the the most impactful firearms violence measure Congress has approved since enacting a now-expired assault weapons ban in 1993. Yet gun control advocates -- and even White House officials -- say it's premature to declare victory. "There's simply not much to celebrate here," said Igor Volsky, director of the private group Guns Down America.

"It's historic, but it's also the very bare minimum of what Congress should do," Volsky said. "And as we were reminded by the shooting on July 4, and there's so many other gun deaths that have occurred since then, the crisis of of gun violence is just far more urgent."

Volsky's group, along with other gun violence advocacy groups, was set to host a news conference on Monday outside the White House calling on Biden to stand up a dedicated office at the White House to address gun violence with a greater sense of urgency.

Biden has left gun control policy to his Domestic Policy Council, rather than establishing a dedicated office like he stood up to address climate change or the gender policy council he established to promote reproductive health access.

"We have a president who really hasn't met the moment, who has chosen to act as a bystander on this issue," Volsky said. "For some reason the administration absolutely refuses to have a senior official who can drive this issue across government." The president signed the bipartisan gun bill into law on June 25, calling it "a historic achievement" at the time.

On Monday, Biden said the law's passage should be a call to action for further action to reduce gun violence. "Will we match thoughts and prayers with action," Biden asked. "I say yes. And that's what we're doing here today." White House officials said Biden doesn't see the passage of the bill as the finish line, but rather a foundation that needs to be built on. The Illinois shooting occurred nine days after the bill signing.

"I recently signed the first major bipartisan gun reform legislation in almost 30 years into law, which includes actions that will save lives," Biden said after July 4th shooting. "But there is much more work to do, and I'm not going to give up fighting the epidemic of gun violence."

On Friday, Biden responded to the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by taking note of how the shooting had shocked people in Japan. The country has a strikingly low incidence of gun violence compared to the U.S., which has experienced thousands of gun deaths already this year.

Most of the new law's $13 billion in spending would be used for bolstering mental health programs and for schools, which have been targeted by shooters in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and many other gun massacres. It was the product of weeks of closed-door negotiations by a bipartisan group of senators who emerged with a compromise.

It does not include far tougher restrictions that Democrats and Biden have long championed, such as a ban on assault-type weapons and background checks for all gun transactions. Biden on Monday was expected to reiterate his call for those tougher measures, but prospects are slim for any further congressional action.
Hyundai started to use an AI interview program from new recruits this month. Applicants who pass the resume-screening phase have to sit down to an online chat with a computer that not only analyzes the answers but monitors their facial expressions, gestures and voice tone to arrive at a comprehensive score.

A majority of jobseekers are uncomfortable with artificial intelligence-assisted interviews that Korean companies are increasingly using to recruit staff.

More than 600 companies already use AI interviews, including LG Uplus and Shinhan Bank, and have found them especially useful during lockdown.

The touted advantage is objectivity, since no human emotions get in the way of the machine intelligence's dispassionate analysis. "We can minimize controversy about fairness, which is being prioritized by young Koreans these days," a source in a conglomerate said.

But jobseekers do not trust it. In April, employment portal Job Korea surveyed 718 people who went to job interviews over the past year and found that six out of 10 favored being interviewed by humans rather than AI programs. The major reason cited by 63.6 percent was "fairness in their evaluation."

In another survey by Job Korea last August, 46.9 percent said AI programs are prone to errors, while 42.2 percent said they do not trust the algorithm. Online communities for jobseekers are full of warnings, telling interviewees, for example, not to lift one side of their mouth, which could be interpreted by the AI as smirking.

Businesses themselves say AI programs are merely one tool at their disposal to evaluate job applicants and do not make the final decision.
KYODO NEWS - Jul 13, 2022 - 06:38 | All, World

The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution Tuesday extending for six months a key humanitarian aid corridor to northwestern Syria, with the possibility of another six-month renewal in January.

The cross-border mechanism, first authorized in 2014, involves a crossing at Bab al-Hawa in northwestern Syria that millions in the country rely on for food, clean water and other humanitarian assistance. Three permanent council members -- Britain, France and the United States -- abstained from voting after having sought a one-year extension of the crossing, while the 12 others including permanent members China and Russia voted in favor.

While the resolution adopts the Russian demand of a six-month extension, it also requires the U.N. Secretary General to prepare "a special report on humanitarian needs in Syria" in December, a month before the mechanism is due to expire again.

It had been left to expire on Sunday as the council failed to reach an agreement, with Russia vetoing a resolution introduced by the West and a Russian-authored resolution gaining support only from Russia and China.

International aid groups expressed concern about the expiration of the mechanism during the winter months, when freezing temperatures and flash floods in the region are common.

The United Nations estimates that humanitarian needs in Syria have risen to their highest levels since the start of the civil war in 2011.

"We asked for a renewal of one year," U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told a group of reporters on Tuesday. "The Security Council approved six months. But I strongly hope that after the six months it will be renewed."
KYODO NEWS - Jul 12, 2022 - 18:28 | All, World

The U.S. government on Tuesday announced a set of actions to strengthen ties with Pacific island nations amid China's growing clout, such as by opening new embassies and tripling U.S. funding to support the region's economic development.

"We believe that we're now embarking on a new chapter in this longstanding partnership," a senior official of the administration of President Joe Biden said, adding that the United States is "significantly stepping up our game in the Pacific islands."

The new U.S. commitments were unveiled as the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region's premier political and economic policy organization, hold an annual summit that began Monday.

Under the plan, the United States will aim to establish U.S. embassies in Kiribati and Tonga, and secure $60 million per year for the next 10 years -- nearly triple the current levels -- for economic assistance, including combating illegal fishing, enhancing maritime security and strengthening climate resilience.

The Biden administration will also craft a first-ever U.S. strategy on the Pacific islands, which it says will be "a whole-of-government strategy" to prioritize the islands in American foreign policy and drive effective implementation.

The document will be nested under the Indo-Pacific strategy, which was released earlier this year. In the strategy, the Biden administration has vowed to bolster its security and economic role to advance a free and open region, while building "collective capacity" with allies to counter China's growing assertiveness.

The United States has been stepping up efforts to engage with the Pacific island nations, apparently alarmed by Beijing's moves to bolster its influence as seen by the signing of a security pact with the Solomon Islands in April.

The treaty reportedly allows the deployment of Chinese police, military and other armed personnel, as well as the docking of the Asian power's military ships in the islands.

The Pacific Islands Forum comprises 18 members, including Australia and New Zealand. But Kiribati, known to be forging closer ties with China, has reportedly announced its withdrawal from the group ahead of the summit meeting.

The senior U.S. official said the United States is concerned by the report and that it supports talks to keep Kiribati as part of the forum.

The Biden administration also plans to appoint the first-ever U.S. envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum to expand its diplomatic footprint across the islands, according to the official.

Related coverage:

U.S., Japan launch Pacific nation initiative amid China's rise

U.S. to launch multilateral initiative to engage with Pacific islands

FOCUS: China's Pacific island diplomacy may complicate ties with Japan
By John Hamre, KYODO NEWS - Jul 12, 2022 - 13:35 | All, World, Japan

The assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shocking. Americans endure gun violence at frighteningly high frequency. I have admired Japan for many fine qualities. Its sophisticated culture has created a modern society remarkably free of gun violence. So Abe-sensei's murder is all the more shocking.

While Abe was taken from us far too early, history will record his tenure as prime minister as one of the most important periods in modern Japanese history. Before Abe became prime minister for a second time, Japan was ambivalent about its role in the world. I participated in many discussions with senior Japanese figures who spoke about Japan as though it was a diminished country. But it was at CSIS where Abe directly told a large American audience that Japan will return as a global leader, that it was his only agenda. And he did just that. He helped Japan recover its sense of self-confidence and purpose.

Abe played a crucial role for us during his last four years in office. President Donald Trump had a strange outlook on geopolitics in Asia. He was harsh in his comments about allies, but curiously soft in his outreach to North Korea. Trump suggested that America should pull back from Asia and focus only on things good for the United States. In those confusing days, Abe stood tall, carrying the flag of market-based, rule-based democracies. At a time when American leadership was weak and confused, Abe stood strong. Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade program, but Abe led to create the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. He brought Asia together under Japanese leadership. He became a welcome leader in Asia at a time when China became more confrontational and challenging.

This new sentiment of confidence has carried over now to the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. When Russia invaded Ukraine in such a brutal way, Japan was at the front, leading the way to confront Russia for violating the foundation of peace and security. Kishida knew that Russia would try to punish Japan for his statements and actions, but he knew that a much more important principle was at stake. Previous prime ministers would have taken a quieter role. But Abe created the confidence for Japan now to be a global leader, not just a quiet regional power.

I am very grateful for this new Japan, this new sentiment of confidence. Asia is now the center of gravity for the global economy and for global politics. Japan is now every bit the equal partner to the United States in providing leadership for a secure and prosperous Asia. Together we must bring other countries in Asia into a network of support and mutual assurance. Together, we can stand up to China, to guarantee that Asia will remain free from intimidation, and where rule of law prevails.

Abe-sensei gave us this foundation -- not just for Japan, but also for Asia and for America. These are towering accomplishments for which we will always remember him as a great leader.

(John Hamre has been President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) since 2000. He served as the U.S. deputy secretary of defense under Clinton administration before joining CSIS.)
KYODO NEWS - Jul 12, 2022 - 23:54 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Japan recorded more than 76,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, more than double from a week earlier and topping the 70,000 mark for the first time since March 3 amid signs the nation is undergoing a seventh wave of infections.

Record one-day infections were logged in 12 prefectures including the southwestern prefecture of Okinawa, which saw 3,436 infections and four more deaths.

In response to the surging cases, the government now plans to postpone the launch of a nationwide travel subsidy program for Japan residents that it had envisioned for the first half of July.

The new subsidy campaign is expected to be an expanded version of a similar program currently implemented at the prefectural level to encourage local travel among residents. The government will continue its financial support for the area-limited subsidies through the end of August.

Despite the postponement, government officials have ruled out restrictions on people's movements. At a news conference, health minister Shigeyuki Goto expressed concern about a further increase in infections during the upcoming summer vacation period, but said, "We don't think the current situation requires movement controls."

The coronavirus response headquarters of the National Governors' Association compiled a set of recommendations to the government on Tuesday, including expanded free lab tests and financial support to the tourism industry.

Tokyo's results on Tuesday mirrored the national picture, with the metropolitan government reporting 11,511 new coronavirus infections, over double the level a week earlier. The figures took the capital past 10,000 for the first time since March 16.

Its seven-day rolling average of new cases was 8,941 per day, up 136.6 percent on the previous week. One death was also confirmed.

The new figures come after Shigeru Omi, the head of a government COVID-19 experts panel, said Monday that Japan "has no doubt entered" a seventh wave of coronavirus infections. The surge is likely being fueled by the BA.5 subvariant of the Omicron variant, which is said to be highly transmissible.

Related coverage:

Japan enters 7th coronavirus wave, but no limits needed: panel head

Japan's new COVID cases top 40,000 for 2nd day, braces for 7th wave

New COVID-19 cases top 45,000 in Japan, nearly double from last week
File photo taken on Dec. 20, 2018 shows Chinese woman business entrepreneur Yang Jing walking with two students in an orphanage in Kigali, Rwanda. Since her career started, Yang Jing, the proprietor of Dmall Hotel in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, said she has helped hundreds of children both in China and across Africa targeting both individuals and groups. (Xinhua)

KIGALI, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese woman business entrepreneur Yang Jing may not be the first person that springs to mind when thinking of philanthropy, but that is precisely what she has aimed to do over the past decade.

Since her career started, Yang Jing, the proprietor of Dmall Hotel in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, said she has helped hundreds of children both in China and across Africa targeting both individuals and groups.

In May, the most recent donation went to Tanda primary and secondary school (GS Tanda), a school with nearly 1,500 learners in northern Rwanda. Partnering with the Overseas Chinese Association, the Dmall Hotel donated 500,000 yuan (about 74,557 U.S. dollars) worth of items to the school, including scholastic materials, food supplies, balls, cutlery and shoes.

"I have been devoted to philanthropy for roughly 10 years. My mindset is always to do the best to help those in need and deliver hope and warmth," Yang told Xinhua in an interview.

Providence Uwiringiyimana, a 27-year-old Rwandan woman, is one of the individuals who have benefited from Yang's benevolent spirit. When she graduated from high school in 2016, continuing on to university looked like a daunting prospect, but this did not frustrate Uwiringiyimana's academic dream.

She embarked on a random job search hoping she would be able to save for her tertiary education and start a career.

At a point when she was about to give up her academic dream, Uwiringiyimana landed a nanny job at Yang's home in Kigali in April 2019. Fast forward within days she was managing things for her employer's three-year-old son and then doing part-time work at Dmall Hotel.

That wasn't meant for Uwiringiyimana. She had had an academic break and was looking to go back to school with a dream of acquiring a university education to achieve her ambition of working in the hospitality industry.

What started as a simple job, meeting Yang resurrected Uwiringiyimana's journey toward her academic goals. The child created a special bond between Uwiringiyimana and her employer -- who offered her a chance to achieve her academic dreams.

Three years later, Uwiringiyimana is now a graduate of hotel and restaurant management from the University of Tourism Technology and Business Studies (UTB) in Rwanda, happy and more confident about the future.

"University is expensive but benevolent people like Yang, who support people who may not be able to afford an education, have huge value," she told Xinhua. "Whatever academic requirements I needed including tuition, Yang was on hand to support me besides paying a salary. Being a business person, I even learned a lot from her. She treated me like my big sister."

Sharing her story and advising young people, especially girls, to follow their goals, work hard and be honest, this young Rwandan woman is now in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for work in the hotel industry.

Yang described Uwiringiyimana as a smart and hard-working Rwandan woman who started working for her at the age of 23.

"Her willingness to go to university was strongly expressed, but her need for a job was intense as well," Yang said. "I saw in her eyes the determination to change her destiny, so I hired her, and allowed her to go to school every day, providing her all kinds of support all the time. After three years of strained efforts, she graduated from college this year and got the opportunity to work in the UAE. I am very happy and proud to see that she's done her best to change her destiny."

Raised by a single mother in a family of four in Rwanda's Kicukiro district, Uwiringiyimana said her earlier education was also funded through charity, as her father went missing in 2008 while she was at a tender age.

Balancing university studies with minding about a child was not an easy task as babysitting came with its own challenges. Uwiringiyimana, however, was determined and managed to handle both well by completing her work tasks in time.

Moreover, her employer could offer her flexible work schedules to enable her to attend classes and take exams.

"When I briefed Yang about my university goal, she welcomed it and I started studies in September 2019. But it was not easy. I started work in the morning preparing breakfast for the baby and worked until 5 p.m. when I went to university for the evening course. But Yang did more to support me, providing me flexible working hours," Uwiringiyimana recalled.

Since the child was schooling, Uwiringiyimana used the time of his absence to work at the employer's hotel until 3 p.m. when she could go to pick the child up before going to university. She was able to do the coursework outside of her working hours and Yang could allow her time to socialize with her fellow students as well.

One other local organization which has benefited from Yang's support is Empower, Develop Dignify (EDD) in Kigali's Gasabo district, which focuses on supporting about 120 children picked from the streets to study in different schools.

Yang previously donated assorted materials, including clothes to the organization, said Charles Hazabintwali, the executive director of EDD. 

File photo taken on Sept. 8, 2020 shows Providence Uwiringiyimana carrying the son of Chinese woman business entrepreneur Yang Jing in Kigali, Rwanda. Since her career started, Yang Jing, the proprietor of Dmall Hotel in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, said she has helped hundreds of children both in China and across Africa targeting both individuals and groups. (Xinhua)

File photo taken on Dec. 16, 2018 shows Chinese woman business entrepreneur Yang Jing visiting an orphanage in Kigali, Rwanda. Since her career started, Yang Jing, the proprietor of Dmall Hotel in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, said she has helped hundreds of children both in China and across Africa targeting both individuals and groups. (Xinhua)
Students have lunch in a dining room following the launch ceremony of Nepal Smiling Children Project in Kathmandu, Nepal, July 11, 2022. Nepal Smiling Children Project funded by the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund of China was launched in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Monday, with 3,600 Nepali students expected to benefit from it. (Xinhua/Yi Aijun)

KATHMANDU, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Nepal Smiling Children Project funded by the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund of China was launched in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Monday, with 3,600 Nepali students expected to benefit from it.

Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee who is on a four-day visit to Nepal, attended the launch ceremony held at a public high school along with Nepal's Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal and ward chiefs.

Addressing the ceremony, Liu noted that the project is among the first carried out by the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund around the world and China has been encouraging and supporting non-governmental organizations from both countries in enhancing exchanges and cooperation to bring out tangible benefits to the two peoples.

Bhusal spoke of different kinds of assistance offered to Nepal by its northern neighbor, saying "Chinese economic and technical assistance has made a huge contribution to the development of Nepal's physical infrastructure, health, education, water resources and sports."

"Nepal needs China's assistance for the development of the country," she stressed. "China's experiences, technology and economy could help Nepal to move toward the direction of prosperity."

The two then distributed meals to some pupils and visited their dining room.

Nepal Smiling Children Project funded by the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund is jointly hosted by China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD), formerly known as China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, and China NGO Network for International Exchanges.

The project was initiated in 2015 with a view to providing meals or food to starving children in some developing countries, and had expanded to Ethiopia, Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan by the end of 2021, benefiting more than 91,000 children.

Nepal Smiling Children Project launched in May 2020 now covers 3,600 students in the country's Kathmandu, Dolakha, Mahottari and Saptari districts, according to Zou Zhiqiang, country director of Nepal Office of the CFRD. 
JAKARTA, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Monday that China chooses to join hands with ASEAN members and other regional countries to adhere to the vision of peace, development, independence and inclusiveness.

While delivering a speech at the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Secretariat, Wang said Asia is standing at a new historical starting point and facing unprecedented development opportunities.

In the meantime, Wang said, the world today is not peaceful and there are two completely different trends concerning the future of Asia, and hence all countries in the region should make choice on openness or isolation, cooperation or confrontation, solidarity or division, progress or regression.

China chooses to join hands with ASEAN members and other regional countries to firmly uphold open regionalism and, by drawing experience and wisdom from Asian civilizations and practices, constantly add new dimensions to open regionalism, Wang said.

Wang made four points regarding open regionalism.

First, always upholding the concept of peaceful coexistence. It should never allow any attempt to extend geopolitical conflicts or bloc confrontation to Asia, nor wish to see any sanction, blockade or humanitarian crisis here.

It is necessary to unequivocally champion the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and stay committed to safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, take seriously the legitimate security concerns of all countries, and resolve differences and disputes in a peaceful way through dialogue and consultation.

Second, always upholding the goal of development and rejuvenation.

At present, the Asian economy is facing growing risks with disruptions to the stability of regional industrial and supply chains and unabated noises of "decoupling" and "severing supply chains."

China and ASEAN countries should together defend the multilateral trading regime with the World Trade Organization as the cornerstone, ensure a free and open global market, and promote integrated economic development.

Third, always upholding the principle of independence.

Noting many countries in the region, including ASEAN countries, are under the pressure to take sides, and the strategic environment in the region risks being reshaped by political factors, Wang said that it is necessary to continue to uphold independence, respect each other's sovereignty and core interests, and respect the integrity, independence and leading role of ASEAN as a community to insulate this region from geopolitical calculations and the trap of the law of the jungle, from being used as chess pieces in major-power rivalry, and from coercion by hegemony and bullying.

Fourth, always upholding the spirit of openness and inclusiveness.

Despite current headwinds, globalization keeps surging forward. It is necessary to promote harmony without uniformity, embrace diversity in coexistence, and reject the attempt to split the region into confrontational or exclusive groups, Wang said.

He urged to uphold true regional cooperation that unites countries within the region and remains open to countries outside, and reject the kind of fake regional cooperation that keeps certain country out and targets certain side. 
JERUSALEM, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The number of monkeypox cases in Israel rose to 66 with 11 new cases reported, the state's Health Ministry said on Monday.

In addition to the vaccines that have already been used in the country, Israel is purchasing third-generation vaccines against the virus, added the ministry.

It called again on the residents to see a doctor if they developed a fever, blistering rash, or were near a person suspected of being infected with the virus.

An upcoming shipment from the Danish manufacturer Bavarian Nordic is expected to include 2,000 vaccine doses, which will be enough to vaccinate 1,000 people, according to the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Monkeypox is common in wild animals like rodents and primates, and humans can also get infected with the virus.

Symptoms include skin rashes, fever, headache, muscle ache, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.

The rash eventually forms a scab, which later will fall off, indicating that the person is no longer infectious. 
The United Nations Security Council holds a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York July 12, 2022. The UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution to re-authorize cross-border aid deliveries into Syria for six months. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution to re-authorize cross-border aid deliveries into Syria for six months.

The current authorization expired on Sunday after the Security Council failed on Friday to adopt any resolution that would have renewed the mechanism.

Russia vetoed a draft resolution prepared by Ireland and Norway that sought a 12-month re-authorization. A Russian draft resolution, which would have renewed the mechanism for six months, failed to gain the necessary votes for approval.

Resolution 2642, which was adopted with 12 votes in favor, with three abstentions, decides to extend the authorization for aid deliveries through the crossing at Bab al-Hawa on the border with Turkey till Jan. 10, 2023. A further extension of an additional six months will require a separate Security Council resolution.

Britain, France and the United States abstained.

The resolution requests the UN secretary-general to provide a special report on the humanitarian needs in Syria no later than Dec. 10, 2022.

It requests the secretary-general to brief the Security Council monthly and to provide a report on a regular basis, at least every 60 days, on the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2642, and on compliance by all relevant parties in Syria.

It further requests the secretary-general to include in his reports overall trends in unhindered and safe UN cross-line operations, in particular on their progress to all parts of Syria, on early-recovery projects, as well as detailed information on the humanitarian assistance delivered through cross-border operations, including their transparency, the distribution mechanism, the number of beneficiaries, operating partners, locations of aid deliveries at district-level and the volume and nature of items delivered.

The resolution encourages the convening of a Security Council Informal Interactive Dialogue every two months with the participation of donors, interested regional parties and representatives of the international humanitarian agencies operating in Syria, in order to regularly review and follow up on the implementation of Resolution 2642, including progress in early-recovery projects.

The resolution welcomes ongoing efforts and encourages further initiatives to broaden the humanitarian activities in Syria, including water, sanitation, health, education, and electricity, and shelter early-recovery projects, undertaken by humanitarian organizations, and calls on other international humanitarian agencies and relevant parties to support them.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed the hope that the Security Council would renew the cross-border mechanism after six months. "We asked for a renewal of one year," he told reporters after the adoption of Resolution 2642, "I strongly hope that after six months it will be renewed."

Cross-border aid is essential for the people of Idlib. It is a matter of life and death for many of them, he said. 
Jamal Saadi, a Palestinian refugee, walks at the Yarmouk Camp in the south of Damascus, Syria, on Nov. 17, 2021. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

For decades, the Middle East has been mired in a quagmire of grave danger, incessant instability and economic crisis, largely due to U.S.-led wars, intervention and sanctions.

CAIRO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden is slated to kick off his first presidential trip to the Middle East this week, planning to visit Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to recalibrate U.S. ties with the region.

The White House said last month that Biden's visit demonstrates "the return of American leadership to bring countries together to address common threats and challenges" towards a "more secure, prosperous and stable Middle East region."

In fact, the Middle East has never been secure. It is where rivaling geopolitical interests compete and collide, and where a self-serving Washington plays its strategic chess board at the expense of regional countries, but under the cloak of human rights and democracy.

For decades, the region has been mired in a quagmire of grave danger, incessant instability and economic crisis, largely due to U.S.-led wars, intervention and sanctions.





Abdullah Ibrahim shows a photo of his house destroyed by a reckless U.S. missile, which also left him disabled, in Salahudin province, Iraq, Jan. 4, 2022. (Xinhua)

MILITARY INTERVENTIONS

As Biden sought to reshape U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, as opposed to his predecessor, controversies mount over his real intent and sincerity, given the U.S. poor human rights record there.

The United States, since declaring independence in 1776, has been bent on expanding its territory and wielding its influence. The country has been at war for almost 93 percent of the time.

Statistics suggest that from the end of World War II to 2001, there were at least 248 armed conflicts in the world, of which 201 were initiated by the United States.

In Iraq, between 184,382 and 207,156 civilians have died from "direct war-related violence caused by the United States, its allies, the Iraqi military and police, and opposition forces" from the time of the invasion through October 2019, according to the Costs of War project at the U.S. Brown University.

Alaah Karim Ahmed is pictured in an interview in Duluiyah town of Salahuddin province, Iraq, Nov. 2, 2021. (Xinhua)

Alaah Karim Ahmed, a 40-year-old former prisoner, remembered clearly the miseries he had gone through since being arrested by U.S. forces 19 years ago, as well as the shameful abuse and brutal torture by U.S. soldiers against detainees in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Ahmed, a freshman at the time who was heading for his campus life at Tikrit University, was abruptly arrested when a roadside bomb hit a U.S. patrol on the main road near his car. He was arrested simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I was severely beaten, handcuffed and shackled. They once hung me upside down for more than an hour," said Ahmed, who revealed to Xinhua his scars left till this day from his three-month imprisonment.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor, nearly 4,000 civilians in Syria have been killed by the U.S.-led coalition forces, over half of them women and children. Meanwhile, other human rights watchdogs have put the death toll of civilians in the Syrian war since 2014 at a much higher number.

In the northern Syrian province of Raqqa alone, the U.S.-led airstrikes "led to the almost complete destruction of the city and extermination of thousands of civilians between June and October 2017," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement in April, accusing Washington of committing war crimes in the Middle East country with airstrikes and shelling.

A seller wearing a face mask works at a pharmacy in Mashhad, Iran, Nov. 7, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

WANTON SANCTIONS

Besides wars, sanctions have been another major means of arm-twisting for the United States to ensure its own political and economic interests.

According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, about 30 countries and regions are under Washington's unilateral sanctions that cover almost every continent of the Earth except uninhabitable Antarctica.

In May 2018, the former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration pulled Washington out of a nuclear deal signed with Iran and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union's validation of Iran's commitment to the pact.

In its annual report on U.S. human rights published in June, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Washington uses its "unilateral coercive sanctions" as a tool of "economic terrorism" that have breached Iranians' right to life, health, development, self-determination and adequate standards of living, calling it "the biggest violator of human rights."

The U.S. military intervention in Syria in 2014, on the pretext of combating terrorism, had instead caused severe damage and loss of life in the country. However, besides civilian casualties and massive destruction to infrastructure, Syrians have seen their resources plundered and economic crisis aggravated with sweeping U.S. sanctions.

Osama Danura, a political expert and former member of the Syrian government delegation to the Syria peace talks in Geneva, said that the U.S. attempts to steal Syrian oil and burn wheat fields have badly impacted local people's revenue and livelihood. "I think these acts amount to war crimes," he said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. sanctions have seriously affected almost every aspect of life in Syria, such as the food supply, medical care, banking, housing and even charity work. According to the latest assessment by the World Food Programme, 12 million Syrians, or 55 percent of the total population of the country, are facing acute food insecurity and 1.9 million at risk of sliding into it.

The sanctions, aimed at pressuring the Syrian people, have hindered the reconstruction progress of Syria, Danura said.

A firefighter puts out the fire on an army bus that exploded under the President Bridge in Damascus, Syria, on Oct. 20, 2021. (Str/Xinhua)

PEACEMAKING OR TROUBLEMAKING?

Biden's Mideast trip has been clouded by debates across media and among pundits over its purpose, timing and sincerity.

An article published by CNN on Sunday said that Biden might not be traveling to the region at all if it were not for the global oil market that has been battered by the Russia-Ukraine military conflict.

"As far as oil is concerned, this trip is an investment in the future, specifically the hope that an improvement in U.S.-Saudi ties will facilitate the Saudis increasing production later this year and into the next," said the article.

Prior to his trip, Biden, amid criticism of the U.S. indelible human rights record in the Middle East, defended his decision to visit Saudi Arabia in a Washington Post opinion piece, insisting that he had long supported reforms and sought to "reorient but not rupture" relations with a longstanding strategic partner.

Biden's planned visit to Israel and the West Bank "also risks playing into the hands of critics, who have accused the United States of not pushing hard enough to end the decades-old Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories," The Washington Post argued in another piece.

According to a report of The New York Times published on Sunday, Biden will meet with Palestinian officials and may announce new economic support in the West Bank, noting that analysts and diplomats said that they did not expect major developments in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

"U.S. engagement, let alone presidential involvement, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no longer a priority," The New York Times quoted Alon Pinkas, an Israeli former consul general in New York, as saying.

"The U.S. has reverted or shifted to alliance management, which is why an Israeli-Gulf, counter-Iranian coalition is far more important to the U.S. than solving the conflict," he said. 
"We gained a lot," said a student at a vocational school funded by a Chinese company, which has provided skill training courses to increase young students' prospects in Rwanda's job market. #GLOBALink

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Monday encouraged young people across the Taiwan Strait to jointly strive for the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. He made the remarks in a letter replying to young people from China's Taiwan who were attending the Straits Youth Forum.

"I am pleased to learn that through attending the forum, you have formed closer ties with the mainland where you have found the stage to realize your dreams and witnessed with your own eyes the rapid changes taking place in the motherland. I am also very glad to know that you have felt the deep attachment like family members between compatriots across the Taiwan Strait," Xi wrote in the letter.

Xi stressed that a nation will prosper only when its young people thrive, and a country will be strong only when its young people have strength. The future of the motherland and the nation lies with the youth. We will, as always, create favorable conditions for young people across the Strait to learn from each other and provide more convenience for young people from Taiwan to study, find jobs, start businesses and live in the mainland. I hope you will share your experiences and insights about the mainland with your peers in Taiwan so that Taiwan youth will know more about the mainland, and join hands with young people in the mainland to strive with tenacity and make their life blossom in the great process of realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, Xi said.

The Straits Youth Forum, founded in 2003, is jointly run by the All-China Youth Federation, the Chinese Youth International in Taiwan and the department of youth affairs of the Kuomintang. It serves as an important platform for exchanges between young people across the Strait. The 20th Straits Youth Forum was held in Xiamen, Fujian Province, from July 11 to 12. Fifty young people from Taiwan invited to take part in the forum have written a letter to General Secretary Xi recently. In the letter, they talked about their experiences and insights concerning their studies, working and living in the mainland, and expressed their firm determination to contribute to the national rejuvenation and reunification. 
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- China will hold the World Conference on Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in the eastern Zhejiang Province, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Tuesday.

The conference will be held from July 17 to 19 by the ministry and the Zhejiang provincial government, Sui Pengfei, director general of the ministry's international cooperation department, told a press conference, noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s GIAHS initiative.

The conference aims to tap traditional agricultural value through effective protection of globally important agricultural heritage and better promote sustainable agricultural development and rural prosperity, Sui said.

At present, agricultural ministers from 13 countries, FAO Director-General, diplomatic envoys from 19 countries to China and senior representatives from seven international organizations have been invited to the conference, Sui added.

He said that the ministry and local authorities will support the establishment of institutionalized exchange platforms to enhance the protection of agricultural heritage as well as promote the realization of UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 
U.S. President Joe Biden attends a press conference at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2022.(Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

Biden's visit to Israel is expected to touch upon key regional issues, mainly the Iran nuclear deal, the Israel-Saudi Arabia relationship, and the Palestinian issue, but analysts downplay the prospect of making major breakthroughs.

JERUSALEM, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Political analysts in Israel pinned scant hope on U.S. President Joe Biden's upcoming first visit to the Middle East for achieving tangible breakthroughs on the major issues in the region.

Biden's visit to Israel, the first stop of his Middle East tour starting on Wednesday, is expected to touch upon key regional issues, mainly the Iran nuclear deal, the Israel-Saudi Arabia relationship, and the Palestinian issue.

IRANIAN NUCLEAR TALKS

Israeli analysts predicted that the Iranian nuclear talks will be the focus of the Israel-U.S. talks during Biden's visit, noting Israel's position will not sway the U.S. policy or change the course of the Iranian nuclear talks.

Israel, which sees Iran as its arch-enemy, has been one of the fiercest opponents of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Israel hailed former U.S. President Donald Trump's move to unilaterally pull Washington out of the deal in 2018.

People work at the construction site of the second phase of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, on Nov. 10, 2019. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

But the U.S. policy on Iran flip-flopped again when Biden took office in 2021 and started the effort to restore the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, despite Israel's strong opposition.

Eight rounds of talks have been held in Austria's capital Vienna since last year by Iran and major signatory parties on reviving the 2015 nuclear pact, with the United States being indirectly involved. A final deal could be reached at any time if Washington or Tehran makes compromises on a few remaining key differences.

Nimrod Goren, head of the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, said the attitude of Israel is unlikely to affect Biden's decision on the JCPOA.

"The Israelis want to be heard and the Americans are willing to listen. No one thinks, however, that this will have a major impact on the negotiations" on reviving the Iranian nuclear deal, said Goren.

ISRAELI-SAUDI RELATIONSHIP

Biden's four-day Middle East tour will also take him to Saudi Arabia, which has raised speculation about a possible breakthrough in the Israeli-Saudi ties.

In an opinion piece published on Saturday by The Washington Post, Biden said he will be the first U.S. president to fly from Israel to Jeddah of Saudi Arabia, adding the trip will be "a small symbol of the budding relations and steps toward normalization between Israel and the Arab world."

But analysts believe a real breakthrough in the Israeli-Saudi ties is still far beyond the horizon despite Biden's visit, given the deep differences between the two regional powers.

"We will not see something similar to the Abraham Accords. We will likely see a step as part of a gradual process that is already happening," Goren said.

Saudi Arabia, which officially holds a supportive stance for the Palestinians, did not participate in the U.S.-sponsored Abraham Accords that normalized in 2020 Israel's ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, two Gulf Arab countries. Morocco and Sudan later also normalized their ties with Israel.

Photo taken on Sept. 23, 2021 shows a Saudi child leaning out of the car window on his way to watch the national day fireworks show in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. (Xinhua/Mohamed Nasr)

Analysts noted that the ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which have allegedly behind-the-scenes cooperations in recent years, especially on the front of countering Iran, are likely to receive a boost from Biden's visit.

But they cautioned that the detente between the two regional powers has been mainly driven by their own interests and the U.S. effect should not be exaggerated.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN STALEMATE

Another issue that will come up during Biden's Israel visit is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although sidelined in recent years, it will be discussed in various meetings.

"The U.S. is trying to contain and manage the conflict," said Jonathan Rynhold, chairman of the Department of Political Studies of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at the Bar-Ilan University.

"The Americans are aware that the lack of a horizon on the Palestinian side leads to tension. Strategically, Biden wants to keep open the option of a two-state solution, and keep things going forward," he noted.

A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to hurl a stone at Israeli soldiers during clashes following a protest against the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on July 1, 2022. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)

However, political instability in Israel and the internal Palestinian rift make the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks unfeasible.

Israeli analysts noted that Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who is facing new elections in November, will tread carefully on the highly contentious issue.

Despite having openly expressed his support for the two-state solution, Lapid argued that the solution, which allows an independent Palestinian state to form, is not achievable at the current stage.

The tension between the Israelis and Palestinians has been rising over the past few months as a series of fatal attacks in Israel set off almost daily Israeli raids to arrest Palestinian suspects in the West Bank.

Lapid held a phone talk with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, a day after Abbas' meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Ramallah to discuss security coordination. The two sides apparently tried to prevent the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian tension ahead of Biden's visit.

"The gestures to the Palestinians will not be announced by Lapid, but by Biden... so that Lapid does not appear to be making any concessions to the Palestinians," said Goren.

Talal Oukal, a Gaza-based political analyst, said Biden is aware that the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict "is not yet ripe for launching a peace process in the region."

"This issue does not constitute any priority in U.S. foreign policy, in terms of several considerations, including the failure of previous U.S. governments in this test," he told Xinhua. 
SAO PAULO, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday announced his government has reached a deal to begin importing diesel fuel from Russia as part of measures to lower fuel prices at home.

"It is settled. In 60 days diesel can start to arrive in Brazil from Russia," Bolsonaro told journalists from the government headquarters in Brasilia.

The president defended the decision to import Russian diesel, saying it is cheaper than other foreign suppliers chosen by the state oil company Petrobras.

"Brazil imports almost 30 percent of the diesel consumed in the country. We must import from those who sell at a better price and not accept the price of those who charge more," Bolsonaro said.

Brazil is neutral in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, said Bolsonaro, recalling he met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow in February, and the two leaders agreed to maintain the supply of fertilizers for Brazilian agribusiness. 
Anti-gun politicians hate civilian gun ownership so much, theyre willing to do away with the First Amendment just to get at the Second. Such is the case with New Yorks new speech-based restrictions on the Right-to-Carry. Just as troubling is Californias AB2571, which purports to ban all firearms-related advertising that a minor (those under the age of 18) might find attractive.

Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on June 30, AB2571 provides,

A firearm industry member shall not advertise, market, or arrange for placement of an advertising or marketing communication concerning any firearm-related product in a manner that reasonably appears to be attractive to minors.

Note that the advertisement need not be aimed at minors. The item only needs to appear to be attractive to minors in order to trigger the ban.

The legislative text goes on to list some examples of what would constitute prohibited marketing. However, the statute makes clear that the prohibited advertising is not limited to these examples. This means that there is no way to determine what a given California court might find as appear[ing] to be attractive to minors, and thus banned.

Of course, a great deal of advertising is attractive to both adults and minors. A young shooter or hunter might value the same characteristics in a firearm-related product (accuracy, reliability, ease of use) that would attract an adult buyer. Therefore, the legislation invites endless litigation over the contours of the prohibition. .....
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- In the absence of the Omicron-specific vaccines, extending the vaccination period between doses may contribute to stopping the rapid emergence of this COVID-19 mutation, said a new study.

Published in The New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month, the study was led by Gao Fu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers in the study assessed the neutralization levels against the SARS-CoV-2 original and Omicron subvariants including BA.4 and BA.5 in blood samples obtained from vaccine takers, who had received three doses of China-made inactivated vaccines, three-shot protein-subunit vaccine ZF2001, or two doses of inactivated vaccines boosted by ZF2001.

Results showed that in each vaccine group, the neutralizing antibody levels against all the tested Omicron subvariants were significantly lower than the levels against the original strain of the virus, indicating these subvariants have an ability to evade immune protection.

But for the ZF2001, researchers found that neutralizing antibody levels rose with the increasing interval between the second and third doses, especially against the Omicron subvariants.

For vaccine takers who had an interval of four to six months between the second and third doses, their neutralizing antibody levels were higher by nearly a factor of 10 against the original variant and by a factor of approximately 30 against all Omicron subvariants, as compared with those who had a 1-month interval between doses.

Researchers explained that the better performance of the ZF2001 was due to its use of a receptor-binding domain as the antigen, which could induce increased levels of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron subvariants through the administration of multiple booster doses.

The ZF2001 was jointly developed by the Institute of Microbiology under the CAS and Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. China granted conditional market approval to the vaccine in March.

The Omicron subvariant BA.5 is becoming the dominant strain of COVID-19 across the world and is causing cluster infections in China. Regions including Beijing, Tianjin and Shaanxi have recently reported local COVID-19 cases of the Omicron subvariant arriving from overseas.

According to the study, for better protection against immune escape of current and possible future epidemic subvariants, the development of updated vaccines as boosters is still needed. 
HONG KONG, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Tuesday that it will distribute 290,000 COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits as part of a follow-up on the recent detection of the COVID-19 virus in sewage samples.

The test 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.

The HKSAR government also urged RAT kit users to report any positive results for COVID-19 via the government's online platform.

On Tuesday, Hong Kong registered 2,558 confirmed locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 and 211 imported cases, official data showed. 
JERUSALEM, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Israel was preparing on Tuesday for U.S. President Joe Biden's upcoming visit as part of his first trip to the Middle East since taking office.

More than 16,000 police officers and volunteers were deployed, mainly in Jerusalem, to secure the two-day visit starting Wednesday, the police said.

A police notice said Highway 1, the main route connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, would be closed for two hours in both directions upon Biden's arrival on Wednesday.

The police warned of traffic jams and roadblocks, mainly in central Israel, Jerusalem and the highways leading to the city.

Biden's Air Force One presidential plane is expected to land at the Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv at 3:20 p.m. local time (1220 GMT).

The Israeli Defense Ministry, which oversees the security arrangements, said in a statement that Biden would be welcomed with an official ceremony and a presentation of Israel's defense systems would be given.

On Thursday, Biden will meet Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who took office on July 1, for a one-on-one meeting, followed by an extended meeting between their teams.

Later, a summit via video will be held between Biden, Lapid, the United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The leaders are expected to discuss global food and fuel crises.

Biden will also travel to the occupied West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before flying to Saudi Arabia. 
Du Chunguo (3rd L), the Chinese Consul General in Dusseldorf, delivers a speech at the welcome ceremony for the 10,000th trip made by China-Europe freight trains operated by the China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing) in Duisburg, Germany, on July 11, 2022. A freight train loaded with electronic products, mechanical parts and daily necessities, which departed from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on June 23, arrived in Duisburg, Germany on Monday. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

DUISBURG, Germany, July 11 (Xinhua) -- A freight train loaded with electronic products, mechanical parts and daily necessities, which departed from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on June 23, arrived in Duisburg, Germany on Monday.

This marked the 10,000th trip made by China-Europe freight trains operated by the China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing), the first of its kind in China.

Du Chunguo, the Chinese Consul General in Dusseldorf, Markus Teuber, commissioner for China affairs of the Mayor's Office of Duisburg, and Duisport CEO Markus Bangen attended a welcome ceremony held in Duisburg Monday afternoon.

This is a milestone for the China-Europe freight train services, and a fresh starting point for the new journey of common development in Eurasia, Du said in his welcoming speech.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany.

Du said that the annual trade volume was less than 300 million U.S. dollars between the two countries 50 years ago, "now it takes just 12 hours on average to accomplish."

Markus Bangen said that Germany and China have extensive economic cooperation, and the past 50 years have witnessed successful cooperation between the two which benefits both. "We look forward to more cooperations in the future."

The city of Duisburg spreads along both sides of the Rhine and Ruhr in western Germany. As one of the destinations for China-Europe freight trains, Duisburg functions as a hub that reaches other parts of Europe in less time.

In an interview with Xinhua earlier this year, Markus Teuber said it was "a big advantage" to have the fast connection between China and Duisburg.

"The meaning extended in the last 10 years of course," he said. "(Receiving) 60 trains per week was important for the port and also for the city, because a lot of Chinese companies decided to invest in Duisburg, e-commerce companies, logistics companies, and also the terminals," said Teuber in the interview.

The China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing), launched in March 2011, has witnessed the transportation of over 1,000 types of goods ranging from smart terminals and whole vehicles to auto parts and medicines, with a total value exceeding 400 billion yuan (about 60 billion U.S. dollars).

The China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing) now operates nearly 40 routes reaching about 100 cities in Asia and Europe.

In 2021, the China-Europe freight train services saw rapid growth amid safe and smooth operation, with the number of trips hitting 15,000 last year, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. 

Photo taken on July 11, 2022 shows a scene from the welcome ceremony for the 10,000th trip made by China-Europe freight trains operated by the China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing) in Duisburg, Germany. A freight train loaded with electronic products, mechanical parts and daily necessities, which departed from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on June 23, arrived in Duisburg, Germany on Monday. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Photo taken on July 11, 2022 shows a scene from the welcome ceremony for the 10,000th trip made by China-Europe freight trains operated by the China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing) in Duisburg, Germany. A freight train loaded with electronic products, mechanical parts and daily necessities, which departed from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on June 23, arrived in Duisburg, Germany on Monday. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Photo taken on July 11, 2022 shows a scene from the welcome ceremony for the 10,000th trip made by China-Europe freight trains operated by the China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing) in Duisburg, Germany. A freight train loaded with electronic products, mechanical parts and daily necessities, which departed from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on June 23, arrived in Duisburg, Germany on Monday. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Photo taken on July 11, 2022 shows a scene from the welcome ceremony for the 10,000th trip made by China-Europe freight trains operated by the China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing) in Duisburg, Germany. A freight train loaded with electronic products, mechanical parts and daily necessities, which departed from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on June 23, arrived in Duisburg, Germany on Monday. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)
WASHINGTON, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States conducted a drone strike Tuesday that killed the Islamic State's (IS) leader in Syria, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

Maher al-Agal, one of the top five ISIS leaders and the extremist group's leader in Syria, was killed in the strike outside Jindayris, northwest Syria, according to CENTCOM.

The other target of the strike, a senior IS official who is closely associated with Al-Agal, was seriously injured, the statement said, adding an initial review indicated the operation caused no civilian casualties.

In addition to being a senior leader within the group, Al-Agal was responsible for aggressively pursuing the development of IS networks outside of Iraq and Syria, the statement said.

"This strike reaffirms CENTCOM's steadfast commitment to the region and the enduring defeat of ISIS," said Joe Buccino, a CENTCOM spokesperson, using a different abbreviation for the extremist group's name. "The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks."

The killing of Al-Agal dealt another blow to IS, following a series of detrimental events against it in the past several months.

A top IS leader in Syria, who was also an experienced bomb maker, was captured and detained after a raid by the U.S.-led coalition in June, according to the U.S. military.

An operation in February by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria resulted in the death of the top leader of IS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. 
UNITED NATIONS, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution to re-authorize cross-border aid deliveries into Syria for six months.

The current authorization expired on Sunday after the Security Council failed on Friday to adopt any resolution that would have renewed the mechanism.

Russia vetoed a draft resolution prepared by Ireland and Norway that sought a 12-month re-authorization. A Russian draft resolution, which would have renewed the mechanism for six months, failed to gain the necessary votes for approval. 
MONTEVIDEO, July 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 200 homes were damaged Monday by a storm with winds of up to 120 km per hour in the city of Paysandu, capital of the department of the same name in western Uruguay, local authorities said.

At least 32 people were injured as a result of the storm, although none seriously, the department's police chief, Eduar Alvez, told the daily "El Observador."

The National Administration of Power Plants and Electrical Transmissions, the public power company, said via Twitter that the early morning storm "caused significant damage to the power grid in the department of Paysandu," leaving about 30,000 homes without electricity.

Winds ripped the roofs off more than 200 houses and toppled 400 trees, the acting mayor of Paysandu, Fermin Farinha, said at a press conference, urging local residents to stay indoors due to fallen "electric cables on public roads."

The Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology confirmed that wind gusts of 120 km per hour were reported at the Paysandu airport, located 6 km south of the city.

Meanwhile, Presidential Secretary Alvaro Delgado announced on Twitter that in view of the "great damage," the National Emergency System was working with the departmental emergency coordination center to deliver aid to those affected. 
Maltese President George Vella (L, Front) and visiting Croatian President Zoran Milanovic (R, Front) attend a welcome ceremony in Valletta, Malta, on July 11, 2022. Maltese President George Vella and visiting Croatian President Zoran Milanovic on Monday confirmed their commitment to continuing close bilateral cooperation on key issues, President Vella's office said in a statement. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua)

VALLETTA, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Maltese President George Vella and visiting Croatian President Zoran Milanovic on Monday confirmed their commitment to continuing close bilateral cooperation on key issues, President Vella's office said in a statement.

The issues included the situation in Ukraine, the ongoing challenges faced by the Mediterranean region, the enlargement of the European Union, and the Conference on the Future of Europe, according to the statement.

A welcome ceremony for the two-day visit by President Milanovic was held at Palace Square in Valletta before the two leaders held talks. The Croatian president is reciprocating a state visit by Vella in October last year.

The presidents exchanged views on how the conflict in Ukraine disrupted global stability, international trade, energy sourcing and has caused food shortages.

Addressing the press together with Milanovic, Vella spoke "very positively" of Croatia's progress towards joining the euro area and encouraged further reforms towards becoming a member of the Schengen area, which will boost tourism between the two countries.

Croatia is set to adopt the euro as its currency on Jan. 1, 2023 and has been receiving technical advice from Malta, which adopted the single currency in 2008. 

Maltese President George Vella (2nd L) and visiting Croatian President Zoran Milanovic (1st L) attend a welcome ceremony in Valletta, Malta, on July 11, 2022. Maltese President George Vella and visiting Croatian President Zoran Milanovic on Monday confirmed their commitment to continuing close bilateral cooperation on key issues, President Vella's office said in a statement. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua)
KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Tuesday that China stands ready to boost strategic communication with Malaysia and jointly safeguard their respective legitimate rights and interests in the face of a volatile world.

During a meeting with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday, Wang said China is willing to work with Malaysia to instill more positive energy into world peace and stability.

Wang said China and Malaysia are sincere partners for mutually beneficial cooperation, and they will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership in 2023 and the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations in 2024, which will bring new development opportunities for bilateral ties.

China would like to enhance mutual learning with Malaysia to improve governance capability and contribute the wisdom of the East to global governance, Wang said.

Saifuddin said Malaysia stands ready to work with China to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen the alignment of development strategies and connectivity, accelerate joint construction of the Belt and Road flagship projects, expand innovative cooperation and achieve leapfrog development.

He said Malaysia highly appreciates China's Global Development Initiative, which brings a strong momentum for developing countries to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Malaysia speaks highly of China's consistent treatment of small and medium-sized countries on an equal footing, and welcomes China's growth and development, he said.

Malaysia is ready to join hands with China to increase the strength of Asia, so as to promote regional cooperation featuring openness and inclusiveness, added Saifuddin.

Wang noted that China has the best record among major countries in terms of peace and security, and would like to share development opportunities with its neighboring countries, so as to speed up common development and revitalization.

Both sides agreed to implement outcomes from the first meeting of the high-level committee on China-Malaysia cooperation and deepen practical cooperation in various fields.

The two countries will strengthen cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, and help bolster Malaysia's capacity building to become a regional vaccine production center.

The two sides also agreed to expand cooperation in digital telecommunications, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, new energy and environment protection.

The two countries will work to further advance the relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and push for the implementation of the idea of a community with a shared future for mankind in neighboring countries.

Wang wrapped up his Asia tour Tuesday, which has taken him to Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. 
TEHRAN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the technological cooperation between Iran and Russia dates back to the days before the Ukrainian crisis.

Nasser Kanaani, the ministry's spokesman, made the remarks when asked about U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's claim on Monday that Iran is preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of drones, including weapons-capable ones.

Iran's stance on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which broke out in late February, is "absolutely clear and has been declared time and again officially," he noted.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said recently that the Ukrainian crisis is rooted in the expansion of the NATO, a Western military alliance, toward Russia's borders and its provocations against Moscow.

"Ukraine's crisis should be resolved through the course of dialogue and negotiation," the minister said.

Kanaani also accused the United States and European states of turning countries, including some in West Asia, into "an arsenal of their diverse lethal arms." 
Press Release

July 12, 2022 Statement of Senator Risa Hontiveros on the 6th anniversary of Hague Ruling On the sixth anniversary of the Hague Tribunal's Ruling on the West Philippine Sea, I am calling on the Marcos administration to use its newfound influence with China to protect our interests. This is a chance for the leadership to take a sharper position compared to its predecessor. Any discussion of "shared prosperity" which will be developed using Philippine resources, must yield to international law and our own constitution. These should always be at the back of our government's mind as it now attempts a "higher level" of engagement with Beijing. Hopefully, this new "special friendship" puts Filipinos first, unlike the previous administration. No amount of diplomatic relations should ever imperil our sovereignty. However, to this day, China has barely built any sort of foundation for good will, trust, or respect because of its refusal to accept the court's authority regarding the WPS. Despite tremendous international pressure, they have not heeded the order cited in the Hague Ruling, and have, in fact, increased their violent and illegal presence in Philippine waters. Promoters of illegal activities, such as the militarization of Philippine territory, must be held to account. China's naval exercises have led to the outright bullying of Filipino fisherfolk and the loss of their livelihood. China's unlawful and aggressive incursions must also stop, especially their addition of artificial islands in disputed waters. Mr. President, it is your duty to prohibit these operations. While overlapping exclusive economic zones at the WPS have been a perpetual issue in our region, this should never be a reason to let the trail run cold. Even now, the landmark case victory from the Hague Ruling not only bolsters our case against China, it energizes all citizens to fight for our sovereignty. Let us do right by our fellow Filipinos and show them why bullies never, ever, win. Dahil ngayon at bukas, ATIN ANG 'PINAS!
ADDIS ABABA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Tuesday signed a seven-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost bilateral ties.

In a press statement, Eritrea's Ministry of Information said the MoU includes agreements in the fields of economic cooperation, scientific and technological collaboration, as well as defense and security cooperation.

The Ministry of Information also disclosed the two countries have agreed to promote relations between their two peoples, including through their diaspora communities, strengthen bilateral political and diplomatic cooperation as well as jointly endeavor to advance economic integration in the Horn of Africa.

Mohamud, who has been on an official state visit to the Red Sea nation since Saturday, has visited Somali troops being trained in Eritrea. The Somali president has also visited various development projects being implemented in the Southern and Red Sea regions of Eritrea. 
by Gretinah Machingura

HARARE, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwean government has enlisted African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina to help the southern African nation clear its long-standing, huge external debt arrears amounting to 13.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Adesina arrived in Zimbabwe on Monday to kick start his engagement process with Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other senior government officials including Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.

Apart from meeting Mnangagwa and Ncube on Tuesday, the top AfDB official also met several African and G7 ambassadors and representatives of international financial institutions accredited to Zimbabwe.

Adesina accepted a request in February by the Zimbabwean government to serve as the country's arrears clearance and debt resolution champion among international financial institutions and bilateral creditors.

According to the AfDB, discussions between Adesina and Zimbabwean officials were expected to center on potential areas of technical assistance that the AfDB will provide to the Zimbabwean government.

Speaking at a joint press conference after meeting Mnangagwa, Adesina said he gladly accepted the role because of his firm belief in Zimbabwe's economic potential.

"I came here to listen, to understand and appreciate what needs to be done to get where we need to. I will not work alone but will work closely with President Mnangagwa, Finance Minister Ncube, development partners, multilateral partners and the international community. I am very optimistic that working together we will be able to get there," Adesina said.

Zimbabwe has tried unsuccessfully in the past to clear its huge external debt arrears through various strategies, with the last debt arrears clearance plan, dubbed the Lima plan agreed with global lenders in Peru in 2015, going off the rails.

The Zimbabwean government has since drawn up a new arrears clearance strategy that it hopes will succeed with the help of the AfDB president.

In 2015 and under the Lima plan, Zimbabwe cleared its 15-year debt arrears to the International Monetary Fund amounting to 108 million U.S. dollars, but this has not moved the IMF to release new loans to Zimbabwe, arguing it has to clear arrears with other international financial institutions and bilateral creditors and also implements a strong reform agenda.

Zimbabwe also owes the World Bank, AfDB, European Investment Bank, Paris Club and other bilateral donors billions of U.S. dollars.

Speaking at the same press conference, Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said Zimbabwe needed to clear its debt arrears in order to achieve its goal of becoming an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.

"What we have done so far is to begin token payments to the AfDB, the World Bank, EIB and all 17 Paris Club members. But what needs to be done is to implement the full roadmap for arrears clearance and for this to work well we need a champion and I am pleased to say that (Dr) Adesina has agreed to be the champion to cajole all partners around the world for us to be able to implement our arrears clearance strategy," Ncube said.

Adesina said Zimbabwe deserved to be supported to clear its debt arrears because it had suffered economic hardships for a very long time and had continued to be a reliable and committed shareholder of the AfDB and also making token payments towards servicing its external debt.

"It's time to reintegrate and re-dynamize Zimbabwe not only into the international financial institutions but also to open space for it to play its critical role within the South African Development Community (SADC) region," Adesina said.

Adesina was optimistic that Zimbabwe's arrears clearance and debt resolution strategy will succeed despite Western sanctions on the country. 
DAR ES SALAAM, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian authorities on Monday launched a campaign aimed at mobilizing people to use alternative energy, including using gas for cooking, to stop deforestation.

January Makamba, the Minister for Energy, said the first phase of the campaign will be done in 38 districts in 14 regions where poor families that use firewood for cooking will be given cooking gas cylinders free of charge.

Addressing public rallies in Butiama, Musoma and Bunda districts in Mara region at the start of the campaign, Makamba said the government will reduce levies imposed on gas to make it affordable to poor households.

The minister added that about 22,000 people die in the country annually from respiratory ailments caused by the use of firewood and charcoal.

According to state-run Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS), Tanzania has approximately 39.9 percent of forest cover but the country has an annual deforestation rate of about 1 percent, which is around 400,000 hectares.

TFS says between 1990 and 2010, Tanzania lost 19.4 percent of its forested land, or around 8 million hectares. 
NEW DELHI, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Despite the Indian government's ongoing campaign to accelerate the pace and coverage of COVID-19 vaccination across states, data shows only one district in the Indian capital has completed over 90 percent of the two-dose vaccination coverage.

According to the data available with the government's CoWIN portal, Indian government's COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network, of the 11 districts in the capital, only the New Delhi district has consistently been the best performer when it comes to COVID-19 vaccination, with 94.2 percent second dose coverage.

Three districts - Southwest, East and West have been able to achieve 89.8 percent, 88.5 percent and 88.4 percent respectively. Four districts - South, Shahdara, North and Northwest have achieved 83.3 percent, 81.7 percent, 81.1 percent and 80.2 percent respectively.

Two districts - Northeast and Central have recorded vaccination coverage of 79.9 percent and 77.1 percent. One district - Southeast has achieved coverage of 70.5 percent.

According to officials, the New Delhi district has one of the best coverage of the precaution dose (third dose) among frontline workers as well. The coverage of the third dose among frontline workers has been poor in other districts.

To fight the pandemic, the Indian government has been trying to increase the vaccination coverage of its population.

So far 66.7 percent of India's eligible population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 which means receiving the required two doses of vaccine.

Meanwhile, the country reported 13,615 fresh cases of COVID-19 during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,652,944, the data released by the country's federal health ministry showed on Tuesday.

With this, the number of active cases in the country rose to 131,043.

According to the ministry, 20 deaths related to COVID-19 have been recorded during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 525,474 in the country.

Health officials are worried about the detection of super contagious omicron mutant (BA.2.75) that has begun to gain ground in India. There are fears it may be able to spread rapidly and get around immunity from vaccines and previous infections. 
LABUAN BAJO : India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant led the Indian delegation to the second G20 Sherpa meeting, called by Indonesia, to review the progress made under various Working Groups of the G20 Sherpa Track.

In his remarks throughout several sector-specific sessions, he reiterated India's unwavering support for Indonesia during its G20 Presidency, described India's accomplishments and experiences, and urged for an inclusive, forward-thinking, and collaborative approach to tackling global concerns. He emphasised the significance of all G20 countries working together urgently, cooperatively, politically neutrally, and fairly to address concerns related to health, food, and energy security.

The Indian Sherpa discussed the importance of mainstreaming sustainability into the tourism industry as well as protecting and promoting the interests of small and marginal farmers.

He emphasised the use of data and digitization for empowerment, financial inclusion, capacity building, and the creation of long-term jobs. Kant said that in order to promote equitable transitions, the development and climate discourses should be viewed holistically and on an equal footing when it comes to catastrophe risk, climate change, and environmental challenges.

He highlighted India's quick progress in accelerating the use of renewable energy and reaffirmed India's COP 26 pledges. He placed a strong emphasis on the need to promote safe, orderly, and regular migration while also deepening international participation.

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Brazil: An anaesthetist who is accused of sexually assaulting a pregnant patient during a C-section may have also attacked two other mothers that day. After allegedly secretly filming a woman at the Hospital da Mulher in So Joo de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro, being orally raped after being heavily sedated, Giovanni Quintella Bezerra, 32, was detained on suspicion of rape.

The woman's husband was told to leave the room without being able to see his newborn child; he didn't learn what had happened to his wife until after the doctor's arrest, when he recognised him on television.The delegate in charge of looking into the matter, Barbara Lomba, said, "I've never seen anything like it."When the attack occurred, the woman told her family that she thought she was having a hallucination.

Bezerra just recently finished his two-month-long medical residency in anaesthesia.

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According to reports, hospital staff installed a covert camera to monitor his activities because they were concerned about the dosage of drugs he was allegedly giving his patients.They watched in horror as he sexually assaulted the woman while behind a surgical curtain, less than a yard away, other medical professionals performed the C-section on her.

According to reports, he attacked her for almost ten minutes.

Police are looking into whether two other women who were treated by the doctor that day for similar attacks were also raped, according to staff members who witnessed the rape.

The Secretary of State for Health and the Health Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro announced: "We inform you that an internal investigation will be opened to take administrative measures.The victim's family is receiving complete support from the Hospital da Mulher team.

"This behaviour is illegal and must be punished in accordance with the law in effect," it states.Hospital staff received praise from the police for acting quickly to report the crime. the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro has announced that the doctor's custody hearing will take place on Tuesday.

In Brazil, he is accused of rape and could receive a sentence of 8 to 15 years in prison.
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka, which is practically without a leader and completely insolvent, chose to elect a new president from the parliament on July 20.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena made the announcement after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa officially informed him that he would quit on July 13, as he promised earlier. To determine the next steps in appointing an all-party government, the Speaker called more than 35 political party representatives from both the government and the opposition. Also present at the meeting was Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"It was resolved to call a special session of Parliament on July 15 and to make a statement on the open position of Presidency. Nominations would be requested on July 19 in order to elect a new President on July 20 in the Parliament.

As per the Constitutional norms, when the post of President is vacated, Parliament should be summoned within 3 days and announcement should be made calling for nomination to appoint a new President. After that, within two days, an election should be held," it said.

The cabinet ministers informed Wickremesinghe of their decision to cede control of the government to an upcoming all-party administration / government during their meeting with him on Saturday morning.

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SEOUL: A senior advisor to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with a representative from the South Korean Foreign Ministry on Tuesday to discuss the two countries' alliance and other topics.

Derek Chollet, a counsellor with the US State Department, tweeted that he had met Yeo Seung-bae, the deputy minister for political affairs, in Seoul.

"We discussed our collaborative efforts on domestic and international challenges as well as the US-South Korea partnership. I value South Korea's collaboration on Burma "Without providing any other information, Chollet wrote, abbreviating South Korea's formal name as the Republic of Korea.

Hours earlier, he had written the following on Twitter: "Seoul is a terrific place to be! The US-South Korea alliance is the cornerstone of Indo-Pacific peace, security, and prosperity, and our countries are cooperating more closely than ever on a variety of international issues." It came after his office announced he will go to South Korea for two days starting on Monday to consult on alliance matters and local and international issues, including North Korea and Myanmar, sometimes known as Burma in Washington.

He is tasked with carrying out "special diplomatic duties" as instructed by the Secretary while serving as Blinken's top policy adviser at the level of Under Secretary, per the Department.

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Jakarta: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday warned that if the one-China principle governing how Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan were to be abandoned, there would be "dark clouds or even ferocious storms" and accused Washington of trying to weaken the policy. According to Wang, Taipei authorities are to blame for the current tensing of relations across the Taiwan Strait because they abandoned the 1992 consensus that reflects the one-China principle undermined cross-Strait relations and they are walking further down the path of relying on foreign countries to seek independence.

Furthermore he claimed that the US was currently playing the Taiwan card to sabotage and restrain China's development. At the secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wang was discussing China's regional strategy.

Wang said I also want to draw attention to the fact that the US has recently emphasised the necessity of upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every country on numerous occasions. I have heard this a lot. We take this statement from the US seriously given America's track record. He emphasised that China's sovereignty and territorial integrity needed to be respected and upheld as well.

But we must stress one thing the US cannot practise double standards by continually breaking its promises or flip-flopping on its positions.

Washington has stated that it still adheres to its one-China policy and does not support Taiwan's independence, but the US is required by the US Taiwan Relations Act to give Taiwan the means to defend itself.

reaffirmed China's position.

on the Taiwan question asserting that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China. Taiwan is part of Chinese territory despite the fact that the two sides have been at odds politically for a very long time.

We sincerely hope that all nations will fully comprehend the grave threat posed by Taiwan's independence and will cooperate with China to uphold the one-China principle.

It is more likely to ensure peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as well as peace and prosperity in the region if we are unambiguous about upholding the one-China principle.

Wang's speech was given a few days after he had a five-hour meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken outside of the G20 foreign ministers' summit in Bali.

China and the Asean nations are moving quickly to complete consultations on the South China Sea Code of Conduct which will act as reliable international safeguards for better conflict management. and more active cooperation in the South China Sea's joint governance.

The Chinese foreign minister is currently travelling through Southeast Asia, making stops in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Myanmar.

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Kathmandu, July 12

There has been a slight improvement in Nepals foreign exchange reserves over the past month.

The foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs 1.176 trillion on June 14 compared to Rs 1.146 trillion on May 14, which is around Rs 29 billion increase in a month, according to Nepal Rastra Bank.

Nepals foreign exchange reserves had gone down by over 15 per cent between June 2021 and April 2022.

According to Nepal Rastra Bank, it has 1.031 trillion foreign exchange reserves while other commercial banks have the remaining Rs 114.95 billion.

The central bank states that the country can buy goods and services for less than seven months with the existing foreign money.

This is seen as good news and Nepals balance of payment is the lowest it has ever been. The central bank of Nepal tightened rules and requirements for foreign currency exchange as the countrys exchange reserves were on the decline.

Nepal Rastra Bank also brought a new policy that increased the cost of various products ranging from alcohol and cosmetics to vehicles. The government is also preparing to extend the ban on the import of 10 specific luxury items imposed in April.
Press Release

July 12, 2022 Sen. Revilla files bill subsidizing tertiary education in private HEIs To provide greater coverage of the government's Tertiary Education Subsidy, Senator Revilla filed Senate Bill No. 29 that seeks to amend Republic Act No. 10931 or the "Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act". The bill aims to expand the coverage of the Tertiary Education Subsidy as provided in the original law by introducing a voucher system that will allow indigent and academically competent students to enroll and study in private higher educational institutions (HEIs) and technical-vocational institutions. Similar to the voucher system the Department of Education is already implementing, financial assistance in the form of vouchers will be provided to qualified tertiary students. The subsidy will not be given to the learner in cash, and instead, will be paid directly to the private HEIs. The bill aims to have a "proportional budgetary allocation" in order to increase the access of Filipino students to tertiary education and promote the complementarity between public and private higher education institutions and technical-vocational education institutions. When enacted, the measure will help achieve and operationalize a provision in the updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 which encourages the United Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) Board to "implement a voucher system and improve the loan system to give students a choice in school (whether public or private) and educational tracks (whether technical-vocational education track or higher education) prior to the enrollment period". The bill likewise provides that all beneficiaries of the Tertiary Education Subsidy shall continue to receive such benefits until they complete their higher education degree program or post-secondary technical-vocation course as long as they do not fail in any subject enrolled in and comply with the residency requirements. Sen. Revilla vowed to push for the passage of the measure to help more families send their children to college or in technical-vocational training courses. "We should fast-track the passage of this bill with the noble intention of ensuring that the youth, especially those belonging to the poor, will have more doors of opportunities opening for them through quality education", he said.
Home  Opinion  Nepals stateless people: This is how the withdrawal of the citizenship amendment bill was undesirable

Raju Prajapati, 21, a permanent resident of Birgunj, expresses his disappointment over the governments decision to withdraw Nepal Citizenship Act Amendment Bill. He is eligible to get citizenship as his father is a Nepali citizen by birth and his mother is a citizen of descent. Both of his grandparents are also citizenship holders.

But, we cannot provide your citizenship by your mothers identity unless the government passes the Citizenship Amendment Bill, this is what he often gets to hear from government officials whenever he visits the government office for his citizenship.

On July 8, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand submitted a proposal of withdrawal for the pending citizenship amendment Bill, which was tabled on August 7, 2018, by the then CPN-UML government. The proposal was passed by the majority in the lower house. The proposal was submitted as per the cabinet decision.

Now, these citizenship seekers have a long struggle to go through as the withdrawal was apparently undesirable.

Waste of time and money

File: Nepals Parliament building

The withdrawal of the bill has converted almost four years of economic and human resources into waste. The State Affairs Committee held 34 meetings whereas its subcommittee held nine meetings, which cost more than Rs 1.3 million.

But, a significant number of media just limited themselves to disseminating the information, quietly observing the injustices. The ethnocentric garrulous civil society and their human rights defenders prevented themselves from speaking up when their interest is not directly involved. Had it been concerned with the lives of high-caste Hindu elites from the hills, the whole media, civil societies, human rights defenders, political party youth organisations and lawmakers themselves would have made it a headline of the day.

But, thanks to their apathy, everything has gone to waste.

Now, the government is planning to bring another similar bill and pass it before the tenure of the House of Representatives ends before November. But, people doubt their intention. How could a bill, which had not been passed for more than three years, will be passed within three months?

This sounds beyond our lawmakers capacity.

Citizenship: The right to obtain more rights

Representational sketch: Nepali citizenship

Citizenship is mans basic right for it is nothing less than the right to have rights, a former chief justice of the US, Earl Warren, has rightly commented. One cannot even imagine exercising dozens of fundamental rights without it.

Otherwise, the government can simply avoid fulfilling its duties towards them if they are not citizens. These stateless people cannot register birth, buy or sell land, compete for higher-level examinations for positions in government offices, file for a change of address, acquire a passport, open bank accounts, register for voting and cannot even get a sim card.

Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948, mentions each individual has an undeniable and indivisible right to nationality, which builds a sense of identity for him/her. Nepal is a signatory state to UDHR. Hence, the Constitution of Nepal in its article 10 states that no citizen of Nepal shall be deprived of the right to obtain citizenship.

Article 11 has provisioned certain conditions to be citizens of Nepal. A person whose father or mother was a citizen of Nepal at the time of his or her birth can attain citizenship by descent, as article 11(2) has provisioned. Similarly, as per article 11(3), a child of citizens who obtained citizenship by birth can acquire the citizenship of Nepal by descent in the case of the childs father and mother both are citizens of Nepal.

But, millions of Nepali citizensincluding the children of citizens who acquired citizenship by birth, and children whose mother acquired citizenship by descent but the father is either unknown or is a foreign nationalare deprived of the fundamental right due to a lack of appropriate federal law.

Moreover, Nepal has ratified International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1976. How can an individual enjoy their civil and political freedoms when they are not recognised as citizens by their own state? The countrys laws and involvement in international treaties and conventions merely remain as a collection of words for those who are stateless and whose life is full of uncertainties.

Reasons for being stateless

Representational file

The states ethnocentric approach and patriarchy are the major reasons why it is still what it is. They are explained below:

Ethnocentric approach

In Nepal, historically, high-caste Hindu elites have dominated in all spectrums of social life. Dr Hari Bans Jha writes, Till the 1950s, Madheshi people were treated as aliens in their own land. Until 1958, the black Madheshi required a passport-like document before entering Kathmandu.

The constitution in 1962 made Nepali origin and ability to speak and write in Nepali mandatory to obtain Nepali citizenship on basis of naturalisation. Government officials interpreted Nepali origin as the pahadi (hill) origin. Most Madheshis did not speak or write the Nepali language, so they were deprived of citizenship.

The 1990 constitution not only repealed the provision of citizenship by birth but also made it mandatory for non-citizenship holders to stay for 15 years to qualify for citizenship. The Centre for Economic and Technical Studies in the early 1990s conducted a survey, which showed around 16 per cent of sample households of Madheshi were not recognised as citizens.

After the 2006 democratic movement, the provision of issuing citizenship on basis of the birth was however revived. But in the present context, the children of those who obtained citizenship by birth are not given citizenship though guaranteed by the constitution of Nepal.

The high-caste Hindu elites from the hills have perceived those stateless people to be Indians, which is partially true. Some Indian citizens have illegally obtained citizenship in Nepal, but that does not mean the government can restrict millions of its own Nepali citizens from exercising their rights. The government has to arrange strict mechanisms while issuing it.

Patriarchy

Patriarchy has been the system of the world. Nepal is obviously not an exception. Women were regarded as objects of men. There had been discrimination in multiple areas on the basis of gender.

In patriarchal Nepal, Nationality and citizenship are traditionally inherited from the father. If a father is either unknown or has moved away, the children are left stateless. They do not get citizenship on the basis of their mothers name. In 2015, Forum for Women, Law, and Development (FWLD), estimated over 4 million people living in Nepal in a state of statelessness. The number has sharply increased.

Nepal has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), making itself obliged to end all forms of discrimination against women. Due to a lack of appropriate federal laws, women are discriminated against. This goes against various fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution.
Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

As of March, the average monthly Social Security benefit is $1,618.29 for an individual, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Doubling up for a couple, that's $3,236.58.

Not a bad haul, if it's supplementing other income or padding a nice, big nest egg. If Social Security is all you're living on, however, you're going to have to pick your retirement city very carefully to stretch those dollars to their absolute limit -- particularly on the notoriously expensive West Coast, which, for the purposes of this study, includes Alaska.

See: How Biden Is Impacting Social Security in 2022

Learn: 10 Reasons You Should Claim Social Security Early

To determine the best places for couples to live on the West Coast on only their combined Social Security checks, GOBankingRates used cost-of-living data from Sperling's Best Places. The ranking also includes ApartmentList data on the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment, as well as each city's livability score, sourced from AreaVibes.

Each city was then given a combined score -- which represents a summation of all those factors -- with lower scores being better. The list is ranked in order of the worst score to the best.

Read on to learn about the West Coast spots that are most welcoming to retirees living on Social Security.

jared ropelato / Shutterstock.com

Vallejo, California

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,607

Vallejo has a lousy livability score of 56 -- livability scores are calculated by algorithms that factor in dozens of variables like proximity to amenities, crime and schools. The cost-of-living index is a high 131.3, with 100 representing the national average. The average one-bedroom apartment will run you $1,607 per month, the highest on this list.

Jon Bilous / Shutterstock.com

Riverside, California

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,508

At 133.1, Riverside's cost-of-living index is even higher than even Vallejo's -- a full one-third more than the national average. The town's livability score is an unimpressive 59, mostly because of its relatively high crime rate. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,508, one of the three highest on the list.

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Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Seattle

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,596

Moving up the coast to Washington is Seattle, a pricey city where the average one-bedroom costs $1,596. That contributes to a bruising 172.3 cost-of-living index -- the highest on this list, by far -- which means that daily living in Seattle is 72.3% more expensive than the national average. All in all, its livability score is an underwhelming 65 thanks to high crime rates, high housing costs and, of course, a high cost of living.

Manny Chavez / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Sacramento, California

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,432

The capital city of California, Sacramento has a below-average livability score of 62, mostly because of its crime statistics and relatively high prices. The cost-of-living index there is 118.2, making the city nearly 20% costlier to live in than the national average. The typical renter will shell out $1,432 for a one-bedroom.

JMcQ / Shutterstock.com

Anchorage, Alaska

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,176

In Anchorage, crime and real estate prices are high even by Alaska standards, both of which contribute to the city's drab livability score of 60. Although the average one-bedroom there costs $1,176 per month, one of the least expensive on this list, Anchorage residents still struggle with a rough cost-of-living index of 123.5.

Spondylolithesis / Getty Images

Napa, California

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,522

Known for its legendary vineyards, daily life in Napa is nearly as pricey as its wine -- the cost-of-living index is 162.1, second only to Seattle. With an average monthly rent of $1,522, it's one of only four cities on this list where the typical one-bedroom costs more than $1,500. Overall, its livability score is a middling 70.

Kyle Sprague / Shutterstock.com

Portland, Oregon

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,344

The cost of living in Portland is 30.8% higher than the national average. Although its $1,344 average rent makes it one of just five cities on this list where a one-bedroom goes for less than $1,400, its very high crime rate contributes to a dreary livability score of 65.

DenisTangneyJr / iStock.com

Fresno, California

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,025

Just two cities on this list are less expensive than Fresno, which boasts a forgiving cost-of-living index of 102.6. With an average monthly rent of $1,025.00, a one-bedroom is cheaper in just thee other cities. Unfortunately, high crime contributes to a subpar livability score of 58.

Ceri Breeze / Shutterstock.com

Bremerton, Washington

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,440

Bremerton comes up with an average livability score of 70. With a cost-of-living index of 108.9 and an average rent of $1,440 for a one-bedroom, it's certainly one of the more affordable cities to make the cut.

GarysFRP / Getty Images

Eugene, Oregon

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $928

With a cost-of-living index of 105.3, Eugene is even more affordable than Bremerton. A lot of that has to do with the fact that it's one of only three cities on the list with a three-figure monthly rent -- $928 per month, to be exact, which makes it the cheapest on the entire list. Thanks to its high crime rate, however, Eugene earns a meh livability score of 65.

John T Callery / Shutterstock.com

Olympia, Washington

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,436

The capital city of Washington has a cost-of-living index of 106.1, which puts it on the lower side of this list. Olympia's livability score is 74 -- the highest of any city profiled here -- and a $1,436 average monthly rent.

benedek / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Spokane, Washington

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $947

Just one city on this list is cheaper to live in than the national average -- Spokane, whose cost-of-living index is an impressive 92.3. Although the city's paltry livability score of 67 leaves plenty to be desired, its $947 monthly rent makes it the No. 2 least expensive place to rent an apartment.

Shutterstock.com

Salem, Oregon

2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $979

With a cost-of-living index of 101.8, Salem is less expensive to live in than any city on this list except for Spokane. One of just three cities with a sub-$1,000 average rent, a one-bedroom goes for just $979 per month. That's all good news, despite Salem's low livability score of 69.

More From GOBankingRates

Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the best places for a couple to live on the West Coast on only their combined Social Security checks based on the (1) average monthly benefit for retired workers, $1,618.29, sourced from the Social Security Administration, and doubled ($3,236.58); (2) the overall cost of living in each city, sourced from Sperling's Best Places; (3) average 2022 rent for a one-bedroom apartment as sourced from ApartmentList; and (4) livability scores sourced from AreaVibes. Factors (2) through (4) were scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factor (4) was weighted double in final calculations. All data was collected and is up to date as of April 22, 2022.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 13 Best Places on the West Coast for Couples To Live on Only a Social Security Check
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Dublin, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "eGovernance Platforms and Services Growth Opportunities" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Rapid urbanization is triggering a strategic necessity to upgrade existing city infrastructure and move toward a more agile administration model. Traditional governance techniques require gradual transformation to cater to citizens' evolving requirements faster and more effectively. A digitized governance model not only helps create better solutions for citizens, but also facilitates efficient bi-directional communication, in which citizens have a say on infrastructural issues and what administrators need to do to resolve them.



An eGovernance model goes beyond just upgrading basic citizen facilities or services; rather, it cultivates a more collaborative ecosystem among public organizations, private entities, educational institutions, and citizens at the ground level. All parties come together to brainstorm reformative ideas and work toward uplifting socioeconomic infrastructure. Hence, this operational model is bound to incur massive financial investments from public and private firms, which leads to mass employment opportunities for residents and an economic boom in the specific region.



Growth in demand for personalized citizen services compels administrators to transition to a digitized operations model. The idea mostly revolves around customizing and enhancing the end-to-end citizen experience of a given public service platform. This will improve overall service quality, foster greater citizen engagement, and ultimately multiply citizen trust in public offices.



Information transfer over electronic media empowers administrators to gain critical insights about their citizens, which helps create a development blueprint for the future. Advances in emerging technologies like Big Data, advanced analytics, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and blockchain allow administrators to improve their operational efficiency, minimize redundant tasks, and focus on the critical aspects of governance.



For example, about 60% of the global population is expected to dwell in urban areas by 2030, and two out of every six citizens will be above the age of 60. This implies that the existing healthcare infrastructure may no longer be able to cater to the growing demands, prompting a steep rise in investment toward automating the healthcare sector through the introduction of advanced technologies like AI, Big Data, ML, NLP, and telehealth. A digital governance model will gradually transform a city into a smart city infrastructure where advanced technologies constantly penetrate and monitor a city's behavior across all verticals, viz., finance, utility, healthcare, education, energy, and mobility.



While many European nations and the United States embrace a digital administrative framework, Asian sub-continent countries and most African regions struggle to transition from existing practices mainly due to the lack of regulatory reforms, resistance arising from populist mindsets, and low internet penetration rates (especially in Sub-Saharan Africa).



The study examines how governments can transform citizens' lives and develop more transparent and efficient operational mechanisms through the adoption of advanced technologies. There is a surge in ICT investments specifically targeted toward enhancing a government's capabilities across multiple developed nations. Citizen-friendly governments will likely quickly transition from traditional approaches to a more proactive stance by investing in technology, bringing about tangible differences in citizens' lives and creating opportunities for financial growth.

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Key Issues Addressed

What are the key components of an eGovernance model?

What are the disruptive technologies that will help administrators transition to an eGovernance model?

What will eGovernance look like in 2030?

What are the guidelines for an eGovernance model to be effective?

What are the best practices across various countries/cities?

How will high urbanization and the growth of megacities trigger a need for eGovernance?

What are the perceived challenges of eGovernance?

Key Topics Covered:



1. Strategic Imperatives

2. Executive Dashboard

Mega Trend Universe - eGovernance Platforms

Main Findings

Growth Opportunities Essential to Future Success

3. Strategic Context

The Future of the eGovernance Ecosystem

Evolution of eGovernance

eGovernance Service Model - 2030

Core Components of eGovernance

eGovernance - Utility Scope

eGovernance - The Need Imperative

Strategic Guidelines for eGovernance

Robust Data Principles - A Mandate for eGovernance

Strategic Enablers for eGovernance

The eGovernment Development Index (EGDI) by Economy

Digital ID - A Pivot in Effective eGovernance

Case Studies - Alberta Digital ID Platform

Case Study - Estonia X-Road Digital Initiative

Case Studies - Japan's Digital Government Plans

Rise in Megacities - Calling for Smart Governance

High Urbanization - A Trigger for eGovernance

Cybersecurity - The Pivot for eGovernance

Cybersecurity - An Urbanization Perspective

eGovernance - Degree of Automation vs Impact Matrix

eGovernance's Perceived Challenges

Key Trend Opportunity Levers

Trend Opportunity - Attractiveness Analysis

4. Future of eGovernance - Technology Perspectives

Trend Opportunity - Core Technologies in eGovernance

Biometrics

AI and ML

Blockchain

Cloud Computing

5. Trend Impact Analysis

Trend Opportunity Impact and Certainty Analysis

Trend Opportunity Disruption Index

Disruption Attractiveness Score

Trend Opportunity Growth Index

Growth Attractiveness Score

Trends BEETS Implications

6. Growth Opportunity Analysis

Growth Opportunity 1 - Smart City Initiatives Driving E-Governance

Growth Opportunity 2 - Blockchain to Streamline Governance Activities

Growth Opportunity 3 - Workplace Upskilling to Drive eGovernance

Critical Success Factors for Growth

Conclusion - The Way Forward

7. Appendix

8. Next Steps

9. List of Exhibits



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/f4tyy7

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




96North acquisition is Alphagreen Group's entrance into the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) market. The aromatherapy sector is a natural next stage for the wellness-focused house of brands. Alphagreen will utilise its NUOPTIMA service arm to optimise growth.

96North Luxury Candles

96North Luxury Candles

LONDON, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alphagreen Group, a house of brands focused on the health and wellness e-commerce sector, has acquired organic aromatherapy candle brand 96North.

Alphagreen Group has a growing portfolio of brands within the wellness niche and is looking to increase their acquisition pipeline as other aggregators have decreased their acquisitions. 96North is a US-grown brand that recently expanded into the UK. They have been selling on the Amazon platform since 2020 and rank in the top 1% of jar candles.

96North is currently on track to achieve 260% growth in the 12 months after acquisition. With an increase in stock and marketing spend, which Alphagreen were keen to provide, the brand can successfully scale on Amazon and within other channels. Since the acquisition, 96North has doubled in the number of customer reviews on the Amazon platform, which is a vital algorithmic element for organic ranking.

With Alphagreen Group's focus on consumer wellness areas of sleep, pain, and anxiety, the aromatherapy niche is naturally a sector of interest for the house of brands. Alphagreen is also committed to providing sustainable and environmentally safe products to answer the ethical requirements of the modern wellness consumer. The group has a pipeline of new products to be launched to extend 96North's presence in the aromatherapy market including reed diffusers, mists and several more.

Alphagreen Group's growth optimisation service arm, NUOPTIMA, is the driving force behind Alphagreen's brand acquisition and incubation strategy. The team has already helped just under 100 brands deliver improvements and revenue growth on Amazon and platforms such as Google, Facebook and Tik Tok. Fulfilment operations in the UK and Europe will allow the brand to further scale its DTC and omnichannel presence in the US, UK and EU markets.

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Alphagreen Founder and CEO Alexej Pikovsky said: "96North is a proud addition to our portfolio and we are excited to explore the potential this brand has for further product offerings in the home fragrance and aromatherapy niche. Alphagreen Group has been waiting for the right strategic acquisition before entering the Amazon FBA market and, after deep due diligence of over 40 brands, we know 96North has the solid yearly growth figures and a strong category presence to align with our initial goals. As a house of brands with a tech-enabled business service under our umbrella, we are uniquely positioned and have the specialist capability to bring acquired brands to market and effectively scale quickly."

Pikovsky predicts that due to the upcoming changes to privacy regulations, and the rising costs of social advertising, Amazon will become a fundamental channel for DTC brands in the future. 96North is the first of the Group's strategic acquisitions within the Amazon FBA arena.

-END-

Notes to Editors

For more information contact alphagreen@shift6studios.com.

About Alphagreen Group

Alphagreen Group is a global acquisition and incubation platform with a health & wellness focus. The group helps brands to scale via its own distribution channels and an extensive external omnichannel network.

Founded in 2019, Alphagreen Group was born from a passion for health and wellbeing, combined with technology and innovation. The brainchild of entrepreneurs Alexej Pikovsky and Viktor Khliupko, Alphagreen is working to simplify the entire shopper experience across self-care wellness sectors including sleep, pain, and anxiety.

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Image 1: 96North Luxury Candles





Luxury Soy candles. Toasted Coconut, Lavender Blossom, Madagascar Vanilla.









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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 11, 2022) - Blue Thunder Mining Inc. (TSXV: BLUE) (OTCQB: BLTMF) ("Blue Thunder" or the "Company") announces that it has extended the closing of its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to C$500,000 to August 18, 2022.

The terms of the Offering remain unchanged from those set out in the press release dated July 4, 2022 and comprise a total of 33,333,333 units of the Company (each, a "Unit") at a price of C$0.015 per Unit, each Unit comprising one common share and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will be exercisable to purchase an additional share of the Company at a price of C$0.05 for a period of three years, subject to early acceleration in certain conditions.

Insiders will be among the significant participants. Shareholders wishing to participate in the Offering should contact the Company through Grove Issuer Services Inc. at placements@grovecorp.ca.

The Offering remains subject to receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The securities offered have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities in the United States.

About Blue Thunder

Blue Thunder (TSXV: BLUE) (OTCQB: BLTMF) is a gold exploration company that controls 100% of one of the largest land positions near the Chapais-Chibougamau gold district of Quebec with significant historical production and major recent discoveries. The project is situated on the two major regional trends hosting IAMGOLD's Nelligan and Northern Superior Resources Lac Surprise to the south and IAMGOLD's Monster Lake to the north with excellent highway and road access. The Muus Project covers approximately 51,000 hectares in five separate blocks of prospective ground in the eastern part of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The Project is considered particularly prospective for gold mineralization, as a series of prominent ductile and brittle fault-sets transect the Property, including the Guercheville and Fancamp deformation zones, both of which are associated with numerous past and currently producing precious- and base-metal mines in the District.

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ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Chad Williams,

Non-Executive Chairman and Director

Blue Thunder Mining Inc.

401 Bay Street, Suite 2704,

P.O. Box 4, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2Y4

For more information, please visit our website bluethundermining.com, or contact: Ms. Namrata Malhotra: namrata@grovecorp.ca | 416 642-1807

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and exploration program results, the ability to complete future financings, required permitting, exploration programs and drilling, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, the analytical results from surface trenching and sampling program, including diamond drilling programs, the results of IP surveying, the results of soil and till sampling program. the quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSXV acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, the potential impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the Company's exploration program and on the Company's general business, operations and financial condition, and other risks and uncertainties. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties. This news release contains information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties in the Chibougamau District in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits, and the results of any mining thereof, on adjacent or similar properties, are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties or any potential exploration thereof.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130600
GreyViews

ceiling tiles market are Saint-Gobain S.A., Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Gebr. Knauf KG, Hunter Douglas, KET Ceilings, Aerolite Industries Pvt. Ltd., Rockfon, Odenwald Faserplattenwerk GmbH, Georgia-Pacific, and SAS International among others. To achieve a substantial market share in the worldwide Ceiling Tiles market and strengthen their position, manufacturers are pursuing expansion methods such as current developments, mergers and acquisitions, product innovations, collaborations, and partnerships, joint ventures. Among these, Saint-Gobain S.A. is one of the most significant manufacturers and distributors present in the global Ceiling Tiles market.

Pune India, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The market has been studied for the below mentioned-segmentation and regional analysis for North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Middle East and Africa. These are the key regions where the Ceiling Tiles market is operating currently and is predicted to expand in the near future. The manufacturers and suppliers involved in the Ceiling Tiles market is present across various countries in the above-mentioned regions.

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The report provides detailed understanding of the market segments which have been formed by combining different prospects such as the material type, property type, end-user, and others. Apart from this, the key driving factors, restraints, potential growth opportunities and market challenges are also discussed in the below paragraphs.

The significant players operating in the global ceiling tiles market are Saint-Gobain S.A., Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Gebr. Knauf KG, Hunter Douglas, KET Ceilings, Aerolite Industries Pvt. Ltd., Rockfon, Odenwald Faserplattenwerk GmbH, Georgia-Pacific, and SAS International among others. To achieve a substantial market share in the worldwide Ceiling Tiles market and strengthen their position, manufacturers are pursuing expansion methods such as current developments, mergers and acquisitions, product innovations, collaborations, and partnerships, joint ventures. Among these, Saint-Gobain S.A. is one of the most significant manufacturers and distributors present in the global Ceiling Tiles market.

Ceiling panels or ceiling tiles are the lightweight construction materials mainly used for covering the ceilings. These tiles are crucial in improving the acoustics and aesthetics of a room. The tiles are usually made with the help of mineral wool, gypsum, perlite, clay, fiberglass, starch, and cellulose. In addition to this, wood and glass are also seeing emerging popularity as a specialty material. The ceiling tiles are rapidly being adopted as it plays a significant role in reduction of noise, prevention of fire, and enhancing the look of the facility.

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In the global construction industry, the green building construction has become increasingly popular to reduce energy consumption as well as adverse environmental impacts. This type of construction is promoting efficiency of buildings in terms of the usage of energy, water, and materials while enabling better design, maintenance, operation, and construction of buildings. In such buildings, ceiling tiles offer a range of green choices to ensure sustainability for almost any facility. In addition, sustainable ceiling materials and acoustic panels & tiles enables green design of commercial interior environments. Hence, growth of the green construction sector has driven growth of the global ceiling tiles market.

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Scope of Ceiling Tiles Market Report

Report Metric Information Study Period 2021-2029 Base Year 2021 Forecast Period 2022-2029 Market Share Unit USD Billion Segments Covered Material type, property type, end-user Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America and Middle-East and Africa Major Players Saint-Gobain S.A., Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Gebr. Knauf KG, Hunter Douglas, KET Ceilings, Aerolite Industries Pvt. Ltd., Rockfon, Odenwald Faserplattenwerk GmbH, Georgia-Pacific, and SAS International among others

Segmentation Analysis

Metal segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in 2021.

The material type segment includes mineral fiber, metal, gypsum, and others. Metal segment is expected to witness highest growth rate during the forecast period. Increasing demand for metals in ceilings as such material lasts longer and continues to prevent moisture damage. This type of ceiling is much stronger and less prone to cracks and breaks as compared to the mineral fiber tiles and provides attractive surfaces. For instance, in November 2018, Rockfon Metal, the provider of ceiling tiles launched Rockfon Metal ceilings by combining stone wool performance along with the attractive metal surfaces.

Residential segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in 2021.

The end-user segment includes non-residential and residential. Residential sector is expected to witness highest CAGR during the forecast period. Upsurge in residential construction spending associated with repair and renovation activities across the global housing sector has primarily fueled demand for ceiling tiles. In addition, emergence of highly durable and inexpensive ceiling panels has further boosted growth of this segment. On the other hand, rise in the construction of green residential buildings in the developed economies of Europe and North America has created lucrative growth opportunities for the market.

Regional Analysis

The regional analysis provides a detailed perception about the key regions and the countries. Some of the key countries analyzed for the Ceiling Tiles include US, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, Russia, China, Japan India, Brazil, Peru, UAE, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

North America region witnessed a major share. Growth of this region is mainly driven by the rapidly expanding building & construction industry along with the presence of key manufactures in the market such as Georgia-Pacific LLC and Armstrong World Industries, Inc. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness highest growth rate during the forecast period. The emerging implementation of modern construction practices coupled with rising consumer disposable incomes across the countries such as China and India has mainly driven growth of the market.

Country Analysis

Germany

Germany ceiling tiles market size was valued at USD 0.80 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 1.35 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2022 to 2029.

Germany is one of the leading nations in the mechanical engineering, manufacturing, automotive, and electrical industries. In addition, the country is the biggest construction market in Europe. This significance of construction sector in the country has mainly driven demand for ceiling tiles. Moreover rising exports of ceiling tiles from the country has further boosted growth of the market. For instance, OWA is one of the market leaders for mineral wool ceiling tiles in Germany which exports about 70 % of its production to 80 different countries.

China

China ceiling tiles market size was valued at USD 1.59 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 2.67 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2022 to 2029. Rising disposable income in China has favored demand for ceiling tiles. In addition, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, construction sector output accounted for about 25.7% of countrys GDP in 2021. Among the total construction sector in the country, the building construction makes up the biggest share of over 50.0%. Hence, increasing construction activities in the country is boosting demand for ceiling tiles.

India

India ceiling tiles market size was valued at USD 0.48 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 0.84 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2022 to 2029. India is one of the strongest growing economies in Asia. In addition, the construction industry in this country contributes more than 5% of nation's GDP. Moreover, the country is observing growth in urbanization at an unprecedented pace. This has caused increased construction activities in residential and commercial buildings along with infrastructure development.

Furthermore, in January 2021, Gyproc, one of the leaders in building construction space across India introduced its ceiling tiles manufacturing facility at Jhagadia, Gujarat. Such expansion strategies by market players in India is opportunistic for growth of the market.

Covid-19 Impact

Covid-19 had a major impact on almost all of the industries such as construction, manufacturing, oil and gas, automobile, etc. The demand for Ceiling Tiles has decreased during the period owing to the regulations on social distancing and supply chain disruptions. In most of the regions, the manufacturing facilities of Ceiling Tiles were closed in the second and third quarters of fiscal year 2020. The major end-users were also temporarily closed during this period and thus the demand for Ceiling Tiles significantly decreased.

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African countries owe three times more debt to Western banks, asset managers and oil traders than to China, and are charged double the interest, according to a study released on Monday by British campaign charity Debt Justice.

This is despite the growing accusations by the US and other Western countries that China's lending is behind the debt troubles faced by some African countries.

The study said just 12 per cent of the continent's external debt was owed to Chinese lenders, compared to 35 per cent owed to Western private creditors, according to calculations based on World Bank data.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

Interest rates charged on private loans were almost double those on Chinese loans, while the most indebted countries were less likely to have their debt dominated by China, the study found. The average interest rate on private sector loans is 5 per cent, compared to 2.7 per cent on loans from Chinese public and private lenders.

The study was released ahead of the G20 finance ministers meeting from July 15-16 in Indonesia. Campaigners are calling on Western countries, particularly Britain and the US, to compel private lenders to take part in the Common Framework - the G20's latest debt relief scheme.

The study found a dozen of the 22 African countries with the highest debts were paying more than 30 per cent of their total external repayments to private lenders. These included Cabo Verde, Chad, Egypt, Gabon, Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Tunisia and Zambia.

South Sudan is one of the hardest hit in this category, with 81 per cent of its debt repayments going to private creditors, and just 11 per cent to China. Ghana is also paying more than half of its external debt obligations to the private sector, with 11 per cent going to China and the rest to multilateral lenders and other governments.

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Chinese lenders accounted for more than 30 per cent of loan payments in six of the 22 most indebted countries - Angola, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Zambia.

The study calculations showed 59 per cent of Angola's foreign debt payments serviced Chinese lenders. And Djibouti - where China has poured billions of dollars into building ports and free trade zones, and also set up its first overseas military base - makes 64 per cent of its external debt payments to Beijing.

Debt Justice policy head Tim Jones said Western leaders blamed China for debt crises in Africa, "but this is a distraction".

"The truth is their own banks, asset managers and oil traders are far more responsible but the G7 are letting them off the hook."

Jones said China had taken part in the G20's Debt Service Suspension Initiative during the pandemic, while private lenders did not. "There can be no effective debt solution without the involvement of private lenders. The UK and US should introduce legislation to compel private lenders to take part in debt relief," he said.

The G20 initiative, unveiled in May 2020, provided 48 economies with temporary cash-flow relief, delivering about US$12.9 billion in debt service payments by the end of December when it ended.

But the exclusion of private and multilateral lenders meant countries that applied to take part in the initiative saw just 23 per cent of their external repayments suspended.

In 2020, Zambia became the first African country to default - on US$3 billion in dollar-denominated bonds - in the pandemic era. It is now in the process of restructuring about US$17 billion in external debt as a precondition to securing IMF loans of US$1.4 billion.

Lusaka owes Chinese lenders about US$6 billion, which has gone into building mega projects including airports, highways and power dams.

The initiative's replacement, the G20 Common Framework, allows participating countries to agree to restructure debt with bilateral lenders and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The nations are then supposed to seek similar debt treatment from private sector creditors.

Only Chad, Zambia and Ethiopia have so far applied for help through the Common Framework, but all are still waiting for debt relief.

The G7 countries have blamed China for the failure of the debt relief programme to help heavily indebted countries avoid default, doubling down in May with a statement from the finance ministers of the world's seven most advanced economies.

"With regards to the implementation of the Common Framework, it remains essential that all relevant creditor countries - including non-Paris Club countries, such as those like China, with large outstanding claims on low-income countries facing debt sustainability challenges - contribute constructively to the necessary debt treatments as requested," they said.

Yungong Theo Jong, head of programmes at the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (Afrodad), said multilateral and private lenders remained the biggest creditors to African governments.

"Loans from China have increased Africa's indebtedness, but by far less than Western lenders. All lenders must participate in debt relief. Western governments must lead the way by making private lenders cancel debts," he said.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Partnership to accelerate broadband growth in Arkansas, delivering expanded value to customers

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Circumference Group, a unique, operationally-focused investment firm led by former Endurance International CEO Jeff Fox, has acquired a majority stake in The Computer Works ("TCW"), an Arkansas provider of fiber and fixed wireless internet services to residential and commercial customers. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Circumference Group's extensive operations expertise, coupled with its capital investment, will position TCW to continue to provide critical connectivity to urban and rural customers across Arkansas. TCW President Pat Wilson will continue in his position, and the firm's business headquarters will remain in Conway, Arkansas.

"Our partnership with TCW is a great opportunity to support a successful growing company, and we are thrilled to work with Pat and his team to serve Arkansas customers. TCW exemplifies our strategy of investing in quality businesses focused on delivering long-term customer value," said Jeff Fox, CEO and Founder, Circumference Group.

"Circumference Group has a proven track record in the telecommunications space and is the ideal partner as we continue to expand our services to meet the broadband needs of businesses and consumers across the state. We look forward to working together and further positioning our business for long-term success," said Pat Wilson, CEO of TCW.

About Circumference Group

Circumference Group is a Little Rock, Arkansas based investment firm designed to deliver superior risk-adjusted performance for its capital partners. For over a decade, Circumference Group has successfully invested in the public and private markets utilizing its Core Value Assessment ("CVA"), a proprietary framework that evaluates a company's growth and cash flow potential, as well as its organizational and operational strengths and weaknesses. The CVA underpins all of Circumference Group's investment strategies.

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Circumference Group was founded in 2009 by a team of veteran business operators and investors led by Jeff Fox, a proven executive who has served in multiple leadership roles including CEO of Endurance International Group, CEO of Convergys Corp. and COO of Alltel Wireless.

For more information, please visit www.CircumferenceGroup.com.

About The Computer Works

Founded in 1989, TCW is an ISP serving fiber and fixed wireless subscribers across eight counties in Arkansas. In addition to internet and phone services, the company offers complete monitoring and alerting solutions for computers, servers, networks, and applications. Since 2020, TCW has been a recipient of four Arkansas Rural Connects grants, which have been invested in two new fiber buildouts and two fixed wireless upgrades.

TCW (PRNewsfoto/Circumference Group)

Cision

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SOURCE Circumference Group
Ongoing Series of Product Collaborations With California's Craft Farmers Reflects Company's Commitment to Partnerships with Legacy Growers and Diverse Operators

Limited-Release Select Elite Live Partnership With Delighted Farms is Select's Second Collaboration

WAKEFIELD, Mass., July 12, 2022 /CNW/ -- Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA / OTCQX: CURLF) ("Curaleaf" or the "Company"), a leading international provider of consumer cannabis products, today announced that its Select brand has launched "The Farmer's Select" program, an ongoing series of limited-edition collaborations with licensed legacy farmers and diverse operators in California. In celebration of launch, Select's second Elite Live collaboration is now available across the state in partnership with Delighted Farms , a state-of-the-art indoor farm managed by a team of legacy California growers.

The Farmer's Select

The Farmer's Select program reaffirms Curaleaf's commitment to providing premium products to consumers while uplifting smaller craft operators across the Golden State. Select initiated its first Elite Live collaboration in April 2022 with Sonoma Hills Farm , a Sun+Earth certified cannabis farm nestled on 60-acres in Sonoma Valley. The limited-edition product line sold out in under two weeks and the partnership's success empowered Curaleaf to explore more ways to support craft genetics grown by farmers engrained in California's cannabis culture.

Select's latest product collaboration transforms Delighted Farms' top-quality, limited-batch cannabis flower into the same Select Elite Live Oil that customers know and love. The limited-edition product line is now available at dispensaries across California in three strains including Napali Sunrise (Sativa), Frozen Gushers (Hybrid) and Gas Pie (Indica).

"On behalf of the Select brand, we are proud to launch The Farmer's Select program and reaffirm our commitment to creating an equitable cannabis industry where all can participate and hopefully, partner together to strengthen the industry," said Matt Darin, CEO of Curaleaf. "This one-of-a-kind program not only connects cannabis industry leaders, but it also highlights skills of innovative growers, talented extractors and other vital figures that power California's cannabis ecosystem."

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"Curaleaf and Select's commitment to providing quality products aligns with Delighted's commitment to producing premium, top-quality cannabis flower that honors the history and cannabis culture of California," said Joshua Pritchard, Founder & CEO of Delighted Farms. "We're excited to introduce our collaboration with Select, and we're happy to help break the stigma of "us versus them" competition in the cannabis community. The spirit of the plant is about sharing and connecting, and partnerships based on quality lift up our industry. We look forward to crafting more premium products in the future."

The Select Elite Live Delighted Farms collaboration is now available at dispensaries across California while supplies last. For more information on product availability, visit www.selectbetter.com/find-us or visit one of the participating retailers below.

Northern California

Southern California

Delivery

About Curaleaf Holdings

Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) ("Curaleaf") is a leading international provider of consumer products in cannabis with a mission to improve lives by providing clarity around cannabis and confidence around consumption. As a high-growth cannabis company known for quality, expertise and reliability, the Company and its brands, including Curaleaf and Select, provide industry-leading service, product selection and accessibility across the medical and adult-use markets. In the United States, Curaleaf currently operates in 22 states with 134 dispensaries, 26 cultivation sites, and employs over 5,700 team members. Curaleaf International is the largest vertically integrated cannabis company in Europe with a unique supply and distribution network throughout the European market, bringing together pioneering science and research with cutting-edge cultivation, extraction and production. Curaleaf is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol CURA and trades on the OTCQX market under the symbol CURLF. For more information, please visit https://ir.curaleaf.com .

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This media advisory contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forwardlooking statements or information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or, "proposed", "is expected", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forwardlooking statements and information concerning the Farmer's Select program and our second Elite Live collaboration with Delighted Farms. Such forward-looking statements and information reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the company with respect to the matter described in this new release. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which are based on current expectations as of the date of this release and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Additional information about these assumptions and risks and uncertainties is contained under "Risk Factors and Uncertainties" in the Company's latest annual information form filed March 9, 2022, which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at http://www.sedar.com, and in other filings that the Company has made and may make with applicable securities authorities in the future. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made only as to the date of this press release and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. We caution investors not to place considerable reliance on the forward looking statements contained in this press release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release.

INVESTOR CONTACT

Curaleaf Holdings, Inc.

Investor Relations

IR@curaleaf.com

MEDIA CONTACT

Curaleaf Holdings, Inc.

Tracy Brady, SVP Corporate Communications

media@curaleaf.com

Cision

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SOURCE Curaleaf Holdings, Inc.

Cision

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The bereaved parents of a slain American-Israeli girl killed in a 2001 Palestinian suicide bombing are urging President Biden to meet with them in Jerusalem when he arrives in Israel this week, pushing for a resolution on their daughters death.

Frimet and Arnold Roth are calling for the president to pressure the Jordanian government to send Ahlam Tamimi to the U.S. for trial. Tamimi was the alleged architect of the 2001 Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem that killed 15 people, including their American daughter, Malki, and another American.

At least 122 people were injured in the bombing, including four Americans.

In an interview with The Hill on Tuesday, Arnold Roth the family has engaged with Biden administration officials in Jerusalem in recent months, but they have little expectation that the president will meet with them, or that the U.S. will push Jordan to fulfill Tamimis extradition.

Tamimi has lived in Jordan since being released from an Israeli jail in a 2011 prisoner exchange.

Jordan argues that its constitution prevents the extradition of Jordanian nationals.

Theyre really not interested in our case in the smallest way, Roth said, of the Biden administration, speaking over Zoom from his home in Jerusalem. The human dimension of this is just humiliating.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council, responding to a request for comment from The Hill, said The U.S. government continues to seek her extradition and the Government of Jordans assistance in bringing her to justice for her role in the heinous attack that killed 15 people, including two Americans, in 2001.

Roth criticized the response by the NSC in an interview with The Associated Press, as illegitimate and further blasted the White House for, so far, refusing to make contact with him and his family.

The White House decided not to respond to us, but they did respond to AP, he said.

Biden is traveling to Israel and Saudi Arabia between July 13 and 16. He is not expected to have a bilateral meeting with Jordanian officials, but will likely see them during the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah towards the end of the week.

Story continues

Roth said he and his wife were motivated to write a letter to the president following a highly critical plea from the family of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who have urged Biden to meet with the family and push for release of information related to her shooting death.

Abu Akleh was allegedly killed in May by Israeli forces while covering an Israeli security raid in the Palestinian city of Jenin.

If they end up going to the family of Abu Akleh, thats going to be a real crisis for us, Roth said. At that point, from our point of view, the gloves are off. Were still hoping to have some dialogue, but its not going to be with the White House, it wont be with Mr. Biden.

Roths daughter Malki was 15 when she was killed. The middle of seven children, Roth describes her as adored by everyone.

In 2003, Tamimi pleaded guilty in an Israeli court to multiple counts of murder connected to the suicide bomb attack, and was given 16 life sentences. In 2011, she was set free in a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas and was sent to her native Jordan where she continues to reside as a free woman.

Roth and his wife Frimet have written on their blog This Ongoing War that Tamimi travels freely across Jordan and the Arab world to address rallies and make blood-curdling pro-terror speeches and is the presenter of her own TV program devoted to terror, terrorists and the need to support both.

The Department of Justice revealed in 2017 that it had issued a warrant for Tamimis arrest, charging her with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against U.S. nationals outside the U.S., resulting in death.

Roth said that Tamimis extradition in the U.S. to appear in an American court is important for the family in their pursuit of justice.

Were not out for revenge we want her brought in front of an American court, charged and prosecuted, if found guilty, put behind bars and for everyone who stands with her, to watch and see, this is where it ends, Roth said.

Until we can get that, it really is as if we havent been able to bury our child and help ourselves get peace.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
[July 12, 2022] Spire Global Expands Global People Team Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) ("Spire" or "the Company"), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, today announced the appointment of several new leaders on the company's People team, including Michelle Nadeau as Global Head of People Operations, Ross Burns as Global Head of Talent Acquisition, Alex Beauchamp as Global Head of Total Rewards, and Sarah Wright as Principal HR Business Partner for North America. "I'm thrilled to expand our People organization with these exceptional leaders who will help foster a high-performing and inclusive culture for our diverse team," said Tim Braswell, Chief People Officer, Spire. "These hires are reflective of the investment we have made in enabling continued growth at a global scale and making Spire a destination for top talent." Michelle Nadeau, who joins as Global Head of People Operations, has more than 25 years of experience in global IT, operations, HR and business transformation. She will lead and oversee the employee experience with a focus on automation, digitization, and process refinement and establish data analytics capabilities for the People organization. Previously, Nadeau held leadership roles at a consulting firm working for aerospace companies, and earlier in her career, she led teams in sales operations, IT, HR and finance transformation for companies such as GE, TRW and Northrop Grumman. Nadeau is based in Colorado. Ross Burns join Spire as Global Head of Talent Acquisition, bringing over 20 years of experience leading and working within globally dispersed talent acquisition teams across technology, finance and consulting organizations. Burns joins from OneWeb where he was responsible for global talent acquisition efforts. Burns is based in England. Alex Beauchamp, who joins as Global Head of Total Rewards, has more than 20 years of compensation and benefits experience. Most recently, he spent three years at National Grid where he led the global compensation center of excellence, and prior to that, he held a number of global reward leadership positions at financial services companies including MetLife, Citigroup and American Express. Beauchamp is based in New York. Sarah Wright joins as Principal HR Business Partner for North America where she will be the primary lead on the People team for all employees across the U.S. and Canada. She will partner with people managers to foster a culture of growth, learning, inclusion and engagement in their teams. Wright previously spent 15 years with Accenture, most recently as a senior manager of human resources. Wright is based in Ontario, Canada. Additionally, Jon Christensen, who has been at Spire for nearly three years, is assuming a newly created role as Global Head of People Development. He will oversee continued learning and professional development opportunities for Spire employees including the design of learning content, leadership excellence programs, management training and employee engagement initiatives. As of March 31, 2022, Spire had more than 375 employees representing more than 40 nationalities across eight offices in six countries. About Spire Global, Inc. Spire (NYSE: SPIR) is a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, offering access to unique datasets and powerful insights about Earth from the ultimate vantage point so that organizations can make decisions with confidence, accuracy, and speed. Spire uses one of the world's largest multi-purpose satellite constellations to source hard to acquire, valuable data and enriches it with predictive solutions. Spire then provides this data as a subscription to organizations around the world so they can improve business operations, decrease their environmental footprint, deploy resources for growth and competitive advantage, and mitigate risk. Spire gives commercial and government organizations the competitive advantage they seek to innovate and solve some of the world's toughest problems with insights from space. Spire has offices in San Francisco, Boulder, Washington DC, Ontario, Glasgow, Oxfordshire, Luxembourg, and Singapore. To learn more, visit www.spire.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005358/en/

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PROVIDENCE  A former North Kingstown VFW commander agreed on Tuesday to plead guilty to charges that she defrauded veterans charity organizations of more than $250,000 by posing as an ex-Marine battling a grave cancer diagnosis due to toxic exposure on the battlefields.

Sarah Jane Cavanaugh, 31, of East Greenwich, will plead guilty to charges of fraud, aggravated identity theft, forgery and fraudulent use of medals, U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha announced Tuesday.

In exchange for her admissions, federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence in the low end of sentencing guidelines in which she faces a maximum of 24 years behind bars. The plea agreement specifies that the sentence she receives for wire fraud be served consecutively to the mandatory two years she faces in prison for aggravated identity theft.

She also has paid $82,489 in restitution to the federal government from the sale of her former home.

How Cavanaugh allegedly lied to obtain more than $200K

Cavanaugh is accused of using her position as a social worker at the Providence VA Medical Center to obtain an actual cancer patient's medical records and pass them off as her own to obtain more than $200,000 from the Wounded Warrior Project and other charitable groups dedicated to aiding injured veterans. According to federal authorities, a search of U.S. Department of Defense records revealed, however, that she never served in any branch of the U.S. military.

More: Former VFW commander accused of faking military service charged with fraud, ID theft

More: Former VFW commander allegedly passed off VA patient's cancer diagnosis as her own

Cavanaugh is alleged, too, to have portrayed herself as a wounded veteran who served overseas in the U.S. Marine Corps and falsely represented herself as a recipient of a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. Photos appeared in local media reports showing her in full uniform wearing replica medals, which authorities say she purchased online.

Story continues

Cavanaugh resigned from VFW Post 152 in January amid allegations that she faked her military service and lied about having Stage IV lung cancer in order to solicit online donations.

She claimed that she had lung cancer due to exposure to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, and from inhaling particulate matter in the aftermath of an Improvised Explosive Device attack, investigators said.

As proof, Cavanaugh provided records of a cancer diagnosis and copies of medical bills that indicated she was undergoing cancer treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She also gave the charity a copy of the military discharge certificate known as a DD-214, according to a federal affidavit seeking a search warrant for her home.

The truth revealed

The ruse began to crumble, authorities said, when the HunterSeven Foundation, a veterans' advocacy group, contacted the Providence VA Medical Center in late January to confirm that Cavanaugh had been in the Marines. Instead, the federal databases revealed that she had never served in the military at all.

Federal prosecutors in March charged her with four felony counts of fraud and aggravated identity theft.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond agreed to release Cavanaugh on a $50,000 bond with conditions over the objections of Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald R. Gendron.

Cavanaugh is being represented by Kensley R. Barrett and Nicholas J. Parrillo.

State lawmakers passed a law criminalizing stolen valor in the aftermath of Cavanaugh's allegations.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Former VFW commander Cavanaugh agrees to admit guilt in fraud scheme
FACT.MR

With an ever-increasing demand for by-products fetched through mining, screening equipment market to witness a major breakthrough in terms of revenue says a Fact.MR analyst.

United States, Rockville MD, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fact.MR, market research and competitive intelligence provider, has published its latest report entitled Screening Equipment Market, which states that the global screening equipment market would stand at US$ 6.78 Bn in 2022 and witness a CAGR of 5.6% between 2022 and 2032. Fact.MR is documenting the tremendous potential screening equipment has, through independent functioning of screening tools and an influx of full-circuit system.



Screening equipment is used to filter raw materials from a quarry or crusher into even finer grades, bringing them closer to a finished product, as the second step in the material handling process .

The whole-circuit system comes across as an efficient approach towards mine and sort resources for making something sellable, in spite of the screens being employed sans crushers. Adoption of this system is expected to render the screening equipment market to US$ 6.78 Bn by the year 2032.

For more insights into the Market, Get A Sample of this Report!

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Key Takeaways from Market Study

North America holds 25.2% of the market share.

Europe contributes for 22.7% of overall revenue.

Rise in mining activities across the globe to catalyse the screening equipment market.

Russian and Scandinavian markets to witness an increasing demand for screening equipment.

Construction vertical is expected to generate the highest demand for screening equipment.

Market Developments

The present scenario is such that there is an extensive demand for screening equipment for sorting and bulk handling.

 Telsmith, Inc., in 2019, did announce that it had gone ahead with appointment of Recycle Equipment Company and Pacific Rock as Manufacturers representative of the product line of mining process equipment. These two companies would thus be customers in Northern Idaho, Oregon, and Washington D.C.

Story continues

For Comprehensive Insights Ask An Analyst Here

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New Market Players Focusing on Reducing Manufacturing & Maintenance Costs and Improving Product Design

Demand for screening equipment is being driven by an increase in infrastructure and construction projects, including building construction and other industrial uses. An increase in urban population with high living standards around the world is supporting this expansion.

High Demand from Various End-use Industries in North America

From the perspective of North America, the screening equipment market is predicted to see favourable revenue growth over the forecast period due to developments seen across end-use applications, including building infrastructure, agriculture, and mining. In 2022, North America is expected to account for 25.9% of the global market share.

In response to the mining industry's increased demand in the Scandinavian and Russian markets, the market in Europe is predicted to experience a good expansion in the screening equipment sector. Currently, Europe is likely to hold 22.7% of the global market share.

Key Segments Covered in Screening Equipment Industry Research

Screening Equipment Market by Type : Wet Screening Equipment Dry Screening Equipment

Screening Equipment Market by Product : Screen Panels Trommel Screens Gyratory Equipment Vibratory Equipment

Screening Equipment Market by End Use : Oil & Gas Construction Industrial Mining Agriculture

Screening Equipment Market by Region : North America Latin America Europe East Asia South Asia & Oceania MEA



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More Valuable Insights Available

Fact.MR, in its new offering, presents an unbiased analysis of the global screening equipment market, presenting historical market data (2017-2021) and forecast statistics for the period of 2022-2032.

The study reveals essential insights by type (wet screening equipment and dry screening equipment), by product (screen panels, trammel screens, gyratory equipment, and vibratory equipment), by end-use (oil & gas, construction, industrial, mining, and agriculture), and by region (North America, LATAM, Europe, East Asia, South Asia & Oceania, and MEA).

Fact.MRs Domain Knowledge in Industrial Goods

Expert analysis, actionable insights, and strategic recommendations of the highly seasoned industrial goods team at Fact.MR helps clients from across the globe with their unique business intelligence needs.

With a repertoire of over thousand reports and 1 million-plus data points, the team has analysed the industrial goods division across 50+ countries for over a decade. The team provides unmatched end-to-end research and consulting services.

Check out more studies related to Industrial Goods Division , conducted by Fact.MR:

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Tamper-proof Fasteners Market - Tamper-proof Fasteners Market Analysis, By Material (Steel, Alloy Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminium), By product type (Screws & Bolts, Nuts), By Sales Channel (Online Sales, Offline Sales), By End-use Industry (Industrial & Manufacturing, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Electricals & Electronics, It & Telecom, Construction & Utilities, Oil & Gas, Self-Service & Automation, Public Facilities, Energy & Power) - Global Market Insights 2022 to 2032

Thermoelectric Refrigerator Market - Thermoelectric Refrigerator Market By Model (Single-stage, Multi-stage), By End-use Industry (Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Telecommunications, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Residential), & By Region - Global Forecast 2022-2032

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Visiongain Reports Ltd

Visiongain has published a new report entitled the Top 20 Military Electro - Optical and Infrared (EOIR) Systems 2022-2032. It includes profiles of Top 25 Military Electro-Optical and Infrared (EOIR) Systems and Forecasts Market Segment by Sensor Technology, (Staring Sensors, Scanning Sensors) Market Segment by System, (Targeting System, Electronic Support Measure, Imaging System) Market Segment by Technology, (Uncooled Technology, Cooled Technology) Market Segment by Platform, (Naval, Air, Land) Market Segment by Imaging Technology, (Hyperspectral, Multispectral) PLUS COVID-19 Impact Analysis and Recovery Pattern Analysis (V-shaped, W-shaped, U-shaped, L-shaped) Profiles of Leading Companies, Region and Country.

The global Top 20 Military Electro-Optical and Infrared (EOIR) Systems market was valued at US$15,789 million in 2021 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.0% during the forecast period 2022-2032.

Download Exclusive Sample of Report @ https://www.visiongain.com/report/top-20-military-eo-ir-systems-companies-2022/#download_sampe_div

Recent Activities in the Global Market

On 11 Jan 2022, Northrop Grumman UK Ltd has reaffirmed its commitment as a military friendly employer supporting the UK military personnel, reservists, veterans and their families, signing the Armed Forces Covenant.

Lockheed Martin is actively collaborating with Microsoft on 5G.MIL solutions to rapidly advance reliable connections for U.S. Department of Defense systems capable of spanning air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. Through a new corporate agreement, the two companies will test how to effectively expand and manage 5G networking technology for Joint-All Domain Operations (JADO) defense applications using Microsofts 5G and Microsoft Azure services for Lockheed Martins Hybrid Base Station, essentially a military-grade ruggedized multi-network gateway and cell tower in a box.

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded Pratt & Whitney, a Raytheon Technologies business, a contract for a ground test demonstration program for a novel architecture using a rotating engine detonation concept to be jointly executed by Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, and Raytheon Technologies Research Center.

Story continues

How this Report Will Benefit you?

Visiongains 253-page report provides 189 tables and 145 charts/graphs. Our new study is suitable for anyone requiring commercial, in-depth analyses for the global Top 25 Military Electro-Optical and Infrared (EOIR) Systems market, along with detailed segment analysis in the market. Our new study will help you evaluate the overall global and regional market for Top 25 Military Electro-Optical and Infrared (EOIR) Systems. Get the financial analysis of the overall market and different segments including, Sensor Technology, System, Technology, Platform and capture higher market share. We believe that high opportunity remains in this fast-growing Top 25 Military Electro-Optical and Infrared (EOIR) Systems market. See how to use the existing and upcoming opportunities in this market to gain revenue benefits in the near future. Moreover, the report would help you to improve your strategic decision-making, allowing you to frame growth strategies, reinforce the analysis of other market players, and maximise the productivity of the company.

Get Detailed TOC @ https://www.visiongain.com/report/top-20-military-eo-ir-systems-companies-2022/#download_sampe_div

Competitive Landscape

The major players operating in the Top 20 Military Electro-Optical and Infrared (EOIR) Systems market are Northrop G, Lockheed Martin Corporation (America), Raytheon Technologies Corporation (America), Leonardo S.p.A (Italy), Thales Group (France) , Elbit Systems Ltd. (Israel), L-3 Harris Technologies Inc. (America) , General Dynamics Corporation (America), BAE Systems plc (England), Saab AB (Sweden), Teledyne FLIR, Textron Inc, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd, Boeing, Cornings, CONTROP Precision Technologies, Hensoldt, Rockwell Collins, Inc., Moog Inc, Leidos Holdings Inc, ManTech International, Apie Group, Rheinmetall, Kollmorgen, Aselsan A.S., Airbus, These major players operating in this market have adopted various strategies comprising M&A, investment in R&D, collaborations, partnerships, regional business expansion, and new product launch.

Find quantitative and qualitative analyses with independent predictions. Receive information that only our report contains, staying informed with this invaluable business intelligence.

Information found nowhere else

With this new and exclusive report, you are less likely to fall behind in knowledge or miss out on opportunities. See how our work could benefit your investment, research, analyses, and decisions. Visiongain's study is for everybody needing commercial analyses for the EOIR System market and leading companies . You will get the most recent data, opportunities, trends, and predictions.

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Graham Norton (Getty Images for Paramount+)

Presenter Graham Norton has reportedly celebrated getting married to his long-term partner with a wedding party at a ceremony in Ireland.

According to the Irish Examiner, the BBC star welcomed over 100 guests to his native West Cork to celebrate his nuptials at Bantry House and Gardens on Saturday.

Guests are said to have enjoyed a private party at the four-star venue, which was closed off to the public, situated on the Wild Atlantic Way overlooking Bantry Bay.

They were treated to performances from singer Lulu and Irish dancing group Cairde as well as a DJ set from drag queen and gay rights activist Panti Bliss.

And the celebrations didnt end there as a number of marquees were set up for a party outside Nortons Ahakista home the following day.

There has been speculation that Graham and his partner were already legally married before Saturdays event, which is believed to be a blessing ceremony.

Speaking about the celebrations, one local resident told Cork Beo: We knew Bantry House was closed for a private event, it was pretty common knowledge that it was a party for Graham and that is was to do with his marriage.

We were hearing all sorts of names, Lady Gaga, Elton John was supposed to be singing, weve not seen any of them but theres been a big buzz around Bantry.

We could all hear the music from Bantry House on Saturday night - they certainly got the weather for it!

The Evening Standard have contacted Graham Nortons rep for comment.

The author grew up in Bantry and maintains strong ties to his hometown, holidaying there for two months every summer.

Norton, who is thought to be worth 24million, is notoriously secretive about his personal life.

Although nothing is known about his current relationship, he previously dated RuPauls Drag Race star Kristian Seeber, Scott Michaels for five years until 2000, and was in a relationship with Trevor Patterson from 2011 to 2013.

More recently, he was in a relationship with music marketing consultant Andrew Smith, who he split from in 2015.

Story continues

Despite the weekend wedding party, the talk show legend previously discussed about why he prefers living alone.

Speaking on Katie Courics podcast in 2018, he said: You have your own rules as you get older. I would prefer to live alone for the rest of my life rather than live with towels that were folded incorrectly.

Petty is important. Thats why marriages break up. Marriages dont break up because of big things.

People co-habit because they have to, because it makes economic sense, I dont think anybody wants to live with anybody.

Its like the toilet paper is hung the wrong way around, its kind of the bread doesnt go there, and also my problem is of course, Im old, so the longer you leave it, the worse this gets.
FILE PHOTO: 2022 World Car Awards at the New York International Auto Show, in New York City

By Byungwook Kim and Heekyong Yang

SEOUL (Reuters) -Hyundai Motor Co said on Tuesday it would build a dedicated electric vehicle (EV) factory in South Korea that will become its first automobile plant to open in the country in almost three decades.

Production is due to begin by 2025, the company's union said in a statement, relaying a pledge that the company had made in wage negotiations.

Hyundai Motor gave no further details in its statement.

In May, Hyundai Motor Group, which houses Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp, said it would invest 63 trillion won ($48.1 billion) in South Korea through to 2025.

Hyundai Motor's unionised workers in South Korea voted this month for a possible strike for the first time in four years over demands for higher wages. They were also angry at management prioritising investment outside the country.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest automaker, last opened an automobile factory in South Korea in 1996.

But it said in May it would invest $5.5 billion to build full EV and battery manufacturing facilities in Georgia.

The EV facility in Georgia is scheduled to break ground in early 2023 and begin commercial production in the first half of 2025, according to Hyundai Motor.

"Sales of internal-combustion-engine vehicles are scheduled to be banned in certain markets so the new EV factory is vital to Hyundai Motor's survival," said Chang Moon-su, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, a subsidiary of the automaker.

Hyundai Motor shares were flat in midday trade, while benchmark KOSPI was down 1.1%.

($1 = 1,310.5000 won)

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Byungwook Kim; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Bradley Perrett)
From cosmic cliffs to the birthplace of stars, the James Webb Space telescope is stunning stargazers and non-stargazers alike with its breathtaking views of a universe never glimpsed before.

The world's largest and most powerful space telescope is capturing images of thousands of galaxies  some of which formed billions of years ago after the Big Bang  and some of the faintest objects ever observed.

The telescope will explore every phase of cosmic history, NASA says.

Here's what you should know:

What do the images show?

The first pictures from the telescope, released Monday and Tuesday, show thousands of galaxies, some of which formed nearly 13.2 billion years ago. They are seen in part because the James Webb Telescope targeted a cluster called SMACS 0723, which has a gravitational field so strong it magnifies the light of older, more distant galaxies.

NASA also plans to release imagery of a stellar nursery where the Carina Nebula, the Southern Ring Nebula and Stephans Quintet formed.

See first images: What the James Webb Space Telescope has captured

In this still picture from a NASA TV broadcast, the James Webb Space Telescope separates from Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket on Dec. 25, 2021 after launching from Europes Spaceport, the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.

Where is the James Webb Telescope now?

The Webb telescope is pretty far away  1 million miles from Earth to be exact. It launched in December 2021 from French Guiana.

What is the James Webb Telescope?

The James Webb Space Telescope was built through an international partnership between the Canadian, European and American space agencies. It has been in development since the 1990s and, according to NASA, aims to explore cosmic history, taking a deeper look at our own galaxy and the many that came before it.

Read more NASA News: NASA 'strongly rebukes' pro-Russian separatist flag display on International Space Station

How does the telescope look back in time?

The telescope looks back in time using gravitational lensing. The latest image from the Webb telescope looks much bigger than it is: The picture is about the size of a grain of sand held at arms length and shows only an infinitesimally small bit of our vast universe, NASA says.

Story continues

But the galaxy cluster captured in the image, known as SMACS 0723, serves as a gravitational lens, bringing to light more distant galaxies. Its gravity is so strong that it distorts the light coming from other galaxies, making them appear brighter and therefore visible to us.

How long will the James Webb telescope last?

The Webb facility is expected to operate for five years but is not capped at that, and it has the materials to operate for more than 10 years, according to NASA.

Is James Webb much better than Hubble?

The James Webb telescope is the most powerful space telescope in history. It is better in resolution and detail than its predecessor, the Hubble Telescope. It has a larger collecting area and can capture longer wavelengths in infrared.

Both of these space photographers take deep field images, pictures with long exposure times (12 hours in Webb's case) that allow even the most faint form of incoming light to be seen.

The Hubble Telescope, which had its own dramatic reveal in the 1990s, is now second fiddle. The James Webb telescope is designed to capture light 100 times fainter than that captured by Hubble.

Check out Hubble Telescope's discoveries: 'Needle-in-a-haystack' search finds possible phantom-like black hole roaming the Milky Way

Can the James Webb Telescope see planets?

Yes! New images show a distant gas giant planet. Evidence of water, clouds and haze gave scientists an unprecedented observation point for planets hundreds of light-years beyond Earth that would be habitable.

As for the planets in our own solar system  the Webb telescope can see those too, of course. "Because it is so powerful, it has capabilities that we can apply everywhere in the cosmos, even in our local neighborhood, the solar system," said Heidi Hammel, an interdisciplinary scientist working on Webb, in an interview with Space.com.

What is the temperature of the James Webb Space Telescope?

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)) employed by the telescope is cooled to below 7 kelvins, or minus 447 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NASA. Since the operation of the telescope produces heat, a cryocooler of gaseous helium is required to offset that and maintain temperature stability.

Who funded the James Webb Telescope?

The Webb telescope cost $10 billion. About $9.7 billion is from the U.S.; $810 million came from the European Space Agency; and $160 million came from the Canadian Space Agency.

JWST isn't only funding recipient: Scientists are searching the universe for signs of alien civilizations: 'Now we know where to look'

Who was the James Webb Telescope named after?

The James Webb Telescope was named after James E. Webb, who was NASA's administrator from February 1961 to October 1968. NASA's website describes Webb as the government official who did more for science than perhaps any other and a fitting recipient to be the namesake of the Next Generation Space Telescope.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is the James Webb Space Telescope? NASA space camera explained
In this article:

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Lahontan Gold (TSXV: LG) - has three top tier gold and silver assets in the Walker Lane of Nevada. BTV interviews Director & CEO, Kimberly Ann, to learn more.

If you cannot view the video above, please visit:

www.b-tv.com/post/lahontan-gold-building-value-through-the-drill-bit-btv-ceo-clips-60sec

Lahontan Gold (TSXV: LG)

https://lahontangoldcorp.com/

About CEO Clips:

CEO Clips - are short company video profiles broadcast to a large audience of investors on TV and 15+ financial sites including Reuters, Yahoo!Finance, and Wall Street Journal.

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Contact: Trina Schlingmann (604) 664-7401 x 5 trina@b-tv.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130522
SYDNEY, July 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- lavojoy, a new personal care brand, recently announced its new partnership with Ron Guba, the former chief formulator of a well-known luxury washing and care brand in Australia. Since April 2022, he has cooperated closely with lavojoy team as the formulator to deliver better products to the public.

Ron Guba is Australia's leading expert in the therapeutic use of essential oils. For the past thirty years, Ron has extensively studied, used clinical practice and promoted the proper use of what is called Aromatic Medicine -- the use of essential oils as a specific form of herbal medicine, utilizing all the possible methods of application for healing the body and mind.

His research into natural product design has given him an extensive background and expertise in the development of natural organic & effective products for both therapeutic and cosmetic use.

Ron has lectured extensively throughout Australia and internationally on the principles and practice of aromatic medicine, truly natural cosmetic principles and other complementary medicine topics.

Completing his diploma in Phytotherapy and Aromatic Medicine in 1988 in France, Ron began to work in Essential Therapeutics, a company devoted to providing therapeutic-grade essential oils to health practitioners. After that, Ron founded the Centre for Aromatic Medicine in 1988, to provide education and training in the practice of aromatic medicine and aromatherapy.

And now Ron is a full member of the Australian Society of Cosmetic Chemists and works in STN international, the parent company of Lalisse Skin Solutions and the house of various international reputable brands, including Lalisse, Rosanna, Lilydale, Green Valley and Cosinfinite so on. Since 2011, STN International has expanded its product ranges from Australia to USA, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and many other countries. It is always dedicated to research and development to provide customers with the highest quality formulations and products in the market.

And lavojoy is one of the creations of Ron from STN international. For his reputation in formulation and aromatherapy, let's wait expectantly for the launching of lavojoy.

SOURCE lavojoy
The national average for a gallon of gas fell to $4.66 on Tuesday, dropping thirty-four cents since May 2022. However, some analysts believe that the recent relief in oil prices is only temporary.

"I think a lot of this, especially for oil, is going to go back to Russia. And I think you are going to see supply upended, if not at the end of the year, if not before. I think that has the potential to cause oil prices to even spike higher than what we just saw a couple months ago," Neal Dingmann, Truist's managing director of energy research, told Yahoo Finance Live (video above).

50% price hike

Dingmann predicted gas prices could rise "potentially 50%" if the U.S. doesn't have an alternate source for Russian oil. In 2021, Russia and Saudi Arabia were the top petroleum importers for the U.S. The nations supplied 8% and 5% of the total market's natural gas across the 50 states.

Dingmann explained that the OPEC nations don't have the spare production capacity to fulfill the supply deficit in the U.S. market at this point.

"Nearly all the OPEC+ members would be already producing more right now if they could. So, again, to me the only real true capacity, unfortunately out there, prior to all the issues, was in Russia."

Dingmann pointed out that America "certainly" does not have the ability to expand domestic oil production. The supply shortfall resulted from the ban on Kremlin's natural gas could bump crude prices "well over $150" per barrel, he added. (Currently, Brent is trading at around $100 per barrel (BZ=F) and the U.S. crude future (CL=F) is hovering about $97.)

U.S. Petroleum Import, 1960 - 2021

Biden visits Middle East

President Joe Biden is expected to negotiate his administration's oil production agendas with Saudi Arabia on his trip to the Middle East this week. in an op-ed published this past Saturday in the Washington Post, Biden wrote that the oil exporter is "working with my experts to help stabilize oil markets with other OPEC producers."

Biden's tactic might turn out to be frivolous, said Dingmann. "Between the likes of Saudi, UAE, you name it, within OPEC+, they've all had the allowances to produce more and they basically say we're going to stay constrained for various reasons," because he believed, "they don't have the capacity."

Story continues

Consumer's demand for gas

On the flip side of the supply-shortage equation is America's demand for gas. Essentially, the depth of consumers' appetite will determine the height of the gas prices.

"I think in today's environment I certainly think we could get close to $115 before you see any demand disruption," Dingmann said.

Rebecca Chen is a writer and reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @RebeccaChenP

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LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2022 / Planet 13 Holdings Inc. (CSE:PLTH) (OTCQX:PLNHF) ("Planet 13" or the "Company"),a leading vertically-integrated multi-state cannabis company, applauds the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board ("CCB") on the passing of Nevada cannabis lounge legislation. The Company intends to apply for a lounge license and expects to be a successful applicant. The initial plan is to convert Planet 13's Trece restaurant space to a consumption lounge, restaurant and entertainment experience. The Planet 13 Entertainment Complex will be the first of its kind space where a consumer can watch products being made, purchase and consume all under one roof. A true luxury, tourist friendly lounge close to the Las Vegas Strip.

Planet 13 Holdings, Monday, July 11, 2022, Press release picture

"Our location close to the Las Vegas strip is ideal for a cannabis consumption lounge and we look forward to converting Trece restaurant to a full-service lounge to host our visitors in a first of its kind, exciting environment characteristic of the Planet 13 experience," said Bob Groesbeck, Co-CEO of Planet 13. "By converting our existing restaurant, we can quickly build a world class lounge in a cost-efficient manner and begin to serve customers sooner."

Trece is currently an approximately 4,500 sq. ft. restaurant permitted for occupancy of up to 388people. The planned conversion would allow onsite consumption under the Nevada regulations approved on June 28, 2022.

For more information on Planet 13, visit the investor website.

About Planet 13

Planet 13 (www.planet13holdings.com) is a vertically integrated cannabis company, with award-winning cultivation, production and dispensary operations in Las Vegas and in Orange County, California. Planet 13 also holds a medical marijuana treatment center license in Florida and a 49% interest in Planet 13 Illinois which won a lottery for a Social-Equity Justice Involved dispensing license in the Chicago-region of Illinois. Planet 13's mission is to build a recognizable global brand known for world-class dispensary operations and a creator of innovative cannabis products. Planet 13's shares trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) under the symbol PLTH and OTCQX under the symbol PLNHF.

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward looking-statements relate to the Company's Nevada cannabis consumption lounge applications, construction, and opening.

These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as 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 materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: risks associated with COVID-19 and other infectious diseases presenting as major health issues; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; expectations regarding the size of the Nevada and California cannabis market or other states in which the Company may operate and changing consumer habits; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business objectives; plans for expansion; political and social uncertainties; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on cultivation, production, distribution and sale of cannabis and cannabis related products in states in which we operate or contemplate future operations; and employee relations. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

The Company is indirectly involved in the manufacture, possession, use, sale and distribution of cannabis in the recreational and medicinal cannabis marketplace in the United States through licensed subsidiary entities in states that have legalized marijuana operations, however, these activities are currently illegal under United States federal law. Additional information regarding this and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business, including COVID-19, are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's Form 10-K dated March 28, 2022 as filed on its issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

For further inquiries, please contact:

LodeRock Advisors Inc., Planet 13 Investor Relations

mark.kuindersma@loderockadvisors.com

Robert Groesbeck or Larry Scheffler

Co-Chief Executive Officers

ir@planet13lasvegas.com

SOURCE: Planet 13 Holdings





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/708232/Planet-13-Begins-Drafting-Application-to-Add-a-Consumption-Lounge-to-SuperStore




The 'Eat the Rich' popsicles depict tech billionaires  down to details like Bill Gates' glasses and Mark Zuckerberg's hair. Jordan Erb/Insider

An ice cream truck is selling popsicles in Los Angeles and New York that are shaped like tech billionaires.

Called 'Eat the Rich' popsicles, the treats are the latest endeavor by MSCHF, a Brooklyn-based art collective.

By 5 pm ET on Monday, all of the Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos popsicles were sold out in NYC.

"Bite Bezos." "Munch Musk." "Snack on Jack."

So read the ice cream trucks that have popped up around New York City and Los Angeles this week, offering passersby their signature treat: "Eat the Rich" popsicles.

Each popsicle is an uncanny representation of one of five Big Tech billionaires  Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Alibaba's Jack Ma, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft's Bill Gates, or Tesla's Elon Musk.

With their massive candy eyes and tech founders' recognizable features (like Gates' glasses or Zuckerberg's hair), the popsicles are a play on the term "eat the rich," a slogan that's become a rallying cry among Gen Z and Millennials frustrated with wealth inequality.

The ice cream trucks are the latest drop from MSCHF, the Brooklyn-based art collective that's been behind some of the internet's most viral pranks and products.

The popsicles are $10 a piece  that's the irony of them. They're a statement in themselves, a commentary on capitalism, and a wildly popular treat on a hot summer afternoon. When I visited the New York City location at 5 pm on Monday, all of the Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk-flavored popsicles were gone.

"He was sold out of most of them, so I got Bill Gates," said 34-year-old Alex Mata, who originally wanted Jeff Bezos. She arrived at the pop-up after seeing it on social media and getting a text from her husband: "the truck is in Columbus Circle!"

People line up outside of MSCHF's ice cream truck selling "Eat the Rich" popsicles. Jordan Erb/Insider

MSCHF (pronounced "mischief") is known for making viral hits. They helmed the viral "Jesus Shoes," which were succeeded by the more-controversial "Satan Shoes," a pair of sneakers that were allegedly made with a drop of human blood, and marketed with rapper Lil Nas X.

MSCHF is also the company that brought the world a browser add-on that disguises Netflix-watching as a conference call, as well as a rubber chicken that doubled as a functioning bong.

Story continues

"Our perspective is everything is funny in a nihilistic sort of way," Gabriel Whaley, MSCHF's founder and CEO previously told Insider. "We're not here to make the world a better place. We're making light of how much everything sucks."

The trucks will be in New York City and Los Angeles until Wednesday. You can check their locations here.

Read the original article on Business Insider
New Sapphire Printer and its Accompanying Software Will Reside in the Raytheon Technologies Research Center in Connecticut

CAMPBELL, Calif., July 12, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Velo3D, Inc. (NYSE: VLD), a leading metal additive manufacturing technology company for mission-critical parts, today announced that Pratt & Whitney, a Raytheon Technologies business, has acquired an end-to-end solution from Velo3D to evaluate the Sapphire printer for manufacturing production jet engine components. This is the first Sapphire printer to be located at Pratt & Whitney; it previously utilized Velo3Ds contract manufacturer network to produce printed and finished parts.

Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon Technologies are experienced and accomplished users of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies with extensive knowledge across various platforms and applications. Raytheon Technologies is a launch participant of President Bidens AM Forward initiative, a new program encouraging companies to explore the use of additive manufacturing to transform supply chains and drive innovation. Raytheon Technologies commitment includes seeking small-medium-enterprise manufacturers involvement in over 50% of its requests for quotes on products manufactured using additive technologies, as well as seeking to simplify and accelerate the procurement process of AM parts.

"Metal additive manufacturing can transform aviation and space systems by delivering unprecedented part consolidation, lighter weight components, and more efficient systems," said Benny Buller, Velo3D Founder and CEO. "Were pleased to see Pratt & Whitney move forward with their own Sapphire XC printer. Were eager to see how they innovate their most mission critical designs using the end-to-end solution and how the economies of scale of an in-house system help increase addressable use-cases."

"Pratt & Whitney looks forward to future applications using the Sapphire XC printer, and collaborations with other potential suppliers with the Velo3D capability, for Pratt & Whitney GTF and advanced engine programs," said Jesse Boyer, fellow, Additive Manufacturing, Pratt & Whitney.

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The companys new Sapphire XC printer is calibrated to print in Inconel 718, a nickel-based superalloy well-suited for extreme temperatures.

The Raytheon Technologies Research Center is the companys central innovation hub where engineers, scientists and researchers explore and develop new, transformative technologies. The center provides the companys businesses with groundbreaking innovations and solutions to critical customer problems in a wide range of research areas, including complex integrated systems, advanced materials and manufacturing, autonomy-enabling technologies, electrification, and sustainability.

This is made possible by Velo3Ds end-to-end solution, which includes Flow print preparation software, the Sapphire family of printers, Assure quality assurance software, and Intelligent Fusion underlying manufacturing processes. The system uses a set of known recipes to achieve the geometries desired without using supports and monitors the build process layer-by-layer to ensure the highest quality.

About Velo3D:

Velo3D is a metal 3D printing technology company. 3D printingalso known as additive manufacturing (AM)has a unique ability to improve the way high-value metal parts are built. However, legacy metal AM has been greatly limited in its capabilities since its invention almost 30 years ago. This has prevented the technology from being used to create the most valuable and impactful parts, restricting its use to specific niches where the limitations were acceptable.

Velo3D has overcome these limitations so engineers can design and print the parts they want. The companys solution unlocks a wide breadth of design freedom and enables customers in space exploration, aviation, power generation, energy and semiconductor to innovate the future in their respective industries. Using Velo3D, these customers can now build mission-critical metal parts that were previously impossible to manufacture. The end-to-end solution includes the Flow print preparation software, the Sapphire family of printers, and the Assure quality control systemall of which are powered by Velo3Ds Intelligent Fusion manufacturing process. The company delivered its first Sapphire system in 2018 and has been a strategic partner to innovators such as SpaceX, Honeywell, Honda, Chromalloy, and Lam Research. Velo3D has been named to Fast Companys prestigious annual list of the Worlds Most Innovative Companies for 2021. For more information, please visit Velo3D.com, or follow the company on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1996. The Companys actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect", "estimate", "project", "budget", "forecast", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "may", "will", "could", "should", "believes", "predicts", "potential", "continue", and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Companys expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies for the future. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described in the documents filed by the Company from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside the Companys control and are difficult to predict. The Company cautions not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, including projections, which speak only as of the date made. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

VELO, VELO3D, SAPPHIRE, and INTELLIGENT FUSION, are registered trademarks of Velo3D, Inc.; and WITHOUT COMPROMISE, FLOW and ASSURE are trademarks of Velo3D, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Velo3D, Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005010/en/

Contacts

Media Contact:

Dan Sorensen, Senior Director of Public Relations

press@velo3d.com

Investor Relations:

Bob Okunski, VP Investor Relations

investors@velo3d.com
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow's plan to implement a new law enabling authorities to seize the assets of Western firms leaving the country failed to get through parliament before the summer recess, giving companies more time to negotiate exits.

Russia's parliamentary session ended last week without the bill being passed. That makes any progress unlikely until at least mid-September, when the lower house of parliament, or Duma, begins reviewing proposed laws in its autumn session.

Some experts now doubt whether the proposed law will be implemented at all.

"The fact that it only passed the first reading and got stuck means there is no consensus in the government about its further fate," said Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of political analysis firm R.Politik.

The delay may ease concerns that Moscow is taking a more aggressive approach to remaining Western firms, heightened by President Vladimir Putin's decision last month to seize full control of the Sakhalin-2 gas and oil project by decree.

It is unclear whether Putin could issue a broader decree to seize assets from other industries.

Russia already closely monitors companies that leave, whether abruptly or smoothly, to ensure their obligations to employees were met in line with Russian law, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"The government is keeping very tight control over this, so one can say that work is well established there," Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, adding that questions on the law's progress would be better addressed to the Duma.

The ruling United Russia party, whose lawmakers tabled the draft bill, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The proposed law would allow Russia to intervene to protect local jobs or industry, letting it appoint administrators to foreign-owned companies that want to quit Russia.

It won initial parliamentary approval in May, with backing from First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, who had warned against allowing companies to "leave, lock the door and leave people without work and consumers without products."

Story continues

While the draft has now been put on ice, the parliament can reconvene in emergencies and will gather on Friday for an extraordinary session to discuss a raft of issues, including some on competition and information policy.

The Duma has not said which specific laws it will discuss on Friday. The Kremlin on Tuesday declined to comment on the upcoming session.

Russia launched what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24. The United States and its allies responded with the most severe sanctions in modern history on Russia and Moscow's business elite, steps Putin has cast as a declaration of economic war.

Putin has repeatedly warned that Moscow would respond in kind, but so far, Western businesses that continue to operate in Russia say they have seen little interference.

"In the beginning there was very hawkish rhetoric on nationalisation, expropriation, to counter the scope of Western sanctions ... but then it faded," said Maria Shagina, research fellow at the IISS think tank.

Companies have been wrestling with how to leave Russia in ways that limit the financial impact, do not put employees at risk and, in some cases, offer the opportunity to return in future.

Western companies, including Nike and Cisco, accelerated their departures in recent weeks amid speculation that the new laws were imminent. The delay gives those remaining time to assess options.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux and John O'Donnell; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Tomasz Janowski)
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 12, 2022) - Sanu Gold Corporation (CSE: SANU) ("Sanu" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the commencement of trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange and a summary of its projects located in an emerging Tier 1 gold district in Guinea, West Africa.

Highlights

3 drill ready, high-quality gold exploration permits totaling over 258 km, with multiple target areas between 2km - 10 km in strike length

Licenses within 40 kms of AngloGold-Ashanti, Siguiri mine (5.2M oz Au), Nordgold Lefa mine (7.8M oz Au), with one permit on the western edge of the Siguiri Basin, in a similar setting to Predictive Discovery's Bankan Project (3.6M oz Au) 1 Daina License: 5 priority target areas with individual targets up to 10 km of strike Diguifara License: 4 priority target areas with individual targets up to 7 km of strike Bantabaye License: 5 priority target areas with individual targets up to 3 km of strike

Systematic termite mound geochemistry completed with over 16,000 termite mound and rock samples collected ranging from 0.005 to 10g/t with peak values up to and including 10 g/t Au

Artisanal mining common throughout the permits with sub surface samples (within artisanal workings on structural zones) returning values ranging from 0.001 to 18.3g/t including and up to 8.42 g/t, 10.2 g/t, 12.9 g/t and 18.3 g/t Au

Maiden RC target drill testing about to commence at Daina and Diguifara.

Extensive target definition and auger drilling underway on all three projects, with initial results to be released in the coming weeks, prior to RC drill testing campaigns on priority targets in Q3.

Established & experienced West Africa and Guinea based team

Martin Pawlitschek, CEO of Sanu Gold, commented: "We are thrilled to commence our public listing with such a high-quality portfolio of gold exploration permits, now at a time when the Siguiri Basin in Guinea is seeing increased exploration and development activities by majors and juniors alike. Our partners and teams on the ground have been working hard over the last twelve months to derive quality drill targets ready for testing. This is clearly an emerging gold district with recent world class discoveries, moving towards realising its full potential and we intend to be part of this."

Story continues







Figure 1: Guinea and neighbouring countries. Showing location of Sanu's projects and key gold projects and mines of Guinea

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8941/130578_9a21be1124e89aec_001full.jpg

Daina Permit Overview

+11,000 termite mound samples collected - peak values in termite samples of +8g/t Au

+10 km of gold anomalous structure defined

Peak values in rock samples of 12.5 g/t Au

Extensive small scale artisanal mining throughout the permit

Drill ready targets: >15,000m of auger drilling in 2022

Maiden RC target testing set to commence in Q3 2022







Figure 2: Daina Permit, gold anomalies defined form historic termite mound geochemistry, structural trends and occurrences of artisanal workings

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8941/130578_9a21be1124e89aec_002full.jpg

The Daina gold project is located in the northeastern area of the Republic of Guinea, within the administrative Region of Kankan and the Prefecture of Siguiri). Gold mineralization at Daina is structurally-controlled and is hosted in faulted and sheared sedimentary and volcanoclastic successions. At Daina, these faulted and sheared zones form large and highly hydrothermally altered, NNW-striking, ENE-dipping, structural corridors that contain a complex network of extensional dilation fracture systems containing the gold mineralization. This style and control of gold mineralization is comparable to most of deposits in the Siguiri region.

The NW-striking structures identified in the Daina Permit are very similar to those described further East in the NW-trending gold corridor of the Kalana (3.2 Moz), Komana (2.2 Moz), Kobada (2,8 Moz) and Niaouleni (2.0 Moz) gold deposits in Mali

Alluvial gold deposits along paleo-river of Tertiary age are widespread in the Siguiri area and resulted from the erosion, transport and deposition of the primary gold mineralization. Shallow artisanal mining activities are focussed on saprolite associated with intense stockwork of quartz veins. This mineralized saprolite occurs in several zones within the extensive gold anomalous structural corridors as defined by gold geochemistry, mapping and rock chips sampling.

Diguifara Permit Overview

+3000 termite mound samples collected - peak values in termite samples of +10g/t Au

+8 km of gold anomalous structure defined

Peak values in rock samples of +89.1 g/t Au

Small scale artisanal mining common through out the permit

Drill ready targets: >10,000m of auger drilling in H1 2022

RC target testing set to commence in Q3 2022







Figure 3: Diguifara Permit, gold anomalies defined form historic termite mound geochemistry, structural trends and occurrences of artisanal workings

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8941/130578_9a21be1124e89aec_003full.jpg

The Diguifara Gold Project is located in the northeastern area of the Republic of Guinea and is within the administrative region of Kankan and the Prefecture of Siguiri, about 20 km northeast of the 5.2Moz Siguiri Gold Mine operated by AngloGold-Ashanti. In the southern portion of the Diguifara Permit, the surface gold anomalies trend north-northwesterly and envelope a broad zone of deformation and hydrothermal alteration associated with faulted, sheared and altered sedimentary and volcanoclastic rocks. Along the major NNW-trending shear zone, the gold structure is associated with a 7Km gold geochemistry trend.

In the Diguifara area, the volcanoclastic rocks are invaded by numerous, locally closely spaced, NS to NNW trending, parallel set of extensional quartz veins. The quartz veins are associated with boxwork after pyrite. These extensive quartz veins are an indication of large-scale hydrothermal fluid flow along these major structural corridors. The brittle component of the fault zones which deformed the sediments and the volcanoclastic rocks created dilatant areas, which are favorable structural sites for fluid flow, hydrothermal alteration, and gold mineralization.

Local artisanal mining is widespread in the Diguifara permit. Areas of artisanal mining are generally coincident with zones of gold anomalies. Artisanal mining mostly targets paleo alluvial channels associated with the larger present-day drainages. Some shallow artisanal mining also targets the saprolithic bed rock within structural corridors.

Bantabaye Permit Overview

+2,500 historic termite mound samples - peak values in termite samples of +2 g/t Au

+5 km of gold anomalous structure defined

Small scale artisanal mining common throughout the permit

Peak values in rock samples of +18 g/t Au

Drill ready targets: >10,000m of auger drilling under way in H1 2022

RC target testing set to commence in Q1 2023







Figure 4: Bantabaye Permit, gold anomalies defined form historic termite mound geochemistry, structural trends and occurrences of artisanal workings

To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8941/130578_9a21be1124e89aec_004full.jpg

The Bantabaye gold project is located in the northeastern area of the Republic of Guinea and is within the administrative Region of Kankan and the Prefecture of Kouroussa. The property is located a few kilometers south of the +7.8 Moz Lero gold deposit, owned and operated by Nordgold. The Bantabaye gold project is part of the Paleoproterozoic sedimentary and volcano-sedimentary Group of the Siguiri Basin that hosts several multi-million-ounce gold mines (+5Moz SAG at Siguiri operated by AngloGold-Ashanti, +7.8Moz Lero mine at Lefa operated by Nordgold, +3Moz Tri-K deposit operated by Avocet Mining, and the +0.9Moz Keniero gold mine).

Typical gold mineralization within the region, is exemplified by Nordgold's Lefa gold mine that is located approximately 50 km to the northeast of the Bantabaye Permit. Gold at the Lefa Mine is mainly associated with mesothermal vein style mineralization. The mineralization is preferentially situated in the more permeable, altered, coarser grained sediments, within and/or adjacent to ENE oriented structures, and more consistently NNW trending vein/fracture zones similar to those controlling the mineralization in the Bantabaye Property. Recent work at Bantabaye shows that gold mineralisation is hosted in altered sedimentary and volcanoclastic rocks associated with fault zones. Gold associated with quartz veins typically occur in zones of breccia and is likely disseminated into the host rock. Investigations from local miners revealed that gold is frequently visible as coarse-grained gold nuggets in quartz-veins and can be easily recovered from panning saprolite material.

License's earn in terms

Sanu, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Gainde Gold SUARL, has the right to acquire up to 85% interest in each property, upon completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study, by funding a staged work program with key minimum milestone definitions. On a formal decision to mine, the holder of each exploration permit would be required to fund its share of mine construction or elect to dilute to a 1.5% Net Smelter Royalty. Further details of the Technical and Financial Partnership Agreements for all three properties are set out in Sanu's final prospectus dated June 23, 2022.

Management and Board

Martin Pawlitschek, President & Chief Executive Officer, Director, Co-Founder

An international mining professional with over 20 years experience, who has held key management positions with a number of junior explorers, private equity investment funds, majors (BHP) and development companies (MDL, Teranga). Co-founder of several resource exploration companies across West Africa, South America, Europe and Australia. Extensive experience with mining private equity investments including due diligence, exploration and resource upside evaluation, development projects and operations.

Serigne Dieng, PhD, M. Sc. - Exploration Manager

Over 20 years of extensive exploration experience across West Africa and Canada, including juniors and majors (Iamgold). He has a strong discovery and resource delineation track record and an experienced leader and manager of large exploration teams. Holds M.Sc in Mineral Exploration and Phd in Structural Geology and Exploration Geochemistry from Queens University in Canada.

Sekou Traore - General Manager

Over 20 years of extensive mining experience with extensive international import and export experience. Extensive personal network with solid relations with the Guinean authorities. This has earned him distinctions from the Ministry of Mines and Geology and appreciations from the Guinean government. Previously, worked with Mansa Sanou Exploration (MSE), Nature Exploration & Discovery (NED), and Resources Mining (RM).

Gavin Cooper, CPA, CA - Chief Financial Officer

CPA with extensive experience in all aspects of corporate and financial management. For the past 35 years, has been providing strategic and financial advice and corporate administration services and has held senior positions with a number of public and private companies with local and international operations.

Vince Sorace - Executive Chairman

Mining and technology entrepreneur with over 30 years of international business and capital markets experience. Founded and led several resource and technology companies with assets and operations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. Has raised over $300M in equity and debt financings. Extensive experience in capital markets, operations and management and public company governance. President and CEO of Kutcho Copper Corp, Chairman of E79 Resources Corp. and Founder and Executive Chairman of MineHub Technologies Inc.

Fatou Gueye - Director, Co-Founder

Extensive experience as a senior executive in the Financial Services, Consulting and Mining industries in Australia, the US, and in Africa. Her experience in the Mining sector includes exploration and mining finance particularly for West African explorers and developers. Well developed network at the government and administrative level across several West African countries. Has provided expert advice to numerous publicly traded and privately held mining and finance companies operating in Africa and Australia. Founder and Director of Jiwana Resources, a private Australian mining exploration company with assets in Senegal.

Galen McNamara - Director

Entrepreneur and Geologist with extensive discovery and capital markets experience over 15 years. CEO and Director of Summa Silver Corp, Chairman of Goldshore Resources Inc, Co-winner 2018 PDAC Bill Dennis "Prospector of the Year" Award and 2016 Mines and Money Exploration Award. Former Senior Project Manager - Exploration & Development at NexGen Energy.

Dusko Ljubojevic - Advisor, Co-Founder

Experienced resource industry executive and geologist with over 15 years of broad experience in the sector. Currently, Dusko serves as the CEO of ASX listed Raiden Resources and has served on the advisory board of a number of private resource companies; has served as a consultant and an advisor to private equity funds and global development companies, including Directorships in a number of resource start-up companies. Has also acted as an advisor to Barrick Gold Corporations' Asset Development Group.

Brett Richards - Advisor

Over 34 years of experience in mining and metals including mine financing, mine development, senior level operations and M&A. Previous CEO of Avocet Mining in Guinea. Current CEO and Director of Goldshore Resources. Former transition CEO of Roxgold and former senior executive of Katanga Mining. Former senior executive positions with Kinross Gold and Co-Steel.

Peter Flindell - Advisor

35 years of experience in mineral exploration and feasibility studies. 12 years with Newmont Mining, 11 years with Avocet Mining and 8 years with Signal Delta. Previously EVP Exploration at Advocet Mining in Guinea. Led teams to discover, develop and expand several gold and copper mines in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, West Africa, Central Africa, Europe and Central America. Current VP Exploration of Goldshore Resources.

In addition, Sanu has engaged the services of Independent Trading Group Inc. (ITG) to provide market-making services in accordance with Canadian Securities Exchange policies ("CSE"). ITG will trade shares of the company on the CSE and other available trading venues with the objective of maintaining a reasonable market and improving the liquidity of the company's common shares.

Under the agreement, ITG will receive compensation of $5,000 per month, payable monthly in advance. The agreement is for an initial term of three months and will renew for additional one-month terms unless terminated by either party with 30 days notice. There are no performance factors contained in the agreement and ITG will not receive shares or options as compensation. ITG and the company are unrelated and unaffiliated entities and, at the time of the agreement, neither ITG nor its principals have any interest, directly or indirectly, in the securities of the company.

Qualified Persons

The technical or scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Serigne Dieng, PhD., M.Sc., AIG, Exploration Manager of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Gainde Gold SUARL, who serves as a qualified person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.

About Sanu Gold

Located within the world class Siguiri Basin, host to several operating mines, Sanu is exploring three high quality gold exploration permits in Guinea targeting multi-million ounce gold discoveries. The company has defined kilometer scale gold bearing structures on each of the permits with multiple high-value drill targets. Sanu is operated by a highly experienced team with successful records of discovery, resource development and mine permitting.

Martin Pawlitschek

President & CEO, Sanu Gold Corp

For further information regarding Sanu, please email info@sanugoldcorp.com or visit website at www.sanugoldcorp.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "indicates", "opportunity", "possible" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Sanu believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's plans for exploration on its properties and ability to execute on plans, ability to raise sufficient capital to fund its obligations under its property agreements going forward, ability to maintain its material property agreements, mineral tenures and concessions in good standing, to explore and develop its projects; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the inherent hazards associated with mineral exploration and mining operations, future prices of gold and other metals, changes in general economic conditions and local risks in the jurisdiction (Guinea) in which it operates, accuracy of mineral resource and reserve estimates, the potential for new discoveries, the ability of the Company to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects and if obtained, to obtain such permits and consents in a timely fashion relative to the Company's plans and business objectives for the projects; the general ability of the Company to monetize its mineral resources; and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, dependence on key management personnel and general competition in the mining industry. Forward-looking statements are based on the reasonable beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

________________________

1 References to nearby projects are for information purposes only and there are no assurances that Sanu's properties will receive or achieve the same results.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130578
Tourists have drinks at a hotel rooftop bar as clouds gather over the central business district in Singapore

By Tom Westbrook and Rae Wee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Global banks are rushing to sell bonds in Singapore, where unique monetary settings have opened a favourable borrowing window that puts the city-state's debt markets on course for the biggest year of bank-capital raising in more than a decade.

Singapore's central bank manages policy via its currency, rather than short-term rates, and one consequence has been the benchmark Singapore Overnight Rate Average (SORA) lagging a rise in comparable borrowing costs for U.S. dollars.

Unlike other low-rate destinations in Europe or Japan, the Monetary Authority of Singapore is also keen on keeping the Singapore dollar steady, reducing currency risk, and investor appetite has been strong.

Almost S$12 billion ($8.5 billion) has been raised in Singapore's debt markets from Jan. 1 to July 6, the largest for the period since 2019, according to Refinitiv data, with June the biggest month for issuance by value since Sept. 2021.

About half of the S$3.5 billion raised in June and a fifth of the year-to-date figure are "Tier 2" notes, issued by banks for reserve capital requirements - the biggest slice of this type of debt that Singapore has seen in over 10 years.

"Debt markets here are still quite well behaved, rates have not risen significantly," Daryl Ho, senior investment strategist at Singapore's DBS Bank, said at a briefing, in contrast to deteriorating conditions in bigger markets.

"Naturally, you'll attract a lot of issuers."

Through June, SORA, a volume-weighted calculation on unsecured interbank loans and a benchmark for longer rates, averaged about 1% against an average of just over 1.2% for overnight dollar LIBOR.

Private banks have led solid investor demand. UOB, the bookrunner for a S$900 million Tier-2 note for HSBC in June, said it was oversubscribed - with private banks the biggest buyers - and that 5.25% was a competitive price.

"The Singapore dollar trade was priced about 20 to 25 basis points tighter than what they would have achieved in the U.S. dollar market," said Carolyn Tan, UOB's head of debt capital markets for bonds. HSBC had no comment.

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Lenders such as BNP Paribas, ABN Amro and Barclays also sold debt in Singapore dollars recently. Barclays' S$450 million alternative Tier-1 deal last week had a coupon of 8.3%, against a coupon of 8.875% on 1.25 billion ($1.5 billion) raised a week earlier.

"I would expect a lot of bank treasurers would look at this market very closely," said Ken Wei Wong, Barclays' head of Asia-Pacific fixed income syndicate.

"There is momentum ... given the dislocation in G3 (currencies)."

Money-market futures are priced for that to continue, with three-month eurodollar futures, which track the cost of borrowing U.S. dollars abroad, showing traders see interest rates hitting 3% by year's end.

"Financial institutions are likely being pro-active," said Andrew Wong, vice president of credit research at OCBC Bank in Singapore.

"For now, the Singapore dollar market is relatively cheaper than other markets so as long as this dynamic holds then we expect financial institutions will continue to issue in Singapore dollars."

($1 = 1.4016 Singapore dollars)

($1 = 0.8331 pounds)

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Additional reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Sam Holmes)
Twitter (TWTR) has made good on its promise to drag Elon Musk into court and potentially force the Tesla CEO to acquire the social media company, despite Musk saying he is killing the deal.

On July 12, Twitter filed a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court  the countrys preeminent business dispute forum  asking for one of its chancellors to compel Musk to buy the company, as he promised in his April 25 merger agreement. Under the terms of the accord, Musk agreed to purchase the companys outstanding common stock at $54.20 per share, roughly $44 billion. As of Tuesday, Twitter was trading around $34 a share.

Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, Musk apparently believes that he  unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law  is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away, Twitter alleges in the breach-of-contract lawsuit.

Twitter is asking the court for "swift" action to force Musk to buy Twitter, noting that the CEO's tactics pose the danger of irreparable harm against the social media company and its employees.

We have reached out to Twitter and Musk and did not receive an immediate response.

SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk grimaces after arriving on the red carpet for the Axel Springer award, in Berlin, Germany, December 1, 2020. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/Pool

Musk alleges that Twitter breached multiple terms of their agreement by holding back data that would allow him to independently assess the number of fake accounts on the platform  something Musk says is fundamental to its business and financial performance, and needed to facilitate Musk's financing and financial planning for the transaction.

However, Twitter alleges in its lawsuit that Musk was simply grasping "for an out" as the market and Twitter both began to sink after he agreed to buy the company.

"Musk wanted an escape. But the merger agreement left him little room," the lawsuit stated.

The agreement incudes a provision for specific performance, a feature that allows the parties to ask for a court to force the deal to close. It also provides for a $1 billion reverse breakup fee that would release Musk from the deal  but only under certain conditions, such as if his debt financing collapsed, or if government regulators blocked the merger.

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From Twitter's lawsuit.

The agreement in question stems from Musks April 4 revelation that he planned to buy Twitter by acquiring all of its outstanding shares. Early on, Musk made clear two central reasons for acquiring the social media company: defeating fake spam bot accounts, and promoting more free speech.

His offer of $54.20 per share represented a 38% premium over Twitters stock price at market close on April 1, 2022. On May 13, Musk hinted in a Tweet that the deal may be on thin ice.

The deal was temporarily on hold, he said, pending verification of Twitters representations that fewer than 5% of monetizable daily active user accounts are fake. Some have speculated that Musk is using Twitters fake-account issue as an excuse not to buy a company in a bear market  especially since he should have known about it long before bidding for Twitter.

Musk, meanwhile, has speculated that as many as 20% of Twitter accounts could be bots, but says he can't verify whether he is right or Twitter is without the right data.

Twitter, according to The Washington Post, shared more than 500 million tweets and associated information with Musk, but the company has said it can't provide outside parties with privileged internal data, as it could harm user privacy.

Unless the court orders otherwise, Musk has 20 days from being served with Twitters complaint to file an answer to its claims.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.

Got a tip? Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of Swiss bank UBS is seen in Zurich

By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Elizabeth Dilts Marshall

NEW YORK (Reuters) -UBS, the world's biggest wealth manager, on Tuesday named Iqbal Khan the sole head of the Swiss bank's global wealth management division in an executive board reshuffle.

Khan, who joined Switzerland's biggest bank in 2019 to co-head its flagship division, will take over when co-president Tom Naratil steps down in October after decades with the bank.

Naureen Hassan, the second-ranking officer at the New York Federal Reserve, replaces Naratil in his second role as president of UBS Americas, the bank said in a statement.

Under Chief Executive Ralph Hamers, UBS has sought to leverage technology and integrate fintech acquisitions to boost revenues, expand its client base and cut costs.

"Our Global Wealth Management business and our Americas region are strategically important, and both offer significant growth opportunities for us," Hamers said in a statement.

Khan previously led smaller rival Credit Suisse's international wealth management division. Khan was thrust into the spotlight after leaving Credit Suisse when he confronted a private detective who was following him and his wife.

That incident prompted a criminal complaint, multiple sackings and enforcement proceedings against Credit Suisse, where further spying cases emerged, prompting the CEO to quit.

Khan has kept a relatively low public profile since the spying incident, but sources familiar with UBS say he is popular with employees and clients and could be a CEO candidate.

When Khan joined UBS, it was seen as a bid to help the bank cope with sluggish activity among wealthy clients, ultra-low interest rates and increased competition from U.S. rivals.

Under Khan and Naratil, UBS overhauled its wealth management business by cutting layers of middle management to give local teams more autonomy, expanding lending to ultra-wealthy clients and bulking up its digital offerings to attract more clients.

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In 2021, UBS spent $1.4 billion to buy U.S.-focused digital investing platform Wealthfront, which has more than $27 billion under management. It also rolled out a hybrid digital wealth management platform.

The wealth management division's pre-tax profits were up 40% in 2021 compared with 2019. Since Khan joined, the division has brought in more than $50 billion in net new loans and more than $150 billion in fresh fee-generating client inflows.

UBS overall has delivered strong results in recent years, booking its best annual profit since the global financial crisis in 2021 and its best first-quarter net profit in 15 years at the start of 2022.

But inflation, rising interest rates, commodity shocks and the Ukraine war have hit financial markets and prompted many investors to become more risk averse and retreat from borrowing.

UBS is set to report second-quarter results on July 26.

Hassan, who will join the bank's executive ranks in October, served as first vice president and chief operating officer at the New York Fed. She has also worked at Morgan Stanley.

Naratil, who has been with UBS since it acquired U.S. brokerage Paine Webber in 2000, joined the executive board as chief financial officer in 2011 and then became chief operating officer. He headed wealth management in the Americas from 2016.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall; Editing by Richard Chang and Edmund Blair)
BRESKENS, Netherlands, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloudprinter.com, the Ukrainian- and Dutch-based global print API platform raised 7M in a seed round led by Capital Mills, with participation from Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (BOM) and a Dutch family office. This round follows Cloudprinter.com's early 2019 3M pre-seed round and brings the total funding of the company to 10M.

With a print network consisting of more than 170 print partners, Cloudprinter.com provides local print on demand in more than 104 countries and brings the supply chain closer to the end customer. Cloudprinter.com manages and fulfills print jobs for its customers around the globe and significantly shortens shipping distance which lowers shipping costs and reduces carbon emissions. Furthermore, customers won't deal with import duties, as the products aren't imported anymore.

In the past few years, Cloudprinter.com has built an ecosystem consisting of print providers, eCommerce marketplaces, and print buyers around its platform. Top-notch eCommerce brands are using the platform to grow their business in markets that they otherwise can't fulfill and at the same time support local communities and society.

Cloudprinter.com currently employs 80 people and operates in more than 104 countries. With the funding raised, Cloudprinter.com strives to expand its sales and product teams and sustain its 300% growth rate from 2021 to 2022.

Martijn Eier, CEO and Founder Cloudprinter.com: "We are delighted to accelerate our aim to make global printing more sustainable, together with our trustful investors and partners. It's a great confirmation, especially for our Ukrainian team, that our investors believe in our unique and disruptive approach".

Rene Delsing from Capital Mills says: "Given the tough circumstances Cloudprinter.com has to deal with, it is truly impressive what the team has achieved in the past months. The team morale and growth pace are exceptional. We couldn't be more proud to be part of their journey to disrupt this industry and become a global leader. Customer reviews and market research underpin their growth potential".

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Robin Franken from BOM says: "Due to their global and unique approach Cloudprinter.com is able to achieve fast commercial growth which in turn results in a more sustainable print industry by (amongst other things) vastly shortening the shipping distances. We are excited about the progression the venture has made in the last few years and are confident that the team will use these new funds to accelerate its growth even more".

About Capital Mills: Netherlands  based Capital Mills is a venture capitalist founded in 2015 and backed by a group of experienced entrepreneurial investors. Focused on longterm collaboration and active support it invests in fast-growing B2C tech startups and B2B SaaS companies with state-of-the-art technology and ambitious founders.

About BOM: Climate-Neutral Energy Solutions  Together with entrepreneurs BOM focuses on the fossil-fuel-free generation of electricity and heat, energy conservation in buildings and production processes, and the creation of new technologies that help Brabant cut its CO2 emissions and accelerate the energy transition. BOM also supports emerging companies with an impact on Promising Key Technologies, a Healthy Future, and Sustainable Food Systems.  BOM. Catalyzing Change

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SOURCE Cloudprinter.com
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- JSI will celebrate the Building Healthy Cities (BHC) project's accomplishments with an exhibit on July 29, 2022. Since 2018, BHC has worked to improve healthy urban planning in four rapidly growing Smart Cities in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Nepal. This work is critical because as the world urbanizes, cities must be able to address the urban challenges that affect citizen's health (like infrastructure constraints, pollution, healthcare, and transportation issues) in an organized, coordinated way.

John Snow, Inc. Logo

Building Healthy Cities works to improve healthy urban planning in rapidly growing Smart Cities.

The museum-style exhibit will lead viewers through BHC's project learnings and accomplishments at JSI's Arlington office, 2733 Crystal Drive. Timed tickets are free and available here for slots between 12:00pm to 4:00pm. The average time to view the full exhibit is 30 to 60 minutes, with refreshments and a chance to speak to BHC experts provided at the end. A virtual version of the exhibit will be shared on the JSI website for those who cannot attend in person.

BHC used an inclusive, systems approach to identify urban health challenges and find the most effective solutions. This is one of the first USAID projects to use systems thinking throughout the project, and it was widely accepted by partner cities. "We can use the systems approach and integrate it with the approaches that we have been using to obtain most effective, efficient, and comprehensive results," said Muhammad Amri Akbar, Head of the Social Culture and Government Department in Makassar, Indonesia. The visualization of each city system will be displayed at the exhibit, and can be explored online.

BHC worked across a wide range of sectors and stakeholders (including government, private sector, citizens groups, academia, and donors). The project built on USAID's agency-wide frameworks of resilience and gender equality by working with and supporting marginalized populations. BHC also advanced USAID initiatives, such as working with local partners, by engaging 29 local organizations throughout the project.

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Building Healthy Cities (BHC) is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-17-00028, beginning September 30, 2017. BHC is implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) with partners International Organization for Migration, Thrive Networks Global, and Urban Institute, and with support from Engaging Inquiry, LLC. This project is made possible by the generous support of the American people through USAID. USAID administers the U.S. foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries worldwide.

For more information, contact Amanda Pomeroy Stevens, BHC project director, at amanda_pomeroy@jsi.com.

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SOURCE John Snow, Inc.
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During a year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.

In June of 2022, Vantagepoint AI was called on by the Sunrise Center of Pasco County to provide much needed support for those affected by domestic violence and sexual abuse.

When Vantagepoint AI received the request, it was clear that a contribution of important living supplies would have a positive and immediate impact for the Sunrise Center.

Close to 2,000 items ranging from backpacks, cleaning supplies, toothpaste, child car seats, baby supplies, diapers, cleaning supplies and food were gifted.

"I want to thank everybody on the VantagePoint team for having such a big heart and such compassion! Our company mission is empowering traders daily, but I love how it's morphing into 'empowering people,' because that's what we do," said Lane Mendelsohn, President.

Vantagepoint AI's products, services, and corporate culture along with its dedication to corporate philanthropy have brought international attention to this small, family-owned business in the Tampa Bay region.

"This year, the need so was so much greater in our community as we still are experiencing the ripples of the pandemic. It was such a joy for the entire organization to be able to step up, collect the supplies, and transport them to an organization that is helping people every day," Mendelsohn said.

Vantagepoint AI proudly and continuously donates a percentage of sales to benefit local community organizations, hospitals, and non-profits to help people who need it most (over $754,771.63 to date).

About Vantagepoint AI, LLC.

Vantagepoint AI's software forecasts Stocks, Futures, Forex, Cryptocurrencies, and ETFs using patented Neural Network processes. The company is actively committed to giving back in the Tampa Bay community including regularly donating a portion of revenue to Shriners Hospitals for Children and The Children's Cancer Center.

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Contact:

Jordan Youtz

jordany@tradermarketinggroup.com

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SOURCE VantagePoint Software
Company Logo

Global Precast Concrete Market

Global Precast Concrete Market

Dublin, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Precast Concrete Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global precast concrete market reached a value of US$ 115 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach a value of US$ 158.2 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.46% during 2021-2027. 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.



Precast concrete is produced by preparing, casting, and curing the concrete using a reusable mold in a controlled environment. The casted concrete is then transported to the construction site, where it is used for structural components like wall panels, tunnels, floors, beams, columns, pipes, girders and staircases.

The precast structural elements are more economical and practical in nature compared to in-situ concrete. Precast concrete components can be bolted together by embedding steel connectors in the concrete at the time of casting. They offer dimensional accuracy and a choice of developing unique and breakthrough constructions of exceptional quality. As a result, precast concrete is generally used for building affordable projects with identical structures. It also provides the advantage of planning for future construction projects as the components can be rearranged easily.



Precast Concrete Market Trends:

The global precast concrete market is primarily driven by rapid urbanization and the growing demand for residential and commercial spaces. With the rising environmental concerns, precast concrete is being increasingly used to construct buildings, bridges, and stadiums as it can be recycled and reused, which helps in minimizing the impact of raw materials on the environment.

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Besides this, governments across the globe are investing in infrastructural development projects, which is providing a positive outlook to the market. They are also undertaking various initiatives for the employment of precast concrete as it significantly reduces the overall project timeline and generates savings in raw material and labor costs.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Balfour Beatty plc, Boral Limited, CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., Elementbau Osthessen GmbH & Co. ELO KG, Forterra Inc., Gulf Precast Concrete Co LLC, Holcim Group, Laing O'Rourke, Olson Precast Company, Spancrete Inc. (Wells Concrete) and Tindall Corporation.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global precast concrete market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global precast concrete market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the product?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end use?

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 precast concrete 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 Precast Concrete Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Type

6.1 Floors and Roofs

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Columns and Beams

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Stairs and Landing

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Walls

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Product

7.1 Structural Building Components

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Architectural Building Components

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Transportation Products

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast

7.4 Water and Waste Handling Products

7.4.1 Market Trends

7.4.2 Market Forecast

7.5 Others

7.5.1 Market Trends

7.5.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by End Use

8.1 Residential

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Non-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 Balfour Beatty plc

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.1.3 Financials

14.3.1.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.2 Boral Limited

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.2.3 Financials

14.3.2.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.3 CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V.

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 Elementbau Osthessen GmbH & Co. ELO KG

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5 Forterra Inc.

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.6 Gulf Precast Concrete Co LLC

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7 Holcim Group

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 Laing O'Rourke

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9 Olson Precast Company

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10 Spancrete Inc. (Wells Concrete)

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.11 Tindall Corporation

14.3.11.1 Company Overview

14.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/usp5yh

Attachment

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




There are three constants in life: death, taxes and the "lofi hip hop radio  beats to relax/study to" YouTube stream. That is, until YouTube falsely hit the Lofi Girl channel with a DMCA takedown, bringing the beloved streams offline for the first time in over 2 years.

With over 668 million views, the stream was one of YouTube's most popular places for people to go when they wanted to listen to calming, yet engaging music while studying or working. Listeners sometimes used the stream's live chat like an anonymized, distant study group, reminding each other to take breaks and drink water. So when the stream suddenly stopped, fans were worried.

YouTube is cluttered with hours-long streams of calming music, but the live nature of the "lofi hip hop radio" streams sets it apart. On the YouTube stream, which currently serves a "this live stream recording is not available" message, one of the top comments reads: "Hopefully it isnt over yet, this stream is legitimately a hugely important part of YouTube culture."

It's true. Even beyond YouTube, Lofi Girl lives in spin-off communities, including the 30,000-member r/LofiGirl subreddit and a Lofi Girl Discord with 700,000 members. The animation accompanying the 24/7 livestream  a Studio Ghibliinspired image of a girl wearing headphones and studying as her cat stares out the window at a cityscape  has been honored in cosplay, replicated by Will Smith and re-created on Cartoon Network's YouTube channel with a character from "Steven Universe."

Yesterday, Lofi Girl addressed the sudden takedown in a tweet, stating that "the lofi radios have been taken down because of false copyright strikes." In response, fans of Lofi Girl circulated the tag #BringBackLofiGirl to get YouTube's attention. Some even went as far as to spam and troll FMC Music, the Malaysian label that allegedly issued the false copyright complaint, while others created fan art.

Story continues

confirmed the takedown requests were abusive & terminated the claimants account  we've resolved the strikes + reinstated your vids  it can sometimes take 24-48 hours for everything to be back to normal! so sorry this happened & thx for your patience as we sorted it out   TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) July 11, 2022

Lofi Girl told TechCrunch that all of the channel's music is released through its record label, Lofi Records, so they have the necessary rights to share it. Because Lofi Girl has the proper rights to the music, YouTube determined that the account is not in violation of copyright laws. The platform responded to Lofi Girl on Twitter Monday, saying that the missing livestream videos should be reinstated in 24 to 48 hours.

TechCrunch reached out to YouTube for comment, and a spokesperson linked us to the company's existing response to Lofi Girl on Twitter.

If past precedent holds true, Lofi Girl's next stream will have to start again from the beginning, rather than as a continuation of the existing 2-year-long stream. In 2020, the channel faced a similar problem when an accidental suspension ended its 13,000-hour stream. In that case, YouTube also owned up to its mistakes and reinstated the account, but the same issues have apparently returned.

"This event has shone a light on an underlying problem on the platform: It's 2022, and there are countless smaller creators out there, many of which engaged in this discussion, that continue to be hit daily by these false claims on both videos and livestreams," Lofi Girl wrote in a tweet.

Today, in YouTube's reply to Lofi Girl, the company said that the takedown requests were "abusive," meaning that they were leveraged as an attack against the channel, rather than out of actual concern for copyright violations. This behavior is incredibly common, but platforms have struggled to determine when these reports are legitimate and when they're unsubstantiated.

"Unfortunately, we're not entirely sure why FMC sent the complaint," Lofi Girl told TechCrunch via Twitter message.

Repercussions for creators

Sometimes, these fraudulent DMCA takedowns can go to the extreme.

In March, a number of YouTube streamers playing Destiny noticed that they'd been slapped with copyright strikes. Even some videos from Bungie, Destiny's developer, were affected and Bungie assured fans that it wasn't behind these actions, making matters stranger.

As it turns out, a YouTuber called "Lord Nazo" had created gmail accounts impersonating Bungie's copyright management firm and submitted 96 fraudulent complaints against high-profile Destiny YouTubers. Last month, Bungie sued the YouTuber for $7.6 million, saying that they wanted to make an example out of him.

Copyright law is sometimes murky, especially in emerging digital media, but video game streams are usually considered "fair use" since the works are transformative. You could even argue that YouTube videos like "The Entire Bee Movie but every time it says bee it speeds up by 15%" are transformative, which is probably why this genre of video remains prevalent online. After all, that "Bee Movie" parody in particular is only about 5 minutes long, compared to the 90-minute film.

The case with Bungie and "Lord Nazo" amplifies what YouTube fans have known for too long: the DMCA system is too easy to exploit. Fraudulent takedowns are especially problematic when leveraged against online creators who rely on YouTube ad revenue for income. Instagram creators have also been impacted by so-called ban-as-service scams, in which bad actors charge money to mass-report someone and get their account wrongly removed.

Startups like Notch have tried to pioneer an insurance industry for online creators, offering daily payouts in case they lose access to their account, but their service currently only covers hacks, not false bans. That leaves creators with few ways to protect themselves in the case of wrongful takedowns or bans. One popular VTuber, CodeMiko, has said she has nightmares about being banned from Twitch.

Perhaps because Lofi Girl is so iconic, the user behind the channel was able to get a response from YouTube soon after tweeting about the issue. But for smaller creators, this can be a seemingly impossible accomplishment.

"Were shocked and disappointed to see that there's still not any kind of protection or manual review of these false claims," Lofi Girl wrote on Twitter. "At the end of the day, it was entirely out of our control, and the sad part is that there was no way to appeal beforehand/prevent it from happening."

Were shocked and disappointed to see that there's still not any kind of protection or manual review of these false claims. At the end of the day, it was entirely out of our control, and the sad part is that there was no way to appeal beforehand/prevent it from happening. (2/7)  Lofi Girl (@lofigirl) July 11, 2022

The good news is that Lofi Girl will soon be back at her desk, scribbling some notes alongside her orange cat and trusty headphones, listening to some chill beats.
Getty

When driving up a quiet lane close to the border between Switzerland and Liechtenstein, youd be forgiven if you glossed over an unassuming wooden shed on the side of the road bearing a sign that reads Festung Furggels. Nearly 300 feet under the surface, however, physicists are performing a battery of physics experiments inside a military fortress built during World War II. Their tests aim to nail down the value for a basic yet elusive constantthose in the know call it simply Big G.

Thats a reference to the gravitational constant, a fundamental value that possesses the rare and powerful characteristic of not varying across space or time. The speed of light in a vacuum and the magnitude of the charge carried by a single electron are two other examples of these unchanging constants, the values of which can only be determined experimentally and not from other known numbers.

The importance of fundamental constants cant be overstated: Big G plays a key role in both Newtons law of universal gravitation and Einsteins theory of general relativity, from which mounds of other physical calculations and applications spring up (like our ability to use GPS to navigate).

Festung Furggels, the name of the fortress (Fort Ferkels in English). Courtesy of Erich Breitenmoser

But its an open secret that scientists are not very sure of Big Gs exact valuein fact, every other fundamental constant is more precisely known than it, said University of Washington physicist Eric Adelberger.

Its the least precisely known fundamental constant, simply because gravity is so very, very weak, Adelberger told The Daily Beast.

The accepted estimate for Big G has troubled scientists for years. Its been called a black eye for the field of physics, and a serious issue that needs addressing. The former director of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (the governing body of measurement standards) has even weighed in on the issue, writing that the imprecision in G is irritating.

Currently, the accepted best guess for the value of Big G has an uncertainty of 22 parts per millionbut that imprecision is not even the biggest problem with estimates, said Jurg Dual, an engineering researcher at ETH Zurich. Its the fact that independent teams of physicists arent able to validate each others values for Big G, even when they use the same equipment and methods.

Story continues

There is no overlap among different groups estimates, Dual told The Daily Beast. Why is that? he said.

In 1991, Dual and a graduate student devised an experiment that eschewed the typical materialsbalances, thin wires, pendulums, and drop towersin favor of a pair of vibrating metal beams. His reasoning was that these trials could be biased by the presence of undiscovered massive items, such as buried cannonballs.

At the time, Dual couldnt secure funding for the idea and the graduate student moved on to another position, but he said the main issue with the project was that the measurement and computing technology of the 90s was not powerful enough. I let it sleep and said to myself, I will restart again before my retirement, and that's where we are, he said.

Starting in 2018, Dual has taken up the mantle of his old idea, going as far as to rent out three of Fort Furggels 190 underground rooms. The renovated Swiss bunker came in handy as a temperature-stable experimental unit where Dual and his colleagues could set up the beams and measure the amount one wiggles in response to the others gravitational pull. The results of his efforts were published Monday in the journal Nature Physics.

Courtesy of Erich Breitenmoser

Dual said that with this vibration-based experiment, unlike traditional methods, he is not concerned about the interference of hidden cannonballsa good thing, since the surrounding countryside and fort itself are replete with decommissioned cannons.

Optimizing the experiment for precision meant removing as many sources of error as possible. When Duals team visited the fort to make manual adjustments to the setup, they needed to wait several days for their emitted body heat to dissipate from the room before restarting their trial.

Ultimately, they calculated a value for Big G that was 2.2 percent higher than the current accepted metric. This number represents a promising start for the nontraditional wave-based methodology, wrote Christian Rothleitner, a mass researcher at PTB, the National Metrology Institute of Germany, in an accompanying Nature Physics paper.

Their experiment is entering into unknown territory for verifying Newtons law of gravitationan important path to follow towards a more complete understanding of gravitation, he wrote.

Courtesy of Erich Breitenmoser

Though Duals team was not able to pinpoint Big G with higher precision than standard methods, Rothleitner told The Daily Beast that he liked the paper very much, because its so different.

Still, not all in the physics community were as hopeful about the teams experiment.

Its a carefully done experiment, but I can't see the point of it, Adelberger said, noting that traditional methods have managed to attain precisions three times lower than the vibrating beam setup. Its much more complicated than the leading ways of calculating Big G and might even introduce more potential sources of error, he added.

The Door to Fusion Energy Might Have Just Been Unlocked

Dual conceded that his idea will need fine-tuning. We are not as precise as we would like to be, he said. Still, he said he believes that increasing the methods precision is possible, and it has the potential to impact something as large as how we perceive the universe.

His current experiments in the fort aim to measure Big G by making the beams rotate, not just vibrate. Preliminary results have supported his published calculations, he said; this research is something of a swan song for Dual, who plans to retire at the end of July. The experience has provided a lively bookend reminiscent of his early career:

It's been a lot of fun to get back into experimenting, he said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Its been a year since statues of Confederates Robert E. Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson stood in Charlottesvilles downtown parks, but the controversy over the removal and the statues' fates have yet to be resolved.

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center was granted ownership of the Lee statue by the city in December, but the ownership is now in court. Two other organizations who applied for ownership of the Lee statue, Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation and the Ratcliffe Foundation, on behalf of its subsidiary Ellenbrook Museum, are suing the city for giving the statue to JSAAHC.

The two allege the city violated the Freedom of Information Act, Virginia Public Procurement Act and state code when it awarded the Lee statue to JSAAHC in December. JSAAHC was initially named as a defendant when the suit was initially filed but has since been removed. The foundations are represented by attorneys Ralph Main, Jock Yellott and S. Braxton Puryear, who also represented Charlottesville area residents in a previous Monument Fund-backed lawsuit against the city over votes to remove the Lee and Jackson statues.

City spokesman David Dillehunt said the city does not comment on matters of pending litigation.

Much of the lawsuit appears to be in response to JSAAHCs intentions for the monument, titled the Swords Into Plowshares project, which notably includes a plan to melt down the statue and recast Lees brass ingots into a new work of art that reflects the Charlottesville communitys values of racial inclusivity.

The plaintiffs are claiming that melting the statue specifically would violate state statute. In court filings, the plaintiffs say relocating a war monument to a foundry furnace for [alteration] and destruction is not on the list of what is permissible.

Rich Schragger, a law professor at the University of Virginia and expert on constitutional and local government law, said the lawsuit is a little tricky. It comes down to how the court will interpret the state statute that allowed the city to take the statues down in the first place. The court will have to decide if the citys bidding process for the statues followed state law or violated it.

If the court says that the city violated the law, then it can order the statue to be presumably returned to the city. The city still has, under the state law, the right to do what it wishes within limits within the statute, Schragger said.

However, this doesnt mean the plaintiffs would get the statue.

My understanding is the plaintiffs are demanding that the statute be given to them or preserved. I doubt that that's a possible avenue of relief for them. The appropriate relief, if the plaintiff circuit rules that way, would be that the city redo the bidding process and the city just gets the property back, Schragger said.

Schragger said the process could take a long time, potentially one to two years, while its possible it may be wrapped up sooner than that.

JSAAHC has not been prohibited from melting the statue, however, said Andrea Douglas, director of JSAAHC. Douglas said they are waiting until litigation is over to do so. Douglas declined to share the location of the statue due to security concerns. She did say, however, that JSAAHC moved quickly to disassemble the statue after receiving the official deed of gift from the city in December and that it has been broken up into multiple pieces.

The lawsuit is yet another means of controlling and maintaining white supremacy, without question, Douglas said.

Schragger said its possible a lawsuit of this kind could be a tactic on behalf of the plaintiffs to discourage other jurisdictions from removing their statues.

We've seen that these groups seem to be well-funded and motivated particularly in an instance where the outcome is still not a clear victory for them again, Schragger said. I think part of this strategy is to raise the cost for cities and create both political and legal barriers for other cities who are contemplating removing their statues.

Beyond the lawsuit, Douglas said JSAAHC has received hate mail and threats, and has been the target of coordinated malware attacks. She said they came from parties trying to prevent the center from fundraising for the Swords into Plowshares project. Malware attacks have been made on both the JSAAHC website and IndieGoGo campaign page, she said.

There's no sort of very public threat that has been made, but our websites have been attacked. They're trying to make it difficult for us to raise money around this project, Douglas said. They're using tactics that basically are contrary to the will of Charlottesville. This is cyberstalking or cyberterrorism."

"[Opponents to the project] see these things along racial lines. As a result, youve got to be ready," she said. "These folks are not afraid to kill Black people.

Despite the lawsuit and backlash, Swords into Plowshares has raised just under $700,000 and JSAAHC is moving ahead on its public input process. The goal is to hear from and garner ideas from as many community members as possible for what to do with the statue. Douglas said the lawsuit has allowed more time to collect this input.

Jalane Schmidt, director of UVas Memory Project which is partnering with JSAAHC on the project, said theyve made an effort to reach out to a variety of ages and demographics through the process, including getting ideas from schoolchildren.

We're getting feedback from young people because this whole process started with young people, and theyre the ones who are going to be inheriting these spaces, said Schmidt, referencing Zyahna Bryant, who was a high schooler when she started a petition to get the city to remove the statues.

Douglas said theyve heard a variety of ideas from both community members and artists interested in taking on the project, but a recurring theme is people want the new art to be interactive and contemplative. And it wont necessarily be a statue or stand in the space where the Lee statue stood.

This is really about what is the most appropriate object that articulates what Charlottesville believes to be its desire, Douglas said.

The Lee statue is not the only city statue under new ownership. City Council unanimously voted in December to send the statue of Thomas Stonewall Jackson to LAXART in Los Angeles.

The exhibit is slated to open next fall 2023 at LAXART and The Geffen Contemporary gallery at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Titled "MONUMENTS," the exhibit will be accompanied by a substantial scholarly publication and a robust slate of public and educational programming.

The exhibit is funded by the Mellon Foundation, Teiger Foundation, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Individual support is provided by Margaret Morgan and Wesley Phoa.

The exhibit will include other similar statues, all of which will be exhibited alongside works of contemporary art to put the monuments in social and historical context. The idea is to critique and confront the false narrative and ideology of the Lost Cause.

Walker said LAXART is being loaned 15 statues and other displays from jurisdictions all over the country, including Pittsburgh, Houston, Boston and Montgomery, Alabama.

Joining Charlottesville's Stonewall Jackson are three statues from Richmond and a statue from Randolph College in Lynchburg. LAXART reimbursed the city of Charlottesville $50,000 for the Jackson statue, which is now owned and in the possession of LAXART.

We're still trying to figure out what the afterlife of these [statues] is. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution," said Hamza Walker, LAXART Director. We need to radically recontextualize these things, not just with a plaque.

Walker said one artist LAXART is working with, Bethany Collins, plans to use the granite from the base of the Jackson statue to create a carpet of granite rose petals.

The petals will honor of formerly enslaved Black women who started many of the earliest Memorial Day recognitions by laying rose petals on the graves of fallen Union soldiers.

It's a memorial to the very first memorializers, Walker said. Our proposal [to the city of Charlottesville] was about a transformation of these objects. And that's perfect. That to me is a very beautiful gesture.

The exhibit will have other local connections. LAXART asked Kevin Jerome Everson, a film artist and Charlottesville native, to create a film portrait of Richard Bradley, a Black man who climbed up a flagpole in front of San Francisco City Hall in 1984 to remove the Confederate flag displayed there.

As for the Jackson statue itself, LAXART is working with an artist to figure out the best way to display it.

I'm looking forward to that project immensely, that transformation. I don't know what the artist will do, whether she'll keep it intact in the news, whether they'll use it in an installation, or whether it will be reconfigured, melted down and transformed in that way. So I'm very excited about that commission, Walker said.
LAST WEEKS tragic death at the Chancellor Convenience Center in Spotsylvania County was a horrible reminder of the price that too many people pay to make a living.

Brandon Michael Nutter was just 28 years old and had only been on the job about a month when he was trapped inside an industrialized stationary compactor and killed.

Workplace deaths, unfortunately, are far from uncommon.

In 2020, the last year for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics has complete data, 4,764 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States. Thats slightly more than the total number of military casualties and Department of Defense civilian casualties recorded between 2003 and 2010 in Operation Iraqi Freedom: 4,431 deaths, according to DOD data.

Locally, between 2018 and 2020, the BLS has recorded one on-the-job death in each of Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Orange, and two in King George.

While one death is too many, it is worth noting that the number of people being killed on the job has dropped dramatically. In 1970, 38 people a day on average died in work-related accidents. In 2019, that total was down to 15 per day.

Much of the credit for this improvement must go to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, whose job it is to reduce workplace deaths and injuries.

It remains to be seen what led to Nutters death. OSHA and state agencies are currently investigating. We will be watching for those findings.

In the interim, we as a community may want to ponder what we can take from this tragedy.

Nutter, like many of the people who die every year on the job, was involved in dangerous, difficult work that few of us have the desire or skills to do. From working below ground in our water and sewer systems, to above ground around power lines and tree canopies, we count on these people to keep our economy going.

Yet, we increasingly think nothing of lashing out at these same workers when things go south.

This is the type of growing incivility many say they are worried about. Its an incivility born of having too many goods, and too little social interaction, as Tom Nichols described this past year in a piece for USA Today.

We  have embraced consumerism that demands ever better and ever cheaper products no matter what the cost to our own economy, he writes. And, we have chosen to be solitary viewers of television and social media, and then to express ourselves in public only with performative and childish rage.

We cant just blame the pandemic and Donald Trump, because researchers have been tracking this civil deterioration for about 20 years now.

Fortunately, theres a really simple fix to all this. And it requires nothing more than thinking a little less about ourselves, and a little more about others.

Consider Jose and Tanya Acosta, who live in Spotsylvania and operate the Fire Escape Crazy Burgers food truck.

When we heard about Brandon, Jose Acosta told The Free LanceStar, it touched mine and my wifes hearts.

So the two decided to help out by offering 100% of all sales they make on July 18, between the hours of 5 and 8 p.m., to the Nutter family.

When we posted this, other businesses joined in, including Juan More Taco and Barner Landscaping, according to Acosta.

This type of generosity isnt out of the ordinary for the Acostas. Every month, they contribute a portion of their proceeds to a local firehouse to help with their needs.

In short, the Acostas have made a conscious decision to support those whose work is out of sight and out of mind for many of us by being there daily, as well as in times of need.

While OSHA does its investigation, it would benefit us all to examine how we support those in dangerous lines of work. Both in our daily interactions, and in times of need.
CORTLAND  Lindsey Oellings dream of owning a vintage-themed bakery with family and friends working by her side, 1920s jazz music and customers yearning for a taste of nostalgia became a reality after 10 years of work.

Oelling, the 31-year-old owner and main baker of Paper Moon Pastries, recalled her grandmother, Jean Oelling, baking classic Czech kolaches as far back as Lindsey could pick up a spoon to stir the batter. Lindsey continued to bake as she completed schooling and became a therapist.

Surprised to learn how many Cortland residents were in their mid-30s, Oelling decided to renovate an old hair salon into a bakery after moving back to the small Gage County town six years ago.

I've lived here forever, and I didn't meet many people because there's no place to go, Oelling said. So I thought, Well, if I'm going to do this anywhere, this would be a cool place.

Oellings team included her parents, Lori and Kent Oelling; her sister Hannah Gubser and Hannahs husband, Skyler Gubser; Lindseys boyfriend, Ben Huenemann, and friend Sean Flattery.

Oelling said she and Hannah are close, as sisters and in regard to where they live.

She bought a house just a block down the street from me, Oelling said. Its kind of nice, because we get to hang out whenever we want to, and then we can get away from each other.

Hannah Gubser is a full-time nurse and helps Oelling on Saturdays with filling customers' orders and throughout the week will help wrap pastries.

Working full time herself, Oelling said she's only able to open the pastry shop on Saturday mornings. She's working toward expanding hours and hiring employees.

For now, the bakery offers kolaches, cinnamon rolls, pies made by Lori, cakes, Rice Krispies treats, Sleepy Bees coffee, tea and lavender syrup and Oellings signature moon bars made with salted caramel, peanut butter, chocolate, dark chocolate and marshmallows all mixed with Rice Krispies.

Oelling said the name of Paper Moon pastries, which opened May 21, came from the movie Paper Moon and its diner scene.

I wanted to see a vintage bakery somewhere, and there's nothing around here, she said. So I thought, well, I guess I'll just make it.

Paper Moon Pastries is supposed to be a place for everyone, Oelling said. She cant have gluten or dairy so she experiments with gluten- and dairy-free recipes.

Oelling said she has memories of her dad making cookies, her mom making pies and her grandmother making kolaches. She said she craved those items and wanted to make sure people who couldnt eat certain ingredients could have something as well.

It's homestyle, Oelling said. Part of what I wanted to do was just remind people of those comfort recipes that you used to get from your grandparents, because it turns out a lot of people don't make kolaches or cinnamon rolls as much anymore.
Sara Doudney took the opportunity to step into a different era.

Looking like shed walked off a page in history, the Fremont woman walked on stage for a Pinup Pageant. The event occurred a couple years ago at Rustemberfest in Pacific Junction, Iowa.

At that event, Doudney wore a homemade hairpiece and a dress featuring a hamburgers and fries design. She carried a fake mustard bottle. When she squeezed the bottle, a yellow string shot out making it look like mustard was squirting out of the container.

I was this quirky diner gal, Doudney said. I pretended that I was going to squirt the crowd with the mustard bottle and that got all the audience laughing.

Doudney had fun. And something else happened, too.

She won that contest.

This year, Doudney hosted a Pinup Pageant in Clemmons Park during the John C. Fremont Days festival. Eight contestants vied for the top spot. Audrey Lassek and Crystal Johannes, both of Columbus, took first and second place, respectively, with Erin Beavers of Gothenburg, taking third, in what was her first pinup contest.

I think it went really, really well, said Doudney, adding that about 60 people watched the event.

Doudney previously co-hosted a pinup contest in 2019 and raised money for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Dodge County at Midland University in Fremont. She co-hosted a virtual contest for that group in 2020.

Pinup competitions harken back to the glamor of the 1940s when servicemen painted pictures of women on the sides of their war planes or posted photos of them near their bunks. The pictures reminded them of what they were fighting for and why they needed to come back home.

Today, the pinup world involves people passionate about the fashion and cars of that era.

Doudney said, however, it can encompass a time from the 1920s up to the early 1970s. While it doesnt embrace the idea of women staying home to do all the cooking and cleaning  as was popular during many of those years  it does embrace the values of being kind, helpful, polite, and a role model for the next generation, she said.

Lassek cites the interest in pinup style and competitions.

You can be whoever you want to be and it relates back to history and a time when things were very classic and simple, Lassek said, adding, Ive come to find that the pinup style puts a lot of smiles and memories on peoples faces.

The events appeal to people of all generations.

For little girls, its almost like seeing a Disney princess, Lassek said. I have been called Elsa before.

Its inspirational and empowering for middle generation people.

Were all makers and doers and were in a generation where the world is accepting of who you want to be when you grow up, said Lassek, 35.

For the older generation, Lassek believes the competitions produce memories.

Its a good-time feeling. Its an association for things they grew up with, she said.

Doudney said these events arent so well known in the Midwest, where the pinup community isnt as large as it is on the Coasts. But its getting larger.

This will be Doudneys fifth year for involvement.

Doudney first heard about the pinup style and events from friends. She even attended an event to provide support for a friend.

I didnt think I had enough confidence to do it, but after I saw her and how welcoming all the girls are and how kind they are  Its like a big family, Lassek said.

Lassek decided to participate in a contest.

Ive felt like an outsider in my life, because Ive always had that knack for vintage stuff. So I decided to dive in, she said.

Doudneys first contest took place in July 2018 at the Scene of the Crash event, which includes mini bike races and various contests, in Sioux City, Iowa.

I was nervous, she said. I didnt know what to expect that very first time.

Doudney didnt know if she could do the pinup era justice.

Im not your typical string bean, she said. I am definitely not an hour-glass figure.

But she decided to go on stage, have fun and meet new friends.

Doudney wore a 1950s-style dress with flowers and birds of paradise and a puffy petticoat. Her hairstyle included 1940s/50s victory rolls in the front.

During a contest, participants introduce themselves in the first round. For the second round, they pose in glamorous or cheesy ways and express lots of personality. Contestants are asked a variety of questions, mostly light-hearted.

Doudney didnt place in that contest, but had fun and would continue participating.

Lassek said she started pinup contests after seeing a professional photograph of a friend wearing a retro-style outfit.

For her 30th birthday, Lassek was photographed wearing a 1950s pink poodle skirt and victory rolls in her hair.

Thats when a friend told her to look at pinup community Facebook pages.

Lasseks first competition took place at a World of Wheels car show in Omaha. She competed on stage.

I didnt win, she said. I didnt make the top anything  no Top 10, no Top 5  but I met so many new people, girls that were very positive, very welcoming.

Lassek said pinup contestants are willing to share all types of tips, like where they got accessories and how they style their hair.

Theyre very complimentary.

I was hooked from there, she said.

Some contestants have their own pinup names. Doudneys is Cora Schwinn.

Lasseks is E.V. Hurst.

The E stands for Evelyn, which was her grandmothers name.

V stands for Vance.

Lassek rides an Indian Scout motorcycle, a classic bike that companies have started remaking.

Vance & Hines is a popular brand of motorcycle parts and Hurst produces shifters put in hotrods.

The motorcycle-riding pinup girl first went to college to become a chef.

Now, she works in health care, specializing in employee wellness.

Lassek look forward to the future.

I dont ever want to grow up, she said. Im just going to continue to be fun and Im going to meet as many people as I can. Im going to let the world take me wherever I need to go.
Denver resident Carolyne Janssen walks past one of the tulip gardens with her umbrella featuring the colorful art of Vasily Kandinsky on her way to the library on Monday, May 2, 2022, in Civic Center Park in Denver, Colo. (Timothy Hurst/The Denver Gazette)
If youve been enraptured by the college town just northwest of Denver  Boulder, home of the University of Colorado  the rival asks you please to turn your attention farther north.
The search for a missing climber is underway in the area of Colorado's Kit Carson Peak and Challenger Point.

The missing man, identified as 41-year-old Luis Corkern, is reported to have ascended 14,167-foot Kit Carson Peak via the non-standard class four North Ridge route on Saturday, reaching the summit in Saguache County at about 4 p.m.

Corkern then planned to descend the mountain via the saddle that leads to the Challenger Point summit, taking the standard route back down the pair of peaks. He has since not returned to his vehicle at the trailhead, according to the Custer County Sheriff's Office.

Multiple agencies are searching this area of the Sangre de Cristo range for Corkern. Anyone who may have information regarding his whereabouts is asked to contact the Saguache County Sheriff's Office at 719-655-2544.

Corkern is described as 5-foot-7 and 180-190 pounds. He was climbing with a burnt orange backpack and a white helmet with a raccoon tail attached.

After leaving the summit of Kit Carson, the standard class three route Corkern planned to use travels down a loose and steep slope, eventually reaching an infamous feature known as "The Avenue." During this portion of the route, the trail cuts along the edge of a cliff, though it remains relatively wide with solid footing. The rest of the route means tedious switchbacks through rocky terrain, much of which happens at a high elevation.

One family member did note on social media that he is "an experienced hiker who does not take careless risks, does not hike beyond his skill level, and is not impulsive."
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.
David is a Senior Investigative Reporter at The Gazette and has worked in Colorado for more than two decades. His work has been recognized by, among others, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Society of Business Editors and Writers, the National Association of Real Estate Editors, at the National Headliner Awards. He has worked at publications in New York City, St. Louis, Detroit and Denver over a journalism career that began in 1982.
A man accused of a series of violent crimes in 2019 and 2020 accepted a plea agreement in a pair of attempted homicide cases on Tuesday morning, sentencing him to 48 years in prison that will run concurrently with his life sentence for first-degree murder.

Randy Bishop, 38, appeared in court on Tuesday to enter the plea in the two cases.

The first case was an attempted homicide in 2019 where Bishop stole the gun of a detective at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central and discharged it within the hospital in the middle of the day; there were no injuries.

"I fled inside the hospital, I took his gun, fired, shot and escaped," Bishop told the court.

The second case was another attempted homicide in January of 2020, where Bishop was pulled over by a police officer and shot him three time before fleeing the scene of the crime. The officer, who survived the incident, was not present in court.

"I was pulled over, I shot the cop that pulled me over and fled," Bishop said to the court.

Bishop was convicted of first-degree murder in April of this year for shooting and killing a Colorado Springs homeless man, Thomas Anthony Faircloth, 27, in a vacant lot in eastern Colorado Springs in November of 2019.

Bishop was sentenced to life in prison on that charge.

"This was a continued six-month period of criminal activity," the prosecution told the court. "Law enforcement was living on the edge."

The prosecution noted to the court Tuesday that while the victims of each crime weren't present in court, they had indicated that they were in support of the plea agreement.

Prior to Judge Marcus Henson accepting the plea agreement, Bishop's defense attorney, Joshua Tolini, spoke to the court, asserting that while his client made a series of wrong decisions he believes he isn't a bad man.

"Randy Bishop isn't a monster," Tolini told the court. "He has remorse for his actions. ... I consider him a friend of mine."

Judge Henson went on to accept the plea agreement, as well as noting Bishop's behavior since his arrest, encouraging him to continue going down the right path.

"It doesn't always take a bad person to do a bad thing," Henson said.

Court records show that following the conclusion of these cases, Bishop will have no open cases remaining in Colorado's 4th Judicial District Court.
The Fountain woman arrested last week after admitting to a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy was regarded by the victim as a "mother figure," according to an affidavit.

The affidavit obtained by The Gazette also shows that Andrea Neenet Serrano, 31, became pregnant after having sexual relations with the boy, whose name was redacted from the affidavit.

According to reports, a therapist was the first to inform officers of the relationship between Serrano and the boy  who is now 14 but was 13 at the time of the incident  on June 27.

After being reported to the Fountain Police Department, Serrano was interviewed by detectives and confessed to having a sexual relationship with the boy. The affidavit states that Serrano told detectives the victim spent several nights at her house and was even living with her for "several weeks."

Serrano stated to detectives that "he (the victim) looked at her (Serrano) like a mother figure and even called her mom before."

After being interviewed Serrano also disclosed she was pregnant with the victim's child.

Serrano was arrested July 5 on suspicion of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and sexual assault on a child.

She was placed in El Paso County jail, where she remains on a $70,000 bond. Serrano will make her first appearance in Colorado's 4th Judicial District Court on Tuesday, where the prosecution could file additional charges.

Court records show Serrano is also facing one misdemeanor charge of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury from January of this year.
Could rank choice voting increase dismal voter turnout numbers in Colorado Springs?

During the last Colorado Springs City Council election in April 2021, about 27% of active registered voters participated, a drop from about 32% turnout in 2017, a comparable non-mayoral race.

"Our people are not voting," Councilman Bill Murray said Monday, during an informal presentation on changing the election system. He urged the board to consider ranked choice voting as an option that could help fight general apathy.

Rather than picking just one person in a council or mayoral race, a ranked ballot would allow voters to pick their top choices. If a candidate does not garner more than 50% of the vote from the first-choice votes, officials can count the second-choice votes, and so on.

"You rank who you love, who you like and who you can live with," said Linda Templin, executive director of Ranked Choice Voting for Colorado.

Communities such as Boulder and Broomfield will use ranked choice voting next year, she said. Fort Collins will ask voters to move to ranked-choice voting in November.

The voting method that's been used for decades can save money by eliminating the need for runoff elections, Templin said. The city holds runoff elections in the mayor's race if the most popular candidate does not achieve more than 50% of the vote. Ranked choice voting could help eliminate the need for that second election.

Templin pitched the council on the ranked choice voting system, while El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Chuck Broerman explained some of its pitfalls, including changing the election system while it has come under intense scrutiny following the 2020 election.

The council has no immediate plans to pursue ranked choice voting, but board members are interested in better ways to engage the public.

"We need to get more people involved," Council President Tom Strand said.

Ranked choice voting can increase options for voters and help make the choices less binary, Templin said.

"It is very engaging for the voters and really gets them to talk about the issues that are important to them," she said.

Broerman said ranked choice ballots can have problems, particularly when voters pick two people as their first choice.

He noted several communities have abandoned ranked choice voting, including Aspen. In that case, Templin said, the software used to tally votes was not certified and that caused problems.

Suspicion and unsupported conspiracy theories have surrounded election results for two years and Broerman cautioned the board against making changes.

"I think going this route will create more confusion," he said.

At the same time, the city is under fire for low voter turnout.

A lawsuit filed in June claims the timing of the April elections suppresses turnout, particularly among people of color. The lawsuit argues if the city held its elections in November it would increase voter participation overall and save the city time and money.
[July 12, 2022] Wishpond Launches New Website Builder Wishpond's all-new, marketing-first, Website Builder, makes it easy for small businesses to create high-quality, marketing-optimized websites incorporated with a full suite of marketing tools and integrated with Wishpond's complete software solution. VANCOUVER, BC,, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Wishpond Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: WISH) (OTCQX: WPNDF) ("Wishpond" or the "Company"), a provider of marketing-focused online business solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of an all-new Website Builder product. Every element of this ground-breaking Website Builder has been designed to help businesses generate leads and sales. Unlike other website builders, businesses get access to all of the powerful marketing and lead generation tools they need right out of the box. The Website Builder puts business growth at the forefront, allowing businesses to achieve more from a single platform. The Website Builder is a significant product release for Wishpond as it increases customer retention, reduces churn, and increases customer satisfaction. Jordan Gutierrez, COO of Wishpond commented, "Wishpond's new Website Builder is not like other comparable products. This is a website builder that is designed from the ground up to help businesses generate leads and sales, as opposed to other tools where those are afterthoughts. With other website builders, you need a ton of work and pay for extra systems to get the marketing functionality that Wishpond offers out of the box. Businesses can now use Wishpond to build their website and manage all of their marketing campaigns, under one roof. " The Website Builder is equipped and integrated with all of the marketing tools needed to grow a business and increase online sales. This includes lead tracking and segmentation tools, personalization abilities, advanced forms and pop-ups, integration with Wishpond's email marketing tool, referral marketing, calendar functionality, popups, and more. Businesses can use the Website Builder to create social contests or referral campaigns to generate leads, and a convenient appointments widget that connects to Google Calendar makes it easy to schedule meetings. Thanks to the user-friendly platform, businesses can create and publish powerful, marketing-optimized websites without needing any web design or coding experience. As a developer of cutting-edge online marketing software solutions, the Website Builder integrates with Wishpond's complete software suite to give businesses all the tools they need to develop an impressive online marketing presence through a single platform. The Website Builder gives users access to pre-built and optimized-for-marketing templates that can be easily customized with a drag-and-drop editor. Each web page is optimized for all devices with just one click. This allows almost anyone to effortlessly build a high-performance website with complete marketing functionality. Wishpond's payment integration allows users to add a "buy" button to their websites and booking calendars to receive one-time payments or provide subscription-based services. These fetures all integrate with Wishpond's Leads Database, allowing businesses to track and score all their leads. Businesses can analyze lead behavior, see what users do and where they converted to maximize the value from each visitor. The Website Builder also works with Wishpond's powerful Email Marketing tool to send newsletters or set up sales automation emails and workflows. Businesses get everything they need to build and promote their online presence as they grow, all in one convenient platform.

"Wishpond's Website Builder is incredibly easy to use. We used it to set up our website from scratch, which we could add forms, popups, and more to. We run our email marketing from the same platform. All of the marketing functions included in the Website Builder make it a lot easier to grow our business. Otherwise, we would have had to subscribe to these different tools separately, which would have been expensive and tricky to manage." said a Wishpond user. Learn more about Wishpond's Website Builder at: https://www.wishpond.com/website-builder/ On Behalf of the Board

"Ali Tajskandar"

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer About Wishpond Technologies Ltd. Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Wishpond is a provider of marketing-focused online business solutions. Wishpond's vision is to become the leading provider of digital marketing solutions that empower entrepreneurs to achieve success online. The Company offers an "all-in-one" marketing suite that provides companies with marketing, promotion, lead generation, and sales conversion capabilities on one integrated platform. Wishpond replaces disparate marketing solutions with an easy-to-use product, for a fraction of the cost. Wishpond serves over 3,700 customers who are primarily small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in a wide variety of industries. The Company has developed cutting-edge marketing technology solutions and continues to add new features and applications with great velocity. The Company employs a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model where substantially all the Company's revenue is subscription-based recurring revenue which provides excellent revenue predictability and cash flow visibility. Wishpond is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker "WISH", and on the OTCQX Best Market under the ticker "WPNDF". For further information, visit: www.wishpond.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain certain forward-looking information and statements ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "will", "should", "expects", "continue", "estimate", "forecasts" and other similar expressions, and statements related to the features, adoption, usability, performance and results related to the new Website Builder product introduced by Wishpond. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments using the Website Builder may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Company, its securities, or financial or operating results (as applicable). Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking information in this press release are reasonable, such forward-looking information has been based on expectations, factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control, including, but not limited to, risks related to the performance, adoption and market acceptance of Wishpond's new Website Builder and other products and services as well as the risk factors discussed in the public disclosure documents of the Company which such risk factors are incorporated herein by reference and are available through SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 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. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wishpond-launches-new-website-builder-301584031.html SOURCE Wishpond Technologies Ltd.

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Federal authorities have linked at least nine fatal overdoses to fentanyl provided by a Colorado man and his family. The deaths were clustered together over a 17-month stretch in 2017 and 2018. During that time, law enforcement said, Bruce Holder was the largest fentanyl dealer in western Colorado, perhaps the largest in the state.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks before signing an executive order to help safeguard women's access to abortion and contraception after the Supreme Court last month overturned Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion, at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Musk says time for Trump to 'hang up his hat' and 'sail into the sunset'
RTHK: Ukraine 'destroys' Russian arms depot in Kherson

Kyiv said on Tuesday it had launched artillery barrages that destroyed a Russian arms depot and carried out a "special operation" to free military captives in the Moscow-controlled Kherson region.

The bombardments in the south came as Washington and the EU announced nearly $3 billion in combined aid for Ukraine.

Ukrainian military officials said the strikes had destroyed artillery, armoured vehicles "and a warehouse with ammunition" in the town of Nova Kakhovka.

Russian-backed authorities accused Ukraine, however, of damaging civilian infrastructure and killing at least seven people, a toll that could not be independently verified.

"Warehouses were hit, as were shops, a pharmacy, petrol stations and even a church," the head of the city's Moscow-backed administration, Vladimir Leontiev, said on social media.

Ukrainian military intelligence said separately its forces had freed five captives in a "special operation" in Kherson, including a military serviceman and former police officer, without specifying when.

The Ukrainian army has for several weeks been waging a counter-offensive to recapture Kherson, which was taken by Russian troops early in the invasion of Ukraine.

Military analysts are crediting newly arrived weapons systems from the West for attacks deeper into Russian-controlled territory across the front line.

EU member states, which have been supplying Ukraine with military support, on Tuesday approved one billion euros in financial help for Kyiv, billing it as the first instalment of a promised nine-billion-euro rescue package agreed in May.

The United States separately announced $1.7 billion for Ukraine to help fund recovery.

"This aid will help Ukraine's democratic government provide essential services for the people of Ukraine," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said of the funds, which are part of a $7.5 billion aid package signed by President Joe Biden in May.

Moscow struck back across Ukraine, with officials in the southern city of Mykolaiv saying Russian forces had bombed two medical facilities and homes, injuring 12 people. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-07-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
CCTV: On July 11, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a speech at the ASEAN Secretariat, calling for upholding peace, independence, development and inclusiveness, and resolutely practicing open regionalism. Can you share some details on that?

Wang Wenbin: Yesterday, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited the ASEAN Secretariat and delivered a speech on Chinas propositions and suggestions on deepening China-ASEAN relations and promoting regional peace and prosperity, which was warmly received by officials of the ASEAN Secretariat and participants of the event.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi reviewed the extraordinary development path traversed by China and ASEAN since the establishment of dialogue relations 30 years ago, especially the most encouraging, touching, heartening and gratifying cooperation outcomes and highlights in China-ASEAN relations over the past 10 years thanks to the strategic guidance and personal commitment of President Xi Jinping and leaders of ASEAN countries. Between China and ASEAN, relations have stayed ahead in many areas. China and ASEAN have been standing together in solidarity to fight COVID-19. The economic cooperation and trade has thrived. Security cooperation has been making steady progress. Wang Yi noted that with this year being the first year for building the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, China will continue to support ASEAN Centrality, call for settling differences in the Asian way, pursue firmly its open strategy for development, resolutely advance cooperation in science, technology and innovation and carry forward Asian values, so as to write a new chapter of regional cooperation and Asian vitalization.

Wang Yi stressed that there are two completely different trends concerning the future of Asia. One advocates open regionalism, true multilateralism, a development-first approach and mutually beneficial cooperation; it aims to help countries in the region emerge from the pandemic and achieve all-round development as soon as possible. The other pursues a relapse into the obsolete Cold War mentality and closed group politics, and classifies countries in the region based on their values; it attempts to divide the regional economy into different blocs and even apply the NATO approach to Asia-Pacific security. Chinas choice is to join hands with ASEAN members and other regional countries to adhere to the vision of peace, development, independence and inclusiveness, firmly uphold open regionalism and, by drawing experience and wisdom from Asian civilizations and practices, constantly add new dimensions to open regionalism. We need to always uphold the concept of peaceful coexistence, the goal of development and rejuvenation, the principle of independence and the spirit of openness and inclusiveness. Together, we will build a common homeland that enjoys peace, tranquility, prosperity, beautiful environment and friendship.

While answering questions from the press after the speech, State Councilor Wang Yi stressed that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. Taiwan is part of Chinas territory. Although the two sides have been politically against each other for a long time, Chinas state sovereignty and territorial integrity has never been split. This is the real status quo of the Taiwan question. Stability across the Taiwan Strait is underpinned by the one-China principle, which constitutes part of the post-WWII world order. The more unequivocal we are about upholding the one-China principle and the more forceful our measures are to contain and prevent separation, the more likely it is to ensure peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and peace and prosperity in the region.

Bloomberg: A question regarding William Lai, the Taiwan Vice President, who has visited Japan to attend the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. This represents the highest-level official to visit Japan from Taiwan in decades. Does the Chinese foreign ministry have a comment on this visit?

Wang Wenbin: I need to correct you first. Taiwan is part of China. There is no so-called Taiwan Vice President. After the sudden and unfortunate passing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Taiwan authorities have sought to engage in political manipulation and benefit politically by taking advantage of the incident. Their political calculations will not succeed. The Chinese side has lodged stern representations to the Japanese side both in Beijing and Tokyo and has made our position absolutely clear.

Xinhua News Agency: Vice-Premier Han Zheng and Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, recently held the third High-Level Environment and Climate Dialogue between China and the European Union. Could you offer more information on the dialogue? What are Chinas specific plans for cooperation with the EU in such areas as climate response and green and low-carbon energy transition?

Wang Wenbin: In September 2020, President Xi Jinping held a virtual meeting with the leaders of Germany and the EU. The leaders decided to establish a China-EU High-Level Environment and Climate Dialogue (HECD) and to forge a China-EU green partnership. To act on the leaders common understandings and work for solid and substantive progress in the China-EU green partnership, Vice-Premier Han Zheng and Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans held the first HECD in February 2021 and the second in September 2021, after which they released a joint press communique. During the third HECD held earlier this month, the two sides held in-depth exchange of views on green and low-carbon development policies, the current cooperation between the two sides on environment and climate and outlook on future cooperation, jointly advancing the multilateral process, and issues of common concern. The two sides agreed to enhance dialogue and cooperation and foster new cooperation highlights in such fields as energy security, green energy industry, energy technology innovation, carbon market, biodiversity protection, chemicals management, green transportation, green financing, green buildings, and zero-waste cities.

Later this year, there will be two major international events, namely the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the second phase of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. China and the EU will strengthen cooperation and work together for the success of the two events.

Beijing Daily: On July 11, Hanscom Smith, US Consul General to Hong Kong, criticized Hong Kongs National Security Law in his farewell remarks, saying that, By constraining political and social freedoms, the PRC will inevitably compromise the attributes that have allowed Hong Kong to develop as a global services hub; diplomats have even been threatened with the National Security Law. The US does not support Hong Kong independence, but hopes that China will give Hong Kong the autonomy China promised. Whats Chinas comment?

Wang Wenbin: The Hong Kong SAR government has made a solemn response to this. We deplore and reject the groundless and hyperbolic remarks by the US consular official in Hong Kong who mischaracterized Chinas Hong Kong policy and misrepresented Hong Kongs political and economic landscape. Since the adoption of the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong SAR, national security has been safeguarded, life has come back to normal and rule of law and justice have been upheld. The lawful rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents and foreign nationals in Hong Kong have been better protected in a safer environment. One Country, Two Systems, Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong, and a high degree of autonomy are all making progress along the right track. This is well recognized by all sectors in Hong Kong and welcomed across the international community. A survey finds that 76.2% Hong Kong residents say their freedom and rights prescribed in the Basic Law are not affected after the implementation of national security law and 63% Hong Kong residents believe the national security law has improved the business environment in Hong Kong. These facts should not be distorted. The mainstream public opinion in Hong Kong should not be denied.

I want to stress that China has been providing necessary facilitation and support to foreign consulates in Hong Kong for them to fulfill their duties in accordance with law. In the meantime, foreign consulates and consular personnel are expected to respect and observe laws in Hong Kong including the national security law, and international laws and basic norms in international relations including the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Any act or activity that interferes in Hong Kong affairs and other internal affairs of China, endangers Chinas national security and undermines Hong Kongs prosperity and stability will not be allowed or succeed.

Bloomberg: An economic adviser to the Sri Lankan government said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that Sri Lanka is in discussions with Japan and possibly with China on the issue of bridge finance or bridging finance. Can the foreign ministry give an update on the talks between China and Sri Lanka over financial help or debt relief to Sri Lanka?

Wang Wenbin: As we have stated on several occasions, China feels deeply for the difficulties and challenges Sri Lanka faces. We have provided emergency humanitarian assistance including food and medicine to Sri Lanka. Through government-to-government and subnational channels and through friendly organizations, China has provided multiple batches of various types of assistance to people across the sectors of Sri Lanka to improve their livelihood. China will continue to do its utmost to help Sri Lankas socioeconomic development, support its economic recovery and improve peoples lives.

As for Sri Lankas China-related debts, China supports relevant financial institutions in discussing with Sri Lanka and properly resolving them. We also stand ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to continue to play an active role in Sri Lankas overcoming current difficulties, easing debt burden and realizing sustainable development.



AFP: The Japanese foreign minister said William Lai was participating in relevant activities in a private capacity and that Japans basic policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged. Whats Chinas comment?

Wang Wenbin: I have made clear Chinas position.
Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now
New housing construction underway across the street from CoreCivic Columbine Facility at 4280 Columbine Street in Denver on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. Chancey Bush/ The Gazette)
Colorado drivers can now take the written learners permit test online from the comfort of their own homes, the Department of Revenue announced on Tuesday.

The new service allows Coloradans to avoid taking the test at a DMV office or a private driving school, offering the test online with no appointment needed. While the test is free at the DMV, the online versions cost $6.50 for the first attempt and $17.65 for all subsequent attempts.

This new permit system comes after the Colorado DMV has recently begun outsourcing some of its drivers license services. The DMV no longer provides its free behind-the-wheel test, forcing Coloradans to spend up to hundreds of dollars to take the test at private driving schools.

Some Coloradans reported spending between $100 and $300 to get their driver's license after paying the DMV fees and the testing costs, in addition to spending weeks or months trying to navigate the complicated system.

DMV officials said they were forced to stop providing the behind-the-wheel test due to budget cuts at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have no plans of ever bringing the test back. Some state lawmakers are exploring options to legally require the DMV to offer the free road test again.

The Colorado DMV said its new online permit system will help make the process of obtaining a driver's license "much more convenient."

The DMV said it will continue to offer the free written permit test in-office in addition to the online service. After passing the online test, drivers will still have to schedule an appointment to go to the DMV to receive their learner's permit.

The online permit test is available in English and Spanish and requires an internet-connected computer and a working webcam. The test features active cursor and video monitoring to prevent cheating.

Coloradans can register to take the permit test online at myDMV.Colorado.gov.
Timelapse image of grains of dust undergoing "electrostatic lofting" in a vacuum chamber. CREDIT IMPACT Lab/LASP

Like corn kernels popping in a frying pan, tiny grains of dust may hop around on the surface of asteroids, according to a new study from physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder.

That popcorn-like effect may even help to tidy up smaller asteroids, causing them to lose dust and look rough and craggy from space.

The researchers published their results July 11 in the journal Nature Astronomy. Their findings may help scientists better understand how asteroids change shape over timeand how these bodies migrate through space, sometimes bringing them dangerously close to Earth, said Hsiang-Wen (Sean) Hsu, lead author of the study.

The more fine-grained material, or regolith, these asteroids lose, the faster they migrate, said Hsu, a research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder.

The research began with a few curious photos.

In 2020, a NASA spacecraft named OSIRIS-REx traveled more than 1 billion miles to rendezvous with the asteroid (191055) Bennu, which is about as tall as the Empire State Building. But when the spacecraft arrived, scientists didnt find what they were expecting: The asteroids surface looked like rough sandpaper, not smooth and dusty like researchers had predicted. There were even large boulders scattered over its exterior.

Now, Hsu and his colleagues have drawn on computer simulations, or models, and laboratory experiments to explore that puzzle. He said that forces akin to static electricity may be kicking the smallest grains of dust, some no bigger than a single bacterium, off the asteroid and into spaceleaving only larger rocks behind.

Bennu isnt alone, said study co-author Mihaly Horanyi.

Were realizing that these same physics are occurring on other airless bodies like the moon and even the rings of Saturn, said Horanyi, a researcher at LASP and professor of physics at CU Boulder.

Bennu and Ryugu

Asteroids might look like theyre frozen in time, but these bodies evolve throughout their lifetimes.

Hsu explained that asteroids like Bennu are constantly spinning, which exposes their surfaces to sunlight, then shadow and sunlight again. That never-ending cycle of heating and cooling puts a strain on the largest rocks at the surface, until they inevitably crack.

Its happening every day, all the time, Hsu said. You wind up eroding a big piece of rock into smaller pieces.

Which is why, before scientists arrived at Bennu, many were expecting to find it covered in smooth sanda bit like how the moon looks today. Not long before, a Japanese space mission landed on a second small asteroid called Ryugu. The team found a similarly rough and craggy terrain.

Hsu and his colleagues were suspicious.

Since the 1990s, researchers at LASP have used vacuum chambers in the lab to investigate the strange properties of dust in space, including a feat they call electrostatic lofting. Study co-lead author Xu Wang explained that as the suns rays bathe small grains of dust, they begin to pick up negative charges. Those charges will build until, suddenly, the particles burst apart, like two magnets repelling each other.

In some cases, those grains of dust can pop away at speeds of more than 20 miles per hour (or more than 8 meters per second).

No one had ever considered this process on the surface of an asteroid before, said Wang, a research associate at LASP.

Small asteroid, big asteroid

To do that, the researchers, including former CU Boulder undergraduate students Anthony Carroll and Noah Hood, ran a series of calculations examining the physics of regolith on two hypothetical asteroids. They tracked how dust might form, then hop around over hundreds of thousands of years. One of those faux asteroids was about a half-mile across (similar in size to Ryugu) and the second several miles wide (closer in diameter to big asteroids like Eros).

The size made a difference. According to the teams estimates, when grains of dust jumped on the bigger asteroid, they couldnt gain enough speed to break free of its gravity. The same wasnt true on the smaller, Ryugu-like asteroid.

The gravity on the smaller asteroid is so weak that it cant hold back the escape, Hsu said. The fine-grained regolith will be lost.

That lost dust, in turn, will expose the surface of the asteroids to even more erosion, leading to a boulder-rich scenery like scientists found on Ryugu and Bennu. Within several million years, in fact, the smaller asteroid was almost completely swept clean of fine dust. The Eros-like asteroid, however, stayed dusty.

Hsu noted that this scrubbing effect could help to give the orbits of small asteroids a nudge. He explained that asteroids migrate because the suns radiation pushes on them slowly over time. Based on previous research by other scientists, he suspects that asteroids covered in boulders may move faster than those with a dustier appearance.

He and his colleagues may soon get more proof to back up their calculations. In less than 3 months, a NASA mission called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will visit a pair of smaller asteroidsand Hsu will be watching to see how dusty they are.

We will have new surface images to test our theory, he said. Its nice for us, but also a little nerve-wracking.
Some stars save the best for last.

The dimmer star at the center of this scene has been sending out rings of gas and dust for thousands of years in all directions, and NASAs James Webb Space Telescope has revealed for the first time that this star is cloaked in dust.

Larger images

Two cameras aboard Webb captured the latest image of this planetary nebula, cataloged as NGC 3132, and known informally as the Southern Ring Nebula. It is approximately 2,500 light-years away.

Webb will allow astronomers to dig into many more specifics about planetary nebulae like this one  clouds of gas and dust expelled by dying stars. Understanding which molecules are present, and where they lie throughout the shells of gas and dust will help researchers refine their knowledge of these objects.

This observation shows the Southern Ring Nebula almost face-on, but if we could rotate it to view it edge-on, its three-dimensional shape would more clearly look like two bowls placed together at the bottom, opening away from one another with a large hole at the center.

Two stars, which are locked in a tight orbit, shape the local landscape. Webbs infrared images feature new details in this complex system. The stars  and their layers of light  are prominent in the image from Webbs Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the left, while the image from Webbs Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the right shows for the first time that the second star is surrounded by dust. The brighter star is in an earlier stage of its stellar evolution and will probably eject its own planetary nebula in the future.

In the meantime, the brighter star influences the nebulas appearance. As the pair continues to orbit one another, they stir the pot of gas and dust, causing asymmetrical patterns.

Each shell represents an episode where the fainter star lost some of its mass. The widest shells of gas toward the outer areas of the image were ejected earlier. Those closest to the star are the most recent. Tracing these ejections allows researchers to look into the history of the system.

Observations taken with NIRCam also reveal extremely fine rays of light around the planetary nebula. Starlight from the central stars streams out where there are holes in the gas and dust  like sunlight through gaps in a cloud.

Since planetary nebulae exist for tens of thousands of years, observing the nebula is like watching a movie in exceptionally slow motion. Each shell the star puffed off gives researchers the ability to precisely measure the gas and dust that are present within it.

As the star ejects shells of material, dust and molecules form within them  changing the landscape even as the star continues to expel material. This dust will eventually enrich the areas around it, expanding into whats known as the interstellar medium. And since its very long-lived, the dust may end up traveling through space for billions of years and become incorporated into a new star or planet.

In thousands of years, these delicate layers of gas and dust will dissipate into surrounding space.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

The James Webb Space Telescope is the worlds premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

NASA Headquarters oversees the mission for the agencys Science Mission Directorate. NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages Webb for the agency and oversees work on the mission performed by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Northrop Grumman, and other mission partners. In addition to Goddard, several NASA centers contributed to the project, including the agencys Johnson Space Center in Houston; Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California; Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; Ames Research Center in Californias Silicon Valley; and others.

NIRCam was built by a team at the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martins Advanced Technology Center.

MIRI was contributed by ESA and NASA, with the instrument designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.

Download full-resolution, uncompressed versions and supporting visuals of this and other Webb First Images from the Space Telescope Science Institute: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2022/news-2022-033
The new campground at Iowas Lake Manawa State Park has opened, and its already a hit with visitors from near and far.

The 40-campsite campground, which has been open since the end of June, features modern amenities including full hook-up campsites, a shower house and a paved walking trail connecting the campground to the beach and Dreamland Playground. It also features a gated entrance to access the campground.

The old campground was closed in 2015 and was reconstructed as a picnic area with a large pavilion in 2017, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

It was dated and needed a lot of upgrading, said Michelle Reining, the DNRs Southwest District supervisor. We closed the old one and then the new one in the new location was in the works ever since.

The new campground is in a more centralized location, closer to the playground and the swimming beach.

A registration building at the campground gate provides online and telephone reservation information for those who come to the park looking for a site. Campers will receive a four-digit access code to open the gate and enter the campground.

All 40 campsites are available for online reservations; walk-in sites will not be an option.

Lake Manawa is the third Iowa state park to offer 100% reservable campsites, said Sherry Arntzen, chief of the DNRs Parks, Forests and Preserves Bureau. Campers have been pleased with the flexibility and convenience it provides and we are excited to offer this feature and for campers to enjoy this beautiful new campground.

With 100% reservable sites, availability is known in real time. Campers can search and book sites online before leaving home, on the way to the park or at the campground.

Reservations can be made from April 15 to Oct. 15 until 9 p.m. the day of arrival online at iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com or by calling the reservation call center at 877-427-2757 weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The call center is closed on Sundays.

Having the 100% reservable and same day reservations actually gives our customers more flexibility, Reining said. Lake Manawa is located right between two interstates. Travelers coming down the road can get out their phone and see, Oh, yep, Lake Manawa has a campground available. They can reserve it then and know they have a camp site.

The process also makes it easier for campers to book a site three months ahead of time, or check if sites are available on a whim.

Customers will no longer need to fill out the paper walk-in registration forms or pay with cash or check; all reservations will require a credit card payment online or over the phone. Customers can still pay by check if the reservation is made through the call center and made at least 21 days in advance.

Construction began on the campground in fall 2020. It officially opened on June 1.

Reining said that so far, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

They like the nice, big, wide sites; the concrete pads and having access to the playground and beach right there, she said. The only negative Ive heard is no trees. Thats just part of any new construction, unfortunately. Well be planting some trees in the near future.

Saturday afternoon, Manawa campgrounds were full of RVs and campers, with a handful of tents scattered throughout. Local and out-of-state visitors expressed their enjoyment of the new facilities.

Denny Nelson of Council Bluffs spent this weekend at the new campground with his grandchildren and dogs. He said it was his first time checking it out and that it wont be his last.

Im already looking for another weekend to come out here, he said.

He said he was impressed with the amenities, especially the camper hook-ups and spacious concrete pads for each campsite. He said having a sewage connection at each site is a game changer for campers staying in RVs, not having to wait in line at a sewage disposal site on the way out of the park.

Nelson and his grandkids enjoyed biking along the trails and walking their dogs along the waters edge. He said he definitely wants to get a lakeside spot for his camper next time out.

Chatsworth Jacobs of the Cincinnati, Ohio, area and his family spent the last few days at Lake Manawa while on their way back from a road trip to Yellowstone National Park and Colter Bay Village in Wyoming. Having stayed in several state parks across the country, Jacobs said it was one the best experiences hes had, noting the modern amenities and the nearby beach and playground for the kids. They had a spot right off the water, and he complimented the spaciousness of the sites.

This is a great campground, he said. Well be looking to stay here anytime we travel west again.

James Thomas, a Council Bluffs resident who just spent the last week at the new campground, provided a review in the Council Bluffs Chat group on Facebook.

The campground was full with not only RV campers, but there were several tent campers, he said. The campsites are huge, you are not packed in on top of one another.

The amateur photographer said wildlife was everywhere.

Sitting under the canopy relaxed in the shade, you could hear the barred owls calling one another in the mornings and evenings, Thomas said. A short walk down a trail and you would see them. Every afternoon I watched an eagle, a vulture and a kestrel flying or roosting in the trees. The trees were full of song birds.

Out-of-state user permits required for Lake Manawa, Waubonsie state parks

The Iowa Legislature has extended the out-of-state user permit requirement for Lake Manawa and Waubonsie state parks through Dec. 31, 2025. The law also changes the expiration date for annual permits from one year from the date of purchase, to the end of the calendar year.

Annual permits purchased Jan. 1 through June 30, 2022, will be honored into 2023, expiring one year from purchase date. Annual permits purchased starting July 1 will be valid until the end of 2022.

The daily permit for out-of-state visitors costs $5 and an annual permit is $40. Daily passes can be purchased at pay stations throughout the park. Those with a campsite reservation do not need the out-of-state user permit.

More information can be found at iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/Nonresident-Vehicle-Entrance-Permits.
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Danville Public Schools has been looking to hire 60 teachers and some of those positions have been filled.

The purpose of the effort is to have class sizes low, said Danville Public Schools spokesperson Lanie Davis.

We are trying to continue to do this while extra funding is available, Davis said, referring to CARES Act funding that will pay for some of the positions.

The school system has 44 open positions listed on its website, including 31 teaching slots, Davis said. Some of the 31 jobs are included in the 60 additional positions school officials are looking to fill.

Some of the 60 positions are newly created and others were existing positions left vacant.

Danville Public Schools has a little more than 1,100 employees, and slightly less than 500 are teachers.

One Danville City councilman has expressed concern about teachers leaving the school system. Sherman Saunders said teachers have told him they cannot wait until their contracts end or that they are resigning sooner than planned or retiring.

Im hearing those kinds of things, Saunders said. I want to know why.

Saunders discontent with the school system led him to vote against approving the city of Danvilles $280 million 2022-23 budget, because it he did not support the $22.8 million in local funding for the school system. That amount is far above the state-required minimum for local funding.

During his statements at the June 21 Danville City Council meeting, Saunders said he felt disrespected and ignored by school board members and administration after repeatedly asking for a multi-year plan from school officials over the past several years.

That way, every 12 months were [City Council] not arguing or debating about how much to give schools, Saunders said during an interview last week.

Danville Public Schools Superintendent Angela Hairston called Saunders a leader in the community and a personal hero of mine, and said school officials plan to present a multi-year budget to City Council this fiscal year.

Councilman Saunders wants transparency, Hairston said. He is protecting the right of taxpayers to know where the money is going.

Danville Vice Mayor Gary Miller said he would like to see a plan for improvements including reduction of dropout rates and increasing attendance.

We just need to communicate with each other, Miller said. Were all working toward the same goal to improve education.

The school system has a memorandum of understanding  as well as a corrective action plan  with the Virginia Department of Education, Hairston said. Those came as a result of deficiencies identified during an extensive academic review conducted by the department in the spring of 2020.

The board has been focused on the divisions improvement efforts and the Corrective Action Plan over the past two years, Danville School Board Chair Crystal Cobbs said in a prepared statement. We have been working with both the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia School Boards Association, and their feedback on our progress has been favorable. As we continue these efforts, we will also continue to communicate and collaborate with Danville City Council, as we know that is essential to our school system and citys success.

Hairston said the school system is in the first full year of implementing the corrective action plan and will continue it over the next three years.

The school system is also getting $140 million in improvements, including renovations and construction of the upcoming new location for Galileo Magnet High School. The facility will also house Danville Public Schools central office.

George Washington High School is also undergoing $80 million in renovations and construction of a new running track.
Smith Mountain Lakes popular Pirate Days is set to return this weekend. Crowds are expected to fill area marinas dressed in pirate garb and ready to do battle, possibly without a longtime popular weapon.

Water balloons are no longer allowed according to a new law passed in Virginia last year. The Virginia code, 29.1-556.1, states It is unlawful for any individual 16 years of age or older or other person to intentionally release, discard, or cause to be released or discarded outdoors any balloon made of a nonbiodegradable or nonphotodegradable material or any material that requires more than five minutes contact with air or water to degrade.

With the new law in place, even current biodegradable water balloons on the market would not meet those strict standards.

Sgt. Tim Dooley with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources said the goal this year will be mainly to make sure people know the new rules. It is our intention to address any violations we observe, he said. This can be done in a variety of ways to include educating the individuals regarding the changes to the code or, if warranted, an official warning or summons may be issued.

Chris Bechtler, manager of Crazy Horse Marina, is already trying to reach out to participants this year about the new law. The marina is traditionally the site of some of the largest Pirate Days battles each year as boats decorated as pirate ships roam the cove and toss water balloons at other boats.

We are discouraging the use of water balloons, Bechtler said.

The Smith Mountain Lake Association is also pushing to get the word out on the new law. SMLA President Bill Butterfield said he is a fan of the annual pirate festivities, but has questioned the environmental impact of the water balloons.

Water balloons that are biodegradable and those that are non-biodegradable are indistinguishable from one another. The biodegradable balloons also still take months to break down. In that time, Butterfield said they can still do harm to the environment.

The popped balloons can litter the waterways and shoreline. They can also become ingested by area wildlife such as fish or birds or even by local pets.

Balloons can also be harmful to boats and personal watercrafts by being sucked up into water intakes. The intakes could be clogged by balloon debris.

Butterfield asked residents to consider alternative ways to participate in pirate battles this year. He encouraged the use of water guns that will allow people the same opportunities to have fun while keeping the lake clean and not breaking the law.
A Richmond judge on Monday revoked bond for one of two defendants charged with gun offenses in connection with an alleged mass shooting that police said was planned for July 4 at Dogwood Dell.

In a joint agreement signed by both the prosecution and defense, Richmond Circuit Judge Claire G. Cardwell revoked a $15,000 bond that had been granted to Julio Alvarado-Dubon, 52, on July 6.

Mondays hearing was scheduled after Richmond prosecutors appealed the bond granted by Richmond General District Court Judge David Hicks.

Had Cardwell upheld bond for the defendant, he likely would have remained in custody due to U.S. immigration authorities placing federal detainers on both defendants on July 6. During Mondays hearing, Cardwell asked defense attorney Jose Aponte about the detainers, which Aponte confirmed.

Immigration Customs and Enforcement last week advised news outlets that both men are from Guatemala and were illegally residing in the U.S.

During Mondays bond hearing, the revocation order signed by the judge set Aug. 3 as a preliminary hearing date for Alvarado-Dubon.

In a separate hearing Monday in Richmond General District Court-Manchester, the second defendant, Rolman Balcarcel Ac, 38, was arraigned during a brief proceeding via video feed from the Richmond City Justice Center. It was his first appearance in a Richmond courtroom since he was arrested in Albemarle County on July 5.

His preliminary hearing date is Aug. 3, which coincides with Alvarado-Dubons. Richmond attorney Samuel P. Simpson has been retained to represent Balcarcel Ac.

Both men are charged with possession of a firearm as a non-citizen and being illegally present in the U.S.

Richmond police on Wednesday said they thwarted the potential mass shooting on Independence Day after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen. The announcement came two days after a gunman opened fire on a parade in suburban Chicago, killing seven.

The person who tipped Richmond police identified Balcarcel as the person who was planning the shooting, according to a search warrant affidavit. The tipster further advised that Balcarcel, known to the tipster as Chapin, had connections to a gang called Los Zetas. Police said Zetas is a reference to the Zetas cartel that operates in Mexico and the U.S.

In court records made public Monday, Balcarcel told a Richmond magistrate that he has been living in Richmond for three or four months and resided in Denver for three years before that. He was employed doing electrical work and earned $1,100 weekly when working 40 hours a week.

Alvarado-Dubon has lived in the Richmond area for three years and worked full time in construction, according to court documents.

Balcarcel and Alvarado-Dubon were living in a house at 3112 Columbia St. in Richmond. During a search of the residence, police said they recovered two AR-15 semiautomatic assault-style rifles, a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol and about 200 rounds of ammunition, police said.

Court records filed so far in the case, which include an affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for the suspects residence, makes no mention that Dogwood Dell was the intended target of the mass shooting, as police announced last week. After questions arose about the location, Richmond police late Friday issued a supplemental release in an effort to clarify.

In the release, police said that following the tip they said they received from a concerned citizen about a plot to conduct a mass shooting that targeted the citys Fourth of July celebration, the Richmond Police Department began an exhaustive investigation to determine its validity.

Based on the initial information and subsequent investigation, investigators concluded that Dogwood Dell was the intended target, police said without elaboration.

Over the course of the investigation, we believed it necessary to keep the information secure, not wanting to risk tipping off any suspects while also not desiring to incite fear in our residents, said Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith in a statement. I stand behind the thoroughness of this investigation and continue to be proud of the work that our officers did to thwart a plot that could have proven disastrous for Richmond.
Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday signed  as expected  the Republican-sponsored state budget into law.

Cooper also set Aug. 15 as the date the COVID-19 state of emergency for North Carolina will be lifted.

The governors office said House Bill 103 includes changes in the states emergency management requested by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to ensure flexibility that is currently made possible by the governors COVID-19 State of Emergency.

Cooper said in a brief statement that he signed the 2022-23 state budget bill primarily because it includes critical investments in education, economic development, transportation and the state workforce.

After vetoing the state budgets for 2019-20 and 2020-21  in large part because they did not include Medicaid expansion legislation  Cooper cited the progress made during the 2022 session on separate bills backed by Republican leadership in the House and Senate.

Senate Bill 408, which includes Medicaid expansion, was approved by a 101-6 vote in the House on June 28.

SB408 has been sent to the state Senate, which passed its own bipartisan, multi-layered healthcare bill  House Bill 149  that expands Medicaid to between 450,000 and 650,000 North Carolinians.

Those who might be eligible under the expanded program are between the ages of 18 and 64 and earn too much to qualify for Medicaid coverage, but not enough to purchase coverage on the private insurance marketplace.

A sizable portion of enrollees during the pandemic likely would qualify for expansion coverage.

A pivotal turning point for both Berger and Moore on their Medicaid expansion stances is enabling North Carolina to gain access to about $1.5 billion in federal Medicaid expansion funding over a two-year period.

That would free up DHHS to re-direct General Fund dollars to other priorities; $1 billion would be used to address substance abuse and mental health.

The key elements of SB408 are helping preserve rural hospitals and directing DHHS to develop a Medicaid Modernization and Savings Plan with a Dec. 15 deadline for filing a report with a joint oversight legislative committee.

We need to know exactly what were getting from Medicaid expansion, particularly in terms of expanding access to healthcare providers in a manner that is cost-effective, Moore said, This way, we have certainty ... and the final say.

If the legislative oversight committee approves the plan, Moore had pledged that SB408 would receive an up-and-down vote soon after.

We believe this bill will help address some really critical needs while being fiscally responsible to taxpayers and without incentivizing a person not to get a job, Moore said, citing a potential work requirement for eligible enrollees.

Budget response

The N.C. Healthcare Association considered HB103 as a good step forward toward improving public health in the state.

We urge the General Assembly to build on their budget process and success by moving before the end of the year to pass both the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program and Medicaid expansion, the association said.

Acting quickly on these measures is essential to stabilize struggling hospitals and to provide access to affordable health insurance to more than 600,000 additional North Carolinians, including veterans, working people without health insurance and families with children. 

The significant support from Democrats in both chambers likely persuaded Cooper not to risk the first veto override since the Republicans lost their super-majorities after the 2018 general election, said John Dinan, a political science professor at Wake Forest University.

The budget bill this year passed with the support of so many Democratic members of the House and Senate that it seemed certain to take effect, whether as a result of the governor signing it, or the governor allowing it to become law without his signature, or the governor issuing a veto that would be overridden with the help of some Democrats, Dinan said.

The only drama was over which of these routes the budget would take to eventual passage, and today the governor chose the first.

Coopers decision to sign the state budget bill was not a surprise to legislative analysts given the votes in each chamber, said Mitch Kokai, senior policy analyst with conservative think tank John Locke Foundation.

Kokai said the separate comments from Cooper and the Republican legislative leaders suggests that a Medicaid expansion proposal is still on the table.

Regardless of the rest of the budget, Cooper almost certainly would count movement on Medicaid expansion as a win.

State of emergency

North Carolina is one of 13 states that has not ended its COVID-19 state of emergency, with Georgia being the only other Southeast state with that status.

Cooper did not provide comment on the decision to end the COVID-19 state of emergency on Aug. 15.

In April, Cooper extended until July 15 some state regulatory waivers that continue to allow for extensive COVID-19 response measures.

Some of the waivers date back to Coopers first pandemic-related executive order issued on March 10, 2020, which declared a statewide state of emergency. Some of the waivers have since been extended up to 14 times.

Cooper has said previously extensions of COVID-19 related waivers had the same reasoning behind it  providing flexibility for health care workers and care facilities, as well as easier access to vaccines, tests and treatments.

For example, the extension continues to allow state Health Secretary Kody Kinsley to issue standing orders to facilitate additional COVID-19 testing and vaccinations resources, and the administration of therapeutic treatments designed to treat the coronavirus, including monoclonal antibody treatments and newly authorized therapeutic treatments.
GREENSBORO  The national tour of Les Miserables will be coming to the Steven Tanger Center between March 28 and April 2, 2023.

The performing arts center and its Broadway partners Nederlander and Professional Facilities Management made the announcement this morning.

After a record-breaking first season, were thrilled to continue bringing the best of Broadway to the Triad, Greensboro Coliseum Complex managing director Matt Brown said in a news release. Les Miz is one of the worlds most popular musicals and were excited to bring this grand production to the Tanger Center stage.

Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, Les Miserables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption  a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. This epic and uplifting story has become one of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history, the Tanger Center said in its announcement.

Current Broadway Season Seat Members will have first access to their same reserved season seats for Les Miserables. Broadway Season Seat Memberships for the First Bank Broadway, 2022-23 Season are available and new members will be granted access to purchase season seats to Les Miserables as part of their membership. Sales of individual tickets for the general public will be announced at a future date.

Cameron Mackintosh presents the acclaimed production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonbergs Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, Les Miserables. The score includes the songs I Dreamed a Dream, On My Own, Bring Him Home, One Day More, Master of the House and many more.

For more information, visit tangercenter.com/lesmiz.
GREENSBORO  Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will bring their 2023 tour to the Greensboro Coliseum.

The rock icon will kick off his international tour with 31 performances across the United States. The shows next year will mark Springsteen and The E Street Bands first concert dates since February 2017 and their first in North America since September 2016.

Tickets for the March 25 show in Greensboro  a Saturday  will go on sale at 10 a.m. on July 22, the Greensboro Coliseum announced in a news release.

The tour will be using Ticketmasters Verified Fan platform for tickets sold through Ticketmaster. Fans can register for Ticketmaster Verified Fan starting now through Sunday for the chance to buy tickets.

All registrants who are verified will be equally eligible to receive a unique access code for something called the Verified Fan Onsale. Registering does not guarantee you will receive a code or have the ability to purchase tickets.

The Verified Fan Onsale will take place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time. If tickets remain, a general sale for all fans begins the same day at 3 p.m. local time with no code required.

To register for the Ticketmaster Verified Fan Onsale, visit https://verifiedfan.ticketmaster.com/springsteen.

Springsteen has become known for his poetic, socially conscious lyrics and energetic stage performances, sometimes lasting up to four hours in length.

And his concerts attract big crowds.

Two with The E Street Band rank among the top 20 in attendance at the Greensboro Coliseum, with 19,271 fans in 2002 and 18,431 in 2009.

Springsteen was scheduled to perform at the coliseum in 2016, but was among performers who canceled appearances in the state because of House Bill 2  the so-called bathroom bill.

Springsteen and The E Street Bands most recent studio album  2020s Letter To You  marked their first time recording live together in decades and debuted at No. 1 in 11 countries. Their most recent tour was named 2016s top global tour by both Billboard and Pollstar.

European dates for the 2023 international tour were announced in May and over 1.2 million tickets have already been purchased across the continent, with many cities adding second or third stadium shows due to popular demand.

At the conclusion of their European run, which is scheduled for April through July 2023, Springsteen and The E Street Band will begin a second to-be-announced North American tour leg in August.
LEXINGTON  Davidson County health officials confirmed Tuesday the countys first case of monkeypox. It is the first case reported in the Triad area.

The county health department said in a news release that the person is isolating and close contacts have been notified.

As of Monday, the latest federal data available shows 866 cases in the U.S. and six in North Carolina, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to state data, North Carolina had 10 cases as of Tuesday afternoon. But the N.C. Department of Public Health does not list where the cases were reported. Media reports show there are cases in Wake, Durham, Mecklenburg and Haywood counties.

Davidson County Health Director Lillian Koontz said in the release the county is ready to deal with monkeypox cases.

With over two years of extensive, daily work in communicable disease case investigation and contact tracing, our team is well practiced in all aspects of communicable disease work, Koontz said. Upon notification of the positive result, our skilled nurses were able to communicate isolation procedures to the sick individual and connect with their known close contacts to offer vaccinations.

The health department will provide the Jynneos vaccine to those who are eligible. Eligibility includes known close contact with someone who has tested positive. Anyone eligible who needs the vaccine should call 336-242-2510 for more information.

Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness that typically involves flu-like symptoms, swelling of the lymph nodes and a rash that includes bumps that are initially filled with fluid before scabbing over, the health department said. It is a communicable disease that may affect anyone.

Anyone with symptoms should contact their health care provider for testing, the health department said.

Find more information at www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html.
BROWNS SUMMIT  Firefighter families from Greensboro to Gibsonville are grieving after a fiery car crash Saturday afternoon claimed three lives, including a longtime Greensboro fireman.

Alexio Lattero, 16, a junior volunteer with Fire District 28 in Gibsonville, was traveling north on N.C. 61 when he lost control of his 2012 Dodge Charger and struck a Jeep Cherokee driven in the opposite direction by Richard Norman Murrell.

The fatal wreck occurred around 4:50 p.m. on N.C. 61 near Turner Smith Road in Guilford County, according to the Highway Patrol.

The Charger caught fire, trapping a 15-year-old passenger from Kernersville and Latteros sister, Anna Shyann Lattero, 26, of Reidsville. Both died at the scene. Authorities have not released the identity of the teenage passenger.

Murrell, 58, a Greensboro firefighter, also died at the scene. His 50-year-old wife, Tonya Renae Murrell, who was in the front seat, suffered life-threatening injuries and was listed in critical but stable condition Monday afternoon at Moses Cone Hospital, according to an update from the Highway Patrol.

The State Highway Patrol Crash Reconstruction Unit determined that the primary contributing factor in the crash was exceeding a safe speed for the conditions of the roadway (rainy and wet), a Highway Patrol spokesperson said by email Monday.

Alexio Lattero, whose injuries also were considered life-threatening, was taken to a hospital after the crash. A spokesperson for the Highway Patrol said Monday afternoon that his condition has improved and he is expected to be released from Moses Cone Hospital soon.

Lattero was charged with three counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, exceeding a safe speed and driving left of center. He has a valid N.C. Graduated Drivers License that has a restriction 17 (limited provisional/level 2 license), authorities said.

A spokesperson for the Highway Patrol said Lattero is scheduled to appear in court at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 12 in Greensboro.

Fire District 28 in Gibsonville posted a statement Monday on the districts Facebook page about the young volunteer:

His family has been long time friends of the department, as well as the community. Alexio is a well respected and active member in the junior program. The department asked for prayers for the family as they deal with the loss of a sister and a friend.

We also offer condolences to the Murrell family and have been in contact with Greensboro Fire Department officials throughout the incident. Fire District 28 will continue to support the families throughout this tragic time.

In Greensboro, colleagues are remembering Murrell, who joined the Greensboro Fire Department on July 1, 1989.

Rick worked at Station 5 most of his career and was a firefighter that was looked up to by all of those who worked with him, according to a statement released Sunday by the fire department. Engineer Murrell was part of the Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) team and was an expert in all of the technical rescue disciplines that are required of this team. He also was deployed as part of the USAR team multiple times across the State of NC and throughout the nation during several natural disasters.

Greensboro firefighters have also launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the Murrell family: www.gofundme.com/f/rick-murrell-gfd.

By Tuesday afternoon, the effort had garnered more than $27,000 of its $30,000 goal after surpassing an initial $20,000 goal.

The Murrells three children are ages 17, 19, and 21. Tonya Murrell is a former Reidsville High School teacher.

The Fire Department asks that you keep the Murrell family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time, fire officials said.

Greensboro Fire Chief Jim Robinson also issued a statement Sunday:

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Engineer Rick Murrell. Rick was a great husband, awesome father to three amazing children, great firefighter and a dedicated member of our family. We are hurting today as a family.

The Winston-Salem Fire Department posted a message on social media extending thoughts and prayers to the Greensboro Fire Department, city of Greensboro community, the Murrell family, and the victims involved in the tragic accident: Engineer Rick Murrell will forever be our brother in service.

Funeral arrangements had not been finalized on Tuesday and Wilkerson Funeral Home in Reidsville issued a statement: In consideration of the family circumstances, funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time. The children and their extended families request your continued love, support, and prayers as they navigate the recovery for their mom, Tonya, and the future plans to honor and recognize their dad.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.wilkersonfuneral.com.
The first image of the James Webb Space Telescope did not disappoint and when you think for a minute what youre looking at, it is awe inspiring.

Although planned to be released tomorrow, the White House became involved and so one image of the several that are going to be released tomorrow was unveiled today in a special live broadcast from the White House with President Joe Biden doing the unveiling.



Click for larger version.

NASA released the following text with the image:

On Monday, July 11, President Joe Biden released one of the James Webb Space Telescopes first images in a preview event at the White House in Washington. NASA, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will release the full set of Webbs first full-color images and spectroscopic data during a televised broadcast beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT (14:30 UTC) on Tuesday, July 12, from NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Learn more about how to watch.

This first image from NASAs James Webb Space Telescope is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webbs First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Thousands of galaxies  including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared  have appeared in Webbs view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arms length by someone on the ground.
GREENSBORO  Hourly Amazon employees can now take classes at UNCG at no cost to them.

Campus leaders recently announced that UNCG is the first university in the region to partner with the online retailer on the Career Choice program in which Amazon covers full tuition, books and fees.

Amazon has four facilities and more than 1,400 employees in Guilford County, including a one million-square-foot fulfillment center in Kernersville. Amazon workers are eligible for the Career Choice program after 90 days of employment, according to a news release about the partnership.

The ease of access and academic excellence we offer is essential to train the future workforce," UNCG Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam Jr. said in a statement. "With this exciting partnership, we are transforming the way we provide coursework to meet students where they are and opening opportunities to them.

UNCG has more than 175 majors and concentrations at the undergraduate level with 13 programs fully online  all of which are available to Amazon Career Choice students, the university said in the news release.

Details about course options can be found online at spartancentral.uncg.edu/amazon-career-choice/.

According to the online retail giant, more than 80,000 Amazon employees around the world have participated in the program.

Launched in 2012, Amazons Career Choice program allows company employees to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere. The company is investing $1.2 billion in the United States to provide further education to more than 300,000 Amazon employees by 2025 to help move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs.

UNCG said in its announcement that the demand for teachers, nurses and IT professionals continues to grow  with a 95% increase in demand for IT jobs alone in Guilford County. The partnership will provide Amazon employees opportunities to enter UNCG's School of Nursing, School of Education and the Bryan School of Business & Economics, among others.
RALEIGH  Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation Monday for the second time in four years that would demand North Carolina sheriffs learn the immigration status of their inmates and make an effort to hold those federal agents want to pick up.

The Democratic governor vetoed a similar Republican measure in 2019, which came on the heels of newly elected sheriffs in several urban counties deciding against working closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who are seeking suspects they believe are in the country unlawfully.

Cooper on Monday vetoed four of the final seven bills remaining on his desk from over three dozen the General Assembly sent him in the last days of its work session, which ended July 1. Two bills were signed into law, including state budget adjustments for the coming fiscal year. And the legislature's annual regulatory reform bill also will become law because he said he won't act on it before a midnight deadline.

While the immigration bill given final General Assembly approval last week removed some provisions from the 2019 measure, Cooper said the legislation was still unconstitutional and designed to supersede the ability of sheriffs to manage the safety of constituents.

The legislation is only about scoring political points and using fear to divide North Carolinians, Cooper said in his written veto message.

The legislature could attempt a veto override, as when lawmakers planned to reconvene briefly starting July 26.

As with the 2019 veto, the GOP's chances to override this Cooper veto seem small. Not a single Democrat voted for the final bill and Republicans lack veto-proof majorities in either chamber. A Cooper veto has not been overridden since December 2018.

Republican supporters of the bill argue people who are in the country unlawfully and committing crimes are turning up as repeat offenders, instead of being returned to their original country.

With the stroke of his pen, Gov. Cooper just gave sanctuary sheriffs permission to shield an illegal immigrant who rapes or murders a North Carolinian, Sen. Chuck Edwards, a Henderson County Republican and chief bill sponsor, said in a news release.

The immigration bill would require sheriffs to check whether someone in their jails charged with felony drug or violent crimes is a legal U.S. resident. A sheriff may find out that ICE has issued a detainer, which says the agency wants to pick up someone they believe is in in the country unlawfully.

If a detainer is listed, deputies would have to take the inmate to a local magistrate or judge, who will decide whether to issue an order holding them. The additional hold would give ICE agents 48 hours to pick up the inmate.

Groups representing immigrants and the poor argued the change would make it less likely for immigrants to report crimes, leading to more dangerous communities. They also said voters elected these urban sheriffs because they campaigned on easing aggressive postures against immigrants.

The bill was an effort to rally anti-immigrant sentiments ahead of the upcoming elections. Were glad the governor did right by his immigrant constituents, said Iliana Santillian, the executive director of advocacy group El Pueblo, in a news release.

Cooper also vetoed a measure that would shift governance of the states two residential schools for the deaf and one for the blind away from the State Board of Education and toward new trustee boards. According to Cooper, the measure continues this legislatures push to give more control of education to boards of trustees made up of partisan political appointees.

He also vetoed a bill that would allow gun owners seeking to renew their concealed weapons permits to avoid taking another firearms safety and training course if the previous permit had expired up to six months earlier. Cooper called it "yet another way Republicans are working to chip away at commonsense gun safety measures.
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During July, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will kick off its Build America, Buy American month of action to highlight the administrations commitments to Americas small businesses, entrepreneurs and startups and highlight the benefits of the presidents bipartisan infrastructure law that will create opportunities for small manufacturers and contractors.

As Montana and the nation recovers from the pandemic, and supply chain issues, the federal government must begin to level the playing field for small manufacturing firms wanting to scale up, expand, and compete globally. As I visit local communities throughout the Rocky Mountain region, I am seeing more jobs, more hope, and something else more important: the rebirth of pride that comes from buying American.

Montana is a hub for small manufacturers. One example is Hi Country Snack Foods, which is based in Lincoln. Hi Country is the largest employer in the county employing 50 full-time people. The business started as a beef jerky company 40 years ago, but under the ownership of Travis Byerly the business has expanded into new products lines including a variety of flavored jerky and specialty seasonings. Byerly also operates the Hi-Country Trading Post which is packed full of made-in-Montana products.

The SBAs mission is to assure there is an equitable federal procurement strategy that prioritizes small, disadvantaged businesses which will increase competition and rebuild our economy from the bottom up and the middle out. The SBA is collaborating with an array of federal agencies to take shopping small to a whole new level by transforming how the U.S. government  the worlds largest buyer  spends more than $560 billion of Americas tax dollars on goods and services each year.

To assist businesses with planning, strategy and contracting, the SBA has various partners including local Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACS) to assist small businesses. President Biden laid out his vision to open more doors to federal contracting with an ambitious goal: Increase the share going to small and disadvantaged businesses by 50% by 2025. Buying from small and disadvantaged businesses will leverage the federal governments purchasing power to reestablish domestic supply chains and American made products  using market growth opportunities to strengthen our nations industrial base.

Included in these reforms is an effort to make certain that category management, a government-wide initiative to strategically source commonly purchased goods and services, does not shut out small businesses. We want to make it easier for more small businesses owned by people of color, women and veterans to do business with the federal government. The administration has directed over 40,000 federal contracting officers across government to spend tens of billions of dollars more with small, disadvantaged businesses.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Acts $1.2 trillion created an enormous opportunity for small construction and service firms. The SBA stands ready to support these businesses with bonding capacity, access to capital, and the ability to subcontract with large businesses to get their fair share of the contracting pie. We must ensure all taxpayer dollars are being used to fortify entrepreneurship, innovation and domestic supply chains, and in the process strengthen our democracy by creating equitable pathways to the American dream.

Today, we are more committed than ever to ensuring the federal government shops small to help our nation build back better following the pandemic. For more information on SBAs programs and services, please visit sba.gov and remember to follow us on Twitter @SBArockymtn.
Gary Buchanan is on the ballot as an independent running for the Second Congressional District. I helped a little gathering the necessary signatures. It was a curious adventure.

When the signature drive started, the political operatives all nodded sagely and said, no way, hes doing everything wrong. They had a point.

Gary signed up at the last minute, the very day candidate filing closed. He hadnt decided to run until a week or so earlier. And he only filed as a matter of duty, because our current representative had so embarrassed Montana  again. (Ukraine, this time.)

But wait, theres more. Gary had 11 weeks to gather 8,722 signatures. And him with zero organization in place. That means paid signature gatherers? Nope, thats how the other guys work. At least a paid coordinator to manage the amateur signature gatherers? Theyre Montanans; theyll know what to do. Yeah, that would pass for everything wrong.

Eleven weeks later, county clerks determined that Gary had almost 14,000 valid signatures. Thats equal to more than 5% of the total vote expected in November. Something like 450 people had spontaneously appeared to do the work.

I know its a sentiment fit for a motivational poster, but it looks like folks in Montana have hopes that democracy works.

Still, I kind of missed a proper campaign organization. Faith that everyday people will rise to the challenge is inspirational. But its not always the way to bet.

So for those of us accustomed to real campaigns the good news is he now has an official campaign manager. He has young hot shots doing social media, not that I would understand. But even I would agree thats not the impressive part.

Whats most amazing is that county groups started springing up without waiting for a central organization to jell. By my estimate, counties with something like two-thirds of the districts voters already have local operations in place and active. People were already ready to see Matt Rosendale go.

Of course, there is the small matter of winning the election before that can happen. Some data wonks think 36% would be enough to win, because there are four candidates in the race. Im thinking more like the low 40s myself.

But however you slice it, Gary has to get large numbers of all sorts of voters, ones who otherwise would vote for a Democratic or a Republican candidate. He cant just go one way or the other. He has to appeal to everybody and anybody who has been expecting better from the parties.

Matt knows this. Hell try to keep his voters in line by painting Gary as a Democrat in disguise. This fails, first because everybody knows that Democrats, disguised or otherwise, arent doing well in this district at the moment. Even a wig and a false mustache couldnt turn a Democratic candidate into a successful independent.

Second  surprise  not every Republican loves Matt. One of my favorite stories about this came from another signature gatherer. When she cautiously asked a guy wearing a MAGA hat if he would sign to put an independent on the ballot against Rosendale, the guy replied, Against that d**k? You bet!

Garys hole card may be the fact that Matt Rosendale is his opponent. Some voters cant stand Matts positions, like his votes against the Ukraine. Others cant stand Matts style. Things like yelling and frothing at a PTA delegation seem over the top even in these strange times.

Matt is the gift that keeps on giving.
DECATUR  Dr. Vinil Bhuma was appointed as the new chief medical officer for HSHS St. Marys Hospital on Monday.

We are excited to officially welcome Dr. Bhuma to our leadership team today. We look forward to advancing the mission of our organization together, said Theresa Rutherford, HSHS St. Marys Hospital President and CEO. His many years of experience and expertise will benefit our health care services and community. We also thank Dr. Ryan Jennings, CMO of our sister ministries, for successfully supporting St. Marys as we sought to fill the CMO position permanently.

Bhuma's most recent position was at UnityPoint Health-Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he was chief medical information officer as well as the president of the medical staff. He specializes as a hospitalist and has practiced medicine at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Ind. and Aspirus Wausau Hospital in Wausau, Wisc.

I look forward to serving the Decatur community, Bhuma said. My new hospital colleagues and new community neighbors have already welcomed me so warmly. I know my family and I will create roots and experience joy here in the coming years.

Bhuma will live in Decatur with his wife and two children.
SPRINGFIELD  A Texas man with prior felony convictions in Macon County will serve federal prison time for possessing a firearm in Central Illinois.

Anthony Davis, 32, of Mesquite, Texas was sentenced on July 7 to 30 months in federal prison followed by 36 months of supervised release for possessing a firearm despite his felony convictions.

According to an announcement from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of Illinois, an Illinois State Police trooper stopped Davis on Interstate 55 for having an obstructed license plate.

The trooper learned Davis drivers license was suspended. Upon searching the vehicle, the trooper found a lit marijuana blunt, a pistol with a defaced serial number, and multiple magazines, according to prosecutors.

Davis has multiple previous felony convictions in Macon County, including failure to register as a sex offender, theft, and identity theft.

Statutory penalties for firearm possession by a felon are limited to not more than 10 years in prison, not more than three years of supervised release, and not more than a $250,000 fine.
DECATUR  READiculous was set to have its biggest set of shows ever in spring 2020.

Then COVID swept through the region, and everything shut down.

We were already tired from all the shows we had scheduled, said Alissa Henkel, one-half of the READiculous team that also includes Susan Bishop. Then everything shut down, and we agreed that we couldn't do our shows with masks on. As long as masks were demanded, we thought, 'We just won't (perform).'

We did do some things online, where we could be socially distanced and perform to a camera. But we've been waiting for this moment for a very long time.

Henkel and Bishop act out books for early readers, though their shows are entertaining for any age group, and they explain at the beginning of the show that their name is because we read a ridiculous number of books in a ridiculous amount of time. Using props and costumes, and always holding the books as they perform so the little ones will connect books with the story, are their signature.

They perform at the Decatur Public Library, where both are employed, and at schools, for day cares, and other venues where kids can be found. Their next two shows are 2 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, in the children's department at the library, and they are planning to book school assemblies again this year as well.

The first book in this year's show was You're Finally Here! by Melanie Watt, which both women thought was appropriate to open their show.

You can also be READiculous, said library assistant John Schirle as he introduced the show. They don't memorize (the books). You'll see that they always have a book in their hands. You can grab a friend and act out a book.

There's always a display of books in the children's department that includes the books in the current show and from past shows, to encourage kids to read them for themselves.

Kids have gotten out of the habit of sitting through assemblies and shows, Henkel said, so she and Bishop shortened their show from 45 minutes to 30 to make the adjustment a little easier.

Alice Zhang, 10, enjoyed the show, her first time seeing READiculous.

I thought it was funny and I really liked it, she said.

Sisters Penelope and Norah Davis enjoyed it, too. Penelope liked The Ballet Cat and Norah enjoyed Thunder and Cluck, a tale of two dinosaurs. Norah even mimicked the roar of Thunder.

They're very funny and they acted things out pretty well, said Addy Kenney, 7.

Another first-timer was Megan McCoy, 7.

I think it was really good, she said.
DECATUR  The late Roger Walker may be gone, but the former Macon County sheriff's legacy still looms large in Decatur.

Walker was the first African-American sheriff elected in Illinois. He later was director of the state's Department of Corrections, after serving in the sheriff's department for 30 years.

On Tuesday, a mural featuring Walker's likeness was officially dedicated on the wall of the Inc. Spot, located at 239 W. Eldorado St., Decatur.

Sheriff Walker served as an inspiration to many and dedicated his life to our community, said state Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, addressing the crowd that gathered for the dedication. He knew what he was doing was helping and caring for others.

The representative then handed the framed proclamation to Roger Walkers brother, the Rev. Thomas E. Walker.

We are here to not only celebrate legacy, but the impact of legacy, said Jacob Jenkins, who acted as master of ceremonies for the event.

Along with political figures and family members, Roger Walkers sheriffs uniform had a prominent spot honoring his work in the community as well as the state. Dancers from Youth With a Positive Direction also entertained the crowd. Food was served after the event.

During the ceremony, the Walker family donated the uniform to the African American Genealogical Society, located next to the Inc. Spot. I think it is only fitting and profound to present this uniform, Thomas Walker said. Not only from the Macon County Sheriffs Department, not only from the Walker family, but for Roger Walker, life, legacy and historical event as of today.

Plans to create the mural originated with Roger Walkers nephew Corey Walker. We could never have done this without the help of the Lord. He gave us the strength and the mindset to want to do something, he said. The late Sheriff Roger Walker paved the way, made it possible for us to dare to believe and to dream. He made a believer out of me.

Roger E. Walker Jr. started at the county sheriffs office in 1972 as a patrol officer. He worked his way up the ranks until he was elected county sheriff in 1998.

He went on to become director of the Illinois Department of Corrections from May 2003 to May 2009 and served on the states Prisoner Review Board until November 2010, when his health kept him from working.

He died in 2012 at the age of 63 in a Springfield hospital after battling a series of illnesses over several years.

The late sheriff has also been memorialized with a dedication of Illinois 48 as Sheriff Roger E. Walker Jr. Memorial Road.

Now weve got a building that people can drive by on a major street and look up and see a legacy of Decatur, who we will never forget, said Walker family friend and Decatur City Council member Dennis Cooper.

Current Macon County Sheriff Jim Root spoke to the crowd of nearly 100 honoring his former supervisor. He always wanted the sheriffs office and the members of the sheriffs office to be involved in the community, Root said. To this day, we are involved in the community on a regular basis.

Root and others worked with the artist, William Harris, in adding details to the important aspects of Roger Walkers life and career.

The image of the squad car was a design created by Roger Walker himself when he became sheriff. The route 48 sign represents the Sheriff Roger E. Walker Jr. Memorial Road. And "MC01" painted on the car was his identification number.

Harris did not have the opportunity to meet the late sheriff, but believes he was able to learn more about him through the family and researching Roger Walkers life.

Ive had the chance to learn quite a bit about him, Harris said. Youve heard all the accolades, I can tell you theres a lot more that havent been made today.
Artist impression of the pulsar-planet system PSR B1257+12 detected in 1992. The pulsar and three radiation-doused planets are all that remains of a dead star system. CREDIT NASA/JPL-Caltech

The first ever exoplanets were discovered 30 years ago around a rapidly rotating star, called a pulsar.

Now, astronomers have revealed that these planets may be incredibly rare. The new work will be presented tomorrow (Tuesday 12 July) at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2022) by Iuliana Nitu, a PhD student at the University of Manchester.

The processes that cause planets to form, and survive, around pulsars are currently unknown. A survey of 800 pulsars followed by the Jodrell Bank Observatory over the last 50 years has revealed that this first detected exoplanet system may be extraordinarily uncommon: less than 0.5% of all known pulsars could host Earth-mass planets.

Pulsars are a type of neutron star, the densest stars in the universe, born during powerful explosions at the end of a typical stars life. They are exceptionally stable, rapidly rotating, and have incredibly strong magnetic fields. Pulsars emit beams of bright radio emission from their magnetic poles that appear to pulse as the star rotates.

[Pulsars] produce signals which sweep the Earth every time they rotate, similarly to a cosmic lighthouse, says Nitu. These signals can then be picked up by radio telescopes and turned into a lot of amazing science.

In 1992, the first ever exoplanets were discovered orbiting a pulsar called PSR B1257+12. The planetary system is now known to host at least three planets similar in mass to the rocky planets in our Solar System. Since then, a handful of pulsars have been found to host planets. However, the extremely violent conditions surrounding the births and lives of pulsars make normal planet formation unlikely, and many of these detected planets are exotic objects (such as planets made mostly of diamond) unlike those we know in our Solar System.

A team of astronomers at the University of Manchester performed the largest search for planets orbiting pulsars to date. In particular, the team looked for signals that indicate the presence of planetary companions with masses up to 100 times that of the Earth, and orbital time periods between 20 days and 17 years. Of the 10 potential detections, the most promising is the system PSR J2007+3120 with the possibility of hosting at least two planets, with masses a few times bigger than the Earth, and orbital periods of 1.9 and ~3.6 years.

The results of the work indicate no bias for particular planet masses or orbital periods in pulsar systems. However, the results do yield information of the shape of these planets orbits: in contrast to the near-circular orbits found in our Solar System, these planets would orbit their stars on highly elliptical paths. This indicates that the formation process for pulsar-planet systems is vastly different than traditional star-planet systems.

Discussing the motivation of her research, Nitu says: Pulsars are incredibly interesting and exotic objects. Exactly 30 years ago, the first extra-solar planets were discovered around a pulsar, but we are yet to understand how these planets can form and survive in such extreme conditions. Finding out how common these are, and what they look like is a crucial step towards this.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

A mainly sunny sky. Record high temperatures expected. High 103F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low near 75F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
Here's a look at trending topics across the US for today, July 11.

7-Eleven

Two people were killed and three wounded in shootings before dawn Monday at four 7-Eleven stores in Southern California and authorities said they were seeking a lone gunman in at least three of the shootings.

The shootings appear to have occurred after robberies or attempted robberies at the four convenience stores on July 11, or 7/11  a day when the national 7-Eleven brand is celebrating its 95th birthday by giving out free Slurpee drinks.

Our hearts are with the victims and their loved ones," 7-Eleven, Inc. said in a statement. "We are gathering information on this terrible tragedy and working with local law enforcement.

Get more information here:

Prime Day

Amazons annual Prime Day event is back. The 48-hour event kicks off July 12 at 3 a.m. EDT and runs through July 13 for Prime members in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, the U.K., the U.S., and for the first time ever in Poland and Sweden. Later this summer, Prime Day deals events will be held in India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as in Egypt for the first time.

Customers will be able to shop products from top national brands and more third-party sellers than last years Prime Day, including many small and medium-sized businesses. New dealsfrom fashion and electronics to toys and homewill go live throughout Prime Day.

Find out more here:

James Webb Telescope

Our view of the universe just expanded: The first image from NASAs new space telescope unveiled Monday is brimming with galaxies and offers the deepest look of the cosmos ever captured.

The first image from the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope is the farthest humanity has ever seen in both time and distance, closer to the dawn of time and the edge of the universe. That image will be followed Tuesday by the release of four more galactic beauty shots from the telescopes initial outward gazes.

The deep field" image released at a White House event is filled with lots of stars, with massive galaxies in the foreground and faint and extremely distant galaxies peeking through here and there.

See more here:

***

Get more on today's trending topics here:

Jen Shah

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Merchants Distributors LLC, a grocery wholesale distributor, is investing $35 million to expand its Caldwell County location. The expansion is expected to create 125 new jobs.

The company plans a 250,000- square-foot expansion to its perishable goods capacity, a release from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said. The state and Caldwell County offered incentives for the expansion. City of Hickory are considering incentives.

The expansion will convert space in the Caldwell County facility that can be chilled to 34 degrees for perishable goods, the release said. The expansion will create jobs with an average salary of about $59,000.

As our business continues to grow, demand for perishable products has increased the need for chilled warehouse space to service our customers and communities, Brian George, chairman and CEO of MDI, said in the release. North Carolina continues to support business growth and invest in workforce development which makes expanding at this location possible.

The state of North Carolina offered MDI a Job Development Investment Grant of $1.08 million over 12 years. The grant is based on an estimate that the expansion will grow the states economy by $323.4 million, according to the release.

Caldwell County offered MDI a tax grant of 75% of taxes paid on new assessed value from the project over 10 years, Caldwell County Economic Development Commission Executive Director Deborah Murray said. The county also offered to pay MDI $2,000 for retaining 50 jobs that would have been lost had the expansion been done at a different distribution center, and $2,000 per each of the 125 jobs created.

MDI is Caldwell Countys largest employer, Murray said in a release. Their success is so important to our region, she said.

The city of Hickory was involved in bringing the expansion to the area, a release from Caldwell County said. The Hickory City Council will consider an incentive package soon, Hickory Communications Specialist Sarah Killian said.

This significant investment and expansion benefits the region by preserving and creating high-quality jobs that provide security and stability for families in the Hickory metro, Hickory Mayor Hank Guess said in the MDI release.

The expansion is expected to be complete in late 2023, said Kimberly George, the president of communications and corporate citizenship for the company.

The distribution operation, located in Caldwell County off U.S. 321, is still undergoing a $120 million expansion to its dry goods distribution area, Murray said. The expansion was announced in 2020. Once complete in early 2023, it is expected to create 111 new jobs, separate from the latest expansion.

The 2020 investment also received a JDIG grant from the state and incentives from Caldwell County and Hickory.
The idea of sharing pictures or stories from your farm, especially online, can be intimidating, and questions may pile up. You may think, What if no one cares what Im saying? Worse, what if they dont like what Im saying? How do I stay relevant with so many social media platforms available? What if Im not good at it?

These types of questions are real and valid. But being a voice for agriculture doesnt have to mean you share everything with thousands of people  and take that from someone who does reach thousands. Sharing in your community cannot be undervalued, said Marissa Hake (@calfvet_) when social media advocates talked about their journeys during this years Connect Summit.

Anneliese Wegner (@modfarmchick) added, It doesnt have to be social media 24 hours a day. Just respond to the needs in your community. That could mean hosting a school field trip or local representative and posting pictures from it, or maybe responding to questions in a community group youre involved with.

Tara Vander Dussen (@taravanderdussen) agreed and reminded the audience to find what you already enjoy doing and talking about to decide what gets shared on your pages. That element of reality creates a connection and trust while making it more enjoyable for you to do. You cant share like anyone else. You have to be authentic, she said.

Many consumers are searching out farmers to hear and learn from; just consider how popular farmers markets and on-farm stores have become. Advocating online is a similar tool, said Michelle Miller (@thefarmbabe). Every single person can have an impact, she added.

Top tips

So, how do you effectively advocate online at any scale? Dan Venteicher (@iowadairyfarmer) cautioned, Youre not going to be good at first.

Venteicher explained that though blogs work for some advocates, he knew that wasnt the platform for him and instead focused on videos. Theyve been very effective for him, even when he decided to move his content from TikTok to Facebook and had to learn a new platform.

That learning curve is going to help you recognize what type of content you want to share, he said. Is it videos, photos, or more written information? Theres no requirement to be on every channel; use what you like. Challenge yourself to find what youre good at, Venteicher added.

Hake reminded that, although farmers love to follow other farmers online, you arent sharing the information to sell dairy products to other farmers. Remember that a consumer could see every post, so consider if it would drive them to dairy or not. Giving context on all of your posts is critical, noted Vander Dussen.

Just as youre not posting for other farmers, youre also not going to change the minds of the small (but vocal) number of people opposed to all animal agriculture. Focus on the folks in between who are open to your information and experience, emphasized Evelyn Leubner (@nyfarmgirls).

The panelists recognized that for multiple reasons, it can be scary for farmers to decide to share about their businesses online, just as sharing any opinions there can open up broad discussions. As Leubner said, though, The one thing thats scarier than starting is other people telling your story.

Social media offers dairy farmers the unique opportunity to connect with their consumers and showcase that story firsthand, starting in their own backyards. The good outweighs the bad, said Wegner.

To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2022

July 7, 2022
It feels very full circle, she said. The program is realizing its mission and our alumni are practicing in these rural areas and connecting with the students coming up through the pipeline.

The program has 49 practicing alumni, Knottenbelt said, 34 of whom are based in nine communities across New Mexico. Alumni tend to choose primary care specialties more often than their peers in the School of Medicine, she added.

Current participants in the program come from 30 of New Mexicos 33 counties, and two thirds of them are from outside the Albuquerque metro area, she said.

This years Summer Practicum also sent students to Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Roswell, Hobbs, Silver City and Taos, Knottenbelt said. Eleven BA/MD alumni helped facilitate the students' educational experience, either by allowing students to shadow them in their rural practice or serving as "circuit riders," traveling to each community for weekly seminars covering the social determinants of health and the program's Health Medicine and Human Values curriculum.

During her practicum, Villarrial interacted with alumni circuit riders Nikifor Konstantinov, MD, and David Hernandez, MD. She also got to shadow fellow Farmington native William Curtis Young, MD, a family medicine physician who entered the BA/MD Program in 2008 and returned to the community in 2020 following a residency in South Dakota. Youngs father, physician assistant Bill Young, helped encourage Villarrial to apply to the Combined BA/MD Program while she was in high school.

Curtis Young says he had Villarrial in the room as a fly on the wall when he met with patients. I introduced Sarah to them and told them shes a Farmington girl that UNM is borrowing for a few years and then theyll give her back, he said.

Youngs wife, Shawna Young, MD, is a pediatrician who was a year behind him in the BA/MD Program.

My wife was the first in her family to graduate from college, and being Navajo, she is now taking care of a near majority Navajo population in her practice, he said. In order to hood someone at graduation, you have to be an MD, PhD or judge, or something. I had the amazing opportunity to place the hood on my wife at graduation.

Thats something the BA/MD program made possible, and Ill always be grateful for that. And now we practice together in a small New Mexico town trying to help other students believe in their dreams of helping people.

Villarrial said shadowing Young on the job was one of the high points of her practicum experience.

Its been really cool, she says. Dr. Young is brilliant. Hes very intelligent. Hes in family medicine, so there is some down time if a patient cancels. Hell sit me down and at a whiteboard and hell do a biochem lesson or hell teach me about a medical philosophy. Hell ask his patients if its OK if I help with an exam.

That hands-on learning is really amazing, because I think experience is the only way to learn medicine.
Ubers strategy was clear from the outset: move quickly into markets, operate with dubious legality, create a critical mass of demand, and deal with the consequences later.

Now a trove of over 124,000 internal files from Uber  including messages between executives and internal briefing notes  has revealed the scope of the companys market plan that involved publicising violence against drivers, close relationships with politicians, and a complete disregard for the law.

Mark MacGann, an ex-Uber lobbyist for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, shared the documents  dubbed the Uber Files  with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

The stories told by a consortium of journalists show a company that sought a monopoly on global taxi services at any cost.

The company approach in these places essentially to break the law, show how amazing Ubers service was, and then change the law, MacGann told the Guardian.

My job was to go above the heads of city officials, build relations with the top level of government, and negotiate.

As Uber spread across the world, limited only by the availability of smart phones and willing drivers, it met resistance from regulators and governments, but especially from traditional taxi drivers.

For licensed cabbies, Uber's disruptive tactics  it heavily subsidised fares to attract customers and encouraged new drivers with bonuses  meant a swathe of potential customers were now jumping into unmarked cars with strangers who they connected with via an app.

One of MacGanns greatest successes as a corporate lobbyist came in France. He had built a close relationship with Emmanual Macron, the recently re-elected French President who was economics minister at the time of Ubers incursion.

As in other markets, French taxi drivers held protests against Ubers unregulated services sweeping in and taking fares from people who paid exorbitant prices, and underwent lengthy training, to get a rare taxi license.

MacGann and other Uber executives, including former CEO Travis Kalanick, worked closely with French officials to draft friendly legislation and overturn what appeared to be a ban of the flagship UberX service in Marseille.

Macron had replied to MacGanns call for assistance after the UberX ban by saying I will look at this personally.

Two days later the ban was clarified  letting Uber continue its operations  and MacGann celebrated the good cooperation with Macrons office.

Violence guarantees success

Meanwhile, taxi protests in France turned violent and Kalanick saw an opportunity: Uber drivers and customers being attacked in the streets would help the companys image.

If we have 50,000 riders they wont and can't do anything, he said in a message exchange, according to the Guardian.

I think its worth it. Violence guarantee [sic] success.

Attacks on drivers throughout Europe and South America were seen as valuable public relations for Uber.

The leaked files show one executive in Belgium, in response to violence against Uber drivers, saying it was a good story.

Already one driver stepped forward to talk to the press: he had a full sack of flour thrown over him and passengers by taxi, the Belgian Uber executive said.

He pressed charges and one taxi driver would have spent a night in jail  Good story.

Violence in the Netherlands was likewise used to help lobbying efforts. A Dutch Uber manager said they should keep the violence narrative going for a few days before we offer the solution.

MacGann, pleased with results, said in response: Excellent work. This is exactly what we wanted and the timing is perfect.

In a statement responding to the Uber Files, the company's Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Jill Hazelbaker, said Uber had put the past behind it.

Weve moved from an era of confrontation to one of collaboration, demonstrating a willingness to come to the table and find common ground with former opponents, including labor unions and taxi companies, she said.

We are now regulated in more than 10,000 cities around the world, working at all levels of government to improve the lives of those using our platform and the cities we serve.
SALISBURY  Food Lion is proud to announce nearly 300 associates will be celebrating over 30 years of service this year. Among them are 10 long-term associates from stores in the Cabarrus County area.

Recognizing associates who have shared their gifts and talents with Food Lion and nourished their neighbors for decades is incredibly important to us, said Meg Ham, president, Food Lion. These dedicated associates have touched the lives of their fellow associates and customers alike. We are so fortunate to have such committed associates, and I so appreciate the care, compassion and commitment they share with Food Lion and the towns and cities they serve.

Food Lion recognizes associates celebrating 30, 35, 40 and 45 years of service with the Years of Service Award. Each year, the omnichannel retailer holds a recognition event to share appreciation and gratitude for associates who have achieved these service milestones. At the Years of Service Awards event, each associates name, position, location and service milestone are read aloud and celebrated.

The following local associates were recognized:

30 years of service

Kerry Austin, assistant store manager in Locust

Wanda Cuthbertson, sales associate in Concord

Holly Friel, assistant deli/bakery manager in Concord

Frank Sutherland, perishable associate in Kannapolis

35 years of service

Kevin Brown, assistant store manager in Harrisburg

Margaret Crosby, Food Lion To-Go associate in Kannapolis

Kelly Kirk, Food Lion To-Go lead in Mount Pleasant

Alicia Parks, produce sales manager in Kannapolis

Starr Robb, pricing coordinator in Concord

Eric Walker, store manager in Locust.
Susan G. Komen, the worlds leading breast cancer organization, on Monday announced that it will hold a MORE THAN PINK Walk in Uptown Charlotte this fall.

The walk will replace the annual Race for the Cure event and be held on Mint Street outside Bank of America Stadium on Oct. 8. This will be Komens first in-person walk event in Charlotte since 2019.

This is the 26th year Susan G. Komen has hosted an event in Charlotte, and we are excited to announce it will be a MORE THAN PINK Walk this year, said Kimberly Burrows, state executive director of North and South Carolina at Susan G. Komen. A MORE THAN PINK Walk is more inclusive of Komens supporters, some of whom are in active treatment, and better represents our mission  and we hope everyone will join us in October.

The presenting sponsor for the inaugural MORE THAN PINK Walk in Charlotte is Pink Energy, Americas leading solar energy company. Giving back to breast cancer causes has been part of our companys philanthropy the past two years, and now with this partnership, were going to the next level with that commitment, said Pink Energy CEO Jayson Waller. Our employees and customers are already doing a great thing for the environment by installing solar, and this partnership collectively allows us to do even more good things for excellent causes.

We welcome all the members of our breast cancer community honoring friends, family and anyone who has been impacted by the disease, said Sarah Hanna, development director of North and South Carolina. The MORE THAN PINK Walk for the Cure is about making strides toward curing breast cancer and the funds raised through registrations and sponsorships will give more individuals who have been impacted by the disease access to resources and the support they need now.

The Power of ONE Week  a weeks worth of events to honor those who have been impacted by breast cancer  will precede the Walk on Oct. 8. A schedule of in-person and virtual events and additional details will be announced soon.

Susan G. Komen MORE THAN PINK Walk

7 a.m. event opens

8:30 a.m. opening ceremony

9 a.m. walk begins

Register online at Komen.org/CharlotteWalk
McDonald's and Wendy's are both giving away free fries this week.

On Wednesday, in celebration of the (apparently real) National French Fry Day, McDonald's will give away free orders of large fries  with no purchase necessary. However, the free fries can only be ordered through the McDonald's app, and customers must be members of the chain's loyalty program.

Keep scrolling for french fry rankings

Similarly, Wendy's on Monday announced the beginning of Fry Week, during which the chain is offering free fries with specific purchases that will change each day this week. For example, on Tuesday Wendy's customers can get free medium fries with any salad purchase.

Like McDonald's, Wendy's recently reformulated fries are only free if ordered through its app and customers have to be part of the brand's digital loyalty program.

Ultimately the goal for McDonald's, Wendy's and other chains with loyalty programs is to increase sales and lure in customers  ideally on a daily basis  by offering reasons to choose them over their competitors. The programs also give restaurant owners access to customers' data and ordering habits that help target diners with customized deals.

McDonald's program has surpassed 26 million members since its launch a year ago as one of several important digital initiatives for the company.

"We're also seeing more frequent visits from loyalty customers, many of whom were very loyal to begin with," said McDonald's CFO Kevin Ozan in a recent earnings call. "Some of our largest markets have seen record customer visit frequency driven by loyalty usage coupled with app exclusive promotions."

As for Wendy's, whose program had about 19 million members as of the end of last year, the company said on a recent earnings call that it is "really pleased" with the two-year old program because enrolled customers come in more frequently.

"It helps speed up the drive-thru, helps drive order accuracy, helps with quickness of payment and then ultimately provides a lot of benefit for us over time as we get all that information to better connect to our consumer on a one-to-one basis," said Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor on the call.
MATTOON  A quarrel in 1855 between the first Coles County clerk, Nathan Ellington, and his son-in-law, Adolphus Monroe, resulted in death by gunshot for the former and death by angry mob for the latter.

Ellington's death has long been memorialized in the clerk's office by a portrait of him beside a display of the fatal derringer. Recently, Ellington's and Monroe's deaths have been chronicled in the new "Murder in Coles County" history book by Randy Ervin, retired chief of the Lake Land College Police Department and a former detective with the Coles County Sheriff's Office.

At 199 pages, the self-published book takes readers from the first documented murder prosecution in Coles County in 1847 to modern cases. Ervin said he hopes the accounts drawn from newspaper archives and other digital sources will help raise awareness of these cases, which are part of Coles County's history.

"This book is dedicated to the memory of the victims and to their families and friends," Ervin wrote. "It is also dedicated to the law enforcement officers who dedicated many hours and sometimes weeks and even years to investigating these crimes in an unyielding effort to bring the culprits to justice and to provide some closure to the families."

The Airtight Bridge photo on the book cover represents a case that police investigated for nearly 30 years, the murder of Diane Marie Riordan Small. Her then-unidentified remains were found in 1980 along the Embarras River at Airtight Bridge in northeast Coles County.

In 1992, a DNA test led to the remains being identified in connection with a missing person report.

"DNA testing, which wasn't available when the body was discovered, proved the body was Ms. Small. In fact, it was the first murder case in Illinois in which DNA evidence was used to identify a murder victim," Ervine wrote.

The investigation culminated in her husband, Thomas Small, pleading guilty in 2017 to the murder, which occurred in Kankakee County.

Linda House, a sales manager with Adams Memorials, said she remembers working with Small's daughter to replace the "Jane Doe" marker at Mound Cemetery in Charleston with a donated gravestone bearing her mother's name.

"That part is burned into my memory. I will never forget that," House said.

Some of the cases in the book were never solved, including the 1897 fatal shooting of prostitute Minnie Taylor that occurred when she answered the doorbell at the Mattoon brothel where she lived and worked.

Ervin said the unknown man at the door asked if she was Minnie Taylor, heard that she was, and then shot her twice through the screen door with a revolver. He said there were murder theories and at least one person of interest reported during the next two decades, but no arrests.

The book's early case chapters depict a rougher era for Charleston and Mattoon when they were not far removed from frontier days. Ervin said saloons, brothels, and gambling houses provided the backdrop for murder cases.

"Some of the stories were like something out of the old west," Ervin said.

During that era, Ervin said a crowd estimated at 5,000 turned out on Feb. 15, 1856, in Charleston for the scheduled execution of Monroe for the fatal shooting of Ellington. Ervin noted that there is speculation that the shooting may have been in self-defense during a fight between the two men.

Ervin said Gov. Joel Matteson ordered a stay of execution, but many in the crowd chipped away at bricks on the jail and eventually breached the building.

"They started shouting, 'Drag him out and hang him,'" Ervin said of the fate that Monroe met that night a few blocks from the courthouse square.

Copies of "Murder in Coles County" are available for $15 each by contacting Ervin at 217-246-7170 or randyjervin@icloud.com.
Expedition 67 Flight Engineers check thermal system components. (July 7, 2022) NASA

Preparations for a cargo mission this week and a spacewalk next week are keeping the Expedition 67 crew busy aboard the International Space Station.

The seven orbital residents are also staying busy with their ongoing research into human biology, space physics, and robotics.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft attached to the Falcon 9 rocket is due to roll out to the launch pad soon at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is scheduled to launch at 8:44 p.m. EDT on Thursday carrying 5,800 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies to replenish the orbiting lab. Dragon will orbit Earth for a day-and-a-half before docking to the Harmony modules forward port at 11:20 a.m. on Saturday.

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins spent an hour-and-a-half Monday morning studying Dragons approach and rendezvous maneuvers. She will be on duty Saturday morning, along with NASA astronaut Bob Hines, monitoring Dragons automated docking to Harmony. NASA TV, on the agencys app and website, will begin live coverage at 10 a.m. on Saturday of Dragons arrival at the station for a monthlong stay.

Watkins also took turns with Hines and fellow NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren participating in a fitness test on an exercise cycle located in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module. The trio strapped sensors to themselves and pedaled for 60 minutes for the VO2Max exercise study that monitors an astronauts aerobic capacity.

Watkins began her day activating the Astrobee robotic free-flyers to test their ability to autonomously navigate inside the Kibo laboratory module. Hines swapped fiber optic cable samples inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox for the Intelligent Glass Optics space manufacturing study. Lindgren finalized his day testing the new Butterfly IQ Ultrasound device for its mobile and remote medical capabilities.

A Roscosmos cosmonaut and an ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut are gearing up for the years sixth spacewalk planned for July 21. Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti spent all day Monday activating and inspecting a pair of Russian Orlan spacesuits. The duo will work outside in the vacuum of space for approximately seven hours configuring the European robotic arm (ERA) for operations on the stations Russian segment.

Artemyev started his day with Flight Engineer Denis Matveev for an hourlong assessment of their cardiovascular system. Matveev then replaced smoke detectors and checked sensors inside the Zvezda service module. Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov worked on water transfers inside the ISS Progress 80 cargo craft then prepared the ERA for next weeks spacewalk.

On-Orbit Status Report

Payloads:

Astrobee-Zero Robotics: The US LAB module was cleared of stowage and the Astrobee flyers were prepped for Zero-Robotics remote mapping operations which was controlled by the ground. For Astrobee-Zero Robotics, students write software to control one of the space stations Astrobee free-flying robots. The first several rounds of the competition, co-led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Innovation Learning Center, and many collaborators, use an online simulation. Finalists have their code downloaded by NASA to the Astrobee platform and observe its performance. The experience helps inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers.

Butterfly IQ Ultrasound: Medical Technology Demonstration of the Butterfly Ultrasound Device was performed. Butterfly IQ Ultrasound demonstrates the effectiveness of a portable ultrasound device used in conjunction with a mobile computing device in the space environment. Such commercial off-the-shelf technology could provide important medical capabilities for future exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit. The investigation also examines the effectiveness of just-in-time instructions for autonomous use of the device by the crew.

Cold Atom Lab (CAL): The Cold Atom Lab MTL jumper was checked for leaks and cleaned up. The CAL produces clouds of atoms that are chilled to about one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero  much colder than the average temperature of deep space. At these low temperatures, atoms have almost no motion, allowing scientists to study fundamental behaviors and quantum characteristics that are difficult or impossible to probe at higher temperatures. In microgravity, researchers may be able to achieve even colder temperatures than what is possible on the ground, and observe these cold atom clouds for longer periods of time.

TangoLab-2: Card S/N 005 was removed from slot 6 and cube QUST_NNL05 was removed for photo documentation. Cube KENT_SAT02 was attached to card S/N 006 and installed into slot 6. TangoLab-2 is a reconfigurable general research facilities designed for microgravity research and development and pilot manufacturing in the ISS.

Universal Intelligent Glass Optics (UNIGLO): Two preform sample exchanges were completed by the crew and two sample runs were performed. UNIGLO tests the effects of microgravity on a glass optics module capable of processing various types of complex glasses. The module uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help adapt materials processing techniques to the microgravity environment and a sensor based on laser-Doppler interferometry to measure the effects of microgravity on processing complex glasses for a variety of applications in space and on Earth.

Systems:

Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Collect and Analysis: As part of regular maintenance, the crew performed periodic EHS water sampling by collecting water samples from the PWD for in-flight and post-flight analysis. In-flight samples were used to perform a TOCA analysis that measures the amounts of organic constituents in the potable water. The crew also tested the water samples for the presence of Coliform bacteria utilizing a Coliform test bag. These tests are used to determine if the drinking water is still safe for crew consumption.

In-Flight Maintenance (IFM) Activities: The crew completed several IFM activities beginning with a monthly inspection of the Health Maintenance System (HMS) Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and associated consumables, followed by a reorganization of the Countermeasures Systems (CMS) Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) Cargo Transfer Bag (CTB). A USOS Common Hatch Window Cover Audit was also performed for installed Hatch Window Covers (Hyzod Covers) for Intravehicular (IVA) and Extravehicular (EVA) USOS hatch windows in multiple locations.

RS EVA ESA Preparations: Crewmember Samantha Cristoforetti performed multiple preparation activities for the RS EVA ESA. An arm muscle status assessment was completed, followed by activation and inspection of Orlan-MKS suits and degassing of the suits and  Interface unit cooling loop in MRM2. Also completed were the Orlan telemetry unit battery installation, Orlan height adjustment, and Orlan and  leak check and valve tests.

Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) Duct Smoke Detector Remove and Replace (R&R): Due to recent PMM Smoke Detector behavior indicative of degradation, the PMM Duct Smoke Detector was R&Red. The PMM Smoke Detector samples the atmosphere within the PMM to determine the amount of smoke using a light sensing sampling chamber or probe and forced air flow.

Completed Task List Activities:

None

Todays Ground Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

PPS High Beta Operations

JEM Exposed Facility Unit 11 Motor Heater Activation

EFU 11 Activation and Safing Verify

EFU 11 Exposed Facility Unit Adapter 2 Unberth

JEMRMS EFU Adapter 2 Transfer to JEMAL

Look Ahead Plan

Tuesday, July 12 (GMT 193)

Payloads:

HRF1 Supply Resupply (NASA)

IGO Hardware Stow (NASA)

XROOTS Fluid Recovery and Plant Check (NASA)

Systems:

Lab MCA Mass Spectrometer R&R

RS EVA ESA Prep

Photo/TV Photos

T2 ITCS MTL Hose Inspection

Node 3 Port Endcone and NRAL Stowage Replace

Stow/Trash Miscellaneous Found Items

Wednesday, July 13 (GMT 194)

Payloads:

Battery and Controller Removal (JAXA)

ISS HAM (NASA)

LUMINA Reboot and Data Transfer (ESA)

WICO Don Ops and Questionnaire (ESA)

Systems:

T2 Bungee Swap

Cargo Transfer to Dragon

SpX-25 Dragon Rendezvous Review CBT

EVA Battery Ops

RS EVA ESA Prep

Thursday, July 14 (GMT 195)

Payloads:

Astrobee Remote Ops (NASA)

Biofilms Review (ESA)

KUBIK MPCC Setup (ESA)

Systems:

RS EVA ESA Prep

Todays Planned Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Astrobee Stowage Clear/Replace

Environmental Health System (EHS) Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Collect

Intelligent Glass Optics Sample Exchange

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Inspection

Cupola PCS Log File Transfer

Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Analysis

Arm muscle status assessment.

Setup for the Butterfly Ultrasound Device activity.

ISS Safety Video

SpaceX-25 Dragon Rendezvous Review CBT

Intelligent Glass Optics Crew Observation

Activation and inspection of Orlan-MKS suits #5, #4.

Cold Atom Lab Jumper Leak Check

Countermeasures Systems (CMS) Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) CTB Reorg

Degassing Orlan-MKS suits #5 and #4 and  Interface unit cooling loop in MRM2.

Environmental Health System (EHS) Coliform Water Processing

Astrobee Undock Operations 2

In Flight Maintenance USOS Common Hatch Window Cover Audit

Ops with ORLAN ORU.

Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) Duct Smoke Detector Remove and Replace

[deferred] T2 Internal Thermal Control System (ITCS) Moderate Temperature Loop (MTL) Hose Inspection

AMOS Data Recovery

Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record

ORLAN telemetry unit () battery installation

Orlan height adjustment

Orlan 4 and  leak check and valve tests

TangoLab-2 Card Cube Replace

Butterfly Ultrasound Device Operations/Stow

64GB USB Flash drive Insertion Into PLT3

EVA Battery Operations Terminal Charge Init

MCA Stowage Gather

[from GMT 194] T2 Bungee Swap
Most people are skeptical of turkey burgers, and with good reason.

Its easy to make a turkey burger thats as dry as sawdust and as appetizing as cardboard.

Much harder is to make a turkey burger thats juicy and mouth-watering the way the best burgers are.

But TV host and cookbook author Sara Moulton has succeeded in making a juicy, flavorful turkey burger with the help of such Greek and Mediterranean flavors as garlic, oregano, feta and spinach. The real key to these burgers is that the spinach and feta go inside the burger, helping to keep it moist.

Note that Moulton calls for ground turkey, not specifically ground turkey breast. Meat labeled simply ground turkey tends to be a combination of white and dark meat  and the presence of some dark meat with its slightly higher fat content also helps to keep the meat moist.

The spinach is sauteed with onion first before being mixed with the feta, oregano, turkey, salt and pepper.

Also key to the flavor is a sauce that Moulton makes with mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon and chopped pepperoncini  the latter giving the mixture a serious boost of flavor.

Moulton calls for these to be grilled, but I cooked them indoors in a cast-iron skillet with good results. The key with either cooking method is to not overcook the meat. You dont want to eat pink turkey meat, but you dont want to cook it a second longer than needed, either.
The first publicly confirmed case of monkeypox in the Triad has been found in Davidson County, the county health department reported Tuesday.

The infected individual is in isolation, and close contacts have been identified. Davidson health officials cited privacy policies in saying it would not provide additional information.

Lillian Koontz, Davidson's health director, pointed to the department's work in COVID-19 case investigations since March 2020 in expressing confidence "that our team is well practiced in all aspects of communicable disease work."

"Upon notification of the positive result, our skilled nurses were able to communicate isolation procedures to the sick individual and connect with their known close contacts to offer vaccinations" that can lessen the severity of the monkeypox virus, she said.

Because of limited supply, the Jynneos vaccine is currently being offered only to individuals with known or suspected exposure to monkeypox. The vaccine is free.

The case is one of at least 11 confirmed in North Carolina, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday. DHHS is not providing a case breakdown by county.

However, county health departments have been disclosing cases of monkeypox infection during the early stages of its presence in the state. The Durham, Haywood, Mecklenburg and Wake health departments have confirmed at least one case.

Forsyth health director Joshua Swift said there has been no confirmed monkeypox cases in the county.

North Carolina is listed with six cases on a monkeypox U.S. tracking map from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"NCDHHS works closely with the CDC, local health departments and health care providers to identify and notify individuals who may have been in contact with an infectious person, and to assess each individual contacts level of risk," NCDHHS spokeswoman Summer Tonizzo said.

Nationally, New York has the most cases at 156, followed by California with 148. Georgia is listed with 30 cases, along with 22 in Virginia, three in Tennessee and two in South Carolina.

Monkeypox vaccine

The Forsyth County Health Department is among seven statewide to receive an initial distribution of the monkeypox vaccine.

Forsyth was chosen more because of its central location in the Triad rather than concern about potential cases, Swift said Friday.

"We are free to share the doses with other county health departments, hospitals and clinics," Swift said.

Swift said the initial supply was 80 doses, which are taken in a two-dose regiment. He said the department could receive up to 500 doses depending on need,

The other county health departments receiving doses are in Buncombe, Durham, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Pitt and Wake. DHHS said it has received 444 doses of from the CDC.

The CDC said monkeypox symptoms tend to last two to four weeks, though severe cases can occur. The vaccine works to prevent illness or leads to less-severe symptoms if given within two weeks after someone is exposed to monkeypox.

Most monkeypox patients experience fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body.

Monkeypox is transmitted person to person through direct skin-to-skin contact, having contact with an infectious rash, through bodily fluids or through respiratory secretions.

Among people now being offered the vaccine:

* Those who have been in close physical contact with someone diagnosed with monkeypox

* Men who have sex with men or transgender individuals who have had multiple sex partners in the last 14 days in an area where the virus is spreading.

DHHS said individuals who meet the criteria can call their local health department to make an appointment to receive the vaccine. In Forsyth, the number is 336-703-3100.

Individuals who have an unexplained rash, sores or other symptoms should keep the rash covered, DHHS recommends.

They should avoid sex or being intimate with anyone until they have been examined by a health care provider.
Action4Equity, a nonprofit organization that oversaw a mentoring program for students at four local schools, wants Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to reverse its decision to end the program.

The school districts general counsel, Dionne Jenkins, informed Action4Equity President Kellie Easton in a letter on June 30 that it violated district policy by failing to notify the school district in a timely or suitable manner that a mentor had been fired by the group on June 20 for reportedly engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a student at the school the mentor served.

The Winston-Salem Police Department is investigating, but no criminal charges have been filed.

Superintendent Tricia McManus made the decision to end the contract.

The Journal has made a public records request for emails between Action4Equity and the school district.

In a news release issued on Tuesday, Action4Equity defended itself, saying the termination letter included several misrepresentations... that are not true.

According to Action4Equity, it immediately fired a mentor on June 22 after learning of alleged inappropriate conduct with a student who was not in the program. On the same day, Action4Equitys leadership contacted two high-level school officials as stipulated in the contract and contacted Winston-Salem Police to report the allegation, the news release said.

Schools spokesman Brent Campbell said the school district is not at liberty to discuss any further details about the situation because of an ongoing law enforcement investigation.

We value and appreciate the work of all our community partners and believe in the power of community-based mentoring for our students. In late June, our Board of Education approved new partnerships with seven community agencies to continue offering a wide range of mentoring programs to our students beginning next school year, he said in a statement.

Campbell said last week that all of the mentors went through a series of training seminars.

Those seminars included a review of their reportable obligations. That includes multiple types of reportable items/situations like a reported inappropriate relationship, Campbell said.

Twenty mentors worked with 200 at-risk kids at four schools  Philo-Hill and Paisley middle schools and Reynolds and Parkland high schools  in what was known as the embedded mentoring program. It started in early 2022 as a pilot program with a goal of expanding into more schools.

Action4Equity said the program had been a success.

It was preventing violence in our schools and our community. This program is changing lives. Why would anyone want to disrupt or destroy it? the news release said.

It called on the school board to reinstate the program.

In December, the school board unanimously approved spending $1.4 million for the mentoring program, using COVID relief money from the federal government. The program involved hiring people from the community to work with students at risk for such things as dropping out of school, joining gangs and criminal behavior.

Action4Equity said it followed all protocols for background checks. Mentors were also screened by the school district.

The mission of Action4Equity is grounded in the belief that the community has the answers, and that the unity of our community is central to our shared liberation and prosperity. We know that trust lies at the foundation of our unity, and we are sharing additional information now as part of our commitment to transparency, the news release said.
By car, especially in and around the peak bump-and-grind travel times along U.S. 52, Salem Parkway and Interstate 40, progress on the much anticipated Northern Beltway can be difficult to discern.

Wide stands of tall hardwoods, junk trees and undergrowth have been visibly ripped up. Huge swaths of raw, red earth near Rural Hall have been moved and pounded smooth and look ready for pavement. The same is true in northeast Winston-Salem near Baux Mountain Road.

Farther to the south and east, along a 25-year-old highway still referred to as new I-40, the single most expensive road project in Forsyth County  actually just a piece of the larger, pricier puzzle  is underway, too.

There have been hiccups, however. Relocating utility lines and finalizing land purchases pushed back a crucial section of the Beltway between Salem Parkway and U.S. 52 until next summer.

It wont go all the way to 52 this year, said Pat Ivey, division engineer for N.C. DOT in Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Rowan and Stokes counties. Initially, the plan was to get it connected this year, but thats not going to happen.

Still, a huge milestone  and blessed relief  is tantalizingly within reach.

Ive been getting a lot of questions at church or in line at Walmart about whats going on, Ivey said. Its all pretty exciting.

Roads made America

To best understand the progress with the Northern Beltway, its necessary to know its purpose and tortured history.

Planners envisioned it more than 30 years ago as a ring road around Winston-Salem that would divert long-haul traffic around the city center and provide more options for commuting locals.

Put simply, the Beltway was designed as a 34.5-mile, $1.7 billion multi-lane freeway around the northern end of Winston-Salem.

It was to be built in two parts, eastern and western legs, extending from U.S. 158 (Stratford Road) to Interstate 74 south of the city.

The western leg was first on the drawing board with construction slated to begin in 1999.

But as were all too aware now, the Beltway was beset first by legal challenges not fully resolved until 2015. Later, funding holdups in the General Assembly put Winston-Salem well behind other North Carolina cities seeking urban loops and helped push the 17.6-mile eastern leg ahead of the 16.8-mile western leg.

The Map Act, approved in 1987, prevented property owners with land in the path of the Beltway from developing or selling until DOT was ready to buy it  a stalemate which kept prices artificially low.

The N.C. Court of Appeals broke that logjam by ruling that the state had in effect taken the land through eminent domain and owed property owners fair market value. The state Supreme Court affirmed that decision in 2015, and sales have been closing since.

Almost everything, save one or two pieces of land, has been sold, said Matthew Bryant, a Winston-Salem attorney who represented many of those landowners. If theres anybody left, I dont know who they are.

That led directly to usable sections on the eastern leg, the visible progress connecting Salem Parkway with U.S. 52 and, in theory, a quicker turnaround on the western leg.

Once we begin the western segment, we will own the land, Ivey said. We wont have those delays. That was a tremendous amount of the cost and time with the eastern leg.

Big picture, viewed from a car zipping along U.S. 52 or I-40, the rumbling of heavy earth-movers and free-flowing traffic along recently completed sections looks and feels like progress  even to those property owners squeezed for too long in the push to get the Beltway built.

Its destructive to go over the top of neighborhoods and peoples land, Bryant said. But roads made America, despite $5 gasoline, what it is.

As for commerce, Winston-Salem has been at the end of the line. (The Beltway) should be nothing but a financial benefit to the greater community (when its done.)

Breaking it down

Absent an expensive helicopter ride (or owning a long-range drone), the best way for a ground-bound motoring taxpayer to monitor progress on the Northern Beltway is to take it in visible, digestible bites.

The closest, most tangible example can be found between Winston-Salem and Kernersville where locals shave time by taking the Beltway between Walkertown and Salem Parkway.

A significant chunk of the Beltway extending north and west toward  but not all the way to  U.S. 52 is scheduled to be open by November.

Youll be able to get on, but youll have to get off in Rural Hall or Hanes Mill Road to get to 52, Ivey said. Youll be able to see (the last short connection) and that could be frustrating.

It will still be a significant improvement with just a little bit more to go, but its still a major bypass that will help avoid the congested area near downtown during busy times.

The whole thing  including the very visible interchange with U.S. 52 under construction in Rural Hall  originally was scheduled to open this year, Ivey said, but had to be pushed back to summer 2023.

Thats a very complicated interchange, Ivey said. A big issue with the delay was relocating utilities and, to a lesser extent, the Map Act. It took longer than we thought.

Still, Ivey said local commuters who use Salem Parkway will see an immediate benefit by November. Next summer when it connects, there will be a regional benefit particularly to truckers driving from Salem Parkway to 52, he said.

Farther south, as motorists who use new I-40 to travel from Winston-Salem to Kernersville and Greensboro know well, clearing land for a high-profile section of the Beltway near Union Cross Road is well underway.

Its the most expensive road project in Division 9 at $261 million, Ivey said. Its only a 3-mile project, but it has two very complicated interchanges.

To speed that construction, the DOT is shifting travel lanes on Interstate 40. Thats what youre seeing now, Ivey said. New lanes for I-40.

Finishing the Eastern leg of the Northern Beltway between U.S. 311/Interstate 74 on the citys southern end all the way to U.S. 52 is within sight with an anticipated completion date in 2027.

Put another way, its not that much longer than the total shutdown, rebuild and rechristening of Business 40 as Salem Parkway through downtown Winston-Salem.

Viewed through decades of fits and starts to get to this point, thats still too long. Especially when compared to the fact that the Northern Beltway makes Winston-Salem the seventh North Carolina city to enjoy a usable freeway bypass.

Motorists in Asheville (I-240), Fayetteville (I-295), Greensboro (I-840), and Wilmington (I-140) have them. Those in Charlotte (I-485 and I-277) and Raleigh (I-440 and I-540) have two at their disposal.

And were not even onto the western leg, which isnt expected to be in use until the mid-2030s.

The entire Beltway will be a major benefit and make a significant difference in how people get around, Ivey said.
Only in America, it seems, can border patrol agents be cleared of breaking any laws but still be punished, while those entering the country illegally mostly escape punishment.

President Biden, then-press secretary Jen Psaki and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, all rushed to judgment when they saw a video of Texas Border Patrol agents last September herding Haitians attempting to enter the country without authorization. Biden had threatened the agents, saying they would pay for their actions. They have paid in lost time on the job, the smearing of their character and probably an end to their careers. It is the administration that should pay. One hopes the agents will find a lawyer who sues it for slander.

In a 511-page report (only the government requires so many words to explain the obvious), Customs and Border Protection said the agents did not whip the migrants, who managed to get across the border anyway, but added they are still guilty of unprofessional conduct, including using unnecessary force on Haitians. Apparently, some of the agents used bad language while trying to turn the people back. Shocking, I know. Were they supposed to say: Would you pretty please turn around and go back to your country?

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has joined other Republicans in calling on President Biden and others to apologize to the four agents they falsely accused. Good luck with that. Being a high government official means never having to say youre sorry. Paxton said instead of being punished, the agents should be rewarded.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is trying to do the job the Biden administration has so far refused to do by sending migrants who cross into his state back to an established crossing point where they can be processed. The administration opposes the move and is suing Texas to try and stop it. Yes, I understand that immigration is the constitutional responsibility of the federal government, but whats a governor to do when his state is being overrun by migrants, some of whom they say are destroying private property and committing other crimes, including rape and murder?

In Richmond, Va., two men in the country illegally were arrested prior to what authorities say was a plot to conduct an act of terrorism on July 4. Someone heard something and said something, preventing what might have been a tragedy had the men been able to proceed with their alleged plot. One of the men reportedly had been deported twice before.

If Republicans achieve a majority in the House and Senate in the November election, their top priority must be securing the border and restoring a legal process for those seeking to enter the country. President Biden is likely to veto any legislation passed by Republicans to achieve that goal, but if there are enough Republicans in Congress his veto can be overridden.

It isnt just those breaking our laws to get here that are a continuing problem, but also the large amounts of the deadly drug fentanyl coming in. Fentanyl now ranks No. 1 on the list of biggest killers of 18- to 45 year-olds in the United States. And it is about the number of desperate people promised a better life by the cartels and human traffickers who have died on their dangerous journey.

All the administration has said is Dont come, which is like telling a child not to raid the cookie jar. Secretary Mayorkas has repeatedly made the ludicrous claim that the border is closed. He should be impeached for lying and not enforcing the law, or maybe bring back the ancient whiplash form of punishment and apply it to high government officials (just kidding).
The details are a little iffy. Theyre likely to stay that way, since the story leaves no one involved looking particularly good.

According to Winston-Salem police, Dontaye Kentrell Wade, 25, told them that he was inside the Hanes Mall Boulevard Target store around 8:30 p.m. on June 28 when he was approached by three other men who assaulted him. One of the three attackers recorded the interaction with a phone, which Wade slapped away.

Wade then pulled a gun  which we assume he possessed legally  and fired one round, injuring one of the three attackers. They continued their assault, took his gun away and ran out of the store.

Wade went to the hospital and was released after being treated for minor injuries.

The three attackers  Jason Doane Chipps of Marion, 37; Jay Cameron Carnicom, 28; and Joshua Alvin Michael Mundy, 29, both of Freemont, Ohio  fled. The day after the attack, Carnicom showed up in an Ohio hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg. He was treated and released.

The three men are associated with a group called DAP (Dads Against Predators) on social media, police said.

During the course of the investigation, it has been discovered the three males lured the victim to the Target utilizing a social media app called Meet Up, police said. Once the victim arrived inside the Target, the three males approached the victim and confronted him as to why he was at the Target.

That led to the scuffle and the shooting.

We dont know Wades intent, if he had any aside from buying a new pair of socks  and likely never will. For all we know, he was on the hunt for illegal vigilantes.

The investigation is still ongoing, but no charges have been announced.

Thats not surprising. Charges for what? Being stupid?

Some reading this may think they know whats going on  but internet sleuths are not officers of the court. Theyre not trained in gathering evidence or in police methodology. Theres no guarantee that they can rightly interpret online communications.

This isnt the first time that DAP has been in the news for trying to sting a supposed sexual predator. Following a similar incident in October 2020, Sandusky County, Ohio police officials claimed the group had left law enforcement unable to criminally charge these individuals and prosecutors unable to prosecute their victim, the Toledo Blade reported.

Prosecutors in the Cleveland, Ohio, area expressed similar concerns after a similar incident in April.

Its frustrating to see, you know, our efforts overshadowed by people who have no training, have no experience, are not even law enforcement officers, who believe that theyre protecting children, Dave Frattare, the commander of Cuyahoga County, Ohios Internet Crimes Against Children task force, told Clevelands WOIO.

This notion that, you know, law enforcement isnt doing anything with this information forgets the whole idea that this information in the first place is not valid. Its not, you know, its not legal. Its not going to hold up in court, Frattare said.

In speaking about the incident at Target last week, Police Chief Catrina Thompson was generous: The intentions of these groups may be honorable, she said. But members of these groups dont have the training of law enforcement officers. Their methods of investigation and gathering evidence typically dont meet the requirements of a successful prosecution of these cases, Thompson said.

Further, their actions can endanger innocent bystanders  especially when firearms are involved. And with no formal training and too much enthusiasm, they could easily wind up harassing innocent people. No one is a predator simply because someone claims theyre a predator.

Essentially, such groups do more harm than good.

Sexual predation and the trafficking of minors is an important issue and there are proper, established channels through which one can help, like the credentialed organization Save the Children (not to be confused with the QAnon-tainted group Save Our Children).

Concerned parties can also help by reporting suspicions to the Winston-Salem Police Department at 336-773-7700, Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800 or in espanol at 336-728-3904.

Vigilante justice is not justice. Too often, its clumsy idiocy. When it comes to crime, its best to leave dealing with it to the pros, who deserve and have earned our respect and support.
As the sun was rising on June 14, 1897, a group of soldiers in southwest Montana straddled their bikes and turned their handlebars east.

They were about to spend the next 41 days, 1,900 miles and endless hardships -- mountain sleet, Nebraska heat and tire-sucking Sandhills -- trying to prove their young lieutenants point:

That, by the turn of the last century, the bicycle was an effective way to transport U.S. troops.

The 20 Black members of the 25th Infantry Regiment Bicycle Corps -- Buffalo Soldiers, they were called -- along with two officers and a reporter rode up and over the mountains of Montana, across Wyoming and Nebraska and all the way to St. Louis, where they were met by an estimated 1,000 civilian cyclists and accompanied to a parade in their honor.

Their lieutenant was pleased. His so-called Iron Riders had averaged nearly 56 miles a day and more than 6 mph, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

But it hadnt been easy. Fully loaded, their single-speed bicycles weighed nearly 80 pounds. They battled bad weather and bad water and roads that were rocky, muddy, sandy or non-existent.

They suffered in the Sandhills after they left Alliance.

Indeed, our experience in these hills was the stuff of which nightmares are made! the lieutenant wrote. It was impossible to make any headway by following the wagon road in loose sand  and we therefore followed the railroad track for 170 miles before getting out of the sand.

After one of those hard days, as his soldiers were waiting for their meal, the lieutenant heard one declare: Oh Lord, if I only live through this, Ill have something to talk about as long as I live!

More than a dozen decades later, Erick Cedeno is living through it, and plans to talk about it Wednesday in Lincoln.

The 48-year-old cyclist from California left Missoula, Montana, at 5:40 a.m. on June 14 -- precisely 125 years after the Iron Riders -- with plans to roll into St. Louis July 24.

He started making cross-country trips more than a dozen years ago -- Vancouver, British Columbia, to Tijuana, Mexico; Miami to New York; retracing the Underground Railroad.

At the time, he also started thinking about, and researching, early long- bicycle explorers near the last turn of the century.

They were all white.

And then I came across this history of the Buffalo Soldiers, he said Monday, taking a break in Grand Island before pedaling to York. I got fascinated as a person of color, because I hadnt seen anyone of color traveling by bike back then. That didnt mean it didnt happen; it just wasnt documented.

The Armys effort was recorded, though, so he was able to gather enough details to plan to retrace their trip.

He took a year off from the road in 2021 -- he and his wife had a son -- but he told her he wanted to honor the soldiers this year, the 125th anniversary of their expedition.

And she said, You must, because their legacy must continue. Youve got to tell their story, and its part of your legacy, too.

He has it easier than the Iron Riders. His bike weighs a fraction of what theirs did, and he has gears, and pavement beneath his tires.

Hes dealt with similar weather -- cold in the mountains, heat on the Plains -- but he can get a motel room when he needs Wi-Fi, or when he doesnt feel like making camp.

Still, he can imagine what they endured. It's one thing reading how grueling it was, but its another thing doing the ride. What they did was almost superhuman; as strong as a rider I am, I probably wouldn't have been able to do that under those conditions.

Cedeno spoke about the expedition at a museum in Wyoming, and has talks planned in Lincoln and Missouri. But even after the ride, his research will continue, he said.

All of the documented accounts are told through white perspectives -- by the two officers, and the journalist.

He wants to give voice, and due credit, to the Iron Riders who volunteered for the trip and helped prove their lieutenants point.

It was a sense of pride to know these Black soldiers in 1897 did this amazing trip. I want to pass that history along, and not let it die.

Learn about the Iron Riders, meet the man retracing their trip

* 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, JuJus Vegan Cajun and Creole Cuisine, 1247 S. 11th St. Eat, meet and greet with Erick Cedeno, aka the Bicycle Nomad.

* 3-5 p.m. Wednesday, Malone Community Center, 2032 U St. Free food, bounce houses, music, dancing, address by Cedeno.

* To follow Cedenos trip, go to facebook.com/bicyclenomad
Newly elected Nebraska Republican State Chairman Eric Underwood of Lincoln and his leadership team said Tuesday that they are committed to securing the election in November of GOP primary election nominees, specifically Jim Pillen.

"Make no mistake, the NEGOP remains committed to our Republican primary winners," the new party leaders stated in a news release.

Earlier in an interview with Ian Swanson on KFAB-AM, Underwood specifically declared "100% support for Jim Pillen as our next governor."

Pillen won the May 10 primary election in a hotly contested race that included Charles Herbster, the candidate who won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

In the news release, the new party leaders declared that "the top-down approach which has been successful is not as nimble or representative of all conservative Nebraskans from Omaha to Scottsbluff" as the new leadership model intends to be.

That may have been directed at the influence or control exercised by Gov. Pete Ricketts in leading the party.

"Everybody has a seat at this table," Underwood said in the radio interview.

But, he said, the new leadership elected at the party's state convention in Kearney on Saturday also expresses "100% support for Gov. Ricketts."

"We cannot fight among ourselves," he said.

"This was not a movement for or against any specific people or group, but rather a vote to fortify Republican platform ideas, conservative values, and a focus on performance over personalities in future county, state and national elections with a people-first, bottom-up approach," the GOP news release stated.

"Simply put, the delegates felt conservative Nebraskans and the NEGOP could operate more effectively with a people-first, bottom-up approach setting the conservative agenda, growing traditional values and building candidates that uphold those principles."

The party's new leadership "is here to elect conservative Republicans in November at all levels and well into the future and fight the radical left agenda growing in our state and in our nation," the statement declared.
There are residents that have worked there. Now they reside there. They cry every day, nurse's aide Peg Dethlefs said. They want to go where the staff is going to go work. There have been a lot of bonds that have been made."
A Racine man was reportedly found passed out drunk in his truck after a crash and was later charged with his fifth OWI after nearly hitting another car.
Stephans Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies, is best known for being prominently featured in the holiday classic film, Its a Wonderful Life. Today, NASAs James Webb Space Telescope reveals Stephans Quintet in a new light.

Larger image

This enormous mosaic is Webbs largest image to date, covering about one-fifth of the Moons diameter. It contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files. The information from Webb provides new insights into how galactic interactions may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe.

With its powerful, infrared vision and extremely high spatial resolution, Webb shows never-before-seen details in this galaxy group. Sparkling clusters of millions of young stars and starburst regions of fresh star birth grace the image. Sweeping tails of gas, dust and stars are being pulled from several of the galaxies due to gravitational interactions. Most dramatically, Webb captures huge shock waves as one of the galaxies, NGC 7318B, smashes through the cluster.

Together, the five galaxies of Stephans Quintet are also known as the Hickson Compact Group 92 (HCG 92). Although called a quintet, only four of the galaxies are truly close together and caught up in a cosmic dance. The fifth and leftmost galaxy, called NGC 7320, is well in the foreground compared with the other four. NGC 7320 resides 40 million light-years from Earth, while the other four galaxies (NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, and NGC 7319) are about 290 million light-years away. This is still fairly close in cosmic terms, compared with more distant galaxies billions of light-years away. Studying such relatively nearby galaxies like these helps scientists better understand structures seen in a much more distant universe.

This proximity provides astronomers a ringside seat for witnessing the merging and interactions between galaxies that are so crucial to all of galaxy evolution. Rarely do scientists see in so much detail how interacting galaxies trigger star formation in each other, and how the gas in these galaxies is being disturbed. Stephans Quintet is a fantastic laboratory for studying these processes fundamental to all galaxies.

Tight groups like this may have been more common in the early universe when their superheated, infalling material may have fueled very energetic black holes called quasars. Even today, the topmost galaxy in the group  NGC 7319  harbors an active galactic nucleus, a supermassive black hole 24 million times the mass of the Sun. It is actively pulling in material and puts out light energy equivalent to 40 billion Suns.

Webb studied the active galactic nucleus in great detail with the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). These instruments integral field units (IFUs)  which are a combination of a camera and spectrograph  provided the Webb team with a data cube, or collection of images of the galactic cores spectral features.

Much like medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the IFUs allow scientists to slice and dice the information into many images for detailed study. Webb pierced through the shroud of dust surrounding the nucleus to reveal hot gas near the active black hole and measure the velocity of bright outflows. The telescope saw these outflows driven by the black hole in a level of detail never seen before.

In NGC 7320, the leftmost and closest galaxy in the visual grouping, Webb was able to resolve individual stars and even the galaxys bright core.

As a bonus, Webb revealed a vast sea of thousands of distant background galaxies reminiscent of Hubbles Deep Fields.

Combined with the most detailed infrared image ever of Stephans Quintet from MIRI and the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the data from Webb will provide a bounty of valuable, new information. For example, it will help scientists understand the rate at which supermassive black holes feed and grow. Webb also sees star-forming regions much more directly, and it is able to examine emission from the dust  a level of detail impossible to obtain until now.

Located in the constellation Pegasus, Stephans Quintet was discovered by the French astronomer Edouard Stephan in 1877.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

The James Webb Space Telescope is the worlds premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

NASA Headquarters oversees the mission for the agencys Science Mission Directorate. NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages Webb for the agency and oversees work on the mission performed by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Northrop Grumman, and other mission partners. In addition to Goddard, several NASA centers contributed to the project, including the agencys Johnson Space Center in Houston; Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California; Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; Ames Research Center in Californias Silicon Valley; and others.

NIRCam was built by a team at the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martins Advanced Technology Center.

MIRI was contributed by ESA and NASA, with the instrument designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.

NIRSpec was built for the European Space Agency (ESA) by a consortium of European companies led by Airbus Defence and Space (ADS) with NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center providing its detector and micro-shutter subsystems.

Download full-resolution, uncompressed versions and supporting visuals of this and other Webb First Images from the Space Telescope Science Institute: https://webbtelescope.org/news/first-images
RACINE  A Milwaukee man who was part of a 2019 bank robbery that involved the kidnapping of a pregnant bank manager from Kenosha and her two young children was sentenced on Monday in Racine County Circuit Court.

William Q. Howell, 22, who was 19 at the time of the kidnapping and robbery, was convicted in December of 2021 of armed robbery with threat of force as a party to a crime, three counts of kidnapping and robbery of a financial institution.

Howell was sentenced to 36 years in prison. His sentence will start after his current prison term has expired, followed by 20 years of supervised release.

Howell made a brief statement to the court first apologizing to the victims: What I did ... I know was wrong and I want to apologize, Howell said. I also want to prevent my peers from going down the same road that I did; I want to help direct someones future. I want to become a successful member of society. Not a day goes by that I dont think of them (the victims).

As he was led away, Howell repeated to his father in the courtroom gallery, Im sorry Dad. Im sorry Dad. Im sorry Dad.

His father replied, Its OK. Im sorry too.

The robbery

Howell and others had brandished firearms and forced the pregnant bank manager and her children, who were then 5 and 2 years old, into a car after the family had arrived at their Kenosha home on the evening of June 27, 2019.

After driving to Milwaukee, the woman and her daughters were forced into the basement of a home and given only a bucket to use as a toilet.

In the early-morning hours of the next day, the woman and her two children were transported to a Wells Fargo Bank branch, 1700 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Racine.

Once the bank manager gained entry to the bank, she was threatened at gunpoint until she was able to give the men access to money. The victim managed to get away and shut a door, locking herself and her two children in the bank with the conspirators on the other side of the locked door.

The conspirators fled with $47,000 before being arrested by law enforcement less than two weeks later.

Victim

In a letter read aloud in court, the victim wrote that she now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is mentally exhausted every day. The children, too, have nightmares and suffer after-effects from the kidnapping.

As hard as I try, the woman wrote, my brain cant stop living that night over and over in my head.

She continued: This feels like a battle I might never win and a punishment we did nothing to deserve. The woman added that, on the night of the kidnapping, she was not sure if that would be her last day alive.

She wrote that she will continue to pray for the defendants in the hope that one day they could come to know God and become decent people.

District Attorney Patricia Hanson remarked on what she found particularly irreconcilable about Howell in this case: unlike his co-defendants, Howell had the benefit of growing up with a strong support system and family; as a kid, he was an honor student in school.

I have such difficulty understanding: he shouldnt be here, he should know better, he has the intelligence to know better, Hanson said.

Hanson additionally pointed out that this was not the first time Howell had committed a very serious offense; in 2017, when Howell was 17 years old, he was convicted for robbing Wisconsin Firearms Training Center in Waukesha County.

Both the state and the defense agreed that the relationship between Howell and co-defendant George K. Pearson-Robb was problematic. Described as long-time best friends, while awaiting sentencing, Howell had testified as a witness on Pearson-Robbs behalf, stating under oath that Pearson-Robb was not actually involved in the kidnapping or the robbery.

Howell told the jury at the time that another one of his friends was the third person seen in the bank surveillance video, not Pearson-Robb, although a jury in December 2021 still found Pearson-Robb guilty of the robbery.

Howells assertion that Pearson-Robb was not involved in the kidnapping and bank robbery was an issue, the state pointed out, primarily because it did not quite fit with the known facts. Howells statements to police and from the stand were frequently contradictory, making him appear to be an unreliable witness.

He just so blatantly lied at the behest of Pearson-Robb, Hanson said about Howells testimony. It went way beyond what was necessary for a friend ... The hold that Pierson-Robb has on Howell still exists.

The defense

Defense Attorney Jamie McClendon argued to Judge Timothy Boyle that Howell was simply too focused on helping his friend. He knows how that he needs to focus on himself, McClendon added.

McClendon was seemingly in concurrence with Hanson that Howell should not be in his current predicament. Its so hard to match up these two people, Howell is ridiculously smart, but a clear boundary was crossed when children became involved. He should have abandoned ship at that point, McClendon said.

McClendon noted that Howell had goals. He wanted to work with the troubled youth, but the pressure to fit in usurped his desire to better himself.

Where did it all go wrong? McClendon asked. Hopefully he undoes some of the damage by withdrawing his plea. He saw what the other gentlemen got. Hes asking and hoping for leniency.

The defense asked the judge for 15 years of initial confinement.

Sentencing

Society is out of control these days, Boyle said. Only $48,000 is not a lot of money to create utter havoc on another life.

Judge Boyle began his sentencing statement by first taking into account Howells history and background.

A 22-year-old, single man with no children. A former honor student who earned his GED, with no previous known history with gang affiliation, Boyle outlined.

But you were a daily THC user; you suffered from depression and anxiety; you had only limited employment; you previously served time in Lincoln Hills Juvenile Detention Center; you were on extended supervision already when you committed this crime.

This type of activity is something that we do not want in our society, Boyle continued. How does this happen?

You had so much potential. You had a stable childhood. I received multiple letters on your behalf describing your character that paints such a different picture ... At times in this case I felt like I was watching a movie about a concocted scheme. I do not understand how you allowed yourself to get hooked up into this.

Boyle acknowledged Howells longtime friendship with Pearson-Robb and the peer pressure that exists, but concluded, The buck always stops with you.
1. Yes. After what happened in Uvalde, its important to have that level of security.

2. Yes. The district should start a program to recruit and train qualified officers for the job.

3. No. With 50 KISD campuses, the additional cost to taxpayers would be unacceptable.

4. No. It would be too hard to achieve. Just keep the current practice of rotating officers.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing how such a program would be instituted..

Vote

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MINDEN  When Jeff Krull passed away last year, his brother and sister-in-law were unsure about what to do with his house.

Jeff was an active member of the Minden community, and he lived near the heart of the town: less than a block from Mindens famous town square. Kevin and Julie Krull owned the building that housed Jeffs apartment, and they wanted to find a way to honor the man who meant so much to so many.

He had muscular dystrophy and was in a wheelchair for all his life since kindergarten. He was a really, really special guy and so beloved in this community. Everybody loved him, and he was very active in volunteering and working with different boards and committees and helping people, Julie said.

Kevin and Julie contemplated for a while about what to do with Jeffs apartment when they had the idea to turn it into an Airbnb. The couple have two Airbnbs at Johnson Lake, and they had been considering bringing one to Minden for years.

They realized this would be their chance to fill a need in the community.

We talked with businesses and community members and it was definitely yes, we need something in town without a motel here, Krull said.

In the fall, the Krulls began the process of renovating the apartment into an Airbnb. They knew an Airbnb in Minden would need to cater to both people traveling for business and personal reasons. They designed the space to have three bedrooms that are like motel suites. Each room has two beds, a private bathroom, desk and TV.

The rooms are locked separately with a security code. There is a common area with a full kitchen, dining room and living area. The guest rooms can be reserved separately, or guests can rent the entire space.

When coming up with the design for the Airbnb, Julie received input from family and friends about different themes for the space.

My husband kept saying we should do theme rooms and honor Jeff. The community kept reaching out asking, What are you going to do with Jeffs place? Julie said.

Julie and Kevin continued to contemplate how to decorate the Airbnb when Julie had the idea to decorate with wheels in honor of Jeff. Throughout the Airbnb there are paintings and photos of an array of wheels from bicycles to Ferris wheels.

She even had Jeffs wheelchair repurposed into a piece of art created by local artist Sally Jurgensmeier. It now hangs on the wall between the kitchen and dining room and can be seen from the Airbnbs entryway.

With the theme of wheels, Julie picked the most fitting name for the business; The Wheelhouse.

We wanted to honor him in a little way but not make it too obvious. Little things that are him are here, Julie said.

Construction began on the project last fall, and they hoped to be open by Memorial Day. They missed their opening date by just a few weeks, opening for reservations in mid-June.

The Wheelhouse has already had reservations this month as well as for graduation next year. With events at the Minden Opera House, Sandhill crane season, business opportunities and family gatherings, Krull is hopeful people will pick the Wheelhouse as the place to lay their head.

This will be our grand experiment. Well see what we need in the community and what it serves, she said.

Although the space has a new purpose, there are details throughout The Wheelhouse that continue to honor Jeff.

He was larger than life. Talk to anybody that knows him and theyll tell you stories, Julie said. Those are just the little touches. We tried to just keep his presence here a little bit.
KEARNEY  A woman is accused of selling methamphetamine to a police informant near a Kearney church and school.

Raquel Josephine Cervantes, 24, was arrested July 1 on a Buffalo County warrant charging her with felony distribution of meth within 1,000 feet of Zion Lutheran Church and School at 2421 Ave. C. The alleged incident happened on Sept. 13, 2021.

Cervantess arrest was part of a long-term investigation.

The warrant was issued May 25.

Court records outline the case against her:

On Sept. 13, an informant working with a Nebraska State Patrol trooper allegedly purchased 2.12 grams (or one half ounce) of meth from Cervantes for $100 in the 100 block of East 25th Street. Records say a Google software program mapped the distance of 775 feet between the house where Cervantes was arrested and Zion Lutheran.

Video and audio evidence from the alleged transaction also were seized.

Cervantes remains at the Buffalo County Jail on a $50,000. She is scheduled to appear in court later this month.
KEARNEY  Like the naval aviators depicted in Top Gun, the students training in Kearney this summer are the best of the best.

They traveled from locations across the country to participate in a prestigious program designed to inspire and train the next generation of pilots.

Some of these kids have been working for a year to 18 months to get into this program. Its a big deal, said Al Spain, a lecturer in the University of Nebraska at Kearney aviation program.

A former U.S. Army and commercial airline pilot, Spain brought the Air Force Junior ROTC Flight Academy to UNK for the first time this year.

The eight-week aviation training program gives high schoolers and some older Air Force ROTC cadets an opportunity to earn their private pilot license while receiving college credits and experiencing life on a university campus. It was launched in 2018 as a joint initiative between the Air Force and aerospace industry intended to address an ongoing pilot shortage and promote diversity in the profession.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 14,500 openings for airline and commercial pilots each year over the next decade, and Boeing estimates 612,000 new pilots will be needed to meet global demand over the next 20 years.

Spain called the Flight Academy a win-win for everyone involved.

It gets our name out there and gives us more exposure outside Nebraska, he said. With the academic credit the cadets earn, we become an important option for their future undergraduate studies.

The academy opens a lot of doors for participating students, too.

For Kurt Grell, a soon-to-be senior from Flower Mound, Texas, its a way to gain knowledge and experience before he graduates from high school.

I really wanted to get my foot in the door as early as I could, the 17-year-old said. In the aviation industry, I know seniority is everything. If you can start earlier, why not? Plus, its all expenses paid, so that definitely helps.

A Junior ROTC member since his freshman year, Grell is one of a dozen students completing the Flight Academy in Kearney. They live on the UNK campus, take classes there and receive flight training at Kearney Regional Airport.

Spain oversees the program, but the instructors and aircraft are provided by Nebraska Flight School, the same company that serves UNK.

We definitely couldnt do it all alone, Spain acknowledged.

In addition to UNK, more than 20 other colleges and universities are hosting students this summer as part of the Air Force Flight Academy. The 300-plus cadets were selected based on their grade-point averages, performance on an aviation aptitude test and instructor and school endorsements. Each participant receives an Air Force-funded scholarship covering the full cost of room and board, tuition, books and fees.

Everything is paid for by the Air Force, with no obligation, Spain explained. These kids have no obligation to the Air Force or any other military service. But it does help them decide which direction they want to go.

Grell, who wants to be a commercial airline pilot, got his first experience flying a Cessna 172 Skyhawk shortly after the academy began.

It was kind of scary, but also really exciting, he said. Everything was happening all at once. As Ive gotten more time in the plane and more experience, Ive become a lot more comfortable.

Completing the Air Force Flight Academy and earning his private pilot license are just the beginning steps for Grell. He plans to study aviation in college and pursue a pathway that will take him from a regional carrier to a major airline.

Theres just something about flying thats kind of hard to describe, Grell said. Its amazing to look at things from a whole new perspective.

Grell and the 11 other students assigned to Kearney will conclude their training later this month, with a graduation ceremony scheduled for July 29.
The Onalaska Lions Club has named the yard of Dennis and Jillian Kindermann, 1004 Green Str., as the Onalaska Club Yard of the Week. The Lions will donate $25 in the name of the award recipient to the Wisconsin Lions Foundation.

The Lions Club members rely on nominations, so if you know of a yard you would like to nominate, please send a letter with the name and address of the residents to: Onalaska Lions, P.O. Box 212, Onalaska, WI 54650, or visit the Lions website (e-clubhouse.org/sites/onalaskawi).

People may also enter them on the clubs Facebook page. Only yards in the city of Onalaska are eligible for this award.
Officials at Tomah Health and Versiti Blood Center are asking the public to consider donating blood heading into a busy time of the year.

During the summer months we see people on vacation and people unfortunately are not taking the time to donate blood, said Versiti Blood Center account representative Emalea Cogdill. While our blood supply is usually at its lowest, demand is at its highest. Cogdill said officials see an extra need for blood due to an increase in accidents especially during the summer. She said a single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood.

Tomah Health and Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin are joining forces by holding a two-day blood drive July 20-21 from noon to 5 p.m. at Tomah Recreation Park, 1625 Butts Ave., Tomah. Versiti is the sole supplier of blood to nearly 50 hospitals in Wisconsin including Tomah Health.

To donate blood, a person must be in good health, at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and have photo identification. Sixteen-year-olds may also donate with parental consent. While the process for whole blood donation usually takes about one hour, the blood collection itself is usually about 10 minutes.

The drives are being held at Tomahs Recreation Park due to continued COVID-19 visitor restrictions at Tomah Health.

We are extremely thankful to the Tomah Parks & Recreation Dept., for continued use of Recreation Park for our drives, Tomah Health Marketing & Public Relations director Eric Prise said.

As an extra incentive, Prise said all attempting donors will receive a coupon for a free pint of frozen custard courtesy of Culvers of Tomah.

We appreciate the support from Culvers of Tomah and their Give a Pint, Get a Pint program as a small way to thank our donors, Prise said.

Prise said donors are encouraged to register for a donation time at tomahhealth.org.

Cogdill said with the downturn in COVID-19 cases, donors are feeling comfortable going places and using vacation time and generally not taking the time to donate.

My hope is that donors continue to see the need through the summer months and show up, Cogdills aid.
StashAway, Southeast Asia and Menas leading wealth management platform, has launched Flexible Portfolios enabling investors to create or customise their portfolios from more than 35 asset classes.

It is the first product in Mena that offers investors the choice to customise their portfolios with ease. Flexible Portfolios allows investors to pick the asset classes they want, decide their exact allocations, and change them any time.

This new offering adds to StashAways drive for innovation in the industry to provide an intelligent, convenient and less expensive alternative to traditional wealth management providers.

Influencing investments

Flexible Portfolios come highly requested from StashAway clients who want to influence their investments based on their own market views and holdings outside StashAway.

Flexible Portfolios have two features that make these customised investments different from brokerages: One, investors are able to easily customise their portfolios by picking their desired asset classes. StashAway curates the best exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for more than 35 asset classes such as Emerging Markets, REITs, Gold, Energy, Government Bonds, and more. The underlying funds feature ETFs from some of the worlds top fund managers, including iShares, SPDR, VanEck, Vanguard, ARK, and GlobalX, giving investors access to some of the most popular funds. This means clients dont have to spend time doing research on which ETF is best.

Risk management

The second distinguishing feature is risk management. Managing risk has always been one of StashAways core pillars. StashAway calculates the portfolios potential downside to ensure that investors know how much risk theyre taking on as they customise a portfolio. StashAway will even let investors know when their portfolios risk level changes.

In addition, as part of the launch, StashAway is offering an entire year of free investing for Flexible Portfolios by waiving the management fee on any fresh funds until 30 June 2023.

Joseph El Am, Deputy General Manager, StashAway Mena said: We really value feedback from our investors, and many were keen to create or customise their own portfolios according to their risk appetites. Were excited that our clients are becoming more and more savvy as they invest with us, and so were pleased to enable them to have a say while we still deliver on two of our core values: investment intelligence and risk management.

StashAway makes it easy for anyone to start investing effectively, whether they want portfolios managed by experts, a DIY approach to investing, or a combination of both.-- TradeArabia News Service
There is a little under a month to go until Wisconsins Aug. 9 primary, and on that ballot will be the battleground race for the states 3rd Congressional District.

Four Democrats and one Republican are officially on the ballot, and the primary will narrow down one from either party to face off in Novembers general election.

The Tribune sent the candidates a series of questions and will be publishing responses through Wednesday.

Below are the candidates biographies and responses to the third question.

Rebecca Cooke, D-Eau Claire

Age: 34

Family: Single

Job: Small business owner of Reds Mercantile and founder of nonprofit Red Letter Grant

Prior elected office: None

Other public service: Board member and secretary of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, 2019-2021

Education: Degree in marketing and public relations from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.

Email or website: CookeForWisconsin.com/info@CookeForWisconsin.com

What do you think is the single most important issue for the 3rd District?

This spring, our team did a 19-county tour across all of CD-03, and its clear that access to quality, affordable healthcare is a top issue of concern for people in every corner of the district. Rising costs are forcing too many of our neighbors to choose between a visit to the doctor and paying this months rent or mortgage. Parents should not go broke paying for their childs insulin, or have to ration doses just to afford them. Travel to care providers can be long, costly and burdensome as rural health facilities close their doors. Stigmas surrounding mental health and substance abuse and those who seek services for such issues persist. It doesnt have to be this way.

I firmly believe that healthcare is a human right, and in Congress, I would start by:

Unabashedly protecting womens health;

Expanding Medicare to cover vision, dental and hearing;

Addressing antitrust issues in the healthcare system that put the power in a few major corporations;

Taking on prescription drug companies, ensuring seniors can get the drugs they need at prices negotiated through Medicare;

Annually lowering the age that seniors can start receiving Medicare benefits, expanding the number of Americans covered each year;

Making decisions based on scientific evidence rather than politics.

Mark Neumann, D-La Crosse

Age: 68

Family: Married, two adult children and one in high school

Job: La Crosse Common Council member, District 13

Prior elected office: La Crosse Common Council, 2021-present

Other public service: Previous congressional candidate in 2020, and politically active on Democratic campaigns and issues since 2017. Member of La Crosse County Democratic Party, Our Wisconsin Revolution, Citizen Action Wisconsin, Physicians for a National Health Program. Member of the Franciscan Order from 1976-1996, where he served for six years as a foreign medical doctor in Zaire, Africa.

Education: Bachelors degree from University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn; MD from University of St. Louis Medical School; Pediatric residency at University of Chicago; Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship at UW-Madison

Email or website: markneumannforcongress.com/mark@markneumannforcongress.com

What do you think is the single most important issue for the 3rd District?

I believe the most important political issue for our WI 3rd Congressional District is the mistrust and misunderstanding that is presumed to exist between folks identifying as urban versus those identifying as rural. I believe that we all establish group identities. This is natural and its good. But people are also vulnerable to fear reaction toward perceived threats. When fear combines with group identity, seeing the other as a threat, then it is bad.

When neighbors promote fear toward one another, we become unable to govern ourselves as a democratic society open to the common good for everybody. We close off to one another and seek authoritarian leadership in place of the freedom of democracy that allows us to be a people capable of governing ourselves. Good governance of the people, by the people and for the people requires that we break through barriers of distrust and fear.

I like to say that tolerance is not enough. What we really need is hospitality. We need to be able to invite the other, the unknown person, into our courtyard of hospitality to learn from one another what it is for all of us to live the full experience of human life.

Deb McGrath, D-Menomonie

Age: 61

Family: Married, three children, one step daughter, two grandchildren

Job: Former U.S. Army Captain, retired CIA officer, mother

Prior elected office: None

Other public service: Voting Assistance Officer, U.S. Army Installations and U.S. Embassies, Interims, 1988-2008; Volunteer in various humanitarian operations during world-wide assignments; League of Women Voters, 2018-present

Education: Masters in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, Pa.; Masters degree in public administration from the University of Kansas; Bachelors degree in American government from the University of Virginia; Certificate in executive leadership from the University of Notre Dame; Certificate in theology from Princeton University; Currently pursuing a certificate in organizational development from Harvard University

Email or website: debmcgrathforcongress.com/info@debmcgrathforcongress.com

What do you think is the single most important issue for the 3rd District?

We need a path for immediate economic recovery. Wisconsin small businesses and farms are shuttering, the price of gas is sky high, and families are struggling to put food on the table. We must hold corporations accountable for their windfall profits, address issues in our supply chains, and support clean energy investments that create economic growth.

Big pharmaceutical companies have abused their power at the expense of working class families for too long, and both parties are to blame. If elected, Ill stand up to big Pharma and the politicians they bought off. I will support Medicare negotiating lower drug prices to bring down costs for Wisconsinites.

We must strengthen our supply chains to help farmers get their products to market. Some of our districts largest producers experience backlogs; lets uncork the bottlenecks and bring more manufacturing back to the U.S.

Finally, I will protect our planet and support renewable energy policies that create good-paying jobs for Wisconsinites, including those that dont require a college degree like solar panel installation and critical infrastructure replacement. As these sectors grow, it is essential that they enable strict worker protections and labor standards.

Brad Pfaff, D-Onalaska

Age: 54

Family: Married, two children

Job: Wisconsin State Senator, District 32

Prior elected office: Wisconsin State Senate, 2020-present

Other public service: State executive director and national deputy administrator for Wisconsin Farm Service Agency (USDA), and Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture

Education: Masters degree in public administration from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va., and a Bachelor of Science from UW-Green Bay

Email or website: bradpfaff.com

What do you think is the single most important issue for the 3rd District?

Its making sure that the people here in rural Wisconsin dont get overlooked and left behind. They need somebody who knows them, their stories, and their struggles and that will take those lived experiences and fight for them in Washington. I believe Im uniquely qualified to do that.

Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien

Age: 52

Family: Married, four children, eight grandchildren

Job: Retired senior chief, U.S. Navy SEAL

Prior elected office: None

Other public service: United States Navy, 26 years, Navy SEAL Teams, 21 years

Education: Bachelor of Science from Excelsior College

Email or website: vanordenforcongress.com

What do you think is the single most important issue for the 3rd District?

Since starting the campaign, we have put tens of thousands of miles on my truck traveling the district, meeting as many people as we can, and learning what their concerns are for Washington to address.

The answers I get can be distilled down to the 3 Gs: Gas, Groceries and Grandkids. People cannot afford to fill their gas tank and a grocery cart in the same day in America. People are having to make choices about where to work and live based on whether they can afford the commute. Farmers are locking in fuel and fertilizer costs for next year. The prices are daunting and they are worried.

People are concerned about the future for their children in a way that I have no seen in my lifetime. Over 100,000 Americans have died from fentanyl overdoses since Biden has taken office. It is the number one cause of death for Americans ages 18-45. These are our sons and daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers and it has to stop. Right here in La Crosse our amazing police officers interdicted three pounds of fentanyl last April. Thats Enough of that drug to overdose 680,000 people. 90% of this drug comes across the southern border, Bidens open border policies are killing Americans every day. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, this is an American issue. This Biden policy driven disaster must be changed and changed sooner rather than later. We need strong leadership in D.C. like no other time in our nations history.
In recent years, conversations around mental health have become more common, and perceptions are changing. And yet, while individuals are increasingly open about their depression and anxiety, some mental illnesses still bring feelings of shame or embarrassment and the harsh judgement of others.

There is an enormous amount of stigma around mental illness, says Alice Holstein, doctor of education and longtime mental health advocate in the La Crosse community. Its the one illness that, unlike cancer, unlike Parkinsons, unlike heart disease, is trouble by stigmatization.

Holstein herself has bipolar disorder, a mental illness often sensationalized in the media as sparking violence, inability to function or extreme episodes. For some, their mental illness can be debilitating, leading to impulsive or destructive behaviors and outbursts, while for others the effects are less intense or perceptible to the public.

No matter the diagnosis or severity level, Holstein is a proponent of thinking about mental illness under a fresh, multifaceted lens, the premise of her newest book, Reframing Mental Illness: Affirmations of Hope.

(Its about) seeing mental illness in a new way to change your mind, change your view of yourself, and improve your ability to heal and feel like a human being, Holstein says.

Holstein, 79, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder late in life at the age of 51. She had 17 stays in psychiatric wards, Holstein says, and struggled with paranoia, excessive spending, erratic behavior and, for a period, homelessness. She talks about her experiences in a previous book, A Tough Grace: Mental Illness as a Spiritual Path.

It was 12 hard years before I started to reclaim myself in a healthy way, Holstein says.

While Reframing Mental Illness touches on her personal experiences, it is designed as a workbook rather than a read-through biography.

Its history is that when I was at my sickest with my mental illness, I yearned for a book that would give me inspiration and make me think versus (a tome full of) platitudes, Holstein says. I found lots of affirmation books, but nothing for mental illness, so I wrote one myself.

Reflection, Holstein says, is what causes the transformation. The book is broken down into sections, with topics such as pride, clearing negativity, self examination, transforming bitter memories, and more. Holstein relates the topics to her own journey and then poses associated questions for the reader to journal about or discuss with a friend, therapist or support person. Prompts are wide ranging, from What dreams did you give up because of your mental illness? to In what ways do you honor your suffering?

(The) companion reflection questions help the reader think about the gifts or growth or lessons or skills that might be employed to encourage recovery, Holstein says. This often amounts to having the situation be a reframing from the usual aint it awful aspects of mental illness. When people change their minds about something, especially the stigmatized arena of mental illness, new possibilities for healing emerge. Motivation to make changes arises.

The book, Holstein says, Does not sugarcoat things  it deals with the rigors, the breakthroughs, the hard work that recovery requires. It challenges the reader, supports, comforts, encourages self-discovery and the distillation that creates wisdom ... urging healers and those needing to be healed to see things as a brave journey, worthy of the highest esteem and honor. It illuminates what it is like to suffer and recover.

Holstein advises working through the book a bite at a time, tackling one to three pages a day. The book, she stresses, is not a substitute for professional help or medication, but has the specialness of coming from an authentic voice that knows what its like.

This book is unique precisely for (the) reason that it is not clinical, and unique in the field of books on the subject, says Patti Jo Severson, MS, RD, an educator and family advocate of 25 years. Her experience includes serving as chair of the Mental Health Coalition, co-president of NAMI Wisconsin, member on the State Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, family educator for NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program and member of the Patient and Family Advisory Council of Gundersen Inpatient Behavioral Health.

The lived experience, and vignette, handbook style of the book make it so accessible for the reader, Severson says.

This is a book about getting well and finding hope, says Severson. It expresses the personal side of living with an illness, surviving and thriving in an often unforgiving world. The power of finding someone else who has walked the path, navigated the experience, and thrives. Alice has given voice to those living with mental illness, and insight for those who treat mental illness, and family and friends.

Dr. Ron Malzer, who worked for over three decades as a psychologist and taught family medicine residents principles of psychology for use in their work with patients, also sees value in a book written from a personal perspective. Mental health professionals, he says, Need to work hard to keep up with ongoing research into what helps with mental illness. But if in the midst of their focus on medical and technical skills they lose track of the healing power of the one-on-one relationship with their patient, their best interventions will be compromised.

The book, Malzer says, Is a powerful statement that compassion was a vital part of saving (Holsteins) mental health. It will help those needing mental healthcare to look for compassionate healers. Its also a good read for professionals, showing them what receiving help and healing feels like from the inside.

The one thing needed desperately by people struggling with mental illness, Malzer says, is Hope hope that ones current distress will change for the better. Alices book, telling her personal story of being hit by serious mental illness, and then making a solid recovery from it, will provide a great deal of hope to those who read it. I believe individuals who become emotionally challenged, and their families, will find both hope and practical suggestions for managing mental illness.

Mental illness is a lifelong journey, and Holstein still counts on the support of the people in her circle of love who help keep her accountable, grounded, and conducting my life in an orderly way. An author of four books, writing is part of her healing, but Holstein emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to managing and living with mental illness.

We are mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and social beings, Holstein says. To be well you need to work at all those levels.

Reframing Mental Illness: Affirmations of Hope, is available for purchase on Amazon.com. Holstein will be hosting book signings from 1 to 4 p.m. July 13 and 6 to 7:30 p.m. July 27 at Oolala Consign, 1006 19th St. S., Jackson Plaza, and 11 a.m. Aug. 13 at the La Crosse Public Library main branch.

Twenty percent of book proceeds will be donated to mental health programming at the YWCA.
China has filed a formal protest with Japan over the presence of the Taiwanese vice president at a memorial for assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. China claims Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunited by force if necessary and objects to any expression of its independent political identity. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Taiwanese authorities had latched onto the opportunity for political manipulation" and that Beijing has made stern complaints" and made clear its position. Taiwan's Vice President Lai Ching-te is the most senior Taiwanese official to visit Japan since Tokyo severed formal diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1972 in deference to Beijing. He visited Abe's residence on Monday and was later photographed at the funeral.
FOND DU LAC  A drunken driver who caused a fatal crash with an ambulance in Fond du Lac has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

A judge in Fond du Lac County also ordered David Worley to spend seven years on extended supervision Thursday.

Prosecutors say the 30-year-old Theresa man ran a red light on Sept. 15, 2020 and hit the ambulance. A 21-year-old passenger in Worley's vehicle, Jonathan Bruemmer of Fond du Lac, was killed.

Worley had to be extricated from the vehicle and was transported by helicopter to Theda Clark Regional Medical Center in Neenah for life-threatening injuries. A patient in the ambulance and two of its medical crew members were also injured.

"The world lost a great soul that night due to my poor choices," Worley said at his sentencing hearing Thursday. "I'm forever sorry for what I've done, and with the chance at a second life, I hope my scars and pain will influence others not to make the same mistakes I have."

A blood test showed Worley's blood alcohol concentration at 0.21%, WLUK-TV reported. The legal limit for operating a vehicle in Wisconsin is 0.08%.

Worley pleaded no contest to one count of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle last April. Two other counts were dismissed.
Emirates Health Services (EHS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Burjeel Hospital Abu Dhabi and its Affiliates (BHAD & A), to boost collaboration in research, skill development and academics.

The agreement aims to raise the level of medical care and research outcomes through partnerships that support education, training, and health learning resources to meet the highest standards and best practices, which Burjeel Hospital and its affiliates are committed to providing as one of the UAEs leading healthcare institutions.

Dr Yousif Mohammed Al-Serkal, Director-General of EHS, said: The partnership is a testimonial to EHS commitment to providing top-quality healthcare services. We look forward to working closely with BHAD & A to explore various areas of training and skill development, which will help us achieve the goals set by our visionary leaders to improve the quality of health services. We hope this collaboration will further strengthen academic cooperation and research between both partners.

Outstanding health services

Prof Dr Abdel Rahman Ahmed Omer, Chief Executive Officer at Burjeel Hospital Abu Dhabi, noted: The collaboration aligns with our efforts to provide outstanding health services by launching different initiatives, including academics. We look forward to working closely with EHS to explore opportunities in the fields of research, education, training, and skill development, which will boost the UAE health sectors regional and global competitiveness.

As per the MoU, EHS and BHAD & A will work to develop opportunities for cooperation by leveraging their expertise and resources in all areas that support the development of skills in health staff across the medical, nursing, dental, technical, and administrative departments.

The agreement also calls for forming a joint committee for collaboration and cooperation, headed by a representative from the Training and Development Centre at EHS, to ensure a smooth workflow and overcome any challenges that may obstruct the agreements implementation.

BHAD & A will collaborate with EHS to offer internships, exchange of training staff, library and research materials sharing and participation in scientific events.-- TradeArabia News Service
Foreign peacekeepers credited with helping ease years of bloody fighting between government forces and Muslim rebels have left the southern Philippines after their term ended but talks are underway to allow their possible return. Officials and the rebels said Friday that members of the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team, or IMT, flew out of the southern region of Mindanao on June 30 after their authority to stay as ceasefire monitors, which must be renewed each year, was not extended by the then-outgoing administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. It remains to be seen if new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will authorize the return of the peacekeepers. Decades-long Muslim and communist insurgencies are among major problems he inherited after his landslide election victory.
LEXINGTON  Dates for a jury trial have been set for a second Lexington man charged with first degree murder in a July 2021 drive-by shooting.

Adalberto Saenz-Gonzalez, now 20, has been charged with first degree murder, a Class 1A felony and use of a firearm to commit a felony, a Class 1C felony.

Saenz-Gonzalez had pleaded not guilty to the charges in November 2021.

Dawson County District Court Judge James Doyle rescheduled jury trial dates for Sept. 12 through Sept. 16. A pre-trial hearing has been set for July 22.

Around 2 a.m. on July 6, Lexington police officers, Dawson County Sheriffs deputies and Nebraska State Patrol troopers responded to an anonymous report of possible gun shots in the 800 block of West 9th Street in Lexington, but did not find anything at that time, according to the Lexington Police Department.

Two blocks away, officers later located a Ford Explorer; Saenz-Gonzalez and Francisco Hernandez-Corona, 19, were inside. According to court documents, both were allegedly intoxicated and in possession of alcohol. They were arrested on suspicion of being minors in possession. Both had iPhones that were taken later as evidence.

About 3:10 a.m., Medical Rescue was dispatched to 800 W. 9th St. for an unresponsive male lying on the ground with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. The man, Marcus Keyser, 23, was pronounced dead at that time.

Keysers iPhone was collected as evidence, according to court documents.

Officers found several bullet holes at the residence Keyser was found in front of, as well as the neighbors home. Two more bullet holes were found in a vehicle parked along West Ninth, according to court records. No brass ammunition casings were located at the scene.

Police say security camera footage from Caseys showed Saenz-Gonzalez and Hernandez-Corona entering the North Adams Caseys General Store at 1:31 a.m. Keyser entered the store at 1:33 a.m.

After an encounter with Hernandez-Corona, Keyser began to walk back to West 9th Street.

Lexington officers gave the mens iPhones to Investigator Dan Warrington with the Kearney Police Department, who has technology to perform forensic downloads of cellphone data.

Keysers cellphone had a health application that recorded his steps and distance traveled, as well as a time and date stamp associated with the information. According to that data, after leaving Caseys, Keyser walked 300 meters to West Ninth Street, arriving at 1:44 a.m. After this, there was no health or phone activity.

Based on this information and the report of the gunshot at 1:47 a.m., it is believed Keyser was killed around this time.

When interviewed at the Dawson County Jail, Saenz-Gonzalez and Hernandez-Corona agreed to speak, saying they were together for several hours before they were arrested but denied any involvement in the shooting.

Location data from Saenz-Gonzalezs iPhone showed the phone at Caseys at 1:31 a.m., consistent with security video at Caseys. Around 1:36 a.m., the data places the phone traveling on the Adams Street overpass, then near Hernandez-Coronas residence on West Maple Street.

At 1:46 a.m., the data indicate the Saenz-Gonzalezs phone was at 9th and Ontario Street, where Keysers body was found.

After Saenz-Gonzalez and Hernandez-Corona were arrested for minors in possession, they were booked into the Dawson County Jail. Both posted $100 bail later on July 6 and were released. They were arrested again July 26.
State Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk stepped down from his legislative seat Monday in preparation for taking office as the newest 1st Congressional District representative in Washington, D.C.

Flood is slated to be seated Tuesday as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will administer the oath in an evening ceremony in the U.S. Capitol.

That ceremony could feature some awkward moments. The Nebraska Republican campaigned against Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, on his way to winning the June 28 special election that sent him to Congress.

Flood, 47, will serve the remaining months of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's term in office. He defeated a legislative colleague, Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln. The two will meet again in the November general election, which will decide who serves the next two-year congressional term.

I am humbled to have gained the confidence of the voters of the 1st Congressional District, Flood said. Having the trust of your friends, neighbors and community leaders is a tremendous honor. The first thing to do will be letting people know my office and I are a resource for them.

Gov. Pete Ricketts will appoint someone to fill Flood's legislative seat for the next 2 years. The governor already has asked for applications from people interested in the seat but has not announced his choice yet.

Fortenberry, a Republican from Lincoln, stepped down March 31 after being convicted of three felonies, including two counts of lying to federal agents and one of concealing illegal campaign contributions. He was sentenced to two years of probation, including community service and a $25,000 fine. The sentencing was the same day as the special election.
The thing about free and open source apps is that anyone can take the source code and make their own version of an app with few (or no) changes. Many open source licenses even allow you to redistribute your version of an app. So its unsurprising that app stores are sometimes litters with unofficial versions of popular apps sometimes with developers charging money for apps that are normally available for free.

In order to crack down on that, Microsoft recently updated its Microsoft Store policies to prohibit sales of open source apps that are available for free from other sources (such as the developers website or GitHub). But some developers of free and open source software do make their software available for free download from some locations while charging a fee for the same software when downloaded from app stores so Microsoft has gotten some pushback.

Now Microsofts Georgio Sardo says the company will delay enforcement of the new policy until the company can clarify the intent, although its unclear if the problem is with the intent or the impact it will have on actual developers.

A Microsoft Store policy update blocks developers from selling open source apps that are generally available for free elsewhere. Its meant to crack down on copycats from making a quick buck. But it also affects FOSS developers who had been selling apps. https://t.co/Mj02MjLT44  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 11, 2022

The upcoming StarFighter laptop from Star Labs will be a Linux laptop with a 15.6 inch 4K 16:9 10-bit matte IPS display, 45-watt Intel or AMD processor options, support for up to 64GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage. https://t.co/4Xju2NQ849  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 11, 2022

LG exited the smartphone business before the company got around to officially launching the LG Rollable, which would have been the first phone with a roll-out display. But this short hands-on video allegedly shows it in action. https://t.co/S9AYVpjIA5  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 11, 2022

Google One subscribers who pay at least $10/month for the 2TB storage plan (or higher) now get some Google Workspace premium features including Google Meet group calls for up to 24 hours, background noise filtering, and recording calls to Google Drive. https://t.co/Rv3hvmJwXR  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 11, 2022

Apple releases public betas for IOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura, and watchOS 9. https://t.co/sVrkvoLSj3  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 11, 2022

Steam Deck beta update brings better support for external displays, option to automatically schedule night mode, a Kana keyboard option for Japanese input, and a software channel update selector. https://t.co/ka0ca7zUaK  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 9, 2022

Production has begun for the Popcorn Computer Pocket PC, a handheld Linux computer with a 5 inch 1080p display and a thumb keyboard that was first announced three years ago, and which is up for pre-order for $299. https://t.co/prGrQBUPgH pic.twitter.com/mwl5qoQwAd  Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 9, 2022

Keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter and Facebook and follow @LinuxSmartphone on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news on open source mobile phones.
Mena ISC 2022, a major cybersecurity conference upcoming in Riyadh, will host sessions focusing on the rising cyberattacks on network infrastructure in countries around the world, posing a significant threat to the economies of these countries.



The conference is being held in September under the theme "Cyber Fusion: Converging Cyber Intel: Critical Network Infrastructure IT, OT, and IoT."



Samir Omar, CEO of VirtuPort, said the 10th edition of the conference aims to generate an effective dialogue between C-Level executives, directors, and global cybersecurity experts with rich experiences in developing strategies and cybersecurity techniques for the benefit of digital transformation and technological advancements.



He stressed the importance of the conference for the Kingdom, especially as it is the largest market for information and communication technology in the Middle East and North Africa region.



The Saudi ICT market has been witnessing steady growth since the launch of the Kingdoms Vision 2030. This makes the IT infrastructure in the public and private sectors vulnerable to cyberattacks, where these attacks cause great damage to the economy and various sectors, Omar said.



CyberKnight stated that 88% of organizations in Saudi Arabia have reported some form of an attempted ransomware attack, according to a study by Grant Thornton KSA a relatively high number compared to the global average. It is currently estimated that companies in Saudi Arabia lose about $6.53 million per cyberattack.



Saudi Arabia has jumped 11 ranks since 2018 in the Digital Competitiveness Report, and more than 40 ranks since the launch of Vision 2030.

In 2021, the Kingdom ranked second globally among the G20 countries in the Digital Competitiveness Report, issued by the European Center for Digital Competitiveness.



The 10th edition of Mena ISC includes leading firms from around the world with CyberKnight as diamond distribution sponsor and CrowdStrike as its diamond sponsor. Platinum sponsors are arcon and IT Security Training & Solutions  I(TS)2 in addition to gold sponsorships by Advanced Technical Solutions (ATS), ankura, kaspersky, MANDIANT, proofpoint, SentinelOne and Tenable, and silver sponsorships by Acronis, ANOMALI, BeyondTrust, Bitdefender, Forcepoint, ClearSkies ODYSSEY, Security Scorecard, THREATQUOTIENT,tripwire, and ZEROFOX.



Marcom Arabia and NOZOMI Networks as a Strategic Partner, with many more expected to participate and be announced soon.W7Worldwide is listed as Organizing Partner and Media Sponsors.



CyberKnight, a leading Value Added Distributor (VAD) also having participation from the following companies: appgate, BLUECAT, Checkmarx, ENTRUST, GROUP-IB, helpsystems, illumio, netwrix, PhishRod, seceon, SECLORE and solarwinds.  TradeArabia News Service
We listen to local police and fire departments scanner traffic, but sometimes miss crimes, wrecks, fires or other incidents, especially if they happen overnight. If you know of something were not covering yet, please let Managing Editor Jeff Pownall know by emailing him at jeff.pownall@lufkindailynews.com, or submit a news tip online by visiting lufkindailynews.com/tips.
TUESDAY, July 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Want to feel you matter after you retire? Start socializing, a new study suggests.

Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis found that positive connections with other people were associated with a sense of purposefulness in older adults.

Having a sense of purpose is defined as the extent to which a person feels that they have personally meaningful goals and directions guiding them in life.

The findings applied to both working and retired adults, but researchers found the strongest benefit from social interaction was tied to individuals who were retired.

The study involved asking 100 adults with an average age of 71 three simple questions throughout the day for 15 days. Each evening concluded with an assessment: On a scale of one to five, how much do you think your life had a purpose today?

At the end of the study, the investigators discovered that the more positive social interactions a person had during the day, the better and more purposeful they reported feeling in the evening.

"Specifically for our retired older adults, this is a construct we should really care about," said Gabrielle Pfund, who led the study as a PhD student in the lab of Patrick Hill, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at the university.

Pfund pointed out that the study illustrated just how dynamic a person's own sense of purpose can be.

"Most research on sense of purpose is focused on big-picture orientation of someone being purposeful versus someone being not purposeful," Pfund said in a university news release. "We found purpose can change from day to day. Everyone was experiencing fluctuations relative to their own averages."

In the study, published in the July issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, the majority of data collected came out of Zurich, Switzerland, where the respondents were typically in good health. The researchers noted that findings may look different in other countries around the world or in older adults with poor health.

Previous research has shown that adults with a higher sense of purpose lead longer, healthier and happier lives, with lower rates of heart disease or dementia.

"The people in your life are going to have a very, very big impact on that," Pfund said. "If you find yourself surrounded by people who bring you down  that's going to have an impact."

The good news is that negative interactions aren't the only ones that leave a mark. If you decide to surround yourself with positive people who encourage you and lift you up, that'll have an impact, too.

"If you're feeling like your life has no purpose, that's not how it's always going to be," Pfund stressed. "That's not your life. That can change."

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on well-being.

SOURCE: Washington University in St. Louis, news release, July 7, 2022

Was this page helpful?
NAMPA, Idaho (AP)  An insurance company that covers counties and other public entities in Idaho says it won't renew Canyon County's insurance policy because of increasing risks and a high volume of claims.

The Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, known as ICRMP, sent a letter to Canyon County officials on May 23, citing numerous factors including adverse claim development and increasing risk exposures, the Idaho Press reported. The Nampa-based newspaper obtained the document through public records requests.

Canyon County Public Information Officer Joe Decker said the countys elected officials couldn't immediately comment because the situation is onging.

We are working to evaluate all options, including potential renewal with ICRMP and the potential acquisition of replacement coverage, Decker wrote in an email. More information will be forthcoming when available.

Canyon County Commissioners responded to ICRMP in a June 2 letter that suggested the county might appeal the non-renewal notice. They took issue with the non-renewal decision, saying, the abruptness and comprehensiveness of this total separation, and the lack of warning or opportunity to cure any perceived issue, is shocking.

The commissioners also said the insurance companys documentation showing the countys loss history wasnt accurate. They said 25 of the claims listed are unrelated to the county.

They also said the insurance company was equating so-called nuisance settlements  often made when an entity decides that paying someone to end a lawsuit would be cheaper or more convenient than fighting the matter in court  with actual misconduct by the county or its representatives.

Tim Osborne, executive director of ICRMP, said in a phone interview that he could not elaborate on the reasons that the board voted to non-renew the policy. He said his office is working to coordinate a meeting with Canyon County officials to review the documentation of the reasons the board voted to non-renew. After that meeting, Canyon County officials could request a meeting with the board in open session about how to move forward, he said.
Former UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank announced Monday she is stepping down from her new job as Northwestern Universitys next president and instead will receive treatment in Madison for an aggressive form of cancer.

Blank, 66, announced her decision in a letter she described as among the most difficult and painful I have ever written. Her announcement comes on the same day she was slated to begin her new role as president of Northwestern. Her last day as UW-Madison chancellor was May 31.

The job of president requires multiple events, long days, travel and constant energy, especially in the first year, Blank said in the letter. I have always been able to deliver this in previous jobs, but my doctors advise me that the treatments I am starting will make it almost impossible to do the job you need in a new president.

I do not have the words to express to you how disappointed and sad I am to be telling you this, Blank added. I was excited to be joining you at Northwestern, a world-class institution that is near and dear to my heart.

Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce President Zach Brandon said in a statement that Blank has wrapped her arms around this community and our states flagship university for nearly a decade, and today we wrap our arms around her.

It is an understatement to say this cancer has picked a fight with the wrong person. Her grit and determination, combined with the world-class care she will receive at UW Health, give us the utmost hope, Brandon added. Becky is a Madisonian. She belongs here, and we welcome her home with love and support.

Blank took over as UW-Madison chancellor in 2013. Over the course of her nine years with the university, she led the school through the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ongoing challenges brought on by limited state funding and an ongoing tuition freeze for undergraduate resident students.

She also oversaw the launch of Buckys Tuition Promise and Badger Promise, full-tuition scholarship programs that have helped more than 4,000 Wisconsin students whose families earn less than $60,000 annually.

Jay Rothman, president of the University of Wisconsin System, described Blank as a champion for higher education.

While this is extraordinarily difficult news, anybody who knows Becky knows of her fight and resiliency, Rothman added. We will do whatever we can to support Becky through her treatment process and wish her the best as she begins treatment here at UW Health in Madison.

Blank announced last October that she would be stepping down as UW-Madisons chancellor to succeed Northwestern Universitys President Morton Schapiro to become the universitys first female president.

We all know that nothing in life is guaranteed, Blank said in the letter. This last week has probably brought the biggest changes that I have ever experienced in such a short period of time. I am grieving the lost opportunities to work with all of you across campus to make Northwestern even better in the years ahead.

Schapiro will stay on as president until Northwestern University selects his successor, according to a statement from J. Landis Martin, chair of the Northwestern University Board of Trustees.

Our thoughts are with Rebecca and her family during this difficult time, Martin said. We are appreciative of the time that she served as our president-elect, and we know she is thankful for the care and support of the entire Northwestern community.

Former law school dean at UCLA and UW-Madisons next chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said in a tweet she was devastated by Blanks diagnosis.

Sending wishes and prayers to her and her family as she focuses on her health and treatment, Mnookin added.
Donald Trump will return to Wisconsin next month as part of the former presidents American Freedom Tour.

Prices for the Aug. 20 event, which will include Trump, Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump Jr., Dinesh DSouza, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Jeanine Pirro and Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County, Arizona, range from $9 for seating in an overflow room to $395 for seating in the VIP section to $3,995 for seating in the Presidential Section, which includes a meeting with Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle.

Seating in the Patriot Section, which comes with a meeting with Trump and Pompeo, does not include a listed price. The event does not list a specific venue and the cost to attend could increase after Friday, the website notes.

Trumps visit will take place after the Aug. 9 primary. Trump has already endorsed millionaire business owner Tim Michels in the gubernatorial race. Michels will face former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and state Rep. Timothy Ramthun in the primary. The winner will go on to face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is seeking reelection, in the Nov. 8 election.

Trump made more than a half dozen trips to the battleground state in 2020 leading up to his loss to President Joe Biden by about 21,000 votes.

Since then, Trump has made repeated and unfounded claims of widespread fraud in the presidential election, most recently taking to his social media platform Truth Social over the weekend claiming that the Wisconsin Supreme Courts recent 4-3 decision that absentee ballot drop boxes are banned in the state was reason to decertify the election.

Proposals to decertify the states 2020 election have received bipartisan criticism as a constitutional impossibility.

A recount, court decisions and multiple reviews have affirmed that Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin. Only 24 people out of nearly 3.3 million who cast ballots have been charged with election fraud in Wisconsin.
Bahrains Hilal Computers, an IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, has joined the CyberArk Partner Network to enhance their cyber footprint across the region.



Hilal Computers and information security company CyberArk will be offering organisations in the GCC the capability to secure human or machine identities across business applications, distributed workforces, hybrid cloud workloads and throughout the DevOps lifecycle via the CyberArk Identity Security Platform.



Credential threats are viewed as a number one risk to organisations, said Shijas Mohidheen, Director  Cybersecurity Division of Hilal Computers. The addition of CyberArk to Hilal Computers suite of software and services strengthens the value proposition that Hilal can provide to our customers.



CyberArk is the global leader in identity security, serving more than 7,000 customers worldwide, including more than 35% of the Global 2000. The worlds leading organisations trust CyberArk to help secure their most critical assets.



Hilal Computers and CyberArk are passionate about helping our customers drive security excellence. Together with CyberArk we are able to give our customers the ability to future-proof their investment. Customers across the GCC will be able to benefit from risk mitigation and enhanced productivity through Hilal Computers partnership with CyberArk, added Mohidheen.  TradeArabia News Service
ST. PAUL, Minn.  A judge declared most of Minnesotas restrictions on abortion unconstitutional on Monday, including the states mandatory 24-hour waiting period and a requirement that both parents be notified before a minor can get an abortion.

Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan also struck down Minnesotas requirements that only physicians can perform abortions and that abortions after the first trimester must be performed in hospitals. His order took effect immediately, meaning the limits cant be enforced.

The abortion rights groups behind the lawsuit said the ruling came at a crucial time, just over two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion across the country. Providers have been preparing for a surge in patients from neighboring Upper Midwest states, including Wisconsin, and even farther away, where abortion has become illegal or is expected to become restricted.

It underscores that Minnesota has the need to serve as a leader in providing abortion care to millions that will need it across the country, especially those in our region, said Erin Maye Quade, advocacy director for Gender Justice. Removing those onerous barriers will lead to even more people coming to Minnesota for abortion care, she added.

Gilligan ruled that the states restrictions were unconstitutional under a landmark 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court ruling known as Doe v. Gomez, which held that the state constitution protects abortion rights. The judge called that case significant and historic and said its unaffected by the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

These abortion laws violate the right to privacy because they infringe upon the fundamental right under the Minnesota Constitution to access abortion care and do not withstand strict scrutiny, Gilligan wrote.

Physicians were required at the start of the 24-hour waiting period to provide information to the patient about the risks of the procedure, the probable gestational age of the fetus, the risks of carrying the pregnancy to term, and fetal pain. The laws also required disclosure about welfare benefits that might be available for prenatal care, childbirth and neonatal care, and that the father would be liable for child support.

The ruling means that no parental consent is needed for a minor to get an abortion in Minnesota. Gilligan noted that minors had been otherwise free to make their own reproductive and other health care decisions in the state, without notifying a parent.

Opponents of abortion rights condemned the decision as judicial activism. Speaking to reporters, Republican attorney general candidate Jim Schultz called on Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison to appeal the ruling and accused him of failing in his duty to aggressively defend state laws that were adopted by the Legislature.

They went about the defense of these statutes in a half-hearted manner because Keith Ellison, as always, puts his personal beliefs above Minnesota law, Schultz said.

While Ellison is an abortion rights supporter, and has said he would have voted against the restrictions back when he was a legislator, he acknowledged previously that his office had an obligation to defend the restrictions. He said he has not decided whether to appeal.

My team and I are reviewing the 140-page decision and are beginning to consult with our clients about any next steps, the attorney general said in a statement. Its clear Judge Gilligan, who has had this case for three years, has put much thought into this decision that he clearly did not take lightly.

The states largest anti-abortion group, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, also condemned the ruling.

The laws challenged in this case are common sense measures that support and empower pregnant women, MCCL said in a statement. Todays ruling striking them down is extreme and without a foundation in the Minnesota Constitution. It blocks Minnesotans from enacting reasonable protections for unborn children and their mothers.

But groups behind the lawsuit said the ruling will benefit patients from restrictive states who are now expected to come to Minnesota.

With abortion bans in half the country set to take effect in the coming weeks and months, it is more important than ever to leverage protections in state constitutions like Minnesotas, Amanda Allen, senior counsel and director at the Lawyering Project, said in a statement. Minnesota has the chance to be a safe place for people amidst this national public health crisis.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels once led an organization that fought a proposal to get tough on people who were living in the country illegally, but hes campaigning as someone opposed to illegal immigration.

Michels, a co-owner of the construction company Michels Corp., is in a tight battle with former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch in the Republican primary race for governor. The winner of the Aug. 9 primary will advance to face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in November.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday on Michels positions on immigration.

When Michels was president of the board of the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association during the 2007-08 legislative session, the groups lobbyists opposed an Assembly bill that would have prevented companies that employ illegal aliens from getting government contracts, tax exemptions and loans. The bill died in committee.

Michels spokesman, Chris Walker, said Michels was unaware of the lobbying being done by the group, which represents road builders in Wisconsin.

To Tims knowledge, the associations position on every single one of the bills introduced every legislative session is not brought to the board of directors, Walker said. Tim is against illegal immigration.

Michels, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is running multiple television ads detailing his opposition to illegal immigration.

Tim Michels blueprint to stop illegal immigration, one ad says. No drivers license, no benefits, and no tuition. Sign now if you agree!

Kleefischs campaign criticized Michels over the inconsistency, also referring to Michels ties to groups that had advocated for higher gas prices. Her campaign is running two ads attacking Michels over the gas tax, including one that launched this week and features former Gov. Scott Walker.

Tim Michels wont take responsibility for his companys campaign contributions for a higher gas tax, and now he wont take responsibility for a group he was president of lobbying to allow illegal immigrants to work on government contracts, said Charles Nichols, Kleefischs campaign manager.

Michels also said he supports Wisconsins 2015 right-to-work law, which places a ban on requiring non-unionized workers to pay dues to their workplace union. But Michels Corp. was part of the Wisconsin Contractor Coalition that opposed the states right-to-work law. The construction companys employees were also a part of protests against that proposed law at the time.

We cant speak for Michels Corporation, but when with them, he never specifically encouraged or granted time off for Michels employees to protest for or against anything, including right-to-work, said Walker, the Michels spokesman. How employees express their First Amendment rights on their own time is up to them.
A Madison doctor has bought two clinic buildings in Rockford, Illinois, with plans to offer pill abortions at one site as early as this week and surgical abortions at the other within six months.

The moves come after the U.S. Supreme Courts decision last month overturning federal abortion rights, which led abortion providers in Wisconsin to halt procedures as courts determine whether the states 1849 law banning nearly all abortions stands.

Dr. Dennis Christensen, an obstetrician-gynecologist who has provided abortions in Madison and Milwaukee and is now mostly retired, said he is part of a group trying to revive abortion services in Rockford to serve women in that area and from Wisconsin.

Abortion remains legal in Illinois, where Christensen said some clinics have waiting lists as patients from Wisconsin and other surrounding states with abortion bans seek procedures. Abortion is also legal in Minnesota.

We feel like its absolutely essential for us to get open as quickly as possible, said Jeanne Bissell, of Fitchburg, president of the newly formed Rockford Family Planning Foundation, which is preparing the second site in Rockford for surgical abortions and other care.

Last month, Christensen purchased a former acupuncture office at 611 Auburn St. for $75,000 and the former Animal Emergency Clinic of Rockford at 4236 Maray Drive for $350,000, according to the Winnebago County Recorders Office in Illinois.

Christensen said he plans to offer medication abortions, involving the pills mifepristone and misoprostol, at the Auburn site as soon as Friday. He said the plans were delayed after the city of Rockford condemned the building following an inspection, leaving a note citing an open sewer. Anti-abortion activists have protested outside of the building.

Christensen said Tuesday the situation seems to be resolved. Nelson Sjostrom, Rockfords building code official, said Tuesday that permits for work at the property have been pulled but follow-up inspections for compliance havent been conducted yet.

Second site

Bissell, a former board member of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said she and others with the new Rockford foundation are trying to raise more than $500,000 to hire staff and prepare the Maray site to house the Rockford Family Planning Center.

She said the facility, expected to open in three to six months, will provide surgical and pill abortions, along with birth control, testing, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and related care.

Many of the patients expected to use the clinic have low incomes, she said. Financial support will be available, such as from the Womens Medical Fund, which has helped pay for abortions since 1972, including for 1,500 people last year.

Were not going to turn anybody away, Bissell said.

Christensen said the Auburn site might close or stay open when the Maray site opens, depending on demand.

Dr. Douglas Laube, who performed abortions at Planned Parenthood in Madison and is former chair of obstetrics and gynecology at UW-Madison, is also part of the group working with Christensen, Bissell and others on plans to offer abortions in Rockford.

Past practices

Christensen, who for many years provided abortions in Madison, also operated the Northern Illinois Womens Center in Rockford for several years, selling it in 2010. Two years later, it closed.

More recently, Christensen, who lives in Madison, has owned Affiliated Medical Services in Milwaukee. Until the Supreme Court ruling last month, Affiliated was one of three places in Wisconsin providing elective surgical abortions, along with Planned Parenthood clinics on Madisons East Side and in Milwaukee.

Planned Parenthood also provided pill abortions in Sheboygan, and some hospitals performed abortions if the fetus had a lethal condition or the mothers life was at risk.

Risk to the mothers life is the only exception to Wisconsins abortion ban adopted in 1849, the year after the territory became a state. Late last month, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit challenging the law, arguing that 1980s statutes supersede the ban and it has been dormant so long it should be unenforceable.

District attorneys in Dane and Milwaukee counties have suggested they wont enforce the law, while the Sheboygan County DA said he would. Republicans vying to run against Evers this fall have said they would fire DAs who dont enforce the ban.
RACINE  It all started with a PowerPoint.

Concerned about what could have been considered classified communications being shared with members of the public, in August 2017, Racine City Attorney Scott Letteney led a behind-closed-doors meeting with the City Council. During that meeting, a PowerPoint slideshow was shown. It contained 70-plus slides depicting communications between city staff and three aldermen that were later shared by aldermen with members of the public.

Letteney asserted those messages should not have been shared with the public, and were confidential communications between elected city officials and appointed city officials that should not have been public knowledge.

That one meeting has sparked a series of court hearings in multiple courts, at least one gag order, a prolonged records request being fought by city administration, more than $200,000 in taxpayer dollars being spent on attorneys fees and on Wednesday a Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision thats been applauded by open records advocates.

And what was that decision? That a former alderman and her attorney should be allowed to have a copy of a PowerPoint they have already seen.

The former alderman, Sandy Weidner, said she still isnt sure whats next in the case.

My interpretation (of Wednesdays ruling) is that my open records request should have been granted back when I first made it back in 2017, she said in a phone interview.

The court ruled Wednesday: The City argues that the entire PowerPoint is privileged. However, we (the Court of Appeals) need not reach that issue because assuming the entire PowerPoint is privileged, the City waived the privilege by its voluntary actions in showing the PowerPoint at the meeting where Weidner was present  Given these facts, and the fact that Weidner actually attended the meeting without objection, we determine that the City waived any claim to attorney-client privilege for the PowerPoint with respect to Weidner.

A status hearing in the Kenosha County Circuit Court is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 17 in front of Judge Chad G. Kerkman; the case had originally been in front of Racine County Circuit Court Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz, who had previously sealed the case. A total of four different judges have presided over the case so far.

Bill Lueders, who heads the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, wrote in a newsletter reacting to Wednesdays decision a state appellate court found that the City of Racine was wrong to deny access to records it had shared during a presentation to an alderperson who requested them. Congratulations to Sandra Weidner for her defense of the publics right to know, and to the court of appeals for at long last getting this one right.

PowerPoint still semi-secret

The August 2017 closed-door meeting was held in the midst of Weidners mayoral run, a race eventually won by Cory Mason. Letteney had said he planned to refer aldermen to the Board of Ethics to review the communications, but no reprimand ever resulted.

At the time, the late Denis Wiser was acting as interim mayor after the resignation of John Dickert.

Months after the closed-door meeting, Weidner, who was still an alderman at the time prior to not seeking reelection in 2020, requested a copy of the PowerPoint presentation. She said the majority of the slideshow was directed at her own communications with constituents.

Letteneys office denied Weidners request, claiming the PowerPoint couldnt be shared with Weidner because of attorney-client privilege, even though Weidner had already been shown the presentation; in this case, client would refer to the aldermen.

Several of the emails known to have been included in the PowerPoint do not appear to be what would normally be considered private information that should not be available to the public. One of them was an email sent to a former Journal Times reporter about scheduling for a public meeting. Another of them reportedly was about a separate PowerPoint presentation that would be shown at a public meeting.

Weidner appealed the denial to the records request to the Racine County Circuit Court.

The case gets more complicated, convoluted and expensive from there.

Weidners appeal to the open records request being denied was sealed by Judge Gasiorkiewicz, preventing the public from having any way of knowing about it. The case was originally filed Nov. 29, 2017, it was later revealed.

The case entered public knowledge when Weidner spoke to the press about it in October 2018.

As a result of ignoring the seal on the case, Weidner was placed under a gag order from Gasiorkiewicz that aimed to bar her from talking about the case, although she has still spoken with both The Journal Times and the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel about the case since  including in the past week.

Weidner said she would rather be jailed than pay the potential tens of thousands of dollars in fines associated with violating a gag order placed on the case by Gasiorkiewicz. She has spoken with both The Journal Times and the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel about the situation since  including in the past week  but she attests she has never spoken "anything in my case that had been sealed, the content of the emails or what transpired in Judge Gasiokeiwicz's (sic) sealed courtroom," she said in an email Sunday.

I believe this is a huge win not for Sandy Weidner, but for the residents of this city because it means citizens of this city can get information from their officials that they asked for, Weidner said in a phone interview last week. This is about (elected officials) being able to communicate with your constituents.

In July 2020, Judge Kerkman ordered that the PowerPoint be released in camera, which essentially means in private and away from the public eye, for attorneys eyes only.

The emails later presented to the board of ethics, Weidner's attorney reported, ended up not exactly matching those that were within the original PowerPoint.

It was later realized that there were two similar but different versions of the PowerPoint, and the City Attorneys Office said it cannot confirm which version of the PowerPoint is the original, according to Wednesdays Court of Appeals decision.

Originally, Kerkman found that the difference in the two PowerPoints would not impact the courts ruling, and also that Weidner had missed a deadline for a legal response, and for a second time dismissed Weidners complaint.

That dismissal was then appealed to the Court of Appeals; the decision in that appeal is what was issued Wednesday.

Weidner estimates she has personally spent around $40,000 on the case so far, and counting.

The taxpayers are paying Scott Letteneys attorney fees, Weidner said. An outside firm, Meissner Tierney Fisher & Nichols S.C. of Milwaukee, is working the case on behalf of the City of Racine.

Letteney told The Journal Times that, as of the last invoice, the city has spent $201,312.83 so far on the case. As of May 2020, $129,000 had been spent.







Openness

Weidner accused Letteney of creating the initial PowerPoint in an attempt to embarrass her and pressure her to stop talking about Machinery Row  the failed project to redevelop Water Street into mixed-use buildings that began when Dickert was mayor, effectively sending hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) down the drain.

Letteney said Weidners allegations are untrue.

In an email to a Journal Times reporter Thursday evening, Letteney said It is factually inaccurate to suggest that any city attorney may call a meeting of any governmental body of the City of Racine, including the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee meets only at the call of the mayor of the City of Racine. At the time, Denis Wiser was the mayor. Moreover, there is no merit to Ms. Weidners contention that issue raised before the executive committee was intended to silence or embarrass her.

Weidner told a reporter that the purpose of the original meeting was to scare the s*** out of those aldermen, making them afraid to communicate with their constituents.

In 2019, as a result of this case, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council awarded Weidner with its Whistleblower of the Year award and awarded Letteney with its Nopee: No Friend of Openness faux award.

Two corrections have been made in this story regarding who viewed the PowerPoint "in camera" and regarding how the case has been spoken about since an initial gag order.
A Walworth County school bus driver is facing several charges of first degree sexual assault/contact of a child under the age of 13 and exposing a child to harmful material.

The now former driver, Matthew J. Gribben, 39, of Elkhorn, had been a driver for the Delavan-Darien School District and had been employed by Dousman Transport Company.

Gribben is facing four counts of first degree child sexual assault/sexual contact with a child under the age of 13 and two counts of of exposing a child to harmful material, according to a criminal complaint filed in Walworth County Circuit Court.

The first count alleges that Gribben had sexual contact with an 8-year-old between Aug. 1, 2019 and June 28, 2022, and the second count alleges that he had sexual contact with a 7-year-old child between Aug. 1, 2019 and June 28, 2022.

A third count alleges that Gribben had had sexual contact with another 8-year-old child between Aug. 1, 2019 and June 28, 2022.

The fourth count alleges Gribben exposed an 8-year-old child to harmful material between Aug. 1, 2019 and June 28, 2022, and a fifth count alleges that he exposed an 11-year-old child to harmful material between Aug. 1, 2019 and June 28, 2022.

A sixth count alleges that Gribben had sexual contact with a 10-year-old child between May 7, 2018 and Feb. 28, 2020.

According to the criminal complaint officers from the City of Delavan Police Department spoke with Gribben at the Walworth County Sheriff's Office, June 28, in which he allegedly reported to police that he worked as a school bus driver in Walworth County transporting students to school from their homes.

Gribben allegedly admitted to engaging in inappropriate behavior with children and that he would occasionally touch some of the students on their buttocks and that he showed pornography to two elementary school students.

The criminal complaint alleges that Gribben admitted that there was an incident that occurred during the 2019-2020 school year in which he tapped an 8-year-old female student on the butt, and the student responded by saying something like "Hey, what's going on."

According to the criminal complaint, Gribben reported another incident that allegedly occurred during the 2021-2022 school year in which a 7-year-old female student had been waiting at the front of the bus for her parents to pick her up, and he reached out and touched her buttocks.

Gribben reported another alleged incident that occurred during the 2019-2022 school year in which he supposedly showed an 11-year-old female student a Halloween-themed pornographic video on the bus and touched her buttocks at least one time.

The criminal complaint alleges that Gribben reported that during the 2019-2020 school year that he showed a pornographic video on his phone to an 11-year-old female student with a cognitive disability.

Gribben also allegedly described an incident in which a 10-year-old female was staying at a residence that he was living at with his adult brother on High Street in the City of Delavan.

He allegedly reported that he came home late from work, showered and enter the bedroom where the 10-year-old female was sleeping and placed his penis in the palm of her hand for about five seconds and then walked away. He said the female did not wake up during the incident.

A lieutenant from the City of Delavan Police Department allegedly reported that Gribben's brother previously admitted that he sexually assaulted the girl at their residence in January or February of 2020. However, the girl's mother allegedly reported that she had not seen Gribben's brother since the fall of 2019.

According to the criminal complaint, Gribben allegedly reported that there were several other female students who he had touched on the bus but could not remember their names.

The criminal complaint does not list the school district for which Gribben drove a school bus, but a Delavan-Darien School District press release obtained by the Lake Geneva Regional News states that "On Monday, June 27, 2022, Delavan-Darien School District officials were notified by Dousman Transport Company regarding inappropriate behaviors by one of their bus drivers."

Larry Kirkley, president of Dousman Transport Company, confirmed that Gribben is the suspect listed in both the criminal complaint and press release.

"There is an ongoing investigation involving that individual with the allegations," Kirkley said. "I don't know the specific charges, but I can tell you they do relate."

Kirkley said Gribben is no longer employed with the Dousman Transport Company.

"I want to clarify that Matthew Gribben is a former employee of ours," Kirkley said. "He is not an active employee. He is not on leave. He is not suspended. He has been terminated."

Representatives Dousman Transport Company has notified the Delavan-Darien School District of the alleged incidents, and the Delavan Police Department has notified the school district of the investigation.

The press release said that all the families that were involved in the alleged incidents were notified.

"These sorts of alleged behaviors are completely unacceptable, extremely disappointing and will not be tolerated by the Delavan-Darien School District," according to a statement in the press release. "The safety of all students is our top priority. Our students are our future, and it is our job to ensure they receive a safe transportation. We will not stand for this."

The Delavan-Darien School District did not respond to the Regional News for comment for this story.

First degree child sexual assault/sexual contact with a child is a Class B felony punishable up to 60 years in prison, and exposing a child to harmful material is a Class I felony punishable up to three years and six months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Im a pediatrician, and I own a gun.

That may surprise you. I own a handgun because I grew up with guns. My dad had a shotgun mounted in his truck, and he hunted and provided food for his family. He emphasized gun safety, carefully supervised us children when we hunted with him and taught us how to shoot.

My great-grandfather kept a gun in the house as a means of protection, and my husband and I uphold that safeguard in our home today. I even have a license to carry a concealed gun in Florida.

I was taught how to properly handle guns, and I understand their power. I also know all too well the risks of children finding firearms, so my pistol is kept in a secure place.

I also support sensible gun measures to keep guns out of the hands of those who absolutely should not have them. I am not alone. A 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 92% of Democrats and 70% of Republicans support background checks for private gun sales.

The gun legislation that recently was passed by Congress will expand background checks for would-be gun buyers under age 21, giving authorities up to 10 business days to study juvenile and mental health records. It also sets aside money for states to pay for intervention programs and to implement "red flag" laws that allow authorities to temporarily confiscate guns from someone a judge deems too dangerous to have them.

QUOTE I was taught how to properly handle guns, and I understand their power. I also know all too well the risks of children finding firearms.

These are important steps, but we can do more. Law-abiding, responsible gun owners like me and others I know want federal firearm measures that keep people safe, including:

Comprehensive background checks for anyone buying a gun.

Mandatory firearm safety training and licensing.

Raising the age of gun ownership in all situations to 21, the same as the legal drinking age.

A ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.

Funding for more research on gun violence to inform evidence-based reduction strategies and effective legislation.

These measures can save many lives. They cant prevent every mass shooting, of course, but they could stop some would-be gunmen from taking lives.

The recent massacres at a school in Texas and at a grocery store in New York, for example, were committed by 18-year-old men whom authorities said legally bought military-style rifles. What might have happened if theyd been denied the ability to purchase these powerful weapons?

I am tired of living afraid. When I drop my children off at school in the morning, I feel a small knot of dread and wonder if someone with a gun will enter their school that day, making it the latest in a long line of shootings. As an African American woman, I also must worry about being shot at the grocery store or at church by someone with hate for others in his heart. And now I must wonder if holiday parades in my city are safe.

I serve families from marginalized communities, and gun violence is no stranger to my practice in Orlando. Ive seen a teen following up after hospitalization for multiple gunshot wounds, suffering from post-traumatic stress and trying to cope with the grief of losing a friend to gun violence.

Another teen, whose life was full of adversity and who suffered mental illness and substance use, shot and killed his caregiver in a fit of rage. I have seen siblings experiencing domestic violence that led to the death of their mother, who was shot by their father.

These children and families will never be the same. Gun violence now is the leading cause of death in children in the U.S. We must remember that these deaths are preventable, and Congress should act now. I am a gun owner, but my right to bear arms should never supersede the rights of children and families to be safe from gun violence in schools, while shopping, or while attending a special occasion.

So, I ask, pray and plead: Please act now and pass gun laws that can save lives.
A 2024 ticket of former Vice President Mike Pence and Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney might just be the thing that saves the Republican Party and our republic.

Since Donald Trumps descent on the golden escalator in 2015, there have been far too many missed offramps for Republican officials who did not want Trump to be the GOP presidential candidate in 2016. Next year might just be the last one of those offramps. A Pence-Cheney ticket would restore trust in Americas democratic institutions and begin the strengthening of the political party structure within the GOP.

Debating whether Trumps popularity is waning within the partys voter base is futile. Trumps approval is not decreasing in any meaningful way and, for the purposes of this argument, it doesnt really matter. This is about party elites finally taking back control of their party from their radical constituents. Will they do it? Probably not because theyre too afraid, but heres an assertion for how and why they should.

The Republican Party elites and party bosses missed their window to take Trump out in 2016. Its not that they didnt know what would happen. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina tweeted on May 3, 2016: If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed  and we will deserve it. Graham had the foresight to know what would happen if the Republican base voter took control of the party.

Republicans deserve to be taught a lesson and be punished electorally for putting party over country, but that doesnt seem likely. Many key statewide elections will undoubtedly go the GOPs way in key gubernatorial and secretary of state races. And many of those Republican winners may be untrustworthy with the keys to our democracy.

Republicans state that while they may not have liked Trumps tweets, they liked his policies. A Pence-Cheney ticket would provide stable leadership along with traditional Republican values and policies.

On June 16, conservative Judge J. Michael Luttig testified before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, saying, Donald Trump and his allies are a clear and present danger to American democracy. To this very day, the former president, his allies and supporters, pledge that in the presidential election of 2024, if the former president or his anointed successor  were to lose that election, that they would attempt to overturn that 2024 election in the same way that they attempted to overturn the 2020 election.

While a clear and present danger to American democracy was the takeaway headline, what Luttig wrote in his written testimony was even more powerful for my argument. Luttig emphasized Republican leaderships need to go first in prioritizing the conservation of Americas democracy. To end these wars that are draining the lifeblood from our country, a critical mass of our two parties political leaders is needed. This number needs to include a critical mass of leaders from the former presidents political party.

Many state parties have been infiltrated by Trumpian officials. But certainly there are plenty of silent, establishment Republicans in each state as well. These elites need to be honest about Trumps ongoing threat and act responsibly. This is the critical mass that Luttig references. If the Republican Party is going to save itself, it must act ahead of 2024. If not, I believe, its RIP GOP.

Pence and Cheney are not particularly popular with the Trumpian base of Republican voters. Some, as we are learning, even wanted Pence to die by hanging from a gallows for not having overturned a free and fair election. That said, Virginia showed the rest of the Republican establishment the way to win with sane candidates. Virginia bypassed the traditional state-run Republican primary in 2021 and opted for an unassembled convention. About 30,000 pre-registered Republicans voted at about 40 sites across the commonwealth. By bypassing the primary, traditionalist conservative Glenn Youngkin won the GOP nomination for Virginia governor. He then went on to beat Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe.

Many consider Pence to have been too quiet during the Jan. 6 select committee hearings. I wanted him to testify. But despite enormous pressure while he was in office, Pence maintained his commitment to the oath he swore to the Constitution. I, for one, will be forever grateful for that.

Cheney also continues to reassert her allegiance to the Constitution. She told an audience during a Wyoming debate: We are now embracing a cult of personality. I wont be part of that, and I will always stand for my oath and stand for the truth.

All Americans, no matter their party affiliation, should demand that candidates seeking the highest office in the land put the Constitution and the rule of law above all.

Given the alternative of either Trump or Ron DeSantis versus Pence, theres no contest in my view. Pence might not be a first choice, but he is a safe choice for our democracy.
TWIN FALLS  The school district is exploring ways to provide armed security at elementary schools.

The Twin Falls School District, in collaboration with the Twin Falls Police Department, utilizes armed school resource officers at all secondary schools.

It is imperative that we provide a safe learning environment for all students, Superintendent Brady Dickinson said. Adding armed security at every school along with additional security measures are critical for safe and secure schools.

Each officer is also assigned to a few elementary schools where they check in from time to time and visit as requested by administrators.

Given recent events, the district has prioritized increasing security at elementary schools. The conversation around adding increased security at elementary schools has been in the works for some time and district administrators presented the information they have gathered at the July 11 school board meeting.

The board will have additional time to review and discuss the proposal at the July 20 school board work session. If accepted, the new positions would go into effect for the 2022-23 school year.

The district plan involves contracting for trained security personnel at elementary schools who will be armed and who will work in collaboration with the SROs provided in part by the city police department.

The district has an influx of federal funds which makes this possible for this coming year. In order to be sustainable, the cost to maintain the 10 security members, however, will have to be considered during the next supplemental levy cycle coming up in March 2023.
In celebration of the 180-year anniversary of the iconic house of Faberge, a new capsule collection has launched, and is set to be embraced by modern day collectors and enthusiasts.

The 180-year anniversary capsule collection comprises the Colours of Love Rose Gold Diamond and Ruby Fluted 180 Egg Pendant and 180 Limited-Edition Rose Gold and Ruby Mini Fluted 180 Egg Objets. Both creations are crafted from 18k rose gold and feature responsibly sourced Gemfields Mozambican rubies.

The first Faberge jewellery boutique, a basement shop along the citys most fashionable street in St Petersburg, was opened by Gustav Faberge in 1842. In 1882, Peter Carl Faberge took over his fathers jewellery business and, together with his brother Agathon, he quickly transformed it into an international phenomenon that has set the jewellery world alight. The success of the two brothers was in changing the nature of the business and evolving it into the most prominent jeweller across Europe. Through his artistic use of materials and colours, Faberge impressed audiences around the world by fusing engineering with creativity.

Artist jeweller

Faberge quickly gained the admiration of royals, aristocrats and fashionable clientele across the globe and officially became known as the artist jeweller. His collections ranged from ingenious objet darts, flower studies and small gifts to colourful jewellery using an innovative array of gemstones and colourful enamel that were brought to life, often using the age-old tradition of guilloche enamel. Today, these are treasured in the worlds leading museums and private collections.

The craftsmanship of all Faberge creations was, and still is, of the very finest standard. This formula of design and craftsmanship has always made Faberge pieces so desirable: the ultimate objects to own and the gifts of choice.

Nearly two centuries later, and Faberge still prevails. The 180-year capsule collection takes its inspiration from fluted gold creations in the Faberge archive, a technique for which Peter Carl Faberge was renowned, and which featured heavily in his early works of art.

Trademark style

The gold fluting decoration is considered his trademark style, seen in many of Faberges exquisite pre-1917 pieces, which ranged from jewellery to picture frames, cigarette cases and other objets d'art. It can also be seen in modern day creations, including the popular Colours of Love fluted rings.

Faberge has always been known for surprising audiences with the unexpected. With a height of 62 mm and a diameter of just 35 mm, the Limited-Edition Rose Gold & Ruby Mini Fluted 180 Egg Objet fits in the palm of your hand  a miniature masterpiece.

The artful fluting brings out the natural beauty of the 18k rose gold, by creating curved surfaces and mixed levels that create contrasting light and shadow. The fluting is arranged in a radial pattern which creates a sense of energy and joy, like the rays of the sun. At the centre on both sides of the egg is a glowing cabochon ruby, responsibly sourced from Gemfields Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique.

Gemfields rubies

The rubies have been selected for their exceptional colour, as well as for their symbolism  rubies long being associated with passion, prosperity and protection. A delicate row of smaller Gemfields rubies adds subtle texture and sparkle to the piece, separating the two radial patterns around the circumference. In a playful twist, the egg can be removed from its base.

The objet reflects the colours of the environment around it, as gold is a highly reflective material. When designing the objet, this reflectivity was carefully taken into consideration by Faberges Head Designer, Liisa Tallgren, since this would have a significant impact on the overall appearance of the finished piece. A highly polished, smoothly curved or flat surface would have reflected like a mirror, resulting in a restless and discontinuous look.

However, the engraving and texture on this piece distributes light and shadow evenly across the surface, creating a sense of continuity and harmony. The low points reflect the gold material itself, creating a beautiful golden glow. With 180 numbered pieces being made in commemoration, these objets are destined to be collectors items and future heirlooms.

Also launching to celebrate this special moment is the Colours of Love Rose Gold Diamond & Ruby 180 Fluted Egg Pendant. With uniform vertical fluting around the eggs circumference, to create a tactile surface, this piece perfectly complements the egg objet. A Gemfields Mozambican ruby sits prettily on the base of the egg, radiating a pop of colour when worn. A row of white diamonds is set on the bail for added sparkle.

Responsible sourcing

Gemfields gemstones are mined in Africa; rubies from Mozambique and emeralds from Zambia. Responsible sourcing for Gemfields means implementing industry-leading policies and practices across operations, transparency in the auction sales process, an active role in working groups to modernise the coloured gemstone sector, projects to improve health, education and livelihoods for the communities around the mines and conservation efforts to protect Africas great wildlife and biodiversity.

Liisa Tallgren, Head of Design at Faberge, says of the collection: I'm very proud and grateful to have the chance to continue the legacy started by Gustav Faberge 180 years ago, and continued by his son Peter Carl Faberge. Peter Carls works of art still fascinate today, and our exciting challenge is to create pieces that have that charm and romance, but with a modern edge. Peter Carl Faberge and his goldsmiths knew how to bring out the natural beauty of the materials they were using. They textured metal with chasing, engraving, beading and fluting, which he and his workmasters so skillfully used to enchant everything from picture frames to egg objets. The Third Imperial Egg features fluting most prominently and is a brilliant example of how Faberge creations are tastefully intricate and not over the top.-- TradeArabia News Service
A Bassett woman charged with four counts of attempted aggravated murder of a law enforcement officer was denied bond on Monday, and a competency and sanity evaluation was ordered.

Heather L. Hart, 22, of 695 Pine Valley Drive in Bassett, appeared before Henry County General District Court Judge Stephanie Vipperman 19 days after she allegedly shot at four Henry County officers who had responded to a caller who claimed Hart was running through the house with a gun.

A criminal complaint on file in the Henry County General District Court Clerks Office by Investigator Michael Wagoner states someone called the 911 Communications Center on June 22 saying that there was a mental subject with a gun at 695 Pine Valley Drive in Bassett.

Sgt. S. Munn and deputies J. Craig, A. Davis and J. Arms parked away from the house and were walking up to the residence the they heard two gunshots, Wagoner wrote in the complaint.

Munn, Davis and Arms found cover behind their vehicles, but Craig realized as he was running that he was too far away, so he laid on the ground, Wagoner wrote. While lying on the ground he heard two gunshots fired by a female in the direction of all of the four deputies.

Craig said he was shot at by Heather Hart four times as he remained behind his patrol car for cover and heard several more shots from the direction of the female, wrote Wagoner.

Craig and Munn said they heard a total of six shots before the Henry County S.W.A.T. Team arrived and located Hart in a wooded area where Craig had seen her, Wagoner wrote.

The complaint noted that Investigator Ben Whitlock took Hart into custody, but did not make clear whether Hart surrendered right away or confronted Whitlock in any way prior to being arrested.

Whitlock located and seized a Smith and Wesson 9mm gun in the back of Harts pants, wrote Wagoner.

A release from the Henry County Sheriffs Office said the call to the 911 Center occurred around 9:20 p.m. and Hart was arrested at approximately 11 p.m.

Harts file at the clerks office indicated that Michael Nicholas, Harts attorney, planned to appeal the denial of bond in Henry County Circuit Court.

If convicted, Hart could be sentenced to 20 years to life in prison on each charge and fined up to $100,000.

Hart is due back in Henry County General District Court on Aug. 15.
RICHMOND  A Richmond judge on Monday revoked bond for one of two defendants charged with gun offenses in connection with an alleged mass shooting that police said was planned July 4 at Dogwood Dell.

In a joint agreement signed by both the prosecution and defense, Richmond Circuit Judge Claire Cardwell revoked a $15,000 bond that had been granted to Julio Alvarado-Dubon on July 6.

Mondays hearing was scheduled after Richmond prosecutors appealed the bond granted by Richmond General District Court Judge David Hicks.

In response to a question from the Circuit Judge Cardwell, defense attorney Jose Aponte confirmed that U.S immigration authorities last week placed federal detainers on both suspects.

Immigration Customs and Enforcement said both men are from Guatemala and were illegally residing in the U.S.

In a separate hearing Monday in Richmond General District Court-Manchester, the second defendant, Rolman Balcarcel Ac, was briefly arraigned via video from Richmond Jail. It was his first appearance in a Richmond courtroom since he was arrested in Albemarle County.

His next hearing date was set for Aug. 3.

Both men are charged with possession of a firearm as a non-citizen.

Police on July 6 said they thwarted a potential mass shooting on Independence Day in Richmond. The announcement came two days after a gunman opened fire in a parade in suburban Chicago, killing seven.
McDowell County will get approximately $3.78 million over a period of 18 years from the massive opioid lawsuit settlement and the first payment of $145,375 has already been received.

During the regular meeting on Monday, the McDowell County Board of Commissioners heard an update about the opioid lawsuit settlement from Harold Seagle, the local coordinating attorney for the multi-state litigation.

McDowell County officials were formally notified about the local lawsuit settlement money in a Tuesday, June 21, letter from state Attorney General Josh Stein.

I am pleased to share an important update in our shared fight against the opioid epidemic, Stein wrote to McDowell officials. The first payments of the historic $26 billion opioid settlement are being delivered to North Carolinas local governments this month, including approximately $145,375 to McDowell County. Later this summer, McDowell County will receive an additional payment totaling approximately $319,708. Over the life of the settlement, McDowell County will receive approximately $3,783,884 . These funds represent an incredible opportunity for us to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic in North Carolina.

The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug epidemic in American history, and tragically it is raging worse than ever. More than 20,000 North Carolinians have lost their lives to opioid overdoses. In 2020, at least 347 people died from an overdose across the mountains, including eight in McDowell County. Still more are struggling with the disease of opioid use disorder, and many thousands more family members and friends live in fear that their loved one will succumb to this disease. Opioids have left a trail of death, destruction, and damaged families and communities in their wake all across North Carolina.

The N.C. Attorney Generals office worked cooperatively with the lawyers hired by thousands of counties and municipalities across the United States pursuing similar goals. Through the settlement with the drug distributors  Cardinal, Mckesson, and AmerisourceBergen and Johnson & Johnson  the total amount is $26 billion so far, according to Steins letter.

The first settlement payment of $145,375 was made recently to McDowell County. Danny Hampton and Angela Grubb from the Substance Use Task Force will come before the commissioners in a couple of months to discuss the recommended use of this money.

During Mondays meeting, Seagle talked to the commissioners about what he called the biggest civil action in history. This lawsuit against the drug companies has involved 73 counties, including McDowell.

The civil action is ongoing too. There are 20 more defendants in this lawsuit, including chain pharmacies like Walmart, CVS and Walgreens, said Seagle.

He commended the McDowell commissioners for taking part in this massive legal action against the companies that sold and distributed products that have resulted in addiction for millions. If the commissioners had not had the courage to walk into this fight, nothing would have been done, he added.

Nothing changes the behavior of these companies, said Seagle. $26 billion is a lot of money. You had the courage to step up and do something when the federal government would not do anything.

The commissioners will later receive recommendations on how to best use this money.

Under the advice of our good county attorney and our good county manager, we jumped aboard, said Commission Chairman Tony Brown. We as a board are proud we are a part of it.
Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh told the BBC in an interview the kingdom has never considered Iran a threat to its national security, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports.

We have never looked at Iran as a source of threats to our national security, al Khasawneh said.

He also is seeking to establish good relations with Tehran. Jordan has substantial reservations about the way Iran is dealing with some regional files.

Jordan seeks to reach a formula of dialogue with Iran based on relations of neighbourliness, al-Khasawneh said. Iraqi officials, MEMO notes, have recently revealed that Baghdad has hosted talks between Jordan and Iran to normalize their relations. Jordan and Iran fell apart after the Jordanian support to Iraq during its war with Tehran in the 1980s.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will launch an office in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, following an agreement signed with the Gulf country on Monday.

The agreement, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported, was signed by Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and by Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Abu Dhabi.

The agreement aims to strengthen bilateral cooperation and partnership, the agency added. We cherish the distinguished relations and strengthened cooperation we have with the ICRC. The agreement to establish an office for the Committee in the UAE will contribute to achieving the desired goals in terms of relief work, reaching the needy and using modern technologies in this field, in light of the great challenges currently facing relief work in many regions of the world, Al Hashemy said.

The UAE plays an important role and is a key partner of the ICRC. The agreement to establish an ICRC office in the UAE will help strengthen our close cooperation, and we are grateful for the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in this regard, Maurer said.

The ICRC is proud to have the UAE as part of our donor support group, and we are committed to continuing to strengthen our partnership in providing assistance to people affected by crises.
The organizers of the sit-ins launched ten days ago in Khartoum to force the army to return power to civilians, announced Monday to have dismantled two of their four camps in the Sudanese capital.

On June 30, a symbolic day in Sudan since it marks the anniversary in 1989 of the coup of dictator Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown 30 years later in April 2019 under pressure from the street, security forces killed nine anti-power protesters, according to pro-democracy doctors.

The next day, shocked by the violence of the repression, the activists declared unlimited sit-ins to finish with the military.

And they set up four camps: two in central Khartoum, one in the northwestern suburb of Omdurman and one in the northeastern suburb of Khartoum North.

After four days of mobilization, General Abdelfattah al-Burhane, the author of a putsch in October 2021 that dislodged civilians and interrupted the transition to democracy, announced that he wanted to give way to a civilian government. Without convincing the street, which saw it as a tactic to impose fallible and vested civilians on the army and to maintain a Supreme Council of the Armed Forces alongside the government, which could keep the upper hand on politics and the economy.

Parties, trade unions and civil society organizations said they were organizing to push the military off the stage. And the protesters said they would not leave until a civilian-only government is announced.

But on Monday, as Sudanese celebrated the Muslim holiday of Adha, the Omdurman resistance committees announced that they were breaking camp in their area.

The resistance committees are neighborhood groups that have been organizing protests since the 25 October coup. They are the most listened-to force in the street and had previously criticized the civilian parties for compromising by agreeing to govern hand in hand with the military.
Armed men laid siege on Sunday 10 July to the town of Barsalogho, 45 kilometres north of Kaya, forcing the army to retreat. But the arrival of the air force and reinforcements enabled the attackers to be repelled. Five civilians, including a child, were killed, soldiers were wounded and a large quantity of equipment was taken away or destroyed by the attackers. On Monday, the attackers returned to the area before being repulsed a second time. This attack in the very strategic commune of Barsalogho is worrying the populations of the region, especially those of Kaya.

According to witnesses, the armed men who broke into Barsalogho for a second time had music equipment on their motorbikes. It is with this equipment that they are certainly preaching, said our source.

The assailants surrounded the commune and started shooting. But the arrival of the defence and security forces as reinforcements enabled them to be repelled. Everyone is trying to get back to the town of Kaya, some 40km away, according to our source.

If Barsalogho gives way, the last remaining villages in the area are bound to be emptied. These villages cannot resist. Fear reigns in Barsalogho and the town of Kaya is threatened by this new attack, says a local resident. According to a security source, all localities are threatened.

Kaya is undoubtedly in the eye of the storm. The whole north of the town is bushland and the shifting terrain makes it difficult to control and defend, says this specialist. He explains that even if these armed groups are capable of creating unrest, it will be very difficult for them to take over a large town in the long term.
Some 50 Ivorian soldiers who arrived at Bamako airport on Sunday on a special flight were still being held for verification on Monday, a Malian police official and an Ivorian army official said.

The 49 unarmed Ivorian soldiers arrived at Bamako airport on Sunday by a special flight and had no mission orders. We have warned the national authorities. They are currently being held for verification, a police official at Bamako airport said Monday.

At first, it was thought that all these people would be taken to a gendarmerie camp to continue the investigations. But in the end, they are being held at Bamako airport, he added.

They have not been subjected to any degrading treatment, said an official at Bamako airport.

The news of the arrest of Ivorian soldiers began to spread on social networks on Sunday before going viral, with some accusing them of being mercenaries who had come to Mali to carry out a coup.

There were no arrests. They were taken to the gendarmerie school for checks, an Ivorian army official said.

The Ivorian soldiers were brought to Mali on the basis of an agreement to work at the logistics base of the German company Sahelian Aviation Services (SAS), according to an Ivorian diplomatic source. The information was confirmed by an official of the German company.

The group of Ivorian soldiers also includes Ivorian peacekeepers from the UN mission in Mali (Minusma) based in Mopti (centre) and Timbuktu (north), the Ivorian diplomat said.

When contacted, UNMISSA declined to comment. The 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested on Sunday at Bamako airport are considered as mercenaries by the Malian authorities, the transitional government spokesman, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, announced on Monday evening.

The transitional government has decided to refer this case to the competent judicial authorities, he added.
In this photo provided by the Shulgin Family Trust is Ann Shulgin at her home "The Farm," in Lafayette, Calif., in 1979. Shulgin, who together with her late husband, Alexander Shulgin, pioneered the use of psychedelic drugs in psychotherapy and co-wrote two books on the subject, died Saturday, July 9, 2022, at the age of 91. Credit: Alexander Shulgin/Shulgin Family Trust via AP

Ann Shulgin, who together with her late husband Alexander Shulgin pioneered the use of psychedelic drugs in psychotherapy and co-wrote two seminal books on the subject, has died at the age of 91.

Shulgin had been in ill health because of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, her daughter, Wendy Tucker, said. She died Saturday at "the farm," a sprawling San Francisco Bay Area residence she shared with her chemist husband until his death in 2014, surrounded by loved ones, Tucker said.

Shulgin had a deep understanding of Jungian psychoanalysis and collaborated with her husband, who in the 1970s rediscovered the MDMA compound, better known as ecstasy, and introduced it as a possible mental health treatment. The couple tested the substances on themselves and a small group of friends.

"He was the scientist, and I was the psychologist," Shulgin said of their partnership in a 2014 interview with The Associated Press. "He was a genius."

Born in New Zealand to an American diplomat and New Zealand mother, Shulgin grew up in different parts of the world. The family settled in San Francisco after her father's retirement. A professionally trained artist, Shulgin drew and painted all her life and worked as a medical transcriber.

In 1978, she met Alexander Shulgin, who created more than 200 chemical compounds for use in psychotherapy.

In this photo provided by the Shulgin Family Trust are Ann Shulgin and her husband, Alexander Shulgin, in 1979. Ann Shulgin, who together with her late husband pioneered the use of psychedelic drugs in psychotherapy and co-wrote two books on the subject, died Saturday, July 9, 2022, at the age of 91. Credit: Dale Gross/Shulgin Family Trust via AP

The couple's home, where Alexander Shulgin also had his lab, in Lafayette, California, about 22 miles (35 kilometers) east of San Francisco, for decades was a gathering place for students, teachers and those working with psychedelics.

Though she was not a professionally trained psychotherapist, "she was always the one who people talk to and you always felt like you could open up to her. She called herself a lay therapist," Tucker said.

The couple took copious notes of their experiences and of what they observed in others and co-wrote two books. PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story, which was published in 1991, and TiHKAL: The Continuation, published in 1997.

In PiHKAL, Shulgin wrote about her first experience with psychedelics when she was in her 20s.

"I saw something forming in the air, slightly above the level of my head. I thought that it was perhaps a few feet from me, then I realized I couldn't actually locate it in space at all. It was a moving spiral opening, up there in the cool air, and I knew it was a doorway to the other side of existence, that I could step through it if I wished to be finished with this particular life I was living, and that there was nothing threatening or menacing about it; in fact, it was completely friendly. I also knew that I had no intention of stepping through it because there was still a great deal I wanted to do in my life, and I intended to live long enough to get it all done. The lovely spiral door didn't beckon; it was just matter-of-factly there," she wrote.

Publishers were afraid to print their first book about MDMA so the couple, who were against ecstasy being used outside of therapy, self-published it because they wanted to share their experiences and knowledge with the world, Tucker said.

In this photo provided by Wendy Tucker, is Ann Shulgin at her home in Lafayette, Calif., on June 13, 2021. Shulgin, who together with her late husband, Alexander Shulgin, pioneered the use of psychedelic drugs in psychotherapy and co-wrote two books on the subject, died Saturday, July 9, 2022, at the age of 91. Credit: Courtesy of Wendy Tucker via AP

"They were the ones pushing to do all the PTSD work with veterans with MDMA because they saw people who had severe trauma could really break through. They were so brave to publish their work because that really opened the door and paved the way to all that is happening now," Tucker said.

In the U.S., several states have approved studying the potential medical use of psychedelics, which are still illegal under federal law. A string of cities have also decriminalized so-called magic mushrooms, and an explosion of investment money is flowing into the arena.

Experts say the research is promising for treating conditions ranging from PTSD to smoking addiction, but caution that some serious risks remain, especially for those with certain mental health conditions.

"We lost years and years of research ability because of the attitude and fears around psychedelics. But we wouldn't be where we are if it wasn't for Ann and Sasha," she added.

Shulgin is survived by four children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A memorial is being planned for later in the year.

Explore further The struggle to define psychedelics

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The White House is weighing whether to offer a second COVID booster shot to American adults under 50.

The new push comes in response to the latest, highly contagious Omicron variants, which have increased hospitalization rates and raised new concerns about waning immunity in people who were vaccinated six or more months ago.

Expanding eligibility requirements for a fourth dose of the vaccine would require regulatory approval. Discussions with both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are slated for the near future, The New York Times reported.

In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved second booster shots for adults 50 and older, along with immunocompromised young adults. But Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser, has forcefully argued that all younger adults should be eligible for a second booster.

Dr. Ashkish Jha, the White House coordinator for the pandemic response, is also in favor of the approach, the Times reported.

In an interview on Monday, Fauci said that while the clinical data to support a second booster shot for those under age 50 is not there, many in this age group got their last booster shot six or more months ago, and that their immunity is likely dwindling.

The final decision is up to the FDA and the CDC, but Fauci said, "I think there should be flexibility and permissiveness in at least allowing" a second booster for younger adults.

But others in the federal government are still waiting on more data to justify the decision, the Times reported. Some argue that the White House isn't working hard enough to persuade Americans to accept the original round of COVID-19 vaccines, rather than pushing to boost immunity among groups that have already received at least one dose and are more protected.

Others worry that in the attempt to promote booster shots now, new Omicron-specific booster shots will be a tough sell in the fall. On June 28, the FDA recommended that the vaccines be redesigned for the latest fast-spreading Omicron variants of the disease, BA.4 and BA.5. As of July 2, the variants accounted for just over 70% of all U.S. infections.

Some experts have cautioned against a second booster shot for more Americans for different reasons.

Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA's vaccine advisory panel, has criticized federal officials for what he has called "booster mania."

"I do think [a second booster shot] does make sense for certain groups, but a universal boosting strategy doesn't make sense," Offit told the Washington Post on Monday, citing data showing that three doses of an mRNA vaccine provided long-lasting protection against severe disease.

"At some level, we're going to have to get used to mild illness and moderate illness as part of this viruswhich is going to be with us for the rest of my life, the rest of my children's lives, the rest of their children's lives," he said.

But there's another potential problem: Offit warned that repeatedly administering the same vaccine could lead to a phenomenon known as "imprinting," where a person's immune system develops a highly targeted response to earlier versions of a virus and fails to adapt to new variants.

"As you continue to boost with the same ancestral strain, you lock yourself into that response," Offit explained. "Should there ever be a virus that is truly resistant to protection against serious illness  you need to start all over again and give that vaccine."

The White House plans to hold a briefing Tuesday on the threats posed by the new variants, which have driven up hospitalization and death rates in Britain, France, Portugal, Belgium and Israel, the Times reported. Still, rates fall far below those seen last winter when the original Omicron variant took over the world.

Explore further White House urges caution on COVID variants, pushes boosters

More information: For the latest on the availability of For the latest on the availability of booster shots , check out the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Copyright  2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Bahrain's Oil and Gas Holding Company (nogaholding) and its operating companies have kicked off the summer internship program, Empower.

The programme, which will run untill August, has been designed to provide university students with hands-on working experience.

Empower will enable around 200 undergraduates to experience real work situations at nogaholding and some of the major companies within its portfolio, including, Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), Bahrain Aviation Fuelling Company (Bafco), Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Company (Asry), Tatweer Petroleum, Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas) and Gulf Petrochemicals Industries Company (GPIC).

The programme focuses on equipping a new generation of workers with the necessary knowledge to not only participate, but lead through innovation in the oil and gas industry, said the statement from nogaholding.

The participants will be assigned to different functions within each company in line with their chosen university major while serving to complete their graduation requirements, it stated.

On the new programme, Group CEO Mark Thomas said: "nogaholding aims to inspire the next generation of youth in the kingdom. As one of the most important assets to the kingdom, students play an integral role in shaping the future of the industry, and our goal is to provide them with challenging opportunities to test and ultimately enhance their skills."

"Empower will help build the business and technical skills of our youth, enabling them to become future industry leaders," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Geographical heat maps of CS incidence, female poverty rate and county classification in California. Credit: Journal of Perinatology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41372-022-01445-y

Congenital syphilis (CS) is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection that passes from a mother to her child during pregnancy or childbirth. In up to 40% of cases, it may lead to the death of the developing baby in utero or in infancy.

Congenital syphilis rates in California continue to rise each year. A new UC Davis Health study finds that California residents living in small-to-medium counties had higher rates of CS infection and female poverty and lower education levels compared to those in large, metropolitan counties. The study also linked CS infection rates to higher female poverty and lower female education levels.

The study, published in the Journal of Perinatology, is the first to investigate rural-urban differences in CS infection in California, a state experiencing a disproportionate burden of CS cases.

"These findings suggest an urgent need for improved access to prenatal treatment services and programs in California's small-to-medium metro counties with relatively high levels of poverty or low levels of education," said Juliet Fang, the study's lead author.

California's alarming rise in congenital syphilis cases

The California Department of Public Health reports that CS cases in California increased by nearly 900% from 2012 to 2018.

The study reviewed data for all 58 California counties from the years 2019 and 2020. Data on CS incidence per 100,000 live births were collected from the California Department of Public Health. Socioeconomic data were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. These include county populations, female poverty rates (defined by the number of females living under the poverty threshold per 100,000 population), female health insurance coverage, education levels and English-language speaking ability.

California counties were divided into three categories based on population:

Rural (counties with a population of fewer than 50,000 residents) Small-to-medium (counties with a population of 50,000 to 999,999 residents) Large metropolitan (counties with 1 million or more residents)

In 2019, 440 CS cases (99.9 cases per 100,000 live births) were reported in California. Small-to-medium metro counties reported statistically higher CS incidence rates than large metro counties in 2019. The counties with the highest CS incidence rates were Kern, San Joaquin and Fresno, with 297.5, 297 and 277.6 CS cases per 100,000 live births, respectively.

From 2014-2019, the CS incidence per 100,000 live births generally increased in each county. The counties with the highest CS incidence rates (Kern, San Joaquin, Fresno) make up the dominant agricultural region of California's Central Valley. The Central Valley also had the highest poverty rates in the state.

The study found statistically significant adjusted associations of CS infection rates with the number of women in poverty and the number not graduating high school. Counties with relatively higher numbers of high-school graduates had much lower incidences of CS.

"The Central Valley region was identified as needing urgent public health action to address the ongoing congenital syphilis crisis. Careful, targeted consideration of California's population in the small-to-moderate counties when implementing preventive strategies for congenital syphilis is strongly recommended based on the study's findings," Fang said.

Improved access to prenatal services is needed

The study's researchers recommend that prenatal health care providers in California's small-to-medium counties strictly adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s recommendations. They call for identifying and treating mothers with syphilis during the initial prenatal visit, during the third trimester and at delivery. If perinatal syphilis infection is detected at any of these three points, proper treatment and partner screening should follow.

The study's co-authors included Rona Silva, Daniel Tancredi, Kent Pinkerton and Deepika Sankaran of UC Davis Health.

Explore further Concerning rise in syphilis cases across Minnesota

More information: Juliet Fang et al, Examining associations in congenital syphilis infection and socioeconomic factors between California's small-to-medium and large metro counties, Journal of Perinatology (2022). Journal information: Journal of Perinatology Juliet Fang et al, Examining associations in congenital syphilis infection and socioeconomic factors between California's small-to-medium and large metro counties,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41372-022-01445-y
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Fresh surges of COVID infections show the pandemic is nowhere near over, the World Health Organization's chief lamented Tuesday, warning that the virus is running free.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was worried that case numbers were shooting up, putting more strain on health systems and workers.

The number of COVID cases reported to the WHO increased 30 percent in the past two weeks, driven by sub-variants of the Omicron strain and the lifting of control measures.

"New waves of the virus demonstrate again that COVID-19 is nowhere near over. As the virus pushes at us, we must push back," he insisted.

He told a news conference that as transmission increases, governments must also deploy tried-and-tested measures like mask-wearing and improving ventilation.

"Sub-variants of Omicron, like BA.4 and BA.5, continue to drive waves of cases, hospitalization and death around the world," Tedros said.

"Surveillance has reduced significantlyincluding testing and sequencingmaking it increasingly difficult to assess the impact of variants on transmission, disease characteristics, and the effectiveness of counter-measures."

Furthermore, tests, treatments and vaccines are not being deployed effectively.

"The virus is running freely and countries are not effectively managing the disease burden based on their capacity," he said, both in terms of hospitalization of acute cases and the expanding number of people with Long COVID.

'Uncertain and unpredictable'

The WHO's COVID-19 emergency committee met Friday via video-conference and determined the pandemic remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern the highest alarm the WHO can sound.

WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told the meeting recent changes in testing policies were hindering the detection of cases and the monitoring of virus evolution.

The committee stressed the need to reduce transmission as the implications of a pandemic caused by a new respiratory virus would not be fully understood, the WHO said in a statement Monday.

The group voiced concern over steep reductions in testing, resulting in reduced surveillance and genomic sequencing.

"This impedes assessments of currently circulating and emerging variants of the virus," the WHO said, feeding the inability to interpret trends in transmission.

The committee said the trajectory of virus evolution and the characteristics of emerging variants remained "uncertain and unpredictable".

It said the absence of measures to reduce transmission increasing the likelihood of "new, fitter variants emerging, with different degrees of virulence, transmissibility, and immune escape potential".

Booster boost

Meanwhile the WHO's European office recommended a second booster shot of a COVID vaccine for older people and vulnerable groups.

COVID cases have been rising sharply since the end of May around most of Europe.

The call followed the EU's health and medicine agencies recommendation on Monday of a second booster shot for people over 60 years old.

Coronavirus cases have risen 57 percent in Moscow over the past week, the Russian capital's health authorities said.

"We recommend that you wear a mask in public places because the new Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 spread more rapidly from person to person," Moscow social services wrote on Telegram.

And hundreds of thousands of people were under lockdown in a small Chinese city after just one case of COVID-19 was detected, as Beijing's strict no-tolerance virus strategy showed no sign of abating.

The steelmaking hub of Wugang in Henan province announced three days of "closed control".

None of the city's 320,000 people are allowed outside their homes until midday Thursday. Local authorities were to deliver basic necessities.

China is the last major economy glued to a zero-COVID policy, crushing new outbreaks with snap lockdowns, forced quarantines and onerous travel curbs despite mounting public fatigue and damage to the economy.

Explore further WHO experts insist COVID still a global emergency

 2022 AFP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Thousands of people experiencing the debilitating symptoms of long COVID are traveling abroad to seek costly but unproven treatments such as "blood washing," according to an investigation carried out by The BMJ and ITV News and released today.

Patients are traveling to private clinics in Cyprus, Germany and Switzerland for apheresisa blood filtering treatment normally used for patients with lipid disorders that have not responded to drugsand anti-clotting therapy.

But experts question whether these invasive therapies should be offered without sufficient evidence.

As part of the investigation, ITV News visited a private clinic in Cyprus and spoke to its co-founder Marcus Klotz and several patients.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that between 10% and 20% of patients suffer symptoms for at least two months after an acute COVID-19 infectiona phenomenon commonly known as long COVID.

According to the latest official data, as of May 1, there were nearly two million people in the UK self-reporting long COVID symptoms, which can include fatigue, muscle weakness, breathing and sleep difficulties, memory problems, anxiety or depression, chest pains, and loss of smell or taste.

Currently, there is no internationally agreed treatment pathway for the condition.

Apheresis involves needles being put into each arm and the blood is passed over a filter, separating the red blood cells from the plasma. The plasma is filtered before being recombined with the red blood cells and returned to the body via a different vein.

The investigation includes details of people who have tried the treatment, such as Gitte Boumeester, a trainee psychiatrist in Almelo, the Netherlands, who, after catching the virus, developed severe long COVID symptoms. She was forced to quit her job in November 2021, after two failed attempts to go back to work.

Boumeester learned of the "blood-washing" treatment of apheresis from a Facebook group for long COVID patients.

After visiting The Long COVID Center in Cyprus to receive the treatment, at a cost of more than 50,000 (42,376), she returned home with no improvement to her symptoms. She received six rounds of apheresis, as well as nine rounds of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and an intravenous vitamin drip at the private Poseidonia clinic, next door to the Center.

Boumeester was asked to sign a consent form at the Long COVID Center before undergoing apheresis, which lawyers and clinicians described as inadequate.

She was also advised to buy hydroxychloroquine as an early treatment package in case she was reinfected with COVID-19, despite a Cochrane review published in March 2021 concluding that it is "unlikely" the drug has a benefit in the prevention of COVID-19.

Marcus Klotz, co-founder of the Long COVID Center told The BMJ, "We as a clinic neither advertise, nor promote. We accept patients that have microcirculation issues and want to be treated with HELP apheresisIf a patient needs a prescription, it is individually assessed by our doctor or the patient is referred to other specialized doctors where needed."

A spokesperson for the Poseidonia clinic said all treatments offered are "always based on medical and clinical evaluation by our doctors and clinical nutritionist, diagnosis via blood tests with lab follow ups as per good medical practice."

While some doctors and researchers believe apheresis and anticoagulation drugs may be promising treatments for long COVID, others worry desperate patients are spending life-changing sums on invasive, unproven treatments.

Shamil Haroon, clinical lecturer in primary care at the University of Birmingham and a researcher on the Therapies for Long COVID in Non-hospitalized patients (TLC) trial, believes such "experimental" treatment should only be done in the context of a clinical trial.

"It's unsurprising that people who were previously highly functioning, who are now debilitated, can't work, can't financially support themselves, would seek treatments elsewhere," he says.

"It's a completely rational response to a situation like this. But people could potentially go bankrupt accessing these treatments, for which there is limited to no evidence of effectiveness."

In February of last year, Dr. Beate Jaeger, an internal medicine doctor, began treating long COVID patients with apheresis at her clinic in Mulheim, Germany, after reading reports that COVID causes issues with blood clotting. She told The BMJ she has now treated thousands in her clinic, with success stories spreading on social media and by word of mouth.

Jaeger accepts that the treatment is experimental for long COVID, but said trials take too long when the pandemic has left patients desperately ill.

The North Rhine Medical Association, which examines whether doctors have violated their professional code of conduct, told The BMJ it has not received any complaints about Jaeger or her clinic from patients or other organizations but will investigate if it does.

The investigation also found that apheresis and associated travel costs are so expensive that patients are setting up fundraising pages on websites like GoFundMe in order to raise the money.

Chris Witham, a 45-year-old businessman and long COVID sufferer from Bournemouth who spent around 7,000 on apheresis treatment (including travel and accommodation costs) in Kempten, Germany, last year, says, "I'd have sold my house and given it away to get better, without a second thought."

Existing research has suggested that "microclots" present in the plasma of people with long COVID could be responsible for long COVID symptoms. But experts contacted by The BMJ and ITV News said more research is needed to understand how microclots form and whether they are causing long COVID symptoms.

Others are also concerned about the lack of follow up care for patients when they leave clinics after being prescribed anticoagulation drugs.

Robert Ariens, professor of vascular biology at the University of Leeds School of Medicine, says, "They [microclots] may be a biomarker for disease, but how do we know they are causal?"

He believes the clinics offering apheresis and anticoagulation therapy are prematurely providing treatment based on a hypothesis that needs more scientific research.

"If we don't know the mechanisms by which the microclots form and whether or not they are causative of disease, it seems premature to design a treatment to take the microclots away, as both apheresis and triple anticoagulation are not without risks, the obvious one being bleeding," he adds.

Explore further Study finds few COVID-19 patients get rebound symptoms after Paxlovid treatment

More information: Long covid patients travel abroad for expensive and experimental "blood-washing" treatment, The BMJ (2022). Journal information: British Medical Journal (BMJ) Long covid patients travel abroad for expensive and experimental "blood-washing" treatment,(2022). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.o1671
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The World Health Organization's European office on Tuesday recommended a second booster shot of a COVID vaccine for older people and vulnerable groups, as infections soar.

The call followed the EU's health and medicine agencies recommendation on Monday of a second booster shot for people over 60 years old.

"The updated interim recommendations on vaccination strategy come as cases continue to rise across the European Region," Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said in a statement.

Given the rise of infections, the health body backed "a second booster dose to moderately and severely immuno-compromised individuals aged five years and above and their close contacts."

It also said member states should "consider offering a second booster dose to specific at-risk groups, including older adults, health care workers and pregnant women."

Meanwhile Kluge stressed that "everyone who is eligible with the recommended number of primary doses and the first booster dose must remain a priority across the European Region."

At the end of June, the WHO warned Europe was expected to see "high levels" of COVID-19 this summer, owing to the milder but more contagious subvariant BA.5, across the continent.

The summer periods of 2020 and 2021 saw an easing of cases in Europe, with infections peaking in winter.

According to WHO data, COVID cases have been rising sharply since the end of May around most of Europe.

In the WHO's European region53 countries and regions including several in Central Asia2,722,928 cases were recorded over the last seven days.

 2022 AFP
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

French health authorities said Tuesday they had confirmed a link between nitrates added to processed meat and colon cancer, dealing a blow to the country's prized ham and cured sausage industry.

The national food safety body Anses said its study of data published on the subject supported similar conclusions in 2015 from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Anses "recommends reducing consumption of the range of nitrates and nitrites by deliberately limiting exposure through food consumption", it said in a statement.

Nitrates are added to a range of food products to improve their shelf life and flavor, and to help give pork-based products their pink hue.

France is one of the world's biggest producers of cold cuts, known locally as "charcuterie", which are often consumed as snacks or with early evening drinks.

The government immediately announced that it would unveil an action plan to reduce the use of the additives later this year.

"It is about limiting their use to the strictly necessary," said a joint statement from the health and agricultural ministers. "The reduction must be done in a balanced way that guarantees food security for the consumer."

The 2015 WHO warning caused headlines around the world after the UN body's International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that processed meats should be classified as a group 1 carcinogen.

The warning applied to all processed meats, from the bacon eaten in large quantities in the US and Britain, to Italian salami, Spanish chorizo, German bratwurst and French charcuterie.

Anses said in its statement that reducing nitrates would result in increased risks of serious illnesses such as botulism, listeria or salmonella.

But these dangers could be managed by shorter best-before consumption dates and modified manufacturing processes, it added.

"Faced with the scientific facts, the political class must take action," campaign group Foodwatch, the League against Cancer and health-monitoring app Yuka said in a joint statement.

Explore further Report warns of cancer risk from chemicals used to cure processed meats

 2022 AFP
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

An international team of researchers led by UC Davis geneticist Suma Shankar has discovered a new gene implicated in a neurodevelopmental condition called DPH5-related diphthamide-deficiency syndrome. The syndrome is caused by DPH5 gene variants that may lead to embryonic death or profound neurodevelopmental delays.

Findings from their study were published in Genetics in Medicine.

"We are so excited about the novel gene discovery," said the lead author Suma Shankar, professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Ophthalmology and faculty at the UC Davis MIND Institute. Shankar is the director of Precision Genomics, Albert Rowe Endowed Chair in Genetics, and chief of Division of Genomic Medicine.

DPH5 is essential for protein biosynthesis. It belongs to a class of genes needed for the synthesis of diphthamide, a type of modified amino acid histidine, critical to ribosomal protein synthesis.

"We provide strong clinical, biochemical and functional evidence for DPH5 as a cause of embryonic death and major neural dysfunctions. Disruption to the work of DPH5 impacts multiple body systems and organs, including the heart," Shankar said.

Collaborations spark discoveries

UC Davis led this project, with collaborations from across the world. Scientists from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Massachusetts and California worked together to uncover this new gene.

The project started with an office visit. In 2018, Shankar saw a Syrian family with two kids showing severe neurodevelopmental delays in the precision genomics clinic. The parents who are blood related were interested in genetic testing to understand what was causing their kids' symptoms. The analysis showed one specific gene, DPH5 with a 'variant of uncertain significance."

Shankar posted the variant on the GeneMatcher website to try to find other families with DPH5 variants. The program identified two families: one in Massachusetts and the other in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Undiagnosed Disease Network Program had performed genome sequencing for the family in Massachusetts.

In total, the study discovered specific DPH5 variants in five kids showing neurodevelopmental delays. The youngest was 11 days old and the oldest was 10. Three were female and two were male. They had distinct head and facial features, profound disabilities, abnormalities in their hearts and feeding difficulties.

"We could say that the changes in the gene are likely disease-causing variants," Shankar said.

Model of human DPH5 variants and their interaction with eEF2. Credit: UC Davis

Developing a DPH5 mouse model

As soon as Shankar and the team found the gene variant in the first family, they started working on a targeted mouse model. In collaboration with the UC Davis Mouse Biology Program, they developed a model with an altered DPH5 gene mimicking changes found in the first family.

The DPH5 variant on both copies of the gene in the mouse model proved to be deadly. Only one mouse was born alive but it died 24 days later. It showed impaired growth, head and facial deformation, and multisystem dysfunction, similar to that in humans.

"We had to create several mouse models with several generations. Yet, we were able to develop just one very small mouse with distinct craniofacial features," Shankar said.

Testing the variant in human and yeast cells

The team also studied the effects and interactions of the DPH5 variants in human and yeast cells. Working with researchers at Roche in Germany, they found that DPH5 variants in human and yeast cells led to absent or low DPH5 functioning.

In addition, the team worked with Swedish experts to perform computer simulation modeling of the variants. The simulations showed altered DPH5 structure and disruption of its interaction with eEF2, a protein essential for other protein synthesis.

Research supporting family decision making

The study expands the knowledge on diphthamide-deficiency syndromes and diseases related to ribosomal protein production. In the era of precision medicine and targeted therapies, knowing the underlying genetic causes of the disease may impact the care of individuals with such neurodevelopmental delays.

"Now, we can start thinking about studies to better understand the physiology of the disease and to determine the function of the DPH5 gene," Shankar said.

The study showed that this is an autosomal recessive disorder. It means both parents must carry the gene mutation to have a child with a DPH5-related condition.

"Parents with DPH5 variants now know that the chance of having a child with the disorder is one out of four. They may elect to do prenatal genetic testing before or during pregnancy," Shankar said.

Explore further Scientists unravel mystery of rare neurodevelopmental disorder, provide definitive diagnoses to 21 families worldwide

More information: Suma P. Shankar et al, A novel DPH5-related diphthamide-deficiency syndrome causing embryonic lethality or profound neurodevelopmental disorder, Genetics in Medicine (2022). Journal information: Genetics in Medicine Suma P. Shankar et al, A novel DPH5-related diphthamide-deficiency syndrome causing embryonic lethality or profound neurodevelopmental disorder,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.gim.2022.03.014
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Researchers have uncovered how post-viral fatigue syndromes, including Long COVID, become life-changing diseases and why patients suffer frequent relapses.

Arising commonly from a viral infection, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), is known to cause brain-centered symptoms of neuroinflammation, loss of homeostasis, brain fog, lack of refreshing sleep, and poor response to even small stresses.

Long-COVID has similar effects on people and is believed to also be caused by neuroinflammation.

Lead author Emeritus Professor Warren Tate, of the University of Otago's Department of Biochemistry, says how these debilitating brain effects develop is poorly understood.

In a study published in Frontiers in Neurology, he and colleagues from Otago, Victoria University of Wellington and University of Technology Sydney, developed a unifying model to explain how the brain-centered symptoms of these diseases are sustained through a brain-body connection.

They propose that, following an initial viral infection or stressor event, the subsequent systemic pathology moves to the brain via neurovascular pathways or through a dysfunctional blood-brain barrier. This results in chronic neuroinflammation, leading to a sustained illness with chronic relapse recovery cycles.

The model proposes healing does not occur because a signal continuously cycles from the brain to the body, causing the patient to relapse.

The creation of this model is not only important for the "huge research effort ahead", but also to provide recognition for ME/CFS and Long COVID sufferers.

"These diseases are very closely related, and it is clear the biological basis of Long COVID is unequivocally connected to the original COVID infectionso there should no longer be any debate and doubt about the fact that post viral fatigue syndromes like ME/CFS are biologically based and involve much disturbed physiology," Emeritus Professor Tate says.

This work will enable best evidence-based knowledge of these illnesses, and best management practices, to be developed for medical professionals.

"Patients need appropriate affirmation of their biological-based illness and help to mitigate the distressing symptoms of these very difficult life-changing syndromes which are difficult for the patients to manage by themselves.

"This work highlighted that there is a susceptible subset of people who develop such syndromes when exposed to a severe stress, like infection with COVID-19, or the glandular fever virus Epstein Barr, or in some people with vaccination that is interpreted as a severe stress.

"What should be a transient inflammatory/immune response in the body to clear the infection, develop immunity and manage the physiological stress, becomes chronic, and so the disease persists."

Explore further Fatigue after COVID is way more than just feeling tired. Five tips on what to do about it

More information: Warren Tate et al, Molecular Mechanisms of Neuroinflammation in ME/CFS and Long COVID to Sustain Disease and Promote Relapses, Frontiers in Neurology (2022). Journal information: Frontiers in Neurology Warren Tate et al, Molecular Mechanisms of Neuroinflammation in ME/CFS and Long COVID to Sustain Disease and Promote Relapses,(2022). DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.877772
Compassion satisfaction  the gratification associated with helping others  protected volunteer health care workers against stress-related symptoms and burnout during the early days of the pandemic, according to a study led by social work professor Tara Powell and co-written by doctoral student Jenna Muller. Credit: Michelle Hassel

Many medical professionals who volunteered for short-term deployment to a field hospital in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced high levels of secondary traumatic stress, a new study found.

However, high levels of compassion satisfactionthe gratification that these volunteers derived from helping othersbuffered some against psychological distress, according to Tara M. Powell, a professor of social work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who is first author of the study.

"The volunteers in our study showed milder symptoms of PTSD than prior studies found among other frontline medical workers during the pandemic," Powell said. "The voluntary nature of their assignments may explain the high levels of compassion satisfaction they experienced. In turn, this sense of fulfillment counteracted the extraordinary stressors and challenges that the pandemic created for them."

The 57 health care volunteers in the new study worked as nurses, doctors, medics and administrators at the Ryan Larkin Field Hospital in Manhattan during spring 2020. Most were serving temporary deployments of six weeks or less in the field hospital.

Published in the journal Traumatology, the study sheds light on the emotional and physical toll that the early days of the pandemic had on volunteer workers and the protective effects of compassion satisfaction.

Post-traumatic stress and secondary traumatic stress disorders share symptoms such as experiencing distressing trauma-related flashbacks or dreams, irritability and sleeplessness, according to the World Health Organization. While PTSD involves first-hand experiences of upsetting events, secondary traumatic stress arises from exposure to other people's illnesses, death or discussions of their disturbing experiences.

Burnout refers to emotional, mental and physical exhaustion associated with excessive job-related demands and stressors, according to the WHO. Sufferers may experience fatigue, apathy and diminished effectiveness in their work.

Prior studies found high rates of all threeburnout, PTSD and secondary stressamong frontline health care workers during the pandemic. Powell and her team wanted to explore whether volunteers experienced similar problems and if greater levels of compassion satisfaction counteracted stress and burnout in them.

The researchers used five surveys to assess participants' mental health and well-being. These included a professional quality-of-life questionnaire that screened them for symptoms of PTSD and secondary stress and asked them to rate the level of satisfaction they derived from their work in the field hospital.

Participants were asked about the amount of social support in their lives and the coping methods they used, including healthier problem-focused tactics and maladaptive avoidant strategies such as denial, disengagement and self-medicating with alcohol or drugs.

Most of the participants experienced low to mild symptoms of burnout, but a significant number met the clinical criteria for PTSD or secondary traumatic stress. Some reported working as many as 70 hours a week, and the team found that working these hours or more significantly increased workers' risks of burnout and stress-related symptoms.

The strongest predictor of burnout, PTSD and secondary stress symptoms was avoidant emotional copingtactics such as denying or disengaging from difficulties rather than focusing on solutions. Participants who utilized avoidant strategies and buried their feelings were at significantly greater risk of emotional distress.

"The findings confirm the need for interventions that mitigate the emotional fallout these workers experience by reinforcing positive, problem-focused coping skills and social support," Powell said. "People in these professions are at heightened risks of such problems in the best of times, and extraordinary circumstances such as those that occurred during the pandemic dramatically escalate these risks."

Powell's co-authors were social work professor Shanondora Billiot of Arizona State University; Kristen Elzey, formerly a mental health consultant and staff care specialist at New York Presbyterian Hospital; registered nurse Amanda Brandon, also of NYPH; and Jenna Muller, a doctoral student at the U. of I.

More information: Tara Powell et al, The cost of caring: Psychological adjustment of health-care volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic., Traumatology (2022). Tara Powell et al, The cost of caring: Psychological adjustment of health-care volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic.,(2022). DOI: 10.1037/trm0000387
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Russia on Tuesday said it had detected the first case of monkeypox in the country in a man who returned from a trip to several European nations.

"The infection was found in a young man who came back from a trip through European countries and went to a medical facility with a characteristic rash," health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement.

It said the man has been isolated in hospital and that he has a "mild" form of the disease.

"Contact persons have been established, they are being monitored by doctors," the statement said.

It added that the man's illness was established quickly and "helped prevent further spread of the infection".

The surge of monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.

There are confirmed cases in Britain, Spain and Germany.

Explore further EU watchdog reviews Moderna jab for Omicron

 2022 AFP
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Two months after giving birth, Jennifer Magee noticed a change in her baby's feeding routine that scared her: She was starting to drink more formula, almost every hour.

Increased appetite is normal for growing infants, including Magee's daughter, Aubrey. But amid the national formula shortage, Magee, 25, had only one container left, barely enough to last three days.

"We're flying through formula," Magee said as the shortage worsened in May. "I'm afraid that pretty soon, if we don't stock up, we're not going to have it for her."

Finding more wouldn't be a straightforward task.

Magee faced the same strain many parents experienced during the past few months as they scrambled to find formula. But she felt an added strain because she relies on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WICa federally funded initiative meant to help low-income women buy food, including baby formula.

Her daughter was born in March, long after pandemic-related supply chain issues began to affect formula availability, and just weeks after the baby food manufacturer Abbott Nutrition shut down production at its Michigan factory and recalled its Similac, Similac Alimentum, and EleCare powdered formulas, further disrupting supply. In May, Dr. Robert Califf, head of the FDA, told senators he expected the shortage to resolve in late July. As of June, the agency was still importing formulas to increase supply.

For Magee and other parents who live near state borders, especially those in rural communities with limited and distant shopping options, WIC's limitations further exacerbate the ongoing formula shortage.

A resident of Bay City, Wisconsin, Magee must shop at a store that is authorized by her state to accept WIC benefits. Unlike people who receive money from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, another support for low-income families, WIC recipients can't use their benefits across state lines, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Bay City is a village of about 400 on the western edge of Wisconsin, across the Mississippi River from Red Wing, Minnesota, which has a population of about 16,500. Bay City has no WIC-approved grocery stores. Red Wingless than 10 miles westhas three WIC-approved stores, but Magee can't use her Wisconsin benefits at any of them.

Instead, she drives nearly 50 miles to a WIC-approved Walmart Supercenter in Menomonie, Wisconsin, in search of the hypoallergenic formula her daughter needs.

While the formula shortage is not just affecting WIC families, it is "magnifying disparities that low-income families have faced for years," said Brian Dittmeier, senior director of public policy at the National WIC Association, the nonprofit advocacy organization that represents WIC programs.

Those disparities include low-income families being more likely to live in food deserts, or areas with little to no access to affordable healthy food, which limits their options for WIC-approved stores, he said.

Typically, WIC recipients have a designated formula they can purchase with their benefits as part of what the program calls a "food package." After the Abbott Nutrition recall, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services issued a list of substitutions for families whose designated formula was among those recalled.

Nutramigen, the formula Magee used to soothe her daughter's milk sensitivity, was not recalled, but that hasn't made it any easier to find since the shortage led to a nationwide scramble for other brands. Each time Magee drove to Menomonie for Nutramigen, she was making a "wild guess" she might find some.

She didn't.

In May, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services released tips for families navigating the shortage. Department officials told them to check smaller grocery stores and drugstores rather than big ones, and to search store websites before going in person. Yet some smaller stores don't accept WIC, and for women who must travel an hour or more to check a shelf, what's online may not reflect reality once they arrive. Like most states, Wisconsin does not allow WIC families to shop online with their benefits.

"Sometimes that's a barrier because of the cost of transportation," said Brittany Mora, the WIC director for Pierce County, where Magee lives, as she reflected on the amount of travel families have taken on in search of formulaespecially as gas prices have soared to a national average near $5 per gallon.

If Magee were to drive through her county to check each of the four WIC-approved stores for her daughter's formula, she would travel about 65 miles round trip and risk coming home empty-handed anyway. Pierce County has no public transportation.

Mora's staff encourages parents to call stores before making long trips, in case the retailers can tell them what's in stock. Staffers can also give families tips they've heard on where formula might be available and change families' food packages to include formula available in-store.

Since the Abbott recall and plant shutdown, Mora has allowed families to call her personal cellphone for emergencies when her office is closed.

"My biggest fear is that, over the weekend, a family wouldn't be able to get a formula that was available at the store," she said.

Similar challenges have emerged for women receiving WIC in Minnesota. The state's WIC director, Kate Franken, said the families that come to her program for support sometimes don't have a car, "so they just don't have as many options for driving around and checking different stores."

Though Minnesota, like Wisconsin, now offers WIC recipients imported formulas to increase their options, the additions don't help all families equally, Franken said.

The Kendamil formulas coming in from the United Kingdom and Aussie Bubs from Australia fall under the category of standard milk-based formulas, she said. "That's good, and that's what most babies use, but that's also the category that we're seeing the best recovery in supply in general."

She said the standard milk-based formula import strategy doesn't address the lack of supply of formula for babies with milk intolerance or other digestive problems.

Those are babies like Magee's daughter.

When Magee realized she couldn't depend on her WIC benefits to immediately access hypoallergenic formula, she turned to family for help.

On May 23, Magee's soon-to-be mother-in-law, Geralyn Laurie, posted to Facebook: "Friends everywhere, my granddaughter, Aubrey Elizabeth, is in need of her specific formula. She needs Enfamil's Nutramigen for infants. It can also be house brands of this formula, which [are Tippy Toes and Well Beginnings]. If you find this, please buy it and I will happily Venmo you for this product and shipping."

Within weeks, 26 cans of hypoallergenic formula had made their way to the end of the farmland-bordered gravel road leading to Laurie's home in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, about 30 miles west of Bay City. Some arrived by mail, others by way of visitors coming by plane and train.

Laurie hadn't expected such a response.

"Everyone, I think, wants to help, and several people were just like, 'I'm on it,'" she said.

By the time her granddaughter was 3 months old, Laurie had spent more than $455 on formula.

Magee has yet to be able to use her WIC benefits to feed her daughter.

Explore further Baby formula shortages spell trouble for low-income families

2022 Kaiser Health News.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Digital transformation is seen as a big investment, but is becoming a prerequisite for survival in the current and future landscape. Businesses are now more reliant on digital infrastructure than ever  with many organizations completely dependent on their IT systems and the data being generated, which is their IP. With data being viewed as the new currency today, it is vital to protect its integrity. A Modern Data Protection solution ensuring the backup, recovery and management of critical data is essential. The Veeam Ransomware Trends Report 2022 reveals that businesses across the globe are losing the battle when it comes to defending themselves against ransomware attacks. A robust security strategy is therefore one of the key pillars of an overarching digital transformation plan.



The Middle East is certainly not immune to cyberattacks. The opposite is in fact true. There are daily reports about data breaches, downtime and security or backup failures. The region is heavily targeted by sophisticated hackers. Organizations are beginning to realize that ransomware attacks are in fact the same as a full-scale disaster recovery scenario. Regional organizations are a lucrative target for ransomware attacks as the region is perceived to be dollar rich. And, the new normal of work from home has made organizations a softer target for cybercriminals. Despite security measures like VPNs, tunnels, encryption etc, companies have lost a bit of control with data generally not flowing through corporate networks but rather through consumer-grade networks.



The Veeam Ransomware Trends Report 2022, reveals the extent of vulnerability of businesses when it comes to ransomware defence. 72% of organizations had partial or complete attacks on their backup repositories, dramatically impacting the ability to recover data without paying the ransom. Cyber criminals are successfully encrypting an average of 47% of production data and victims are only able to recover 69% of impacted data! 76% of organizations also admit to paying ransomware criminals.



For businesses who feel they have no choice but to pay cybercriminals in order to unlock their files, they not only put their money at risk (as there is no guarantee their data will be returned), but also put their reputation at stake. It is interesting to note that 19% of organizations did not pay the ransom because they were able to recover their own data. This is what the remaining 81% of cyber-victims must aspire to  recovering data without paying the ransom. And this is why a robust cybersecurity strategy as well as having an insurance policy against data breaches should be a top priority.



Security Weaknesses in the Middle East

Although organizations in the Middle East in general spend a lot on security technologies, there is a huge gap when it comes to planning and executing a security strategy. This mainly boils down to the complexity of the IT environment. The region is risk averse when it comes to adopting cloud technologies and there are still a lot of legacy systems. Protecting these complicated environments is a big challenge and becomes even more so in the transition phase of moving to the cloud. The good news is that Modern Data Protection platform solutions exist that are software-driven and hardware/ vendor agnostic, designed to ensure freedom-of-choice, flexibility, ease-of-use and portability, so that businesses can be confident that they are secure and resilient throughout their digital transformation journey  no matter at what stage they are in the transition to the cloud.



Pillars of a Robust Security Strategy

Regional CISOs need to have a stringent security plan in place which includes important elements like stress testing of IT Systems, backup, a disaster recovery plan and educating employees:



Stress Testing of IT Systems

If stress testing of data, people and processes is not done at regular intervals, ideally once a month, then the business is being put at a significant risk. In our regular discussions with risk officers/ audit officers/ CIOs/ CISOs, we find that stress testing is done by many organizations only once or twice a year. There are a few reasons for the lack of testing. One is that organizations do not have the correct software and processes in place. The second, as mentioned earlier, is that organizations still have legacy, disparate systems which increases the complexities of testing of so many different parts. The fear of failure is what causes people not to stress test to the level that they should. Organizations need to look at tools and put processes in place that can test as often as possible, because only then will they have the confidence that they would be able to maintain business continuity, in the event that something were to go wrong. Working through the complexities of stress testing IT systems is undoubtedly less painful when compared with being unprepared for a disaster scenario/ cyberattack, which can potentially cost an organization millions of dollars, besides loss of reputation.



Backup  Immutability is key

Every admin should have a backup. This principle works for any virtual environment; regardless of the hypervisor you are running (VMware, Hyper-V or whatever). If data is king, backup is queen! One of the timeless rules that can effectively address any failure scenario is called the 3-2-1 backup rule. Veeam has upgraded this to the 3-2-1-1-0 rule. This upgraded rule gives incredible versatility by going the extra mile:

 There should be 3 copies of data

 On 2 different media

 With 1 copy being off site

 With 1 copy being offline, air-gapped or immutable

 And, 0 errors with SureBackup recovery verification



The last two additions are critically important today. Immutability is a solution that prevents data deletion or modification from the storage. Having a copy of backup data that is either offline, air-gapped or immutable is an incredibly resilient specimen to help ensure data recovery in a ransomware event. Knowing that data is critical to all businessesleveraging an immutable copy of your backup data ensures that there is an untouched version of that source data that is always recoverable and safe from any failure scenario.



Disaster Recovery

Enterprises produce huge volumes of employee, customer and corporate data, of which they are the trusted custodians. Given the growing importance of personal data, organizations have a broader societal responsibility to ensure their systems are fully recoverable at all times. While IT departments have a crucial role to play here, business leaders also need to truly buy in to the importance of Disaster Recovery (DR). Today, DR technologies are a little bit of a grudge purchase. Disaster recovery (DR) has consistently been ignored until it is too late, and businesses have faced catastrophic losses due to lack of planning. According to the Veeam Data Protection Trends Report2022, only 40% of organizations in UAE and 35% in Saudi have orchestrated workflows in place to streamline their recovery processes. Over a quarter of these organizations still rely on manual mechanisms for recovery, which is a contradiction to BC/DR best practices that assume that IT team members who regularly manage IT systems and services, will be available to apply their skills and reconfigure the recovery environment.



For IT departments, DR planning may not be the most glamorous and lucrative task, but it is not one which should be bypassed or treated as a box-ticking exercise. A good DR strategy should encompass a clearly documented process that has been tested. DR testing needs to be stringent  looking at every possible eventuality and preparing an appropriate response. While this can be a cost-intensive exercise in terms of resource, for businesses that view more and more of their apps as business-critical, the return on this investment will be realised when disaster strikes.



With DR planning having a reputation for being difficult and time consuming with a significant CAPEX, organizations in particular SMBs may be well advised to consider Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). It is a cloud-based service that makes it easy for organizations to set up alternate processing sites for disaster recovery purposes. DRaaS is important because it represents an innovative and less costly way to back up critical data and quickly recover critical systems after a disaster. Global Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others have set up datacentres in the Middle East in line with government regulations regarding data sovereignty. They offer extremely cost effective, OPEX based DRaaS capabilities due to their scale.



Employee Education

Companies spend a lot of time putting safeguards in place for the various segments of their infrastructure like networks, storage, servers etc. However, they often ignore one of the biggest vulnerabilities in the organization  its people! In todays age when everyone's profiles are online, a hacker can easily find all the information they need about a person to be able to create a scenario that feels comfortable for the individual targeted, drawing the victim into unwittingly clicking a harmful link or divulging sensitive information that puts the organization at risk of a security breach. Sometimes it can take years to discover insider threats because they are so hard to detect. Without creating awareness and providing deeper understanding of best practice through cyber literacy, any threat mitigation tool is rendered useless. It is imperative to educate employees and ensure they practice impeccable digital hygiene.



If organizations in the Middle East follow the above pillars of a sound security strategy, then they would have taken care of a very important piece of the digital transformation puzzle.



About the author: Mohamad Rizk is Senior Director, Technical Sales - Middle East, Russia & CIS at Veeam Software.
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 associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. U.S. health officials are expanding the group of people recommended to get vaccinated against the monkeypox virus. They also say they are providing more monkeypox vaccine, working to expand testing, and taking other steps to try to get ahead of the outbreak. Credit: Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP, file

British health officials say there have now been 1,735 confirmed cases of monkeypox and that three-quarters of those cases are in London, according to data released on Tuesday.

In a review of the outbreak published last week, Britain's Health Security Agency said there were "no signs of a decline" in the monkeypox epidemic and that the virus "continues to be transmitted primarily in interconnected sexual networks of gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men." The agency said 97% of cases fell in that category and that there was no evidence of sustained transmission beyond that.

Scientists warn that anyone who is in close physical contact with someone who has monkeypox or their clothing or bedsheets is at risk of infection, regardless of their sexual orientation.

British scientists estimate the outbreak is doubling in size about every two weeks and said it's likely cases are being undercounted. They said that in nearly 80% of cases, there is no information about whether or not the person had contact with a confirmed case, meaning the virus is spreading undetected.

Scientists have noted that people with unusual symptoms, including only a single lesion, have been detected in the outbreak and say there have also been reports elsewhere of people with no symptoms carrying monkeypox. About 10% of infected people in the U.K. have been hospitalized, but there have been no deaths reported.

British experts said the virus has been spreading through close or sexual contact and that there has been no evidence of airborne transmission.

The Health Security Agency said the number of cases and countries identifying monkeypox "continues to increase steeply," saying that infections beyond Africa have also been primarily seen in gay and bisexual men. It said there had been three cases of monkeypox in children, who are more likely to suffer serious disease.

Last month, the World Health Organization declined to declare monkeypox a global health emergency, but said it would revisit its decision soon. It said its evaluation of the outbreak could change if there are cases among sex workers, if the virus continues to spread rapidly or if more severe disease is seen.

People with monkeypox often experience symptoms like fever, body aches and a rash; most recover within weeks without needing medical care.

In central and west Africa, where the disease has been endemic for decades, the disease mostly affects people who come into contact with infected wild animals, like rodents or primates. There have been about 1,500 reported cases of monkeypox, including 70 deaths, in Congo, Cameroon and the Central African Republic.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 9.600 cases of monkeypox worldwide in nearly 60 countries, most of which had not previously reported the disease.

Explore further UK reports 104 more cases of monkeypox, mostly in men

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
MONDAY, July 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- For decades, birth control pills in the United States have only been available with a prescription, but an application filed Monday with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an over-the-counter pill might change all that.

The latest effort to make birth control more accessible comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Applicant HRA Pharma already sells its pill (Opill) in the United States as a prescription-only drug. But it is not the only company looking to go over-the-counter (OTC) with birth control pills: Cadence Health is also in talks with the FDA to do the same and said it plans to submit an application in the coming year, The New York Times reported. The timing of the HRA Pharma application is "a really sad coincidence," Frederique Welgryn, the company's chief strategic and innovations officer, told The Times. "Birth control is not a solution for abortion access," she stressed.

In his concurring opinion on the recent Supreme Court ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the 1965 decision that provided a right to contraception should also be overturned. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Friday to offer continued abortion access across the United States, in an effort to curb the impacts of the court's ruling.

Earlier this year, House Democrats signed a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf requesting a "timely review" of applications to make birth control pills available OTC, and more than 100 Democrats have signed on to a bill to make health insurance companies cover the cost of OTC birth control, The Times reported.

HRA Pharma said it expects a decision from the FDA in the next 10 months, the typical waiting period for OTC applications.
A debate over density led the Missoula City Council to approve an annexation and zoning request in Miller Creek Monday.

Property owner Joshua Green requested the city annex a 0.2-acre property at 3946 Fox Den Court and zone it as part of the nearby Fairway View Addition Planned-Unit Development.

Before approving the request, councilors debated whether higher density in the area would be appropriate.

Ward 3 Council Member Daniel Carlino supported the annexation and zoning request, but said he would like to see the possibility of legalizing higher-density housing options in the subject area.

Im happy to support this motion but I do think as we're going through our code reform we need to look at all areas of land that are residential, no matter how small, and relegalize two-, three-, four-plexes, Carlino said. If the owner of this land wanted to build a duplex and open up another unit it would be illegal under the proposed zoning, so I just want to point that out.

As part of the Fairway View Addition Planned-Unit Development, only single-unit homes are allowed on the Fox Den Court property.

The growth policy designates the area as residential low density, with one to two dwelling units per acre.

One single-family home is located on the Fox Den Court property, and the annexation brings the total acreage of that parcel up to almost an acre of land.

Ward 2 Council Member Jordan Hess said he felt the proposed zoning accurately fits the area.

This is the correct zoning for this parcel, Hess said.

This is not the right place for density, he added.

Hess explained increasing density there would require the city to add infrastructure, which would likely create adverse climate impacts.

Ultimately, council voted unanimously for the annexation and zoning request, with only Ward 5 Council Member John Contos and Ward 1 Council Member Jennifer Savage absent.
BROWNING  Spectators lined the streets in Browning on Saturday to watch the parade that kicks off the Blackfeet Nations North American Indian Days celebration.

People drove by sitting on the hoods of decorated cars and others rode horses. Participants threw candy, water bottles, frozen ice pops and toys to those standing in the crowd as they cheered.

Racee White, 3, ran into the street whenever someone threw candy. Sometimes she would crouch just feet away from the horses' hooves to rescue a Dum Dum lollipop. She was determined to collect as many lollipops as possible.

I love the horsies! she exclaimed as some rode by.

Thousands gathered in Browning last weekend for the Blackfeet Nations annual North American Indian Days, a celebration of culture, history and community. The three-day event featured carnival rides, powwows, a parade and rodeo. Food trucks sold Indian tacos, fry bread and lemonade, and Native vendors sold blankets, jewelry, ribbon skirts and other items. People pitched tents and teepees to camp out near the festivities.

Shiine Wilson, 12, said the celebration makes Browning a landmark destination.

Oh, I just love this day, he said.

Wilson moved from Polson to Great Falls recently and said he loves hanging out with his cousins at the event.

Lorelie Couture and her son, Darius, leaned against a fence, watching riders race in Indian relay. In the event, people ride bareback on horses around a track. After one lap, the rider jumps off their horse and onto another. The crowd cheers at every transition. Riders make three laps around the track in total, switching to a new horse at the start of each.

I like how the horses run, Darius said.

Lorelie said this was the second time shes brought Darius to the event.

We live in Polson, and my son is Blackfeet, she said. So I bring him here to show him the other side of his culture. This is part of who we are and where were from.

Gabi Scheeley, 25, is a seasonal worker in Glacier National Park. She is non-Native and attended the celebration for the first time this year with a colleague.

We love adventuring in this area, and were making a bigger effort to learn about the people and culture here, she said. Weve become comfortable knowing the community welcomes us.

Jim McNeely, the tribes public information officer, said the weekends events are fully paid for by the tribe. He estimated the entire operation cost about $200,000. McNeely said the event attracts many visitors to Browning and pumps tourism dollars into the tribal economy. Many local business owners said North American Indian Days marks their busiest day of the year. They said the money they earn during Indian Days is essential, as it helps keep them afloat during winter months when tourism dramatically decreases.

In 2020, the Blackfeet Nation canceled North American Indian Days due to COVID-19. Last year, the tribe had a small-scale celebration to limit the spread of the virus. This year, North American Indian Days was called a Celebration of Recovery to honor the communitys victims of COVID-19.

A consequence of long-term disinvestment and harmful federal policies, COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among Native Americans in Montana in 2020. As of June 13, the Blackfeet Nation reported 67 total COVID-related deaths among community members.

Attendees this year felt the loss of Blackfeet Chief Earl Old Person, a venerated tribal elder and spokesperson, who died in October. Old Person was especially missed during the powwow events, which he used to emcee.

Earl loved Indian Days," McNeely said. "It was the jewel in his crown. But, he always said we have to continue. He told us to continue, and thats what were doing.
A pretrial conference in federal court is scheduled for later this month between the Florence-Carlton School District and a student who is claiming negligence and Title IX violations by the district for its handling of an alleged sexual assault.

According to court documents filed in April, the student plaintiff was allegedly sexually assaulted by a fellow classmate during a high school class in November 2019 and reported the incident to district administrators the same day.

The survivor claims that the perpetrator continued to attend school and was present in the same classroom for over a week after the incident until she obtained a protective order against him.

The school districts handling of the incident caused the survivor mental distress among other damages, according to court documents.

In the filing, the survivor claims the district was negligent in a variety of capacities, including supervision of students, and in violation of Title IX.

Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.

(The student) suffered sexual harassment that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it can be said to deprive the victim of access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school, attorneys for the plaintiff wrote in the initial filing.

Mary Pat Brown of Deer Lodge has been appointed by the court to act as a guardian of the student plaintiff because the student is a minor. They are represented by attorneys with Everett Cook Law of Anaconda and Morrison Sherwood Wilson Deola PLLP of Helena.

In a response to the initial filing, the school district confirmed that the student plaintiff reported the incident to administrators. The district then launched an investigation into the incident, which did not find evidence of the allegations.

Additionally, the district confirmed in its response that the perpetrator of the alleged assault was not immediately removed from attending class during the investigation per the rules related to Title IX.

The District denies all allegations or contentions that the District acted unlawfully or contrary to its duties and obligations under state and federal law and its own policies, wrote attorneys with Kaleva Law Office in Missoula, who are representing the school district.

Both parties are demanding that a jury trial take place.

A pretrial conference is scheduled for July 28 at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen in Missoula.
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service moved forward with plans to build a new administration center in the Mission Valley after the department transferred its current facilities to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes earlier this year.

The Northwest Montana Wetland Management District, which oversees 3,268 acres of protected habitat in Lake County, is responsible for maintaining conservation land for wildlife habitat and migration corridors for hundreds of species, mostly centering on waterfowl.

The new plan, which was approved through an environmental assessment last week, will allow the service to purchase new land to build a 12-acre complex for a multipurpose building, storage, employee residences and infrastructure like roads and utilities.

We are actively searching for an area to purchase, said Amy Coffman, Northwest Montana Wetland Management refuge manager. Hopefully there is a place that fits to build our space, and where we could add to conservation work.

Past restoration, use by species of concern, presence of wetlands and surrounding open space was heavily considered, the assessment said. Public opinion, quality of hunting and photography, access to the site, impact to traffic and central location were also weighed.

Five different plans were originally presented in the assessment, including one option to not build a new facility. Three plans would have used wetlands already managed by the service, drawing backlash from residents who commented on the plan.

Some recommended transferring all of the remaining Fish and Wildlife Land to the CSKT, who took over the National Bison Range as a result of the 2020 Montana Water Rights Protection Act.

The range was established by Teddy Roosevelt in 1908 on tribal land  in violation of the 1855 Hellgate Treaty. The assessment released by Fish and Wildlife said the equipment and facilities used by the service now belong to the tribe, which the Bison Range confirmed Tuesday.

Until the new facility is built, the service will operate out of mobile units, Coffman said. Some are working out of their trucks, while others are working from home. While there is no public facing building, Coffman said Fish and Wildlife is still operating as usual.

She added that Fish and Wildlife wants to stay in the area to continue partnerships with the CSKT, including more incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge.

We definitely plan to evolve and continue with all of our partners, Coffman said.

Money for the new facility will come from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and Migratory Bird Conservation Funds to purchase a cost-effective option. The new complex will only be considered within the Mission Valley and will manage lands in Lake and Flathead counties.

If the service cannot find a suitable property, the new facility will be built on the Crow Waterfowl Production Area, which would be in between two conservation easements. Multiple comments criticized this option, as it would add infrastructure to undeveloped gravel roads.

Fish and Wildlife said mitigation will be taken to lower the impact of damage to migratory birds, wetlands and cultural resources during construction. There is no timeline for when the new facility will open. Coffman said the sooner, the better.

We look forward to keeping our presence, Coffman said.
Two landmark new studies in France are bursting myths about immigration at a time when xenophobic far-right discourse has gained more attention. They highlight that the children of immigrants are increasingly melting into French society but also point out persistent discrimination against some people with African and Asian backgrounds. People trying to fight discrimination in France welcomed the new data, which is rare because the country doesnt differentiate citizens by ethnic groups. One report found that a large swath of France's population has an immigrant ancestor. An estimated 32% of people under 60 are first, second or third-generation immigrants in the European Union country. But researchers say immigration is not widely or evenly spread out across France.
Three people are facing felony charges after a call of a reported kidnapping on Perth Road on Sunday.

Markis Allan Kirkpatrick, 30, of Charlotte, Andiaye Jahriziyah Tyler, 22, of Charlotte, and Keishari Chanel-Wicks Johnson, 29, of Las Vegas, Nevada, were all charged.

Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell said in a news release that road deputies arrived just over a minute after the call came in at 4:27 a.m. on Sunday and observed two women and a man standing in the parking lot near the walkway leading to the pier.

As the deputies approached the three, Kirkpatrick told them there was another person on a boat who was shot, Campbell said.

While gathering additional information, the deputies went to the area where the boats were tied up and located a man with two gunshot wounds. A semiautomatic pistol, three loaded magazines, and a bag containing additional items were located in the parking lot.

Iredell County EMS arrived and took the gunshot victim, who hasnt been identified at this time, to an area trauma center for emergency treatment and surgery. He is in his 50s and is in serious condition.

Soon after, Iredell County Sheriffs Office crime scene investigators and criminal investigators responded to the scene to begin the investigation. Criminal investigators transported the three to the Iredell County Sheriffs Office for questioning. Crime scene investigators processed the boat at the pier. They collected shell casings and other items of evidence. They were also able to obtain security camera footage from a business near the crime scene. The video was able to document the area where the incident occurred.

While questioning the three people at the sheriffs office, investigators noticed differences in the statements and gathered information about activities that occurred prior to the three coming to the pier and the shooting taking place, Campbell said.

Based on the statements, video footage and other evidence recovered, the investigators were able to draw several felony and misdemeanor arrest warrants against the suspects, he said.

Kirkpatrick faces charges of felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill and felony conspire to sell or deliver Schedule II. A magistrate set bond at $75,000.

Tyler was charges with felony conspire to sell or deliver Schedule II and misdemeanor prostitution. A magistrate set bond at $10,000.

Johnson was charged with felony conspire to sell or deliver Schedule II and misdemeanor conspire prostitution. A magistrate set bond at $10,000.
A man has been indicted for a November incident where an investigator said officers found more than 30 grams of methamphetamine strapped to his stomach.

Michael Edward Monn, 30, of Morganton, was indicted by a grand jury this month on a charge in trafficking in methamphetamine, said Lt. Josiah Brown with the Morganton Department of Public Safety.

Monn was first arrested Nov. 9 when officers were tipped off that he had warrants for his arrest and he was at Rural King on Burkemont Avenue, Brown said.

When officers arrived at the store that night, they found his vehicle in the parking lot and saw Monn walking out of the store.

Officers told Monn to stop but he ran, Brown said, until they caught up with him at the Taco Bell in the same shopping center.

He was taken into custody and officers asked him if he had anything on him, Brown said. He admitted to officers that he had some drugs on him.

Thats when they found two bags of methamphetamine strapped around his stomach, Brown said. The packages contained 34 grams of methamphetamine, he said.

Monn was in the news earlier this month when he was charged with misdemeanor trespassing.

In that incident, a release from the sheriffs office said Monn and 25-year-old Dalton Kristopher Hall had been held at gunpoint by a man who said he found them trespassing on his property on Burkemont Avenue, according to a News Herald article.

Monn also has pending charges of felony larceny and possession of methamphetamine, along with a charge of misdemeanor communicating threats, according to records on the North Carolina Judicial Branch website.

Monn was issued a $4,000 secured bond, according to a copy of an arrest report available on the Morganton Police to Citizen website. Monn appeared to have made bond.

His next court date is set for Aug. 8 for the trafficking charge.
Al-Hashar Tourism and Travels, a top travel agency in Oman, has entered into a multi-year partnership with travel technology company Amadeus to offer its customers a range of new technology-driven solutions.



Muslim Mahmood Mohammad Ahmed, General Manager of Al-Hashar Travel, said: Our customers deserve and expect outstanding services from Al-Hashar. This new partnership with Amadeus will propel the company firmly into a brighter, technologically advanced future of enhanced productivity and customer service, ensuring we remain the leading travel provider in the Sultanate, while improving our efficiency and profitability.



Ernesto Sanchez Beaumont, Managing Director, Amadeus Gulf, added: Today, the overall travel dynamic has evolved due to the pandemic. We must adapt to the emerging needs of the travel industry as we seek to renew travel and build it back better than it was before. Sitting at the heart of the travel ecosystem, Amadeus is committed to supporting forward-thinking customers such as Al-Hashar Travel to reconnect with travellers and bring back the joy of travel. By working together, we can get the world traveling again.



The solutions being adopted by the Muscat-headquartered firm include the cloud-based Amadeus Selling Platform Connect, a powerful and customizable online booking and fulfilment platform designed to meet Al-Hashars specific needs. Implementing Selling Platform Connect enables Al-Hashars travel counsellors to service travellers around the clock, via any web-connected device.



Additionally, Amadeus Master Pricer, a powerful search tool, will assist Al-Hashar staff in sourcing the lowest fares online, while Amadeus Dynamic Travel Documents conveniently collates a travellers complete itinerary into a comprehensive, personalized, and professional travel document.



Al-Hashar will now also be able to deliver instant, automated, real-time alerts to customers via SMS or e-mail regarding e-ticket reminders, flight changes, and flight status updates thanks to Amadeus Travel Alerts Notifier.



Beaumont added: Our leading-edge travel solutions will help the company optimize performance at every level of the organization and every stage of the booking lifecycle. Amadeus is proudly helping companies like Al-Hashar thrive in the new digital-first travel sector. We enable a rapid, painless transition to new technology which brings a new era of productivity, optimal customer service, and the chance to stand above the competition.  TradeArabia News Service
Montanas state forester and a Montana-based researcher have been appointed to a presidential commission on mitigating wildfire.

Sonya Germann, forestry division administrator at the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and Kimiko Barrett, PhD senior wildfire researcher and policy analyst for Bozeman-based Headwaters Economics, will serve on the Presidential Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission.

Germann has served as state forester since 2018, overseeing a division that includes the states wildland firefighting and mitigation programs. She was out of the office Monday and could not be immediately reached for comment.

DNRC Director Amanda Kaster called it imperative that Montana be part of the national wildfire dialogue.

We are pleased Sonya has been selected to serve on the Commission, Kaster said in a statement. She is an effective and well-respected leader with a commitment to finding solutions to address our forest health crisis. She will do an excellent job advocating on behalf of Montanans.

Barrett has managed Headwaters' Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire program for six years, where she has worked in more than 80 communities across the country, according to her bio.

Barrett says she specializes in creating homes and communities better adapted to wildfires, and doing so includes research on the economic, social and community costs of wildfires.

"It's a great honor to be selected," she said. "I'm eager to get to work with my colleagues on the Commission to make sure people, homes and communities are better prepared for the worsening wildfire problem in Montana, and around the nation."

The commission was established as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and will pursue a whole-of-government approach to wildfire risk reduction and resilience, the Department of the Interior said in a news release. The law also includes funding for wildfire mitigation and firefighter training.

(The commissions) creation comes at an important time as shifting development patterns, land and fire management decisions, and climate change have turned fire seasons into fire years in which increasingly destructive fires are exceeding available federal firefighting resources, the federal agency said.

The commission will analyze and make recommendations on federal policy, including programs to better prevent, mitigate and suppress wildfires, as well as policies to restore lands post-wildfire.

More than 500 applications were received for the commission, which will include 11 federal agency representatives and 18 non-federal representatives.

For local information on wildfires, click here.
It's not always easy living in the rural West, with customs so entrenched that everybody takes them for granted. What makes it hard for the newest newcomers is that theyre caught up in a mysterious culture.

Learning the Old West code was easy decades ago. Novelist Zane Grays Code of the West told men to wear a hat only outdoors, to never wave but nod at someone on horseback, and to treat women with chivalry. You  and you were always presumed to be male  were also advised to take your gun belt off before sitting down to eat.

But here we are in 2022, and from what county officials and some jaundiced newcomers tell me, the cultural confusion for newcomers almost always starts with private property. For example, the newbies tend to get huffy about their boundaries and can't believe they have to fence livestock out.

Wyoming, of course, is a classic fence-out state where cows outnumber people more than 2 to 1. Irrigation is another area of contention, as water law can be murky. A ditch may run close to your property but that doesnt mean you can take water out of it.

To make the urban-rural transition easier, Ive collected 10 tips guaranteed to ease you into your new life. But first, know that you will never become an oldtimer, although with patience you might become what Western historian Hal Rothman dubbed a neo-native. Heres hoping this helps:

1. Always wave at neighbors when you see them and make eye contact with everyone who passes you, either in a car or on foot. This is not a challenge; it means youre neighborly. And be cordial to everyone you see at the post office because you will see them everywhere. You may even see their dual personas, as many locals must work two or even three jobs to pay the rent.

2. Never go for a long hike with new boots. Take enough water and food for yourself and to share. Bring a rain jacket and sweater and waterproof matches. The saying If you dont like the weather, wait five minutes, is dead-on accurate. And when someone on a hike assures you that it's all downhill, its only partially uphill. "A little technical" means the mountain has hair-raising sections, while just around the corner means the end of the trail is not.

3. Realize that nobody is more important than anybody else. Rich and poor may sport raggedy clothes. Notable figures in town are probably dogs; learn their names.

4. Know that its considered rude to insult a persons dog, but if it comes on your land and harasses your cattle, you can shoot the dog. If your dog chases wildlife, youre in for a big fine and maybe worse.

5. Flashing your headlights to oncoming cars is good form if theres a hazard ahead, usually a deer, or perhaps a deputy sheriff trolling for speeders.

6. Notice that law enforcement people are not the only people carrying guns, and a gun on the hip doesnt necessarily indicate political party.

7. Always stop to help people on a trail or road because federal agencies are spread too thin for fast rescues. Locals would stop to help you, even if your hat logo fails to reflect their politics.

8. You might be bored senseless, but you will learn what local public service is all about if you sample meetings from school board to county commission. And immediately volunteer at a nonprofit or two, while also subscribing to your local paper if youre lucky enough to have one.

9. Clean jeans are considered dress-up.

10. Forego saying youre pretty good at something unless you have a death wish. For example, in Durango, Flagstaff or Jackson, saying youre a good mountain biker or skier is an invitation to be politely left behind at midday.

Bonus tip: If you think about buying a house next to a yard full of old farm implements, dont be tempted. That yard collection is permanent. Complaining, however, rarely works in the rural place youve adopted. A painful lesson might be that like it or not, you can only change yourself. Wagon wheels are always a safe decoration.
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Alexander Clarks daughter entered history in 1867 as the 12-year-old Iowan turned away from her neighborhood school because of her skin color. Her father sued Muscatines school board and won. In 2019 the modern successors named the Susan Clark Junior High School.

Susan was born Dec. 6, 1854. Her father had been an equal-rights activist all her life.

[F]or the first time, so far as is known, they formally spoke up for themselves.  Alexander Clark, lowas most influential black spokesman, had evidently instigated the document.  Clarks petition reached the floor of the house on January 17, 1855. (Robert Dykstra)

The petitioners asked lawmakers to repeal the harsh 1851 update of Iowas 1839 Act to Regulate Blacks and Mulattoesin misspelled but forceful words to quote historian David Brodnax.

We your petitioners deem it onnessary to say anything about the injustus of the Law, or its oppresstive influences upon us as free Colord Citizens of the United States of America, but we will submit it to the honest consideration of your Honorable body ever hoping that the god of heaven may gide and direct your acts in favor of Justus and opprest humanity.

Susans mother Catherine and sister Rebecca were among the 33 signers, and well learn of others. Ive known the petition almost 20 years but wondered only recently about the unknown legislator in this passage by Robert Cook: Midway through the turbulent winter session, Dr. Reasin Pritchard, an anti-Nebraska Whig from Muscatine, presented to the house a petition praying for repeal of the exclusion law. (Baptism of Fire: The Republican Party in Iowa, 1838-1878)

A 39-26 vote blocked consideration. Of those registering their desire to receive the petition, twenty-five were fusionists.

Anti-Nebraska refers to opposing slavery in new territories. Fusionists refers to the coaltion that elected James Grimes as governor in 1854; they would create the Republican Party of Iowa in 1856. But Dr. Reasin Pritchard? How had I missed this guy?

Jacob Pritchard was a Black man known better than Alexander Clark in the early days, judging by his frequent newspaper ads for various enterprises. For example: Pritchards Refreshment Saloons [in] rooms under Hares Hallready to dispense every variety of edibles and luxuries to the hungryOysters, pastry, &c., always on hand.

Jacob was among the first trustees of Bethel A.M.E. church and Clarks partner in bringing the Black masonic order west of the Mississippi. And he was a signer of the 1855 petition. But Reasin? Apparently no relation.

Have you heard the expression go the way of the Whigs? Its the political version of go the way of the dodo a thing of the past. The Whigs elected two presidents during their two decades as a major party, then dissolved in 1856 over the issue of slavery.

From a report of their county convention (Muscatine Journal, July 15, 1854): There would be a U.S. Senator elected at the next session of the Legislature, and the Whigs considered it important that he should be an anti-Nebraska man.

Candidates got grilled, and Pritchards answers were satisfactory.

At the same time he took occasion to say that he had been falsely accused of being a political Abolitionist. He had never belonged to such an organization. He was opposed to slavery in sentiment; he was opposed to its extension; but he was also opposed to meddling with it within the States; he was opposed to stealing [N-words], and against all underground railroad operations.

Rep. Pritchard took office in December and helped elect James Harlan for U.S. Senate. Harlan was president of Iowa Wesleyan College and a member of the new Free Soil Party.

Muscatine Tri-Weekly Journal, Jan. 17, 1855: The Muscatine county delegation have not much to say, though they are always awake to the interests of their constituents and the State at large. They vote right. Mr. Pritchard has spoken on several important questions, with considerable effect.

He voted in the 35-32 majority for suppression of Intemperance. He opposed with very strong arguments a motion favoring Dubuque railroad promoters over initiatives downstream. He introduced a bill to extend the city limits of Muscatine. He voted to elect delegates to a convention to revise the state constitution.

What kind of doctor was he? I dont know. What else can we learn? He advertised a sale of fine sheep having been in Ohio for many years engaged in the Wool Growing Business (1852), and he showed the Best pen of sheep at the First Annual Fair of the county Agricultural Society (1853). Thats about it.

Journal of the House of Representatives (Iowa City, July 2, 1856): J. Scott Richman is duly elected to fill a vacancy in Muscatine county, caused by the decease of Reasin Pritchard.

As Judge Richman, he would rule in favor of Susan Clark in 1867.

Next time: No picture of Susan?
MUSCATINE  This week, the Muscatine Community School District held its first School Board meeting since the end of the 2021-2022 school year. With there being no residents volunteering to speak during the Citizen Speaks portion of the meeting, the main focus of this months meeting was a presentation on the Iowa State University Extension & Outreachs Salir Adelante program.

Leading this presentation was Jesse Garcia, ISUs Latinx Outreach Coordinator for Muscatine County. Starting with a brief video, it was explained that the Salir Adelante  which translates to to get ahead - program is meant to build upon Latino family values, knowledge and experiences to help youth reach their hopes and dreams.

Salir Adelante was started in 2015 by Dr. Kimberly Greder and was developed at Oklahoma State University before being piloted in both Muscatine and Des Moines. From there, more research was done and once there was both a demonstrated need and a demonstrated level of success, the program was able to fully begin through a currently established partnership between the Muscatine Community School District and Muscatine Community College.

Set up as a six-week workshop series, Salir Adelante is open for both students and their parents and families. Garcia explained that the two groups start off as separate before being brought back together for a family session. Each week, the workshop explores a new topic and how these topics relate to the education system and post-secondary education. Some of these topics include financial resources/financial aid, resources available within the community, and scholarships.

Garcia emphasized that the structure of the program is meant to help make learning about these topics more digestible, allowing students and families to all be on the same page. The programs main focus of getting ahead is also meant to be more personal to the students, pushing them to get ahead for themselves by taking advantage of all opportunities in order to reach their full potential instead of simply trying to getting ahead of others.

A lot of the times, as a community, a lot of us slip through the cracks because we dont have the adequate resources or simply someone around who might know what it means to file a FASFA or how to apply for college, Garcia stated in the video. Thats really the all-encompassing aspect of the program and what we aim to do here, making sure that no kid is getting left behind and that every family has the resources and information so that they can salir adelante.

Following the video, Garcia shared some of the results the program has seen so far. Among the programs first two graduating classes, it was discovered that 62 percent of the students that participated in the program enrolled in some form of Post-Secondary Education. Garcia noted that these numbers may be somewhat skewed due to the impact felt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This program has definitely helped me a lot, Catherine Arellano Moya, one of the programs former students said when asked to share her story. Since graduating from Salir Adelante, has joined MCCs LULAC group, becoming its Vice President, and serves as a Latinx Outreach Assistant.

I would not be as involved as I am in school now if it werent for the program because of all the connections Ive built Its just been a lot of help. Sometimes I feel lost, but Ive built a great support system through this program and now I feel like I can actually continue, Moya continued.

Although the program already has a solid base, Garcia then shared that he hopes to expand the program even more in the coming years. There is a lot to be said about Latin culture and how it affects young children, he said. I spent quite some time this spring trying to hear more about the Dual-Language program and how that might be a place to tie something in, because what my end goal would be is to increase Latin parent involvement in education.

For those families that wish to get involved with the next Salir Adelante session, they can contact the ISU Extension office at 515-993-4281 and ask to speak with Rosa Gonzalez. They can also email Gonzalez at rdegonza@iastate.edu or go to www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/salir-adelante.
The House has voted to restore abortion access nationwide. It's Democrats' first legislative response to the Supreme Courts landmark decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion. But the House bill approved Friday has little chance of becoming law, with the necessary support lacking in the 50-50 Senate. But the vote marks the beginning of a new era in the abortion debate as lawmakers, governors and legislatures grapple with the impact of the Supreme Court decision. The House also passed a separate bill to prohibit punishment for a woman or child who decides to travel to another state to get an abortion.
The recently uncovered Uber Files  an international investigation into the ride-hailing companys global activities  alleges that Uber falsified data in its app to obstruct regulators and law enforcement.

More specific to South Africa, The Washington Post reported that Uber had knowingly put its drivers in the country at risk of debt and danger.

When Uber launched in South Africa, it motivated drivers to join its platform with promises of a better life and, in some cases, cash payments to the value of around $400 (close to R7,000 today).

However, over time its policy changes resulted in drivers receiving less remuneration while taking on higher risks.

The Washington Post spoke to ex-Uber SA driver Shaun Cupido about his experiences driving for the ride-hailing platform.

Cupido explained that when he first joined, the money was good, but he said that little by little, Uber changed its policies resulting in lower pay and increased risks.

Based in Cape Town, Cupido said Uber recruited more drivers to the city, cutting his daily trips in half due to the new competition.

He added that things became even riskier when Uber changed its policy to allow cash payments for its rides, making drivers a target for criminals as they now had to carry sums of cash in their cars.

Cupido was eventually attacked while driving for Uber. The attackers stole his rented car, and he received stitches in his head.

It took him a month to recover from the attack, which resulted in him being too scared to continue driving people around for a living.

Cupido explained that Uber refused to compensate him for his glasses that were broken during the attack, despite having promised to help.

Cupidos story is just one of many Uber drivers in South Africa who have been attacked, whether by thieves or rivals in the local cab and minibus taxi industries.

Former Uber SA operations manager Stephan Swart reportedly said Uber was aware that rolling out the cash acceptance policy would put its drivers at higher risk of being robbed.

However, the ride-hailing company went ahead with its rollout anyways as it believed it would appeal to millions of South Africans without credit or debit cards and boost rides by as much as 30%.

Swart said he helped organise driver engagement days every year, which Uber claimed were to address drivers concerns.

We would do these phoney-baloney sort of events to prove that we look out for the drivers, The Washington Post quoted Swart as saying.

We would listen to drivers and hear their concerns, but you often felt like, Yes, we hear it, but what can we really do about it?'

He explained that this was because senior Uber executives refused to raise driver pay in the country, despite protests at the companys South African offices becoming common.

Uber drivers in South Africa were not allowed to decline cash tips when it launched in 2016. However, Uber requires cash customers to provide personal information before being allowed to book a ride.

By August 2017, Uber allowed drivers to decline cash trips. In September 2021, the ride-hailing platform implemented a policy that required new cash customers to confirm their identity by linking their social media accounts and providing a selfie.

The Uber Files

Leaked documents from former Uber top executive Mark MacGann revealed how the ride-hailing company impeded regulators and law enforcement during its aggressive entrances to cities outside of the US.

Launched by The Guardian, the projects evidence includes over 124,000 emails, text messages, and other records allegedly implicating Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick.

The Washington Post contacted a spokesperson representing Kalanick regarding the allegations.

Travis Kalanick never authorised any actions or programmes that would obstruct justice in any country, Devon Spurgeon, the spokesperson representing Kalanick, said.

Mr Kalanick never suggested that Uber should take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety.

Any accusation that Mr Kalanick directed, engaged in, or was involved in any of these activities is completely false, Spurgeon added.

MyBroadband asked Uber SA for comment, but it had not answered our questions by the time of publication.

Update  Uber provided the following statement from its general manager for Sub Saharan Africa, Frans Hiemstra:

Since our South Africa launch in 2013, we have created economic opportunities for thousands of people in South Africa and currently have 20,000 drivers and delivery people earning through the Uber and Uber Eats apps.

Safety is and has always been a top priority for us, and we have invested heavily over the years in technology to help keep drivers and riders safe. Many of these industry-leading safety features are now available in South Africa, including our in-app emergency button and strong rider verification measures.
CALISTOGA  People turning 21 often go to a bar to celebrate, but when Carl Dene turned 21, he brought together a group of investors to purchase his own bar. Since then, his entrepreneurial spirit has led him on a path from New York to California and has included owning and operating multiple restaurants, a successful design and marketing firm, and now a small hotel and coffeehouse in Calistoga.

Dene and his wife, Heather, who recently moved to the Napa Valley from Long Beach, are fast becoming some of the valleys most prolific business owners. They have transformed Calistogas Brannan Cottage Inn from a cozy but sleepy bed-and-breakfast into what is now a super-hip destination that includes a popular coffeehouse called Sams General Store.

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We fell in love with the valley years ago, Dene said. For our family, it is perfect. We love the pace and that the culture is centered around excellent food and wine. There is also a real sense of collaboration in this community.

Along with their two teenage boys, the Denes are involved in a dizzying array of activities in the valley. Heather is a real estate agent with Compass in St. Helena; along with a business partner they have purchased Hotel dAmici and also the Lawer Estates tasting room; they have begun making their own wine; and if thats not enough, they are still on the hunt for other opportunities.

Dene recently took a break on a brisk spring evening at the couples Calistoga hotel and eatery to talk about the family's entrepreneurial endeavors. Although the coffee shop was closed for the day, a steady stream of potential customers approached, disappointed upon learning theyd missed the opportunity to visit.

We saw some amazing posts on Instagram and read the great reviews, one woman explained when asked how shed learned about the place, adding with a smile that this was her and her familys first trip to the valley.

Each time one of these groups left earshot, Dene said remorsefully, I feel so bad about that. Its just impossible to stay open any longer than we do because staffing is such a challenge these days.

Sunday dinners and the Wild West

Dene, a fifth-generation New Yorker, was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Staten Island.

Every Sunday my dad would cook a feast for the whole family, he said. I rolled out the pasta and hed cook. It was our thing.

Local Tastes: Lovina restaurant in Calistoga goes no-tip Tipping is just plain bad for everyone involved," says Jennifer Bennett, who has done away with tipping at her Lovina restaurant in Calistoga.

After high school, unsure exactly what his path might be  maybe business or real estate  Dene started, stopped and transferred between five to six colleges before ending up in Tucson, Arizona. There he entered college, only to pause his education again to purchase a rundown bar that had a lot of potential.

My friends and I pooled our money together, he said, but it wasnt even close to what the owner originally wanted.

Unbeknownst to the young cohort, the bars owner had defaulted on his loan, so through a convolution of events, Dene and his friends found themselves the proud owners of a seedy bar that included DJ-run parties on weekends. It felt as though theyd entered the Wild West, with bar fights and the need to navigate a good-old-boy network that viewed the New Yorker with a mixture of skepticism and disdain. Eventually the challenges of remaining open became too great, and they were forced to sell the bar at a loss.

Failure is often the best lesson because you never want to feel that feeling again, Dene said. But what we did learn was that we were pretty good at promoting parties that included live DJs.

Dene had an idea that they could jettison the need for their own brick-and-mortar location and instead focus solely on promoting nightly DJ events at bars throughout the region. They called their new business Cool-Mix Productions (CMP).

It was the 1990s, and CMP took off, quickly expanding to other cities and bringing in yearly increases in revenue. But by 28, although everything was going well by most measures, Dene had had enough. He longed for something more.

It was great money and fun, he said, but when I turned 28, I had this epiphany that it was not supposed to be my life. I wanted to go back to school to study art, history and design and eventually have a family.

Now Dene was motivated, and he quickly earned a degree in marketing and design. Toward the end of his student tenure, he was brought on for a pro bono job with the Salvation Army. As with many stories in Denes life, that evolved into a new business, this one a marketing and design company he called Vision Design Studios (VDS), which still exists today. At one point VDS grew to $13 million in annual revenue, was staffed by more than 60 employees and was housed in a stylish warehouse complex in Long Beach, California.

Part of it (a successful life) is that you just need to put it out there and be optimistic and opportunistic as you go, he said.

By the time Dene met and married Heather, his mother and father had emigrated from New York and moved to Long Beach. Once again the family met for Sunday meals that were full of fresh-made pasta and savory Italian dishes.

Wed have people over, and they all just couldnt believe how good the food was, Dene said.

One can almost predict what happened next. Michael, Denes father and cut from the same cloth as his son, had recently retired. So, of course a new restaurant was born  a high-end Italian eatery called Michaels on Naples that was to be owned and operated by Denes father.

My mother suggested that mixing family with business was better avoided, he said, and then laughed. But eventually I got more involved as we expanded.

The restaurant became wildly popular, getting rave reviews from the Yelp of the day, Zagat. Eventually the original concept morphed and grew to include more than a half-dozen Napoleon-inspired pizzerias throughout Southern California and a casual eatery called Working Class Kitchen in Long Beach.

By then  the early 2010s  the Denes had two children, a growing marketing and design company, were involved with numerous restaurants, and Heather was on the path to becoming a successful real estate agent.

It was about that time that memories of an earlier visit to the Napa Valley began to gnaw at Dene. In 2005, the couple had come to the valley  sipping wine and eating well-prepared food as they explored the bucolic back roads and savored the less-frenetic pace.

Even on that first trip, I just knew that someday wed live here, Dene said.

By 2015 the couple had purchased a second home in St. Helena and were on the lookout for a new space to explore an idea that Dene was noodling  a stylish boutique inn that might include a coffeehouse.

Then in 2018, Napa Valley hotelier Amar Patel made the unexpected decision to sell his familys Brannan Cottage Inn property in Calistoga. Fast-forward a few years and add in Denes wealth of energy, experience and vision, and now what has emerged is one of the more popular destinations in a valley known for destinations.

A home for creative spirits

The Napa Valleys immense beauty and the regulations that hinder unbridled corporate growth are reasons why many creative spirits have come here to live out their dreams. Some come from a world where money is king. Some come from a world where status is queen. But what most find  at least those who end up staying for a while  is that deep satisfaction comes through developing a real connection with nature and community.

We have found our home here, Dene said. The kids schools are great, the community is awesome and just look around  it couldnt be more beautiful.

Sam's General Store is located at 109 Wappo Ave. in Calistoga. For more information, visit: samsgeneral.store.
ST. HELENA  The St. Helena City Council has awarded more than $2 million in contracts associated with moving City Hall and the police department into the Napa Valley College Upper Valley Campus.

Once completed later this year, the improvements will enable all city departments, including the police, to be housed under the same roof. Staff have been spread among three sites since smoke damage forced city workers to abandon the old City Hall in late 2019.

The council last month approved the following contracts:

 $1.2 million to Murray Building Inc. for construction of tenant improvements, plus change orders of up to 10% of the contract amount;

 $219,000 to Marin IT to relocate and set up information technology systems;

 $424,000 to Vesta Modular for a five-year lease of a portable locker room for the police department;

 $45,000 to Noll & Tam for construction administration services;

 $70,000 to Greystone West Company for construction management services.

The construction contract with Murray includes accessibility improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and enhanced security infrastructure necessary for St. Helena Police. Construction is set to take about two months.

The city and NVC signed a five-year lease in August 2021 to occupy part of the college campus, with an option for another two years. The college will retain use of the culinary arts building and two classrooms in the main building.

A few councilmembers said that given the substantial investment in tenant improvements, the city should pursue talks with the college about either buying the building or extending the lease.

This amount of cost, to me, does not make sense unless we have that lease extend out farther than we currently have, said Councilmember Anna Chouteau. Its important that we recognize this kind of investment our city is making in this very important space.  We need to make sure we get the value out of everything that were investing.
The city of Napas Planning Commission on Thursday recommended the Napa City Council adopt a final two-year extension for the 48-unit Napa Creek Condominiums project, which was originally approved by the council back in 2011.

The full project, on a 3.8-acre site on California Boulevard near the D Street Alley and west of downtown Napa, is to consist of 24 three-bedroom units, 18 two-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units with dens. Each unit will also have a two-car garage. The project will also create 25 new public street parking spaces and three on-site guest parking spaces, according to the staff report.

(The project is not to be confused with the nearby Napa Creek Village located at 2614 First St., also a 48-unit complex with a lengthy history.)

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Senior planner Michael Allen said the project has changed hands multiple times since that original approval. After being approved by the City Council in 2011, the project was given two state-mandated extensions, Allen said, for two years each.

The councill again extended the project in 2017. In 2019, developer Mani Brothers Real Estate Group pledged a $720,000 payment to the citys affordable housing fund in lieu of providing affordable units  well above what the citys typical affordable housing fee would be, according to Allen  and told the council that city residents would be the first to learn about condo availability. The council, as a result, granted another two-year extension.

But the project still hasnt moved forward during the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, the citys approval was again extended, to August 2022, by a state action early in the pandemic to extend all housing projects by 18 months.

Allen announced one minor modification to the project at the Thursday meeting. A public access easement for a path running along Napa Creek on the south side of the project, which would serve as an approach to a bicycle and pedestrian pathway running below Highway 29, wont be configured in that way, he said. Instead, at the request of the citys public Works department, the public pathway will run along D Street Alley.

The reason for that, Allen said, is that Public Works determined Americans with Disabilities Act compliance would be almost impossible under the previous plan because of how steep the resulting path would be.

The Planning Commission voted 4-0 to recommend council approval for the final two-year extension  of the tentative map, use permits, a design review permit and variances. Commission chair Gordon Huether recused himself because, he said, hes involved in business with the Mani Brothers.

The final extension, if approved by the council, will add up to six years in total under city extensions  the maximum allowed under the California Subdivision Map Act  and 5 1/2 years under statewide extensions. If the applicant doesnt have permits issued before the extension runs out and the state doesn't provide another extension, the project approval will expire, and a new application process would be required, said Allen.
Qatar Airways and South Africa-based Airlink have signed a comprehensive codeshare agreement to offer travellers enhanced services and greater connectivity between 45 destinations in 13 countries across southern Africa and the rest of the world.



This new codeshare agreement means travellers can enjoy the simplicity of purchasing connecting flights on both airlines using a single reservation with seamless ticketing, check-in, boarding and baggage-check experience, during the entire journey



The partnership will enable customers to book attractive offers from southern Africa to popular destinations in the US such as New York and Dallas, cities in Europe such as London, Copenhagen and Barcelona, and points across Asia like Manila, Jakarta and Cebu. The agreement also increases Qatar Airways footprint in southern Africa, with improved access to destinations such as Ggeberha (Port Elizabeth) Hoedspruit, Skukuza, George in South Africa and beyond to Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.



Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar al Baker said: Expanding our network with Airlink gives our customers more choice of destinations and flights, that we hope will contribute to the rapid recovery of travel, which plays such an important role in southern African economies.



We have boosted our presence in the African market by adding eight new destinations since the start of the pandemic and fostering partnerships such as this dynamic agreement with Airlink which will greatly enhance our offering to our customers and support travel and trade.



Qatar Airways was the only airline to launch new services in southern Africa after the pandemic, starting operations to Luanda, Harare and Lusaka last year. It resumes operations to Windhoek this month, providing another connection to Airlinks extensive regional network via eight gateways in the region.



Airlink Chief Executive Rodger Foster said: This development is an endorsement of Airlinks relevance to providing air access to the entire region through our expansive network of destinations, which when considered in conjunction with Qatar Airways global reach creates unparalleled connectivity opportunities. As southern Africas leading airline, Airlink provides comprehensive, safe, and reliable air transportation services, enabling socio-economic development by connecting people with each other and facilitating trade within the region and beyond.



The new codeshare flights are available for sales and will commence travel on the July 6, 2022 subject to government approval.



Qatar Airways offers 21 direct weekly flights from Doha to Johannesburg, 10 weekly flights to Cape Town and four weekly flights to Durban. From South Africa, travellers can connect easily to destinations across six continents via Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar.  TradeArabia News Service
LOS ANGELES (AP)  After years of addiction, Matthew Hirsch was sober. He landed a stable job working overnight shifts at a 7-Eleven in Southern California, lived with his girlfriend in a nearby apartment and spoke to his father every day.

Around 4:15 a.m. Monday, a masked shooter gunned down the 40-year-old clerk inside the convenience store. Authorities say it was one of six robberies by the same man at 7-Eleven stores across the region, senseless attacks that left two dead and three wounded.

The tragedy left Hirsch's father reeling on Tuesday. Jim Hirsch had long feared his son's death would come from another heroin overdose.

Id walk into his room at night and see needles, Hirsch told The Associated Press. Do I throw him out to die under a bridge? Or let him overdose in the house?"

Still, he always had an open-door policy for Matt at the home where his son grew up. Matt eventually sobered up as "he slowly straightened himself out more than a year ago, his father said. He began working at the 7-Eleven in Brea about six months ago, juggling his job and his recovery.

Jim Hirsch was glad his son was employed but worried about him working alone late at night.

He hadnt had time to enjoy a normal life, his father said. He goes through a struggle for goodness and it ends in a shooting.

The robberies occurred in a five-hour span early on Monday. Following the deadly robberies, 7-Eleven Inc. urged Los Angeles-area stores to close Monday and Tuesday nights for safety.

Investigators aren't sure what what led to Hirschs death in Brea, or what sparked the robberies in Ontario, Upland, Riverside, Santa Ana and La Habra. Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback said it doesn't seem coincidental that 7-Eleven was targeted on July 11  or 7/11, the day when the company celebrates its anniversary.

Hirsch was shot to death after authorities believe the gunman earlier gravely wounded a customer in Riverside and then fatally shot Matthew Rule, 24, outside a Santa Ana store. After those three shootings, the suspect then shot two people at a store in La Habra before disappearing

Rules aunt said his mother was too distraught Tuesday to speak to a reporter.

Armed robberies also occurred at stores in Ontario and Upland shortly before the shootings. Authorities in those cities on Tuesday confirmed that the crimes they were investigating are linked to the crimes at the other locations.

Authorities in Ontario, Brea and Upland shared images of a masked man wearing what appeared to be the same black sweatshirt with a hood over his head. The sweatshirt had white lettering with green leaves on the front.

The first robbery happened around midnight in Ontario, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. Then, about 45 minutes later, a gunman stole a few items and $400 to $500 in cash from a store in the neighboring city of Upland. About an hour later, the Riverside store was robbed and a customer shot and gravely wounded.

Another shooting occurred around 3:20 a.m. in Santa Ana. There, officers found Rule dead in the 7-Eleven parking lot. The victim did not work at the store, and surveillance video shows the suspect dropping items  believed to be the victims belongings while fleeing, police said.

About 40 minutes later, Hirsch was fatally shot and less than an hour later officers discovered two gunshot victims at a store in nearby La Habra. Those two victims are expected to survive.
EU welcomes Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs recent meeting

Sweden developing new strategy for its next-generation fighters

Resistance movement to hold protest in front of government building tomorrow

India on its way to becoming world's fastest-growing economy

Reuters: Gazprom declares force majeure on gas supplies to Europe

US Treasury Head: We will not allow China to take advantage of its position in the market for key commodities

Ministry of Emergency Situations: 331 emergencies and 8 deaths registered in Armenia during week

Armenian Ombudsperson visits Central assembly point of Ministry of Defense

Erdogan again threatens to freeze applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO

Turkey announces possible meeting of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and UN representatives on grain issue exports

Aliyev demands EU to finalize new agreement between Azerbaijan and EU

A fellow soldier accused of soldier death

Armenia PM introduces newly appointed Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces

EU and Azerbaijan sign document on energy security

Dollar, euro continue to rise in Armenia

Armenia, Artsakh soldiers deaths due to ceasefire violations increase sharply in January-June 2022 compared to 2021

EU chief diplomat expects Ukraine grain deal this week to unblock supplies

Armenias Pashinyan holds phone talk with Russias Mishustin

"Hayeli.am" : Surprising meetings. Why is there no mention of Bakoyan's physical violence and financial exploitation?

Protests against tax changes continue in Hungary

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Armenia PM Pashinyan receives Sergey Naryshkin

Armenia PM approves 2022 communication action plan for combating corruption

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Pashinyan and Mishustin discuss topical issues of Russian-Armenian cooperation

EU Council decides on Ukraine's fifth military aid package for 500 million euros

Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate chancellor on Biden: Greatness of leaders lies in their modesty

Armenia FM to pay official visit to Poland

Ameriabank Receives Euromoney Award for Excellence as the Best Bank in Armenia for 2022

Turkish army receives defense systems against UAVs

Russia Foreign Intelligence Service chief to visit Yerevan Monday

Russia MOD announces for first time name of commander of East group of special operations in Ukraine

Byblos Bank Armenia introduces the premium World Elite Mastercard

Putin to meet with Khamenei during his visit to Tehran

More than 1,000 heat-related deaths reported in Spain, Portugal so far in July

Man who threatened to kill himself with hand grenade is detained in Armenias Ashtarak city

Azerbaijan population exceeds 10mn

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Catholicos of All Armenians travels to US

Who gave information about alleged bomb in Armenia First Presidents house?

UK parliament to hold confidence vote in government Monday

Meteorology official: Armenia heatwave will gradually recede as of Friday

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State of emergency formally declared in Sri Lanka

US hopes oil production will increase after Biden's Middle East visit

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Von der Leyen heads to Azerbaijan hoping to get more natural gas

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Head of EU Delegation European Union in Armenia to Armenia, Ambassadors of EU Member States, Director General of the Council of Europe DG Human Rights and Rule of Law replied to my urgent letters. Nonpartisan Taguhi Tovmasyan, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, wrote this on Facebook. She added as follows:

After putting into circulation the draft resolutions on recalling opposition MP Ishkhan SAGHATELYAN from Office and Termination of Powers of RA NA opposition MP Vahe HAKOBYAN, I urgently sent letters also to the Head of EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin and Ambassadors of EU Member States, also Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director General of the Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe.

In my letters I noted that as the justifications of the Draft Decisions make it clear, the ruling faction takes such initiatives because of the opposition MPs boycott of parliamentary work (not participating in the voting, absences from the NA Council Sessions, absences from the Standing Committee sessions), opinions and statements made during the rallies.

Referring to the boycott I stressed that according to the European Courts position a boycott is a form of expressing a protesting opinion which is protected by Article 10 of the Convention and that especially the parliamentary boycott has been practiced in all democratic states.

Referring to the opinions and calls by the opposition MPs during the rallies, they are also protected by the Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Freedom of Expression). And if the members of the ruling faction think that they contain violation of criminal law, then a criminal-legal assessment of their actions should be given. If not, then they are fully protected by internal and international norms on freedom of expression especially for MPs and therefore an MP should not be punished for the freedom of expression.

On this matter I requested my colleagues to come up with a public statement on such a behavior by the ruling party highly problematic from the perspective of human rights which is against democratic principles.

In reply, Head of EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassadors of EU Member States inform that the EU and its Member States attach great importance to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and note that each state has the right to set up rules as well as disciplinary procedures for its officials and deputies, in relation with their duties and responsibilities.

Citing Article 98.2 in the RA Constitution / The powers of a Deputy shall be terminated in case of unexcused absence from at least half of the votings held during each half of the calendar year, as well as in case of violating the requirements of Article 95 of the Constitution / at the same time they note that the EU Delegation and the Member States are not in a position to judge whether the decision taken on Friday 1 July are in accordance with the Constitution and that is the task of the relevant bodies of the Republic of Armenia.

The EU Delegation and its Member States stand committed to support Human Rights and continue to closely monitoring the situation in Armenia.

In his reply Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director General of the Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe notes the following: We are closely following the events relating to the opposition protests in Yerevan. As confirmed by the Venice Commission (Parameters on the Relationship between the Parliamentary Majority and the Opposition in a Democracy), political action may follow various paths, and attendance at sittings is not the sole form of action. Boycott of Parliament may therefore be seen as a form of action by elected representatives.

Mr. Giakoumopoulos draws our attention to the position of the Venice Commission that it would nevertheless be conceivable for the Constitution to lay down a rule of attendance and indicate penalties on defaulting members, ranging from partial or complete withdrawal of indemnity to withdrawal of the right to vote, but without providing for the loss of the mandate.

As to an organized and prolonged mass boycott of the work of Parliament by the opposition, it cannot entirely be ruled out as a legitimate form of political behavior, but it is permissible only in rare and very extreme circumstances where the legitimacy of Parliament is in doubt due to the actions of the majority. Disagreements about current politics, even major ones cannot justify boycott.

Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director General of the Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe assures: Please rest assured that I and the relevant departments of the Council of Europe continue to follow the situation in Armenia.

Hope that [PM] Nikol Pashinyans authority will infere conclusions from the exhortations of our international colleagues and will stop taking revenge on the oppositionists. Otherwise one should state that Pashinyans government treads democratic values under foot with wide steps.
The Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaranthe institute of ancient manuscriptsin Yerevan opened Monday the exhibition DIALOGUE of the well-known contemporary artist Jean Boghossian, co-chair of the Boghossian Foundation. The exhibition is curated by the famous Italian art critic Bruno Cora, the Matenadaran informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The exhibition is unique because for the first time contemporary art will be displayed next to ancient manuscripts at the Matenadaran. The core of both collections is the book, through which it became possible to create a bridge that connects the works of a contemporary artist with medieval manuscripts. Boghossians numerous works in the form of books dialogue with the manuscripts kept and exhibited at the Matenadaran and are presented harmoniously side by side.

The peculiarity of Boghossians art is the use of fire in his artworks. Fire is Boghossians artistic language of choice, with which he works on canvas, paper, books, and plastics. In his paintings and drawings, Boghossian uses different multimedia including watercolor, charcoal, oil, pigments and acrylic paint.

The following series of artworks will be represented at the exhibition: Livres-objet brules (2012-2020), Exultet (2014-2016), Fans (2014-2020), Livres relies (2012-2020), Abstract Writing (2016-2021), Sculptures (2007-2020), and other artworks.

This exhibition provides a new experience to represent the old and the new under one roof, to show that the book summarizing the memory of humanity and its heritage can be presented in different artistic ways.

The DIALOGUE exhibition will be open to visitors until October 8.
Emirates and Air Canada have signed a strategic partnership agreement that will create more options for customers when travelling on the carriers networks while also enhancing the customer experience throughout the journey.



Emirates and Air Canada intend to establish a codeshare relationship later in 2022 that will offer enhanced consumer travel choices for Air Canada customers to travel to the United Arab Emirates and to destinations beyond Dubai.



Emirates customers will also enjoy an enhanced travel experience when travelling to Toronto or to key destinations across the Air Canada network. Customers will have the ability to book connecting travel between both airlines networks with the ease of a single ticket, seamless connectivity at the carriers respective global hubs and baggage transfers to their final destinations.



Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: This is a significant partnership that will enable our customers access to even more destinations in Canada and the Americas, via our Toronto and US gateways. It also opens up many new route combinations for travellers across Emirates and Air Canadas extensive networks in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. We are pleased to partner with Air Canada, one of North Americas most established airlines and Canadas flag carrier and we look forward to jointly progressing on various areas to provide even better customer flight choices and experiences.



Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer at Air Canada, said: "As we continue pursuing our strategy of expanding our global reach in response to growing opportunities in VFR markets (Visit Friends and Relatives) that serve Canadas large multicultural communities, we are very pleased to form a strategic partnership with Emirates, a highly respected flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates with a hub in the vibrant city of Dubai. This strategic agreement will create network synergies, and Air Canada customers will have additional, convenient options when travelling between Canada and the United Arab Emirates as well as destinations beyond Dubai.



"We look forward to introducing Air Canada codeshare service on key Emirates flights, as well as adding the EK code on select Air Canada flights, and welcoming Emirates customers on our services later this year."



To further enhance the customer experience, the carriers will also establish reciprocal frequent flyer benefits and reciprocal lounge access for qualifying customers. Further details of the partnership and specific codeshare routes will be announced when finalized and will be subject to regulatory approvals and final documentation, said an Emirates statement.  TradeArabia News Service
The creation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be an important reform in the security system of Armenia. Andranik Kocharyan, a member of the ruling majority "Civil Contract" Faction in the National Assembly (NA) and chair of the NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security, said this in the NA on Tuesdayduring the parliamentary hearings on the reestablishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Armenia.

Kocharyan noted that the parliament will play an active role in implementing this process.

The MP expressed confidence that the establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will strengthen the security system of Armenia and ensure greater accountability in this domain.

"The establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is part of the reforms that are envisioned by the government's medium-term plan. The creationand essentially, the reinstatement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will immediately resolve several issues. The clear functions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be defined, as well as a new personnel training system will be introduced. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will become a structure that will develop the policy of the domain. Parliamentary oversight will be ensured over that power structure. Thus, more transparent activity and accountability of the domain will be ensured. The reforms that will be implemented will increase the appeal of service in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Also, they will ensure the manageability of the country's internal security," Kocharyan assured.
It is obvious that any public office holder should be accountable for his statements; moreover, in the case of the highest office holder, that bar is much higher. Aram Vardevanyan, a member of the opposition "Armenia" Faction in the National Assembly of Armenia, wrote this on Facebookand with respect to PM Nikol Pashinyans phone talk Monday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"It has been publicly stated several times that the normalization of relations with Turkey cannot be considered in isolation from Turkey's rolebased on the circumstances of the 44-day [Artsakh] war [in the fall of 2020].

Of course, let's recall the [previous] statements of Nikol Pashinyan himself:

Turkey has returned to the South Caucasus to continue the Armenian Genocide. 02.10.2020;

Terrorists imported from the Middle East are fighting on the side of Azerbaijanunder the patronage of Turkey. 02.10.2020;

And now Turkey does not resolve the Karabakh issue at all. Turkey is attempting to continue its policy of Armenian genocide because in the South Caucasus, Armenia and Armenians are the last obstacle on its road to expansionto the north, to the east, and to the southeast.' 13.10.2020.

And now let's record no action, no consistency regarding the said, no change in Turkey's policy, the shameful declaration of Shushi, and Armenia's response: 11.07.2022: The Prime Minister of Armenia congratulated the President of Turkey on the occasion of Kurban Bayram," Vardevanyan added.
The Kremlin confirms that Russian President Vladimir Putin will go to Tehran on 19 July, where he will participate in a trilateral summit with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, and will also hold bilateral meetings, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, RIA Novosti reported.

"Yes, we can confirm that. Indeed, the president's trip to Tehran is being prepared. There will be a meeting of the heads of the guarantor states of the Astana process. This is, as you know, the process to facilitate the Syrian settlement," he told reporters.

Peskov noted that the Russian president has both bilateral and trilateral contacts planned in Iran.

"Indeed, there will be a meeting between Putin, Raisi and Erdogan. In addition to the trilateral meeting, of course, there will also be a bilateral meeting. Yesterday we reported on the upcoming high-level contacts between Putin and Erdogan. And this meeting will also take place there," he said.

Peskov said that Putin will go to Tehran on 19 July, Putin's meeting with Erdogan is scheduled for the same day.
The ruling majority "Civil Contract" Faction of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, led by NA speaker Alen Simonyan, will petition to the Constitutional Court with a request to deprive the countrys opposition lawmakers of their parliamentary mandates.

The respective decision signed by Simonyan, and proposing to petition to the Constitutional Court for depriving 33 opposition MPs of their parliamentary mandates, was posted on the NA official website Monday, but after some time it was removed from there.

Today in the parliament, reporters asked the NA speaker what kind of process he has started with regard to the opposition legislators, to which Alen Simonyan responded: "A very pleasant process has begun."

And to the question that even though the decision has been removed from the NA website, will there be a process of depriving mandates in any case, Simonyan answered: "It is a requirement of the law; it cannot not be."

To note, only the names of opposition MPs Taguhi Tovmasyan and Ishkhan Zakaryan were not on the respective decision.


Caste-ing Space raises serious questions about the prevalence of caste in social spaces and underlies crucial concerns in anti-caste circles.

Muhammed Nihad PV | TwoCircles.net

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KERALA  A new documentary film on the prevalence of caste in social spaces has sparked a fresh debate on how caste notions are reproduced across different mediums.

Made by two young budding filmmakers Basil Islam and Thoufeeq K, the documentary, produced by Students Islamic Organisation (SIO), Kerala and Campus Alive, an online magazine, was released last week at a public event in Kozhikode.

Islam is a sociology graduate from Jamia Milia Islamia and Thoufeeq is a photographer and filmmaker.

The writers, social workers and NGOs who speak about manual scavenging and the problem of caste, I think they dont do it as a political act; they make it a pitying act. They say, Oh! The Dalit women, they are carrying shit on their heads, we have to stop that practice, okay, whats next? After ten years, they say people are entering into a manhole; we have to stop the practice. Who knows, after ten years, what is going to come? But if you oppose it as a political act, you will find a root to it. When you attack the root, you attack everything and the key to that is the act of politicising the spaces. It is from this fundamental question raised by Raees Muhammad, the founder of Dalit Camera and a committed anti-caste activist, that the documentary film Caste-ing Space takes shape. When the mainstream initiatives in understanding and opposing caste are often limited to its mere manifestations the debut directorial endeavour of Islam and Thoufeeq strikes at the root of the problem, which is the spaces that reproduce the notions of caste in different forms across different times.

The 30-minute film is divided into three chapters: permanence, architecture and conversion.

The directors navigate how the ideas of purity and pollution are permanently embedded in caste bodies, and how spaces facilitate the divide between permanently pure upper caste bodies and permanently impure Dalits.

The film highlights that even if an individual born to a caste of scavengers takes up other vocations or gets into bureaucracy, he is forever identified with scavenging and hence impure.

The film also throws light on how social order is replicated in the architecture of society. Caste being the deciding factor of the Indian social order restricts the access of Dalits to various avenues of public space including temples, houses and even toilets.

The film examines the role of religious conversion in aiding the mobility of lower castes. Quoting Ambedkar, Raees Muhammed argues that since caste is intrinsic to Hinduism, any attempt to annihilate the menace or community emancipation is meaningless.

Invoking Periyars proposition who had suggested Ambedkar to choose Islam as a religion for emancipation since it provides a good cure to humiliation and oppression, Mohammad claims that at present, Islam is the only solution to bypass the vicious cycle of the caste system.

While Hindu temples excluded toilets and denied the entry of lower castes, mosques provided a congregational space of self-respect and revolutionised their premises by including toilets.

Apart from this architectural and structural distinction, the film looks at conversion as a wholesome ideological shift. The mass conversion of Dalits to Islam after the collapse of the caste wall and the subsequent death of 17 people in Mettupalayam of Tamilnadu is taken as a reference. The lives taken by the wall were forgotten and it was rebuilt by the perpetrators but the dynamics had changed. The wall erected to segregate upper-caste settlements from the Dalit population restricted not only their visibility and mobility but also their vision and will. But the conversion, as the new Muslims of Mettupalayam say, helped them transcend the wall of slavery and brought them a new life of freedom. With beards, skull caps and hijabs they are new individuals with a new identity. They speak a new language and address each other as bhais (brothers). They fearlessly enter places earlier forbidden for them. Above all, a new community with dignity is born. It was this Mettupalayam incident that inspired B. Ravichandran to embrace Islam and become Raees Muhammed.

Raees Muhammed is a person who has given a new meaning to anti-caste activism, said Basil Islam, co-director of the film. We attempted to amplify his ideas through this film. This is the first step. What remains beyond the frames is huge and untouched.

For Thoufeeq K, the co-director of the film, the making of this film was a learning experience. The one-year journey has triggered several serious thoughts both about the social realities as well as the role of filmmaking, he told TwoCircles.net.

Muhammad Nihad PV is a sociology student at the University of Hyderabad. He tweets at @nihadbinnisar
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani at a news conference refuted the US allegations concerning the possible transfer of Iranian drones to Russia, noting that the cooperation in this field has not seen any special development recently.

The history of cooperation between Russia and Iran in the field of a number of modern technologies dates back to the pre-war period in Ukraine, and there has not been much development of cooperation in this area recently, Kanaani said, whose words were published on the Telegram channel of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

He noted that Iran's position on the crisis in Ukraine is quite clear and has been repeatedly stated. The Iranian diplomat added that for years have been turning the occupying and aggressor countries, including those located in the region of Western Asia, into a warehouse of their various deadly weapons.

Earlier, Assistant to the US President for National Security Jake Sullivan stated that Iran was allegedly preparing to transfer unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia, without explaining where the US got such information and without giving any evidence.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Republic of Armenia Nora Arisian, the Prime Minister's press service reported.

The Prime Minister congratulated Ambassador Arisian on the occasion of the start of the diplomatic mission and wished her effective activities for the benefit of the development of relations between the two countries. "Armenia values cooperation and historical ties with Syria. We are following the developments and wish that our friendly Syria overcomes the crisis as soon as possible," Nikol Pashinyan said. The Prime Minister referred to the humanitarian mission sent by Armenia to Syria in 2019, which carried out activities of humanitarian demining, mine awareness campaign among the population, provision of medical services.

Ambassador Nora Arisian thanked for the warm words and emphasized that for her, also as a Syrian-Armenian, carrying out a diplomatic service in Armenia is an honor. On behalf of the Syrian authorities, she expressed gratitude to the Armenian authorities for the humanitarian assistance provided to the country and noted that she will make all efforts to further strengthen relations.

The interlocutors emphasized the role of the Syrian-Armenian community in strengthening Armenian-Syrian ties. The sides exchanged thoughts on the cooperation agenda and perspectives, the statement reads.
A large number of people blocked the North-South Road under construction in two directions from the Silikyan quarter to the Haghtanak quarter as a sign of protest, Shamshyan.com reported.

The protesters complain that construction works have been carried out on the above-mentioned section for over a month, and as a result, dust rises up. According to the protesters, they were recently told on behalf of Yerevan mayor that the problem will be solved, but no one is solving anything.

According to the website, the road is blocked on both sides and the traffic jam is several kilometers long.
The GeoProMining group of companies expands cooperation with the St. Petersburg Mining University named after Plekhanov.

In addition to sending Armenian students to study at the university, the Additional Qualification program was launched this year to improve the skills of the company's employees.

In addition, the parties agreed to deepen cooperation in terms of participation of St Petersburg University in the implementation of the program for the development of targeted education presented by the Company at the Kapan branch of the National Polytechnic University of Armenia, and later at the Department of Mining and Mineral Processing of the NPUA with the introduction of their experience, educational plans and technical standards. In the near future, a competent joint working group will be created, which will start working on the project.

As part of a recent meeting with partners in St. Petersburg, we noted our joint successful experience of working for 10 years under the Scholarship Project program, under which students from Armenia, by our guidance and social assistance receive free education at the St. Petersburg Technical University and subsequently get a job at our assets. In addition, a new project "Additional Qualification" for professional training of engineering and technical staff has been launched this year.

Armenia is rich in mining recourses, and the foundation of the industry is laid in educational processes. Our task is to bring the Department of Mining and Metallurgy of the National Polytechnic University of Armenia to the international level, said GeoProMining representative Ruzanna Grigoryan.

St. Petersburg Mining University is one of the largest mining universities and the first higher technical educational institution in Russia. The university trains specialists for all sectors of the mining and metallurgical, oil and gas complex, geological survey, industrial engineering. The university has 16.5 thousand students in 97 areas and specialties at 9 departments.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said there are only a few weeks left before the window of opportunity for the Iranian nuclear deal closes, Reuters reported.

Speaking to lawmakers, Catherine Colonna said the situation is no longer acceptable and accused Iran of using delaying tactics and abandoning previously agreed-upon positions during talks in Doha earlier this month while continuing its uranium enrichment program.

"There is still a window of opportunity...for Iran to finally decide to accept an accord which it worked to build, but time is passing," Colonna said, warning that if Iran kept on its current trajectory it would be a threshold nuclear arms state.

"Time is passing. Tehran must realize this," she said, adding that the U.S. mid-term elections would make it even harder to seal a deal.

"The window of opportunity will close in a few weeks. There will not be a better accord to the one which is on the table."

Last week, the U.S. special negotiator for a renewed deal said Iran had made demands unrelated to the nuclear program discussion during the latest talks and had made alarming progress on uranium enrichment.
Over the years, new technology has helped radiologists diagnose illnesses on a multitude of medical images, but it has also changed their jobs.

While in the past these physicians spent more time speaking with patients, today they spend most of the time in the reading rooma dark space where they scrutinize images alongside a patients electronic medical records and other data sourcesto diagnose an illness.

A radiologists job is often solitary. And it is a trend that University of Miami Miller School of Medicine radiologists Dr. Alex McKinney and Dr. Fernando Collado-Mesa hope to change.

The two physicians have been working with the Universitys Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) to create an artificial intelligence toolbox that will draw on a massive database of deidentified data and medical images to help doctors diagnose and treat diseases based not only on imaging data but by also considering a patients unique background and circumstances. This would include risk factors, like race and ethnicity, socioeconomic and educational status, and exposure. The physicians say it is a necessary innovation at a time when narrow artificial intelligence in radiology is only able to make a binary decision such as positive or negative for one disease, rather than scanning for a host of disorders.

We believe the next iteration of artificial intelligence should be contextual in nature, which will take in all of a patients risk factors, lab data, past medical data, and will help us follow the patient, said McKinney, who is also the chair of the Department of Radiology. It will become a form of augmented interpretation to help us take care of the patient.

Dr. Fernando Collado-Mesa and Dr. Alex McKinney

According to Collado-Mesa, this toolbox will not just say yes or no, disease or no disease. It will point to the data around it to consider a variety of issues for each individual patient, to put its findings into a context, including future risk.

Current artificial intelligence tools are also limited to a specific type of medical image, and cannot, for example, analyze both MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and ultrasound at the same time. In addition, the patient data that is used in these diagnosis tools is typically not inclusive of a range of demographic groups, which can lead to a bias in care. Having a tool that draws upon the examples of millions of South Florida patients, while maintaining their privacy, will help radiologists be more efficient and comprehensive, McKinney noted.

Right now, there is just so much data for radiologists to sift through. So, this could help us as our tech-based partner, McKinney added.

All of these factors led Collado-Mesa and McKinney to try and create a better alternative, and they spoke with IDSC director Nick Tsinoremas, also a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. Tsinoremas and IDSCs advanced computing team came up with the idea of utilizing an existing toolcalled URIDEa web-based platform that aggregates deidentified patient information for faculty researchand adding in the deidentified images from the Department of Radiology.

They hope to unveil a first version of the toolbox this summer and plan to add new elements as more imaging data is added. It will include millions of CT scans, mammograms, and ultrasound and MRI images, along with radiographs, McKinney pointed out.

We dont want to rush this because we want it to be a high-quality, robust toolbox, said Collado-Mesa, an associate professor of radiology and breast imaging, as well as chief of innovation and artificial intelligence for the Department of Radiology.

Both physicians and Tsinoremas hope that the artificial intelligence tool will help answer vital research questions, like: what risk factors lead to certain brain tumors? Or, what are the most effective treatments for breast cancer in certain demographic groups? It will also use machine learning, a technique that constantly trains computer programs how to utilize a growing database, so it can learn the best ways to diagnose certain conditions.

Creating this resource can help with diagnosis and will allow predictive modeling for certain illnesses, so that if a person has certain image characteristics and clinical information that is similar to other patients from this database, doctors could predict the progression of a disease, the efficacy of their medication, and so on, Tsinoremas said.

To ensure the toolbox will be unbiased, the team is also planning to add more images and data of all population groups in the community, as it is available, as well as to monitor the different elements constantly and systematically within the toolbox to make sure it is performing properly.

The radiologists plan to focus first on illnesses that have a high mortality or prevalence in the local population, like breast cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer, and to add others with time.

The technology could allow them to spend more time with patients and offer more personalized, precision-based care based on the patients genetics, age, and risk factors, according to both physicians.

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to advocate for the patients, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to medicine based on screening guidelines, McKinney said. This could help us get away from that, and it would hopefully offer more hope for people with rare diseases.

But as data is added in the future, the researchers hope to expand their work with the tool. And they hope that physicians across the University will use it to conduct medical research, too.

This is a resource that any UM investigator could potentially access, provided that they have the approvals, and it could spark a number of different research inquiries to describe the progression of disease and how patients respond to different treatments in a given time periodthese are just some of the questions we can ask, Tsinoremas said.
New Delhi [India], July 12 (ANI/PNN): B&B Organics, an organic food products brand, is looking at expanding internationally to make their traditional organic food products available to a broader customer base. The brand is currently operational in India, the USA, and the UK and planning to expand its services to other European countries soon. Intending to emerge as a global leader in traditional organic food products, B&B Organics focuses on R&D to extract bioactive compounds from traditional food products. They are on a mission to increase the availability of the benefits of the traditional products to the common mass, and people would be able to use the bioactive compounds as supplements in their healthcare regime. B&B Organics, a brand known for its organic offerings, is a one-of-its-kind organic food products brand that offers traditional food products like rice, millets, sugars, and a variety of other value-added organic products. B&B Organics is the brainchild of S Balaji (B.Tech in Horticulture) and Dr P Balathandayuthabani (PhD in Environmental Sciences - Sweden). They started this brand after identifying the lack of authentic organic traditional food products in the Indian market. As a result, the brand sells high-quality organic food products at affordable prices. In fact, its product portfolio has the highest number of traditional food products than any other company in India, including 75+ varieties of rice, 15+ varieties of millets, 15+ varieties of flakes, and 10+ varieties of sugars, etc. Sharing his vision for the brand, Founder S Balaji said, "The pandemic has made people aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle. As a result, there has been an increased demand for organic food products in the Indian market. However, there is still a gap in the market in terms of an authentic organic traditional food products brand. B&B Organics is here to fill this gap with its top-notch organic offerings and best-in-industry services. We are on a mission to make people aware of the benefits of organic food habits and bring traditional organic food items within their affordability. We also plan to go global soon to capture international markets and make organic foods a go-to option for people worldwide." B&B Organics is a team of responsible and competent men and women. Moreover, it aims to emerge as a company run by women in the coming times. Since 2016, long before Corona, the brand has been offering work from home to encourage and support its women employees. Women on Wings, an organization headquartered in Netherland, will collaborate with the firm due to its support for women employees. Additionally, the brand envisions sharing a percentage of its profit with its farmers. As there is an increased awareness of quality and organic food eating habits among people in the post-pandemic world, B&B Organics is determined to make organic food available to everyone. For more details, Visit www.bnborganics.com +91- 99434 77454 This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
Heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding in Assam and the northern part of West Bengal has affected the tea plantation sector, said the Tea Association of India, adding that the industry's position stands very "tenuous" for the current season. The tea industry in Assam and north Bengal accounts for around 80 per cent of India's total production. "This region has been battered by the fury of the nature that has witnessed severe rainfall and flood situation the ferocity of which has not been witnessed in the recent times," the association said in a statement which is undersigned by Secretary-General P.K. Bhattacharjee. Crop output in Assam and West Bengal is estimated to have declined in a range of 11-21 per cent year-on-year in June. Further to the output loss, the tea industry has recently been impacted by a rise in wages by Rs 30 per day in north Bengal, it said. A rise in wages in Assam also can not be ruled out too. "The drop in the production is because of lowering of the average maximum temperature by 1.50C in June, 2022 resulting in lower average sunshine hours to the extent that some of the regions witnessed no sunshine in total 11 days out of 30 days in June, 2022," the statement added. Widening of diurnal temperature variations is usually detrimental to tender tea leaves. Adding to the industry woes, tea prices in the month of May in Brahmaputra Valley, Barak Valley and Dooars and Terai regions have fallen by 15 per cent, it claimed. For several years now, India's tea industry has been struggling with issues such as rising input costs, relatively stagnant consumption, and subdued prices. The tea business is cost-intensive, where 60-70 per cent of the total investment is fixed cost. India's tea sector employs around 1.2 million workers and contributes 23 per cent to the global output. (ANI)
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], July 12 (ANI/SRV): Almond Solutions, one of India's leading channel engagement and experiences platform companies has been invited (amongst a selected few from Asia) to the Metaverse Summit 22 in Paris, France to showcase its metaverse capabilities to investors, corporates, and meta-enthusiasts. The company will discuss and showcase glimpses of its B2B and sales channel-focused metaverse solutions. Almond with its Virtex platform has been redefining virtual and digital experiences way before COVID struck and has been at the forefront of B2B mar-tech innovation. With its decade-long B2B engagements experience, Almond is focusing on business, commerce, and retail in the metaverse. Almond's under-development IP - ChannelVerseTM is a metaverse for retail, sales and supply chain encompassing product education, loyalty, B2B influencer engagement and sales enablement. Commenting on Almond's projects and visit to the Metaverse Summit, Abhinav Jain and Apurv Modi, co-founders of Almond Solution jointly said - "The trip to France is an opportunity for us to tell the whole world that India will be at the forefront of biz and tech innovations in this decade. We will be in front of global investors, developers and creators and we want to tell them that metaverse is not just for fun, games, and marketing gimmicks. It's a limitless business and commerce opportunity for both legacy and challenger players that can unlock revenue and engagement avenues. We are just scratching the surface and are excited to build the future". Almond Solutions launched its operations in the USA earlier this year and is in discussion with VCs for pre-series A round to accelerate its growth internationally. International Summit celebrating Technology and Creativity around Metaverse is scheduled on 16-17th July in Paris, France. The two-day summit will focus on various metaverse tracks where Almond will be showcasing the creative, engagement and tech models powering ChannelVerseTM, and engaging investors and developers for partnerships. Launched in 2020 with its headquarters in Delhi-NCR and operations in US, Africa and Europe, Almond Solutions helps companies power and scale their channel engagement. Brands and organizations use Almond's platforms to - conduct hybrid and virtual events that deliver a highly differentiated experience, provide product education, and launch loyalty and rewards programs. To know more, visit - https://almondvirtex.com/ This story is provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)
Vadodara (Gujarat) [India], July 12 (ANI/PNN): Miki Kedem, CEO of Huliot Pipes, has announced the company's new strategy for 2022 of entering the retail market with 2500 stores across 20 states. A new team has been hired with the task of appointing a new dealership network. A wide range of over 70 products will be available at multi-brand retail stores. For the Indian market, they have curated a customised product range, namely, SMARTLOCK - locking systems for the drainage market, ZENWELD - the Ultimate Induction Technology for the piping market, as well as the REDFIRE PPR pipes. These are easy to install at extreme angles and even have no corrosion and choking in the pipes! Moreover, in partnership with IPSC - Indian Plumbing Skill Council, Huliot will train the plumbers on how to utilise these advanced piping systems. They have announced a training program for plumbers across India. Huliot India will help them get better jobs with more pay. The company, which has its manufacturing plant in Vadodara, will soon export pipes and drainage systems to UAE and SAARC. Huliot Group is a leader in the design and manufacture of advanced flow systems for commercial and residential buildings. The company offers a broadly comprehensive portfolio of sanitary system solutions that address the full lifecycle of water flow - from the water supply to wastewater and infrastructure. With patented technology and state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques, Huliot Group offers innovative products that are available in each of the standard size and diameter options and which deliver the highest standards of quality and reliability. The group is headquartered in Israel and, with its five global manufacturing and commercial subsidiaries, serves an extensive customer base that spans over 30 countries worldwide. With a robust legacy of over 70 years in piping domain expertise, Huliot Group brings a profound commitment to always delivering service excellence and customer satisfaction. The Indian operation started in 2014 in Baroda under the leadership of Miki Kedem - CEO India of Huliot Pipes and Fittings Pvt. Ltd. The product portfolio in India has Polypropylene pipes for Drainage - HT Pro and UltraSilent, PERT - AL- PERT and PPR Green pipes for Water Supply, RED FIRE PPR for fire and ClearBlack STP for sewage treatment. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
As per People, Jen appeared in a New York court on Monday to take part in a change of plea hearing. She switched her original plea of not guilty to guilty, taking responsibility for the fraud and money laundering charges.

"Ms. Shah is a good woman who crossed a line. She accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed. Ms. Shah is also sorry for disappointing her husband, children, family, friends, and supporters. Jen pled guilty because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family," Priya Chaudhry, an attorney for the 48-year-old reality star told the publication.

Shah was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing. She faces a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison.

Her sentencing is now scheduled for November.

Shah was arrested in March 2021 alongside her assistant, Stuart Smith, for allegedly targeting individuals in a nationwide scheme. At the time, both Shah and Smith, 43, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Shah and Smith initially pleaded not guilty in April. But her assistant changed his plea to guilty that November. (ANI)
Pushpa star Rashmika Mandanda on Monday shared the fun shoot video moments with Tiger Shroff on her social media account. Rashmika took to her Instagram handle and treated her fans with a new fun video. The first time the 'Baaghi' actor and south actor will be sharing the screen as they have collaborated for an ad shoot. Taking to her Insta story, 'Bheeshma' actor dropped a boomerang video along with caption. She wrote, "The rumours were true you guysssssss. lol!! @tigerjackieshroff and I just shot for an ad..Working with Tiger was absolute fire (as she used fire emoticons). Look forward to it." In the video, Rashmika was seen wearing a black co-ord set and kept her hair tied in a ponytail. Whereas Tiger who faced his back towards the camera opted for a red vest that he teamed with black pants. Further extending the news of their first collaboration, the 'Student of the year 2' actor re-shared the video and he wrote, "Haha what a fun shoot! You killed it as always!" Both actors enjoy massive fan-following and are quite active on social media. Meanwhile, Rashmika's upcoming movie 'Sita Ramam' first look poster featuring her character Afree was released on the auspicious occasion of Eid-Al-Adha. Directed by Hanu Ragavapudi, the upcoming action romantic film also casts Mrunal Thakur and Sumanth Kumar in the lead roles. Soon after the first look posters of, the 'Bheeshma' actor were out, fans swamped the comment section with heart and fire emoticons. The story of Swapna Dutt's production film revolves around the characters of Dulquer and Mrunal, who play Ram and Sita, respectively. The romantic drama is against the backdrop of a war.'Sita Ramam' is being made simultaneously in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam languages.The film is slated to release on August 5, 2022, in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam.Meanwhile, the 'Kirik Party' actor will be also seen in the upcoming Bollywood flix Mission Majnu' alongside Sidharth Malhotra, 'Goodbye with Amitabh Bachchan and 'Animal' with Ranbir Kapoor. On the other hand, the 'War' actor was last seen in 'Heropanti 2' which failed to impress the audience. He will be next seen in 'Ganpath: Part 1', in which he will be collaborating once again with Kriti Sanon. Directed by Vikas Bahl, the project is currently being filmed and is slated to release on the occasion of Christmas 2022. Apart from that, he also has 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' with Akshay Kumar, which is slated to release on the occasion of Christmas 2023 and 'Rambo', which will be helmed by the 'War' director Sidharth Anand. (ANI)
Actress Busisiwe Lurayi, who starred in the Netflix series 'How to Ruin Christmas,' died suddenly this weekend, according to a statement from her Johannesburg-based agency Eye Media Artists. However, no reason was given. As per Deadline, the statement read that Lurayi "passed away suddenly and was pronounced dead at her residence on Sunday 10.7.2022 by medical personnel. The reason for her death is still unknown as we await the results of the autopsy report." The actress leaves behind her daughter, who was featured in her latest Instagram posts two weeks ago. Eye Media Artists said the family is "trying to come to terms with this tragic news." The first season of her Netflix show 'How to Ruin Christmas: The Wedding' debuted in 2020. Here's the logline: "Prodigal daughter Tumi goes home for the holidays and manages to ruin her sister's wedding plans. Now she must make things right before it's too late." Lurayi played Tumi. Season 2, titled 'How to Ruin Christmas: The Funeral', was released last December. Netflix announced last month that Season 3 of the show is in production. Lurayi's credits also include the television series 'Vutha,' 'Ses' Top La,' 'City Ses'la,' nine episodes of 'Wild at Heart' and an appearance on ER in 2006. (ANI)
Pooja took to her Instagram handle and treated fans once again with stunning pictures of herself from her Bangkok trip.

In the first picture, the actor imparted beach vibes in a white bikini that she teamed up with a light-yellow shrug. Pooja was seen looking up and embracing the breeze on her face and keeping her one arm up to enjoy the fullest.

In the second image, the 'Housefull 4' actor flaunted her knotted bikini by keeping her back to the camera.

In the third picture, all smiling Pooja struck a stunning pose. To complement her entire beachy look, she kept her tresses open. For accessories, she chose matching dark yellow shade earrings. South star wore subtle makeup with nude lips.

As soon as the pictures were posted, her fans and followers garnered heart and fire comments.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Pooja will be next seen in 'Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali' as the female lead role alongside Shehnaaz Gill, Aayush Sharma and Zaheer Iqbal, who allegedly play Salman's brothers, is scheduled to release on December 30, 2022. The movie was helmed by Farhad Samji and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and the title was initially announced by Salman back in 2022. (ANI)
Meanwhile, the Covid positivity rate has increased to 4.21 per cent and the number of active cases stands at 1,942 in the capital city, out of which 1,553 patients being treated in home isolation.

With 484 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries has gone to 19,12,789.

With new Covid cases, the total caseload of the city has jumped to 19,41,015 while the death toll continues at 26,284.

The number of Covid containment zones stands at 279.

A total of 6,645 new tests -- 5,798 RT-PCR and 847 Rapid Antigen - were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 3,92,29,296 while 9,958 vaccines were administered - 555 first doses, 1,308 second doses, and 8,095 precaution doses.

The total number of cumulative beneficiaries vaccinated so far stands at 3,52,51,163, according to the health bulletin.

--IANS avr/vd

( 188 Words)

2022-07-11-21:44:02 (IANS)
Ramadan, also known as Ramazan or Ramzan, begins today! It is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is observed by people belonging to the Muslim community all around the world. It is considered to be the holy month of fasting and praying, and of engaging in humanitarian activities such as feeding the underprivileged. The celebration is all about the breaking of the dawn-to-dusk fast and is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal (the 10th month). It comes approximately 11 days earlier than the one the previous year when following the Gregorian (solar) calendar. This year, Ramadan begins on April 13 and ends on May 12. This annual observance is regarded as one of the five pillars of Islam. It lasts between one sighting of the crescent moon and the next. It is said that Ramadan is the commemoration of Prophet Muhammad's first revelation. During this fast, people have their first meal before the sunrise known as Sehri (also called Suhoor) and the other meal is Iftar, which is served after sunset. Eid al-Fitr, which comes after the holy month of Ramadan, is also called 'Meethi Eid', and the signature dish of the celebration is sweet vermicelli or 'Meethi sewai'. The celebration often comprises a wide gamut of sweet delicacies such as sheer khurma, khubani ka meetha, and khalja pheni. Muslims across the world offer their prayers to the almighty and then prepare for a lavish Eid feast featuring scrumptious delicacies and drinks. If you are planning to treat your family members with sweet delicacies, we have got you covered! Ex Radisson Chef Anil Dahiya has suggested five types of sewai dishes that one can relish on the auspicious occasion of Eid-al-Fitr: 1. Sheer khurma Ingredients: * Milk (high fat) 2 litres* Clarified butter (ghee) 200 gms* Dry dates (kharak), cut lengthwise 250 gms* Cashews 250 gms cut in half* Almonds 200 gms thinly sliced* Pistachios 200 gms thinly sliced* Raisins (kishmish) 200 gms* Cardamom powder 1/2 Tsp* Cardamom seeds - 2 Tbsp* Thin vermicelli (sewai) - 100 gms Method: Dry roast the vermicelli till it is reddish pink in a kadhai (wok) and let it cool. Fry all the dry fruits (cashews, almonds, pistachios, and raisins). Don't fry dry dates just cut them lengthwise after deseeding them. Save the ghee (clarified butter) after frying to be used as this will lend flavour to the dish. Take out the seeds of cardamom and keep them aside. Also, keep some cardamom powder ready. Boil the milk. Take 5 tablespoon ghee in a pan and fry the cardamom seeds. Pour this mixture on the hot milk.Then add all the fried dry fruits and keep the gas flame low. Add raisins in the last. Add the vermicelli and switch off the gas. At last, sugar is to be added. Tip in the sugar and stir. Add cardamom powder and mix it well. Sheer Khurma is ready to be served! 2. Kimami Sewai: Ingredients: * 1 cup Semiya (Vermicelli) , (Fine Banarsi Sewai)* 1 cup Khoya (Mawa)* 1 cup Sugar* 1 cup Milk* 1-1/2 cup Water* Ghee, as needed* 1 teaspoon Cardamom Powder (Elaichi)* 1 cup Phool Makhana (Lotus Seeds), chopped* 1/4 cup Badam (Almond), slivered, 1/4 for garnish* 1 tablespoon Whole cashews, slivered, 1/4 for garnish* 1 tablespoon Raisins, 1/4 for garnish* 2 tablespoons Dry coconut (copra) Method: To begin making the Kimami Sewai recipe, heat a pan on a low flame and roast dry sewai till it turns dark brown. Keep it aside and make sure to avoid over-roasting the delicate Sewai. In the same pan, heat ghee and fry the makhana (fox nuts) till it gets crunchy. Fry the fox nuts for five to six minutes on low medium heat. After that, add dry fruits to the pan and saute it for about two minutes. At last, add coconut as it burns quickly, be very careful while frying it. Fry all the products together and keep them aside. In a deep pan, add sugar, khoya, milk, water and mix it well. Put it on the flame and keep stirring till the first boil. Slow down the flame to cook the sugar syrup till it gets thicker and you feel heavy while stirring. Then add half a cup of water or milk to the thick syrup and give another boil. Add roasted sewai, dry fruits makhana coconut mixture and cook on a slow flame for about five minutes and switch off. Sprinkle green cardamom powder for fragrance and mix well. Cover the lid and leave for 10 minutes. Switch off the heat, give it a mix and garnish with almonds, cashews, and raisins. Your Kimai Sewai is ready! 3. Sewai Pudding: Ingredients: * 1/2 cup vermicelli (sewai)* 2 cups of milk* Half can of condensed milk (around 1/2 cup) or sugar to taste* Few almonds and raisins (or any dry fruits of your choice* 2-3 green cardamom pods (peel & crush the seeds to powder consistency)* 1 tbsp of ghee/clarified butter* 200gms fresh-cut fruits* Few strands of saffron (optional) Method: Heat ghee in a vessel and once hot, roast the vermicelli on medium flame. Keep stirring to ensure they don't stick. Once they turn slightly golden, remove them on a plate and keep them aside.In another vessel, bring milk to a boil and then add the condensed milk and crushed cardamom seeds and stir. (Note:- if you are using only sugar and no condensed milk then add the sugar after vermicelli has cooked i.e. along with the dry fruits mentioned).Once it starts bubbling, add the roasted vermicelli and let it simmer on low-medium heat for 10 minutes. In the meanwhile, blanch the almonds, peel the skin and chop into small pieces. Add these along with few raisins to the boiling milk and vermicelli.Allow simmering. Add some saffron threads, stir and simmer again. Refrigerate for an hour then top it with fresh fruits and serve cold. Your chilled pudding is ready to be served! 4. Dry Sewai: Ingredients: * 1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)* 1 cup of broken vermicelli (seviyan)* 2 cups of milk or 500 ml milk* 1/4 cup sugar or add as per taste* 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder* 1/4 cup milk powder* 10-12 raisins* 4 to 5 almonds sliced thinly* 4 to 5 pistachios sliced thinly* 4 to 5 cashews sliced thinly Method: For the preparations, keep all the ingredients ready for making dry sewai. Break the sewiyan and keep aside. Chop the dry fruits and place them aside. Then heat a pan and add one tbsp ghee. Let the ghee melt and then add one cup of the broken sewiyan. On a low to medium flame, with frequent stirring roast the sewiyan till it becomes golden. Add all the chopped dry fruits and raisins. Stir them nicely. Lower the flame and pour two cups of milk. Instead of milk, you can also add water. Stir and mix very well. Then continue to stir for two to three minutes. Now add one-fourth cup of sugar. Keep stirring the mixture. Add one-fourth cup of milk powder. If you do not have milk powder, then just skip it. Mix again. Sprinkle half teaspoon cardamom powder and stir well. The mixture will start thickening and the sewiyan will also begin to absorb milk. When all the milk has been absorbed, switch off the gas. Serve meethi sewiyan, hot or warm or chilled. You can even garnish with some sliced dry fruits while serving. 5. Mango Sewai Ingredients: * Vermicelli - 1 cup (100 grams)* Sugar - 1/2 cup (100 grams)* Ghee - 2 tbsp* Almonds - 8 to 10* Cashews - 8 to 10* Mango juice- 100ml* Mango sliced Method: Heat a pan and then add one tbsp ghee. Let the ghee melt and then add one cup of the broken sewiyan. Then roast the sewiyan till they become golden. Add all the chopped dry fruits and raisins. Stir them nicely. Lower the flame and pour one cup of mango juice. Stir and mix very well. Then continue to stir for two to three minutes. Now add one-fourth cup of sugar. Keep stirring the mixture. The mixture will start thickening and the sewiyan will also begin to absorb the juice. When all the juice has been absorbed, switch off the gas. Serve meethi sewiyan hot or warm or chilled. You can even garnish with some sliced dry fruits and fresh mango while serving. Since Eid-al-Fitr falls during the peak of summer, people also love a glass of rose sharbat to complement their meal. Feast and indulge in your favourite delicacies for this Eid and stay safe. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday said the Central government is bound to honour the commitment given to the Portuguese government and release gangster Abu Salem on completion of 25 years imprisonment, following his conviction in the Mumbai serial blasts case. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh said: "On the appellant (Abu Salem) completing 25 years of sentence, the Central government is bound to advise the President of India for exercise of his powers under Article 72 of the Constitution, and to release the appellant in terms of the national commitment as well as the principle based on comity of courts." The top court also made it clear that Abu Salem's detention period will begin from October 2005, and not from September 2002 - when he was arrested pursuing Red Corner notice. Abu Salem was represented by advocate Rishi Malhotra in the top court. After the top court's order, Abu Salem would be released from jail in 2030. The bench added: "The necessary papers be forwarded within a month of the period of completion of 25 years sentence of the appellant. In fact, the government can itself exercise this power in terms of Sections 432 and 433 of the CrPC. and such an exercise should also take place within the same time period of one month." At the beginning of the verdict, Justice Kaul, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said crime and punishment is something which has agitated the judicial minds and punishment cannot be disproportionately high or low. "It should not be oppressive, but should serve the purpose of deterrence against crimes in a society along with a sense of justice to the victim and their family. This is a delicate balance, which has to be kept in mind," he said. During the hearing, Abu Salem's counsel contended that the assurance was given to the Portuguese government by India that he will not be either awarded death penalty or punished beyond 25 years, but he has been sentenced with life imprisonment by the court. The top court noted that the Indian government had given a solemn sovereign assurance on December 17, 2002, in view of the powers of the President of India under Article 72(1) of the Constitution. As the President acts on the aid and advice of the government under the provisions of Article 74 of the Constitution and, thus, the government is bound itself to advice the President to commute the sentence to 25 years in view of its commitment to the Courts in Portugal. The bench said it respects the very basis on which the courts of Portugal observed the principles of comity of courts by recognising that there is a separation of powers in India and, thus, the courts cannot give any assurance. "The corresponding principle of comity of courts, thus, has to be observed such that the Government of India having given the solemn assurance, and having accepted the same before us, is bound to act in terms of the aforesaid," it said. It added that the judiciary had to perform its functions of imposing a sentence in accordance with law, while the executive would have to perform its duty by restricting the sentence in conformity with the assurance given to the Portuguese courts. The Central government, in an affidavit, had submitted that it is bound by the assurance dated December 17, 2002 and the period of 25 years which is mentioned in the assurance will be abided by it at an appropriate time subject to the remedies which may be available. However, at this, the top court had said: "We did not appreciate the underlined portion aforesaid as once it was recognised that the government would abide by the assurance, nothing more or less was to be said. As far as the courts were concerned, they were to take a view as to the effect of that assurance." The bench emphasised that the courts must proceed in accordance with law and impose the sentence as the law of the land requires, while simultaneously the executive is bound to comply with its international obligations under the Extradition Act as also on the principle of comity of courts, which forms the basis of the extradition. A special TADA court in February 2015, sentenced Abu Salem to life imprisonment in another case of murdering Mumbai-based builder Pradeep Jain in 1995 along with his driver. The gangster was extradited from Portugal in November 2005. --IANS ss/vd ( 761 Words) 2022-07-11-20:50:02 (IANS)
The incident came a day before the Prime Minister's visit to Patna.

The accused, Arman Ali allegedly uploaded a Facebook post against the PM and it was spotted by local BJP leader Shambhu Narayan Singh.

"As the matter was very sensitive, and provocative with the sense of malign the image of Prime Minister, I have lodged a complaint in this matter in Baikunthpur police station. The accused is a native of Gandhua village under the police station," Singh said.

Following the complaint, police arrested Ali.

However, he, on the other hand claimed that he does not know how to operate an Android smartphone apart from receiving and dialing calls.

In a statement to the police, Ali claimed that he had given the mobile phone to his friends for playing games and they may have uploaded the objectionable content through his mobile. The local police are investigating the matter.

--IANS ajk/vd

( 182 Words)

2022-07-11-22:50:05 (IANS)
The Election Commission has started deleting names of Reang tribals from the electoral list of Mizoram after the displaced tribals were settled in different districts of Tripura and will include these in the latter state'svoters' list, officials said on Monday. An official of the Mizoram Election Department said that in consultation with the Election Commission, names of 1,044 voters belonging to the Reang tribal community have so far been deleted in three districts of Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei. The deletion process was initiated after a communication from the Tripura Election Department and it would continue in near future. Officials of Mizoram Election Department said in Aizawl that around 11,760 Reang tribal voters, including 5,750 females, who have been in seven camps in Tripura, are being resettled in the neighbouring state (Tripura), were earlier enrolled in different districts of Mizoram voter lists. An official of the Tripura Election Department said that as per the agreement on January 2020, the names of the Reang tribals, whose names were removed from the Mizoram electoral lists, would be included in the voters' list of Tripura after following the stipulated process. A total of 36,140 tribal migrants, including women and children, had sheltered in seven camps in northern Tripura since 1997 after the ethnic troubles began in Mizoram. The Central, Mizoram and Tripura governments had made many attempts to repatriate the Reang tribals from Tripura to Mizoram in between 2009 and 2019 but the majority of the displaced people were reluctant to return to their home state unless their demands, including security and livelihood, were fulfilled. However, only around 11,000 people had returned to Mizoram during the repatriation exercises. Subsequently an agreement was signed in January 2020 between the Center, Tripura and Mizoram governments and the Reang tribal leaders to resettle the 36,140 tribal immigrants in Tripura. --IANS sc/vd ( 319 Words) 2022-07-11-22:54:03 (IANS)
With the portion between Badshahpur and Sohna already opened on April 1, the entire 25-km stretch is now accessible. The project will ease travel between Gurugram, Sohna and Alwar, and will also link the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

Giving information through tweets, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, said that the opening of this 25-km stretch will facilitate the commuters, and save fuel and time.

"The project has been developed to 6 Lane access controlled corridor with aggregate elevated section of about 7 km at a capital investment of about Rs 2000 crore," he tweeted.

"For facilitating movement of local traffic, 3 Lane service roads have been constructed on both sides. The highway is being opened for traffic today. This section would also provide connectivity to Delhi and Gurgaon through Delhi-Mumbai expressway," Gadkari said in another tweet.

The construction work for this entire project was scheduled to be completed within 30 months. But due to the interruptions in the construction work during the Covid-19 pandemic, its deadline was extended till June 30, 2022.

--IANS str/arm

( 212 Words)

2022-07-11-23:00:05 (IANS)
The Karnataka unit of Registered Unaided Private Schools Management Association (RUPSA) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging unscientific decisions and arrogant behaviour by the Primary and Higher Education Minister of Karnataka, B.C. Nagesh. Karnataka RUPSA chief Lokesh Talikatte has demanded action against the minister as the development is inimical to the progress of education in the state. "Sir, we are very sorry to bring to your kind notice that a few leaders, under your leadership, have failed to understand the spirit of your functioning. They behave like an uncrowned king. The Education Minister for Primary and Higher Secondary Education of Karnataka is one such," the letter read. "It is the ardent duty of the state to provide quality education to every pupil of the state. But our minister doesn't understand this and always works against it. "You are aware of the effects of Covid on education. Students have suffered due to lack of education continuously for two years. To add to this, child marriage, child labour etc. creeped in again. Instead of giving attention to such challenging issues, our Education Minister is involved in the controversial issue of text book revision. "It was uncalled for. The result is even after two months of schools reopening, the government is not in a position to supply textbooks," it added. The letter further stated, "Our minister is using NEP as a scarecrow. The state government has not allocated any funds for NEP implementation. The responsible Education Minister has simply indulged in loose talks for two years and has become a laughing stock in the society." "Therefore, we sincerely request you to instruct the state government to remove him from the Education Ministry," the letter concluded. --IANS mka/arm ( 300 Words) 2022-07-11-23:12:02 (IANS)
The incident occurred in a graveyard located on the bank of Marha river, under Kopa police station in the district.

A Kopa police station officer said that some women were picking wood near the graveyard when they heard screams and were initially scared, thinking it was ghosts.

"Soon, a large number of villagers assembled at the graveyard and realised someone was buried alive. They removed the clay and found a three-year-old toddler whose mouth was stuffed with clay," he said.

The victim was taken to a primary health centre in Kopa where doctors gave her preliminary treatment. The victim said her name was Lali and her parents were Raju Sharma and Rekha Sharma but did not know the name of her village.

"My mother and maternal grandmother brought me near the graveyard. As I was crying, they stuffed clay in my mouth and buried me under the soil," Lali told medical officers and police.

Police said that they were making efforts to identify her parents and the village.

--IANS ajk/vd

( 219 Words)

2022-07-11-23:14:07 (IANS)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make a day-long visit to Jharkhand and Bihar on Tuesday during which he will inaugurate and lay foundation for development works worth Rs 16,800 crore in Jharkhand. In Bihar, the Prime Minister will attend a programme to mark the closing ceremony of the centenary celebrations of Bihar Assembly. In a series of tweets on Monday, Modi said, "I look forward to being in Jharkhand and Bihar tomorrow to attend various programmes. In the afternoon, I will reach Deoghar where I will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for development works worth Rs 16,800 crore." The Prime Minister will dedicate the in-patient department and operation theatre services at AIIMS, Deoghar, to the people of the state. "In line with our commitment to providing top quality healthcare services, IPD and OT services at AIIMS, Deoghar, will be inaugurated," he said. The Prime Minister said that some components of the development project at the Baidyanath Dham temple would be inaugurated which would boost spiritual tourism. "Baidyanath Dham, Deoghar, is one of the most sacred sites for us. It draws people from all over the world. During the programme tomorrow, some components of the Development project at the Temple would be inaugurated which would boost spiritual tourism," Modi said. The Prime Minister mentioned that at the programme in Deoghar on Tuesday, many road, rail and infra works will also be launched or their foundation stones would be laid. "In the evening tomorrow, 12th July, will be in Patna to attend a programme to mark the closing ceremony of centenary celebrations of Bihar Legislative Assembly. The foundation stone for the Vidhan Sabha museum will also be laid," the Prime Minister tweeted. --IANS ssb/arm ( 300 Words) 2022-07-11-23:16:02 (IANS)
The Chamarajpet Citizens' Union has called for a bandh demanding that the Eidga ground should not be handed over to the Waqf Board and it should be kept as a playground.

The activists of the organization have demanded to support the bandh by pasting posters in front of shops and stores.

Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, who spoke to reporters today, said that he had already spoken to the officials regarding the Chamarajpet Bandh.

"I have suggested ensuring that law and order do not deteriorate. More police have been deployed and cordoned off," said Araga Jnanendra.

He informed that heavy security arrangements have been made under the leadership of the Commissioner in this regard.

Meanwhile, responding to the allegation that the district in-charge minister is not visiting the rain-damaged areas, he said, "Our minister is going to the rain-damaged areas."

He told that he also visited the place where the road connection was cut off near Agumbe and ordered the engineers to repair it immediately. (ANI)
The Tamil Nadu government sealed the AIADMK party headquarters in Chennai following clashes between party members on Monday in the wake of the power struggle between former chief ministers Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam, resulting in the sealing of the party office by revenue officials. "Due to the violence at AIADMK party office, RDO has sealed the party HQ. To avoid further law & order issues, either they or their advocates should be present before RDO office on July 25 to decide the control over party headquarter," said Chennai Police. Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) was appointed the AIADMK interim general secretary on Monday. A total of 16 resolutions were passed in the crucial All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Council meeting held on Monday in which Edappadi K Palaniswami was appointed as the party's interim General Secretary and O Paneerselvam was expelled for "anti-party" activities. Along with OPS, his supporters - JCD Prabhakar, R Vaithilingam and PH Manoj Pandian were also expelled from the AIADMK. The resolutions were passed after the Madras High Court today dismissed a petition by OPS, who sought to stay the holding of a General Council (GC) meeting. He had contended that only the Coordinator and the Joint Coordinator can convene the GC meeting and that since the newly-appointed Presidium Chairman had done so, the meeting was technically illegal and hence untenable. The party has said that anyone who wants to contest for the post of General Secretary has to be a member of the party for 10 years. The candidature should be proposed by ten district secretaries and seconded by the same number of district secretaries of the AIADMK. Ahead of the GC meeting, supporters of EPS and OPS clashed in front of the party headquarters here. After the demise of Jayalalithaa in 2016, the party has been following a dual-leadership formula with EPS as co-coordinator and OPS as coordinator. The clamour has been growing louder for a single leader in the party since the district secretary meeting on June 14 this year. Meanwhile ahead of today's court's ruling supporters of the EPS and OPS factions clashed on the streets of Chennai. Some people were injured in the clash. (ANI)
"16-year-old minor was allegedly gang-raped. The incident took place on July 9. A transaction of Rs 1 lakh was being done to silence things. We reached the family and conducted medical of the victim," Pratibha Pandey, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) said.

The information was received via the medium of social media.

The ASP further informed that the information was received via the medium of social media and all the suspected accused persons have been taken into police custody.

Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI)
The incident happened in the early morning hours.

The glasses of a window were also broken in the attack.

"A bomb was hurled at RSS office in Payyannur, Kannur district. The incident happened early this morning with window glasses of the building broken in the attack," said Payyannur police.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)
Social activist Medha Patkar has been booked for allegedly misusing the donation funds, informed the police on Monday. "An FIR has been registered against activist Medha Patkar in Barwani district for allegedly misusing the money collected in the name of education of tribal children. FIR was filed under section 420 IPC in the Barwani district," said Superintendent of Police (Barwani), Deepak Kumar Shukla. The FIR has been registered against Patkar and 11 others in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, the police had refrained from commenting on the matter. A complainant named Pritam Raj Badole has registered the First Information Report (FIR) with the Barwani police alleging that she misled people by impersonating herself as a social worker who works to provide primary-level education to the tribal children of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, while also providing hostels for schools students. During the preliminary investigation, the police discovered that the Narmada Navnirman Abhiyan trust had collected Rs 13 crores in the last 14 years, whose source and expenditure are unknown. As per the complaint, cash worth more than Rs 1.5 crore, whose audit for withdrawal and expenditure remained unclear, has been recovered during the probe. "More than Rs 4 crore have been recovered from the 10 bank accounts of the Trust," the complainant alleged. The FIR also accused Patkar of misleading the Court by presenting her annual income as Rs 6,000 while an amount of Rs 19 lakh was recovered from her savings account. Meanwhile, the activist refuted all the allegations against her and said that while she has not obtained any official notice from the police's end, she was ready with an answer to every allegation. Asserting that the complainant has connections with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and is connected with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Patkar said, "We have the audit report available for every question regarding the financial status. We, in fact, won the case against the Delhi Lieutenant Governor as we do not accept foreign money and always audit our bank accounts. Even in the future, we will keep answering and putting forth the evidence. The complainant is a member of ABVP and is connected with RSS." "We have used the money to help people generate livelihood and will keep doing it. We have been charged with such allegations in history as well. We do not accept CSR funds, however, it was only once when we accepted it from a Nandurbar collector and we have already registered the audit for the same," she added. (ANI)
Kashmir-based artisan Maqbool Ahmad Dar is the first artisan from the valley who prepared the first carpet with a 'National Flag' design with the aim to uplift his art. Dar who hails from Ashtangoo village of Bandipora district left his school due to a financial crisis and decided to become a carpet artisan at an early age. "I left school after seven standards as my family was struggling due to the financial crisis. Therefore, at an early age, I decided to become a carpet artisan. It took me one year to learn the skills. My maternal uncle helped me to learn the basics of carpet weaving," Dar told ANI. Twenty-five years ago, Maqbool was weaving carpets to earn their livelihood and he was very much satisfied with his work. As COVID-19 hits badly in Kashmir, it affected Maqbool's business also. "After unprecedented COVID hit the valley, it affected my business. During that time, the tourism industry was in bad shape. The situation was so unpleasant that my family was struggling for basic food," Artisan said. Dar further said as his business was hit by COVID badly, instead of losing hope he decided to be creative and prepared something unique and different carpet with the national flag. "I got an idea to prepare a unique and different carpet with a national flag design. It is a symbol of patriotism and love towards the nation that induced me to weave the Indian tricolour (Tiranga) on a carpet," he added. Kashmiri art, especially carpet weaving is famous across the globe and has a tremendous market at national and international levels. People belonging to the carpet industry including weavers, sellers and dealers have their own names and fame in the past. They were always getting good responses from foreign customers on a large scale. But unfortunately in the last few years, the carpet industry hits badly due to a recession in the international market which resulted in the artisan community suffering a lot and Maqbool Ahmad dar is one of them. Dar said the Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT) helped him for flourishing in business. He also said that as he was the first artisan to make something like this for the first time so people of the valley also appreciated his creativity. "No one from the valley has made this before. I got many appreciation and suggestions. I made this to promote the Kashmiri carpet," he said. In the past, more than 70 per cent of people were in this industry now hardly any people are left in this profession, so it needs to be promoted, he said. Zubair Ahmad, a Director Indian institute of carpet technology, "Yes we have a role in Maqbool Ahmad Dar's work. But he himself came to us and said he wanted to make a tricolour design carpet. It is my notice that a manufacturing company will also sign MOU with Dar in the coming days so that they will get regular work from Dar. And this will also help him to flourish in his business. " (ANI)
A group of former judges and bureaucrats has urged the Supreme Court not to expunge any of its remarks in the case of "Zakia Ahsan Jafri vs State of Gujarat and Anr", saying that "interference in judiciary not acceptable". This comes after a "politically motivated" section of civil society has made attempts to cast "aspersions on the integrity of the judiciary" at large and in this case relating to Teesta Setalvad following her arrest in connection with a case against her NGO which gave baseless information about the 2002 Gujarat riots to the police. "The Hon'ble Supreme Court remarked that Teesta Setalvad and others were vindictively pursuing this suit for her ulterior design by exploiting the emotions of Zakia Ahsan Jafri, aggrieved by the events. The Supreme Court also took note of the misadventures of Teesta Setalvad when she forwarded letters written by her to the SIT to the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights at the United Nations (OHCHR) for oblique motives and made insinuations against the Hon'ble Supreme Court for accepting the work of the SIT as fair and complete investigation," read the statement. The statement, signed by 13 retired judges, 90 retired bureaucrats and 87 retired armed forces, said this section has attempted to pressurise the judiciary to expunge remarks which are unfavourable to Setalvad and the two guilty IPS Officers who have fabricated evidence. "This section should realise that SCI acted in a matter which was within its jurisdiction and any action for modification of Court proceedings, like its 'clarification' etc., must take form of a regular motion, not merely by the asking of it, and even as they pretend that the Citizens are 'totally disturbed and dismayed', so also the law abiding Citizens are disturbed and dismayed at the former's attempt to disrupt the Rule of Law," it said. The signatories urged the apex court not to be intimidated by the tactics of such "institutional disruptors". (ANI)
The Plea alleges that police officials are availing cycle (maintenance) allowance fraudulently as they are actually not using cycles.

The petitioner Sanser Pal Singh, a practising advocate stated that he also filed a written complaint dated September 13, 2021, to Delhi Police and further made written complaints dated September 24, 2022, to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and other authorities but no action has been taken against Delhi Police officials who are availing the allowance fraudulently.

The plea further stated that such allowances are paid to government officials from the public money collected from the hard-earned money of taxpayers.

Despite filing complaints, no action taken against Delhi police officials who are allegedly drawing cycle (maintenance) allowance fraudulently.

According to the petitioner, the matter is to be heard on Wednesday by the Division Bench of Delhi High Court. (ANI)
The site of Unit 731 in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province. [Photo/VCG]

Various forms of evidence including trial recordings, documents and archives reveal bacterial development, human experiments and germ warfare committed by Unit 731, a Japanese biological and chemical warfare unit during World War II.

Unit 731, a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, was the nerve center of Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during WWII.

At least 3,000 people were used for human experiments by Unit 731, and more than 300,000 people in China were killed by Japan's biological weapons.

Trial recordings confirm establishment of germ warfare system The site of Unit 731's bacterial laboratory in Harbin. [Photo/Xinhua]

In 1949, 12 members of the Japanese Kwantung Army were tried as war criminals in the Russian Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk for manufacturing and using biological weapons and carrying out inhuman medical experiments during WWII.

The recordings of the Khabarovsk War Crimes Trials, lasting 22 hours, 5 minutes and 57 seconds, contain contents concerning the transformation and organization of Unit 731, as well as the live human experiments, field toxicity tests, preparation and implementation of germ warfare by Unit 731.

From 1946 to November 1948, during the Tokyo Trial, the United States and Japan reached a secret deal, in which the United States obtained data on human experiments, bacteria experiments, germ warfare and gas experiments conducted by Unit 731 on the condition that the unit members were exempted from their war responsibilities. As a result, the Japanese germ war criminals escaped the Tokyo Trial.

According to Jiao Hongshuang, chief expert of a research team, the Soviet Union repeatedly demanded the extradition of Japanese germ war criminals before December 1949, but it proved futile. As a result, it conducted the Khabarovsk War Crimes Trials from Dec 25-30, 1949.

Japan's biological warfare tests and experiments on live humans and vivisections. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

"The trials revealed for the first time the crimes of human experimentation and germ warfare committed by the Japanese army in Northeast China during its invasion," Jiao said, adding that the recordings also confirmed the establishment of the germ warfare system centered on Unit 731 was a top-down organized war crime committed by the Japanese state.
A towering spiritual philosopher, Vivekananda, was born in 1863 in Kolkata and is credited for popularising the Vedantic ideas.

Murmu paid tribute to Vivekananda at his ancestral residence in Kolkata. She also met with BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar, who is also West Bengal BJP chief, and others in Kolkata.

The NDA candidate has been touring various states to seek the support of legislators.

She also has the support of the YSRCongress Party, BJD and Akali Dal.

Earlier on Monday, Shiv Sena MPs, who had attended a meeting called by party chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on presidential elections, have demanded that the party should support Murmu.

"We discussed Droupadi Murmu (NDA's Presidential candidate) in our meeting yesterday. Supporting Droupadi Murmu does not mean supporting BJP. Shiv Sena's role will be clear in a day or two, party chief Uddhav Thackeray will make a decision," said Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.

Droupadi Murmu is a former Governor of Jharkhand and a former Odisha minister.

If elected, she will be the first tribal President of India and the country's second female President. Droupadi Murmu is the first presidential candidate from Odisha of a major political party or alliance. (ANI)
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on the anticipatory bail plea of Congress MP Karti Chidambaram for August 18 as the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju was not available for argument on behalf of Enforcement Directorate (ED). Karti had moved a petition seeking anticipatory bail in a money laundering case connected with the Chinese Visa case. Justice Poonam A. Bamba adjourned the hearing after recording the submissions of Advocate Zuhaib Hossain who appeared for ED. He submitted that ASG is not available today for argument as he is busy with another matter in the Supreme Court. He requested for a date for hearing on 26 July. The bench allowed the request. The court listed the matter on August 18 for further hearing. The counsel for ED submitted that the status report on the petition has been filed and it is on record. The bench, however, said that it is not on record, and asked for it to be brought on record. This matter was adjourned on June 24 as no time was left for the hearing. ASG Raju had assured orally that no coercive action would be taken against the petitioner. During the hearing counsel for ED orally assured no coercive action would be taken against the petitioner. The vacation bench of the High Court on June 8 had reserved the order on anticipatory bail plea. However, an application was moved on June 10 seeking permission to lead some additional arguments by the counsel of the petitioner. It was allowed and the matter was listed for further hearing. The application was moved after an order passed by Special CBI Judge M K Nagpal granting bail to S. Bhaskararaman in the Chinese Visa case registered by the CBI. It was stated that there are some material developments and they wish to file additional documents. The bench had said it requires further hearing. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, counsel for the petitioner, had argued that there is no material against the accused. No money laundering case is made out because there are no allegations that any money was given to Karti Chidambaram. If there is no money, it cannot be laundered, he argued. Even so, they registered the ECIR. The accused has joined the investigation and cooperating in the same. Senior Advocate Sibal also argued that the alleged transaction is from 2011 and they registered the case in 2022. There is apprehension of arrest as they registered the ECIR within ten days of registration of FIR by CBI. I am named in that ECIR, they can arrest me anytime without even calling me or giving me notice, it was argued. In the CBI case, I have been given the protection of 72 hours' notice before arrest so that I can approach the court, Sibal argued. Earlier, he had argued that the value of the alleged transaction is of Rs. 50 Lakh and it is less than one crore. In view of this fact, he should be granted bail. On the other hand, ASG S V Raju submitted that the bail application is premature as there is no material we have in this case. If no case is made out against them, then why they do have apprehension, he argued. He further said that this application is premature because no summon was issued and only an ECIR had been registered. Therefore, the apprehension of arrest is not genuine, he added. CBI judge M K Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court on June 3, 2022 had dismissed all three applications moved by Karti Chidambaram, S. Bhaskararaman and Vikas Makharia. (ANI)
Continuing its effort to strengthen regional air connectivity, IndiGo has announced a new flight between Delhi and Deoghar, effective from July 30, 2022. "This flight is in addition to the Kolkata-Deoghar route that was inaugurated today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. IndiGo will be the first airline to operate from Deoghar, which will boost connectivity to Jharkhand and nearby regions," the official statement by IndoGo read. The bookings for this new pair of flights will be opening today (July 12, 2022), the official statement read. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various developmental projects worth more than Rupees 16,800 crores in Deoghar today. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that with the blessings of Baba Baidyanath, projects have been inaugurated and the foundation stone has been laid today. These are going to give a huge impetus to Jharkhand's modern connectivity, energy, health, faith and tourism. The Prime Minister remarked that the country has been working with the thinking of the development of the nation by the development of the states for the last 8 years. "In the last 8 years, in the efforts to connect Jharkhand by highways, railways, airways, and waterways, in every way, the same thinking and spirit have been paramount. All these facilities will positively impact the economic development of the state," he said. The Prime Minister said that today, Jharkhand is getting its second airport. This will lead to tremendous ease for devotees of Baba Baidyanath. In the context of making air travel affordable for the common man through the UDAN scheme, the Prime Minister noted that today the benefits of the efforts of the government are visible across the country. "About 70 new locations have been added through airports, heliports and water aerodromes in the last 5-6 years under the UDAN scheme. Today, ordinary citizens are getting the facility of air travel on more than 400 new routes. More than 1 crore people have experienced very affordable air travel, many for the first time," he said. The Prime Minister expressed happiness that the flight from Deoghar to Kolkata started today and flights for Ranchi, Delhi and Patna will start soon. He disclosed work is on for airports in Bokaro and Dumka. The Prime Minister said along with connectivity, the central government is also focussing on the creation of facilities at important places related to faith and spirituality in the country. Modern facilities have also been expanded in Baba Baidyanath Dham under the PRASAD scheme. When a holistic approach guides the projects, new avenues of income come for various segments of society and new facilities create new opportunities. The Prime Minister also highlighted the benefits of the country's effort to enhance the gas-based economy for the state of Jharkhand. He said that PM Urja Ganga Yojana is changing the old picture. The Prime Minister said we are following the mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas. New avenues of development, employment-self-employment are being discovered by investing in infrastructure. Underlining the benefits of these initiatives for Jharkhand, the Prime Minister said we have laid emphasis on aspiration for development, focused on aspirational districts. He asserted that most of the 18,000 villages which were electrified so long after independence are in inaccessible and remote areas. He said the government has worked in a mission mode in the last 8 years to bring tap water, roads and gas connection. Referring to the spread of modern facilities beyond big cities, the Prime Minister said that these projects are proof that when steps are taken for improving ease of life for common citizens, then national assets are created and new opportunities for national development emerge. "This is the right development and we have to collectively accelerate this development", he said. (ANI)
The Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has decided to support Droupadi Murmu, the BJP-led NDA's candidate, in the Presidential polls on July 18. "We decided to extend our support to Droupadi Murmu for her presidency, considering that a tribal woman is getting an opportunity to become the President. Yes, I know politics will start after this but there is no politics in it. We had supported Pratibha Patil for the presidency in the past as well," said Uddhav Thackeray today. He added, "There was no pressure on me for this decision as it is being circulated that my MPs brought pressure on me and I had to forcefully take this decision. All my MPs unanimously said that till now no one has been given an opportunity to represent the Adivasi community at that level. Thus, we all should support Droupadi Murmu ji and we decided to give our support to Murmu in the presidential election. There was no pressure on us in this matter, nor did we think about any political angle in it." Sixteen of the 18 Shiv Sena MPs from Maharashtra have urged Uddhav Thackeray to support NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu in the Presidential election. In a meeting called by Thackeray in Mumbai yesterday, 16 MPs said the party must extend its support to the NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. The presidential elections are scheduled to be held on July 18. There is no whip for the presidential elections and MPs can vote as per their will. Earlier, Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar told the media that 16 of the party's MPs had agreed that Sena should support Murmu as she is a woman belonging to the tribal community. Kiritkar said, 16 out of the total 18 Lok Sabha MPs of the Sena physically attended the key meeting on the presidential elections and all agreed on supporting Murmu. He said, out of 18, two MPs Bhavana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde were absent from the meeting. (ANI)
Indian Coast Guard is on alert and will ensure that no influx takes place from Sri Lanka, said the Indian Coast Guard Director General VS Pathania on Tuesday. "We are always present along the coastline and the international boundary. Our presence is 24x7 and with the situation on the other side building up, we are just monitoring and the unit has been sensitized. We are alert and basically, our job is to ensure that no illegal immigration happens no influx happens and we are prepared for that," Pathania told ANI. DG Indian coast guard also referred to the rescue operation during the Valsad floods in Gujarat and mentioned that the helicopters stationed along the coast rescued stranded residents successfully. "Coast Guard basic charter is search and rescue, whether we do it at sea or at land. And, we have the helicopters positioned all along the coast at our Coast Guard stations. Yesterday we received information at about 09:30 from the district administration of Daman, regarding the floods on the river Ambika and the helicopters were launched. They found a few people who were stranded on the rooftops because of water levels. These people were shifted to safety and the helicopters are generally on alert during the monsoon season," he added. Expressing satisfaction over the rescue efforts, Pathania highlighted that, "the helicopters are meant for lifesaving and I think they've done a good job because visibility range is restricted. And we have to be extra cautious because human lives are valued and it has to be saved and helicopters are meant to rescue people. the universality of the machine and Coast Guard will never let people down." (ANI)
In his address at the centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India considers democracy to be a means of ensuring social equality. Addressing the closing ceremony of centenary celebrations of Bihar Legislative Assembly, PM Modi said, "It is the nature of Bihar that the one who loves Bihar, gets love in manifold ways. Today I have also got the privilege of being the first Prime Minister of the country to visit the Bihar Vidhan Sabha complex. I bow my heart to the people of Bihar for this affection." The Prime Minister highlighted that Bihar Vidhan Sabha has a history of its own where big and bold decisions have been taken. "Bihar Vidhan Sabha has a history of its own where big and bold decisions have been taken in the Vidhan Sabha building one after the other," said the Prime Minister. "Before independence, Governor Satyendra Prasanna Sinha had appealed from this assembly to encourage indigenous industries, adopt Swadeshi Charkha. After independence, the Zamindari Abolition Act was passed in this assembly. Taking this tradition forward, CM Nitish ji's government passed an act like Bihar Panchayati Raj," said PM Modi. PM Modi said, "India considers democracy to be a means for ensuring social equality. India believes in the idea of co-existence and harmony. We believe in truth, we believe in co-operation, we believe in harmony and we believe in the cohesive power of society." The Prime Minister highlighted that Indian democracy dates back to the ancient era and lauded the history of Bihar in playing a key role in ensuring the progress of democracy. "The concept of democracy in India is as ancient as this nation is, as ancient as our culture. For decades, people diverted attention by saying that India has got democracy due to foreign rule and foreign thinking. But, when any person says this, he tries to cover up the history of Bihar and the heritage of Bihar," he said. "When large parts of the world were taking their first steps towards civilization and culture, a sophisticated democracy was functioning in Vaishali. When the understanding of democratic rights began to develop in other regions of the world, republics like Lichchavi and Vajjisangh were at their peak," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited Deoghar in Jharkhand and Patna for inauguration of the Deoghar airport and participated in the concluding centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The Bihar Assembly Speaker said it would be a historic occasion as for the first time after Independence, a prime minister is scheduled to visit the Bihar Assembly premises. (ANI)
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction to frame guidelines for the migration of Indian medical students, who have been evacuated from Ukraine, to Indian Medical Colleges due to war as a one time measure in the equivalent academic year. The plea was filed by evacuated students, who have sought the urgent indulgence of this court in light of the extraordinary situation which has presented itself in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war crisis which has gravely impeded their education of them. The unfortunate events in Ukraine have led to the evacuation of students and consequently, their education has inevitably come to a stand-still. The petition filed through advocate Ashwarya Sinha said that the education of about 14,000 evacuated Indian students has come to a complete halt as their careers stand to be irreparably jeopardized and their fundamental rights protected under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India have become illusory. The advocate also said the evacuated students including the Petitioners herein are going through immense mental hardship and agony since their entire career hangs in ambiguity and their education has virtually come to a standstill since February 2022, with no foreseeable restoration of peace in the war-torn country. "The unfortunate situation which has transpired in the present case is that the Petitioners are neither in a position to resume their education at their respective institutions in Ukraine nor permitted to continue their education at institutions in India under the present regulations," the petition said. Therefore, the petitioners have also sought to issue an appropriate direction under Section 45 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, upon the NMC to frame guidelines and SOPs for the migration of Indian medical students who have been evacuated from Ukraine to Indian Medical Colleges as a one-time measure in the equivalent academic year. The petition also sought to issue direction upon the Centre to issue necessary directions under Section 46 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019; and an appropriate direction upon the respondents to provide adequate infrastructural/academic and financial support for the continuation of medical education of the evacuated Indian students from Ukraine. The petition also sought to formulate guidelines by exercising jurisdiction conferred under Article 142 of the Constitution of India in light of the extraordinary situation on account of the ongoing war in Ukraine for protecting the interests of the evacuated students and their migration to Indian Medical Colleges. (ANI)
A policeman was killed and two others were injured on Tuesday after terrorists fired upon a Naka party in the Lal Bazar area of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. The deceased policeman was identified as ASI Mushtaq Ahmad. "ASI Mushtaq Ahmad succumbed to his injuries and attained martyrdom. We pay rich tribute to the #martyr for his supreme #sacrifice made in the line of duty. The other two injured personnel are being treated. Further details shall follow," the Kashmir Zone Police said in a tweet. Earlier, the police had informed that the injured have been shifted to a hospital and the area has been cordoned off to track down the attackers. "Terrorists fired upon police naka party at Lal Bazar area of #Srinagar city. In this terror incident, three police personnel got injured and they have been shifted to hospital. The area has been cordoned. Further details shall follow," it said. Earlier on Monday, the ADGP Kashmir said that a terrorist belonging to the proscribed Jasih-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit, identified as Kaiser Koka and active since 2018, was trapped in an encounter in Awantipora. A joint cordon-and-search operation was launched by the Police, Army and CRPF on specific information regarding the presence of terrorists in Awantipora that led to the killing of two terrorists. During the search operation, as the joint search party approached the spot, the hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which retaliated effectively thus leading to the encounter. In the ensuing encounter, two JeM terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the encounter site. They have been identified as Kaisar Rashid Koka son of Ab Rashid Koka resident of Tengpora, Kaigam and Ishaq Ahmad Lone son of Ghulam Nabi Lone resident of Lelhar, Pulwama. As per the police records, the killed terrorist Kaiser Koka was a categorized terrorist and was involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on Police and security forces and civilian atrocities. He was active since the year 2018 and had ex-filtrated to Pakistan. After acquiring arms and ammunition and training, he infiltrated back to the Kashmir valley and was active in the areas of Awantipora and Pulwama. He was also involved in an IED attack at Larmoo Awantipora on May 2 in which two CRPF personnel got injured. While as, the other killed terrorist Ishaq Ahmad Lone was a hybrid terrorist and was also involved in several cases including the attacks on police and security forces and civilian atrocities. Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation. In this regard, a case under relevant sections of law has been registered and an investigation has been initiated. People are requested to cooperate with Police till the area at the encounter site is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials. (ANI)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said that his faction of Shiv Sena will fully support NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. "We will fully support Droupadi Murmu for the Presidential elections. All our MLAs will vote for her under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi," said Shinde. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has also decided to support Droupadi Murmu, the BJP-led NDA's candidate, in the Presidential polls on July 18. "We decided to extend our support to Droupadi Murmu for her presidency, considering that a tribal woman is getting an opportunity to become the President. Yes, I know politics will start after this but there is no politics in it. We had supported Pratibha Patil for the presidency in the past as well," said Uddhav Thackeray today. Earlier on Monday, 16 of the 18 Shiv Sena MPs from Maharashtra had urged Uddhav Thackeray to support NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu in the Presidential election. In a meeting called by Mr Thackeray in Mumbai yesterday, 16 MPs said the party must extend its support to the NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. While Droupadi Murmu is the presidential candidate of the BJP-led NDA, Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the opposition parties. The Shiv Sena had seen a revolt last month which led to the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of the MVA government which also had Congress and NCP. Eknath Shinde, who led the revolt in Shiv Sena, took oath as Chief Minister on June 30. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took an oath as Deputy Chief Minister. NDA presidential candidate also has the support of the YSRCongress Party, BJD and Akali Dal. She has been touring various states to seek the support of legislators.Droupadi Murmu is a former Governor of Jharkhand and a former Odisha minister. If elected, she will be the first tribal President of India and the country's second female President. Droupadi Murmu is the first presidential candidate from Odisha of a major political party or alliance. (ANI)
A huge crowd waved BJP flags when Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Patna on Tuesday. The enthusiastic crowd thanked PM Modi for his arrival in the capital city. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited Deoghar in Jharkhand and Patna for inauguration of the Deoghar airport and participated in the concluding centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The Bihar Assembly Speaker said it would be a historic occasion as for the first time after Independence, a Prime Minister visited the Bihar Assembly premises. In his address at the centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly prior to his roadshow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India considers democracy to be a means of ensuring social equality. Addressing the closing ceremony of centenary celebrations of Bihar Legislative Assembly, PM Modi said, "It is the nature of Bihar that the one who loves Bihar, gets love in manifold ways. Today I have also got the privilege of being the first Prime Minister of the country to visit the Bihar Vidhan Sabha complex. I bow my heart to the people of Bihar for this affection." The Prime Minister highlighted that Bihar Vidhan Sabha has a history of its own where big and bold decisions have been taken. "Bihar Vidhan Sabha has a history of its own where big and bold decisions have been taken in the Vidhan Sabha building one after the other," said the Prime Minister. "Before independence, Governor Satyendra Prasanna Sinha had appealed from this assembly to encourage indigenous industries, adopt Swadeshi Charkha. After independence, the Zamindari Abolition Act was passed in this assembly. Taking this tradition forward, CM Nitish ji's government passed an act like Bihar Panchayati Raj," said PM Modi. PM Modi said, "India considers democracy to be a means for ensuring social equality. India believes in the idea of co-existence and harmony. We believe in truth, we believe in co-operation, we believe in harmony and we believe in the cohesive power of society." The Prime Minister highlighted that Indian democracy dates back to the ancient era and lauded the history of Bihar in playing a key role in ensuring the progress of democracy. "The concept of democracy in India is as ancient as this nation is, as ancient as our culture. For decades, people diverted attention by saying that India has got democracy due to foreign rule and foreign thinking. But, when any person says this, he tries to cover up the history of Bihar and the heritage of Bihar," he said. "When large parts of the world were taking their first steps towards civilization and culture, a sophisticated democracy was functioning in Vaishali. When the understanding of democratic rights began to develop in other regions of the world, republics like Lichchavi and Vajjisangh were at their peak," he said. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India is the mother of democracy and urged the people of the country to consider their duties equivalent to the rights of the country. PM Modi addressed the closing ceremony of the centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly in Patna today. He inaugurated Shatabdi Smriti Stambh which has been built to commemorate 100 years of Bihar Vidhan Sabha. He also laid the foundation stone of the Vidhan Sabha museum. Different galleries in the museum will demonstrate the history of democracy in Bihar and the evolution of the current civic structure. It will also have a conference hall with more than 250 people capacity. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the Vidhan Sabha guest house on the occasion. Governor of Bihar, Phagu Chauhan, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were among those present on the occasion Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said it is the nature of Bihar that the one who loves Bihar, Bihar returns that love manifold. "Today I have also got the privilege of being the first Prime Minister of the country to visit the Bihar Vidhan Sabha Complex. I bow to the people of Bihar for this affection", he said. He further said that the Shatabdi Smriti Stambh will inspire myriad aspirations of Bihar. Recalling the glorious history of the Bihar Assembly, the Prime Minister said big and bold decisions have been taken in the Vidhan Sabha building here one after the other. Before independence, Governor Satyendra Prasanna Sinha had appealed from this assembly to encourage indigenous industries and the adoption of Swadeshi Charkha, said PM Modi. "After independence, the Zamindari Abolition Act was passed in this assembly. Taking this tradition forward, Nitish ji's government passed an act like Bihar Panchayati Raj making Bihar the first state where women were given 50 per cent reservation in Panchayats," he recalled. "This Assembly is an example of how equal participation and equal rights are pursued in democracy to social life", the Prime Minister remarked. The Prime Minister underlined the ancient roots of Indian democracy and said "for decades, attempts have been made to tell us that India got democracy due to foreign rule and foreign thinking. But, when any person says this, he tries to cover up the history of Bihar and the heritage of Bihar. When large parts of the world were taking their first steps towards civilization and culture, a sophisticated democracy was operating in Vaishali. When the understanding of democratic rights was beginning to develop in other regions of the world, republics like Lichchavi and Vajjisangh were at their peak." "The concept of democracy in India is as ancient as this nation is, as ancient as our culture. India considers democracy as a means of equality and equality. India believes in the idea of co-existence and harmony. We believe in truth, we believe in cooperation, we believe in harmony and we believe in the cohesive power of society", the Prime Minister elaborated. The Prime Minister reiterated that the mother of democracy in the world is India. "India is the mother of democracy. And the glorious heritage of Bihar and the historical documents present in Pali are living proof of this. No one can erase or hide this splendour of Bihar, he insisted. "This building has strengthened Indian democracy for the last hundred years, hence it deserves our homage. This building is associated with that consciousness which did not allow dissipation of democratic value even during the period of slavery", he added. The Prime Minister recalled the assertion of independence in governance by Sri Babu against the Britishers. Bihar always remained steadfast in its commitment to protect democracy and democratic values. PM Modi mentioned that Bihar gave independent India's first President in the form of Dr Rajendra Prasad. Leaders like Loknayak Jayaprakash, Karpoori Thakur and Babu Jagjivan Ram came from this land. Even when there was an attempt to crush the constitution in the country, Bihar came to the fore and blew a trumpet of protest against it. "The more prosperous Bihar is, the more powerful India's democracy will be. The stronger Bihar is, the more capable India will be", the Prime Minister pointed out. The Prime Minister continued "the Amrit Mahotsav of Azadi and this historic occasion of 100 years of Bihar Legislative Assembly has also brought a message of introspection and self-analysis for all of us, for every public representative. The more we strengthen our democracy, the more strength we will get for our freedom and our rights." In the context of changing needs of the 21st century and resolutions of New India in the 75th year of Independence, the Prime Minister said, "as MPs of the country, as MLAs of the state, it is also our responsibility that we together defeat every challenge being faced by democracy. Rising above the distinction of party-politics, our voice should be united for the country and its interest,". Stressing that "the democratic maturity of our country is displayed by our conduct", the Prime Minister emphasized that "Let the Houses of Assemblies become the centre of positive dialogue on the subjects related to the public." On the performance of the Parliament, he said "In the last few years there has been a record increase in the attendance of MPs in the Parliament and in the productivity of the Parliament. In the last budget session also, the productivity of the Lok Sabha was 129 per cent. In Rajya Sabha also, 99 per cent productivity was recorded. That is, the country is constantly working on new resolutions, taking forward the democratic discourse." Marking the 21st century as the century of India the Prime Minister said "for India, this century is the century of duties. We have to reach the golden goal of New India in this century, in the next 25 years. Our duties will take us to these goals. Therefore, these 25 years are the years of walking on the path of duty for the country." PM Modi elaborated "we should not consider our duties as separate from our rights. The more we work for our duties, the stronger our rights will get. Our loyalty to duty is the guarantee of our rights." (ANI)
Gujarat Congress on Tuesday met All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of organisation KC Venugopal and made senior office bearers and ministers from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra as the incharges of the 26 parliamentary constituencies in the state. Speaking after the meeting, Gujarat congress unit incharge Raghu Sharma said, "Gujarat is going for election and this election congress is fighting to win 125 seats. Today high command gave the responsibility of senior observer to our leader Ashok Gehlot. Senior leaders and legislators of neighbouring states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra are made the incharges of 26 Lok Sabha constituencies." Sharma also added that Congress will fight the election collectively and the public of the state is in favour of giving chance to the grand old party. The Gujarat Congress incharge also took a swipe at AAP by saying it would be a surprise if the Arvind Kejriwal-led party managed to win a single seat and called it the B team of the BJP. "AAP is not in the picture, they went to Goa, UK and you know the result. In Punjab Chief Minister's seat was lost and it shows that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is just a deception and it is the BJP B team. It will be big if they win one seat," he added. After coming out of the meeting Rajasthan Labour Minister Sukhram Bishnoi said, "I have been made incharge of a Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat for the upcoming polls. We will monitor and will do meetings with all stakeholders. Then we will suggest the appropriate candidate. This time anti-incumbency is there and congress will definitely form the Government." "Today we had a meeting with KC Venugopal and office bearers of Congress. I have been made incharge of the Surendranagar Lok Sabha constituency. We have been asked to go to the area and take stock of the political situation," Rajasthan Industry Minister, Shakuntala Rawat said after the meeting. Minister of Revenue in Government of Rajasthan Ram Lal Jaat spoke to the media and said he has been made the incharge of the Patan Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat. "We will strategise in booth management and select the best candidate. We will decide the candidate and those who are doing good," he added. Congress on Tuesday appointed Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as senior observers for the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh respectively. While TS Singh Deo and Milind Deora have been appointed observers for the Gujarat polls. Earlier this month, Gujarat Congress office-bearers met the political task force comprising senior leaders like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, Ajay Maken, P Chidambaram and Congress' poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu brainstormed about the party's prospects for over three hours. In the 2017 Assembly elections, Congress had given a scare to the ruling BJP by restricting its MLAs to 99 and winning 77 seats on its own. Assembly elections in Gujarat are likely to be held later this year. (ANI)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who undertook a visit to Chirang to assess the post-flood damage particularly caused by the Nijla river along with large-scale erosion on Tuesday said that the state government will take up a scheme to prevent recurrence of such deluge caused by the upstream river in the district. Visiting the erosion-hit Laokhriguri areas in the district which experienced large-scale damage caused by the Nijla river which is a rain-fed river that flows down from Bhutan, Chief Minister said that the Water Resources Department will undertake a scheme to find out a permanent solution of the flood and erosion caused by Nijla river, a tributary of river Aie. He said that the department will take up the plan and implement it expeditiously to give succour to the people on a permanent basis. Sarma during his visit to the district also held a review meeting with the district administration and heads of all the departments. Besides, taking stock of the post-flood damage, he also reviewed the status of implementation of different government programmes and projects in the district. He took stock of the MGNREGA, skill development initiatives and schemes under the Social Welfare department. Moreover, for skill upgradation, he asked DC Chirang Narendra Kumar Shah to conduct a comprehensive survey of Adivasi villages and prepare a report for the government to act on that. He asked him to identify five Adivasi youth from each village for undergoing training for skill upgradation. Considering the fact that Chirang district has had the problem of child trafficking, he asked the DC to maintain constant surveillance on the villages which are susceptible to such problems and to take remedial steps. The Chief Minister as a part of his visit also went to a relief camp set up at Laokhriguri LP School where around 50 families took part during the flood. He also interacted with flood-affected people and informed them that the government is taking all steps for their rehabilitation including financial assistance for them and their children who are pursuing their studies. Minister for Welfare of Bodoland Department etc UG Brahma, MP Rwngwra Narzary, MLAs Jayanta Basumatary, Ajay Kumar Roy were also present during his visit to the flood-affected Chirang district. Earlier, Chief Minister Sarma visited Tinkonia Part-I (Gobindapur) under Srijangram Revenue Circle in Bongaigaon district and took stock of the damage caused by erosion and interacted with affected families. He also reviewed the measures taken by the district administration for the people who have suffered losses due to flood in a meeting held at Malegarh HS School campus. He informed that the state government would take up a scheme for erosion protection at Tinkonia Part-I (Gobindapur). Similar steps would be taken for erosion-affected areas of Manikpur, Srijangram etc, he said. Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass, DC Nabadeep Pathak and other senior officials were present during the Chief Minister's visit to Bongaigaon district. (ANI)
A week ago, a Hindu outfit had held a panchayat in Manesar, asking the authorities to evict illegal immigrants. It had also called for a boycott of Muslim shopkeepers. On Tuesday, the representatives of the panchayat reached the Mini Secretariat here, seeking information as to what action has been taken by the administration to start the process of identifying illegal immigrants. The representatives met City Magistrate Darshan Yadav and submitted a memorandum to him, giving a five-day ultimatum to the administration. The panchayat members said that another Mahapanchayat of 70 villages in Manesar will be organised on the issue if the identification process is not started soon. A decision will also be taken to start a movement against illegal immigrants, he said. Hindu leader Dharmender Yadav, who was a part of the delegation, said, "We are not making any wrong demands. It is the moral responsibility of every patriot to raise his voice against anti-national activities. We are working to fulfil this responsibility. "We met the officials of the administration to inquire about the action taken so far. Many illegal immigrants are staying in Manesar. They have set up establishments in the names of Hindu deities. So, we had asked for an inquiry and to evict those found staying illegally. We are hopeful that the administration will take action." On July 3, a Hindu outfit had held a panchayat and asked the administration to conduct an inquiry within a week. ( 255 Words) 2022-07-12-19:00:05 (IANS)
AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam (OPS), who was expelled from the party during the General Council meeting on Monday, has shot off a letter to the Karur Vysya Bank manager, seeking anybody else not be to allowed to operate the account of the party as he was still the party Treasurer. He said that as per the records of the Election Commission, he was the party Coordinator and Treasurer and that the General Council's decision to appoint Dindigul C. Sreenivasan in his place was not valid. He said that the matters regarding the developments in the AIADMK were now pending before the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court. In the letter, OPS said: "In spite of the fact that I am the Treasurer and Coordinator of the AIADMK as per the Election Commission of India records, if you allow any other person other than me to operate the party accounts in the name of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, you will be held responsible for any misuse or misappropriation of accounts." He also said that he had been the Treasurer of the AIADMK appointed by the late Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa for the past several years and the Coordinator of the party since 2017. He said that he has been operating three accounts of the party including the building fund and development fund and several other fixed deposits in the name of AIADMK in his capacity as Treasurer of the party. --IANS aal/vd ( 260 Words) 2022-07-12-19:02:04 (IANS)
Former Rajasthan chief minister and senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje on Tuesday met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi amid speculations over her absence on all three days at the party's 3-day training camp organised in Rajasthan's Mount Abu. The training camp which was addressed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President J.P. Nadda concluded on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Raje sprung a surprise by meeting Amit Shah in the national capital amid speculations around her absence which remained a subject of discussion throughout the event. In Delhi, she held a meeting with Shah that lasted around 45 minutes. According to sources, the meeting was held to discuss preparations for the 2023 Rajasthan assembly elections. On July 9, during Amit Shah's visit to Jaipur, he had met all the leaders. Meanwhile, Nadda, who reached Mount Abu on Tuesday was accorded a warm welcome at Udaipur airport from where he travelled by road to reach Mount Abu. Addressing the concluding session of the training camp on Tuesday, he called upon the workers and said that they should not involve family members in politics. He called upon the people's representatives and workers to communicate and listen to their problems and make efforts to solve them. "The BJP is the only national party in India, the rest of the parties have been reduced to parties which reflect nepotism, dynasty and individualism politics. BJP is the only party that gives priority to the nation first," he said. The workers at the training camp were asked to convey the success stories of the Narendra Modi-led government They were also asked to speak on achievements of the public welfare of the Modi government, construction of Ram temple, removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. They were told to pass on these stories to all booths so that they can communicate it to voters. This was the fourth tour of J.P. Nadda to Rajasthan in the last 4 months. --IANS arc/pgh ( 336 Words) 2022-07-12-19:46:03 (IANS)
Congress high command is reportedly unhappy with Congress MP Manish Tewari, who is part of the Consultative Committee for Defence in Parliament, after he refused to sign the Opposition's memorandum seeking withdrawal of the Centre's Agnipath recruitment scheme. Tiwari in a tweet, 'empathising' with youth who had concerns over the scheme, said, "Reality is that India needs a younger armed force with lighter human footprint savvy on technology, equipped with state of the art weaponry." [{db1a5e8e-a2e2-46e7-bb6b-16a9e0383ec1:intradmin/fjhrl.JPG}] There is an outrage within the party against Manish Tewari who has openly supported the Agneepath scheme contrary to the party's stand. The displeasure increased following his refusal to sign the Opposition's memorandum for the withdrawal of the Centre's Agnipath recruitment scheme. In the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence, a demand was made by the Opposition for the withdrawal of the Agnipath recruitment scheme. Out of the total of 12 MPs in the meeting, six were from Opposition parties - Rajni Patil, Shaktisinh Gohil and Manish Tewari of the Congress, Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and AD Singh from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). All six, except Tewari, signed a memorandum for the withdrawal of the scheme. During discussions within the party, Manish Tiwari is even called the 'Subramanian Swamy of Congress'. Meanwhile, Congress has already termed Manish's remarks about the Agnipath scheme as his personal opinion and not the party's stand. Will Congress suspend or expel Manish Tewari. But as per sources, suspension of Manish is also being discussed but disciplinary action may also be considered for not toeing the party line. If he is expelled from the party then all he will continue to remain as a Member of Parliament. Therefore, the suspension seems a better decision to keep him trapped, stated a party source. "The matter is stuck in view of Manish's association with the party during the time of NSUI. The ball is in the high command's court. Now, the relationship between Manish and Congress is very weak. Either Manish changes his stand or else action can be taken against him soon," added the party source. The Opposition, in the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence, also condemned the government for dragging the army into politics. It also asked the government why the personnel from the armed forces were holding press conferences instead of politicians. However, the opposition parties expressed their reservations about the Agnipath scheme.They spoke about "huge unemployment" in the country being the reason for a large number of applications for the scheme. "The Opposition said that the fact that people have applied in large numbers for the scheme is significant as there is huge unemployment in the country and asked why the government was not addressing it?" said the sources. "The Army is a strategic unit and it is responsible for the security and safety of the country so if a person works in the unit for four years and then leaves, what is the assurance that he or she will not compromise the security of the country. A classic example is what happened to Japanese former PM Shinzo Abe who was shot by ex-military personnel," added the sources. The sources further quoted the opposition leaders as saying that it has been seen in various scenarios, including in Russia and Ukraine, that a long-serving army is more effective and powerful as it goes through rigorous training and exposure. "Why should the army be weakened by temporary recruitments?... The opposition told Rajnath Singh that former CDS Bipin Rawat was also in favour of long recruitments. So why is it that the government does not even adhere to the advice given by the nation's first chief of defence staff?" said the sources. The Agnipath Scheme, which was approved by the cabinet on June 14, was launched in an effort to bring a change in the recruitment process of the Armed Forces. With the new military recruitment scheme facing criticism, the Centre decided to grant a one-time waiver and on June 16 announced that the upper age limit for recruitment via Agnipath Scheme has been extended to 23 years from 21 years. The Ministry of Defence, in its statement in June 2022, said that the Agnipath scheme has been designed to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces. (ANI)
According to GSM Arena, the pages are in Denmark, Belgium, and Norway, and they correspond to the SM-R925F (Watch5 Pro), SM-R905F (Watch5 40mm), and SM-R915F, respectively (Watch5 44mm).

There isn't any actual information on these support landing pages yet, but there is plenty of it circulating thanks to comprehensive leaks. GSM Arena said it has seen detailed renders of the Galaxy Watch5 Pro and Watch5, which revealed that the Pro will have a sapphire glass display.

The prices of Samsung's future watches: the 40mm Galaxy Watch5 starts at USD300 (USD350 for LTE), while the 44mm starts at USD400 (USD400 for LTE). The Galaxy Watch5 Pro in its single 45mm size will cost USD490 (USD540 with LTE).

GSM Arena reported that the Pro will be available in two colour options: black and titanium. Pink gold, grey, and silver will be available for the 40mm Watch5, while blue, grey, and silver will be available for the 44mm Watch5.

The Galaxy Watch5 series is scheduled to be unveiled at Samsung's August Unpacked event on August 10. (ANI)
Delhi Police have made elaborate security arrangements ahead of the 'Kanwar Yatra', which will commence on July 14. According to police, a large number of Kanwariyas reach Delhi and some of them go to Haryana and Rajasthan via Delhi borders. A large number of Lord Shiva devotees would be undertaking "Kanwar Yatra" from Gaumukh, Gangotri Dham, Rishikesh and Haridwar. This year the expected number is about 15-20 lakh. Delhi Traffic Police has made elaborate arrangements to segregate the movement of Kanwarias and other road users and to minimize inconvenience to the general public and devotees from July 14 to July 26. The Kanwariyas will enter East District from Maharajpur and Gazipur check post side and will leave Delhi for their respective destinations. East Delhi will be a transit point on route for kanwariyas hailing from different states like Haryana, Rajasthan and others. The Police said that the Kanwariyas are expected to pass through Delhi on foot from July 14 onwards to their destinations and their movements would increase in subsequent days after July 21. For smooth flow of traffic during Kawar Yatra, a total of 1,925 police personnel are being deployed for traffic regulation, and more than 56 cranes and motorcycles are also deployed on main roads and stretches from where the pilgrims pass, a release said. If any devotee or member of the public wants to know any information related to traffic, he may approach the Delhi Traffic Police Facebook page, Twitter handle@DelhiTrafficPolice, Whatsapp number 8750871493 and helpline number 1095/011-25844444. "Updated information at these platforms is available on a 24x7 basis. The devotees and road users are advised to follow the traffic rules and obey the directions of policemen on duty. During this period of Kanwarias movement, traffic violations will be checked by on-the-spot prosecution and by photography/videography of violations which will be followed by prosecution," the police said. The Delhi Police also specified routes for devotees carrying 'kanwars'. - Apsara Border, Shahdara Flyover, Seelampur 'T'-Point, ISBT Flyover, Boulevard Road, Rani Jhansi Road, Faiz Road, Upper Ridge Road, Dhaula Kuan, NH-8 and exit from Rajokri Border for Haryana. - Bhopura Border, Wazirabad Road, Wazirabad Bridge, Outer Ring Road, Mukarba Chowk, NH-1 and exit from Singhu Border or Madhuban Chowk, Peeragarhi and exit from Tikri Border for Haryana - Maharajpur Border, Road number 56, Ghazipur Border, NH24, Ring Road, Mathura Road and exit from Badarpur Border for Haryana. Bhopura Border, Wazirabad Road, Loni Flyover, Gokulpuri 'T' Point, 66 Foota Road, Seelampur 'T'Point, NH 1 and further towards new ISBT Bridge. The other routes are Kalindi Kunj, Mathura Road, Badarpur Border; Kalindi Kunj, Mathura Road, Modi Mill, Maa Anand Mai Marg, MB Road; Vande Matram Marg, Upper Ridge Road New Delhi; New Rohtak Road (from Kamal'T'Point to Tikri Border); and Najafgarh Road (from Zakhira to Najafgarh). In addition to these important roads and intersections, Kanwarias movement is observed in smaller numbers in several locations all over Delhi. Heavy transport vehicles will be diverted by the Uttar Pradesh Police from Mohan Nagar towards NH-24 and no such traffic will be allowed towards Wazirabad road via Bhopra and/or towards GT Road via Apsara Border, the police said. Heavy commercial transport vehicles, except city buses, coming from GT Karnal Road at Outer Ring Road will be diverted straight towards NH-24 and will not be allowed to move on Wazirabad Road and GT Road towards Shahdara. The police announced some other diversions. During these days due to the movement of Kanwarias and the setting up of "Kanwariya Camps" on roadsides, traffic congestion/obstruction is experienced at several places. The Police said heavy traffic congestion occurs on Rani Jhansi Road from Baraf Khana Chowk to Fire Station Boulevard Road and at Azad Market Chowk, Gokalpuri Flyover, 66 Foota Road, Maujpur Chowk, Badarpur 'T'- Point, Mathura Road. Similarly, traffic congestion is experienced on NH - 8 from Dhaula Kuan Metro Station upto Rajokri Border. Due to the diversion of vehicular traffic, bound for Apsara Border and Maharajpur Border to Ghazipur, by U.P Police, there will be congestion on NH - 24 as well. Police advised the Kanwar camp organisers to ensure that they get prior permission from the competent authority for setting up of "Kanwarias Camp" and ensure that their camp does not hamper the free flow of traffic on the main carriageway. In order to ensure a smooth transition of Kanwar Yatris as well as to maintain law and order in the East District, extensive security arrangements have been put in place. Maximum police personnel of East District will be on the ground for these arrangements aimed to prevent any kind of disturbance, to maintain proper law and order at and around the camps as well as on the routes to be followed by Kanwariyas and also to ensure smooth passage for Kanwariyas with minimum inconvenience to the general public. Sixteen camps are being set up in the East district for Kanwariyas. Police personnel have also been directed to ensure proper barricading, lighting, and fire safety measures, and to maintain a register to record the entry and exit of each Kanwariya. "Provision of CCTVs is also being made in the camps in coordination with the civic agencies. Apart from it, all anti-terrorism measures have also been put in place. Anti-sabotage checks will be conducted at all 16 camps on a regular basis, morchas, and machans are also being set up to this regard. Quick Response Teams and MPVs have been deployed at sensitive locations on the route as well at the camps," said police. With a view to maintaining communal harmony in the area during Kanwar Yatra, meetings with the members of Aman Committees, religious leaders and respectable of the area have also been conducted in both districts. (ANI)
Pay parity across states and facilities on par with paramilitary forces for the frontline forest staff, especially those who are martyred in line of duty, are among the main recommendations of a report about the working condition of those staffers submitted to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday. It is the committee on 'Improving and strengthening the working conditions of Forest Frontline Staff' that the Centre had constituted in September 2020 after the IFS Association had written a letter to the then Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. The committee was chaired by Keshav Varma, founding director of the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative and its mandate was to look into the concerns related to the work conditions of the frontline forest staff on protection duty. It was also to come up with suggestions regarding forest martyrs, i.e., forest personnel who are killed on duty while engaged in forest protection work. The important recommendations include treating the forest personnel who died in line of duty as a forest martyr and offering government facilities to his / her families; pay parity with paramilitary forces; same pay scale and other facilities across states, forest bravery medal on lines with police bravery medal and infrastructure facilities for forest staff in remote areas of their posting. Asked what the issue with pay parity across states was, a senior official explained: "Across states our ground staff has different pay scales. Work is the same but the pay they get is different. We have recommended that there should be parity." The letter was a result of frustration on part of the forest officers because of lack of support from the government for their welfare and protection while in line of duty and therefore they had sought a number of measures through their letter and highlighted the problems faced by them. The forest field staff often works in remotest of the locations in difficult conditions with which they ensure the "ecological security of the nation, even at high personal costs," it had said. As many as 162 foresters had lost their lives in India while on duty between 2012 and 2017, the highest in the world, as per the International Ranger Federation. --IANS niv/pgh ( 377 Words) 2022-07-12-20:56:01 (IANS)
The Crime Branch has arrested Bhatt for embezzling funds and forging documents.

He was arrested based on a case filed on June 24 after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots case.

The former IPS was arrested on a transfer warrant.

The Crime Branch has taken over Sanjiv Bhatt from Banaskantha jail.

A Gujarat court in June 2019 sentenced former Sanjiv Bhatt to life imprisonment in a custodial death case dating back to 1990.

Activist Teesta Setalvad and former Director-General of Police RB Sreekumar were arrested for alleged fabrication of evidence regarding the 2002 Gujarat riots case.

The Gujarat Police Crime Branch last month arrested Teesta Setalvad in connection with a case against her NGO which gave baseless information about the riots to the police.

The action came after Union Minister Amit Shah in an interview with ANI said that Teesta Setalvad-run NGO gave baseless information about the 2002 Gujarat riots to the police.

The crime branch registered a case against Teesta, Sanjeev Bhatt, and RB Sreekumar following the Supreme Court's verdict,

Police have charged them under Sections 468, 471 (forgery), 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of capital offence), 211 (institute criminal proceedings to cause injury), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save a person from punishment or property from forfeiture) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. (ANI)
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and other parties took out a huge procession with thousands joining to protest the move to rename Aurangabad as 'Sambhajinagar', here on Tuesday. Leading the procession, state AIMIM President and MP Syed Imtiaz Jaleel condemned the decision -- taken in the final Cabinet meeting of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, when its countdown had begun. Later, the new government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis indicated that they would honour the previous regime's decision on the issue, as a large number of people are in favour of renaming the city. "Our question is, why the name-change was not done when the BJP-Shiv Sena were in power (2014-2019). The decision was taken for political reasons, nobody has any love for Chhatrapati Sambhaji," Jaleel said, attacking the MVA, Sena, BJP and Nationalist Congress Party. He alleged how for the past two decades, the Sena-BJP had kept the issue burning alive for their political motives and finally it was taken only for 'protecting the chair'. "If they believe that this renaming decision will be acceptable to all the people now, they must remember that the country can be run only as per the Constitution of Babasaheb Amedkar," Jaleel said. Slamming the Congress-NCP, he reiterated that after allying with the Sena, "both parties have been saffronised" and they are only making a pretence of secularism. Targeting NCP President Sharad Pawar, Jaleel said first he had said that the NCP was a party to the decision, and then backtracked saying he (Pawar) had no knowledge of the renaming move. Slamming the AIMIM, Shiv Sena MLC Ambadas Danve asked why the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party has so much love for emperor Aurangzeb, and issued a veiled warning that "if they take one step, we will take two". On Tuesday afternoon, thousands of AIMIM supporters and commoners marched in a procession waving the Tricolour and posters, and raised slogans opposing the renaming of Aurangabad to 'Sambhajinagar'. On June 29, at the MVA's final Cabinet meeting, the crucial decision was taken to rechristen Aurangabad as 'Sambhajinagar', Osmanabad as 'Dharashiv', and the upcoming new international airport in Navi Mumbai after prominent leader D.B. Patil. At that meeting presided over by Thackeray, the Congress had put forth demands to rename Pune as 'Jijaunagar' (in memory of the mother of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj), and the upcoming Mumbai Trans Harbour Link after late Chief Minister A.R. Antulay. --IANS qn/uk/arm ( 424 Words) 2022-07-12-21:36:01 (IANS)
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to rejoin the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) following talks between the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Tomar appreciated this step of the state government. With this important decision, crops of more than 40 lakh farmers of the state will get insurance cover in case of natural calamity. Tomar said, "The Central Government has made PMFBY simple and convenient as per the suggestions of the states. The Central Government is working continuously with the States to improve the condition of farmers and make them prosperous and transform agriculture into advanced farming." The Andhra Pradesh CM thanked the Central Government for re-implementing PMFBY in the state. Reddy said, "After discussion with the Center, the State Government has decided to provide the farmers of the State with crop insurance cover under the PMFBY." Andhra Pradesh has decided to implement the PMFBY from the Kharif-2022 season. The Central Government is committed to empowering the farmers across the country including Andhra Pradesh by securing their income-livelihood and realizing the dream of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's AatmaNirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and self-reliant farmer, stated a government release on Tuesday. Keeping in view the suggestions of Andhra Pradesh and other states, the Central Government revamped the scheme in February-2020 with new features, such as voluntary enrolment for all farmers, wider use of technology in yield estimation, risk coverage to choose for payment of the sum insured to the States as per the option and prevailing risk profile and a provision of 3 per cent was made for administrative expenses. On July 7, a team headed by the Union Agriculture Secretary Shri Manoj Ahuja also gave a presentation to the Chief Minister regarding the scheme. PMFBY and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) have been successfully implemented in Andhra Pradesh from Kharif-2016 to Kharif-2019. Special Chief Secretary, Andhra Pradesh Smt. Poonam Malakondaiah, Additional Secretary, Union Agriculture Ministry, Shri Abhilaksh Likhi also addressed today's meeting. The CEO and Joint Secretary of the scheme, Shri Ritesh Chauhan, gave a welcome speech and presentation. Senior officials of Central and State governments were also present at the meeting. (ANI)
IGP Kashmir Zone Vijay Kumar along with other police personnel paid tribute to ASI Mushtaq Ahmad who lost his life in Tuesday's terrorist attack in Srinagar. "My deepest condolences to the family of our braveheart ASI Mushtaq Ahmad. I pray for the early recovery of the injured. Strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack on security personnel in Srinagar. Perpetrators of this heinous act shall be brought to justice soon," tweeted the Office of J&K LG. ASI Mushtaq Ahmad was killed and two others were injured on Tuesday after terrorists fired upon a Naka party in the Lal Bazar area of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. "ASI Mushtaq Ahmad succumbed to his injuries and attained martyrdom. We pay rich tribute to the #martyr for his supreme #sacrifice made in the line of duty. The other two injured personnel are being treated. Further details shall follow," the Kashmir Zone Police said in a tweet. Earlier, the police had informed that the injured have been shifted to a hospital and the area has been cordoned off to track down the attackers. "Terrorists fired upon police naka party at Lal Bazar area of #Srinagar city. In this terror incident, three police personnel got injured and they have been shifted to hospital. The area has been cordoned. Further details shall follow," it said. Earlier on Monday, the ADGP Kashmir said that a terrorist belonging to the proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit, identified as Kaiser Koka and active since 2018, was trapped in an encounter in Awantipora. A joint cordon-and-search operation was launched by the Police, Army and CRPF on specific information regarding the presence of terrorists in Awantipora that led to the killing of two terrorists. During the search operation, as the joint search party approached the spot, the hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which retaliated effectively thus leading to the encounter. In the ensuing encounter, two JeM terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the encounter site. They have been identified as Kaisar Rashid Koka son of Ab Rashid Koka resident of Tengpora, Kaigam and Ishaq Ahmad Lone son of Ghulam Nabi Lone resident of Lelhar, Pulwama. As per the police records, the killed terrorist Kaiser Koka was a categorized terrorist and was involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on Police and security forces and civilian atrocities. He was active since the year 2018 and had ex-filtrated to Pakistan. After acquiring arms and ammunition and training, he infiltrated back to the Kashmir valley and was active in the areas of Awantipora and Pulwama. He was also involved in an IED attack at Larmoo Awantipora on May 2 in which two CRPF personnel got injured. While as, the other killed terrorist Ishaq Ahmad Lone was a hybrid terrorist and was also involved in several cases including the attacks on police and security forces and civilian atrocities. Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation. In this regard, a case under relevant sections of law has been registered and an investigation has been initiated. People are requested to cooperate with Police till the area at the encounter site is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials. (ANI)
When NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at the asteroid Bennu, scientists discovered something surprising about the asteroid's surface wasn't smooth like many were expecting but was covered in large boulders. Now, a team of physicists think they know why. That popcorn-like effect may even help to tidy up smaller asteroids, causing them to lose dust and look rough and craggy from space. The researchers published their results July 11 in the journal Nature Astronomy. Their findings may help scientists better understand how asteroids change shape over time -- and how these bodies migrate through space, sometimes bringing them dangerously close to Earth, said Hsiang-Wen (Sean) Hsu, lead author of the study. "The more fine-grained material, or regolith, these asteroids lose, the faster they migrate," said Hsu, a research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder. The research began with a few curious photos. In 2020, a NASA spacecraft named OSIRIS-REx travelled more than 1 billion miles to rendezvous with the asteroid (191055) Bennu, which is about as tall as the Empire State Building. But when the spacecraft arrived, scientists didn't find what they were expecting: The asteroid's surface looked like rough sandpaper, not smooth and dusty like researchers had predicted. There were even large boulders scattered over its exterior. Now, Hsu and his colleagues have drawn on computer simulations, or models, and laboratory experiments to explore that puzzle. He said that forces akin to static electricity may be kicking the smallest grains of dust, some no bigger than a single bacterium, off the asteroid and into space -- leaving only larger rocks behind. Bennu isn't alone, said study co-author Mihaly Horanyi. "We're realizing that these same physics are occurring on other airless bodies like the moon and even the rings of Saturn," said Horanyi, a researcher at LASP and professor of physics at CU Boulder. Bennu and Ryugu Asteroids might look like they're frozen in time, but these bodies evolve throughout their lifetimes. Hsu explained that asteroids like Bennu are constantly spinning, which exposes their surfaces to sunlight, then shadow and sunlight again. That never-ending cycle of heating and cooling puts a strain on the largest rocks at the surface, until they inevitably crack. "It's happening every day, all the time," Hsu said. "You wind up eroding a big piece of rock into smaller pieces." Which is why, before scientists arrived at Bennu, many were expecting to find it covered in smooth sand -- a bit like how the moon looks today. Not long before, a Japanese space mission landed on a second small asteroid called Ryugu. The team found a similarly rough and craggy terrain. Hsu and his colleagues were suspicious. Since the 1990s, researchers at LASP have used vacuum chambers in the lab to investigate the strange properties of dust in space, including a feat they call "electrostatic lofting." Study co-lead author Xu Wang explained that as the sun's rays bathe small grains of dust, they begin to pick up negative charges. Those charges will build until, suddenly, the particles burst apart, like two magnets repelling each other. In some cases, those grains of dust can pop away at speeds of more than 20 miles per hour (or more than 8 meters per second). "No one had ever considered this process on the surface of an asteroid before," said Wang, a research associate at LASP. Small asteroid, big asteroid To do that, the researchers, including former CU Boulder undergraduate students Anthony Carroll and Noah Hood, ran a series of calculations examining the physics of regolith on two hypothetical asteroids. They tracked how dust might form, then hop around over hundreds of thousands of years. One of those faux asteroids was about a half-mile across (similar in size to Ryugu) and the second several miles wide (closer in diameter to big asteroids like Eros). The size made a difference. According to the team's estimates, when grains of dust jumped on the bigger asteroid, they couldn't gain enough speed to break free of its gravity. The same wasn't true on the smaller, Ryugu-like asteroid. "The gravity on the smaller asteroid is so weak that it can't hold back the escape," Hsu said. "The fine-grained regolith will be lost." That lost dust, in turn, will expose the surface of the asteroids to even more erosion, leading to a boulder-rich scenery like scientists found on Ryugu and Bennu. Within several million years, in fact, the smaller asteroid was almost completely swept clean of fine dust. The Eros-like asteroid, however, stayed dusty. Hsu noted that this scrubbing effect could help to give the orbits of small asteroids a nudge. He explained that asteroids migrate because the sun's radiation pushes on them slowly over time. Based on previous research by other scientists, he suspects that asteroids covered in boulders may move faster than those with a dustier appearance. He and his colleagues may soon get more proof to back up their calculations. In less than 3 months, a NASA mission called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will visit a pair of smaller asteroids -- and Hsu will be watching to see how dusty they are. "We will have new surface images to test our theory," he said. "It's nice for us, but also a little nerve-wracking." (ANI)
The United States welcomes Canada's decision to return the Nord Stream 1 turbine which remained stranded in Montreal because of Russia-related sanctions to Germany, the State Department said on Monday. "The United States is united with our Allies and partners in our commitment to promoting European energy security, reducing our collective dependence on Russian energy, and maintaining pressure on the Kremlin. In that vein, we support the Canadian government's decision to return a natural-gas turbine to Germany for use in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said "In the short term, the turbine will allow Germany and other European countries to replenish their gas reserves, increasing their energy security and resiliency and countering Russia's efforts to weaponise energy," he added. In early June, it was announced that the turbine sent by Siemens to its factory in Montreal, on behalf of Gazprom, for maintenance, was unable to make it back to Russia because of sanctions imposed by the West over the conflict in Ukraine. Active negotiations have been ongoing since then between Ottawa and Berlin, with the Ukrainian government repeatedly asking Canada to not hand the turbine as it would be a violation of sanctions. "We are working with our allies and partners to reduce our collective dependence on Russian energy and maintain pressure on President Putin, including exploring ways to further reduce Russia's energy-derived revenues to continue curtailing Russia's ability to fund its brutal, ongoing war in Ukraine. At the same time, we are taking active steps to limit the impact of President Putin's war on global energy markets and protect our economies," Price said. The State Department spokesperson said the US is grateful for the partnership with Canada and Germany and their solidarity in defence of Ukraine in the wake of Russia's "unprovoked and unjustifiable war" against its sovereign neighbour and the significant sanctions they have each put in place to hold the Kremlin accountable. "The United States and our Allies and partners are committed to supporting Ukraine and ensuring the Russian government feels the compounding effects of our economic restrictions and robust sanctions," he added. (ANI)
Top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi met with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa where both the leaders spoke of cooperation in expanding their partnership to a new high, reports said. During the meet which was held on July 4, Jiechi appreciated "Zimbabwe's important role in promoting China-Africa cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative and stands ready to further strengthen all-dimensional exchanges with Zimbabwe, be it party to party, government to government, military to military and people to people levels, and conduct in-depth exchanges of governance experience with Zimbabwe." As per observers, China is using Zimbabwe as a key strategic location in to spread its influence in southern Africa. Beijing is also trying to promote Zimbabwe at the international forum. China said that it is ready to fully coordinate its position with Zimbabwe on "multilateral affairs, jointly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order based on international law, and make the global governance system more just and equitable," reported China Daily. The two sides have deepened mutual political trust and consolidated cooperation in various fields, said Yang. Yang stressed the two parties trust and support each other, laying an important political foundation for the all-weather friendship between China and Zimbabwe. The impact of Chinese loans in Africa is far more complex than it is often portrayed. Online research paper, IJSER reported that some scholars argue that Chinese loans have created a debt trap in Africa, and China is leveraging on the debt trap to strategically penetrate Africa's political landscape. China has recently emerged as a major lender in more than 32 African countries including Angola (USD 21.5 billion in 2017), Ethiopia (USD 13.7 billion), Kenya (USD 9.8 billion), Republic of Congo (USD 7.42 billion), Cameroon (USD 5.57 billion)1and Zambia reaching USD 11.2 billion in 2019. There is the contention that Chinese loans to Africa primarily provide business and employment opportunities for Chinese citizens and contractors to work overseas. This is because China often imposes most of the loans on infrastructure development in Africa. The imposition is always in favour of Chinese companies which are mostly 'state-owned enterprises', in order to boost "China's Going Out strategy" which maintains Chinese companies as contractors of various projects that are financed by Chinese loans, reported IJSER. The companies, therefore, create employment opportunities for Chinese citizens in Africa. It feels like China gives out money with one hand and collects it back with another hand. China is executing a modern form of colonialism at Africa's expense in order to enable her to become a global player. China deploys troops to Africa in order to meet its mineral and oil needs. (ANI)
Tuesday will be a crucial day for the nearly yearlong Congress Senate committee probing the Jan 6, 2021 Capitol Hills insurrection and the alleged involvement of ex-President Donald Trump to incite a riotous mob to attack the building and overturn the election verdict of 2020, with key witness and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone scheduled to testify on the events. Cipollone's statement under oath will not be a deposition, but hours long testimony going into the minutest details of the events at the Oval and West wing on Jan 6 and is expected to corroborate the testimony of top White House aide to Trump, Cassidy Hutchinson. She has already charged that Trump was furious over the 2020 verdict and overheard aides saying he wanted Vice President Mike Pence to annul the verdict against their advice as being extreme and unconstitutional. That he wanted to lead the mob at Capitol Hill, grabbed the steering wheel and tried to ring the neck of the security detail of the presidential limo, Beast. In a surprise move, another star witness Stephen Bannon, White House strategist, media executive and banker, has come forward to testify if Trump waived his executive privilege, which, surprisingly, the ex-President has done to tell what happened. Bannon had earlier defended Trump citing EP but after being criminally charged to stand trial on July 18 offered a deal to testify apparently to save himself. The Senate committee has made it clear that there was no executive privilege for him to be waived as he was not part of the West wing team on January 6. The committee also said his testimony will not absolve him of any guilt of criminal charges for which he stands trial on July 18. Bannon had sent a message on January 5, 2021 saying "all hell is going to break loose on January 6", indicating he had advanced knowledge. According to CNN TV news network, members of the White House select committee investigating the attacks on the US Capitol say the panel's public hearing on July 12 will focus on how the violent mob came together and the role of extremist groups in the deadly insurrection. "We are going to be connecting the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who were trying -- in government circles -- to overturn the election." Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday the hearings will focus on connections between the Trump administration and militia groups such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. Florida Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy, who also sits on the committee, told NBC on Sunday that the panel could present evidence that members of Congress encouraged extremist groups to come to Washington on January 6, echoing Trump's tweet the previous month that January 6 would "be wild". She called that tweet a "siren call" for those groups. Meanwhile, a Trump documentary titled "Unprecedented" has been released prior to the July 12 hearing. The three-part documentary, which follows Trump in the lead-up to and the aftermath of the 2020 elections, was released on Sunday. Filmmaker Alex Holder and his team were granted access to Trump and his family members during the final weeks of the campaign and the weeks surrounding the attack on January 6, 2021, for their series "Unprecedented". Trump's inner circle was interviewed about the key moments, including when Trump found out the election had been called for Joe Biden and when he tested positive for Covid. Holder's team was also filming at the Capitol on January 6, and the series shows footage of Trump supporters crawling through broken windows to get inside the building. The Jan 6 committee subpoenaed the raw footage of the interviews Holder conducted with Trump, then Vice President Mike Pence, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Jared Kushner, as well as footage of the attack on the Capitol. The committee also asked for any footage in which election fraud or election integrity was discussed. The panel's next two public hearings, set for Tuesday and Thursday, are expected to focus on the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol. Rep. Adam Schiff, a member of the committee, said last week on MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" that the committee is seeking to "shed light on how that mob came to be there". Holder also testified before the committee behind closed doors in June. In a scene in the third episode, Pence is shown on camera on January 12, 2021, looking at a cellphone and saying, "Excellent". The filmmakers alleged that he was responding to a draft resolution calling for Pence to pursue the use of the 25th Amendment to remove then President Donald Trump from office. Pence's spokesman disputed that on Sunday, telling NBC News that Pence was reacting to a confirmation that a letter from him had been sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejecting her attempt to invoke the 25th Amendment. On January 12, 2021, NBC News reported that Pence had sent the letter to Pelosi, claims ABC news. According to the documentary, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Pence all declined to discuss the January 6 attacks during their interviews for the series. In the series, Trump says in an interview that on January 6, there was "great anger in our country" and that he will decide whether to run in 2024 "in the not-too-distant future". The documentary series can be streamed on Discovery+. --IANS arm/ ( 927 Words) 2022-07-11-22:32:03 (IANS)
The new prime minister of the United Kingdom (UK) replacing incumbent Boris Johnson will be announced on September 5, said Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative Party's backbench 1922 Committee, on Monday. Brady said the 1922 Committee, which runs the Tory leadership contest, has decided that the candidates will have to get the backing of 20 members of Parliament (MPs) when nominations open and close on Tuesday. The threshold is markedly higher than the required backing of eight MPs seen in the party's usual rules, Xinhua reported. The first round of voting among Tory MPs will be held on Wednesday, he said, adding that the contenders will need to receive 30 votes to enter the second ballot which is to be held on Thursday. The number of contenders will be whittled down to two before MPs break up for the summer recess on July 21, he said. The final two contenders will then go through a postal ballot of all the Conservative members, numbering around 200,000, over the summer and the winner will become the new Tory leader and UK's next prime minister. "I am very keen we get this concluded as smoothly, cleanly, and rapidly as possible," said Brady, calling it a "perfectly reasonable" timetable that would allow the postal ballot to take place around the country over the summer. "We do need to make sure there is a decent amount of time before the result is announced on 5th September," he added. So far, 11 candidates have launched their bids to become the Conservative Party's next leader, with International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid among the frontrunners. Most of the contenders have vowed to cut taxes, ranging from corporation tax to income tax, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, Xinhua reported. UK Foreign Minister, Lizz Truss entered the race to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, joining 10 other hopefuls in an increasingly unpredictable contest. Truss, 46 is widely seen as one of the potential contenders for the leader of the Conservative Party. Johnson resigned on Thursday following a dramatic cabinet revolt over his scandal-hit leadership, but he will stay on as caretaker prime minister until a new Tory leader is elected. Almost 30 UK government officials, including key figures like UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, have submitted their resignations over the recent scandal involving former deputy chief whip Christopher Pincher. A total of 58 ministers quit the government following an ethics scandal which ultimately forced the UK premier to resign. Johnson agreed to step down after one of his closest allies, Treasury Chief Nadhim Zahawi, told the prime minister to resign for the good of the country. "Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country," Zahawi said in a letter to Johnson. "You must do the right thing and go now." Johnson, 58, managed to remain in power for almost three years, despite allegations that he was too close to party donors, that he protected supporters from bullying and corruption allegations, and that he misled Parliament and was dishonest to the public about government office parties that broke pandemic lockdown rules. However, Johnson could continue to remain in office until October when the Conservative party meets for its annual conference so that his replacement is found. Conventionally, when a Conservative leader resigns, they give the party time to hold a thorough leadership contest. The Tory leadership race was triggered after Johnson was forced to resign on Thursday by an avalanche of resignations of cabinet ministers and other junior government officials in protest against his scandal-hit leadership. Johnson continues to serve as the caretaker prime minister until a new Tory leader succeeds him. Johnson, who won a landslide victory in the general elections in 2019, lost support after he was caught in a string of scandals, including the Partygate scandal and Pincher scandal involving his appointment of a politician accused of sexual misconduct.(ANI)
Manuel Oliver, a father of a teenager killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting, interrupted President Joe Biden's speech celebrating a bipartisan gun safety law on Monday as he argued that the legislation has not gone far enough to curb gun violence. Manuel Oliver, the father of mass shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, who got killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was moved out of the event on the White House lawn while he suggested the legislation did not go far enough, The Hill reported. The event was carried live on some cable television networks. Criticizing the legislation, Oliver said "I've been trying to tell you this for years, for years," adding that "It's been a while that I've been calling out that using the celebration of the word, getting together, it's like we're going to a party, to a wedding today, you know, we all received invitations. And meanwhile, you can see these mothers in Uvalde that just saw how their kids were massacred inside a school," as he criticised the use of the word "celebration" for Monday's event. Oliver appeared to be suggesting the legislation did not go far enough, but much of his comments were inaudible to the crowd. Several advocates from various gun violence prevention groups and survivors and family members of victims of mass shootings from across the country were present during the event, reported The Hill. Notably, the gun control legislation has been slammed for not going far as Democrats and advocates would have wanted, and Biden has been criticized for largely waiting on the sidelines for a bipartisan group of Senators to finalize the bill. The shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., which came weeks after Biden signed the bill into law, also left Democrats and allies frustrated. Biden reiterated his calls for an assault weapons ban on Monday which expired in 2004, since the start of his administration, but a ban is hardly likely to pass the Senate, where Democrats need 10 Republicans to vote with them to overcome the 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation. In order to curb the rising incidents of gun violence in the US, the US Senate passed a bipartisan bill to address gun violence in the United States, the first major piece of federal gun reform in almost 30 years. The final vote was 65 to 33 with 15 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the measure, marking a significant bipartisan breakthrough on one of the most contentious policy issues in the US. The bill titled the "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act" aims to take firearms away from dangerous people and provide millions of dollars for mental health, school safety, crisis intervention programs and incentives for states to include juvenile records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The US has been witnessing back-to-back acts of gun violence in the country with at least 246 fatal shootings till June this year. The US is promoted to be the premier destination for higher education for Indians, but in rising instances, is unable to provide basic safety from senseless gun violence. The May 24 massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers, was the bloodiest mass shooting in the United States this year, which occurred only 10 days after another shooting that killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo. (ANI)
Los Angeles [US], July 12 (ANI/Xinhua): Authorities said Monday that more than 500 firefighters are battling a fast-moving wildfire to protect some of the world's oldest and largest trees in the Yosemite National Park, one of the most visited national parks in the United States. The Washburn Fire, reported Thursday afternoon, has grown to over 2,340 acres (around 9.47 square km) and is only 25 per cent contained, threatening the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, the largest sequoia grove in the park. Located in the southern portion of Yosemite, the historic tree grove is home to over 500 mature giant sequoias, including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant tree. "A full initial attack response was dispatched including Yosemite National Park Fire resources and state and local cooperators," said an incident update released by the InciWeb, an interagency all-risk incident information management system in the United States. A total of 545 firefighters are working at the scene, an increase of 185 personnel compared to the previous day. The fire was active Sunday night and with the current warming trend, increased fire activity is expected for Monday as well, officials noted. While structure wrap is not currently being used on the giant sequoias, firefighters are proactively protecting the Mariposa Grove through the use of a ground-based sprinkler system. This increases the humidity in the area around the trees and combined with the removal of ground fuels, the ground fire risk is greatly reduced, according to the update, adding that Yosemite's fire management program has for many years utilized a wide variety of methods to reduce the fuels and minimize the risk of fire to the over 500 mature giant sequoias as well as the entire national park. (ANI/Xinhua)
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief, Imran Khan on Monday urged his supporters to defeat the "turncoats" as well as the "nexus" of the Election Commission of Pakistan and the PML-N by voting for his party in the upcoming by-polls in Lodhran. The PTI chairman made these while addressing a PTI power show in Lodhran, Dawn reported that he addressed the rally and accused the Sindh government of being unprepared to deal with the monsoon rains. Imran said the Buzdar administration had installed underground water tanks to store rainwater and prevent it from causing urban flash floods, adding that during his government there were corruption cases ready against Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. He said the duo were prevented from getting the punishment they deserved by "those who had [the real] power". While tagging the PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal as the "lying Aristotle", he talked about the recent incident where Iqbal was heckled at a restaurant and slogans of "chor (thief)" were chanted against him. Imran said Iqbal's hecklers were not misbehaving but merely "telling the truth", Dawn reported citing sources. He said the actual reason the PML-N and its allies wanted to cease power was to "amend accountability laws, give themselves an NRO and shut their corruption cases". Addressing the farmer community of Lodhran, Imran said that his government had taken measures for their benefit and ensured that they received their due profits rather than mill owners and sugar barons. He also urged his followers to defeat the collusion by coming out to vote for the PTI on July 17, reported Dawn. (ANI)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for dialogue to ensure a smooth transition of government in Sri Lanka and find sustainable solutions to the economic crisis. "I stand in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka & call for dialogue to ensure a smooth transition of government & to find sustainable solutions to the economic crisis," Guterres tweeted. "I condemn all acts of violence and call for those responsible to be held accountable," he added. On Monday, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq said that the UN Secretary was closely following the developments in Sri Lanka, and stands in solidarity with the country. Notably, Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Saturday agreed to step down from his post. He said that he will step down from the presidency on July 13 amid economic and political instability. On Monday, Sri Lanka's speaker of parliament said political party leaders have decided to elect a new president on July 20 through a vote in parliament. In a statement, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that following a meeting with all political party leaders, it was decided to convene parliament sessions on July 15 and inform the parliament that there was a vacancy for the presidency. Nominations for the presidency will be called for on July 19 and a vote will be taken on July 20 to elect a new president, the speaker said. Party leaders also decided to form an all-party government under the new president and take steps to continue the supply of essential services. This comes after protests by thousands rocked Colombo on Saturday as crowds tore through the barricades surrounding Rajapaksa's residence and climbed over the fence and took control of the area. Dramatic visuals from outside Rajapakse's residence showed a sea of demonstrators storming into the compound, tearing down security cordons placed by police, taking a dip in the swimming pool and romping through his kitchen and home. Hours after the protestors stormed his official residence, Rajapaksa agreed to step down from his post. Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (ANI)
A women advocacy group based in Afghanistan has urged the UN agencies to immediately provide humanitarian aid to the Afghan population who are affected and displaced as a result of recent armed conflicts in the country. In a letter to international humanitarian agencies, the Afghan Women Advocacy Group (AWAG) expressed concerns about the inaction of the international aid agencies regarding Afghans who have been displaced as a result of the Taliban attacks in places like the Balkhab district. "AWAG calls on OCHA and ICRC as leading international humanitarian agencies and all other humanitarian organizations to immediately provide humanitarian aid to the Afghan population who are affected and displaced as a result of recent armed conflicts in the Bakhab district of Sar-e-Pul and the Panjshir and Andarab districts of Baghlan province," the group said. The group acknowledged the collective efforts of the aid agencies to the Afghans who have been affected by the earthquake but raised concerns about the inaction of the international aid agencies regarding Afghans who have been displaced as a result of the Taliban attacks. "We are certain that without your generous and timely aid, which included food and medical supplies, the situation could have become a humanitarian catastrophe, given the current situation in Afghanistan. However, we, as women of Afghanistan, are seriously concerned about the inaction of the international aid agencies regarding Afghans who have been displaced as a result of the Taliban attacks in Balkhab, Andarab and Panjshir," AWAG said. The group said that "disturbing war crimes" are being committed by the Taliban against civilians in these districts and provinces and as well as reports of armed conflict which has already displaced thousands of families, including large numbers of women and children. "Hundreds of families from the Balkhab district fed to the mountains while thousands of others fled to other provinces including Bamyan," the group said. The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021 and imposed policies severely restricting basic rights--particularly those of women and girls. They dismissed all women from leadership posts in the civil service and prohibited girls in most provinces from attending secondary school. Taliban decrees prohibit women from traveling unless accompanied by a male relative and require women's faces be covered in public--including women TV newscasters. The Taliban have carried out broad censorship, limiting critical reporting, and have detained and beaten journalists. Taliban forces have carried out revenge killings and enforced disappearances of former government officials and security force personnel. They have summarily executed people deemed affiliated with the Islamic State. Armed groups linked to the Afghan branch of the Islamic State have carried out bombings targeting ethnic Hazaras, Afghan Shias, Sufis, and others, killing and injuring hundreds. The Afghan economy collapsed after August 2021, as millions of people lost salaries when the US, World Bank, and other donors stripped the Central Bank of Afghanistan of its foreign assets and access to financial assistance. Over 90 percent of the Afghan population faces serious food insecurity, along with a lack of medicine and a rise in malnutrition-related disease. (ANI)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday said that it is time for former US President Donal Trump to "hang up his hat and sail into the sunset". Musk's jibe comes after Trump called the Tesla CEO "another bull s*** artist". The spat began with Trump claiming that Musk voted for him. However, Musk has denied the claim, saying it is "not true". Earlier, Trump called Musk "another bull s*** artist" and reiterated that he voted for him. "You know what he (Elon Musk) said the other day that he never voted for Republicans. You know he told me he voted for me. So he is another bull s*** artist," he said at a Save America rally in Anchorage, Alaska. The former US President also commented on the ongoing legal battle between Twitter and Musk. "Elon is not going to buy Twitter. Where did you hear that before? From me...He has got himself in a mess," Trump said. Trump's comment comes in the wake of an American billionaire's decision to back off from the Twitter deal which has led to a lawsuit from the social media giant. Last week, Musk said he is terminating his USD 44 billion deal to buy Twitter citing multiple breaches of the purchase agreement, according to a letter sent by the billionaire Tesla chief's team to Twitter. Responding to a report on Trump's remarks on Twitter, where Musk has more than 100 million followers, the Tesla CEO wrote, "Not true".In another tweet, he said, "I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Dems should also call off the attack - don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency." Twitter's board chair Bret Taylor said on Saturday the company will file a lawsuit against American billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk to force him to buy the social media company on the agreed terms. In April, Musk reached an acquisition agreement with Twitter at USD 54.20 per share in a transaction valued at approximately USD 44 billion. However, Musk put the deal on hold in May to allow his team to review the veracity of Twitter's claim that less than 5 per cent of accounts on the platform are bots or spam. Twitter Inc, shares witnessed a sharp decline after Tesla CEO Elon Musk terminated USD 44 billion takeover deal, setting the stage for a legal battle. Shares currently stand at USD 33.31 each, significantly lower than Musk's offer of USD 54.20 per share, according to FactSet data published by The Wall Street Journal on Monday, The Hill reported. (ANI)
Sri Lanka's former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is the youngest brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was stopped from boarding a flight to Dubai on Monday evening, local media reported. Basil reportedly attempted to leave Sri Lanka amid the ongoing economic crisis in the country but airport immigration officials refused to let him leave the country following the protests by passengers, Daily Mirror reported. Upon immigration officials' refusal, Basil had to return without being able to proceed, the report added. This development comes a day after Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena clarified that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country, soon after reports emerged that the President has left the island nation. Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, who announced his resignation on Saturday, was earlier said to have fled and was in a third country. "President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country, I made a mistake in the (BBC) interview," Speaker Abeywardena told ANI in a telephone call. When asked further about the whereabouts of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lankan President, the speaker said that both of them are still in the country. The development comes after thousands of people stormed into the President's House in Fort on Saturday. The dramatic visuals came from PM's official residence where they were seen playing carrom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying in park premises and preparing food for dinner. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also announced to step down from his posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts. The worsening economic situation in the country has led to increasing tensions and over the last few weeks, there were reports of several confrontations between individuals and members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations where thousands of desperate members of the public have queued for hours and sometimes days. Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress. The oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice. Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation, have fuelled the shortages. The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty - some for the first time - adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic. (ANI)
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday signed his resignation letter dated July 13 which will be handed over to the speaker of Parliament to make a public announcement on Wednesday. The resignation letter of the President was signed and handed over to a senior government official who will hand it over to the Parliament Speaker. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena who has been informed of the letter will then make a public announcement tomorrow ending Gotabaya Rajapaksa's presidency, Daily Mirror reported. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday will be sworn in as the President for a temporary period till a new President is elected by Parliament on July 20. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena in a statement said party leaders had decided to elect a new President on July 20 through a vote in Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Nominations for the presidency will be called for on July 19. So far the two confirmed candidates are the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa who yesterday already informed that he is ready to rebuild Sri Lanka's economy. Sri Lankan President, who announced his resignation on Saturday, was earlier said to have fled and was in a third country. Speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Monday clarified that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country. Sources close to the President confirmed that Rajapaksha was protected by the Armed Forces. Just before a crowd stormed the president's residence on July 9, Rajapaksa was evacuated from the President's House in Fort by the security forces and was protected on a naval vessel within the territorial waters of the country for security reasons. However, sources close to him said that Rajapaksa physically met commanders of the tri forces yesterday morning at 9.30 am and thereafter remains in the country. His exact whereabouts in the country are unknown but he is likely to leave the country this week, paving way for a new President to be sworn in and an All Party government to be formed. Earlier, on Saturday, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced in a press conference that the President will resign from his post on July 13. Rajapaksa's resignation comes after thousands of people stormed into the President's House in Fort on Saturday. The dramatic visuals came from PM's official residence where they were seen playing carrom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying in park premises and preparing food for dinner. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also announced to step down from his posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts. The worsening economic situation in the country has led to increasing tensions and over the last few weeks, there were reports of several confrontations between individuals and members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations where thousands of desperate members of the public have queued for hours and sometimes days. Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (ANI)
China earlier this month opposed remarks made by an official of NASA on its space program after the administrator of the US space agency, Bill Nelson, said that Beijing's space program is a "military" space program. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian during a presser said that it is not the first time that NASA has disregarded the facts and smeared China. This reaction came after NASA's Bill Nelson told the Bild newspaper that China might be contemplating a "takeover" of the Moon as part of its military space program. Nelson said that the US is now involved in a new race to space, with China this time. He further claimed that in 2035, Beijing might finish the construction of its own Moon station and start experiments a year later. In response to NASA official's comment, Zhao further said that Nelson, as the director of the US aerospace department, should be very aware of the dark history of the U.S. space program, the negative role the United States has played in creating space junk, provoking arms races in outer space, and undermining global strategic stability. In recent years, the United States has openly defined outer space as a combat domain, accelerated the formation of the outer space force, developed and deployed offensive outer space weapons, and has long passively resisted the negotiation of legal documents on outer space control, and continuously strengthened the outer space military cooperation with its allies, he said. According to the Chinese spokesperson, the United States has set up obstacles to space cooperation, arbitrarily sanctioned the space agencies of other countries, and introduced laws to restrict space cooperation and exchanges with China. China advocates the peaceful use of outer space, opposes the weaponization of an arms race in outer space, and calls for the building of a community with a shared future in outer space, Zhao said. He stressed that China's exploration of outer space is to meet the legitimate needs of the country's economy, society, science and technology, and security. In an analysis by Washington-based Global Strat View, the publication said, "His (Nelson) fears may not be baseless." An article published by virtual think-tank how at the time when the Covid-19 virus had begun spread its tentacles in the world. "China became the first country in the world to manage a soft landing of Chang'e-4 mission on the far side of the moon and deploy a rover to explore the lunar far side," the think tank noted. Moreover, Beijing, in near future, will place its research station on the moon and land a spacecraft on its South Pole. Besides, this is the world's second major investor in the space program after the US, which aims to land its first astronauts on the moon by 2030. It also plans to be ready with a reusable carrier rocket by 2035, a nuclear-powered space shuttle by 2040, and become a leading space power by 2045. The Global Strat View noted how the 2019 Chinese Defense White Paper categorically identified space as a "critical domain of international strategic competition." The Chinese Defence White Paper also recognized the vital role that space would play in improving the capabilities of "joint operations command to exercise reliable and efficient command over emergency responses, and to effectively accomplish urgent, tough and dangerous tasks." Acknowledging the role of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, the Chinese Defense White Paper further said, "In line with the strategic requirements of integrating air and space capabilities as well as coordinating offensive and defensive operations, the PLAAF is accelerating the transition of its tasks from territorial air defense to both offensive and defensive operations." (ANI)
Russia has confirmed the first case of monkeypox in a young man who recently returned from Europe, the country's consumer rights watchdog told reporters on Tuesday. "The first case of monkeypox has been confirmed in Russia. The disease was detected in a young man who returned from a trip to Europe and came to a medical facility with a rash that is common [for this disease]," Russia's rights watchdog Rospotrebnazor was quoted as saying by Sputnik. Rospotrebnadzor clarified that the patient has mild symptoms and is isolated. In the last week of June, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the monkeypox outbreak does not currently constitute a global public health concern but added that "intense response efforts" are needed to control further spread. The announcement comes after WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus convened an Emergency Committee on the disease, under the International Health Regulations (IHR), to address the rising caseload. The PHEIC declaration is the highest level of global alert, which currently applies only to the COVID-19 pandemic and polio. Monkeypox, a rare viral disease, occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa, though it is occasionally exported to other regions. Since May, more than 3,000 cases have emerged in 47 countries, many of which have never previously reported the disease. The highest numbers are currently in Europe, and most cases are among men who have sex with men. Tedros said he is deeply concerned by the spread of the disease, and that both he and WHO are following the evolving threat very closely. "What makes the current outbreak especially concerning is the rapid, continuing spread into new countries and regions and the risk of further, sustained transmission into vulnerable populations including people that are immunocompromised, pregnant women and children," he said. He underscored the need for both collective attention and coordinated action through public health measures including surveillance, contact-tracing, isolation and care of patients, and ensuring vaccines, treatments and other tools are available to at-risk populations and shared fairly. The WHO chief noted that the Committee had pointed out that Monkeypox has been circulating in a number of African countries for decades and has been neglected in terms of research, attention and funding. (ANI)
Maldives on Tuesday expressed concern about the volatile situation in Sri Lanka which is facing an economic and political crisis where thousands of people stormed into the President's House in Fort on Saturday. Talking to ANI about the issue, Maldives's Minister of State of Education, Dr Abdulla Rasheed Ahmed said that the Sri Lankan crisis has raised concern over the situation among its neighbours. "India and Maldives, these are the closest neighbours to Sri Lanka. So if anything sad is happening to any of neighbouring country, definitely that should be a concern," said Rasheed Ahmed. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced to step down from his posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday signed his resignation letter dated July 13 which will be handed over to the speaker of Parliament to make a public announcement on Wednesday. "As we all know Sri Lanka was a developed country in the South Asian region. Even I studied at the National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka. That was, of course, about 23 years before and I knew the development of Sri Lanka in those days. Even people from Singapore visited Sri Lanka to see their development and their strategies. But, Sri Lanka's economic crisis and political instability are really a concern for everyone," he added. Dr Abdulla Rasheed Ahmed rejected the reports which say that the Maldives may also face this type of crisis. He said, "Insha Allah, a crisis in the Maldives will not happen. Because, our President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has managed COVID very well. I can say how Maldives managed COVID is a case study. Other countries should come and study how our president managed COVID so well. The board was closed for a short period of time when we compare other countries and our tourism is really going very well. Even last year also we achieved the target and this year also we will achieve the target." "Our President is very confident in how he's managing the COVID, how he has managed the COVID and nothing sad, nothing bad would happen in the Maldives under his leadership. We don't need to worry because he has given that assurance to the Maldives. Don't worry, just trust him and he is managing everything very well," added Rasheed Ahmed. It is notable that Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. (ANI)
The US has stepped up its game in the Pacific after Kiribati opted out of the Pacific Island Forum meeting in Suva, Fiji, and withdrew the country from the 18-member group. On Tuesday, Kiribati islanders celebrated their Independence Day, however, President Taneti Maamau skipped the region's first face-to-face meeting in three years as a matter of principle over a dispute involving its leadership, reported CNN. Some saw Beijing's hand in Maamau's decision to leave the alliance, a claim China's Foreign Ministry rejected as "completely groundless" during a regular news briefing Monday. Reacting to the incident, the US stepped forward with incentives for Pacific Island leaders to counter Beijing's efforts to dominate an increasingly competitive geopolitical tussle in a region of great strategic importance. A senior administration official told reporters in a call the US was "significantly stepping up (its) game in the Pacific Islands." The incentives included more funding for fisheries, extra aid, and offers of new US embassies in the Pacific -- including one in Kiribati, which along with the Solomon Islands appears to be moving closer to China, reported CNN. Other US commitments include tripling funding to USD 60 million a year for 10 years to secure US fishing rights in the Pacific, the release of America's strategy on the Pacific Islands and the appointment of the first US envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum. To achieve the US's soft power goals, the Peace Corps will return to four countries including Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu and the US will increase aid funding to the region. The measures will be personally presented to Pacific leaders Wednesday in a virtual address by US Vice President Kamala Harris -- underscoring Washington's efforts to stress the Pacific's importance to US strategy. It's not clear if Kiribati's decision to pull out of the forum influenced the scale of the US commitment -- the US has been promising greater engagement in the region for months as China sought to strike a flurry of deals with Pacific leaders. But Kiribati's decision to go it alone while tightening its economic and diplomatic ties with China shows the depth of the diplomatic challenges in the region -- and the pressure Pacific leaders are under as they try to manage their domestic and regional affairs, reported CNN. "There's clear regional and sub-regional dynamics at play," said Anna Powles, a senior lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University in New Zealand. "What is unclear is what President Maamau's gameplan is, what he's hoping to achieve by withdrawing Kiribati from the forum, and how this will benefit the people of Kiribati." China may deny playing a role in Kiribati's decision not to attend the forum, but Professor Anne-Marie Brady, a specialist on China's policies in the Pacific at the University of Canterbury, said Beijing's influence is clear, reported CNN. "Kiribati appear to have been given instructions not to attend," Brady said. "The timing of the announcement shows it is meant to be a disruptor to Pacific unity, just when it was about to come up with a collective response on China's attempt to set up a security treaty in the region." For China and the US, the entire Pacific region offers security and opportunity. But Kiribati's location offers something special -- a potential military port of call, as it has done in the past, during World War II. (ANI)
China has been covering up epidemics within the country for a long time and helped spread four pandemics around the world, said a report in New York Post that warned that Covid might not be the last. An outbreak of the deadly Asian flu was reported in several parts of Singapore and Hong Kong in 1957, but it eventually spread to the rest of the world as well. Even though China did not play any role in the creation of this deadly influenza, the country did play a role in its spread, the publication said. The epidemic was first reported in Guizhou province in China in early 1957 and it later spread to other parts of the country. However, the authorities kept the epidemic hidden even after reporting tens of thousands of deaths. The infected people travelled from China to Hong Kong and Singapore leading to the spread of the flu globally killing over one million people in two years. Similarly, the Hong Kong flu was reported in the city's Chamber of Commerce in 1968. The members of the chamber were aware that an epidemic was spreading in China, however, the Chinese authorities did not alert the world and allowed it to spread globally causing another one million deaths. The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic broke out in 2002. Patient Zero was a snake seller in the Guangdong province of China who died shortly. Hundreds of other cases were also registered in the country, but the authorities lied about the disease for months, accusing "outside forces" of carrying out a "bioterrorist" attack. The World Health Organisation (WTO) was informed about the outbreak in February 2003. However, the intelligence services of Canada had detected and publically reported the outbreak in China. Eleven per cent of people infected with SARS, a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, died. The flu could have killed tens of millions of people worldwide if its existence was not revealed by China. SARS was highly infectious but it was not airborne. Only 8,469 cases were reported in June 2003. As the world continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic for the past two years, many still believe that it originated from China. People who earlier used to believe that the outbreak originated from a bat cave, including World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, also believe the consensus of covid originating from China's Wuhan lab, the piece read. An early investigation into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus by a World Health Organization (WHO) advisory group suggested that the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China played an important role in the amplification of the pandemic. At the present time, currently available epidemiological and sequencing data suggest ancestral strains to SARS-CoV-2 have a zoonotic origin with the closest genetically related viruses being beta coronaviruses, identified in Rhinolophus bats in China in 2013 (96.1 pc) and Laos in 2020 (96.8 pc). Early investigations suggested that the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan played an important role early in the amplification of the pandemic with several of the patients first detected in December 2019 having a link to the market and environmental samples from the market testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. There are, however, further studies needed to follow up on several gaps in the knowledge. The opinion piece read that perhaps the Wuhan Institute of Virology are even now genetically engineering new "unrestricted bioweapons" adding that another plague from China is likely to hit us again. (ANI)
Reiterating India's support for Sri Lanka, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the situation in the island nation is very sensitive and New Delhi is focusing on ways it can help Colombo economically at this time of need. Addressing a press briefing in Kerala, Jaishankar said, "The situation in Sri Lanka is very sensitive and complicated. Even as we speak there are developments taking place. Our commitment is to support the Sri Lankan people because they are our neighbours. They are friendly people. We want to help them as they are going through a very difficult phase. We want to help because of this feeling of friendship. We have been extremely supportive of the island nation in the last few months." "Our focus is on Sri Lanka's economic situation and how we can help them. We are not involved in the other matters. Only focused on economic aspects of the issue and we are not concerned about other factors. We can not respond to everything that comes on social media," the Minister added. Jaishankar on Sunday said that India has been providing assistance to Sri Lanka and is monitoring the developments in the island nation adding that there is no refugee crisis now. "We have been supportive of Sri Lanka, are trying to help, and have always been helpful. They are working through their problem, we will see what happens. There is no refugee crisis right now, said Jaishankar upon his arrival in Kerala as part of intensifying the BJP's efforts to make gains in South India. Jaishankar's comments reflect how India continues to stand by its neighbours amid difficult times. His remarks particularly hold more importance as Sri Lanka faces an unprecedented political and economic crisis. Under the 'neighbourhood first policy', India has responded with urgency to government of Sri Lanka's request for assistance for overcoming hardships and will enhance economic linkages between the two countries be it through infrastructure connectivity and renewable energy. "India has delivered aid of around 3.5 billion dollars which has been given through currency swap, financing of food, and fuel. medicines and fertilisers," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said earlier. Responding to a question on India-Sri Lanka ties, he said "We have responded with urgency to government of Sri Lanka's request for assistance for overcoming hardships," adding that "India stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka and works in their best interest." Underlining the fact that India has been giving priority to 'neighbourhood first policy', Arindam Bagchi said, " India will try to enhance economic linkages between the two countries be it through infrastructure connectivity and renewable energy." In line with its "neighbourhood first" policy, India has been highly active to help Sri Lanka during its economic crisis. More than 25 tons of drugs and medical supplies which were donated by the Government and people of India during the last two months are valued at close to SLR 370 million. This is in addition to the economic assistance of around USD 3.5 billion and supply of other humanitarian supplies such as rice, milk powder, kerosene. 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. 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 the island nation. Sri Lanka has been suffering a diesel shortage since February, which led to hours of daily power cuts. Presently, Sri Lanka is struggling with acute food and electricity shortages, forcing the country to seek help from its neighbours. The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a clampdown on tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The country is unable to buy sufficient fuel and gas, while the people are being deprived of basic amenities as well. Meanwhile, several dramatic videos have been doing the rounds on social media after Saturday's upheaval where thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in the capital of Colombo. Amid the political unrest and massive demonstrations, the President and Prime Minister both have decided to resign from their position. (ANI)
International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit which was organized in Washington confronted Pakistan on the global platform over the persecution of the Ahmadiyya community in the country. The IRF Summit was organized from June 28-30, 2022 and it raised the issue of ruthless persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority community in Pakistan, reported JustEarth news. The summit was convened by former US Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback and Dr Katina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. The IRF Summit is an annual gathering of international freedom advocates and activists from around the world. It highlights threats to freedom of religion and belief by providing communities a platform to speak about the challenges to their fundamental freedom of faith. The event was utilized by the 'Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA' to draw global attention to the plight of this sect in Pakistan, a country which has officially labelled its members as non-Muslims, reported JustEarth news. Pakistan is more phobic of the Ahmadiyya sect and its interpretation of Islam than most other nations where the community is present. Ahmadis number about 4 million in Pakistan, but the community has been forbidden to call itself Muslim since 1974 by the Pakistani Constitution which considers them "infidels". Resultantly, Ahmadis are not even allowed to call their houses of prayer "mosques," while basic religious practices associated with Islam are forbidden for them. Recently, three members of the Ahmadiyya community were arrested for sacrificing animals on Eid-al-Adha in Pakistan. The Ahmadi community faces persecution in Pakistan in the form of hate crimes and mob violence and their schools, mosques and public events like wedding parties are usual targets. These incidents are further aided by institutional apathy which prevents any action against the attackers, reported JustEarth news. They remain the most vulnerable prey of Pakistan's violent blasphemy laws, with at least 13 Ahmadis killed and 40 wounded since 2017 owing to their identity. In 2010, twin mosque terror raids in Lahore killed at least 94 Ahmadis. In May 2022, a 36-year-old Ahmadi man was stabbed to death by a member of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a Sunni militant body that is proscribed, but in talks with the government. Earlier this year, a 70-year-old Ahmadi man who was on trial for blasphemy died in Bahawalpur Jail due to mistreatment despite his ill health. The members of the Ahmadi community are not spared persecution even in their death as there are an increasing number of cases of their graves being dug up and desecrated. Most of these mutilations are caused by local administrations who blame Ahmadiyyas only for using Islamic symbols, reported JustEarth news. In the latest case, on July 6, 2022, local police and some extremist elements raided two graveyards in the Talwandi Khajurwali district of Gujranwala. According to Pakistani media, it was the fourth case of desecration of graves in 2022. Earlier in February this year, Police reportedly destroyed about 50 tombstones in an Ahmadiyya cemetery in the Hafizabad district of Punjab. Overall, around 150 graves of Ahmadiyyas have been desecrated in the last year. Despite some local human rights groups condemning these acts, the state institutions prefer to remain silent and complicit. IRF Summit is not the only global institution which has highlighted the Ahmadi plight in Pakistan. In recent years, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) have demanded the Pak authorities take legal action against those responsible for threats and violence against Ahmadis. Other international experts highlight that Pakistani laws against the Ahmadiyya community violate Pakistan's international legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Pakistan ratified in 2010. These include the rights to freedom of conscience, religion, expression, and association, and to profess and practise one's own religion. (ANI)
India on Tuesday welcomed the adoption of the resolution by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on extending authorization of humanitarian assistance to Syria through the Bab-Al Hawa crossing. During the adoption of Syria's humanitarian resolution for the renewal of cross-border operations, India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador R. Ravindra said, "Today's adoption will reassure nearly 4 million people in the northwest of Syria, 2.7 million of whom are IDPs, many of whom are women and children.' "At the same time, we should not lose sight of the fact that more than 14.5 million people across Syria need humanitarian assistance in one form or the other, with essential food items and fuel in short supply. Food insecurity has reached historic highs and an estimated 60 per cent of the population is food insecure, as per the UN," he added. The Ambassador said that it is clear that a decisive forward movement on the political track in Syria remains an urgent imperative to alleviate the sufferings of its people. "To realize this, all parties, particularly the external players need to display their commitment, in tangible terms, to a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned UN-facilitated political process in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254," he continued. India reiterated the call for enhanced and effective humanitarian assistance to all Syrians throughout the country without discrimination, politicization and preconditions. "While cross-border operations are predictable and important, they cannot continue to exist in perpetuity. Concrete steps need to be taken to address the hurdles that are obstructing the functioning of cross line operations," he said. The Ambassador noted that humanitarian assistance cannot be a matter of political expediency. The envoy noted that linking humanitarian and developmental assistance with the progress in the political process will only exacerbate the humanitarian suffering and should be avoided. "International community also needs to constructively look at promoting projects, which will bring much-needed jobs and economic opportunities for the Syrian people. Similarly, early recovery projects which help Syrian people to move in a direction of self-sustenance, need a realistic basis to move forward." In conclusion, the Ambassador reiterated that India is committed to supporting the people of Syria in their endeavour for seeking lasting peace and stability. Notably, the current UN Security Council's exceptional authorization for humanitarian aid delivery through the last remaining border crossing into northwest Syria expires on July 10. As the country faces its worst economic and humanitarian crisis since the start of the conflict, the international community must safeguard existing, life-saving cross-border assistance and increase their funding pledges to support this aid, read the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner in its press release in May. In opposition-held northwest Syria, humanitarian conditions are deteriorating due to the ongoing hostilities and a deepening economic crisis. Some 4.1 million people there rely on aid to meet their basic needs, and 80 per cent of them are women and children. Through the cross-border operations authorized by the Security Council, aid reaches around 2.4 million of them every month. This lifeline is vital to the population in northwest Syria. While some aid is delivered cross-line from within Syria, these deliveries contain much smaller, insufficient quantities and are exposed to attacks along a dangerous delivery route that crosses active front lines. The UN Syria Commission also pointed to the alarming trajectory of consistent narrowing of the cross-border humanitarian aid delivery. The Security Council first adopted a resolution in 2014, authorizing the delivery of assistance into Northern Syria through four border crossings, even without the Government of Syria's consent. Since 2020, three crossings have been excluded from the scope of the resolution, leaving Bab al-Hawa as the only remaining authorized border crossing. (ANI)
The most active crude oil contract for August 2022 delivery was down 8.6 yuan (about 1.28 U.S. dollars) to close at 677.4 yuan a barrel.

The total trading volume for 10 listed crude oil futures contracts on the exchange was 306,098 lots, with a turnover of about 206.53 billion yuan. China launched crude oil futures trading, which is open to overseas investment, in March 2018.

It is also to be noted that China is increasing purchases of oil from Russia at bargain prices. This comes after it initially cut back on Russian supplies, for fear of appearing to openly support Moscow and potentially expose its state oil giants to sanctions.

Protecting the country's overseas assets from US-led sanctions, China has chosen to break Russia's trust by cutting its payment services, space ties and suspending scientific cooperation amid the war in Ukraine.

Earlier, in an emergency meeting with domestic and foreign banks, Chinese regulators mooted how they protect the country's overseas assets from US-led sanctions similar to those imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, reported The Hong Kong Post.

Meanwhile, Russia's gross domestic product is just one-tenth of China's and the power balance between the two nations is far more than equal.

China's support to Russia in opposition to the enlargement of NATO has given rise to concerns in the Eastern and Central European countries about the reliability of the Asian giant as a partner and whether it can be counted on. (ANI)
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Madagascar government and Telecommunications Consultants India Limited [TCIL] for participation in the e-VBAB (e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati) network project on Tuesday. The Minister of Higher Education of Madagascar Elia Beatrice Assoumacou signed the MoU at the premises of the Ministry of Higher Education in Antananarivo, Madagascar in presence of the Ambassador of India to Comoros and Madagascar Abhay Kumar. Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Abhay Kumar said, "During India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) held in New Delhi in October 2015, Government of India announced technological upgradation and extension of Pan-Africa e-Network Project (PAeNP) under which tele-education and tele-medicine services were successfully implemented in 48 countries in Africa including the Republic of Madagascar." "The technological upgradation and extension of the Pan African e-Network Project is known as e-VidyaBharti and e-ArogyaBharti Network Project. The Republic of Madagascar participated in the PAeNP. Now with the signing of this MOU, different online degree/diploma courses will be offered to Malagasy citizens, free of cost. The students can go on the online portal and register themselves for the courses," he added. A total of 26 major Indian universities (including Andhra University, Chandigarh University, Amity University Indira Gandhi National Open University) are participating in the project offering more than 300 different courses in Management, Computer Science, Commerce, Science, Health care, Humanities and Arts. The details of the courses are available on iLearn portal, ilearn.gov.in. On completion of courses, soft copies of degrees/certificates will be given to students and hard copies will be sent by post. The Minister of Higher Education Assoumacou expressed her delight at the signing of the MoU. "This agreement comes under the programme and vision of the Ministry of Higher Education to promote online education in Madagascar. The tele-education offers lectures ranging from bachelors degree to higher studies. It is totally free of cost. However, there are some eligibility criteria for students who want to apply for it and after completion of study, students will get their degrees and diplomas." "I would like to thank Indian Government for this opportunity to all my students and for supporting higher education in Madagascar through this agreement. Thank you for giving chance to Malagasy students to study online in many fields," the Minister added. The registrations for July 2022 Session have started. (ANI)
At a time when the world was celebrating Eid-Al-Adha, Pakistan's discriminated Ahmadiyya community was being subjected to grave horror as the police forces to whom they could turn for protection, themselves desecrated 53 graves in Gujranwala in the Majha region in Punjab, Pakistan. The police targeted two graves and what is abhorring is that this was not an isolated incident where their sentiments were brutally hurt. This was the fourth such case this year, the community leaders alleged, according to a report in The Friday Times, Pakistan's newsweekly. Tragically, in Peshawar, the grave of an Ahmadi man was dug out and his remains were thrown out. On the night between July 6 and 7, Gujranwala police as well as some local citizens raided two graveyards in the Talwandi Khajurwali district of Gujranwala. The photos of the aftermath of police actions on the scene clearly show that the headstones were all left shattered and broken, reported Islam Khabar. In another similar incident earlier in the month of February, this year, the Punjab Police desecrated almost 50 Ahmadi graves in Hafizabad, by removing plaques and destroying tombstones. There is no clear indication of the Ahmadiyya population that is estimated to be the world's largest residing in Pakistan. It is estimated at anything from 0.22 per cent to 2.2 per cent of the 220 million population. Similarly, in May this year, a 36-year-old Ahmadi man was stabbed to death by a Madrassa student in Okara. As per the reports, the murderer was a member of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a Sunni militant body that is proscribed, but in talks with the government. Earlier this year, a 70-year-old Ahmadi man who was on trial for blasphemy died in Bahawalpur Jail due to alleged mistreatment despite his ill health. He was awaiting his bail hearing scheduled for later this year. Notably, the Ahmadiyyas were declared as non-Muslim under the law in 1974 in Pakistan. The Pakistani Constitution officially declares the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam to be "infidels" and bars members of the community from "posing as Muslims," which the vandalized graves were found guilty of, as per the portal. Moreover, a recent incident of the arrest of three members of the Ahmadiyya community for sacrificing animals on Eid-al-Adha in Pakistan once again highlighted the atrocities being committed against the minorities and the country's deep-rooted disdain for them. According to the Dawn newspaper, three members of the Ahmadiyya community were arrested on Sunday for sacrificing animals on the festival of Eid-al-Adha right after an FIR was filed against five people for "hurting Muslim sentiments". The FIR stated that complainants were present in a mosque after Eid-al-Adha prayers when they came to know through verified sources that residents of the Ahmadi community were sacrificing animals inside their homes."The complainants then reached the area and climbed the roofs of nearby houses, to find that the members of the Ahmadiyya community were sacrificing a goat at one place while the other members were cutting the meat of another animal at a different place," the report said."The Islamic sentiments of the complainants and other Muslims were hurt by this and [the complainants] recorded a video which can be presented as evidence," it added."By performing a ritual in line with Islamic beliefs and presenting themselves as Muslims despite being Ahmadis, they have committed a cognisable offence, according to Muslim ummah's belief, and this has grievously hurt Muslim sentiments," the complainants stated in the report. (ANI)
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I am only a Black woman on Sundays. Let me clarify. I am a 21-year-old Black nonbinary person. I was assigned female at birth. My pronouns are they/he. I am a lesbian. I am a journalist and an artist, and sometimes I am a musician. When I am not in school or at work, I love to crochet, visit farmers markets and spend time with my friends and my partner. For me, being nonbinary is having the space to exist as a human. Its sometimes hard to define, but at its roots, my identity is about releasin
Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia (a representative-elect at the time), and Matt Gaetz of Florida attended the meeting. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

The White House held a December 21, 2020, meeting to discuss a fringe theory to overturn the election.

The January 6, 2021, committee shared the names of 11 House Republicans who went to that meeting.

They included Reps. Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan, as well as Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, offered new details on Tuesday about a meeting at the White House that involved several Republican members of Congress ahead of the meeting of the joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 presidential election.

Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida, a member of the committee, said the December 21 meeting was part of an effort to "disseminate his false claims and to encourage members of the public to fight the outcome on January 6."

Vice President Mike Pence, Rudy Giuliani, and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff at the time, attended the meeting, along with President Donald Trump, Murphy said.

Video: Scenes from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot hearings

At the meeting, Murphy said the members discussed election theories pushed by Trump's personal lawyer John Eastman, who said he believed that Pence was able to single-handedly reject slates of electors in his role presiding over the joint session.

In reality, Pence's role was simply to count the votes. On Tuesday, the committee aired footage of Pat Cipollone, Trump's White House counsel. He was asked to address a comment attributed to him by another Trump advisor, Jason Miller, who quoted him as saying that Eastman's theory was "nutty." Cipollone declined to contradict that.

Cipollone said he tried to attend the meeting himself but was apparently turned away.

Here are the 11 House Republicans who were at the meeting, according to the White House visitor logs obtained by the January 6 panel:

Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama

Rep. Brian Babin of Texas

Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida

Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas

Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona

Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland

Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio

Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania

Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia

The committee previously shared a number of Republicans who sought pardons from Trump in the final days of his administration. Six of the attendees of the December 21, 2020, meeting  Biggs, Brooks, Gaetz, Gohmert, Greene, and Perry  sought pardons.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Reuters

Rolls-Royce said it would start testing this year a prototype of its UltraFan engine, the world's largest turbofan, which has been designed to be up to 25% more efficient than its first generation Trent engines. The demonstrator has a fan diameter of 140 inches, the biggest size viable for the widebody aircraft sector, UltraFan chief engineer Andrew Geer told reporters at Rolls' headquarters in Derby, central England, ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow, which opens on Monday. That is likely to be years away, however, as UltraFan will be "put on ice" after the testing finishes, with no further investment until Boeing or Airbus launch a new aircraft programme, chief executive Warren East told the Financial Times last year.
After two people were left dead and at least three wounded in a series of armed robberies that took place at 7-Eleven convenience stores across southern California, corporate leaders were urging franchises to close up shop for the day.

In the early hours of Monday morning, police reported that there had been at least four shootings at franchises across southern California. At least three of the incidesnts appear to be connected, according to authorities.

The shootings, which coincided with the franchises National 7/11 day  during which customers can claim a free Slurpee frozen drink  prompted leaders of the US multinational chain to urge owners of convenience stores located in Los Angeles to close their shops early on Monday evening as the investigation was underway.

Our hearts are with the victims and their loved ones. We are gathering information on this terrible tragedy and working with local law enforcement, the statement, obtained by KTLA, read. Right now, our focus is on Franchisee, associate and customer safety. With that in mind, we have encouraged stores in the Los Angeles area to close tonight.

A suspect in an armed robbery at a Brea, California 7/11, which left a clerk dead. The robbery occurred around the same time that several other 7/11s in California were also robbed. A customer was shot and killed in one of those shootings, and two others were injured. (Brea Police Department)

On Monday, a total of six franchises across California were robbed at gunpoint, with one of the incidents in Brea  about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles  resulting in the death of a store clerk, while a separate robbery at a location in Santa Ana  just 14 miles south of where the store employee was killed  lead to the death of a customer.

Police said that the other locations involved in the spate of early morning armed robberies included Ontario, Riverside, La Habra and Upland and have stated that they believe one person to be behind if not all, some of the incidents.

An image of a suspect has been released by police who they believe is the man at least responsible for the shootings Brea, La Habra, and Santa Ana.

At approximately 4:18 am, our officers responded to the 7-Eleven on Lambert Rd and N. Brea Blvd in response to an employee down with a possible gunshot wound. When officers arrived, they found a male victim, with a gunshot wound who was pronounced deceased by the Brea Fire Department, the Brea Police Department said in a Facebook post, while sharing a picture of the suspect and asking the public for assistance in identifying the man, who still remains at large.

If you have any information, please contact Detective Alfred Rodriguez, the department added, providing a number and email address that those with information could send tips to.

The condition of the three people wounded in the series of attacks carried out on Monday morning remained unclear as of early Tuesday morning, KPLA said.
The Supreme Courts decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortion is creating chaos in the health care sector as some states see a spike in women seeking abortions and physicians are unsure of their legal rights, lawmakers were told in a hearing on Tuesday.

The ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization has quickly created a patchwork of abortion laws across the country, with legal battles now playing out at the state level to determine what laws will be enforced, and whether they adhere to state constitutions.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Tuesday on the legal reality around abortion and reproductive care in a post-Roe America.

Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, told lawmakers that physicians are fearful of prescribing certain medications that may contribute to miscarriage or be used for abortions because of the potential legal repercussions.

We are already seeing mass chaos among OBGYNs, emergency room physicians, and quite frankly pharmacists. Were talking about people being denied or delayed care for pregnancy and non-pregnancy related conditions, McNicholas said.

When the consequence of violating a law is criminal, doctors are put in impossible positions where they know the right care, they know what to do to help somebody, but yet they have to wait, making folks sustain totally preventable harm, McNicholas added.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said the impact could also extend to medical training, not only limiting abortion care but also how to treat related issues like miscarriages or ectopic pregnanacies in states banning abortion.

Responding to Hironos concerns, McNicholas said, We will be creating an entire cohort of physicians who are underprepared to take care of pregnancy emergencies, noting that the procedures and medication used in abortions is the same as for people experiencing pregnancy loss.

Story continues

Khiara M. Bridges, a professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, said that some clinics in Kansas and Oklahoma saw a one thousand percent increase in patients after Texas passed SB 8, which banned abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

That makes it difficult, of course, for people from Texas to access abortion care because now they have to travel hundreds of miles for abortion care, but it also makes it difficult for the residents of Oklahoma and Kansas to access the care in their state because the supply simply cannot meet the demand, Bridges said at the hearing.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said their states, where abortion remains legal, will see influxes of patients seeking abortions from surrounding areas following the Dobbs decision. Klobuchar said providers in Minnesota, which is near a number of states banning abortions, expect to see up to 25 percent more people seeking abortion care.

States like Connecticut and Illinois face an impending surge of women seeking their rights, healthcare rights, reproductive rights, human rights, in our states. What we face is an unprecedented cost to our healthcare system, to the providers of clinics, Blumenthal said at the hearing.

Despite these concerns, Republicans at the hearing celebrated the return of power to the states to set their own abortion laws.

What the Supreme Court has done is return this deeply personal, deeply important, deeply contentious issue to the voters  to let the American people decide, thats democracy, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said.

However, McNicholas said it meant that in states banning or restricting abortion, it meant doctors would need to weigh the potential of prison time against the health of patients.

People will suffer unnecessary harm as doctors wait for permission from hospital lawyers to tell them that they can proceed, she said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Charitable even to her enemies: Dame Andrea Leadsom MP - Andrew Crowley

Andrea Leadsoms memoir addresses two juicy what-ifs. Could she have won the 2016 Tory leadership race and, if she had, how would she have done Brexit? Given that Theresa May quit in failure and Boris Johnson in disgrace, she could hardly have been any worse  and now that every man and his dog is running for PM, theyd be wise to listen to what Leadsom has to say about the miserable road ahead.

You may recall that she pulled out of contention six years ago following a car crash interview in which she appeared to say that shed make a better PM than May because she has children and her opponent does not. Thats not what I said or meant, insists Leadsom  though she admits it was a rookie mistake to conduct such a critical interview in a crowded Milton Keynes coffee bar without staff on hand to control or record it.

But a much bigger reason she threw in the towel was David Cameron. Two weeks for a leadership campaign wouldve been sufficient; Cameron insisted upon nine because he wanted to attend the G20 summit in China. Leadsom believes that had it gone down to the members, she couldve beaten May, and shes probably right, because she was a Leaver and May was not. But with the economy teetering on recession, and so many Remainers threatening to resign the whip if Leadsomo won, she fell on her sword for the good of the country.

A self-serving account? Well, every political memoir is  but this one is so squeaky clean, so charitable even to her enemies, that Leadsom sincerely comes across as the nicest person youve never met, the archetype of a gentle Tory who repeatedly missed political opportunities because she was celebrating a birthday in Derbyshire or, to borrow an image from Alan Partridge, judging vegetables in Cromer.

There is no sex. Not even a whiff of cocaine. On her first weekend as business secretary, I was going camping with my sister and our kids at an annual Christian event before dashing off to the north: After a scramble to find a shower and somewhere to plug my hairdryer in she drove to British Steels base in Scunthorpe: a truly extraordinary place, with its vast heaps of waste and huge array of derelict buildings. There are few people who could write that they enjoy looking at rubbish and have you believe it, and Leadsom is one of them.

Story continues

The good lady was elected in 2010 and was working in the Treasury within four years, a minister of state within five. May named her leader of the House, and her account of dealing with Speaker John Bercow is very funny. Whenever he was on his feet in the Commons berating me... I would smile beatifically and then turn my head away from him to ask the whip at my side if he had slept well and enjoyed their breakfast. As Bercow screamed at her to pay attention I would just continue to not hear him, instead asking my colleague if they preferred tea or coffee. Even at her naughtiest, she is playing mother.

The author gives valuable insight into the stresses of politics, particularly on friendships that  and this is a constant refrain  cannot survive the competition for power. Her rift with Amber Rudd over Brexit obviously cut deep; she found Project Fear ruthless and unpleasant. As for the tykes on her own side, Leadsom advised Vote Leave to drop its high-profile campaign slogan that Britain sends 350 million a week to the EU on the grounds that it was misleading (minus the rebate, its closer to 267 million). When I raised the issue with Dominic Cummings, he told me: Thats not my problem, Im here to win the campaign and were not changing the wording.

Clever people do stupid things. To return to the 2016 leadership race, we learn that Michael Goves dark arts nobbled Boriss candidature, leaving Leadsom in the final two, the fate of Leave in the hands of a self-confessed amateur. May beat Leadsom on experience and, as you know, turned out to be useless. Today, Leadsom is backing her former supporter, Penny Mordaunt for leader, a healthy lesson in loyalty.

So, what would a Leadsom Brexit have looked like?

First, she would have triggered Article 50 immediately, sending a clear signal that Britain was on its way out and couldnt be stopped. Second, she would have guaranteed the rights of EU citizens so that they wouldnt be mistaken for a bargaining chip in the negotiations. In short, she wanted a more decisive yet inclusive Brexit than the one we got  and, thanks to the sheer idiocy of the professionals, very nearly lost.

Snakes and Ladders by Andrea Leadsom is published by Biteback at 20. To order your copy for 16.99, call 0844 871 1514 or visit Telegraph Books
Rusty Bowers, Arizona state House speaker, testifies as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2022.

Its payback time for House Speaker Rusty Bowers. The daggers have been sharpened, honed and otherwise serrated and they are coming for him.

No less than Donald Trump, Arizonas own Rep. Andy Biggs and state GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward are backing Bowers opponent in his state Senate race  a guy who believes the devil stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump.

No, seriously.

This is a real conspiracy headed up by the devil himself, former state Sen. David Farnsworth explained, during last weeks Clean Elections debate for the Senate seat in Mesas Legislative District 10.

Apparently, embracing fringe characters who believe in Biblical election conspiracies has become something of a thing for some of our leading lights.

Better that, apparently, than supporting a lifelong diehard conservative Republican who committed the unpardonable sin of holding onto his integrity when Trump came calling.

Bowers wouldn't give in to the crazy

Bowers is one of those rare Republican officials who declined to give into the collective psychosis that descended upon Arizona after Joe Biden was elected president.

While the likes of Ward and state Rep. Mark Finchem and U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar were throwing an absolute tantrum about a stolen election and plotting to reverse it, Bowers was the adult in the room, asking a simple question: Wheres the evidence to back up your claims?

Then he had the audacity to testify last month before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, detailing phone calls from Trump, Biggs and others, pressuring him to overturn the results of Arizona's election.

So now its time for payback.

Kelli Ward (naturally) goes off the rails

Kelli Ward, of course, immediately went off the rails after Bowers regaled the nation with the shameful scheme to overturn democracy in Arizona. Normally, the head of Arizonas Republican Party stays neutral in contested primaries but there is nothing normal about this train wreck of a party leader.

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Within hours of his testimony, Ward took to social media to endorse Farnsworth and attack Bowers  or Rusty Bowels as she so eloquently calls him.

Trump followed a few days later, declaring Bowers must be defeated, and highly respected David Farnsworth is the man to do it.

On Monday, it was Biggs turn, endorsing Farnsworth as a proven conservative who will fight for the conservative values that make Mesa a great place to call home.

Twitter Publish

Farnsworth and Bowers are both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They both oppose abortion, support the Second Amendment and school choice and cut taxes every chance they get. There's not any difference between the two.

Except for the fact that one is vowing to continue to quest for evidence to prove Trump was robbed in 2020 and one is focused on the future.

A conspiracy was of Biblical proportion

Farnsworth is coming out of retirement to try to knock off Bowers and pursue his 2020 quest. He was one of the 29 legislators who in December 2020, shortly before leaving office, signed onto the plan asking Vice President Mike Pence to accept the 11 alternate electoral votes for Trump.

During last weeks Clean Elections debate, Farnsworth was adamant that Trump won Arizona, that Bowers should have gone along with overturning the vote and that if elected, he plans to hold hearings to find the evidence to prove the fix was in.

At what point should we quit? I think never, he replied, when asked if theres a point at which we move on, given that no credible evidence has been found after 18 months of searching.

In the book of Mormon in Ether Chapter 8, the synopsis of the chapter says  modern gentiles are warned of a secret combination which seeks to destroy the freedom of our lands. And so this is much larger than just the 2020 election, Farnsworth continued. This is a real conspiracy headed up by the devil himself. And this may sound crazy, I realize, to some people, but when I used to talk about it 25 years ago people would shake their heads and they thought I was crazy but nowadays people are saying, wow. Theyre talking about the swamp. Its deep and its wide and its been going on for a long, long time.

So Beelzebub was all in for Biden and David Farnsworth plans do battle for the honor of God, country and, oh yeah, Donald Trump.

I guess that's not a stretch. Farnsworth also has said the state Department of Child Safety may be involved in child sex trafficking and that QAnon -- those whack-a-dos who see Democrats as a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who sex-traffick children from the basement of a Washington D.C. pizza parlor -- is a "credible group."

Heres the stunning part: He just might win.

And he isnt alone.

Across the state, Trump- and Kari Lake-endorsed legislative candidates are taking on conservative Republicans who apparently arent wholly and totally focused on the 2020 election.

So much of the electorate, the primary voting electorate, believes in the conspiracy, Republican consultant Tyler Montague told me. They think Rusty sold them out somehow.

He has to overcome that with facts about his record, which is very strong for a conservative. Lower taxes, less regulation. Hes serious about solving water problems. Hes been an advocate for career and technical education.  Farnsworth just wants to make it about whether or not he bends the knee to Trump. Thats it.

And he, evidently, is not alone as Biggs and Ward can attest.

Payback. It's a ... Bible thing?

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rusty Bowers' opponent says the devil robbed Donald Trump
Jul. 12Attorneys made their opening arguments in a Boulder stabbing trial Tuesday, with defense attorneys calling the case self-defense and prosecutors asking jurors for a murder conviction.

Robert Hicks, 31, is charged with first-degree murder after deliberation in the death of Curtis Stringe, 34, of Boulder. Hicks is also facing one misdemeanor count of third-degree assault.

Jury selection in the case began Monday and concluded with Boulder District Judge Norma Sierra swearing in a jury at the end of the day for the eight-day trial.

Following some initial instructions, Tuesday began with attorneys making their opening statements.

Boulder Deputy District Attorney Kelsey Waldorf said the incident on Feb. 14, 2021, started when witnesses saw Hicks punching Stringe in van parked in a south Boulder parking lot.

Waldorf said a city ranger responded and followed the van back to the apartment on East Moorhead Circle where both Hicks and Stringe lived. The ranger found Stringe with injuries to his face, but both men declined to say what happened and police left.

Waldorf said sometime between 8 and 9 p.m. that night, Hicks stabbed Stringe 11 times before calling 911, but did not tell dispatchers what had happened.

"Robert Hicks, the defendant, picked up a kitchen knife in his apartment and stabbed Curtis Stringe," Waldorf said. "But Robert Hicks didn't stop there. He pulled the knife out and he stabbed Curtis Stringe a second time, and then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth. Robert Hicks didn't stop stabbing Curtis Stringe until he left 11 stab wounds across Mr. Stringe's chest, his abdomen, his groin and his right leg.

Waldorf noted Hicks had no serious injuries, just a bruise on his forehead and cuts on his hand that she said were not defensive wounds, but injuries he sustained while stabbing Stringe.

"That is why Mr. Hicks is charged with first-degree murder," Waldorf said.

Waldorf said police arrived and found Stringe barely breathing, curled up in his bedroom half-naked and bleeding.

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"There was blood everywhere," Waldorf said.

Stringe was transported to the hospital where he died just after midnight.

But defense attorney Rachel Lanzen said Stringe was the aggressor in both instances, and both times Hicks was defending himself.

"Robert Hicks defended himself," Lanzen said. "Today he is still sitting in a courtroom defending himself."

Lanzen said Stringe "cornered" Hicks in the kitchen with a knife and grabbed his hair and pulled him down. Lanzen said Hicks picked up a knife of his own and "jabbed" at Stringe.

Lanzen said autopsy evidence would show only one of the stab wounds would have been fatal on its own, and that most of the others were "superficial and shallow."

"There was no time in those seconds that he reacted for Mr. Hicks to deliberate about causing the death of his roommate, his best friend," Lanzen said.

Lanzen said the reason Hicks did not mention the attack or the self-defense stabbing to dispatchers is that he believe Stringe was not fatally wounded.

"He thought that Mr. Stringe was going to be OK, and he thought Mr. Stringe would live to tell his story and admit he came after him with a knife," Lanzen said.

But without Stringe, Lanzen said it would be up to the jury to listen to the evidence.

"We don't have someone who stood there and watched what happened," Lanzen said.

Hicks is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on the first-degree murder charge.
Jul. 11OXFORD  Oxford and University of Mississippi police are searching for a 20-year-old student who has been missing since early Friday morning.

Jimmy "Jay" Lee was last seen leaving the Campus Walk Apartments July 8 at 5:58 a.m. The Black male was wearing a silver robe/housecoat, a gold cap and gray slippers. He left in his black 2014 Ford Fusion.

The car was located Monday afternoon in the impound yard of a local towing company. The car had been towed away from the Molly Barry Trails apartment complex Friday afternoon.

Authorities sent out alerts Sunday afternoon that the 5 foot 7 inch, 120-pound man with black and blond hair went missing.

Officials believe Lee may have been visiting someone at the apartment complex at the time of his disappearance.

Anyone with information on Lee or his whereabouts is asked to call the Oxford Police Department at 662-232-4000, University Police Department at 662-915-7234 or Crime Stoppers at 662-234-8477.

william.moore@djournal.com
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Indonesian lawmakers are resuming discussions on the financial sector reform bill that risks eroding the autonomy of its central bank.

Indonesia has sought to revamp its financial sector laws from 2020, before the talks stalled due to the pandemic and investor concern over the central banks independence. Parliaments finance commission has since revived meetings to draft the so-called omnibus financial sector law since June, with economists and bankers invited to give their input last week.

Indonesia Draft Law Seeks to Limit Central Bank Autonomy

The latest draft includes adding economic growth and job creation to the central banks mandate, as well as providing a legal basis for Bank Indonesia to buy sovereign bonds in the primary market when needed during a financial crisis, according to a recent copy that includes proposals from parliamentary factions.

Other proposed changes related to the central bank:

The central bank may reverse-repurchase debt papers from the Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation to address banking liquidity issues

Largest political faction Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDIP, proposes letting Bank Indonesias board of governors extend their five-year terms by a maximum of two times, from one time currently

Second-largest party Golkar suggests including digital rupiah as an official currency issued by the central bank

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Belarus announced Tuesday it launched military drills along its shared border with Ukraine in an effort to assess the readiness of its territorial troops, Belarusian defense officials said.

The drills are slated to last from July 12 to 14 and will assess troop preparedness for combat tasks and test the command abilities of reserve officers, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post.

The drills will be held in the Gomel region, which shares a border with Ukraine in an area directly north of Kyiv.

Separate communication drills are being held from July 11 to 15 and will be led by the Chief of Communications of the Armed Forces.

The Belarusian Ministry of Defense said the training will not only assess the readiness of military units in the area, but will "work out the issues of building up and functioning the communications system."

A photograph taken on February 17, 2022 shows Belarus' armored personnel carrier (APC) during joint exercises of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus as part of an inspection of the Union State's Response Force, at a firing range near a town of Osipovichi outside Minsk. Photo by MAXIM GUCHEK/BELTA/AFP via Getty Images

UKRAINIANS BRACE FOR BELARUS-LED LAND INVASION BY JULY, ESCALATING PUTIN'S WAR

"Tactical and special training with the communications forces" will be overseen by Chief of the Communications Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Oleg Myshchenko.

The servicemen will also be trained on new forms of communication networks for field support during combat.

The drills were previously planned according to the Belarusian Defense Ministry, though it was unclear when they were planned.

The announcement on the latest round of military drills near Ukraines northern border comes just one month after Minsk said its forces had begun combat readiness training and weeks after Russia was allowed to fire missiles at Ukrainian targets from within Belarus borders.

In early June Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenskyy said the threat of a ground invasion by Belarus in support of Russia was minimal but noted that Ukraine was "preparing for all the risks of an invasion."

By late June, Zelenskyy had accused Moscow of attempting to drag Minsk into the war after the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said "a mass rocket-bomb strike was launched" after 12 cruise missiles were fired from Russian planes flying over Belarusian airspace.

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Western defense officials have long assessed that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko  the only European leader to back Moscow  is balancing the threat of entering a war and his unwavering support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

UKRAINE ACCUSES RUSSIA OF BRINGING BELARUS INTO WAR AFTER MISSILE LAUNCHES FROM NORTHERN NEIGHBOR

Lukashenko  who faced mass protests following the 2020 re-election that many believed was rigged  could face backlash at home, international sanctions and resistance in the Belarusian armed forces if he enters Putins war.

It is unclear how well Ukraine would be able to fend off a second offensive in the north as its eastern and southern regions continued to be pummeled by Russian forces.

Ukrainian officials have suggested they have a plan to counter Russias forces in its southern regions by launching "a million-strong" resistance force equipped with modern western weaponry.

Russian and Belarusian armed forces take part in a military drill in Gomel, Belarus on Feb. 19. Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

"We have approximately 700,000 in the armed forces and when you add the national guard, police, border guard, we are around a million-strong." Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told The Times Sunday.

Ukraine has urged civilians in its southern regions to evacuate as soon as they can ahead of the counter-attack.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri questions U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, March 23, 2022 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A Senate abortion rights hearing got heated when Josh Hawley said men cannot get pregnant.

Law professor Khiara Bridges said it was transphobic to assert only cisgender women can conceive.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lit into Hawley and shared a video of the exchange on Twitter on Tuesday.

Refusing to acknowledge that anyone other than cisgender women can get pregnant opens up those excluded to erasure and potential harm, law professor Khiara Bridges told Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri Tuesday during a testy exchange on Capitol Hill.

Bridges, who teaches law at the University of California at Berkeley, warned the suspected 2024 presidential hopeful that their back-and-forth during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about reproductive rights had turned toxic.

"I want to recognize that your line of questioning is transphobic. And it opens up trans people to violence by not recognizing them," Bridges said during a meeting titled, "A Post-Roe America: The Legal Consequences of the Dobbs Decision."

Hawley sparked the mid-morning fireworks a few seconds earlier by asking Bridges to clarify why she kept using a particular term during her testimony.

"You've referred to people with a capacity for pregnancy. Would that be women?" the avid GOP culture warrior put to the visiting professor.

Bridges replied that not all cisgender women are able to conceive and that some trans men and nonbinary individuals can conceive. She noted that disregarding the latter groups is dangerous.

"We can recognize that this impacts women while also recognizing that it also impacts other groups. Those things are not mutually exclusive, Sen. Hawley," Bridges said when Hawley floated that "this isn't really a women's rights issue."

Hawley expressed shock in response.

"Wow. You're saying that I'm opening up people to violence by asking whether or not women are the folks who can have pregnancies?" he asked as the C-Span cameras rolled.

Bridges argued that "denying that trans people exist and pretending not to know that they exist" further marginalizes them, mentioning elevated rates of attempted suicide among trans Americans. Hawley questioned her reasoning and conduct as an educator.

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"Is this how you run your classroom? Are students allowed to question you? Or are they also treated like this?" Hawley asked.

Across the Capitol, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York called Hawley out on Twitter for the public outburst and praised Bridges.

"Hawley's feigned shock at the recognition that he incites violence. The man raised a fist w/Jan.6th-ers who yelled "Hang Mike Pence' & fundraised off it," Ocasio-Cortez railed online while the January 6 select committee was holding its seventh public hearing into the MAGA-led attack on the US Capitol.

Sen. Josh Hawley's campaign is selling merchandise of the Missouri lawmaker doing his now-infamous salute  a raised fist in apparent support of the January 6 Capitol rioters. Francis Chung/E&E News via AP Photo; Hawley Campaign Store

Read the original article on Business Insider
President Biden will receive Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the White House on Tuesday in a meeting likely to span a wide array of subject matter, from migration to security, drugs, trade, labor and the environment.

The undefined agenda is a reflection of the complexities of the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship, a complex web of issues that both governments have historically preferred to manage behind closed doors.

Still, some topics are certain to come up, like the deaths of 53 migrants who were left in a truck in San Antonio last month.

I think the tragedy in San Antonio is top of mind for both the U.S. and Mexico. And we know many of those who perished in the incident were Mexican nationals. So we are already doing a lot to expand our cooperation on addressing these human smuggling networks, a senior administration official told reporters Monday.

Both Biden and Lopez Obrador have political incentives to reduce the migrant death rate, and to present their countries with a more orderly border.

But Biden will also receive a Mexican president whos shown he wants to be seen as a thorn in the side of the United States, a throwback to mid-20th century Mexican nationalism.

Most recently, Lopez Obrador criticized the United States for attempting to extradite Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, from the United Kingdom.

Lopez Obrador, who said the United States should dismantle the Statue of Liberty if Assange is convicted stateside, is likely to bring up the issue in conversations with Biden.

And Biden is armed with a laundry list of complaints from U.S. companies and officials against Lopez Obradors unique management style.

The Alliance for Trade Enforcement, a coalition of businesses and groups that advocate for the U.S. government to enforce trade rules and treaties, earlier this month put out a release listing the various ways in which Mexico has not implemented the two-year-old United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA).

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I do expect and hope that the president will raise at least some of these issues and certainly the overall concern about Mexicos lackluster enforcement record when it comes to USMCA when they meet, said Brian Pomper, executive director of the Alliance for Trade Enforcement.

Lopez Obrador has brought his anti-institutionalist style into government, cutting corners on issues like environmental regulations to speed up construction of a railway line he favors, or dismantling a half-built airport that was linked to his predecessor.

But while his control over national regulatory bodies is almost complete, Lopez Obradors options are more limited on issues connected to the USMCA, which he signed.

Over the past two years, Mexico has dragged its feet on USMCA implementation on a variety of issues, from the environment to intellectual property.

In a still-unlikely worst case scenario, Mexico could be found to be violating its word on the agreement, leading to litigation and ultimately, to costly penalties.

The way theyre enforced is the United States would withhold trade concessions in an equivalent amount. So we would arguably put tariffs, or block services or do something to enforce our rights or to get Mexico to enforce our rights and goodness, we never really want to get to that position. Thats not good for anybody, said Pomper.

Biden is also expected to bring up Lopez Obradors paltry human rights record, particularly when it comes to protecting journalists and activists in Mexico.

I think there there needs to be an honest discussion between us as good friends  and between good friends, one can have honest discussions  about the concerns that I and others have about the erosion of the pillars of civil society within Mexico, the erosion of a free and independent press and their rights and the protections of them, the independence of the judiciary, the elements of the questions of the security apparatus and how it operates, said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).

At least 40 journalists have been murdered in the country since Lopez Obrador became president in 2018, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

https://cpj.org/data/killed/americas/mexico/?status=Killed&motiveConfirmed%5B%5D=Confirmed&motiveUnconfirmed%5B%5D=Unconfirmed&type%5B%5D=Journalist&type%5B%5D=Media%20Worker&cc_fips%5B%5D=MX&start_year=2018&end_year=2022&group_by=location

Rep. Jesus Garcia (D-Ill.), is due to file a statement Tuesday with the House Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan group dedicated to defending human rights, regarding conditions in Mexico.

The meeting between Presidents Biden and Lopez Obrador comes at a time when Mexico has reached several grim milestones related to violence and impunity. In May, the official count of forced disappearances in Mexico reached 100,000. Just a few weeks ago, two Jesuit priests and a tour guide were killed, sparking widespread outcry. And since the beginning of 2022, 12 journalists have been killed, including several who conduct investigative oversight on politics, justice, and security, wrote Garcia in the statement reviewed by The Hill.

These particularly well-documented killings are taking place amidst a larger context of increasing violence and current approaches in the US-Mexico relationship are not working. Security initiatives like Merida have failed, and [Lopez Obrador] is increasingly moving forward with his militarization of security measures, which should be a concern to people and politicians both in the US and Mexico, he added.

But the irascible Mexican president has brushed away criticism over the violence epidemic, at one point calling Secretary of State Antony Blinken interventionist and ill-informed regarding murders of journalists.

Still, Biden has managed his personal relationship with Lopez Obrador and his inner circle with kid gloves.

Former President Trump treated the bilateral relationship as a two-topic agenda based on migration and trade, threatening to break off the latter if he didnt get cooperation on the former.

Trumps threat to impose tariffs on Mexican goods quickly led to an agreement where Mexico reassigned its militarized police force to migratory duties.

Biden has returned to the deeper, more complex interactions of the past 30 years, but his efforts to roll out the red carpet for Lopez Obrador have so far failed to temper the Mexicans rhetoric or actions.

President Biden will have to calculate that if you are pursuing one track, and that track has not yielded success, then you have to think of all elements of national power in pursuit of your ultimate goals on behalf of the national interest and security of the United States, said Menendez.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Biden on Tuesday hailed a successful U.S. airstrike against an ISIS leader in Syria, saying it would degrade the terror group and send a powerful message to terrorists who threaten the United States.

In a written statement issued by the White House, Biden thanked the U.S. military officials involved in the strike against Maher al-Agal, the leader of ISIS in Syria, and said that the U.S. and its allies would be safer as a result.

His death in Syria takes a key terrorist off the field and significantly degrades the ability of ISIS to plan, resource, and conduct their operations in the region, Biden said.

This airstrike represents the culmination of determined and meticulous intelligence work and stands as testament to the bravery and skill of our armed forces, he continued. It also demonstrates that the United States does not require thousands of troops in combat missions to identify and eliminate threats to our country.

The U.S. Central Command earlier Tuesday confirmed that a strike had been carried out in northwest Syria that killed al-Agal and seriously injured another ISIS associate. Centcom said that an initial review suggested there were no civilian casualties in the airstrike.

U.S. forces have conducted a series of successful operations against ISIS targets in the region in recent months.

Last month, U.S.-led coalition forces said they captured Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi, another senior ISIS leader, in a raid in northern Syria.

A U.S. counterterrorism raid in northwest Syria back in February also killed Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who at the time was the leader of ISIS, the most significant U.S. raid in the country since the 2019 operation that killed his predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian ride-hailing app 99 said on Tuesday it had signed a partnership with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD to start testing an electric car developed for the app's drivers.

The tests of the vehicle, which was developed by BYD and China's Didi Chuxing, will begin this week in Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial capital, with a goal of accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles in 99's fleet.

The company, Uber's biggest rival in Brazil and a subsidiary of Didi, plans to have more than 300 electric cars in its fleet by the end of this year.

With more than 750,000 monthly active drivers in Brazil and over 20 million users, 99 has committed to have 10,000 electric cars registered on its platform by 2025.

BYD is the largest electric vehicle manufacturer in the world in unit sales and an important partner of Didi in China, which already has more than 1 million electric and hybrid vehicles registered on its platform in the Asian country.

Thiago Hipolito, 99's director of innovation, said 99 wants to replicate this idea in Brazil.

"What we have seen is that the massive adoption of the electric car in China has passed through the application driver and this has generated a natural demand for infrastructure" to support these vehicles, such as battery charging stations, he said.

(Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Paul Simao)
Mo Farah says he was taken from Djibouti at age 9. (Photo: Screen Shot/YouTube/

Mo Farah says he was taken from Djibouti at age 9. (Photo: Screen Shot/YouTube/"The Real Mo Farah"/BBC One)

British Olympic star Mo Farah has told the BBC in a shocking revelation that he was trafficked as a child from Africa and forced to work as a domestic servant in the U.K.

The long-distance runner, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the nations greatest athletes, was flown from Djibouti at the age of 9 by a woman he had never met. Farah was then forced to work caring for another familys children, he recounted in an interview to be aired Wednesday as part of the documentary The Real Mo Farah on BBC One.

He said he was provided with fake travel documents in his current name, Mohamed Farah. His birth name, he told the BBC, was Hussein Abdi Kahin.

The woman who arranged his travel told him she was taking him to Europe to visit relatives there, which he was excited about, Farah recalled. But when he arrived, the woman told him he had to do housework and provide child care if I wanted food in my mouth.

She also told him: If you ever want to see your family again, dont say anything. Often I would just lock myself in the bathroom and cry.

For years I just kept blocking it out, Farah, who was knighted in 2017, becoming Sir Mo, told the BBC. But you can only block it out for so long.

In the past, Farah has said he moved with his parents from Somalia as refugees. But, in fact, his parents never visited Britain, he said. His mother lives with his two brothers on their family farm in northern Somalia. His father was killed amid civil violence when Farah was 4.

He didnt go to school in Britain until he was 12. Farah soon became a track star and the foster child of a Somali family. He said running saved him.

I still miss my real family, but from that moment everything got better, he recalled to the BBC.

I felt like a lot of stuff was lifted off my shoulders, and I felt like me. Thats when Mo came out  the real Mo, he added.

Story continues

Farah finally decided to speak out, he said, to challenge public perceptions of trafficking and slavery, the BBC reported.

I had no idea there were so many people who are going through exactly the same thing that I did, he added.

Yet others have grappled with far different trajectories.

It just shows how lucky I was, he said.

Check out the full BBC story here and a clip of the documentary above.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) - Two British men who had been detained in the United Arab Emirates gave evidence before a U.N. committee on torture on Tuesday, with one saying he was subjected to solitary confinement and the other abuse with an electric shock baton.

The UAE rejects the allegations.

Matthew Hedges and Ali Issa Ahmad testified before the Geneva-based committee on Tuesday in a rare public example of allegations of torture against the Gulf State. The committee is also reviewing other countries' records.

"I was held in solitary confinement nearly 7 months in a windowless room, no bed, no contact with the outside world and vulnerable to the whims of my interrogators," Hedges, an academic who visited the UAE for a research trip in 2018, told the committee. He was accused of spying.

Ahmad said he was tortured with the baton "for wearing a Qatar T-shirt" while visiting the UAE on holiday to watch a football tournament in 2019 -- a time of diplomatic tensions between the two neighbours. "I lost my front tooth and still have scars on my body from it," he said.

Ahmad said he was detained nearly four weeks and was charged with wasting police time and inflicting his own wounds. Both men deny any wrongdoing.

The UAE, which has yet to speak before the committee, said it rejected the allegations as "baseless and unfounded" in emailed comments to Reuters ahead of the men's testimony, the broad substance of which was flagged in advance in documents to the committee.

It said it would respond in detail to the allegations as part of the hearings "with documentary evidence that rebuts their false claims".

"At all times, the UAE and its officials treated Mr Hedges and Mr Ahmad with respect, and not once did it subject either to any torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment," it said.

The UAE ratified the 1984 U.N. Convention against Torture in 2012 and as such its record in complying with its terms is periodically subject to review by the committee which is composed of 10 independent experts.

The committee is expected to release its findings later this month. The body has no enforcement mechanism but can follow up with non-compliant states. Both men now live in Britain.

(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Aziz El Yaakoubi in Riyadh; Editing by Alison Williams)
Staff Sgt. Duncan Copley knows the risks he runs each time he heads out on a C-17 transport mission. But virtually nothing could have prepared him for the message that came across his headset in August 2021:

We have credible intel that there could be a bomb on board.

Copleys calm under pressure as a loadmaster during Operation Allies Refuge, the frantic effort to evacuate more than 124,000 people from Afghanistan last summer, earned him Military Times 2022 Airman of the Year award.

The last runway out of Kabul: US transport jets face complex evacuation mission

Copley, 23, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, is a C-17 Globemaster III loadmaster instructor at the 3rd Airlift Squadron at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

He joined the Air Force in December 2017 to follow in the footsteps of his father, a Marine veteran, and other family members who served in the armed forces. He initially shied away from working in cargo, but gave it a shot and came to enjoy it.

Then-Senior Airman Duncan Copley, a C-17 Globemaster III loadmaster from the 3rd Airlift Squadron at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, transfers fuel from a C-17 to an R-11 fuel truck during Exercise Razor Talon 21-1 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Dec. 2, 2020. The transferred fuel was later used to refuel four F-15E Strike Eagles. (Senior Airman Jacob Derry/Air Force)

After a year of technical training, Copley moved to Dover, a major transportation hub for U.S. presidents. He began flying presidential airlift missions during the Trump administration in February 2019, and deployed to Kuwait for about three months that year to move military personnel around the Middle East.

The Air Force evacuated 124,000 people from Afghanistan, but its work still isn't done

Newly elected President Joe Biden pledged in April 2021 to bring troops home within five months, an exit meant to coincide with the 20-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

An Air Force aircrew, assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, loads qualified evacuees aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, Aug. 21. (Senior Airman Taylor Crul/Air Force)

The U.S. launched Operation Allies Refuge in July, a military-led effort to bring special immigrant visa holders, applicants and prospective applicants who had helped the U.S. push for democracy there to safety.

Copley hadnt been tasked to ferry troops or materiel out of Afghanistan since the withdrawal picked up speed over the summer. He tracked some developments on social media as the situation grew more chaotic, but had largely checked out while visiting his girlfriends family in Wisconsin.

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Then he got a call that caught him off guard.

When you get back, youre flying immediately, Copley said his supervisor told him.

The airman made the 16-hour drive back to Delaware, scrambled to gather what he needed at home, and deployed to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar Aug. 16. He wasnt sure what lay ahead.

Being told about this mass-scale evacuation, I didnt know what to think, Copley said. Were going [to U.S. Central Command] so often that the risks become normal.

Airmen cleared of wrongdoing in deaths of Afghans who mobbed C-17 during Kabul evacuation

After taking a few days to settle into Al Udeid, Copley received his first assignment to Kabul. Neither he nor the aeromedical crew boarding the same jet were clear on what the mission would entail.

Afghans cling to a U.S. Air Force C-17 as it takes off from a runway in Kabul. (Screenshot via Twitter)

When his C-17 touched down at Kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport, Copley was pleasantly surprised that the U.S. military had gained control of the airfield  in stark contrast with the mobbed runway that had gone viral on social media earlier that month.

They picked up four Afghans in need of medical attention, including a man in critical condition. About 250 more people joined them.

One translator who happened to be on the flight stood out, working with the Americans and making sure the passengers understood what was happening.

We need this guy to work for us, Copley joked to other airmen in Qatar.

He ran into the translator soon after on a flight from Al Udeid to Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

I thought that was awesome  I saw firsthand something that I did, Copley said. I brought him back, and then we got him moved into the system and he was out there helping us make sure the whole airlift went efficiently.

For the first two flights into Kabul, loading passengers onto the plane felt almost like business as usual.

All the gears are turning, every agency was working well together to make sure that people were coming out to the aircraft. It felt pretty normal, Copley said.

Read all Military Times coverage of the Afghanistan withdrawal and beyond

Their third and final mission began the same way.

It was Aug. 28, two days after an Islamic State militant blew himself up at the airports Abbey Gate entrance, killing at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members.

The attack put Copley on edge. Before leaving on his last mission to Kabul, he texted the two people closest to him who could understand his fear: his father, the Marine vet, and his girlfriend, a Wisconsin Army National Guardsman who works in field artillery.

His dad texted back the most Marine Corps thing, Copley said: Go do your job. Go do it well. Ill see you when you get home.

Hell at Abbey Gate: Chaos, confusion and death in the final days of the war in Afghanistan

Copley was told theyd receive around 235 refugees that day and brought them in as usual. The airmen counted about 10 more passengers than expected, and reported it to air traffic control ahead of takeoff.

Air traffic control told them to wait; several minutes passed.

Afghan evacuees to US weren't fully vetted and dozens reportedly went missing

Then the radio crackled to life, warning that the U.S. had intercepted a phone call about a bombing attempt. No one spoke. Copley nervously chuckled.

We need you to listen closely. Do exactly as we say. Do not let anybody know that we know that there is a possible threat, he recalled the control tower saying.

Copley had the nerve-wracking task of announcing to the Afghans that they needed to deplane so Marines could search for explosives.

Some passengers balked  the C-17 was their lifeline out of the country  but eventually complied. The Marines checked each person and their bags, conducted a security sweep of the jet and cleared it to leave.

Afghan evacuation flights to resume with streamlined process

Copley and his crew had already worked longer than 24 hours straight when their aircraft finally got the all-clear to depart, and blew past their 26-hour shift limit while in the air back to Qatar.

He arrived at Al Udeid rattled, but safe. Hes not sure what became of the alleged bomb, if it existed at all.

While Im doing my job  I dont have time to think about the what ifs, he said. When we were told that there was a credible threat on board, I didnt get to have an opinion. I didnt let myself.

The Air Force achieved a stunning logistical feat during the evacuation, carrying more than 800 Afghan citizens out of Kabul to safety aboard a C-17 Globemaster III. (Air Force)

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters after the Abbey Gate attack that U.S. officials believed the airport still faced specific, credible threats.

Capt. Taylor Drolshagen, who flies the EC-130H Compass Call electronic attack plane, told Air Force Times in February that many Americans are alive today who wouldnt be if Compass Call crews hadnt monitored the Kabul airport from above.

She declined to answer whether an EC-130H had remotely stopped a bomb from detonating onboard the transport jet, as it can for improvised explosive devices planted on the ground.

My guys were directly involved with saving lives both on the ground and also in the C-17s, Drolshagen said.

This Compass Call squadron was deployed in Afghanistan for 20 years. Heres their inside story.

In the months that followed, Copley struggled to process his emotions. Hes fought off impostor syndrome, whispering that his trauma isnt valid because a bomb never went off.

I could have died that day, he said. It could have happened and I can accept that.

Fonder moments remain, too. Copley made sure his passengers were cared for, refusing to leave until they had enough water on board to make it through a flight. On one trip, he befriended a few young Afghan boys and, pulling out his Nintendo Switch, offered to race them in Mario Kart. It was all fun and games until Copley started losing.

The experience proved that hes capable of being part of something big, and has encouraged him to reenlist, he said.

Copley resumed more typical airlift missions after the withdrawal, moving cargo around the U.S. and to Germany and Spain. Hes taken part in transport missions in support of NATO and Ukraine during Russias ongoing invasion of its neighbor, but is currently grounded while undergoing physical therapy for a shoulder injury.

When not pushing pallets onto planes, the staff sergeant racks up about 80 hours of volunteering each year. Hes run retirement ceremonies, planned a Holocaust remembrance event and a squadron holiday party, and created opportunities for airmen to bond during the pandemic, according to his award nomination package.

Copley thinks he could make it to 20 years in uniform. Hed like to head to Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, for formal C-17 instructor training, then return to a flying squadron for a few years, pursue a staff job at Air Mobility Command headquarters in Illinois for more stability while he starts a family, and finish out his career at another flying squadron.

Ive learned a lot about myself, he said of his first few years in the service. Ive definitely been molded into a leader.

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WASHINGTON  The day after an explosive Oval Office meeting in which a motley crew of outside advisers clashed with White House lawyers over a plan to seize voting machines, then-President Donald Trump turned his focus to riling up his supporters for the Jan. 6 push to stop the counting of electoral votes, according to evidence presented at Tuesday's House committee hearing.

Two longtime Trump advisers, Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, were in contact with leaders of the violent extremist groups the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, according to text messages and photographs produced by the committee  although Stone, through a lawyer, disputed having participated in a text chain. The two groups began working together for the first time after Trump issued his call for a rally in Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, the panel said.

One witness, Stephen Ayres, who has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after he entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, said he hadn't planned to march until Trump called on the crowd at a "Stop the Steal" rally to march to the Capitol to encourage Republican lawmakers to block certification. Ayres said he went thinking Trump would accompany the mob.

"We basically just followed on what he said," Ayres said. "I think everybody thought he was going to be coming down. ... I believed it."

The evidence the committee presented Tuesday is designed to fit into its broader case that Trump resorted to inciting violence after he learned that he had lost the election and had no legal means to prevent a peaceful transfer of power. The panel portrayed the weeks after the November 2020 election as a time of desperation for Trump, during which he considered strategies his own lawyers viewed as detrimental to the nation and his close confidants encouraged the extremist groups that led the attack on the Capitol.

Ultimately, siding with White House lawyers against his informal advisers, Trump declined to seize voting machines, even as he insisted publicly  against all evidence  that he was the victim of widespread electoral fraud.

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But he remains engaged in an influence campaign, according to Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the panel's top Republican. She said Tuesday that Trump called a witness  whose testimony hasn't been made public  after the last hearing.

"That person declined to answer or respond to President Trumps call and instead alerted their lawyer to the call," Cheney said. "Their lawyer alerted us, and this committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice."

Committee members have repeatedly and publicly warned Trump and his allies not to tamper with witnesses.

The committee zeroed in on a Dec. 18, 2020, Oval Office meeting, which Flynn attended, arguing that it was a turning point for Trump  the moment when he abandoned pursuing avenues to use his own power to overturn the election and trained his sights on Jan. 6 and the official congressional count of electoral votes.

It was a wild meeting.

What they were proposing, I thought, was nuts, former White House counsel Pat Cipollone said in recorded testimony.

Pat Cipollone (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

He described arriving in the Oval Office on Dec. 18 to find outside advisers Sidney Powell, Patrick Byrne and Flynn explaining false theories of voter fraud and a plan for Trump to use an executive order to declare a national emergency, take voting machines from states and remain in office.

The discussion quickly devolved into a profanity-laced shouting match. Flynn accused Trump's White House lawyers of quitting on the president. One of them, Eric Herschmann, testified that he challenged Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general and former national security adviser, to come across the room or "sit your ass down."

The sides traded barbs for hours. Trump watched the show. Then, after midnight, the meeting broke up, with Trump's White House lawyers having held their line successfully.

The meeting has been called, quote, unhinged, not normal and the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.

That was a pivotal moment for Trump, according to the committee, which has produced evidence of the variety of means he pursued to remain in power.

He pressured Justice Department officials to declare election fraud, state officials to reverse election results, allies in key states to create slates of fake electors and Vice President Mike Pence to halt the constitutionally required count of electoral votes in the Capitol, according to witness testimony.

The committee suggested that the meeting led Trump to light the kindling for Jan. 6.

On Dec. 19, just hours after the meeting ended, Trump tweeted to his followers that they should come to the nations capital.

Big protest in D.C. on January 6th, Trump wrote on Twitter. Be there, will be wild!

That turned into a call to action for some and a call to arms for others, said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., a member of the committee.

Some Trump supporters came to see Jan. 6 as the last chance to stop his ouster by voters  and a moment that begged for violence, according to videos and online posts the committee offered.

There was at least one reference to a red wedding  the scene from the HBO show Game of Thrones in which members of a leading family are slaughtered by enemies.

Im ready to die for my beliefs, a person posted on social media in reference to Jan. 6. Are you ready to die police?

In a group chat dubbed The Ministry of Defense, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers discussed strategic and tactical plans for Jan. 6, including pinpointing police locations, according to the committee. Kelly Meggs, a leader of the Oath Keepers, directly discussed security with Stone on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, Raskin said.

Stone denied helping plan the attack.

Any claim assertion or implication that I knew in advance about, was involved in or condoned any illegal act at the Capitol on January 6 is categorically false," he told NBC News in a text message. "Nor was I involved in the effort to delay the certification of the Electoral College. I gave a speech on January 5 consistent with my constitutional free-speech rights to skepticism about the anomalies and irregularities in the 2020 election. I am certainly entitled to my apocalyptic view of Americas future as expressed in my speech.

Trump spoke twice to Steve Bannon, his former White House adviser, on Jan. 5, according to White House phone logs reviewed by the committee. That day, on his podcast, Bannon told listeners that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow."

With the zero hour approaching, Trump escalated pressure on Pence. In previous hearings, the committee detailed a heated phone conversation in which Trump berated Pence for refusing to stop the certification of electors. At the same time, he was adding references to Pence to his speech for the Stop the Steal rally, according to the panel.

Against the recommendation of his lawyers, Trump revised his speech to repeatedly point to Pence as the last man standing between him and the end of his presidency. Committee members have said the references helped incite the crowd to view Pence as a villain. During the storming of the Capitol, the mob got within 40 feet of Pence. Some of the rioters chanted "Hang Mike Pence."

The fiery debate at the White House and the connections between informal Trump advisers and extremists are part of the committees effort to demonstrate that Trump, growing increasingly desperate to keep power, would use any means  including violence  to stay in power.

At times, the committee showed segments of Cipollone's testimony to reinforce its conclusion, including one in which he said he believed Trump would eventually give up on trying to reverse the outcome of the election.

If your question is did I believe he should concede the election at a point in time? yes, I did, Cipollone told the committee in recorded testimony, adding that then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows repeatedly reassured him and then-Attorney General William Barr that Trump would eventually concede.

The committee has said that the investigation isnt over and that it now plans to receive testimony later this week from Byrne, a former CEO of Overstock.com who pushed Trump to seize voting machines at the December Oval Office session.

By the time of that meeting, Barr had already rebuffed Trump.

The president said something like some people say we could get to the bottom of this if the department seized the machines, Barr said in recorded testimony.

I said absolutely not, Barr recalled. Theres no probable cause, and Im not going to seize any machines.

The panels witnesses Thursday included Ayres and Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesman for the Oath Keepers.

When all else failed, committee members say, Trumps efforts culminated in the attack on the Capitol.

That pained Brad Parscale, who worked on Trump's 2016 campaign and was his first 2020 campaign manager. In a text exchange with fellow Trump campaign veteran Katrina Pierson, Parscale said "I feel guilty" for helping Trump.

In particular, he said, he was saddened that Trump's actions had led to the death of a supporter, Ashli Babbitt, who was shot as she tried to enter the room adjacent to the House chamber on Jan. 6. He attributed her shooting to Trump's riling up his base before the attack.

"It wasn't the rhetoric," Pierson wrote.

"Katrina," Parscale replied. "Yes, it was."
A Canton police officer shot and killed a loose, aggressive dog Thursday in the 2500 block of 6th Street NW.

CANTON  A Canton police officer shot and killed a loose, aggressive dog after the animal lunged at the officer on Thursday.

Police received a report of brown dog running loose by a home in the 2500 block of 6th Street NW and being aggressive toward people walking on the street.

A witness told the officer who responded to the scene where the dog was last seen and lived, according to body camera video obtained by the Canton Repository.

The officer knocked on the homeowner's door multiple times in an attempt to address the reported animal, but no one answered.

While the officer was investigating and surveying the area, a brown medium build dog can be heard barking from behind the home and traveled down the driveway toward the officer, the body camera video showed.

The officer attempted to get the animal to trust him and told the dog, "Sup pup? Sup pup? Is this your house? Sup pup?" The dog then started growling from less than three feet away from the officer, who asked the dog "You OK? You OK?"

The dog lunged at the officer and four shots were fired, putting the dog down.

The Canton Streets Department retrieved the animal's body.

The officer told a supervisor at the scene that he'd never shot a dog before, but did not want to be bitten. After collecting a witness statement, the officer left a note in the homeowner's mailbox.

Police said they couldn't confirm who owned the dog. And as of July 1, they had not filed any charges. They said no one had made prior calls reporting a loose dog at the address of the house.

Witness account

Tracy Latimore, who lives across the street from the house where the dog lived, called 911 after she saw the dog was running loose, growling and barking when he charged a man walking through the neighborhood.

The dog did not injure him. But the man quickly walked away, cutting through her yard. She said she placed a plate of chicken wings on the house's porch to try to distract the dog.

Story continues

But when the police officer shot the dog, "my heart just kind of dropped a bit," said Latimore, whose security camera captured much of what happened.

Dog had gotten loose before

After a reporter visited the apparent home of the dog the day after the shooting and left a note, Vinesa Glenn who said she owned the dog, called back the following Wednesday.

She said she was in the midst of moving from her home on Sixth Street NW to an apartment in North Canton. Glenn said she and her daughter had regularly checked on her dog, who's name was Brownie. Though they may have missed an occasional day, they had routinely left food and water in the garage that Brownie, whom she said was "fed" and " healthy," could access from the back yard.

Then they came back and found he was no longer on his leash in the backyard.

A neighbor told Glenn that a police officer had shot and killed her dog. Glenn said she and her daughter found his collar in the yard by blood stains on the sidewalk.

Vinesa Glenn looks at the area of sidewalk where her dog Brownie was shot and killed by a police officer last week.

"I guess he got off his chain," said Glenn, 47, who got teary eyed. "Why would they even shoot the dog? And why didn't they call the dog warden? Because I'm pretty sure that the dog warden would be able to handle the situation better than a regular police. ... He didn't have to go out like that."

Vinesa Glenn wipes a tear while talking about her dog Brownie who was shot and killed by a police officer last week.

She said Brownie had gotten off his chain in the yard several times. But she said she never tried anything else other than occasionally putting him in a cage to secure him because he never left the vicinity of the house or hurt anyone when he got loose.

"Everytime that I would catch him off his chain, he'd be on the porch or the backyard. Then I winded up getting him and putting him back on the chain, no problem," she said.

Glenn said she got a piece of paper, that she later misplaced, with a phone number for the sheriff's dog warden's office and a Canton police badge number. She said it had no explanation of what had happened.

"He was so adorable," she said. "I just miss my dog."

Glenn said Brownie was a shar pei pit bull mix puppy she had gotten as a gift 13 years ago.

Vinesa Glenn and her dog Brownie.

Because it would have been difficult to keep the 150-pound dog in the small apartment she was moving into, she said she had been looking for a new home for him.

Glenn said she had been unable to reach anyone at the Stark County Sheriff's Dog Warden office or the Canton Police Department who could tell her how to retrieve her dog's body.

She questioned the police officer's decision to kill her dog.

"He could have tasered him," Glenn said. "That should not be your first instinct just to shoot."

An email was sent to Canton police asking about the location of the dog's body and why a deputy dog warden had not responded to the scene.

Police Capt. John Bosley said the use of a firearm is a common response to preventing an attack by an aggressive animal.

"While some circumstances might allow for a non-lethal response such as a Taser, it is not something we encourage, as it is rarely effective," he wrote in a statement.

Reach Cassandra cnist@gannett.com; Follow on Twitter @Cassienist; 330-580-8338

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton police officer charged by loose, aggressive dog
Stephen Ayres (L), who has pleaded guilty to entering the Capitol illegally on January 6, talks to US Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell (R) at the conclusion of a full committee hearing on "the January 6th Investigation," on Capitol Hill on July 12, 2022. OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP via Getty Images

A January 6 defendant apologized to three police officers who responded to the Capitol attack.

Stephen Ayres approached the officers after testifying before the January 6 panel on Tuesday.

Ayres last month pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge.

Stephen Ayres, a former Donald Trump supporter who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, apologized to three police officers who defended the building against the rioters that day.

Ayres went to greet and shake hands with the police officers after testifying before the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack during its seventh public hearing on Tuesday. Ayres, who pleaded guilty last month to a disorderly conduct charge, had testified before the congressional panel.

The three law enforcement officials Ayres approached were Capitol Police sergeant Aquilino Gonell, Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and former Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone. Each of the police officers have frequently publicly recounted the violence they encountered on January 6, the physical injuries they endured, as well as the emotional impact the deadly day has had on them. They sat in the front row of the hearing room on Tuesday.

The moment was captured by several reporters in the room.

Fanone responded to Ayres by saying: "No apology necessary," according to Politico's Kyle Cheney, adding that the apology "doesn't really do shit for me."

"I hope it does something for him," he added, per the Politico reporter.

Ayres testified on Tuesday that he believed Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that led him to illegally enter the Capitol on January 6.

"I was very upset, as were most of his supporters, and that's basically what got me to come down here," Ayres told the committee, adding that he no longer believes the election was stolen.

Ayres is scheduled to be sentenced on September 13 and is facing up to a year in prison.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Vicky White, left, and Casey White (EPA/AP)

Alabama prison escapee Casey White has been charged with the murder of his prison guard accomplice Vicky White.

Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly announced White, 36, had been indicted on felony murder charges on Tuesday.

The pair spent 11 days on the run after Ms White, a 56-eyear-old corrections officer who was in a romantic relationship with the convicted felon, helped him escape from the jail in Florence, Alabama, on 29 April.

Casey White was serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other crimes and awaiting trial on a murder charge.

Breaking: more to come
Cherokee Nation Businesses, a company designed to grow the Nations economy, is donating $10 million dollars to the Cherokee Marshal Service.

The donation will support the agency as it responds to increased demands from the Supreme Courts McGirt ruling.

The Cherokee Marshal Service has jurisdiction over the Cherokee Nation Reservation. The tribe spent $30 million dollars last year to expand its criminal justice system.

This is the spirit of gadugi, Cherokee for working together, said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. Were grateful to the men and women of our marshal service, who work tirelessly to ensure our communities remain a safe place to live and work. They are the frontline for not only Cherokees, but for our friends, family and neighbors throughout northeast Oklahoma. With the increase in demand for their services following the McGirt ruling, it is vital that we show them the appreciation and support they deserve.

The donation was fully supported by the Cherokee Nation Businesses board of directors.

This is a proud moment for CNB, and for me personally, said Chuck Garrett, chief executive officer of Cherokee Nation Businesses. Were a purpose-driven company committed to supporting the communities where we live and work. As we continue to expand and diversify our business ventures, we remain committed to our shareholder, the Cherokee people. This contribution is a prime example of how our growth and diversification enable us to give back.




Chinese authorities violently stopped a peaceful protest by bank depositors who were demanding their life savings back from banks that are experiencing a worsening cash crisis.

More than 1,000 depositors in China gathered in front of the Peoples Bank of China building in the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province as early as 4 a.m. on Sunday.

The protesters are among the customers who opened accounts at six rural banks in Henan and Anhui province that previously offered higher interest rates. The customers were left fighting for their money back after the CEO of the banks parent firm was reported wanted for financial crimes in April.

Henan banks, return my savings! the protesters shouted in unison.

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There were reportedly hundreds of police and security personnel who surrounded the site. The police told the demonstrators that they would be arrested and fined if they did not disperse from their unlawful assembly.

Security officers charged up the stairs and attacked the protesters after 11 a.m. They reportedly threw bottles and small objects at the protesters, causing the scene to result in chaos.

Protesters were dragged down the stairs and those who resisted were beaten by security officers, according to witnesses.

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Why would government employees beat us up? Were only ordinary people asking for our deposits back, we did nothing wrong, a woman from eastern Shandong province, who was allegedly pushed to the ground by two security guards, told CNN.

We came today and wanted to get our savings back, because I have elderly people and children at home, and the inability to withdraw savings has seriously affected my life, a woman surnamed Zhang told CNBC.

The protesters were taken to detention sites across the city. They were forced to sign a letter stating they would not gather anymore, according to Zhang.

Story continues

More from NextShark: Mexican American Grandmother, 70, Mistaken for Asian, Beaten and Dragged Across LA Bus

The Henan banking regulators posted a statement on their website, claiming that authorities are speeding up efforts to verify information on customer funds at the four rural banks.

(Authorities) are coming up with a plan to deal with the issue, which will be announced in the near future, the statement reportedly read.

The incident completely overturned my perception of the government, a man identified as Sun told CNN.

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Sun reportedly lost his deposit of 4 million yuan (approximately $596,000) to a Henan bank. He is currently struggling to keep his machine factory from falling into bankruptcy.

Ive lived all my life placing so much faith in the government. After today, Ill never trust it again, Sun added.

Featured Image via NBC News
The Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously approved a resolution Monday supporting Collierville educators, emulating an earlier motion by Collierville Schools board.

Resolution 2022-29 acknowledges the importance of an excellent public education system to both the quality of life and the economic prosperity of the Town of Collierville," Town Administrator James Lewellen said during the meeting.

The board along with those attending the meeting applauded the school board and teachers for their efforts to educate and guide the children in their care.

Collierville Town Hall

The motion comes after Gov. Bill Lee did not critique Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn who made several belittling comments about public school teachers and colleges while speaking with him.

ELECTIONS 2022: Who's running in Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland, Millington?

COLLIERVILLE NEWS: Tennessee gives Collierville $3 million for greenbelt pedestrian bridge over Wolf River

In a private event in Williamson County, with Lee present, Arnn said, "Teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country" and that "you don't have to be an expert to educate a child because basically anybody can do it."

Lee announced earlier in the year his work to partner with Hillsdale, a private conservative college in Michigan, to bring more charter schools to Tennessee, including Collierville, and reinforce civics education.

In a previous interview with The Commercial Appeal, Collierville Schools Superintendent Gary Lilly said he does not see a need for charter schools in the town.

"The Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously in favor of the resolution showing their full support for the Board of Education and the Collierville Schools teachers for their dedication to educating children in the Collierville community," a town news release said.

Commercial Appeal Reporter Laura Testino contributed to this report.

Dima Amro covers the suburbs for The Commercial Appeal and can be reached at Dima.Amro@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @AmroDima.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Collierville backs schools after Hillsdale College president's remarks
Rangers at Rocky Mountain National Park assisted in the weekend rescue of Colorado residents who had suffered injuries from a fall.

The National Park Service (NPS) said in a statement that it had been notified on Sunday of a 61-year-old Boulder man who had been injured in a significant tumbling fall on a snow couloir in the Ptarmigan Fingers area above Odessa Lake.

However, it was later determined that a 59-year-old woman from Boulder also suffered injuries from a fall in the same area.

Bystanders heard her calls for help and aided her, using satellite communication devices to contact the rangers.

CALIFORNIA FIREFIGHTERS MAKE PROGRESS ON YOSEMITE WILDFIRE THREATENING SEQUOIAS

To find the man, Northern Colorado Med Evac air ambulance assisted Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue team members with air reconnaissance.

The park requested assistance from a Colorado National Guard helicopter from Buckley Air Force Base to extricate the man via a hoist operation  using a winch-operated cable  due to the location and severity of his injuries.

Rocky Mountain Rescue assisted with the helicopter hoist operations, which occurred at approximately 8 p.m. MT.

MAN FOUND DEAD AT WHITE SANDS NATIONAL PARK

The man was flown to Upper Beaver Meadows, transferred to Northern Colorado Med Evac air ambulance and then flown to Medical Center of the Rockies.

The woman also suffered serious injuries and she was cared for overnight by Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue team members and overnight campers at Odessa Lake.

She was flown out by Northern Colorado Med Evac air ambulance on Monday morning at approximately 11 a.m. MT.

Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and Larimer County Search and Rescue assisted the park's efforts, with more than 45 people involved in the two-day incident.
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Senate Bill 4400, also known as the College Savings Recovery Act, may be a short piece of legislation, but the implications could be far-reaching. If you are one of the 14.83 million Americans with a 529 account, you may be eligible to give your retirement savings a boost, if this legislation goes forward. The newly-introduced legislation would create a special tax rule allowing a rollover from qualified tuition reimbursement programs, such as a 529 plan, to Roth IRAs.
County Commissioners receive a Tennessee Board of Regents award for excellence in philanthropy for years of contributions from the county, exceeding $1 million.

Maury County Commission has offered consistent support going back to the inception of Columbia State Community College, and Tennessee Board of Regents formally recognized them for it last month.

TBR honored the county with the Chancellors Award for Excellence in Philanthropy at a luncheon for statewide achievement, based on donations over the years that have passed the $1 million mark.

It was with great pleasure that the Tennessee Board of Regents confirmed our nomination, CSCC President, Janet Smith wrote in a letter to the commission.

Smith noted the countys significant impact and their hand in having a lasting influence on the community.

The sitting commission of 1965 (then called the Maury County Quarterly Court) approved the land purchase that would serve as the planting ground for Tennessees first community college, Smith wrote in the letter.

County commission chairman, Don Morrow said its nice to be honored for something that made a difference in the community.

You see so many negatives in politics, it's a breath of fresh air to be honored for accomplishments that benefit the community, Morrow said. On behalf of the current and previous commissions, we are all honored by the award.

Following the initial resolution to purchase the land and a $250,000 contribution to the college, the county has exceeded $1 million which includes a total of $700,000 given since 2000.

The initial investment was instrumental in the founding of the first community college in Tennessee.

Smith called attention to the commissions recent $400,000 commitment to the Southern Regional Technology Center as an important and valued investment to ensure Columbia State will have the necessary facilities to meet growing demands.

Citing the countys status as the fastest growing in the state and highlighting its lead roles in trade, industry and healthcare, Smith anchored the recognition with current needs for support.

Maury Countys support was critically important to the success of our students and remains so today, Smith wrote in the letter. With this growth, there will be a continued need to generate opportunity for the education and training of its citizens.

Columbia States nomination of the award, which was confirmed by TBR, acknowledged the commission as a valued community partner since the founding of the college.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Columbia State honors $1 million history of county contributions
Stephen Ayres drove from Ohio to Washington, DC, after Trump called for a "big protest" on January 6. US attorney's office in Washington, DC

Stephen Ayres pleaded guilty last month to disorderly conduct in connection with the Capitol attack.

Ayres promoted a tweet ahead of January 6 in which Trump said, "Be there, will be wild!"

House members plan to highlight the tweet in showing how Trump summoned supporters.

Days before driving from Ohio to Washington, DC, Stephen Ayres was thinking about his legacy as he looked ahead to January 6, 2021.

"History is being made right in front of your eyes! When your grandchildren ask 'Where were you when...........happened?' What's your answer going to be?" Ayres wrote in a January 2, 2021, post on Facebook.

For Ayres, the answer is growing increasingly complicated. After entering the Capitol and pleading guilty last month to a disorderly conduct charge, Ayres is now set to testify publicly before the House committee investigating the January 6 attack.

Ayres' testimony is expected to underscore how former President Donald Trump summoned supporters to Washington, DC, for the day Congress was set to certify his defeat in the 2020 election. As the hearing began Tuesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, pointed to an early-morning tweet Trump posted as he grew increasingly desperate and dissatisfied with his options for clinging to power.

It was an "explosive invitation," Raskin said, in which Trump called for a "big protest" and said: "Be there, will be wild."

"Trump's 1:42 a.m. tweet electrified and galvanized his supporters, especially the dangerous extremists in the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and other racist and white nationalist groups spoiling for a fight against the government," Raskin explained.

That tweet also caught Ayres' attention. Attached to his January 2 post on Facebook was an image of a poster stating: "January 6th Washington, DC, the president is calling on us to come back to Washington on January 6th for a big protest - 'Be there, will be wild."'

The Justice Department cited Ayres' Facebook post in connection with his prosecution on charges stemming from the January 6 attack. A week before that January 2 post, on December 26, 2020, Ayres posted on Twitter: "If the [deep state] robs president Trump!!! Civil War will ensue!"

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A family member of Ayres' took a screenshot of that post and others and provided them to the FBI, according to court filings.

In court filings, federal prosecutors alleged that Ayres marched to the Capitol after attending the "Stop the Steal" rally near the White House. Later, after rioters breached the makeshift police barricades, Ayres entered the Capitol shortly before 3 pm on January 6 and remained inside the building for about 10 minutes, prosecutors said.

The following day, Ayres appeared on a video posted to YouTube showing him inside a hotel room with another man and a woman.

"It's not over, trust me. The purpose of today was to expose Pence as a traitor," the man said in the video. The woman responded that that "the American people are not going to let this slide, especially after today."

"Yup," Ayres said.

Ayres is set to be sentenced September 13. He faces up to a year in prison.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the lead Republican negotiator of a gun safety bill that President Biden signed into law last month, is shutting the door on additional negotiations on other proposals to limit the availability of assault weapons or expand background checks.

Cornyn, who has taken some fire from the right because of his role in negotiating the law, said hes not going to engage in a new round of gun control talks in the wake of a mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill., on July 4.

No, were done, Cornyn said when asked whether Republicans would negotiate with Democrats on limiting access to assault-style rifles or other gun control reforms.

Cornyn made his statement after Biden renewed his call for an assault weapons ban during an event Monday at the White House.

Were living in a country awash in weapons of war, Biden said. I am determined to ban these weapons again and high-capacity magazines that hold 30 rounds and let mass shooters fire hundreds of bullets in a matter of minutes. Im not going to stop until we do it.

The president also called on Congress to encourage gun owners to keep their firearms locked up safely. He made his remarks at an event celebrating the enactment of Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which also enhanced background checks for gun buyers between the ages of 18 and 21 and provided billions of dollars for mental health services.

But Cornyn on Tuesday poured cold water on hopes that Congress might pass additional gun control legislation this year.

It seemed to me to be yesterday the president talked about everything that they wanted but they didnt get in the bill, he said. But the sort of things he was calling for, dont have support in the Senate or in the Congress on a bipartisan basis. In other words, they cant get done.

The senator was booed at a Texas Republican convention in Houston last month because of his role in negotiating the legislation, which the National Rifle Association opposed.

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Cornyn said he hasnt received any contact from Democratic senators to kindle a new round of talks.

Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.), the lead Democratic negotiator of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, said he met Tuesday with the families of the victims of the mass shootings in Uvalde and Highland Park.

I met with a couple of the families from Uvalde who lost kids, he said. They simply dont understand why this country allows for the sale of assault weapons. Im going to continue to press for change.

Several Democratic leaders, including Vice President Harris and Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), have made new calls for an assault weapons ban in the wake of the Highland Park shooting that left seven people dead on July 4.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
MIAMI (AP)  U.S. immigration officials say 25 Cuban migrants landed in South Florida on Tuesday, the latest arrival which is part of a mass migration from the island to escape political and economic troubles.

The group was seen sitting off the side of the road by a beachside park in Key Biscayne, Florida, in the early morning and included women and a few children, who were all taken into custody.

Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said via Twitter it was a smuggling incident that was being investigated.

Between last October and May, Customs and Border Protection officials have found and detained about 1,000 Cubans arriving in Florida. Meanwhile, as of Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard said it had stopped more than 3,000 Cubans at sea since last October.

The majority of Cubans continue to migrate by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border with about 140,000 arriving since last October, a number that exceeds the Mariel boatlift of 1980, when more than 124,700 Cubans came to the U.S.

Cuba is seeing its worst economic crisis in decades due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the tightening of U.S. sanctions. Last summer, people staged massive protests, which ended in hundreds of arrests, according to nongovernmental groups.
The star shows the epicenter of Monday's 2.4 magnitude earthquake.

ERIE TOWNSHIP -- Kay Axel thought a house exploded.

The Erie resident was outside of her home on Cemetery Rd. Monday afternoon when she heard an incredibly loud noise.

"I was walking to the garage at that point, and it was just like this huge boom and shaking," Axel said. "It didn't last very long. I thought it was an explosion, and my neighbor immediately called me and said 'Are you OK?' I said 'Yeah, are you?'"

It wasn't until hours later that Axel discovered what had really happened.

A 2.4 magnitude earthquake had rumbled across Monroe County. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported the epicenter of the low-level quake was on Strasburg Road between Rauch and Samaria Roads. It was recorded at 12:49 p.m. Eastern time and was 5 kilometers deep.

Almost 30 residents reported feeling the quake to the USGS website. There were no reports of property damage.

Axel's home on Cemetery is just west of the epicenter of the quake, and she said the only physical sign something had happened was that some photos on a shelf in her office had been knocked to the ground.

"I've been in earthquakes out in California, and they don't make a noise like that," she said. "...There was no rolling, continuing quaking like you generally get with earthquakes. It was just one bang and that was it.

"My coon dog howled like crazy."

The last time the USGS registered a Michigan earthquake was a 3.2 magnitude in in Detroit Beach on Aug. 21, 2020. It occurred near Sterling State Park in Lake Eries Brest Bay.

August 2020 news report: Earthquake recorded near Detroit Beach

The Monroe News posted a message on its Facebook page asking if anyone heard or felt Monday's quake. The post received a handful of responses from individuals who said they did notice something had occurred.

Barbara Siebarth lives on Ida Maybee Rd. and she wrote that she "felt and heard" the quake.

"It sounded like thunder," she said.

Nancy Flemming was with her dog outside her home near the intersection of Rauch and Douglas Roads at the time of the earthquake.

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"I heard it, but I didn't feel it," she wrote.

Luna Pier Mayor Jim Gardner told The Monroe News that "it was kind of a non-event here" in the city.

"I was here in town and I didn't feel it," Gardner said. "I talked to some of our city workers that were out and they didn't feel it. We didn't really learn about it until (Tuesday) when it hit the news. Didn't feel anything unusual, but that's the way we like it. Michigan is a pretty safe place when it comes to natural disasters."

Monroe News Reporter Blake Bacho contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Earthquake hits west of Luna Pier
Jul. 12EAU CLAIRE  An Eau Claire man will spend three years in prison for firing several shots from his vehicle toward an occupied vehicle in the 2400 block of Sessions Street.

No injuries were reported. The shooting was in retaliation for threats the victim made. The vehicle that was shot at sustained damage in the incident, police said.

Le'Fon D. Luce Cantrell, 21, was sentenced recently in Eau Claire County Court to felony counts of endangering safety by reckless use of a firearm and escape.

Felony counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and discharging a firearm from a vehicle toward a building or vehicle, and misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer and disorderly conduct were previously dismissed.

Judge Sarah Harless ordered Luce Cantrell to spend five years on extended supervision following his release from prison.

As conditions of supervision, Luce Cantrell cannot have contact with the victims or unsupervised contact with the co-defendant.

Luce Cantrell must also maintain absolute sobriety and undergo any recommended programming or treatment.

Luce Cantrell was fined $1,036.

Co-defendant Xavier E. Luce, 18, also of Eau Claire, returns to court Aug. 31.

According to the criminal complaint:

Witnesses said the shooting occurred at 1:20 p.m. April 8, 2021, in the 2400 block of Sessions Street.

Witnesses said they heard gunshots and then saw car parts in the street.

The driver of the victimized vehicle waved down police officers as they arrived.

The driver said his brother was beaten up the previous day and the shooting incident occurred because he was asking around to determine who was involved in the incident with his brother.

The driver said he had gotten into his truck and was followed by a red car. Luce Cantrell was driving the red car and was the shooter. The driver did not know the identity of the second person in the red car.

The back window was shot out of the driver's truck. Parts that matched the truck were strewn on the ground. Several bullet holes were found by police on the truck.

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Detectives found spent shell casings that appeared to be from a 9mm handgun.

The driver believed he was going to die in the shooting incident.

Luce Cantrell and Luce were identified as the suspects.

Public space video matched the driver's version of the incident.

Luce told police he believed the driver and the driver's brother had a "hit" out on him.

Luce admitted he was in the vehicle with Luce Cantrell, who is Luce's older brother.

Luce said he didn't know where Luce Cantrell got the gun.

Luce Cantrell later came to the Eau Claire Police Department voluntarily to speak to investigators about his involvement in the shooting.

As he spoke to investigators outside of the Police Department, Luce Cantrell suddenly fled on foot and ran into the Chippewa River near the Lake Street bridge.

Negotiators were called to the scene and spoke to Luce Cantrell for about three hours.

Luce Cantrell ultimately walked to the shore and was taken into custody.
The Daily Beast

Gary Miller/GettyThere has never been, nor will there ever be, anyone like GWAR, the metal outfit hailing from Richmond, Virginia, who dress up as space barbarians, act out all manner of onstage obscenity, and spew their audiences with fake blood, semen, and other sticky bodily fluids. For the past four decades, GWAR has carved out a wholly unique niche in the music industry, serving as a nexus point for those who love horror movies, science fiction, fantasy, comic books, superheroes, Dungeons &
Peter Navarro, former trade adviser to Donald Trump, accused Mike Pence of treason for refusing to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election  a power the vice president does not have.

He also seems to think Trumps vice president should have been more loyal to the president than to the country.

Speaking on the right-wing Newsmax network on Monday, Navarro  who was indicted last month for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection  said:

The reason why I think Pence is guilty of treason, to at least President Trump and perhaps to this country, is that he acted on the basis of a flawed legal opinion concocted by his own general counsel that he did not share with either the president or with the presidents White House legal counsel. Due process plus duty to the commander in chief required you to do that.

Treason is the only crime specifically defined in the U.S. Constitution. Its an act of war by an American against the United States or giving aid and comfort to the nations enemies.

It is not personal disloyalty to a president who is trying to subvert the Constitution and remain in office despite losing the election.

But Navarro has his own definition  and then went even further in his attack on Pence, calling him a traitor.

So by the time Jan. 6 rolled around, Pences actions were kind of baked into the cake based on both traitorous activity with respect to the president and flawed legal opinions, he said:

Navarro: The reason why I think the Pence is guilty of treason to at least Trump and perhaps in this country is that he acted on the basis of a flawed legal opinion pic.twitter.com/qq9YiL9bkG  Acyn (@Acyn) July 12, 2022

Navarro earlier this year also called Pence a traitor and compared him to a character in Julius Caesar.

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It was a tragedy that Mike Pence decided to be a traitor to the American Caesar of Trump, he said in March on Newsmax, according to Salon. I liken it in [my book] to a Shakespearean moment, the Et tu, Brute? moment.

Now Navarros taking a step further and accusing Pence of treason  to Trump and perhaps the nation  left his critics aghast on Twitter:

The right to remain silent is a concept lost on this weirdo. https://t.co/c85gn6gAuw  Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) July 12, 2022

What Navarro claims is a "flawed legal opinion" is also known as.... The Constitution. https://t.co/mm0EUjhKSq  HawaiiDelilah votes DEMOCRATIC BLUE (@HawaiiDelilah) July 12, 2022

Heres unhinged maniac Peter Navarro projecting his treason on Mike Pence, then casually throwing Paul Gosar & Ted Cruz under the bus.



Good times. Good times pic.twitter.com/dE4u0LV5GU  The USA Singers (@TheUSASingers) July 12, 2022

Treason to Trump Yeah Totally not a cult.



Peter Navarro is so batshit it makes Gordon Liddys shenanigans seem sane. https://t.co/PraYe8pDiO  Hadley Sheley (@HadleySheley) July 12, 2022

Yes it's treasonous to the president, if not the country, to act on an arguably flawed legal opinion.



This man actually thinks he knows things and understands the law. https://t.co/owtdcVB7m3  Khashoggis Ghost  (@UROCKlive1) July 12, 2022

"Pence is guilty of treason to at least Trump." https://t.co/ZgvwYuJx0Dpic.twitter.com/BZ7gXHvTnz  Sir Humphrey  (@bdquinn) July 12, 2022

You can only commit treason against a sovereign authority, Pete. In the United States, that's the people. It's literally not possible to commit treason against a president. https://t.co/xierfX9kdN  Michael G. Bazemore Pro-choice IS pro-life (@deepwatermike) July 12, 2022

This is the epitome of authoritarianism. You cannot commit treason against a singular person in a democracy. POTUS is head of state, not The State. He is a man in a job, not a king or a god. No matter how much they try to present Trump as one or both. https://t.co/1RTnhWZaKO  Beth Martin (@cliothemuse) July 12, 2022

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.